• Triad: Greater


  

  

  
• Dichotomy: Warrior


  

  

  
• Dictate: Inclusive


  

  

  
• Association: Students of magic and the magical arts


  

  

  
• Description: Despite being compared to the Warrior in most organizational systems of archetypes, the Mage is comparably uncommon. Unlike most archetypes, it requires intense study to earn a blessing from the Mage archetype, and that doesn’t change once the gifts are received. Where most gifts provide instinctive, intuitive abilities, Mage gifts only give access to a well of mystic energy. Even more study is needed to properly put this magical power to work and to gain experience. Despite these limitations, Mage gifted are always in demand, for both martial and utility purposes.


  

  

  
• Mystical Well: All Mage gifts grant access to a mystic well, which acts as an additional attribute for a Mage to use in their spells. Mystic wells vary in size and effectiveness from mage to mage, but as no correlation between mystic wells and other attributes has ever been catalogued, it is believed to be based on either an inherent property of a Mage’s soul or somehow related to temperament and mindset. Mystic wells expand in three major ways:


  

  

  
• Leveling: Mystic wells expand with each level by 3-5 points (depending on gift). Similarly, some augments can expand a mystic well as a passive effect.


  

  

  
• Exercise: Like any other attribute, a mystic well can be gradually expanded by repeated and consistent use.


  

  

  
• Mana Transmutation: The gift of the Primal grants a similar resource to a mystical well, known as a quintessence pool. When these two resources combine, due to a gifted having gifts from both the Primal and the Mage, they blend into a single attribute, known as a mana reservoir. This makes Primal/Mage gifted extremely effective casters, far beyond other Mage gifted.


  

  

  
• Boons: Coordination, Knowledge, Focus


  

  

  
• Description: Evocation is the art of battle magic, generally taking the form of generating and manipulating various forms of energy. At low levels, simple forms of kinetic and light energy are the most common, with higher levels granting more complex and powerful variations of these. Evokers function as flexible ranged attackers, using difficult to block projectiles as their core attacks, but they are often vulnerable to melee attacks.


  

  

  
• Notable Spells: Rather than abilities, Mage gifts give access to spells, which must be studied and learned separately from gaining levels. Evocation magic emphasizes direct combat spells.


  

  

  
• Force Missile: The most well known and characteristic evocation spell, force missile is a simple projectile of kinetic force. No small number of spells and augments are just modifications to this basic spell, resulting in various shapes, forms, and variations.


  

  

  
• Minor Ward: The earliest and most simple of defensive spells manifests a simple circle of energy that converts applied kinetic force into light, resulting in a flash when the ward blocks damage. At higher levels, wards become better able to disperse force and other kinds of energies.


  

  

  
• Common Augments:


  

  

  
• Fire: The gift of fire, when combined with the gift of the evoker, grants access to a fairly unique augment known as Pyromancy. Pyromancy is, in many ways, considered an entire school of free-standing magic, applying evocation’s energy manipulation to the thermal energy of flame to produce far more flexible attacks than either can alone. This augment is so common in the Twin Cities especially that the Pyromancers Guild has become one of the eminent political powers.


  

  

  
• Professional Gifts: The trade gifts of the Professional archetype, including the gifts of the merchant and the scribe, require a large amount of study, but grant few practical abilities for self-defense. As the gift of the evoker rewards diligent study in a similar fashion, it's a common choice for wandering tradespeople and merchants who need the ability to defend themselves.


  

  

  
• Boons: Resilience, Knowledge, Focus


  

  

  
• Description: Animism is the art of life magic, most commonly manifested as healing magic. This makes animists among the most sought after gifted in all of the Realm, as their magic can make the difference between victory and certain death, especially for sentinel cadres and warden patrols that may spend prolonged amounts of time in the field. However, animism is a profoundly difficult field of study, as much art as science, and no small number of would-be healers fail the Mage’s animist exam, keeping the potent healers few and far between.


  

  

  
• Notable Spells: Healing magic emphasizes a spectrum of efficiency vs. effectiveness. Proper healing takes an extended amount of time, with many fast healing spells having notable downsides.


  

  

  
• Healing Touch: The best known animism spell, healing touch excels at surface levels cuts, bruises, and muscle injuries. The longer it is applied, the more effective it is, but it takes inordinate time to effect deep wounds like breaks or dislocations. High levels spells gradually make the spell more effective more quickly, as well as allowing use at a range.


  

  

  
• Life Surge: The polar opposite of healing touch, life surge delivers a massive burst of life-aspected magic, allowing the beneficiary to rapidly heal even severe damage. However, it comes at a significant cost, and few animists can keep casting after using it.


  

  

  
• Miraculous Triage: Ritual magic allows animists access to much more potent healing magic. Its cost, rather than cost or time, is one of concentration. Ritual spells like miraculous triage require a complex design called an array as a catalyst, and even then, the animist has to concentrate on the spell at the exclusion of all else.


  

  

  
• Common Augments:


  

  

  
• Primal Gifts: While animism doesn’t combine with an element to the same extent as evocation, the mana reservoir granted by a Primal gift is still a considerable boon. Some elements, like lightning or fire, offer much needed offensive abilities, while others, like wind or water, provide utility and versatility to a dedicated healer.


  

  

  
• Guardian: As noted in the Warrior section, a guardian’s defensive abilities combine well with an animist's healing to make a self-sufficient bulwark. This is generally considered the most effective combination for front-line healers.


  
• Physician: While healers are a necessity in battle-gifted teams, they are also a valuable luxury in more peaceful situations. The Professional’s gift of the physician doesn’t make an animist any more valuable in combat, but it does make for a potent civilian healer.


  

  

  
• Boons: Will, Focus, Charm


  

  

  
• Description: The last of the accepted “field” gifts of the Mage, sorcery is the school of summoning magic. In general, this involves the manifestation of immaterial spirits, entities of pure magic able to scout, distract, protect, and otherwise support battle-gifted, though at higher levels, sorcerers have access to spirits more able to interact with the physical world. Sorcery is also notably less rigid and rational than other magical schools, with an emphasis instead on independent study and practical exposure. Many sorcerers will claim that their magic is an art, one only accessible to those who have the proper calling.


  

  

  
• Notable Spells:


  

  

  
• Unseen Watcher: The most well-known work of sorcery. Though completely immaterial, unseen watchers are valuable scouts, able to communicate what they see and hear directly to the sorcerer who summoned them. While unable to fight or defend themselves, watchers are extremely difficult to sense or destroy, making them both effective scouts as well as nighttime security.


  

  

  
• Ghostly Saboteur: Another of the preferred summons for sorcerers of all levels, saboteurs are just as immaterial as watchers, though they are far more visible, generally as clouds of light motes. Saboteurs gain their name from their ability to convert magic to various aspects. This allows them to cripple the abilities of many aspected magical creatures, as well as counter or diminish even outsider magic.


  

  

  
• Pawn: Accessible at Initiate level, pawns are the first physical spirits sorcerers are able to summon–although, by that point, their power level, consistent with minor monsters, is nearly irrelevant. However, pawns still have many valuable uses as expendable distractions, although they are hindered by their complete lack of motive.


  

  

  
• Common Augments:


  

  

  
• Primal Gifts: Sorcerers appreciate Primal gifts for many of the same reasons as other mages, most notably, for the expanded mana reservoir they grant. However, many elemental gifts also grant elemental spirit augments, which can grant valuable damage dealing spirits at much earlier levels.


  
• Artist Gifts: Although still notably uncommon, sorcerers are among the gifted most likely to receive a gift from the Artist, as their occult beliefs and focus on enlightenment often lends itself to the practice of an art form. Fittingly, the emotion-based abilities of Artist gifts often result in unique spirit augments.


  

  

  
• Boons: Knowledge


  

  

  
• Description: While the schools of field magic–evocation, animism, and sorcery–are the best known, the “trade” schools of alchemy and artifice fill just as important a role in Realm life, if not more so. Alchemy is the study of reagents, naturally occuring magical items, and is able to put them to use in unique ways, turning raw reagents into more powerful and versatile potions, poultices, and alloys. These magical goods are an essential part of the Realm’s economy, allowing for urban lifestyles far more comfortable than mundane technology and infrastructure would allow, while also acting as valuable commodities in the more rural regions of the heartlands and frontier.


  

  

  
• Notable Creations:


  

  

  
• Potions: By working with magical flora, alchemists are able to make liquid concoctions with simple magical properties. The most well-known of these are healing potions, which mimic the life-aspected magic of animism, and restoration potions, which can replace drained attributes, but more niche varieties abound, including magical alcohols and teas.


  

  

  
• Alloys: While alchemy is most often associated with liquid tinctures, reagents also include a variety of magically infused stones and metals, from which alchemists can create various alloys. Among the most well-known of these are eldrite, a metal capable of interacting with magical forces (allowing, for example, a sword that can cut through magical protections) and astral steel, a metal capable of dissolving into immaterial magic, usually bound to charm.


  

  

  
• Common Augments:


  

  

  
• Herbalist: The Elder’s gift of the herbalist is most known for its ability to harness magic and progressively infuse it into mundane materials to create reagents. As this allows an alchemist a constant supply of reagents, it is often a go-to gift for alchemists, especially for those who live outside of the major cities.


  
• Merchant and Scribe: The vast majority of alchemists are tradespeople, either independently selling their wares or working with a trade consortium. In either case, the economically-inclined gifts of the Professional are common choices for these business alchemists.


  

  

  
• Boons: Coordination, Knowledge, Focus


  

  

  
• Description: While alchemy is fairly unique as a magical art, artifice has more than a little crossover with the arts of evocation. Both are equally interested in naturally occuring energies, particularly force, heat, and light. However, while an evoker manipulates these energies directly through their magic, an artificer inscribes runes capable of indirectly interacting with them. Most notably, these runes can later be used by anyone in possession of them, allowing artificers to create magical items that require only mundane energy to fuel them.


  

  

  
• Notable Creations:


  

  

  
• Runes of Storage and Conversion: These two runes, the most basic in an artificer's spellbook, allow for a wide variety of effects, limited only by an artificer’s creativity and an item's space for runes. Storage runes allow an item to passively build up a reservoir of potential energy (the size of which is generally defined by an item’s size and material) while conversion runes can turn this energy back into force, light, or heat, shaped to a specific purpose by other runes.


  

  

  
• Common Augments:


  

  

  
• Artisan Gifts: The vast majority of artificers have a gift from the Artisan archetype as well. This allows them to focus on the creation of a specific type of magical item, often combining artifice with infusion to create completely unique works of magic.


  

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