Because I don't know where else to put it, Magic Ideas from recent D&D Sourcebooks Options

[Kalvan]

Two rather dog-eared (for recent hardback volumes) books in my collection are two ADND 3rd edition magic rules books: Magic of Incarnum and Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic

I realize there are tremendous obsticles to the magic systems contained within those two books being integrated with Shadowrun, the the ADND concept of charecter levels being only the smallest problem.

I understand that, aside from the Elven Ways and Paths of the Wheel in Tir na n'Og and the implied following of the Earthdawn Passions as Idols in Tir Tairngire, Shadowrun has mostly (no, make that almost always) made use of real-life magic traditions and concepts, even if certain small liberties have been takento make them more playable from a rules standpoint. That said, I remember on Shadowland (Back when I could get on the place: Internet Explorer 6.0 doesn't want me to accept their Java) an atempt (very playable, actually) to integrate the rules for the One Power from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time using the cover story of it being an obscure Zoroastrian and Manichean magic style and tradition.

If anyone would like to help, I would like to try to integrate the four magical styles mentioned within Magic of Incarnum and Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic as new magical styles/traditions for Shadowrun 4 Edition. That said, in a conventional campaign (Wth Runners, Fixers, Mr. Johnson etc) I realise that only Truename and possibly Shadow magic would be normally available to player charecters, with the rest reserved for NPCs or Regional "Guest PCs." (And Binders [Let's call them "Spirit Channelers" instead, to avoid confusion] and Necrocarnates sould be reserved for threats).

I already have a few Ideas, but if one could PM me or respond in this thread, maybe this idea could evolve into a magical supplement (or four)

1: Based on the terminology used to describe it, I would have to confine Incarnum to the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. (and Possibly Tibet and parts of China) practied by brother-and-sisterhoods of Hindu, Buddhist, and possibly Sufi Muslim and Sikh magicians (Incarnates) and mystic adepts (Soulborns). In addition, a more animist/naturalist version is practiced in Southeast Asia (Especially what used to be Laos and Cambodia, as well as Indonesia and the Phillipines, but Lets call them Animists rather than Totemists). We will have to come up with a way of defining Drain for soulmelds, as well as how the Magic attribute interacts for soulmeld shaping.

As the Incarnate (Is there any appropriat Hindi or Sanskrit term instead?) and Animist are full magicians, they should have full access to the Astral Plane (and the metaplanes for the Initiated), but should be somewhat limited in their conjuring options: Incarnates may summon Spirits of Man and Ancestor Spirits, Soulborns may summon only one of the above (choose at charecter generation, and all conjuring skills cost double points at generation and double Karma afterward), and Animists may only summon spirits of two particular nature domains (choose at generation).

Because the concept of alignment doesn't work very well in Shadowrun, I would instead have particular groups of Incarnates and/or Soulborns embody abstract one word ideals (such as like law or order, honor, freedom, choice, compassion, cruelty, or even balance).

If it's done as a Jackpoint or Shadowland document, I think it should include mention of Necrocarnates as a threat (Make them like the Thugee Cult, Hashishim, or the Cambodian/Vietnamese Toc Faan) and some juicy color comentary Shadowtalk.

2: Pact magic could work similar to the rules of Posession Magic Traditions (Except that the Channeler is both Hougan/Mambo and mount.) A large plurality of Vestiges mentioned in the volume are disgraced archfiends, so maybe we could make some of them unique Earthdawn Horrors. (Such as some of them that managed to slip past Dunkie's Ghost and Assets Incorporated before the Dragon Heart was at full power [or something along those lines])

3: Because it relies on gestures rather than incantations, I would I think that Shadow Magic (As defined in section 2 of Tome of Magic) is the style of magic (okay, the casting style) used by those Japanese Ninjutsu Ryu whose style and methods are magical. Therefore, anyone using it in a Standard Game would acquire the Hunted Flaw similar to practitioners of the Elven Ways and Paths of the Wheel)

4: Truename Magic (as defined in Tome of Magic) sounds like how I always Imagined Sha'irs and Qaballists worked their magic (Although the concept of Lexicons strikes me as a more Classicaly Hermetic development) It is the most flavorful concept in Tome of Magic. Too bad the rules are so clunky even for ADND. Still, I could Imagine the comcept of Truename Mages, complete with the Lexicons, as an obscure Hermetic paradigm with ties to the Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, and Budapest Ghettos.

Making the rules playable and fun, though, could be something of a stretch.

I realise that we may have to wait for Street Magic before we can make the complete systems work, but is anyone intrested, or am I just spinning my wheels?