Sorcery

Sorcery is a form of magic performed by the unenlightened (non-Mages). Few supernaturals find it useful to practice the rigors of sorcery, focusing on gifts or disciplines which are more easily mastered. Humans make the best sorcerers as they can manipulate the raw stuff of magic, called mana. Other supernaturals channel mana into other things, gnosis, vitae, etc. In fact, having the latter precludes the former entirely. For this reason, it is generally assumed that sorcery is the realm of mortals, but that is not entirely true. Anyone with the knowledge and skill can enact a sorcerous rite. Doing so is different from most other powers however.

Calculating Difficulty

On this MUSH we use the alternate difficulty rules for Sorcery. The difficulty of the roll is the level of the numina being used+3. One success is required to cast an effect, at which time you assign successes equal to your rating in that path to the aspects of the spell in any combination you please. Each aspect starts at 1 automatically. Increasing aspects further requires an additional success per point added to an aspect. No aspect may exceed your total level in the path. A mortal Sorcerer may spend Mana to lower the difficulty of any spell casting by 1 per mana spent (maximum: 3). Supernatural sorcerers do not have access to mana and thus may not lower the difficulty.

Example: Jack wishes to cast Hellfire at level 2. He has Hellfire 4. Jack rolls Manipulatio+Occult at difficulty 5 and obtains two successes. He may assign 6 dots of Aspects in any way he likes.

Calculating # of Successes Required

Despite the difficulty, higher level paths are enacted regularly, but they are usually done as an extended roll. Magic is more time consuming than activating a Discipline or calling on a Gift. To calculate the time involved you need to know the level of the highest aspect invoked. For every two dots in the aspect invoked, the sorcerer must take 1 round of casting (round up). So if the sorcerer intend to invoke a level 5 aspect, the first roll to enact the spell will take 3 rounds. Since the sorcerer may have to acquire multiple successes to complete a spell, the sorcerer may turn any attempted spell into an extended roll. The time required for each subsequent roll is equal to the amount of time already spent on the spell. A botch at any time during this can have catastrophic effects. On the other hand, failing to accumulate enough successes has relatively little effect, so a sorcerer can end an extended roll voluntarily at any time. No matter how many times a sorcerer rolls, the difficulty will only change if the sorcerer chooses to lower the aspect.

Some paths require successes to be applied to effects in addition to the minimum number of successes. Hellfire, Shapeshifting, Weather Control for example. In this case, the additional successes are not part of the minimum successes and the effect can be discarded mid-cast if the sorcerer has difficulty casting the spell. Achieving an extraordinary success when casting does not require you to double any additional successes.

Hanging Spells

A sorcerer can also choose to complete a spell and not enact it immediately. This is a hung spell. Hung spells are distracting. The first hung spell and every other hung spell afterward increase the difficulty of all social and mental tasks by +1.

Extraordinary success

When the resulting number of rolls from a single roll or an extended roll equals or exceeds twice the number of successes required for the effect they desire the sorcerer may choose one aspect and invoke it at one level higher than originally designated. This may exceed the Path rating limit.

Rituals

Finally, a word about rituals. Custom rituals are not allowed except for the Enchantment and Alchemy paths. If a ritual is available for a path, then the cost is 3 XP to purchase it. How you learn it is up to you. Rituals may have a greater default duration or effect than the path. For more information on each path, including the default rolls, modifiers and duration for a typical spell, click the links on this page for more information.