Beginner Skills for Magic-users (4 to start + Smarts/Intellect modifiers)
Arcane Knowing: cost 1. The Magic-user with this Skill has some degree of knowledge and understanding on any variety of occult topics from magical creatures and legendary items of power to magical and mundane herbs, spell components (recognizing/identifying raw items that could be used for spell casting), alchemy, astrology, magical attributes of gemstones, secret sites of mystical power, races or persons of magical ability, etc... A topic may be as generic as "Magic Items" or "Magical Creatures" to something more detailed like "Magic Wands" or "Griffons" to as precise as "The Lost Wand of the Empress of X" or "Migratory Mating Patterns of the Copperwing Griffon." It is up to the Player's choice and imagination (subject to DM approval). Arcane Knowing may be taken up to 4 times in any particular topic.
This Skill requires and expects a degree of DM adjudication. The amount of information known to the MU for any possible Arcane topic is a matter of how many slots the MU has devoted to the topic: 1 being very general knowledge, 4 being the most/highest detail/an "expert" on the topic. An MU using this skill needs to roll their Intellect/Smarts Ability score + the number of Arcane Knowing slots they have for the topic or lower to recall any information. Failure might indicate they know nothing/can't remember anything of use or (at the DM's discretion) they recall something incorrectly or outright wrong/false.
Combat Casting: cost 2. The MU has a particularly focused mind that allows them to cast spells while in combat or other chaotic scenes. The MU may cast while moving their normal movement rate, though not while running/rushing. Unlike the clerical Devout Casting Skill, an MU will still be disrupted if physically struck. An MU with Combat Casting does, however, gain a +1 bonus to saving throws against any mind-based attack or effect due to their heightened concentration. This bonus increases as the MU gains levels, +1 every other level to a maximum of +4 at 7th. Success indicates the MU may cast normally, and need not save again for the same effect, even though the attack/condition may be ongoing (an area effecting charm, being caught within a Darkness spell, a dragon's innate "fear" effect, etc...)
Mystic Sensing: cost 1. By means of this Skill a MU is able to "sense" the general presence of arcane magical spells and effects. They may also notice a mystic energy "residue" from a past spell or effect up to 1 day per level of the MU.
Example: A 2nd level MU enters a room where two wizards fought in combat the day before. Scorch marks on the walls and floors and the remains of several goblins with no apparent cause of death cause the MU to invoke her Mystic Sensing. She is able to "feel" that a lot of focused magical energy (spells) had been present in the room about 24 hours before she arrived. [EDIT] Moving slowly through the room, it seems to her the dissipating energies are stronger around the doorway to the left than the doorway to the right. [/EDIT]
This Skill may be utilized once per day for every two levels of the caster: 2 times at 3rd level, 3 times at 5th to a maximum of 4 times per day at 7th level. This Skill does not supply exacting location as the
Detect Magic spell, but a general sense/presence of mystical energies. In other words, a MU may play a sort of "Marco Polo"/"getting warmer, getting colder" with the sensation, but should not be able to ascertain specific items or effects. Simply that magic is/was present in a general area. Mystic Sensing provides this knowledge at a beginning radius of 10' from the MU and expands 10' every other level to a maximum of 40' distance from the MU at 7th. At 3rd level, this Skill will recognize the presence of Divine magic, also, and differentiate between the Arcane and Divine energies (Clerical spells and spell effects). They "feel" different to the MU.
Spell Whispering: cost 2. An MU with the Spell Whispering Skill need not make their words heard across the field of battle. Spells may be uttered "under one's breath", surreptitiously, without notice by those around them. The spell must still be spoken, however. So a MU within a field of magical Silence would still be unable to cast.
)! This actually would work really nicely with something else I was toying around with for "General Skills" (able to be taken by any class)...Thanks for saving me a bit of work...and we will definitely be coming back to this a bit later.
