The Various Magic Systems in GURPS

==Magic in Classic GURPS==
===The first systems; Magery, "Clerical" and Rune Magic===
The first magic system for GURPS appeared in the first edition of GURPS Fantasy and was later moved to GURPS Magic. 
The main system revolved around Magery but there was an option for Clerics to have magic but it was effectively a limited version of magery: "allow non-mage clerics to use spells of one (or a few) colleges as though they were mages. So, even in normal and low-mana areas, a cleric of (for instance) a healing-oriented power can cast Healing spells."Classic: Magic p. 95 The cost of this 'Blessed (can cast spells as if mage)' was determined by the number of colleges the cleric could use10 points for one college, 12 for two, 15 for three. Spells of other colleges could be learned but were castable only in high mana and above areas. This was effectively replaced by the Limited Colleges Limitation in 4e but was still mana dependent.
Rune magic was a form of Improvised Magic that used runes in a verb noun combination. While there was a IQ/VH Rune-lore skill each rune had to be learned as a separate skill varying from Easy to Hard.
Wizards were anyone who used spell based magic while mages were those with the magery advantage.
===GURPS Supers 1e (1989)===
GURPS Supers was the first book to come up with a totally different system for magic. Using the Power Group advantage Magic Power, abilities were bought as if they were superpowers based on this main advantage. The main problem was there was no information on how (or even if) this interacted with the magery based system or the vague magery like advantage clerics could have.
===GURPS Supers 2e (1990)===
The new edition of GURPS Supers removed the whole concept of Power Groups (and Magic Power along with them). For magic several options were provided: Magic as nothing more then a special effect, the standard GURPS Magic system (with the option of magery being able to go beyond 3 levels), Improvised Magic, or Knacks. Unfortunately, not only was there no mention of the Religion magic system but there was no information on how (or even if) the special effect version interacted with the other magic systems. Worse powers gotten as magical knacks tended to have a totally different point cost if gotten as a "regular" superpower.
===GURPS Religion (1994)===
GURPS Religion totally reworked Clerical magic replacing Magery with Power Investiture, mana with Sanctity, and changing several of the aspects of the old clerical system. The one detail that was not expressly explained was if Magical Resistance had any baring on clerical spells.It was implied that it didn't but it wasn't expressly stated one way or the other.
===GURPS Voodoo (1995)===
Even though GURPS Religion had addressed shamanistic magic in general and touched on Voodoo, this work introduced yet another system. Here, instead of the advantages of Magery or Power Investiture, the advantage Initiation (which determined the strength of a character’s connection with the supernatural) played a role. Each level of Initiation allowed the character to gain certain abilities.
===GURPS Compendium 1 and 2 (1996)===
This was part of the Third Edition Revised edition of GURPSSometimes called "GURPS 3.5" and tried to consolidate most of what that had come before. However, thanks to its organization it was more confusing then helpful in this regard and it still didn't answer the question of how (or if) the various magic systems interacted with one another.
===GURPS Spirits (2001)===
GURPS Spirits dropped the whole Initiation ranking system of Voodoo and replaced it with a far more streamlined Ritual Magic system. It also introduced the Ritual Adept advantage (each level removed one component of a ritual spell) and expressly stated "Magic Resistance does not protect against rituals." As with GURPS Religion the magic did "not depend on mana to function" but unlike that work nothing really replaced it other then a vague "it works through the powers of the spirit world." This was the work that had the term "magician" connected to anyone with the Ritual Adept advantage.
==The GURPS 4e revamp (2004)==
It had been realized that spell magic in GURPS had too many systems that really didn't relate to each other. The Basic Set trimmed things back to Magic as Powers, Magery (alterable via enhancements and limitations), Power Investiture, and highly flexible Syntactic Magic. Ritual Magic was reworked to default to being mana based. 
==Fantasy (2004) and Thaumatology (2008) additions==
GURPS Fantasy introduced the concept of "natural" magic and GURPS Thaumatology provided the tools to alter any of the methods in the Basic set into any form needed or wanted.
The Ritual Adept advantage became Path/Book Adept in GURPS Thaumatology and it was possible for Adepts to have Magery (Path/Book). The enhancements and limitations used to turn Magery into Power Investiture was provided. The concept of Ritual Space, which depending on the setting may or may not be related to Sanctity or Mana, was introduced. Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic expanded this method to where it can be adapted to simulate any form of magic that exists.
===Magic as Powers===
This is a variant option for Innate Magic where spells are built as advantages. Powers: Divine Favor effectively combined this method for Innate magic with Ritual Path Magic.
==Related Pyramid Articles==
*"The Power Within: Chi-Magic In GURPS" by Chad Underkoffler (09/25/1998)
*"Gene Weaver" by T. Carter Ross (12/11/1998)
*"More Power: A Spell That Can Change A World" by Fred Wolke (1999)
*"Faith-Based Magic" by Jeremy Seeley (11/05/1999)
*"Psionic Wizardry" by Stephen Kenson (01/21/2000)
*"Just Like Magic: Ritual Psionics In GURPS" by Stephen Kenson (02/18/2000)
*"A Brief Spell Of Madness: A New Twist On GURPS Magic" by Christopher M. Dicely (09/15/2000)
*"Skill-Based Energy Costs for GURPS Magic" by Robert Neal Byles (11/10/2000)
==Glossary==
GURPS Thaumatology codified several terms for GURPS 4e magic:
* Book: A collection of rituals linked conceptually or by tradition and presented in a single source – often (but not always) an actual, physical book.
* Path: Branch of ritual magic focused on a particular type of effect, encompassing a collection of closely related rituals.
* Adept: Anyone with the Path/Book Adept advantage.
* Charm: Item empowered through a ritual. Protective charms are often called amulets, while charms that draw things to the wearer are called talismans."Amulets" and "talismans" are also used to refer to Alchemical Magic Items
* Fetish: Item containing the essence or power of a spirit.
* Focus: Item that aids in the performance of ritual magic.
* Mage: Anyone with Magery regardless of them able to cast spells
* Magician: Anyone with the Ritual Magic skill.
* Malefice: a general term for a symbolic or sympathetic representation used to cast hostile magic at a distance.
* Wizard: Someone who can cast spells regardless of them having MageryClassic GURPS also used "Wizard" to refer to anyone with a 25+ skill (Basic Set (Third Edition) Revised pg 45)
==Additional Information==
*GURPS Only the parts you need #1 - ST Systems Comparison, Magic Systems Comparison
*GURPS Only the parts you need #3 - Sorcery; Creating NPCs
*GURPS Magic Systems
==Notes==
Category:Rules
Category:Classic
Category:4th Edition
Category:Advantages
Category:Thaumatology