Meta Mages

Meta Mages a new kit for Dark Sun’s spellcasters
Requisites: Con 15, Int 15, Wis 13
Races Allowed: Human, Half-Elf, Elf
Alignment: Cannot be Chaotic, and must be Neutral
Proficiencies: Required: Lens Shaping
Bonus: Contact
Starting Funds: 1d4 x 3 cp
Benefits: See Below
Hinderances: See Below

Description
Meta Mages have learned how to tap into their own mental reserves to cast spells. Unlike Preservers and Defilers, their spell energy comes straight from themselves, in a manner similar to using psionics. The energy is in fact a form of a "PSP," though it is a highly concentrated one (equal to roughly three PSP’s). This concentrated power is referred to as MtP, or as Meta Points. Meta Points and Psionic Strength Points cannot be freely converted (under most circumstances), and never can a Meta Mage dual or multi-class as a psionicist or be a Wild Talent.

Overview of Meta Mage Advancement by Level:
1st Level: To qualify for the class, the to-be Meta Mage must first locate a Cantrip spell. Upon the completion of that task, an obsidian ball must be sculpted. This orb can be of any size, as long as it is larger than one inch wide. Once the sphere is shaped, the Meta Mage draws the necessary life-energy from plants (through either preserving or defiling) and casts the Cantrip over the orb. This spell opens a weak conduit between the caster’s mind and the glass ball. Proceeding with the ritual, the Meta forces her psionic strength into the black sphere. (See "Orb Construction" below) With this done, a system shock roll must be made. If the roll fails, the Meta dies. If she is successful, the Meta Mage will usually begin the quest for advancement alone, pioneering her way through the mysteries of mind-magic.

5th Level: Drawing MPSP’s from others
At fifth level, the caster develops a MPSP draining radius when she casts spells. This radius is equal to three feet times the caster’s level, and helps her power higher level spells. All creatures with PSP’s must make a save Vs. magic or lose one PSP per two levels of the caster (rounded up). The PSP’s are lost regardless of how many MtP’s the spell costs. The amount of PSP’s recieved from other creatures is divided by three, and this number equals the amount of Meta Point’s gained. This is the only case in which PSP’s may be converted to MtP’s. If any MtP’s are left over at the end of casting, they are absorbed by the caster herself.

9th Level: Cannibalize
At ninth level, a Meta Mage can now cannibalize her own Hit Points to feul her spells. Three Hit points can be converted to one MtP, or five Hit Points can be conerted into two MtP’s.

15th Level: PSP drain
At fifteenth level, the Meta Mage may opt to steal life force from animal life instead of PSP’s. If this option is taken, she draws five hit point per level from the group she is taking life from (not from each individual in said group). If, for example, a 15th level Meta Mage casts a spell, she would draw a total of 75 Hit Points from all animal life in her casting radius (of 75 feet). The Hit Points stolen are divided up by the number of animals, and this damage is the amount each suffers (rounded up). So if the caster was surrounded by 75 Gith, each would lose a hit point, but if she were surrouned by only five, each would cause twenty-five damage to each one.

Casting Spells
One big advantage to casting spells with Meta Magic is that their are no spell-level restrictions. The only thing preventing a Meta from casting the Shape Change spell is the number of MtP’s it requires. The table below shows how much each spell level costs in MtP’s.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
MtP’s 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36

Note: Specific Cantrips cost only 1 MtP each.

Fatigue -- 9th Level
At higher levels, spell-casting is very strenuous for Meta Mages. So when they use too much strength, it shows. Use the following table to determine what ill effects occur from the casting. The "% MtP’s" column is for what percentage of MtP’s remain. The "Effects" column shows the side-effects.

% MtP’s Effects
100-51 Caster is in good health. A slight bit of strain is felt at about 75%, but causes no penalties.
50-26 When the caster is down to this many MtP’s, three things happen. First, she loses 1d3 hit points. Second, one point of Con is temporarily lost. And three, the Meta suffers +2 to his initiative roll.
25-10 The caster begins showing true signs of tear. She loses another 3 points of Con (temporarily), as well as 1d3 more HP’s. She suffers a -2 to hit, +1 to AC, and +3 to her initiative roll.
10-01 At this stage, another 1d3 HP’s are lost, and 3 more points of Con.
00 The Meta passes out from exhaustion.


Note: All ill-effects go away as soon as the caster restores her MtP’s.

Gaining MtP’s
Each mage starts off with 4 MtP’s. Each level after that, she gets 3 extra MtP’s. The chart below shows the Meta Mage’s MtP progression.
Lvl 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Mtp 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61


The Obsidian Focus
At first level, the Meta Mage must construct an obsidian focus. This sphere must be perfectly round, and have no imperfections whatsoever. The construction of this orb costs the mage a great deal, and this is why her starting funds are so low. At every fifth level, a new orb must be created, and each must be one inch bigger than the last. Use the following table to calculate the shpere’s cost.

Level Size Cost
1 1" 50 cp
6 2" 100 cp
11 3" 150 cp
16 4" 200 cp
20 5" 250 cp


Once the obsidian ball has been sculpted, a Cantrip spell must be cast over it. To do this, the Meta must have some rudimentary training with drawing plant life, but not enough to cast any other 1st level spell or higher. The Meta mage can either preserve or defile for the energy, either way is acceptable. Once the spell is cast, the Meta Mage forces one MtP into the receptacle. With this done, a gateway is established, and the caster must make a System Shock roll or die. If she survives this, the mage waits for one day, and can then begin casting spells regularly. If at any time she loses the ball, a new one must be constructed. The whole proceedure must be repeated every time a new focus is created.

Notes: Meta’s are considered Preservers for all practical intents and purposes