How Magic Works

Magic is prohibited in the City of Sojenka 

Magic Users are not permitted to use magic inside the walls of the city. They are allowed with a special license to do so, outside, in the Provincial lands. This license costs 100 GP per year.

Clerics are only allowed to use magic Prayers within the precincts of their temple, inside the walls of the city. Clerics are free to use their prayers outside, in the Provincial lands.

The penalties for breaking the prohibition are severe, up to and including death.
Fortune Telling and Healing are allowed with a license. This license costs 20 GP per month.

That said, three great wizards and three powerful Academies exist within the environs of Sojenka. All Magic User characters will be a member of an Academy.

Magic Users: Any clothing is permitted, and licensed magic users must wear a tall hat (as tall as one’s forearm is long) with a golden sunburst on it. In practice, the Academies add their own symbols and other indicators of rank within the organization. An unlicensed magician must wear a red hat and an armband on their right upper arm.

Clerics: Clerics may wear any clothing, as determined by their religion, but must wear a red stole at all times within the city.

Fortune Tellers: Any clothing is permitted. A license holder must wear a red sash, either around their waist or over their shoulder.

Healers: A subset of Clerics, Healers may practice their magical art within the precincts of the city, but must wear a red stole with white stripes at all times. Healers may only practice Healing magic outside the confines of their own temple.

Anyone caught practicing any magic, healing, or fortune telling in the city without an indicator will be arrested and taken to the Citadel.


All Cleric characters will be a congregant of one of the Temples in the city.

Spell Selection

Clerics will be able to use any prayers available to Clerics of their Patron Deity. Each Patron Deity will have a list. The Cleric may choose the prayer at the time it is needed. Clerics may use magic prayers a number of times per day according to the chart:

Level        Spells per day
    1                    0
    2                    1 x First level
    3                    2 x First level

Magic Users will be able to learn spells from their Patron or Academy, according to the spells available. Each Patron or Academy will have a list of spells. The magic user will be able to "know" the minimum number of spells according to their Intelligence Ability Score (p. 8). The initial spells a Magic User has in their personal spell book will be determined randomly from the list of Patron spells. Magic Users may cast spells a number of times per day according to the chart:

Level        Spells per day
    1                    1 x First level
    2                    2 x First level
    3                    2 x First level, 1 x Second level

Cantrips

There are a variety of Cantrips available:
 
• Stir
• Mix
• Wipe
• Dry/Moisten
• Hold
• Freshen/Dirty
• Color
• Gather/Scatter (Small items)
• Remove/Scatter Dust
• Polish/Tarnish
• Ravel
• Tangle/Untangle
• Stitch
• Flavor
• Wrap 
• Wilt/Freshen

Cantrips are quick, simple magical effects that occur instantaneously (on your DEX activation).
These magical effects DO NOT cause damage to any creatures, although clever use may have a detrimental effect.
The effects of these Cantrips should be self-evident, and I encourage creative usage. Some of these effects may last longer than others, or affect larger areas. Some basic examples:
  • You may "Stir" a liquid in a container up to the size of a cauldron.
  • You cannot "Gather" all of the sand on a beach, you can gather a bushel-sized pile. 
  • You may be able to change the "Color" of a horse for a day, or a herd of sheep for a turn.
  • You may "Wrap" a parcel with cloth or paper, not a person.
  • You can cause one non-magical plant to "Wilt" near death, and a small garden to be almost inedible. A field will be unaffected.
I will trust you to use these creatively, yet with an appropriate magnitude. If it becomes necessary to detail the effects of these Cantrips more precisely, we will do so.

Spellcasting

Magic users and Clerics are able to cast spells in different ways. 

A magic user will have a book of incantations and formulae that harness the power of a spell in their mind. A magic spell is like an energetic spirit, a supernatural presence or entity, trapped in their mind by study and ritual. At the proper moment, the incantation is completed & the spirit is released to do the magic user's bidding. The magic user will need to rest and re-establish the supernatural presence before being able to release the spell effect again.

A Cleric will have a book of prayers and rituals that open communication between the cleric and their deity, or the deity's subordinates. Through meditation and prayer, a Cleric is able to create a reserve of potential energy that can be used to create magical effects in the name of the deity. Each spell, or request, taps a bit of that reserve. A Cleric with little experience will have a small reserve of divine energy, while a more senior Cleric can build up a much larger reservoir, and effect more miracles.

A cleric or magic user needs one full round (a 10-second Combat round) to complete the incantation (release the presence, or draw from their reserve) of a spell for casting. They cannot move, fight, jump, swim, or do anything else during this round. A spellcaster must declare a "Casting" at the beginning of a Combat Round if they wish to cast during an encounter. The spell or effect will take place at the very beginning of the subsequent round.

If the spellcaster is disturbed, forced to move, or hit with an attack (even if there is no physical damage) during the preparation round, the spell is lost.


The Academies

The Brethren of the Order of the All-Seeing Eye

This Academy specializes in Divination magic.
Starting spells include: Detect Magic, Light, Sleep

The Council of Ancients

This Academy encourages and finances expeditions to discover lost knowledge. This academy prefers brown robes.
Starting spells include: Charm Person, Floating Disc, Protection from Evil

The Adepts of the Jacinth Tower

This Academy seeks to restore the Monarchy, with the blood descendants of the Jacinth Throne. This academy prefers robes of dove gray with a yellow-orange mantle.
Starting spells include: Dancing Lights, Magic Missile, Shield

All magic users begin their training by learning the Read Magic and Read Languages spells


The Temples

The Grand Pantheon of the Imperial Temple

The Grand Pantheon consists of the seven Great Gods of the Empire:
  • Aphrodite
  • Apollo
  • Ares
    • Mithra
  • Athena
  • Demeter
  • Hephaestus
  • Poseidon
Starting prayers include: Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil, Detect Magic


The Keepers of the Keys

The worshippers of Hades, god of Peace and Eternal Rest. These priests wear black robes with red trim. Their escutcheon is a red file with a black ram, above a golden key.
Starting prayers include: Darkness, Light, Remove Fear

Weapons of Choice: Clerics of Hades prefer the mace, flail, and "Holy Water Sprinkler", especially in the battle against the Undead.
  • All clerics of Hades may perform *Last Rites* upon a dead person, allowing their soul to ascend to the next plane of existence and preventing their body from Undeath for 28 days.
  • At level 3 a cleric of Hades may *lay hands* upon a corpse or other remains and gain knowledge of the approximate time of death:
- Less than 6 months, to the week
- Less than one year, to the month
- Less than ten years, to the year and season
- Less that fifty years, to the year
- Fifty-one years or more, to the year

The clerics of Hades specialize in the lore of and fighting against Undead. 
- At level 3: +1 to *Turn Undead* rolls
- At level 6: +2 to *Turn Undead* rolls
- At level 8: roll 3d6 for HD turned

In addition, the archives of the Keepers of the Keys are the most complete resource on the creation and destruction of Undead. Information on the creation of undead, and other Necromantic spells retained by the order, are not known to ANY cleric below fifth level.

These resources are ONLY available to clerics in good standing, of utter Lawful Good alignment who, nonetheless, will need to fast and pray for 3d6+9 days to cleanse themselves of the evil before being able to lead a ritual or create the reserve of potential energy that can be used to create magical effects in the name of the deity.

The Cult of Fortuna

The Cult of Tyche, goddess of fortune. The priests of Tyche wear pale green robes with crimson trim. Their escutcheon is a white field with a crimson pentagram.
Starting prayers include: Cure Light Wounds, Protection from Evil, Purify Comestibles

Weapons of Choice: Clerics of Tyche prefer to wield double-chained flails, polearms with a khopesh-like blade at each end, or a hatchet with a pointed blade that can be thrown or used in melee.

All clerics of Tyche can perform an Augury once per week:

Explanation/Description: The cleric casting an augury spell seeks to divine whether an action in the immediate future (within 1 day) will be for the benefit of, or harmful to, the party. This ritual takes 30 minutes to perform. The cleric will need quiet and calm in order to concentrate. The base chance for correctly divining the augury is 70%. plus 1 % for each level of the cleric casting the spell, i.e. 71% at 1st level, 72% at 2nd, etc. Your referee will determine any adjustments due for the particular conditions of each augury (for example, chaotic conditions nearby, such as combat or a great storm, will confer a -20% penalty). The material component for augury is a set of inlaid sticks or bones, created by the PC himself, at an expense of 100GP. The sticks or bones may be re-used.

Clerics of Tyche have a -1 penalty to the die score when attempting to Turn Undead. 

At the appropriate level, clerics of Tyche gain the following special abilities:

3. "Pushing your Luck" - once per day the cleric may adjust any die roll by +/- 1.

5. "Sense of Place" - once per day the cleric can extend their perceptions (this takes one minute of concentration) and determine the result of something that happened (up to one day ago) in a specific place, whether it was good or ill. Each odd level the elapsed time since the occurrence increases by scale (Level 7 = 1 week, L9 = 1 month, L11 = 1 year...)

7. (WIP)

Sisterhood of the Crimson Hind

The Cult of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. 
Starting prayers include: Deal Light Wounds, Remove Fear, Resist Cold


The Wrack of the Most Faithful

The Cult of Virch the Wracked, intercessor of the Old Gods
Starting prayers include: Deal Light Wounds, Darkness, Inflict Fear

The Elder Pantheon
  • ENLIL - god of kings and war
  • ENKI - god of rivers and waters
    • LUMOCH - Goddess of creatures of the deeps
  • INANNA - goddess of courage and love
  • KI - goddess of nature (legend says she created the Halfling race to serve her in the Stabala Forest)
  • NANA-SIN - god of the moon and keeper of the dead
  • NIN-HURSAG - goddess of the earth and dragons
  • UTU - god of the sun

The Esoteric Order of R'lyeh

The Dagonite Cult of Ahto, god of waters and oceans
Starting prayers include: Cure Light Wounds, Detect Magic, Inflict Fear


Patron Deity Specialties


Each temple has its own special training and techniques, giving clerics of different Patron Deities varying powers, spell lists, and special Class Abilities. As cleric PCs are added to the game, the various deities and their specialties will be added to the list below:

Demeter

Tracking +1
Foraging +1
Consecrated Hunting Spear, 7' ("counts as" a Silver weapon)
Consecrated Short Bow
As a cleric of Demeter gains experience, they become more adept at surviving and thriving in the wild. The cleric must choose a biome to become an "expert" in, such as Prairie, Forest, Swamp, etc. Within this chosen biome the cleric is treated as one level higher for purposes of Task Resolution for appropriate activities.

- L2: Identify Plants
- L3: Identify Animal Sign
- L5: Identify Monster Sign

Mithra

+1/+3 Reaction Rolls - Strangers/Co-religionists
*Leadership* - A cleric of Mithra may act as a troop officer in the same way as a fighter, but two levels behind. Any troops under the *immediate* command of a cleric of Mithra gain a +1 to morale checks.

- L3: Sergeant
- L4-5: Leftenant
- L6: Captain

Clerics of Mithra are trained in horsemanship and massed combat techniques.
A cleric of L3 or higher in charge of a training regimen may reduce troop training time by 20%. The Cleric must choose a discipline to be "expert" in for such training:
- Infantry, melee
- Infantry, missile
- Cavalry, heavy/shock
- Cavalry, light/missile


Guilds

Some of the guilds in Sojenka have access to magical powers as well, though generally of a more mundane, practical nature.

Experienced craftsmen may have learned some magical flourishes, runes, or cantrip-like magics to assist in the creation of their product or service.

Psionics

The powers of the mind are not unknown in the world of Sojenka, but they are very rare and those who can tap this power are extremely secretive about it. WIP Psionics Rules are here.