Adventuring Aids

Old Age starts at age 38, plus the average of the character’s strength and constitution. Every year thereafter, the player must check for the abilities Strength, Constitution, and Agility, and the attributes Beauty, Hearing, and Sight. Multiply the ability by 3, for the chance that the ability will be reduced that year. Roll d100. If the dice show less than that chance, look up the amount the dice are less, on the Doubles Chart, for the percentage that the ability is reduced by.

It is up to the player and Editor whether or not powers are affected by age in the same way.

For example, Diamondfist has a strength of 28. This gives an 84 chance that strength will be reduced. The player rolls 35. This is 49 less than 84; 49 on the Doubles Chart is 6. Reducing 28 by 6% (round up) reduces to 26.

If a character is sedentary, the multiplier can be increased to 4, 5, or even 6.

Old age causes cosmetic changes as well, such as baldness or white and grey hair.

Animals

Most animals attack at Skill 2. Animals can be trained to higher levels by animal trainers. Animals also get the standard +1 to Combat when they’re using their body to attack. This is in addition to any combat bonus listed below. Remember that size differences will often affect combat with animals. Animals will usually put all their Combat Q onto Attack if attacking for food or irrationally. If defending territory, they’ll usually put half on Attack and half on Defense.

The abilities listed below are averages. If you desire variation, modify build, strength, agility, constitution, hearing, sight, smell, and height up or down by 2d10%. Normal charisma for animals is generally d6. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people even like cats. Wild animals have a bonus to their Perception equal to their age in days, on the Doubles chart.

Animals are almost always Normals. Super-pets, of course, are Special.

Under Damage, a p indicates the animal’s attack causes penetrating damage. Such animals usually have a bonus of 1 vs. Skin Temper. The number given under Skin is the bonus to Skin Temper for the animal. The number given under Movement is the modifier to the animal’s Move Roll. If only one number is listed, it modifies the animal’s land movement. If two numbers are given, the first modifies the animal’s normal movement, and the second modifies the animal’s land movement.

Animals that can attack with their tail (such as alligators and crocodiles) will attack with whatever is nearest the target. The tail will often get a bonus because of its size (see Clubs). Tails do bludgeoning damage.

Animal poison (snakes, for example) is usually a DP poison of type 1 to 3, although extremely deadly poisons do exist in the animal world. Animals with a poisonous bite often have an added bonus of 1 vs. Skin Temper.

Astral Planes

There are psychic dimensions to the world as well as physical dimensions. The astral (or ethereal) planes are the result of a psychic or astral shifting of dimensions. Their are four major ‘types’ of planes. See the section on Mental Combat for the effects that travellers can have on various planes.

Universal Planes

Each universe (or at least each universe that is, or has at one time been, inhabited) is permeated by an astral plane. This is the simplest plane for wizards to reach. The physical world is fully visible from the universe’s universal plane.

Dream Planes

Dream planes exist when people dream. Some wizards maintain that there are an infinite number of dream planes. Others claim that there is only one dream plane that reacts differently to different dreamers’ psyches. Certainly, dream planes do react easily to travellers’ thoughts and emotions. Most likely, there are more than one dream planes, each with many separate areas.

The dream planes are inhabited by many ghosts of previous dreams, constructs created by previous dreamers that have managed to hang on to their ethereal existence.

Medium Planes

There are many medium planes, as well: the plane of dimensions, the plane of universes, the plane of time-lines, the plane of time, the plane of multi-verses. These planes connect every physical location that has life with every other physical location that has life. A wizard can travel (astrally) from universe to universe by using the plane of universes. By using the plane of time, the wizard can astrally travel to different times.

There is one plane of universes for each multiverse, one plane of time for each time-line, one plane of time-lines, one plane of dimensions, for each time-line, and one plane of multiverses for each time-line.

The medium planes are inhabited by many strange and fierce creatures, making travel a dangerous thing at best.

Major Planes

The major planes, or ethical planes, are manifestations of the ethos of living things. The three dominant major planes are the planes of light (goodness), the plane of darkness (evil), and the plane of eternity. Of course, there can be good in darkness and evil in light.

The major planes are inhabited by creatures who work for their ethical stance. These planes have many levels.

Continuums

The fabric of reality is delicate. Each aspect of reality has its own ‘fabric’. These are known as the universal continuum and the astral continuum.

Each continuum has a number associated with it, and this number is variable over time and space.

The Universal Continuum

The Universal Continuum is weakened mainly by large masses. Look up the gravitational pull of large objects (in Earth gravities) on the Doubles Chart, for the Universal Continuum. The sun’s gravitational pull is 27.9 gravities. At the ‘surface’ of the sun, the Universal Continuum is 5.

The Astral Continuum

The Astral Continuum is weakened by large populations of sentient creatures in one area. Look up the billions of intelligent creatures in the area on the Doubles Chart. Earth has four billion people. This gives it an Astral Continuum of 3.

Breaking Down the Barriers

The continuum number is the chance, on 2d10, that the continuum will break down when the continuum number changes. If the Astral Continuum suddenly goes from 3 to 4 in the heroes’ headquarters because the wizard cast a spell that raises the Astral Continuum, the continuum will break down on 4 or less on 2d10. When the continuum returns to normal 1 day later, it will break down on 3 or less.

Temporary points (because of spell use or time travel, for example) disappear at 1 point every 1/2/4/8/etc. days.

Continuum breakdowns last a number of hours equal to the Quality of the breakdown roll, read from the Result column to the Sphere column. What happens when it breaks down? Travelers from the other side can get through to this side, and travelers from this side can get through to other parts of the Universe, other Universes, or other Astral planes.

Localized Disturbances: When mass or energy is transferred between universes, times, or time-lines, a localized disturbance in the space/time continuum will result.

Look up the amount of mass that’s been moved (in kilograms) on the Doubling Chart, for the amount the space/time continuum is increased by. If it’s energy, look up the number of d6 that the energy does, on the Doubling Chart. As the energy disperses, the continuum will return to normal, as given for temporary points.

Results of Weaknesses: The higher the continuum number, the easier it is for characters or items that travel times or time-lines to break through the time/space barrier--increase the chance of successfully materializing in the new time/time-line by the continuum number times 5.

Gravity

When on other planets, or, for whatever reason, under the effects of a gravitational pull different from Earth’s, characters will weigh more or less.

Multiply the character’s mass by the number of gravities of the planet. If the character weighs more on the new planet, a Lift Roll is required to carry this extra mass (as if worn). And, of course, any lifted objects will weigh more.

Note that it does not get any harder (or easier) to push or pull objects under different gravitational pulls. The change is only noticeable when characters try to move an object against the force of gravity (that is, lift the object).

Weightlessness: Under weightless conditions, a character who is unable to move (either by flying or walking), is treated as fully restrained--see Situational Modifiers. If a character physically attacks someone else, a successful attack will push each combatant in opposite directions. Both combatants must make throwback rolls, using half the damage done by the attacker. A character who Jumps from a surface while weightless will move off and not come back. Speed (in meters/segment) is found by looking up the meters the character would have jumped on Earth, on the Square Chart.

Magic

Casting Spells

Action Roll

(General and Special)

The Action Roll for Magic is Skill Level plus Newoen, minus the spell’s level, plus or minus the character’s Talent or Reverse Talent with magic. The Bonus Pool is equal to the character’s Wizardry divided by 10 (round up). If the wizard uses movement, add Agility minus 15 to the Bonus Pool. If the wizard uses spoken words, add Learning minus 15 to the Bonus Pool. Movement and speaking aid only Extensive spells. They don’t help when casting Intensive spells.

The Quality of the Magic Roll is used to apportion levels among the effects. Add up the total levels used and look on the Sphere Chart for the Q required. The Quality can also reduce the Casting Time or Concentration Cost, or give the caster a Defense Score while casting. (If the caster already has a Defense Score, and makes a(nother) Magic Action Roll, the new Defense Score replaces the old one.) It can be used to increase the holding time--the amount of time an instantaneous spell (such as Stun) can be held between the time it is cast and the time it is loosed. The number of segments a spell can be held is the number of Quality points devoted to holding.

Two points add 1 to Defense. Three points reduce the Casting Time by half or reduce the Concentration by half. Concentration cannot be reduced below the number of effects. Casting Time cannot be reduced to fewer segments than there are effects, plus 1 if speaking was used, and another 1 if movement was used.

Example: Cerest-Ranon is a tenth level General Classical wizard. She has a Newoen of 18, an Agility of 12, and a Wizardry of 28. She casts Fiery Arrow of Lodan, a 4th level spell. She uses the effects Range, Damage, and Combat Pool Bonus.

Her Action Roll is vs. 10 (her skill level) plus 18 (her Newoen) minus 4 (the spell’s level), or 22. Her Bonus Pool is 3 (Wizardry) minus 3 (Agility), for a total of 0. She must roll 22 or less. The base Concentration is 90 (3 Effects times 30), and the base Casting Time is 60 segments (3 Effects times 20 segments). She rolls 8, for a total Quality of 14. She wants a Range of 6^th level, a Damage of 10^th level, and a Combat Pool Bonus of 7^th level. This is a total of 23 levels, which is 11 Q. This leaves her with 3 Q.

She uses the other three to reduce the Casting Time (halving it once). Casting Time is 30 segments. During these 30 segments, her Defense is 0, she has a penalty of 9 to all Action Rolls because of her 90% Concentration (including her roll to Attack with the Arrow) and she’s using 5 EP per round.

Example: Marcellus is 12th level with Change Object. He wishes to change a small stone into a large chocolate bar. Change Object has 3 effects--Range, Mass, and Complexity. Marcellus’ Newoen is 20, his Learning is 18, his Agility is 16, and his Wizardry 10. His Magic Roll will be 12 (skill level) plus 20 (Newoen) minus 2 (the spell’s level), or 30. He has a bonus of 1 (Wizardry) to his Bonus Pool. He must roll 31 or less. He rolls 10, for a total Q of 21.

The wizard is touching the object, so a Range of 0 is all that’s required. The stone is only 2 kilograms. This requires a level of effect of 4 for Mass. A chocolate bar is fairly complex, however. Complexity requires a level of effect of 7. This is a total of 11 effect levels, which requires 9 Q points. This leaves him with 12 Q.

The base Concentration is 3 times 33, or 99. The base Casting Time is 3 times 2 rounds, or 6 rounds. He uses 6 points to half the Casting Time twice and 6 points to half the Concentration twice. Casting Time is 75 segments (1 and a half rounds), and Concentration is 25 (99 halved twice).

Action Roll

(Weaving Wizards)

The Action Roll for Magic is Skill Level plus Newoen. The base Casting Time is 250 segments (1 minute), and the base Concentration is 100. The Bonus Pool includes the following:

Arcane Gestures: If the wizard makes arcane gestures, a bonus of up to Agility can be added to the Bonus Pool. This adds that bonus to the final Performance Time of the spell.

Magical Words and Phrases: If the wizard speaks magical words or phrases, up to Learning can be added to the Bonus Pool. This adds that bonus to the final Performance Time of the spell. If words and gestures are used at the same time, the smaller bonus only adds half itself to the final Performance Time.

Strange Ingredients: If the wizard uses ingredients for the spell, any bonus can be gained to the Bonus Pool. Wing of Bat and Eye of Newt are commonly used, but there are more moderne equivalents. The Editor must decide on the bonus, depending on the rarity, cost, quality, and suitability of the ingredient. The bonus will usually range from 3 to 18, with 5 to 10 being the most common. Ingredients, once used, are not re-usable. They either disappear, are transformed, or have their magical essence drained. Using ingredients adds double the bonus to the final Performance Time.

Level: The character’s Level determines what the character can use as the Basis for the spell.

Level Basis Quality Cost

0 Magic 0

2 Physical 1

4 Energy 2

6 Mind 3

8 Planes 4

10 Universes 5

12 Dimensions 6

The Quality of the Magic Roll: The Quality of the Magic Roll can be used for a number of things, and it is this that defines the spell. First, the Basis for the spell must be chosen, with Q-cost as shown on the table above.

Weaver Effect Cost

Effect Cost

Range (meters) Doubles

Mass Affected (kg) Doubles

Duration (segments) Doubles

Mass Destroyed/Created (kg) Sphere

Number of Targets Sphere

Damage Damage/2

Action Roll Modifiers Modifier

Hold Before Loosing (segments) Doubles

Radius of Sphere (meters) Sphere

Time Between Saves (special) Straight

Willpower Save Modifier Modifier/3

Hold Before Loosing: This is the amount of time the spell can be held, after it is cast, before it is loosed.

Time Between Saves: Any spell that affects the mind, or banishes or conjures extra-planar, extra-universal, or extra-dimensional creatures, can be saved against. The saving throw is vs. Willpower. If the saving throw is failed, additional saving throws can be made later: Subtract half the target’s Newoen from the number of points placed in ‘Time Between Saves’, and look this up on the Action Chart, from Result to Doubles, for the number of months (30 days). Each time an additional save is attempted, add 1 to this number. An average person (14 Newoen, -7 on the Chart) will make a second save after 3 hours (.004 times 30 days). Their next save will be about 6 hours later (.008 times 30), and their next 12 hours after that (.18 times 30). The Editor may allow additional saving throws at special instances. When an additional saving throw is allowed, the progression starts over.

Example Weaver Spell: There are four steps to casting a Weaver spell.

1. Choose Basis and Effects

2. Roll Magic Roll

3. Weight Effects

4. Loose Spell

Arthur Tremaine has a Newoen of 20, Learning of 18, Agility of 10, and a bat’s wing. He’s level 5, and he wants to cast a Darkness spell. The basis of Darkness is Energy, so that costs 2. He wants it to have the effect of Radius only. He goes all out, with full gestures and words, and, of course, the bat’s wing. The gestures give +10 to the Bonus Pool. The words give +18. The bat’s wing is quite appropriate to darkness, so it gives +10, for a total of +38. This gives a bonus of 12 on the roll (see Action Rolls and Bonus Pools). His Newoen is 20, plus 5 (his level) and 12 (the Bonus Pool) is 37. He rolls 2d10, getting 3 and 6, for a total of 9. The Quality is 37-9, or 28. Two points are required because it’s an Energy spell, leaving 26 points. He uses 5 points for the Radius (5 meters), leaving 21 points, and uses fifteen of these to reduce the casting time--halved five times, for 8 segments. He adds 18 segments for the Words, 5 segments for the gestures, and 20 segments for the bat’s wing, for 53 segments (about 1 round). Concentration is 100, reduced with the remaining 6 points, to 25. This costs 1 EP/hour and gives a penalty of 2 to all Action Rolls.

Mass and Size Modifications: If the wizard’s mass is less than 64 or greater than 128, look it up on the Doubles Action Chart. Subtract 7 from the result. Shift the cost of Mass up (for light) or down (for heavy) that much.

If the wizard’s height is less than 1 or greater than 2, look it up on the Doubles Action Chart. Shift the cost of range/radius up (for small) or down (for tall) that much.

Attack Spells

The wizard may only initiate casting of a spell on an action segment. If the spell is an attack spell, such as Beam of Energy, or any spell which requires an action to aim or focus it, the wizard must complete an Action Roll to Sight as soon as the spell is cast. Passive spells such as Night Vision, Incorporeal Form, and Luck do not require sighting, so do not require that the character make a Combat Roll when cast. This Sighting Roll has a Performance Time of 10 and costs 1 EP per round.

Wizards can train in Combat Skill with Magic to get a bonus to any Combat Rolls for magic spells.

Movement and Voice

Only one spell requiring voice and one spell requiring movement can be cast at the same time.

Concentration Cost

Casting spells requires concentration for General and Classical wizards. The more concentration that’s required, the more EP is used up, and the harder it gets for the wizard to do anything else.

Divide the total Concentration by 10, and round down. This is the penalty to all Action Roll Pools while the character is concentrating this much on magic. This is also the level on the EP Use Chart while concentrating. Pay this when initiating the spell, and every Round thereafter. Multiply it by 3 for the penalty to Willpower Rolls and Perception Rolls.

Decreasing the Chance of Dispelling

Spells such as Release Magic and Dispel Magic allow other wizards to ruin the caster’s hard work. Wizards can make it harder for other wizards to dispel their magic by taking more care in casting. For each Quality point used for this, the number of effect levels of the spell (for purposes of dispelling or releasing type actions only) is increased by the wizard’s level. So, Red Sky at Night, a ninth level wizard, is casting Conditional with 18 Effect Levels, placing Noise Creation. If she uses one Quality point into decreasing the chance of dispelling, the Conditional will be counted as having 27 Effect levels (18 plus 9) if someone tries to release or dispel the conditional. If she puts 2 points into it, the spell will have 36 levels.

Ensuring Success

The character can get a bonus on the Action Roll by increasing the amount of time or concentration used. Each doubling of the base time or concentration adds 2 to the character’s Magic Roll. (The same as for a skill roll.)

Failure to Cast

If the Magic Roll is missed, the wizard must either increase the EP cost of the spell by a number of rows equal to the amount the roll was missed by, or the wizard must fail casting. Allow the wizard to make a 2d10 roll vs. the amount the roll was missed, with a bonus pool equal to Learning, Magic Level, and Wizardry/10. The base time it takes the wizard to realize something’s going wrong is the spell’s Performance Time. Each 3 Q points on the roll divide this by 2. Increased EP cost only starts once the spell is completed.

If the wizard decides to fail, make a saving throw vs. Newoen, plus the character’s Skill Level (Sphere Chart). The bonus pool is the character’s Wizardry divided by 10 minus the spell’s level (or Basis, for Weavers), plus the amount the Magic Roll was missed by. If unsuccessful, look up the amount the save was missed by, on the Magic Screw-Up Table, for the result of the failure.

If the wizard is hit while casting a spell or concentrating on one, the player must make the same saving throw, with an additional penalty (directly to the roll) equal to the amount of DP damage taken (and a tenth of the VP taken, rounded down).

If the wizard decides to cut off an attempt to cast a spell, the player must make the same saving throw.

Magic Time Progression

Certain spells use the Magic Time Progression to determine when saves are allowed. This means that a save is allowed after a minute, then after an hour, then after a day, then after a week, then after a month, then after a year, then 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years, etc.

Perceiving Magic

If magic (spells or items) are utilized near a wizard, the wizard has a chance of noticing this. The chance is equal to the wizard’s perception, plus level (in the spell being used for Special wizards, or simply level for General and Weaving wizards) plus the level the spell is being cast at. Subtract 1 from this chance for every meter beyond the wizard this magic is utilized. Roll for this the moment the caster has a chance of noticing the magic. If this chance is missed, roll for it 1 minute later, and continue as per the Magic Time Progression, until the magic is no longer near the wizard.

Spell Recipients

Most mind control and illusion spells and their variants affect only sentient creatures--creatures with greater than 2 learning and greater than 3 newoen--unless otherwise noted in the spell description.

Types of Wizards

Classical Wizardry

Classical wizards are the normal form of wizard (and General Classical the most normal form). The Classical wizard learns how to cast a spell when learning a spell, as opposed to the Mnemonic wizard, who must continually “re-impress” spells in order to cast them. Once the Classical wizard learns how to use a specific spell, the wizard can cast that spell at any time.

General Wizardry

The General Wizard learns how to use magic, as opposed to the Special Wizard, who learns how to use spells. When the General wizard gains a level, all the spells that the wizard knows are cast at the new level.

Mnemonic Wizardry

Mnemonic wizards must continually recreate their spells, as opposed to Classical wizards, who always have all their spells at their disposal.

In order to cast a spell, the mnemonic wizard must have first impressed the spell. Mnemonic wizards can impress a spell two or more times in order to be able to use it that many times without having to impress it again. A focus (usually a book) is required to impress the spell the character knows.

The mnemonic wizard can only impress a certain number of spells. The total of the spell levels impressed cannot be greater than the character’s Learning (Sphere Chart) times Newoen. The character can train in Impressing. This is a standard skill, which adds to Learning for the purpose of determining the number of spell levels that can be impressed.

It takes a certain amount of time to impress spells. This is equal to the spell’s level, in minutes. If the character wishes to hurry, an Impressing roll can be made, vs. the character’s Impressing skill. If unsuccessful, the character has not impressed the spells. Divide the amount of time it would have taken by the amount the roll was missed by, for the amount of time it takes the character to realize things aren’t going well. If successful by more than 2, half the base time once every three points the roll was made by. (Basically, you’re reducing the Performance Time of Impressing the spell.) This can be done once for each spell, or once for all the spells, as the character desires.

Mnemonic wizards can increase the Magic Roll for a spell or group of spells by spending more time impressing them. For each doubling of the time spent impressing, 1 can be added to the Magic Roll for that spell or group of spells.

The Base Casting Time for Mnemonic Wizards is half the listed time.

Mnemonic Wizards take more time to learn magic and less time to learn spells. See Studying.

Mnemonic wizards can impress spells that they haven’t yet learned. The Concentration Cost is doubled.

Special Wizardry

The Special Wizard learns how to use spells. The Special wizard advances with each spell’s level separately, as opposed to the General Wizard, who advances all spell levels at the same time.

Weaving Wizards

Weaving wizards do not learn spells at all. They learn how to shape the forces of magic in general ways.

Specialists: Weaving wizards can specialize in Energy, Mind, Planes, Universes, or Dimensions. The minimum level to cast the spell is always twice the Basis Quality Cost.

Energy: Switch the Basis cost for Energy and Physical.

Mind: The Basis cost for Mind becomes 1, and Energy and Physical become 3 each.

For the next three specializations, add 3 to Physical, Energy, and Mind, and subtract 3 from Planes, Universes, and Dimensions.

Planes: No change from above.

Universes: The Basis cost for Universes becomes 1, Dimensions becomes 2, and Planes becomes 3.

Dimensions: The Basis cost for Dimensions becomes 1, Universes becomes 2, and Planes becomes 3.

Studying Magic

Magic is a combination of skill and knowledge. It is learned, mostly, as if it were knowledge, but treated by the game as if it were a skill. Learning modifies the time to learn as it does other knowledges.

General wizards must study for 1,000 hours in order to learn how to use magic. This brings them to Skill Level 0 with magic, and they know a number of minor spells equal to Newoen plus 4. The character must have at least a 3 knowledge score in Wizardry. The character must use 1 Training Point to become Level 0 in General wizardry. (Mnemonic wizards take 2,000 hours.)

Afterwards, increasing in level requires 1,000 hours times the level to be gained, and Training Points equal to twice the level to be gained. The character must have a knowledge score in Wizardry of at least 3 plus the level to be gained. (Mnemonic wizards take 2,000 hours times the level to be gained.)

Learning spells requires studying for a number of hours equal to the spell’s Study Time times 10 times the spell’s Level. (Mnemonic wizards multiply by 6, not 10.)

Special wizards only need to spend 500 hours and 1 Training Point learning to use magic. They only need to have a knowledge score of 1 in Wizardry. After this time, they know a number of minor spells equal to half Newoen. (Mnemonic Wizards take 1,000 hours.)

Learning spells requires studying for a number of hours equal to the spell’s Study Time times 10 times the spell’s Level. At this point, the character knows the spell at a level equal to the spell’s level. Increasing in level with the spell requires study for a number of hours equal to the Study Time times the level increase times 10. (Mnemonic wizards multiply by 6, not 10.

Weavers need to spend 800 hours and 1 Training Point learning to use magic. They need a knowledge score of 2 in Wizardry.

Afterwards, increasing in level requires 500 hours times the level to be gained, and Training Points equal to the level to be gained. The character must have a knowledge score in Wizardry equal to 2 plus half the level to be gained (round up).

Using Spells Without Knowing Magic:It is possible to learn spells before learning how to use magic. The character must make a saving throw vs. Learning (Sphere Chart), minus the level of the spell, after spending the time studying it. Success indicates that the character understands it enough to cast it. Failure indicates (by how much the roll was missed) how many Training Points must be expended in order to understand it. Characters who do not know how to use magic use half their Newoen to make the Magic Roll. They know the spell at a level equal to the spell’s level.

Characters can study casting specific spells, gaining a skill level in that spell. Their level is added to the Pool for that spell, but can’t be greater than half Newoen.

Intensive Spells: Anyone can cast intensive spells, even without learning them. If a character who does not know an intensive spell (such as Seance, or Telekinesis) tries to cast it, the character must focus. Focussing is a roll vs. Newoen (multiplied by the fraction listed on the Spell Classification List), with a bonus (or penalty) equal to the character’s talent/reverse talent with Magic. If faith enters into the picture (the spell Repel Evil, for example), the character might be able to use up to full Newoen. Focussing has a performance time of 1 minute, and uses 1 EP/round (EP Use row 4).

If the focussing is successful, the character can make a Magic Roll as normal (normal for someone who doesn’t know magic, that is).

Finding New Spells

Creating new spells requires Inventing. Looking for already existing spells requires research (one reason for apprentices). For inventing, use the level of the spell as the type number of the invention. Complexity and other modifiers will be determined by the Editor. A wizard only needs to spend half the normal time studying a spell (to learn it) that the wizard has invented.

Research is left up to the players and Editors, and will depend on what sources of magical knowledge exist in the world.

Maximum Level

No character can have any level in magic greater than that character’s learning (see the power Magic Spell for one exception).

Modifying Spells

Spells can be modified by the caster in small ways. The ninth level spell Force Field, Energy, for example, normally allows low level light and heat in and out. The wizard can modify the spell on the spot to block those forms of energy also.

However, the player must make a roll vs. the character’s Wizardry Knowledge Score, with standard modifiers. The above example is simple enough to require a roll vs. twice Wizardry. If the roll is failed, the character has a penalty on the Magic Roll equal to one tenth the difference between the failing roll and the roll required (round up). If the spell is still successful with this penalty, it is cast as normal, without the desired change.

A spell that is currently being concentrated on can be modified (if the character wishes to move the Effect levels around, or reduce the Concentration, for example). Another Magic Roll is made (with the penalty for Concentration), and the new Q is used to determine the Effects and the Concentration. Performance Time (not Casting Time, since it’s already cast) is 250 segments (1 minute).

Skills

Often, other Action Rolls will need to be made to really successfully cast a spell. A wizard can duplicate a dollar bill, but unless the wizard makes a successful Counterfeiting roll, the bill is likely to be spotted as counterfeit. Spells that need to physically hit the target require Attack Rolls (with a Performance Time of 6).

Spell Lists

The spell descriptions are organized alphabetically by spell level. Spells are described in this format:

Name

Concentration: Study Time:

Casting Time: Range:

Duration:

Effects: ()

Description:

Concentration: This is the base Concentration Cost for each Effect. Multiply by the number of Effects used.

Casting Time: This is the base Casting Time for each Effect. Multiply by the number of Effects used.

Range: If the spell can only be used on the Caster, or the caster must touch the target, that is listed here. Range of Special indicates that the range is one of the effects of the spell. Any targets must be fully within the range of the spell.

When the wizard gives the effect of Range a distance of 0, that indicates the wizard must touch the target. If the wizard does not use the effect of Range at all, the spell can only be used on the spell’s caster.

Duration: Most spells are either Instant or Continuous. Instant spells finish as soon as the Casting Time is up. Continuous spells can be kept up as long as the caster concentrates on them.

Study Time: Study Time determines how long the character must study to learn the spell.

Materials

Inanimate objects are as tough as the material they’re made from. Materials have a specific Skin Temper, and they have Ignore Damage according to their thickness. The Material Strength table gives each material’s ST, base Ignore Damage, base DP, as well as density (in grams per cubic centimeter) and melting point (in Celsius degrees).

The thicker the material is, the higher the Ignore Damage. Look up the thickness (in centimeters) on the Sphere Chart, and multiply the base Ignore Damage by this. Alloying can increase the Skin Temper and/or the Ignore Damage of a material.

Inanimate materials don’t have a specific, total DP count. The amount of damage done to the material determines how deep the attack penetrates. Look up the damage done (after Skin Temper and Ignore Damage) on the Result part of the Action Charts, and read over to the Square Chart, for the number of centimeters deep the attack penetrates.

Example: Seraph does 15 points damage to a wooden door. Wood has a Skin Temper of 1 and a base Ignore Damage of 2. The door is 5 centimeters thick, so its Ignore Damage is 10. He does 5 points of damage to it, busting it completely open. If the Hole rule is used, the hole is about 5 hands wide.

Mental Combat

(Mind Combat/Astral Combat)

Mental Combat is pretty much the same as physical combat. The character’s Learning replaces Agility, and the appropriate Charisma (usually Active for Special characters, Normal for Normals) replaces Strength.

Damage Points: The character has Newoen Damage Points. Injuries occur as normal, although there is no hit location chart for Mental Damage. It’s all considered Mind DP, and is treated as Body DP.

Injury Damage, Permanent Damage, and Death Points are applied to both Mind and Head DP for Mind Combat. They apply only to Mind DP for Astral Combat.

Endurance Points: Endurance Points are the same. EP lost Mentally are lost Physically as well.

Mental Action Roll: The Mental Action Roll is used for Mental Combat and most other Mental Actions. Look up twice Learning on the Sphere Chart for the Combat Roll. There are no sight or size modifiers to the Combat Pool. Add true Agility divided by 10, round down, to the Combat Pool. Range does not modify Mental Combat. If something’s mentally in sight, it can be attacked. The Combat Roll costs 1 EP (it starts at row 5). The Combat Roll has a Performance Time of 12.

The mind’s owner and controller each have a bonus of 1 to the Pool. If the owner and controller are the same, the bonus is 2.

Combat Q can be used for:

* Attack: One point of Q adds 1 point to Attack.

* Reduce Opponent’s Q: Two points of Q reduce the opponent’s Q by 1. If the opponent has used Q for more than one thing, the character can choose which aspect this applies to. Characters who don’t know what their opponent has applied Q to, cannot reduce that Q.

* Damage: Add 1 point to damage done per Q point applied (Doubles Chart).

* Powers: The character can gain a PR in any power equal to the Q applied.

* Increase Strength or Agility: Increase Mental Strength or Mental Agility by the Q applied.

Control Terrain: In Mind Combat (and in certain Astral Planes, such as Dream Planes) the Terrain can be controlled. If more than one character tries to control the terrain, the terrain will include all the features. Characters can use Reduce Opponent’s Q to block their control.

Mental Damage: Look up Mass divided by 10 on the Doubles Chart, and add Charisma divided by 4 (round down). Mental Damage starts at row 7 on the EP use chart.

Skin Temper: Base Mental Skin Temper is row 0 (1). If the character has a Newoen of greater than 20, add Newoen minus 20 to the character’s Skin Temper Row. If the character’s Charisma is greater than 20, subtract 20 from Charisma, divide by 10, and round up for the number of rows to move up.

Virtual Damage Points: VP are Learning plus Charisma plus 1/3 Newoen plus 1/3 Constitution. VP Lost remains the same whether Mental or Physical. A character with 30 Physical VP and 45 Mental VP, who loses 41 VP, has 4 VP left Mentally and is at -11 VP Physically. This is the only case where VP can go below zero. VP below zero is treated as zero.

Death:A character who dies in Mind Combat dies physically as well. A character who dies in Astral Combat becomes a vegetable--the body and mind are still in perfect condition, but there is no ruling sentience.

Space Travel

There are many ways of travelling interstellar space. Some methods are more useful than others. The most common (in this neck of the woods, anyway) is the use of the Gravity Drive to enter hyperspace. High speed travel is usually measured in bmph, or billions of meters per hour.

Gravity Drives: A gravity drive accelerates all mass within it’s confines at the exact same rate. This allows the ship to reach speeds close to and in excess of light speed without the ship shearing apart. It also negates the effects of acceleration inside the ship.

In order to enter hyperspace (faster than light speed), the ship must already be going at a speed equal to the Gravity Drive Type, squared, bmph. Ships should not enter hyperspace near a large mass: Look up the gravity (in multiples of Earth gravity) on the Doubles Chart, and subtract the Gravity Drive type, for the amount of damage the ship takes, directly to DP.

The Top Speed of a ship equipped with a gravity drive is the ship’s Top Speed in bmph minus Mass (Doubles) plus the Drive Type squared. This number cannot be greater than the ship’s Top Speed in bmph. This is the ship’s hyperspatial speed in light years per day. Performance Time for Maneuverability is the ship’s Mass (Doubles), squared, segments.

There are three types of gravity drives: Linear drives, Square drives, and Cubic drives. Linear drives allow maneuverability in a line: forward and reverse. In order to turn, the ship must exit hyperspatial travel and turn on normal drive. Square drives allow maneuverability in a plane, and Cubic drives allow maneuverability in any direction.

Hyperspace: Hyperspace is that restricted part of the universe where mass travels at greater than the speed of light. Any mass that travels through the light barrier is translated into hyperspace. The perception of time in hyperspace is similar to the perception of time at near light speed. The formula is as follows. C is the speed of light:

Take the square of the number of Cs the character is moving at, and divide this into 1. Subtract this from 1. Take the square root of this. Multiply normal time by this for perceived time. For example, if a character spends 20 hours travelling at twice the speed of light, the character will perceive .87 times this, or about 18 hours. Which isn’t really worth worrying about, unless the character is carrying a bomb set to go off at a certain time.

Near Light Speed: At near light speeds, it takes a long time for travel to occur, but the ship occupants don’t necessarily know this. At speeds near that of light, the occupants of the ship will see less time than those outside of the ship. If the ship is going at 90% of the speed of light, and the ship is gone for 20 years, the crew will only think 9 years have gone by. At 95% of the speed of light, 20 years would seem like 6 years. At 99% of the speed of light, 20 years would seem like less than 3 years. Here’s the formula (yuck) for determining the fraction of ‘real’ time the occupants see:

Square the fraction of the speed of light that the ship is traveling (.9 becomes .81, .95 becomes .9025, etc.) and subtract this from 1 (.81 becomes .19). Take the square root of this (.19 becomes .44). That’s the multiplier to ‘real time.’ So, 20 years of travelling seems like 8.8 years to someone travelling at 90% of the speed of light.

While characters who can travel at nearly the speed of light are assumed to be able to do so, ships will need protection, usually in the form of a gravity drive. Ships that are unprotected at such high speeds will take damage. For every one tenth of the speed of light (round down), the ship will take one point of damage per minute.

Sublight Speeds: This is the most primitive form of space travel. The ship travels at low speed, and takes hundreds, if not thousands or millions of years, to reach its destination. The crew is either placed in stasis or suspended animation, or the ship is designed to sustain generations of crewmembers.

Trials

What happens after the villain is apprehended? Usually, the villain will be tried and convicted, assuming the characters restrict themselves to bringing in supervillains.

There may also be times when one of the player characters is brought to trial, for a mistake the character made, or a frame by an enemy.

If the defendant pleads not guilty a trial is required to determine legal guilt. If this is a criminal trial (which is the only kind of trial discussed here), a jury is required as well. The jury decides whether or not the defendant is guilty, and the judge determines the severity of the sentence (although the jury can make a recommendation).

In order to succeed in a not guilty plea, the defendant must make a successful roll vs. Charisma. Usually, the applicable charisma is Normal Charisma, since a courtroom is not an action-oriented situation. If something happens to invoke Active Charisma, it can (and should) be used. See the Trial Modifiers for a list of modifiers to the Bonus Pool for this roll.

The more this roll is missed by, the closer the sentence will be to the maximum possible for the offense. Each 1 the roll is missed by is 10% of the maximum sentence. If the roll is missed by greater than 10, the extra points are applied as penalties to any Appeal rolls or Parole rolls. The Editor can overrule this recommended sentence if the judge has already chosen a sentence. Judges will often choose odd sentences for highly visible defendants. Often, these sentences will involve some form of community service.

Appeals take from 1-8 months. If an Appeal roll is missed by more than 10, the points greater than 10 are applied as a penalty to any other appeal rolls. See the Appeal Modifiers for other modifiers to the Appeal roll. The Appeal Roll is vs. 2.

Parole can usually be tried for after half the actual sentence, depending on how much the prison space is needed, and the demeanor of the prisoner. Once eligible for Parole, a Parole Roll can be made each year. Parole is very much like a mini-trial--the Roll is vs. Charisma, and most Trial modifiers apply to this roll.

Universes

There are many universes within this multiverse, and many multiverses within the ultra-multiverse.

All universes within the same multiverse usually have similar physical laws, and mass/energy in one universe will attract mass/energy in the other universes. Different multiverses usually have quite different physical laws.

Each universe has it’s own time differential and space differential. Our universe’s time differential is 45. Our space differential is 60. Time and space pass differently in different universes. The time ratio and space ratio are the respective differentials, divided by each other. If you travel to a universe with a time differential of 15 and a space differential of 40, the time ratio between there and here is 3, and the space differential is 3/2. So, if you spend 20 minutes there, you’ll return here 60 minutes later (20 times 3 is 60). And if you walk 4 kilometers there, you’ll return 6 kilometers from where you started here (4 times 3/2 is 6).

Weather

Weather Number: Roll 2d10 vs. 4 (temperate areas). This is the weather number. If it is positive (successful), it’s raining. The weather number affects the amount of precipitation, the windspeed, the temperature, and the duration of the weather.

Precipitation:The number of centimeters of rain that fall per hour is the weather number.

Temperature: Subtract the weather number from 14 (summer, temperate), for the temperature in degrees celsius. Use 6 for fall, and -8 for winter.

Wind:Look up half the weather number on the action chart, from the result column to the square chart, for the wind speed in kilometers per hour.

High winds will blow items and creatures about. When in high winds, there is the potential of taking damage, if there is a lot of debris being blown about. The Attack of the wind is found by rolling 2d10 against the wind speed (in kmph, on the Sphere Chart). If the attack is greater than or equal to the character’s defense, the stated damage is done. The Editor can modify the Attack roll or the damage roll as necessary to take into account more or less debris that can cause damage. Standard damage is the windspeed minus 60, on the square chart. Subtract 4, and look this up on the Hand Damage chart, for the damage to roll. Wind uses a performance time of 50.

Duration:If you need to know how long the weather will last, roll 2d10 vs. 20, (yes, re-roll ones, as long as the heroes are involved) and subtract the Quality from the result. Look this up from the Result Column of the Action Chart to the Sphere Chart, for the number of hours.