Magical Addiction

Copyright 1997 by Tim Dugger

In many fantasy roleplaying games magic is a powerful force. It requires extensive

study and dedication to master even the most rudimentary of spells or abilities. A
person has to wonder why somebody would want to go through such a rigorous
course of learning, and the extensive drudgery associated with being an apprentice
in such a profession.

The answer to this is simple. There is a thrill that comes with being able to control
the very forces of reality, to bend and shape to one's own will. The user of magic
feels as if he were a god or the ultimate being in those instants when he is shaping
the forces of chaos to produce a desired effect. Raw magical power fills his being,
and for that instant, he is one with it, and in control of it at the same time. The only
drawback to this feeling that the user of magic experiences is that it can be
addictive. It can take control of his life if he is not careful.

Certain theories expound that too much use of magic can corrupt the individual, but
this is normally only possible if there is some great evil force watching and waiting
to corrupt those who can harness the powers of magic. This document is dedicated
to another proposition, one that finds the use of magic itself to be addictive.

This document details certain game rules that can be used to simulate the inherent
addictive nature of magic, and how they work. It will cover becoming addicted
from the use of spells, from research or the use of certain magic related skills. It
also includes becoming addicted to the use of magical items.

NOTE: This system for handling Magical Addiction is designed for use with a
game system that uses a percentile based skill resolution system.

Before starting in on the mechanics of this system, we should take a look at the
roleplaying or descriptive aspects of magical addiction. Here is a description of the
process of becoming addicted to magic.

A character casts a spell by directing mana from one or more of several possible
sources through his mind and body to empower a pattern he has created with his
mind. Once empowered, this pattern alters reality in some manner. This is known
as casting a spell. The only problem is that the use of this mana leaves a residual
trace inside the character. This trace amount builds up as the magic is used each
day, and the body can only absorb so much of this residual mana. Once this
absorption point has been reached, the residual mana starts having a more
permanent and lingering effect, which manifests as Magical Addiction. The
residual mana drains away as the character sleeps, but the overflow of this has
already caused the accumulation of addiction points.

Addiction Factor
In order to determine an addiction to magic, you must first determine how addictive
magic is in your campaign setting. This should be done prior to any actual game
play in the setting, and not changed once play has begun.

The Addiction Factor (AF) determines how addictive magic is by giving you a
number with which to determine how much magic may be used or handled in a
given day prior to the addictive effects. The higher the AF, the more magic that can
be used in a given day prior to being affected by addiction.

It is recommended that you set the AF somewhere between 3 and 10. If you use a
magic system that uses individual spells with a limited number of levels, then you
would most likely want to use a lower AF which reduces the amount of magic
usable in a given day prior to the accruement of Addiction Points (AP). If you use a
system with many levels of spells then you may want to set the AF higher, allowing
more spells to be cast prior to the accrual of AP.

Daily Spell Level

Once you have decided the AF, you will need to determine how much magic a
character may use in a given day. This is easily done by multiplying the character's
level by the AF to give the Daily Spell Level (DSL).

Example: The GM has determined that the campaign setting has an AF of 5.

Your character is fifth level so this gives him a DSL of 25 (5*5). He can use up
to 25 spell levels before acquiring any AP.

NOTE: The DSL in no way has any affect on the number or type of spells that
may be cast in a single day. It is used solely to determine when a character
starts accumulating Addiction Points.

Spell Levels

Spell Levels (SL) is the term used to describe how powerful the magic being used
is in association with the DSL and the number of AP acquired by the character.
Each SL gained above the DSL in a given day contributes one AP to the character's
total AP number. SL may be gained in any combination of the following methods.
Spells – When casting a spell, the character gains one SL per level of the spell, thus
a fifth level spell would give the character 5 SL towards his DSL. If the game
system allows for variable power spells, or uses spell points of some sort, then the
level of the spell should be considered to be equal to the number of spell point put
into the casting of the spell.

Research – When a character is doing magical research, it is assumed that he

expends some minor amounts of magic, thus for each hour spent in research the
character acquires 1 SL towards his DSL. If the character is researching a specific
spell or list, it is assumed that he also casts each spell at least once on the final day
of his research, so the SL from these spells are also added towards his DSL on the
final day of research.

Skills – Many systems have skills that are used in the pursuit of either researching
or casting spells. The use of these special power manipulation skills also add
towards the DSL of the character one a 1 SL per skill use basis. It does not matter if
the use of the skill was successful or not, the character still gains the 1 SL per use,
though an exceptional failure could conceivably double or triple the amount of SL
received if the GM were cruel.

Rituals – Rituals are often used to cast spells that a character does not know, or that
are too powerful to cast normally. They are also often used to combine the effects
of two or more spells together for an easier casting. All persons involved in the
casting of the spell will receive a number of SL equal to the total cumulative level
of the ritual, or the total number of spell points placed into the ritual.

Magical Items – Magical items are often overlooked in many systems that have
some detrimental effect to users of magic, but not here. Use the chart below to
determine the general rating of the main power or ability of the magical item in
question, then use the column on the right as the number of SL the character
receives each time he uses the item. If the item has more than one ability or special
power, then just add 1 SL to the items base SL for every ability beyond the first.

The character receives the SL for the item every time it gets used. For items that
operate continuously, the character receives the SL from the item at the start of
every day as long as the item is still in effect.

Item Power Level Base SL

Trivial 1

Weak 3
 Modest 5

Minor 7

Major 9

Artifact 11

Legendary Artifact 15

For every SL above the DSL that a character receives, the character gains one
Addiction Point (AP). Although the characters total SL drops to zero when he
sleeps, any AP gained during any day remain unless otherwise removed (see
below).

Example: Jorg the Mage has a DSL of 15, but unfortunately he has also had a
very busy day. During this one day he spent 3 hours studying an ancient
magical text in an attempt to glean knowledge for a rare list. Jorg then went to
lunch down in a disreputable tavern, where a fight broke out while he was
trying to eat. He ended up having to cast 5 Shock Bolts, and using his magical
ring to create a shield to aid him in defending himself. During this battle, he
also used Spell Mastery to have one of his bolts strike two targets.

Artwork Copyright by Dika Wolf

Thus for today, Jorg acquired the following: 3 SL for the study time; 10 SL for
the 5 Shock Bolts (2 spell points each – 2nd level spell); 7 SL for the use of his
ring (a Minor item); and 1 SL for his use of the Spell Mastery. This means that
Jorg has received a total of 21 SL. This exceeds his DSL of 15 by 6, so Jorg has
acquired 6 AP for himself today. If he does any more magic today, he will gain
all further SL acquired as AP. The next day Jorg starts off again with zero SL,
but he retains the 6AP he has acquired.

Addiction Effects
For every AP that a character has acquired, he receives a special –1 to all skill rolls
and maneuvers not associated with the methods of gaining SL listed above.

Example: Jorg, as given in the above example now receives a –6 to all skills
and maneuvers not associated with the research or casting of magic.

If the character should acquire 50 or more AP he will then be required to make a

roll to be able to do anything other than the actions that gain SL for him. This roll is
as follows, with results of 100+ being successful:

D100 + (Will – AP)

For the purposes of this roll, Will is defined as the stat or stat bonus associated with
the characters self-control or discipline. In game systems that use stats ranging
from 1-20, use the stat itself. In game system which use stat with a range of 1-100
and a smaller number as a stat bonus, then use the stat bonus as the characters will.

Should the character ever reach an AP of 100 or more, then he will shortly die from
starvation and dehydration, as he is so totally consumed for his addiction to the
magic.

Removing Addiction Points

There are only a two ways known to successfully remove AP once they have been
acquired. The first method is usable only on the day in which the AP were gained,
and it must be performed within one hour of the time that the AP were gained or it
is not usable. This method of removing the AP requires that the caster use a
meditative trance to cleanse themselves of the AP.

The other method of removing AP is through total nonuse of magic or magical

skills for a specified length of time, The amount of time needed is dependant upon
the amount of AP the character has acquired.

For a character that has less than 50 AP, three days of total magic inactivity is
required to remove one AP. For those with 50 or more AP, two weeks of total
magical activity is required to remove one AP. Any character with 75 or more AP
will have to be forcibly restrained in order to adhere to the total magical inactivity.

Total magical inactivity means that the character performs no actions which can
earn him a SL.