Powers

Powers are the generic description used in Savage Worlds for magical effects. Remember, a Spell is really a Power with a certain type of Trapping. While all the Powers listed here can just have a generic "ooh glowy" magic trapping, it's strongly encouraged that you create a Trapping that uniquely fits your character. For inspiration, check out the Savage Spellbook (it's a bit more combat-orientated than would be fitting for a pony game, but it has a lot examples on how to use these Power templates to craft a spell).

Powers are just a framework: a plain skeleton for mechanical effects. This is a Power. This is a Power with Trappings. In general, the Savage Worlds mindset is "pick a Trapping, then build a Power around it." See the section on Example Trappings for ways spells in the show are revisioned as Savage Worlds spells, and the Powers listed here are used as a template.

Remember, it's 1 Trapping per Power taken; if you want an additional Trapping, you'll need to take the Power again. Note that if you make your Trapping purposefully lethal (like "sharp whirling blades" for a Damage Field spell), you're going against the Friendship Is Magic goal.

Also, all duration, ranges, and spellcasting modifiers are as stated in the core rules unless changed here.

Powers from Core Rules

Ditched Powers from Core Rules

  • Drain Power Points (because we use the No Power Points Setting Rule)
  • Summon Ally (jars a little too much from pony-canon shown thus far)
    • Puppet and Zombie (we don't go for that here in pony-verse)

Changed Powers and/or Notes from Core Rules

  • Beast Friend is renamed Animal Friend for pony-flavor
  • Dispel: you need at least line of sight with an object to undo the spell (See Lesson Zero)
    • Divination: depending on your GM's view of the pony universe, this may or may not be allowed
  • Elemental Manipulation, Environmental Protection: choose an element/environment upon taking this spell (ex: you don't get all four elements or all the environments with one Power)
    • For Elemental Manipulation, if your GM allows, you can choose more varied elements such as Ice, Wood, Darkness, etc as appropriate.
  • Healing: as with the Healing skill itself, a character may only attempt to cast Healing on fresh wounds on a given patient once within the Golden Hour they were sustained.
    • This is to remove treating Wounds as a triviality with the No Power Points setting rule, because as is a character can cast Healing 600 times in the Golden Hour (1 casting per round @ 6 seconds each), which is wildly different from the original intention of the Power with PowerPoints.
    • So the Healing Power is still near-instantaneous (assuming you don't change that with Trappings; it can be used during combat, rather than the skill which takes 10minutes) and as such Healing can be cast right after each Wound is taken, since each Wound has a different Golden Hour - this means it can still be used to heal all of the Wounds from combat; you just have to be fast!
    • If you decide to use the regular Power Points rules, these limitations are removed since now you're limited by Power Points instead.
  • Greater Healing: akin to the changes made to the Healing Power, you can only cast it two times per day (as based on the 10PP original requirement)
      • Again, if you decide to use the regular Power Points rules, these limitations are removed
  • Shape Change: as per standard Core Rules, it's 1 animal Trapping per taking of the Shape Change power. If you want to change into a dog and a cat, you will have to take the Power twice.

Summary of Available Powers from Core Rules

Note that as per Savage Worlds fan-licensing rules, I can't replicate the whole text here. For Power requirements and full details, please see the core Savage Worlds rules. I'm just listing the names and a brief description of what it does here, tweaking slightly to account for the No Power Points Setting Rule.

    • Armor : get Armor 2 with success, Armor 4 with a raise
    • Banish : send ghosts/elementals/demons/etc back to their plane of existence
    • Barrier : create a 1" wall for every -2 multiple spellcasting penalty
    • Beast Friend ("Animal Friend") : allows caster to speak with creatures with animal intelligence
    • Blast : area effect attack; medium burst template for 2d6 damage, Heavy Weapon
    • Blind : temporarily blind opponents and Shake them
    • Bolt : ranged attack (aka "magic missile"), 2d6 damage per missile, range 12/24/48
    • Boost/Lower Trait : increase/lower one Trait by one die type with standard success; two die types with a raise
    • Burrow : dissolve into the ground and reappear elsewhere
    • Burst : cone-template attack for 2d10 damage
    • Confusion : target makes opposed Smarts roll or be Shaken
    • Damage Field : caster deals damage to anyone who contacts them in close combat
    • Darksight : reduce darkness penalty
    • Deflection : misdirect incoming melee and missile attacks from the user
    • Detect/Conceal Arcana : sense or hide supernatural/enchanted stuff
    • Disguise : assume appearance of another pony/being
    • Dispel : negate enemy spells
    • Divination : contact otherworldly being to gain information
    • Elemental Manipulation : perform basic "tricks" with the chosen element (Air, Earth, Fire, Water)
    • Entangle : restrain a target
    • Environmental Protection : protect target from one hazardous environment
    • Farsight : reduce ranged penalties
    • Fear : cause overwhelming dread and horror; Fear check within Large Burst Template
    • Fly : fly at basic base with Climb of 0 for 9 seconds (see MLP:SA's Gossamer Wings spell for a longer duration)
    • Greater Healing : restore Wounds more than 1hr old. Can also attempt to heal Permanent Injuries
    • Growth/Shrink : double or reduce Size of target
    • Havoc : area effect attack; throw targets in every direction
    • Healing : heal Wounds taken within Golden Hour instantly; also cures poison and disease within 10min
    • Intangibility : user becomes incorporeal
    • Invisibility : user becomes transparent or completely invisibile
    • Light/Obscure : negate or create any darkness/obscurement penalty
    • Mind Reading : read another's thoughts for 1 round
    • Pummel : cone-template attack; knock down multiple foes
    • Quickness : GO FAST (multiple turns per round)
    • Shape Change : turn into an animal for 1minute
    • Slow : movement for target is now an action (instead of a free action)
    • Slumber : area effect attack; targets fall asleep
    • Smite : increase weapon damage
    • Speak Language : target can speak, read, and write a language other than their own
    • Speed : the other GO FAST spell (increase Pace)
    • Stun : area effect attack; targets within Medium Burst Template roll Vigor or be Shaken
    • Succor : remove Fatigue
  • Telekinesis : lift 10lb per Spirit die, 50lb with a Raise; can now wield telekinetic weapons
    • Teleport : disappear and instantly reappear in another location with multiples of spellcasting penalty
    • Wall Walker : stick on surfaces and walk on walls
    • Warrior's Gift : attain effect of one Combat Edge for free, temporarily

New Powers in MLP:SA

  • BEAM OF POWAH
      • Novice, Spellcasting Modifier: 0 (or 1 PP), Range: Smarts, Duration: Instant
      • Blast them with sheer magical force! This is basically the Push maneuver using magic, with an opposed Spellcraft roll against vs the Target's Strength. You can "magically push" within a range of your Smarts, but you do not get a bonus for running (as with a normal Push maneuver).
  • Charm
      • Novice, Spellcasting Modifier: -1 (or 2 PP), Range: Smarts, Duration: 3 rounds (1/round)
      • The object of all your desires is...right...here. (Or not.) With this Power, the Charisma of the Target increases by +2; with a Raise, an additional +2
  • Empathy
    • Novice, Spellcasting Modifier: -1 (or 2 PP), Range: Spirit/2, Duration: 3 rounds (1/round)
    • Za Truth Spell (ish). Within the spell's range, the caster gets a +2 bonus to detect if the speaker is lying and basic surface emotions
  • Fortune
      • Novice, Spellcasting Modifier: -1 (or 2PP), Range: Smarts: Duration: 3 rounds (1/round)
    • Roll dem bones, I feel lucky today, boys. With a success, the target may make one re-roll during the duration of the spell, exactly as if they had a free benny. On a raise the target may make two re-rolls.
      • The effects of this spell may be stacked, though the user must keep track of individual durations.
  • Gossamer Wings
      • Veteran, Spellcasting Modifier: -2 (or 3/6PP), Range: Touch, Duration: 1 hour (1/hour)
    • This is basically a Trapping of the Fly spell. In return for having a much longer duration, the wings are extremely fragile. They'll go poof in extreme heat or if character is physically hit. At all.
  • Mend
      • Veteran, Spellcasting Modifier: Special, Range: Touch, Duration: Instant
      • Unicorns with this spell can instantly repair damage to vehicles (this doesn't apply to other objects). The spellcasting roll has a base penalty equal to a quarter of the vehicle's Toughness (round down) plus an additional penalty equal to the vehicle's Wounds.
      • Success repairs 1 Wound; Raise mends 2; the Mend spell has no effect on critical hits, nor can it be attempted multiple times on an object. You'll have to go to a real mechanic then!
  • Object Reading
    • Seasoned, Spellcasting Modifier: -1 (or 2PP), Range: Touch, Duration: Instant
    • Object Reading is the ability to see the past of a specific, inanimate, discrete object you can hold, discovering who held it, where it has been, and such like.
    • A success allows the caster to see previous owners of the object, starting with the most recent and working backward. A raise provides more accurate details. The caster sees only images - they can't learn the owner’s name or current whereabouts through this power.
  • Transfiguration
      • Special, Spellcasting Modifier: Special, Range: Touch, Duration: 1 minute
      • We've seen Twilight turn apples into oranges, now you can too! This is the Shape Change spell for inanimate discrete objects.
      • As is standard, you get one Trapping per Power, which in this case is the final object. (Aka you can turn an apple, donut, and coffee mug all into an orange with 1 Trapping of the Transfiguration Power.)
    • The relative sizes of the Before and After object must be similar, and the Before and After objects must be a single, inanimate, discrete object. (Things with multiple parts don't count.) The After object is always the same (ie, you can't alter the color, or transfigure anything into any key you want). A critical failure means the two objects are mashed together.
    • The spellcasting penalty is based on the After object:
        • Novice: 0: tiny things, like candy pieces and pens and matches
        • Seasoned: -1: slightly larger things, like oranges, mustaches, horseshoes
        • Veteran: -2: volleyballs, cake pans
        • Heroic: -4: small bush, chairs
        • Legendary: -5: door panel (but not the doorknob, since that's a separate part), small trees
  • Sanctify
    • Novice, Spellcasting Modifier: -1 (or 2PP), Range: Spirit, Duration: 3 rounds (1/round)
    • You. Shall not. Pass! Sanctify imposes a barrier that keeps out unwanted ghosts, ethereal enemies, or other Bad Supernatural Creatures.
    • A successful casting centers a Medium Burst Template around the caster, where entities that wish to cross the barrier must make an opposed Spirit check against the caster's Spellcraft skill; if they fail, they cannot pass the barrier. Sanctify doesn't prevent entities from normal actions such as Intimidation or throwing physical objects.
  • The Sixth Element
    • Seasoned, Spellcasting Modifier: -1 (or 2PP), Range: Spirit, Duration: 3 rounds (1/round)
    • With this power you may spark the friendship of magic to all your friends!
    • A successful casting increases your Command range by 5":
      • Ie, if you don't have the Command edge (aka your Leadership rolls only inspires adjacent allies), your Leadership rolls now have a range of 5" for the duration of this Power. If you have the Command edge, it increases to 10" (as with Command Presence), and with Command Presence it increases to 15".
    • In addition, during Combat, all your Leadership rolls get a +2 bonus, or +4 with a Raise on the casting of this spell.

Example Trappings

    • Cloudwalking Spell - simple Trapping of Environmental Protection
    • Shadow Walk - Luna's version of the Burrow spell ;D
    • Rapidash - Twilight's fire Damage Field effect in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" 8D
    • Bad Fashion Sense - Rarity's use of the Entangle power to tie up those that offend her fashionista sensibilities
    • Gem-Finding Spell - Rarity's use of Elemental Manipulation (Earth) to find precious gems
    • Come-To-Life Spell - Twilight's attempt in "Winter Wrap-Up," this is basically a trapping of the Greater Telekinesis spell
    • Flaming Horseshoes - Smite with a fire trapping on yon horseshoes
    • Let There Be Chocolate Rain - Flood the area with chocolate rain, throwing everypony every which way with the Havoc power
    • Dangerous Decibels - Vinyl Scratch, oversized speakers, and the Pummel power with a Sound trapping to blow you away
    • Anti-Gravity Spell - Twilight's version of the Wall Walker spell in "The Crystal Empire, pt2"
    • Want It Need It - a spectacular over-use of the Charm spell ;D
    • Look, Puppies! - Everypony loves adorable cute puppies. Quick, distract them by create a momentary illusion cute furry fluffy puppies of d'aww and distract the opponent with the Confusion power!
    • Celestia's Blessing - draw strength from the sun and endow the target with its protection; a form of the Armor spell