Improvised Magic first appeared in Classic as little more then a variant of the Rune Magic (verb-noun) where "Only a mage may improvise spells. In order to improvise a spell on any subject, the mage must already know some spells of the appropriate college" Unlike the the later Ritual Magic system colleges could 'not' be learned directly. Rather the "skill" in a college was determined via spells known at 12 or higher using the somewhat complicated +1 for spells known at levels 12-15, +1 1⁄2 for spells known at levels 16-19, and +2 for those known at 20 or better. The maximum skill a mage can have in any college is 20, or (IQ+Magery), whichever is less.
Improvised Magic 4e[]
The 4e version is far more robust:
- Wild Talent
- Magic! Wildcard Skills; Wildcard Magery can be used as an alternative.
- Spells have defaults: An unlearned spell defaults to a known spell within the same college at -4
References[]
- GURPS Classic Magic pg 90
- GURPS Magic 201-202