See Radiation
Sense Life
Sense Spirit
Astral Vision ✧
Awaken Craft Spirit
Final Rest
Seek Radiation
Affect Spirit
Animation ✧
Create Animal
Irradiate
Materialize
Projection
Rider Within
Solidify
Soul Rider
Summon Spirit
Turn Spirit
Turn Zombie
Zombie
Astral Block
Banish
Beast Possession
Control Zombie
Create Mount
Create Servant
Cure Radiation ✧
Dispel Creation
Dispel Possession
Ethereal Body ✧
Independence (Creation)
Planar Summons
Possession ✧
Radiation Jet
Resist Radiation
Repel Spirits
Skull-Spirit
Solidify
Summon Demon
Zombie Summoning
Animate Shadow
Bind Spirit ✧
Breathe Radiation ✧
Control Creation
Create Warrior
Entrap Spirit
Exchange Bodies ✧
Extinguish Radiation ✧
Initiative (Creation)
Lich ✧
Mass Zombie ✧
Permanent Beast Possession ✧
Permanent Possession ✧
Soul Jar ✧
Wraith ✧
Makes all radioactive items visible in the subject’s field of vision. Each such item glows in proportion to its activity.
Items hidden under clothes, behind walls, etc., give off a glow depending on the amount of radiation getting through the shielding. Spells such as Radiation Jet also become visible.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 3 to cast.
2 to maintain.
Tells the caster if there is any life in the subject area, and gives a general impression (on a good roll) of what kind. The caster can also specify he is looking for a specific sort of life: plants, elves, redheaded girls, or a named person who the caster knows.
Base cost: 1⁄2 (minimum 1).
Find any ghosts, spirits, undead, or similar supernatural entities within the area of effect. On a good roll, it gives a general impression of what kind of being is present. The caster may, at the time of casting, limit the spell to a specific type of entity, or exclude a given type.
Base cost: 1/2 (minimum 1).
Prerequisites: Sense Life
See insubstantial entities.
Examples include ghosts and subjects of Ethereal Body, Projection, or Astral Trip spells.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 4 to cast.
2 to maintain.
Prerequisites: Sense Spirit.
Every well-crafted object, whether a tool, a weapon, or a work of art, may contain a spirit slumbering within it.
This spell allows the caster to awaken the spirit of any item created by an artisan with a margin of success by 5 or more (the GM can assume this was the case for an artisan with skill of at least 15, or for any fine or very fine item). Any item created with Inspired Creation has a craft spirit. The spirit can answer one question per minute regarding its maker or any of its owners. The spirit remains awake for the duration of the spell; it may remain awake or return to sleep when the spell expires, according to its own whim.
Not every setting has craft spirits; if the GM does not feel that they are appropriate to the setting, this spell does not exist.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 3 to cast. 1 to maintain.
Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisites: Inspired Creation and Sense Spirit.
When cast on a dead body, this spell renders the subject immune to all Necromantic magic. The spirit of the deceased cannot be summoned, nor can the body be animated (or Resurrected). It has no physical effect on the body. The spell may be cast at any time after the subject dies, but there is a cumulative -1 penalty for each month that the subject has been dead, to a maximum of -10. Any given caster may attempt the spell only once per subject.
This spell has no effect on a living person, and will not affect the undead who have already risen. In many settings, this spell is an intrinsic part of funeral rites, and may be restricted to the clergy. GMs may wish to change the prerequisite from Magery to Power Investiture or Blessed. In other settings, this spell is unnecessary; ordinary nonmagical funeral rites are sufficient to safe-guard the dead from necromancy.
It is usually assumed that this spell functions by sending the soul of the deceased from the mortal plane into the presence of their deity. Some, however (usually members of one death-cult or another), believe that this spell works by destroying the disembodied spirits of the dead!
Duration: Permanent.
Cost: 20.
Time to cast: Minimum 10 minutes.
This spell is always cast ceremonially.
Identifies the direction and approximate distance of the nearest significant source of radiation of any sort. The caster can also specify that he is looking for a specific sort of radiation (gamma, neutron, etc.). Any known radioactive sources may be excluded if the mage specifies them before casting. Use the long-distance modifiers.
Cost: 3.
Time to cast: 10 seconds.
Prerequisite: See Radiation.
When cast on a person or object, this spell allows the subject to interact with incorporeal spirits as if they were solid. A weapon with this spell on it can harm an insubstantial spirit.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 4 to cast.
2 to maintain.
Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Prerequisite: Solidify.
Summon a spirit (IQ 9) to animate an existing statue, painting, or other item. The object that is animated must depict or represent a human or animal. Its abilities and attributes depend on its body. This is entirely up to the GM– for instance, a painting could talk, but not move around while a statue might leave its base and move freely. Within its limitations, the animated object will follow the caster’s verbal orders; it has no judgment and will carry out its orders precisely.
Unlike a golem, it cannot be instructed to follow another person’s orders.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 3, multiplied by SM+1 for objects larger than human size.
Half that to maintain.
Double cost to animate stone;
Triple to animate metal.
Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisite: Summon Spirit.
Create an animal (IQ 5 or less) that does your mental bidding while it exists. A created living being continues to exist until the caster stops maintaining the spell, or until it is killed, at which point it vanishes.
A living creation must be identical to a “real” living being with which the caster is familiar. You cannot create an imaginary being, or even a real creature of which you have only heard stories. Neither can you create a bear with poison fangs . . . but some wizards occasionally research private variations on the spell to make unusual creatures.
Create Animal may also be used to create a swarm of small creatures (p. B461). A “swarm” costs 2 energy to create.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 2,
2(1+SM) for animals larger than SM 0.
Half that to maintain.
Time to cast: Equal to cost, in seconds.
Prerequisites: Create Water, Create Object, and IQ 12 or higher.
The caster must strike the subject to trigger this spell; hit location is irrelevant. The subject takes 1d+1 damage per point of energy in the spell.
Armor does not protect. This spell does affect the undead.
Cost: 1 to 3.
Makes an area radioactive.
Duration: 1 hour.
Base cost: 1 per 10 rads/hour.
Half that to maintain.
Prerequisites: Seek Radiation.
Special Spell; Resisted by ST or IQ
This spell is used by ghosts and other spirits who cannot ordinarily become visible to beings in the physical world.
The spell can also be used by a mage to force a spirit to materialize; in that case, the ghost resists with the better of its ST and IQ.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 5 to cast.
5 to maintain.
Prerequisite: Summon Spirit.
The caster briefly projects his mind away from his body, to any spot within line of sight (use long-distance modifiers), to peruse his surroundings from a different viewpoint.
His projected self is totally insubstantial and can only see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. Its presence can be detected by Astral Vision, Sense Spirit, Sense Observation, or the like; it is otherwise imperceptible.
The Projection cannot cross an Astral Block, Pentagram, or an Utter spell. Repel Spirits will resist its intrusion.
The Projection cannot move; it can only turn to look in different directions. The body is catatonic for the duration of the spell; it cannot act. If someone attacks the body, the spell is broken automatically.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 4 to cast.
2 to maintain.
Time to cast: 3 seconds.
Prerequisites: Sense Spirit and at least four Knowledge spells.
Works on any type of animal (but not sapient beings). This is the animal version of the Soul Rider spell. The caster becomes able to see through the subject’s eyes, hear through its ears, etc, as long as he concentrates. (He also remains aware of his own body and may act normally.) The caster exerts no control whatsoever over the subject, and the subject is unaware the caster is “watching.”
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 4 to cast.
1 to maintain.
Time to cast: 3 seconds.
Prerequisites: The caster must also know the (Animal) Control spell for the type of animal being “ridden” before he can use this spell on that type of animal.
Regular Spell; Resisted by Will
The caster can see through the subject’s eyes, hear through his ears, etc., whenever he concentrates. (The caster also remains aware of his own body and may act normally). The caster exerts no control whatsoever over the subject, and does not know the subject’s thoughts. The subject must be sapient (IQ 6 or better). Skill is at -2 if the subject is of a different race; if the subject is totally alien, -4 or more!
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 5 to cast.
2 to maintain.
Time to cast: 3 seconds.
Prerequisite: Mind-Reading.
Information Spell; Resisted by spirit's Will
Talk to the spirit of a dead person.
The subject resists at -5 if he was a friend of the caster. If the spell succeeds, the subject will answer one question, to the best of his knowledge as of the time he died, and one more per minute he remains.
If the spell fails, that caster (or ceremonial group) may not summon that spirit again for one year. A critical failure means the caster summoned a malign spirit, who lies deliberately.
Modifiers:
-5 if you don’t know the subject’s full name.
-1 if it has been more than a week since the subject’s death,
-2 if more than a month,
-3 if more than a year,
-4 if more than 10 years,
-5 if more than 50 years,
-6 if more than 500 years.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 20 to cast.
10 to maintain.
Halve these costs if the spell is cast at the site of death or over the corpse of the person being contacted; quarter these costs if both conditions are met.
Time to cast: 5 minutes.
Prerequisites: Sense Spirit
Regular Spell; Resisted by Will
Causes a single subject in spirit form to retreat from the caster. The caster must be able to see the subject. The subject moves away from the caster at its current maximum Move until the spell ends or the caster loses sight of it. The subject cannot attack the caster in any way during this time; this includes the use of special powers and spells.
If the spirit possesses a living entity, Turn Spirit will not force the spirit out of its host. Instead, the spirit will flee using the host’s body.
Duration: 10 seconds.
Cost: 4 to cast.
2 to maintain.
Every point of extra casting energy reduces the spirit’s resistance by 1.
Prerequisites: Fear and Sense Spirit.
Inflicts 1d of injury on anything in the area that was animated using the Zombie spell; DR does not protect. In addition, roll 1d for each zombie. On a 1, it turns and flees from the caster.
Duration: Successfully turned undead will avoid the caster for one day.
Base cost: 2.
Cannot be maintained; must be recast.
Time to cast: 4 seconds.
Prerequisite: Fear and Zombie.
The subject of this spell must be a relatively complete dead body. The nature and condition of the corpse determines the nature of the undead creature produced. The animated corpse becomes an undead servant of the caster. Its attributes are based on those of the original body, as are its physical advantages and DX-based skills. It does not have the “soul,” mental traits, IQ-based skills, or memories of the living person. The GM will determine its exact abilities, as appropriate to the campaign.
Duration: The zombie remains animated until destroyed.
Cost: 8.
Time to cast: 1 minute.
Prerequisites: Summon Spirit and Lend Vitality.
No spirit or insubstantial being may cross an astral block’s boundaries for the duration of the spell. In addition, insubstantial creatures within an astral block cannot become substantial, and vice versa. Thus, a sorcerer could not cast Ethereal Body within the area of a spell, while a ghost would be unable to use Solidify. A ghost already in a tangible state could not become insubstantial!
Duration: 10 minutes.
Base Cost: 4 to cast if cast as a normal Area spell.
15 if cast on a container.
Half to maintain.
Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Prerequisites: Summon Spirit and Repel Spirits.
Special Spell; Resisted by Will
Sends an extradimensional visitor (e.g., a demon) back to its plane of origin. It can only be cast by a caster in his home dimension. In an alien plane, you could not “banish” yourself back home, but a native of that plane could banish you. This spell will not work on a creature that is already in its home dimension.
Resolve the Banish attempt as a Quick Contest: the caster’s Banish skill vs. the subject’s Will. If the caster wins, the subject immediately returns to its home plane. It cannot return for one month. Anything that it brought with it when it appeared (e.g., weapons) will vanish with it. Other things it may be carrying (e.g., screaming victims) stay behind.
Note that certain powerful creatures are resistant or even immune to this spell.
Modifiers:
+4 if the caster knows the entity’s “true name”;
-5 if the caster does not know the subject’s plane of origin
And an extra -1 if he believes he knows where the creature came from, but is wrong!
Cost: 1 point per 10 character points the subject is worth. Minimum energy cost is 10.
*The caster will not know in advance how much energy the spell will require, and may fall unconscious or even wound himself in casting the Banish.
Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisites: Magery 1 and at least one spell from each of 10 different colleges.
Regular Spell; Resisted by Will
Like Rider Within – except caster is in full control of the subject, “from the inside,” and has full access to the beast’s memories and abilities. While in the subject’s body, the caster may use all its skills and abilities as though they were his own. He may use his own mental abilities, but not his physical ones (so he cannot cast spells unless he knows them so well that they require no speech or gesture).
The caster’s own body lies unconscious during the spell, and must be safeguarded.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 6 to cast. 2 to maintain.
Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisite: Rider Within or Possession.
Regular Spell; Resisted by Zombie spell
Take control of an undead creature raised with the Zombie spell by some other wizard. If the caster wins a Quick Contest of Spells with the original Zombie spell, the undead in question will obey the caster as if he had raised it. The Zombie spell resists at +2 if the original caster is within 100 yards, and at -2 if he is dead.
Duration: Permanent.
Cost: 3.
Prerequisite: Zombie.
Create a stupid but obedient mount on which to ride while it exists. It can also be used as a draft animal. The mount’s traits are equivalent to a pony (p. B460), but the caster sets its appearance at casting time; it can be a horse, camel, dolphin, dwarf elephant, huge ostrich, or anything else the GM agrees to (use the Create Animal guidelines). The mount can only understand very simple spoken commands, such as stop, go, left, right, about face, etc. It is under the GM’s control and cannot fight or handle confusing situations; it has no skills. Faced with danger, it will whimper, bolt, or simply vanish.
The caster may also choose to create a Brute mount with ST 35, a Winged mount with Move 7/14, a Racing mount with Move 18, or a War-Trained mount that remains calm in dangerous situations and can be ordered to trample or attack.
Duration: 1 hour.
Cost: 8 to cast.
3 to maintain.
Double the cost for a Brute mount,
Double the cost for a Winged mount,
Double the cost for a War-Trained mount,
Double the cost for a Racing mount.
Triple the cost for a Winged Racing mount, etc.
Time to cast: 3 seconds.
Prerequisites: Create Animal.
Creates a stupid but obedient servitor (all attributes equal to 9) to do the caster’s bidding. The caster determines the servant’s appearance. This same spell can also create a Brute – a servant with ST of 16, and all other attributes at 9. Or it can create a servant with attributes at 9 and one non-combat non-IQ-based skill at level 16.
Any created servant follows simple spoken commands, delivers verbal messages, etc. It is under the GM’s control. It cannot fight or handle confusing situations; it has no skills.
Faced with danger, it whimpers, flees, or simply vanishes. If questioned, it knows only who its master is and what its orders are.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 3 to cast.
1 to maintain.
For a Skilled Servitor,
4 to cast; 2 to maintain.
For a Brute, 6 to cast;
2 to maintain.
Time to cast: 3 seconds.
Prerequisites: IQ 12 or higher, and Create Animal.
Heals the subject of radiation damage; this spell reduces the inherent radiation dose in the subject’s body, including the 10% “permanent” retained dose (the permanent dose, however, is the last to be healed). It does not restore already-lost HP or other injury, which must be healed by other means.
This is also a Healing spell.
Duration: The dose is cured permanently.
Cost: 1 per 10 rads removed from the subject’s body; minimum cost 5.
Time to cast: 30 seconds.
Prerequisites: Resist Radiation and Major Healing.
Regular Spell; Resisted by subject spell
Destroys any sort of Creation.
Cost: 1 to dispel a nonliving subject, or 3 to dispel a living creation.
Prerequisite: Create Animal, or Create Object.
Regular Spell; Resisted by spell on subject
Ends any Soul Rider, Control, or Possession spell (or their animal equivalents) affecting the subject.
Cost: 10.
Time to cast: 10 seconds.
Prerequisite: Soul Rider, or Possession.
The subject becomes ethereal and can move through solid objects and creatures as if they were not there.
His clothes become ethereal, but not his equipment. He cannot wield weapons or move things about, and does not need to breathe, eat, or drink while ethereal. He has, in most respects, become a ghost. He can be seen, though he has a translucent appearance, and can be heard if he speaks.
Physical attacks and most magic cannot affect someone who is ethereal. However, any spell of the Colleges of Mind and Soul that target the mind or soul of the subject have normal effect on an ethereal person, and is Resisted at -2!
Ethereal individuals can use magic, but at a -5 to skill; the ethereal plane appears to be a low-mana area.
Ethereal bodies can interpenetrate, and cannot harm each other except with spells, as above.
Duration: 10 seconds.
Cost: 8 to cast. 4 to maintain.
Time to cast: 30 seconds.
Prerequisites: Magery (Body) 2
This spell can be used with any controlled creation or animated object. It lets the caster “program” the creation to move about, speak, and even react in predetermined ways. All this is done with no further concentration on the caster’s part; it does not count as a separate spell “on.” If faced with something for which it is not “programmed,” it may do nothing, at the GM’s whim.
Duration: As long as the creation or animation lasts.
Base cost: 2. Does not require maintenance.
Time to cast: As long as it takes the casting player to describe the instructions to the GM, or to read them aloud if they are in writing (writing them down can save arguments!).
Complex instructions take a long time to cast.
Minimum 5 seconds.
Prerequisite: Create Animal.
Summons a creature, such as a demon or a Thing Man Was Not Meant To Know, from another plane of existence. The GM determines the predisposition and abilities of this being.
Each plane requires a different Planar Summons spell. Some exceptionally potent entities might require their own spells! If the version of Planar Summons used does not specify an individual entity, the caster has no control over whom the spell summons.
Planar Summons cannot be used on the plane for which it is intended.
When the creature appears, the caster must immediately try to control it. Treat this as a Quick Contest between the caster’s Planar Summons skill and the entity’s Will. The caster is at +4 if he knows the creature’s “true name.”
If the caster wins, he can give the creature a single command, which it must carry out. On completing this task – or after one hour in any event – the entity usually vanishes. However, some powerful entities can stay for as long as they wish . . .
If the caster ties or loses, the creature will react badly. An “evil” being commits violence or vandalism, while a “good” one is more likely to depart in a huff and put in a bad word with the caster’s gods. Wild or chaotic creatures are liable to engage in theft and mischief. Extremely alien entities might react in disturbing and unpredictable ways.
Duration: Until the task is done or one hour, whichever is less.
Cost: 1 point per 10 character points used to build the summoned entity. Minimum energy cost is 20 (although this will not always summon a 200-point being). The GM secretly determines the capabilities of all summoned creatures.
Cannot be maintained.
Time to cast: 5 minutes.
Prerequisites: Magery (Arcana) 3.
Regular Spell; Resisted by Will
Like Control Person – except the victim is unconscious throughout the “possession,” and the caster has full access to the subject’s memories, skills, and spells. While in the subject’s body, the caster has his own skills and spells, and may use all the subject’s skills, spells, and memories as though they were his own (the subject’s physical skills are at -1).
The caster’s own body lies unconscious during the spell, and must be safeguarded.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 10 to cast.
4 to maintain.
Time to cast: 1 minute.
Prerequisite: Control Person or Beast Possession.
Shoot an invisible beam of radiation from one finger. Each turn, the caster rolls versus DX-4 or Innate Attack skill to hit. This attack may be dodged or blocked (though only shields which are impervious to radiation will be any use), but not parried. The jet inflicts 10 rads per point of energy in the spell to a human-sized target.
The spell can also fog photographic films, scramble electronics, and so on.
Duration: 1 second.
Cost: 1 to 3.
Range in yards is equal to energy cost.
Same cost to maintain.
Prerequisites: Irradiate and Resist Radiation.
The subject (person, creature or object) and anything he carries becomes resistant to radiation. This is expressed in terms of Protection Factor.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 1 for PF 10, 2 for PF 100, 3 for PF 1,000.
Half that (round up) to maintain.
Prerequisites: Irradiate.
Repels spirits from an area. The spell resists attempts by spirits (as well as other insubstantial beings such as an Ethereal Body or Astral Trip subject) to enter it or stay in it.
Each spirit may try to enter the area once per hour, rolling a Regular Contest between its Will and the caster’s effective skill (each stage of the Contest lasts a second). Once inside, the invader resists with its Will; the spirit is expelled from the area on its first failure.
Duration: 1 hour.
Base cost: 4 to cast.
Half that to maintain.
Time to cast: 10 seconds.
Prerequisites: Banish and Turn Spirit.
Summons a ghostly assassin to do the caster’s bidding. Requires the skull of a sapient creature, which is destroyed in the casting.
See the bottom of the page for details on the Skill-Spirit.
Duration: The spirit lasts for 24 hours unless destroyed first.
Cost: 20.
Prerequisites: Create Servant and Summon Spirit.
Special Spell; Resisted by ST or IQ
This spell is used by insubstantial spirits to become tangible and affect objects and creatures in the substantial world. A tangible spirit is in all respects like a normal physical being.
The spell can also be used by a mage to force a spirit to solidify; in that case, the ghost resists with the better of its ST and IQ.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 50 to cast.
10 to maintain.
Prerequisite: Materialize.
This version of Planar Summons raises demons; see that spell description for details. If the caster fails to control the demon, it always attacks him! If it cannot reach the caster (if, for example, the caster is protected by a Pentagram), the demon will vanish (if trapped) or escape to wreak havoc in the outside world.
If he manages to control the demon and give it a command, the demon will carry out the letter of its orders, doing its best to pervert their spirit to the caster’s disfavor. It will also work incidental mischief, unless specifically instructed not to.
At the GM’s discretion, a caster may summon a flock of minor demons whose values add up to 200 character points or less (a caster summoning minor demons may never spend more than 20 energy on this spell). In this case, the caster controls the entire flock at once, contesting the highest Will in the flock. A flock of minor demons is not restrained to a single task; they always stay for the entire duration of the spell.
Duration: Until the demon’s task is done, or one hour, whichever is less.
Cost: 1 point per 10 character points used to build the demon(s).
Minimum energy cost is 20 (this may not always summon a 200-point being). Those tempted to summon powerful demons should bear in mind that such demons tend to have high Will, with all that implies for control . . .
Time to cast: 5 minutes.
Prerequisites: Planar Summons.
Calls the nearest zombie to the caster (for the purposes of this spell, a zombie is any undead creature created with the Zombie spell). Range is irrelevant. Upon a successful casting, the caster knows the location of the closest zombie (any known zombies may be excluded if the caster mentions them before casting) and how long it will take to reach him. The zombie moves toward the caster as fast as it can, until it can see him or the spell ends. If it can reach the caster, it stays nearby, without attacking or obeying, until the spell ends. The spell is broken by any attack on the zombie, and if the zombie fails to reach the caster before the spell duration ends, it will simply turn and go about its business, or wander off if it had none.
Zombies will not answer the summons if it conflicts with their master’s orders (so you cannot Summon zombies away from whatever they were guarding, for instance).
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 5 to cast.
2 to maintain.
To call many zombies, double the cost.
All zombies within a 10-mile radius (more for a very successful casting) will be summoned.
Time to cast: 4 seconds.
Prerequisite: Zombie.
Summons a spirit that animates the subject’s shadow and attacks him. The shadow has IQ 9, HT 10, DX equal to the caster’s effective skill, and ST and Move equal to the subject’s ST and Move. The shadow wields whatever weapon the subject had in hand at casting time (even if he drops it later on!), inflicting basic damage only (ignore cutting and impaling bonuses) as fatigue. Armor does not protect, but the shadow’s attacks may be parried or blocked if the weapon or shield used to defend is one that the subject had when the spell was cast. When the subject’s FP reaches zero, he falls unconscious and the spell is broken. An animated shadow may be attacked as per a Body of Shadow subject (see p. 114); if its HP reaches zero, it is “killed” and the subject regains his normal shadow.
Duration: 5 seconds.
Cost: 4.
Same cost to maintain.
Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Prerequisites: Skull-Spirit and Shape Darkness.
Regular Spell; Resisted by spirit's IQ
Similar to Enslave, but for spirits. Like Enslave, it allows mental contact with a turn of concentration.
There is a separate Bind Spirit spell for each Command Spirit spell. The spirit may interpret its orders creatively, as per Command Spirit.
Duration: Permanent.
Cost: 1 per 3 character points used to build the spirit (minimum cost 30).
Time to cast: 5 minutes.
Prerequisites: Command Spirit (same type), and Soul Jar.
Similar to Radiation Jet, except that the radiation issues from the caster’s mouth and it cannot be maintained. Caster rolls to hit against DX-4 or Innate Attack skill. This counts as an action; the caster must be facing his target. No hand gestures are required to cast this spell; certain lip and tongue motions are made instead.
Thus Breathe Radiation can be cast “no hands” at any level of skill.
Duration: 1 second.
Cost: 1 to 4.
Cannot be maintained.
Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Prerequisites: Resist Radiation and Radiation Jet.
Regular Spell; Resisted by subject spell
Takes control of a living Creation cast by someone else. On a success, further energy costs are necessary to maintain the creation. On a failure, the creation remains the original caster’s.
Cost: 1.
Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Prerequisite: Create Animal or Create Servant.
Creates a warrior to fight as the caster commands.
He has IQ 10; ST, DX, and HT 12; and skill 16 with any single weapon (or unarmed combat ability) the caster desires.
He has no weapons or armor when created, but uses what he is given.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 4 to cast.
4 to maintain.
Cost to create a Brute Warrior (ST of 16) is 6 to cast;
6 to maintain.
Time to cast: 4 seconds.
Prerequisite: Create Servant.
Enables the caster to seal a container or chamber so that a spirit within cannot get out for the duration of the spell. Getting the spirit into the trap in the first place is a separate question; usually Command Spirit is required, but trickery can be just as effective.
The container can be any size, from a small bottle up to an entire building, but it must be fully, tightly closed (watertight is good enough), and the mage must touch it while casting the spell. The spirit cannot resist the spell, but the casting cost is directly proportional to its power. The total cost is equal to the spirit’s ST + IQ, divided by 5 to cast and by 10 to maintain. It takes a true effort to restrain a powerful spirit! The caster is informed of the energy cost when the spell takes effect and spends the energy then; if he cannot meet the cost, the spirit is unaffected. If the caster spends half the energy cost, the spirit takes one second to break out of the trap; this is a bad deal, but sometimes buying even a second is a worthwhile thing to do. If multiple spirits are trapped in a single container, add half the others’ ST and IQ to the full ST and IQ of the most powerful spirit before calculating cost.
The spirit cannot damage the container or affect anything outside of it, nor can it use shape-shifting powers to help it escape in any way. It can communicate with anyone within a yard or so of the container in the normal fashion.
Duration: 5 minutes.
Cost: Spirit’s (ST+IQ) divided by 5 to cast, by 10 to maintain.
Prerequisites: Soul Jar, and Turn Spirit.
Regular Spell; Resisted by Will
The caster permanently exchanges bodies with the subject. The subject may be any living creature. The only way this spell can be reversed, once it has been cast, is to cast it again; Dispel Possession or other anti-magic will not work. The attributes of ST, DX, and HT, as well as all physical advantages and disadvantages, go with the body; IQ, memory, personality, and all skills and spells go with the mind.
Note: Exchange Bodies may result in the caster increasing his point value. The GM may wish to charge the old wizard for the difference in character point value. See Mind Transfer (below) for more on this. To help keep body-hopping wizards under control, the GM may wish to require some rare spell materials for this spell.
Mind Transfer:
When your mind moves to a new body, you gain that body’s ST, DX, and HT – as well as all secondary characteristics based on those attributes – and its physical advantages and disadvantages. Your IQ, Perception, Will, and mental advantages and disadvantages don’t change. Keep your points in skills, but base your skill levels on your new attributes. Recalculate your point value to take your new traits into account.
For instance, if you switch from a body with ST 10, DX 10, HT 10, and One Arm [-20] to one with ST 12 [20], DX 12 [40], HT 12 [20], and two arms, your point value goes up by 100 points.
The GM decides how to handle changes in point value.
Duration: Permanent.
Cost: 120.
Time to cast: 1 hour.
Prerequisites: Permanent Possession and Soul Jar.
Removes harmful radioactivity from the subject.
Duration: Permanent.
Cost: 1 per 10 rads/hour.
Prerequisites: Irradiate.
This spell can be cast on any creation the caster controls, giving it a semblance of intelligence in order to act on its own initiative. The subject is totally loyal to the caster, and obeys them (or anyone else the caster orders it to heed) to the best of its ability.
The base cost of the spell is based on what knowledge the caster grants the subject. Creations start with their own DX and IQ as listed in the spell description. The subject’s DX and IQ may be raised as high as the caster’s. The subject may also be given the caster’s skills – every skill granted is known at the same relative level as the caster. Creations with Initiative may use defaults on any skill.
Once the spell is cast, the subject acts on its own until the spell expires. If the subject comes across a situation that confuses it, it attempts to return to the caster for clarification. Like Independence, this spell does not count as a spell “on,” and does not require separate maintenance.
Example: Lady Ann Goulding has created a magical servant to amuse her noble and decadent guests. She wishes it to circulate throughout the party, serving food, dancing with the noblewomen, and showing appropriate respect – without requiring constant supervision, so that she can enjoy herself. It begins with 9 in every attribute, but no skills (Lady Ann could have created a skilled servitor, but she has Create Servant-15 and can maintain an unskilled one indefinitely). To this base she adds 2 points of DX (bringing it up to her own DX of 11), and 2 points of IQ (well below her own IQ of 14) to make it wittier. This is a total attribute increase of 4, for a base cost of 2.
Lady Ann then gives it two skills - Dancing and Savoir-Faire. She has Dancing-14 (DX+3), and since the servant has the same DX as she does, the servant will, too. The lady’s knowledge of Savoir-Faire is considerable (skill 15, or IQ+1), but the servant is not as smart as she, and will only have it at its own IQ+1, for a net Savoir-Faire-13. These two skills add 2 more to the base cost, for a total of 4. Since the servant is less than 1 yard in radius, a casting at base cost will suffice.
Duration: As long as the subject lasts.
Base cost: 1/3 per point of DX or IQ increase (round up), plus 1 per skill; minimum base cost of 3.
Time to cast: 10 seconds.
Prerequisites: Independence and Wisdom.
This spell lets the caster become a lich, a wizard preserved into undeath with powerful magic and alchemy. He retains his personality, knowledge, IQ, skills, and spells, and all his mental advantages and disadvantages (including Magery), but gains the physical and supernatural traits of a lich, as determined by the GM. The more powerful that package, the higher the energy cost.
After the GM determines the lich template (and hence, the energy cost), the mage casts this spell as with any other enchantment, but with himself as the subject. At the end of the enchanting, he rolls against skill. Any failure does 6d damage to the caster. A success prepares the wizard’s body for the next step.
To complete the transformation, the would-be lich must drink an alchemical elixir of Lichdom. The elixir of Lichdom is prepared like any other alchemical elixir (see p. 210); it requires $13,500 in materials and 50 weeks of brewing. It defaults to Alchemy-7. Anyone not currently under the effects of a Lich spell who imbibes an elixir of Lichdom is affected as if he had drunk an elixir of Death (p. 215). However, an elixir of Lichdom cannot be counteracted, even with an alchemical Antidote. The elixir of Lichdom is forbidden everywhere, and formularies for it are almost impossible to find; most liches are compelled to reinvent it from scratch.
When a wizard under the Lich spell drinks a potion of Lichdom, he must roll vs. HT. If he succeeds, he dies, rising as a lich in 2d days. If he fails, he just dies. Luck, as well as the Bless and Wish spells, can influence this HT roll.
This is also an Enchantment spell.
Energy Cost to Cast: Equal to the lich’s point total in his undead form, including his personal abilities and those on the lich template. It costs more for a more powerful subject because there are more abilities to preserve. Minimum cost is 100.
Prerequisites: Magery 3, IQ 13 or
higher, Enchant, Soul Jar, and Zombie.
Regular Spell; Resisted by Will
Like Beast Possession, but the caster’s consciousness remains in the body of the subject until he chooses to leave or is “exorcised” by a Dispel Possession, Counterspell, Remove Curse, or similar spell. Remember that the caster must know the appropriate (Animal) Control spell for the spell to work on the chosen subject. The caster’s body is in Suspended Animation (p. 94) while the spell continues. If the caster’s body dies, the spell is broken.
Whenever the subject body takes damage, the caster must roll against his own body’s HT or take the same damage. If the subject animal dies, the caster must roll vs. HT or die himself!
In addition, the caster must roll against his IQ every day; a failed roll means that he loses one point of IQ.
The caster does not need to roll once he reaches the beast’s normal IQ range. The lost IQ is regained when the spell is ended. Should IQ drop to 5, only Remove Curse or Dispel Possession will end the spell.
Duration: Indefinite (could be permanent).
Cost: 20.
Time to cast: 1 minute.
Prerequisites: Magery 2 and Beast Possession.
Regular Spell; Resisted by Will
Like Possession – but the caster remains in the body of the subject until he chooses to leave, or is expelled by Dispel Possession or Remove Curse.
The caster’s own body is in Suspended Animation while the spell continues. If the caster’s body dies, the spell is broken. Whenever the subject body takes damage, the caster must roll vs. his own body’s HT, or take the same damage. If the subject body dies, the caster must roll vs. HT or die himself!
Duration: Indefinite (could be permanent).
Cost: 30.
Time to cast: 5 minutes.
Prerequisites: Possession.
Similar to Zombie, but reanimates all relatively complete dead bodies in the area of effect. As with Zombie, different sorts of corporeal undead are made from different qualities of bodies; a mix of undead types may result from a single Mass Zombie. A corpse must be lying in its tomb or at its place of death to be affected by this spell; otherwise, it won’t be affected.
Corpses in graves up to 4 yards deep will claw their way up to the surface to join their new master.
Undead created by this spell become the loyal servants of the caster. However, they can only be commanded as a group; individual members of the horde cannot be given separate tasks. If this spell is cast ceremonially, the leader of the circle is the master. The zombies regard the other members of the circle as his lieutenants; their orders are obeyed, but the master’s orders take precedence.
Optionally, the mages involved in the casting may divide the horde equally, each mage becoming master to his own segment.
In most likely casting locations, this spell will raise (RxR)/2 undead (round down), where R is the radius of the spell. It might yield fewer undead in an upper-class cemetery where the dead have lots of elbowroom in their crypts, or more at a mass grave.
Undead created with this spell are identical to those created with the Zombie spell. They use the same templates and are affected the same way by magic.
Duration: Permanent.
Base cost: 7. Minimum radius 2 yards.
Time to cast: A number of minutes equal to the radius.
Prerequisites: Zombie and Charisma 2 or better.
Traps the subject’s soul in some object (which must be present). If the subject is not the caster, then he must be present, and either willing or unconscious.
If your soul is in a “jar,” you are unaffected until either your body dies, or the jar is destroyed. The death of your body does not kill you. Your consciousness shifts to the “jar,” where you are able to see, hear, and even cast any spell that you know at skill 20 or above (i.e., castable without speech or gesturing). You may communicate at a distance via telepathy-type spells, if you know any – or by direct mental contact, without a spell, with anyone who handles the jar. Your FP remain the same as when you had a body. You may not spend HP, but you may use any Powerstone currently in contact with your jar.
If a new body comes near the jar, you may try to take it by a Possession, Permanent Possession, or Exchange Bodies spell if you know such a spell. In that case, the soul of that body goes into the jar. But if your soul is in a jar, anything that destroys the jar will kill you permanently – beyond hope of resurrection – even if your body is unharmed.
The spell may be cast again to switch the soul to a different “jar.”
Duration: Permanent.
Cost: 8.
Time to cast: 1 minute.
Prerequisite: Astral Block and Steal Vitality
Enchantment Spell; Resisted by HT
Enchants a ring or an amulet that will turn the wearer into a wraith, an undead guardian sustained by magic. It attempts to affect the wearer every time it is put on. The spell is Resisted normally by HT. If the subject ever fails to resist (or chooses not to), he “dies” and rises as a wraith 24 hours later.
The GM determines the exact abilities of the wraith, but mental traits are preserved as per the Lich spell. The wraith always has a Dependency on the Wraith item (a rare item, required constantly, for -150 points), and shrivels and dies if it is removed or destroyed. This item isn’t Hexed; the victim can remove it and die if he wishes. Only Remove Enchantment can reverse the Wraith spell without harm.
Each Wraith item can sustain one wraith at a time. Once a given item has produced a wraith, it has no effect on other wearers until its wraith has been destroyed. The Wraith spell has no effect on the undead.
At double energy cost, the enchanter can create an item that makes the wraith his undead servant.
The wraith automatically gains Reprogrammable (p. B150) with the enchanter as his master in addition to his Dependency, and cannot remove the Wraith item himself.
At half cost, the enchanter can create an item that turns the wearer into an undead tomb guardian. This works exactly as a regular Wraith item, except that the undead gains Compulsive Behavior (Remain in tomb and guard it; kill abductors and return if forcibly removed from tomb) [-15].
Energy Cost to Cast: 500.
Prerequisites: IQ 13 or higher, Enchant, Halt Aging, and Soul Jar.
The following templates demonstrate three possible types of undead created with the Zombie spell. A normal dead body produces a zombie; a corpse rotted away to bones produces a skeleton (indeed, zombies rot away to skeletons over time); and a desiccated cadaver, or a properly embalmed body, becomes a mummy.
Attribute Modifiers: ST+1 [10].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: HP+4 [8].
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe [20]; Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Immunity (All mind control) [30]; Indomitable [15]; Injury Tolerance (No Blood, No Brains, No Vitals, Unliving) [35]; Single-Minded [5]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Unaging [15]; Unfazeable [15].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal, +25%) [-25]; Automaton [-85]; Cannot Learn [-30]; Dependency (Mana; common, constantly) [-50]; Disturbing Voice [-10]; Fragile (Combustible) [-5]; Fragile (Unnatural) [-50]; Reprogrammable [-10]; Social Stigma (Dead) [-20]; Unhealing (Total) [-30]; Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25].
Features: Affected by Control Zombie, Pentagram, and Turn Zombie; No mental skills; Sterile.
Attribute Modifiers: ST-1 [-10]; DX+2 [40]; IQ-2 [-40].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Basic Speed+1 [20].
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe [20]; Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; DR 2 [10]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Immunity (All mind control) [30]; Indomitable [15]; Injury Tolerance (No Blood, No Brain, No Eyes, No Vitals, Unliving) [40]; Single-Minded [5]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Unaging [15]; Unfazeable [15]; Vacuum Support [5].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal, +25%) [-25]; Automaton [-85]; Cannot Learn [-30]; Dependency (Mana; common, constantly) [-50]; Fragile (Brittle) [-15]; Fragile (Unnatural) [-50]; Mute [-25]; No Sense of Smell/Taste [-5]; Reprogrammable [-10]; Skinny [-5]; Social Stigma (Dead) [-20]; Unhealing (Total) [-30]; Vulnerability (Crushing Attacks; ¥2) [-30]; Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25].
Quirks: Cannot Float; Sexless. [-2]
Features: Affected by Control Zombie, Pentagram, and Turn Zombie; No mental skills; Skull has only 2 total DR.
Attribute Modifiers: ST+1 [10]; IQ-2 [-40].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: HP+4 [8].
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe [20]; Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Immunity (All mind control) [30]; Indomitable [15]; Injury Tolerance (No Blood, Unliving) [25]; Single-Minded [5]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Unaging [15]; Unfazeable [15].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal, +25%) [-25]; Automaton [-85]; Bad Smell [-10]; Cannot Learn [-30]; Dependency (Mana; common, constantly) [-50]; Disturbing Voice [-10]; Fragile (Unnatural) [-50]; No Sense of Smell/Taste [-5]; Reprogrammable [-10]; Social Stigma (Dead) [-20]; Unhealing (Total) [-30]; Wealth (Dead Broke) [-25].
Quirks: Sexless. [-1]
Features: Affected by Control Zombie, Pentagram, and Turn Zombie; No mental skills; Will become a Skeleton.
Attribute Modifiers: ST+5 [50]; HT+5 [50].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: HP+5 [10].
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe [20]; DR 4 [20]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Injury Tolerance (No Blood, No Brains, No Vitals, Unliving) [10]; Magery 1 [15]; Night Vision 9 [9]; Supernatural Durability (Spells, Magic Weapons) [150]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Unaging [15]; Unfazeable [15].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Horrific) [-24]; Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Callous (12) [-5]; Dependency (Wraith item; rare, constantly) [-150]; Disturbing Voice [-10]; Social Stigma (Dead) [-20]; Supernatural Features (No Body Heat, Pallor) [-15]; Unhealing (Can heal with Steal HT) [-20].
Quirks: Loves battle; Sexless. [-2]
Racially Innate Spells: Deathtouch-15 [20]; Steal Health-15 [20]; Ethereal Body-15 [20].
Attribute Modifiers: ST-1 [-10]; DX+2 [40]; HT+2 [20].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Basic Speed+1 [20]; HP+3 [6]; FP+3 [9].
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe [20]; Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; DR 2 [10]; High Pain Threshold [10]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Injury Tolerance (No Blood, No Brain, No Eyes, No Vitals, Unliving) [40]; Temperature Tolerance 10 [10]; Unaging [15]; Unfazeable [15]; Vacuum Support [5].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous; Universal, +25%) [-25]; Dependency (Mana; common, constantly) [-50]; Fragile (Brittle) [-15]; Fragile (Unnatural, Mitigated by potion, monthly, -70%) [-15]; No Sense of Smell/Taste [-5]; Skinny [-5]; Social Stigma (Dead) [-20]; Vulnerability (Crushing Attacks; ¥2) [-30].
Quirks: Cannot Float; Sexless. [-2]
Features: Affected by Pentagram; Can be turned using True Faith; Skull has only 2 total DR.
Racial Skill Modifiers: +1 to Thanatology [2].
A skull-spirit is a ghostly, vaporous form, created from the life force that lingers around a sapient being’s skull. Skull-spirits obey the being who evoked them without question. They cannot be reasoned with, but can sometimes be confused.
Attribute Modifiers: ST-10 [-100]; DX+4 [80].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -5; HP +20 [40].
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe [20]; Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t Sleep [20]; Immunity to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Injury Tolerance (Diffuse) [100]; Toxic Attack 2 pts (Cannot parry, -5%; Irresistible Attack, +300%; Melee Attack, Reach C, -30%) [11]; Unaging [15].
Features: Fixed ST.
Skills: Innate Attack (E) DX+3 [8]-17.
This type of demon most commonly appears on the mortal plane, a hulking brute with bat-like wings and razor-sharp claws and teeth. Demons are not especially smart, but they are strong, tough, and vicious. Their malicious sense of humor is legendary, and they leave a swath of destruction behind them no matter what task they are set to. Demons vary widely; these stats are merely a convenient average.
Attribute Modifiers: ST+7 [70]; DX+2 [40]; HT+4 [40].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: HP+8 [16].
Advantages: Claws (Sharp Claws) [5]; DR 5 [25]; Flight (Winged, -25%; +5 yards per second) [40]; Immune to Metabolic Hazards [30]; Immunity to Mind-Affecting Magic [30]; Magery 0 [5]; Night Vision 5 [5]; Striking ST+2 [10]; Teeth (Sharp Teeth) [1].
Disadvantages: Appearance (Monstrous) [-20]; Bloodlust (12) [-10]; Bully (12) [-10]; Callous [-5]; Cannot Harm Innocents (Prevents direct harm of truly good or holy folks only, -50%) [-5]; Fragile (Unnatural) [-50]; Sadism (12) [-15]; Selfish (12) [-5]; Social Stigma (Monster) [-15].
Features: Affected by True Faith and Pentagram.
Skills: Acting (A) IQ-1 [1]-9; Brawling (E) DX+2 [4]- 14; Broadsword (A) DX [2]-12; Fast-Talk (E) IQ+2 [4]-12; Hidden Lore (Demon Lore) (A) IQ-1 [1]-9; Intimidation (E) IQ+2 [4]-12; Stealth (A) DX [2]-12.
Some would-be mages become frustrated at the time it takes to master advanced spells, or at the limits imposed on them by their own Magery (or lack thereof). For those wizards who cannot come to terms with their limitations, there is another, darker option. The aid of demons is ready for the asking.
Casting a spell with demonic aid begins by summoning a demon. In most settings, it takes a relatively advanced mage to summon a demon; in some worlds, however, Summon Demon may not require Magery, or even prerequisites! If demons want to be summoned, they may have easy ways of contacting them.
Once summoned, the caster must negotiate a contract with his chosen demonic patron, and sign it with his own blood (wise wizards usually prepare a contract ahead of time, or take one from a book; the contracts that demons draft are murder).
After the contract is signed, the contracting wizard may draw on demonic assistance to cast spells at any time without summoning the demon again. Spells cast with demonic aid receive energy and support from dark, extradimensional forces; the caster may reduce the cost of a spell by any amount up to triple his skill in Occultism or Thaumatology (whichever is higher), before applying cost reduction for high skill.
However, demonically assisted magic has its limitations. It can never be used to benefit others directly unless to do so would somehow further the demon’s dark ends (GM’s discretion). It can be used in service of the caster’s comfort, however. Any attempts to bend demonic energies to positive ends may cause the demon to suspend the contract, preventing the caster from using demonic energies until it is suitably appeased.
Any failure on a demonically assisted spell is treated as a critical failure; any critical failure is treated as if the caster had rolled an 18 on the Black Critical table (see p. 157).
Black magic also has costs. Channeling foul energies leaves a taint upon the caster’s soul. At the end of any day on which the wizard casts a demonically assisted spell, he must make a Will+Magery roll at a penalty equal to the total energy “borrowed” that day from demonic helpers. On a success, nothing happens. On a failure, the wizard gains a level of the Black Penalty for every 10 points (of fraction thereof) by which he failed. The Black Penalty is a skill penalty to any spell cast without demonic assistance. Its presence is obvious to the Aura spell, and anyone with Magery 3 or higher may notice the taint when first encountering a black magician if they make a Vision roll. Any spell cast by a wizard suffering the Black Penalty is treated like a demonic spell with regards to failures and critical failures.
A caster may only gain 10 levels of the Black Penalty.
At that point, his soul has become completely blackened; any virtuous disadvantages, such as Honesty or Pacifism, are lost and often replaced by some dark perversion of the original virtue. He also gains a -10-point Addiction to demonic energies (demonic magic is cheap, highly addictive, and usually illegal). Such wizards must still make Will+Magery rolls at the end of any day when they use demonic magic, but at +10. Failure results in a loss of 5 character points – either as a reduction of attributes, loss of advantages, or acquisition of a new disadvantage – for every point by which he failed the roll!
A demonologer who repents may try to cleanse his spirit of the Black Penalty, but the process is difficult. Each level requires a period of reflection and abstinence from all magic use and all sensual pleasures for a period of (20-Will) days (minimum 1 day) for its removal.
This is difficult enough for a tyro; a wizard who must also struggle with the Addiction has an almost impossible task ahead of him.
The Black Penalty is a disadvantage worth -3 points/level. A contract with a demon is a perk (p. B100).
In this setting I'm using the mechanics of radiation to represent demonic corruption and damage to the soul.
Radiation threatens high-tech heroes in the form of solar flares, cosmic rays, nuclear accidents, radioactive materials, and lethal weapons (nuclear bombs, particle beams, etc.).
Exposure is measured in rads. The more rads received, the greater the chance of ill effects.
Whenever a character is exposed to radiation, the GM should note both the dose and the date. Each dose diminishes separately from all others; it starts to heal after 30 days, at the rate of 10 rads per day. However, 10% of the original dose never heals (except via ultra-tech, magic, etc.).
Example: A reactor technician spends a day in a “hot” environment and receives a 200-rad dose. After 30 days, that particular dose starts to heal at 10 rads/day. After another 18 days, the remaining dose is 20 rads – 10% of 200 rads – and stops healing.
When a living being accumulates at least 1 rad (but no more than once per day, for continued exposure to a given source), he must make a HT roll. On the Radiation Effects Table, below, find his current accumulated dose in the “Accumulated Dose” column. Apply the modifier in the “HT” column to his HT roll. Then roll the dice. Use the first result in the “Effects” column on a critical success, the second on a success, the third on a failure, and the last on a critical failure.
Radiation Effects Table:
Accumulated
Dose HT Effects
1-10 rads +0 –/–/A/B
11-20 rads +0 –/A/B/C
21-40 rads +0 A/B/C/D
41-80 rads -1 A/B/C/D
81-160 rads -3 A/B/C/D
161-800 rads -4 A/B/C/D
800-4,000 rads -5 C/D/E/E
Over 4,000 rads -5 D/E/E/E
–: The dose has no obvious effect, but doses continue to accumulate.
A: Radiation burns and chronic “somatic” damage.
HT hours after irradiation, suffer 1d of injury and gain Low Pain Threshold for one week (those with High Pain Threshold lose this instead). If you recover, make two more HT rolls with the modifier on the table: one to avoid sterility, the other to avoid gaining the Terminally Ill (1 year) disadvantage. Gain either condition only on a critical failure.
B: Hematopoietic syndrome.
As A, but as well, after HT hours you are nauseated (see Irritating Conditions, p. 428) for a further (40 - HT) hours; lose 1d each from DX, IQ, and FP; and acquire the Hemophilia disadvantage. Each day, make a HT roll with the modifier on the table. On a critical success, you heal 2 points each of DX, IQ, and FP; on a success, you recover 1 point of each; on a failure, there is no improvement; and on a critical failure, you lose 1 point of each and are nauseated that day. After recovering all lost DX, IQ, and FP, you no longer suffer from Hemophilia or need to make daily HT rolls.
C: Gastrointestinal syndrome.
As B, but in 1d/2 weeks, you also lose all body hair and must make daily HT rolls. On a critical failure, you suffer 1d points of injury; on a failure, 2 points of injury; on a success, 1 point of injury; and on a critical success, injury stops and normal recovery can occur (and hair starts to grow back). Until injury stops, you have Susceptible to Disease -3 (p. 158) and suffer from nausea. If you lose more than 2/3 of your HP to radiation, your teeth and nails start to fall out.
D: Terminal radiation sickness.
As C, except HP loss begins in 1d/2 days, and even a critical success won’t stop daily HP loss – it only postpones it for a day. Death is certain.
E: Rapid cerebrovascular death.
After one hour, you lose 1d from each of DX, IQ, and FP; take 1d of injury; gain Hemophilia, Low Pain Threshold, and Susceptible to Disease -3; and are nauseated. Make an hourly HT roll. Critical failure means instant death from brain hemorrhage; failure means loss of another 2 points of DX, IQ, and FP, and 2 more points of injury; success means 1 extra point of each; critical success mean no decline that hour.
Other Effects: In addition to these effects, a single dose of 200+ rads causes sterility and blindness for 1d months; a dose of 500+ rads makes it permanent.
An accumulated dose of 100+ rads increases the risk of birth defects.
Should you become a parent, make an HT roll (at +3 if you are male). On a failure, the child has some sort of birth defect (GM’s option).
The above effects apply to humans and most other mammals. Other creatures may have Radiation Tolerance.
Machines are not affected unless they have the Electrical disadvantage. Each time such a machine accumulates a dose of 100 rads, make a HT roll at a basic +4, -1 per 100 rads accumulated dose. On a failure, it ceases to function until repaired. On a critical failure, it is destroyed (any data stored on it is also lost).
Any material between you and the radiation source grants a Protection Factor (PF) that reduces your received dose. Divide your dose by PF;
e.g., PF 100 means 1/100 the dose.
Half a inch of lead, 1.5 inches of steel, or 750 yards of air has PF 2; a yard of water has PF 8;
A yard of earth has PF 27;
A yard of concrete has PF 64.
Shielding protects differently against certain types of radiation.
Radiation from solar flares and planetary radiation belts (like the Van Allen belt) is mostly free electrons and alpha particles: multiply PF by 20. Against cosmic rays, divide PF by 100!
All costs below are per treatment.
At TL7, drugs are available that can halve your effective rad dosage if a dose ($500) is taken 1-3 hours in advance. Chelating drugs are also available to get radioactive fallout out of your system; a dose ($500) halves exposure after 3 days and eliminates it entirely after a week. This has no effect on radiation already absorbed! At TL8, advanced chelating drugs ($500) encapsulate and remove fallout in 12 hours.
At TL9, advanced anti-radiation drugs or cell-repair nanotechnology ($1,000) can give +3 to all HT rolls vs. radiation for 2 weeks. At TL10+, cell-repair nanotech or rejuvenation technology might be able to completely repair the ravages of radiation, provided the victim is still alive.