Disciplines of Magic in Éran
From Eran
Restricting magic for the sake of the setting:
Restrict: teleport and divination (veil?).
make magic/magery college-restricted.
Contents |
Alchemy
a
Arcane Magic
a
Innate Magic
a
Phaerie Magic
a
Ritual Magic
a
Symbol Magic
a
Words of Power
a
Rune Magic
Rune Lore IQ/Hard Everyone in the Old World knows that runes exist, and most people would accept that they work. However, most folk cannot tell the difference between a real rune and any other pictograph, sign, or fake rune that lacks magic. A character with the Rune Lore skill knows how to do this. A successful roll against the Rune Lore skill allows characters to read runes, identify magical runes, or activate magically imbued runes. Unless the character activating the runes is also the person who magically imbued them, they suffer a -2 per Rune being activated. (See Activating the Runes below.) Anyone can learn Rune Lore with proper instruction, however only those with the Unusual Background: Rune Master can imbue runes with magical energy.
Unusual Background: Rune Master 10 points
You possess the specialized training of a Rune Master. Although you are not able to tap the magical energy of the warp directly like a Wizard of Cleric, you are skilled at binding the mana of the warp into Runes. The 10 points it costs to become a Rune Master represent the intense and specialized learning which is highly guarded and prized by those who possess it.
6. Rune Magic
The art of Rune Mastery is the ancient and guarded skill binding magical power into Runes. Dwarfs are unsurpassed in this mystical art; their legendary Rune Smiths are known to have crafted some of the most potent items of power to grace the Warhammer World. However they safeguard their secrets jealously, even among their own kind. Often ancient Rune Lords will only pass the secret knowledge of his craft to his kin or close clansmen, not even other Dwarfs are entrusted with such prized wisdom. (See Dwarf Rune Smith Rank.) Other races however have learned the art of the crafting runes. Anyone with the Unusual Background Rune Mastery may imbue runes with magical power.
Each rune is a separate IQ based skill with the Rune Master advantage as a prerequisite. There is no default. Warp Resonance and Warp Empathy do not add to IQ for the purposes of Rune Magic. Rune magic is loosely based on Symbol Magic (GURPS: Magic p. 205).
The Runes
IQ/Easy Runes: Food, Sound
IQ/Average Runes: Communicate, Weaken, Strengthen, Move, Protect, Air, Fire, Image, Light, Plant, Water.
IQ/Hard Runes: Heal, Sense, Create, Control, Transform, Animal, Body, Earth, Magic, Mind, Spirit.
Runes can not be used spontaneously. Each spell must be prepared well in advance and must be inscribed on an item. The Runes listed above include Nouns and Verbs, when a Rune Master wishes to prepare a spell; he selects the Runes he wishes to use in much the same way that words are strung together into sentences. For example: A Rune Master creating a spell to “walk on air” might phrase the runes “Move through Air” or perhaps “Move Body on Air”.
Rune Mastery can be used in two ways; Rune Scrolls or Rune Items
Rune Scrolls The quickest and easiest way to use Rune Magic is by creating a Rune Scroll.
To successfully create a Rune Scroll characters must succeed in a roll against the lowest Rune skill level amongst the Runes being used. Every casting requires at least two Runes to be combined. Success on the casting roll results in the Runes being properly created, failure means the scroll or item is destroyed, and critical failure merits a roll on the Critical Spell Failure chart. The Rune Master must detail the Effects and Duration of the spell before rolling to create the scroll. Rune Magic can never be canceled or maintained after activation. Once the scroll is activated the spell happens exactly how the Rune Master prepared it.
Scrolls do not necessarily need to be written on parchment although they often are. In fact the small tokens of wood or stone which come to mind when one speaks of “runes” can also be considered a “scroll” for the purposes of the Rune Scrolls. Regardless of the material used, Rune Scrolls are destroyed as soon as they are activated (see Activating the Runes below). Someone watching might see each Rune shine brightly then slowly vanish as its being read. The scroll burns up, tokens crumbles to dust, etc.
The time required to create a Rune Scroll depends on the runes being used. The time for each rune included in the Rune scroll is added together.
Easy Runes: 20 minutes Average Runes: 40 minutes Hard Runes: 60 minutes
For example: A Create Fire scroll would take 1 hour and 40 minutes to scribe.
Rune Items
When two or more Runes are inscribed in a permanent fashion, a magical item is created. It can be activated as many times as necessary (see Activating the Runes below). This method is good for swords, staves, doors, etc. Several successful rolls are required to craft the item; one roll for each Rune inscribed, and one roll against a skill appropriate to the material being used—usually Smith, Armory, or an Artist skill.
The roll is made at the end of the creation process. Success on the casting roll results in the Runes being properly created, failure means the r item is destroyed, and critical failure merits a roll on the Critical Spell Failure chart. The Rune Master must detail the Effects and Duration of the spell before rolling to create the item. Rune Magic can never be canceled or maintained. Once the item is activated the spell happens exactly how the Rune Master prepared it.
The time required to create the item depends on the effect. Use all the items in GURPS: Magic as examples. Crafting the item and inscribing the runes will take as much time as it would normally take to enchant the item.
Rune Masters must also choose if the Rune Lore is required to activate the item or if it works like a normal magic item. If a successful Rune Lore skill must be used each time the item is activated, then the time required to create it is halved!
Activating the Runes
Anyone (not just Rune Masters) making a successful roll against Rune Lore can activate a Rune Scroll or Rune Item. It must be held and the character must spend one round of concentration to activate the runes. The roll is made at the beginning of the characters next turn. If the roll succeeds the person activating the Runes must pay the appropriate energy cost and the effect is triggered. A critical failure on the activation roll causes 5d damage to the item which may or may not destroy it.
If the person activating the Runes is not the person who inscribed them they suffer a -2 penalty to the activation roll per Rune in the inscription. Since all Rune Magic must contain at least 2 Runes, the minimum penalty to this roll is -4.
If the person activating the item or scroll is also the same person who inscribed it, then the Runes are easier to activate. The energy cost for activation is reduced by -1 for each Rune in the inscription which the caster knows to skill level 15 or higher.
Rune Energy Cost
The energy required to activate Rune Magic depends on the number of runes being used as well as the effect and duration inscribed by the Rune Master who created the item. To determine the cost add Effect + Duration (+1 for each rune used). Remember at least two Runes must be added together when using Rune Magic.
Rune Cost
- 1 for each rune used for the spell (2 minimum)
Effect Cost
- If a spell causes damage instantly (like a lightning bolt) the effect cost is 1 per dice of damage.
- If the spell causes damage over time or heals damage (like a Minor Healing or Puissance) the effect cost is 1per point of damage.
- If a spell causes another effect, the GM decides the cost based on how big of an effect is intended. Effect cost can never be less than 1 .
Duration Cost Duration cost varies depending on how long the Rune Master who created the item intended that the effect would last once the Runes were activated. Rune Magic can never create an effect lasting more than about an hour, however in the case of Rune Items the effect can often be re-activated.
Duration...........................Energy Cost
- Instantaneous.........................0
- Temporary (1 minute)..............1
- Lasting (1 to 60 minutes).........2
Example: A Rune Sword that has been crafted to grant a temporary +2 points of cold damage (Weaken +Body + Cold) when the runes are activated would cost 6 energy (2 for the effect, 1 for the duration, and 3 for the three Runes.
Example: A Rune Scroll imbued allowing the activator to throw a 4d6 ball of fire (Create + Fire) would cost 6 energy (4 for the effect, 0 for the duration and 2 for the two Runes)
Example: A suit of Rune Armor has a horrific set of Runes inscribed on the chest. When activated, everyone seeing the wearer of the armor instantly suffers the incredible urge to flee in terror. (Control + Mind) The game master decides that this particular effect is about a 2. The cost to activate these Runes would be 4 energy, except that the wearer of the armor is also the Rune Master who inscribed the Runes and he has a skill of 17 in both his Control Rune and Mind Rune, therefore his final cost is 2 energy. (2 for the effect, 0 for the duration and 2 for the two Runes and -2 for his high skill with the runes)
Unusual Background: Runesmith --- 30 points
Runesmiths are a clan containing a few ancient families who have passed down the knowledge and skills of Runesmithing over the generations. Each Master Runesmith teaches the fundamentals of fire and forge to young members of his family, selecting the most talented to become Apprentices. Runesmiths rarely write down the secrets of their craft and even when they do, the knowledge is buried beneath riddles and puzzles. Runesmiths often devote years of their lives searching for ancient secrets, exploring the world to uncover ancient weapons and artifacts of great age, hoping to uncover lost Runes of ancient and fabled Runesmiths. Such quests take Runesmiths into dangerous places, such as ruined holds, dragon lairs, the depths of Elf forests, and worse. In their later years, Runesmiths withdraw from the world, sequestering themselves away to learn the deeper secrets of the Master Runes and perhaps create a few of their own.
Runesmith Cult Rank 5 points / level The Runesmith is a member of an elite clan of Dwarfs able to craft wondrous items by imbuing them with magickal Runes. (See Unusual Background: Runesmith). Ranks in this cult function differently than most others. New characters should not be allowed to begin beyond Rank 1 or 2.
Runesmiths have access to the Enchantment College of spells and never need to meet the prerequisites for spells. The Runesmith can never learn spells from other colleges. Each spell is considered a Rune. Each Rune (spell) is a IQ/Hard Technique which defauts to the Runesmiths Symbol Drawing: Runes skill. A Runesmith may never know a Rune (spell) at a level higher than his Symbol Drawing: Runes skill. Runesmiths may add their Ranks in the Runesmith Cult to their Symbol Drawing and Rune (spell) skills in much the same way a Cleric benefits from Warp Empathy. Runesmiths never actually cast spells and the enchantment process involves much physical labor, hammering and working the materials of the item to be crafted, then finally etching and empowering the Runes. Game Masters should use the rules for magic item creation found in the GURPS: Magic book p. 16-17.
PREREQUISITE ADVANTAGE / DISADVANTAGE: Unusual Background: Runesmith PREREQUISITE SKILL: Armory: Body Armor, Armory: Heavy Weapons, Smith: Iron, Symbol Drawing: Runes TITLE_______________LEVEL_________COST Runelord_____________6_____________30 Master Runesmith______5_____________25 Runesmith____________4_____________20 Journeyman Runesmith__3_____________15 Apprentice Runesmith___2_____________10 Apprentice____________1______________5
The Language of Magick
Just as writing is the physical representation of the spoken word, runes are physical and aethyrial images of the language of magick or Lingua Praestantia. Magick is an unimaginably complex and demanding language. Accurate transcription of the Great Language into runes requires that the tiniest distinctions of pronunciation be precisely recorded in the rune. Further, a rune must be inscribed not only in the physical domain, but also in the aethyrial domain; that is, they must be magickally inscribed into the aethyrial field associated with the rune. Properly inscribed runes are essential to all arcane undertakings, and all wizards must read and understand them. More ambitious students of magick may be qualified for research and development of revised or new applications of the arcane practices.
Even the simplest word in the language of Magick or Lingua Praestantia is unimaginably complex. In the simplest petty sorcery, shadings of rhythm, accent, pitch, duration, volume, timbre, etc. all control a host of critical elements, any of which might spoil the effect if phrased imprecisely. Only the rare individual with the combined gifts of the voice and ear of a temple choir soloist and the intelligence, memory, and wit of the finest scholar can learn to master the subtle chords of sorcery.
The language of Magick is required for Sorcerers to cast spells and all penalties for speaking Broken or Accented versions of this language apply to all spell skill levels. (GURPS p24) This does not concern Priests and Clerics who pray to a Deity that casts the spell through them.
