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Magic
Spells are learned from a shaman or temple. A spirit magic spell can be learned as part of a winter's extra learning. An adventurer can learn a spell over the winter by using a one-point skill increase.
To cast a spirit magic spell, the adventurer makes a POW roll. If the adventurer fumbles, he expends all the magic points of the spell, but the spell is not cast. If he fails, the spell is not cast, but he expends no magic points. If he succeeds, he expends the magic points of the spell, and the spell is cast. If he criticals, he expends only one magic point.
If the spell has to overcome the resistance of its target, the target then rolls his POW against the caster's roll.
Example: Suboti is casting Demoralize on a troll. Her POW is 11, the troll's is 12. She roll 12 so her spell didn't work. She tries again, and rolls 7, a success; the troll has to resist, and rolls 4. The Demoralize spell overcomes the troll.
Spells described as variable may be cast at up to a third the caster's POW. However, there is no limit to spending magic points to make a spell more capable of overcoming defensive magic. Some places (such as a temple or clan hearth) are inherently magical and allow larger spells to be cast.
Example: With Suboti's POW of 11, Bladesharp 4 is the largest spell she can cast. She could also choose to cast Bladesharp 3, Bladesharp 2, or Bladesharp 1. If she suspects a troll has a large Countermagic spell, she can cast a 12-point Disruption at it (using magic points from an enchantment).
Ranged spells can be cast at targets up to POWx5 metres away. For touch spells, touching the clothing or armor of the target is sufficient unless the spell description declares otherwise.
All active, passive, or transient spells last 5 minutes. Instant spells cause effects only at the moment at which they were cast.
Befuddle
2 points, ranged, passive
This spell confuses an opponent who succumbs to it. It causes him to wonder such things as: Why am I here? Is that a friend? What is happening? Who are they? Which ones are my enemies? Why is everybody fighting?
When this spell successfully overcomes the POW of its victim, he can take only defensive actions and cast only defensive spells. Depending on the victim's natural inclinations, he may freely choose to stay put, seek cover, cast concealing or protective spells, heal himself, put his back to a wall, or run like hell.
If attacked, the victim's confusion is resolved, and he will no longer act as confused (the guy that attacked me is my enemy, and once he is dead his obvious allies are my enemies).
Each round the affected person may make a Recognize roll to figure out who his friends and enemies are. If he succeeds, he may act normally. If he fails, he remains confused. If the roll is a fumble, he will attack his friends.
Binding Enchantment ritual, passive
Bladesharp
3 points, touch, passive
This spell works on any cutting, stabbing, or hacking weapon. It adds +1 to the user's
skill with that weapon. It's incompatible with the other weapon-enhancing spells
of Bludgeon and Fireblade.
Bless
variable, ritual
Bludgeon
3 points, touch, passive
This spell works on any smashing or crushing weapon. It adds +1 to the user's skill
with that weapon. It's incompatible with the other weapon-enhancing spells of Bladesharp and Fireblade.
Control <species>
1 point, ranged, active/passive
A separate spell exists for each rune. Thus there is Control Man Spirit, Control Plant
Spirit, Control Darkness Spirit, Control Spell Spirit, etc.
Coordination
variable, touch, passive
This spell increases the target's DEX. Each point of spell increases DEX by 2 points,
thereby increasing DEX rolls and skills whose initial chance is based on DEX. A creature's DEX may never be increased to more than twice its unadjusted DEX.
Countermagic
variable, passive
Curse
variable, ritual
Darkwall
2 points, ranged, passive/active
Demoralize
variable, ranged, passive
If this spell overcomes the target's POW, he must make a Cowardly roll, at +2 for
each magic point in the spell. If this succeeds, he loses faith in the ability of
himself and his party to win a fight, find treasure, rescue the princess, etc. He uses no offensive tactics, and casts only defensive and heal spells. If practical, he will withdraw from combat. Any Valorous rolls needed are at 2 per point while the spell is active.
Showing a head of a kinsman of the target adds to the effective magic points of the spell: +1 point against members of the head's clan, +2 against members of the head's bloodline, +3 against brother, son, or father.
This spell counteracts Fanaticism; if it's larger than the Fanaticism, it forces a Cowardly roll based on the excess.
Detect Enemies
1 point, ranged, active
Detect Magic 1 point, ranged, active
Detect <Substance> 1 point, ranged, active
Dispel Magic variable, ranged, instant
Disruption 1 point, ranged, instant
This spell damages the target's body. If the target's POW is overcome, the target
takes a wound of d3 points of damage. This damage is not absorbed by armor.
Divining
1 point, ritual
Dullblade variable, ranged, passive
This spell works on any weapon, sharp or blunt. It reduces damage by two points per
point of spell. 3 points of Dullblade can also be used to counteract Bladesharp or
Bludgeon.
Extinguish variable, ranged, instant
Fanaticism variable, ranged, passive
If this spell overcomes the target's POW, he must make a Valorous roll, at +2 for
each magic point in the spell. If this succeeds, he becomes concerned only with fighting. He may not use the Defense tactic, and may not cast magic other than attack spells. Any further Valorous rolls are at +2 per point while the spell is active.
Fanaticism counteracts Demoralize; if it's larger than the Demoralize, it forces a Valorous roll based on the excess.
If cast on an unwilling target, the caster must overcome his POW.
Farsee variable, ranged, passive
Each point of this spell halves the apparent distance as seen by the caster to the
rest of the universe. The effect includes foreshortening of the field of vision,
exactly as if a telephoto lens was being used. If a particular target is specified,
then the spell magnifies only the target, and the viewer's Awareness skill is increased by one for each magic point spent powering the spell.
Firearrow 2 points, touch, transient
This spell creates a missile of fire which does +2d6 damage when it strikes. It must
be cast on an ordinary arrow, rock, or dart which bursts into fire and is consumed
as the missile leaves the hand of the caster. Armor will help protect a target. A
Firearrow will ignite flammable material. This damage cannot be resisted (i.e. POW vs POW) because it is actually physical damage from the heat of the fire. This spell is incompatible with Multimissile and Speedart.
Fireblade 3 points, touch, passive
Cast on any edged weapon or spear, this spell adds +1d6 damage when it strikes. The
weapon is unharmed by this magical fire. Fireblade is incompatible with Bladesharp
and True <weapon>.
Glamour variable, touch, passive
Glue
variable, touch, passive
Heal variable, touch, instant
This spell repairs damage done to hit points. For creatures of the caster's species,
Heal replaces 1 hit point for each point of Heal used. The part of the body being
healed must be touched. The effect is immediate. Creatures of species other than
the caster's cost 2 points of healing per hit point repaired. A wound may only be magically healed once.
Ignite 1 point, ranged, instant
Ironhand
3 points, touch, passive
Light
1 point, ranged, passive
Lightwall 4 points, ranged, passive/active
Magic Point Matrix Enchantment
ritual, passive
Mindspeech variable, ranged, passive
This spell allows mind-to-mind communication, like mental telepathy. Each point of
the spell allows one more person to be in contact with the caster.
Mobility variable, ranged, passive
Each point of this spell adds one to the target's movement rating for its duration.
Multimissile variable, touch, transient
Each point of the spell cast upon an arrow, rock, throwing knife, javelin, throwing
axe, or crossbow bolt creates a magical missile the instant that the original is
fired. The magical missile does 1d6 less damage than a normal missile. Each of the
missile attacks is rolled separately, The first roll is for the original, which is the only
one that can critical. This spell is incompatible with Speedart and Firearrow.
Larger missile weapons require several points of this spell to create a single missile. An arbalest, for instance, requires 2 points of spell per missile.
This spell can be cast onto a missile and will work only once if the missile is used any time within the spell's duration.
Peaceful Cut
1 point, touch, instant
Protection variable, ranged, passive
Each point of this spell adds a point of armor protection to the whole body or object.
Naked humans (and others with no natural armor) receive twice this protection. It
acts in every way like magical armor.
Repair
2 points, touch, instant
This spell repairs broken items (such as weapons broken by a fumble), provided all
the pieces are available. If used to Repair magic items, the spell does not return
any broken enchantments or released spirits.
If a successful Industry or Devise roll is made before casting Repair, the item will show no visible scar.
Second Sight 3 points, ranged, passive
This spell allows a person to view the POW aura of living beings and to gauge its
relative strength.
Shimmer
variable, ranged, passive
This spell blurs and distorts the target's visual image making it harder to hit. Each
point subtracts two from the skill of any enemy attempting to hit the affected target
with missiles. It has no effect on mêlée combat.
Silence variable, touch, passive
Each point of this spell adds 2 points to the Stealth skill of a person attempting
to keep down his noise, and will muffle incidental noises (the brush of pants, soft
footsteps, etc.) made by the target. It will not stop someone from chanting a spell,
issuing commands, clumsily stepping on a large twig causing a loud snap, knocking over a vase and having it shatter, or similar loud and sharp sounds caused by fumbled
Stealth rolls.
Slow variable, ranged, passive
This spell slows down an enemy at a rate of one metre per point of spell. It may reduce the movement of a creature to zero.
A creature whose movement is reduced to zero may still move by increasing its movement rate by running or sprinting, but this increases the target's chance of fatigue.
Speedart 1 point, touch, transient
This spell adds +1d6 points of damage to any missile, and adds +1 to the weapon skill
with that missile.
This spell can be cast onto a missile and will work only once if the missile is used any time within the spell's duration.
Spell Matrix Enchantment ritual, passive
Spirit Screen variable, ranged, passive
This spell protects the target in Spirit Combat. Make the opposed roll normally. If the target wins, he rolls for damage as normal (and may lose magic points for a partial success). If the target fails, add the number of points of Spirit Screen to his POW for the purpose of determining his opponent's success.
Suboti, in spirit combat with a passion spirit, casts Spirit Screen 3 on herself. Her POW is 9, the spirit's 12. She rolls 11, a failure, and the spirit rolls 2. Normally, she would lose magic points, but the spell gives her a defensive ability of 12 which makes her roll a success, so she takes no damage. The next round, she rolls 8, and the spirit rolls 4. She wins, but still loses 1 magic point for the spirit's partial success.
Strength variable, touch, passive
Each point of this spell adds 2 points of STR to the target for the spell's duration.
This spell affects damage and movement rate for the duration of the spell. A creature's STR may never be increased to more than twice its unadjusted STR.
Summon <otherworld species> 1 point, ritual
Vigor variable, touch, passive
Each point of this spell adds 2 points to the target's CON (and thus adds 1 hit point).
A creature's CON may never be increased to more than twice its unadjusted CON.
Visibility 2 points, ranged, passive
This special spell transfers an otherworld creature from the spirit plane to the mundane plane, giving it a translucent form.