Dark Ages Mage
Magic -- An Introduction
Dearer to the wizard, the witch and the shaman alike than life itself is the practice of magic. That elusive Gift suffuses their very being. Embodying every fantastic ability that sets the mage apart from the mundane and the ordinary, magic is both the most potent implement and greatest responsibility given to those souls touched by it. White magic exalts its wielder, it is never a thing to be taken lightly; the consequences of doing so are the very stuff of direst legend. When brought to bear on a just and worthy purpose, however, the effects of magic can be nothing short of miraculous.
What is magic? It is, simply put, the ability to remake the nature of the world to one's liking, whether in great ways or small — in this age, wizards traffic in powers unfathomable to frail-minded ordinary mortals. In these dark years, those with the Gift bestride the Earth like titans, blessed with fantastic abilities, abilities honed through sacrifice, dedication and focus. In ex- change for these astonishing powers, those touched with sorcery are, in many ways, set eternally apart from normal men and women. Mages are feared, revered, adored and even worshiped at times, but they can never be just like everyone else. The Gift forbids it. As the Mythic Age wanes, mundane institutions like the Church gain increasing power, and they are not kind to Mages. For this reason, mages who once strode fearlessly before the masses must now hide their lights under bushels, lest they risk the ire of the greater populace, whose awe can quickly turn to hate following the orations of the Church.
Magic can he accurately described as a well that all people can draw from. For some, the well is exceedingly shallow, such as for a farmer whose charms against the evil eye sometimes ward off ill fortune. For others, the well is quire deep, such as for a great sorcerer hurling enchantments from her high tower. In most cases, the capacity for magic seems random. For example, the fisherman's daughter slowly discovers she can talk to plants and animals and is unfazed by the driving snows of winter, while the local alchemist's son has no skill for his father's craft. Some groups, most notably the Order of Hermes, are either able to discern this elusive spark in others or else induce it through a strict regimen of training and discipline, hut most come across their newfound abilities without warning, training or a mentor to ease their first few steps into this strange world. That said, magic is many different things to many different people. To a Christian mystic, the miracles she sings down from Heaven are in no way similar, in practice or metaphysic, to the rites of a Slavic warrior-priest, those of an Arab sorcerer or, possibly, even those of a member of a different sect of her own faith. Magic is, to each and every mage, exactly what he or she makes of it.
In most societies in this age, supernatural phenomena are held to have an external origin. That is to say, all manifestations of mystic power come from sources outside the individual. In the overwhelming majority of cases, magic is considered to stem from sacred sources: deities, spirits, the dead, and so on. Hermetic doctrine appeals to the power of the self, but magic, for all save the most erudite of even their mages, is a force that is controlled rather than an expression of inner strength. The mage is not trying to evolve or expand his mind, but instead to grow in his power and his ability to harness, shape and control the energy of magic. The Gift is the ability to draw upon that energy; nothing more, nothing less.
How Magic Works
Magic, contrary to the beliefs of the uninitiated, is more than just a procedure and its result. Time, effort, understanding and willpower go into every casting, great or small, and are as important and integral as each drop of mercury, ancient Name or supplication to the Crone.
The first step in creating a spell, perhaps not surprisingly, is to conceptualize what is desired. A love potion? A blade that never dulls? An animated corpse? Without this clarity and focus, the mage will he unable to direct her sorcerous might toward any one end and will waste her power in crude and inaccurate rumblings. Fortunately, from the most rigid of Hermetic curricula to the wildest and most unbridled druidic lessons, one of the first things taught to students of almost any established mystic fellowship is a sense of precision in visualizing spells. Anything less would be the height of irresponsibility and disrespect toward one's Gift.
The next step is to check the desired effect against the mage's belief structure. Is it something that this particular school of mystic thought encompasses? A Messianic Voice can no more reincarnate a fallen comrade than a practitioner of the Old Faith could disrupt the flow of the seasons, Those particular effects are alien to the magical teachings of those societies. On the other hand, it is entirely appropriate for a Spirit-Talker to call upon his dead grandmother's shade for wisdom or for a Hermetic adept to assail a weaker mind with the razor- honed edge of her will. Remember, during this stage, that those of a given mystic practice don't think to look for loopholes in their beliefs that allow for violations of that practice's fundamental tenets. Such an idea is preposterous, even blasphemous. The Order of Hermes teaches that travel beyond the Lunar Sphere is impossible, not merely unlikely, and the Ahl-i-Batin know that nothing that exists in this world is truly severed from anything else, no matter how convenient it might be for that to be the case. Always keep such restrictions in mind when envisioning spells within a given paradigm.
Now, provided the desired spell fits within the mage's belief structure, what is needed to bring it about? Each magical fellowship has a Foundation of mystic practice, demonstrating the means by which that group harnesses its magic, and four Pillars, which delineate the capabilities of that particular school of thought. Any spell that a practitioner of a given sorcerous society wishes to create must fall under the purview of one or more of the Pillars she knows {and within her degree of mastery of said Pillar or Pillars) or else she will find herself unable to create it. Thus, it is not merely enough that a shaman wishes to awaken the spirit within his blade (despite the fact that such a spell is perfectly within the bounds of his magical belief system) -- he must also know the mystic rites and secrets that allow him to do so.
At this point, provided all of the above condi- tions have been satisfied, the magic is ready to be brought into being. To create a simple spell (one that utilizes only one Pillar), the caster rolls a number of dice equal to her Foundation plus Pillar against a difficulty equal to 4 plus the level of the Pillar required to create that spell. Note that the caster may have a Pillar significantly higher than the level required to create a given spell without increasing the difficulty in any way; a difficulty 5 simple spell has a difficulty of 5 whether the caster is rolling two dice, six dice or ten dice.
Sometimes, however, a single Pillar is insufficient to create a particular spell. If a Hermetic mage wishes to create a flame that both sears his enemy's flesh and bums away his stored Quintessence, neither his control of the elements nor his mastery of the fabric of magic alone will achieve his desired end. He must incorporate both sets of teachings into a single enchantment. In order to create a complex spell (one that makes use of two or more Pillars in the casting), the caster rolls dice equal to her Foundation plus her score in the highest Pillar required to create the spell, plus one die per additional Pillar involved in the casting. In the event that the highest Pillar score required to create the spell is equal for two or more Pillars, then the caster may choose which Pillar score she adds to the roll. The difficulty for this casting is equal to 5, plus the highest Pillar score required, plus one per additional Pillar involved in the spell.
In the event that circumstances would normally push a difficulty for a simple or complex spell over 9, the difficulty instead remains at 9 and additional successes equal to the additional levels of difficulty are added to the base number of successes required to achieve the spell. Likewise, circumstances that would reduce the difficulty of a spell will reduce the additional number of successes required to create the spell by a like amount (down to one success at difficulty 9) before reducing the spell's difficulty below 9. In any case, whenever a caster is creating a spell and any of her Pillars involved in the casting are higher than her Foundation, she must ex- pend a point of Quintessence. This is a case of too much precision and nor enough power. The Quintessence is required to stabilize the spell and give it momentum and cohesion. Assuming a caster can spend up to three points of Quintessence per turn, he may do so on a single casting to lower the difficulty of a given spell by one per point expended, to a minimum of difficulty 4. (Spending more than two Quintessence points per turn requires the Fount Background; see pp. 86-87}
If the caster does not roll the required number of successes, but rolls no 1s, then the casting simply fails without effect. If, however, the caster attempts the same enchantment again within the same scene, then her overall difficulty is raised by one for each previous unsuccessful casting of the same spell within the scene.
It the caster falls short of the required number of successes to create the spell and rolls one or more Is, then she incurs a Backlash of some sort (systems for this eventuality arc covered later in this chapter) and the desired spell utterly fails. If the caster wishes (and is in any condition) to attempt the same spell again within the same scene, then she incurs an added overall difficulty of two per failed or botched prior attempt during the scene.
There are two special circumstances wherein magic may need to be successfully cast on more than just one turn. These are extended spells and ongoing spells.
CASTING MADE SIMPLE: AN EXAMPLE
Ladislav, a Spirit-Talker from the Balkans, is a skilled mystic (Foundation of Sensitivity at 3 and the following Pillars: Chieftain 2, Trickster 4, Warrior 4, Wise One 3). If Ladislav wishes to pass invisibly and without a trace through an area bustling with activity, he would make a simple spell roll, using Sensitivity + Trickster, at a difficulty of 8 (as such a spell seems well suited to a Trickster score of 4). Note, though, that Ladislav would have to spend a point of Quintessence in the casting, as his expertise (Trickster) outstrips his raw power (Sensitivity) and he needs to supplement the spell with a hit of extra magic to stabilize it. If, however, Ladislav simply wished to become inconspicuous as he passed by the crowd, he would roll Sensitivity + Trickster against a difficulty of 6 (as his desired spell is possible with Trickster 2) and he need not spend any Quintessence to bolster his casting.
If Ladislav is leading a band of his fellows into battle against a hand of terrible upyri and wishes to implore the spirits of the land for a battle-fury that he might share in and bestow upon his companions, then he would roll eight dice (Sensitivity + Warrior + 1 die for adding the Chieftain Pillar into the spell) against a difficulty of 9, with two successes required (as Ladislav's desired spell requires both Chieftain 2 and Warrior 4). Ladislav needs to expend one point of Quintessence in the casting and chooses to spend two points above and beyond that required expenditure, to lower his difficulty twice (the first point reduces it to difficulty 9, one success required, and the second reduces it once more to a difficulty of 8).
Extended Spells
An extended spell is one that accrues successes with multiple rolls made over time and typically requires large numbers of successes to function property (far more than almost any wizard could conceivably garner with a single die roll). For example, a Hermetic mage seeking to divert a tiny trickle of water from the Danube up a riverbank and to his location could easily make such a roll in one turn. If, however, he wished to reverse the river's flow, he would need to perform a far more complicated and time-consuming ritual, with many intricate steps, all of which must succeed lest the whole spell be wasted.
In order to roll for an extended spell, the Storyteller must first decide upon the number of successes required to bring about the spell, above and beyond the normal sum required (whether the spell is simple or complex is irrelevant) and the time period that elapses between magic rolls (seconds, hours, days, etc.). Bear in mind that bigger effects usually require great amounts of time (though this is not always the case; sometimes a mage may only have a short period in which to complete a complicated rite, in which case very little time might elapse between rolls). The caster then rolls using a normal die pool for the given spell (and he may expend up to three points of Quintessence, as normal, to lower his difficulty), recording the number of successes accrued. When the next time period comes to pass (during which time the caster has often been, casting continually and without respite), the caster rolls his die pool again (and may again expend Quintessence, if he has any to spare). The process repeats at regular intervals, until such time as the spell is successfully completed or the caster botches one of his rolls (each roll is treated as a separate spell roll for the purposes of determining a botch). In the event of a botch, Backlash is determined according to the roll currently being resolved, and all previous successes are lost. In the case of a simple failure, no successes are accrued during that time period, though the difficulty does not change for subsequent rolls.
Ongoing Spells
An ongoing spell is one that lasts far longer than normal castings -- perhaps indefinitely, or until canceled by another spell. Whether simple of complex, an ongoing spell begins as an extended spell, subject to all the rules of such spells. In order to create an ongoing spell, the caster requires ten times as many successes as would normally be necessary to beget the desired spell. Further, the mage must spend a point of Quintessence per success, in order to fuel the spell and to establish permanence in its pattern. Lastly, the spell must he sealed with an expenditure of five points of Quintessence per level of the highest Pillar involved in the spell and one point of Willpower for every ten Quintessence points in this final expenditure, rounding up, as the mage impresses the spell onto the Tapestry in perpetuity. While this may seem like quite a high price to pay, the potential benefits of everlasting spells usually far outstrip the cost.
CASTING ONGOING AND EXTENDED SPELLS
Brigid, wise woman of the Old Faith, wishes to whip up a storm in her cauldron. This is an extended spell (she is trying for a prolonged downpour). The Storyteller rules that Brigid's player, Jane, will need 20 successes to create this enchantment, with a period of one hour between each roll. The effect will be a Summer 4 simple spell (thus, it will use Brigid's Spontaneity + Summer with a difficulty of 8). Brigid's Spontaneity Foundation and Summer Pillar are both 4, which gives Jane eight dice to roll. Her first roll yields a 9, two 8s, a 6, two 5s, a 3 and a 2, for a total of three successes. An hour of game time passes, and Jane rolls again, this time netting an impressive four successes. In the next hour, Jane gets two successes, but rolls no successes the hour after that, as her two Is cancel out both of her 9s. Afraid of botching this far into the spell, Jane opts to spend three Quintessence on her next roll, lowering its difficulty to 5. With that roll, she gets six successes, taking her to a running total of fifteen. An hour after that, Jane rolls again (her difficulty is once more an 8, as any Quintessence expenditure in an extended spell lasts only for the duration of a single roll), getting two successes. Following each of the next three hours of game time, Jane nets a single success, finishing out her extended spell with exactly 20 successes. This corresponds to eight hours of Brigid's stirring, chanting and adding mystic components to her brew. Collapsing with exhaustion, Brigid laughs aloud as she hears the roar of thunder outside and the patter of rain on her rooftop from the darkening sky above.
Later, Brigid finds her heart going out to a blacksmith in a village across the valley who often does work for her for little or no compensation (to honor her craft) and whose wife has recently died in childbirth. She decides to ensorcel an anvil such that every item forged upon it will be flawless and of exceeding quality, in order to guarantee him success in his profession, that he might find time and opportunity to tend to his newborn daughter.
The Storyteller rules that this is an Autumn 3, Spring 2 complex spell. Brigid's Autumn Pillar is 4 and her Spring 3. Thus, Jane rolls nine dice (Brigid's Spontaneity + Autumn, the higher of her Pillars involved in the spell, plus one die for the other Pillar involved in the casting) against a difficulty of 9. This spell would normally require only one success to achieve its effects, so ten will be called for in order to establish permanence. Naturally, this will also require it to be an extended spell {the difficulty in creating ongoing spells essentially necessitates that all such spells also be extended), with two hours of game time passing between each roll as Brigid lays blessings upon the anvil and draws upon the power of the Living Earth to infuse it. In all, the casting takes ten hours and requires the expenditure of ten points of Quintessence. To seal the spell, Jane must spend an additional fifteen points of Quintessence and two points of Willpower. Although the cost is steep, Brigid now has a gift of exceeding splendor to offer, one that will make horseshoes that never slip, utensils that never rust and blades that cannot be broken without Herculean effort. Now, to carry it across the valley...
Mystic Foci
Those who would practice the Art must first learn to use the Artist's tools. These can range from the harmless (clover harvested beneath a new moon) to the strange (bat's dung) to the despicable (the fat of an unbaptized boy-child). In the beginning of a mage's practice of the Art, each focus is an integral part of a given enchantment. When a mage evolves beyond the focus, it is because her growing strength has enabled her to internalize that aspect of her magic. Putting aside such a tool, then, is not a product of enlightenment, but of power.
The most important facet of the focus is as a symbol pertinent to the mystic practice or the user. They can be very simple, such as pure water or a single phrase, or they can be something as elaborate as the forging of a weapon, the recitation of an entire tome or walking twenty leagues in a perfect circle. Most foci, however, lie between these extremes of complexity. As a general rule of thumb, more powerful conjurations commonly require more intricate and time-consuming foci, while common tricks known to nearly any apprentice might call for nothing more complicated than a single word. The Valdaermen, naturally, channel almost all of their magic directly through the conduits of the Runes. The Order of Hermes, on the other hand, has a nigh- infinite number of rites, incantations, potions and implements of every sort to call upon.
The use of a focus begins as a necessity for each given sort of enchantment and is overcome as the mage grows in power and understanding. Thus, a mage re- quires a focus for all four Pillars before attaining a Foundation of two. Upon acquiring the second point of Foundation, the wizard may choose to abandon the need for one Pillar focus and can cast normally from that Pillar as though she were using that focus (it is in this fashion that powerful users of the Art can conjure up mighty spells out of thin air, fueled purely by their arcane mastery).
Still, even truly potent devotees of the hidden ways are often more comfortable with a favorite staff in hand or a pinch of sulfur when calling up a salamander, and so, instead of being required, the use of an unnecessary focus eases the casting of a given magic. When using an unnecessary focus in creating a spell, the caster subtracts one from the difficulty of the casting (to the normal minimum difficulty of 4) or may forgo the expenditure of Quintessence required tor a casting in which the mage's highest Pillar used in the spell is higher than his Foundation. Note that a complex spell requires a focus for each Pillar used in the casting, though experienced mages may find some, or even all, of these foci unnecessary, due to a powerful Foundation. If this is the case, the use of an unnecessary focus only applies once, no matter how many Pillars are used in the casting.
Lastly, a caster who uses spells learned from different mystical fellowships must always use foci for his spells, no matter how high his Foundation in that arcane practice gets. No one can internalize the teachings of multiple mystic schools of thought, save perhaps by the most ancient and powerful (or mad) wizards yet living upon the Earth.
The Power of Belief
Closely related to the reasoning behind foci is the idea that belief shapes the nature of the world, a concept the Order of Hermes came to understand some time ago and which is beginning to catch on among mages of other fellowships. The Dark Medieval world is one in which superstitions, folk-enchantments and other little facets of mysticism abound; so much so, in fact, that people are apt to recoil in fear when a woman with a black cat glares at someone in the marketplace or to feel safe when the village priest produces a saint's relic to ward off evil. By playing to superstition, a mage can circumvent the inertia of disbelief that often assails more blatant feats of sorcerous might.
As a rule, enchantments that function within a given area's prevailing superstitions (such as using an iron nail to ward off bedevilment by fairies in the British Isles or imploring the intercession of Archangel Michael to protect an abbey) negate a single 1 rolled for the casting. In these instances, the power of belief works not to erode the spell but, indeed, to support and enhance it. Granted, no mystic school of thought offers the possibility of playing to all superstitions but, when such resources are available and agreeable to the mage, they can mean the difference between success and failure.
FOUNDATION
A Foundation is the fund a mental building block of a mystic fellowship's arcane practices. It is well and good to say that a Hermetic mage hurls fire and bends minds with his power, but it is his Modus that is the means by which these results are achieved. In effect, the Foundation is the ground on which the sorcerous spells outlined by the Pillars are built.
Once an apprentice has achieved the first level in his Fellowship's Foundation, he is officially initiated into that mystical body at the lowest-level rank. Because there is no traumatic instant of mystic revelation in most cases, the process of creating a sorcerous will is more of a gradual process of education. Whether that education is at the hands of Masters, wise-women or spirits is irrelevant. With a new awareness, the individual is now ready to become something more than human.
As the individual grows in her mastery of her group's Foundation, she projects aspects of her own personality into it. A member of the Old Faith with a penchant for spells dealing with life and growth and a powerful Spontaneity will find that plants bloom wildly and suddenly in her presence, people suffering from chills feel better and her own cuts and bruises naturally heal just a bit more quickly than those of others. Likewise, a Batini mystic who concentrates on magics of movement and travel will find that his road is often clear and swift, his footfalls cover more ground than those of others, regardless of his pace, and that his travels always bring him to where he needs to be.
Likewise, just as the magic is changed by the wizard, so too is the wizard changed by the magic. Older Hermetic mages tend to be beings of great precision, focus and discipline, and dislike those things that deviate from the ways to which they are accustomed. Similarly, elder shamans of the Spirit-Talkers simply cannot shut out the myriad voices of the Invisible World, but are instead counseled by them at all times; such spirit-touched folk sometime lose track of where the physical ends and the ephemeral begins. Such is the price of the Art. To become more than mortal, the mage must be willing to leave behind some of his humanity. Just as he is an artisan working in his medium, so must he embrace the knowledge that his magic sculpts him as well. Only the strongest dare undertake the journey into mastery, for it is more than any ordinary human — and many extraordinary ones besides — can withstand.
PILLAR
Spellcasting Summary
Simple Spell
- Roll
- Foundation + one Pillar
- If the Pillar's required level is higher than the caster's Foundation. the caster must spend a point of Quintessence.
- Difficulty
- 4 + the Pillar's required level (-1 per extra Quintessence point, up to a -3 max)
- If the difficulty exceeds 9, then the difficulty remains at 9, but one extra success must be achieved per excess point of difficulty.
Complex Spell
- Roll
- Foundation + Primary Pillar + 1 die per additional Pillar involved in casting.
- If the primary Pillar's requirement level is higher than the caster's Foundation, the caster must spend a point of Quintessence.
- Difficulty
- 5 + Pillar's required level + 1 per additional Pillar involved in casting (-1 per extra Quintessence point, up to a -3 max)
Extended Spell
As a simple or complex spell, except that successes are accrued over a series of rolls until the spell is achieved, time runs out, or a roll botches.
The time between rolls varies with the task. Quintessence may be spent per roll to lower the difficulty (-1 per point, -3 max).
Ongoing Spell
As an extended spell, but ten times the usual successes must be achieved. Quintessence cost: 1 point per success, plus 5 points per level of the highest Pillar involved. Willpower cost: 1 point per 10 Quintessence points spent.
- Source
- Pg.98, Dark Ages Mage Core Rulebook
Pillars ~ Forma
Forma was a term used by the mages of the Order of Hermes during the Dark Ages, to collectively describe the four Pillars of their magick: Anima (Command of Life), Corona (Command of the Mind), Primus (Command of Quintessence ), and Vires (Command of Elemental Forces). It should be noted that the Craftmasons eschewed the use of Primus, and instead practiced a Pillar known as Materia (Command of Material Substances).
Overview
Each Pillar of the Order of Hermes is a Forma. Each Forma embodies a fundamental aspect of Creation, a pillar that shores up the world itself. These four ancient Forma are: Anima (the "Breath of Life" that flows through every living being), Corona (the "Crown" which grants control over the working of the mind), Primus ( the raw power of magic itself) and Vires ("Forces", mastery over the energies of the Universe). Although the four Formas encompass a great many potential powers, in no case can current Hermetic theory violate certain precepts set forth by the Church (precepts which Bonisagus himself subscribed to and set forth in the founding doctrine of the Order): The resurrection of the dead, the creation of true life and travel beyond the Lunar Sphere. Further, though many scholars of the Order have truck with various spiritual entities, both benign and malefic, their control of those beings hinges mostly upon mastery of the energies that sustain those beings, rather than power over ephemeral matter (spirit).
Sample Foci: Conjunctions or other astrological phenomena, Enochian language (chants, recitation or text), numerology
- : Anima -- Command of Life
- : Corona -- Command of the Mind
- : Primus -- Command of Quintessence
- : Vires -- Command of Elemental Forces
- : Materia -- Command of Material Substances {Craftmasons}
| Pillar | Color |
|---|---|
| Anima | Red / Black (death) |
| Corona | Blue |
| Fortuna | Purple |
| Materia | Gray |
| Phasma | Gold |
| Primus | White |
| Tempus | Green |
| Travectio | Silver |
| Vires | Orange |
Backgrounds
