Aspect Magic, Part 2

In my last post, I went gave an overview of how aspect magic in my fantasy setting works from a game-perspective. I've since had some time to somewhat solidify how it works from a system perspective. Essentially, anyone can use magic simply by taking a Lore stunt, and Sigils are created by making a Lore roll. The Sigils have to be created somehow, whether they are drawn, etched, painted, built into, etc. an object or character. So far, so good.

The Mark from Dishonored

The base difficulty comes from the scope of the Sigil. The scope is essentially what kind of aspect the Sigil is - boost, situation, character, High Concept or even game aspect. It's also possible to use Sigils to grant stunts. Once the scope is determined, the exact aspect or stunt that the Sigil represents has to be determined. From there, how has to be decided - does it add an aspect to the thing that bears it, does it modify or replace an existing aspect, or does it remove or nullify an aspect? These base actions can be summed up simply as addition, alteration and removal (replacement is actually removal and addition combined). There will be some other factors that go toward the difficulty, mainly the quality of the Sigil itself. The more permanent or well-crafted the Sigil, the more potent it has the possibility of being - a Sigil scrawled in charcoal on a piece of paper isn't going to hold up as well as one carved into stone and inlaid with silver. Sigils can be created from nearly anything that can be used to make a pattern, from a bundle of shaped sticks to a tattoo to an engraved amulet to architecture. A well-crafted Sigil is one of the most effective ways to increase the Sigil's Resonance.

Prototype Addition Sigil - this would have to be modified based on the exact effect

Example modified Addition Sigil to add flame to something. While this would be completely functional it's very basic and doesn't account for Resonance modifications. The actual Sigil would likely have embellishments and other more varied elements. For the astute, yes this is inspired by Chaos Magic.

Resonance is a measure of how the Sigil reacts with other aspects - namely those of the person utilizing it. For Sigils that operate somewhat independently of a character - say, a ward on a door - Resonance applies to that object. The base Resonance is determined by the scope of the Sigil, and can be modified by both how well the Sigil is created and how complex the user is aspect-wise. There are techniques for increasing Resonance, and a failed Lore roll can be turned into a success by decreasing it. Whenever the Sigil is activated, the character (or GM, if the Sigil is static) makes a Resonance roll. Failure means the Sigil works, but there is a side effect. I'm still deciding exactly how that works, but most likely it would be a choice between a compel on an aspect or one of the character's aspects altering the effect of the Sigil in an unexpected way.

That sums up the basics of what I have so far, and I'm definitely a lot closer to a workable system with a few tweaks.

Aspect Magic, Part 1

This is a very short overview of the magic system that I'm developing for my Fate Core fantasy world. I don't have a lot of the mechanics down, and actually have a much longer description that I'm not going to go into (yet).

Basically, magic use ties directly into Fate Core aspects. Not just that when you cast spells you can declare aspects, but the very act of using aspects is magic. Aspects are a fungible thing that actually exists in the metaphysics of the game world. For the time being they are called Aspects (with a Capital A) within the game world, but I'm leaning toward something like "Virtues". It's kind of similar to the concept of Plato's Forms, but not quite - an individual's aspects are their own independent metaphysical thingies, and not shadows or copies of some higher form. All of the aspects that make up a thing, whether it's an object or a character, are interconnected to one another - and those aspects are connected, indirectly, to others around them. I've described it as My Little Relationship Map: Aspects Are Magic (or, alternately, Magic Is Aspects). Normal aspect use and using magic to manipulate aspects comes from the same source - the difference is that using magic, you can bend or break the rules.This may sound a bit like metagaming the metagame, and in some ways it totally is.

I've been revisiting my write-up on Sigils for this. This is leading me toward this style of magic (called Evocation as a working name, but may change because that doesn't quite fit) being worked by inscribing Sigils on to things. The Sigils take common forms, that are customized when they are inscribed for the exact effect and the nature of the aspects involved. That takes it kind of full circle, because this whole exercise is to create a magic system for the fantasy setting I'm working on that supports my inspirations in the Thief video game series, Dishonored and other similar worlds.

Thief Glyphs, from Thief: The Dark Wiki

I've already gotten a number of really great suggestions for setting it up, but for the time being I don't have a lot of details. Right now it's moving toward something similar to Tolkien's magic or the True Names of LeGuin's Earthsea novels (but with a slight difference, because here we're actually changing the aspects instead of trying to compel them - no pun intended - into doing something).

The bucket list for the fiddly bits so far is:

1. You can't create something from nothing.
2. "Deeper" aspects (possibly those things that affect the core aspect, or high concept) result in more powerful magic. Thanks to +Teo Tayobobayo's post on "flat" vs. "round" aspects, I kind of have an angle on this.
3. There is possibly an indirect, metaphorical element to how magic is done. Not sure how far I'd go into concepts of contagion and similarity (as I was initially kind of avoiding them) but in the end it might look something like that. Thanks to +Nick Pilon for suggesting that.
4. Powerful magic resonates more strongly among any connected aspects. In the end, it's not that much risk to light up a magic crystal at the end of a staff. But creating The One McGuffin Artifact is something that can result in really big changes. Similarly, the more complex something is (i.e., the more aspects it has) the better the potential to do "great works", and the more risk there is of resonance among the connected aspects.
5. Any side effect from this resonance is taken on somehow (more than likely, as a Consequence) by the caster.
6. Part of magic use is understanding the connections between various aspects. In this way, magic is predictable and repeatable. It's the potential for failure that leads to unforeseen side effects. It also leads to cool scenes with scholars who keep constellation charts - but instead of stars, it charts aspects.

I'll be posting more design-type ramblings as I continue to develop the concept.

Building a Mystery

I've started futzing around with how I want magic to work in my Fate Core fantasy setting, so I've been thinking a lot about the role that magic will play, and what it can be used for. What problem or challenge is it intended to solve within the setting?

To this end I'm running down a couple of paths. The first thing is that the magic "system" isn't going to be something that fully explains how magic works, or all of what it can do. The second is that the players still need to still be able to meaningfully engage with the magic.

In the end, it will mean that magic is knowledge. Like all knowledge, some of it will be widely known. Some of it will be a well-kept secret. Some of it will be unknown, for now - or completely unknowable. That's going to take a lot of consideration and doodling around to get the mix right because I also want to eschew spell levels, spell points, conservation of magical energy (which will mean reevaluating another setting element that I wanted) and a whole host of fantasy magic tropes. It means that for all intents and purposes, binding and packing a wound and using some "magical" method are along the same axis of knowledge and effectiveness and not considered (in the setting) to be separate - a chiurgeon will know how to do both and won't think of one method as "magical" over the other, but rather in terms of which one is the most effective for the situation. This leads me strongly toward the embryonic magic system being (in Fate Core terms) indistinguishable from Lore. You either know how to do it, or you don't. There's no special thing that makes someone a "mage" aside from a lot of the right kind of knowledge.

Even then, magic being knowledge doesn't keep it from being a mystery. Characters may use it, they might know what they need to do in order to achieve some effect, but they can't ever really understand it. In addition, it's visceral. Exposing yourself to it changes you. It's not necessarily that it damages you or hurts your sanity (although it may), but at some fundamental level some part of you is different afterward. It leaves a pit in your stomach, the taste of iron in your mouth, and you just know that now something feels wrong. Think of The Heart from Dishonored. Without spoiling too much about who it belongs to, that realization puts an entirely new spin on The Heart. It's a little more than some McGuffin that you can use to find things - it's actually in a way both wondrous and horrifying. And, you don't have any idea how it works or need to know how to use it. Similarly, in Thief Garrett has no idea how magic works at all - it's just something that he needs to avoid pretty much at all costs (despite that most of it seems fairly mundane with waving of arms and casting of spells). When it does impact him, it's a potentially life-changing event.

My next step is going to be fleshing out exactly how this all fits together in the context of rules, what the limitations are, and how to make it something that is both playable and atmospheric.