(Before I start this post I'd like to apologise for the gap in posts lately - I don't like making excuses for not keeping up with this blog but I had a very stressful few months where I had no time or energy to post here. That period seems to be thankfully over now though, and I should be able to post more regularly again!)
As you might be able to guess from the title of the chapter, this part of the book has the rules for using magic and machinery in the game. It features a lot of similar content to the 2nd Edition splatbook Marvels of Science and Steampunk, but with the addition of the Celestial Engine (discussed in my previous post), some of the rules will obviously change.
The start of Book 4 explains how magic is in decline in the world, and how because of this science has begun to take greater precedence, but also how some of the greatest power comes from combining the two in the form of marvels. This chapter includes a large number of lists - of spells, relics and marvels, amongst other things.
The first section is devoted to magic, beginning with an introduction of how magic came into the world, its role and a brief explanation of the Guild that governs the use of magic and those who practise it. In the 2nd Edition rulebook, the Guild is a singular thing, with various countries having branches. This new rulebook instead introduces the idea of regional Guilds, with different countries' Guilds governed in different ways, but ultimately answerable to the singular Guild. There follows a short explanation of the different kinds of magic that characters may use, before going into the actual rules of using magic.
In this section, the rules for magic are laid out. In 2nd Edition Victoriana I found that magic was a little unwieldy - it always took a while to figure out the process for spells and in combat especially it was a pain, so when I heard about the new rulebook I was interested to see if the writers at Cubicle 7 would use the opportunity to improve the magic system. In using the new rules and discussing them with players I have found that using magic is faster and feels more streamlined, without losing complexity. Especially in conjunction with the Celestial Engine, magic feels more fluid than in previous editions: though without a minor house rule, using the Entropy rules can be a little overpowered.
I also found that getting magic at character creation is now a lot easier: the points costs for magical Talents has been reduced and standardised, and so players who want to do magic in my games have found the process easier and less dear. Characters can now be specialised in magic at the start of the game and feel more like actual magicians than magicians-in-training with only three spells to their name.
After this, the chapter details each kind of magic more closely and provides spell lists for each one. Those familiar with previous editions of Victoriana will likely know of the various kinds of magic in the game, but some have been renamed or regrouped in different ways in 3rd Edition.
In the Magneticism group, we have Clairvoyance, Spiritualism and Goeticism. Previously these schools of magic were separate (known as Channeling and Spiritual Mediums and Faith Magic), but shared abilities in several instances and in general I always felt that they should be linked. All three Talents cost the same and the abilities cost similar amounts to use. Some of the abilities between the three have similar (or even the same) effects, but the difference is how the magic works and where it comes from. Clairvoyants see the world in a different way to others and can use abilities to understand it better (for example using Sixth Sense to gauge whether someone lies in wait for them around the corner), while a Spiritualist communicates directly with extra-planar beings (and can use abilities like Grace to "dispel the restless dead") and Goeticism allows characters to channel the power of the Heavenly Host (for instance to use Blessing to cure disease).
Next is Thaumaturgy, also sometimes called Hermeticism, is the province of the Guild, and involves a lot of study and money. This is the same as it was in 2nd Edition, as are a lot of the spells listed in the book (Aetheric Inferno being one of the more memorable ones), but the points cost for gaining the talent is smaller than before. Thaumaturgists also still look down on Petty Conjuring, which is the next magic in the book. Conjuring in the previous edition was less detailed than it is here: there is more information and history given to the magic which helps build a fuller picture for players and GMs.
Next in the book is Sigil Magic (previously known as rune magic), which has both remained similar to 2nd Edition and has also been changed somewhat. While the actual act of inscribing sigils has remained, the selection of runes has been expanded on to include other languages such as Ogham and Enochian.
After this the chapter turns to the Maleficium - the Dark Arts. The Demonology section goes into great detail, including covering summoning, making and breaking demonic contracts, possession and corruption, before going into spell lists. The Necromancy section goes into similar detail, including general information about the undead, the power of night-time in performing necromantic operations, corruption and spells. While much of this is again very similar to 2nd Edition, there is a very important difference: in order to use the Maleficium, characters need not buy any Talents to be able to take points in the relevant Skills. I think doing this was an interesting move, as it increases the allure of the Dark Arts by just enough that players might be tempted.
Next the book details some magical Relics that exist in the world, all of which are incredibly interesting, such as the mask that changes the face of the wearer to that of another person, or the red jade stone that allows the holder to speak any language. While the relics are not an integral piece of game mechanic, I personally found them to be intriguing and will almost certainly be using some in my next campaign.
In any high fantasy roleplaying game, many of these magical elements would seem very routine and comparatively low-powered, but Victoriana having grounded itself in real-world history immediately makes the magic seem a lot more impressive and unreal for characters and players. While it is still possible to do very powerful things in Victoriana, player characters must be far further advanced to be able to do them compared to other game systems, which can make playing a long-running campaign extremely rewarding without excessive power-creep.
The first part of this section goes into Marvels and using them. There is a long (nine pages in fact) list of marvels to choose from, some of which I have seen used to great effect by players in previous games and campaigns. In particular I like the India Harness, which gives the wearer two extra arms (immensely useful if your character would like to be able to grapple and stab someone at the same time). and the Basker Hound, a robot dog that I used as a plot device in a game I ran over a long weekend recently.
The final part of the chapter discusses clockwork limbs, something many would think of as an important part of playing in a steampunk setting, given that they look interesting and can form part of a character's backstory. The book goes into how to obtain a clockwork limb, attaching and operating it, the modifications you can give to it and the complications that might come with it to reduce the cost of it (for instance, the limb could be possessed or be old and clunky).
I love the idea of having clockwork limbs in a game like this, and the detail for what can be done with them is very good, but I found that in practice there was very little point to having them. The points cost or money sunk into a clockwork limb often exceeds getting something that would do the same thing. As such, in my regular roleplaying circles we found that having house rules for clockwork limbs was ultimately necessary in order to make buying them worth the points or money spent.
Overall, I think that though some things have been changed about the magic and steam technology, these changes are ultimately better for the game while retaining the same sense of wonder that these things are meant to invoke from players.
Have you used the rules from this chapter before? What are your thoughts?
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