From: millerl@wilma.wharton.upenn.edu
Subject: ESSAY: The Price of Power!
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.misc
Summary: Aaron of Arcanorum on a mage's life
Organization: Newt World Order
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 16:30:19 GMT


                          The Price of Power
                     Essays on the Fate of a Mage

This scroll contains the wisdom of Aaron of Arcanorum, Sorcerer Primus,
Rho Khellunae (aka Aaron McLin), a learned magus who in ancient days
dispensed these scraps of sorcerous wisdom on the GMAST-L mailing list.
Now he has departed from the net, and his voice is no longer heard in
our wizardly conclaves. I post these essays, once thought lost, in order
that his wisdom may reach more than its previously limited orbit.

                   -- Bindle, Servant of Prometheus

-----------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 10:34:02 CDT
From: U23910%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: THE PRICE OF POWER
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>
Message-Id: <9004220326.AA05924@remote.dccs.upenn.edu>

     (My apologies, Ananda, and to the rest of you, for taking so long to
finally get this out.)

     It has already been noted how, in a quest for more magickal power, some
magi have simply allowed the mystickal enegies to flow more deeply into their
being than their level of skill allows them, the result being perminent warps
of their auras.
     It is known, however, that not all practicioners of the magickal arts are
so crass in their pursuit of greater power. Many, in order to gain access to a
greater level of power, have become restricted in ways that more conventional
mages are not.

     The most common type of mystic limitation is the Restriction/Requirement.
Quite simply, a Restriction is an injuction against either contact with,
proximity to, or ingestion of, one or more substances, on pain of interference
with one's practice of magery. In some lands, Elves, and other creatures of
Faerie, are known for their suseptibility to cold-wrought iron. In others, the
mages find that hawthorne and/or rowan woods hamper their fickle abilities.
     Opposite this, is a Reqirement, some substance which the magus finds
nessassary to the casting of magic.
     R/R's are further sub-defined along the following axii:
     Touch (Contact)/Proximity/Injestion
     Instantaneous/Lingering
     Hinderance/Neutralizer

RESTRICTIONS: Hinderance versus Neutralization: Does the substance simply make
the use of magic more difficult than normal, or does it render the mage unable
to call upon any of their magickal powers and/or skills?
     Instantaneous versus Lingering: When contact is terminated, how quickly is
the mage's magickal potency restored? Some casters have been known to require
several hours or more to fully shake off the effects of the bane material upon
them.
     Touch versus Proximity versus Ingestion: Most mages who suffer from the
effects of a bane material are effected by coming in contact with the material.
It is interesting to note that only the heaviest of clothing can prevent this
effect in most cases, but some few casters are able to ignore the substance
unless skin contact is made. Some mages, however, are hampered by merely being
too close to the bane substance. In these cases, twenty or thirty feet is the
most common radius of effect. Other mages are not effected unless they actually
ingest the bane substance. This has its own problems, as the bane tends to take
from six to eight hours to leave the mage's system.

REQUIREMENTS: Hinderace versus Neutralization: Some mages are subject to an
empowering substance, without which, they cannot cast spells. Others are merely
at a disadvantage if the empowering substance is not avialable.
     Instantaneous versus Lingering: In some cases, constant contact with the
empowering substance is required. Some mages, however, treat their particular
empowering substance as a sort of "recharger", with the effect lasting for
several hours from any contact.
     Touch versus Proximity versus Ingestion:

CODES OF CONDUCT: Several mages documented in writings we possess have been
subject to a particular code of conduct, violation of which resulting in a loss
of mage ability, either partial or total. Although many of these mages have
been members of some sort of religious community that places such strictures
upon them, our sources tell of numerous schools and orders of mages, that while
being purely secular in nature, seek to control the behavior of their members
through such means. In most cases, the effects of a breach of the code are
temporary, or can be undone through some sort of sincere penitential act.

SECRETS AND TRUENAMES: Although the concepts here differ substantially, the
effects are similar enough to discuss together. In some traditions, it is
widely believed that all intelligent beings have a TRUENAME given them by some
power. Knowing the truename of any particular being gives a mage a tremendous
amount of power over the being, the subject being becomming almost completely
defenceless against the mage's spells.
     Some orders of mages require that all of their members have some sort of
secret piece of information about themselves, and guard it against all
inquiry. One example from writings contained in our library concerns a mage who
is a female impersonating a male, her true sexual identity being her secret.
All such examples found tend toward such simplicity, the end result being that
almost all of such mages tend to be loners, or hermit-types, for fear that a
diligent observer might learn of their secret.
     To a non-magic user, a mage's secret or truename means nothing, although
the mage in question may become quite agitated. In the hands of another mage,
such information is fatal, as it allows the other mage to totally strip the
former of their powers, adding them to their own. It is to be noted that only
another mage with a truename or secret themselves can take the powers of such
a mage in this fashion.
     Note that NO amount of force, duress, or magic, can force a secret or
truename out of its owner, but it can be forced from any others who know it.
(Or perhaps bargained for...)

RESISTANT SUBSTANCES: Many mages, in a quest for more power, have exempted some
substance (or type of creature) from that selfsame power. Their magics, in such
cases will not work either on, through, or near said substance (creature). Note
that in cases in which the caster's magery will not work ON a substance, it can
still operate THROUGH it, and vice versa. If the caster's magic will not work
near a substance or creature, this applies only to the effects of their casting
and not to the casting itself. In the case of a mage whose spells are destroyed
by hawthorne wood out to thirty feet away, the mage himself could still cast
spells even while sitting in a hawthorne tree. But NOTHING within thirty feet
of any part of the tree would be affected, even by the most utterly destructive
of the mage's spells.

PECULIAR CONDITIONS:(RESTICTION/REQUIREMENT): Several mages we have located in
writings in our library depend upon certain conditions being absent/present in
order for them to be able to use magic. Some of these are physical, and these
tend toward the absurd/bizarre, such as being totally nude, or hanging upside
down, or facing in a certain direction.
      Other conditions known to effect to performance of such magi have been
certain weather conditions, certain events, or certain astrological alignments.

Aaron of Arcanorum

Have any questions? (I'm afraid my loyal scribe isn't always entirely clear,
and the system has note been entirely codefied into a coherent set of rules as
of yet.) Just ask, and I'll clarify as best I can.

-----------------------

Date: Mon, 23 Apr 90 09:17:36 CDT
From: U23910%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: THE REWARDS OF POWER
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>
Message-Id: <9004240708.AA18971@remote.dccs.upenn.edu>

     Yo, dudes, I'm back again with a little bit of explanation on The Price Of
Power. As you may have guessed, that whole shlong is a little scheme I came up
with to give the Magic Users in my campaigns a little advantage, at the cost of
some real headaches. Something that was made more clear in the original Price
Of Power posting is the fact that in return for taking the disadvantages or
restrictions of your choice, your Magus gains a bonus to earned experience
points. The problem is, that as the second part of this system is pretty new, I
have yet to determine set values for saddling your novice Sorceress with any
given Price. Therefore, I usually have to play it by ear, but common awards
tend towards the 5% - 10% range per, with a maximum award of around 20% - 25%.
Suggestions are welcomed. In some cases, the mystickal disadvantages have been
extremely useful simply as plot devices and background. As some of them can
easily be explained through purely psychological means, they can also be used
as personality building blocks for any particular character.
     Also, you may have figured out that some of the "writings" Aaron of
Arcanorum refered to are popular fantasy books, such as "Thieves' World", and
the like. You can find all sorts of odd reasonings behind magical powers if
you pick up the right novel or short story. One particularly odd one that I
came across concerned a young woman who could not cast spells unless completely
nude. The (supposed) reasoning behind this was that she was the servant of a
Mage, and often swiped his books on magery to teach herself magic. In order to
prevent her discovery, she would read these tomes in the one place that the
Wizard would not intrude upon her: in her bath. Since (like most people) she
bathed naked, she always practiced her enchantments without the benefit of
clothing. Thus, she managed to imprint upon herself an association between
spellcasting and her nudity, and later found that if she were clothed, she was
unable to cast spells. While this particular example is too silly for me to
allow any of my own players to use, it does provide a basic example of how such
a thing might work. One could easily extend such a thing to include a Druid,
for instance, who could not cast spells in an urban area, or something similar.
     You could also make "blanket statements" that would govern whole classes
of spell casters, like: Elven Magi may not cast spells when in contact with
Cold Iron, or Rowan wood is impervious to all magicks, etc. But then all of the
affected casters should get some kind of bonus, so as not to weaken the class
as a whole.
     Be careful not to allow players to get bonuses for taking restrictions
that are already inherent to the game system. Let's say that Kalorae the
Conjuress wants to take the restriction of being unable to cast spells if she
cannot move her hands. If Kalorae was a D&D character, I would have a problem
in granting her that, due to the fact that so many spells have somantic parts
to them that the restriction she wants is almost a given, under the game
system.

Aaron McLin

-----------------------

Date: Wed, 27 Jun 90 09:32:11 CDT
From: U23910%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: I'M NOT SURE...
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>

ON KNIGHTS (EVEN DURING THE DAY!)

     According to one source that I read on the subject, "There is NO
CONTEMPORARY account of a knight being hoisted into the saddle."
     Now what this means is the following: It very well MAY have been the case
that these guys had to mount up with the aid of a crane. BUT no one wrote about
such an occurance AT THE TIME THAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE HAPPENED. Is that
clear? The quote above is from Palladium Weapons and Armor, and is indirectly
corroborated by books I remember from high school.
     So I tend to think that one COULD mount by oneself in BATTLEFIELD armor.
JOUSTING armor could very well be another matter, but that is another tale...

THE PRICE OF POWER: THE WAYS OF THE MAGUS

     This one strolled over to the library last quarter and hauled out all
twelve (it could have been more) volumes of the Oxford dictionary, and later,
went back to my house and had a construction crew move my parents HUGE Webster
into my bedroom. With pen, paper, and a collosal lack of sanity, I proceeded to
look up EVERY word I could glean from an RPG or pull from memory dealing with
magic. The results were quite interesting and will be posted tomorrow, if you
all wish to see them. (I forgot to bring my %$#@!%*$#&)$!!! notes to the
U with me today! DRAT! DRAT! DRAT!)
     So tomorrow Aaron of Arcanorum will make another appearance and fill you
in on what some of all these terms REALLY mean. To wit: according to Webster,
Warlock is the masculine term for Witch. According to Oxford, the proper word
is WIZARD, with a Warlock having similar but different powers. Also, the term
"Witch" has an evil connotation, a GOOD person with the same powers would have
a different title.

     But one thing was oddly clear. (Well, perhaps it is not so odd.) The use
of magic as described in most RPG's was almost totally absent from all of the
definitions I found. To put it in D&D terms (becuase I assume that most all of
us are somewhat familiar with D&D), most "real world" "magic" is closer to
Clerical "magic" that to what fantasy Magic Users do, as most of it is, in fact
derived from some sort of supernatural entity.

     In the worlds that we term "Fantastic", as opposed to "Mundane", like a
certain world "Earth", magic must needs be divided into catagories determinant
on the place of origin of the energies used. This energy, ofttimes termed
"Mana" has several differing origins.
     The most common source of mana is the plane in which it is used. It can be
said that all planes have a certain level on mana imparted to them by whatever
gods or powers are responsible for such things, and that there is a limit to
how much can be used. This is not always a finite limit, as certain planes that
we have been made aware of seem to "regenerate" the mana, so to speak, so that
even if all of the available power has been used, sometime in the future, there
will be more available.
     On certain planes, mana can be said to be "curtained" throughout the whole
of the plane. This can lead to regional depletions of magical energy in places
where mana is too often used, and conversely, there may appear regions where
mana abounds. Other planes seem to have a "font" of mana, that may be used
at any point within that plane.
     Another common source of magic are other planes, that is different from
the plane the spell originates on. It seems that there are whole planes that
are nothing but mana energies, or are so mana-rich that any object originating
there fairly radiates such energies. Almost all such planes have no sentient
life forms. The reasons for this are as yet unknown, but many prominant spell-
workers continue to look into the matter most diligently. Planes such as these
can provide spell-casters with "power objects" that a caster can exploit and
harness to provide power, assuming such an object can be gotten to the magic-
worker's plane.
     This is not always a good thing, as the frail condition of most mundane
life forms can be harmed by too mush exposure to raw mana. Also such items are
but child's play to magically detect, and are muchly coveted by those whe seek
to bolster their powers.
     To continue along this train, it is sometimes possible to create an object
that will "collect" mana, up to a set limit. This mana can then be made easily
available to the caster if they become too weak to channel power to themselves,
or do not wish to squander their strength to do so.
     We have already established that there are sometimes sentient lifeforms on
mana-producing planes. These creatures are often able to channel their inante
mana to another. More often it is this other entity that brings about the
effect that the caster needs, if the proper entreaties are made to this being.
     Such beings are often refered to as Gods, Angels, Demons, Devils, etc...
depending on the demeanor and appearance of the entity.
     There have also been reports of intelligences that exist on normal planes
that nevertheless, have mana that they can dole out to magic-users or use on
such a person's behalf. Such are commonly refered to as "spirits", although the
multplicity of uses for the word make such defintion difficult at best.
     On "Mundane" planes, like "Earth", almost all documantation of magery
deals with help from other entities, either on that plane, or on another. It
may very well be the case that in a very mana poor plane, as this Earth seems
to be, that opening channels for mana to other planes is next to impossible.
Thus, any person wishing to utilize mana must by nessesity deal with those
entities that can impart mana to them, or will accomplish what the magic-user
wishes to be done.
     Please note that it is not altogether proper to refer to Earth as a
"plane" as such. Earth is but one planet within the plane in which it exists.
     One interesting side effect of this is that if any person can manage to
harness what little energy does exist on so mana-deprived a plane, and they
then find themselves on another, they tend to be MUCH more powerful than a
native caster with the same relative magical experience. That is to say: that
if two mages from different planes can both manage to lift a rock 20 feet by
application of their plane's native mana, and the one from the mana deprived
plane arrives on the other, the same effort required to lift the rock 20 feet
on his home plane would send it shooting 150 or 200 feet into the air.
     Although one might expect such travellers to become the dominant spell-
workers on their new planes, in fact, many tend to destroy themselves in one
fashion or another before learning to control the extra power at their
disposal.

Aaron of Arcanorum, Sorcerer Primus, Rho Khellunae

-----------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 90 09:30:04 CDT
From: U23910%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: MAGIC, MAGIC
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>

     THE PRICE OF POWER: THE MANNER OF THE MAGICIAN

     These definitions are taken from the Oxford dictionary mostly, Webster was
too vague and connotative for my purposes.

     There are many terms for Magic and its practictioners. Over the years, the
standard course that language takes has served to take these words and blur the
once distinctive meanings into a confused jumble of roughly synonomous terms.

     Legerdemain - slight of hand, jugglery, conjuring tricks

     Mage - a magician (Magus, Mague) Magian (also - pertaining to magic or
          magi

     Magha - sorceress, magicienne, magicianess

     Magic - magic    magyke    malgyk
             magict   magika    magique
             magick   magica    magicus
             (ars - art of)

     Magician - magicien, magitian, magission

     Magus - one skilled in Oriental magic and astrology (magusian)

     Necromancer - one who claims to carry on communication with the dead
          (necromantist, necromant)

     Dweomercraft - illusion, sorcery, necromance, magic

     Enchant - to exert magical influence upon, to bewitch, to lay under a
          spell. Also to endow with magical powers or properties.
          (from incantare (there is an - over the second "a"): to sing against)
          also: encharm
     This is one of the few definitions which points to a "non-spiritual" form
of magic, dealing with older Celtic and Finnish, Lapp, etc... magical forms and
traditions.

     Prestidigitation - legerdemain
          Prestige - an illusion
          Prestigiate, prestigiation
          Prestigitator, prestigiator

     Warlock - male witch (but see below), magician - one in league with the
          Devil, and so possessing occult and evil powers

     Warlockery

     Witch - a woman supposed to have dealings with the devil or evil spirits
          and to able by their co-operation to perform supernatural acts.

     Witchery, Witchcraft

     White Witch - a witch (or Wizard) of good disposition, one who uses witch-
          craft for beneficient purposes; one who practices "white magic"

     Wizard - a philosopher sage. A man who is skilled in the occult arts: in
          the later use, a man who practices witchcraft (the masculine
          correlative of WITCH)

     Sorcery - casting of spells through the control or aid of evil forces or
          spirits; divination through the (supposed) aid of evil spirits

     Wicca (f), Wicce (m) - "wise one"; witch

     Sorceress

     Sorcerer, sorcerist

     Conjurer, conjuror, conjuress - one who conjures spirits and pretends to
          perform miracles by their aid
          Cunjurment, conjury

     Conjuration - the effecting of something supernatural by the invocation of
          a sacred name or by the use of some spell. (Original) the compelling
          of spirits or demons by such means to appear and do one's bidding.

     Theurgy - a system of magic... to procure communication with beneficent
          spirits, and by their aid produce miraculous effects... "white magic"

     Goety - "Black magic"

     Thaumaturgy - wonder working, conjuring; the art of creating marvellous or
          apperently magical devices
          Thaumaturgist, thaumaturge, thaumaturgus

     Houngan - voodoo priest

     Wanga - voodoo spell

     Voodoo - this was hard to define accurately, as different sources claimed
different meanings. At its base, voodoo is a religion. Magically voodoo, deals
with spirits, the dead, sympathy, and other magical forms.
     Sympathy magic is hard to define as well. Your run of the mill voodoo
doll or graven image falls into this catagory, but so does hexing a ship by
placing a small model of it in basin of water and stirring up the water. Or one
could cause a sea storm by the same means.
     If you've seen The Witches of Eastwick, you may have some idea on how
sympathetic magic might work.

     Charlatan - one who pretends to occult or divinatory powers.

Aaron of Arcanorum, scribe to Colus III


-----------------------

Date: Mon, 2 Jul 90 09:49:43 CDT
From: U23910%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: TPOP AGAIN
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>

     Sorry that "The Manner of the Mage" was so late. There was a mail goof-up,
and I just found out this morning.

     THE PRICE OF POWER : THE FORCE AND THE POWER

     Mana, like so many other forces, is simply another usable form of energy.
But what does it take to properly utilize this energy?

     INCANTATIONS: Many forms of magery rely heavily on verbal, and quite often
verbose, components for proper functioning. It has been conjectured by some
that reciting an icantation is not unlike reciting a mantra, or other such tool
of meditation, and that its true porpose is to insure that the mage properly
patterns their mind to guide the flow of the energies that they are preparing
to unleash.
     However, some older traditions hold that incantatory words are holdovers
from times when much magic was accomplished by singing of or to the powers that
one wished to call to one's aid for a given spell. This may explain the lyrical
quatity of some spells, and the fact that many spells in common languages often
rhyme, however crudely.
     Still another school of thought maintains that the forces that comprise
magic have some form of collective, rudimentary, intelligence; and therefore
can somewhat understand the spoken word. While considered a fringe theory at
best by most scholars and mages, several persons have applied themselves to
demonstrating this fact.
     What is interesting to several scholars is that fact that "sung" magic,
that is, magic whose verbal component is verse, often does not require any
other type of action on the part of the mage. Some such spells can also be set
to music much better than one would expect, perhaps giving an explanation to
mage-bards that exist in some traditons.

     MOTION: Ofttimes, the mage does not have the luxury of being able to stand
still while casting spells. Many spells reqire some amount of motion in order
for a successful casting to take place.
     Some feel that this is a way of physically shaping and guiding the forces
at hand, although some feel that mana is too intangible to be "handled" in such
a fashion.
     Those subscribing to the "intelligent mana" theory take motion as just
another medium of instruction to the guiding intellect that doles mana to the
mage.
     Others hold to the theory that this too, is a holdover from some earlier
tradition. Supporting this theory is the fact that some primitive(?) cultures
have magic-users who can cast spells solely through the use of dances. Some of
these are incredibly complex, and it is said that training from early childhood
is required to execute some of the movements. These too, can often be set to
music, and usually allow the caster to dispence with other ritual components.

     THE EBB AND THE FLOW

     Mana is energy, and as such, it can be said to flow. We have already gone
over how this flow may damage the aura of the unwary or underskilled magician.
But what is it that causes mana to flow? And in what ways can the flow be
balanced to protect the user?

     Part of the reason that it seems difficult to draw mana to a mana-poor
plane could be that it takes mana to call mana. What this means is that in
calling on mana from another plane, one opens a gateway to that other plane.
This gateway requires a certain level of magical energy to open it, let the
needed level of mana through, and then close it again, as well as guide the
energy to its destination. Although this takes much less energy than is called
upon, a mana-poor plane will be unwilling to relenquish it.
     Once the gate is open, regulation is important. Gates will always be made
to planes that have more mana than the one the caster is on. The imbalance will
cause mana to flow to equal out the distribution, much in the same way water
will flow between containers will unequal amounts of liquid. But the mana must
go through the mage first. If uncontained, the rush of energy will overwhelm
their skill at handling it, and consume their aura, then their body in an
instant of burning agony.

     A mage has a finite level of skill at handling magic, termed power by some
mages. This is a useful term, as this level of skill tends to represent how
much mana a mage may wield in a given time frame without damage to their aura.
Once power has been exceeded, damage to one's aura will result, with several
different consequences, as we have delved into in the past. If one looses their
aura due to an excess of such damage, all ability to use magic if forever lost.
Therefore some mages will let the energies effect their physical bodies to
avoid this unhappy fate. Many such fools die, and horribly at that.
     One way to increase power without having to become more skilled is through
sacrifice. Many spells require the life of some small animal or insect. The
life force of the animal provides a buffer against damage to aura. Due to the
very large buffer provided, some mages have gone so far as to sacrifice other
sentient, intelligent beings in the casting of powerful spells. Once a creature
dies, this buffering energy drains away for the most part, but some may remain
in some parts of the corpse. Some spells can draw upon that residual energy for
extra power, it seems, thus explaining why some spells call for such things as
bones, hair, hands or paws etc... from corpses, although most agree that the
freshly slain give better results.
     Although many mages have no qualms about giving the knife to a sentient
being, most dislike the simple sacrifice of magic users. This seems to be due
to the fact that many mages considerit a waste to steal just the life force of
one able to use magic. There are however, several fell rituals that allow a
mage to use the power of another.

     POWERSTEAL- This ritual adds the victim's power to that of the caster. If
we can qualify one mage's power at 10, and a seconds at 15, if the second uses
this ritual on the first, their power will be raised to 25, and the first will
be powerless, and most likely, soon dead, as the violence of the energy drain
tends to be fatal. The stolen power lasts until used up.

     MANABIND- This ritual works on a basic assumption: that power regenerates
once used, so that later spellcasting is possible. In most cases, this
regeneration occurs daily, giving a spellcaster a certain level of magical
"endurance" each day. This ritual binds two mages together, such that one mage
can use the power of the second, while the second is powerless. Also, it is not
a one-time only affair. For as long as the ritual is in effect, the caster
gains their victim's power, as it will continue to regenerate.

     Most guilds, or other orgaizations of mages, will not allow members access
to such spells, and will seek to punish thoes that use them.

     Certain spells reqire the sacrifice of a given type of sentient. This
tends to be because some entity is providing the power, and it finds the life
forces of this type of sentient to be pleasing. Virgin females tend to be a
favorite of many "evil" creatures. Another reason is defintion of effect. To
wit, one might sacrifice a Goblin to cast spell on all Goblins in the area.

     Sacrifices may also be required in order to gain the help of "spirits" and
other such entities. They too, have a power level, and so will risk aura damage
by exceeding it. Thus, they will often ask for a sacrifice to buffer themselves
against these effects. Specific creatures will gerenally be requested out of
spite or dislike.

     There are some cases where life force can be used to suppliment mana. This
is mainly done on low mana planes, to facilitate opening of gates to higher
mana places.
     It may also be used as a tool to make a gate large enough summon forth a
being from another plane.

Aaron of Arcanorum, Sorcerer Primus of Rho Khellunae

P.S. Thank you for your earlier compliment, Ananda. I hope this lives up to the
standard.

Also, here is my attempt to encourage more multi-media communcation around here
and decrease the flaming:

AARON ROBERT MCLIN
1065 WEST NORTH AVENUE
BATAVIA, ILLINOIS 60510

1 - (708) - 879 - 2722

-----------------------

Date: Tue, 3 Jul 90 14:01:25 CDT
From: U23910%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: MORE ON MAGES
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>

     THE PRICE OF POWER :

     THE EBB AND THE FLOW

     Magic is, like any other profession, the realm of those skilled in its use
and functioning. There are several component parts to ensure that a mage's
spellcasting functions in the manner that they would wish it to.

     VERBALIZATION: Many spells in common tradition have verbal (some would say
verbose) segments to their modes of casting. The reasons for this are deeply
shrouded in the origins of magery.
     One explaination commonly put forth by those familiar with magic is that
an incantation is quite similar to a mantra, or some other aid of meditation,
and that the purpose is to pattern the spell-user's mind for proper control of
the enegries that they are about to unleash. Somewhat supporting this view are
contentions that some highly experienced mages can cast spells silently that
lesser casters verbalize by nessessity.
     A newer theory, generally considered on the fringe of scholarly thought on
the subject, is that mana, or magical energy, is semi-intelligent in and of it-
self, or is guided by some small intellect. This intellect is considered basic,
and rudimentary, but trainable, and able to follow highly specific verbal
instruction. Although this "Dog Theory" is scoffed at, sometimes quite openly,
by several well known mages, it does have a growing list of adherents and they
have been able to produce several pieces of evidence to support this theory.
     Another theory that has been around for some time is that verbalization is
ritual only, and has no real bearing on the spell, but has simply been so
deeply ingrained during a mage's teaching that they believe themselves to be
powerless without it.
     In conflict with this contention is the fact that in several older magical
traditions, the spell workers perform their casting through song. These songs
can be very powerful, and call upon tremendous powers. This is particularly the
case with the Bard-Mages that are present in some societies. Allthough many of
these societies are considered primative, by our standards, many are at, or may
even exceed our own level of advancement. A compensitory effect has been put
forth by some in regards to sung spells, as some of these songs can be quite
lengthy. Interestingly, many of these fit quite well with music, and reports
are surfacing that suggest the very tunes that fit with such songs may have
magical properties onto themselves.

     MOTION: Many spells of the common tradition require a ritual set of move-
ments by the spell-worker for proper effect.
     A popular theory that explains this is that mana has a "semi-tangiblity"
during the process of spell casting, and that the motions of the mage serve to
"shape" and direct the flow of mana that the mage has summoned for his use. It
is due to a belief in this philosophy that many mages are extremely meticulous
in teaching these motions to their apprentices, as the theory holds that if
the motions are improper, the spell will be miscast.
     Those believing that mana is self-intelligent have their own version of
this belief, stating that magical energy can interpet the motions of a spell
caster as a set of extra, specifying, instructions, and will follow them to the
best of its knowledge. Here too, proper movement is important, to aviod
"confusing" the energy, and thus miscasting, or failing to cast the spell one
wants.
     Here too, are older traditions that rely totally upon this medium for
spellcasting. Through complex and often lengthy dances, many "primative" spell
workers can cast very sophisticated spells.

     OBJECTS/MATERIALS: The use of materal objects in magery is very old,
almost to old to even conjecture about.
     One theory is that the use of items associated with the effect that one
wishs to accomplish has the effect of reducing the energy that one needs to put
into a spell to make it function properly. This may be why many traditions of
magic use sand, or some other such dust ot powder in the casting of spells that
are meant to put persons to sleep.
     Then there are the traditions of sympathetic magic. In these traditions,
by causing some effect to an image or model of the spell's target, one causes
the spell to take effect on the actual person or object. Often, this image or
model must have some part, or object associated with, the target build into it
for the spell to work properly.

     Magic, or mana, is a form of energy not too different from most others
that we have been able to identify. Thus, it can be made to travel, or flow,
from one place to another like any other form of energy. The above treatise is
concerned with controlling the flow once it reaches the mage. Below is a
disscussion on whence it travels, and how.

     THE FORCE AND THE POWER

     There are several different places that mages can obtain power from, as we
have already seen. How they get it to where they can use it is another matter.
     If the energy is contained in some object that is near to them, or in
contact, this is an easy task. The mage simply draws the energy out mentally,
and allows it to be applied to whatever effect they wish to create.
     The procedure is very nearly the same when one draws energy from the
plane one is presently in. One simply channels the energy through them, then to
let it flow out to do one's will.
     One interesting fact is that any given plane will only allow a certain
amount of mana to be used in any one place at one time. This places a limit on
the amount of mana availible to any one spellcaster at a given time. So it is
quite possible to have a spell require energy from another source. Indeed, it
is often more feasable on mana-poor planes to draw energy from another plane.
But there is a minor paradox involved: the lower the mana level of any given
plane, the more difficult it becomes to obtain extra energy from another plane.
     This may be part of the reason why on many low-mana planes, many spell
users have come to rely on otherplanar beings to either channel them power from
their home plane, or to actually cause the desired effect for them. As many of
these beings actually produce their own mana, they can either accomplish the
feat or more easily draw mana from other places.
     It takes mana to get mana. That is to say, to open a gateway to a more
mana-rich plane requires a basic expenditure of mana energy in the first place.
This is generally a very small amount, but sometimes even small amounts can be
hard to come by. This energy serves several functions. It opens a gateway,
regulates and directs the energies drawn off, and then closes the gateway to
keep the spell caster from being overwhelmed.
     Mana gateways do not close on their own. This is because mana tends to
flow from high concentrations to low concentrations once the gateway has been
opened, in the same way that water will flow from an full jar into one that is
empty, until both have like amounts. This flow will keep a gateway open, if it
is not checked. This flow would destroy the physical form of whomever was
channelling the energy, and then would be without a destination.

STRANGE SIDE NOTE: DJINN, IF YOU'RE STILL THERE, HOLD ON I WANT TO *TALK* TO
     YOU. WILL WRITE AFTER I FINISH THIS!

(Now, back to the topic at hand.)

Oh, drat! Lost my bloody train of thought! I HATE when people interrupt my
writing. Grrrrr. Will finish this this evening, Aaron.

-----------------------

Date: Tue, 3 Jul 90 16:43:09 CDT
From: U23910%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: CONTINUATION
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>
Message-Id: <9007071520.AA02051@remote.dccs.upenn.edu>

     THE FORCE AND THE POWER

     ...Oh, yeah, here we are...

     Now we have already discussed to concept of Aura, and how a magician can
do damage to their aura by the use of too much magical energy within a certain
time frame, and the effects that this can have.
     The limit on the energy that one can use without ill effect is generally
a fixed, finite amount, and is termed by many as one's Power. In most cases, a
mage who has used all of the energy that their power will allow them to, they
may no longer cast spells. In some cases, one may use life force as a way of
casting a few more spells, but for most mages, that is the end of their spell
casting untill the ability regenerates, usually by the next solar day, or
during a period of sleep.
     One way to offset this is to not channel the energy through oneself. Some
traditions allow a mage to channel energy through an object, but these usually
must be enchanted beforehand, by the person who is to use it.
     Another, darker, way of not reducing one's own power, is to reduce someone
else's power.

     POWERSTEAL - This ritual allows the caster to steal the interval spell
ability of another caster. That is to say, if a mage can use x amount of magic
in one day, between rest periods, etc..., the caster of the ritual adds x to
the amount of magic they can use. Stolen ability is used first, and does not
regenerate along with the caster's regular ability. Also, if the victim has
already used part of their ability for that interval, the ritual caster does
not gain the full amount, only the amount left. This ritual tends to kill the
victim. 80 - 90% of cases.

     A more powerful ritual is this one:

     MANABIND - This ritual ties two mages mystically, such that the caster of
the ritual may cast spells, but the victim is the one that must provide the
energy, until their normal ability to control magic has been completely drained
to nothing. Then the caster must revert to their own ability. This ritual tends
to have a duration of at least a week in most cases, sometimes longer. During
this time, the caster may call upon what ever ability the victim has availible
to them, as the victim (and the caster as well) will regenerate used ability at
the interval at which they usually do. Note that this sometimes done on a
voluntary basis, to help a mage overcome some threat beyond their ability.

     Both of these rituals have some resrictions, which are important to heed
if one wishes to live through the casting. One is that one may no more than
double one's power in this way, the other is that one may not cast this ritual
over a more powerful caster than oneself.
     One would also do well to remember that many Wizards' Guilds and other
organized groups of mages are rather against people having access to this spell
and will punish users that they can find.

     One of the reasonings behind this spell deals with the practice of
sacifice. Many spells have the sacrifice of some living creature as a a part of
their ritual.
     Sacrifice has several reasonings and purposes. Usually, it is to appease
or to win the favor of some otherworldly entity whose aid the mage would like
to enlist. Many such beings have preferences as to what type of sacrifice they
will accept, virgin females being a well known preference. Most of these are
out of spite, or a dislike of the type of being sacrificed, although some
entities have been know to ask for sacrifices that test the supplicant mage,
such as a specific person, hard to find creature, or a relative or friend.
     There are rumors of special rituals that some traditions have developed
that allow mages extra spellcasting power in return for a life.

Aaron of Arcanorum, Sorcerer Primus


Sorry that this post was late. The Manner of the Mage was meant to go out on
Thursday of last week (Thanks for the copy, Brad!) but was sent back, and I did
not find out until Monday. This post (both parts) were originally sent on
Monday, but the IBM mainframe ate it, and I had to write it over.

Next: THE PRICE OF POWER : SEX AND THE SINGLE MAGE

Ananda - thanks for the earlier compliment. I hope this one lives up to the
standard.

And I WILL do Sex and the Single Mage, if I can find enough material for it in
my library. Stay tuned! Or better yet, send ideas! (THIS is gonna be real bent,
folks.)

     Sorry about jumping up and down earlier, but I hate people telling me I'm
wrong without backing it up with what they feel is RIGHT. And after all, all I
was trying to do was clear up any confusion that your standard fantasy rpg may
have caused by treating many of those words and terms as synonomous. And a lot
of fantasy literature does the same thing. And those defintions are what I
found. Books on the occult and stuff like that don't really interest me because
I know all of that to be just superstition and other such silliness, although
it is cool reading sometimes. (The Devil! Aw, come on... you don't really think
I'll GO for that do you? Geez meez on a stick, man... ) And *I* had heard that
wicca was a Roman/Latin term. Oh, well. Live and learn.

Never, ever, give the finger to a Mobile Suit! (TRUST me on this one...)
     Aaron R. McLin

-----------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Jun 90 10:08:23 CDT
From: U23910%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: WOW. LOOKIE THOSE GLOWING RED EYES...
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>

     Yo, Djinn...
     The biggest problem with sarcasm is that people don't always get it. A lot
of what makes sarcasm is contained within verbal elements, and these won't come
across in text. Also we've had a lot of people say the same types of things, in
much the same way, and be COMPLETELY SERIOUS. So sarcasm is fine, but be ready
for alot of people to miss the point.

     Hmmmnnn....
     I never actually PLAYED DragonQuest, but I LOVE some of those spells and
rituals and incorporated several into other games, like AD&D, the Arcanum, and
some others.

     AND NOW, ON TO BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS! (FANFARE HERE)

     A lot of games don't have many spells that fall into the realm of role-
playing spells. That is, there are only a few spells in any given game
system that are not really adventure useful.
     Let's try to explain it this way. DragonQuest has a spell called: Spell of
Blessing or Curse on Unborn Child. Now, I have a hard time thinking of what
application this spell has to most adventuring activities, even in the hands of
the cleverest players. But the role-playing oppurtunites are rife. The same
with Blessing or Blight on Crops. DragonQuest has a few other spells in nearly
the same vein.
     The whole point is this, that many games seem to forget whole volumes of
really interesting magical spells, simply because they have limited usefulness
in adventuring. Now, before you jump up with your favorite system and begin
pointing to this spell or that, bear in mind that I DON'T own EVERY game that
has a magic system to go with it, so I may very well have missed something here
or there.
     So let me make a proposal: I would really like to see what we can come up
with in the way of Role-playing spells.

Here's my first entry:

WATCHOVER
     When this spell is cast, some supernatural spirit or entity is called to
watch over the recipient of the spell. This entity will not grant any material
aid to the recipient, but others will see this person as favored, and will tend
to be somewhat favorably inclined towards this person. In additon, remarkable
coincidences will occur that will tend to keep the recipient safe from
catastropic harm.To wit, a person may become seasick, and so is put ashore at
next port. The ship sails on, only to be lost in a freak storm. Note that if
a person willfully attempts to use these powers for ANY sort of personal
advantage for self or friends, the spell is broken, and some grave ill will
befall the now-luckless person. This spell may not be cast on oneself.

     See what I'm talking about? The spell parameters prohibit one from really
helping oneself out with this spell, but one could easily work up a little good
will by casting it on others. It is my feeling that more spells of this type
would serve to stimulate role-playing situations, and a shift towards treating
characters as if they were real people that just happen to live in a fantasy
world.

999 the Anti Satan

P.S. BTW, Djinn, the word is COFFEE. Now, I want to see "I will learn to spell
     coffee." on the blackboard twenty thousand times before your next post.
       o O
        L
     \_____/    (heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!)

McJokesterMan

-----------------------

Date: Wed, 1 Aug 90 09:31:30 CDT
From: U23910%UICVM.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: SAY, HAVEN'T I SEEN YOU SOMEWHERE BEFORE?
To: Multiple recipients of list GMAST-L <GMAST-L@UTCVM>

     THE PRICE OF POWER : THE FACE OF THE FAMILIAR

     Many mages spend the vast majority of their time in the near-constant
pursuit of ways to increase their personal power. One tried and true way of
going about this is to borrow the extra energies from some other entity.
     To this end, many mages from differing traditions have taken on what have
become universally known as familiars. But although the name is the same, the
powers, abilities, and benefits of such entities vary widely.
     Common with many mages is the simple non-magical animal. For the most
part, all such animals are are glorified pets and companions. Their most common
usage is sensory. The owning mage simply uses such a spell that allows them to
recieve any sensory information that the familiar is privy to. This effectively
allows the mage to "be in two places at one time", so to speak. Almost any
animal will do for this, crows, ravens, frogs, cats, rabbits, snakes, etc...
being common in many mundane writings on the subject. Flying animals tend to
be the most popular, as well as those animals said to possess special sensory
abilities. Domestification is not an issue, as such can usually be accomplished
with any of a number of simple spells, depending on tradition.
     Oftentimes, a mage will aquire a familiar to serve as sort of a teacher,
or mentor. In such cases, the familiar tends to be some sort of
otherdimensional entity, and is fully intelligent. Often, they will be powerful
mages in their home planes, but severely limited here. They will most commonly
do one of two things. One, they will instruct the caster in new magics, as the
caster becomes skilled/powerful enough to handle such things, or two, they will
lend the caster some of their unusable magical "talent". In most cases, such
familiars are "loaned" to the mage by some other enitity, who has sovreignty
over the familiar in the home plane, or the familiar was summoned and bound by
the mage that they serve. In only a few cases are such arrangements fully
voluntary on the part of the familiar. In such cases, either the familiar gains
some sort of benefit from/by service, or the familiar has some sort of control
over the caster. (Leading one to question just who the master is, and who is
the servant!)
     In order to allow the familiar to better blend in with the environment,
many such entities will have effected some sort of shapeshift into a common
animal. Many, however, will remain in there true form.
     A rather rare type of familiar, mentioned in the writing of only a very
few traditions, is a bound apprenitice. A mage will bind their apprentice to
them, allowing them to use whatever magical energies the apprentice is able to
control. In return, the mage will, as expected, instruct the apprentice in the
Ars Magica. Note that as an apprentice's power increases with their skill, it
is to the mage's benefit to give their apprentice all the instruction that they
can provide. Many mages, however, have no intention of ever releasing their
poor apprentices from such servitude. As a result, many, if not all, labor
under the influence of Geases preventing them from acting in any way that would
cause harm to come to their masters/mistresses, or other spells that compell
total obediance. Many mages will also lay such spells upon their unfortunate
slaves as to allow the mage to transform the apprentice into some sort of
animal form. Many are also so ensorcelled that the spells do not cease if the
controlling mage is slain, but the unfortunate familiar must do whatever is
possible to restore their master/mistress, or at least see to the proper
dispostion of body and goods. Some such familiars have even lost their souls to
the invading consciousness of the slain mage. Many such familiars are quite
powerful in their own right, lacking only the means to free themselves from
their cruel usery.
     Another rare sort of familiar is a spirit familair. They are just that,
spirits, and so have no real existance in this plane. They may have been
granted or summoned from other planes, or may be the spirits of dead mages from
the mage's own plane. In any case, they tend to advise or teach the mage, or
lend some sort of power, or some special ability. As they have no real
existance on the mage's plane, the must have a host object to inhabit. This is
usually some sort of item, mundane or magical, that the mages carries with
them, like a staff, or a medalion. Alternately, it may be some sort of small
sculpture, or graven image, that the spirit possesses and animates. In some
caes, some living creatue may have its consciousness sacrificed to make room
for the spirit to possess the body. The main advantage to such familiar is that
it cannot be "killed" as it is not truly "alive". The worst that can happen is
that the link between spirit and mage will be sundered, and the spirit may be
forced away, but the spirit may always be re-summoned, and the link restored.
As always such familiars may be willing or unwilling.
     Commonly, a mage may have but a single familiar at any one time. What
consequences, of any of attempting to link others are too varied to be touched
upon in so basic a tract as this.
     One note of clarification: Links between mage and familiar are of many
types. Although the mundane animal, for instance, is most always used as a sort
of "remote spy" for the mage, the proper spell may allow any familiar to be
so used. Likewise, a bound apprentice may have their soul forced into some kind
of inanimate object, if their master/mistress have the desire and the power to
do so. Also, all familiars, even if considered friendly may be subject to
restraints on their thinking and/or behavior, if the mage does not fully trust
their loyalty.
     About all that a mage is required to do for the familiar in return is keep
the servant from dying. This is often as simple as feeding and watering the
familiar at a decent interval, but otherdimensional enities and spirits may
have different needs. Many of the otherdimensional entities from different
traditions form a sybiotic relationship with the mage that they serve. In at
least one tradition, the mage grows a third nipple, on some part of their body,
and the familiar will suckle blood from this nipple. Spirits may feed directly
from the life force of the mage, or the mage may provide a victim for the
spirit to so consume.
     Possibly the greatest danger with intellignt familiars is that they may
exert some sort of influence over the mage they "serve", as noted earlier, or
that the familiar will form so strong a link that the mage cannot break it, and
thus bind to two together. This has allowed some familiars to carry their once-
masters/mistresses off to other planes, or to slay the mage's soul to gain
control of their body. It is to be noted that a familiar powerful enough to do
such a thing can grant the mage much more power that would usually be the upper
limit. And all too many uncautious mages have found themselves in the position
of familiar to what they had thought was their servant. And if the familiar was
granted by another enitity, the toll that this entity asks as repayment for
such service may be quite severe, and long lasting. A very strong link also
means that if the familiar is slain, the mage will lose a great amount of their
power, or possibly perish themselves.

Aaron of Arcanorum, Sorcerer Primus, Rho Khellunae
-- 
whoah,
+++++++++++++++++++++++23
Loren Miller                           internet: MILLERL@wharton.upenn.edu
Mediocrity is a hand rail.                         -- Baron de Montesquieu

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