MortalSorcery/Light

The Path of Light

Followers of the Path of Light are known as both scholars and tricksters. They bring light into the darkness, banishing shadow and dispelling fear, but they are also illusionists of note, capable of turning candlelight into the image of a ravishing houri or a horrific monster.

System

There are three main abilities connected with the Path of Light – creation, alteration and concealment (invisibility).

Creation

Standard test: Wits + Occult: Allows the sorcerer to conjure light of varying brightness and duration. Use tables below to determine dice pool modifiers.

||Brightness||Cost||Duration||Cost||Motile?||Cost|| ||Candlelight||0||Instant||0||No||0|| ||Torchlight||1||Scene||1||Yes||1|| ||Daylight||2||Hour||2|| ||Blinding||3||Day||3||

The light created is clear and steady and obviously unnatural to any observer. The motile option creates a source of light that can be controlled independently by the sorcerer otherwise the spell must be cast upon an object or point that will then glow for the duration of the spell. The colour of the light can be determined by the sorcerer, although it defaults to a cold blue-white radiance that leaves harsh shadows.

Blinding Flash: When used with Blinding intensity and Instant duration this creates an extremely powerful flash that can be used in combat. The target must make a Dexterity + Athletics test with a difficulty equal to the sorcerer’s Essence. If successful he managed to shield his eyes in time, otherwise he suffers a –2 penalty to all actions that require sight for a number of minutes equal to the sorcerer’s Occult ability. Should the target botch the blindness will last much longer, possibly even becoming permanent.

Alteration

Standard test: Wits + Occult Concentration required: The sorcerer can alter the properties of light, from changing colour and brightness to making ghostly figures of light. No illusion can make even the slightest sound. This requires a source of light to work with, anything from a candle to a glow-crystal will do.

||Effect||Cost|| ||Change colour and/or brightness||0|| ||Create shapes||1|| ||Ghostly, still figures||2|| ||Life-like still figures, ghostly moving figures||3|| ||Life-like moving figures||4||

Concealment

Standard test: Wits + Occult Concentration required: The sorcerer can use this spell to bend light around the target, rendering it very difficult to see. The spell affects only normal light, so sound, smell, heat, footprints, etc... can still be used to detect the target. Once successfully cast anyone attempting to visually spot the target suffers a penalty to their Perception + Awareness test equal to the successes obtained by the sorcerer. This penalty is halved if the target of the spell is moving at a speed greater than a slow walk.

||Size||Cost|| ||Rabbit||0|| ||Large dog||1|| ||Human||2|| ||Horse||3|| ||Elephant||4|| ||Each doubling of number (x2, x4...)||+1||

A botch with Light magic will cause an effect similar in scale to that the sorcerer desired, but the effect itself will work against him (ST discretion as to how). The maximum range for all effects is (Occult + Essence) x 20 yards.