Very rarely does it feel like magic truly connects to the fabric of the universe, to the very nature of existence.
By Tim Robbins |
It does feel like that in Ursula le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea.
So I built a GLOG class of this type of magic.
Summary:
- It's very wonky. There's only 4 spells and 1 unique ability. Yeah, you heard me.
- It's subtle. There's no explosions here. Rather, there's a deep and subtle manipulation of almost anything.
- The spells are: Call, Command, Summon, Change. That's it; but you can use them on almost anything. Much will be up to the DM.
- You can only enchant something if you have the True Name of said anything. Finding out the True Name is an unique, once-a-day-ability.
I love this. Earthsea nails magic that feels like magic and this does an excellent job of working with that.
ReplyDeleteThats good - then I did what I set out to do. I have yet to actually playtest it though.
DeleteHuh, I've accidentally made an Earthsea-ish magic system without being aware of it.
ReplyDeleteIs it the true names thing? Because while Earthsea made that famous, that's a universal things. There's Egyptian burial texts that proclaim that this guy about to be buried is so powerful "not even his mother knows his name".
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