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alecyl — MA Compendium - Mages and Magic
Published: 2018-06-02 19:31:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 2048; Favourites: 27; Downloads: 24
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Description
The next ref sheet for is up, this time: mages!
MAGIC
Overview and general facts:
Using magic (spellcasting) in Myriad means drawing magical energy from an omnipresent, invisible energy field by channeling it (usually through a spell circle) and using it to bend reality itself in order to create a wide variety of effects
Magical energy is everywhere and can be drawn from by using different kinds of
Spells, rituals and other meansWhile seemingly infinite, excessive use of magical energy will cause an imbalance which will cause negative effects over time (sometimes on the caster, sometimes on the environment, or maybe even on the fabric of reality itself)(for more info on this, scroll down to Chaos Magic)
Magic is currently, by default, inaccessible to almost all mortals and can’t be performed just through study. Methods of accessing magic include owning a magical artifact, being granted a boon by a God, or being part of a bloodline that was saturated in magical energy (vampires, werewolves, dragons, demons, etc).
There are many magical landmarks/places on earth, however they can only be seen and accessed by someone who is sensitive to magic or can see through the Veil
Spells can be cast by: performing magical rituals (Rite), using gestures (Sign), spoken language (Aria), drawing specific markings (Rune), invoking specific artifacts (Loci), or using pure force of will (extremely rare). This does not always apply to special bloodline magic (e.g. vampire mist transformation can be performed by willpower alone)
While there is no limiting effect like a personal mana pool that has to be replenished, casting spells requires a lot of focus and quickly causes mental fatigue and loss of concentration, which in turn makes casting spells increasingly harder
Brief history on magic:
In ancient times, magic used to be a fairly common occurrence and was performed by enough individuals that it was common knowledge, however around 12.000 years ago it all changed and magic became hidden. It is suspected that this was an intervention of the gods due to the excessive and careless use of magic across the world. After that, magic itself, as well as creatures and phenomena tied to it, dwindled into myth. Soon, science took its place to drive Earth’s technological advancement.
Additional notes:
The facts mentioned above apply ONLY to main myriad magic, meaning that in other Domains these rules may not apply at all
If magical energy is acquired by a different source, like drawing it from a Domain, the rules of the source apply. (e.g. vampire magic)
There are different kinds of artifacts - Mortal Artifacts use main myriad magic, and Divine Artifacts, which are fueled by the Gods and/or their Domains.
Spell casting and spell construction:
Basic spells can be cast with simple gestures/magic words, they are very inefficient and use a rather high amount of energy, but are easy and very quick to cast
Advanced spells require spell construction to be cast, this usually happens by using a construction spell that allows to “draw” lines and shapes with magical energy (the glowy dr. strange stuff)
The circle represents the “canvas” on which the actual spell is cast, additional geometrical shapes inside (and sometimes even outside on very complex spells) represent the actual parts of the spell that is constructed (e.g.: triangles, rectangles, pentagons, hexagons, etc.)
Energy distribution is also managed within the circle, each vertex point of a shape represents a point where energy is drawn from (e.g.: triangular shape in a circle means energy is drawn from those 3 points, while a basic spell’s energy is drawn from a single point)
More points means a more evenly distributed energy pattern thus allowing for more complex effects
Size of the construction circle also factors into energy supply: the higher the distance between points, the more energy can be drawn safely
Depending on the user’s skill, spell construction on the fly using a construction spell may take a long time, to circumvent this problem, spells can be prepared on any surface by drawing on it
A “traditionally” drawn out spell only needs to be activated by the user spending some magical energy, thus can be cast nearly instantly
There are several variations and alternatives to spellcasting/conjuring circles, like magical words/sentences, rituals that require several actions to be taken and more, but all follow the same principles of construction
When a spell circle on a surface is activated, it “burns up”, meaning a new spell circle has to be drawn, the existing one can only be used once.
To prevent direct spellcasting from magic books (and thus burning them up with a risk of destroying the entire book), they usually have some protective spells on them that prevent doing that (tho depending on who wrote that book, that might not always be the case)
Black Magic:
Black Magic in the classical sense does not exist within Myriad Main
However the spells that are usually said to be related to Black Magic (summoning demons, raising the dead, etc.) are extremely complex and thus very dangerous to cast
Example: to summon a demon, the caster would have to create a spell or ritual that:
1. Locates the demon that should be summoned
2. Open a portal into its domain within reach of the target
3. Get a hold and tether the demon
4. Pull it through the portal
5. Put a mind control spell on it so it does not run amok and does the casters bidding (which basically is its own spell with its own architecture)
6. A release (or kill switch) which does steps 1 to 4 in reversed order
Even the slightest mistake (either in spell construction or energy distribution) could cause the whole spell to break down and the demon cutting loose.
The stronger (and smarter) the summoned creature is, the more complex the spell becomes. Summoning a self aware (thinking) demon is infinitely more complicated and dangerous.Spells like these require an enormous amount of knowledge and skill and usually bear dire consequences for the caster if the spell fails, thus they are considered black or forbidden spell
Blood Magic:
Blood Magic works by using one’s own, or other peoples blood and thus lifeforce to cast spells
It is very inefficient and has high energy cost for little effect compared to regular magic
It also takes very long to cast and can only be used by performing rituals (depending on spell complexity it can take from days to even centuries), classic spell construction does not work with blood magic
However it is the only form magic that can, in theory, still be performed by any individual in myriad main
Chaos Magic:
Magical energy exists in a neutral energy field (similar to the force in star wars) consisting of the same amount of positively charged and negatively charged energy
When casting spells, only the positively charged energy can be used, leaving the energy field in a state of imbalance. To balance itself out, the field releases and equal amount of negative energy to the world - this discharge is called Chaos Magic
Chaos Magic cannot be accessed, or manipulated by magic users, it is a natural byproduct of spellcasting
Smaller discharges of chaos magic are harmless, however if a big enough amount of positive energy is discharged at once, or continuously over time, the effects of the negative discharges will amplify, resulting in various, almost always destructive discharge events
Chaos Magic discharges are extremely volatile, absolutely unpredictable, can happen at any time, any place and can cause severe anomalies and may distort reality itself
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Comments: 2
I do like the limitations set in place, it makes it more difficult to have a high impact but I think thats a good thing.
Can't go crazy with it after all.
I look forward to magic being available soon
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
stuff like that is very important because otherwise people would just do whatever the hell they like and we'd have multiple realities all over again, so we decided to exert a little more control over this matter
👍: 0 ⏩: 0