Wyrd

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Wyrd (ie. 'Enchanter Level', EL)

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If creature or character is Wyrd-touched and the call to the magical path is accepted, it can gain 1 Wyrd automatically every 5 years beyond 5 years old. Certain entries in the Specific Backgrounds will apply Wyrd to a character.
The first time a character gains Wyrd, he is potentially gaining a magical 'character class' (eg. Inyanga or Thakathi), and thus the gaining of 1 Wyrd represents the gaining of an additional Life Stone, over and above the standard Life Stone he might already have gained in previous years.
Wyrd decides max range for magical effects beyond melee (range = wyrd + will)

Wyrd is the measure, degree, or level of an individual's spell-casting ability. That is, wyrd is magical power, capability or talent.

   Spellcasting Power = [dBase] + Wyrd + [Will] (using will costs additional mana)

The actual power of a spell takes the magi's spellcasting power into account.

   Spell power output = [dBase] + Wyrd + Spell reduction [ + Will ]

Access to the full (non-reduced) power potential of a spell requires access to higher level forms of magic.

The level of a spell (which implies some degree of it's difficulty to cast) is the count of it's glyphs:

   Spell (wrap): 'Heal' 
   Glyph count of 'Heal': 4
   ie. 'Heal' is a 4th level spell

The cost in mana to cast a spell (a different aspect of it's difficulty to cast) is the spell level (glyph count, as calculated above) added to the reduction of the spell.

   Spell (wrap): 'Heal' 
   Full reduction of 'Heal' = 26 / 17 / 8
   Glyph count of 'Heal': 4
   ie. 'Heal' costs 12 mana to cast
        in the orthodox fashion, as a single-round action,
        (ie. the entire spell is expended in one go)

If the level of the spell is greater than the temporal spellcasting power of the magus at the time of casting (as decided by the spellcasting roll), it cannot be cast, and the attempt fizzles.

   'Wall (of) Ice' = 86 / 41 / 5  [ 'Ice Wall' = 7 glyphs, 7th level ]
      (ie. the caster must be sure he can beat 5 + 7 = 12 on his spellcasting roll)

Spells cost mana to cast. This mana is drawn from a replenishable pool tied to one's mental and spiritual potential, and later perhaps, ones' entire body.

When first taking up magic, an individual chooses an initial focus, in terms of their vital attributes. Their initial magical forays are centered on particular schools of magic: will (divine/clerical magic, theurgist, universalist), wisdom (druid, witch/sorceror), brains (wizard, warlock) or charm (bard, witch/sorceror).

Trainee spellcasters are considered to be level zero (wyrd 0), and can only cast one individual sound (as represented by glyphs or letters, be it vowel or consonant) at the cost of 1 mana. This sound is tied to their character type (for example an Atharim elf knows the sound 'Th') or the first letter of their name or type (eg. an orc shaman initiate might know the sound 'O').

Progressing to level one (wyrd 1), the first degree, a spellcaster can cast various individual sounds (as represented by glyphs or letters, be they vowel or consonant). This at a mana cost of (glyph root + 1).

Progressing to level two (wyrd 2), a spellcaster can cast syllables (consonant + vowel, or vowel + consonant), at the mana cost of (spell reduction + 2)

At level three (wyrd 3), a magic user can cast three letter spells (that is, third level spells, or charms).

At level four (wyrd 4), a mage can cast any spell, limited only by potential mana expenditure.

Spell resistance (SR, class/level)

An innate magical resistance, even if not a magic-user (ie. Wyrd = 0). Defaults to zero for most creatures and characters. This value is added to any defensive or saving throw against magical attacks made against the creature that possesses spell resistance.
Optional variant A: When first becoming Wyrd-touched, a characters base SR drops by 2 (perhaps into the negative, and is thus a penalty), and later increases as Wyrd increases, or by specific training activities. Thus new apprentice spellcasters with low Will become more susceptible to magic, until they increase their SR through training and advancement.
Optional variant B: Base SR is Will - 4, and increases or decreases along with Will. Thus new apprentice spellcasters with low Will become more susceptible to magic, until they increase their SR through training and advancement.

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