Jonathan Tweet And Magic In Everway

Everway has simple magic rules. Magic is scaled 1-10 in terms of power level. Power level means at least two things: how frequently you see Mages of a particular power level in the world (rarity increases with power and population size), as well as the specific kinds of magical effects which are possible at each level.

Tonight I was rereading the Everway Playing Guide for guidance on creating a new magical tradition. In the midst of reading the rules, I found a great piece of advice for players and GMs, courtesy of Everway's designer, Jonathan Tweet:

"Magic is a tricky Art for players and gamemasters to use well. You must look to your gamemaster to establish the limits of what your mage's spells can accomplish. Your gamemaster is the final arbiter of what your character can do, so be sure that you make yourself clear about what you expect your character to be capable of. It may be that you will have to take a higher Magic score than you expected to at first in order for your mage to be able to do the sorts of things you want. Even if you and your gamemaster agree at the outset, problems may arise during quests when you think you mage can do something and the gamemaster disagrees. If you are not ready to concede to the gamemaster's judgment, do not create a mage in the first place.

"If your gamemaster doesn't feel up to handling the intricacies of magery, something that is likely to be true for gamemasters who are new to the game, then he or she can restrict you from creating heroes that have magical abilities."