Quote from: The Worid;300221Anyone care to explain the magic system?

There are two types of magic:

The first is tied to the arts. You can cast spells by writing, painting, sculpting, or playing an instrument. There are some exceptions, but most casters in the current time-line of Agone can only easily access the lower forms of these arts. And most of those spells have a difficulty, casting time(how long it takes to paint, carve, write, or play the necessary artistic component), and effect much like spells in other systems. There are a few known orchestra spells(music performed by multiple mages in concert), though there aren't enough mages to make very big magical orchestras. And there is a combination art(writing/music) that focuses on poetry and other passage recitation(including proper timing as well as the words themselves).

The music art is further broken down by instrument type(with the harpsichord being associated with the Masque, though that might be baseless superstition), though there is as of yet no vocal music art(though the Sirens of the Isle of Autumn have inspired some to begin research into such, as the Siren song is supremely useful to anyone who wants to retain their free will). And the painting art is broken down by seasons -- seasonlings who use this art tend only to learn the paintings of their own season, though there has been some experimentation into multiple-season paintings.

Most of the actual spells available to most are low magic, and as I already said, don't take long to cast(there are some exceptions that take longer to cast, especially in the sculpting art). There are remnants of the previous age of high magic(the Flamboyance) that are much more complicated and powerful. Vista(painting), for example, can potentially be used to effectively create pocket dimensions and portals connecting distant points of the world in its "high" form. Sculpting can be used to create semi-living beings(think gargoyles), powerful artifacts, and even buildings with peculiar powers(like the ability to turn invisible, shift rooms around, etc.).

The type of stuff each magical art can accomplish(even at the low-magic level) tend to be themed to some degree. Such as sculpting being the best way to create enchanted objects. And the combined writing/music art(cantor I think) has some focus on time manipulation.

That doesn't even say everything, but it's a lot. And on to the second type of magic:

Dancers -- I believe they are living remnants of Diurn's power(the eternal of light who is currently cut off from the world by the power of the Darken[eternal of darkness and servant of the Masque]). Or bits of the "dead" goddesses that didn't become magical sparks of inspiration(the things that give the PCs their magical powers). I forget which.

There are three methods that people use dancers. The first is jornism, in which the master and dancer come to know and trust one another fully. This school of dance magic generally focuses on healing type stuff. The second is eclipsism, in which the master and dancer are more detached. It's better at obfuscation type spells. And the last is obscanturism, in which the dancer is actually tortured(physically AND psychologically) in order to provoke the desired movements. Unsurprisingly, it's the school best at direct damage spells, and paradoxically the master and dancer in this school may be every bit as close as any jornist -- a bit of a necessity since they have to know just how far they can push their dancers w/o causing permanent harm.

Dancers can only know a limited number of spells, though they can perform unknown spells at a higher difficulty. Also, dancers can perform spells that fall outside of the normal purvue of their school at a higher difficulty. And mages who control multiple dancers can direct them in concert to cause some truly spectacular effects, though it's not easy.

The casting system is pretty simple. Your base skill to use any magic will be determined by one of your derived stats and the value of the applicable skills. It's all figured out during chargen. You roll the die, add your base skill and any applicable modifiers, and you try to hit a target number determined by the difficulty of the spell(its threshold value, which is always in multiples of 5). In the case of dance magic, trying to cast spells your dancer doesn't know or that would normally fall under a different school than you practice raises the threshold. If you succeed, you wait out the casting time, and the spell goes off and does its thing.

The cover looks great.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;300290Dancers -- I believe they are living remnants of Diurn's power(the eternal of light who is currently cut off from the world by the power of the Darken[eternal of darkness and servant of the Masque]). Or bits of the "dead" goddesses that didn't become magical sparks of inspiration(the things that give the PCs their magical powers). I forget which.

Thanks for the copious information. One question: what is a dancer? Is is some sort of immaterial spirit, or is it more like a high fantasy Pokemon?

Quote from: The Worid;300293Thanks for the copious information. One question: what is a dancer? Is is some sort of immaterial spirit, or is it more like a high fantasy Pokemon?

There is magical material in the setting called simply Shard. It is somewhat rare, being the solidified remnants of one or more of the "good" eternals' powers, and is a vital component of magical artifacts. Dancers are small humanoid formations whose bones are made completely of shard, and their dance-like movements can cause various magical effects if directed properly.

I guess you could compare them to Pokemon. They are small, easily controlled(for the most part), and they produce magical effects. But they don't really have types -- the spells they learn and perform are determined more by their relationship with their master(specific discipline -- jornist, eclipsist, or obscurantist) and the specific training they undergo(specific spells their master teaches). No psychic type or grass type here!

If my memory serves, I really think they are somewhat sentient remnants of Diurn's power that came into being when the Darken cut off Diurn from the world(and a good chunk of his power that was being used in the world at that time). I'll be sure to check my book later. It's bugging me that I can't remember more clearly.

Those are actually some terribly interesting magic systems. Nice to see creativity in a game; I'll look for this book.

Quote from: The Worid;300689Those are actually some terribly interesting magic systems. Nice to see creativity in a game; I'll look for this book.

Click here for the Troll & Toad RPG book lot containing every Agone product ever released in English. This is where I got my set(and the set I gave to a friend). $16 plus shipping for the whole shebang.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;300700Click here for the Troll & Toad RPG book lot containing every Agone product ever released in English. This is where I got my set(and the set I gave to a friend). $16 plus shipping for the whole shebang.

Thanks for the link.

Quote from: The Worid;300689Those are actually some terribly interesting magic systems. Nice to see creativity in a game; I'll look for this book.

I'm just getting to chime in, but, yeah, you should. It's great. I own everything they released in English for it and have actually played. If an RPG company picked it up again, I'd pre-order. Immediately.

Seanchai

is this available on pdf. i'd happily pirate this (it's out of print, keep your pantyhose on!)

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;300809is this available on pdf. i'd happily pirate this (it's out of print, keep your pantyhose on!)

$15.99 for everything is hardly a big loss and the art is pretty snazzy.  Not trying to start the piracy debate but the product is still available dude.

Quote from: Idinsinuation;300817$15.99 for everything is hardly a big loss and the art is pretty snazzy.  Not trying to start the piracy debate but the product is still available dude.

Not in english.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;300822Not in english.

The items for sale at Troll & Toad are in English, yes.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;300826The items for sale at Troll & Toad are in English, yes.

What Geek said.

Quote from: GeekEclectic;300826The items for sale at Troll & Toad are in English, yes.

Well, I don't have that kind of money, so no one's going to be making any money from me either way.

And secondly, I'm not in America.

i just baught the books and im in the UK,  i had no troubles placing the order as they ship to the UK from what the site says so thats hardly an issue.