Battlefield ritual
Overview
Rituals require a referee to be present when they are cast, but finding a referee who is free on a battlefield can be extremely difficult to do. This significantly impacts on the effectiveness of several rituals which are explicitly designed to be cast in battle. To make it easier for players to perform these rituals, there is a special set of rules that apply to these battlefield rituals, allowing them to be cast without a ref.
Rules
- On the battlefield, you may cast certain rituals without the presence of a referee
- Be sure you understand the effects and limitations of the ritual
- Rip any mana crystals you have used on completing the ritual
- You must do your best not to exceed the ritual uses per day available to your coven
- After leaving the battlefield, report all rituals you have cast to a referee
- If you wish to cast any other rituals on the battlefield, please inform a referee as early as possible on the day of the battle
If you are casting one of the listed battlefield rituals then you may do so without waiting to get a referee. Calculate the mana cost and perform the ritual, ripping the appropriate number of mana crystal cards at the conclusion of your roleplaying. Brief all targets on the effect once the ritual is complete. Please try your best to remember the number of targets and the mana cost you have paid.
Not all of these rituals work exactly as you may expect. Last Breath Echoes, for example, would be an excellent tool for covering up a murder if it didn't require a willing target, while Blood of the Hydra targets limbs, not characters. If you are planning to cast a battlefield ritual then you must make sure that you fully understand the rules for that ritual. It is well worth checking your understanding with a referee before the battle if you are performing a battlefield ritual for the first time.
There are usually a number of referees available after the battle is over. Find a referee and report all the battlefield rituals you have cast so that they can log them.
These rules only apply to the battlefield rituals listed below; if you wish to cast any other ritual on a battlefield you will need to make sure you have a referee present as normal. This is most likely to happen if you try and inform a referee of your intentions as early as possible on the day of the battle.
The Coven Bond
- A coven may only perform a limited number of rituals together each day
- Make sure that everyone who is part of your coven is aware of how many rituals the coven has done that day
You must do your best not to use your coven bond more times per day than you are permitted under the rules. By default, you may perform two coven rituals per day. Make sure that you know before going on the battlefield how many times your coven may use their bond today. If you perform a coven ritual at which not all coven members are present, ensure that absent members are updated OOC when next you meet them.
Anvil
Please find a referee, as usual for ritual casting, if you wish to cast any of these rituals in Anvil. If the situation is genuinely time-critical then you may cast them without a referee, as if you were on the battlefield. Such situations are expected to be uncommon on the main field.
Ritual list
The following rituals may be cast without a referee on the battlefield.
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Day
Night
There are no night rituals that can be performed on the battlefield without a referee.
OOC reasoning
Referees can add a lot to rituals: they will check your maths, keep track of coven bonds, and look up details of the rules while you get on with your ritual. They can tell you your wounds are closing themselves with bark rather than skin, curse you with illiteracy, or drop a Tulpa on your head. On the battlefield, though, there aren't yet enough referees to guarantee you get one to your Hands of Sacred Life before the targets have bled to death or been overrun by orcs. We are recruiting more refs but even if we manage to double the size of the referee team, that would still be the case: there are a lot of ritualists, and the woods are large. The benefits of having a ref present for a ritual are outweighed, in these cases, by the fact that requiring their presence makes the ritual useless.
There are other rituals that are useful on the battlefield, but are not on this list; Rising Roots that Rend Stone needs a referee to handle the effect, for example. The rituals on this list are here because the cost of going and getting a referee in a battle outweighs the benefit of having a referee present when it is cast.