​Adventuring Aids: Magic

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 6th level, a Damage of 10th level, and a Combat Pool Bonus of 7th 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.

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.

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.

Magic Screw-Up Table

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.

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.

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).

Studying Magic: 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

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.