I had a nice long reply when my browser bonked on me. :( Firefox just hasn't been the same since the 2.0 upgrade.
Yeah, it definitely sounds like a "from the ground up" approach would suit your ideas and preferred play style.
There are a lot of problems with that system, too, though, from what I do know.
As with any system, yes, you can find issues. But given your preferences, you might consider giving it a second look. Because it was built to be truly generic, the power level of magic system is *really* easy to customize. Despite PR to the contrary, d20 is not "generic". Level advancement for the various classes means that play balance requires a certain amount of power for mage characters in order to keep up. I don't think it scales down well at all, but I'm going to check out the article you mentioned.
The biggest difficulties I've had with GURPS is adjusting the play style to match combat danger. Combat can become fatal easily in GURPS and it's a real challenge for GM's used to throwing hordes of orcs and kobolds at players. Even larger than life heros can be overcome by numbers in GURPS. In D&D, it's much easier to take on a gang of critters with feats like cleave, improved crit, etc.
Also, the learning curve for running quick combats is fairly steep, although they've made a lot of changes in the 4th Ed to alleviate this (and meanwhile D&D combat has become more complex).
Anyway, you might want to drop by your local game store and browse GURPS Magic (and possibly GURPS Powers [psi,superhero]) if you're at all interested in trying something new with a low-magic setting.
Speaking of Wheel of Time, I read through some of the d20 WoT game material when it first came out and was really disappointed with the magic system. It was D&D 3.0 magic with a WoT veneer and was the sole reason I skipped picking up that game book.
Wizard of the Coast missed a really good opportunity to try a non-D&D style magic system. Ironically, not long before the buyout, TSR developed a new magic system for the Dragonlance 5th Age diceless game. It was a thing of beauty and adapting those game mechanics for Wheel of Time would have been a perfect fit.
It is one of the best magic systems -- one that works more like you read about in fantasy literature (ie - weaving the elements [ley lines, spirit powers] together to create a magical effect)... If you even come across a Dragonlance 5th Age box set, pick it up. These rare finds are filled with some excellent game mechanics.
I had a nice long reply when my browser bonked on me. :( Firefox just hasn't been the same since the 2.0 upgrade.
Yeah, it definitely sounds like a "from the ground up" approach would suit your ideas and preferred play style.
There are a lot of problems with that system, too, though, from what I do know.
As with any system, yes, you can find issues. But given your preferences, you might consider giving it a second look. Because it was built to be truly generic, the power level of magic system is *really* easy to customize. Despite PR to the contrary, d20 is not "generic". Level advancement for the various classes means that play balance requires a certain amount of power for mage characters in order to keep up. I don't think it scales down well at all, but I'm going to check out the article you mentioned.
The biggest difficulties I've had with GURPS is adjusting the play style to match combat danger. Combat can become fatal easily in GURPS and it's a real challenge for GM's used to throwing hordes of orcs and kobolds at players. Even larger than life heros can be overcome by numbers in GURPS. In D&D, it's much easier to take on a gang of critters with feats like cleave, improved crit, etc.
Also, the learning curve for running quick combats is fairly steep, although they've made a lot of changes in the 4th Ed to alleviate this (and meanwhile D&D combat has become more complex).
Anyway, you might want to drop by your local game store and browse GURPS Magic (and possibly GURPS Powers [psi,superhero]) if you're at all interested in trying something new with a low-magic setting.
Speaking of Wheel of Time, I read through some of the d20 WoT game material when it first came out and was really disappointed with the magic system. It was D&D 3.0 magic with a WoT veneer and was the sole reason I skipped picking up that game book.
Wizard of the Coast missed a really good opportunity to try a non-D&D style magic system. Ironically, not long before the buyout, TSR developed a new magic system for the Dragonlance 5th Age diceless game. It was a thing of beauty and adapting those game mechanics for Wheel of Time would have been a perfect fit.
It is one of the best magic systems -- one that works more like you read about in fantasy literature (ie - weaving the elements [ley lines, spirit powers] together to create a magical effect)... If you even come across a Dragonlance 5th Age box set, pick it up. These rare finds are filled with some excellent game mechanics.