Magic

Official art of skyswimmers from Lyrengorn performing a magical ritual known as the Moonweaver's Ribbons, by Kent Davis.

Magic, sometimes called spellcraft, is the mysterious and complex supernatural force behind many aspects of the universe, including the worlds of Exandria and Aramán in the Material Plane. Magic can be wielded by mortals, and it manifests in several different ways, as spells, complex rituals, enchanted items, or dark curses, among many other examples.

Official art of an adranach of the League of Miracles rebuilding, by Wesley Griffith from Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn pg. 43.

Magic users are often called spellcasters, and they can learn their magic, obtain it through some magical event, or be born with power (either because their entire race is naturally magical or because their specific bloodline has that potential).

Magic in the world

• Exandria

Official art of Exandra and its ley lines, from Exandria: An Intimate Appendix - Ruidus and the Gods, by Cyarna Trim.

Magic flows around the whole planet through the ley lines, directing the flow of magic like veins direct the flow of blood, forming patterns that are sometimes described as a weave. When two or more ley lines intersect in the same place, a nexus is formed: those places become powerful areas in which magic can be enhanced, and for this reason mortals seek to control them. In a similar way, certain areas of magical and/or natural importance, known as fanes, can manifest powerful magical properties and effects.

Sources of magic

• Exandria

Divine magic

Often considered the oldest form of magic known by mortals, it typically comes from the powers known as deities, who share aspects of their own magic that their followers can manifest.

Fan art of the Traveler, an entity magically empowered by worship, by BlackSalander.

The use of divine magic is usually directly tied to the worship of a god or similar figure, which can be strengthened by the faith of the person to whom they are granting magic. A follower of a deity can become stronger by achieving a deeper understanding of whatever that divinity represents, but if the entity doesn't limit the amount of magic the follower can channel and the speed with which they learn it, the mortal may eventually become a k'nauth. However, divine magic can also manifest itself through its practitioners' own fervor and dedication towards a concept or figure, even if the object of devotion is not a deity; moreover, spells with miraculous properties (such as resurrection) are commonly described as divine magic regardless of who casts them.

Of divine magic after the Rites of Catatheosis made the gods mortal, Matthew Mercer explained: "While the gods themselves have gone through this transition into a mortal cycle, their magic is still suffused throughout the world, though reduced to a degree. Divine magic is ever-present as long as they are present. But, as we've also said before, divine magic can exist outside of the gods themselves. Some of it is shared concepts and shared philosophy, passionate philosophy, and conceptual ideas. Those things, much like the imagination of arcana and magic, can also themselves draw divine magic from the world itself to bring these things to a physical form and impact on the world. Not everything that is divine has to be tethered to a god specifically to wield divine magic. It just sometimes can be a little more challenging or a little more sparing, or the sources can be a little more fragile."

Nature magic

The source of this magic is the world itself, the energy of nature, the elements, and the spirits that inhabit and/or personify them, which certain spellcasters can channel if they are attuned enough.

This is sometimes considered a form of divine magic, for it draws power from a source greater than the spellcaster, and there are gods directly tied to specific aspects of nature. A user of natural magic can develop such a strong bond with those forces that they eventually manage to join their chosen environment, fusing with the land or transforming into a new life form.

Arcane magic

Fan art of Scanlan casting Bigby's Hand, by Wesley Griffith.

This is the form of magic most closely tied to mortals, since it has been developed, researched, and altered by them through the centuries, and its effectiveness usually depends on their own knowledge and talent, rather than some external force. Corellon the Arch Heart is the patron deity of arcane magic.

Arcanists have developed a list of eight schools to classify different types of spells and magical effects:

• Abjuration is the school of protection, focused on defensive effects that end, block, or repel threats.
• Conjuration is the school of summoning and transportation, focused on magically moving objects and creatures through space and even planes.
• Divination is the school of prediction and revelation, focusing on obtaining information that is hidden, or from events that have not yet occurred.
• Enchantment is the school of manipulation, focusing on influencing the behavior of others, or even fully controlling their minds.
• Evocation is the school of offense, and focuses on how to turn magical energy into potent effects that harm enemies and/or help allies.
• Illusion is the school of mislead, focused on altering the perception of reality to trick others.
• Necromancy is the school of life and death, and focuses on how to manipulate the energy between both to harm, heal, or defy the rules of nature.
• Transmutation is the school of change, focusing on the alteration of energy and matter to modify shape and properties.

Any form of magic can be classified as part of at least one of the schools. However, even the most talented mages admit that it is not a perfect system, and aspects of one school can be present in spells that belong to another.

Psionic magic

This form of magic comes directly from the mind, and allows the user to cast spells and other magical effects without components by willing the effect into reality.

Psionics are very uncommon, typically found among the strange aberrations connected to the Far Realm and the Astral Plane. However, certain humanoids can manifest these powers, such as the gith and specific sorcerous bloodlines.

Dunamancy

Fan art of dunamancy, by Heather Hood.

This esoteric form of magic is extremely old and connected to the very fabric of the universe, to time, gravity, and entropy, but at the same time it is barely understood, and only recently has it been studied in Exandria.

The Kryn Dynasty has developed multiple forms of arcane magic using dunamis (even creating two additional schools of magic: Chronurgy and Graviturgy), yet their national religion explains that the source of this power is divine in nature.

Hemocraft

This strange and feared form of magic was forgotten until the Matron of Ravens revealed it to Trence Orman, a follower of hers.

Since hemocraft is based on sacrificing one's own life force in order to produce supernatural effects, this magic (regardless of whether it is wielded by a divine or arcane caster) has a terrible reputation, even though it isn't inherently evil.

Magical phenomena

The way magic works in Exandria can be altered by specific circumstances, such as cosmological changes.

Antimagic

Antimagic areas are cut from the magic around them, causing spells and their effects to stop working, magic items to temporarily become mundane, and making it impossible to generate new magical effects inside or from that specific area. The spell Antimagic Field produces a limited and controlled antimagic area for 1 hour.

Ley lines, when properly twisted and tied into a knot, can generate antimagic areas as well, either for all magic or only one kind (such as arcane magic).

Celestial solstices

During a solstice, the alignment of astral bodies and/or the planes move closer to each other and can produce cataclysmic phenomena, but also an enhancement of certain spells and rituals that the most ambitious spellcasters may try to use for their own benefit. In the most extreme cases, the ley lines across the planet are completely rearranged.

During the Apogee Solstice of 843 PD, all of the various ley lines were held, twisted, and tensed, causing a number of magics to not function properly including communication and resurrection magic. However, since Ruidus operates under its own magical ecosystem, resurrection magic operated at least briefly to restore Chetney Pock O'Pea to life when he was killed by Otohan Thull.

Wild magic

Fan art of wild magic butterflies summoned after Jester cast Inflict Wounds, by Dian Huynh.

The chaotic phenomenon known as "wild magic" occurs around certain objects or in specific areas in which, when a spell is cast, it causes a supernatural reaction that produces seemingly random effects; these can be harmless, beneficial, annoying, or even lethal, depending on the situation.

Wild magic is linked to places of powerful and unpredictable magical power, such as the Fey Realm (whose influence can be channeled into the Material Plane via Feywild shards) or Eiselcross (where the ruins of Aeor are located, filled with relics, monsters, and other unstable arcane creations); in the Qoniira Tetrarchy, the Observer is pointed out as the one responsible for giving people access to wild magic. Some sorcerers have a natural connection with wild magic, being able to control it to a certain extent, if they have enough experience. However, their ability to cast spells can be interfered with by their emotional state, such as suffering from anxiety.

Learning centers

• Exandria

There are certain institutions that offer their students the possibility of learning magic, usually its arcane variant:

• Alabaster Lyceum: The highest place of arcane learning in all Tal'Dorei, based in Emon.
• Aydinlan Seminary: A place of higher learning in Yios, Marquet, that includes arcane studies for artificers.
• Caleb Widogast's home: Although not an official institution by itself, during the time before this adventurer became a professional teacher, he taught magic to people he considered promising but who had not been accepted into the Academy in the capital.
• Cobalt Soul: As an institution focused on the organization and preservation of knowledge, many of the archives, libraries, and reserves of the Cobalt Soul around Exandria have magical resources, and there are wizards who train there.
• College of the Savvy: A college for bards in Westruun, Tal'Dorei, founded by the legendary White Duke.
• Crystal Chateau: An elite university of arcane principles in Ank'Harel, Marquet.
• Houses of Sagacity: A region within the city of Gwardan that works as both a place of worship and a place of advanced learning for a limited number of students. One of its three temples is the House of Enchantment, dedicated to Corellon, patron of magic.
• Marble Tomes Conservatory: A hall of higher learning in Rosohna, Xhorhas, that welcomes engineers, researchers and practitioners of the arcane arts capable of creating magic items.
• Soltryce Academy: Main place of magical study within the Dwendalian Empire, Wildemount. It is based in Rexxentrum, and has strong ties with the Cerberus Assembly.
  • Hall of Erudition: The Academy's branch in Zadash.
• Starpoint Conservatory: A university in Jrusar, Marquet. They have access to extensive documentation on arcane studies.
• Westhall Academy: A place of higher learning in Westruun, Tal'Dorei, for many disciplines, including magic.
• Wildemount Wildlings: This summer camp, based in Nicodranas, offers adventurer formation to children and teenagers, including basic forms of magic and alchemy.

History

• Exandria

The Founding

During what became known as the Founding, the still young and formless Protean Gods arrived from Tengar. They immediately encountered the Primordials, titans who wielded elemental power and had lain beneath the land since before the coming of the gods. The deities used their own divine power to shape and create the mortal races.

While the gods were still at peace with each other and with the Primordials, a mysterious entity called Predathos reached Exandria, and descended on an island city. This entity resisted the Protean Gods' magic. After losing two of their own, the remaining deities reluctantly struck a deal with the Primordials, who imprisoned Predathos.

Because the world was still a dangerous place, ruled by elemental chaos for the most part, many of the gods' children were killed in the earliest days. Saddened by the loss of so many lives, the gods lent bits of their power to mortals as divine magic to help tame the land, also creating the Dragons Metallic to further protect them, and the mortals prospered. But the granting of divine magic to the mortals is believed to have upset a previously existing balance, and it infuriated the Primordials. According to the Lord of the Hells, the gods who would be called Prime Deities thus broke a promise to the Primordials. The wrathful Primordials caused the planet itself to rise against the mortals with chaos, earthquake, and fire, to the great sorrow and anger of some of the young gods. The gods split into the Prime Deities, who wanted to subdue the Primordials and protect their creations, and the Betrayer Gods, who sympathized with the Primordials and wished to join in the chaos. This event came to be called the Schism.

One of the Prime Deities, the Arch Heart, taught their creations the secrets of making their own magic, so they could defend themselves without borrowing divine power, and other creators followed in sharing the gift of arcane magic, allowing the mortals to subdue the Primordials long enough for the Prime Deities to banish the Betrayer Gods.

After the Schism but before the end of the Founding, multiple magic-oriented societies appeared:

• The Kuul'tevir, noble predecessors of the lizardfolk, who built cities with magic nearly on par with the elves'.
• The Tishtan, nomads who followed the ley lines, completely obsessed with building strange structures that would channel power; they disappeared mysteriously.
• The Qoniirans, who accepted all forms of magic regardless of origin, and even kept using the names of the Betrayer Gods when they invoked curses. They became an advanced society in Gwessar until worldwide conflicts forced them into hiding and seclusion.

The banishment of the Betrayer Gods was so complete that it rendered them unable to grant spellcasting power.

Age of Arcanum

Official art of a flying city during the Age of Arcanum, by Robin Olausson.

Official art of the Raven Queen's ascension to godhood, by Jessica Nguyen from "Exandria: An Intimate History" (Sx61) at 3:24.

Thus began the Age of Arcanum, a time of great splendor and great inequality in which arcane magic reached its apex: spells were invented, constructs were designed, species were created, entire cities floated thanks to brumestone, and many kingdoms maintained their abundance thanks to magical reinforcements. During this time it was possible to collect magic in its purest state, ether, and use it as versatile fuel for multiple purposes; however, some resorted to crueler sources of power, and it was during this period that some sorcerers (now known as Runechildren) were enslaved because of their magical potential, to be used as tortured spell batteries. The Age of Arcanum was also characterized by the lack of limitations on sufficiently powerful mages, including in the use of necromancy. The epitome of this came when a mortal wizard, the follower and partner of the god of death, managed to attain godhood and dethrone him during an Apogee Solstice, to take his place among the Prime Deities, sundering him as she became the Matron of Ravens.

As a consequence of a mortal's ascension to godhood, many wizards lost whatever respect they had for the gods, and while some (such as Halas Lutagran) simply sought immortality, others, including Vecna, tried and failed to imitate the Raven Queen in her rise to godhood. This ended up leading to the great mistake of Vespin Chloras, a malconvoker who tried to use the power of the Betrayer Gods for good but ended up involved in an intrigue that led to the beginning of the Calamity, a ruinous period of divine and arcane warfare.

The Calamity

During the centuries-long Calamity, many mortal societies inclined toward the arcane warred against divine sources of magic. Some of the powerful societies, including Zeidel (the society of the flying city of Zemniaz), began to hunt the gods, hoping to destroy and supplant them. All the deities struck a brief truce and jointly fought back, and quickly destroyed most of those societies. Zemniaz crashed in the Zemni Fields, and Kethesk came to rest in the Dreemoth Ravine after the Calamity.

During a momentary armistice over a century into the Calamity, most of the pantheon made a combined assault against the flying city of Aeor, a magocracy that had developed weapons to kill gods, and the gods' combined might managed to crash but not annihilate the city. Aeor disappeared into the north and crashed in Eiselcross. This happened about 50 years before the Divergence.

Much knowledge was lost, all the floating cities fell, and for centuries the two factions of gods and arcane societies all fought, causing catastrophic devastation.

The Calamity ended with the Divergence, when the Prime Deities, after sealing away their divine enemies, erected the Divine Gate to block all gods' access to Exandria for the protection of the mortal races. While some had their concerns, this did not stop divine magic from working, and the Moonweaver herself proved it to the rest of the pantheon by being the first to leave clerics behind while still being able to give them power. However, the effectiveness of divine magic was no longer as intense as when the gods walked among them, and the spellcasters had to learn it again, following the teachings of Rei'nia Saph: what were once requests granted directly by the deities would now depend on dedication and belief on the part of the mortals, to channel a more distant divine power. In the centuries following the creation of the Divine Gate the Betrayer Gods discovered that they too could grant divine magic to their followers from afar, with the Strife Emperor being the first to do it to empower Neminar Drassig and his forces during the Scattered War.

Official art of a mortal mage using conjuration magic to open a portal to the Iron City, by Linda Lithén from Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn pg. 11.

Era of Reclamation

After the Divergence, an enormous amount of knowledge and magical resources had been lost, and what remained was considered extremely valuable. Because of this, expeditions to find lost magical treasures weren't uncommon, and several magical items created during and before the Calamity, called the Vestiges of Divergence, are considered legendary relics of great power. Moreover, concerns about the morality of magic became more relevant, and factions such as the Arcana Pansophical, founded around 500 PD, started actively working against the misuse of magic that had been so common during the Age of Arcanum. Ironically enough, even during this time some magic (re)discoveries were made, as the Matron of Death revealed hemocraft to one of her priests to fight fiends in the Marrow Valley soon before 545 PD.

Official art of Vasselheim, where divine magic has priority, by Kent Davis from "Exandria: An Intimate History" (Sx61) at 2:46.

Societies also changed: with the exception of Draconia (at least for a time), there were no more floating cities in the traditional sense, and wizards weren't as influential as they used to be; thus, magocracies became virtually extinct. Theocratic societies survived even without the physical presence of the gods, with Vasselheim being the most prominent example with their love for divinity and their disdain for arcane magic.

This, however, didn't stop mages from claiming political power. The Cerberus Assembly, founded around 570 PD mostly by spellcasting nobility, helped the Dwendalian Empire to establish itself in Western Wynandir. Little by little, led by Ludinus Da'leth, they became more and more linked to the figure of the monarch and the active government, so it became an open secret that they were behind many of the decisions that were made in that part of Wildemount. Between 835 and 836 PD they were actively looking for new magical talents to weaponize, although the intervention of the Cobalt Soul and the investigation led by Beauregard Lionett and Caleb Widogast stopped this to an extent.

In Tal'Dorei, after the destruction caused by the Chroma Crisis in 810–811 PD, another magical faction appeared. The League of Miracles, led by the mysterious Wonderworker, used highly efficient mages to help rebuild the desolated country, quickly accumulating wealth, debts, and contacts. By 836 PD their main aim was to have the elite of Tal'Dorei in their pockets in order to be able to shape the continent as they wanted, although they weren't as trusted as they would like.

Fan art of Vecna's Banishment, by Elaine Tipping.

In 812 PD, a great (but dangerous) arcane deed was achieved: the archlich Vecna, who had long ago discovered the knowledge of the ritual (actively hidden after the ascension of the Raven Queen), returned and this time succeeded at becoming a god as she had, although through a slightly altered process. However, a group of legendary heroes known as Vox Machina used another ancient magical ritual, the Rites of Prime Banishment, to banish the Whispered One from the Material Plane. Vecna became one of the Betrayer Gods as a deity of necromancy and secrets, able to grant divine magic but extremely distant beyond the Divine Gate, even for the Remnants, his zealot cultists.

Around 839 PD, nature magic in Issylra was put at risk when Putridius Festerkin, a dark druid turned into a corrupted revenant entity, started extending his mycelium-like web of necromantic influence across the continent; through agents of his will he weakened the protective influence of the Apex Eidolons of different regions, thus causing rot and undead activity. However, his plans ran into opposition from an unusual group of adventurers, the Re-Slayer's Take, who became the wielders of prophetic devices crafted to combat the threat of the Timberblight.

In 843 PD, there was an apogee solstice that, like others before, altered the way magic worked, enhancing some spells while interfering with others, as well as disrupting enchantments across the globe. However, one faction had been preparing for this event: the Ruby Vanguard used a device known as the Malleus Key to lock Ruidus in the sky with the intention of releasing Predathos, the entity sealed inside the satellite, able to resist divine magic and even devour gods.

Fan art of Ludinus and the Malleus Key, by Wesley Griffith.

This also caused the solstice itself to be prolonged beyond the usual three days; during that time, the influence of the Malleus Key disrupted and created tension within the weave of magic. The experts of the Arcana Pansophical theorized that if the situation stayed like that for too long, the magic in Exandria could be permanently altered or even destroyed. According to Morrigan the Fatestitcher, the presence of the Bloody Bridge was bending the lines and creating tangles, which could lead to very dangerous situations. In the following days there was only a small improvement (although for an unknown reason): the Sending spell, which until then had encountered constant interference every time it was cast, worked normally again, at least if the caster and the target were both in Exandria.

When the Exandrian Accord was preparing to face the Ruby Vanguard in the Hellcatch Valley multiple spellcasters of different types helped summoning allies and creating portals to Marquet. The gods themselves helped with divine and nature magic, empowering Keyleth's speech to the troops, parting the dust storm around the Red Center, and creating a shield of golden wings to protect Vox Machina's skyship from a magical attack. At the end of the great battle, Vox Machina successfully destroyed the Malleus Key. The Bloody Bridge disappeared and Ruidus and the ley lines started to go back to normal, thus ending the extended effects of the Red Solstice and the tension affecting the weave of magic. Hours later, however, a new magical effect shook the entire weave of magic in Exandria: the Matron of Ravens, with the collaboration of Bells Hells and the agreement of her peers of the main pantheon, used the newly created Rites of Catatheosis to bind their divine souls to Exandria and its cycle of rebirth, allowing them to become "mortal gods" and thus undetectable to Predathos; the process was completed successfully and the gods disappeared to be reborn, and the mortals themselves felt the very essence of magic in the world changing as an effect of the ritual. In the following months, in which Ludinus Da'leth studied the ether while hiding, he notice enough change and potential that he changed his mind about his future, wanting to live more and witness magic evolving.

Trivia

Fan art of a sorcerer, a cleric, and a wizard, by Linda Lithén.

Fan art of Widogast's Web of Fire, by Linda Lithén.

Fan art of Dorian giving his Lightning Bolt Imogen's colors, by Rachel F. (TheWhaleLord).

• Mechanically speaking, magic can be used through one of three abilities: Intelligence, which represents the ability to learn, memorize, and manifest magical knowledge (mainly used by wizards and artificers); Wisdom, which represents the ability to perceive a higher force and channel its power (mainly used by clerics, druids, and rangers); and Charisma, which represents the ability to use talent, conviction, and inherent skill to impose one's will on the world (mainly used by bards, sorcerers, paladins, and warlocks). Those races with natural access to spells use one of the three abilities (usually each of them has a tendency to favor one, although not always); some genasi, specifically, can also use Constitution as their spellcasting ability (representing a more physical and biological interpretation of their elemental power), but it is an exception rather than an official "fourth spellcasting ability" in the game.
• Spellcasting in the Exandria setting generally follows the rules of Dungeons & Dragons, limiting the total amount of leveled spells that can be cast in a given time. The levels of spells a mortal can cast go from 1 to 9, from weakest to strongest; any level above that, if it can be categorized as such, corresponds to astonishing and devastating effects achievable only by supernatural entities or mages of the Age of Arcanum.
  • In-universe, spellcasters make distinctions between cantrips and more powerful spells, but do not often discuss more mechanical aspects of magic such as spell slots and levels.
• Magic is customizable, both by the source of magic and by the personality and style of each spellcaster. Therefore, the Scrying spell can be very different when cast by Fearne Calloway (a fey druid) or Fresh Cut Grass (an Aeormaton cleric of Avandra), and the same caster can make their spell look different every time, if they so desire.
  • In a similar way, spells can be reinvented, modified, or even created from scratch. Thus, Patia Por'co was able to cast Por'co's Impenetrable Bubble (her name for Resilient Sphere), Imogen Temult can cast Seething Storm (her own version of Hunger of Hadar), and Caleb Widogast can cast Widogast's Web of Fire (his own original spell).
  • The most powerful spellcasters, even without using special abilities such as Metamagic, can also modify their spells in small ways to adapt them to their needs. Caleb Widogast, for example, cast Seeming (a spell that lasts for 8 hours) on his group, but was able to partially suppress the effects while they were resting before a mission, so that his friends could share those special moments without looking like strangers. In a similar way, Jester Lavorre altered her Polymorph in order to transform her friend Caduceus Clay into a dire beetle, but keeping his firbolg face.
• In Critical Role canon, spells and lore from earlier editions of D&D are lost knowledge from the Age of Arcanum. For example, Halas Lutagran's spellbook contained Trap the Soul, a spell which appeared in the 2nd and 3rd editions of D&D.
• Morrigan the Fatestitcher noted that, although gods granted Exandrian mortals access to magic, they didn't create it, since the leylines and their power existed in the planet even before the Protean Gods' arrival.
  • According to the Sun Tree, those lines of magical energy existed even before the elemental spirits became active.
• In the late decades of the Era of Reclamation in Exandria, dependence on magic affected many societies, which is why visionaries such as Lord Percival de Rolo opted for technological and scientific advances that allow the production of "magical" effects fed by other sources of energy. Thus, in Whitestone there were electric lights in some areas as of 836 PD, although ironically the lack of familiarity made ordinary people assume that said lighting has a magical origin.
• In the world of Aramán the death of its gods has irreversibly changed the way magic works. An example is conjuration magic, with Misty Step being the furthest one can teleport safely inside the same plane. Another unusual phenomenon with magic is that spells sometimes leave residual effects minutes after the original casting ended (mechanically, this happens as part of the benefits of a natural 20 involving a spellcaster).
• According to Liam, the way some bards in Aramán (including Halandil Fang) cast spells is through subtle and carefully done somatic components and sound manipulation that cause magic around them to react.
• In the Age of Umbra miniseries the "Aetherweave" is the source of magic, and thus "aetherweaver" is used as a synonym for spellcaster.

References

Art:

External links

• Magic on The Forgotten Realms Wiki (note)
• Magic on the Eberron Wiki