Occasional JD wrote: "Nice to meet you all." Hal said.
"As for any special powers, I only know a few basic spells, but I'm specially trained with a Halberd, if that's of any use to you. As for the way I look...Let's just say I'm not from around here..."
<I don't know if any of what I'm doing is right. So, tell me if I screw up, and I'll fix it.>
<GM's Note: Ah, so he's a spellcaster, eh? OK, i'll give you the same information I gave Micheal way back on page 3.. except this one's been spellchecked! To wit:
There's basically five kinds of Magic in this world:
(1)Divine magic, which does healing, summoning/banishing of spirits (Good spirits, bad spirits, nature spirits, etc), summoning/banishing of the undead (skeletons, zombies, vampires, etc.), blessings/cursings, and so on. Preists, clerics, druids, shamans and cultists do the Divine kind of magic. Users of Divine Magic get their spells by winning favour with their specific deity, usually though prayer, rituals, donations, sacrifice, or alms. The more powerful the spell, the more favour one must win. Thus, spells such as those that raise the dead can require a considerable expenditure of resources, and usually involve more than one spellcaster.
(2)Arcane magic includes the following ares of study: Manipulation (moving objects around, creating whirlwinds, levitating, etc) spells; Transformation (Changing an object's size or shape or colour, turning a prince into a frog, making your staff become a sword, etc.) spells; Illusion (making illusionary effects that seem real to everyone but the spellcaster) spells, Elemental (a special category that manipulates and combines the four "Classical" elements or Earth, Air, Fire and Water; potentialty very powerfull, but notoriously hard to control)spells, and Animation (A rather expensive kind of magic to pursue; gives inanimate objects a life an intelligence of their own; Used to create Golums and Automatons, which can be extremely powerfully) spells.
Each user of Arcane Magic is usually specialised in one specific area of study but some have been known to be proficient in more than one. Arcane spellcasters do not need to expend resources when casting a spell, but the do need to buy a copy of a spell they want to cast and then learn that spell. Unlike other spellcasters, Arcane spellcasters must pay both for the spell and for the training required to learn the spell. (Player Characters get this training through experience in the feild). Once a Arcane spellcaster knows a specific spell, he or she can cast it virtually at will: This contrasts with Divine spellcasters, who must spend time preparing for the spell each time they cast it.
For an arcane spellcaster the more powerful the spell the more difficult it is to cast. This difficulty can produce fatigue in the caster, just as physical excerise does. As the spellcaster becomes more experienced, he can learn to handle greater amounts of spellcaster fatigue. However, the more clever Arcane spellcasters have found ways around this particular limitation. Some have paid for the development of spells that reduce or even eliminate spellcasting fatigue, while others have acquired magic items that archive the same effect.
(3)Alchemy: This discipline allows the user to permanently change any one element into any other. This is a very rare kind of magic, and is outlawed in Skara Brae because it holds the potential to totally unbalance the economy. A special group of the King's own mages hunts down and executes anyone who dabbles in Alchemy.
(4)Thamutology: This is a purely scholarly and clerical discipline, but it is one that the other four disciplines all depend upon. Thamutologists catalogue, copy, create and sell copies of the spells the other kinds of magic users use. Thamutologists can be found selling their spells in markets and places of learning throughout the world. There's one in the market square in Glenarbor, right next to the weaponsmith. There's another in Targos, next to the Herbalist.
(5)Talismonging: The practitioners of this lucrative discipline (known as Talismongers) create, study, collect and trade in objects of power. This includes rings, potions, magic weapons & armour, wands, staffs, pendants, and other objects. Talismonging is not as common as Arcane or Divine magic, but it's not as rare as Alchemy. Thus far, the party has not encountered a Talismonger.
In addition to these five types of magic, there is also the discipline of Herbology. Many people think that Herbologists practise magic, but there's actually no magic involved: It's all just a very convoluted combination of folklore, science, pseudoscience and trial-and-error. Herbologists often make potions, poultices, garlands and other concoctions that can have seemingly miraculous effects. There's no Herbology products for sale in Glenarbor, but it's fairly common in other parts of Skara Brae, especialy the rural areas. As the party has learned, there's a major Herbalist shop in Targos.
Player characters may only choose to be Divine or Arcane spellcasters, but they might encounter NPCs that practice one of the other three types.
So, OJD must now pick what kind of magic Hall knows how to do: Arcane or Divine spellcasting. Also, since he's a Gnome, Hal gets a bonus to any lockpicking skills he may have. (Gnomes are naturally proficient with machines of all kinds, and since a lock is just a simple machine, Gnomes tend to excel at lockpicking). Also, Hall may or may not have knowledge of the Gnomish Airships and their trade routes, but that's up to OJD to decide. So, pick your magic type and I'll give you a list of spells to pick from.>
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