Feorreard V0.5 - Setting; Magic in Feorreard

Chapter 7 Magic in Feorreard

7.1 The nature of magic

Nobody is sure where magic comes from in Feorreard, but every religion has their own explanation. Most scholars of the physical world, however, believe that it emanates from the middle of the great central forest, and radiates out through the æther. Everybody is born with an affinity for magic, but only a few lucky individuals have a natural ability to bend it to their will. These people are known variously as mages, wizards, magicians, sorcerers and witches.

Other, normal folk have to rely on rituals and gestures memorised by rote, giving them access to specific defined spells. The abilities of people to cast more powerful spells depends on two things - their familiarity with the ritual or gesture involved (natural mages only count their familiarity with magic generally), and the ease with which magic flows through the person (their magic level). The more times someone casts a spell or otherwise channels magic through their mind, the smoother the path becomes and the more easily large amounts of magic can flow through them into the physical world. While it seems almost anybody can cast any spells given enough training and practice, only a priveleged few can afford to attend a college of magic to learn the ways of the professional mage, leaving most commoners with only a few luck chants passed down from their grandparents, who learned them from untrained hedge wizards or village shamans.

7.2 Spells

A list of spell used across Feorreard

• Fireball: causes a ball of flame to shoot from the caster's hand in a chosen direction. A very popular spell among criminals and the frequently violent.

– CN: 7, Type: Ranged, Physical

– Causes fire damage equal to the degree by which the spell passed it's CN. Targets hit by this spell usually have a 30% chance of their clothing, fur etc. catching fire.

• Restrain: restrains one target by causing the air around them to become so thick and viscous that movement becomes difficult.

– CN: 15, Type: Ranged, Physical

– Target must pass a strength test to make any kind of movement at all, and requires a critical pass for actions like swinging a sword. If the spell is cast by more than 10 degrees of success, the target must take a strength test every minute else they won't get enough oxygen and must take a stamina test not to pass out.

• Excruciating Pain: uses a variety of methods to cause the target intense pain, including heating the air in their lungs, tugging their flesh and bones in opposite directions and cooling the oral cavity to induce a “brain-freeze.” These multiple vectors make the spell very difficult to physically prevent, and ensure that it works on most living beings. It's use is strongly frowned upon by most sane people. Can cause physical damage after too long.

– CN: 20, Type: Contact, Physical

– Target must take a willpower test to perform any action for the duration of the spell. Each failed test gives a -5 modifier to any subsequent tests, until the target is unable to do anything and collapses as a gibbering wreck. Botched rolls may cause a permanent tick or even insanity at the GM's discretion.

• Swamp: draws water up through the ground, until a small area of around 5m across becomes saturated and turns to bog. Although the patch of land appears mostly unaffected at first, when someone tries to walk through they will find the area quickly becomes a quagmire. The effect usually takes around 10 minutes in a lush field, but takes much longer in dry areas and will barely have an effect a desert.

– CN: 7, Type: Physical

– The affected area will show as mildly magical to those who can detect it. The degree by which the spell passes affects the speed and area of the effect.

• Nudge: gently pushes objects at a range. Useful for distractions or gently closing a door, but pretty useless for tripping people over or creating a constant force.

– CN: 3

– A pass by 5 or more allows a slightly stronger force eg. a painful jab in the eye, and a pass by 15 or more is the equivalent of being hit by a child.

• [TODO]

• Smokescreen:

• Firebeam: creates a stream of constant fire from the caster's hand. This makes it much easier than a fireball for the caster to home in on a target at range, hit a moving target or quickly hit multiple targets. This spell is very destructive, and recommended for outdoor use only.

– CN: 25, Type: Ranged, Physical

• Combust: superheats a tiny spot inside the object, causing flammable items to combust.

– CN: 7, Type: Touch, Physical

– A pass by 15 or more is enough to ignite flesh.

• Lightening:

• Light: causes an object or part of the caster to glow with a bright white light for several hours or until the caster wills it to stop.

– CN: 4, Type: Touch

– A pass by 15 or more creates a blindingly bright light. Anyone who looks directly into it must take a speed test to look away in time, else take a stamina test not to be temporarily blinded.

• Summon Water:

– CN: 8, Type Physical, Ranged

– Max range = No. of die rolled in meters. Creates 500 cubic cm (1/2 a litre) of pure water for each degree by which the spell succeeds. Water retains a faint magical residue, but for all other purposes is completely pure and natural.

• Sleep: helps the target drift away to sleep. Usually used by the caster on themselves, it's easily resisted unless the target is unaware.

– CN: 5

– A pass by 10 or more can make an unwilling target instantly fall asleep if they fail a willpower test.

• Inhabit Body:

• Sand to Blood:

• Delusion

• Coma

• Salad Fingers

• Fish-in-the-oven

• safety cupboard

• Weaken Mind: magically attacks the target's mind, reducing their willpower and increasing their vulnerability to spells affecting the mind like illusions.

– CN: 19, Type: Mental, Ranged

– Max range = No. of die rolled in meters.

• Sense Object

• Mirage

• Summon Sand

• Mighty Smash

• Shatter Bones: causes the bone the

• Trip

• Suggestive Dreams

• Create Marker: infuses an object with a magical essence, allowing the caster to return to it's location, and always tell where it is.

• Return to marker: Allows the caSpells

A list of spell used across Feorreard

• Fireball: causes a ball of flame to shoot from the caster's hand in a chosen direction. A very popular spell among criminals and the frequently violent.

– CN: 7, Type: Ranged, Physical

– Causes fire damage equal to the degree by which the spell passed it's CN. Targets hit by this spell usually have a 30% chance of their clothing, fur etc. catching fire.

• Restrain: restrains one target by causing the air around them to become so thick and viscous that movement becomes difficult.

– CN: 15, Type: Ranged, Physical

– Target must pass a strength test to make any kind of movement at all, and requires a critical pass for actions like swinging a sword. If the spell is cast by more than 10 degrees of success, the target must take a strength test every minute else they won't get enough oxygen and must take a stamina test not to pass out.

• Excruciating Pain: uses a variety of methods to cause the target intense pain, including heating the air in their lungs, tugging their flesh and bones in opposite directions and cooling the oral cavity to induce a “brain-freeze.” These multiple vectors make the spell very difficult to physically prevent, and ensure that it works on most living beings. It's use is strongly frowned upon by most sane people. Can cause physical damage after too long.

– CN: 20, Type: Contact, Physical

– Target must take a willpower test to perform any action for the duration of the spell. Each failed test gives a -5 modifier to any subsequent tests, until the target is unable to do anything and collapses as a gibbering wreck. Botched rolls may cause a permanent tick or even insanity at the GM's discretion.

• Swamp: draws water up through the ground, until a small area of around 5m across becomes saturated and turns to bog. Although the patch of land appears mostly unaffected at first, when someone tries to walk through they will find the area quickly becomes a quagmire. The effect usually takes around 10 minutes in a lush field, but takes much longer in dry areas and will barely have an effect a desert.

– CN: 7, Type: Physical

– The affected area will show as mildly magical to those who can detect it. The degree by which the spell passes affects the speed and area of the effect.

• Nudge: gently pushes objects at a range. Useful for distractions or gently closing a door, but pretty useless for tripping people over or creating a constant force.

– CN: 3

– A pass by 5 or more allows a slightly stronger force eg. a painful jab in the eye, and a pass by 15 or more is the equivalent of being hit by a child.

• [TODO]

• Smokescreen:

• Firebeam: creates a stream of constant fire from the caster's hand. This makes it much easier than a fireball for the caster to home in on a target at range, hit a moving target or quickly hit multiple targets. This spell is very destructive, and recommended for outdoor use only.

– CN: 25, Type: Ranged, Physical

• Combust: superheats a tiny spot inside the object, causing flammable items to combust.

– CN: 7, Type: Touch, Physical

– A pass by 15 or more is enough to ignite flesh.

• Lightening:

• Light: causes an object or part of the caster to glow with a bright white light for several hours or until the caster wills it to stop.

– CN: 4, Type: Touch

– A pass by 15 or more creates a blindingly bright light. Anyone who looks directly into it must take a speed test to look away in time, else take a stamina test not to be temporarily blinded.

• Summon Water:

– CN: 8, Type Physical, Ranged

– Max range = No. of die rolled in meters. Creates 500 cubic cm (1/2 a litre) of pure water for each degree by which the spell succeeds. Water retains a faint magical residue, but for all other purposes is completely pure and natural.

• Sleep: helps the target drift away to sleep. Usually used by the caster on themselves, it's easily resisted unless the target is unaware.

– CN: 5

– A pass by 10 or more can make an unwilling target instantly fall asleep if they fail a willpower test.

• Inhabit Body:

• Sand to Blood:

• Delusion

• Coma

• Salad Fingers

• Fish-in-the-oven

• safety cupboard

• Weaken Mind: magically attacks the target's mind, reducing their willpower and increasing their vulnerability to spells affecting the mind like illusions.

– CN: 19, Type: Mental, Ranged

– Max range = No. of die rolled in meters.

• Sense Object

• Mirage

• Summon Sand

• Mighty Smash

• Shatter Bones: causes the bone the

• Trip

• Suggestive Dreams

• Create Marker: infuses an object with a magical essence, allowing the caster to return to it's location, and always tell where it is.

• Return to marker: Allows the caster to instantly return to one pre-prepared location

• Teleport

• Blood to Sand

• Bones to Jelly

• Summon bound object

• Eyes to trout: Turns eyes into full sized live trout when the caster is touching any part of the body to which the eyes are attatched. Also works on severed eyes. This spell is powered by the horror of the victim, and ist's use is considered abominable in most parts of the northern continent.

– CN: 28, Type: Touch

• Fatigue

• Far Vision

• Spasm

• Reduce Weight

• Far Hearing

• Sensitive hearing

• Mild Magnetism

• Medium Magnetism

• Illusionary Coin: creates an illusions coin which almost looks and feels like the real thing. Most people, however, are used to these kinds of deceptions, so this spell is mostly only useful for fleeting glimpses or for fooling the very naive.

• Mega Magnetism:

• Zone of magnetism: Creates a zone in a place of the caster's wish which attracts ferrous objects towards it. Removing these objects requires a hard (-15) strength test.

• Transcribe: Copies text, or takes dictation

• Levitate:

• Reflect Magic:

• Purge: causes the target to violently throw up and their body to purge itself of all toxins as quickly as possible. This is not pretty to watch.fai

• Climb aid: makes the caster's hands and feet sticky at will, and increases their ability to climb. It becomes a lot harder to dislodge them, and they are much less likely to drop thinggs they're holding.

• Reflect Blows:

• Staunch bleeding:

• repair flesh:

• Illusionary Clone:

• Move Metal: causes metals to bend or warp to the caster's wishes.

• Ease Pain:

• Locate: gives the location of any item or person. Requires a part of the person or item which has recently been removed.

• Enchant weapon:

• Fog glass:

• Encrypt text: magically causes written words to rearrange into a code readable only by the caster and those that the caster chooses. Translate spells will not work on this text.

– CN: 12, Type: Touch

• Adhesive: bonds items together. Works on almost all surfaces which are not magically protected.

• Create Mirror: causes moisture in the air to arrange in such a way that it creates a slightly transparent mirrored surface, which can be moved around the caster's immediate area at their will.

• Magical Shield: Creates a transparent dome around the caster which blocks anything from physically passing through. If objects are already in the way (trees etc.), the shield is created around them. It feels like a damp, slightly springy blockage which nothing can pass through without magical help.

– CN: 17, Type: Physical, Area

– This spell requires the caster to keep entireley focused on it else it becomes easier to pass through (unless the spell passes by more than 10)

• Magical Tripwire: grants the caster the ability to detect whether somebody has passed through a particular location.

– CN: 7 Type: Touch

– The degree by which hhe spell passes is the number of hours for which the spell remains. After that, the caster requires no effort to keep it going, and cannot stop the spell except by casting “remove spell” or an equivalent on it. A magical tripwire can be detected by anything which can sense magic.

• Explosive Fireball:

• Illusionary Wall of Fire:

• Forcefield:

• Peel Skin: peels a person's skin off. Almost always lethal

• Magical Projectiles: creates magical razor sharp darts and fires them at supersonic velocities

• Joint Swap: swaps the direction of a person's knee or elbow joints. Causes the limb to die and drop off at the joint after a few days.

• Flesh Removal: removes a specific hunk of flesh from a body. Can be as specific as “Eyelids” or “Torso Muscles.”

• Slice: creates a slice through any object up to the hardness of wood.

• Bowel Movement:

• Soften Metal:

• Remove Drunkenness: also cures hangovers

• Phantom Noises: creates a specific noise at a location. Screaming babies are popular.

• Pins and Needles

• Tickle

• Short Teleport: teleport 15 m at a time

• Ecstasy

• Warm

• Dry

• unnatural strength

• Unnatural speed

• Unnatural finesse

• Unnatural perception

• Terrify

• Sadden:

• Intoxicate

• Communicate

• Lubricate: creates a slimy coating around the target

• Moisten

• Freeze

• Magical boat: creates a magical water vessel, which can travel under it's own propulsion at a speed of 30MPH, under the control of the caster. It's almost transparent, which can be disorientating for the passengers.

– CN: 14, Type: Physical, Touch

• Choke

• Translate: allows the target to understand all languages spoken to them

• Chill

• Corrode

• Restore: uncorrode

• Control Skeleton

• Umbrella: stops projectiles, with the strength of light cloth. Also rain-proof.

• Voice: makes the caster appear to have a different voice to any observers who fail a -30 perception test

• Laughter: useful when cast immediately after a joke

• Mute: clamps a person's jaw shut.ster to instantly return to one pre-prepared location

• Teleport

• Blood to Sand

• Bones to Jelly

• Summon bound object

• Eyes to trout: Turns eyes into full sized live trout when the caster is touching any part of the body to which the eyes are attatched. Also works on severed eyes. This spell is powered by the horror of the victim, and ist's use is considered abominable in most parts of the northern continent.

– CN: 28, Type: Touch

• Fatigue

• Far Vision

• Spasm

• Reduce Weight

• Far Hearing

• Sensitive hearing

• Mild Magnetism

• Medium Magnetism

• Illusionary Coin: creates an illusions coin which almost looks and feels like the real thing. Most people, however, are used to these kinds of deceptions, so this spell is mostly only useful for fleeting glimpses or for fooling the very naive.

• Mega Magnetism:

• Zone of magnetism: Creates a zone in a place of the caster's wish which attracts ferrous objects towards it. Removing these objects requires a hard (-15) strength test.

• Transcribe: Copies text, or takes dictation

• Levitate:

• Reflect Magic:

• Purge: causes the target to violently throw up and their body to purge itself of all toxins as quickly as possible. This is not pretty to watch.fai

• Climb aid: makes the caster's hands and feet sticky at will, and increases their ability to climb. It becomes a lot harder to dislodge them, and they are much less likely to drop thinggs they're holding.

• Reflect Blows:

• Staunch bleeding:

• repair flesh:

• Illusionary Clone:

• Move Metal: causes metals to bend or warp to the caster's wishes.

• Ease Pain:

• Locate: gives the location of any item or person. Requires a part of the person or item which has recently been removed.

• Enchant weapon:

• Fog glass:

• Encrypt text: magically causes written words to rearrange into a code readable only by the caster and those that the caster chooses. Translate spells will not work on this text.

– CN: 12, Type: Touch

• Adhesive: bonds items together. Works on almost all surfaces which are not magically protected.

• Create Mirror: causes moisture in the air to arrange in such a way that it creates a slightly transparent mirrored surface, which can be moved around the caster's immediate area at their will.

• Magical Shield: Creates a transparent dome around the caster which blocks anything from physically passing through. If objects are already in the way (trees etc.), the shield is created around them. It feels like a damp, slightly springy blockage which nothing can pass through without magical help.

– CN: 17, Type: Physical, Area

– This spell requires the caster to keep entireley focused on it else it becomes easier to pass through (unless the spell passes by more than 10)

• Magical Tripwire: grants the caster the ability to detect whether somebody has passed through a particular location.

– CN: 7 Type: Touch

– The degree by which hhe spell passes is the number of hours for which the spell remains. After that, the caster requires no effort to keep it going, and cannot stop the spell except by casting “remove spell” or an equivalent on it. A magical tripwire can be detected by anything which can sense magic.

• Explosive Fireball:

• Illusionary Wall of Fire:

• Forcefield:

• Peel Skin: peels a person's skin off. Almost always lethal

• Magical Projectiles: creates magical razor sharp darts and fires them at supersonic velocities

• Joint Swap: swaps the direction of a person's knee or elbow joints. Causes the limb to die and drop off at the joint after a few days.

• Flesh Removal: removes a specific hunk of flesh from a body. Can be as specific as “Eyelids” or “Torso Muscles.”

• Slice: creates a slice through any object up to the hardness of wood.

• Bowel Movement:

• Soften Metal:

• Remove Drunkenness: also cures hangovers

• Phantom Noises: creates a specific noise at a location. Screaming babies are popular.

• Pins and Needles

• Tickle

• Short Teleport: teleport 15 m at a time

• Ecstasy

• Warm

• Dry

• unnatural strength

• Unnatural speed

• Unnatural finesse

• Unnatural perception

• Terrify

• Sadden:

• Intoxicate

• Communicate

• Lubricate: creates a slimy coating around the target

• Moisten

• Freeze

• Magical boat: creates a magical water vessel, which can travel under it's own propulsion at a speed of 30MPH, under the control of the caster. It's almost transparent, which can be disorientating for the passengers.

– CN: 14, Type: Physical, Touch

• Choke

• Translate: allows the target to understand all languages spoken to them

• Chill

• Corrode

• Restore: uncorrode

• Control Skeleton

• Umbrella: stops projectiles, with the strength of light cloth. Also rain-proof.

• Voice: makes the caster appear to have a different voice to any observers who fail a -30 perception test

• Laughter: useful when cast immediately after a joke

• Mute: clamps a person's jaw shut.