Laws of Magic

Idea; Magic

See also: Limits of Magic

Across all known paradigms, magic follows these laws:

• Inertia: things continue as they are
• Possibility: anything can happen until something happens
• Harmony: likeness is sameness
• Contagion: once in contact, always in contact
• Displacement: raising this lowers that
• Entropy: things fall apart

In the Church of the Reverence, each law is associated with one Eternal.

Invoking a Law of Magic

Invoking a Law takes role-playing, not rolling dice. Invoking a Law takes more than just riffing on the details of a spell. It takes an appeal to significant evidence of something profound taking place. Just as regular magic is extraordinary compared to mundane phenomena, invoking a Law is extraordinary compared to regular magic. Invoking a Law usually takes preparation and forethought. The preparation doesn't need to be physical preparation (e.g., meditation may be evidence). The DM decides whether you successfully invoke a Law.

Experienced casters fear the potential invocation of the Laws against them and they often take great care to reduce their vulnerability. Part of a caster's formal training usually includes learning appropriate preventative measures. All Unbound are inherently resistant to invocations of the Laws due to their extraordinary belief in themselves. When you are the target of a hostile spell, you can debate with the DM about whether the Law can be invoked.

Example: Isawa is trying to start a fire in the building across the street. Isawa has chiseled out a chip of granite from the cornerstone using tools and a ritual unique to his Order. Isawa also has a page from the original blueprints and he has prepared this page using a similar ritual. Isawa channels the spell through the chip to invoke the Law of Contagion. He uses a candle to burn the page to invoke the Law of Harmony. The DM approves both invocations, for a total of 2 boosts to the spell.

Example: A Swarmkin cultist is trying to cause Isawa to spontaneously combust. The cultist has a glass vial with a sample of Isawa's blood from last week. He uses a candle to heat up the vial to invoke the Law of Contagion. However, every morning Isawa performs a thorough bodily cleanse in his lab, so the old blood is no longer strongly connected to Isawa. The invocation of the Law fails.

Brother Iron writes, "You ask about the Law of Displacement. As I see it, the Law is closely related to the Fourth Limit of magic: Entropy. That includes There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (TANSTAAFL). A fire must be fed with fuel. Our bodies must be nourished with food and drink. When a ship lists to port, that side rises higher but the starboard side dips lower. The multiverse seeks balance.

"We can take advantage of this balance-seeking with the Law of Displacement. For example, imagine a squad of soldiers wearing heavy mail armor. When they move, the metal clinks. They cannot be very stealthy. But! Take one ring of metal from each suit of armor, and place all the rings in an enchanted can. Throw the can down a well. What a noisy can! However, you've captured all that extra noise. So if you cast a spell of silence on the soldiers using the can, the spell will be especially effective."