spells and grimoires

[ghostwolf]

What process do Atharian mages use to learn new spells, or replace a grimoire that has been lost or stolen?

[JasonYarnell]

Mages can replace a grimoire by writing down the spells that they currently have memorized.

They cannot recreate the spells they do not have in their memory without copying them from another source, (i.e. another mages grimoire).

Learning new spells is covered in Kamarathin: Kingdom of Tursh p.136-137

Inventing new spells (i.e. creating spells from the wizards own research and invention rather than copying the spell from another grimoire) isn't covered anywhere and is something I'm working on. The process will be very lengthy and very involved and require a laboratory of some sort.

[Thia Halmades]

From the standpoint of the design, in the initial text the ability to create new spells was intentionally left out -- Kamarathin is set to 'low magic,' and goes by the mantra "Magic is Work." Creating a new spell would, just as Jason notes, require extensive time, research, trial and error, materiels, and both a laboratory and a library. Since he's already said that he's handling the design I'll refrain from weighing in on my vision of the thing, but I thought you might find the additional explanation helpful. In short: designing a spell in Kamarathin is a lot like doing medical research. It's tricky, you're often on ground where angels fear to tread, and it can be horribly dangerous. Woe to the Duallan who cuts the ties that bind them to their Twin and let that little psychopath run free.

Messy.

[Thia Halmades]

What process do Atharian mages use to learn new spells, or replace a grimoire that has been lost or stolen?

When asking yourself questions like this, you may find it helpful to remember the following: "Kamarathin assumes reality." So the world, the setting, has the same functional world physics as this one. If you lose a book, you need a new book. You might do well to create a second book -- a backup. There's no rule against it, it's just a book. We all agree that writing things down is a painstaking process, and the more complex the spell the longer it would take (assume 1h/10 Active in transcription time). The type of inks or parchments is not restricted -- you could write in crayon on construction paper for all it mattered, because it's only information. Do some spells require more specialized inks? Sure, because the spell pattern is done in color, not black & white, but beyond that, a copy is a copy.

Drafting a copy of a spell would require two rolls:

* The Art roll, to do the work
* The Atharian roll, to get it right

Both rolls are made at the beginning of the process, and require a minimum investment of one hour of time (i.e., even if you fail the rolls, you have taken up one hour). If you succeed, done and done. If you fail, a second roll can be made during the process at a -2 to recover the work and complete it successfully; the second roll can only be made once, and requires an additional* 1/2 of the total time investment. Extra time is applicable to this task, but begins at +1 to the roll at 1 Hour, then goes forward from there. 6 Hours +2, 1 Day +3, and so on.

Both rolls must be successful to recreate the spell, however, re-rolls are only required on failed rolls. If you fail the Art roll, but make the Atharian roll, then the Art roll needs to be redone.

These rules may be expanded on later, but they'll do for now. In answer to the obvious questions:

* Why not just restart? Because in Kamarathin, materiels like ink & paper are expensive.
* How does the magic roll work? Exactly as it would were the spell being cast, so scribing an Aegaen spell for a Veritais caster carries the same restrictions

Hope that future proofs your questions a little bit.

* In the original text, it almost appeared that you could fail, then save time on a second, albeit more difficult roll. This is inaccurate. The second roll takes 1 1/2 the total time required, but does not require a second investment of materiels.

[JasonYarnell]

Drafting a copy of a spell would require two rolls:

* The Art roll, to do the work
* The Atharian roll, to get it right

I assume the Atharian Roll has the same dependence on Element as does actually casting the spell, but can you further elaborate what you mean by the Art roll?

I would think that I would need to RetCon the Atharian packages to include this...

[Thia Halmades]

Sorry, I may not have been clear. What I'm saying, is:

If you're going to go through all the work to scribe something, it requires an "Art" check -- Literacy, Calligraphy, Sculpting, what have you. I did that (ironically) based on your last post in regards to two rolls which has flown back out of my head, but my vision for the grimoire has never been 'child scribbles notes in book' and always very elegant, very precise, including charts, graphs, symbols, the whole nine yards. An Atharian spell is more than a string of 'power words,' its a complex integration of symbol, language, gesture and mathematics. Combined, they create something out of nothing. Putting that on paper makes for a tricky proposition. I envision the people who actually create the texts to be very high level and sought after professionals. This reinforces the concepts of low magic and "Magic is Work."

Does that make more sense? I wouldn't immediately advise redrafting the system; most novice scientists can note a few formulae, but they get what they need from the pre-existing texts. It's why grimoires are so incredibly valuable. They're the Kamarathin version of an illuminated text, in my mind. Each one an actual work of art. A Hedge Mage I believe already has "art form" somewhere in their package, but this is "two years later and I had all this extra time to think stuff up." Expansion material.

[Thia Halmades]

JY: Feel free to 'unpublish' this as necessary, but it's the consolidation of my thoughts on spell research.

"Researching and designing a new spell," mused the professor on a blustery afternoon, "is the dream and goal of many a young Atharian. They look over the wide expanse of magic and wonder odd things! 'Can I make it more powerful?' 'Do I dare blend two Seals into one new magic?' 'What if I create a spell that requires a Full Moon?'" He treaded quietly back to the center of the room, knowing that what he was about to say would fall, as it always did, on at least one zealot, one genius, and one madman. He flicked his eyes up into the stone stands, trying to pick out who in this class would fulfill those roles.

"There are three types of people for whom this advice is meant. The first, the zealot. Often students of history, or who come from families of tightly knit Asunites. You will believe that magic caused the Scale Wars, and unfettered grants ultimate power. You believe that structure and control are the way, and further research leads only to madness, dissolution, and destruction. You will hearken to every word that I say in a desperate desire to prove yourself, and to play the hero no one wants, defending to the death a people who never asked you to interfere. Remember this: Magic does not cause wars anymore than raw metals create stab wounds before becoming swords. Only through our own influence, only through an exertion of will, can magic gain power.

Your caution and warnings should not go unheeded -- absolute power will corrupt absolutely. Moreover, however, is that cultural advancement is an inevitable proposition. We will grow. No single organization can stop that. Know your enemy. He is not the next person of whom I speak.

"The genius among you -- and there is always one -- is not listening to me at the moment. Or if they are, it's only with half an ear. You have already gone beyond this class room and are imagining new, brilliant effects within your Seal, or within other Seals. Unchecked, you will create great things, not many of which will be very useful. Vision must be tempered with a comprehension of causality and an appreciation of the currently accepted structure. Your desire to rebel, to prove that you can do something greater, is admirable.

You would do well, at times, to heed the warnings of the zealot -- your creations will never stay in your own hands. Knowledge yearns to expand, to grow. Often your ideas will act as the jumping off point for others. You, however, are not the enemy the zealot fears. While brilliant and passionate, you can be reasoned with.

"The madman among you cannot. You'll seem sane, for a while. Evil and madness are rarely so obvious as the epics make it out to be, nor heroism so blatant as the bawdy entertainments in the theaters. But you will come upon an idea, a concept, quite grand, and possibly world changing -- and no amount of logic or plea will pull you back from the ledge that you will easily and willingly walk over. None. One of you, at this moment, thinks you know better than this old fool and one of you thinks, at this moment, that your idea should be shared with -- or forced upon -- the world.

You may well be right. But consider this your warning: the path towards creating new spells is perilous. Like any great endeavor, nothing is acheived without sacrifice." He looked back down at the floor. Amusingly, he stood on the Seal of Aegia, the Protector. Would that he could defend them from the very acts they would work so blindly in the pursuit of greater power.

With that, pull out your Grimoires. We will discuss the binding of elements and the creation of magic.

---

Creating a new spell in the Atharian system takes vision, time, and patience. The manipulation of the unique forces that create magic employ multiple skills, require intense research, and the process is often equally labor intensive. An Atharian must take the following steps to craft a new spell:

* Establish Atharian Seal

Each Seal possesses unique traits that define how its magics work within the confines of reality. A Panthier can never summon a twin from their own magics -- they must learn Duallan spells to do that. Ramiel commands others, while Aegia defends them. Understanding the structure of each spell, means equally understanding where a new spell would be placed.

* Gather Matierels

In order to craft a new spell, the Atharian must have the following available:

-- Time. Research is a long-term, labor intensive process. Researching the necessary mechanics and permutations, histories and possibilities of a given spell takes weeks to lay the proper foundation. Those weeks critically assume all the requisite foreknowledge of a complete education in the Vedra Atharia. [The caster must have a number of weeks available equal to 1 week/10 Active. The weeks do not have to be taken all at once, however, it is strongly recommended that a caster must invest a minimum of one week for the research to be valid, and not to subdivide to 'days' or 'hours.'].

-- Space. A full sized laboratory is required, with a full work station, various reagents, and most critically a 'safe zone' to test cast the spell. Research will consume significant resources through the course of the design process. [A standard laboratory will do, with all the requisite costs from HERO 6/Fantasy HERO]

-- Materiels. [Jason, at the end of the day, this needs to be the rough equivalent of a magical weapon based on Active -- something that doesn't exist in Kamarathin. While much can and has been said around the low-magic design, at the end of the day, magic is difficult and expensive. Even though a spell may be 1d6 1/2 (Hunting Hound), it's persistent, can attack every phase that the caster has an action, and can act indepedently of a given attack. Effects like that add up and create combat multipliers, so you're looking at 3-7x the cost of a real-world equivalent, depending. This one piece I must hand off to you, or someone who knows the economics better than I.]

-- Knowledge. Once all of the pre-requisite work is complete, the caster must attempt to finalize the formula of his new spell.

Mechanical Notes:

* The Time Chart should be treated as One Week being the minimum; any reduction in required weeks of research should be counted as -1, regardless of any other time rules. Adding time [one week to one month; one month to one season] should be treated normally.

* The caster must make the roll like any other -- based on their modifiers for the Seal in question.

* A caster cannot design a spell that is on the Counter-Seal or any Barred Seals. They can, however, assist in research normally should they so choose, assuming a 6 point penalty (-6) to all rolls.

* All additional bonuses from a laboratory, researchers, etc., are treated exactly as they are in the main rules.

Restrictions:

* No spell may replicate a spell in another Seal (see above).
* The spell must serve a 'function,' -- a spell purely to play 'practical jokes' or similar has no place in the setting. This also speaks to 'tweener' spells, or blending two concepts but doing neither well. This is not the nature of Atharian magic.
* Improved versions of pre-existing spells are not expressly prohibited, but strongly cautioned against, as a more powerful Scything Wind could cause balance issues, as could many others. If upon review, significantly strengthening a spell would give the caster far more options and require less thought, should be considered prohibited.

Otherwise, please see my prior post on the topic.

Happy birthday, Jason! [A month early, but hey].

[JasonYarnell]

Very cool. Thank you, sir.

Can you give me more information on what you are intending for the 'Material' section.

[Thia Halmades]

Sure. I'm not talking about sulpher and bat guano, but the Kamarathin equivalent of expendable materiels, tools, beakers, that sort of thing. You'll also need a ton of paper, inks, and so on, to craft the "2.5D images" that make Atharian magic readable (not unlike the similar "living spellbooks" of Halliruch).