Ritual Path magic is already pretty flexible. You can do just about any sort of spell you can visualize and it really doesn’t take that long to perform the spell itself. So what is a “jack-of-all-mages” in such a system? First, the Jack is less about being able to cast a specific group of spells well and more about being able to cast the right spell at the right time. This means, among other things that it’s a lot harder to pin down exactly what sort traits such a character might have. All the traditional traits to really spec out a mage (Higher Purpose, Ritual Mastery, etc.) don’t fit, but there are a few guidelines that could be use…
Suggested Character Traits
Gizmos (Accessibility, Magic, -20%) [4/level]. It’s highly suggested that the GM “uncap” such Gizmos using Ritual Adept in place of Gadgeteer.
Luck (Aspected, Magic, -20%) [13, 26, or 52] or Luck (Aspected, Magical Failiures, -40%) [9, 18, or 36]
Serendipity (Magic, -10%) [13.5/level] “Look! Dragon-mink oil. That’s exactly what I needed for this spell!”
Skills: Alchemy, Hidden Lore (any), Naturalist, Navigation, Survival, Symbol Drawing, Thaumatology, Urban Survival.
Wild Talent (Focus, Magic, -20%) [16/level].
Tactics in Combat/Spells
The Jack-of-All-Mages is all about being as unpredictable as possible. His opponents should could literally never know what spell he’s going to do next. Fireball? Sure. Slow spell? Oh yeah. the Jack is at his best when he’s casting on the fly and the GM should let him show off in that regard as much as possible.
Any spell is possible with a Jack, but he’s going to have a high Path of Magic skill for pulling out conditional spells via Gizmo.
New Ritual
Mana Morph
Spell Effects: Greater Transform Magic.
Inherent Modifiers: None.
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).
This spell causes another spell under your control to change and become another spell. For the purposes of determining if a spell is under your control any charm in your possession, conditional spell, alchemical potion, etc. are considered under your control. The spell you change another into cannot exceed the lower of your safe threshold or the spell’s energy x 0.80. It’s duration cannot exceed that of the morphed spell and you must use the lower of your Path of Magic and the controlling Path of the spell your changing it into. Otherwise, any spell is possible.
Typical Casting: Greater Transform Magic (8). 24 energy (8×3).