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Spellcasting Axioms

  • Magic always works.
  • A spell always produces its type of effect:
    • Wards always ward.
    • Summons always summon.
    • Distortions always distort.
  • Spell rolls determine how the effect manifests, not whether it manifests.
  • Bad outcomes cause backlash, escalation, or unwanted consequences, never null effects.
  • Magic never grants ownership or control, only influence.
  • Most spells require Head and interfere with mundane defense while active.
  • Spells cost stamina and may cause wounds or attention on poor results.

Elder Sign

Type: Control / Ward
Action: Head
Cost: 1 stamina
Targets: Supernatural creatures interacting with the warded area
Duration: Until start of your next turn (may sustain for 1 stamina)

You inscribe or assert a symbol that reality recognizes as rejection.

Always:

  • The area is warded against the supernatural.

Roll Magic once. Apply the result:

  • Failure:
    • The ward is weak.
    • Supernatural creatures may advance, but suffer hesitation or distortion.
  • Critical Failure:
    • As Failure.
    • You suffer 1 arm wound (your choice).
  • Success:
    • The ward holds.
    • Supernatural creatures cannot advance into the warded area.
  • Partial Critical:
    • As Success.
    • Creatures that attempt to advance suffer 1 core wound.
  • Legendary:
    • As Success.
    • Creatures that attempt to advance suffer 2 core wounds and are thrown from the area.

The Colour Out of Space

Type: Intrusion / Summoning
Action: Head + one Hand
Cost: 1 stamina
Target: One creature or point in space

You expose the target to something that should not exist.

Always:

  • An otherworldly intrusion occurs.
  • A hostile aberrant growth will manifest.

Roll Magic once. Apply the result:

  • Failure:
    • Target suffers 1 stamina damage.
    • A Lesser Colour Growth manifests at end of round.
  • Critical Failure:
    • As Failure.
    • Growth manifests immediately.
    • You suffer 1 stamina backlash.
  • Success:
    • Target suffers 1 wound (ignores armor).
    • Growth manifests immediately, hostile to all.
  • Partial Critical:
    • As Success.
    • Growth is larger or faster and acts before the target.
  • Legendary:
    • As Success.
    • Growth expands into adjacent space, warping the area and escalating the threat.

The Call

Type: Compulsion / Lure
Action: Head
Cost: 1 stamina
Target: One creature or a point in space within sight

You broadcast an invitation that should never be heard.
Something answers. The question is what and how.

Always:

  • A compulsion manifests.
  • Affected creatures feel an undeniable pull toward the call.

Roll Magic once. Apply the result:

  • Critical Failure:
    • The call is uncontrolled.
    • The nearest hostile creature is drawn toward you instead.
    • You suffer 1 stamina backlash or become disoriented.
  • Failure:
    • The call emanates from the wrong place.
    • The creature is drawn toward a nearby unintended location.
  • Success:
    • The creature is compelled to move toward the chosen location on its next turn.
    • It must advance if able, even if doing so is dangerous.
  • Partial Critical:
    • As Success.
    • The creature suffers hesitation and cannot take reactions while moving.
  • Legendary:
    • As Success.
    • The creature is urgently drawn, advancing immediately if possible.
    • You may affect one additional nearby creature.

Pseudo-Apotheosis

Type: Permanent Transformation / Adaptation
Action: Head + Body
Cost: 1 stamina
Target: Self

You force your body into a higher functional state it was never meant to sustain.

Always:

  • One physical adaptation becomes permanent.
  • Each adaptation permanently removes or degrades a human capability.

Choose one adaptation when casting.

Roll Magic once. Apply the result:

  • Critical Failure:
    • The adaptation manifests violently.
    • You gain the adaptation and suffer 1 wound or a severe visible deformity.
  • Failure:
    • The adaptation works, but with pronounced drawbacks.
    • Increase the listed downside.
  • Success:
    • The adaptation works as described.
  • Partial Critical:
    • The adaptation integrates cleanly.
    • Reduce the listed downside slightly.
  • Legendary:
    • The adaptation is near-perfect.
    • The downside remains, but is less intrusive or easier to manage.

The Unveiling

Type: Revelation / Analysis
Action: Head
Cost: 1 stamina
Target: One supernatural creature, object, or phenomenon within sight

You force understanding where understanding was never meant to exist.

Always:

  • You learn something true and useful about the target.
  • The knowledge is real, immediate, and unsettling.

Roll Magic once. Apply the result:

  • Critical Failure:
    • The truth is overwhelming.
    • You gain critical insight, but suffer mental fracture.
    • You cannot clearly communicate the information this round and suffer a severe penalty on mental actions.
  • Failure:
    • The truth arrives distorted or unfiltered.
    • You learn something important, but must choose one detail to convey to the party.
    • You suffer disorientation or stress.
  • Success:
    • You learn actionable information about the target.
    • You may clearly communicate it to the party.
  • Partial Critical:
    • As Success.
    • Gain an additional useful detail or warning.
  • Legendary:
    • The truth aligns cleanly.
    • You gain deep insight and may ask one focused follow-up question about the target.
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