I've been teasing a big post on expanded casting rules for well over a month now, and while I was finally getting ready to write it, the strangest thing happened. I remembered an old magic system I was tinkering with years ago. After re-reading it, I mean, oof. It was rough. There were some pretty cool ideas in there, but overall, I didn't love the execution, which relied on using six different dice to represent six different aspects of magic. Messy as it was, though, I started thinking that maybe, just maybe, it could be compatible with The Wyvern Hack; all it needed was some love and a much needed cleanup.
I was right. It fit like a glove. Thing is, now I have two different, completely incompatible magic systems, so one of them has to go.
I vented on Twitter about these first world problems of mine (oh, the irony), and the majority of my moots supported me going with this weird new thing I'm working on, rather than the Vancian-inspired magic system with a tweeeest I was planning on building.
I'm not pulling the trigger on either of them yet, but blogging about the former can't hurt, right? If it sucks, I'll just sweep it under the rug and blog about the latter, too. There's always the possibility that both of them will end up sucking, so I'm not gonna stress about it too much!
CORE ELEMENTS
The Six Masteries, as I've taken to calling this, are centered on two core concepts: a Magic Die, and the aforementioned masteries, named Forces, Divine, Aberrant, Essence, Chaos and Primordial, each corresponding to a different aspect of reality.
When casting a spell, the magic user declares what they want to achieve with it and how they're going to achieve that, picking an appropriate mastery for their spell. Then, they roll a d6 on said mastery's table, which will determine whether that spell is a failure, a weaker version of itself, a success, a strong success, or if something weirder happens. Each mastery has different, thematically appropriate permutations.
If the spell was a success (regardless of degree), that's where the Magic Die comes in, as it is rolled to determine a spell's duration, damage, area and healing. For utility spells, you assign the results to duration (1/turn), area (2/square or 1,5m) and/or targets (3/extra target). For damage and healing spells, the roll's result determines how much damage you deal or heal, and it can be split between multiple targets. You can use Luck to boost this (I promise we'll talk about Luck Dice soon!).
SPELLCASTING CLASSES
Each spellcasting class handles magic quite differently, both fictionally and mechanically. Mages weave their spells through Arcane knowledge and means, Clerics rely on their Faith to bend reality to their will, while Spellswords use the Craft to shape the world around them. But we're here to talk about mechanics, so...
• Mages use a d12 as their Magic Die. They start the game with two masteries of their choice. They gain one more mastery on level 3, another on level 5, and a final one on level 10.
• Clerics use a d10 as their Magic Die. They start the game with mastery over Essence and the Divine.
• Spellswords use a d8 as their Magic Die. They start the game with one mastery of their choice, gaining another on level 5 and a final one on level 10.
DEPLETION
Rolling a 6 or a 1 on some masteries can deplete your Magic Die. When that happens, you knock it down a tier, and if it is depleted as a d4, then you're deprived. When deprived, you can't cast spells until you take a long rest, after which your magic is completely recovered. Depleted Magic Die are increased by a single step when you take a short rest, up to their original form.
INGREDIENTS AND ARTIFACTS
Ingredients are things like a dragon's petrified gallbladder, graveyard fruits, a nobleman's fingernails or the bottled whimper of a dying man, and they can be spent to adjust a mastery check by 1/each. If an ingredient has a high synergy with the spell you're casting, it can adjust the mastery check by 2.
Magical artifacts can be drained to raise a Magic Die by a step, up to d20. More powerful artifacts can raise them multiple times in a single use. They all have different recharge triggers (blood, sunrise, death, storms, etc). Mages use talismans as artifacts, while Clerics prefer relics and Spellswords are innately acquainted with instruments.
THE SIX MASTERIES
Fucking finally, eh? I won't include all of the mastery tables here, but two should be enough to help y'all visualize how they work, yeah? Read on, fellow wonder weavers.
1. Your insecurities and fear take hold of you, and you fail to fully exert your mastery over magic. Your spell works, but it is weaker than it should have been. [Roll your Magic Die as if it was one step lower.]
2-3. Everything works exactly as you willed it!
4-5. Some might call it arrogance, but your confidence allows you to surpass your limits, casting an even more potent version of the spell. [Roll your Magic Die as if it was one step higher.]
6. Such greatness is exhausting even for the most revered masters of magic. Your spell has a colossal effect, but you have to knock your Magic Die down a step, lest you lose control of the Forces you're playing with. [If you lower your Magic Die by a step, its resulting roll is tripled. If you don't, the Referee rolls on the disaster table.]
Mastery over Forces deals with pure, raw power, molding magic without a hint of subtlety. No other mastery captures the destructive potential of magic as profoundly as Forces does.
1. Disaster! Reality refuses to surrender to you, and this spell can never be invoked again.
2-3. You are not yet powerful enough to achieve the desired effect, but your confidence is admirable. Use another mastery to successfully simulate a weaker version of that spell, or give up and temporarily raise your Magic Die by one step.
4-5. The elements are transmuted, gravity is lifted, day turns to night — whatever you intend, it comes true. For now.
6. You reach into the very fabric of reality, and it fights back. Choose between carving your spell into perpetuity and permanently lowering your Magic Die by two steps, fully recovering your Magic Die and failing, or paying a price of the Referee's choosing and achieving temporary success.
In the metaphysical hierarchy of the universe, some elements belong to the surface, while others form the very foundation of reality. Formidable and imperious, Primordial mastery allows its users to shape the essence of all that is, with all the consequences that brings.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
I have no idea if this is balanced or fun, but I'm 100% sure some of y'all would (will?) find ways to abuse and break it, much to your Referee's chagrin. That's fine! I wanted to give casters a lot of utility, and I feel like I achieved that goal. Their damage potential, on the other hand, can't compare to a Fighter's, which is completely intentional. I'm bored of combat casters. I'll take reality warpers any day of the week, because I want my magic to feel alive, weird and expansive.
This feels like a step in that direction.
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