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, to a maximum of three mana on a single spell and a minimum difficulty of 3. Supernatural sorcerers do not have access to mana and thus may not lower the difficulty.

Example: Brinne wishes to cast Hellfire at level 2. She has Hellfire 4. Brinne rolls Manipulation+Occult at difficulty 5 and obtains two successes. She may assign 6 dots of Aspects in any way he likes up to a maximum of 2 in any one aspect.

Casting Time

Casting a spell can be quite time consuming. In order to calculate the time required take the Path rating of the effect (equal to the highest Aspect, if any, or equal to the level required to enact the effect otherwise) and divide it by two, rounded up. That is the base number of rounds required to cast the spell.

You may choose to take a +1 difficulty penalty to reduce the cast time by one, to a minimum of one round.

Hanging Spells

A sorcerer can also choose to cast a spell at +1 difficulty and spend a willpower to 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. Hung spells can be released as a standard action any time a sorcerer would be capable of casting a spell. Successes can be assigned to aspects as needed at the time of release.

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.