Token Magic

In my Failures of 2009 post a few days back I made mention of Token Magic, a system I implemented in a heavily house-ruled AD&D 2nd edition game I ran a while back. One of my readers commented that it sounded interesting, so here it is, cleaned up and (hopefully) in a system neutral format.

Token Magic

Token magic refers to the art of placing magical energies into specially created constructs and imbuing these items with specific magical effects. The resulting item is referred to as a token. A token does not have to be an item; it can be a picture (glyphs), a series of words (scrolls), a weapon, or something else entirely. Any magic using character can create a token, provided they have sufficient skill.

There are two broad categories of tokens. Normal tokens are imbued with a limited amount of energy and have a fixed number of charges. When the charges are used the item shatters and is destroyed. Permanent tokens contain their own source of power and do not wear out.

Requirements

To create a magical token, a magic user must have at least Good magical ability. Spell casters can only create tokens that reproduce magical effects they can create.

The Creation Process

There are several stages required to create a token:

1. The creator must research the components that will contain the spell desired.
2. The container must be created.
3. The container must be infused with energy.
4. The container must be enchanted with the desired spell.

Components

The spell being cast determines what sort of components will be required to make the container. Component research is a secret test of the character's alchemy skill versus the rank of the spell token being created and requires approximately two days of uninterrupted research per spell rank. The cost of components is proportional to the rank of the spell being imbued. As a guideline the material cost of a token is one rank below the power level of the spell being contained (a Great power spell would require Good cost materials). Note that some components might be very rare and difficult to obtain, particularly for higher rank magic.

Container Creation

Once the components have been gathered, the caster must create the container. This requires at least two days of work per spell rank crafting the special features of the container, plus any standard creation time (i.e. a sword might take several days to forge, after which it can be worked on by the mage). Basic containers can be made by a craftsman and then enhanced by the mage, but the final crafted features of the container must be done by the mage. This is a secret test of an appropriate artistic skill versus the rank of the spell being imbued.

Container Infusion

Once the container is (theoretically) complete, the creator must infuse it with energy. The amount of energy channeled into the container is limited by the power available and the creator's ability to infuse that energy. Infusing is time consuming; each two ranks of power require an hour of work to channel. A caster may work for as long as they desire on channeling energy into the token, pausing to rest and regain strength, etc. The maximum energy a particular token can contain is determined by its quality and the power of the spell being contained. Generally more powerful enchantments are more difficult to maintain and thus fewer charges can be held.

The energy required for each token charge is determined by the spell effect desired, the success of the character's alchemy and artistic ability rolls, and their channeling success. The caster will never know exactly how many charges an item has, but a reasonable estimate for a single charge is twice the desired spell's rank.

Channeling energy carries a certain amount of risk. Failed channeling attempts can damage the token, drain the caster of energy, knock them unconscious, or have other effects. Damaged tokens are made useless, though it may be possible to salvage components for use in another attempt.

Container Enchantment

The last step of the token creation procedure is imbuing the specific spell effect desired into the token. The difficulty of this test of channeling skill is one rank higher than the rank of spell being imbued, and failure may have negative consequences. Enchantment takes a full day of preparation.

Permanent Tokens

There are additional steps required to make a permanent token. These procedures are highly dependent on the type of caster involved and are not detailed here.

Work Environment

Each phase of the token creation process requires significant focus and effort. The creator requires a private and quiet environment with appropriate tools available for the task. Work can be paused for rest, but no other activity is allowed. The creator can take breaks between the creation phases without penalty however. Note that an infused container awaiting enchantment will slowly bleed energy until the enchantment is complete.

Molder's Clay

This substance can be created from the dust that remains when Clay of Perfection dries out and crumbles to dust. It appears as a grayish, malleable solid with a slick, greasy surface. Much like its source, Molder's Clay radiates alteration magic, though its potency is only Great. Unlike Clay of Perfection, Molder's Clay does not dry out and requires no special handling to use. Creating this substance is a Superb test of artifice, and requires a quantity of dried out Clay of Perfection, a tiny amount of Lagra, and mundane clay.

Molder's Clay can be used to create temporary objects. Any non-animate object can be shaped from the clay, and when a command word is spoken the object assumes the characteristics of the modeled object. The quality and duration of the object created depends upon the creator's artistic skill. An Average or Fair artist will create a mundane object with normal characteristics. Good or Great artistry will produce an enhanced item, and so forth. A shaped object lasts one to six hours, again depending on the artist's skill. When an object expires it reverts to Molder's Clay and can be used to shape a new object. If an object shaped from the clay is destroyed, the clay used to shape it is destroyed as well.

Clay of Perfection

When Lagra-bearing waters flow near clay-laden soil, deposits of the Clay of Perfection form. Dense as stone and as supple as fine leather, this substance an ideal material for the artificer with the skill to use it.

Clay of Perfection forms itself into pale spherical globules within a larger bank of mundane clay. Deposits range in size from tiny spheres the diameter of a gold coin up to massive blobs requiring block and tackle to move. Clay radiates alteration magic, with potency ranging from Great to Epic. The paler the Clay the more potent the potential enchantment. Harvested Clay must be wrapped in water soaked cloth to retain its potency. Clay that dries out crumbles to powerless dust.

The Clay's principle characteristic is its ability to be shaped into a desired form, then imbued with animating magical energies. It is the perfect substance for creating golems or animate statues. When properly enchanted it can be used to create replacement limbs for living creatures.

Using the Clay of Perfection requires a Great test of artistic skill to shape it to the proper form. Once shaped a Great test of artifice plus a Great test of the appropriate enchantment are required to properly animate the constructed object. For complex constructs (such as a golem), multiple tests are required to complete the entire construct. A few examples:

A mage wishes to replace their lost eye with a construct made from the Clay of Perfection. Creating the new eye is a Great test artistic skill. Enchanting the eye requires a Great test of divination magic to imbue it with vision, followed by a Great test of artifice to properly seat the eye.

A replacement limb requires a Great test of artistic skill to properly shape the object, then a Great test of necromancy to properly tie the limb to the wearer's nervous system. A Great test of artifice completes the physical connection and animates the limb.

A golem might require individual tests of artistic skill and artifice for each limb, a necromancy or spirit magic test to imbue some sort of intelligence into the construct, then a final artifice test to properly link the entire construct together.

Luma

Deep beneath the surface, darkness reigns. Most living things that inhabit the depths adapt to the eternal night of underground living. For those that don't, Luma provides an alternative to the darkness.

Luma is a fungus that forms vine-like colonies near deposits of sulfur-bearing minerals that provide their primary source of nutrients. The vines support support an array of pendulous globes that consume the sulfur compounds, producing both heat and light as part of the reaction. A single Luma colony can extend hundreds of yards through natural caverns and caves, creating pockets of light and warmth in the darkness.

Luma colonies attract a variety of underground life. The light and warmth they provide is sufficient to support primitive plant-life such as algaes and mosses. These plants, in turn, provide the basis for a broad food chain. Intelligent under-dwellers have learned to cultivate Luma, using it as a basis for their own societies and cultures.

The typical Luma colony spans 200 yards of caves and caverns. Dozens of vine-like tendrils rise from the tangle of tiny roots that mark the base of the colony. The tendrils spread and climb across any surface, sprouting tiny roots of their own, questing for additional sources of nutrition. Fist-sized globules sprout at uneven intervals, each emitting pale yellow light, equivalent to dim sunlight, in a 60 foot radius. The ambient temperature within the area containing the colony is elevated 10 to 15 degrees about the surrounding area.

A colony that exhausts its food supply will wither and die, each pod spraying forth a cloud of dust-like spores that cling to anything they touch. Spores that find a fresh sulfur deposit, sprout and form a new colony in two to four days.

Lagra

Lagra is a a magical liquid obtained only from the purest water sources. It is valued by artificers and alchemists for its unique ability to enhance the fundamental potency of whatever it is combined with. Once removed from its primal source Lagra evaporates quickly unless it is properly stored in carefully constructed crystal containers.

There are many theories as to the formation of Lagra, the most widely accepted being it forms when pure water flows over a natural magical source such as mithril or orquelum. Lagra is best sought at night, when its faint blue glow allows it to be easily spotted. The substance can be harvested using a specially prepared crystal pipette (Great quality item). Lagra is lighter than water and forms tiny slicks on the surface of calm pools of water from pure underground sources. Capturing and storing the substance in a crystal vial (Great quality also) is a Good test of agility.

Lagra is a potent catalyst for magical constructs. It is often used in the preparation of potions, inks, and pigments. Dark Wood absorbs Lagra quickly, and combining the two magical elements increases the potency of any item constructed from the enhanced material.

Properly assessing the effect of Lagra upon a magical creation is a Great test of alchemical skill. Preparing it for use and properly combining it with other liquids is a Great test of alchemical skill. Combining it with non-liquids is a Superb test of alchemical skill.

Dark Wood

Found only at the heart of the most ancient trees, dark wood is a potent magical substance. It is one of the few wood-based materials that is durable and potent enough to use in the construction of magical items. As such it is prized by artificers. Dark wood forms only in the mightiest of trees, primarily oak, hemlock, redwood, cypress, and beech, in center of the wildest and most pristine forests. It forms knots and swirls within the normal grain of its host, normally near the center of the trunk.

Much as a pearl forms in an oyster, dark wood forms in the heart of forest giants. Trees occasionally take up a particle of magical matter, mithril, orquelum, or lagra. The tree protects itself from this particle by forming a casing of dense wood around the irritant. This effectively traps the particle, which slowly transmutes the surrounding wood into dark wood. Over time the tree continues to layer wood over the magical energies within, forming more dark wood. A fist-sized knot of the precious substance could take three or four decades to form.

Finding dark wood is straightforward but time consuming. Appropriate trees can be identified using Good divination magic. The difficultly is in finding potential host trees. Dark wood only forms in undisturbed forest and the very act of seeking it out may disrupt its formation.

There are two ways to harvest dark wood. The destructive method is to simply cutting down the tree, removing any dark wood found. Using this method requires Great woodcraft and will disrupt any dark wood formation in the area for many years. Obviously it will also kill the host tree. The second method is to use nature magic and coax the tree into giving up its unwanted guest. This method is time consuming, requiring repeated visits to the tree as it slowly shifts the mass to the surface of its trunk. A month of daily visits, each involving a Good use of nature magic would normally be required to obtain a mass of dark wood in this way.

Once harvested it appears to be a dark, extremely fine-grained knot or root-like tangle of dense wood. Depending on the species of the original tree the wood may be brown, reddish, or almost black. Dark wood is faintly luminescent, giving off a faint purple glow.

Dark wood lends itself to several kinds of enchantment. It has a great affinity for nature and growth, and is prized as a material for magical bows. It is less suitable for other types of forms of weaponry. It's resilience allows it to be shaped into potent defensive magics.

Working with dark wood requires great skill. To properly discern the best use of a piece requires Great divination magic. Preparing it for use requires Superb wood crafting skill. Actually incorporating it into a magical item requires Superb enchanting skill.