Questions about Foci

[whitekeys]

As we are building the setting of our new Fantasy/Steampunk campaign, some questions came up about the functionality of certain Foci being used by magic users.

 

The first comes from the source of magic: something called a Solarium. It's not heavily defined at this point, but it's something like a terrestrial or extra-terrestrial entity which certain people are able to 'tap into' in order to control magic power. The ability to innately tap in manifests in very few people, less than 10 in the entire world. These people are adept magic wielders. Other people, though, are capable of learning to wield its power to a lesser degree. I'm wondering if the Solarium itself constitutes a Focus... something Immobile. After all, it may be the subject of attack, and if it were ever destroyed, any characters who would wield magic would no longer be able to, as it is the source of power. A Universal Immobile Inobvious Inaccessible Focus seems appropriate.  

 

I thought about defining this as an Endurance Reserve, capable of "fueling" magic powers, and usable by many people. Does that seem like a better option?

 

Characters wouldn't really get to take this as a Limitation at all, as it's just part of the story. Right? But I'm conflicted about the mortal nature of it and how important it is for characters' powers.

[Lord Liaden]

This sounds like the destruction of the Solarium would be a major event, something that would only happen as part of a story you want to run; not something that could occur randomly. If that is the case, then it's simply a plot device that doesn't need stats. OTOH if you want the Endurance that all the people tapping into the Solarium can use to have a defined collective upper limit, an END Reserve might be the way to go; but needing to make it a Focus would depend on whether or not someone able to find it, and wanting to destroy it, would be frequent or a once-in-a-campaign event.

 

Your description of the Solarium as an "entity" also confuses the issue. That makes it sound like an intelligent being rather than an inanimate artifact. Does it have a will of its own? Is it able to take independent actions? Then maybe you should consider writing it as a character rather than a Focus. And if the preceding holds true, does it have any say over when and how someone uses its power? In that case there could potentially be more Limitations on the magic-users' magic, or further Complications for them.

[Duke Bushido]

Before we can really help you, you must first decide what Solarium is and how it works.

 

In your post, you yourself offer a few options as to what it could be.

 

First, decide if it an actual place, an actual item, or some kind of otherworldly energy.

 

If it's just "the essence of magic," then that's all there is to it: it's a unifying SFX for all magic in your new world, and doesn't need to be stated out as anything further beyond the rules of how your magic actually works (if you even want to go that far; many GMs find that doing this takes the "magic" out of magic. )

 

If it's an item, then what sort of item is it?  A city-sized glass-and-brass dome that houses or possibly even generates magical energy?  Ten thousand crystals salted across the earth by some ancient ancestor or cosmic tourist?  If that's the case, then is it something that the players can possibly get their hands on?  If not, then see above.  If yes, then what effect on the game does collecting this stuff have?  Can it be hoarded?  Concentrated?  Distilled?  Destroyed?  Used as a power source?  If putting it in pressure cookers and boiling it for a few decades changes nothing, then again, it's just the SFX of magic.  If it's possible to affect or change it in some way, then the crystals might be Foci.  Or they might be reservoirs of magical END or some such thing.

 

If it's an actual place, then is it some place that is possible for the PCs to visit?  To plunder?  To destroy?  To improve?  How would they do these things, and what effects would doing these things have on the game?

 

 

I guess the short version of this already-too-verbose post is that you must first decide the concrete facts about Solarium's presence in your game.   Once you've done that, there's a pretty good chance you won't even need any help.

[whitekeys]

Before we can really help you, you must first decide what Solarium is and how it works.

 

In your post, you yourself offer a few options as to what it could be.

 

First, decide if it an actual place, an actual item, or some kind of otherworldly energy.

 

If it's just "the essence of magic," then that's all there is to it: it's a unifying SFX for all magic in your new world, and doesn't need to be stated out as anything further beyond the rules of how your magic actually works (if you even want to go that far; many GMs find that doing this takes the "magic" out of magic. )

 

If it's an item, then what sort of item is it?  A city-sized glass-and-brass dome that houses or possibly even generates magical energy?  Ten thousand crystals salted across the earth by some ancient ancestor or cosmic tourist?  If that's the case, then is it something that the players can possibly get their hands on?  If not, then see above.  If yes, then what effect on the game does collecting this stuff have?  Can it be hoarded?  Concentrated?  Distilled?  Destroyed?  Used as a power source?  If putting it in pressure cookers and boiling it for a few decades changes nothing, then again, it's just the SFX of magic.  If it's possible to affect or change it in some way, then the crystals might be Foci.  Or they might be reservoirs of magical END or some such thing.

 

If it's an actual place, then is it some place that is possible for the PCs to visit?  To plunder?  To destroy?  To improve?  How would they do these things, and what effects would doing these things have on the game?

 

 

I guess the short version of this already-too-verbose post is that you must first decide the concrete facts about Solarium's presence in your game.   Once you've done that, there's a pretty good chance you won't even need any help.

I love it when imaginations run wild! I wish I could give more information, but it is more or less up to one of my players the details of the Solarium, and we're not getting together until tomorrow when he may or may not have them   However, I'm quite sure I will rule that this doesn't constitute a Foci, or an endurance reserve. It's just part of the campaign setting.

 

Thanks both for your responses!!

[Duke Bushido]

I have received a great deal of help from this board.

 

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to pay that forward.

[whitekeys]

[Christopher]

It sounds just a powersource, like the Speed Force.
Or the Yellow Sun being the powersource for Superman/Lords of Order for Dr. Fate, except much less affectible. To quote the Guardian of Forever:
"I was here before your sun burned hot, and will be here long after."

 

The general rule is to only write stuff up on Sheets that mater for the character using it.
How does it affect each person that multiple users draw from a finite source? Sometimes just "nothing in there" when you need it most? How about Burnout version of Required Roll?

Or is there "more energy then you could image"? Then the limit is not how much can draw, but how much you can channel through your body/physical helper device (plain endurance or End Reserve to fuel the power; keep in mind that running out of end means you have to burn STUN; LTE loss can be used to limit magic for heroic campaigns).

There may still be storylines where the source is in danger. But those are just storylines, like the alien attack on the city.