Magic in the Florenic Worlds

Magic Overview

Magic in the Florenic Worlds permeates all around the setting. It can be a bit tricky to use, however. A simple villager can't just wave their hands in the air and have their crops flourish with ease. It really becomes a question of how does one utilize it? The answer is based on two core concepts: Magic muscle and willpower. Although, that's just the bare minimum to get a mage going without getting into more complexities.

The first core essential is willpower when using magic. How well can you invoke your will upon the world? If you don't believe it or your heart isn't in it, then your magic will also be affected.

When you hear "Magic Muscle", it's really a metaphor similar to when you are physically strong, you can do more and move things around compared to if you are weak and feeble. With a strong magic muscle, it implies you can do a lot with the world around you. How one cultivates their magic muscle is entirely dependent on the magic origin.

Magic Origins

Your magic origins suggest where your spellcasting abilities come from and likely determine how you use your magic. There are four origin types: Arcane, Divine, Occult, and Primal.

Arcane

Those with this origin are typically called mages or sorcerers. Arcane magic comes from the self and sometimes people are born with a turbulent magic muscle. Anyone can still practice and learn to empower their magic, it's really a question of how well can you wield it.

Divine

Those with this origin are typically called clerics, paladins, or priests. Divine magic implies that the caster is a devoted and faithful follower to a deity and is granted some of that power. Naturally, this magic will reflect either the deity or the planar ties their god has. It is important to remain loyal to the aligned deity, otherwise such magic can also be removed.

Occult

Those with this origin don't really have consistent titles and are instead deferred to their specialty, such as diabalist if they use Infernal magic, as an example. Occult magic is a pathway to the esoteric and dangerous side of spells. Usually this means that a deal was made negotiating this power or utilizing strange and dangerous spells like blood magic.

Primal

Those with this origin are typically called druids, elementalists, or shamans. The raw and natural world calls to these casters. They embody some form of nature, whether it being shapeshifting into animals or calling on great rains and lashing with lightning strikes.

Casting and Conduits

Waving your hands around and hoping for the best doesn't really work unless you have quite a chaotic magic muscle going for you. That is why the likes of spells and rituals help give foundation and structure for your magic to function. Having a conduit, such as a wand, staff, orb, divine symbol, or whatever bonded utensil you have, helps to make your casting more focused.

Raw Magic

Raw magic is your sheer force of willpower, how potent your magic muscle is. It is something deeply tied to you or the very source. It's usually how items float in the air, a caster can overpower someone by scorching them with fire when angry, or a frost permeates the room of the caster when they are nervous.

As an example, if you used raw magic to clean a room, you would gesture and demand the broom to mop the floor, ableit, it would likely be a rough cleaning.

Spells

Spells are quick and reliable tools for your magic to work. Often you'll see attack spells that hurtle great balls of fire, shards of ice that rain down from above, and light emenate outward to repel evil creatures. Utility is also a common means to see the use of spells, such as light spells, locking and unlocking, or meddling in general with an essence.

A spell for cleaning the room with a broom would rely on you focusing to prolong the spell as the broom then sweeps and cleans your floors.

Rituals

Rituals are complex, multi-step forms of magic intended to get longer outcomes or complex results without the need for concentration. It's as you work, honing your essence and training into the ritual, you then allow for the magic to be primed as intended if enough effort and calibration gets in order.

An example, using the cleaning examples, is to do repetitive ritual steps at a designated table to then prime the broom, such as having lit candles, pieces of wood the handle is from formed in peculiar shapes at the ritual site, or what have you, would mean the broom will clean the room for you, so long as the ritual is repeated.

Conduits

Conduits refers to the tool you use to cast your magic through. Wands and staffs are common examples, while holy idols, symbols, special twigs from a tree, and more can act as possibilities for your spellcasting conduits. These are not required but do help make it easier or accurate when using magic.

Magic Items

Items become magical because they become imbued by a capable mortal caster or by a divine source. Either way, the magic is likely going to sap away or will linger if given enough concentration time. Lighter and milder affects, like changing the color of something, will likely be easy to replicate. More potent and powerful effects will, of course, require far more time.

Essence

The most important and critical factor to casting magic is your essence! This is simply what element your magic is tied to. If you are of Arcane origin, you are likely going to have a simple "Arcana" essence, which means you will be versatile in what your spellcasting can do, such as most utility magic. If your essence is "shadows" that means you wield darkness in your magic, probably doing illusory tricks or more powerful mages that can cause shadows to fight for them.

The distinction between Essence and Affinity is solely for various deities spiritual connections and what element they are known for utilizing. For example, Inferna and its demons don't always use fire. Ice, lightning, or other elements could be wielded by them. Think of it as: Inferna is the Affinity while Essence is whatever element they're throwing around.

Affinity

It can be hard at times to be a spellcaster and sometimes you just need a bump up if you're struggling. The many planar realms are always eager to exert influence over the material worlds and provide power aligned with what they embody, offering aspiring spellcasters an affinity.

Affinity refers to how much a spellcaster leans on, or is affected by, planar powers for affecting their magic.

A great example are clerics and priests. They are divine casters in origin, having a strong affinity with one of the positive-aligned planar realms. For someone seeking to practice necromancy, they are likely going to have strong ties to a negative-aligned plane, likely the Fell.

If you have a strong affinity to a planar realm, this will also affect your magic. For example, using a healing spell innately won't have anything too odd for traits. However, having a strong tie to the Averse, the Realm of Distortion, could mean a vestigial limb grows off the initial wound. If it's Haven, the Realm of Hope, then it will be a soothing balm for the injured.

For a quick summary, here are the most frequent planar powers and what they influence. For the full overview of the planar worlds, see:

Positive Planes

These realms promote growth and life within the material worlds. The main flaw if they do have a lot of power is complacency and stagnation.

Dictation, Realm of Stability. Dictation is about order and consistency. When wielding this magic, it's likely you help maintain justice or manipulate fate to be predictable.

Elvarid, Realm of Wonder. Elvarid is about the beautiful and the whimsical in the world. One tends to have flashy spells or even embody the natural world.

Haven, Realm of Hope. Haven is about the good and courage of the world. It frequently resembles healing magic, inspiring courage, or even divine fury.

Paradise, Realm of Energy. Paradise is about energy and life as a whole. Where this power goes, so much is rejuvenated with youthful energy. Often this magic resembles bolstering living allies and burning the undead.

Negative Planes

These realms cause embody the hardship and darker parts of the world. They can cause corruption and destruction if left unchecked.

Averse, Realm of Distortion. Nothing is certain with the Averse. At one point, it might decide to let there be a pattern, then inconsistency the next. With the material world, it's uncertain, but with the Averse, all things are possible... side effects may be included...

Fell, Realm of Despair. The Fell is about woe and the inevitable suffering life is guaranteed to have. Magic from this realm often embodies fear, bolts of magic that scream as it streaks through the air, or even shadowy manipulation.

Inferna, Realm of Enmity. Inferna is a place of bitter divides and selfish pursuits. This is a power often utilized by the weak to get somewhere, often at a great cost if they can't repay it. Fire and fury are the most common aspects of this magic.

Null, Realm of Entropy. The most dangerous realm to invoke for the living. It is a power that saps life and wilts everything without remorse. There will be only death and emptiness invoking such "power".

Affinity Chart

The easiest way to follow how affinity works, or how it could affect you, is the following chart split into three core groups: