Different Types of Magic

[Tinker Gnome]

How many of you like to make your game have different subdivisions of magic beyond just the Arcane/Divine split? Dragonlance for example, has Ambient Magic and Focused Magic. Ambient magic is Sorcery and Mysticism(introduced in the fifth age) and Focused magic is High Wizardry and Clericism. Ambient magic draws from either Krynn itself(in the case of Sorcery, which is also often called Primal/Wild Sorcery) or one's own soul in the case of Mysticism.

I like this sort of division in a game, as I think it adds more flavor to the game world.

 

[RangerWickett]

I usually prefer to have a unified game mechanic for magic, with, I dunno, let's call them "hats" you can put on a character to make his magic work differently based on style and background.

For instance, maybe adherents to Sha'a, the Unspoken Way (a magical system based on secrecy and deception), cannot learn attack powers with damage types other than psychic, but they get a once per encounter ability to turn invisible to every creature they hit with a single attack, because they've made the creature forget they existed.

Or perhaps a Wayfarer Cirque Mage (trained to draw magic from his own acrobatic movements and from the gradual accumulation of mana while traveling the world) cannot learn powers that slow or immobilize foes, but they get a once-per-encounter immediation interrupt teleport.

In previous editions I never liked that they said class A could only get this type of magic, and class B could only get that kind. I'd rather have one list of spells, and then just modify if you can access them and how they work based on how your character approaches magic.

 

[dystmesis]

Tradition feats are one of my favorite parts of EoMR/EoM:Me, Wickett

That said, in my own setting that'll never get off the ground, there's three different types of magic. Inspired by the arcane/divine/psionic split in mostlycore, one type of magic uses more "scientific" methods, (well-known combinations of materials, series of arcane symbols etc), to create magical effects. A second type of magic uses the force of will of the user to directly create magical effects. The third type of magic uses prayer, sacrifice, etc. to beseech powerful beings to create magical effects for the user.

The three types of magic are not mutually exclusive however, as it is very likely that someone will use some means to summon up a powerful being to ask it for power, etc.

 

[Byronic]

There are quite a few styles of magic in my world. While little of it is done mechanically I do encourage people of the more magical classes to get a certain style for roleplaying purposes.

If someone wants to learn a type of magic from another style they might need more time to "translate" it first. A "Raise Dead" ritual made for the a deity wouldn't necessarily work for a Cleric of another deity let alone a Wizard until they learn how to translate it. Sometimes by adding elements to the ritual that fool the deity, symbolically steal some power from it or some other trick.

Wizards of course being the best trained in rituals are better at translating rituals.

 

[Ravilah]

I started developing a game system that had three distinct types of magic.

Laymen, of course, refer to it all generally as "magic," but the learned realize that there are three completely different disciplines.

Familiar magic (or Sorcery) requires linking oneself to a magical being (fey, demon, outworlder, etc) which imbues you with power and teaches you higher knowledge. The abilities of this magic depend on the familiar: some might be good at ensnaring the mind, others at summoning bolts of fire and ice. It is possible to link to multiple familiars, but that would be like trying to hold down two or three jobs at once (or taking more than 18 hours of classes). All the familiars would demand your attention, your affection, and maybe even a measure of recompense.

Arithmancy is the magic of manipulating space and time. The language of the universe is in numbers, and arithmancers can manipulate the numbers to reshape the world around them. They can fold space to "teleport" themselves or summon things to them. They can slow time down or speed it up...or at least make things appear to do so relative to the rest of the world. They can even cross points in one world with another. Some few read into the recursiveness of numbers to foretell events of the future. Arithmancers leave nothing to chance, for numbers do not lie and are never wrong.

Alchemy is the science of transformation and transmutation. By divining the substances that make up all physical things, an alchemist can disperse and recombine those elements to create whatever he wishes. Healing the body and making lead into gold are childishly simple tasks to him. He can make make caverns into castles and moles into manticores. However, he realizes that nothing can be created ex nihilo...there must always be a balance: heat for cold, strength for weakness, life for death.

I always wished there was some way to make this idea work in 4e. I never figured out a way. Any ideas?