Elethian Magic
Elethian magic is not tied to materials or the power of gods, but rather the power of sentient life and the individual. Eleth acts as an extension of the social consciousness, pooling minuscule strands of consciousness into a power reserve that can be accessed by Elethian mages. When such a mage wishes to cast a spell, they must first find an appropriate source of power that matches their intended effect and put themselves in contact with it, such as stepping in earth or walking through a gate. They can then pull this power out and shape it into a coherent thought that can rearrange reality, pulling earth into shape or moving hundreds of miles with a step.
Eleth is inherently limited by the population and societal thoughts of an area, and can be exhausted by larger spells. A hospital may store large sums of Eleth through years of treatments that may be used up in minutes by a mage wishing to be young again. For smaller spells, it is hard for an Elethian mage to draw enough energy to affect the stores of Eleth, though repeated and frequent use can slowly begin to drain the area. Once drained, Eleth returns through the societal use of areas, such as a hospital treating patients or a university teaching bright young minds. Natural Eleth, such as that tied to animals, plants, or elements, is practically infinite in natural areas due to the small but plentiful amounts given by nature. Larger cities can often find themselves in a dearth of such elements, however.
It is possible for Elethian mages to pull power from one form of Eleth into another, though this requires significant mental effort and is highly unstable. A water and gate mage can fashion a liquid door and step through it to expedite a retreat, but the doorway will likely collapse behind him. In other ways, an Elethian mage can cheat the rules for a short period of time; an earth mage may keep a sprinkling of dirt in his shoes while on a boat, just enough power for a single weak spell, but better than nothing.
Each level increases the amount of potential power that a mage can put into a spell, but not the amount of control they can exert over this power. Within academic circles, these levels are referred to in decreasing alphabetical order, with E or Echo-class Elethian mages being the least powerful, and A or Alpha-class being the most powerful. Anomalous mages have occasionally been referred to as A+ or Alpha Plus-class mages, though this is not officially recognized. However, the actual ability of a mage is more often related to their skill, rather than their potential.
Example: Alefit is an Gate mage with 3 levels of Elethian Potential (Gate) [5 + 15 + 40 = 60]. He can teleport small objects to his hand or shift himself slightly to avoid projectiles (Level 1), teleport himself or another within a few dozen meters (Level 2), and create a static doorway to teleport through a wall or teleport himself to an adjacent city (Level 3). If he gathered another 60 points for Bravo-class, he could teleport himself or another up to ~500 kilometers away and turn a city gate into a portal to a nearby connecting city (Level 4).
Example: A player wants Tetran the Terrific wants to be a skilled illusionist. First, he must choose his Elethian Potential form. He can either control minds in order to make them believe they are seeing illusions (Mind - Illusion), or mold physical phenomena to emulate creatures (Force - Photokinesis + Kinetics). Tetran is more of a thinker than a dooer, and purchases 2 levels of Elethian Potential (Mind) for 20 points. While he could purchase another level for 40 points, the player thinks Tetran's point are better spent on skill, as he wants to create intricate, but not necessarily large illusions. He could also purchase a limitation to only use the Illusion form for -25%, but chooses not to. Tetran first purchases the Magic (Mind)! skill at 8 (10-2), for 6 (2 x 3) points. He doesn't really care that he's going to be bad at most forms. He then buys Magic (Illusion) up from 8 (his wildcard skill level) to 13. Magic (Illusion) would start at 9, so he needs 6 skill levels, costing him 12 points. Tetran then purchases two levels in a few spells after pitching them to the Game master; Hide (to make someone not be able to see a person or object), Create Noise (to make an indistinct noise to distract people), and Dancing Monkey (to create a small dancing monkey to lure people), spending two points per spell.
Example: Nefrit is a Charlie-class Elemental mage with a 14 in Elemental!. During a fight, he uses his skill to throw exploding fireballs at his enemies, making one roll to create the fireball and using Elemental! skill to hurl it at his enemy. Tthe Game Master assesses a -3 penalty for their explosive nature. Later, an enemy is using a civilian as a human shield, and he wants to precisely attack that enemy by impaling him with a thin shard of earth silently created behind him; the Game Master assesses this is possible, but would take a similar -3 penalty to the skill roll to manifest due to the silent nature. He then creates a wall of air to buffet away projectiles from his allies, but wants this shield to allow friendly projectiles to pass through. The Game Master assesses this would be highly complex, and would take a -5 penalty to the skill roll to manifest.
The Game Master may rule that certain uses (such as replacing a weapon skill) cannot be substituted by a technique. A general rule of thumb is that a technique can replace the full skill if it only replaces a small part of the skill (throwing a specific thing, riding a specific animal), but not if it acts as a general replacement for the full skill (performing surgery, swordfighting). An Elethian mage may also attempt to push his limits, effectively attempting to bridge the gap to the next level of potential. For example, a Charlie-class mage may teleport a small group between adjacent cities, but may try to push to teleport a dozen men between two adjacent cities, or to teleport to a city a hundred kilometers away. Pushing is hard, and inherently dangerous! The Game Master will assess a skill penalty for pushing (typically between -2 and -8). If the mage fails the skill roll, the spell malfunctions proportional to their Degrees of Failure. The Game Master is encouraged to be creative.
Example: Carl the Killer is a Delta-class Life mage with a 16 in Flesh Control. Unfortunately, Carl has found himself cornered in a bar, unarmed, by a number of fellow hitmen. Carl knows that any individual spell he could cast could only target a few of his adversaries, but also knows that Flesh Control can be used to mutate one's self, if only Carl was a Charlie-class Life mage. He asks the Game Master if he can push to cover himself in an chitin exoskeleton and grow large, mantis-like claws. The Game Master agrees, and assesses a -7 penalty. Carl rolls, and get a 12, three off! The Game Master allows the spell to complete, but when the spell ends, Carl's left forearm is permanently in the shape of a grotesque mantis claw.
Example: Nix is a elemental mage specializing in water magic (Magic (Water) 12), with some skill in earth magic (Magic (Earth) 9), and has one remaining Eleth point. She casts a spell to create a water shield in combat, but fails her roll and uses her last remaining Eleth point. She now cannot cast spells until she finds an area to regenerate her pool. As her feet are on earth (a Level 1 Infused Field), she may roll against her skill in earth magic to regenerate a point every eight hours, but with Skill 9 and a +1 bonus from the Infused Field, this would take significant time, and would only provide 1 points for her pool at maximum. She searches for another area, and comes across a river (a Level 2 Infused Field). She can now roll against Skill 12 and a +2 bonus from the Infused field instead of Skill 9, and may regenerate her pool up to 2 points. Furthermore, if she casts a spell while in the Infused Field, she receives a +2 bonus to this roll.
Example: Plivon is a extraordinarily experienced Life mage specializing in Flesh Control (Skill 18) who is operating in a field hospital (a Level 3 Infused Field). He runs out of Eleth in the middle of an important surgery, and attempts to immediately gain another point (at a -8 penalty for the 8 hour reduction). He fails the first roll and loses 2 FP, but succeeds on the next roll and regains one point. While he could continue rolling to regain up to three points, he opts to instead attempt to gain a point every four hours (at a -4 penalty). He realizes his patient requires complex heart surgery to survive, and the Game Master assertains a penalty of -10 for the spell. As he is within a Level 3 Infused Field, he gains a +3 to this roll, and so rolls against an 11. As long as he does not fail by five or more, the spell succeeds, though he will lose another Eleth point if he fails at all.
Example: Paco is a Charlie-class Force mage with a 14 in three spells: Force Wall, Gravitational Redirection, and Magnetize. As part of his turn, he casts Magnetize to stop an enemy knight charging down a narrow sheet metal bridge, and causes the knight's armor to stubornly cling to the bridge. Unfortunately, an enemy autobowman fires three bolts at Paco's friend. Despite not being targeted, Paco takes an Active Defense to cast Force Wall in the path of the projectiles. Paco rolls against an adjusted roll of 14 / 2 + 3, for an 10. He rolls a 12, which loses him an Eleth point, but is still under the 5 Degrees of Failure threshold for the spell to cast.
Example: Following from the previous example, Paco's friend has foolishly fallen off the bridge and into a chasm. Simultaneously, the autobowman is aiming another attack. Paco opts to cast two Gravitational Redirection spells simultaneously; one on his friend, and another on the autobowman, for two adjusted roll at 9. Regardless of the outcome, Paco's friend will require more than one turn to grab onto a ledge, so Paco must maintain Gravitational Redirection, causing future spell rolls to be made at a -5.
Example: Porovus is a Delta-class Fate mage with eight points into Magic (Fate)!, giving him a skill of 8. He puts an additional 8 points into Magic (Forewarning), which starts at 8, giving him a skill of 12. He then puts an additional four points into a technique called "Preemptive Dodge" that allows him to preempt attacks, giving him a skill of 16 with that particular spell. If Porovus wishes to dodge an attack, he does so with a skill of 16, but must roll against 12 to know whether an assailant is hiding around the corner with a knife, and only an 8 for Augury, Knowledge, or Probability spells. To dodge an attack, Porovus rolls against Preemptive Dodge as a defensive spell, against 16 / 2 + 3 for an effective skill of 11. Porovus should be careful; even a few failures could drain his Eleth point pool. However, unlike his other Active Defenses, he still succeeds at Preemptive Dodge as long as he fails by less than five Degrees of Failure, effectively allowing him to have almost guarenteed dodges against powerful attacks.
Learning Elethian Magic
Creatures are not born with Elethian magic, but rather will learn it through rigorous study and effort. One does not learn Elethian magic from another, but through interacting with the source and means of their power. A sailor may pick up subtle but important powers after sailing for decades, pushing fish into nets and calming the winds through strange means, while a doctor may pick up a knack for staunching bleeding and a preternatural intuition about health problems. Academies do exist that teach Elethian magic, especially of the more scholarly forms, and Elethian mages often pick up apprentices that they can groom into understanding the nature of their power. However, attempts to teach uniform and predictable Elethian magic have by-in-large failed. Each Elethian mage comes to their powers in a different and unique method, with differing abilities and levels of control. Kings have spent fortunes attempting to teach gate or healing magic to young apprentices, to be retained for their personal use, but are always quickly surpassed by travelers and surgeons working and moving through the hearts of society. The most advanced current theories on Eleth and Elethian mages holds that as Eleth flows into areas, it slowly leaks back into those who inhabit those areas, and as one gives Eleth, a subliminal bond slowly forms, linking the individual and the Eleth together.Societal Implications
Though Elethian mages can hold great power, most are little more than curiosities and occasional miracle workers. Those who are particularly skilled tend to be called upon to deal with particular disasters, such as a spreading plague, raging fire, or an oncoming war, but only through working together can most Elethian mages be powerful. Some of the oldest and wisest Elethian mages can be powerhouses of their own, but tend to be either specialized into a particular subsect, such as surgical or war magic, or have a broad range of relatively weak spells. Even these mages are only powerful in their elements; a water mage may be a true threat in a river, but quickly powerless in a city. Broadly useful powers are rare to develop, and individuals who do hold such powers invariably obsess over them to such a degree that they are not otherwise functional members of society. True teleporters are the most rare and sought-after, as a king can quickly move between courts and avoid assassination attempts, but such high levels of gate magic is typically only found in those who have done little with their lives but compulsively move from place to place. Those that can influence minds or create masterworks are often so caught up in their works they leave reality, and those obsessed with war magics are often psychopathic monsters barely kept in check by their own minds.Rules
An Elethian mage requires two investitures to properly use Elethian magic; potential and skill. Potential is an advantage split into five levels that each grant significantly more ability to use a specific form of Elethian magic, while skill is the mage's ability to correctly channel that potential into casting a spell, as well as their ability in retaining passive Eleth to power their spells. A mage is usually of one form of Eleth with a specialty into one or more sub-forms. There are seven forms of Elethian magic:- Elemental mages can control the fundamental materials of nature, and can manipulate these materials to create powerful effects. Their sub-forms are Air, Earth, Fire, and Water.
- Fate mages can read the threads of Eleth that connect all things to see the past, present, and future. Their sub-forms are Augury (glimpsing the long-term future), Knowledge (glimpsing the past), Probability (controlling immediate actions), and Forewarning (glimpsing the near future).
- Force mages control the ineffable forces of the universe, and are capable of creating and redirecting these forces. Their sub-forms are Ergokinesis (control of electricity), Gravitokinesis (control of gravity), Photokinesis (control of light), and Kinetics (control of kinetic energy).
- Gate mages have a simple focus; the ability to move material from one point to another without traveling the intervening distance. This ability is immensely difficult to master, but gate mages are considered the most prized of all mages due to the incredible utility of teleportation. Their sub-forms are Autoportation (ability to teleport one's self), Exoportation (ability to teleport others), and Statiportation (ability to create static portals).
- Life mages can manipulate the Eleth of life, allowing fine control of non-sapient creatures and biological systems. While most believe life mages to be forces of good, a life mage is as capable to mend a wound as to rip it apart, and as capable to calm an animal as to force it off a ledge. Their sub-forms are Animal Control, Flesh Control, Nervous Control, and Plant Control.
- Mind mages are capable of controlling and manipulating the mind of sapient beings. This control can be as brutal as total control of a mind, as subtle as reading surface thoughts and emotions, or as complex as projecting new information into the mind. All mind magic is extraordinarily delicate, and even a simple mishap can reduce a mind to splinters. Their sub-forms are Communication, Empathy, Illusion, and Mind Control.
- War mages are born of the battlefield, and comprise an eclectic group of related talents, with just enough control of force, life, and mind magic to protect one's self, and control over an esoteric, ethereal blue fire known as pyreflame, the concentrated anguish and death of battle. Their sub-forms are Mind Control, Body Control, Pyreflame, and Forewarning; war mages do not have total control over Mind Control, Nervous Control, or Forewarning, and typically can only actuate these ability in beneficial or defenses manners.
Advantage - Elethian Potential (Form)
[5/20/60/120/220 points]
- Echo-Class [5 points]: This class is quite common; estimates are that up to 30% of the population are unconsciously Echo-class mages. These mages can only manifest very limited powers, such as a spark or small flame from a hand, premonitions manifesting as simple hunches, particular affinities for animals, or an preternatural ability to communicate specific intent and meaning through body language. Most Echo-class mages will only manifest these powers during an emergency or routine tasks, and many are unaware of being mages at all. Those with awareness can typically train this power to perform small tricks or emulate tools, but find the extent of their powers limited by potential quite quickly.
- Delta-Class [+15 points]: The first of the "true" mages, Delta-class mages are capable of actuating significant power into spells. Most such mages are experienced professionals in an adjoining field that use magic to supplement their core competencies. Overall, about one in a hundred humanoids are Delta-class mages, but among those in the top tiers of their field, that rate approaches one in ten. A Delta-class mage could create and control elements enough to throw fireballs or jets of water, teleport themselves a short distance, repair a bone-deep wound, or convince a guard to hand them a key. At this level, skill massively differentiates casters; an untrained Delta-class force could lift a twenty pound rock to eye level; a trained Delta-class could use the same power to shoot a pebble through a skull.
- Charlie-Class [+40 points]: Charlie-class mages are very rare, and typically have spent their lives specializing into their magic. These magics tend to be highly coveted, as they offer options that are simply otherwise not available. Population estimates place Charlie-class mages at about one per fifty thousand, with a nation usually having only a few hundred such mages within their borders. It is common for these mages to form communities and unions, often both to share knowledge and for protection. A Charlie-class could teleport a small group between adjacent cities, conjure a wall of force that could stop siege weaponry, re-attach limbs, see the movements of an army before even their commander knows, or command a man to shoot himself. Most Charlie-class mages have only middling control of their abilities, rarely needing to build significant skill, but particularly experienced mages are singular forces of nature.
- Bravo-Class [+60 points]: Bravo-class mages are almost non-existent, with only a few typically known to exist in any given generation. This is partially exacerbated by most of these mages choosing to remain secret for their own protection, or simply being unconcerned with the affairs of nations. Many historical figures are often quoted as being Bravo-class mages, though more conservative historians place most as particularly skillful Charlie-level mages. Bravo-class mages are capable of creating portals between cities or teleporting between provinces, acting as walking siege weapons, convincing an entire court to go to war, or predicting the rise and falls of empires. Most Bravo-class mages struggle to control their abilities, as even simple spells at scale become difficult to control. Most tend to be weapons of brute force; those who control their abilities shape history.
- Alpha-Class [+100 points]: Alpha-class mages are a mostly speculate classification, with very little standardization apart from powers significantly more effective than Bravo-class mages. No Alpha-level mages have been to known to exist for centuries, and even then, historians argue about the specific differentiation between Bravo and Alpha, and how much weight to give historical descriptions. Those that were known to exist could actuate cataclysmic amounts of power, able to create hurricanes, erupt volcano, throw buildings, wilt a nation's harvest, and teleport cities. In practice, if such an individual came to known, nations would likely invest significant effort into either recruiting or eliminating them.
Example: Alefit is an Gate mage with 3 levels of Elethian Potential (Gate) [5 + 15 + 40 = 60]. He can teleport small objects to his hand or shift himself slightly to avoid projectiles (Level 1), teleport himself or another within a few dozen meters (Level 2), and create a static doorway to teleport through a wall or teleport himself to an adjacent city (Level 3). If he gathered another 60 points for Bravo-class, he could teleport himself or another up to ~500 kilometers away and turn a city gate into a portal to a nearby connecting city (Level 4).
Expand the table below for more examples
At the Game Master's discretion, the following Limitations can be added to Elethian Potential:- Artistic Trademark: Your Elethian magic manifests in an easily recognizable style with notable, though benign, side effects, such as Water magic forming complex geometric patterns or Kinetics magic manifesting as anthropomorphized figures. At any point when casting spells, the Game Master may demand that you describe how your magic manifests consistent with your Artistic Trademark. Furthermore, your magic is easily distinguished from others, and can be identified as easily as an artistic style. -10%.
- Aspect: You require a specific condition to use your powers. This could require you to be inside an Infused Field to cast, or restrict your casting to some physical or psychological condition, such as only when standing in shadows or only when facing imminent death. The Game Master must approve the aspect, and will assess a limitation cost between -5% and -50%.
- Single-Minded: Most mages suffer penalties when trying to cast or maintain multiple spells simultaneously. You cannot focus on more than one spell at a time at all. -15%.
- Subform Specialization: You only have access to a limited number of sub-forms from your form. You interact with all other subforms as if you did not have Elethian Potential with that subform. -15% if you can only access two forms, -25% if you can only access one form.
Skill - Elethian Magic (Form)
To control Elethian magic is difficult; a skillful Delta-class is often far more useful than a novice Charlie-class. Each form of Elethian magic requires it's own Wildcard skill, while each subform is it's own skill, and each spell is a technique within that skill. This skill uses 10 as it's statistic, and does not depend on any other statistic. This skill can be used to cast appropriate spells, manipulate those spells (such as targeting a jet of force or fireball), or regain Eleth points (see below). The Game master will assign appropriate penalty based off the complexity of the spell. While the spell's power is not taken into account, more powerful spells are often inherently more complex; it is as easy to create a Delta-level fireball as a Bravo-class fireball, but creating a circular storm of fire is simply more complex than a fireball. Magic (Form)! - Wildcard skill associated with a specific form, starting versus 10. Any spell within the form can be rolled against this wildcard skill. Magic (Subform) [10/H] - Skill for a specific sub-form, that can be bought starting at the wildcard skill's base level + 1 or as a Hard skill starting versus 10, whichever is higher. Any spell within the subform can be rolled against this skill. Technique (Spell) - Average Technique that can be bought per spell, up to a maximum of +4, taking into account all penalties for that spell. This technique applies to any rolls to create the spell (make a fireball), but usually also any secondary rolls (throw a fireball) associated with the spell. Secondary rolls can also use other appropriate skills, at the Game Master discretion (such as Throwing for throwing fireballs) Spells must be simple and singular purpose implementations of their form; as a general rule of thumb, a spell should be no more than 5% of what a subform can do. The Game Master is the final arbiter of what can and cannot be a spell.Example: A player wants Tetran the Terrific wants to be a skilled illusionist. First, he must choose his Elethian Potential form. He can either control minds in order to make them believe they are seeing illusions (Mind - Illusion), or mold physical phenomena to emulate creatures (Force - Photokinesis + Kinetics). Tetran is more of a thinker than a dooer, and purchases 2 levels of Elethian Potential (Mind) for 20 points. While he could purchase another level for 40 points, the player thinks Tetran's point are better spent on skill, as he wants to create intricate, but not necessarily large illusions. He could also purchase a limitation to only use the Illusion form for -25%, but chooses not to. Tetran first purchases the Magic (Mind)! skill at 8 (10-2), for 6 (2 x 3) points. He doesn't really care that he's going to be bad at most forms. He then buys Magic (Illusion) up from 8 (his wildcard skill level) to 13. Magic (Illusion) would start at 9, so he needs 6 skill levels, costing him 12 points. Tetran then purchases two levels in a few spells after pitching them to the Game master; Hide (to make someone not be able to see a person or object), Create Noise (to make an indistinct noise to distract people), and Dancing Monkey (to create a small dancing monkey to lure people), spending two points per spell.
Example: Nefrit is a Charlie-class Elemental mage with a 14 in Elemental!. During a fight, he uses his skill to throw exploding fireballs at his enemies, making one roll to create the fireball and using Elemental! skill to hurl it at his enemy. Tthe Game Master assesses a -3 penalty for their explosive nature. Later, an enemy is using a civilian as a human shield, and he wants to precisely attack that enemy by impaling him with a thin shard of earth silently created behind him; the Game Master assesses this is possible, but would take a similar -3 penalty to the skill roll to manifest due to the silent nature. He then creates a wall of air to buffet away projectiles from his allies, but wants this shield to allow friendly projectiles to pass through. The Game Master assesses this would be highly complex, and would take a -5 penalty to the skill roll to manifest.
The Game Master may rule that certain uses (such as replacing a weapon skill) cannot be substituted by a technique. A general rule of thumb is that a technique can replace the full skill if it only replaces a small part of the skill (throwing a specific thing, riding a specific animal), but not if it acts as a general replacement for the full skill (performing surgery, swordfighting). An Elethian mage may also attempt to push his limits, effectively attempting to bridge the gap to the next level of potential. For example, a Charlie-class mage may teleport a small group between adjacent cities, but may try to push to teleport a dozen men between two adjacent cities, or to teleport to a city a hundred kilometers away. Pushing is hard, and inherently dangerous! The Game Master will assess a skill penalty for pushing (typically between -2 and -8). If the mage fails the skill roll, the spell malfunctions proportional to their Degrees of Failure. The Game Master is encouraged to be creative.
Example: Carl the Killer is a Delta-class Life mage with a 16 in Flesh Control. Unfortunately, Carl has found himself cornered in a bar, unarmed, by a number of fellow hitmen. Carl knows that any individual spell he could cast could only target a few of his adversaries, but also knows that Flesh Control can be used to mutate one's self, if only Carl was a Charlie-class Life mage. He asks the Game Master if he can push to cover himself in an chitin exoskeleton and grow large, mantis-like claws. The Game Master agrees, and assesses a -7 penalty. Carl rolls, and get a 12, three off! The Game Master allows the spell to complete, but when the spell ends, Carl's left forearm is permanently in the shape of a grotesque mantis claw.
Eleth Pool
Every mage has a pool of Eleth points, which may be up to four points. When they rest or spend significant amounts of time in an area strong in their particular Eleth (known as an Infused Field), they may make a skill roll of the associated subspecialty (or any subspecialty if the Infused Field has no associated subspecialty) in order to regain an Eleth point every eight hours (at the end of the period). A mage may only pull as many Eleth points from the area as the Infused Field's strength (between 1-4 points). The Infused Field does not exhaust; rather, the mage cannot store any more energy. When the mage fails a spell casting skill roll, they lose an Eleth point, or two on a critical failure (though the spell still casts as long they failed by less than five Degrees of Failure). Once a mage has exhausted their Eleth point reserve, they cannot cast spells until their reserve has replenished. A mage may draw from as many Infused Field as they wish simultaneously as long as these Infused Field use a different skill. Mages can also take a penalty (-1 per 1 hour reduction) to the skill roll to absorb power in less time; failure means they do not receive the point and take 2 FP damage. The spell caster also gains a skill bonus equal to the level of the Infused Field while in it for all purposes, including regaining Eleth points; this practically means some forms are simply easier to cast than others.Example: Nix is a elemental mage specializing in water magic (Magic (Water) 12), with some skill in earth magic (Magic (Earth) 9), and has one remaining Eleth point. She casts a spell to create a water shield in combat, but fails her roll and uses her last remaining Eleth point. She now cannot cast spells until she finds an area to regenerate her pool. As her feet are on earth (a Level 1 Infused Field), she may roll against her skill in earth magic to regenerate a point every eight hours, but with Skill 9 and a +1 bonus from the Infused Field, this would take significant time, and would only provide 1 points for her pool at maximum. She searches for another area, and comes across a river (a Level 2 Infused Field). She can now roll against Skill 12 and a +2 bonus from the Infused field instead of Skill 9, and may regenerate her pool up to 2 points. Furthermore, if she casts a spell while in the Infused Field, she receives a +2 bonus to this roll.
Example: Plivon is a extraordinarily experienced Life mage specializing in Flesh Control (Skill 18) who is operating in a field hospital (a Level 3 Infused Field). He runs out of Eleth in the middle of an important surgery, and attempts to immediately gain another point (at a -8 penalty for the 8 hour reduction). He fails the first roll and loses 2 FP, but succeeds on the next roll and regains one point. While he could continue rolling to regain up to three points, he opts to instead attempt to gain a point every four hours (at a -4 penalty). He realizes his patient requires complex heart surgery to survive, and the Game Master assertains a penalty of -10 for the spell. As he is within a Level 3 Infused Field, he gains a +3 to this roll, and so rolls against an 11. As long as he does not fail by five or more, the spell succeeds, though he will lose another Eleth point if he fails at all.
Casting Spells
To cast a spell, an Elethian mage typically needs one second, a gesture, and a vocalization, and rolls against the relevant skill. Casting a spell, apart from the effects, is not typically obvious, but any Elethian mage or trained observer can identify the gesture and vocalization as a spell if they can see it, though they may not know what the spell does. An Elethian mage can cast multiple spells simultaneously, but takes a -5 penalty per spell cast in one turn. Any spell can also be cast as a defensive spell under certain conditions. The spell must be cast either with no target or against a specific attack, and rolls against skill / 2 + 3, similar to Dodge or Parry rolls. However, these spells can be cast as if they were an Active Defense, and do not suffer any penalty for casting or maintaining multiple spells simultaneously. The Game Master is free to add penalties or bonuses depending on how effective they assess that the spell can be used defensively. Once a spell is cast, the mage may be able to maintain the spell for a certain period of time, up the Game Master's interpretation. Typically, spells that provide benefits to one's self or exert non-qualified control can be maintained. An Elethian mage takes a -5 skill penalty to Elethian Magic skill rolls per spell being maintained, but can stop maintaining any spell as a free action. Defensive spells can never be maintained.Example: Paco is a Charlie-class Force mage with a 14 in three spells: Force Wall, Gravitational Redirection, and Magnetize. As part of his turn, he casts Magnetize to stop an enemy knight charging down a narrow sheet metal bridge, and causes the knight's armor to stubornly cling to the bridge. Unfortunately, an enemy autobowman fires three bolts at Paco's friend. Despite not being targeted, Paco takes an Active Defense to cast Force Wall in the path of the projectiles. Paco rolls against an adjusted roll of 14 / 2 + 3, for an 10. He rolls a 12, which loses him an Eleth point, but is still under the 5 Degrees of Failure threshold for the spell to cast.
Example: Following from the previous example, Paco's friend has foolishly fallen off the bridge and into a chasm. Simultaneously, the autobowman is aiming another attack. Paco opts to cast two Gravitational Redirection spells simultaneously; one on his friend, and another on the autobowman, for two adjusted roll at 9. Regardless of the outcome, Paco's friend will require more than one turn to grab onto a ledge, so Paco must maintain Gravitational Redirection, causing future spell rolls to be made at a -5.
Example: Porovus is a Delta-class Fate mage with eight points into Magic (Fate)!, giving him a skill of 8. He puts an additional 8 points into Magic (Forewarning), which starts at 8, giving him a skill of 12. He then puts an additional four points into a technique called "Preemptive Dodge" that allows him to preempt attacks, giving him a skill of 16 with that particular spell. If Porovus wishes to dodge an attack, he does so with a skill of 16, but must roll against 12 to know whether an assailant is hiding around the corner with a knife, and only an 8 for Augury, Knowledge, or Probability spells. To dodge an attack, Porovus rolls against Preemptive Dodge as a defensive spell, against 16 / 2 + 3 for an effective skill of 11. Porovus should be careful; even a few failures could drain his Eleth point pool. However, unlike his other Active Defenses, he still succeeds at Preemptive Dodge as long as he fails by less than five Degrees of Failure, effectively allowing him to have almost guarenteed dodges against powerful attacks.
Manifestation
Elethian magic is typically cast with a loud word and body motion over a second, though this is a matter of pragmatism rather than necessity. These physical actions act as a focus to the mental state of the caster, and are practised for hours before they become ingrained. Purely mental Elethian magic often simply requires steady concentration.
When the spell is cast, the physical manifestation depends on the caster. Elethian spells are easier to craft with physical manifestations rather than just their intended effect, so most will have some form of physical side effect. The exact effect typically depends on the type of Eleth used and the predilection of the casters. A Mind Control mage may have a spell play a soothing song or emit waves from their head, while a Water mage may have small strands of water form diagrams in the air.
