Endless Horizons - Magic, the Gods, and The Elements

[Xeviat]

Magic infuses the worlds of Endless Horizons. It is known as mana, and it permeates all. Some call it the soul, as it is strong within living creatures, while others say it is the world's life force. Everything contains a spirit, from the smallest pebble to the largest mountain. Some spirits are more powerful than each other, commensurate with their size and importance; the spirit of a pebble is weaker than the spirit of a mountain, but if that pebble slew the Giant King then it would be a holy relic with a potent spirit. Not all spirits are sentient, and not all powerful spirits are sentient. Sentient spirits range in strength from lowly sprites and wisps to the mightiest of Dragons.

While magic makes up every part of the world, it is mostly mundane on the surface. A human is kept warm in the winter chill by the Fire naturally present within them. Their bones and flesh are made of the Earth. Water flows through every nook and cranny of their body. Air obviously fills their lungs, while Aether powers their mind. A warrior's sword arm becomes strong not because their muscles have grown larger and tighter, but because their connection to the Earth has grown. Eventually, even a warrior who never opened a spell book will possess abilities that seem impossible; clearly they are not impossible, because they happen every day. Powerful warriors can leap through the heavens, toss boulders like they were pebbles, run for days on end without food or water, and heal back from seemingly life threatening injury.

But those are things of myths and legends, not of modern times.

Magic

Magic is divided into three categories. There is internal magic, based on the processes that normally go on within a mortal's body. This can be as impressive as a barbarian's rage, an unleashing of the fire within them, or as subtle as an archer's attunement to their own senses, allowing them to shoot blindly into the wind. In this way, all people are magical.

There is also external magic, which is utilized by drawing in mana from the outside world. Mana is a seemingly endless resource; only the most powerful and reckless of spellcasters have ever been known to blight the land from overdrawing energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed, so Mana simply reverts to its original state some time after it has been used. The force of external magic is usually temporary, though it can have lasting side effects. A spellcaster could temporarily increase someone's speed, transmute one material into another, or create violent explosions of energy. Magic of this type is most frequently referred to as "spells", though only true academics are married to specific terminology. The most prolific masters of external magic are Magi, who come to their power through years of study, and Sorcerers, who are born magical, innately drawing in mana from the world around them.

Last, there is ritual magic. Rituals are magical formulas that, in theory, anyone could follow with enough care and the right ingredients. Performing a ritual is akin to following a recipe, only the consequences for failure are far more grand. Rituals take time, and their effects can be immense. The mana used up in a ritual comes both from the ingredients used and the ambient energy of the area, though a true spellcaster can infuse their own power to speed up the process. Many professions in the worlds of Endless Horizons are aided by simple rituals, from keeping a fire lit all night on a single log, to aiding in the recovery of a disease. Some say rituals can even go as far as bringing back the dead, though, again, that is just the stuff of legends.

The Gods

The gods of Endless Horizons are without number. In truth, "god" is a name given to benevolent spirits, no matter their power, out of respect. Gods are worshiped in order to curry favor from them or to receive their guidance. "Demon" is a name given to malevolent spirits, out of respect and fear. Demons are worshiped in order to turn away their capricious, destructive tendencies; it is up to the worshipers whether they are trying to redirect that destruction towards their enemies. Not all gods are good, not all demons are evil. Few doubt the existence of the gods, as many walk the Mortal World in physical form, but there are some who believe they deserve no more worship than a powerful beast.

Spirits are further divided into Ancestral Spirits and Nature Spirits. Ancestral Spirits are the departed souls of mortals. When a mortal dies, their spirit travels to the spirit world. The enlightened life on in spiritual form, becoming a part of the world and sometimes guiding their people and their descendants. Most mortal spirits, though, slowly cast off their memories and then return back to the Mortal World to be reborn in the cycle of reincarnation. Some of the most powerful Ancestral Spirits are the spirits of relics, such as the swords of the First Knights; whether or not these spirits are the awakened spirits of the relics themselves, or are the vessels of the spirits of the relics former owners is a debate for priests and philosophers. Their tendency towards order makes them more likely to be seen as gods. Whether Ancestral Spirits are composed of the echoes of mortal souls, or are actually ascended mortals, they are more likely to make themselves a part of mortal affairs than Nature Spirits.

Nature Spirits, as their name suggests, are the elemental spirits of the natural world. The greatest of these spirits are the Great Dragons, creators of the world and masters of the Elements. Other great spirits are spirits of large geographical features and other important objects, such as the Sun and the Moon (who are closely aligned with the Fire Dragon and the Water Dragon, respectively), the spirits of each of the Nine Seas, the spirits of entire mountain ranges, and each of the major air currents. Volcanoes, lakes, ancient trees, and even perpetual storms all have their own spirits. Their tendency towards wildness makes them more likely to be seen as demons. Most nature spirits are content to be left alone, and are often worshiped by locals who wish to be spared their wrath.

Priests of the gods are not always spellcasters in the traditional sense, but most are able to wield power granted to them by their patron. They are the wise and the enlightened, mouthpieces of prophesy, and harbingers of doom. Some are also just crazed hermits.

The Elements

[ooc]This is where things start to become less set in stone. I desire a Five+ Element system, with Æther, Air, Earth, Fire, and Water as the core elements. I also want to have Lightning (air/fire), Metal (fire/earth), Wood (earth/water), and Ice (water/air) as mixed elements. I could also go the easy rout and put those elements into each of the main: lightning becomes part of air, metal part of earth, and wood and ice become part of water; fire ends up getting light in the bargan. I also am not sure if I'm going to have Æther as its own element, possessing things like Light/Dark and Healing/Death as spheres of influence, or if it will only exist as portions of the other elements, with healing as water, light as fire ...

Currently, I am leaning towards having the mixed elements as mixtures, somewhat separate from the core elements. I also like the idea of Æther being mixed with the other elements, though I would not mind having the "light" aspects of Æther be part of the other elements, and the "dark" aspects, like death and darkness, as pure Æther. It also depends on the individual distinctions I end up deciding upon between spellcasters.

My current model has each of the elements possessing four spheres of influence: elemental, physical, mental, and Æther. It goes like this (using terms drawn from D&D3E's domains):

Air: Travel, Senses, Summoning
Earth: Protection, Artifice, and Binding/Warding
Fire: Destruction, Charm, Dark/Light
Water: Transformation, Illusion, Death/Healing

I am no longer satisfied with this, as Summoning seems too broad (as you should be able to summon creatures of any element), Artifice seems too specific, and Binding/Warding seem too much a part of Protection (and partially related to Summoning). I could also easily see Healing as part of Transformation (you're making muscle and other tissue regrow, or transform from being injured to healthy, which could explain old tradition of shapeshifting spells healing).

I am very open to suggestions at this point. I am willing to open up the elements into all nine and give each an elemental effect and a more body effect. Air could be the senses, Lightning could be speed (and thus travel). Fire is charm, metal is protection, earth is destruction ... it requires a reworking of things. It should be time to say that I am looking at switching to an 8 ability score system (Strength, Agility, Dexterity, and Vitality for physicals; the mentals are up in the air still, but will likely be something like Presence, Awareness, Wisdom, and Intelligence. Or something.)[/ooc]

[HippopotamusDundee]

As far as summoning goes, perhaps abstracting it from the usual connotations of demons and elementals would help - it allows you to summon and call to other humans or creatures, to summon needed objects to you, etc. Possibly also to summon Æther 'elementals' or spirits if you decide to keep that model.

Artifice need not be too specific if you read it as being the creation of magic items, which allows a great deal of flexibility if used inventively by players.

With Protection vs. Binding/Warding, perhaps the distinction could be that Protection works purely on people and only on a physical level against actual damage to the body where Warding both enables a) affecting areas/objects as well (instead?) of a person and b) protects against supernatural influence (Charm, mind control, possession), Curses, hostile magic, etc. Possibly even go so far with the first distinction as to say that Protection can only be used on the caster and Warding can be used more generally.

Idk if any of that is helpful, but you never know.

[Xathan]

I am very open to suggestions at this point. I am willing to open up the elements into all nine and give each an elemental effect and a more body effect. Air could be the senses, Lightning could be speed (and thus travel). Fire is charm, metal is protection, earth is destruction ... it requires a reworking of things.

This feels more natural. Summoning and Artifice, for me, should be tied into the nature of what you're trying to summon for its element - all elements can summon/artifice, but it's restricted by what creatures it can call upon or what effect you're trying to create.

By the way, if I haven't mentioned it before, I love Endless Horizons ties to the elements - it's a unifying element that's hard to come by in settings. Kudos on doing it so well - it feels very organic.

But those are things of myths and legends, not of modern times.

Is there a possibility to reopen those times, or are those intended to stay as myth and legend?

More to come later. Good to see Endless Horizons up and running again!

[Xeviat]

All of my "these are myths and legends" calls are flagging things as either rare, or the stuff of the end game, when PCs have become myths and legends themselves. It's also a way of limiting things like raising the dead to a "sometimes event"; every king whose assassinated doesn't get raised from the dead (though I wouldn't mind exploring that concept in the Realistic D&D thread).

Xathan, so are you saying you're liking the idea of having all 9 elements be "core", with an elemental and a body effect? My only problem is finishing up the wheel ... what is Wood (Life? Healing?), Water (in my current model, Water is Transformation and Telepathy), and Ice?

After some thought, I have revised model 1; and I fully agree that summon and artifice are too broad (summons are air if they summon birds or air elementals, water for fish/amphibians and water elementals, earth for reptiles and earth elementals, and fire for mammals and fire elementals ...). Here's the new model:

Air: Travel and Senses (including many illusions)
Fire: ??? and Charm
Earth: Strength and Protection
Water: Transformation and Telepathy

Fire is tough, because fire is physically vitality. It is your endurance and your resilience against the elements (hot, cold, ect). D&D wise, much of Fortitude saves things would be in Vitality. Earth is power, but that is both physical strength as well as physical toughness. An Earth guy is a big wall of muscle. He may not have a whole lot of energy, because that is Fire.

So while elemental fire spells are very destructive, earth is more about controlled strength. Some of the traditional "protection" spells belong in Fire, but it would feel really odd to give that domain fully to fire (if it was metal, then it would be accessible to fire).

Getting my head in thought loops.

[HippopotamusDundee]

Aggression for fire?

[Xeviat]

How would Aggression be different from Charm? It needs to be a physical sphere of influence, yet non-elemental. I'm going out on a limb with Protection as an Earth mental, only because I can't come up with something else. I need to table this for a while and see if something new comes to me.