Spellcasting
Magic Calls
- There are six magic calls
- The magic calls do not affect targets that are larger than human-sized
- All magic calls delivered with a weapon or implement also cause the target to lose one global hit
There are six magic calls that can affect you. All players should make sure that they are familiar with these calls and their effects.
There is no way to resist a magic call in Empire, but magic calls never affect any creature that is larger than human-sized. Any monstrous creature whose phys-rep is expressly designed to make them taller or wider than the wearer would normally be counts as larger than human-sized. Player-characters (all PCs) always count as human-sized - no matter how large the player is.
CURSE
- You are cursed; see a ref for details when it is appropriate to do so
- The effect lasts until cured
A curse does not immediately affect your character; you are aware that you have been cursed but may continue to fight and act normally. See a referee for more details once you are able to do so without interrupting your roleplaying.
ENTANGLE
- The target may not move their feet; they may otherwise move and fight normally
- The effect lasts 10 seconds
PARALYSE
- The target may talk but may not make any other movement
- The effect lasts 10 seconds
REPEL
- The target must move away from the caster at a brisk walk or faster
- The effect lasts 10 seconds or until you have retreated for 20’
VENOM
- The target’s bleed time drops to zero; they become Terminal immediately if they lose all body hits (and may not use the unstoppable ability)
- The effect lasts until cured
WEAKNESS
- The target may not use any heroic skills, use any mana or activate any magic items; they may otherwise move and fight normally
- The effect lasts until cured
Spellcasting
- You must expend personal mana or crystalized mana to cast a spell
- Every magician starts with four personal mana every day
- You cannot cast spells while wearing armour
- All spells require vocals clearly audible to everyone within a few metres
Any character that purchases the magician skill has four personal mana and is able to cast create bond, detect magic or operate portal. Each time a character purchases an extra spell they must choose one additional spell from the spell list.
Your character may also use crystalized mana to cast spells; a single crystal can be used to cast any single spell.
Your personal mana replenishes overnight.
All spell vocals require appropriate roleplaying which must include spell vocals in a clear voice audible to everyone within a few metres of you.
Roleplaying effects
- You may experience magical effects that influence your roleplaying
- You decide how your character responds to any roleplaying effects
- You cannot ignore roleplaying effects
You may be the target of a power or ability that includes direction marked “roleplaying effects”. This states an influence on your character’s personality and mood. It is common for religious characters to be able to produce positive effects, for instance the sermon of a priest may infuse your character with a feeling of courage and confidence. Although your character cannot ignore the effects it is up to you choose how your character responds to the feelings they are experiencing.
For example, a priest wishes to encourage you and half a dozen of your friends to risk death to retrieve a rare artefact from a large group of orc raiders. Just before the expedition departs the priest imparts a blessing of Courage to everyone making them feel confident, bold and fearless. You decide that your character responds to their new found courage by leaving the group and instead going to publicly confront the Cardinal of Prosperity for taking bribes.
It is also common to encounter malign auras and influences that will produce negative effects such as feelings of fear or anger. Your character must respond to these effects but it is up to you to determine the manner with which your character responds. Your character’s response might be influenced by their lineage as well as factors like blessings or relics carried. Most characters in Empire are brave heroes of one kind or another, but truly notable deeds like sworn oaths, bonds of love or fealty might also be the justification a character needs to endure an effect they desire to confront.
For example, a group of characters encounters a glade filled with an overwhelming aura of fear and dread. One of the characters is a changeling who can always choose to respond to such effects with a dreadful wrath, she gives an angry snarl and strides into the glade. The changeling’s bodyguard has sworn a great oath to protect his liege at any cost - driven by the strength of his oath he grits his teeth and huddles close to his liege attempting to cover them both with his shield. The remainder of the group lurk around the edge, hoping to find the motivation to overcome the dark pall.
Implements
- Must be a weapon safe phys-rep of a wand, rod or staff
- Offensive spells can only be delivered using an implement
An implement is a magical tool that allows a magician to briefly store the effect of an offensive spell before it is released. All offensive spells require an implement to be used. You cannot use an implement to extend the range of regular spells such as mend or heal.
Implements come in three broad classifications; wands, rods and staves. Any character with the magician skill can wield a wand or rod effectively, but the wield mage staff skill is needed to wield a staff.
A character can cause a point of damage with an implement, but they cannot be used with the heroic skills cleaving strike, shattering blow or mighty strikedown.
Although any magician may choose to use a wand or rod as an implement, some magical enchantments can only be placed on wands and some can only be placed on rods.
All magical implements must be weapon safe phys-reps. They may appear to be made of any material, and should be decorated and shaped to make it clear that they are magical implements and not weapons.
Wands
A wand is 8” to 18” long. Magical wands usually enhance healing incantations such as restore limb or utility incantations such as mend
Rods
A rod is 18” to 42” long. Wielded in one hand, a rod is popular with many magicians who take the battlefield because it can be combined with a shield or with another one-handed weapon (provided the magician possesses the skill to do so). Magical rods most commonly enhance battlefield incantations such as repel or swift heal.
Staff
A staff is 42” to 84” long. It must be wielded in two hands, but greatly extends the magicians reach for delivering implement incantations. Staves are popular with magicians of all backgrounds, but require the mage staff skill to use in battle. Magic staves may enhance battlefield incantation or grant benefits to ritual casters.
Mage Armour
- Must cover at least 3 locations including one of the chest, shoulders or waist
- Providers 2 extra hits only
- Does not protect against CLEAVE or IMPALE calls
Mage armour is a magical talisman that protects you against harm but allows you to cast spells. The talisman is made up of several pieces fitted to the wearer's body to protect them. The parts of the talisman superficially resemble pieces of armour, but armour that is ornate and ceremonial rather than practical. They are often decorated with runes, crystals, gems or other magical accoutrements and it is clear that the armour protects the wearer through magic rather than by physically deflecting blows.
Mage armour provides the wearer with two additional hits. Mage armour does not protect against CLEAVE or IMPALE. To qualify the talisman must include three of the following items including at least one of the first three items on the list:
- Pauldrons (shoulders)
- Pectorals (upper chest)
- Hero Belt (waist)
- Circlet (head)
- Vambraces (wrists)
- Gorget (neck)
- Greaves (lower legs)
The items must be substantial and cover a significant portion of the area but it is possible to use a single pauldron, greave or vambrace if appropriate for the costume.
Although mage armour is magical in nature, if you have purchased this skill then you are considered to have access to a suit of mage armour, in the same way a warrior has access to a suit of mundane armour.
Mage armour can be made out of any real world material, provided you try to make as clear as possible that your character is wearing magical protection and not mundane armour.
Rituals
- Every ritual draws primarily on one of the six realms
- Every ritual has a cost in crystalized mana to perform the ritual
- A ritualist may only expend mana up to their level of skill
- Crystalized mana expended by a character who has mastered the ritual counts double
There is a library of known rituals that have been performed by Imperial magicians. Every ritual draws its power from one of the six magical realms and requires a set amount of crystalized mana to perform.
Rituals require crystalized mana to cast, they are too powerful to perform with personal mana. The amount of crystalized mana that each ritualist can expend is limited by their level of skill with the appropriate realm lore. Crystalized mana used by a character that has mastered the ritual counts double.
E.g. A magician is performing the ritual, The Ascetic Star of Atun, a level 6 Day ritual. The ritualist has three levels of skill in day lore, allowing them to contribute three points of crystalized mana, however the caster has mastered the ritual, doubling their effective mana. This allows them to achieve the 6 points required for the ritual.
It is possible to create a ritual at an event that is not part of the existing library of known Imperial rituals. In this instance you will need to consult with a referee who will tell you what realm the ritual effect is and how much mana is required to perform the ritual. Spontaneous rituals may vary in cost from one event to another. If you learn to master a ritual that you have created then the cost of that ritual is fixed from that point onwards.
Covens
- Ritualists can cooperate to perform a ritual by creating a coven
- Any character can create a coven
- A coven must have a name and an oath
- Ritualists join the coven by bonding themselves to it
A ritualist can always perform a ritual by themselves. Most ritualists are also part of a coven, a mystical union that extends the hearth magic of oaths to allow participants to combine their strength.
Any character can create a coven, you can use the online character creation system to form a coven. A coven uses the hearth magic inherent in oaths to allow participants to work together, so every coven must have an oath of some kind, which must be set when the coven is created. Once created, the oath cannot be changed, a new coven must be formed if characters wish to change their oath.
Ritualists can join the coven using the create bond spell that all magicians know. There must be an existing member of the coven present for the spell to work. The caster must know the name of the coven and they must recite at least a few words of the oath when they cast the spell. Only characters that are members of the same nation can join a coven.
Members of a coven can work together to perform a ritual with each participant contributing mana to a ritual up to the limit of their ability.