Cantrips and Spell Cartridges

  Standard magic usage requires a focus to channel magical energy from a magic crystal. Traditionally, this was accomplished through tools like wands or staves. However, prior to the First Arcane War, these tools were gradually replaced by more modern inventions such as the caster watch and the slugger.

  Caster watches serve as compact arcane foci—small enough to be worn around the wrist. These devices have largely supplanted the personal wands that were common before the war. They are limited to casting only the simplest spells, known as cantrips. Cantrips require no preparation and can be performed with only a modest amount of practice and training, making them ideal for teaching new magic users the fundamentals of magical focus and control.

  Caster watches are widely used by students in Mage Soldier academies, as well as by casual magic users who prefer not to carry more dangerous implements like sluggers or slingers.

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  More potent spells require not only a larger focus, but also pre-inscribed runic equations. Traditionally, these were written into spellbooks and activated through verbal incantation. However, this method has largely been replaced by the use of the spell cartridge.

  Each spell cartridge contains several layers of heat-resistant mica sheets, etched with runic symbols using crystal-laced ink. Once enclosed in a metal casing, the cartridge can be loaded into a slugger—or any sufficiently powerful slinger—and cast with the pull of a trigger, eliminating the need for spoken incantations. This makes spell cartridges significantly faster to use, as well as easier to manufacture and distribute than traditional spellbooks.

  While some factory-produced cartridges are available to the public, most are restricted to Mage Soldier armies or industrial-grade applications. Still, the ability to inscribe and create one’s own custom spell cartridges is considered a mark of an educated mage, and the practice is commonly taught in magic academies across the world, meaning rare or more complex spells are often only used by skilled individuals capable of producing them by hand.

  -Arcane Fundamentals: A First-Year Guide to Magic, Vol 3