Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc (More info?)
Request For Comments:
---------------------
This magic system is part of an entire game system that's sort of
been running around in my head for years and I decided to finally start
writing some of it down and see how it looks. It doesn't include any
game mechanics (that will have to wait until I've fleshed out the basic
game mechanics) but does give an idea of the overall flavour and
workings.
I'm interested in any thoughts, ideas and constructive criticisms you
would care to offer. If some parts don¹t make sense please let me know,
it all makes sense to me but I don¹t know how effectively I'm getting
the ideas across.
Introduction
------------
Magic is powered by a form of energy called mana, mana allows effects
that would otherwise violate the physical laws of the universe. Mana on
it's own is inert and doesn't interact with the physical world but some
people (Mages) are able to harness (or channel) mana and cause effects
that are wildly out of proportion to the physical effort expended, for
example knocking down a wall with a wave of a hand. Channelling mana is
physically fatiguing even though the direct physical exertion is minor,
the amount of fatigue is directly proportional to the amount of mana
involved.
Mana is everywhere but the amount available to use varies from place
to place. The amount of mana that can be channelled at any one time
(known as the mana-flow) has been classified into levels with each
successively higher level containing twice as much mana as the previous
level. The majority of the planet is mana-poor having mana-flows of only
one or two. Higher level mana-flows decrease in their abundance
inversely to their power. There are very few small pockets of land with
a mana-flow of seven or above. An area with a high mana-flow is usually
surrounded by areas with successively lower mana levels. There are also
some areas with a mana-flow below a useful level called mana-dead areas.
Mana-flows do not conform to the geographical features of the land, they
extend below ground at least as deep as any mine has ever been dug,
extend up through the atmosphere and into space, and exist in, on and
above the oceans. They are constantly moving but very slowly, several
feet per year on average.
The approximate break down of the amount of land covered by each
mana-flow level is as follows: 0 -15% of the land, 1 - 35%, 2 - 30%,
3 - 17%, 4 - 2.8%, 5 - 0.2%, 6 - 0.05%, 7 - 0.001%, above 7 - 0.0001%.
The Three Types of Magic
------------------------
There are three methods that can be employed by a Mage to harness
mana; talents (sorcery), spells (wizardry) and rituals (witchcraft).
There is no crossover between the three methods, experience and
knowledge in one method doesn't impart any additional skill in another
but being proficient in one doesn't impact learning another.
Talents (Sorcery)
-----------------
Sorcerers are born with the innate ability to control mana but
without the knowledge to do it. A talent must first manifest itself
subconsciously before it can be practised and used consciously. Most
commonly talents are manifested in a situation of extreme importance and
risk, such as a near death situation. For example, a person with the
latent talent Heat is lost in the wilderness and freezing to death but
is unable to get a fire started using mundane techniques saves himself
by subconsciously using his latent talent to start the fire. Now that
this talent has manifested itself he can start to use it consciously. He
will have to practice to learn how to control it but he will also learn
how to harness more power as he practices. Some Sorcerer's talents
manifest during puberty, these talents tend to be more interpersonal in
nature (e.g.: Attract, Repel, Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, etc.)
The specific latent talents a Sorcerer has remain unknown until after
they manifest (if ever). There is no easy method for determining latent
talents, trial and error can be tried but it is very risky. Most
commonly the person has to be in imminent risk of death and if the
talent doesn't manifest death ensues. There are rituals that can be used
to make a talent manifest itself but they also have risks.
There are a few people who have what are known as wild talents. They
have talents that will unconsciously manifest in times of stress but
they are unable to use or control them consciously. Their talents are
often much more powerful than a regular Sorcerer's. For example someone
with a wild talent for Clairaudience (send) who is being threatened
could subconsciously send out a mental scream for help that is heard by
everyone in a thousand mile radius.
Talents are the weakest form of magic but also the most flexible, a
Wizard may be able to create a large ball of fire out of nothing but a
Sorcerer with the talent Heat can use it to prepare dinner, boil water,
light candles, start a house fire, cauterise a wound or boil the
eyeballs out of an enemy's head. As a Sorcerer learns to control his
talents he develops the ability to store mana in his body allowing him
to use his talents in a mana-free area or to use a talent at a level
above what is available in the local mana-flow. After using his internal
stores he can recharge in any area with a mana-flow.
Sorcerers can (using rituals) manufacture staves that store
additional mana that can then be used exactly like their internal stores
as long as they are in direct physical contact with the staff. The staff
can also be made to boost the effectiveness of his talents. A Sorcerer's
staff is personal to the Sorcerer that makes it, to anyone else it's
just a stick. The exceptions to this rule are twins and sometimes
full-blooded siblings. A Sorcerer can own as many staves as he likes and
can use more than one at the same time provided he's in physical contact
with them.
Spells (Wizardry)
-----------------
Wizards are not born with the innate ability to cast spells, they
must learn the incantation and gestures required to cast each spell. Not
everyone can learn how to cast a spell, whether this is because some
people just aren't mentally capable of casting spells or indicates some
innate spell casting ability is unknown. When casting a spell the mana
from the local mana-flow is channelled and formed into the desired
effect by the words of the incantation and the gestures of the caster.
Spells must be learned either from an instructor or from written
instructions and either be used or studied on a regular basis. Casting a
spell requires great precision and if the spell hasn't been cast or
studied recently there is a chance of the spell failing, possibly
spectacularly. This chance increases the longer the time since the spell
was last cast or studied. Most Wizards keep a written record of the
spells they have learned in books, these books are not magical in nature
but can be very valuable due to the knowledge contained on their pages.
New spells can be created with research and experimentation, brand new
spell are much more difficult to create than a variation of a known
spell.
Spells are more powerful than talents but not as powerful as rituals,
a spell can do more with the same amount of mana than a talent can. For
example a Wizard could use a Boil Water spell at first power to boil a
pot of water but a Sorcerer using his Heat talent would need to use it
at forth power to do the same thing. Spells are not as flexible as
talents, each spell has specific effects. For example a Boil Water spell
won't heat soup and a spell to make a fireball can't be used to light a
candle (well it could but it would be like trying to light a candle
using napalm).
Spells vary in complexity, some spells are simple to learn and others
require years of experience, this is known as the spell's order.
First-order spells are the simplest spells to learn and can be taught to
someone with no spell casting experience. Second-order spells are more
complex and required substantial experience with a variety of
first-order spells before they can be properly learned. This continues
for third-order spells, fourth-order spells, etc. All spells have a
specific minimum power level required to cast them, this is not directly
related to the spell's order. All spells can be cast at higher than
minimum power levels (provided there is sufficient local mana-flow).
Increasing the power level will increase various affects of the spell,
the particular affects vary on a spell by spell basis.
Wizards can (using rituals) manufacture wands that aid them in
casting spells by shortening the casting time, lowering the mana
required, simplifying the casting, extending the range, etc. of
specific spells. To be used the Wizard must be in direct physical
contact with the wand. Any Wizard can use any other Wizard's wand
provided they know the specific spells that are enhanced. Wizards can
make and own more than one wand but they can only use one wand at a time
to enhance a spell.
Rituals (Witchcraft)
--------------------
Witches are not born with the innate ability to perform rituals, they
must learn how to prepare the site, which materials are needed and how
they are used and memorise the chants for each specific ritual. Anyone
can learn how to perform a ritual but performing a ritual involves a lot
of steps that must be followed carefully to prepare the site, it
requires materials that may be quiet exotic or otherwise difficult to
acquire and it will take an hour or more to perform. Most people have
difficulty following all the steps to prepare the site and materials
without errors and have trouble maintaining the level of concentration
required to properly perform the ritual itself. When performing a ritual
the mana from the local mana-flow is channelled and formed into the
desired effect by the Witch's chanting and the physical materials used.
The steps for a ritual must be carefully followed in the proper
order, the instructions are generally not straight forward and are
usually written down so they can be referenced at any time. Since
preparing the site and gathering the materials are not time dependent
referencing written instructions is not an issue. The chants used while
performing the ritual can even be written down and referenced as long as
it doesn't interfere with the performance, even a pause to turn a page
will disrupt a ritual. Most Witches keep written instructions of the
rituals they have learned in books or on scrolls, these books or scrolls
are not magical in nature but can be very valuable due to the knowledge
contained on their pages. New rituals can be created with research and
experimentation, brand new rituals are much more difficult to create
than a variation of a known ritual.
Rituals are the most powerful form of magic and the most specific.
Rituals often have to be customised for the specific target and almost
always require the actual target (e.g. the weapon being enchanted), part
of the target (e.g. some blood from the targeted individual) or an
effigy created in accordance with the instructions of the specific
ritual. Rituals vary in difficulty, some rituals are simple to perform
and others require years of experience, this is known as the ritual's
order. First-order rituals are the simplest rituals to perform and can
be performed by someone with no prior experience. Second-order rituals
are more complex and required substantial experience with a variety of
first-order rituals before they can be properly performed. This
continues for third-order rituals, fourth-order rituals, etc.
A ritual requires a specific amount of mana to complete but the local
mana-flow can be below this (but not zero). If the mana-flow is lower
than the ritual requires it will take longer to perform. For example a
ritual that takes one hour to perform in a level four mana-flow, will
take eight hours in a level one mana-flow. If the local mana-flow is
below the level required for the ritual, multiple Witches can perform
the ritual together and shorten the time required. For example a ritual
that would take one Witch an hour to perform in a level four mana-flow,
can be performed in one hour by four Witches in a level two mana-flow.
Witches are able to use rituals to imbue magic into items. Such items
fall into several broad categories; magical assistance, such as a
Wizard's wand or Sorcerer's staff; Potions, which magically affect the
drinker; spell holders, which are able to store a spell's effect and
release it at a later point in time; items that have a specific magical
effect, such as a gem that gives off light or a sword that stays sharp;
and intelligent items, such as a sword that increases the wielder's
fighting ability.
Rituals can be incredibly powerful, they can create a castle out of
nothing, wipe out entire armies, control the weather, open gates to
other planes, etc. Generally the more powerful the ritual the more
complex the site preparations, the more exotic the materials, the more
difficult the chants, the longer it takes to perform, and the higher the
mana-flow it requires. While performing a ritual any break in the
performance will disrupt it, possibly with spectacular results.
Notes, design goals, miscellaneous thoughts and rationalisations
----------------------------------------------------------------
Some of my thoughts here will compare my system to D&D and what I
don't like about it mostly because that's the system I'm most familiar
with. I'm not really ragging on D&D it's great for what it is (I play in
a D&D game every week), but I'm interested in designing a different
style of game.
Mage is a generic term for anyone who harnesses mana, Sorcerer, Witch
and Wizard are titles for people who specialise in one type of magic.
Most Mages specialise in one type of magic but they often gain some
proficiency in the other types. Whether an individual refers to himself
as a Mage, a Wizard, a Sorcerer or a Witch is personal preference. In
the rules I use them to refer to the type of magic being used by the
person at the time, so if I write "A Wizard cast this spell and a
Sorcerer exercised this talent" could refer to the same person.
This magic system is part of an entire game system that's sort of
been running around in my head for years and I decided to finally start
writing some of it down and see how it looks. This is the first part of
the system I've written down, the rest of the system is immaterial at
this time except to say that fatigue is going be an important part of
the system, it will have an important role in magic use, combat and
movement. Magic use does not come with arbitrary limits (e.g. X number
of spells per day) but magic use does cause fatigue which gives it a
self limiting nature.
One of my goals designing this system is to develop a magic system
that makes magic use prevalent but not common, that keeps magic...
magical. It allows for some incredibly powerful magic but doesn't allow
it to become common place. I've never liked D&D's methodology of trying
to arbitrarily limit very powerful magic by making the material
components expensive (in money and/or experience). I want to limit the
use of very powerful magic I just want the limits to make sense in the
milieu and be internally consistent.
I want a system that is low magic most of the time but also has very
powerful magic available. I want to make powerful magic rare by nature
instead of some arbitrary game rule. Mana-flows are one of the concepts
that I developed with this in mind, most of the world is mana-poor.
Mana-poor areas prevent medium and high powered spells from operating,
sorcerers can overcome this to some extent but their powers are less
effective than spells by nature. In general it takes a talent two or
three power levels above a Spell to have similar effects.
To further make powerful magic rare each increase in mana levels
doubles the amount of mana, this means that a forth-powered spell uses
the same amount of mana as eight, first-powered spells. This keeps
sorcerers from walking into a mana-poor area and exercising fifth or
sixth-powered talents when a second-power talent would do the job.
Exercising a sixth-power talent would use thirty two mana-points which
would likely come close to draining him completely.
Rituals of any power level can be performed anywhere except mana-dead
areas, but the lower the mana-flow the longer it will take or the more
witches it needs and the greater the chance of it being interrupted.
Normal folks don't generally understand the the differences or
limitations of magic. They know that a witch created the local castle
out of thin air and think the sorcerer that just walked into the tavern
has the potential for same kind of power. What they don't know is it
took the Witch and three associates four hours to perform the ritual,
they don't know about the eight months the witch spend building the
accurate scale model of the castle or the two months spend preparing the
site. They also don't know that the castle is situated on a level six
mana-flow while the tavern is on a level one mana-flow.
The three types of magic are quiet different in how they operate.
Wizardry is for the people that like big flashy magic, throwing
fireballs around, etc. Sorcery is for those who like more subtle but
flexible magic. A Wizard may know a spell to rain firery death on
someone but a Sorcerer can use his telekinetic power to grab his enemy's
brain and kill him by violently shake it around inside his skull.
I don't want to give the wrong impression of a sorcerer's power with
the above example, using telekinesis to shake someone's brain hard
enough to kill him requires a mid-powered talent provided the sorcerer
is very close (e.g. has his hands on the other guy's head) to do it from
a distance would be require high-power. To kill someone a hundred yards
away in this manner would be at least a sixth-powered or even a
seventh-powered talent.
Witches, I think, aren't going to make popular player characters,
their magic just takes too long to perform to be useful in a party of
adventurers (they could fit very well in a game that isn't a standard
adventuring group though). Witches and witchcraft are important parts of
the milieu though and other mages are going to want to use some
witchcraft, they are at least going to want to make their own staves and
wands.
Spells and Rituals have a difficulty order that is separate from
their power requirements to keep the more powerful spells out of the
reach of the inexperienced. It also gives characters ongoing goals to
strive for. There is also a skill (for lack of a better term) the
characters must develop to be able to harness higher mana-flows. A
beginner can use first-powered magic but would be unable to control
second or higher powered magics. This gives the players something else
to strive for.
I haven't completely thought through the methodology for determining
which latent talents and which talents have already manifested
themselves for a particular sorcerer as a player character, my current
thinking is to detail two or three methods and let the people playing
the game decide which they want to use (or come up with their own). As a
GM my tendency would be to let the player pick two or three talents that
have already manifested and that fit with the character's concept, then
I would pick X number of latent talents and wait for them to manifest
themselves in the game (if ever).
There is a forth type of magic that I could develop, that would be
Priestly (i.e. god-derived) magic, but right now I'm not in favour of
it. There is nothing in the rules stopping a priest from learning magic
the same way as anyone else or a church having a number of unique spells
and rituals they keep to themselves if that's what the GM wants. My
aversion to Priestly magic is based strictly on my desire not to have
Gods playing a role in the milieu, the belief in Gods and religion
definitely but I want to leave the existence of Gods up to debate and
individual belief.
One of my goals is to develop the system so that mages are feared (by
the general populace in the game) more by reputation than by deed. A
highly skilled Mage is unable to use the majority of his abilities in a
mana-poor area and even in a mana-rich area once he's used a few
high-powered magics and he will be left too fatigued to do little more
than stumble away.
Experienced sorcerers and a wizards are greatly aided by their staves
and wands, which makes these items a potential Achilles Heal. Separating
a wizard from his wand or a sorcerer from his staff can greatly reduce
their effectiveness.
I don't have any spell lists yet, I haven't detailed any talents or
written the instructions for any rituals so I know it's hard for others
to grasp the differences between the three types of magic. The first
thing to know is there is no effect one type of magic can produce that
the other types can't duplicate, the differences are in the scale of
what they can do and how they do it. For example take healing. A
Sorcerer can use his Heal talent to heal a badly wounded comrade, the
closer he can get the easier it is so he will prefer to lay his hands on
the other guy's body and and cure two points of damage exercising his
talent effectively at third-power (being in contact with the target of
the spell reduces the required power-level by one so he actually only
exercises his talent at second-power).
A Wizard can use a spell to heal someone but his spells are more
specialised than a Sorcerer's Heal talent. A Wizard could use a Mend
Bones spell at first power to cure two points of broken bone damage and
his spells aren't as affected by distance as talents so he can do it
from across the room. He could use it at third-power to cure eight
points of damage. However he would need to use a different spell to stop
bleeding, repair torn muscles or repair damaged internal organs. A
Witch's ritual is even more specialised but potentially more powerful.
One ritual would be able to clear-up acne, another can completely repair
a broken arm and another can regrow a missing leg. There are rituals to
retard aging, even rituals to raise the dead. A ritual to raising the
dead is an hour long, sixth-power ritual that needs the body and
possibly other items depending on the specific ritual (e.g. one version
needs the specific weapon that killed him), and it would need extensive
site preparation. Different raise dead rituals exist and the one
required depends on different factors such as how the person died.
One rule that is arbitrary but important is that magic can't reduce
fatigue, fatigue is one of the main methods used to control magic use
and allowing magic to get around it defeats its purpose.
Request For Comments:
---------------------
This magic system is part of an entire game system that's sort of
been running around in my head for years and I decided to finally start
writing some of it down and see how it looks. It doesn't include any
game mechanics (that will have to wait until I've fleshed out the basic
game mechanics) but does give an idea of the overall flavour and
workings.
I'm interested in any thoughts, ideas and constructive criticisms you
would care to offer. If some parts don¹t make sense please let me know,
it all makes sense to me but I don¹t know how effectively I'm getting
the ideas across.
Introduction
------------
Magic is powered by a form of energy called mana, mana allows effects
that would otherwise violate the physical laws of the universe. Mana on
it's own is inert and doesn't interact with the physical world but some
people (Mages) are able to harness (or channel) mana and cause effects
that are wildly out of proportion to the physical effort expended, for
example knocking down a wall with a wave of a hand. Channelling mana is
physically fatiguing even though the direct physical exertion is minor,
the amount of fatigue is directly proportional to the amount of mana
involved.
Mana is everywhere but the amount available to use varies from place
to place. The amount of mana that can be channelled at any one time
(known as the mana-flow) has been classified into levels with each
successively higher level containing twice as much mana as the previous
level. The majority of the planet is mana-poor having mana-flows of only
one or two. Higher level mana-flows decrease in their abundance
inversely to their power. There are very few small pockets of land with
a mana-flow of seven or above. An area with a high mana-flow is usually
surrounded by areas with successively lower mana levels. There are also
some areas with a mana-flow below a useful level called mana-dead areas.
Mana-flows do not conform to the geographical features of the land, they
extend below ground at least as deep as any mine has ever been dug,
extend up through the atmosphere and into space, and exist in, on and
above the oceans. They are constantly moving but very slowly, several
feet per year on average.
The approximate break down of the amount of land covered by each
mana-flow level is as follows: 0 -15% of the land, 1 - 35%, 2 - 30%,
3 - 17%, 4 - 2.8%, 5 - 0.2%, 6 - 0.05%, 7 - 0.001%, above 7 - 0.0001%.
The Three Types of Magic
------------------------
There are three methods that can be employed by a Mage to harness
mana; talents (sorcery), spells (wizardry) and rituals (witchcraft).
There is no crossover between the three methods, experience and
knowledge in one method doesn't impart any additional skill in another
but being proficient in one doesn't impact learning another.
Talents (Sorcery)
-----------------
Sorcerers are born with the innate ability to control mana but
without the knowledge to do it. A talent must first manifest itself
subconsciously before it can be practised and used consciously. Most
commonly talents are manifested in a situation of extreme importance and
risk, such as a near death situation. For example, a person with the
latent talent Heat is lost in the wilderness and freezing to death but
is unable to get a fire started using mundane techniques saves himself
by subconsciously using his latent talent to start the fire. Now that
this talent has manifested itself he can start to use it consciously. He
will have to practice to learn how to control it but he will also learn
how to harness more power as he practices. Some Sorcerer's talents
manifest during puberty, these talents tend to be more interpersonal in
nature (e.g.: Attract, Repel, Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, etc.)
The specific latent talents a Sorcerer has remain unknown until after
they manifest (if ever). There is no easy method for determining latent
talents, trial and error can be tried but it is very risky. Most
commonly the person has to be in imminent risk of death and if the
talent doesn't manifest death ensues. There are rituals that can be used
to make a talent manifest itself but they also have risks.
There are a few people who have what are known as wild talents. They
have talents that will unconsciously manifest in times of stress but
they are unable to use or control them consciously. Their talents are
often much more powerful than a regular Sorcerer's. For example someone
with a wild talent for Clairaudience (send) who is being threatened
could subconsciously send out a mental scream for help that is heard by
everyone in a thousand mile radius.
Talents are the weakest form of magic but also the most flexible, a
Wizard may be able to create a large ball of fire out of nothing but a
Sorcerer with the talent Heat can use it to prepare dinner, boil water,
light candles, start a house fire, cauterise a wound or boil the
eyeballs out of an enemy's head. As a Sorcerer learns to control his
talents he develops the ability to store mana in his body allowing him
to use his talents in a mana-free area or to use a talent at a level
above what is available in the local mana-flow. After using his internal
stores he can recharge in any area with a mana-flow.
Sorcerers can (using rituals) manufacture staves that store
additional mana that can then be used exactly like their internal stores
as long as they are in direct physical contact with the staff. The staff
can also be made to boost the effectiveness of his talents. A Sorcerer's
staff is personal to the Sorcerer that makes it, to anyone else it's
just a stick. The exceptions to this rule are twins and sometimes
full-blooded siblings. A Sorcerer can own as many staves as he likes and
can use more than one at the same time provided he's in physical contact
with them.
Spells (Wizardry)
-----------------
Wizards are not born with the innate ability to cast spells, they
must learn the incantation and gestures required to cast each spell. Not
everyone can learn how to cast a spell, whether this is because some
people just aren't mentally capable of casting spells or indicates some
innate spell casting ability is unknown. When casting a spell the mana
from the local mana-flow is channelled and formed into the desired
effect by the words of the incantation and the gestures of the caster.
Spells must be learned either from an instructor or from written
instructions and either be used or studied on a regular basis. Casting a
spell requires great precision and if the spell hasn't been cast or
studied recently there is a chance of the spell failing, possibly
spectacularly. This chance increases the longer the time since the spell
was last cast or studied. Most Wizards keep a written record of the
spells they have learned in books, these books are not magical in nature
but can be very valuable due to the knowledge contained on their pages.
New spells can be created with research and experimentation, brand new
spell are much more difficult to create than a variation of a known
spell.
Spells are more powerful than talents but not as powerful as rituals,
a spell can do more with the same amount of mana than a talent can. For
example a Wizard could use a Boil Water spell at first power to boil a
pot of water but a Sorcerer using his Heat talent would need to use it
at forth power to do the same thing. Spells are not as flexible as
talents, each spell has specific effects. For example a Boil Water spell
won't heat soup and a spell to make a fireball can't be used to light a
candle (well it could but it would be like trying to light a candle
using napalm).
Spells vary in complexity, some spells are simple to learn and others
require years of experience, this is known as the spell's order.
First-order spells are the simplest spells to learn and can be taught to
someone with no spell casting experience. Second-order spells are more
complex and required substantial experience with a variety of
first-order spells before they can be properly learned. This continues
for third-order spells, fourth-order spells, etc. All spells have a
specific minimum power level required to cast them, this is not directly
related to the spell's order. All spells can be cast at higher than
minimum power levels (provided there is sufficient local mana-flow).
Increasing the power level will increase various affects of the spell,
the particular affects vary on a spell by spell basis.
Wizards can (using rituals) manufacture wands that aid them in
casting spells by shortening the casting time, lowering the mana
required, simplifying the casting, extending the range, etc. of
specific spells. To be used the Wizard must be in direct physical
contact with the wand. Any Wizard can use any other Wizard's wand
provided they know the specific spells that are enhanced. Wizards can
make and own more than one wand but they can only use one wand at a time
to enhance a spell.
Rituals (Witchcraft)
--------------------
Witches are not born with the innate ability to perform rituals, they
must learn how to prepare the site, which materials are needed and how
they are used and memorise the chants for each specific ritual. Anyone
can learn how to perform a ritual but performing a ritual involves a lot
of steps that must be followed carefully to prepare the site, it
requires materials that may be quiet exotic or otherwise difficult to
acquire and it will take an hour or more to perform. Most people have
difficulty following all the steps to prepare the site and materials
without errors and have trouble maintaining the level of concentration
required to properly perform the ritual itself. When performing a ritual
the mana from the local mana-flow is channelled and formed into the
desired effect by the Witch's chanting and the physical materials used.
The steps for a ritual must be carefully followed in the proper
order, the instructions are generally not straight forward and are
usually written down so they can be referenced at any time. Since
preparing the site and gathering the materials are not time dependent
referencing written instructions is not an issue. The chants used while
performing the ritual can even be written down and referenced as long as
it doesn't interfere with the performance, even a pause to turn a page
will disrupt a ritual. Most Witches keep written instructions of the
rituals they have learned in books or on scrolls, these books or scrolls
are not magical in nature but can be very valuable due to the knowledge
contained on their pages. New rituals can be created with research and
experimentation, brand new rituals are much more difficult to create
than a variation of a known ritual.
Rituals are the most powerful form of magic and the most specific.
Rituals often have to be customised for the specific target and almost
always require the actual target (e.g. the weapon being enchanted), part
of the target (e.g. some blood from the targeted individual) or an
effigy created in accordance with the instructions of the specific
ritual. Rituals vary in difficulty, some rituals are simple to perform
and others require years of experience, this is known as the ritual's
order. First-order rituals are the simplest rituals to perform and can
be performed by someone with no prior experience. Second-order rituals
are more complex and required substantial experience with a variety of
first-order rituals before they can be properly performed. This
continues for third-order rituals, fourth-order rituals, etc.
A ritual requires a specific amount of mana to complete but the local
mana-flow can be below this (but not zero). If the mana-flow is lower
than the ritual requires it will take longer to perform. For example a
ritual that takes one hour to perform in a level four mana-flow, will
take eight hours in a level one mana-flow. If the local mana-flow is
below the level required for the ritual, multiple Witches can perform
the ritual together and shorten the time required. For example a ritual
that would take one Witch an hour to perform in a level four mana-flow,
can be performed in one hour by four Witches in a level two mana-flow.
Witches are able to use rituals to imbue magic into items. Such items
fall into several broad categories; magical assistance, such as a
Wizard's wand or Sorcerer's staff; Potions, which magically affect the
drinker; spell holders, which are able to store a spell's effect and
release it at a later point in time; items that have a specific magical
effect, such as a gem that gives off light or a sword that stays sharp;
and intelligent items, such as a sword that increases the wielder's
fighting ability.
Rituals can be incredibly powerful, they can create a castle out of
nothing, wipe out entire armies, control the weather, open gates to
other planes, etc. Generally the more powerful the ritual the more
complex the site preparations, the more exotic the materials, the more
difficult the chants, the longer it takes to perform, and the higher the
mana-flow it requires. While performing a ritual any break in the
performance will disrupt it, possibly with spectacular results.
Notes, design goals, miscellaneous thoughts and rationalisations
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Some of my thoughts here will compare my system to D&D and what I
don't like about it mostly because that's the system I'm most familiar
with. I'm not really ragging on D&D it's great for what it is (I play in
a D&D game every week), but I'm interested in designing a different
style of game.
Mage is a generic term for anyone who harnesses mana, Sorcerer, Witch
and Wizard are titles for people who specialise in one type of magic.
Most Mages specialise in one type of magic but they often gain some
proficiency in the other types. Whether an individual refers to himself
as a Mage, a Wizard, a Sorcerer or a Witch is personal preference. In
the rules I use them to refer to the type of magic being used by the
person at the time, so if I write "A Wizard cast this spell and a
Sorcerer exercised this talent" could refer to the same person.
This magic system is part of an entire game system that's sort of
been running around in my head for years and I decided to finally start
writing some of it down and see how it looks. This is the first part of
the system I've written down, the rest of the system is immaterial at
this time except to say that fatigue is going be an important part of
the system, it will have an important role in magic use, combat and
movement. Magic use does not come with arbitrary limits (e.g. X number
of spells per day) but magic use does cause fatigue which gives it a
self limiting nature.
One of my goals designing this system is to develop a magic system
that makes magic use prevalent but not common, that keeps magic...
magical. It allows for some incredibly powerful magic but doesn't allow
it to become common place. I've never liked D&D's methodology of trying
to arbitrarily limit very powerful magic by making the material
components expensive (in money and/or experience). I want to limit the
use of very powerful magic I just want the limits to make sense in the
milieu and be internally consistent.
I want a system that is low magic most of the time but also has very
powerful magic available. I want to make powerful magic rare by nature
instead of some arbitrary game rule. Mana-flows are one of the concepts
that I developed with this in mind, most of the world is mana-poor.
Mana-poor areas prevent medium and high powered spells from operating,
sorcerers can overcome this to some extent but their powers are less
effective than spells by nature. In general it takes a talent two or
three power levels above a Spell to have similar effects.
To further make powerful magic rare each increase in mana levels
doubles the amount of mana, this means that a forth-powered spell uses
the same amount of mana as eight, first-powered spells. This keeps
sorcerers from walking into a mana-poor area and exercising fifth or
sixth-powered talents when a second-power talent would do the job.
Exercising a sixth-power talent would use thirty two mana-points which
would likely come close to draining him completely.
Rituals of any power level can be performed anywhere except mana-dead
areas, but the lower the mana-flow the longer it will take or the more
witches it needs and the greater the chance of it being interrupted.
Normal folks don't generally understand the the differences or
limitations of magic. They know that a witch created the local castle
out of thin air and think the sorcerer that just walked into the tavern
has the potential for same kind of power. What they don't know is it
took the Witch and three associates four hours to perform the ritual,
they don't know about the eight months the witch spend building the
accurate scale model of the castle or the two months spend preparing the
site. They also don't know that the castle is situated on a level six
mana-flow while the tavern is on a level one mana-flow.
The three types of magic are quiet different in how they operate.
Wizardry is for the people that like big flashy magic, throwing
fireballs around, etc. Sorcery is for those who like more subtle but
flexible magic. A Wizard may know a spell to rain firery death on
someone but a Sorcerer can use his telekinetic power to grab his enemy's
brain and kill him by violently shake it around inside his skull.
I don't want to give the wrong impression of a sorcerer's power with
the above example, using telekinesis to shake someone's brain hard
enough to kill him requires a mid-powered talent provided the sorcerer
is very close (e.g. has his hands on the other guy's head) to do it from
a distance would be require high-power. To kill someone a hundred yards
away in this manner would be at least a sixth-powered or even a
seventh-powered talent.
Witches, I think, aren't going to make popular player characters,
their magic just takes too long to perform to be useful in a party of
adventurers (they could fit very well in a game that isn't a standard
adventuring group though). Witches and witchcraft are important parts of
the milieu though and other mages are going to want to use some
witchcraft, they are at least going to want to make their own staves and
wands.
Spells and Rituals have a difficulty order that is separate from
their power requirements to keep the more powerful spells out of the
reach of the inexperienced. It also gives characters ongoing goals to
strive for. There is also a skill (for lack of a better term) the
characters must develop to be able to harness higher mana-flows. A
beginner can use first-powered magic but would be unable to control
second or higher powered magics. This gives the players something else
to strive for.
I haven't completely thought through the methodology for determining
which latent talents and which talents have already manifested
themselves for a particular sorcerer as a player character, my current
thinking is to detail two or three methods and let the people playing
the game decide which they want to use (or come up with their own). As a
GM my tendency would be to let the player pick two or three talents that
have already manifested and that fit with the character's concept, then
I would pick X number of latent talents and wait for them to manifest
themselves in the game (if ever).
There is a forth type of magic that I could develop, that would be
Priestly (i.e. god-derived) magic, but right now I'm not in favour of
it. There is nothing in the rules stopping a priest from learning magic
the same way as anyone else or a church having a number of unique spells
and rituals they keep to themselves if that's what the GM wants. My
aversion to Priestly magic is based strictly on my desire not to have
Gods playing a role in the milieu, the belief in Gods and religion
definitely but I want to leave the existence of Gods up to debate and
individual belief.
One of my goals is to develop the system so that mages are feared (by
the general populace in the game) more by reputation than by deed. A
highly skilled Mage is unable to use the majority of his abilities in a
mana-poor area and even in a mana-rich area once he's used a few
high-powered magics and he will be left too fatigued to do little more
than stumble away.
Experienced sorcerers and a wizards are greatly aided by their staves
and wands, which makes these items a potential Achilles Heal. Separating
a wizard from his wand or a sorcerer from his staff can greatly reduce
their effectiveness.
I don't have any spell lists yet, I haven't detailed any talents or
written the instructions for any rituals so I know it's hard for others
to grasp the differences between the three types of magic. The first
thing to know is there is no effect one type of magic can produce that
the other types can't duplicate, the differences are in the scale of
what they can do and how they do it. For example take healing. A
Sorcerer can use his Heal talent to heal a badly wounded comrade, the
closer he can get the easier it is so he will prefer to lay his hands on
the other guy's body and and cure two points of damage exercising his
talent effectively at third-power (being in contact with the target of
the spell reduces the required power-level by one so he actually only
exercises his talent at second-power).
A Wizard can use a spell to heal someone but his spells are more
specialised than a Sorcerer's Heal talent. A Wizard could use a Mend
Bones spell at first power to cure two points of broken bone damage and
his spells aren't as affected by distance as talents so he can do it
from across the room. He could use it at third-power to cure eight
points of damage. However he would need to use a different spell to stop
bleeding, repair torn muscles or repair damaged internal organs. A
Witch's ritual is even more specialised but potentially more powerful.
One ritual would be able to clear-up acne, another can completely repair
a broken arm and another can regrow a missing leg. There are rituals to
retard aging, even rituals to raise the dead. A ritual to raising the
dead is an hour long, sixth-power ritual that needs the body and
possibly other items depending on the specific ritual (e.g. one version
needs the specific weapon that killed him), and it would need extensive
site preparation. Different raise dead rituals exist and the one
required depends on different factors such as how the person died.
One rule that is arbitrary but important is that magic can't reduce
fatigue, fatigue is one of the main methods used to control magic use
and allowing magic to get around it defeats its purpose.
. I had a similar "problem" several years ago
.
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