Icathian Magic

Fire Magic

- creating and manipulating the element of Fire

- spells can have penalties to cast in cold conditions, may be impossible if underwater or without air

- warning: things may catch on fire when using spells of this school ;)

- when a spell effect seems to come from a certain body part, it is protected from fire... but don't you push there anything else

- special effect: Firelings@

Cantrips:

Spark (ignites very flammable material - paper, oil; may ignite other stuff)

Flaming Finger (puts a small flame on your finger for a short time ~3rounds; no damage)

Boom (creates a firecracker, loud bang if thrown)

Adrenaline (boosts movement speed for one round)

Scorch (burns one easily flammable small item - paper, etc - without smoke or flame)

Cook (warms up food - enough for one instant soup :) )

Comfort (looking into a campfire, the target(s) are comforted by the playful presence of a flame. Can be also a distracting spell.)

Warm Bed (makes the blankets or whatever sleeping arrangement warm in just the way the caster likes it)

Extra Socks (warms up one's feet, a great comfort during winter)

Walk on Fire (or on coals at least, this magic is in some form known to many mystics)

Spells:

Haste | success rounds of double speed (initiative)

Fire* | starts a fire, or causes some damage to a person

Fireball* | minor radius, causes more damage to the people hit by it

Wall of Fire* | a massive but short-lived effect, unless there is fuel to keep up the fire, causes damage for a few rounds, can last for more as normal fire. Caster is not protected from the spell after the first round.

Smoker | an existing fire is made to explode, minor damage only; creates a cloud of smoke and ashes choking and disorienting those inside, causes subdual for residing within the cloud.

Flaming Dart* | throwing a small flammable object, it starts to burn slightly, attempts to hit designated target, and goes out in a small explosion

Explosive charge* | a small sort-of-grenade, stays stable for up to success rounds, will detonate shortly afterwards; or if it's roughly handled

Hot Feet* | target starts to have hot feet, and needs to jump around to get rid of the feeling, or resist the spell

Heat* | target item or person starts to get warmer and warmer; after some time will flammable materials start to burn, others will crack and even melt eventually. Range: touch. Target is not damaged if living.

Control Fire | allows to control the movement of fire

Walk through the Fire | reduces damage from fire-based effects for success rounds according to the magic used

Fire Shield | protects against cold according to the magic used

Cold Magic

- creates or manipulates the effect of cold

- spells can have penalties to cast if it is hot

- cold mages sometimes specialize as artists with ice sculptures

- a famous Protect Ice spell variant was some 30 years ago used for forging diamonds, still well known

Cantrips:

Ice Cube (makes a small amount of ice out of water)

Cool (creates a cool feeling :) , often used on food, not directly on living targets; if cast on a liquid, it will be very refreshing if it is hot)

Gloves (protects hands against the cold effects of common snow and ice and the like, for a short time - ideal for a little snow-fight. Ice is not slippery to the hands for the duration.)

Meld Ice (helps in forming ice and snow nicely, ice sculptures can be easily made so)

Gooseflesh (gives target goosebumps, great for those campfire stories)

Run on Ice (helps one to tolerate cold more)

Spells

Ice* | creates lots of ice of water

Shape Ice | creates any icy shape out of a mass of ice (or water, if combined with the spell above)

Chill Portal | 'locks' a portal, deals minor damage to the person/creature passing through. The caster may be alerted of the event.

Freeze body | slows target down, adds to protection, partially resistant to cold damage

Protect Ice 1* | protect ice from thawing for a time

Protect Ice 2* | as 1, makes ice harder and not wet

Move Cold | makes an area colder at the expense of another. 2 MPs are for a +/- 10 K temperature change in a 5x5x5 yard cube.

Walk on Ice | works as 'Walk on Fire' from Fire Magic, protects from cold.

Cold Shield | works as 'Fire Shield' from Fire Magic, consumes potential fire damage

Light Magic

- the caster is protected from any bright light his own spells create, the skill can help resisting other similar effects

- note that all spells and effects are included in the priestly school of 'Holy Light', as this school is derived from it

Cantrips:

Flashlight (light shines from the index finger, until concentration is broken, at most 1 hour)

Glow (target item or person glows with a chosen color, only willing targets)

Sunglasses (protects eyes against effects of light, confers a bonus of +1)

Spells:

Light* | produces light

The Light at hand* | a similar, but portable light, follows caster or his mental directions

Sunburst* | blinds for up to success rounds, potentially causing minor damage; larger effect on undead

Darksight | target is able see at night as if it were evening, for up to success hours

Mirror Sight | 1+ | Easy | improves seeing via reflective surfaces. Either one can see more clearly what is being reflected, or one can see further, even with the help of more surfaces. It is said a master of Light Magic could check his whole tower with a single sight.

School of Defense and Protection

- obviously, it creates various defensive effects, concentrating more on the physical protection, but also on other effects

- a collection of varied spells that has sadly lost much of its philosophical background. The spells are used by everyone, the school has no dedicated followers today.

Cantrips:

Shield (creates a small buckler shield, vanishes after first violent blow or ~10 minutes; may consume a little damage doing that)

Ward Area (can ward a small area against 'threats' like minor insects and rodents, or dust)

Umbrella (protects caster against rain for up to one hour, must not break concentration for more than a round)

Veer (makes one thrown or rolling object veer to the left or right)

Slip (Makes someone's feet slippery for an instant, or a small area)

Spells:

Shield | a field of energy protects the target's fore against spells, can be renewed at any time while the original spell lasts. Can also absorb physical damage.

Indestructible Object* | imbues an item with supernatural hardness

Impregnable Wall* | Give a wall or barrier spell immunity, and minor bonus against direct damage.

Stoneskin* | makes your skin harder, duh; consumes some of the power of attacks

Rubber Man | makes body rubber-like, aids in defense against blunt weapons

Extinguish Fire | Snuff out flames.

Flying Bandage | throwing a bandage or piece of cloth to a wounded target, it will wrap itself around the wounds

Fog Magic

- creating and manipulating the fog phenomenon

- often a long casting time, depending on the conditions, the effects can have a long duration, too

- see Fog Magic@ for a full write-up, this School is actually a single (albeit diffilcut) spell of Water Magic

Cantrips:

- Dampen (dampens a small area)

Spells:

Create Fog* | creates fog; casting time and result depends on the conditions

Move Fog* | creates currents in the fog; - || -

Shape Fog* | gives the fog a shape; - || -

Water Magic

- the Art of manipulating the essence of water

- the spells DO NOT create water, it is taken from elsewhere, small amounts can come from atmospheric vapours, larger effects require an actual water source nearby

Cantrips

- Squeeze (mystically drains water out of an item - for non-living materials only)

- Solid Water (keeps a small volume of water in a tight shape, for as long as the caster holds it in his hands; not larger than a palm in any dimension)

- Dampen (dampens a small area)

- Filter (a handful of water is made drinkable; the taste may remain)

- Puddle (a tiny puddle is created on the floor, enough to make somebody slip, or make it seem like a 'product' of some animal)

- Ripple (creates a ripple on a liquid surface)

Spells:

Hold Water* | keeps a volume of water in a certain shape

Hold Water* | keeps a volume of water in a certain shape. Also, the 'outside' part maintains its shape. So it is for example possible to pull a cube of a lake, creating a hole in the water that lasts up to an hour.

Condense water | cast on a fitting area, water will more willingly condense on it

Camel | improves a creature's organisms water economy, helping it to last longer without water

Filter | produces pure, drinkable water basically out of any drinkable source. The taste can be miserable, but it is safe.

Unstable Ground | if the situation allows it, an area of the ground becomes more wet. Soil may become muddier, rock slippery, etc. May be used for agricultural purposes, but more often it is a defensive measure, that causes the enemy to loose footing.

Liquefy | turns a solid material into its more liquid version. The density stays the same, but it is much more malleable now.

Wave* | creates or enhances a wave on a liquid surface

Calm* | calms down a liquid surface

Jack creation

- the lost art@ of creating golemic creatures. Records indicate it was very favoured in the past.

Illusion Magic

- consult Illusions (http://www.strolen.com/guild/index.php/topic,2111.0.html)

- while actually priestly magic, it can be learned by 'common' wizards, as the spells

- most effects can be created with the School itself, but there are specific spells as well

- it is possible to create specialised skills that aid with some aspects only - like sound, feeling, etc

- illusions are much easier to see through in direct sunlight

- priests cannot learn spells from the school of Healing

- Bless: no Bless spell

- Curse: Gullible (target has a tendency to believe anything said; can only be cast by priests)

It can be hard to tell the difference between actual priests and other magic users that merely employ Illusion Magic: priests may those, that embrace the philosophy and apply it in their lives. While there is no difference in game mechanics, priests sometimes produce illusions that are a bit... more real than usual.

Cantrips - many Illusion cantrips

- see Cover@ cantrips

Spells:

Numbing Darkness | only effective in darkness - makes it scary and downright paralysing, victims falling prey to the spell are afraid to even move

Darksight | same as the spell of Light Magic, lasts longer

Shadow Spy | see what a certain shadow could observe

Mirror Sight | similar to the Light Magic variant, duration: success rounds

Healing

- note: this school of magic is NOT available to each spell casting character, details depend on the game world. It is available to many priests, though.

- it is not bound to a specific deity

- unless noted otherwise, all spells require touch, and some concentration

Cantrips:

Only a Scratch (used on a tiny wound, it is closed; it would take several cantrips to heal 1 damage worth)

Adrenaline (boosts movement speed for one round)

Erase (minor scars, wrinkles, or tattoos may vanish, depending on how long they have been a part of the person)

Spark (Usually with a pat on target's back, and well-chosen words, saddened or depressed people will cheer up for a moment. Normal people can easily cross over to rude.)

Spells:

Cure Light Wounds* | heals target a little

Cure Serious Wounds* | heals target more

Weaken Poison* | Reduce damage from toxins.

Neutralize Poison* | May neutralize poison completely if cast quickly enough.

Cure Disease | (needs guidelines!)

Mend Bone | strengthtens a weakened or broken bone (it should be held correctly before); too much strain can break the spell and the leg!

Doping | improves target's physical characteristics for a time, the consequences will be suffered later

Spells of the Path

- priestly magic bound to the deity Magros

- many spells have to be cast outside, or even on the road directly, often with at least some wind present

- Bless: stronger variants need to be cast outside; confer luck and protection on the road, may cause some wanderlust as a side effect

- Curse: Loose the Path - the target is cursed with an inability to orientate oneself

- a priest is able to learn spells from the school of Healing (and these too may cause minor wanderlust)

Cantrips:

Static charge (a weak bolt, victim will be plagued by static electricity)

Zap (weak bolt, does a bit of subdual damage)

Marbles (summons a handful of marbles from the surrounding)

Sharpen (sharpens a small tool)

Dust (removes or adds dust from/to a small area)

Protection from Dust (makes breathing in dusty enviroments easier)

Flicker (it creates a faint motion in the air, just enough to attract attention and distract people)

Adrenaline (boosts movement speed for one round)

Spells:

Dust Cloud | needs dust around, wind produces a thick cloud that is hard to see (and breath) through, caster or target can breathe freely, diffilcuty rises for more targets; note that the dust has to settle on its own

Haste | as the Fire Magic variant, works 2*success rounds

Carrier | cast on a single person or draft animal, target gets more strength for carrying purposes. May be only cast outside.

Gone With The Wind* | Wind carries target away, has to be unencumbered. Casting time and effect depend on enviroment conditions; may be only cast outside. Watch your feet when landing.

Fly* | allows flight

Hands of the Wind | wind blows out the caster's hands, won't blow anyone away, but dust and leaves do fly.

Far Sight | very distant objects can be seen, as target's sight dramatically improves

Storm Seeker | immunity against lightning, even natural lightning; may be only cast outside.

Lost* | victim becomes lost, cannot find way for a time period depending on its familiarity with surroundings and help

Confusion* | a shorter but more powerful effect

Finding the Path | a strong boost to the orientation sense

Magic of the Hearth

- priestly magic associated with the deity Geryon, the priests are called Father and Mother

- important item: Pildun Bowl@

- can learn spells from the school of Healing, no bonus to casting, though

- can learn spells from the school of Fire, no bonus to casting, though (this should be a little known and little used option)

- Bless: helps target with inter-personal relations; but also helps with crafts and agriculture

- Curse: Outcast - dramatically lowers the chances to function normally in society; victim becomes repulsive and untrustworthy to others

Cantrips:

Bump (on natural earth, can trip people)

Marbles (summons a handful of marbles from the surrounding)

Sharpen (sharpens a small tool)

Freshen (makes food or vegetation fresh, can be reverted to Spoil)

Polite(Vaxum): one creature stays polite to the caster for as long as the caster is polite to him or until both parties are out of visual range, the character does not act differently from his/her nature, but it causes them not to be rude - attacking would be. A cruel character might for example politely tell the caster in great detail how he will crush his bones, but strangely will not do so for the spells duration.

Repel Rodents (best cast in storage rooms, multiple times if necessary, lasts hours, can last much longer (up to months) if combined with a potent blessing)

Comfort (looking into fire, target(s) will feel comforted; can be also a distracting spell)

Spells:

Tale of the Flame | gains limited insight from the fire (or ashes) on the activities that happened around it

Reveal Fire | Detect flames unblocked by water. Long range.

Extinguish Fire | Snuff out flames. Not a fast spell!

Sense Mood | senses the mood of a group or individual

Warming Words* | cast when speaking to somebody; target has a feeling of warmth, and is calmed down, easier if touching target

Word of Comfort* | 1/target | Easy | calms down a group

Protection from Fire | no personal protection - it is a ritual to protect houses from catching on fire (lowers the chances)

Smoker | as the Fire Magic variant, larger range

The Holy Light

- priestly magic associated with the deity Heliol

- the caster is protected from any bright light his spells create, skill can help resisting other bright light effects

- can freely learn and cast all spells from the School of Light; receives a bonus of 1 to all spells if in direct sunlight

- can learn spells from the school of Healing, no bonus to casting, though

- some spells may be only cast while there is daylight, or even direct sunlight

- Bless: produces light, wards against undead creatures

- Curse: Blind - blinds target

Cantrips:

Shine (removes tarnish, rust, corrosion, etc.)

Repel Dirt (so you have always clean clothes)

Spark (can ignite light sources, like torches, oil, and the like)

Sunglasses (protects eyes against effects of light)

Spells:

Sunburst* | same as the variant from the School of Light, twice the range and effect

Shining Example | courage-inspiring spell. A speech, shout, or a particular heroic deed is necessary for it to work.

Light of Heavens | a minor healing effect in a small radius, requires daylight. Heals a little everyone joining the prayer.

The Bright Sun | Sunlight focuses more on target(s). No damage (unless undead or similar) but very uncomfortable. Long range.

Compel Testimony | Require truthful answers. Needs strong light or daylight.

Death Sense | Sense the presence of corpses.

Lethal Weapon | detects if a certain weapon was used for killing a person. Daytime only.

Thief's Bane | protects item against theft

Nature's Way

- priestly magic associated with the deity Artemia

- a priest can learn and cast spells of the School of Healing with the help of this skill (note that one can become a most effective healer)

- some spells can be cast only in free nature, or receive a bonus when done so

- Bless: may remove fatigue or even heal; can increase fertility and hair-growth; makes animals more friendly to target

- Curse: Repulsive to Nature - mostly to animals, but partly also to plants (the person would be a bad farmer, having the 'brown thumb')

Cantrips:

Hide Footprints (hides own tracks for a short time)

Sprout (Accelerates growth of plants. Seeds shoot forth tiny plants. Newly sprouted plants grow an inch or so. Buds flower. Fruit and vegetables ripen or even spoil.)

Hairy (Causes hair, fur, or fur-like growth to thicken and lengthen. Must be trimmed or cut to remove effect. Can be reversed to shorten growth or effectively shave, effect on short growth is complete absence of growth for 2-11 days.)

Bird Attack (calls on a bird to drop *something* on a target. Very insidious.)

Gloves (isolates hands from whatever they are touching, for instance a sick person)

Tangle (for shoelaces, purse strings, but also grass, vines, etc. Makes a very difficult knot to untie.)

Serpent Charm (the cantrip counter to tangle, it unravels tangles of laces, hair, rope, twine, etc with little trouble)

Spells:

Detect Life chain:

Sense Life* | estimate if a body is still alive, or not

Sense Living* | scans an area for signs of life, for instance a battlefield

Feel* | caster slowly attunes to a living creature, and feels its health; helps in determining the ailment

Find Lifeform* | a long range scan for a life-form of a given type

Squirrel Climb | become an adept climber, even better on natural surfaces (like wood)

Swarm | if available, calls upon many insects to harass target

Wood Shape* | can shape wood almost like clay

Harden Wood* | makes wood much harder

Razor Grass | grass turns to knife-like sharpness and slashes at legs of those passing through it

Woodland Sight | see freely through leaves and twigs

Make tracks | creates fake tracks

Hide* | creates a hideout in nature given some time and materials

Alter tracks* | target leaves different tracks

Water Pearl | - see the Fresh Water Giving Pearl@ from Sigurd

Hedge Magic

- the minor magics of rural spellcasters

- see Dragon Lord's Folk Magic@

- see also Magical Pottery@

- and see School of Midwifery@, some of the basic spells may find their way to wise old midwives

Cantrips

- many! (for examples, see this list@)

Mend ('heals' all pieces of an item together if they are present, for broken things, etc.)

Sharpen (makes small items sharper)

Stick for a moment (Makes something stick like glue for a second or three. Great for gags and causing falls.)

Stick (two objects are bound like they are glued by conventional glue)

Speed (makes one faster at those boring, monotonous tasks, like weaving or mowing)

Spells:

Kiln Croft | Estimates heat accurately.

Craftsman's Eye | Estimates the dimensions (sizes) accurately.

Empower Tool | makes a given tool 'lucky'. It must be a personal tool, and the luck is granted for the craft the tool is designed for (and the caster is familiar with).

...and more.

Alchemy (in process)

To create a potion or something else, the Alchymyst has simply to mix the required ingredients in the required way. But how does it really work?

Components:

- the key ingredient(s) - this is what actually focuses the magic, it must be a special representative material of the effect to be achieved. There are often several key ingredients, one is but usually most prominent. For instance, the classical healing potions are said to be made of quality wine (plus a few healing herbs, and other stuff). Without the key ingredient(s), it simply wouldn't work, but they are often experimented with for improving the effect or lowering the cost. Quality of these is very important.

- side components - for the sake of game comfort, these are overlooked and pushed into one bag. So if a recipe says 'add 2 ounces of side components', there actually are strange roots, herbs, and insects, but are considered neglible. These components have a very small effect on the focus, but have other important functions, like stabilising the brew, make it last longer, or simply improve the flavour.

- raw mana - yes, raw magic itself: a recipe often needs more magic than is in its other ingredients. Magic has a tendency to bind itself to some materials more than to others. From these it is therefore extracted and stored in a raw form, described as an amorphous and colourless slimy something (but touching with bare hands is not recommended... ).

Common resources of raw magic like the root of mandragora or dragon eggs are distilled, the mana of various descent then mixed together, to lower the focus. A waiting period of 'maturing' is also recommended, to further lower the residual focus and prevent it from interfering with the experiment. (Note that in Alchemy, everything is an experiment.)

Sadly, raw mana cannot be permanently stored, for it slowly looses the binding and becomes free magic again. The process seems to halve the amount of mana in regular intervals, more is not known. But one of the most important skills of alchymysts is prolonging the life of their mana, and it is for this reason they leave so seldom their laboratories. Should an alchymyst try adventuring, it is not practical to carry too much on his persona. First, it has weight (yes, this magic has weight!), and second, he must attend to this treasure in often hostile enviroment. It is also said to attract some monsters...