[Adonthell-general] Spellcasting styles

[Andrew Phillips]

In the process of trying to invent spells for our Elvish magick users,
I've actually managed to come up with some interesting possibilities
for spellcasting styles. These would fit very solidly into the
existing system. I'd like to share them.

Illumancy, chandelmancy, candlecasting or candlecraft

A possible subschool or Earth, Water, or Air magick, the practice of
illumancy involves the creation of candles that can be used as
summoning beacons, the direct summoning of elemental creatures called
chandlem, or the summoning of simple but magickally imbued candles.

These candles, when used as summoning beacons, define the space in
which the summoned creature appears. When the summoning calls up
either a candle or chandlem, the summoned thing creates a specific
effect in its immediate vicinity.

Totemic summoning

This style is a variation on air magic. The summoner uses small totem
animals (birds and land animals) carved of specific materials to focus
his willpower and bring the animal forth. There are some similarities
to the Half-Elvish invocation of animals and trees, since the totem
animals are usually carved of wood, bone, or ivory, but the skill does
not require any knowledge of Songs. For more fantastic creatures - ie,
those who roam wild in meaningful numbers, the totemic carving is
often made of more precious substances such as jade, crystal, etc.


Runecasting

This style of mixed casting has already been discussed to some degree,
but I wanted to add a note on implemenation:

Runecasting exists in many forms. One of the most adventurous of these
is the practice of casting spells through rune-marked rings. For
example, an Omae Ranger or Sentinel knows a runespell called
Sunhammer. It does damage to a single target by focusing a wave of
intense heat. In order to cast the spell, he must first know Wave of
Heat, which targets an area with low- to moderate-level fire damage.
If, instead of casting Wave of Heat, he wishes to cast Sunhammer, he
must be wearing a Ring of the Hammer and then cast Wave of Heat
through the ring. If the runecasting succeeds and he hits the target,
it will do significant fire damage and reduce the target's stamina.
If he attempts to cast Sunhammer while the ring is not equipped, the
spell will either fail completely or be cast as Wave of Heat.

As a sidenote, these two spells are inspired by an experience I often
have during the summer - that of stepping outdoors and feeling the
heat hit me like a hammer. If any of you can think of any more weather
inspired spells, either runic or standard, please feel free to submit
them.

Andrew