[Magic] Development of Spell-based Magic through TL0

[maximara]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

While I prefer Syntactic, Symbolic, and Path/Book magics, this thread assumes that the standard system is in use, and if they were using Syntactic or Symbolic already, there would be little reason to switch over to the standard system.

This is exactly one of my issues with Merlin-1 (Technomancer) Syntactic or Symbolic magic should have been the rule given "The first people who tried to cast spells were those who had been doing so all along: Voudounistas, shamans, practitioners of witchcraft and ceremonial magic, and those who believed they had psychic powers. If they were one of the few pre- Hellstorm mages, their disciplines began to produce repeatable effects. "

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

I do agree with you on the effective prices being much lower ('effective' because money wasn't invented yet in TL0).

It is important to remember that "money" is only an intermediary good when barter just isn't up to it.

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

EDIT: For purposes of this thread, assume that it is very much possible to invent new spells without a lab, it's just harder. However, most spells in the early parts of TL0 were created (sometimes repeatedly) by someone having Wild Talent with Retention, being born with the Charm perk for that spell, or some other bypass. Also, not sure if it's said in the books, but I tend to assume that magical research is easier the higher the local mana level is (and that Aspected mana affects this, as it affects casting).

I know that for alchemy with regards to very high mana that is the case. Thaumatology suggests using the New Inventions (B473-474) rules for spells. But I think for what you want Classic: Ice Age might be our go to.

Classic: Ice Age had a whole chapter on Shamanism and Magic. Some snippets:

"Spirits are creatures made up entirely of mana. ... They are highly intelligent and can be bargained with by powerful shamans who can command their respect."

"Magic items in shamanistic magic are not tools manufactured by wizards. Rather, they have inherent magical or spiritual power, affecting anyone who touches or uses them. Such items are very rare, and always natural in origin, though they may have been reshaped by humans. "

The book says it provides 16 spells for the Pleistocene Epoch (2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago) but if you count them you only get 15 not 16. (7 on one page 8 on the other.):

Aura, Banish, Bless, Curse, Death Vision, Divination (3 types), Exorcism, Healing, Pestilence, Remove Curse, Remove Pestilent Object, Spirit Trap, and Summon Spirit. Of these only 5 don't require Magery 2.

So this points to very small spell books until Pre-Pottery Neolithic ~10,000 years ago. This makes some sense as Mesolithic (8500 BCE+, or close to your Pre-Pottery Neolithic) has when food storage, houses, and settled communities appear. (pg 6) This would allow the building of labs to do more spell research.