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CameronToveryn

Designing Game, Feedback Wanted!

The Following is an overview of the system(s) of magic I have devised for an RPG system, written in a more stylized narrative format:

Magic,cast as what we know as spells, is created through the direction of energy through a being’s will. The magical energies to produce such effects is within everything and everyone. Depending on the source of the will and/or energy, magic can be cast in a variety of ways, can have various effects, and pose different types of threats to the caster.
Magic is divided into two main categories: Intrinsic and Extrinsic. Intrinsic magics are formed from the combined will and energy of the caster, being much more reliable, and potentially powerful, but also at more risk to the caster’s own well being. Intrinsic casters are more rare, limited by the fact that they are born with or without the power. Extrinsic magics derive either the will or the energy required for the spell from outside the caster. These spells are risky due to their situational usefulness and their unpredictable nature. This randomness and unreliability poses the greatest threat to extrinsic casters. Extrinsic magic can be adopted by anyone, but it the techniques of tapping into their sources of power must be learned over years of study and practice.
Intrinsic casting is further broken down into two categories. Psionic casters bend their heightened mental energies to their will, being able to create illusions, read or control minds, and other feats dealing with the mind. The cost of this, however, is the loss of sanity in psions who use their powers too often, losing grip on what is real or not. The opposite side of the same coin is Blood Magic, in which the caster utilizes their own blood as a medium through which to perform physical feats, such at firing projectiles, creating blades, nets, whips, or even healing others, expending their blood as the cost. The human body can only produce so much blood in a day, thus, a caster has to regulate his use, or else he will have to deal with the very real problems of dizziness, nausea, confusion, drowsiness, and in more extreme cases, shock, anemia, and even death. Both psions and blood magi can control the effect of the spell, and it’s power, but consume more resources in doing so, doing more mental or physical harm to themselves in the process.
Extrinsic magic is similarly divided into two classifications: Arcane and Divine magics. Arcanists bend the energies of the world around them to their will, creating a wide variety of different effects, ranging from camouflaging illusion spells, to feats of transmutation, or mass destruction. However, this poses several problems: The first being that an Arcanist is limited to utilizing the energies of his environment at any given time. An Arcanist in a forest can only cast spells utilizing the energies of the nature around him, thus limiting his potential repertoire of magical effects they can produce in any given time. The clever Arcanist, however, will always carry components whose energies can fuel spells that they like, or find useful in any given situation. Since everything has innate magical energy, anything can be used as a spell component… However, spell components disintegrate into pure energy upon casting, due to the stress on the item of clashing against the predominant energies in the environment. Further, an Arcanist can attempt to produce as powerful an effect as he wishes, but be wary, as sometimes energies act in ways the caster cannot predict, producing an effect much different than intended… Being potentially very dangerous to the Arcanist, and everyone around him. A Diviner, or user of Divine magics, wields the energy of his piety to the world’s deities, directed by the deity’s will. A Diviner can potentially call all the power a god can muster… If the god wills it. A Diviner must then appease his god, often in the process, displeasing the other gods, whom will send minions or other aspects of their wrath to dispose of especially high profile Diviners of rival gods. Sometimes, however, other gods will instead attempt to sway the Diviner away from their current worship, to serve them, instead. Diviners can attempt to create effects of all kinds, but it relies on the will and capability of their deity. Even if the deity was willing to grant his command of the sea to a Diviner, the caster could never use that power to call a fireball down upon his enemies, nor could he use his powers to heal the sick or dying unless he started worship of a new deity, which had command over the correct realms of nature to produce such effects. As such, Diviners must be wary of the frivolous nature of the gods they rely on for their power, and appease them as best they can, lest they be caught in a situation where they need to cast a certain magical effect, but find themselves unable to do so.

Thank you for reading! Comments and constructive criticisms and ideas are all welcome! Actual game mechanics are currently in production for all 4 of these classes of magic.
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Added: 9 years, 2 months ago
 
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