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power set detailed breakdown (rubi)
As a general note, in spite of the Giant Power Wall below I’m very open to having the setting interfere with his magic for plot purposes and player enjoyment (including my own). I’m not here for him to successfully hero his way through every experience and aim to responsively lean into and back from his magic to make sure play is balanced and he doesn’t become overbearing from an ooc standpoint.
Happy to do whatever needs doing to tweak any of these, and will of course always rely on communication with players before using them on PCs.
I've tried to provide as much detail as possible below just to make sure I'm creating a consistent framework for myself in using them, apologies for the length!
Eldritch magic, a form of light-based magic utilized by the Masters of the Mystic Arts that draws on energy to various effects, including:
Other spells, general purpose sorcery and magic-adjacent abilities that may or may not rely on Eldritch magic specifically include:
There's a lot of magic within the movies that seems to just be seamless combos of multiple magical skills from the lists above brought together for a more complex result. In one example he turns a blast of raw power into a small flock of magic-construct butterflies using energy conversion, other times he appears to summon creatures to his aid (the disembodied head and paws of a spirit cat thing which he puppeteers - energy construct/illusion amplifying matter control [I don’t want to assume actual extra-dimensional summoning here until canon is more explicit about it so instead it’s just him being needlessly dramatic/utilising dramatic combi-spells other people have cooked up in the past]), makes energy constructs out of musical notes both written and heard, and calls tendrils of light to reach from the ground and pluck suspended enemies out of the air, pulling them down into the earth. These appear to all be combi-spells layering multiple techniques to more nuanced effect. If it’s alright with you I hope to exercise creativity within the limits of his listed ability set to create fresh combos and keep things organic, reflecting Stephen’s skill level and ingenuity.
Happy to do whatever needs doing to tweak any of these, and will of course always rely on communication with players before using them on PCs.
I've tried to provide as much detail as possible below just to make sure I'm creating a consistent framework for myself in using them, apologies for the length!
Eldritch magic, a form of light-based magic utilized by the Masters of the Mystic Arts that draws on energy to various effects, including:
- Energy constructs: used most commonly to conjure weapons and shields that can vary in size and shape, constructs are limited only by his skill, stamina and imagination.
- Elemental control: manipulating energy to interact with the elements (air, earth, water, fire).
- Matter control: manipulating energy to interact with general physical matter (moving objects around, interacting with their constituent parts etc - has been used to separate a bus out into its pieces, and to do something as precise as lifting ink from paper.)
- Binding spells: red bands of power used to bind.
- Energy blasts: he goes pew pew with big ol’ energy beams/zip zap with power that spills like lightning.
- Energy conversion: he can convert energy into other forms, repurposing it on the fly as fuel for his own spellwork.This can come from anywhere: an attack sent at him, sound waves in the air, he’s limited again only by imagination and skill.
- Item enchantment: the ability to imbue items with magic. (Layering a ring with the requisite spells to focus portals, adding a ward into a material object, pooling his own magic as described by this skills list into an object over time to create magical artifacts that have the potential to be used by others etc)
- Warding spells: protection spells to prevent others from accessing the warded area or item, breakable only by his own magical signature.
- Portal creation: using a channeling device called a sling ring, he can create portals from one place to another. I’ll aim to have him source/create and imbue a ring with the necessary spellwork to make it functional once he’s in game.
- Locator spell: usually used in conjunction with a sling ring to create portals directly to the located person or place, the spell will locate whatever it’s provided with a sample of - generally used for people, but could also be used for places or things.
- Mirror dimension, the sling ring also usually gives him access to the mirror dimension, a little pocket dimension that sits over reality and allows you to create an inception-style picasso out of your local cathedral without actually affecting the real world. Given the dimensional element, this will be nerfed completely and any attempts to use it would have void-space consequences.
Other spells, general purpose sorcery and magic-adjacent abilities that may or may not rely on Eldritch magic specifically include:
- Illusions: from grand spacescapes thrown up like projections to tiny stones hidden in an illusory star, he can create illusions to trick the senses.
- Duplication spell: it’s an example of a combi-spell but worth noting as its own distinct thing anyway - a combination of construct and illusion, this spell is used to rapidly generate a large number of construct clones of himself at once, all of whom will replicate the action of the original unless he uses more complex illusion magic to control them individually. These clones can still do harm and interact with others using magic he casts, but if engaged physically they are unlikely to hold long. If Stephen himself is significantly harmed or otherwise distracted, the spell will be broken. (Can be used in smaller doses to create more sturdy clones the fewer of them there are, but they’re still essentially energy-based illusions reliant on Stephen’s concentration to maintain.)
- Transmutation, he can change the properties of something material to make it into something else. This could mean water into wine - a change of composition - or liquid to solid - a change of state - etc. Useful for adapting existing materials to better suit needs.
- Conjuration, he can instantly summon material objects to him, having them magically appear and disappear. Can be used to seem to transform things (actually he’s replacing one thing instantly with another.) As the MCU doesn’t really have a clear framework for its magic, I’m choosing to call it conjuration rather than creation to keep things interesting and mean that he can’t spontaneously generate something material out of nothing (he could still make a faux teapot out of energy constructs + illusion but it would function only as long as he maintains the spell - if he wants a real one that exists independently of him, he’ll need to conjure or source it). As he doesn’t have access to an entire universe worth of resources here, this means he can only summon things that already exist in the world of the game, and will otherwise have to make lasting material things using transmutation and matter control or just go without in situations where things he wants don’t already exist. Or - imagine - ask around.
- Teleportation, he can travel and transport others short distances without a sling ring, moving in an instant with no need for portals.
- Astral projection, can separate his spirit from his body and exist in astral form. His body loses consciousness as he does this and is left defenceless, though he can will his astral form to be perceived by others if needs be. (May count as dimensional travel as it relates to the existence of an astral plane - very open to this being something that would get him lost in the void space if it needs nerfing per setting rules!)
- Memory magic, he can do some really wild memory spells. Anything from making a friend forget a party to making the entire world forget someone exists. This spell is unlikely to come into use, though he may be convinced to use it to help CR forget specific things on request much later down the line.
- Power absorption, it’s implied that he, like his alternate universe counterpart, could lift innate powers from other people in order to harness them himself. This to his understanding will kill the host, so he won’t be going anywhere near this one without serious plot-related cause and a plot submission.
- Everyday use, he’ll use magic to move stuff around, complete basic tasks, perform a quick change outfit refresh, etc. Just your casual daily magic use for making tasks easier for a man whose hands don’t want to do tasks.
- Physiology manipulation, Stephen channels magical energy through his own body in order to lessen the negative impact of his nerve damage. This is a constant, conscious effort made second nature with practice which helps to mute some of the pain and support his dexterity. In theory he can also use this to manipulate his own biology in other ways and potentially extend that out into the bodies of others, though given the effects only last as long as he’s actively engaging them they’ll require sustained touch to maintain.
- Magic sense the ability to sense magic in the area and identify others by their magic where he’s particularly familiar with it.
- Third Eye, we don’t actually know what it does yet, but after damning his eternal soul by using the Darkhold to dreamwalk, Stephen inadvertently opened his third eye. In the comics he uses it to see things beyond normal human comprehension, so I can only assume that it works much the same way and with it open he can see ghosties and ghoulies and auras and hidden spellwork and whatever else lurks around where human eyes can’t see. Limited per situation as much as needed to keep things fun for everybody.
There's a lot of magic within the movies that seems to just be seamless combos of multiple magical skills from the lists above brought together for a more complex result. In one example he turns a blast of raw power into a small flock of magic-construct butterflies using energy conversion, other times he appears to summon creatures to his aid (the disembodied head and paws of a spirit cat thing which he puppeteers - energy construct/illusion amplifying matter control [I don’t want to assume actual extra-dimensional summoning here until canon is more explicit about it so instead it’s just him being needlessly dramatic/utilising dramatic combi-spells other people have cooked up in the past]), makes energy constructs out of musical notes both written and heard, and calls tendrils of light to reach from the ground and pluck suspended enemies out of the air, pulling them down into the earth. These appear to all be combi-spells layering multiple techniques to more nuanced effect. If it’s alright with you I hope to exercise creativity within the limits of his listed ability set to create fresh combos and keep things organic, reflecting Stephen’s skill level and ingenuity.