Re: OOC thread 14th Feb 2019 forward
We've dropped characters Jon and Marcus. Four current players.
I'm going to post some First Circle spells. Please post any questions. Then, if you'd each let me know which five of the following spells you'd like to start the game with:
Armor (First Circle spell)
Casting Time: Instantaneous.
Willpower: 5
Duration: the remainder of the current round and for the next X rounds, where X is equal to the majus' Ward skill divided by ten and rounded down. For example, if Ward is 78% then this spell's effect lasts the remainder of the round in which it is cast, plus 7 more rounds.
Target: caster
Magic Disciplines: Ward at specialist
If the Ward check is successful, a faintly perceptible shimmer of force surrounds the majus. It provides 2 points of armor for the majus' entire body, absorbing up to 2 Wounds from any given attack (that doesn't ignore armor) and subtracting 2 from each instance of Stamina damage the majus suffers.
Aura Sight (First Circle spell)
Casting Time: 1 round.
Willpower: 1
Duration: Aura Sight persists for as long as the majus concentrates on it to the exclusion of other casting or combat actions. If the magus is distracted, he must make a Luck check to maintain this effect.
Target: caster
Magic Disciplines: Read and Glamour at specialist
The spell succeeds if the majus makes a successful check against the higher of his Read and Glamour scores. Aura Sight reveals the general emotional overtones of sentient creatures who have emotions. It reveals the presence of enchantments on items or areas studied by the majus, as well as on the person or body of creatures studied. It gives a good estimation of how heavily enchanted a person, place or item is.
If the check to cast this spell succeeds with style, individual spells can be discerned, including spells that other Maji have hanged via the Trigger spell.
Baleful Blade (First Circle spell)
Casting Time: Instantaneous if the caster is wielding a blade.
Willpower:
Duration: For the remainder of the round in which it was cast, and for the following X rounds (X equals Enchant/10 round up)
Target: caster's wielded blade
Magic Disciplines: Enchant at specialist
If the check is successful, the blade suddenly feels slightly lighter, even more finely balanced, and there is the faintest sensation of vibration in the handle or pommel of the blade.
The majus gets +10 on combat checks with this blade and inflicts +5 Stamina damage and +1 Wound. Additionally, the blade can harm supernatural creatures.
At the majus' option, the blade can emit light equal to a torch's illumination. If the caster of this spell is master proficiency or better in Enchant, he can bring his blade from its sheath and to his hand as part of spell's casting.
Bolt of Force (First Circle spell)
Casting time: Instantaneous.
Willpower: 5
Duration: Instantaneous
Target: creature or item within 15 yards
To summon forth a bolt of force, a majus must be at least specialist proficiency in both Hex and in Summon, and exert 5 Willpower. Roll a check against your highest scored magical category used in the spell — Hex or Summon. You may boost this number by up to +20 by spending additional Current Willpower at a 1:1 ratio.
If the check succeeds, an eldritch bolt of force speeds from the majus and unerringly strikes one corporeal target within fifteen yards. The target suffers 1d10 Stamina damage and 1 Wound of impact damage.
If the target is holding or wearing a delicate object (glass flask, for instance), the target must succeed in a Luck check or the item is destroyed. Armor doesn't protect against a Bolt of Force.
It is possible for this spell to be counter-spelled. If directed against a sturdy but movable object of up to twenty-five pounds, the bolt either scoots the object one foot or topples it over (Majus' choice and referee's discretion).
Counterspell (First Circle spell)
Casting time: Instantaneous.
Willpower: 5
Duration: Instantaneous
Target: a spellcaster
Magic Disciplines: Counter at specialist
Any majus possessing at least specialist proficiency in the Counter magical category may attempt this spell. To attempt to counterspell a spell that is being cast, a majus must have priority in the round's initiative order and hold his action until a foe attempts to cast. When that happens, the majus attempting to counter the spell rolls a check against his Counterspell skill. The casting foe rolls an opposing Luck roll. Whichever roll is more successful (i.e., has more shifts) wins. In the event of a tie, the foe manages to cast the spell despite the counterspell attempt.
Note that the way this spell is resolved means it's possible for a relatively inexperienced majus to successfully counterspell even a significantly more experienced caster. When a counterspell attempt is made, the countering majus spends 5 Current Willpower, regardless of the success or failure of his counterspell attempt. As with any spell, the majus may spend up to an additional +20 Current Willpower to increase the likelihood of a successful Counter check. But he must choose to do so before the check roll is made.
Trigger (First Circle spell)
Casting time: 3 rounds.
Willpower: 3
Duration: 24 hours or until triggered
Target: caster
Magic Disciplines: Enchant at specialist
To hang a spell so that it goes off in response to a specific triggering condition, a majus must first successfully cast Trigger by making a successful Enchant check. If the Enchant check succeeds with style, the majus gains a net of two Current Willpower (gaining 5 from the stylish success and expending the 3 to set a trigger), but Current Willpower cannot exceed the majus' Willpower ability score.
A majus can set up to three simultaneous Triggers. Upon successfully casting Trigger, the majus follows it the next round with an appropriate spell, spending Willpower and making the appropriate check for that spell. Failure doesn't invalidate the Trigger, but the to-be-triggered spell must be attempted again, once more with the associated Willpower cost.
Once a spell has been hung on a trigger, it endures for one day, or until it is triggered, whichever comes first. Hanging spells can be dismissed at will by a majus, and this might be done before the majus goes to sleep, so that full Willpower can be recovered and Trigger slots will be available when he awakens.
While a spell remains hung, the 3 points of Willpower for the Trigger and the Willpower cost of the target spell cannot be recovered by the majus via rest, though he can still regain 5 Current Willpower anytime he succeeds with style on a check. The majus must be quite specific when setting a trigger. Examples of triggering conditions are Stamina damage, Wound box damage, being the target of a spell, falling more than ten feet.
Truth Tell (First Circle spell)
Casting Time: 2 rounds.
Willpower cost: 5.
Duration: two hours, or until the majus decides to end the effect, or until affected targets have been away from the majus' immediate presence for at least fifteen minutes.
Target: everyone currently within twenty feet of the majus.
Discipline Requirements: Read at specialist.
If the casting check vs Read is successful, then everyone except the caster makes an opposed Willpower check. Those whose check equals or exceeds the degree of success of the caster's spell can resist the effect of Truth Tell. Maji of grandmaster or paragon proficiency in Read add two shifts to their successful opposing roll. Inebriated or particularly dull individuals suffer a three-shift penalty to their opposed check. The caster falls under the effect of this spell if at least one other person does as well. Affected person's are not able to lie.
Withdraw (First Circle spell)
Casting Time: 1 round.
Willpower cost: 10.
Duration: until the majus chooses to exit the Fade, is reduced to 3 or fewer Wounds, or loses consciousness.
Target: caster
Discipline Requirements: Enchant and Summon at specialist
A majus casts this spell by successfully making a check against his Enchant or Summon, whichever is higher. If successful, the majus enchants himself with affinity for the Fade, that demi-plane that lies between the Prime and the Bright. He now appears to those on the Prime and in the Blight as a faint, ghostly figure.
Attacks against the majus from either of those planes have a four-shift penalty. Those that don't miss inflict only one-quarter their normal Stamina and Wound damage. Those wishing to attack the majus more effectively must needs spend a round entering the Fade themselves, if they have that capability. The majus' own melee attacks made against targets on the Prime or the Bright suffer the same four-shift penalty.
Spells cast from the Prime or Bright into the Fade, and vice versa, suffer a three-shift penalty.
Typically, maji who employ this spell do so in order to gain precious time in relative safety to cast multiple spells or complete a ritual before returning to the Prime or Bright considerably buffed.
If the majus succeeds with style when casting this spell, combat attacks into adjacent planes suffer a 6-shift penalty, any Stamina or Wound damage suffered from a single source by the majus is reduced to 1, and spells cast across planes suffer a 5-shift penalty. And, of course, the majus gains the usual benefits of succeeding with style.
