Sorcery, the "Blood, Sweat & Steel" Approach

It's hard to believe that, several years and several attempts later, I have finally put together a sorcery system that has the feel and play-ability I have been wanting from the beginning. It took me a long time to realize that it was more important for me to create a system that most accurately captured the feel I wanted in the game, rather than trying to churn out another generic magic system aimed at appealing to as many people as possible. Don't get me wrong, I have a strong desire to create a game that will appeal to as many people as possible, but I definitely want it to appeal to them because it is a fun approach to sword & sorcery fiction.

As I work on converting my outline into chapter form, I thought a few people might enjoy a quick overview of the system. I don't think it's ground-breaking, and I don't think it's the "be all, end all" of S&S magic systems. But I do think it's going to be a fun system for both GM's and players who like a gritty and dangerous magic system with a lot of potential for power that comes with a lot of risk and consequences for failure.

Before I go into what it is, it might help to first explain what it isn't.

• It's not automatic. Everything that can be done with the sorcery system has the chance for failure.
• It's not quick. Even performing minor feats of sorcery are impractical during Exchanges.
• It's not safe. Performing rituals is draining on the sorcerer, and the consequences for failure can be fatal to the caster, as well as others.
• It's not elegant. While elegance may be subjective, this system doesn't take a unified approach, where everything works like everything else. The sorcery system is a number of subsystems. I believe them to be easy to learn and intuitive, and I believe that this approach gives the system the right flavor for the stereotypical sorcerer in a sword & sorcery world.
• It's not a "Swiss Army Knife". While some magic systems allow a wizard to solve every problem and overcome every obstacle with magic, I believe that this system encourages a more measured approach. My goal was to create a magic system that still has awesome potential, but doesn't become the default solution to every possible conflict that comes up in the game. I've played a thief in games where the wizard just teleported inside of the safe. I've played the barbarian who didn't get to take out the bad guy because the wizard just cooked him with a fireball. It's very easy in some games for the spellcasters to outshine other types of characters, and even rendering them largely irrelevant. By making magic a time-consuming and risky proposition, it still gives spellcasters their spotlight without outshining the other characters at the table.

So here's a quick overview of what the sorcery system is.

In the game world, there are 2 realms outside of the material world. There are parallel dimensions known as "The Void", and they are home to what are commonly known as Demons. The other is a gray and misty realm that lies between the material world and The Void, where the energy of all living things which pass on go, called "The Mist". These are called Spirits, and they can be human, animal or plant. The interaction of these realms with the material world has also awoken the primal elements of air, earth, fire and water. This system gives us three types of Entities; Elementals, Spirits and Demons.

Sorcerers don't have the ability to create or manipulate magical energy, so they must summon Entities to do this for them. While sorcerers lack the ability to directly manipulate magical energy, their exposure to Entities has given them some special abilities, such as Divination, Mesmerism and "The Sight".

These are the sub-skills of the sorcery system:

Summoning - This is the ritual of bringing Entities from their world into the material world. Once an Entity is summoned, the sorcerer has 3 options on how to interact with the Entity. A summoned Entity is called upon to complete a single task. Once it completes the task, it returns to its home.

• In game terms, Entities vary in power and scope, from Poor [-2] to Legendary [+4]. Elementals are rated by their mass and volume, while Spirits and Demons are rated by their power and abilities relative to humans. Summoning takes time, from a few minutes to as long as an hour, and the cost of  Mental Stress ranges from 1 (Minor Wound) to 7 (Critical Wound) points.
• Control - The sorcerer may attempt to command, trick or persuade the Entity to do their bidding. Command uses the Intimidate Skill, tricking them uses the Deceive Skill, and persuading them uses the Rapport Skill.
• Bind - A sorcerer can attempt to bind an Entity to an object, such as a staff, ring or weapon. This is usually a one-time occurrence, although permanent binding is possible. Binding allows the sorcerer to store an Entity for future use, but otherwise works like normal summoning. Once the Entity carries out its task, it returns to its home
• Pact- The sorcerer may attempt to bargain with the Entity by negotiating a mutually acceptable arrangement. In exchange for the the Entity carrying out a particular task, the sorcerer will offer payment, usually in the form of life force, or performing a service for the Entity.

• Alchemy - This is the art of imbuing a potion, powder, elixir or other type of concoction with the magical energy of an Entity. Alchemy is similar to Binding, except that whomever ingests the concoction becomes the "storage container" for the Entity instead of an object. The sorcerer first summons the appropriate Entity, and then either Controls it or enters a Pact so that the Entity will add some of its magical essence to the concoction.

• Divination- This is the ability to glimpse into the future. Divination is not so much a magical ability as it is an innate ability that develops over time from exposure to supernatural Entities. There are two types of premonitions.
• Premonition- Premonition is the art of using some type of system (tarot cards, palmistry, runes, reading entrails, etc.) in order to focus the mind and glimpse into the future for someone. In game terms, it gives the sitter a +1 insight bonus that they will be able to use at a future time (usually designated by the GM).
• Prophetic Vision - This is a much longer and more involved process, but it can reveal much more information. With Prophetic Vision, the sorcerer spends an hour preparing themselves by entering an alternate state of consciousness before falling asleep. This state opens their mind, and their dreams contain information about whatever subject they were focusing on while in preparation.

• Mesmerism - Mesmerism is the ability for the sorcerer to affect the minds of others; from causing
  
  them to be catatonic to completely controlling their words and actions. There are three levels of mesmerism, and the previous level must be performed before the next can be attempted. Mesmerism is primarily a series of opposed Will Checks.
• Hypnotic Gaze - A sorcerer can merely meet the gaze of another and cause them to become completely catatonic for as long as they concentrate
• Suggestion - Once a sorcerer has someone under their Hypnotic Gaze, they can give them a single suggestion, which the subject will carry out. A suggestion is any speech or action that is reasonable to the subject.
• Domination - If the sorcerer wishes, they may wish to dominate a subject who is under suggestion. Domination is like a deep hypnosis, where the subjects words and actions are under continued control of the sorcerer. A sorcerer may even try to make a dominated subject do or say something that is against their nature.

• Astral Vision - The continued exposure of the sorcerer to magical energy gives them the unique ability to see magical energy from both The Void and The Mist. Astral Vision allows the sorcerer to see magical energies within objects and magical auras within people. Sorcerers can immediately see if someone else is a sorcerer. A sorcerer may also gaze into the eyes of another sorcerer to try and learn the scope and type of their power.

I knew that going in this direction would create a system that won't appeal to everyone, but I think that's a good thing. There are so many amazing games covering so many amazing genres in this great hobby. I believe that diversity and variety is better for the hobby than an army of cookie-cutter games that are hard to distinguish from each other.

My biggest personal criticism of this system is that it's a bit weightier than I really wanted for this game. But as I thought about it, I realized that this couldn't really be avoided if the goal is to create a game that accurately captures the feel of the sword & sorcery genre. It makes sense to me that magic systems are often the largest chapters in an RPG, since magic is one of the main elements that is purely fictional. Things that are real, like sword fighting and picking locks, don't require as much elaboration as most people have some idea how these things are supposed to work within the context of a game. But since magic isn't real, it requires more information in order to make it feel as real as the "real" elements in the game.

The system still needs some tweaking in terms of game mechanics, setting difficulties, etc., but this is the system that will go in the final game. I'm very much looking forward to getting a lot of play testing now!