Gieden, Chapter Two, Magic

The final three of the nine magics in Gieden:

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*******************Artifice*****************

The art of Artifice allows the caster to revive and control Artifacts that were created before The Breaking. Its color is gold, and its use is as powerful as it is rare.

* By laying their hands on an Artifact and channeling magic into it, they can gain a very basic (2-3 word) understanding of the object’s purpose or abilities. They can also cause a very simple repair to be made. Old oil or gas can be made new, small cracks can heal, and screws can tighten seemingly of their own accord.

** At rank Two, an Artifice user can cause complex repairs in Artifacts, ranging from metal that suddenly ‘heals’, to small missing pieces (but not bullets) reforming, to gas or oil suddenly appearing. At the Game Master’s discretion, the Artifact may function in any non-magical way that the caster believes that it should, regardless of its previous abilities. This only happens if there is residual “energy” left in the item; it should be something that someone loved dearly or truly hated, or else the item itself should have some mystical property.

*** At rank Three, Artifice allows the caster to imbue the item with magic effects (see Weapons Chart, Part Two for specific damages). As mentioned in rank two, not all items can be given special abilities. The Game Master has final say in what items can or cannot be augmented. Also, the item will have a duration. This may be described as an amount of time or a number of uses, and it is determined by the Game Master. The Artificer may or may not know the item’s duration, but the duration will always be short; no more than one week, ten shots, or twenty uses. The Game Master should give the Artificer slightly more information about an item's past uses.

***** At rank Four, the item may be imbued with more powerful magical or non-magical effects, and the duration is longer.

***** At rank Five, the item has a permanent duration, although ‘bullets’ or ‘charges’ may have to be renewed, at a cost of 4 magical resistance points (more or less, at Game Master’s discretion). Casters with five ranks in Artifice may also manipulate Artifacts at a distance.


With this magic, you may also: get a ‘feel’ for what another character’s Artifact at a distance, slightly modify a piece of metal or wood in order to make it function as a tool, locate necessary parts, or find your way through a ruined city, among other things. The Game Master may choose to allow an Artificer to achieve results equivalent to one rank higher than their normal abilities if the Artificer combines non-magical mechanic work with their magical skills and are willing to spend significant time on the working.






*******************Subterfuge*****************

The art of Subterfuge is the art of deceit. It has no color, leaves no traces, and creeps into every crevice; even into the minds of the caster’s targets.

* At rank One, the character may cast basic Subterfuge; this remains active for two turns per success rolled (vs.6), during which time, anyone attempting to spot the caster will have their Perception and Reflexes scores halved for that roll. The caster may move or do other actions without giving onlookers a second chance at their Perception rolls, but they cannot cast (because they are already casting). Attacking anyone or anything nullifies the effect.

** At rank Two, the caster can expand their rank One ability to cover anyone in an area 5’ diameter around themselves. They may also manipulate people more effectively than normal; they may raise either their intimidation, etiquette, or manipulation statistics by two dots for one roll by expending 2 magical resistance points.

*** At rank Three, the caster is almost unnoticeable. Their rank One ability is constantly activated (without any magical resistance points being spent, and without counting as casting) unless they decide to drop it, attack, or speak to someone. When this magic is dropped, it may be dropped for just one individual or for everyone present. It returns whenever the caster leaves the sight of those for whom it was dropped or when the caster purposefully reactivates it (spending the usual MR points to do so). By expending three magical resistance points, the caster may extend their ability to everyone within 5’ of them for two rounds, or they may simply lower the chances of anyone noticing the caster even further. If they lower the chance of detection for themselves alone, anyone attempting to notice them must roll two D10 and roll 7 or better on both of them.

**** At rank Four, a master of Subterfuge is completely unnoticeable; their Rank Three ability gets considerably stronger, and onlookers no longer get chance to recognize them through Perception or Reflexes checks. Casting takes away from the ongoing magic, however; when casting, observers may roll vs. half of their Perception score in order to see the Subterfuge user. Rank Four Subterfuge users can read the surface thoughts of any one target within 10’ of them.

***** At rank Five, the caster can raise their intimidation, etiquette, or manipulation statistics by 4 dots for 2 rolls, or they can make everyone within a 5’ radius of themselves completely unnoticeable, as described in their rank Four power. If anyone within the group attempts to cast anything other than Subterfuge magic, they are instantly noticeable.

This magic can also: manipulate the emotions of others (causing joy or anger, fear or recklessness), detect lies in others, or make the caster’s lies undetectable by magical means. At rank four, some casters may get telepathy or telekinesis. All other abilities should be worked out between the Game Master and player.






*******************Anti-Magic*****************

Anti-Magic is capable of overpowering any other magic. Its color is purple, and it is prized by rulers as well as outlaws.

* At rank One, the caster can reduce the number of the opposing caster’s success at a 1 to 1 ratio. For every success rolled vs. 6, the opposing caster loses 1 success.

** At rank Two, the caster retains the same amount of power but may roll more dice.

*** At rank Three, the caster may reduce an opposing caster’s number of successes by 1 and ½ for every 1 success rolled (vs.6). Alternatively, they may form an Anti-Magic shell around themselves. This shell is up to a 5’ radius, and no magic whatsoever may enter into it. They may also deal damage to any Nuameii that has not been “pulled-through”. They do 1 box of damage per success rolled, vs. 6.

**** At rank Four, the Anti-Magic shell repels any magic or magical creature, and it may be up to a 10’ radius around the caster.

***** At rank Five, the caster may dispel all magic inherent in an area of up to 50’ diameter, making casting impossible (roll vs. a 7, four successes needed, though it can be an extended action if necessary). A rank Five Pure Magic user must make at least 4 successes at a difficulty of 7 to call magic back into the area, although they may use a continued action to achieve this.


Anti-magic has other uses as well, such as: temporarily sealing the magic of another caster, hiding the fact that someone is Gieden, making a Taint disappear for a short time (though this doesn’t replace the body part), or temporarily barring all Gieden from an area. Other uses are up to Game Master discretion.

The Intro to Gieden, a pencil and paper RPG

So, today's the big day!

I want to share a pencil and paper role playing game, or RPG.

This game, Gieden, was intended to bring new people into role play; it's written for newbies, short on rules and long on story. I'll present it here the same way, but there are also conversion rules for those who already RP in another system.

To play a pencil and paper RPG, one person studies the rules and becomes the Game Master (GM). They control the setting and story; that is, they set up the situation. The others (there should be at least two, but one will do in a pinch) create characters, and then decide how those characters will act in the situation. It's basically collaborative fiction, with one player being the narrator and the others controlling the main characters.

Here is the introduction to Gieden, the RPG, left just the way I abandoned it years ago, despite my strong desire to edit it now that I've improved my writing a bit...

It was afternoon, and everywhere, people were busy going about the daily routines of their lives. In cities, people honked horns and waited irritably for the traffic to resume its normal, break-neck pace, and in the country, kids ran around barefoot playing ‘Cops and Robbers’. People fought. People loved. They cried tears of joy and pain, of loss and fear.

Spirituality was largely set aside, or else dogmatized or ritualized into nothingness. Science ruled, and most worshipped the twin gods of Money and Technology. Without them, the people knew, they would die.

Emotions were wielded like swords, the pen became mighty, the insult mortally wounding. People casually used the word ‘hate’, wished others would die, or promised eternal love. All these emotions, all these strong intentions, and very few understood the consequences.

No one saw it coming. No one realized that destruction would come, not from their own wanton abuses of their planet or as wrath from the heavens, but from their own wills, their own unchecked emotions and desires. They had forgotten their own power long ago, and it was that power, the power of man, that would destroy them.

Suddenly, when one wished to lash out in rage, or wanted another to die, it was so. When one reached out for their source of strength, they found it made manifest. The creatures of Nightmares and Dreams were let loose upon the world of man.

All this wrought fear, and fear wrought death and pain. The world, which only moments ago had seemed ordinary and stable, governed by science and reason, was suddenly a place of magic and terror. Each individual’s destruction caused hurt and fear to all those who saw; most of those witnesses reacted in ways that brought about their own deaths, and thus it spread like fire in the wind.

The survivors were forced to run to places wild and isolated, or else to scurry around the ruins of their old homes, living like rats, searching for food and hiding from predators.

Money was useless. Technology was dying. And what was left of the human race faced a future where they must rely on themselves and one another.

Welcome to the world of Gieden.

Ok, so pompous tone aside, that's the idea. It's a post-apocalyptic world where everyone has the power to use magic--but use it too much, or lose control just once, and people die. More specifically, using magic forever links you to a Nuameii, a nightmare creature, and the more magic you pull through your body, the greater the risk that your body will be destroyed and only the Nuameii will remain.

The Gieden are the ones who choose to use magic; many of them will show physical signs of the Nuameii that lurks just below the surface. Those who refuse to touch magic are called Roian. Some of them live near ruined cities, surviving on the last dregs of technology; others have turned to tribal or agricultural lifestyles. A couple of small cities have been cobbled together, but these cities tend to be highly segregated to prevent undue intermingling of Gieden and Roian.

The next chapter starts with a short story, told from the perspective of a girl born to Roian parents but who, in a moment of stress, reached out for magic, became Gieden, and was forced into a new kind of life. From there it goes into role-play possibilities within this setting. I'll be posting that next time. :)