On Non-Specialist Arcana

Discussion about the occult and arcana in general. (Don't call it "magic" if you want to be taken seriously by scholars.)
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Rias
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On Non-Specialist Arcana

Post by Rias »

Just as a general FYI: The Arcana skill will be useful even if one chooses not to go into any particular schools of occult arcana. There are plenty of different diagrams and glyphs that can be learned and thrown together for a sort of "program it yourself" type of occultism. While they take more preparation (you have to draw the diagram and then add the desired glyphs), they're also fun in just how flexible they can be. Some more advanced glyphs/effects may require specialist knowledge, but there'll be plenty for non-specialists/dabblers to play with and still be able to lots of fun and useful stuff.

Directive glyph examples:
- activate when someone enters the circle
- activate when someone speaks the correct word
- delay 5 seconds, then activate the next glyph
- activate when someone who does not have a matching attuned item gets close

Conjuration glyph examples:
- flame
- light
- force
- sound
- darkness
- heat
- cold

Modifier glyph examples:
- hue (light)
- pitch (sound)
- radiate
- converge (opposite of radiate, essentially - couldn't think up a better word for it)

So, yeah. I've had a lot of fun putting all this stuff together, and while this type of occultism doesn't give as much precision as more specialized rote spells, it can allow for some interesting possibilities.

More Arcana skill will allow for memorizing/unlocking more glyphs. One doesn't necessarily need a huge amount of skill.
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Rastaban
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Re: On Non-Specialist Arcana

Post by Rastaban »

An idea, what about a book to keep your runes in? And you can keep more runes in it than you can keep memorized, and if you want you can study it to switch which runes you have memorized, with a limit of something like one change per day.
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Rias
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Re: On Non-Specialist Arcana

Post by Rias »

I think the book idea has merit. I've always liked the idea of keeping a book of glyphs, spells, chants, or whatever.
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Math321
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Re: On Non-Specialist Arcana

Post by Math321 »

Definitely in favor of the tome-of-glyphs idea. That said, we don't want everyone and their grandmother carrying around these things just because they know how to make diagrams - it should be something only "real" Arcanists would need to bother with. Most dabblers will probably be fine with memorizing a handful of glyphs, not learning enough of them to require writing 'em down.

Also, there will need to be some considerations made for the following questions: "what happens if someone gives you their book?" - "can you slowly rediscover your glyphs if you lose access to your book and its backups?" - "do you need arcanely charged paper/ink, or will any writing material do?" - "how easy is it to make backup copies of your book?" - and so on.
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