Difference between revisions of "SpellRelay/Dueling"

Latest revision as of 02:44, 9 June 2010

The Twelfth theme is Dueling

Sorcery holds spells to do all manner of things from turning the tide of wars, to growing food to feed starving nations. However on a singular level the only real Spells to combat other Sorcerers is counter-magic. Lets change that up, shall we?

Essence Weaving Override - Man-Machine Protocol -- ArabianNinja
Cost: 15 motes
Clarity Minimum: 2

A rarely used protocol remains in the data banks of the Great-Makers archives, a Weave created to combat casters of spells. When in a position to be able to cast a Counter magic, the Alchemical may opt to cast this Protocol instead, in an attempt to Override the caster and prevent their spell, as well as attempt to cause sufficient injury. When cast against another Sorcerer they are immediately locked in a battle to see whose Essence will prevail.
Both casters enter into an opposed Essence + Willpower roll, with the first to attain their opponents Essence Score in successes over the other wins. However, challenging spells in action is not without difficulty due to investure of Essence, and the casters Will, thus attempting to counter spells/protocols of a certain level gives the opposing caster the following automatic successes against the Essence Weaving Override caster:
First Circle Spell - 1 Automatic Successes
Second Circle Spell - 3 Automatic Successes
Third Circle Spell - 5 Automatic Successes
Man-Machine Protocol - 2 Automatic Successes
God-Machine Protocol - 4 Automatic Successes
By accepting a temporary point of Clarity, the Weaver may add either two dice or an automatic success to their next [Essence] rolls in the contest of wills. The maximum number of dice or successes she can benefit from at once is equal to her permanent Clarity rating, so extra dice are lost if her permanent Clarity rating is uneven.
If the Caster is successful, their opponents spell will be dissipated, and their opponent will take the Casters Essence in unsoakable Aggravated damage.
However, if the caster fails, not only will their opponents spell be cast, but they will take their opponents Essence in unsoakable Aggravated Damage.

Showing the Sorcerer's Hand - Terrestrial Circle Sorcery -- DeadManSeven
Cost: 10 motes

A relatively simple spell developed and still in use within the walls of the Heptagram, Showing The Sorcerer's Hand allows two sorcerers to enter into a duel without fear of destroying their surroundings or accidentally killing each other. To enact the spell, the two duellists face each other, bow, and show their open palms to mark non-lethal intent. The actual casting of the spell need not be performed by the combatants (and often is not - Heptagram-based training often calls for either an elder student or Sidereal tutor for the casting), though one student being aided and the other not is considered a gross disadvantage. While the spell is active, a shimmering dome encases each dueller, extending out to a range of their Essence in yards, with a thin silvery line joining them together. Any spell they cast will not extend outside the barriers of the dome, and any third party attempting to reach inside will find their way barred. When one combatant casts a spell at the other, it travels along the silver line in a dazzling flare the colour of the caster's anima banner before erupting inside her opponent's sphere; should the two duellists draw close enough for the spheres to meet, they overlap and merge, sparks of essence flickering where they join.

While under the effects of Showing the Sorcerer's Hand, neither of the duellists can cause lasting damage to the environment around them with their magics - cracked floors mould back to their original shape and broken windows knit together. This also curbs the effect of Dragon-Blooded anima flux, though a flared anima will still be harmful to the opposing duellist. They are also unable to target anyone outside the two duelling spheres; spells aimed out of these two areas will fizzle and dissipate harmlessly. Finally, should one of the combatants be struck by a blow that would kill her, any damage past Incapacitated is removed, all the damage she has taken during the course of the duel is converted to bashing, and the spell is instantly terminated. Generally at the end of a duel, a teacher will be present to administer aid to both parties; however, particularly ruthless students are not above attempting to organise out-of-hours fights with the intention of leaving the battered loser to limp back to their quarters in the dead of night.

Since this spell was developed by and for students of the Heptagram, its integrity fares poorly when exposed to other circles of sorcery. Inquisitive Sidereals tutors found that Celestial Circle spells behave as if cancelled through Sapphire Countermagic, the damage caused by the broken spell being neatly contained and centred around the caster, and as such, this spell sees little practical use among the Five-Score Fellowship. While none of the returning Solars have yet learned of this spell, the barriers it creates are far too weak to contain spells of the Solar Circle - should a spell of such power be cast, it is released without hindrance by the sorcerer and tears through the sphere of protection, instantly ending the effects of Showing the Sorcerer's Hand.

Enslave Essence - Shadowlands Circle Necromancy -- Paincake
Cost: 10 motes. 1w is invested.

A ritual circle must be paced, and then mantained by concentration. (You cannot leave a 30-meter radius)The bloody offering of a single health level completes the small ritual circle necessary to this spell. It lasts one hour per extra success on three Occult+Int rolls, Difficulty 4. The next time a spell of Terrestrial or Celestial level is cast in the area of effect (About a football field) the hostile (or unhostile) sorcerer becomes the epicenter of a Black Miracle, generally one which benefits the Abyssal some way and always one which coincides with the level of spell being siphoned from (Labyrinth and Terrestrial are on par and large effects, Shadowland lesser effect. Celestial spells cause untoward effects which can almost certainly be debilitating.) Unfortunately for the few who have survived the event, a spell of too great a magnitude (Void) causes instead a temporary sinkhole to the Black Labyrinth to open at the ritual circle, sucking violently at everything within 30 meters. Any Solar spell cast in the Area causes the Ritual Circle to glow brilliant gold and white and then explode in a fireworks display. The Abyssal caster of the Ritual Circle is likely to be afflicted by the many simultaneous Black Miracles afflicting the spell's radius x2.

Sorcerers Dueling Form - Celestial Circle Sorcery -- FlowsLikeBits
Cost: 5 motes or 30 motes

This spell allows the sorcerer to take on the form of a mundane creature. During the first Age, this spell was commonly used in wizardly "duels", wizards would take the form of various creatures and battle each other, or engage in other contests. Much effort was expended to build up one's library of forms. In some forms of this contest, there was a time limit on how long the sorcer could say in a given form, or how often a given form coudl be repeated. These are not limitations of the actual spell.

This spell may be casts in two ways. In the first, it is cast on a mundane creature withing 10 yards and cost 30 motes. This gives the sorcerer access to it's form. This version may only be cast on a creature once per week. It does not work on humans or other sentient creatures. The second form targets the sorcerer, cost 5 motes, and changes them into a creature they have previously cast this spell on. This version is fast to cast, like countermagic.

This spell is functiounally identical to the innate ablity of all Lunar Exalted(and may be cast on any creature a Lunar may take the form of), with one exception. The sorcerer gains ALL the creatures physical attributes, rather than just strength and stamina. As a form of external shapeshifting, the second form of this spell does not work for Lunar Exalted, although Lunars may cast this spell in the first form to add forms to their Hearts Blood library without killing the creature.

Haze Of Ages Unseen - Labyrinth Circle Necromancy -- DeathBySurfeit
Cost: 25 motes

This necromantic incantation summons an orb of purest gray, that sighs and drones like a despairing madman. By focusing on the dull sphere, the necromancer is locked into a vision of decay - in the periphery of his view, creatures die and rot away, buildings moulder and crumble, mountains erode and erupt into ashes. At its culmination, the sky and earth are scoured to whirling winds of ash, grinding down ever finer until all is featureless, lifeless gray; the sphere is invisible against this bleak worldscape, and at this the vision fades. Gone, too, is the gray sphere from the eyes of others.

Yet an aura clings to the necromancer, sunken deep within his soul. Disguised from even those that can perceive Essence, it waits, dormant but patient. When a spell is cast against the necromancer or his immediate surrounds, it roars to life. Spells of the First Circle of both disciplines are snuffed out, their energy decaying down to fine gray dust. The ritual is not enough to corrode away more powerful spells altogether, but those of the Second Circle add 3 to the difficulty of any roll by the caster to determine scope of effect, or reduce the difficulty of the roll for the necromancer by a like amount (whichever he chooses). Spells of the Third Circle are completely unaffected. Whichever is the case, the aura is expended in this effort.

A more powerful version of this spell (Void Circle Necromancy) costs 50 motes, and treats incoming spells as though they were a Circle less powerful for the purposes above.

Essence Weave Archiving Method - God-Machine Protocol -- ArabianNinja
Cost: 25 motes (5 Committed, 1 Lethal Health Level).
Clarity Minimum: 5

The Essence Weave Archiving Method is a lesser used protocol that is found in the great makers crystal memory array, as its use seems to be limited to opposing casters of Sorcery and Protocols.
The protocol can be cast reflexively as Counter-magic against any Sorcery or Necromancy upto and including the Second Circle of each, and once this has been done successfully, the Alchemical caster may then roll their Essence + Willpower, if gaining as many successes as the opposing casters Essence, the spell is then ensnared in an Adamant Vial which suddenly grows from the Alchemicals arm, and immediatly taking 5 more motes for attunement. The vial itself contains the countered spells' Essence, caught as it was woven. The crystal will remain for [Users Essence] Days before fading away and breaking apart, untill that time however the Alchemical may chose to remove the crystal, taking a level of Lethal damage, and hurl it towards a solid object. When used in this manner the crystal will shatter causing the previously contained spell to be unleashed, as if the Alchemical were the caster.

If for any reason the Crystal becomes forcibly de-attuned while still within the Alchemical, it will explode causing them 5 dice of aggrivated damage.

Invocation of Ek’Kzeroch the Insatiable Maw - Void Circle Necromancy – Ambisinister
Cost: 30 motes

This powerful spell was purportedly given to the First and Forsaken Lion to be used as tool in his conquests. The last known entity to employ it, however, was the Mask of Winters, who likely stole it using his massive and omnipresent spy network. Regardless of its origin, the Invocation of Ek’Kzeroch is a powerful spell very similar to a summoning spell in traditional sorcery. This spell opens a rift to the bottom of the Labyrinth and draws forth the attention of an aspect of the Neverborn known as Ek’KZeroch the Insatiable Maw. When successfully cast, the rising sun appears to be devoured during it ascent into the sky by an impossibly huge black worm. The sky boils and seethes with roiling charcoal clouds and it turns an eye watering luminescent black. Thrashing and churning blindly through these clouds are hundreds of gigantic black worms.

This spell must be cast from within the confines of a shadowland for there is something special about the boundary between Creation and the Underworld that is necessary for the shaping of this spell to take place. The ritual necessary to shape the spell takes thirteen hours and must be started in the hour before sundown and progress through the night to be culminated at sunrise. The minimum preparations that need to be made are rather simple; the caster needs a pit that is thirteen feet deep, and she must spend the thirteen hours meditating at its edge. Just before sunrise, if the character is able to meditate uninterrupted for the thirteen hours, she rolls her Int +Occult. Failure at this stage is relatively benign, merely resulting in the lost of spent essence and willpower, plus any of the offerings made during the meditation process, as noted below. Success indicates that the spell was properly shaped and then the real test of actually implementing the spell must begin. The caster immediately rolls her Essence + Willpower + the number of successes on the shaping roll. The difficulty of this roll begins at thirteen, but can be lowered if appropriate offerings were made during the shaping ritual. Offerings are made by assistants via the simple method of being tossed into the pit while the caster is meditating. If thirteen mortal lives are sacrificed and their blood spilled into the pit, lower the difficulty by one. The sacrifice of five dragon blooded lowers the difficulty by one. The sacrifice of a celestial exalt lower the difficulty by one. The sacrifice of a solar exalt lowers the difficulty by two. Sacrificing a hearthstone produced by a manse within creation lowers the difficulty by ½(rounded up)the hearthstone’s rating. Such sacrificed hearthstones take three times as long to reform. Performing the ritual on the site of a manse or demense lowers the difficulty by the location’s rating. This permanently reduces the rating of said location by one and destroys the site’s hearthstone if any. The hearthstone produced by the site cannot also be used as a sacrifice. The benefits of offerings do stack, but each offering may only be made once. The final difficulty of the roll cannot go below one. If the caster fails here, then they suffer a number of dice of unsoakable aggravated damage equal to three times the number of success they failed the roll by as their very essence is sucked through the rift they opened and straight into oblivion. In addition to this damage all of their remaining essence and willpower is reduced to zero. A botch means a quick, unavoidable, and extraordinarily painful death.

Once successfully cast, the spell remains in effect for as long as the caster is willing to maintain it. Note the number of successes the caster achieved on this Willpower +Essence roll. The spell has an effective radius of the caster’s essence x10 miles and provides a number of effects within that distance: Whenever any sorcerous spell is cast within its boundaries one of the worms launches itself form the sky and consumes the shaping essence, immediately countering the spell. Necromantic spells suffer the same fate. The caster of a spell can create a talisman by ritually sacrificing a life and succeeding at a difficulty three Int + Occult roll. Such a talisman can then be given away. If the caster of a necromantic spell destroys such a talisman, then the worms will not come to devour it. Casters of solar circle spells may attempt to overpower the worms by rolling their essence +willpower in a contested roll against a pool of (13 +1 for each spell devoured by the worms thus far). If successful, then the spell is successfully cast, if not then it is countered. Abyssals may always attempt to overpower the worms regardless of the level and type of spell being caste. The opposing pool starts at eight dice against Abyssals. In addition to it spell devouring properties, the Invocation adds a 4 mote surcharge to all charms powered by non-abyssal essence. To clarify, only the essence of Abyssal Exalted, Deathlords, ghosts, and contained within soulgems count as abyssaly aspected. Finally, the entire spectacle is very unmanning and can cause doubt and hesitation in mortals. On an individual and group level, mortals are forced to make a morale check at difficulty 4 upon entering the region. If they fail they suffer the -2 penalty for so long as they remain within the boundary of the spell’s effect. In mass combat, the first time a unit enters the region, it must make a rout check at difficulty 3. In addition, all units within the boundaries of the spells effects are at +3 difficulty to further route checks, as they are constantly being targeted by a Void circle spell.

Each day, at “sunset” the caster of the spell must meditate at the pit for 1 hour. During this time she may make an offering of his essence (5 motes), his health (1 lethal health level) or his will (1wp). These offerings are committed for the duration of the spell. When the caster wishes to end the spell she must go to the pit and engage Ek’Kzeroch in a contest of wills. The caster rolls Willpower +Essence +the number of successes achieved on the initial Willpower +Essence roll. Ek’Kzeroch opposes with 13 dice +1 for each spell consumed +1for each day the caster did not make an offering while meditating. If the caster accumulates 20 successes, she wins. If Ek’Kzeroch accumulates a number of successes equal to twice the caster’s willpower then it wins. If the caster wins, then the spell is ended and Ek’Kzeroch is banished. If Ek’Kzeroch wins, the spell still ends, but the caster suffers 15 dice of unsoakable aggravated damage and loses a permanent willpower. Failure to perform the daily ritual immediately prompts this check to occur and Ek’Kzeroch receives an additional 5 dice. Killing the caster will also end the spell’s effects. Once ended, the spells area of effect recedes at the rate of 10 miles a day. During this time, the worms are gone so sorcery may be cast uninhibited. The mote surcharge lingers but is reduced to +1. The difficulty of the morale check is reduced to 2. Military units need not immediately check for route and receive only a +1 difficulty to route checks.

Immaculate Bauble - Solar Circle Sorcery – DeathBySurfeit
Cost: 40 motes

As swathes of irridescent turquoise and glimmering white energy gather and rush inward at the conclusion of this spell's casting, animas shine out in undifferentiated light. This does not allow one's caste or totem to be seen, but marks each Exalt present as their forms waver and flare beneath the maelstrom of Essence. At its conclusion, the coronas disappear - and in the case of the caster and her designated target, their bearers disappear too. What falls in the sorceror's wake is a small pearl, swirling with light and colour, harder than any magical material and more durant than the ages.

Within, a world of raw Essence exists; this is about a hundred miles across, all told, but its edges loop into one another, describing the inside of the gem's opaque wall. Here lies the caster and her target, who are both granted the equivalent of Wyld Shaping Technique and Wyld Cauldron Methodology for free. There they remain in a world of their own making until the sorceror releases the spell (in a conflagration similar to its invocation) or becomes incapacitated (simple sleep has no effect). Whilst there, the pair do not age, and nothing they do can reach or impact the world outside.

This spell, originally conceived as a dueling spell to prevent fallout of First Age magics, found more frequent adoption in those times as a safe location for diplomacy or subterfuge, else a means of trapping particularly unpleasant spawn of the Malfeans.

Comments

Funnily enough I had this theme in mind before the new SeedRelay came up. - ArabianNinja,twice is coincidence, three times is conspircay.

Nice one! As a thought, you might want to emphasise the advantage given to powerful spells by counting their bonus dice as automatic successes. This does, however, exacerbate the problem in applying at present - given an Essence + Willpower roll between sorcerors, with bonus die, plus stunts and likely virtue or willpower expenditure, it's highly likely that both sorcerors will roll 5 successes in the first go. I'd suggest introducing a small bit of text saying the highest roller has precedent, or else shift it to a 'first to accumulate three successes over the other'... even 'first to accumulate net successes equal to their opponent's Essence', with possible rules for maintaining the Protocol over time...DeathBySurfeit

Do opposed rolls work like that? I thought both sides rolled, then counted successes, then whoever got more kept a running total of how far they were ahead, until one side got far enough ahead to win. So you could roll 5 vs 7 (2 to the defender), 6 vs 5, (1 to the defender), 8 vs 4 (3 to the attacker), etc.. This might be a WoD holdover, though, since it's been a while since I read the actual core mecanics of Exalted. In any case, even if that's not how the mechanics for opposed rolls actually are, I think they fit this situation well. - DeadManSeven, lurking over shoulders

The protocol has been modified in small ways for a very large effect. Thanks for the input DeathBySurfeit, I was actually in discussion on the nature of the protocol, and how to solve some underlying problems on countering Solar or Void Circle spells with DeadManSeven, and the net result can be seen above. It's now a little more balanced in regards to stopping things of a higher grade than itself, unless you channel your clarity like a mofo. Which isn't always a good thing - ArabianNinja

Nice move. If neither has a conclusive advantage over another after the initial roll, are subsequent rolls reflexive? ...DeathBySurfeit

Correct, assume the battle of wills is simply an awesome stare-down magnified by the cascades of sparkling Essence around the involved users, untill one of them cries out in tortuous pain and collapses. - ArabianNinja

So, this relay's been cooling long enough, let's keep it moving along here. - DeadManSeven

I like the idea, but should Terrestrial Circle Sorcery really be able to contain Solar Circle magic? I might see Celestial Circle as being capable of such, though it would be tricky; Terrestrial, though, seems like it should only be able to control Terrestrial. - Hapushet

To be honest, I didn't even ever consider anyone but Terrestrials ever using this spell. Errata'd! - DeadManSeven

Duelling Form is neat - but seems slightly weak in a couple of ways. First, as a Celestial Circle spell, why can I only change into mundane animals? This seems to have at least some inspiration from Disney's The Sword in the Stone, am I right? Well, the witch in that turned into a fire-breathing dragon. How about, instead, you can't change into a creature with higher Essence than you? On another note, I can see why a Lunar wouldn't want to cast this spell to change into a mundane animal (10m1w versus 3m!), but that doesn't mean they should be barred from doing so. Protection from shape-changing effects does not have to mean the inability to benefit from them. This would become especially relevant if you expand the spell as I am suggesting, since Lunars are limited to mundane creatures for their innate shapeshifting. - IanPrice

Well, it has a fair bit of utility uses also. Also, I didn't want to steal TO much of the Lunars thunder. (I lowered the cost, as it would actually cost 10m2w to change, so I lowered it to 5, to make it vaguely possilbe to stunt back the cost during a duel). I'll see what other people think. -FlowsLikeBits

Thought I'd try and help this baby along. Not at all sure about the balance of this spell. I also realize that the text is a bit long so any thoughts on making it more concise would be appreciated. Does the relay end after 6 spells, or does it need all three levels of sorcery and necromancy plus both levels of protocol?-Ambisinister

It needs three levels of sorcery and necromancy, protocols being optional - see CrunchRelay for more details. Shadowlands Necromancy has been skipped in this instance, but precedent leans toward leaving missed steps. To wrap up, I contributed my first sorcery spell, whodathunkit. If approval comes, I think -that's- the Relay done...DeathBySurfeit

Both spells are summarily Awesome I think, Invocation of Ek’Kzeroch is horrid evil one would expect from Void Circle, and the Immaculate Bauble also very fitting, despite it sitting oddly in my mind, but I cant really name my issue with it. In any Case, DeathBySurfeit has call on the next Relay theme. On a side note while Shadowlands May have been skipped if someone wished to come back later and add it as a contribution, theres nothing to really stop them, as Paincake has displyed by adding a few more spells to past relays - ArabianNinja, Who needed to revise his own work after review.

Coolies. I'll have the new theme up later today...DeathBySurfeit

Ehehe, so someone did notice? I decided I'd been gone too long, hope you all enjoy my belated contributions.

-Paincake

Minor revisions to Essence Weaving Override after varied tests - ArabianNinja