Game System:Magic

From Eldritch Wiki

Overview

Magic in the Buffy system is not the sole provence of those with a natural aptitude for it. Most anyone can actually perform a spell, but if they are not skilled or knowlegeable in magic, they might not get the result they hoped for. On Eldritch MUSH, the system of magic has been expanded and fleshed out to include specialties (Magical Camps) and costs Essence to cast. Those with the Magic quality have much more essence to use, so they can cast more, or higher level spells than the average joe.

Magical Camps

Magic, while usually seldom thought of as such by those who don't practice it, is divided into "schools" called Camps within the worldwide magical community of which there are eight: alchemy, chimerism, conjuration, enchantment, kismetry, necromancy, psychomancy, and proteanism. There are thousands, perhaps even millions, of spells written across the world, and not all of them fall into any of the above categories. Even some of the most common magic (simple levitation, weatherworking, lobbing fireballs) have no place in the Eightfold Camps. Some spells are too common, while others are too rare. However, most spells fit into at least one of the following eight sorcerous specialties. A character must have at least two levels of the Magic Quality to specialize, and can never specialize in more camps than his Magic rating halved (rounded down).

Alchemy

Perhaps one of the most ancient forms of magic, alchemy deals with using herbs and other materials to create potions, venoms, poisons, and concoctions that create a specific effect in the target. Alchemy is often the art of people with patience and culinary prowess. It does not fit those who are impatient or want quick results; it is an art best left to the manipulative and wise. Alchemy is versatile and praised in the magical community, and many magic users use it often, though few actually specialize in it.

Chimerism

The magical art of illusion. Chimerism has been used for millenia as entertainment for kings by magical jesters. It is the purview of illusionists and magicians of sight and sound. Chimerical magic is potent, and can be one of the most powerful tools in a magic users grimoric repertoir. Sleight of hand, control of ethereal substances, and the creation of all-but-real things can all be performed with chimerical magics. Dealing with chimerists can be especially dangerous, as they often have something real up their sleeve, and you never know when you're dealing with an illusion... or something far more dangerous.

Conjuration

Conjuration. Summoning. Evocation. It is one of the oldest and most feared of the magical camps; and also, distressingly, one of the easiest, due to the designs of those that it would come to affect. Conjuration holds within its purview all that is the creation of something from nothing; and worse yet, the calling of things from afar — or of things near to us, but slightly out of phase with the world. Demons, dark gods, and hellbeasts can all be summoned via conjuration. Though anyone can conjure, only the very egotistic or foolish specialize in it. And they never live very long. It's not the calling of the beast that's difficult... it's controlling what you've summoned.

Enchantment

Like alchemy, enchantment requires materials to work with. Unlike alchemy, enchantment is long term, creating artifacts of lesser or greater power. Famous objects such as Excalibur, Seven-League Boots, and Mjolnir, the Hammer of Thor are items that were created and crafted through enchantment. While any magic user can enchant an item, only those that specialize in it can create truly wonderful and powerful objects worthy of respect and fear.

Kismetry

Believed by some to be a gift granted upon sorcerers by the Fate Moira herself — earning itself the pseudonym moiarism — kismetry is the art of blessing, cursing, and binding others to their — or someone else's — fate. Also known as karmanism and soothsaying, anything that curses, blesses, binds, or returns freedom to someone (in some way or another) is the purview of this magical camp. In addition to these three limited but powerful fields, kismetry also encompasses divination and fortune-telling; though this is never a good idea. Looking past the present is never recommended.

Necromancy

Necromantic magic is one of the oldest and most feared of the magical arts. Even though in the modern day it is seen as a dark, perverted practice, many of the spells and potions in existence that are geared towards healing and curation were developed by benign necromancers who, through study and aplomb, developed beneficial uses for what would later be termed 'wicked'. Even so, much of this knowledge has been lost, and today, necromancy remains the purview of the perverse and necrotic, associated with other nefarious things.

Psychomancy

Relatively new as to being recognized as a specific field within the sorcerous community (re: 'new' in this context could mean hundreds of years), psychomancy deals with the human mind and the perceptions therein. It does not encompass true illusionism — but rather covers things that affect the mind directly, instead of altering perceptive reality around the targets. Spells based on psychomancy are often used to control the target, or read their minds. Psychomancers are dangerous people to deal with; you never know when they know what you know, or when you are doing something because you will it... or because they do.

Proteanism

Changeable in shape or form. Practioners of proteanism are often among the most mentally unstable of magical users. Proteanism as a magical art is dangerous, with inherent traits that make it not only difficult to cast correctly, but also a danger if certain steps are not taken. That said: shapeshifting, changing forms, and altering ones own (or someone else's!) physical state to some end (whether it be to acquire animalistic traits, enhanced physical prowess, or even just to heal flesh) are all the purview of proteanism.

Power Levels

Power levels are how we measure the power of a spell. There are no hard and fast rules, though we do provide a number of spells to more or less get a feel for what each Power Level can accomplish. Power Levels go from 0-10; 0 being mere cantrips or parlor tricks and 10 being monumental feats of incredible power hardly ever seen throughout time.

Fortunately for the world at large, the more powerful the spell the harder it is to cast and the more dangerous miscasting it is. Casting a spell requires an expenditure of Essence (see the Essence section) but also imposes a penalty on the casting roll. To cast a spell, the caster must roll (Willpower + Occult + Magic) - (Power Level).

Essence

Power. Quintessence. Mana! It’s what makes the magical world go round and round, and it's within every person, just waiting to be set free. The average person has about as much Essence as a bullfrog. Your Essence Pool, typically, consists of a number of Essence Points equal to your Willpower + Constitution rating. Casting spells requires an expenditure of said Essence. A character who does not have enough Essence to cast a spell cannot cast that spell. Simple as that. This is part of the reason why spellcasters avoid using their magic frivolously; no one has Essence to spare.

However, witches, shamans, wizards and any other spellcasters have power. Real power. Their Essence is far greater than it would be if they were normal human folk. The Magic Quality grants them greater access to their personal Essence, multiplying it by their power. If a character has the Magic Quality, their Essence Pool is equal to their [Willpower x (Magic +1)] + Constitution. Additionally, some spellcasters can delve deeper into their reserves, pulling out even vaster amounts of power. This is represented by the Increased Essence Pool Quality. Each level costs 1 Character Point and grants the character an additional 5 points to their Essence Pool.

All spells have an Essence cost. Most spells have an Essence cost of the spell's Power Level multiplied by 2. So a PL3 spell could cost 6 EP. Some spells might break with this rule for various reasons.

Casting Times

Each spell has a 'casting time' that demonstrates how long it takes to cast a particular spell. If the spell specifies how long it takes (perhaps the character must chant for minutes, or meditate for an hour) those are the rules used. However, there are default casting times. If the character has the spell in their Grimoire and has the Quickcasting Quality, she may cast any spell with the default casting time instantaneously on her initiative. It's just that quick. However, if she has it in her Grimoire but does not have the Quickcasting Quality, she must spend a number of turns concentrating equal to the spell's Power Level (during which she can only take defensive actions, but not Full Defense), and cast the spell on the turn after (so a PL 4 spell would be cast on the fifth turn). If the player does not have it in their Grimoire (or worse, does not have the Magic Quality at all), she must spend twice the Power Level of the spell concentrating to be able to cast it.

Learning Magic

Spells take time and effort to learn. A single spell can be a powerful tool, mimicking certain aspects of the supernatural that magical beings (such as demons or enchanted warriors) usually take for granted. A spell takes a number of days to learn equal to two times its Power Level, minus the SLs the researcher gets in their (Intelligence + Occult) - (Power Level) roll. A spell can never take less days to learn than its Power Level, regardless of the amount of successes achieved. Power Level 0 spells take 1 day to learn invariably, with no roll needed.

Spells can still be performed without having learned them. Magical tomes and spellbooks are an intrinsic part of fucking up when you're casting magic. This is why there are humans that summon terrible demons without having any power to call their own. However, spells that are not in one's Grimoire can never be quickcast, nor can they be cast more than once (by the second time, the character needs to have added it to his Grimoire).

In terms of Experience Points, learning a spell costs a number of experience points equal to twice the spell’s (Power Level +1). Thus, parlor tricks and cantrips of Power Level 0 cost 2 experience points each; while a Power Level 6 spell costs a whopping 14 Experience points.

Characters with the Magic Quality begin the game with a Grimoire containing a number of spells which cannot have an added Power Level higher than half their (Magic x Occultism). So if George has Magic 3 and Occultism 4, he can have a number of spells that, when their Power Levels are added, cannot reach a sum higher than 6. Power Level 0 spells are 2 for 1 (basically, they count as 0.5 in the summation). They cannot begin the game with any spells with a PL higher than their Magic rating.

Group Casting

Some spells can only be cast by a group of people; while other spells are so difficult to cast that it’s perhaps wise to enlist help. Group casting and boosting is simple, though they each work differently.

Collaborating

Collaborating refers to spells that cannot be cast unless a predetermined amount of casters are present and importing power. An Anti-Violence Spell, for example, typically necessitates three casters to work in unison. Typically, Essence costs and penalties remain the same. Each caster must succeed in the casting. Barring special rules depicted within individual spells, this is it for Collaborating. If one of the casters fail, they all suffer the miscast.

Boosting

Boosting is different. Boosting is when there is one primary caster, and the others are just helping her out in casting a spell. In this case, the assistant casters roll first. For non-Quickcast spells, assistant casters only spend half the Essence requirement, but roll with the normal spell penalty; unless the assistant caster does not have the spell in their Grimoire, in which case the Essence cost is full. Whichever the case, once every assistant (if there’s more than one) has rolled, the primary caster gets a bonus to the main casting roll equal to the total combined SLs of the assistants’ rolls. A caster cannot be assisted by more people than his rank in Magic. Assisted Quickcasting necessitates physical contact and cannot involve spells that are not in the Grimoire of every caster involved.