The question becomes common magic. And perhaps, with concentration being rare, common magic used actively looks fundamentally different than it being used inactively. In a way, it isn't common magic anymore, it has been purified into one of the three forms. In the case of concentrated common magic, you've still made some kind of commitment to power.
But the ruling could just be that if it can be used actively (other than the unconscious in defense thing) then it looks differently than if it can't. Period, full stop.
Jane's devotee using her weapon breaker feat has it look basically the same whether she's using it to augment sword fighting or not. It's black light that shatters weapon. Maybe while augmenting she's got it playing along her sword. Maybe when augmenting she just shoots it out of her hand at the opponent's weapon while parrying. But either way, an initiate improvising it would look the same way (although maybe less impressively so), while an initiate using a Combat affinity to augment herself would have some kind of more quiet, diffuse magic, since the affinity itself can never be used actively except as a resistance.
LC
On Fri, 2005-29-07 at 10:56 -0400, Light Castle wrote:
> I agree, but it really doesn't seem workable by the rules, since active
> use of magic does not require concentration in the specialized systems.
> (Really, the only place it seems absolutely necessary is common magic.)
>
> LC
Powered by hypermail