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--- nexusframe:notes:magic [2025/11/20 04:12] – [Sources of Magic (Spell Lists)] tailkinker
+++ nexusframe:notes:magic [2025/12/15 23:01] (current) – tailkinker
@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
 ^Source  ^  Acquisition Rate  ^  Unifying Theme  ^
 |Studied Magic  |  1 Trait = 2 Spells  |  Elder Futhark  |
-|Franted Magic |  1 Trait = 1 Spell  |  Decans of Astrology  |
+|Granted Magic |  1 Trait = 1 Spell  |  Decans of Astrology  |
 |Inherent Magic  |  1 Trait = 1 Spell  |  Magical Creatures  |
 |Experimental Magic  |  1 Trait = 1 Spell  |  Nine Choirs  |
 |External Magic  |  1 Trait = 1-4 Spells  |  Eight Primordia  |
-. The Sympathetic Path (Borrowed / Manipulated Magic)
+. Borrowed/Manipulated Magic
+Theme Structure: The Ten Sources
-Those who manipulate magic generated by others—spirits, magical creatures, ancestral shades, ambient intelligences, wandering souls.
+A clean, setting-neutral list of categories of external magical generators.
+Each Source corresponds to a trait tree or spell group.
-Theme System: The Nine Choirs
+Beasts – mundane and magical animals
-A symbolic structure based on nine categories of entity, each representing a mode of borrowed power. Unlike the Runic or Decanic paths, these are relationships rather than personal talents.
+Naturals – elementals, weather-spirits, environmental forces
-Instead of spells, practitioners form Pacts, Bindings, Bargains, or Resonances with one or more Choirs.
+Ancestrals – ghosts, shades, echoes of the past
-The Nine Choirs
+Locals – land spirits, household spirits, site guardians
-Each Choir is an archetype of “otherworldly agency”:
+Fey – tricksters, courts, glamours
-Beasts – animal spirits, animistic echoes, wild totems
+Celestials – ideals, order, enlightenment
-Themes: instinct, senses, tracking, frenzy, resilience
-Shades – ghosts, memories, dying echoes
+Infernals – corruption, destruction, temptation
-Themes: fear, silence, entropy, secrets
-Wights – household and land spirits, wardens, guardians
+Monuments – ancient titans, world-shapers, cosmic forces
-Themes: protection, boundaries, blessings, curses
-Fae – tricksters, dancers, courts, liminality
+Constructs – golems, artificed minds, created spirits
-Themes: glamour, misdirection, bargains, emotion-twisting
-Elementals – fire, water, storm, stone, wind, void
+Exotics – anything from outside the world (void, star, conceptual entities)
-Themes: raw forces, channeling, shaping the environment
-Dragons – pride, hunger, dominion, treasure
+Why this works for designers
-Themes: overwhelming power, command, avarice
-Celestials – ideals given form
+Each category is broad and symbolic, not setting-specific.
-Themes: order, purity, guidance, illumination
-Infernal – corruption, temptation, destruction
+“Monuments” and “Exotics” prevent edge-cases from forcing new categories.
-Themes: compulsion, ruin, sacrifice, power-at-price
-Titans – ancient world-spirits, tectonic principles
+A designer can rename or reinterpret any category without breaking compatibility.
-Themes: inevitability, gravity, fate, time, deep lore
-You can easily adapt the Choirs to factions, Courts, or specific monsters.
+Ten is a comfortable list size for trait trees (3–6 per group).
-Mechanics Fit
-Each spell requires a link to an entity type, not memorization.
-Using a spirit’s power may invite obligations or influence.
-Favour/Slight could alter the spirit’s willingness to cooperate.
-If you want, I can format each Choir with explicit spell categories, sample abilities, and advancement trees.
 . The Conceptual Path (Reality-as-Lego Experimenters)
@@ Line 151: / Line 134: @@
 Practitioners often keep lab notebooks of working formulae.
-Mechanical Fit
+Why this works for designers
+Matches the “reality is modular” flavour without imposing lore.
-Experimenters assemble spells from 1–3 Primordia.
+Lets spells be cleanly classified by their dominant Primordia.
-Higher tiers allow abstract manipulations: rewriting probability, bending time, splitting identity.
+Far less overlap than traditional “elemental” lists.
-Favour/Slight could affect stability of assembled spells rather than potency.
-If you want I can write a formal spell-construction framework, like a “recipe format” for combining Primordia.
+^ Casting Method ^ Studied Magic ^ Borrowed Magic ^ Inherent Magic ^ Experimental Magic ^ External Magic ^
+| **Mana-based** | The Scholarly Arcanist | The Loaned Wellspring | The Innate Battery | The Volatile Equation | The Granted Conduit |
+| **Ingredients-based** | The Ritual Crafter | The Pact Broker | The Alchemic Soul | The Reactive Mixer | The Patron's Toll |
+| **Charge Up** | The Focused Master | The Channeling Vessel | The Meditative Soul | The Patient Innovator | The Bound Focus |
+| **Cool Down** | The Quick Memorizer | The Rushed Borrower | The Burst Mage | The Rapid Tester | The Immediate Gift |
+| **Consequences** | The Risky Scholar | The Desperate Pledger | The Wild Talent | The Unstable Pioneer | The Fickle Servant |