CoActionDrama

Basic Spell-craft

There are four types of magic of varying effectiveness and operation. They are embodied by the types:- Cleric, Magician, Sorcerer, and Wizard. There are also Hedge Witches, versed in herb lore, headology (thanks Pratchett), and the other traditional arts, such as midwifery, Soothsayers, mostly gloomy predictors of weather and portents, these manipulators are sometimes troublemakers and political adversaries. One more class is of note, the Marsh Witch. She, and it is invariably a she, has been run out of her society as a bad influence. They are usually powerful and frequently resentful of the rest of mankind, so they have instead an affinity with animals and non-humans. Cross them at your peril. (These are NPC’s only).

Different practitioners of magic in its various forms are deeply divided as a general statement of case. We shall deal with them each in turn, taking in some sociological proclivities of the societies they live in as we pass by.

Clerics

These are the practitioners of prayer magic, as handed down from their Gods. Each magic is a boon granted the Cleric for their worship and devotion.

At its simplest, Cleric magic is the calling forth of godly power to perform some feat that would not ordinarily be possible.  Clerics can store these boons up to their intelligence, but must pray in their temple once per week at least in order to receive them, the receipt ceremony is generally something of note, and they receive a maximum of one boon per week until the maximum. The boons once used must be granted again. (This is slightly different from the general rules for spell use, these rules are preferable). Some clerics enjoy a more personal relationship with their God, and in an emergency may call to their God in a prayer to meet some urgent need, (such as the power of flight when falling down a cliff). In game terms this the equivalent of praying while under stress, and the player is expected to make a praying role (1D10), as well as roleplay some sort of prayer that can be heard by the other players. The pray roll depends solely upon their wisdom. See the table for the results. It is important to realise that a boon is not really a spell, and boons must be reasonable and well defined. There is nothing worse for a Cleric to find that their boon is so general that it may not be granted even though they have made all the rolls. In addition other conditions may abound. Darian Clerics, for example, must pay some income from donations etc before the boon will be granted. It is just about the only check on the city priests and their acquisitiveness, unfortunately their God does not know the human value of money, and to be blunt, undercharges.

In the main, clerics are the solace for the population. The conductors of services in rural communities, (in towns clerics are referred to as priests, but they are the same thing really), boons are frequently used on behalf of some suffering soul who has some severe problem, such as illness or poverty due to a failed crop. Because of this duty of care, and the dangerous nature of life in the rural West, Clerics always have to hand, without prayer or tithe, the power to heal 1D10 damage to any location or locations up to their Wisdom times a day, in addition to any boons they may have. Boons may provide more powerful healing such as the ability to cure poisons, or provide full body healing.

Clerics will take a dim view of the request of a boon for purely selfish purposes, enrichment, or to make someone fall in love with a character, but may grant exceptions in the latter case for their own purpose. Clerics are in touch with their Gods, and sometimes the ways of the Gods are mysterious and ineffable. Clerics devotion to a God is unquestioned, and they are far more devoted to their God than their King for example, which is why the churches and the states generally maintain strict separation. That is not to say that high ranking Clerics are not well placed to advise monarchs, knights, barons etc. Wise Kings and nobles respect the Clerics for their power and influence over the population. In darker days more than one Cleric has led a popular uprising again unreasonably harsh monarchs. 

Mechanics

Clerics use 2D10 against their spell-craft to establish that the fundamental development is there to accomplish the boon.  The Cleric must then pray to their god, automatic, unless an emergency boon is on the cards, if this roleplay is sloppy the GM should FAIL the boon.

Healing at 1D10 per hit location is automatic, no roll required. Roll the die and give the result to the character involved. Clerics cannot heal themselves.

Magicians

Magicians are looked down upon by almost all other practitioners of magic. They are the poor relations, partly because they fall between the Sorcerers who are truly independent, and Clerics who are happy not to be. Magicians are the practitioners of an old magical compact between the Gods and Man, and note here that we mean Man, not humanoids, or women. The letter of the compact is very strong, and when it was drawn up, someone did not think to specify “human”, Man was written and Man it shall be until the end of the world.

Magicians practise sleight of hand a great deal, and in some communities it seems that this is all they can do. But all true Magicians have a copy of the compact about their person, and they can, when required, perform genuine magic. Their magic, when it comes about, is gestural and dramatic, and generally illusional in nature. They can affect people and animals, but not inanimate objects. Surprisingly, and this is one of the things that blurs an otherwise sharply defined line, they can affect things such as undead, golems, animated devices, in fact, anything which moves under its own power, clockwork or magic, can be affected by a magician as long as he knows the right spell. Spells are spoken aloud in the language of the Gods, usually a set of syllables drawn into a single sentence, and occasionally some component applied or waved around. (Wands are common).  The development is rolled while chanting the spell, players should not announce in advance what they are casting, they should simply cast and roll, but must have made a mark by the specific spell they are casting before doing so. Casting a spell takes a whole round and initiative does not count until the round after the spell cast begins. Magicians are not really combat spell casters.

Magicians charge up their spells by praying at any temple, where they must pay a tithe if they are not worshippers of that God, to renew the spells attached to their compact. Their spell book, the repository of their knowledge is very important to them, they may hold as many spells as 3 x their Wis in it, and by praying over and chanting the spell, usually all night, they can memorise it again for use the next day. Spells are passed from Magician to Magician, and are usually known by their creator, so a spell of light casting may be called Ritalizs’ Light of the Stone, for example. This restricts the power of Magicians considerably, but may provide esoteric spells suitable for unusual situations. Adventurers often interview Magicians with the specific purpose of finding out what spells they have or can adapt.

Mechanics

Magicians should keep a full spell list, they can keep up to 3xwisdom in it.  They may cast up to Int spells per day, though they may cast the same spell more than once.  At sundown they may begin recharging their memorized spells.  Praying may attract a tithe.

To cast a spell, the player should announce the casting by mentioning the name of the spell, either during the normal course of play, or at the beginning of a combat round. Magician Spells take a complete combat round to cast, and the effect comes in on the players turn during the next round if not distracted.

Characters are distracted if hit, forcefully moved, stopped chanting, and other situations occur.  Roll 2D10 to make a further spell casting roll if a test is required.  If a critical roll is made, the player may describe some extra effects for the spell.  For my current group, you should note that as he is the head of the magician’s order, Maurice has never rolled a spell casting that is not a critical, in fact a super critical, (20 under the required roll, as compared to 10 under, this is impossible to do under normal circumstances).

Be strict about components required.  Magicians can easily get out of control.

Sorcerers

Be careful about giving inexperienced players Sorcerer characters.  Sorcerers are very free characters, and are not subject to as many restrictions as Magicians.  Check spell-books and get spells agreed beforehand.  You will note that the available Sorcerer spell list includes spells which reference people by name.  These are the inventors of spells, and this is what provides the restriction for this class.  One persons spell may not work in all situations as described initially, Sorcerers may have designed spells for a given situation, and Sorcerers generally adapt spells for use.

The freemen of Magic. Sorcerers often serve a God as a disciple, but this is not always the case. They have freedoms which Clerics do not, and have powers that Magicians do not. In game terms they are the perfect independent adventurer type, they do not have to pray for boons, though they may be granted them under the same conditions as Clerics, asking whichever God occurs to them at the time. They learn spells of their or another’s making, and cast them at will, with little or no fuss, (up to the amount of spells in their Spell Book in a day),  though verbal components cannot be neglected, they may mumble or other wise disguise their mouthings. Sorcerers do not generally cast Magician spells, this represents a diminution of their power, (they must make a saving roll every time they do so or suffer a 1 intelligence loss, and subsequent reduction in spell power. This is recovered when they roll a natural 2 on a spell casting roll). Their spells are generally regarded as more powerful, as they can affect, permanently, living or un-living things. They may alter, conjure, dismiss, and create, as long as they know the right spell. Like Magicians they depend on a spell book, but their spell books may hold what seems to be an unlimited amount of spells, in fact 20xint is the limit. Spell books for Sorcerers spell books are indelible, so that although they may inscribe a spell on something for repeated use, something losable, (no tattooing!), once a spell is in a spell book it is un-erasable, and nothing can replace it. This makes learning a spell in later years a very serious business indeed, when sorcerers are much more cautious about their research. (Before we move on, note that a sorcerers book cannot be lost, it may temporarily be misplaced, but it will travel, in some mysterious way back to the sorcerer, use a rate of a 100 miles a day. It will then take about 120 days to travel back around the world to find its owner.) Young sorcerers are often reckless about what they learn, and in the first rush of power they may fill half their spell book. Many an old sorcerer has regretted the rash decisions of his youth when he decided to learn “Zedals Pretty Flower Production” rather than something that would save him upside down over a scorpion pit in later years.

Note that there as many sorceresses as sorcerers, and in fact, if a world count could be made, it would be found that there are exactly as many sorcerers as sorceresses in the world at any given moment. Sorcerers and Sorceresses are inextricably linked, even if they are a world apart, and should a meeting come about between linked parties some great love or enmity will inevitably come about. (Every time a PC Sorcerer/ess meets another of the opposite sex, roll D1000, if the roll comes up 000 the pair is met, and the GM should do something about it. It’s just one of those things that crops up from time to time). Incidentally, although players and GM know about this, all that any sorcerer knows is that sometimes they get married, even leaving much loved spouses, and sometimes they want to destroy each other. Sometimes one loves and one hates. (To find a die solution to knowing what is what, roll a D1000 each, if they are both high, [i.e. Above 500] then they are in “lurve”, if they both low, then “loathe”. Inevitably if one is high and one is low, then one loves and one hates).

Sorcerers do attend Wizard School for a while, (see later), but they are not suited to the whole discipline thing, and drop out when they feel they are ready. Disciples do not have to attend Wizard School, but may spend some time in the major temple of their God, or possibly some time alone with him or her.

Mechanics

Roll 2D10 for basic spell casting like all spells.  Some spells list a bonus or, more likely, penalty for the difficulty of the spell.  These may go outside normal penalty boundaries in particular.  Spells have ranges and  costs.  Costs may be tangible, i.e. money, or something that costs money or time, or intangible, such as a loss to intelligence, or empathy, or strength.  These costs must be strictly enforced. (Notice a theme creeping through here?)  Do try to make sure that Sorcerer characters play through their difficulties, they, the other players, the other characters, the campaign, and the GM will be better off for it.

Spells can be so individual and unique that the reader will see that I have not attempted to put an overall system in place, despite my original intention to do so.  The spells are meant to be unique and individual, crafted by dedicated magic users over time into a focussed and precise tool for performing a task in a specific way.  This ethos should carry over into play, spells are not just a flash bag, they are expression of the effort of someone, perhaps long dead, and represent a kind of immortality for the person concerned.  If you are lucky enough as a player, perhaps YOUR spell will be used by other players in the future, and you will have achieved your own immortality.

For making a new spells, the player must demonstrate that the character has done the research, understood the “pseudo-physics” of the world, and that the spell will work consistently for the same set of circumstances.  To demonstrate the research is taking place the player must be prepared to have their character take an active “backseat” during sessions, and pass at least 75% of 8 hourly spell research rolls, (i.e. Spell casting rolls).

Wizards

Wizards are the ultimate in magical power below Gods, and for this reason, Wizard characters are rare and unusual player characters. Wizards have the power, usually manifesting itself at puberty, to perform magic, true magic, with their minds alone, no gesturing or speaking is involved. No components are required, only the ability to imagine exactly what is required for a given situation, and to execute it within the mind. Roleplay wise, this should entail a very exact and plausible description of what is wanted and a roll against Int. Use the Emergency Cleric Table for an idea of the kind of thing that can happen.

Wizards manifest at puberty, so roll a D6 +10 to determine the onset, and for every two years after onset + 3, give a +1 bonus to succeed, provided they have been to wizarding school, or taught by a Wizard. Wizarding school does very occasionally send pupils out on training missions to see how they cope with the real world. The absolute prohibition on Wizards is they cannot unmake anything. So wishing that something had not been is a very bad idea. Wizarding school, and there are several, has one principle aim in mind, and it is the to relate to pupils that unmaking things is bad. It is so bad that should a wizard try to unmake something, that his/her power will turn upon him or herself and they will be the ones who disappear. Some natural wizards do this. If a player inadvertently or otherwise should decide to unmake something, the GM really must, with appropriate theatre, disintegrate, irretrievably, that character, no excuses or let offs. This is a central rule of magic. Incidentally, Sorcerers/Sorceresses do not have the power or focus to randomly unmake things, and they are not subject to this prohibition, since they cannot do it, it does not apply. Only Wizards, PC or otherwise.

Wizarding school is principally a place of contemplation and learning, of philosophy. These places are so quiet and refined, except possibly for the early student quarters, sorcerer studies, and research areas, that they make a monastery look like a bawdy house in high season after the gold rush. Any Wizard worth his salt is the epitome of calm deliberation and logic, coming from the highest places of the cognitive spectrum. (Which another reason that pcs don’t do Wizarding, it’s too hard on a player). This also means that one of the few restrictions on natures for any class or profession are in force. Anyone with an IQ of less than 120, and therefore an intelligence of less than 6, and a wisdom of less than 7, cannot be a wizard. GM should enforce the Wizarding ethos ruthlessly without remorse.

Wizards are therefore almost universally unmarried and rotund, for the men, and exquisitely beautiful and slim, for the women, but still unmarried, though more than one young man has fallen in love, futilely, with a wizardess. Get out of the way of anyone who calls a wizardess a witch. They don’t tolerate it.

Just a note, the seventh son of the seventh son of a wizard is usually a boy.

Summary

Cleric: Boons from gods up to Intelligence in memory. One boon per week. Emergency boons. Healing power 1D10 per location wisdom times a day. Roll wisdom + spell-cast development for boons, heal automatically. 

Magician: Illusion and living, including flame affecting spells mostly, up to intelligence in memory. Spell book up to 2 x wisdom. Charge spells at temples. Tithe for non-worshippers. Men only.  Wisdom + spell-cast development.

Sorcerer: Spells up to intelligence in memory. Repeatable. Spells up to 20xint in spell book, un-erasable. Losable charms permitted. D1000 to meet matching Sorcerer. Wisdom + spell-cast development to cast. 

Wizard: Non-PC mostly. Anything described. 

All spells are wisdom + spell-cast Development to cast. Preferred just mark sheet and roll to play. Magician spells take one round to cast. Others are at combat initiative unless stated in the spell description.