Domain Magic

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Latest revision as of 01:09, 16 December 2010

Domain Magic lets the character render a place, of some square kilometers, permanently magical, with some effects that are benefiicial only for himself, and others affecting all who visit the area, or affecting the area itself. Note that Domain Magic works poorly for characters who want or need to travel a lot, such as adventurers.

Performing Domain Magic

The act of "performing" Domain Magic, sometimes described as "Enchanting a Domain", renders an area permanently magical, and costs the character doing so Essence. The area is thereafter said to be the character's Domain, and the character is referred to as the Owner. A character can only have a single Domain.

Rules may be created later for how the Owner can sever his metaphysical ties with his present Domain so that he can Enchant a new Domain elsewhere (but note that the ex-Owner won't get back the Essence that he spent), and/or rules may be created for how another character can dis-Enchant a Domain, rendering it non-magical, which would be a very hostile act and quite understandably make the Owner upset. See further down for what happens when the Owner dies.

The cost in Essence is 0.1, plus a number of "Domain Units" worth of further Essence, dependent on the initial effects that the Owner wisehes to Enchant into the Domain (note that some effects must be chosen initially; they cannot be added at a later time), plus sometimes additional costs in Essence not accounted in Domain Units.

To Enchant a Domain, the Owner must walk along its borders starting at one point and walking all the way round to reach that point again, during a period of 6 Moons. If some lengths of the border cannot be walked, the character must at least be able to see them. This can be problematic for some characters who wish to have primarily mountaineous Domains, if they can't shapechange into birds or use other other tricks to "see" what they need to see. Once the walk is completed, the 0.1 Essence is paid, along with whatever initial effects the Owner desires (and keep in mind, some effects can only be chosen initially), and the Owner then owns the Domain.

If the character cannot complete the walk in 6 Moons, he can try again, but must start over from scratch. (Please note that any character with minimal wilderness skills and at least basic overall competence can complete such a walk easily within the generous time frame, unless the area is very hostile in one way or another, in which case it might be a badly chosen place.)

See Domain Magic effects for what can actually be done with Domains.

Being able to Enchant a Domain

There are no spells to do this, because Domain Magic cannot be classified as belonging to any one of the Realms. Most characters who Enchant a Domain do so using the Lore Enchant Domain, but there may also be Powers that lets a character do it.

The Domain Unit

Most Domain Effects have a price in Domain Units, in wholes, halves and multiples. The Domain Unit is an amount of Essence, derived from some of the traits of the Enchanter.

Start with a value of 2.4 Essence per Domain Unit, then subtract 0.1 Essence for each point of Will over 5, and then 0.05 Essence (do not round yet) for each point of either Psyche or Faith over 5. Don't use both attributes; use Psyche if the character uses the Enchant Domain Lore, or if the character is using a Power, then the writeup of that Power will define whether Psyche or Faith is to be used (it depends on whether the Power is magical or religious in nature).

Finally, subtract 0.1 Essence if the character has a Minor Affinity with the primary Terrain type of the Domain, or 0.2 Essence if the character has a Major Affinity, 0.4 Essence if the character has a Grand Affinity (Humans cannot have this, but some non-Human species can), or 0.8 Essence if the character has a Wondrous Affinity (note that only beings of supernatural descent can have this). In the unlikely event that the resulting cost is lower than 0.8 ES, raise it to 0.8 ES.

This final value, between 0.8 and 2.4, is the Essence cost per Domain Unit.

Note that the area that the character desire to turn into his Domain may not have a primary terrain type, but instead consist of two or more types of terrain. In such cases, if there is still a fair amount of the terrain type that matches the character's Terrain Affinity, halve the amount of ES subtracted from the Domain Unit (and don't round it). If there's less than to warrant the term "a fair amount", there's no effect. Note, however, that most characters who use Domain Magic do not have Terrain Affinity, and so aren't bothered by this.

Insert reference tables here.

The resulting value is the cost in Essence per Domain Unit. Each Domain Effect costs a number of Domain Units, sometimes in halves, e.g. 0.5 DU or 2.5 EU. Multiply the DU cost by the number of DUs and then (and not before) round up to the nearest 0.1 Essence.

Example of DU calculation

insert example of DU value here, something like 2.25, to show how it works.

If the Owner dies

Once the Owner dies or becomes an Undead (typically a Lich or a Vampire), the Domain begins to fade, and his fading does not stop, nor reverse, if the Owner comes back to life.

All numerical modifiers begin to drop, e.g. plusses and minuses, and RD modifiers. After 3 Years, reduce all numerical modifiers by 1 (towards zero; a -1 RD bonus to something becomes 0, and a +2 RD penalty to something else becomes a +1 RD penalty). Numerical modifiers that become zero cease to exist. After a further 6 Years, reduce all numercal modifiers that still eist by a further 1 (towards zero), and again after a further 12 Years, 24 Years and so forth, until all numerical modifiers are gone.

(Insert table here?)

Effects that do not give modifiers, but are instead rated in levels or stages, e.g. Trivial, Minor, Medium, Major, Grand, or similar, drop one level or stage after 1 Moon, then another level or stage after 6 Moons, then another level or stage after 3 Years, then 15 Years, then 75 Years, then 300 Years, each effect disappearing when it drops in strength to below the lowest level available for it. In this way, game-mechanical effects tend to evaporate fast (pretty much anything is gone after 9 Years, or at least 21 Years), but if a strong-yet-subtle effect was Enchanted into the Domain, it'll linger for a rather longer time.

(And insert table here?)

The size of the Domain

The base size of the Domain in square kilometers equals the Spatial Intelligence of the Owner plus one. It can then be enlarged, but this can only be done during the Enchanting process. The base Fringe extends 1 km out from the borders in all directions, but the Fringe distance becomes larger as the Domain is enlarged.

Enlarged Domain can be taken at a higher grade than 5th, if desired. Just pay 0.5 more DU per doubling of size.

Example, Domain Size

Aerith the Aënchantress has a Psyche of 7 and a Will of 6, and no Terrain Affinity, so her Domain Unit is 2.2 ES (base 2.4 ES, then 0.1 lower for high Will, and 0.1 lower for high Psyche). Her Spatial Intelligence is 5, so her base Domain size, which she gets for the initial outlay of 0.1 Essence, is 6 square kilometers.

She wants seven levels of Enlarged Domain, which costs her 7 x 2.2 ES = 15.4 Essence, for a total of 15.5 Essence. This gives her a Domain size multiplier of x128, so her Domain is 768 km2 in size, and has a Fringe of 8 km out from the borders. If square'ish, it would be something like 27 by 28 km (and the Fringe would be about 450 km2), but it is actually somewhat elongated, something like 16 by 45 km, which makes for a huge Fringe (of almost 1200 km2).

Aerith starts the border-walking process one day, and sets out to walk the roughly 122 km. She takes a leisurely 10-11 km a Day, and does not walk on Sundays because of her husband, so after 2 Weeks she is done. She pays the 15.5 Esence, and is now the Owner of her Domain.

Note, however, that so far Aerith's Domain does nothing.

The Domain Fringe

The duration of the Domain

Putting Domain effects into effect

Some Domain effects must be put into the Domain during the original Enchanting process. Others can be put in at any time. A Domain does not have to have any effects initially; the Owner merely pays 0.1 ES, and any Essence cost to enlarge the Domain and extend its duration beyond his death, then for whatever reason delays putting in additional effects. A Domain with no effects at all (excepting Enlarged Domain and/or Extended Domain) is said to be a "dormant Domain".

See Domain Magic effects for the actual effects.

Advice

Please note

The idea of Domain Magic tends to attract and fascinate characters with unpleasant psychological tendencies such as egocentrism, megalomania and so forth, but this does not mean that all users of Domain Magic are unsavoury types. Characters can choose to utilize Domain Magic for a great variety of reasons.

See also

Domain Magic effects