Thoughts and ideas can be emailed to me at PhoenixPaw at hotmail dot com.
There are my views of how magic might be implemented in a RPG. Also note that I might write about magicans primaraly as males, and for that I am sorry. The glands you know …
The most important attribute for a magican is his IQ. The reason is that he can at most learn a suggested number of schools equal to (IQ/2)+(PR mod.).
The second most important attribute is PR, since a high value creates a bonus to the schools the mage learn, but also a bonus to the skill-levels in spheres and schools.
The thirdly most important would be the fatigue determining attribute.
A spell-caster/magican ought to have an Inteligence attribute a bit over the human average. In GURPS terms, somewhere in the range of 11 to 15 (if not actually higher). As for secondary attribute, it is asumed it is not below the norm, to avoid penalties.
The adventuring mage would have, the way I percive it, both IQ and PR around 13, Prime Sphere at 15, one School at 15, another School at 14 or 13, and then one or two School around 11. In addition to the magic the adventurer might also know a weapon and some other "adventuring skills".
A "battle-mage" would also have high inteligence, Prime Sphere would be the Elemental, skill above 18 in fire (perhaps also in earth or air) school(s). He would also know how to fight with (and without) weapons, and be able to lead an army (should need arise).
Presence (PR)
This is the 5th Attribute, as envisioned by me. This attribute is mostly a combination of Will and the senses, but some skills (so far only mental ones) that rely heavily on strength of will and accuteness of senses are based on this attribute instead. Most mental resistances is also based on this attribute (and not IQ) but not all. Spells such as "sleep" are resisted by this attr., but "Hallucination" is still based on IQ (since in the case of such spell it's the realisation that you're hallucinating that may break the spell, imho). The cost for this attribute is the same as all the rest
If you haven't broken Will out of IQ then you can instead use the formula: 5 levels of Weak Will gives -2, 2 to 4 levels gives -1 and 3 to 5 levels of Strong Will gives +1 and over 5 levels +2.
If this seems unfair … well, it might be, but then Strong Will is much cheaper (half the price) of Weak Will. I'm going for point and play balance. It has, so far, worked quite well.
Some of these advantages and Disadvantages are completely new, and other are modified from the standard advantages. Magery (as such) does no longer exist in it's original form. Anyone with the Spellcaster advantage is concidered to have basic magery without the +1 bonus to spells and similar.
Spellcaster, 5p
This is the required advantage for anyone to cast spells, but few people have this ability from their birth, and most of them have parents who both have the advantage Multi-Prime. It can be aquired after character creation through intentensive study under someone who already have this advantage and at least 12 in a Sphere and a School. Training to aquire this advantage takes at least a half year of intensive study, which prohibits the character from adventuring for the duration.
One way to decide is to judge IQ according to the PR table, and then let the study time take 10-(PR mod.+IQ mod.) months. That way we get from 6 to 14 months of study needed for this advantage. Someone who qualifies as teacher can train at most two pupil who lack this advantage, or supervise 5 others who are less knowledgeable.
Multi-Prime, 10/20p
This advantage replaces the second and third level of Magery. Spellcaster is a prerequisit for this advantage.
This advantage allows the mage to have either two (10p) or all three (20p) Spheres as his primes. With the 10 point version the two highest skilled Spheres are counted as primes unless there is a tie, in which case the tied Spheres are counted as his primes, even if they are abysmal. Remember, Prime Spheres are not halved, while non-prime are. Switching Primes mean recalculations, but retain points spent. This advantage can be aquired and improved by GMs permission during the course of play.
Untrainable, -5p
This can only be taken by people whith inborn "Spellcasting" (and not aquired through play), and at least one point in one sphere. (Why a required 1 point in a Sphere you ask? Well, since you were born a spellcaster it's natural that you either trained yourself (by accident perhaps), or got trained by someone else untill they gave up.) With this disadvantage all three spheres are counted as your secondary, no matter your skill. You also have to pay double cost after play begins to raise magic skills. This can be particularly cripling for a mage, but have very little impact on the life on non-mages. Any mage finding this out is likely to react at -1 to the person. A GM might allow this disadvantage to be bought of after play.
"Primary" Sphere, M(IQ)/VH (no def.)
You gain a -2 to +2 modifer to this skill depending on your PR.
There is no Sphere with the name "primary", but this describes how the primary sphere-skill behaves.
This is the first of the Spheres you learn, and from which you must begin learning spells, and this is the only sphere you can teach others in. This skill determines how well you understand the kind of magic that can be achived within the sphere. Note that the skill-level in the spheres learned later is halved. If you so choose you may attempt to resist spells from this sphere with this skill instead. So choose this prime wisely.
"Secondary" Sphere, M(IQ)/VH (no def.)
You gain a -2 to +2 modifer to this skill depending on your PR.
There is no Sphere with the name "Secondary", but this describes how the secondary sphere-skill behaves.
The non-primary spheres are called "secondary" spheres, and the skill level in these are learned almost in the normal fasion but skill-level is actually halved (before -any- modifications)! If you bring a secondary sphere's (halved) skill-levels higher than your prime you may recalculate things making that sphere the primary, as long as you maintain the skill-levels (that is, after halving the new non-primary sphere-skill) in both spheres. (Note, changing primary sphere -should- give you free points, but the GM may limit you to spending those points on magic-related skills and/or advantages, and perhaps even keeping the points for later spending on magic-related things.)
< named > School, M(IQ)/H (def: Sphere-6)
You gain a -2 to +2 modifer to this skill depending on your PR.
OK … Well, this is each college found in the GURPS:Magic. It teaches the philosophy and methods for achiving a particular spell-effect. You have mastered points spent in the skill, or skill level in the governing school or sphere, spells well enough to cast them from your memory, and knows an equal number of spells well enough to cast them from a spellbook (without fear of including flaws in the description added by the writer, wether by intent or mistake).
Magic isn't something easy. It take years to learn. Therefor only those who are willing to sacrefice time for later rewards approach the learned in magic asking to be tought. Teaching is almost as time-consuming as learing, so the teacher might be picky about his pupils. There are great tomes of magical lore to read for the student, but a book can not answer every question that arise. Therefor the teacher must spend much of his time answering questions as well as supervising (and aiding in) the attempts at spellcasting. This means that at any given moment a mage can have at most two students unlearned in magick, or assist five other, less learned, mages in learning.
The aspiring mage will, begining with his first lesson, start to write a Spellbook. This first spellbook might be disposed of later, when the mage have reached true knowledge in the art, but most mages keep it throughout their lives. Even if they write a dozen books on spells and magic. This is so as much out of sentimental reasons as of practical. The spellbook is discussed in greater detail later. Many beginning mages find the first spellbook of other mages usefull.
The apprentice also needs to atune his own Athame (discussed in more detail below). The first time this is done it is a process that takes 2d6 + 10 days and requires a inteligence (modified by PR) check. (Once the spellcaster have made his first Athame it is later an automatic process taking 3d6 days.)
Wizards require a special item called an Athame through which they can focus their natural power into spells.
Most commonly, the Athame is a wand or a staff, but it can be anything that can be wielded easily in one hand and has an end through which power can flow out. Other good items for athames are daggers and light one-handed swords. Some less scrupulous wizards have even been seen using a human thighbones.
Without an Athame, the wizard cannot focus his power properly and is at a -10 for all spell rolls.
Another, improvised athame, can be used, but the wizard will still be at a -6 for all his spell rolls. Athames are user-specific, and can only be used by the creator of the athame without penalty. Any wizard trying to use another wizard's athame is at a -3 for all spell rolls. Such a wizard would have to be a daring fellow, as he is also risking any nasty defensive spells cast on the foreign athame.
A wizard must make his own athame. The ritual is carried out over 3d6 days. An athame must be of high quality to begin with to make a proper tool. Athames that are made of lesser quality items gives the wizard a -2 to all spell rolls and spells that are not level 3 cannot be cast.
Also known as Grimoire, Tome of Arcane Lore, and many other names. This is a book where the mage have written down his knowledge of magic. They often also contain spells that are still being researched. A mage casting a spell "from his book" (that is, frequently refering to his notes as he casts the spell) he gets a bonus of 1 to 3 depending on how extensive his notes are. (This of course asumes the notes are accurate. If they are not, there is no bonus to be recived.) This way of casting a spell always increase the time needed for the spell by 1, 3 or 6 minutes.
Casting an unknown spell from the spellbook of another mage can be dangerous, as the effect can be either a bonus of 1 to 3, or a penalty of 1 to 3. If it will be a bonus or a penalty will not be obvious to the mage until the compleation of the spell. The reason is that the notes can also be completely INaccurate. There will however never be a penalty to cast a known spell from another mages spellbook. (Time is however still increased.)
Researching a spell found in another mages spellbook is however not as dangerous. Then the mage takes time to make sure everything written is concistent with the desired effect. Despite this double-checking there is a significant reduction in time needed to complete the research. If the research material is a +1 book, the time saved is 1/6th, a +2 book saves 1/3rd and a +3 book reduces the time to 1/2.
Writing a whole spellbook (with about a dozen spells giving +2 to cast them) might not take more than a couple of weeks, if done effectively. That is seldom the case however. Most books are compleated years (or in some cases, decades) after the first page was written. It can be assumed that all mages are more or less actively writing a spellbook at any moment in time.
The wizardry companion. These are not tools as such, since they are living beings with wills and goals of their own. They are however an assistance to the mage (in most cases anyway). First of all they ensure that the mage doesn't neglect the un-magical world. (They can make sure that the mage eat for instance.) These semi-magical beings can sometimes buffert some of the effects of spell-casting (such as reducing the "Rest Time" for some spells).
All familiars are some form of animal (no sentient species allowed). Common choices are the normal pets (e.g. cats and dogs) and all manner of birds (ravens and owls are favourites), but some mages binds other animals to them. Examples of more "exotic" animals found as familiars are dolphins, monkies, camels, horses, bulls and cows.
The mage must first find the animal (in rare cases the animal finds the mage), before he can "bind" the animal as his familiar. The time needed depends very much, but generally takes 2d6 hours. (It can be noted that if the animal "found" the mage the process usually only takes a couple of minutes.) The age and lifespan of the animal is altered to match that of the mage. The intelligence of the animal is also increased substantially (though it is unlikely to match the inteligence of an average human). The familiar will however not learn how to speak a human language this way, but the mage and familiar share a sub-concious understanding of eachother. The familiar will however be able to learn (to understand) languages normally (for someone of it's inteligence).
A familiar is loyal to his mage, and will under no circumstance actively work against him. There is no way to "steal" another mage familiar (ie: make it the familiar of another mage). They can not be influenced by any spell short of those that could affect the bonded mage.
It might be tempting for a mage to bind a familiar which is a "natural fighter" (such as dogs/wolves) but the mage should be cautious to send his familiar into the fray. The reason is that should the familiar be knocked unconcious the mage have to pass attribute check against inteligence or also fall unconcious. If the familiar is killed the mage automaticly passes out and he must pass an attribute check against IQ or temporarily lose two points of his inteligence. These points are regained with one point a month.
When a mage dies the familiar usually stay by his former master to die out of grief. In some very rare cases however the familiar chooses to find a new mage to be familiar to. This binding are always quicker (measured in minutes, not hours). Should the mage it chooses already have a familiar then the mage can concider himself very lucky, since a mage can normally only have one familiar on any occation. If a familiar choose to bond to a new mage who have no familiar then the mage can bond no other familiar to him. Although not proven, it's suspected that it is old familiar finding a new master that is the cause of all of the "intant bonds" between some mages and familiars.
Note: The mage can not bind a familiar to him without the use of a propper Athame. A low-quality Athame will do, but not an improvised or borrowed one.
There are three spheres of magic. The names can of cause be changed.
Each Sphere is a mental (or IQ-Based) hard skill (mod. PR), to represent the magical method of thinking for that sphere. This would be the basic limiting factor for the mage, as his maximum effectiv skill in the Secondary spheres would be half of his Prime Sphere, unless the advantages Multi-Prime advantage is bought.
The skill would also represents the mages general understanding of the magical effects that can be achived, as well as the philosophy that governes the teachings common to the schools withing the sphere. If a mage see an effect he can roll against the skill in the Sphere to see if he understand the general principle of how it was achieved. If he would be able to recreate the spell would then depend on his skill within the specific School (discussed later).
These Spheres are divided into Schools. Each school would (also) be a seperate M(IQ)H-skill. Spells within one School are all attempted with this skill, although basic spells are cast with a bonus and complex spells carry a penalty.
One mage would be able to choose Schools out of one Sphere without major restrictions. The most notable exception to this is that in the Elemental Sphere where Fire-School mages for some reason is very adverse to learn the Water-School and Earth-School mages almost never learn anything from the Air-School. The other way around is of cause just as true. This might be due to philosophical reason, or social, but the magic itself does not seem to oppose it.
This sphere deals with the "etherial" magic. Within this Sphere one finds spells for divination, mental manipulation (broken down to several schools), communication, and so on. Spell-binding is also found in this School.
To use the Collages from Magic: Communication and Empathy, Knowledge, Enchant (but only enchantments "spiritual" in nature), Meta-Spells, Mind Controll, (protection and) Warning and the "Spiritual" spells from the Necromantic colleage. {That's 4 whole and 3 "half" colleages}
Wish to know curative magic? Want to walk through a forest without leaving any trace? Want to preform incredible feats? Then Body Sphere is what you should choose as your Prime. It deals with the body of the mage, his fellow sentients, with beasts and with the plants of the earth.
Again a list of Magic colleages: Animal, Body Controll, Food, Healing, Plant and the "Physical" spells from Necromantic. {5 whole and 1 "half" colleage}
Tame the forces of nature! Summon fire, or lightning, to strike down on your foes. Slow them down by turning the ground beneth their feet to mud, or shake their fortresses by trembles of the earth. All is possible with the Elemental Sphere magic. If you chose, you can even bend the laws of nature in other ways, to let you soar through the sky, or create dazzling images. This Sphere also contain the highest number of "cross School" spells (ie spells that depends on two schools).
Again a list of Magic colleages: the four Elemental schools, "Physical" Enchantments, Illusion and Creation, Light and Darkness, Making and Breaking, Movement, Protection (and warning), Sound {9! whole and 2 half colleages}
{Curious sidenotes:
A "fire mage" (Prime Elemental Sphere, Fire-School) would/should have an adversion to water, and thus might not wash himself that very often. An "earth mage" (Prime Elemental Sphere, Earth-School) might appreciate the "colours of earth", and/or dress in vibrant colours of (red?) flowers. This might lead to the effect that (dirty) Firemages are mistaken for Earthmage, and (firely red-clad) Earthmages mistaken for Firemage.}
Note 1: Some spells that are listed in one colleage/sphere (such as the spell: "Seek Beast" found in Animal Colleage) might fit better in a wholy different sphere, and may be moved there (again "Seek beast", which might be moved to Knowledge) but this is left to each GM to decide, as is where the border between "physical" and "spiritual" Necromantic spells are.
Note 2: It is of course up to each GM to use these suggestions, or make his own tables. For instance all enchantments might be moved into the Spirit Sphere.
Note 3: Where the spells found in Grimoire are to be incorporated is up to each GM who own's that book, since that book introduces even more confusing and cross-sphere spells.
BIG note: When this was written I was trying to make an independant magic system that could be transported into most forms of RPGs. I'll just leave it here for now, unchanged. Note though, that with this system you do not learn spells. You study Schools, and since we're basing this for GURPS, use the Lite/BS/Magic(+Grimoire) colleages and look at the spells found there.
The schools are presented in the form of "Schoolname (Sphere), description of spelltypes." It is suggested that a mage (within a particular school) can choose a number of spells up to his value in his skill in the Sphere or School (whicherver is lower). The number of Schools a mage can choose is up to the GM, but I would suggest the limit be half the mage's Inteligence. This might seem limiting to some, but a living being can only contain so much magic.
Also, it is against the School the mage does a skill-test to see if he can mimic or improvise a spell. Improvised spells are however not recomended, as they tends to lead to all manner of unwanted side-effects, if they succeed at all and doesn't "blow up in the face".
If you want to learn how the future might look, or what happened in the past, then you should learn this school. The line between this School and the Knowledge is/can be fuzzy. And remember, what is learned through divinational magic is true *at the moment*, but it may change. The future is not set and just "knowing" the future may change it! Spells within this school are also those that let you know what happens elsewhere and/or elseWHEN. The examples for this School are "Crystal Gazing (future, pesent or past {three different spells})" and "Water Scrying (type)".
Some dislike this school since it lets the mage do the first kind of necromantic" things. What this school deals with are the "free" spirits, such as Ghosts. "Summon Elemental Spirit" is a spell in this school that surprise some. "Create Sanctuary" and "Banish Spirit" are more commonly know spells, as is "Summon Demon (type)".
The School for learning things that is now. The knowledge gained this way will only stay with the magican for a short time, fading over a couple of minutes or hours, depending on how much was learned. Examples of spells in this School is "Know Time", "Tell Distance" and "Learn Language".
The spells found here manipulate peoples minds. Be it through spells like "Instill Courage", "Single Thought" or "Relieve Phobia", the behaviour still changes. For good or ill.
This School teaches the magican how to produce magical works, ranging from one-use scrolls, through powerfull Tomes/Grimoires to enchanted equipment and even Golems. This school is on the edge of being "outside" of the three spheres.
This school alows the mage to manipulate his body, and the body of those around him in (un)natural ways. As examples of spells can be mentioned "Blind", "Herculean Strength" and "Alter Form (type)".
This school will let the mage do the other kind of "necromantic" things. These things will work on anything living or formerly living. Example of spells here range from "Fatigue", "Paralyse (variant)" all the way to the dreaded "Snuff".
This School will alow the mage to improve the health of a living body. The spells help both sentient and non-sentient beings, as long as they're not plants. "Heal small wounds", "Mend bones" and "Overcome disease" are good examples of spells.
Skill in this School alows the mage to manipulate the plants and "plant matter" (such as seasoned wood) in his suroundings in various ways. Some examples of spells are "Bountifull Harvest", "Wilter" and "Harden Wood".
Elemental School of Air lets you manipulate the air in many ways. "Steal Breath", "Summon Storm" are two examples of purely Air School spells. The "Breathe Water" spell belongs to the Air School, as well as the Water school.
Fire-School lets you manipulate flames, fire and heat in many ways. The skilled can even make an area frosty by moving the heat away. Example of spells are "Start Fire", "Protect from Heat" and "Flaming Body".
With earth spells you manipulate the earth below the feet as well as the harder rock or mountain. As example can "Trembles of Earth" be mentioned. Cross-school example is the Earth-Water spell "Earth to Mud" and Earth-Fire spell "Fuel Fire".
Water spells let the magican manipulate the free water. He can not cause dehydration in a being. "Earth to Mud" (Earth-Water) and "Breathe Water" (Water-Air) are cross-school spells. "Mists" is however a pure Water school spell.
This section is not yet ready. I have several ideas.
What is certain is that a mage can (in theory) cast any number of spells during a day. As each spell takes some time to cast, there are limits. There will however be no need for a mage to memorise a spell X times to be able to cast it X times. Once truly mastered the mage can cast the spell "at will". The ritual of the spell would still have to be preformed, preferably with the right tools.
The spells (later found on another page) are described in the following way:
"Mend Bones" (Healing/Body)
Difficulty: +4 (or -1)
Casting Time: 20 minutes
Rest Time: 20 minutes
Duration: 10 minutes
"This spell alows the mage to heal all broken bones in
the subject of the spell. Major bones have to be set
right before this spell is cast, or there will be a penalty
of of -5 (net difficulty -1). After the ten minutes the
spell needs to complete the bones are perfectly healed."