Alignment, Magic, and Style

[Baron Opal]

A Foundation

I’ve been thinking a lot about magic recently. In particular, how I would like it expressed in my home game.

Like many, I imagine, my D&D campaign is a pseudo- feudal milieu that is remarkably tolerant of other races, creeds and sexes. Everyone mostly gets along with each other, unless you’re one of the “bad guys” then all of the “good guys” agree to stomp all over you.

I’ve mentioned before that I tend to view alignment as “the color of your hat” or the side you’ve picked rather than a definitive descriptor of beliefs and morals. Even so, there are some consequences to this decision. One descriptor of alignment I liked was the concept of imagining Thor, Apollo, Shiva and others on one side (Law) and Cthulhu, Demogorgon and Tiamat on the other (Chaos). Your alignment is determined by which side you want to fight with at Ragnarok, neutral if you just want to hide and wait it out.

One of things that complicates it for me is that I do want players to be able to choose Chaos without breaking the game. I want Galahad and Elric to be in the same party if that’s what the players want. I, and they, should expect some friction if that’s the case, but it should all be in good fun and not game breaking. An inspiration for my game is the Amber series of novels by Roger Zelazny. I like the concept of Pattern and Chaos being antagonistic due to power source and attitudes, but not mutually annihilating. They can work together at need.

In my game there are three fundamental forces, the Empyrians. These are Law, Chaos, and Insight. They are described in myth and legend as the Radiant Obelisk, Dark Maelstrom, and Sublime Pattern. It was pretty important to me that the Pattern be a “real” choice, not just an indecisive mid-point between the other two. That’s been difficult, actually. Eventually I remembered my alchemy and the development of the 3-axis method of quicksilver, sulfur, and salt. That gave me the basis for what I have now. It’s still a bit of “white, black, grey” between the three forces, but I can articulate three different goals for them.

I adopted the Magic: the Gathering color wheel for alignment and changed it a bit. The alignments are now:

Law (Obelisk)- Fostering a strong Society gives the individual the best advantage.
Chaos (Maelstrom)- Fostering a strong Self gives the individual the best advantage.
Insight (Pattern)- Fostering an Harmonious Evolution gives the everyone the best advantage.
Neutrality (n/a)- Making your own way, keeping your head down, not getting involved.
Evil (Void)- The “bad guys”; mind flayers, demons, EHP, and those of your faction who have Gone Too Far.

If the color of your hat determines who the fighters are going to poke in the belly with pointy, sharp metal bits, I think it should influence magic, too.

More musings to follow.

 

[Hand of Evil]

check our Warhammer Fantasy, it uses colors to define magic.

 

[Baron Opal]

Themes and Systems

Magic has always captured my imagination. I’ve loved fairy tales, adventure stories, and the like since I was a wee lad; much like most of you, I’m sure. What has struck me as I have read the stories is how different the various kinds of magic are, depending on what you are doing. Elizabethan necromancers, Islamic summoners, Taoist masters, they all have their own sources, means, and abilities that were different from others. Now, there are certainly a variety or reasons for that. There were usually a number of commonalities, however. Any one of them could turn you into a toad, but how they did it and what they could do in addition to that made them different and interesting.

For the most part, magic in D&D has been the slot / spell level system (Vancian, for the lack of a better term). I like it, it works for what I want it to do. The psionic systems have been interesting as well. Early editions had a pretty flat system; either you had it or not. All in the Mind from White Drawf #79 had the first glimmer of a class based system. If you had psionic abilities they were rated according to raw power (master, grand master &c.) and your level determined skill with individual disciplines. If everyone had them, there were a pretty good accent to the variety of characters. Even those who didn’t could be appropriately compensated with magic items or other abilities.

Second edition moved away from a tacked on system to its own class. The powers were rated with levels and points. Characters had a much more free form system where they could choose to husband their resources for the big flash if they chose. It provided a great deal of flexibility.

As the game has progressed, I’ve appreciated the different mechanics invented. I have had a hard time, however, figuring out where psionics / psychics fit in a D&D world. For the most part it’s just a thematic issue. The spells of magic-users and disciplines of psionicists have had too much overlap for me. There was an insufficient specialization for me to have both sub- systems unless it was going to be a more kitchen-sink world (which I’ve done and had fun with).

I imagine magic, in its most basic form, to be a Chaotic force. It is the will acting as directly as possible upon the world. The magical words, gestures, wands are all crutches to assist the magician in achieving and maintaining the proper frame of mind to effect change. Since it is a matter of a proper point of view, most magicians are chaotic. It’s simply easier for a chaotic person to change their focus from affection to wrath and back again in order to throw a magic missile as someone attacking the magician’s friend. Lawful people can do this too, however. The human capacity to maintain contradictory thoughts and ideals is well known. Lawful casters would probably be more likely to use the magic circles, need to chant in dead languages, and use words of power.

The Empyrians I mentioned previously are the foundations of the gaming reality. They can not be nullified any more than gravity or electromagnetism is for us. Therefore, while there is enough Chaos to effect this willful change, there is also enough Law to control it. Still magic is still inherently chaotic despite it’s usefulness. So what about Law?

Science or technology is the natural counterpart to magic in my mind. Only select individuals can do magic, anyone can perform science. Wands are specially made and choose the caster, technology mass produces copies for everyone. The wizard can perform miracles, but his tower collapses into dust when he dies. The engineer makes small advances in his field, but the bridge he designs lasts generations. There are a lot of favorable contrasts here.

I’ve found it kind of sucks to play, however. It’s probably why it took so long for a useful tech / Law book to come out for BRP.

There is a useful middle. I’ve read a number of supplements around the natural philosopher. This is a character that uses knowledge of the natural world; alchemy, astrology, and other “sciences” that were pursued in the ancient world and have since been refined into modern sciences. That sounds pretty neat to me, and sounds like a Lawful power scheme. The character has to understand some obscure natural laws and is able to exploit them for his and his party’s benefit. It could be an excellent second choice for the character who wants to play a “powered” character. Natural philosopher is a mouthful, however. I think I prefer “artificer”, particularly after reading some of the card commentary from my old Magic cards.

I even have a class to start out with. The Complete Alchemist, seasoned with a couple chapters from the Medieval Player’s Handbook will give me what I need.

There is a major problem with artificers, however. Gold.

 

[Baron Opal]

check our Warhammer Fantasy, it uses colors to define magic.

I'll do that. For the most part I'm using color metaphorically. However, I find that when I describe magic items those that use garnets tend to be chaotic, jade ties to insight, and amethyst to law.

Funny, that.

 

[jefgorbach]

What color is a hammer? a bow?

Magic, like ANY other tool, is colorless by default ... or rather colored by the intent of the one employing it.

A hammer for instance can be beneficial for cracking nuts, constructing items, or smashing skulls. Likewise the bow, which while initially intended to help feed the family proves just as useful in defending the homestead from those seeking to harm it ... or harm others whose own homestead appears better off than your own.

Left to their own, both tools would simply lay there ignored and ignoring all around them. So to does magic ... until someone with the knowledge and foresight to "pick it up" uses it to impose their Will upon the surrounding world.

 

[Hand of Evil]

What color is a hammer? a bow?

Magic, like ANY other tool, is colorless by default ... or rather colored by the intent of the one employing it.

colour of magic goes to the visual effect; a sword of shadow would be gray steel and may have a dark gray smoke like glow around it when viewed by magic sight or when a power is being used. Yes, there would be a number of plain jane items (+1 to +3) but those with special powers like flame tongues or frost weapons would have a colour to them.

It is a description. It is also a way to define your world.

 

[Baron Opal]

What color is a hammer? a bow?

Magic, like ANY other tool, is colorless by default ... or rather colored by the intent of the one employing it.

Left to their own, both tools would simply lay there ignored and ignoring all around them. So to does magic ... until someone with the knowledge and foresight to "pick it up" uses it to impose their Will upon the surrounding world.

Ah, but part of my thesis is that magic is not like any other tool. It isn't a "tool" at all.

As magic is inherhently Chaotic, it requires a special mindset to use. That mindset changes dependant not only on the goal, but also on the person using it.

Hammers, bows, and other tools are inherently Lawful. Anyone can use them witha basic level of proficiency. There are certainly levels of skill, but there tends to be a certain way of using a tool that is ideal in a given situation.

There is a "best" way to drive a nail. This is the same regardless of who picks up the hammer. There is no best way to cast magic missile, it varies dependant on the magician and situation.

 

[Baron Opal]

The Problem of Wealth

It can be hard to tie down a wizard’s true capability due to the flexibility inherent in the system. The main method is through a pretty strict management of what spells they recover or can research. The wizard can only customize their spell list through what is in their spell book. If there is a strong limit on their spell book, the scope of their abilities is likewise limited.

The alchemist class from Bard Games is amazing. It has a bit too much detail, but the excess can be trimmed away. It is almost exactly what I want. However, whether I use it on its own or as a strong foundation from my artificer class, it is far more open ended a class than that of wizards. With wizards there is a choke point, the spell book. Furthermore, only wizards can use wizard spells. While it can be argued that the choke point for alchemists is their formulations, it actually is gold.

Whereas wizards have their limitations of use, alchemists have limitations of preparation. A wizard can act X times per day, with Y options. X is governed by level, Y by the campaign. For alchemists, both X and Y are governed by the campaign. While the upper power limit of items is governed by level, alchemists can produce items (potions, dusts, medallions, &c.) as long as they have the money to do so. The amount they can create is limited per day, but not what they can use.

Unfortunately, that’s kind of appropriate for a Lawful power. If you have enough nails, you can drive them with your hammer as long as you want. It’s a pain in the neck for balance, however. I’d rather not keep that close an eye on how much gold the characters gain.

A solution is to have two tiers of abilities. One tier focuses on the creation of lasting items of artifice. This is “easy”, compared to wizards, and takes money. A second tier are those potent but short-lived items that can be prepared daily but certain variable change, making them useless the next day. These can be alchemical elixirs with a short shelf life, astrological charts that become invalid with the hourly motion of the stars, or even a defensive medallion of hematite and reed that is knocked out of useful alignment after the next battle.

Alright, if magic trends towards Chaos and artifice trends towards Law, what does Insight get?

Psionics.