Magic is a fundamental force in Aurora, and it permeates every aspect of the world. Its eight Arcanas are split in the four physical Elements; Air, Fire, Water and Earth, and the four metaphysical Essences; Spirit, Energy, Mind, and Force, each governing the influence of mana on different aspects of reality. Almost every sentient creature is born with affinity toward one of the physical elements, and instinctively understands the basic principles of their elemental affinity, but Mages hone and expand their innate talents over years of obstinate study and practice, allowing them to exert this control to achieve devastating effects. Bending magic to the user’s will requires considerable effort, so Mana need to be spent to coax Elements and Essences into cooperation, as such even if the Mage has the capacity of unloading devastating spells they must rest and reinvigorate themselves to recover the expended mana after intense spellcasting sessions to continue doing so.
Learning Magic
Almost every auroran knows how to work their elemental affinity in the most basic ways, but those that focus on studying and expanding that connection are called Mages. Mages gain their magic knowledge by learning the corresponding magic talent, each of which corresponds to each arcana.
Arcana Focuses
There is an Intelligence focus that corresponds to each arcana. They act like other focuses, but also apply to a very important secondary statistic for mages, Spellpower (see Spellpower later in this chapter).
Mana Pool
A mage uses magical energy called Mana to cast spells. The amount of arcane power a mage has available at any given time is measured in Mana Points (abbreviated MP). The more you have, the more spells you can cast. If you run out of Mana, you can’t cast spells until you get some back.
Level 1 mages start the game with a Mana Pool equal to 10 + Willpower + 1d6 and this pool increases for their Willpower + 1d6 every time they gain a level, up to level 10. From levels 11 to 20, mages gain Maximum Mana points equal to their Willpower only. This mana pool determines the maximum amount of Mana points a mage can hold on it’s own at any one time.
Regaining Mana
A mage can regain spent Mana by resting. For each full hour of rest and/or meditation, you get back 1d6 + Willpower Mp. If you manage 8 hours of uninterrupted rest and/or meditation, you get all your Mana Points back.
Casting Spells
Mages may cast magic without requiring special preparations, but while they do use this spontaneous form of casting, they also train themselves in specific routines called Spell Formulae that the user has practiced time and time again until every gesture, word and detail is learned by heart. This kind of rote spell is much easier to cast compared to improvising one on the spot, so Formulae are more reliable, and cause less strain on the user’s mana reserves, but because of the very specific ritual learned they are very limited on their flexibility.
You can cast any spell you know by making a successful casting roll and spending the required number of MP. A casting roll is simply an Intelligence ability test. There is an Intelligence focus that corresponds to each arcana, so add these to casting rolls as appropriate. A level 3 mage with the Intelligence (Fire Arcana) focus, for example, would add 2 to casting rolls when using spells from the Fire Arcana.
When using more than one Arcana at the same time, add a bonus of 1 for each extra arcana focus you have.
Casting roll = 3d6 + Intelligence + arcana focus (if applicable)
If your casting roll equals or exceeds the spell’s target number (TN), you successfully cast the spell. If not, the spell fizzles and has no effect. Either way, you must spend the required MP. Some spells make use of the Stunt Die, so it’s a good idea to leave the dice as they fall until the spell is totally resolved.
Spellpower
For many spells, making a successful casting roll is all you need to worry about. Make it and the spell works as intended. Sometimes, however, you must overcome the natural resistance of the target before the spell takes effect. Spellpower is the measure of your arcane might. Certain spells allow the target(s) to test against Spellpower to resist or at least offset the spells’ effects.
Spellpower = 10 + Willpower + arcana focus (if applicable)
| Example | |
| The mage Rai’la has a Willpower 3, the Intelligence (Fire Arcana) and the Intelligence (Spirit Arcana) focus. When casting most spells, their Spellpower would be 13 (10 + 3). When casting Fire Arcana spells, however, their focus would apply, so the Spellpower would be 15 (10 + 3 + 2). When casting mixed Arcana spells, add +1 to their spellpower for each extra applicable arcana, so when casting a hybrid Fire/Spirit spell, their spellpower would be 16 (10 + 3 + 2 + 1) |
Spontaneous Spellcasting
Casting a spontaneous spell has four steps:
- Describe the effect you wish to cast to the game master.
- With the GM, determine the cost in MP and the Difficulty of the spell.
- Pay the appropriate Magic Point cost, and do the casting roll.
- Resolve the effects of spell.
When determining the cost and difficulty of the desired effect you need to take into account two things:
Spell cost and difficulty
A spontaneous spell’s difficulty is determined by the complexity of the task that the spell must accomplish, and a spell’s Mp cost is determined by the magnitude of this task.
While those characteristics depend on the game master’s criteria, you should mind the reference points for spells given below, and which kind of changes each arcana user can achieve according to its level of mastery.
| Complexity | Difficulty |
| Base difficulty | 5 |
| Basic (moving physical elements, lighting a campfire, Perceiving the presence of specific Arcana) | +3 |
| Moderate (simple changes in the shape of a physical element like making a hole, or keeping fire confines to a campfire, influence an arcana’s aspect in natural ways, like inspiring a mind, pumping extra magic points to an existing spell, directing sound, or binding a willing spirit) | +5 |
| Difficult (Modifying the nature of a physical element, or complicated changes in shape, like softening rock or freezing water, or sculpting or influencing an arcana in unnatural ways, like preventing a subject from noticing you by blocking yourself from his mind, or forcing a spirit to do your will, or modify forces, like strengthening/weakening gravity in an area) | +7 |
| Extraordinary (vast changes in an element’s nature, like refining metal from rock, implanting memories, helping a spirit to move on, or permanently bind an unwilling one, inverting the direction of gravity in an area) | +10 |
| Each Arcana used beyond the first. | +2 |
| Directly targeting an unwilling sentient being. | +Target’s WILL+CON |
| Each individual target beyond the first | +2 |
| Every 5 yards of length for a line-shaped spell | +1 |
| Every 5 yards of distance from the spellcaster, to the point of origin of the spell. | +1 |
| Every yard of radius, for a circle-shaped spell | +1 |
| Every 5 square yards of area for an irregular shaped spell | +1 |
| Miscellaneous factors (the user is unfamiliar with the nature of the magic in this area, has never seen the kind of spell he is trying to cast, she doesn’t have line of sight, is nervous or otherwise not in the best mental state, anything that might affect the complexity of this spellcasting) | GM’s discretion |
| Magnitude | Cost |
| base (call an element) | +1 |
| Tiny (Minute amounts of influence, like lighting a cigar, creating the sound of a twig snapping, or enough wind to shut a small window, moving the dust from a table, or water to fill a glass) | +2 |
| Small (move up to 20 kilograms of matter with damaging force, create a fire the size of a campfire, create enough wind to knock down an average human, change the appearance of an individual, influence the emotions of a willing target). | +5 |
| Regular (wind strong enough to lift an average human, change matter in a natural way, create a fire the size of a large bonfire, influence the emotions of an unwilling target) | +8 |
| Large (shatter a solid rock wall, crack foundations, create enough wind to fill the sails of a ship of the line, embolden the emotions of a crowd, ) | +12 |
| For each combat round on which the effect wishes to be maintained | +3 |
| For each off-combat hour on which the effect wishes to be maintained | +2 |
| Every 5 yards of length for a line-shaped spell | +1 |
| Every yard of radius, for a circle-shaped spell | +1 |
| Every 5 square yards of area for an irregular shaped spell | +1 |
Spells and Armor
Although not trained in its use, mages can wear armor. However, doing so makes it more difficult for them to cast spells. When a mage in armor casts a spell, he must pay an additional amount of Magic points equal to the strain of the armor type (see accompanying table). These extra MPs must be paid for each spell, which makes wearing heavy armor a losing position for mages in the long run.
| Casting in Armor |
| Armor worn | Strain |
| Light Leather | 1 |
| Heavy Leather | 2 |
| Light Mail | 3 |
| Heavy Mail | 4 |
| Light Plate | 5 |
| Heavy Plate | 6 |
Spell Stunts
Each spell has a standard effect, but if you do an exceptional job casting it you can manipulate it to get even more impressive results. This is known as a spell stunt.
If you make a successful casting roll and get doubles on any of the dice, you can perform one or more spell stunts in addition to the spell’s normal effect. You receive a number of stunt points (SP) equal to the Stunt Die and must use them right away to perform stunts. Once you have decided on what spell stunts you want to use, you can narrate their effects. You can perform the stunts in any order you choose. You can only perform a given spell stunt once in a round. The spell stunts on the Standard Spell Stunts table can be used by any character for the SP cost indicated.
Auroran Islands 