Ritual Spellcasting

While spellcasting is the quick manifestation of mana, ritual spellcasting shapes mana over a longer period of time. More time allows you to manipulate mana in ways that normal spellcasting won't allow. Rituals, like spells and alchemical preparations are learned individually and they all have the same cost as spells. Rituals can be performed by either one person or a group. Spells learned through normal channels can be incorporate into some rituals such as a Combat spell in the Prodigal Spell ritual; in those cases, they do not cost additional nuyen to learn separately.

Step 1: Choose A Ritual Leader

Each ritual must have a leader who knows the ritual being performed and can complete the last step, which seals the ritual.

In this step, the participants must announce their participation with the leader. The participants do not need to have learned the ritual; they simply must be willing to take part.

All effects from the ritual have the leader's astral signature.

Each participant who is not of the same tradition as the leader suffers a -2 Dice Pool Penalty on all actions for this ritual.

If you're casting the ritual alone, you're the leader of it.

Step 2: Choose The Ritual

The leader of the ritual must choose a ritual to perform. If required, the leader also choose the spell that will be included as part of the ritual.

If the ritual requires knowledge of a spell or spell category, only the leader needs to know them.

Step 3: Set Up The Foundation

A ritual must be performed in a magical lodge appropriate to the leader's tradition, which is referred to as the foundation for the ritual.

This can be a permanent magical lodge or a temporary one created using reagents.

Once the lodge is active, no participant (except a spotter, if the ritual calls for one) may leave the foundation until the ritual is complete without causing the ritual to fail.

Step 4: Spend Reagents

The leader must expend the number of reagents - specified in the ritual - or an amount equal to the threshold if none are specified.

The leader may expend more reagents to reduce Drain when sealing the ritual. For every dram of pure reagents spent after the initial offering the Drain is reduced by 1, to a minimum of 2.

These reagents are used to seal the foundation for the ritual and are consumed.

Step 5: Perform The Ritual

During this step, the actual ritual is performed. The duration of this specific step is different and is described by each ritual in its description.

Step 6: Seal The Ritual

The final step in any ritual is sealing it, which completes the ritual.

The leader must make a Sorcery + Magic test, with the threshold determined by the ritual itself.

The other participants may join in a Teamwork test to boost the leader's dice pool.

Each ritual's description explains how the net hits from the sealing step are used, if at all.

After the spell effect goes off, each participant must deal with Drain equal to the number of hits on the Ritual Threshold x 2 (minimum 2).

If the number of hits the leader got on their Sealing test was higher than their Magic rating then this drain is Physical - otherwise, it's Stun.

Ritual Failure

There are a number of rare things that could cause a ritual to fail prematurely. If a participant leaves the foundation after Step 3 of the ritual but before the ritual is complete, the ritual fails. If the leader is killed or incapacitated before Step 6, the ritual collapses and fails. If the foundation is disrupted or broken at any point after Step 3, the ritual fails.

When a ritual fails, every participant immediately suffers drain. Make a test by rolling dice equal to the ritual's threshold: the drain is equal to twice that number of hits on this test in Stun damage.

Any Reagents you've already spent in Step 4 are wasted.

Glitches

A glitch on a ritual - any dice pool rolled where half or more dice come up as 1's - in any step could result in extra Drain, an increase of 1 to the threshold of the ritual, or the leader being forced to seal the ritual on their own.

On a Critical Glitch - a roll without any 6's and at least a single 1 - anything goes! Either prepare to put down a rogue minion, find that you missed your target, or find that what you intended to be a healing circle really is an astral gateway and everybody just got dumped on some metaplane - or something equally unpleasant that your gamemaster thinks up.

Rituals

These are the rituals you can learn and cast. You learn each ritual the same way you learn a spell. Some rituals have keywords, which have special rules, just like the keywords for spells.

Anchored: All anchored rituals must be placed on a physical object or symbol of mystical significance that serves as the ritual's focal point. This could be something used specifically for the ritual like a rock or a doorway to anchor a ward or even something in the foundation itself. The anchor cannot be moved relative to the Gaiasphere (Earth) during the duration of the ritual's effect, or the ritual collapses and the effect ends, whether you like it or not.

Material Link: The ritual requires a "material link" to a target - something that was once part of the target. Material links from living beings aren't usable in rituals forever. Hair, blood, nail clippings, or bodily fluids are viable for four or five hours while a finger or larger tissue sample like a pound of flesh can last three to four days before it decays too much to be a viable link. Frozen samples can last almost up to a year but chemical preservation methods instantly destroy the sample's viability as a material link.

Minion: The ritual creates a semi-autonomous entity, usually something to help the magician who makes it. Whatever minion is created is bound to the ritual leader, who can't have more minions at one time than their Charisma rating.

Spell: This ritual is used in conjunction with a spell that the ritual leader knows. Some of its properties might change - the ritual has details on how. If the leader has any modifiers to the spell from a mentor spirit, the modifiers apply to the ritual, too. These rituals are susceptible to dispelling by outside parties.

Spotter: If the ritual's target is not in sight of the leader, the leader needs to designate someone who can see the target for them, referred to as the spotter. The individual acting as the spotter must be a member of the group casting the ritual - or a spirit serving as a member of that group - and must be able to astrally perceive the target. The spotter must be present in the ritual's foundation when the ritual begins and then must travel physically or astrally to where they can assense the target of the spell; this is an exception to the "no leaving" rule in Step 3 of ritual casting.

The target does not need to be astrally active - and it's often safer for the spotter if they aren't - and the spotter merely must be able to assence them to establish the necessary mystic link. If the spell is in an area, the spotter must be able to assense the targetl ocation.

For the duration of the ritual, a link is present between the spotter's area and the ritual group. If the spotter is noticed by the target, it is possible to use the link to track them back to the ritual team's physical location. The spotter doesn't make a Teamwork test with the rest of the ritual participants but still suffers the same drain as everyone else.

Augury And Sortilege

(Material Link)

Threshold: 8

Cost: ¥500

Requirement: Divination

To use this ritual, the magician must be able to assense the subject (person, place, or object) or have a viable material link. Within the foundation, the initiate enters a mild trance and interprets the symbolism and metaphors presented to them through the aether.

Sortilege is the use of specific reagents (casting bones, reading tea leaves, etc.) or fetishes (tarot cards) as part of the divination process.

If the magician exceeds the threshold, they may ask on question about an event in the subject's future per net hit. Failure to meet the threshold results in a useless answer.

This ritual takes 8 hours to complete.

Circle Of Healing

(Anchored, Spell)

Threshold: 7

Cost: ¥500

This ritual is used to cast a Health spell on a number of targets at once. Even though it's called a circle, it creates a sphere around the anchor that has a radius in meters equal to the leader's Magic rating.

This ritual takes 5 hours to complete.

The net hits from the sealing step are used as net hits for the spell and applied as a positive dice pool modifier to any healing tests performed in the circle.

If the spell has a particular element aspect, that is also applied to individuals within the circle.

The spell lasts for a number of days equal to the net hits on the sealing step.

Circle Of Protection

(Anchored)

Threshold: 6

Cost: ¥1,500

The circle of protection is a small astral and physical barrier. Even though it's called a circle, it's actually a sphere that forms around the anchor that has a radius in meters equal to the leader's Magic rating.

The circle acts as a combination of a Physical Barrier and Mana Barrier with a Structure rating equal to the (Magic Rating of the ritual leader + final Sorcery test net hits).

The mana barrier is dual-natured.

The barrier lasts for a number of hours equal to the net hits from the sealing step. Anyone or anything within the barrier is protected from the outside physical objects and magical attacks. If something crosses the barrier from the inside, then the ward ends.

This ritual takes 4 hours to perform.

Curse

(Material Link, Spell)

Threshold: 5

Cost: ¥1,000

A Curse allows an Illusion spell to be cast on a subject through a material link rather than a mystic link from observing the subject. A Curse can be used on any target, whether within visual range of the leader or not, provided there is a link to the target. If the spell applies to multiple targets, then the ritual must have a link to each of the targets.

The link is used as part of the offering and is destroyed during the ritual. The spell is cast normally (using teamwork, if applicable) with all the tests and appropriate Drain.

For the duration of the ritual, a link is present between the target and the ritual group while the spell portion is sustained. It is possible to spot the link astrally and track it back to the ritual team's physical location.

This ritual requires 3 hours to complete.

Prodigal Spell

(Spell, Spotter)

Threshold: 6

Cost: ¥2,000

This ritual allows you to cast any Combat spell at a distant target that is out of the line of sight of your ritual team. The combat spell can be either direct or indirect.

Direct combat spells travel to the target in astral space. Indirect combat spells travel to the target in physical space, requiring a clear - but not necessarily straight - path in the physical world between the ritual team and the target in order for the spell to reach its destination.

The spell flies from the foundation to the target, dodging any obstacles in its path.

This ritual requires 4 hours to perform.

Remote Sensing

(Spell, Spotter)

Threshold: 5

Cost: ¥500

This ritual allows you to cast any Detection spell with an even greater range. The area of the spell is increased to (Magic Rating of the ritual leader + Total net hits on the Sorcery test in Step 6) x 100 meters.

The spell's subject must be present in the foundation during the ritual but may then take their new sense outside the foundation while the ritual participants sustain the spell. All of the participants of the ritual perceive the same thing the subject perceives through the spell.

If the spell has a target (such as Mind Link or Mind Probe), you'll need a spotter to have eyes on the target.

This ritual takes 3 hours to perform. Afterwards, if any of the participants stops sustaining the ritual, it ends.

Renascence

(Anchored, Spell)

Threshold: 6

Cost: ¥1,500

The ritual sustains and maintains an area Manipulation spell for a time. The area of the spell is a sphere with a radius equal to the leader's Magic rating and the effect is based on the net hits from sealing step.

The base duration of the effect is 1 hour, which is doubled for each net hit from the sealing step of the ritual.

This ritual takes 4 hours to perform.

Ward

(Anchored)

Threshold: 6

Cost: ¥1,500

Ward is a ritual taught to may magicians and is many more's first ritual learned. It creates a mana barrier with a rating equal to the leader's magic plus net hits on the Sorcery test in Step 6 of the ritual. The ward may encompass a volume of up to 50 cubic meters times the sum of the participants' Magic ratings.

This ritual takes 4 hours to complete. The ward lasts for a number of weeks equal to the net hits from the sealing step of the ritual.

If the leader spends 6 Karma, the ward is permanent.

Watcher

(Minion)

Threshold: 4

Cost: ¥500

Watchers are like spirits but in actuality they are entities born from the ritual leader's own mind rather than the metaplanes. They are a creation of mana, woven with the personalities of the ritual participants. A watcher can speak any language its creators can speak.

A watcher is bound only to the leader of the ritual and follows their orders.

A watcher lasts for a number of hours equal to (Sealing Test Net Hits x 3). A watcher's attributes and skills all start at 2.

For each additional hour spent on the ritual, these attribute and skills increase by 1, as does the ritual's threshold.

A leader can dismiss a watcher bound to them as a Minor Action. Watchers cannot be banished or counterspelled.

This ritual takes 1 hour to perform.