Spellcasting

Here we see a number of house rules that are still partially work-in-progress; please forgive any changes that may occur from here! - GM Dingo

Any character with the Manablooded trait can become a spellcaster, permitting them to study and perform magic.

Performing Magic

Casting a spell requires a number of Concentrate manoeuvres as dictated by spell form being used (Form Features). Upon completing this series of manoeuvres successfully, the user rolls against their spell's skill level + (IQ-5) + any related modifiers. A successful roll causes the spell to be cast at the end of the manoeuvre, and for the spell's cost to be paid (Feedback Cost).

Casting a spell is an observable action. The Concentrate action is always observable, though what the character is concentrating on less so. Unless given evidence otherwise, most NPCs will assume a character using the Concentrate manoeuvre is performing a digital or neural action, not a magical one. Casting a spell is also accompanied by spoken verbal components and careful but relatively minor movements - observing that a character is specifically casting a spell in this way requires a Perception roll.

Spells that require touch must be touched by the user's bare hand, or more often, by any conduit they have attuned to.

Spell Resistance

Many spells can be resisted. Once cast, a subject of a spell can attempt to resist such a spell with the attribute or ability dictated by the spell form; if the subject gets an equal or greater margin of success than the caster, the spell fails to have its noted effect. Some characters, including all Selaphae, have the Magic Susceptibility trait - those whom have this level receive a penalty equal to the level of this trait to any roll to resist magic.

Concentration

Casting a spell requires ongoing concentration, and some spell effects require the user to concentrate. Concentration can be disrupted either by actions taken during a Concentrate manoeuvre (such as by an enemy's Wait), or in between turns when a character is engaging in ongoing concentration (such as while trying to cast a spell with a cast time longer than 1 Concentrate, or controlling a spell actively). The following actions always break concentration

• Utilising a Reactive spell,
• Performing an Active Defence,
• Being Stunned
• Casting any other spell

Taking damage while concentrating will require a Will-4 roll to maintain concentration.

Detecting Magic

Many spells create visible effects by nature of their ability - earth shaping, fireballs, lightning bolts and similar are automatically perceived by relevant senses without a dice roll. Spells whose effect is not assumed to be obvious can still be detected unless they have the 'Covert' trait - any character interacting with an object affected by an ongoing spell, or into an area affected by it, may make a single Perception test at a penalty equal to the spell's original Margin of Success to detect that there is a magical effect present. This does not give any information about the effect, and most characters perceive this as a slight trembling feedback in their nerves, though some characters may experience this phenomena differently.

Spells can still be magically detected by some spells long after their effects have expired. Echoes such as these fade based on the energy invested into them, using the spell's cost in hours before they vanish entirely.

Spell Durations

Most spells are Instantaneous, causing a momentary magical effect and then dispersing. Those that have a duration will remain for the length of their duration in full or to a maximal duration as stated at cast time. When the duration ends, the caster may expend a free action to pay the spell's maintenance cost and reset the duration. A spell can be stopped early only if the spell indicates such, or by expending a Concentrate action to willfully disjoin the spell.

While the character is maintaining a spell, they suffer a -2 to all magical actions for each spell so maintained.

Feedback

Any time the spellcaster performs an action that has an indicated 'cost', this value is added to the character's Feedback Tally. As this value increases, a risk of magical calamity begins to accrue. Any time a spellcaster performs an action that puts their Feedback Tally above their Feedback Threshold, they roll 2D on the table below, with a +1 modifier for each 5 by which they've exceeded their threshold. Any effects obtained as a result of the calamity table remain until the user's Feedback Tally reaches 0.

Result	Effect
2 - 8	Nothing happens.
9 - 10	Cost of spell and all forms doubled (repeated results increase multiplier; x2, x3, x4, etc)
11 - 12	As 9, also -1 to cast spell
13 - 15	Cost of all spells in discipline is doubled (repeated or stacked results with 9 increase multiplier), also -1 to cast all spells in discipline
16	As 13, however the penalty is -2
17	As 16, however the penalty is -3
18	As 17, and the character obtains Unstable Magery - forcing all failures to require a second roll or become Critical Failures
19 - 20	As 18, and the caster begins to radiate a Unstable Mana field with a 1m radius. Increase this radius by +1 if already existant.
21+	As 19, also the caster must resist 3d burn damage (DR does not protect). If the character dies, they explode dealing 3d + 1d per 5 Feedback Tally

Note that reaching these higher values requires a great deal of going over threshold; the character must be *35* over their threshold to have a chance of rolling 19 on this table.

Feedback naturally reduces over time - while this does happen slowly over the day, for ease of play this is handled as a reduction at the start of every day. Additionally, a character may undergo a ritual that reduces their tally by -30, however in doing so gives them a stacking -5 to resist magic, -2 to all skills, and quintuples spell costs for 10 hours. Most mages do this once per night before sleeping in safe environments.

Spell Tweaking

At the time of casting, a magician can customise the effect of their spells slightly. Many of these relate to the Metamagic trunk of magical skills (not to be confused with a discipline of magic - anyone may learn metamagic). Two particular tweaks are always available:

• Pronounced Casting: The caster performs all of their magic loudly and overtly, without any attempt to restrain or limit thier movements - such as they might use when practicing spells or studying them. This grants +2 to the roll to cast the spell - however grants +2 to any rolls to resist the spell, and no roll is required to identify that the caster is performing magic.
• Subdued Casting: The caster performs all of their magic quietly and with reservation - their words dropping to whispers, their motions limited to fingers and swaying. This grants them -2 to cast the spell, however grants -2 to any rolls to perceive the spellcaster as casting magic. (Be aware that when being intentionally observed for magic, this penalty will likely be entirely offset.)
• Methodical Casting: The type of casting performed by civilian mages in non-dangerous circumstances; this grants them +4 to use their spell, casting times are radically increased (often to upwards of 10 minutes), and effectiveness is slightly increased. The effect of the spell may be unique in this form, as suits a highly economised, low-stress form of the spell.

Other tweaks may be applied to a spell at cast time - a character may choose to apply one of these for every 3 points by which their level exceeds +0. The most common ones are below.

• Economised: The spell cost is reduced by 1/2. If the character is casting a spell affected by cost doubling - this reverts it by one step instead (x2 becomes x1, etc).
• Lingering: The spell's duration is doubled.
• Independent: The spell is no longer maintained or controlled by the caster - however its effect remains as is until it naturally expires.
• Repeating: For Charge spells only. The character may repay the spell cost upon triggering the charged effect - the charge will return at the start of the character's next turn. No roll is required.

Conduit

A conduit item is any item enchanted to work as an item known as a 'resonance conduit'. These items allow the user to extend their reach to deliver spells once they are attuned to them - often taking the form of gloves, wands, rods, and staves however almost any reasonably homogenous and inanimate item can be enchanted to operate as a resonance conduit. When used, this allows a magician to deliver a touch spell using the relevant melee weapon skill, and reduces the range penalty for spells slightly by reducing the distance by the weapon's reach.

A conduit item may only be attuned to one individual at a time. Attuning a given conduit takes 1D hours and a successful Will-4 roll.

Learning Magic

Only a character with the Manablooded trait may learn to cast spells, however any character may learn magical skills such as for understanding magic or providing assistance in certain rituals as a non-caster.

To be able to perform magic, a character must acquire the Spellcaster [40] quality. Any limitations or enhancements imposed upon this quality affect all forms of the spellcaster's magic. The most common modifier for this is the Requires Conduit (-20%) limitation, which reflects limited education provided to all formally trained mages to ensure they can be easily disarmed. The vast majority of magicians in the world either have One Discipline Only (-60%), Two Disciplines Only (-30%), or Three Disciplines Only (-10%) limitation.

To learn any magic requires an individual that can teach this magic, or access to sufficient magical resources to self-study from. Due to the highly logical approach to magic, and the need for spellcasters to adapt their own magic based on their biological makeup, characters that do this are exceptionally rare.

Disciplines

The art of spellcasting in Niyala is broken into a number of discrete disciplines, with each specialised around a particular magical or material concept and magic's interaction therein. Almost all manablooded individuals in the world lack the appropriate manifestation of the trait to be able to learn magic from all disciplines, however player characters are not so restricted by default. The disciplines are as follows:

• Thermal: Magic that deals with heat and the lack therein, including heavily combat-oriented spells.
• Kinetic: Magic that interacts with kinetic and physical energy, including sound, pressure, and electricity.
• Mind: Magic that interacts with the mind of living creatures, both intelligent and not. Highly illegal.
• Matter: Magic that deals with the composition, creation, and destruction of inert matter such as water, earth, and air.
• Cellular: Magic that handles manipulation and control of cellular material, such as that of living creatures or plants.
• Photonic: Magic that interacts with the Electromagnetic Spectrum, most notably the powers of visible light and radiation.
• Manamatter: Magic devoted entirely to the creation and manipulation of transient magical constructs made of solidified mana, 'manamatter'.
• Spirit: Magic that interacts with extraplanar beings and the Astral Realm. Highly illegal.
• Resonance: Magic that interacts with magic itself, often to detect, control, or dispel it - as well as to divine information from it.

Notably, none of these deal with teleportation or temporal manipulation; both of these arts are currently beyond the realm of spellcasting, and most current theories of magic suggest they are impossible.

Spells and Forms

A spell is an expression of a particular magical principle towards an effect, with some room for manipulation or expression. For example, the spell control fire can be used to shape, concentrate, disperse, or otherwise manipulate fire - however a magician could feasibly also use this spell to make it harder or easier for fire to ignite within a given area. As such, a given spell encompasses any reasonable usage of the described ability and control given by the spell.

For ease of play, every given spell will have a description of the effect description, and then a number of 'spell forms', which are pre-defined forms or ways in which that spell can be cast or used. For example, the spell control thoughts is described as the ability to 'actively control and enforce thoughts and behaviours', and has two pre-defined forms; suggestion which can be used to make the target perform an immediate, single-turn action, and halt thought which causes the subject to remain stunned while the spell is maintained. Most spells will have one spell form that shares the name of the spell itself - this is considered the typical usage of the spell when not dictated otherwise.

Each spell will have an associated feedback cost, spell forms will have this already defined clearly; while improvised use may need to be negotiated with the GM at the time.

Form Features

Every spell form will include some crucial information:

• Cost: The cost of the spell to cast.
• Casting time: The number of Concentrate manoeuvres required to complete the spell.
• Range: The maximum range of the spell, and what type of range penalty it uses.
• Resisted by: An attribute or skill that can be used to resist the spell, including any automatic modifiers.
• Duration and maintainence cost: How long the spell lasts after the spell is cast. 'Instant' means that the spell's effect occurs immediately and has no lingering magical effect. A spell that has an ongoing duration will remain in effect until willingly cancelled by the caster (requiring a Concentrate action), the spell's own rules or mechanics cancel it early, or it is dispelled. Unless indicated otherwise, a spell with a duration can be extended as a free action at the end of its duration, by either paying the maintainence cost (if listed), or the cost of the spell - this requires no additional roll.
• Material components and focus compounds: Specialised items or resources required to cast the spell. Material components are expended upon a successful spell cast or a critical failure; focus compounds are not expended but are needed. These items must be within the caster's hands.

For ease of classification and reference, a given spell form may also have a list of qualities that help quickly identify how the spell works in play. These are as follows:

• Charged: This spell creates a secondary effect upon a chosen limb, natural attack, or conduit item - this effect is instant. The effect is then triggered next time the conduit item strikes a target, such as using a parry or melee attack, upon whatever is struck. Unless indicated, the effect effect can be dismissed without being discharged with a free action, and lasts for 1 minute or until triggered / thrown.
• Charged (Missile): As Charged, but the effect is thrown or fired (when using a Conduit Firearm) with an attack roll.
• Area: The spell affects an area. Paying additional energy increases area as defined in spell listing.
• Constant: The spell requires constant concentration even after the spell is cast, to maintain its effect. Any interruption to concentration terminates the spell immediately.
• Controlled: The spell lingers without concentration, but further Concentrate actions must be taken any time the spell's indicated effects are needed.
• Covert: The spell's effect is discrete - it does not trigger the resonance detection mechanic.

Magical Skills

Each discipline contains two tiers of trunk skills within each; one representing the fundamental and direct applications of that discipline, and another that reflects improvisational, intricate, or otherwise high-complexity uses of the magic. The cost of these trunks varies from that of standard skills, due to their abilities to manipulate magic and their wider general effect, while some disciplines are also broken into multiple trees.

Each individual spell is considered a branch and can feasibly be used in multiple ways, and includes a number of spell forms which dictate pre-defined means of using a spell and their relevant costs. While a spell can be used in other ways, costs, penalties, and effects will be largely ad-libbed until a consistent set of rules and guidance can be made.