[gurps] Entombment spell question

[Hal]

A lot of the discussion brought into play regarding this issue seems to stem
from how the GM visualizes the underlying principles of magic for their game
world.  Brandon for example (not to pick on Brandon!) feels that the
Entombment spell should be able to work for any structure that is connected
to the ground, and seemingly fixed in place - anchored if you will, to a
specific location on the earth itself.

How does it compare for example, to the process of a wagon made of wood,
drawn by oxen, as compared against say, a raised wooden platform that is set
upon the ground (say, a dance floor for a party) as compared against, say, a
raised wooden platform that has its support structure set into the ground
for permanent use (such as a floor for a house)?

All Brandon need state is that for the temporary platforms not anchored in
earth, the spell entombment will not work.  It makes it so that wagons and
other such movable objects are not subject to this particular effect.  That
means then, because the wooden platform for the dance can be moved and is
not "anchored" to the ground, that it too is free from the effects of the
Entombment spell.  A raised wooden floor of a building, or a raised concrete
floor of a building however, IS anchored in the ground, and therefor subject
to the effects.

As for being able to nail a flying creature - any given GM has to decide
whether or not it can or can not.  If for example, the GM were to state that
the spell can ensnare any creature or object within X feet of the ground,
then for that particular game world, the earth shall rise up like a living
extention of the earth, and attempt to ensnare the offending thing that is
in the air.  One GM could state that the spell suffers a -1 penalty for each
yard the thing in the air is above the ground itself - this in addition to
the penalty for the spell caster attempting to nail a target that is 10
yards away from him on the level plane of the earth.

GURPS MAGIC has a lot of interesting built in contradictions as far as
geometry goes.  For example?  Suppose your mage is on an absolutely flat
plane of earth.  He casts a 2 hex radius spell, that covers an actual area
that measures 1.5 hexes in radius (ie the center hex and one complete ring
of hexes).  Area wise, that spell covers ground equal to approximately 7
square yards.  Now, take that same spell, but cast it on a slightly raised
area approximating a truncated cone in shape.  The actual surface area
covered by the spell become more than that if cast on a pefectly flat area.
Does the spell cast create an area that is a mere 7 square yards in area or
does it cover a region described by a radius effect and ignore the surface
irregularities?  For purposes of the game, we ignore the surface
irregularities so that the spell works the same whether on a flat surface or
one that is a truncated cone.

GURPS MAGIC (whether for 3e or 4e) is riddled with such philosophical type
questions.  Anyone remember the spell EARTH TO STONE in the first editions
of GURPS MAGIC for 3e?  It was stated that the stone created may not be
valuable.  In short, it was not meant to be used such that the spell caster
could create gemstones with the spell.  But what of a block of Marble?
Could one create valuable Pristine marble such as sculptors use, or such as
a temple might be built of in order to impress the general populace?  Some
GMs might say no while others might rule yes.  Until someone determined just
how much metal is formed with the wholesale production of Created Metals in
GURPS GRIMOIRE where a cubic yard of iron would weigh about 6 tons - no one
was prepared for just how overwhelming that spell's application might be.

In all?  If the original writers of the spell(s) for use with GURPS did not
spell out the circumstances of the spell's use, with built in limitations
etc - then the players and the users of GURPS (ie the GM himself) are
perfectly at liberty to create their own assumptions on how spells work.

As for myself?  Prolonged use of the Bless Plant spell results in soil
depletion in rapid order.  Doubling the yield of a crop results in the soil
depleting twice as fast.  Using the Earth to Stone spell results in the
creation of a stone that is effectly sandstone and pretty useless as a
building material unless the spell caster uses the spell "Destroy Air" on
the section of earth to be transformed.  This way, the newly transformed
earth approximates more closely, the actual structure of granite or other
such stone types.  Also, Create Stone is not capable of creating Marble in
my game worlds ;)

There are a lot of "fiddly bits" in GURPS MAGIC that can and are customized
by various GMs.  The fun part is that many GMs strive to be self-consistent
with themselves rather than necessarily conform to group consistency.  If
you like the way you've ruled the spell to work, who cares what Brandon,
Jeff, myself, or anyone else thinks ;)

Of course, if you're discussing the rules as written, that is a horse of a
different color - but, in areas where the rules as written are unclear, any
attempt to clear up the ambiguity is solely at the discretion of the GM
themselves.