by Brother Laz

‘It used to be simple. Think about something and it happens. Now it’s think about it hard enough to create a self-contained magic field of 14.1 kilocrowley or more, which is captured, inverted and amplified by a portable elemental flux generator, processed and replicated by a bunch of parabolic pulse antennas, and stuff happens’
- ‘Jelkha’ De Visser, Illuminati techsmith.

THE ILLUMINATI (WIKIPEDIA)
‘The designation Illuminati was in use from the 14th century by the Brethren of the Free Spirit. In the 15th century the name was adopted by other enthusiasts who claimed that the illuminating light came, not by communication from an authoritative or secret source, but from within, as the result of exalted consciousness, or “enlightenment”‘

So, a caster class. The Cabalist seems rather minion-oriented, the third class is probably a gunslinger type, and there isn’t a mage character that actually attacks things from less than two blocks away yet. Ergo, Sorcerer aka Warmage aka Wizard aka Illuminati.

(The name was shamelessly stolen from whoever came up with it in the days when we still believed every class was going to have some sort of very clever, black helicopter name like Templar, Rosicricuan, Freemason, Illuminati)

CLASS ITEMS
The wizards of old were commonly seen wielding wooden staves as channeling foci. However, this is the 21st century and contemporary magic users employ superconducting titanite staves with built-in manaflux coils.

Staves act as focus devices and amplify the power of your spells, but are not required to cast spells. In fact, many magi are seen wielding Spellblades, magically enchanted swords that can channel magnetic fields and cut through demon skin with equal ease. Wading into melee without adequate protection spells is a rather dangerous affair, though.

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EVOCATION
The act of creating something from nothing. This something is usually explosive, electrically charged or otherwise capable of blowing up, disintegrating, shocking or annihilating demons in spectacular fashion.

– Static Spike –
This spell creates a strong electrical field around the magus. The caster himself is protected, but when a conductive object or creature comes within close proximity of the corona, a powerful discharge may jump the gap and deliver a deadly electric shock. It essentially turns the magus into a walking Tesla coil.

Effect: Press and hold the mouse button to deal continuous lightning damage to nearby targets. This effect drains power at a constant rate, regardless of number of targets.

– Plasma Sphere –
Fusion power has never been so much fun. Whereas the magi of old had to make do with weak fireballs, thanks to the advent of superconductor technology, the contemporary Illuminati took the idea of containing elemental energy in a magical field and throwing it at the enemy to a whole new level. In this case, the elemental energy is oxygen plasma with an electron temperature of about twenty thousand degrees centigrade. Burn, baby, burn.

Effect: Fires a glowing blue orb that explodes and deals massive fire splash damage on impact with an enemy or object.

– Arcane Induction –
Using his manaflux coils in passive mode, the magus can tap magical fields from the proximity of nearby living beings with a strong biological aura and convert them into manaflux currents. This ability enables him to recharge his arcane powers faster, while simultaneously draining his enemies’ arcane fields, weakening them.

Passive effect: you regenerate mana faster, depending on the number of enemies within range; if the enemy is another player in pvp, the extra mana is taken from the victim’s power pool.

– Mana Flash –
This spell was devised as an emergency plan for the magus who finds himself completely surrounded and unable to cast more complicated spells. It rapidly sucks in as much mana as possible from the caster’s surroundings using a powerful magnetic field, then disengages the field, causing the energy to expand outwards in a devastating blast. It is most effective if there is already an energy vacuum around the caster to begin with.

Effect: blasts out a glowing ring of mana, causing spectral damage to everything around the caster based on the difference between his current mana and his maximum mana.

– Warding Rune –
The art of infusing runic writing with elemental power is an ancient one. It was used in royal Mayan tombs to create deadly fire and lightning traps, but its offensive use has always been limited. Holographic technology made it much more viable. This ability casts a three-dimensional projection of an arcane rune in the air above the target, striking everything within range with powerful bolts of lightning. The rune remains for a set amount of time before fading away.

Effect: Magical rune that floats above an area for x seconds and shoots lightning bolts down at nearby enemies.

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PROTECTION
Only an idiot would fight the demons of Hell without adequate protection, and between the need to cast spells freely and the fact that metallic armor acts as a Faraday cage, using the kind of silver-titanite-californium reinforced body armor employed by many other resistance groups is not a viable option for the serious magus. Over time, the Illuminati have created powerful protection spells to ward off the attacks of demons, wild animals and peasant lynch mobs.

– Flame Barrier –
When an eye for an eye isn’t good enough. This spell creates a layer of superheated plasma around the magus, channeled and isolated from the outside world by powerful magnetic fields. When an object breaks through the field and comes into contact with the plasma, a devastating thermic explosion follows.

Effect: Creates a red energy shield around the recipient; when struck by a melee attack, the shield inflicts fire damage and knocks back the attacker.

– Phase Shield –
Recent discoveries in subatomic physics have finally revealed the hidden fourth and fifth dimensions predicted by the Kaluza-Klein theory, opening up a world of new possibilities for the Illuminati magus. This spell temporarily nudges the magus into the two hidden dimensions when struck by an attack, after which he slowly drifts back into the known three-dimensional world.

Passive effect: When struck, you gain a yellow energy shield that reduces incoming damage by a percentage. Over the next x seconds, the damage reduction slowly fades away.

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RITUALS
More complicated spells cannot be effectively cast by one magus alone. Unfortunately, it has traditionally been very hard to find other mortals educated in the use of magic when you need them.

Shortly before the invasion, the Illuminati had tried to teach the world’s citizens the basics of rituals and the techniques involved through subliminal messages embedded into the flicker of computer screens. Supposedly, the recipients would be unaware of the messages but would remember them should the need arise and when mind-controlled by an Illuminati magus. Unfortunately, the only lasting effect of the experiment was an uncontrollable obsession with elven wizards among many computer geeks.

Fortunately, most remaining underground guerrilla groups have at least some knowledge of magic, otherwise they would not have survived. As such, it is safe to assume that any resistance members who may help you on your quest are capable of aiding with your ritual spells. However, most citizens are not.

To cast a ritual spell, use the ability to summon a magic circle on the ground. Other spellcasting classes receive an extra skill icon when they enter the circle, which they can then use to aid in the ritual. Hirelings and npc allies will do this automatically. Once there are enough people doing so, use the ability again to finish the spell and cast it. The whole thing could be done in two seconds, if your allies aren’t idiots.

Each ritual lasts for x ‘events’ (shots, hits…) depending on the ritual type, after which it must be recast.

Should you ever get stuck with people who know as much about the arcane arts as the Illuminati magus knows about psychoactive toads, you can still cast them on your own without help, but they won’t be nearly as strong this way.

– Ritual of Life –
The Illuminati’s initiation ritual links the novice’s spirit with his or her initiate brothers and sisters, establishing a telepathic connection to share the order’s knowledge and wisdom with the novice. This modified version of this ritual connects the spirits of its participants with the ritual leader, who can then scan their mystical properties and transfer a backup copy to the Illuminati’s data centre using a satellite uplink. Should anything happen to one of the participants later on, the backup copy can be restored and the dead come back to life.

Effect: when a participant in the ritual dies, after a short delay, the character comes back to life and other participants lose a percentage of the dead character’s life.

– Ritual of Fire –
This spell was invented by British arcane scientists during World War II and employed as a secret weapon against Germany by the RAF Bomber Command. The original plans called for a mass sacrifice by fire to gate in a creature from the elemental plane of fire, but after the war, this was no longer a feasible option. During the invasion, the massive casualties inflicted upon mankind made the spell viable again, and it is now commonly employed as a weapon by experienced magi.

Effect: creates a fire tornado creature that follows the party around and attacks enemies. The firestorm’s strength is determined by the number of participants in the ritual.

– Ritual of Stars –
In the last days of the war, the US Army built and launched a powerful orbital ion cannon in a desperate effort to turn the tide. The weapon would have been capable of turning the strongest demon into atomic dust, but it was never used due to the fall of Area 39, where the command centre and the huge dish antenna were located, immediately after launch. So far, efforts by other resistance groups to establish a connection with the satellite have been futile, but the arcane community has more than enough experience with rituals to contact powerful forces up there, that a mere satellite is a piece of cake.

Effect: Fires down laser beams at random monsters near those who participated in the ritual; after x shots, the ritual must be recast. Think of it as a D2 ‘Thunderstorm warcry’.

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ENCHANTMENT
In ancient days, it was not unheard of for weapon enchantments to take days, even weeks, making it impossible to switch enchantments in combat. Today, however, instead of enchanting the weapon itself, the magus prefers to enchant discs of titanium alloy with the desired effect, then split them in two and use a magnetic field to align them when the enchantment is needed. This enables the magus to switch to a different enchantment with the press of a button.

(or in game terms: just select the icon under your right mouse button and it takes effect until you select a different enchantment ability. Sort of like D2 auras, but sticky)

– Mind Charge –
This enchantment enables the magus to possess enemies through a melee weapon attack. The possessed victim fights on the Illuminati’s side with supernatural strength until the spell fades out. During this time, the victim can still be attacked by the magus and those allied to him. Luckily, not many demons wear tinfoil armor.

Enchantment effect: When activated, gives your melee weapon attacks a chance to convert the target to fight evil for a short time.

– Immolation Charge –
This enchantment employs a rapidly alternating magnetic field to heat the metal of the caster’s melee weapon to about three thousand degrees centigrade. On striking an enemy, more often than not the victim catches on fire. The temperatures involved are high enough to burn any unprotected creature that so much as gets near the victim.

Enchantment effect: When activated, adds bonus fire damage to your melee weapon attacks, with a guaranteed burn effect; the flames can jump to other nearby enemies within close proximity. Yes, this is like that one poison skill in D2 which nobody uses.

– Nova Charge –
This enchantment adds a bombardment of electrons to a weapon’s attacks. These electrons accumulate on the target, building up an ever increasing electrical charge. When the victim dies and ‘hits the ground’, so to speak, the charge is discharged to ground, sending out a potential difference wave across the ground, shocking nearby enemies to the core.

Enchantment effect: When activated, adds bonus lightning damage to your melee weapon attacks; if this kills an enemy, a Shockwave is released, damage depending on the dead monster’s hit points.

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METAMAGIC
Better living through wizardry. Not only can items be enchanted, but so can people. These spells alter the caster’s magical properties in a beneficial way, helping him or her cast spells more effectively. Metamagic spells are usually short and simple and do not need to be cast as such (or in game terms: see Enchantments).

– Arcane Fury –
As Einstein already knew, time slows down for an observer moving at a nonzero velocity relative to an inert frame of reference. So if you want to slow down time, all you have to do is move the frame of reference at high speed. An adept magus achieves this by rapidly cycling his astral form into and out of the fourth and fifth dimensions at a velocity v approaching the speed of light.

Metamagic effect: When activated, increases the rate at which you cast spells by a percentage.

– Illuminati’s Reach –
The full potential of human magic is limited by the speed of light, which is the maximum speed at which any particle can travel. For extremely short-lived particles, such as the immaterial particles involved in magnetic fields, this also limits the distance they can travel before they fade out. For the magus who wants to embrace the universe, this inability to communicate with and draw upon magical fields less than a given distance away is a source of frustration. However, the advent of graviton generators have enabled the Illuminati to create a device that emits gravity waves which increase the speed of light in a specified area and in a specified direction.

Metamagic effect: When activated, increases the range of your projectile and point target spells.

– Arcane Trance –
This has nothing to do with psychoactive toads either, more with the fact that casting spells leaves temporary aftereffects in the surrounding magic fields, making the next ones easier to cast and more powerful, provided they are similar to the previously cast spells. This effect is hard to notice in most circumstances and was purely theoretical until the Illuminati techsmiths connected a manaflux induction coil to a capacitor.

Metamagic effect: Casting multiple spells of the same element in quick succession causes your next casts of said element to become more powerful. The bonus slowly fades away over time.

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FAMILIARS
A mage’s trusty Familiar is to him what an extra RAID drive is to the Illuminati’s data centre. The Familiar most often employed by Illuminati sages is a modified version of the RAF TIER-8 Reaper spy plane, a tiny (hull: 642 mm, wingspan: 885 mm) and fully autonomous robot originally equipped with an infrared camera and two Scourge anti-tank missiles. Bought in bulk behind the scenes just before the invasion and retrofitted by the Illuminati techsmiths with a manaflux collider and a new computer brain adapted to its master’s brain waves, it is now capable of following its master through narrow passages, helping the magus with difficult spells and shooting ionised particle beams which attract magical energies in the vicinity and channel them towards the target.

Effect: Summons a small hovering robotic creature. It attempts to stay out of trouble and fires a continuous beam attack that causes a resistance debuff on the target.

– Strength of One –
This ability establishes a wireless connection between the caster’s computer implants and the familiar, enabling the magus to use the familiar’s high speed processors to improve the accuracy of the calculations conducted by his APU (Arcane Processing Unit), the brain of his arcane gadgetry. This has the effect of making his spells more powerful, with less mana wasted on rounding errors and other concessions to calculation speed.

Passive effect: Passive buff that increases the spell damage of the character, until the familiar is killed.