Re: Where Does One Get the *Good* Common Magic?

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_...>
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 18:07:54 +0100

On Wed, Oct 01, 2003 at 04:05:56PM -0000, drpachyderm wrote:
> I had a neat little Landscape Deity in a recent adventure and told the
> players the mechanics for gaining magic from it. That's when I
> realized that getting magic from things in the mundane world is a lot
> worse than the standard Common Magic. Which begs the question of how
> one gets the standard Common Magic if not by worshipping things in the
> mundane world.

As has already been suggested: from the ancestors, from local (not necessarily landscape per se) spirits/daimons/essenses, from your family's, clan's or association's 'this is always the way things around here have worked' magical practices.

> So if Hrr'Chee (the local theist type) wanted a cool feat, he could
> worship the Cliff and get Rest Safely 13 and only be able to use it in
> the vicinity of the Cliff. On the other hand, he could conceivably
> also just pick up a Common Magic feat Rest Safely 17 and be able to
> use it anywhere.

Surely by any definition, both are 'common magic' in the broad sense. I'm not sure if that's your question (the dreaded cosmology of CM), or about the difference in the numbers (which is a function of the CM _keyword_, rather than anything inherent to either type of magical ability), or about the distinctions particular to one type of magical ability vs. another (like whether it's localised or not).

Cheers,
Alex.