ROTM Magic, Why Agone is so different Options

[egm]

Ascendancy refers to the Dancers, a phenomenon brought about by the war between the Masque and the Muses. Dancers are small three inch tall humanoids that are essentially the living manifestation of magic. Capable of altering the universe with their eternal dancing, these little creatures are sought after by many mages across the length and breadth of Harmundia. Players can choose from three schools of magic if they desire to use Ascendancy. Journist, Eclipsist and Obscurantist. Each school relates to how a mage uses Dancers and in turn defines what “spells” are available. Jornists are like the greenpeace activists of the magical culture – they love and care for their Dancers, and as such get a lot of the touchy-feely spells. Eclipsists are opportunists, who trade and negotiate with their Dancers, getting lots of sneaky subtle spells. Obscurantists torture and torment their Dancers, and so have access to the most aggressive magics.

The Magical Arts are only available to Inspired characters (your character is one). This is magic via the use of the various arts of the Muses. Painting, Sculpture, Music and Poetry can be used to perform a series of magical effects – again taken from a spell list. Yet once again the system provides rules for improvised magic – allowing a broader range of effects than initially listed. Furthermore, Concordists – those who use the Magical Arts – can take a higher spell level to boost their spells.

Invoking is the art of summoning Demons from the Abyss and forming a contract with them. I won’t mention more than this, as part of the fun of ROTM for players comes from discovering the costs that such actions bring (like the evil way in Torment). Needless to say, the contracts aren’t call “Connivances” for nothing…


The last word will be this one: magic is dying on Harmundia. Dancers are limited in numbers and to prevent they disappearance, the Cypher-sorcerer (the official guild of mages) severely punish anyone who get a dancer without their permission. The Masque hunts down each Inspired, and hunts Concordists harder, so that few remain today (+ or - 300 on all Harmundia).