Magic Rules
(Last update: 15/8/96)
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This page includes some minor tweaks to the magic system, as well as some
totally new rules.
Index
After the rules on Confidence had been changed, we decided that it was also
necessary to make some rules for Magic botches. The below system does not
apply for extended lab activities or for Fast-Cast spells:
A magus character makes a magical Stress roll and a zero comes up. The
character then has to decide on one of three options (before rolling
botch dice): Ignore, Abort or Control.
Ignore
The character knows that something is not quite right with the magical roll,
but chooses to ignore it. Roll for botch and resolve as normal.
Abort
This is the "safety first" option whereby the magus abandons the spellcasting
roll and directs all of his/her attention to defusing the magical energies
safely. Roll for botch. If there is no botch, the Abort is automatically
successful - the magus gets a misguided hunch that something is going badly
and defuses the spell needlessly. However this takes an extra round, or costs
one Fatigue level, depending on how fast the magus wishes to Abort.
If there is a botch, make an Intelligence +
Finesse Stress roll of 3+3*(botch magnitude)+(spell magnitude) to successfully
Abort. If the roll fails, roll for botch as normal. (Note that "botch
magnitude" means the number of zeros in a roll for botch.)
Control
This is the option whereby the magus tries to control the unexpected
magical energies to avoid disaster and still cast the spell (although
possibly with an altered effect). It is obviously harder than the Abort
option. It is recommended that Confidence is added to this roll. A
Stress roll of 9+3*(botch magnitude)+(spell magnitude) is required to
Control. Note that even if the botch magnitude is 0 (no botch) you still
make a Control roll. Successful Control means the spell activates as normal,
otherwise it's still a botch (a zero-magnitude botch is just a fail).
It is possible to botch this roll, botch dice = 1 + Cnf risked. Then
overall botch magnitude = initial botch magnitude + Control botch
magnitude. This represents a bungled attempt to control the magical
energies, instead amplifying the effect of the botch.
We allow Vis extraction in our Saga and use the following lab total to
calculate the amount of Vim Vis yielded:
( Int + Magic Theory + Creo + Vim + 3*Aura ) / 5 (rounding down)
This means that we do have some Vim Vis coming into the Covenant's stores.
As a result, the Covenant as a whole has managed to use this to make a
reasonable amount of magic items. Vim Vis is also used for powering the
Aegis of the Hearth, 2 pawns per year is consumed in a sacrificial ritual
to Hades, and it has also been used in the past to fund Mandator's research
into Aura Theory. However, the Covenant only allows extraction from its
Aura upto twice per year, and not in consecutive seasons. Also, it is
postulated that only an amount of Vim Vis less than or equal to the square of
the Aura strength can be extracted per year without draining the magical
environment (ie. lowering the Aura). Given our current Aura strength of +4,
this means an effective maximum of 16 pawns per year. This is mostly used
on the Aegis, and for making Covenant items.
We also include the Change the Nature of Vis spell. This is useful, but is
used quite rarely as it is wasteful.
We decided that the restriction stipulating that a spell used as a Final
Strike must match the Technique and Form of the Certamen was unrealistic,
and so we have removed it. If, however, the victor's Final Strike spell does
match the Technique and Form, then they receive a bonus to their casting roll
equal to their Certamen skill.
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