On the Domuss, magic flowed through ley lines from the heart of the world. It was a constant river that could be channelled, diverted and harnessed just like water. Different branches of magic existed with four fundamental magics being embedded in the very spirits of the Old World’s inhabitants. Through careful manipulation of this magic in processes known as rituals, this magic can be expanded upon to create many, many different effects.
Most magic is bound by four laws:
- The Law of Equivalent Exchange: Magic cannot be created from nothing, it cannot be performed without cost. To create is to destroy. To destroy is to create.
- The Law of Immutable Vitality: Magic exists within life and the natural world. It cannot touch the dead.
- The Law of Sympathetic Dominion: In order to cast magic upon a thing, place, or person, you must be in proximity to either the target itself or an item strongly connected to them.
- The Law of Thaumic Resonance: No magic can go unnoticed. No ritual can be kept truly secret, if you perform magic the after effects can be seen by all who know how to look.
Very, very occasionally these laws can be broken through great effort, sacrifice and grand mastery. As of the start of this game, no one alive in London knows how to do that.
Magic is a single incredibly complex force that acts in unpredictable and disorderly ways. In order to direct it in a controlled way, mortals have learned to filter certain aspects of magic that they can manipulate more predictably. While other acts of magic exist, there are four techniques that any educated mortal can use to produce predictable results.
In the wider world, these forms of magic might be approached somewhat haphazardly, however the creation of the Summit – and the Administrators bound to it – allows it to be practised in particularly codified, organised ways, with the Administrators facilitating the use of magic towards the Summit’s goals.
Petty Magic
As well as the five forms of magic described in this rules document, minor magic exists, and most people have at least some access to it. A magical incantation might be able to cause plants to grow healthily, heal an injury, bring good luck, or purify drinking water. This magic is rarely flash and dramatic, but it works. You can have your character practice Petty Magic if you wish, using whichever incantations and ceremonies make sense for their background.
While this sort of magic really, observably works, its results are on an individual scale. The results are minor in scope and imprecise; they’re small enough that the game rules abstract them away and they have no mechanical impact. The limit to what petty magic can perform is what you are able to phys-rep through special effects, slight of hand, etc.
For an idea of rituals your character may do outside of the Summit, have a look at the On the Ground magic rules.