MortalSorcery/Hellfire

The Path of Hellfire

Often one of the first paths that a sorcerer will learn, the path of Hellfire is powerful and destructive, drawing on the darker emotions that lurk within all men. While it doesn’t approach the levels of destructiveness available to even the meanest Exalted sorcerer, it is more than capable on the mortal level, and a Hellfire devotee can cause extensive destruction, should he so desire.

System

Standard test: Wits + Occult: The sorcerer can choose to direct his magical attack either at a single target, for maximum effect, or he can create a sorcerous explosion at a given point, causing widespread damage. In either case the basic procedures remain identical. If the sorcerer has elected to attack a single target then the magic has a base damage equal to the sorcerer’s Occult + Essence in Lethal damage, while an area-effect has a base damage equal to half that score. The area extends out from the target point for a number of yards equal to the sorcerer’s Occult score.

The range increment of Hellfire magic is equal to sum of the sorcerer’s Occult and Essence scores multiplied by 10 yards – targets beyond this range cause penalties to the sorcerer’s Wits + Occult roll much as they would for any other ranged attack. Successes on the sorcerer’s Wits + Occult roll are added to the base damage much as for any other attack. The target of the sorcery may parry or dodge if it is directed at a single target, otherwise they may only dodge in an attempt to get out of the blast radius (Stunting is a good idea here).

The sorcerer can subtract dice from the Wits + Occult roll needed to launch the magic to increase the range, damage and/or blast radius of the spell, as shown in the table below:

||Effect|| Cost || |[Increase base damage by 1|| 1 || |[Increase range increment by 10yds|| 1 || |[Increase blast radius by 1yd|| 1 ||

Example: Faced with a pack of Wyld-twisted barbarians bearing down on him at extreme velocity Dostov, the sorcerer of a small town, decides to use his magic to kill, or at least severely wound, one of them in the hope that it will make them think twice about it. Dostov has Wits •••, Occult •••• and a permanent Essence of •. This gives his Hellfire spells a range increment of 50 yards (not great but better than nothing) and base damage of 5L.

Dostov's player decides to go all out for damage, subtracting three dice from his Wits + Occult pool (total 7), to increase the base damage of the spell by 6 to 11L, and then waits until the Wyld barbarians are approximately 50 yards away. Spending the point of Willpower to activate the magic and then rolling his remaining four dice, Dostov gets two successes, hitting his chosen victim with a 13L-strong blast of sorcerous fire. He falls to the floor, a gaping hole blown through his chest (8 successes on the damage roll), and his packmates slow down upon being faced with such powerful opposition.

Should the sorcerer fail to get at least one success on his Wits + Occult success then his action is wasted as the energy conjured dissipated harmlessly. If he botches then the full effect of the spell he created is focused on him – with any blast effect centred on him.

Elemental Effects

The typical use of Hellfire is a blast of sorcery that resembles fire in some respects, but which does not have many of its properties. It will not, for example, typically set a target alight although it may leave scorch-marks and smouldering areas. It is possible for the sorcerer to elementally align his use of this magic, to create a more specific effect. Each of the five elements has some effects associated with it, which are listed below:

||Effect (Element)||Cost||Single/Area||Effect|| ||Chill (Air)||3||Both|[Everyone struck by this spell, and who is not wrapped up against intense cold, suffers a -2 penalty to all actions for a number of turns equal to the sorcerer's permanent Essence. May be dodged or parried (with MM weapons only) as appropriate.|| ||Lightning (Air)||3||Single|[A target in metal armour (at least 50%) has no armour soak against this magic, although armour made from a Magical Material is unaffected by this. May be dodged or parried (with non-metallic weapons) as normal.|| ||Magma (Earth)||4||Single|[The sorcerer causes magma to vent up through the ground underneath the target, who must be standing on it for this to have any effect. Armour provides only half its normal soak and extra successes on the sorcery roll count double for determining damage. May only be dodged.|| ||Quake (Earth)||3||Area|[The ground opens up at a point determined by the sorcerer. Anyone within the area must make a Dexterity + Athletics or be swallowed up. Those unfortunates take lethal damage equal to the sorcerer's Occult + 4 for a number of turns equal to the extra successes scored - these do not add to damage. May only be dodged.|| ||Blast (Fire)||3||Area|[The raw damage of the attack is doubled for the purposes of calculating knockback. All targets so affected are bodily thrown away from the target point. May only be dodged.|| ||Flame (Fire)||3||Both|[Anyone struck by thios magic is set alight, suffering the sorcerer's Occult + 2 in Lethal damage on his next turn, after which the flames gutter out. This damage may be soaked as usual for fire damage. May be dodged/parried as appropriate.|| ||Acid (Water)||3||Both|[The target(s) of this this magic are coated in corrosive acid, which deals the sorcerer's Occult in lethal damage for a number of turns equal to twice the sorcerer's permanent Essence. Armour not made of the Five Magical Materials with a soak rating less than the base damage of the acid is completely ruined. Stronger armour is merely damaged, losing soak equal to half the base damage of the attack. The target(s) may dodge or parry as normal, but any non-Magical Material weapons used to parry with are ruined.|| ||Flow (Water)||4||Single|[Damage from this attack ignores any armour soak that the target may have, but the target may soak it with his full Stamina, even those the spell inflicts Lethal damage. May be dodged or parried as appropriate.|| ||Life-Tap (Wood)||4||Single|[After casting this spell the sorcerer must touch his intended victim, using a Dexterity + Brawl or Martial Arts roll. As long as the sorcerer gets even one success the magic is unleashed doing damage equal to the sorcerer's permanent Essence plus extra successes on the Wits + Occult roll. Every health level of damage inflicted grants the sorcerer a point of temporary Willpower. Any points above his permanent level dissipate at the rate of one per minute. May be dodged or parried as appropriate.||

    +-------------------+--------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------ +
    |  Effect (Element) |  Cost  | Single / Area |                           Effect                              |
    +-------------------+--------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
    |                   |        |               |  The target area is filled with noxious green gas, that       |
    |                   |        |               |  chokes and poisons all those within, inflicting the          |
    |                   |        |               |  sorcerer's Occult score in levels of lethal damage, which    |
    |  Poison (Wood)    |   3    |     Area      |  may be soaked only by rolling Stamina + Resistance for all   |
    |                   |        |               |  those affected , successes on this test subtract levels of   |
    |                   |        |               |  damage. The cloud remains for a number of turns equal to     |
    |                   |        |               |  extra successes scored on the Wits + Occult roll, which do   | 
    |                   |        |               |  not add to the damage inflicted. May only be dodged.         |
    +-------------------+--------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

A sorcerer may pick one element to favour with his magics, should he so wish. By doing this the cost of using the elemental effect in question is reduced by one, but this choice, once made, is permanent and cannot be remade. Dragon-Bloods using the Path of Hellfire automatically choose the element of their Aspect as their favoured element.

Example: Etheshall is a Fire-aspect Dragon-Blooded outcaste mercenary, plying his trade in the tributary states along the northern edge of the Inland Sea. Facing down another group of soldiers after a trade dispute turns into hostilities, he decides to soften up his opposition with a well-placed barrage of magic, having learned something of mortal sorcery from his old uncle. Etheshall has Wits •••, Occult ••••• and Essence ••, and decides to use the Blast effect that his Fire-aspect grants him easier access to.\\

Etheshall's player decides to go all-out and creates the spell as follows: Blast (2 dice), base damage +4L (2 dice), blast-radius increase 1 yard (1 die), leaving Etheshall with three dice remaining in his Wits + Occult pool. Since the Blast elemental effect requires that the spell have an area, halving the base damage and leaving it at (5 + 2 + 4)/2 = 5L. He rolls the three dice, and spends a point of Willpower for an automatic success, giving him a total of three successes, giving the spell a raw damage total of 8L.\\ The Blast effect doubles this for the purposes of knockback, raising it to 16, which is more than enough to scatter the soldiers targetted by the spell, sending them flying in all directions.