MortalSorcery/Enchantment

The Path of Enchantment

The Path of Enchantment allows a sorcerer to add qualities to objects that are beyond the ken of the finest mortal craftsman. A sword that bursts into flame when confronting Wyld barbarians, a talisman that will allow its wear to walk away from a mortal blow, a candle whose light wards off the undead, all of these, and more, are within the realm of the enchanter.

System

All attempts by the sorcerer to enchant an item are extended Intelligence + Occult tasks, with each roll of the dice representing a full day�s work (12-14 hours) on working the magic into the item in question. The sorcerer cannot take any breaks while performing an enchantment. A period of greater than half a day with no magic worked on the item will cause the enchantments already placed to unravel, and the sorcerer will have to start over again. If any single Intelligence + Occult roll is a botch, then the magic is completely ruined, both the enchantment and the item are destroyed. A single failure during an enchantment will have no effect (apart from generating no successes) on the item, provided that next test generates at least one success. If two failures in a row come up, then a quirk has been introduced into the item, unknown to the sorcerer (the ST gets to decide the type and severity of the quirk). Three failures in a row end the enchantment immediately, and the sorcerer must make an immediate Wits + Occult test at difficulty 3 or have the item destroyed as for a botch.

Details

The basic number of successes required for enchanting an item is 20. This number is for an ordinary item �bought off-the-shelf�. If the item is exceptional and/or was personally made by the sorcerer then 5 successes are subtracted from this amount � these modifiers are cumulative.

Powers

An item can be enchanted with a power chosen by the sorcerer. The strength of the power will determine the difficulty of the enchantment (the number of successes required) and the number and/or rarities of any unusual components that may be required � these items are sympathetically linked to the enchantment.

||Strength||Extra Successes||Unusual Components|| ||Low||+10||Sometimes. 1 component.|| ||Moderate||+20||Often. 1-2 components.|| ||High||+40||Always. 2-4 components.||

Limitations

Unlike the wide-ranging magics granted by Exalted sorcery and enchantment, mortals must limit their workings to some degree merely to be able to place them. An enchanted sword will not always behave so, but only in the face of its chosen enemy. Likewise, a belt could make it far harder to hit its wearer, but only for those shooting arrows at him. The limitations of an enchanted object are as important, if not more so, than its powers, and should always be taken into consideration.

Completion

After the enchantment has been completed the sorcerer must attempt to �seal� the magic into the object. If this is not done, then the enchantment lasts for but a year and a day, at the end of which time it will evaporate in a showy display of released Essence. To perform the seal the sorcerer must make a final Wits + Occult test with a difficulty equal to 1/10 (round down, minimum of 1) of the successes required to forge the item. If the sorcerer does not generate at least one success on this test, the item is not sealed, and the magic will inevitably dissipate. For each extra success generated on this test, the item will remain magical for 50 years.

Example: Ardu wishes to make a magical sword that will help his village to defend itself from the depredations of the Wyld barbarians that continually raid the island from their underwater lairs. After performing research and consulting with some of the little gods, he comes up with a design for a coral sword that will cause the pain of the wounds it inflicts on Wyld barbarians to be shared with all of its nearby kin. He builds the sword himself, but due to the material it is constructed from it is unable to be an exceptional sword, and it takes all of Ardu�s skill at weaponsmithing to make it as strong as a normal slashing sword. The power desired is one of Medium strength, and so Ardu will require a total of 20 � 5 + 20 = 35 successes to complete his work.\\

A solid month of work later, during which there were several close calls (one of which, unknown to Ardu, introduced a quirk making the sword utterly ineffective on the night of the full moon) he finishes enchanting the sword. Now he must seal the magic he forged, (a Wits + Occult test against a difficulty of 35/10 = 3). Focussing all of his will on it, making sure that the sword will remain useful for many years to come, he gets four successes on the test, leaving two after the difficulty is subtracted. Ardu also spent two points of Willpower on this final test, for two extra successes, giving a grand total of four. The sword will retain its power for two centuries, more than enough time.