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Bell, Book and Candle ... ?


rust

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It seems that I am in the happy situation that others write the really difficult

parts of my Malita setting for me. :D

Being a science fiction guy, I do not know much about ships and magic in BRP,

but Ken Spencer is so kind to publish his pirates supplement just in time, and

Byron Alexander helps out with the equally perfectly timed publication of a

witchcraft monograph - thank you both very much indeed. :) :thumb:

While two is very good luck, three would be a miracle - nevertheless, there is

a third and last part of the material I need and do not feel competent enough

to write myself, the scholarly magic of the renaissance: Bell, Book and Candle.

Is there any hope that someone will publish something of this kind in the not

so far future ? - just asking ... :o

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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It's not a game supplement, but it ties into what you're looking for: Amazon.com: Ceremonial Magic & The Power of Evocation: A System of Personal Power (9781561841974): Joseph C. Lisiewski, Christopher S. Hyatt, S. Jason Black: Books

http://www.amazon.com/Summoning-Spirits-Evocation-Llewellyns-Practical/dp/1567183816/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252629035&sr=8-2 This one may not be as good as the one above, as the one above follows the grimoires of the period you're interested in to the letter.

Edited by Dredj
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Thank you very much. :)

I think I will also be able to use a couple of basic ideas from Call of Cthulhu,

especially the Necronomicon (the German RPG supplement, a book about the

background of mythos magic - I have no idea whether there is an English

version of this, too).

My "role model" for scholarly mages is John Dee, a famous scientist of his age

as well as an alchemist and a "magician", for whom magic was just a different

kind of science.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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The scholarly magic of the Renaissance was all about summoning various spiritual beings to do your magic for you. These were : the deceased, angels and demons.

The deceased were used primarily to predict the future (the word 'necromancy' actually means to predict the future via interaction with the dead), spy on people - essentially the kinds of things we modern RPGers might classify as 'clairsentience'. Ordinarily the dead would respond to questions (sometimes with a limit - such as three questions). They were commanded but treated kindly by the magicians that summoned them.

Demons were summoned and commanded with cruelty, though were imprisoned within secure magical circles for fear of what they could do. They were used for satisfying earthly desires - transforming into objects of lust, delivering buried treasure to their summoners etc. etc.

Finally Angels were, actually, rarely summoned being considered the rightful servants of God. When they were they were to be treated with all due courtesy and for the greatest, most spiritual of magic.

As for alchemy, I wrote some rules for classic Renaissance alchemy that are in the GM Resources section of the downloads that you might find useful.

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Thank you very much. :)

As for alchemy, I wrote some rules for classic Renaissance alchemy that are in the GM Resources section of the downloads that you might find useful.

I know, very good rules, which I have already sto ... ah, borrowed ... :o

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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