“For your information, gentlemen, eighty to ninety percent of Humanity falls between 9 and 11 in all Stats. In other words, average is the average.

“The fact you have scores at 12 and above means you are exceptional. Being strong and coordinated has no effect on your magic, but being physically tough and healthy affects your chances of breaking through to the next level, so it is very important. If your body can’t tolerate the stress of the additional magic, you are aware you can die trying to break through.”

They all slowly nodded, staring at the Stat lines and comparing themselves to one another, grimacing as they did.

“No, you aren’t equals mentally, and no, it’s not fair. It is what it is, and you can’t swap things around, only train yourselves to be better. The time to get your Stats up is when you are a kid, not now.” They all gave me funny looks, but I just went on serenely. “Now, take that information, and tell me who came out the best here.”

They stared at the layout of Stats and Elements. Red had two of the highest Stats, but was average elsewhere. The Mick had the best overall Stat array, Driver Sam coming in next, but Swampy/Bjorn had a good score in Wis that affected both of his Elements.

Still, it was plain who the current winner was. “Mick.” “Mick.” “Mick,” was the agreement. With a 15 for his Lightning and 14 for his Earth, he was clearly the winner.

“Technically true, but functionally not,” I confirmed, making them all blink. “Because you don’t have a way to measure mentality this way, only rough Spiritual Attainment, you can’t discern the true power of Red’s Sundrop Seed.”

Everyone turned to look at the burn-scarred man, while he just looked startled. “What?” he asked. “It gives something like a hundred, hundred twenty-five percent boost to both my Fire and Light Elements...”

“Uh-huh,” I nodded slowly. “Correct me if I’m wrong. Fire is your second Element, and you’re no more a natural with it than Big John there is. You’re pretty diligent, so I’m guessing you maxed it out quick, and couldn’t break through, either?” I made his Charisma Stat of 11 glow, as did Big John’s. “That must have been incredibly frustrating, since you no doubt blew through Light.

“And then you got your Seed. Probably thought the Dual Element of it was its special effect, but really, all that does is split its power and inefficiently cut it in half. It has a very powerful special effect that is almost impossible to really discern.”

I flicked up another Holo: Sundrop Seed: Elemental Seed attuned to Fire and Light Elements. Adds +125% to effects of both Elements. You use the highest of your Intellect or Charisma Stats for either ability checks.

Nobody was staring harder at that than the bald ex-soldier with his head of scarlet burn scars, his hazel eyes looking back and forth from his Stat line.

Bright fires washed across his Stat line and replaced the 11 Charisma with a glowing 15.

The others cursed and promptly pelted him with coins and scrap. He took it stoically, looking at it.

“Huh,” he finally said as things calmed down. “You’re right. I couldn’t break through at all, but after I got the Seed, it was easy. I figured it was just the power of the Seed buffing my Fire...”

“No.” I shook my head emphatically.

“Wait, wait!” Big John spoke up, waving urgently. “If my breaking through on Fire was dependent on my Charisma, how did I break through, even with your help?”

“Ah. Anyone work that out?” I asked calmly.

Burt spoke up first. “His Charisma is only 11, so he’s only got one Level in Fire Magery. That means his Caster Level in Fire was only Four... and he needed Five to break through.”

I tilted my head at him. “And you’ve been spending a lot of time getting all your Fire Stars to Tier-4, Big John. If I ask Red to pop up his Tier-4 unenhanced flame, it should be equal to yours in power then, right?”

The two men looked at one another, and stretched out their hands next to one another. In the next second, fires ignited on both of their hands.

Everyone could see that Big John’s was dimmer and less ferocious than Red’s. Their eyes turned to the list for an explanation.

“Three Tiers means a Nine or Ten Human,” Driver Sam said softly. “But only one Level in Magery means he’s Casting at Seven, while Red’s probably got four Levels in Fire Magery and is Casting at the full Ten he needs.”

“So the Caster Level is important,” the Mick nodded. “How’d he break through, then?”

I flicked up another Holo.

The Sublime Chord: Your Heartsong affects the flow and power of Magic. For every ten points of your Skill Check past 5, you add +1 to the Caster Level of all allied magic within hearing range, to a maximum of +4.

The +4 was winking.

“You were Singing!” Big John gawked, suddenly recalling the moment of his breakthrough. It had been like an anthem, a stampede of light and song and magic running through his Stardust, charging the barrier, and the block that had defied him had crumpled like it was made of glass.

It had been glorious!...

“But... but then why didn’t I pass through with Water?” Swampy asked in consternation. After all, he’d required the same help!

“Because you never use your Water Magic, Swampy, and your Magery is only at One with it,” I informed him.

Bjorn blinked, gaping at me in disbelief. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he groaned, slumping in reproach. Everyone promptly tossed coins at him, and he flailed around protecting himself comically.

The Mick pointed at Bjorn and ordered firmly, “No Earth Magic for an entire month! If you aren’t throwing around Water Magic as easily as you do Earth by then, we’ll extend it!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the big man nodded repeatedly, still feeling ashamed of such an obvious oversight.

Big John waved his hands again. “But... what about when I want to promote to Mage?” he asked urgently, his eyes wide. “You said we need a 14 to do that! Will you have to help me again?”

“That all depends on how fast you all learn Wizardry, and the next stage of what is going to happen.” I flicked a finger up at Human/11. “The Atlantean Template. +2 to ALL Stats. You only need to reach it with one Element, and it will take care of most of your problems. The problem is making it there, and yes, with the Seven Stars Formation, a Nebula Vein, and me Singing, you can totally make it there, get the bonus to your Stats, and most of your problems go away.

“The key, however, is moving you away from reliance on Magery, and over to Wizardry. The reason is very simple... you can only take a Level in Magery when there is an opening in your Human Racial Class to do so.

“Wizardry is completely divorced from any reliance on your Human Racial Class here. You could become a Wizard/20 and be an Adept mage. The Human Caster Levels and the Racial Caster Levels Stack, just like Magery Levels do. However, Magery and Wizardry do not stack, they overlap.” I pointed at the Wizardry Levels. “I want all of you to get your Intellect up, take your Wizardry Levels to the moon, and start being very overpowered for your mage Levels!”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Right now, most of you are at Human/10, and have a Magery at 3 or 4, so you are Casting at 9 or 10.

“I have Wizardry at 10.” They all stiffened instantly. “Which means I am Casting at...”

“Sixteen,” breathed Glenn immediately. “Like a new Archmage...”

“And you’ve all noticed that Wizardry spells are, ehhh, different from Magery spells,” I went on calmly.

They all nodded quickly. “Tighter, more focused, more controlled,” Driver Sam piped up quickly for all of them. “I’m not sure how it all works together, however...”

The ‘+1 Caster Level’ for every Level of Wizardry glowed. “Caster Level for wizards works differently than it does for mages.” I watched their eyes flicker back and forth. “Let me contrast the spells for you, and how Caster Level interacts with them.

“Here’s the basic Novice Fire spell for a mage.” I flicked up the ball of fire in my hand, nodding at Red and Big John, who flicked it up as well. The colors and control were slightly different, but they were basically identical. “As your Stars fill up, your Magery Level increases automatically as a side effect. The spell improves, the amount of energy involved in it doubles.” The small ball of fire became bigger, more powerful, and more intense and viscous. “But your Caster Level’s only effect is to make it easier to land the spell on monsters. A Tier-2 Novice spell from an Adept can hurt a monster more than a Tier-2 Novice spell from an actual Novice. The spell itself?” I lifted it up. “It’s exactly the same otherwise. It can’t be thrown any further. It doesn’t actually do any more damage without other factors coming in.

“Thus, Caster Level for a mage is a pre-qualifier for breaking through to the next Class of Magery, and is a form of Spell Penetration. It helps overcome the Spell Resistance of the creatures you are fighting, so the actual damage of the spell gets through.

“That Spell Resistance and Spell Penetration is why higher-Class mages can tear through lower-Class mages and monsters. You can’t resist the spells, so you take full damage, your Health and Soak are devoured, and you just die.” They all nodded agreement, having lots of experience at how stronger monsters resisted magic.

“Wizardry also has Spell Penetration as an aspect of its Caster Level, but a wizard’s spells are not like a mage’s. A wizard’s spells are not innately fixed like a mage’s are: they improve with Caster Level.”

They all shuffled, their eyes wide as they heard that.

“The primary factors are range, area, duration, and damage,” I went on calmly. “Unlike Magery, most Wizardry spells do not require active concentration. You can do so, of course, but most of the spells are fire and forget, and will last a period of time if you move on to something else.

“This, for example, is a Faerie Fire spell.” I waved my hand, there was a gentle burst of magic, and silvery-pale blue flames poofed up harmlessly over the lot of them. They all held up their hands, feeling the magic on top of them. “I am not concentrating upon it at all, but the spell lasts one minute per Caster Level. It has nothing to do with Novice, Adept, or number of Stars. It is pure Caster Level.

“Likewise, the area of effect is one person or person-sized object per Caster level.” They looked around, and realized that over a dozen other objects around them were also cloaked in the outlines of the harmless arcane fires, plus it was shining over the floor. “The range of the spell is four hundred feet, plus another hundred feet per Caster Level.”

“You... you’re Casting at over Twenty...” Burt blurted out.

“My Caster Level is variable dependent on a number of different specializations, but the default is around Thirty.” They all swallowed slightly. “No need to be overly impressed, it’s not as great an advantage by itself as you think. A full Mage can easily out-range me, and the damage output of Magery is far and away greater than default Wizardry. Wizardry has to jump through a bunch of hoops to even get close to matching normal high-end Magery.

“However, at the low end of the scale, Wizardry blows Magery away.

“This is a Shard spell.” I flicked up a single basic Shard at Caster Level One. “This is what a Wizard/1 with no special tricks would Cast.” The reddish star-crystal, maybe a little finger long, gleamed in the air there. “Here are its specifics.” I waved up the stats of the Spell, and they read it eagerly.

It was also a Valence I spell, an Apprentice magic. Its range was a hundred feet, plus ten feet per Caster Level, and it formed up one Shard, plus one for every two Caster Levels above One, to a maximum of five at CL 9. The Shards did 1-6 damage, about the same effect as getting stuck by a short spear or big knife.

“So, where your Novice-spells improve by enhancing your Stars, Wizardry improves simply by upping Caster Level by whatever means you have.”

Orange, yellow, green, and light blue Shards flicked up and joined the spiral around my hand in a set of five crystalline force-attacks.

==================

The Human Magical Race Class

D8 Health per Level, 6 Skill points, +2/3 Attack Bonus, Good Reflex/Fort

Standard Skill Point Expenditures: Control (magic type); Concentration; Meditation; Spellcraft; Arcane Lore; Monster Lore (varies)

Will Save Requirement: +2, +3 per Tier past 1st.

1) Potential Magic, one Star. Needs to be Awakened to go further (form Seven Stars). If not Awakened, frozen at Human/1 and 0-Level Mage.

2) Novice/1: +1 Mage Level if completes Shelling/formation of all Stars and one point of mana in each, has linked the Stars and can cast a Starpath. (Level 1)

3) Novice/2: +1 Mage Level: Has completed second reinforcement of all stars with 14 mana in each, can cast Tier 2 Starpath multiple times.

4) Novice/3: Has completed three 7-point Empowerments of all Stars and 3 reinforcements, can cast Tier 3 Starpath multiple times.

5) Half-Adept: Building up energy for breakthrough to Adept. +1 Mage Level.

6) Adept: Primary Element breakthrough, grows to 7-set Starhouse (49 Stars): Has formed a Starcloud of Second Element. +1 Mage Level.

7) Adept/1: Completed Shelling/Formation of all Stars and one point of mana in every star, casting Tier 1 Starmap.

8) Adept/2: +1 Mage Level. Has completed double reinforcement of all Stars and 14 points of mana in each, can cast Tier 2 Starmap multiple times.

9) Adept/3: +1 Mage Level: Has completed 21-pt empowerment of all Stars and triple reinforcement of all Shells. Can Cast Tier 3 Starmap multiple times.

10) Half-Mage Adept: preparing to become a Mage. Only called a Half-Mage if has maxed out both Elements. Will probably require a Nebula Vein to max chances of breaking into True Mage.

11) Mage: +1 Mage Level: Has opened an Element to a 49-set Nebula (343 Stars). Has opened a Third Element. Gains a major Physical boost to Stats.

12) Mage/1: +1 Mage Level. Has completed Shelling Formation of all Stars in Third Tier Element and can cast the Constellation spell of an Element.

13) Mage/2: Has completed double reinforcement of all Stars and 14 pt mana in each; Can cast a Tier 2 Constellation spell multiple times.

14) Mage/3: +1 Mage Level. Completed 21 pt empowerment of all Stars and triple reinforcement of all Shells. Can Cast a Tier 3 Constellation multiple times.

15) Half-Archmage: +1 Mage Level. Preparing to become an Archmage. Triple Shelling completed and mana topped. Only called a Half-Archmage if has maxed out all Three Elements. Requires an outside source of Inspiration/Power to have enough power to break into Archmage.

16) Archmage: One Element opened to a 343-set Galaxy. Fourth Element opens.

17) Archmage/1: +1 Mage Level. Has completed Shelling Formation of all Stars in a Fourth Tier Element and can cast the Archmage spell of the Element.

18) Archmage/2: +1 Mage Level. Has completed 14-pt empowerment of all Stars and second reinforcement of all Shells. Can Cast Tier 2 spell multiple times.

19) Archmage/3: Has completed 21-pt Empowerment of all Stars and can cast a Tier 3 Star Palace multiple times.

20) Half-Sage Level: +1 Mage Level. Generally, the highest Level most people can ever attain. Triple Shelling completed and Mana topped. Only called a Half-Sage if has maxed out all Four Elements.

21) Sage Level: +1 Mage Level. Legendary Level. Has bridged the Heavens to the far cosmos and linked to the essence of magic with an Element. Has opened a Fifth Element.

Further Levels are dependent on maxing out Stars in one Level and bringing other Elements into the Fifth Level.

==========

The Mage Class

Restricted to 1/3 Human Levels. Taking the Mage Class is required to keep a high enough Caster Level to advance to the next Human Tier.

Ability restrictions are Charisma, and varies by Element. Someone who does not have a high enough Stat to take another level in Mage will stagnate and be unable to break through to the next Tier. Age-related and magical Stat advances do not count in this measure.

HD: d6 Soak

AB: Poor Melee, Average Ranged.

Caster Level: +1 to Mage Caster Level per Level.

Skills: Craft, Lore, Spellcraft, Meditation, Concentration, Control (Magic Type).

Skill points per Level: 2

Saves: Good Reflex and Will