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Strange Magic - Ethermagic, Composition, and Truemagic

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"For me, this is an EZG Essential, a candidate for my top ten of 2014, and deserves a final verdict of 5 stars + seal of approval. This is, even without anything I added, the best crunch-book I've seen in ages - innovative, fun, complex, and yet, pretty easy to grasp." - Endzeitgeist, reviewing Ultimate Ethermagic

"WOW, this supplement (which is only 1/3 of the entire book) is amazing!" - Chris Zank, reviewing Ultimate Ethermagic

"Its crowning achievement, to me, remains in its ability to make the mastery of the system mimic the process it seeks to emulate – a feat rarely seen in any supplement and one that must be considered superbly rewarding. Hence, Ultimate Composition receives a final verdict of 5 stars + seal of approval and becomes a candidate for my Top Ten of 2015." - Endzeitgeist, reviewing Ultimate Composition

"I can assure you this monster is worth each cent, offering a vast array of cool options and salvaging the truenaming concept, making it actually work while maintaining its distinct identity." - Endzeitgeist, reviewing Libram of the First Language

"Might [be] worth the price for the Breakdancer class alone. Seriously.
I totally want to make a gnome breakdancer now." - Timothy B., featured reviewer, commenting on the Strange Magic Subscription

 

Bored of Vancian magic? Try something Strange instead!

 

In development in one way or another since June of 2013, Strange Magic offers up three brand new magical subsystems with freedom as their modus operandi. Build custom spells from the ground up with ethermagic, compose your own scores with musical composition, and weave ridiculous combos and reverse recitations with truename magic.

The component thirds of Strange Magic, Ultimate Ethermagic, Ultimate Composition, and Ultimate Truenaming, may be purchased separately. An upcoming loyalty program will allow those who purchased these pieces to get Strange Magic at a discount. Additionally, those who purchase PDFs of Strange Magic before the hardcover edition is ready will be able to purchase the hardcover at a discount.

Ethermagic

Ethermagic takes equal parts Douglas Adams and H. P. Lovecraft to produce an 'all day long' system of magic with a cosmic flavor. Spiritual successors to the warlock base class of the 3.5 days, the ethermagus, ethermancer, and etherslinger base classes seek to have improved playability by offering the ability to mix and match spell effects to make custom evocations on the fly. Whereas the warlock simply blasted, the ethermagician can ask, 'How hard?', and can even choose to be an interesting hybrid class rather than a pure-blooded caster.

Thanks to the advent of a rapidly-regenerating spell point pool, players must choose whether or not to spend more than they will regenerate next turn. Incredibly potent effects are indeed possible, but firing them off without a care in the world will reduce the player to single-target ranged touch attacks in a hurry!

Musical Composition

In the real world, great musicians are some of the most creative people that you will ever meet. When sitting down to play one in tabletop gaming, however, musical performance boils down to a short list of canned abilities that are autogranted at particular level thresholds. In short, gaming a musician is not the creative enterprise that actually being one is.

The musical composition system seeks to capture the raw creativity of music with the advent of a freeform composition system. Players combine intros, melodies, and outros to compose custom scores, which are then conducted in much the same way that a bard performs his performances. Each base class contained herein takes a different spin on the concept, combining it with spellcasting, arcane magic, divine magic, or more freeform musical composition, as the case may be.

Composition's transformative archetypes are not mere flavor packages, but instead modify the very root of the composition system itself, to the point that each base class can be made almost unrecognizable by piling on two or three of them.

Truename Magic

We call it the First Language, and anything spoken in this most primal of tongues is law. Be the speaker king or peasant, the universe is compelled to shift the very fabric of its being to conform to that which is said. Complex beyond comprehension, this ur-tongue contains syntax and vocabulary capable of describing all that can conceivably exist in this, or any other universe. Though perfect mastery of such a construct is impossible for even the gods—this is why deities have portfolios—even a mortal can learn enough of the First Language to effectively BE a god with an incredibly narrow focus. These obsessive scholars and phoneticians are collectively called the truenamers, and their efforts to capture the power wielded by the gods themselves upsets everyone from clerics to cultists.

Truename magic features the recitations system, in which spells are cast upon successfully making a truenaming check (same as a concentration check, but a different name so other content can't break it) against the level of the recitation. Each time a recitation is recited, its check DC increases by +2 until the following day. Inflections, effectively a metamagic system that allows for bonus effects in exchange for increasing the truenaming DC faster, makes even the 1st-level recitations useful forever. After all, if you could cast a quickened 1st-level recitation each round, why wouldn't you?

 

Product Features

  • Three ethermagic base classes: the full-caster ethermancer, the melee ethermagus, and the cosmic firearms etherslinger.
  • Four composition base classes: the maneuvers-based breakdancer, the divine cantor, the score-spamming harmonicist, and the arcane maestro
  • Two truename magic base classes: the classic truenamer and the universe-trolling scion of discordia
  • Ten ethermagic archetypes, four of which, the healing etherfuser, the insane mad evangelist, the etherbomber, and the stealthy void stalker, are complex enough to be new classes in their own right!
  • Five composition archetypes, all of which are compatible with multiple composition classes
  • Eight truename magic archetypes, two of which, the chessmaster and the discordant instigator, may as well be their own classes!
  • Five truename magic prestige classes
  • An NPC Codex! Over 30 pages of iconic NPCs for use in your games
  • Well over 150 pages of manifestations, compositions, opuses, recitations, dance moves, talents, and feats
  • Favored Class options for all common races, as well as most featured races

 

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Reviews (0)
Discussions (9)
Customer avatar
Roby D April 30, 2022 10:36 am UTC
This may be a weird question on an older product, but when it comes to magic items, there are "auras" listed, which are where the strength of the aura (as per Detect Magic) and the school of magic is listed (Strong Divination, Moderate Necromancy, etc.).
In Detect Magic for PF 1e, it lists 5 strengths:
Overwhelming
Strong
Moderate
Faint
Dim (listed for lingering traces of where magic has been).

Your Strange Magic seems to use "Weak" in the aura section. I've products from Dreamscarred that do this too.
What does "Weak Universal" or "Weak Necromancy" mean? Is it weaker than Faint? Stronger? The same? Is it from a Paizo product, or some older version of D&D?
Just trying to figure it out. I quite like the products, I'm just trying to figure out what these variations from the normal rules mean.
Thanks!
Customer avatar
Paul D November 21, 2016 9:24 pm UTC
Can any of these classes be used for 5th Edition?
Reply
Customer avatar
Bradley C November 21, 2016 9:26 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Afraid not, not without some serious reworking, though I'm making a 5e version of the sequel. :)

Ethermagic goes entirely against the grain of 5e. You can make the other two work if you translate.
Customer avatar
Bradley C November 18, 2016 5:28 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
I'm aware of the pricing issue with the current Deal of the Day (there's no sale) and am working to get it fixed on their end so the UI displays properly and such. If that doesn't work, I'll try to get this reinserted into the queue on a priority pass or something to make up for what went on here.
Customer avatar
Yantra O August 16, 2016 8:37 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Another question: reading the Maestro class I have stumbled upon a few details I do not get entirely. I see several Melodies on the composition list have a notation at the end saying "This melody can be taken multiple times." but I don't understand what that means. Does it means they can be put on a same score several times stacking their effects together? Does it mean you have to "learn" a same melody several times to apply it to different scores? I'm afraid the text is considerably unclear in this regard.

On a similar note, I have found that some other compositions (such as Building Dissonance) specify a subject but it doesn't mentions the range at which the Maestro can affect a given target. Is this a case of "whoever can hear it" (as in the Bard performances)?
Customer avatar
Yantra O May 20, 2016 11:03 pm UTC
PURCHASER
One question: when explaining the mechanic of Ethermagic, it is stated that "at the beginning of it's turn", the Ethermancer gains an amount of EP equal to half his class LVL rounded up, which is, pretty much, the same as the regeneration ratio listed in the class progression table. However, there is nowhere to be found a line saying something like "the ethermancer completely regenerates all spent EP after 8 hours of sleep". So, should I assume that ethermancers enter combat with their EP at 0 and gain the aforementioned amount of EP at the beginning of their first combat turn? Just wanting to clarify that if possible since it is a bit vague on the book.
Reply
Customer avatar
Bradley C May 21, 2016 4:33 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Hey, Jano! Exact opposite, really. You top off quickly, and stay topped off when out of combat. Combat should be a desperate struggle of EP dump versus EP regeneration rate, which makes the max reduction of Genesis and Bestow a huge pain in the heat of battle.
Reply
Customer avatar
Yantra O May 21, 2016 1:33 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I'm horribly sorry for repeating myself here (let's blame 50% to my self-taught english) but let's say my max EP at first level is 5. My question is: Do I enter battle with my EP looking like 5/5 (in other words, at full EP) or 0/5, gaining the recharge amount specified per round on my first battle turn? I'm asking this, mainly, because the book simply speaks of a regeneration ratio, but never says how you actually "begin" the day or in which state you enter a battle. My common sense would make me assume you enter at full EP, but given this is a class mechanic pretty much unlike anything else on Pathfinder, I rather ask and be sure than play it wrongly. Once again, I apologize for my insistence.
Reply
Customer avatar
Bradley C May 21, 2016 9:19 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
5/5, Jano. That will afford you a round or two of full power play, followed by a tiny trickle of energy if you didn't conserve in the beginning of the fight. It's a tactical consideration you won't find anywhere else, and I don't mind the chance to advertise my work at all. Please, keep asking if you need to!
Reply
Customer avatar
Yantra O May 23, 2016 1:41 am UTC
PURCHASER
Thank you so much for being so patient with a poor fan from Perú. Your ethermancer is, definetely, the reboot of the 3.5 warlock I was looking forward! Another question I was having is... that while you mention etherspells register as Evocation spells, you don't specify if they register as Arcane or Divine (or neither). I was going by assuming Arcane due the heavy Spell Failure imposed by the armors, but I rather have you clarify it now that I have your attention.
Reply
Customer avatar
Bradley C May 23, 2016 1:42 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Neither, but you can GM fiat it however you like.
Customer avatar
Joshua C April 24, 2016 3:56 am UTC
Is this for Pathfinder or The Strange (Cypher) system?
Reply
Customer avatar
Bradley C April 24, 2016 10:54 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Pathfinder. :)
Customer avatar
Steven Z October 25, 2015 11:59 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I have purchased the watermarked PDF for $24.95, but have not ever been able to successfully download it. It is the only product that I have not been able to download from DriveThruRPG; any other product in my library will download properly. I don't know why this technical difficulty exists; I hope it can be corrected soon.
Reply
Customer avatar
Bradley C October 26, 2015 12:00 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Bizarre. Nobody else has thrown up a complaint - would you mind getting in touch with OBS itself?
Reply
Customer avatar
Steven Z November 25, 2015 2:05 am UTC
PURCHASER
OK - what is the 'OBS'? Thanks.
Reply
Customer avatar
Bradley C November 25, 2015 4:08 am UTC
PUBLISHER
OneBookShelf, the parent company of this family of online stores.
Customer avatar
Anders K August 06, 2015 9:59 am UTC
I hope you will put out Print version options?? :)
Reply
Customer avatar
Bradley C August 06, 2015 1:01 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Working on it. It's my first rodeo in that regard, and the little issues that keep cropping up are so abundant that my second book is being held up by the remaining bugs in the first. It shouldn't be too much longer. I had a proof copy hit my doorstep on the 1st of August and I'm nailing down what the heck went wrong with it presently. For now, I'm focusing on the Patreon projects, but rest assured that I'm hacking away at whatever's in reach whenever it looks like a good idea at the time, print included.
Customer avatar
Bradley C May 08, 2015 8:49 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Update on loyalty program - The $7 off coupon for purchasing one of Ultimate Composition, Ultimate Ethermagic, or Ultimate Truemagic has been sent out. The $21 off coupon for purchasing all of them is underway. The $14 off coupon for purchasing any two of them is... thorny because I'm trying to find a way to get it done in one mailing instead of three. That one is on hold presently.
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This title was added to our catalog on May 08, 2015.