A man or woman of a wizardly bent is not what one would consider a 'nine-to-five' type of person; you know, putting in a hard day's work at the office, only to return to one's home to deal with concerns of a familial nature. Yes, a few may fit this description, but that's not the image that most people have of spellcasters - at least, those who know that such individuals really exist.

No, most sorcerers walk on the fringes of society, often going to great lengths to develop or uncover new means of manipulating the forces that give them power. A relatively new mage usually has the benefit of a mystic mentor, an older spellcaster that has taken him in and is teaching him how to utilize the forces of magic. Not all wizards are so lucky, however.

Some may have never had a mentor, may have been dismissed from such a helpful person's service, or may have even lost one to a tragic accident. So, a lot of a mage's time is devoted to the discovery of new knowledge, through either exploration, trade (one spell for another), or even entreaties to powers alien and bizarre. While the results are all the same, this often eats up a lot of one's time.

This is why mages tend to live irregular existences - they often vanish for days, weeks, or even months on quests for new magical skills. This makes it hard to be a working class stiff most of the time, and is even harder on the career of a magical hero (or villain). It's hard to fight crime in your home town when you're off in Tibet, digging up ancient tomes full of magical writings - unless your home town is in Tibet, that is.

Furthermore, exposure to the obscure and arcane knowledge that is both their bread and butter (so to speak) tends to give mages of all stripes at least some disregard for normal earthen societies and their quirky standards. Travelling to new worlds - new planes of reality - will have that affect on a body. This doesn't prevent them from caring about their home, mind you, it just helps to explain why they can be so mysterious.

This is not to say, however, that mages spend every waking moment seeking out new knowledge. A mage might be content to simply hone the spells he already knows, and may not currently be on a quest for power. When mages do need new spells, however, and they don't have a readily apparent source of knowledge, a quest of some sort may be the one and only way for them to find their own.

Ceremonies / Ceremonial Areas

Though it is possible to whip spells out quickly, especially in battle, sometimes it pays to work magic in more prepared, controlled forms. This often involves the execution of special rituals, the use of some school-specific magical item, or special research into whatever task the spell is being used to complete. A casting of a spell in this fashion is what is known as a magical ceremony.

Though a ceremony takes much longer to complete than the regular use of a spell does, often anywhere from a few minutes to several days (depending on the situation), they offer the benefit of a +1 CS to the effective rank of the spell so cast. Every benefit of a higher rank applies to this enhancement, which is what truly makes a ceremony desirable to the average mage.

In fact, this enhancement can be raised further if executed within a ceremonial area, to +2 CS. A ceremonial area is a specially prepared zone attuned to the magic of a wizard's particular school; a magical grove for geomancers, a lab for alchemists, etc... All wizards learn how to make such zones during their 'basic training', but doing so isn't easy; it should take time.

Or, alternately, it should be the subject of a special adventure or quest, which helps to acquire needed magical items or whatnot vital to its creation. Of all the possible types of wizards, only an eclectic mage lacks the training needed to perform ceremonies or build himself a ceremonial area, but he may make use of the ceremonies and ceremonial areas meant for any school (naturally).

Entreaties

The most powerful kind of dimensional magic available, an entreaty involves a sorcerer calling upon magical items, an extraplanar entity, other dimension, or metaphysical force for power. While a few general entreaties are described in this Book, the rest are left intentionally vague, as the Judge must decide what may be entreated in his campaign, and to what effect.

Now, entreaties are generally handled as per popularity FEATs, because any mage can make an entreaty, whether or not he has the proper spells to do so. Of course, if a mage has learned a proper spell to cast an entreaty (i.e., he paid karma for it), he can use his spell rank to do so instead of his popularity score. Entreaty FEAT roll difficulties are described as follows.

Entities the Judge deems in sync with a wizard's character and motivations, or those who properly research entreaties to them are friendly for the purposes of this roll. Those who are unaware of this character or indifferent to his cause are considered neutral for the purposes of this FEAT. Entities that are at odds with a sorcerer's philosophy for some reason, but not specifically opposed to the character in particular, should be considered unfriendly on this roll.

An entity that has a personal vendetta against a sorcerer is inherently hostile towards him, and will never grant him an entreaty unless doing so would be specifically beneficial to its goals. On the other hand, this usually means the mage casting such an entreaty digs his own grave by associating with such an unfriendly entity, but when in need, one takes what he can get.

Now, at their simplest, entreaties work by granting a +1 or +2 CS to spells a sorcerer is attempting to cast – the raw power of the boost being dependent on the affinity of an entity for the sorcerer making the entreaty. However, almost every entity of power will have a staple of 'stock' spells that they'll grant to one who entreats them for power.

These are always intimately tied to the nature of their very being, and an entity won't usually offer a wizard the use of a spell that doesn't match its profile or its general mindset.

One last entreaty concern is the wrath of the gods. Wizards who entreat an entity too often risk the ire of those they ask for power. When an entity decides it has had enough (Judge's discretion), it will most often grab the sorcerer as he makes yet another entreaty, taking him to its realm, and dispensing its own form of justice upon the hapless mortal. This most often takes the form of some quest or another to appease the god's wrath, but not always.

Similarly, the god may punish the mage with physical or mental torment, or just a stern talking to. The form this divine retribution takes should depend on the nature of the deity and the nature of the offense. However, it's never sporting to simply kill a wizard because of this, even if he may wish that he's dead by the time the god gets done with him...

Optional Spellcasting Concerns

Unlike those heroes who utilize powers of a biological nature (mutants, altered humans) or others that are based upon knowledge (psis, high techies), wizards utilize a power that is sometimes fickle, and may not always work the same every time. In game play, this aspect of magic can be simulated by adopting one or more of the following ideas; the rules presented here are optional.

Counterspells: when he encounters a spell that he himself knows, a sorcerer can, if he doesn't like the way such a spell is being used, attempt to counter it. By passing a spell FEAT against the intensity of the active spell, a mage can counter it. Once this is done, the mage may either cancel the spell effect or take control of it, whatever is best in a given situation. However, if the original caster of said spell is still in the vicinity, there's nothing stopping him from trying to regain control of his own magic...

Fatigue: spellcasting is difficult work, and it can quickly tire a sorcerer who exhausts his energies too quickly. This can be easily represented by a fatigue intensity; nominally at Shift 0 rank, this intensity is increased by the casting of spells, some draining more energy than others. For instance, the casting of a personal spell adds 3 to one's fatigue intensity, universal and school spells add 2, and spells of a dimensional or group nature add one.

As you can see, entreaty spells drain absolutely no energy from a mage, and this is one reason they are utilized so often, despite the inherent risk of doing so. At any rate, fatigue intensity only comes into play as it approaches the rank of a thaumaturge's psyche; he can only cast spells in a round if he can first pass a psyche FEAT roll against this fatigue intensity; if his fatigue exceeds his Psyche score by more than +1 CS, he cannot cast spells.

How does one avoid this loss of spell use, one asks? Quite simply, by not using magic. A sorcerer who refrains from using magic in a given turn can reduce his fatigue by one point; he may not cast any spells, but a spell cast in a previous round that has a continuous effect (like flight, armor, etc...) that is still active will not hamper this loss of fatigue. Where fatigue is concerned, it is best to cast spells in moderation (or to end a conflict quickly).

Initiative Modifiers: there are six types of spells in all, and each of them utilize unique energies and techniques when producing the required spell effect. To better represent this, initiative modifiers can be applied to a spell, based on the basic spell type. Personal spells gain a +2 initiative modifier, School spells gain a +1 initiative modifier, universal and group spells are normal (no modifier), dimensional spells receive a -1 penalty to initiative, and entreaty spells suffer a -2 initiative penalty.

Spell Components: thanks to the odd formulae for casting them, a few spells may require the use of material objects to make them function, in addition to the necessary physical movements and the verbal chanting. This is technically a limitation on a spell, and offers a CS boost dependent on how difficult it is to procure these components; boost from +1 to +3 CS are possible if components are exceptionally hard to acquire.

Spell Disruption / Distraction: normally, spells are cast when a mage passes a spell FEAT roll - that's all it takes. But sometimes, a sorcerer will find himself in a distracting situation, one that will disrupt his spellcasting concentration. Some situations include seeing others placed under the threat of immediate death, taking damage equal or greater than one's endurance rank in a given turn, or intense sensory assaults (like deafening sounds, bright light, severe pain, and so on).

If any of these conditions occur as a mage tries to cast a spell, he must also pass a yellow psyche FEAT roll to pull off his spell correctly. Failing this, the spell so disrupted will fail to materialize, fizzing out with a possible sizzle in the air, or perhaps an audible pop or flash of light. In fact, if the FEAT fails with a white result, something unexpected just might occur, such as a different spell or even thaumaturgical fallout!

Spellcasting Restraints: the stronger a spell is, the more it requires gestures and chanting to manifest its effects. If a sorcerer is restrained somehow, he may be unable to cast certain spells. For instance, if he is bound (hands behind his back), a mage cannot cast any universal energy spells. If gagged, he cannot wield his dimensional energy spells (as well as group or entreaty spells). If blinded or blindfolded, a wizard casts spells that require visual contact with a target as if said spell were -4 CS in rank.

Character Advancement

After undertaking many adventures, or simply vanquishing the forces of evil for a time, a wizard may have gained new insight into the world and how it works; in other words, karma. For the most part, wizards use karma much like any other character type, spending just as much when purchasing new talents or contacts, or when enhancing a current ability or power rank; this is handled as is defined in the Creative Campaigning book. One facet of karma use that is different for a wizard is the purchasing of new spells.

Purchasing New Spells

Since magical spells are defined as the equivalent of talents (as far as standard mechanics go), a mage can learn new spells for the same cost - 1000 karma points. Generally, new spells begin at Good (10) rank, unless modified by the school of an individual mage. This will allow a mage to acquire a respectable roster of available powers, though he must work on them constantly to make them very effective overall.

Spell Stunts

Over time, a mage may wish to work with a spell in order to develop a new use for it, instead of simply researching a new spell. Such new uses are called spell stunts. Every attempt to create a new spell stunt costs 50 Kpts per try, but they are otherwise governed by the same basic rules that exist for all other characters. So, if you have a new idea for the uses of a dusty old spell, give it a shot, already!

Mystic Mastery

All magicians have a rank, if you will, by which others judge their prowess in the mystical arts. All of a mage's spells and magical items contribute to such a rank, and this helps to quantify just how dangerous he is. A sorcerer who has from one to four spells under his belt is considered a novice wizard. One who knows between five to eight spells can be considered a disciple of the magical life. A mage who wields from nine to twelve spells is an adept of sorcery. Any mage who can utilize thirteen or more spells is truly a mystic master.

All this has little bearing on game play, of course. Now, some spells may have different effects in the hands of folks of different magic rank, or may not be at all usable by folks of a certain rank, but other than that, mystic mastery is only a measuring stick of character ability. It may be one that virtually every mage adheres to, and possibly even one that they use to determine their reactions to others, but nonetheless, that's it. That is, save for the below ability.

Adopting New Magical Schools

Once a character chooses his school of magic, he is stuck with it for a very long time – that is, until he achieves mastery of said school. Once a thaumaturge is in full command of his initial school, he may begin the study of another. While studying this second school, he can research spells from either his original or his new school, as he sees fit. It is important to note that a mage may not have more than one unfinished school of magic at a time.