Principles of Spellcraft

Arcanology is the study and research of magical energy as it relates to the arts of wizardry, divine magic, sorcery, and soul magic.  Magic is the flow of life energy in the universe.  Without life, there is no magic; without magic, there could be no existence.  The unifying force of energy and consciousness in the universe is called life force by the Krindorians.  Elves call it Spiritus, and the Ryukenese call it Kizza.  The name is not important as the seed concept.  The first principle of magic is the Life Force Principle.

 

Spiritus (Life Force) Principle:  At the deepest core of reality, all creatures and things are connected as one unifying energy, which permeates the dimensional universe, binding all life and awareness.

 

Physical worlds are part of a spiritual universe from which they are sustained.  The harmonious awareness of Life Force is a part of life's purpose as creative evolution unfolds.  Inner communion with this primal cosmic energy is a process which allows it to flow into the physical dimension to produce wondrous effects.  This is the process of magic, Spiritus in moving manifestation.

As Spiritus vibrates it creates life through a multitude of interactive dimensions.  Two very important extremes naturally occur.  The two extreme energy fields of the universe are created as a result of Spiritus flowing through all dimensions, from zero to infinity.  These extremes happen to be the foundation for everything in between like stars, planets, people, animals, carrots, beans, and dirt.  The infinite-vibration energy field is the Realm of Creative Light.  Imagine Spiritus flowing through the universe at the rate of infinity!  The zero-vibration energy field is the Realm of Silence or Seed Wisdom.  Imagine all the energy in the universe sitting still.  These are the two poles of creation.  Two vast extreme energy fields.  One flows infinitely, while the other is still, calm, silent and invisible.  Action and reception.  Kinetic energy is balanced by magnetic energy.  Yang and Yin.  Light and Shadow.

In order to call Spiritus into the physical dimension a magi must enter a state of awareness called Amness.  Amness is the attainment of a strength of energy focus that accelerates the realization of the connectivity between individual and universe; between consciousness and spiritual energy.  It is simply the realization of the unity between awareness and universe.

Awareness is your sense of universal connection.  A spellcaster's awareness is reflected in his or her aura.  There are seven stages of auric quickening in physical beings.  The first stage is the apprenticeship level when a newly trained spellcaster begins exploring the nature and practice of magic and performing the miraculous.  The next six stages are attained through meditation, and experience.  Each stage opens the spellcaster to a new sphere of power.   When a spell is cast and magical energy is released into the physical dimension the effect depends on the skill and focus the spellcaster.  A spell can do one of five things at the moment of casting depending on a spellcasting roll.    It can fluctuate, fizzle, diminish, cast, or escalate.  

Spellcasting Table*
Spell  Level	Sphere of Power	Fluctuate	Fizzle	Diminish	Cast DC	Escalate
1	Apprentice (green sash)	1-8	9-11	12-14	15	20
2	Sage (yellow sash)	1-7	8-10	11-15	16	21
3	Adept (blue sash)	1-6	7-9	10-16	17	22
4		1-5	6-8	9-17	18	23
5	Mage (orange sash)	1-4	5-7	8-18	19	24
6		1-3	4-6	7-19	20	25
7	Arch Mage (indigo sash)	1-2	3-5	6-19	21	26
8		1	2-4	5-19	22	27
9	Grand Wizard (red sash)	-	1-3	4-6	23	28
10	Avatar (violet sash)	-	1-2	3-5	24	29
11		-	1	2-4	25	30
12		-	-	1-3	30	35

* Casters add their spellcasting bonus based on the appropriate magic ability to the D20 die roll for success.

When people die, they return to the realization of ultimate unity common to the Avataric sphere of power.  Only world teachers and enlightened master messengers have attained this sphere while still alive.  A spellcaster's sphere of power reflects his or her awareness of the unity between Light and Silence.  To cross the threshold between the 6th Sphere of Power and the 7th is dangerous.  Few wizards ever survive this bold experience.  The last wizard to do it in modern Krindor was Zoric the Time Wizard.  An apprentice spellcaster will have a subtle twinkle in the eyes.  The sage spellcaster will have a deep magical twinkle in the eyes.  An adept will have the twinkling eyes plus warm hands that glow subtly.  The mage level spellcaster has a subtle glow around his whole body and the hands glow visibly.  The arch mage spellcaster's entire body glows visibly with a silvery hue.  A Grand Wizard glows similarly but with a golden hue.  And the Avatar glows with a rainbow hue and a pronounced golden light around the head.

The universe is defined and given composition by these extreme vibrations, absolute brilliant light and utter silent darkness.  The Ryukenese symbol for these forces is [.  It is called the Taikyoku which translates to the "diagram of the supreme ultimate," representing these two entwined energies.  As the circle rotates, creative action occurs.  When people gaze out into the celestial sea of space, they see the two fields interacting and interpenetrating each other.  Cosmic lovers.  An endless patch of deep void woven with the light of a billion stars.  The energy of silence pierced by the rays of infinite vibration light.  During the day the people are bathed in the cosmic solar radiation, the waves of light.  At night, the zero-vibration field nurtures and sustains life gently, yearning for people to dream and return to the source of all patterns and wisdom.

Silence contains the fabric or seeds of all archetypal forms.  It is the realm of universal imagery connecting intuition to all possible ideas, patterns, and designs.  The celestial runes symbolize these archetypal seeds, an essential part of spellcasting.  Deep space isn't just emptiness.  It is an impressionable substance capable of recording all thought, vibration, and action.  It is into this yin silence where a spellcaster goes in deep meditation.  It is intricately laced with the field of cosmic light.  When merged with each other the two give birth to a third state of being which is the gravitational force of divine love and life creation.

When cosmic energy merges with cosmic design four modes of being arise: Fire (plasma), Earth (solids), Air (gases), and Water (liquids).  When cosmic light is aware of itself, the mode of being Fire emerges.  When it views the seed wisdom hidden in its depths, when creative force unites with pattern, the mode of being Earth emerges.  When cosmic design is aware of itself, the way of being Water is born, the archetypal womb.  When it directs awareness to the sacred creative light hidden in it's depths, when imagination is sewn with action, the mode of being Air arises.

Fire, Earth, Air, and Water: the elements of creation joined by Spiritus.  Fire symbolizes vitality, life energy, creativity, faith, and action.  Earth symbolizes stability, structure, wisdom, patience, integrity, and form.  Air symbolizes thought, expression, relationship, ideas, and astral form.  Water symbolizes emotion, feeling, sensitivity, compassion, unity, and imagination.

[Fire Light + Earth Creation] + [Water Archetype + Air Thought] = LIFE

And Life is the essence of the living flow of eternity.

Light energy and awareness work together to manifest and create the archetypal forms from the fabric of deep space.  They all work in unison for creative evolution.  Everything is a direct result of this process, and magic is the ability to bring this spiritual drama directly into life!

The flow of Spiritus once brought to life has three possible directions in relation to the center of being: outward, inward, and dimensionally.  Outward flow of Spiritus is the expression of the dimension of light that wizards call Visionspace.  The inner flow of Spiritus is the expression of the dimension of deep silence that wizards call Shadowspace.  Dimensional or spiral flow is the unified expression that governs the rotations of galaxies and the division of cells to create life.  The combination of these three universal modes of expression with the four ways of being described above creates a beautiful, cosmic mandala of sacred archetypal images which serve as the foundation of all further codes of genetic, magical, and spiritual creation.

An archetype is a universal concept existing through all cultures and dimensions of experience.  They are the original, primordial images and patterns from which all other things are given form.  They are the innate seed ideas or themes sown into collective awareness and expressed in life through dreams, art, creativity, imagination, astrology, and magic.  

In the World of Thandoria there are many different colleges of magic that shape the magical energy.  Spellcasters use crystals to activate the magic that exists in their souls according to the Principle of Dimensional Influence.

Dimensional Influence Principle:  The various dimensions of life experience are connected through Spiritus and patterned by the spectrum of archetypes in such a way that a change of energy on one level results in a proportional change on all levels.

Throughout the spiritual universe, the archetypes are expressed in crystalline, plant, and life forms.  Twelve different crystals exist on Thandoria, each in five sacred geometrical shapes.  Spellcasters use a certain crystal or combination of two crystals to bring about a particular effect.  Each crystal is attuned to producing a different kind of magic.  The five shapes define the kind of crystal it is and the color defines what kind of spell can be cast through it.  The five types of magical crystals are Quad, Cube, Octave, Seed, and Life crystals.  

Arcane Crystals
College of Magic	Crystal Color	Planetary Vibration
Invocation	red	Flamure
Divination	yellow	Shansor
Conjuration	golden	Korvanus the Sun
Abjuration	indigo	Vienna
Enchantment	silver	Moon of Kalen
Necromancy	black	Meadhaut
Transmutation	green	Taramus
Illusion	orange	SeaShroud
Divine Magic (Nature)	amber	Glacyena
Divine Magic (Life)	blue	Moon of Maurtania
Divine Magic (Oracular)	violet	Andros
Special Colleges	rainbow	Galactic Center

When a spellcaster wields the crystal and concentrates on deepening the aura to allow his or her Spiritus to flow into the crystal, spell effects occur.  In order for a crystal to act as a catalyst for transforming spiritual energy into spell energy, the caster must speak the incantation or mantra of power (verbal components), trace the arcane rune in the air with the crystal (somatic component) or simply hold the crystal (material component).  There are 5 types of each colored crystal.  

Crystal Shapes
Crystal Name	# of Faces	Spiritus Drain	Spell Levels
Quad	4	1	1st + 6th
Cube	6	2	2nd, 6th, + 7th
Octave	8	3	3rd, 7th, + 8th
Seed	12	4	4th, 8th, + 9th
Life	20	5	5th + 9th

In order to cast a 1st level spell a magic-user must channel his Spiritus through a Quad crystal.  Each crystal drains a certain number of Spiritus points from the caster's total magical force.  To cast a 2nd level spell, a magic-user must use a cube crystal of the appropriate color.  To cast a 3rd level spell a magic-user requires one Octave crystal.  4th level spells require a Seed crystal.  5th level spells require a Life crystal.  6th level spells require a Quad and Cube crystal.  7th level spells require a Cube and Octave crystal.  8th level spells require an Octave and Seed crystal.  And 9th level spells require a Seed and Life crystal.

For example, if a druid wanted to cast a 6th level spell like Healing Circle, then she would need both an amber Quad and amber Cube crystal.  If a mage wanted to cast a 4th level transmutation spell like Dimension Door, then he would need to focus his power through a green Seed crystal. 

The only time a crystal is "burnt out" and rendered useless is when the caster rolls a natural 1 on the D20 casting attempt.  A "dead" crystal turns into a rough gray stone.  Crystals can be bought throughout the World of Thandoria in apothecaries.  The average price of a crystal is 20 gp for a Quad crystal, 30 gp for a Cube crystal, 50 gp for an Octave crystal, 75 gp for a Seed crystal, and 100 gp for a Life Crystal.  Some crystals have exceptional "cuts" by nature and give the caster a +1 bonus to the spellcasting roll.  These crystals cost double the normal amount and receive a DC 10 chance of surviving fluctuations. 

Arcane Plants
College of Magic	Magical Plant Type	Planetary Vibration
Invocation	Drake Ash	Flamure
Divination	Sage Leaves	Shansor
Conjuration	Mage Dust	Korvanus the Sun
Abjuration	Tiger Silk	Vienna
Enchantment	Sheild Stone	Moon of Kalen
Necromancy	Ghostroot	Meadhaut
Transmutation	Elfsblood Flower	Taramus
Illusion	Nightshade	SeaShroud
Divine Magic (Nature)	Mistle Toe	Glacyena
Divine Magic (Life)	Star Garlic	Moon of Maurtania
Divine Magic (Oracular)	Mandrake	Andros
Special Colleges	Glimmer Moss	Galactic Center

Spells may also be cast using magical plant sources of energy but the casting time is twice as long and the caster receives a -2 on his or Spellcasting roll unless the caster has the Spell Focus feat for the college of magic being used.  The cost of one pinch of each plant spell component is usually less than 5gp, but varies from region to region based on availability.  The number of "pinches" it takes to cast a spell is equal to the spell's level.  So a 5th level Illusion spell would require 5 pinches of Nightshade.

Spiritus

Spiritus is a measure of the total amount of magical energy a character can store in his auric energy field.  Spiritus is restored while sleeping, meditating, and studying spells and expended when spellcasting.  A character's magical aura is quantized and contains Spiritus levels.  An apprentice spellcaster capable of using first level spells has only two spiritus shells to his aura capable of storing cantrips in level 0 and 1st level spells in level 1.  Once a character reaches third level and gains access to second level spells, the magical aura is deepened and expanded so that another spiritus shell is added for the new spells.  The same applies to gaining higher levels.  

Spellcasters do not have to memorize their spells each day in the World of Thandoria.  They can cast any spell that they have mastered any number of times as long as they have the appropriate Spiritus spell slots available as well as the appropriate crystal or plant components.  Some spells require more elaborate components and must be checked with the DM before you are able to cast them with crystals alone.  Since all spellcasters cast like sorcerers, sorcerers gain two new advantages.  They do not require spell crystals as their chakras have "crystalized" and they gain one additional feat at "gain a feat" levels that must be expended for a metamagic feat.

Spiritus Restoration

In order to restore or replenish expended Spiritus, characters must spend time resting, sleeping, meditating, eating, studying, and relaxing.  This rest period cannot be interrupted by rigorous activity such as combat or sprinting.  It needs to be a quiet, contemplative time of spiritual union and restoration.  Four hours of rest will restore half your spell slots starting with the lower shells (not including cantrips).  An 8 hour rest period would restore all your Spiritus spell slots.  You must have a Spiritus spell slot available to cast a spell.  So a 5th level spell costs a 5th level Spiritus slot to cast.  When the Talan Moon is full then the Spiritus cost to cast a spell is doubled!  When the Kalen Moon is full then all spellcasting rolls are made at -2!  When there is a double new moon in the sky, spellcasters gain an additional Spiritus spell slot per caster level and all spellcasting checks are made at +1!  

Spellcasting Results  

Any attempted spell has five possible outcomes.

Fluctuate:  The caster, due to a lack of concentration or lapse in memory, has channeled strange forces into being which result in a magical fluctuation.  The magic has backfired or gone awry somehow.  The caster must make another a will save vs the DC of the spell to control the magic.  If this control roll fails, then roll one random effect on the Magical Fluctuation Table to determine the runaway effect.  The spellcaster loses the Spiritus spell slot for the failed spell.  During the rare double new moon period all fluctuations are doubled in intensity and the control roll is made at -2!

Fizzle:  The caster botches the incantation, fumbles the crystal, or fails to concentrate deeply and the magic simply fades out.  The Spiritus spell slot for the attempt is still drained.

Diminish:  The spell is cast but at 1D4 levels lower than the caster's level (minimum 1st level).

Cast: The spell is cast at the level of power intended.

Escalation:  The magic flowed perfectly and the spell is cast at 1D4 levels higher than the intended level due to a surge in the fabric of the universe.  The spell and its parameters are treated as if cast by a more powerful spellcaster.  However the DC and level of the spell is still the same.

Magical Fluctuation Table
2D20	Fluctuation Effect
2	Spell Fizzles draining all the caster's remaining Spiritus spell slots!
3	Spell Fizzles draining three Spiritus spell slots of the same level as the attempted spell.
4-5	Eyes flash with rainbow colors for 2D6 days.  All Intelligence skill checks are made at -4.
6-7	Deafness caused for 1D6 days.  -2 To Cast.
8-9	Blindness caused for 1D6 days.  -2 To Cast.
10-11	Voice muted for 1D6 days.  No casting spells with a verbal component.
12-13	Inner shock.  1D4 hp damage per level of the caster.
14-15	Spell is cast on the caster!
16-17	Spell is cast on the caster at double intensity.
18-19	Spell is cast and centered on the nearest entity within range.
20-21	Spell is cast on nearest entity within range at double intensity.
22-23	Negative vibration eruption within caster.  Spiritus Restoration time tripled until restored.
24-25	Spell takes affect in D4 combat rounds at random.
26-27	Spell extends out in a chaotic random direction or volume.  Roll 1D6 for direction.
28-29	Skin mutations.  Charisma -4 until cured.
30-31	Intense migraines.  All ability checks and further spellcasting checks are made at -2.
32-33	Caster's body becomes a fluctuation zone.  -4 To Cast until cured.
34-35	Insanity.  Caster has seen the light!  Acts like a religious fanatic for 2D6 days trying to describe it.
36-37	Total amnesia for 2D6 days.
38-39	Transformation.  Caster polymorphs into a random creature until cured.
40	Spiritual disruption!  1D4 hp damage per caster level and Spiritus drained to 1 spell slot per level!

 

Spellcasters of Thandoria

Of the non-prestige classes there are seven different types of spellcasters.

Magi (wizards)
Oracles (clerics)
Sorcerers
Druids
Bards
Rangers
Paladins

Spells may be cast through crystals, using components, from scrolls, or from devices.  Sorcerers are the only class allowed to cast spells without crystals since their chakras have become crystallized.  When spell scroll is created the components needed for the spell are magically blent into the scroll.  As a result, spell scrolls gleam with a crystal dust aura and the vellum color matches the color of the crystal.  When used a spell scroll totally dissipates.  A spellcaster is penalized -1 to cast for each 5% arcane spell failure modifier for wearing armor.