Magical Burns

Similar to sunburn or burns by heat, magical burns result from overexposure to magic. Simply put if too much magic is affecting an area of a body it results in the same symptoms as any other burns.

This effect is used in offensive spells but can also be observed as a byproduct of spells and rituals whenever a person channels too much magical energy. The seriousness of the effects are different from person to person and enhanced resistance to said channelling effect is a common nominator of all active magic users but still differ widely amongst them.

One reason for the widespread use of spells, rituals and, especially of foci is their ability to reduce the amount of energy needed to achieve a specific magical effect.

Any magical effect can be achieved purely by Need-Determination and Willpower. However, without stabilizers, capacitors, filters and conductors the magical energy is flowing uncontrolled through a caster. This inevitably results in an exponential increase of energy needed to achieve the effect. And that will as inevitably, result in magical side-effects mostly in burns.

For the majority of the population this means that, outside of some rituals, they can not actively use the magic field. Only those with the potential to be active users can do so and hope to survive. There are no absolutely accurate methods to determine a person's limits beforehand but training, regular exposure and of course disposition have been studied. With the explicit goal, to provide us with at least some way of estimating the tolerances.
From a lecture by Magister Lisias to the novices at the Collegium Magica.

Type

Magical