Lords of Ether (20th Anniversary Edition) Mages
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11. Mages
In the end magic is about one thing: personal power. Technology gives ability to any who would use it whether they understand it or not but magic concentrates ability in the hands of the chosen few who have taken the time and effort to learn. This means that even in mystical societies magic is always less widespread than technology, but then there are few things on heaven or earth so awesomely powerful as Mages. Few things are also less expendable, and Mages are a resource that must be carefully hoarded, nourished and nurtured.
The most critical unit for any magical society is the Mage himself. Mages are not a collection of wildly differing Types like infantry, tanks, airplanes and ships, but are instead defined by the level of skill they have achieved. While a Power may know everything about every Magical Category, the mages of that Power may not know all their parent civilization does. In fact very few mages ever attain that level of knowledge and power, and those that do are held in awe.
The power of a Mage is determined both by the highest single magical level he or she has and/or by the total number of magical levels he or she is proficient in. While all Mage Types when purchased are assumed to meet both the minimum starting requirements for their type (the Magical Advancement Levels of the Power permitting) a Mage only has to meet one of the requirements to qualify for a certain Type: A mage with level 5 in Destruction but only 9 magic levels in total would still be an Archmage, as would one with 12 levels in total, even if no one Category was held at higher than level 3. A mage with 11 levels, the highest single Category being level 4 however would be a Master, if an exceptionally skilled one.
Training Mages
Like other Military Types, Mages have a Batch Cost which is used in determining their cost and how much Upkeep they require. However there are some interesting differences that are specific to mages. In particular Mages are built or trained with valuable Research Points (RP), rather than Industry or Wealth.
Mages are built in the same manner as a normal Military unit, with Final Cost being determined by Batch Cost, plus Added Capabilities, all multiplied by highest Magic Advancement Level
Base Batch Cost + Added Capabilities) x Magic Level
Powers also have the option each year of using the burnout/promotion mechanic for their mage forces: at the end of each year, you may add a single level of magic to up to 10% of your mages so long as you permanently lose an equal % of your mages. Thus, if you had a total of 1200 mages, you could gain a level of magic on 120 of them so long as you permanently lost 120 others. Mages can be promoted to the next category up (postulants to disciples, for example) via this mechanic. This represents the naturally dangerous process of mages learning and washing/burning out.
The Build Time Modifier for Mages is always x1, regardless of either the Magical or Technological Advancement Level of your Power. This does not mean mages are fast to train - they aren't, it's a process that takes lifetimes - and this rule exists primarily as a game mechanic. However, if you require an in-game explanation you could perhaps say that buying Mages with RP represents your Power searching the land to find those with natural magical talent, and then recruiting them into your forces.
Mages can also be increased in power and skill after they have been built. The first method for representing this is by conducting standard Upgrades. As with normal military units, the cost for this is the new Final Cost of the desired unit, subtracting by the old Final Cost of the existing unit. The difference is the Upgrade Cost.
Removing existing Added Capabilities and replacing them with new ones does not reduce the cost of Upgrades, and unlike with normal military units, removed added capabilities may not be transferred to another Mage. These Added Capabilities represent the skill and knowledge of the Mage and cannot be transferred as simply as bolting a different gun onto the deck. As with building new Mages, the FC is paid in RP, and the Build Time Modifier is x1.
The second method is to increase the abilities of a Mage over time through Training. Training is often slower than simply Building fully-fledged mages with the desired abilities, or Upgrading existing ones, but it is also cheaper. For the price of 1 RP, a one Batch of Mages all gain 1 Magic Level.
This Training can even include a Level that requires a Mage to be converted into a smaller Batch size. For example: it would cost 1 RP to train a Batch of 250 Postulants From Material Level 1 to Material Level 2. When Training completed the next year, the Postulants would then qualify for one of the minimum requirements of the Disciple Type (Level 2 in any Category), and so would be converted from one Batch of Postulants into five Batches of Disciples.
Training is declared at the start of the year (thus between January to June), and completes at the start of the next year (January). Mages in training may still be used for normal tasks, as practical experience is also a good learning tool, however if they are killed over the course of the year the training lost and the RP cannot be refunded. Since training declarations are as simple as listing the number of batches of each Mage Type that are undergoing training, this will only be an issue if you suffer more Mage casualties than you can satisfy by killing Mages who are not in training.
Note: Oracles may not be created by the Training method and must either be Built, or Upgraded. Training also cannot be used to gain Added Capabilities, and these must either be Built or Upgraded.
Mage Types
A listing of the various Types of Mages follows. Points are of course the Batch Cost:
Mages in Training
Postulant: 1 point per 250
A Postulant is a mage-hopeful. Postulants have a single Magical Category at a single rank, such as Level 1 Destruction, or Level 1 Movement. Due to the limits of Level 1 Magical Categories, Postulants are very weak spellcasters and are most often used as stepping stones for mages in training, or occasionally in those Powers with a surplus of the magically inclined, as spell wielding foot soldiers.
Disciple: 1 point per 50
Disciples are mages who are in the final stages of their training. A mage becomes a Disciple when he or she reaches level of 2 in any Magical Category and/or gains 4 levels of Magic in total.
Full Mages
Specialist: 1 point per 20
A Specialist is a mage solely focussed on one task and one task only. These are commonly found in the more technological societies as "Empaths" and "Telepaths" or "Tekes". In magical societies they are most often "Artificers", "Healers", "Windcallers" or "Summoners". A specialist can have a single Magical Category as high as 3, but possesses no skills in any other Magical Category.
Adept: 1 point per 10
An adept has finished his schooling in magic and is a "true" mage. Adepts have one level as high as 3 and/or 6 levels of magic known in total. Adepts are the mages most often sent on missions and quests, and often accompany armies, ships and expeditions. They are skilled enough to operate independently in a variety of situations, and powerful enough to be a deadly addition to a military force.
Trained Specialist: 1 point per 10
Trained Specialists are Specialists who have attained level 4 in their chosen speciality. As with Specialists, it is the only Magical Category they know, and they have no other magical skills in any other Category.
Master: 1 point per 5
A master is an experienced mage. Masters have a level as high as 4 and/or have 8 levels of Magic in total. Masters are often in charge of Adepts when conducting military operations, however due to the requirements of preparing Level 4 Castings they often require a great deal more logistical support and so are less common on independent missions.
Paragons of Magic
Expert Specialist: 1 point per 5
Expert Specialists are Specialists who have attained level 5 in their chosen speciality. As with all Specialists, it is the only Magical Category they know, and they have no other magical skills in any other Category.
Archmage: 1 point per 1
An Arch-Mage is a mage who has accumulated great personal power. Arch-magi have as high as 5 in their Magical Categories and/or 15 levels in total. This is the pinnacle of most Mage's careers, and few Powers have more than a handful of these awesome spellcasters.
Oracle: 5 points per 1
An Oracle is a rare creature, so bathed in Etheric forces as to be barely human. Oracles know every magical art their civilization possesses, and can take 5 slot free Added Capabilities. Sometimes Oracles rule their civilizations, sometimes they simply drift through realms unknowable, occasionally called into reality to serve others before retreating again. Oracles are considered "super weapons" so no Power may start with more than one, though they can build and acquire more as the game progresses.
Mage Modifiers
Mages can take modifiers for Added Capabilities. Due to the nature of their craft all Mages must reach a minimal level of competency; those that do not are harshly punished by the forces they try - and fail - to command. As a result there are no standard Reduced Capabilities for Mages. However, certain Mages over the course of the game may pick up Reduced Capabilities as befits the events of the story. These are always treated on an individual basis.
As with other types of units, the number of Added Capabilities a Batch of Mages may take is limited by their Advancement Level. For example, a Postulant can never have more than one Added Capability, while an Archmage may have as many as five (provided of course that the Archmage has Level 5 in at least one Category).
While Mages can be enchanted, they may not normally take External Added Capabilities, as Added Caps represent not any physical devices they may carry on their person to aid their casting, but rather their knowledge and training. There are however, some special cases where outside forces may grant additional power and ability to Mages in the form of External Added Capabilities.
Added Capabilities are usually rarer on mages than on normal military units. Mage Added Capabilities usually affect only one very specific area. As Mages are, by their nature, powerful and flexible units, they gain proportionally less from Added Capabilities than other military units do. On the other hand, mages do have limitations that some Added Capabilities can overcome, and due to their high Upkeep demands it is often preferable to have expensive mages rather than more mages. This is particularly true since Mage Added Capabilities do not add to Upkeep like most military ones. However, in the end Mage Added Capabilities are intended primarily to add some character to a Power’s mages, rather than make them far more effective. They are a way of taking a few special characters and giving their magic a distinctive flair. After all, Magic is all about the power of the individual, and no two individuals will work magic in quite the same way.
Mage Added Capabilities
If a player has a proposal for a new Mage Added Capability to add a particular flavour to their Mages they can propose it to the GM. Currently available Mage Added Capabilities are listed below:
Battlemage: As support units, Mages are traditionally more vulnerable when under attack. This does not have to be direct attempts to kill them; attacks on the military formation or vehicle they are in can also badly disrupt an unprepared Mage's focus. Even Level 1 spells are reduced in power when the Mage cannot concentrate properly, and the largest Level 5 Castings (which are unreliable at the best of times) can often fail entirely and spectacularly upon armed interruption. Battlemages however are skilled at casting spells in combat, and do not suffer as severely when under attack. Battlemage is a 1 point Added Cap.
Warrior Skills: Even Battlemages still rely on their magic when faced with threats, but this Added Capability allows a Mage to also develop his skills in physical combat. This Added Capability does not come cheaply for Mages, as the necessary soldier training must be added to their already demanding magical studies, however it allows a Mage to "Template Stack" (see Section 11. Production), adding the skills of Infantry Types to his own, and allowing him to take the appropriate military unit Added Capabilities. Warrior Skills does not replace Battlemage, and a mage with Warrior Skills but lacking Battlemage will be skilled at fighting with non-magical means, but will still be no better than a normal Mage at using his magical abilities in combat. 1 point of Warrior Skills allows a Mage to Template Stack with Unskilled, Skilled or Elite Infantry. 2 points of Warrior Skills allows a mage to Template Stack with Special Forces.
Engine of Destruction: A mage with this Added Capability is skilled at using his magic to enhance his melee abilities. At such close ranges even Battlemages have difficulty bringing their full power to bear, but Mages with this Added Cap become even more deadly in close combat. This is a highly specialized Added Cap, and a Mage requires Battlemage and Warrior Skills to use it to best effect, making it very rare. Engine of Destruction is a 1 point Added Cap.
Enemy of All Who Live: This Added Capability indicates a mage who is inordinately skilled at casting massively powerful spells, even the most deplorable Doomsday Magic. A Mage with this Added Capability gains one free Area of Effect level on all their castings. A powerful Added Capability, Enemy of All Who Live costs 2 points.
Dreamwalker: The Dreamwalker is able to move not just her Astral body, but her physical body as well through the Astral Planes. This makes the Dreamwalker's astral form harder to destroy as it is made of physical rather than etheric matter. It also means the Dreamwalker can effectively teleport to hard-to-reach locations by slipping into the Astral Realm, and thus circumventing many of the common teleport barriers and defences. Dreamwalker is a 1 point Added Capability, and can only be used by Mages with Level 5 Mental
Shapeshifter: This Added Capability allows a Mage to change forms at will, circumventing the usual lengthy change times. Because the shapeshifter can switch forms rapidly in battle they gain a greater combat bonus as they can choose the form best suited for any occasion. Shapeshifter is a 1 point Added Capability, and a Mage must have at least Level 3 Creation to use it.
Ghosts and Shadows: The Mage of Ghosts and Shadows hides his magic from detection, making it harder to detect the traces of castings; before, during and after they are cast. This does not make the Mage himself harder to detect - only his magic. This Added Capability also has minimal effect on hiding the power signature of prepared Doomsday Magic reagents This is a 1 point Added Capability.
Puppetmaster: A Mage with this Added Capability is particularly skilled at mind control, and once mental dominance has been established can maintain control over her target indefinitely. This means that the effects of successful mind control will not naturally wear off over time. However, control must still be established face to face in the usual manner. A Mage must have at least Mental 4 to take this Added Capability, and it costs 1 point.
The Great Hand: A Mage with The Great Hand has a longer range with his magic than normal, and gains an increase of his Offensive Range by one increment. This Added Capability costs 1 point.
The All Seeing Eye: A Mage with The All Seeing Eye is unusually gifted at the art of clairvoyance. The Added Capability increases the Mage’s detection radius by one increment. This Added Capability costs 1 point.
Mage Sight: Mage sight develops the Mage’s natural awareness of the unnatural. All Mages have a degree of this awareness, but Mages who extensively develop this second sight are particularly hard to fool or hide from, as they are better able to see the unseen and find what is hidden. This Added Capability gives a bonus to the Mage’s detection roll and costs 1 point.
Mage In The Shell: Some of the most ancient, most accomplished Mages, having long since exhausted the limits of their physical form, transfer their consciousness into other more permanent vessels, or even embody themselves as pure incorporeal thought, anchored in this reality only by a small object or device (sometimes called a “phylactery”). Such Mages gain many of the attributes of greater spirits, namely that they cannot be killed with physical damage. Their corporeal manifestations can be annihilated or their anchor points smashed, and they can be hurled into the Astral void until they can acquire a new bodies or anchors (which can be a lengthy and difficult process), but unless the very soul of the Mage is destroyed they can always return. A Mage must have Mental Level 5 to take this Added Capability, and it costs 2 points.
Multicaster: Mages usually can only cast one major casting (that is, any casting that requires additional expenditure of Ether) at once. The Multicaster has the unusual ability to use two major Castings at once. This Added Capability costs 2 points. Invincible! The Mage is extremely skilled at protective magics, and gains a bonus to castings used for personal protection. This bonus only affects the Mage themselves and does not help anyone else the Mage may cast defensive magics on. Invincible! costs 1 point.
Seer: The Seer can see what paths the future holds, and while such visions are usually clouded in the mists of ambiguity, even vague pronunciations of future possibilities can often be enough to guide a Power through a time of uncertainty. This Added Capability provides a command bonus to the Mage.
Fast Caster: The Fast Caster is skilled at getting off her magic first, and can often get the drop entirely on her opponents. Fast Caster is much like Fast Tracking, except this Added Capability functions for Mages and Magic. It costs 1 point. Fear and Wonder: A Mage with this Added Capability is an expert with magic that affects morale, both increasing and decreasing it. Fear and courage magic cast by this mage have added potency. Fear and Wonder costs 1 point.
Necromancer: The Necromancer has a *thing* for the undead, and may summon them without the usual side-effects for calling restless souls back from the underworld. This Added Capability costs 1 point.
Technomancer: The Technomancer is inordinately skilled at working with technology. Technomancers have a lower chance of casting failure when interacting magic with complex technology (such as teleporting) and may, sometimes (on a random roll) enchant devices of Tech Level 3.5 and higher for a short period. Technomancer costs 2 points.
Counter Mage: The Counter Mage is something of a spoil-sport, and trains to stop other mages from using their magic. This Added Capability increases the Mage’s chance to counter a casting, and costs 1 point.
Stormborn: The Stormborn was brought into this world to command the weather. Such Mages can twist the weather patterns of an entire continent, creating and sustaining vast storms, or banishing them to create clear skies. A Mage with this Added Capability can sustain weather changes for longer, and over greater areas. Stormborn costs 2 points and a Mage must at least be an Archmage to take it.
Inner Power: A Mage with this Added Capability has developed (or in some cases been born with) the ability to use magic with no physical props, spoken words, or elaborate gestures. To the Mage with Inner Power, magic is as easy as thought. This Added Capability makes the mage extremely difficult to disarm as their magic is entirely internal, and they cannot be stripped of it simply by taking away their staff, binding their hands, or gagging them. Inner Power costs 1 point.
Mage Upkeep
Even Mages suffer from the dreaded Upkeep. In fact due to the power requirements and basic Etheric inefficiency of magic, they pay proportionally far more than military units. Upkeep comes in three separate parts: the living expenses of your Mages, or Wealth; the material they need to conduct their magic, or Industry, and most importantly the raw power for their magic, or Ether. Upkeep is always based on the Base Batch Cost, but unlike other units, Mages do not pay extra Upkeep for Added Capabilities.
Normally Upkeep is paid once at the start of the year, however during wartime this can increase to once a month for Mages engaged in combat as the expend supplies and power much faster.
Unlike other military units, mages also pay extra Ether for particularly powerful magics. The cost of this is covered in Section 12. Magic.
Three Types of Upkeep
Wealth: As powerful individuals, Mages often command salaries far in excess of the common soldier, but more often the bulk of the Wealth paid them goes to supporting their laboriums, experiments, servants, and other supporting accouterments that often come with high rank. As with all Upkeep costs, Wealth Upkeep is based on the Base Batch Cost of the Mage Type, so 250 Postulants would have a Wealth Upkeep of 1, as would 1 Archmage. An Oracle on the other hand would have a Wealth Upkeep of 5. Wealth is not subject to increased Upkeep in wartime.
Industry: Your Mages need supplies for their magic, and this takes the form of Industry Upkeep. All Mages require Industry Upkeep regardless of their Magic Level, and it can take many forms, from simply gathering large amounts of rare herbs, to synthesizing complex jewels. Like Wealth it is based on the Base Batch Cost. While complex military units devour industry at an increased rate in wartime, mages tend to re-use most of their physical supplies (such as wands or gems) so they do not suffer increased Industrial Upkeep in wartime.
Ether: All Mages need power, in the form of Ether. Ether Upkeep describes the routine power demands of a Mage’s continual experimentation and practice, and the drain of lower level castings. Unlike Wealth and Industry, Ether Upkeep is subject to increase during wartime, and particularly powerful castings have their own additional Ether costs not covered by Ether Upkeep.
Upkeep in Wartime
Normally Upkeep is paid on a yearly basis, one payment being enough to last a Batch over a 12 month period. This is assumed only to cover routine duties and normal day to day operations – keeping the Mages in practice and honing their skills. However war devours resources at an astonishing rate so Mages whose magics are driven by the consumption of Etheric energy must pay Ether Upkeep on a monthly rather than yearly basis when fighting in war. There is no requirement for Mages to receive extra pay for entering combat so Wealth Upkeep remains the same. Also Mages re-use many of their most expensive magical supplies, so their usual yearly Industrial Upkeep still suffices even during wartime.
Because of the massive Ether drain of Mages and their castings, magical war is a very expensive proposition, and difficult to sustain without massive support infrastructure, extensive pre-war stockpiling, or both. Mages in particular need to stock up on powerful magics as these take both time and resources to create and often neither are readily forthcoming in the heat of battle. Luckily, many magic Powers have Simple militaries with forces like cavalry, swordsmen and archers who are not demanding on Upkeep, allowing the Mages to draw the bulk of the Power’s resources.
Limiting Upkeep Payments
As with military units, there are a few strategies a Power can use to reduce the drain of its Mages on its production.
Firstly you don't have to pay your Mages. High and mighty though they may be, they won’t instantly desert if they don’t get their annual stipend. However Mages without pay will start to grumble, and a discontented mage is far more dangerous than a discontented commoner, who after all can’t level your palace with an angry word. Not paying your Mages is thus a bad idea in peacetime, but if you're in the midst of a desperate war against an enemy who is already kicking your ass, not receiving their pay checks probably won't affect Mage morale much.
Similarly, you also don't have to pay the Industrial and Ether Upkeep. Doing so however will enforce a level of idleness on your Mages that is bad for training and development. Mages won’t lose their skills if you don’t give them the resources to do their jobs, but they’ll be unable to use any magic, be that Level 1 Hedge Magic or Level 5 Doomsday spells. A Mage without Industry or Ether Upkeep is essentially a normal person and thus useless to you as a Mage.
During wartime there is also no requirement to have the entire corps of Mages active at once. Indeed in many cases this may not be possible. Mages can be rotated onto and off the battlefront, both to rest them up and to conserve supplies. Portions of a force can be placed on reduced activity or held in strategic reserve to concentrate supplies in critical sectors, or save up for general offensives.
Mage Logistics
Mages have an interesting logistical dilemma, in that they are individuals, but they require vast levels of supply more in line with armies of thousands. To deal with this, mages have developed a number of ways of simplifying their supply problems.
Supply
All Mage Batches can carry one full Upkeep load of Industry and Ether - enough to last them either a year in peacetime, or a month in wartime. Once you pay the required Upkeep for your Mages this storage capacity is considered filled – it is not excess capacity. This means each Batch of Mages can effectively carry 1 IUU and 1 Ether Unit, save for Oracles who can effectively carry 5 IUU and 5 Ether Units!
The key word here is “effectively.” While 1 IUU is 5,000 CP, Mages are not necessarily lugging around thousands of tons of supplies. Apart from using such concentrated forms like Ether Geodes, magic has no way to routinely compress Ether like Technology does, however Mages have other tricks that allow them to limit what they carry. For instance, while vast amounts of Industrial Production may have been used to synthesize a very rare gem, the actual gem itself may only be the size of a fist. And while huge quantities of Ether may have been strained to get a few key elements of power, the flask that now contains this elemental concentrate may be small enough to fit on a belt.
Of course Mages often need more supplies than just their basic Upkeep needs, most commonly when dealing in particularly powerful Level 4 and Level 5 magics. Once fully prepared, the reagents of a casting take up effectively no space, but Mages do not always have the luxury of carrying all the right spells around with them, and may want the raw resources to whip up or enhance special castings “on the fly” as it were. For this reason, all Mages can carry around a special “reserve” of Ether (and only Ether) equal to their Batch Cost multiplied by their highest Magic Level. This a Batch of Level 1 Postulants, in addition to the 1 IUU and 1 Ether they can normally carry, could also carry an Ether Reserve of an additional 1 Ether for other on-the-fly uses (or for more Upkeep). Similarly, a Level 5 Oracle could have a Reserve of 25 Ether Units, in addition to her usual 5 IUU and 5 Ether.
The method for how this Ether Reserve is stored is up to the player, and it can be anything from dimensional pockets, bags of holding, or mystic ley-lines. The Mage can transfer this Ether to other units, which can allow Mages to function like living batteries for other units. However, a mage storing large amounts of Ether is not invisible, and often shows up on Etheric sensors – unless specific measures are taken to hide the signature, an Oracle with 25 Ether stockpiled would show like a blazing star.
Transport
Being singular individuals, mages take up no more space than the average person, making them VERY cost effective units to transport. While they may travel with a great deal of gear, it is often no more than the pack and weaponry carried by the average infantryman. Thus a Mage takes up 1 Cargo Point for brief journeys, and 10 on long journeys. This is the same for all Mages, from Postulant to Oracle.