Aspects

An aspect, as I read in the dictionary, is used to describe an idea or a thought. Aspect magic is the channeling of magic energy throughout the body and soul while visualizing some idea, concept, or thought. You might think of it as magical feedback, used to give a living creature magical powers and abilities - a personal enchantment. In game terms, any and all magicians have the ability to learn Aspects. Some magicians might be restricted in what Aspects they can acquire, and certain O.C.C.s will have special cost reductions for choosing Aspects that are related to their knowledge.

Aspects allow a magician to use abilities that mimic spells, emulate psionic powers, gain bonuses, acquire special abilities, and enhance one's magic power. They are a lot like the Talents of the Nightbanetm in that they are 'purchased.' Aspects require a sacrifice of P.P.E.tm to acquire - temporarily for some and permanently for others. Acquiring an Aspect is done by burning off P.P.E.tm while focusing on a thought, vision, ideal, or desire. With the remaining P.P.E.tm base the magician fuels both his spell magic (or rune magic, or whatever) and any special abilities his Aspects might grant.

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Types

Temporary Aspects: Just what it says - temporary. A magician must perform a brief ritual. During this ritual, part of his permanent P.P.E.tm base is channeled into his body in a magical feedback loop, so to speak. This energy loop can be unraveled at any time - this takes a single melee action and one thought to do. The P.P.E.tm tied up in the Aspect is instantly released, returns to the character's P.P.E.tm base, and can be immediately used to cast spells.

To invoke a temporary Aspect, a magician needs to find the appropriate ritual description (discovered, or sometimes purchased). The cost and rarity is listed along in the temporary Aspect description. By following the process in the description the Aspect can be invoked and used for as long as desired. It can be shed at a moment's notice and the process can be followed again to regain the Aspect. All magicians can memorize a limit of one temporary Aspect process per level of experience. The rituals take approximately two minutes per temporarily sacrificed P.P.E.tm point to perform, plus a little extra time for preparation.

Note that there are many ways to invoke an Aspect and the exact process doesn't matter - just the result. Different cultures have different ways of doing things. GMs might require players to make a roll under their characters' Principles of Magic skill - success meaning the Aspect is acquired and failure meaning the mage messed up (no permanent or penalizing effects) and must gain another 1,000 experience points before trying the same invocation ritual again.

Special abilities gained from temporary Aspects are usually 'hard wired' into the ritual. When determining the power level of an ability, do so as if the ability was possessed at level one. Not all Aspects should have a temporary version - any Aspect that makes a drastic change in the character (e.g. necromantic and technology Aspects) shouldn't have an associated temporary Aspect.

Permanent Aspects: A permanent Aspect burns off the P.P.E.tm sacrificed. The benefit of this is that the higher the amount of P.P.E.tm burned off, the stronger the Aspect. Permanent Aspects are divided into Minor, Major, and Master. Each level includes the abilities and bonuses of those previous - a Major Aspect consists of the Minor version (which usually, but doesn't have to exist) and all things listed under the Major. Master Aspects are the Minor and Major version of the Aspect combined plus a little bit more. Occasionally a Master or Major Aspect will have an improved/ upgraded power or ability from a Major or Minor Aspect. It is possible to upgrade Aspects as one's P.P.E.tm base increases - to upgrade a Minor Aspect to a Major or Master, or a Major to a Master, one must pay the remaining P.P.E.tm to acquire it. You essentially get credit for having expended energy towards the goal.

Example One: A second level mage selects a Minor Aspect with a cost of 15 P.P.E.tm. Later on, at level three, he decides to get the Major Aspect with a cost of 25 P.P.E.tm Since he has already paid 15, he must only sacrifice another 10 to reach the 25 P.P.E.tm needed to power the Aspect.

Example Two: A fifth level mage selects a Master Aspect with a cost of 50 P.P.E.tm. He already has the Major Aspect, which had a cost of 35 P.P.E.tm He is also of a specific class that gets the selected Aspect at half cost. He has already purchased the Major Aspect for 18 P.P.E.tm (half of 35, rounded up) and only needs to pay an additional 7 to get to the Master Aspect worth 50 P.P.E.tm (which only costs him 25 in reality, 25 - 18 = 7).

To invoke a permanent Aspect, a magician needs to be aware of such things (have the Principles of Magic skill). That's all. No rolling is required to achieve a permanent Aspect. An Aspect is a mixture of magic knowledge, magic energy, and intense willpower and desire.

Special abilities in permanent Aspects are much like skills, in that they grow in strength as the character grows in experience. When determining the power level of an ability, the number of levels of strength are counted starting from the level at which the Minor (or whichever) Aspect was first gained. With the permanent Aspects, some types of magic O.C.C. have an easier time developing them - evident in the halving of P.P.E.tm costs. In these situations, duplicated abilities should be replaced with alternate ones of the same strength and focus.

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Magic Notes

Aspect Magic Strength: Most often, the Aspect will affect only the one who manifests it. Some Aspects grant an ability to affect a target in some way via magical powers, and save throws against these types of Aspects have a base save difficulty of 14 (even if it is a spell- like ability). Some Aspects will also grow in magic strength over the course of time (experience levels) and some O.C.C.s might get a bonus to Aspect strength. Note that some Aspects will also grant magical powers that emulate psionic abilities - in these cases, the save throw vs the magical Aspect power is acutally a save vs psionics.

Aspects vs Magic Negation: A Negate Magic spell has a chance of rendering an Aspect inoperative, in the case of permanent Aspects, or totally destroying temporary Aspects. In either case, the victim of the Negate Magic spell must make a save vs spell magic. Add either the P.E. bonus or a bonus to Aspect magic strength (whichever is higher). Failure means that a single temporary Aspect is destroyed! The magic energy invested in it is unraveled, the victim's maximum P.P.E.tm base returns to the normal amount, and the magician must recover the P.P.E.tm that was fueling the temporary Aspect normally via meditation or rest.

A permanent Aspect, no matter if it is Minor, Major, or Master, is negated for 1d4 melees +1 melee per level of the caster of the Negate Magic. A Negate Magic spell can only disrupt one Aspect at a time, and if multiple Aspects are possessed the victim character decides what Aspect is affected if the save throw fails (the benefit of channeling magical energy inside your own body - you can choose what is negated and what is not). When an Aspect is negated all abilities associated with it are unavaliable temporarily - bonuses and penalties are not affected.

Effect of Ley Lines and Nexuses: Since the magical energy that powers the Aspect is contained in the body, ley lines and nexuses do not enhance or alter that energy. No range, duration, or damage increases happen to Aspects around such phenomena. Alternately, in a magically sealed/ dead environment like a stone pyramid or Anti- Magic Cloud, a lack of ambient magic energy won't prevent the automatic and constant parts of an Aspect from functioning. Vision enhancments, all bonuses, sensing powers, skill bonuses, and any magic dealing with the magician's own body is never affected. Any Aspect ability that targets something externally is subject to influence by Anti- Magic Cloud, magical destabilization, stone pyramid P.P.E.tm flow regulation, Negate Magic, etc.

Aspects vs Magical Destabilization: Magical destabilization can't affect anything on the inside of the magician with an Aspect - it is extremely stable and not subject to wild magics. However, an Aspect ability that targets something externally is as vulnerable to destabilization as any directed magical effect. Most often, these abilities will be spell- related so use the same level of destabilization as for the comparable spells. When in doubt, play it by ear (1d4+1% destabilization would be a good average for destabilization effects of Aspect abilities).

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General Notes

P.P.E.tm Costs: Nearly all Aspects can be acquired in both a temporary form and a permanent form (usually two or three permanent forms). The listed P.P.E.tm is subtracted from the permanent P.P.E.tm base and cannot be used because it has been 'burned off' to develop the Aspect. Occasionally, Aspects have abilities that require an expenditure of magic energy to activate. Also, in some cases Master Aspects will give options for additional abilities that are available to a character for a sacrifice of P.P.E.tm

Using Aspects: Most Aspects are constantly 'on' as a result of the magic energy loop. They provide bonuses and abilities that are always avaliable for use without expenditure of any P.P.E.tm from the permanent base. A few Aspects grant magical powers that require additional P.P.E.tm to use - these are most often spell- like abilities, special magic powers, and ranged attacks.

Also note that since they are always in effect it is difficult to hide the use of Aspects from things like Sense Magic, See Aura, Psi- Stalkertm sensing powers, etc. The only ways to mask the energy of the Aspects is to use specific psionic abilities or spells - Alter Aura, Mask P.P.E.tm, the Metamage spell of Block Magical Radiance, or Transferal will work. With Transferal, the Aspects are not transferred to the recipient and the transferring mage is not able to use any of the Aspects (even bonuses) - essentially the Aspects are turned off for the duration of the spell.

Aspects and Astral Projection: Any magician who has gained an Aspect will soon notice that the astral body is now locked into the physical body, as the magic energy ties the astral and physical bodies together tightly. Astral projection becomes impossible, and reaching the Astral Plane is only possible via a portal or teleportation.

Aspects and Possession: Possessing entities can't boot the astral body out of the physical one. They have to suppress the will of the host to stay, and since that will is magically fueled many Aspects offer bonuses against possession. Possessing forces cannot use a magician's Aspects at all - not even the bonuses! When possessed, a magician can use his Aspects to lash out, communicate, or do whatever he can with his magical powers while locked within his own body. However, each attempt to use an Aspect requires a battle of wills with the possessing force. Each rolls a 1d20 and adds in their unmodified M.E. bonus. The character gets to add in his save vs possession, including any Aspect bonuses to save vs possession (as they link him to his body).

Aspects and Death/Sacrifice: The sacrifice of living creatures to gain their P.P.E.tm is not quite as effective for getting energy to fuel the creation of an Aspect. It is the combination of P.P.E.tm and desire that creates the Aspect, and the victim of sacrifice rarely desires the same things as the one doing the sacrificing. Thus, though the P.P.E.tm amount of the Aspect- fortified victim doubles at the point of death only 10% of that doubled energy can be put toward an Aspect.

On the flip side, when a mage that has developed Aspects dies the P.P.E.tm base does not double, but quintuples. The amazing increase in magic energy is due to the channeling and recycling of P.P.E.tm within the body. Before multiplying the energy base by five, be sure to determine how much P.P.E.tm has been burned off in the Aspect formation - that counts too. As a side effect of the mixing of willpower and magic energy, at the time of death the magician's conciousness has a good chance of being bound together with the magical energy (10% per level that an Aspect has been possessed). The result is that those with Aspects often become creatures of pure magic upon death, with powers derived from their Aspects. It is not possible to contain or use this magic energy by way of sacrifice, but Bio- Wizardrytm and Rune Magic are able to capture the energy for the usual purposes.

Aspect Abilities: In several of these Aspects the character can gain magical abilities that function like certain psionic powers. These powers are not psionic - they are magical, but they emulate the psionic powers and are fueled by P.P.E.tm and saved against with bonuses to save vs psionics. Other abilities include spell abilities (special powers that function just like certain spells and use P.P.E.tm for power), natural/ constant abilities (no P.P.E.tm cost to use), ranged attacks, and other special Aspect powers. Since they are not spells, but magical abilities, the use of Aspect magical abilities requires no gesturing or words (it is entirely mental) and requires only one melee action to use in most cases. Thus gagging, muting, or binding the hands of the mage won't prevent spellcasting.

Aspects and Appearance: The magical energy that is bouncing around in the feedback loop will often change the appearance of the caster. This might be subtle (an eye color change) or dramatic (a glowing aura and a horror/awe factor). With some Aspects some ideas for the appearance changes are presented. Generally, only drastic changes happen when a lot of magical energy is invested in an Aspect (more than 50 P.P.E.tm) GMs and players should that can come up with unique appearance changes should do so. Variety is the spice of life.

Aspect Penalties: Penalties occur with some Aspects. The reason for this is twofold. The first is that there needs to be some sort of counterbalance for very powerful Aspects. If a player wants to design a new Aspect (or a variant of one of the ones below) that is quite powerful then penalties are probably a good idea. The second reason is for the realism involved with intense focus on an idea (an Aspect). When you run into someone who has an obvious obsession or strange quirk, doesn't that affect how you react towards that person? It is common for Aspects to have an M.A. penalty, and sometimes an M.E. penalty. Have you met someone who thinks they get sick all the time - and they actually do? Aspects can induce a form of hypocondria. The mind can affect the body, and when a belief is fueled by P.P.E.tm the mind affects the body that much more.

Restrictions: A mage must be second level before he can develop a Minor Aspect, third level before a Major one can be gained, and at least fifth level before a Master Aspect can be acquired. This is partially due to the experience needed in controlling magic forces and partially due to the experience needed in meditation. A mage of any level can follow directions and manifest a temporary Aspect.

I would also suggest that you not allow Magi characters from the Federation of Magictm O.C.C.s to get any Aspects at half cost. They are far too powerful as it is. From my own point of view the Magi are an excellent example of a spellcaster O.C.C. with specialized Aspects as part of the O.C.C. powers.

If you use magic skills in your campaign, be aware of any Aspect that grants the ability to cast spells for less P.P.E.tm If you were to combine this effect with a magic Specialization, then there would be a lot of imbalance in your game. If a mage with specializations in magic types selects an Aspect of this kind, do not allow him to cast magic for less than a third) of the normal P.P.E.tm unless you are confident that you can control it.

I'd suggest that in place of a cost reduction (or more generally, any duplicated ability) you try to offer the player something slightly better. Say a Smoker, who casts offensive and defensive magic for half the normal cost, takes a specialization in offensive spells (getting the cost for each combat spell down to a third of the normal), and then selects an Aspect of Magical Combat! Pretty dangerous if you go straight by the listed rules. The reduction in the casting cost of attack magic should not drop below one- third the normal cost. Instead of dropping it further, offer the player an alternative. If the combat spells are cast at half cost, the range is doubled. Maybe for half cost you could also let the combat spell have a 'twin' effect and damage two targets. Or roll an extra 2d6 for damage. Try to give the player something that will broaden the character's abilities without making a single ability too dangerous.

Creating New Aspects: In creating the Aspects I followed these guidelines and fudged them where I saw fit:

Minor Aspects rarely have penalties.

Major Aspects usually have penalties (those with a cost of 25 or more).

Master Aspects almost always have penalties (those with a cost of 35 or more).

The lowest P.P.E.tm cost Aspect should be the Minor, followed by the temporary, then Major, then Master.

A Major Aspect should cost 5-10 P.P.E.tm or so more than a Minor one.

A Master Aspect should cost 10-15 P.P.E.tm or so more than a Major one.

5 P.P.E.tm per three bonus attribute points

5 P.P.E.tm per three save throw bonus points

1 P.P.E.tm per +1% on a skill

10 P.P.E.tm per +2% on a group of skills

2 P.P.E.tm for a spell- like ability that costs 1 P.P.E.tm or a very simple combat skill (such as Automatic Parry or roll with punch, fall, or impact).

3 P.P.E.tm for a spell- like ability from levels one or two, a very simple minor psionic power (like Sense Magic), or a standard combat skill (Disarm, Called Strike, etc,)

5 P.P.E.tm for a spell- like ability from levels three or five, a minor psionic power (like Telekinesis), a moderate sensitive ability (like nightvision - 600ft), or an advanced combat skill (Automatic Dodge, Body Flip/Throw, Joint Lock, etc.)

10 P.P.E.tm for a spell- like ability from levels six or seven, a very simple super psionic power (like Hypnotic Suggestion), a weak regeneration ability (factored on the hour), a strong sensitive ability (like nightvision - 2000ft), a low- power minor super ability (like Heightened Senses or Super Vision), or a highly effective combat skill (such as Death Blow, Critical Strikes, or Jump Kicks).

15 P.P.E.tm for a spell- like ability from levels eight to ten, a Phase Power, a super psionic power (like Psi-Sword), a regeneration ability equal to that of a young dragon (every five minutes), a standard minor super ability, or a low power special ability of some O.C.C. or P.C.C.

20-30 P.P.E.tm for a spell- like ability from levels eleven to thirteen (rare), a regeneration ability equal to that of an APS creature (per minute), a low power major super ability (such as Control Darkness or Control Static Electricity), or any average special power from an O.C.C. (combat powers and creation powers fall into this category).

30-50 P.P.E.tm for a spell- like ability from levels fourteen or fifteen (super rare!), a regeneration ability equal to that of a vampire (per melee), or a major super ability (such as an Alter Physical Structure power, a strong Control power, Invulnerability, Shapeshifting, etc.).

My Aspects

I personally found the spell costs to be a little low. Mind Block Auto Defense cost 3.5 times more than Mind Block! Instead, we have spells costing usually about half of the original cost to get it permanently! If you find this to be a little good, make it equal or double it! I'd say tripling would be a little excessive, though. Do remember to pack in penalties. Just make them make sense. Having Eyes of the Dead as an ability you can activate should make the eyes a little blacker and should have a H.F. of +1 or an M.A. penalty. Death Bolt might make the person's fingers a little blacker. I will list this person's conversions, but if you want to change the P.P.E. costs, let'er rip.