Spells

Every Character is capable of casting magic in the form of mana. The amount of maana a character is able to cast depends on that character’s Mana Pool (MP) and is used by spells and magical abilities. Every Spell and magical ability has a Mana Cost (MC) that is depleted from the character’s MP when cast.
Some spells have a Mana Cost of 0 and are called Cantrips and can be cast without any cost but instead the caster must have at least 1 point still in their Mana Pool. If a Mana Pool does reach 0 then the caster then becomes Exhausted for one round after expending all magic. A Character can keep using magic if the Mana Pool is at 0 but doing so subtracts the amount used from their Constitution Score which risks passing out or even death. However, Cantrips cannot be cast if the Mana Pool is at 0 as their Constitution cannot be used for 0 Mana Cost.
Every spell also has a Spell Access Level that determines the complexity of the spell. Starting at level one, Characters only have access to Cantrips. In order to gain access to higher level spells they must spend the appropriate amount of Build Points to unlock them and each level must be unlocked in order and lower SAL spells cannot be skipped. See the Leveling System for more details about this.

Spell Access Level (SAL)	Build Point (BP) Unlock Requirement
Cantrip	–
Common	5
Uncommon	10
Abnormal	15
Rare	20
Very Rare	25

Many spells have a Spell Die (SD) that is used to calculate how much damage the spell deals to a target. Generally, each spell only has to have dice rolled for one thing in the spell. For every SD used in a spell, the MC of the spell increases by 2. Thus, 2 MC = 1SD for every spell. The more Mana that is spent in the spell, the more SD can be used. Just like Unarmed Die, the amount of damage that the Spell Die deals depends on if a Character has leveled up the damage by expending Build Points to unlock them. Starting at level one, all Characters deal 1d4 damage for their SD.

Spell Die (SD)	Build Point (BP) Unlock Requirement
1d4	–
1d6	5
1d8	10
1d10	15
1d12	20

Whenever attacking with a spell the Character must make a Spell Attack that goes against the Spell Dodge. Spell Attacks are calculated by rolling a 1d20 and adding any Training Ranks the character has in Spell Attack plus their Sanity.

Spell Attack = 1d20 + Sanity Score + Spell Attack Training + Bonuses

If it meets or beats your opponents Spell Dodge then it hits the target. Damage is then rolled and calculated depending on the spell using the Spell Die (SD) plus any training in Spell Attack. The damage goes against the target’s Spell Resistance (SR) and the difference between the two is subtracted from the target’s Health Pool and the rest is dealt to their armor. The Spell Damage formula is:

Spell Damage = SD + Spell Attack Training Ranks + Bonuses

​The amount of Mana a spell costs also determines how long it takes for the spell to be cast. For every 10 MC spent on a spell the cast time is 1 Standard Action. Spells that cost more than this must be charged, uninterrupted, for more than one round or can be assisted by other spell casters who have the same spell. For example, a 20 MC spell will take 2 rounds for a caster to spend and use. However, another spell caster casting the same spell can split the cost and both can use 10 MC each to cast the same spell in one turn.
This group Mana sharing is sometimes required for higher cost spells. For example, if a spell cost 100 MC to cast then it will be impossible for lower level casters to cast it without the aid of multiple same level casters or a few higher leveled ones. Still yet, some spells are impossible to cast by only one caster and can have MCs in the thousands, making it required for multiple casters to cast the spell and split the cost between them. The MC can be split in any way so long the casters have enough Mana in their Mana Pool to be able to assist.

Spell Dice Check

Every spell has a Spell DC that can be calculated and are used for various things including crafting and calculations for other spells such as saves against spells or if a spell is being Nullified. The Spell DC is calculated by:

Spell DC = 10 + MC + Caster’s Level

Spell Range Types

Some spells attack multiple targets at once. For example, spells with a Cone, Line of Attack, or Area of Effect will hit multiple targets dealing the same effects and amount of damage to each target in its range.

• Cone attacks starts from the caster and spreads out, doubling in width for every five feet it extends out. The player must roll a single spell attack roll and all targets in range whose Spell Dodge is lower than the spell attack roll are effected by the spell and all of its effects.
• Line of Attack is the same as cone, except it reaches out in a single straight line and its width does not increase. Again, the player must roll a single spell attack roll and all targets in range whose Spell Dodge is lower than the spell attack roll are effected by the spell and all of its effects.
• Area of Effect spells do not have a defined shape, but instead effect an area as large as the caster is capable of putting Mana into the spell and all targets within the spell’s area of effect range whose Spell Dodge is lower than the caster’s spell attack role are effected by the spell and all of its effects. Some of these spells may have a DC that can be overcome for the purpose of hardness or effectiveness.

Bloodlines provide affinities to a creature. Whenever a creature with a bloodline casts a Mana spell then the spell automatically gains the affinity of the caster’s bloodline. For example, a creature with a Shadow Bloodline that casts the spell “Mana Blast” will deal shadow damage in a Shadow Blast spell instead. In order to change the elemental type the caster would need to use the Cantrip “Mana Affinity” as other casters.

The Spell List & Casting Rules

The Spell List reveals many important things about the spell, starting with the Spell Name. Every spell has a minimum Mana Cost but not necessarily a maximum. What the MC determines is always defined in the spell’s description (the details of what the spell does and how to cast it), which is also listed on the Spell List.

The only cost that the spell list will show is the minimum and is typically presented as “>1” or something similar (sometimes it will say “See Chart” for spells that have Spell Charts, such as being based on size). This is errata for “1 MC or more” and it means that the minimum cost for this spell (to use the weakest form of it) costs only 1 MC, but that more Mana can be used to make the spell either have more effects or to deal more damage (increasing the SD) or even increasing the range, duration, or amount of targets affected by the spell.

For example, the spell Magic Missile is defined in its spell effect as “You shoot missiles of pure magic at a target and deal 1 SD of damage to them.” Just like the MC for the spell, this reveals the effect of what the minimum cost for this would do. The MC for Magic Missile is presented as “>2” and as the effect reveals, the MC is for the SD used in the spell. Anytime a spell uses a SD, 2 MC is automatically added to the minimum MC to cast the spell. If the player wanted to use another SD they would have to use 2 more MC making 2 SD for Magic Missile cost 4 MC.

Sometimes a spell has no SD in it and instead the amount of Mana used changes a different aspect. For example, Acute Senses has the MC increase the amount of time the spell lasts for. The MC for Acute Senses is listed as “>1” and the Effect states “…the effect lasts for 1 hour/MC” and the Spell Duration (how long a spell lasts for, covered below) is listed as “>1 hour” meaning “One hour or More for each MC”. In full this spell is explaining that for every 1 MC used on Acute Senses, the effect lasts for 1 hour. If 5 MC is used on this spell, the spell will last for 5 hours.

Lastly, the Mana Cost can represent multiple factors at once and the amount of Mana used can increase some aspects while not increasing other aspects. For example, the spell Mana Rain is listed as having a MC of “>3” and its Effect states both that “the size of the spell is a 5 feet in diameter/1 MC” and that “it deals 1SD of damage.” This means that the minimum of this spell deals 1 SD of damage while the cloud itself only has a diameter of 5 feet. If you wanted to increase the size of the cloud to 10 feet, which would be an additional 1 MC making the spell cost 4 MC total (2 for the 10 feet diameter and 2 for the 1 SD). Alternatively, you could increase the amount of damage the cloud does, and not its size, making it only 5 feet in diameter but deal 2 SD. In this case, the spell would cost 5 MC (1 for the 5 feet and 4 for the 2 SD). Of course either aspect or even both aspects of the spell could be increased and to any size or any amount of SD as you are able and willing to put into it.

Duration is how long a spell, once cast, will last for. Some spells have a duration that depends on the amount of MC is used while others either have a set amount of time are depend on how many levels the caster who cast the spell has and can be based on rounds, minutes, or even hours.

The Casting Time is how long it takes for a spell to be cast by the caster which includes prep and all actions required to perform the spell. Spells with a MC of 10 automatically take one action depending on the type of action the spell. For every 10 MC the spell requires 1 action and therefore can take multiple rounds to cast. Most spells require 1 Standard Action however, some may only be 1 Swift Action or even a Full Round Action (FRA) meaning they cannot make any other actions the turn they cast the spell except for an Instant Action. If any Actions other than Instant were already taken that turn then a FRA spell cannot be cast that turn.

The spell Range determines the maximum range that a spell can be cast to. Touch spells can only be cast by physically touching the intended target with a part of the caster’s body. Close spells have a maximum range of 30 feet and meant for small engagements involving a traditional party. Medium spells have a maximum range of 200 feet and is meant for large scale combat involving multiple parties across a field. Long spells have a maximum range of 500 feet and is meant for long range combat including sea or aerial combat involving multiple casters and even multiple armies. While Engaged In Combat, casters can only cast a spell up to their Visual Range regardless of the spell’s range and otherwise take a -2 penalty to Attack for every 5 feet after their visual range.

Deciphering Spells

Sometimes a Character will come across a magical text, spell book, or other magical writings that hold the formula or magical signature of a spell. In such scenarios the character is capable of learning spells from the texts by making a Spell Craft Check and overcoming the Decipher Spell DC.

Decipher Spell DC = 10 + Rarity Score

The Rarity Score is calculated from each rarity level as Common +5, Uncommon +10, Abnormal +20, Rare +25, and Very Rare +30.

If successful, the character will learn the new spell and can add it to their spell list. However, even if a character learns a spell they may not be able to cast it. For example, if the character only has access to Common spells but learns an Uncommon spell then they will have the knowledge of how to cast the spell but will not have the skill to and therefore be unable to cast it until they gain access to Uncommon spells.