Progress has been slower than I hoped, but here’s another piece of my Ars Magica hack. This section revolves around warping and twilight. As always, feedback is appreciated 🙂
Every time a character is exposed to magical forces, whether through spellcasting, handling large quantities of vis, living in a powerful aura or encountering a powerful magical creature, there is a chance they could experience Warping.
The GM tracks each character’s Warping Total secretly, so you’ll never know for sure exactly what it is (though you’ll be able to make an educated guess any time you experience a warping event).
A warping event occurs when a magus who has already suffered Warping at least twice recently (GM’s discretion as to what constitutes recently, but generally within the last day or two) suffers an additional point of Warping in a stressful circumstance. In this case, stress would be any circumstance where there are significant consequences for failure (combat certainly counts, as could a negotiation or even crafting a magic item).
When you experience a warping event you may choose to deliberately enter Twilight. If you choose to resist, roll+Warp. Your GM will tell you what your current Warp score is (Warping Total divided by 10, rounded down). On a hit, you enter Twilight. On a miss you touch Twilight for a few moments and the GM adds 1 to your Warping Total, but there are no other effects.
When you enter Twilight, roll+Warp.
On a 13+ you enter Eternal Twilight. Your body and soul disappear from this world for a number of months equal to your Warp score. If you fail to comprehend your Twilight experience, your body never returns. If you return, the GM adds +1 to your Warping Total.
On a 10-12 your body disappears for a number of weeks equal to your Warp score. It returns to the exact place it disappeared from. The GM adds +1 to your Warping Total.
On a 7-9 your body enters a comatose state for a number of days equal to your Warp score. In this state your body cannot be harmed and you are not able to interact with the world in any way. The appearance of your body changes in some way appropriate to your House and training. Depending on the changes to your physical form, it may be possible for your followers to carry your body with them. The GM adds +1 to your Warping Total.
On a 6- you fall unconscious for a number of minutes equal to your Warp score. Your body is still physically present and can suffer harm as normal.
When you attempt to comprehend your Twilight experience, roll+Mind (Criamon magi may add their Book stat to this roll). On a 10+ choose 2. On a 7-9 choose 1.
*Learn the formula for a magical effect you have created at least once before. Give the spell a cool name, determine the technique, form and move, and after returning from Twilight, spend an hour or so transcribing it into your spellbook.
*Gain mastery of a technique or form.
*Gain an advanced move from your playbook.
In addition, you gain a minor beneficial “scar” from your experience. Examples: the air around you smells faintly like roses; food served in your presence tastes slightly better; your spells cause all nearby plant life to refresh and grow slightly.
On a miss choose 1.
*Lose mastery of a technique or form.
*Lose one of your advanced moves.
In addition, you gain a minor detrimental “scar” from your experience. Examples: the air around you always smells like sulphur; any food you touch smells like it has spoiled (though it might still be fine to eat); your magic always causes nearby plants to wilt.
An ambiguity: When you enter… if you fail to Comprehend, your body never returns. Yet the miss to Comprehend doesn’t say anything not returning.
I dislike the secret tracking or warping points, and would prefer somewayof leaving it to the players.
Presumably a firmer description of what causes warping points, and how many, is still to be done
Adrian Brooks Good points.
I didn’t include the specific clause under the Comprehend miss because it only applies if you’ve entered Eternal Twilight (13+ on the warping event roll). Since one trigger (and roll) must proceed the other, I didn’t think it needed to be re-stated explicitly… If it’s really confusing it’s an easy thing to add though.
I think you’re right about the secret tracking of Warping. I thought it might add an element of mystery and/or reduce metagaming, but it’s really unnecessary. I’ll just add it to the playbooks.
Warping points are usually going to come from spellcasting (it’s a 7-9 player option and a GM move) but I wanted to leave it open in case the GM found an appropriate moment in the fiction. I don’t think a definitive list would do anyone any favours.