NecessaryWeevil
2014-07-16, 06:07 PM
Hi Playground,
I was just rereading one of my favourite series, CS Friedman's Coldfire trilogy. On the planet Erna, the land is permeated by a force called the fae. The most common and usable kind of fae is the Earth fae. To make a long story short, the fae flows in currents and is responsive to human fears and desires. The unwary can call up horrible demons that seduce and/or tear them apart. Some people - called sorcerors - have been trained to Work the fae in specific ways that resemble D&D wizard spells; some people - called Adepts - can work with it more instinctively and powerfully. The Church gives people a focus for their thoughts, fears and beliefs, and harnesses the minds of hundreds of untrained people to work the fae collectively in what resembles ritual magic.
The main effect of all this is that this "magic" depends on the flow of the fae - it's easier to use the fae against someone "downwind" of you, but it's also harder to hide from them as the fae carries your imprint to them. In areas where the fae is weak or absent, you can't do "magic" at all.
I was wondering if anyone's come across any attempt to codify a similar concept in D&D (or other RPG) rules?
I was just rereading one of my favourite series, CS Friedman's Coldfire trilogy. On the planet Erna, the land is permeated by a force called the fae. The most common and usable kind of fae is the Earth fae. To make a long story short, the fae flows in currents and is responsive to human fears and desires. The unwary can call up horrible demons that seduce and/or tear them apart. Some people - called sorcerors - have been trained to Work the fae in specific ways that resemble D&D wizard spells; some people - called Adepts - can work with it more instinctively and powerfully. The Church gives people a focus for their thoughts, fears and beliefs, and harnesses the minds of hundreds of untrained people to work the fae collectively in what resembles ritual magic.
The main effect of all this is that this "magic" depends on the flow of the fae - it's easier to use the fae against someone "downwind" of you, but it's also harder to hide from them as the fae carries your imprint to them. In areas where the fae is weak or absent, you can't do "magic" at all.
I was wondering if anyone's come across any attempt to codify a similar concept in D&D (or other RPG) rules?