Roleplayer #15, August 1989
Talismans
A Look At Historical Charms and Amulets
by Steffan O'Sullivan
"A talisman is nothing else than the seal, figure, character,
or image of a celestial omen, planet, or constellation; impressed, engraved,
or sculptured upon a sympathetic stone or upon a metal corresponding to
the planet; by a workman whose mind is settled and fixed upon his work and
the end of his work without being distracted or dissipated in other unrelated
thoughts; on the day and at the hour of the planet; in a fortunate place;
during fair, calm weather, and when the planet is in the best aspect that
may be in the heavens, the more strongly to attract the influences proper
to an effect depending upon the power of the same and on the virtues of
its influences."
-- Pierre de Bresche, in Traite' des Talismans,
1671.
An amulet is a charm with protective powers. A talisman is a charm with
empowering abilities. There is a long tradition of talismans and amulets
made by alchemists (as well as shamans, witches, priests, etc.) and sold
to the public throughout history. In fact, the odds are good that most of
you reading this have some amulet or talisman at home, on your person, or
in your car -- just some little object that has a little extra meaning to
you. It is a very human thing, this trusting of certain lucky objects, and
these rules could easily be adapted to GURPS
Ice Age, GURPS
Space, or any other
campaign.
Alchemical charms have been sold throughout history, and we have descriptions
of many of them. They were worn by kings and queens, popes and bishops,
merchants and diplomats. Less expensive amulets, usually made by "witches,"
were worn or hung in the house by nearly everybody else. Unfortunately,
the most frequently mentioned ones are not necessarily suitable for gaming.
The most common amulets were those that protected against violence, plague,
theft and bad luck -- you could, according to the creator of one amulet,
wear it in the toughest part of town with bulging moneybags and not be touched.
Others promised to spring you from jail the next day -- sort of a "Get
out of jail free" card . . . however, such powerful amulets might be
out of place in many campaigns. Dishonest or deluded alchemists would certainly
offer such charms, but whether they work or not is up to the GM.
Charms from Existing Elixirs
Some of the historical charms are promising game material, though, having
the same results as certain elixirs presented in GURPS
Magic and in the last issue of Roleplayer. These
include amulets of Aesculapius, Janus, Moly,
Athena, and
Artemis, and
talismans of Orpheus, Prometheus, Ceres, Theseus, Tyche, Aphrodite,
Kuoun, and
others. Moly is particularly interesting, and will be covered in detail
in this article.
Going beyond the bounds of history, the GM can easily apply these rules
to any of the existing elixirs. Those that protect can be made into amulets;
those that grant powers can be made into talismans. In general, there are
very few references in alchemy to charms that caused unpleasant results.
Such objects were made by witches, and are rife in voodoo lore,
but alchemy seems to have limited such hostile powers to occasional elixirs.
The GM may allow such objects to exist, of course, but they should be scarcer
than the beneficial ones.
Moly Amulets
The elixir Moly,
introduced in Roleplayer
13, is an excellent source for amulets. Many amulets purported
to work against hostile magic -- some were very specific as to the type
of magic they would counter. This can be introduced into GURPS
very easily as amulets that work against certain Magical Colleges.
The most common Moly amulets would be those that protect against Mind Control,
Communication & Empathy, and Body Control spells. Those that protect
against other colleges are possible, but amulets should not work against
Missile spells, Jet spells or spells with similar control of the elements.
Each Moly amulet protects against the spells of one particular college.
The level of protection varies -- see Time and Cost to Make, below.
This can be thought of as Magic Resistance that is specific in the type
of magic it resists -- which can be a very valuable asset! The GM is free
to regulate such amulets in any way he sees fit. For instance, some amulets
might only protect against a specific spell. Such amulets would be cheaper
to make than those that protect against an entire college of magic.
Time and Cost to Make
The cost in materials to manufacture an alchemical charm is the same as
for the elixir of the same property. The time to manufacture such an amulet
or talisman is ten times that listed to manufacture the elixir. The GM may
vary this time and cost to make charms more or less available in his world.
Making a charm is very hard work, requiring long hours and correct timing
of the planetary influences to capture the essences desired. At the end
of the time period, the alchemist makes his skill roll, applying any penalties
as per the elixir of the same properties. A critical failure destroys the
charm entirely, while an ordinary one wastes the work, but won't break any
gem involved.
Talismans and amulets made of gems have always been valued more than those
made of other materials. Any gem with an intrinsic value of $2,500 or more
gives a +1 bonus in some way to the power of the amulet. This might be 1d
+1 hours of duration instead of 1d hours, +5 to Leadership instead of +4,
and so on. This is up to the GM.
The GM does not have to allow PC alchemists the ability to make charms.
Such knowledge may be limited to Guildmasters, for example, or even Grand
Masters. All the other ways to limit magic item manufacture can also be
used -- see p. M17.
Making Moly Amulets
Moly amulets are made in stages, like Powerstones. Each period of empowering
the amulet produces +1 Magic Resistance, specific to whatever college is
intended. This is an exception to the rule that charms have the same properties
as the elixirs -- Moly amulets may have less than 5 Magic Resistance benefits
-- or they may have more, if the GM permits it. (A GM may allow a sufficiently
powerful Moly amulet to protect totally against spells of a given
college. If it is allowed at all, though, this should be very rare and costly!)
A level 1 Moly amulet must go through the whole empowering procedure again
to become a level 2 amulet. Critical failures along the way destroy the
amulet and any materials that have gone into it.
Detection and Analysis
Treat an alchemical charm as if it were an elixir for detection purposes
-- see p. M88. In general, if an alchemist knows the formula for the elixir
in question, he will be able to recognize it with five minutes examination
and a successful Alchemy skill roll. If it has powers that he does not know
the formula for, the GM may assign a penalty to the Alchemy roll, ranging
from -1 to -10. As usual, the GM rolls for the player, and lies on any critical
failures.
Using Charms
Amulets are treated as always-on magic items. There is no "time to
cast," and they cost the user no fatigue. They protect the wearer at
all times, whether the person knows what the amulet does or not. Moly amulets
add their level to the wearer's Resistance roll, and subtract their level
from the caster's spell skill roll -- see Magic Resistance, p.
M13.
Alchemical talismans -- empowering devices -- should have limited time use.
Treat such an item as a magic item with an exclusive powerstone. The time
the effects last should be equal to the time the elixir lasts. After that,
the power fades, and the talisman becomes dormant. It "recharges"
at a rate equal in days to the time in weeks it would take to create the
appropriate elixir. Thus, a talisman of Orpheus lasts 1d hours,
and then takes three days to recharge before it can be used again. A talisman
of Tyche lasts 2d hours, then needs six days to recharge, and so on. Count
only the time that a talisman is worn; it could sit in a chest for centuries
without losing power.
There is no "cost to cast" for a talisman -- no fatigue is spent
activating one. The wearer merely wills the talisman to have the specific
effect -- simply willing it to "Do something!" won't work. It
is up to the GM whether a talisman works automatically if it is willed to,
or if a roll is required against the alchemist's skill at the time of using
it. If a roll is required, apply any penalties to skill that the alchemist
needed to roll to create the charm.
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#15 Table of Contents)