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I have the original Federation of Magic book, but am running a game with a character who has had dealings with K'Zaa and Stormspire in the past. In the new revised version, does it expand upon K'Zaa and Stormspire much? If so, what am I missing from the original? Thanks.

Anyone?

IIRC, the difference between the two is that the spells were all taken out of the revised edition and 30 or so pages of information on Dweomer was put in. I don't believe there was any expansion to K'Zaa or Stormspire.

Yes, the 'update' was mostly about Dweomer. Mostly a quick overview of 109 PA and some details on various shops there.

One thing I noticed and maybe I missed it when reading. The 'update' stated a few times that Dweomer pretty much hates psionics, going so far as encouraging their mystics to focus on magic, not their psi-powers. I didn't see a part where it gave their reasons for this stance.

Also...why is there even a part about 'schools' for mystics? Isn't the whole point of the mystic that they cannot learn/study magic? It comes to them naturally, without study, intuitively...

ZorValachan wrote:Also...why is there even a part about 'schools' for mystics? Isn't the whole point of the mystic that they cannot learn/study magic? It comes to them naturally, without study, intuitively...

Mystic magic comes naturally, but that doesn't mean you can't study it. You can study running, using what you learn to alter your stride, change how you breathe, and look at useful equipment. Similarly, you can study mystic magic. The difference is that Mystics are about mindsets. Take someone with master psychic potential, and put them in a school for Mysticism, and they are more likely to develop as a mystic, instead of a mind melter. Youth is about unexpressed potential... schooling is about expressing that potential in a way the educators find beneficial (either personally or societally, depending on ethics). In a society that is somewhat against psychic powers, having them express as magic would be a desirable goal, much as the CS would see a master psychic not expressing as a mystic as a desirable goal.

ZorValachan wrote:Yes, the 'update' was mostly about Dweomer. Mostly a quick overview of 109 PA and some details on various shops there.

One thing I noticed and maybe I missed it when reading. The 'update' stated a few times that Dweomer pretty much hates psionics, going so far as encouraging their mystics to focus on magic, not their psi-powers. I didn't see a part where it gave their reasons for this stance.

Also...why is there even a part about 'schools' for mystics? Isn't the whole point of the mystic that they cannot learn/study magic? It comes to them naturally, without study, intuitively...

Mystics don't need to learn how to read? most are illiterate. They don't need to learn about how magic is used? Magic Lore is useful. They don't need to learn math?

Magic schools, in my mind, teach way more than just magic. They're also general colleges for increasing your general education.

Not to mention they would be useful places for teaching those ever popular spell combination attacks and how to defend oneself against a technological foe.

Nekira Sudacne wrote:Mystics don't need to learn how to read? most are illiterate. They don't need to learn about how magic is used? Magic Lore is useful. They don't need to learn math?

The answer to all your questions here is "no".

Mystics, by nature, are intuitive. They do not rely upon academic study. They rely upon their own ability to discern things with their awareness....

I seem to recall in Psyscape the Coalition using training to push master psychics from the Mystic or Mind Melter and into the nega-psychic and burster. So it would seem that psionics is something that can be molded through training. Hence Mystic colleges in Dweomer.

And I have a theory about the Three's dislike of psionics is based off their own origin. They are supposedly a fractured Alien Intelligence after all. Maybe they are afraid some psychic could reconstruct their whole self and then they would cease to exist, eh?

Shadyslug wrote:

Nekira Sudacne wrote:Mystics don't need to learn how to read? most are illiterate. They don't need to learn about how magic is used? Magic Lore is useful. They don't need to learn math?

The answer to all your questions here is "no".

Mystics, by nature, are intuitive. They do not rely upon academic study. They rely upon their own ability to discern things with their awareness....

Yes, but you can hone these things, and reading really is an efficient way of passing on information, and math is useful for a wide variety of uses.