What is Familiar?
Familiar is a fusion of ideas about magic in the modern world. It began as an attempt to streamline the systems and modernise the storytelling in White Wolf's "Mage: the Ascension", but with other concepts fused into the mix it became something new.
Players in Familiar portray twin characters, the first is an immortal spirit being who grants power to worthy mortals. The second is one of those mortals, a fragile dreamer who want to change the world in a postive way. The stories of the mortal are short but the legends of the immortal familiars are timeless.
The Essence of Magic
In familiar, magic is the ability to harness the underlying forces and arcane connections that bind reality together. It's all about pulling on the connective strings that form the patterns we see around us, and in some cases completely severing those connections or forming new ones. The game system reflects this by giving each aspect of reality a magical noun, and each way to manipulate reality a magical verb. By combining the nouns, verbs, and the right degree of success almost anything can be achieved.
To access the magic of the world, techniques have evolved... such as alchemy, herbalism, shamanism, artificing... each with their own affinity nouns and verbs, and different focal items and activities used to access the powers underlying reality. Beyond these techniques, magical texts are scattered across the world, some in esoteric libraries, some hidden in plain sight for those who understand the power within the mundane things in the world around them.
The system behind the magic is designed to reflect the underlying connections and relationships in reality. Everyone and everything is affected by those relationships, often instinctively drawing on them and influencing them, but those who understand the truth underlying the reality around them become the custodians of reality... influencing it and being influenced by it in ways that mundane minds struggle to truly comprehend.
Rebellion
The great magical orders have stagnated, in their greed they have stockpiled the magic of the world and prevented it from flowing and bringing life to the masses. However, the familiar spirits are fighting back, using the last of their power to enchant the dispossessed, the minorities, and those who want to see change come into the world. It won't be an easy struggle to overcome forces that have dominated reality for centuries, but those forces are fracturing, and in the cracks hope is born.
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- Full Rules (coming soon)
- Quick Rules (coming soon)
- Character Sheet (coming soon)
- Other Resources (coming soon)