《Anti-Hero: Journey of Fear》Bonus Chapter 6 - How Magic Works
Advertisement
I recommend reading this if you want to understand the mechanics of the magic system. I will have the MC talk about it, but not to this depth. If you want to use this system, I ask for a link back to this story and credit. Tafe is watching.
Magic is magic. Unfortunately that explanation works for six year old kids and not dedicated readers. Magic in FEAR is based on chants to a god. Gods are named after the aspect of reality they represent and the letters are all shifted. The more people who use the chants of a specific god the less expensive they become.
So using the Eight in a chant is far cheaper than naming a new god and calling upon it. There are no hard and fast numbers I work with, otherwise it would become a nightmare to keep track of. Players in my VR have the same experience. If they meet the stat requirements and call upon the god, the system translate that command into a spell and the cost is determined based on effect.
So a chant to Constitution to heal a person would be far less than a chant to Health despite both chants doing the exact same thing. This is because there are thousands more people who chant to Constitution. Also the formation of the name matters in terms of the god called upon. Void could be Dovi or Ovdi. While the chants would do the same thing, if other people don’t chant to the same name then the costs are far higher.
Over time the more one chants to a specific god the MP costs go down. This is where specialization comes into play. By using the limited amount of MP one has to chant to a few specific gods they can obtain a much greater depth and power of magic in exchange for versatility. The answer in terms of spell cost is that spells cost the ‘speed of plot’. A terrible answer, but it allows me the flexibility I need without getting bogged down.
Advertisement
Base Cost of Spell = (0-Infinite MP)
God’s ‘Level’ of Followers = (0-100) MP
Practitioner Level = (0-100) MP
The biggest determiner is the base cost of the spell, which is basically whatever the plot calls for. While the lowest value is technically zero, making a spell free. This is impossible since each follower or increase in ability to follow the god would decrease the respective value by a percent.
This means an incredibly devout follower, casting the simplest of spells, for the most popular of gods would use 0.01 MP. Unfortunately this individual would not be very versatile and have only a short range of abilities to choose from and even then only the simplest. Though there is the argument of depth, one mastered spell is equal to a thousand spells. It all depends on the player.
Spells can also have extra components like HP, SP, items, people who don’t rate this story, virgins, the list is endless. So if you pray to Obdlo (OB-dih-lo), you might just start leaking all over the place. There are risks in calling upon the unknown. Or Lartop (lar-TOP), you might just transport an appendage or two to a different dimension. These extra components normally come into play when a person over shoots the amount of power they have available by an order of magnitude. 100 MP over, the spells fails, 1000 MP over the god Tcu (SU) might just remove quite a bit from your body. So if you accidentally mispronounce the name, you will be calling on a different god and can easily overshoot your available mana. That leads to unpleasant consequences.
Chants can be cast silently through the use of skills that focus on developing the mind. Just like the user interface, more portions are unlocked as an individual masters certain skills. There are skills to save chants at a cost of power and extra MP. So a high level mage could store a certain number of chants to call upon. Think tens, not hundreds in terms of amount.
Advertisement
Enchantments are slightly different. While they are based off of the same principles the idea is to tie them into the world’s magic instead of an individual. This is done by crafting a set of glyphs that call upon a god and what the effect is to be, permanently creating a physical representation of a chant. Glyphs are a closely guarded secret as to their meaning and the MP cost of infusing them to latch on to the world’s MP is quite high.
This limits the amount of enchanters and number of enchantments they can perform. Also discovering a new glyph is the work of a lifetime. One mistake in the etching process the entire enchantment won’t work. There is also a limit in terms of space and size. Smaller objects like rings are much harder while larger objects like swords and shields are far easier.
The most number of enchantments possible on a single object is seven. Any more than that and the object would destabilize. Also enchantments can’t conflict. A sword that bursts into flames and releases water with each swing would conflict and self-destruct.
Finally there are ‘spells’ that don’t call upon any god and have a set cost. Things like Observe, Identification, and Fear Aura are all powered from a person’s own spirit and there is no divine intervention.
In terms of the gods, well that is an entirely different thing. You wouldn’t want me to spoil things now. Tafe might send a Reaper after me. I honestly want to retcon the name to Raper of Skulls. It provides quite a different image doesn’t it? Class change, it will get an upgrade. Maybe I could ask her to send it after everyone who hasn’t reviewed, rated, or followed yet. I MEAN YOU!
Advertisement
Best Offence
Septima Wickett found herself reborn in the Wizarding World! In California. In the 60's. Thirty years later she's spent much of her life having her own adventures and doing her damndest to avoid Magical Great Britain while spending a full life of being a witch and gathering her own allies, fighting her own enemies, and worst of all dealing with family and uppity assistants. However, when one of her enemies comes to call she finds only one place offering the safety she needs. "Fine, we'll go to goddamn Hogwarts. But I won't be happy about it!"
8 142Knowledge and Power
A lot of "Reborn/summoned into another World" stories already exist. And this is just another one of those. A renowned scientist died and is reborn in another world. While still living within our world he craved for knowledge but therefore was alone. He had no actual experience in actual relationships or anything else like that. And thus he gets another chance in another world. Most of his memories are still there and in this medieval world filled with adventures and magic he uses his knowledge to build machinery and develope new technology, while trying to socialize. He even tries to learn magic and invent revolutionary machinaries that are able to simplify everyones work and bring prosperity to the people. Even though he has a magical aptitude there is a problem with him, which makes this seemingly impossible. Absorbed in his work will he be able to change and socialize, or will it all be for naught and he falls back into his old habit. This story is something like his diary and without going too far into detail, experience it for yourself.
8 163Starlight Road II
College shut-in Thomas signed up for Starlight Road II Beta without reading the contract. Now 'voluntarily' stuck in the game, he woke up as Ray, or better known as Mr. Tragedy. How will he hide his true identity without knowing much about Ray? Will his experience in Starlight Road I and bug-like high INT stat be adequate to keep him alive?
8 180And Then You Left
Sector 12 was not a nice place to live. Everyday was filled with nothing but training to become the best weapons that could be made. But Blake was okay with it. Because he had her. His best friend. They'd sworn never to leave each other's sides, never to be separated. But when she runs away with no explanation, Blake suddenly finds it hard to do anything but breathe. UPDATES EVERY THREE DAYS
8 95The Shadow of the Sun
The real story ended a hundred years ago, when the world was killed, the spirit of life ripping itself apart. Now, the rare survivors pick their way through the ashes of civilization. They fight for every scrap, searching for hope, wishing for redemption. But all the heroes died long ago. The glories of the past are long forgotten, and the future is filled with danger. To save such a broken world, it will take nothing more than a miracle.
8 180random Dave and Bambi incorrect quotes and other stuff (I guess) (+12)
Mostly incorrect quotes lmao. I don't even know if I'm going to do other stuff.
8 67