TOLARIA - MAGIC

(This was originally written as background for a fantasy campaign that never actually happened.  One of the ideas in the campaign was that the world had suffered a major magical disaster centuries ago, which permanently reduced its mana level.  This was frankly a game device to allow the existence of very powerful "pre-cataclysm" magic artefacts, without allowing them to be duplicated or made to order by mages in the campaign's "present")

Tolarian magic works by the caster drawing magical energy (“Mana”) from the environment, and using his will to shape this energy to achieve the effect he desires, usually but not invariably through learned techniques (“spells”).

Only those who have the ability to “see” the flows of mana can manipulate it.

About 2% of the human population have this capability, although only one in five of those (i.e. less than ½% of the population) would be able to handle powerful magic, rather than very minor domestic spells, even with training. Most villages would usually have at least a hedge-wizard, capable of minor spells and healing, and most towns a couple of full-blown magicians.

The ratios differ for other races; about 2% of elves could become (..and usually are) serious spellcasters, i.e. about ten times the human frequency. But almost half the elven population has some ability to learn magic.

Very few Dwarves have any magical aptitude percentage, and this almost universally manifests much later in life, rather than at puberty as with humans – most dwarven magicians are greybeards.

Orcs have few magicians, but whether this is because of lack of innate talent or the absense of any structure to train magicians, other than being adopted as an apprentice by a tribal shaman.

Mana levels are not consistent across Tolaria – there is a fairly typical background level in most places, but there are also areas of consistently high and low mana levels

It is possible to supplement this environmental mana by using the caster’s life force to power the spell, but the dangers of this are obvious, and it is very much a last-ditch option. Using someone else’ life force is also possible (ie by human sacrifice or similar), but this practice is illegal and punishable by death almost everywhere.

Levels of Mana everywhere are much lower than before the cataclysm – one of the ways the alliance used to fight the daemons was a great enchantment that permanently dropped Tolaria to a lower mana quantum. This obviously hurt the alliance, but hurt the daemons more, as many of them could only exist in a relatively high mana environment

Some magical artifacts survive from that time, but even where the spells are known, these items often cannot be duplicated, as the energy required to maintain an item is much lower than that required to create it. Current mana levels are such that magic is useful, rather than earth-shattering.

It is possible to “store” mana in objects for later use by using specialised rituals. Crystals are the most common, though not the only option. Given that the main constraint on spellcasters is their ability to manipulate mana, rather than its availability, these “powerstones” tend to be used only in special applications.

Magicians manipulate this mana by force of will. This process is physically and mentally exhausting, in direct proportion to the power of the spell.

More experienced casters use less fatigue when casting spells, and can therefore cast more before becoming exhausted.

It is possible for several magicians to cooperate on especially powerful spells, and share the fatigue drain. However, coordinating the efforts of several people makes the spell more difficult, and therefore more likely to fail.

The traditional number of wizards in a magic circle, twelve, is largely because after this point, adding more casters usually actually gives negative returns – the effort of coordination increases faster than the increase in power gained

“Spells” are learned methods of using magic to achieve particular results. It is possible to use magic in an ad hoc way, manipulating mana by simple force of will, but spells make this process quicker, easier and safer.

An experienced caster can use the spell simply by concentrating on it, but less experienced casters can increase their chance of success by using gestures, chants and material components to help them channel the mana successfully.

Especially large or powerful enchantments can ONLY be cast this way, often using very complex focussing rituals, even by experienced magicians – they are just too complex to use otherwise.

Inexperienced wizards can usually be identified because they are using very exaggerated gestures when casting, a practice commonly known as “shouting with your hands”

Human magicians are trained through a guild system, similar to craft guilds. People with only limited talent usually receive about a years’ training, while those with more powerful talents usually spend at least 3-4 years studying.

Because magical careers are often lucrative, a student’s family will usually have to pay the master quite an amount to have their son taken on as an apprentice. Children of poor families can usually obtain sponsorship, where an organisation pays their apprenticeship fee in return for the magician’s service for a set period of time after qualification.

As well as their training function, the mage guilds administer the registrations and licensing required to train and practice in civilised areas, and enforce the prohibitions on especially dangerous or unsavoury magics such as summoning powerful entities or necromancy.

The guilds in large cities usually style themselves “Colleges of magic”, and are often highly influential politically – after all, divination spells are very useful for finding out things about your rivals!

Magic is not powerful enough to have a great DIRECT effect on large-scale battles – the ratio of magic users to mundanes gives about one mage per company, who can probably crank off two or three fireballs before exhausting himself, half of which are probably dispelled by the opposing mages. Useful, especially in small skirmishes, but not enough to tip the balance.

Magic is VERY valuable indirectly, though – it revolutionizes reconnaissance and communications compared to our middle ages, while subtle (and less expensive) effects, such as casting Silence or Stun on an enemy officer can be very useful can be useful. Or, occasionally, one fireball in the right place can be decisive….

Magical resurrection is not possible on Tolaria, though near-resurrection, when a person is technically “dead” but before the spirit has left the body is possible. Creatures such as Zombies are simply animated corpses, and do not contain any part of the dead person’s memories or soul.