Adaptación del perfil de emergencia

Storytellers may wish to substitute the mage’s Gnosis as the limit for spellcast- ing successes instead of the spellcasting test pool, making for a game that relies more on instant spells instead of rituals. Storytellers might also choose to ignore

success limits on magic entirely, making rituals more powerful.

I

S

The spell’s description lists which factor is primary. Successes gained in the spellcasting test are applied to this factor. A single success gives a spell the following factors:

Potency: One point

Target: One (of Size 20 or smaller) or a circular radius of one yard or a defined area of five square yards.

Duration: One turn (three seconds) for transitory spells and one hour or scene for prolonged spells.

Extra successes enhance the primary factor only. To enhance the other factors during instant spellcasting, you must assign penalties before the test is made, but only successes on the spellcasting test can increase the primary factor.

E

S

Legends abound of witches spending hours over boiling cauldrons, sorcerers incanting ancient names of power for days or mystics meditating for weeks to achieve miraculous effects. Each of these is an extended-action casting, also called a ritual casting, allowing successes to be accumulated over a series of draws.

The target number of successes depends on all the factors described in the Imago. The first success on an extended casting provides all the basic factors listed above for an instant casting: one point of Potency, one target and a one turn Duration (for transitory spells) or one hour or scene Duration (for prolonged spells). Extra factors are gained by adding more successes to the target number.

An extended-casting spell is not activated until the required successes for all the stated fac- tors are attained. Unlike an instant casting, no factor needs to be declared primary; successes are allocated as needed among all factors to achieve the target number for the spell.

149 Chapter Three: Magic

P

Potency describes a spell’s raw power as well as how hard the spell is to counter or dispel. Most spells have Potency as the primary factor; even if a spell requires only one point of Potency, the caster might wish to increase the spell’s Potency to protect the spell from contrary magic. An instant spell with Target or Duration as its primary factor has a default Potency of one point — the spell affects many targets or lasts a long time, but has little resilience against countering or dispelling attempts.

Potency Test Penalty (instant) Target Number

(extended)

1 –0 (basic success) +0 (basic success)

2 –2 +1 success

3 –4 +2 successes

4 –6 +3 successes

5* –8 +4 successes

* Every extra point of Potency beyond 5 incurs an additional –2 penalty (for instant spells) or +1 additional success (for extended spells). For example, Potency 6 would levy a –10 penalty or +5 successes.

T

Spells are targeted against one or more creatures or objects. The magic is woven directly into the target’s Pattern, bypassing any obstacles. So, two considerations are “how many targets are to be affected?” and “how big is each target?”

Number of Targets Test Penalty Target Number

One –0 (basic success) +0 (basic success)

Two –2 +1 success

Three –4 +2 successes

Four –6 +3 successes

Five* –8 +4 successes

* Every additional target incurs an additional –2 penalty (for instant spells) or +1 ad- ditional success (for extended spells). For example, six targets would levy a –10 penalty or +5 successes.

Size

Once a mage knows his targets, he must account for the largest target in the group. Tar- gets of exceptional size (larger than a dump truck) require additional spell successes.

Size of Largest Target Test Penalty Target Number 20 or less +0 (basic success) +0 success (basic

success)

21–30 –2 +1 success

31–40 –4 +2 successes

41–50 –6 +3 successes

51–60* –8 +4 successes

* Every +10 to the Size of the largest target incurs an additional –2 penalty (for instant spells) or +1 additional success (for extended spells). For example, a Size 61–70 target would levy a –10 penalty or +5 successes.

–0 (basic success) +0 (basic success) 1

–4 +2 successes

3

–8 +4 successes

5*

ber of Targets Test Penalty Target Number Numb

–2 +1 success

Two

–6 +3 successes

Four

r less +0 (basic success) +0 success (basic 20 or success) 0 –4 +2 successes 31–40 0* –8 +4 successes 51–60

Area-affecting

Instead of one or more specified targets, a spell might affect a circular area around a particular spot or a specified volume defined by the spellcaster. The spell then applies to anyone or anything in that area or volume and friend or foe. The mage cannot single out specific targets within the declared space.

A mage can alter a spell that normally affects one or more targets to affect a radius or defined volume instead. His Arcanum dots must be one or more higher than what is normally required to cast the spell (use of the advanced area-affecting chart, below, requires two dots more than is normally required) to determine the actual area affected. Altering a spell in this way costs one Mana, spent during casting.

Radius Defined Volume Test Penalty Target Number

1-yard radius 5 cubic yards –0 +0 successes

(basic success) (basic success)

2-yard radius 10 cu. yards –2 +1 success

4-yard radius 20 cu. yards –4 +2 successes

8-yard radius 40 cu. yards –6 +3 successes

16-yard radius* 80 cu. yards –8 +4 successes

* Every doubling in the radius or area incurs an additional –2 penalty (for instant spells) or +1 additional success (for extended spells). For example, a 32-yard radius or a 160- cubic-yard volume would levy a –10 penalty or +5 successes.

Advanced Area-affecting

Radius Defined Volume Test Penalty Target Number

1-yard radius 5 cubic yards –0 +0 successes

(basic success) (basic success)

4-yard radius 20 cu. yards –2 +1 success

16-yard radius 80 cu. yards –4 +2 successes

64-yard radius 320 cu. yards –6 +3 successes

256-yard radius* 1280 cu. yards –8 +4 successes

* Every quadrupling in the radius or area incurs an additional –2 penalty (for instant spells) or +1 additional success (for extended spells). For example, a 1,024-yard radius or a 5,120-cubic-yard volume would levy a –10 penalty or +5 successes.