Mortal Magic

Game: Mortal Magic
Publisher: Ronin Arts
Series: Whispering Vault
Reviewer: Wyrdmaster
Review Dated: 12th, June 2003
Reviewer’s Rating: 8/10   [ Really good ]
Total Score: 8
Average Score: 8.00

Mortal Magic is a supplement for the Whispering Vault. In the Whispering Vault players take on the role of immortal Stalkers and Mortal Magic is for mortals. Yeah. The clue was there in the name.

So does this work? It works extremely well. The Whispering Vault appeals to a certain type of roleplayer, those of us looking for something different and thought provoking. Games in which players end up hiding behind the sofa and refusing to come out until the GM quits being so spooky count as both different and thought provoking. Magic in the Whispering Vault setting is alive. Magic requires Essence. Essence is life. So, magic itself is alive. That’s the rather chilling summary the PDF itself gives. The author stated goal was to come up with something different for a magic system and that goal’s been met. The idea of fuelling magic with a bit of self or with life force isn’t entirely new but Mortal Magic takes it further and does come up with a slightly morbid system. Spells may become sentient, powerful spells are likely to become sentient and a spell with its own agenda isn’t necessarily going to do what its summoner hoped for. In fact, it’s possible to have a powerful sentient spell as a villain in the game, something the Stalkers need to deal with.

This is a review of the PDF edition of Mortal Magic. The original was published some time ago (the Whispering Vault itself is about ten years old, it was ahead of its time then and feels ahead of its time now) by Ronin Publishing and has now been brought back into the limelight by the combined forces of Philip J Reed and Christopher Shy. Gamers have a lot to thank those two for. In the introduction to this version of Mortal Magic we’re told that despite the temptation to replace some of the illustrations and re-write bits here and there the decision was made to present the unabridged copy of the book. Mortal Magic isn’t a cheap scan though; it’s a crystal clear, high quality PDF.

The supplement begins by discussing ways in which a magician can collect enough Essence for a spell. He might fuel it himself but its unlikely he’ll have enough Essence for any spell of note. Sacrificing others or subjecting them to cruel and unusual rituals supplies an easier fuel source. Mortal Magic and the Whispering Vault itself are for mature gamers. A few magicians might be able to meditate for the hours, day or even weeks required to channel Essence from the surrounding area, through themselves and into the growing spell. All magicians regain their Essence naturally as the slow ebb and flow of the Dream moves the energy from the surrounding area and into them. In large cities the side effects of this are minimal; there’s plenty of Essence. In sheltered areas, islands or where there are few other humans around, this sliding of Essence might result in plants dying and animals getting sick. This is just one example of the numerous insidious ways Mortal Magic can get creepy. Essence might also be supplied by the Unbidden or by Shadows. A mage who takes Unbidden Essence into himself for a spell will find that they are linked to the Unbidden and therefore influenced by it for as long as the corrupted Essence remains.

Lots of things can go wrong with a spell. The difficulty of the spell challenge is often very high. A mage is using his very soul to bring life to his magic and if he puts too much in then he looses it. A mage without a soul is without memories, ambition, the capacity to love or the perception required to notice the loss. Spells might turn against their creators. A successful spell is a horrible thing; a spell is a perversion of the Dream as it twists reality away from how the Aesthetics want it and towards the whims of the mage. Spells create Enigmas. Spell casting could well attract the attention of Stalkers. Ironically – but a useful plot twist – a mage does quite well in an Enigma; regaining Essence more quickly and finding magic easier to cast. Since magic is a perversion of the Dreaming it can be Mended by Stalkers. The exceptions are spells that Mages are using to reinforce the Dream, strengthening the Affirmation. Stalkers can’t Mend what’s not broken and areas in the Realm of Flesh with terribly strong Affirmations are not welcome places for the supernatural – here we have yet another wonderful plot building twist in the core mechanics of the system.

Items enhanced with Essence are enhanced with life. They might be warm to the touch, might sound as if they are breathing, might even have fur or scales and powerful items might begin to mimic their creator’s personality and may well be self-aware. At the end of the PDF there are some sample powerful items which have been passed down from sorcerer to mage throughout history and which Stalkers might encounter again and again.

Stalkers can’t wield magic themselves; they can channel the Essence. A mage might become a Stalker though and Mortal Magic offers up the game mechanics required to turn a Mage into a Stalker in a fairly balanced way. Basically, the mage keeps his occult skills and gets a whole new set of attributes. Becoming a Stalker isn’t a case of “getting powered up” it involves being entirely remade.

Mortal Magic is 144 pages long. You’re not left wanting any more discussion on the art of magic by the time the spell lists begin. There are pages of example spells but the system doesn’t require them. If you fancy a free form, invent your own spell, system then Mortal Magic is ideal for that. It’s just a matter of deciding how much Essence is required, what the ritual used to unlock the Dream might be and how hard it will be to bring it all together. If you want story telling magic then you’ve got that. If you want some examples or even the pages of pre-written spells that are found in many fantasy RPGs then Mortal Magic has that too. The spells are categorised by subject; those which alter the Realm of the Flesh, those which deal with creatures of Essence, etc and listed in Resolve/Essence order. The majority of spells are significantly clear of what any one mage might hope to fuel alone and will require a long period of ritual Essence building. This isn’t comic book magic. The sample spells don’t just say “Fireball” and then give a range and damage amount, they include a history of the spell, suitable rituals to produce it and possible uses for the effect. The average spell is about half a page long.

Mortal Magic’s penultimate chapter is a good collection of NPC mages and powerful items that might become of interest to the Stalkers. Readers are not recommended to use mortal mage characters as an alternative Stalker PC option. The mortal magicians aren’t as powerful as the Stalkers and they’re not really able to integrate with the game in the same way. Mortal mages might be used as an infrequent PC though, perhaps letting a guest player role play the Supplicant during an incident with an Unbidden.

The supplement concludes with a pre-written adventure. I think gamers who’ve taken to the Whispering Vault like vampires to blood or ducks to water won’t really need such an offering but it remains useful for those gamers who’d like an example of a Whispering Vault game or even just reassurance that they’re efforts are pretty much inline with what a key author would do. By this stage in the PDF we’re well into bonus material anyway, value for money having being secured long ago.

This supplement is well worth the cost and the time it takes to read it. If you’re in awe of the dark Whispering Vault world then Mortal Magic gives you something else to use. It’s always a triumph when a supplement manages to avoid charging you for more-of-the-same or changes things so much as to loose the theme and flavour of the original game. Stalkers might not be able to use mortal magic but Mortal Magic suits the Whispering Vault game.