From: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Subject: Re: Magic Systems
Reply-To: jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (John H Kim)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 17:28:44 GMT

Hmmm. 

	It seems that a fair number of people are interested in my magic 
system, so I'll post some more stuff on it. 

	The campaign was run using modified Ars Magica rules (minus the magic 
rules, among other things @-). Since knowledge is of such great importance in 
this universe, all rolls were based on (Stat + 2xSkill + 1d10); so skill was 
doubled in importance from AM. I used AM because it was simple and easy to 
modify, resolution was quick and straightforward, and it was easy to emphasize 
the importance of skills. 
	The world was called "Oneiros", as is only appropriate, and the 
campaign centered on intrigue around a noble's manor and estate - with a 
Gothic atmostphere. 

	Right now I'm just going to describe the background of the system, 
because I don't have the charts for the more complete mechanics. 

	The elements, more completely, are described as: 

1) 	Memory: This is the strongest element, vaguely associated with the sea 
and water. It is most basic element - seemingly immutable but too enormous to 
comprehend. 
2) 	Thought: The next strongest element, this is the stuff of which the 
world is constructed, the action which defines how the world works. This is 
time and substance, both physical and mental - vaguely associated with the 
land and earth. 
3)	Artifice: Next in strength is creativity and invention. This is the 
quicksilver element of synthesis, which is both creation and destruction. It 
is vaguely associated with fire. 
4)	Temperament: This is the element of essence, of association and 
connection beyond the scale of the individual. While Thought concerns itself 
with the substance of the single, named individuals, Temperament is about 
the words for general ideas which run through all things. It is vaguely 
associated with the weather and air. 

	As you can see, this is loosely parallel to the classical elements, 
recast in a very different form. The four forms of magic, then, are 
associated with the different elements. 

1) 	Magecraft: is manipulation based on Memory. Its two primary laws 
(already described) are the Law of Knowledge ('To know and to control are 
the same') and the Law of Mnemonics ('The more one knows, the more one 
knows'). 
	Magecraft is definitely the primary form of manipulation in my 
world, since it is the most specific and dependable. Mages are among the 
most powerful of the guilds which dominate my world. However, few people 
are willing to personally trust or even associate with mages (least of all 
other mages). 
	This is because the basis of a mage's power is knowledge. If he 
knows alot about you, he can manipulate you in all sorts of ways. The only 
way to be safe from him is to not let him know things about you. 

2) 	Mysticism: is manipulation based on Thought, an ancient art whose 
secrets have now been almost entirely lost. I do not have a complete 
description of how this art works, although I have some notes. Its two 
primary laws are: 

- The Law of Reflection: "Self-contemplation is the path to perfection."

	A mystic's primary goal is enlightenment through self-reflection. 
By considering his own mind, he expands his depth of thought which is the 
sum of his being. In essence, since this world is a dream, some characters 
and objects are more real than others - a tree which falls where no one 
can here it does *not* make a sound. A character with greater depth is 
stronger, and harder to understand than a simple, side character. 
	This is represented by there being several 'paths' which a mystic 
can embark upon. As he continues to meditate, he will grow and gain power as 
determined by that path. In my game, I worked out the Path of the Dragon for 
a PC, but I am not entirely satisfied with the results. (More on this later 
when I can consult my notes). 

- The Law of Abstraction: "That without is also within."

	Through self-contemplation, a mystic can perceive the outside world, 
since his conciousness is actually a part of the greater conciousness of the 
cosmos. This is represented simply as a skill, Abstraction, which the mystic 
can develop to 'abstract' things which he does not know. I don't have alot 
of guidelines for this - it is more powerful and more difficult than 
Divination (since it can be done on nearly *anything*). 

3) 	Conjuration: this is manipulation based on Artifice, which is, 
quite simply, imagination. It is a strange process, and hard to control, and 
is looked down upon by Mages and many others - who see it as good for 
parlor tricks but too undependable for anything important. Its laws are: 

- The Law of Conception: "To imagine and to create are the same"

	That is to say, imagination itself is a magical process. If you can 
conceive of a completely new idea, then you create that idea in reality. 
These are the 'conjurations' for which the art is named. 

- The Law of Belief: "Conjurations are nameless; they are shaped by their 
	environs"

	New ideas are fluid - they cannot be exactly defined or named. Thus 
they cannot be effected by mages - which might explain some of why mages 
dislike conjurors. 
	A new conjuration is molded by the belief of its environment: its 
creator, its surroudings - that which it affects and that which perceives it. 
Any conjuration is given a rating of how well it fits into its surroundings. 
If it matches well, then the environment will tend to accept it and mold it 
into something it believes in. If it matches poorly, it will be molded until 
it is unrecognizable, at which point it is destroyed. 

	Here is the catch. A conjuror has a base skill, called Imagination. 
But in order to control what he gets, he must restrict his imagination to 
the class of things which he wants. But restricting his results increases 
the difficulty of imagining. Another skil, called 'Limiting' or something, 
defines the maximum difficulty which one can try for. This is rather 
difficult for the GM to arbitrate, since he must come up with random 
variations in the results - which requires alot of imagination @-). There 
is really no table which you can write up to do this (since, by definition, 
new creations are things which have never existed before). 
	At any rate, after being imagined, a Conjuration is rated on how 
well it fits in with its environment. Those which are physically impossible 
have low 'rank', while those which are very close to real beings have high 
rank. This determines how long they will last, which is done as a series 
of rolls to destroy it - with some cumulative modifiers. If its rank is 
high enough, it will become permanent. Remember, though that high rank means 
you have to specify alot about the Conjuration, which make it very 
difficult to imagine in the first place. 
	There is a Control skill which allows you to maintain and control 
conjurations, your own or others. 

4)	Holism: The last manipulation art is based on Temperament, and like 
Mysticism, my description of it is incomplete. Holism is based on the 
weakest element, and is the least complete and most experimental of the 
arts. It is also based on two laws: 

- The Law of Essence: "Equality is illusion; Singularity real"

	This is the primary basis of Holism. Any two things which are 
exactly the same are actually different aspects of the same Word. For 
example, individual fires are all just different aspects of the Word 'Fire'. 
I don't remember alot of the details about this art (more on this later 
when I find my old notes) - it was roughly parallel to Magecraft in its 
Command and Representation skills, but rather than Mnemonics, a Holist 
would have to train up knowledge of the different words individually. 
	Thus he would have to have a rating in "Fire" separate from 
"Granite". I also had characters with Words for "Grace" and "Love", as I 
recall - but I would definitely organize this more if I did it again. 

- The Law of Personification: "That which is, is mind."

	Holism as an art relies on many parallels to Magecraft for its 
workings, and often ignores the other aspects of Temperament. All things 
in the world are potentially sentient, the Words included. 
	Manipulation of the Words means often means dealing with the 
results as sentient beings. The Words for Emotions were called Demons, 
and the Words for Substances were called Elementals. 
	Holism does not so much use this law as struggle with it in its 
workings. 

	I will post more on this if people are still interested. Next would 
probably be more specific mechanics, and correcting things which I messed 
up writing this from memory. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Kim                    | "You don't need a weatherman to know which way
jhk6@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu | the wind blows."
Columbia University         |                             - Bob Dylan