368750-Sample Arcanum

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Arcanum
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A High Magic Supplement
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for the Ironsworn System

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By M. Christof Berger
Copyright (c) 2021 M. Christof Berger
Licensing Info
This work is based on Ironsworn (found at www.ironswornrpg.com),
created by Shawn Tomkin, and licensed for our use under the
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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The text of this work is created by M. Christof Berger and licensed
for use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License (CC-BY).
Writing and Design

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All writing by M. Christof.Berger
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Layout by Eric Bright.
Acknowledgments
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NOTE: This is NOT OFFICIAL Ironsworn content! It is fan-made

content made available through the generous licensing of Shawn
Tomkin, creator of Ironsworn. Please support him by purchasing the
original Ironsworn products as well as Ironsworn: Starforged, the
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sci-fi follow-up game.
Special thanks to Eric Bright, without whom this project may not
have ever reached completion.
Image Credits
All photos are in the public domain used with permission from
Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay.
All icons on the asset and Facility cards are by Lorc, Delapouite and
contributors from game-icons.net licensed under CC BY 3.0. …
Arcanum 8
The Ways of Magic 9
Manipulations 10
Change 11
Conjure 12
Control 13
Decay 14
Sense 15
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Essences 16
Water, Fire, Air, and Earth 17
Plant 18
Animal 19
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Body 20
Mind 21
Perception 22
Assets 23
The Mark 23
The Revelation 23
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Learning More Magic 24
The Arcanum 25
Arcanum Facilities 26
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Anchorage 27
Deep Ruins 28
Formulary 29
Grounds 30
The Grove 31
Guard Post 32
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Guest Suites 33
Library 34
Writing a Tome of Your Own 34
Messenger Post 35
Quarters 36
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Scrying Pool 37
Spell Vellum 38
Stables 39
Venture 40
Chaos 41
The Chaos Track 42
Fracture 42
Crack 43
Break 44
Moves 45
Cast a Spell 45
Spell Magnitude 46
Spell Power 46
How Spells are Cast 47
Secure Resources 48
Harness Chaos 48
Scribe 48
Ground Yourself 49
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Withstand Chaos 50
Playing a Mage 51
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Magi Archetypes 53
The Timothy 53
The Gandalf 54
The Potter 55
The Matthias 56
The Tanasin 57
Alternate Mark Variants 58
Reduced Power Casting 58
Your Truths
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Arcanum
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Arcanum
Arcanum is a supplement for the Ironsworn RPG system. It owes
deep credit to the Ironsmith line of supplements, as well. Arcanum
provides a flexible spellcasting option with a healthy respect for
narrative. In my view, magic is necessarily hamstrung in most RPGs
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in order to balance character classes. If we grasp at the Tolkien root
of this particular genre, though, magic is meant to be very powerful,
and being someone who enjoys playing magic-wielding characters,
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I have had a lingering disappointment with how most RPG systems
treat it. I also dislike Vancian magic intensely. It is a tremendously
useful tool for balance, but it makes wizardry feel more like a
collection of items rather than a willful shaping of creation. My
notion of mages comes from a lifetime of reading works such as
Neverwhere, The Books of Magic, and of course The Lord of the
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Rings. And, it also arises from the one RPG which I feel did magic
justice: Ars Magica.
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Thus, dear Magi, I present to you a method for implementing a
flexible casting system in your Ironsworn narratives.
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8 Arcanum
The Ways of Magic
Magic. In the Old World, it was known and practiced by those with
the ability. In the Ironlands, it was rediscovered. Much was lost in
the Great Crossing: scores of ancient tomes, and most of our few
Magi who escaped from the Old World. But, the Mark followed us.
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New generations are being born, and some of these children are
Marked by magic, their spirits forever altered. You were one of these
children.
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Magic is dangerous. Many do not survive the Revelation: the
moment when the Mark is first expressed. Those who learn to control
their gift, whether on their own or by way of apprenticeship, are
feared and outcast by the rest of human society. The Mark makes a
normal life, therefore, impossible.
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Magi instead live apart from society, tolerated so long as they keep
their distance. They may find a place nearby a community should
they assist folk in the area, but cannot expect a generally warm
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welcome, regardless of their deeds.
The practice of magic, as standardized in the Old World, is made

possible by the manipulation of Essences: the basic Forms of the
world. These are Water, Fire, Air, Earth, Plant, Animal, Mind, Body,
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Perception.
Manipulations are divided into Conjure, Change, Decay, Sense,

Control. A common spell in the bitter cold of the Ironlands is to
[Conjure+Fire]. In the winter, when blinding snow storms
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descend from the north, a Mage may cast a spell such as

[Decay+Air] to ease their travel. Wounds may be mended by a
spell of [Control+Body], to speed the healing process.
The ability of the individual limits the magnitude of the spell. In

addition to that limitation, magic spells defy reality, and reality
resists these efforts. Every spell stretches the fabric of reality further,
with greater and greater risk of Chaotic backlash. With experience,
magi learn how to manage this risk somewhat, though disaster
always lurks, needing only one spell too many or an over-ambitious
casting.
A High Magic Supplement for Ironsworn 9

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e

for the Ironsworn System

Writing and Design

NOTE: This is NOT OFFICIAL Ironsworn content! It is fan-made

sci-fi follow-up game.

The practice of magic, as standardized in the Old World, is made

Manipulations are divided into Conjure, Change, Decay, Sense,

descend from the north, a Mage may cast a spell such as

The ability of the individual limits the magnitude of the spell. In

A High Magic Supplement for Ironsworn 9

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