Background Counts

[Darkfather]

Background is how "thick" the magical environment is. A tree covered valley has a background of 5 or 6. A desert with little or no life may have a background as high as 9. If the adventurers where somehow transported into space, the background could be as high as 20.

Background can be raised or lowered by magical circumstances. Temples have lower background counts for people who are consecrated in the temple. Likewise a Druid's grove or a magical circle will provide a lower background to beings associated with it.

Some creatures thrive on lower background counts because they literally consume or live on magic - the very nature of fey creatures. At the same time, some creatures like undead and dragons consume magical potential and can cause background count to raise very high around them - making it harder to cast spells on the environment.

Background does not effect spell casting on individual creatures. A spell listed as attack a creature's Spirit for example does not go through the background.