One other thing that I didn't mention was that there is a type of magic that is used by non-spellcasters called Everyday Magic. It includes spells like Spice that extend a pinch of spice into 2-3 tbsp. Since folks that use everyday magic do not use Mana (they didn't purchase the trait to choose tahares or paucalus), these spells cause nonlethal damage to themselves. Success for a piece of Everyday Magic is 3+Skill+3d6 vs TN 12.

It should also be mentioned that this world has no undead. In a sense, they are no 'real' necromancers in the D20 sense of the word. There are spellcasters that use LIF taken from others to cast spells, but no turning or zombie creators. (However, there are automatons and golems that spellcasters create.)

It's the culmination of about 2 years of work to think through the mechanics of magic and how it works. One of the reasons I like A!S is that it made more sense for characters to be able to learn one or two spells to survive in a world where magic is encountered periodically.

For example, take a warrior-type knowing a spell to purify a quart of water in order to survive in the wilderness. No crazy 'dual class' stuff, just someone learning from another how to survive. (That's why spells are skills and not traits.) In this example, the warrior spent anywhere from 3 to 10 skill points for this. Two points for the trait to be a spellcaster, and 1 to 8 points on the spell in order to be able to reliably able to cast this spell. It would be listed on his sheet as Purify Water +1-8

The purify water spell is TN 15 and has a cost of 2.
Assuming that this guy spent no attribute points on magic skills, he/she has a Mana of 6.
Also assuming that the warrior decided to be a paucalus with a two point cost giving a +1 bonus to spell success.
He did not purchase the Elemental Skill Group, so he spent 1 to 8 points on the specific Purify Water skill. He cannot cast a wall, bolt, or blast.

The roll for success is 3 (Attribute is 3) + Skill + 1 (Paucalus) + 3d6 against TN15.

The fact that the spell is in the Earth (Lur) school and focuses on the "Power" Attribute is not really important to the character or the player. The Attribute isn't important because the character is all 3s in that group. The school is unimportant because the character did not purchase the skill group.

Let's say that he decided to purchase the Earth skill group. This would cost anywhere from 8 to 14 Skill points. In addition to being able to purify water, he can cast a bolt, blast, and wall against a TN12. However, he cannot spend more than 3 mana in casting them. In game terms, that give you a bolt that does 3d6 lethal/special damage, a blast that does 2d6 lethal/special damage, or a wall that provides 3d6 points of protection. He could cast two bolts, blasts, and/or walls, but that would use all his mana and the risk was mentioned in the previous post.

His skills would be:
Earth School +1
Purify Water +1 - 8 (+2 - 9)

An example of a 'dedicated' spellcaster is forthcoming.

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