FUNDAMENTAL PRECEPTS OF MAGIC
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  1. The power behind magic is an intangible force called "mana,"
     which permeates all of reality.  Some call it a fifth
     element; others call it a different form of energy; most who
     have worked with it say that it is neither of the above.
 
  2. Whatever mana is, it is the essence of chaos; it is what
     allows anything at all improbable to happen.  If mana were
     not present in an area, matter would not be able to combine
     to form objects, the stars could not shine, etc.  (In fact,
     most variants of the "disintegration" spell operate by
     sucking most of the mana out of the target area.)
 
  3. Wherever there is matter in the universe, there is some
     amount of mana; however, the amount varies from area to
     area.  In places where the amount of mana present is just
     more than the amount required to sustain life, the laws of
     nature are relatively predictable, and high-technology items
     can work.  In areas with substantially higher mana levels,
     the universe is too unpredictable for technological items
     to work properly; however, this excess mana allows magic to
     exist (see below).
 
  4. Unlike all other known forms of energy, mana has "reverse
     entropy"; it seeks to flow from simpler substances, like
     air and rocks, into more complex ones, like living beings
     and technological items.  Living beings have evolved defenses
     which prevent this mana buildup from reaching hazardous
     levels; no one has ever managed to design an equivalent
     defense for technological items, so in higher-mana areas,
     the flow of mana into a technological item continues to
     increase until it blows up or turns into something simpler.

  5. Since mana is what allows the other forms of matter and
     energy to exist, it follows that by manipulating mana, one
     should be able to manipulate matter and energy.  This is how
     magic works; it is the art of channeling the mana flow in an
     area into certain patterns, which produce the desired effect
     on the rest of reality.
 
  6. Mana (and therefore magic) is an inherently fickle,
     unstable, unpredictable force;  even the most powerful
     mages of the world are far from any claim of
     understanding it.  Therefore, no mage is ever quite sure
     of what effect his or her spells will produce.  Given any
     spellcasting, no matter how powerful the caster is and no
     matter how well he or she knows the spell, there is about
     a 10% chance that nothing will happen, and about a 4%
     chance that some disaster will happen (the spell affects
     a friend instead of a foe, or a demon is summoned by
     mistake).
 
  7. There are certain rare people, called mages, who are born
     with the gift of sensing and using these magical
     energies, seeing the magical auras within enchanted
     items, etc.  These are the powerful wizards of the world;
     others may be able to learn simple effects, but they will
     never een be close to the mages in control or power.
     Trained mages can recognize each other on sight.
 
  8. Most spells can be cost with only a few seconds of
     concentration; the better the caster knows the spell, the
     faster the casting process is.  Unless the spell is
     extremely well-known, hand gestures and spoken words are
     also required, to channel the mana flow.
 
  9. Spells do not "erase" themselves from the caster's memory
     when cast, and do not have to be re-memorized.  However,
     each spell cast physically fatigues the caster to some
     degree.  (The more powerful the spell is, and the less
     skill the caster has in its use, the more fatiguing the
     spell will be.  Powerful mages may know simple spells so
     well that the fatigue cost is effectively zero, but a
     spell can never *reduce* the caster's fatigue level.)  In
     an emergency, the caster can draw on his or her own life
     energies to power spells, resulting in physical injuries.
 
 10. Many spells only last for a few minutes, or even a few
     seconds in some cases.  However, by keeping some degree
     of concentration on the spell, a mage can maintain most
     of these spells for as long as desired.  This is a
     continual fatigue drain on the caster, but usually not
     quite as much as was needed to cast the spell in the
     first place (so the caster's skill with a well-known
     spell may lower the maintenance cost to zero, even if the
     spell cost fatigue to cast).  Maintained spells require
     some degree of continual concentration; it becomes much
     harder for a mage to cast new spells when he/she is
     trying to maintain existing ones simultaneously, and only
     the most powerful of mages can maintain more than four or
     five spells at once.
 
 11. ANY SPELL THAT DIRECTLY AFFECTS A LIVING TARGET CAN BE
     RESISTED BY THAT TARGET; THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS.  (Note
     that not all hostile spells directly affect a target.
     Putting an opponent to sleep or turning him into a toad
     would require a resistance roll, but dropping a ceiling
     on him or casting a fireball at him would not.)
        For purposes of this board, figure resistance as a
     normal saving throw versus spells.  If the caster is
     powerful, or the spell is very well-known, a penalty may
     be applied to the save.
 
 12. Many spells affect an area.  Such spells tend to be very
     easy to cast over small areas (a few yards' radius), but
     the fatigue cost builds extremely quickly as the area
     increases beyond this.  Ten yards' radius is the
     practical limit for the average caster casting the
     average area-effect spell.  This means that the usual
     tactic for covering a large area is to cast the spell a
     number of times over smaller areas, rather than all at
     once.
 
 13. In cases where a single caster does not have enough
     energy to cast a spell, several casters who all know the
     spell well can join together in casting it, sharing the
     fatigue cost.  However, the time needed to cast the spell
     is greatly increased, and failures are more likely and
     much more spectacular.
 
 14. In addition to casting the specific spells they know,
     experienced mages can often improvise spells to fit the
     current needs.  Spells cast this way take longer to cast
     and are more fatiguing than "formula" spells, and don't
     work nearly as often (and when they do work, the results
     often don't quite match what the caster had in mind).
     When figuring the likelihood of successfully improvising
     a spell, consider the caster's expertise in the specific
     area of spellcasting being dealt with; a caster who knows
     a dozen spells dealing with plants will be much more
     likely to successfully improvise a plant-related spell
     than someone with only four or five, and someone with
     less than three would probably have no idea where to
     begin with an improvisation.