this is not a replacement for the current system but a discussion about a possible alternative if one is ever needed, which doesn't need maguses and schools
Current system: Schools & Magi
In this system, there's a set list of spells, taught by an individual master to students they approve of until the students reach the point where they can educate others.
Pros:
+ Clearly defined abilities & limitations
+ Simple hierarchical structure
Cons:
- Clique-prone
- Many points of failure in the chain. If a magic character doesn't take students or a magus character becomes inactive, the system stalls out or fails.
I've been thinking on it a bit, and I'd like to propose a different system: Thaumism.
Thaumism:
In this system, there are no schools and no teachers. Instead, the focus is on figuring out ways to improve one's Thaumic Rating, which informs them and others of the capability of Reality Adjustment they can perform.
Reality Adjustment is the "magic" mechanic, in which a person temporarily modifies reality to some other state. For instance, changing the temperature in their local area by a few degrees or reverting minor wounds to health, perhaps making your surface thoughts audible to listeners as if you spoke them at normal volume. At medium levels you can turn invoking a spark into invoking a fireball. At high levels, this might include wide-area air pressure adjustment to summon storms, snapping the temperature of an object so low it shatters, or willing a new limb into existence for an amputee.
In Thaumism, the Baseline of the world is at 1 Thaum, and reality adjustment becomes possible at increasingly high differentials from the current Thaumic baseline. Someone with a Thaumic Rating of 5 has a differential of 4 Thaums over the baseline and thus can perform acts within this range of power.
This system is self-balancing. Every time you adjust reality, the thaumic differential lowers in response because you've now asserted a higher baseline rating as a result of your adjustment. This means low-differential users have a built-in limit to their performance, and high-differential casters can choose between many small adjustments or few major ones. This mirrors the mana point or spell limit system but does not require an overwatch authority.
As a side effect: Because adjustments are limited by distance (greater differential means larger potential area of effect), you end up with casters being able to simply go somewhere else to continue casting if necessary, and create "thaumic wells" in the world where massive casting forces smaller casting within its area where the baseline rating keeps going up as only more powerful casters can keep going. This opens options for items that discharge the increased thaumic rating in the area and lower it back to 1.
Thaumic adjustment to higher ratings will fall back over time as a natural result of entropy, with higher ratings falling back down faster towards 1 Thaum asymptotically.
How would such a system be implemented? Easily enough with a plugin that takes differential spent and formulaically and performs all these background adjustments.
Because magic is done through applying some level of differential, it's easy enough to establish baseline effects for what a differential value or interval can actually do, and then let players out into the world to discuss amongst themselves what other effects have equal or similar effect, submit it to the forums, and add it to some maintained and growing list of what each differential can do.
Let's take a look at a hypothetical basic list of differential effects:
0.1-1 Thaum Diff:
Brighten or dim colors in a 1m area
Raise or lower temperature in a 1m^2 area by 5C
Create a mild breeze around your person for 1 minute
Create a lighter flame for 30 seconds on the tip of your finger with no ill effects
Erase a bruise or other mild abrasion
Create a display no larger than 1m on a side of firefly lights for 1 minute
Enhance your voice to twice its normal volume
1.1-2 Thaum:
Create a finger-sized flame for 30 seconds, and direct it within your line of sight at a slow speed
Modify the temperature in a 5m^2 area by 5C
Give your voice equal volume in a 30 meter range in front of you
Create a gust from your hand (as if you were holding a dryer)
Create defined shapes out of light
Create a vivid burst of light or sound within 5m of your person, able to dazzle the unprepared
Expend 1 thaumic differential point to cancel out a 1-Thaum adjustment
etc
Pros:
+System is decentralized and doesn't rely on maguses
+System is fully freeform
+System self-adjusts for major effects similarly to points systems to prevent too much major work in one area
+Side-along items and structures let people build other things. For example, anchors that raise the Thaumic Rating higher than most people can cast so the differential is either too low or negative, preventing magic in the anchor's area. Similarly, sinks which pull the rating back down faster and allow more frequent or more dramatic casting.
+More creative people can exercise more creative abilities, rewarding those with good ideas
Cons:
-Not as simple to wrap your head around as spell lists
-Freeform nature may lead to disputes if a novel magic is attempted with no comparison in its differential range
-Proper implementation requires a plugin to define radii of effect
This is largely a first draft. Thoughts?
Current system: Schools & Magi
In this system, there's a set list of spells, taught by an individual master to students they approve of until the students reach the point where they can educate others.
Pros:
+ Clearly defined abilities & limitations
+ Simple hierarchical structure
Cons:
- Clique-prone
- Many points of failure in the chain. If a magic character doesn't take students or a magus character becomes inactive, the system stalls out or fails.
I've been thinking on it a bit, and I'd like to propose a different system: Thaumism.
Thaumism:
In this system, there are no schools and no teachers. Instead, the focus is on figuring out ways to improve one's Thaumic Rating, which informs them and others of the capability of Reality Adjustment they can perform.
Reality Adjustment is the "magic" mechanic, in which a person temporarily modifies reality to some other state. For instance, changing the temperature in their local area by a few degrees or reverting minor wounds to health, perhaps making your surface thoughts audible to listeners as if you spoke them at normal volume. At medium levels you can turn invoking a spark into invoking a fireball. At high levels, this might include wide-area air pressure adjustment to summon storms, snapping the temperature of an object so low it shatters, or willing a new limb into existence for an amputee.
In Thaumism, the Baseline of the world is at 1 Thaum, and reality adjustment becomes possible at increasingly high differentials from the current Thaumic baseline. Someone with a Thaumic Rating of 5 has a differential of 4 Thaums over the baseline and thus can perform acts within this range of power.
This system is self-balancing. Every time you adjust reality, the thaumic differential lowers in response because you've now asserted a higher baseline rating as a result of your adjustment. This means low-differential users have a built-in limit to their performance, and high-differential casters can choose between many small adjustments or few major ones. This mirrors the mana point or spell limit system but does not require an overwatch authority.
As a side effect: Because adjustments are limited by distance (greater differential means larger potential area of effect), you end up with casters being able to simply go somewhere else to continue casting if necessary, and create "thaumic wells" in the world where massive casting forces smaller casting within its area where the baseline rating keeps going up as only more powerful casters can keep going. This opens options for items that discharge the increased thaumic rating in the area and lower it back to 1.
Thaumic adjustment to higher ratings will fall back over time as a natural result of entropy, with higher ratings falling back down faster towards 1 Thaum asymptotically.
How would such a system be implemented? Easily enough with a plugin that takes differential spent and formulaically and performs all these background adjustments.
Because magic is done through applying some level of differential, it's easy enough to establish baseline effects for what a differential value or interval can actually do, and then let players out into the world to discuss amongst themselves what other effects have equal or similar effect, submit it to the forums, and add it to some maintained and growing list of what each differential can do.
Let's take a look at a hypothetical basic list of differential effects:
0.1-1 Thaum Diff:
Brighten or dim colors in a 1m area
Raise or lower temperature in a 1m^2 area by 5C
Create a mild breeze around your person for 1 minute
Create a lighter flame for 30 seconds on the tip of your finger with no ill effects
Erase a bruise or other mild abrasion
Create a display no larger than 1m on a side of firefly lights for 1 minute
Enhance your voice to twice its normal volume
1.1-2 Thaum:
Create a finger-sized flame for 30 seconds, and direct it within your line of sight at a slow speed
Modify the temperature in a 5m^2 area by 5C
Give your voice equal volume in a 30 meter range in front of you
Create a gust from your hand (as if you were holding a dryer)
Create defined shapes out of light
Create a vivid burst of light or sound within 5m of your person, able to dazzle the unprepared
Expend 1 thaumic differential point to cancel out a 1-Thaum adjustment
etc
Pros:
+System is decentralized and doesn't rely on maguses
+System is fully freeform
+System self-adjusts for major effects similarly to points systems to prevent too much major work in one area
+Side-along items and structures let people build other things. For example, anchors that raise the Thaumic Rating higher than most people can cast so the differential is either too low or negative, preventing magic in the anchor's area. Similarly, sinks which pull the rating back down faster and allow more frequent or more dramatic casting.
+More creative people can exercise more creative abilities, rewarding those with good ideas
Cons:
-Not as simple to wrap your head around as spell lists
-Freeform nature may lead to disputes if a novel magic is attempted with no comparison in its differential range
-Proper implementation requires a plugin to define radii of effect
This is largely a first draft. Thoughts?
