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stewstew5
2018-07-03, 11:37 AM
So i'm making a new tabletop rpg system and with the class features system, I want there to be a different magic type. On top of Arcane, Divine, and Psychic, there is a a more spiritual type not in the sense of gods, but in the idea of the Atman or Qi that i need a name for.
Bonus points if you can also get a more adequate name for Psychic.

JeenLeen
2018-07-03, 12:17 PM
For Psychic, what about Soul.

I think it's best when mechanics reflect the metaphysics of the game world, especially regarding magic systems. (I'm NOT saying it has to, but that's my preference, so this is biased towards that.)
What's your cosmology?

I'm assuming Arcane and Divine are fairly traditional fantasy elements. Arcane is some method of understanding the world, enabling you to manipulate it through certain gestures, sounds, rites, etc. Divine is calling upon the gods for aid.
So what is Psychic? Base it on how your world views the mind and soul. If it is the power of the human (or whatever sentient beings there are) mind manipulating reality directly, then Mentalism, Psionics, Psychicism, etc. seem reasonable. If there is a strong link between the mind and soul, or the belief that this is the efforts of the human soul to manipulate reality, then Soul makes sense... though maybe it's not much better.

Sometimes, it's best to use a better known term (Psychic) than one that is more descriptive but counter-intuitive to players.

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To the main question.
I'm guessing there's a belief that Thou Art That since you mention an Atman-esque name. So, each human has an element of the divine hidden in them, and this is the 'magic' of tapping into that. It sounds a bit like psionics, so let's divide them. Psychic magic is the power of the mind, but it's based on the conception of Self as Self, the power of one's mind, ego, will, whatever to manipulate reality.

This magic is opposed to that. It's not pleading with the Divine for aid, or using Arcane methods to manipulate reality, or using the Mind to overpower reality. No, it is realizing and utilizing the Truth that all is a component of the Same. That the Self is That Other.

So what can we call this?
Self-Actualization sorta fits, but sounds clunky and references the Self too much. Emptiness? Realization? Truenaming kinda fits, but that has baggage from other systems and your players will likely think it means something else. Naming? Calling stuff by its true name, making it realize it is what it is, and changing based on that--or Naming yourself, to enable you to do what you truly can?

I'd vote on Naming.
Or look up a Hindu or Buddhist mystic name and choose that. I think there's some word that means Emptiness or Nothingness (in the positive sense of their theologies) that might fit, but my memory fails me.

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Though, I think having 4 names of magic systems only really helps if you have a good mechanical distinction between them. But that's my personal bias. I can still see a game being fun where a cleric call upon his god to create a fireball, a wizard does his rites and words to call forth a fireball, a psychic uses force of will to generate a fireball, and a namer tells reality to become a fireball.

Grod_The_Giant
2018-07-03, 01:46 PM
Mind for psychic magic and Soul for spiritual magic? Sets up a dichotomy to go with the traditional arcane/divine split.

stewstew5
2018-07-03, 01:51 PM
For Psychic, what about Soul.

I think it's best when mechanics reflect the metaphysics of the game world, especially regarding magic systems. (I'm NOT saying it has to, but that's my preference, so this is biased towards that.)
What's your cosmology?

I'm assuming Arcane and Divine are fairly traditional fantasy elements. Arcane is some method of understanding the world, enabling you to manipulate it through certain gestures, sounds, rites, etc. Divine is calling upon the gods for aid.
So what is Psychic? Base it on how your world views the mind and soul. If it is the power of the human (or whatever sentient beings there are) mind manipulating reality directly, then Mentalism, Psionics, Psychicism, etc. seem reasonable. If there is a strong link between the mind and soul, or the belief that this is the efforts of the human soul to manipulate reality, then Soul makes sense... though maybe it's not much better.

Sometimes, it's best to use a better known term (Psychic) than one that is more descriptive but counter-intuitive to players.

---

To the main question.
I'm guessing there's a belief that Thou Art That since you mention an Atman-esque name. So, each human has an element of the divine hidden in them, and this is the 'magic' of tapping into that. It sounds a bit like psionics, so let's divide them. Psychic magic is the power of the mind, but it's based on the conception of Self as Self, the power of one's mind, ego, will, whatever to manipulate reality.

This magic is opposed to that. It's not pleading with the Divine for aid, or using Arcane methods to manipulate reality, or using the Mind to overpower reality. No, it is realizing and utilizing the Truth that all is a component of the Same. That the Self is That Other.

So what can we call this?
Self-Actualization sorta fits, but sounds clunky and references the Self too much. Emptiness? Realization? Truenaming kinda fits, but that has baggage from other systems and your players will likely think it means something else. Naming? Calling stuff by its true name, making it realize it is what it is, and changing based on that--or Naming yourself, to enable you to do what you truly can?

I'd vote on Naming.
Or look up a Hindu or Buddhist mystic name and choose that. I think there's some word that means Emptiness or Nothingness (in the positive sense of their theologies) that might fit, but my memory fails me.

---

Though, I think having 4 names of magic systems only really helps if you have a good mechanical distinction between them. But that's my personal bias. I can still see a game being fun where a cleric call upon his god to create a fireball, a wizard does his rites and words to call forth a fireball, a psychic uses force of will to generate a fireball, and a namer tells reality to become a fireball.

The types of magic, in response to your last statement, determines how they interact. Only an Arcane casting of read magic can read Arcane magic, and only a Divine counterspell can counter a Divine spell.

Secondly, there is no cosmology. This system is simply rules of combat, rules of play, and character creation, developement and furtherment.

However, it is assumed that Psychic spells come from the influence one's mind has over the world and similarily the new magic comes from the influence of one's soul

stewstew5
2018-07-03, 01:54 PM
Mind for psychic magic and Soul for spiritual magic? Sets up a dichotomy to go with the traditional arcane/divine split.

This is what I'm going for, but since I'm using Divine and Arcane, and not magic and godly, i feel like these options wouldn't fit