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MENTALISM
AND SORCERY
Magic
in Telgard is divided into two disciplines: Mentalism and
Sorcery. Each discipline has its own 'talents' which are the
individual skills a mage may acquire; Mentalism talents include
Sentient, Animism, Transferance and Spirit, while Sorcery
talents include Alchemy, Elemental, Force, Form, and Time.
MENTALISM:
Mentalist mages use thier inner reserves. They do not need
a focus because they cannot go beyond their own limits. However,
mentalist magics are influenced by surrounding energies (emotion,
magic, etc) and so such mages are at risk from these energies--which
can actually use the mages' own power against them. Mentalists
call this influence "resonance", and while rarely
physically damaging, resonance can cause a weak mage to develop
psychoses or even become completely insane. Resonance affects
the magic of mentalists, possibly decreasing, increasing or
even changing the spell that the mage intended to cast.
A
pure mentalist-one who has only mentalist skills-is usually
very disciplined with a strong personality. His or her magic
is not as powerful as that of a sorcerer, because one's energy
is limited, but their magics are subtle and only the most
blatant of spells will be noticed by the common person.
SORCERY:
Sorcerous magics use outside sources of power. They draw their
energy from around them; for instance, they use fire to cast
fire magics. Sorcerors lack the sensitivities of mentalists
and are thus immune to the direct effects of resonance; however,
the energies they use are not their own and so sorcerors must
use something to focus those energies or become Scarred or
destroyed by uncontrollable Surges of power. The focus' usefulness
depends on two things: the focus' relationship with the magic
being cast; and the similarity to the sorcer's paradigm and
its famiiliarity to him. The sorceror is limited to what energy
he can find; some areas have less ambient magic than others,
but by not using his own energy, he does not tire nearly as
easily.
The
magics of a sorcerer are often powerful and flashy; mages
using this kind of talent must make a supreme effort to hide
the visual effects of their magic. However, they do not tire
as swiftly as mentalists do, and their magics are often much
stronger. A mage with both disciplines is in general the strongest
type of mage, but all their spells also tap outside energies
and so will cause a surge.
PICKING
MAGIC TALENTS:
At
character creation, you can pick up to four magic talents
depending on your intelligence. How many talents you can choose
can be seen on the following chart:
IN
= 2, pick one magic talent
IN
= 3, pick two magic talents
IN
= 4, pick three magic talents
IN
= 5, pick four magic talents.
Delfae,
and players with the advantage Blood of the Magi, can
choose one more talent at each level of intelligence; that
is, if their intelligence is four, they may pick four talents.
They still may not have any magic talents if their intelligence
is one.
PROGRESSION:
How
high a level may be achieved in your magic talent ALSO depends
on your intelligence. The following chart outlines the highest
level of skill which can be achieved in any one of the character's
talents:
IN
= 2, the highest level is Apprentice
IN
= 3, the highest level is Journeyman
IN
= 4, the highest level is Mage
IN
= 5, the highest level is Adept.
You
may only advance ONE talent to your highest level, ONE MORE
to the next-highest level, ONE more to the level below that,
and so on. For instance, if you have an IN of 4, and three
talents, ONE may advance to Mage, ONE MORE may advance to
Journeyman, and the third may advance to Apprentice.
A
Delfae who has taken the option to have one more talent, or
a non-Delfae who has the Blood of the Magi advantage,
can have their extra talent at any level, up to the highest.
ADVANCEMENT
Every
character will eventually advance in thier magic skills...here
is how it works.
A
mage's power-level depends on his highest level in any talent.
A mage with Adept in Force and Journeyman in Sentient Thought
will cast sentient thought spells with the power (but not
skill) of an Adept.
To
begin with, all your magic skills are at "None"
and your talents are unawakened (With the exception of those
with the Prodigy advantage--see the Advantage section
for more details). As you begin to play, one or more of your
magic talents may be 'Awakened.' Awakening is specific to
each talent, and also means it's the first time your character
is aware he or she has magic at all.
NONE:
If your character is unawakened, you have no inkling of your
ability. Mentalists that are awakened but have no skill are
highly susceptible to resonance and mental attacks. Sorcery
skills, once awakened, almost always proceed to the "Apprentice"
level of skill. Thus it is possible for mentalist skills to
be awakened and at 'none' but nearly impossible for Sorcery
skills to be.
APPRENTICE:
This is when your character begins seeking training, almost
always from a magical guild. Mentalist skills tend to begin
the most subtle of detections and manipulations at this point.
Sorcery skills tend to work at detecting the forces they will
be working with, since those forces are outside of their body.
JOURNEYMAN:
Despite its appearance, this is a gender-neutral term borrowed
from the mundane guilds. It implies a time of seeking and
journeying while exploring the limits of one's magic. Practically,
however, many magic users do not journey to improve their
skills but instead stay in tutelage with their master.
MAGE:
At this point, a magic-user has reached the pinnacle that
most mages can acheive; the position of Full Mage. Fully capable
of teaching in their own right, Mages (as opposed to the uncapitalized
'mages' which is another term for 'magic-user') have achieved
more power than many dream of and most are content at this
level.
ADEPT:
Some few magic-users are possessed of unparalleled genius
or uncommon skill (that is, must have an intelligence of 5),
and proceed even beyond what most people consider the 'limits.'
Their powers are vastly superior and many abilities are available
to them.
Finally,
there are some basic skills that all magic-users are capable
of. They may all perceive magic--as symbols, colours, or mists,
depending on their paradigm. Magical script is readable by
all magic-users because magic is a universal ability and magical
script is a universal concept...despite what language it 'appears'
to be in.
In
addition, all mages are capable of dispelling spells--in theory.
In practice, it depends on the relative power-levels of the
casting mage and the dispelling mage. A spell that's in place
and not being maintained has a chance of being dispelled by
a 'lesser' mage if the mage is willing to work very hard at
it. Dispelling is an act of will and does not require a focus.
Lastly,
all mages can 'maintain' a spell, extending its duration beyond
a simple instantaneous casting. The more a mage extends a
spell, the more power and energy it will require; correspondingly,
the higher-level a mage is, the more power they have at their
disposal to extend a spell.
Some
mages can 'hide' their magic or 'trap' it, making searching
for magic difficult or dispelling a spell risky. All mages
are capable of it, though not all mages learn it...and relative
skill in hiding or trapping a spell depend on practice as
well as level of magic.
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