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All magic is governed by four laws. This school of magic relies heavily upon material components and RP.
The Four Laws of Magic are
The Law of Sympathy: Literally "Like Produces Like", this Law attempts to aid in the casting of magic by the association between two factors. For example, a spell to create darkness might require a black veil - the color and function of the veil are associated with darkness. Another use for this Law is through the use of icons. Creation of an icon - a figurine or pictorial representing the of the subject you want to affect aids by creating a link between your location and that of your subject. Traditional voodoo magic is often depicted as relying heavily on this Law - through the use of Voodoo dolls as well as spiritual masks and so forth.
The Law of Contagion Literally "Once Together Always Together", this Law works in a similar way to the Law of Sympathy, with a subtle difference. Instead of making an attempt to create a link between your magic and your subject, you make use of an existing link by utilizing a part of your target. This link, called by a variety of names(such as arcane connections), can be anything, ranging from a wooden sliver from a table, to the blood or hair or whatever of a person. In the case of the table, you can use the link in one of several ways; either as a link to the table's location, the table's position, or as a link to the table sliver, to bring the table to your own location. Similar rules apply to part of a person, be it their hair, their nails, their blood, or even their clothing. This is why the people of the Middle Ages hoarded their nail clip- pings, hair, and especially blood - they feared its use in evil magic against them by witches.
The Law of Names: Knowing the True Name of a being gives you power over them. This True Name is the Name given to the being at it's creation. Some examples of this Law occur even in real life prac- tice of the "supernatural". For example, the Rite of Exorcism which the Roman Catholic Church uses to exorcise demons from a possessed individual involves first discovering the demon's name, and then invoking the name repeatedly to force it out. As another example, the legend of the Grand Grimoire, supposedly the most powerful book of evil magic in existence(if the legends are to be believed) con- tains the True Name of God, and the legend further states that should this name ever be uttered in reverse, all of creation will be destroyed.
No spell which doesn't apply at least one of these laws has any hope of working. Your skill doesn't matter. If you can't find a way to get one of these guys in your corner, you are wasting time.
Each one, beyond the first, that you apply will give you an effective +2 on the spell. That is:
# of Laws Bonus 0 Can't cast 1 0 2 +2 3 +4
This sort of mage will also find it easier to ad lib spells. It may take you time to set things up, but if you can RP the set up well enough, the GM should make some allowance for that.
None. Any spell you can find the right components and the right spell for you can cast.
None.
People who subscribe to this school tend to be very superstitious. They are constantly worrying about loosing a lock of hair or a shred of clothing. They view astrology and the shapes of tea leaves with great seriousness. Every thing they see or touch (or sometimes know) can be made to be part of a spell.
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