Magic holds a special place in the world of Land of Amun. As the sole absolute power— a direct extension of God— it was intended to be the unwavering bedrock upon which the delicate balance of everything was built.
What do I mean? Consider chopping wood: each log requires varying effort and accuracy, leading to varying results. In spellcasting, however, the outcome is deterministic. As long as the necessary conditions are met, you’ll produce one hundred identical Fireballs out of one hundred, regardless of the caster’s effort.
This approach significantly facilitates the balancing of engagements between mages and other combatants, such as archers, swordsmen, or dagger wielders. It introduces a healthy degree of predictability, where tactical execution and individual player skill become paramount, diminishing the influence of random chance.
What, then, is magic in the realm of Land of Amun?
The basis of magic
Magic is fundamentally the transformation of space in time — the manipulation of three dimensions within the fourth one. This concept establishes our first magic number: four! Building on it, we derive several essential postulates.
- Wisdom is a characteristic that measures a magic user’s aptitude for manipulating spatial dimensions.
- A magic user cannot cast any spells until they possess at least 4 Wisdom.
- First-level spells necessitate 4 Wisdom, second-level spells call for 8, third-level spells require 12, and this pattern continues.
- The minimum time required to cast any spell is four seconds, representing one second per dimension. This temporal limitation is an inherent feature of the Land of Amun world, a design woven into its fabric by God.
The lifespan of magic
If one casts a Rolling Stone, how long will the spell last? Were mages to constantly cast Rain, will the world eventually drown?
Experimentally, seven levels of magic were estimated to be optimal: fewer are insufficient, while more prove too complex. Yet, surpassing this in difficulty is creating a game world where magic can cause permanent change. Thus, the very boundary defining the “permanence” of magic is established.
Since mere mortals are inherently weak, all spells they can master are temporary in nature. Only spells of level eight and above possess permanence. However, the ascent to level eight, reaching the echelon of Angels and Demons, will be attainable by a literal handful.
This system functions quite effectively: a third-level Fireball spell, for instance, travels to its target for a duration equal in seconds to the caster’s wisdom spent on it — say, twelve — before exploding and inflicting damage or dissipating. A level four Frost spell, conversely, will sustain its effect for sixteen seconds.
Regarding the mana required for spells, this too is determined by the requisite wisdom value. A level one spell, requiring four wisdom, consumes four mana, while a level five spell, requiring twenty, consumes twenty.
Spell enhancement
Take the level one Dust spell, or level three Fireball, or level seven Hurricane for this matter— how many times can a caster improve them? Is the capacity for improvement the same? In fact, it is contingent upon the spell’s level.
Level one spells are so primitive that their potential for progression is minimal— just one. Translated into the language of magic, each dimension allows an increase in the spell’s quality by one. Consequently, the maximum level of advancement for a level one spell is four. Furthermore, each incremental improvement necessitates a greater amount of wisdom. For example, with 7 wisdom, one can achieve Dust+3. However, even possessing a hundred wisdom — not sure even gods can achieve this, though — will not permit enhancement beyond Dust+4. To attain higher levels of spell improvement, one must employ advanced space transformations or utilize more potent spells.
Regarding second-level spells, such as Waterfall, their capacity for improvement is greater— two enhancements per dimension, culminating in a total of eight potential advancements. In other words, the number of times a spell can be improved is directly correlated with its base wisdom requirement. Thus, the maximum enhancement is Waterfall+8, requiring 16 wisdom, whereas Fireball+12, for example, would necessitate 24 wisdom.
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
But what’s most valuable is that this system establishes a consistent and realistic framework that underpins the entire world, which is just as beautifully intricate and bewildering as magic itself.
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In our subsequent article, we shall delve into the potential for growth in wisdom, mana, and typical magical characteristics across various races.