Anam:Special Abilities

Martial Arts

Martial Arts come in three forms, one of which, the player will select. Those forms are Soft, Hard, and Mixed. (You can name your form whatever you want, of course - Foe Hammer, Sword Fist, etc.).

Soft Martial Arts are a Close Combat style (Meaning, like Unarmed Fighting itself, the character must be in Close Combat to effectively attack.). This Ability can also be used in place of Acrobatics when dodging attacks.

Hard Martial Arts are a Melee Combat style. They are most effective at Melee range and less so at Close range. Pick any melee weapon desired - Your character's attacks operate like that weapon.

Mixed Martial Arts can be used effectively in both Close and Melee combat.

Magic

Magic is a Broad Ability. As such, what a character can do with it depends upon what their Profession taught them. (Some Backgrounds can start with Magic as well. If you want that, we can work it in.)

In fine, Magic can take the place of other Abilities, letting the Mage perform Tasks they don't otherwise have the skill for. There are limits, however. Each 'School' of magic is taught only their way of doing things, so not all abilities can be emulated by every spell caster. A few examples follow.

Wizardry is heavily focused on Elemental magics, with each Wizard specializing in a given Element. This means that their magic cannot normally perform actions that the element itself would be anathema to - Fire Wizards, for instance, cannot use their magic to Heal, or Transform, and trying to use it to carry anything flammable would be an exercise in futility.

Witchcraft, on the other hand, works in a ritual format. Witchcraft takes time, and can only rarely be used in combat - outside of combat, when the time can be spent, a Witch can be very effective, however their magic is also largely focused on a single target. Healing and Transformation are two specialties of Witchcraft. Transformation, at its base, is most often used to provide enhancements to a person's Abilities.

Divine Magic comes from the Gods. As such, what any Priest can do with their magic depends upon the God they worship. A God of War, for instance, will not generally allow their Priests to use their magic to pick locks or the like - while a God of merchants and thieves isn't likely to have much in the way of combat magic to offer their worshippers.

Alchemists work with potions and powders, so their 'spells' are more often combat oriented than anything else, and due to the size of what can be readily carried and mixed in combat, usually only target one person.

Sorcerers use illusion and enchantment (mental attacks), so their spells aren't generally useful for physical actions at all, but can be devastating in combat.

Most effects that a Magic User can perform are simple Tasks, just like any other - if you have an attack spell for fire, you use your Magic Level as the Ability for the combat test. The primary benefit of Magic in normal use is giving the Magic User access to Abilities that they do not otherwise have and emulating tools where needed.

That is the 'Cantrip' magic - there's no limit to how often the character can use their magic (even for Alchemists, the expectation is that the powders and reagents they use are generally easily replaceable.)

True Spells are another matter. Each character has a number of Spells they know. Spells are a finite resource - they're either once per day, or require the purchase of specific components which are then used up in the process. (Meaning that a wealthy alchemist who plans ahead can be dangerous).

Each Spell has a Spell Level, which is the Ability Level of the spell itself (and which cannot exceed the character's Magic Level) modified by upgrades and requirements.

A character can have no more than 2x Magic in Spell Levels.

For example, a Witch with Magic (Witchcraft) Adept (5) can have up to 10 Spell Levels worth of Spells which she can cast once per day. This may be as simple as two Level 5 spells, or five Level 2 spells, or even a single Level 10 Spell.

Upgrades are modifiers which make the spell more useful - for example, Quick allows someone who is usually a Ritual caster to cast spells in Combat. Explosive allows a caster to turn a single target spell into a multi-target spell. Quick adds 2 to the Spell Level of any Spell. Explosive adds 1 to the Spell Level for every 5' radius the spell affects.

Requirements are things which the Magic User must do to cast the spell, or limitations that they must follow when casting the spell. Expensive Components are a -2 to the Spell Level Incantations are a -1 to the Spell Level. Expansive Gestures are a -1 to the Spell Level. Preparation is a -1 to the Spell Level (Meaning that the character must take time each day that they want to use the spell to 'hang' it in their mind so it's ready to cast). Divine Permission is a -1 to the Spell Level (Meaning that the character must request the use of the spell for a given day, which can be denied)

When creating a spell, the Magic User defines first the Spell's desired Ability Level.

Say we want to create a Fireball spell, and we want it to be as dangerous as any spell our Magic user can cast, so we set it at her Magic Level, Adept (5). That means, when the spell is cast, the Level that is Tested is Adept (5). The starting Spell Level is 5.

(We could just as readily set the Spell's Ability Level at Journeyman (4), in which case, when cast the spell's Ability is Journeyman (4).)

Fireballs are explosive. Say we want a 20' radius. That's +4 to the Spell Level, making the Spell Level 9. Our Wizard won't have many other spells with that, so she wants to decrease the Spell Level somewhat. The player decides that she has to Incant and Gesture (making what she's doing very, very obvious, and other Wizards may even be able to know what she's casting, and have a chance to interfere) and she has to prepare the spell.

Those three Requirements drop the spell level by 3, putting it at Spell Level 6. That gives her a chance to set up a Level 4 spell, or some other combination. But she wants to do more, and says 'What about an Armor Restriction?'. The GM (in this case, me) says 'Yeah, that's another -1, since by default, there's nothing stopping even a spell caster from wearing something like a leather cuirass or the like. So she can't cast her spell if she's wearing anything that could reasonably be called armor - too restrictive to the necessary movements. That would bring the Spell Level to 5.

Some schools of magic will have automatic requirements for their spells. Wizardry, for instance, will always have Incantations and Gestures. Alchemy will always have Expensive Components.