Hermetic Magic
The Hermetic Arts represent the epitome of known magical power for solitary practitioners of magic. At once the most potent of effects, theirs is a subtle and dangerous practice. Most students of the Art require eight years of study and practice to become an Hermetic novice.
The concepts behind this craft are ancient, reaching their zenith with the legendary Grand Master Hermes Trismegistus (“Thrice-Greatest Hermes”) during the Ptolemaic Era of ancient Egypt. Indeed, the use of these Magics are not possible without fluency in both written and spoken ancient Egyptian, Greek, Hebrew and Latin... at a minimum.
Lodges & Ranks
Like sorcerers, Hermetics are defined by rank and belong to a Lodge. Lodges are something like local clubs, each requiring a house with libraries, workshops, conference rooms and staff. Most provide free room and board to members upon arrangement. There are usually between four and ten lodges in a country, and these culminate in a large, opulent manor house called a Grand Lodge. Its membership consists of the Masters and officers of the lesser Lodges.
All Lodges, however, are subordinate to the Master Lodge, of which only one exists in the world. Rumor has it that it lies beneath the Great Pyramid at Giza, and its membership is supposed to be comprised of the Masters and officers of the Grand Lodges exclusively. This is, however, speculation.
Two interesting facts about Lodges must be mentioned. First, only local Lodges have doors to the outside world; second, all Lodges are situated in odd places, either spooky and haunted or weirdly disquieting. In the first case, every local Lodge has a permanent magical portal to a Grand Lodge, and we assume each Grand Lodge has a permanent magical portal to the Master Lodge. In the second case, the Lodges are built on a confluence of ley lines (for reasons which are forthcoming).
Foci & Practice
Hermetic magic is unique in a number of ways, beyond which has already been mentioned. One such element is the necessity for focus items, referred to as sigils. These items are exquisitely personal, often items of jewelry, walking sticks, hatpins or the like. If the sigil is not on the mage’s person, he may not cast spells. The item is also enchanted to act as a key to unlock the portals between Lodges once the mage earns that right.
Second, once a mage earns the rank of Practicus she no longer ages. There are mages who claim to have earned their longevity in the fifteenth century. While this is technically possible, longevity prevents death by aging. Other causes may certainly prove mortal, and over long stretches of time such a death becomes more and more likely.
The ranks within the Hermetic Arts are:
- Novice (Average, +1)
- Zelator (Fair, +2)
- Practicus (Good, +3)
- Philosophus (Great, +4)
These are the maximum ranks in the local Lodges. While the Philosophi are also members of Grand Lodges, they are among the lowest rung in that company. Their sigils are (as noted above) enchanted to unlock the portals between Lodges.
More will be written about the higher ranks at a later time.
Metaphysics & Philosophy
Hermetics are bound neither by the primitive reliance on physical matter nor the inelegant formulae of accountancy. Rather, their practice is rather more akin to the performance of music. The mage concentrates to “hear” the harmonic vibrations in the world around him, then reaches out to alter the tempo, melody or improvise the “tone” to create the desired effect. It is a subtle and precise kind of art which does not lend itself to inexpert fumbling.
As an example of this last point, it should be noted that any catastrophic failure during casting (that is, failing the mage’s roll by three or more shifts) places an harmonic aspect on the scene. Harmonic aspects are those which flavor the environment as a consequence of the cost of magic. Fire spells may cause embers to fall, smoke billow, a sharp increase in temperature or some related event.
Hermetic casting is traditionally a slow and precise process. During the first exchange, the mage “reads” the current harmonics. Skipping this step and interfering with the harmonics without knowing what they are is dangerous: increase the casting difficulty by two shifts (or four, if an harmonic aspect is in effect).
The second exchange is “playing the improvisation” or “knotting the ethereal threads”. This is gathering the power for the spell, focusing reality to the desired end. The final exchange is the release of that stored power to change something in the world.
There is, however, a cheat to cast magic nearly instantly. While it is a handy trick, it is not without its cost. Hermetics experience harmonics during their apprenticeships first by becoming aware of the harmonies and rhythms in their own bodies. By the time they are practicing. magic, they can almost subconsciously “read” themselves and, through a trick called “the Unweaving” Sacrifice their own physical health for the purpose of powering a spell.
Unweaving only requires a single exchange to gather the necessary power and release it for it to affect the world; however, each exchange saved costs one box of physical stress. Needless to say, most Hermetics only use this method as a last resort. It should also be recognized that lay persons think Hermetics can and do tap into the bodies of others to affect their spells. This is not possible (for obvious reasons), but superstition rarely accepts logic and fact.
Spells & Their Use
A Hermetic mage may cast only so many spells before they become exhausted. One may cast spells at no cost up to the level of one’s rank (i.e., Novice may cast one, a Zelator two, etc). Any casting beyond that limit has the cost of a mental stress box. Technically, one may continue casting until all consequences have been used; however, keep in mind that magical consequences are both dangerous and frightening to lay persons.
Hermetics often require a spell roll to affect their targets, expressed as a brief formula (i.e, Rank vs. Will, etc). This means the caster’s Hermetic rank versus the recipient’s Will roll. A recipient may elect to forego their defense and willingly accept the spell, if desired.
The Hermetic spell list for local Lodges include:
- Touch of Heroism: (Rank vs. Will) Any one combatant in your zone maybe toughened, gaining one temporary physical and one temporary mental stress box for the duration of the scene. This may keep that person in the fight, but if that temporary box is checked when the scene ends, the person must accept a new consequence of equal value.
- Alter Environment: (Rank vs. Good, +2) This spell is, on its surface, similar to the Create an Advantage action; however, this spell creates two environmental aspects of the caster’s choice, with one invoke for each. If the casting roll is made with style, it becomes two invocations per aspect.
- Ghostly Step: (Rank vs. Fair, +1) The mage casts a spell rendering herself (plus a number of allies equal to her rank) invisible, with their noises muffled to outside observers. Neither is perfect, but it does increase the difficulty of discovery by +2 (i.e., an Average difficulty to find the caster becomes Good).
- Simulacrum: The
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