Norseman Central
 (36-40) Magic

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Mechanism

(Mg) Magic (36-40)

The Powers referred to by the word "Magic" cannot be easily categorized in the other Power classes. It is, as Jeff Grubb so quaintly put it in the Players' Book of the Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set, "a can of worms that, once opened, may be difficult to contain." The subject of Magic in the Marvel Universe is dealt with at length by Kim Eastland's book, Realms of Magic (MHAC9). However, the book you're reading couldn't be called The Ultimate Powers Book if it simply shunted you off to Mr. Eastland's book now, could it?

This section is for those players and Judges who are not following a strict interpretation of the aforementioned tome or are simply interested in forging a Magic system that is unique to their campaign. It can be treated as a supplement to, explanation of, or replacement for your current magic system.

If a Magic Power appears at any time during the character generation process, the player should convert the entire character to a Mage and convert all the Powers into their Magical equivalents. If the character was a High Tech type or possessed a physical type that was obviously technological in nature, these should be altered to reflect a Magical background for the character.

For example, Robots might be now considered to be clockwork automatons or Galatea-like animated statues.

The research for the Ultimate Powers Book revealed that those Powers most often referred to as Magic had two basic components in the way they operated. These components are called Mechanism and Effect.

Mechanism is the manner in which the, hero manifests his Magical Power. There are ten basic types of Mechanisms with an infinite number of further variations. These further variations are the actual “spells” that produce a specific Power/ Effect. When the Player rolls his first Magical Power, he must select a Mechanism. He Can choose one of those listed in the Mechanisms Section or let pure chance decide. Upon gaining further Magical Powers, the player can stay with that first Mechanism or have another go at random determination.

The second Component to Magic is the Effect. It's just another word for the Power the player has already acquired through the Power Generation process. There are twelve Powers that are unique to the Magic classification. Since Mages often display Magical Powers that are virtually identical to more normal Powers, the system had to account for those as well. These are handled under the category of Power Simulation.