Magic in Pontifex
My main divergence in the Pontifex setting from any other given OSR setting is that I am either getting rid of the Magic-User class entirely, or at least heavily modifying it. In addition, magic and magical items will be difficult to access for the Player Characters.
My thought process behind this is that I want the magic in the setting to be entirely divine in nature. Each spell is granted to the person casting it as a result of their position in the hierarchy of the Church (which is still terribly undeveloped - more on that later). Therefore, all magic is divine. Probably. I can either do as I mentioned before and nix the Magic-User class entirely, or re-work the arcane spells to fit a more divine flavor. We'll see.
Magic is a closely guarded secret, and those who practice magic outside of the jurisdiction of the church are heretical outlaws. Therefore, unless the PCs infiltrate or otherwise conform to a position within the hierarchy of the church, the only feasible routes through which they might attain the knowledge of spells is through cult worship (see my previous post) or through adventuring.
Clerics also present a bit of an issue. I will have to mess around with the spell progression tables quite a bit to get them to where I want them to be for a lower magic level than standard high fantasy old school games.
My soundtrack for thinking about divine magic.
My thought process behind this is that I want the magic in the setting to be entirely divine in nature. Each spell is granted to the person casting it as a result of their position in the hierarchy of the Church (which is still terribly undeveloped - more on that later). Therefore, all magic is divine. Probably. I can either do as I mentioned before and nix the Magic-User class entirely, or re-work the arcane spells to fit a more divine flavor. We'll see.
Magic is a closely guarded secret, and those who practice magic outside of the jurisdiction of the church are heretical outlaws. Therefore, unless the PCs infiltrate or otherwise conform to a position within the hierarchy of the church, the only feasible routes through which they might attain the knowledge of spells is through cult worship (see my previous post) or through adventuring.
Clerics also present a bit of an issue. I will have to mess around with the spell progression tables quite a bit to get them to where I want them to be for a lower magic level than standard high fantasy old school games.
My soundtrack for thinking about divine magic.
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