I suggested three "house rules" for concentrating magic:
> >1. Characters can only concentrate magic when they commit to a
> >Specialized Magic System, defined as a theist cult, wizard school,
> >saintly order, animist practice, or the Selfrock Teaching.
> >
> >2. Characters must concentrate magic when they commit to a Specialized
> >Magic System.
> >
> >2. All Specialized Magic Systems, even the Selfrock Teaching, require
> >an ongoing commitment of no less that 20% of a character's time and
> >resources, modeled as Hero Points.
David replied:
> Other than the second #2, I think these are the standard rules.
For rule #1: On page 108, the HQ book says that characters can concentrate on "Innate Magic" (talents), Theism, Animism, or Wizardry for one Hero Point. However, it does not list any requirements -- the character to be even a communal worshipper or the equivalent. The character concentrates on magic from the Inner World or a specific Otherworld, but apparently does not have to join a specialized magic organization even at the lowest level.
Furthermore, p. 108 does not say that the character has to learn the Selfrock Teaching to concentrate Innate Magic (see the final paragraph on p. 108), only to be able to gain the benefits of concentration for Common Magic other than Innate Magic; namely, abilities from the theist, wizard, and animist Otherworlds. One implication: A character can actively use talents provided he has concentrated on Innate Magic. So a Lanbril worshipper can gain the ability to use those talents actively for one Hero Point.
This interpretation of p. 108 is at odds with the Hero Improvement Costs--Magical Abilities table in the Game Aids. That table lists "concentrate SPECIALIZED magic use" (emphasis added) for one hero point -- it requires characters to be using "specialized magic" (presumably, not Common Magic) to concentrate for one Hero Point.
My rule 1 above is effectively locking in the table interpretation, not the one on page 108, and defining "specialized magic use" somewhat more narrowly.
For the second rule (sorry about the stupid numbering): Characters are not required to concentrate their magic, except at the highest levels of magic use. For example, look at the rules for Theism initiates (p. 116) under Benefits and Obligations. They state "IF [the initiate] concentrates his magic, he can ..." (emphasis added). That "IF" makes no sense if all initiates are required to concentrate on theism.
This interpretation is consistent with the Hero Improvement Costs -- Magical Abilities table. That table lists costs for "Not Concentrated" characters to do a number of things, such as "improve an affinity by +1." Devotees apparently have to be concentrated, in contrast -- a number of improvements for devotees have "N/A" in the "Not Concentrated" column.
So, the second rule is actually a restriction of the HQ rules.
> >One implication of the above rules, I believe: Only characters who
> >commit to a Specialized Magic System can use magic abilities as active
> >abilities.
>
> I thought this was normally the case.
If you go by p. 108 alone, it at least suggests that Common Magic talents can be used actively once a character has concentrated on "innate magic". I am trying to rule out this interpretation with rule #1.
Thanks for looking at this,
Rob
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