School Daze

Education in Trinity's Shadow

by Dalton S. Spence

Last Updated:

Disclaimer: The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the GURPS system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games. GURPS is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games. All rights are reserved by SJ Games. This material is used here in accordance with the SJ Games online policy.

[NOTE: to avoid confusion in this article, the word "College" will begin with a Capital letter if referring to a spell grouping, or with a lower case "c" for the type of educational institution.]

In the Technomancer universe, mageborn children are identified early (sometimes at birth) and are encouraged to develop their talents with scholarships, grants and "special" education programs. As a result, mages entering university or college Thaumaturgy programs are expected to know some basic magic theory and basic spells as prerequisites as well as the academic basics. This usually consists of one spell from at least four different spell Colleges, including one elemental and one non-elemental spell, primarily so Enchant, Teleport or other spells with multiple College prerequisites may be learned at the start of the sophomore year.

PUBLIC EDUCATION: Your Tax Dollars At Work

Public high schools in Trinity's Shadow usually provide 1 point in basic Thaumatology knowledge as part of their general science programs, with special programs for mages providing 1 point towards spells for every two years. In the Mana Belt with the spells taught in compulsory "Vocational Magic and Applied Thaumaturgy classes" (p.T14) this is barely enough, but outside the high mana zone extra training in the form of home study, spell camps, night school, "Wizards' Academies," private tutors or magework/study programs must fill the gap. The descriptions below outline some of the options available.

HOME STUDY: Slow but Cheap

Home study is the cheapest option (see the "Books, Computers and Software" sidebar on TM78 for learning materials), but it also takes the most time; "Every two hours of reading, exercises, practice, etc. without an instructor count as one hour of learning." [B293] Thus the first level of any spell would take 400 hours to learn from publicly available sources due to the basic complexity of magic. To learn the two additional spells required takes 2 hours of study 5 nights a week for over eighteen months. However, for each Magery level above zero, the student can get by with 40 hours (or 4 weeks) less study (p.B235).

Of course, this goes much faster if one or both of the student's parents is a practicing mage and is willing to help. The mageborn child of mageborn parents may already know several spells before they even get to high school. In addition, the family of a working mage is usually financially comfortable, and so can afford one of the other options listed below.

SPELL CAMPS AND NIGHT SCHOOL: For a Few Dollars More

Spell camps teach only the most basic spells, so they can get by with a Magery 1 instructor at $250/day. Assuming an 8-hour work day and a 10 student class, a student-hour costs the camp $3.125. Doubling this to cover overhead and assuming the lesson/homework ratio is the same for student and teacher, a 1 character point course would cost $1,250 with an advanced course (Magery 3) costing three times that ($3,750). At 20 study-hours/week [(2 hours class + 2 hours homework)/day × 5 days per week] the course would be complete in ten weeks. Advanced students with Magery levels above zero have the option of either doing less homework or taking an accelerated course, saving either an hour per week of homework or one week of camp respectively per Magery level.

Night school and continuing education classes cost the same, but at (3 hours class + 3 hours homework) per week the course will take 34 weeks or about eight months per 1 character point spell. These classes are available to anyone who can pay, and may be provided by any educational institution or professional training organization with the proper staff and equipment. While extremely useful for students preparing for their SMATs, they are most popular with working mages who seek to learn new spells or improve existing ones. Even non-mages take these classes, either to learn the spell well enough (level 15+) to participate in ceremonial castings, for purely academic interest, or (in the Mana Belt) for personal use.

WIZARDS' ACADEMIES: That Old School Tie

As stated in the sidebar on TM15, Wizards' Academies "are private high schools, cadet schools and prep schools whose student bodies are entirely mageborn. They offer a traditional curriculum supplemented by extensive magical theory and practical studies in ``prerequisite'' spells." I suggest the training is four times as intensive as the public school system, providing 1 point in basic Thaumatology and 2 points in spells per year of school.

Thus one year of "wizard prep," two years of spell camp or two night school courses are enough to fill the gap between publicly funded schooling and university admission requirements outside the Mana Belt. The private and cadet schools provide twice the minimum prerequisites over four years of schooling, giving their graduates a full semester's advantage over other college freshmen. Enrollment fees are variable, but usually range from five to ten times that of their mundane equivalents. Fortunately there is financial aid in the form of grants, government sponsored loans and scholarships.

TUTORS AND MAGEWORK/STUDY: The Personal Touch

Private tutors are just mages with teaching credentials. This is the most expensive option; at $125 per hour (the standard consulting fee [TM100]), 200 hours of intensive training would cost $25,000! A live-in tutor costs the mage's regular salary [TM100] plus room and board; whether this is more economical depending on how long the mage has to stay to teach the student what s/he needs to know. Sometimes a salaried mage hired for another purpose will agree to apprentice the employer's child as part of his regular duties; the employer's cost is the lost service and possible overtime, while the mage gains someone to do the scut work.

The magework/study program is the closest thing to the traditional mage/apprentice relationship that modern child labor laws allow. The student takes a minimum wage job as an apprentice to a blue collar mageworker for academic credit and practical experience. Although usually approached as a full-time summer job, it may be a part time job scheduled after school or on weekends, or as part of a vocational training program. This job usually involves some form of manual labor, but sometimes includes providing energy for ceremonial magic rituals, either as a candle-holding Spectator (1 point) or as a lesser Circle member (3 points) if they already know the spell being cast.

After each shift, the mageworker spends two hours instructing the student in a basic spell used on the job, and provides two hours of homework to be completed for the next day. At the end of a 50 day work term, the student will have accumulated enough study hours for 1 character point the spell, plus (if an eight hour shift was worked each day) the equivalent of 100 hours learning the main skill learned on-the-job. These programs are sometimes government sponsored, but are more often backed by the companies offering them for tax concessions or consideration as a possible future employer.

A SMATtering of Knowledge

The wide variety of magical training available has prompted the development of the Standardized Magical Aptitude Tests (SMATs) which consist of written and practical examinations for the root spells (ie. those without other spells as prerequisites) of each spell College in the Basic Set. Standardized tests exist for the root spells of other Colleges, but these are usually administered by the faculty of the institution in question. The written portion has the same form (and is taken in the same manner) as mundane SATs, with the practical resembling an oral SAT examination judged by licensed mages. The Scroll practical is the sole exception; a sample Scroll is attached to the written exam with a notarized affidavit as to its origin.

SMATs are available for the following spells: Beast Soother, Sense Life, Sense Foes, Seek Earth, Purify Air, Ignite Fire, Seek Water, Scroll, Lend Strength, Detect Magic, Light and Foolishness. Non-SMAT admission tests are available for other College's spells such as Itch, Climbing, Fatigue, Seek Food, Test Food, Simple Illusion, Tell Time, Measurement, Ward, Scryguard, Counterspell, Keen Eyes, Keen Ears, Keen Nose, Apportation, Haste, Death Vision, Seek Plant, Sense Danger, Magelock, Sound, Seek Machine and Seek Power. (Spells in italics require advantages [often Magery] or minimum attribute levels to learn but no prior magical training.)

Because of their simplicity, root spells are often discovered as Kindermagic [TM15], but knowledge of traditional spell formula is required to pass these tests. (Q: Should knowledge of a Kindermagic variant aid in learning the traditional form?)

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION
"It's not really like IOU, is it?"

Well, not exactly (at least I sincerely hope not), but the GURPS Illuminati University is still an excellent guide to campus life. According to the sidebar on B83, "you might spend three to six hours each week in each class, plus three to six hours in homework -- say an average of nine hours a week. A semester is 21 weeks -- so a semester of classroom study equals around 200 hours per subject." (Yes, that's a bit short: add another half hour a week if you're feeling picky.) Using the IOU Student Handbook [IOU p.9] as my guide to standard university practices (no, I'm not crazy), "Full-time undergraduate students are expected to take from 12 to 18 credit-hours of courses each semester." Assuming "credit-hours" is the same as "hours of class per week," each semester should provide four to six character points to apply to the skills learned there.

Each Mental Hard spell is taught as a three credit-hour course, with 6.5 hours of homework-study expected per week. Very Hard spells are four credit-hours, swapping an hour of homework for one of class. While class work is identical for all students that meet course prerequisites, those with Magery levels above zero have an intuitive "feel" for magic and can get by with approximately one hour less homework per Magery level per week (p.B235). The amount of study is the same, but VH spell instructors get paid more because there is so much more documentation for the easier spells that the students can do much of the work themselves. Also, many introductory VH spell courses are taught as full year programs, so that at the end of the year the student will have at least base-level skill in the spell being taught.

The freshman Thaumaturgy programs for the major universities and colleges across Trinity's Shadow are pretty much the same; by the end of the second semester the student must have 1 point Thaumatology skill and know at least one spell from at least ten Colleges, including Lend and Recover Strength spells, and the root spells for each Elemental College. This includes the SMAT requirements, so only seven new spells must be learned that first year. Non-Thaumaturgy programs that require spells (ie. Medicine, Engineering, Journalism, Arts, etc.) have different first year requirements, but the basic SMAT requirements remain the same. (See TM16 for more information.)

To remain in the Thaumaturgy program, at least 60 percent of the credit hours taken each semester must be devoted to the study of spells. Universities usually require one course per year outside the department of the student's major, but technical colleges may waive this. At the end of the first year, a student should have enough information to choose his or her major spell College.

Notice: GURPS is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and the art here is copyrighted by Steve Jackson Games. All rights are reserved by SJ Games. This material is used here in accordance with the SJ Games online policy.