My Campaign Magic System [Edit 08/31/2006]

The magic system in my campaign uses runes to cast. Why I do this is because, the campaign was originally an idea I had for a manga story. In that world, the way magic is cast is very different.

Plus, I wanted a way for the players to be able to create their own spells. For this, I did some research on D&D and Mage: The Ascension magic system. D&D's magic system is ok but it's a little too rigid when it comes to developing new spells and it's vague on the cost of the spell. Mage, on the other hand, is just plaing vague on everything.

How It Works
In this world, there is a form of energy called Ether. Mages are able to manipulate Ether and use them to draw the runes.

A mage is sensitive to Ether and is able to convert Ether to Mana which is the power source for their spells. Each mage have a limited mana pool and they must rest to regain their lost mana.

First, the mage draws a magic symbol (usualy a circle), which will be the base for the runes. The mage would then begin their spell chant. Each phrase will command a rune to be drawn onto the magic symbol. With the various combinations of runes and spell chants, the mage will be able to mold the mana into the spell.

Since I'm a programmer, I'll use programming as an analogy.
Magic Symbol = Integrated Development Environment (IDE) - programming application
Chants = Programming Language (it doesn't matter the language, the IDE knows it)
Runes = Program Code


Runes
No matter what spell, the first rune drawn is any one of these base runes:
Fire – fire and flames
Earth – rocks, earth
Water – water, ice and steam
Wind – air and sound
Lightning – electricity
Light – brightness and illumination
Dark – darkness and shadow
Mind – mental affects (mind blasts, illusions, fear)
Space – movement, teleportation, area of effects, gravity
Time – speed up, slow down, time stall

The other runes become available at a higher level. The higher the level, the more powerful the runes become however, the more mana that it will consume.


Personal Comments
Currently, in the campaign, a single rune will have a limited effect. The higher the mage's level, he/she is able to add more of the similar rune to bolster the spell's strength (max 3 similar runes in a single magic symbol for now).
E.g.
1 Fire rune - Firebolt (1d4+1/lvl fire damage 1 Mana) starting at Mage level 1.
2 Fire runes - Greater Firebolt (1d6+1/lvl fire damage, 2 Mana) starting at Mage level 3
3 Fire runes - Empowered Firebolt (2d6+1/lvl fire damage, 3 Mana) starting at Mage level 5
The players can name their own spells (but in my campaign, I'll have no "Takie" or "Jumpie"... nononono... that is so wrong - yes, you know who you are).

The mana pool, for now, is calculated in a similar method to calculating the Hit Points (Hit Die + WIS modifier).

This way, players have a guide on what kind of spells they can create and what the cost of that spell will be.

All these are still in the design phase, however. I'm still playtesting this to see if there's any problem with this system. I wanted to add some pictures but, since I'm still designing it, I'd thought better of it. I'll give them some more thought first.

The inspiration for this kind of magic comes from some of the anime and mangas that I've watched like, Scrapped Princess, Gatekeepers, Mahou Sensei Negima and especially Magical Lyrical Nanoha amd its sequel Magical Lyrical Nanoha A's

[Edit 08/31/2006]
Now, THIS is what I call Techno Magic!


It's a Sub Machinewand