How does magic work in your setting/game?
>Ritualistic or spell slinging?
>Born with or learnt?
>Elemental? Classes? Undefined?
>Scientific or mystical?
>Corrupting? Purifying?
>Heretical?
>Do spells have charges or work off of 'mana?'
Or talk about magic systems from other media you like.
There's not one magic system but instead many different Traditions.
Each Tradition is associate with different Nouns and Verbs (that you have to buy as Merits.) Each Tradition also has specific Modifiers. Alchemy for instance takes a really long time (but you can also make potions so in practise Alchemy revolves around making potions.)
You can use Effects you have bought as Merits before hand or improvise Effects that cost twice as much Potency. The Potency of an Effect is how much the Effect costs as a Merit. Every Tradition used in an Effect gives the Effect some limiter based around the Potency such as requiring a Potency based skill check or a Mana cost based on Potency. You build Effects using a GURPS style ability building system. However, the Effect must fall under the domain of some Nouns and Verbs that you own and the Effect is modified by the Tradition Modifiers of the Traditions you took Nouns and Verbs from.
Hermetic magic for example has the Nouns of Demons, Angels and Undead and the Verbs of Sense, Summon, Command and Banish but costs mana and takes at least 1 minute of preparation.
The Assassin Arts tradition has the Nouns of Man, Beast and Demons and the Verbs of Destroy and Restore but requires an ability check and must work at touch distance.
My setting has multiple forms of magic, each with a different way of being utilized.
First Circle - Alchemical. Energy is extracted from natural raw materials and is placed in some sort of consumable which is then ingested to gain the effect. This is how your typical Potion of X comes about.
Second Circle - Arcane. By tapping into the Leylines that envelop the world, one is able to create overt effects that are clearly supernatural. However, channeling arcane energy isn't easy, and doing too much of it in too short of a time could cause serious side effects.
Third Circle - Divine. Similar to Arcana, but instead of tapping Leylines you recieve energy from your deity. The energy is more "refined" which allows you to channel more of it, but you simply cannot cast any spells that your god would oppose. A priest of Capitalism could not use magic with the purpose of being charitable, for instance.
Fourth Circle - Thaumic. One can harness the energy from one's own soul to various effect. Continued practice with a particular spell refines the ability, and can make it take less energy from you, and so Thaumic casters have more narrow but reliable abilities most of the time.
Fifth Circle - Artifice. It's something of a subcategory of other circles, representing the placement of energy into a permanent item.
Sixth Circle - Void. Magic that is cast with "null energy" granted to an individual by a Void Lord. Depending upon what Lord a person has contracted with, the individual has access to an extremely limited set of abilities that fit the persona of their Lord. These narrow spell lists cannot be changed, but they can be cast infinitely (for the most part) and the contract grants some passive abilities
Cont...
I'm working on a setting with ritualistic magic right now.
All magic is learned, there's no such thing as inborn magical talent. It's poorly understood, and surrounded by superstition. Think of your typical soothsayer, or deranged cultist, or voodoo magician, but its actually real.
There are different magical traditions, some more trusted than others, but all magic has some kind of a cost, and generally the more powerful the magic, the greater the cost. There are no spell charges, and no mana, the only limitation is if you can pay the cost of casting.
I'm still looking for a system that can support this kind of thing if you have any suggestions (apart from GURPs, I'm not really looking for simulationism).
Pseudo-Science/pseudo-alchemy. In a nutshell, magic wielders are similar to skilled programmers. Magic wielders use basic enchanted tools to cast spells. In the beginning we had to make up our own tools (kind of like wands) and were given traits which our tools work best at doing.
The basics of magic is just using the wand or tool we made to simply move atoms around. The manner in which you move atoms, and how you arrange them is what constitutes as a spell. So we're doing more of "making up" our own spells within the bounds of realism in the game. And when we get a spell to work correctly we can bound the inatructions into the wand to make a sort of macro for it so we can cast it quickly.
Basically in our setting, the bbeg is breaking the laws of magic and inventing his own, throwing the balance of the universe in the process.
Seventh Circle - Outsider. Energy from outside the known world gradually trickles in, and some beings are capable of utilizing it. These individuals are granted the ability to rewrite reality to limited extents, causing effects and changes that are often illogical.
Eighth Circle - Revolutionary. The newest form of magic. It's able to be directly powered with forms of fuel, but as a result it must be channeled via an item that has been created with this purpose in mind. Its most common use has been in advanced constructs, and this magic is excellent at storing and utilizing information.
Ninth Circle - Misc. This category is for magic with unknown sources, though since the classification of Void magic, there has yet to be any forms that are widely known that fall into this.
>Ritualistic or spell slinging?
Both. Provided you have all the components/ know the ritual, the spell will go off without a hitch. Or alternatively, you can opt to instant-cast the spell, but you roll against arcane spell failure.
>Born with or learnt?
Both. Everyone has the potential to use magic, but most people don't feel the call to use it.
>Elemental? Classes? Undefined?
everything is roughly divided into "utility" magic and "combat" magic. Utility magic is used in construction, forging, agriculture, et cetera.
>Scientific or mystical?
Probably a bit of both.
>Corrupting? Purifying?
Magic corrupts like radiation sickness. Also random mutations with repeated use.
>Heretical?
The Church doesn't like anyone having power that doesn't come from their deity. Cleric = win, magic-user = DOUBLE HERETICAL
>Do spells have charges or work off of 'mana?'
mana. Magical devices have charges.
>Ritualistic or spell slinging?
Can be both, can be neither
>Born with or learnt?
A bit of both. Some animals use magic subconsciously, out of instinct, but understandibly it's very basic form of magic and they only do so unthinkingly, out of reflex. Likewise a sage can dedicate a lifetime for arcane studies but get nowhere unless he has some inherited acuity for sorcery.
>Elemental? Classes? Undefined?
Magic is essentially (seemingly) bending the laws of nature to your bidding, or managing forces that (appear to be) beyond natural to layman.
>Scientific or mystical?
Both. Magic differs in nature according to it's practicioners and their methods. I mean, the Qabbalah and hermeutics have a ''science'' to them, but they're pretty much considered to be heavily in the mysticism niche.
>Corrupting? Purifying?
Changing, altering. Entropy can be both corrupting and purifying under different circumstances.
>Heretical?
Heresy implies dogma that has clearly defined boundaries. Magic in itself surpasses most human intellectual boundaries and limitations.
>Do spells have charges or work off of 'mana?'
More powerful spells tend to require more time, effort and focus.
Mana is biologic energy. Gold is physicalized mana.
Spells cost mostly mana and a little stam. stam can be used to make gold/mana, but the exchange rate is dangerously bad in battle.
Gives justification for lords and royalty in a world that has magic. Do you really want to fuck with the guy who has enough gold to glass the countryside a few times over?
>Ritualistic or spell slinging?
Depends on how what you are trying to do. Shooting a fireball is pure spell slinging but summoning a rain of fire requires a complex ritual and many people involved.
>Born with or learnt?
Everyone can do it because literally the whole world is mana though some people are more talented at it than other but ultimately that just means they can cast more magic without getting tired than the rest.
>Elemental? Classes? Undefined?
I haven't thought about it yet.
>Scientific or mystical?
Scientific.
>Corrupting? Purifying?
Neutral. The whole world is literally made of mana so the magic is pretty much using raw mana to replicate things and concepts.
>Heretical?
People don't consider it heretical but it kind of is. The main antagonist certainly went full heretical with it but again, most people don't even know how fucking crazy that dude is.
>Do spells have charges or work off of 'mana?'
Mana.
I'm still working on it and I already feel like I'm going full autism with the details.
>>Ritualistic or spell slinging?
Spell slinging for minor effects, although you'll still be able to cast awesome spells as you progress and reach high proficiencies.
Rituals for the BIG stuff. Also items.
>>Born with or learnt?
Born with, but everybody who's sentient is. Learning to cast spells is more comparable to physical training... with the obvious difference that it's for your mind.
>>Elemental? Classes? Undefined?
Undefined. Although there are traditional schools of magic in the setting.
>>Scientific or mystical?
Mystical. Mages research it in a scientific way, but they are like chemist in the Renaissance... they can make many things happen, they have their theories (which they are very sure about), but actually they have no idea how it works.
>>Corrupting? Purifying?
Neither nor. It simply is. Although reality sometimes lashes back.
>>Heretical?
Depends on the area you're in. But for the most part it's accepted in society.
>>Do spells have charges or work off of 'mana?'
Neither nor, it draws from your stamina. Everybody who pulled an all-nighter knows how exhausting that can be. So casting spells is like an hour-long study session compressed into a single moment.
Become a god bitch, he can use you as a sockpuppet in exchange for MAGIC POWERS.
Not a very magic oriented setting really and priests are rare since each one while working as a phylactery for a god also leeches power off the main body.
Magic is based on the ability to use one's will and impose it on the world.
In order to do this, A. you have to have a soul, B. you have to understand the thing you are trying to impose your will upon, C. As a mortal you need a focus to help you channel your will to a degree to make it work.
Basically, making a potion works by knowing what herbs and ingridents to use and how to mix them as well as having the proper rituals to do it. For a country witch this involves having her pot set in a circle around the fire while she chants to herself. To a scientist it's basically the same thing albeit with more math looking stuff.
The idea is to combine the ideas of old school hermeticism and alchemy along with something like magic from Berserk. It's not really pew pew blasty magic but the high end would be something akin to Izzit where you have a contraption that lets you shoot lightning.
This magic also applies to martials as well as their knowledge of the body, and exercises and training is just a more physical form of doing magic (it's not seen that way but that's how it works).
The using one's "Will" is more of a physical and spiritual type thing so doing so naturally will exhaust you but yeah I suppose you could call it "mana" but the idea is that, no matter what you call it it all works the same way.
I don't have a setting, but I've been fiddling around with a mixture of ritual and spell slinging. The idea is mana is a resource that has to be manually harvested from mana rich sources (usually living things) before being used in conventional spells.
Rituals on the other hand are long and don't offer much in the way of fireballs or lightning bolts. They do have their uses, such as harvesting mana and empowering lives in ways both subtle (greater luck and health) and massive (permanent strength boost.)
Setting wise I was going to put it in modern times, having only just made itself known to the world at large. Meaning while a good chunk of the population is okay with it, there are still some who aren't. Usually in a similar vein as the Amish and technology. And while a good portion of the population is okay with magic, some common facts about magic still make them uncomfortable at best.
As mentioned before, mana is commonly harvested directly from life energy. What I haven't told you yet was what has the most life energy; humans. The average human has more mana in them than a small army of squirrels. This makes commoners weary of poor mages who have large sums of mana.
Rituals directly manipulate the forces of the universe, but they are not always free. Sometimes they require rare or immoral materials, or have scarring effects on the ones who cast them. The stronger the ritual, the more sinister it becomes.
And that's the basics, thoughts?
Three schools:
>Mages
arguably the most powerful. "True" magic. Capable of violating physics and thermodynamics and creating matter from nothing. Poorly understood despite the best efforts of the other schools. Mages can't be taught. You're either born with the gift, or not.
>Witches
Mostly support magic, healing, buffs, debuffs, etc. Most magic is ritual based, but very potent. Witches can build altars which amplify their spells and allows them to keep spells available for use on the fly by pre-casting rituals. Witches are secretive and while anyone can learn witch magic, witches rarely teach anyone outside their own covens and community.
>Alchemists
The science of converting matter from one form into another. Obeys strict, well-known and defined rules. Alchemists consider themselves scientists and look down on members of the other schools, believing them to be too intellectually lazy to understand the nuances and power of alchemy. The other schools look down on alchemists as being practitioners of the weakest form of magic. Alchemists though are the most open to teaching their craft to outsiders and so alchemists are relatively common. As for how it actually functions, it has a lot in common with the alchemy in fma, though that isn't what I had in mind. However it can be taken to its logical extreme: the most powerful alchemists could break down matter at the subatomic level, though this knowledge is lost to history
Ok,a bout 200 years ago humans are nearly wiped out by the Event, where the dormant power hidden in the Earth was suddenly released as humans reached the tipping point where the planet was going to die no matter what. The Earth Spirtit basically committed suicide to stop them before I was too late, and her efforts are shown as the Death Shroud that surrounds earth and prevents interplanetary travel or even high atmosphere flight. This same Death Shroud has caused humans to develop an.auxiluary Mana organ, beneath the heart, to filter it out. In most people, All it does in filter, but some carry the recessive gene required to have the corresponding brain love that allows them to manipulate the Death Shroud and mess with reality. These people are Sorcerors, and are required if you want to get a population above 10,000 so plants can grow.
It works like D&D magic.
that is a LOT of different magics for a single setting.
>Ritualistic or spell slinging?
Usually the ritual involves creating spells that are used up (mystical hand-grenades) OR to. bind some spirit or create some internal transformation that grants an innate ability.
So characters can throw fire but that itself is not the spell.
>Born with or learnt?
Almost always learnt. But some are born with a specific powers as though they had already undergone an internal transformation. These guys naturally have a head start should they ever take up magic.
>Elemental? Classes? Undefined?
The Elemental Principles: Fire, Earth, Air and Water and the Self Principles: Mind, Body and Spirit. But this is not the objective paradigm of magic, only what is studied by your average magician.
>Scientific or mystical?
Both, there is scientific procedure behind the study but so much of magic's nature is mercurial that large portions of mystical understanding is metaphysical jargon and intuitive leaps of faith. A purely scientific magician will be an excellent scholar but he will never be able to apply his art practically. A purely faithful magician will be a madman.
>Corrupting? Purifying?
Neither inherently but ether potentially and the most learned magicians will fall into one camp or another.
>Heretical?
In many places, yes, but in practice everyone wants the aid of wizards. They are constantly under suspicion for the darker arts but most magicians are weak in their art or liars that they aren't generally seen as a threat.
>Do spells have charges or work off of 'mana?'
Charges mostly. Magicians can prepare a number of spells (potions,prophesies or spirits) up to their skill. Those who have transmuted or bound themselves can use their abilities by paying HP or Stamina or fulfilling a specific condition, if the ability is significant. Some lesser wards and charms can be completed with a simple skill roll.
Typically, smaller magic is either an invention of an ancient civilization that they forgot to turn off before they died, or else just science skirting the boundaries of slightly different physics/alchemy.
Bigger magic I tend to decide case-by-case.
I occasionally use Mana in a game, but I rarely use it as that meter you cast spells from. Mana is influence on a metaphysical level, it is why some people or objects are respected for no real reason. In practical terms, I tend to use it either as another type of currency, mostly for dealing with supernatural creatures with the know-how to shift it, or else as a crafting ingredient that makes items better. Occasionally, I let players spend mana on smaller little effects, and make it an extension of a fate point or similar system. You typically get mana by doing things that earn you respect, whether awe, fear, or something in-between.
I'm intrigued. Tell me more.
Magic is an art that can be learned, but is rare on account of the social ramifications of some ancient nonsense.
Basically composed of drawing power into yourself and holding on to it long enough to store it up the the point you need, then pushing it into shape into a spell. There's no limit to what you can do at what level, but if you try something really high-tier and your skills/HP pool are shit, you might be in for some instant death.
Divine casting on the other hand basically consists of summoning a representative of the god who does your casting for you. Downside is they'll only do what the god agrees with, and the representatives are squishy as all fuck get out, so you gotta keep a close eye on them.