WhatMagicCantDo
The basic laws governing what's possible. See that page.
Therianthropes and Spellcasters
While most TTU residents assume (with some justification) that magic and therianthropy are identical effects drawn from the same source, the reality is that theri shapeshifting and spellcasting operate in dramatically different ways. The permanent transformation of therianthropy requires such raw power that even powerful mages are unable to replicate the effect ... and theris themselves aren't doing it by willing themselves to be non-human, they're doing it by being non-human and letting the universe do the heavy lifting for them. (ShapeshiftingInTTU has more detail.)
This means that theris are not automatically mages; mages are not automatically theris; and you don't have to be one to be the other. In fact, only about 25% of theris actively cast spells, and even the most conservative estimates of human mages have them outnumbering therianthropes by 10:1 or more.
It's interesting to note that, of the major TheriTypes, an unusually high proportion of Mythics are spellcasters, and virtually no Anthroweres are. Nobody's quite certain of the causality there.
Rituals vs. Spontaneous Spells
From a strictly utilitarian standpoint, ritual magic seems rather pointless for TTU mages; after all, "improvised" magic can have all of the same effects, and doesn't require preparation, tools, space or memorization. Ritual magic is also less flexible if circumstances change, and nearly useless in a surprise or a fight. What's the point?
The point is that ritual, by imposing these limitations, is a tremendous focus for one's willpower, bringing it to bear like a laser on the target. Even experienced mages can benefit from ritual if accomplishing a task is a matter of raw power. Ritual also makes it far easier for multiple mages to coordinate on a single spell.
The final benefit of ritual is that, by focusing one's will so much, it makes it tremendously easier for a non-mage to produce magical effects. Ritual has such utility as a teaching tool that almost all mages in TTU will start out within a ritual-based system and only gradually learn utilitarian spontaneous spells as their power grows. This is true even for less formalized schools like Volitionists and Externalists.
As in the real world, eclectic mages that don't need this foundation will exist. They will advance more quickly and reach greater heights than mages who start out with the crutch of ritual -- but arguably, these are the people who "got" magic in the first place, and they'd have reached that higher plateau no matter their training.
ChecksAndBalances
SensingMagic
Sections to be written later, perhaps on their own pages.CategoryMeta CategoryMagic
