Magic II: True20 (Secret, High Magic, Structured)

True20 Version (Secret, High Magic, Structured)
Magicians in True20 select “powers” as if they were feats. Each power gives access to specific effects which generally scale by level; the more adept levels you have, the more powerful your effects will be. There are over 50 different powers and a starting adept will only have a few of them. Even an experienced adept will only have a portion (albeit as many as a quarter) of all the possible powers.

Let me introduce Susan Temple, a genteel young woman whose husband, recently dead, had enough money to leave her essentially idle. She has used her time and access to books to become a practicing magician, and is looking to join an order like the Golden Dawn (which, unique among Rosicrucian orders, admits women). She’s made strictly according to True20 rules.

Susan Temple
Type: Adept 1st (the Talent)
Abilities: Str –2, Dex +1, Con +0, Int +3, Wis +1, Cha +3
Background: Spiritualist
Skills: Concentration 4 (+4), Diplomacy 4 (+7), Knowledge (supernatural) 4 (+7) (B), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 4 (+7) (B), Language 4, Notice 4 (+5), Ride 4 (+5)
Feats: Jaded (B), Supernatural Focus (Ward) (B), Wealthy
Supernatural Powers: Fire Shaping +7, Teleport +7, Ward +10
Combat: Attack +1 (-3 with Derringer); Damage +2 derringer or Fire Shaping, -1 hatpin, or –2 unarmed; Defense +1 (+0 flat-footed); Initiative +1
Saving Throws: Toughness +1; Fortitude +0; Reflex +1; Will +3; Sanity +7
Conviction 3; Wealth 12; Reputation +1; Virtue; Vice
Equipment: hatpin (Dmg +1), whalebone corset (+1 Toughness saves), derringer (Dmg +2)

(B) denotes bonus feats and skills derived from Susan’s background. As a Rosicrucian, Susan’s magic is governed by her Intelligence score. (Other traditions will use Charisma or Wisdom.)

This is the straight True20 version of Susan Temple. Presuming she is wearing 20 lbs or less of clothing (and with that whalebone corset of hers, it might be close), she needs to make a DC 15 Teleport check to travel instantly to anywhere she is very familiar with (such as her home) and only DC 10 to travel to anywhere she can see. However, she must also make a DC 11 Will save or be fatigued (she has a 50% chance of success). Every additional use of a power within the same hour increases the DC of future fatigue saves by 1. Her powers require no gestures, no spoken incantations, no eye of newt or magic talisman. She just thinks about it, and it happens.

Her Fire Shaping is a workable combat power, should her derringer fail her. If attacked by a thug, she can set his clothes on fire with a DC 15 Fire Shaping check (65% chance of success), forcing a Reflex save DC 15 or take +2 damage every round until a successful Reflex save is made. She would face the same fatigue save as for Teleport: DC 11 Will. She could even try to set three men on fire at once; DC 19 (45% chance of success).

Susan’s Ward has three basic functions. She can create the equivalent of spell resistance in an area around herself, out to 5 feet. Any power used in that area must beat her Ward in a contested roll. Or, she can focus her ward on one target within line of sight; that target must overcome the Ward on a contested check each time a power is used. Finally, she can create a barrier against some supernatural creatures; the barrier is a 5 foot diameter circle and the creature must succeed in a Will save (against Susan’s 1d20+10 roll) to cross the circle or affect anything within so long as she is maintaining it. Susan has to make a normal Fatigue save for Ward, once for every use of it, but Ward must use concentration. This means it is a Standard action to maintain, unless she succeeds in a Concentration check (DC 14) to do so as a move action. If she tries to do this and fails, the power lapses and she must cast it again (with a new fatigue save).

The result? Magic is powerful (“high magic”) and relatively easy to use, but because of the lack of gestures or the like, it is easy to keep secret. The rules are simple and require only the True20 book. Powers are clearly delineated in the book, each power giving a few different specific abilities. The primary limit on adepts is fatigue; repeated spell use during the course of an adventure will result in exhausted adepts.