Separating this out to a new thread

Message 01: Ritual Magic (The Magic Everyone Can Do!)
Message 02: Sample Rituals
Message 03: Evocation
Message 04: Sample Evocations
Message 05: Screwing it Up: Backlash & Fallout
Message 06: The Laws of Magic  (Fundamental & Practical)
Message 06: On Making Him Love You!
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:17, Thu 19 Nov 2020.

RITUALS
Ritual allow one to create lasting changes (enchantment, abjuration, etc), provide inaccessible knowledge (tracking & divination, etc), allow interactions with the supernatural (summoning, binding, etc), the shaping of magical energies into physical forms (Conjuration & illusion, etc) and the discovery of the solution to improbable problems.

Rituals are considered "common magic" as just about anybody can do it.   Most rituals are everyday occurrences, a ritual to bring water to a boil, to find a lost cow, etc.  These do not typically require more than a narrative nod.

Anybody may cast rituals.    But Rituals are simply not instantaneous & line-of-sight.  They can be quick (1 round to track someone) or massive and powerful (three months of repeated rituals to curse a bloodline)...

Magic is Power without Form
Magic is potential only.  Until it is shaped and given physical form, is is only ever potential.  The act of "casting" is the act of giving physical form to magic.  Whether it be the blast of ice of an ice-ball or the fundamental changes in the chemistry of the brain that makes one love you, casting magic is the application of will to make changes to the physical world.

For most rituals, the creation of a circle to contain the magic might be enough.   But to create a hanging spell (or other triggered effect, the spell must be bound to something physical.   To create a physical thing, the thing itself is the physical form.

The fundamentals of all rituals remain the same:

• Create a temporary container for the magical power (typically a magic circle)
• Envision your end-goal
• Summon the power
• Release the power (typically break the circle)

Other requirements may be needed to make manifest the desired effect.  Rituals take time, because the caster is raising power safely, within his capability to do so.

By it's very nature Rituals don't carry enough drama to actually roleplay.

Major ritual effects will need to be discussed so that the appropriate  requirements can be defined. The larger the ritual the more complicated it's going to be, and the more likely you'll need to do some sort of roleplaying scene to make the ritual a success...

While one might successfully be able to destroy a mountain through the application of magical will alone, its will go much easier if they've taken the time to prepare and gather their resources, create a whole bunch of Advantages to aid them in the spell-casting.

I mean, if you've bartered with an Ancient Forest Spirit who's willing to help you to the tune of contributing 20-shifts of power, that's 20 shifts of power you don't need to risk....
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:08, Thu 19 Nov 2020.

Some Examples:

Boil Water:

• Determine difficulty (with GM),
• Create a circle,
• "Call power" (no roll necessary 'cause it's not a conflict), break circle...

Get that boy to look kindly on you

• Determine difficulty (with GM)
• Create a circle,
• "Call power" (roll  for it...)
• Roll 4dF + Rapport

You might need several applications before getting the right amount of power.  After all, you've got to overcome the entire stress-track and the consequence levels to make this fundamental a change, being one that can't be overcome.

Making lasting changes to an inanimate object is a lot easier and requires a lot less power.


Find where the mineral vein comes closest to the surface

• Determine difficulty (with GM),
• Create a circle,
• "Call power" (roll  for it...)
• Roll 4dF + Lore

As there's no obvious skill that applies, Lore is the default for Rituals.  Especially appropriate for gaining inaccessible knowledge or solving "unsolvable" situations...


Create a magical "watcher" to report back when something specific happens...

• Determine difficulty (with GM),
• Create a form for the watcher  (because all magic requires a form.  Thought-forms are much harder to deal with than physical forms.)
• "Call power" (roll  for it...)
• Roll 4dF + Crafts or 4dF + Lore depending on what it is and how it acts...

Create a magical landmine

• Determine difficulty for the triggered effect
• Determine the triggering circumstance
• Create a physical form for the effect
• "Call power" (roll  for it...)
• Roll  for it

The roll will vary based on what the effect is once triggered.  The duration that may pass before the spell dissolves without triggering will increase the amount of power that needs to be raised.

For most rituals, if there's sufficient time and no drama involved in the period needed to raise that power, a roll isn't really necessary...  There's just no drama to it.

EVOCATION
Evocation is a direct, immediate, line-of-sight magical-effect.  It is a fast-cast kind of thing done with little or no preparation.

It is limited to those rare individuals who may channel raw energy.  These people must take the Evoker mantle (See Active mantles thread) and character Creation in a Nutshell)

Evocation can be used to attack, defend, Create an Advantage or Overcome.  Evocation is most notably used for direct magical attacks.  But it is so much more than that!

Calling a fireball is the most obvious and direct expression of such elemental forces.  However, there are almost an unlimited number of ways "elemental forces" can be applied.    This provides the narrative justification to perform actions "with magic" and would be performed as a standard roll without further mechanical alteration.

For instance:

• heat the kettle
• freeze the top of the lake (the energy's gotta come from somewhere)
• burn your name in a piece of wood
• incinerate the arrows before they reach you
• cauterize a wound
• light a torch

Wait, No meta-game spell-lists?
The effect you're going for isn't codified.  It's a direct expression of what you want to accomplish.  But your character has to be able to envision what he wants and describe it, so he can channel the magic involved.  In this way, there aren't spell-lists for your character to learn (or, if there are, they're narrative elements, not game-mechanics).


I say "elemental" magics because Evocation, in this setting is literally a fast-cast magic.  More complex workings simply can't be envisioned all at once and therefore can't be cast all at once.  Take for instance, a tracking ritual that uses a dowsing rod and a person's hair to find the person (embue dowsing rod to point to the person with who's hair it is).  I'm hard-pressed to figure out how to fast-cast this... I don't see the spell working without the ritual components.  Not to say it can't be done. I just can't envision it.  So, it's Ritual magic only.


So, Consider Lightning.
Would you use air or earth? You could argue that air seems the most logical choice, but you could also argue that earth gives you access to electromagnetism, which would let you direct and divert electricity. So which is it?
Both.  Or, rather, either.  Figuring out how to creatively apply your command of the elements fundamental.

"I blast him with a fireball"
This is a straight attack, Roll 4dF(X) + Shoot
Draw from the mana-pool to add to accuracy (ToHit) or Damage (once hit).  Success and/ Success with Style might also apply an Aspect On Fire to the target.

"I try to blunt the blow with magic"
Roll 4dF(X) + Crafts to represent the Armor-Rating the magic provides...
Draw from the mana-pool to add to increase that...

"I try to blunt the blow with magic"
Roll 4dF(X) + Crafts to represent the Armor-Rating the magic provides...
Draw from the mana-pool to add to increase that...

"I Create a wall of ice to block the exit...
Roll 4dF(X) + Crafts to represent the rating of the block that someone might need to overcome with an Overcome action...
Draw from the mana-pool to add to increase that...


"I want to use Evocation to help me jump this chasm,"
Depending on the size of the chasm and the circumstances, it's probably just going to be a narrative "you did it"  However, it might require you to mark off a box or two on the mana-pool to supercharge the Athletics roll.

SCREWING UP A RITUAL

So, what happens if you screw up a ritual, or a ritual gets interrupted?

For example:
You are performing an extended ritual to ensure a good harvest.  Five of you have gathered within a magical circle, sacrificed a young ewe, and painted mystical sigils on a bunch of gathered farm implements while a crowd of bystanders from the community watch in solemn prayer.. Just as you're about to call upon the Goddess of the Land to bless the harvest, one of the bystanders suffers a coughing fit and stumbles into the circle, breaking the circle and releasing all that pent-up energy...

There are two potential outcomes: backlash and fallout.  Backlash reflects stress, consequences and imposed conditions on the ritual participants.  Fallout reflects stress, consequences and imposed conditions on the surrounding area, people, things.

Backlash
Backlash directly affects the direct participants of the ritual.  The ritualists may become burned, take stress or may take on physical or psychological conditions or even a magical condition commensurate with the amount of energy they've absorbed.

Fallout
Fallout reflects damage to the surrounding area, and all things (and people) within the area.   People may take stress, consequences, physical, psychological conditions or even magical conditions.

There is approximately 20 shifts of energy that's been built up for this call to the Goddess of the Land.  The leader of the ritual decides that he cannot afford to risk the innocent bystanders--even if it's one of them who caused the ritual to fail.  He opts for Backlash, and spreads the 20 shifts equally among the five participants.

Each participant takes 4 stress.  One of the participants had already accumulated three stress during ritual preparations, so he opts to take on a consequence...  GM assigns "Magical Satiated"  The abortion of the ritual has left him with a curse... that this participant always feels like he's just eaten an enormous meal.   The character takes on an Aspect "Curse of Magical Satiation" and will have to struggle to eat, or to enjoy food, without feeling like he's simply over-stuffed...

Of course, the ritual participants could opt to take on some stress or some sort of personal consequence to keep the ritual on track... but this is an example for sample purposes.

What Magic is
Magic is the application of Will to shape the Fabric of Reality.

Fundamental Laws

• Magic Requires Form
  You cannot affect something that cannot be expressed as a concrete noun.   When you think of something, you've fixed it in your mind's eye.  It might be a tangible thing like a flower or an intangible thing like the relationship between lovers.
  
  Vast unspecific concepts, like Economics or Politics cannot be affected directly by Magic.  These are not concrete nouns.  Systems of operations cannot be affected directly.  But, like all things, such systems are composed of component parts which can be affected.
  
  So, while you cannot magically change the market price for Carris oil, you can change a specific buyer's recollection of the price, the notation on the price-board, perhaps the relative amount of Carris Oil in current stock...
  
  Conjuring is another subset of this.  Conjuring is the creation of a thought-form.  To conjure a flower, you are translating a thought-form into a physical form.
  
  
• All Magic Comes with a Cost
  It might be slight:  the barest application of Will to bring a pot of water to boil or to change the color of a specific flower.   But the greater the magic, the greater the power-drain.  Magic is not a free excuse to do something, it is a tool and it takes effort.
  
  Casting world-changing magics will have world-changing consequences.  Conjuring a small wind to fan yourself on a hot day is negligible.  Conjuring a torrential downpour might be beyond your character's ability to fully conceptualize.  But perhaps they could summon  a storm by messing with existing weather-systems...
  
  
• Magic Lasts As Long As it Is Powered
  Magic lasts only so long as it is properly powered by Will.   One might create a magical wall to keep out an invader.  But once the wall is no longer powered, the wall will fade.  Conjuring permanent things require the use of permanent resources.   Creating a permanent golem of Sand requires sand...
  
  
• Magic Cannot Be Contained Indefinitely
  One may create a talisman or fetish, a receptacle for magical energies, perhaps for use in a large ritual.  It might be that several smaller ritual are performed to amass the power, that is then stored in talismans that will be consumed during the end-ritual.
  
  But it takes magic to store magic, and no magic may be stored indefinitely.  Magic Seepage will occur wherein the stored magic will slowly dissipitate out into the world.

I'll be adding more to this as things come up.

Practical Laws
These are not fundamental laws that cannot be side-stepped, but rather laws of magic that are in place for very specific reason.

1. Do Not Lose Control Of Your Emotions
   Magic is colored by your emotion.  Lose control of your emotions and you may lose control of your magic.
   
   
2. Do Not Seek to Command the Heart and Mind of Another
   Subverting Free Will is a road to conflict and rife with the taste of forbidden fruit...  And often it comes with unforeseen consequences.
   
   
3. Do Not Seek to Alter the Flow of Time
   Paradox is a vicious Bitch, and you will suffer for it.
   
   
4. Do Not Seek to Draw From the Underworld
   The Underworld is Lita's domain, and taking someone from the Underworld has serious real-world consequences.  Nobody wants undead around.  Necromancers don't tend to last very long in this world.
   
   
5. Do Not Seek to Reach Beyond the Sphere of Ena
   Ena is the Primordial God, the creator of all.  What lies beyond is unknown.  Breaching the sphere of reality threatens to let in whatever is outside and perhaps weaken the surface tension that keeps this reality consistent.

I got thinking about magic today, and thought I'd consider what it would take to make one character "fall irretrievably in love" with another.

Never mind that it breaks one of the practical laws of magic (don't fuck with people's hearts & minds).  You know people do this kind of magic all the time!

In Fate Core, you want to impress someone, you'd roll 4dF + Rapport hoping to overcome their Empathy resistance.  This still applies.  magic simply allows a way to supercharge that Rapport roll.

With magic, you have the option of building up magical power to make that thing happen.

So, mechanically, how much power do you need to raise?

If an average person has a five-point Will stress-track, you must overcome five shifts to force that person to take a Mild(+2) Consequence.

+04 Max Potential 4dF roll
+04 Max potential Empathy rank
+05 Max potential Will Stress-Track
+01 to make it happen
=====================
+14 shifts of power

You can't leave-off half-way through and do it again later, unless you're willing to bank the raised power into some sort of talisman as a temporary storage device.  And that comes with all sorts of risks.

Of course, you can also do a lot of leg-work and set up a whole bunch of Advantages to add to the spell-effect.  I mean, ultimately, that's precisely what you're doing with the ritual spell in the first place:  You're creating a huge pool of Advantages to blow on one Rapport roll...

So, what we've got here now is the successful application of a Mild(+2) Consequence.  Maybe that's enough.  Maybe all you need is for the target to be predisposed to like you for a scene or two.

But remember! People recover from their consequences!

So, if you want to make a Permanent change to their feelings for you, you need to generate this much power:

+04 Max Potential 4dF roll
+04 Max potential Empathy rank
+09 Max potential Will Stress-Track
+02 Minor Consequence - (cleared after a thread/scene once recovery begins)
+04 Moderate Consequence - (cleared after a chapter/session once recovery begins)
+06 Severe Consequence - (cleared after a milestone/scenario once recovery begins)
+01 to make it happen
=================
+30 shifts of magic to make that guy love you--and make it stick!

It would probably require them to change on of their Character Aspects.

This level guarantees an emotional change that will last.  Well, almost.  There's no telling how many existing Advantages they might have to call upon themselves to resist your Rapport roll...

---

Now, if you've only got a Fair(+2) Lore, it's going to take you a fair bit of time to generate 30-shifts of power.


I have to Roll all that?
Hell, no.

I'm not even remotely not interested in roleplaying this or even dice-rolling it.  It's just not that dramatic.

So, what's to prevent a player from saying "Well, I've been setting this up for weeks, so I've amassed three hundred shifts to apply to this..."?

Human Nature.

So, how do we determine how much power has been raised?
Discuss it with your GM.

To make this worthy of drama, there may be some roleplaying prerequisutes.  You need a lock of her hair, you need to wait for a full-moon to perform the end-ritual, or perhaps you need a specially consecrated thing...  Or maybe someone stole one of your power-receptacle talismans on the night of the end-ritual...

I'm way more interested in what you had to go through to get there than jus whether you got there or not...