Latest revision as of 15:29, 20 November 2011

Capacity

A character's Capacity is essentially his magical battery. It limits how much power can be channelled over the course of a day.

By default, a character's Capacity is equal to endurance * 1/2 spellcasting ability (default Intuition).

Capacity is only spent when a spell is cast that is difficult for the caster.

Capacity is recharged whenever a character gets more than 6 hours of sleep.

Overspending Capacity

A character can spend as much capacity as he or she wants, but if you spend more capacity than you have there are consequences. For every point spent over your total, you take 4 points of damage. You may continue casting even when you have no capacity left, but you take a -2 to spellcasting checks and the same damage rules as above apply.

Casting Spells

When a player casts a spell, they describe the effects they would like it to have. Nothing is impossible. As a spell is described, the GM will produce a DC for it, and decide which discipline(s) it falls under. Some effects may be achieved by a number of different disciplines - Flight, for example, can be achieved in numerous ways.

Casting

When the DC is exceeded by five points or more, the spell costs no Capacity. If you exceed by fewer than five, the spell costs the difference in Capacity. For example, if the DC for a spell is 25 and you roll a 30, the spell costs nothing, whereas if you roll a 27, it costs three Capacity. If you succeed in casting a spell but do not have sufficient capacity to cast it, the cost is deducted as 4 times the difference in HP (unless otherwise mentioned).

Failure

Spells that fail do nothing (except occasionally for Sorcerers). No matter what, the Capacity is spent. For example, a spell with a DC of 25 failed with a roll of 22 costs 8 capacity.

You can never spend more than 10 capacity on a single spell roll (meaning you can spend more on a mixed spell). If you roll a natural one (which still counts as a roll of 1) you can spend up to 15 capacity.

Determining DC, etc

See: Developing Spells

Casting Time

Spells usually cost 4 AP to cast, but there may be exceptions. Mixed spells or particularly powerful spells may cost 6 (or potentially more), though not always.

Mixed Spells

While most effects can be cast using only one discipline of magic, in some cases desired effects may only be achieved by combining two or more disciplines into a single spell.

The one big rule of making mixed spells is that you cannot use them to combine two discrete spells, and thereby reduce casting time. You cannot get away with casting a single spell that gives you flight and lets you shoot a fireball, but you can make a spell where you fly by shooting fire out of your feet.

To cast a Mixed Spell, the GM determines a DC for each discipline involved. This may be the same DC but often will not be. The caster then makes a check for each DC, succeeding or failing and spending Capacity as per the rules listed above.

If all checks are successful, the spell is cast. If all of them fail, the spell fails as above.

If only part of the spell fails, there is a 50% chance that the successful check(s) will carry through, often with unintended results. For example, perhaps one is casting a Flesh/Earth spell to make one's skin into stone. If the Flesh check is failed and the Earth check is successful, the caster's skin may turn to stone without having the flexibility granted by the flesh portion, and so they may be immobilized.

Sustaining Spells

Spells whose effects last longer than a single round must be sustained by setting aside some Tenacity specifically for the spell equal to the amount of Capacity the caster spent in casting the spell.

• If a caster is using his tenacity to sustain spells and the tenacity cost of a new spell costs more than his free tenacity, sustained spells get dropped. The caster gets to choose which spell is dropped.
• The minimum Tenacity cost of a sustained spell is 1. If a spell's Capacity cost is 0, then its sustain cost is still 1.

Counterspelling

Whenever a spellcaster successfully casts a spell within 60 feet of or targeting another spellcaster, the second caster may attempt to counterspell. They make a Knowledge (Magic) check equal to the DC of the spell being cast. If they had previously prepared an action to counter a spell from this caster they get a +4 to this check. If they succeed, they may spend 4 AP and as an Immediate Action cast a counterspell.

They make a check in either the same discipline or one of the opposing disciplines of the discipline used to cast the target spell. If they beat or equal the check originally used to cast the spell, then the spell is countered. If not, the spell functions as normal.

For example, Garth casts a fire spell with a DC of 25 at Brian. He rolls a 28 and so the spell is cast. Brian makes a DC 25 Knowledge (Magic) check, which he beats with a 31, correctly identifying the spell. He then can counter using one of several disciplines - fire, as it is the same; cold or water, as they are specifically used to counter fire; or magic, as it can counter anything. Either way, he must beat or equal Garth's original roll of 28.

If one wishes to counter Mixed Spells, all of the checks must be beaten independently. A spell using three disciplines must have each roll beaten, by a discipline appropriate to each constituent discipline.

The Magic discipline may be used to counterspell any other discipline. It is especially useful when countering mixed spells - unlike the normal rules above, to counter a mixed sell with the Magic discipline, one must only beat the highest roll used in casting the spell.

No Capacity is ever spent in counterspelling. The original spell, whether or not it is successfully counterspelled, still costs normal amounts of capacity.

Counterspelling after the Fact

Spells do not have to be countered when they are cast. Permanent or continuing effects may be countered as well.

A continuing effect may be studied with a Knowledge (Magic) check equal to the DC of the spell used to create it. You may Take 20 on this check if you have the time. If you manage to beat or equal this DC you may then attempt to counterspell it as normal. You can take as many attempts as you want, but you cannot Take 20 on a Counterspell check. Unlike normal counterspelling, counterspelling continuing effects can require capacity, as per normal rules.

There is also a spell in the Magic discipline which for a DC of 36 will negate any effect of up to a DC of 40, without requiring a Knowledge (Magic) check.

To prevent others from negating your spells you may intentionally raise the DC or cast it as a mixed spell with a Magic component of as high as you want.

Magical Advancement

The Magical Disciplines are like skills - they are advanced in the same way. Skill Upgrade Points are spent to buy Ranks. The maximum number of ranks a character can have in a given Discipline is noted on the table to the left. "Base Disciplines" refers to the Elements, Aspects, and Materia disciplines. One Upgrade Point buys a single Rank in a single discipline for a single Primary Mental Ability. If a character doesn't have any Primary Mental Abilities, he can't use magic.

• Different Abilities use magic in different ways. Intuition uses default rules, but each of the other three Mental Abilities have special advantages and disadvantages.

• Mixed Spells must be cast using one ability score — you cannot cast a spell using ranks from varying spellcasting methods.

• Any character may take ranks in magical disciplines. They must, however, have a Primary Mental Ability. What Primary Mental Abilities a character has determines what kind of a spellcaster she can be (see below).

For example, a character may be both a Mage (Intuition) and a Wizard (Intellect), or potentially any combination of the four. In this case, however, each discipline of magic is actually four skills - one for each ability score. When buying ranks in each discipline, a mixed caster must specify what ability score each rank is tied to. You may have a Mage/Adept who has 4 ranks in perception as a Mage and 8 as an Sorcerer. When they cast perception spells as a mage they get only 4+Inu+d20, and when they cast them as an Sorcerer they cast with 8+Int+d20. Usually this is inefficient but there are times when it can be useful.

Intuition

The Default. Characters who use Intuition are called Mages.

Mages are people who have a natural understanding of how one or more branches of magic work. They are the core of magic - people with simply some natural talent. They follow all default rules. The other three have different bonuses and limitations.

Intellect

Casters that use Intellect are called Wizards.

Wizards have had extensive schooling or have done research themselves on the subject of how magical forces interact, and have a strong understanding of magical theory. Most are trained by schools, of which there are many.

The main benefit of being a wizard is that spells can be prepared beforehand. By figuring out the theory, working out equations, and writing down basic notes, the Wizard can hold a spell in memory and not risk overdrawing himself when the time comes to cast it.

A wizard may spend 1 hour a day preparing spells. He may design any spell which he would be able to cast with a roll of 15. Up to twice his intelligence in such spells may be held at a single time. When a spell is cast, it is used up, so it is sometimes useful to prepare copies of spells.

Because Wizards are used to taking the safe route, however, and are not used to channeling raw energy unstudied, when they overdraw Capacity they take 8 damage per point overdrawn instead of 4.

In addition, Wizards cannot take ranks in the Life discipline.

Will

Casters that use Will are called Adepts.

Adepts focus on one (or rarely two) disciplines of magic. They are specialists, and their will is connected inextricably to this type of magic. Through discipline and focus they hone their ability, until it is a part of them.

Adepts which take ranks in only 1 discipline gain a +4 to all checks made in that discipline, a +8 to all saves against effects from that discipline, and a -2 to all saves against other magical disciplines.

Adepts which take ranks in 2 disciplines gain a +2 to all checks made in those disciplines (this stacks if a spell includes both), and a +4 to all saves against effects from those disciplines (again stacking if the targeting spell uses both).

Adepts cannot take ranks in more than two disciplines. An adept which has only one discipline may take a second at any time. If the adept wishes to change disciplines, they may but must give up all ranks invested in the previous one.

Depending on the culture, Adepts are often regarded as holy men or religious leaders.

Charisma

Casters that use Charisma are called Sorcerers.

Sorcerers are born to magic. Their soul is so powerful it leaks, and their energy is rash, wild, and flowing.

When Sorcerers overdraw Capacity they take 2 damage per point overdrawn instead of 4. In addition, they can cast from disciplines of magic they have no ranks in, though they take a -5 penalty on such checks.

When a Sorcerer fails a casting check, however, they burn double capacity. Sorcerer spells that are failed have a 50% chance to be cast anyways, whether the sorcerer wants it to or not, but act unpredictably. The more it is failed by the more unpredictably it acts - a failure of one or two points means it will be roughly the same, but the wildness increases exponentially the more it is failed. This means they can fail the DC by one or two points and be ensured that the spell will work at least in part, but they always risk a massive failure.