Sorcery

Most mortals are content to let miracles remain the domain of the gods, their Scions, and the occasional Denizens who share the World with them. But Sorcerers are not most mortals. Craving power, these too-clever-byhalf practitioners of hidden ways tamper with Fate and Legend, weaving spells to remake their lives, their World, their reality according to their own design. No few stray too far into spheres of influences jealously guarded by the divine, and no few are struck down for their hubris.

Yet power is not freely offered, not for these self-made masters of miracles. To be a Sorcerer is to mortgage your life upon the altar of magic. Those who start down such a path will rarely turn away from it, and the further down it they go, the less recognizable they become. There is, after all, no such thing as a free lunch — to do magic is to sacrifice your nature, your future, your identity, your freedom. Few can make such a choice, but then, to a Sorcerer, it’s no choice at all. Even before they took the first step, their resolve was unshakeable.

MOTIFS

As with the miracles of Scions, Sorcerers channel their power through the use of Motifs. Every spell must be cast through a Motif, and every Sorcerer has an innate Motif they use to perform their Sorcery. When a Sorcerer increases in Tier, they gain an additional innate Motif as a result of further study or understanding, for a second at Hero, a third at Demigod and a fourth at God.

A Sorcerer’s first innate Motif is the one which they learned to perform their magic with. This can be selected from any Pantheon Motif or from the list below (chosen to represent other magical traditions). Sorcerers may choose to apply multiple Motifs to a spell they cast to increase its power. Each Motif applied grants the player’s choice of +1 Enhancement (to a maximum of Enhancement 3 from Motifs alone) or -1 Complication to the spell. However, each Motif added after the first requires an additional action be taken before making the Sorcery roll, delaying the use of the spell. The Magic Purview does not grant the ability to apply multiple Motifs to a spell.

TRADITIONAL MOTIFS

AMULETS

Defixiones and katadesmoi are the most famous forms of this Sorcery, the lead curse tablets of Greece and Rome. However, variations on the technique are common around the world. Practitioners use the power of words, writing or carving their desires into amulets or other objects as focuses for their power. These objects are then carried or disposed of in ritual manners, enacting the Sorcery. The Greco-Roman tradition uses thin sheets of lead which are buried or hidden, but other traditions used paper, clay amulets, pot shards or other forms of recording their will. Talismans are the most frequent Source of Power among these Sorcerers, followed by Prohibitions.

Motif: Inscribing one’s desires on a ritually prepared object, properly hidden or protected, can make them become real.

BENANDANTI

The Benandanti are merely the most famous of a number of traditions whose Sorcery is derived from unbinding their own spirits. These traditions are common across Europe, and many are considered to be innate, rather than taught. Those born to the task are born with a caul over them, allowing them to master the techniques. The Benandanti of Italy use fennel stalks and psychoactive reagents along with their caul to call on their power, fighting endless wars in the night to protect or harm communities. Similar traditions can be found in the Serbian zduhac, Livonian Wolves of God, Slovenian kresnik, and Bulgarian dragon men, though the tools wielded often change. Blades, sticks, plant stalks, eggshells, and other implements are all possible. Prohibitions are common among these Sorcerers, as is Invocation.

Motif: By using my caul, my ritual weapons and psychoactive herbs, I can send forth my soul to effect miracles.

CHAOS MAGICK

Chaos Magick is a recently developed form of Sorcery, dating to around the 1970s. It is different from many other forms of Sorcery in that it rejects most set technique, ritual and systemic belief. Its philosophy focuses on replacing set dogma and systems with elements of personal symbolism, collecting symbols from different techniques, religious traditions and pop culture into something that is personally relevant. These personal symbols are used to create dynamic rituals on the fly, frequently focused by altered states of consciousness, including fatigue, drug usage and ecstatic meditation. Two chaos magicians are unlikely to practice their Sorcery in the same way, as each will find symbols and techniques that have strongest personal meaning to them. Invocation is common among these Sorcerers, as is use of Prohibitions.

Motif: By wielding symbols that have deep personal meaning to me and engaging in altered states, I am able to enforce patterns on reality dynamically.

GOETIC SORCERY

Goetic Sorcery is most commonly practiced among academics, especially in Europe and the Middle East. It does not have the best reputation, thanks to many Sorcerers who practice it dealing frequently with demonic spirits as their chief source of power. The most famous of these are the Solomonari, graduates of the Transylvanian Scholomance, a school said to be run by the Devil. However, the summoning of demons, while the most famous form of Goetic Sorcery, is not the only one. Practitioners may call on jinn, angelic names or other potent spirits as the channels for their Sorcery, focusing their power through the entities they deal with. Many Goetic Sorcerers use Patronage as their source of power, but Invocation is a close second.

Motif: By using sacred names, the seals of powerful demons and spirits, and binding potent spirits into pacts, I may channel their power.

NECROMANCY

Feared by many, necromancers communicate with the dead and wield their power. These Sorcerers have a sinister reputation, but much of it is merely due to fear of death and the grisly materials that necromancers work with. By wielding the body parts of the dead, they can call on dead souls to rise up out of the Underworlds and serve them or give them information. Most sell their services as did the infamous Witch of Endor, communicating with those who have died to bring solace or advice to the living. They may be reviled for their practices, but most make a decent living anyway. Bones, powdered flesh, unguents using body parts and similar pieces of bodies are the key tools they call on to enact their will. Patronage and Prohibitions are most frequent among necromancers.

Motif: By wielding pieces of corpses and the remains of those passed on, I can command dead spirits to perform magic.

NEIDAN

Neidan, the practice of Daoist internal alchemy, focuses on self-mastery, but this does not mean it is unable to influence the world. Breathing exercises, retention of bodily fluids and visualization of the kingdom that is the body allow them to refine their internal workings and learn to guide their intention without stray thought. Via secrets taught only directly from master to student, this leads to refinement of the energies that animate the self and communion with the spirits that live within them, developing from physical breath and essence into the true Breath, Essence and Spirit that flow from the Dao. A master of Neidan ceases aging and becomes immortal, can identify and channel the flow of spiritual power around them, and with ultimate refinement of the true Spirit returns to emptiness and abandons their form, becoming one with the universe. The process is difficult, and many practitioners end up somewhere along the path, capable of miraculous feats but still seeking transcendence. Prohibitions and Invocations are the most common Sources of Power for Neidan, as they rely most on the self.

Motif: Through deep breathing and managing my internal landscape, I can alter the nature of my body and identify key junctures that let me shift the energies of the world around me, aligning them with my intention.

OBEAH

Defining Obeah is not always easy, as the term has come to encompass a variety of Afro-Caribbean practices considered evil, illegal or otherwise forbidden by authority, particularly white colonial authority. Even today, it remains illegal in much of the Caribbean. Its power is strongest when hidden, and its practitioners consider it a high science that draws on truths from many religions, not a tradition. The power it wields can harm as easily as heal, and its use has often been in the hands of those seeking justice for the harms dealt to them by colonial power, or those hired by them. Experimentation with methods and adapting the tools of other esoteric practices and religious rituals into the practitioner’s works is common, and many spiritual beings may be called on during Obeah rituals, from ghosts to deities, and practitioners know that experiments can go wrong and rebound on them if they are not careful. Invocation and Talismans are common Sources of Power, followed by Patronage.

Motif: By use of prepared talismans, oils, and chalks to balance powers in my work, I can create experimental seals and anointments that will enact my will.

ONMYODO

Onmyodo is a Japanese tradition developed in concert with Daoist techniques, operating outside the normal bounds of Shinto understanding. It teaches practitioners to read the signs of the natural world and correlate them mathematically to chart the flow of the elements. Tapping into these and the forces of Yin and Yang allows onmyoji, as practitioners are known, to create and empower weak Kami, which are then frequently bound into paper figures or charms. In the past, they were even an official part of the Japanese government as diviners, choosing the best times and methods to do nearly anything, and some onmyoji became quite famous. The greatest of these was the mighty Abe no Seimei, who has now been enshrined as a Kami in Kyoto. Onmyoji frequently use Prohibitions or Talismans as their Source of Power.

Motif: By using key elements of the natural world and spirits bound into paper talismans, I can predict and transform elemental energy or the balance of Yin and Yang.