Special magical preparations include all of those rituals not limited to a specific College that are designed to
augment the power of characters or spells or invest areas or objects with special magical properties. They are
employed according to the provisions governing Ritual Magic. All forms of special magical preparation can be
coded for purposes of recording them on the Character Record Sheets by simply referring to the number of the
case in which they are discussed.
A character may increase his chance of successfully casting a spell by engaging in Ritual Spell
Preparation. The character's player announces his intention of employing this option and states the number of
hours that will be spent in preparation and the spell is increased by 3 per hour (up to a maximum of 30 if 10 full
hours are spent in preparation). If, at any time during the preparation, the character's concentration is bro-ken,
the entire process must be restarted from scratch or abandoned and any time previously spent in preparation is
lost. A character's concentration is always broken by the necessity of abandoning the Adventure Sequence and
employing the Tactical Procedure. The character can engage in no other activity while preparing the spell. The
spell must be cast immediately upon completing the Ritual Preparation. The Spell Preparation Ritual is a General
Knowledge Ritual that enhances spells only. A character cannot achieve Rank with this Ritual.
A character may increase his Magic Resistance by 5 and his Magical Aptitude by 1 for each hour
spent in Ritual Purification. Ritual Purification always increases both magic Resistance and Magical Aptitude
by the aforementioned amounts for each hour spent in purification up to a maximum of 3 hours (for a total
increase of 15 to Magic Resistance and 3 to Magical Aptitude). A character can only be under the influence of
one Ritual Purification at a given time. The effects of the purification last for a number of hours equal to (Rank
with Ritual Purification + D10) x the number of hours spent in purification. The die is always rolled by the GM who
keeps the result secret until it is time to inform the players that the result of purification has worn off. The ritual is
always interrupted by the necessity of suspending the Adventure Sequence and employing the Tactical
Procedure and must abandoned or restarted from scratch with all hours spent in purification being lost. However,
once a Ritual Purification has been completed, the character can enter combat and employ all of the benefits of
the purification. A character must announce when he starts purification the number of hours he will spend
engaged in the ritual. He can engage in no other activity (including moving, resting, or employing other special
preparations) while engaged in this ritual. Only members of the Colleges of Magic can purify themselves. Ritual
Purification is a General Knowledge Ritual. The Experience Multiple for this ritual is 200.
A character may store the power of a spell in an object in his possession by employing an
Investment Ritual. The character's player announces that he is beginning an Investment Ritual and states the
number of hours that will be spent in the ritual, the object to be invested with power, and the specific spell which
will be stored in the object. At the end of the ritual, the character's player makes a Cast Check to determine if the
ritual has been effective. The Chance of the ritual being effective is always equal to the character's
Magical Aptitude plus 3 for each hour spent in the ritual (up to a maximum of 10 hours or 30
percentage points) plus any other modifiers normally associated with spells and rituals (+ 3 per Rank
with the investment Ritual). It is possible to generate any of the effects normally associated with spells when
an Invested spell is loosed (double or triple effect, backfire, etc.) using this ritual. If the Cast Check dice roll is
equal to or less than the Cast Chance, the object of the ritual is invested with the power of the spell which is to
be stored in it. An object which has a spell stored in it in this manner may be used to cast the spell at no Fatigue
cost by any character (including individuals who are not members of a College of Magic) who knows how to
activate the object. Only those individuals who know the Investment Ritual of the College that was used to store
the spell in the object or who have been told by the character who stored the spell in the object how to activate
the power therein may use the object's power. It is not necessary for a character to know the spell stored
in an object in order to employ the object to release the spell.
Each object invested with spell power in this manner has a number of "charges" in it equal to the Rank the
character who invested the object possessed with the Investment Ritual at the time the item was invested.
Whenever the power in the item is used, the number of remaining charges is reduced by 1. When no charges
remain, the item is no longer invested with the power of the spell. It may be reinvested. A particular object may
never be invested with more than one spell at the same time. A character may only invest an object with a spell
he knows. Whenever a spell is released from an object in which it was invested, the spell is treated as if it was
being cast by the character who originally stored it in the object. It always emanates from the spot occupied by
the object, but is treated in all other ways as if cast by that character as he was when he originally invested the
object with the spell power (i.e., the spell would be ranked as it was when originally stored in the object). A spell
invested in an object may only be dispelled (i.e., removed and dissipated) by a Incantor casting the proper
counter spell over it. If an attempt at investing an object with a spell's power backfires, the effect is as if the spell
being invested in the object had backfired. It is applied immediately. When an object invested with a spell is
used, any backfire resulting from its use affects the user of the object rather than the object itself. The
Investment Ritual is a Special Knowledge Ritual. The Experience Multiple for this Ritual is 300.
WARDS
A character may employ Ritual Magic to cast a Ward over an area which he occupies or is near. A Ward is an
automatic spell that is activated by the intrusion of objects or living beings into the area it occupies. Whenever a
character wishes to create a Ward, he announces his intention and engages in one or more hours of Ritual
Preparation to create the Ward. At the end of the preparation, he immediately checks to see if the Ward is cast
by making a Cast Check. If the Cast Check is successful, the Ward is cast. If the Check is not successful, no
Ward exists and the attempt must be started from scratch and abandoned. The Base Chance to create a
Ward is equal to the creator's Magical Aptitude. This number is modified by adding 3 for each hour
spent in preparation (up to a maximum of 10 hours or 30 percentage points) plus any other modifiers
normally associated with spells and rituals (+3 per Rank with the Ward Ritual). It is possible to suffer
backfire from an attempt to create a Ward. In such cases, the spell being incorporated into the Ward
backfires immediately. Once the Ward is cast, the entry or exit of any object or being in the area occupied by
the Ward (determined by the range of the spell incorporated into the Ward) can trigger the Ward. Once a Ward
has been triggered, it ceases to exist. It takes full effect on the character(s) or object(s) that triggered it, but is
dissipated thereafter. All Wards emanate from the exact spot occupied by the individual who cast the Ward
(important for determining range).
A character desiring to create a Ward must announce what the Ward will consist of before he begins the
Ward Ritual. A Ward always consists of a specific spell of the caster's College (either General or Specific
Knowledge) that the GM considers suitable for incorporation into a Ward. A Ward always consists of only one
such spell. More than one Ward cannot be cast over a specific area (i.e., it is not possible to cast three or four
different spells over the same doorway via a Ward). Whenever he announces that he is creating a Ward, a
character's player must also announce under what conditions the Ward will be triggered. He can decide not to
limit its effect, in which case it will be triggered by anyone or anything entering the area over which it is cast, or
he can limit it to affecting specific individuals or anything in between. Thus, a character could cast a Ward that
would only be triggered by passing trolls (or even more specifically, by the third troll to pass through the area
occupied by the Ward). Characters (and the GM) should be aware that it can be necessary to account for the
caster of the Ward and his fellow adventurers having to pass through the Ward. This can be accomplished by
delaying the effect of the Ward for a length of time sufficient to allow the party to pass through (but no more than
a few minutes) or by making the Ward subject to other specifications that permit the party to pass through. Once
a Ward is in effect, any individual or object could trigger the Ward and that enters the area occupied by the
Ward is automatically subject to whatever individual spell was woven into the Ward. Only those spells known by
the caster of the Ward can be woven into the Ward and they take effect exactly as if the caster of the Ward were
present and casting the spell at the spot occupied by the character or object that triggered the Ward. All
characters or objects nearby that would normally be affected by the spell are subject to its effects when it is cast
as a result of the Ward having been triggered. Wards are dispelled in one of two ways: either by a Incantor
casting a Special Knowledge counter spell of the same College as the spell incorporated into the Ward, or by
being triggered by an individual or an object. They exist in perpetuity until dispelled. The Ward Ritual is a
Special Knowledge Ritual. The Experience Multiple for this Ritual is 400.
Magic is divided into numerous Colleges representing specific types of magic. These Colleges are divided into
Branches of Magic. These Branches, and the Colleges encompassed by each, are listed below:
The Thaumaturgies
Ensorcelments & Enchantments Arcane Magics Illusions
Binding Incantations White Magics Summonings
Sorceries of the Mind
Mentalist Nomad Telepath Metabolist Shaper Seer
The Elementals
The College of Air Magics The College of Water Magics The College of Fire Magics
The College of Earth Magics The College of Celestial Magics The College of Solar Magic
The Entities
Necromantic Conjurations Cryptic Bindings
Planar Conjuring Greater Summonings Black Magics
Shamanistic
Swamp Shaman Desert Shaman Mountain Shaman
Forest Shaman Animistic Shaman Blood Shaman
Each College of Magic has its own individual requirements which must be met before character of that College
can employ any of the powers of spells of his College. The Adepts of a College are subject to certain
modifications to their ability to successfully cast spells as determined in each college.
A character is assumed to have mastered all of the General Knowledge of his College upon choosing that
College. The General Knowledge attained is always at Rank O. Characters may only increase their proficiency
at employing General Knowledge by expending Experience Points to attain Rank with that knowledge.
Specialized Knowledge includes all of the special spells and procedures of the College not normally taught to
novices. Such knowledge may be accumulated only by expending both time and money to learn it. Special
Knowledge is learned at Rank 0 and the Rank the character has with that knowledge may be increased in the
same manner as for increasing the Rank of General Knowledge spells and procedures through expending
Experience Points to progress once the knowledge has been mastered at Rank O. The maximum Rank
attainable with a spell or ritual is 20. HOUSE RULE at rank 20 a spell may be prepared and loosed in one pulse.
A character may only employ the powers and spells of one College. A character may never employ the
knowledge, powers, or spells of a College of which he is not a member, except for counter-spells and Invested
spells. Characters may only be members of one College at any one time. A character may change his College,
but, if he does so, he immediately loses all knowledge (General and Special) from his old College and all Rank in
magical activities and must spend six months in a house of his new College learning its discipline so as to master
its General Knowledge. He may engage in no other activities while in the house. Once a character has
renounced his old College, he may never return to it or relearn its General or Special Knowledge. A character is
limited in the number of spells and rituals of lower rank that he may know. A character may only employ talents,
spells, and rituals that he knows. He may know any number of talents, but may only know a number of spells and
rituals of Rank 5 or lower equal to his Magical Aptitude. He may know an unlimited number of spells and rituals of
Rank 6 or higher. The General Knowledge spells and rituals of his College count against this total.
A character may not enter any College of Magic unless he has the Magical Aptitude to account for mastery of the
General Knowledge spells and rituals of that College. He may not acquire additional spells above and beyond
his Magical Aptitude unless he attains Rank 6 or higher with spells already learned so as to make room for the
acquisition of additional knowledge. Once a character is a member of a College, he may lose the use of General
and Special Knowledge as a result of a decrease in Magical Aptitude, but he may never be forced to quit the
College as a result. In such cases, the GM always determines what spells or rituals are forgotten by the
character as a result of his reduced capacity.
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