Magic – magical clichés should be purchased double pump-able.
Spell casting - There are two main approaches to using magic, Mundane and Diabolic.
Mundane is using magic for things that could be done routinely without magic that do not directly affect another being. such as lighting a fire (though you don’t need flint and the wood might be wet with magic), opening a door (sure you don’t have to touch it to open it and two mundane actions could pick a lock then open it), or reading a book (no hours spent by candlelight bent over a book). A mage can typically do a number of mundane spells equal to his cliché value per scene, but the refresh rate is left up to the gm. If the mundane action is not within the scope of the magical cliché, the target may receive a cliché with an appropriately assigned value from the GM. ‘Soaking Wet Wood (2)’ for a necromancer cliché attempting to light it, for example. After all, he is not a Fire Mage or even an Elementalist. This could result in a contest (weather combat or single-action) to see if the Mundane is possible. Magic used mundanely is the norm for the wyvern setting, but there are those out there that crave more, who are willing to pay the price or at least willing to risk it…
Diabolic is using magic for things that are not mundane and typically used to interact with something else in a negative and visible manner. Such as casting a fireball at a goblin horde, resurrecting a dead minion to attack the enemy, or to control someone’s mind. To use magic in a diabolic manor, the magic-user must double pump his cliché. As a result, he creates a magical force that will interact with the target(s) individually, equal to the value of the double pump. Suppose a ‘Necromancer (3)’ wants to summon some undead to engage a target. She double pumps the cliché by two, giving her a 4 dice cliché magically powered force, and leaving her as a ‘Necromancer (1)’, this force could be described several ways; ‘Horde of Undead Minions (4), or two ‘Hordes of Grasping Ghouls (2 ea), or four ‘Grotesque Corpses (1 ea). With the example of four ‘Grotesque Corpses (1 ea)’, each corpse would get one roll then fade. It does not matter if or how the force is broken down descriptively because the force will always loss at least one cliché dice per roll as it fades (Remember that the option rules ‘Outnumbered and Outclassed’ and ‘Degrees of Success’ may apply). If the ‘Horde of Undead Minions (4)’ wins/loses, it still becomes a ‘Horde of Undead Minions (3)’. If it loses, the force does not lose an additional dice nor does the target take a ‘wound’ (see – feedback, below).
Feedback – for the force to ‘live’, the Mage must maintain a link to it. This link is through his mundane pool. Whenever the force would normally take a hit to its cliché, that hit costs the Mage one mundane spell slot to resist the magical feedback. (reminder: Mages only have a number of mundane spells equal to their magical cliché value) if the Mage lacks further mundane slots to absorb this feedback the cost goes directly to the Mage’s cliché itself. Examining our ‘Necromancer (3)’ from before, we surmise that she has three mundane slots for spells or feedback. Creating a force 4 puts her at risk should the full force of her spell backfire!
Alchemy and Magical Items – Mages may attempt to create permanent (weapons, staves, wands, etc.) or temporary items (potions, elixirs, effects, etc.). It is an arduous and lengthy endeavor requiring the Mage to give part of himself to the item. This is a one for one cliché exchange from the Mage to the item being created. This item is bound to the creator, who is unable to recoup from the loss of the cliché dice until it is used/destroyed/or bonded to another. To bind the item to another, the Mage must beat the item in combat to release its force from himself and bind it to another. It is only then that the Mage can recover from the effects. Usually it takes a single month for every die of an item that is created to recover form its loss. Several Mages may team up to create an exceptional item or to more easily free the creator from a bound item. It is, however, no less taxing on the assistant Mages (all that donate cliché dice to the item must beat it to unbind it as well as pay the penalty to recovery – 1 month/cliché dice created). It should be noted that though there are no limits to this new item, creation of exceptionally powerful items would draw unfavorable attention from other Mages.