Magic "explanations" coming here! This is not set in stone, I'd love to have everyone else chime in here too, to tell me how you think the magic of our elves' should work. I'm trying to stick to canon as much as I can, but some stuff - like Fireshaping - hasn't been too clearly shown in canon, so we have a lot to fill in there. I'm also taking some info from the good old dice RPG guide from 1989~
Btw, I know the convertion from meters to yards isn't exactly even (10 yards is, for example, closer to 9 than 10 meters), but I'm trying to keep things simple
Animal magicAnimal-Bonding: The ability to form a mental bond with an animal you share blood with (i.e. Wolfriders with wolves, etc.) The bond seems to be initiated by the animal, which means no elf can force an animal to be their bond-friend. I don't think this magic needs a skill level, though I've seen that used in some Holts; I think we can make do with having Animal-Sending show how close you are to your bond-friend.
Animal Communication: The ability to communicate thoughts and emotions to a specified kind of animal and to hear the animals' thoughts and emotions. Blood-bonds are not necessary.
Weak: Can get a sense of the animal's general emotional state.
Average: Can sense the animal's emotions and share their own emotions with the animals.
Strong: The elf can share thoughts as well as emotions with the animal species their connected to, though as animals don't think like elves or humans, the thoughts will be very image heavy.
Animal Mimicry: The ability to magically mimic any animal so well that the magic user is mistaken for one of them by the animals themselves. Really good Animal Mimickers can make the animals obey any order. Elves with this magic tend to be well liked by all animals and animal-blooded elves. No elf of any kind can be ordered around though.
Weak: Can briefly mask themselves as an animal they share size with, as well as calm frightened animals into not bolting.
Average: Can mimic most animals, tricking them into thinking they're the same species. They can make hungry animals not attack.
Strong: Can command animals to do their bidding. All animal-blooded elves who meet the elf instantly take a liking to them.
Animal-Sending: Telepathical communication with an animal you're magically bonded to (see Animal-Bonding). Remember that animals, even though they have elf-blood, are still animals. They won't be thinking in 'words' as our elves do, but mainly in emotions and images. Animals with really strong elf-blood might speak in sentences with words, but those tend to be rare.
Weak: The elf can send to the animal, but only in emotions not images. The bond very rarely send anything back and there are several 'misunderstandings' between the bond-friends, so body language and sounds sometimes works better than sending. Range is 30 yards/meters.
Average: There is an exchange of emotions and images between the elf and the animal. There are still occasional misunderstandings between the bond-friends. Range is 150 yards/meters.
Strong: The elf is very good at making themself understood, so their bond-friend mostly understands what the elf wants them to do or what dangers they're facing. Range is 300 yards/meters
Body magicAnti-Healing: The ability to "unheal" that all healers posses.
Weak: Can cause pain at touch, but no lasting or visible damage. Range is touch.
Average: Can cause pain and also knock living creatures unconscious or paralyze them within 5 yards/meters. If touching, they can cause lasting but not fatal damage.
Strong: Can now hurt anyone within a 10 yards/meters radius. Anti-healing without touch is limited to pain and smaller wounds, while deadly wounds can be dealt by touch.
Flesh-Shaping: Healers can learn to shape flesh, but only flesh. The person being shaped still has the same DNA as before shaping, they just look different (think Tyldak).
Weak: Can make smaller alterations to themself (i.e. ear shape, give themselves fins, etc.)
Average: Can change their own appearance radiacally (functioning gills, wings, fishtail, etc.), or another elf's appearance somewhat (see 'weak').
Strong: Can change their own or another's appearance completely, making functional wings, a tail, etc. Can shape other species as well.
Healing: The ability to heal any elf one touches. How large injuries one can heal depends upon the magic user's strength.
Weak: Can sooth fevers, tell what injuries/illness an elf has and heal small wounds and cuts.
Average: Can heal wounds and illnesses, mend broken bones and cure fevers, but the more severe the injury the more energy the healer has to put into the healing. May not be able to heal life-threatening wounds or illnesses.
Strong: Can heal elves without touching them, within a 10 meter/yard radius. Can try and heal other creatures than elves, but will not be as successful with those. Can heal mortal wounds and illnesses, usually successfully (but it's exhausting).
Self-Healing: The ability to heal
only one-self. Is usually specialized, like "self-healing from poision" or "self-healing from illness". Same levels of healing skills as "Healing", but only applies to oneself.
Shapechanging: An elf who has this magic does not need to be a healer and can only change themself. This change affects DNA to some extent, making it possible to have viable young with the creature the elf has turned themself into (think Timmain and Timmorn).
Weak: Can take on characteristics of other creatures, like fangs, claws, light fur or scales, etc.
Average: Can change shape either to "half-form" of another creature (think Timmorn) or for a short period of time fully change into an animal.
Strong: Can change into an animal for long periods of time. There's a risk of "getting stuck" as that animal though, if you don't change back often enough.
Mind magicAstral projection: This allows the elf's spirit to leave its body. When outside of the body an elf can send much farther. They can also visit other elves mentally and search for the spirit force of people they know. While the spirit is gone the elf's body is very vulnerable as it cannot defend itself and if the spirit doesn't return to the body within five moons the body will die.
Weak: Can briefly leave their body to travel up to 100km. The projections are generallly uncontrolled and they'll be "yanked back" to their body without meaning to.
Average: Can leave their body and travel up to 300km. Can control their projecting and returning.
Strong: Can leave their body and go anywhere on the planet. Will have to be back within 5 moons of course, or their body dies.
Black-Sending: When sending someone a Black-Sending you more or less mentally torture that person. It's one step away from using a soul name you shouldn't know. Basically, it's incredibly cruel.
Weak: Inflicts pain upon the victim, but no lasting damage.
Average: Inflicts incredible pain on the victim and risks causing lasting damage (things like hallucinations, coma, depression).
Strong: Unspeakable pain. The magic user can control if there will be lasting damage or not.
Blocking: A Blocker can block other elves' magical powers with the help of sending. Thus they can stop anyone who's within sending range.
Weak: Can stop another magic user from using their magic for up to 10 minutes.
Average: Can stop another magic user from using their magic for up to 10 hours.
Strong: Can create a permanent "block" in another magic user, which means they'll need a mental-healing to be able to use their magic again (or have the blocker "unblock" them).
Deep Sense: Deep Sensers can sense other elves' emotions. Really good ones can even hear others' thought and the most excellent Sensers can find others' soul names (OBS! Excellent is not a level of magic available to player characters). Sensers can block out other elves emotions, but strong feelings are harder to "not hear".
Weak: Can sense when elves close by is feeling something strongly (i.e. joy, grief, rage). Have a hard time blocking out those emotions.
Average: Can sense what elves nearby are feeling; the more the Senser concentrates, the more they can make out what exactly the other elf is feeling. The Senser can "feel" how many elves are within a 10 km range.
Strong: Can "feel" how many elves are within a 10 km range. Can sense the emotions of other 'sentient' creatures, like trolls preservers and humans, but they won't always make senes to the Senser - it's mostly useful for Sensing if there are any strangers. Range for sensing trolls/preservers/humans is 100 m.
Finding: If an elf with this power concentrates hard on an object they can see where it is in their mind. The object can't be too far away. The stronger the Finder the bigger the range of Finding.
Weak: Range is 3km.
Average: Range is 5km.
Strong: Range is 10km. Can find people and animals as well as things.
Force Shield/Shielding: TBA
Weak: Can shield themself for up to an hour, but the shielding is exhausting. Can only shield against "light attacks", like falling branches, insects, rocks, arrows, etc.
Average: Can shield themself and two other elves for up to three hours, but it's exhausting. Can shield just themself for up to six hours. Can protect from large things, such as whole trees falling on you or bolders.
Strong: Shield can protect themself + three other elves for half a day. Can shield self for a whole day without pause. Can manage shielding against massive damage, such as a cave-in or an avalanche.
Gliding: The ability to lift
only oneself and thus fly. The Glider will get tired faster the faster they fly, the same way you get more tired from running than from walking.
Weak: Can fly 3km without rest.
Average:Strong: Flying will start to feel more natural than
Hypnosis: When someone is Hypnotized that person goes into trance and cannot move until the Hypnotiser frees them. Eye contact is needed for this magic to work.
Weak: Can stun a creature for up to an hour. Sentient creatures can break free.
Average: Can stun a creature for up to three hours. Can convince animals to stay calm after the hypnosis is released.
Strong: Can stun a creature for up to five hours. Can convince sentient to stay calm after the hypnosis is released; the elf/troll/human will then apppear dazed for a few hours, as if they're sleepwalking.
Jinking: Teleportation. The jinker can't teleport themselves "inside" anthing. If they teleport to where a mountain or tree is standing, they'd end up ontop of said mountain or tree.
Weak: Range is 200 meters. Can only jink oneself.
Average: Range is 500 meters. Can jink oneself and one other elf that they're touching.
Strong: Range is 1 km. Can jink oneself and two other elves that they're touching.
Levitation: Telekinesis, the ability to make things 'fly'.
Weak: Can lift smaller objects with ease and can push themselves to lift 'bigger' things, like large branches or rocks.
Average: Can lift larger objects with moderate ease and can push themselves to lift 'bigger' things, like boulders or themselves. If the elf can lift themselves, they'll be flying like a 'weak' Glider.
Strong: Can lift themselves and other larger objects with moderate ease. Can fly like an 'average' Glider.
Magic Feeling: The ability to sense magic in other elves and in objects and creatures that have been affected by magic.
Weak: Can sense that another elf is a magic user (though not what kind of magic user). Can sense that objects have been affected by magic, but not when or how.
Average: Can sense that another elf is a magic user and tell what kind of magic user they are. Can sense potential for magic in young elves, but not what kind of magic they'll grow to have. Can sense that objects have been affected by magic and how, but not when.
Strong: Can sense what kind of maic a young elf will grow to have, if any. Can sense that objects have been affected by magic, both how and when.
Mind-Snare: The ability to trap an Astral Projecting elf in one's mind. The trapped spirit won't be able to leave the Snarer's mind until let go or freed by another powerful magic users. Elves with the ability to send can be taught a weaker form of Mind-Snaring by an experienced Mind-Snarer. This weaker magic allows them to feed on other elves' dreams, to grow stronger magically. Dream-feeding has it bad sides though. Dream-feeders soon lose the ability to dream on their own and going into a black void every time you sleep can affect your sanity rather negatively.
Weak: Dream-feeding.
Average: Can trap elves' spirits within their own mind. The spirit that was captured had to be Astral Projecting at the time of capture.
Strong: Can try and trap any elf's spirit that they Mind-Snarer is Sending to, despite that the spirit is in their own body.
Sending: Telepathy. Since you're connecting your mind to another, you can't lie or hide your emotions, though very strong senders can find ways to 'work around' that. You can also 'dampen' your emotions, but not hide them completely from the one you're sending to. Sending works like this: Elf A sends to elf B and get's a 'ping' that that elf is alive and in sending range. Elf B then has to
accept the sending for A & B to be able to share thoughts. Very few elves reject sendings, but it does happen (especially if Elf B is angry with A).
Weak Can reach anyone in a 10 km range without effort. Can push themselves to reach someone within a 20 km range.
Average Can reach anyone in a 20 km range without effort. Can push themselves to reach someone within a 30 km range.
Strong Can reach anyone in a 30 km range without effort. Can push themselves to reach someone within a 40 km range.
Shielding/Mind-Healing: Healers can learn to protect themselves and other elves from mental attacks such as Black-Sending and Mind-Snare. In this power healing of the mind itself is also included, such as helping with depression or PTSD, but a mind can only be healed if the person being healed cooperates! Not even the strongest Mind-Healer can change a person's spirit against their will, only help them change if they want to. A mind healing of a bigger issue (i.e. not light stress or panic) usually takes more than one 'sitting'. Some healings can take months or years to fully complete.
Weak: The Mind-Healer can protect themselves from mental attacks and is good at mending their own mental wounds. They can help soothe or calm the upset mind of another willing elf, but not perform any actual healing of that person's mind.
Average: Can shield both themselves and others from mental attacks, but shielding others is exhausting. Can help begin a mental healing of phobias, depression, etc. but the patient still has to be willing the give the healing a try. If the patient loses motivation, the healing automatically fails (and might leave the patient in a worse mental state!) Healing 'smaller' things like panic or stress is easier and will usually work with the patient's initial cooperation.
Strong: Can shield themselves and more other elves against mental attacks for a longer period of times. Can deal with deeply rooted issues such as repressed memories, amnesia or hallucinations, but it's not an easy task!
Weather Sense: The ability to predict changes in the weather and to feel how wind currents shift.
Weak: Knows accurately what the weather will be like and how the winds will shift, within a timespan of a day.
Average: Knows accurately what the weather will be like and how the winds will shift, within a timespan of four days.
Strong: Knows accurately what the weather will be like and how the winds will shift, within a timespan of eight days.
ShapingBone/Coral: The ability to shape bones. Really good shapers can shape the bones while they're still inside a living creature. This process if of course very painful for the creature in question, but does not have to be deadly or even harmful if the Bone-Shaper knows what they're doing or are cooperating with a Healer. Bone-Shapers can also shape corals (usually a thing sea-elves do).
Weak: Can make small changes in bones from dead creatures and tell what manner of animal the bone came from with a touch.
Average: Can not only tell you what creature a bone is from but how long ago it was it died. Can make quite large changes to the bone.
Strong: Can shape bones while they're still part of a living creature, but this process usually kills the creature (thus it's usually done in self-defense). The Bone-Shaper has to be touching the creature to be able to shape its bones.
Fire: The ability to create and control fire. Fire created by a fire-shaper can "float" in their hand and burn as long as the fire-shaper can muster the strength to keep it burning by magic. The flame will then go out if the fire-shaper stops feeding it magic, but it can continue burning without magical aid if it comes in contact with something flammable. Fire-shapers also tend to have a slightly higher body temperature than other elves and can take more heat.
Weak: Can keep themselves from being burned by fire, for a short while. Can start small fires on flammable material that they're touching.
Average: Can start fires on flammable material within 1 yard/meter, can keep fire burning "in their hand", can walk through a big fire for a short while without being burned.
Strong: Can walk through fire without being burned, can set fire to anything flammable within 3 yards/meters, can make shapes in the fire.
Gem: Some Rock-Shapers learn to also shape gems.
Weak: Can somewhat change the shapes of gems.
Average: Can shape the change of gems in more detail.
Strong: Can make very fine changes to gems.
Metal: Some Rock-Shapers learn to also shape metals.
Weak: Can change the shape of metals somewhat.
Average: Can make larger changes in metals' shapes + shape crude weapons.
Strong: Can control the shape of the metal enough to make weapons that rival those of a smith.
Plant/Tree: The ability to speed the growth of and change the shape of all plants and trees.
Weak: Can sense if a plant is edible or poisonous. Can encourage plants to grow a little faster or in harsh conditions. Must touch the plants.
Average: Can make plants grow faster than normal and have them live in very harsh conditions, if only for a little while. Can for a short while keep plants from catching fire. Can shape some 'unnatural' shapes (like wolves, deer, etc.) out of living wood. Range is 10 yards/meters.
Strong: Can make plants and trees grow much faster than natural and in 'unnatural' conditions. Can make plants and trees take on 'unnatural' shapes, shape dead wood and stop wood from catching fire. Range is 30 yards/meters.
Rock: The ability to change the shape of all kinds of rock.
Weak: Can sense if there's something not-rock burried in rock (i.e. gems, water). Can with much effort shape rock, but making tunnels takes days if not weeks. Can sense weaknesses that risk tunnel collapses or rockslides. Range is touch.
Average: Can shape tunnels without too much effort, though will have to rest afterwards and can't go on for more than half a day without collapsing. Can shape some 'unnatural' shapes (like wolves, deer, etc.) out of rock. Can mend 'weak' rock. Range is 10 yards/meters.
Strong: Can tunnel for a day or two (with some rest and food of course) without collapsing. Can shape 'unnatural' shapes out of rock. Can mend 'weak' rock. Range is 30 yards/meters.
Water: The ability to shape water in all its forms (liquid, fog, ice, snow). Water shapers tend to have one form that's easier for them to shape of the many forms water can take. Usually this is, as the magic's name reveales, water, but a Go-Back water-shaper might have more use for snow-shaping.
Weak: Can make briefly change the shape of water or whatever prefered form of water the Shaper is best at.
Average: Can briefly change strong currents. Can shape still water well. Can pull water out of a living creature's lungs, preventing drowning (or push water into said creature's lungs...)
Strong: Can change strong currents for longer amounts of time. Can make water (in their perfered form) easily; shaping of water's other forms is at 'average' level.
Weather/Wind: Some Weather Sensers also learn to shape the winds, changing how strong they are and what way they're blowing.
Weak: The Wind-Shaper can briefly change the course of a wind. Possibly useful while hunting, if you don't want your prey to catch your scent.
Average: Can change the strength and directions of local winds. Can to some extent affect 'bigger' weather patterns, like storms, but few Wind-Shapers do this since they know messing with the weather in one place will change it everywhere else too. Can summon rain by "pushing together" clouds, though this process takes days, if not weeks, if there aren't many clouds about.
Strong: Can build up storms, though this takes a lot of effort and risks disrupting the local weather patterns for a long time. Can form "pockets" in storms for people to walk through. Knows what changes need to be done in the weather to summon lightning/skyfire, but can't control the skyfire itself.
Please help out with descriptions and suggestions for "levels"!
Jul 18, 2024 20:02:34 GMT 1
