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Understasnding Magic
Magic is an energy that can be harnessed, controlled, and manipulated by the mind and force of will. It is a fabulous power that can calm a storm, create a fireball, or open a door to another world. It is a force that, except for Diabolism, Summoning, and Alchemy, requires no physical components (usually) or internal mechanics to use; only the ind and willpower. It seems to be an inexhaustable energy that continually renews itself. A force of nature that can be harnessed by a single individual, human and inhuman alike.
Individual P.P.E.: Every person has some dgree of Potential Psychic Energy (P.P.E.). Adult humans, wolfen, and most mortal beings have comparatively little P.P.E. (usually 2D6 points). The average adult has little of this left because (s)he has unwittingly used it to develop skills, talents, and physical abilities as (s)he grew into adulthood. Consequently, the average child will have 5D6 P.P.E. points, while the average teenager will have more than at any other time in his/her life; typically 6D6+P.E. attribute number! What happens is that the P.P.E. is directed and used up in one way or another. This occures as a person focuses on a particular area of interest, skill or occupation and could explain the concept of "natural talents". A person's focus to develop a particular interest/skill/talent or physical attribute as he or she enters into adolescence is so strong that the potential psychic energy ius channeled and spent on developing that specific area (no better example of this can be given other than the P.C.C. creation rules in Beyond the Supernatural, as characters have to sacrifice P.P.E. points for their powers and abilities).
Practitioners of Magic, regardless of the race or age, have learned to draw upon, nuture, and hold Potential Psychic Energy, becoming living batteries of magical energy! The typical mage, wheather it be an Archanist, Ley Line Walker, Wizard, etc. will have 10 to 40 times more P.P.E. than the average person. This energy can be drawn upon at will, much like psychic characters who draw upon their Inner Strength Power (I.S.P.) to use their psionic powers. In fact, psionics powers are just a different focus of P.P.E. that enables the character to develop psychic powers (as stated in the example above, Beyond the Supernatural is a prime example of this).
Each magic spell, ritual, ward, and circle requires a certain amount of P.P.E. to create or activate it. Each spell description, ward, circle, or special magic power or device will indicate how many P.P.E. points are needed to perform the magic. P.P.E. costs range from as little as one point to several thousand, with 5-50 being the most common. The mage should be able to summon forth his own impressive amount of Potential Psychic Energy to perform most types of magic with relative ease. Only creatures of magic (like faeries and dragons) and certain supernatural beings can perfrm a handful of "natural", magic-like powers without expending P.P.E.
Recovery of P.P.E.:Like psionic I.S.P., the loss of P.P.E is temporary. The rate at which the mage replenishes his P.P.E. is based on two factors, P.E. attribute and level. The equation is simple; divide the mage's P.E. attribute by three (rounding fractions down) and then add the mage's currect level of experiance, the number is the amount of P.P.E. that the mage can recover in an hour of rest or sleep. So a 2nd-level mage with a P.E. of 14 would recover 6 P.P.E. per hour (14 / 3 = 4.66 rounded down to 4, +2 for being 2nd-level = 6 P.P.E./hour). Meditation is a skill known to and practiced by all men of magic. It is used to focus one's concentration and to relax and open oneself to mystic forces. Meditation will double the mage's currect rate of P.P.E. recovery. So the mage mentioned previously that would normally regain 6 P.P.E. per hour of sleep/rest will regain 12 point of P.P.E. per hour of meditation.

Other Sources of P.P.E.
The practicioners of magic have a few options at their disposal in acquiring P.P.E. to use instead of their own or to supplement what they have. These other sources include magical talismans, ancient artifacts, items created by the gods, ley ines, nexus points, and living creatures, including humans.
Drawing P.P.E. from magic talismans and artifacts: There are some magic artifacts that act as portable P.P.E. batteries that store magic energy from which a mage can draw more power. These items are quite uncommon, but immediately recognized by practicioners of magic. In most case, the energy contained in these devices is finite and drained, they remain empty.
Drawing P.P.E. from other living beings is a fairly easy task. As stated previously, all living creatures have a certain amount of P.P.E. and taking it from them does no damage. However, there are certain conditions and limitations.

• Drawing P.P.E. without one's knowledge: The mage can usually draw on anybody's P.P.E. without their consent or knowledge. The man of magic simply focuses his concentration on the target from which he intends to plunder the magic energy and tries to absorb it. The intended target(s) automatically gets to save versus magic attack and must roll a 12 or higher to save. A successful save means that the mage was not able to draw the energy into him and must try again or abondon the plan. A character's failure to save means that the mage was successful in absorbing some of his P.P.E.--limited to 1D4 points. Note: A mage can never absorb more than half of the victim's total P.P.E. without the individual's consent. Also note that the P.P.E. can be drawn from animals as well as people (see the animals in Monsters & Animals for the Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game for a comprehensive list). The spell caster can attempt to simultaneously absorb P.P.E. from several individuals, as many as one person/animal per level of experiance (the exception to this are Druids and Biomancers, they can draw on 1D4 animals (not human(oid)s) per level of experiance). Range: 10 foot radius per every level of experiance. Stolen P.P.E. returns at the normal rate of five (5) points per hour of sleep/rest.

• Drawing P.P.E. from an unwilling subject is impossible: Anyone who is aware that the mage wishes to absorb P.P.E. can reist and prevent his energy from being used. It does not matter why the individual resists, weather its out of fear, hate, anger, dislike, etc., only that he resists is enough. A person who reists/refuses to give his P.P.E. will not give up any of his; an automative save. The mage must find a more receptive target. Note: In a combat situation, all opponents on the defensive are considered to be unwilling subjects. Likewise, the P.P.E. of frightened animals cannot be draw upon by the mage.

• Drawing P.P.E. with a person's knowledge/consent: Having willing donors of P.P.E. is much more effective than stealing it from people. What happens when the person is willingly donating his or her magic energy is that the attempt is an automatic success (no save vs. magic attack) and the mage can absorb as much as 70% of that one person's energy! Better yet, several people can link together by holding hands and concentrating on giving their P.P.E. enabling the mage to use 50% from each person simultaneously. However, in order to draw upon more than 10 people simultaneously, a mesmerizing ceremony is required, as well as willingness on part of all participants. This "mass" offering is typically used by members of fanatical cults, covens, tribes and churches.

• Drawing P.P.E. from other practicioners of magic is impossible! These men and women of magic are too attuned to and in control of their magic energies for it to be plundered. Years of training has built in numerous mental defenses. Of course, they can willingly give their P.P.E. or have it taken in a blood sacrifice.

• Blood Sacrifices! The most terrible method of extracting P.P.E. from a living creature is by killing it. This is where animal and human sacrifices come into play. For reasons unknown to scholars and mages alike, a living being's P.P.E. doubles at the moment of death. An evil mage takes advantage of this by murdering his subjects and absorbing all the victim's doubled P.P.E.! Note: Only characters of an evil alignment will consider a blood sacrifice as a means to acquire magic energy. Prinicpled and scrupulous alignments will not even consider animal sacrifices.

• Self-canabilization: Should a mage find himself wanting, he is able to put his own health on the line and draw power from his own body. Mages can trade their Hit Points (not S.D.C., it goes dirrectly to Hit Points (or M.D.C. depending on the campaign setting) for P.P.E. points on a 1 for 1 basis. So for every 1 hit point/M.D.C. point the mage sacrifices (s)he gains 1 P.P.E. point. In this way, the mage (Ley Line Walker, Wizard, Mystic Study, etc.) can sacrifice 70% of his hit points for P.P.E. points. Note: Should the mage reduce his points by more than 50% his original base, he will begin to suffer from fatigue penalties from the strain put on his body (-2 Speed, -2 Initiative, -1 Parry and Dodge, -2 Damage).

• Drawing ambient energy from nature: All living things have Potential Psychic Energy in them, humans, humanoids, animals, even plants. While tapping into the minimal reserves that plants have to offer is difficult (impossible for some mages to preform), there are those that can do it. Only few mages are able to use this method of drawing P.P.E. from the surrounding plant life. The men of magic that have this ability are the Druids (all types, from PFRPG to those in England on Rifts Earth), Biomancers, Earth Warlocks, and Plant Shamans. These men of magic that are closer to nature than most people and as such can draw P.P.E. from trees, plants, flowers, even the grass. This is a delicate opperation that can severly upset the balance of nature. Mages can draw a total of 3 P.P.E. points per level of experiance without damaging the surrounding land. The area effect by the mage's drain is a ten foot/level diameter circle based around the mage drawing the energy. There is a chance that the mage drawing the energy will pull too hard and not shut himself off in time, to figure out the percentage, take 100% and subtract 10% per level of the mage. So a first level Druid will have a 90% chance of pulling too much energy.
  In the even that the mage pulls too hard, then they do not get the 3 P.P.E. per level, instead they get 6 points per level. However, the area of effect (as described above) has now become a charred and blackened patch of earth that will not longer support plant life for at least ten years, as all the Potential Energy was drawn out of it. This is why characters of good alignment will use this method sparingly, and even then only when they are a high enough level to exert their self-control over themselves. Characters of evil alignment will willingly use this ability to draw free power into themselves and suck the planet around them dry. These "defilers" are considered the lowest of their kind, ranked up their with Necromancers and the like. A chracter of evil alignment will not think twice about drawing the 6 points per level automatically instead of the "safe" 3 points. (Note: I will freely admit that I pirated this concept from the Defilers and Preserver classes in the Dark Sun campaign setting. I always loved the idea of the two different ways of obtaining power and always tried to figure out how to incorrperate it into my Palladium games, this was the end result)

• Drawing ambient energy from ley lines. These rules can be found in any Palladium Books game that deals with ley line energy and P.P.E. For the sake of space--and my sanity--I have chosen not to reprint all of that information. You all know the deal and I didn't have anything to change in that section.

Learning Spells
It is far easier to learn an already existing incantation than it is to create one from scratch. This is due, in part, to the knowledge that the existing spell is proven to work. It simply adds to the level of conviction and therefore insures the success of the spell. Remember that spells are designed to focus one's concentration to create a magic effect. This is more difficult than one might imagine.
True most mages can learn and cast spells far above their actual experiance level (exceptions to this are most Mystics and other creatures that have spell casting as a natural ability and not something that is learned). This means that a second level mage can cast a tenth level spell, providing he knows the incantation and has the neccesary P.P.E. The trick is learning them.
Spell knowledge is power, thus it is guarded jealously by most mages. Even in friendly and open magic societies, there will be some spells that are guarded secrets, rarely taught; these generally include high powered spells above level nine (such as Annihalate). The easiest spells to find are levels 1-4, followed by 5-7. Beyond this, the secret of magic are just that, secret.
There are a few classes of men of magic that never have to worry about finding and learning spells. These men merely have a new spell "blow" into their minds when they reach a new level of understanding (a new experiance level), and never have to worry about learning the spell let alone trying to track the spell down to learn. These men are all the Mystics, creatures that have spell casting powers as part of their natural abilities, such as demons and most Dragons (see below for a further explaination), Warlocks, Witches, Priests, and any other magic O.C.C. in which the character doesn't "learn" the spells, they merely come to him. These classes would never need to track down a spell, learn a spell, or keep a spellbook. It wouldn't matter if they did anyway because they can't learn beyond their given power level.
Then there are those who don't know spells intuitively, but instead must find, learn, and study their magic to make use of it on a daily basis. O.C.C.s such as Wizards, Ley Line Walkers, Archanists, Mystic Study, Necromancers and anyone who does not automatically "know" spells must track down and find their spells to learn, and then they must study to keep their skills honed. Upon initial study of the spell, it takes one day per spell level to learn (example: in ten days a Wizard could learn 10 1st-level spells, two 5th-level spells, one 10th-level spell, or any combination there of). After learning the spell, the mage can go a number of days equal to his I.Q. score before he has to look at his spell book again, in which case (s)he only has to look over it for a few hours to refresh him/herself with the arcane text. If the mage misses his study date for a spell, then (s)he will start to cast his/her spells at a cumulative -5% penalty per week until (s)he is able to study again (although the chance of failure will never drop below 15%).
Out of the grande scale of men of magic, the Shifter stands out among the rest. Why do you ask? The answer is simple, the Shifter is the only magic O.C.C. (to date) that receives his spells from both sources. For the most part, the Shifter must track down, learn, and study his/her spells as other mages do, but (s)he also has the option of bonding with a supernatural being. Upon doing so, the Shifter is granted six new spells from levels 6-14. These spells are granted to the Shifter by the supernatural being he has bonded with and do not need to be learned and/or studied on a weekly basis. They are seperate from his/her other list of spells.
Dragons for the most part are creatures of magic, they are powerful beings that have the power at their beck and call, living batteries of massive amounts of P.P.E. With a few exceptions. While most Dragons, such as the Great Horned, and the Nightstalker, and even the Lo-Dox dragons all intuitively know magical spells at certain stages in their lives.
The only exception to this rule are the Fire dragons, the Ice dragons, and the Chiang-Ku dragons. These three breeds of dragons do not intuitively know magic spells as they grow in age, they must seek out and find these new magics, as well as study them. Some may veiw this as a hinderance to these three dragons sub-species, but the fact is that through this method, they can learn more spells in a shorter amount of time than their kin and become true masters of the mystic art. Also, the dragons can go three times as long as humans before they have to restudy (I.Q. score X3) and they only suffer a -2% penalty per week to their spell casting abilities (never dropping below 20%).
I.Q. and Spell Levels: (Creator's Note: Many who read this following section may accuse me of stealing more ideas from the Dungeons & Dragons system for spell casters, but the fact is that I often had a problem that a Ley Line Walker with an I.Q. of 10 had the same spell casting proficiencies as a mage with an I.Q. of 19. It made no sense to me. Mages with higher I.Q.s should be rewarded.) How intelligent (or not) a mage is will determine what level of spells he is capable of learning. A mage of any type, be they Mystic, Magus, or Dragon can only learn up to the spell level that is equal to his I.Q. score. So, a mage with an I.Q. of 14 would only be able to learn up to a 14th-level spell with no problem. Also, a mage with an I.Q. of 17 would be able to learn all spells levels 1-15. No matter what, a mage must have an I.Q. of 18 or higher to learn and cast Spells of Legend.
A character may attempt to learn a spell over his normal limit, but there are penalties for trying to learn it. The penalty all depends on how many levels removed the spell is from the character's I.Q. score. For every level differance their is a cumulative -20% that the mage will not be able to learn the spell. So a mage with an I.Q. of 14 trying to learn a 15th-level spell will only have an 80% chance to successfully learn the spell, while a mage with an I.Q. of 11 trying to learn the same spell will have only a 20% chance to learn it!
All the time normally needed to learn a spell is needed when trying to learn a spell of a level higher than normally allowed. The roll to see if a mage has succeeded or not is done at the end of that time. So a the mage with the 11 I.Q. trying to learn the 15th-level spell must spend the normal 15 days in study, and at the end of the that fifteen days make the roll. If a mage fails the roll, then the time was waisted and the spell was not learned.
Once a mage has failed the roll to learn a given spell, then the secrets of that spell are beyond his comprehension and he will never understand it. No further rolls are allowed on the spell again. Note: If a mage fails his learning roll on a spell, it is still possible to learn the ritual of that spell.

P.P.E. and it's Various Effects on Spells and Spellcasting
By altering the spending of P.P.E. on a spell, the mage can alter his/her magic in the following way; change the duration, range, damage/effect of the spell. This represents all men of magic's ability to control the powers at his disposal. It is important to note that only the Men of Magic O.C.C.s and Dragons are able to make use of the following optional spells. Creatures like Demons and Deevils who don't really practice magic, they just know how to use it, can't make use of the following abilities.

• By spending twice the amount of P.P.E. the mage can either double the range, double the durration of the spell, double the amount of damage inflicted by the spell, or inflict a -2 to his opponent's save vs. magic role. The mage can cause any one, and only one of these effects to happen at the mage's choice, but he can never have more than one additional effect going at once. Note: Optionally when a mage reaches 8th-level of experiance (s)he may increase any one of these effects by a factor of three, or incure a -4 to save vs. his magic by pumping triple the amount of P.P.E. into a spell. No more than triple energy can be charged into a spell at a given time. 2nd Note: In cases of spells such as Armor of Ithan, the base always remains constant, but the variable S.D.C. can be doubled (Example: if the mage choses to increase the S.D.C. of Armor of Ithan by using this rule, then the S.D.C. gained is 100 S.D.C. +20 S.D.C. per level; not 200 S.D.C. +20 per level!)

• Cantrips: Cantrips are little "tricks" that most mage just learn on their own how to perform. Little things to help around the study that do not need to be sought out, learned, or studied. By expending one (1) point of P.P.E., the mage can perform relative easy, inconsequential tasks such as turning the page of a book (but not closing as door), lighting a match (but not starting a forest fire), blowing the dust off of table top (but not putting wind in the sails of a ship), sharpen a pencil (but not form a spear out of a branch). See what I'm saying? Cantrips are harmless act performed through magic that require little concentration and are often the result of the mage just being too preoccupied--or lazy--to get off his butt and do them himself. Note: G.M.'s take care, should Cantrips be used in a campaign, they could very severly be abused by "creative", shall we say, role-players.

• Magic and Paired Weapons: When a mage has achieved 5th-level of proficiency, and has paired weapons, he can cast the same spell at multiple targets. By doing this, a Ley Line Walker could throw two fireballs at oncoming CS troops, a Wizard could call lightning down on two seperate minotaurs, a Battle Magus could could strike down two demons with sub-partical acceleration, or a Priest could heal two allies at once. However, there is a price to a mage splitting his concentration thus. When a mage decides to use a paired attack, the damage and duration remain the same, however the P.P.E. cost is 50% more than what it normally would be (rounding up), the range of the spell is cut in half (unless it is "touch" obviously), and the spell power somewhat weakens and gives the targets a +2 to save. A mage cannot use the doubling or tripling bonuses mentioned above when splitting an attack, their concentration is being divided among two different individuals as it is. (Example: A 5th-level Wizard casting fireball at two targets would have to spend 15 P.P.E., each attack would inflict 5D6 points, the range would only be 45 feet, and the targets would only have to dodge 16 instead of an 18)

• Devotion to Studies: As characters advance in levels, most classes are concerned with learning skills to help them in their everyday lives (Prowl, Computer Operation, Pilot: Motorcycle, W.P. Sword, etc.), mages do not usually concern themselves with such mundane studies instead trying to build their own personal power base. Mages have the option of trading off any "other" skill as they advance in levels (but not secondary skills) for a permanent 1D8 bonus to their P.P.E. base.

Magic Combat
Spells are usually invocations taking the form of a chant or mantra, require minimal Potential Psychic Energy, and can be performed quickly. Casting times of the spells varies with the level of the spell;

• Most low level spells (1-7) can be cast on a spur of the moment (4-5 seconds). They are not overly complex spells, and those spells that were intended for combat are quick reaction spells ment to be able to be fired off before the mage is cut down. As such, low level spells can be cast in one melee action.

• Mid-level spells (8-11) require more concentration to cast and cannot be performed as quickly. Either the chant is longer or the somatic component is more complex, but what ever the reason these mid-level spells require two melee actions to cast.

• High level spells (12-15) are some of the most complex incantations and require large amounts of concentration and highly detailed somatic motions to cast. As such these spells require one full melee round (15 seconds) to cast. While this may not seem like a long time, it could mean a matter of life and death when locked in combat and a mage is trying to summon a fog to cover his party's escape.

• Spells of Legend are complex and ancient spells to cast. As such they require more time than any other to cast. Usually these spells are not even considered for being cast during combat, they just require too much concentration to cast amongst the chaos of a melee. All these spells are cast as rituals and will require 2D4 hours to complete!

• Ritual Magic: Any spell at and above level seven can be cast as a ritual, provided that the mage knows the ritual. Spells from 7-10 will require ten minutes of ritualization to cast, while spells from levels 11-15 performed as ritual magic will require 1D6X10 +15 minutes to cast. The base saving throw to save vs. rtual magic is 16! Spell strength bonuses are not applicable to ritual magic.
  Note: Knowing the spell version of an invocation does not mean the mage also knows the ritual, and vice versa. The character can learn both the spell version and the ritual version(s) of the same invocation., but the character needs to actively seek out such knowledge. Furthermore, there can be a dozen variations of spell rituals that invoke the same basic magic.

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