Accio Rulebook!

From Namericanpotter

Revision as of 07:25, 4 March 2008

Arcana and Rotes

In the Potterverse, any wizard can theoretically cast any spell. Under the purview of this setting mod, this remains true in some regards. The rules for casting are modified thusly: if a character tries to cast a rote which calls for a higher degree of magical control than she is able, she will take a penalty to the rote pool equal to the level of Arcanum required. If the Arcanum in question is one of the Ruling Arcana for the caster, the penalty is decreased by one, if it is Inferior, it is raised by one.

For example, an Obrimos with Forces 2, Prime 3 and Death 1 wishes to cast Levitation (a Forces 4 rote). His player would apply a -3 penalty to the roll (-4 due to the level of the rote +1 for Forces being a Ruling Arcanum). If said Obrimos tried casting Ghost Gate (a Death 3 rote), his player would apply a -4 penalty to the roll (-3 due to the Arcanum level plus an additional -1 for Death being his Inferior Arcanum).

If a mage attempts to cast a rote from an Arcanum which he has no knowledge of, he suffers a -2 penalty to his casting while also losing the 10-again ability on the roll. For example, if the aforementioned Obrimos attempted to use Plasticity (a Matter 3 rote), his player would apply a -2 penalty and be unable to reroll 10s.

Do note, however, that these penalties do not apply to improvised spellcasting. Those spells use the usual (Gnosis+Arcanum) pool.

Orders and Paths

The Orders as described in Mage the Awakening do not exist in the Potterverse. Some of the philosophies behind those orders, however, do exist. For example, a mage would not call himself a Libertine, but he may believe that the integration of magic and technology isn't a bad idea.

Paths, on the other hand, are a bit sticker to fiddle with. Even though there is no mention of the source of magic in the Potterverse as of the making of this mod, I am keeping the idea of the watchtowers in play. Magic does not come from Atlantis; however, the watchtowers represent a way for wizards to focus the magic they can control.

Paradox

Paradox does not exist in the Potterverse; therefore, it does not exist in this particular version of nMage. However, wizards can still be punished for vulgar spells. Casting a vulgar spell in the presence of Muggles (namely, an incident where Disbelief could occur) sends an alert to the Office of Improper Uses of Magic in the Bureau of Magical Law Enforcement of the Department of Magical Activities, and the wizard in question will be fined an amount of either wealth or favors owed to the Department depending on the situation in question (in other words, ST fiat applied here)

Wands

Wands are magical tools created by various wizards; each country boasts a particular wandmaker as the best, as expected. Each is made from woods of various types, with a core of one of the materials that resonates with the Watchtower of the user. Wands are ranked as level one to five artifacts which a character may purchase with merit points, starting with one free dot at character generation; more powerful wands exits, of course, but are not attainable at the beginning of game. Once attuned with a (Gnosis+Wits) roll, the player adds the rating of the artifact in dice to any spell cast while using it. A wizard can be attuned to a number of wands at a time equal to their Gnosis; past that point, he or she must break the connection with an old wand before acquiring a new one. When using a wand that he or she is not attuned to, the player loses the 10-again rule to the spell roll in question.

Other items can be used as a foci by characters; this, of course, must be cleared by the ST.