Magic Proposition Three

From BluWiki

MAGIC

Magic presents the one exception to the core mechanic. Regardless of your Mind (Intellect) or Spirit (Will), you only roll three dice, so you must have a relevant stat of three or more to cast spells. Each point in a stat above three gives you one wiggle point for your spells for every day. You must become fully rested to regain your wiggle points.

A critical success in your roll earns you 3 + 1d4 successes. Multiple successes over several rounds may be necessary to optimally cast a spell.

There are six schools of magic. You purchase each as you would any other skill, but they cost far more than normal skills. Each is based on either Mind (Intellect) or Spirit (Will) as its relevant stat. The Mind-focused schools tend toward a more logical, systematic approach to magic. The Spirit-focused schools of magic tend toward more mysticism, belief, and superstition. Why the divide? Firstly, for flavor. Secondly, to ensure that it is even harder for any character to master multiple schools of magic. Thirdly, so even races like mice can have a little taste of magical power.

The schools of magic are:

SHAMANISM

(Spirit): practitioners of shamanism are usually seen as being crazy wilderness types, characterized by talking to themselves and strange behaviors like pulling any and every odd herb, root, and fungus from the ground. They work their magic by contacting the spirit world through potions, salves, and poisons which open the mind to those things which are beyond the veil of reality. All spells in this school require the preparation of these special substances. The disadvantage to this type of magic is the amount of work that goes into gathering ingredients and the time that goes into properly combining and treating them. The advantage is that once you have successfully prepared the drugs, you can carry them with you and activate the spells at any time by consuming the proper one (or sneaking it into the food and drink of another!) Divination, mental enchantments (both beneficial and malignant, and various buffs of all kinds are the hallmarks of this school.

PHYSIOMANCY

(Mind): this is the magic of matter. Creating, summoning, sustaining, altering, and destroying matter are the trademarks of this school. These casters often work through the focuses provided by circles of conjuration and transmutation, and often become obsessed with understanding how things are put together or with collecting samples of every element, alloy, chemical, or other substance they can put into a little jar, label, and tuck away into storage. The disadvantage of this school is that it doesn't work particularly well on organic matter, except for when it is summoning, so it won't lend much support directly to characters. The advantage to this school is that it can turn simple weapons and armor into mighty armaments, summon help to your side, and potentially wreck any objects that might be in your way.

BIOMANCY

(Mind): this is the magic of life force. You can use it to heal wounds, become physically powerful, or make potent use of your very thoughts. Biomancers create life seemingly where there was none before, and so can even put their powers to nasty uses by creating diseases or literally making someone's skin crawl. Generally, biomancers tend toward nicer, gentler uses of their magic in order to keep their school divided from necromancy in the eyes of the public and other mages. A biomancer often constantly studies anatomical charts and medical texts for clues into the workings of the body to find the means to release the latent life force that exists within creatures. The disadvantage of this school is that it doesn't work on inanimate, inorganic objects. The advantage is that it can potently heal and rarely requires expensive materials or a laboratory, often just the ability to touch the target of the spell. Some spells magnify the caster or target's thoughts, granting mental communication.

KINETOMANCY

(Mind): this is the magic of energy. Where there was no energy before, the kinetomancer makes it. Feel that chill? The kinetomancer drained all of the heat from the room. Kinetomancers are often identified by hyperactive personalities, seemingly unfocused "research", and use of rods and staves as focuses for their spells. Setting fires, pushing objects around, granting tremendous speed, and dropping the air to frigid temperatures are the common special effects of this school. The disadvantage of this school is that it rarely has long-term effects; there's no such thing as a perpetual motion machine, and kinetomantic spells eventually run out of juice. The advantage is that this is the closest to direct attack magic that you'll get. You can't easily blow something up, but you can set it on fire or smack it around with bursts of kinetic energy.

NECROMANCY

(Spirit): this is the magic of death. It relies on the user really, truly believing in death -- the absence of life -- as being a palpable, tangible force. They believe that the void, the nothingness, is just as substantial as physical reality. Of course, it isn't -- or is it? -- but that doesn't stop necromancers from rightfully becoming feared. Necromantic spells can transfer life to one by draining it from another, cause a creature's will to turn against itself, wither flesh and weaken bones, flat-out kill, or even raise the dead into the unliving. Ultimately, necromancy isn't terribly different than biomancy, relying more upon malignant will than a careful understanding of living creatures. For example, the Foaming Plague is just a form of rabies that kills its hosts but denies their life forces to leave their bodies. The disadvantage of this school is that if you have to be willing to skirt or completely entrench yourself in cruel, terrible activities to use it. The advantage is that it offers a tremendous amount of power with a wide variety of spells, including healing, mental commands, curses, and grisly resurrections. Just hope that no superstitious types hear about your new hobby.

Final Thoughts

I don't really remember what the last school was supposed to be at the moment. I believe that we made some changes right around the time that I got kicked from my Internet connection and everyone else left the room. Boril knows. Nephomancy (weather control) or geomancy (earth and weather powers).

Anyhow, there are going to be plenty of different spells that gain in power as you gain in the ability to rack up successes. Each spell may fall under several schools as either a major or minor spell for that school. You are pretty much unlimited in how powerful your major spells can become, but minor spells cannot receive as much magical juice (you cannot apply as many successes) as major spells. They often require vastly different means of preparation. They are primarily bonus spells; they are thematically appropriate to the school but stand at the fringes of the school's power. For example, most spells that allow you to divine the past and future are major spells for shamanism, but only minor spells for necromancy (reading the thoughts of dead creatures, for example). Summoning a mighty Hercules beetle to your aid would be a major spell for physiomancy, but only a minor spell for a biomancer (and may require you to have a tiny beetle present to act as the focus of the spell).