This thread is crazy long, and I'm having a hard time finding the official rules for application. Is it still open, and if so, can I get a brief run-down of the parameters? I saw Gestalt, Mythic, and I wanted to be a part of it immediately.
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**Interest check** for a crazy, cooperative, collaborative, storytelling game(Gestalt, Epic, Mythic)
Azriel Wyrmclaw Owl Sperow Sixsmith Brahm Ossia Coming in clutch just at the end of Monday. [Insert commentary about irl schedule being tough.] Game thread to go up by tomorrow evening, but the names above are the final decisions! Thanks everyone!
Yeah, I am sincerely apologetic about the incessant delays. Still getting accustomed to this med school thing. I have Monday off, decisions AND first post will happen Monday evening at the absolute latest. Again, I appreciate the patience. I've had the opportunity to hash out some story elements as well. Looking forward to playing with you. Stay frosty.
Closed today, decisions will come tomorrow (or today depending on your time zone), or Friday.
Did I miss anything important?
Alright, to those of you worrying, I'm going to extend applications through until Wednesday with the game set to start on Friday 08/22 for a few reasons. Point one: I'm behind, my bad. I take full ownership of that. Point two: The ACG came out and I assume people need time to process. Three: I've been silent. @Vrog - Thanks for your itemized submission list. Really appreciate that. I don't mind you using regular magic, and I'm not sure a word list is going to come out any time soon but feel free. @Theory - The Faithkeepers are your bread and butter religious organization aimed at vetting out that which they believe is against the matron and spreading her good word etc. Linoor is not an ecclesiarchy, but it is tradition that the crown receive counsel from a Septor of the faith. This gives the Faithkeepers a fair amount of political pull. That and they are largely treated as a noble house with property and local lawmaking activity. For example, upon the Faithgrounds, arcane magic is punishable by death as it disrespects the Matron. Further, the church is involved in all royal ceremonies/marriages/burials etc. A subset of the Faithkeepers, known as Templars, vet out enemies of the faith - specifically anything of demonic or infernal origin (Demons are known as the "unbound" and devils are generally considered to be the soulsworn of LE or NE Scions). These Templars also track down heretics and combat undead. A certain subset of the Templars often get drafted to work with or join the Magistratum as their duties have a tendency to overlap. This is, of course, a matter of state secret. Remember that the most society knows about the magistratum is that they have authority handed down directly from the crown and there are rumors about their anti-magical threat neutralization function. The Matron herself is your standard NG Scion (God) with a firm belief that life is to be nurtured and final death is to be embraced in order to return to her bosom so long as one has followed her standard NG principles. Any other details, you're free to make up. Her domains might be Community, Good, Healing, Resolve, etc. She is pretty staunchly against the idea of disrupting the natural life cycle with undeath and considers it to be an impure abomination of life [which from her perspective was designed to be centered around positive energy]. She also does not outright condemn arcane magic, but given her traditionalist stance on the natural order of things, she believes that mortals cannot handle and were not made to independently direct mana. It is arrogant to suggest that a mortal can be on the same level as a scion, and mortals are not privy to the same degree of wisdom. That being said, she also respects the mortal autonomy and therefore does not necessarily overtly condemn arcane magic. A quick note about undeath and negative energy - The standard mortal soul that is "alive" is a scaffolded mana conduit that is composed of mana itself. Part of that scaffold is positive energy, and the thread between the mortal soul within the astral plane and the "scionic center" within the brain of the mortal body is partially composed of positive energy as well. When you die, the current understanding is that this positive energy thread is disconnected, and the remainder of your soul containing the "software" of your personage is transferred to whatever afterlife you pledged to (through your deeds and patronic oath presumably) through some yet undiscovered mechanism. Necromancy is broadly defined at present as the use of negative energy to manipulate other forms of mana. Undeath is simply a condition by which negative energy is used to power life or some semblance of it. This ranges from mindless undead, for which negative energy is simply used to provide the locomotive power and base primal drive/simple commands, to intelligent undead who are theorized to actually possess a soul, but one that is connected by and made partially of negative energy. Certain arcane philosophers argue that this condition of having a soul still technically defines some undead as "alive" though they are admittedly against the "norm." Alright, I know there are some messages I haven't answered, and I'll get to those in the morning, I promise. Am I missing anything else from this thread, and Vrog, would you mind re-listing applications and potentially putting the names in bold? Thanks all.
WHOA. SO HERE I WAS THINKING "Oh man, I haven't posted all weekend, this scrambling is proving to be a little more tedious than I had thought, I might not be able to post till mid week to even respond to all the questions I haven't answered... hopefully everyone hasn't lost interest or hope..." And then I come back to this. Well then. Just dropping in to say I'm alive and I haven't forgotten. Still getting my life together, but trust me, I haven't forgotten. IN OTHER NEWS THE ACG COMES OUT THIS WEEK. Which, for me, is when I can really start figuring out some specifics about characters, amirite. Anyway, stay frosty, and I'll post soon. Thanks for the patience.
Alright, I'm officially moved into the new place with all of the interblogs anyone could ask for. Unfortunately orientation is at 7:30 and runs until late every night. I've been guaranteed that this is the most tiring and time consuming week all year, so don't go getting worried about our ability to play. Internet etc took a little longer to set up than desired, so I won't be able to get answers up tonight. I'll get to you Theory, I promise. Same goes for anyone who has messaged me. I appreciate the patience and I'm excited for the story that's cooking up with Harlan. Once again, stay frosty.
@Mdt - I tend to be pretty understanding about life given my chosen profession's demand on time and mental bandwith. We'll talk about it as we approach game day. @Everyone Else - Apologies for the radio silence again, just moved into my apartment proper. Radio silence will probably continue through tomorrow, but I'll try and make sure I've answered everything by Sunday night before orientation Monday. Stay frosty.
@Theory - I'm going to answer your questions in order. - Of course. - Yes. - At this time in Linoor, I would be shocked if you all managed to avoid fighting any undead, but it's not impossible. So yes to your question. - I'd prefer a 60/40 RP/Combat approach, but I like to keep my games very player directed. If the party is full of hot headed barbarians that smash first and also smash later, I assume the ratio will shift in favor of combat with very little room for diplomacy. - "Morality is not grounded in a set of finite rules. Instead it is rooted in trust and a loving understanding, to the best of our meager ability, of the Great Matron. When we arrive inevitably at a crossroads of opposing beliefs, it is that trust that must guide us." -Primarch Ashburne Calder (Speaking of which, if anyone is interested in playing a paladin that's a fugitive from the faithkeepers/magistratum but still hasn't fallen, that'd be cool. Ashburne is quite the guy. Paladin on one side, inquisitor on the other I think -that's not solidified yet). Anyway morality isn't that rigid, all depends on your motivations for doing that etc. -Make up your own Scion and I'll incorporate/change it. That sounds very Matron like, though. - Wolves are fine.
There are alchemists in the world for sure. They work under the House of Knowledge in Linoor as do most arcane mages. Your craft is unique in that you are combining traditional spellcasting techniques with alchemy and then splashing in some divine inquisition. @mdt - Works for me. @Jen the GM - Sorry, we're no longer doing the mana pools mostly because of balance concerns. Instead we're doing traditional spellcasting, but gets Arcane Manipulation and Versatile Spellcaster from 3.5 for free and independent of prerequisites. Check the top of this page. You do get spells from both class and if you're double arcane, let's say bard/wizard, I don't mind you using a 2nd level bard slot to prepare a wizard spell or vice versa. Don't cheese it too hard, but that sounds fine to me. Also, remember story + rp > super awesome character mechanics. Thanks for the interest!
@chrono:
Background seems ok - point of observation about the Duskgarde though... Following the Noxious March, many undead were simply left over. Some were mindless, some were sentient and willingly served Magister Nox, and others still were simply citizens of Linoor turned against their will and forced to live a life of undeath (known as the Blighted). After vigorous debate, the Magistratum was secretly ordered to purge all undead from Linoor indiscriminately. While publicly refugee camps were created for the undead victims of the March to escape social discrimination and persecution, many of said camps were simply hot spots to ease the purging of fugitive Blighted. Still, some of these Blighted survive in the form of covens. Halduram Colton, seizing an opportunity to strengthen his hold on Harlan and secure his seat, provided safe haven for a variety of Blighted in exchange for a degree of servitude and loyalty resembling slavery. These Blighted are what make up the bulk of Duke Colton's Duskgarde (explaining why the Duskgarde operate at night and why their primary purpose is to root out other covens of Blighted potentially still existing in Harlan and its bordertowns - Colton's command was simple: offer all blighted of other covens the opportunity to join him or be purged from his city). Arcane bomber archetype is fine, but you'll be practically the only one. Your style/craft will be unique to say the least. I expect the backstory to match. Net is fine as long as you pay for it. Use mithril pricing. @mdt - Background is ok, help me figure out where you fit into Harlan's history and why you're there now. @Zayne - Try not to be too overwhelmed. As I was telling Oniwaban, I only made the game gestalt to open the possibility of opportunities not present within a single class or its archetypes. I'm not interested in extreme cheese or characters that are extremely crazy with no roleplaying substance. I'd much rather have you play a human fighter | commoner named Bob Bobbington with an epic backstory and great rp sample than I would a vampire gargoyle monk | ninja with mediocre story. Just have fun with it. @Zayne - Given that I went and lowered the starting gold, don't worry about that. Use the listed prices. @Jimi - No psionics, they're the same thing as magic as far as I'm concerned, and I don't feel like reading psionics, honestly.
Alright folks, sorry about the radio silence. Just moved to the other side of our great nation, and I'm running around channeling a headless chicken as my spirit animal to get everything ready before med school starts on Monday. Responses to questions and potentially some dmpc rp to come later.
I can provide the text for EoM, I think all of that is OGL and I've copied and pasted it into a word doc, but I'm inclined to agree with chrono. @Sperow - yes
@Sperow - Changed the gold amount to 1/3 standard and just gave a feat every level :(. Hope that doesn't de-reail you too much. It's been brought to my attention that the ability to combine spell levels in order to cast more higher level spells is a little uh... much. I think, given that standard casting improves in a logarithmic fashion, I agree with that. My two solutions are as follows: 1. Just use Elements of Magic (requiring players who want to play mages to read the text - this, as I've mentioned before, is obviously not preferable). 2. Allow every mage to essentially get both of these 3.5 feats for free: The second option isn't thematically as cool to me, but it does the job. The second option would still apply to word casting. I'll let the people who will be playing mages decide. Feel free to post other suggestions. S/O to Chukie for raising the concern.
Divine magic and arcane magic are functionally the same. You'll just have to believe in a Scion that doesn't care about arcane magic.
@Mdt - Max HP at every level is fine; 3 traits with a drawback or two without. @Vrog - You're welcome to it, but I don't know why any sane individual would play WoP. It does fit thematically, though, and if it wasn't so terrible imho, I would just use that as our casting system. It'll work the same way as standard in that you'll have a pool of spell levels/mana to work with. @Chukie - By state level I assume you mean provincial rulershipness. House Colton is a storied house and their rule over Saarnwall is their birthright. They have strong ties with House Iald. @Sly - The continent Linoor is on is known as Syr. Syr is effectively a very large continental island and surrounding the continent on the mainland is an expanse of forest - that some believe is enchanted - known as the Wildwood. Lycanthropes have long since navigated the Wildwood as their home in tribes since their forceful exile from Syr at the hands of its budding coastal nations. (There's also a whoooole 'nother land on the complete other side of the ocean to Syr's east that has lycanthropes, but they have yet to be discovered and we're quite a long way from that story arc.) Point is skinchangers are fine. Did I miss anyone?
@Ashe - That's fine, and 3 traits with a drawback is also fine. @Adventus - Most of the classes that gain an animal companion have some way of making that animal companion even more awesome. Ex. barbs can make theirs rage. I don't want to create some sort of super companion because we're already gestalt - that'd be like letting you have an extra player essentially. (Side note, leadership is banned). We're already gestalt, y'know? @Angel - I have a lot of horrible experiences mixing pathfinder/3.5 classes purely because of balance. Run the class by me and I'll take a look, but 3.5 is in the same category as 3p for me. @Chukie - PLOT. This fief came into existence solely because of Harlan's success. Harlan and the Firestone Quarry have been around for some time, but the town and its surrounding lands were property of Duke Caalen Dunmoore. As Harlan grew in size and surrounding bordertowns cropped up, Lord Colton deemed that Dunmoore's property had become too large to be managed by a single Duke. Thus, Harlan and its bordertowns were split and rule over them given to Lord Colton's son, Duke Halduram Colton. Needless to say, Duke Dunmoore was less than pleased with the loss of lands and the resources of the quarry. We are, in fact, looking at three layers of government. The Crown, held by the Swordclan, House Iald, followed by the Lords of Linoor who rule over Linoor's provinces (of which there are seven), followed by the Dukes who are given reign over holds and lands within a specific province. @mdt - Variants are fine, just understand that tieflings in Linoor are both rare and frowned upon. Linoor's sovereign Scion is of a NG persuasion, and part demon/devil isn't looked upon favorably by your average follower of said patron or your average person who may not be aptly open-minded. Just keep that in mind whenever you do your backstory, otherwise I don't mind.
After careful meditation and consultation of the Powers that Be, I've decided to actually limit wealth to 1/3 of standard. In exchange for lower wealth and no magic items, you may take a feat for which you qualify at each level rather than every other to represent the latent skills gained as you progress through your adventures. I think that accomplishes my goal of having diverse feat builds and enough feats to flesh your character out the way you want to but without having a complex and difficult-to-balance formula. Everyone alright with that?
Hmm... Yeah, I suppose 6th level wealth with no magic items is a little weird, but remember that you can buy extra feats - that's what I assume most bros will be spending their money on. You can expect to buy roughly a number of feats equivalent to the number of magical items you would have been able to purchase. I'll list some homebrew feats and the formula for determining feat prices either tonight or tomorrow (I'm moving to across the country to start medical school in a matter of days at this point, so it's a bit hectic), but I'm honestly much more concerned with knowing your class and your backstory. Recruitment ends the 16th and the game will start on the 18th - I apologize for not making that clear. I suppose I should mention that I'm looking for 4-6 players. Additionally, we'll be using called shots and (most likely) armor as dr unless there's mass objection to the latter. I am still open to third party, but I really would prefer sticking to paizo materials - I have a solid handle of most classes' capabilities at this point, and almost no 3rd party knowledge. I just don't have a lot of time to try and spot nuances in 3rd party stuff. I'm already anticipating doing that when the ACG comes out. @Iolth - What determines the maximum spell level you can cast is how much you can transfer through your Astral Chord at a given time without straining it. Overcharging is possible, but it will damage both spirit and body (magical casting stat and con) and isn't favorable unless desperate. I'll post that feat as well later tonight. Magic Addendum:
The amount of mana a Mage draws into his/her soul after a period of meditation/focus is reflected in the total amount of mana he has in a given day [total spell levels]. The amount a mage is capable of transferring in one given spell without damaging himself - a function of time and training - is reflected in the maximum spell level he/she can have in a given spell [this is denoted in game by whatever your maximum level would have been if I didn't just split all of your spell levels into one big pool.] @Ashe - Yes, bladebound is out. Pretty much any class that can permanently enchant their weapon without paying resources is out. Arcane duelist bladethirst is fine, magus arcane pool is fine, but bladebound and aegis are out. @mdt - Do whatever you want. The world has its own Scions but there's pretty much an analogue to every paizo god, and if there isn't, make one up. I'll work around it. You come up with the concept and I'll tell you what it matches in the world, deal? Man, so many martial bros 0_0. Probably accurately reflects a lot of Linoor. Kingdom of Steel, etc. Aside from the House of Knowledge and the Magistratum, there aren't a ton of free mages running around. All of this is posted from my phone on a break, more to come when I get a chance! Thanks!
Really appreciate all of the interest. I'll post some responses and an addendum to the magic section a little bit later tonight when I finally get home for the day. I don't like the Aegis class, personally, particularly for a world with no magical items. It seems a little over the top, particularly with no resource to manage for upkeep of the armor etc. Just doesn't fit the flavor of magic in the world for me, y'know?
I don't want to do Psionics for the same reason I don't want to do EoM or WoD magic - I don't want to mix both, and I don't want to require a player to read a whole new system just to play a caster in my game. Plus, I'm not too familiar with psionics myself, so if I'm going to use a point system, it'll be EoM most likely. Thanks for the suggestion though! @Divineshadow - Just run any 3p materials by me. 3p is so variable in power level, but I don't want to limit you without having seen it first.
Introduction Harlan is a strange town. Following the shimmering wave of arcane energy that crackled across what seemed to be the entire Linooran sky, whispers of shadows and ghosts past walking in the night have crept back into the all-too-familiar folklore of the bustling mining settlement. Although reports of shambling figures, brutal predators, and mysterious disappearances under the veil of night have poured into both Colton Manor - the seat of power from which Duke Halduram Colton presides over Harlan and it's bordertowns - and Westengaarde - Godkeep of Lord Dominic Colton, lord of the Saarnwall province encompassing most of western Linoor including Harlan, no regent action has been taken. That is until now. Within the past fortnight, Colton Manor has vanished without pomp or ceremony. Adding to the confusion, manor manages to cast a shadow despite its current nonexistent status. In response to his son's disappearance, Lord Dominic Colton has appealed to crown and requested the involvement of the Royal Magistrate. Lord Colton has also stationed his own men in Harlan to investigate and patrol as he waits on the arrival of the Magistratum. In the meantime, panic and speculation dances among the citizens of Harlan as the undead-hunting mercenaries of Harlan's past known as Gravediggers resurface looking once again for gold and glory. This is where our story begins (Specifically on August 16th). Character Creation:
Point Buy: 20 Races: The world has yet to discover many of the non-humanoid races. I assure you this will change over the course of the adventure, but the world in which the Kingdom of Linoor exists is a relatively young one. As such core races, tieflings, aasimar, dhampir and drow are the only races permitted. Class/Level: There are no class restrictions, and characters will be level 6 gestalt. (The Magus class in this world isn't called the Magus - Swordmage, arcane sword... haven't quite settled on a name yet, but it's definitely not Magus). If there's a class concept that you feel isn't effectively done through the classes that exist, we can talk - I'm pretty open. We won't be starting until after the release of the ACG, so those classes will be permitted as well ( I say that having not read the book yet, obviously). Wealth: Standard wealth for a level 6 character. Items: A metal/substance that holds arcane energy without constant input or upkeep from a caster has yet to be discovered. As such, there are no magic items (this will also change during the course of the campaign). Players will be able to purchase feats instead - I'm working on the formula at present. If you decide to buy something that's out of the ordinary - a cold iron sword, mithril armor, etc, let me know. Those items are still relatively rare, though not as rare as they would be if our story didn't take place in the Kingdom of Steel. Background: You can present your background however you want. As long as you end up Harlan for the start of our adventure, I don't much care who you are and where you're from. You could be a member of the Magistratum who's received a directive to answer Lord Colton's call, a seedy Gravedigger excited at the prospect of Harlan's return to a shadow age, a son of one of the undead clans of Harlan's underworld, one of Lord Colton's guard, a bounty hunter, one of the Duskgarde (Duke Colton's elite force dedicated to protecting Harlan from its own underworld and enforcing is directive throughout the city and its bordertowns, one of Harlan's city watch, a random wanderer, nobleman belonging to a prominent mining family, the town drunk, a fighter in an underground arena, a wench in a brothel or a bartender in a bordertown back alley. Entirely up to you. The more interesting, the better, obviously. I'm not opposed to giving out rp items/abilities based on backstory. Feel free to make up your own locations/history - if I like it enough, I'll definitely incorporate it into the world. I want this experience to be relatively sandbox-ey. No matter what you decide to do, please include a small rp writing sample. Brief History:
Harlan has been the site of great triumph and tragedy. Cut into the rolling hills of Western Linoor, Harlan is one of two mining towns to grow rapidly since the expansion of the Aggaran Mining Company - the Crown-sanctioned mining guild - to the nearby Firestone Quarry. As a major source of iron and coal, firestone quarry is an invaluable resource to the Kingdom of Steel, and its notariety spread quickly, sparking the rapid development of kingsroads and tracks connecting Western Linoor with the central province of the nation. Pioneers, tradesmen, merchants and mercenaries poured in seeking resources, riches and adventures, and suddenly the little town called Harlan found itself as the bustling hub of the west. As expected from any bustling hub with access to resources, an explosion of technologiy issued from Harlan and its bordertowns. Harlan itself produced the coal powered boiler for hot water, and small steamboats to traverse the aqueducts, fed by Clearwater Lake, that run through the town. The bordertown of Castark was the proud owner of the firearm innovation, and Lasren produced the track switch, allowing for a more efficient railway network. Such rapid expansion also saw an unprecedented increase in crime, necessitating the use of a bounty system for adequate justice. Harlan's most infamous crime also serves to this day as its most notorious blemish. A former noblemage by the name of Reginold Knox had made the burgeoning town of Harlan his home after his exile from House Reddey, the House of Knowledge. In Harlan, Reginold, styling himself as Magister Nox, saw an opportunity to continue the very research that earned him his exile. After all, the use of negative energy to manipulate corpses and souls required resources; Harlan had no shortage. With too few men to monitor the city effectively and an excess of workers performing dangerous mining operations, it took time to notice the climing rate of disappearances and graverobbings. Nox had plenty of time to develop a mountain of necromantic knowledge and a swathe of undead abominations. Eventually Nox began to expand his secret operation in earnest, unleashing a virulent plague of undeath and marching across the Saarnwall province. Following an appeal to the Crown, a small force of Faithkeepers, footmen, local Gravediggers and agents of the Magistratum stymied the Noxious March, but not before mass bloodshed. The transition from the end of the Noxious March to normalcy occurred far more quickly than many expected, considering the number of West Linooran citizens turned against their will by the March's collateral. Refugee camps were formed across Western Linoor for the victims of said collateral as a Royal Initiative; many of these victims struggled to find a place among what remained of society following the conflict. After all, the world was full of mistrust and intolerance for anything that remotely resembled necromancy. A short time after the establishment of these camps, many of them would die out, falling prey to Gravediggers, mysterious abandonment, and outright conflict. In time, Harlan would return to its former visage. Still, Harlan often seem almost haunted by the its memories. The past lingers on in the form of areas that must be avoided after dark, rumors of an undead underworld consisting of refugees left over from the March, and whispers of creatures that bump in the night. [Harlan is basically the hub of a small fief (governed by Duke Halduram Colton) within the Saarnwall Province (Ruled by Lord Dominic Colton) of Western Linoor. The crown referred to above is that of his majesty King Istlan Iald, Bladelord of the Sword Clan, Master of the Linoori and Defender of the Realm.] Magic In The World:
The universe is defined by a finite set of laws, all of which are governed by the movements, rearrangements and interactions of the fundamental unit - mana. All things are made of mana in one form or another, whether they are organic or in organic. Mana, much like all fundamental particles, is capable of complexing with itself in a variety of spin states and orientations. These different "forms" make up everything from what we know as forces/energy to physical substances (and the content of a mage's formula). Even a soul, the only known machine capable of drawing mana from the Infinite Chaotic Sea of mana from which the universe was crafted by the Scions, is one such complex. A soul of some degree of power and complexity is requisite for most creatures - a steady stream of freeform mana is required to facilitate many of the body's biological processes. [It is theorized that Scions and their Soulsworn experience no separation of body and soul as mortals do]. Magic is the use of mana to facilitate some sort of process or change within the system of our universe, often in a way that is different from the preset flow of mana that has been defined as "nature." In order to perform magical feats, a practitioner of the art, hereafter referred to as a "mage," must first draw an amout of mana in excess of that required for life into his/her soul. Mana must then be transferred from soul to body. Once in our physical universe, the mana takes on any variety of effects based on its orientation and spin states. Magic, then, is free form by definition. Some casters may define the formula by which a given set of mana is manipulated as they draw their pool on a given day - often these are the academics, known as wizards. Others may draw their pool without shape or form, but define their spells as part of the transferring process. This takes natural talent, and many who practice magic in this way are known as sorcerors. [The spells listed in spell lists are simply rote spells tried again and again and passed throughout cultures.] As magic is transferred, a very distinct glow and sound are emitted as the mana forms specific patterns associated with a given spell around the focal point of transference. Typically the focal points are a mage's hands. [There are obviously exceptions to both assertions made in that last sentence.] By its nature, magic is fleeting. The universe tends to return to its "natural" as the mana disapates. This means that the duration of all spells is finite and dependent on the amout of mana spent on said spell. While magic's durations may be fleeting, the effects may be permanent depending on how a given spell is applied. For example, a mage may augment his/her strength temporarily with "bull's strength." This is fleeting and finite - but a mage that chooses to use that augmented time to lift weights will experience bigger gains as they were able to lift more in that time period. Similarly, a fireball's duration is instantaneous, but the effect of singing its surroundings is certainly not temporary. With the exception of organic material, which is capable of holding mana with a rate of dissipation much lower than any other known material [particularly blood], no substance has been found to date that holds mana for any appreciable amount of time. Certain items, such as wands, are engraved with runes and patterns that assist in the flow of mana, such that untempered/freeform mana channeled through it will create a specific effect. These items still require the input of mana from a mage of some sort. Scrolls have a very similar effect. This means that other than the aforementioned, there are no magic items, and permanency does not exist. [Additionally, the concepts of other planes beyond the Astral and the Scionic Realms is pure theory and conjecture at this point.] There is no distinction between arcane and divine magic, save that the initial drawing of mana into the soul is done directly from the Infinite Sea for arcane mages in contrast with divine magic. Divine casters draw their mana from the bosom of their scion of choice, and as such it often bears the mark of said scion. Many scions, and their followers, look upon arcane magic as an affront on nature and/or a major point of arrogance on the part of mortals. Others simply look at arcane magic as yet another tool that can be used for both great benefit and calamity. It is said that magic was given to mortals by the Exiled Scion as a means by which to define their own destiny, independent of the Scions themselves. In this world I wanted to use a different, more free form mana system such as Elements of Magic or Monte Cook's WoD, but my concern is that it has a fairly high barrier to entry - there's a lot to read. Instead, I'm just going to adjust the existing system to suit my needs, unless there's a big push for EoM or WoD magic. The changes will basically involve spell levels being treated as mana points. A 9th level spell will cost 9 mana. The major change will be that you receive all of your spell levels/mana points as a big pool. So rather than having three 5th level spell slots, you would simply get 15 mana points to do with as you please. This means that if you want to cast 15 shocking grasps, it's your call. Wizards must still prepare ahead of time. This also means that you can combine effects (probably going to use the smallest range between the spells you combine, or have a combine cost). You'll also be able to make some base adjustments to a given spell, such as the save dc or duration, based on the number of additional mana points you want to spend. I don't want to bore you with the details here, if you want to play a caster, we'll talk about it. The Magistratum:
Magic is a relatively recent tool in the history of mortals. Arcane magic in Linoor is not illegal, but King Irin Iald - a mage himself - saw the dangers of free magic. While he did not oblige his zealous advisers in ruling that all mages must register with the crown in some fashion, he did see to the creation of an entity to police the wanton use of magic within Linoor's borders. The Magistratum addresses all magical threats that plague Linoor. The organization is an amalgam of Faithkeepers, Reddites (mages and thaumaturgies studying under the House of Knowledge), and specialized martial combatants who respond to specific cases in which magic is misused - decided upon by the Magistratum council - throughout Linoor. The existence of the Magistratum itself is no secret, but its training methods, base locations and objectives are a matter of strict confidentiality. That being said, the Magistratum, its seal and its afforded titles carry with it a degree of authority second only to the crown in most cases. As mentioned before, members of the Magistratum are highly trained to combat magic and are granted varying degrees of wealth, opportunity and impunity depending on the extent of that training. A Magistrate's depth of accomplishment is reflected in his/her title. Titles are awarded based on whether a given Magistrate is identified as a caster or noncaster. Caster Magistrates rank from Maive to Magister, Magister to Magus, and Magus to Arcanamach. Each major rank is divided into three minor ranks: the first minor rank is without title, the second is denoted as "Adept," and the third is denoted as "Prime." For example, a highly seasoned, highly accomplished magistrate may have earned the title Magus Prime, and a Magistrate with only the rank Magus would be his immediate suboordinate. Noncaster Magistrates rank from Knaive to Khaul, Khaul to Panser (Pan-zers), and Panser to Erul. These ranks possess the same minor ranks as caster magistrates. Upon reaching the rank of Magus or Panser, a given magistrate also earns a moniker based on his skills/abilities or accomplishments. [Think FMA if you've seen it, Fullmetal Alchemist, Flame Alchemist, etc]. [Also as a final point of observation, certain forms of magic and certain spells are definitely illegal within Linoors borders. Most applications of necromancy are illegal, for example]. Religion:
Linoor's sovereign religion is that of Elyse, the Divine Matron, although many Linoori pay homage to other scions with similar portfolios. The Faithkeepers view her as the absolute pinnacle of authority within the divine hierarchy but recognize a variety of other Scions as divine. Elyse frowns upon the use of arcane magic as an arrogant attempt to stand on the same level as the scions, but respects the individual's prerogative to find their own way. [That's about all there is in the way of religion for now, I have a lot more info on it, but this is probably the most flexible portion of my world. Feel free to make up your own gods, stories and histories etc. If you wish to be a Faithkeeper or pretty much any divine class, you just let me know and we'll talk about some details]. Questions, comments, thoughts and concerns encouraged! |