Rituals
Rituals are a type of magic that goes outside the normal rules of cast spells. The major difference is that most rituals have almost no function in a combat situation, and that they take extensive resources and time to perform. There are several aspects to how rituals function:
To perform a ritual a character must have Rank 4 of the appropriate Knowledge Area unless noted on the ritual scroll. Characters must additionally have the ritualism skill.
All rituals require Knowledge Points to cast. The primary caster must spend 2 Knowledge Points to begin a Ritual. Secondary casters must expend 1 Knowledge point in order to participate and must have rank 1 of the appropriate knowledge for the ritual or Knowledge Magic 2.
To perform a ritual requires all participants to maintain concentration.
When a ritual calls for Fuel in the cost, that cost can be paid in part or in full by any participant of the ritual. Fuel, by default is paid with Knowledge Points, however Fuel may be paid at a rate of one to one with uncommon residuum or Fuel.
Rituals must be performed inside of a ritual circle, this can be a simple circle phys-repped by markings, candles or such; or inside of a Circle of Glyphs.
Rituals can be as simple as sitting in the circle and doing your version of jazz hands for the duration. Inversely, it can be as involved as setting up fake candles with a spoken chant and dance you made up to further get into the role. The more you put into your setup and roleplay the bigger of a reward your Ritual Marshal can provide to you.
Rituals cannot target other players without their out of game consent.
All rituals require a marshal present at the casting of the ritual. A minimum of one hour notice to plot is required before casting a ritual, this is done to make allowances to guarantee a marshal is available. There may arise times where a marshal is available immediately or in less than an hour but players are still required to notify plot at least one hour before their desired ritual start time. In the event that there are players who have been approved by plot to marshal rituals, said marshal should never marshal a ritual(s) for their own team.
Rituals will vary dependent upon the ritual to be cast in many ways, the time the ritual requires, fuel/component cost and any special requirements will be listed on the individual scrolls. There is a list of rituals available later in this section. It should not be considered exhaustive.
Players may generate rituals at plot/rules discretion with an appropriate amount of time and resource invested into the research of any new rituals. The act of generating a new ritual will be a fluid discussion until the particulars of the ritual are set. Only then will a player know what the exact amount of time and resource required to generate the new ritual will be. This process will not be quick and players should go in expecting there to be delays. Generating a new ritual is no small task in or out of game, patience from the players involved is expected and required at times.
Rituals are foundationally cast in one of two ways. Either in a prepared space that has been cleansed (Glyph Circles always count as cleansed) or on the fly in a space that has not been cleansed. Having an intentionally cleansed area for ritual casting makes the casting more consistent but otherwise is not a requirement to casting a ritual. A ritual cannot begin without 100% of all the required items, scrolls, components, etc. being present within the circle prior to the ritual beginning.
Targets of Rituals:
Rituals may be cast upon any of three valid targets People, Items, or areas. Each ritual scroll will denote what it may be cast on, some may only be castable on one target type where others may be cast on multiple. In any event ritual magics are very powerful and thus exert a great amount of strain on the vessel upon which they are cast. Therefore no one target may ever have more than five continuous effects cast upon them at any time. There are several continuous effects that do NOT consume a slot as they effect other rituals that do consume slots. They are: Delimit, Extend Duration, Enhance Duration and Permanence.
Batch Casting:
Batch casting is used for multiple rituals that the caster intends to alter the duration on through either an extend duration or a permanence ritual. If the caster of the ritual wishes to attempt batching they must declare it prior to beginning the ritual. Each ritual in a batch must be started within one minute of the proceeding ritual ending, and the moment any ritual that would alter the duration of the proceeding rituals is started the batch is closed. It is important to note that the batch is closed but not the item/target additional rituals may be cast on the item/target but they will not benefit from the batch effect. The extend or permanence ritual will apply to each of the rituals in the batch if done in this manner. In the event that more than one minute elapses between rituals in a batch the batch is broken and each ritual previously cast will require its own extend duration or permanence ritual cast separately for each effect.
Stacked Casting:
Certain Rituals (Denoted on the scroll) may be cast multiple times to garner greater effects. These additional casting are done in a pyramid style. All castings in this manner are limited to a one over two pyramid for a total of three castings. Any additional benefits garnered by this type of casting will be laid out on the individual scrolls as there are a variety of effects that can be generated by multiple casting, to many to list here. Multiple castings of the same Ritual only consume one slot on the target.
Fluxing:
Fluxing Ritual magic generates a massive amount of energy, and it takes a skilled hand to keep it in check. There are times when something will interfere with a ritual and the some of the raw energy will lash out and have side effects.
Fluxing can happen when one of the following situations occurs:
- The primary caster intentionally chooses to flux a ritual.
- A caster takes damage of any kind.
- A secondary caster leaves the ritual circle during the casting or becomes helpless.
- Any of the components or the ritual scroll is destroyed or leaves the circle, all draws are Warped, or Backlash and the ritual fails.
- The primary caster becomes helpless or leaves the circle, all draws are Backlashes.
- The ritual is cast in an uncleansed location. This guarantees a flux the severity of which is rolled at random, unless driven by plot.
In the event more than one of these conditions is met in a single casting, then each additional condition beyond the initial one will be added to the roll to determine severity of the flux. Additionally, in the event that a flux occurs in a batch casting, the number of rituals already completed in the batch will be added to the roll as well. (Cleanse will never be counted in this number.)
When a ritual is fluxed the marshal will determine the outcome by using percentile dice on the following charts. First the marshal will determine if the ritual was,
Flawed- had an unexpected outcome that could be positive
Warped- had an unexpected outcome that is possibly negative
Backlashed- had a devastatingly bad outcome.
In the case of a Flawed of Warped ritual the intended effect still happens with an unexpected change; however, with a Backlash the ritual fails, and very bad side effect happens. At the end of a ritual all components are destroyed whether the ritual succeeds or failed. In the case of a Backlash the ritual scroll, if there is one being used, is also destroyed.
When a ritual goes wild there is little that can be done, though a skilled Ritualist can attempt to control the wild magic. To counter a flux a secondary caster in the ritual must declare that they are going to attempt the feat. To do so they must have Knowledge Magic 4, they then have 2 options.
- Preempt- To do this the secondary caster must expend 5 Fuel up front. When the flux draw is made they must pay an additional Fuel cost of 10 for a Backlash or 5 for a Warp. This completely negates the effects.
- Ready- To do this the secondary caster must declare intent at the beginning, and then can choose to pay a fuel cost to negate the flux. 5 for a Flaw, 15 for a Warp, and 20 for a Backlash. At the time they must expend the Fuel they only are aware of the type of flux not the actual outcome.
| roll | outcome |
|---|---|
| 1-5 | Flawed |
| 6-8 | Warped |
| 9-10 | Backlashed |
| Roll | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 1 | All casters receive double healing from all sources for 1 month |
| 2 | Ritual effects one additional target at no cost if possible. |
| 3 | Half (rounded up) of the named ritual components become ritual ash and remain after the ritual completes |
| 4 | Random caster of the ritual is restored 40 fuel as defined by the ritual rules |
| 5 | Ritual scroll (if used) is destroyed and becomes known by the primary caster at no SP cost |
| 6 | Random caster takes half from <fire/water/wind/stone> for 2 months |
| 7 | All present in the ritual circle gain +10 body for the remainder of the event |
| 8 | Random caster gains CAP 5 from ranged damage attacks for the next 24 hours |
| 9 | Five silver/level of KA: Magic known by primary caster appears in the circle |
| 10 | Duration of the ritual is doubled (if ritual duration is permanent then use number 9) |
| Roll | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 1 | All components remain after the ritual is complete |
| 2 | Casters treat all calls with the word "body" in them as "Normal" for 1 month |
| 3 | The ritual scroll if used is duplicated, if cast from memory one is generated |
| 4 | All casters gain 10 Mana for 2 months if possible |
| 5 | Target becomes "magically untraceable" for one month. (cannot be scryed, targeted by whispering winds or locate rituals, spells, effects) |
| 6 | Random caster becomes Vulnerable <fire/water/wind/stone> for 2 months. |
| 7 | Random target suffers from two hand casting for 24 hours |
| 8 | Random caster is limited to a maximum of three Mana per use for the next 30 days. |
| 9 | All casters lose all remaining Mana for their current reset and cannot use any Knowledge skills for 24 hours |
| 10 | All coin in the circle is destroyed |
| Roll | Outcome |
|---|---|
| 1 | All casters become dead |
| 2 | The circle becomes engulfed in red mist, an additional 100 Residuum must be put into the ritual for it to complete. This must be done in ten minutes or roll again on this table |
| 3 | All casters are instantly teleported to a random location on any plane the character has previously been. |
| 4 | Random caster becomes affected by Silence that can only be removed by resurrection for 3 hours |
| 5 | Everyone in circle take 20 times the primary casters level in Knowledge Magic as Physical damage (single attaack) |
| 6 | The circle becomes engulfed in green mist, an additional 50 Fuel must be put into the ritual for it to complete. This must be done in ten minutes or roll again on this table |
| 7 | Everyone in circle has all limbs Maimed and suffer Venom |
| 8 | An Astral Hound is summoned and must be defeated before the ritual will complete |
| 9 | Everyone in circle has all daily skills (Mana/Energy as well) completely expended for the current reset |
| 10 | Primary caster dissipates, and target suffers from the Devastate effect for 6 months |
| Ritual | Knowledge | Casting Time | Fuel | Residuum | Named |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleanse | Any | 5 Min. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Create High Horoscope | Astronomy | 30 Min. | 5 | 20 | 2 |
| Create Glyph Circle | Astronomy | 60 Min. | 20 | 200 | 10 |
| Create Spell Glyph | Astronomy | 60 Min. | 5 | 50 | 3 |
| Unlock Portal Stone | Astronomy | 15 Min. | 5 | 20 | 1 |
| Create Life Well | Cycle | 15 Min. | 15 | 150 | 10 |
| Unlock Mind | Cycle | 60 Min. | 10 | 10 | 3 |
| Ressurect | Cycle | 15 Min. | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Speak with Spirits | Cycle | 30 Min. | 5 | 15 | 2 |
| Weapon Aura <Spirit> | Cycle | 15 Min. | 4 | 40 | 4 |
| Discern Location | Geography | 30 Min. | 3 | 25 | 4 |
| Hasten Travel | Geography | 5 Min. | 2 | 15 | 2 |
| Locate Item | Geography | 30 Min. | 3 | 25 | 4 |
| Locate Portal Stone | Geography | 30 Min. | 2 | 30 | 2 |
| Contact Ancient Dead | History | 30 Min. | 5 | 30 | 2 |
| Delve History | History | 30 Min. | 5 | 25 | 2 |
| Legend Lore | History | 30 Min. | 5 | 20 | 2 |
| Create Ritual <item> | Magic | Varies | Varies | Varies | Varies |
| Illusory Form | Magic | 10 Min. | 0 | 5/Target | 1 |
| Proscribe <type> | Magic | 30 Min. | 10/15/20 | 25/50/100 | 15/20/25 |
| Scrying | Magic | 30 Min. | 5 | 50 | 1 |
| Summon | Magic | 15 Min. | 5/10/15 | 10/20/30 | 3/4/5 |
| Teleport | Magic | 10 Min. | 5 | 15 | 2 |
| Weapon Aura <Magic> | Magic | 15 Min. | 4 | 40 | 4 |
| Whispering Winds | Magic | 5 Min. | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Fair Winds | Nautical | 5 Min. | 1 | 25 | 2 |
| Sea Legs | Nautical | 15 Min. | 2 | 20 | 2 |
| Commune | Nature | 60 Min. | 2 | 20 | 2 |
| Death of Fields | Nature | 60 Min. | 4 | 50 | 2 |
| Improve Harvest | Nature | 60 Min. | 4 | 50 | 2 |
| Proscribe <Abom> | Nature | 30 Min. | 10/15/20 | 25/50/100 | 15/20/25 |
| Protection of the woods | Nature | 60 Min. | 2 | 45 | 2 |
| Summon | Nature | 15 Min. | 5/10/15 | 10/20/30 | 3/4/5 |
| Tree Walk | Nature | 15 Min. | 5 | 50 | 4 |
| Weapon Aura <Lightning> | Nature | 15 Min. | 4 | 40 | 4 |
| Contact Extra Planar | Planes | 15 Min. | 3 | 40 | 2 |
| Planar Asylum | Planes | 5 Min. | 0 | 20 | 2 |
| Proscribe <elemental> | Planes | 30 Min. | 10/15/20 | 25/50/100 | 15/20/25 |
| Summon | Planes | 15 Min. | 5/10/15 | 10/20/30 | 3/4/5 |
| Weapon Aura <Elemental> | Planes | 15 Min. | 4 | 40 | 4 |
| Delimit | Species <X> | 30 Min. | 0 | 10 | 3 |
| Species Change | Species <X> | 60 Min. | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Summon Reaver | Species <X> | 300 Min. | 75 | 200 | 5 |
| Nights Watch | Warfare | 30 Min. | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Open Passage | Warfare | 5 Min. | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Shared Strength | Warfare | 5 Min. | 2/SP | 25 | 1 |
| Ward Weapon <type> | Warfare | 15 Min. | 4 | 40 | 4 |
| Precognition | Abyss | 30 Min. | 10 | 10 | 1 |
| Touch of the Grave | Acheron | 30 Min. | 2 | 25 | 2 |
| Proscribe <Spirit> | Acheron | 30 Min. | 25 | 25/50/100 | 25 |
| Blessing of Equinox | Essence | 15 Min. | 10 | 15 | 1 |