Unlike wizards, elementalists do not shape spells in a methodical (or repeatable, for the most part) fashion. Instead, they shape Elemental energy, which then causes physical manifestations of the corresponding Element(s) to behave similarly.
For the sake of simplicity, elemental effects are rated on Complexity and Power on the same scales as sorcerous spells. Due to the different means of operation to elemental spells, the Power of any effects intended to Sense the Element itself are reduced by 50%, while the Power of effects which Create the Element are increased by 50%. Destroy-type effects are not available. (To destroy an Element, create its opposite.)
To create an effect, an elementalist must first, of course, decide what the desired effect is. The elementalist and GM then decide upon the Complexity of the effect and the required Power. Once this is done, the elementalist may begin to gather energy for the effect.
Based on the Elemental skills an elementalist has taken in his career, he will have some level of ability in each Element. Based on what is in the area, each Element will be present at some level of power, which will be stated as a die roll. To gather energy, the elementalist may roll the appropriate die a number of times up to his level of ability with the Element. The total rolled is the number of points of Power that have been gained in the round. Note that no die is ever read as less than 0, so it is not possible for a die to reduce already-accumulated Power or to reduce the roll on another die. The number of rolls must be decided before any dice are rolled.
Gathering energy to prolong a sustained effect requires a WP test to maintain concentration on the effect. Gathering energy for any other purpose while maintaining concentration requires a WP test at -30. In either case, if the test is failed, all accumulated energy (including that which would have been collected if the test had succeeded) is immediately released as Backlash.
Once the required energy has been gathered, the spell goes off. Each point of Power gathered in excess of that required for the effect adds a point to the effect's Backlash. To avoid Backlash, an elementalist may also choose to release his effect early, in which case its potency will be reduced proportionally to the amount by which the Power was reduced.
The process of gathering Elemental energy does not require an elementalist to speak, but he must be free to move his arms and legs in gestures vaguely similar to Tai Chi.
To determine the result, roll against the elementalist's WP with the following modifiers:
| -5 | per Complexity of the effect |
| -5 | per Power not yet gathered on early release |
| +5 | per level of ability in the Element used |
| -25 | Elementalist not able to move about |
| -25 | Casting one-handed |
| -75 | Casting no-handed |
Results are as follows:
| Extreme Critical Success | Effect is significantly more powerful and precise than intended. Base Backlash: 0 |
| Extreme Success | Effect is significantly more powerful than intended. Base Backlash: Power/10, rounded randomly |
| Critical Success | Effect is significantly more precise or intricate than intended. Base Backlash: Power/20 |
| Success | Effect works as intended. Base Backlash: Power/10 |
| Failure | Effect works more-or-less as intended, but has a minor side-effect. Base Backlash: Power/10 |
| Critical Failure | Effect is sloppy and ends up off-target or otherwise imprecise. Base Backlash: Power/10 |
| Extreme Failure | Effect takes place at reduced power. Excess energy is shunted through the elementalist's body. Base Backlash: Power/5 |
| Extreme Critical Failure | Effect goes completely awry, perhaps even hitting the elementalist himself. Base Backlash: Power/3 |
If an elementalist should choose to abort an effect before it is completed or his concentration is interrupted, he will suffer Backlash equal to one-fifth of the Power that had been gathered. If he decides to change effects in mid-casting, he will face Backlash of one-tenth of the gathered Power and half of the Power will be lost. All Power is tied to a specific Element, so changing from an effect in one Element to something involving a different Element would require the first to be aborted entirely and the second to be started from scratch.
Elementalists may store Power indefinitely by choosing to draw 0 dice of Power, but this is rarely done other than for short times when a specific need can be predicted, due to the consequences of losing concentration or changing effects.
Elementalists pay a higher short-term price and (if they survive that long) a lower long-term price than wizards for their use of magic. Since elementalists work with Chaotic energy only after it has bound itself well to the physical world, they do not become Tainted so readily as wizards. Unfortunately, the more physical nature of the forces manipulated means that the effects of mishandling them are also more physical.
When faced with Backlash, an elementalist must roll a T test at +10 per level of ability in the relevant Element which was not used for drawing Power this round. The base effect of Backlash is to suffer 1 Wound per full 5 Backlash, with the remainder taken as Magical Taint. For every 10 points the T test is made by, 1 Backlash-induced Wound is converted to Taint and, after all Wounds are eliminated, the Taint is reduced. If the T test is failed, each 10 points by which it was failed converts 1 Taint to a Wound; once all Taint has become Wounds, each further 10 points adds 1 Taint, but no further Wounds will result.
If enough damage is done by Backlash to cause a critical hit, the hit is taken on a random hit location with the description of the result modified to take the nature of the Element causing the damage into account. i.e., A critical result of 'hand cut off' may be taken to mean that the hand was petrified if caused while producing an Earth effect, or a jet of flame may have shot out from the character's wrist, incinerating the hand while playing with Fire.
Some effects may require the use of multiple Elements, such as creating oil (Fire and Water). In these cases, the GM must not only determine the total Power of the effect, but also how much Power needs to come from each Element. This may be variable - in the example of creating oil, using more Fire and less Water will produce a smaller quantity of a more highly flammable oil.
When drawing Power for a multi-Element effect, levels of ability must be used in inverse proportion. i.e., If you draw Power with two-thirds of your Fire levels, you may only use one-third of your Water levels.
To determine the effects of a multi-Element effect, a separate WP test and Backlash roll are made for each Element with your level of ability in each reduced proportionally to the amount of the effect's Power which came from that Element. Backlash is calculated separately for each element, but all Wounds received are taken as a single hit. The way in which the effect manifests is based upon the worst WP roll.
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