How much or how little elements of magic and the supernatural is appropriate for Steal Away Jordan? As much and as little as you want. And it depends on your definition of magic.

Say your character, I’ll call her Lizzie since I’m the GM here, wants to protect her six year old son Joe while she’s away from him working in the fields. She brings a couple of his baby teeth to the Root Doctor to make a gris gris bag for him to wear. The Root Doctor gives Joe a ritual bath and properly disposes of the bath water. This is what happens in the narrative. Mechanically, Lizzie gets a card which she uses in a major conflict where her son’s safety is at stake. Let’s say the card helps settle the conflict in her favor.

Is this magic? Yes and no. I would say no. I think “spell” is an inaccurate term, too, but it’s a term we all recognize. Then again, I have a little box where I keep my daughter’s baby teeth (because I can’t get her to wear them in a little bag. I could also put them on her bed, but she wouldn’t have that either.)

Now let’s narrate the outcome of the conflict. Master Tim, the Master of the house’s 12 year old son decides Joe needs a whipping because he caught him stealing food. Lizzie runs to her son’s aid and begs Master Tim not to whip Joe (Joe’s an NPC, Lizzie’s a PC. It’s her conflict) The players roll, Lizzie wins, and here’s what she says:
“Master Tim makes me tie my son a post to be whipped. First Tim can’t find rope. When he does, the rope keeps breaking. Then the post cracks and breaks. So Tim tells me to hold Joe. Just before he takes the whip to Joe, Master Smith, Tim’s father [and quite possibly Joe’s–they sure do have the same eyes, and Smith is unusually kind and doting on Joe.] catches him and stops him.”

Is that magic? Lizzie would say that’s her prayers at work, boosted by the gris gris bag around her son’s neck. That’s God at work. You, the player, can call it what you will. You and your character can have different names for it.

Here’s another one: During character creation, a player writes as one of his character’s attributes, “I was born a free man in Haywood County. I caught a glimpse of the Devil at the crossroads. The next day I was wrongfully accused of stealing and was sold as a slave.” I’ll call the character Michael. Michael still sees the Devil, laughing at him from behind a tree while Michael works.

Another player writes on her character sheet, “I can fly.” All players agree that in their setting some people can fly, and the Devil lurks behind trees. You’ll end up with more folk tale than historical narrative, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I’m writing this at work, and The X-Files happens to be on (yes, I watch tv at work. I’m also in a hotel room watching video feeds and brain waves of people sleeping in two other rooms, and it’s 2:15 am, but I digress.) Anyway, you know how Mulder and Scully have two different explanations for the unexplainable things they encounter? You and your character can do the same thing, and you can put all kinds of unexplainable phenomena in the story. Broken whips, unexpected kindness from cruel people, cloven hoofed creatures skulking behind trees, slaves floating through the sky. And don’t forget the ghosts, evil spirits, and time travellers as PC’s and NPC’s.

I pass along this book, which was recommended to me: The People Who Could Fly: American Black Folktales told by Virginia Hamilton, if you’re interested in creating more folktale than straight slave narrative.