Please include your name in the transaction description if using this to pay your membership.
by Michael Cole
Principles of Magic in Middle Earth
When the world was sung into existence, magic came with it. Magic is thus an intrinsic part of the world, part of its creation. As magic is used, the magic fades. The world will eventually become mundane, as all the magic fades away, but it does still exist.Magic is also natural. It can enhance or weaken the inherent properties of things, but effects which are truly unnatural are limited.
Usage of magic is dependent on the abilities of the practitioner. Magic will enhance or provide magical effects for a skill implemented by someone, but will not allow that person to cause an effect for which they do not have the skill. In other words, if you cannot smith a weapon, you cannot enchant such a weapon. The enchantment occurs as a result of the smithing process, and the smith must have the required skill to manipulate the magic into the weapon’s creation. You cannot enchant a weapon after the creation. It enhances mundane tasks; it cannot take the place of them.
Magic cannot come out of nothing. You can cause a flammable object to start burning, but you cannot cause a fire with nothing to burn.
Magic takes time. Nothing is instantaneous. The mundane task still needs to be performed.
Magic use takes effort, as in an extra effort on top of the effort to perform the mundane task.
Magic effect is dependent on the individual power of the practitioner. Hedge mages cannot misfire and cause the Sun to disappear.
Magic by itself is neither good nor evil. It just is. It can however be used for good or evil purposes. If it is used for great good or evil, then it can become tainted. Magic can thus then affect further users. If a magic user utilises magic in an area where the magic is tainted, then he himself may become tainted. In other words, trying to use magic from an area in which magic was previously used to perform great evil may cause the user to start a slide towards evil.
Magic use is detectable. It causes a “disturbance in the force.” As to who can detect it and at what distance, that is dependent on the sensitivity of the detector and the scale of the usage. Magic that is tainted is easier to detect.
Magic usage is sometimes uncertain. It is not a science.
Practice of Magic
All of this is generic in nature – magic will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
Power
As per rules, people may buy levels of Magery, which affects spell effects. Elves start with Magery 1 by default (15 points). Hedge Magic (20 points) includes one level of Magery. Additional levels may be bought for 10 points each.
Skill Rolls .
All magic usage is based off mundane skills or abilities, and uses the mundane ability as the base roll. The magical effect is utilised by the spending of fatigue.
Contested and Uncontested
Magic use may either be contested or uncontested. Contested will be either against the opponent’s skill or will roll depending on the spell – Magery adds to level. If a spell is contested, then failure by more than five will generally cause some sort of blow-back effect on the caster – the effect determined by the spell.
Effort
All magic involves the use of extra effort – one point of fatigue is exerted for each usage, unless the magic usage involves a contest of skill and the contest is won by more than ten, in which case there will be no loss. Note that you cannot convert spend your own health to get extra fatigue.
Extra effort on top of that may be used. This will cost three extra fatigue and reduce the skill roll by one, but will increase the effect if it succeeds – the exact effect will depend on the spell but will generally be along the lines of one level of Magery or another dice in effect.
Magical Sensitivity
Those who have magical ability may be sensitive to magical usage. The detection ability will depend on the magical impact and the range. Base roll will be at an 11 plus Magery for a passive roll, +5 for an active attempt (which will cost fatigue). Range negatives will be as per the ranged weapons table. Solid cover will also add negatives.
New Advantages/Disadvantages
Acute/Dulled Magical Sensitivity ±2 points/level
Adds or subtracts from magical sense rolls. Note that Dulled Sensitivity may only be taken for those with Magery advantage, and Alertness does include this (as per Acute Vision etc.)
Aspected Magical Residue
Due to previous magical use or even just past events in an area, a region may develop a magical aspect. Possible aspects are: -
· Good
· Evil
· Divine
· Wild (Fae)
These aspects may give bonuses or negatives to power for specific types of spells or magical traditions cast in that region. Magic used in such regions may (GM’s discretion) cause some of that aspect to affect the caster.
Defined Spells
Spells that are prescribed. An example
Rebuke Disobedient Feä
This spell is used to rebuke a feä that has ignored a lawful summons to exit through the Doors of the Night. It can thus only affect human (or hobbit) spirits of the dead. The spell is based off an Intimidate skill roll +3 and is contested against the feä’s will. Normal success or failure will be as per the skill. Success by more than 5 or failure by more than -5 will cause stunning (as per surprise in combat) and 1d6 fatigue damage per level of Magery of the contest winner.
Undefined Spells
Any magical effect may be attempted with an appropriate skill roll. How it works will be decided on a case by case basis in discussion with the GM.
Magical Traditions in the Long Lake Region
Hedge Wizardry
Normally concerned with potions, amulets, charms and banes. Wild Aspected magic. Most well-known hedge mage in the area is Milo, who has been pointed out to you, and lives on the edge of the fae woods.
Alchemists
Not well known in this area, although some are known in Gondor.
Ascetics
The closest thing in this area to divine casters. Normally live an isolated life. Known for insight and foresight.
Runemasters
Estarave Windlords
Spells - Process
There are three types of magic - Formulaic, Spontaneous, and Ritual. Formulaic Spells are what you know the specific words for, and only do one specific thing. They can also have an inbuilt bonus to the spell casting (the power of the words). Spontaneous is you making things up as you go. Ritual is large scale stuff which will be detailed later.
To cast Formulaic Spells, you need at least level zero in Magery, which is 15 points. To work Spontaneous magic, you need the Hedge Magic advantage, which is 20 points and includes Magery 0. Each additional level of Magery is an additional 10 points.
All spells are based on an attribute or skill – there are no separate Magic Spells skills. Magic modifies other abilities or skills, and if you don’t have the base skill, you cannot magically modify it.
All magic involves the use of extra effort – one point of fatigue is exerted for each usage, unless the magic usage involves a contest of skill and the contest is won by more than ten, in which case there will be no loss. Note that you cannot convert spend your own health to get extra fatigue.
Extra effort on top of that may be used. This will cost three extra fatigue and reduce the skill roll by one, but will increase the effect if it succeeds – the exact effect will depend on the spell but will generally be along the lines of one level of Magery or another dice in effect.
To cast a spell, you: -
1. Mark off a point of fatigue
2. Make a roll against the base skill or attribute plus or minus any modifiers. If you make this roll, you have performed the mundane task.
3. You now establish whether there are additional magical effects. Take what you rolled, subtract 4, and add
a. Your level of Magery
b. If a Formulaic Spell, then the “Power of the Words”
c. Any plusses or minuses for the Aspected Magical Residue – see previous
4. If this also makes it, then you have caused a magical effect as well as the mundane effect.
5. If the spell can be opposed (if it is cast on something), then the subject is entitled to a saving roll. Note that even inanimate objects may gain saving rolls depending on the effect. The defence roll would normally be an attribute modified by strong or weak will and their own levels of Magery, or a skill. Note that only one roll is allowed to avoid both mundane and magical effects, but the number needed may differ. For example, for a poison with a magical overload – the save could be against Health for the poison and Health with Strong or Weak Will for the additional magical effect.
a. If you win the opposed contest by more than 10, you get your point of fatigue back.
b. Some Formulaic Spells may have additional effects for succeeding by more than a certain number.
c. If you lose by more than 5, and the opposition is animate, has levels of Magery, and actively opposes the spell, you may suffer additional effects as per above, and will at the very least lose 1-3 additional points of fatigue.
What Magic Cannot Do
· Affect something prescribed by the Will of Eru
· Alter “True Nature”. You cannot alter the fundamental essence of someone. E.g., if they were blind from birth, you cannot give sight. You can blind, or restore sight to one who was blinded after birth. Fire will always burn stuff. Predatory creatures will still hunt for food. Etc.
· Create “True” life (aside from Aulë, and he was severely spanked by Eru for doing it.) Homunculi or shades are fine. You can also modify life so long as you do not alter their fundamental “True Nature”. I get to judge this.
· Penetrate past the Doors of the Night. Those who have truly passed from this world cannot return. Also, you cannot alter the destination of someone else’s feä or soul – that can only be decided between themselves and Eru.
· Directly cause permanent changes to nature. Magic will fade, and thus effects will also. If you change someone into a stone pillar, then they are still in there. Eventually, the magic will fade, and they may become whole again, if they haven’t gone mad from the experience. Note if whilst they are a stone pillar, you start attacking them with a sledge hammer, then when the magic fades, it may suddenly leave a very battered corpse.
· Restore fatigue that was caused by magic usage.
· Affect distant or unseen targets without some sort of magical connection to the target.
· Allow you to be invulnerable to magic.
· Be contrary to Newton’s Laws (even though Newton doesn’t exist). Magic comes from somewhere, and magic is dissipated in the casting of spells. It cannot be perpetual.
· Provide perfect senses. The strongest Invisibility spell will always beat the strongest Detect Invisibility spell.
· Affect the past. The past may be viewed but not changed. Only the present can be changed.