Casting spells

“We are riding through a mountain gorge. An itch at the back of my neck tells me that something is not right here. Suddenly I hear the twang of a bowstring. I drop from my horse. Out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed an arrow flying relentlessly at Vearmea's head. It is already too late to cry out. It is already too late for everything. At that moment the elf woman waves her hand and the arrow falls to the ground. Orcs start running out and their archers send their black-fletched arrows at us. Vearmea waves her hand several times and the arrows fall harmlessly to the ground. The surprised orcs hesitate and we jump onto our horses and gallop back at full speed.”

Sorcery spells are very powerful and hard to control. On the one hand the wizard must know them, but even then there is always some chance that the spell will fail:

Contest Roll

Mag + 2d6

against

Difficulty + 2d6

The GM rolls the spell's strength against you.

Summary of modifiers
Disruptive influences (spells)
Casting modifiers (applies mainly to spells and prayers)
- 10	omitting the formula
- 10	omitting the sign
- 10	for insufficient feat (magic or priesthood)
- 5	minor influences: you are riding a horse, walking, loud noise
- 10	medium: influences: you are fighting, running
- 15	extreme influences such as a fall, explosion
Disruptive influences (mental skills)
- 5	medium: influences: you are fighting, running
- 10	extreme influences such as a fall, explosion
Armor
-2/-4/-6	by armor, but only for S or R spells (penalty as for skills)
Modifiers for sorcery
- 2 per spell level	you do not master the wizard's language

Difficulty

The difficulty of casting a spell depends on its level (more precisely 5x the level) and ranges from 5 for the simplest spells up to 40 or more for the hardest ones.

Difficulty
Level	Difficulty
1	5
2	10
3	15
4	20
5	25
6	30
7	35
8	40
etc.	etc.

Evaluation

Roll 2d6 for the contest, add modifiers and subtract penalties. The GM rolls for the spell (difficulty) and tells you the result.

The party was ambushed on its journey by a group of orcs. Vearmea decided to use her spells and conjure the illusion of a puma. She casts the spell False Beast (for 2 MP, 1st level). The first level of the spell means difficulty 5; Vearmea has magic 8.
She rolls 8 (Mag) + 2d6
against her the GM 5 + 2d6
Unless she is downright unlucky, the spell will succeed (she would have to roll 4 less, say 1, and the GM at least 5).

Success

You have managed to cast the spell, and its effects follow its description.

Failure

On a failure the spell fails, i.e. nothing happens, but you lose the mana anyway.

Fatal Failure

If a Fatal failure occurs, resolve it according to the rules given in the chapter Casting guideline

Let's say that in the previous example Vearmea rolled 1,1 and 5, so her total result is 6 (8 for Mag - 2 roll). The GM rolled 10.
Vearmea thus failed, and fatally at that (2 ones). The GM determines the result randomly and rolls 3. This means damage of 2x2, i.e. 4 HP (2 ones times 2 MP for the spell).

Total Success

Don't forget the possibility of a total success, see Basics - Procedure. In this case there is no Side effect.

If Vearmea had been lucky when casting the spell in the previous case and rolled 18 while the GM rolled only 8, she would have had a total success. She would decide that the spell will have a higher difficulty for the MR roll.

Side effect - if you don't have perfect command of the spell

If you rolled a 1 on a die, the spell will also have a side effect. The GM determines its effects according to the spell's strength - the surroundings may darken or flash, a thunderclap may sound, some item or person may vanish, the spell may hit a different target, have a different duration, be more expensive and so on.

A side effect also occurs on a success, although there its effects are weaker and less harmful.

Of course it depends on the spell's school; things like teleport, weather magic or creative magic will always be dangerous.

Vearmea rolls 9 (with a 1 on a die), the GM 3. Vearmea succeeds, but the spell has a Side effect (she doesn't have perfect command of it). The GM tells the player that her spell succeeded, but it also set fire to a nearby bush.

Wizards' language

(optional rule)

The wizards' language helps formulate a wizard's thoughts precisely. It distinguishes very slight differences that ordinary people don't see, but which can prove fatal when casting.

Without knowing this language you have a -2 penalty per missing level when casting sorcery spells. You will also have a hard time learning new spells, since most study texts are written in this language.

For simple spells up to the 3rd level, 1 feat is enough. For higher spells you need to master the wizards' language fluently.

Schools of spells

Conjuration Magic

Conjuration Magic works with pure magical power. You can control it directly, or use it to control the essence of matter, i.e. you can turn persons and creatures into others, or merely change their color or size. A transformation can be either desired (such spells have no roll listed) or, on the contrary, harmful. By the duration of unwanted spells we distinguish temporary enchantments and curses. Curses are very hard to remove.

Magic also lets you return enchanted creatures and persons to their original form. Among the spells you will find a great number of various disenchantments.

Experts consider this school the true foundation of magic, and it is recommended to all adepts before they move on to other spells.

Offensive Magic

Sorcery can serve as a mighty weapon. Many wizards have devised a whole range of offensive and combat spells with which you can destroy your opponents. From the masters' point of view it is more of a toy, where magical power is released in a poorly controlled form, mostly as discharges, fireballs or destruction.

Psychic Magic

The mage looked contemptuously at the squad of soldiers, and at that moment the poor wretches clutched their heads and screamed in pain. Like waves, painful gusts came one after another until in the end only the mage was left standing, surrounded by lying bodies with bloodied eyes.

Psychic Magic focuses on controlling others' thoughts and feelings, and through them you can dominate an adversary.

Its weakness is mindless opponents, against whom it is useless.

In general, none of the psychic spells can be used against creatures with animal intelligence or against magical creatures.

Illusions

Illusions are imagined images that intelligent beings perceive as reality. Here the psychic spell is not aimed at a particular person, but at everyone who sees / hears the illusion.

A stronger illusion can affect the mind so convincingly that it becomes reality for the victim and their body “believes” it - the victim can even really be injured or die. Wounds caused by an illusion are psychic in nature, and all the more dangerous for it.

Magic of Senses

With spells from the field of Magic of Senses you can control the sense organs of living creatures and improve their abilities.

White Magic

White Magic is concerned with combating evil and necromantic practices. Spells from the field of White Magic cannot be learned or cast by anyone who does evil deeds or cares too much about their own gain. Likewise, protective white spells cannot be cast on creatures that do evil.

Necromancy

Necromancy, or Black Magic, opens the way to the secrets of death and rule over the dead. It holds great power and can easily open your way to power. On the other hand it is suppressed in the world and its study is far from common or accessible, so you must laboriously seek out books or teachers and not give yourself away to other wizards.

Sacrifices

Black Magic often demands the blood of victims. During a ritual that requires this, you must cut the victim's throat with a non-metal blade - an obsidian dagger serves this purpose best.

High Magic

High Magic deals with the study of very powerful and also difficult incantations related to time, space and other worlds. It is also called Golden Magic.

Incantations that allow travel to the past are very uncommon because of their danger and unpredictability.

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