Magic

Overview

Magic comes in three flavors, of which only two are widely known IC.

Shamanism: Shamanism is based on core principles of harmony, of knowledge and understanding. To practice shamanism is to subsume oneself, becoming other; the shaman must first change himself before he may affect anything else around him. A shaman does not seek to make something happen, but to bring two disparate things into alignment, so that the goals and needs of one are also those of the other. A major risk of shamanic disciplines is the possibility of losing one's identity, never returning from the immersed state.

Witchcraft: Witchcraft operates on the principles of order, ritual, control. To practice witchcraft is to bend the world to one's will, producing an outcome upon command. It is also a reductionist practice, in a sense, teasing out individual features of interest rather than the collective whole.

Artificing: Artificing is a hidden discipline which exists mostly as a plot tool, is not currently playable, and may or may not be revealed to players at a later date. It allows magic to be blended into mundane things, resulting in anything from enchanted items to magical creatures. Essentially, the purpose of Artificing is to enable the use of magical items, structures, and creatures as plot devices. Though these should be used sparingly, so that their impact isn't diluted.

Shamanic Disciplines

Invocation: The most basic and essential of shamanic disciplines, an Invoker takes traits of another into himself. For example, a shaman who Invokes a wolf takes on the identity of wolf, thinking and feeling and perceiving the world as a wolf does. As his proficiency increases, he can take it further and physically change into a wolf, along with thinking like one. Invocation can also be used for medical treatments and purification, with the shaman acting as a bridge between the patient and a medicine or poison; essentially, the shaman 'becomes' both the medicine/poison and the patient, and as such may influence the distribution of medicine/poison within the patient. Another application is in firewalking and similar resistance to the environment. Invocation is always focused in application; it applies to a discrete concept, such as 'a wolf' or 'an herb' or 'a fire' or 'that person'; and it requires the central involvement of the shaman himself.

Dreamwalking: Name possibly not final. The ability to deliberately and purposefully engage with someone else's Dreamscape, and at higher levels the Soulscape. Applications range from mental therapies to information gathering to exploring personal connections and past lives.

Ghostbinding: Raising, communing with, and exorcising the dead. Ghostbinders may create imbued items from physical remnants of the dead.

Unity: The big-picture cousin of Invocation, Unity has more to do with systems, dependencies, connections. They can examine how people connect to one another, impressions people leave with objects, and weigh the balance of interactions across families, settlements, ecosystems. Unity is also about forging links; a sufficiently proficient practitioner of Unity can connect two beings such that they share goals, emotions, or even identity.

Witchcraft Disciplines

Evocation: Evocation is the 'calling out' of characteristic traits from a thing. A witch may Evoke the teeth of a wolf, for example, or the claws of a cat; this also extends to things like Evoking the color brown from makeup so that the practitioner takes on brown-toned skin, Evoking a medicinal/poisonous trait from an herb, etc. Unlike shamanic Invocation, no other baggage comes with the Evoked trait, but the scope of Evocation is comparatively limited. An Evoker can only 'call out' a specific discrete trait, where an Invoker takes the holistic approach.

I am still contemplating limits of Evocation. I think it will require physical things to Evoke from, and the process will consume the thing while it's active. Thus, there is an automatic time limit on every Evocation.

Charmcrafting: This discipline essentially tethers an Evocation into a token (e.g. a wooden tile) such that it only goes into effect when the token is broken. These can be bought and sold, and used by anyone, although there will be limits on PCs buying them. I also have a thought of there being 'memory' charms, where one can do something like put a glass globe out in sunlight, then later evoke the globe's "memory" of that time such that it re-emits the light it was exposed to. All charms are single-use only.

Spellworking: Name possibly not final. This is the discipline through which witches effect larger-scale results, e.g. causing rain. Working a spell is a ritual act which is highly symbolic, requires ingredients specific to the situation, takes a lot of time, and may require multiple witches acting together. I imagine this as mostly having 'environmental' effects — rain, heat, fog, encouraging crops, etc. It's slow, but powerful in proportion to the people involved.

Webweaving: Name possibly not final. Soulweaving allows a witch to 'spin out' a portion of their soul as an intangible thread and 'connect' it to another soul. The thread acts as a conduit for specific, defined information; for example, a witch can tag someone with a thread that monitors whether they're alive, or use one to watch through an animal's eyes. A physical anchor may be required, i.e. the magic is effected by constructing a physical 'web' (similar to a dreamcatcher), which may be decorated with herbs, feathers, beads, etc. with symbolic significance for the weaver's purpose. The connection then remains in effect so long as its physical counterpart is intact. I imagine higher proficiencies have limited capacity to influence the linked soul, maybe through impressions/emotions or limited physical effects like making one trip, though I'm still thinking about that. (This discipline takes some inspiration from Norse seidr, its connection with weaving/spinning, and the idea that such weaving could affect battles.) Woven ties also show up on the soulscape and can be followed or affected by Dreamwalking shamans of sufficient proficiency.

Artificing Disciplines

Still a work in progress. There might need to be a fourth discipline for symmetry.

Enchantment: Laying magic on premade items.

Synthesis: Constructing items with intrinsic magic, of which an extreme example is Tamilur Tower (space, mind, and earth at minimum; possibly six or all seven elements involved).

Augmentation: Working magic into biological entities. An extreme example would be the Elyani shapeshifters (space, mind). Can possibly be divided into two disciplines, for temporary (Augmentation) and permanent (Imbuement) workings.

All applications of Artificing depend on unusual, inherently magical materials whose place in the world still needs fleshing out. I'm tentatively thinking these will be sourced from monsters, which makes getting them a high-risk endeavor, and also justifies creating dangerous creatures with odd abilities. I imagine these materials as having essentially elemental affinities (earth, water, fire, air, time, space, and mind), and producing a given effect requires material of an appropriate element. For example, an Artificer using Synthesis can create a flaming sword with the fire element, or a sentient sword with the mind element.

Artificing is also unique among magics in requiring extensive supporting skill and/or knowledge for most applications. For example, applying Synthesis requires one have the skill to make the item being imbued in the first place. Any use of Augmentation requires considerable familiarity with anatomy and the workings of biological systems. Essentially, one must be Exceptional at something else before one can even do serious Artificing. Enchantment is a bit of a hack discipline — you only need enough skill to make key modifications to the item in question — but it's also more limited than other disciplines.

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