Magic is a fundamental and natural part of the world, manifesting in all things animate and inanimate. The flow of magical energies is, as a whole, essential to the planet’s well-being; only so long as the power of the elements is unchecked can the wind continue to blow, the earth continue to be fertile, the cycle of life and death remain unhindered. All of the world's inhabitants, whether conscious of it or not, have some small part of this force inside them; with training, it can be turned into a weapon more powerful than mere blade or brawn, more devastating than all the world’s technologies.
Crystalline items and formations have been found to be curiously sympathetic to the flow of magic, able to focus, store and even amplify natural elemental forces. The most renowned of these are the Elemental Crystals, whose powerful magical reservoirs can raise and destroy nations with equal ease. Lesser crystals, most merely a conduit of the natural magic that flows through the planet, are in steady supply. Such items can be used for any number of purposes, from powering machinery to providing the raw ingredients for a wide range of equipment and recovery items.
Most magically-empowered gear is constructed by binding the rush of energy freed by the destruction of crystals into the item during the creation process. More powerful arms and armor may be made of pure crystal capable of absorbing and channel significant amounts of magical power.
Raw magic can also temporarily be captured, often upon the death of a creature. Such ‘frozen’ magic is the reason behind items spontaneously being ‘created’ upon a monster’s death, especially those of arcane origin such as Bombs; virtually any fragment of their bodies can be used to unleash a small spark of offensive fire spellcasting.
Even as it sustains life, magic in turn creates its own ecology, ranging in scale from the animal-like Kami spirits – who travel the streams of magic like so many schools of fish – to the primitive elementals, a creature 'birthed' by large, concentrated masses of elemental energy coming together in one location. Top of the proverbial totem pole are the Espers, known by a million and one names throughout the universe; such creatures were birthed on a plane of pure power, connected to a world by only the most tenuous of links, drawn into material existence by the persuasive talents of summoners or their own wanderlust.
The environment, too, interacts with raw flows of magic, resonating where the elements are most sympathetic. The heat of a volcano, for instance, can tie together many streams of Fire Elemental energy, creating a reservoir of power favorable to arcane creatures and spellcasters alike. Similarly, a lightning-strike during a ferocious thunderstorm attracts Lightning Elemental energy; a torrential rainfall leads to the accumulation of Water elemental power. For those who rely on the might of the elements, careful consideration of one’ surroundings is an important factor in effectively shaping these energies. These ‘Elemental Fields’ have been the deciding factor in more than one battle.
Active wielders of magical power vary wildly in shape and scope. With sufficient training or natural talent, many people can channel elemental flows into their lives in tiny ways, from making the garden grow just a little larger, to knowing when to fold in a game of cards. Such people are rarely aware of their own talents.
However, a true Mage's talent lies in their ability to actively twist and focus raw flows of magic into physical, visible forms; dark mists, freezing gales, howling storms and scorching waves of fire, and far more impressive feats. Paladins and Dark Knights are unique casters – instead of channeling the elemental energies from the world around them, they contain a reservoir of spiritually-aligned magic within.
Crystalline items and formations have been found to be curiously sympathetic to the flow of magic, able to focus, store and even amplify natural elemental forces. The most renowned of these are the Elemental Crystals, whose powerful magical reservoirs can raise and destroy nations with equal ease. Lesser crystals, most merely a conduit of the natural magic that flows through the planet, are in steady supply. Such items can be used for any number of purposes, from powering machinery to providing the raw ingredients for a wide range of equipment and recovery items.
Most magically-empowered gear is constructed by binding the rush of energy freed by the destruction of crystals into the item during the creation process. More powerful arms and armor may be made of pure crystal capable of absorbing and channel significant amounts of magical power.
Raw magic can also temporarily be captured, often upon the death of a creature. Such ‘frozen’ magic is the reason behind items spontaneously being ‘created’ upon a monster’s death, especially those of arcane origin such as Bombs; virtually any fragment of their bodies can be used to unleash a small spark of offensive fire spellcasting.
Even as it sustains life, magic in turn creates its own ecology, ranging in scale from the animal-like Kami spirits – who travel the streams of magic like so many schools of fish – to the primitive elementals, a creature 'birthed' by large, concentrated masses of elemental energy coming together in one location. Top of the proverbial totem pole are the Espers, known by a million and one names throughout the universe; such creatures were birthed on a plane of pure power, connected to a world by only the most tenuous of links, drawn into material existence by the persuasive talents of summoners or their own wanderlust.
The environment, too, interacts with raw flows of magic, resonating where the elements are most sympathetic. The heat of a volcano, for instance, can tie together many streams of Fire Elemental energy, creating a reservoir of power favorable to arcane creatures and spellcasters alike. Similarly, a lightning-strike during a ferocious thunderstorm attracts Lightning Elemental energy; a torrential rainfall leads to the accumulation of Water elemental power. For those who rely on the might of the elements, careful consideration of one’ surroundings is an important factor in effectively shaping these energies. These ‘Elemental Fields’ have been the deciding factor in more than one battle.
Active wielders of magical power vary wildly in shape and scope. With sufficient training or natural talent, many people can channel elemental flows into their lives in tiny ways, from making the garden grow just a little larger, to knowing when to fold in a game of cards. Such people are rarely aware of their own talents.
However, a true Mage's talent lies in their ability to actively twist and focus raw flows of magic into physical, visible forms; dark mists, freezing gales, howling storms and scorching waves of fire, and far more impressive feats. Paladins and Dark Knights are unique casters – instead of channeling the elemental energies from the world around them, they contain a reservoir of spiritually-aligned magic within.
The Elements
The compartmentalization and classification of magic in its many and diverse forms has occupied scholars for centuries; even to this day, the finer details of magical taxonomy can be fuel for considerable debate. Certain aspects, however, are considered to be universally agreed on. Among them is the fact that energy is the basic building-block of magic; though further diversified and refined, raw energy itself can be used to drive a wide variety of helpful and harmful effects. From here, all magic can be broadly broken up into nine elemental subtypes.
The most common of these are six lesser elements:
Holy, Shadow, and Non-elemental magic completes the pantheon, though inclusion of this last is a bone of contention for those who see magic as supernatural forces instead of mundane ones. In some quarters ‘non-elemental’ is simply not considered proper magic at all, and simply excised from the reckoning.
Without any doubt, Holy and Shadow are the dominating forces in the magical world. In experimental conditions, advanced practitioners of the arcane have come to the conclusion that the names itself are actually a bit of a misnomer - Holy, visually seen as a bright flash of white light, is actually pure magical energy from the core of Creation itself, untainted by the color spectrum of fire, earth, wind, and the like. Shadow, on the other hand, is its opposite, energy of pure corruption that seeks to destroy and unmake this energy of Creation wherever it can through various means.
The most common of these are six lesser elements:
- Earth - the essence of soil and rock.
- Fire – the essence of heat and flames.
- Wind – the essence of sky and movement.
- Water – the essence of liquid and the oceans.
- Lightning - the essence of electricity and energy.
- Ice - the essence of cold and frost.
Holy, Shadow, and Non-elemental magic completes the pantheon, though inclusion of this last is a bone of contention for those who see magic as supernatural forces instead of mundane ones. In some quarters ‘non-elemental’ is simply not considered proper magic at all, and simply excised from the reckoning.
Without any doubt, Holy and Shadow are the dominating forces in the magical world. In experimental conditions, advanced practitioners of the arcane have come to the conclusion that the names itself are actually a bit of a misnomer - Holy, visually seen as a bright flash of white light, is actually pure magical energy from the core of Creation itself, untainted by the color spectrum of fire, earth, wind, and the like. Shadow, on the other hand, is its opposite, energy of pure corruption that seeks to destroy and unmake this energy of Creation wherever it can through various means.
Magical Solutions
Intuitive Magic is exactly that; magic used outside of combat to perform mundane (and not-so-mundane) tasks. The usefulness of Intuitive Magic is limited by the creativity of the player and the allowances by the GM. Intuitive magic performed by extremely high-level characters should be likewise powerful. A White Mage could dam a river with a magical wall, or a Dark Knight could corrupt the same river, making it poisonous to drink. Sometimes this intuitive magic requires an associated force, finesse, or skill check if the task has some sort of risk associated with it. Some examples related to using intuitive magic include:
- Earth: Can cause tremors that can quickly damage and destroy smaller environmental features, opening up previously inaccessible sections. A force check would often be useful for this destructive work, though finesse may be important as well to not cause a cave in or the like.
- Fire: Setting things on fire is the easiest way to make a battle a little more interesting. Structures and vegetation burn up slowly enough that they’ll most probably be ablaze for the rest of the battle; combatants, however, are far less durable. Anyone caught in the middle of a fire will suffer Fire Elemental damage for each Round spent in the fire; consult the Recurring Damage chart for Difficult Terrain on page 155. Environmental features set on fire and then rigged to fall on opponents do Fire Elemental rather than Physical damage.
- Ice: Ice Elemental attacks have the ability to freeze bodies of water or ice over soggy ground, turning previously traversable areas into Difficult Terrain. Fire is capable of melting through most ice formations.
- Lightning: Capable of powering – or overloading – heavy machinery and electronic devices. The exact results of such actions depend on the device in question, but could easily range from destroying a shield generator protecting a major villain to activating an elevator to high ground.
- Water: Can sweep smaller environmental features out of the way and soak into solid ground, turning it into muddy and Difficult Terrain. This probably causes a penalty to AVD at the very least.
- Wind: Knock things over or blow smaller objects away – a good way for retrieving things that would normally be beyond the party's reach. It may also disperse other atmospheric conditions, like snow and fog.
- Holy: Warding against and removing blight, sanctifying land, making plant life grow, healing animals, purifying water, and the like are all things that holy energy is capable of.
- Shadow: Concealing things in darkness, slowly tainting the landscape, making plants wither, and causing terror in small animals are properties commonly associated with shadow magic.
Summoning
Summoned Beasts - also known as Espers, Avatars, Guardian Forces, Scions, Eidolons, Fayth, Aeons, and a variety of other names across the worlds - are powerful dimensional spirits and allies that have taken an interest in the characters. They function unlike every other ability in the game, in that Summoning (calling these supernatural creatures into the physical world temporarily) is often a group decision made by (and paid for by) the entire party. In fact, in some ways Espers are their own beings – in other ways, they are physical manifestations of the party’s outlook, goals, and strengths. Their powers might unite a group of heroes – or divide it.
How Summons appear in a game is ultimately up to the GM. Some games will see the heroes searching out the powers of the Espers on a journey known as a ‘Pilgrimage,’ where their mettle will be tested in dangerous and sometimes even horrifying ways. Some games will see the characters as heirs of a great power in their own right, each with their own divine guardian Summon. Some games will never see Summons even mentioned.
Once the party acquires the assistance of a Summon in whatever manner, it will ultimately fall into one of two categories; Party Espers are watchful guardians of an entire group, replacing the adventuring group for a short period of time in combat when summoned. Individual Espers on the other hand ‘belong’ to and assist a specific character, a person often referred to as a Summoner in reverent tones.
Summoning an Esper is a Slow action that generally costs one point of Destiny per Rank of the Esper. For example, Boko, a Rank 1 Esper, would only cost 1 point of Destiny to make an appearance. Alexander would cost five.
Espers can be damaged and attacked like any other creature. Their ARM and M.ARM are always treated as 0 while their Force, Finesse, ACC and AVD are the same as the summoner. Hit Points and Magic Points for an Esper are based on their type:
Individual Espers often have passive abilities that they grant themselves, their summoners, and those around them. They also often have varied support abilities specific to themselves, such as status resistances, and elemental weaknesses.
Espers have the inherent ability Impervious, making them immune to all negative status effects unless otherwise specified (Anima is always affected by Zombie, for example). They cannot be affected by Knockback or Disarm, cannot have their equipment targeted or broken, do not take falling damage, cannot have their spells interrupted, cannot be swayed or affected by skills of any sort, such as an attempt to intimidate or coerce, and cannot receive the effects of Haste (unless they already have the Auto-Haste property).
An Esper may act immediately upon being Summoned. Party Espers can stay on the battlefield for up to three rounds before automatically being dismissed while Individual Espers can potentially remain indefinitely. An Esper can be dismissed sooner if it loses all of its HP, the summoner loses all of their HP, or if the summoner chooses to send it away. Once a Party Esper is dismissed, the party rejoins battle, becoming active targets again, and all status conditions inflicted continue to take effect.
On their turn, the summoner of an Esper may forgo their normal Standard or Slow action to have their Summon use one of its actions or spells instead, even if the summoner is removed from combat or inflicted with a status effect that normally prevents actions. On a Party Esper’s third turn, they may utilize their powerful ability known as an Astral Flow before they depart, returning the party to battle afterwards. These attacks are of immense potency, capable of altering entire landscapes with their destructive and restorative properties.
How Summons appear in a game is ultimately up to the GM. Some games will see the heroes searching out the powers of the Espers on a journey known as a ‘Pilgrimage,’ where their mettle will be tested in dangerous and sometimes even horrifying ways. Some games will see the characters as heirs of a great power in their own right, each with their own divine guardian Summon. Some games will never see Summons even mentioned.
Once the party acquires the assistance of a Summon in whatever manner, it will ultimately fall into one of two categories; Party Espers are watchful guardians of an entire group, replacing the adventuring group for a short period of time in combat when summoned. Individual Espers on the other hand ‘belong’ to and assist a specific character, a person often referred to as a Summoner in reverent tones.
Summoning an Esper is a Slow action that generally costs one point of Destiny per Rank of the Esper. For example, Boko, a Rank 1 Esper, would only cost 1 point of Destiny to make an appearance. Alexander would cost five.
Espers can be damaged and attacked like any other creature. Their ARM and M.ARM are always treated as 0 while their Force, Finesse, ACC and AVD are the same as the summoner. Hit Points and Magic Points for an Esper are based on their type:
- Individual Espers always have HP equal to 50% of the Summoner’s Maximum HP. A Scholar with 150 HP, for example, would summon Individual Espers with 75 HP. Individual Espers use the Summoner’s MP pool to cast spells.
- Party Espers have HP equal to the Summoner’s total HP times the Summon’s rank. That same Scholar with 150 HP could summon Garuda, a rank 2 Party Esper, with 300 HP total. Party Espers do not need to spend MP to cast spells.
Individual Espers often have passive abilities that they grant themselves, their summoners, and those around them. They also often have varied support abilities specific to themselves, such as status resistances, and elemental weaknesses.
Espers have the inherent ability Impervious, making them immune to all negative status effects unless otherwise specified (Anima is always affected by Zombie, for example). They cannot be affected by Knockback or Disarm, cannot have their equipment targeted or broken, do not take falling damage, cannot have their spells interrupted, cannot be swayed or affected by skills of any sort, such as an attempt to intimidate or coerce, and cannot receive the effects of Haste (unless they already have the Auto-Haste property).
An Esper may act immediately upon being Summoned. Party Espers can stay on the battlefield for up to three rounds before automatically being dismissed while Individual Espers can potentially remain indefinitely. An Esper can be dismissed sooner if it loses all of its HP, the summoner loses all of their HP, or if the summoner chooses to send it away. Once a Party Esper is dismissed, the party rejoins battle, becoming active targets again, and all status conditions inflicted continue to take effect.
On their turn, the summoner of an Esper may forgo their normal Standard or Slow action to have their Summon use one of its actions or spells instead, even if the summoner is removed from combat or inflicted with a status effect that normally prevents actions. On a Party Esper’s third turn, they may utilize their powerful ability known as an Astral Flow before they depart, returning the party to battle afterwards. These attacks are of immense potency, capable of altering entire landscapes with their destructive and restorative properties.
Reading a Spell Entry
Magic is laid out in the following format:
Spell Name (- MP)
Target: Single, Group, Self, Local, or Global
Type: Elemental, Non-elemental, Skill, Status, Effect, Recovery
Reflectable, Resistible
Description
The target should be self-explanatory, where the Type has no in-game impact – it merely allows players to read the entries better at a glance. If a spell includes the phrase ‘Reflectable’ this denotes that the spell can be bounced around by the status effect Reflect. ‘Resistible’ denotes that the spell contains a status effect, which can be nullified if the target of the spell succeeds at an opposed resistance check – as always, both the caster and the target make either a Force or a Finesse check, whichever is deemed appropriate by the GM (and in many cases, conveyed by the player’s description of the spell cast!) The description of the spell contains its damage and a rough idea of how the spell looks when cast. The latter can vary from character to character, as some mages have made stylistic choices about how their spells appear.
Spell Name (- MP)
Target: Single, Group, Self, Local, or Global
Type: Elemental, Non-elemental, Skill, Status, Effect, Recovery
Reflectable, Resistible
Description
The target should be self-explanatory, where the Type has no in-game impact – it merely allows players to read the entries better at a glance. If a spell includes the phrase ‘Reflectable’ this denotes that the spell can be bounced around by the status effect Reflect. ‘Resistible’ denotes that the spell contains a status effect, which can be nullified if the target of the spell succeeds at an opposed resistance check – as always, both the caster and the target make either a Force or a Finesse check, whichever is deemed appropriate by the GM (and in many cases, conveyed by the player’s description of the spell cast!) The description of the spell contains its damage and a rough idea of how the spell looks when cast. The latter can vary from character to character, as some mages have made stylistic choices about how their spells appear.