Minor Sorceries for the ADRPG

The first step to Sorcery in my campaign. I allow partial buying of the powers, Sorcery included. Investing 5 points toward Sorcery gets you this ability.

It is a weak version of a Pattern Lens or Logrus Sight--the ability to recognize the magic auras of things. It does NOT allow one to distinguish traces of Pattern, Trump, etc as do the more powerful Pattern and Logrus sights, but it would allow you to notice unusual variations in Pattern or Logrus energy if you are at least a basic initiate of that Power. In campaign, for example, Bleys and Fiona (seperately) looked at the respective Patterns they were at with this power, looking for variations in the energy.

In shadows which have "field lines" , "magic pools" and other concentrations of magic, Mage Sight allows for an easy identification of these markings, which is especially useful to those who also have Reshaping Magic. Things like enchanted items are easily seen as such, although, as said before, Trump does not work the same. A sword which just has a Trump image will not show up, but a sword with a Trump image AND does deadly damage will show up as empowered.

How to perform Mage Sight: It is not a continual power. The sorceress has to raise her personal energies and look at the object or area slightly out of focus, just like those crazy eye puzzles. Then, auras of various colors and brightnesses will appear, and so forth.

Mind magicians often influence their own minds, building shields to protect their minds. While these mental shields are especially helpful in mental combat, they interfere will all intrusive magic, beneficial and foul. It takes a conscious choice to raise or lower mental shields.

Without a psyche conflict, a mind magician can sense the truth. If a person lies, the mind magician will know it intuitively, unless the target is taking some measures to prevent it. However, the magician will always know two things: whether or not the target is resisting, and if the target is not resisting, then whether or not the target is telling the truth. Stronger masters of the mind can force targets to reveal what they know. The master merely gazes into the subject's eyes (or touches the subject flesh to flesh) and asks a question. The subject has to answer literally and directly, though if the control is loosened a bit, the victim can converse normally (though on topic and truthfully).

Masters with sufficient psyche advantage can take over the voluntary muscles of a target, forcing the target to (physically) do anything the magician chooses. Usually this requires the complete concentration of the master combined with close proximity and established psyche domination (through any means). Mind magic also grants the "compelling abilities" akin to High Compelling. In particular, the abilities are Geas, False Memories and Artificial Personality.

• Geas is the ability to implant a suggestion, any suggestion. For example, you could implant a "kill everything that passes through this door" geas. If your target was an attack dog, trained to defend houses, then this would be very quick, since your geas fits very closely with the dog's training. However, if you were to try to geas a butler to do this, it would wear off much more quickly, as this is more foreign to his thinking. It takes anywhere from an instant (with a huge psyche difference) to hours (if the psyche difference is small) to implant a geas.
• False memories allows the character to make the victim remember or forget anything they choose, no matter how false. However, if the memory is too recent or differs too much from other experiences, it will often be questioned. People with a high psyche are most likely to notice the tampering with their mind. False memories also take quite a while to rework, and the target's mind must already be dominated to allow such vast access.

• Artificial personalities allows a character to "map" an entirely new mind into another person. While the new personality can be completely artificial, completely artificial personalities are the hardest to imprint. It is much easier to borrow a similar psychic impression- especially if the 'donor' and 'recipient' think of themselves similarly. For example, implanting a dog's mind into a man would not work very well, because the man personality thought of itself completely differently. However, mapping one dog personality into another dog allows near perfect 'grafting' of the new personality, which means the new personality should last quite a while. Even copying a personality takes hours of grueling work- it can take days to make two truly different personalities mesh. You can not begin mapping a new personality over the old until the target is completely subjugated mentally. The strongest masters of the mind (those with the greatest psyche differences over their opponents) can, given sufficient time, completely reprogram a victim. This is often a long process, but the victim can be forced to do virtually anything- even if self destructive. Commands can be "hardwired" into the mind, causing the victim to respond in a conditioned manner instantly when a condition is fulfilled.

Sample Mental Magic Spells

Advanced Mental Magics at additional cost

Faithful Mind (2 points)

The Art of Minor Ego. The Faithful allows the caster create an ally with a atavistic portion of the survival mind. This portion of the mind need not sleep and always treats the outside world as a killing environment. It will alert the caster to any danger perceived through the unconscious senses.

Mind Masque (2 points)

The Art of Not Being. The Masque allows the caster to study, travel, rest undisturbed as senses of anyone of lesser Psyche will be deceived into ignoring the caster. Evidence of the caster is still present from passing through the world. A person employing Masque will still shed rain, make tracks, and such. . . but none of these phenomena can be perceived while the caster is within range and for a small period after exiting the area. For one who has mastered the technique, no psyche check or contest is required, for the Masqued person is visible.

Mind Fugue (2 points)

The Art of Mental Clocking. The Fugue allows the caster to rearrange the neural clock rate under which he/she perceives Reality. While a corresponding increase in physical reaction may be noticed, this is a perceptual action which does affect Endurance. For example, increasing the perception of Reality by a factor of 100 will cause study, calculation, and other mental skills to be performed at that rate. Mental attack is perceptual, but energies spent at increased rates will drain Endurance literally at whatever cost would be normal times the factor of the Mind Fugue.

Relaxation of mind is perceptual, so benefit may accrue. Rest of mind and body is not perceptual and cannot be gained through use of the Fugue.

Mind Map (2 points)

The Art of Mind Topography. The Map allows the caster to study another mind and learn it as well as he/she knows his own (a considerable feat). After a mapping, a caster does not need direct access to a person to know what that person might think of a certain situation, for it is a matter of a known pattern of thought. Errors are possible, but by degree, not omission. This art also makes subsequent attempts to penetrate psyche easier, including Trump contact, mind reading, and psyche dominance.

Access the the mind is required to use the Mind Map.

Lack of contact with the mapped subject for years will decrease the effect.

Mind Mal (2 points)

The Art of Mind Malaise. The Mal allows the caster to shock another mind with a complex assault of stimulation. Penetration of the other psyche is not the initial effect. In most cases, the sterner the defense against the Mal, the more damage is done to the defending mind. As the defender stiffens and makes more rigid the conditions of the psyche envelope, more of the resonance of the Mal assault is transmitted along the victim's own mental muscles, much like denser material conducting more vibratory energy. The defender spends much more energy than the attacker and can be overwhelmed.

Third Eye (1 point)

Developing the theta sense of psyche visualization. Some call it remote sight, clairvoyance, or blind reading but it is really none of these things. Imagine instead that there is a medium of subtle energy that transmits exculsive information that can be interpreted by the mentalist. The physical world does not impede this type of vision. Range is dependant on strength of psyche. Human rank psyche is limited to a single Shadow.

Third Ear (1 point)

Developing the theta sense of psyche auralization. Some call it telepathy, clairaudience, or mind reading. Surface thoughts of sentients and the mental empathy of animals is accessible. Range is dependant on strength of psyche. Human rank psyche is limited to 100 kilometers.

Second Touch (1 point)

Developing the theta sense of the psyche tactile. Some call it object reading, or psycho-history. Extreme mental impressions are accumulated in energy fields of the physical realm. Adepts can read things from sites of combat, passion, or crowd stirring emotion. Personal items, long held by individuals can hold insights into the former owner. Human rank psyche is limited to events less than 1 year past.

Second Scent (1 point)

Developing the theta sense of the psyche scent. Some call it flawless tracking, scent recall, or psycho-marking. Unique psyche signatures are recorded at the theta level. Holding a personal item of the individual sought is sufficient source to that person. Disguises or shapeshifting do not fool the Second Scent, unless the mind is Shaped as well. Human rank psyche is limited to a single Shadow.

Given a reflective surface, like a pool or lake, the magician can cause images to appear of distant places, looking much like an activated Trump, but functioning much like a Pattern lens. Novices might not get anything beyond the image, while masters might be able to communicate through the surface to the place depicted, much like a Trump...or even odder powers.

Water is also renown for purifying, and is often used to symbolize life itself. A magician of water can perform healing, or drive off curses and dispel magics. This has to be done after the fact, rather than as a preventative measure. The purer the water, the better the results. A really pure mountain spring is a god(dess)send to the water magician. (Merlin could really have used one to help get rid of the Blue Stones!)

Mirror Magic is an upgrade to Water Magic, allowing the use of Mirrors as well as water for scrying. Mirrors usually have to be glass, although polished metal may work to a lesser degree. Mirror Magicians often learn how to blow their own glassware and make their own mirrors.

A master of water and mirror magics might learn how to slow or even reverse aging or even more surprising things not listed here.

Additional Ideas and Uses for Mirror and Water Magic

Water Tricks:

All of these require water that the sorcerer has prepared or gotten from a special site or source. If it is water prepared by the sorcerer then it should require some time in the undertaking

1. Strength of the Water:

This will allow to 'bless' himself or a recipient. This will make the target more resistant to one of the Powers. This is very temporary but may last for a few moments under direct scrutiny of a Power. (e.g. Its more difficult to scry the target with a Pattern Lens or to force a trump contact.)

2. Remove Influence:

This is what Merlin could have used to get rid of the blue stones after he had been tuned to them. This usually requires bathing the person with specially prepared waters.

3. Tsunami:

This would be similar to a power word in effect. For a short burst one of the recipients statistics is dramatically increased. This allows one moment of extreme resistance or in the case of Warfare or Strength extreme damage. The recipient must drink the water and then declare when they are using it. It only lasts for twenty-four hours and then passes from the recipient.

4. The Well Spring:

The victim drinks some of the prepared water and then the sorcerer drinks the remainder. After that the sorcerer can track the victim with uncanny accuracy even passing through normally inaccessible barriers. This is something like having a light contact. Unfortunately this is a two way street so pick your victim carefully or be as stealthy as Caine.

Mirror Tricks

Obviously a reflective surface is needed for many of these magics. Preferably one that was prepared by the sorcerer.

1. The Doppelganger:

This is used in conjunction with Trump or at least a trump contact. This will set up a double of you that the person speaks with. So you are able to have one step of separation between you and this person if they are trying dominate you or do something to you through the trump. Once the attack is actually launched the person will realize that they have just attacked a clever replica.

2. Reflect False image:

With this trick you can 'save' an image of a person that you have previously viewed by the mirror. At some later point you can use the stored to wrap around yourself as an illusion so that you appear as that person. The illusion is only as good as your psyche however.

3. Deflect the Blow:

This would be used more often against psyche attacks and magic. By using the mirror in a similar manner to a trump defense you are able to reflect at least part of the psychic force or spell away from yourself. Only a very clear psyche advantage would allow you to reflect the image back at the person who attacked you.

This style of Magic is unique, in that it cannot create magic. However, it can reshape existing magic and enchantments. The magician must have access to a power source, whether it is an enchanted suit of armor or a pool of magic. The magician can shape the energies into a newly desired form. There is a drawback however- a great deal of energy is lost in the process....a very inefficient process at best.

For example, Anwell, a reshaping magician pressed by many strong opponents might tap his enchanted armor and unbalance the energies, resulting in an outward blast of magical force that throws the opponents away, but leaving him with unenscorselled armor. The effects of this magic are always simple, though they may possess immense power. There are several examples of this type of magic shown in Merlin's assaults on the Keep of the Four Worlds. When Merlin assaults the Keep the first time, Mask diverts the magic well's liquid and makes them flow toward Merlin. In his later assault, Mask scoops up energy from the Fount and throws it at Merlin. In response to Merlin's falling wall, Mask simply creates a sphere of force, powered by the Fount.

Offensive spells created by this power are pretty easy to counter by magic of any kind. Spells of this kind can be parried by any Sorcerer (and most magicians) if the sorcerer or magician is aware. However, if the defender is not aided by a power source, the energy used to parry can quickly wear away even the toughest mage's endurance. In other words, this kind of offense is like a simple mace--unadorned, not fancy, but, ultimately, can break down opponents.

Legends about Blood Magicians usually concentrate on the cruelty and lust for power that these magicians have. The psychic stench attached to their spells is usually filled with overtones of pain and suffering. Most blood magic is not rackable, but must be cast on the spot. However, there are many advantages to this method, which keeps it attractive.

A blood magician who casts a spell using blood can ignore certain Lynchpins. For example, if the blood magician has the target's blood, the spell does not require destinations nor does it follow line of sight requirements. If the caster uses a power word against a target, the blood tie functions as a true name.

A blood magician can also use a victim's endurance to power his spells, instead of his own. This can quickly kill a mere human, especially if the blood magician's spells are powerful. To use his victim's power, the magician must completely subjugate the victim either physically or psychically- unless the victim offers itself freely.

Blood magicians also can possess powers of sympathetic magic. In sympathetic magic, a magician doesn't strike against a target directly, instead a linked substitute is used. For example, suppose a blood magician hates a meddling Amberite. We'll call the hated Amberite Willowa. The magician might capture Willowa's younger brother and slowly bleed him to death. With the proper spells, Willowa will weaken also. This avoids the nasty psyche vs. psyche contests that usually accompany an invasive spell.

A less direct example would be this: A strong magician wants a force of dragons, but can't dominate any. Using great powers (and many sacrifices to fuel the magic), the sorcerer might link the dragons to his pet lizards. Then, by influencing the lizards, he can influence the dragons. Blood magicians might gain some control over his form, allowing duplication of some shape changing powers. However, this type of shape change is completely analytic and thought out, not intuitive like a shape shifter's power. So, while both could assume the form of a dog, the magician must work out two spells (one to assume dog form and one to return from dog form) and hang or cast them. The shape changer merely thinks "I'll be a dog" and shifts toward dog form. Also, blood magicians don't have primal or alternate 'home' forms- each is as alien as the other. There is no instinctive shape shift for a blood magician either. For example, a shape shifter pushed off a cliff might sprout wings and fly, while a magician had better have hung the right spell that morning!

Blood magicians can also tell the true nature of a person by comparing the target's blood to a sample they already have. Thus, merely shape shifting is not enough to throw off a powerful sorcerer intent on using you to fuel the magician's next spell. Even a change in psyche or memories (like Corwin's) wouldn't throw off a blood sorcerer, as the blood remains constant, even if the mind does not.

Blood magicians may possess even greater powers, but any others would be up to the GM.