Magic in Fitz's Fantasy Campaign (Mk.IV)

All human magic is Ritual Magic. That means that it usually takes a long time to cast a spell, with a lot of associated mumbo-jumbo and flummery associated with the spellcasting. The use of magic puts a great strain on the the spellcaster, and spell-casting can leave a magician exhausted for some time. In some instances, the ritual may require that the caster have assistance from one or more other people.

Magicians in this campaign are dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants, metaphorically speaking. Few magicians have any true understanding of the mechanisms they're working with; the Golden Age of magical research and development is long past, and modern spell-users are technicians rather than creators. For all that there are wizards with the knowledge of some truly devastating magic, and the fact that they didn't actually invent the spell they could use to obliterate an entire city is of little relevance to their potential victims.

Wizards are, by and large, an arrogant and paranoid bunch; they are disdainful of the ruck and swill of humanity and suspicious of their colleagues. They tend to think that everyone is out to get them, and they're generally not wrong. They also tend to believe that they're much more intelligent and perceptive than everyone else, and in fact they're often right about that too. A gathering of wizards is an event which is both highly unusual and fraught with danger as everyone tip-toes around everyone else, on their guard against a magical (or mundane) knife in the back.

Wizards, as people of intellect and high destiny, are especially scornful of those they decry as dabblers in the Arts Arcane. Any farmer or blacksmith knows a charm or two to keep the fairy-folk appeased or to help the iron quench cleanly, and warriors have their own pre-battle rituals. Every midwife has charms galore to help with birthing. As far as "real" wizards are concerned though, this is nothing more than hedge magic, barely better than ignorant superstition. Exactly where the line is drawn between hedge magicians and proper wizards is something it can be difficult to pin down, and unless you want to really piss off an archmage it's probably best not to raise the subject with him at all.

NOTE: PC magicians aren't necessarily required to act like this of course, but they shouldn't be surprised when they encounter these attitudes from NPC sorcerers.

Magical energy is channelled by the spellcaster from the surrounding area through his or her own body. This is a stressful process, and requires a certain degree of control. A potent spell requires the disciplined channeling of a great deal of power, and failure to control the magical energies can result in a crippling backlash.

This has several game effects, with respect to the way that magic spells are constructed as powers — details are as follows.

Anyone. Anyone at all can learn to cast spells, subject to the limitations laid out below. A character need not devote themselves entirely to the magical arts — if a burly warrior wants to learn a charm to fend off arrows, he can, as long as he can find someone to teach him or he can lay his hands on a scroll or something. Of course, if the aforesaid burly warrior doesn't have a Magic skill, trying to cast a spell may be a fairly dodgy business.

To be able to cast spells, a character must buy an INT-based Power:Magic Skill for 3pts (+1 to the skill roll for 2 character points).

This allows the character to cast any spell he or she has access to as long as its Active Point value is equal to or less than the character's (INT+EGO+PRE) ÷ 3. This limit can be increased; see Maximum Power Level below.

Generally speaking, spells may not be contained in any sort of Power Framework. With the huge amount of compulsory limitations that have to be applied to them, they're already cheap enough.

Spells which can have several different effects may however be represented as individual Multipowers. The spell effects must be clearly related and their placement within the framework is subject, as always, to GM veto. An example might be a fire spell which can be cast so that it can be used as a light source, a heat source or a weapon — such a spell would be a Multipower with three slots for Images (light), Change Environment (heat), and a RKA vs ED (fireball).

1. Extra Time, beginning at one hour (-3), OR
• Increased Endurance, beginning at x7 END (-3), OR
• a combination of Extra Time and Increased Endurance amounting to a minimum limitation value of -3 (see table to the right for END/Time matrix)
2. Concentration, DCV x ½ (-¼), Incantations, (-¼), Gestures, (-¼) and an expendable Obvious Accessible Focus, to be defined when the spell is created, (minimum -1¼) OR
• Additional levels of Increased Endurance matching the Limitation value of any missing Concentration, Incantations, Gestures, or Focus.
3. Requires a Power (Magic) Skill Roll at -1 per 10 Active Points (-½)
4. Major Side Effects on a failed attempt (30pts or ½ Active Points in spell, whichever is greater), (-½). Note that an interrupted spell (i.e. one in which the caster's concentration, incantation or gestures are impeded) is counted as a failed Skill Roll for the purposes of invoking Side Effects. The exact side effect must be defined when the spell is created, but as a default a Long Term End Drain will be used (built as a Drain:END, pts return per 6 hours, 30pts per 1d6+1 Drain.)

TOTAL MINIMUM LIMITATIONS: – 6

A hypothetical spell which can be cast as a half-Phase action, requiring no Concentration, Incantations, Gestures, or Focus would cost a whopping x12 END to cast. That means that for every 10 Active Pts in your Astounding Instantaneous Galvanic Thrust electric Energy Blast spell, you'll be paying at least 12 Long Term END (see below for details on END usage for magic).

Note that these are MINIMUM requirements. Any or all of these can be increased from the minimum values shown here, if the player so desires.

NOTE: The Variable Limitations Power Advantage is prohibited. If you want multiple versions of the same spell with differing casting processes, you'll have to find multiple versions of the spell.

The maximum power level (Active Point value) of a spell that can initially be cast is the average of the caster's INT, EGO and PRE.

Normal rounding rules apply.

This limit can be increased by buying a new Skill: Channeling. Each 5pts bought affects the maximum spell potency a magician can handle as shown in the table to the right.

Sometimes a magician may want to cast a spell which is too potent for their normal capabilities. In this case they can attempt to Push their Channeling with a Characteristic roll against the average of their INT, EGO and PRE.

A Power:Magic skill roll can be made as complementary to this roll, and any Overall skill levels can be added to it.

For every 1pt the roll is made by, the spellcaster can control an additional 1d6 Active Points of spell energy. If the roll is failed, or is still insufficient to encompass the spell's Active Cost, the LTE which would have been used to cast the spell is expended but the spell's Side Effect is not invoked and the magical energies dissipate harmlessly.

If the roll succeeds, then the magician can go on to cast the spell as usual by making a Power:Magic roll at -1 per 10 Active Pts in the spell, and of course suffering the Side Effects if the roll is failed.

This means that the endurance used up by spellcasting doesn't return as quickly as that used by physical activity:

• A character recovers his or her REC in Long Term END (LTE) for every 5 hours of rest.
• If the character is not resting, then s/he only gets back his or her REC in LTE once per day.

If a spell has a Continuous effect, such as Flight or Invisibility for example, only the casting of the spell uses LTE. Maintaining the spell once cast uses normal END.

By GM fiat, I decree that it is not possible to regain END while expending END. Therefore, if you design an END recovery spell (Aid to END, for example) you will have to either have someone else cast it on you to get the benefit, or perhaps design it as some sort of Delayed Effect or Trigger item like a potion. That way you can expend the END required to create the effect, rest up, and then use it at a later date when you need it.

All magic spells must cost at least 1 END per Phase

This means that any spell bought to 0 END, or which doesn't normally cost END, will still cost at least 1 END per Phase to maintain.

A spell cannot have both Reduced END and Increased END, so if you want a spell which can be cast quickly, you will just have to suck up the enormous END cost.

A spell which takes an hour to cast is of limited utility in the heat of combat. However, a spell which can be cast rapidly but which sucks you dry of all your END in the blink of an eye is also not ideal for combat conditions. What to do?

There are a couple of options. The Power Advantages Delayed Effect and Trigger are the obvious answers here; they are both +¼ advantages and they will both allow you to go through all the tedious and stressful preparation earlier and then have the spell ready to go at a moment's notice later on.

The exact one you choose depends on how you envisage the spell being used. If the magical energy is just stored and waiting, then Delayed Effect is the better option. If the spell is activated by breaking an enchanted stick, that would be a Trigger. In both cases, the END used to cast the spell is expended when it is prepared, and releasing the energy costs no more END (unless the spell is built in such a way that it does). So far, they're both pretty much identical. There is one slight difference though: The skill roll (and any consequent Side Effects) for a spell with Delayed Effect is made when the magical energy is released, whereas a Triggered spell's skill roll is taken on casting.

There are advantages and disadvantages for each option. A Delayed Effect spell may leave you reeling and at the mercy of the Hideous Bugblatter Beast of Thrarll if you fail you skill roll at the crucial moment. However, a Triggered spell could conceivably be set off accidentally. Whichever option you go for, you'll just have to take your chances.

A spell which has the Trigger advantage must define some physical action as the trigger. "Whenever I need it" or "Mental command" is insufficient, not to mention really lame. Come up with something colourful and interesting.

END Reserves are built similarly to any other magical apparatus, inasmuch as they must be based on an Independent Focus, and they require user-intervention to recharge (in other words, they don't just recharge by themselves). All END Reserves must be fed by means of a Characteristic Transfer (see HSR p.151), and note that unless you want to build a Reserve which has to be used immediately you will have to look at moving the Fade Rate for the Transferred END up the Time Chart.

The exact parameters of the transference depends on the individual device. A reserve created by evil cultists in the distant past is likely to use an unpleasant coercive BODY or CON Transfer which leave its victims shrivelled, shrunken husks, while happy fluffy-bunny wizards would be more likely to create reserve which recovers with a direct END to END Transfer requiring a willing donor. However, it may be that a happy fluffy-bunny wizard only has an evil-cultist END Reserve, so they'd only recharge it in extremis.

Setting the END Reserve's capacity and REC parameters will only be a problem for the players if they start a new character with such a device, having paid their precious XP for it. Normally, such magical knick-knacks and fooferaw will be doled out by the stingy and hard-hearted GM during the course of play.

NOTE: remember that a spell must normally be powered either from the magician's personal END, or from an END Reserve. Spells which can draw from either at need must be built with a +¼ Power Advantage to reflect the fact. It is quite possible — even probable — that in the course of play you will find spells which cannot be used in conjunction with a magical END Reserve, and some spells which must draw from such a Reserve.

Some spells may require that the wizard make use of an assistant of some sort in the casting. The value of this limitation depends on the nature of the assistant:

Note that in this case the obligation of a Skill Roll, and the consequences of failure, are carried by the wizard alone. If the Assistant limitation is part of a spell being cast as a ritual by multiple magicians, then the Assistants are in addition to the other spellcasters.

Spell casting requires that the wizard make a Magic Skill roll at -1 per 10 Active Points in the spell to successfully create the magical effect. This naturally implies that there is a chance of failure, sometimes a very good chance of failure.

All spells must be constructed with the Major Side Effects limitation applied in the event of a failed Magic Skill roll (see HSR pp.201-202 for rules on Side Effects). The exact nature of the Side Effects must be defined when the spell is constructed, and are subject to GM approval. As a default, a Drain on Long Term END will be used (see below), though of course the exercise of more imagination is always to be encouraged. The nature of the spell's intended effect should normally dictate the type of Side Effect which can result.

Note that the requirement for Major Side Effects is that they inflict at least 30 Active Points of effect on the caster, or half the Active Point value of the spell being cast if that is greater. That means that the default 30pt LTE Drain would drain 1d6+1 LTE on a failed skill roll. Normal defenses do apply against this damage unless the Side Effect is defined in such a way that it bypasses them.

One of the assumptions made about the magic of this milieu is that creating a new spell from scratch is an extremely time-consuming process which can be expected to take years, even for relatively simple effects. Therefore, most magicians will be technicians rather than creators, magically speaking. They will use the work of the ancients, spells which have already been created and codified, without necessarily understanding the fundamental underpinnings of the art required for the creation of a whole new dweomer.

Magicians are, by and large, a fairly suspicious and competitive bunch who are likely to have few true friendships among their own kind, and who will tend to consider their own needs and desires over those of other wizards. A magician, who by long and arduous toil manages to create a brand new spell previously unknown, will keep its exact "recipe" secret for as long as possible to keep it from falling into the hands of potential competitors.

While there is no objection to PCs sharing their magical knowledge, don't expect to get any kind of support or cooperation from 99% of NPC magicians. Also, don't bother looking for the sort of Magic-R-Us supermarkets you might expect to find in a campaign run under a Certain Other RPG System. If you want any sort of magical gee-gaws, you're going to have to sweat for them.

So, what does this mean as far as a player is concerned? Does this mean that you'll have to devote years and years of game time to off-stage work every time you want to design a new spell?

No, it does not. What it means is that when you want to add a new spell to your repertoire, getting it has to be justified in game terms. You need to consider some sort of back-story.

For example, you decide that you want a combat spell, an instantaneous electrical discharge. The spell, you decide, will be called Pandacterley's Excellent and Astounding Instantaneous Galvanic Thrust and you build it and present it to the GM for veto. You announce that you've heard through the grapevine that such a spell is available and that you want to find a copy. The Bastard GM then tells you that, also through the grapevine, you find that the nearest reliable source of this spell is a Sicilian wizard notorious for his reclusiveness and foul temper, once the apprentice of the great Pandacterley and now in posession of his tower and posessions after Pandacterley's mysterious disappearance some years ago. Off you go to beg, buy or steal a copy to add to your repertoire. This minor side-quest results in an excellent evening's gaming, you pry your new spell from the wizard's cold dead hand, and on your way home in triumph you are attacked and torn into quivering gobbets of meat by an enraged gazebo. Hey-ho.

But..... at least you have a new spell.

Spells which are stored in spellbooks or scrolls or what-not can be represented with the Independent limitation. Beware though — that means that if you lose the book or scroll, you lose the ability to cast the spell and the character points you spent on it to begin with. If you want to know the spell well enough to be able to recreate it when your spellbook is (inevitably) stolen or destroyed, you will have to pay the extra points for it.

If you find a scroll or spellbook which is Independent you will be able to use the spells inscribed therein without having to pay character points for them yourself.

Because of the very long casting times involved in using self-powered magic, many players will no doubt wish to achieve less wearisome magical effects by using magical paraphernalia. That's fine, with the following strictures:

1. A new, freshly-created character may spend some or all of their XP to begin the game posessing one or more magic items, subject to GM's approval of course. Once a character is in play, however, getting hold of new items will normally be a matter for roleplaying, not just a matter of spending XP and money on them. It is feasible that a character with an appropriate skill set could make new items within the game, but be aware that doing so will require that the character devote very long periods of game time to the process, as well as money and XP.
2. All magic items must be Independent. That means that they can be taken away from you forever, if you're foolish enough to let a Bad Person get their grubby hands on them. The up-side to this is that if you manage to get your grubby hands on somebody elses valuable magical gadgetry, you'll be able to use it too.
3. All magic items which create spell-like effects must have Charges, and the charge recovery method must be defined when the item is designed. There must be some user-intervention required to recharge it — charges may not just reappear of their own accord. If you're unsure as to whether a magical effect is "spell-like" or not, just ask your friendly neighbourhood GM. As a rough guide, things like magically sharp swords or magically light armour wouldn't be deemed spell-like, whereas a wand which spits fireballs or a brooch which creates an illusion would be.

Apart from these strictures, magic items can be built like any other Power. Implicit in the fact that it's an item is the fact that it will have some sort of Focus, but there are other considerations, like:

• What does it look like?
• How is it used? Does it just work at will, or is there some process which needs to be observed?
• If there are command words and/or gestures involved in its use, what are they?
• How is it recharged?

As with spells (see above), magical gee-gaws are assumed to take a long time, and to cost bundles of cash, to make. Most magic trinkets now in use have been around for some time. Therefore, almost all magical items in existence can potentially be identified with an appropriate successful Knowledge Skill roll, and their modes of operation, recharging methods, command phrases and so forth can be discovered similarly. This "Reputation" is assumed under the umbrella of the object's Independent Limitation.

This need not be the case, however. In line with this, there is a new Power Advantage which can be attached to a magical gadget: