Each magical path has 10 levels to it, this breaks up the nouns and verbs available for use in casting across them, limiting more unusual combinations for the high practitioners of the path. Native paths will have a reduced cost associated with them, whereas non-native paths will have a higher cost. In some cases a mage may gain access to a non-native warren through patronage, in which case the cost is treated as native.
Level 1-2: Detection and Measurement. The magician can
determine the presence or absence of anything the Realm
encompasses, with considerable precision, and can analyze
it. For example, level 1 ability with the Realm of Stone –
usually recorded as “Stone/1-2” – would let the magician
detect gold, and identify types of gemstones or rocks. Many
Realms can effectively be manipulated, a little, by anyone
who’s sensitive to them. For instance, Luck/1-2 might enable
the magician to tell what actions would be lucky or unlucky
– and by choosing the former and avoiding the latter, he’ll
usually enjoy good luck. In fact, the magician can probably
“nudge” the Realm in various ways.
Level 3-4: Control and Diversion. The magician has limited
control over anything that falls within the Realm. This
includes the ability to encourage its natural growth and to
calm it, but not to create it or suppress it much below its
natural level. Weather/3-4 might allow a ship’s wizard to save
the vessel from being blown onto rocks by turning the
winds around a few points, and maybe stopping them from
growing much worse, but the ship would still have to run
before the wind until it blows itself out. Objects can only be
reshaped within their natural limits, although perhaps a little
faster than usual; wood warps naturally, so Plants/3-4
could make a door twist loose from its frame in a few minutes.
Likewise, ghosts are always bound by rules and
restrictions, so it’s not hard for a wizard with
Necromancy/3-4 to create a barrier that prevents them from
entering a room. If a force or a power permeates the entire
universe, then level 3-4 in the associated Realm permits its
exploitation in straightforward ways. The magician’s person
and identity may be easier to manipulate than something
external; Health/3-4 might, with GM permission, let the
user heal his own minor wounds, but not regenerate lost
limbs or help others.
Level 5-6: Command and Simple Creation. With substantial
control over the Realm on a local level, the magician can
call up things that might exist, make them go away, repair
them, or change their appearance or capabilities. This also
permits the creation of simple manifestations of the Realm.
The GM decides what’s “simple,” but while a lightning bolt
or a rock should qualify, and a tree or an insect might, a living
person certainly won’t. Humanity/5-6 might, however,
grant the ability to heal (or inflict) wounds, influence someone
else’s emotions and thoughts, and cause the nearest
human beings to approach. Likewise, Motion/5-6 could grant
the power of flight, or Magic/5-6 could enable the user to dispel
most other magics by suppressing their magical nature.
Level 7-8: Authority. Anything that lies within the Realm is
open to command, and the magician can create all but the
most complex manifestations of this aspect of reality. He
can also negate use of lesser levels of the same Realm by
commanding that working’s subject not to be affected.
Decay/7-8 might let him not only cause the destruction of
anything that’s subject to decline (living or not), but also
make something that has already decayed work “as new” by
suppressing all consequences of the decay. Biology/7-8 might
enable him to change the sex of living things, make them
physically older or younger, or grant them special abilities
borrowed from other, similar species.
Level 9-10: Complete Power. At this level, the magician’s
control of the Realm appears more- or- less complete. He
can turn it off or on, perform the most radical transformations
(although he may need access to another Realm for
this; e.g., turning a tree into a horse might require not
only Plant/9-10 but also Animal/7-8), or create the most complex
forms from nothing (albeit still subject to any fundamental
rules of magic concerning permanent creations).
He can also remove or change individual features of the
target, often in complex ways. For example, Image/9-10
might permit him to make someone appear to be a man
to one observer, a horse to another, and invisible to a third
– simultaneously.
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