.TL
Magic Processes
.SH
Introduction
.PP
This document describes changes to the basic processes of magic use\(em
spellcasting, magic item enchantment, and spell skill level improvement.
.PP
The changes delimited in this document
make the ritual involved in spellcasting more complexx
for inexperienced spellcasters.
Ritual, rather than being a simple function of skill level,
is now a function of skill level
\fIand character points in the skill.\fR
A spellcaster who has just learned a spell must use a complex ritual
to cast it, even if his skill level is high.
Furthermore, secular mages are constrained to use magical \fIfocuses\fR
to achieve their nominal aptitude.
Distinctions are carefully drawn between
\fIwands\fR, \fIrods\fR, and \fIstaves\fR.
.PP
Ceremonial magic remains unchanged.
\fIRitual\fR magic is introduced and described.
Ritual magic trades profound increases in time
for decreases in energy costs.
.PP
This document also describes the options availible to secular mages
who wish to learn a new spell
or increase their skill level with a known spell.
Secular magic spellbooks are described.
.SH
Magic Rituals
.PP
When a spellcaster first learns a spell,
he has a difficult time casting it, even if his skill level is high.
Of all the applicable rituals below,
the \fImost restrictive\fR applies.
(Refs. to "most secular mages" specifically include
Roman Guild mages and Celestial mages.
Members of the College of Healing are also constrained by these rules.)
.IP "Skill 11 or below, or one point in the spell:"
.br
The mage must have both hands and feet free for elaborate ritual
movements, and speak certain words of power in a firm voice.
The spell takes \fItwice\fR the listed time to cast,
because it is not yet fully known.
Most secular mages must hold a magic \fIwand\fR in their \fIdominant\fR hand,
or else take \fIsextuple\fR the listed time to cast.
.IP "Skill 12-14, or two points in the spell:"
.br
The mage must speak a few quiet words and make a gesture to
activate the spell.
Most secular mages must hold a \fIrod\fR in their \fIdominant\fR hand
or a \fIwand\fR in \fIeither\fR hand.
At this level (and above) spells take the listed time to complete.
.IP "Skill 15-17, or three points in the spell:"
.br
The mage must speak a word or two and gesture\(em
a couple of fingers are enough.
He is allowed to move one hex per turn
while taking the Concentrate maneuver.
Most secular mages must hold a \fIstaff\fR in their \fIdominant\fR hand
or a rod or wand in \fIeither\fR hand.
Spells known at a skill of 15 to 19 have their energy cost reduced by one,
regardless of the complexity of the necessary ritual.
.IP "Skill 18-20, or four points in the spell:"
.br
The mage must speak a word or two \fIor\fR make a small gesture,
but not necessarily both.
Most secular mages must hold a wand, rod, or staff.
Spells known at a skill of 15 to 19 have their energy cost reduced by one,
regardless of the complexity of the necessary ritual.
Spells known at a skill of 20 to 24 have their energy cost reduced by two,
regardless of the complexity of the necessary ritual.
.IP "Skill 21-24, or five points in the spell:"
.br
No ritual is needed.
The mage simply seems to stare into space as he concentrates.
Casting time is halved,
and if this would reduce time to less than a second, it takes effectively
\fIno\fR time.
(If the casting time becomes a fraction greater than one,
round up.)
The mage may cast the spell while taking another maneuver\(em
fighting, talking, etc.
(Notable exception: the time required to cast \fImissile\fR spells
is not reduced by skill.)
The mage still may not cast two spells during the same turn,
unless one in a blocking spell.
Most secular mages must hold a wand, rod, or staff.
Spells known at a skill of 20 to 24 have their energy cost reduced by two,
regardless of the complexity of the necessary ritual.
.IP "Skill 25 or over, six or more points in the spell:"
.br
As above, but casting time is halved again
(round up, as above.)
Most secular mages must hold a wand, rod, or staff.
Spells known at a skill of 25 to 29 have their energy cost reduced by three,
regardless of the complexity of the necessary ritual.
Each further five levels of skill will halve
casting time again and reduce energy cost by one more.
.LP
Some spells always require a certain ritual or item;
this is noted in the spell lists,
and overrides the general rules given above.
Note too that the time required to cast \fImissile\fR spells
is not reduced by skill.
.LP
Most secular mages habitually use an item enchanted with the Staff spell.
\fINota bene:\fR a mage forced to cast a spell without access to such an item
must either use \fIthree\fR times the ordinary time to cast the spell
\fIor\fR use the next most complex ritual!
See the section
\fIFocuses: The Importance of Wands, Staves, and Rods.\fR
.LP
Both of an ambidexterous mage's hands may be considered dominant.
.sp
.QP
Examples:
.QP
A mage with four points in the spell Fireball and a skill of eleven
must hold a wand in his right hand,
speak loudly,
and have both hands and feet free for ritual movements.
He takes twice the listed time to complete the spell.
.QP
A mage with one point in the spell Minor Healing and a skill of fourteen
must hold a wand in his right hand,
speak loudly,
and have both hands and feet free for ritual movements.
He takes twice the listed time to complete the spell.
.QP
A mage with \fItwo\fR points in the spell Minor Healing and a skill of fourteen
must either hold a rod in his dominant hand or a wand in either hand,
and must speak a few quiet words and make a gesture to activate the spell.
.QP
A mage with two points in the spell Minor Healing and a skill of fifteen
must either hold a rod in his dominant hand or a wand in either hand,
and must speak a few quiet words and make a gesture to activate the spell,
but the energy cost of the spell is reduced by one.
.QP
A mage with three points in the spell Earth to Air and a skill of fifteen
\fIwithout access to a rod, staff, or wand\fR
must either speak a few quiet words and make a gesture,
or speak a word or two and gesture but take three times listed time to
cast the spell.
The energy cost of the spell is reduced by one.
.QP
A mage with one point in the spell Earth to Air and a skill of twelve
\fIwithout access to a rod or wand\fR
must either say a few words and make a gesture,
taking three times the ordinary time to cast the spell,
or else speak words of power and make florid gestures,
taking twice the ordinary time to cast the spell.
.sp 2
.PP
Using the full ritual:
A very skillful spellcaster who uses the full ritual\(em
wand in the dominant hand,
ritual movements, words of power, etcetera\(em
is harder to distract.
The time-doubling effect does not occur;
the mage is casting the spell emphaticly,
not slowly and carefully.
.RS
.IP "Skill of 16, 3+ points in spell:"
.br
If the caster is distracted but not injured,
he rolls against Will - 2, not Will - 3, to continue.
.IP "Skill of 17, 3+ points in spell:"
.br
If the caster is distracted but not injured,
he rolls against Will - 1, not Will - 3, to continue.
.IP "Skill of 18+, 3+ points in spell:"
.br
If the caster is distracted but not injured,
he rolls against Will, not Will - 3, to continue.
.RE
.SH
Focuses: The Importance of Wands, Staves, and Rods
.PP
Most secular spellcasters\(em
specificly including members of the Roman Guilds, Celestial mages,
and Healers\(em
habitually use items enchanted with the Staff spell
to aid concentration and simplify spellcasting.
\fIThe ritual specifications above assume such an item is being used!\fR
This is a profound change from GURPS Magic.
Organic shafts enchanted with the Staff spell are collectively called
\fIfocuses.\fR
Focuses include wands, staves, and rods.
.PP
If a focus is not availible,
the spellcaster may either use the next worse ritual
or simply spend thrice the normal time to cast the spell.
.PP
Wands are easy to use,
rods less so.
Staves are difficult to use.
Wands are fragile,
but they are inexpensive and easily concealed.
Rods and staves may be used as weapons.
A Mage's Touch that is forcibly swung with intent to
inflict damage as well as place a spell on the target
is designated a \fIMage's Bash.\fI
.PP
Focus deployment has the following effects:
.RS
.LP
Missile spells
must be fired from an \fIempty\fR hand.
Missile spells must be fired from the mage's \fIdominant\fR hand
or else suffer off-hand penalties\(em
-4.
Thus, most mages prefer to hold their focuses
in their \fIoff\fR hand to use missile spells.
.LP
However, Regular spells aimed at a specific person or spot
cast with the use of a rod, staff, or wand held in the \fIoff\fR hand
suffer a -1 penalty.
Thus, most mages prefer to hold their rod, staff, or wand
in their \fIdominant\fR hand to use Regular spells.
.LP
Area spells aimed at a specific spot beyond the reach of the spellcaster
cast with the use of a rod, staff, or wand held in the \fIoff\fR hand
suffer a -1 penalty.
.LP
However,
the Mage's Touch is easier to place
when the mage holds his focus in his \fIdominant\fR hand;
a mage attempting such a touch with a focus
held in the off hand suffers the usual -4 penalty.
.RE
.PP
With some exceptions, secular spellcasters \fIhabitually\fR use focuses,
while religious spellcasters do \fInot.\fR
The most glaring exception is the College of Healing.
Although a religious order,
they also habitually use focuses.
.SH
Ceremonial Spellcasting and Time for Energy Tradeoffs
.PP
Ceremonial spellcasting\(em
casting spells in a circle,
and using unskilled spectators\(em
proceeds as delimited on pages M13-M14.
.PP
Any mage, lone or working with a group,
may use "ritual" spellcasting to trade time for energy.
Ritual spellcasting takes a very long time.
When conducting ritual spellcasting,
\fIignore\fR normal skill-based energy decreases.
.PP
To decrease the cost to \fIcast\fR the spell by a single unit,
increase the time to cast the spell by a factor of \fIten\fR.
Spells may not be brought to a cost of zero by this method.
.RS
.LP
\s-1\v-1
Example:
a mage with the skill of Shapeshifting (Eagle)-15
is chained to a rock,
exhausted, and starving to death.
Thus, he has little in the way of fatigue
and cannot hope to recover fatigue normally.
Normally, Shapeshifting takes 6 fatigue to cast and two to maintain.
The mage's skill would normally allow him to cast the spell
in three seconds for five fatigue and maintain it for one,
but the mage only has five fatigue left
and dares not pass out.
If the mage elects to use ritual spellcasting,
he may cast the spell in thirty seconds
for a cost of five and two to maintain, no real gain.
Or, he may cast the spell in three hundred seconds
for a cost of four and two to maintain,
which will at least get him unchained from the rock.
Or, if he expects he can last another 50 minutes,
he may cast the spell in three thousand seconds
for a cost of three and two to maintain.
This will free him and give him an hour to find food.\0.\0.
\v+1\s+1
.RE
.PP
To decrease the cost to \fImaintain\fR the spell by a single unit,
increase the casting time by a factor of \fIten\fR.
To decrease the cost to maintain the spell from one to zero,
increase the casting time by a factor of a \fIhundred\fR.
Exception: this may not be done with spells that normally take
exactly one fatigue to maintain, such as Borrow Language
or a one-hex area Complex Illusion.
.RS
.LP
\s-1\v-1
Example:
A mage with Flight-15 wishes to spend the day in the air.
Normally, Flight takes two seconds to cast,
costs 5 fatigue, and requires three fatigue to maintain.
Without using ritual spellcasting,
this mage would cast the spell in two seconds
at a cost of four and two fatigue to maintain.
If the mage were to take twenty seconds to cast the spell,
the spell would cost five and take two to maintain\(em no real gain.
But were the mage to take two hundred seconds to cast the spell,
he could cast it for five and maintain it for one.
Were the mage to take twenty thousand seconds
(200 * 100, about five and a half hours,)
he could cast it for five and maintain it for nothing.
\v+1\s+1
.RE
.SH
Magic Items
.PP
Quick and Dirty enchantment is forbidden,
except for the following cases:
.RS
.IP "Powerstones:"
.br
The Powerstone spell may be cast using the Quick and Dirty rules.
.IP "Wands, Staves, and Rods:"
.br
The Staff spell may be cast on a wand\(em
a light, fragile organic rod no more than eighteen inches long\(em
using Quick and Dirty enchantment.
To cast a Staff spell on a rod or staff,
the mage must use Slow and Sure enchantment.
.RE
.SH
Learning New Spells - Secular Mages
.PP
To acquire a new spell,
a mage may do any of the following:
.RS
.IP "Cram:"
.br
The mage locks himself up in his tower
with a weeks worth of supplies.
Guild mages need a spellbook;
celestial mages just meditate.
The mage may do nothing but eat, sleep, study, and hallucinate.
If interrupted, he will be confused, at half Fatigue,
and very, very irritated.
At the end of the week,
the player rolls against his IQ - 3.
Upon success, he may \fIinvest\fR a character point in the spell.
Otherwise, he is credited with eighty hours of study of the spell.
Upon critical failure,
an appropriate backfire occurs.
(This is considered "study at full speed.")
.IP "Solitary study:"
.br
Over the course of time, the mage studies the spell.
Guild mages need a spellbook as well.
For every eighty hours of study,
the player should roll against
(IQ + Magery - 2);
on critical failure, a backfire occurs.
If the mage survives 400 hours of study,
he acquires a \fIfree\fR character point in the spell.
(This is considered "study at half speed.")
.KS
.IP "Learning by Example:"
.br
The mage finds a person who knows the spell he wants to know.
The teacher does what he can to convey knowledge of the spell.
The teacher had better have skill in Teaching,
since Guild magic is very hard to learn without the written word.
(Only Guild mages ever need to proceed in this way.)
The mage listens to one hour of lecture for every four spent in practice.
For every hundred hours of study
(or when the term is completed,)
the player should roll against (IQ + Magery - 2);
on critical failure, the usual backfire occurs.
If the student survives enough hours of this,
he acquires a \fIfree\fR character point in the spell.
How many hours are required depends on the Teaching skill
of the teacher.
.TS
center box tab (`);
l l l.
Instructor's Teaching Skill`Time`Total number of rolls against (IQ + Magery - 2)
_
9-`500 hours`5
10`400 hours`4
11`375 hours`4
12`350 hours`4
13`325 hours`4
14`300 hours`3
15`275 hours`3
16`250 hours`3
17`225 hours`3
18+`200 hours`2
.TE
.KE
.IP "Supervised study:"
.br
The mage finds a person qualified to teach him,
and listens to at least one hour of lecture for
every nine spent in practice.
(Guild mages also need access to a spellbook.)
For every hundred hours of study,
the player should roll against (IQ + Magery - 1);
on critical failure, a backfire occurs.
Normally, the teacher will be present
to help deal with the results.
If the mage survives 300 hours of study,
he acquires a \fIfree\fR character point in the spell.
(This is considered "study at two-thirds speed.")
.IP "Highly supervised study:"
.br
The mage finds a person qualified to teach him
and listens to at least one hour of lecture
for every four spent in practice.
No spellbook is needed.
For every hundred hours of study,
the player should roll against (IQ + Magery);
on critical failure, a backfire occurs.
Normally, the teacher will be present
to help deal with the results.
If the mage survives 200 hours of study,
he acquires a \fIfree\fR character point in the spell.
(This is considered "study at full speed.")
.RE
.PP
As long as he knows the spell in question,
a Journeyman is qualified to highly supervise the study of an applicant
and supervise the study of an apprentice.
(Note that supervised study involves access to
spellbooks.
Apprentices are not supposed to be capable of
reading spellbooks.\0.\0.)
A Journeyman is qualified to supervise the study of another Journeyman
only if the teaching Journeyman has a skill of fifteen or greater
in the apropos spell.
.PP
As long as he knows the spell in question,
a Master is qualified to highly supervise
the study of an applicant or an apprentice,
and supervise the study of a Journeyman.
A Master is qualified to supervise the study of another Master
only if the teaching Master has a skill of \fIeighteen\fR or greater
in the apropos spell.
.PP
As long as he knows the spell in question,
a Wizard is qualified to highly supervise
the study of applicants, apprentices and Journeymen,
and supervise the studies of a Master.
Nobody is qualified to supervise the study of a Wizard.
.SH
Learning New Spells - Religious Spellcasters
.PP
Normally, new powers will simply come when appropriate.
Some low-level spells may actually be rote \fIprayers\fR
that are learned as if they were secular spells.
Higher powered spells typically arrive as the result of
an increase in rank and/or virtue.
Exceptions are rife.
.SH
Improving Spell Skill Levels - Secular Spellcasters
.PP
Secular spellcasters may improve their skill levels
by any of the following means.
.RS
.IP "Post-Mortems:"
.br
When a spellcaster attempts to use a spell
under stressful circumstances,
contemplation of the event and practice may yield insight.
Backfires count as stressful circumstances.
A character with time on his hands
and character points waiting to be spent
may attempt to gain such an insight.
To do so, the character must succesfully cast the spell
three times (not necessarily in a row) and then make an IQ roll.
Upon success, the character gains such an insight
and must invest a character point in the spell.
Upon failure, such an insight eludes him.
Upon critical failure, the character is deluded into believing
he has gained an insight,
but actually is at -4 to cast the spell.
The character will realize his error under the following conditions:
the character casts the spell and fails by one to four units,
and then makes an IQ roll.
.IP "One on One Practice:"
.br
It is possible (but rare) for a mage to teach another
a higher skill level.
The teacher must have a skill with the spell
two greater than his student's.
For every eight hours of study,
the student must cast the spell at his current skill level
and deal with any results.
The teacher is there to help.
After two hundred hours of study,
the student attempts an IQ roll.
Upon success, the student's acquires a \fIfree\fR
character point in the skill.
Upon failure, nothing happens,
but the student may attempt another IQ roll
after another 50 hours of work.
Upon critical failure,
the student's brain fails\(em
he \fIloses\fR a character point in the skill!
.IP "Supervised Practice:"
.br
The mage finds a teacher,
a mage qualified to "highly supervise" him
(as described above.)
The student listens to an hour of lecture for every four hours of
practice.
For every twenty hours of work,
the student must attempt to cast the spell and deal with any results.
Ordinarily, the teacher will be there to help.
If the student survives three hundred hours of this foolishness,
he gains a \fIfree\fR character point in the spell.
.IP "Solitary Practice:"
.br
Solitary study is a last resort,
since it is very dangerous.
The mage casts the spell at minus one over and over until he has a
critical success or a critical failure.
(!)
Afterwards,
he spends twenty hours trying to figure out what went right.
Or wrong, as the case may be.
If he survives four hundred hours of this,
he gains a \fIfree\fR character point in the spell.
(This is why truly powerful wizards are recluses.
The neighborhood can't survive their studies.)
.IP "Learning by Doing:"
.br
If the spell is one that \fIordinarily\fR takes ten minutes or more to cast,
the mage may simply elect to cast the spell over and over.
If the mage survives eight hundred hours of this foolishness,
he acquires a \fIfree\fR character point in the spell.
Remember to deduct fatigue recovery times!
The character may \fInot\fR elect to trade time for energy when doing this.
This effect usually occurs when the character is enchanting magic items,
building golems, et al.
A mage enchanting a magic item counts half the time towards
the Enchant spell and half the time towards the spell in question.
.RE
.SH
Improving Spell Skill Levels - Religious Spellcasters
.PP
Normally, skill levels are improved whenever the character has enough
character points to do so.
The spell must be succesfully cast at least once at a given skill level
before further improvement is possible.
Exceptions exist.
.SH
How Much for that Spellbook in the Window?
.PP
Spellbooks are relatively cheap,
considering.
Roman Guild spellbooks are written in the Guild cant;
translating anything written in the Guild cant
is a good way to find oneself on a lily pad.
.PP
The typical Journeyman spell may be described in ten pages
\fIor\fR as many pages as fatigue points the spell normally takes to cast,
whichever is greater.
Enchantment spells have a tenth as many pages as they cost to cast.
Area spells take five times their base cost.
If the resulting figure seems silly, guess ten pages.
(Examples:
Air-Golem takes four fatigue to cast\(em ten pages.
Powerstone takes twenty fatigue to cast\(em twenty pages.
Crystal Ball takes 1000 fatigue to cast\(em one hundred pages.
Bless Plants is an area spell costing 1 per hex radius\(em ten pages.
Weather Dome is an area spell costing 3 per hex radius\(em fifteen pages.
Clouds is an area spell costing 1/20 per hex radius\(em guess ten pages.)
Double this figure for Master level spells;
quadruple it for Wizard level spells.
.PP
Blank books cost $20 (ten pages) to $40 (two hundred pages, very heavy!)
Spellbooks cost $20 + $5 per page.
Most books available for sale from the guild
were copied by hand by people who
don't speak the language.
Not trusting this process,
many people recopy spells themselves.
It takes about two hours to copy and verify a page if you know how to read
the language, three hours otherwise.
Benevolent GMs will let this time count as Solitary Study of the spell.
Transcription errors can yield intriguing situations down the road.
.PP
Wizards usually keep notebooks.
These are very valuable, but very difficult to understand.
Rather than holding discrete spells,
they usually hold descriptions of processes
of interest mostly to other wizards.