Atomik Magick

Game: Atomik Magick
Publisher: Atomik Vortex Studio
Series: generic
Reviewer: Wyrdmaster
Review Dated: 25th, March 2003
Reviewer’s Rating: 7/10   [ Good ]
Total Score: 7
Average Score: 7.00

It really wouldn’t do to describe Atomik Magick as a magic supplement. The PDF download doesn’t supplement your magic system, although I suppose it could. Atomik Magick is there to let you design your own magic system. Once Atomik Magick has been used to create the basics of magic in your gaming world it can then be used to design whole libraries of spells and vaults of magic items. The add-on even contains text on familiars and alchemy.

Atomik Magick is an add-on. The add-on series from Atomik Vortex Studio is designed to be compatible with any game system, any set of rules, any number of dice – and it does that by using its own adaptable system. This adaptable system is explained in the Atomik Add-On Booklet and so you really need to have that before you use any of the Add-Ons. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that the Booklet is free. Grab it now. The Atomik Add-Ons have really impressed me and Atomik Magick is no exception but if the free booklet leaves you scratching your head, looking confused and whimpering “huh?” then I suspect Atomik Magick is not for you. I don’t think the Add-On system is overly complex but it isn’t quite the same sort of animal as many gamers have been brought up on. Atomik Magick demands the most from the generic game mechanics than any of the Add-Ons so far. GMs will have to decide what sort of magic they want in their world and how powerful it will be.

The Add-Ons aren’t dumbed down and that’s what I like about them. Skip to the end of the PDF and the references will confirm this. You may have heard of Agrippa but have you read “Three Books of Occult Philosophy” (1531) or Paracelsus’ “Archidoxes of Magic” (1589). There are modern references too, the infamous “The Golden Bough” by the father of anthropology J.G. Frazer, for example. It’s these academic resources that have gone into Atomik Magick and it’s the translation of these into gaming terms that ensures the Atomik collection is a must-have for all cerebral gamers.

After an overview of the historical resources that have gone into the thought process and design of Atomik Magick the first chapter sets about describing and defining the nine principles of magic. The Principle of Consequences, for example, is better known as karma and describes the causality of the cosmos. It’s the magical equivalent to every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Also discussed is the Music of the Spheres, the theory that everything is connected and interwoven. This is the magical companion to the physicists’ String Theory – and oh yes – if you don’t happen to know what String Theory is off-hand (but I bet you’ve heard of it) then don’t worry because its succinctly and clearly explained here. Previous Atomiks have discussed Stephen Hawking theories.

Most gamers will recognise terms and phrases from the four schools of magic. Thaumaturgy is spawned from a Greek term and not just a goth term; it eventually translates as “Wonder Working” and will equate most closely to the comic book magic of fireballs and lightning bolts that appears in many RPGs. Clerical Magic is that school of magic directly tied to deities and is also known as divine magic. Ritual High Magic is similar except the magician retains more control of the spell and has a bigger say in the casting. The last school of core magic types discussed is Witchcraft. This is more than Gardner’s Wicca but also a look at Shamanism, Vodoun and the Romany way.

The Add-On then sets about looking to turn these concepts into a working game mechanic. This is done with typical Atomik Vortex thoroughness. We look at the energy source for the magic, the casting method as well as advantages and disadvantages modifiers in the form of virtues and restrictions. The Add-On doesn’t come up with one set of rules for these features but discusses a range of possibilities. That’s very much Atomik Magick’s strength and weakness in one. There’s an awful lot to weigh, consider and compare. The samples section helps with this.

Magic system designers have to work out just how powerful they want magic to be in their game. Atomik Magick adapts and responds to this but you have to make the initial call. A point system is used to keep magic balanced with the other Add-Ons (Atomik Psioniks, for example). If a source of magic compatible with some sort of fuel internal to the magician then a magic point pool system can be used.

The number of points available for a magician’s own pool in this instance is expressed as the formula Magic Level x P. The GM sets an appropriate value for P. P for Power. If magi in the game are weak then P may only be 5, if they are powerful then P maybe 20 and if magi are akin to demi-gods in power then P could be 50. This is a good example of the sort of decision Atomik builders need to be able to make.

There’s attention to detail. In fact, there’s detailed attention to detail. Magic users often have specific sets of skills directly related to them or just associated with them and so these are considered by the Add-On too. Examples include meditation, demonology and occultism. Mages and Clerics may also have quasi-magical skills, talents and powers: danger sense and empathy for example. These are discussed and optioned.

The Grimoire is introduced as the trusty spellbook. There are all sorts of ways in which grimoires might work and the Add-On considers those, suggesting rules for such things as how many pages different spells might take in the grimoire and how long it might take to copy them. Ad Hoc spell casting is a possibility, as are adapted spells.

Spell slinging will involve casting times, ranged attacks, ceremonies and defence. Atomik Magick has intelligent observations to make here as well.

If you put all this effort into designing a system for casting spells it is likely you’ll want to create some spells – that is if your system uses “spells” in that way. It’ll come as no surprise to discover that Atomik Magick makes a comprehensive study here to. We go back to the nine principles of magic and the resulting spheres and circles of magic.

The generic point system works well here, the relative advantages of a spell which can hasten your actions are expressed in terms of X points as are spells that inflict damage from afar and spells that confuse your foes. In addition, these different options will affect the difficulty and casting speed of the spell differently too. It’s not often you see modifiers like 2xLevel² in RPGs but you do here. Released at the same time as Atomik Magick but purchased separately is the Atomik Grimoire and that Add-On contains 400 ready-to-use spells.

There’s more to magic in an RPG than just the magic system and the spells though. Magic items can play a key role too. The first sets of magic items that are considered by the Add-On are those that have a stronger presence in traditional occult and magical literature.

Magestones, spiritstones, wyrdstones and even virtue stones each have a small section of their own. Later on, rules for more typical magic items as well as talismans and charms are considered.

As is Atomik Magick’s style we discuss the game design of these items, how to add powers and abilities and use a point system to maintain game balance. However, as we move on to look at relics with magical powers we do see a collection of specific items and that’s more in the style of traditional gaming supplements.

Sandwiched between the different types of magical stones and magical items there’s a whole section for familiars. It’s not just the possible different types of familiars that are considered (natural, demonic, neromancer or homunculi) and their powers but their believed role in magic from literature and of course their likely role in a roleplaying game.

The Add-On concludes with a detailed study of the use of alchemy and game mechanics. This magic-cum-science is given the full Atomik treatment and has nearly ten pages devoted to it. Those ten pages include lists of reagents, apparatus and sample elixirs.

Atomik Magick represents value for money at US$6.95 for 90 pages. Illustrations are present in the PDF but they’re very lightly scattered. A paragraph at the beginning of the document credits the illustrations to books hundreds of years old.

There are no bookmarks in Atomik Magick and that’s a shame. The contents list at the start of the product is thorough even though it’s a page out by Acrobat Reader’s count (or exactly right if you print the PDF out and don’t count the front page).

Atomik Magick is 90 pages of information and 90 pages of game mechanic options. If you’re looking for something quick and dirty then the Add-On probably isn’t for you. The product requires thought and focus. It’s easy to praise Atomik Magick, it’s actually rather easy to be in awe of the download but that’s not necessarily a good thing. You may prefer something down to earth, a supplement you can dig into straight away and get your hands messy with.

It’ll take a bit of practice to get the best from the Add-On. I think it’ll take a touch of courage just to get going with it in the first place and not chicken out and steal a pre-packaged game’s cinematic magic system instead. Even if you don’t ever use Atomik Magick I think you’ll learn from it and that’s a great reason to flex the credit card.