Channeling pure Mana can be very unstable, volatile, and physically dangerous to the mind and body (also known as Mana Poisoning). It requires a great amount of concentration and discipline to control it, and great care must be taken to reduce the side effects to the caster . It is so unstable that an inexperienced spell caster would have no hope in ever gaining enough control to use it without harming himself. When Mana was first discovered it resulted in many deaths and drove many to insanity in attempts to control it. For a while, channeling Mana was abandoned due to it’s consequences. But, there were a few that persisted. And those who did, found a way to break down it’s pure form, and use it with more control and less side effects.

The key to breaking down Mana is to treat it like pure white light. Pure white light can be broken down into the primary colors: Red, Blue, and Green; and further into secondary colors: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. When channeling pure Mana, only a portion of this energy is used to control a specific planar resource. The rest of the Mana is unused, but it’s presence still has potential of poisoning the caster and causing undesired side effects (spell reversal, uncontrollable surges, etc.). Once it was learned that Mana, in its’ pure form, was not required to control a specific planar resource, methods were developed to “filter” out the unnecessary portions of the Mana energy and use only what is required. And thus, the various colors of magic were born.

Red Magic (The Four Elements and Constructs): Red Mana is used to tap into the resources found on the Four Elemental Planes: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. A caster can manipulate these resources to create effective offensive spells, defensive spells, and other useful spells. Typical examples are Create Water, Fire Bolts, Ice Bolts, and Sink. Spells for defense include Ice Pillar, Stone Skin, and Wind Blast. Casters can also summon elementals and can bring to life constructs to follow their bidding.

Blue Magic (Positive and Negative Energies, Electricity, and the Undead): Blue Mana is used to tap into the Positive and Negative Energy Planes, as well as the fine boundary between these planes which exists in the Material Plane as electricity. Positive Energy feeds life while Negative drains it. Typically, Positive spells will include healing, curing, and enhancing the physical body (ei increase strength, agility, etc) while Negative spells will cause damage, inflict disease, and deteriorate the physical body. Blue magic is also used to summon, control, and create the undead.

Green Magic (Weather Elements, Animals, Plants, and Vermin): Green Mana taps in the natural resources of the Material Plane. Casters can control weather and the natural elements (wind, rain, lightening, fog, etc.). They can communicate, summon, and control animals and vermin. The can do the same plants and trees by animating them to life.

Magenta Magic (Sound and Silence, Light and Shadow): Magenta Mana taps into the very essence that is perceived by our ears. Typical spells can be Sound Burst, Shatter, and Zone of Silence. Magenta Magic can also manipulate what we can see by controlling light and shadow. Not only will you find spells like Light and Darkness, but Invisibility, Illusion, and Shadow Walk.

Cyan Magic (Souls and the Mind): Cyan Mana doesn’t tap into any kind of energy source, but rather communicate (and ultimately control) with an individual’s Mind and Soul. Typical spells focus on Telepathy, Charming, and Compulsion for the Mind; and Magic Jar, Soul Bind, and Speak with Dead for the Soul.

Yellow Magic (Teleportation and Scrying): Yellow Mana allows the caster to manipulate the three dimensions of space. With this, a caster can see far away locations and teleport themselves there. Spells include Scrying, Clairaudience, and Clairvoyance as well as Teleport Self, objects, and others.

White Magic (Altering Reality and Time): White Mana is pure, unfiltered, Mana. It can only be used by those who are trained and experienced in the art. Presently, only experienced Wizards can cast using White Mana. A White Magic spell has the potential to do anything (Limited Wish and Wish). White spells can also be used to manipulate the fabric of time. A caster can effect the way time moves for himself or in a limited area (similar to a Haste spell). Ultimately, it can allow the caster to go back in time and into the future.

Grey Magic (Generic Mana Based): Grey Magic does not really used a “filtered” form of Mana. Rather, it’s focused on the Mana itself. Grey Magic can be used for offensive spells (Mana Bolt/Magic Missile). It can be used to detect, identify, and disrupt existing spells in use (or while they are being casted). And it also used to enchant items.

Casting Spells: There are three ways to cast a spell: verse, gesture, and mind. Each method has it’s advantages and disadvantages. Verse casting requires the caster to recite an incantation, either from memory or from a spell book. This method take the longest, but the best chance of succeeding. Gesture casting require a series physical hand movements. It is considered the baseline in casting and the success rate is moderate. Finally, mind casting requires neither verbal or somatic actions, the spell is casted by just thinking it. The success is lower than the other methods, but it is also the fastest.

Spell Casters: In the Worlds of the Dragon Mist, there are many different kinds of casters. Some focus on all the colors of magic while others focus on just a few, and those who focus on only one. Essentially, there are three categories (or classes) that casters fall in: Wizards, Sorcerers, and Sciolists.

Wizards are academy trained scholars. They literally do everything by the book. Their preferred method of casting is by verse (it’s is considered the safest way to perform magic), although may at times cast by gesture (and mind casting is just too dangerous and not permited). Wizards can focus on a single or group of colors, but the truly talented ones strive to achieve the ultimate prize of White Magic (all colors). Students of White Wizardry spend most of there life preparing to channel pure Mana. However, those who choose not to study the ways of White Wizardry are still formidable. They simple choose to focus their studies on a smaller range of magic. It is common to find Blue, Red, and Green Wizards. However it may be rare, but not unlikely, one can find a Cyan, Magenta, or Yellow Wizard.

Sorcerers are not trained by professors or spend their days filing through spell books and scrolls. They are taught by a mentor. It is treated as an art or a skill that is passed from generation to generation through an apprenticeship like blacksmiths or masons. They know nothing of spell books and cast their spells by gesture and mind only. They generally tend to focus on a group of three colors: one primary and two adjacent secondaries; or two primaries and one intermediate secondary. Focusing on only one color would be too trivial for a sorcerer, more than tree colors is too dangerous, and rarely will you every find a White Sorcerer (only a magical prodigy would capable of handling pure mana with killing themselves, or go insane).

Sciolists are those who just dabble in the art of magic. They stick to one color only, either primary or secondary. They are dabblers because their main career choice in not a Wizard or Sorcerer. These are the Fighter Mages or Mana Thieves. They are generally safe from the Mana Poisoning because they limit themselves to one color. Sciolists cast their spells by either verse or gesture, depending on their background and how they learned the art. Because they can channel (albeit at a minimal level) they can use magical items more effectively than non-channelers, and tap into the full potential of the enchantment.

Magical Items: There are three types of magical items: single use (scrolls, potions, etc), permanent (weapons, rings, etc), and rechargeable (wands, staffs, etc.). All magic items must have a ruin on it, representing the spell effect and how it’s enchanted. Ruins on single use items usually fade after the effect is spent. For permanent and rechargeable items, the ruin is obviously permanent. Ruins are made with a special ink that has two key ingredients: Mithril and crushed gems (the type of gem depends on the color of magic).

Permanently enchanted items are tricky and its effects greatly depend on who is using it. For example, a sword may be enchanted with an electrical charge causing additional damage to the intended victim. However, if the user is not a mana channeler, then he would not be able to use this effect. That is not to say the sword would be useless. It’s physical attributes would still be enhanced, causing more damage and effectively usable. But the full effect would not be accessible to the non-casting user.

Mana Poisoning: Channeling Mana can effect the caster both mentally and physically. Every time a spell goes wrong, the Mana spreads through the body and drains the caster of strength and endurance. It also enters the brain, triggering portions of the mind that are not normally used. This occurrence confuses the caster and causes hallucinations (visual, audible, and tactile). There is a chance the the caster can regain control mentally, but it gets more difficult every time it happens. As the poisoning progresses, the caster starts feeling the effects physically; casting spells will become more straining, which could effect his ability to use his talents in combat situations.

There are two guaranteed methods that will cure Mana Poisoning: abstinence and Lirh’tim. For abstinence, the longer one stops channeling Mana (which includes casting and using magical items), the more the body rids the Poisoning on its own. Sorcerers and Wizards have methods in meditation that sometimes accelerate the natural process. Lirh’tim is a rare substance found on asteroids and in the blood of dragons (the older the dragon the better). All one has to do is ingest it and it will repel the Mana that is clinging to the body. Finding Lirh’tim is the trick (more on Lirh’tim in a separate article).

As a caster gets worse from the poisoning, and has not taken action to clense himself, he will experience more and more psycotic episodes. The episodes could last for long periods and depending on the nature of the episode, it may present a threat to those around him. Depending on how powerful he is, the threat may be very serious. A special organization of the Wizard Academy is tasked to hunt for those who are a threat. They will attempt to “clense” the poisoned, and if that doesn’t work, “termination” is their final option.

Warriors: The meat shields, the grunts. Skilled in combat, strategy and tactics. Extremely effective using an assortment of weapons and armor. Tradesmen: Otherwise known as the thief or rogue. It’s the skilled based class. Usually spies, scouts, assassins, and detectives, as well as thieves and just about anyone who relies on stealth and/or a broad range of skills, falls under this class. They are not too effective in hand to hand combat, but are quite capable of doing lots of damage with sneak attacks and with ranged weapons. Spell Casters: The channelers of the mysterious Mana. Mana is an energy force that binds the universe and beyond. To control it, one can accomplish extraordinary feats. But, given the volatile nature of Mana, there are drawbacks. These are mainly Mana Poisoning and destructive effects common to spell failures. There are two sub-classes that fall under Spell Casters:

Wizards are school trained and are more knowledgeable in a broad range of spells. But, they are also more vunrible to Mana Poisoning. Sorcerers are more mentor based and are focused to a smaller variety of spells. Because of this, they are a bit less vonreble to the Poisoning.

Hybrids: The “jack of all trades, but master of none” class. The “Multi-Class” class. This class is broken down to two sub-classes:

Fighter-Mages are skilled in combat, but on a lesser scale. They are not as effective as a warrior, but they can used weapons and armor fairly well. They have a limited range of spells that they can cast immediately, and are usually focused on boosting they effectiveness close to that of a Warrior. Even thought the spell are limited, the Mana Channeling ability does have it’s own advantages. One such advantage is using magical items more effectively than any non-channeling class. Rogue-Mages are Tradesmen with a limited range of spells. Some good examples are “Shadow Thieves and Assassins” and Cat Burglars that can phase through walls (or teleport). They have a smaller skill set than a typical Tradesmen, but only to be compensated with the skill to channel. Also, as with the Fighter-Mage, the Rogue-Mage can use magic items more effectively than non-channelers.

Atrok: A dark skinned race who occupy the southern continent of Caeruleus. The Atroks are religious fanatics (they decorate their faces and body with tattoos to express this) and they are currently at war with the humans (who occupy the northern continent) over religious beliefs. There is a small sub-culture of Atroks that are not part of this religious following. They live on Rojord and Gyrwinn. They are easily distinguished by their lack of tattoo and different hair styles. Even though they may be accepted in some area, there is still some tension when this non-religious Atroks are near Humans. Dwarf: Short, stocky, humanoids that live mainly inside the mountains of Rojord. They are extremely skilled in mining and building.are not too different to the traditional fantasy genre. Elf: Tall, slender, and graceful humanoids that live in the woods of the largest continent of Gyrwinn. They are similar to the typical fantasy genre elves, with some differences (particularly with height, they are more like Tolkien’s Elves). Goblyn: Short, ugly, nasty little buggers that live on the smallest continent of Gyrwinn. They are mostly barbaric, organized in tribes, with the philosophy of “the strongest will rule”. They tend to live off of raiding nearby cities and sometimes even from there own. They are constantly at war with the Elves, mainly over territory and resources. An occasional civil war is common, as well. There is a sub-culture of Goblyns that live on Caeruleus. They do not believe in the ways of there ancestors and they feel it’s time to move past the war mongering and barbaric ways. They are live on a small island in between the Atroks and Humans and are too small to be concerned with (for now, but they are growing in numbers). They present themselves as a more civilized culture, engaging in many merchant type businesses. But there nature to kill can not be easily suppressed as they are commonly found to be mercenaries and assassins. One unique aspect of the Goblyns is their ability to “union” themselves the create a larger, stronger version creatures, sometimes referred to as Ogres or Trolls. This union does not last long because there is more one spirit occupying the resulting creature. The constant turmoil between the spirits in one body is too much for it to withstand, and the union is broken. But, high level spells have been created by the Gobyns to cast spirits out of the bodies right before the union, making the creation permanent. Human: They live in the north continent of Caeruleus. The Humans currently at war with the Atroks over religious beliefs. The war is not going so well for the Humans. At one point, they lost their capital city to the Atroks, but managed to regain control (barely). during that time, many Humans fled to Gyrwinn to escape the war, not to return until the war was over. The Humans or Gyrwinn occupy the northern two-thirds of the second largest continent. The goal of the settlement was to escape the oppressive Atroks, and with that in mind, had decided let anyone in who wanted to escape their oppressive cultures, religions, and governments. Together, the Humans with mainly the Dwarves, Kjempests, Elves, the “civilized” Goblyns, the “non-religious” Atroks, and the Vulgards, built the largest city in the whole planetary system: Anonapolis (the continent is named Anon). The city serves as main hub for businesses and a place for any to come to where they will not feel oppressed or judged for their differences among there own. Think of it as the “New York City” or “Waterdeep” of Dragon Mist. Kjempest: The giants of Rojord. They are tall, dark tanned skinned, humanoids that living the deserts of Rojord. They are similar to that of the Ancient Egyptians. They live in beautifully constructed cities, worshiping various gods with their wealth and glory. They are proud and arrogant. The view the rest of the races as lesser forms of life. Those that are found outside of their lands are either exiled or no longer part of their culture. Nix: The sea dwelling merfolk of Caeruleus. These light greenish-blue skinned humanoids are capable of living above ground and underwater, with limited underwater shape shifting abilities. The Nix are split into two nations, one allied with the Humans, one with the Atroks. Those who disagree with either, are usually found on Gyrwinn, but smaller groups have been seen in remote areas of Caeruleus. Tylwig: The mischievous trouble makes of Dragon Mist. These small, slender, pale sparkly skinned humanoids have no nation, and occupy no major continent. They can be found scattered about in all the worlds Trynaerr. Organizing a nation with leaders and structure would be too boring for them. There key philosophy to have fun, and sometimes at the expense of others (the evil natured Tylwigs can get really nasty). A unique aspect of the Tylwigs is a metamorphosis that they can chose to undergo in there early adulthood. If they chose to do so, they can permanently polymorph themselves into a faerie. As Faeries, they are really small humanoid creatures with wings that are extremely quick and agile, very ideal for causing all sorts of trouble and mischief. Their life expectancy is shortened, so some Tylwigs chose not to undergo the process so that they can live longer and have fun for the many years to come. On the other hand, those that do chose to change feel that they can maximize the “funness” in there new form, regardless of the shorter time that have to do it in. Vulgard: They are the tough, rock skinned humanoids that live mainly on the mountains and plateaus of Rojord. They are probably one of the strongest of the races, but the least intelligent. The tend to be timid and non-violent, and keep to themselves. This, unfortunately, makes them as the ideal resource for slavery to the Kjempests. Their relationship with the Dwarves are friendlier, but still, they tend to be used for hard labor (Dwarves are more rewarding as employers compared to the Kjempests). They don’t generally leave their homeland, unless it’s for work. Many other races use them for hard labor not only for there strength, but also because they can work for longer periods of time.

Caeruleus: Humans, Atrox (dark skinned humanoids), the Nix (shape-shifting aquatic folk), and Blue Dragons.
Rojord: Dwarves, Kjempest (desert giants), Vulghards (rock skinned mountain folk), and Red Dragons.
Gyrwinn: Elves, Tilwygs (humanoid and/or spryte), Goblyns (small and large orc), and Green Dragons.
These are the primary inhabitants of each planet. All races exist on all planets (and moons & asteroids). Presently, the human population on Gyrwinn has increased due to fleeing refugees of the Atrox-Human War.

Caeruleus: Mostly water covered with two major continents at each of the polar areas. Lands are primarily barren and cold at center (near the poles) but more wooded and green towards the shores. The one Ocean has scatted islands all over, but nothing bigger than 15,000 sq. miles
Rojord: Very little water, mostly deserts and rocky mountains (reddish tint, much like our Mars). Scattered lakes and rivers, with most of the water flowing underground.
Gyrwinn: Fairly even mix of land and water with three major continents. The lands are very green with a mix of woods and plains.

I have no excuse except for laziness and lack of time management skills. Laziness has been my problem since I was born. Laziness will always be my problem until the day I die. But time management is something I can work on.

And I did actually worked on it. My new job (well not so new now, but new in comparison to my whole career life) has taught me some of those skills. Actually, my job sent me on a Time Management Seminar. I learned some things at that seminar, and some of them are definitely applicable not only to my job, but to my life, as well.

So here I am, trying to get back on the ball, finishing what I have started. But first, the changes:

The Worlds of Dragon Mist will no longer be a d20 game.

• I have come to the realization that I can not devote as much time on this project as I would like. There just isn’t enough time in the day. So I had to make a choice: Develop the rules or develop the back story. I chose the back story. The back story is more important to me, personally, and I have a great set of RPG rules to fall back on.

• A good friend of mine has been working on these rules for the past 15 years or so. They have under gone many revisions and rebirths. Part of that is due to the sessios that I and the others, who have been also playing this game, for the past 5 years. We, as a group, are comfortable with these rules. And I’m sure my friend is delighted to have his game “play tested” from a DM’s point of view.There are, of course, some change due to the nature of my “world”. But the changes are simple and mainly related to the rules for casting spells.

  Due to copyright issues and the personal request of my friend, this site will not host these rules, except the adjustments for my game. And those adjustments will include very little actual game mechanics. I am considering a private section of the site for the rules, for registered users (the players) so that they may have an online reference. But that is further down the line.

So, with said, I hope the game gets going soon. You will notice some of my stuff is already being posted. I hope to play soon, because the last time we played was like, years ago, I think (maybe more!).