From Mizahar Lore

"I still remember him as my hero... the way he saved us all, sending that immense pack of hungry dire wolves away in terror with the sheer power of his hypnotic gaze. But he had gone way too far on that day, and was beyond recovery. He collapsed, his eyes bleeding as he entered convulsions. He yelled obscenities in tongues he was not supposed to know. The man in him was lost. Because he was my best friend, I took my dagger and put him out of his misery." - Vuld Shaik, "Magic and I"

Overgiving is the disruptive consequence of casting too much personal magic, overexerting the wizard's body, mind and soul. It brings a host of negative effects that are related the disciplines the mage practices but include physical, mental and spiritual damage. While milder cases can be recovered from with rest and medical care, the more severe forms can be irreversible and affect one's form, identity, soul, and mental state in minor or major ways. In the worst scenario, the subject might not be recognizeable afterwards.

Contents 1 How Resolve, Magic Use and Overgiving Works 1.1 Novices 1.2 Competent 1.3 Expert 1.4 Master 2 Important Notes on Overgiving 3 Overgiving Effect Charts 3.1 Auristics 3.1.1 Minor Overgiving 3.1.2 Moderate Overgiving 3.1.3 Severe Overgiving 3.2 Familiary 3.2.1 Minor Overgiving 3.2.2 Moderate Overgiving 3.2.3 Severe Overgiving 3.3 Flux 3.3.1 Minor Overgiving 3.3.2 Moderate Overgiving 3.3.3 Severe Overgiving

How Resolve, Magic Use and Overgiving Works

Main article: Resolve

Use of personal magic is best equated to breathing. Everyone breaths. It’s the normal. You can’t live without breathing. We breathe in our day to day lives just as characters use their djed in their day to day lives, many times without knowing it. They don’t overgive without the conscious use of magic because their djed use is normal for them, as normal as breathing.

However, when we get into stressful things like combat, conflict, anxiety, desperation, high emotions, high adrenaline etc, our breathing becomes rapid. We start worrying or say we have an accident where we fall and get the breath knocked out of us, we have issues and can’t breathe well or struggle. Magic is a lot like this with comparable feelings and effects. Characters can use magic all day long so long as they are used to using it in specific natural normal ways. It’s when they are skirting new territory like stretching their powers or exploring new avenues of uses that they have to worry about overgiving. This is different for EVERY character. How they have developed over time, how they deal with things like stress, conflict, anxiety, etc., will help shape how they approach their use of magic and how it affects them in terms of potential overgiving risks. So, think about your character, what do they fear, what stresses them out, are they a natural in combat (hint, novices are not naturals, even competent characters are not naturals in combat), do they have existing mental issues, are they easily angered or are they calm and collected in social situations? All of these can make overgiving more or less of a threat under different circumstances.

Novices

Novices in the use of various personal magical disciplines need worry little about overgiving as their skill and knowledge level prevents them from being able to do too much in the way of pushing themselves. It simply takes too much time and concentration to produce the simplest of effects as a Novice. Magic use in combat as a Novice is virtually impossible due to the time and focus involved. The magic user would likely be killed before being able to produce the smallest manipulation of djed.

It is not until one becomes Competent in a magical discipline that they really need to begin worrying about overgiving. It is the Sweet Whispers, the lure of magic use that pushes a person to use more djed than they are capable of that comes into play here. The more competent one is in the manipulation of djed, the more they think they can do and the stronger they think they are. This is a mistake.

When not faced with a stressful situation like combat or other mental or emotional stresses, a competent magic user need not worry about overgiving. As soon as they encounter combat or equivalent stress or are out of their element as far as going against what they are comfortable with as far as the use of their magic, they risk overgiving.

Competent

When a character, competent in a discipline of personal magic, attempts to manipulate djed in combat and/or under stressful circumstances outside of their normal magical routine or beyond their comfort level/ready knowledge of magic use, they roll 1d100 + Resolve against target of 75. This means they must get a total of 75 or greater to withstand the onset of overgiving. If they succeed, they do not suffer from overgiving. If they fail, they suffer from mild overgiving effects and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

With each casting of personal magic after, again in combat and/or under stressful circumstances outside of their normal magical routine or beyond their comfort level of magic use, the danger of overgiving increases. The second time one attempts to cast under the before mentioned conditions, it requires another resolve roll. This time it is against a difficulty of 100 meaning their 1d100 + Resolve roll total must be 100 or greater. If they succeed, they do not suffer from overgiving. If they fail, they suffer from another minor overgiving effect and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

If the person continues to cast personal magic again, they roll another 1d100 + Resolve with a difficulty of 125. This means they need a total of 125 or greater to resist overgiving. If they succeed, they do not overgive. If they fail, they suffer from medium overgiving effects and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

If, for some crazy reason, the person continues to press their luck in casting personal magic for a forth time during combat or under stressful conditions, they must roll 1d100 + Resolve against a difficulty of 150. If they succeed by rolling a total of 150 or greater, they do not suffer from overgiving. If they fail, they they suffer from a severe overgiving effect and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

After that, on the fifth time and every time after that one chooses to cast their personal magic, under the beforementioned conditions, they must roll a 1d100 + Resolve against a difficulty of 175. If they succeed by rolling a total of 150 or greater, they resist overgiving, if they fail, it is not pretty. Failure on any of these resolve rolls results in additional severe effects and can lead to death.

If in any case of overgiving, if the person has already suffered from the rolled effect, they must take the next one in line.

While magic use can be extraordinarily powerful, it brings with it equally extraordinary risks. As you can see, pushing one’s self too far with manipulating personal djed and/or going outside of one’s routine and comfort zone in regards to magic use, can be extremely dangerous.

Expert

As detailed previously, we see what happens when one who is competent in a magical discipline pushes themselves too far in casting personal magic outside their normal routine and/or in combat or under stressful conditions. However, what happens to those who are Experts or even Masters under the same conditions. As one becomes more skilled in the use of personal magic, they are able to approach it in a way that feels more natural. With greater knowledge of the magic and the use of personal djed, the ability to get better use out of ones resolve in resisting overgiving becomes greater.

Experts in a particular magical discipline find that their ability to manipulate their personal djed is more instinctual; it tends to come more naturally. As a result, their difficulty to resist overgiving is less. This means that their Resolve goes further than it would for one who is simply competent with the djed use. However, because the Expert is manipulating more focused djed, if they do succumb to overgiving, the effects are more severe.

When a character, an expert in a discipline of personal magic, attempts to manipulate djed in combat and/or under stressful circumstances outside of their normal magical routine or beyond their comfort level/ready knowledge of magic use, they roll 1d100 + Resolve against a difficulty of 65. This means they must get at least a total of 65 or higher to withstand the onset of overgiving. If they succeed, they do not suffer from overgiving. If they fail, they suffer from mild overgiving effects and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

With each casting of personal magic after, again in combat and/or under stressful circumstances outside of their normal magical routine or beyond their comfort level of magic use, the danger of overgiving increases. So, if the person succeeds in resisting overgiving after their first attempt, the second attempt requires another resolve roll. This time it is against a difficulty of 90 meaning their 1d100 + Resolve roll total must be 90 or greater. If they succeed, they do not suffer from overgiving. If they fail, they suffer from a medium overgiving effect and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

If the person succeeds in their second attempt to resist overgiving and continues to cast personal magic again, they roll another 1d100 + Resolve with a difficulty of 115. This means they need a total of 115 or greater to resist overgiving. If they succeed, they do not overgive. If they fail, they suffer from severe overgiving effects and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

If, for some crazy reason, the person continues to press their luck in casting personal magic for a forth time during combat or under stressful conditions, they must roll 1d100 + Resolve against a difficulty of 135. If they succeed by rolling a total of 135 or greater, they do not suffer from overgiving. If they fail, they they suffer from an additional severe overgiving effect and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens; which can include death. After that, on the fifth time and every time after that one chooses to cast their personal magic, they must roll a 1d100 + Resolve against a difficulty of 160. If they succeed by rolling a total of 160 or greater, they resist overgiving, if they fail, it is not pretty. Failure on any of these resolve rolls results in death or worse.

If in any case of overgiving, if the person has already suffered from the rolled effect, they must take the next one in line except for the fifth time and beyond if applicable.

Master

Masters in a particular magical discipline find that their ability to manipulate their personal djed is almost a way of life; it tends to come quite easy. As a result, it is much more difficult for them to overgive than it is for those of lesser skill. However, because the Master is manipulating far more focused djed, if they do succumb to overgiving, the effects are nothing short of horrific.

When a character, a master in a discipline of personal magic, attempts to manipulate djed in combat and/or under stressful circumstances outside of their normal magical routine or beyond their comfort level/ready knowledge of magic use, they roll 1d100 + Resolve against a difficulty of 50. This means they must get at least a total of 50 or higher to withstand the onset of overgiving. If they succeed, they do not suffer from overgiving. If they fail, they suffer from medium overgiving effects and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

With each casting of personal magic after, again in combat and/or under stressful circumstances outside of their normal magical routine or beyond their comfort level of magic use, the danger of overgiving increases. The second attempt requires another resolve roll. This time it is against a difficulty of 75 meaning their 1d100 + Resolve roll total must be 75 or greater. If they succeed, they do not suffer from overgiving. If they fail, they suffer from severe overgiving effects and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

If they continue to cast personal magic a third time under the before mentioned conditions, they roll another 1d100 + Resolve with a difficulty of 100. This means they need a total of 100 or greater to resist overgiving. If they succeed, they do not overgive. If they fail, they suffer from another severe overgiving effects and roll on the overgiving effects chart to see what happens.

If, for some crazy reason, the person continues to press their luck in casting personal magic for a fourth time during combat or under stressful conditions, they must roll 1d100 + Resolve against a difficulty of 125. If they succeed by rolling a total of 125 or greater, they do not suffer from overgiving. Failure means death or worse.

If in any case of overgiving, if the person has already suffered from the rolled effect, they must take the next one in line except for the fifth time and beyond if applicable.

Important Notes on Overgiving

Just because someone is skilled in one magical discipline does not mean that they are able to resist the effects of overgiving in the same way when using a different discipline. For example, an Expert in Reimancy who is Competent in Morphing would resist Overgiving in two separate ways. When using Reimancy, they would approach Overgiving as an Expert Reimancer. When using Morphing, they would approach Overgiving as a Competent Morpher.

If a character has a proven track record of practicing, training and making a routine of, using magic in combat-related situations (numerous related Lores and threads tied to such a thing) they may find that the affects of overgiving are reduced. In this case, the severity of overgiving may be reduced by one level (minimum of minor overgiving). For example, if an Expert Reimancer fails their second overgiving roll, they would normally suffer from moderate overgiving. If that character had a track record of developing their magic use in combat-related situations, they would instead only suffer from mild overgiving.

Overgiving Effect Charts

Auristics

Overgiving in Auristics is almost never deadly, but it carries its own risks with most of the negative effects focused on the senses.

Minor Overgiving

These effects are temporary, normally lasting a few days at most but may be cumulative. 1D8

1. - Heavy Fatigue
2. - Dilated pupils (uncomfortable light sensitivity)
3. - Incoherent speech
4. - Temporary Loss of Sight
5. - Temporary Loss of Hearing
6. - Temporary Loss of Taste
7. - Temporary Loss of Touch
8. - Temporary Loss of Smell

Moderate Overgiving

Moderate overgiving with Auristics almost always involves long-term hallucinations that affect varying senses. The wizard may experience not just visual hallucinations but also ones that affect their hearing, touch, taste and smell. These hallucinations may be cumulative and typically last at least a season, sometimes more. 1D5

1. - Sight Hallucinations
2. - Sound Hallucinations
3. - Touch Hallucinations
4. - Taste Hallucinations
5. - Scent Hallucinations

Severe Overgiving

Severe overgiving is permanent and its effects, while also permanent, occur randomly and without control. The more one succumbs to severe overgiving, the more often their powers will awaken without their control and the more senses they consume with greater severity. With severe overgiving, the wizard will find themselves unable to tell what is real and what isn’t; quickly developing phobias, extreme paranoia and the inability to separate hallucination from reality. There is no cure or remedy for severe overgiving.

Familiary

From a technical standpoint, overgiving is possible with Familiary, but rare. No activities really cause enough Djed transmutation to give heavy overgiving, except maintaining the joint Released form. Overgiving in this case tends to lead to generic physical and psychic trauma, with the occasional strange side effect, such as wizard and Familiar switching bodies or parts thereof.

Minor Overgiving

Minor overgiving due to the Joint Released Form can lead to temporary physical wounds that can be healed through normal means. 1D5

1. – Bruising and abrasions (minor wound)
2. – Small cuts erupt over the wizard’s body (minor wound)
3. – A broken finger (minor wound)
4. – A broken toe (minor wound)
5. – Missing tooth (minor wound)

Moderate Overgiving

Moderate overgiving due to the Joint Released Form can lead to mental trauma that can last up to a season or more and can lead to more severe physical trauma such as switching body parts or even bodies with the familiar for up to a season. 1D4

1 – Nightmares every time the wizard sleeps; moderate severity 2 – Hearing incoherent whispers with no discernable source 3 – The wizard takes on a physical feature of the familiar and vice versa 4 – The wizard and the familiar switch bodies with extreme difficulty in controlling physical movements and functions.

Severe Overgiving

Severe overgiving due to the Joint Released Form can cause permanent switching of body parts or even permanent switching of bodies altogether between the wizard and the familiar. 1D4

1 – Wizard and Familiar switch arms (both arms, proportionate to the rest of the body) 2 – Wizard and Familiar switch legs (both legs, proportionate to the rest of the body) 3 – Wizard and Familiar switch faces and head structure (proportionate to the rest of the body) 4 – Wizard and Familiar switch bodies; their control over the new body is clumsy and all physical tasks and skills function at half their normal capacity.

Flux

The Flux, like all personal magic, can result in overgiving, which in this case is as subtle as it is nasty. Physical consequences are not felt until very late; instead, the user experiences a feeling of being invincible and a higher pain threshold as well as violent, destructive instincts sometimes unable to tell friend from foe. Because of this, many users are incapacitated or killed before the actual damage kicks in.

When this happens, it takes away the very thing the Flux user prizes most: his body. The telltale sign is a painful, electric-like spasm coursing through the limbs at random. These lumps of uncontrollable energy travel all over the body, dealing damage from the inside whenever they burst or spike. The wizard is torn apart by his own life force, which breaks flesh and bone alike. Limbs pop out of their joints, at times even the eyes are ejected from their sockets. Sometimes a master of Flux witnessing the scene can help redirect the insane Djed storm and limit the damage taken by another. Usually, though, consequences of heavy overgiving are devastating when not lethal and will give headaches even to master-level healers.

Minor Overgiving

Minor overgiving effects feel to the wizard to be beneficial and last a day or two at most. These feelings are deceptive however as they tend to lead the wizard to push themselves even further than they should. These effects are cumulative. 1D3

1 – High pain threshold (moderate wounds feel like they are minor although they are still moderate) 2 – Feeling of invincibility (ignore the pain from a single critical wound; the wound is still critical but feels like it’s nothing more than a scratch.) 3 – Friends appear as foes; a feeling beyond the wizard’s control (in effect whenever engaged in combat).

Moderate Overgiving

Moderate overgiving effects are immediate and often extremely painful. Some can be healed through normal means while others are so extreme that they are permanent. 1 – Painful spasms that randomly course through the arms; torn muscles (moderate wound). 2 – Painful spasms that randomly course through the legs; torn muscles (moderate wound). 3 – Severe headaches 4 – Painful spasms that randomly course through the torso; torn muscles (moderate wound). 5 – Dislocated shoulder (moderate wound) 6 – Dislocated hip (moderate wound) 7 – Skin rips open in random places (moderate wound) 8 – Broken arm (severe wound) 9 – Broken leg (severe wound) 10 – Eye popped out of socket (severe wound)

Severe Overgiving

Severe overgiving effects are immediate and devastating; potentially fatal. Healing such wounds usually requires multiple-marked healers to be even moderately effective.

1 – Arm bone explodes; may require amputation (critical wound) 2 – Leg bone explodes; may require amputation (critical wound) 3 – Rib cage shatters (critical wound) 4 – Huge wounds rip open all over the body; profuse bleeding (critical wound) 5 – Both eyes pop out of sockets (blindness) (critical wound) 6 – Both ears burst (deafness) (critical wound)