Altering spells

Altering range...

Each spell (or prayer) comprises a set of attributes that describe its modus operandi. These attributes are

• Range
• Duration
• Area of Effect

If a caster has more than the minimum amount of experience to cast a spell they may alter the basic casting of the spell

Increases

• Increase the affect (Area/duration) by 1 place per level above minimum needed to cast the spell
• Difficulty increases by 1 place per level change
• Power points needed do not change
• Decided in advance of casting

It is not possible to change something that is designed to affect a single creature to more than one creature, spells/prayers simply do not work that way. Similarly if you need to touch the target you cannot cast it at range.

A wizard may only alter a spell's attributes by 1 place per level he has in the specific magic realm, priests can do it by one place per faith point.

Note : This effectively gives a doubling in power for each 2 levels, albeit with an increase in difficulty of 2, this may be considered too generous and have the effect of making higher levle spells under powered).

Range

Casters cannot be magically assumed to know the exact distance of a target; "Hmmm is that orc at 59' or 61 ' as my spell only reachd to 60 feet"

A caster may elect to simply target an area/creature, if the target is further than thought then the difficulty is increased appropriately (it's a bit like automatically using the correct amont of effort to throw a ball to hit a target, your muscles do it for you). If it turns out that the creature was beyond normal range then the difficulty is increased appropriately (assuming you are high enough level to change the range).

Saving throws

To increase the saving throw by 1 place increases the difficulty by the number of points to achieve the next success level.

Damage

To increase the damage level the caster simply casts the spell at a higher level putting in the additional power points required.

Making it easier

Casters may also decrease any area of effect or duration to decrease the difficulty.

The basic range of a spell is inbuilt and decreasing distance to the target area gives no benefit.

Using the dimensional tables each deviation of one up or down of one row change the difficulty by one. There is no maximum but a minimum will be reached. Saving throws are a special case;

Examples

To change the range of a magic missile from 10 yards to 15 yards would increase the difficulty by 1.

To increase the area of effect of a web from 600 square feet to 1,000 square feet would increase the difficulty by 1.

To increase the area of effect of a web from 600 square feet to 1,000 square feet and its range from 25' to 40' would increase the difficulty by 2.

Decreasing the area of effect of a web from 600 square feet to 400 square feet would not affect its difficulty

Alteration Table

The units used are whatever are given in the spell. Note that the base value for any attribute is considered to be at least 10 even if it's not written in that manner.

e.g.

If the standard range was 1 mile you would treat it as 10 tenths of a mile so an increase of 1 makes the range 1.5 miles (15 tenths of a mile).

Saving throws may not be directly affected, however by decreasing the difficulty of the spell the saving throw required is likely to go up. Saves are according to the saving throw table

Modifying area type (square to circle to cone)

To change the area shape you must be one level above the minimum level and the difficullty is increased by 1 place. The new total area is generally smaller than the old area.

 

Adding power points

If enough power points are added to increase the level of the spell by 1 then the damage level increased by one. Thus a magic missile could be changed from damage level 1 to 2. The restriction when increasing the power of the spell is that caster must be capable of casting spells in all affected categories at the increased level.

If the damage level is increased the difficulty is also increased by one.

Confinement

Wizards with Arcane Knowledge of 4 may confine spells so that a delayed action results allowing the caster time to leave the area. The amount of delay must be stated at the time of casting. The caster needs to add extra power to confine the spell. Each extra power point increases the possible delay:

1. 1 hour
2. 1 day
3. 1 month
4. 1 year

Trying to use too much power

The level that a mage has gained in a class of magic not only dictates their knowledge of that specialisation but also how much of that type of power they can safely control. Mages can deliberately use more power than their safe limit but a wild surge may result.

A Constitution check (12) must be made or the mage/priest falls unconscious through the power surge and the spell fails

Permanency

Most spells that conjure or alter something (e.g. Wall of stone) are naturally permanent whilst those that require a force or energy input (e.g. Wall of Fire, Fly), where the target of the spell moves or the effect is instantaneous are not. Some but not all spells can be made permanent.

Making a spell permanent is classed as a ritual and takes significant preparation and casting time. During this period the mage cannot concentrate solely on the ritual and may not cast any other magic. The ritual takes 1 day + 1 day per level of the spell being made permanent.

In order to make a spell permanent that is not naturally so, a continuous channel of power must be opened to the plane from which the magic flows.

The steps for creating a permanent spell are:

1. You must have at least level 5 Arcane Knowledge
2. The spell acts as if cast at 3 levels lower (duration is the variable, reduce all other attributes by 3 places).
3. The power for this spell is permanently removed from the caster but they still count towards your maxium allowed (until it wears off).

The duration of the spell depends upon the success level:

Special cases

Any spell may be declared a special case.

Protection and similar spells are menanigless if cast at 3 levels lower, these must be cast at 3 levels higher than their base level.

Example

To create a permanent wall of fire

1. Cast the wall of fire (a 4th level elemental spell)
2. Lose 5 PP permanently.
3. Determine success level.

The casters' staff acts as a focus for the spell.

This ritual cannot be used to create magical items. For that you need the ritual Enchant an item