Saving the world on a Sunday afternoon
Characters spend CPs to learn spells/miracles, and use Mana/Standing Points to cast them, the exact amount dependent on the Spell Level. Mana/Standing Points can be increased by spending CPs on the skill Enhance Mana/Standing.
To learn a spell/miracle, the character must spend CPs. Spells/miracles are linked in chains, and lower level versions must be learnt before the higher level ones. All spells/miracles in the same line of the spell/miracle table are in the same chain (see the spells/miracles for the Schools/Paths), though some spells/miracles also specify other chain(s) in their description.
Example: In order to learn Combust 4, Flare must first learn Ignite and Combust 2.
Example: In order to learn Holy Word 4, Gerant must first learn Holy Word 2.
In order to learn spells/miracles you need to be of at least the following rank:
| Character Rank | Spell/Miracle Level (instant cast) | Spell/Miracle Level (ritual) |
| 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 15 | 5 | 5 |
| 20 | 6 | 6 |
| 30 | 7 | 7 |
| 40 | 8 | 8 |
| 55 | 9 | 9 |
| 70 | 10 | 10 |
| 85 | N/A | 11 |
| 100 | N/A | 12 |
| 120 | N/A | 13 |
| 140 | N/A | 14 |
| 160 | N/A | 15 |
You have to have already spent your CPs to take you up to these ranks as well.
Example: You can only request a level 5 spell/miracle if you have already spent at least 150 CPs on other skills for that character. So, if a level 5 spell/miracle costs you 12 CPs, then you must be at least rank 16.2 before you can actually cast a level 5 spell/miracle.
Spells/Miracles of level 4 and below are freely available from various sources.
For high-level spells/miracles (level 5 or greater):
Guild aligned characters can only learn high-level spells/miracles that they are allowed to in their Advanced Training section, they will be taught these by their guild (N.B. you must still ask permission from the Character Ref to learn these).
Non guild aligned characters can learn any high-level spells/miracles that their school/path allows, but the process isn’t quite as easy. They must find a PC/NPC willing to teach it to them OR research it via rituals, using the standard rules for creating a new ritual/ceremony and refining it into an instant cast if this is desired (N.B. you must still ask permission from the Character Ref to teach another PC a spell/miracle as your Guild has to give permission for you to teach it, else you may be ejected from your Guild otherwise).
When a spell/miracle is cast, the character uses his Mana/Standing to power it. The Mana/Standing cost for a spell/miracle is:
Level + 1
Every time a spell/miracle is cast, the caster takes Life Point damage equal to the spell’s level (thus 0 level spells cause no damage). If a character has a Talisman/Holy Symbol, the amount of damage is reduced by the level of the Talisman/Holy Symbol. Thus a character with a Talisman/Holy Symbol 2 will not take damage from any spell/miracle with a level of 2 or less, will only take 1 point of damage for a level 3 spell/miracle, 2 for a level 4, etc. (note that this damage is in addition to any other damage caused by lack of Mana/Standing to cast the spell).
1) Casting a spell/miracle requires the caster to Concentrate
With one slight exception:
If concentration is interrupted the caster loses the full amount of Mana/Standing for the spell/miracle attempting to cast.
2) Casting a spell/miracle requires the use of vocals
For every level of spell/miracle, 3 words of vocals must be said in at least normal speaking volume (Level 0 spells and miracles require at least 2 words). The name of the spell/miracle must be said at the end of the vocals (though this can be included in the word count, except any number at the end).
If a spell/miracle has multiple sources then the source should be included in the vocals immediately before the spell/miracle name. If the source is not stated, then the target can assume the best source for any protection they have.
Example: Barel has Spell Immunity (Dark-Fear) cast up. An evil Death priest casts Fear 1 at her by using the following vocals “Run Death Fear 1”. Barel cannot use her Spell Immunity as the source (Death) is known. If the Death priest had used the vocals “Run Run Fear 1”, then Barel is allowed to assume the best case scenario i.e. that it was a Dark Fear.
3) Casting a spell/miracle requires the use of arm(s)
Level 0 spells/miracles require that the characters ‘favoured’ arm is usable & free (Characters with the skill Ambidexterity can have either arm free).
Level 1+ spells/miracles require both arms to be usable & free.
Spells and miracles with a 15 minute duration can be extended by dropping the level of effect as follows:
| Levels Dropped | Duration |
| 1 | 1 hour |
| 2 | 4 hours |
| 3 | 16 hours |
| 4 | 64 hours |
Example: Fire Skin 3 provides 3 points of Power Armour for 15 minutes. The same spell could be cast as if were one level lower (i.e. a Fire Skin 2) in which case it would provide 2 points of Power Armour, last for 1 hour and only require a Dispel Magic 2 to remove.
Some spells and miracles occur at different periods, for example Strength and Double Strength. Dropping a level only counts the previous spell/miracle levels.
Example: Double Strength is a level 4 Earth Spell. It can be cast as one level of effect lower as Strength in which case it will last for 1 hour (Note that Strength is a level 2 Earth spell).
Also, touch spells/miracles can only be dropped down to other touch spells/miracles and ranged spells/miracles to other ranged spells/miracles. Thus Double Grip (T) can be dropped down 1 level to Grip (T) but not to Grip (R).
If a spell/miracle is extended in this way, its level for purposes of dispelling is the lower level.
If a character does not have enough Mana/Standing left to cast a spell/miracle, he can call on his life force instead. For every point required, the caster loses 5 Life Points and has his Death Threshold temporarily lowered by 1. As the character is using his life force to power the spell/miracle this loss of life cannot be prevented in any way. If it was prevented then the spell/miracle would not be powered and hence not take effect.
Example: Jecub, an elven fire mage, has 3 Death Thresholds and currently no Mana left. He is attacked by an Orc and in order to save his life decides to cast a Fire Dart 4, a level 2 spell. This is powered directly from his life and Jecub loses 15 Life Points and his Death Threshold is temporarily lowered by 3, so it is currently 0.
Example: Iussis, a human order priest, has 10 Death Thresholds and currently has 1 Standing. He is Entangled and decides to cast the level 2 miracle Strength and avoid being pummeled to death. This costs 3 points of Standing, 2 points of which comes directly from his life. He loses 10 Life Points and his Death Threshold is temporarily lowered by 2, so it is currently 8.
If a character would be taken ‘below’ 0 Death Thresholds by over-casting, he cannot over-cast, UNLESS he decides to sacrifice his life and immediately dies after casting the spell/miracle. He can over-cast by any amount with the number of ‘negative’ Death Thresholds reached corresponding to the number of days before he can be resurrected (assuming he still has Death Thresholds left).
Example: Breeze, an elven air mage, has 3 Death Thresholds and currently no Mana left. He really wants to kill the Drow who is beating up Aurinyan and accepts that this in turn means his own death. He casts his biggest spell a Shocking Grasp 68, a level 10 spell on the Drow. His Death Threshold is temporarily lowered by 11, so it is currently -8. Both the Drow & Breeze die. It is 8 days before Breeze can be resurrected.
Note on an OOC basis, if you have been over-casting consistently during a fight without realising it, you will be assumed to have decided to sacrifice your life and you will be declared dead at the battleboard.
Cancelling a spell/miracle that you are in the process of casting
To cancel a spell/miracle that is in the processes of being cast, the caster must continue to Concentrate for 5 seconds and additionally cannot move or talk, otherwise they lose the full amount of Mana/Standing.
Example: Mara, a Fire Mage, is preparing to cast Fire Dart 12 at a particularly good looking Human who’s making mincemeat of the party, when he turns towards her. Not wanting to be turned into Mara-kebab, she turns tail and flees, losing the 7 Mana for the aborted spell.
Later, the party are fighting a group of Goblins and Mara is once again preparing a Fire Dart spell. Just before she casts it, however, the last Goblin goes down. She briefly considers casting it at someone in the party but decides that, as she might need it later on, she’d better spend 5 seconds of concentration to cancel the spell and keep the Mana.
Cancelling a spell/miracle that is currently active
To cancel a spell/miracle, the caster must Concentrate on the specific instance of the spell/miracle for 30 seconds and additionally cannot move or talk.
N.B. An exception may be made to the no talking rule if you are praying to your god(s).
N.B. You do not have to be near the spell/miracle the cancel it.
Example: Kane has cast several extended Harden miracles and cannot remember exactly who he has cast on. Eorith is dying, so Kane Concentrates on her and his Harden miracle for 30 seconds, but nothing happens as he had not cast a Harden on her. He subsequently casts a Life Shield on her to stop her dying. Kane later remembers he cast a Harden on Nemesis and as he is about to Pray and wanting the Standing to be regained, he Concentrates on her and his Harden miracle for 30 seconds and it is cancelled.
A Talisman/Holy Symbol is a small object (normally a piece of jewellery such as a pendant or ring) which protects a caster’s life force when casting spells/miracles, reducing any damage taken by its level. In order to do this, the Talisman/Holy Symbol must be within 1" of the caster’s body and the spell/miracle must be cast through it (this requires no extra action but does mean that only one Talisman/Holy Symbol can be used per spell/miracle).
A Talisman/Holy Symbol cannot be easily destroyed, as it is empowered by the character’s life force. It is immune to normal attacks and shattering spells and miracles. It is possible a very high level (25+) fire/chaos ritual may destroy a Talisman/Holy Symbol.
A Talisman/Holy Symbol cannot be a shield, weapon, piece of armour etc.
A Talisman/Holy Symbol can never be used by other people.
A Talisman/Holy Symbol is not magical/miraculous and hence is not restricted to a specific School/Path/Sect, it is only specific to a caster. Therefore a Talisman/Holy Symbol cannot be detected by Rec Magic/Miracle, Detect Magic, Discern Life/Order/Chaos/Death etc.
You cannot use the same item for a Talisman & Holy Symbol.
If the creator of the Talisman/Holy Symbol permanently dies, the item continues to be a Talisman/Holy Symbol and could theoretically be used again if they could be brought back somehow.
When boosting a spell/miracle with a Talisman/Holy Symbol, the bonus is limited to the base effect of the spell/miracle.
Example: The Raven, a Priest of Justice has Willpower 6 and Holy Symbol 13.
So he can cast Turn Undead 2 at a maximum of Turn Undead 6 = Turn Undead 2 + 2 [from Willpower halved: Round Down(6/2) = 3] + 2 [from Holy Symbol quartered: Round Down(13/4) = 3].
All spells/miracles have a range, a duration, type and an effect.
If the range is touch, the target must be touched with at least one hand within 30 seconds of casting the spell/miracle for level 0 spells and both hands for higher level spells/miracles. Casting another spell or miracle dissipates the touch spell (this includes using items).
Example: Klink has cast a Drain Life 14 and is rushing towards an opponent when he is entangled. As he doesn’t want to get pummelled into the ground, he decides to cast a Dispel Magic 1 to free himself. Doing so, he loses the Drain Life 14.
You can choose when you release a touch spell/miracle within the 30 seconds, it does not have to be the first thing you touch. However you must decide to release the spell/miracle before the actual attack is made. If you then miss the target, the spell/miracle is lost.
You can be damaged during the 30 seconds and still continue to deliver the touch spell/miracle, unless your arm has become broken/unusable.
If you deliver a touch attack which is a locational effect and it requires both hands, then both hands must touch the same location, else nothing happens.
If you do a normal attack whilst also releasing a Touch spell/miracle then that spell/miracle can be dodged.
Example: If you have Claw Hands 4 running and cast Rust(T). Then you can either just call “Rust” (this is analogous to casting the Rust without having Claw Hands) or you can call “Claw 4 Rust”, but if the Claw 4 is dodged, the Rust is also dodged.
Some spells/miracles have an instantaneous duration. This means that though the effect is instantaneous, any results last until reversed by other means. For example, the duration for Heal Life is instantaneous, and heals lost Life Points immediately. These Life Points last until removed (by a sword, say). For a timed duration, the Player Referee will adjudicate how much game time has passed, and whether the spell is still in effect.
A permanent spell lasts forever or until the target or spell/miracle is destroyed.
Spells and miracles which can be used against an opponent use the “Point and Shout” method. That is the caster should point at his chosen target and shout out the spells/miracles effect. If the target didn’t notice, no mana/standing is lost and the caster can try again, shouting louder. Note that normally only the last couple of words of the vocals giving the spells/miracles effect need to be shouted.
Spells and miracles which cause damage do not need anything inserted. For example, when casting Fire Dart 4, the caster should say his chosen vocals and end with the words “Fire Dart 4” while pointing at his target.
When a character casts a Mass version of a spell/miracle, he nominates a point (which may be a person, object or anything else equally obvious) and everyone within 10’ is targeted by the non-Mass version of the spell/miracle.
For beneficial effects, the caster can select which characters in the area are affected.
Example: Mathonwy casts Mass Heal Life 14, centred on G’Mord who is fighting in a line against a group of Ogres. All character’s within 10’ are effected by a Heal Life 14, though as Mathonwy does not want to heal the enemy he only selects the members of the party. The call is “Mass Heal Life 14 on party, centred on G’Mord”.
For offensive effects, everyone in the area is effected.
Example: Mass Drain Life 4 will effect everyone in the area.
This spell/miracle can be cast on a non-willing target, or an object owned by an unwilling target. Spells/miracles not marked Offensive are considered Beneficial.
Beneficial spells/miracles can be resisted (if desired) and cannot be cast on owned objects without the owner’s permission. However, if you can’t actively resist, then it can always be cast on you. So, in the case of a corpse, which can’t actively resist due to being dead, you could put say a Spell Immunity (Life-Bless) on it or an unconscious body cannot resist healing etc.
This spell/miracle does not work on creatures without minds (or with radically different minds). This includes:
Self – requires no targeting.
Touch – requires you to touch the target (person, object etc.).
Range – requires you to be able to see the target (person, object, etc.).
Mass – requires you to be able to see the centre point (person, object, point on ground etc.)
Note: Where you need to see the target/centre point, this could be through a window, Life/Death Ward, Wall of Air etc.
Normally, the power of the Dispel required to remove a spell/miracle effect is equal to the level of the spell/miracle (i.e. to dispel a level 3 spell requires a Dispel Magic 3). There are four exceptions to this rule:
Example: Fiddelo is effected by an Entangle (R), a level 2 spell. As Entangle (T) is level 1, only a Dispel Magic 1 is required to release him.
Example: Fiddelo, Scar and Rath are all effected by a Mass Entangle, a level 6 spell. To release each of the characters, 3 Dispel Magic 1 spells are required.
Example: Archibald has 4 natural Willpower and can cast Coma 2 as Coma 4 using his Willpower. If this effects the target then it dispels as a Coma 4 (level 7).
Example: The Raven, a Priest of Justice has Holy Symbol 13. He can cast Turn Undead 2 as Turn Undead 4 using his Holy Symbol. If this effects the target then it dispels as a Turn Undead 4 (level 6).
Example: Tinker casts an Iron Skin 6 on Tarkus and follows this up with an Aspect of the Schools (Fire) modifing the Iron Skin to provide 4 Normal protection and 1 Fire protection. Winterlight casts a Dispel Magic 5 on the Aspect of the Schools, reverting the Iron Skin back to providing 6 Normal protection.
Disruptive Aura/Anti Magic Shell works in exactly the same way as above.
Example: Biscuit has a Disruptive Aura 1. He is attacked with a Mass Entangle, a level 6 spell, but his Disruptive Aura protects him from the spell effecting him. Note that this does not stop other people being effected by the Mass Entangle.
After casting a touch spell or miracle which destroys, the caster has 30 seconds to grasp an object. When touching a weapon, if the spell/miracle successfully destroys the weapon the caster is not harmed, otherwise he takes the base damage for the weapon. If a destroy spell/miracle is used against an attacking weapon, the caster always takes the full damage for the attack before the weapon is effected.
Example: Flare casts Destroy(T) and then has 30 seconds to target an object. He reaches out and touches a 1H Sword. Unfortunately the Sword is protected, so Flare takes 4 points of Normal damage.
Example: Flare once again casts Destroy(T), and this time uses it against a 2H Club being swung at him by an Ogre. The Club is not protected and is thus destroyed, but Flare still takes 11 points of Normal damage from the attack.
A spell/miracle that destroys an object (e.g. Destroy, Rust & Warp) will destroy any standard size weapon, armour location or shield. Otherwise it will destroy any object up to 1 cubic foot in size.
Note that it will only destroy that object if it is a distinct object; you cannot Destroy just 1 cubic foot of a very large rock and hence you could not use Mass Destroy to destroy a very large rock. You could use Destroy to destroy a brick and Mass Destroy to destroy a wall, since bricks would be individual objects.
Generally you can stack any number of the same spell/miracle according to the following rules:
Example: Orchid has a Death Curse 9 on him. Another Death Curse 9 is cast on him, this replace the original Death Curse 9, meaning Orchid has a further 15 minutes where he cannot be easily healed.
Example: Barel casts Ice Blade 2 for an hour on her sword. After 20 minutes she realises she need to be doing more damage briefly, so casts an Ice Blade 3 on the sword, doing Ice 3’s for 15 minutes. After that it will revert back to doing Ice 2’s for the next 25 minutes.
Example: G’Mord has 1 Willpower.
Mordred the Death Priest casts a Fear 3 at G’Mord and he runs away like a girl.
Mordakye, another Death Priest, also casts a Fear 3 at G’Mord and he must run away from Mordakye as well.
Raganar a Necromancer casts a Fear 3 at G’Mord and he must run away from Raganar as well.
Morden the final Death Priest casts a Fear 2 at G’Mord and again he runs away from him, but he does not fear him as much as Mordakye, Mordred and Rangar.
Example: G’Mord has a Dispel Miracle 5 “Fear” cast on him. This removes all the Fears on him except the one from Ragnar (since it is a spell).
Example: Barel has a Dispel Magic 3 “Ice Blade” cast on her sword. This removes all the Ice Blades on it.
Defensive spells/miracles have extra restrictions as follows:
If a character has multiple defensive spells and miracles as well as physical armour, then the Normal Armour gained is the best of the three protective values determined for each attack. Similarly, the Power Armour gained is the best of the three protective values determined for each attack.
Example: G’mord has an Iron Skin 4 cast on him, giving him 4 points of Normal Armour. A Bless 3 is then cast on him, which gives him 6 points of Normal Armour and 3 points of Power Armour against Undead attacks and Death miracles.
If G’mord is hit by a sword swung by an Orc, his Iron Skin 4 reduces the damage, as the Bless is not effective against the attack.
If G’mord is hit by a Skeleton, then the Bless reduces the damage by 6 as it provides the greater protection.
Example: Myrtal, a Priestess of Freedom, is preparing herself to face some rather nasty Skeletons. She casts Bless 4 and Life Shield 1 which are both from the same Principle of Life. In the fight, her Bless provides the most protection but she still suffers heavy damage. Once down, however, her Life Shield 1 stops her bleeding to death, at least for the duration of the miracle.
Example: Aramis is wearing Troll Studded Leather, giving him 3 Normal Armour points and 1 Power Armour points when he casts Harden 2. His Normal Armour points is taken from his physical armour while his Power Armour points is taken from the Harden, giving him 3 Normal and 2 Power armour.
Example: Dapple, a Light Mage, is under the effects of the defensive Earth spell Iron Skin 6 when she casts the Light spell Displacement 3 on herself. As Displacement is also a defensive spell, it bounces, though Dapple still has to spend the Mana.
Spells/miracles which affect weapons have extra restrictions as follows:
If multiple spells and miracles are cast on a weapon, the damage called is the best Normal and best Power damage for the opponent. Its up to the player to make sure his calls are accurate.
Example: Caffrey is involved in a fight with Skeletons led by an Orc Shaman. He has cast Bless 3 on his Staff and a friendly Mage has also cast Ice Blade 2 on it. Against the Skeletons, he calls “6 Holy 3” and against the Orc he calls “6 Ice 2”.
Example: Cedric, a Humacti, has a mace with a permanent Bless 1. If he casts Bless 3 on it, for 15 minutes the Bless 1 is displaced. If the Bless 3 is dispelled, the weapon is non-magical for the remaining duration of the Bless 3.
All Blade spells/miracles (Ice/Flame/Shadow/Chaos Blade & Unholy Strike) affect the whole weapon, but do not injure the wielder.
Example: Tinker has a standard 2H Spear (Head: Metal, Haft: Wood) with a Flame Blade 2 cast on it. This means she can do Fire 2 power damage with both ends of the spear and it protects the whole spear from being destroyed. When the Flame Blade expires, the haft is destroyed, but the head remains (and could be used as a dagger if the head meets the minimum weapon length requirements and a suitable physrep can be acquired).
Example: Gerrard has a standard 1H Mace (Head: Metal, Haft: Wood) with an Ice Blade 2 cast on it. When the Ice Blade expires, the head is destroyed, but the haft remains (and could be used as a club if the haft meets the minimum weapon length requirements and a suitable physrep can be acquired).
Despite the name of the spell, all Blade spells/miracles can be cast on any type of weapon e.g. sword, mace, staff, hammer etc.
Blade spells/miracles cannot be cast on shields.
Blade spells/miracles cannot be used on claws.
When a Blade effect is cast on a bow or crossbow the effect is passed on to the arrows as each one is shot.
Example: Hawkeye casts Flame Blade 2 on his longbow. Whilst this is in effect he can add “Fire 2” to any arrow he shoots.
If the Blade effect is protective, then it will protect the bow and the arrow whilst in flight and if it is nocked.
The limit on the amount of Strength damage that can added is due to the size of the weapon, leverage and a number of other factors. There’s only so much extra damage a strong person can do with a dagger, for example. (This also provides an in character reason why strong creatures use large, unwieldy weapons.)
When a weapon has its Normal damage boosted it does not allow more Strength to be used when wielding the weapon. For example, casting Strengthen 2 on a one handed Mace does not allow the damage bonus from Triple Strength to be added.
Aspect spells are used to modify the effect of other spells.
The Aspect spell does not have to be cast by the same caster as the spell which it modifies.
Example: Tyrion uses an item made by Tinker that he has attuned to, to cast an Iron Skin 10 on himself. Tyrion then casts Aspect of the Schools (Ice) to modify the Iron Skin to provide 8 points of normal armour and 1 point of protection again Ice.
Example: Tinker casts an Iron Skin 10 on herself. Tyrion then uses his Magic Adept ‘Self To Touch’ to cast Aspect of the Schools (Ice) on Tinker to modify the Iron Skin to provide 8 points of normal armour and 1 point of protection again Ice.
Some spells and miracles are resisted by a target’s Willpower. To determine the minimum level of Willpower required to resist the effect, half the caster’s own Willpower (rounded down) is added to the level provided by the spell/miracle, up to a maximum of double the effect.
The call for the spell/miracle is the combined Willpower total.
Example: When Archibald casts Coma 1 against an opponent, he can add half his Willpower of 2 to the spell, calling “Coma 2”. If his opponent has a Willpower less than 2, it will succumb to the spell. If his Willpower was 4, he could still only cast the Coma 1 as “Coma 2” as this is the maximum allowed effect. However, he would cast Coma 2 as “Coma 4”.
If multiple targets are effected by a spell/miracle the character can focus on one target and add half his Willpower to the effect. All other targets are only effected at the base level of the spell/miracle.
Example: Archibald casts Mass Coma 1 on a group of Goblins, focusing on their leader so he can add his Willpower against him. He calls “Mass Coma 1, Coma 2 on you (points at Leader)”.
Only a caster’s own Willpower can be used to boost a casting. Spells/Miracles that increase the caster’s Willpower cannot be used to boost castings.
Example: Traci has 2 Willpower. She casts up Willpower 2 to give her a total of 4 Willpower. When casting she can only add her own 2 Willpower (halved to 1) to spells she casts.
When suffering from a Willpower reducing spell/miracle, assume any enhanced Willpower from spells/miracle is reduced first. So you can still potentially boost spells/miracles with some/all of your natural Willpower.
Example: Traci has 2 Willpower. She casts up Willpower 2 to give her a total of 4 Willpower. She is then hit by a Demoralise 2, reducing her Willpower by 2. This effectively counteracts her cast Willpower and she can still use her natural 2 Willpower to boost spells/miracles.
Example: Traci has 2 Willpower. She is hit by a Demoralise 2, reducing her Willpower by 2 to 0. She then casts up Willpower 2 to give her a total of 2 Willpower. This cast Willpower now counteracts the Demoralise and she can still use her natural 2 Willpower to boost spells/miracles.
Spells and miracles that increase or decrease Dexterity, Toughness or Willpower do not stack with similar spells/miracles, though they do stack with the character’s skill. As with Defensive spells/miracles, the largest effect is taken.
Example Myrtal has cast Dexterity 3 on herself which combines with her Dexterity 1 skill to give her Dexterity 4.
Example Fierceheart has access to the Spellsword list, from which he casts Toughness 2 and Dexterity 2. A little later a Priest of Justice casts a Toughness 3 miracle on him, making his Toughness bonus 3. His Dexterity bonus is still 2.
When resisting spells/miracles with Willpower/Toughness/Dexterity you must have that skill currently useable, it is not sufficient just to have bought the skill.
Example: Trip can be avoided by Dexterity 4. So you also need to have at least Dexterity 4 and that must be usable, i.e. you cannot have a Dexterity Penalty due to armour (or suffering from the effects of Glowing Mark) which would reduce your Dexterity below 4.
If you initially resist a spell/miracle with Willpower/Toughness/Dexterity then that spell/miracle does not take effect on you.
If you cannot resist a spell/miracle due to having insufficient Willpower/Toughness/Dexterity, then it does not stop running if you later get a Willpower/Toughness/Dexterity boost that would have resisted the spell/miracle.
Example: G’Mord has Willpower 1. An evil death priest casts a Fear 2 at him and he runs away like a big girl. If Archibald subsequently casts an Enhance Will 1 on G’Mord, then this does not stop him being being afraid of the death priest. If any new Fear 2’s are cast at G’Mord then he can resist those whilst the Enhance Will is running.
Some spells and miracles require Strength to break out of (eg: Grip, Entangle). If the target does not have the required level of Strength or better he cannot break out of the spell/miracle on his own.
For spells/miracles requiring Strength to escape, 4 other characters can combine to lift the target out of the spells effect. For spells/miracles requiring Double Strength 8 people are required. For spells/miracles requiring Triple Strength to escape 12 people are required to free the target.
When calculating the total number of people needed to free a trapped character, those with Strength are equivalent to 4 people, Double Strength as 8 people and Triple Strength as 12 people. Thus to free a character from a Double Grip spell (which requires Double Strength) would need either 8 ordinary characters or 1 character with Strength and 4 ordinary characters or 1 character with Double Strength.
If a character has three more levels in Strength than a spell/miracle requires to break free, then he can ignore its effects. Thus a character with Quadruple Strength can ignore any spell/miracle which requires Strength to break free, a character with Quintuple Strength can ignore any spell/miracle which requires Double Strength to break free, etc.
The effects of a Poison Touch or Cause Disease happen immediately, though for damaging effects, for ease of bookkeeping, these are generally recorded at the end of the first hour and every subsequent hour until the poison/disease is cured or finished.
Example: An evil priest casts a Cause Disease (Weakness) at Tinker, as she doesn’t have any strength, she falls to the ground straight away.
Example: An evil priest casts a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4) at Tinker, after an hour she will record that she has taken 4 points of life damage and every subsequent hour thereafter until the effect ends.
If suffering from a damaging Poison Touch or Cause Disease, which is cured before it finishes, then you should record the proportional damage (round up) taken up to the point it is cured.
Example: Tinker has been suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4) for 1 minute when it is cured. She should record that she has taken 1 point of life damage at the next battleboard.
Example: Tinker has been suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4) for 16 minutes when it is cured. She should record that she has taken 2 points of life damage at the next battleboard.
If suffering from a Poison Touch or Cause Disease and exactly the same type is cast at you again, you do not suffer any additional effects.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4). An evil priest casts another Cause Disease (Drain Life 4) at her, though she suffers no additional effects.
If suffering from a Poison Touch or Cause Disease and a higher level version of the same type is cast at you again, the new casting replaces the old.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4). Then 20 minutes later an evil priest casts a Cause Disease (Drain Life 9) at her, this replaces the Cause Disease (Drain Life 4) she had. Though she should still record that she took 2 points of life damage from the original Cause Disease (Drain Life 4).
You can have multiple Poisons and/or Diseases running on you at once.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4). An evil priest casts a Cause Disease (Weakness) at her and she suffers the effects of both.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Weakness). An evil priest cast a Poison Touch (Weakness) at her. This does not have any additional effect on her (it does not mean she suffers a Double Weakness) but both the Poison Touch (Weakness) and Cause Disease (Weakness) must be cured or finished before the weakness effect ends.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4). An evil priest cast a Poison Touch (Drain Life 4) at her. She will now take 4 points of life damage every hour from the disease AND 4 points of life damage every hour from the poison.
Suffering from a damaging poison or disease does not stop you casting/meditating/praying.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4). She cast cast/pray/meditate as normal.
The only spells/miracles that will prevent the effects of a damaging poison or disease are: Life Shield (just Life damage protection) and Endurance. Generally these will only have any effect if they are active for the full duration of the poison/disease. If they are not active for the full duration, then they will still have a proportional effect (round down). Other defensive spells/miracles will not defend against a poison/disease with a damage effect as they generally operate as an external shield around the body.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4). She has a Life Shield 1 in effect for an hour. At the end of the end of the hour she will record she has take 3 points of life damage.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4). She has a Life Shield 1 in effect for 55 minutes. At the end of the end of the hour she will record she has take 4 points of life damage.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4). She has a Life Shield 2 in effect for 30 minutes. At the end of the end of the hour she will record she has take 3 points of life damage.
If a disease/poison is reduced in effectiveness by Disease/Poison Resistance, it must still be cured at the original level of the disease/poison.
If a Poison Touch or Cause Disease has a non-damaging effect like Sleep/Coma or Freeze. The effect happens instantaneously and continues for the whole duration of the poison/disease. However it can be stopped by whatever condition usually breaks the spell/miracle. It will then keep happening at 1 hour intervals until the duration ends or it is cured.
Example: Tinker is suffering from a Cause Disease (Sleep 1). As she does not have any Toughness, she falls asleep straight away. She is spotted 20mins later and damaged, this wakes her up. Then 40mins later she falls a sleep again.
A Dispel Magic/Miracle/Chaos/Death will not remove a poison/disease, as it’s the created poison/disease that’s causing the effect.
A Poison Touch or Cause Disease can be prevented by a Disruptive Aura/Spell Immunity/Chaos Resistance (Poison Touch)/Death Resistance (Cause Disease). These all work regardless of whether the poison/disease is based on a spell/miracle. For Spell Immunity the specific poison/disease must be specified and it is always classed as a miracle.
Example: Tinker is given a Disruptive Aura 2. This will prevent a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4) and a Poison Touch (Drain Life 4). It will not prevent a Cause Disease (Drain Life 9) or a Poison Touch (Drain Life 9).
Example: Tinker is given a Spell Immunity (Cause Disease [Sleep]). This will prevent any Sleep disease from affecting her, but it will not prevent a Cause Disease (Drain Life 4) affecting her or a Poison Touch (Sleep 1). It also will not prevent a Cause Disease (Sleep 1, Death Curse 4) from affecting her.
Disruptive Aura/Spell Immunity/Death Resistance provide no protection from contagious diseases.
When negating simultaneous spells/miracles, such as from a multi-cast spell/miracle, spells/miracles are negated from highest level to lowest.
Only one <Type> Resistance of any level can be cast on a character at any one time and the spell/miracle is still in effect even after it has been reduced to 0. To cast another <Type> Resistance before a previous one expires thus requires the original to be dispelled or cancelled.
If hit by a weapon (or fist/claws) and also a special effect e.g. Paralysis, Poison Touch, Cause Disease etc. then you only take the effect if you do not dodge, bounce, dodge/bounce or bruise from the attack.
Example: Kelvor has 1 toughness and is in 4 points of armour. He is attacked by a ghoul doing “2 Paralysis 3”. As the claws only cause bruising damage, he is not paralysed.
Note: If the ghoul was just calling “Paralysis 3” then Kelvor would be paralysed.
Example: Kelvor is in 2 points of power protection. He is attacked by a shadow doing “Unholy 2 Weakness”. Kelvor calls “bounce”, as his power protection protects him completely from the unholy damage and he does not take the weakness effect.
Note: If the shadow was just calling “Weakness” then Kelvor would be weaknessed.
Weapon Adept skills may mean you do take a special effect from a weapon (or fist/claw) attack, despite normally having appropriate protection.
Example: Kelvor has 1 toughness and is in 4 points of armour. He is attacked by an assassin with a dagger doing “True Strike 2 Poison Touch (Weakness)”. He takes the 2 points of damage and the weakness effect.
Endurance does not provide protection from the special effects of weapon (or fist/claw) attacks.
Example: Kelvor has 1 toughness and is in 4 points of armour, with an Endurance 3 cast up. He is attacked by a ghoul doing “6 Paralysis 3”. The Endurance stops him taking any damage, but he is still paralysed.
For spells/miracles which are Touch and target a specific location, if that location cannot be targeted (i.e. by using a ‘Touch to Range’ Spell Adept or drinking a Potion) the spell/miracle targets the following location (or locations if the effect is intelligent) in the following priority order Chest, Left Arm, Right Arm, Left Leg, Right Leg and Head if the same value:
Example: Kane has the following Body points: Head -1, Chest 7, Left Arm 7, Right Arm -6, Left Leg 4, Right Leg 4. He is hit by a Touch to Range Shocking Grasp 4. This targets the Chest, taking it to 3.
Example: Kane has the following Body points: Head -1 (and hence bleeding), Chest 3, Left Arm 7, Right Arm -6, Left Leg 4, Right Leg 4. He drinks a potion of Heal Wounds 4. This puts his Head on 3 (Since a Heal Wounds 4 is non-intelligent it all goes to the same location). If instead he could have drunk a Heal Wounds 14 potion, this would have put his Head on 3, Chest on 4 and Right Arm on 3.
Unless a Spell/Miracle explicitly states otherwise, use the following ordering for what effect takes priority:
1) Dispel Magic/Miracle
2) Disruptive Aura
3) Spell Immunity
4) <Path>/<School> Resistance
Example: Tyrion has no miracles running on him except a Chaos Resistance 2 and an Unholy Strike 1 on his Sword. He is the target of a Dispel Miracle 3. The Dispel Miracle 3 takes effect first and the Chaos Resistance 2 is dispelled.
Note that if instead the caster had specifically targeted Tyrion’s weapon with Dispel Miracle 3 “Your Sword”, then the Chaos Resistance would prevent it, using up one of its uses.
Example: Tyrion has a Chaos Resistance 1 running on him and a Spell Immunity 2 (Disruption). He is the target of a Disruption 4; his Spell Immunity protects him from this and his Chaos Resistance is not used up.
The spells/miracles detailed for the different Schools/Paths allowed to players are by no means exhaustive and characters can attempt to research and create different spells/miracles not in the lists. The player must describe the spell/miracle he wants to the Character Ref, and he will decide whether it’s suitable, what level it is, what range, exact effect, etc. To create a spell/miracle of a given level, the character must have the appropriate Ritual Magic/Religious Ceremony skill at that level (or higher).
When a character first creates a new spell/miracle, it can only be cast using Ritual Magic/Religious Ceremony. After the character has gained a sufficient understanding of the spell/miracle, he can refine it to an instant-cast spending the appropriate CPs as usual.
Once a character has researched a new spell/miracle, he can teach other characters to cast it using Ritual Magic/Religious Ceremony.
Refining a spell/miracle takes:
52 – 2 * (<your ritual level in the school/path at the start of the refining process> – <spell/miracle level>) weeks
Example: Jecub has Ritual Magic (Fire) 4. He has researched a new level 0 Fire ritual “Sear Flesh 4”. To refine this as an instant-cast spell will take him 44 weeks.
The time taken to refine a spell/miracle can also be reduced as follows:
Example: Jecub has successfully refined Sear Flesh 4 and also researched the subsequent level 1 Fire ritual “Sear Flesh 9”. To refine this as an instant-cast spell would normally take him 46 weeks. However this is reduced to 42 weeks.
Example: Jecub has successfully refined Sear Flesh 9 and also researched the subsequent level 2 Fire ritual “Sear Flesh 14”. To refine this as an instant-cast spell would normally take him 48 weeks. However this is reduced to 40 weeks.
Example: Jecub has successfully refined Sear Flesh 14 and also researched the subsequent level 3 Fire ritual “Sear Flesh 20” with the aid of Physara who also has has Ritual Magic (Fire) 4. To refine this as an instant-cast spell would normally take him 50 weeks. However this is reduced to 34 weeks.
Refining a spell/miracle cannot take less than 4 weeks.
Once a character has refined a new spell/miracle, he can teach other characters to instant-cast it.
Note that you can only research and refine one spell/miracle at a time.
If you know a standard spell/miracle as a ritual/ceremony, you can always use the refine process to learn it as an instant-cast (for example if you no longer have access to training to learn it normally).
You cannot refine a spell/miracle that is greater than level 10.