SR5:Magic:Dark Magic

5th Edition Rules
Basics // Combat // Magic // Matrix // Driving // Character Creation

Spellcasting

Preparations

Adepts

Spirits

Traditions

Initiation

Dark Magic

Toxic Magic

The imprudence and carelessness of today’s corporations continues to cost the natural world around us. Undeniably, magic is linked very strongly to the natural world, and when the natural world—through technological impropriety—is damaged, magic is damaged along with it. While most magicians find this change vile, there are those who embrace it and find strength in it. Toxic mages have learned to harness the twisted magic in the polluted places of the world. They seek to spread that corruption, or even strike back at those who would cure it. Be most cautious of encountering them in wasteland areas. Their ability to draw magical sustenance from the area, while your magic may well be limited, puts them at an extreme advantage.

When magic first returned to the Sixth World, it was readily apparent that it was tied to nature and the natural world. Wherever nature was allowed to thrive, untouched by man, magic was more potent, thriving in tandem. Conversely, wherever nature was plowed, bulldozed, and overridden by the machinations of man, magic waned and fizzled. What no one anticipated was what would happen to magic when nature was not removed and replaced, but instead tainted into something foul. While the fires of industry churned on, fueling the insatiable appetites of consumers, the byproducts of those factories were dumped in forgotten places, away from prying eyes. In these places, where unnatural chemicals seeped and fouled like a sickness, nature turned into a dark and twisted parody of itself. So too did the magic that pooled there.

Mana flows from the metaplanes and other unknown sources into the physical world. As it collides with the emotions and circumstances of the physical world, it acquires something like a taste or flavor of the people and past events in particular locations. When it eventually crashes into the shores of astral space, it has absorbed the essence or character of the location where it co-exists. Thus, in a place where careless dumping has turned nature from inviting and life-giving to cruel and harsh, so too will the magic—and especially spirits—of that place be spiteful, twisted forms of what they once were. This is toxic magic.

The Twisted Way

In areas where pollution has corrupted nature, mana is also corrupted. Just as a mundane would find the polluted physical space sickly and detestable, the Awakened find corrupted astral space abhorrent. Simply being in the area is often too much for most Awakened, but should they try to use the mana there, they find it saturated with a sick and bitter taste. Most Awakened, metahuman and otherwise, avoid areas of toxic magic. There are a few magicians, however, that embrace, or perhaps have been driven mad by, the mutated magic of the area. Instead of being revolted by the toxic magic, they revel in it.

Those magicians who follow the toxic path almost always live a solitary life. To become a toxic magician is to give up everything, leaving behind family, friends, and even their mentor spirit (if they had one). In their new life the toxic magician follows an agenda of hatred, destruction, and revenge. Cut off from the rest of society, their lifestyle, habits, and motivations grow more and more alien, diverging from the world they were once a part of.

When a magician becomes toxic, they abandon their previous view of magic and the world for a completely new one; in this way they take on a completely new tradition, following all the basic rules (see Traditions, p. 279, SR5). However, the views vary widely from one toxic to another, and the degree to which an individual’s outlook changes is entirely dependent on their own flavor of insanity. A magician following a Toxic Tradition may select which five toxic spirits they are able to summon, as well as which Mental Attribute they use for Drain (in addition to Willpower).

Avengers

Some toxic magicians are driven by a deep desire for revenge. They are the emotional aspects of the land personified. They feel angry and deeply hurt by what has been done to the land (and themselves), and in some cases seek to vent this anger on those whom they perceive as responsible. They are often over-broad in how they define their opponents. In the eyes of the toxic, nearly anyone can be seen as linked to, or responsible for, the poisoning of the land: by creating pollutants, aiding those who create them, working or associating with polluters, purchasing products that cause pollution, those who knowingly do not act to prevent pollution, and even those that know nothing about it (ignorance is no excuse). Any person may be declared guilty at the whim of the avenger, in order to further their insatiable desire to exact some punishment on the world that created them, and the polluted land. Given what they, and the land, have become, toxic mages driven by revenge will often loathe themselves just as much as those they deem responsible. This self-loathing, however, only drives them to perform further acts of violence and depravity.

Poisoners

Poisoners are toxic magicians who view what they have found as a new source of power. These insane individuals believe that they have discovered a new elemental power in the world, and only they have the skill and talent to wield it. Unlike avengers, who are bitter, self-loathing, and out for revenge, poisoners fully embrace and enjoy what they have become. These individuals are often arrogant in the extreme, espousing and believing that they are the heralds or avatars of the very power, the essence, of pollution itself. As mankind continues to grow and industry expands, they believe that the inevitable end of all nature is to be consumed by the byproducts of industry, that all the world will be taken over by the detritus of society. With this belief they carry out an agenda that seeks to spread toxic areas, intensify those that exist, and stop those who would seek to clean the land. They are selfish and power-hungry individuals, driven to further their agenda through any means necessary. While sometimes completely mad and erratic, many poisoners possess a devious genius and a malicious cunning. They are capable of taking the long view, believing that their victory is inevitable, and may bide their time, or slowly build their power, until everything is right for their strike.

Toxic Adepts

Turning to the toxic path is not exclusive to magicians, though they are the most likely to do so. Adepts can also turn to, or be corrupted into, the path of the toxic. They are driven by the same kinds of motivations as magicians, but draw and manifest their toxic powers in ways more in keeping with their abilities. Due to their magical abilities being so closely tied to their physical bodies, toxic adepts are universally loathsome in appearance. Drawing the raw essence of the polluted magic into their bodies, the physical form of the toxic adept warps and mutates to match the nature of the corrupted mana flowing through them.

Some toxic adepts will become covered in boils, warts, and sores as their skin takes on a sick and diseased look. Others seep puss, bile, or filthy chemicals from their very pores. Drawing the toxic magic may give some a greatly enhanced physique, with their bones and muscles swollen and distended to enormous proportions, pulsing with malicious power. Others gain a sickly and emaciated appearance, mirroring the sick and shriveled aspects of the poisoned land. Their skin is pallid and drawn; their eyes sunken and discolored. Yet this appearance belies the fact that they still possess the same supernatural quickness and strength as they did before (if not more).

Toxic adepts have the same motivations and goals as toxic magicians, but they often favor more direct and aggressive means that suit their abilities. As a result, they are equally dangerous or frightening to encounter. Toxic adepts follow all the normal rules for adepts, with access to the additional powers and abilities for toxic adepts (see Twisted Arts, p. 87).

Toxic Mentor Spirits

While no sane magician has encountered a toxic mentor spirit, many of those who have turned to the toxic path claim they are guided and taught by a patron spirit. Like all aspects of toxic magic, the thoughts and motivations of a toxic Awakened embody the worst and darkest possibilities of mankind. The thought of a powerful metaplanar force that embodies the purest form of these motivations is truly chilling.

Toxic mentor spirits follow all the same rules for standard mentor spirits (p. 320, SR5). A toxic magician or toxic adept may, but is not required to, follow a mentor spirit.

Blood Magic

Although brought to the notice of the wider world by the mages of Aztlan, the ability and practice of drawing magical power from violent actions is not exclusive to their traditions. Many others have their own forms, and unfortunately the knowledge and practice of this method of power continues to draw followers. Not just followers who seek short-term gain, but those who make it their life’s work to perfect the techniques involved in this barbaric ritual. Blood mages and adepts require the mana energy “burst” of a violent sacrifice in order to draw their additional power, so preventing this activity will critically weaken them. Beware a foe that has drawn on this wellspring of power, though; they can wield a level of magical potency that you will not see anywhere else.

Blood magic is a catch-all term used to refer to any form of practicing magic where power is drawn from harm done to living beings. Blood magic is most well known in traditions of Aztec magic, but they are far from the only practitioners. A magician from any tradition of magic may become a blood mage if they engage in the practice of drawing power from pain. Being an inherently violent act, blood magic is illegal is nearly all nations, with the notable exception of Aztlan, where the practice is as much religious as it is magical.

In game terms, a magician is considered a blood mage if they have turned their studies to the learning of a select few metamagic techniques and rituals. Generally, a magician is considered a blood mage once they have learned the metamagic technique of Sacrifice.

THE PATH OF BLOOD

The reasons and motivations of a magician turning to the study of blood magic are as varied as the individuals who practice them. No one, save the truly mad, who practices blood magic can be blind to the inherently harmful nature of its practice, so the motivations for beginning to practice it must be strong enough to override any moral objections the individual may have. They may have experienced some trauma (mental or physical) that pushes them to make compromises for the sake of abilities. The individual may have been reared in a social setting where the practice is considered normal, and the acts honored rather than abhorrent. More commonly, though, individuals are lured in with the promise of power. Since blood magic can never be learned through self-study, a magician is always drawn onto the path of blood through a third party: a beguiling spirit or powerful individual or group. Through the temptations and promises offered, the magician is taught the forbidden arts and experiences the power they can harness as a result. Once they have tapped into the wellspring of raw mana produced by blood magic, few can ever turn away. They become addicted, or hopelessly dependent on it, driving them to further levels of debauchery until they are unrecognizable as the person they once were.

Gamemasters should be cautious about allowing player characters to learn blood magic techniques and should be very clear on the costs—social, moral, and in game terms—about choosing this path. The use of blood magic will show up in their aura, which has a strongly negative effect on any who assense them (excepting other blood mages).

Insect Magic

Possibly the most bizarre of all those who operate in the dark are the ones who choose to collude with the extraplanar entities called insect spirits. Anyone need simply search for Universal Brotherhood or Chicago Containment Zone on the Matrix to see the kind of destruction this brings. Despite this, there are still those that for any of the reasons I previously mentioned—and others, including a deep and twisted curiosity—choose to practice this form of magic and ultimately do the bidding of these alien entities. Insect spirits require a metahuman host in order to remain anchored on our plane, and the process of inhabiting the metahuman vessel takes many hours. Thus, the insect shaman will find a secure location to form the “hive,” where victims are taken for implantation of the insect spirits. Hives must be found and destroyed at all costs, though beware, as the shaman and any spirits summoned thus far will defend it with fanatical abandon.