GURPS - Compendium 1..

Racial Magic
Many fantasy races and creatures of horror fiction are magical. There are
several ways in which the GM can grant his races magical powers:
Advantages: The GM can specify that almost any advantage stems from the
race's magical nature as a "special effect." Such advantages will not work in "no
mana" zones; if regions without mana are particularly common in the campaign
world, the GM should assess a -10% limitation to such advantages. The Occult
and Paranormal advantages on pp. 33-48 are especially suited to this role.
Racial Knacks: The GM can define a racial knack for a certain spell.
Knacks are an optional magical system found in GURPS Magic. They are also
briefly discussed under Inherent Magic, p. 38.
Racially-Learned Spells: These are completely normal spells - all rules and
prerequisites apply. The only thing that distinguishes them is that they are (under
normal conditions) taught to every member of the race at an early age. Generally
speaking, a race with racially-learned spells must also have racial Magery.
Racially-Innate Spells: A racially-innate spell is known intuitively to all
members of a race; it isn't taught to them. Races that live in areas without high
mana must have racial Magery before they can have racially-innate spells. Any
spell can be innate, but the GM is cautioned against granting the more powerful
spells to PC races through this method.
The minimum cost for a racially-innate spell is the number of points necessary
to bring that race's skill to 12 (based on racial Magery and the race's default
IQ), or one point, whichever is more. If an individual has his IQ reduced to the
point where his skill would fall below 12, the spell will not work. The GM may
allow a player who voluntarily buys down IQ during initial creation to also buy off
innate spells. The GM does not have to allow this, however. If the character is
allowed to buy off his innate spells at creation, those abilities can never be
recovered. If the character retains the innate spell, it is considered to be "dormant."
If he later has his IQ or Magery raised to the point where his skill equals 12 or
more, the ability activates and he can use the spell normally.
The only prerequisite for the use of a racially-innate spell is a personal skill of
12 or more with that spell. All other prerequisite spells, advantages and characteristics
are disregarded.
Filling in the Blanks
Once the GM has selected a new race's advantages, disadvantages, quirks
and skills, he's ready to face the real challenge of racial creation. Some questions
that still need to be answered . . .
* What does the race look like? How big is it? How tall? What shape? What
color? Does it have hair? What color? Does it have eyes? Does it have distinctive
markings? Does it have hands or claws? What direction do its joints bend?
* Where and how was the race created? What environmental pressures
combined to give the race its advantages and disadvantages?
* How does the race live? How do they govern themselves? Are they gregarious
or solitary in nature? If gregarious, do they favor large cities, small villages
or family groups?
* How does the race think? Do they have a racial philosophy? Do they have a
religion? Do they have many religions? How do they react in an emergency? Do
they like new things, or are they complacent? Can they be trusted?
* How does the race get along with others? Do they fight among themselves?
How do they react to new races? Suspiciously? Enthusiastically? Do
they trade with other races? Are there other races they particularly like or dislike?
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