Magic

Source: Terra Magia Core Rules p. 65

Magic has and will always be a part of life in Terra. It has grown and developed along side the sapient races the same as language and technology. This means that there are as many different way to perform magic as there are cultures in the world, with some that feel and believe spells into being and others that calculate and program their spells.

In the world of Terra, magic is as tangible as and natural as the physics that keep the universe from unraveling. This has lead to endless research into what magic really is how it affects the other natural laws.

It was determined that most creatures including the sapient races and even some plants have protein complexes in their cells that collect the entropic energies of existence which would otherwise be lost with every breath. This collected energy is converted into what we know as mana.

While un-observable as to how, it is known that through thought and intention you can consume the energy of mana to manipulate the four fundamental forces of existence, gravitation, electro-magnetism, weak nuclear force and strong nuclear force. Allowing us to alter, create, and destroy existence itself, or at least slivers of it. This is the current peak of magic research but it has been studied for centuries, and long before it was possible to calculate the effects of mana on quarks, a connection was found between magic and the titans. 

The titans radiate a field of mana beyond our ability to manipulate. Some were intrinsically able to feel this connection and ventured into the titanic dungeons to find any secrets the titans would share. These expeditions provided much of the basis for how people interact with magic on a daily basis. The knowledge that magic categorized into four schools, the way some are naturally inclined to one school or another, and the understanding of magic as a language all stemmed from these dungeon dives.

From there people began to further decode these mysteries learning how to use the written language of magic to more easily control it. This was the first step to integrating magic and technology. Soon magic and technology started to grow together at a mesmerizing pace as advancements in one allowed advancements in the other. Creating tools infused with mana, programmed to preform magic almost independently of the use. Mana eventually became a power source that allowed technology to get smaller and more integrated into our use of magic itself. With every advancement technology and magic become more indistinguishable.

Source: Terra Magia Core Rules p. 66-67

The magic of Terra is categorized into four schools, Annihilation, Creation, Divination, and Alteration. Each school of magic is linked to three titans and it’s within the dungeons of these titans that the information pertaining to the schools of magic was found. These schools define the particular properties of any spell. Spells can be categorized entirely into a single school of magic but they can also be conglomerations of multiple schools. For Examples, a spell might be purely annihilation magic causing damage through a simple explosion, while another spell that creates an illusion of the targets greatest fear causing a panicked heart attack would be categorized as a creation, and divination spell.

All characters have a natural affinity to one school of magic (chosen at character creation), this affinity makes it easier to cast spells of that school. Characters can cast any spell that is in there grimoire but there is a +1MP cost penalty per magic school that does not match the character's chosen spell school. There is is also a penalty when attempting to cast a spell that is not recorded in your grimoire it doubles the MP cost of the spell.

Annihilation Magic

Annihilation magic uses mana to generates an attraction between subatomic particles and their antiparticle counter parts generating an overwhelming release of energy. Mages can use mana to also shape and direct this pure form of destruction. This school is deliberately and devastating destructive.

Creation Magic

Creation magic is all about the release and manipulation of mana. Through this mages can manifest matter shaping  it to their will. allowing for the manifestation of pure and unfettered imagination. This school of magic is the intersection between spell craft and artistry.

Divination Magic

Divination magic links things together as the caster extends their mana out to touch the mana of their target. This connect can be between the living, the dead, beasts, monsters, plants, items, even time itself has a natural mana that the caster can link to. Communication beyond language, this school uses mana to connect the intangible, allowing an empathy without limitation.

Alteration Magic

Alteration magic takes what already exists and twists it to the will of the caster. They change their targets on an atomic level making the brittle sturdy, the weak strong, and the ripe, rotten. Masters of this school of magic are never hinderd by reality as they can twist the world to their will.

Source: Terra Magia Core Rules p. 68-72

Casting Spells

There are two types spells that you can cast. Spells that you have recorded into your grimoire and spontaneously constructed spells. Both spontaneous spells and recorded spells are affected by the Spell School MP penalty but spontaneous spells all require an Extreme Threshold Logic or Intuition check to see if you are able to craft the spell. Successful checks proceed as usual but failed checks cause the spell to not be cast and inflicts the caster with 4 Severity Mana Corruption. Spontaneous spells also have a flat +3MP penalty, all MP costs of spells in the Spell Book section are assuming the spell is recorded in your grimoire.

All spells have a set of requirement which must be met in order to cast. These includes time to cast, an MP cost, and an open grimoire(if spell is from grimoire). While sight of the target is a specific requirement that only some spell have all spell need to have an awareness of where the target is and if the spell is not transmitted directly but shot through the air standard cover rules apply. A list of special requirements and what they mean can be found here:

Spell Requirements and Meaning
Power Word = Must be able to speak
Flourish = Must be able to move at least hands
Sight = Must be able to see target of spell
Motion = Requires use of full range of motion (I.e. a dance)
Intimacy = Physical or mental connection to target current or prior
Ingredient = There are other components that need to be present

Grimoire

Grimoires are receptacles of mana script, the unspeakable language of magic and the titans. They allow the users to store the magical intentions of a spell, casting the stored spell with just a simple infusion of the user’s mana. This allows users to cast spells that would normally be too difficult based on their school of magic. There are many kinds of grimoires, traditional, digital, tattoo, AI powered, even a deck of cards can act as a grimoire. The two free grimoire you can get at character creation are the traditional and the digital.

Traditional grimoires have the benefit of being easier to fill as they typically gain more spells per level than digi-grims. Traditional grimoires also have a higher capacity for total spells stored. The usual down side of traditional grims is that they require having a free hand available to hold the book open in order to use it.

Digi-grims don’t have as much capacity, so the total number of spells are less than traditional ones. They’re also more difficult to fill with spell meaning they gain less spells per level. Digi-grims do have the benefit of being able to cast hands free as the app can simply run on your phone in your pocket or through any digital watches.

Concentration

When a spell is cast it will continue for the entire duration stated in the spell unless deactivated by another spell or ability. Spells with the stated duration of Concentration require the character to use a Minor Action  each turn to maintain the spell effects. If you take damage higher than your Endurance stat you must succeed an Average Stamina check to keep from losing Concentration and ending the spell.

Visibility

When a spell is cast the energy released causes a soft light to emit from the user. This light is not particularly bright and if someone is not looking directly at you they are unlikely to notice. However, when in a pitch black area the light emitted is enough to illuminate the location for a moment and it can give away your position, unless successful at an Average threshold Stealth check.

MP Cap

An MP cap is the maximum amount of power a spell can contain in order to cast it safely by yourself. It’s the physiological limit to how much mana your body can drain before getting hurt. A level 1 character is restricted to a cap equal to half their total MP (round down) but the minimum MP cap is always 3. For each MP above the character’s cap they must roll 1D20 of radiation damage direct to the character’s HP. However, certain perks and other abilities can allow a spell to occasionally surpass this limit without hurting yourself but there is usually still some danger involved. This MP cap can also grows naturally for all characters every other level. 

Spell Acquisition

There are three ways to add spells to grimoires: leveling, enlisting a scribe, and being gifted a spell from the titans. The simplest of these is to wait until you level up, when level up the grimoire you have bound to your mana manifests spells. The number of spells varies per grimoire. As you’re leveling up and gaining more spells it’s very possible to fill up the available space in your grimoire, if this occurs you can swap out old spells for new ones when you would get them from leveling. You can also swap out grimoires but only one can be bonded to you at a time so you only have access to the spells in the grimoire you're currently bonded to. To bond to a grimoire you have to spend a Quick Rest imbuing your mana into the grimoire.

If someone feels it’s necessary to get a spell immediately then they can try to find a Scribe. Scribes are the only people who can alter grimoires to add or remove spells. This is an arduous endeavor that requires deep knowledge of the titans, science, programming and the language of magic. Because it is so difficult scribes charge a hefty sum for their services. Average cost is 200 gold per MP of spell being added/swapped.

The last way someone can add spells to their library is by receiving them as rewards inside titan dungeons. These spells are incredibly rare and terrifyingly powerful. All titan dungeons have a cornucopia of fanciful rewards and the spells found are among the most desired.

Spell Signature

All spells leave behind some energy residue that can be detected with an appropriate awareness or investigation check. The levels of a spell signature are:  Active > Faded > Decayed > Fossilized.

Active spells signatures can be detected with an easy check. Faded spell signatures come from spells cast within the last week, detecting this requires an average threshold check. Decayed signatures are from spells that were cast more than a week before, these require a hard threshold check to detect. Fossilized signals are what’s left after a spell was cast over a month prior and this requires and extreme threshold check to detect.

Spell Construction

Spells can be built or modified from spell modules, which are different effects that are added together. By increasing the effects from a single module, or combining multiple modules together, you can create spells that do just about anything. Multiple spells can be built with the same modules that have different effects or that even have the same effect but their styles are different. For example, one spell is a fireball and the other is a laser beam, both do the same damage but might affect the environment differently based on their style such as the laser beam being able to pass through glass barriers or the fireball igniting nearby flammable material. These same modules can be used to alter the existing spells.

Magic Tools and Focuses

Spells can also be bound into Magic Tools, which have reliable and persistent effects that can broaden the abilities of their wielders. Players and GMs can create custom magical tools using the same modules as standard spell crafting in conjunction with the Crafting mechanics. Start off with the standard crafting steps for creating the base item including weapons and consumables, then use the Spell Crafting Modules to add the desired effects. For each MP worth of effect the worth of  the item increases by 200 Gold, which means the amount of materials needed to craft changes. To activate the effects of magic tools you will need to use either the MP of the character or equivalent charges from a magic battery, the slot for which is added to the tool when crafting.

A Focus is a special tool meant to increase the efficiency of spells, reducing the MP cost of any spell by an indicated amount of MP. Other items may have more limited and specific effects, such as making spells leave nosignature, which is detailed on the items in question in The Shop. These can also be crafted using the previous model 200 gold per MP when adding an effect and 500 gold per MP that the focus reduces from a spell.