# Ironsworn: Arcanum *Created:* 2026-09-12, *Modified:* 2026-10-07 ![[Ironsworn - Arcanum (cover).jpg|600]] **Ironsworn: Arcanum** is a fan-made high-magic supplement for **[[Ironsworn]]** by M. Christof Berger (layout by Eric Bright) — not official Ironsworn content, but a love letter to the kind of powerful, willful-shaping-of-creation magic the author grew up on in **[[Ars Magica]]** and Tolkien. It gives your Ironsworn mage a flexible spellcasting system with a healthy respect for narrative, instead of the Vancian "spells-as-items" approach the author openly despises. ## Setting Arcanum stays put in the Ironlands — it's fan content for the base game, not a spin-off world. Magic was known in the Old World, largely lost in the Great Crossing, and rediscovered: new generations are born **Marked** by magic, their spirits forever altered. But the **Mark** makes a normal life impossible. Many don't survive its first expression — the **Revelation** — and those who learn to control their gift are feared and outcast by the rest of human society. Magi live apart, tolerated so long as they keep their distance, earning a grudging place near a community only by assisting the folk around it. ## Mechanics Magic works by combining **Manipulations** — **Change, Conjure, Control, Decay, and Sense** — with **Essences** (Water, Fire, Air, Earth, Plant, Animal, Mind, Body, and Perception). A spell is a pairing like *[Conjure + Fire]* for warmth or *[Control + Body]* to speed healing. - **The Mark & Revelation.** The magical gift born into you, first expressed in a dangerous Revelation; the whole system is built around taming a power that marks you an outcast. - **Cast a Spell.** The core move, with **Spell Magnitude** and **Spell Power** deciding how big a working you attempt. Every spell stretches the fabric of reality, risking **Chaotic backlash** tracked on the **Chaos Track** (Fracture, Crack, Break) — the price of willfully reshaping creation. - **The Arcanum.** A sanctum-building layer of **facilities** (Anchorage, Deep Ruins, Formulary, Grounds, The Grove, Guard Post, Guest Suites, Library, Messenger Post, Quarters, Scrying Pool, Spell Vellum, Stables, Venture) that growing mages stock and build out. - **Magi Archetypes** — The Timothy, The Gandalf, The Potter, The Matthias, The Tanasin — plus new assets and a **Your Truths** oracle table to seed your chronicle. It's the go-to way to play a proper wizard in the Ironlands. ## Editions - **Arcanum: A High Magic Supplement for the Ironsworn System** (V2) — by M. Christof Berger, layout by Eric Bright, CC BY 4.0. Fan-made, not official Ironsworn content. *In the library.* ## References - [Arcanum: High Magic for Ironsworn — DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/368750/arcanum-high-magic-for-ironsworn) - [Ironsworn — Official Website (base game)](https://www.ironswornrpg.com/products-ironsworn)