The spirit world is a place of near-perfection. Everything within it is created by divine inspiration or direct divine action. There is no way to begin to describe the world of spirits. Few ever attain a level of insight and power to reach this level. More often than not the inhabitants of the spirit world (spirits) will create places on the astral plane to deal with those mortals who know the ways of magic.
There are different places and times within the spirit world. Cause precedes effect, things are here or they are not. That is the limit of similarity with the space that any characters will be familiar with. While there are definite places, every place is connected to every other place, so that if you know how you can simply step to anywhere.
Any inhabitant of the physical world who ventures into the spirit world for more than an instant will suffer either Awe of Magic (d) +5, Fear of Magic (d) + 5, Distrust of Magic (d) + 5, or Lust for Magic (d) +5 and either Religious Zealot (e) (mystical) or Insanity (e). These are conditions that do not fade, but they can be bought off with HP. Like astral travel, spirit travel is completely non-physical, leaving any physical body behind, and possibly open to spiritual possession.
These are the inhabitants of the spirit world. When they appear they are manifesting themselves on the astral plane (something they can do arbitrarily many times simultaneously). In astral form they are an invisible presence in the physical world. If conjured into physical form they will either create a magical body to inhabit (with all of the problems associated with encountering magic according to the section Manifestations of Magic) or they will possess an existing body.
These are spirits who are created by, and serve, divine powers of "good." This is a necessarily fluid notion that can change from game to game, and even from time to time within a game.
These are spirits who are created by, and serve, divine powers that are dedicated to animals in one form or another.
These are spirits who are created by, and serve, divine powers of "evil."
These are spirits who are created by, and serve, divine powers of the traditional alchemical elements of air, earth, fire, and water. In this scheme air also represents creativity and sight, earth represents stability and strength, fire represents change and power, and water represents adaptation and motion.
These are spirits who are created by, and serve, divine powers that represent locations within the world such as streams, forests, mountains, and even households or cities.
These are spirits who are created by, and serve, divine powers that are dedicated to plants in one form or another.
Those listed above are only a sampling of the possibilities. Many other kinds of spirits are possible. Look to mythology, religion, fiction, and your own imagination when developing spirits. Examples are djinni, efreeti, the Greek muses, Chinese dragons, etc.
Spirits are developed using the Creature Building rules. It is important to know that there are four classifications of spirits. The most common kind of spirit is the lesser spirit, they usually have one area of power at a score of 50 and all other areas are at 5. Greater spirits have two areas of power at 100 and all others at 10. Noble spirits (knights, lords, and barons) have three areas of power at 200 and all others at 20. Royal spirits (counts, dukes, kings, and emperors) have four or more areas of power at 400 and all others at 40.
There are three ways to interact with spirits. The first is to encounter them in a physical manifestation in the physical world. If the spirit is lesser or noble it takes someone with MP greater than 0 to sense their presence, and even then will not realize what they are encountering. A trained magician or priest will feel their presence and understand what they are, if not exactly who they are.
The second way is to feel their presence emanating from another plane. Only noble or royal spirits have sufficient levels of power to be detected in this way, and then only by those with an MP or some other means of detecting magic, greater than 5.
The third way is to summon them. There are three kinds of summoning. The most blatant, resulting in a physical manifestation, is conjuration. The least blatant relies upon awakening that part of the magician that already exists in the spirit world and having the spirit interact internally within the magician, this is called invocation. The final kind is to have the spirit manifest astrally and travel to meet it, this is called evocation. These are the basis for Spirit Magics.
Any inhabitant of the physical world, without the benefit of spiritual protections, who directly encounters the full spiritual manifestation of a spirit for more than an instant without magical protection will suffer either Awe of Magic (d) +5, Fear of Magic (d) + 5, Distrust of Magic (d) + 5, or Lust for Magic (d) +5 and either Religious Zealot (e) (mystical) or Insanity (e). These are conditions that do not fade, but they can be bought off with HP.
Spirits can use their power to generate true magic items. They pay the -50 cost for permanent items when they do this. Other results go into the effect of the item like any other magic item.
Spirits can also bind a part of themselves, or have a part of themselves bound, into an item. This can be done as part of a pact, it can be the result of a religious ceremony, or an extremely powerful magician (or group of magicians) can generate enough power to do force a spirit to be bound to an item. If forced there will be an adverse modifier of 5 for a lesser spirit, 10 for a greater spirit, 20 for a noble spirit, and 40 for a royal spirit.
Such items have two innate powers for each level of the spirit bound; 2 for lesser spirits, 4 for greater spirits, 6 for noble spirits, and 8 for royal spirits. Each power will be at the level of success from the binding.
Some magical effects can only be used by those attuned to the item. This process requires at least a 30 daysof study in preparation (less one day per IN). Then it requires an MP roll. Success will grant a new skill at the level of success, Attuned to (item name here) (MP) (e). The first such magical effect is that of a power source. In this role the item always increases your daily power detriment recovery rate by one.
There will also be one power for every level of the spirit. Once attuned to the item, the wielder will be able to use the power at the level of the spirit. Such use will require the Attune skill as the primary power. The power level of a spirit is 50 for lesser spirits, 100 for greater spirits, 200 for noble spirits, and 400 for royal spirits.
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