GURPS - 4th Edition - Magic

MAGIC IS EVERYWHERE

Finally, the secrets of the sorcerers are collect-
ed in a single volume. Magic – The Great Art –
brings great power to its practitioners, and offers
the opportunity to do great good or great evil.
This book is the complete guide to magic for
GURPS Fourth Edition.

GURPS Magic presents an expansive, colorful
magic system. Players can create any sort of
wizard they can imagine. GMs can adapt the
system to fit their own campaign or set adven-
tures in the world of their favorite fantasy
author. The rules can be modified to fit almost
any world or wizard.

This book is completely compatible with the
magic rules in the GURPS Basic Set, with hun-
dreds of new spells and several alternate magic
systems, including improvisational magic, sym-
bol magic, clerical magic, ritual magic, and
alchemy.

Open, and learn strange new wonders . . .

This PDF is an electronic copy of the
first (and only to date) printed edition of
GURPS Magic for the Fourth Edition of
GURPS. All known errata as of the date
of publication have been fixed.

GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks DOWNLOAD.
of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramid, GURPS Magic, and the PRINT.
PLAY.
names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are reg-
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under license. All rights reserved. GURPS Magic is copyright © 1989, 1990, STEVE JACKSON GAMES TM
1994, 1998, 2000. 2004, 2006 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated.
e23.sjgames.com
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this material via the Internet or
via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and pun-
ishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not
participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your

support of the authors’ rights is appreciated.

STEVE JACKSON GAMES

e23.sjgames.com

Stock #82-0127 Version 1.0 February 27, 2006



TM

Based on GURPS Magic by STEVE JACKSON
and GURPS Grimoire by S. JOHN ROSS and DANIEL U. THIBAULT

Compiled by MICHAEL SUILEABHAIN-WILSON
Edited by ANDREW HACKARD and JEFF ROSE
Cover Art by ABRAR AJMAL, ROBERTO CAMPUS, KIRK REINERT, ROMAS,
DOUGLAS SHULER, ROGÉRIO VILELA, and JOHN ZELEZNIK
Illustrated by ABRAR AJMAL, DOUGLAS SHULER, BOB STEVLIC, and ERIC WILKERSON
Spell Prerequisite Charts by MICHELLE BARRETT

ISBN 1-55634-733-2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

STEVE JACKSON GAMES

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . 4 Dissipating Held Melee WEAPON ENCHANTMENTS . . . . . . . . 62
and Missile Spells . . . . . . . . . . 14 ARMOR ENCHANTMENTS . . . . . . . . . 66
1. PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC . . . 5 PIECE-BY-PIECE
Long-Distance Modifiers . . . . . . 14
Glossary of Magical Terms . . . . . . 5 INVENTING NEW SPELLS . . . . . . . . . 14 ARMOR PRICES . . . . . . . . . . 66
LEARNING MAGIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 LIMITING ENCHANTMENTS . . . . . . . . 68
Player-Created Spells . . . . . . . . . 15 WIZARDLY TOOLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Finding a Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Designing Wizard Characters . . . 15
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Devotional Enchantment . . . . . . 71
Mana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2. MAGIC ITEMS . . . . . . . . 16
CASTING SPELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9. FIRE SPELLS . . . . . . . . . . 72
CRITICAL SPELL FAILURE TABLE . 7 Enchanting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Distraction and Injury . . . . . . . . . 7 Controlling PC Enchantment . . . 17 Small Fire Elemental . . . . . . . . . 76
Caster and Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Multiply Enchanted Items . . . . 18
Time Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Enchantments 10. FOOD SPELLS . . . . . . . . 77
Energy Cost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Magic Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Without Items . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 11. GATE SPELLS . . . . . . . . 80
Optional Rule: Enchantments
12. HEALING SPELLS . . . . . 88
Magic Ingredients . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Without Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Limits on Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Interruptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 13. ILLUSION AND
Duration of Spells and USING MAGIC ITEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 CREATION SPELLS . . . . . . 95
Controlling Magic Items . . . . . . . 19
Maintaining Spells . . . . . . . . . 9 BUYING MAGIC ITEMS . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Scary Illusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Optional Rule: Powerstone Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Selling Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . 21 14. KNOWLEDGE SPELLS . . 100
Alternate Magic Rituals . . . . . . 9 ECONOMICS AND ENCHANTMENT . . 21
Secret Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Spell Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 DIVINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Canceling Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Standard Divinations . . . . . . . 108
Casting Spells While 3. AIR SPELLS . . . . . . . . . . 23
15. LIGHT AND
Maintaining Other Spells . . . 10 ELEMENTAL SPIRIT SPELLS . . . . . . . 27 DARKNESS SPELLS . . . . . 110
Small Air Elemental . . . . . . . . . . 28
DIFFERENT KINDS OF MAGIC . . . . . 11 16. MAKING AND
Colleges of Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4. ANIMAL SPELLS . . . . . . . 29 BREAKING SPELLS . . . . . 115
Spell Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Ceremonial Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Hybrids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 17. META-SPELLS . . . . . . . 121
Area Spells on a Battle Map . . . . 13
Magic Staffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5. BODY CONTROL SPELLS . 35 LINKING SPELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

6. COMMUNICATION AND 18. MIND CONTROL
EMPATHY SPELLS . . . . . . 44 SPELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

7. EARTH SPELLS . . . . . . . . 50 19. MOVEMENT SPELLS . . 142

Small Earth Elemental . . . . . . . . 55

8. ENCHANTMENT SPELLS . . 56

Clay Golem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

GURPS System Design ❚ STEVE JACKSON Prepress Checker ❚ MONICA STEPHENS
Managing Editor ❚ ANDREW HACKARD Print Buyer ❚ MONICA STEPHENS
GURPS Line Editor ❚ SEAN PUNCH
Marketing Director ❚ PAUL CHAPMAN
Production Manager ❚ MONIQUE CHAPMAN Sales Manager ❚ ROSS JEPSON
Page Design ❚ PHILIP REED
Errata Coordinator ❚ ANDY VETROMILE
Production Artist ❚ JUSTIN DE WITT GURPS FAQ Maintainer ❚ STÉPHANE THÉRIAULT

Additional Material by Drew Bittner, Graeme Davis, Lee Gold, Ken Hite, Marc Janssen, Hunter Johnson, Steve Kenson, Chris McCubbin, Walter Milliken,
Steffan O’Sullivan, W. Dow Rieder, Sean Punch, Brett Slocum, William H. Stoddard, and Jonathan Woodward.
Playtesters: Jim Cambias, Peter Dell’Orto, Devin Ganger, Roberto Hoyle, Steve Kenson, Phil Masters,
Elizabeth McCoy, Kenneth Peters, William H. Stoddard, and Chad Underkoffler.

GURPS, Warehouse 23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramid and the names
of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated,

or used under license. GURPS Magic is copyright © 1989, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2004
by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal,
and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage
the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

2 CONTENTS

20. NECROMANTIC SPELLS 149 ENERGY SPELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Renaming Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
RADIATION SPELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 IMPROVISATIONAL MAGIC . . . . . . . . 201
Skull-Spirits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 METAL AND PLASTIC SPELLS . . . . . 182
Undead Templates . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Magery and
Demon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 New Meta-Trait: Improvised Magic . . . . . . . . 201
Demonic Contracts . . . . . . . . . . 156 Body of Plastic . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Black Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Wild Talents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
BLACK CRITICAL TABLE . . . . . . . 157 25. WATER SPELLS . . . . . . 184 Wildcard Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Lich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Spell Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Wraith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Small Water Elemental . . . . . . . 191 SYNTACTIC MAGIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Spell Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . 202
21. PLANT SPELLS . . . . . . 161 26. WEATHER SPELLS . . . . 193 Word Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Casting the Spell . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Plant Meta-Traits . . . . . . . . . . . 165 THE BEAUFORT SCALE . . . . . . . . 194 Scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
New Meta-Trait: Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
22. PROTECTION AND Body of Lightning . . . . . . . . 198 Linking Syntactic Spells . . . . . 204
WARNING SPELLS . . . . . 166 GMing Syntactic Magic . . . . . 204
27. VARIATIONS . . . . . . . . 199 A Syntactic Spell:
23. SOUND SPELLS . . . . . . 171
ALTERNATIVE MAGIC Waterproofing . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
24. TECHNOLOGICAL SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 SYMBOL MAGIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
SPELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Clerical Magic . . . . . . . 199
“Holy” Spells . . . . . . . . . 200 Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
MACHINE SPELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Ritual Magic . . . . . . . . 200 Casting the Spell . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Other Ritual Idioms . . . 200 Alternatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Alternate Prerequisites . . . . . . 200 Example of Symbol Casting . . . 206
An Emergency
About GURPS
Symbol-Casting . . . . . . . . . . 207
Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of the GURPS sys- The Futhark Runes . . . . . . . . . 209
tem. Our address is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Please The Ogham Alphabet . . . . . . . 209
include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) any time you write
us! We can also be reached by e-mail: [email protected]. Resources 28. ALCHEMY . . . . . . . . . 210
include:
THE ALCHEMY SKILL . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Pyramid (www.sjgames.com/pyramid/). Our online magazine Making Alchemical Items . . . . 210
includes new GURPS rules and articles. It also covers the d20 system, The Herb Lore Skill . . . . . . . . . . 211
Ars Magica, BESM, Call of Cthulhu, and many more top games – and Other Alchemist Abilities . . . . 211
other Steve Jackson Games releases like Illuminati, Car Wars, Inventing New Elixirs . . . . . . . 212
Transhuman Space, and more. Pyramid subscribers also get opportuni-
ties to playtest new GURPS books! USING ALCHEMICAL ITEMS . . . . . . 212
Forms of Elixir . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to grow, and Magic Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . 213
we’ll be happy to let you know what’s new. For a current catalog, send us Cost and Availability . . . . . . . . 213
a legal-sized or 9”¥12” SASE – please use two stamps! – or just visit
www.warehouse23.com. TYPES OF ELIXIRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Animal Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
e23. Our e-publishing division offers GURPS adventures, play aids, Combat Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . 214
and support not available anywhere else! Just head over to Hostile Elixirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
www.sjgames.com/e23/. Magical Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Medical Elixirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but we do our best Popular Elixirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
to fix our errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all GURPS releases, Mental Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
including this book, are available on our website – see below. Mental Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Skills and
Internet. Visit us on the World Wide Web at www.sjgames.com for Physical Abilities . . . . . . . . . 219
errata, updates, Q&A, free webforums, and much more. The GURPS
Magic web page is www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/magic/. ALCHEMICAL CHARMS . . . . . . . . . . 220
Time and Cost to Make . . . . . . 220
Bibliographies. Many of our books have extensive bibliographies, and Detection and Analysis . . . . . . 220
we’re putting them online – with links to let you buy the books that inter- Using Charms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
est you! Go to the book’s web page and look for the “Bibliography” link.
EXOTIC PREPARATIONS . . . . . . . . . . 220
GURPSnet. This e-mail list hosts much of the online discussion of Alkahest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
GURPS. To join, point your web browser to www.sjgames.com/ Homunculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l/. Philosophers’ Stone . . . . . . . . . 221

Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the GURPS Basic MAGICALLY POTENT MATERIALS . . 222
Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that begin with B refer to that book,
not this one. APPENDIX: SPELL TABLE . . 223

SAMPLE SPELL
PREREQUISITE CHART . . 238

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

GRIMOIRE FORM . . . . . . . 240

CONTENTS 3

INTRODUCTION

Any sufficiently advanced technology by S. John Ross and Daniel U. Grimoire (1994), the collection of
is indistinguishable from magic. Thibault, plus the Black Magic system spells which is incorporated into this
created by S. John Ross. Many others book. He is one of gaming’s first com-
– Clarke’s Law created material or suggested spells mercial electronic publishers, the
Any sufficiently advanced magic is for one or another of these volumes; founder of Cumberland Games &
indistinguishable from technology. see the credits on p. 2. And Michael Diversions. His home on the Web is
Suileabhain-Wilson converted the also the home of Risus: The Anything
– Murphy’s reformulation of entire collection to Fourth Edition RPG, the HexPaper font, and Sparks
Clarke’s Law standards. paper miniatures. His home in the

The very first roleplaying was fan- ABOUT THE physical world is Austin, Texas, where
tasy roleplaying, and fantasy is still the AUTHORS he games weekly and snuggles daily
most popular type of RPG. Magic with his wife, Sandra. In addition to
brings power and wonder to the gam- Steve Jackson played his first RPG his GURPS and other work for Steve
ing table. Yet all too often, fantasy when there was only one title on the Jackson Games, he’s written, edited,
campaigns seem trite and predictable, market. It was fantasy. His first pro- mapped, and cartooned his way
trapped by their sources in Tolkien fessional job was developing a fantasy across the gaming industry, including
and Arthurian England. RPG (Monsters! Monsters!). His sec- work for Wizards of the Coast, White
ond game design was a tactical game Wolf, TSR, Guardians of Order, Last
It needn’t be that way. Magic and intended to be used with fantasy RPGs Unicorn Games, and Flying Buffalo.
magical worlds can have infinite vari- (Melee). His first big design was a fan-
ety, and so can magical heroes. A wiz- tasy RPG (The Fantasy Trip). He Daniel U. Thibault was a graduate
ard might be the stereotypical gray- wrote the first editions of GURPS student in computer science when he
beard with a pointed hat . . . but he Fantasy and GURPS Magic. One submitted spells for the first edition of
also might be a palace cook with a might conclude that he likes fantasy GURPS Fantasy. He then proceeded
couple of minor but useful food spells, RPGs. He doesn’t get to play them as to ransack books, movies, bulletin
a plane-hopping mage who roams the much as he likes, though, since being boards and his imagination to pro-
timelines looking for people in trou- president and editor-in-chief of Steve duce GURPS Grimoire. He also col-
ble, or a battle-hardened soldier Jackson Games continues to demand laborated on several other GURPS
whose mastery of magic has brought huge chunks of time. Anyone feel like books. Meanwhile, he became a scien-
empires to their knees. With GURPS GMing a GURPS campaign in Austin? tist with Defence R&D Canada, got a
Magic, you can play these spellcasters spouse, cats, dogs, and a child, and
and many others. S. John Ross wrote the Black Magic moved multiple times. All this has put
rules (p. 156) and co-wrote GURPS severe limitations on his roleplaying
The meat of this book comprises time, but things are getting better.
24 spell colleges with hundreds of
spells . . . but there’s much more!
Within these pages you’ll also find
expanded rules for magic use and
enchantment, alternate magic sys-
tems, and a full treatment of alchemy,
ready to drop into your game.

PUBLICATION
HISTORY

This is the third edition of GURPS
Magic; it has been revised to the
GURPS Fourth Edition rules. We hope
that’s not overly confusing. The oldest
material here dates back to the first
edition of GURPS Fantasy (which
covered magic as well as fantasy
world-building). The second edition of
Magic added more spells and the
Improvisational Magic system created
by Brett Slocum and Steffan
O’Sullivan. This edition adds the
entire contents of GURPS Grimoire,

4 INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

PRINCIPLES OF
MAGIC

Bid me discourse, I will enchant painstaking process. Very experienced Magery. Anyone with any degree of
thine ear. wizards can strike out into new terri- Magery is called a mage. In many
tory, creating new spells for new tasks, game worlds, only mages can use
– William Shakespeare, but magical experimentation is not for magic. In all worlds, they are
“Venus and Adonis” the novice or the faint of heart. better with magic than nonmages.

The table groaned under the The best wizards have an inborn
weight of strange and wonderful ability to learn and use magic, called
things – cups and belts and boxes and
other things that Patrick didn’t recog- Glossary of Magical Terms
nize. He looked up nervously at the
big man in the brown robes. abort: To stop the casting of a spell before its completion.
backfire: A critical failure when casting a spell.
“Go on now, boy,” the man said base skill: Your unmodified skill with a spell; compare with effective skill.
gently. “Pick out something special.” basic spell: A spell with no other spells as prerequisites.
cancel: To end a spell before it would normally expire.
Patrick turned back to the table caster: The person casting a spell.
and chewed his thumb. There were so class: A group of spells that use the same special rules. Two examples
many things, and they were all so nice.
He petted a soft fur hat, thinking appear in this glossary: melee spells, Missile spells and Resisted spells.
about the coming winter. college: A group of spells that deal with the same subject – fire, healing,

He kept looking back at a set of etc.
knucklebones, like the men used down effective skill: Your base skill, plus any modifiers (usually penalties) for
at the public house. He reached out
and picked them up. They seemed range, circumstances, etc. A caster rolls against effective skill.
almost alive in his hand – warm and enchantment spell: A spell for creating permanent magic items. See
trembling, like a mouse.
Chapter 2.
He stepped back from the table energy: The “cost” to cast a spell. You may pay this in either FP or HP.
and turned. “These,” he said, holding
out the knucklebones. Some game worlds offer alternative energy sources.
grimoire: The list of spells you know (more generally, any book of spells).
The big man raised an eyebrow as mage: Anyone with the Magery advantage.
he took them. He looked to the back of Magery: The advantage of being “in tune” with magic; see pp. B66-67.
the room, where Patrick’s parents maintain: To continue a spell after it would normally end. This costs
waited with the mayor, and nodded.
Patrick’s mother made a small noise. more energy, unless you have high skill.
mana: The ambient magical energy manipulated by spells. Different
Squatting in front of Patrick, the
big man offered his hand. Patrick took areas (or worlds) have different levels of mana; see Mana (p. 6).
it; it was huge, but strangely soft. The melee spell: A spell that “charges” your hand or a magic staff with
man clasped his hand firmly.
harmful energies that affect the first target you strike.
“Welcome to the vocation, Magus.” missile spell: A spell that summons a magical projectile that you must

Magic is a powerful force that can “throw” at the subject.
be manipulated with skills called prerequisite: A requirement for learning a spell.
spells. By casting spells, a wizard can Resisted spell: Any spell that must overcome the “power” of its subject
direct magical energy – known as
mana – to produce almost any effect. before it works.
This is a mysterious art in some set- sapient: Racial IQ 6 or higher.
tings, a precise science in others. spell: A skill that produces a specific magical effect when used

Although hundreds of spells exist, successfully.
each has a unique effect. Finding the subject: The person, place, or thing on which a spell is cast.
right spell for a given task can be a wizard: Any user of magic, whether he is a mage or not.

PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC 5

LEARNING MAGIC

Anyone can learn most spells – time required to learn spells (but not FINDING A
although in some worlds, you must be a the point cost) by 10% per Magery level, TEACHER
mage to use the spells you know. Some to a minimum of 60% the usual time at
spells specify a particular level of Magery 4; e.g., Magery 3 would let you The difficulty of learning magic
Magery as a prerequisite: if you lack the learn spells in 70% the usual time. depends largely on the role of magic in
required Magery level, you cannot learn a setting – and especially on its preva-
the spell. The maximum level of Magery avail- lence. In a world where magic is com-
able in your world is up to the GM. mon, wizardry is likely a trade like any
Each magic spell is a separate skill, Most GMs will want to limit PCs to other, learned through apprenticeships
learned just like any other skill. Most Magery 3 or 4. or in schools. If magic is rare, on the
spells are IQ/Hard skills, but a few other hand, prospective teachers may
potent spells are IQ/Very Hard. Spells If you know more than a few spells, be cloistered in far-off monasteries or
have no default – you can only cast you may wish to make a “grimoire.” isolated towers. If magic is illegal, those
spells you know. This is a list of the spells you know and mentors will be in hiding.
your skill with each, along with the
Add your Magery to IQ when you energy cost, time to cast, duration, etc. Once the would-be wizard finds a
learn spells. For instance, if you have IQ for each spell. This will save a lot of ref- teacher, he must convince the teacher
12 and Magery 3, you learn spells as if erence time in play! A form is included to take him on as a student. Some
you had IQ 15. In addition, reduce the on p. 240. teachers give lessons for a fee; others
demand service in exchange for train-
Mana ing. Still others ask for nothing in
advance, but expect their students to
Mana is the ambient energy that empowers magic. Magic will work know their duty when the need arises.
only if the mana level of the game world or specific area allows it, as
follows: If no instructor is available, an aspir-
ing wizard may study magic without a
Very High Mana: Anyone who knows spells can cast them. A mage who teacher, like any other intellectual skill.
spends FP to cast a spell on his turn gets those FP back at the start of his However, lone study demands that the
next turn. However, all failures are treated as critical failures – and actual wizard has access to good texts on
critical failures produce spectacular disasters! Very high mana is extreme- magic, in a language he can read. Even
ly rare in most settings. then, his progress is only half as fast as
it would be with a mentor, taking 400
High Mana: Anyone who knows spells can cast them. This mana level hours for every character point of
is rare in most worlds, but some game worlds have high mana throughout. progress (though Magery will offset
some of this; see Magery, pp. B66-67).
Normal Mana: Only mages can cast spells. These spells work normally, What’s more, finding those texts may be
according to all rules given in this chapter. This is the default mana level just as hard as finding a teacher.
in most fantasy settings: mages use magic, others don’t.
In a world with improvised magic
Low Mana: Only mages can cast spells, and all spells perform at -5 to (p. 201), there may be no magic
skill, for all purposes. (Magic items are similarly affected; see Power of a teachers at all; wizards might learn by
Magic Item, p. 17.) However, critical failures have mild effects or no effect experimentation and lots of hard
at all. knocks.

No Mana: No one can use magic at all. Enchantments and permanent PREREQUISITES
magic effects are suspended and do not function while within a no-mana
zone, but resume when taken to an area with mana. Temporary and last- All but the most basic spells have
ing spells (p. 10) are dispelled when they enter a no-mana zone. This one or more prerequisites: require-
mana level occurs in isolated spots in magical worlds. Some entire game ments you must meet in order to learn
worlds can lack mana, making magic use impossible. the spell. If the prerequisite is another
spell, you must have at least one point
In most regions, mana is uniform and static. However, in some loca- in the prerequisite spell before you
tions mana may favor certain types of magic, or fluctuate over time. Some can study the advanced spell. Not all
powerful spells can even change the mana level of an area (p. 127). GURPS prerequisites are spells. Some spells
Fantasy discusses more possibilities for the magical properties of a world. require a minimum Magery level; for
instance, “Magery 2” means you must
Sensing Mana have Magery 2 or more to learn the
spell. A few spells require a minimum
Mages cannot automatically sense the mana level of an area, but they basic attribute score, an advantage, or
may sense the change when they cross a boundary between levels. When even a mundane skill.
a mage crosses such a boundary, roll vs. Perception + Magery-3. Add 3 to
the roll if the mage was explicitly searching for the boundary.

6 PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC

CASTING SPELLS

You must know a spell in order to again. The GM is free to improvise spell were both lily-white, pure
cast it, unless you possess a magic instead of using the table. good in intent.)
item that lets you cast it (see Chapter Improvisations should be appropriate
2). Tell the GM what spell you are cast- to the spell and the situation, and DISTRACTION
ing, then take Concentrate maneuvers should never kill the caster outright. AND INJURY
for the requisite number of turns (see
Time Required, below). At the end of 3 – Spell fails entirely. Caster takes 1d If you use an active defense against
the last second of concentration, make of injury. an attack, or are knocked back,
a success roll for the spell. knocked down, injured, grappled, or
4 – Spell is cast on caster (if harmful) otherwise distracted while concentrat-
Casting a spell works like any other or on a random nearby foe (if ben- ing, make a Will roll at -3 to continue
use of a skill: roll 3d and compare the eficial). casting your spell. On a failure, your
total to your effective skill (your base spell is spoiled and you must start
skill with the spell adjusted by any 5-6 – Spell is cast on one of the caster’s over.
applicable modifiers). Modifiers companions (if harmful) or on a
depend on the class of spell (see Spell random nearby foe (if beneficial). If you are stunned while concen-
Classes, p. 11). If your roll is less than trating, your spell is automatically
or equal to your effective skill, the 7 – Spell affects someone or something spoiled.
spell works. If it is greater than your other than its intended target –
effective skill, the spell fails. friend, foe, or random object. Roll If you are injured but not stunned
randomly or make an interesting while concentrating, and succeed on
choice. the roll to avoid distraction, you may
cast your spell. However, the shock
Improvisations should be appropriate to the penalty for your injury will reduce
spell and the situation, and should never kill the your effective skill. See Shock
caster outright. (p. B419) for details on shock.

On a success, mark off the spell’s 8 – Spell fails entirely. Caster takes 1 CASTER AND
energy cost against your FP or HP (see point of injury. SUBJECT
Energy Cost, p. 8). Its effects take place
immediately. On a critical success, the 9 – Spell fails entirely. Caster is The “caster” of a spell is the person
spell works especially well. Details are stunned (IQ roll to recover). who is attempting to cast it.
up to the GM, who should be both
generous and creative. Whatever else 10-11 – Spell produces nothing but a The “subject” of a spell is the per-
occurs, there is never an energy cost if loud noise, bright flash of light, son, place, or thing upon which the
you get a critical success when you awful odor, etc. spell is cast. If you are casting a spell
cast a spell. on yourself, you are both caster and
12 – Spell produces a weak and use- subject. The subject can also be anoth-
On a failure, the spell does not less shadow of the intended effect. er being, an inanimate object, or even
work. If success would have cost ener- a patch of ground. If the subject is a
gy, you lose one energy point; other- 13 – Spell produces the reverse of the place, the caster can “touch” it by
wise, you lose nothing. (Exception: intended effect. extending a hand over it or touching
You must pay the full energy cost for the ground, as appropriate for the
an Information spell even on a failure; 14 – Spell seems to work, but it is only spell.
see Information Spells, p. 13.) On a a useless illusion. The GM should
critical failure, you must spend the full do his best to convince the wizard TIME REQUIRED
energy cost and the spell fails badly! and his companions that the spell
The GM may use the Critical Spell did work! Most spells take one second to cast.
Failure Table or improvise some other Take the Concentrate maneuver for
“backfire” he finds amusing. 15-16 – Spell has the reverse of the one turn and attempt your skill roll at
intended effect, on the wrong tar- the end of your turn. If you succeed,
CRITICAL SPELL get. Roll randomly. the spell takes effect instantly.
FAILURE TABLE Whether you succeed or fail, your turn
17 – Spell fails entirely. Caster tem- ends as soon as you roll the dice. No
Roll 3d on the table below. If the porarily forgets the spell. Make an one can interrupt a one-second spell
result is inappropriate – or if it is the IQ roll after a week, and again each unless he took the Wait maneuver on
result that the caster intended – roll following week, until he remem- his own turn before the caster began
bers. concentrating.

18 – Spell fails entirely. A demon or
other malign entity appropriate to
the setting appears and attacks the
caster. (The GM may waive this
result if, in his opinion, caster and

PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC 7

Example: Patrick wants to cast Optional Rule:
Create Fire, a one-second spell. On his Magic Ingredients
turn, Patrick says, “I’m concentrating
on Create Fire.” This uses his entire Traditionally, spells have often required the use of exotic ingredients:
turn. He then rolls the dice for his dragon scale, virgin’s blood, eye of newt, mandrake root, Nixon campaign
spell. If he succeeds, he creates fire – buttons, or what have you. This book, however, does not specify what
but either way, Patrick’s turn ends. ingredients are required for spells, aside from some materials required for
Aidan, standing next to him, cannot enchantments. It would be nearly impossible to produce a list of ingredi-
try to disrupt the spell unless he took ents that would make sense across a variety of settings, to say nothing of
the Wait maneuver before Patrick’s the space such a list would take up.
turn began.
Instead, spell ingredients should be regarded as a powerful tool for
Some spells take more than one GMs to use for fine-tuning the feel of magic in their games. Spells you
second to cast. This requires multiple, wish to constrain may require expensive and rare ingredients. If a partic-
consecutive Concentrate maneuvers in ular spell is getting out of hand, maybe the mandrake crop will fail this
combat. Make the skill roll at the end year. Spell ingredients can also serve as a useful cash sink, if the amount
of the last turn of concentration. You of money in PC hands is getting excessive.
may “abort” an unfinished spell before
it is cast, at no penalty, but you must Exotic ingredients can be extremely useful for moderating the use of
start over if you wish to try again. magic. Ordinarily, wizards have little incentive not to use up all their
energy at every encounter; as long as the party has some time to rest
Example: If a spell takes three sec- afterwards, they’ll be back up to scratch in no time. If there’s only so
onds to cast, you must spend three much eye of newt to last until the next visit to town, however, wizards
turns doing nothing but concentrat- may start trying to use their magic to best effect, and to find alternate
ing. You roll the dice at the end of your ways to be useful in a pinch.
third turn.
For some possible ingredients and their typical uses, see Magically
Blocking spells may be cast without Potent Materials, p. 222.
concentrating, during a foe’s turn, to
defend against an attack. See Blocking Recover Energy spell (p. 89) recovers requires you to speak, you cannot cast
Spells (pp. 12-13). FP faster than normal. the spell if you are gagged or under a
spell of silence.
ENERGY COST Burning HP
The higher your skill with a spell,
Each spell has an energy cost. You may also expend life energy to the easier it is to cast. It takes less time,
When you cast the spell, you must pay pay the cost of a spell. Mark off some requires less energy, and has less strin-
this cost in either FP or HP. The better or all of the cost against HP instead of gent ritual requirements. See the list
you know the spell, the less energy you FP – the spell is actually harming you! below for details. In all cases, “skill”
need to cast it. If you know it well You are at -1 on your spell roll per HP refers to base skill, not effective skill.
enough, you can cast it at no cost. used. This is instead of the usual shock The only modifier that matters here is
Exception: Never reduce the cost of a penalty for injury, and High Pain the -5 for low mana, if applicable.
Blocking spell; see Blocking Spells Threshold has no effect.
(pp. 12-13). Skill 9 or less – Ritual: You must have
Using HP to power spells is dan- both hands and both feet free for
If your base skill with a spell – mod- gerous, but it may be necessary if you elaborate ritual movements, and
ified only by the -5 for low mana, if are badly fatigued and must cast you must speak certain words of
applicable – is 15 or more, reduce the another spell. You may “burn” HP power in a firm voice. Time:
cost to cast the spell by 1. If you have until you fall unconscious. Should a Doubled. Cost: As listed.
skill 20 or more, reduce cost by 2. Cost failed HT roll indicate that you have
continues to decrease by 1 per full five died, you do not actually spend the Skill 10-14 – Ritual: You must speak a
skill levels beyond skill 20. Apply the HP. Instead, you fall unconscious. few quiet words and make a ges-
same reduction to the cost to maintain ture. Time: As listed. Cost: As listed.
a spell. Calculate the entire cost for a Treat HP lost this way just like any
spell (for instance, by multiplying cost other injury. Skill 15-19 – Ritual: You must speak a
for the size of the subject or the area word or two or make a small ges-
affected) before applying energy cost MAGIC RITUALS ture (a couple of fingers are
reductions for high skill. Energy is still enough), but not necessarily both.
going into the spell, but your skill lets To cast a spell, you must usually You are allowed to move one yard
you draw it from the surrounding perform a ritual that involves gestures per second while taking the
mana instead of supplying it yourself! and speech. If you can’t perform the Concentrate maneuver. Time: As
ritual, you can’t cast the spell! For listed. Cost: Reduced by 1.
You normally pay the energy cost instance, if the ritual for a spell
of a spell in FP. You can recover lost Skill 20-24 – Ritual: None! You simply
FP by resting. A mage with the stare into space as you concentrate.

8 PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC

Time: Halved (round fractions up Optional Rule: Alternate Magic Rituals
to the next second). Minimum cast-
ing time is still one second. Cost: Here is an alternative way to handle the rituals required for spells. It
Reduced by 2. gives wizards more flexibility in the way they cast their spells, but denies
Skill 25-29 – Ritual: None. Time: powerful wizards the ability to forget about ritual entirely.
Divided by 4 (round up). Cost:
Reduced by 3. By default, all spells require two-handed gestures, subtle foot motions
Skill 30 or more – As above, but for like dance steps, and a clearly spoken incantation. However, any wizard
every five levels of skill beyond skill may choose to omit parts of the ritual by accepting a penalty to skill.
25 (that is, at levels 30, 35, 40, etc.), Omitting the foot movements requires a -2 penalty. Gestures with only
halve casting time again (always one hand require a -2 penalty, while casting with no hand gestures at all
rounding up) and reduce energy requires a -4 penalty. Softly spoken incantations demand a -2 penalty, and
cost by one more point. no incantation requires a -4 penalty.

Certain spells always require a spe- If, on the other hand, a wizard has time to be especially precise with
cific ritual. Such requirements over- his movements and speaks the incantation loudly and articulately,
ride the rules above. For instance, doubling the casting time, he gets +1 to his effective skill.
high skill has no effect on the cost to
cast Blocking spells (pp. 12-13) or the points to heal 2, 4, 6, or 8 HP. It has If you can maintain a spell, the
time to cast Missile spells (p. 12). four levels of effect. Magery 10 would energy cost to do so appears alongside
let you revise this limit to 10 levels of the cost to cast. When the spell reach-
LIMITS ON effect – you could spend 1-10 energy es the end of its duration, you may
EFFECT points to heal 2-20 HP! continue the spell by paying its main-
tenance cost. If you do, the spell
The effects of many spells vary The GM is free not to use this rule endures for another interval equal to
with the energy spent. For instance, a if he thinks it would be unbalanced. Of its duration. This takes no time and
healing spell might heal 1 HP per course, if he puts a limit on the high- requires no skill roll. Distance is not a
energy point, or a combat spell might est level of Magery available, this will factor.
inflict 1d damage per point. not be a problem!
Example: The Light spell (p. 110)
If the spell description sets no DURATION OF notes “Duration: 1 minute” and “Cost:
upper limit, then you may spend as SPELLS AND 1 to cast; 1 to maintain.” It ends after
much energy as you can afford! The MAINTAINING a minute unless, at the end of that
more you spend, the greater the effect. SPELLS minute, you spend one more energy
point to maintain it. If you do, it lasts
If the spell specifies a finite range Some spells produce an instanta- another minute.
of effects and associated energy costs, neous effect when cast and then end
though, you cannot exceed the upper immediately. Other spells last for a You may repeat this process for as
limit without a high level of Magery fixed “duration” (given for the particu- long as you wish, provided you can
(see below). lar spell, but most often one minute) supply the required energy. As long as
and then wear off – unless you you are conscious, you will know
If either type of variable spell is cast maintain them. when one of your spells needs to be
on the same subject more than once, renewed. However, you cannot main-
only the spell with the most powerful tain a spell while you sleep, and you
effects counts – multiple instances of a cannot “hand off” a spell to someone
given spell do not “stack” or add in any else so he can maintain it for you.
way. Spells that heal, damage, or oth-
erwise permanently affect the subject Secret Spells
are an exception: you may cast such
spells repeatedly, healing or damaging It is rarely clear what spell a wizard is casting while he’s casting it –
the subject by the full amount each especially if he knows it well enough to cast it silently! In general, if a spell
time. has no obvious visible effect (unlike Fireball), it can be kept a secret. This
can make magical battles much more interesting, when only the GM
Magery and Effect knows exactly what spells are in effect and on whom.

Talented mages may exceed the Even if the spell is audible, observers may have to make a
usual limits for spells that allow a Thaumatology roll to recognize a spell they do not themselves know.
finite number of “levels of effect” (dice Observers without Thaumatology are completely out of luck!
of damage, bonuses to skill, etc.). The
upper limit is the higher of the stan-
dard number of levels or the caster’s
Magery level.

Example: Major Healing (p. 91)
allows you to spend 1, 2, 3, or 4 energy

PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC 9

High Skill and Cost to Canceling Spells
Maintain
Sometimes, you may want to end a spell before its full duration is up.
Energy cost reduction for high skill If you specify a shorter duration when you cast the spell, the spell lasts
also applies to the cost to maintain a exactly the time desired. If you suddenly decide to “cancel” a spell before
spell. This can reduce maintenance its time is up, though, you must pay one energy point (from FP or HP) to
cost to 0. For instance, if you know a do so, regardless of the spell or your skill level.
spell at skill 15-19, you may reduce its
maintenance cost by 1; if this cost is 1 Instantaneous spells produce an Spell Endurance
to begin with, you can maintain the instant effect when cast and then end
spell indefinitely at no energy cost! immediately. Note that some instanta- Spells usually resist other spells or
neous spells appear to last longer attacks with the effective skill of the
Concentration and because they leave behind a persistent wizard who cast them. Some tempo-
Maintenance but nonmagical effect – Flesh to rary and lasting spells, however, can
Stone, for example, instantly turns a be whittled away by repeated assaults.
You can maintain a spell without living being to stone and ends, leaving Such spells are said to have
concentration unless the spell requires behind a stone statue. Endurance. Like an enchantment’s
constant manipulation and change; Power, a spell’s Endurance at casting
e.g., to maneuver a levitating object. Temporary spells are spells that time is equal to its caster’s effective
Spells like this require you to take the require the continuing expenditure of skill. However, it may be reduced by
Concentrate maneuver only. If you are energy to maintain. If it has a cost to later events. A spell’s description
distracted, injured, or stunned, you maintain, it is most likely a temporary always discusses whether the spell has
must make a Will roll at -3. If you fail, spell. Only temporary spells count as Endurance and at what Endurance
the spell does not end, but it remains spells “on” (see below). the spell fails and dissipates.
in precisely the state it had when you
were distracted, and does not respond Lasting spells do not require main- One Try
to change until you can concentrate tenance, but have a limited effective
on it again. On a critical failure, the duration. Typically, they last until Some spells only provide a wizard
spell ends. some event ends the spell. Bless is a with one chance. These spells note
good example; the spell lasts until the “One Try” in their descriptions. If such
Casting another spell does not blessing is used. a spell fails, the caster (and any assis-
break concentration, but you suffer a tants) may not try that spell again on
skill penalty for doing two things at Permanent spells create a magical the same subject. Some spells permit
once (see Casting Spells While effect that lasts indefinitely. Zombie is only a single try within a given time
Maintaining Other Spells, below). a good example: the magic force that period – “one try per week,” for exam-
animates the body persists until the ple. In this case, the caster(s) may try
Changing Maintained body has been physically destroyed. A again after the appropriate time has
Spells permanent spell, unlike temporary passed. If no time period is specified,
and lasting spells, does not end in a the caster(s) may never try again.
A spell with a variable area of effect no-mana zone, but it is suspended
cannot be expanded after it has been until the subject leaves the zone. At CASTING SPELLS
cast. However, a wizard may choose to that point the spell resumes. WHILE
maintain only part of a spell’s area, MAINTAINING
paying the maintenance cost for only Enchantments produce a still more OTHER SPELLS
a portion of the original area affected. enduring magical effect – usually one
that generates other magical effects in You can only cast one new spell at a
Duration Types turn. Enchantments are not dispelled time. However, you can cast new spells
by spells like Dispel Magic or Remove before older ones end. Apply the follow-
There are five classes of duration Curse. Like permanent spells, ing modifiers whenever you cast spells
for spells: instantaneous, temporary, enchantments are suspended, not while you have other spells active:
lasting, permanent, and enchantment. dispelled, by no-mana zones.
-3 per spell you are concentrating
on at the moment. See the individual
spell descriptions to learn which spells
require concentration.

-1 per other spell you have “on” at
the moment. Only temporary spells
carry this penalty.

10 PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC

DIFFERENT KINDS OF MAGIC

Many types of magic exist. Spells • Name a target location. For Melee Spells
fall into “colleges” according to their instance, if you specify “One yard
subject matter, and “classes” according beyond the other side of this door,” Melee spells “charge” your hand or
to the way they work. you’ll get whoever is standing on the magic staff (see box) with harmful ener-
other side of the door. If there is nobody gies that affect the first target you
COLLEGES OF there, you wasted the spell. strike. These spells require two skill
MAGIC rolls: a roll against spell skill to cast the
• Name a subject; e.g., “The closest spell, and a normal melee attack roll to
Spells related by subject matter – person in the next room,” or, “George, hit the target with your hand or staff.
e.g., fire, healing, or mind control – who I know is around here some-
belong to the same college. The basic where.” The GM determines the actual To cast a Melee spell, concentrate
spells of a college are prerequisites for range to the subject. This is risky! If the for the required time, roll against spell
the more advanced ones. Some spells subject is farther away than you think – skill at the end of the final turn of con-
fall into more than one college. For or simply absent – you are inviting centration, and pay the energy cost. No
instance, Earth to Air (p. 25) is both an failure or even critical failure! distance modifier applies because you
Earth and an Air spell. This is only are casting the spell on yourself! On a
important when counting prerequisites. No physical barrier affects a success, you energize your hand or staff
Regular spell. Unless it backfires, the with the spell’s magic. On your next
Most wizards specialize in only a spell never hits the wrong target. turn, you must either hold your spell or
few colleges. This is the most efficient attack with it.
way to learn advanced magic. Area Spells
However, you may learn spells from as If you hold your spell, your hand or
many colleges as you wish. These spells affect an area instead of staff remains “charged.” This costs no
an individual. They are cast on a sur- energy and requires no skill roll. You
SPELL CLASSES face – floor, ground, etc. – and their cannot cast another spell while holding
effects extend four yards (12 feet) up a Melee spell. You can take any other
Each spell falls into one or more from that surface. A few Area spells combat maneuver (but an attack with
classes that define how it works in work differently; see the individual spell the energized hand or staff discharges
play. These classes are not mutually descriptions for details. the spell). A parry with the hand or staff
exclusive, except as explicitly noted in does not discharge the spell; only an
the rules below. The area’s size governs the energy attack in combat is a part of the ritual.
cost, but not the difficulty of the roll.
Regular Spells The cost listed for an Area spell is A Melee spell held on a staff persists
always its “base cost.” The actual cost to for as long as you wield the staff. If you
Most spells fall into this class. A cast the spell is equal to its base cost lose hold of your staff, even for an
Regular spell affects only one subject. multiplied by the radius of the area of instant, the spell drains away harmless-
Its energy cost assumes a human-sized effect in yards (minimum one yard): ly. If someone grabs your staff, and you
subject – that is, one with Size modifier base cost ¥1 for a one-yard radius, ¥2 are both holding it on your turn, your
0. For a subject with a positive SM, mul- for a two-yard radius, ¥3 for a three- attempt to wrench it free counts as an
tiply cost by 1 + SM: ¥2 energy for SM yard radius, and so on. attack, and your opponent instantly
+1, ¥3 for SM +2, ¥4 for SM +3, and so suffers the spell’s effects!
on. There is no cost reduction for a sub- Area spells with a fractional base
ject with a negative SM. A few Regular cost, such as 1/2 or 1/10, cost a mini- To attack, roll against DX or an
spells have special cost schemes that mum of one energy point. A few Area unarmed combat skill to hit with a
override these rules. spells specify a minimum cost, which hand, or the appropriate Melee Weapon
you must always pay, even if it is larger skill to hit with a staff. This is a stan-
Regular spells work best if you can than the base cost multiplied by the dard melee attack. Your target may
touch or see the subject. You do not desired radius. attempt any active defense. If he suc-
have to see through your own eyes; any ceeds, your spell is not triggered; you
spell that lets you see by magical means If an Area spell affects living beings, may try again next turn. If he fails, your
will do. it affects everyone in the area of effect. melee attack does its usual damage and
You may choose to affect only a part of your spell affects him immediately.
If you cannot touch the subject, the area, instead of the whole circle, but
apply a skill penalty equal to your dis- the cost is still the same – i.e., you may Armor protects normally against
tance in yards from the subject; e.g., -5 create an area of effect with “holes” in some Melee spells, not at all against
at five yards. Figure distance at the it, but must still spend energy as if you others. If the spell is one that ignores
moment you roll the dice for the spell. had filled the entire radius of the spell. armor, neither an unarmed parry
(even with an armored limb) nor a
If you cannot touch or see the sub- If you cannot touch any part of the block can protect the target from the
ject, there is a further -5 penalty. There affected area, apply a skill penalty equal spell. Even if such a defense wards off
are two ways to direct such a spell: to your distance in yards from the the melee attack, the spell arcs
nearest edge of the area. through the target’s armor or shield
and affects him.
Otherwise, Area spells work like
Regular spells.

PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC 11

Ceremonial Magic

If you know a spell at skill 15 or higher and have a At the end of the ritual, make a skill roll to cast the
group of willing assistants, you may opt to cast the spell spell. Apply all standard modifiers for magic use and
by leading your assistants in an elaborate ritual that any bonus for extra energy. Regardless of the outcome
maximizes the spell’s power. Such “ceremonial magic” of the die roll, all contributed energy is spent when you
is time-consuming, but lets you cast more powerful roll the dice.
spells than you could cast on your own.
Notes on Ceremonial Magic
When you work ceremonial magic, multiply casting
time by 10. Energy cost does not change, but your assis- • You must have assistants to perform ceremonial
tants can supplement your energy input as follows: magic.

Each mage who knows the spell at level 15+: as much • High skill does not reduce casting time, energy
energy as he wishes to contribute. cost, or the ritual actions required.

Each nonmage who knows the spell at level 15+: up to • A group aids concentration. If you are distracted
3 points. during the ritual, roll at Will as opposed to Will-3 to
avoid distraction.
Each mage who knows the spell at level 14 or lower: up
to 3 points. • Ceremonial magic is hard to coordinate. A roll of
16 is always a failure, and a roll of 17-18 is always a crit-
Each unskilled spectator who supports the casting (by ical failure – even if effective skill is 16+.
chanting, holding candles, etc.): 1 point, to a maximum
of 100 points from all spectators. • Once the spell is cast, the participants can contin-
ue to provide energy to maintain the spell. The compo-
Each spectator who opposes the casting: -5 points, to sition of the group may change, as long as the ritual
a maximum penalty of -100 points from all spectators! continues uninterrupted. Thus, ceremonial magic lets
you maintain a spell indefinitely.
The sum of the energy from all sources represents
the total energy available. If this exceeds the cost to cast • Ceremonial magic may not be assisted with
the spell, you receive a skill bonus: +1 for 20% extra Wishes, Luck, or Bless spells. In general, magic cannot
energy, +2 for 40%, +3 for 60%, +4 for 100%, and affect or predict the outcome of a ceremonial ritual.
another +1 per additional 100% of the required energy.
• A spectator must support the ceremony of his own
free will. A mind-controlled subject cannot focus
sufficient will to contribute energy.

Some Melee spells are Resisted On your next turn, you have three There is one drawback: if you are
(pp. 13-14). These spells require a sec- options with your missile: make a injured while you have a missile “in
ond roll against spell skill, when the ranged attack with it, hold it, or enlarge hand,” you must make a Will roll. If you
spell actually takes effect, to overcome it. If you opt to enlarge your missile, fail, the missile immediately affects you!
the target’s resistance. you must concentrate for another sec-
ond. At the end of your turn, you may When you are ready to attack, roll
Missile Spells invest more energy in the spell – any- against your Innate Attack skill to hit.
thing from one point to points equal to This is a standard ranged attack, sub-
This class of spells encompasses your Magery level. This does not ject to the usual modifiers for target
long-distance “projectile” or “bolt” require a skill roll. size, speed, and range. Once launched,
attacks, such as Fireball (p. 74) and the missile flies in a straight line to the
Lightning (p. 196). Missile spells The turn after that, you have the target. Physical barriers affect it just as
require two skill rolls: a roll against same options: attack, hold, or enlarge. they would affect any missile weapon.
spell skill to cast the spell, and a roll On your fourth turn, you may only
against Innate Attack skill (p. B201) to attack or hold. You cannot spend more Your target may block or dodge, but
hit the target. than three seconds building up a cannot parry (Parry Missile Weapons
Missile spell. skill may work on some Missile spells,
To cast a Missile spell, you must con- at the GM’s discretion). If he fails, the
centrate for one second. At the end of Once you stop enlarging a Missile spell affects him. The strength of the
your turn, roll against your skill with spell, you may “hold” it in hand, ready effect depends on the energy invested.
the spell. There is no modifier for dis- to attack. You do not have to launch the Most Missile spells inflict 1d of damage
tance – you are creating a magical mis- missile until you want to. While holding per point of energy. Damage Resistance
sile in your hand. On a success, you a Missile spell, you may move up to – natural or from armor – protects nor-
may invest one or more points of ener- your full Move, take a Wait or Aim mally against damaging Missile spells.
gy in the spell, to a maximum of a num- maneuver, or even attack using the
ber of energy points equal to your hand that isn’t “holding” the missile. Blocking Spells
Magery level. The missile then appears You may defend normally. However,
in your hand, “charged” to the desired you cannot cast another spell. A Blocking spell is cast instantly as
level. a defense against either a physical
attack or another spell. It is the

12 PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC

On a critical failure, the GM lies to

Area Spells on a Battle Map you! Regardless of the outcome,
you must always pay the full ener-
Represent Area spells on gy cost for the spell – you have no
a battle map as follows. way to know if it succeeded or
The area of effect of a not.
spell cast over a one-yard
radius is a single hex. The Information spells generally
area of effect of a spell allow only one attempt per day by
cast over a two-yard each caster (or ceremonial
radius is a central hex group). “Seek” spells are an
and all adjacent hexes. exception to this.
The area of effect of a
spell cast over a three- Except where specifically
yard radius is a central noted, Information spells have no
two-yard area of effect duration. They grant a momen-
plus the ring of hexes tary glimpse of insight and end
adjacent to that. And so immediately; therefore, you can-
not maintain them.

on, building up larger Resisted Spells
areas by annexing

successive rings of hexes. A spell of any type can also be

“Resisted.” A spell like this works

automatically only on a critical

success. On a regular success, your

magical equivalent of a block, parry, better the information. If the spell fails, spell must defeat the subject’s
or dodge (and often counts as one of the GM will say, “You sense nothing.” resistance to work.

these defenses; see the spell descrip-

tion for details). You may cast only one

Blocking spell per turn, no matter how Magic Staffs
skilled you are. You cannot attempt a
Blocking spell against a critical hit. A “magic staff” is any wand or staff imbued with the power to extend
your reach for the purpose of casting spells (see Staff, p. 70). It gives three
If you try a Blocking spell, it auto- main benefits:
matically interrupts your concentra-
tion. You lose any spell you were

preparing, exactly as if you had failed •Touching a subject with your staff lets you cast spells on that subject

the Will roll to resist a distraction. If at no distance penalty. This is useful in situations where you must cast a

you are holding (not casting) a Melee spell on a subject you cannot touch with your hand (e.g., a healing spell

spell, it is unaffected. If you are hold- on someone trapped under rubble). This also allows a wizard to tap a

ing a Missile spell, you cannot enlarge Powerstone set into his staff.

it further but may retain it for later • Pointing with a staff reduces the range to a distant subject by the

use. length of the staff. This is valuable for Regular spells, as a one-yard wand

Blocking spells do not get an energy shaves -1 off distance penalties, while a two-yard quarterstaff eliminates

cost reduction for high skill. -2! You can point as part of the ritual to cast a spell. Tell the GM you are

pointing at the subject when you start concentrating. (This might warn

Information Spells an unwilling subject!)
• A staff can carry Melee spells. This gives them more reach, letting
Information spells are cast to gain
knowledge. Some require you to touch you strike and parry without putting your hand in harm’s way.

the subject, while others function at a A magic staff can be any length up to two yards. A wand is Reach C,
distance; see Long-Distance Modifiers too light to do damage, and uses Knife or Main-Gauche skill. A long wand

(box) for range penalties. Spells intend- or short staff is Reach 1, functions as a baton in combat, and uses

ed to find things are at -1 per “known” Shortsword or Smallsword skill. A full-length staff is Reach 2, counts as

item you choose to ignore in your a quarterstaff in combat, and uses Staff or Two-Handed Sword skill. In

search; it takes some concentration to most game worlds, a suitable ordinary item can be enchanted as a magic

bypass your canteen when casting Seek staff for $30, but it must be made from once-living materials (wood,

Water in the desert. Most Information bone, ivory, coral, etc.).
spells have additional special modifiers, In some settings, magic staffs are more than mere aids, but the fun-

so read the spell description carefully. damental tool of magecraft! In these worlds, mages buy some or all of

When you cast an Information spell, their Magery with gadget limitations (p. B116) – usually Breakable or Can

the GM rolls for you in secret. If the spell Be Stolen. A mage who loses his staff may be nearly crippled.

succeeds, the GM gives you the desired

information – the better the roll, the

PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC 13

The subject always has a chance to

resist, even if he is unconscious. A con- Long-Distance Modifiers
scious subject who is aware that some-

thing is happening may choose not to Use these modifiers for Information spells that work over long
resist. Individuals who are uncon- distances, such as “Seek” spells.
scious, unfamiliar with magic, or wary

of hostile magic always try to resist. Distance Penalty

To resolve a Resisted spell, you 200 yards 0

must first attempt your skill roll. If the 1/2 mile -1

spell has a single subject (that is, it 1 mile -2

isn’t an Area spell), you have a penalty 3 miles -3

equal to the subject’s Magic 10 miles -4

Resistance, if any – even if he is will- 30 miles -5

ing! On a failure, the spell fails and the 100 miles -6

subject notices nothing. On a success, 300 miles -7

note your margin of success; e.g., if 1,000 miles -8

you rolled a 6 against an effective skill Add another -2 per additional factor of 10.
of 13, you succeeded by 7. If the sub-

ject is living or sapient, the Rule of 16

applies (see The Rule of 16, p. B349).

There is no such limit if the subject is using the caster’s effective skill when wrench (depending on which attribute

another spell. he cast the spell. he Resisted with), but no other effect.

The subject then attempts a resist- Compare the subject’s resistance You know whether or not the subject

ance roll. A character resists using the roll to your skill roll in a Quick Resisted your spell.

attribute or other trait indicated in the Contest. If you win, your spell affects Resisted Area Spells: When casting
spell description – usually HT or Will. the subject. If you lose or tie, the spell an Area spell that is Resisted, make
The subject’s Magic Resistance, if any, has no effect – but you must still pay the usual success roll for the spell and
adds to his resistance. A spell resists the full energy cost! A conscious record your margin of success if you
subject feels a slight mental or physical succeed. Everyone in the area gets a

resistance roll, and those with Magic

Resistance get double the usual bene-

Dissipating Held Melee and Missile Spells fit. Your spell affects those who make
their roll by less than you did.
You will sometimes need to dispel a held Melee or Missile spell quick-

ly, without taking a full turn to make an attack – for instance, so you can

concentrate on another spell. You can do this as a free action at any point Enchantment Spells

during your turn; simply state that you are dissipating the spell and it Enchantment spells are used to
“evaporates” harmlessly. make or unmake magical items. They
are fully detailed in Chapter 2.
You can also get rid of a Missile spell (not a Melee spell) by “dropping”
it at your feet. This, too, is a free action. This does not damage you, unless

the missile is explosive, but it damages whatever you are standing on. Special Spells
Missiles that inflict burning damage are liable to set fires!

These spells follow special rules

given in the spell description.

INVENTING NEW SPELLS

Innovative GMs may create new use the cost recommended for a spell Ability Enhancements: One point of
spells at their pleasure. These new under these guidelines if it seems inap- energy buys two skill levels or one point
spells generally need balance compared propriate. of a secondary characteristic; two
to existing spells. Balancing spells in points of energy buys a point of an
this fashion is never an exact science, Combat Spells: In general, one point attribute.
but the following guidelines should of energy buys 1d damage, 2d knock-
help. The costs given are appropriate back, 1 point of fatigue damage, or one Hazards and Obstructions: One
for the cost to cast for a Regular spell or second of blindness. point of energy creates an area which
the base cost for an Area spell. Cost to people must leave or take damage – poi-
maintain for most spells is equal to half Irritating and Incapacitating son gas clouds, radiation fields, etc. Two
the cost to cast, rounding up. Conditions: Spells that cause irritating points of energy creates an obstruction
conditions (p. B428) cost about 2 points that cannot easily be passed across or
These guidelines are guidelines only! of energy; spells which cause incapaci- through – walls, pits, and so on. Three
The GM should never feel compelled to tating conditions (pp. B428-429) cost points of energy enables a subject to
about 5 points of energy.

14 PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC

ignore a certain type of obstruction and es to develop. The GM then writes the (this can be done alone; the process is
pass through it freely. Four points of spell up in the standard format, includ- similar to enchantment). The normal
energy renders a subject immune to a ing class, college, energy cost, casting Prototype bonuses for qualified assis-
certain type of hazard. time, duration, and prerequisites. He tants apply, though the ceremonial
may decide that the intended spell has magic penalties for assistants typically
Advantages and Disadvantages: prerequisites, which must be learned offset them. Apply any modifiers from
Spells that grant a subject an advantage or invented before research on the the Concept stage that apply. A critical
or disadvantage cost one point of ener- intended spell can even begin. failure on the Prototype roll is like any
gy for every three CP of the advantage other critical failure on a spell; roll on
or disadvantage. The Concept roll is made against the Critical Spell Failure table (p. 7).
Thaumatology, instead of a Complexity Each attempt takes a full day.
Information: Most informational modifier; subtract the prerequisite
spells cost about two points of energy; count for the new spell (p. 6). Apply a -5 A successful Prototype spell may
spells that reveal secrets cost four penalty for any spell in a college in have bugs, but they are rarely tested. A
points of energy or more. which the researcher knows no spells. major bug is indistinguishable from a
Apply a -5 penalty in a low-mana zone. normal critical failure, so bugs are typ-
Special Effects: Spells that have nei- ically left to surface at some later date.
ther a significant effect on game Once the Concept phase has pro- Established spells have had any bugs
mechanics nor a long-lasting effect duced a viable incantation, the worked out by generations of wizards,
should cost one point of energy. researcher (or an assistant) must invest but new spells may be unexpected
a character point in learning the new trouble waiting to happen.
Missile spells have a default Max spell. At that point, a prototype may be
range of 80 yards, though the GM developed. A magical workshop is The process used to enchant a new
should feel free to adjust range up or required, with accoutrements that cost spell into an item is a separate inven-
down if a spell’s concept demands a dif- $(prerequisite count +1)¥(400 ener- tion from the spell itself. An enchant-
ferent range or if the spell’s effectiveness gy)¥(the setting’s prevailing price per ment process is actually even harder
needs to be adjusted. energy point (pp. 21-22)). The than the original spell, because the
researcher and his assistants may enchantment also has Enchant
Spells that change or control living, choose to offset up to 90% of this invest- as a prerequisite, increasing its effective
aware beings should usually be ment by enchanting the supplies them- prerequisite count by 13! Experimental
Resisted. selves; 10% of the cost is consumable enchanters are a dogged bunch.
supplies which must be purchased.
Powerful spells should usually have Once built, a magical workshop may The GM may allow mage
a long list of prerequisites, be Very Hard also be used for future research – the Gadgeteers to apply Gadgeteering to
spells, or both. nonconsumable portion of the work- spell invention. However, such a combi-
shop’s cost may be reused indefinitely nation is likely to lead to a number of
New spells may be commonly avail- (though critical failures may damage or wild thaumaturgical innovations that
able to any PC who wants to learn destroy some of that equipment). not every GM will be happy to handle.
them, or may be esoteric mysteries
known only to a handful of NPCs or The Prototype roll is a roll against
contained only in a hidden book of the new spell itself, cast ceremonially
secret lore. The latter case can lead to
interesting new quests; beside the per- Designing Wizard Characters
sonal advantages of discovering new
spells, powerful wizards back in civi- Most wizards are designed with high IQ and some level of Magery.
lized lands may pay handsomely for Fatigue Points are also essential; some wizards buy high HT, while some
such precious knowledge. simply buy FP directly. Fatigue Points may be bought with the limitation
“Usable only for spellcasting,” worth -10%.
PLAYER-CREATED
SPELLS There are also several useful advantages for wizards that may not be
immediately obvious. Compartmentalized Mind, if available, allows a
On the other hand, the PCs may wizard to concentrate on multiple spells at once, which can be incredibly
decide that forgotten libraries in lost valuable. A wizard with Doesn’t Sleep can potentially maintain a spell
cities are boring, and try to research indefinitely. Mana Enhancer has obvious advantages for wizards in low-
their own new spells. Only a mage can and normal-mana worlds (though it can be positively dangerous in high-
invent new spells. mana worlds). Visualization is extremely useful for enchanters, or any
wizard performing ceremonial magic; the ritual nature of these spells
Use the New Inventions rules on lends itself to visualization. A wizard with Visualization and a high IQ has
p. B473 to devise a new spell. The a powerful advantage with ceremonial magic.
required skill for designing new spells
is Thaumatology (p. B225). Most spells In most settings, wizards also acquire skills that represent the breadth
do not have TL modifiers, but of their occult learning. This virtually always includes Thaumatology, but
Technological spells may. Spells also wizards may also want to learn such skills as Alchemy, Esoteric Medicine,
do not have Complexity ratings. There Hidden Lore, Mental Strength, and Occultism.
is no final “product” for a spell, so
there is no production stage for the
development of spells.

The process begins when the
researcher describes the spell he wish-

PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC 15

CHAPTER TWO

MAGIC ITEMS

Neville Hawthorne, Free and them permanently; still others do var- advantage of the benefits of assis-
Accepted Thaumaturge, glared at the ious kinds of strange and wonderful tants). Lone enchanters cannot gain a
low ceiling of his garret. things. skill bonus for using extra energy. To
perform enchantments, the caster and
“Is this what you expected to do Most magic items are usable by any assistants must know both the
with your patent of mastery, Tubbs? anyone, but a few may only be used by Enchant spell and the specific spell
Spending your days lighting candles a mage. The power of a magic item being put on the item at an effective
and getting covered in chalk, churning endures until it is removed magically, skill of 15 or better. Unskilled specta-
out trinkets to fill the Old Man’s pock- or until the physical item breaks or tors cannot contribute energy to an
ets, only to get a lecture on the privi- wears out, at which point the magic enchantment.
lege of teamwork, a bowl of stew, and dissolves permanently.
a lumpy mattress?” Enchanting always requires time
ENCHANTING and energy. A particular enchantment
His roommate sighed from the might also require a specific item or
next cot. “I didn’t think it would be “Enchanting” is the process of material (e.g., a gem), or the expendi-
easy, at least starting out. But I expect- creating a magic item using spells ture of cash for “generic” magic
ed to be doing more interesting proj- from the Enchantment college. supplies.
ects, like we did at the academy – like Enchantments must be performed
that bow of flames we did third year. using Ceremonial Magic (p. 12). A given magic item may carry any
The Old Man is right, though: the Unlike most Ceremonial spells, how- number of spells. Each one requires a
money these days is in the quick jobs.” ever, enchantments can be performed separate enchantment. The presence
alone (though most enchanters take of an enchantment has no effect on
Hawthorne snorted. “As if we’d later enchantments.
know.” A silence descended.

Suddenly, he sat bolt upright. “Let’s
find out.”

“What?”
“Let’s go independent.”
“Are you insane? I don’t like this
job any more than you do, but we’re
nowhere near the Old Man’s level. We
won’t be that skilled for years.”
“We don’t have to be. Look, we’re
not apprentices. We know our jobs, we
work well together, and between the
two of us we’re more than capable of
making simple enchantments. We’ll
sell staffs and Powerstones to the
academy, and maybe some magic
arrows on the side. It’ll be rough for a
while, but at least we’ll be working for
ourselves.”
Tubbs stared at him for a few
moments. “We’ll need money.”
“Then from now on, we put one
guilder aside out of every week’s pay.
By this time next year, we’ll be on our
own. Then you’ll see what an
enchanter can really do.”

Enchantment spells allow wizards
to imbue objects with magic powers.
Some magic items permit the user to
cast spells that he does not know; oth-
ers have a spell-like effect placed upon

16 MAGIC ITEMS

Power of a Magic Item Controlling PC
Enchantment
Each magic item has a “Power,”
which is set upon creation. An item’s When wizards become frustrated with the availability of magic items
Power equals the caster’s effective skill in their world, they will likely look into producing their own. If the GM
with either the Enchant spell or the feels that a particular item is too easy to make, or might imbalance the
spell contained in the item – whichev- campaign, many approaches can make the item’s creation more difficult.
er is lower. The skill penalty for low
mana does not apply when determin- Rare Materials: Many items demand specific materials for their
ing an item’s Power. Since enchanting enchantment. The GM could change these to rarer and more precious
is ceremonial magic, the caster can ingredients. In addition to making it more difficult and costly to enchant
spend extra energy to raise his effec- the item, the search for rare ingredients can become an adventure unto
tive skill, and hence the Power of the itself.
item.
Side Effects: Enchantments are unpredictable. After making an item,
Record Power for each magic item the PCs might discover that odd things happen whenever they use their
created or found (to learn the Power new toy. Further obscure rituals or precautions might be necessary to
of a found item, the PCs must use make the item safe.
Analyze Magic). If an item has several
spells on it, each spell has its own Additional Expenses: The GM may simply raise the cost of making
Power. Whenever it would be impor- magic items, demanding that more expensive materials be consumed in
tant to know the skill level of a spell the item’s manufacture. This is not the same as demanding rare ingredi-
cast by a magic item, use the item’s ents – the additional material is readily available, but expensive. Perhaps
Power. a workshop similar to the type required for spell research (p. 15) is
required for enchantment.
An item’s Power must be 15 or
more for the item to work. Apply a A lone caster is limited to the ener- secured three suitable gems.
temporary -5 to Power in a low-mana gy provided by his FP, HP, and one Hawthorne has skill 16 in Powerstone
area; thus, an item with less than Powerstone. But assistants can con- and Enchant, while Tubbs has 15 in
Power 20 will not work at all in a low- tribute their own FP and HP as both, so Hawthorne does the actual
mana zone. No magic item works in a described for ceremonial magic. casting. After the minimum hour of
no-mana region! Assistants may also use one casting, Hawthorne rolls 12 against
Powerstone each. The caster is at -1 to his effective skill of 15 – success! Each
Success Rolls for skill for each assistant; therefore, the enchanter spends 10 FP. Hawthorne
Enchanting number of assistants allowed is the sets aside the newly enchanted 1-point
number that would reduce the caster’s Powerstone, and they lean back in
The GM makes all rolls to enchant effective skill to 15. With more assis- their easy chairs to recover. Since they
magic items. As with other ceremonial tants, the enchantment won’t work. both have Recover Energy-15, they
magic, a roll of 16 fails automatically recover fully in 50 minutes.
and a roll of 17-18 is a critical failure. If the caster uses HP to cast the
spell, his effective skill is at -1 for In an eight-hour workday, they can
On a success, the item is enchant- every HP used. The same is true for repeat this process four times – five if
ed. On a critical success, increase the assistants, but their skill does not they stay an hour late. A week later,
Power of the item by 2d – and if the affect the item’s power, as long as they have successfully created two 10-
success roll was a natural 3, the item their effective skill is at least 15. point Powerstones (the third gem was
might have some further enhance- shattered in a critical failure, but
ment (GM’s discretion). The caster If anyone but the caster and his Tubbs promises he’ll keep the cat out
will know that his spell went well, but assistants is within 10 yards, the spell of the workshop from now on).
he will have to use Analyze Magic to is at a further -1.
know how well. The following week, a mage comes
On a failure, the enchantment per- in needing an emergency replacement
On a failure, the results depend on verts in some way. It might acquire staff. Hawthorne selects a good length
the method used to enchant the item – unpleasant side effects (see the of wood, and they start enchanting.
see below. A critical failure always Random Side Effects Table, p. B479), Hawthorne’s skill with the Staff spell is
destroys the item and all materials become an entirely different spell, or 17. His effective skill is 15 (-1 for
used. anything else the GM likes. The caster Tubbs, -1 for the customer, who refus-
won’t know his spell went wrong es to leave them be while they work).
Quick and Dirty unless he uses Analyze Magic or tries He rolls a 9, succeeding. He spends 8
Enchantment the item! FP and 8 points from his new
Powerstone, while Tubbs spends 9 FP
This method creates a magic item Example: Tubbs and Hawthorne and 5 points from his Powerstone, for
quickly. It takes one hour per 100 decide to make some Powerstones as a total of the required 30 points.
points of energy required (round up). their first independent project, having
Make the success roll at the end of that
time. Succeed or fail, all the energy is
spent when the GM rolls the dice.

MAGIC ITEMS 17

Slow and Sure a new enchantment destroys the item ENCHANTMENTS
Enchantment and all previous enchantments. WITHOUT SPELLS

Use this method when the ENCHANTMENTS Some magical items are not creat-
enchanter wants to be sure it’s done WITHOUT ITEMS ed by enchanters. Alchemists can cre-
right. It takes one “mage-day” per ate a variety of enduring objects with
point of energy required. A mage-day Some spells have “item” options magical power – alchemical amulets
represents a full eight-hour workday that do not create an item. Typically, and talismans, homunculi, and the
for one mage. For instance, an item this entails making the spell perma- philosopher’s stone, to name a few
that requires 100 energy points would nent with the expenditure of substan- (see pp. 220-221 for details). Other
take one mage 100 days, two mages 50 tially more energy – usually 10 or 100 items become magical spontaneously;
days, and so on. A mage may work on times the usual casting cost. Generally, very-high-mana zones sometimes gen-
only one enchantment at a time; he spells with this option take an area or erate magic items with weird and
may not “work two shifts,” either on person as their subject and thus can- potent abilities.
the same or different items. not be enchanted into an item.
Nevertheless, the resulting effect is a Remove Enchantment and
All of the caster’s assistants must be true enchantment, and can only be Suspend Enchantment will still
present every day. If a day’s work is removed with Remove Enchantment. work on these items, but at a -2
skipped or interrupted, it takes two unfamiliarity penalty.
days to make it up. Loss of a mage
ends the project! Interruptions

Make the success roll at the end of If a mage is interrupted while enchanting using the Slow and Sure
the last day. There is no FP or HP cost method, note the following:
to the enchanters – they invested the
energy gradually as the spell • He will be fatigued. Assume he will be missing 1d FP.
progressed. • He must keep concentrating on his enchantment; therefore, any
other spell use is at -3. (If he stops concentrating, he loses the day’s work.)
On a failure, the enchantment
didn’t work. The time was wasted, and A wizard who is bothered while not actively working on his
any materials used in the spell are lost. enchantment is at no disadvantage!
(Exception: If the mage was adding a
spell to an already-enchanted item, it
is unharmed, though extra materials
are lost.)

Time spent enchanting with the
Slow and Sure method counts as on-
the-job training (p. B293); the
enchanter must split these hours
between the Enchant spell and what-
ever spell is being enchanted into an
item.

MULTIPLY
ENCHANTED
ITEMS

An item may carry any number of
spells; each one requires a separate
enchantment. The presence of a spell
on an item does not affect further
enchantments. Exception: The Bane
spell (p. 62) limits an item’s use, but
makes it easier to enchant it further.

Placing multiple spells on a single
item has advantages and disadvan-
tages. A multiply enchanted item is
easy to carry and use; dedicated
Powerstones (p. 69) can be used by all
the spells in the item. On the other
hand, that single item is vulnerable. If
it breaks, all the enchantments are lost
. . . and a critical failure while adding

18 MAGIC ITEMS

USING MAGIC ITEMS

Magic items follow the rules for the too many hints about the item’s (doing the same damage that it did
spell(s) they contain. Many give the nature. going in).
user the power to cast the spell – per-
haps only on himself, possibly on any The Analyze Magic spell (p. 102) For all “always on” items, unless
subject. Some are usable only by reveals any enchantments on an item. specified otherwise:
mages; that is, they only work for
users who possess Magery. If an item “Always On” Items • Ritual, casting time, and energy
has any “mage only” effects on it, only cost are all irrelevant. The item does not
a mage may use the item’s powers. Certain magic items are “always let the wearer cast the spell – it puts the
on.” For the item to work, the user spell on him, at no cost, as soon as he
A spell’s description will explain if must wear or carry it in the usual wears or wields the item. An “always
it can be placed into a magic item. manner (a ring on a finger, a sword in on” item can be designed to phase in
Unless specified otherwise: a hand, and so on). These items don’t its effects over a few minutes, so that
let the wearer cast the spell – they the source of the effect is not obvious;
• There is no ritual. The user just automatically cast the spell on the this does not affect cost or difficulty,
wills the item to work. wearer at no energy cost. and is often used on hostile items
intended as traps.
•Casting time is as described for the If an arrow or dart is enchanted
spell. High Power doesn’t affect this. with hostile magic, it may be carried • The effects last as long as the item
without harm; in this case, only a per- is worn or carried.
• Energy cost is the same as for a son stuck with the projectile qualified
normal casting of the spell. High Power as “wearing” it. The effects continue • All other effects are as usual for
does not affect this (but the Power until the item is removed by a suc- that spell. If the wearer desires (as in
spell does – see p. 57). cessful Physician or First Aid roll the case of an item with a bad effect),
(requires one minute) or is ripped out he may make a resistance roll against
• Determine success normally. Use the item if the spell in question can
the item’s Power as the caster’s base normally be Resisted.
skill and apply all the usual modifiers
for the kind of spell being cast. Power Controlling Magic Items
is at -5 in low-mana areas. A Resisted
spell allows a normal resistance roll; Plentiful magic items are not appropriate to every campaign, and GMs
use the item’s modified Power as the may wish to limit the number of magic items in circulation. The simplest
caster’s skill in the Quick Contest. way to do this is to restrict Quick and Dirty Enchantment – either pro-
hibiting it outright, or changing its parameters to require a day of
• Only one person at a time can use enchanting per 100 energy points, rather than an hour. This makes minor
the item. If two people attempt to use magic items much more tedious and costly to produce.
it, only the first to touch it can use it.
If one can’t use it – for instance, the Alternately, the GM can institute setting elements to restrain the avail-
item is usable only by mages and he ability of magic items, such as the following:
lacks Magery – his touch doesn’t
count. Disorganization: Enchantment on any large scale typically requires
ample assistance. If enchanters are rare, or if wizards don’t often get
• All other effects are as usual for along, the resources may rarely come together for an enchantment.
that spell.
Fragility: Enchantment confers no particular durability to an item,
Identifying Magical and owners of magic items often insist on bringing them into dangerous
Items situations. Since a magic item loses its power when damaged, breakage
inevitably reduces the quantity of magic items in circulation.
The new owner of a magic item
may not immediately learn its powers. Limiting spells: Many magic items have limiting spells cast upon them,
“Always on” items (see below) or items and do not work for anyone but their intended user.
with Link spells are the easiest to fig- Harassment: It’s not hard to disrupt an
ure out. Other items will not work until enchantment. A Slow and Sure Enchantment
they are willed to do so, and the user can be disrupted easily by organizing a dis-
must will the correct effect. Thinking traction. Delaying one member can throw
“Do something!” at a magical item will off a circle of Quick and Dirty enchanters.
not activate it. If enchanters’ rivals and enemies are in the
habit of trying to disrupt enchantments,
Some effects (increased attributes, dealing with these disruptions drives the
for example) are obvious once the cost of magic items up and the supply down.
item is activated. Others (water
breathing, skill augmentation) will not
be apparent until a situation occurs
where they can take effect. In these
cases, the GM should try not to drop

MAGIC ITEMS 19

BUYING MAGIC ITEMS

The universe is full of magical shops full of magic items, it should be This price, however, assumes that
things, patiently waiting for our wits to possible to commission a magic item enchanters are using the reliable Slow
grow sharper. for about $33 per energy point. For and Sure method; low-energy-cost
instance, a sword with Accuracy +2, a items could be mass-produced using
– Eden Phillpotts 1,000-energy item, would cost $33,000 the Quick and Dirty method. A talent-
over and above the cost of the sword ed enchanter with skill 20 and five
The cash price of magic items is up and any materials required for the assistants could pour 60 energy into
to the GM. For a typical TL3 fantasy enchantment. an item easily, without the use of
setting with plentiful wizardry and Powerstones or HP. The exact break-
point is up to the GM, but the avail-
Powerstone Costs ability of Quick and Dirty
Enchantment is sure to drop the price
The Powerstone is an essential tool for a wizard. Even a mana source of minor magic items drastically.
with only a few points’ capacity can extend his magical efficacy
immensely. As such, they are hotly sought after. Therefore, at the GM’s discretion,
any magic item that a typical
A typical Powerstone for sale is quirk-free. Powerstones with a single enchanter or circle of enchanters
noncrippling quirk are usually marked down about 10%; Powerstones could produce with Quick and Dirty
with multiple quirks or a single crippling one are marked down at least Enchantment (60 energy is a reason-
50%. able default) costs only $1 per energy
point. Thus, an Accuracy +1 arrow
The following assumptions are incorporated into the table below. would be $25, and a magic staff would
be $30, but that sword with Accuracy
Materials: The cost of an object suitable to be enchanted into a +2 is still $33,000.
Powerstone of capacity P in an energy-effective manner is equal to:
$10¥P2 + $40¥P. However, 1 in 54 castings of the Powerstone spell caus- In all cases, add the cost of the item
es a critical failure that destroys the object. Powerstone prices account to be enchanted and any special mate-
for this risk; hence, the true materials cost is divided by 53/54 to the rials required to the cost for the
power of P. enchantment itself.

Labor: Assuming the default $1/point of energy cost, each casting of These prices go upward as
the Powerstone spell costs $20. The possibility of failure is already incor- enchanters become rarer, of course.
porated into the $1/point figure, so labor costs are simply $20¥P. See Economics and Enchantment,

Capacity Cost pp. 21-22, for a more
1 70 detailed treatment of
2 165 how to figure out
3 280 magic item prices in
4 425 different settings.
5 595 The prospective
6 790 buyer also has to find
7 an enchanter capable
8 1,000 of producing the item
9 1,300 he wants – one capa-
10 1,550 ble of casting both
12 1,900 Enchant and the
15 2,650 spell(s) to be placed
20 4,050 on the item. Some set-
25 7,350 tings have shops
30 12,000 devoted to magic
35 18,500 items, which are like-
40 27,000 ly to have done that
45 38,000 work for him; if he
50 52,000 must track down a
60 69,500 competent enchanter,
70 120,000 it may take a good
80 195,000 deal of time and effort
90 300,000 over and above the
100 460,000 actual price to get the
675,000 desired item.

20 MAGIC ITEMS

In worlds where magic is unknown Exploring lost cities, defeating evil SELLING MAGIC
or secret, magic items have no fair necromancers, clearing infested dun- ITEMS
market value. Each item is a one-of-a- geons – whatever adventurers do, they
kind treasure, and the seller can often tend to run across some magic item or Sometimes the PCs are on the other
name his own price! another. They can’t possibly use them side of the transaction. When they are
all; they sell them for money to fund trying to realize a profit on items
Second-Hand the next expedition. found on adventures, an enchantment
Enchantments broker is likely their only buyer.
Most used magic items pass Brokers usually try to buy at double
In any world – especially one where through the hands of enchantment the discount from the new price – so
magic is plentiful – $33 per point is a lot brokers, often failed enchanters who an item that they might sell for 30%
to pay for a magic item. Fortunately, couldn’t make it as working off, they try to buy for 60% off. PCs can
most people don’t have to. In a world enchanters but still have an eye for try to sell directly, but it may be hard to
where lots of people have magic items, quality. They offer magic items at a dis- find an interesting buyer. Even if they
lots of people have magic items that count of up to 40%, dropping prices to can locate someone who might want
they don’t want anymore. Buying them about $20 per energy point. Brokers the item in question, they have to
is usually cheaper than paying an don’t usually handle items that can be compete on price with the brokers,
enchanter to make something new. enchanted with Quick and Dirty and they lack whatever reputation the
Enchantment; the margin of profit is brokers have to rely on.
Several sources provide good sec- too narrow.
ond-hand magic items. In some set- If a PC is trying to sell items that he
tings, the vast majority of magic items The downside to buying second- has enchanted, however, things are
are commissioned by nobles with hand is that you can’t always buy slightly different. Brokers buy new
more money than sense – or taste. exactly what you want. Some enchant- items, and sometimes can be persuad-
Some of these foibles become family ments are not available used; if the ed to pay a higher rate than they oth-
heirlooms, but most wind up gather- broker doesn’t have a wand of Stench, erwise might; the assurance of an
ing dust in some closet until the fami- you’re out of luck. You may only be item’s enchanter is worth more than
ly falls on hard times and nonessential able to find the enchantment you want that of some scruffy adventurer who
trinkets must be sold off. Worse, some in an inconvenient form – perhaps the dug it out of a crypt. If the PC has any
items go out of style. To a typical scion unfashionable sword mentioned connections (perhaps through the
of privilege, a sword with one of those before, or maybe the broker’s Purify Mages’ Guild), an established
tacky basket hilts from when his Water item is the size of a hula hoop. enchanter may be willing to sell the
father was young is worthless, Quick- Sometimes the only item that does item on consignment. Some
Draw enchantment notwithstanding. what you want has another spell on it, enchanters carry a few minor items as
For this and other reasons, cast-offs or an irksome Limiting Enchantment. examples of craftsmanship and
from nobles form the lion’s share of The GM is not encouraged to go over- impulse buys; for a 10% cut, they may
the second-hand market. board, harassing the players with agree to sell a PC’s magic item. The PC
ridiculous items, but sometimes you enchanter will get paid when the item
Another important source of used get what you pay for when you buy sells, not before.
enchantments is the adventuring party. cut-rate.

ECONOMICS AND ENCHANTMENT

As mentioned above, magic items The Business of average salary for a master enchanter,
bought new in a TL3 abundant-magic Enchantment the average salary for a journeyman
setting should cost $1/energy point up enchanter, and the average size of an
to about 60 points, and $33/point Most enchantments are performed enchanting circle. While other param-
above 60 points. These figures were using ceremonial circles. A lone eters matter, those three are critical.
not arrived at arbitrarily; instead, they enchanter takes a long time to do any-
follow from the structure of the thing with Slow and Sure For our hypothetical abundant-
enchantment system and certain Enchantment, and lacks the energy magic setting, we posit that a journey-
assumptions about the role and reserves to accomplish much with man enchanter makes an Average
capacity of a typical enchanter. Quick and Dirty Enchantment. salary, while a master enchanter
makes a Comfortable salary
Naturally, those assumptions Thus, enchanting lends itself to (pp. B516-517). Thus, monthly pay for
might not apply in all settings. Thus, two tiers of enchanters – master a journeyman enchanter is $700,
this section explains how to take dif- enchanters, highly skilled and able to while monthly pay for a master is
ferent assumptions about the role of lead large circles, and journeyman $1,400. At the same time, we posit that
magic in a particular world and arrive enchanters, who participate in a circle the average master enchanter has
at price points that are more appro- but aren’t skilled enough to lead it. To Enchant-20, and can therefore lead a
priate for that world than the default. determine the price of magic items, circle with up to 5 assistants.
we need to know three things: the

MAGIC ITEMS 21

Slow and Sure Spell Descriptions
Enchantment
The next twenty-four chapters contain descriptions for hundreds of
In Slow and Sure Enchantment, spells. Each spell description includes the following information:
each enchanter contributes one point
of energy per day, no matter how large Name of Spell and the Class(es) it belongs to. A “(VH)” indicates an
the item or the circle. Thus, the cost of IQ/Very Hard spell; otherwise, it’s IQ/Hard.
a point of energy is equal to an
enchanter’s daily pay. Description: The spell’s effects, special rules, etc. If the spell requires
particular items, assume it uses them up unless the description states
We assume an Average salary for otherwise.
all Slow and Sure enchanters; there is
no real advantage to having a master Duration: The time the spell’s effects last. If you maintain the spell, it
on hand for these projects, and they lasts for another period equal to this. Spells with an instantaneous effect
cost more. Thus, most Slow and Sure do not list duration.
projects are done by groups of two or
three journeyman enchanters. Cost: The energy (FP or HP) spent when you cast the spell. If given as
Base cost, this is the cost per yard of radius of an Area spell. Maintainable
Assuming a five-day workweek, spells also give a cost to maintain. You cannot maintain spells with
most enchanters put in an average of instantaneous effects.
22 workdays per month. So the cost
per point should be equal to $700 Time to cast: If no time is given, the spell requires one second of con-
divided by 22. centration and takes place at the end of your turn.

However, enchanters also have to Prerequisites: Other spells you must know (at least one point in the
assume responsibility for the possibil- spell) before you may study this spell, as well as any Magery, IQ, or other
ity of failure. Failed enchantments are requirements.
rare; since enchantments must be cast
at skill 15 or higher, they succeed at Item: Types of permanent magical item that can be made with the
least 95% of the time. However, the spell, and special rules (if any) for that item. Also includes energy cost to
cost of replacing that 5% of failed create the item(s) and costs for required materials (if any). If there is no
projects must be figured into the daily “Item” listing, no magic item can be made with that spell.
rate.
10 FP. An eight-hour workday there- Finally, we divide the total daily
Thus, the final labor cost per point fore yields about 4.4 cycles (some days labor cost ($223) by the chance of suc-
is equal to $700 (monthly pay) divided the enchanters stay late, others they cess (.9547), and then divide by the
by 22 (workdays/month) divided by pack it in early). total energy produced per day (264) to
.9547 (chance of success), or about get the average cost per point of ener-
$33. The number of enchanters in a cir- gy, which is about $.90. For ease of
cle depends on the master’s Enchant use, we’ll round that to $1/point.
Quick and Dirty skill; since every member of the circle
Enchantment subtracts 1 from his skill, and his Conclusions
effective skill must remain 15 or high-
Quick and Dirty Enchantment is er, the number of enchanters beside These numbers show why there’s
where master enchanters come into himself is equal to his Enchant skill such a breakpoint in magic item
their own; their skill determines how minus 15. Therefore, our standard cir- prices. Quick and Dirty Enchantment
many enchanters may join a circle, cle size is six – the master plus five is vastly cheaper; it’s completely
and thus how many points of energy assistants (Enchant-20 minus 15). uneconomical to make any magic
are available for any given item. item which can be made with Quick
This determines the largest item a and Dirty Enchantment any other
We begin by assuming that every standard circle can make with Quick way. The limit, then, is the number of
enchanter working in a Quick and and Dirty Enchantment: 60 points, at enchanters that can be packed into a
Dirty circle contributes 10 energy to six enchanters and 10 points per circle. In settings where master
the enchantment. (Obviously, some enchanter. It also determines the cir- enchanters have Enchant-24, the
enchanters will be able to contribute cle’s total energy output per day: six viable threshold for cheap magic
more or less, but 10 is a reasonable enchanters times 10 energy per cycle items is 100 points; where they have
average.) Powerstones are essentially times 4.4 cycles per day is 264 energy Enchant-16, the threshold is 20.
irrelevant; a professional Quick and per day.
Dirty enchanter, as we will see, per- Similarly, the numbers change a lot
forms several enchantments each day, To figure the total labor cost for a if the social status of enchanters
and trying to use Powerstones is not a day’s work, we add the monthly salary changes. If journeyman enchanters
good return on investment. We also for the master ($1,400) to the monthly become Comfortable while master
assume that the average enchanter salary for the five assistants ($700¥5, enchanters become Wealthy, the price
knows Recover Energy at 15. or $3,500), and divide by the 22-work- for Slow and Sure Enchantment
day month for a daily labor cost of jumps to nearly $70/point, while
So, Quick and Dirty Enchantment $223. Quick and Dirty leaps to $2/point.
takes place in cycles of one hour
enchanting and 50 minutes recovering

22 MAGIC ITEMS

CHAPTER THREE

AIR SPELLS

“It was a clever plan, Severin.” Duration: Works instantly. Purifica- Create Air
Rudolph slowly advanced on the tion is permanent.
rogue aeromancer. “Choking the Area
councilmen with dead air to make Base cost: 1. Cannot be maintained;
their deaths seem natural. A pity for must be recast. Manufactures air where none
you we could trace the remains of exists. When cast where there is
your spell – your treacherous little Item already air, it produces an outward
magic!” breeze lasting about five seconds.
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost When cast in a vacuum, it instantly
The tip of Rudolph’s blade was to create: 50. creates breathable air. When cast
aimed squarely at the murderer’s within earth, stone, or other material,
heart, but touched nothing as Seek Air it fills any empty spaces with air, but
Severin’s body dissolved into a does not burst the stone. When cast
whirling mass of wind. A gust picked Information underwater, it makes bubbles! When
Rudolph up and slammed him against cast on a one-yard-radius area, the
a wall with inhuman force. He felt ribs Tells the caster the direction and spell creates about 45 cubic feet of air
crack. His vision faded as the whirl- approximate distance of the nearest every second for five seconds; each
wind spun away with a mocking significant amount of air. Use the cubic foot of air will last a single per-
laugh. long-distance modifiers (p. 14). In set- son at rest about a minute. However,
tings where air is understood as a in some environments the air created
These spells deal with the tradi- combination of gases, the caster may will rapidly dissipate into vacuum or
tional magical “element” of air. Except also seek out a specific gas or combi- bubble away. This spell cannot be cast
as noted, assume that “air” is normal nation of gases, rather than ordinary inside a living being.
breathing air at one atmosphere of air. Any known source of air may be
pressure. Races who do not breathe an excluded if the caster specifically Duration: Breeze, bubbles, etc. last
Earth-normal atmosphere may learn mentions it before beginning. 5 seconds. Air created is permanent.
Air spells customized for their own
atmosphere – i.e., the version of Cost: 1. Base cost: 1. Cannot be maintained;
Create Air taught on Neptune might must be recast.
create methane! Item
Prerequisite: Purify Air or Seek Air.
The College of Air has strong A forked stick (usually of bird
affinities with the College of Weather. bone). Cost to create: 60 energy and a Item
$200 onyx.
Purify Air Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost
to create: 200.
Area

Removes all impurities from the
air in its area of effect. It is often used
to neutralize the effects of poisonous
gas or vapors. Note that a room full of
smoke may safely be purified one sec-
tion at a time – but truly deadly vapors
must all be removed at once, or some
may escape.

This spell can also turn old “stale”
air into fresh breathable air. The air in
a one-yard radius, if not renewed from
the outside, lasts 45 minutes for one
person at rest, or less for multiple per-
sons or someone violently exercising
(GM’s discretion).

AIR SPELLS 23

No-Smell Duration: Lasts only an instant, but put into the spell, and has a range in
destroyed air stays gone. yards equal to the number of dice in
Regular the attack. The jet does injury damage
Base cost: 2. to vaporous beings or swarms. It is
Removes the subject’s odor and Prerequisite: Create Air. also good for sweeping the floor.
makes it (or him) totally undetectable
by smell. Any possessions are also Odor Duration: 1 second.
affected. This spell changes no other Cost: 1 to 3. Same cost to maintain.
properties of the subject. Area Prerequisite: Shape Air.

Duration: 1 hour. Produces any odor the caster is Item
Cost: 2 to cast. 2 to maintain. familiar with. The odor lingers for
Prerequisite: Purify Air. about an hour, gradually diminishing Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only
(outdoors it spreads out and quickly by mages; if the item is a staff or
Item dissipates). The spell produces no wand, the air jet comes from its tip.
other physical effects – for instance, Energy cost to create: 200.
Jewelry; only affects the wearer. the odor of a poison is not poisonous.
Cost to create: 150 energy and $300. Air Vision
Duration: 1 hour.
Stench Base cost: 1. Cannot be maintained. Regular
Prerequisite: No-Smell.
Area See clearly through smoke, fog,
Item dust, sand, etc., eliminating any Vision
Produces a cloud of vile, yellowish penalties caused by the condition of
gas that reeks of brimstone. Until it Jewelry that constantly surrounds the air around him.
dissipates, anyone who breathes it the wearer with one scent (set at time
must make a HT roll or take 1d dam- of casting). Energy cost to create: 40. This is also a Knowledge spell.
age. Roll once per minute. Those in
the area begin to suffocate (see Shape Air Duration: 1 minute.
Suffocation, p. B436). The cloud is Cost: 1 per mile to cast. Half that to
heavy, and “rolls” downhill if the Regular maintain.
ground is not level. The rate of dissi- Prerequisite: Shape Air.
pation depends on the area and pres- Create movements of air over a
ence of wind; indoors, it usually lasts small area. The caster must choose a Item
until the spell expires, but outdoors on starting point (calculate distance
a windy day, it might only last 10 sec- penalties from that point). The wind Any. Energy cost to create: 200.
onds or so. Those with Doesn’t starts there and blows in a stream one
Breathe or Filter Lungs are immune to yard wide, for a distance in yards Body of Air
the toxic effects of the gas. equal to 5 times the energy put into
the spell, and then dissipates. This Regular; Resisted by HT
Duration: 5 minutes, except in may cause knockback (see Knockback,
windy areas. p. B378) on someone it hits; each sec- The subject’s body becomes
ond, roll 1d per full 2 points of energy vaporous, temporarily granting the
Base cost: 1. Cannot be maintained; in the spell. Treat this as damage for subject the Body of Air meta-trait
must be recast. knockback purposes only (this spell (p. B262). Clothes (up to 6 pounds)
does not cause injury). also become vaporous, but lose any
Prerequisite: Purify Air. magic powers they might have had
Duration: 1 minute. while in this form.
Item Cost: 1 to 10. 1 produces a gentle
breeze; 4 a wind; 6 a heavy wind; 8 or Duration: 1 minute.
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost more a violent blast. Same cost to Cost: 4 to cast. 1 to maintain.
to create: 60. maintain. Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Prerequisite: Create Air. Prerequisite: Shape Air.
Destroy Air
Item Item
Area
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost (a) Staff, wand, or jewelry; only
Destroy all air within a designated to create: 200. affects the wearer. Unfortunately, as
area of effect. This can create a vacu- soon as it is activated, the item falls
um within a very strong vessel, but in Air Jet through the user’s hand – thus, a spell
open air it just causes a momentary cast with this item lasts only a minute.
thunderclap as surrounding air rushes Regular Energy cost to create: 800. (b) Staff,
in. This effect does 1d-2 damage to wand, or jewelry. Unlike the previous
anyone in the area of effect who fails a Shoot a thin jet of air from one fin- item, this item becomes vaporous
HT roll. Any beings with the Body of ger. Each turn, the caster rolls versus along with the subject, allowing the
Air meta-trait (p. B262) take 2d dam- DX-4 or Innate Attack skill to hit. This subject to maintain the spell longer
age. In certain situations (e.g., in an attack may be dodged or blocked, but than 1 minute. It loses any other
airtight room) this spell can be much not parried. The jet does 2d knock- magic powers it might have while in
deadlier, leaving no air to breathe. back damage for every point of energy vaporous form. Energy cost to create:
1,500.

24 AIR SPELLS

Devitalize Air the height (double for 8 yards high, impossible, and visibility inside it is a
triple for 12 yards high, and so on). yard at best. This powerful windstorm
Area Low-tech missiles are buffeted off physically lifts and hurls objects up to
course as they cross it, and suffer a -10 30 pounds per yard of radius.
Removes the life-sustaining penalty to hit for every yard of wall
essence from the air within its area of they pass through. High-tech bullets Duration: 1 minute after reaching
effect, rendering it unbreathable. Until suffer a -2 penalty to hit for every yard full strength.
the “dead” air dissipates, any being of the wall of wind they pass through.
who needs to breathe begins to suffo- Beings standing within the wall’s thick- Base cost: 2. Half that to maintain.
cate (see Suffocation, p. B436), and ness are at -3 DX and suffer 2d of Time to cast: The storm starts
flames within the spell’s area of effect knockback in a random direction immediately, but the caster must con-
flicker and die. Victims may not notice every second. centrate for a number of seconds
the spell’s effect until they begin losing equal to the storm’s radius in yards to
FP; roll vs. Per to notice the changed The wall also churns up loose bring the storm to full strength.
quality of the air. Sleeping victims ground material, such as dust, small Prerequisite: Shape Air.
must roll vs. HT to wake up once they leaves, insects, and twigs. Each sec-
begin suffocating. ond, beings crossing the wall or stand- Earth to Air
ing in it must either shut their eyes or
The spell lasts until living air dif- roll vs. HT to avoid being blinded, as Regular
fuses back into the affected area. This per a one-point Sand Jet (p. 52) (unless
takes 1 minute per yard of radius in an the GM rules that the area is very Turns earth or stone into air, which
unventilated area, or as little as 10 sec- clean, with no debris to circulate). can be valuable to someone who is
onds on a windy day outdoors. In an trapped underground. The more ener-
airtight room, the air stays devitalized Duration: 1 minute. gy the caster spends, the more earth
indefinitely! Purify Air reverses this Base cost: 2. Half that to maintain. he can transform, but he is limited to
spell’s effects. Time to cast: The wall appears as regular shapes with the largest dimen-
soon as the casting starts, initially sur- sion no more than four times the
Base cost: 2. Cannot be maintained; rounding a one-yard-radius area; the smallest one.
must be recast. caster may move the perimeter out-
ward at a rate of one yard of radius This is also an Earth spell.
Prerequisite: Destroy Air. per second of concentration.
Prerequisite: Shape Air. Duration: Permanent.
Item Cost: 1 to transform one cubic foot
Item of earth/stone to air, giving enough air
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Cost to cre- for one person to breathe for 1
ate: 300 energy and a $200 onyx. Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only minute. To transform larger quantities
by mages. Cost to create: 400 energy of earth/stone at once, the cost is 5 per
Walk on Air and a $500 onyx. cubic yard. Metal may be turned to air
for triple cost.
Regular Windstorm Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Prerequisites: Create Air and Shape
Temporarily grants the subject the Area Earth.
Walk on Air advantage (p. B97). If the
subject falls for any reason (e.g., Create a circular windstorm with Item
injury), the spell will be broken! If the an “eye” of calm inside (a good place
spell is recast immediately, he falls for for the caster to stand). The radius of Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only
only one second (about 5 yards) and the eye can be up to half that of the by mages. The item must touch the
then “lands” on the air (taking 1d storm – or smaller, if the caster wish- stone to be transformed. Cost to create:
damage) – unless he hits ground es. By concentrating, the caster can 750 energy and $1,000 in jewels.
before then. If he’s 10 feet over a lava move the storm any distance up to its
pit, too bad! own diameter per second; the eye Clouds
moves with it. The caster may move
Duration: 1 minute. up to half his normal Move inside the Area
Cost: 3 to cast. 2 to maintain. eye while concentrating on this spell.
Prerequisite: Shape Air. As listed under Weather Spells,
Anyone within a full-strength p. 194.
Item Windstorm must roll vs. ST once per
second to avoid being knocked over by Predict Weather
Staff, wand, jewelry, or shoes; only the wind. All DX-based skills are at -5,
affects the wearer. Cost to create: 500 and ranged attacks are at a -10 penal- Information
energy and $1,000. ty for every yard of the windstorm
they pass through. As listed under Weather Spells,
Wall of Wind p. 193.
For double energy cost, the caster
Area may create a more powerful wind- Wind
storm, like a tornado. ST rolls to
Surrounds an area with a wall of remain standing in such a gale are at Special; Area
roiling air that impedes movement. -5, ranged attacks through it are
As listed under Weather Spells,
The wall is one yard thick and four p. 195.
yards high, but may be made higher by
multiplying the cost as you multiply

AIR SPELLS 25

Rain Item Vortex may not penetrate solid
objects.
Area Staff, wand, jewelry, or clothing;
only affects the wearer. Energy cost to This is also a Movement spell.
As listed under Weather Spells, create: 150.
p. 195. Duration: 10 seconds.
Breathe Water Base cost: 8 to cast. 3 to maintain.
Snow Time to cast: 2 seconds.
Regular Prerequisites: Magery 2, Body of
Area Air, and Windstorm.
As listed under Water Spells, p. 189.
As listed under Weather Spells, Item
p. 195. Essential Air
Staff. Usable only by mages. Cost to
Concussion Area create: 1200 energy and an $800 onyx.

Missile Creates the magical essence of Air. Explosive Lightning
Essential Air is “purer” and can be
The caster creates a ball of highly used (breathed or consumed) three Missile
pressurized air in his hand. When the times as long before becoming foul.
air strikes a target, it explodes. The Fire burns hotter (but not faster) in As listed under Weather Spells,
blast is extremely loud; anyone within Essential Air, adding an extra point of p. 196.
10 yards must roll against HT-3 or be damage to each die (this will even
stunned. Stunned people may roll increase the heat of Essential Flame!). Lightning Whip
against HT-3 every second to recover. If the air is created in an open area, it
Protected Hearing gives a +5 bonus to disperses within 5 seconds. Regular
this roll. Concussion has 1/2D 20, Max
40, Acc 1; roll vs. Innate Attack skill to Duration: Permanent until dis- As listed under Weather Spells,
hit. persed or used up. p. 196.

This is also a Sound spell. Base cost: 2. Shocking Touch
Time to cast: 3 seconds.
Cost: Any amount up to twice your Prerequisites: At least six Air spells. Melee
Magery level per second, for three sec-
onds. For every 2 energy put into the Item As listed under Weather Spells,
spell, the missile does 1d crushing p. 196.
damage. See Explosions, p. B414, for a Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only
full treatment of explosive damage. by mages. Cost to create: 800 energy Spark Cloud
and a $400 onyx.
Time to cast: 1 to 3 seconds. Area
Prerequisites: Shape Air and Resist Lightning
Thunderclap (p. 171). As listed under Weather Spells,
Regular p. 196.
Item
As listed under Weather Spells, Spark Storm
Staff or wand – the missile is p. 196.
thrown from the end of the item. Area
Usable only by mages. Cost to create: Lightning
1,000 energy and a $400 onyx. As listed under Weather Spells,
Missile p. 197.
Breathe Air
As listed under Weather Spells, Atmosphere Dome
Regular p. 196.
Area
Breathe air as though it were Air Vortex
water; the spell also prevents water As listed under Protection &
creatures from dehydrating in air. This Area; Resisted by HT or DX Warning Spells, p. 169.
spell is primarily useful for keeping
fish, mermen, etc., alive out of water. Whisks all persons within the orig- Wall of Lightning
The subject can also still breathe inal area of effect to somewhere else
water normally. inside a giant swirling Air Vortex. The Area
Vortex has a Move of 10. The caster
This is also a Water spell. may exclude anyone in the area that As listed under Weather Spells,
he specifies during casting. Those p. 197.
Duration: 1 minute. within in the area resist with the
Cost: 3 to cast. 1 to maintain. higher of their HT and DX scores. Warm
Prerequisites: Create Water and
Destroy Air. Those whisked away by the Vortex Area
are rendered temporarily vaporous, as
per the Body of Air spell (p. 24). The As listed under Weather Spells,
p. 195.

26 AIR SPELLS

Cool This is also an Earth spell. wind-based attacks, he has No Fine
Manipulators rather than the usual
Area Duration: 1 minute after reaching No Manipulators, and he has effective
full strength. ST equal to twice his normal ST.
As listed under Weather Spells, Clothes (up to 6 pounds), also become
p. 195. Base cost: 3 to cast. Half that to wind, but lose any magic powers they
maintain. might have had while in wind-form.
Ball of Lightning
Time to cast: The storm starts Anyone within the radius of the
Missile immediately, but the caster must con- subject must make a ST roll each sec-
centrate for a number of seconds ond to remain standing. All DX-based
As listed under Weather Spells, equal to the storm’s radius in yards to skills are at -5, and missile attacks that
p. 197. bring the storm to full strength. pass through the whirlwind only hit
on a critical success. There is no safe
Lightning Stare Prerequisites: Windstorm and “eye.”
Create Earth.
Regular Duration: 5 minutes.
Item Cost: 8 to cast. 4 to maintain. Cost
As listed under Weather Spells, does not multiply when casting it on
p. 198. Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only larger creatures, as with most Regular
by mages. Energy cost to create: 1,000. spells.
Body of Lightning Time to cast: 2 seconds; the storm
Storm springs into full strength immediately
Regular; Resisted by HT upon completion of the spell.
Area Prerequisites: Magery 3; Body of Air
As listed under Weather Spells, and Windstorm at 16+ each; and one
p. 198. As listed under Weather Spells, spell from each of five different col-
p. 195. leges besides Air.
Lightning Weapon
Lightning Missiles Item
Regular
Regular (a) Staff, wand, or jewelry; only
As listed under Weather Spells, affects the wearer. As soon as it is acti-
p. 198. As listed under Weather Spells, vated, the item falls through the user’s
p. 198. hand; thus, a spell cast with this item
Sandstorm lasts only a minute. Cost to create:
Lightning Armor 1,700 energy and a $1,000 onyx. (b)
Area Staff, wand, or jewelry; only affects
Regular the wearer. Unlike the previous item,
Creates a Windstorm (p. 25) with this item turns to wind along with the
the addition of flying sand! The sand is As listed under Weather Spells, wearer, allowing him to maintain the
created by the spell – it is not neces- p. 198. spell longer than a minute. While
sary for the area to be sandy. The vaporous, it loses any magical powers
Sandstorm obscures vision (-2 per Body of Wind it might have while solid. Cost to
intervening yard of Sandstorm, create: 3,500 energy and a $2,500
excluding the “eye” of the storm). Regular; Resisted by HT onyx.

Each second, every being within The subject’s body becomes a
the area must shut its eyes or roll vs. whirlwind, with a radius of 2 to 4
HT to avoid being blinded, as per a yards (caster’s choice). In this form, he
one-point Sand Jet (p. 52). has a variant form of the Body of Air
meta-trait (p. B262); he lacks the
listed Vulnerability to vacuum and

ELEMENTAL SPIRIT SPELLS

These spells deal with spirits Summon (Air) power level by the amount of energy
embodying the four classical elements Elemental he spends on the spell, but the GM
– air, earth, fire, and water. There are determines the elemental’s precise
different spells for each of the four ele- Special capabilities.
ments, but in general they conform to
the spells given here for air elementals. This is a different spell for each of The summoned elemental is not
the four elements. It allows the caster under the caster’s control, but must
to call a nearby elemental – if one remain for one hour unless it is dis-
exists. In general, the GM should missed or destroys the caster. Note
assume that an elemental is available that a dismissal does not guarantee
if the location is appropriate, unless the elemental will leave. If it is hostile,
the scenario or situation requires that or simply curious, it may choose to
elementals are opportunely absent. stay!
The caster determines the elemental’s

AIR SPELLS 27

a noncumulative +2 bonus to any
attempt to use the spell. Cost to create:
1,000 energy, $1,300 gold and platinum.

The caster may question the sum- its IQ must be sufficient (GM’s deci- Create (Air) Elemental
moned elemental, request a service, sion) to comprehend its instructions!
etc. The elemental immediately makes Special
a reaction roll to see how it feels about This spell can also be used as an
the wizard. On a good reaction, the information spell, to judge the four Create a spirit of the appropriate
elemental cooperates for an hour – no attributes of that type of elemental element. The caster may determine the
longer – and then vanishes. An ele- (within 15 feet). A successful roll is capabilities of the created elemental by
mental’s opinion may be swayed with required, but there is no energy cost. increasing or decreasing the attributes
appropriate enticements, assuming a of the basic elemental of that type; he
wizard can figure out what an Duration: 1 minute. may only change, add or subtract
elemental might desire. Cost: 1 point per 10 character advantages and disadvantages with
points used to build the elemental. GM permission. There are no limits to
Duration: One hour. May not be Half that (round up) to maintain. the alteration of attributes, though a
maintained. Time to cast: 2 seconds. very stupid elemental will not under-
Prerequisite: Summon Elemental stand complex commands. A newly
Cost: 1 point per 10 character for the appropriate element. created elemental serves the caster
points used to build the elemental. obediently for one hour. At the end of
Minimum energy cost is 4 (although Item that time, roll a contest between the
this will not always summon a 40- caster’s skill with the spell, and the ele-
point being). Staff, wand, or jewelry decorated mental’s combined IQ and ST. If the
with appropriate elemental images – a caster wins, the elemental serves for a
Time to cast: 30 seconds. The ele- different enchantment is required for further hour, at the end of which
mental may take up to 2d minutes to each of the four types. This item does another contest is required, and so on.
appear. not let the user cast the spell, but gives When the caster loses, the elemental
escapes control and leaves (or attacks,
Prerequisites: Magery 1 and either on a very bad reaction).
eight spells of the appropriate element
or four spells of the appropriate Cost: 1 point per 5 character points
element and another Summon used to build the elemental.
Elemental spell.
Time to cast: Seconds equal to the
Item total character points used to build the
elemental.
Staff, wand, or jewelry decorated
with appropriate elemental images – a Prerequisites: Magery 2 and Control
different enchantment is required for Elemental for the appropriate element.
each of the four types. Cost to create:
800 energy, $1,300 gold and platinum. Small Air Elemental

Control (Air) Elemental This basic air elemental is summoned by casting Summon Air
Elemental at the minimum energy cost of 4. More energy put into the
Regular; Resisted by spell summons a more powerful elemental. Usually, this simply means a
higher of ST and Will larger elemental; 1 point of energy is equal to 1 additional point of ST, 5
HP, or 2 points of DR. However, the GM may choose to build a more exot-
Control all actions of a single ele- ic elemental, adding unusual traits to the following template, or working
mental while the spell continues. For one up from scratch.
direct control, the elemental must
remain within the caster’s view. If the Small Air Elemental
elemental is simply told to leave, it
does so. If the elemental is sent to do a 40 points
task, rather than controlled directly,
Attribute Modifiers: ST-4 [-40]; DX-1 [-20]; IQ-2 [-40]; HT-3 [-30].
Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: SM -1; HP+2 [4].
Advantages: Doesn’t Breathe [20]; Doesn’t Eat or Drink [10]; Doesn’t

Sleep [20]; Flight (Lighter Than Air, -10%) [36]; Immunity to
Metabolic Hazards [30]; Injury Tolerance (Diffuse) [100].
Disadvantages: No Fine Manipulators [-30]; No Legs (Aerial) [0];
Vulnerability (Vacuum and wind-based attacks ¥2) [-20].

28 AIR SPELLS

CHAPTER FOUR

ANIMAL SPELLS

The poacher paled as she saw the an animal only lets you learn what the
silver chain in her partner’s hand. animal knows and understands.

“You idiot! Of all the bucks in the Some spells apply to a single type
forest, why’d you have to take this of creature. The default assumption
one?” for these rules is that the animal king-
dom is divided into five categories:
Kai wasn’t sharp, but he knew Vermin (including worms, insects,
when he was being chewed out. and other creepy-crawly things), Fish
“What’s the problem, Sylvie? I saw the (including most mollusks), Reptiles
silver on this one, so I thought it’d be (including most amphibians), Birds,
a nice bonus.” and Mammals. These categories are
loosely based on the “life form” cate-
“Bonus! Are you simple? Animals gories that cognitive anthropologists
don’t just have silver amulets dangling find in most human cultures.
off them. This thing’s magic; that buck However, this pseudo-scientific taxon-
was the property of one of the forest omy may not reflect the reality of
guardians!” every game setting. In some worlds,
the animal categories may be
“He was my friend, actually,” rum- Creatures of the Land, Creatures of
bled a voice behind her. the Air, and Creatures of the Sea. In
others, every modern biological class
Sylvie spared one glance behind may be represented, from Arachnida
her, and then bolted into the forest. to Scyphozoa.
The thing at the edge of the clearing
had the body of a man, the paws of a The spells of this college only work
mountain lion, and the legs of a stag. on nonsapient animals, which typical-
There was no way she’d be able to out- ly means species with a racial IQ of 5
run the guardian. But then, she didn’t or less. There are a few animals, such
have to. as the apes, with racial IQ of 6;
whether Animal spells or Mind and
She just had to outrun Kai. Body spells are more appropriate to
use on them is up to the GM.
These spells relate to animal con-
trol and communication. None of All magical items of this college
these spells give their subjects any spe- must depict the appropriate type of
cial powers; animals controlled cannot animal, or contain an inset piece of
do anything they are normally unable tooth or bone from that creature.
to do, but they will follow the caster’s
mental commands to the best of their
abilities. Likewise, the ability to talk to

Hybrids Beast-Soother

Some magical monsters are neither fish nor fowl, but unnatural Regular
beasts that transcend the usual categories for animals. Gryphons are a
classic example – part eagle, part lion. The hippocampus, a legendary Calms a single animal. The beast’s
beast with the forequarters of a horse and the rear of a fish, is another reaction roll to the caster is improved
hybrid. by twice the energy put into the spell.

Animals that combine traits from different animals within a category Duration: Permanent, until some-
do not qualify as hybrids. A creature that has a wolf’s head on a donkey’s thing disturbs the animal.
body is composed of parts from within the Mammal category, and is thus
not a hybrid for this purpose. Cost: 1 to 3.
Prerequisite: Persuasion or the
Any animal that defies classification – giant space amoebas, for Animal Empathy advantage.
example – can be classified as a hybrid, at the GM’s discretion.
29
ANIMAL SPELLS

Item Sample Animal Control Energy Costs

Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost Spell Cost
to create: 600.
Vermin Control 1/1
Beast-Rouser
Fish Control 2/1
Regular
Reptile Control 2/1
Excites a single animal. The beast’s
reaction roll (to anyone) is worsened Bird Control 3/2
by twice the energy put into the spell.
Mammal Control 5/3
Duration: Until a reaction roll is
called for or an hour passes. caster must know all the Control spells Item
relevant to the hybrid (controlling a
Cost: 1 to 3. Cannot be maintained. gryphon would require knowledge of Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost
Prerequisite: Vexation or the both Mammal and Bird Control, for to create: 400 for an item that sum-
Animal Empathy advantage. example); his effective skill with this mons one particular species, or 800
spell is the lowest of the various spells for an item that can summon any
Item involved, including Hybrid Control. beast.
This spell does not work on a sapient
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost being (racial IQ 6 or higher). Master
to create: 500.
Duration: 1 minute. Regular or Blocking;
(Animal) Control Cost: 6 to cast. 3 to maintain. Resisted by IQ
Prerequisites: At least two (Animal)
Regular; Resisted by Will Control spells. Holds any beast motionless and
quiet as long as the caster maintains
Controls the actions of one large Item eye contact and concentration. Note
animal (any size) or a single swarm that darkness breaks eye contact! May
(see Swarm Attacks, p. B461). Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost be cast as a Blocking spell if the ani-
Remember, however, that subjects to create: 800 (will control only one mal is entering Close Combat range
larger than SM 0 increase the casting particular type of hybrid). with the caster – e.g., to attack.
cost. Concentration is required. This
spell will not work on a sapient being Beast Summoning Duration: Indefinite.
(racial IQ 6 or higher). There is a sep- Cost: 2.
arate Control spell for each category Regular Prerequisite: Beast-Soother.
of animal.
Calls one creature of a named type Item
Duration: 1 minute. (anything under IQ 6). Range does not
Cost: Variable. Cost to cast is equal matter for this spell. If the spell is cast Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost
to the racial IQ of the most intelligent successfully, the caster knows the loca- to create: 800.
species within the category. Half that tion of the closest creature of the type,
to maintain. and how long it will take for that crea- Beast Link
Prerequisite: Beast-Soother. ture to come to him. It moves toward
the caster as fast as it can, until the Regular
Item spell ends or the animal can see the
caster. It stays nearby, without attack- Establishes a mental link with an
(a) Staff, wand, or jewelry. Allows ing, until the spell ends. The sum- animal. The animal will not stray far
the user to control a single species of moned animal then has a +1 on its from the caster after that (generally
animal. Energy cost to create: 100 ener- reaction to the caster (only). If the cast- not more than a half-hour’s travel). It
gy per point of target species’ racial er or someone near the caster attacks will then come, once, whenever the
IQ. (b) Staff, wand, or jewelry. Allows the creature, the spell is broken. caster wishes, at a fast but not killing
the user to control any animal within pace. If it is a wild beast, any reactions
a category. Energy cost to create: 200 Duration: 1 minute. must be re-determined when the crea-
energy times the cost to cast for that Cost: 3 to cast. 2 to maintain. To ture arrives; previous good reactions
category. call many animals, double the cost of from Beast-Soother, for instance, no
the spell. All creatures within a certain longer hold! This spell is similar to
Hybrid Control (VH) area (usually about a 10-mile radius; Beast-Summoning, but is cast in
more for a very successful casting) are advance and on a specific creature.
Regular; Resisted by Will summoned. Of course, the time they
take to arrive depends on the speed at Duration: Until the beast is next
Controls the actions of one large which they can travel, and if the spell called. This counts as a spell “on.”
hybrid creature (any size) or a single ends before they arrive, they will turn
swarm (see Swarm Attacks, p. B461). and go about their business. Cost: 3.
Remember, however, that subjects Prerequisite: Beast-Soother. Time to cast: 5 seconds.
larger than SM 0 increase the casting Prerequisite: Beast Summoning.
cost. Concentration is required. The

30 ANIMAL SPELLS

Item (Animal) Control for the affected required. No concentration is required
animal type. on the caster’s part.
Matched amulets. The gold one is
worn by the human, the silver one by Time to cast: 10 seconds. Duration: 5 minutes.
the animal. This gives the human the Prerequisite: The (Animal) Control Cost: 2 to cast. 1 to maintain.
power to cast the Beast Link, or (if spell appropriate to the type of animal Prerequisite: At least one (Animal)
self-powered) creates the link auto- to be repelled. Control spell. You cannot use the
matically. Energy cost to create: 500 for Rider spell on a beast unless you know
the pair. Item the appropriate Control spell and cast
it first.
Beast Speech An area can be made permanently
repellent at an energy cost of 100
Regular times normal.

Communicate with any animal in The animal is one with its life activity.
the creature’s own “language.” The It does not distinguish the activity from itself.
amount of information exchanged It is its activity.
depends on the animal’s intelligence;
no creature below the level of a bird is – Karl Marx
likely to know much of interest. An ant
may crawl over gold, but it knows only Repel Hybrids (VH) Item
that the material is hard and inedible.
Each minute of the spell allows one Area Staff, wand, or jewelry. The spell
question and answer. does not affect the creature until the
Repels hybrids from an area. The would-be rider actually mounts it. If
Duration: 1 minute. spell resists attempts by hybrids to the rider dismounts, the creature will
Cost: 4 to cast. 2 to maintain. enter it (or stay in it); every second, remain docile for about a minute
Prerequisite: Beast Summoning. roll a Quick Contest between the cast- before fleeing or attacking (whichever
er’s effective skill and the beast’s ST. is its nature). Energy cost to create: 800
Item The caster must know all the Repel for an item that controls one particu-
(Animal) spells relevant to the hybrid; lar species, or 3,000 for an item that
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost his effective skill with this spell is the can control any creature.
to create: 1,000 for an item that talks to lowest of the various spells involved,
one particular species, or 4,000 for an including Repel Hybrids. Beings with Rider Within
item that can talk to any creature. Animal Empathy may feel uneasy and
irritable while in the area. Regular
Repel (Animal)
The caster may exclude specific Works on any type of animal (but
Area animals from the spell’s effect at the not sapient beings). This is the animal
time of casting. version of the Soul Rider spell. The
Repels animals from an area. The caster becomes able to see through the
spell resists attempts by animals to Duration: 1 hour. subject’s eyes, hear through its ears,
enter it (or stay in it) every second; roll Base cost: 6 to cast. 3 to maintain. etc, as long as he concentrates. (He
a Quick Contest between the caster’s Time to cast: 10 seconds. also remains aware of his own body
effective skill and the Animal’s ST. Prerequisite: Hybrid Control. and may act normally.) The caster
exerts no control whatsoever over the
Like (Animal) Control, this is actu- Item subject, and the subject is unaware the
ally several different spells. There is a caster is “watching.”
Repel (Animal) spell for each category An area can be made permanently
of animal. Like all Area spells, the repellent at an energy cost of 100 Duration: 1 minute.
affected area extends 4 yards upward times normal. Cost: 4 to cast. 1 to maintain.
(an important detail for flying animals Time to cast: 3 seconds.
such as bats or birds). Casters may Rider Prerequisites: At least two different
extend the area upward by spending (Animal) Control spells. The caster
proportionately more energy; double Regular must also know the (Animal) Control
base cost will create an area 8 yards spell for the type of animal being “rid-
high, and so on. Beings with Animal Mount and ride a subject creature den” before he can use this spell on
Empathy may feel uneasy and irritable as though it were a trained, loyal rid- that type of animal.
while in the affected area. ing animal. The creature must be
capable of carrying the caster, and the
The caster may exclude specific caster must still make a Riding roll
animals from the spell’s effect at the whenever it would normally be
time of casting; thus, a shepherd may
drive off wolves without driving away
his flock.

Duration: 1 hour.
Base cost: Equal to the cost to cast

ANIMAL SPELLS 31

Item Beast Seeker or is “exorcised” by a Dispel
Possession, Counterspell, Remove
A pair of identical pieces of jewelry Information Curse, or similar spell. Remember that
– one gold, one silver. The gold one the caster must know the appropriate
must be worn by the caster, the silver This spell is similar to Seeker (Animal) Control spell for the spell to
one by the subject (e.g., on a collar). (p. 105), but it works only on animals. work on the chosen subject. The cast-
The spell can then be cast at any time, It may be cast for any species of er’s body is in Suspended Animation
regardless of distance. Usable only by animal, an individual, or simply any (p. 94) while the spell continues. If the
a mage. If a Powerstone is included in animal. caster’s body dies, the spell is broken.
the item, it is in the gold one. If either Whenever the subject body takes dam-
item is broken, the other loses its Cost: 3. One try per week per age, the caster must roll against his
enchantment. Energy cost to create: species. own body’s HT or take the same
1,000 (for the pair). Each of the pair damage. If the subject animal dies, the
must contain an opal worth $100. Prerequisites: Either Beast caster must roll vs. HT or die himself!
Summoning and at least two other
Spider Silk Seek spells, or Seeker. In addition, the caster must roll
against his IQ every day; a failed roll
Special; Missile Item means that he loses one point of IQ.
The caster does not need to roll once
The caster shoots a strand of spider A forked stick (wood, bone, or he reaches the beast’s normal IQ
silk, which stretches from his fingertip ivory) or compass-needle (carved out range. The lost IQ is regained when
to the target. The strands appear wispy of bone) that will point to a particular the spell is ended. Should IQ drop to 5,
and weightless, but are very strong, species of animal, specified when the only Remove Curse or Dispel
and can support up to 500 pounds item is created, or to any animal. One Possession will end the spell.
without snapping. As a missile, the ounce of bone from the animal species
strand has 1/2D n/a, Max equal to must be used in making the item. Duration: Indefinite (could be per-
strand length, Acc 3; use the caster’s Energy cost to create: 500. manent).
DX-4 or Innate Attack to hit. On a hit,
the victim as grappled and immobi- Beast Possession Cost: 20.
lized as per the Binding advantage Time to cast: 1 minute.
with the Sticky enhancement (see Regular; Resisted by Will Prerequisites: Magery 2 and Beast
p. B40). A single strand has an effective Possession.
ST of 10 and DR 3. Spider Silk takes Like Rider Within – except caster is
triple damage from fire-based attacks. in full control of the subject, “from the Item
inside,” and has full access to the
The caster may shoot as many beast’s memories and abilities. While Cap, crown, helmet, or other head-
strands as he has arms from a single in the subject’s body, the caster may gear. The item must bear a picture of
casting of Spider Silk; however, the cost use all its skills and abilities as though the animal form it is usable on. Usable
to cast is based on the total length of all they were his own. He may use his only by mages. Energy cost to create:
strands created. Thus, a many-armed own mental abilities, but not his phys- 2,000.
spider demon can throw half a dozen ical ones (so he cannot cast spells
strands at once, but it won’t be cheap. unless he knows them so well that Protect Animal
they require no speech or gesture).
Strands of Spider Silk may also be The caster’s own body lies uncon- Area
used to build a web by anchoring suc- scious during the spell, and must be
cessive strands between two surfaces. safeguarded. Cast on an area, this spell protects
This web creates an area that will all animals of a certain kind within its
grapple anyone who passes through it; Duration: 1 minute. or borders. Attempts to harm them are
mechanically, this is similar to a Cost: 6 to cast. 2 to maintain. warded off as if by invisible defenders;
Binding attack with the Sticky and Time to cast: 5 seconds. protected animals gain DB +3 and DR
Area Effect enhancements (p. B40). Prerequisite: Rider Within 5.
The web has ST 10 and DR 3, plus 1 Possession.
ST for each additional strand. This is also a Protection and
Item Warning spell.
Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 1 to cast per 5 yards of strand As for Rider Within, but more cost- Duration: 1 minute.
length (maximum 100 yards). Half ly. Energy cost to create: 1,500 (for the Base cost: 1. Same cost to main-
that to maintain. pair). Each of the pair must include an tain.
Prerequisites: Magery 1 and two opal worth $200. Time to cast: 1 minute.
Animal spells. Prerequisites: Armor, Watchdog,
Permanent Beast and any three Animal spells.
Item Possession (VH)
Shapeshifting (VH)
Staff or wand. Usable only by Regular; Resisted by Will
mages. The item must bear a picture Special
of a spider. The strand is shot from the Like Beast Possession, but the cast-
item’s tip. Energy cost to create: 400. er’s consciousness remains in the body Change to the form of an animal.
of the subject until he chooses to leave Each animal form is a different spell,

32 ANIMAL SPELLS

to be learned separately. The caster unless he still has the item; otherwise, a item may then be reused. Energy cost
may only learn the form of an animal Remove Curse spell must be used if he is to create: 3,000.
with which he is familiar. Many to regain normal form. Energy cost to
worlds have only a limited number of create: 1,500. (b) Skin of the shape to be Permanent
animal forms available. Clothing, jew- taken. As above, but merges into the Shapeshifting (VH)
elry, and armor vanish when the beast- subject and so cannot be lost! Energy
form is taken and reappear when the cost to create: 3,000. Regular
human form is resumed (magical jew-
elry cannot be detected while “van- Shapeshift Others (VH) Like Shapeshifting, but the subject
ished”). Backpacks, carried items, etc., remains in animal form until he
simply fall to the ground. Special; Resisted by Will chooses to resume his normal form.
He must roll for IQ loss daily rather
The caster retains his intelligence, As Shapeshifting, but usable on than hourly.
but gains all the physical attributes of others. The subject cannot end the
the new form. This means that the spell; only the caster, or a Remove Duration: Indefinite (could be per-
wearer cannot cast spells unless he Curse spell, can do that. If the spell manent).
knows them so well that they can be continues until the subject’s IQ drops
performed without gestures! Note that to 5, he is trapped in the beast form! Cost: 5 times the cost of the corre-
Fatigue Points are not increased for sponding Shapeshifting spell.
spellcasting purposes. Duration: 1 hour.
Cost: As Shapeshifting, but the Time to cast: 1 minute.
Each hour that the spell continues, minimum cost of the spell is 6 to cast Prerequisites: Magery 3 and
the caster must make a roll against IQ; and 2 to maintain. Shapeshifting for that form.
failure means that the caster loses a Time to cast: 30 seconds.
point of IQ, continuing until the nor- Prerequisite: Magery 2 and Item
mal IQ of that beast is reached. Shapeshifting for that form.
Should the caster’s IQ drop to 5, he is (a) Jewelry. The item must bear a
trapped in beast form forever unless Item picture of the form to be taken. Usable
the spell is removed by Remove Curse only by a mage or a descendant of a
(other spells won’t counter it). Lost IQ (a) Staff or wand. Usable only by a natural were. It remains with the sub-
is regained when human form is mage; the item must touch the sub- ject when the spell is cast; note that
reassumed. ject. Energy cost to create: 3,000. (b) the subject cannot end the spell if he
Skin of the shape to be taken. Always loses the item while in beast form (if
For most natural beast forms, an on. Placed on the subject, it puts the he does, only Remove Curse can turn
energy cost of 6 to cast and 2 to main- spell on him permanently (soon caus- him back!). Energy cost to create:
tain is appropriate; animals with great ing IQ loss as per Shapeshifting) until 3,000. (b) Skin of the shape to be
strength, for example, tend to be coun- it is taken off by Remove Curse; the taken. As above, but merges into the
terbalanced by reduced agility. If the subject and cannot be lost. Energy cost
GM allows supernatural creatures as to create: 4,500.
beast forms, however, or if he is con-
cerned about the power of a given ani-
mal form, he may wish to change the
cost of the spell. A reasonable guide-
line is to calculate the point value of
the physical characteristics of the
beast form and charge 1/20 of the
form’s cost to cast and 1/60 to main-
tain, with a minimum cost of 3 to cast
and 1 to maintain.

Duration: 1 hour.
Cost: Varies (see above).
Time to cast: 3 seconds.
Prerequisite: Magery 1, and at least
six other spells of any type.

Item

(a) Jewelry. The item must bear the
likeness of the shape to be taken; usable
only by a mage, or by someone descend-
ed from a natural were. It remains with
the caster when the spell is cast – there-
fore, a collar or necklace is most con-
venient. There is no cost to maintain the
spell, but the caster cannot change back

ANIMAL SPELLS 33

Partial Shapeshifting him Fangs (p. B91) and ST 25 for the must bear a likeness of the shape to be
(VH) purposes of biting only. Speech is taken. There is no cost to maintain;
slightly slurred. The subject acquires the spell ends when the user mimics
Regular; Resisted by Will Colorblindness as a side effect. pulling off the item. Energy cost to cre-
ate: 1,000 plus 250 per point of casting
As Shapeshifting, but affects only Scorpion Tail (7 to cast): The sub- cost.
one body part. The subject of the spell ject grows a scorpion’s stinger, com-
can be the caster or someone else. plete with poison gland. This is an Great Shapeshift (VH)
Each variation is a separate spell. Impaling Striker (p. B88) with the
Follow-Up enhancement; on a suc- Special
The resulting body part preserves cessful penetrating hit, a 1d+2 Innate
the subject’s scale: Shapeshifting a Attack (Toxic, Melee Attack, Perform multiple, fast, repeated
human’s head into a hummingbird’s Resistible) takes effect. A victim may changes of shape, temporarily access-
head results in a human with a resist the scorpion venom by making a ing the Morph ability (p. B84). The
human-sized hummingbird head. HT-6 roll. spell lapses, however, if at any point
Some variations bear misleading the caster returns to his natural form.
titles: Crocodile Jaws, for example, Serpent’s Fangs (3 to cast): The sub- The caster is mentally stunned when
transforms the subject’s entire head, ject’s canines become fangs, able to the spell ends.
not just his jaws – the jaw muscles deliver a venomous bite; this is a 1d+1
must be properly anchored! Innate Attack (Melee Attack, Contact Clothing, jewelry, and armor van-
Agent, Toxic, Resistible (HT-4), Cyclic ish when the spell is cast, reappearing
Some known variations are: (daily, expires after three days)). when it lapses (magical jewelry cannot
be detected while “vanished”). Items
Chameleon Eyes (3 to cast): The Skunk Tail (3 to cast): The subject that the caster was carrying when the
subject gains Enhanced Tracking 1 grows a huge skunk’s tail (2 yards spell was cast (including backpacks,
(p. B53) and Peripheral Vision long), and gains the ability to use the etc.) simply fall to the ground.
(p. B74). Stench spell (p. 24) at will. The area of
effect is two yards in radius and must At its minimum cost, Great
Crocodile Jaws (5 to cast): The sub- be centered on some portion of the Shapeshift allows the caster to change
ject’s head becomes a crocodile’s, tail. This ability costs 2 FP to use. into any creature whose racial tem-
granting the subject Sharp Teeth plate costs 0 points or less (note that
(p. B91) and a ST of 20 for the pur- Spider Arms (7 to cast): The subject this is slightly different from the
poses of biting only. Speech is slurred grows two Extra Arms and gains one Morph ability). Each additional point
but intelligible. He also gains Extra Attack (p. B53). of energy, however, adds 5 character
Peripheral Vision and Colorblindness points to the maximum point value of
(p. B127) as side effects. Tiger Paws (4 to cast): The subject’s the allowable templates.
hands become tiger paws, granting
Elephant Trunk (3 to cast): The sub- him Sharp Claws and Striking ST A caster remains subject to the
ject’s nose becomes a trunk, granting 24, but he also gains No Fine Magic Rituals requirements (p. 8)
him an Extra Arm (p. B53). He also Manipulators (p. B145). while shapeshifted; if he changes into
gains Peripheral Vision and a form that cannot gesture or speak,
Colorblindness as side effects. Toad Tongue (3 to cast): The sub- he cannot use any spell known at a
ject’s tongue becomes long and adhe- skill less than 20.
Feathered Arms (3 to cast): The sive, serving as an Extra Arm with the
subject’s arms transform into wings, Long and Weak enhancements and Mages who know Great Shapeshift
giving him Flight (Winged) (p. B56). additional Striking ST – it attacks with can use Counterspell to hold a Great
the subject’s full strength, but lifts with Shapeshifted caster in whatever form
Fish Tail (3 to cast): The subject’s only 1/4 of the subject’s ST. The sub- he currently has, for as many seconds
legs fuse into a single powerful fluke, ject also gains Peripheral Vision as a as the Counterspell wins the contest by
giving him Enhanced Move 1 (Water) side effect. (or until the Great Shapeshift lapses).
(p. B52).
Turtle Shell (10 to cast): The subject Duration: 1 minute.
Mountain Goat Hooves (4 to cast): becomes encased in a turtle shell. It Cost: 20 to cast, plus 1 per addi-
The subject’s feet become mountain has DR 5 and weighs 4 pounds per tional 5 character points of template
goat hooves, granting him Climbing- point of ST of the subject. limit. Half that to maintain.
14 (only usable while mountaineer- Time to cast: 5 seconds.
ing) and Jumping-14. Duration: 1 hour. Prerequisites: Magery 3, Alter Body,
Cost: Varies; never less than 3. One four types of Shapeshifting, and at
Saber Teeth (5 to cast): The subject’s third (round up) to maintain. least 10 other spells of any kind.
canines become saber-teeth, granting Time to cast: 10 seconds.
Prerequisites: Magery 3, Shapeshift Item
Others for the appropriate animal,
and Alter Body. Jewelry, decorated with an abun-
dance of animal motifs. Usable only
Item by mages. The item vanishes when the
spell is cast, to reappear when it
The item’s form depends on the lapses. Energy cost to create: 5,000.
body part affected – gloves to
shapeshift the hands, boots for the
feet, a mask for the face, and so on. It

34 ANIMAL SPELLS

CHAPTER FIVE

BODY CONTROL
SPELLS

The Fist of the West was the ulti- Climbing bonus (no more than 5) the his companions certainly might),
mate fortress. Its walls were built from item can give. regardless of its nature.
interlocking blocks of adamant, each
weighing 10 tons, and they towered Itch Duration: 10 minutes.
hundreds of feet above the ground, Cost: 2 to cast. 1 to maintain.
bristling with artillery. Its moats and Regular; Resisted by HT Prerequisite: Odor (p. 24).
trenches were deep and wide, filled
with noxious and deadly hazards. No Causes the subject to itch fiercely Item
attacker had ever forded the moats in a spot of the caster’s choice. The
successfully, let alone scaled the walls. subject is at -2 DX until he takes one Staff or wand. The item must
All the military theorists agreed that full second to scratch (more, if armor, touch the subject. Energy cost to
the Fist was unassailable, and this etc. is in the way!). Only one Itch spell create: 200.
self-proclaimed Empire would do no can affect a given subject at a time.
better than the many besiegers who Spasm
preceded them. Duration: Until subject takes a turn
to scratch. Regular; Resisted by HT
Thus, the Fist’s defenders were
quite surprised when the Imperial Cost: 2. Cannot be maintained; Can be directed against any of the
archmages transformed a squad of must be recast. subject’s voluntary muscles. Directed
legionnaires into three-hundred-foot against a hand, it causes the subject to
titans who promptly strode across the Item drop whatever he is holding (usually a
moats and began pulling down the weapon). If the subject is in the mid-
walls. (a) Staff or wand; usable only by dle of a lengthy spell requiring ges-
mages. The item must touch the vic- tures, he must make a DX roll or start
These spells directly affect the tim. Energy cost to create: 100. (b) Any over. Ingenious casters will find other
body. Except as noted, they only affect item; always on. The wearer itches uses . . .
living beings. constantly, and remains at -2 DX while
item is worn. Energy cost to create: 60. Duration: Instant.
The College of Body Control is a Cost: 2. Cannot be maintained.
common starting point for wizards Touch Prerequisite: Itch.
who want to work magic on people.
Body Control spells are prerequisites Regular Item
to many spells in other colleges that
affect sapient beings. The subject feels a light touch at a (a) Staff or wand; usable only by
spot of the caster’s choice. The touch is mages. The item must touch the vic-
Climbing easily felt, even through armor, but tim. Energy cost to create: 300. (b) Any
has no effect other than to attract the item; always on. The wearer must roll
Regular subject’s attention; it cannot cause vs. HT each time he does something
pain or discomfort, but it is very likely delicate (e.g., pick a lock, cast a spell)
Gives the subject a strong, sure to distract him. or suffer a spasm as above. Energy cost
grip, increasing his Climbing skill. to create: 100.
Cost: 1.
Duration: 1 minute. Stop Spasm
Cost: 1 to 3 to cast. Same cost to Item
maintain. The increase in the subject’s Regular
Climbing skill is equal to twice the Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost
energy put into the spell. to create: 50. Stops any seizure the subject is
undergoing. This works against
Item Perfume epilepsy, vomiting fits, etc.

Shoes, gloves, clothing, or jewelry; Regular; Resisted by HT This is also a Healing spell.
only affects the wearer. Energy cost to
create: 250 times the maximum The subject smells strongly of any Cost: 1.
odor that the caster desires. The sub- Prerequisite: Spasm or Lend
ject can detect the odor, but does not Vitality.
find it especially offensive (although

BODY CONTROL SPELLS 35

Item Item weapon is at -2 and his Dodge score is
cut in half (round down).
(a) Staff or wand, decorated in a (a) Staff or wand; usable only by
snake pattern. Usable only by a mage mages. The item must touch the vic- Duration: 1 minute, or until subject
or a nonmage with Physician-15 or tim. Energy cost to create: 400. (b) Any breaks free.
higher. Energy cost to create: 400. (b) item; always on. The wearer feels stab-
Any item. Always on. The item prevents bing pain, as above, continuing until Cost: 3. Cannot be maintained;
its wearer from suffering seizures he makes a HT roll. The wearer can do must be recast.
(grants a bonus of +5 when resisting nothing until he succeeds at the roll!
Spasm). Energy cost to create: 750. Energy cost to create: 300. Prerequisite: Hinder.

Tickle Clumsiness Item

Regular; Resisted by Will Regular; Resisted by HT (a) Staff or wand. Usable only by
mages; the item must touch the sub-
The subject feels he is being tickled. The subject suffers -1 to his DX and ject. Energy cost to create: 400. (b) Any
If he does not resist, he is helpless with DX-based skills for every point of item. Always on; the wearer must
laughter, jerking about to try to escape energy put into the spell. make a (ST-5) roll every turn in order
from his invisible tormentor. This is a to move. A failed roll means he cannot
serious ticklefest; the victim is inca- Duration: 1 minute. move. Energy cost to create: 600.
pacitated as if by a seizure (see Cost: 1 to 5 to cast. Half that to
Incapacitating Conditions, p. B428). maintain (round up). Tanglefoot
The subject must make a second Will Prerequisite: Spasm.
roll if he tries to keep silent. High/Low Regular; Resisted by DX
Pain Threshold has no effect on the Item
spell’s outcome. Unfazeable characters The subject trips and falls down.
get a +5 bonus to their resistance roll. (a) Any item. Always on; reduces
the wearer’s DX. Energy cost to create: Duration: Instantaneous.
Duration: 1 minute. 100 for each point of DX reduction. (b) Cost: 2.
Cost: 5 to cast. 5 to maintain Staff or wand. Usable only by mages; Prerequisite: Clumsiness.
(requires concentration). the item must touch the subject.
Prerequisite: Spasm. Energy cost to create: 800. Item

Item Hinder Staff or wand. Usable only by
mages; the item must be pointed at
(a) Wand, staff, or feather. Usable Regular; Resisted by HT (but not necessarily touching) the
only by mages; the item must touch subject. Energy cost to create: 600.
the subject. Energy cost to create: 600. The subject is at -1 to his Move and
(b) Chair, cushion, or pillow. Always Dodge scores for every point of energy Roundabout
on. Anyone sitting in it is immediately put into the spell.
“attacked” by the spell. A great Regular; Resisted by HT
practical joke. Energy cost to This is also a Movement spell.
create: 250. Change the facing of a subject to
Duration: 1 minute. any direction desired. This is not a
Pain Cost: 1 to 4 to cast. Same cost to teleport-in-place, but a physical spin.
maintain. On the subject’s next turn, a roll vs.
Regular; Resisted by HT Prerequisite: Clumsiness or Haste Body Sense or DX-6 is needed to take
(p. 142). any action. If the subject moved 2 or
The subject feels a stab of agoniz- more yards the previous turn, he must
ing pain. He must make a Will roll to Item make an IQ roll to avoid continuing in
avoid crying out. If he is in a precari- the new direction.
ous position (climbing, for instance), (a) Staff or wand. Usable only by
he must make a DX roll to avoid catas- mages; the item must be pointed at (but Duration: Instantaneous.
trophe! His DX and all DX-based skills not necessarily touch) subject. Energy Cost: 3.
are at -3 for the next second only. If the cost to create: 600. (b) Any item. Always Prerequisite: Tanglefoot.
subject is in the middle of a spell on; reduces wearer’s Move score. Energy
requiring gestures, he must roll vs. cost to create: 200 for every 1-yard Debility
Will or start over. High Pain Threshold reduction in wearer’s Move.
gives +3 to the Will and DX rolls Regular; Resisted by HT
above; Low Pain Threshold gives -4. Rooted Feet
Reduces the subject’s ST temporar-
Duration: 1 second. Regular; Resisted by ST ily. This will affect the subject’s basic
Cost: 2. Cannot be maintained. damage with weapons, but not HP. It
Time to cast: 2 seconds. The subject’s feet are glued in does affect encumbrance, but GMs are
Prerequisite: Spasm. place! He may try another resistance free to ignore this detail in the interest
roll at -5 every turn, against the origi- of playability.
nal spell skill roll, to break free. While
the spell continues, the subject’s skill Duration: 1 minute.
with any weapon except a ranged Cost: 1 for every point of ST reduc-
tion (maximum 5). Half that amount
(round up) to maintain.

36 BODY CONTROL SPELLS

Item Grace Strength. Each must be studied sepa-
rately, but all four work identically.
(a) Staff or wand. Usable only by Regular
mages; the item must be pointed at This spell raises the subject’s attrib-
(but not necessarily touch) subject. Raises the subject’s DX ute just long enough for a single die roll
Energy cost to create: 900. (b) Any temporarily. His Basic or short action – one Quick Contest,
item. Always on; reduces wearer’s ST. Speed and ability with all one attribute check, delivering a blow,
Energy cost to create: 100 for every DX-based skills are also readying a weapon, resisting a spell,
point by which wearer’s ST is reduced. raised. A caster can raise throwing an object, etc. It cannot be
his own DX to increase his used to increase a roll that represents
Frailty chances of hitting with several seconds of effort, such as a
missile spells, etc. Regular Contest. The boosted attribute
Regular; Resisted by HT affects all secondary characteristics
Duration: 1 minute. except HP and FP. High skill does not
Lowers the subject’s HT temporari- Cost: 4 for every point reduce the cost to cast this spell.
ly. This affects all considerations that of DX increase (maximum
depend upon HT (Basic Speed, HT- of 5). Same cost to maintain. Boost Intelligence is a Mind
based skills, poison and spell resist- Prerequisite: Clumsiness. Control spell, not a Body Control spell.
ance, unconsciousness, death, etc.)
except for those dependent upon FP, Item Cost: 1 for every point of attribute
which is unaffected. The cost to cast is increase (maximum of 5).
not reduced by high skill. (a) Any item. Always on; the wear-
er’s DX is raised while item is worn! Prerequisite: Each variant has a dif-
Duration: 1 minute. This is a very rare item. Energy cost to ferent prerequisite:
Cost: 2 per point of HT decrease create: 2,000 per point of increase
(maximum 5). Same cost to maintain. (maximum 5). (b) Staff or wand. Spell Prerequisite
Prerequisite: Lend Energy (p. 89). Usable only by mages; the item must Boost Dexterity Grace
touch the subject. Energy cost to Boost Health Vigor
Item create: 2,000. Boost Strength Might
Boost Intelligence
(a) Any. Always on; the wearer’s HT Vigor Wisdom
is lowered while the item is worn.
Energy cost to create: 200 per point of Regular Item
HT reduction. (b) Staff or wand. Usable
only by mages; the user must touch the Raises the subject’s HT temporari- Staff, wand, jewelry, or article of
subject. Energy cost to create: 1,000. ly. This affects his Basic Speed, FP, clothing. Energy cost to create: 300.
and ability to resist trauma and dis-
Might ease. A caster can raise his HT. If the Stun
subject’s FP when the spell wears off is
Regular below zero, he will immediately take 1 Regular; Resisted by HT
point of damage for every point of
Raises the subject’s ST temporarily. fatigue below zero, risking uncon- The subject is physically stunned
This affects damage, encumbrance, sciousness. High skill does not reduce (p. B420) and must roll vs. HT each
and hit points, but does not heal cost to cast this spell. second to recover.
wounds. If, when the spell wears off,
the subject’s wounds put him below Duration: 1 minute. Cost: 2. Cannot be maintained.
-HT, he will have to make a HT roll to Cost: 2 for every point of HT Prerequisite: Pain.
live. High skill does not reduce cost to increase (maximum of 5). Same cost
cast this spell. to maintain. Item
Prerequisite: Lend Vitality or Frailty.
Duration: 1 minute. (a) Any item. Always on; the wear-
Cost: 2 for every point of ST Item er is stunned until it is removed.
increase (maximum of 5). Same cost Energy cost to create: 500. (b) Staff or
to maintain. (a) Any item. Always on; the wear- wand. Usable only by mages; the item
Prerequisite: Lend Energy. er’s HT is raised while item is worn. must touch the subject. Energy cost to
Energy cost to create: 1,500 per point of create: 1,100.
Item increase (maximum 5). (b) Staff or
wand. Usable only by mages; the item
(a) Any item. Always on; the wear- must touch the subject. Energy cost to
er’s ST is raised while item is worn. create: 1,000.
Energy cost to create: 1,500 per point of
increase (maximum 5). (b) Staff or Boost (Attribute)
wand. Usable only by mages; the item
must touch the subject. Energy cost to Regular or Blocking
create: 1,000.
This spell has four separate vari-
ants: Boost Dexterity, Boost Health,
Boost Intelligence, and Boost

BODY CONTROL SPELLS 37

Nauseate Strike Dumb be recovered by a day of rest and ade-
quate nourishment (see Starvation,
Regular; Resisted by HT Regular; Resisted by HT p. B426).

The subject becomes nauseated The subject cannot speak. This This is also a Food spell.
(see Irritating Conditions, p. B428). makes it impossible to cast any spell
that requires speaking (p. 8). Cost: 2.
Duration: 10 seconds. Time to cast: 5 seconds.
Cost: 2. Same cost to maintain. Duration: 10 seconds. Prerequisites: Magery 1, Debility,
Prerequisites: Perfume and at least Cost: 3 to cast. 1 to maintain. and Decay.
one other Body Control spell. Prerequisite: Spasm.
Item
Item Item
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only
Staff or wand. Usable only by (a) Any item. Always on; the wear- by mages; the item must touch the
mages; the item must touch the er cannot speak. Energy cost to create: subject. Energy cost to create: 2,000.
subject. Energy cost to create: 100. 500. (b) Staff or wand. Usable only by
mages; the item must touch the Thirst
Retch subject. Energy cost to create: 2,500.
Regular; Resisted by HT
Regular; Resisted by HT Strike Blind
Inflicts 4 FP and 1 HP of dehydra-
The subject loses his lunch, retch- Regular; Resisted by HT tion damage, equivalent to a full day
ing for (25-HT) seconds (see without water. Dehydration fatigue
Incapacitating Conditions, p. B428). The subject is temporarily blinded. may be recovered in full with a full
See Blindness, p. B124, for a full day’s rest and plentiful water (see
Cost: 3. Cannot be maintained. description of the effects; the most Dehydration, p. B426). HP damage
Time to cast: 4 seconds. important is that he is at -10 to attack heals normally. Repeated castings
Prerequisites: Nauseate and Spasm. anyone physically, and cannot see to may render the subject nearly unable
target spells. to speak, because his throat will be
Item parched and his tongue swollen.
Duration: 10 seconds.
Staff or wand. Usable only by Cost: 4 to cast. 2 to maintain. This is also a Food spell.
mages; the item must touch the Prerequisite: Spasm and at least
subject. Energy cost to create: 100. two Light and Darkness spells. Cost: 5.
Time to cast: 10 seconds.
Fumble Item Prerequisites: Magery 1, Debility,
and Destroy Water (p. 185).
Blocking; Resisted by DX (a) Any item. Always on; the wear-
er is blinded. Energy cost to create: 500. Item
The subject automatically fumbles (b) Staff or wand. Usable only by
the action he is taking. Regular range mages; the item must touch the Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only
penalties apply. If the action is an subject. Energy cost to create: 2,000. by mages; the item must touch the
attack or parry, roll on the Critical subject. Energy cost to create: 2,000.
Miss Table. A fumbled dodge results in Strike Deaf
a fall, and a fumbled block unreadies Resist Pain
the shield. If he was taking some other Regular; Resisted by HT
action (Move, Ready Weapon, etc), the Regular
GM should determine the result as he The subject is temporarily deaf-
sees fit. “Mental” actions (concentra- ened. The subject becomes temporarily
tion, speech, and so on) are unaffect- impervious to pain. He may ignore
ed, but a spell requiring body motions Duration: 10 seconds. Spasm and other pain-causing spells.
of some sort is affected! Cost: 3 to cast. 1 to maintain. He cannot be stunned in combat, and
Prerequisite: Spasm and at least does not suffer a shock penalty when
Cost: 3. two Sound spells. he is wounded or slow down when his
Prerequisite: Clumsiness. HT is reduced to 3. However, he does
Item not gain any actual resistance to
Item injury – only to the pain it causes.
(a) Any item. Always on; the wear-
(a) Staff or wand. Usable only by er is deafened. Energy cost to create: Duration: 1 minute.
mages; the item must touch the sub- 400. (b) Staff or wand. Usable only by Cost: 4 to cast. 2 to maintain.
ject. Energy cost to create: 1,000. (b) mages; the item must touch the Prerequisite: Magery 2 and Pain.
Jewelry. Always on; only affects the subject. Energy cost to create: 1,000.
wearer. The wearer keeps fumbling! Item
Energy cost to create: 1,500. Hunger
Any item; only affects the wearer.
Regular; Resisted by HT Energy cost to create: 800.

Inflicts 1 FP of starvation damage,
equivalent to a single missed meal.
Fatigue taken in this fashion can only

38 BODY CONTROL SPELLS

Hold Breath Reflexes Prerequisites: At least five Body
Control spells.
Regular Regular
Item
Temporarily eliminates the caster’s The subject gains Combat Reflexes
need for air, as if he had Doesn’t (p. B43) for the duration of the spell. (a) Any item; always on. Hair starts
Breathe (p. B49). He could thus stay The spell has no effect on beings that growing an hour after the item is put
underwater, or in a room full of poison already have the advantage. on and grows for an hour after the
gas, without trouble. This spell does not item is taken off. Energy cost to create:
actually provide air; it simply delays Duration: 1 minute. 100. (b) Staff or wand. The item must
suffocation while the caster seeks (or Cost: 5 to cast. 3 to maintain. touch the subject. Energy cost to
creates) a safer environment. This spell Prerequisites: Grace and Haste. create: 250.
does not supply pressure support
against vacuum or deep sea pressure. Item Haircut

Duration: 1 minute. (a) Any item. Always on; the wear- Regular; Resisted by HT
Cost: 4 to cast. 2 to maintain. er gains the Combat Reflexes advan-
Prerequisites: Magery 1 and Vigor. tage. Rare item! Energy cost to create: Trims the subject’s hair (beard,
1,200. (b) Staff or wand. Usable only mustache, fur, etc.) as the caster sees
Item by mages. Energy cost to create: 800. fit. To determine the aesthetic quality
of the job, roll against Barber skill (a
Wand, staff, or jewelry. Energy cost Cadence DX/Average Professional Skill). Can
to create: 900. also be used to shear sheep, pluck
Regular chickens, or to trim the subject’s nails.
Ambidexterity The spell will not blunt the subject’s
Doubles the rate of production of claws or horns (although it may give
Regular crafted items by both hastening the them a manicure).
craftsman’s movements and making
Subject gains Ambidexterity them surer, eliminating wasted Duration: The trim is instanta-
(p. B39) for the duration of the spell. strokes. Any use of a skill that creates neous, the cut matter falling at the
The spell has no effect on beings that or improves a handmade object can be subject’s feet.
already have the advantage. It also assisted by this spell; magical craft
only affects a single pair of limbs; work (such as scroll writing or Cost: 2.
beings with more than two limbs enchantment) cannot. Time to cast: 2 seconds.
require multiple castings of the spell. Prerequisites: Hair Growth.
Duration: 1 hour. The spell is bro-
Duration: 1 minute. ken if the subject interrupts his work. Item
Cost: 3 to cast. 2 to maintain.
Prerequisite: Grace. Cost: 5 to cast. 3 to maintain. The (a) The effect may be made perma-
spell costs the subject an equal nent (preventing hair from growing
Item amount of energy every hour, unless it back) for 10 times casting cost. (b)
is the caster himself. Headgear. The item trims the hair of
(a) Any. Always on; the wearer whoever puts it on, to the style speci-
becomes ambidextrous. A rare item! Time to cast: 10 seconds. fied by the creator. Energy cost to cre-
Energy cost to create: 1,500. (b) Staff or Prerequisites: Grace and Haste. ate: 150. (c) Staff or wand. Energy cost
wand. Usable only by mages. Energy to create: 300.
cost to create: 500. Item
Sensitize
Balance Tool. Energy cost to create: 1,000.
Regular; Resisted by HT
Regular Hair Growth
The subject becomes extremely
The subject gains Perfect Balance Regular; Resisted by HT sensitive to pain, gaining the Low Pain
(p. B74) for the duration of the spell. It Threshold disadvantage (p. B142).
has no effect on beings that already Causes the subject’s hair and nails The spell does not affect characters
possess this advantage. to grow at a million times the usual that already have the disadvantage.
rate (meaning an inch of hair every
Duration: 1 minute. five seconds and an inch of nails every Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 5 to cast. 3 to maintain. 30 seconds). If left unchecked, such Cost: 3 to cast. 2 to maintain.
Prerequisite: Grace. growth interferes with vision (as hair Prerequisites: Magery 1 and Stun.
falls in the eyes), movement (as the
Item subject trips on his beard) and han- Item
dling ability (as nails get in the way).
(a) Staff or wand. Usable only by Some bald people appreciate this (a) Any. Always on; only affects the
mages; the item must touch the sub- spell, while it lasts (baldness returns wearer. Energy cost to create: 300. (b)
ject. Energy cost to create: 300. (b) within about a month as the hair falls Staff or wand. Usable only by mages;
Jewelry or headgear. Always on; out naturally). the item must touch the subject.
affects only the wearer. Energy cost to Energy cost to create: 400.
create: 750. Duration: 5 seconds.
Cost: 1 to cast. 1 to maintain.

BODY CONTROL SPELLS 39

Agonize Item Prerequisites: Magery 1 and at least
five Body Control spells, including
Regular; Resisted by HT (a) Any. Always on; only affects the Spasm.
wearer. Energy cost to create: 300. (b)
Magnifies the subject’s sense of Staff or wand. Usable only by mages; Item
touch to painful levels: a gentle touch the item must touch the subject.
feels like a blow, someone else’s breath Energy cost to create: 800. Staff or wand. Usable only by
feels like a scorching flame, a cool mages; the item must be pointed at
breeze feels like a freezing blast. Even Choke the subject. Energy cost to create: 800.
the contact of his own clothes
becomes unbearable; the subject feels Regular; Resisted by HT Paralyze Limb
like his skin is being scraped raw. He
is rendered helpless with agony (see The subject becomes unable to Melee; Resisted by HT
Incapacitating Conditions, p. B428). breathe (or speak) and suffers the
effects of suffocation (see Suffocation, The caster must strike the subject
Duration: 1 minute. p. B436). The spell cannot be main- on a limb to trigger this spell (hits else-
Cost: 8 to cast. 6 to maintain. tained; so constant recasting is where have no effect). Armor does not
Prerequisites: Magery 2 and required to cut off enough of the protect. Resolve resistance on contact.
Sensitize. victim’s air supply to do any real harm. If the subject fails to resist, the sub-
ject’s limb is paralyzed; it is considered
Item Duration: 30 seconds. crippled for one minute.
Cost: 4. Cannot be maintained.
(a) Any. Always on; only affects the Prerequisites: Magery 1 and at least Duration: 1 minute.
wearer. Energy cost to create: 500. (b) five Body Control spells, including Cost: 3. Cannot be maintained;
Staff or wand. Usable only by mages; Spasm. must be recast.
the item must touch the subject. Prerequisites: Magery 1 and at least
Energy cost to create: 800. Item five Body Control spells, including
Clumsiness.
Weaken Blood Staff or wand. Usable only by
mages; the item must touch the Item
Regular; Resisted by HT subject. Energy cost to create: 200.
Staff or wand. Usable only by
The subject acquires Hemophilia Control Limb mages; the item must touch the
(p. B138) for the duration of the spell. subject. Energy cost to create: 1,000.
All wounds will cause severe bleeding. Regular; Resisted by Will
Total Paralysis
This is also a Necromantic spell. One of the subject’s limbs (including
wings, tentacles, etc) is under the cast- Melee; Resisted by HT
Duration: 1 day er’s control! Arms can be made to swing
Cost: 9 to cast. 5 to maintain. weapons (use the caster’s skill); legs can The caster must touch the subject
Prerequisite: Sickness or Steal be made to kick, twist, and so on. The on the head (-5 to caster’s attack roll).
Vitality. caster must continually concentrate to If the subject fails to resist, he is total-
control the limb once the spell is cast; ly paralyzed and cannot move at all
Item failure to do so causes the limb to “go for one minute (in the average game,
dead” for the duration. The victim may until that battle is over).
Any item; always on. The wearer is attempt to grapple himself to prevent
a hemophiliac! Energy cost to create: his limb from acting, but he is at -3 on Duration: 1 minute.
200. (Usually combined with Hex.) contests of ST or DX with himself! Cost: 5. Cannot be maintained;
must be recast.
Strike Numb If a caster forces the subject to Prerequisite: Paralyze Limb.
attack himself with his own weapon
Regular; Resisted by HT or fist, hit rolls are still required Item
(against the subject’s skill+4), and the
The subject temporarily loses all victim may Dodge at -2. He can even Staff or wand. Usable only by
sense of touch, as per the Numb dis- parry (also at -2) if he has an appro- mages; the item must touch the
advantage (p. B146). This includes the priate weapon in his other hand! Treat subject. Energy cost to create: 2,000.
effects of the Resist Pain spell, so it is as Close Combat for legal weapons
sometimes a blessing in disguise. The and any appropriate penalties. Wither Limb
subject does not feel blows (beyond a
jolt), does not feel a pickpocket going Duration: 5 seconds. Melee; Resisted by HT
through his possessions, does not feel Cost: 3 to cast. 3 to maintain. If cast
the heat of the stove top he is leaning only on a hand (or analogous limb), The caster must strike the subject
on . . . If the caster desires, the spell the cost to cast or maintain is only 2, on a limb to trigger this spell (hits else-
can selectively numb the subject but the subject can only be forced to where have no effect). Armor does not
(numbing only the arms, for instance). increase or release his grip, and so on. protect. Resolve resistance on contact.
This can still interfere with spellcast- If the caster wins, the subject’s limb
Duration: 10 seconds. ing gestures, throwing grenades, and withers immediately; it is crippled for
Cost: 3 to cast. 1 to maintain. discharging firearms . . . all purposes (see Crippling Injury,
Prerequisite: Resist Pain. p. B420). The subject also takes 1d
damage.

40 BODY CONTROL SPELLS

Duration: Permanent unless healed Alter Voice Cost: 4 to cast. 3 to maintain. May
by magic or extraordinary technology. be made permanent, as an enchant-
Regular; Resisted by HT ment, for an energy cost of 40.
Cost: 5.
Prerequisites: Magery 2 and Changes the subject’s voice as the Time to cast: 1 minute.
Paralyze Limb. caster wills. If the caster is trying to Prerequisites: Eight Body Control
duplicate an existing voice, the spells and either Shapeshifting or
Item “model” voice should be available. Perfect Illusion.
Recreating a familiar voice from
Staff or wand. Usable only by memory is at -2 to skill, -3 or worse if Item
mages; the item must touch the the caster has only heard the voice a
subject. Energy cost to create: 2,000. few times, or a long time ago. Eidetic Any, but usually clothing or jewelry.
Memory is helpful here (p. 51). Gives the wearer a new face, preset by
Strike Barren the caster. Energy cost to create: 1,000.
The subject’s voice can also be
Regular; Resisted by HT altered to make it more pleasing or Alter Body
more grating, granting a bonus or
Renders infertile any subject that penalty (from +2 to -2) to reaction rolls Regular; Resisted by HT
was capable of producing offspring. and skills involving vocal communica-
Restoration or Remove Curse will tion for the duration of the spell. As for Alter Visage, except that the
undo the spell. Used on a plant, this subject’s entire body (e.g., skin, hair,
spell prevents it from ever bearing The spell cannot “give” a voice to a limbs) may be altered. The subject’s
pollen, fruit, or seed. mute person. If this spell is used to general form cannot change:
permanently improve a PC’s voice humanoids stay humanoid. No extra
This is also a Necromantic spell. (giving him the Voice advantage), the limbs, wings, etc., may be added.
GM should require him to pay the Simpler additions are possible (non-
Duration: Permanent. Steal appropriate character points! prehensile tails, horns, hooves), but
Cost: 5. the subject will be unfamiliar with
Time to cast: 30 seconds. This is also a Sound spell. them, and may suffer penalties to DX
Prerequisites: Magery 1, until a suitable adjustment period
Vitality, and Decay. Duration: 1 hour. (GM’s decision) has passed. The sub-
Cost: 2 to cast. 2 to maintain. The ject’s mass must remain the same;
Item change may be made permanent, as basic stats do not change.
an enchantment, for a cost of 200.
(a) Staff or wand. Usable only by Time to cast: 1 minute. Duration: 1 hour unless made per-
mages; the item must touch the sub- Prerequisites: At least four Body manent. May be removed by Alter
ject. Energy cost to create: 200. (b) Any Control and four Sound spells. Body or Remove Curse.
item. Always on; the wearer is infer-
tile/barren while the item is worn. Item Cost: 8 to cast. 6 to maintain. May
Energy cost to create: 800. be made permanent, as an enchant-
Any, but usually jewelry. Gives the ment, for an energy cost of 200.
Sickness wearer a new voice, preset by the
caster. Energy cost to create: 1,000. Time to cast: 2 minutes.
Regular; Resisted by HT Prerequisite: Alter Visage.
Alter Visage
As listed under Mind Control Spells Item
p. 138. Regular; Resisted by HT
Any, but usually clothing or jewel-
Deathtouch Changes the subject’s face as the ry. Gives the wearer a new appear-
caster wills. Any new organs (e.g., ance, preset by the caster. Energy cost
Melee extra eyes) do not really function. to create: 4,000.
Other than that, any change is possi-
The caster must strike the subject ble. If the caster is trying to duplicate Lengthen Limb
to trigger this spell; hit location is an existing face, he is at -1 if he does
irrelevant. The subject takes 1d dam- not have the model (or a good picture) Regular
age per point of energy in the spell. available; if he is not too familiar with
Armor does not protect. This spell the model, -2 or worse. The caster’s arm (usually – but legs,
does affect the undead. pseudopods and so on are also legal)
This spell cannot be used to injure lengthens, becoming like a very long
Cost: 1 to 3. the subject. Mages do not get an auto- snake. The limb lengthens at a rate of 1
Prerequisite: Wither Limb. matic IQ + Magery roll to realize yard per second, with no upper limit.
someone is under this spell. The caster retains his full sense of
Item touch, and must feel his way forward
If this spell or Alter Body (below) is once the end of the limb grows out of
Staff or wand; the item must be used to permanently improve a PC’s view, or use Wizard Eye or some similar
colored jet black. Usable only by looks, the GM should require him to spell to guide it. He must remain still;
mages; the item must touch the pay the appropriate character points the actual lengthening requires concen-
subject. Energy cost to create: 2,500. for the improvement! tration, but the caster may relax once
he has achieved the desired length.
Duration: 1 hour unless made per-
manent. May be removed by Alter
Visage, Alter Body, or Remove Curse.

BODY CONTROL SPELLS 41

The extended limb may make a Item Duration: 1 hour.
tempting target for whoever happens Cost: 2 per -1 SM. Same cost to
on it! When the spell ends, or in an Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only maintain.
emergency, the limb is “reeled back in” by mages. Energy cost to create: 1,000. Time to cast: 10 seconds.
at the caster’s full Basic Speed score. Prerequisites: Magery 3 and Shrink.
This is useful for reaching the keys Shrink (VH)
outside the cell, or snatching the Item
caliph’s prize jewel as he sleeps. Regular
(a) Wand. Usable only by mages;
Duration: 1 minute. The caster’s size decreases, reduc- the item must touch the subject.
Cost: 2 to cast. 2 to maintain. ing his Size modifier. For every 1 point Energy cost to create: 2,000. (b) A size
Time to cast: 5 seconds. of SM reduction, the caster’s ST, HP, change can be made permanent for
Prerequisites: Magery 3 and and Move are all multiplied by 2/3. For 100 times casting cost (the GM may
Shapeshifting. every 2 points of SM reduction, his DR require that the subject’s new size be
is reduced by 1. The caster’s clothing maintained while the enchantment
Item shrinks with him if he wishes, but jew- goes on!)
elry, armor, weapons, carried items,
Wand. Usable only by mages. and other substantial volumes of hard- Enlarge (VH)
Energy cost to create: 1,000. er substances remain at their original
size (though they can be reduced Regular
Decapitation separately with Shrink Object).
The caster grows in size, increasing
Regular; Resisted by HT+2 IQ, DX, HT, FP, Basic Speed, and his Size modifier. For every 1 point of
Dodge do not change with size. increased SM, the caster’s ST, HP, and
The subject’s head comes off! Weight decreases dramatically; every Basic Move are all multiplied by 1.5.
When this spell is cast, the subject’s point of SM reduction divides the cast- For every 2 points of increased SM,
head (or one of them, if the subject er’s weight by 3.5. The caster is harder his DR increases by 1. The caster’s
has several) comes free of its body, to hit, as appropriate to his new SM. clothing grows with him if he wishes,
but continues to live on its own. The but jewelry, armor, weapons, carried
subject is not harmed, but the head The GM may opt to set a floor of 1 items, and other substantial volumes
takes falling damage if it is not care- HP and Move 1, so that shrunken wiz- of harder substances remain at their
fully removed or caught! The head ards may still accomplish something original size (though they can be
can talk, see, and control the actions on foot. This may not be realistic, but enlarged separately with Enlarge
of its body normally. If the head is it is in keeping with the traditions of Object). See Corpulence, p. 43, for the
somehow blinded (put in a bag, for heroic fiction. effects of “bursting” out of armor.
instance), then it will have trouble
telling its body where to walk . . . Duration: 1 hour. IQ, DX, HT, FP, Basic Speed, and
Cost: 2 per -1 SM. Same cost to Dodge do not change with size.
The spell, once cast, is permanent maintain. Weight increases dramatically; every
until somebody puts the head back in Time to cast: 5 seconds. Shrinkage point of increased SM multiplies the
the proper place and wills it to attach occurs at a rate of 1 SM per second caster’s weight by 3.5.
(if the head is unwilling, proceed to a after the spell is complete.
Regular Contest of Wills). If it is cast Prerequisites: Magery 2 and Alter If the caster is enclosed in a room
on a foe, who then regains the head Body. or other space that is too small to
and reattaches it, the caster has no say accommodate his larger size, his
in the matter, although he can Item growth stops. However, if his maxi-
certainly cast the spell again . . . mum thrusting damage is enough to
(a) Wand. Usable only by mages. penetrate the enclosure’s DR, he
This spell, while useful in combat, Energy cost to create: 2,000. (b) A size bursts through in one second per
has several other uses. A mage with a change can be made permanent for point of DR.
broken leg could leave his body 100 times casting cost (the GM may
behind and travel with the party as a require that the subject’s new size be Duration: 1 hour.
head! Note, however, that bodies can- maintained while the enchantment Cost: 2 per +1 SM. Same cost to
not feed themselves without mouths, goes on!) maintain.
and if the mage attempted to cast a Time to cast: 5 seconds.
spell requiring hand motions, the Shrink Other (VH) Prerequisites: Magery 2 and Alter
range penalties would apply from his Body.
body, not his head! Regular; Resisted by HT
Item
Duration: As above. As Shrink, but usable on other
Cost: 4. beings. The spell can only be coun- (a) Wand. Usable only by mages.
Time to cast: 2 seconds. tered by the original caster or by Energy cost to create: 2,000. (b) A size
Prerequisites: Magery 2 and Alter Remove Curse. The GM should keep change can be made permanent for
Body. in mind the potential psychological 100 times casting cost (the GM may
effects of this spell on unaware or require that the subject’s new size be
unwilling subjects. maintained while the enchantment
goes on!)

42 BODY CONTROL SPELLS

Enlarge Other (VH) Staff or wand. Usable only by mages; Item
the item must touch the subject.
Regular; Resisted by HT Energy cost to create: 1,000. Jewelry. The item must bear the like-
ness of the shape to be taken; usable
As Enlarge, but usable on other Gauntness (VH) only by mages. There is no cost to main-
beings. The spell can only be coun- tain the spell, but the caster cannot
tered by the original caster or by Regular; Resisted by HT change back unless he still has the item;
Remove Curse. Cast on a volunteer otherwise, a Remove Curse spell must
soldier, this changes him into an The subject is temporarily emaciat- be used if he is to regain normal form.
instant siege engine . . . but also makes ed, losing one level of weight (the Energy cost to create: 1,500.
him a prime target for the enemy’s opposite of the Corpulence spell).
artillery and magic. Armor and clothing hangs on the sub- Transform Other
ject, hampering him (-2 DX). Beyond
Duration: 1 hour. Skinny, the subject loses 20% of his Special; Resisted by Will
Cost: 2 per +1 SM. Same cost to current weight, and loses 1d FP, per
maintain. casting. Repeated castings on already- As Transform Body, but usable on
Time to cast: 10 seconds. affected subjects are resisted at a others. The subject cannot end the
Prerequisites: Magery 3 and cumulative +5 per casting. spell; only the caster, or a Remove
Enlarge. Curse spell, can do that.
Duration: 10 minutes.
Item Cost: 6 to cast. 6 to maintain. Duration: 1 hour.
Time to cast: 3 seconds. Cost: As Transform Body, but the
(a) Wand. Usable only by mages; the Prerequisites: Magery 2, Earth to minimum cost of the spell is 10 to cast
item must touch the subject. Energy Air, Destroy Water, and at least four and 4 to maintain.
cost to create: 2,000. (b) A size change Body Control spells, including Hunger. Time to cast: 2 minutes.
can be made permanent for 100 times Prerequisites: Shapeshift Others
casting cost (the GM may require that Item and the appropriate form of
the subject’s new size be maintained Transform Body.
while the enchantment goes on!) (a) Any. The wearer acquires the
gauntness specified by the creator of Item
Corpulence (VH) the item. Energy cost to create: 2,000.
(b) Staff or wand. Usable only by (a) Staff or wand. Usable only by
Regular; Resisted by HT mages; the item must touch the mages; the item must touch the
subject. Energy cost to create: 1,000. subject. Energy cost to create: 3,000.
The subject’s girth temporarily
increases by one level, going from Transform Body Transmogrification
Skinny to Normal, from Normal to
Overweight, from Overweight to Fat, or Special Regular; Resisted by Will
from Fat to Very Fat, as applicable (see
Build, p. B18, for details). Beyond Very Take the form of another sapient Change a person into an inanimate
Fat, the subject’s weight increases by race. Each race is a different spell, to object of similar weight. The object
100% of his base weight (not counting be learned separately. The caster may may be anything that the caster is
Fat or Skinny modifiers from this spell only learn the form of a race with familiar with. A living thing with IQ 0,
or otherwise) per casting. Subjects which he is familiar. Clothing, jewelry, such as a plant, qualifies as an inani-
already affected resist repeated and armor do not vanish when the mate object for this purpose. The sub-
castings at a cumulative +5 per casting. transformation occurs; a caster who ject is conscious throughout the dura-
fails to shed rigid armor may be tion of the spell, but cannot take any
In addition to the normal effects of painfully squeezed (see Corpulence, action, including spells or psionic
the increased weight, ordinary clothes above, for details). powers. He can dimly hear what goes
will rip; each piece of rigid armor will on around him and feel whatever his
constrict, inflicting DR/3 points of The caster acquires only the physi- transformed self is in contact with, but
crushing damage (round down), and cal traits of the new form, keeping his cannot see or smell anything. If the
then suffocate (p. B436). Once the original mental traits. Note that object is destroyed, the subject dies; if
subject is incapable of moving, he may Fatigue Points are not increased for it is damaged, the subject will suffer a
be suffocated by his own weight. spellcasting purposes. proportionate loss of HP upon being
returned to his natural form.
Duration: 10 minutes. The energy cost of this spell
Cost: 6 to cast. 6 to maintain. depends on the point value of the Duration: 1 hour.
Time to cast: 3 seconds. assumed form’s physical traits; it costs Cost: 20. Same cost to maintain.
Prerequisites: Magery 2, Create 1/10 of the form’s cost to cast and 1/20 Time to cast: 2 minutes.
Earth, Create Water, and at least four to maintain, with a minimum of 5 to Prerequisites: Magery 3, Transform
Body Control spells including Alter cast and 2 to maintain. Other, Transform Object, and Flesh to
Body. Stone.
Duration: 1 hour.
Item Cost: Varies (see above). Item
Time to cast: 1 minute.
(a) Any. Wearer acquires the new Prerequisite: Alter Body and three Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable only
girth specified by the creator of the forms of Shapeshifting. by mages. Energy cost to create: 5,000.
item. Energy cost to create: 2,000. (b)

BODY CONTROL SPELLS 43

CHAPTER SIX

COMMUNICATION
AND EMPATHY
SPELLS

“He was good, this Rolfe. He near-
ly fought me off. If it had been
Melchior’s turn this time, we might
have had to let him go, let him build a
vessel of his own.”

“That is the rule, Grand Master; a
Grand Master leaves this place . . . one
way or the other.”

These spells deal with discerning
(or concealing) thought and intent.
For spells that manipulate emotions
and loyalties, see Mind Control Spells
(p. 133).

Most wizards eventually learn a
few basic Communication and
Empathy spells; its sensing spells are
crucial prerequisites for such diverse
colleges as Mind Control, Healing,
Protection and Warning, and
Necromancy.

Powerful Communication and
Empathy wizards often live a very long
time – not so much because their own
lives are extended, but because they
can spend a great deal of time in some-
one else’s body while their own lies
preserved in suspended animation.

Rolfe squatted and peered into the Finally, as the first rays of the Sense Foes
crevice. “This is the place, then?” morning began to creep over the hori-
zon, Rolfe emerged from the cave, a Information; Area
“It is, Master Rolfe,” replied the bit unsteady on his feet.
cadaverous man behind him. The Tells the caster if the subject has
Tenebrous Assembly’s factotum had “Grand Master?” the factotum hostile intent, and what the degree of
no magical talent of his own, but he asked, slightly hesitant. hostility is. Can be cast on one person
had served the Grand Masters for or a whole area. If cast over an area,
longer than anyone would admit to “It’s Liese this time,” the Grand this spell will only detect that someone
recalling. “A Master enters this place; Master replied. “What name belongs is hostile, without telling who.
a Grand Master leaves.” to this body?”
Base cost: 1 (minimum 2).
Rolfe said nothing, but ducked into “Rolfe, Grand Master.”
the opening and walked confidently “Mm. Rolfe took good care of him- Item
into the darkness. Hours passed, and if self. I appreciate that; this should last
the factotum heard sounds from with- a while before I have to return to the Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost
in the mountain, he did not show it. vessel. I’d prefer a woman, of course.” to create: 200.
“Of course.”

44 COMMUNICATION AND EMPATHY SPELLS

Sense Life Persuasion Item

Information; Area Regular; Resisted by Will Crown, helmet, or other headgear.
Energy cost to create: 500.
Tells the caster if there is any life in Used when a reaction roll is
the subject area, and gives a general required, this spell makes the subject Dream Viewing
impression (on a good roll) of what (one sapient creature – racial IQ 6 or
kind. The caster can also specify he is better) more likely to react favorably. Regular; Resisted by Will
looking for a specific sort of life:
plants, elves, redheaded girls, or a Duration: 1 minute. View a subject’s dreams; they
named person who the caster knows. Cost: Twice the bonus to be added appear on any smooth surface of your
to the roll. Same cost to maintain choice (such as a basin of water, mir-
Base cost: 1⁄2 (minimum 1). (maximum 5). ror, gem facet, etc). Use the long-
Prerequisite: Sense Emotion. distance and Mind-Reading modifiers
Item (p. 14 and p. 46, respectively). If the
Item caster and subject don’t know each
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost other, there is a further -2 penalty.
to create: 80. Cap, crown, helmet, or other head-
gear. The item must include a purple Duration: 1 hour.
Sense Emotion jewel (garnet or amethyst) worth at Cost: 2 to cast. 1 to maintain.
least $200. Usable only by mages. Time to cast: 10 seconds.
Regular Energy cost to create: 1,000. Prerequisite: Truthsayer or Sleep.

Know what emotions the subject is Vexation Item
feeling at the moment. It works on any
living being, though it tends to be most Regular; Resisted by Will Mirror. Energy cost to create: 300.
useful on sapient beings. This will also
tell how loyal the subject is to the Used when a reaction roll is Dream Sending
caster (see Loyalty of Hirelings, required, this spell makes the subject
p. B518). (one sapient creature of racial IQ 6 or Regular; Resisted by Will
better) more likely to react unfavor-
Cost: 2. ably. Frequently used by spies to The caster uses this spell to send a
Prerequisite: Sense Foes. sabotage diplomatic missions. dream vision to the subject, who must
be asleep at the time of the casting.
Item Duration: 1 minute. The message is seen in dream-symbols
Cost: Twice the penalty subtracted by the subject, who must roll vs. IQ-5 or
Staff, wand, or jewelry. Energy cost from the roll to cast. Same cost to a skill such as Fortune-Telling (Dream
to create: 300. maintain (maximum 5). Interpretation) (p. B196) to interpret it
Prerequisite: Sense Emotion. correctly. The margin of success of the
Hide Emotion roll indicates how well the message is
Item understood. Use of the Dreaming skill
Regular; Resists by the subject could distort or obliter-
emotion readings Cap, crown, or other headgear. ate the message (GM’s discretion).
Usable only by mages. Energy cost to
This spell gives its subject the out- create: 1,000; the item must include a The caster tells the GM the exact
ward appearance of deep calm. It purple jewel (garnet or amethyst) meaning (it is a good idea to limit the
resists Aura and Sense Emotion (and worth at least $200. length of the message to as many
Sense Foes, at the GM’s option) as well words as the caster has skill with the
as any attempt to gauge the subject’s Truthsayer spell). The GM, in turn, tells the sub-
emotional state by other means ject what he understood (roll in secret,
(Empathy, psionics, Body Language, Information; Resisted by Will as a critical failure will lead to com-
etc). This spell is a great favorite of plete misunderstanding!). Use the
diplomats, courtiers, and poker play- Tells whether the subject is lying or long-distance and Mind-Reading
ers. It can grant up to a +4 bonus not. May be cast in two ways: modifiers (p. 14 and p. 46). If the cast-
(GM’s judgment) to any skill where er and subject don’t know each other,
masked emotions are valuable. 1. To tell whether the subject has there is a further -2 penalty. This is
told any lies in the last five minutes. also a Mind Control spell.
Duration: 1 hour.
Cost: 2 to cast. 2 to maintain. 2. To tell whether the last thing the Duration: 1 hour.
Prerequisite: Sense Emotion. subject said was a lie. Cost: 3. One try per night. Cannot
be maintained.
Item May also give an indication of how Time to cast: 1 minute.
great the lie is. If caster is not touching Prerequisite: Dream Viewing or
Cap, crown, or other headgear. subject, calculate range as for a Sleep.
Energy cost to create: 200. Regular spell.
Item
Cost: 2.
Prerequisite: Sense Emotion. Wand or staff. Energy cost to create:
400.

COMMUNICATION AND EMPATHY SPELLS 45

Dream Projection Duration: 1 minute. Mind-Reading
Cost: 3 to cast. 1 to maintain.
Regular Time to cast: 3 seconds. Regular; Resisted by Will
Prerequisites: Either Beast Speech
Using this spell, the caster projects or three Communication and Read a subject’s mind. Works on
his presence into the subject’s dreams Empathy spells. any living being, but is most useful on
to converse with him. Roll a Quick sapient creatures. Detects only surface
Contest of the spell’s skill vs. the sub- Borrow Language thoughts (what the subject is thinking
ject’s Will every minute; once the sub- at that moment). This spell will not
ject wins, the spell is broken and no Regular work on sleeping or unconscious sub-
further contact is possible that night. jects. The subject is not aware his
Caster gains a language at the sub- mind is being read, except in the case
Use the long-distance and Mind- ject’s comprehension level or Accented of a critical failure.
Reading modifiers (p. 14 and p. 46). If – whichever is less. The subject must
the caster and subject don’t know each know the language in question. Modifiers: -2 if the caster does not
other, there is a further -2 penalty. The know the subject’s native language; -2
subject may use his Dreaming skill Duration: 1 minute. if the subject is of a different race – or
(see p. B188) to help the process; roll Cost: 3 to cast. 1 to maintain. -4 or more if the subject is totally
every minute to skip the contest. This Time to cast: 3 seconds. alien!
is also a Mind Control spell. Prerequisite: Lend Language.
Duration: 1 minute.
Duration: 1 minute. Each minute Gift of Tongues (VH) Cost: 4 to cast. 2 to maintain.
allows the exchange of two sentences Time to cast: 10 seconds.
(one from the caster and one from the Regular Prerequisite: Truthsayer or Borrow
subject). Language.
Give speech and understanding of
Cost: 3 to cast. 3 to maintain. One any language (sapient creatures only). Item
try per night. Cannot provide speech or hearing to
one who lacks these abilities. Crown, helmet, or other headgear.
Time to cast: 1 minute. Usable only by mages. Energy cost to
Prerequisite: Dream Sending. Duration: 1 minute. create: 1,000.
Cost: 2 for Broken comprehension;
Item 4 for Accented comprehension; 6 for Mind-Search (VH)
Native comprehension. Half to
Headgear. Usable only by mages. maintain. Regular; Resisted by Will
Energy cost to create: 800. Prerequisites: Borrow Language
and three languages spoken at Search a subject’s mind to find
Hide Thoughts Accented or better. deep thoughts and knowledge of
things the subject is not thinking
Regular Item about at the moment. In effect, the
caster may ask one simple question
Resists all Mind-Reading and Headgear or jewelry. Only affects (answered by no more than 10 words)
Thought-Control attempts on the sub- the wearer, and only for certain lan- per minute, and get the most truthful
ject. The “attacking” ability must win a guages. Energy cost to create: 300 per answer the subject can give. The sub-
Quick Contest against this spell in language included (must be known to ject is not aware of the intrusion,
order to affect the subject. If the creator). except in case of a critical failure.
attacking ability pierces Hide
Thoughts, the subject still gets his nor- Gift of Letters (VH) Language is no barrier for this
mal resistance roll (roll separately). spell, and the subject may even be
This spell does not affect previously Regular asleep. Subjects of different races may
established mental control. be harder to mind-search, at the GM’s
Give literacy in any language (sapi- discretion.
Duration: 10 minutes. ent creatures only).
Cost: 3 to cast. 1 to maintain. Modifiers: Same as Mind-Reading,
Prerequisite: Truthsayer or Hide Duration: 1 minute. above. If the subject has magically
Emotion. Cost: 2 for Broken comprehension; been caused to forget something, this
4 for Accented comprehension; 6 for spell cannot recover it.
Item Native comprehension. Half to
maintain. Duration: 1 minute.
Crown, helmet, or other headgear. Prerequisites: Borrow Language Cost: 6 to cast. 3 to maintain.
Energy cost to create: 1,000. and three languages written at Time to cast: 1 minute.
Accented or better. Prerequisite: Mind-Reading.
Lend Language
Item Item
Regular
Headgear or jewelry. Only affects Cap, crown, helmet, or other head-
Subject gains a language (sapient the wearer, and only for certain lan- gear. Usable only by mages. Energy
creatures only) at the caster’s compre- guages. Energy cost to create: 300 per cost to create: 1,500.
hension level or Accented – whichever language included (must be known to
is less. The caster must know the lan- creator).
guage in question.

46 COMMUNICATION AND EMPATHY SPELLS

Mind-Sending Retrogression Lend Skill

Regular Regular; Resisted by Will Regular

Send your thoughts to a subject in Causes a subject to re-experience Subject gains a skill at (controlling
a one-way communication. Trans- an event from his past life (or lives!) attribute)+4 or increases his existing
mission proceeds at only talking This can be a torment or as a boon. skill by 4 levels – whichever is more.
speed, though the caster may also Subject’s skill cannot become higher
send simple pictures (the time Different kinds of memories have than caster’s skill. Caster must know
required is equal to the time it would different effects. A terrifying memory the skill in question (either normally
take the subject to copy the picture on requires a Fright Check at -3 or more; or by Borrow Skill, below). Does not
paper or parchment). the memory of one’s violent death, for work on languages or spells.
example (in a campaign where
When figuring the distance penal- Resurrection is possible), requires a Duration: 1 minute.
ty, use the long-distance modifiers Fright Check at -5. The memory of a Cost: 3 to cast. 2 to maintain.
(p. 14). If caster and subject don’t wound or illness requires a HT-3 roll; Time to cast: 3 seconds.
know each other, there is an failure inflicts one point of damage. A Prerequisites: Mind-Sending and IQ
additional -4 penalty. memory of slavery or degradation 11+.
reduces Will by 1 for 3d hours unless a
Duration: 1 minute. Will-3 roll is made. A memory of per- Borrow Skill
Cost: 4 to cast. 4 to maintain. sonal triumph and power increases
Time to cast: 4 seconds. Will by 1 for 3d hours if an IQ roll is Regular
Prerequisite: Mind-Reading. made. The GM judges the effects of
any other type of memory. The caster gains a skill at (control-
Item ling attribute)+4 or increases his exist-
The caster only specifies the type of ing skill by 4 levels – whichever is
Cap, crown, helmet, or other head- event to be relived; he cannot use this more. Caster’s skill cannot become
gear. Usable only by mages. Energy spell to “rummage” through the higher than subject’s skill. Subject
cost to create: 1,500. memories of the subject. must be willing, and know the skill in
question. Will not work on languages
Telepathy (VH) Unless stunned, the subject must or spells.
roll his Body Sense to act on the turn
Regular following a Retrogression. Duration: 1 minute.
Cost: 4 to cast. 3 to maintain.
Full two-way communication, like Duration: The memory takes one Time to cast: 3 seconds.
Mind-Reading and Mind-Sending second to relive (although it may seem Prerequisites: Lend Skill.
combined. The subject must be will- like more to the subject).
ing. Both caster and subject know the
whole of each others’ thoughts and Whoso regardeth dreams is like him that
what the other is experiencing; they catcheth at a shadow, and followeth after the
communicate at the speed of thought. wind.
Other people can “enter the link” – a
new casting of the spell (by anyone – Ecclesiasticus 34:2
involved) is required for each new per-
son to enter. To eavesdrop on an exist- Cost: 5. Cannot be maintained. One Compel Truth
ing telepathic link without being try per day.
noticed, there is a -4 skill penalty. Information; Resisted by Will
Time to cast: 10 seconds.
If caster and subject know each Prerequisites: Mind-Search and The subject becomes unable to lie,
other and the subject expects the Mind-Sending. though he may keep silent or tell par-
“call,” there is no distance penalty. tial truths (this must be roleplayed).
Otherwise, assess penalties as for Item The spell does not force him to volun-
Mind-Sending. The spell cannot teer information; he merely cannot
work across time, dimensions, (a) Headgear. Every time it is put say anything he believes to be untrue.
interplanetary space, etc. on, the wearer relives his worst or best
memory (creator’s decision, but GM’s Duration: 5 minutes.
Duration: 1 minute. judgment as to which memory that Cost: 4 to cast. 2 to maintain.
Cost: 4 to cast. 4 to maintain, for a turns out to be). Energy cost to create: Prerequisites: Magery 2 and
2-way link. Same cost for each 350. (b) Staff, wand, or jewelry. Usable Truthsayer.
additional person added. only by mages. Energy cost to create:
Time to cast: 4 seconds. 400. Item
Prerequisite: Mind-Sending.
Torc or heavy necklace; the wearer
Item cannot lie. Energy cost to create: 600.

Cap, crown, helmet, or other head-
gear. Usable only by mages. Energy
cost to create: 2,000.

COMMUNICATION AND EMPATHY SPELLS 47

Compel Lie does not get to resist! The spell does Communication (VH)
not guarantee a good reaction from
Regular; Resisted by Will those it affects – it doubles the positive Regular
or negative modifier! If he has no pos-
As listed under Mind Control Spells, itive or negative modifiers, it gives him This spell allows the caster to set
p. 137. a +1 modifier. Most people will up two-way communication with the
assume, if a person stands out for no subject. Each participant sees an
Insignificance reason that they can put their fingers image of the other, allowing “real-
on, that there must be something time” conversation. Use the long-
Regular; Special Resistance worth seeing. distance modifiers (p. 14) unless the
caster knows the subject and the sub-
Causes all beings with whom the Someone affected by this spell can ject was expecting the “call,” in which
subject has social contact to ignore or easily be followed in a crowd or along case no distance modifiers apply!
disregard him. Only beings who have city streets. The searcher can simply Apply an additional -4 to skill if the
a reason to notice that particular per- ask bystanders, “Did you see so-and-so caster does not know the subject.
son or someone in his particular situ- come by here?” and quickly resume
ation can resist the spell with Per – the the pursuit. The communication is audio-visual
subject himself does not get to resist. only. However, if the caster also knows
Viewers get a bonus to their resistance Presence and Insignificance resist Far-Tasting and Odor, he may add
roll equal to the subject’s total each other. smell to the communication for an
Appearance modifier, whether positive extra point of energy (both for casting
or negative. Thus, viewers of an Duration: 1 hour. and maintenance).
Attractive subject resist with Per+1, Cost: 4 to cast. 4 to maintain.
but viewers of an Unattractive subject Time to cast: 10 seconds. Others can join the “conference” at
also resist with Per+1. Prerequisites: Persuasion and Lure. any time – a new casting of the spell
(by anyone involved) is required for
The spell’s effects are limited in each new person to enter.
magnitude; the subject could slip
unnoticed through a crowd, but would
be stopped by guards if trying to go
where he should not. He can get some-
one’s attention by grabbing him, but is
then likely to get a negative reaction. If
he steals something or commits some
other objectionable act (removing his
clothing, perhaps), all witnesses get a
new resistance roll. If he attacks some-
one, that person is automatically
released from the spell – furthermore,
the victim’s cries for help won’t be
ignored!

Insignificance and Presence resist
each other.

Duration: 1 hour.
Cost: 4 to cast. 4 to maintain.
Time to cast: 10 seconds.
Prerequisites: Persuasion and
Avoid.

Item

(a) Cloak, jewelry, or headgear.
Always on; the wearer is ignored!
Energy cost to create: 700. (b) Wand or
staff; usable only by mages. Energy
cost to create: 450.

Presence Item This communication is, obviously,
not secure.
Regular; Special Resistance (a) Cloak, jewelry, or headgear.
Always on; the wearer attracts atten- Duration: 1 minute.
Causes all beings with whom the tion. Energy cost to create: 700. (b) Cost: 4 to cast. 4 to maintain. Same
subject has social contact to pay atten- Wand or staff; usable only by mages. cost for each additional person joining
tion. Each being who attempts to Energy cost to create: 450. the communication.
ignore the subject gets to resist the Time to cast: 4 seconds.
spell with Will – but the subject himself

48 COMMUNICATION AND EMPATHY SPELLS