COSMIC SEAS: MAGEWRIGHTS OF THE SPACELANES

In the Cosmic Seas setting, magic is a tool that’s incorporated into many jobs. There are entirely magical careers, such as Astrologer/Navigators. But much of the time, mundane skill and magic are combined. A lamplighter can work with mundane lanterns, but also learns to create and maintain ship and street lamps, running lights and radium bulbs that are so common on ships and at ports-of-call with a cantrip.

A magewright knows one to four cantrips or spells. Magewrights don’t use spell slots. Cantrips can be used casually, but their spells are usually cast as rituals—even if the spell doesn’t normally have the ritual tag. When converting a spell to a magewright ritual, it can have a casting time of up to one hour. It’s also common for a magewright’s ritual to have an additional component cost in Stardust Crystals, the fuel of the magical economy. A typical cost would be 25 gp for a 1st level ritual, 50 gp for a 2nd level ritual, doubled for each subsequent level; but this is only a basic guideline. The point is that the limitations on a magewright are time and money. A locksmith can cast more than one arcane lock in a day; but it costs an hour and 50 gp for each lock they want to create.

While the common spell list is a starting point for magewright spells, you can modify these spells

quite versatile. Prestidigitation can heat or chill an object, light or extinguish a flame. Both the lamplighter and the chef may know prestidigitation, but the chef’s version may only work on food, while the lamplighter can only light or extinguish flames. An actor may know a version of thaumaturgy that helps project their voice but doesn’t provide any of the other benefits. Artisans often know versions of guidance that only helps with their particular art.

In dealing with a magewright, think about the form that their magic takes. A locksmith can perform knock as a ritual. But they don’t just snap their fingers. They might use lengths of wire or iron rods, tracing patterns around the lock they are dealing with while murmuring incantations. The magewright performs magic as both a job and a science.

SAMPLE MAGEWRIGHTS

Here are some examples of magewrights common in the Cosmic Seas setting, and the services that they provide. Not every healer can cast lesser restoration, and not every astrologer can cast divination, these are general guidelines.

·         Astrologer/Navigator. Proficient in Arcana and with navigators’ tools. Augury (ritual 50go cost); divination (1-hour ritual, 200 gp).

·         Boatswain/Bosun. Mending, message, locate object (1-hour ritual, 50 gp component cost). Familiar with Carpenters tools

·         Chef. Prestidigitation (food only), purify food and drink (ritual), gentle repose (ritual, food only). Familiar with cook’s tools.

·         Healer. Proficient with Medicine and herbalism kits. Spare the dying, detect poison and disease (ritual), lesser restoration (1-hour ritual, 50 gp component cost).

·         Lamplighter. Light, continual flame (1-hour ritual, 50 gp component cost); uses tinker’s tools to create and repair lanterns.

·         Locksmith. Arcane lock (1-hour ritual, 50 gp component cost), knock (ritual, 50 gp component cost); proficient with thieves’ tools and tinker’s tools.

·         Mechanist. Mage hand, prestidigitation, protection from energy (1-hour ritual, 50 gp component cost), animate object (ritual 300 gp component cost). Familiar with Alchemists and Tinkerers tools.

The term magewright specifically refers to an arcane spellcaster. In religious communities’ adventurers may find divine casters performing these same functions. casters performing these same functions. Such a divine caster is called an Adept. Divine magic is a gift instead of a science, and adepts typically work on behalf of their faith rather than selling their services.