Magic

Magic is the art of bending the energies of Mana to act out the will of the caster. Creatures manipulate the Affinities through the art of Sorcery.
A creature who practices sorcery is called a mage, sorcerer (sorceress if female), or wizard. Many mages take a title which denotes which affinities they have and what kind of spells they weave.
A mage with only one affinity is often looked down upon by other sorcerers. Depending on the affinity, these wizards go by the labels of Air Mage, Earth Mage, Fire Mage, Water Mage, Life Mage, Mana Mage, or Negation Mage.
Wizards who specialize in spells which create items and have the affinities of Earth and mana are called Conjurers. A conjurer with the additional affinity of water which allows them to create liquids as well as solids is called a High Conjurer.
Many sorcerers choose to focus on spells that heal the body. These sorcerers usually have Earth and Life magic and prefer to be called Healers.
A Shaman is a mage who uses the Air and Life affinities to communicate with spirits. Shamans tend to be very respectful of the spirits they deal with. There is another type of mage called a Summoner who uses the Life aspect of Air to coerce spirits and demand service from them. A shaman will rarely tolerate the presence of a summoner.
Illusionists are wizards who confuse the senses with their magic. There are three types of illusion spells based on Air and Mana, Fire and Mana, or Water and Life. Illusionists may have one or more of these affinity combinations. A Grand Illusionist is an illusionist with all five illusion affinities: Air, Fire, Water, Life, and Mana.
A Void Mage is a very rare type of sorcerer who has the affinities of Air and Negation.
An Entropy Mage has the affinities of Earth and negation and often casts spells which wither and decay their surroundings.
The Necromancer is a mage who specializes in death spells and has the Affinities of Life and Negation. A Dark Necromancer also has the affinity of Air which he uses in it's Life Aspect to bind the spirits of those he has destroyed.
An Animator is a wizard with Fire and Life affinities which she uses to grant inanimate objects mobility.
An Ice Mage has Fire and Negation affinities. Ice Mages specialize in cold based spells.
Wizards with the Fire and Mana affinities are known as Energy Mages.
A sorcerer with the affinities of Water and Life is called a Mind Mage.
The most powerful kind of mage is the Arch Mage. An Arch Mage has all affinities allowing her to single handed weave any type of magic she desires.

Spell casting

To cast a spell, follow these steps:

1. Define the spell.

Determine what you want the spell to do and define it in the terms of Affinities required, Spell Type, Power Level, Range, Area of Effect, and Duration. These are all explained in detail later in this chapter.

2. Calculate drain.

To calculate drain, see the Drain section later in this chapter.

3. Determine Complexity.

The gamemaster will look over the spell and assign a Spell casting modifier based on how complicated the spell is.

4. Make the Sorcery Test.

Make a test based on the Sorcery skill. Subtract the Complexity of the spell from the character's sorcery rating.

5. Resist Drain.

Multiply the base drain of the spell by the margin of the spell casting test and subtract the result from the base drain. This is the amount of drain you take. If the base drain of the spell is greater than your sorcery skill, you have overexerted yourself and must apply the drain to Wounds; otherwise add the drain to fatigue.

6. Target resistance test.

Almost all spells will allow the target some form of resistance test. For most physical spells, this is often a dodge test. Mental spells are usually resisted with a Willpower test, but Illusion Spells are resisted with Intelligence.
Note that when a character uses the dodge skill to resist a spell, she must be able to see or otherwise sense the attack. She can not dodge if she does not realize she is in danger. The dodge still takes a short action (or full action if the character opts for an acrobatic dodge), but she gets all the benefits of taking a dodge or acrobatic dodge action, such as movement.
If the Resistance test margin is greater than the caster's spell casting test margin, the spell has no effect on the target. Either the character has sidestepped the effect, or his indomitable will has overcome it's mind bending effects.

7. Apply the spell effects.

Whatever the spell does to the target, apply the effect now.

Multiple casters optional rule: Under some circumstances, more than one person may wish to participate in the casting of a single spell. In order to do so, all casters must form a link. The link may be physical touch, or the mixing of bodily fluid (usually blood) from each participant. The casters must be within the same room and act at the same time. (Faster characters will have to delay actions until the slowest one in the link catches up.) No other actions may be taken in a combat round that a character participates in a multiple caster spell.
Cast the spell exactly as above with some exceptions. The distance between the link and the target is the Range for the spell. If anyone fails the spell casting test, the spell does not function at all. The Base Drain of the spell is divided equally between all casters. (Three people linked into a spell with a base drain of 30 would each only have to resist a drain of 10.)

Affinities

Sorcerers can only effect Mana which they have an affinity for. If no one character has the appropriate affinities, but several characters can combine affinities to meet a particular spells requirements, they may use the Multiple Casters Option to cast the spell together.
Affinities are divided into seven types. Each one is described here to show players the scope of each magical Affinity. Most affinities also have four aspects: an elemental aspect, a life aspect, a mana aspect, and a negative aspect. The elemental aspect of an affinity is the most basic form of the affinity. No other affinities are necessary to use the elemental aspect of the affinity. The life aspect reflects how the affinity interacts with living things. To use the life aspect of an affinity requires the Life Affinity. The mana aspect of an affinity allows more complex forms to be affected by the magic. The Mana Affinity if necessary to use the mana aspect of another affinity. The negative aspect of an affinity is the reverse of the affinity. The negative aspect of an affinity requires the Negation Affinity. For specific spell effects see the Spell book.

Air

In it's most basic elemental aspect, the Air Affinity can affect wind and air.
The life aspect of the air affinity is the spirit or soul of a creature.
The mana aspect of the air affinity allows manipulation of all matter in a gaseous state. For example, with the mana aspect of air the character could create poisonous gas or steam.
The negative aspect of air is vacuum, the total absence of all things.

Earth

The elemental aspect of earth works on unprocessed dirt and rock.
The life aspect of earth is the body.
The mana aspect of earth is employed with matter in a solid state. The character could create gold or turn a steel sword into clay.
The negative aspect of the earth affinity is disintegration. Negative Earth magic is used to break solids into smaller components.

Fire

Elemental fire controls basic fire.
The life aspect of fire is animation.
Fire in its mana aspect influences all forms of energy. Mana and Fire can manipulate all forms of light or electromagnetic energy as well as kinetic energy.
The negative aspect of fire is cold.

Water

The Affinity of Water controls quite obviously water.
The life aspect of water is the mind.
The mana aspect of water controls all liquid matter.
The negative aspect of water is dehydration.

Life

The Life Affinity affects the life force of living things. The life affinity allows characters to use the life aspect of the other affinities.
The negative aspect of life magic is death magic, known to some as necromancy.

Mana

Negation

Negation inverts other forms of magic. It represents the balance of nature. To use the negative aspect of other affinities requires the use of the Negation affinity.

Different affinities same effects

Some effects may be accomplished by different methods. For example, to create a chunk of ice requires the affinity of Earth because it is a solid, however, a clever caster could replicate the effect with affinities for Water, Fire, and Negation. The Water affinity is used to create some water, and Negated Fire is used to freeze it solid all within one spell.

Spell Types

Each spell focuses energy in a specific way to achieve a particular result. A spell to detect gold, and a spell that drops a boulder on someone both require an affinity to Earth magic, but the effect is greatly different.

Creation

Creation spells bring something into being in the target area that was not there before. These spells may have useful side effects, but the spell is only responsible for producing the object or force. For example conjured fire may burn flammable items, but the resulting flames will stay after the spell expires.

Detection

Detection spells are used to sense the presence of something particular. The power level of the spell is the base chance of success to detect the item or force whenever it enters the area of effect. Typically, the Target of the spell gains the ability to sense things around himself within the area of effect.

Transform

Transformation spells change the target in some way. Multiple Affinity Transform spells can have some wild effects.

Power Level

The Power Level of a spell represents how much Mana the caster is focusing into a spell. The caster may choose to use as much power as he desires, but the more power he channels, the more difficult and draining the spell becomes.
The way the Power Level is used in play is determined by the kind of effect the character is trying to achieve. See the Spell Book chapter for examples of spell effects and how to apply there power level.

Creation

The power level determines the mass or energy produced. Each point of power allows the creation of one Size point (about 3 pounds) of material. A Large Area, Low Power Earth spell would conjure a great volume of dust or a Small Area, High Power Earth spell could create a bar of gold.

Detection

Whenever the substance the detection spell is designed to detect enters the area of effect, the Gamemaster makes a perception test for the target using the power level of the spell for the Base Chance of Success. If it succeeds, the target of the spell will know the item is present and how far and in which direction it lies in and approximately how much there is..

Example: Nicolia is using a Detect Gold spell of power level 50. When she gets within range of the gold vault she is searching for, the Gamemaster rolls to see if she senses it. The Modified Chance of Success is 5x (luck is the only applicable modifier in this case). The Gamemaster rolls a 32 and informs Nicolia that there is around 2000 pounds of gold about 10 feet ahead and 50 feet down.

Transform
The power level of a transform spell determines the mass or energy which may be transformed. The spell can transform a number of Size Points equal to the power level of the spell. (One size point is about three pounds.)

Range

The range of a spell is quite simply the distance between the caster and the center of the spell's area of effect. After the spell is cast, the distance may change with no change to the spell effect. (i. e. The wizard may decide to run away from the fireball he just unleashed.)

Area of Effect

The area of effect of a spell determines how far the spell extends and how many targets it can influence. Most simple spells that only affect one target person or thing are considered to have no area of effect. The caster may easily expand the area of effect (thereby increasing the difficulty and drain of the spell.) as much as she desires.
It is easiest to unleash fae in a sphere. The caster may alter the shape, but this requires more concentration (and more drain). Regular geometric shapes such as cubes, pyramids, and cones are less draining than irregular shapes. However, irregular shapes can be used to hit only the targets you desire within an area which is sometimes impossible with geometric shapes. When casting a non spherical shape, determine the point farthest from the target that is effected by the spell. This is the radius of the sphere that would contain the area of effect and will be used to calculate drain.

Duration

Most spells last as long as the caster concentrates on it. While concentrating on a spell, there is a penalty of -10% to any test the caster makes. The character may have multiple spells in effect, but the penalty is cumulative. (A mage holding 3 spells is crippled by -30% to all his tests.)
The caster can get around this hindrance by setting a spell duration when the spell is cast. The spell will last until the duration has expired and then end. The caster has no concentration penalties due to the spell.

Drain

The drain of a spell determines how difficult it is to cast and how tired or damaged the casting will make a character.
To calculate drain, first you must total all the applicable amounts from the following:

• Power Level: For each point of power the caster uses, add one to the drain.
• Range: For every yard between the caster and the center of the area of effect, add one to the drain.

  Shape Complexity
  Shape	Multiple
  Sphere	1
  Regular	2
  Irregular	4

• Area of Effect: To effect one target with a non area spell adds nothing to the drain.
  To calculate drain for area effects, you first must find the distance between the center of the effect and the point furthest from the center that is still within the effect. For a sphere this is simply the radius. When finding this distance for other shapes, it may be easiest to picture the object enclosed within a sphere and find the radius of this imaginary sphere.
  Now you multiply the distance by an amount determined by the complexity of the shape. Spheres being easiest have a multiple of one (1), regular shapes (see the Area of Effect section above) have a multiple of two (2), and irregular shapes have a multiple of four (4).
• Duration: for each combat round the spell is to last, add one to the drain.

Affinities Multiplier
Number of Affinities	Multiplier
1	1
2	1.5
3	2
4	2.5
5	3
6	3.5
7	4

After totaling the drain up, you must multiply by it by two numbers. The first is dependent on the number of affinities required to cast the spell. The first affinity gives a multiple of one (1). For every affinity required beyond the first, add .5 to the multiple. The other multiple is derived from the type of spell being cast. Detection spells are easiest so the multiple is .5. Transformation spells have a multiple of 1. Creation spells are the most difficult and have a multiple of 2.

Spell Type Multiplier
Spell Type	Multiplier
Creation	2
Detection	0.5
Transformation	1

Complexity

The game master will assign a complexity to the spell depending on how detailed the effects of the spell are. The Complexity will subtract a certain number from the character's Spell casting test. *** Still working on the complexity guidelines table, here are a couple notes for it.
+10 comp per spell effect +10 comp per sense (illusions)

Spells with Multiple Effects

Often characters will want to combine several effects into one spell. To do so, simply add the base drain of all the spells together to find the new base drain and add the complexity of all the spell together to find the complexity of the combination spell. For each spell effect after the first, add 5 to the total complexity.
All the spell effects happen simultaneously on the caster's turn, and he takes all the drain at once. Also, if one or more of the bundled spell effects require concentration to maintain, the caster takes only one concentration penalty for the whole bundle (-10% to all tests), but will lose all the bundled spell effects if he drops any effect in the bundle.

Enchantment

Mana can be bound into objects by a process called enchantment. When activated, the enchanted item will channel mana through the spell pattern locked within it and produce the spell effect.
Every enchanted item has an Enchantment value. This value has a number of benefits. First of all, the current Enchantment is added to the item's Base Damage, Defense Rating, and Maximum Range. Enchanted items hit harder, can take more damage, and can shoot or be thrown farther than their non magical counterparts. Damage done to enchanted items comes out of the current enchantment. After the enchantment is depleted, damage comes from the DR as normal. Damaged magic items can not recharge enchantment until all the damage is repaired.
The current Enchantment of the item is also used as the item's Sorcery skill when using spells locked into the item. If the roll indicates a skill increase, increase the Enchantment level of the item, but not the current enchantment.
Finally, the Enchantment determines how much fatigue the item can withstand. Magic items resist drain with the current Enchantment rating instead of willpower, any drain that is not resisted is subtracted from the current enchantment of the item. The Enchantment will return at a rate of one point per combat turn until the current enchantment equals the Enchantment level of the item. If the base drain is greater than the current Enchantment, apply the damage to both the enchantment and the defense rating of the item. Items with a damaged defense rating must be repaired normally.
Enchanted items may have specific spell effects which can not be changed without careful magical manipulation. Each effect will have a trigger which causes it to go off. The trigger may be a command word, a particular gesture with the item, or anything the creator desires. When a spell activated from within an item, it will have the same levels which were locked into the pattern. The Affinities used, power level, area of effect, duration and drain can not be altered. (See the section on Modifying Magic Items to learn how to change enchanted items.) The user may select any range she desires, up to a maximum of the range of the spell bound to the item, whenever she triggers a spell effect.

Example: Brutus' long sword Hellfire is enchanted. It has an enchantment of 80 and two spells locked into it. The first spell surrounds the blade with fire twice as strong as a torch flame for one minute whenever the sword is held aloft and the wielder utters the sword's name (Elemental Fire, creation, power 24, range 0, area of effect 0, duration 6, drain 30). The other is a 3 yard diameter ball of flame that explodes up to 5 yards straight out from the sword's tip when the wielder says "Flaming Death" (Elemental Fire, creation, power level 71, range 5, area of effect 3, duration 1, drain 80). At the beginning of combat, Brutus draws his sword and yells "Hellfire". The sword makes an Enchantment test (instead of Sorcery). The sword has no willpower (some items do) so there is no modifier. The MCoS is 80%. The Gamemaster rolls 13 for the sword. Success! The sword is surrounded in flame. Now Hellfire rolls it's resistance test, also based on Enchantment. The Gamemaster rolls 07 so the final drain is 28. The swords current Enchantment is now 52 (80-28). Three combat turns later, Brutus uses the fireball attack. He points the sword at his enemy and says the command word. Hellfire's current Enchantment has climbed up to 55 during the three turns of combat, so the MCoS is 55 %. The Gamemaster rolls 55. He immediately rolls a ten sided die and scores 8, so Hellfire's Maximum Enchantment raises to 88. The current enchantment remains the same. Since Hellfire has no Wisdom attribute, it can not be raised even though the exact score was rolled. Now back to the action. the roll is a success so everyone within the blast must resist 61 points of fire damage. Now Hellfire must resist drain. since the drain (80) is greater than the current Enchantment (55), then drain comes out of the items Defense Rating as well as enchantment. Rolling to resist, the GM scores 71. Hellfire failed to resist the drain. The enchantment is reduced to 0 (enchantment cannot go negative from drain) and the swords Defense Rating is now 10 (90 - 80). Brutus nearly destroyed his magic sword.

Creating Magic Items

Creating a magic item is both easier and harder than casting spells. The enchanter takes no drain from the process, so she may bind spells that would normally kill her to cast. On the down side, enchantment takes a long time. Very powerful items can take years to produce, and even weak ones will take at least eight hours to produce.
First, the entire process must take place within an enchanter's lab. The Enchanter may add the lab's rating to his enchantment skill rating while working within the lab. The enchanter must also have an item to enchant. This item is called the vessel. If the vessel is damaged, it must be completely repaired before enchantment can proceed. The vessel will have an effect on the Enchanter's skill rating as shown on the following chart:

The Enchanter must decide what Enchantment level the item is to have and what spells will be bound to it. An enchanter must have the affinities required by the spells bound into the item. Define each spell in detail and decide on the trigger. The Enchanter does not have to bind any spells to the item if she does not desire. Multiply the Enchantment by 10 and add twice the drain of each spell effect. The total becomes the Target of the enchanting tests.

For every eight hours spent enchanting the item, the character may make an Enchantment Test. There is no penalty for failure, but if the roll botches, the item is completely destroyed. Keep a total of all the rolls made. When the total reaches the Target calculated above, the item is finished. On a typical day, only eight hours will be spent in the lab. If the character is willing to do without food and rest breaks or limit his sleep, he may work two shifts, but the character may only heal half the normal amount for that day. A character may decide to work on the project all 24 hours of the day, barely eating enough to sustain him and not sleeping. All-nighters like this keep the character from any natural healing and will fatigue him. The character gets 20 fatigue, which the Enchanter may resist with a Willpower test. Subtract margin% from the 20 fatigue.

Expendable Magic Items

Enchanters sometimes make expendable magic items that may be used only once, but the spell will go off without requiring any test. When the trigger condition is met, the spell takes effect immediately and the vessel is completely destroyed. Typically, expendable items take the forms of scrolls inscribed with spells that must be read aloud to take effect, or potions which must be imbibed by the user.
To create an expendable magic item, follow the procedure for a normal magic item, but assign an enchantment of zero (0).

Modifying Magic Items

Magic items may be modified, but the process is so difficult that enchanters are more likely to begin from scratch on a new item than to try to change an already existing item.

1. Open the vessel

Opening the vessel is the most dangerous part, especially if the item is strongly enchanted. Opening a vessel requires an enchanter's lab.

1. Make the tests
   The character makes an Enchanting test and the item makes an Enchantment test.
2. Compare the margins.

   If the Enchanter margin...	Effect
   exceeds vessel margin	Vessel takes Drain equal to Enchanter margin minus vessel margin from current enchantment score.
   equals vessel margin	No effect on either party
   is less than vessel margin	Enchanter takes Drain equal to Vessel margin minus Enchanter margin. If the Item's enchantment is greater than the Enchanter's Willpower, the drain is applied to Wounds.

3. Check results.
   If the enchanter's Fatigue exceeds her Fatigue Points, she passes out. If the enchanter's Wounds are greater than his Wound Points, he dies. In either case, the Item has won and may regenerate Enchantment points and funtion normally.
   If the item enchantment reaches or goes below zero (0), the vessel is opened and will not function magically until an Enchanter seals it again. Go on step 2 of modifying the Item.
4. Repeat
   If the Enchanter wants to continue trying to open the vessel, begin another combat round and go to step a of Open the Vessel.

2. Modify the Mana

Changing the magic of the item follows the same procedure as creating a magic item, except that the target is calculated by the following formula:

The Target may not be less than 10, if it is, set the Target at 10.
The Enchanter may devote time to modifying the object exactly as detailed under Creating a Magic Item above. When the Enchanter accumulates a number of margin points equal or greater than the Target, the object is sealed and ready to be used.