Mecanimus
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Bob magic system and Viv spell list by popular demand
🕑 Added 2023-01-06 03:37:22 +0000 UTCPart 1: general notions of magic.
Basics.
To perform magic, the entities of Nyil draw power from their core, which is non physical for humans, and move them out through metaphysical veins called conduits towards the outside of their bodies where it can be shaped to form a spell. Core capacity and conduit size only improve slowly and through practice. After the mana is ready to use, casters will draw sigils to impart instructions upon it. The resulting construct is a spell that can then be triggered. Talent and training matter a lot when casting magic.
Sigils.
Sigils are the universal language of magic and are used by all intelligent species. Sigils exist in three or more dimensions so a certain understanding is required to even draw one so it takes effect. Some species like dragons bypass sigils entirely as their will is enough. Skills and monster’s natural abilities also bypasses the need for sigils but for a different reason. In their case, they trigger a set of instructions they do not understand. That is why casters typically do not receive skills like ‘shield wall’ or ‘death blow’ like fencers do. They receive the toolbox instead of a single finished product.
Influence of statistics.
Statistics are the god Nous’ way of showing how much magic suffuses a person and improves them beyond the limits of what physics and biology allow. Anyone with stats over 20 reaches superhuman levels of ability. Attunement to mana (the ability to cast) does not affect progress. Even people who cannot use magic at all may still progress to godhood. The world simply helps a person change according to their commitment and effort.
Focus represents a person’s ability to keep things in their mind, to envision complex systems all at once and to maintain several sigils active at the same time. It matches the physical ‘power’. More focus helps people overcharge their spells, use more sigils at once, and basically gives more oomph to anything they cast.
Acuity represents speed of thought and precision when using sigils. Acuity is essential for quick casting and efficiency. Acuity also improves general perception and is very high in speed-based paths like assassins, scouts, runners and the like. A high acuity allows the caster to essentially ‘slow time’. It is paramount for ‘in the face’ casters like Viv. It matches the physical ‘finesse’.
Willpower is very much what it says. While core, conduits, and consumption rate all represent hard barriers to how long a caster can keep going, mental fatigue remains a decisive factor not just for casting but for getting there as well. With high willpower, a caster can maintain barriers and rituals going for longer, but also keep casting basic spells when reserves are nearly depleted. Willpower is also necessary to keep focus for extended periods of time and during long campaigns. It matches the ‘endurance’ physical stat.
Influence of skills.
The ability to see, absorb, and manipulate mana are represented and assisted by skills that joined in Viv’s ‘mana mastery’ high skill. Different caster traditions might have slightly different supporting skills. Just like skills and stats in Nyil, they are part commitment and effort from the user and part the world giving a helping hand. They obviously have a major impact on casting. While stats, core, and channels have broad consequences and can be used for anything, skills mostly stem from a chosen path and represent a person’s life choices. They are both more limited in scope and more effective within that scope.
Intents.
On top of everything else, spells can be charged with ‘intent’. Intent represents the insight into a concept that governs a shade of mana. They are extremely powerful and exhausting to use though gifted individuals usually find it less challenging. The concentration power required to manipulate mana, use it to form a sigil, then infuse it with an intent is well beyond anything even the smartest human of earth could ever hope to manage.
Tools:
Harvested monster cores can hold mana which their owner can then retrieve at will. Items that hold cores are called foci. Viv’s focus is a dagger. Viv also uses a set of three dimensional sigils made of a silverite alloy she levitates in formation to power up her most potent spells.
Part 2: Viv’s arsenal.
Power scale: right now Viv is a fourth step gifted war caster with experience, top tier Harrakan training designed for the imperial family, and a vast array of supporting skills. She can match anyone short of an archmage and is practically unstoppable in a roaming battle. Due to her choices, she will be much less useful on a large battlefield and has little experience collaborating with other mages in rituals. She is also much less flexible than other mages. It will not matter for anyone facing her as she is a juggernaut of destructive magic.
Intent.
Viv has three intents so far:
- Annihilation makes it that everything the spell touches is disintegrated into component atoms. Or at least Viv hopes it is the case.
- Change: alters the nature of whatever is touched.
- Shadows: black mana hides and distracts. Also used to move things where darkness makes space more…limber.
Offensive spells.
Bolt:
A bolt is the most common and basic spell usable. The caster launches a rope of mana towards its target. Whenever the rope is broken the spell quickly dissipates. Teenagers with casting potentials can use them reliably. Depending on the color used, effects vary. Black poisons, red burns, brown hits, blue liquefies. Bolt has a short range, four to five meters at most though expert casters can extend it considerably. It’s just not worth it for them.
Annihilation bolt: a high penetration shot that skewers the target. Used to be Viv’s mainstay before becoming obsolete.
Change bolt: see eldritch walls. Viv does not use change bolts on live targets because she knows exactly what will happen and really doesn’t want to see it. Think chaos spawns.
Yoink: yoink is a weird and unique spell that only Viv can survive casting. It starts as a normal black bolt but overwhelms and subsumes the target undead’s inner black mana before withdrawing. Mass yoink does the same but with multiple targets.
Purge net, or mostly just net. Net is a whipping nest of annihilation bolts Viv deploys in front of her. Though short-ranged, it is extremely fast and hard to dodge due to the multitude of tendrils as well as their chaotic trajectories. Less effective against powerful magical entities because the penetration power is comparatively low, it is devastating against formations of armored humans.
Blasts (used to be called arty) are annihilation-charged globes of mana shaped as simplified artillery spells. They are slower than Viv’s other spells but she can modify their trajectory mid flight to an extent and they can punch through all but the heaviest of defenses. Great range.
Werfer: a sustained cone of annihilation mana, werfer is a slow but extremely destructive spell that can melt the sturdiest of shields by overloading them. Extremely deadly in enclosed spaces like tunnels and inside buildings. Can melt walls.
Blight: a slower, more powerful version of the werfer spell that forms a cloud instead of a cone. Mostly obsolete due to how slow it is. Situational.
Shadow blight: replaces the caustic nature with an obfuscation one. Shadow blight is omni directional and better used indoors. Due to the fact the mana is Viv’s, she can still perceive what is inside it. Everyone else is blind and their other senses are muddied.
Coating, or sneaky cloaky lemon squeezy: a spell that clads its user in a protective layer of mana. Viv’s coating is expertly made and it forms an armor that reflects her mood. Some elements are draconic while others are reminiscent of modern earth infantry gear.
annihilation coating: while the normal coating can stop spells and some effects like a gutspiller bile, annihilation coating will stop blades by disintegrating them. It is highly resource intensive and only moderately useful against fast projectiles.
Shadow coating: Allows Viv to move undetected without stealth skill. She can still be heard and smelled, however.
Astra: Viv’s latest innovation in mixing black and arcane mana, astra uses a colorless shell to deliver a compressed annihilation mana payload at greater range. The explosion sends annihilation shrapnell around. Those are stable, tracking, destructive constructs befitting a fourth step war caster.
Artillery spell: though Viv rarely gets to use them, she is capable of casting proper artillery spells though they require a circle and her to be static.
Excalibur: a short range spell that uses a focus to create a quickly rotating blade of concentrated annihilation mana. Viv’s most powerful weapon, capable of even breaching the sturdiest of defenses.
Grinder: Sidjin’s signature arcane spell. Viv isn’t very good at it but she can use it.
Defensive spells:
Shield: now mostly obsolete, shield creates a mana barrier around the caster and over a large area.
Aegis, previous hive: a hive structure of interlocked pentagons, the aegis shield offers better protection and a more efficient use of mana than the baseline shield. It can also move. Between her evolved shield mastery skill, her silverite sigils, her magical abilities and the spell itself, Viv’s defenses are formidable. She can add colorless, black and annihilation mana to it.
Eldritch walls: made by using change mana on normal earth, eldritch walls are horrifying constructs of tentacles, spikes, and twisted geometry. Oh, and they block stuff. Viv has grown more used to the change intent which means that they are now much harder to break through, though not as much as actual stone. Highly resistant to foreign mana. Slightly horrifying.
Durandal: a small, fast, tracking spell made of black and colorless mana designed to pierce the shell of enemy constructs. Its only function is to detonate heavy and artillery spells early before they can land near Viv. An active defense spell.
Vent: Not a spell per se, venting black mana ruins subtle constructs on contact due to the color’s inherently disruptive nature. Particularly effective against gray mana attacks and traps since they are most of the time no longer connected to the caster.
Utility spells:
Shadow step: a short range teleport that allows Viv to move from shadow to shadow. Requires actual shadows. Uses the shadow intent. Excellent for repositioning.
Telekinesis: a transparent mana spell. Viv is proficient enough to throw stones and people around. She only uses it in battle to place her sigils in position.
Create fire: very useful for campfires. It uses transparent mana. The fire is ignited through friction.It’s usually faster and simpler to use a fire starting kit.
Levitate: a spell that allows the user to float in a direction at modest speed. Viv has also made a harness that recreates its effects. Is sad and slow and disappointed Arthur greatly.
Create light: also a transparent spell. Viv can dial the wavelength to achieve the desired color. She prefers light blue.
Alarm: a transparent spell that detects presence within its boundary and alerts the caster.
Utility rituals:
Limb regrowth: a complex ritual that requires other elements and a healer to perform.
Witch gates: a ritual that sets a series of portals, close to what Sidjin is capable of but less stable and smaller than their counterparts. For now.
Black mana Absorber: usually used as enchantment, it purifies excess black mana around the construct. Requires a high black mana saturation to fuel.
Comments
Rain
Sorry, Aegis is made of pentagons and the bestagon, hexagons? No seriously tho, nature uses hexagons all over the place cuz they really are better and more efficient than pretty much anything else. I will continue imagining hexagons in my headcanon
Cypha
Yes, hexagons make so much more sense. Bee hives also have a hexagonal arrangement not pentagonal.
Blake Noyes
I think that first one you mentioned doesn’t count because it’s something she made up on the fly but isn’t in her arsenal for quick repeating that comes with adding a name, which is what allows for a shortcut according to early chapters
Samuel
Also spell for finding magnetic north
Aguy768
Perhaps you could add the Mana colors? Brown's 'Life' so I forget which color 'Earth' is and how many colors there are in total. I expect you want to keep the intents for the other mana colors hidden but I sometimes get mixed up on what each color is broadly.
buca117
Everything that's got a level, either tiered or percentaged, should be listed. What level is her draconic intimidation? Her leadership? Her charisma? No need to spam us with it, but if you kept a link to it pinned in your Table of Contents, that would be ideal.
buca117
Nope, that's the beauty of the best-agon: it's one of the few repeating shapes that has no gaps. Equlateral Triangles, Squares, and Hexagons are the only shapes that can repeat endlessly with no gaps, and of the three, Hexagons are the most structurally stable.
buca117
Hexagons are the best-agons.
Nicholas Grey
Hexagons tesselate in two dimensions. To make a curved surface, I think you need a mix of hex and penta?
SDCard
Found another spell, don't know if it counts because it doesn't have a name, but sounds useful: "She moved forward and called upon a ball of uncolored mana. The others silently stepped aside to give her room. She added a few key glyphs including sound and pull. Soon, a shimmering disc appeared before her. She angled it towards the path on her left. There was nothing to hear. The spell gave them a skittering sound like chitin on rock from the path on the right." (ch 50) Yoink & Mass Yoink were mentioned, but there is also the True Mass Yoink variant. (ch 52) She also used sound magic in the arena against Rakan, during the training arc. I remember him complaining about it, will add chapter later. Mentioning sound magic in general might make sense, she also used it to mute someone in ch 117. Shield spell was previously called "Nope" I think - since you mentioned the previous name of the aegis spell, might want to add this as well. The Shatterstar spell associated with Aegis is also missing. Viv also had enchanted armour made recently, might want to mention that under tools as well. Her shield is also enchanted. (ch 118) The domain spells she used in the recent chapter could be added as well if this is supposed to function as a sort of glossary
Nicholas Grey
Thank you for this highly useful reference
luxrus
Durandal
lenkite
" a hive structure of interlocked pentagons," Should choose hexagons here. Far, FAR better.
Mecanimus
Oh yeah I probably forgot a ton of stuff. I'll add them as people mention them or I remember.
Marvin bennett
Good information in a nice neat place, and what about her core percentage turning black?
Samuel
Sound manipulation
