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GM Notes on
Arcanis Magnicus
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| NOTE: Practitioners of Arcanis
Magnicus (ar-CAN-us MAG-nah-cus) are called Magni.
Magni is both the singular and plural spelling, but is pronounced (MAG-NEE)
plural and (MAG-NIGH) singular. |
| Arcanis Magnicus is a very robust and flexible approach to Magic Use, well suited to combat and adventuring. However this flexibility comes at a price;
it takes longer to increase overall power than
it does in Wizardry due to the greater Real Cost involved in the VPP Control Cost.
|
| Casting Model |
| Magni use the
"Gestalt Casting" Model, which is VPP Based. Each Magni has a list of
Known Spells which are learned via the use of topical Magic School Skills as
described below. |
| SPELL LEVEL TO ACTIVE POINTS |
| Each practitioner has a list of
Known Spells which are learned via the use of topical Magic School Skills as
described below.
|
|
*0 |
1-15 |
|
1 |
16-30 |
|
2 |
31-45 |
|
3 |
46-60 |
|
4 |
61-75 |
|
5 |
76-90 |
|
6 |
91-105 |
|
7 |
106-120 |
|
8 |
121-135 |
|
9 |
136-150 |
|
| Spells are ranked by Spell
Level; some GMs may prefer to refer to this concept in
variant ways, such as Spell Circles, Spell Houses, or Spell
Ranks to avoid confusion stemming from the overloaded use of the
word "Level", or simply to add more flavor. Each Spell Level
starting at Spell Level 0 has 15 Active Points more than the
Spell Level before it.
|
| Thus a Level 0
Spell is between 1-15 AP, 1st Level Spells are between 16-30 AP,
2nd Level Spells are between 31-45 AP and so on as indicated on
the adjoining table..
|
|
| *Level 0 Spells are often called a "cantrip". Level
0 Spells count as a -0 for all penalties and a +1 for all bonuses related to
creating or learning Spells. |
| KNOWN SPELLS LIST |
| Each player of a Magni character must keep a list of all the Spells
that their character knows, including Spell write ups. On any given
in-character day they may allocate Spells to their character's VPP, but all
of the the Spells must be chosen from their character's Known Spell List. Spells on this list can be referred to
as "Spell Slots" out-of-character. |
| The means by which a Magni may learn or create new
Spells and add them to their Known Spell List are described in detail below. |
| SPELL LEVEL GESTALT |
| Arcanis Magnicus uses the
Gestalt Casting model |
|
The Spell Level Gestalt concept is described in depth in the Gestalt
Casting document. |
| Restrictions |
| There are a number of
restrictions which apply to this type of Magic Use, as follows. |
| ARCANIS MAGNICUS VPP CONTROL
COST |
| The Arcanis Magnicus Variable
Power Pool has a number of mandatory modifiers applied to it as follows. |
- 1/2 Phase Change, No Skill Roll Required (+1 1/2)
- Only Arcane Magic (-1/2)
- All Spells must Use Charges, and must use the
Spell Level Gestalt mechanic (+/-0)
- Variable Limitation (All Spells Require -1/2 in
Incantations, Gestures, RSR: Spell Resistance, Extra Time, or
Concentration; -1/4)
- Very limited list of Spells Known (-1/4; No more than 6 Spells Per Spell Level)
|
| Control Cost per Spell Level (15 Pool) =
8.75 Real Points |
| Total Cost per Spell Level (15 Pool) = 24 Real Points |
| PARTIALLY
COSMIC |
| The Arcanis Magnicus Variable Power Pool
is Partially Cosmic; a Magni can change out their VPP's
current allotment for other Spells on their Known Spell List at any time as
a Half-Phase action and without needing a Skill Roll. |
| A Magni may have up to six Spells per Spell
Level on their Known Spell List. |
| A Magni can have a
selection of Spells from their Known Spells list allocated to their VPP in
the normal fashion, with a total Real Cost equal to or less than the Pool
total of the VPP, and with no Spell having Active Points greater than the
Pool. |
| Individual GM's might allow a Magni character to
improve their VPP to "0 Phase Change" if a player wants to pay for the privilege to avoid this inconvenience
of keeping track of what Spells they currently have readied, but the GM should monitor it's use to prevent abuse. |
| EXAMPLE:
Fialla
is a Magni with a good sized Known Spells list. She can switch out her VPP allocation of Spells at any time, but it takes a Half-Phase action each time she needs to do this.
Normally she keeps a few Spells allocated in her VPP,
effectively "readied" for casting in a hurry if need be. |
| Typically she has
"readied" Fireball III (22 RC), Lesser Dimensional Hop: (14 RC), Immolation (16 RC), and Spell Deflection (6 RC) (collectively adds up to 58 RC which is as much as she can fit in her 60 Pool VPP since she
doesn't have any 2 RC Spells).
She can cast any of these Spells without taking a Half-Phase
action to reconfigure her allocation. |
| However if Fialla
wanted to cast another Spell on her Known Spells List, such as Distance Flight (40 RC), she would have to take a Half-Phase action to switch her VPP to Distance Flight (40 RC), and up to 20 RC of other Spells. |
|
VARIABLE LIMITATION |
| All Arcanis Magnicus Spells must have a minimum of -1/2
in Limitations chosen from Incantations, Gestures, RSR: Spell Resistance,
Extra Time, or Concentration.
|
| However, an individual Magni could increase this
Limitation on their Control Cost for a cost break. Thus if this were
increased to a minimum of -1 in Limitations the Control Cost per 15 Pool
would be reduced by 1 point. However, this minor savings is rarely worth the
impact of another -1/2 in mandatory Limitations on Spells. |
| NUMBER OF SPELLS
KNOWN |
| There is a finite limit to the number of Spells Magni
may know. The maximum number of Spells that a Magni can know per Spell Level
is limited to six (6). This is an arbitrary limit intended as a control
factor; individual GM's may set a different arbitrary limit to suit their
comfort level. However, the more Spells a Magni knows, the more flexible
they are; GM's should carefully consider how many to allow them should they
decide to change the maximum. |
| It is indicated in the Control Cost of the Magic VPP as
"Very limited list of Spells Known". |
| NUMBER
OF CHARGES PER SPELL LEVEL |
| All Arcanis Magnicus Spells must be on Charges. |
| The same number of Charges must be used for all Spells
of the same "Spell Level", or 15 AP increment. Thus if a Magni has six
Charges on one of their 2nd Level Spells, then all of their 2nd Level Spells
must have six Charges, and all of them must apply the Spell Level Gestalt
modifier. |
|
UPPER LIMIT |
| There is no direct limit on how many Charges a Magni can have on their Spell Level Gestalts, however there is an indirect limit. Each Spell Level can have no more Charges than the Spell Level before it. Thus if a Magni took 12 Charges on their "Level
0" 1-15 Active Point Spells, then their "1st Level" 16-30 Spells could only
take up to 12 Charges. |
|
PRACTICAL LIMIT |
| While there is no upper limit on
the number of Charges per Spell Level, there is however
a practical limit. Charges start becoming
Advantages for some Powers past a certain threshold,
raising the Active Cost of Spells that include
such Powers, and pushing them up into a higher Spell Level bracket. |
| Also, it takes a Half-Phase action to change out the
Spells currently in a Magni's VPP, so the Real Costs of Spells do have
some bearing on what Spells the caster can have "readied" at any
given moment without wasting a Half-Phase action to switch their Pool
around. Spells w/ more Charges have higher Real Costs, forcing more Half-Phase actions to reconfigure VPP's in combat
or other unsettled situations. |
| As a general rule of thumb between 6 and 12 Charges is generally the most practical range of Charge totals for this Magic System. |
| SPECIAL EFFECTS (SFX) |
| Magic Spells have very broad Special Effects. In
addition to any specific SFX that a particular Spell might have such
Electricity for a Lightning Bolt Spell or Fire for Flamebolt Spell, all
Magic Spells also automatically have the additional SFX of Magic, plus either Arcane or Divine,
and the type of Magic (Arcanis Magnicus in this case). |
| Additionally Arcanis Magnicus Spells'
SFX also include the School
and Sub-School of the Spell,
which in the case of Arcanis Magnicus consists of:
Potensium (Guera, Duello), Fortensium (Protenza, Opposia), Fugium (Attraversia, Corsani),
and Comprium (Mentus, Corpia, Cambia, Vario) as described in the
Magni Characters document.
These mandatory SFX cannot be altered by any means, including Variable Special
Effects. |
| NOTE: An
Arcanis Magnicus Spell of the Potensium (Guera) Spell is always Magic, always Arcane, and always in the
Guera Sub-school of Potensium. Thus it can be interacted
with by any effect that targets Magic, Arcane Magic, or Arcanis Magnicus
Magic specifically, down to the Sub-School. A Detect Magic ability with
Discriminatory can determine all of this information, or a Dispel vs. Magic
of any sort that included one or more of these SFX would affect the Spell for example. |
|
REQUIRED/FORBIDDEN MODIFIERS |
- No Spell may have an Endurance Cost
- No Spell may have an Activation
- All Spells must be on Charges and use the Spell Level Gestalt variant
- Continuous Spells must terminate via
Anti-Magic
- No Spell can Require a Skill Roll to be cast
- A Spell may Require a Skill Roll to take effect
- such as a Spell requiring a
Persuasion skill roll
- such as Spell Resistance
|
| NO END COST |
| Vancian Magic Systems don't cost END;
their frequency is controlled by the number of Spells per day a caster can
cast. However, a Spell can use the Fatiguing Long Term Endurance Side Effect
described in the
Magic
Limitations document. |
| NO ACTIVATION |
| Vancian Magic is extremely reliable.
Activation Rolls are not appropriate to this style of Magic. |
| MUST BE ON CHARGES
USING SPELL LEVEL GESTALT |
| The single greatest restriction of this Magic System is
that all Spells must have Charges using the Spell Level Gestalt concept. |
| CONTINUING EFFECTS |
| Continuing Charges are used for Spells that are not Instant in nature. All Continuing Charges must have a defined method to end
their effect, which for Spells is globally defined as
Anti-Magic, which is any Area of Effect Suppress or
Dispel which would affect the Spell and is of equal or greater Active
Points, regardless of any Effect Rolls.
|
| OTHER CHARGE OPTIONS |
| By default Fuel, Recoverable, and Boostable Charges are
not allowed, although in some cases a GM might allow it if appropriate. |
| NO SKILL ROLL |
| Vancian Magic is extremely reliable
to cast.
Skill Rolls are not appropriate to this style of Magic for purposes of
casting. Skill Rolls are used to learn and create Magic, not to cast it.. |
| SPELL RESISTANCE |
| However, the
Spell Resistance
concept is applicable to Arcanis Magnicus Magic, and uses the Spell School Skill
appropriate to the Spell being cast. |