Continual Light Streetlamps

[Michael Hopcroft]

One thing I've always wondered about fantasy cities is that if the magic exists to create magical lights that don;t go out until you want to do, why not apply that magic to lighting the streets of the city?

I don;'t know how much profit there would be in it, but perhaps mages may be required to every so often perform the "public service" for the city of enchanting new streetlamps to light the night, and thus help reduce crime and keep drivers and pedestrians at night from getting lost.

Hopefully there's a way for a PC mage to cast the spell without giving up any of his Character Points to the Independent light effect.

[Ternaugh]

Here is a basic writeup for the continual light needed for your streetlamps. Note that it is up to the GM to decide if the O END + Uncontrolled is too damaging for the campaign (for a basic light spell, I'd allow it, but for an attack, I wouldn't). Also, in my campaign, I'd load this down with additional limitations, just to make it a little more difficult to make, and cheaper to buy.

And as it is written, you could easily define the lights as just floating in mid-air, or you could require a material to bond the light to (and just imagine the pranksters who go around stealing the "lightbulbs"). You could add a few + to the Images to make magical "neon" signs, perhaps requiring an artistic skill to form pictures.

And, yes, I have had a magic quarter in one of my fantasy worlds that was illuminated by strings of Continual Lights.

Continual Light Spell

Images (vs Sight Group, Base 10 points)
Advantages:
Uncontrolled (+1/2)
0 END (+1/2)
Active Cost: 20
Limitations:
Only to create light (-1)
Real Cost: 10

Joe

[feywulf]

Originally posted by Ternaugh
Continual Light Spell

Images (vs Sight Group, Base 10 points)
Advantages:
Uncontrolled (+1/2)
0 END (+1/2)
Active Cost: 20
Limitations:
Only to create light (-1)
Real Cost: 10

Joe

I'd throw in difficult to dispell to make the light spell more "durable". You could use the option of the perception modifier making the image easier to percieve as a way of representing brighter lights, or the +1/4 advantage to increase the area.

[Markdoc]

It's not just for wizards! Wealthy merchants in my game - at least in the more civilised parts - consider birightly lighting the area where they live an useful precaution against thieves, footpads and player characters.

You can get around the character point loss by casting one long lasting continuing charge, which just needs to be topped up every 5 years or so..

cheers, Mark

[Ternaugh]

Originally posted by Markdoc
It's not just for wizards! Wealthy merchants in my game - at least in the more civilised parts - consider birightly lighting the area where they live an useful precaution against thieves, footpads and player characters.

You can get around the character point loss by casting one long lasting continuing charge, which just needs to be topped up every 5 years or so..

cheers, Mark

I'd thought about the Charges route, but Uncontrolled actually allows you to "fire and forget". The lights will remain on until dispelled or some condition is met (you could easily say that they burn out or fade on their own over time). And due to the mechanics of Uncontrolled, you only pay points for the power, not each instance of the light. To limit wizards from going around illuminating every surface of a city, maybe add some Extra Time. By the way, this type of spell could also be used as a repeating audible message.

Joe

[Markdoc]

Yep. There's all sorts of things that you can do like this. In Lacramar, in my game, the temple of Creastor the Watchful in Temple Ward had a stone statue out the front, facing a heavily-trafficked street. It had a detect spell (detect gold) and a visual/audial illusion permanently on. When someone walks by with plenty of loot on their person, the statue of the Goddess apparently turns and points and commands the wretch to enter the temple and make a sacrifice to avert approaching ill fortune.

Mostly it catches people new the city, since local merchants go round the other side of the block :-)

But you never know - local rumor has it that people who ignored the statue suffered a variety of evil fates (His ship was wrecked. All his hair fell out. His daughter ran away with a Kvarch-Nari mercenary).

Cheers, Mark

[Chris Goodwin]

Major Transform -- X into brightly glowing X.

You're giving X the Images Power mentioned above except it's Persistent and Always On (perhaps Inherent) instead of Uncontrolled.

Or the spell is an Images Power, Usable By Others. Use the UBO option and make it Uncontrolled.

[The Mad GM]

I had a city where the lights were small summoned and imprisoned spirits and fairies. Their writeup included a light spell, and they were too weak to leave.

For a more humane approach, they could be automatons instead.

[Lisa Nadazdy]

Wouldn't that work better as a Minor Transform effect?

[AnotherSkip]

Originally posted by Lisa Nadazdy
Wouldn't that work better as a Minor Transform effect?

Actually for all the writeup in the Fred i think that ther needs to be more written up about categorization of transforms.

For example what the flying flip is a Cosmetic mental transform?
You can make it. But make it to do what?

sorry i thnk im ranting.


oooh wait put this over on the What See FH

[Seenar]

Originally posted by AnotherSkip
Actually for all the writeup in the Fred i think that ther needs to be more written up about categorization of transforms.

For example what the flying flip is a Cosmetic mental transform?
You can make it. But make it to do what?

sorry i thnk im ranting.


oooh wait put this over on the What See FH

Change the character of the mental appearance. You could make a human mind look alien.

[BobGreenwade]

Originally posted by feywulf
You could use the option of the perception modifier making the image easier to percieve as a way of representing brighter lights, or the +1/4 advantage to increase the area.

Actually, both of these should be used. To get normal lighting from "dark night" needs +4 to PER; the diameter would be the area affected by the lighting (I think about a 4" radius area would be average for good nighttime street lighting).

[AnotherSkip]

Originally posted by Seenar
Change the character of the mental appearance. You could make a human mind look alien.

Ahhh but if you do that then there could be SEVERE probablilty changes when trying to hit that mind with Mind Scan, (Familiarity with the mind) and since that really then becomes a "combat" modifer shouldn't that then be paid for as adding powers in a body based total aimed for change?

[Markdoc]

No, changing the appearance of a mind may make the use of mindscan harder, but that's a limitation built into Mindscan, not a power.

A cosmetic transform (Man into Woman) adds no powers, but gives you immunity to any number of spells/powers like the harpy's song, the lamia's seducton, which I have seen written as "Mind control, only vs Males".

One interesting point - now that Shapeshift has become a kind of illusion power - and fiendishly expensive with it - how about cosmetic transforms that change appearance?

Do you have to pay the extra points to get cellular level Shapeshift for any transform that changes appearance?

(The answer is obviously no - I'm just being a devil's advocate here)

Cheers, Mark