High Magic

High Magic concerns the ancient words of power and command, a store of arcane knowledge said to predate mankind. It is the primary field of wizards, who take Enchantment or Black Magic as their second, and the burden of tradition it carries leads most of them to follow a personal ethical code. Mages who make it their second field are known as cabalists and must be good in alignment. Only wizards and cabalists may learn its restricted spells, although astrologers may acquire its inscription spells, Sigil and Talisman among them, for half the normal cost.

What sets the field apart is evocation, which exists in no other. In minor, lesser, greater and superior versions it allows the caster to call forth spirit beings, demons and devils and to bargain with them for pacts, a great source of power whose danger rises with the creature summoned. A cabalist may invoke their patron to make an evoked demon or devil save vs Will at -2 or obey. The remainder of the list consists of one-word commands (open, sleep, forget, answer, stop, away, obey); words of healing, warning, guard, passage, summoning and destruction; protective auras and influencing spheres; power words that hold, stun, blind and kill; and written magic including sigils, inscriptions, talismans, the Symbol of Power and the Truename.