Old Cogitation Passive Abilities:
Trance Abilities
level 1 - Basic Trance - At this level, the mage has barely learned to get into a meditative state of mind. At this level, a trance can be broken if the mage does anything else. Also, loud noises, being bumped or otherwise physically interacted with, or any other mild distractions are enough to force a mage out of the trance. The first ability the mage learns outside of casting spells is the ability to mentally control the speed of his heartbeat and his metabolism. Mechanically, this allows the mage to spend a day per level longer than the norm without food and water before dying of hunger/thirst. Also, the mage can slow his heartbeat in order to slow how quickly he loses blood through his wounds. A mage in a trance can stay alive 1.5 times longer at level 1, 2 times longer at level 2, 3 at 3, ect ect.
level 2 - this level allows a mage to make simple movements like walking and picking up/setting down objects while holding a trance. General annoyance and discomfort doesn't break a trance, but pain of any sort will. The mage at this stage learns how to read the auras of people and supernatural objects. The way mages see auras are different depending on the mage, but with time and training they begin to understand what the different colors and patterns mean to them. These colors and patterns tell the mage two things - 1, the current emotion of the aura's owner (such as blue for sad, red for angry) and 2, possible supernatural influences on the owner of the aura ( swirling patterns for a person protected by a spell, a pale shade covering the aura of someone currently being controlled by another force). This ability cannot tell you the specifics of any supernatural effect, only its presence. Example - A person tainted by grief may have an aura with dark veins pulsing. However, the mage in trance can only see that a dark power is influencing their aura, not the specifics of the taint or Queen Grief. Thus, a person that has been bestowed a blessing by Kilrox and someone tainted with Grief would give off the same aura.
level 3 - Advanced Trance - The trance at this point can be sustained through pain, though massive trauma, such as losing a limb, body engulfed in fire, being eaten alive by a swarm of angry rats, will still break concentration. This level of trance also allows the mage to create a schism in his mind. The schism is essentially having the willpower to separate both halves of the brain and allow them to work independently of each other. the mechanical benefit of this is that the mage can now cast and hold spells with one half while preforming advanced actions with the other (attacking, defending, running, complex fine manipulation of objects, writing, speaking, ect). You cannot use this ability to cast two spells at the same time, as the combined mental drain is too much for a mind to handle and will result in brain damage as though the mage casted one spell more than he had available in a day. Also, due to the reduced mental capacity given to cast spells, spells of the highest level the mage can normally use are uncastable during a schism. Fianlly, staying in a schism for any real length of time is dangerous. Mages that stay in a schism for longer than a few minutes at a time (equivalent to a simple combat - long sieges and multiple group combats are too long) run the risk of developing split personality disorder. A schism performed by a mage with split personality disorder cannot control the actions performed by one of the halves (roll 1d2 - 1 is any spellcasting available, 2 is everything else). The rogue personality immediately tries to sever the connection with his other half, doing everything he can to physically split his shared body in two. (use rules concerning abuse of magic to determine when a SPD occurs)
level 4 - Indomitable Will - at this point, the mage can take any amount of damage and not lose his trance. In addition, while in a trance a mage does not suffer the effects of pain, emotion, most forms of poison, ect. Note that this does not negate any damage, simply that the mage doesn't have to deal with the mental effects of such. Example - A level 4 mage while in a trance gets his left arm cut off. The arm is gone and the arm is bleeding (though at a reduced rate due to his level 1 ability) but the pain is ignored and the mage can go right into his next spell without skipping a beat.
level 5 - Metaconcert - The peak level of the trance, a master mage can create a Metaconcert with other mages capable of creating schisms. Each mage (who must be level 3 or higher) essentially elects to invoke their Schism ability. However, instead of the mages individually gaining the ability of a schism, instead their mental energy is collected together to form a metaconcert. The metaconcert is an object of pure mental energy and focus, directed by the master mage (called the director). The metaconcert not only take the concentration of the schism, but it also takes the mental energy in the form of cogitation spell points. Each mage gives up at least 1 and up to half of their remaining spell points, which is then stored in the metaconcert. The director of the metaconcert may then use these points to have the metaconcert cast spells. For the purposes of concentration for spells, the metaconcert is always in trance. Each mage participating may still cast their own spells, but cannot do anything other than simple movements and actions otherwise. The metaconcert is visible, and looks like a swirling ball of translucent energy, with tendrils leading back to each mage's heads. The metaconcert only knows spells the director knows.
If a mage in the metaconert is rendered unconcious the metaconcert loses a fraction of it's remaining spell points based on the number of orginal mages. (if three mages are in concert, and one is removed, the metaconcert loses 1/3 of it's remaining spell points. If there were four mages, the metaconcert loses 1/4 its remaining points each time a mage is removed.) If the metaconcert is attacked - such as through a spell that attacks the mind, or a counterspell/area of void magic is used - and the attack hits, the metaconcert is automatically destroyed, all spell points stored lost, and each member of the concert receives an effect similar to a concussion. This effectively blocks the mages from being able to cast cogitation-based spells and enter a trance for 24 hours, after which period the damage subsides.
I'm actually more interested in learning Thaumaturgy, but I can't see a magic system and not be curious.
