Unlike our world, magic is real in the world of Triman. It is a manifestation of divine or demonic power, and when you use magic, you channel this power, either benign or malign power, through yourself to power the spell.
Most Trimanians believe that the power in the spells originates either from Svarog or the Black Serpent. Frakians believe that all magic is from the Black Serpent, while Tulgarians believe there are many different sources of divine magic, with many different divine beings. Whatever the source, casting magic is never a neutral act in this game. Either one is acting as an agent of good, or one is acting as an agent of evil.
There will be two types of magic in play:
The first will be the domain of the organisers. Here you will clearly see the effect of the magic, and you won’t have to wonder if it’s magic or not. When magic is happening, please don’t run at the magic caster, as we will sometimes do stuff that requires a security distance.
The second type of magic, is ritual magic. It can be cast by anyone that performs the necessary ritual, not only spellcasters. Spellcasting characters are those that know many rituals and have training in performing rituals, however they have no special innate ability that set them apart from ordinary people.
To use ritual magic, you need to know the proper ritual. You will know it is a ritual or magical writing because it will be written in runes, in stead of ordinary letters. These runes can be interpreted by several characters in the game, and you can write the ritual in ordinary letters to have as a cheat sheet while preparing the ritual. However, the cheat sheet is perishable, while runes are not, so to save a spell for later use, you will have to copy the runes.
The rituals will be written (poorly) in the following order:
It has a described effect
It has components and conditions that have to be met
Almost all rituals will require more than one participant, and the minimum amount of people will be specified. Adding more people strengthens the magic.
You can either have learned the ritual in advance (that is, the organisers have provided you with the description before gamestart) or find descriptions of it in play. You can even try to reconstruct rituals that someone else simply describes to you, however failed rituals also have an effect, mostly on the casters! Successful rituals can also have adverse effects on the caster, particularly if the ritual is powerful. This will not always be part of the ritual description, so research your ritual well before using.
As specified previously, anyone can attempt to perform a ritual, however those trained are more likely to perform it properly and get the desired result. Always consult Igor and Steinar if you are about to perform a ritual so that we can decide the outcome. If you are affected by ritual magic, you will be informed about it by the organisers, and we'll figure out together how to put the ritual into play.
Ritual magic will have 3 power levels that affect the difficulty:
1. temporary effect on one person: this can be a curse weakening that person before a battle, or a healing ritual. It can be a circle of truth or a spell to change appearance. Anyone doing the ritual have a fair chance of succeeding with no or little consequences.
2. permanent effect on one person or temporary effect on a group: you can kill a person with a ritual. Doing so is a much more evil act than simply killing with a weapon. Normal rules for in-game killings apply. To this power level belong also rituals of consecration of holy sites and blessings before battle and communication with the dead
3. permanent effect on crowds or permanent effect of stronger magnitude. At this power level you find magic to slay demons, raise the dead, predictions of the future and so on. Magic at this level usually affects the caster negatively even if the ritual is performed properly
Types of magic
Curses:
Curses are usually transmited by an enchanted piece of paper. When someone finds themselves in posession of a cursed object they are entirely unable to acknowledge the object or get rid of it, it is to be considered out of play (so you cannot just get rid of it or have it taken from you. You are going to be needing that piece of paper for the uncursing ritual). It falls upon the goodness of others to root out and dispel the curse. Certain items make you immune to certain curses and in such cases, if one were to come in posession of a cursed object, one could hold it without any ill effect. If you are already cursed and were to pick up such an object the ill effects of the curse can be ignored as long as you hold on to said object, the moment you drop it the curse comes back.
Healing:
Healing rituals are in many ways the easiest when it comes to requirements. They only require one caster in addition to the object of the spell, and often have mild consequences for failure. When someone receives healing, the organisers will inform him or her on their new hp total, and on when they will be fully healed. After receiving healing, one will be somewhat reduced for an hour or two, where one should play out being in need and letting others tend to one. After the hour or two, one will be able to participate normally in combat, run around and generally act as if one never was injured.
Necromancy:
Any spell that involves manipulations of flesh or communicating with the dead belongs to the category of Necromancy. They tend to have very dire consequences for failure, including death and disfigurement, and successful use of necromancy leaves the caster with an increased sense of hubris. Being a bit haughty for a while after completing a minor ritual is not much of a problem, but necromancers reanimating the dead tend to become downright powermad. Reanimation of the dead must always be coordinated with the organisers in advance
Transformation:
Transformation magic includes spells to change something or someone into something or someone else and spells to add or remove characteristics from a target. Transformation tends to leave both target and caster somewhat disoriented or mildly confused for a short while afterwards.
Protection:
Protection magic is about making barriers to keep things in or out from places and keeping creatures or object from harm. Protection magic tend to have no mental side-effects but failing at a ritual can be costly in other ways, such as being trapped inside a magical circle with a monster.
Summoning:
Summoning rituals include spells to transport creatures from other worlds into yours and sending them away. Tampering with the fabric of reality in this way leaves the summoners more open to outside influences and possessions but the more dire consequences can be unleashing uncontrollable forces upon the world. Summoning rituals must always be coordinated with the organisers in advance