MAGIC
Magic Overview: these are tentative ideas, likely needing refinement over time as I work out details. Exact numbers are suspect for change, as well as the cost requirements. These figures are my gut feeling, and an attempt to keep the mechanism very simple, while still scaling as a character learns more magical skills & power levels. This is in contrast to the basis for the mentalist PSA that uses a pool of points equivalent to their logic score. I want to rewrite the Psionic PSA (mentalist) to match this revised system when I get things ironed out
The following sections are out of order for now, info being written as it is thought up.
Spell Points – Spell Point pools are kept track of separately for Arcane and Divine Spells Skills. Aside from the Arcane or Divine split, each level in a Spell Skill grants Spell Points that are kept track of collectively regardless of the number of spell skills or individual spell skill levels. Each level of a spell skill contributes a number of points equal to the level achieved cumulatively. For instance, a character that has 3 levels of Force Magic has 6 spell points (1+2+3). A character with 3 levels in Force Magic and 4 levels in Charm magic has 16 total spell points ((1+2+3 Force) + (1+2+3+4 Charm)). Spell points need not be dedicated to the Spell Skill that they were earned from. They can be spent to cast any spell that the character knows.
Bonus spell points are granted according to the associated Ability. Logic grants extra spell points for the Arcane Caster, while Intuition (maybe personality?) grants extra spell points for the Divine Caster. For each individual Spell Skill suite acquired, the character gains the Bonus Spell points according to the table. For instance, if a character with Logic score of 65 knows 3 different Spell Skills (Force Magic, Fire Magic, and Charm Magic) then the character gets 12 bonus spell points in addition to the spell points he gains from his levels in the respective Spell Skills. If this character then learns Necromantic Magic after his last adventure, then the character gains another 4 bonus points, in addition to the one point for the level 1 spell skill.
The pool of Spell Points can also be increased directly by spending experience points. Each experience point increasing the total spell points by one point. There is no practical upper limit to the number of Spell Points a character can acquire. Some inherently magical races have bonuses to the Spell Point pool, and may have other powers as well that affect the Spell Pool.
Spell Point Renewal – Spell Points are regained through rest, meditation, and review of their spell book (Arcane - see below for spell book), or prayer (divine). During a rest period, it is assumed that the mage or divine caster is reviewing their spell book (or equivalent). Divine casters use their holy scriptures in lieu of a spell books as a focus for their meditation and prayer. After a full rest period, all points will be regained, putting the character at his or her full Spell Point capacity. For shorter periods, 10% of the character’s maximum Spell Point pool can be regained for each hour of study. A character that is deprived of their spell book (or holy scriptures in the case of divine casters) regains spell points at half the appropriate rate because he or she is going over all the intricacies of casting from memory only.
Spell Skills – Each Magic Spell Skill has six levels just like all other skills. Each level opens up a new power (sub-skill), and the cost of casting a particular power equals the level of the power. The individual spell skills and their details are listed in the Skill Section. It is only a basic list of spell skills, as the characters are encouraged to design their own special themed spell skill suites with the referee’s oversight, however this does not change any experience point costs. There are countless sources for inspiration in designing sets of Spell Skills to draw from.
Arcane Spell Books – The secrets of a character’s spell skills are usually kept in a jealously guarded tome or spell book. Whatever the form of book, the writings contain cryptic scribbling and notes that aid the character in their spell casting. Although once a character learns a Spell Skill the character may always cast those spells, a character that loses their ‘spell book’ is a disadvantage when regaining spell points (see Spell Point Renewal). Spell books are often locked, trapped, and otherwise guarded carefully.
Characters who acquire another’s spell book may learn the spell levels contained within that tome at half the normal experience cost. For instance, a character acquires a rival mages spell book that contains 3 different spell skills of which the caster had level 2, level 3, and level 4 respectively. The character (assuming he knows nothing from any of the 3 spell skills) may learn at half experience cost, the level 1 and level 2 of the first spell skill, but must then spend full experience for the remaining 4 levels, as there are no notes to help him along in his studies. The same follows for the level 3 spell skill, half experience cost for the 1st three levels, then full experience cost for the balance, and likewise for the third spell skill (up to level 4).
Divine Spells – The divine caster does not typically record their spells in a tome, however some faiths do have recordings of their usual spell powers. The knowledge comes directly from their deity (or proxy). It is possible to learn spell skill levels from superiors, however self-discovery is usually the preferred method (i.e. full experience cost). When a superior does teach one of their fellows a spell skill level (i.e. half experience cost), it is usually upon the completion of some sort of quest that helps the entire order. The teacher may only teach up to his or her current spell skill level. Although holy texts do not usually contain actual divine spell skills, they aid the caster in the recovery of their divine spell points.
