I embolden this title not because it deserves emboldening, which it does, but because I am trying to procrastinate as much as possible before doing the most difficult part of this little project. I cringe to think about how I'm going to ram threading, matrices, spells, the different caster types, and the embarrassing number of adept powers into 4th edition. The answer is that I probably won't, and you will all have to mock me for my lack of rules shifting skillz. Anyway, back to work.
Conjuring: I know Earthdawn makes use of certain "spirits" if you could call them that. From freaky little evil things that Nethermancers summon from your worst nightmares down to elementals (which we can safely use regular spirits from pg. 294-295 BBB). I'm going to turn these conjuring based skills over to spellcasting because I am going to hose spellcasters ten ways from sunday when it comes to buying abilities, and they need a little relief.
Traditions: I have no problem keeping the traditions alive, but it doesn't seem to match Earthdawn flavor. So I've decided to remove the magician and mentor totem qualities to replace them with Nethermancer, Elementalist, Illusionist, and Wizard qualities, all of which are mutually exclusive. I'm going to allow mystic adepts just to see how screwy I can make things while still offering a great deal of customization. Each of the traditions is limited to spells in that discipline.
Elementalist
Concept: The study of the manipulation of Elements and the practical application of same. It is an attempt to achieve great power through the raw elements of Earth.
Combat: Fire
Detection: Earth
Health: -
Illusion: Water
Manipulation: Air
Drain: Willpower+Intuition
An Elementalist's goal is to harness the raw energy within the earth to his own will. Elementalists tend to be on the dramatic side and some even form cabals worshiping one element in particular or in exclusion to all others. Elementalists are sought after as special units in a military setting or on a grand scale as engineers.
Modifiers: +2 dice for any Element based spell, cannot cast Health spells
Illusionist
Concept: The study of the affect magic has on the mind and the manipulation of same. Illusionism is an attempt to achieve power through subterfuge and complex magical legerdemain.
Combat: -
Detection: Air
Health: Earth
Illusion: Man
Manipulation: Water
Drain: Charisma+Intuition
Illusionists tend to have vague or unclear goals as they tend to regard personal information as a weapon. As a tradition, Illusionism does not have any large unified orders and tends to operate on an apprenticeship system similar to many small Wizard societies. Illusionists are sought after as entertainers and representatives.
Modifiers: +2 dice for Illusion spells, cannot cast combat spells
Nethermancer
Concept: The study of the afterlife, death, the metaplanes, and forbidden knowledge. Nethermancy is an attempt to gain knowledge from arcane and eldritch sources.
Combat: Man
Detection: Air
Health: Man
Illusion: -
Manipulation: water
Drain: Logic+Intuition
Nethermancers study and manipulate magic from the Netherworlds. Nethermancers are universally regarded as very weird people who have a hard time getting along in regular society. This is not universally true, but their chosen career path makes them very akward at best and scary at worst.
Modifiers: +2 dice for Health Spells, cannot cast Illusion spells
Wizard
Concept: The study of Magical energies, matrices, and threads. Wizards study the nature of magic to gain more power and information
Combat: Fire
Detection: Air
Health: Man
Illusion: Water
Manipulation: Earth
Drain: Willpower+ Logic
Wizards are the baseline spellcasting class capable of casting almost anything, but unable to excel where other spellcasters have specialized. The Wizard tradition is organized by several organizations, libraries, and colleges throughout Barsaive including small orders of Wizards on the fringe of society.
Modifiers: -2 dice for spellcasting tests, +2 dice for Matrix manipulation tests
Initiation
Initiation is going to work like 4th edition in terms of karma cost. No lodge is required for initiation, although there will be a materials cost (See equipment chapter). Upon Initiating, a Spellcasting character automatically receives an additional spell matrix with a force equal to the character's magic rating -1. Other than the gained matrix, Initiation works exactly the same.
Spell Matrices
Spell Matrices are constructs on the astral plane used to protect the caster from the harmful effects of casting raw. At character creation, Spell Matrices cost 1BP per Force and a character may only have 2 matrices with a rating equal to his magic. The Matrices can hold a number of spells depending on the force of the matrix and the force of the spells. For example, a force 4 Spell Matrix can hold 4 spells at force 1, 1 spell at force 4, 2 spells at force 2....etc. This is similar to the shared spell matrix but I have made it a base rule for all Matrices. A spellcaster can only cast a spell at the force rating from within the Matrix, unless the caster wishes to overcast from a Matrix, which will be discussed later.
Matrices have condition track modifiers equal to their force x2. They can be damaged by certain Astral creatures or overcasting. Their condition track replenishes naturally at a rate equal to one of the caster's Drain attributes chosen at character creation per hour (Ex: Thragach the Dwarven Elementalist chose his WIllpower as his attribute at character creation. His Willpower is 4, so his matrices replenish themselves at a rate of 4 boxes an hour). The caster may also chose to repair the matrices faster using the spell matrices manipulation skill (Extended test, 10 minutes, Threshold: Dmg value, Drain: Dmg repaired) each hit restores one box of damage done to that matrix.
Matrices have a body rating equal to their force to resist damage. They continue to function at no penalty until they reach CM 0, in which case they crash and will not reappear on the astral until sunrise or sunset, whichever is closer.
Reattuning a matrix involves rearranging spells within the matrix itself. It is a time consuming process (Spell Matrix Manipulation, Extended test, 10 minutes, Threshold: Spell force) to remove or add a spell within a matrix. You may only reattune one matrix at a time.
You may also rig a matrix to perform other metamagical actions. This is called Rigging. Rigging is almost identical to reattuning (Spell Matrix Manipulation, Extended test, 10 minutes, Threshold: Spell force) except that it changes the nature of the Matrix itself rather than depositing spells into it. You can rig as many features into a matrix as you want,
Spell Lock: 2 force
Command means that you have programmed the matrix to cast a spell when a preexisting condition has been met (Ex: Cast armor on me when I'm hit, cast heal on me when I start dying, etc..)
Self Destruct: 5 force
A brutal and cunning trick many casters place on their matrix if they suspect magical combat may be in their near future. Self Destruct literally causes the matrix to explode onto the material plane and cause an amount of physical damage equal to it's full CM to whatever caused it to reach CM 0. The Matrix will not return to astral space until either sun sets, or sun rises, whichever is further away. It also manifests onto the astral at CM 0 and can be repaired normally. Self Destruct only functions when it's CM reaches 0 or when a command specification has been met.
Blending: 4 force
A process of magically binding a matrix to another matrix. This combines both matrices to create a larger, higher force Matrix than the caster could normally create. Add the force and CM of the Matrices together and they are considered one matrix for most gaming purposes. If the CM reaches 0, both matrices crash. A Matrix may be blended with more than one Matrix, but the blending cost has to be paid each time a new matrix is added to the group, + 2 for each matrix attached beyond the first two. Just because Matrices are blended does not mean you can create more
Shielding: 1 force per level
A process that reinforces the matrix and makes it harder to break. Each level of shielding increases the CM by 1.
Autothreading: 3 force per level
A process that automatically repairs the matrix at 1 box of CM per minute within the Matrix.
Reflection: 7 force
A process that allows the caster to apply the rigged matrix's force as bonus dice to one counterspelling check. If the counterspelling check is successful and the Matrix's owner has net hits, the spell rebounds either on the offending caster, or centered on the offending caster whichever is more appropriate. The matrix takes damage equal to the total hits generated on the counterspelling check.
Buffer: 4 force per level
A process that reduces the effects of drain from spells cast through the Buffered matrix. A Buffer adds 2 dice to your pool to resist drain.
Absorption: 5 force per level
A process that empties the Matrix of much of its potential so that it may absorb another spell cast upon the Matrix' owner. It automatically adds the force of the matrix to all counterspelling tests at spells directed at the matrix or the matrix' owner. If it succeeds, the spell is absorbed into the matrix and can be cast once from the matrix using a spellcasting check. If the absorbed spell has a force higher than that of the Matrix, the Matrix has to resist an amount of damage equal to the spell's force the round it was absorbed. Each round the spell stays in the matrix, it deals damage to the matrix equal to its force minus the Matrix' force. If the spell is cast from the matrix, use overcasting rules. If the spell matrix breaks while the absorbed spell is still stored within the matrix, the stored spell is cast upon the matrix' owner. After the absorption effect takes place, the ability is spent and has to be rigged again. Furthermore, any spells stored within the matrix rigged to absorb, may also be forcibly kicked out of the matrix to make room for whatever force spell that matrix caught (Ex: Carl the terrible has a force 8 spell matrix with Absorption taking up 5 force within the matrix. He also has Stunbolt at force 1 and Blast at force 2. He catches a toxic wave spell at force 9. Not only does his matrix have to resist 9 damage from the incoming, higher force spell, but also loses both stunbolt and blast). If you absorb a spell with a blended matrix and their isn't enough force to allow the spell into the matrix, the spell affects the caster normally and both matrices crash down to CM 0.
Forking: 6 force per level
A bizarre process that allows a spell to be dualcast out of one matrix. The spellcaster can pick two targets for the spell and rolls one spellcasting test and one drain test for casting two of the same spell.
Shuffle: 2 force
This optimizing method of matrix manipulaton allows the spells stored inside the matrix to exchange force ratings with other spells inside the matrix. Each shuffle attempt takes a complex action (Matrix Manipulation Extended test, threshold: force of highest shuffled spell). You have to exchange spells between their respective ratings and you cannot move the overall force of the spell around (Ex: Grigg the Nethermancer has his force 9 matrix with shuffle rigged onto it. He also has Decrease attribute: body 4, Lightning Bolt 2, and Heal 1. One of his friends was injured in a barfight and Grigg decided he wants to patch him up. Because his friend is such a mess, he shuffles his Decrease Attribute body down to 1 and his heal up to 4. But Grigg cannot take a point of force away from Lightning Bolt to make heal a force 5 spell. that would take a reattunement test.
Casting from a Matrix
Casting from a matrix is the most common action taken in relation to the spellcasting skill. To cast a spell from a matrix, roll the stored spell's force, + your spellcasting skill. Everything else functions just like out of the BBB, you take drain according to the spell's force, the spell goes off. It is important to note that while you are technically casting beneath your force level, it is not the same as casting at a lower level. You roll against the drain code of the spell's force coming out of the Matrix
Overcasting from a Matrix
Overcasting through a matrix, while significantly safer than overcasting raw, has consequences for the matrix. Overcasting is defined as casting a spell out of a matrix at a higher force than the matrix was programmed to do. Overcasting means there is no limitation on the number of hits scored on a spellcasting test in relation to the spell's force. So a force 5 spell can get 8 hits on a spellcasting test, and all 8 of them count as opposed to only 5 of them. The Matrix immediately has to resist damage equal to the force the spell was cast at and is unusable for a number of combat rounds equal to the force of the overcast spell. The drain is still stun damage
Casting Raw
One of the most dangerous things a caster can do is summon raw magical energy from the polluted astral space. It attracts horrors of all shapes and sizes and isn't good for your health. When casting raw, roll your Magic+spellcasting and sixes, like edge tests, explode. The spell, like in overcasting, is not limited by the spell's force and all of the hits apply. The caster also has to make a Willpower test (1) to avoid attracting a horror. The GM is also encouraged to make the character a little darker (Physically, mentally, whatever) after casting raw magic.
Overview
That's all I feel like putting up today. Instead of running in fear and whining and crying like a baby about the obscure nature of spell matrices, I decided to put a little spin on them that is incredibly heretical
. I made the matrices more customizable so that creative people can capitalize the hell out of them. I also began to discuss the spellcaster features that I will go into at great length tomorrow. I will also create a comprehensive list of adept powers abilities and maybe even character qualities.
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