TEXT:  
  Board Enterprises proudly presents 
  Build Your Fantasy World in  
  Small Bites 
   
   
  aka All About Mages 
   
   
   
   
  
  1 
   
  INTRODUCTION 
   
   
  You know what?  We’re really happy you’re here!  
  Welcome to the latest edition of our Small Bites 
  modules.  This month our theme is Mages - Spell casters, 
  wizards, magic users, whatever you call them - those 
  guys!  Since magic and spell casting is such an enormous 
  subject, we thought we’d begin at the beginning - the 
  magical universities.  How do the universities work, and 
  what do they turn out? 
   
  If you’re new to Small Bites, then what is this?  
  Most people are seeing it as an e-zine published monthly.  
  In many ways, it is that, but it’s not only that.  This is a 
  way for the folks at Board Enterprises to share 
  everything we’ve put out this month with you, our 
  supporting audience.  We’re going to pack it full, with 
  stuff for players and for game masters, and for casual 
  readers who are just looking to be entertained for a short 
  while. 
   
  But far more importantly to us, Small Bites is 
  about building a community - a virtual community of 
  game masters, players, world builders and game 
  designers.  A group of people who will share ideas as we 
  all seek to make our games better than they were.  We 
  really hope you enjoy this book, and join the community! 
   
   
  Table of Contents 
   
  Introduction ..................................................................... 1 
  Fletnern Wiki................................................................... 1 
  The Sounding Board ........................................................ 4 
  The Good Life ................................................................. 8 
  News of Fletnern ........................................................... 11 
  What’s Missing ............................................................. 12 
  In Conclusion ................................................................ 13 
  Patreon ........................................................................... 14 
   
  FLETNERN WIKI 
   
   
  All of these posts are already out on the wiki and 
  you can refer to them.  We have gathered them here, 
  because we think they are valuable in a group, and they 
  all pertain to our theme for the month.  All of them are 
  also tagged as being in the categories of “Brinston” and 
  “Universities” in case you are more comfortable using 
  the wiki instead of this edition. 
   
  Aurora Fantastic 
  Site 
   
  Aurora Fantastic is a magical university in 
  Brinston.  Aurora originally specialized in illusionary 
  magics, before it began catering to business students.  
  Aurora still has extensive illusionary and spell singing 
  classes, but they also hold business related classes.  
  Aurora is a fine institution, but it has a reputation for 
  having too much fun, which has lowered its reputation 
  among the citizens of Brinston. 
   
  Aurora Fantastic will commonly be abbreviated as 
  AF in this edition. 
   
  Brinston, City of 
  City 
   
  Brinston is located at the delta of the Elhebar River 
  (Elhebenea in Elven) into the Barrier Ocean.  As such, 
  Brinston controls both the river trade and most of the sea 
  trade along the entire coast.  Brinston is an old city.  
  Since its founding the river has been repeatedly dredged, 
  allowing for the city to harbor its massive navy safely 
  among the delta’s islands.  The merchant trade is handled 
  out of “Port of Brinston” a small community 12 miles 
  south of the actual city. 
   
  Brinston is ruled by a Prince-Governor chosen from 
  one of the noble families.  While the noble families 
  practice a variety of elitist activities, these families 
  remain in full control of the largest merchant houses and 
  wineries in the region. 
   
  The majority of the people of Brinston are Marils, 
  but as with any cosmopolitan community, foreigners of 
  all types can be found in the city.  Despite the strong 
  alliance between Brinston and her northern elven 
  neighbors, there are only small elven communities within 
  the city walls. 
   
  Brinston Magical Universities 
  Schools 
   
  In Brinston there are three magical universities.  
  While they compete for prestige, they are often seen as 
  interchangeable.  Most students pursue studies in magic 
  just far enough to show that they can successfully cast a 
  spell.  Immediately after casting that spell, they switch to 
  their chosen field.  The business communities in Brinston 
  
  2 
   
  feel that anyone with the ability to master magic has the 
  brain power to handle the business world.  For this 
  reason, they all hire these “mages”.  Few of these people 
  can actually cast a spell, but they have a certificate 
  showing they are a mage. 
   
  The universities do in fact teach mages, but these 
  are much smaller groups of students.  Most university 
  trained mages find themselves within the Brinston Navy 
  either as offensive spell casters or as weather 
  manipulators intended to enhance the speed and 
  maneuverability of the ships.  
   
  Brinston Magical Universities utilize a star quality 
  style of attracting certain professors.  While overworked 
  “scholars” teach everything, certain “famous” mages 
  teach one or two classes a week and get huge salaries and 
  wonderful libraries.  Having these famous mages makes 
  the university seem more prestigious, though the stars 
  have little if any impact on the actual curriculum. 
   
  DesGyunate, Phul 
  Individual 
   
  Phul DesGyunate is credited as being the most 
  powerful sorcerer alive.  This claim is likely to be false, 
  but there can be no question that he is indeed a very 
  powerful spell caster.  Unlike others aspiring to claim 
  “most powerful sorcerer”, Phul is skilled in battle 
  magics.  Most of the other claimants tend to be dedicated 
  to research and would never stand a chance against Phul 
  in a battle or duel. 
   
  Phul lives in Brinston and has lived in or near the 
  city his entire life.  He was trained as a battle mage for 
  the navy, but preferred to work with the army after 
  having made a name and a reputation for himself.  As 
  such, he met Prince Governor Jasper, and the two formed 
  a strong bond.  They refer to each other as “battle 
  brothers”, but the details are not publicly known. 
   
  Phul DesGyunate is probably the most powerful 
  combat sorcerer alive.  He continues to live in Brinston 
  and serves as an advisor to the Prince Governor, and 
  occasional a teacher at the universities.  Phul uses a flat 
  wand talisman that he keeps hidden up his sleeve (made of 
  oak, looks like a nine-inch ruler).  Phul desires power for 
  power’s sake.  He does not feel it necessary to use his 
  power, just possess it.  Phul’s ambition to be the best is a 
  compulsion for him.  If he were to hear of another sorcerer 
  who was “better” he would need to find a way to prove 
  they were not. 
   
  Floer Phielend 
  Site 
   
  The chief business school in Brinston is Floer 
  Phielend.  Named for its two founders, this school 
  graduates the most business students and can be cheaper 
  due to its large class sizes (though still very expensive).  
  Despite these seeming drawbacks, it is one of the best for 
  business, because it understands the contradiction of 
  mages as bookkeepers.  Students at Floer Phielend are 
  hurried through their magic classes and then encouraged 
  to take more directly related business classes, such as 
  bookkeeping, business management, selling, scholarship, 
  and even leadership.  Floer Phielend also stresses its 
  ethics courses, though these are taught from an elitist, 
  pro-Marilick racist standpoint.  When Floer Phielend was 
  originally founded, it was outside the walls of the city.  
  This was done to prevent it from being “controlled” by 
  the city government and allowing the mages to do as 
  they pleased.  Over the centuries, the expansion of the 
  city has enveloped the school and the neighborhoods 
  around it. 
   
  Floer Phielend will commonly be abbreviated as FP 
  in this edition. 
   
  General Jasper 
  Individual 
   
  The man known as General Jasper is actually Jasper 
  Phileppe Louredell, born a very minor nobleman in the 
  wine country of Brinston.  Attending military academies 
  and eventually joining the army as a young officer, 
  Jasper quickly made a name for himself as both a leader 
  of men and someone who could be trusted to get the job 
  done.  Unlike some of the nobles within the military, 
  Jasper was seen as someone who would do the right 
  thing, even if it caused a problem for some other 
  nobleman. 
   
  Just before the Battle of Brinston, Jasper was 
  ordered to accompany Prince Governor Suiutel (SWEET 
  el) Fontswain to “engage the enemy”.  This was a not so 
  clever ruse as Suiutel was taking his two best battalions 
  and fleeing to save his own life.  It was Jasper who 
  executed Suiutel and turned the army around, racing 
  back to the city, just in time to engage the fearsome 
  monsters who were attacking the city.  Hailed as a hero, 
  he was quickly pushed into the role as Prince Governor. 
  
  3 
   
   
  Kainte Meurdenty 
  Site 
   
  Kainte Meurdenty is a magical university in 
  Brinston, but it is more a school of magic than its 
  competitors.  It has extensive classes on conjuring and 
  sorcery and many of its students go on to be battle 
  mages.  The libraries and research at Kainte Meurdenty 
  are the best in the city, and scholars from Rimmim and 
  around the world have been known to come to consult 
  here.   
   
  Kainte Meurdenty is also named for its two 
  founders.  The school was established 1,200 years ago 
  and is most likely the oldest, private institution in the 
  city, possibly the world.  Being centuries old, there are 
  books and other treasures in the vaults beneath the school 
  that aren’t so much hidden as simply forgotten over the 
  ages.  Some researcher or another seems to forever be 
  pulling pertinent and/or “lost” information out of the 
  bowels of the school.  Clearly, there is no catalog of 
  everything the school owns. 
   
  Kainte Meurdenty will commonly be abbreviated as 
  KM in this edition. 
   
  Marilick University 
  Site 
   
  Marilick University is the largest non-magical 
  university in Brinston.  Because it refuses to open magic 
  classes, many people consider it to be a sub-standard 
  institution.  In fact, Marilick U is perhaps the best 
  training school for those things it teaches.  Marilick U 
  has extensive training for traveling merchants.  Courses 
  in languages, navigation, diplomacy, sales and contract 
  negotiations, law - including laws of differing regions, 
  trade goods and markets, and various other specialized 
  course applicable to trade.  Oddly enough, Marilick U 
  graduates often go on to become naval officers for the 
  city-state because of their broad knowledge of the world 
  and other cultures. 
   
  Marilick University is not sponsored by the 
  government, but is a private institution.  However, since 
  they have made it a habit of using priests of Jassper to 
  teach their law classes, many alumni find an easier time 
  in legal courts, should they wind up there.  After all, they 
  may actually know the judge or have mutual friends.  
  Even barring this, they have been taught how the law 
  should work from the same vantage point as the person 
  who will be deciding their case. 
   
  Marilick University will commonly be abbreviated 
  as MU in this edition. 
   
  Order of St. Tuorgellesse 
  Group 
   
  The Order of St. Tuorgellesse is known by several 
  names including the Order of Commodore Tuorgellesse 
  and The Sea Wall.  St. Tuorgellesse was a legendary 
  naval captain who killed a kraken that was attacking 
  ships in the Brinston trade lanes. 
   
  The Order is made up of mages and other spell 
  casters who use their spells in the service of the Brinston 
  Navy and as such is one of several “knightable” orders.  
  This means that mages in the service of the Navy can be 
  granted entry into the lowest ranks of the nobility. 
   
  Knighthood under the Order of St. Tuorgellesse is 
  only conferred upon the recipient.  His children have no 
  claim to a noble title.  Members are addressed as “Sir”. 
   
  Membership into the order is typically extended to 
  naval captains who have done incredibly heroic things or 
  to mages who have served well upon their retirement.  It 
  certainly helps a retiring naval mage to find work in the 
  universities if he has been admitted to the order. 
   
  The Order has a small “keep” in Port of Brinston.  
  Members of the order will meet here quarterly to discuss 
  any business of the order, but there rarely is any, other 
  than admitting new members.  While the Royal Charter 
  of the order has no limits on the number of members, 
  traditionally the order has held their members to 25-30, 
  the number of chairs they can comfortably place around 
  the table in their keep. 
   
  The keep does have guest rooms and some 
  members will stay there for short periods.  For example, 
  a captain just coming into port may stay at the keep for a 
  night or two while he gets his cargo in order and then 
  travel to the city. 
   
  The emblem of the order is a set of three white 
  ships on a royal blue background.  The three ships 
  overlap each other.  This is said to represent the “Sea 
  Wall”, as the order sees itself as those who protect 
  Brinston from the perils of the sea. 
  
  4 
   
  THE SOUNDING BOARD 
   
  Is Your Magic Balanced? 
   
  One of the most difficult “systems” to get to work 
  in a FRPG is the balance between magic and melee.  If a 
  mage can attack multiple people while doing more 
  damage than a warrior can and to each of them, then it 
  seems obvious that magic is over powered.  But magic 
  can be restrained by allowing the warrior to attack every 
  combat round, but the mage only has a certain number of 
  “shots” in him.  So when does it balance? 
   
  Well, let’s look at a couple of examples.  In 
  LEGEND QUEST, the least powerful fireball can be cast 
  by a mage who is not an absolute beginner, but isn’t 
  some super experienced guy either.  That least fireball 
  will do 2-15 points of damage to people who most 
  commonly have 24-36 Life’s Blood.  While this doesn’t 
  seem like a lot, LQ does have bleeding damage too, so 
  once you’re below half, you’re in ever increasing some 
  serious trouble. 
   
  Far more importantly, a spear in the hands of 
  someone with a Strength Attribute of 4-6 (humans are 1-
  10, with 4 or 5 being average) will also do 2-15 points of 
  damage.  So the mage does the same damage, but can hit 
  multiple people with one spell.  So right now, the mage 
  is definitely more powerful because it is the same 
  damage to multiple people. 
   
  But the warrior can attack every turn until he 
  exhausts himself.  Now in LQ the warrior (assuming a 
  Strength of 6 and an Endurance of 6 - most warriors 
  would have these or slightly better) would begin to 
  exhaust himself after eight attacks.  The ninth attack 
  would cause 3 points of Fatigue damage, and so would 
  every other attack after it.  But he would probably have a 
  Willpower of 4 or 5 (again, average), so assuming the 
  lower 4 - he has 24 Fatigue points.  That means 8 turns 
  before getting tired and then 8 more turns (3x8 = 24) of 
  exhausting himself.  16 attacks seems to be quite a few. 
   
  The mage is going to take 2-15 points of Fatigue in 
  casting the fireball.  Now he’s probably got a Willpower 
  of 6 for 36 Fatigue points.  But with an average 8.5 
  Fatigue points, he’s only got four spells in him before he 
  will pass out from exhaustion.  Four spells vs. 15 attacks 
  (the 16th one would have driven the warrior unconscious, 
  so we’ll call it 15 attack attempts).  The four hit multiple 
  people.  The fireball is 20’ in diameter.  So is the mage 
  hitting four people?  Depends on the circumstances, but 
  that seems pretty reasonable.  So all in all, it sort of 
  seems even.  Granted, the mage can get all of his guys 
  beat up in four turns, and the warrior gives them a lot 
  more opportunities to attack back, but in the end, it does 
  still sort of feel pretty fair. 
   
  Now, not every game allows you to make easy 
  comparisons.  A lot of games, especially those using 
  character classes, have lots of stuff mixed into 
  experience and advancement.  Having more points of 
  damage you can take matters too, so if that is part of your 
  advancement, then you have to understand the 
  differences between glass cannons and tanks.  But!  We 
  can make some comparisons by pitting them against each 
  other. 
   
  As the level of experience increases, so do the 
  factors of divergence.  In other words, comparing higher 
  “level” characters gets really complicated because of the 
  variations in characters as well as the way different 
  groups might apply optional or variant rules.  Now I 
  pretty much just play LQ now, so I sat down with 
  players of the fifth edition of that other game to talk 
  through how the characters shape up. 
   
  I remain skeptical because I saw the way that the 
  more military classes progressed in this sort of straight 
  line fashion and the mage classes progressed in what has 
  normally been considered a geometric progression, so 
  that by the time you got to the higher levels, the mages 
  did everything and the warriors just tried to keep them 
  from getting killed. 
   
  But we did some compares with ninth level 
  characters, and it didn’t turn out that bad.  We found 
  pretty much the same type of thing we just described - 
  The mages did about the same damage as the fighter 
  types, but did it faster, but were done with their spell 
  casting while the fighters were still going.  Overall - not 
  too far off each other.  I have to admit - I was pleasantly 
  surprised that it was even close. 
   
  Now, let’s not be silly.  If a mage can “charm” an 
  enemy and turn him against his friends (charm, 
  dominate, possess, etc.) then that mage has shown a level 
  of power that just might be over powered, but a lot of 
  that comes down to role-playing situations or defenses, 
  and not pure numbers. 
   
  So with both games seeming to be fairly balanced 
  between magic and melee, there remains a point that 
  really matters:  magic items.  The items given to the 
  
  5 
   
  various styles of play can have an enormous impact on 
  the game, no matter how balanced they might be when 
  the rules were written.  Giving a PC a wand that removes 
  his restriction of only so many spells per day changes the 
  game.  Giving a warrior a sword that increases his 
  damage to mage levels without restricting his number of 
  attacks changes the game. 
   
  So what’s the right way to go?  Well, the problem 
  is that game balance rests in the hands of the GM.  Tip 
  the scales too far one way and you can ruin your game.  
  Tip them the other, and ruin the game.  We’ll give you 
  advice, but it is really going to come down to experience.  
  You will (or already have) get to the place where you can 
  sense the disturbance in the force.  You know what is 
  going to happen if you give that character that item.  So 
  don’t.  Or at least, after you do, learn from this mistake 
  and don’t do it in the next campaign. 
   
  Dangerous Jobs aka Who’s Mad as a Hatter 
   
  So hopefully before we lose you, what are we talking 
  about?  You’ve heard the saying “Mad as a hatter” we 
  hope.  Maybe you know the Mad Hatter from Alice in 
  Wonderland or from Batman.  Anyway, the urban legend 
  goes - hatters in Merry Ol’ England used chemicals in the 
  hat making process that probably drove them insane.  
  (Something to do with the mercury fumes.)  This 
  happened and it happened so commonly that they pretty 
  much expected it. 
   
  What about in your fantasy world?  Chances are they 
  aren’t using mercury in hat making (that was more 1700-
  1800s).  The same might be said for the dangers of match 
  making (1800s).  But are there dangerous professions that 
  are going on in your fantasy cities?  Of course there are!  
  Even just thinking about acrobats and other entertainers 
  who would commonly be injured in their performances 
  and no one really cared.  But what I am thinking about is 
  the alchemists. 
   
  Just like the hatters, alchemists are typically 
  encountering vapors and fumes that are probably 
  dangerous to their health.  I have set up a lot of alchemists 
  in Fletnern that have gone insane or are going insane and 
  how it affects their business.  Sometimes it affects the 
  neighborhood too.  When a crazy alchemist is trying to put 
  together some form of fire bomb, things can go wrong - 
  really, really wrong.  It would probably be less common 
  for alchemists specializing in healing potions than those 
  doing fire and other “bombs”, but it’s not like they would 
  be thinking about proper ventilation or other safety tips. 
   
  Who else can we suggest might be crazy because of 
  their job?  Necromancers!  Whether it’s the embalming 
  fluids, the bone dust or just the horror of creating undead 
  creatures - these guys will likely be some pretty warped 
  dudes!  Maybe some of the research mages.  I think we’ve 
  all read some horror story about a guy who went nuts 
  reading old books containing knowledge that was not 
  meant to be known.  What about mediums?  Those who 
  contact the dead or other supernatural spirits.  Maybe they 
  aren’t insane, but do they get possessed? 
   
  Back to the big question I always want to ask:  Why 
  does it matter?  This is some great starter material for 
  adventures, typically urban adventures.  Did the crazy 
  conjurer guy at the magic university read the wrong book 
  and try the wrong spell and now the basement of the 
  college is being overrun by demons (maybe little gremlin 
  type demons - they sound fun).  Did the alchemist mess up 
  and start a magical fire that cannot be put out by mundane 
  means, and it is starting to consume more of the city?  Did 
  the crazy necromancer give some powerful undead 
  creation a command that doesn’t make any sense, like 
  bring me a new born baby every night (forever) and the 
  duchess is about to go into labor?  Crazy is sometimes 
  easier to game master - it doesn’t have to make sense. (But 
  can be a whole lot of fun, at least for the GM) 
   
  The Power Behind Magic 
   
  How do your games handle magic and where 
  magical power comes from?  My world Fletnern, and I 
  guess in the game LEGEND QUEST though probably more 
  as an optional rule, has different magics coming from 
  different sources.  Honestly the rule book sort of glosses 
  over it, and the Book of Wishes (the magic expansion) 
  doesn’t get into it too deeply.  That’s because LQ has 
  always been focused on letting you run your game world 
  how you want and tries not to force game world/setting 
  issues into the rules. 
   
  Enough dancing around the issue - What do we 
  mean?  Necromancy is controlled by the magic involved 
  in death.  Healing is involved in the magic of life.  Sorcery 
  draws on the magic created from change or if you need to 
  say it chaos.  Druid = nature; illusion = light and darkness; 
  spell singing = emotions; and conjuring draws magic from 
  somewhere else, not natural to this world.  But I like when 
  things overlap.  Druidic magic draws on nature, but that 
  means that it is drawing some of its magic from the 
  elemental magics that fuel the elementalists.  Herbalists 
  draw power from nature too, but pretty specifically only 
  the plant side of nature.  Spiritualism draws magic from 
  death, but also from one of the “dimensions” that 
  conjuring uses (the spirit realm).  So necromancy and 
  spiritualism may have some of the same spells and 
  actually be able to use the same talismans to enhance their 
  spells, but not always because they are not twins, but 
  kissing cousins. 
   
  Nothing is more boring during a game session than a 
  GM trying to explain the technical points of magic to the 
  players.  That’s not why they came.  They’re looking to be 
  challenged in some way (most often combat), but not 
  lectured to.  So by no means am I suggesting you spend 
  game time having some scribe explain how magic works.  
  You can have discussions with your players about it when 
  
  6 
   
  you’re sitting around doing nothing, like when you’re 
  waiting for others to show up, even if it’s waiting for the 
  other guys to show up on your way to a “night out on the 
  town” not necessarily a game.  I strongly discourage you 
  from discussing it at the bar!  That never goes well. 
   
  But why do you care?  First off, knowing more about 
  how your world works makes missions and adventures 
  pop into your mind.  If you are thinking about using 
  certain kinds of magic in combination, you will start 
  thinking about how the bad guys are going to try and 
  funnel sorcery through a conjured creature and try to take 
  over the tri-state area.  If you don’t know how magic 
  works, then you will never create your own spells and be 
  stuck with the stuff in the books.  Your own stuff is 
  usually much cooler! 
   
  When is magic a lifestyle? 
   
  In LEGEND QUEST, the main spell casters are the 
  mages.  The mages/wizards have six schools of magic:  
  conjuring, druid, healing, illusion, necromancy and 
  sorcery.  Now the way I see it, sorcery, conjuring and 
  illusion are just tools to getting a job done.  Sorcerers are 
  out there casting fireballs and such and wiping out vast 
  numbers of people.  OK, that’s not normal, but being a 
  killer isn’t based on sorcery.  Similarly, the conjurers and 
  illusionists are using magic as a tool, though more 
  indirectly than the sorcerers. 
   
  That leaves the others.  Most games see druidic 
  magic as a religion.  Well, most games see healing magic 
  as religion as well.  Although we don’t see either of them 
  necessarily as a religion (it can be, but doesn’t have to be), 
  I think either of these disciplines does inherently cause the 
  user to think and live in a different manner.  When you are 
  actively controlling the magical forces of the world in 
  order to heal injuries or assist nature, it changes you.  For 
  most, it would make them more reflective.  Maybe this is a 
  philosophy and less religion, but there has to be something 
  there.  Magic is no longer just a tool to get your job done.  
  It is a force for good. 
   
  On the other hand, those who use necromancy or use 
  druidic magic to cause harm (“despoilers”) would also 
  have it change them.  You cannot alter the flow of magic 
  in the world to tap into the power of death and divert death 
  magic to create zombies or drain the life from a person 
  without it changing who you are.  Even the sorcerer is 
  actually using the magic to create fire; he’s not directly 
  using the magic around his target to deliberately pull the 
  life out of him.  Compared to the necromancer, the 
  sorcerer is using magic indirectly as well.  He may know 
  the fire will kill his target, but he’s making fire, not 
  making death.  You get into the whole deliberate vs. 
  intentional argument here. 
   
  What’s the point?  I think the point is that healers 
  naturally have to be different from “normal” folk.  They 
  have to see the world differently.  So do necromancers.  
  They aren’t just creepy because they wear weird robes; 
  they think in creepy ways and understand the universe in 
  creepy ways.  There will always be those whose lives are 
  affected more by something else than by their magic, so 
  not every necromancer is going to have the exact same 
  personality, but there will be an underlying current of 
  death running through the necromancer’s life and 
  personality. 
   
  Comment:  Sorry, this post isn’t what I had hoped it 
  would be.  There is so much more here that I would like to 
  get into, but then the post is going to be book length.  This 
  is partially due to my work on Lifestyles of the Magical 
  and Mundane.  No, these are not about a period of time 
  from Earth!  A fantasy era. 
   
  The Evolution of Magic 
   
  OK - Since I don’t know how I would ever get this 
  into a book, I have to publish this here.  Just stay with me 
  for a little bit: 
   
  What if magic were new, like technology in the 
  modern age?  What if sorcery had only been invented 75-
  100 years ago?  So, in your battle mage’s grandfather’s 
  time, magic was wearing garlic to fend off the evil eye 
  curses from witches - You know, just superstition.  The 
  enchanters and alchemists are a new phenomenon.  The 
  world and the world’s cultures are just now starting to 
  burst forth with magic. 
   
  Why does it matter?  Well, I’ve always been a little 
  antagonistic to the idea that some people have massive 
  amounts of magic (think the adventurers not only decked 
  out in magic armor with magic swords and wands, but also 
  casting magic and fighting hugely magical creatures) 
  compared with the peasant farmer who is no more 
  advanced than Europe’s peasant farmers just before the 
  Black Death.  Does that make sense?  If magic has been 
  around for thousands of years, why is it only in the hands 
  of a few?  Don’t give me that stuff about secrets.  Look at 
  technology.  How long did it take from the invention of 
  the transistor to the proliferation of cell phones?  Magic is 
  easily as powerful as technology. 
   
  Think about it this way - About 90 years ago, some 
  guy in some university figured out that you really could 
  
  7 
   
  make a philosopher’s stone and change lead to gold.  This 
  began a surge in the ideas of magic and was quickly 
  followed by illusionists creating magical lights and 
  conjurers summoning odd beasts.  (Skipping an enormous 
  number of evolutionary steps here.)  Fast forward to today 
  in your fantasy campaign and magic works as indicated in 
  your game rules, but has only been at this level of 
  sophistication for 5-10 years. 
   
  Here’s what this brings - good and bad:  There 
  shouldn’t be a plethora of old/ancient magical items.  
  Anything enchanted is relatively new.  People and 
  governments would just now be starting to consider the 
  ramifications of magic in war and trade.  Since relative 
  few of us protect our campaign castles and cities against 
  the common magics, it seems more reasonable that magic 
  is new and the defenses are only being considered in the 
  present campaign time.  This also allows the player 
  characters to be on the forefront of magical “science”.  
  Sort of like James Bond is always just that extra touch 
  ahead of us on technology.  Stealing magical secrets and 
  using new enchantments (that may or may not work 
  exactly as planned) seems great for any fantasy campaign.  
  And it settles the peasant farmer issue.  Magic is still being 
  developed in the magical universities and has not yet 
  filtered out to the poorer and/or more rural folks. 
   
  I’m still developing the next application of this 
  concept in my head:  I think it would work if one continent 
  had been “mundane” until trade opened up 100 years ago, 
  so there would be a fully magical continent and a newly 
  magical continent.  It might work for magical elves and 
  newly magical humans, but then the elves would have 
  truly needed to have been isolated until that recent point in 
  history.  I think it also works that some type(s) of magic 
  were around but kept secret.  Necromancy comes to mind.  
  Maybe the necromancers have been around for centuries, 
  but because they were so hated, they kept their magical 
  secrets to themselves.  The whole thing really screams for 
  witch hunters too.  There would have to be some cultural 
  push back, where magic was all seen as necromancy or 
  just plain evil, and needs to be eradicated. 
   
  FRPG Schools 
   
  In our modern era, most people would be able to tell 
  you what every child learns in school:  The 3 Rs (reading, 
  ‘riting and ‘rthimatic), as well as possibly history or 
  “social studies” (no brain washing here! right).  They may 
  break some of these subjects up, but these are the main 
  ones.  Some schools might still have art, music, gym, shop 
  or even home ec., but not too many it seems. 
   
  But should you fold those same concepts into your 
  fantasy cities?  I don’t think so!  First, ask yourself why 
  these people are being educated.  This isn’t our modern, 
  Prussian-based, public schools intended to teach reading, 
  maps, geometry, and civil patriotism so the next 
  generation would be better suited to the artillery in case 
  Napoleon rose again.  (No, really, that is what the USA’s 
  public school system is based on.) 
   
  My fantasy schools depend on what city you’re in, 
  because they all have something different as a priority.  In 
  Brinston, they believe that anyone who can master magic 
  must be among the smartest, so in order to become a 
  business person, you need to attend (and graduate from) a 
  magic university.  No, they aren’t all accomplished mages.  
  The ability to squeak out one spell is enough to graduate, 
  but they will all refer to themselves as “mages” because 
  that proves they’re smart.  See?  In Helatia, the first major 
  university was intended for naval military officers, so now 
  every school teaches navigation as a major subject.  No, it 
  has no benefit to most of the students, but they all study it!  
  In Rhum, the best advanced school is run by (and largely 
  for) spell singers or bards.  There, nearly all of the students 
  take some manner of singing class.  It is not “required”, 
  but it is socially expected. 
   
  So what classes are normal in your world?  
  Recitation (from memory) strikes me as one of the more 
  important.  Imagine all those epic sagas and how bad they 
  would get without proper recitation skills.  What about 
  geography, rhetoric, philosophy, law, military strategy, or 
  astronomy?  What about basic bookkeeping?  Is that 
  required because the graduates are expected to become 
  business folks or do the lesser educated folks handle the 
  actual math?  Are they taught negotiation?  Are they 
  expected to become deal makers and/or court lawyers?  
  Whatever the expectation (real or imagined), that is what 
  they will be taught in schools. 
   
  You don’t have to be logical.  Maybe they are all 
  expected to memorize some epic poem about the history 
  of their country, but the poem is pure propaganda.  Maybe 
  they are expected to learn all about other cultures and how 
  inferior those other cultures are to their own.  Maybe 
  everyone is trained to enter religious service, so the 
  theology is the most important course, but so many of 
  them fall away to pursue other careers.  (This last one 
  seems very likely if the churches control the schools.)  For 
  Fletnern - It’s all of the above! 
   
   
  
  8 
   
   
  THE GOOD LIFE 
   
  Fashion 
   
  One of the things we skipped over in the Lifestyles 
  article was the question of what these students are 
  wearing.  It may seem unimportant, but whether it is due 
  to what it costs to live as a student or what they would be 
  wearing if a fight breaks out, clothing does matter. 
   
  In Brinston, clothing is made from linen or cotton, 
  and these students may be wealthy, but they cannot 
  afford cotton for everyday wear.  The standard “business 
  casual” worn to the universities is a linen shirt (similar to 
  what we would know as a button down shirt), breeches 
  and hose, and a jacket (depending on the weather).  This 
  only varies from the more professional business attire 
  where the man would be expected to vest or waist coat to 
  work and a great coat should the weather require 
  something more. 
   
  Let’s focus on the shirts first.  These are not tunics, 
  but instead tailored dress shirts designed specifically for 
  the person purchasing them.  There are really only three 
  styles of fabrics that the students can wear without 
  having social standing issues.  The first two are linens 
  woven in a factory-like setting by expert weavers.  These 
  are described (in Gold, Silver, and WHAT!?!) as better 
  workmanship and come as either light-linen or linen.  
  The other type that they can often get away with is light 
  linen manufactured in a sweat shop.  The main difference 
  is whether or not the weavers are craftsmen or slaves, 
  and slave labor is cheaper, though the quality often 
  shows it. 
   
  Despite describing these shirts as “button down” 
  they do not have any buttons.  Instead, a man would have 
  at least one set of shirt studs that he would wear to hold 
  the front of the shirt together.  He would also have 
  matching cuff links to hold the ends of the sleeves 
  together.  In Brinston, the cuffs we know as “French 
  cuffs” are the standard.  Last and least, he would have 
  collar stays, probably made of whale baleen, to hold his 
  collar stiff.  The acceptable form here is plain silver studs 
  and cuff links for students, though the noble merchants 
  can get far more extravagant. 
   
  Why not buttons?  Well the shirts are typically 
  starched, making buttons more difficult to use, plus, one 
  set of silver suds may be costly, but when you can wear 
  them with every shirt you own, they start to become 
  more economical.  Also, carving tiny buttons and sewing 
  them on is a labor intensive job.  These custom made 
  shirts are expensive enough already; no point increasing 
  the cost by adding buttons. 
   
  There are really only two colors expected in men’s 
  shirts:  linen and light blue.  The natural linen color is 
  similar to a beige, though some can come very light, 
  enough to be considered off-white.  Indigo dyes are 
  relatively common in Brinston, and it does not materially 
  increase the cost of the shirt to dye it to a light blue.  To 
  the rest of Brinston, this is how university students are 
  identified - by their linen or light blue shirts.  Other 
  colors may be worn, but most students prefer not to take 
  on the added expense of additional colors. 
   
  The men of Brinston wear breeches.  Breeches are 
  those short pants that come just below the knee.  Unlike 
  Shakespearian breeches, the men of Brinston do not wear 
  “pillow-y” breeches, but breeches that form relatively 
  snugly to the man’s legs.  Breeches are also most 
  commonly linen.  They too can be left natural, but are far 
  more commonly dyed to a darker color - indigo, black, 
  brown or a dark tan being the most common. 
   
  Breeches are held up with a belt, and the bottoms 
  are most commonly tightened with a very small belt that 
  is sewn into the hem of the garment.  The whole point of 
  men’s fashion in Brinston is to hide what’s going on.  By 
  this we mean that the breeches cover the top of the hose 
  and the garter that is holding them up.  Then the vest 
  covers the belt that is holding the breeches up.  With the 
  breeches legs held fast by internal belts, sometimes 
  called trouser garters, only the buckle holding the legs 
  closed can be seen. 
   
  Young ladies wear dresses, or skirts and blouses.  
  Again, linen is the most common material.  There is a 
  much broader separation in the quality and workmanship 
  that goes into the dresses, with some, even at the 
  universities, being fairly elaborate.  One difference is 
  that women rarely wear naturally colored dresses.  At the 
  level of a university student, the dress or skirt would be 
  expected to be dyed. 
  
  9 
   
  Books 
   
  Going to school requires books.  This is certainly 
  true for these universities.  But before the invention of 
  moveable type, books were extremely expensive.  So 
  how do these students afford going to school? 
   
  A group of businesses have arisen around the 
  various schools catering to exactly this issue.  Instead of 
  buying the books outright, school books can be rented.  
  The standard fee for renting books requires half the full 
  cost of the book upfront, of which only one-third of the 
  book’s value is returned when the book is.  This means 
  that the cost of renting the book is one-sixth of its price 
  per term. 
   
  These book sellers and renters are not powerful 
  people, but crossing them is dangerous.  They make a 
  living off of people renting and returning books.  Should 
  their customers fail to return the books, they will pursue 
  ever escalating attempts to recover their property.  What 
  might begin as some kid knocking on the door and 
  asking politely, will soon turn into someone you know 
  coming to talk to you about this, and will eventually 
  reach full blown bounty hunters coming after you and the 
  books.  Of course any customer causing one of the book 
  lenders trouble will have his name shared with the other 
  book lenders.  At that point, it will be full price only - no 
  more renting. 
   
  Rented books are most commonly used books to 
  begin with, so the book lenders are rarely risking more 
  than they invested in the first place. 
   
  Many of the books required for class are used in 
  more than one class, making purchasing the book the 
  appropriate decision.  This also means that there will be 
  classes that do not require new books.  All classes will 
  likely require a book, but possibly one already owned. 
   
  Use of pen and ink in classrooms (and transporting 
  them) is dangerous to the books and clothing of the 
  students.  For this reason, most of the students use 
  charcoal “pens”.  Most of these are simply charcoal 
  dowels that the students will sharpen to a point.  Because 
  of this, most students also have a writing glove they 
  bring with them to class.  This glove protects their hand 
  from the black charcoal, though certainly this is a luxury 
  item. 
   
  Some students will use other means of note taking 
  in class.  Common are chalk boards and wax tablets.  The 
  students can then write on these during class and then 
  transcribe their notes in the evening with pen and ink in 
  order to clear the boards and make them ready again for 
  tomorrow. 
   
  The Pearl Polishers 
   
  If all this going to school stuff sounds difficult, 
  know that you are right.  Asking teenagers to navigate 
  everything from finding a hotel to wearing acceptable 
  clothing, getting their books and arranging their classes 
  seems like setting them up for failure.  This is where the 
  huitlisslons come from. 
   
  Huitlisslon generally translates as “pearl polisher”, 
  and it is the occupation of the people near Brinston who 
  collect oyster shells and other mother of pearl and polish 
  it into a useful substance.  Here the word stands for the 
  guides who take the students to be and guide them 
  through the entire process.  They are considered to be 
  “polishing” these young people to make them acceptable 
  for the universities and hotels, and for each other. 
   
  Long ago, most of the noble houses had a 
  huitlisslon of their own, typically a spinster who could 
  help guide her nieces and nephews through the process.  
  Over the last century, these people have become paid 
  coaches instead of simply family members, though 
  clearly, about half the students are still guided through 
  the various steps by relatives.  A professional huitlisslon 
  will arrange the recommendation letters necessary for 
  admittance into the college, coach the student through 
  the hotel acceptance process, make certain that they are 
  set up with the clothing, books, materials, etc. that they 
  will need for their classes, and even host get to know you 
  parties amongst their various clients, so the students have 
  some friends and start the term knowing someone. 
  
  10 
   
   
  While the cost of attending the university is great, 
  many of the noble families feel that paying a huitlisslon 
  helps to insure that the student will succeed.  The only 
  thing worse than paying for school would be paying for 
  school only to see the student unable to acclimate and 
  eventually leave, forfeiting any money already spent for 
  that term and any previous terms.  This is what makes a 
  huitlisslon worth the money. 
   
  Though each huitlisslon arranges fees differently, in 
  general they collect about 10% of the cost of the classes 
  and hotel.  About half of the students use a huitlisslon for 
  their first term at the university, and the schools suggest 
  them to parents.  Less than a quarter of the students 
  continue to use them after their first year.  Some of these 
  agencies are far more like concierges, and these may 
  continue to be of use to the wealthier (and more spoiled) 
  students throughout their time at the university. 
   
  While there are a small number of huitlisslon 
  agencies, most are run by an individual, possibly with 
  assistants.  These can only take on a limited number of 
  clients, and if they are good, they will be able to turn 
  away business due to being overloaded. 
   
  The most common huitlisslon is an attractive 
  woman, who attended one of the universities herself.  
  This has given her experience and connections.  They are 
  easily spotted on the university campuses because they 
  are often the best looking, best dressed woman walking 
  around, commonly with a young and overwhelmed 
  student in tow.  They are rarely of noble birth, or they are 
  noble but far removed from the money.  Though they are 
  expected to be pretty, many have managed to maintain 
  their businesses long after they have aged simply on their 
  reputation for getting things done. 
   
  The huitlisslons have built such a solid reputation 
  amongst the college crowd, that some graduates have 
  looked for them to continue.  They want a huitlisslon 
  who will find them an apartment, a job, a social club, etc.  
  This “life coach” mentality has not yet caught on, though 
  some of the huitlisslons are willing to give it a try, 
  especially when the terms are in session and their young 
  clients don’t need them as much.  Only time will tell if 
  this works out. 
   
  Huitlisslons might be seen similarly to wedding 
  planners.  They know who to go to to get things done.  
  They know what works and what doesn’t.  And while 
  they may cost, they will also work to get the student 
  settled in the most efficient manner possible, which 
  means the student isn’t getting gouged along the way.  
  Many families who use them understand that they are 
  often times cheaper than the hit or miss attempts of the 
  students to accomplish the same. 
   
  In rarer cases, the family will pay the huitlisslon 
  (most common with the agency versions), and then the 
  huitlisslon will pay for everything the student needs.  
  This is often done when the family doesn’t trust their 
  student with money.  But since they rarely trust the 
  agency with their money, it is not a common practice. 
   
  Mission Ideas: 
   
  Just in case you weren’t reading this section with a 
  mind set on crafting missions, here are some ideas to turn 
  this article into missions and quests: 
   
  A student has left the city in possession of 
  various rented books.  The book lenders want 
  them back ASAP (possibly before the next term 
  starts).  The party must track him down and 
  recover the books.  But he has already promised 
  to sell them to a group of renegade elves who 
  want to use the magic books to learn magic 
  themselves (something not allowed by their 
  local lord). 
   
  A huitlisslon agency has accepted the money 
  from a noble family to support their little 
  darling in his first term at the university.  But he 
  isn’t showing up for classes.  He’s “fallen in 
  love” with a prostitute and has been spending 
  his time at her place.  He swears she loves him 
  too, because she isn’t asking him for money, but 
  she is demanding it from the agency.  The party 
  needs to kidnap this working girl’s meal ticket 
  and get him back to his hotel before he 
  effectively flunks out of school.  The agency 
  thinks they can sober him up and keep him 
  where he needs to be, if they can retrieve him.  
  While there will be some brawling involved 
  (with her gang friends), the student must not be 
  harmed in any way.  This could be a fun side 
  mission while the party is stuck in Brinston at 
  some point. 
  
  11 
   
  NEWS OF FLETNERN 
   
  The Reindelphine Family 
   
  Lawrence Reindelphine Jr. is the current Head 
  Dean of Aurora Fantastic.  His father was the Head Dean 
  before him, and his son Phillipre is currently working in 
  the school’s administration and is expected to succeed 
  him.  This is a new and unprecedented trend.  The Head 
  Dean position is not supposed to be inherited, but the 
  Reindelphine family has locked their control over the 
  school. 
   
  While this will no doubt end in serious problems, 
  for right now, things are looking good.  While Lawrence 
  (the First) was a horrible administrator and worse as a 
  person, Lars (Jr.) is a phenomenal administrator and has 
  a natural charisma rarely seen.  Similarly, Phillipre is a 
  very intelligent young man and will lead the school with 
  his shrewd strategy.  {Fortune telling - Phillipre’s son 
  will be a petulant brat, and between his sister’s and his 
  raiding the school’s coffers for their own luxuries, they 
  will risk the solvency of this mighty university.} 
   
  Lawrence is still involved at the school, mainly for 
  fun raising efforts.  He knows every successful alumni 
  and has had a gift for getting money out of them.  
  Unfortunately, his gift involves belittling them in public 
  and putting them in uncomfortable situations. 
   
  Lars was trained at the school and is a gifted 
  illusionist.  He is personable and charms (without spells) 
  his fund raising targets.  This makes him welcome at 
  high society dinner parties and balls, unlike his father.  
  Lars also managed to head off and reverse the actions his 
  father was taking to move the school into a far more 
  religious bend.  Where Lawrence saw allying with the 
  religions of Elightel as a benefit to the school, Lars saw 
  that this would ostracize many of the better students and 
  the public, who often see Elightel as the god of “evil” 
  magic. 
   
  Phillipre would love to see his grandfather retire to 
  some distant vineyard, but the family is not noble and 
  does not come from wealth.  Lawrence was an instructor 
  at the school and rose to the level of Dean of Accounting 
  and Business.  When the school was having financial 
  difficulty, they felt that putting the most business minded 
  faculty member in charge of the school was a good idea, 
  but he turned out to be a tyrant who reoriented 
  everything to benefit himself and his family.  Lars is seen 
  by the professors (especially the magic professors) as 
  “one of their own”.  He has won them over.  Phillipre is 
  probably what the faculty had hoped for when they 
  elevated Lawrence. 
   
  Lars and Phillipre work well together.  Lars is the 
  face man, but he does understand what the school needs 
  to stay strong and relevant.  Phillipre is far more efficient 
  and not as good with people.  This doesn’t mean he is 
  bad with people, just that he has a more cutthroat 
  approach to convincing people to do things for him - 
  almost a mix of both his father and grandfather. 
   
  Unquestionably, Lars’ wife Lucieve Flourneckden 
  has aided the family and the school as well.  Being 
  connected to one of the most powerful noble families in 
  Brinston certainly has its advantages, but Lucieve is a 
  beautiful and clever woman.  Though she does not come 
  off as genuine as her husband, she is clearly a bright lady 
  capable of maneuvering the dangerous social swamp that 
  is Brinston.  She and Lars met while attending AF, and 
  have been together ever since.  She is currently 
  managing her son’s marriage to a noble woman, because 
  he has been too involved in work to manage it for 
  himself. 
   
  Mounfeae Shalltae Wonsaince 
   
  Mounfeae Shalltae Wonsaince (MSW) is a new 
  school of magic started in Brinston about ten years ago.  
  The three founders (Mounfeae, Shalltae, and Wonsaince) 
  are still actively working at the school, both as professors 
  and administrators.  Shalltae is looking to retire soon and 
  the three are negotiating his exit. 
   
  Like the larger schools, MSW teaches both magic 
  and business, though they do focus more on magic than 
  would be considered “normal” for Brinston.  They claim 
  to be the best of the best with each of the founders 
  having taught at one of the three large magical 
  universities.  They have poached some of the better 
  mages from the competition to build out their faculty. 
   
  MSW does not have any dedicated hotels, but many 
  of their students live in smaller boarding houses or 
  shared hotels.   
  
  12 
   
  WHAT’S MISSING 
   
   
  This is the “World Walker” version of this edition.  
  Therefore, it is not the complete version, but instead the 
  slimmed down version.  So the question is - What’s 
  missing?  Here is a summary of what you’d see if you 
  got the Game Masters’ version of the book: 
   
  Lifestyles of the Magical and Mundane:  We rarely 
  pull this section from the World Walker edition, but 
  leaving it in felt like it was going to handicap any game 
  masters trying to use these universities.  It went into all 
  sorts of details about life in the various “hotel” 
  dormitories, as well as class work and the schools 
  themselves.  Not just details about the life, but details 
  about the individual schools and hotels themselves. 
  Wet Behind the Ears:  Are mages just a stereo-type or 
  should they start out differently?  Well, hopefully that 
  isn’t even a question.  But how are they different?  
  Should their universities make them different?  Here are 
  a couple of ideas on how to keep battle mages from 
  becoming too basic of a character. 
  How to Play a ... Mage Merchant:  The concept of all 
  merchants being trained as mages, may seem silly, but it 
  certainly is high fantasy.  But how high?  Here we show 
  you how the concept really works, both in a role-playing 
  sense and in a game rules sense. 
  How to GM a ... Magical University:  To most game 
  worlds, the addition of a magical university might feel 
  like a huge game balancing risk, upsetting various 
  aspects of the world.  Honestly, one might, but multiple 
  universities?  Maybe you haven’t seen how they can be 
  used to restrict the amount of magic in your world, but 
  still in a way that keeps your players interested.  With a 
  bunch of mage colleges, there is a clear path to new 
  levels, new spells, new magical items, etc.  But the path 
  has hurdles.  Here is where we lay out all of that, along 
  with (as part of) how these universities are run like 
  businesses. 
   
  Oh, and since the title of the book includes “All 
  About Mages”, we wanted to get deeper into how GMs 
  can work with their spell casting player characters to 
  make things more realistic and/or more challenging. 
  Monsters & Other Menaces:  In a book about magical 
  universities, we couldn’t resist putting in a couple of 
  authors - text book authors.  Here in our Characters with 
  Character spot are these guys.  Just enough setting to 
  generate role-playing or create treasures to be looted. 
  Gold, Silver and WHAT!?!:  Two main sections this 
  month:  One focuses on the fashions of the day and what 
  it costs to have the clothing to attend school.  Anyone 
  who thinks fashion is useless has way too timid a game 
  master.  Those society folks tend to be the quest givers, 
  and they are more brutal than any gang of orcs.  The 
  second is all about the university - costs for classes, for 
  books, and for the dorms. 
  Church Bells:  We needed to address mages and 
  religion, so there are those generic notes, but we always 
  want to go one step farther.  Here we went two:  Two 
  new religions:  one pro-magic, one anti-magic.  Even in a 
  world with avatars and religious spells, not every religion 
  is only about worshipping the gods. 
  $ilver Sense:  You cannot discuss modern universities 
  without the question coming up of “Are they worth it?”  
  Looking at these educational institutions from a strictly 
  coin vs. coin aspect, this article will show why the 
  students are studying to be mages and what it grants 
  them after graduation.  Not to get too deep into the role-
  playing aspects, but if you don’t know the motives of 
  your NPCs, the way you play them is going to come 
  across as bland or inconsistent. 
  By the Numbers:  These are not the days of Gutenberg 
  and his fabulous moveable type press.  These are the 
  days of scribes painstakingly hand copying books by 
  candle light.  But you still need books to go to school, so 
  how much do they cost and why? 
  Campaign Starter Kit:  Not every campaign has to start 
  at one place and end at another.  How many times have 
  we all watched “monster of the week” shows and 
  enjoyed having the same characters get involved in a 
  crazy number of adventures, all without leaving their 
  homes.  That’s what this one is - the perfect set-up for a 
  group of novice adventurers to go on all sorts of quests, 
  while still trying to make it to class on time. 
  Small Towns and City Neighborhoods:  We have 
  covered so many small towns that we’re relieved to be 
  covering a neighborhood!  The Astice Bise neighborhood 
  in Brinston includes several magical universities 
  including two of the big ones.  How does that high 
  fantasy flair affect the people and their lives?  How does 
  it affect local law enforcement?  This is a great 
  opportunity for us to share how one of the many high 
  fantasy cultures of Fletnern. 
  Tavern Talk:  But, we couldn’t leave Guido out of it!  
  Come and listen to him tell you more about the 
  entertainments in this high fantasy neighborhood, 
  including how the entertainment illusionists fit into the 
  taverns and night clubs. 
  Optional Rules:  How does magic work?  Do your rules 
  get into some of the nitty gritty on why magical spells 
  work?  What about how they work?  And is there only 
  one answer?  Well, there is never only one answer!  This 
  month, we looked at some of the ways magic might work 
  and what impact that can have within the game rules. 
  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the 
  Adventure:  If you have the GMs’ version of last 
  months All About Halfling and Golems, then you saw 
  our Black Pill campaign starter kit.  That story arc was 
  
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  part of more than one Fletnern campaign.  Here is a great 
  way to make it work similarly for you or just extend the 
  CSK. 
   
  And just for good measure, we also have a cult that 
  is preying on the students at the universities.  This is one 
  of the bad ones.  It could use a few adventurers giving 
  them some trouble. 
  Pull Back the Curtain:  The city of Brinston was 
  initially designed over 35 years ago.  No, really!  While 
  its map has been retconned a couple of times, the basics 
  are still the same.  We hope that by walking you through 
  some of how Brinston has evolved over decades of 
  gaming you can learn some ways to evolve your own 
  world without scrapping it, or at least take comfort in the 
  knowledge that you’re not alone in the world building 
  problems. 
  Y? Y? Y!:  If we’re discussing mages and high fantasy, 
  how does that work?  What do mages do for a living if 
  they aren’t out slaying monsters?  (NO!  Not all mages 
  are battle mages that go out adventuring!)  Not only are 
  we able to show you some really good career 
  opportunities for mages without leaving the city (or 
  getting shot at), but it leads into how and why magical 
  universities would be created in the first place.  History 
  makes the present make sense, and this is how to build 
  some of the history. 
   
   
  The full Game Master version of this edition is 43 
  pages of content.  Obviously, that is considerably more 
  than what you’re seeing here. 
   
  Do you know how to get the Game Masters’ 
  version instead of this World Walker edition?  Use the 
  links on the next page to head out to our Patreon site and 
  become a patron.  Check it out because there’s a ton of 
  stuff that we’re doing, and we want you to be involved. 
   
  Not sure how much you trust us?  Why not become 
  a patron for only $1 per month?  As you see all the great 
  content and begin to get more and more involved in the 
  process, you may choose to increase your support level, 
  which would be great, but the risk really is minimal. 
   
  IN CONCLUSION 
   
   
  We’ve mentioned some previous editions, but 
  wanted to make them a little easier for you to find.  
  We’re linking the World Walker editions, because they 
  are free on the internet. 
  All About Golems 
  All About Organized Crime 
   
  But we also want to mention some of the future 
  editions that also pertain to magic and Brinston: 
  All About Courtiers and Wealth:  Our last poll showed 
  that you are far more interested in palaces and princes 
  than we thought, so this one has been fast forwarded in 
  the expected line up.  We’ll focus on Brinston for two 
  reasons:  the nobility is incredibly numerous and they 
  take full advantage, and because if you wanted to know 
  about the nobility of the Central Plains you can go pick 
  up Royalty.  Still - expect all manner of politics and 
  plunder in this edition! 
  All About City Guards and Police:  Where we will get 
  in-depth into the Civilians Authorities of Brinston, 
  because they serve as such a great opportunity to 
  compare and contrast differing policing styles in a 
  fantasy environment. 
  All About the Battle of Brinston:  Honestly, this one is 
  probably a bit off in the future, but it does serve a great 
  set piece.  A wizard with seemingly unlimited power 
  decides that he needs to sack a major city, so he does, 
  almost entirely through magic.  He doesn’t show up and 
  cast spells, that would be an invitation to every archer or 
  sniper in the land.  No, he summons creatures, he opens 
  gates, he lures dangerous monsters.  So how do you fight 
  that? 
   
  And on the more magical side of things: 
  All About Siege Magic:  While we may have steered 
  away from battle magic in this edition, it is a vital part of 
  every FRPG.  But what does it mean on the battle field?  
  Can it be countered?  How do you fight against magic, 
  when you are the attacker or the defender?  But most 
  importantly, when magic is a part of most militaries, how 
  do you build castles that can stand up to it?  If your 
  world has more than a hundred years of magical history, 
  they would have started to react to the magic they face 
  and come up with better solutions.  As a player, this can 
  be your guide to defeating your GM’s castles.  As a GM, 
  this can be your guide to foiling your clever PCs. 
  All About Magical Ingredients:  Whether they are for the 
  PCs or serve as reasons to go out adventuring, 
  ingredients are often incredibly valuable and incredibly 
  hard to acquire.  Not only that but as adventurers gain in 
  skill and knowledge, they might also start thinking things 
  through when they’re out on missions.  Just because you 
  
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  killed a troll and he has no loot doesn’t mean he is 
  worthless.  Do you know how much troll blood sells for? 
  All About Specific Magic:  This one is currently 
  pending, and we’ll weigh the interest as we get closer, 
  but we are working through how to do an edition on the 
  major types of magic:  healing, necromancy, illusion, 
  sorcery, etc.  Each has its own quirks and diving into the 
  strengths, weaknesses and tweaks of how to get it all to 
  work - That would be fun! 
  All About Glitch Magic:  Even if you have a chart for 
  what goes wrong when you fumble a spell, are there long 
  term consequences to that?  Nearly every magic system 
  discusses some of the drawbacks of magic, but what 
  happens when you take those smaller issues and you 
  determine what the long term consequences of magic can 
  be on a world?  There is so much more that could be 
  happening with magic in your world if you just took the 
  time to focus on the missteps instead of the success 
  stories. 
   
   
  Patreon Project Site 
  https://www.patreon.com/boardent 
   
  Board Enterprises Website 
  http://www.boardenterprises.com/ 
   
  The Sounding Board Blog 
  http://boardent.blogspot.com/ 
   
  World of Fletnern wiki 
  http://fletnern.wikia.com/wiki/ 
   
  © 2018 John G. Josten 
   
   
  PATREON 
   
   
  We are incredibly proud of the community we are 
  building within Patreon.  The community was why we 
  started this Small Bites project and it is really beginning 
  to bloom.  We knew it wouldn’t happen overnight, and it 
  didn’t, but we are getting feedback, participation, 
  opinions, constructive criticism, the whole works!! 
   
  We would love for you to join that community (if 
  you haven’t already).  Just click the link: 
  https://www.patreon.com/boardent 
   
  Why?  Well, first, you’ll get the full edition of this 
  book; that’s the GM’s Edition, and not just the World 
  Walker edition.  But if you want to help us along and 
  sponsor us at $1, then you’ll get the World Walker 
  edition emailed to you at the end of every month, instead 
  of having to go out and find it several weeks later when 
  it becomes available to the general public.  The GM’s 
  edition is usually double or triple the length of the World 
  Walker edition if that is what you’re looking for. 
   
  Far more important to us, you’ll become part of this 
  community we’re so interested in:  a community of role-
  players, game masters and world builders, sharing ideas, 
  and sharing our hobby - for many of us, our passion. 
   
  You’ll be able to participate in polls and other ways 
  to let us know what you’re thinking.  Several times, we 
  thought we had the best plans laid out, only to hear from 
  our patrons that they had a different idea of what the 
  priorities should be.  So we changed the priorities and 
  changed the order in which these editions have come out.  
  Does it make sense?  Of course it does, but without that 
  communication, there is little we can do to properly 
  address your priorities. 
   
  As any service or entertainment provider wants to 
  do, we want to bring you what you want when you want 
  it so you will continue to be a customer and participant.  
  That should go without saying.  But how many other 
  entertainment providers are working so hard to get your 
  opinions and desires?  We know that in the end, we all 
  want the same thing:  great games.  How we bring that 
  content to you is what we’re asking you to share with us, 
  and then give us your honest feedback.  It’s a pretty good 
  offer! 
   
  Come on - risk a buck, come be a patron and join in 
  on what’s going on.  Help us give you what you’re really 
  looking for. 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/_GM Books/World Building & Game Design/Board Enterprises/Board  Enterprises - Build Your Fantasy World - Universities of Magic aka All About Mages.pdf