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| NOTE: This document describes
an abstract archetype of Magic that encompasses several distinct Magic
Systems. You wouldn't create a "Vancian Magic User" as a playable
Character,
instead you would create a Wizard,
Sorcerer,
Magni, or one of the other
concrete implementations of this type of Magic. |
| Focus |
| The basic idea behind a
Vancian Magic System is that Magical Effects, typically called Spells, are
memorized by Spellcasters and then forgotten when cast. Spells are categorized by
their general power level, usually referred to as a "Spell Level", and
individual Vancian Magic Users have a finite limit to how many Spells they
can have memorized on a given day. |
| Further, once released
Spells exist independently of their caster, allowing a Vancian Magic User to
throw one Spell after another until they run out of their finite collection.
This is often called a "Fire and Forget" style due to the combination of
forgetting Spells, and the lack of maintenance required once a Spell is
cast. |
| This sort of Magic
System was envisioned by the author Jack Vance, and was inextricably
intertwined with role-playing game concepts when Gary Gygax used the idea as
the seed for the Magic System created for the first role-playing game,
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). |
| The ideas of X Spells
per Level per Day, "9th Level" Spells, and so forth are familiar to many
gamers that have played some version of D&D in the past. Not every one is a
fan of D&D, but whether one loves, hates, or is indifferent to D&D is
irrelevant to the usefulness of the underlying concept of this style of
Magic. It can be used for a wide variety of implementations and is a
surprisingly robust model to wrap a Magic System around. |
| Means to Power |
| Vancian Magic Users learn to cast
Spells, often making use of props such as
incantations, gestures, material components, and similar
trappings of Magic use to assist them in the casting of their Magic.
Vancian Magic Users go through various levels of understanding and
capability as they advance. |
| As they gain experience, their ability to
manipulate the metaphysical Laws of Magic increases, as does the mental
endurance required to focus their will. Essentially, as they progress their
ability to cast larger and more powerful Spells increases
assuming they spend Experience Points accordingly. |
| Casting Model |
| Individual Vancian Magic
Systems use different
mechanics, described in depth in their own documents. However all them have
some similarities; most notably all of them have a concept of "Known Spells"
which are learned via the use of topical Magic School Skills.
|
| SPELL LEVEL TO ACTIVE POINTS |
| All of the
Vancian Magic Systems described on this site share the concept
of Spells that 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.
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0 |
1-15 |
|
1 |
16-30 |
|
2 |
31-45 |
|
3 |
46-60 |
|
4 |
61-75 |
|
5 |
76-90 |
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6 |
91-105 |
|
7 |
106-120 |
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8 |
121-135 |
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9 |
136-150 |
|
| 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 in the table below.
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|
| Restrictions |
| There are a number of
restrictions which apply to this type of Magic Use, as follows. |
| NUMBER OF SPELLS KNOWN |
| There is a finite limit to the number of Spells Vancian
Magic Users may know. Each of the Magic System documents
describing Vancian Systems clearly indicates the limits in effect for that
System. |
|
REQUIRED/FORBIDDEN MODIFIERS |
| All Vancian Magic Systems have some
common restrictions on Power Modifiers that can be applied to their Spells.
This list is summarized below. Individual Magic Systems might have
additional restrictions beyond these common ones also. |
|
Vancian Magic Spell Design Restrictions |
- No Spell may have an Endurance Cost
- No Spell may have an Activation
- All Spells must be Charge based
- 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. |
| CHARGE BASED |
| Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of the Vancian Magic
Systems presented herein is that they are Charge based. There are many
advantages to designing Spells on Charges, particularly Continuing Charges. |
| One of the main advantages to using Charges is that in
the HERO System Powers built on Charges do not cost Endurance. A Vancian
Magic user can throw Spells until they run out and not even break a sweat
doing it. |
| 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.
|
| Spells built on Continuing Charges are amazingly
effective for various reasons, such as: |
- Continuing Charges are effectively Persistent; they keep working even
if the character that activated them is Stunned, Knocked Out, or Killed.
- Charges taken on Inherently Persistent Powers (such as many Defenses)
cap out as a -0 Limitation; they never become an Advantage.
- Attacks bought on Continuing Charges continue doing damage until the
Charge expires.
- Powers in Variable Power Pools and Multipowers on Continuing Charges
are not deactivated by switching slots around; once activated they
continue to work until the Charge expires even if the activating character
reallocates their VPP Pool or switches their Multipower to other slots.
|
| OTHER CHARGE OPTIONS |
| By default Fuel, Recoverable, and Boostable Charges are
not allowed, although in some cases a GM might allow them if appropriate. |
| NO SKILL ROLL TO CAST |
| The Skill impact to almost all forms
of Vancian Magic
is in learning Magic, not in casting it. Once a Vancian Magic User has
learned a Spell to their Known Spell List, they can generally cast it effortlessly; the
number of times they can do so is controlled by the number of Charges
available to them per day. |
| INTERACTION |
| An exception to this is for Spells that require a Skill
Roll to take affect, such as a Charm Spell that, though it always is
castable and works, might not effect a target unless a Persuasion Skill Roll
can be made, and other similar effects. |
| SPELL RESISTANCE |
| An exception to this is for Spells
that require a test against Spell Resistance. The
Spell Resistance
concept is applicable to Vancian Magic, and uses the Spell School Skill
appropriate to the Spell being cast. |
| Each Vancian Magic System specifically
notes if it is compatible with Spell Resistance. |
| Metamagic |
| All of the Vancian Magic Systems presented
on this site can be used with the following Metamagic abilities, if a GM
permits them. |
| METAMAGIC FEATS |
|
AUGMENT
SUMMONING |
| Your Character is able to summon more
powerful versions of Creatures using Summoning Spells. |
| Your Character may cast a version of a
Summoning Spell they have access to that has up to 15 Active
Points more effect, allocated towards the Character Points
available to the creatures they Summon |
| Real Cost: 1 Point |
|
EMPOWER SPELL |
| Your Character is able to cast more powerful
versions of Spells they have access to. |
| Your Character may cast a version of a
Spell they have access to that has up to +30 Active Points applied to the base
effect of the Spell (but is otherwise unchanged). |
| Real Cost: 1 Point |
|
ENLARGE /
WIDEN SPELL |
| Your Character is able to cast Area of
Effect (AoE) Spells with an increased Area of Effect. |
| Your Character may cast a version of a
Spell they have access to that has either the Explosion or Area
Of Effect Advantages with up to 15 Active Points
applied towards increasing the area affected by the Explosion or Area of Effect Advantage. |
| Real Cost: 1 Point |
|
ESCHEW
MATERIALS |
| Your Character is able to cast Spells that
normally require components without those components. |
| Your Character may cast a version of a
Spell they have access to that normally has either a required
Focus Limitation, or a Restrainable by Spell Pouch Limitation
without those Limitations. |
| Real Cost: 5 Points |
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EXTEND SPELL
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| Your Character is able to cast Spells that
have duration and have them last longer than usual. |
| Your Character may cast a version of a
Spell they have access to that uses a Continuing Charge with
up to 15 Active Points more effect applied towards increasing
the duration of the Continuing Charge. |
| Real Cost: 1 Point |
| MAXIMIZE SPELL |
| Your Character is able to cast Spells that
have the maximum possible effect for a Spell of that type. |
| Your Character may cast a version of a
Spell they have access to that does damage or otherwise
determines effect by rolling some number of d6, with the
addition of a special +1 Advantage called "Maximum Effect" which
causes the Spell to have the maximum possible effect based upon
the number of dice available to it. |
| For instance, a Maximize Spell version of
a Spell that had a 10d6 Energy Blast effect would do 60 STUN and
20 BODY, with no roll necessary (Knockback would still be
determined normally). |
| Real Cost: 1 Point |
|
QUICKEN SPELL |
| Your Character is able to cast a version of
a Spell that they have set up earlier at will. |
| Your Character may cast a version of a
Spell they have access to with the addition of the following
version of the Trigger Advantage: |
| Trigger (Activate the Trigger
at will as an action that takes no time, Trigger is reset by
casting the same Spell again; +1/2) |
| Real Cost: 1 Point |
|
SILENT SPELL |
| Your Character is able to cast Spells that
normally require Incantations without speaking. |
| Your Character may cast a version of a
Spell they have access to that normally has Incantations without
that Limitation. |
| Real Cost: 5 Points |
|
STILL SPELL |
| Your Character is able to cast a version of a Spell they have access to that normally has Gestures without that Limitation. |
| Your Character may cast a version of a
Spell they have access to that normally has Gestures without
that Limitation. |
| Real Cost: 5 Points |
| Magic School Skills |
| All of the various Vancian Magic Systems
include the concept of "Known Spells" that a practitioner is able to cast,
and one or more Skill Rolls that are used to either "learn" and "create"
Spells, or to change Spells allocated to a Variable Power Pool. |
| Each Magic System organizes Spells
according to different criteria into "Schools" or an equivalent, and has
"School Skills" or equivalent other abilities corresponding to such. The
differences in the way individual Magic Systems organize their Spells into
Skill groups provide a major area of stylistic difference between them. |
| SPELLCRAFT |
| However, the concept of
Spellcraft
exists as a basic and practical understanding of underlying principles vice
the specific and nuanced knowledge of individual Magic School Skills. |
| Thus at the GM's discretion a character
might choose to learn a Custom Talent called Spellcraft. Spellcraft
represents a very general but flexible knowledge of Magic and while it will
rarely yield the same depth of knowledge on a given subject as the
appropriate Spell School Skill for a particular Spell would, it is
convenient and is often less expensive than buying a separate Knowledge or
Power Skill for a wide variety of Magic Systems. |
| Spellcraft can also represent the inborn
understanding of a Sorcerer, a flair or genius for applied theory, or the
generalist knowledge of a "Mage", Hedge Wizard, Witch, or less studious
Wizard. |
| Each Vancian Magic System specifically
notes if it is compatible with Spellcraft. |
|
Learning New Spells |
| An essential concept to all Vancian
Magic Systems is the idea of learning Spells to a Known Spell List. Each
Vancian Magic System will describe what processes are involved for a
practitioner of that System to do so. |
|
Creating New Spells |
| Vancian Magic Systems tend to be open
and extendible. Each Vancian Magic System will describe what processes are
involved for a practitioner to create new Spells. |
|
Creating New Magic Items |
| Vancian Magic Systems tend to be open
and extendible. In most Vancian Magic Systems practitioners are able to
create new Magic Items. Each Vancian Magic System will describe what
processes are involved for a practitioner to do this. |
| Vancian Magic Systems |
| This site defines three
separate Vancian Casting Models with distinct mechanics for handling the Spells per
Day concept, with three full Magic Systems, one per Casting Model to
demonstrate it's use, and five variant Magic Systems that can be spliced onto any
of the three mechanical models; this effectively allows as many as 16 subtly different Magic Systems
if every combination is explored. |
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