Last Emperor: Magic

This article describes the conversion for the Last Emperor, a D20 Dragonstar campaign to the Storytelling system, of the Magic system.

Spell Characteristics

The Mage system uses several factors to describe their magic. The D20 spells all fall into the same category for some of these factors. All D20 spells are rotes, and none of the casters can use improvisational magic. Almost all spells are vulgar, and casting vulgar magic does not produce Paradox. Almost all spells are sense range (not sympathetic) only and can not have their range, duration, or area altered at casting time. There are meta-magic merits which allow altering the rotes.

Divine vs. Arcane magic

D20 makes the distinction between Divine magic, which is granted through the power of a diety the character worships, and Arcane magic, which is powered through the caster's own power. From a game mechanics perspective these two are very similar and are treated largely the same way here.

Schools of Magic

School of Magic	Ruling Arcana	Inferior Arcana
Abjuration	Space / Fate	Life
Conjuration	Space / Spirit	Forces
Diviniation	Time / Fate	Mind
Enchantment	Mind / Life	Matter
Evocation	Forces / Death	Spirit
Illusion	Mind / Prime	Space
Necromancy	Death / Sprit	Time
Transmutation	Matter / Life	Death

Like the Mage mystic orders, D20 has a set of 8 schools of magic. By selecting a speciality school of magic, the caster gets access to two ruling arcana (which are then cheaper to buy more dots in) and is limited by one Inferior arcana (which now costs more to buy dots in, and is limited in how many dots they can purchase). A mage is not required to have a school of magic, all their arcana are common ones.

Wizard vs. Sorcerer

In D20 a wizard know a great many spells, but can cast only a limited selection of them per day, and the selection is set at the beginning of the day. A Sorcerer knows a smaller selection of spells but can cast them with no prior selection process. Mage creates magic users who are most like Sorcerers, knowing a list of rotes and can cast them without having to prepare a fixed list.

Wizards use Intelligence as their spell casting attribute (see below), whereas Sorcerers use Presence for theirs.

Divine Magic

Diety	Ruling Arcana	Inferior Arcana
The Destroyer	Death/Forces	Mind
The Father	Prime/Life	Time
The Judge	Fate/Death	Matter
The Lover	Mind/Spirit	Space
The Magus	Prime/Mind	Time
The Merchant	Space/Fate	Death
The Mother	Life/Spirit	Prime
The Reaper	Death/Fate	Life
The Stormlord	Forces/Space	Spirit
The Smith	Matter/Life	Fate
The Trickster	Fate/Prime	Forces
The Warrior	Forces/Prime	Life

Your spell casting attribute is Resolve. While the generic D&D universe is overflowing with Gods, Goddesses, lesser gods, demi-gods, Elder gods and a host of other outplaner creatures who can grant powers, Dragonstar proclaims there are only 12 (or 2 depending upon your beliefs) rather generically named Gods. In order to become a Divine spell caster, the character must devote themselves to the service of one god, gaining the abilities and powers granted by their god. In this case, when the player selects a dieity to worship, they automatically gain the two ruling arcana and the one inferior one.

D20 allows for having a character who is both an arcane and a divine caster at the same time. For the Last Emperor, a caster may both arcane and divine rotes, but the divine arcana (from their selected diety) become paramount. That is, the character may not select both a school of magic (with its two ruling arcana) and a diety (with two ruling arcana).

Mage game mechanics

Gnosis

Gnosis is the basic magic skill, a measure of understanding and connection to the realm of magic. All creatures have a Gnosis of 1, all the creatures in the world have some connection to the magic. The Arcana Mastery table (pg 76 Mage) has been changed to the following:

	Arcana
Gnosis	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Mana Max
1	2	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1
2	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	2
3	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	3
4	3	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	0	4
5	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	5
6	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	6
7	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	1	7
8	5	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	8
9	5	5	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	9
10	5	5	5	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	10

Casting Spells

Casting spells in D20 is automatic, with no chance of failure, but not so in Mage. The caster must roll a spell check (Arcanum + Gnosis + Attribute) and get one or more successes, adding willpower dice if desired. The Arcanum is the dots in the primary arcanum for the spell, and the Attribute is determined by the type of caster (Arcane Wizard, Arcane Sorcerer or Divine).

Many spells can be resisted by use of a Fortitude save (Staminia + Resolve), Reflex Save (Dexterity + Wits) or Will save (Composure + Resolve). Every success on the save reduces the number of successes (and effects) of the spell.

Some creatures (and items) grant magic resistance, which grant a set of automatic save successes, reducing or eliminating the effects of a spell or magical effect.

Mana

Mana is the power of magic, a personal reserver of power to influence the world around them. Many rotes require one or more mana to cast. Casters may also spend mana to increase damage on a spell (Bashing -> Lethal -> Aggrivated).