Magic

Invoking magic is not as straightforward as performing a mundane activity; if it were, everyone would do it. Using the style of magic found in the world of Rough Magic requires some expansion of the basic Risus system.

Avenue

There are three basic types of magic in Rough Magic, and the Cliché your character uses to perform magical feats will reflect this. The three basic avenues for magic are Alchemy, Shamanism, and Sorcery (you can call them "schools" of magic if you like, but this might be confusing since there are a few actual schools which teach magic). There is a great deal of overlap between these areas, and truly none of the three is exclusive of the others, but these are the primary avenues of thought along which practitioners of the Dark Arts tend to focus.

Alchemy

Alchemy is the field of the material as it affects the immaterial. To an alchemist, the material world is the lever by which the immaterial world may be moved (which may then in turn affect the material world). An alchemist does not turn away from the material world in order to understand reality: an alchemist seeks within the material world for the clues to understanding all of creation, material and immaterial. To an alchemist, the nature of reality is made manifest in the material world, and it is through the material world that reality can be molded.

Alchemists do not typically "cast spells". It is more likely than an alchemist will prepare a tincture, powder, or salve which will affect the change she desires to make. While an alchemist can use her skills to invoke magical effects "on the fly", just as any magician can, it is much rarer for an alchemist to do so than any other type of magician.

Shamanism

To a shaman, the physical world is a shadow of the real world, the spiritual world. Ghosts, spirits, gods, demons, and other spiritual forces create and are coextensive with the universe as it is perceived by our limited physical senses. A shaman does not seek to understand the spiritual world by examining the physical world: to a shaman, viewing the physical world is perhaps the least reliable method of perceiving the universe as it truly is.

A shaman seeks to understand and control the universe by interacting with the motivating spirits which give it form. A shaman may, at need, command spirits extemporaneously, but it is more common for the shaman to prepare a ritual that attracts the attention of the spirits she wants to control, appease or threaten them in some way, and then command them to do her bidding.

Sorcery

To a sorcerer, the real world, both spiritually and materially, is an artifact of consciousness. This does not mean that a sorcerer thinks that the universe is a hallucination (although some of the madder ones might think so). It means that a sorcerer sees the external world as being a mutable extension of the sorcerer herself. In a sense, the sorcerer is one and the same as the universe, and with the proper frame of mind, the will of the sorcerer can move a mountain, just as it moves her hand.

This frame of mind is not a simple thing to achieve, of course. While it is possible for a sorcerer to exert her will upon the universe without any preparation or ceremony, it is a difficult thing, and no truly great work will be accomplished that way.

Invocation

There are two basic ways for a character to invoke magic, whatever her particular style of magic may be. She can whip up spells "on the fly", using her own raw talent and force of will, or she can prepare ceremonies of variable elaborateness to aid her concentration and improve her chances of success.

Spontaneous Magic

The most direct way for a magician to employ her Art is the most difficult. Using only her native talent and force of will, and whatever tools of her trade may be appropriate (a bag of teeth, a rune-carved staff, a handful of caustic powders, etc.), she directly and without preamble seeks to command the arcane forces of the universe. All magicians are capable of doing this, but only the most skilled can spontaneously invoke magic successfully, and even then the effects are not as impressive as that which can be accomplished with adequate preparation. (See Potency, below.)

Ritual Magic

The most common way for a magician to employ her Art is also the easiest. Using the tools of her trade, the character prepares a ceremony suitable for the spell being cast and the style of magic that the character employs. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the character commands the arcane forces of the universe as she wishes. If the character takes an extraordinary amount of time to prepare her ceremony, she may add to her Cliché dice for purposes of determining if the character's attempt is successful.

Potency

All magic is opposed, if not by the victim's Cliché then by the contrariness of the universe as a whole. This opposition is represented by a Cliché specific to spells, called Potency. The magician must overcome the spell's Potency to invoke it successfully.

The GM determines the number of dice in the spell's Potency Cliché based on the tables below (modified of course by her own best judgement). Unless otherwise indicated, the Potency modifier for each element of a spell is cumulative. If the magician is attempting to invoke spontaneous magic, without taking time to prepare an appropriate ritual, the spell's Potency Cliché is doubled.

Rolling Dice

If the magician is attempting to invoke a spell and no one is actively opposing her, the Potency Cliché of the spell is rolled by the GM as if the magician were engaged in combat with another character. If the magician actually is engaged in magical combat with another character, the GM still rolls dice for the spell's Potency, but only the sixes are added to the total rolled by the magician's opponent.

If the magician is rolling against the Potency Cliché of the spell itself, the spell is successfully cast when the spell's Potency Cliché is reduced to zero. If the magician is rolling against another character, the spell is successfully cast when the Victim's Cliché is reduced to zero (regardless of the spell's Potency).

Range or Familiarity

The default spell is cast upon someone the magician is physically near, or upon someone with whom she is (or has been) intimate. If neither of these is the case, consult the following table, and apply the Potency modifier that would make the spell easiest. If the spell is to be cast on a close family member on the other side of the continent, for example, use the Potency modifier for "Close Family".

Scope

The default Potency is for a spell cast upon a single person or a small area. If the spell is to affect more than a single target, or is to affect a small area, the Potency of the spell increases commensurately. If the magician casting the spell can pick and choose who gets affected by the spell and who does not (a plague that bypasses some households but strikes others, for example), the Potency is 1 higher than would otherwise be indicated by the spell's Scope.

If the spell is to affect more than one person, and they don't want it to, the victims operate as a team. (See Teaming Up, in Mechanics.) If the targets of the spell do not resist its being cast on them, the GM simply rolls dice for the spell's Potency Cliché.

Impact

Impact is the most subjective element of a spell, and assessing a spell's Impact will probably be a source of disagreement between the GM and the players. Please keep a sense of humor, and be willing to compromise. The default Potency for a spell is "Lethal". Spells with less Impact are correspondingly easier to invoke.

Copyright © 1999-2001 Brandon Blackmoor
Adapted from Risus: The Anything RPG
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