Dark Fantasy and Magic

[theshadow99]

Well true many 'mages' were not 'sorcerer Kaschei the Immortal'... I don't think we want many of them... xD

He was just the first to come to mind, Merlin works just as well, but he doesn't throw fireballs either... Many tales have human magic users who become less human, most often for attempts of becoming immortal...

Since I've been looking through thaumatology I also glanced at Assisting Spirits, which may be interesting for Shaman (losing 'humanity for 'power' in a sense)... Bards, sorcerers, and shaman could be an interesting collection... Each using a different set of rules... and certain Clerics who are really mages, most likely mages who act as their 'miracle workers' and saints...

[CousinX]

Originally Posted by theshadow99

Well true many 'mages' were not 'sorcerer Kaschei the Immortal'... I don't think we want many of them... xD

He was just the first to come to mind, Merlin works just as well, but he doesn't throw fireballs either... Many tales have human magic users who become less human, most often for attempts of becoming immortal...

That's a good point ... by the time you're getting to the level of a Koschei/Kaschei or a Merlin, you're usually not talking about mere humans anymore. Merlin was supposed to be a cambion (half-demon, the child of a nun and an incubus, IIRC). Gandalf -- a literary figure rather than a legendary one, but cut from the same cloth as Merlin -- was more like a kind of angel ('Mythrandir').

Originally Posted by theshadow99

Since I've been looking through thaumatology I also glanced at Assisting Spirits, which may be interesting for Shaman (losing 'humanity for 'power' in a sense)... Bards, sorcerers, and shaman could be an interesting collection... Each using a different set of rules... and certain Clerics who are really mages, most likely mages who act as their 'miracle workers' and saints...

That sounds like a fun campaign to me!

[Walrus]

So, Koschei is much like classical fantasy lich: he has a phylactery with his "Death" (an egg with a needle) and often have lich appearance (skeleton or spirit within plate armor). Thus, you can seek some inspiration in lich template from Magic and also see prerequisites for such spell for details about his power level and abilities.

Also you may see some inspiration of Dark Age action and magic in Slavish-fantasy books like "The Witcher" series by Sapkovsky (and the computer game based on it) or "Wolfhound" series by Marya Semenova.

Also about supernatural mages. There are not only "evil" high-powered wizards but also neutral like Baba-Yaga or even "good" like Vasilisa The Beautiful/The Wisest.

Also there are plenty of supernatural creatures: evil (imps, dragons like Gorynych Serpent - some hybrid of Hellenic Hydra and classical European Dragon), neutral (forest/swamp/river sprites) and good (Firebird, The Humpbacked Horse and so on) ones.