One of the slated classes on the docket (it is a school drama after all) is Magical Theory, Craftsmanship and Formula Design aka Magecraft. Magecraft is all about how to use magic.
Excellent progression! Kind of like how people normally learn how to drive before they learn how engines work.
While we're still on the subject of "measuring magic", at least somewhat, I'll toss out another suggestion. Pardon me for including a link to a product that you'll have to pay for:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=17741&it=1... but at least this way you'll have some idea of what to look for in the local used bookstores or among the Alpha Geeks in your area who have more RPG books than matching sets of dishware.
Anyway, about the book itself: In the context of the source game itself (TORG, and yes, the capitals are correct), "Aysle" is an invading high-fantasy reality that has overlaid the U.K. and parts of the Scandinavian peninsula in a world much like the one outside your window. This book in particular has an entire chapter in which an Ayslish native tries to explain Ayslish magical theory to a group of modern U.K. humans. (Surprises abound for both sides when communication proceeds... and fails... in surprising places. Coffee, as usual, provides social lubrication.
)
Wands, staves, gloves, pens, cards, and I gotta hand one "That Guy" with the audacity to use Sock Puppets for Sonomancy.
The magic-users' answer to Jeff Dunham... Does "That Guy" use different puppets to sing different styles of music?
At this point though, I've kind of decided that the exact measurement thing is an "Advanced Topic". In a first time novel like this is, a detailed discussion of magical units would bog down the narrative something awful. The MC will only have enough understanding of the systems involved to be able to say, "That's bad isn't it?"
Exactly! The
readers don't need to know all the details about how magic works, since the MC hasn't reached the educational level where he needs to know them. However, the sooner you, the
writer, get the broadly-sketched details settled, the sooner the story can establish and maintain consistency. Your challenge for the first few stories, then, is to simply avoid letting your characters get into situations where the measurements have a significant impact on the storyline. My suggestion is to make sure that any challenges the MC or his friends face don't require a lot of precision... or too much raw power, for that matter.
