High Magic uses learned techniques to shape Void potential through the Veil. These rules cover improvisation, spells, Rituals, countercasting and the consequences of losing control.

The Practice of Magic

High Magic creates a controlled opening in the Veil, the boundary between material reality and the Void. The practitioner draws Void potential through that opening, captures it, and shapes it into an intended effect. A working requires control throughout the process, including bringing the interaction to a safe conclusion.

An opening can tear too wide, releasing uncontrolled potential into the surroundings. Potential that escapes capture may affect the practitioner, linger nearby, or drift elsewhere. Consequences include environmental destruction, mutation, cancer, and the passage of Void entities into material reality.

The Void-Touched

Only the Void-Touched can learn to practice magic. They include individuals born with a Gift or Burden and members of species with natural Void affinity, such as the Net’hret and Erynari. Susceptible individuals may gain sensitivity through moderate prenatal Void exposure or, rarely, through survivable major exposure later in life. Magical practice develops this capacity through training. Void-numb species such as the Mahruni cannot acquire it through exposure.

Resonances

Resonances are emotional states that provide a reasonably reliable framework for humanoid interaction with Void Potential. Through them, practitioners learn to comprehend, focus, and harness pure chaotic potential that has no inherent divisions or categories. Each Resonance’s name and portfolio describe the practitioner’s approach to shaping a working.

Casting through a Resonance requires genuinely feeling its associated emotion while focusing on the desired outcome. There are six Core Resonances and numerous secondary Resonances.

Most practitioners concentrate on one or two Resonances. General practitioners work across all six but do not achieve mastery of any. Each Resonance has a portfolio of effects; some workings require several Resonances together.

Fear — Violet Acana. Purple or violet. Shadow manipulation, illusion, phantasm, and wards.

Sadness — Cerulean Grace. Blue. Ice, melancholic reflection, mists, and emotional transience.

Disgust — Verdant Ward. Green. Decay, rejection, and repulsion.

Enjoyment — Amber Spark. Orange or amber. Light, healing, kinetic acceleration, and enhancement of luck and Attributes.

Anger — Scarlet Fury. Red. Pyromancy, concussive force, combat enhancement, seismic disruption, and other violent effects.

Desire — Crimson Thirst. Pink. Magnetism, attraction, illusions of allure, and essence siphoning.

Opposing Resonances

The six Core Resonances form three opposing pairs: Anger and Fear, Desire and Disgust, and Enjoyment and Sadness. Each opposition is reciprocal. A practitioner can use an opposing Resonance to disrupt a working as it is being cast (see Countercasting). Opposition concerns control of Void potential; it does not automatically reverse the material consequences of a completed working.

Mage Sight

Trained practitioners can perceive Resonances through mage sight, also called the sight or viewing resonance. Resonance appears as coloured lines running from the Veil opening to the practitioner and outward toward the intended target. A skilled, focused practitioner produces straight lines; wavering or meandering lines indicate less precise control.

Affinity

A practitioner’s personal Affinity in each Resonance ranges from 0 to 6 and measures their ability to evoke and harness that emotional resonance. A rating of 0 indicates no Affinity; 6 is the maximum personal rating. Total Affinity is the rating used for the working. It ordinarily equals personal Affinity; Rituals increase it through additional practitioners. Affinity contributes invocation, while Willpower contributes the control needed to shape and contain the working. Both contribute to one casting roll.

Required Affinity is the minimum Total Affinity needed to attempt an effect. The practitioner contributes their full applicable Total Affinity to the casting pool. A practitioner with Anger 6 can attempt workings requiring Anger 1 through Anger 6 and contributes six Anger dice to each. Meeting Required Affinity permits the attempt; the final casting pool after all bonuses and penalties determines the potency of the outcome and any magical mishap.

Required Affinity describes the power of the working and sets its baseline Risk. Margin of Affinity is Total Affinity minus Required Affinity. Calculate Risk as Required Affinity minus Margin of Affinity, then reduce it by 1 for a learned spell, including a Ritual. Positive Risk designates additional existing dice as Control Hazard Dice. Each point below 0 grants +1 casting die and uses Risk 0 for Hazard Dice allocation. Risk affects the likelihood of losing control; the final casting pool determines the potency of both the outcome and any mishap within the working’s established nature and scope. See Risk for the full procedure.

Spells and Improvisation

A spell is an established procedure for producing a particular effect. Magical traditions, institutions, and factions teach spells as sequences of steps, sometimes incorporating ingredients, that help the practitioner focus and reliably shape the desired outcome.

Using a learned spell reduces calculated Risk by 1. Practitioners can also improvise effects within their Resonances; improvised workings receive no spell reduction. Each point of calculated Risk below 0 grants +1 die to the casting pool, while Hazard Dice consequences use Risk 0. Apply the spell reduction once, including when the spell is performed as a Ritual.

Creating a Spell

A practitioner creates a spell by successfully producing the same defined result three times within a reasonable window of time. All attempts made while establishing the spell receive no spell reduction to Risk. After the third successful repetition, the next casting and subsequent uses receive the reduction. If the first three attempts all succeed, the benefit begins on the fourth casting. Failed attempts do not count toward the three successes.

The GM judges whether the interval is short enough for the practitioner to consolidate the repeated working into a reliable procedure. All three successes may occur in one casting session, within the same shift, including one immediately after another. Separate days, shifts, or sessions are not required.

Agree the working’s effect, Resonances, Required Affinity, and other relevant parameters before tracking repetitions. The same result means reproducing that defined working; changing the individual target does not by itself create a different working. Count a repetition when the intended effect is successfully produced. A working defeated by countercasting does not count.

Learning an Existing Spell

A practitioner can learn a spell written by someone else by successfully casting it once without the spell reduction to Risk. This first successful casting establishes familiarity; the next casting and subsequent uses receive the reduction. A failed attempt does not meet the requirement. The practitioner must still meet the working’s Affinity and Resonance requirements.

A casting made without the spell reduction uses the normal Risk calculation for improvisation, including any bonus dice earned when Affinity alone brings calculated Risk below 0. Learning applies to each practitioner individually; possessing another person’s written procedure does not itself grant the reduction.

Memorizing Spells

Characters may memorize any number of spells. A learned spell can be cast from memory whenever the character can meet its requirements. Spells do not need to be prepared ahead of time, and learning additional spells does not require replacing previously memorized spells.

Recording a Spell

After the third successful repetition establishes a new spell, record it in the character’s spellbook for reference and consistent adjudication. Record learned spells from other practitioners as well. The entry describes the repeatable working and the procedure used to produce it.

Give the spell a name and record its intended effect, Resonance or Resonances, Required Affinity, and the targets, magnitude, reach, and duration agreed with the GM. Include the casting steps, any ingredients or equipment, costs or continuing requirements, and permitted variations where these have been established. Record the successful learning castings so that it is clear when the spell reduction becomes available.

Use the recorded parameters when casting the spell again. A materially different effect or an extension beyond its established scope is an improvised working unless the spell already includes that variation. The spellbook preserves the details for future adjudication; a memorized spell remains available without consulting the book during casting.

Improvising Effects

Required Affinity measures the impact and power of the intended effect. Use the six levels and Resonance examples below to judge an improvised working before calculating Margin of Affinity and Risk. These are working benchmarks for adjudication; an established spell uses the same scale.

Describe what the working does, what it affects, how far it reaches, and how long its magical influence lasts. Compare the whole effect with the nearest benchmarks. Magnitude, reach, duration, precision, and complexity all matter. A tiny effect repeated across a city may demand a high Affinity; a profound transformation of one person may do so as well. Large increases in several features can raise the requirement together.

Examples within a row are alternative workings, not a package of effects granted by one casting. Higher ratings permit less demanding workings. Choose the Resonance by the actual means and result: concealment through illusion belongs to Fear, a screen of mist to Sadness, repulsive displacement to Disgust, and attraction to Desire. Workings that genuinely combine portfolios require the relevant Resonances; their combined rating procedure remains under development.

Affinity 4 introduces permanent magical properties and enduring transformations. Completed changes at lower levels can have lasting ordinary consequences: a wound healed at Affinity 3 stays healed, a burned object remains burned, and water frozen at a lower level remains ice until conditions melt it. An enchantment that keeps ice frozen in warmth or a flame burning without fuel is an enduring magical property. Permanent describes persistence without continued casting; it does not by itself mean indestructible or immune to later magic.

Affinity 6 is the highest effect tier. Its examples invite further invention within the relevant Resonances and the established nature of Void magic. The caster must specify the intended result so that the GM can resolve success and consequences. Affinity 6 workings still use the normal casting and Risk procedures.

The examples establish capabilities rather than complete spell statistics. Casting range follows the mechanically unaided line-of-sight rule under Casting a Working. Exact casting times, numerical effects, duration schedules, and resistance remain to be developed.

The Six Affinity Levels

Fear — Violet Acana

Sadness — Cerulean Grace

Disgust — Verdant Ward

Enjoyment — Amber Spark

Anger — Scarlet Fury

Desire — Crimson Thirst

Rituals

A Ritual is a spell performed with the participation of additional practitioners. Each additional practitioner increases the lead practitioner’s Total Affinity by 1 for that Ritual.

Ritual Total Affinity = the lead practitioner’s Affinity + the number of additional participating practitioners.

Use the increased Total Affinity to determine which effects the lead practitioner can attempt, their Affinity contribution to the casting pool, and Margin of Affinity. Participation increases Total Affinity by 1 per additional practitioner, regardless of that participant’s own rating.

A Ritual uses the lead practitioner’s familiarity with the spell. Once the lead practitioner has learned it, reduce calculated Risk by 1, as for any learned spell. Apply this reduction once. Calculate Margin of Affinity using the increased Total Affinity, then calculate Risk and apply any earned spell reduction. Each point below 0 grants +1 casting die; use Risk 0 for Hazard Dice consequences. While creating or learning a Ritual, the participation increase still applies, but the lead practitioner receives no spell reduction until the learning requirement is met.

Example: A practitioner with Affinity 3 leads a learned Ritual with three other practitioners. Her Total Affinity is 6. An effect requiring Affinity 6 has baseline Risk 6, Margin of Affinity 0, and Risk 5 after the spell reduction. An effect requiring Affinity 4 has baseline Risk 4, Margin of Affinity 2, and Risk 1. An effect requiring Affinity 3 has baseline Risk 3, Margin of Affinity 3, and calculated Risk −1, granting +1 casting die and using Risk 0 for Hazard Dice consequences. Her Affinity contribution is six dice in each case; add any bonus from negative calculated Risk separately.

Casting a Working

The range of a working is the caster’s mechanically unaided line of sight. Mechanical viewing aids do not extend casting range.

Establish the intended effect, the Resonance or Resonances involved, and Required Affinity before rolling. The practitioner must meet the applicable Affinity requirements and feel the emotions needed for the working. Calculate Risk from Required Affinity, Margin of Affinity, and any learned-spell reduction. Convert each point below 0 into +1 casting die and use Risk 0 for Hazard Dice allocation. Ordinary casting has no intrinsic mana or Stamina cost. A practitioner may use voluntary Exertion under the normal rules.

Build one casting pool from Willpower (WIL) and the practitioner’s full applicable Total Affinity, or the applicable Affinity ratings for a working using multiple Resonances. WIL represents control; Affinity represents invocation through emotional resonance. Improvised workings, learned spells, and Rituals use the same roll. For a Ritual, use the lead practitioner’s WIL and include participating practitioners in Total Affinity. Add negative-Risk bonus dice and other permitted bonuses, then subtract normal dice-pool penalties. Bonus dice do not change Affinity or which effects the practitioner can attempt.

The number of dice remaining after all bonuses and penalties is the working’s potency. Use that final pool for both the intended outcome and any magical mishap, including an overload. The original pool and the practitioner’s Total Affinity do not preserve potency lost to penalties. Establish the reduced manifestation within the declared working’s nature and scope before rolling. Success determines whether the working takes effect at that potency; it does not restore removed dice or grant the undepleted effect. The number of successes does not replace the final pool as the potency measure, although effects explicitly measured by Margin of Success still use that rule.

Example: A casting pool of ten dice is reduced by penalties to four. A successful casting produces a four-die outcome, and a control failure produces a mishap at four-die potency. Neither result is resolved as a ten-die working. All four dice count toward potency, including the designated Hazard Dice.

Finish calculating the casting pool before designating Hazard Dice. With at least two dice remaining, designate one blue-and-black Affinity Hazard Die and one red-and-black Control Hazard Die. Each point of positive Risk designates one additional remaining die as a red-and-black Control Hazard Die, up to the final pool size. All other dice are ordinary dice. Hazard types identify invocation and control within the combined pool; higher WIL or Affinity does not by itself designate more Hazard Dice. With one die remaining, use one red-and-black Control Hazard Die. With zero or fewer dice, apply the normal nullified-roll rule. Designating Hazard Dice never adds dice.

Roll all casting dice together and count every natural 6 as one success, regardless of colour or Hazard designation. An uncontested casting succeeds with at least one success; countercasting uses the Contest procedure. Check Hazard Dice only when the casting fails with no successes. A successful casting, a failed Contest roll with at least one success, or a Test granted automatic success produces no magical Hazard consequence. Natural 6s contribute normal successes and any effect explicitly measured by Margin of Success.

Countercasting

Countercasting uses an opposing Resonance to interfere with a working before its intended effect manifests. A mage with Affinity 1 or higher in the opposing Resonance may attempt to counter a perceived working, regardless of the incoming working’s Required Affinity or the relative Affinities of the two practitioners.

Countercasting is a reaction declared when the incoming working is perceptible and before its result is resolved. The countercaster must be able to focus the opposing emotion and perceive the working within normal casting range: mechanically unaided line of sight. Mage Sight can reveal an active Resonance; observable manifestations may also reveal a working. A mage may attempt one countercast per Turn without spending their Action. Outside turn order, the Game Master determines whether there is time to react. A completed working cannot be countercast; reversing an existing effect requires a separate appropriate working.

Resolve countercasting as a Contest. The original caster rolls their normal casting pool. The countercaster rolls Willpower (WIL) + their full applicable Total Affinity in the opposing Resonance, adding normal casting bonuses and applying penalties. The countercaster must roll more successes than the original caster to disrupt the working; ties favour the original caster. No prior comparison of Affinity ratings determines whether a countercast may be attempted or whether it succeeds. The intended effect manifests only if the original caster rolls at least one success and no countercaster exceeds that success total.

For Risk, countercasting is an improvised working whose Required Affinity equals that of the incoming working. Calculate the countercaster’s Margin of Affinity, Risk, bonus dice from negative calculated Risk, and Hazard Dice normally, even when the countercaster’s Total Affinity is lower than the incoming Required Affinity. Countercasting is exempt from the usual minimum-Affinity requirement and receives no learned-spell reduction. Risk can exceed 6 when a practitioner opposes a substantially more powerful working; the number of Hazard Dice remains limited to the final pool size. Any control-failure consequence uses the countercaster’s own final pool for potency; the incoming working’s Required Affinity does not give the countercaster’s mishap the incoming caster’s potency.

Resolve magical Hazard Dice separately for the original caster and every countercaster. A working defeated in the Contest does not produce its intended effect. Check its Hazard Dice only if that participant failed with no successes; a failed Contest roll containing one or more successes produces no magical Hazard consequence. On a qualifying failure, a red-and-black Control skull causes loss of control, while only blue-and-black Affinity skulls indicate a fizzle. Every natural 6 counts toward the Contest, regardless of its die’s colour.

If several practitioners countercast the same working, each rolls a separate Contest against the original caster’s successes. Their successes are not combined. Any one successful countercast disrupts the original working, and each countercaster resolves their own Risk and magical Hazard Dice.

Example: A practitioner with Anger 5 and WIL 4 improvises an Anger 3 working with nine dice, Risk 1, one blue-and-black Affinity Hazard Die, and two red-and-black Control Hazard Dice. A practitioner with Fear 4 and WIL 4 countercasts with eight dice, Risk 2, one Affinity Hazard Die, and three Control Hazard Dice. If the original casting obtains three successes, the countercaster needs at least four to disrupt it. A failed countercast with three successes has no Hazard consequence. A failed countercast with no successes and a Control skull loses control.

Hazard Dice in Magic

Ordinary Tests use yellow-and-black Hazard Dice. Magical casting distinguishes red-and-black Control Hazard Dice, representing regulation, shaping and containment, and a blue-and-black Affinity Hazard Die, also called the Resonance Hazard Die, representing sufficient emotional resonance. Every natural 6 counts as one success. A natural 1 on a numbered Hazard Die is its skull result. Ordinary six-sided dice in any agreed, distinguishable colours or styles can represent these dice; special HEX dice are not required.

Count successes across the whole pool before checking Hazard Dice. If the casting succeeds, ignore all skulls. A failed Contest roll with one or more successes also has no Hazard consequence. A Test granted automatic success by a predeclared Advancement is protected under the normal Advancement rule.

On a failed casting with no successes, a natural 1 on any red-and-black Control Hazard Die means the practitioner loses control. Resolve one unintended consequence whose potency is determined by that caster’s final pool, within the working’s nature and scope. Any blue-and-black Affinity skull on the same roll does not add another consequence.

If a failed zero-success roll has an Affinity skull but no Control skull, the practitioner cannot establish sufficient resonance and the working fizzles without an unintended magical effect. If neither Hazard type shows a skull, the attempt fails normally. Ones on ordinary dice have no Hazard effect.

Use this procedure at every Risk rating, including Risk 0, and in place of the ordinary paired-skull Mishap check. It resolves invocation and control within the same casting roll. Each control failure produces one main consequence; the number of skulls does not multiply its severity.

Example: A mage rolls one blue-and-black Affinity Hazard Die, two red-and-black Control Hazard Dice, and the rest of the pool as ordinary dice. Any natural 6 makes an uncontested casting succeed without a Hazard consequence. With no successes, a blue skull alone means a fizzle. Any red skull means loss of control, including when the blue die also shows a skull.

Magical Overload

A magical overload is a severe control failure in which the working’s potential escapes in an uncontrolled discharge. The Game Master may choose an overload when the working and circumstances support that outcome. Its potency is determined by the final casting pool after all bonuses and penalties. Its manifestation follows the working’s nature and scope, including its targets, reach, intensity, and persistence. Potency removed by penalties cannot return as an overload. A minor working can release only a minor direct magical discharge; a cataclysmic working can produce a cataclysmic accident.

Establish the affected area, manifestation, and damage from that scale. A focused effect can remain localized even when its complexity or permanence requires high Affinity. Determine who is actually exposed, account for applicable protection and cover, and resolve damage, burns, and Injuries through the relevant rules. Risk and skull count do not independently add Injury rolls or enlarge the affected area.

An overload is resolved as the casting’s one main control-failure consequence. The intended working does not occur. Ordinary secondary effects, such as a fire spreading through fuel or a damaged structure collapsing, follow the situation after the initial discharge.

Adjudicating Magical Consequences

Count successes before interpreting skulls. On a failed casting with no successes, any red-and-black Control skull establishes loss of control. If only the blue-and-black Affinity Hazard Die shows a skull, the working fizzles from insufficient resonance. With no Hazard skulls, it is an ordinary unsuccessful attempt. An Affinity skull never adds a second complication to a control failure. Use this magical procedure in place of the ordinary paired-skull Mishap check.

Resolve one main consequence for a control failure. Determine its potency from the final casting pool. Establish its form from the working’s nature, scope, and circumstances, with severity commensurate with that final potency. Describe what changes, who or what is threatened, and what the characters can do about it. Resolve resulting dangers through the applicable rules. Risk and the number of skulls do not automatically increase damage, area, duration, or Injury rolls.

Scale of the Working

Use the six Required Affinity levels under Improvising Effects to identify the nature and scope of the intended working, then use the final casting pool to determine the potency of its outcome and any consequence. Affinity 1 concerns minor effects; Affinity 2 practical working magic; Affinity 3 miraculous changes; Affinity 4 enduring enchantments and transformations; Affinity 5 immensely powerful effects with broad reach; and Affinity 6 the greatest effects possible through Void magic.

Judge the consequence against the manifestation supported by the final casting pool, including its targets, reach, magnitude, and persistence. Do not use the undepleted pool or the full ambition of the declared working to enlarge the accident. A working concentrated upon one person can be profound without affecting a wide area. An accident may leave lasting damage or a persistent Veil disturbance even when the intended effect was temporary.

Every unintended magical consequence is commensurate with the potency available in the final casting pool, within the working’s nature and scope. A minor flame permits a minor direct magical accident; a cataclysmic working permits a cataclysmic failure. Ordinary secondary consequences follow the circumstances, so a small flame can still ignite nearby fuel. A smaller working or a pool reduced by penalties limits both the outcome and any accident. Risk changes the likelihood of an accident; it does not restore lost potency.

Risk

Risk measures the likelihood of losing control of a working relative to the practitioner’s proficiency. Baseline Risk equals Required Affinity. For one Resonance, subtract Required Affinity from Total Affinity to find Margin of Affinity, then subtract that margin and any learned-spell reduction from baseline Risk. A practitioner whose Total Affinity is below Required Affinity cannot attempt the working, except when countercasting. Calculate Risk from the declared working before deriving its final pool. Reduced potency does not recalculate Required Affinity, Margin of Affinity, Risk, or negative-Risk bonus dice. The final pool determines outcome and mishap potency within the declared working’s nature and scope; Risk does not set damage or additional Injury rolls.

Margin of Affinity = Total Affinity − Required Affinity.

Calculated Risk = Required Affinity − Margin of Affinity − the spell reduction. The spell reduction is 1 for a spell the practitioner has learned, including a Ritual, and 0 for improvisation or a casting made to create or learn a spell.

Positive Risk changes the composition of the existing casting pool. With at least two dice, keep one blue-and-black Affinity Hazard Die and designate up to 1 + Risk red-and-black Control Hazard Dice from the remaining dice. Total Hazard Dice = the lesser of the final pool size and 2 + Risk. Risk 0 uses one die of each type. With one die, use one Control Hazard Die; with no roll, there are no Hazard Dice. Dice not designated as hazardous remain ordinary.

Example: A caster with WIL 4 and Total Affinity 6 improvises a Required Affinity 6 working at Risk 6. The ten-die pool contains one blue-and-black Affinity Hazard Die, seven red-and-black Control Hazard Dice, and two ordinary dice. If penalties leave four dice, use one Affinity Hazard Die and three Control Hazard Dice; the outcome or mishap has four-die potency. If penalties leave two dice, use one Hazard Die of each type and two-die potency. If only one die remains, it is a Control Hazard Die and the outcome or mishap has one-die potency. Risk never adds dice to restore a depleted pool; any failed zero-success roll with a Control skull can still lose control.

Complete the calculation before applying a floor. If calculated Risk is below 0, add +1 die to the casting pool for each point below 0, then use Risk 0 for all Hazard Dice consequences. Calculated Risk −1 grants +1 die; −2 grants +2 dice; −3 grants +3 dice, and so on. A result of exactly 0 grants no bonus dice. This bonus applies whether the negative result comes from Affinity alone or from the spell reduction.

Bonus casting dice = the amount by which calculated Risk is below 0. Risk used for Hazard Dice allocation = calculated Risk, with a minimum of 0.

Add these bonus dice before applying dice-pool penalties and designating Hazard Dice. They are ordinary bonus dice in the casting pool. They do not change Total Affinity, Required Affinity, or Margin of Affinity and do not cause Risk to be recalculated.

At the practitioner’s Affinity limit, Margin of Affinity is 0. An improvised working therefore has Risk equal to Required Affinity, while a learned spell has Risk equal to Required Affinity minus 1. Each point of Total Affinity above the requirement reduces calculated Risk by 1.

For an improvised working, Risk reaches 0 when Total Affinity equals twice Required Affinity. For a learned spell, including a Ritual, Risk reaches 0 when Total Affinity equals twice Required Affinity minus 1. Each additional point of Total Affinity beyond the applicable threshold grants +1 casting die through negative calculated Risk.

Example: A Required Affinity 6 working reaches Risk 0 at Total Affinity 12 when improvised, or Total Affinity 11 when cast as a learned spell. At Total Affinity 12, the learned spell has calculated Risk −1 and grants +1 casting die.

Additional Control Hazard Dice increase the chance that a failed zero-success roll includes a Control skull. Once every available die except the Affinity Hazard Die is designated for control, further Risk cannot designate more dice. It does not add damage, extend an accident’s reach, or require additional Injury rolls. Higher WIL and Affinity contribute successes without automatically increasing the number of Hazard Dice.

Risk 0 retains the baseline magical hazards. A failed zero-success roll with a Control skull loses control; an Affinity skull without a Control skull means the working fizzles. A successful roll has no Hazard consequence. A depleted one-die pool still uses a Control Hazard Die. At every Risk rating, use the final casting pool for mishap potency within the working’s nature and scope.

Example: Two practitioners cast a learned Anger 2 spell. The practitioner with Anger 2 has Risk 1 and, with enough dice, designates one Affinity Hazard Die and two Control Hazard Dice. The practitioner with Anger 6 has calculated Risk −3, adds three casting dice, and uses Risk 0 with one Hazard Die of each type. A success from any die makes either uncontested casting succeed without a Hazard consequence. If either fails with no successes and a Control skull, determine that accident’s potency from that practitioner’s final casting pool, within the Anger 2 working’s nature and scope. Casting the same spell does not give different final pools identical potency.

When improvising, an Anger 6 practitioner has calculated Risk −4 at Required Affinity 1, −2 at 2, and 0 at 3: these grant +4, +2, and no bonus dice respectively, and all use Risk 0 for Hazard Dice consequences. Risk is 2 at Required Affinity 4, 4 at 5, and 6 at 6.

When using a learned spell, the same practitioner has calculated Risk −5, −3, and −1 at Required Affinity 1, 2, and 3 respectively. These grant +5, +3, and +1 casting dice, and all use Risk 0 for Hazard Dice consequences. Risk is 1 at Required Affinity 4, 3 at 5, and 5 at 6.

Choosing a Manifestation

Use the following examples for control failures, adjusting their reach, duration, and intensity to the final casting pool’s potency, the working’s nature and scope, and the circumstances. A failed invocation indicated only by an Affinity skull fizzles without one of these consequences.

Fear: Shadows obscure an unintended area; a phantasm appears to the wrong people; a ward excludes someone it should admit.

Sadness: Frost spreads beyond the target; mist obscures the surroundings; an emotional effect lingers.

Disgust: Nearby material deteriorates; repulsive force throws something aside; an exclusion effect prevents needed contact.

Enjoyment: Light exposes the caster; acceleration affects an unintended object; restorative growth becomes excessive or disordered.

Anger: Heat escapes; a concussive discharge strikes nearby objects; a tremor damages the surroundings.

Desire: Objects are drawn toward the wrong point; allure attracts unwanted attention; siphoning reaches an unintended source.

Any Resonance: Potential escapes into the environment, exposes someone to Void influence, leaves a persistent Veil disturbance, or permits a Void entity to enter. Choose an outcome appropriate to the indicated severity and scale.

Generic Spells

Practitioners call spells generic when they express the fundamental capabilities of a Resonance and arise readily through ordinary magical practice. Many casters discover these workings independently, and most arrive at broadly similar methods of producing them. Generic spells provide a common vocabulary for familiar effects.

A generic spell family has six numbered levels, from 1 through 6. The number is the spell’s Required Affinity in its Resonance: Produce Flame 1 requires Anger 1, while Produce Flame 6 requires Anger 6. Each level describes a defined working at the corresponding scale. Use the practitioner’s full applicable Total Affinity when casting it, as normal.

The levels retain the family’s central effect while increasing its magnitude, reach, persistence, or other relevant capabilities. The progression follows the six Affinity benchmarks: minor effects at 1, practical working magic at 2, miraculous effects at 3, enduring magical properties at 4, immense effects with broad reach at 5, and the greatest expressions of the effect at 6.

Generic spells use the normal learning rules. A practitioner who develops a numbered working independently establishes it through three successful repetitions; a practitioner following a written spell must first cast it successfully without the spell reduction. Record the level and its established parameters in the spellbook. Familiarity with one level does not by itself establish familiarity with a materially different higher-level working.

Rate a spell by the effect it directly produces. Ordinary consequences can grow far beyond that initial effect when circumstances permit. A tiny flame can ignite combustible material and begin a spreading fire; the subsequent spread depends on the material and conditions. Creating a large blaze directly requires the corresponding higher-level working. The initial working’s nature and scope, at the potency determined by its final casting pool, remain the basis for adjudicating its magical consequences, while any resulting fire develops through the ordinary situation.

Anger: Produce Flame

Produce Flame creates real flame. It can provide light and heat, burn exposed material, and ignite suitable fuel. Define its intended location, form, extent, and persistence before casting. Range is the caster’s mechanically unaided line of sight. Resolve actual burns and ignition through Fire and Smoke. The levels below establish the effect progression; exact casting times and durations for temporary workings remain to be developed.

Further Development

The following procedures remain to be settled: acquiring and improving Affinity; the limits on generalists and specialists; emotional preparation and disruption; casting time and duration; and the extensive spell list and numerical effect benchmarks.

Ritual procedures still to be established include participation requirements, duration, interruption or withdrawal, and the maximum Total Affinity attainable through additional practitioners.

Numerical benchmarks for magical effects and severe control failures, and detailed guidance on containment and mitigation, remain to be developed. Workings using several Resonances also need guidelines for combined effect scale and calculating Margin of Affinity.

The relationship between inherited species affinity and prenatal Void exposure requires further lore development.