[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 3

In this post I look at the Permanent Magic section of the Book of Faerry and Magic.


Introduction
The short introductory paragraph points out a few facts about the Permanent Magic system presented in this rule book.  First, the system presented in these rules is a simplified version of more advanced rules scheduled for a future supplement; it never saw the light of day.  Second, a magician using this system may turn any spell or Faerry rune that he is capable of casting into a permanent effect.  Third, in the basic game Faerry songs can not be made permanent.

What can a permanent spell be cast on?
A permanent spell can be cast on two things - a permanent edifice (building, statue, etc.) or an artifact (weapon, ring, medallion, etc.).  The magician casting the spell must be intimately associated with the permanent edifice.  For a magician to be intimately associated with an edifice, he must have lived in or near (within 200 feet) for no less than 28 days.  If this is not possible, then the casting magician must successfully perform a ritual of purification.  For an artifact, the casting magician must have made the artifact himself out of virgin material - material that has never been forged into an artifact previously.  In other words, it must start out as raw material and then forged into a sword before being enchanted.

The permanent magic ritual
The ritual for permanent magic continues the medieval flavor set forth earlier in the game.  Put simply, the ritual requires casting of a spell over a week's time and the magician must not be disturbed during this casting.  The permanent magic will be focused on a targeted spot and will trigger when someone other than the magician approaches within 10 feet.

The effect of permanent magic
This part is pretty straightforward.  Unless otherwise noted, the effect of the permanet magic will function exactly as if the caster has cast the spell from the focal point of the permanent magic.

Limits of permanent magic
There are a few limits to the permanent magic ability of a caster. 

• A permanent spell cast on an edifice is limited to a total equalling the caster's Magic Ability.  For instance, if a magician has the ability to cast a total of 20 points of magic spells then the caster can use a total of 20 points in an edifice for his lifetime.  If the magician improves his magic ability to use 24 points he can now cast a 4 point permanent magic spell on an edifice.
• If the permanent magic is put into an item or artifact then the toal is per year instead of over the caster's lifetime.

How to determine permanent magic ability
At this point, the book describes how to determine the magic ability of a magician with a formula that involves the experience level and magic points per level.  This section also covers the limits above but does so in an easier digested manner.

Permanent magic duration
It is generally assumed that permanent magic will last forever; even the death of the caster will not affect the magic.  There are, however, a few ways for it to end. 

• If the magic is dispelled.
• The terms of the spell are broken. (Applicable to artifacts, items, etc.)
• Breaking of the item/focal point of the spell. (There are repercussions.)

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That concludes the Permanent Magic chapter of the AiF rules.  It is interesting to see a magic system inspired by medieval beliefs that is not bogged down by a ton of rules, charts, and cross referencing back and forth between several different locations in the book.  Other systems have gone overboard in trying to replicate the medieval feel by tacking on rule after rule.  While that route may give a much truer and authentic feel, after a certain point it just becomes redundant. 

[Adventures in Fantasy] Book of Faerry and Magic Pt. 2

Let's dig into the Basic Magic portion of the Book of Faerry and Magic on this examination of Adventures in Fantasy.


Basic Magic
The introduction to Basic Magic informs the reader that the magic rules are "an effort to recreate, as simply as possible, the actual manner in which Sorcery was thought to be accomplished".  On one hand, this sounds very interesting because the way magic was believed to work in the medieval period of real history.  On the other hand, this sounds burdensome for the very same reason.  Magic in the medieval times was very formulaic and ritualistic.  A spell would probably involve gathering a complex list of ingredients, performing an exacting ritual, and observing a strict timeline of events.  In other words, medieval magic would make a good scary story but it would not be fun to play.

Apprenticeship
There are three conditions of apprenticeship for a player character to be a magic-user.  First, it takes a minimum intelligence score of 43 to use basic magic.  Intelligence determines the number of Magic Points and the possible spells learned during the apprenticeship.  Second, the master that teaches your player character must be higher than level 8.  Third, an apprenticeship requires a full year of study.  This time must be completed in a consecutive block of time.  If it is interrupted then all training is lost.

Spell Alignment
The spells available to magic-user player characters fall into one of three categories: Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic.  Each magic-user will also be one of these alignments depending on spell selection.  There are restrictions that come with each alignment; Lawful magic-users are prohibited from learning Chaotic spells and the reverse is also true, Lawful and Chaotic magic-users use Neutral spells with half effectiveness, and   Neutral magic-users can use spells of one of the other alignments at half effectiveness.


Spell List
The list of spells is split into 4 categories: Non-Alignment, Chaotic, Neutral, and Lawful.  There are 28 Non-Alignment spells, 17 Chaotic spells, 25 Neutral spells, and 17 Lawful spells for a grand total of 87 spells.  In all honesty, some of the spell names are "less than inspiring" when you read the list.  They might be accurate in relation to medieval times but this is a heroic fantasy game so is there really a use for spells such as agriculture, create music, curse crops, and gambling?

Spell Descriptions
All of the spells are arranged in alphabetical order and they are not separated by alignment.  The descriptions are pretty straightforward and in addition to the effects also lists the alignment and magic point cost to use the spell.  Some of the spell descriptions need to be fixed.  For example, the agriculture descriptions reads "this spell will increase the yield of one acre of land by 25%" at the beginning of the description but ends with "effect doubles yield of the field".  The spell description for commotion does not list the alignment or the magic point cost so you have to reference the spell list to find the information.  Not a huge deal, just an inconvenience.

That's it for now.  The examination of the Book of Faerry and Magic continues with Permanent Magic.