Magic is sometimes called the Invisible Church. Or the Church of the Invisible Sun. It is the fire that burns at the heart of the world’s furnace, as they say, but in truth it’s even more than that. It’s the furnace itself as well. And the rest of the world to boot.
Practices is a term used to describe all the various magical applications known to vislae—spells, charms, hexes, rituals, processes, secrets, and so on. Some also like the catch-all term “magical workings.”
The various kinds of practices include (but are not limited to):
✦✦ Spells: The basic, quickly cast form of vislae magic.
✦✦ Cantrips: Very minor spells.
✦✦ Charms: Minor effects, usually defensive or beguiling.
✦✦ Signs: Minor effects, always defensive.
✦✦Hexes: Minor effects, usually offensive or curses.
✦✦ Rituals: Long-form magic that requires multiple casters.
✦✦ Enchantments: Long-form magic that affects objects.
✦✦ Conjurations/Invocations/Evocations: Longform magic that requires ingredients, tools, and so on.
✦✦ Incantations: Fleeting applications of magical knowledge that come to the mind of a vislae, are used, and then flitter away.
✦✦ Processes: Large, magical workings that require a variety of ingredients, devices, time, and permanent structures. The most obvious examples are the changeries.
✦✦ Precepts: Rules of reality that vislae understand, like numerology, the importance of souls, the ways of demons, and so on. (These are so fundamental to the setting that they are fully described in their own chapter in The Path, rather than in this book.)
✦✦ Secrets: Things you can do because you understand a loophole or shortcut in the precepts of reality.
And there’s more. There are various powers and abilities that are taught by orders, that manifest as aspects of a vislae’s forte, or that come naturally to a given creature, like the elderbrin’s ability to change their shape. Beyond magical practices, there are the results of practices, such as ephemera, objects of power, kindled items, and more.
Spells, incantations, hexes, charms, and so on always require an action to use unless the description specifically states otherwise. So-called “long-form magic” like invocations and rituals take much longer. Each individual type of practice may have more information in its own chapter.
Most of the time, you roll to see if the practice takes effect, and you always add the level of the effect to the venture. The challenge is the level of the target modified by defenses or other factors. That means if you’re casting a charm on an unsuspecting person, you use their level as the challenge. If you’re casting a spell to open a sealed gateway, you use the gateway’s level as the challenge. If you’re casting a spell to remove a disease that ravishes your own body, you use the disease’s level as the challenge.
And so on.
You don’t need to roll to see if a practice takes effect if:
✦✦ You’re casting or performing it on yourself.
✦✦ You’re casting or performing it on a being that wants it to take effect, even if they’re unaware.
Example: you cast a healing spell on your unconscious friend.
✦✦ It has no direct effect on any being or object.
Example: you cast a spell that raises the room temperature by 10 degrees. The temperature, or even the air, isn’t really an object.
✦✦ It conjures or creates something (unless otherwise noted in the description).
✦✦ It affects an object with no meaningful level.
Example: you cast a spell that turns cheese into chocolate, and the cheese has no level (and no one wants to waste game time trying to determine what the level of cheese should be).
Another, perhaps easier way to look at it is this: you roll only if the practice affects something and that something doesn’t want to be affected. This only works, of course, if you assume that inanimate objects don’t want to be altered in any way.
Sometimes, you use your action to activate an effect, but the roll comes later. For example, if you cast Phantasmal Environment, you don’t need to make a roll until someone interacts with it. In such a case, if you’re unaware that someone is interacting with it, the GM should just compare the level of the spell to the level of the NPC. If the spell’s level is higher, the NPC is affected and believes the illusion.
Above and beyond whatever Sorcery cost is required to create the effect (which is almost always equal to the practice’s level), any character can add 1 to the venture of a magical action by spending 1 bene. A character with the Expansive Endeavor and Magnificent Endeavor secrets can spend more bene to add more to the venture on a 1-for-1 basis. So adding 2 bene adds +2 to the venture. As with any use of bene, a spent bene can be used for other effects instead, including +2 damage if it is an attack.
A character with the Elevate Spells and Magnify Spells secrets can add bene to increase the magical practice’s level. Not only will this improve the venture (again, on a 1-for-1 basis) but it will also increase any level-based portions of the effect, such as damage. If a practice creates a physical attack that can be aimed, like launching a bolt of energy at a target, the vislae can use Accuracy bene rather than Sorcery bene to increase the venture.
This is true for all spells, long-form magic, and Weaver-created effects. The level of ephemera and objects of power cannot be modified by the user. Minor magic, Goetic summoning, and Makers using the Maker’s Matrix cannot take advantage of these rules. Last, all characters can increase the level of their forte abilities to 10 by spending additional bene without knowing any special secrets (and those with the secret Divine Ability can increase it to level 17).
Spells, minor magic, ephemera, and most objects of power take only one action to cast or use. That means just one round.
As a general rule, the action of using the magic encompasses the most important part of the effect. So the action of casting a summoning spell that conjures a spirit produces the spirit. The action of casting an incantation that blasts a foe with fire is that attack on the foe. If a spell divines the answer to a question, you get the answer as a part of that action (unless noted otherwise).
In other words, if a magical practice creates a thing that has one use, like a spear of ice that you throw, using that thing is part of the action of the spell. If a practice creates or summons an object, creature, or effect that persists, like a tool you can use all day, the ability to speak eloquently, or a gun that you can shoot over and over, then the act of creation is the action of the spell, and using the thing is a different action.
Long-form magic, by its very nature, does not abide by these rules.
Most magic that is “cast” (like spells, signs, incantations, and so on) requires the speaking of words and at least minor gestures. Magic that is used or activated (like ephemera objects, or forte abilities) rarely have such requirements.
You always get a chance to resist an effect being cast upon you that you don’t want. However, sometimes you must suffer the effects of an effect not cast directly on you. Consider, for example, if someone casts a spell that inverts gravity in a room of a house. If you enter that room, you don’t get a chance to resist that spell—it wasn’t cast on you. You simply must deal with the reorientation of gravity in the room.
Sometimes, this happens very quickly. If someone conjures a bolt of electricity that arcs toward you, you’re not really “resisting” the spell so much as dodging the electrical bolt. You’d use your Dodge defense in this case, not your Resist defense. Dodging a spell effect is different from resisting an effect on you. Diving for cover when magic causes an explosion is different from resisting someone trying to turn your arm into an angry snake or take control of your mind.
Regardless of any of this, however, you can always be affected by any effect directed at you if you want to be.
Spell or effect level is a single number that holds a lot of information. The cost to cast or perform a practice is equal to its level in Sorcery bene.
Level is also the number you add to your venture when you cast or perform the practice to see if it takes effect.
For spells, casters who know the proper secret (Elevate Spells) can spend an additional Sorcery bene to increase a spell’s level when they cast it. This affects the number added to the venture and other factors, such as damage for many attack spells.
Without Elevate Spells, casters can add additional Sorcery bene using the same limitations of any other action, but all a bene of Sorcery does in this case is add +1 to the venture or grant an additional effect, just like with any action. The level of the spell remains the same. Casters using spells that can be aimed, like Stone Pistol or Thaumaturgic Strike, can use bene from Accuracy rather than Sorcery.
Using other magical practices is a similar process, except that a vislae cannot increase the level of minor magic, an ephemera, or objects of power. The secrets Elevate Spells and Magnify Spells work with long-form magic as well as spells.
Effect level also determines how many Acumen one must spend to learn a spell (minimum 1) and how long it takes (each effect level is equal to about three days of intense study).
Last, if the practice creates something, the level dictates the level of the creation (unless otherwise stated).
Spells and other magical abilities are almost always tied to color, just like the suns. Thus, a spell can be blue, green, red, and so on. This association has to do with the nature of the color. In this instance, the natures are defined in these ways:
Silver: Creation. Practices that create something from nothing are silver.
Green: The Quickening. This broad category includes any practice that involves motion and, by association, anything alive, at least as it pertains to the essence of its life. Thus, a spell that moves an object, a spell that grants levitation, and a spell that closes a Wound are all green spells.
Blue: The Mind. Telepathy, mindreading, memory alteration, dream modification, most emotional effects, and similar effects are blue. Blue practices never directly impact the physical world.
Indigo: Truth. Divinations, revelations, and effects that improve the senses fall into the indigo category. This also includes spells of communication and translation.
Grey: Illusion. Any practice that hides, deceives, disguises, confuses, or otherwise involves falsehood is grey.
Pale: Piercing the Veil. As the living travel to the Pale when they die, pale effects are those that physically reach beyond the normal bounds. This includes such things as conjurations, banishments, or restoring a soul to a dead body.
Red: Ruin. Red effects are those that harm something else, be it living, dead, inanimate, spirit, or anything else.
Gold: Transformation. Practices that physically change one thing into another thing, or that simply modify the physical substance or shape of a thing, are all gold. This includes more abstract transformations, such as changing the weather.
Invisible: Protection. In a sense, all magical practices are connected to the invisible. In another, by its very nature, invisible represents nothing. Still, vislae consider invisible practices to be all those that grant protection of any kind because they are some of the most fundamental of all magical effects. (Legends say that protection spells were the first spells.)
Some effects give you a bene to one or more of your pools. Others grant you a bonus to a specific action. A bonus to your action is always a bonus to your venture. You subtract your total venture from the challenge of the action, and the result is the number you need to roll on the die.
An enhancement is an additional die you get to roll when you attempt an action. Rolling a success on either die results in a success. Sometimes, it will say “(+1 die)” in parentheses after the level. That means when you use the magical practice to affect the target, you get an enhancement of one additional die. Sometimes, an effect will grant you an enhancement on another action. This means you get to roll an additional die for that action.
For example, if you need a 4 on the die after subtracting your venture from your challenge, and you get to roll +1 die thanks to the ability you are using, you roll two dice, and if you get a 4 or higher on either die, you succeed.
The parenthetical “+1 die” (or +2 or even +3 dice) is a good indicator of which effects require a roll to successfully activate this effect. +1 die means that you probably need to roll. But there will always be odd situations where a spell doesn’t normally require a roll, but in a special circumstance, it does need a roll. In this case, even when it doesn’t say you get an additional die, the thing to remember is that when making a roll to affect a target with magic, you always get at least +1 die. Remember, though, some spell effects are indirect. A spell that turns a chair into a wolf that attacks affects the chair, not the target of the wolf’s attack. An incantation that turns the air to fog isn’t affecting the people in the fog, it’s affecting the air. But really, don’t worry too much about this. Don’t overthink it. Magic is a fickle and unpredictable thing. If the GM requires a roll for an effect one time and not the next, the game’s not going to collapse in on itself.
The reverse is true as well. Sometimes it will say +1 die, but the target will be willing or the situation will suggest that no roll is needed. If so, ignore the +1 die. Or perhaps the suggested additional die only occurs sometimes. If a spell affects an object, for example, a roll is usually required only if the object is significant in some way, or in a being’s possession.
Ranges are divided into four categories. If a spell affects a target within a certain range category, it could also affect a target at any shorter category (unless the spell specifically says otherwise).
Close: Anything close enough to touch (or touch after taking a few steps) is close. Two things next to each other are close, even if they’re not touching. (Unless the word “touch” is specifically included in the description, close implies the potential of touch, not an actual touch.) Very loosely speaking, this range extends up to about 10 feet (3 m). Conversationally, this might be referred to as “point-blank range.” A practice that affects an area that encompasses this distance, more or less, is said to affect a small area.
Near: Something you could reach fairly quickly is near. Often referred to as “nearby” or “short range,” it represents a distance of 10 to 50 feet (3 to 15 m). A practice that affects an area a short distance in diameter is said to affect a medium area.
Far: Something you can see clearly but not reach quickly is far. Commonly referred to as “far away” or “long range,” this is a distance of about 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 m). A magical practice that affects an area a long distance in diameter is said to affect a large area.
Very Far: Something you can see but not clearly is very far. Called “very far away” or “very long range” at times, this is anything from about 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 m). A practice that affects an area a very long distance in diameter is said to affect a very large area.
Unless the description specifically says otherwise, a solid barrier (like a wall or door) prevents a spell or other effect from being cast through it, although a certain level of logic and common sense should be used in adjudicating this. Further, to cast a spell or other effect on a target, a caster usually has to be aware of them and have a line of sight to them. There are obvious exceptions. For example, a spell that affects an area affects everything in that area, whether the caster is fully aware of it or not. A spell that specifically seeks the location of a thing, by its very nature, does not require the caster to know the location of the thing. These are guidelines, not hard-and-fast rules.
More definitively, the following terms specifically designate what can and can’t be affected by a given effect:
Target: Anything.
Being: Any self-aware thing, be it human, animal, elderbrin, demon, spirit, vampire, ghost, or thoughtform. Even most quasi-intelligent constructs are considered beings.
Creature: A being of flesh and blood. Thus, any being other than a spirit, demon, ghost, elemental, construct, and the like.
Person or People: A human, elderbrin, or something very similar. Thoughtforms that look like people can be considered people for such purposes.
Either effects are over immediately, or they last until their magic depletes. Sometimes conditions (the rising or setting of the sun, for example) will end a spell. Other times, the amount of time is random.
To determine if an ongoing spell depletes, roll a die. If the result on the die matches the depletion result, the spell ends. So if the depletion says “0 (check each round),” at the end of each round Roll a die. On a roll of a 0, the spell comes to an end that round.
You can always end a spell that you cast whenever you wish it, and doing so takes no action. Further, the GM can end a PC’s spell at any time, but must award the PC 1 Despair when this happens.
When a new Sooth card is put into play, it modifies magic based on the color of the sun and the effect. Most often, one sun’s spells and effects are made easier to use, and another sun’s are made more difficult. This applies only to effects created in the round of the card turn, unless the card is turned on the Invisible Sun, in which case it stays in effect until replaced by a new Sooth card.
If an effect has no sun attached to it, the GM can make a judgment call or (perhaps more often) assume that no sun is involved.
Any time a magic die is cast, whether it is used as part of a magical working, gained as the result of enhancement magic, or added to the die of any task at all via Sortilege, there is a chance of magical flux. That occurs when the “extra” die—the magic die—comes up a . When this happens, a magical flux occurs, even if the overall action is successful. The magical flux is a result of a wayward discharge of magical energy or a disruption in the magical field.
The GM determines the flux effect and immediately turns a new Sooth card. Significantly detrimental flux is sometimes accompanied by 1 Despair for the person affected.
The GM can also introduce a flux effect (as a GM shift) any time a vislae uses a magical practice, whether dice are rolled or not. In this case, 1 Despair is always given to the vislae. The GM should associate the flux intensity (minor, major, or grand) with the approximate number of dice that are (or would be) rolled. For example, if a character casts a level 5 spell on themselves, they roll no die—presumably, they want to be affected by the spell. However, if they did roll for a level 5 spell, it would be 1 magic die. Thus, the flux should be minor. If the spell was level 8, the flux could be major.
Flux that does not come through a GM shift occurs only when the dice are rolled. Anytime a die roll is unnecessary or avoided, there is no flux, representing that the vislae has more control in that situation.
You spoil milk and other food around you.
A nearby plant withers.
Animals of level 2 or lower howl or flee.
You are plagued by nightmares the next night.
You gain 1 vex to Sorcery.
You gain 1 vex to Intellect.
You gain 1 vex to Physicality.
The temperature around you lowers drastically.
There is a horrific stench in the air for the next few hours.
Someone close to you suffers 2 damage.
An object close to you catches fire.
You have a terrible headache for the rest of the day.
Your face and extremities become pocked with an itchy rash for the next few hours.
Nearby children begin to scream and rant for the next few minutes.
Anyone you talk to for the next few hours notices your bad breath.
Objects fall from nearby shelves or ledges, causing them to break or fracture.
A minor item you possess disappears.
You suffer from a sneezing fit for the next hour.
Lice-like insects suddenly infest your hair or clothing.
You can’t help but overeat whenever food comes near you for the next week.
A secret you wanted kept seeps into the brain of someone nearby.
A cloying scent permeates the area for the next few hours.
All of your clothes lose their color temporarily.
You lose 1 Sortilege out of your pool.
You hear a ringing in your ears.
Something made of glass nearby cracks or shatters.
All lights or flames nearby flicker and then go out.
A normally docile small creature (like a mouse) suddenly attacks you.
You see a vision of someone from your Shadow life.
A nearby doorway or entrance locks or unlocks.
Until the next sunrise, a nearby plant grows 1 foot (30 cm) an hour.
All sources of fire suddenly flare to twice their size and belch green flame before returning to normal.
All nearby small food items and liquids turn into perfectly carved marble replicas.
Books nearby flutter and flap away from you for several minutes like dusty paper pigeons.
A trail of bloody writing in an unknown language follows you for the next three hours, appearing on the nearest surface.
Your teeth fall out.
Your hair turns permanently white.
One of your eyes turns permanently white.
You faint and cannot be roused for a few minutes.
Every creature of level 4 and below within very long range is filled with fear and dread.
You must resist an urge to throw yourself off edges you come near for the next few days.
You gain a strange magical scar.
You emit orange light when you feel anxiety for the next week.
You gain 3 vex to your Sorcery pool.
You gain 3 vex to your Intellect pool.
You gain 3 vex to your Physicality pool.
You are teleported up to 10 miles (16 km) away.
You are rendered invisible, silent, and intangible for a few rounds.
You suffer 1 Anguish.
Someone close to you suffers 1 Wound.
Everyone within a mile knows your name and that you just failed at a spell or practice.
A random being of the same level as the original effect is summoned and appears, angry.
A piece of your clothing or possessions gains intelligence and mobility.
You vomit forth a ratlike being with your face that scurries off but returns later to menace you.
Two of your fingers wither and fall off.
You age seven years.
You emit red light when you tell a lie for the next week.
You emit flashing blue light when you’re wounded for the next week.
A spell or magical working you cast in the next week against an adversary affects you instead.
You misplace all your ephemera objects.
Sudden pain adds 3 vex to your Movement pool.
Up to 100 crystal orbs in your possession turn to dust.
You can’t cast one of your spells for several days.
Memory lapse. You lose 2 points of Hidden Knowledge.
A nearby NPC is possessed by a dead spirit.
You lose all tolerance for alcohol for the next month.
Your house becomes haunted by an inimical demon.
All liquids (including potions) in the area evaporate.
A rain of small creatures comes down from the sky.
An important object in your possession crumbles and turns to ash.
Nearby creatures start to speak with human voices.
Someone close to you thinks you’re a stranger or an enemy for a few minutes.
You go blind.
All of your magical items stop working for ten minutes.
The ground nearby erupts in a flare of heat and fire.
Colors suddenly become so intense that you are forced to squint.
One of your ephemera activates.
All of your spells cost 1 additional Sorcery for a short amount of time.
A kindled item crumbles and falls to dust.
Your spell or ephemera affects a person that it wasn’t intended to.
Until the next full moon, all water in a small radius becomes crystal. It can be smashed into fragments easily, but when the next full moon rises, all the crystal returns to water form.
A thoughtform equal to the level of the effect is created and loosed into the world.
Henceforth, you have two shadows.
GRAND FLUX CHART (***)
The fabric of space or time is permanently ripped asunder.
Creatures from other realms can come and go.
You are driven insane.
You die.
Someone close to you dies.
You are hurled to a completely different world or realm.
Your physical body transforms in a bizarre way—extra limbs, rapid growth, huge tumors, or the like.
An earthquake damages the entire area.
Magical effects do not function in a very large area for months to come.
You are pulled back into Shadow and must fight to remember the Actuality.
A magical disaster burns down your house, leaving you with nothing.
A powerful demon learns your soul’s name.
A curse means you become violently ill and gain 1 Wound whenever a Sooth card is played on a specific sun.
Your Testament of Suns (or vertula kada) disappears, spirited away to the realm of another sun.
The moon appears above you in the sky during the day, eclipsing the sun.
Your skin glows like an incandescent bulb permanently. You’re difficult to look at and unless you’re clothed head to toe in dark garments, you are visible at a great distance.
Everyone who ever knew you forgets you. There is no record of you anywhere.
You feel a power surge and gain 4 in your Sortilege pool. However, you can never refresh that pool again.
Sometimes vislae create new spells or other practices. For Vances, in fact, it’s a requirement to advance to the higher degrees. The Creation character arc is appropriate to this endeavor.
At minimum, the vislae must spend two weeks of study and experimentation per level of the practice (one week for a minor magical practice.) Each week of such experimentation requires 10 crystal orbs’ worth of special materials.
Once research is complete, the vislae must attempt an Intellect-based action with the level of the new practice as the challenge. Should this fail, the vislae must spend another research period equal to the amount of time spent originally, and the challenge is 1 level higher.
Upon success, the vislae must spend Acumen equal to the level of the practice, just as if they had studied an existing practice.
After a vislae has created five new magical practices, it becomes easier. Only one week of study and experimentation per level is then required.
In general, when adjudicating spells, use the intent, not the letter of the law. Magic is about making ideas reality, not adhering to strict rules. Although most spells, rituals, and so forth are straightforward enough that they are self-explanatory, or openended enough that they can be interpreted as you see fit, a few areas might need a bit of additional discussion.
When a spell requires you to touch a target to affect it, this does not mean you must make two rolls (one to touch the target, and one to affect them). It merely means you have to be close enough and able to touch them. If they’re on the other side of a magical barrier, for example, the spell probably won’t work.
The touch is part of the casting of the spell, so you can’t cast the spell and “hold it” until you get close enough to touch the target.
Sometimes, a spell potentially affects a crowd. Take, for example, a magical disguise that you create to make yourself look like someone else. If you walk down a busy street in Satyrine, do you make a roll to affect each and every person? No. As a general rule, for such casual, indirect effects, simply compare the level of the spell to the level(s) of the NPCs. If the spell’s level is greater, they are affected. Alternatively (and even easier), don’t worry about such things unless there is a direct interaction. So if you’re walking down the street magically disguised as a wealthy noble, everyone believes that you’re a wealthy noble, and only when you confront someone directly—say, a Thah agent—do you worry about a roll.
Much of the time, adjudication of magic is easy. If a character casts Red Presence, the effects are obvious to the caster and anyone affected by the spell. But what about subtler magic?
Generally, a character who affects a target knows if they are successful.
The target, however, does not automatically know who created the effect. They only know the obvious results. If you cast Exquisite Pain, you know if the target is affected, but if you were subtle with your touch, they might not know the effect came from you. If they successfully resist the spell, they probably know that something just happened, but they don’t know precisely what spell you cast or—again, if you were subtle—that you cast a spell at all.
If an effect affects someone’s mind, when the effect ends, the target is likely confused. They probably remember acting or feeling out of character, but they don’t know for certain that magic has affected them. Most people, however, are savvy enough to the ways of magic that it would be one of the first things they suspect, depending on the circumstances.
In a game about secrets, it’s a special moment when a player gets to ask the GM a question about something their character shouldn’t normally know and receives an answer. Thus, magic that provides information has some special rules governing it.
Effects that provide answers typically allow you to ask a question and get an answer. Sometimes, this is open ended, such as with Apperception. Other times, the question is more directed, as with Hunt the Lost. A keen eye will notice that these effects show up all over at various levels (usually no lower than level 5, but not always). This is important because each time an effect like this is used, the GM must determine a level for the answer, and a spell or other effect can’t divine an answer that is of higher level than the spell. This makes a level 9 divination far more potent than a level 5 divination (which should, obviously, be the case). Just like with most effects, a roll is needed to determine the success of the divination, but unlike in most cases, the level of the effect is not added to the venture. Since the level of the effect has already opened the door for the possibility of asking the question, you can’t count it again to determine the success of your undertaking.
If the information directly involves an NPC or something else that already has a level, determining the challenge is easy. You just use the level. This means that it’s harder to use magic to learn information about a level 7 NPC than a level 4 NPC (which, again, should obviously be the case). This too can be modified by circumstance, usually by 1 or 2 levels in either direction. For example, the deepest secret of a level 5 NPC might be level 7. The name of the order they belong to might be only level 3 if they wear its symbol prominently.
If the divination has no NPC, object, or other leveled “target,” use the following guidelines.
Most people know this without even looking it up. Examples:
What’s the tallest building in Satyrine?
What’s 25 + 19?
Is the War over?
This information could be found by asking around in public places or consulting a library. Examples:
Who’s the gerent of the Burnham neighborhood?
Where’s the Twice Told Tales bookshop?
Only a handful of people (if that) know the information, although no one’s really trying to keep it secret. Examples:
Where is the nearest Thah agent right now?
Where did I lose the key to my house?
Who accidentally left the gate open?
Not many people know this, and those who do are trying to keep it secret. Example:
What’s the password to get into the secret meeting hall of the Vespertine on Beston Street?
Where does the Carver Street gang stash their loot?
Who broke the vase at last night’s party?
Only a handful of people know this and they’re sworn to secrecy. Example:
What’s the combination of the safe in the Temple of the Halfgod?
What’s Dark-Eyed Manfred’s real name?
Only one person knows this and they are trying very hard to keep it secret. Example:
Who killed Huthe Straves?
Where did Mira hide the madstone?
No one knows this information. It’s not in any book anywhere. Example:
Where was the house of the ancient sorcerer
Aduminit located?
Not only does no one know this, but the secret is hidden by powerful forces in the Actuality. Example:
Are there any arabast still alive?
Where do the Thah come from?
In cases where it’s available, GMs should feel free to give some information for partial successes. For example, if a player uses a level 7 spell to divine the location of a level 7 NPC and rolls a 5 (remember, spell level is not added to the venture in this case), the GM might provide very general rather than specific information, such as “They’re in Satyrine” or “They’re in the Red.”
Although this topic is discussed more fully in the Precepts chapter of The Path, it is worth noting here that there are many realms or states beyond the material world. The Noösphere is a network created by the existence of all thinking minds, the Deeps of Sleep are a joint realm of unconscious minds, and spirits breathe the aethyr and use it as a conduit to sustain them and move through the material world without a material form. In a way, these are all the same thing. The aethyr is the residuum of memory and thought, which is the foundation of the Noösphere. And if those things work together to build a house of memory and spirit, the Deeps of Sleep might be thought to be that house’s basement.
Spells and effects that interface with any of these concepts can occasionally “cross over.” Sometimes someone who can travel using an astral form can use it to access the Noösphere.
Many magical practices allow you to manipulate or control the actions of another creature. Although the challenge for these effects is always the target’s level, the desired action also should modify the challenge. Getting someone to kill their own child is far harder than compelling them to sing a song or do a dance. The GM should modify the challenge by up to three steps in either direction if the circumstances warrant it.
−3 Something they were going to do anyway
−2 Something they would do routinely
−1 Something they want to do
+1 Something they’d never do
+2 Something that would cause harm to them or a loved one
+3 Something that would certainly end in their death or the death of a loved one
Mental damage ignores Armor unless that Armor is specifically designated as affecting mental damage. Mental damage, like any mental effect, can affect targets that are insubstantial or not normally affected by solid matter or energy.
An object or a truly mindless being cannot be affected by mental damage.
Illusion magic puts a veil over reality. Unless otherwise described, the effects are not all in a being’s mind, however. Should a vislae craft an illusion of a gun in their hand, they’ve actually woven light to create that image. Others unaffected by the illusion see the gun too. The roll, then, is to determine how believable a gun it is. A GM might say that someone very familiar with guns would be harder to fool with such an illusion (and thus the challenge would be higher). This is very important when dealing with magical disguises. If you’re trying to use an illusion to fool a guard into thinking you’re their captain, your success or failure on the roll determines how accurately your magic captures the appearance of the captain.
Because it’s not a matter of belief, a vislae’s illusory gun can’t hurt you no matter what. Illusions are basically holograms.
Be aware, however, that some practices do affect a target’s mind and make them believe something that isn’t true. These are very different and ignore these guidelines.
Unless stated otherwise, psychokinetic effects that allow a vislae to move matter with their mind do not grant the vislae the ability to move themselves. A spell like Thought Becomes Motion is not also a fly spell.
When using powers that allow extemporaneous creation of magical abilities, as a Weaver does regularly or a Maker does when they create an item, the Effects by Level table will come in handy. It shows, in very broad strokes, the appropriate level for a desired effect. You’ll find that general spells, for example, cling fairly closely to this table, although they err a bit on the side of being more powerful than the level might suggest. This is because when using the table for, say, Makers or Weavers, you’re reinforcing the flexibility of those orders as opposed to, say, an Apostate or Goetic with a limited number of spells. And flexibility is its own sort of power. So a (rigid) spell might be slightly lower in level when producing the same effect that a Weaver produces with (very flexible) weaving.
GMs will also find this table useful for NPCs, as it indicates the general range of appropriate powers a magic-wielding character might possess. For example, if an NPC is a level 5 spellcaster of some kind, rather than detail all of the NPC’s powers and spells ahead of time, the GM can simply allow them to use any effect of level 5 or lower on the table, or a subset of those abilities, as is appropriate to the NPC.
This table is one of the cornerstones of the game, so it’s worth an in-depth look and a bit of understanding.
First of all, the table goes all the way to 17, even though most of the time we only talk about levels 1 to 10. The effects at the top end are godlike, but probably not as comprehensively covered as at lower levels. They’re there to give context. A demon wielding level 12 powers is something to be truly feared, and the table shows why.
You’ll find there’s a power curve in this table. That is to say, there’s less of a jump in power between levels 1 and 2, and between levels 2 and 3, than between levels 9 and 10. This is for two reasons. First, if the table goes to 17 and that level represents godlike beings, it wouldn’t work to split all the other effects into 17 equal-sized slices. Second, when dealing with really powerful effects, really powerful beings, and so on, the difference between 11 points of damage and 12 points of damage is smaller than the difference between 1 point of damage and 2. Last, since this table provides the basis for everyone’s effects, it doesn’t “unbalance” anything.
There is an additional issue to keep in mind. A lower-level effect is less powerful than a higherlevel one, even if they do the same thing. A level 1 ability that stuns a creature is far less potent than a level 5 ability that stuns a creature, because of the difference in bonus each offers to the action’s venture. So—in certain circumstances—a GM might allow an effect to be a level lower than what is stated, particularly if it is an offensive one. But this should be the exception, not the rule.
Finally, these effects are all fairly boring. Far too boring to use as is. They are just the foundations of effects. “Destroy an object up to 1 pound” is dull. “Shape a hammer from the bones of a long-dead warrior that you can wield to smash small objects” is interesting. Use this table as a framework, but when designing new effects—whether as a player or the GM—let your creativity run wild within the surreality of the setting.
With a few exceptions, the Effects by Level table makes no mention of range or duration. Most of the time, you can ignore these things—or, rather, consider them only when judging an effect generally. For example, an effect that inflicts 4 damage is level 4. If it does so at long range, that’s almost assuredly better than if it is a touch effect. So an effect that inflicts 4 damage with a touch might have an additional minor effect (say, the target is also at a −1 penalty, for example). If the effect is at long range and has that same additional minor effect, it’s probably enough to push the whole thing to level 5.
Which means that even within a single level’s effects, not all effects are created equal. Often, you’ll have to use your best judgment. Don’t worry. Being off by a level in your assessment won’t ruin anything.
Note that the chapters on the Maker’s Matrix and Weaver threads both have something to say about using range and duration to potentially modify levels with more emphasis than is detailed here. Use those systems where they are appropriate (that is to say, with Makers and Weavers).
Magical effects always add at least +1 die to the venture if they are the kind of effect whose success or failure is determined by a die roll. Assume that, for the most part, effects of levels follow the table below.
Level Effects Add This
1–7 +1 die
8–10 +2 dice
11–13 +3 dice
14–17 +4 dice