Components
- Verbal Component - The caster must be able to speak. They cannot cast if they are in a silence field or if gagged. Verbal spells can be cast in melee combat with no penalty.
- Somatic Component - The caster must be able to move their arms freely. If an attempt is made to cast a spell with a somatic component in melee combat, the caster's chance of success is equal to 100% - (Casting Time x 20) + ((WP - 15) x 4). 01-05 is automatic success while 96-100 is automatic failure.
- Material Component - The caster must pull out a use a material component to cast the spell. Unless otherwise noted, the material component is used up by the spell attempt, whether it is successful or not. A spell with a material component (and no other component) can be cast in melee combat with no penalty.
- Verbal and Somatic Component - Same restrictions as above. Chance of successfully casting in melee is as listed for Somatic Component.
- Verbal and Material Component - Same restrictions as above. If no somatic component, the spell can be cast in melee as long as the material component is on the person of the caster, and not in an extra-dimensional space.
- Somatic and Material Component - Same restrictions as above. Chance of successfully casting in melee is reduced by 25%. Otherwise use formula for Somatic Component above.
- Verbal, Somatic and Material Component - Same restrictions as above. Chance of successfully casting in melee is reduced by 25%. Otherwise use formula for Somatic Component above.
Spell Point Cost to Cast a Spell
- Talents - 0 spell points (unless indicated otherwise)
- General Knowledge spells - 1 spell point
- General Knowledge rituals - 10 spell points (+100 sp in ritual components)
- Special Knowledge spells - 2 spell points
- Special Knowledge rituals - 20 spell points (+200 sp in ritual components)
- Arcane spells - 3 spell points
- Circles of Protection - 1d6 spell points (cost drops as rank increases)
Time Required to Cast a Spell or Ritual
A spell caster has three options when casting a spell; Fast Cast, Slow Cast or Very Slow Cast.
Fast Cast
Fast casting is usually only done in combat or when time is of the essence. Roll initiative normally to determine when you begin casting. How long it takes for the spell to go off depends on spell rank and spell type (GK or SK).
Rank | GK Spell | SK Spell |  | Rank | Arcane |
1-5 | 6 | 7 | | 1-2 | 9 |
6-10 | 5 | 6 | | 3-4 | 8 |
11-15 | 4 | 5 | | 5-6 | 7 |
16-20 | 3 | 4 | | 7-8 | 6 |
21 | 2 | 3 | | 9 | 5 |
22 | 1 | 2 | | 10 | 4 |
Thus, if a mage casts an SK spell that he is rank 8 in, his casting time is 6. If he rolls a 9 for initiative, the spell goes off on a 3. If he rolls a 2 for initiative, his spell goes off on a -4 (of the same round).
Slow Cast
Slow casting takes one minute. The only advantage of slow casting is a reduced chance of a backfire (c.f., Backfiring Spells)
Very Slow Cast
Very slow casting takes five minutes and uses double the normal amount of spell points. The advantage of very slow casting is that there is no chance of a backfire and the caster gains a +10 to their Cast Chance.
Unless otherwise specified in the description of rituals, a general knowledge ritual takes one hour to perform and a special knowledge ritual takes two hours.
Overcasting
Overcasting is the casting of a spell at a higher rank. It allows the caster to increase the range, duration and effect of the spell. The mage may overcast by 1 rank for 3 endurance (or non-lethal damage) or by 2 ranks for 6 endurance (or non-lethal damage).
The cast chance of the spell is not increased. In fact, the mage suffers a penalty of -3 to their cast chance for overcasting by 1 rank and -6 if overcasting by 2 ranks.
If the mage is fast casting, initiative is reduced by 1 per rank of overcasting (i.e., -1 if overcasting one rank and -2 if overcasting 2 ranks). If slow casting, cast time is increased by 30 seconds per rank of overcasting (i.e., +30 seconds to overcast by 1 rank and +60 seconds to overcast by 2 ranks).
Defense when Casting a Spell
When casting spells, the caster is unable to dodge or otherwise try to avoid attacks. Thus, spell casting is best done from cover. The caster gains no bonus to their DEF from DEX, Defense skill or Shield skill while casting.
Getting Hit While Casting a Spell
If a mage is hit with an attack while they are casting their spell, the spell is interrupted and the spell energy lost. The one exception is single-classed mages who might still be able to cast (see description under the Mage profession). Note that the spell is interrupted ONLY if the mage is hit while casting the spell. If, for example, they get hit on initiative 10, and don't start casting until initiative 6, the hit does not affect their ability to cast.
When a mage declares their action, they can declare some contingencies as well. For example, a mage has a choice between casting a spell or using a Wand of Fire. He would like to cast a spell but he sees that an enemy archer has an arrow knocked and ready to shoot at him the moment he begins casting. Thus, he declares his action to be "cast Bolt of Energy unless an enemy is waiting to disrupt, in which case use Wand of Fire."
This brings up another issue. Suppose the mage pretends to start casting the spell to draw fire. After the archer shoots, and the mage hopefully dodges, he begins to cast for real. In this case, the enemy archer is allowed a Magic Lore roll, if they have this skill, to pick up on the subterfuge. If they make the roll, they know the mage is faking. Otherwise they don't and will likely shoot. The mage can then cast his spell hoping that he can get it off before the enemy archer can knock and shoot another arrow.
If a mage wants to cast a spell during a given round, they must begin casting by initiative 1 or it is too late to cast this round and they must wait until the following round to cast. This means that if the mage character made a half move (-5 to initiative) and rolled a low initiative, they will not be able to cast in the same round as they made the half move. They have the option of turning the half move into a full move if so desired.
Recovering Spell Points
A mage recovers all of their spell points after a good night's sleep.
The official formula is 1 quarter the mage's total spell points per hour starting after 4 hours of sleep and this can be interrupted by watches. For example, if a mage sleeps for 4 hours, then stands a 4 hour watch, and then sleeps for another 4 hours, he starts getting back a quarter of his spell points the first hour after going back to sleep.
This formula should be a guideline and, if a mage gets less than 8 hours of sleep on a given night, the GM should consider allowing him access to all of this spell points. If this goes on for more than a night or two, however, he can use the formula. The GM can also use CON as a guide for allowing variances to the rule.
Critical and Grievous Success
If a mage rolls exceptionally well (see grievous and critical table) he may achieve grievous or critical success with his spell.
Critical success allows him to do one of the following:
- Double range
- Double duration
- Increase effect by 50% (if the spell has multiple effects, he may increase a single effect by 50%)
- Target saves at -10
- +7 to the rank of the spell for the purposes of resisting counterspells
Grievous success is the same as critical success except that he may choose two of the following effects (note that the mage may not choose the same effect twice to get double the benefit):
- Double range
- Double duration
- Increase effect by 50% (if the spell has multiple effects, he may increase two effects by 50%, or increase 1 effect by 50% and choose another grievous effect)
- Target saves at -20
- +15 to the rank of the spell for the purposes of resisting counterspells
- Cast in half the normal time (round up)
- Reduce the spell point cost by 1 (for GK, that means that no spell points were used - the mage was able to gather minute traces of energy from the environment).
Using a Scroll
Scrolls can be used without expending spell points. Initiative is rolled normally. Cast time is determined by comparing the reader's rank with the applicable magical language to the table above (under "Time Required to Cast a Spell or Ritual").
Although no cast chance roll is made, the reader must make a Read Scroll roll using their skill with the magical language in which the scroll is written. If the roll is failed, the mage loses their action for the round but the magic of the scroll is not used. He can try again the following round.
A character can move up to half their TMR and still read a scroll but they suffer a -5 to their initiative.
As with normal spell casting, if the reader is attacked between the time they begin reading the scroll, and when they finish, the attempt fails, but the magic of the scroll is not used up. |