Immortal Lore: Alchemy

Alchemy

    Alchemy within Immortal is a very wide subject, like talking about the military and not just the air force. But it’s also not what you might think it is, but it also is.

Alchemy in the World

“Though the world alchemy evokes images of potions in many commoners' heads, potion creation is actually its own type of magic. Alchemy within Immortal is divided among spellcasting, rituals, and essentia. Spellcasting involves using vocalization and a catalyst to mold the physical world around them to create spells. An alternative and more primitive version of spellcasting is using tools to create alchemical circles to perform a ritual, which is then powered by the alchemist to create a spell effect. Essentia is taking physical material and using tools to break it down into its fundamental material, a slurry or liquid. Essentia is the method used to create potions, but not just potions, solid matter is another manufactured material used in the creation of advanced alchemy.

Unlike the other two power castes (psychic and theurgy), alchemy has the unique property of being the only caste that can directly influence the physical world, but lacks the ability to directly affect a mind or influence the soul of others. While an alchemist can create a spell that casts a sleepy fog, the alchemist can't reach into the mind of others. It is impossible for an alchemist to influence or interfere with souls and fate.


Some spellcasters may know many spells and be trained poorly with them, compared to someone who knows a few spells that excel in them.”

- An excerpt from one of my own documents.

Ritual Circles

    Alchemy is the process of transmuting the world by drawing on its material to make new things. It’s like pulling apart atoms to make new elements. Rituals take the same form you see in Full Metal Alchemist - you need the full material to create the effect you need. The ritual circle defines the area which you are transmuting, along with everything inside. Rituals are slow, requiring the alchemist to spend time using a marker to define the spell, then find the material. However you can perform as many rituals as you can in a single day at no cost to yourself. A normally skilled alchemist can average 6 rituals back to back in a single hour, while an experienced ritualist can quickly perform about 3 or 4 extra rituals within the same time before needing to take a break.

Spell Scrolls

    People who are good at this are called Ritualists, and can perform rituals with incredible speed. This is where spell scrolls come in. It’s the next and final technological evolution of ritual circles. Spell scrolls work very similarly to spellcasting where it doesn’t have a fully defined circle to draw from, you just need to be sure to define exactly what you want and what you don’t want it to pull from (like matter/energy from your body). Spell scrolls are extremely difficult to make and time consuming. A modern world would be better in mass producing these, but the further away from a modern age the more exponential it's rarity is.

Spellcasting

 

    Spellcasting completely bypasses this. A catalyst is tied to the energy around it, then a spellcaster attunes to the catalyst so they in turn are connected as well. However a spellcaster's connection to the energy is through the filter of the catalyst, which also doubles as a safety ward against the raw nature of magic. Without a catalyst it would be no different than shoving a fork into an outlet while you are holding onto it, trying to power a light bulb held in another hand.


    By creating the right tones to create a chain reaction that makes a spell. Words aren’t needed, but sound is. A tuning fork is perfectly serviceable, if limited. You then need to animate your body to direct the spell - like throwing a ball. Spell slots represent a connection to the soul’s power from which is used to power the vibration that creates the spell. Your catalyst is plugged into the energy, your soul, it needs to power the lightbulb, and your words are what colors the light.


    And yes… you can be connected to this energy without a catalyst. Naturally born people who do this are called sorcerers. I forgot what the name for an artificially created connection is (can’t seem to find those notes), but that sort of connection is far more dangerous to the person and no more dangerous to those around them.

Essentia

    Essentia is the act of manually taking material and breaking it down into liquid elements, which is then contained (usually within glass). This requires no catalyst, but does require a ritual circle. However you only ever need one ritual circle to break down any material. The only concern you have is to contain the essentia, due to the fact some of it is more or less stable without breaking it down even further (thus wasting energy). There are multiple “complexity layers” and the higher you go up the less stable it is in raw essentia form. The lowest form is something you’re quite familiar with: Earth, fire, water, air. There is a 5th element however: ether.


    Unlike most fantasies, the base elements aren’t literal. You don’t have a literal bottle of water or dirt. A base element defines how it acts. (I won’t get too deep into this because that’s a very long post by itself, but I’ll leave you with this: ether is mandatory for things to be glued together and is the legitimate true essence of magic.) As you go further up the chain it uses a combination of any element of a lower layer. Spellcasting does all this which is why it's so taxing on your spell slots.

 

Deeper Lore

Let’s go a bit deeper. Here’s another snippet.

Alchemy in Society

“Alchemists are in common demand from the lowest to highest parts of society. From maneuvering ships by directing water to healing the sick, the demand for their services is extremely common. Not all alchemists are trained equally - spells demand a high level of skill to optimize their power. A healer could never compete with an illusionist and vice versa as spells which are useful for those types of magicians demand very different skills. However a spellcaster may learn spells outside their specialization but shouldn't be expected to perform well with it.”

Spells within Immortal are not all equal. Unlike most games like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder where you only need a single spellcasting modifier, spellcasting in Immortal demands two things: Your Spellcasting ability and spellcasting skill.


    Just because you know the knock spell doesn’t mean you can open a lock with it. You need to invest in the proper skill to do so (Deft would be the correct skill in this case). If you want to be good at healing you need to have a high medicine skill. For the last example: If you want to be more effective at controlling plants or water you need to invest in your knowledge of nature (plants and geology both fall under this umbrella).


    Thankfully you only need one spellcasting modifier: Memory. It’s an extremely important aspect that also defines how many extra spells you know. Having a good memory means you can recall the exact tone your voice needs to be and remember the optimal movement to make with your body. It’s a very involved process and combat makes it even harder, especially if a warlord is burning a hole into your forehead standing 5 feet away. And no, there is no spell failure. (There would be, but I removed it to assist game-feel)

Worldbuilding: Astroverse (The Physical Universe)

 Astroverse

     Welcome to my first world building post! I didn't quite consider using my blogs to spout fun ideas for worlds until a friend of mine did so. So strap in! This is a long one.

 
 Admittedly, this is a remake of an older universe that begun with the idea of astrology as its center piece, but then became it's own thing entirely.

 

The Start

 For my first step, I base a world on an interesting idea or theme. In this case, I'm choosing astrology! I love the idea behind it; the stars and planets influencing life on earth, influencing fate itself.

 Next, let's take a look at things I'm going to include or exclude. I'm going to explicitly avoid any gods, demons, and angels this time around. It's tiring hearing the same stories with them involved, even if they don't directly intervene. I will have magic this time, though I'm not sure at what level it is at, but I do know it's tied to the stars.

Planets and Realms 

Tl;dr: Realms exist within a physical location represented as a planet. A realm isn't limited by space like a planet is. Realms have some level of sentience, which creates local laws of physics / magic.

    Rather than a planet just being a physical thing, it'll be a realm in itself, while the realm's physical location is where the planet is located. But in terms of travel, things can get weird, which I'll explain in what a Convergence is. Realms are semi-sentient, like a force with a will, but most (save one) has no explicit personality or goal. Thus, all celestial forces within this universe are entirely neutral; the nature of its people are tied completely to the people itself and nothing else.

    Planets will orbit the Prime realm, which sits at the center of it all. Each plant has a waning and waxing phase where it influences Prime, and much like our real life planet counterparts they have different orbit times and distances. Both the sun (Sol) and moon (Luna) orbit Prime as well.

 

 

The Zodiac, and Oblivion

Tl;dr: Stars create groups called constellations, which make up the schools of magic, which is split evenly into lunar magic and solar branches of magic. Everything outside the sphere of stars is nothingness - no weird creatures, no consuming darkness. Truly nothing.

    Much like planets, stars also have a will, and exert an influence on everything they surround. Unlike our real life counterparts, stars are simply small bodies of light that exist to keep Oblivion at bay.

Stars, the Zodiac

    Stars are scattered throughout the celestial sphere, which marks the end of the solar system.
However those concentrated at the belt horizontal to Prime form the constellations called the Zodiac signs. This is where magic is drawn from, each zodiac representing a school or nature of magic. There are 12 signs, 10 of them are each divided into a court between Sol and Luna, while two of them are transient, belonging to both. The zodiac is tied to the celestial year, and not the year based on your realm (as in, it isn't tied to a month like ours is). There are minor zodiacs that exist just outside of the belt; they hold lesser power and aren't tied to magic.

Oblivion

    Beyond the stars lies oblivion. A place of true nothingness. There is no eldritch force trying to consume the light, there are no dark gods. It is simply a force of nature that lacks material. The celestial sphere "prevents" it from entering the solar system. That is to say it staves off non-existence in a metaphorical manner. Despite its seeming nature, oblivion is also a neutral force.
    Despite its lack of matter, a type of power can be drawn from it, but it is not considered magic. The power drawn from here begets a force of erasure and nullification. Those who have a hatred for magic almost always draw from this force.

Celestial Influence 

Tl;dr: Constellations are called the zodiac, which influences people's behavior and their fate. 

    Ready for your horoscope? The zodiac has a true influence on the lives of people who live within the solar system. Horoscopes fall under Divination magic, by the way. This is a very real thing, but unlike most magic it isn't a science. Being born under a sign gives you a whisper of its magic. That is to say, being born under a sign of Divination magic doesn't mean you'll predict the future, but you'll often find small things edging you towards your goal. An example of this is finding a few extra dollars here and there to buy a new gaming console.

Convergence

Tl;dr: Convergence between realms allows people to simply walk to the other realm. Convergence places can be predicted via math.

    Perhaps one of the most important aspects of this universe is convergence. When this happens, two realms become connected directly via a magical "bridge", so to speak. It isn't total; only a few places will have a direct connection, which changes over time as the planet travels. You may find wild growth suddenly outright replacing that office building that used to sit there. Anything moving into this area immediately transports you onto the planet converging, where you'll find the missing office. Funnily enough, this disconnect doesn't disturb the order of things - internet and electricity still works in the office building stuck on another planet (temporarily), and a tree caught between two worlds still lives normally. Here's what it would look like.

    When you walk onto another plane, you don't collide with whatever is in the center when you leave.

    When magic is low(er), you will only see a ghost of an image from what a convergence would have been. You can still cross, but it's more challenging.

    If you're a really good astrologist, you can predict exactly where these spots will arise (and used to arise) using math. It's an actual science and can save you and your civilization a collective headache.

Realm Influence

 Tl;dr: Realms magically transmute people and things to become more like the realm itself. A realm of fairies influencing the world would cause existing creatures and those who are born during the influence to have those attributes.

    When the Prime is influenced by magic, planets directly interfere with Prime by exerting their will. For example, a planet of faeries would cause more of that type of creature to be born on Prime. Planets will also alter what already exists, so people, plants, and animals may spontaneously gain fairy powers and attributes, for example. During a convergence, such creatures can cross the proverbial road onto the Prime as well. This can cause problems, due to a sudden influx of feral creatures (such as beasts) trying to take over the unfamiliar territory, or cause havoc due to confusion.

Planets

I'm not sure how many planets I'll be including, but let's define just 3 to keep things quick.

Prime

Tl;dr: Prime sits in the center. Zodiac magic and technology works via this realm's sentience. Technology and magic become stronger and weaker with 20-30 thousand year cycles. The cycle doesn't effect creatures created by realm influence or their abilities.

    Despite the celestial name Prime (like Sol, or Luna), the inhabitants all call it something else depending on the culture (which is true for other celestial bodies). Prime is influenced by its neighbors through celestial cycles more than other planets influencing other planets. Magic wanes and waxes over periods of say... 20-30 thousand years, where other realms have magic always on or off. When magic is waning, convergence occurs less often, and not at all during nadir. To keep things familiar, Prime looks and feels much like Earth - the difference comes in when convergence shakes things up.

    The planet has ages, which is divided by waning and waxing magical influence. Each new age builds upon the corpse of the last, which acts as a "fertilizer" for the next, for lack of a better term. There has been more than one modern era, but technology and magic has a strict limit within this universe, preventing one from besting the other. A good example of this is technology becoming inoperable during the apex time of magic, and vice versa. This is the sentience of Prime at work, rather than a mundane or magic universal law.

    The ages do not effect creatures born or influenced by realms. Only magic drawn from the zodiac is effected.

The Wilds

Tl;dr: Wilds are untamed. Because of its sentience, it can't be tamed and will fight back against it. Filled with animals and plants that can grow to epic sizes.

    The closest planet to Prime, the Wilds consists primarily of primeval land. Untamed, untouchable. Here is where nature is strongest; there is always a bigger fish. It's a struggle to survive here, but those that do are exceptionally strong in a physical, mental, or magic manner. The Wilds doesn't consist of just jungle and plant life, there are oceans and deserts much like Earth. The driving difference is you can't claim land, its sentience drives itself to take back any land, sea, or sky that someone is attempting to make a civilized foothold. To live here, you must either be nomadic, or understand how to live with nature by constructing smaller cities of natural material that coexists with the land without taking anything away from it. Fauna and flora can grow to epic and gargantuan portions, such as the Giant's Forest, where trees extend literally into the clouds and its trunk gargantuan.
    The Wilds consist of so much untouched beauty. Its inhabitants are primarily animal in nature - either humanoid or feral beasts. Plant life also takes form as their own type of humanoid and feral beast as well.

Nightmare

 Tl;dr: Nightmare has more sentience than other realms. It sits a little inside Oblivion, which causes its nature. Creatures of nightmare feed on negative emotion, which reduces the amount of it in the realm it influences, but if food is scarce it creates more negative emotion instead. Those born of nightmare are extremely powerful outside of light.

    The last plant we'll touch on. Nightmare sits at the literal edge of Oblivion, existing half in the solar system, half in Oblivion. It has by far the longest celestial year of any planet by a hundred thousand years, and has the weakest influence. The plant itself is challenging to see with a telescope because its surface is so dark.

    Nightmare is strange. Unlike most planets, this one seemingly has a consciousness tied to it that only those influenced by Nightmare can hear and understand. Despite the name, Nightmare has a motherly nature keen on protecting its children. Entities influenced by Nightmare take on the properties of a culture and nature, rather than a set type of creature. By culture I mean it may take on the appearance of a terrible omen of destruction that would bring despair to people who see it. Or it may simply terrify beasts it exists around due to its nature. Those affected by nightmare may be freighting in one place, but not so much in others without cultural context. Those born and influenced of nightmare feed exclusively on negativity, especially terror. This consumption isn't harmful to anyone; its the fear they cause.

    The planet itself is entirely "underground". Despite have a "surface", it's impossible to be on the surface. It's completely alien - anything not aligned with nightmare can't traverse it. Even if they had a guide born from nightmare they would still become lost, and eventually become a part of the planet itself, or simply consumed by the inhabitants. Light is scarce because it's literally consumed by the darkness; a strong and powerful light will do nothing. You need to be gentle with light, as gentle as you can. Dark vision does nothing here, because there is no light, heat, or cold in the first place, which is why most inhabitants have no eyes, or feel their surroundings with extra sensory perception.

    Outside of the nightmare, creatures born and influenced by it are weakened by light, or their power becomes non-functional. Some are even outright killed by sun or moonlight. All creatures of nightmare share a weakness to light, it is impossible for them to divert or prevent this.

Musing: Making Undead Hordes

 I love undead

    The idea of controlling a massive horde of corpses and bones is a badass image of power and control. Undead are typically my favorite type of monster from any media. But what about in a role playing game like D&D? Let's take a look.

The Subject

    Animate Dead is a 3rd level spell that requires no concentration that lets you target any type of corpse and turn it into a minion. If a high level player were to only create undead, they can have an actual army of minions, which is insane. Players can even gift them magic items if they don't require attunement, which makes them all the more powerful. Spellcasters can then mentally command them using a bonus action, which means they can still cast a spell on top of having an army. This is why I personally believe the Necromancer Wizard is a better damage dealer than the Evocation Wizard. Who cares if I can add my +3 Intelligence to the damage of a fireball when I can command 12 undead skeletons to fire at a range all dealing 1d6 + 2 damage? They even act as bodyguards and can prevent or hinder movement towards you.

 

The Problem

    Commanding 12+ minions is a complete slog when it comes to combat. Not to mention you have to roll both hits and damage for each and every one, while also keeping track of their individual hit points. That's an absolutely insane amount of extra work that removes from the badass feeling. It may be worth it to some people, but what about everyone else at the table? They're all waiting for you to finish your 20 minute turn.

 

Solution?

     Look. I don't have an actual solution, unfortunately. I would certainly like to find one. Wizards Of the Coast seems to try to solve this issue with new spell summon undead. I think it's a pretty decent middle ground, but there's an issue: I'm not controlling 12+ minions anymore, and thus there is no army. But what about the "Handling Mobs" section within the Dungeon Master's Guide? That's another good solution. It doesn't allow the necromancer to break the "action economy" nearly as easily and you still feel like you're controlling an army because you're rolling lots of attack rolls. You still need to keep track of their hit points, but could that be simplified as well? I don't have an immediate solution, but I feel there is. Even if you don't summarize their hit points, you've drastically reduced the time and effort needed to keep track.

 

     Within the future, I'd like to ensure this simplicity is a mechanic of undead within the tabletop game I want to make. It's not worth it if I don't feel like I'm controlling multiple undead.

 

- Red

Musing: Psychic Abilities and Other Powers

 Ugh

    Psionics is such a strange topic. Everyone has their own view of how it should work what what rules it should abide by. Some people have a very simplistic view that it's magic, but using your mind instead of a "spellcasting focus" (such as a wand, staff). Others pretends psionics is its own thing, but their view still ends up with it just being magic (telekinesis is just Mage Hand without the visible hand). No matter how these people define psychic abilities, I'm never satisfied because magic usually has no limit on what it can do, which makes it indistinguishable from psionics. Is there anything wrong with that? In the case of principle: No. In the case of narrative: I think so. If there's no "hard" mechanic to distinguish them from each other, then what's the point of calling it psionics? Take my earlier example of spellcasting focuses; if a person requires a mind to levitate an object, isn't their brain just a spellcasting focus? What about making a ball of fire? If there's no distinction of limit between the two then in my eyes it's all magic, no matter what the source is. (It's even more offensive if a person role playing a psychic needs to look up a spell but is required to pretend it is something else).



    Whatever their views are, I have my own which seems to be either in the minority of unique to myself: Psionics should only be able to affect the minds of others, while magic is restricted to the world they can see. This immediately creates a stark contrast that I love. If you recognize that your emotions are being forcibly changed, you instantly know a psychic is nearby. If you see a table hovering off the floor, you immediately know there's a spell caster at work. Doesn't this feel better? There is no guessing. Think about D&D; When you observe someone using smite, you absolutely know this person is at least a 2nd level Paladin. There is no mistaking it. What if everyone could use smite, just flavored differently? (I'm not speaking about smite spells.) Smite loses its "oomph" and becomes mundane. Imagine if other smite spells were Paladin only features; it would immediately become more distinguished. My point is: I love it when something has a hard limit.



    All these musings leave a gap that needs filling: neither can affect a metaphysical property. Think about fate for a moment. Is that a physical property? No, you can't see fate. Maybe unless it's retrospective. What about a soul? This one is more in the air, but typically you can't see a soul unless it's a ghost. But even then ghosts are sometimes just lingering personalities that a dead body leaves behind. This leads me to my third and final idea: A source of power that affects the fate and soul of others and nothing else. I call this Thaumaturgy, and associate it with people who have a strong presence. Think about this for a moment: What marks the ability to change fate? Often it’s an outside force, like a divine will. But other times someone is simply so powerfully “them” that they bend fate around them.


Anyway, thanks for coming to my musing! There’s plenty more to come.

- Red