Ritual Costs
The smaller the hypergeometrical effect, the easier it is to control, and the less it strips from the essence of the character when activated. The greater the effect, the more it costs. Any sane person using hypergeometry is eventually destroyed by it or driven mad.
For game purposes, “effect” denotes an in-game measure of change the ritual enacts upon the world.
Each ritual causes Stress to the user, and a WP cost that the operator must pay. The more powerful the ritual, the greater the Willpower cost and Stress. Willpower loss and Stress represent the strain of twisting the human brain to comprehend alien, unnatural formulae and physics.
ASSISTANCE: Some rituals and objects allow assistance in fulfilling the characters cost. In some cases, an assistant need not have learned the ritual ahead of time; it’s enough for the character to tell the assistant what to do. Each ritual and object defines whether such assistance is possible. Each assistant suffers full Stress and chooses how much of the Willpower cost to pay.
PAYING IN INT: At any time, an operator or assistant may spend permanent INT to fuel a ritual. Each point of INT spent is equivalent to 10 Willpower.
PAYING IN HP: Some rituals require part of the cost to be paid instead in HP—physical harm inflicted as part of the ritual—instead of Willpower. Occultists often argue over whether the power of ritual bloodletting comes from some psychic power inherent in blood, the hunger of unseen intelligences that lend their power to the ritual, or the capacity of agony and taboo-breaking to weaken the barriers that separate the mind from the impossible.
SACRIFICE: Some rituals require the HP or Willpower cost (or sometimes even EMP) to be paid by an unwilling sacrifice. (Animal sacrifice suffices for some, but most rituals of unnatural power require the sacrifice to be conscious and sentient; in other words, awake and human. Harming such a victim always incurs an additional Stress due to violence. A sacrifice who survives suffers the same Stress as the character and assistants, along with a Stress due to helplessness.
FIXED COSTS: Each unique ritual and object has a fixed operation cost. For example, Restore from Essential Saltes might have an operator cost of 1 EMP and 12 HP, while The Knife of Ibn-Fedel might cost only 3 Willpower and 3 HP. Two different rituals, or even two different variants of the same ritual, may have the same effects but require different ways to pay the cost.
TAKING EXTRA TIME: Some rituals and objects allow the operator to take extra time, paying the cost over days, weeks, or years. That allows the operator to pay part of the cost, rest, and pay more of it later. Extremely powerful rituals virtually require taking a great deal of time or having a great deal of help.
For game purposes, “effect” denotes an in-game measure of change the ritual enacts upon the world.
Each ritual causes Stress to the user, and a WP cost that the operator must pay. The more powerful the ritual, the greater the Willpower cost and Stress. Willpower loss and Stress represent the strain of twisting the human brain to comprehend alien, unnatural formulae and physics.
ASSISTANCE: Some rituals and objects allow assistance in fulfilling the characters cost. In some cases, an assistant need not have learned the ritual ahead of time; it’s enough for the character to tell the assistant what to do. Each ritual and object defines whether such assistance is possible. Each assistant suffers full Stress and chooses how much of the Willpower cost to pay.
PAYING IN INT: At any time, an operator or assistant may spend permanent INT to fuel a ritual. Each point of INT spent is equivalent to 10 Willpower.
PAYING IN HP: Some rituals require part of the cost to be paid instead in HP—physical harm inflicted as part of the ritual—instead of Willpower. Occultists often argue over whether the power of ritual bloodletting comes from some psychic power inherent in blood, the hunger of unseen intelligences that lend their power to the ritual, or the capacity of agony and taboo-breaking to weaken the barriers that separate the mind from the impossible.
SACRIFICE: Some rituals require the HP or Willpower cost (or sometimes even EMP) to be paid by an unwilling sacrifice. (Animal sacrifice suffices for some, but most rituals of unnatural power require the sacrifice to be conscious and sentient; in other words, awake and human. Harming such a victim always incurs an additional Stress due to violence. A sacrifice who survives suffers the same Stress as the character and assistants, along with a Stress due to helplessness.
FIXED COSTS: Each unique ritual and object has a fixed operation cost. For example, Restore from Essential Saltes might have an operator cost of 1 EMP and 12 HP, while The Knife of Ibn-Fedel might cost only 3 Willpower and 3 HP. Two different rituals, or even two different variants of the same ritual, may have the same effects but require different ways to pay the cost.
TAKING EXTRA TIME: Some rituals and objects allow the operator to take extra time, paying the cost over days, weeks, or years. That allows the operator to pay part of the cost, rest, and pay more of it later. Extremely powerful rituals virtually require taking a great deal of time or having a great deal of help.
Ritual Details
| Willpower Cost | Scope | Stress for
activating or witnessing |
Stress for
failed attempt |
Damage | Range | Summoning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Minor | 1 | 0 | 1D6 | Nearby (10 m) | Up to 8 POW |
| 9 | Small | 1D4 | 1 | 1D6 | Local (100 m) | Up to 12 POW |
| 12 | Significant | 1D6 | 1D4 | 2D6 | In sight (1 km) | Up to 16 POW |
| 15 | Substantial | 1D8 | 1D4 | 4D6 | Distant (100 km) | Up to 20 POW |
| 22 | Major | 1D10 | 1D6 | 8D6 | Anywhere on Earth | Up to 30 POW |
| 30 | Vast | 1D12 | 1D6 | 16D6 | Beyond the Earth | Up to 40 POW |
| 45 | Sweeping | 1D20 | 1D10 | 32D6 | Another galaxy | Up to 60 POW |
| 110 | Cosmic | 1D100 | 1D20 | 64D6 | In another dimension | Up to 150 POW |
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