| The Willow Sourcebook |
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Nothing marks Willow's world more dramatically than its magic. In this section, you will read about all the spells Willow encountered on his adventure, from Dust of Broken Heart to Bavmorda's final Ritual of Obliteration. "You who would float, cast light and smoke like fishing flies, turn River Troon to wine, see a king's robes in a daughter's teardrop, stand burning and laugh, petrify blood to red quartz, twist Nature's make to forms of grace or nightmare, raise winds, part seas, torment affection - reader, give heed! Magus Morian offers herewith the secret lore of wizards." So begins the introduction to Morian's Summation of the Secrets of Magical Inquiry, better known among scholars as The Twelve Scrolls. Only fragments of one scroll still exist, though Morian lived hardly two centuries ago. (Morian's other works, Seven Magical Mantras That Lead to Wealth and Obtaining the Affection of Women Through Mental Telepathy, are also lost.) The destruction of Morian's work shows the most obvious aspect of wizardry: its intense secrecy. Sorcerers guard their lore jealously, even fanatically. They choose apprentices with utmost care, swear them to oaths of secrecy, and refuse to discuss even the simplest spells with "outsiders." The information that does filter down to the public "goes astray" in unexpected ways. Sometimes those who speak too freely have met premature ends, especially in Nockmaar during Queen Bavmorda's reign. Why the secrecy? Cynics claim that wizards only want to preserve their monopoly on the forces of magic. Wizards say occult knowledge strains all but the most disciplined intellects, and that ordinary people who learn the secrets would go insane. No impartial observer has been able to reach a conclusion. WHAT IS KNOWN Magic is a force that affects other forces and substances. It can circumvent any law of nature. Though its workings are unknown, living creatures may influence it. Magic seems to obey certain rules, known only to its students. The use of magic is a skill. Apparently anyone can study and learn it, but as with any skill, some are more suited for it than others. Studies are usually lengthy and difficult. That Willow was able to grasp many difficult spells so quickly shows his native aptitude for magic. Students may learn magic from books of spells, from a teacher, or even by trial and error, though the last course is often deadly. Once a mage masters a given spell effect, he or she may cast it over and over again without further study. But casting a spell often seems to drain strength or cloud the caster's mind. Only the greatest mages, like Bavmorda and Fin Raziel, can cast many spells in a row. Some creatures and races cast magical spells naturally, without study. These can be the most powerful effects known, but the casters are almost always bound to some particular source of magical power: a given location, a single type of effect, certain terrain, or a special kind of victim. WORDS AND WANDS Magus Morian wrote that the words of magic spells are appeals to invisible beings - whether demons, demigods, or deities, he claimed not to know or care. Other mages, though, when they choose to comment on Morian at all, say he was wrong. The words, they say, only guide the mind into the proper state to control magical forces. When Willow was learning the transformation spell that would restore Raziel, Fin Raziel said that locktwaar is the word that "pleads for change." So she must have thought that someone or something was listening. Perhaps the words exist in the realm of magic as entities unto themselves. When an experienced wizard thinks of them, the words gain a fraction of that wizard's power. Then novices and untrained minds can invoke the words for their own spells, using the legacy of power from past incantations. At any rate, nearly every human sorcerer incants words when casting spells. The common exceptions include objects that carry magic within them. Magicians can invest portions of their power in objects. Cherlindrea, queen of the fairies, gave Willow a great wand, while the High Aldwin offered him acorns that turned their targets to stone. Also, some materials are naturally magical, such as the fairies' Dust of Broken Heart and the philosopher's-stone potion that Willow created to transform Fin Raziel. Very few magical items linger in the world, and they are hoarded as exquisite treasures. The vast majority embody special effects, like Willow's acorns. Most items can't do anything but summon lightning or cure warts or let the wielder sing like a nightingale. Therefore, wizards seldom bother to load themselves down with items. Other items, incomparably rarer, bind actual power, and allow an experienced mage to augment his own strength for any effect. Mages would certainly use these if available, so their absence means they must be nearly impossible to create. THE WILL "We students of magic must have talent, discipline, and courage," wrote Morian, "but above all it is essential that we believe." Belief in oneself seems to be integral to the process of spellcasting. This helps explain Willow's early faltering in his attempts to transform Raziel. Until he could trust himself, he would never achieve mastery. Just as essential is concentration. Words, objects, and rituals sometimes seem to be no more than a focus for the mage's own will. Indeed, it may be that those with sufficient concentration could cast magical spells without a word or gesture. The importance of concentration is shown in those who achieve great magic. Bavmorda, quite insane in her single-mindedness, was the greatest sorceress in history. Fairies concentrate totally on the matter of the moment, much like kittens. And like kittens, their attention span is brief, explaining why they are magical but not powerful. Mages can achieve large effects only by prolonged concentration. Rituals allow (and require) this extended commitment, harnessing greater forces than a magician could hope to control on short notice. In her rituals Bavmorda was able to create her canyon maze, trap Tir Asleen's citizens in quartz, and shape the environment on a large scale. Ritual magic is the province of the most highly skilled mages; lesser students are nearly always overwhelmed and destroyed by the forces involved. "LIKE THE LEAVES OF THE TREES" This was Magus Morian's pretty phrase for the number of different magic spells. Evidently almost any effect that a wizard can imagine, a wizard can cast - provided he or she can find the spell without falling victim to the research. Magic is a chancy and fickle force, its rules subtle, its outcome variable. In searching for a spell to curdle milk, the wizard may unleash an enchantment that kills every cow for three miles around. A mistake in magically lighting a campfire can incinerate the campers. You can see why wizards' dwellings are usually at the edge of a village or out in the countryside, and the nearest homes are built safely outside the blast area. Even well-established spells can have untoward effects in the hands of novices. Willow sent Fin Raziel through several animal forms before finally transforming her back to her original human shape. However, once learned, a magic spell is safe for the caster. Also, spell effects fall into a dozen or so broad classes, and within each class, spells resemble one another closely. This makes the task of finding new effects much easier for the experienced mage. Turning someone into a sheep is not so different from turning him into a goat; calling up a storm is essentially the same as calling up many individual lightning bolts. And so on. The classes of effects are close secrets. Witnesses have inferred an incomplete list. In Willow's adventure he encountered transformations, illusions, explosions, fire, lightning, encasement in quartz, a shelter charm, creation of new terrain, force screens, levitation, animation of objects, freezing, telekinesis ("mind over matter"), and Bavmorda's Ritual of Obliteration. No doubt other classes exist. One class of effects has never been witnessed in historical times. No one has demonstrated a reliable spell to animate or resurrect the dead. Not even Bavmorda, it seems, was capable of such colossal evil. This does not mean resurrection is impossible, just that it is unknown outside of legend. Another seldom-seen spell type governs the control of another mind. Such "charms" must be difficult or time-consuming to cast, for even the great wizards do not rely on them. Bavmorda's spell to ensure the obedience of the trolls is more an indication of the low troll intelligence than of the ease of the spell. Her enslavement of Prince Mikal Tanthalos (see BAVMORDA) entailed a long and difficult ritual. In Willow's world, thinking creatures can usually be sure that their thoughts are their own - unless they've been hit with Dust of Broken Heart! GAMING NOTES If your game treats magical spells as skills to be learned, you should have no problem adapting this material. Be sure to eliminate charm and resurrection spells. Treat "spell level" as a ranking of the spell skill's difficulty; 1st-level spells are the easiest to learn, 9th-level the hardest. If you have a system that forces wizards to relearn spells after each use, try the following substitute systems to simulate Willow's magic. LEARNING SPELLS Once a mage learns a spell, he or she knows it permanently, and can cast the spell as many times as desired. Learning a spell usually requires a spellbook - a rare item (see THE BOOK OF MAGIC) - and a teacher. The teacher cannot teach spells of higher level than the teacher's own skill level. A student can learn spells higher than his or her own skill level, but casting these spells incurs substantial penalties (see below). Otherwise, learning spells can be handled in your game system's usual way. CASTING SPELLS A magician can cast any spell any number of times. However, each time the spell is cast, subtract the level of the spell from the caster's constitution or equivalent attribute. (If your game doesn't use spell levels, the gamemaster should group the spells into eight to ten categories of strength, numbered according to strength or power of the effect - the larger the number, the larger the effect.) The reduction in constitution is temporary. The wizard regains constitution points at the rate of 1 per hour (2 per hour when asleep). If the caster's constitution reaches zero, he or she falls unconscious for 1d6 hours. Wizards of high level or skill subtract less from their constitution when casting spells. For each 5 levels or skill points, subtract 1 less from the caster's constitution when a spell is cast (minimum 1 point cost). SUCCESS AND FAILURE Casting a spell requires the caster to make an intelligence ability check. A successful check means the spell "goes off" as intended. Usually the magician can't do anything else that turn, but this varies among game systems. Failure in the check means something went wrong. Either the spell did not work at all and nothing happens, or it backfired and produced the wrong effect. The result is up to the gamemaster, who should choose the outcome that is the most entertaining or helps the story best. After a failed attempt, the magician can take no other action that turn. For difficult spells, the gamemaster may reduce the ability check's chance of success. For every 1 by which the spell's level exceeds the character's own skill level, add 5 to the die roll (that is, make it harder for the player to roll under the character's intelligence attribute). Also, subtract double the usual amount from the caster's constitution. MAGICAL ITEMS Sorcerers in Willow's world don't rely much on routine magical items. To reflect this, adjust your game system to reduce the importance of magical items to wizards. Some suggestions: (1) A player character can only enchant an item with a single spell effect. Creating an item for general purposes, like Cherlindrea's wand, is beyond a human magician's ability. A wizard can do nothing else on the turn he or she uses an item. (2) An item must have one of two limitations. Either it is "one-shot," so that its magic disappears after the first use; or else using the item subtracts from the user's constitution, just as though the user were casting the spell himself (see above). (3) The gamemaster may wish to limit the number of items a wizard can carry, citing magical interference among their energies. Also, magical items are not often found in treasures, nor sold commercially. (4) Extremely powerful items, such as Cherlindrea's wand, should only be found after an extended search with many adventures. They never lie around loose in dungeons! OTHER DETAILS Rules for spell duration, ritual magic, and so forth work in your game system's usual way. |
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