Designed for “Mix and Match” usage, the magic system requires specific character investment to function.

To function as a spellcaster, a character must possess two specific traits:

Casting Method Trait: Determines the mechanical limits and resource management of spellcasting.

Source of Magic Trait: Determines which Spell List the character has access to.

Regardless of Source or Method, casting a spell requires a successful Esoterica skill check. The resulting Degree of Resolution (Success, Partial Success, etc.) determines the spell's effectiveness.

If the spell inflicts damage, the Damage Multiplier (x0 to x5) corresponding to the Degree of Resolution is applied to the spell's fixed damage value.

Fundamentally, every spell functions as a Trait. A character must spend a Trait slot to learn new magic. However, this varies by Source:

• Standard Rate: 1 Trait = 1 Spell (Typical for Inherent, Experimental, and Granted Magic).
• Studied Magic: 1 Trait = 2 Spells added to the character's selection (Spellbook) from which they prepare.
• External Magic: 1 Trait = 1 to 4 Spells added to the character's selection (depending on the specific external source).

Casters can prepare a number of spells equal to their current level. Spells consume preparation slots based on their Trait Tier:

Note: Casting a prepared spell does not typically consume its preparation slot. The spell remains prepared unless a specific mechanic, such as a “Bad Thing” in the Consequences casting method, explicitly renders it unprepared.

Mana-based: The caster has a daily pool of points to spend on casting spells.

Ingredients-based: The caster must spend currency to acquire specific ingredients used to cast spells.

Charge Up: The caster must spend a significant amount of time building up power, making each spell take longer to cast.

Cool Down: Each individual spell is put on a cool-down timer when cast, preventing immediate reuse.

Consequences: Includes a list of “Bad Things” that can happen if the caster fails to roll high enough when casting.

4. Borrowed/Manipulated Magic Theme Structure: The Ten Sources

A clean, setting-neutral list of categories of external magical generators. Each Source corresponds to a trait tree or spell group.

Beasts – mundane and magical animals

Naturals – elementals, weather-spirits, environmental forces

Ancestrals – ghosts, shades, echoes of the past

Locals – land spirits, household spirits, site guardians

Fey – tricksters, courts, glamours

Celestials – ideals, order, enlightenment

Infernals – corruption, destruction, temptation

Monuments – ancient titans, world-shapers, cosmic forces

Constructs – golems, artificed minds, created spirits

Exotics – anything from outside the world (void, star, conceptual entities)

Why this works for designers

Each category is broad and symbolic, not setting-specific.

“Monuments” and “Exotics” prevent edge-cases from forcing new categories.

A designer can rename or reinterpret any category without breaking compatibility.

Ten is a comfortable list size for trait trees (3–6 per group).

5. The Conceptual Path (Reality-as-Lego Experimenters)

Those who treat the building blocks of the universe as manipulable components through trial, error, and strange genius.

Theme System: The Eight Primordia

A symbolic structure based on eight universal conceptual “bricks” — not elements, not schools, but fundamental properties of existence.

These are the tools experimenters use to assemble spells.

The Eight Primordia

Form – shape, structure, geometry, bodies

Force – motion, impact, vectors, energy

Pattern – logic, repetition, sequence, probability

Essence – life, spirit, identity, uniqueness

Entropy – decay, randomness, noise, dissolution

Continuum – space, time, distance, duration

Threshold – boundaries, transitions, liminality, states

Concord – synchronization, resonance, harmonics

These are conceptual enough to feel distinct from runes or Decans, while still being manipulable “Lego pieces.”

Spell Philosophy

Spells are constructed, not learned; they are reproducible experiments.

A spell might combine Primordia (e.g., Continuum + Force = teleport shove; Essence + Form = living sculpture).

Mistakes can cause wild, but scientific, failures.

Practitioners often keep lab notebooks of working formulae.

Why this works for designers

Matches the “reality is modular” flavour without imposing lore.

Lets spells be cleanly classified by their dominant Primordia.

Far less overlap than traditional “elemental” lists.