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Old 03-31-2021, 09:18 PM   #28
StevenH
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Re: Getting the Gods into the Magic System

I've thought it might be interesting to do something along these lines:
Mana is provided by the gods. In order to get any, you have to sacrifice things to the gods, and the mana you get is aspected to them and their sphere of influence. How much mana you get access to is based upon how many/how much sacrifices you have done to the god in question. What each god wants sacrificed to them would also be different, depending upon the god. Khrr'ghhn, the reptileman god of war and wealth, would like slain enemies, money, gems, or perhaps only some of your blood. A slain enemy might net you the ability to channel 20 mana (up to your fatigue limit at a time, though, so you use up your 10 points, rest, and can get 10 more before you need to do some more sacrificing). Cutting your arm and donating some blood might give you 5 mana (cutting someone else's arm might only give 2 mana for the same amount of blood...you aren't sacrificing, someone else is; but hey, blood is blood, and it's the thought that counts....)



Granted, you are now having to track a series of mana pools for those wizards who want a lot of flexibility. But a spellsword who specializes in fire magic would only be sacrificing to a single god, and only have a single mana pool. Of course, enchanters have to sacrifice to a whole slew of gods, so they spend a lot of time between enchantments doing the rounds in all the temples.
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Warmest regards,

StevenH

My current worldbuilding project. You can find the Adventure Logs of the campaign here. I try to write them up as narrative prose, with illustrations. As such, they are "embellished" accounts of the play sessions.


Link of the moment: Bestiary of Plants. In a world of mana, plants evolved to use it as an energy source.



It is also the new home of the Alaconius Lectures, a series of essays about the various Colleges of Spells.
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