Magic

What is the nature of MAGIC?

Magic shouldn't be explained. If it made sense, it would be science. Magic is mysterious. Indeed, it may even be said that magic is mystery itself.

The Midian Role-playing Game makes no attempt to explain the inner workings of magic. To do so would subtract from what makes it so intriguing. This is one of the reasons that most of the mystical effects in Midian are based on real-world occultic beliefs. By taking the inspiration for spells from medieval manuscripts and modern occult books, we keep magic from becoming the cheesy bullshit that it is in so many games. Magic in Midian is developed the way it is in thaumaturgical belief structures: things work simply because they work. Someone way back noticed that keeping a lock of hair from the one that you desire seemed to help gain their affection. Certain symbols and exclamations seemed to cause certain things to be more likely to occur. By a process of trial-and-error, these findings have been collated into more reliable magic.

There are no rules in Midian for number-of-spells-per-day, or for Willpower costs for using magic. Having such rules makes even less sense than having magic work, well, magically. I can understand game designers wanting to work in rules for game balance. They don't want everyone who plays their game to always take the wizard class & fireball everything in their path. By removing any artificial game balance from Midian, we have placed total control of the scope & power of magic (and the players) in the Game Masters' hands. Right where it fucking belongs.

Within the game, there are many theories among loremasters about how magic works: influence from the divine or infernal, psionics, 'mana,' unknown laws-of-physics, or extra-planar energies. Whether any of these are true (possibly none, possibly all), will be quite difficult to determine for the inhabitants of the game world.

Magic being the fickle thing that it is, the Game Master has total control over the exact result of a magical attempt. No rules are given for this, as that subtracts from both the mysterious nature of magic, and from the Game Master's control over his or her individual game.

Runes and Sorcery

Both Rune Magic and Sorcery have similar elements. Both utilise symbols to create magical effects. These symbols are the same for both forms of magic, and a clever wizard who knows both can convert a spell learned as one method to another. Runes are the written/carved forms of spells, and sorcery is the spoken/gestured form.

Runes are created from basic glyphs that are combined to form a much more complicated character that creates a magical effect. The simple characters are essentially nouns, verbs, or modifiers that form a sort of magical sentence. These simpler are 'stacked' onto each other similar to how the Futhark language combined letter-runes into a name-rune. It is possible for a mage to learn just the simple runes--and combine them as needed, or learn ready-made effects (or both). There are various languages for runes--Lunaruen being the Elven example. Different rune-languages are usually incompatible.

Sorcery in its simplest form is simply tracing runes in the air while invoking their names. The simple word-components of runes and sorcerous spells have shorter descriptive names that are usually the first syllable or two of their true name. The longer true names are often called power words. By combining the power words with the appropriate gestures (such as drawing the symbols in the air), the spell-effect is created. As with runes, there are different magical languages.

Both forms of magic are performed by a ritual. Without the ritual, there is no magic. In other words, you can draw a magical symbol in a spell book for reference, but it will not be inherently magical. Lunaruen is a notable exception in that any spell inscribed in this language will be magical--this makes writing instructional texts difficult. Rituals may include other words or gestures, require specific materials, or nearly anything else--even a sacrifice. There are many theories about how magic works. One of them is that the ritual (including the spoken/words or gestures) enables the wizard to perform the mental gymnastics that actually accomplish the magic that affects reeality.

Mystic Laws

Different thaumaturgical truisms have been postulated over the centuries. These basically codify & describe the components of a magical ritual. The more of these laws that are utilised in a ritual, the more effective the magic tends to be.

The Law of Alchemy

--The attributes without mirror the powers within

Magical power is derived from natural associations: feathers for flight, fish scales for breathing water, or glass for sight enhancement.

The Law of Assistance

--The world is the shared dream of all

Having additional helpers/chanters/participants provide a stronger collective will.

The Law of Association

--As above, so below

This is perhaps the most important law, being reflected in most of the others. Magical effects are created by the ritual showing the association between different items. For example, drawing a smile on a love-poppet to ensure that the resulting relationship will be a happy one.

The Law of Contagion

--Once together, always together

This law means that things 'remember' their associations to others. For example an object favoured by someone could be used to cast a spell on that person. Continuing with the love-poppet, placing the desired person's hair or nail-clippings in the doll creates a bond between the poppet and the actual person.

The Law of the Sun

--The sun shines down on all

This is simply that any source of energy--even kinetic, as with a waterfall--can provide the power that fuels a magical effect. Fire is used in many rituals, but any source of energy can be--such as the tying action of a knot to 'bind' the wind.

The Law of Intent

--Desire fuels all actions

Without an active will to affect the world, no magic will happen. In other words, a computer program could not cast spells.

The Law of Names

--To Name a thing is to own a thing

Naming something is to define it and gain a form of control over it. This is what knowing a demon's true name is all about. The more you know about the target of your magic, the greater chance that you can affect it.

The Law of Rule

--Dominance or submission

When two or more wills are attempting to assert the same influence in different ways, one of them must dominate the other before any magical effect can occur. This makes direct-influence spells more problematic than those with an indirect effect. For example, if you want to stop someone from pursuing you, casting a spell that paralyzes their legs would be more difficult than causing their bootlaces to tie themselves together.

The Law of Sacrifice

--Greater loss is greater gain

Simply put, the greater personal loss to the mage, the greater the magical effect. For example, burning a blank page from a spellbook would have less of an effect than burning one that had a favoured spell written on it.

The Law of Sympathy

--Like produces like

This is the association of a small action with a larger one. For example breaking a twig as part of a spell to cause someone's bones to shatter.

Familiars

There are essentially three types of familiars: normal animals (which may be magically augmented), demonic familiars, and demonically-possessed familiars (which is actually an option for either of the other two varieties--you may find a body for your demon to inhabit, or conjure a demon to augment--by possession--your normal familiar.

Demonic familiars are usually bound servants. Rarely will one offer its services to a mage. Faust & Mephistopheles is a good cautionary tale there--another is the Elric saga with its anti-hero & demonic blade. With these the phrase "nothing for nothing" definitely applies.

Normal familiars are by far the most common. These are normal--but special--animals that are linked to a wizard by a ritual similar to the Blood Bonding Ritual. Like that rite, the process works both ways--the mage is also linked to the familiar. The linking magic allows both to understand each other; just bear in mind the differences in thought processes between animal and sentient--your toad cannot carry on much of a conversation. The communication is on a very primitive level--think guide-dog.

Another benefit of linking to an animal familiar is that its normal senses are mystically augmented, allowing it to sense supernatural evil (gains that trait). Each will feel great discomfort experienced by the other, albeit at a greatly reduced level. Familiars also automatically gain a level whenever their wizard does.

Familiars (of all varieties) may be enhanced by various rituals & spells. These may allow the familiar to speak, assist with magic, share sensory information, or convey magical effects to the wizards victims.

Familiar animals are special; it is said that the familiar chooses the mage at least as much as the wizard chooses the animal. The primary benefit that a familiar brings is companionship.

Interchangeability of Magical Terms

There may be some confusion about the terminology used to describe users of magic. The various terms are often used interchangeably with one another. The following should help clear things up a bit.

Mage or Wizard: these terms are universal for all serious users of magic. The two words are essentially synonymous, although the title of Wizard more properly denotes one with great power.

Summoner: this refers to someone who specializes in conjuring up spirits, entities, demons, or other helpers.

Conjurer: This term is typically synonymous with Summoner, but can be equally applied to a trickster/stage magician type of magic-user.

How to create your own spells for Midian

New spells may be created by simple trial-and-error. For simple effects, creating a spell 'on the fly' has a lessened chance of going awry (assuming the mage knows the appropriate simple symbols). Complicated or powerful effects should be worked out before hand and learned as a definate effect. For example, knowing the symbols for altering, appearance, and colours, might allow a mage to change the colour of her outfit by creating the effect without knowing a 'change the colour of clothes' spell. However, a spell that would allow her to alter her height could be disastrous if done without being first worked on during controlled circumstances.

Just as you cannot put too much water in a nuclear reactor, a role-playing game cannot have too much magic.
1. Get an actual book on rituals (support those poor blokes that are trying to market something that the mass-market doesn't approve of; just try to get something published, much less sold)
2. Find a spell that you want to use & write it up with any needed description & game mechanics
3. Convince your Game Master to allow it
4. Repeat steps 1-3 as needed
5. Realize that the only book on magic worth reading is "The Cat in the Hat"
6. Realize that you wasted several years of your life getting a degree in thaumaturgy
Ok, so steps 5 & 6 are optional, but you can easily increase your wizards repertoire. As an added plus, you have abilities that are unique to your character.