Spells are rated on Complexity and Power, which are roughly similar in concept to the official magic system's Level and Magic Point Cost in that Complexity is a measure of how difficult a spell is to cast and Power is the amount of energy it normally requires to produce its effect, but neither is so absolute as Level or MP Cost.
Spells also come in two flavors: Learned and Improvised. Learned spells are those which have been acquired by spending hours poring over dusty grimoires (and spending some EP). They are reliable, efficient, and capable of the most Complex effects. Improvised spells, on the other hand, are the ultimate in flexibility, as they are made up on the spot. This gain in flexibility, however, comes at a steep price, as they tend to be less Complex and use Power less efficiently than similar Learned spells. Each also has a subcategory providing effects which the other cannot reproduce. Within Learned spells, there are Rituals, requiring extended periods of time - minutes, hours, or even days - to cast, which would be disatrous to attempt to improvise. Counterspells are the opposite extreme, Improvised effects which are cast nearly-instinctively to disrupt other spells or to protect the wizard from imminent harm.
Following the explanations of the basic mechanics of each type of spell, there is discussion of a few additional factors relating to spellcasting under unusual circumstances. Most of these things can be considered as optional rules; even without them, this system is substantially more complex than the official WFRP magic system.
This states that the Bright Flame spell has a Complexity of 1, consumes 2 Power to cast, and has a duration of 10 minutes. Sustaining it for an additional 10 minutes costs 1 Power (the "/1" on Power).
Casting a learned spell is based off the wizard's WP stat (representing his ability to force the winds of magic to perform his bidding without being affected by them himself), the Complexity of the spell, and the wizard's relevant Art Total. The Art Total is derived by adding the wizard's skill with the spell's Form and Technique. Some complex spells may be based on multiple Forms or multiple Techniques, in which case the caster must know all of these Arts and only the lowest-rated Form and lowest-rated Technique are added to obtain the Art Total.
To determine whether the spell is cast successfully and how much Magical Taint the wizard gains, start with the character's WP score, add 5 * his Art Total, and subtract 5 * the spell's Complexity. Roll against this final number.
When casting a sustained spell, you have the option of either putting extra Power into the spell when initially cast or spending the additional Power as you go (or both). If the Power is put in up front, the Complexity of the spell increases by 1 for each additional increment of the spell's Duration. (e.g., If casting the Bright Flame spell listed above with a duration of 30 minutes, the spell will be cast at Complexity 3 and Power 4.) If you choose instead to add Power as you go, the spell is cast normally, but you gain Taint equal to the extension cost each time the Duration expires and the spell is prolonged; if your total Taint exceeds your Threshold, you must test for Catastrophe at each interval. Additionally, you must maintain concentration on a sustained spell or lose the ability to prolong it. Putting the extra energy in up front is more difficult, but avoids the need to maintain concentration and (potentially) additional Catastrophe checks, but is more difficult. Finally, if the casting roll for a sustainable spell would have reduced its Taint below 0, this creates a buffer of energy for sustaining it, but still does not eliminate the need for Catastrophe checks if Taint exceeds Threshold. (e.g., If casting Bright Flame and the casting roll is made by 40, which would reduce the Taint from casting it to -2 if not for the 0 Taint minimum, it can be extended twice without accruing any additional Taint.)
Any Learned spell may be cast as a ritual, reducing the spell's Complexity by 1 for each 5 minutes spent on the casting. Once Complexity has been reduced to 0, each additional 5 minutes gives a +5 to the casting roll, up to a maximum of +25. This is an excellent way to offset the Complexity penalty for casting a spell with an increased duration.
The duration of a ritual must be stated before beginning the ritual. If the ritual is interrupted before its completion, the character performing it makes a normal casting roll to determine the effects using the table above, but with the following adjustments:
A group of wizards may work together to cast powerful spells if all involved are skilled in the necessary Arts. When doing so, one wizard is designated as the lead caster and the rest function as supporting casters. The lead caster must know the spell or have access to a text to cast from.
For a group casting, the group must be established taking 5 minutes for each doubling of the number of wizards. i.e., A group of 2 wizards takes 5 minutes to establish, up to 4 will take 10 minutes, up to 8 will take 15 minutes, etc. As supporting casters join the group, the lead caster's Arts relevant to the ritual are increased by the lowest-rated supporting caster's skill in each Art multiplied by the number of supporting casters. Each supporting caster's skill in these Arts is increased by the lead caster's skill. (In both cases, only the natural ratings in each Art are used.) No Art may be used in the ritual unless it is possessed by all members of the group.
When the energy is finally discharged (whether by casting the spell or interruption of the ritual), each member of the group makes a normal spellcasting roll. For Taint purposes, the spell's Power is divided by the number of members in the group, rounded up, for each member. Only the lead caster's roll is used for determining whether the spell takes effect or not and the supporting casters may not gain mastery of the spell. The supporting casters' rolls are used only to determine Taint and to check for possible side-effects.
To learn a spell, a character must first have a text explaining the procedure for casting it. He must then spend a full week (8 days) studying the text. As with learning Arts, 8 hours must be spent studying each of these 8 days. Days with less than 8 hours study are not counted towards the total and time in excess of 8 hours in a single day confers no additional benefit.
Once the week of study is complete, the character may make an Int test to determine how much knowledge of the spell was gained. For this test, add 5 * Art Total and subtract 5 * Complexity, as with spellcasting. The character receives an additional +10 to this test if he possesses the Thaumatology skill.
If the test succeeds, the character learns 1 Complexity point of the spell per 10 points by which the roll is made, rounded up, at a cost of 25 EP per Complexity point learned. If the full Complexity of the spell has been learned, the character may now cast this spell normally. If not, the spell may only be cast as a ritual, requiring a minimum of 5 minutes per unlearned Complexity; this time confers no reduction of Complexity. Further time spent on the ritual may only reduce Complexity by the amount which is known and cannot confer a bonus to the casting roll. The character may continue to study the spell with future Int tests reduced only by the unlearned Complexity, not the full Complexity.
If the test is an extreme failure, the character realizes that he has reached the limits of what he can learn from this text and must find another if he wishes to continue his studies of this spell.
A character who does not know a spell at all may cast it directly from a text. This is handled under the above rules for casting a partially-known spell with the character knowing 0 Complexity of it: A ritual taking 5 minutes * the spell's Complexity must be performed and the Complexity cannot be reduced by prolonging the ritual.
Furthermore, the spell's duration or other parameters may not be altered when casting from a text; the character must cast the spell exactly as written.
A spell may never be mastered by casting it from a text.
As with Learned spells, the caster gains Magical Taint equal to the Power put into the effect, modified per the results of the casting roll.
Counterspells are handled just like Improvised spells with the exception that, to respond in time to the imminent threat which the spell is meant to avoid, the caster must make a successful Cl roll before he may attempt the casting and, due to the lack of time to marshal his skills, the Power invested in the spell may not exceed his level of skill in the lowest-ranked Art used for the casting. Like a physical parry, attempting a Counterspell causes the wizard to forfeit his next attack, even if the Cl roll is failed.
Some areas are particularly rich or poor in magical energy. Chromatic mages with the Attract Art are also able to draw extra energy to themselves, creating a mobile high-energy zone. The additional energy present in these areas reduces the chance of a wizard becoming Tainted by spellcasting, but also tends to produce more spectacular failures if the spell is not cast successfully. In areas of extremely high Ambient Power, characters and objects may eventually become Tainted merely by exposure, regardless of whether they perform magical activities or not.
Characters skilled in at least one Form and one Technique or who have the Magical Sense skill will be vaguely aware that the magical energy in an area feels stronger or weaker than normal, but cannot quantify the level of Ambient Power without extensive research.
When casting a Learned spell, the Ambient Power level is subtracted from the Power of the spell for determining the amount of Taint sustained. For Improvised spells, the wizard chooses the amount of Power he wishes to invest in the effect as normal, then the Ambient Power is added to this amount for determining the difficulty of casting the spell and double the Ambient Power is added when determining the spell's effects. For both Learned and Improvised spells, the threshold of extreme failure is reduced by 5 per point of Ambient Power with regard to the possibility of unintended effects or Catastrophe checks - in areas of high Ambient Power it is quite possible to cast a spell successfully, acquire no Taint from the casting, yet still face an automatic Catastrophe check. The chance of a Learned spell having no effect at all (non-critical extreme failure) is not affected by Ambient Power.
Although there are a few areas of generalized Ambient Power, it is most commonly Aspected, which is to say, associated with a specific wind of magic. Aspected Ambient Power only grants its full benefits to Chromatic wizards of the same color and only when casting a spell which uses one of the Arts associated with that color. Chromatic wizards of the color inferior to the Ambient Power's Aspect find that all spellcasting is inhibited, increasing the Taint gained from Learned spells and reducing the Power available to Improvised spells. All other wizards gain benefits as for half the Ambient Power when casting spells based upon one of the associated Arts. Casting spells using only Arts unrelated to the Ambient Power's color will never gain any bonus from the Ambient Power, but the penalties to wizards of the inferior college and the modifiers to Catastrophe rolls are always in full effect.
Optional Rule: Long-Term Exposure
Characters exposed to Ambient Power for extended periods will
eventually come to be Tainted by it, even if they do not engage in any
overtly magical acts. An area of Ambient Power at a level lower than
a character's Recovery will have no effect on him. Staying in an area
of Ambient Power equal to or greater than his Recovery will incur
Magical Taint equal to the amount by which the Ambient Power exceeds
his Recovery each day.
Optional Rule: Power Depletion
Heavy use of magic within an area may temporarily deplete the
available Power. For every full 10 Power used in an area (not
including the Power adjustments caused by Ambient Power) within
a single combat round, reduce the Ambient Power by 1. Once the use of
magic in the area has stopped, there is a 1 in 6 chance each hour for
one point of Ambient Power to be recovered.
If Ambient Power in an area is less than 0, the cost of Learned spells is increased, the effect of Improvised spells is decreased, and the chance of Catastrophic spell failure is decreased, using the same formulae as for Ambient Power greater than 0. Aspected Ambient Power below 0 does not, however, confer any bonuses to its inferior college.
Optional Rule: Power Fluctuation
The winds of magic are a fickle thing. At the beginning of each round
of combat, roll 1d6. On a 1, Ambient Power is reduced by 1 for the
round. On a 6, Ambient Power is increased by 1 for the round.
While maintaining concentration on a sustained spell, a character may do little other than move at a cautious rate and carry on casual concentration (no deep philosophical debates!). Anything else requires a WP roll to be made to maintain his concentration. If he must roll for anything other than a concentration test, then a concentration test will almost certainly also be required; in such a case, any penalties to the other roll will also apply to the concentration test, while bonuses may be applied to one roll or the other, but not both.
If the concentrating character is hit in combat, a concentration test is also required at -10 per W lost from the hit. Even if the blow is completely absorbed by T/armor, the test must still be made at no penalty.
Spellcasting normally requires that a wizard be free to speak boldly and gesture extravagantly. If it becomes necessary to cast a spell while speaking softly or gesturing subtlely, the casting roll must be made at -20. If no gestures are made or the wizard does not speak, the roll is at -50. Voice and gesture penalties are determined independently - a wizard who is bound and gagged would cast spells at -100!
While there are no explicit penalties for casting in armor, the armor itself may become Tainted. This could cause the armor to spontaneously develop magical abilities, but will definitely carry the risk of Tainting the wearer.
Write up rules for Tainting armor. Effects of Tainted items will be covered in document on magic items in general.
A wizard may attempt to cast a spell while maintaining concentration on another spell or activity. As usual, making the spellcasting roll for the new spell requires a Concentration Test to maintain concentration on each previous activity. Note that the penalty to the spellcasting roll for the Complexity of a learned spell or the Power of an improvised spell also applies to all Concentration Tests, while the bonus for the caster's Art Total must be divided among the various rolls made.
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