Folk Magic in Hammerstein!

It is too easy to allow magic in D&D become bland. There is no casting roll, no consequences for magic use, and spells occur instantly (if you win the initiative roll). I did like AD&D2e's casting times and material components, but never actually used them in play. The 2e schools of magic and specialist wizards were a good idea, even if they didn't work that well [to my mind, Brendan at Untimately has a much better way of handling 'specialist' magic in D&D]. RuneQuest magic can play pretty vanilla too, especially Common Magic, though the attempt by RuneQuest to embed magic in the cultures of the fantasy world - into the very fabric of the world, in the case of Glorantha - sets it apart. WFRP1e gives you magic with material components, and promises a world in which magic is a dangerous force, but unless a character opts for the dead-ends of Necromancy or Demonology, it is actually quite a low risk pursuit. What I am attempting to do with Hammerstein! is to tinker with the OpenQuest magic systems to produce some appropriately flavourful effects. First, by way of the RuneQuest lineage, magic is easily tied to the social organisation of the world - cultures and cults, guilds and grimoires, etc. Second, while magic will be ubiquitous, most people will have little magical power - Folk Magic (Common Magic/Battle Magic in Hammerstein!) is increasingly harder to learn at higher magnitudes. It is the magic of simple charms and curses, ritualised gestures and chants, echoes of lost knowledge. Third, other, more powerful forms of magic - supernatural intercession and thaumaturgic sorcery - carry risks. Communing with the supernatural is exhausting - so we're talking Resilience tests with Fatigue and even Hit Point penalties. Understanding the magical nature or reality is mindbending - so we're talking Persistence tests with Insanity Points. Or somesuch - I've yet to decide whether to use OpenQuest's elegantly simple rules, or build something pointlessly complex on top...

It's enough to drive you mad!

Anyway, there's more to it than that. With Folk Magic, I'm adding in 'material foci'. Below, I try to explain what these are, and suggest material foci for the OpenQuest spells that I'm including in Folk Magic. Of course, players will be free to suggest that their character comes from a tradition in which object X is used to cast folk magic spell Y. But the examples will set the tone. Unfortunately, the material foci that I've come up with are boringly literal. Suggestions for other material foci are welcome. Very welcome.

[6.2.3.1] Material Foci

Casting folk magic spells usually involves the use of a material focus. These foci are as variable as the traditions through which this form of magic is passed from generation to generation. More often than not, the material focus of a spell is not consumed by its casting; it is simply a prop around which the ritual has been taught. A character casting a folk magic spell without the material focus used in the tradition he was taught does so with a Difficult (-20%) modifier to his Folk Magic skill score. Characters with very high Folk Magic skill scores are able to dispense with material foci as their mastery of the ritual is sufficient, but for the day-to-day practitioners, holy symbols, pinches of salt, feathers and the like are essential elements of magic. 

[…]

Befuddle 

A small pouch of tiles or pebbles painted or carved with letters. 

Clear Path 

An ordinary knife.  

Co-ordination 

A toy top, a feather, an accurate set of weights, or extract of monkey brains.

Countermagic 

A necklace, a bracelet, or a ring of other warding charm.  

Darkwall 

A pot of tar, a falconry hood, or a candle snuffer. 

Demoralise 

A toy mask with exaggeratedly fearful facial features or a small bag of live spiders. 

Detect (X) 

A small piece of the substance to be detected, a compass with the needle removed, or a dowsing rod. 

Dispel Magic 

A bag of salt, a pinch of which is tossed into the air when the spell is cast. 

Disruption 

A strip of leather, squeezed or pulled, as the spell is cast.

Dull Weapon

Two pebbles, ground together in the hand as the spell is cast.

Enhance (Skill)

The material foci for these spells are highly variable, ranging from trade tools to guild symbols, to material with a symbolic of mythic resonance with the skill being enhanced.

Extinguish 

An ordinary container of water.

Fanaticism 

The teeth or claws of a vicious beast.

Firearrow

A piece of amber, touched against the missile.

Fireblade 

A piece of amber, slid against the blade. 

Heal 

Heal spells are unusual in that they often do not require a material foci, though some traditions build their rituals around the use of a holy symbol.

Hinder (Skill)

The material foci for these spells are highly variable. Guild symbols are often used, though many guilds deny that they teach such magic to their members.   

Examples:

Hinder Perception – a pinch of dust blown in the direction of the target.

Hinder Trade – common material foci include counterfeit coins, rigged weights, and other symbolically fraudulent measures.

Hinder Persistence – spilling strong drink or a sedative drug onto the floor often serves as the material focus.

Ignite 

Pieces of flint or a small pouch of ashes.

Light 

This spell needs no other material foci other than the object to be illuminated. 

Mindspeech 

A small piece of paper covered in writing, which the caster swallows. 

Mobility 

A feather.

Multimissile 

Archers using this spell often use a bag of down as the material focus of this spell. Cultures that use slings often use a handful of sand. The javelin wielding tribesmen of Inner Pogotania use a small bundle of reeds. Interestingly, though these traditions reflect the missile weapons of the culture, a Pogotanian tribesman can cast Multimissile on the crossbow bolt used by a Genezian mercenary perfectly well.   

Pierce 

A steel or bone needle.

Protection 

The material foci of these spells are often simply the clothing, armour, weapon or shield of the target. The Allmeny barbarians, who eschew armour, often smear themselves in Frazetta oil when casting this spell.  

Second Sight 

The material focus of this spell is often a ring, to be looked through when casting the spell. 

Slow 

A pouch of stones or lead shot, or a jar or treacle.

Speedart 

Tools for measuring distance, such a ruler or a knotted string. 

Strength 

The knuckle bones of Trolls and other large humanoids or a mouthful of bull’s blood. In some barbarian tribes, the passage to manhood involves receiving a thick leather belt that acts as the focus of this spell.

Vigour 

Strong liquor or hot spices.

Water Breath 

Traditional material foci among the fishing villages along the Dragon’s Back include swallowing dried fish gills, while the Pearl Islanders take a small breath from a pouch made out of a swim bladder.  

Weapon Enhance

Blood from a man or woman who died in combat. Soldiers in the armies of Genezia are trained to use the gold doubloon that they received when being commissioned or conscripted.