The magic of Mortal Reins is wily and unpredictable. It can’t be tamed, but it can be harnessed by skilled hands. Casters can draw upon powerful magic in the heat of a moment, pouring their life and energy into their spells at the risk of a misfire. More cautious professions imbue potions and objects with arcane power to be drawn upon later, though safety comes at the cost of weaker magic.
Regardless of whether a character is a caster or a crafter, the spells they draw upon are unique to them, created by the player using spell points and modifiers. Even commonly used spells, such as healing hands or invisibility can be modified to suit the player’s needs. These common spells are listed and available for use, including a list of the modifiers and powers that make them work.
Every spell created requires a source, a mode, and powers. The source is the “engine.” A domain of magic which powers the spell. Each spell can only have one source, which determines what powers can be drawn from it. And those powers, in turn, affect the way the spell works. The mode is how each spell is channeled. They can be cast, imbued into items, pulled unpredictably from the arcane currents, or prepared and stabilized in advance for future use.
Magical Domains:
-Sorcery: Magic in its most basic form. This is the default source if nothing else is specified.
-Fire: Strengthens light and damaging spells by 2, and cannot be cast stealthily.
-Water: Doubles area of effect automatically. Must be cast from a source of water unless being used to create water.
-Earth: Strengthens force spells by 2 automatically. Must be cast from a source of earth unless being used to create earth.
-Air: Must be cast from a source of air unless being used to create air.
-Necromancy: Dark, illegal magic. These spells often come at a steep cost.
-Holy: Magic requiring the favor of a god to cast.
-Mind: Mind controlling magic. Spells of this domain have no effect on monsters or people with 0 empathy.
-Illusion: Magic that manipulates perception. Spells in this domain can be used in tandem with the help statistic/skill/specialty action to reduce the number of spell points needed to cast.
-Nature: Deals with the spirits of living things such as plants and animals. Requires the presence of said living things near the target in order to work
An Example:
After a particularly grueling journey, Ezra the wizard finds her companions suffering a variety of ailments, ranging from the common cold to a particularly nasty infection on the warrior's arm. Ezra knows that curing an infection or illness can only be done using holy, necromancy, nature, or water as a source. A water source can only cure infections. A nature source can only heal diseases. A holy source could cure either, and a necromancy source can heal either at the cost of body points. Because of the variety of ailments Ezra chooses to call upon her diety as the source of her spell. Healing power is 10 SP, and by default requires the caster’s touch. However, Ezra has 4 people to heal in a short amount of time, and chooses instead to add the “Area of Effect" modifier to the spell for additional points. This makes the spell harder to cast, and so she uses a ritual dance and a candle to focus and channel the spell more easily.
The above spell was written to be cast in the moment, but could instead be modified to be imbued into a candle for use later as a magic item. Spells can also be distilled into potions and poisons by a well-practiced alchemist, or etched into metal by the skilled hands of a runesmith.
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