Forms

The following are the Forms widely available to casters in our campaign. There may be others but they are rare and must be discovered during play and studied between sessions.

Forms designated “Blocked by Wards” can’t be used in the Ram’s Head or in other places protected by Wards (the moderator will tell you when this is the case when you are in an Expedition) but can be used elsewhere. That is why the back room of the tavern is sometimes called “the Ritual Room”. It is not protected by Wards and many Forms work there.

Forms designated “Expeditions Only” can’t be used in any Live Action space. Ever. These are mostly those related to combat.

As the name suggests, Forms designated "Expeditions Only - Noncombat" can only be used on Expeditions and can't be used in combat.

Alchemy (Blocked by Wards)

The imbuing of non-magical objects with magic power.

Lesser: You start each session with 2 items from the standard potions list that you have created between sessions. You may also Craft Potions during play (see below).

Greater: You start each session with 3 items from the standard potions list that you have created between sessions (instead of the 2 for having the Lesser version). You may also Create new potions (see below).

Crafting Potions: Greater Alchemists may go on Expedition to travel to the Bellweather Workshop to craft potions during a session. Once there, they risk Manna Burn to create any item from the standard potions list. For each item, you need to expend a Bundle of Vital Herbs (which can be gathered by anyone with the Herbalist Feat). If more than 1 potion of the same sort is created at the same time, only 1 test is needed.

Creating Potions: Greater Alchemists can also attempt the creation of a unique Potion with whatever effect they choose. This requires access to the Bellweather Workshop and requires a Bundle of Rare Herbs and a Vial of Potent Blood. The Gatekeeper (or other Moderator) will determine whether the requested potion is too powerful (in which an item of the Alchemists choice from the standard list is created instead). Assuming the potion is acceptable the Gatekeeper (or Moderator) will generate an equipment card. Either way, the materials are consumed and a Mana Burn test is made.

Rare Herbs and Potent Blood require that characters with the appropriate abilities go on Expeditions whose purpose is to retrieve them. Rare Herbs can be found in the Verdant Fields by a character with the Herbalist Feat and Potent Blood can be found by using the Harvest Feat on one of the prey creatures found at the Hunting Lodge.

Attack (Expeditions Only)

The use of magic as a weapon.

Lesser: When your turn comes up during a combat on Expedition, you may make a spell attack. Choose the form is takes based on the style of your Tradition. This is different from a weapon attack in two ways. First, use your chosen targets defense against magic as your difficulty. Many creatures have lower defense against spells (but some have higher so be careful). Second, if you Fail (all three dice are lower than the difficulty) the spell Backfires and you take 1 Wound.

Greater: Instead of attacking a single opponent, you may spend 2 Advantage Chits to attack up to three with a single casting. This is typically some form of area attack such as a Fireball of Noxious Cloud bit can be whatever makes sense for your character. Make one Skill Test but inflict any damage that results on all of your targets. The down side is if you fail, the Backfire is 2 Wounds instead of 1.

Cantrips (Anywhere)

The use of minor magic.

This Form allows the use of minor spells that don’t require a skill test to cast and can be used anywhere, including the tavern. When you perform magic in the live action play space raise your arm so everyone can see it, throw the horns and describe what happens.

Lesser: You may choose a number of Cantrips equal to 3 plus double your Magic Skill Rank (so 5 at Rank 1). 

Greater: You may improvise any Cantrip you like. Use the list as inspiration. Some guidelines:

Cantrips can never cause or heal wounds.
The effects of all Cantrips must be limited in terms of potency, range and duration.
Cantrips are meant to add to a scene but should never define or resolve it.

There is a list of examples HERE

Conjure (Expeditions Only - Noncombat)

The use of magic to create or summon objects.

Lesser: This spell allows you to can either create or summon (depending on your Tradition) an object you can hold easily in one hand. The difficulty is determined by the objects mass and toughness (determined by the moderator) and ranges from 6 for simple soft goods like a length of rope or a cloak to 10 for something like dense, complex and/or heavy like shackles or a longsword (the difficulty is increased by 2 if you used this spell in the last hour). The result determines the quality of the item. A failure is a Backfire and means you take 1 Wound. The object behaves as a typical item of that kind should and lasts until 10 minutes after you stop paying attention to it or gets more than 100ft away from you.

Greater: This creates larger, more complex and more durable objects. Anything relatively simple, lighter than you are and no larger in any dimension than you are tall (like a barrel) can be conjured with a Difficulty of 7, Difficulty 9 for heavier, more complex or larger (such as a footbridge) and Difficulty 11 for heavier, more complex AND larger (such as a carriage). The Difficulty is increased by 2 if you used the Greater version of this spell in the last hour. The result determines the quality of the item. A failure is a backfire and means you take 2 Wounds. The object behaves as a typical item of that kind should and lasts until 1 hour after you stop paying attention to it or gets more than a half mile away from you.

Defend (Expeditions Only)

The use of magic as a form of defense.

Lesser: When you are the target of an attack on Expedition, instead of making a Combat test against the difficulty determined by the attack, you may make a Magic test the attacker’s Magic Defense instead (reducing the damage by the number of dice that score). There is no Backfire for failure.

Greater: When an ally is targeted by an attack on Expedition, you may use an Advantage Chit to defend them by making a Magic test the attacker’s Magic Defense and reducing the damage by the number of dice that score (if you fail, the spell Backfires, and you take 1 Wound. After resolving your spell and reducing the damage, if any damage remains your ally may still make a Combat test to defend themselves as usual, potentially reducing it even further.

Distract (Expeditions Only)

The use of magic to confuse or confound.

Lesser: There are a lot of spells that could have these effects including things like illusions, psychic attacks, gusts of snowy wind. Make a Magic skill test against the Magic Defense of your chosen target. If successful, the number of dice that score is the number of actions the Difficulty of Defending against their attack actions is reduced by 2 (so when anyone defends against an affected Troll that makes a Diff 8 Dam 5 attack, they only need defend with a Combat skill test against a Difficulty of 6). A failure is a backfire and means you take 1 Wound.

Greater: Once per combat, you may spend 2 Advantage chits to use the Greater version of this Form, but only when fighting a group of 2 or more (it cannot be used against a single opponent). Make a Magic skill test against the Magic Defense of your chosen target. If successful, the number of dice that score is the number of turns they lose. A failure is a backfire and means you take 2 Wounds.

Divination (Lesser: Expeditions Only - Noncombat, Greater: Blocked by Wards)

Using magic to sense the future to help the caster guide their present. 

Lesser: Once per Expedition the caster may attempt a "Reading" against a Difficulty determined by the number of time they have attempted a Reading so far in the current session. If it the first time, the Difficulty is only 6, if they have already done it once or twice the Difficulty is 8 and if they have already done it more than twice the Difficulty is 10. Each success gives them 1 "Portent". A Portent can be expended to force a reroll of any randomly generated element of the Expedition. This doesn't refer to combat but to story elements found in the Arcanum Guide such as determining what creature (if any) is encountered. Such events can only be redirected once (you can't use two Portents to reroll the reroll). Portents must be used in the Expedition for which they were generated or they are lost. Because the caster must already by on Expedition to do a Reading they can't generate Portents until they appear somewhere (so they can't be used to effect the "Through the Ether" result).

Greater: Once per Session the caster may attempt to read the Omens. This must be done in the Ritual Room with the assistance of the Gatekeeper. They choose a subject - up to three words - written on a piece of parchment and given to the gatekeeper when the spell is cast. It can be anything. A person, place, thing or even an action. After casting the caster must check for Manna Burn. Within the hour they will get three insights into the subject. These will often be five words or less and can be vague but at least one is usually helpful in some way.  

 

Enhance (Expeditions Only - Noncombat)

Effects that enhance the abilities of the caster's allies.

Lesser: You may spend 10 minutes and risk Manna Burn to enhance a chosen ally. The nature of the enhancement is up to you and is informed by your Tradition. Examples include blessings, strengths spell or some form of inspiration. The affected character gets three re-rolls they can use at any time for anything, but they can’t use more than one per test.

Greater: The same as the Lesser version but if affects the entire party instead of targeting a single character. Anyone can use one of the three re-rolls the spell bestows.

Only one Enhance spell (of either type) can be active at any time.

 

Heal (Blocked by Wards)

The restoration of health or even life to an injured being.

Lesser: You may spend 10 minutes and risk Manna Burn to heal all of a character’s damage. This also removes any lingering effects of poison and disease, and will neutralize psychological effects such as fear and temporary madness. This must be noncombat on Expedition. In the live action space you must spend the 10 minutes tending your patient in the Ritual Room or similar safe area.

Greater: During combat, you may use an Action to spend 1 Advantage point and heal the ally of your choice. Make a Magic skill test against a Difficulty of 8. The number of successes is the number of Wounds you heal. No backfire occurs if you fail your test but nothing is healed.

 

Protect (Expedition Only - Noncombat)

Effects that use magic to absorb damage.

Lesser: You may spend 10 minutes and risk Manna Burn to Protect a chosen ally. The nature of the Protection is up to you and is informed by your Tradition. Examples include shield of faith, stone or barkskin. Three times the affected character may reduce the damage they take by 1 Wound, but they can’t use this more than one per attack.

Greater: The same as the Lesser version but if affects the entire party instead of targeting a single character. Anyone can choose to be Protected of the three times the spell allows.

Only one Protect spell (of either type) can be active at any time.

Ritual Magic

Ritual Magic is it's own Form. 

It is explained in it's own section HERE