Schools of Magic

Extra: Magic

Costs: Skill, Stunts

This kind of magic is based on reaching across metaphysical borders to manipulate, control and conjur facets of other planes of existance. Each school of magic relates to a different plane and can create different effects. Magic in this world is common and not particularly difficult although it has been out of fashion for some time. Magic is rarely a profession or life devotion and more often a hobby or just another skill learned in life. There are plenty of amateurs making gourmet meals at home for their own enjoyment or to impress their friends but few professional chefs working in 5 star restaurants.


-Default Skill Changes-

Lore: If a character has a Magic Stunt, their Lore skill also covers knowledge of that school of magic.


-New Skills-

Magic: Magic can be used to perform all four Actions but what those Actions accomplish is different depending on the school of magic used. Without a Stunt representing a school of magic, the Magic Skill does nothing.


-Schools Of Magic-

A character must have a Stunt representing a school of magic. This Stunt defines what can be done with the Magic Skill. Characters may have multiple Stunts allowing them to access different schools of magic but only one can be used at a time.

Divination:
Divination allows the user to see the past, present and future. For a diviner, all of time exists eternally as the Temporal Plane, every moment in history occupies a point in the Temporal Planeand using Divination, one can perceive beyond the limits of regular space and time. Divination often uses tools such as crystal balls and tarot cards, but a diviner could just as plausibly see visions in her own mind's eye of what is to come. This method is usually more taumatic, however. Divination is a time consuming and requires the user's complete attention, making its use in combat impractical.

Overcome: Use the Magic skill to ask a question about the past, present or future and recieve an honest answer. The Temporal Plane is not static and the future is always in motion, so questions about the future get vague and uncertain answers, often presenting specific possibilities based on present circumstances. Distance in space and time are important factors in Divination and seeing distant futures of far away locations can be difficult. However the recent past of the location the Diviner is in will be much easier to see. The GM will set the difficulty depending on what question the Diviner asks. On a tie, the question is answered but the experience of divining is straining and traumatic in some way for the diviner.

Create Advantage: Divination is not used to Create Advantages

Attack: Divination is not used to Attack.

Defend: Divination is not used to Defend.

Elementalism:
Elementalist magic directs and controls the four classic elements of air, earth, fire and water. When those elements are not present, Elementalism can be used to reach into the Elemental Planes and borrow energy and matter from that dimension. An elementalist without a flame can simply rip some from the Plane of Fire to throw a fireball at his enemy. Elementalism is an aggressive and blunt instrument, always flashy and impressive but good for a limited number of applications. This is especially true when taking elements from the Elemental Planes as whatever is taken will soon return to its place of origin, rejected by our reality.

Overcome: Elementalism can be used to overcome some physical obstacles, such as breaking through doors, but the effectiveness depends on what element is used and what is being hit. Hitting an inferno with more fire isn't going to solve your problem. You could, of course, use Elementalism to move that fire out of your way but it has to go somewhere and that may not be a viable solution.

Create Advantage: Elementalism is especially good at affecting the environment. Earth can create obstacles or barriers, Water can make things slippery, a torrent of air can knock somebody off balance. Aspects created with Elementalism reflect the aggressive and vulgar nature of Elementalist magic.

Attack: Elementalism attacks are ranged attacks, effective against opponents in the same or adjacent zone to the user. Elementalism is often just as damaging to the environment as to the target and Boosts created when attacking should reflect this.

Defend: Elementalism can only be used to defend against Attacks made by Elementalism, countering and redirecting elements thrown at the defender.


Glamour:
Glamour is the magic of the mind. With Glamour, the magic user reaches into the Mindscape of others and sows the seeds of emotions, ideas and images. Glamour charms and controls people's thoughts and creates illusions. A known practitioner of Glamour is often treated with mistrust for obvious reasons.

Overcome: Glamour is not used to directly Overcome. Even if you coat yourself in illusions and plant charms in your target's mind, you need to back it up with a good act. Glamour also can't be used to directly mind control somebody.

Create Advantage: Charms, created thoughts and illusions are all treated as Aspects created with the Create Advantage Action and the Magic Skill. You create the illusion that you The Most Beautiful Person In The Room and invoke that aspect for the normal bonuses or bewitch somebody to make them Friendly Towards You and invoke these Aspects for the normal bonuses. Alternatively you could create the illusion of a Group Of Scary Thugs to frighten somebody into running away. Placing charms and conjuring illusions like this is resisted with Will. Illusions can affect multiple people at once but you only make one Magic roll and everybody affected makes their own Will roll against you.

Attack: Glamour can be used to attack somebody mentally, causing Mental stress. Subtle attackers can sow seeds of self-doubt, depression, anxiety or you could go all out and cause feelings of pain, fatigue and the worst head ache ever.

Defend: Glamour is not used to Defend. Even a trained magic user must rely on their Will.


Necromancy:
The most sinister of magic schools and one reviled almost universally. Necromancy has broad applications, none of which are mentioned in polite company and all of which involve reaching across to the Plane of Death and communing with unfriendly creatures that anybody will tell you should not be communed with. These creatures cannot normally exist in our reality unless they bond with mortal flesh. That flesh doesnt need to be living. The Plane of Death is not in itself a bad place but all manner of demonic entities and sad or vengeful ghosts want out for some reason and they are the ones who answer a Necromancer's call.

Overcome: Necromancy has one use for Overcome and that is to control the dark entities that a Necromancer has summoned. The more powerful the entity, the harder to control, but on a success the Necromancer can issue one command to the creature and it must be obeyed. The entity goes about this command in the fastest and most direct way and then usually makes its way back to the Necromancer for revenge. Not even zombies like to be controlled. "Go home" is a valid command and is how the Necromancer sends whatever dark entity it's dealing with back to the Plane of Death. Necromancers do not have to be the one who summoned the creature in order to command it, but it is easier. Commanding a creature already following a Necromancer's order is difficult and the Magic roll must beat both the creature's Will and the original Magic Overcome roll.

Create Advantage: Every angry ghost and sinister demon summoned from the Plane of Death is treated as an Aspect created by Magic on an object in the necromancer's reality. A shambling zombie is a corpse with the Possessed By Hungry Spirit Aspect, possibly commanded by a Necromancer, or maybe just let loose to wander and cause havoc. Corpses are not the only option, however. A hellhound is a living dog with the Demon Possessed Aspect, courtesy of a necromancer. Each evil possessed monster the Necromancer creates also has the Aspect "Summoned by [Necromancer Name]" which can be invoked for a bonus when rolling Overcome to give the monster a command. This comes with one free Invokation.

Attack: Necromancy is not used to Attack

Defend: Necromancy is not used to Defend

Note: Necromancy is always dangerous. Always. The Necromancer summons a ghost, spirit or demon from the Plane of Death and hopes he can control it. The Necromancer is assumed to be trying to get one he can control, but sometimes a stronger monster answers the call. When rolling Magic to Create Advantage, the difficulty is +1. The Will of whatever is summoned is +6 - the Shifts on the Magic roll. So a Necromancer who rolls +4 summons a spirt with a Will of +3 (+6 - 3 shifts.) Success With Style does not change the entity's Will but does give an extra free Invokation on the "Summoned By [Necromancer Name]" Aspect.


Stunts:

The following stunts apply to using Magic. Some will only apply to using Magic with certain schools of Magic.

Portals: By spending a Fate Point, you can open up a portal to one of the magical dimensions. You can only travel to a plane relevent to your School of Magic, so an Elemantalist can open a portal to the Plane of Fire but not the Plane of Death.

While it is a proven possibility to open these portals, almost nobody does. Every sentient being in existance has their own Mindscape - a place of dream and thought - but nothing physical exists there, meaning anybody crossing a Glamour portal leaves their body behind in a vegetative state. The Plane of Death is similarly a non-physical realm and stepping through a Necromancy Portal is a terminal experience. The Elemental Planes are physical but opening a portal to the Plane of Water creates instant flooding and who wants to travel to the Plane of Fire where there is literally nothing but fire?

Dabbler: The application of Magic is similar from school to school, but learning how to touch the different Planes requires specialty training. However it is similar enough that in a pinch some magic users can use a different school of magic by pulling on their own training and what little they know about the other school. By spending a Fate Point, you may make a single Magic Roll as if you had a Stunt representing a school of magic you don't have.

Elemental Alchemy: Fire comes from the Plane Of Fire, air comes from the Plane of Air. But what abought electricity? There is no Plane of Electricity, but by reaching into both the Plane of Air and the Plane of Fire, a well trained Elementalist can combine the two elements to create something new, in this case, a lightning bolt or similar arc of electricity. Characters with the Elemental Alchemy stunt can conjur and control lightning, ice, steam and even lava if they're feeling daring. These combination elements are just as aggressive, short lived and dangerous as the normal ones, though, so some caution is advised.

Elemental Specialisation: The Elementalist is especially good with one specific elemental or combination element, gaining +2 when taking an action with that specific element.