This was heavily inspired by Generic Universal Eggplant's Wizardry System, as well as the Modular Powers from this other site I found one day. And then I copied the calamity table from no school grognard College Ritual Book Magic. The main thing I wanted to do was have being an effective caster something possible on 62pt games, and not become overpowered at 250pt games. The other thing I wanted was having all the traditional (in my mind) parts of being a caster still exist, so every spell requires chanting, hand movements and so on.

https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/2023/09/introduction-to-wizardry.html
https://greyson.conlang.org/2020/04/08/modular-powers-a-new-flexible-powers-magic-system-for-gurps/
https://noschoolgrognard.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Houserules

For certain spells that are clearly weaker than their price indicates, (GM choice) after reaching the -80% max limitation, apply the remaining limitation on top. For example. 50pts -120% =10pts due to the max 80, there's still -40% remaining, so 10-40%=6pts, so the spell using this rule would cost 6pts. This house rule is indicated by a * next to the full cost. This extra reduction still has a max of -80%. The "real" price is in parenthesis.

Mage Casting

Starting Idea: The Modular Ability point pool being used to pay for alternative abilities to a main ability instead of being the main advantage in an alternative ability array.

Every mage starts by learning 1 spell, and paying full price for it. That's your Signature Spell. Then, he can buy Spell Power Slots, but in order to do so, he must buy the Disadvantage Disciplines of Faith (Arcane Rituals) [-10] or a Vow (Any) [-10]. Each Spell Power Slot has levels, and should be learned as a separate advantage. Your maximum Spell Power Slot level is the full price of your Signature spell divided by 5 (round up).

Each Spell Power Slot may contain a spell that costs a number of points equal to your 5x the Level of that Slot, with a max equal to your Signature Spell.

For example, if you have Mage Armor at level 2 (26pts) as your signature spell, you may have a Spell Power Slot of up to level 6, and you can put any spell that costs 26pts or less in that slot.

Special Limitations: You may put limitations on the kind of spell you can memorize. Each slot may have different limitations. For example, you may have an "Elemental Slot" that can only take spells from the elemental colleges, and a "Generalist Slot" that you can put any spells.

If the Slot can put spells from a broad category (elementalism or evocation, mind affecting, etc.), after adding up all the levels you want for your Slot, reduce its price by 30%;
If the Slot can put spells from a single specific College. After adding up all the levels you want for your Slot, reduce its price by 40%.

There are 3 kinds of Spell Power Slots: Cantrip Slots, Minor Spell Slots, Major Spell Slots.

Minor Spell Slots: These are the standard spell slots. They may be flexible and have special limitations. When you use a spell from a Minor Spell Slot, you forget them, and must refill the Slot as normal.

It takes 10 minutes to memorize a Minor Spell.
Minor Spell Slots cost 5pts for level 1, and 2pts per extra level.
Flexible Minor Spell Slots: cos 6pts for level 1 and 3pts per extra level; Flexible Spell Slots are explained later.

Major Spell Slots: These spells are complicated, requiring a long time to study them. There are no flexible Major Spell Slots. When you use a spell from a Major Spell Slot, you forget them, and must refill the Slot.

Major Spell Slots cost 4pts for level 1, and 1pts per extra level.
It takes one hour to memorize a Major Spell.

Cantrip Slots: Are the most expensive. They may be flexible and have special limitations. They can be used repeatedly without needing to refill them. Spells memorized on Cantrip Slots do not use Tally, and instead use fatigue or energy.

Cantrip Slots cost 7pts for level 1, and 3pts per extra level.
It takes one hour to memorize a Cantrip.
Flexible Cantrip Slots: cost 9pts for level 1 and 4pts per extra level;

Disciplines of Faith (Arcane Rituals) [-10]: You must own a spellbook that contains your notes, observations, and calculations on how and when you can cast spells. This spellbook is grimoire with at least 100 pages. You must study from this spellbook for 1d hours every night. On any day that you cast a spell, you consume $5 of reagents and spell ingredients. If you ever find yourself without reagents or your spellbook, you are at -1 on all spell-casting rolls per day that you go without either, and -2 per day that you go without both. The penalty is reduced to 0 as soon as you study in your spellbook and have access to reagents again.

Memorizing Spells

You must spend the required amount of time reading a spellbook with a spell in order to fill your Slot with that spell, you must be in a relatively quiet environment (at most a single regular conversation may be happening), and you must spend 2fp per spell.

If you have a Flexible Spell Slot you may spend 1 concentrate to fill a Flexible Spell Slot, and you don't need to spend FP or be in a quiet environment, however all effects of the spell you memorized are reduced by half (range, damage, etc.) until you spend 10 minutes to properly memorize the spell. If the spell cannot have its effects reduced by half (for example, a spell that just gives you combat reflexes while you have it slotted), consider it to cost double for the purposes of fast memorization.

In order to keep your spells working, every day you must read your spellbook for a number of minutes equal to the highest Slot level times the number of Slots you have.

Spell Book

A typical empty spellbook costs $25 and weighs 3lbs. Transcribing a spell requires identifying it first with a Thaumatology roll. Transcribing takes 8 hours per 20 points of the spells’ full cost or a fraction of thereof.

Spell Scrolls

Spell scrolls that can only be used to transcribe a spell into your spellbook (not the kind of scroll that lets anyone cast a spell) cost $2 per point of the spell’s full cost.

Tally and Threshold

Every wizard has a threshold score, defining safe limits on his magic. His starting threshold (acquired when the user first buys a spell) is 5. If a wizard’s tally remains at or below his threshold, then everything’s fine. If his tally exceeds his threshold, then bad things can happen. He must make a Calamity Check – a roll on the Calamity Table (below) – on any turn that he goes over his threshold for any reason. While he’s over his threshold, he must also make a Calamity Check on any turn that he casts a spell (even one with zero cost) or adds to his tally to maintain a spell.

Tally Recovery: A wizard’s tally “heals” over time. The starting recovery rate is 5 points per day, with recovery occurring at sunrise. A wizard can improve his recovery rate by taking the Rapid Magical Recovery advantage (p. 79), if the GM

permits that. No other traits reduce tally in any way.

Extra Magical Ability [10/level]: Your ability to cast spells is improved, so you have +10 Threshold and +15 Recovery Rate for every level of this advantage.

Casting Spells

To cast a spell, you must first spend 1 concentrate maneuver to switch to the spell slot for the spell you want (unless specified, you are assumed to have your signature spell active most of the time).

Once you have the right Slot active, casting spells takes a number of concentrate maneuvers (usually 1 concentrate for most spells), making an IQ Check or a Thaumatology check (with standard penalties for range based on the spell), and spending the required Tally (99% of the it's 1). During the concentrate actions, you are chanting and making various mystical gestures with one of your hands.

Secondary Spells: Instead of buying a Slot, you may pay full cost for that spell, allowing you to keep that spell active at all times.

Your spell list are Sorcery Spells, with the following modifiers: Requires skill check (-10%), Requires Grimoire (-10%), Requires Gestures (-10%); Requires Magic Words (-10%); Can only use Tally (-10%), Required Disadvantage (-10%).

In addition, any levelled damage spells that you want to learn as Signature Spells or memorize in your Spell Slots need to be changed to do Will based damage. Exception: You may learn a levelled damage spell as a Secondary spell but you must add the "Limited Use: Once per day (-40%)" limitation.

Finally, status effect spells that last minutes must be changed to last seconds, using the modifier Reduced Time 1/60 (-35%).

Those modifications change the total cost. For ease of play, simply adjust the full price of sorcery spell according to the table below.

Spell Type	Cost Change	Special
Regular Spell	-5	-
Minute-based Status effect Spell	-9	-
Levelled Melee Spell	-3	The spell no longer has levels
Levelled Ranged Single Target Spell	+4	The spell no longer has levels
Levelled Ranged Area Spell	+3	The spell no longer has levels

Sorcery Spell Index: https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/2017/03/sorcery-spell-index.html

Every single sorcery spell costs 1 tally. Optionally, you may increase the tally costs, which would result in a cheaper spell. The cost decrease is per level.

Tally Cost Increase	Spell Cost Change (Regular Spell)	Spell Cost Change (Levelled Damage Spell)
+2	-2	-1
+4	-4	-2
+6	-6	-3
For each +2	-2 each	-1 each

Alternatively, you may use Wizardry spells.

In this case, you only need to add Requires Grimoire (-10%) and Can only use Tally (-10%) plus the damage spell stuff. Some spells already cost more than 1 tally, but you may increase their prices further in the same way.

Wizardry Spell Index: https://enragedeggplant.blogspot.com/2023/10/wizardry-spell-index.html

Spell Type	Cost Change	Special
Regular Spell	-2	-
Minute-based Status effect Spell	-5	-
Levelled Melee Spell	0	The spell no longer has levels
Levelled Ranged Single Target Spell	+5	The spell no longer has levels
Levelled Ranged Area Spell	+4	The spell no longer has levels

Alternative Rituals

Alternative Rituals: You may change some of the rituals, either making them simpler or more elaborate, giving you bonuses or penalties to all skill checks related to using the spell, this includes the basic Thaumatology, but also any other checks like innate attack.

Gestures:

Elaborate Gestures: +2 to effective skill. Requires both hands, and at least 1 yard free on all sides. If you have a power Item on your hand (like a staff) it doesn't count as being occupied.
Sweeping Gestures: +1 to effective skill. Requires both hands. If you have a power Item on your hand (like a staff) it doesn't count as being occupied.
No Gestures: -2 to effective skill if you have both of your legs free, -5 if you cannot move at all.

Chant:

Shouting the name of the Spell: +1 to effective skill. Everyone knows what you just cast. It's also very cringe.
No Chant: -4 to effective skill. Complete silence.

Speed:

Rapid Chant: -6 to effective skill. You can switch spells without spending an extra concentrate maneuver, allowing you to switch and cast in the same turn.
Move and Chant: -7 to effective skill. You can move your full speed and chant.
Slow Chant: +3 for increasing the time it takes to cast the spell: multiply by 2 in combat or by 10 out of combat.

Focus:

All-Out Chanting - Empower: +1 to effective skill. No active defenses.
All-Out Chanting - Dual: You can switch spells without spending an extra concentrate maneuver, allowing you to switch and cast in the same turn. No active defenses.

Spell Talent

(10 points/level)

This advantage is the generic power Talent for Mage Casting. It costs 10 points per level.

Spell Talent adds to every roll made to cast a spell or to use that spell well. For example, it adds to Innate Attack skill to hit with a Missile spell, to Engineer skill to brace a tunnel with magic, and so on. It even adds to Occultism or Thaumatology when rolling to answer questions about sorcery.

If ALL of your slots have the same limitation, (for example, all of them are fire only), the cost of Spell Talent is 5pts per level.

Damage Spells

When picking damage spells, and the spell has a cost that goes "X per level", and the damage of the spell increases with each level with no cap, change the spell to be Will-based instead of level based.

Area damage spells deal Thrust damage but using your Will as base; Single-Target spells deal Swing damage.

Your Spell Talent level increases the damage according to the table below. Add the result to your Thrust/Swing damage based on Will.

Sorcery Talent Level	Bonus Damage
1	+1d6
2	+1d6+1
3	+1d6+1
4	+1d6+2
5	+1d6+2
6	+2d6-1

Status Effect Spells

For balance reasons, any spells that have serious status effects (blindness, stun, paralysis, etc) that last minutes have their duration reduced to seconds.

Hardcore Improvisation

A wizard may cast any spell that costs less than his Signature Spell and that is on his grimoire in an emergency. To do so, he takes 1 fatigue damage as Sleep Deprivation (meaning he can only recover those when he sleeps), and then makes a Thaumatology check with a penalty equal to the difference in points between his most expensive Cantrip Slot and the Total Cost of the spell he intends to cast. He may spend extra Tally beyond the usual cost of the spell to reduce the difficulty of the check on 1-to-1 basis.

For example: A wizard with a Cantrip of Level 1 (10 points) suddenly needs to cast Tasha's Hideous Laughter (21 points). He takes 1 Fatigue Damage that he can't heal without sleeping, and then makes a Thaumatology -11. Since that is clearly too high of a penalty, he spends 6 more Tally to reduce the penalty to -5.

Character Creation

When creating character, you start with your Slots filled with whatever spells you want that fit in the slots, and may buy extra spells for the same price as a scroll with the spell, and they will already be in your spellbook. You must buy the spellbook as well!

Calamity Checks and the Calamity Table

To make a Calamity Check, roll 2d and add 1 for every full 5 points by which tally exceeds threshold after this casting. Calamities take effect immediately, but don’t normally cause the spell to fail.

Roll	Effect
2-8	Nothing happens -- this time.
9-10	Until the wizard's tally is reduced to 0, the base cost of casting that spell or ritual is doubled. Increase the multiple by 1 every time this result is rolled again.
11-12	As 9, and the wizard has a -1 penalty to cast that spell until his tally is reduced to 0.
13	As 9, and the wizard has a -1 penalty to cast all spells in the same college until his tally is reduced to 0.
14	Until the wizard's tally is reduced to 0, the base cost of casting all spells or rituals in the same college are doubled. Increase the multiple by 1 every time this result is rolled again. Also, the wizard has a -1 penalty to cast all spells in the same college until his tally is reduced to 0.
15	As 14, but the casting penalty is -2.
16	As 15, but the casting penalty is -3.
17	As 16, and the wizard's Magery is reduced by 1 (recalculate threshold and recovery rate based on the new Magery rate). This effective is cumulative. 1 level of Magery is recovered every day that the wizard has a tally of 0, doesn't cast any spells at all, and makes a HT check.
18	As 17, and as long as the wizard's Magery is reduced, he suffers from Nightmares with a control roll of 9 or less.
19	As 18, and as long as the wizard's Magery is reduced, he suffers from the -10% version of Radically Unstable Magery (Thaumatology p 26).
20	As 18, and as long as the wizard's Magery is reduced, he suffers from the -30% version of Radically Unstable Magery (Thaumatology p 26).
21	As 20, and the wizard is in a Twisted Mana (Thaumatology p 60) zone that only affects him for the next d6 hours.
22	As 20, and the wizard is in a Twisted Mana (Thaumatology p 60) zone that only affects him for the next d6 days.
23	As 20, and the wizard is in a Twisted Mana (Thaumatology p 60) zone with a radius equal to his base Magery (minimum 1) for the next d6 days.
24	As 20, and the wizard is in a Twisted Mana (Thaumatology p 60) zone with a radius equal to his current Magery (minimum 1) until is Magery completely recovers and for d6 days after that.
25-28	As 20, and the wizard is also a Mana Dampener with the same radius of affect as the Twisted Mana zone.
29+	The wizard takes (Calamity Modifier / 20)d of injury, reduced by half on a successful HT-6 check. If the wizard dies from this injury, their body explodes (reducing the wizard to -10xHP in the process) and doing the same damage as a cr ex centered on the wizard's hex. Should the wizard survive, also apply the effects of 25, above.

Other kinds of Magic

Clerical and Druidic magic use the Religious Ritual skill, and they MUST pick a limitation on your Spell Talent. Bardic magic is even more restrictive. They use Singing or Musical Instrument skills to cast, but they are always limited to the colleges from the School of the Bard Talent.

Alternative Spell Talents

These talents add to every roll made to cast a spell or use that spell of a specific number of Spell Colleges, plus they also works like a regular talents for some other skills.

Guidelines: An alternative spell talent always gives bonuses to skills used on spells (mostly Thaumatology, Religious Ritual, Innate attack, sometimes brawling) of a limited number of Colleges, and also gives bonuses to regular skills related to a theme. The number of colleges and skills benefited is limited by the cost of the talent: It costs 1 per college or skill benefited. Meta spells is always included for free.

Limitations: if you can ONLY casts spells from colleges in the talent, reduce the total price by 50%. Those talents with that limitation will have the "limited" tag on them.

School of the Witch [4 points/level] - Limited.

Bonuses to spells of the following Colleges.

Protection and Warning, Body Control, Meta Spell, Mind Control, Movement, Water.