Magic Users

Elements once part of wizardry were participant once again, rewoven into the design. --C.J. Cherryh

Oaths in FaerieMUD are capable of affecting the amount of mana in an area and the ease of access to it. Broken oaths reduce mana and make it more difficult to channel. Conversely adherence to oaths may increase the mana in an area over time.

There are two basic strategies Magic Users have devised for dealing with the implications this has on their spellcasting abilities:

• isolating themselves around nodes which some magic-users jealously guard against oath-breaking, or
• attempting to convince those around them to honor their oaths and generally lead moral lives which are less conducive to oathbreaking, and conducting organized ceremonies designed to attract mana both from their patron deity, and from the surrounding area.

Those adopting the isolation strategy generally build tall towers far from the traffic of men. They guard the higher levels of these strongholds even from their initiates, until they are certain the novices can be trusted. Magical Colleges develop around the base of these towers, spreading to protect the nodes themselves. Concentric circles mark the hierarchy of the perspicacity: the more trusted you are the closer you are allowed to the central tower. The more powerful their nodes become, the more jealously they must guard them. They may travel away from their nodes or even enter service with a court or trading house. But expect any court magician to grow surly the longer he is forced to stay away from his node. Expect him also to have a keen interest in the honesty of any court intrigue. Ley-lines are important to those who have wandered from their towers. Magic-users who adopt this strategy of isolation are known as Mages to all who know them.

Those adopting the strategy of convincing those around them to honor their oaths walk another path. They tend to build humble dwellings among the peasants (most believe simpler folks are less likely to break oath than their richer cousins. Some insist on working with the more difficult-to-convert upper classes. The cults they build among their followers are not necessarily dedicated to good, but they all insist on the importance of oath-keeping (either oath-keeping to those around their followers or oath-keeping to the forces of darkness and evil). Magic Users who adopt this strategy of moral precepts (for good or for evil) are known as Priests and Monks. Priests tend to work with the upper crust, while monks try to earn the respect of the underclass with their humble lifestyles.

— Scotus, The Prosy Faerie - 20 May 2000 and 04 Jun 2000

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Scotus differentiates Priests? and Mages by their interest (or respectively, lack of) in community. I feel that while Priests? are more traditionally community builders, Mages are not precluded from it. Similarly, some Priests? such as worshippers of AssassinGod? or ThiefGod? may have a strictly predatory interest in community.

I propose Sorcerors? and Techs? in addition. Further, some Monks? are Priests?, others are Sorcerors? (those who introspect will be Sorcerors?). A specific organisation of Priests? or Sorcerors? seems more appropriate to implement Monks?.

I consider all magic users and Techs? to be essentially the same. Effects are wreaked through the channelling and conversion of energy. Standard distinctions principally focus on the energy source. Techs? master the physical forms, such as heat, kinetic and electric. Mages usually summon or steal energy from outside themselves; thus their bad reputation in most literature. Priests? are donated energy by a creature outside themselves, whether it be a god, lord or demon. Sorcerors? draw energy internally, usually resulting in physical and/or mental fatigue.

Those following Genius are likely to achieve control of more than one energy source.

— AlexisLi? - 05 Dec 2001

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I think we're discussing two different things here. I am discussing covenants, which are emergent entities which come into being any time an oath is sworn.

There are some covenants which have nothing to do with magic: guilds and parties, for instance. There are others which are created solely to promote some form of magic: religious orders and magical colleges, for example. These are different from religions and magical genres, which they may support.

It seems to me AlexisLi? is addressing the kind of issues which are really about genres? and religions. Ged has often objected to tying particular skills to particular guilds or particular genres of magic to particular colleges. Similarly Eastern thinking does not assume that a particular monastery must limit itself to one particular religion.

Thus we have attempted to abstract the religion from the religious institutions which promulgate them, allowing us to simulate a wider variety of possible combinations.

I don't really distinguish between priests and magic users by interest in community. Both religious orders and magical colleges are communities of magic users. And it is not necessary for a magic user of any kind to belong to such a community (although some may be more likely or less likely to belong to one, as AlexisLi? suggests).

The distinction between magical colleges and religious orders derives from the effect oaths have on mana. Because broken oaths can diminish mana, while upheld oaths can strengthen the local supply of mana, magic users have an inherent interest in curtailing the use of oaths which are likely to be broken (and a concurrent interest in strong, powerful and important oaths that are upheld).

Religious orders and magical colleges are covenants which take differing approaches to these facts: magical colleges try to position their communities in isolated areas where they can tightly control the oaths which are sworn; religious orders position their communities right in the thick of things and try to influence the oath-taking of those around them.

Technically, these are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, Steve (the guy who is thinking about creating the Druid covenant) thinks the Druids may well share some of the features of religious orders and of magical colleges (and even of guilds).

We once thought guilds, colleges and orders were subclasses of covenants. And we may still need to implement them that way. But we are now trying to come up with a way to represent them all with a single interface. We have been able to represent them with a single set of traits. Scotus and stillflame have been working on defining the statistics in a way that works for all covenants as well. We aren't there yet, but we're hoping we can succeed eventually. Identity is close.

And, finally, the issue of Techs is fairly complicated. Ged wants to stick to a medieval technology level with a pure fantasy flavor. So, guilds will be expected to handle most of the technology available. I don't think this needs a separate magic-user-like class, but I'm open to suggestions. I've even put up a place on the Genre page for the suggestion.

The following quote also may relevent here:

<blockquote><i>A sufficiently advanced magic will fill the economic and social niches occupied by technology in our society.</i> — Harland's Hypothesis

— Scotus - 15 Dec 2001