Maids & Masters (& Magic)

Something that I haven't really taken the time to get into yet is the magic system in Maids & Masters. I'm not sure how soon or how well or how deep I'll be able to get into it through the story of the game, and I do intend to put in more "library book" type things so that the curious can do the reading themselves, but I don't think I'll be quite satisfied with that, and the main character isn't quite enough of an idiot to need it explained to him (or the player) in simple terms.

So instead I'm gonna make a (probably too long) post about it.

The magic in Maids & Masters is (usually) a subtle thing. Magic is part of daily life for basically everyone, but the setting isn't what I would call a "high magic" setting. However, because of the prevalence of magic, it definitely isn't "low magic" either. In my head, I've taken to thinking about it as "middle magic." Magic is common, but most people (to borrow D&D terms) only have access to cantrips or level 1 spells. People who can sling fireballs and lightning bolts or raise the dead (either back to life or as an undead monster) exist, but they are extremely rare. Without going into spoilers or revealing too much, there are exactly two characters who are capable of magic on that level within the story of Maids & Masters as it currently exists.

Magic is generally split into three types. Theurgy, which is magic wielded by servants, and Contracts and Orders, which is magic wielded by Masters. 

Going into Theurgy first, this is the typical D&D style "I use prestidigitation to clean myself off after slaying the dragon" or "I cast fireball." Theurgy is split into three categories (Aggression, Inspiration, and Distraction) which each have their own different sub-categories. I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, but for the sake of completeness, I'll cover them quickly anyway. 

Aggression's sub-categories are Assault, Battle, Deter, Lash, and Incant. To continue using the D&D analogy, Assault, Battle, and Deter are basically your Barbarian, damage-focused Fighter, and tank Fighter. Lash is halfway between Bard and Warlock, and Incant would be Wizard or Sorcerer.

Inspiration's sub-categories are Motivate, Treat, Arouse, and Restore. For more D&D, Motivate is your Bard (but focused exclusively on buffing allies), Treat would be the Druid or Cleric (some heals, but mostly utility), Arouse would be like if the Bard was focused exclusively on seducing the other player characters but was still actually helpful, and Restore is the Paladin with too many spell slots (big heals, big smites).

Distraction's sub-categories are Interrupt, Agitate, Beguile, and Vex. As one last round of D&D, Interrupt is a utility Fighter (or maybe a Monk), Agitate is a Bard (but focused exclusively on debuffing and belittling your enemies), Beguile would be like if the Bard was focused exclusively on seducing everything you fight (but again, is still actually useful in a fight), and Vex is your Warlock.

Just for the sake of establishing it, Assault, Battle, Deter, Treat, Interrupt, and Agitate are fairly common, Lash, Arouse, and Beguile are less common but aren't difficult to find, and Incant, Restore, and Vex are incredibly rare and powerful enough that wars have been fought over (and won exclusively by) those Servants.

Probably nothing you haven't heard of. Theurgy might have some special flavor or flair you don't see often, but it's mostly pretty standard fantasy fare. Lots of horny Bards, but Maids & Masters is kind of a horny game. Where things get a bit more towards unique is in the Contracts and Orders. So, let's get into Contracts.

Contracts, like Theurgy, is split up into categories, but instead of a load of sub-categories, it's just two broad terms that represent different forms of the same thing: Writs and Pacts. 

Writs are Contracts given form, and are often optional unless one party demands one. Typically pieces of paper (though technically anything that can be inscribed will work - a tree, stone tablet, footprints in snow, whatever), a Writ details the scope and purpose of the Contract. Writs can be as simple or as complicated as the people writing them want them to be. For example, in the fiction of the setting, the first Contract ever written was a Pact of Servitude; the agreement a Servant makes to serve their Master. It went as follows: "I, so named, shall dedicate myself to your needs and well-being" for the part of the Servant, and "I, so named, shall ensure that you want for nothing" for the part of the Master. Both Master and Servant then signed the Writ, sealed the Pact, and that's all there was to it. 

More modern Writs are considerably more complicated and don't look too dissimilar from what you'd find in a contract or other legal document in the modern day, with each point of interest marked by a silcrow (this guy: § (this is also where the currency of Maids & Masters comes from, but that's a post for another day)). While a Pact cannot be sealed by someone who does not consent to the contents of the Writ, many of the less well-intentioned Masters know that you do not need to fully comprehend something to consent to it (this is also where a lot of the metaphor of the story comes into play, but again, that's another post). Writs are often full of confusing, archaic, or boring wording that makes it deliberately difficult to understand the contents of the Writ. We'll loop back and talk more about this in a moment.

Pacts are the non-physical aspect of contracts. In order for a Contract to be enacted, the Pact must be sealed. Where the Writ is optional, and gives any party requiring it a physical copy of the agreement, the Pact is not optional. As with Writs, a Pact cannot be sealed by someone who hasn't consented to it, or in a manner that is not consented to. This is important because of the way Pacts are sealed - by the exchange of fluid. This fluid can be anything - water, wine, blood, saliva, and so on. As long as the fluid is provided by one of the signed parties and is consumed in some way by an opposing signed party, the Pact is sealed. It shouldn't take too much thought to realize how a Master with compromised morals might attempt to force another to enter into a Pact if the consent part wasn't necessary.

Once created, Pacts are permanent. Silcrow can be added or removed, and the Pact can often be transferred from one party to another, but the context or silcrow of the Pact can change this. For example, if someone seals a Pact of Servitude to become a Servant, the Contract cannot be broken or otherwise made null and void. That person is a Servant for the rest of their life. The Pact can be transferred to a new Master, but the Servant cannot transfer their end of the Contract to another party. But there are always exceptions. We'll loop back to this as well.

Orders are the last type of magic, and does not have any sub-categories. Orders are, simply put, a directive given by a Master to someone that has signed a Contract that is backed up by magic to force compliance. So long as the Order does not violate the word of the Contract that the target is subject to, the scope of the Order is functionally limitless. The limit of Orders lies in the magical potential of the Master themselves.

For example, if a Master issues an Order to clean something to one of their Servants, the Servant feels an insurmountable compulsion to clean the specified thing. This can be modified by intent or intonation, such as "clean that" resulting in a response that - while compulsory - is no different than if the Servant had decided on their own to clean it. "Clean that, please" would be similar, but would also impart a sort of magically induced satisfaction at having completed a task; not too different from looking over a task you completed and feeling proud of yourself for the accomplishment. "Clean that or else" might induce fear until the task is complete, shouting the Order might instill a sense of urgency, and so on. 

This can also be modified by the Contract itself, such as if the Master included a clause that everything they say should be taken as an Order (effectively reducing the personal agency or amount of free will a Servant has), or specifying that a request is not an Order unless expressly specified ("I Order you to..." or "That was an Order.") This is where the magic of Contracts and Orders can get both very effective, and very sinister, as Masters with significant magical potential might be able to specify that a spoken Order does not need to be heard in order for it to take effect, or an Order may not need to be spoken at all. 

 

With all that out of the way, let's put it all together. The exact type of Contract can be almost anything. A Writ of Holdings specifies a location and it's contents as belonging to and accessible by specified people (which yes, the Pact could be sealed the same way a dog marks their territory), a Writ of Marriage would be a Master presiding over the wedding of another, there are Pacts of Alliance, Accord, Commerce; if you can put it into words, it can be built into a Contract. 

There are exceptions to this, because there are exceptions to everything, but again, posts for another day.

Using the Pact of Servitude as an example, in it's simplest form, this Contract consigns a person to being a Servant of a Master. This core cannot change, but a functionally infinite amount of additions can be made. The most common addition is a silcrow for how the Servant will (or more accurately, won't) age, with the intention being to keep the Servant working for the Master and in the best possible health for as long as possible (Masters use this same tactic to prevent themselves from aging, making themselves more or less biologically immortal by literally buying time). 

A more benevolent Master might include in the Contract that they won't mistreat, insult, or otherwise abuse their Servant, or include additional benefits such as childcare. A Master seeking to turn their Servants into property might specify that a Servant cannot speak unless spoken to or given express permission, or use the Contract to render them sterile (which could then only be undone by a Pact of Birth, using the core of a new Contract to override the silcrow of another.) 

Looping back to the first bit regarding Pacts changing hands, a Master might decide that's a bunch of hooey and write in that the Servant in question cannot serve another Master. How this is done can have just as much variance, such as saying if the Master dies, so does the Servant. It could also be written that if the Master dies, no other Master can seal the Pact, as the Master has permanently withdrawn the future consent of the Servant. This could also go the other way, with a Servant sealing the Pact with a single Master, but also serving other Masters as specified by the Contract, whether that be also serving the Master's spouse (whoever that happens to be at a given moment, accommodating (or not) for things like divorce and remarriage) or family member, or any other named party. As is the case with Phoebe in the game, it was part of a Writ that she was given that if the Masters holding her Contract died, she would effectively be her own Master until such time as she consented to resealing her Pact with a new Master.

That segues into the other pin we put in things. Phoebe is a Servant at the time our protagonists find her, but for all intents and purposes, she does not have a Master. This is one of the possible exceptions to the rules of Contracts, and why they have become so complicated. Had her previous Master specified nothing, her situation would not have changed much, though without the magic behind it, her Contract would no longer be preventing her from aging. She would have been a normal person, ignoring the fact that she would still have access to her own Theurgy. 

Another way this could have gone would be to write in these things on purpose; to actively choose to allow Phoebe to age normally, or have children, or be able to get sick. This is not often done, but when it is, it's usually part of a Pact of Accord, which is a deal made between a Master and a village of the Uncommon Folk. It allows the villagers to serve the Master for a time before returning to their life in the village, and could be done in exchange for all manner of things - education, food, housing, protection, the list goes on. The Master in return gets a steady rotation of willing Servants and doesn't have to feel so bad about stealing people away from their homes and forcing them into a life they may not actually want, even if they do get cool magic powers out of it (it also gives Masters a way of screening Servants for more powerful or desirable Theurgy and leaving room for practicing eugenics, and effectively gives them a reserve army if they sneak in a bit to the Contract about being able to Order the Folk back into service).

When it comes to Orders, a Master could potentially allow a Servant to fly or walk on walls for a short  while by issuing the right Order. A Master could also issue an Order to cause them to self-destruct or spontaneously combust. So long as it doesn't violate the word of the Contract, not even the sky is a limit.

The one big caveat to this whole thing is silcrow. Without getting too deep into the nature of the currency itself, each addition effectively costs the Master a silcrow. A silcrow can be represented by an equivalent amount of gold or jewels or other valuable commodity, but because the exact value of a year of life or whether or not you have free will is subjective, it cannot be strictly quantified. This is why I kept using "magical potential" when referring to what can or can't be done within a Contract by a Master. Masters do have access to their own pool of magic, just the same way as Servants do with Theurgy. The pool is typically considerably smaller for Masters, but Masters are able to supplement it with silcrow. With enough silcrow, a Master can magically mold a Servant into whatever they please, literally sacrificing their net worth to get what they want. 

 

The last piece of this puzzle is the Estate, and the headstones they are built to protect. Estates are old places, built around stone monuments called headstones, which serve as a channel through which Masters enact their magic. What exactly headstones are or how they function have been lost to history, but Masters can feel the one their lineage is tied to. If it's destroyed, they can feel their magic disappear. A Master can be anywhere, but so long as their family headstone stands, they can create Contracts and issue Orders and live forever. While the distance doesn't matter, the condition of the headstone does. Being a magical artifact, headstones are not easy to repair; especially when no one truly understands them. Time wears on all things, and when Masters live for several centuries, no small amount of time passes with each generation. Nothing lasts forever. No one knows this better - and no one fights against this harder - than Masters.