Magic casting

## **Magic is *Not* in the Wrist**

Magic is not inherently in words or gestures and minimally in a spell's materials components. It isn't naturally in the glyphs on a door, the fluid in a potion or the words on a scroll.

*Magic is the energy that traveled through the artisan to be locked in each of those*.

Magic is cast in a thousand langauges, with a hundred different hand gestures used to evoke similar energies depending on how the caster learned to activate and channel it. The same spell can be cast by those with three fingers or six or none at all.

*Magic is in the medium and frequency of the material components that change how the magic manifests*.

Magic originates from beneath the Weave – and flows through it.

***Welcome, wizards, to the School of Primal Magic...***

## **A Wise Wizard Once Said...**

 -*The High Aldwin*

The method of accessing the primal source versus a weave carrier really is analogous to reaching through steam to scoop the boiling water beneath. With practice, it becomes more like reaching through a cool mist to temperate water, but even then, part of the learning curve is knowing how deep the mist goes before the water starts (because unintentional splashing can be lethal).

This level of hazard is one of the reasons that Stonehearth is so careful about controlling access to Primal Technique training and education. The other reason, of course, is that this magic is so powerful that it's effectively weaponized even with benign spells. Stonehearth does *not* want to face this magic.

### Arcane Mechanics

We're basing the primal magic method on modification of the D&D/d20 approach, but in this case, we're giving a nod to simulation at the system level. That simulation casts aside all pretenses of balance for the expression of the power magic would represent when all the rest of the caveats and exceptions and so-and-so's "spell-like abilities" are taken into account.

For **casting classes** trained into the technique, primal magic manifests as three feats. Each of these is also mentioned in the character construction area, with a chance to the players to get used to the new dynamic.

#### **Constructive Retention**

* Primal Casting allows permanent memorization of spells. Unlike the weave, which destroys the energy of the spell from the mind, raw magic instead channels through it.
* Wizards do not need to re-memorize spells until they choose to change what they’ve memorized.

#### **Regenerative Energization**

* Expended spell slots will naturally recharge in a number of turns equal to the level of the slot. Commensurately, first level slotted spells are cast as cantrips. Second level are available in 2 turns, etc.
* This allows casters who survive any fight the potential to enter the next fight at full charges (assuming there aren’t back-to-back fights, i.e.: at least 18 minutes or so between the end of one encounter and the beginning of the next).
* Epic version: An extremely advanced technique that prompts expended spell slots to naturally recharge in a number of rounds equal to the level of the slot. Commensurately, first level slotted spells are cast as cantrips. Second level are available in 2 rounds, etc.

#### **Progressive Memorization**

* Raw casting doesn’t rip the spell from the casters memory, instead only depleting its stored charge. This lowers the neural trauma of memorizing spells and allows casters of all sorts to memorize twice the number of spells they would otherwise.

Those in the Marquisate (and to a lesser degree, the Commonwealth) will have conditional access to the Primal-level *Arcana* skill. This intelligence-based skill is the traditional D&D knowledge of magic, but taught by teachers who have knowledge of the primal-level context and curriculum. This includes the spectrum of magic phenomena and theory, from quasi-magic through the Weave to Raw magic.

Some schools are better than others, and not every school is equipped to teacher the finer points of that arcane academia. The top schools of the field can all teach the core of Primal Technique that, which manifests as three spellcasting feats.

Natives or allies that receive secondary training and education may have all three, but more commonly have one or some combination of two feats, depending on their school.

## Technique Regression

 Sure, there were stories of mind-blowing magic, but it hadn't changed things much around Cormyr so how amazing could it be? It wasn't until the conflict with the Shadovar-Netherese, and the conduct of the Stonehearth Barony of Esparia, taking in Cormyrean war refugees, that Joe realized the rumors only scratched the surface. When his latest tour was up, he tended his scars from the recent Shadovar war and retired from the Purple Dragons once again. Joe visited Esparia, confirming the rumors, and was given a ticket West...

So what happens when somebody experienced in Weave magic takes up Primal spellcasting? Relearning a lifetime of material is a non-trivial task. This isn't simply going back over the same path, like relearning levels lost to a magical mishap, this is unlearning habits.

The change in perspective throws off everything the spellcaster knows about the arcane world – and the rest of the world, too. It's a significant price that a wizard pays, effectively halving their level as they're retrained to approach magic in an entirely new approach. Here's the odd thing about the old Weave levels: unless the wizard has his memory wiped, that old knowledge is still there... they're just unused shadow levels now.

But what happens when a caster *needs a high-level spell they've effectively lost?* Say the newfound power of primal casting is great, but because they've lost levels, they've lost access to their 6th-level spells, in this case "Arcane Gate." If the wizard doesn't cast that thing *right now*, the whole party will be history when the wall of lava moves through.

* Great news: Joe Wizard had that memorized and never undid it. He's been carrying that thing, prepared, *for years*. When the chips are down, he can reach into his Weave methods and bust out *Arcane Gate*.
* Bad news: primal magic uses a far subtler method of channeling magic. That's what allows things Constructive Retention and Progressive Memorization. When Joe casts Arcane Gate using his old Weave methods, it's like turning from a candle to look into a searchlight. The Weave method is *blinding*. There's no permanent damage, no burn beyond losing the Weave-based spell from his memory, but Joe can't cast any magic beyond cantrips for a number days equivalent to level of Weave spell expended.

## Primal Risks

The Primal Method, within the D&D/d20 system, approaches casting from beneath the Weave as inherently more powerful, but inherently riskier. Only a small part of that risk is the raw magic itself; a great deal of it is simply dealing with the tricky dynamics of handling more power. It's like racing a car: an accident at 20 mph is going to look very different from an accident at 120 mph.

When utilizing Primal Magic casting techniques, refer Spell Failures to the **Triple-1 Rule**:

* **On a natural 1**, the spell will fail – and require a second d20 roll. If the second roll is anything but a 1, the spell failure was minimal or harmless.
* **On a second 1**, the spell effect happens to the caster instead (at minimal damage) – unless they roll a third consecutive 1.
* **On the third 1**, the caster suffers max damage. On the bright side, the probability of this happening is .0125%, or about a 1 in 8000 chance.

## Post-Weave Perspective for the Weave Spellcaster

There is a form of Weave Expertise that can be achieved without Dipping into the primal well. It's really about context and perspective about the weave that was only learned by moving beyond it. That perspective, though, can benefit native Weave spellcasters that can be incredibly beneficial without ever approaching the hazards of the primary three feats.

#### **Emergency Draw I & II**

* Casters using Emergency Draw are usually weave-based casters who draw magic through the membrane where the weave would be if it was intact at their location. This is most common in dead-magic zones, where there is still raw, primal magic underneath, but there is no weave for normal access. ED I powers weave-based spells at half effect: roll the full effect, half it and round down. ED II can cast at full strength.

#### **Stabilized Casting I & II**

* Weave-based casters who know they'll be operating in Wild Magic zones may learn to draw from the weave in a way that's more conscious of where the weave draws its power. This lowers the possibility of Wild Magic effects by half. SC II reduces the risk to 5% (1 on a d20).

## Wandism

Wandism has three modalities.

* 1m: Acclimation to a *Wand of Casting* by any non-Wandist spellcasting class. They largely have their own way of interacting with *WoCs*.
* 2m: This is the beginning levels of non-casters attuning to a WoC. The "untrained" version translates as an enhanced Feat, while someone trained in Arcana can use a WoC in a way that weighs in as a demiclass adjunct to whatever their primary class happens to be.
	+ For 2m (trained), there is a complex formula for number of spells and power available.
* 3m: A class of spellcaster based on the use *Wands of Casting*.