Retrograde Revision 5: Abjuration School
(art by Charlotta Bävholm on Artstation)
Finishing off here today, we have my first look at a wizard school, and itâs clear I was starting to do better. I even did multiple paragraphs in the first section of the entry. I still had a long way to go, and some of my old conceits were still present at the time. Can you believe I wondered aloud why someone would choose to specialize in protective magic over damaging spells?
In any case, abjuration! Abjuration is the school of magic focused on prevention and protection, warding a subject against change or harm, or preventing things from happening in the first place. Any magic that is essentially a giant floating middle finger to any of your opponentâs plans is probably an abjuration spell. Wards that prevent damage of a certain type, protect the caster spells or even turn them back on the opponent, a decent percentage of magical barriers that arenât evocation, or just straight-up negating enemy spells and actions with dispelling and counterspells and whatnot fall into this category.
There are many reasons why someone might wish to become an abjurer. Some may have a deep-seated belief that life is precious and must be protected, and get jobs as bodyguards or defenders of the peace by protecting themselves and others from harm. Others may seek to demonstrate their mastery of magic by preferring to undo all of their rivalâs mighty spells, putting themselves above such foes by how their own spells stand tall while others fizzle out.
That last one neatly ties into how the Thasalonians in the Lost Omens setting view abjuration, which they associate with the emotion of âeager strivingâ, which was corrupted into envy as they drew on the rune of abjuration and sought to destroy all that their opponents had. By comparison, abjuration is also associated with the virtue of charity, as the wards that it offers can save lives.
So letâs see what the school has to offer to its practitioners.
Each day, these mages can prepare a ward that helps them resist harm from one energy type, letting them tailor their defenses based on what foes they expect to face that day. Over time, the protection the ward offers increases, until at true mastery they become totally immune to the energy they ward against each day.
They also learn to project a defensive wards that provides subtle protection from attack to all within, which improves with mastery.
Additionally, they also learn to create a personal ward of energy absorption to help them deal with energy damage that gets past their other defenses, improving their survivability.
An abjuration specialist is one part buffer with all the defensive protections they give allies, and one part debuffer with their ability to dispel magic, negating the buffs enemies place on themselves. Additionally, with their variable energy resistance and final ablative energy absorption, they can be surprisingly tanky, at least against other casters and elementally-focused foes. I recommend picking your opposition school carefully, and add a variety of spells so that you have options of your own once youâve shut down your foes options and made sure your allies are protected.
Thereâs a certain irony to the abjuration school. After all, magic is typically about bending reality to oneâs will, and yet, their entire deal in part is denying others the ability to invoke their own will. And yet, that also makes a lot of sense. The ability to look at the dangers and malfeasance of the world and say âNoâ. I can see where folks would want that sort of control in their lives, whether they use it for themselves or others.
Spells given life by strange magic (comparable to animate dreams) are a common problem in the Warped Marshes. Because of this, the colonies are quick to hire expert abjurers. Not only are their wards useful at keeping the animate spells at bay, but the creatures are also acutely vulnerable to dispelling.
Rumor has it that Daivvus the White, a powerful universalist, has developed a spell meant to create an area of normal magic that can persist in wild, or even dead magic zones. The abjurer magocrasy of Filus would pay through the nose to keep this threat to their dominance (held through the negation of all non-affiliated mages) from spreading, burying the secret with the old wizard if need be.
In order to save the world, the heroes must enter the last temple of Coddix. Their only barrier is an abjuration of such power that only the original abjurer who cast it can grant permission to pass through. Unfortunately, he sold his soul for the knowledge to create the ward, which now hangs from the necklace of Isa Hao, demon lord of primal magic.