This chapter describes the rules for creating sorcerous spells. For those who wish to skip this section, there are numerous example spells in Appendix B. Rules for using spells are in the Sorcery chapter.
Skill
Skill at sorcery is based on Intuition. The character rolls this trait to determine if a spell succeeds. More on this in Sorcery.
Energy
Every spell has an energy level based on its intensity, area, and duration.
Intensity
Intensity is the raw force of a spell. For attacks, this translates into damage.
Each level of intensity adds one to the energy level to a spell (minimum one).
Area
By default, spells are directed at a single individual or space. A sorcerer may choose more targets: adding 3 to the energy level of a spell doubles the number. Targets need not be adjacent.
Duration
By default, sorcery is fleeting - spells are thrown, defended against, and resisted in one round. Spells may last longer: adding 3 to the energy level of a spell doubles the duration.
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Fun facts:
Powers
Alter
This power is used to change the sorcerer's environment. It can be used to create light, darkness, wind, rain, fog, heat, cold, white noise, scents, and various other minor environmental stimuli. The intensity of an alteration determines how dramatic the difference can be. An intensity 0 alteration allows the sorcerer to create a soft light, lower the temperature by a few degrees, make a quiet noise, etc. Each +3 doubles the effect. If the caster wishes to obscure vision, each level of intensity gives a -1 to all attacks and perception rolls going through the area.
Blast
This power is used to injure opponents. A blast can come in the form of heat, cold, lightning, a hail of arrows, a bite from a summoned demon, or anything else that the player can can come up with. The intensity of a blast determines the damage inflicted. Any matter created by a blast disappears when the duration ends.
Each blast spell must be defined as impact, indirect, or mental.
Indirect and mental blasts require more energy than physical ones:
| Type | +Energy |
|---|---|
| Impact | 0 |
| Indirect | 3 |
| Mental | 6 |
Hold
This power is used to hold a subject in place. The Intensity of the hold determines the effective "Strength" of the spell. Holds must be defined as physical or mental. Physical holds can be broken by Strength. Mental holds can be broken by Command.
If a hold spell succeeds, the subject is paralyzed. He cannot act and is defenseless against swords and arrows. If the hold is physical, he may still defend himself against sorcery or use sorcery of his own. If the hold is mental, the target is completely frozen.
A sorcerer may choose to move a held subject up to 3 spaces per round. He can continue to do this until the held character frees himself or the duration of the spell runs out.
Mental holds require more energy than physical ones:
| Type | +Energy |
|---|---|
| Physical | 3 |
| Mental | 6 |
Portal
This sorcery allows the user to open mystical doorways. These portals can be used to bypass obstacles or to visit other realms.
Portals are elliptical in shape. The amount of energy required to create a portal is determined by the size of the portal and the duration for which the portal will stay open. An energy level of 10 can create a portal the size of one space that lasts for one round. A sorcerer can opt to have a portal of lesser size, but it still takes a minimum of ten energy. Each +3 energy can be used to double the area or the duration of the portal.
| Energy | Area (spaces) |
|---|---|
| 10 | 1 |
| 13 | 2 |
| 15 | 3 |
| 16 | 4 |
| 17 | 5 |
| 18 | 6 |
| 19 | 8 |
| 20 | 10 |
| 21 | 12 |
| 22 | 16 |
| 23 | 20 |
| 24 | 25 |
| 25 | 30 |
| 26 | 40 |
| 27 | 50 |
| 28 | 60 |
| 29 | 80 |
| 30 | 100 |
The size of a portal must be large enough for whatever the sorcerer wishes to transport. Sights and sounds require only small portals. Normal humans can walk upright through a portal 1 space in diameter.
Upon casting, the sorcerer chooses the size of the portal and the place that it will connect to. The difficulty of an portal spell depends on the distance between the two points - the challenge level is equal to 3 + 1 per 5 spaces of distance. If the portal is to another world, the "distance" is chosen by The Adversary, as he must decide how much otherworldly travel He wishes to allow in his campaign.
Portals are symmetric. When a portal is created, individuals on both sides will see a glowing gateway and a glimpse of what lies on the other side. Anyone who can reach the portal, from either side, can go through it. Not only that, but the portal in each world is two-sided - this means, for example, that a portal opened from dry land to a place that is underwater will cause water to spew in two opposite directions, not one.
Sorcerers on either side of a portal may try to close it. The sorcerer should roll his Intuition vs the Defiance of the portal's creator.
Portals can be used to gather allies from other worlds. The ability to locate exotic creatures, however, does not automatically allow the sorcerer to make friends with them. One who wants an otherworldly servant should be prepared to bribe, bully, or beg - and things from another world may not speak the sorcerer's language.
If a sorcerer steps through a portal into another world, walks ten miles, then steps through another portal to get back to the first world, he will find himself ten miles from the spot where he stepped through the first portal, in the same direction that he was walking in the other realm. Thus, portals may be used to avoid certain physical barriers or known dangers of our world, but it will not save much time if used this way - and other worlds have barriers and dangers of their own.
The topography of different realms is not the same. When opening a portal at an unfamiliar location, a sorcerer will often find that his portal is high above the ground, underground, or underwater in the world he desires to visit.
Note also that this sorcery does not confer any special life support upon a traveller - if the user opens a portal to a place filled with a harmful substance (lava, acid, or the pressurized water at the bottom of an ocean), he will probably destroy himself and his immediate area.
There untold numbers of parallel realms. The sorcerer who plans on exploration ought to have some knowledge of the place to be reached (gained from books, fellow travellers, or Intuition) before attempting to travel there - to open a portal to a random world that the caster knows nothing about is suicidal.
Project
This power allows the user to project his consciousness over great distances, allowing him to "see" and "hear" things happening at other locations. The sorcerer is entranced and helpless during projection, as his mind is elsewhere.
Energy can be used to increase the distance of projection or the duration of the spell, as per the area/duration chart.
The sorcerer may voluntarily end his projection at any time.
Anyone being viewed by a projecting sorcerer may roll Intuition vs the sorcerer's Defiance to detect his presence. If successful, the subject knows he is being watched, but not by whom. If the subject is a sorcerer, he may attack the projecting sorcerer with a mental blast or hold. The projecting sorcerer is unable to retaliate.
Telepathy
This power is used to read minds, project thoughts, and control lesser beings.
The sorcerer can listen to the surface thoughts of intelligent creatures with a successful trait check. Beings alien to the sorcerer should get a bonus. The intensity of the spell must be greater than the Willpower of the subject.
On subsequent rounds, subjects get an Intuition check vs the Defiance of the sorcerer to detect the intrusion. One who succeeds may actively resist, giving him a +6 Defiance (assuming he isn't doing anything else).
The user may also project thoughts into the minds of others with a successful trait roll, determined and resisted much like mind reading. This allows the sorcerer to communicate things to others without speaking. The sorcerer may conceal his identity, if desired; the subject can uncover it with a successful Intuition check vs the sorcerer's Defiance.
Trait checks for communication may be ignored if the sorcerer and subject agree.
Finally, Telepathy can be used to control mindless automatons with a successful trait check. If more than one sorcerer is vying for control of the same entity, roll one sorcerer's Intuition vs the other's Defiance to see who gains control for the round.