kapuchu

post deletion request.

roleplayerguild.com/posts/4004371

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

@Astarael42
Why is Adam out??

A Magic System?

@Vor
I knew Sanderson had a Cosmere (Wit ftw, btw!), but I wasn't aware that the same rules applied for magic in all of his series. That's intriguing.

Also, your proposal is a very interesting idea, and I think it fits pretty seamlessly with what I've already written. I didn't mention it, only alluded to it, but it takes study and practice to be able to become a Sorcerer. Think of how many people in our world are capable of concentrating on one thing, and one thing only. You don't find a lot of people with that level of focus, and so it would require training to be able to do it.

My idea is that everybody has the potential to become a Sorcerer. It's not a genetic trait, or a "Cosmic Gift" of any kind. It is a part of being human, but the ability to channel Magic isn't innate, but something that needs to be taught. Think of it like a language. Everyone, no matter how intelligent, has the potential to learn any language. Some people may be better at it, and others might be very slow at learning, but everyone still can. It's the same principle with this magic system.

But you can't just learn to speak a language if you aren't capable of, well, speech. Think of "Speech" as being able to "Draw Magic". It isn't something you're born with. You are born with the potential to do it, but you have to learn it first. So once you've learned Speech, you are capable of advancing to learning how to Shape magic (and shape sounds into words).

This is all a bit confusing, but here it is in a single sentence: You aren't born with the ability to Draw Magic from Cosmos. You have to learn this skill before you can use magic. Anyone can learn it, but no one is born with it. (This way we avoid a Harry Potter scenario where someone is mad at their bully, and inadvertently explodes them into chunks of gory meat)

But when this skill is learned, we face another issue: If you can't focus well enough, you may end up with... unstable results.

"I want to light a candle!"
>Re-enacts the Hiroshima Bombing

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I hope everything here made sense xP Thank you for your input.

Also, you are free to make use of this system if you want. I posted it here just because I had to idea for it.

A Magic System?

@Vor
Sanderson is one of my favourite authors. I'm particularly a fan of the way he does magic in his Stormlight Archives. It is, as I recall him describing it, a "Science based magic". I'll admit to not have read the Mistborn series, chiefly because it hasn't really peaked my interest all that much. I have considered it, and might at some point, but not right now.

But your comment makes me realise that I have insinuated that Sorcerers are both manyfold, and few. I should've been more clear as to which it were. As for a drawback or a price... I don't actually have one in mind, but I'll see if I can figure something out that will fit. My immediate thought to it is that pushing yourself too far, or attempting something too great, could cause brain damage of some kind. I've already established that Magic is something that is directed and controlled by thought, so the brain essentially. But if you bite off more than you can chew, it could lash out and damage you. I may have to rectify the "Magic fizzles if you don't do it right" thing, for that to work, as those two ideas would clash.

So essentially, unless a person is careful, they'd end up a vegetable.

That's just one idea, and I may have others. I'll probably update this thing in a the coming days. Thank you for the feedback :)

The best rp moments in your life.

My favourite RP moment has got to be one that was almost entirely Player Driven. I remember it quite clearly. My character followed someone else (a rich mafia princess, is essentially what she amounted to) to a bar. She went in and sat beside her, and they ended up talking to each other. They drink and get a bit tipsy each, and it ends up with them kissing each other then the Mafia Princess inviting my character to her room to sleep (only sleep. Separate beds).

To this day, no other piece of character interaction has felt as natural as that one. The fact that they were two strangers who peaked each other's curiosity, and acted upon that, makes it easily my favourite moment. We hadn't talked about anything like that beforehand. We just... wrote, and things happened.

@Darcs (I saw her write a bit in here at some point) will know what I'm talking about :P

A Magic System?

Edit:
Added a section about Channeling magic, including brief information about Foci, Incantations and the like.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

A flare of pain blossomed in Lily's chest from where the golem hit her. The feeling of something breaking underneath her fingers registered as she tore its arm from its body and threw it aside, knowing it would either reform into the golem or become another weapon. The scent of gore from the thousands of squashed bugs around her mixed with the smell of her own blood dripping from various small cuts across her body. Most injuries had been stopped short by the chromatic scales covering everything but her face.

She felt, more than saw, the approaching spear racing towards her in her peripheral. She struck out with her tail instinctively, the lance exploding in a thousand little bits from the impact. The golem struck her once again, but she was ready and turned with the strike, minimising damage while enabling her to flank it. She struck hard toppling it over. It started to stand up, only to be forced down again by a hammer of ludicrous size.

Piercing attacks didn't work, cuts did little but sever its limbs and create more enemies, and normal blunt weapons only managed to scatter the swarm of bugs. So there was only one solution left: Squash them. Lifting a hammer—its head larger than herself—once more, Lily brought the, frankly, ridiculous weapon down on the golem once again, relishing in the sound of carapaces cracking and insectile bodies squashing. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't elegant, nor was it any kind of example of disciplined warfare of fighting style. It was simple, pure, frustration made manifest in the form of a gigantic blunt weapon crushing a bug-golem until all that was left was bug-juice.

Her frustrations finally vented—against this thing, at least—Lily used the momentary lull of the battle to glance towards Fenn. He had engaged the... whatever it was that was before him. A creature larger even than himself, and far uglier, too. At least he hadn't managed to fuck up everything by striking the Eye itself. She dared not think what a creature so close to godhood as it would be capable of doing to them. Oh, she might pride herself on her own power, but she had was never so vain as to believe herself above everything else. She had limitations, and although she very rarely approached them, they were there.

If only I still had my Flames. But a full day had not yet passed since she had unleashed her every flame, and so she could not yet use it. She turned, facing the one golem that Fenn had left behind. Smaller than her own, as a result of his fiery strikes, it lumbered towards her. She was growing tired of this game; of enemies that kept walking after injuries that would leave others dying. So for the transgression of not dying as it should, this one would be torn asunder by her own claws. She roared and charged, slamming into it with all the force of several hundred kilos of pure muscle and murderous intent.

They might be hardy.

They might keep reassembling themselves.

But they would Die.

A Magic System?

I've had the basics of the idea for a kind of magic system I haven't quite seen before. It takes element from a variety of sources, with a bit of (hopefully) original stuff in it. So... shall we?

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What is "Magic"?

Magic is a force unlike any other. It is capable of twisting reality, bending minds, and transmuting matter. It is energy, yet it is not. Were one to compare the world to a Box, Magic is a force flowing around outside, capable of reaching in when called upon, and altering things according to the wishes of the Sorcerer. Whatever is naturally in the box is created by, and follows, a certain set of rules; Laws, even, of nature. Magic, being beyond this world, does not abide by these rules, and as such can act in ways that would otherwise be impossible.

What can Magic do?

Magic can do virtually anything. It can harden rock to become harder than steel, let wood become as water, or make flesh as malleable as clay. The laws of our reality do not apply to it, and as such whatever can be conceived by a mortal mind, Magic can accomplish—and more. From altering one's very body from human to beast, or calling upon the very elements themselves and hail down fire from the very skies. It is often said to artists that the only limit to what they can create is their imagination. For Sorcerers, this phrase is literal in every sense of the word.

How does Magic work?

As mentioned earlier, Magic is to be called upon before it can affect anything. But how is it called upon?
Everything about our bodies can be explained through science in one way or another: Skin made of cells, cells made of molecules, molecules made up of atoms, atoms made out of electrons, protons and neutrons. And even farther down, made of Quark and Matter. Every facet of our very being can be explained through science, except for one: Our minds, our thoughts. Movement is caused by electrical currents through our brain, and chemicals released to induce a variety of effects on ourselves; the very organ itself deciding much of who and what we are, but none of what has yet been discovered can explain how we are able to think: How we are able to remember.

But what is the nature of Intent?

The first rule when practising Magic is that you have to have an Intent. You can call up vast amounts of magical energy from the beyond with the simple intent of collecting it, but with no purpose for it, it will simply fizzle and turn to nothing. If one calls up an amount of magic, and intends to call forth lightning from their fingertips, the magic gathered will follow that intent—that thought—and cause it to happen. How, nobody is quite certain. All they know is that if the intend to do something is there, and is solid enough, it will happen.

This is what is meant when it is said that only the imagination sets a limit. So long as you can imagine that something will happen, and truly intend for it to happen, then it can and will occur. But even magic isn't a limitless font of energy, and though it is forever outside of our reality, never truly depleting, it is impossible to do great things without equally great amounts of power.

Channeling magic

For some, it is easier to keep a clear intent of whatever it is one wishes to do by speaking it aloud, in one way or another. It can be in another language—Latin is an oft used language—or in one's own language, or even in using nonsense words. The only thing that is important is that the words mean something to the Sorcerer in question. For example, the word "Gaia", the name of the Greek Primordial Goddess of the Earth, might be what one Sorcerer uses to call upon a spire of bedrock, because to them that is the intent and the meaning behind the word, whereas to some other Sorcerer it might do nothing as they do not connect any Intent of meaning to it.

Alternatively, there are also those who use crystals; channeling their magic through a gemstone of a specific colour, or a specific shape. That is to say, they use a Foci to channel their power through, foregoing the use of spoken language or silent thought to guide their magic. A foci can be a wide variety of things: From symbols written on a book's pages, to a quarter staff inscribed with runes or glyphs.

So long as something carries a meaning, and is able to guide the Intent of the Sorcerer, anything could be used as a foci, if they use one at all.

Exhaustion?

The Sorcerer acts as a conduit for the forces they call into this world, and every person has their limits. So while magic can do virtually everything, a human cannot.

Have you ever worked on something for so long that you felt yourself grow tired? Not physically exhausted, but unable to concentrate and continue working. Such is the effects of exhaustion from using too much Magic. While the state of exhaustion will recede with sufficient rest, a person can only channel so much power through them—hold Intent and their desired Effect for so long—before their mind becomes tired, and they are unable to keep a grasp on what they wish to happen. This limit exists for every Sorcerer, and is the only factor aside from their Imagination that limits them. It is, however, a soft cap, meaning that it is possible to continue after this state, although it is difficult, hence it not being mentioned in the introduction.

Summary

Magic is a force outside our reality, capable of being reached and drawn upon through our minds: Our Intent. If a Sorcerer wishes to cast a spell, they must truly be intent on doing it, and be able to imagine what it is they wish to happen. It is not so simple as simply telling oneself that they believe it will happen, they will have to want it to happen. If they do not, their grasp of the magical energy they have collected for the task will fizzle and become nothing.

Greater spells calls for greater amounts of magic, which will lead to becoming exhausted quicker. Everyone has a limit, and it can be extended through training.

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So, I hope this is at least a little bit interesting. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

The Three Realms War [A DMC, Bayonetta and Darksiders RP]

@Zarkun
How's it going? Surgery went okay?