Unifying Magic

[Strormer]

Right, so one of the core facts about the setting I'm creating is that the creation goddess is the source of all magic in the plane. If one uses divine magic one is using her power as channeled through her children, the gods. If one uses arcane magic one is using her power which remains in the fabric of creation. Even psionics in the world are tapping into the power of the goddess which is inside one's own living self.
That's all well and good and I've got most of it thought out, but I'm looking for ways to mechanically show that all magic is inherently the same and its the way it's wielded that really makes the difference.
Any suggestions?

[Yora]

So you mean different mechanics to get to the same results?

[Strormer]

Not exactly. I'm not overtly changing the mechanics of magic for Pathfinder, I'm just looking for subtle ways to add mechanics, maybe in the form of feats or alternate uses of magical skills, that would show how all magic, arcane, divine, or what have you, is inherently using the power of the creator through various channels. I'm stumped so I figured I'd come here and see if anyone had done something similar and if there were suggestions.

[Storm Bringer]

the trouble is that magic is very inter-oprable as standard. what i mean by that is that a clerics magic and a wizards magic are very close in mechanical terms anyway, and a dispel magic cast my a mage will stop a clerical spell. the two are already just two flavors of the same thing, so it's rather hard to make them more alike.

[Lord Tyger]

Meld spell lists, maybe? Let casters use spells from other class's spell lists at some sort of cost (Wizard can cast a fifth level cleric spell as a seventh level spell, maybe?)

[hoverfrog]

You don't have to do much really if it is just flavour. Change Use Magic Device to work on psionic items too. Allow arcane, divine and psionic items to be used by all spell casters. If you think that overbalances then restrict items that will cause a problem. Allow healing spells in the sorcerer or bard spell list at a level or two higher. Maybe use an artificer (from Eberron) class to show how all magic is related. Use hedge wizards (weak wizards with a few limited abilities) as NPC classes with access to spells from all classes. Include the Magic domain in cleric domains.

There is an issue with game balance though so you might wish to include some limit on scrolls so that wizards don't end up with all the cleric spells in their spell books. One way is to change the way spell books work so swapping spells is much harder and copying spells from scrolls is very difficult but that makes wizards a little weaker.

[hoverfrog]

In the new campaign that I'm planning now (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236390) I have explicitly stated that Magic has a single source with no distinction between divine and arcane magic except through tradition. There is a single god but many interpretations of divine will in the form of three main religions. The largest church of Roma-Tal has long controlled magic use and separated divine spell casters from arcane spellcasters. They want this distinction and they want to keep the two apart. The main reason for this is that the priesthood is largely female dominated while the arcane college is largely male dominated and they are jealous of their power.

Spells are approved by the church and strictly controlled. In particular the spells of the priesthood are traditionally kept apart from the spells of the wizards. The sharing of spells is frowned upon.

There is no reason why a wizard cannot cast cure light wounds except that he's never received training in this form of magic and tradition dictates that he not. Some may break with tradition but the mother church might have something to say about that.

[Omeganaut]

You could force casters to select a major area of magic to study (kind of like specialist wizards), and to give up another area in return. This way you can allow casters to cast normally from their chosen area, use magic items and spells at 2 levels higher from another area, and have nothing from the area they give away. I'd also encourage giving more benefits to martial classes in return, perhaps easy access to magic based on level, or plentiful magic items for them.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

the trouble is that magic is very inter-oprable as standard. what i mean by that is that a clerics magic and a wizards magic are very close in mechanical terms anyway, and a dispel magic cast my a mage will stop a clerical spell. the two are already just two flavors of the same thing, so it's rather hard to make them more alike.


You don't have to do much really if it is just flavour. Change Use Magic Device to work on psionic items too. Allow arcane, divine and psionic items to be used by all spell casters. If you think that overbalances then restrict items that will cause a problem. Allow healing spells in the sorcerer or bard spell list at a level or two higher. Maybe use an artificer (from Eberron) class to show how all magic is related. Use hedge wizards (weak wizards with a few limited abilities) as NPC classes with access to spells from all classes. Include the Magic domain in cleric domains.

I agree with this. Dispel magic works on arcane, divine, and psionic effects. Spellcraft identifies arcane, divine, and psionic abilities. A pearl of power provides a benefit for arcane, divine, and psionic casters. They're already well-connected.

If that's not enough, you could do what Hoverfrog suggests. Let everyone (with a feat or a skill check or something like it) learn spells from other class lists, maybe with a spell level spike. For example, a wizard could learn and prepare cure light wounds, but it would have to be a level 2 spell. That gets tricky with psionics involved, though, especially because of the way augmentation works.

[TARDIS]

It is pretty much this way based on assumptions in the core setting. Spell Resistance/Psionic Resistance is cross-compatible. A dead magic zone kills all magic - be it arcane, divine, or psionic. Just meld the metapsionic feats into the metamagic feats, and you should be set!

The fact that arcane spells, divine prayers, and psionic powers can work different could be explained through certain means of channeling - for example, it's easier to work the primal elements of creation to summon fireballs or create a wall of stone when you're working with the arcane; the divine works on a spiritual level, curing ills and inspiring allies to perform superhuman acts; and psionics affects the flow of energy around oneself - cue psycoportation or telekenisis :smallwink:

This is largely the way that I've run my campaigns, and I've even gone so far as to divide up druids/rangers and clerics/paladins to say that their powers differ because of their religions - yet made no mechanical changes at all. Just flavour. Call the magic what you want, but at the end of the day, so long as it all functions the same, the players will all think of it the same :smalltongue: