In need of magic ideas

[Rigon]

Hey folks, I've been kicking around the idea of a campaign setting that is similar to the germanic invasion of the British Isles. And as I'm terrible at thinking this kind of stuff up, I need a couple of different tyoes of magic to go with the setting. I'm thinking sublte, low key types of magic.

I have a very peliminary list of the types of magic I'd like to include:

Fae: The magic used by Elves, Goblins, and other fay creatures.

Druidic: Magic used by the druids (natural/elemental in nature).

Elemental: The magic practiced by wizards, Firbolg, and possible other monsters.

Bardic: Magic usable by bards. Similar to Druidic, but based on songs/music.

Holy: The magic practiced by the clerics of the invading peoples.

Any ideas, comments, or thoughts would be very welcomed and helpful.

Thanks in advance

R-
_________________
Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

[gideon_thorne]

Rigon wrote:
Fae: The magic used by Elves, Goblins, and other fay creatures.

Illusion dude. The Faerie of folklore were masters of illusion and shapechange. Every bit of legend points rather firmly in that direction. ^_^
_________________
"We'll go out through the kitchen!" Tanis Half-Elven

Peter Bradley

[Rigon]

gideon_thorne wrote:
Illusion dude. The Faerie of folklore were masters of illusion and shapechange. Every bit of legend points rather firmly in that direction. ^_^

I never thought of that. Nice suggestion Pete.

R-
_________________
Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

[gideon_thorne]

Quote:
Bardic: Magic usable by bards. Similar to Druidic, but based on songs/music.

As for this, check out the Bardic Voices series by Mercedes Lacky and Larry Dixon. In my opinion its the most outstanding book series on proper bards out there. ^_^
_________________
"We'll go out through the kitchen!" Tanis Half-Elven

Peter Bradley

[Treebore]

gideon_thorne wrote:
As for this, check out the Bardic Voices series by Mercedes Lacky and Larry Dixon. In my opinion its the most outstanding book series on proper bards out there. ^_^

Yes! Helps that they are an excellent read as well.

[rabindranath72]

Cross-posted from DF:

Off the top of my head, and trying to use C&C without altering it:

Fae: Illusionism magic (since Fae are known to deceive mortals)

Druidic: Druid (standard)

Elemental: Wizards (standard, spell effects can be explained as manipulation of elemental forces)

Bardic: Bards (standard Bards, the powers of the Bard are interpreted as being magical)

Holy: Clerics (standard)

Regarding "rarity", simply reduce drastically the number of characters who can wield magic.

That's all
Cheers,

Antonio

[Rigon]

Here's what I was thinking after I posted last night.

Fae: Illusion Magic

Druidic: ? Possibly standard, possibly from my Celts handbook.

Bardic: ? Going to take a look at my Celts handbook.

Elemental: I was thinking along the lines of the WoT Channelers.

Holy: I'm leaning toward Runic magic, as described in the Vikings Handbook.

Thoughts?

R-
_________________
Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

[Rigon]

rabindranath72 wrote:
Cross-posted from DF:

Off the top of my head, and trying to use C&C without altering it:

Fae: Illusionism magic (since Fae are known to deceive mortals)

Druidic: Druid (standard)

Elemental: Wizards (standard, spell effects can be explained as manipulation of elemental forces)

Bardic: Bards (standard Bards, the powers of the Bard are interpreted as being magical)

Holy: Clerics (standard)

Not bad suggestions, but most of the standard magic just doesn't seen right to me.

Quote:
Regarding "rarity", simply reduce drastically the number of characters who can wield magic.

It's not so much that I want magic to be "rare", as I want it to be subtle. I envision a world infused with magic, it's just not over the top.

R-
_________________
Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

[Rigon]

gideon_thorne wrote:
As for this, check out the Bardic Voices series by Mercedes Lacky and Larry Dixon. In my opinion its the most outstanding book series on proper bards out there. ^_^

I've never read this series, but I've looked at it a time or two. Perhaps I need to go to the library this afternoon.

R-
_________________
Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

[Omote]

If fey and fey-agic is your thing, you may want to look up the author Brian Froud, and his take on legends of fairies. It's a neat read if your into all kinds of things fey.

Another type of magic you may want to experiement with is Alchemy. The process by which chemicals produce what appear to be magical effects. This could be a limiting factor of high magic, when you base it on alchemy.

.........................................Omote

FPQ
_________________
> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

[Jungger]

Not exactly sure what you're looking for Rigon but how about Wizards that use mostly Summoning spells thru use of symbols and circles and such.

Perhaps many spells are based thru contact/ bargains with demons or devils.

[Omote]

Jungger, good idea. I always liked the idea of a "summoning wizardry."

...........................................Omote

FPQ
_________________
> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

[Jungger]

Thanks Omote. Liked your Alchemy also.

I never was a huge fan of the RPG Paladium (?) but they did have some cool circle magic stuff going for the Summoner class if I recall.

[Rigon]

Omote wrote:
Another type of magic you may want to experiement with is Alchemy. The process by which chemicals produce what appear to be magical effects. This could be a limiting factor of high magic, when you base it on alchemy.

That's an idea. I didn't think about that one. Thanks.

R-
_________________
Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

[Omote]

Jungger wrote:
I never was a huge fan of the RPG Paladium (?) but they did have some cool circle magic stuff going for the Summoner class if I recall.

Heh, that exactly what I was thinking when you mentioned this. Palladium had Summoners (summoning magic), Diabolists ("rune" magic), and wizard (typical wizardly magic). I always thought that those were cool ways to diverge the casting classes from each other while remaining the same "type" (arcane) of magic.

.................................Omote

FPQ
_________________
> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

[Rigon]

So here's the new list:

Fae: Illusion magic, modified.

Druidic: I'm thinking of moving away from the standard druid spells and leaning toward a system of interaction with the druid and the "natural" elementals of the setting.

Bardic: This is going to be a form of charms/minor illusions, with music/singing as the focus.

Runic: Based on Rune Magic from the Vikings Handbook.

Alchemy: The "magic" of wizards.

I'm not sure how all this is going to work out, though. Any suggestions? My main resources are the RC, 1e PHB & DMG, 2e PHB & DMG, 2e Celts & Vikings Handbooks, WoT RPG, LA PHB & LML & MoL, and C&C PHB & M&T. Having just popped into my head, I may take a look at the Elementalist Order from LA for the druids.

R-
_________________
Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

[irda ranger]

Well, you'll probably want to ban what D&D called Evocation magic. If you want subtle, Fireball is out.

A few suggestions:

Whenever possible, try to imagine a subtle way to achieve the same effect for a spell. This way casters can have their normal spell list, it's just explained differently. You can start with the casting mechanics. Replace a magic-user's spell pouch and spellbook with a mandatory staff, wand, pagan cross, empowering familiar or other theme-appropriate talisman. Maybe they don't memorize spells, but they do have to "practice" them each morning, and the spells they choose to practice determine which are most fresh in their mind. Likewise, Clerics can be required to cast their spells by scribing runes, but that doesn't mean you have to change how the class works. Just describe it differently. For spells, some non-subtle spells (such as Rope Trick) can be reimagined as stepping through a crease in the shadows, or drawing on the power of the nearby rowan tree's link with the realm of faery to open a passage among its branches. That sort of thing.

Also, don't try to do it all at once. The spell list needs to be trimmed, but you don't have to start the campaign with a finished spell list. Just explain to your players the general outline of what is possible and was is expected, and you can ad hoc the spells as you go to shoe horn them in. Just keep a text file of the changes you make, and you should be OK.

Lastly, don't underestimate the difference between "spellcasting magic" and "class ability magic." As Rabinddranath said, the Bard class can work exactly as written, and whose to say it's not magic? Isn't it possible that Legend Lore is nothing less than tapping into the collective memory of the Spirit of the All Fathers? That's as good an explanation as any, AFAIAC.
_________________
Check out my Iron C&C House Rules: The Tombs of Akrasia

[irda ranger]

Rigon wrote:
Druidic: I'm thinking of moving away from the standard druid spells and leaning toward a system of interaction with the druid and the "natural" elementals of the setting.

Runic: Based on Rune Magic from the Vikings Handbook.

For these two you really need to check out Malhavoc's Aracana Unearthed. The Greenbond and the Runethane were written for this.
_________________
Check out my Iron C&C House Rules: The Tombs of Akrasia

[Rigon]

irda ranger wrote:
For these two you really need to check out Malhavoc's Aracana Unearthed. The Greenbond and the Runethane were written for this.

Cool, thanks IR.

R-
_________________
Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

[rabindranath72]

For my AD&D Hyborian games, I "moved" all Alterations and Evocations (which are the most troublesome class of spells for) of 1st through third level to 7th-9th level (much as is done with Illusionists). This makes the "flashy" spells still available, but at much higher levels.