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What does magic being cast look like?


Djday45

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Maybe a silly question, but does the different types of magic look, sound, smell differently when being cast?

How does spirit magic differ in this regard to rune magic or sorcery? Does each spell have it's own look when cast or is this totally up to me as the GM?

I found a reference in the rules stating that each cults spells looked different, so my question is just expanding on that?

Rgds

Dean

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Pretty much all spell casting has obvious special effects. Weapons glow, people glow, eyes glow. Most of the descriptions I've ever seen proposed have been auditory or visual effects, rather than olfactory or tactile. Probably because part of the metagame purpose of the sFx is to make it apparent who is causing the effect, and most creatures' sensoria aren't good at localising smells in dynamic environments. There's definitely a place for such effects being there as secondary 'flavour text' though..

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Rune Magic is about channelling the divine power. The same spell from different sources would look, sound, smell and feel different. All Rune spells would be obvious - except of course those that are meant to be hidden.

Spirit magic can range from the mundane to the magnificent, Bladesharp 1 would look very different from Bladesharp 6. Note to that due to the origins of Spirit Magic those spells could be far more varied in colour and texture.

Sorcery is arcane, bound by the will of the caster. Long casting times would make the process obvious but the effects less so in my opinion due to conservation of energy. Personally I think Jack Vance's Dying Earth with regard to Sorcery.

It is up to you - don't make the visual effects too obvious least you negate the usefulness of Detect Magic!

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One thing I tried to emphasise in the rule book - when Rune Magic is cast, you ARE the god. When you see texts referring to the "Orlanthi gods" showed up at the battle, or similar phrasing, that usually means that there was a lot of Rune magic being used.

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