[Path/Book Magic] Expanding on The Magic of Stories

[Prince Charon]

The Magic of Stories (Pyramid 3/13, pp4-14), by Kelly Pedersen, is a rather interesting concept that seems not to have been followed up on (or it has and I failed to find it). In brief, the idea expresses traditional fairy-tale magic as a form of Path/Book Magic that the characters have, which they may or may not be using consciously. The equivalent of Paths are called Archetypes, and as the name suggests, are organized by what sort of fairy-tale character you are. The article goes into detail about a few, like the Captive Princess, Dark Sorcerer, or Fortunate Son, and gives one-sentence summaries of a few more (e.g. the Good King or the Oracle) in a box on page 12. The equivalent of Books are called Tales, and include the various magical effects found in a particular fairy tale (e.g. the Tale of Sleeping Beauty would have Dream Shackles on its list, or the Tale of Star Wars (Original Trilogy) should grant some sort of telekinetic ritual, among other things). The article didn't go into a lot of detail about Tales.

Anyway, this thread is here to expand on this idea. For example, consider the Archetype of the Wonder-Smith (aka the Mystic Artisan, or the Magical Toymaker). His (or her) role in most such stories is to supply the hero with magic items, or with just one vital magic item. The Lady of the Lake fits this Archetype in some versions of the Arthurian Cycle. So does Geppetto in The Adventures of Pinocchio, albeit more loosely. Clearly, the Archetype of the Wonder-Smith would have Fetish and Embody on the list, and probably also Summon, but I'm not sure he'd have Bind. Some rituals from the Path of the Elements or Path of Gadgets are at least plausible, but I'm not sure of the best fit. What do you think?