Magic is a major problem in many fantasy worlds. It has to be defined, restrictions placed upon it, and these have to be held. Many settings fail in this, and major issues such as societal change because of magic are not considered sufficiently, if at all. To that effect, I will be giving my best to explain the way Karte-Caedras's magic system works, how it is restricted, and which implications it has. Since I am in no way professional in handling how societies change, I have placed major limitations on the magic system, sometimes cultural ones, but mainly functional ones.
How does Magic work?
In Karte-Caedras, a quite soft magical system is used, because D&D 5e's rules impose this on it. However, some lore reasons can explain why societies are not completely different or nonexistent because of some of the overpowered nonsensical spells (such as Create Food and Water) that exist.
Magic is a physical representation of things from another dimension, the Weave. Dimensions are not thoroughly explored at all in the caedrian multiverse, since Caedras itself is on a large flat expanse, with some planes having "layers" which are actual dimensions, but still tied to the physical world. They are not
true other dimensions. The Weave, however, is one such, from a completely different universe named Pruth-Henkuk (this is a completely different world, see the article on
Empyreus - warning, massive spoilers!).
A tiny part of this world can be entered or called upon through the Weave. The Weave is a non-physical layer overlapping with a place in Pruth-Henkuk that can be reached only mentally, as a soul. Some, like most spellcasters, can only draw limited amounts of it (depending on their experience) into the "real" dimension, manifesting the other world's energy as spells. Other spellcasters, the truly powerful ones, can actually see the Weave and walk there, in a mental form. They see only what their mind wants to see, however, often forming the Weave visible to them into relatable countrysides, such as mountains or mystical forests. They can interact with the world there, and form much more powerful spells that they actively push from one dimension to the other. Such spellcasters are often extremely old and powerful beings, such as a few gods, because their power is virtually unlimited and can change anything.
A few mortal spellcasters, however, can achieve the feat of walking the Weave. Through rigorous mental training, they can perceive the Weave and their spells forming. They cannot have any physical interaction with that dimension, however, rendering them only mildly more powerful than "blind" spellcasters.
This layer of dimensional connection can be damaged, strengthened, and ruptured. Powerful spells can require so much energy from the layer that it thins or even breaks over a certain surface, causing a small area to be devoid of magic. Such ruptures are usually small and repair themselves over time. However, immensely power-hungry spells might tear a layer the size of a continent out of the dimension. Such a horrible shock usually causes a rupture in time as well. The Weave quickly breaks down, and as the entire Duality of Karte-Caedras is engulfed by this hole, it is duplicated, leaving the ruptured Duality in a void without magic or any contact to other locations of Empyreus, while a new Karte-Caedras is formed in a way identical to the moments proceeding the rupture, but altering events in a subtle way so the rupture fails.
Spells can also occasionally strengthen the Weave by slightly pushing open the connection between Karte-Caedras and Pruth-Henkuk, causing spells over a small amount of time in a small area to be more powerful.
Who can use Magic?
All of these details on the Weave are highly informative, but they change in no way the problem the 5e magic system poses - how does it not unbalance the world? The simplest answer is by restricting the availability of such spells.
Mortal spellcasters typically do not see into the Weave. They simply gather information on how to catch some strands protruding of it, pulling them correctly, and producing the desired effect in that way. This takes a lot of training and willpower, as well as much knowledge gained through millennia of trial and error. This means that only around 20'000 b. OW did elves find out how to use magic, and they still had a few millennia before them before perfecting their technique so the greatest such a blind mortal could achieve was achieved (the equivalent of level 9 spells in 5e). However, almost only the mortal race of elves truly managed harnessing the technique of spellcasting so that a large population could use it, and then in a limited way. Indeed, most elves in 1000 b. OW even couldn't produce more than weak spells (2nd lvl), and even then, conjuration (the pulling of mass from the Weave into the material world) was hardly mastered by anyone. Powerful spellcasters of any race could produce impressive displays of energy, even objects made of pure energy (which would however dissipate after a while), but never any lasting real objects. Even real-seeming objects they could create were just condensed energy looking like mass to any kind of inspection, but disappearing after a certain time. Objects could be made through blind spellcasting by especially powerful creatures to last forever, but these could not be altered in any way and stayed immobile forever until dispelled, meaning they couldn't be eaten or drunk. Through repetitious casting, such as conjuring the identical object every day at the exact same location over a long period of time, will eventually cause the barriers between Weave and material world to be so blurred that an actual, real, material object appears in the real world without having to physically push it over. This usually causes serious tears and stresses in the Weave, however, which are clearly visible to any seeing creatures (sometimes, the object itself is present in the creature's perception of the weave). Edible things can also be produced in this way, but the effort is so huge and likely to fail that producing food manually is much easier.
We have explored the creation of objects and energy. All this implies the bringing of new elements from the other dimension into the material world. However, what if you used some of this energy to
affect the material world, not to add anything? That is what healers generally do. Blind healers however, even empowered by deities, can only accelerate bodily restoration processes or alter them in certain ways. They can do this because they live in biologically similar bodies to that of the creatures they are healing. No cleric could heal a cow - their innate or learned biology of humanoids is restricted to humanoids, and they have no knowledge over other races. This means that a few mortals, and then almost always ones revering a deity (the deity enables them to know their body well enough to understand that of similar ones, because it would be an impossible task to do this without their help), can blindly transform creatures similar to them, often with the goal of healing. Changing the organs or anything in the like of any different living creature, be it a plant or animal, unfailingly results in the death of that being, because the caster committed thousands of tiny mistakes in the process. Living things are much too complicated for mortals, and most immortals, to truly understand, resulting in healing being restricted to a few clerical peoples.
But what about non-blind casters? Well, those that can see the Weave aren't much different. They can see what they are doing, can observe the changes caused in the Weave through the casting of a spell (for example, by casting a fireball, a wood elf will see a tree in its perception of the Weave shrivel and burn, but quickly be regrown as the Weave restores), but not really how this affects the material world. Meaning, they can grow more powerful faster than blind casters, and mold their spells much more precisely with less likeliness for mishaps and less need for material components, but not identify their spell's effect on the material world before it is cast. Meaning, if they were trying to make a cow grow longer horns, most likely they would fail, because they still have no knowledge over the animal's complex biology. Interestingly, there are even less healers among the seeing casters than among the blind ones, because seeing people are less likely to refer to more powerful entities for spellcasting when they can see exactly what they are doing, resulting in them hardly ever understanding the complex mechanics of life even though they understand that of the Weave. Evocation is slightly easier for them, however, since they can actively form the objects in the Weave. However, their incorporeal presence in the Weave means they have no means of pushing true matter over into the real world, so even though they can much more easily evoke objects and make these last longer in the real world before disappearing, they still cannot make lasting objects with real mass that can be, for example, eaten.
There are a few very rare creatures able to physically enter the Weave, which are usually of godly power or above. Their physical interaction with the Weave means they actually leave Karte-Caedras, at least with some of their body, to appear in the Weave. Their mental power usually determines how great an amount of themselves they can transfer. Depending on their power in the Weave, they can make almost anything. Next to easily transferring non-permanent objects or energy (meaning, they don't have spell slots as they don't get tired at all from transferring these immaterial things), they can even produce real things with matter in the Weave and transfer them. The amount of corporeal presence determines how much they can push through, and how long they are able to keep this up before being exhausted. The results of this are that edible or drinkable things can be produced and pushed over into the material world. Some extremely powerful entities can even be conscious in both dimensions at once, being able to enter complex mechanisms such as a living creature, analyzing it, and changing things within it as if the material world were the Weave. The effects of this are that they can change anything anywhere, and have actual unlimited healing potential, amongst other things.
The Schools of Magic
There are 6 schools of magic. These schools are broad fashions in which magic can be performed. Most have sub-schools, which embody more specific aspects of the magic.
Abjuration
This is the school of magical fields and immobile forces. Many types of magic use abjuration.
Comprehension is the art of focusing on magical vibrations and suchlike to understand the meaning behind writings and speech.
Divination uses fields to find magical traces of creatures in the material world, and to observe them through the link created in this fashion.
Enchantment. A field can be formed around a weapon or item, granting it certain special abilities. Doing this works through Enchantment.
Illusion is the art of creating images and sounds using magical fields.
Fyloram uses magical fields to modify what a creature sees and feels, effectively charming them. It's the art of charming from outside.
Evocation
An evocator specializes in bringing momentary energy into the material world.
Telekinesis. In Telekinesis, an evocator channels invisible kinetic energy to shove, crush, or immobilize.
Hygieia
This is the school of modifying living creatures, for the better or the worse. It is a very difficult school, and can usually only be achieved with knowledge granted by the gods.
Goiteia is the art of changing the mind of a creature to charm it.
Necromancy is the aspect of Hygieia concerning death specifically.
Teleportation
A spellcaster can pull the strings of the Weave in a certain manner, pulling him through it and back into the material world in another location. This is the school of Teleportation.
Conjuration is an aspect of teleportation, in which a caster teleports objects and creatures from somewhere he knows to him. It's like fishing, but through the Weave.
Tilemeta
This is the art of entering and observing the Weave. Typically, this can only be performed by extraordinary spellcasters; those that can see (and maybe even enter) the Weave. They can use what they can see in the other dimension to track and modify magic at their will.
Discernation is the art one performs when using magical traces in the Weave to track creatures.
Transmutation
Transmutation is the school of modifying objects and nonliving matter, such as energy. Particularly powerful casters can even mold energy into matter.
The Ele'Sillian Principle
The elves were the first mortal race to make magic into an understandable and everyday thing. Almost every elf had, to a minimal extent, acquired the ability to cast spells during the pinnacle of the Elvish Empire, in 5'000 b. OW.
The elven magic was based on a theory, the Ele'Sillian Principle. According to their theory, all spell were based on an elemental system. The six elements (fire, ai, lightning, life, stone, water) stood as the six specifications of magic. If one mixed any one element with another, following the Ele'Sill'Mirn (a diagram representing all the elements), one would get an unpure spell, one using two elements at once. Such spells were typically weaker and much more prone to being dispelled, because their belonging to two elements increased the likelihood of meeting a resistance to a specific element.
According to the principle, a single type of magic existed, a type one reached when one mastered all six elements separately and became a great spellcaster. This element is that of High Magic, and stands at the center of all Ele'Sill'Mirns.
The ancient High Mages were the ones that understood all elements and managed to bind them to their will, effectively making them great spellcasters.
The Ele'Sillian Principle is not complete, however. Many spells aren't any mix or pure element, but already did exist at the time of the Elvish Empire. What did they do with those? They were named High Magic spells. Any spell not attributed to a specific element or legal mix of two is named High Magic, due to its odd functioning. However, casting a High Magic spell, or any other, for that matter, does not make someone a high mage. By far.
How does this affect Player Characters?
Most likely, your spellcaster is going to be blind. If it isn't of a clerical class, they can freely use their spell lists given
here. Also remember any objects you create will not be permanent and in no way edible. Clerical creatures will be able to heal, but only on a restricted range which you should define with your DM, depending on your deity's power. A dwarf cleric should very probably be able to heal any members of his race, and maybe also elves and humans, with likelihood of mishaps increasing as the cleric attempts it on ever more biologically different creatures. Maybe there is a clear barrier between what you can do and what you cannot do. Also consider the probability that your deity will put up mental blocks or just requests that you do not use your powers on a race or another, based on their own beliefs.
Conclusion: The effects of Magic on Ochebanian Material Plane Societies
The magic system of Karte-Caedras is very soft, indeed. However, heavy restrictions have been placed upon spellcasters themselves because of the Weave's nature and how they can perceive this other dimension. This causes varied abilities in spellcasting in different races.
During the Elvish Empire epoch, elves were quite powerful in the ways of magic. Almost all could perform low-tier spells, and a fair amount of powerful (lvl 9) casters could be found all over the continent. Thanks to their fey nature, a couple elves could see, and a single one - Eylamonàr - could actually physically enter the Weave, though only weakly. The aptitude on religion with the Silmarilus caused even seers to maintain clerical connections, enabling them to heal and change many humanoid bodies. Their incredible healthiness helped them greatly and meant no doctors or any such institutions could be found. Elves, thanks to the large amounts of time outside of farming their race gave them, could occupy themselves with many other things - including the study of
plants. Some managed becoming so aware of plant's biological functioning that they could change or grow plant elements, as well, even without seeing. Druids arose in this way, having a special contact with "nature", which was actually a kind of boon spread among the population which enabled them to understand most plants, as well. Sometimes, they even forgot humanoid functioning, causing them to lose "healing" abilities.
Human empires had a strong disparity between atheist spellcasters and clerical ones. Atheists, through any means available, tried rising as quickly as possible in their short lives to power. The short-livedness, as well as late arrival, of the human race caused very few to actually know the technique of magic (most techniques had been learnt from elves, anyway). Almost all were blind, and most had no way of developing their magical aptitude, causing them to forget it and live on normal lives. Those connected to deities saw this as the power to heal, hardly learned any other techniques because they didn't have the means to or saw their power as great enough, instead specializing on the biological manipulation of humanoids. This untrainedness caused very few societies to have capable spellcasters, and most to suppressed spellcasting as some odd thing.
Hardly any other mortal races invested actively into knowledge of magic. Certain races, like some gnomes, intuitively were able to wield magic. For genetical reasons, they had the aptitude upon birth of magicking. Such birth-magic abilities often resulted in low- to medium-tier casters, since they saw their capabilities as supernaturally given with no need to practice further or learn about it.
In conclusion, magic had only a small effect on societies. Many used spellcasters in offensive functions, notably the
trensandorian goblinoids, but not really for any other means. Magic could not produce anything lasting or useful in a longer term, causing it to be seen as some odd capabilities, or even scary ones, by most mortals. Magic was not acknowledged as an empire-builder, because no mortal could truly gain the ability of physically entering the Weave.
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