Khesret Magic System — GURPS hybrid

Game: Orion Corridor — 2277 · Setting: Khesret system · Ship: Verdigris · Rules: GURPS 4e at the table.

Companion: Enchantment Gadgeteer · Life-Cells (Mana Batteries) · Magical Null · Shaman — Elemental Control

Design goal

GURPS 4e stays the engine — spells, Magery, FP, skill rolls, injury.
Shadowrun texture — astral perception, traditions, street regulation (Astral Court), not a full SR magic port.
Life-fueled magic — mana comes from living biomass; space is a desert.
Sim carryover ends at the wallet — big crystals and instant factories existed in the Depth sim; out here you pay GURPS costs + Concord cred.

> Table law: House advantages change time, not physics, mana geography, law, or heat.

Naming

Term	Meaning
Gadgeteer (B475)	Invention — gizmos and Ultra-Tech kit. Not enchanting unless you also have the house advantage below.
Enchantment Gadgeteer (house)	Fast Quick and Dirty Enchantment only — see companion doc.
Life-Cell	Legal term for a Powerstone / mana battery
The Lattice	Digital plane — not astral. See Lattice Netrunning.
Astral	Magic plane — Court, signatures, spirits. Parallel to the Lattice.
Magical Null	Anti-magic human (rare) — see Magical Null.

Mana zones

Magic strength comes from living biomass, not from “being a planet.”

Zone	Magic (GURPS)	Life-Cell recharge
Dead void	None	None
Verdigris (ship bubble)	Low — daily garden pool	~1 MP / week
Hub / colonized world	Normal	~1 MP / day
High mana preserve	High	~1 MP / 12 hours
Very high preserve	Very high	~1 MP / 6 hours

What makes high mana?

All three:

Factor	High mana tends to have…
Humanoid load	Low — sparse population, not hive cities
Industry	Low TL on-site — no smelters, lattice farms, heavy extraction
Nature index	Very high — old growth, canopy volume, living reef

Colonized port cities on the same system are usually normal mana even when the system is famous for elves.

Access tiers

Access	Examples
Open	Khesret-Prime, standard landfall
Permit	Rim ecological preserves — weekly visa (₡)
Restricted	Aelva (Ee'la) canopy layers — Elari sponsor
Closed	Fae'ana sovereign canopy (Ee'la system) — Canopy Transit License (CTL), Astral Court seal, Navy convoy slot; unauthorized landing = interdiction

Fae'ana canopy (closed): CTL application ₡15,000, 6–18 month queue, Elari sponsor required. Very high mana — best recharge in the arm — not a tourist site.

Verdigris garden — daily pool & overdraw

The dorsal mana-garden is the ship’s battery. Healthy garden = low mana, not unlimited power.

Garden step	Daily pool	Spell feel	Fast enchant cap (ship)
Full	50 MP/day	Normal low-mana	≤ 50 energy
Throttled	30	−2 spell skills	≤ 30
Dim	15	Big spells risky	≤ 15
Brownout	5	Cantrips only	No enchant
Collapsed	0	Off	Off until reseed

Counts against pool (on ship): spell FP/HP, enchantment energy, rituals, refilling a Life-Cell from the garden (1:1). Using a stone’s stored MP does not spend pool.

Overdraw (pool below zero for the day):

Overdraw today	Effect
1–9 MP	−1 garden step at day end unless shaman Tends garden (4 hr)
10–19 MP	−1 step now + Strain +1
20–29 MP	−2 steps + visible blight
30+ MP	Crop collapse check
50+ MP in one action	Emergency drain — Brownout 72 h minimum

Catastrophic: Overdraw in Brownout; or ≥ pool + 30 in one action; or 100+ MP overdraw in 7 days without Ritual stabilize → beds can die.

Baseline upkeep: ₡650/week garden cost — skip a week → −1 step.

Ivan (Null II): Null bleed only — plants don’t thrive ~3 m from his bunk; greenhouse d100 +5 if he sleeps adjacent to the dome. Not a no-mana bubble.

Off-ship on a planet, the daily pool does not apply.

Strain (magical drain)

After heavy magic (especially fast enchant):

Energy in work	Strain
≤ 50	+0
51–100	+1
101–250	+2
251+	+3

Strain	Effect
1–2	Headache; −1 IQ-based skills until rest
3–4	Obvious astral signature; gate paperwork risk
5+	Spirits, wrong shadows, audit pull

Clear Strain: 8 h sleep · shaman garden scene · Null-touch (dramatic — Ivan, Grounding Null II).

Astral Court & registration

Item energy	Paperwork
≤ 50	Lodge log within 7 days (recommended)
51–200	Register within 72 h — fee applies
201+	Guild sealed job

Every fast enchant leaves an astral signature. Unregistered foci at gates → delays, fines, confiscation.

Astral disclosure license: ₡95/yr (awakened hunters) — see economy doc.

Astral play (three-track)

Magic uses the Astral track — not the Lattice. See Lattice Netrunning for the three-track model.

Layer	When	Who	How
1 — Physical	Default	Everyone	Spells, guns, social
2 — Perception	After enchant, gate scan, weird bounty	Mages & shamans	Perception / Thaumatology; assensing for tags & tradition
3 — Projection	~Once per arc set-piece	Mages only — shamans cannot project	3–5 zone sketch; silver cord; Null disrupts body

Shamans: Elemental Control — Layer 2 assense only; spirit talks happen on meat.

Do not merge Astral and Lattice — no “astral hacking.”

Traditions (flavor)

Tradition	GURPS expression
Hermetic / Court	Magery + lodge registration
Shamanic / animist	Spirit magic; garden keeper; element control; assense only (no astral projection) — see Shaman doc
Street awakened	High skills; stigma / code
Technomantic	Engineer + Enchantment Gadgeteer — not SR Technomancer

Life-Cells (summary)

Stored mana uses GURPS Powerstone rules — +1 capacity per casting, quirks on failure, one stone at a time when casting.

Sim-sized 100–1000 point cells exist in lore as vault assets — not PC loadout. Copying a 10-point cell costs ~₡51,000 + 200 energy + rolls.

Full detail: Life-Cells (Mana Batteries)

Quick GM checklist

Where are they? Zone + garden step + pool remaining.
Casting or enchanting? Pool + FP + Strain.
Fast enchant? Enchantment Gadgeteer time only — full Q&D math.
Afterward: Strain, signature, registration clock.
High mana trip? Permits, sponsors, CTL for Fae'ana canopy.

Source canon: WCP_Website/campaign-authoring/palimpsest/KHESRET-MAGIC-AND-ENCHANTMENT.md