Magic Hazards

A few magic hazards for your mage to keep on the lookout for.


Langolier- An astral being, a kind of spirit that exists only to feed and to destroy- the langolier seeks out any astrally percieving or projecting being and attacks it with a singleminded ferver. They cannot manifest, however they do have the perception ability that they can use. They roll their force opposed by the target's willpower. If successful they force the target to astrally percieve for a number of turns equal to the langolier's net successes. (Complex action). This does not work on things incapable of astral perception. They have no interest in the unawakened.

Disenchanter- An awakened creature similar to a camel with a face like an anteater, the disenchanter feeds off of magical auras. On an attack it can make a dispelling check, lowering the force of foci, active spells (including quickened ones!) or even the magic rating of mages (temporarily). It has ranks of dispelling and uses them automatically on a successful attack. Foci and active spells are permanently drained, mages gain their magic back at 1 point per day, and must check for magic loss if dropped to 0. They have little interest in the non-awakened, unless they are affected by spells.

Astral Flare- An astral "weather" event, that can sometimes happen in areas where large amounts of magic were thrown about. Most magic combats are not enough to trigger this, though extended battles with multiple magic users using magic could suffice. Typically it's seen in areas with high magical experimentation. This provides astral obscurement, giving anywhere from a +1 to a +5 visibility modifier to anyone percieving astrally. It typicaly fades a point every day or so, though cleansing can help hurry this up. In some ways it's similar to a background count, except that it doesn't directly interfere with spells or checks.

Astral Portal- A tear in space-time found only on the astral (though mundanes might feel a sense of deja-vu when they pass by). This happens due to intense magic, perhaps the death of a grand dragon, dimensional or temporal travel, or could happen naturally. This looks like a black hole or wormhole in the astral- people looking into it (Quickness TN 6 chance to avoid) risk taking willpower damage and going insane. Those astrally projecting individuals who get too close to it risk getting pulled in completely, severing the ties to their body and existing in some alternate dimension (where insanity will likely result), unable to return to their body in any way. These are rediculously rare.

Ejector- How these come about is a mystery- it's suspected that a special metamagic technique is used to create them- this astral phenomenon attempts to eject spirits and astral travellers back to their home(or body)- almost like an astral trap. Dual-Natured creatures just get nauseated near it, but possessing influences, astral projection, and spirits need watch out for these astral phenomon.

As my Magic and the Mundane posts shows, there's little reason to play a non-awakened character. Hopefully this will provide more reason.