Many readers have contacted me saying that, while they like Ironcarnum, they can't see it fitting into their game. A bit of exploration reveals the problem - they don't like certain assumptions that I make about how the system should be used. Luckily, these assumptions can be trivially changed, allowing Ironcarnum to be integrated into virtually any game with any flavor. I present to you several possible approaches that one may use to integrate Ironcarnum into their game.

The Liberal Approach (the default)

Magic is a skill like any other, merely something that must be learned. True Magic requires dedicating your life to study, but most adventurers pick up the knack for battlemagic during their travels. As such, everyone gets access to the Arcane group and can cast spells (though for most people, this falls under the Other category, and so will never be too strong).

The Middle Approach

Every person has a spark of magic within them that grows naturally with their strength, but they must be introduced to it before they may begin to wield the power eldritch. All classes gain access to the Arcane category, but they must take at least one level of Arcanist before they may actually take Arcane feats. Here, the Arcanist class acts as a gatekeeper, allowing you to restrict access to magic (by restricting access to the class) but still follow the assumption of level-appropriate power that Ironcarnum is built on.

The Conservative Approach

Magic is a study that one must dedicate their life to. Though any adventurer *could* learn magic, it requires them to spend much personal effort to do so; there is little place for a dabbler in the world. Only the Arcanist class gains access to the Arcane category - other classes will never be able to cast spells, and levels in other classes do not increase your skill with magic.

Other Alterations

Ironcarnum may be easily modified in many other ways to suit your game beyond the simple question of access. Here are but a few:

Specific Paths

Rather than allowing a character to choose a mental stat to use as their Source (adding to attack and damage with battlespells, and occasionally playing a part in other spells), select a specific mental stat that must be employed. Some spells favor the intellectual approach, while others require a more contemplative outlook. Still others are best called to service by your raw need. Different spellcasters naturally sort into disciplines based on their mental abilities - it is a rare prodigy that can wield all forms of magic well. One may be even more selective with this if one wishes, and say that *only* a specific stat is for magic (say, Int).

Magic is Corrupting

Whenever a character ladens a spell, they must resist or fall under the sway of arcane corruption. I cannot recommend Jeremy Puckett's Arcane Corruption rules enough. Actually employing the effects of Corruption and Taint require a little bit of work, but can be ported easily enough, as the ruleset was specifically designed to be generic.

Magic in your World

Ironcarnum is designed with specific assumptions about how it fits into a world. I have outlined several ways to change how Ironcarnum works to make it easier to adapt these rules into your own world. The more you know about my hidden assumptions, though, the better, so this section will outline the specific niche I see Ironcarnum as filling.

Essentially, I divide magic into three categories of use, based on relative power and how much they affect the world. I call these categories Cantrips, Battlemagic, and True Magic.

Cantrips are magical effects that are utterly insignificant in effect. Allowing these into the world doesn't change a thing except a bit of flavor. Who cares if people can light candles with their mind, or float small objects that are just beyond arm's length? Matches and walking a few feet accomplish the same effect at no cost. We don't need rules on using matches, and so we don't need rules on summoning a tiny bit of flame to hand. The ease and prevalence of cantrips is something unique to each world, but no world needs to put rules into place for these.

Battlemagic is effects that are powerful enough to warrant restriction, but not powerful enough to change the world. In other words, just right to be handled by a ruleset. This is where Ironcarnum lies. Killing an enemy, touching a mind the next city over, and defending against dragonfire are all battlemagic-level effects. The effects of battlemagic should be small in both extent and duration.

True Magic is the stuff of legend, magic that stories are centered on. This category covers spells that are permanent, long-lasting, or otherwise not well-suited to be balanced by action costs. Battlemagic can kill a person, but True Magic can kill an army. Battlemagic can heal an ally, but True Magic can revive a forest. Battlemagic can focus magic through an item, but True Magic can make the item itself magical. True Magic isn't covered by explicit rules like battlemagic, but is rather judged more by a careful eye on the effect. Powerful spells should take time and resources. As with cantrips, the ease and prevalence of True Magic may vary from world to world, and even from area to area within a world.

I do not believe I am doing anything radical in making this division. D&D does precisely this with everything *but* magic. Wielding a fork during dinner is too simple to cover with rules, while building a bridge is too complex to be accurately modelled, and so it is instead given an extremely broad and fuzzy 'rule' which requires high amounts of personal adjudication. It is only activities right on the boundary, like combat and interpersonal relations, that are given actual detailed rules.

As soon as D&D hits the magic chapter, though, it throws all those principles out the window. Suddenly every possible use of magic must be covered by rules, and must be fit into the spell slot paradigm as well. This results in silliness like, well, cantrips (0th level spells), and then excesses like Storm of Vengeance. Ironcarnum attempts to avoid this by explicitly restricting itself to the middle zone where rules are useful and simple.

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