The magic of Chamurians in RAW Shades of Darkness is awfully bland. With this set of additional rules, it will have more flavor, and greater Chamurian wizards will have clear lore-fitting ways of becoming more powerful.

Chamurian School of Magic

 

Chamurian magic draws its power from the Essence that encompasses the whole planet and embeds itself into living things. To track this ancient power, Chamurians use the principle: “As above, so below”. That is, they use the stars, planets, and both astrological and astronomical observations to track where the magical hotspots called Earthnodes are. Similarly, they can use their knowledge to locate the emanating life veins connecting Earthnodes, called Ley Lines.

Requirements: To draw power, Chamurian practiser of magic needs to know the layout of the sky.

·         Spell users who follow teachings of Chamur the Vault cannot have more ranks in any spell list than they have in either Star Gazing or Astronomy (whichever’s higher).

o   Note that Astronomy in Scarthen World is normally a Restricted skill, and one needs a teacher for gaining the first rank in Star Gazing, although the subsequent ranks after the first may be gained normally by studying the night sky.

·         Chamurian needs to learn Star Tongue as both spoken and written.

o   Spoken Star Tongue is used in conjunction with their spells. Spoken Star Tongue is considered a Magical Language (as per Essence Companion rules in section 7.2.2) for all scrying and information spells, spells about Earthnodes and Ley Lines, as well as particularly the spell list The Vault Opened, Open Arcane / Training Package spell list of Chamurians.

§  Star Tongue does not work similarly for (possible but not described) other schools of magic.

o   Written Star Tongue is used to read and write magical texts and spell books of Chamurians. Rank 6 is needed for reading and understanding the spell books but something might be lost in translation. Rank 8 is enough to read and understand any spells, and to write about spells. Rank 10 is enough to read, understand, and write about any spells.

Strengths:

·         Access to magical language Star Tongue’s power (as described above) makes Chamurian information magic particularly potent.

·         Chamurian spells may indirectly benefit from celestial events and circumstances, as they affect the flow of the Ley Lines.

Weaknesses:

·         To continue to grow in power, Chamurian needs to increase their knowledge of the night sky (Star Gazing or Astronomy).

·         Under particular celestial circumstances Chamurian spells indirectly lose some of their power, as the Ley Lines move and alter in strength.

·         Chamurians need to actively commune with the star skies to recover power points.

Professions:

·         Chamurians can be of any non-spell using profession allowed in Scarthen World. They always have Essence as their (at least one of their) own Realm. Non-spell users sometimes specialize in a particular spell list (Essence Companion section 11.2).

·         Chamurians can be Magicians, Illusionists, Mystics, Rangers, Animists, and Lay Healers. Chamurian variants of traditionally non-Essence professions have Essence as their realm regardless, while hybrid ones have both Essence and the other realm (Channeling powered by Chamur, or Sphere of Stars). Chamurian variants may have alternate base lists or a pool to choose from for customization.

·         Should Chamurians be able to be Warrior Mages and Astrologers?

o   Warrior Mage fits the setting, however it’s less fitting for Chamurian philosophy itself, so they would be rare.

o   Astrologers fit the Chamurian theme very well. The spell lists require a review though, and their Realms (regularly Channeling/Mentalism) need a change.

·         Bards are not an exclusively Chamurian phenomenon, learning from the few Master Bards instead. Instead, Chamurian Bards will have both Mentalism (from Bard) and Essence (from Chamur) as their Realms. They have two separate pools of power points, one of each realm, that is if they develop Essence spell lists at all.

·         Any others, what?

Celestial events and Ley Lines, i.e. “as Above, so Below” – AB principle

 

Certain Chamurian spells and spell types are particularly affected by the celestial events and one’s geolocation. While Chamurians make a point that this is Chamur’s way of showing his benevolence, it is also a natural shift in the magical energies on the ground. It is debated among Chamurians whether this is directly due to celestial events themselves or they just happen to be synchronized with the magical energies on the ground for some indirect reason or even an odd coincidence. Nevertheless, the magical equation of the Above-Below (AB) principle works for Chamurians with a good accuracy most of the time.

Some kinds of energies are more suitable for particular sorts of spells and magical effects. Chamurian may attune to these magical energies and gain extra power. Game mechanically, this has the following consequences:

For each week, a Chamurian may attempt a Medium (+0) Astronomy check, or default to “winging it” (i.e. Failure), on the Celestial Attunement Static Maneuver Table.

Celestial Attunement Static Maneuver Table
Spectacular Failure	The Ley Line is in polarly opposite phase to your calculations. Your Power Points are third of normal for this week. One spell category* operates at -30 this week.
Absolute Failure	The Ley Line anti-correlates. Your Power Points are halved for this week. One spell category * operates at -20 this week.
Failure	The Ley Line eludes you. Your Power Points are regular for this week. Roll 50%: One spell category * operates at +20 or -20 this week.
Unusual Event
Partial Success	You gain a glimpse of the Ley Line. Your Power Points are regular for this week. Roll 50%: One spell category * operates at either +20 or -10 this week.
Unusual Success	Unusual clarity of the multiverses bestows upon you. +3 PP per PP Development rank for this week. You gain +20 to all spell casting rolls this week.
Near Success	Ley Line is within your grasp. +1 PP per PP Development rank for this week.
Success	You are one with the stars. +1 PP per PP Development rank for this week. You gain +20 to a spell category appropriate to the present constellations.
Absolute Success	You are one with the universe. +2 PP per PP Development rank for this week. You gain +30 to a spell category appropriate to the present constellations.

* This spell category should be one available to the spell caster. Spell categories are described in Essence Companion Chapter 9.0.

Note: Essence PP development progression of most races in Scarthen World is relatively weak (e.g. Blood Stock and Lowlanders have progression 0∙2∙1∙1∙1).

 

Star Gazing and power points

 

Chamurians depend on their star gazing skills to stay afloat the Ley Lines that provide them their power (i.e. power points). If not residing within an Earth Node (which would automatically fill their power over a good night’s sleep), they need to succeed in Star Gazing check to regain power points. This takes about 15 minutes.

The difficulty of the maneuver depends on the visibility of the stars and thus on the weather.

Clear skies: Routine (+30)
Partly cloudy: Light (+10)
Half-cloudy: Medium (+0)
Almost fully cloudy: Very Hard (-20)
Full cloud cover: Absurd (-70) (it is essentially impossible but you might luck out and get a glimpse anyway)
Foggy: additional -10 to -30 depending on how dense the fog is.
Using 30 minutes: +10 bonus to the check.
Using 60 minutes: +20 bonus to the check.
Using 120 minutes: +30 bonus to the check.
Successful Meditation maneuver: +25 bonus to the check.

After rolling, consult the result on the Face of Chamur Static Maneuver Table

Face of Chamur Static Maneuver Table
Spectacular Failure	Your connection to the Vault is at peril and you are troubled. You gain no PP tonight.
Absolute Failure	You feel at loss. After a rest, you recover ¼ of your allowed PP for this week or half your ranks in Star Gazing, whichever is lower.
Failure	You feel at loss. After a rest (good night’s sleep), you recover PP for either ½ of your PP allowed for this week or your ranks in Star Gazing, whichever is lower.
Unusual Event	You see a shooting star: Make a wish! It does nothing but it feels great and you are filled with hope. After a rest (good night’s sleep), you recover full PP allowed for this week.
Partial Success	You recognize some major constellations. After a rest (good night’s sleep), you recover PP for either ½ of your PP allowed for this week or your ranks in Star Gazing, whichever is higher.
Unusual Success	You are one with the Vault. You immediately recover full PP, plus you gain 1 extra power point per PP development rank allowed for this week.
Near Success	You recognize all the major constellations. After a rest (good night’s sleep), you recover ¾ PP allowed for this week.
Success	You recognize all the major constellations, stars, and planets and are one with the Vault. After a rest (good night’s sleep), you recover full PP allowed for this week.
Absolute Success	You recognize all the major constellations, stars, and planets and are one with the Vault. After a rest (good night’s sleep), you recover full PP, plus you gain 1 extra power point per PP development rank allowed for this week.

 

Next up…

 

Further on, I wish to develop Chamurian profession variants and Folios (RMC Spell Law II p. 83) for them.

Shades of Darkness, Essence users, and Essence Companion

 

Earlier, I posted about the role and flavor of magic in Shades of Darkness. One realm with some particular concern for me is Essence.

Only users of Essence individually mentioned are Magicians and Illusionists. Hybrid users of Essence are Mystics and Sorcerers. No semi-spell user Essence users exist, if interpreting the rules as per the standard Rolemaster rules. However, Chamurians can be Rangers and Animists (traditionally Channeling), and sometimes Bards and Lay Healers (traditionally Mentalism).

Now, Essence Companion presents rules for several distinct schools of magic, some new professions, training packages, and of course a whole bunch of spell lists. Out of these, school of magic concept seems especially suitable to consider.

I’d identify two distinct groups of Essence users, with their own schools of magic: Chamurians and the Corrupted (who use Unlife to power their spells). I’ll eventually write a separate article to flesh them out.

 

Essence lists in Spell Law and Essence Companion

 

Aside from Rune Mastery, all open and closed Essence lists in Spell Law are acceptable.

Essence Companion adds several open and closed lists, as well as a set of spell lists applicable to training packages. In my opinion, most of the open and closed lists are fine for Shades of Darkness setting but there are a few exceptions.

Open Essence spell list Fey Conjury is inappropriate and should be banned because dealing with Fay is subject to Sula’fay’s blessings (and the restricted True Fay spell list).

For similar reasons, Elemental Summons is inappropriate.

Then there’s Circle Mastery. Circles are a speciality of Demonologists, a profession unique to Shades of Darkness setting. Demonologists have their own circle spells to deal with binding various demons, so this spell list is inappropriate, unless restricted to work on other kinds of creatures. That should make it quite rare, particularly because knowing and using circles is a known Demonologist skill: anyone using such spells would be regarded suspiciously (even more than spell users usually are).

 

TP lists?

 

Essence Companion introduces a dozen training packages, many of which have their own training package (TP) spell lists.

Frankly, it would be easier to call which ones are appropriate than otherwise. For instance, most schools of magic don’t exist on Scarthen World. There are no herbal or corpist catalysts either.

Amateur magic users would change the tone of the setting into more fantastic one. Then, Amateur Mage should be very rare, Guild Apprentices certainly don’t exist, nor does Journeying Apprentice fit in, though their spell list Traveler’s Way could fit Chamurians. However, Chamurians already have The Vault Opened list that has similar uses to Traveler’s Way.

I don’t see particular problems with Arachnomancy, Brewing Lore, Magical Ropes (although this is more like an Arabian Nights list), Mending Ways, Mirror Magic (as long as 5^th level Mirror Rune is altered in some way) and Predictions. However, Ocean Law should be disallowed since Ulpir have banned all sea travel.

 

And the new professions in Essence Companion?

 

I agree with the setting book: none of the new professions are appropriate to Shades of Darkness. Maybe with one exception.

Rune mages would require the existence of runes from way before.

I can’t see Mana Molders running amok in the wastes.

Warrior Mage, though, could work as a particularly militant Chamurian (e.g. dedicated to the constellation of Dagger) or even an Ulpir Hunter of some kind.

 

Conclusions

 

That’s it for Spell Law of Essence and Essence Companion! Essence magic in the Scarthen World seems to be a Chamurian secret, while it has a dark counterpart (powered by Unlife). Therefore, in later articles I will write about my thoughts on the schools of magic for these two aspects.