Magic: The Schools

Almost every spell belongs to one of eight schools of magic. A school of magic is a group of related spells that work in similar ways.

Abjuration
Abjuration (literally meaning "swearing away") is a school of magic which may specialise in a number of different effects, depending on the setting.

The obvious role for abjuration is as "the opposite" of conjuration magic and/or invocation/summon magic, dealing with either preventing things from appearing or with getting rid of those that already have. This would make abjuration spells an obvious part of the summoner/invoker's portfolio. Abjurers are also sometimes seen working defensive and protective magics in general and in dispelling unwanted workings, so ward magic may also be within their purview, and this sort of abjuration is more likely to lead to wizards who act as security consultants or bodyguards.

In general this school should be seen as specialising in keeping things out and getting rid of them. As with warders, an abjurer may well be a useful person to have around when forging magical armour or building the fantasy equivalent of a SCIF.

An abjurer is likely to be watchful - possibly to the point of paranoia - cautious and defensive in outlook and probably has plans for all sorts of eventualities.

Conjuration or Summoning
Conjuration (from the Latin literally "swearing together") used to refer primarily to the practice of calling up supernatural entities and bargaining with them - the sort of thing more normally classified as summon magic or invocation in the modern era.

These days - and largely due to the connotations of making something appear out of nowhere - conjuration tends to refer to workings that bring physical objects or creatures from one place to another (or create them out of thin air).

In some systems, this will still be considered an aspect of summon magic or invocation.

Each conjuration spell belongs to one of five sub-schools.

Conjurations bring manifestations of objects, creatures, or some form of energy to you (the summoning sub-school), actually transport creatures from another plane of existence to your plane (calling), heal (healing), transport creatures or objects over great distances (teleportation), or create objects or effects on the spot (creation). Creatures conjured usually, but not always, obey their masters commands.
A creature or object brought into being or transported to your location by a conjuration spell cannot appear inside another creature or object, nor can it appear floating in an empty space. It must arrive in an open location on a surface capable of supporting it.

Divination
Divination spells enable you to learn secrets long forgotten, to predict the future, to find hidden things, and to foil deceptive spells.

Many divination spells have cone-shaped areas. These move with you and extend in the direction you look. The cone defines the area that you can sweep each round. If you study the same area for multiple rounds, you can often gain additional information, as noted in the descriptive text for the spell.

Scrying: A major spell and talent within the Divination school. Almost no diviner will be caught without this spell or ability on-hand. A scrying spell creates an invisible magical sensor that sends you information. Unless noted otherwise, the sensor has the same powers of sensory acuity that you possess. This level of acuity includes any spells or effects that target you, but not spells or effects that emanate from you. However, the sensor is treated as a separate, independent sensory organ of yours, and thus it functions normally even if you have been blinded, deafened, or otherwise suffered sensory impairment.

Lead sheeting or magical protection blocks a scrying spell, and you sense that the spell is so blocked.

Enchantment or Artifice
Enchantment spells affect the minds of others, influencing or controlling their behavior.
All enchantments are mind-affecting spells. Two types of enchantment spells grant you influence over a subject creature.

Charm: A charm spell changes how the subject views you, typically making it see you as a good friend.

Compulsion: A compulsion spell forces the subject to act in some manner or changes the way her mind works. Some compulsion spells determine the subject’s actions or the effects on the subject, some compulsion spells allow you to determine the subject’s actions when you cast the spell, and others give you ongoing control over the subject.

There is another side of enchantment, however, that does not deal in the realms of the mind, but is far more worldly. This can be considered traditional enchantment, or an artifice. THis revolves around the ability to enchant items, weapons, armor and creatures with wards and abilities they would not have otherwise. This extends to a lesser degree to technology, called artificing, a major study in Telaris.

Artifice is the use of magic as a substitute for technology … when magic becomes industrialized and is no longer the province of a small number of wizards. Potions replace medicines, magical lighting replaces gaslight and electricity, crystal balls replace televisions and magical transport moves people about. This sort of thing is also known as magitech. Artifice based advancements are often 'high tech' in everything but weapons development.

Evocation
Evocation spells manipulate energy or tap an unseen source of power to produce a desired end. In effect, they are the controlled manipulation of destructive sources of power. Many of these spells produce spectacular effects, and evocation spells can deal large amounts of damage.

In ancient times, a great circle of wizards sought to control Universal Magic, the magic of the elements of the world. However, the power therein was far too powerful to be used un-directed and controlled, giving birth to Evocation. Most evocation spells work with or through the elements in one way or another to aquire power from them.

Illusion
Illusion spells deceive the senses or minds of others. They cause people to see things that are not there, not see things that are there, hear phantom noises, or remember things that never happened.

Figment: A figment spell creates a false sensation. Those who perceive the figment perceive the same thing, not their own slightly different versions of the figment. (It is not a personalized mental impression.) Figments cannot make something seem to be something else. A figment that includes audible effects cannot duplicate intelligible speech unless the spell description specifically says it can. If intelligible speech is possible, it must be in a language you can speak. If you try to duplicate a language you cannot speak, the image produces gibberish. Likewise, you cannot make a visual copy of something unless you know what it looks like.

Because figments and glamers (see below) are unreal, they cannot produce real effects the way that other types of illusions can. They cannot cause damage to objects or creatures, support weight, provide nutrition, or provide protection from the elements. Consequently, these spells are useful for confounding or delaying foes, but useless for attacking them directly.

Glamer: A glamer spell changes a subject’s sensory qualities, making it look, feel, taste, smell, or sound like something else, or even seem to disappear.

Pattern: Like a figment, a pattern spell creates an image that others can see, but a pattern also affects the minds of those who see it or are caught in it. All patterns are mind-affecting spells.

Phantasm: A phantasm spell creates a mental image that usually only the caster and the subject (or subjects) of the spell can perceive. This impression is totally in the minds of the subjects. It is a personalized mental impression. (It’s all in their heads and not a fake picture or something that they actually see.) Third parties viewing or studying the scene don’t notice the phantasm. All phantasms are mind-affecting spells.

Shadow: A shadow spell creates something that is partially real from extradimensional energy. Such illusions can have real effects. Damage dealt by a shadow illusion is real.

Necromancy
Necromancy spells manipulate the power of death, unlife, and the life force. Spells involving undead creatures make up a large part of this school

Early necromancy was related to – and most likely evolved from – shamanism, which calls upon spirits such as the ghosts of ancestors. Classical necromancers addressed the dead in "a mixture of high-pitch squeaking and low droning", comparable to the trance-state mutterings of shamans.

Differing from the other schools of magic, Necromancy is not just a category for grouping similar spells, but a religion in many circles. While many on the outside see Necromancers as a backward, perverted group of cultists disturbing the rest of the dearly departed, they do not quite see it that way. It is the honoring and worshipping of those whom have stepped over the boundary. It is just as much about respecting the graves, as it is about raising creatures and spirits from them.

Transmutation
Transmutation spells change the properties of some creature, thing, or condition.

The Transmutations school of magic governs spells that alter the shape and nature of objects, including your own body. The main benefit of this school is access to a wide variety of alternate forms, each of which offers unique offensive and defensive perks (and occasionally vulnerabilities), but practitioners also gain a few utility and debilitative spells as well.