This chapter is an attempt to create a generic magic system for the ARC role playing game. A good generic magic system is very difficult to create because magic is so campaign dependent. I think that the best way to deal with this problem is to create a variety of generic magic systems that are easily adaptable to specific campaign needs and that are also somewhat compatible with each other.
As mentioned in Chapter 2, I will use the term powers to describe all the types of skills that are above and beyond the mudane kind of skills that most humans are capable of. There are two types of powers: magic and special abilities. Magic powers (or spells) are used when a wizard turns invisble or shoots flaming arrows from his finger tips. Special abilities are used when a dragon turns the aforementioned wizard to crisp tost, or when the troll regenerates lost body parts.
Spells are broken down into categories (also called schools, spheres, beliefs and disciplines in other games). These are defined by the type of game played. An AD&D wizard, for example, has the following categories available to him: abjuration, alteration, conjuration, enchantment, divination, illusions, invoction/evocation and necromancy.
People who can cast spells are called wizards, witches, priests, warlocks and a thousand other names. In ARC I use the generic term spellcaster.
Generally speaking, it's up to the setting how spellcasters are dealt with. For example, in a highly magical world spellcasters could be the norm, while in a dark and twisted modern day game only a few individuals would be tutored in the art of magic. In some settings not everyone can be a spellcaster, some must be born with the gift or pray to a certain deity or whatever else the GM can think of.
In practise all this matters little, though. No matter how the spellcaster achieves his status, he is usually given a number of spellcasting-related skills. These skills, whose exact nature will be determined by the GM, should describe the following:
Casting spells is a problem that is not particularly easy to deal with. Different spells consume different amounts of the caster's energy (or even different energies). Spells may also require external components, like the blood of a bat, an ankh (or other sacred symbol), marble dust, etc. All this makes it hard to define one universal method of casting spells.
Items are objects that grant the user superhuman powers. Usually these are items that have the abiltiy to cast certain spells or mimic their powers. For example, a "wand of lightning" would cast a "lightning bolt" spell upon command, while an "invisibility ring", would mimic the powers of an "invisibility" spell.
Magical items can either be placed in the world by the GM for the players to find or they can be created by the players. The first kind of item is easy to deal with. You can choose exactly how powerful you want the object to be. If the players want to create a magic object then things are a little bit harder, because players usually have the ambition to create the Excalibur - or something equally powerful. The easiest and most fun way to deal with magical item creation is to turn it into an adventure. The players first have to figure out how to make the object, then they have to quest for materials that are required. The materials will usually be rare and obscure or even in the form of a puzzle.
(section not yet complete)