Magic in the Conquest Game system is designed to provide a flexible and powerful, yet easily learned system. The system's mechanics are specifically designed to permit the Game Master to set the level of magical commonality and power within his game world. The basic system provides for a wide range of spell capabilities; as well as, providing an almost unlimited range of individual spells. In many other game systems, there is a list of spells that magic using characters will possess a limited number of. For those Game Masters that strive for creativity in their campaigns, such a system often proves inadequate. It is for this type of Game Master that this magic system was designed.
 

The ability to use magic is dependant on several factors.

• Possessing the ability to consciously manipulate magical energies to produce effects outside those normally occurring within nature.
• The degree of control one has over the manipulation of those energies.
• The amount of energy one can provide to fuel the magical effect.

 

• The interactions of the spell's energies with the ambient energies of the local environment.
• The interactions of the spell's energies with the energies and abilities of the target.
• Living Creatures, both sentient and non-sentient, will possess at least some degree of ability to manipulate the Mana inherent within their own bodies. The introduction of Mana from an external source, through a spell for instance, may often cause a reflexive attempt to manipulate these energies. This reflex may or may not diminish the Intended Spell effect.
• All matter is assumed to possess a residual amount of Magical Energy, hereafter referred to as Mana. The Mana incorporated into a spell will interact with the Mana inherent in the target. The interaction may produce results not intended by the spellcaster.

 

• Not all creatures possess the ability to consciously manipulate Mana. To reflect this the game mechanics require a character wishing to utilize magic to possess a talent with Magic. In keeping with the other systems of the Conquest Game System this talent is referred to as Mage-gift and may be purchased at character creation. Some special circumstances may (in accordance with the individual GM's wishes) permit a character to gain the Mage-gift in some other manner.(i.e. random chance, exotic rituals, or the influence of a God)
• Those that possess the Mage-gift must develop skills in order to control the manipulation of Mana to produce a desired result. The game has several skills that are used to represent this. See the charts that follow.
• All characters, even those that do not possess the ability to use Magic, have an innate Mana pool determined at character creation. This represents the character's Mana available for magical purposes. As such, Mages (who regularly tap into this resource and place ever increasing demands upon it) may improved the amount of Mana they possess over time.
• The interaction of a spell's Mana with the environment produces sometimes variable results. This is reflected in the system's mechanics by the inclusion of a random element in all spell's effects, namely the inclusion of random dice.
• All creatures provide a certain amount of resistance to magical influence, this is the creature's resistance rating. It is used as a penalty to the spellcaster's casting roll.
• When a spell is cast on to an object the object's inherent mana may adversely affect the spell. This is normally dealt with much as a spell cast on a creature, the object possessing a resistance modifier used during spell results determination. When attempting to permanently imbue an object with specifically shaped Mana (i.e. an enchantment), the interactions can be more complex. The inherent nature of the object to be enchanted is most easily enhanced through enchantment, whereas, enchanting an object in a manner not inherent with its nature may produce some dramatic and unexpected results.
• It is due to these interactions with an object's inherent Mana, that not all enchanted items function for all characters. The character must be able to attune his own personal Mana field with that of the item in order to fully unleash the enchantments contained within it.

 

 To properly focus and control Mana in order to produce a desired result the prospective Mage must develop certain skills. The following chart lists these skills as well as a numerical value representing the minimal amount of Mana to bring about results within that matrix or in the case of Techniques the multiplier to produce results of that type. When combining Matrixes to achieve an effect the Technique multiplier is applied to the total of the Matrixes used.
 

Matrixes	Mana Value		Direct Damage/Healing Spells
Air	3		Damage per 5 pts. of Matrix Skill	Mana Value
Dimensional	10
Earth	3		d3	1
Fire	3		d4	2
Flesh	4		d6	3
Force	3		d8	4
Imagery	2		d10	5
Mind	5		d12	6
Plant	4		d20	10
Spirit	8		Additional Points	1 per point
Water	3		Additional Dice	1+(die base)/per die
Techniques	Mana Multiplier		If a Damage Causing Spell has a duration other than instantaneous, one of two factors must be involved. 1) Additional damage may be avoided by moving from the spells area of effect. OR 2) Additional damage is diminishing over the duration of the spell.
Control	2
Creation	4
Destruction	3
Imbue	3
Perception	1
Transformation	2

In addition to the Technique(s), Matrix (es), and Damage (if applicable) the final Mana cost for a given spell also depends on the desired results which are defined by the following characteristics, Area of Effect, Components, Duration, and Range.

To calculate the Mana cost of a spell you simply add all applicable Mana values from the Matrix(es) modified by the Technique, Damage, Area of Effect and Range, then apply the Component modifier.
 
 
 

Area of Effect Base Modifiers
Creature	Object	Area (diameter)	Mana Value
Self	10 lbs	1 ft	1
1	50 lbs	5 ft	2
2	100 lbs	10 ft	4
3	200 lbs	15 ft	6
4	300 lbs	20 ft	8
5	400 lbs	25 ft	10
6	500 lbs	30 ft	12
7	600 lbs	35 ft	14
8	700 lbs	40 ft	16
9	800 lbs	45 ft	18
10	900 lbs	50 ft	20
15	1000 lbs	75 ft	30
20	2000 lbs	100 ft	40
25	3000 lbs	125 ft	50
30	4000 lbs	150 ft	60
35	5000 lbs	175 ft	70
40	6000 lbs	200 ft	80
45	7000 lbs	225 ft	90
50	8000 lbs	250 ft	100

 
 

Matrix Area of Effect (AoE) Modifications
Matrix	Base AoE Form	½ AoE Form	AoE Form	¼ AoE Form
Air	Normal (fresh or tainted)	Flammable Gases	Mildly Toxic Gases	Deadly Toxic Gases
Dimensional	Elemental	Æthereal	Temporal/Pan-Probable (affecting Time or Probability)	Astral
Earth	Earth (dirt and sand )	Clay	Stone/Glass	Metals/Gemstones
Fire	Light only	Normal Heat/Cold	Intense Heat/Cold	Ultra Intense Heat/Cold
Flesh	Superficial (hair)	Slight (pain)	Minor (damage)	Major (damage)
Force	Weak (cloth)	Moderate (wood)	Strong (Bronze)	Incredible (Steel)
Imagery	Sight, Sound, or Smell	Two of the Three	Sight, Sound and Smell	add Touch (uses Force)
Mind	Unintelligent Creature	Animal Intelligence	Human Normal	Above Human Normal
Plant	Algae	Fungi	Leafy Plants	Woody Plants
Spirit	Animal Spirits	Ancestral Spirits	Intermediate Spirits	Greater Spirits
Water	Normal (Fresh or Salt Water, Flavors/Scents)	Corrosive/Flammable Liquids	Mild Toxins	Deadly toxins

 
 
 

Matrix Combination Possibilities
Matrix	Air	Earth	Fire	Water	Imagery	Force	Flesh	Mind	Plant	Spirit	Dimensional
Air	N/A	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES
Earth	YES	N/A	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES
Fire	YES	YES	N/A	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES
Water	YES	YES	YES	N/A	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES
Imagery	YES	YES	YES	YES	N/A	YES	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES
Force	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	N/A	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO
Flesh	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	N/A	NO	NO	NO	YES
Mind	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	N/A	NO	NO	NO
Plant	NO	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	NO	N/A	NO	YES
Spirit	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO	N/A	YES
Dimensional	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES	YES	N/A

 
 
 
 

Matrix Combination Effects
Air	Earth		Fire		Water		Force	DimensionalImagery
	Dust/Sand Winds/Storms		Lightening		Mists		Provides Solidity/Motion To Air Magics	Accesses the Air of the Elemental Planes (totally Pure)	Allows the manipulation of Appearance
Earth	Air		Fire		Water		Force	DimensionalImagery
	Dust/Sand Winds/Storms		Heated Earth/Lava		Mud		Provides Solidity/Motion to Earth Magics	Accesses the Earth of the Elemental Planes (totally Pure)	Allows the manipulation of Appearance
Fire	Air		Earth		Water		Force	DimensionalImagery
	Lightening		Heated Earth/Lava		Steam		Provides Solidity/Motion To Fire Magics	Fire of the Elemental Planes, (can permit Flames without fuel)	Allows the manipulation of Appearance
Water	Air	Earth	Fire	Flesh		Plant	Force	DimensionalImagery
	Mists	Mud	Steam	Animal Organic Fluids		Plant Organic Fluids	Provides Solidity/Motion To Water Magics	Accesses the Earth of the Elemental Planes (totally Pure)	Allows the manipulation of Appearance
Imagery	Force			Flesh			Plant	Dimensional
	Provides Solidity To Images			Allows the manipulation of Appearance			Allows the manipulation of Appearance	Permits viewing of other Planes, the Past, and Probabilities
Flesh	Dimensional						Imagery
	May alter the way Flesh is affected by Time (Temporal)						Allows the manipulation of Appearance
Plant	Dimensional						Imagery
	May alter the way Plants are affected by Time (Temporal)						Allows the manipulation of Appearance
Spirit	Dimensional
	Permits Spiritual Travel to the other Planes.

 
 
 
 

Duration Modifiers			Range Modifiers
Base Duration	Mana Value		Range	Mana Value
Instantaneous	0		Touch	0
1 Round (6 sec.)	1		1 yard	1
1d4+1 rounds	3		5 yards	2
1d6+4 rounds	5		10 yards	4
1 Minute	7		25 yards	6
1d4+1 minutes	9		50 yards	8
1d6+4 minutes	12		75 yards	10
1 Deka (10 min.)	15		100 yards	12
1d5+1 deka	20		150 yards	14
1 Hour	25		200 yards	16
Sunrise/Sunset	30		250 yards	18
1 Day	40		300 yards	20
1 Week	50		500 yards	30
1 Month	75		Line of Sight	40
1 Year	100		5 miles	50
1 Decade	250		10 miles	60
Permanent	2500		25 miles	70
			100 miles	80
			1000 miles	90
			World	100

 
 
 
 

Material Components are used in spells to reduce the final required Mana cost. This is only possible if the components has an Arcane Connection with the intended target or spell results. The existence of an Arcane Connection is in accordance with the following Magical Laws:

• The Law of Contagion states that once together always together. The parts of an item maintain an Arcane Connection with one another even when physically separated. Examples include the hair of a person to be affected or a branch to affect the tree.
• The Law of Sympathy states that like produces like. Components which are representative of a desired result possess an Arcane Connection with that result. Examples include a broken a piece of used in a spell to break a spear or a bandage used in a healing spell.
• The Law of Association states that which is of the same energy is of the same nature. Many items are thought to be possessed of certain qualities and hence possess an Arcane Connection with anything else possessing those same qualities. Examples include fired clay used to protect from fire or the parts of a rat to spread disease.
• The Law of Opposition states that which is of opposite nature neutralizes. An object/creature's opposite provides an Arcane Connection to the object/object when used to harm that object.
• The Law of Combination states that Contagioninfluences Sympathy/Opposition. The parts of an object/creature provides an Arcane Connection to other objects/creatures of the same type.

 

Up to three individual components may be used in the casting of a spell; however, only two rare and or one exotic component may be used in a single spell. Under no circumstances can a cast spell's mana cost be reduced below 5 mana points or by more than 50 mana points through the use of material components.
 
 
 

Number/Type of  Material Components	Mana Modifier
Exclusively Common Components
1 Common	-5 mana
2 Common	-10 mana
3 Common	-15 mana
Exclusively Rare Components
1 Rare	-10 mana
2 Rare	-25 mana
Exclusively Exotic Components
1 Exotic	-25 mana
Mixed Component Types
1 Common 1 Rare	- 15 mana
1 Common 2 Rare	-30 mana
1 Common 1 Exotic	-30 mana
2 Common 1 Rare	-20 mana
2 Common 1 Exotic	-35 mana
2 Rare 1 Exotic	-50 mana (maximum reduction)
1 Common 1 Rare 1 Exotic	-40 mana

Even with the effective use of Material Components, some spells still require too much Mana for most spellcasters to perform. There exist a few methods to still perform the casting. In this section we will discuss the two most common methods, Ritual Magic and Runic Magic. Both are methods developed to allow a caster to utilize Mana in excess of the caster's normal limits.

The first method discussed is the use of Ritual. Magical Rituals are lengthy rigid sets of ceremonial actions used to bring about a prescribed effect. Magical Rituals may not be performed spontaneously and must instead be either learned or researched by the caster in advance. Due to the extensive potential for power of Rituals, most casters are not willing to share the secrets of the Rituals they know. The most common exception to this being when the performance of a Ritual requires assistance from other casters; even so, most Mages prefer to work with their own apprentices rather than other (i.e. competing) Mages. Every being willingly participating in the performance a Magical Ritual may contribute Mana to achieving the desired result. In addition, the leader may draw on the inherent Mana of objects used in the performance of the ritual. The advantage of a Ritual over other cooperative magics (i.e. Channeling assisted) is that only the leader of the Ritual need possess the skill of Channeling, the ritual itself enables him to draw on the Mana of all the participants; however, only half of the Mana total of each additional participant may be drawn. The items used to contribute Mana to a ritual are generally destroyed in some manner to release the energies they contain. The rules for items in Ritual Magic use the following chart to determine the amount of Mana they contribute. These rules are a modification of the Material Components rules stated previously.
 

Type of Ritual Component(s)	Mana Contributed
Common	5
Rare	10
Exotic	25
Enchanted	30 or listed Mana amount (GM determined)

The Mana used in a ritual can be impressive but certain restrictions do apply. The Mana total of the objects used in the conductance of a ritual may not exceed double the Mana contribution of the beings participating in the ritual. The Ritual Leader's personal contribution of Mana determines the maximum that may be contributed by any other single participant.

Actually casting the ritual requires a substantial amount of time, for every 100 points of Mana to be used in the Ritual requires a minimum of 15 minutes (if performed by one person) of site preparation/cleansing, 10 minutes of ceremonial purification for each of the participants, and 15 minutes of actual casting time. The Caster needs to make a Ritual Casting skill roll after each of the preparation, and then again after each 15 minute increment of the actual Ritual Casting, the result of the skill roll indicates the percentage of that portion of the Ritual that is successfully completed. Critical failure (a roll total of less than 1) during the preparations means he must completely redo the purification, Critical Failure during the actual Ritual Casting requires a roll on the Spell Fumble Chart.
 

Another method of enabling the use of large amounts of Mana, Runic Magic utilizes certain Mystically powerful symbols (Runes) to channel Mana to achieve the desired effects. The advantage of Runic Magic lies the fact the Mana need not be expended all at once when enchanting an item, the Mystical nature of the Runes themselves enables them to serve as a form of Mana battery. The Runic Mage will prepare the receptacle (the item to be enchanted) to receive the desired Runes through a series of Minor Rituals (generally involving the alteration of the item to remove any impurities). Once the item is prepared the Mage will begin to etch/carve the appropriate Storage Runes onto the item. Once the Storage Runes have been placed the Mage will begin to channel Mana into the item until he is certain the item contains sufficient Energies to empower the desired effects. Once the item is fully charged the Mage must place the actual Spell Runes that will draw upon the stored Mana to produce the desired result.

Three variations from standard Runic Magic have been developed.

• Single-use Spell Runes are specially prepared Rune items that incorporate the Storage Runes with the Spell Rune placed on the item, these types of Combination Runes are limited to storing no more than 100 Mana points usable to power the desired spell. The nature of this type of Rune Item requires the expenditure of more mana to create the item than will actually be used by the spell. The Mage must expend 150% of the desired spells actual Mana cost at the time of creation to enable the item to function. Items of this type will be destroyed upon the release of the contained spell.
• Many Magical items of Runic nature have not been enchanted with spells of "permanent" duration. In this case due to the nature of the Storage Runes used in the preparation of the item, a user may Channel Mana into the item to recharge it. If the User has sufficient personal Mana he may actually Channel Mana into the item to activate the spell(s) by powering them directly, instead of simply recharging the Mana of the runes.
• Lastly, a minor variation on the above is the use of Runic Tattoos. Runic Tattoos are a special variety of Spell Runes, using specially prepared inks, tattooed into the skin of the user. The user must have sufficient personal Mana to activate the Spell Rune, provided this is the case he can activate the Rune(s) at will. Rune Tattoos are limited in that each Rune can hold only a single spell, and each Spell Rune requires the permanent expenditure of two Mana points from the recipient's personal Mana total to maintain its potency.

The method of resolution for Magical Castings is based on the type of Casting.

• Spell Casting is resolved with the roll of a Spellcasting Percentile Resolutionroll using the following positive modifiers:
• The Caster's Skill rating for the Technique used.
• The Caster's Skill rating s for the Matrix(es) used.

• The Spell's difficulty (One quarter of the total amount of Mana used in the spell).
• The Resistance Rating of the target (if applicable).

• Ritual Casting is resolved with a series of Ritual Casting Skill checks, as discussed in the ritual section. In addition a final Moderate Difficulty check for the overall success of the Ritual must be made once the casting is completed. This Check is is made with the negative modifications of the Resistance Rating of the target and the Ritual's difficulty (a number equal to one tenth of the Mana used in the Ritual). When enchanting an item through ritual the item's innate Resistance Rating may be ignored if the enchantments are being used to enhance the inherent nature of the item.
• Rune Casting is resolved with a series of Rune Casting Skill checks as discussed in the Runic Magic section and a final Moderate Difficulty check at the completion of the inscription of the Rune(s), this final check is made with the negative modifications of the Item/Creature's Innate Resistance Rating and the Rune(s)'s Difficulty [a number equal to one tenth of the mana used by the Spell Rune(s)]. Unlike Rituals this can not be ignored regardless of the nature of the spell.

The use of Mana in Magical Castings can be mentally exhausting. To simulate this within the context of the game, for every 5 Mana points used in a spell the caster loses 1 point of Fatigue. In addition, if the spell requires concentration the Caster will lose 1 point of Fatigue for every round he maintains the spell.

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