Medieval Astral Magic for TTRPGs - Part Four - Mars
Continuing the series on medieval astral magic, we examine the power of the planet Mars.
The Months, Days and Hours of Mars
Mars is at its most influential (in Dignity) in March and October and is marginally less powerful in December (in Exaltation). In June Mars’ authority is diminished (at Fall) and is at its lowest ebb in April and September (in Detriment).
In Dignity: Aries (March) and Scorpio (October)
In Exaltation: Capricorn (December)
At Fall: Cancer (June)
In Detriment: Taurus (April) and Libra (September)
Mars’ day is Tuesday.
The propitious hours of Mars are as follows.
Saturday - 3rd and 10th hour after sunrise or sunset
Sunday - 7th hour after sunrise or sunset
Monday - 4th and 11th hour after sunrise or sunset
Tuesday - 1st and 8th hour after sunrise or sunset
Wednesday - 5th and 12th hour after sunrise or sunset
Thursday - 2nd and 9th hour after sunrise or sunset
Friday - 6th hour after sunrise or sunset.
These details can be used to apply bonuses and penalties to the creation of any amulet or image of Mars or calling down the power of the planet. The conditions mentioned for the creation of the talismans described below can either be intererpeted as mandatory or merely ‘the ideal’, allowing astral magicians to attempt their creation at any time, but with appropriate penalties.
The Qualities of Mars
Nature: Hot and dry, destructive.
Image: A crowned man bearing a sword in his right hand; a naked man standing next to the female figure of Venus his right hand on his neck and his left clasping her breast; a man dressed in iron mail riding a lion holding a sword in his right hand and the head of man in his left.
Influence: Nature, taming of wild beasts, anger, war, pain, wounds, wrath, theft, burglary, illness caused by an imbalance of yellow bile.
People: Soldiers and all men of war and violence, heretics, apostates, evildoers, murderers, executioners, those who work with fire or in stables, thieves, deceivers, traitors, litigants, shepherds.
Places: Military camps, forts, battlefields, the site of forges, furnaces and bonfires, places of judgment and execution, where wolves, bears and wild beasts gather.
Crafts: Surgery, dentistry, bloodletting, ironworking, war, banditry.
Organs: Right nostril, the gallbladder - the source of yellow bile and heat.
Animals: Red camels, all animals that kill with their teeth, all dangerous and wild beasts, vipers, scorpions, mice and all those vermin that harm mankind.
Trees, Herbs and Spices: Every hot plant - peppers, pine scammony, cumin, caraway, laurel, euphorbia, hemlock and all trees fit for burning, all spices that poison by inducing excessive heat.
Stones and Minerals: Bloodstones, carnelians, onyx, and all red and speckled stones.
Metals: Iron, arsenic, sulphur, naptha, glass, red bronze.
Colours: Red, scarlet, crimson.
Vestments: Wild animal pelts, red linen, red silk.
Incense: Red sandalwood.
Suffumigation: Pepper, ginger all hot plants and spices.
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Talismans of Mars
As with the previous examination of the talismans of Saturn and Jupiter, the specific mechanical effects of the amulets and images of Mars can be adjusted to suit the GM’s preferred style and rules’ set, using the wording of the following examples as templates. The variables that can be adjusted will include the duration of any effect, the breadth of their applicability and the mechanical magnitude of the powers described. These variables can be implemeted either as a ‘flat’ level at which each power operates based upon the degree to which GMs prefer magic to be influential and consequential or they can be increased in step with the power, level or skill of the magician. Suggestions for general mechanical expressions of these powers are appended to each entry.
To staunch blood: Engrave upon an onyx the image of a lion and the figures in the hour of Mars under Scorpio (October). Whoever carries this image, whenever their blood is spilt, will immediately have the flow stopped.
In systems with a ‘bleed’ mechanic, the application of this amulet is self-explanatory and the only question for the GM to decide is whether the effect is automatic or requires some form of test or save. In other cases the power might be manifested as a minor reduction in damage (perhaps limited only to that inflicted by edged or bladed weapons) or an increase in the rate of healing from physical damage.
To restore courage: With Mars in Dignity (March and October) and on the day and hour of Mars (Tuesday on the 1st and 8th hour after sunrise or sunset) inscribe the figures on a sheet of iron. Any man who bears this tablet shall be cured of his timidity and will find his courage when it is most needed.
Games with rules around ‘morale’ can accomodate this power with relative ease, awarding a bonus to the bearer’s chances of passing any morale test or automatically passing them. In broader cases the amulet might award bonuses to saves versus conditions such as fear or perhaps even provide immunity from such conditions. As with many talismans, it is a question for the GM to decide whether this amulet can be crafted by the astral magician and given to another who can benefit from its effects.
To be spared the wrath of a prince: On the day and hour of Mars (Tuesday on the 1st and 8th hour) with Mars in Dignity (March and October) craft an image of the desired prince from red bronze and conceal it within the grounds of his palace. For as long as the image remains concealed, the prince will be incapable of anger towards the magician.
In low magic or gritty settings, this effect might be less powerful - perhaps only allowing the magician a bonus to statistics (such as Charisma) or skills (like Persuade) employed in avoiding the ire of a great man. In high fantasy worlds where the power of astral magic is greater, it could be the case that any check involving those stats and skills is passed automatically or the magician benefits from a suitable narrative rather than strictly mechanical advantage.
To have mastery over beasts: With Mars in Exaltation (December) and on the day and hour of Mars (Tuesday on the 1st and 8th hour) craft an image of a ravening wolf from a metal of Mars (iron, arsenic, sulphur, naptha, glass or red bronze). A magician who carries such an amulet shall have mastery over all wild beasts that kill with their teeth and claws.
To express this in low fantasy settings it might grant the magician a power equivalent to a spell such as Charm Animal, perhaps restricted in the number of times that it can be employed per day or per week, confined to beasts of a certan number of Hit Dice or be of limited duration. In higher magic worlds the amulet might grant authority or control over all beasts at all times such that they will be placid and unthreatening or - at the highest level - obey the magician’s commands or serve him to the best of their ability.
For protection from the wicked: With Mars in Dignity (March and October) and at the hour of Mars inscribe on a bloodstone an image of Mars. A man who carries this talisman will be shielded from the malicious designs and actions of the wicked against him.
There are many possible ways to implement this effect and to expand or limit its consequences. In systems that have an alignment mechanic it is an easy matter to define ‘the wicked’; in other cases those subject to the power might be defined more narratively or subjectively to include, for example, those who seek directly to harm or damage the magician. Its precise application can be handled in any particular instance through a mechanic that imposes penalties on opponents or grants a bonus to the magician.
To do as one will: Inscribe on a diamond the image of a naked man standing next to the figure of Venus, his right hand on his neck and his left clasping her breast, at the hour of Mars under Aries (March). Whoever bears this image will have great power to do good or ill, but evil will be accomplished with greater effect and ease than good.
This is an example where the GM can have a wide discretion over the mechanical implementation of the power. It could, perhaps, award more or less blanket bonuses (the exact scale of which is for the GM to determine) to statistcs, skills or any check or roll. More interestingly, these bonuses should be increased when the magician is attempting an act that is shady, immoral, selfish or greedy.
For protection against thieves: With Mars in Dignity (March and October) and on the day and hour of Mars (Tuesday on the 1st and 8th hour) inscribe on a carnelian the image of crowned man bearing a sword in his right hand. Bury this under the hearth of your home and, for as long as it remains, no man will steal from your home.
In systems that include a relevant mechanic, this amulet can function as a ward or circle of protection that either wholly and automatically prevents thieves from entering the property or requires a successful save or attribute check in order for them to enter. In cases without such a mechanic this effect can be dealt with narratively by establishing that no person intending to steal from the magician can enter the house or, if a mechanic is needed, that they can only enter with an appropriate save, stat check or skill.
For a terrifying visage: Inscribe upon a stone of Mars (bloodstone, carnelian, onyx, red and speckled stones) the shape of a man in a coat of mail holding a sword in his right hand and a man’s severed head in his left. Do this on the day and at the hour of Mars when he is in Dignity (Tuesday on the 1st and 8th hour in March and October). The bearer will be feared by all men and no-one shall willingly approach him.
This power can be given expression through awarding the bearer an aura that has a spell-like effect or a psychological condition such as fear. The magnitude of this effect can be adjusted from being permanent and automatic to being time-limited and subject to some save on the part of others or effective only against people of a certain level or number of Hit Dice. In skill-based systems the amulet can award bonuses to relevant checks such as intimidation. Note well the negative consequence of this power - that it cannot be selectively engaged.
Calling Down Mars
Dressed all in red and with a red silk or linen cap the magician must go to a place propitious for the works of Mars - a military camp, fort, battlefield, the site of a forge, furnace or bonfire, places of judgment and execution and those where wolves, bears and wild beasts gather. The magician should bear a sword and as many weapons as he can carry and wear a ring of bronze. There he will take a bronze censer and place within it a suffumigation made of equal parts wormwood, aloe, squinancy wort (a plant used to cure throat infections called quinsies), spurge (a large family of flowering plants the sap of which is a toxic purgative), pepper and watercress ground and mixed with human blood. Entreat Mars’ favour earnestly and reverently and afterwards decapitate a mouse, remove and eat its liver and burn the rest of the body to ashes.
Calling down the power of Mars, like those actions in respect of Saturn and Jupiter, should, as a general principle, result in effects proportionately greater than those drawn from the power of talismans, amulets and images. As previously discussed in the context of the other planets, the precise effects can be created by taking elements from the Influence, People, Crafts, Organs Animals and Plants and other qualities of Mars and building a ‘modular’ system of effects that mimic established spells, powers or effects within the seleced system. A few examples follow.
The magician can cause any or all People under the planet’s influence (soldiers and all men of war and violence, heretics, apostates, evildoers, murderers, executioners, those who work with fire or in stables, thieves, deceivers, traitors, litigants, shepherds) to be afflicted by pain, wrath or illness and disease of the nose and gallbladder.
The magician can acquire some skill relating to the Crafts associated with Mars that grants a mechanical bonus to any attempt to employ those crafts or acquire some specialist knowldege pertinent to those activities. In this way the magician might gain preternatural skill as a worker of iron or a surgeon.
Calling down Mars allows the magician to gain the ability - either automatically or at a substantial bonus - to tame beasts that kill with teeth and claws, vipers, scorpions, mice and vermin. It might also be employed to create a bond between the magician and a beast equivalent to an animal companion or familiar.
GMs and players should be creative in their interpretation and application of the qualities of Mars to create suitable effects and power.
The Ring of Mars
Carve into a flawless onyx a man in a breastplate holding a sword in his right hand and a severed head in his left. Set this gemstone into a ring of iron. All this can only be done when Mars is in Dignity (March and October) and on the day and at the hours of Mars (Tuesday on the 1st and 8th hour).
The bearer will subdue all enemies in combat. Elephants, lions and vultures will be well disposed and all the works of Mars will be advanced.
Here too, the mechanical expression of the Ring of Mars will be proportionate to the GM’s desired level of the fantastic and magical in their system and setting. This, in turn, will be reflected in the difficulty - whether derived from mechanical or narrative sources - of crafting the ring. At one extreme the ability to ‘subdue all enemies’ might mean that the bearer can never miss in combat and always inflicts maximum damage, descending through the awarding of permanent and substantial mechanical combat bonuses to modest and temporary advantages. For variables of the ring’s power over animals, see the suggested means of implementing them under the talisman To have mastery over beasts above. The works of Mars being ‘advanced’ can be interpreted to amount to a mechanical bonus to any roll made when conducting astral magic relating to the planet.