FrivYeti/HSMortalMagic

Thaumaturgy House Rules

Thaumaturgy At Creation

Characters do not have full access to the Arts for their Occult rating; Occult denotes only theoretical, not practical knowledge. Instead, for every dot of Occult that the character has, they gain one free dot in a single Art, or one free ritual at a level equal to that dot of Occult or lower.

Characters may then purchase further Arts as follows: A single Ability dot may be used to purchase a dot in any Art; Arts may also be bought as Abilities with bonus points (a character who favours Occult favours all Arts). No single Art may be bought higher than a character's Occult rating. Art specialties are also purchased as Ability specialty; a character may not have more Art specialties than her Occult rating (or 3, whichever is lower). Rituals may be purchased for 1 bonus point if Level 1 or 2, 2 bonus points if Level 3 or 4, or 3 bonus points if Level 5. Sciences cost 4 bonus points each, and cannot be purchased unless the character has Occult 3 or higher.

Thaumaturgy With Experience

Arts are purchased exactly the way Abilities are, with the same training times and Favoured Ability bonuses. The Occult requirement for Arts does not change from character creation.

Rituals cost an amount of experience points equal to double the level of the ritual in question. No character may purchase a ritual whose level is higher than her Occult score.

Sciences cost (Current Rating x4) if the character does not favour Occult, and (Current Rating x4) -2 if the character does. A new Science costs 6 experience if not favoured, 4 experience if favoured.

Thaumaturgy Rolls

Replace Occult (or Performance) with the character's Art rating for all Art uses. Sciences and Rituals do not change their rolls.

Thaumaturgy Path Changes

Summoning Mortals

Summoning Mortals now has the following success scale, to replace its earlier one:

0 successes: No summoning is sent.

1-2 successes: The target is aware of the summons and its direction, but may choose to ignore it, which does not end the effect. If they choose not to ignore it, they may proceed in any fashion they wish, pause whenever they like, and so on. While ignoring the summons, all actions are at a -1 die penalty due to distraction.

3-4 successes: The target is aware of the summons and cannot ignore it. They can, however, take all necessary precautions before responding, and can spend 1 Willpower to ignore the summons for one scene. During that scene, all actions are at -1 die due to distraction.

5+ successes: The target must obey the summons as quickly and firmly as possible. They will do everything in their power to reach the summoner. 1 Willpower may be spent per scene in order to respond more slowly and cautiously for a scene, but they must still respond. If responding cautiously, all actions are at -1 die due to distraction.

Mortals may spend a point of Willpower and roll Willpower when the summons first occurs; their successes are reduced from the power of the summons, to a minimum of 1 success. The mortal will be aware of the degree of the summoning before they resist. In addition, the thaumaturge may choose to apply only a certain degree of success to the final result, regardless of the successes rolled. If this occurs, use the full number of successes to oppose the mortal's resistance roll, not the effective number.

Exalts may be targeted by this Art; however, the effect is always that the Exalt is aware of the summons but may choose to ignore it, regardless of how many successes are rolled. Extra successes are still used for any counter-rolls by the Exalt; the thaumaturge cannot tell the difference between an Exalt resisting this Art and a general strong-willed individual.

Exorcism

Exorcism functions poorly against creatures summoned or animated by the Exalted (or the Deathlords). The use of exorcism against any beings created or summoned through either sorcery or necromancy suffers a difficulty penalty equal to the sorcerer or necromancer's Essence score. Otherwise, it functions normally.

SORCERY

To learn sorcery, mortals must have the following prerequisites: the Essence Awareness Merit, the Essence Mastery Merit, Essence 3, Occult 5, at least one Art at 5 and another at 3, and at least one Science at 3. The Charm Terrestrial Circle Sorcery costs a total of 25 experience points; spells cost 15 experience points each. Please note that the small Essence pools of mortals will restrict their choice of spells.