Where does magic come from? How does it work? I don't mean how does one go about casting spells, but what are the underlying principles that make the spells *work*? Some fantasy RPGs (Earthdawn and Mage, for example) address this in great detail. Others, such as D&D, are pretty vague about it.

A few years ago I was describing the magic system of my homegrown RPG system to a friend, and he started asking me this kind of question, which I had never given much thought to before. Consequently, I began to come up with a rationale for magic in my system, and I'm glad I did. It has enabled me to make my rules more consistent and even solve some magic-related rules problems. I am indebted to that friend for asking me those tough questions.

Thanks, Jonathan, wherever you are.

What follows is the results of those thought processes. Although it was designed for my own system, it could be adapted or modified to fit a number of different systems. Some references to specific spells are included as examples, but their names are pretty self-explanatory.

Four different metaphysical entities are recognized by this theory: soul, essence, ether and mana.

SOUL

All sentient beings, whether mortal, spirit or undead, have souls. "Dumb" animals, on the other hand, do not have souls. A soul is what gives a person reason, personality and conscience. The soul cannot be destroyed, diminished or divided, but it can be transferred from one vessel to another.

Only a few spells directly affect the soul. Among these are Soul Trap, Soul Link and Transcendence (i.e. astral projection). Spirit sight is the ability to see souls.

ESSENCE

Essence is life-force. All living beings, including all kinds of plants and animals, have essence. Undead and artificial creatures do not. In most sentient creatures, essence is what binds the soul to the body. (The souls of undead are bound to their bodies by mana.) Essence may be lost as a result of wounds or disease.

Therefore, essence is somewhat related to Vitality (my game's equivalent of Hit Points, Health, Life, etc.), but it is not directly proportional: a weak person is not somehow "less alive" than a strong person, he simply loses more essence when wounded than a strong person would from an equivalent wound.

Healing spells directly manipulate essence, as do spells such as Life-leech.

ETHER

Ether (sometimes considered to be the fifth element) is quite literally the stuff of which magic is made. All spells function by the manipulation of ether. Ether flows throughout the universe, though it is not evenly distributed. All magicians have the ability to accumulate ether in their bodies -- the greater the amount of ether, the greater the magician's power.

This accumulated ether generates mana, as described below, which enables them to perform magic. Ether is very versatile and can be transformed into matter, energy or even essence by spells, such as Water, Fireball and Healing respectively. Ether can also form solid barriers (as in a

Protection spell) or produce motive forces (as in a Telekinesis spell). A Detect Magic spell does not detect the *presence* of ether, since ether is everywhere; rather it detects disturbances in the pattern or flow of ether. Magic items can be detected because they distort the ether field around them.

The bodies of spirit beings are composed of ether, which is what gives them innate magic abilities. Even in the case of spirits which have a high proportion of matter, the material body is only an "outfit".

MANA

Mana is to ether as energy is to matter. Mana is generated by ether, and it is the driving force behind magic which allows the manipulation of ether. The greater the amount of ether a being possesses, the greater the quantity of mana he can store. Mana is also what animates artificial and undead creatures.

As a magician uses spells, his pool of mana is depleted; the more powerful the spell, the more mana is required. When his mana level drops below the level required for a particular spell, he must either wait for more mana to accumulate, or make up the difference using his essence. This is why prolonged use of magic in a short timespan can be damaging to the magician.

MAGIC ITEMS

Temporary magic items (including potions) are simply mana batteries. The mana is bound to the item by the enchantment process and discharged when the item is used. The mana will also "leak off" over the years if the item is not used.

Permanent magic items have their own ether bodies. The enchantment process for binding ether to an item is much more complicated and difficult than binding mana, but the item can then be used over and over because it generates its own mana. In effect, it is like a magician who can only cast one spell. The "lag time" between uses of a permanent magic item represents the time required to regenerate mana.

BLACK AND WHITE MAGIC

In my system, there is no distinction between wizardly magic and priestly magic. Instead, magicians have many of the characteristics associated with priests in other systems. (Clerics in my world do not have any special powers, although some of them are also magicians.)

Anyone can learn the procedures for using magic (i.e. spells), but the ability to accumulate an ether body (which is necessary for manipulating large amounts of mana) must be granted by a higher power, either divine or demonic. Without such a "patron", a magician can only cast low- to mid-range spells, paying the cost entirely from his essence, and there is a chance of failure proportional to the level of the spell.

This means that the distinction between black and white magic is more than just a matter of how it is used. White magic is truly holy, and black magic is truly evil. White magic (including magic items and potions created with white magic) cannot be used for evil purposes; anyone attempting to do so will suffer a magical backlash.

On the other hand, items created by black magic could theoretically be used for good, but because the ether used to create the items has been tainted by association with the dark powers, the user will be negatively affected by it. This effect is not immediate and major, but repeated exposure to black magic will eventually take its toll on a person, much like radiation. Tolkien's One Ring is of course the prime example of this.

Dragons (and a few other magically-endowed creatures) are exceptions to the rule in that they naturally have ether bodies and can therefore work magic without assistance. Although dragon magic is sometimes called "neutral" magic as a result, it may be used for good or evil.

White magicians are rarer than black magicians because they must be personally selected by their celestial patron for their strong moral character and dedication, whereas the infernal powers are usually quite willing to assist anyone wanting to learn the black arts, in order to corrupt them. Because of the ease of learning black magic, it can be very seductive. However, a white magician always trumps a black magician of equal level.

WHAT ABOUT CLERICS?

I designed my system this way partly to reflect my own worldview. However, if you do not care for this interpretation of magic and wish to have clerical magic as a separate entity, try the following:

Priests do not possess ether bodies like other magicians, but instead channel power directly from their deity. (Therefore a priest will not be recognized as such by a Detect Magic spell.) This in theory gives a priest virtually unlimited power; to counter-balance this, I suggest two rules.

First of all, a priest's use of spells must be approved on a case-by-case basis by their deity. If the priest is attempting to use spells for a purpose which goes against the ideals of his religion, they will not work.

Also, a deity may get tired of excessive or trivial demands for power from a priest and refuse to grant them. The second rule is that a low-level priest may not be able to cope with the strain of channeling large amounts of mana. Every time a priest casts a spell of a level higher than his skill/power, there is a chance (proportional to the difference between the two values) that the priest will pass out, and possibly take damage as well.

POSTSCRIPT

So there, for what it's worth, is my rationale for magic. Of course, it's not the only one around, and I encourage you to take a look at other people's ideas. An excellent alternative system is "Magic from the Ground Up" by Patrick Riley, which is based on the old thermodynamic theory of caloric. You can find it at http://users.aol.com/chaospuppy/misc/magic.htm (if you'd like a copy that I converted to rich text format, drop me a line at and I'll e-mail it to you).

I also recommend http://www.hut.fi/~vesanto/MagicHtmls/magic.html, which is chock-full of ideas for creating your own system. Whatever game you're playing, you should give some consideration to the questions which I raised in my introduction. I think you'll find it's well worth the effort.

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