Magic

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Spells in General

Spells in Callowmass are potent and quasi-physical entities. In order to cast a spell, a magician must first assimilate it (or, more precisely, they assume it, at which point it becomes assimilated). This is an arduous process whereby the forms and formulae of the spell are assumed into the caster's thoughts and consciousness. Once assumed, a spell remains assimilated until cast.

The spell descriptions in the Grimoire below are laid out as follows:

Most of these elements should be self explainatory. The Name of a spell is its... well... its name. The XP cost of a spell is the amount of unspent XP you have to spend in order to cast it (this is included as an arbitrary game balencing mechanic to explain why Wizards don't cast the huge dramatic world changing spells all the damned time). Casting a spell will never cause you to forget skills. If you have insufficient unspent XP to pay the casting cost of spell you cannot cast it. At GM discression, you may spend XP you expect to gain from the adventure you are currently undertaking. The duration of the spell will have one of six set values.

• Instantaneous: Instantatneous spells go off immediately, and then cease. Simple as that.
• Until Discharged: Spells that last Until Discharged will hang uround until they have done everythign they are intended to do.
• Day: Spells that last a Day last until they have seen sunrise and sunset.
• Encounter: Spells with duration Encounter last until the end of the encounter during which they are cast.
• While Maintained: These spells require some effort or action to maintain them, and last so long as the effort or action lasts.
• Permenant: These spells last until undone.

Be warned! No spell may be cancelled before its proper time. If you cast something, make damned sure you want it hanging about.

Assimilating Spells

Assuming a spell is a long and arduous process. It takes one full hour of unbroken concentration to assimilate a spell of the Lesser Grimoire, and one full day of unbroken concentration to assimilate spells of the greater grimoire. A character may safely "hold" one assimilated spell of the lesser grimoire for every level of Magecraft they possess. They may hold one assimilated spell of the greater grimoire for every level of Greater Magecraft they possess. If you wish, you may treat Greater Magecraft levels as Magecraft levels, should you choose to assimilate fewer than your maximum quota of Greater Spells.

Note that this is only the number of spells you can assume safely. The people of Callowmass being as they are, safety is not always their primary concern. Characters may exceed their safe number of Assimilated Spells in the following ways:

• Any character may assume a spell of the Lesser Grimoire, however it is immediately classified as improperly assimilated unless they have the appropriate levels of Magecraft to properly assimilate it
• Any character with Magecraft may assume a spell of the Greater Grimoire, however the spell is immediately classified as improperly assimilated unless they ave the appropriate levels of Greater Magecraft to properly assimilate it.
• Should a character with no Magecraft attempt to assume a spell of the Greater Grimoire it will immediately discharge wild.

Please note: A magician may never assimilate more than one "copy" of a given spell at a given time.

Casting Spells

Casting spells, assuming your character is not Distracted is a simple matter. Simply call Spellcasting! Name of Spell! Game Mechanical Effect Description!, at which point the spell is considered cast. Some spells may involve GM intervention, in which case the GM may call a Time Freeze.

Wild Magic

It's a risky business, is magic. Sometimes, a character will accidentally let off their spells imporperly, prematurely or just utterly randomly. This is Wild Magic. A character will cast Wild Magic in the following circumstances:

• They attempt to cast an improperly assimilated spell
• They attempt to assume a spell, while holding an improperly assimilated spell
• They attempt to cast spells while Distracted

A character may prevent an instance of wild magic by using a Strength of Will call (in which case no spell is cast). Otherwise the appropriate call is Time Freeze: Wild Magic!, at which point a GM will decie what actually happens to the spell the caster is trying to use. In general the effects will be broadly correct, but my be greatly skewed in outcome.

Undoing Spells

Undoing spells is trickey. Although all spells do have some commonalities of nature, they are also all unique. No one cath-all "dispel magic" effect will work. Rather, each counterspell must be tailored to each individual spell. To prepare a counterspell you must know the spell to be countered, and then explicitly assume a counterspell to it. You may then cast the counterspell to undo the spell. Note that counterspells do not count against the "only one of a given spell" rule.

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Spells of the Lesser Grimoire

For ease of reference, the spells are divided up (broadly) by their effects.

Many of these spells reduce all damage from one particular source to 0. Multiple spells of this type do not stack (the spells work such that the vulnerabilities add up, rather than the protections).

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Spells of the Greater Grimoire

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