1.5.10 The High Mage
High Mages represent the default spellcaster in most campaigns. Their spells tend to be generalist in nature rather than focusing on particular specific themes, but their arts make them extremely skilled at manipulating and augmenting the magics they use.
High Mage Benefits
All High Mages gain Magic as a bonus skill, acquiring it at level-0, or level-1 if was already level-0. Every High Mage is well-educated in the principles of magic as understood by the sorcerers of this world.
High Mages can prepare and cast High Magic spells, and have a number of arts dedicated to improving their use of these incantations. As usual for spellcasters, they cannot wear bulky clothing or armor while casting or using arts, nor use shields. Mages who have trained to overcome these limits with the Armored Magic Focus have more latitude.
High Mages conduct extensive experimentation and study as part of their daily activities. Each time they advance a level, they may pick two High Magic spells from the list in this book to add to their repertoire. These spells must be of a level they can cast.
High Mages also gain arts specific to their tradition. At first level, a full High Mage picks two arts and a partial High Mage picks one. As they gain levels and experience, they’ll learn additional arts from the adjacent list. Once picked, an art cannot be changed.
1.5.10.1 High Mage Arts
High Mage Effort is calculated as usual, with each PC’s maximum being equal to one plus their Magic skill level plus the better of their Intelligence or Charisma modifiers. Partial High Mages have a score one point lower than this, albeit not less than one.
- Arcane Lexicon: Commit Effort for the scene. For the rest of the scene, you can read any script that was not intentionally obfuscated or encoded by its writer. Extremely esoteric or nonhuman scripts may not be comprehensible this way; the “plain meaning” of the text might be utterly foreign to human logic.
- Counter Magic: Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action when a visible enemy mage casts a spell. Both of you make op posed Int/Magic or Cha/Magic skill checks; if you win, their spell fizzles and is wasted. This art only works on actual spellcasters and not creatures that merely activate magical powers. You can use this art no more than once per round.
- Empowered Sorcery: Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action to re-roll any variable die roll associated with a spell’s effects, such as a damage roll; take the roll you prefer.
- Hang Sorcery: Commit Effort for the scene as an Instant action when casting a spell. The spell does not go off, but remains “hung” and waiting to be triggered as an On Turn action, with details of targeting and effect determined at that time. Damage does not disrupt a hung spell, but no additional spells can be cast until the hung spell is released or allowed to dissipate.
- Inexorable Effect: Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action to force an enemy to re-roll a successful saving throw and take the worse result. You may use this art only once per scene.
- Iron Resolution: Commit Effort for the day when injured or disturbed in combat; you may make a Physical saving throw to resist spell disruption and ignore the damage for purposes of spellcasting.
- Preparatory Countermagic: Commit Effort for the scene when you are affected by a spell you have prepared, including when you are standing in the area of effect of one of your own damaging spells. You are unaffected by the spell’s direct effects.
- Psychic Conversion: Once per day as an On Turn action, expend one casting slot to remove one point of accrued System Strain and heal 2 hit points per level.
- Restrained Casting: Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action when casting a High Magic spell. You may do so in perfect silence and without need for somatic gestures, though damage will still disrupt the casting.
- Retain Sorcery: Commit Effort for the day as an On Turn action after casting a spell; it does not count against your casting limits for the day. You can use this art no more than once per day, and the stress of using it prevents you from casting another spell before the end of your next turn.
- Sense Magic: Commit Effort as an Instant action; while it remains committed, you can visually perceive magical energy and get a one-sentence description of the effect of any standing magics or magical items you inspect. The ambient magical energies in most areas allow you to see clearly even in conditions of perfect darkness.
- Suppress Magic: Commit Effort for the day as an On Turn action and target a visible or known magical effect within one hundred feet. The effect is suppressed as if by the Extirpate Arcana spell for 1d6 rounds plus the caster’s character level. Spells cast by more powerful casters may not be successfully suppressed, as noted in the spell description. The caster can attempt to suppress an effect only once.
- Swift Casting: Once per scene, you may Commit Effort for the day to turn a spell that normally requires a Main Action to cast into an On Turn action. You can cast no other spell this round and you can’t use this art if you’ve already cast a spell this round or been injured or otherwise disqualified from casting.
- Ward Allies: Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action to omit up to six allies from the effects of an area-effect spell you cast, allowing them to avoid any damage or other negative effect that would be directly produced by the spell. This does not protect them from indirect consequences, however, such as destroying the building they are standing in.
- Wizard’s Grandeur: Commit Effort as an On Turn action. As long as it remains Committed, you will not become dirty, sweaty, stained, or rumpled regardless of the circumstances. Noxious substances will slide off you without staining and you will remain comfortable regard less of your attire in any normal climate. You may sleep comfortably without shelter or bedding as per the privation rules.
Full High Mage
| Level | Hit Dice | Attack Bonus | Focus Picks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6-1 | +0 | 1 Any |
| 2 | 2d6-2 | +0 | +1 Any |
| 3 | 3d6-3 | +0 | |
| 4 | 4d6-4 | +0 | |
| 5 | 5d6-5 | +1 | +1 Any |
| 6 | 6d6-6 | +1 | |
| 7 | 7d6-7 | +1 | +1 Any |
| 8 | 8d6-8 | +1 | |
| 9 | 9d6-9 | +1 | |
| 10 | 10d6-10 | +2 | +1 Any |
Full High Mage Arts And Spells
| Level | Max Level | Spells Cast | Spells Prepared | Arts Gained |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Any Two |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Any One |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | Any One |
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | Any One |
| 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | |
| 8 | 4 | 4 | 9 | Any One |
| 9 | 5 | 5 | 10 | |
| 10 | 5 | 6 | 12 | Any One |
Partial High Mage Arts And Spells
| Level | Max Level | Spells Cast | Spells Prepared | Arts Gained |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Any One |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Any One |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Any One |
| 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| 6 | 2 | 3 | 6 | Any One |
| 7 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |
| 8 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |
| 9 | 3 | 4 | 8 | Any One |
| 10 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
Partial Expert/High Mage
| Level | Hit Dice | Attack Bonus | Focus Picks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6 | +0 | 1 Expert +1 Any |
| 2 | 2d6 | +1 | +1 Any |
| 3 | 3d6 | +1 | |
| 4 | 4d6 | +2 | |
| 5 | 5d6 | +2 | +1 Any |
| 6 | 6d6 | +3 | |
| 7 | 7d6 | +3 | +1 Any |
| 8 | 8d6 | +4 | |
| 9 | 9d6 | +4 | |
| 10 | 10d6 | +5 | +1 Any |
Partial Other Mage/High Mage
| Level | Hit Dice | Attack Bonus | Focus Picks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6-1 | +0 | 1 Any |
| 2 | 2d6-2 | +0 | +1 Any |
| 3 | 3d6-3 | +0 | |
| 4 | 4d6-4 | +0 | |
| 5 | 5d6-5 | +1 | +1 Any |
| 6 | 6d6-6 | +1 | |
| 7 | 7d6-7 | +1 | +1 Any |
| 8 | 8d6-8 | +1 | |
| 9 | 9d6-9 | +1 | |
| 10 | 10d6-10 | +2 | +1 Any |
Partial Warrior/High Mage
| Level | Hit Dice | Attack Bonus | Focus Picks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6+2 | +1 | 1 Warrior +1 Any |
| 2 | 2d6+4 | +2 | +1 Any |
| 3 | 3d6+6 | +2 | |
| 4 | 4d6+8 | +3 | |
| 5 | 5d6+10 | +4 | +1 Any |
| 6 | 6d6+12 | +5 | |
| 7 | 7d6+14 | +5 | +1 Any |
| 8 | 8d6+16 | +6 | |
| 9 | 9d6+18 | +6 | |
| 10 | 10d6+20 | +7 | +1 Any |