Difference between revisions of "Dorchadas/Spells"

Latest revision as of 01:15, 6 April 2010

Terrestrial Circle Sorcery

In A Glass Preserved

Cost: 10 Motes

Mirrors can be privy to many secrets. Many a secret counsel or hidden meeting has been reflected in a looking glass, but unfortunately, the images in a glass are lost after the event has occurred. This spell was developed as a method of cirumventing that limitation. At the casting of the spell, the caster selects a mirror which must be present at the casting. Thereafter, the caster may, by silent effort of will, order the mirror to begin "recording." It will record for a full scene, after which it may be played back by the caster at any time.

The playback shows the reflection exactly as it would have appeared in the mirror, including perspective--it is possible to change one's viewpoint to view different parts of the recorded scene. The recording is auditory as well as visual, but the viewers can only hear people that they can see reflected from their perspective, making the observation of large conversations a tedious affair. The mirror must also be of excellent quality--a scuffed mirror will replay slightly out of focus, for example, while a cracked mirror will often skip forward a few seconds during the playback.

Note that the focus of this spell must be an actual mirror, and not simply a reflective surface. The recorded scene may be played back as many times as the caster wishes, but the spell must be recast (and the previous recording lost) if the caster wishes to record another scene.

Binding Emerald Seal

Cost: [Original cost of bound spell] + 5 motes

While sorcery is very powerful in the hands of a skilled practitioner, every spell has a weakness that cannot be circumvented--counterspelling. There is no way to get around this weakness, but there is a way to make it harder to exploit. The spell Binding Emerald Seal protects a Terrestrial Circle Spell from the effects of one casting of Emerald Countermagic, preventing it from taking any effect on the spell so bound (note that this may only be cast on a pre-existing spell, making it useless for most combat magics). Any casting of countermagic on the original spell causes the Seal to react violently. Countermagicking the Seal explicitly causes it to dissapate with no effect, though the Seal camoflauges itself within the Essences flows of the spell it is protecting. A successful Perception + Investigation roll with a difficulty equal to the original caster's Essence, and some means of perceiving Essence flows, are necessary in order to discover the Seal. If countermagic is cast on the Sealed spell, the caster must roll Wits + Occult with difficulty equal to the Permanent Essence of the caster of Binding Emerald Seal. Success on this roll means the magic dissipates harmlessly, while failure causes the caster of countermagic to take a number of levels of lethal damage equal to the original caster's Permanent Essence, which may be soaked normally using only Stamina. A Botch on this roll causes the caster of countermagic to take a number of levels of lethal damage equal to the number of motes used to cast the original spell protected by the binding (again, soaked only with Stamina).

There cannot be more than one Binding Emerald Seal placed on a spell at any one time. There are other versions of this spell--Binding Sapphire / Adamant Seal--for the other Circles of sorcery. Binding Sapphire Seal costs an additional 10 motes beyond the cost of the bound spell, and Binding Adamant Seal costs an additional 15. Casting this spell requires a successful Intelligence + Occult roll with a variable difficulty (Emerald 1, Sapphire 3, Adamant 5). A botch not only causes the casting to fail, but disrupts the spell the Seal was to be laid on. A Seal may not be cast on another Seal.

Celestial Circle Sorcery

The Doorway Home

Cost: 5 Motes/30 Motes

This spell allows the caster to cross Creation in the blink of an eye--as long as they have been there before. It was developed as an extension of Travel Without Distance, but does not have that same limitations on range that the latter spell does. The Doorway Home can carry the caster any distance, but some very specific conditions must be met before this can occur.

First, the caster must have committed five motes to the location that she wishes to be able to return to. This involves a standard difficulty Intelligence + Occult roll, performed at the location to be transported to later, and a one hour ritual which cannot be interrupted or it must be begun again. Second, the caster cannot take anything she cannot carry herself, and must come alone. Third, the caster must make use of this spell before the next Calibration, or the attunement fades and must be performed again. The spell does not function at all during Calibration, though there are apocryphal reports of casters who attempted it during that time being hurled all sorts of places, including the depths of the Wyld, the Labyrinth, various places in Creation, and Malfeas.

Solar Circle Sorcery

Fiery Bridge Between Heaven and Earth

Cost: 70 Motes

In the First Age, the will of the Solar Exalted was supreme. The gods of the seasons and the weather bowed to them, and the world was theirs for the ordering. This spell is an extension of that mandate. While the Solar Exalted cannot change the sun or the moon or the stars with their power, this lesser manipulation of the heavens was permitted to them.

With the use of this spell, the sorcerer does no less than call a piece of the heavens down to the earth with devastating results. The meteor thus summoned is superficially similar to the natural meteors which fall from time to time (and will register as one to the Sidereals' astrological searches, though it does not actually contain Starmetal) but is greatly enhanced by the spell's power. The ritual itself to draw down the meteor takes 15 minutes and must be performed on the exact location where the sorcerer intends the meteor to land. As the ritual begins, the caster's anima flares to its full iconic splendor and remains that way for the duration of the casting. Despite extensive testing in the First Age, this effect could not be removed without causing the spell also to fail--Twilight savants theorized that the caster's anima acted as a beacon for the meteor.

When the ritual is complete, the caster has five turns to remove himself from the ritual location before the meteor impacts. The impact itself is of incredibly fury. Anything within 10 x the caster's Permanent Essence in yards is utterly annihilated by the power of the explosion. Wood melts, stone is vaporized, and even the Five Magical Materials can be be destroyed if they are unprotected from the full force of the blast. Only a perfect defense can save anyone caught within this radius.

Within 100 x the caster's Permanent Essence in yards, the damage is less severe, but still extensive. Anyone caught in the blast must soak a number of levels of lethal damage equal to caster's Permanent Essence x 6. Everyone in the radius must roll also Stamina + Endurance, Difficulty 5, or be knocked back a number of yards equal to the total dice of unsoaked damage taken. Hitting a object before this distance is reached causes bashing damage equal to the extra number of yards that would be traveled as normal. If the targets succeed in avoiding knockback, they must still have have a Stamina + Endurance of 8 or greater, or they are automatically knocked prone. Otherwise, they may test for knockdown normally. Any flammable material in the area which is not vaporized will certainly burst into flames.

Note that the meteor (and the caster's anima, if he does not take precautions) will be visible for miles even before the spell is complete.

Vengeance From Beyond

Cost: 40 Motes

This spell was designed at the end of the First Age when the Twilight Caste had grown superlatively paranoid. It was designed as a method of insurance--by binding two beings together so that the death of the one affects the other, the caster could assure that the target would not dream of assassinating him, and also that the target would attempt to protect him. As many Twilights cast this on their Lunar mates, it did not make them any more popular.

When the spell is cast, the caster rolls Manipulation + Occult in a contested roll against the target's Willpower. If the target is successful, the motes are wasted, but if the caster is successful it forges a bond between caster and target. The target may repeat the Willpower roll once per year during Calibration, rolling against the caster's original number of successes, to break the spell. Failure on this roll inflicts a level of Aggravated damage on the target, though no other penalties are incurred. Success on the roll immediately breaks the spell and alerts the caster that the target is no longer bound.

If the spell is still active when the caster dies, then its full effects are felt by the target. The target immediately takes a number of levels of damage equal to the total number of health levels of damage sustained by the caster at the moment of death, including health levels below incapacitated, and an additional number of health levels equal to the caster's Permanent Essence. This damage is lethal (unless the caster was killed directly by the target, in which case it is aggravated) but can only be soaked by natural soak--armor provides no protection. It is, however, considered to be damage for the purposes of Charms that reduce or avoid damage. It is not considered an attack for the purposes of charms like Heavenly Guardian Defense (i.e., it cannot be dodged or blocked because the attack is channeled through the target's anima), though perfect effects such as Invulnerable Moonsilver Carapace or Adamant Skin Technique will protect against the damage, if the target has any way to anticipate it.

When the spell is triggered, viewers see the ghostly image of the caster's anima flare around the target for just an instant before the target bursts into flames that seem to come from inside his body. If the target is killed by this spell, his body is completely disintegrated, though the soul suffers no adverse effects. This spell cannot be cast on anyone with a Permanent Essence higher than the caster's, and the caster may only have one target affected by it at a time.

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Comments, Suggestions, or Flames

Wow! That Doorway spell is a really awesome idea...I'm kind of confused about the meteor one though...can the caster choose where it hits, or does the blast radiate from the caster? Maylin

It nukes at the caster's feet. That's why he has to run like hell to get away from the blast zone. -EndlessChase

He'll have to cover more than 100 yards per turn if he wants to get clear in time. (That's over 68 miles per hour.) This'd be a good time to use Stormwind Rider. :) - Raindoll

I like the meteor spell: it's the tac-nuke spell that's always been missing. :) (Does the meteor produce Starmetal? I think that'd be pushing it.) - Raindoll

Oops! I meant to specify that it didn't, but I see that there's nothing in there about it...I'll add that now. Though it is an interesting thought--power-mad First Age Solars nuking large areas of wilderness so that their Sidereal advisors could build more toys for them. And thanks for the criticism ^_^ - Dorchadas

Paranoid twilights? You mean Shining Star didn't want to risk her little mortal experiment! lol...anyway, I like that new spell...wish I had the balls to actually think up on...but I would just get laughed at...or told the spells already exists...um right. maylin

Binding Emerald Seal: First, I assume that this can only be cast on a pre-existing spell effect, not somehow cast at the same time as you're casting another spell. Best to make this explicit to avoid confusion. Second, I'd recommend requiring a roll to cast the BES, with a botch shattering the spell you're laying the Seal upon. - Quendalon

You're right--I'll add a line to that effect. And a roll is probably a good idea too -Dorchadas

Cool. Also, technically the Seal doesn't respond to being countered, it responds to countermagic disrected at the spell it's on. I think it should be possible to counter the Seal directly, without it going boom, if you can determine that it's there, because it seems cooler that way. - Quendalon

So noted, and mechanics added to that effect ^_^ -Dorchadas

Out of my oft morbid sense of curiousity, can you Seal a Seal? And can you use a Saphire or Adamant Seal on a lower Circle spell? Also, possibly the Seal should be tied to some physical object, which may be broken directly to break the Seal, if you know about it (although the physical form may be something unbreakable normally- but it should still break when the Seal does. I'm just saying :) DS with visions of chains of Seals... and flashes of Wheel of Time...

Hehe...I didn't even think of the Wheel of Time connection. And I would say no to Sealing a Seal, because that could lead to an enormous chain of annoyance for all involved, and I don't think having to endlessly countermagic while worrying about rampant explosions fits the definition of 'cool.' :-p I wouldn't include objects here--it's getting complicated enough already--but it gives me an idea for a Solar Circle Spell that makes another spell completely unbreakable as long as the object keyed into the spell remains undamaged. I wonder if they had cuendillar in the First Age... -Dorchadas

Course - They just called it white jade. :) DS