What are spellcasters like in your campaign? Are they respected? Feared? Hated? Are they trained centrally or by individual apprenticeships? How much do they abuse their power?
>>44551898
I did the "magic is science" thing, so "mages" are just scholars, machinists, and alchemists making use of fantasy chemicals and technology that muggles just can't understand without the same number of college credits. Much of the setting revolves around applications of monster blood, such that it's the primary ingredient of my fantasy black powder and critical to all explosives and firearms. It also factors heavily into miraculous potions and alchemical concoctions. Some mages are fusiliers and grenadiers, some are medics and doctors, and some try to do both or something different entirely.
Respect, fear, hatred, and training conventions all depend on location in the world. Some countries don't trust or like magic, some love it, and most are selective about what sciences they approve of and what they don't. Magic plays a very important role in adventuring and monster hunting due to monster blood being so important to scientific progress. Mages abuse their power just as much as anyone else. Some go to great lengths to achieve scientific marvels beyond the status quo, while others are very responsible.
So, as far as your standard "read a book, shoot fire out of my hands" wizards, no I don't have any of those.
>>44551898
>What are spellcasters like in your campaign? Are they respected? Feared? Hated? Are they trained centrally or by individual apprenticeships?
Yes to everything.
>How much do they abuse their power?
All the fucking time.
>>44551898
>What are spellcasters like in your campaign?
Subby little casterslut bitches
>Are they respected? Feared? Hated?
Ha ha no
>Are they trained centrally or by individual apprenticeships?
Varies, but most of their training is at the hands of the first martial to defeat them
>How much do they abuse their power?
No but they get plenty of abuse
Not really that magic is scarce but it's just really hard to figure out even if you are born with a knack for it, and people might spend their entire lives studying it only to have a knowledge of it but can't actually perform magic. For those that do manage to learn to cast magic, it's usually limited to one spell of their choosing based on their study, and with practice they just become extremely proficient with that spell, such that it's as easy as breathing to them and they can just cast it all day without effort or worry.
Usually spellcasters as a result are strongly studious types since it requires so much understanding and practice. It depends on the kind of magic they know but some are respected, though none are really feared or hated. More than anything else learning magic is treated almost like prep for a job. So you could spend your years growing up learning a heal spell, and then you'll have an assured profession as healer in a church or a medic in the army. Same with say a spell that cleans really well and gets rid of dirt and grime and rust, you'll have an assured profession as a magical cleaner. Wages for mages are usually pretty good and job security is usually high, so in a sense it's almost like modern university and getting a major or degree but instead of English or Mathematics, it's Fireball or Shape Stone.
Usually there are guilds or profession schools which along with training for the job, also train for magic relating to that job. Some people are self taught though, some people teach small personal classes or apprentices, and very few might go to general magic academy though that is more just about the study and knowledge of magic. Abuse of power is little, usually among dangerous spell knowers, or less civilized groups of people like tribes, raiders or bandits.
Humans can't do magic on their own. They need some kind of otherworldly help. Unless you have some sort of distant non-human heritage that lets you do magic through your blood, you have two options:
>Pact Magic: make a pact with some sort of otherworldly being, bonding the two of you together for your lifetime and giving you access to their power, though how strong your connection is determines how strong your power is
>Animism: smaller outsiders, spirits, exist in almost everything, and humans can learn to talk to them and coax them to do things
There's also necromancy, but that isn't available to players. It's sort of a Hand of Vecna thing: only one true necromancer, with true power over life and death, ever lived. He was technically immortal, though eventually people chopped him into pieces. Humans can access a fragment of his power if they can find one of his body parts and replace their own with it. Nobody knows how powerful you can become with multiple.
It's a Savage Worlds game set in an alternate-history WWI-era Europe. People are aware that magic-users exist and distrust them--they obviously sold their soul--but people in power rarely hesitate to hire mages to do things for them that others can't. And rumor has it more than one world leader has one of those necromantic body parts.
>>44551898
Low level ones are semicommon and seen not unlike a medicine man would be, though with the right reagents pretty much anyone can mimic 0-1 level spells and most formal spell casting is developed by studying and building off of that knowledge until you don't need the reagents, high level casters are another story though
>>44551898
Spellcasters are on the same level as sword-dudes, bow-dudes and every other kind of dude.
People generally aren't magical, but magical artifacts likes wands staves and books can be found/produced. They're expensive, but not prohibitively so.
Artifacts are usually specialized into one type of magic or are kind of shitty at a lot of different types of magic. Most starter mages use the generalist ones while the more practiced ones specialize.
Wielding an artifact doesn't automatically make you an amazing wizard in the same way wielding a sword doesn't make you an amazing warrior. It takes practice and skill to manipulate shit right. Magic itself often isn't as strong as weaponry, but it makes up for it in utility.
Some nuggets might think of magic as basically the liberal arts of warfare, but generally it's appreciated, with individual mages making a name for themself just like any other fighter.
There's also spellcasters that were born pretty much as artifacts so they can just cast magic innately. Haven't nailed down the general opinion on them yet, probably varies heavily, worshiped in some places and killed in others.
Another way to get magic is to borrow it from some otherworldly asshole. Most of the time it ends horribly but in some situations it works out great and can even get the mage connections in interdimensional circles. Basically it's like taking out a ridiculously huge loan for college.
There's no way to just summon fireballs or whatever the fuck, if you're a water wizard you need to carry around water, if you're a plant wizard you gotta have seeds etc. This makes fighting more interesting, a fire mage will be a lot more useful if he's able to cast from a big bonfire, but that also ties him down to one place.
Overpowered wizards with easy painless solutions to everything make the setting ridiculously boring
Keep in mind that the world is a complicated place and there are exceptions to everything.
>>44556505
Oh also world of warcraft style heal-spammers aren't even a thing.
Fuck that.
>>44551898
considering my setting everyone has natural magical abilities, there just someone who specialize it using a manipulating magic they perfected a mental skill while the martial classes honed there bodies
>What are spellcasters like in your campaign?
Arcane and divine magic are functionally similar, both being derived from making a spiritual pact with an otherworldly power, exchanging your devotion and actions for a bit of their phenomenal power. Divine magic comes from the powers, who are the children and followers of the true gods who left the world several thousand years ago. Arcane magic is derived from the impossibly powerful entity that was sundered to create the world.
>Are they respected? Feared? Hated?
Depends on the culture. Most cultures that can recognize the value of magic respect those who can wield it. The ones that don't like to punish people for using magic in ways they don't like.
>Are they trained centrally or by individual apprenticeships?
Both. One can either find a master or enroll in a college. The paths are obviously different, but they intend to end at the same point: understanding of and control over the power of the gods.
>How much do they abuse their power?
Every wizard goes a little mad with power once they get to grips with the limited ability to reshape reality according to their whims. It generally passes with little collateral damage.
Since part of the wizard's general curriculum is strong emotional control, they tend to act rationally in regards to using their power. Arcane casters have a problem, though: that impossibly powerful entity can't control itself the way the powers can and its dead dreams and ambitions curdle at the corners of every wizard's mind. That emotional control is vital to keep it out, lest it creep in and taint your personality.
For the most part they are considered a bunch of greedy by necessary cunts.
Can't make functional bullet proof armor, care for the dead, or keep cars running without the bastards. And they know it.
>>44552174
Go on...
>>44551898
I've done all sorts, but my favorite is treating magic like something that anyone can do, but only some have a great aptitude for. If you work at it, you can cast cantrips fairly well, but only a lucky few mutant weirdos will ever really be able to cast greater mass fireball.
in my setting almost nobody is born with innate magical ability - it must be gained. How it is gained factors greatly into how people treat the magic user:
Practitioners of witchcraft are reviled above all others. Witchcraft by its very nature is as evil as the vile beings that empower it. Attempting to use witchcraft for good usually results in disaster. Attempting to use it for evil usually also results in disaster.
Vampires aren't necessarily evil, but they need to drink human blood regularly to survive. That makes them pretty unpopular. Most powerful vampires have their own personal armies they use to bully the locals and secure fresh blood so that makes them really hated.
Sorcerers are mostly insane. Their power comes from having been whisked away into another dimension by aliens, being tortured constantly, and then projecting their mind into a conjured form back on earth. They are seen as unpredictable and dangerous.
Demonic magic is perhaps the least hated of the bunch as long as fulfilling the contract with the demon doesn't involve anything too unsavory. At best, those who make a contract with a demon are viewed as foolish.
The lichlings barely have magical abilities, and they mostly pertain to managing their own bodies. They are somewhat feared, but also pitied.
>>44551898
>Are they trained centrally or by individual apprenticeships
bit of both
pretty much all mages are members of there local or a larger national or planewide guid
most warmages are trained at tarth moorda
>>44558033
oh shit forgot my map of tarth moorda
Totally unpredictable. The universe is powered by raw divinity. Gods and demons and other such things spontaneously form from divinity itself, but mortals are the weakest forms of divinity.
Occasionally mortals with a higher affinity for it are born, however they have nearly no control over it, and let 'materialized' magic be created like a sieve lets water through. What happens with them at any given time depends on the amount of divinity pressure nearby, but a mortal with low attunement basically only takes enough divinity to fuel their body while a mortal with high attunement is always creating, even if only to glow.
They are also /relatively/ immune to destroying themselves because otherwise statistically there really wouldn't be any. The kinds of magic the high attunement mortals tend to create is things like massive re-life on a dead forest, massive doors through mountains, drying of lakes, etc etc. Nothing like huge explosions that maim everyone nearby. Mostly just changes.
Basically nobody plays one though and they're moving plot points or fixtures. You can play one but you have to be low-medium attunement and you don't really get to control what you do. You get saving throws to hold in your magic (like holding your piss in) but that's it.
>>44558058
For a brief moment, that looked awfully familiar, and I nostalgia'd all over my keyboard.
spellcasters in my setting come in two flavors: bookworms and vagrants
bookworms are taught doctrines of magick referred to resources and the power that comes from the self, and how to exploit this power through various means, this arch of magick includes things like alchemy, regenerative spells, scrolls, and how to make use of catalysts of the finest craftsmanship to make your inner power flow outwards for more precise, reliable and fine uses
vagrants are more in touch with the environment and more improvised, unreliable and potent spells that rely on nature, the spirit and space AROUND the caster, and practical and more natural magick, such as creating wands and staves off pieces of wood you yank off a tree, rituals to secure an area, charms that improve your survivability by being able to hide, see farther, aim more precisely, rootsinging to make natural bridges and ladders from trees, the ability to sense the intentions and instincts of animals
bookworms are respected in the same regard as any scholar or combat practitioner, and hold a firm position in files of soldiers and everyday city life, while vagrants are respected in a different way, they're more of an exotic wonder rather than an important part of society, so while they do share their abilities and methods with the universities that teach the more bookworm methods, they're still seen the way we see tibetan monks
>>44551898
>What are spellcasters like in your campaign?
They channel the unreality of the wilds, and the deep wilds, to briefly rewrite reality and circumnavigate its rules.
>Are they respected? Feared? Hated?
On the one hand, they are an essential part of the empire's structure, and without them it would collapse. However, channeling the powers beyond, even with great faith, force of will, or knowledge, is not something even remotely safe; it's not the sort of thing that sane and right thinking people would do, and it has the tendency to literally draw danger to you, as the narrative forces of the wilds are intermingled with your own being.
>Are they trained centrally or by individual apprenticeships?
apprenticeships are much more common, but there are two major "university towns" in the empire, each of which churns out magic users at an alarming rate.
>>44551898
There are quite a lot of magic types in my setting, but mostly they work on a single principle: "grab leyline - shape some mumbo-jumbo (optional) - throw it at target". Now for the hard part:
>Line magic
Manipulating pure cosmic energies. "Primal" magic, strong, but with limited utility. Widely used for magitek stuff as a power source.
>Alchemic magic
Line magic that uses pure cosmic energy to transform reagents into spells. More controllable, but needs reagents and special equipment.
>Symphonic magic
Uses caster's voice to shape spells. Crazy strong, but needs obscene charging times. Technically speaking, singing is not necessary, but it helps.
>Rune magic
Shapes permanent spells that alter the qualities of materials and imbue them with special effects.
>Psionics
Moving things WITH YOUR MIIIIND. Exclusive to elves, nobody knows how exactly it works. Probably a weird offshoot of Art.
>Art
Weeaboo fightan magic, strengthens user's body, reflexes or manipulates things VERY close to the user (hardening air for a moment, or engulfing fists with fire, for example).
>Elder magic
"It's magic, i ain't gonna explain shit" kind of magic. Strictly plot device, few working examples are leftovers from Mysterious Demiurge Race(tm).
There are also clearly defined things of what magic CAN'T do (except for elder magic, it does what it wants)
-Resurrect the dead (there are spells that can stabilize and restore the dying, but once soul is gone, it's gone.)
-Teleport (There are few portals left by Elders, but aside from that, all travel has to be done by foot, vehicle or spaceship.)
-Read/control minds (trying to magically influence the brain is like trying to repair a sophisticated electronic device by smashing it with crowbar)
-Create sapient life
-Immortality (you can prolong your life at the risk of becoming supercancer-man, and there's a ritual to become a living corpse sustained by ridiculous amounts of magic. Other than that, nope, no 1000+ old elves)
>>44558440
>cont.
Magical traditions are varied, from churches to kung fu assassin temples or wizard towers. Everyone knows at least a bit of magic, so there isn't much abuse (although stronger magicians are respected and feared). Even then, magic requires patience, knowledge and concentration, and most magicians spend years studying and mastering it. Except primal magicians, they just blast people with colorful rays until something goes wrong and they end up spread all over the walls.
Humans are actually an anomaly, since they can produce some magical energy on their own, while everyone else has to draw it from leylines or storage artifacts.
They're all dead. With the exception of druids because they still rarely pop up spontaneously based on life experiences and technically aren't magic - unlike mages who had their entire living memory annihilated and their archives destroyed. It won't be for another several hundred years that the sciences of magic are neither forbidden nor completely ad hoc and likely to kill you on your first attempted spell.
The only real exceptions are some really old liches scattered around who have slept through the whole shebang and will wake up eventually and find themselves largely without any real checks since the mages and the mage hunters are both gone.
>>44558114
they do look kind of similar
maybe there in the same mountain range i will check the book.
>>44558923
On a high crag in the arid hills of the Abbor-Alz stands the ancient fortress known as Tarth Moorda, which once housed the garrisons that defended Urnst against gnoll and nomad raids from the Bright Desert. Abandoned when adventurers finally drove off the humanoid tribes, Tarth Moorda stood empty for many years and eventually fell into ruin. Finally, some fifteen years ago, the Duke of Urnst gave the old fortress to the Order of the Fire Hawk, an enclave of warmages who wanted an isolated stronghold in which to train new initiates.
so the abbor alz if i reacll correctly thats eastish of greyhawk where is the keep on the boarderlands located
>>44558901
were these liches auctualy sleeping or just so busy reading there books they dident notice what was going outside
>>44551898
All of the above vary wildly depending on the magical tradition the spellcaster adheres to and, for public opinion, what local culture is looking on. In general, ones strongly (and ideally exclusively) associated with the locally-relevant governmental or religious authorities are respected while ones that aren't are more likely feared and/or hated. Training and tendency towards abuse of power depend on the tradition's philosophy, though of course any magical tradition is composed of PEOPLE so obviously abuse is going to happen.
>>44552174
>Hey, you! Don't you know you should apologize when bumping into someone?
>I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...
>Do you think I'll be satisfied with only an apology?
>Uh...
>You're a priest, aren't you? Then it's your duty to tend to us commoners, isn't it.
>T-that's...
>What? What is it?! Do you object?!
>N-no, not at all-
>Then shut up! We were just looking for someone capable of healing out wounds. I guess you'll do.
>But... I-
>Ha?! After being so rude to me you think you can just walk away?!
>N-no, I won't, please don't hurt me!
>Good. Now shut up and follow me if you know what's good for you.
>>44551898
In my setting?
I run a really cynical, break-the-fourth-wall take on the 3rd ed universe. It's the sort of place where parents pray for their brats to go caster-class and weep when they become Samurai, or, Gods forbid, Fighters. Because casters are master race, their power is feared and respected. They abuse their power as much as anyone with real power can be expected to abuse their power. (People are people, reality-breaking or not.)
Almost non-existent.
They make up less than .0001% of the population and "true " spell casters are even rarer. I can count on one hand all of the good spell casters that all 9 of my characters have met. Only ONE of them is a real spellcaster, the others are granted spells by magic weapons, divine empowerment, or an enchanted object
>>44559632
>abusing your healslut
>not using positive reinforcement
>>44559823
>No but they get plenty of abuse
This is a pretty straightforward statement, I think.
Another thread where everyone posts their own shit and nobody responds? Oh boy!
But anyway;
>What are they like
There are two primary types of magic users. The first are Arcane Wizards, the more traditional type. They cast lengthy ritual spells, enchant magic objects, and can conjure hexes or charms from wands or staves. These replace combat magic in this system/setting. There are some magic users, called Wandmen or Battle-Mages who can only use hexes/charms from wands and staves, and there are a few savants who can cast single spell they've been studying for a very long time, but for the most part you must be born with magic to use it properly.
The second are cultists who are summoners and magical healers that use blood magic. We won't talk about them.
>Respected, Feared, Hated?
All three. Depends on where you go. Because base humans cannot cast magic unless they are part fishman, corpse, demon, or natural feature they typically have a bad reputation.
>Trained Centrally or Apprentices?
They are trained as master-apprentice style relationships, often traveling far, though a good number are self taught. Magic universities and schools don't really exist because of the rarity of magic users and the competition between them, but the few that do exist are actually closer to priests.
>Abuse
The class that is the magic user is literally called a 'Debaser'. Take a guess.
>>44558967
Recovering their forms at their phylacteries. In setting it takes several centuries if you got absolutely fucking destroyed and most of them got annihilated some point before the crusade so they kinda got glossed over - and then got forgotten about.
>>44559872
What system are you using?
>>44559891
Homebrew DnD shit. I really need to work on it though. I'm changing a lot of shit to suite my liking, like switching to a mana based system, or maybe not. I'm not sure.
>>44559911
Is it to try and curb out the caster supremacy problem?
>>44551898
spellcasting is extremely common in our setting even if our notElves have the best predispositions, and most mages are either technicians for magical machines or alchemists/enchanters
Summoners ,on the other hand, are the most respected of all and often take the positions of priests and farseeers because of their additional ability to communicate with the otherworlds
less complicated spells like fireball (which is in our system just a tiny ball of heat) are tought to most people in their military training or even at home.
>>44559928
Yes, mostly.
For example; I'm making the whole combat wizard thing with wands and staves being magical 'weapons' as to reduce problems with spells like 'sleep'. Sleep, while only being able to be cast once a day, still wrecks an encounter's worth of enemies. Then the party wants to rest and restore the Wizard's spells; the whole 10 minutes adventuring day meme I'm also not a fan of.
So I thought; phase out spells like sleep and replace them instead with a magical 'attack' you can do every turn. You can stun an enemy with it, and if you are really strong you can sometimes stun multiple enemies! It has the same effect power as sleep but used every round instead as a kind of support ability, and a high level Wizard can spam these making them really strong too.
>>44559838
Time to kill some assholes and gain some bitches.
>>44559987
That's why I don't play D&D. If I would, I'd go with sorceror and I would still break the game without even trying to, unwittingly.
But I like your idea, replacing the set number of spells per rest with spells available per encounter.
>>44560009
Oh, you know... I'm sure the cute white mage that they are currently holding hostage and use as a healslut will be very... Very grateful if you helped facilitate the escape from the abusive party.
>>44560035
Well, it's an opportunity ripe for the taking. I'd go for it. Got nothing better to do. Besides, I save her life, she'll owe me. I'm sure I can help her become a better person as well.
>>44560015
I thought most people said that Wizards were worse then Sorcerers because Wizards could get any spells where as Sorcerers were limited in spell selection?
Not trying to start a shitstorm or off topic discussion, just wondering.
>>44560095
>Her
Casting magic requires you to actually give up a portion of your body when you cast it, sort of like fuel. Normally this might take the form of blood or hair, spit even, but to keep things within good taste, they don't take a piss or a dump to fuel magic. Maybe that could be implied but you're not going to see it in game, since it would happen internally anyway.
Because some magical realm is allowed though, women can tend to better at it since they can lactate, and use that to constantly fuel the magic cost, at less of a detriment to themselves than something like using blood. The best casters among them are women who are just naturally more capable of making more milk, have improved their capacity through magic or just strong lineage selection, or even races that are better suited for it. An abuse of power would be to bottle/sell their milk since that can lead to disaster, and some do this.
A Mage is any magic user but there's a ton of schools of magic, all based on real beliefs.
Seven Arts - Elementalists that can make water want to flow uphill or make a soul leave a body by changing the natural paths things take. Derived from early divination, becoming the most legit institutionalized school of magic during the Renaissance. I treat it like a really difficult but applicable skill like engineering or the like that almost anyone can technically do but it's less common that someone's innately competent whatsoever at.
Alchemy - Magic of procedure. The alchemists form three subschools roughly. Transmutation (changing substances into other substances), Takwin (creating life from nothing), and Magnum Opus (creation of magically or chemically potent substances). It's all about the process with the alchemists. Treated as the nerdiest form of magic and that's saying something. This universe's Big Bang Theory is about a bunch of Alchemists and Thaumaturgists.
Spellcraft - Normie magic. Magic words and Incantations and inscriptions that almost anyone with a steady hand or a functional tongue can do with little trouble. It's hardly powerful stuff, often just little magic tricks or making orbs of light. You can make runes by pouring energy into an inscription and placing it on something like a stone, these serve as one use magical grenades that convert the magical energy put into them into something like heat, light, kinetic force, sound...or they drain energy from an area to create cold or stillness or silence.
Witchcraft - Feared and sketchy magic done by connections, by making one thing correlate with another. Hexes are when you arrange someone's connections to be inconvenient, putting them in the path of a sickness or a wild animal. A Jinx is when you make someone's connections "sticky", causing them to get knotted up and resulting in misfortune. A Curse is a custom designed nightmare that feeds into itself done by turning magic against the user.
>>44560185
Yes, sorcerors are tier two, whereas wizards are tier one. But that doesn't stop sorcerers from being a lot stronger than martial classes either way. Just a little step under pure caster classes like wizards, clerics and druids.
>>44560284
Men have more blood, due to women losing blood once a month though.
And men replenish their blood quicker then women also.
Just saying.
>>44560316
Also, let's not forget that from a biologic point of view, men have more muscles than women usually and more blood to bring oxygen to all of those aswell. So usually men commonly have more blood than women.
Plus if they are well endowed...well, they can pack a good load, if you know what I mean.
>>44560316
The rate at which they're using the blood though to cast magic, while the women can use milk for awhile and then resort to blood if they have to, gives them a leg up.Also they can get pregnant and use the baby as fuel. The best ones end up delaying the baby's development rather than just killing it for magic so that they're kind of perpetually pregnant and using the energy, nutrients, etc... of the baby growing for magic.
>>44560306
Theurgy - Making deals with magical entities. Demons, angels, squids. Theurgy is treated kind of a lot like lawyering. Evil lawyer jokes and all, but that's what you get for consorting with demons. The Evangelists (angel dealers) were one of the schools of magic that had an easy ride of the Middle Ages.
Bardistry - Magic done by expression. Telling a good enough story that the universe is moved by your art. Sometimes it's magic music, sometimes it's graffiti, sometimes it's slam poetry.
Psionics - Being a person-shaped exit wound for the border between realities after something that crossed over to our side of the tracks and drawing on interdimensional power. Feared and reviled for the most part, Psions are mentally unstable sometimes and a few massacres have happened when one went off the deep end.
>>44560316
>Men have more blood, due to women losing blood once a month though.
You do know that women don't actually 'bleed' when they menstruate, right? They aren't losing red blood cells, it's the uteral wall falling off.
>>44560356
What's keeping the men from drinking some water and using that? It works in WoW!
>>44560356
Does that mean that a fa/tg/uy can use his fat to fuel magic?
FUCK THAT'S AWESOME! Just eat constantly and use your cholesterole to fuel magic! Boom. And you're thin again!
>>44551898
My campaign's magic is all Runic. You gotta learn it, like advanced physics. Everyone can if they put their mind to it, but not everyone does.
There's room for some abuse of power, but most mages know what other mages are capable of- it's the weird Creatures From Beyond that can rip in half by blinking that you gotta worry about- and then your magic is just another squirtgun against a 300lb gorilla
>>44560265
Oh. No matter
>>44559886
interesting
so its only those who get overkilled that take ages normal kill just a few years or something.
>>44559632
That's pretty much how we recruitEd our cleric
>>44559823
That's for rewarding him when he's been appropriately cowed and acknowledges his place
>>44559838
That does not preclude positive reinforcement though, if anything you need positive reinforcement for Stockholm syndrome to correctly set in
>>44551898
Rare and esoteric.
We've met a few. Fought a few. Neither PC can do real magic. (Fey tricks don't count.) A few crewmembers of our ship have the talent, and can do minor magic. Nothing tremendous, but they can do some cool stuff and weigh in when we need advise or analysis.
My PCs mother is apparently some (relatively) big bad mage, but never met her, so I'm not totally certain.
>>44561412
>That's pretty much how we recruitEd our cleric
Do you alsoabuse himlewdly?
Thaumaturges are certainly respected, fears, even hated by some. Mostly their magic is used for quality of life, hired by others to work it on their behest. Most training is done in circles and apprenticeships, whether secular or church sponsored, with oaths and practises performed to uphold the spells and laws of the Weave. Many do abuse their power, but often these few find themselves at odds against another thaumaturge hired to stop them.
>>44561580
Yes_Iget heavily abused
>>44561958
Have you triedrunning away?
>>44552174
holy shit sauce
>>44559632
>Forgetting that the primary purpose of casters is to make magic items.
>>44561987
OnceEarned me a set of leg binders and got carried around by the party's ladyknight for two weeks
>>44562491
It's an edit, don't got a link to the original on my phone sadly
>>44562696
He can only hope there isn't such a terribleand wonderfulfate in store for himProvided there was some agency I wouldn't mind playing/RPing as something that gets used by another character like a healdo/intelligent item/weapon/armor/body part
>>44551898
Setting is high fantasy not-quite-renaissance. If the industrial revolution happened, but no one gave a shit specifically because magic had already existed and been spread around for a long time.
Learning magic is just education, as in the schools of magic are literally schools. The average bloke could decide to go to the mage college until they're good enough to throw fireballs just for use in day to day life, or stay there for a few years and earn a mastery in necromancy or something to earn a living.
PCs tend to be significantly dissuaded of going murderhobo when they realize that most people in the street can set them on fire.
>>44562696
I really really should get around to writing that healdo story like I told that femanon I would
Fuck it, adding it to my todo list so I stop forgetting
http://pastebin.com/Rndfyesi
>>44562954
>When everyone is special, nobody is special
I like your way of doing things anon
>>44562979
>I really really should get around to writing that healdo story
doitfaggot.jpg
Some other spitballing for healdo in this thread: http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/42214511/#42241438
>>44551898
In all seriousness, one of the ways I like to try to keep the effects of magic from spiraling out of control on a societal level is by limiting the number of spells folks can cast. Spells are per adventure, and cannot simply be regained by sleeping. Either that or by dark rituals. The idea is that casting spells require mana / chi / mystic energy that a caster can only replenish very slowly. But when engaging in high adventure, casters are effectively plunging themselves into the currents of fate, where such energies are bountiful.
The end result of this way of approaching things is that, yes, there are casters around who can do powerful magic, but they have to careful ration it, and so aren't likely to end up reinventing the way society works with it.
>>44551898
Using the Spirit of Eternity Sword setting, so spellcasters are feared/hated slave soldiers, raised from birth to be subservient to humans and tools of their respective nations.
Power is innate but nurtured through training, which tends to be rather spread out due to low numbers of spirits, age gaps and the specializations of trainers. Their powers are mostly only good for combat, and they're forbidden from hurting humans, so it's only used for fighting other spirits.
>>44551898
>What are spellcasters like in your campaign?
While not necessarily "spellcasters" telekinetics and thermomancers can manipulate mater and energy respectively so they are pretty close. These abilities are "gifts" that appear at random in populations rather than being a matter of shear willpower and training.
>Are they respected? Feared? Hated?
People generally like telekinetics better. Their power is more understandable and people can see good applications. Generally they are respected, especially if they wield their power openly rather than hiding. Thermomancers are usually silent and they tend to work in ways that make people very uncomfortable. Though not exactly hated, they are generally feared.
>Are they trained centrally or by individual apprenticeships?
Telekinetics are trained in schools of various different sizes or wander alone to learn by experience. Wanderers are judged by their power/reputation alone. Most governments have regulations on schools but some of the smaller ones are illegal and thereby disrespected. Thermomancers almost always operate in the shadows with chains of maters and apprentices. Sometimes they wander without trainers but this is rare.
>How much do they abuse their power?
Telekinetics can be showoffs which leads to ability abuse. Otherwise they can sometimes abuse power but they don't generally catch much flak for it. Thermomancers drain energy from people, freeze others, and can silently kill with a thought (if they're creative).
>>44562696
>can't have a thread about casters without someone posting this shit
REMOVE YURIFAGS
>>44562696
This is honestly just fucking gross
I need a name for pact-makers and bargainers, it's how magic works but I don't want to just call them mages, witches, or wizards.
>>44566617
People are going to suggest "warlock," and it would certainly fit, because the current usage of the word for a lot of people means "a magic-user who gets their abilities by making pacts with demons and such," but the original etymology of the word if you care about it actually has more to do with "oath-breaker" or "traitor." Still worth considering.
>>44566752
I already have them, as an informal name for a pact-maker who goes back on the deal and betrays the spirit they bargained with for more power.
>>44566840
Nice.
How about "sealers" or "binders"? They're simple names, but they sound magical enough. I'm not sure, but those are the ones I think of first.
>>44566875
Binders maybe, but I want something that suggests an aggreement or bargain, than being forced into service, as that's what it really is.
Binders are more those who rather than making pacts, bind spirits into objects, making them enchanted objects.
>>44562894>Earned me a set of leg binders and got carried around by the party's ladyknight for two weeks
Hawt.
>>44560797
Yep. If you just got your bones knocked loose and scattered across the room it'd maybe be a week. Bones burned and you'll be out of it for a decade at max. But if the entirety of the body/soul of the lich was annihilated except for the tiny soul piece in the phylactery then its gonna be centuries as the ritual coalesces the soul fragment and any ambient energy into growing then using parts of it to create a new vessel. This can be sped up greatly in areas of immense natural power and leylines that the ritual can use but the liches who did that got found out in the crusades and permanently destroyed - all that's left were the ones who considered security more valuable than time and hid their phylacteries where no one would ever find them.
Our current homebrew is fairly low fantasy, and whilst alchemy and it's wonders are fairly well known, actual magic is considered a myth, although those in positions of genuine power and the worldly are often privy to their existence.
The few practitioners of magic that do exist are secretive, subtle and frighteningly powerful.
The Magi of the South are the most common, they can manipulate people at will with suggestion and illusions, although even they are not too common, since they have to be born with the capacity and then spend most of their lives training and conditioning their minds.
Weavers are exceedingly rare, but also utterly lethal. They can manipulate their flesh and bone at will. In most cases this just allows them heal from injuries in moments, even fatal ones if they're swift enough. The can condition and tweak their bodies over time, making themselves faster and stronger, they can change their eyes to see in the dark, grow claws and fangs to fight. In moments of utter desperation, legends say they can warp themselves into true monsters.
>>44562696
Gross.
I enjoy femdom like the next fa/tg/uy, but that's taking it too far. I would hate a fate like that. Fucking fuck.
>>44552174
sauce? image search didn't give me anything
>>44569240
love/hate letter, I think.
>>44569240
it's an edit of the actual douijin, just in case you weren't already aware of that
>>44568873
It makes a fairly hot fantasy, but yeah something like that handled "realistically" would be horrific, the femanon in that screengrab really seems to be enjoying the idea of it though
>>44569905
She should've kept it spoilered, with a big fat warning for others who are not into that kind of shit...
Admit it, you're not actually running any campaigns here, you just lore-wank.
>>44570082
>Not checking every spoiler you encounter
I doubt that would do much, honestly I think spoilers work better to hide punchlines then they do to actually hide spoilersand personally I don't mind because actually quite hot how into it she got alsobecause I was one of the two people writing the greentext for her
>>44570169
What's wrong with discussing lore? If nothing else it's a good source of worldbuilding ideas
>>44570227
Whatever. I'm no baby and I can just tell any GM when something makes me uncomfortable and there's always the option to just up and leave if they don't cut it out after I ask them politely to cut me some slack if I happen to dislike one of their fetishes. Live and let live is my motto, tolerance is the best virtue and accepting others for what they are is what I would like everyone to do.
So as long as you don't force me into your magic realm, I won't have to slap a bitch.
>>44570362
>So as long as you don't force me into your magic realm, I won't have to slap a bitch.
Exactly as it should be
>>44566617
Theurgists.
Theurgy is deal magic.
That or Practitioners if you wanna go full Pact.
>>44567123
Her cuddlepet every night too
>>44570362
>pic
Oh dammit, get a room you two, I don't need to see this!
>>44571781
That works thanks!
>>44551898
>All female (males go insane)
>All enslaved to keep their power in check
>They're leashed and collared to their owners
>The leashes are of course magical, letting the owners punish the spell casters with ease
Wheel of Time is magical realm as fuck
>>44559987
For what it's worth, to break caster supremacy in my group I looked at a different kind of control. Instead of saying "here is a hard limit to your power, but go nuts within that", I opened the door but added disincentives.
Rather than spells per day/level/encounter or whatever, I tied spellcasting to a Spellcraft skill that mages needed to make, much like an attack roll. You succeed, you cast your spell, just like if a fighter "hit". There is no limit to how many times you can cast a spell, and no limit to knowing spells by level. If a 1st level wizard wanted to cast a Fireball, he is welcome to try.
The control, and the fun, comes when someone fails to cast a spell. On failure, a caster has to make a Will save (consult your favourite system for actual terminology) based on the level of the spell. Failure of this save means that the caster dun fucked up. Details vary by caster class, but for wizards this means a permenant (non-character-screwing) alteration. The effect depends on the kind of spell or school, so fucking a Divination spell could lead to gaining an aura of whispering voices that can be distracting (-1 perception) but may provide situational bonuses if you're smart enough to swing it. Thus, a necromancer may develop ghoulish cravings, the invoker could need to wear special gloves so he doesn't accidentally ignite small objects by handling them, and maybe that transmuter is wearing big robes so no one knows about the tentacles.
In practice, even though wizards can cast whatever they want, whenever they want, they think reaaaaally hard about casting even level-aporopriate spells.
So you get all wizards in your world being the mysterious weirdos we know they would be, the population is rightfully wary and respectful, and you party mage isn't breaking your world. Life is good.
>>44574153
Speak for yourself
>>44566875
I vote for "sealers".
>>44576933
My campaign does this except I have more bondage than just a leash and collar.Vibrators are involved, and spellcasters can unleash stronger spells the longer they've gone without an orgasm and the closer they are to orgasm. I'm running an ERP with a friend.
>>44579263I'd like to hear more, anon.
>>44579365The character is a masterless magician, and the product of a secret experiment to artificially create magicians as a way to suppress the population and act as war machines. Of course, being an experiment means the character has to contend with a lot of frustrations. Most of the sessions involve the character trying to escape the country into another country so she can hide from capture and repossession, but ending up in bad situations.
In the the last session, the character was in the process of fleeing one of the head researchers who's taken a personal interest in the character and wants to tutor her one on one in magic, whether she likes it or not. The researcher is travelling with a quartet of handlers, and is herself strapped into a large magical machine piloted and controlled by tortured and mind-broken spirits that endlessly follow the last directive they were given, which in this case is manipulating the machine to endlessly keep the researcher on the edge of orgasm by utilizing pain and pleasure to regulate whoever's strapped in. Which, if all goes well, will be the PC.
Since I'm kind of a weeaboo, I physically based the researcher on Patchouli from touhou, and I gave her the nickname "the weekly release."
It's a little bit less serious than it seems, I alternate between somewhat grim severity and tongue-in-cheek observational humor.
>>44574106It's unfortunate that in my party no one wants to cuddle only at night: putting out every night is exhausting, especially for my character.
>>44551898
>What are spellcasters like in your campaign? Are they respected? Feared? Hated?
Depends on the region, but generally hated and hunted down by the Inquisition for being dirty little heretics.
>Are they trained centrally or by individual apprenticeships?
Apprenticed or self-taught most of the time.
>How much do they abuse their power?
>Heretics
>Not abusing power with no limits
You wot m8.
>>44579192
I love that
>>44568505
So, Weavers are like the Thing?
>>44551898
Magic can technically be used by anyone with the right equipment, but mages, people who have magical energy flow naturally from themselves rather than from an external source, are uncommon. I'd say about 1 in 100. The rest have to make due with crystals, which act as magical batteries which can then be used by anyone with the know-how to make them useful.
>Are they respected?
Generally, yes.
>Feared?
Depends on the individual.
>Hated?
Depends on the individual.
>Are they trained centrally or by individual apprenticeships?
Depends on where they're from.
>How much do they abuse their power?
About as much as anyone who finds themselves in a position of power.
>>44551898
All male and subby
>>44558440
Psionics can't read minds in your setting?
>>44570362
What movie?
>>44562696
fine until the 5th post then it slowly became a living hell for the poor healer. wouldn't be surprised if the item ended up being cursed
>>44587170
>Healdo ends up cursed
>Cure only affects the healer while making it more enjoyable to others to use her
There are several nations in my world which treat spellcasters very differently
>A technologically-advanced - and slightly hellbent on world dominion - republic embraces its scientific and military application. Casters are taught by governmental agencies.
>A loose confederacy of emirates and sultanates has a lot of people with outsider blood and magic is thus relatively widespread - even some rich commoners may learn a cantrip or two. Casters are either born this way or are schooled in madrasa their entire lives.
> A reforming, Not!Cromwellian England Kingdom fears magic but understands its necessity sometimes - on the entire continent only 21 wizard and 1 archmage are ever allowed to practice. Casters are schooled individually by existing wizards via individual traineeships
>>44551898
I prefer the idea of specialized mages in my game, with generalists being a rare exception to the rule.
To that end There are a bunch of Mage classes. All of them can cast their cantrips at will (which I really enjoy because it turns warmages into Cowboys)
>warmage from complete arcane
>dread necromancer from heroes of horror, although their class abilities function as talent trees which can be drawn from the Healer class from the miniatures handbook, and their spell list includes all healer spells. They can both rebuke or turn undead. There is no alignment restriction
>beguiler from players handbook ii
>wayfarer which is a heavily modified bard. 1/2 base attack bonus, full casting, removal of non-buff enchantment and illusion spells, gaining more divination and abjuration spells. Bardic Music runs off of spellcraft instead of perform
>summoner, the summoner unchained class from pathfinder
>polymorphist, heavily modified synthesist summoner from pathfiner with transmutation spells instead of conjuring
>sorcerer, the only base class with the ability to pick from any school
>swordsage from book of 9 swords which has an alternate ability to replace maneuvers with evocation, abjuration and transmutation spells, which refresh like maneuvers.
Wizard is a prestige class in my game. Each level you take allows you to replace one spell from your "spells known" with a spell school of your choice. This is particularly powerful with metamagic feats, because I use the spell point system. At level 10 they gain the metamind ability to cast spells forfreefor one minute.
>>44585480
Nope, it only works one way (instill emotions or give simple suggestions).
>>44590673
That seems kinda boring
>>44592721
Keeps questioning and investigation more interesting than "oh we just read this guy's mind/control him to do all the stuff for us".
>>44592777
Good point, though it's not that hard to set things up so that won't work
