* Sorcery (Spells & Rituals)
Sorcery of Hyadian Schism (Cantrips, Spells, Rituals and Patron Sorcery):
Click on links to see the assorted types of Sorcery available by catagory:
What if I don't have the material component?:
Rituals will automatically fail without material components (If it requires them, that is.)
Spells will have their DIFFICULTY INCREASED BY FIFTEEN if the physical component is not available (If required) when cast. CERTAIN CLASS ABILITIES and LEVEL GAINED ABILITIES may negate the need or penalty for lack of physical components, so be sure to consult such rules which will override this.
Why do I need physical components and why is the GM enforcing this?:
Sorcery in this Hyadian Schism's re-interpretation of Geoffrey's Carcosa game. As such the requirement of such items allows a certain amount of A) Game balance and B) A purpose for a Sorcerer character to keep traveling and/or align with a group of adventurers to obtain the components they need. This also gives plenty of reasons for Sorcerer's to find use in hiring adventurers to seek out the things they requires for their rituals and spells.
A wise Sorcerer will have caches of surplus components stored. In most cases such items will be far more valuable than gold.
Notes on Sorcery in Hyadian Schism:
The spells do not have levels. This has been replaced with an Arcane skill check rating. Critical success & failures have various effects, much like spells in Dungeon Crawl Classics. They are also not forgotten when cast. They cost an amount of power points.
All spells are designed to increase in power based on the level of the caster. Some spells may be extremely difficult for low level characters to cast or make effective use of.
SORCERY IS DANGEROUS AND UNSTABLE!!! Miscasting a spell can have corruption consequences. Critical Fumbles with Sorcery can be devastating on a massive scale, destroying and/or changing the landscape even!
Taking damage while spell casting:
If the sorcerer takes damage mid way though casting a spell, he/she makes a Touch Will save for each hit taken with a penalty equal to hit points damage taken. If the sorcerer makes all required saves, he/she rolls for spell success like usual when spell casting is finished.
If the sorcerer fails any of the Will saves from taking damage mid-casting, the spell fails and the character has a 1 in 6 chance of losing the normally consumed by the spell components from the miscast and taking the cast corruption effects for improperly casting the spell. (listed in spell description.)
Every Three Full Levels:
Many of the spells and rituals listed below have a modifier based on every three full levels.
The following is to give a rough idea how this works.
Level: Modifier:
1-2 0 No modifiers
3-5 1 unit modifier (listed in spell/ritual)
6-8 2 unit modifier (listed in spell/ritual)
9-11 3 unit modifier (listed in spell/ritual)
12-14 4 unit modifier (listed in spell/ritual)
15 5 unit modifier (listed in spell/ritual)
Unit Modifier = whatever was listed every three full levels. (Examples: -2 to save throws, +1D6 damage, +1 to hit, etc...)
Casting Time:
This is determined by the individual spell/ritual modified by Sorcerer's level.
* Most casting time is listed in # action.
* Since most Sorcerers will only have one standard action per Melee round, this usually means melee rounds of prep time before it goes off
on the following melee round.
* If the sorcerer has more than one action per melee round then subtract from casting time accordingly.
* Any sorcery brought down to a cast time of 0 actions means that it goes off on the following melee round. (or available action)
* Any sorcery brought down to a cast time of less than zero is considered a free action and can be instantly cast while preparing another
spell. If all spells being cast are considered free actions, you can fire off as many spells as you have free actions.
In the case of spells, if the casting time is reduced to zero or less, the spell is considered a free action and the Sorcerer can perform a normal attack actions in addition, however cannot cast or start to cast another spell, even if it is a zero casting time spell. The Sorcerer can however use this time to prepare foci & components for the next spell.
Rituals reduced to zero or less will always have an absolute minimum of one melee round required to perform them.
Slow casting time and physical components are why low level Sorcerers need allies/minions to survive in addition to being almost universaly feared and hated.
Sorcerers learning new spells/rituals:
Aside from possible SAN or Corruption risks from certain ancient scrolls, tomes, etc, the sorcerer need only make an Arcane Difficulty skill check equal to or exceeding a spell/ritual to be learned. If failed, the Sorcerer can try again, though this is determined by the chart:
Sorcerer Level: Delay between attempts to learn spells:
1-2 1 Week (game time)
3-5 24 hours (game time)
6-8 12 hours (game time)
9-11 6 hours (game time)
12-14 3 hours (game time)
15 1 hour (game time)
Non- Sorcerers attempting to learn/cast spells & rituals:
Normally only a Sorcerer or a character who has at higher levels taken the "Other Class Ability" of the Sorcerer to cast spells/rituals will be casting spells.
Other character types can attempt to learn and cast them, but the risk of performing such Sorcery becomes much MUCH riskier.
Penalties of Non-Sorcerers attempting Sorcery:
* Non-Sorcerers risk Corruption Chance just by attempting to learn a spell or ritual AND have a -5 to the Arcane check to learn the spell/ritual.
* PP cost is doubled.
* Casting Time is doubled.
* Time to learn the spell/ritual and delay between attempts to learn the spell are double the amount listed above in "Sorcerers learning new spell/rituals".
* Arcane Difficulty level is raised by ten points. (only raised by five if your character had Background: Sorcerers)
* Corruption Chance is automatic on any failed spell/ritual casting. (see @ code below for exceptions)
* Any casting check failed by the listed Corruption Chance is treated as a Critical Fumble. (see @ code below for exceptions)
* Casting, successful or not costs the character 1D4 SAN. (see @ code below for exceptions)
* In other words, non sorcerers really should not fuck with sorcery. It's dangerous enough for those who know how to use it!
EXCEPTION CODES:
@ (Ignore if your character had Background: Sorcerers)
Anytime the Sorcerer fails a casting roll by the Corruption Chance penalty or more, roll for a Sorcerous Miscast as well as listed Corruption notes.
Sorcourus Critical Success:
Anytime a Sorcerer rolls a Natural Twenty on a spell or ritual check, consult the Sorcerous Evolution link and see Sorcerous Innovation below.
In addition, the Sorcerer gains a +1 specialization in that particular spell or ritual.
Sorcerous Critical Failure/Mishaps:
Anytime a Sorcerer rolls a Natural One on his/her Arcane spell check, consult the Sorcerous Mishap link below.
* Sorcerous Critical Failure/Mishaps
Sorcerous Corruption:
If a miscast spell calls for it or through level advancement, consult the link below for Sorcerous Corruptions.
Note: Sorcerers who have maintained a Lawful affiliation above their Chaos affiliation when gaining a Corruption should roll on the Lawful Corruption Table:
Lawful Affiliated Sorcerers are rare but not impossible. One might seek the path of Sorcery to contain and banish Great Old Ones and their kind from the world. Their corruptions should reflect this:
Sorcerous Boons/Evolution:
If you roll a natural 20 when performing a spell or ritual consult the this link: Sorcerous Boons/Evolution
Sorcerous Innovation:
When a Sorcerer has a Critical Success (Natural 20 on the Arcane check to cast a spell or perform a ritual), he/she may attempt to roll their
level in Sorcerer on D20 or less. If successful, the character has received a vision of where to find and learn a new spell or ritual. Such methods of learning said spell/ritual should have any penalties halved (or the particular spell/ritual in question, not any others that might be available though the same Sorcerer, Monolith, Ancient Scrolls, etc...) and the character should also receive a bonus of plus one per three full levels of the character to assist in the learning of the spell/ritual in question.
In most cases the GM should allow the player to choose the spell or ritual that his/her character receives a vision of, unless said spell/ritual
states in it's description that it can only be discovered by specific means. See spell/ritual list at bottom of this page and the Carcosa book.
Sorcerous Sacrifice:
Anytime a Sorcerer wishes to attempt to call upon a higher power to aid with his/her Sorcery, consult the Sorcerous Sacrifice link below.
Some of these are totally new spells, while some of the others are renamed & somewhat rewritten spells from other game systems: