Melangia ANOVA

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Andreas the Wise
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Melangia ANOVA

Post by Andreas the Wise »

Background: In far distant Gralus, mages struggled with the very nature of what was magic, as they explored their recently rediscovered powers. To avoid overtly powerful magic risking the destruction of non-magical armies; and to free magical creativity from the First Charter Binding, which had allowed only certain spells, they rebound under the Second Charter of Magic, but this time, they made sure their binding applied to the whole world. No other nation practiced magic actively anymore, and so they thought it wisest to limit powers on the whole of Micras, lest a rogue Gralan mage use his powers elsewhere, unbound, to destroy nations. The only consolation to older magic was that anything created by older magic, and anyone knowing older magic, would continue in that knowledge - but its power would be sorely diminished, and they would not be able to pass their knowledge on to further generations. The few, distant magical figures left would learn SCM, or finish fading entirely.

Little did Andreas the Wise, one of the Lord's at the binding, know, but in his very own Barony in Kildare, there were some of those "older magics" left. Faded from their former glory, yes. Hiding often from the more popular non-magical civilisation, often. But still there, and still alive. And suddenly finding their magic diminished. Realising the arrogance of what he had done, and also realising that it had occurred because Kildare (and Shireroth as a whole) had gone far, far too long without a Lord of Magic, he proposed to establish outposts of his own Novatainian Academy in the Barony of Atterock, to train those interested in the new ways of SCM. The outposts were named ANOVA - Atterockian-Novatainian Outpost for the Variously Arcane. The goal was to use as few Novatainian Archmages as necessary - so that, soon enough, the native Atterockians would become proficient in the new magic and be able to manage the outposts themselves. For the transistion period, they exist as this:

ANOVA on Melangia was the only true 'Outpost' among the lot. The Melangian people had long managed without a great deal of magic, but they knew its historic significance to the Duchy, and were happy to learn to use it. They had great affinity with the Krynii, both being diminuitive races at home in the water, and so Andreas had made them about half the staff. The others were human and Dragoon. Andreas had thought long and hard about a Melangian syllabus ... and in the end, it had ended up largely elemental. With extra magical history classes, of course.
The character Andreas the Wise is on indefinite leave.
However, this account still manages:
Cla'Udi - Count of Melangia
Manuel - CEO of VBNC. For all you'll ever need.
Vincent Waldgrave - Lord General of Gralus
Q - Director of SAMIN
Duke Mel'Kat - Air Pirate, Melangian, and Duke of the Flying Duchy of Glanurchy

And references may be made to Vur'Alm Xei'Bôn (a Nelagan Micron of undisclosed purpose).

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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Andreas the Wise »

And here, in the Melangia ANOVA, shall be the site of NCM magic lessons.

Lesson 1: Basic Spell Syntax
All references are to the NCM Charter, current edition.

NCM operates on the basic principle that people should have the freedom to make up their own magical effects - their own spells, their own items, their own units. However, in order to stop such magical creations being too powerful (aka broken) or having an effect not easily determinable in battle (such as divination, time magic etc), there is a structure in which these magical effects are created. The fundamental part of this is the ability to create spells.

NCM spells are made up of words. There are four types of words: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives and one Special word.
Nouns are what the magic affects - the object of the spell. Air, Earth, Electricity, Fire, Light, Object, Person, Self, Water and Wildlife are all nouns. Nouns are 'catch-all' terms - for example, Water refers to any liquid, air to any guess, wildlife to any non-sentient living being, and object to anything not covered by the other terms.
Verbs are how the magic affects the noun. Animate (apply force to it to move it); Bind (magically link two nouns, more on this later); Channel (the equivalent of animate on Fire, Electricity and Light); Imbue (give a noun the ability to cast a spell); Mold (change a noun's shape); Morph (change shape and size/density); Scry (see as if you were the noun); Shift (move a noun between planes and/or teleport); Transfigure (transform a noun, including a living being, into something else - this ends when the spell ends); Transmute (similiar to transfigure, but affects different nouns and can only work on homogenous substances). While verbs can often be used in multiple ways, they are not like nouns - not every imaginable action can be done with verbs.
Adjectives modify the affect of verbs or nouns. Most adjectives (Double, Triple, Greater, Superior, Incredible, Epic) increase the strength of verbs or nouns. 'Astral' can be used on certain nouns to create a standard form of them out of nothing. Unwilling can be used on living nouns to allow you to affect them even if they don't want to be affected.
Finally, the special word 'and' allows you to affect multiple nouns at once, or do multiple affects on a noun.
Only those words included in the Charter may be used - no others.

Spells are made up like simplified sentences, the most basic of which is Verb Noun. The noun is then affected by the verb - for example, Animate Earth would allow you to move some earth around. Adjectives can be applied to either - so you could have Adjective Verb Adjective Noun, where the first adjective applies to the verb, the second to the noun - for example, Triple Animate Double Earth would allow three times as fast movement on twice as much earth (though with both combined it would end up 1 and a half times speed on twice as much earth). Adjectives are always placed just before the verb or noun they affect. 'And' can be placed between verbs or nouns to allow multiple effects - eg Animate Earth and Water would apply the one set of movement potential to both a chunk or earth and a chunk of water. Mold and Animate Earth would allow one to change the shape of earth while moving it around (thus creating an Elemental). Note the use of adjectives with and - each adjective only affects ONE verb/noun (so Triple Animate and Morph Earth does not Triple Morph earth - only the Animate is tripled). Finally, separate effects on separate nouns can be be combined in one spell by a comma - eg Channel Incredible Astral Fire, Incredible Animate Astral Earth. That example also reveals that two adjectives (Astral and Unwilling) can be 'stacked' with other adjectives. Numerical adjectives cannot stack on eachother - you can double astral earth, but you cannot triple double earth.

The effect of the spell is limited by the effect of the verb .... and your imagination. This will be explained further in the lesson on Common Spells.

Homework - read the section "Building Spells" in the Charter (skip 'Spell Ground Rules') and get a basic understanding of the effect of each verb or noun.

Next Lesson: All the requirements of casting spells (DC etc) that I ignored for this lesson.
The character Andreas the Wise is on indefinite leave.
However, this account still manages:
Cla'Udi - Count of Melangia
Manuel - CEO of VBNC. For all you'll ever need.
Vincent Waldgrave - Lord General of Gralus
Q - Director of SAMIN
Duke Mel'Kat - Air Pirate, Melangian, and Duke of the Flying Duchy of Glanurchy

And references may be made to Vur'Alm Xei'Bôn (a Nelagan Micron of undisclosed purpose).

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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Andreas the Wise »

Lesson 2: Spell Requirements/Restrictions
Ignoring for the moment items and abilities, each castor of a spell has a Rank. This rank can be anywhere from 1 up to 20 (there's no actual limit but it's highly impractical cost-wise beyond 15, and so we've never seen above 20). This rank both determines how strong and how many spells they can cast.

First, how strong: Each word in a spell carries a DC (difficulty class), and some also carry a requirement (time or rank reduction). The highest spell you can cast cannot have a DC greater than your current rank. So if your rank was 8, you could cast "Triple Animate Astral Earth and (existing) Water" (DC 8, 6 seconds), but you couldn't cast "Triple Animate Astral Earth and Astral Water" (DC 10, 9 seconds), as that's above your rank. You can obviously cast spells with DC below your current rank - if you're doing this, you can speed them up by 3 seconds for each extra DC you add. So if you were casting "Triple Animate Astral Earth" (DC 6, 6 seconds), you could change it to "Triple Animate Astral Earth" (DC 8, 0 seconds) and still cast it.

What you do during the time in the spell requirements is up to you. You can use that time to say the words of the spell, make actions, play music, just sit there ... the time just has to be consumed between starting to cast the spell and it's effect occurring. You CAN ready a spell (that is, start casting it, wait for the time, and then not release it till you're ready), but only if you are within range of your target (see below).

How many spells you can cast also depends on your rank. You can cast one spell at your current rank. If you cast a second spell while holding the first one, your rank for that second spell is reduced by 3. If you cast a third spell while holding the first two, your rank for that spell is reduced by 6 and so on. Your rank CANNOT go negative - so if you cast a spell with your current rank 2 or below, you can hold no more spells beyond that, because doing so would make the rank of that spell negative.

There are several other restrictions placed on your spell casting. Some Adjectives reduce your rank for a certain amount of time. This reduction applies as soon as you start the spell, and so affects any more spells you try to cast after that until the time period is up. Again, your rank cannot be made negative this way.

Your spells effect things by "threads", which move along the astral plane to the location of the object you're affecting, which can be on either plane (the Astral plane is next lesson's explanation). These threads can only be up to 100 m long before they connect to the thing they're going to affect. Once they're connected, they can be any length. Practically, this means you can cast spells on things up to 100 m away, but once you've started the spell, they can move further (or you can move them further, in some cases). Your threads are solid, and so cannot pass through other solids on the astral plane (though they will seek any way around the solid, if possible). If solids force the thread to detour, it may reach 100 m's earlier than you expected and not reach your target. However, in most places there is nothing on the Astral plane, not even air, so this shouldn't be a problem.

The final restriction on casting is - if you stop holding a spell on the Material plane, it ends; if you stop holding it on the Astral plane, it persists. So if you've transformed someone on the material plane and stop holding that spell, they transform back. If you stop holding it on the astral plane, they stay permanently transformed, but you can no longer control how the spell works. More on planar stuff next lesson.

Homework: Read the section on spells in the Charter that you didn't read last lesson, and also read the section on Casting.
Next Lesson: The Astral Plane.
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And references may be made to Vur'Alm Xei'Bôn (a Nelagan Micron of undisclosed purpose).

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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Austi_Scot »

From Lesson 1 I have these questions:
Unwilling can be used on living nouns to allow you to affect them even if they don't want to be affected.
Finally, separate effects on separate nouns can be be combined in one spell by a comma - eg Channel Incredible Astral Fire, Increimate Astral Earth. That example also reveals that two adjectives (Astral and Unwilling) can be 'stacked' with other adjectives.

Question: Where is the living noun? Fire or Earth? - and where is the adjective "Unwilling"?


I did the Homework -
From the NCM: Basic Grammar
For example, Animate Earth could allow you to raise a rock off the ground, or even throw it at an enemy.

How do you and others know if you just raised the rock or if you threw it at an enemy?
How about for other uses such as blocking a river or cave entrance; how is that known?
How do you know if you were successful at whatever you did or if it failed, or was partially successful?
How do you know if someone else did something to alter your attempt?

NCM operates on the basic principle that people should have the freedom to make up their own magical effects - their own spells
NCM spells are made up of words.
There are four types of words: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives and one Special word.
Are other types of nouns allowed or only the proper nouns on your list in the NCM?
Are other types of verbs and other regular verbs such as "calm" allowed, or does the NCM contain the comprehensive list?
Are adverbs allowed?
Are other adjectives allowed or does the NCM contain the comprehensive list?
Are prepositions allowed in order to say which rock, what time, and so on?
Is "and" the only conjunction allowed; can "but," "or," "nor," "for," "so," "both," or "yet" or other conjunctions be used?


I plan to do lesson two tomorrow.
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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Andreas the Wise »

In answer to your questions -
Question: Where is the living noun? Fire or Earth? - and where is the adjective "Unwilling"?
Living nouns are Self (you), Person (sentient beings) and Wildlife (animals). Obviously you on yourself. (the charter mentions Spirit but I think Bayen removed that).
How do you and others know if you just raised the rock or if you threw it at an enemy?
How about for other uses such as blocking a river or cave entrance; how is that known?
How do you know if you were successful at whatever you did or if it failed, or was partially successful?
How do you know if someone else did something to alter your attempt?
1. You explain it in your post (remember, this system is largely designed to be used in recwar)
2. Again, you put it in your post.
3. Ignoring the normal effects of recwar on success or failure (that is, depending on if your opponents respond etc); you can assume simple magic is effective; and the judge (Bayen) will tell you if complicated magic doesn't work or not.
4. Someone would have to respond to your post - you would know thusly
Are other types of nouns allowed or only the proper nouns on your list in the NCM?
Are other types of verbs and other regular verbs such as "calm" allowed, or does the NCM contain the comprehensive list?
Are adverbs allowed?
Are other adjectives allowed or does the NCM contain the comprehensive list?
Are prepositions allowed in order to say which rock, what time, and so on?
Is "and" the only conjunction allowed; can "but," "or," "nor," "for," "so," "both," or "yet" or other conjunctions be used?
I'll answer all of these by saying "sentence is a word used to make it simple to understand." Spells aren't like proper sentences. Only the words in the charter may be used. But words are versatile, and, within the limits of the words, you choose the effect. It is when you use the spell you describe how you're using it.

For example, Animate Earth could: propel a single pebble faster than a bullet; lift a large boulder slowly; dig a hole; take a pile of dirt and shape it into a humanoid form, then moound, having it punch people [this is accomplished because animate can direct it's force in multiple ways - so if, say, you form an elemental, you assume you're using the force as necessary to hold the earth up in the shape of an elemental, and also to move it as you will to attack people etc], or move a small glowing crystal in elaborate patterns for a show.

Does that answer your questions?
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And references may be made to Vur'Alm Xei'Bôn (a Nelagan Micron of undisclosed purpose).

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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Austi_Scot »

Yes, those answers help a lot - thanks.
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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Andreas the Wise »

No, thankyou - I'll add it into the lesson to avoid confusion in the future.
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And references may be made to Vur'Alm Xei'Bôn (a Nelagan Micron of undisclosed purpose).

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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Austi_Scot »

LOL - Didn't think I was confused - just inquisitive and uniformed, but thanks for clearing that up too.
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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Harvey Steffke »

How many spells you can cast also depends on your rank. You can cast one spell at your current rank. If you cast a second spell while holding the first one, your rank for that second spell is reduced by 3. If you cast a third spell while holding the first two, your rank for that spell is reduced by 6 and so on. Your rank CANNOT go negative - so if you cast a spell with your current rank 2 or below, you can hold no more spells beyond that, because doing so would make the rank of that spell negative.
Can you elaborate on this using other examples? The wording you're using here is really throwing me off.

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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Andreas the Wise »

If your rank is 10, you can cast your first spell with any DC from 1 to 10.
If you cast a second spell, your rank for it is 7. You can cast it anywhere from 1-7
For a third spell, your rank is 4 - anywhere 1-4
For your fourth spell, rank is 1. There are a few rank one spells around (you could also use powers - more on that later)
You cannot start a fifth spell, that would make your rank -2.

That help?
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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Austi_Scot »

If you cast a second spell while holding the first one, your rank for that second spell is reduced by 3.
What does "holding" a spell mean and how is it done?
Rank - cost, what currency is the payment, who do you pay?

If solids force the thread to detour, it may reach 100 m's earlier than you expected and not reach your target.
This isn´t clear to me - can you explain more? How do you know how to determine this distance in meters you are from the item you´re casting the spell on?

If you start one of these threads, does the post of the other person place something in the way, causing this detour?
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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Harvey Steffke »

That did help, thank you.

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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Andreas the Wise »

What does "holding" a spell mean and how is it done?
Rank - cost, what currency is the payment, who do you pay?
"Holding" a spell is merely keeping a spell going. While you retain control over the spell, you're "holding" it. So if you use two spells at once, you're "holding" both spells.
Your rank is the maximum DC spell you can cast at the time. The SCIRA cost of a unit based on its rank is a later lesson ... but assuming you already have such a unit, it just has a rank. Your rank can be temporarily reduced by casting multiple spells at once(see the above post on holding multiple spells), or by using powerful adjectives. It hat these are temporary reductions which pass over time.
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And references may be made to Vur'Alm Xei'Bôn (a Nelagan Micron of undisclosed purpose).

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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Andreas the Wise »

The Astral Plane
Perhaps the most confusing part of NCM is its dual planar nature, but once understood, this provides for many interesting options.

We live on the Material Plane - Micras as we find it. Overlapping and overlaying this plane is the Astral Plane. Mostly, it just exists as empty space - no air, anything. The Astral plane (and objects on it) has the same physical traits as the Material plane, except for two notable differences. The "empty space" has the property that things can travel across the empty space instantly (though any thing on the Astral plane, even air, stops this instantaneous travel); and there is no gravity on the Astral plane. For those parts of the Astral plane with stuff in them, they may be traversed as one would normally traverse the material plane - passing through air easily, for example, not passing through solids etc.

On the Astral plane live various Astral Spirits (origin unknown). These beings can work magic by sending out threads to touch the thing they want to work magic on. These threads are solid (and so cannot pass through solids on the Astral plane) and can only go up to a hundred metres before touching the thing they are to affect. After they have touched it, they may extend infinitely. Where something solid blocks their way, they are flexible and will seek the shortest possible way around it, but if something is totally surrounded by solids, the thread cannot touch it and so magic cannot affect it. Likewise, by creating something solid with a mazelike path through, threads can be delayed and their effective length (in a straight line from start to finish) greatly reduced.

For as long as the thread is touching the object, the Astral Spirit can control the spell. But controlling multiple spells takes concentration, and eventually spirits will want to release them. When the spell is released, it's effects persist (for example, if you created earth, it would stay; if you animated a rock to push it in a certain direction, it would continue pushing in that direction), but can no longer be controlled. No one may re-connect to a thread once it's been released. However, new threads (ie new spells) can affect the item as normal. Magic may only be worked on the plane the castor is on, so for normal Astral Spirits, magic is restricted to the Astral plane.

But some people are born automatically with both an Astral and a Material part. These people are generally called "mages", and it is they who brought magic to the material plane. A mage (or anything else with an astral and material part) can work magic on the Material plane, but it is not as effective. Threads still only exist astrally, and so only overlap the Astral place the material object occupies, rather than touching the object. Effectively, this means that threads can pass through material walls etc, if nothing occupies the corresponding space on the Astral plane. The disadvantage of threads overlappijng, instead of touching, is that spell effects do NOT persist on the Material plane after they have been released. A spell on the Astral plane that is released stops instantly - if something was levitated, it drops; if a pile of astral earth was created, it would disappear; if something was transfigured, it would return to it's original state.

Items and people who do not start with an Astral and Material part can be bound together in a magic ritual that takes ten minutes. Binding links two things together so that they are essentially one, even though their two parts occupy different planes. By casting a spell on a material object, and binding it to an astral object, the spell can be made to persist. All long term magical enchantments in NCM are done this way. Natural Astral Spirits can also use this to cast spells on the Material plane - by binding themself to a puff of air, for example, they can then cast magical spells on the Material plane. If two intelligent beings (an Astral Spirit and a Material person or animal) are bound together, both retain their consciousness and wills, and have to get along.

There is no superiority between planes in terms of movement. If a bound object is picked up on the Material plane and moved around, it's Astral half will move with it. Similarly, if a bound object is picked up on the Astral plane, it's material part will move. If either part reaches something solid on their respective plane, their further movement in that direction will be resisted by the object (though if the force moving them is strong enough, it may break the solid object on the other plane). In the rare case a force is acting in different directions on both planes, the stronger force will win.

Finally, objects and beings can shift between planes - including bound objects. If a material object shifts to the Astral plane, it exists only Astrally now. It doesn't gain any magical powers, but functions normally (though if any length of time is spent in the vacuum of the Astral plane this can present problems for living material beings). If an Astral object shifts to the Material plane, it exists only materially. Any magical effects on it end (if it was created magically, it dissipates). If it survives the shift, it can function on the Material plane normally.
A bound object or person can also shift. Both parts of a mage can go onto the Astral plane - in which case the Material part fades to the background and the Astral part takes over. Vice versa on the Material plane. Binding is the one spell that does NOT dissipate by being shifted fully materially - the object or person can later be shifted back to it's dual-planar state, or fully astrally. However, if any spells were on the Astral part, they will have dissipated by now. That means a mage that shifts fully materially may have trouble getting back unless another mage helps him.

The advantage of being fully astral is that one can use the "instaneous travel" property of the Astral plane. Mages can use this to teleport - shifting for a moment fully astrally, moving through the nothingness, and shifting back to their dual planar state in a different part of the material plane. They can also teleport other people or objects this way (the instant of time spent in the vacuum doesn't hurt living beings, as long as it is only an instant). However, since they cannot pass through any substance on the Astral plane, placing a lot of air over a particular place prevents teleportation to it's Material Plane counterpart. This is done in most Academies, for example.

Astral beings never sleep (they don't need to eat either), and so a sleeping mage will still "see" spells coming towards him. However, even Astral beings can only see where they have eyes, and so most mages rectify this vision deficity by casting "Scry Self" (DC 1). Scrying allows 360 degrees vision as if you were the object scryed - by scrying yourself, you can see 360 degrees around yourself.

A small note on seeing things on the Astral plane. Anything that is not empty on the Astral plane is obvious to a mage. Even if it's only a puff of air corresponding to a bound item, if you pass by it, you can tell it's there. However, you cannot tell if things have enchantments on them if the enchantment is currently released or inactive. A similiar puff of air in the middle of a cloud of astral air would be indistinguishable from the normal air around it. If a thread is moving (that is, a spell starting or functioning) you can also tell that very easily, but you cannot tell from the thread what type of spell it is. Finally, solid objects on the Astral plane block your site as it would on the Material plane - just generally, there are no solids on the Astral plane.

Homework: Read "What is Magic" down to "Shifting". Make sure you read this before you ask questions, as I haven't been repeating everything there - rather, elaborating on key points and summarising minor ones.

Next Lesson: Common Spells
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Q - Director of SAMIN
Duke Mel'Kat - Air Pirate, Melangian, and Duke of the Flying Duchy of Glanurchy

And references may be made to Vur'Alm Xei'Bôn (a Nelagan Micron of undisclosed purpose).

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Andreas the Wise
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Location: The Island of Melangia, Atterock, Kildare
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Re: Melangia ANOVA

Post by Andreas the Wise »

Common Spells
Many are taken from the NCM Library

Common Mage Spells (DC 3 or below)
Magical Speed - Animate Self (3 seconds, DC 1)
By animating yourself you apply a magical force to yourself wherever is needed to increase your existing speed. You can use this to run faster, jump higher/longer etc, depending on your weight.

Astral Eyes - Scry Self (1 minute, DC 1)
Scrying allows you to see as if you were that object, but with 360 degrees vision. If you scry yourself, you now can't be snuck up on ...

Stone Shot - Animate Earth (3 seconds, DC 2)
By applying your magical force to a small rock, you can move it at high speeds, effectively like a bullet.

Gust - Animate Air (0 seconds, DC 3)
By applying your magical force to a puff of air, you can create a gust.

Common Warlock Spells (DC 6 or below)
Magical Flight - Triple Animate Self (0 seconds, DC 4)
By applying a greater animation force to yourself, you can work against gravity to the extent you can fly (as long as your weight is below 150 kg). Note that the spell in this form does not carry objects with you.

Elemental - Mold and Animate (Earth/Water) (6 seconds, DC 4)
You can create an elemental out of existing earth or water by molding it (to shape it into a humanoid shape) and animating it (to give it movement). Once created, it can move any distance away from you as long as you hold the spell, though if you can't see it, you may have difficulty controlling it well.

Fire Elemental - Double Channel Fire (6 seconds, DC 4)
As Fire (and lightning) need to be Channelled instead of animated, you can create a fire elemental in the same way as you would an Earth/Water one, but by using Double Channel Fire instead. Note you must have existing fire to use this spell.

Fire Blast - Channel Astral Fire (9 seconds, DC 5)
By channelling astral fire you can create a blast of fire, to use as a fire ball or control as a stream of fire.

Freeze - Transmute Water (9 seconds, DC 4)
When you transmute water you change its form once. That can include changing its temperature, so you can once off freeze it. The water will only stay frozen as long as you hold this spell, however.

Illusion, Lesser - Transmute Light (9 seconds, DC 4)
You can create an illusion by transmuting it - this changes its form once. This can be used to make stationary objects invisible, or create a stationary illusion. However, as this change is once and not reoccurring, if something moves through it, or new light that wasn't already present is shone on it, the illusion will dissipate.

Teleport - Shift Self and Object (15 seconds, DC 6)
Transport yourself and up to 50 kilograms of gear wherever you wish instantaneously. You must be at a point on the Astral Plane where nothing else is (ie no air, earth, water etc), and there must be a path of Astral Nothingness between you and the point you teleport too. Remember, while you're effectively teleporting, you're actually shifting yourself and your equipment to the Astral plane, moving along it through the nothingness (which you can traverse instantaneously), and shifting yourself and equipment back to the Material Plane/half-half where you end up.

Teleport Other - Shift Person and Object (18 seconds, DC 8)
Transport someone else and up to 50 kilograms of gear wherever you wish instantaneously. Bear in mind restrictions above.

Heal Self - Transfigure Self (12 seconds, DC 4)
Using Transfigure self you transform yourself once into a different state - ie from an injured state into a healed state. As you are a mage, you already have an astral half and by casting the spell on that, it persists - ie you stay healed. Should you, for whatever reason, become fully material, or unbound from your Astral self, the spell will dissipate and you'll stop being healed. Make sure you spend the time to recover naturally while its safe if you're using this spell often.

Common Archmage Spells (DC 9 or below)
Illusion, Greater - Imbue "Transmute Light" Air (60 seconds, DC 9)
While you hold this spell, the air near you has the ability to continually recast 'transmute light', effectively creating a continuous illusion, which constantly adjusts for things moving around within it. You can do this to make a moving object invisible, or just have a moving illusion. You could achieve the same effect by constantly recasting "Transmute Light" (0 seconds, DC 7), but if you want to cast other spells at the same time, its easier to hold this one.

Magic Block - Mold Triple Astral Earth (0 seconds, DC 8)
You create earth on the Astral Plane and mould it into a shield around you, so that you are entirely cut off from the rest of the Astral plane. This will stop any spells cast or attempted to be cast on you - however, you will not be able to cast any spells on anything outside your block while you hold it up. Once you release the spell, the Astral earth will persist on the Astral plane, so it is probably pertinent to mold it so that its away from you before releasing the spell.

Common Greater Spells (DC 15 or below. Remember, DC 15 is the max DC for any spell, even if your rank is higher)
Gate - Imbue "Shift Person and Object" Earth (78 seconds, DC 10)
While you hold this spell, you can shift someone else and up to 50 kg of their equipment every 18 seconds. They shift instantaneously.

Teleport, Malicious - Shift Unwilling Person and Object (33 seconds, DC 10)
If you can keep this spell going for 33 seconds, you can shift someone and their gear wherever you want instantaneously, even if they are unwilling.

There are of course many other spells, limited only by your imagination, your rank, and the basic limitations placed on the nouns/verbs to stop mages being broken (ie too powerful). Many of the spells provided here are basic or personal versions - it is left to you to consider how to make them more powerful, or make them apply to other people/animals/things. This will almost certainly be the last lesson, so advanced spells (such as enchantments that persist), as well as when to use them, you will have to discover yourself. Note that the descriptions here have tried to explain how the spell works as well as what it does, to aid in your overall understanding.
The character Andreas the Wise is on indefinite leave.
However, this account still manages:
Cla'Udi - Count of Melangia
Manuel - CEO of VBNC. For all you'll ever need.
Vincent Waldgrave - Lord General of Gralus
Q - Director of SAMIN
Duke Mel'Kat - Air Pirate, Melangian, and Duke of the Flying Duchy of Glanurchy

And references may be made to Vur'Alm Xei'Bôn (a Nelagan Micron of undisclosed purpose).

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