Ritual Magic

Ritual Magic Edge

Arcane Skill: Varies (existing casting skill)
Starting Power Points: N/A
Starting Powers: N/A
Prerequisite: Seasoned, Smarts or Spirit d8+, Arcane Background (Any), Spellcasting Skill (Any) d8+

Rituals are, at heart, simply lengthier invocations of the standard powers available (list below). However, rituals are not without risk and the magic used is beyond the ken of amateurs and dabblers.

Ritual spells are long, elaborate affairs, requiring a great deal of time and conducting rituals is tiring, physically and mentally, not to mention financially draining. Before a ritual begins, the caster must declare how long a span the spell is to last if it is successful. The span being sought can be in hours, days, or weeks, as shown below. The actual duration is fixed at 1d6 of those time units and cannot be extended in any way. Throughout the Duration, the hero may activate and deactivate the power as a free action.

The casting time for a ritual depends on the duration the caster seeks. For a duration of Hours, the spell takes a number of rounds equal to the Power Points being invested. A duration of Days takes a number of minutes equal to the Power Points, and a duration of Weeks takes a number of hours equal to the Power Points. No breaks may be taken, or the ritual is disrupted. A disrupted ritual is ruined, expendable material components wasted, and Power Points invested lost. The GM will impose the appropriate penalty modifier based on the nature of the interruption. Disruption through damage requires a casting attribute roll (ex. Smarts, Spirit) versus the damage the caster suffers, as per normal spellcasting.

At the end of the ritual or as a result of disruption during the ritual, the caster makes the appropriate spellcasting roll, with all applicable modifiers, successes and raises work as normal (either resulting in the spell casting or the continuation of the ritual if disrupted). If the roll is failed, the spell fails to yield results and all the Power Points and expendable materials are lost. If the caster rolls a 1 on his arcane skill die (regardless of Wild Die), the ritual fails, and the caster suffers a level of Fatigue for one hour per Power Point expended in the ritual.

Note: A ritualist need not know the spell he has invoking. However, this makes the casting more difficult (-2 casting penalty in addition to the Difficulty Modifier listed in the table below).

Heroes with this Edge may choose from the following powers (Rank allowing):

Armor, beast friend, barrier, boost/lower trait, deflection, detect/conceal arcana, environmental protection, fly, invisibility, light, quickness, smite, speak language, and speed.

Ritual Difficulty & Power Point Cost Table

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New Duration	Difficulty Modifier	PP Multiplier (Rounds)	PP Multiplier (Minutes)	PP Multiplier (Hours)
1d6 Hours	-2	x4	x2	x1
1d6 Days	-4	x8	x4	x2
1d6 Weeks	-6	x12	x8	x4

Example, a LIGHT spell has a Duration measured in minutes and a basic Cost of 1 Power Point. To extend the spell’s duration to 1d6 Days would cost 4 Power Points AND have a Difficulty Modifier of -4 (assuming the caster already knows this spell, or -6 if they do not).