“Do you believe in magic in an enemy’s heart?
How the blood can free you, whenever it starts,
And it’s magic, if the blood is flowing.
It makes you feel fertile like a crop you’re sowing.
I’ll tell you about the magic, and it’ll free your soul,
But too many blood rituals can take their toll.

If you believe in magic, come along with me.
We’ll dance until morning ’til there’s just you and me.
And maybe, if the blood is right,
I’ll meet you tomorrow, sort of late at night.
And we’ll go dancing, baby, then you’ll see
How the magic’s in the blood and the blood’s in me.”
-The Bloody Spoonful

Know how to cut them, know how to read them,
Know how to stain them, know how to prove them,
Know how to evoke them, know how to score them,
Know how to send them; know how to spend them
— Havamal

Our fourth installment of Magic deals with runes, the power associated with them, and how you can bring this often underused form of magic into your games. Although we mostly define runes as the letters used to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet, we do mention a few other forms of magical writing systems.

Wayne brings up D&D Next again, but (surprisingly) doesn’t rant about it. Meanwhile Chris does rant, just not about anything game related, and Lyal provides tips on how to enjoy Dungeons & Dragons 3: Book of Vile Darkness.

Our third installment of Magic is focuses on real-life magicians; entertainers, illusionists, and escapologists like Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, and Criss Angel. This may appear to be a strange topic for a series that usually assumes that magic is “real”, but hopefully we manage to conjure up some interesting ideas of how to use these consummate performers in your games.

Wayne starts the episode off with another rant against D&D Next. Chris joins in the discussion, but Lyal obviously wishes he could just waggle his fingers, say a few magical words and make the pair of them disappear.