Editing Magipunk:Magic (section)

=== Meta-Magic ===

Magic which affects other magical constructs is mostly the domain of theoreticians and academics. However, there are a few such spells that have practical use. 

Most serious sorcerors learn spells designed to sense the presence of magic in a variety of ways. The simple spells of this sort give relatively little indication of what kind of magic might be in place – essentially, one can learn that there is magical power being used in the vicinity, and how much of it there is. More complex versions of these spells can cause the structure of a spell to become visible to the sorceror, which a knowledgeable individual can use to sense the purpose of the spell. Like most spells which affect visible images, mirrors or crystals are often used for such purposes. 

Countermagic is also the province of meta-Magic – the ability to undo a standing spell is within the province of a serious sorceror, but it is not easy, and almost inevitably, the counter-spell must be customized for use against the exact standing spell, which prevents counter-magic items from coming into common use. 

Finally, most people with any amount of magical training learn to harmlessly discharge a power token of any amount of power. For the most part, this is simply a building step towards the casting of real spells, but saboteurs and the like have been known to waste their enemy's money or cripple their abilities by draining their power tokens of all mana. At present, there is no known method to discharge a power token from a distance – you must be in possession of it to drain it.