Magic & Casting House Rules

== Magic Rituals, Energy Reduction, and Casting Speed ==
Regardless of skill, there is no automatic reduction of energy cost, and the default casting ritual requires spoken words and gestures with at least 1 hand. Any changes to ritual or energy provide a modifier to skill. Effective casting time is still halved at level 20 and again every 5 levels after that.
Penalties for reduced Energy Cost or reduced ritual requirements cannot lower base casting skill below 10. Blocking spells cannot gain bonuses from extra time or from more elaborate rituals; as instant acts of will, they are already cast 'no gestures' and 'no words' at no penalty. Some other spells specify that they can be cast without gestures (particularly the 'breath of' spells); these also do not accrue a penalty.
Example: Lenia wants to cast Hawk Flight. Her base skill in the spell is 17; she can accrue up to 7 points in penalties from reduced fatigue cost or rituals, but no more, regardless of bonuses from other sources. In this case, she decides to reduce the Fatigue Cost by 2 and roll at skill 12.
;Energy Cost
* -2 penalty to effective skill for -1 energy cost; an additional -3 penalty per -1 energy cost
;Casting Time
* +1 to effective skill for taking twice base casting time
* +2 to effective skill for taking ten times base casting time
* There is an additional +1 bonus for taking extra time during an emergency (combat, etc)
* -5 to effective skill for halving the effective casting time. This cannot reduce the casting time below 1, cannot be done more than once, and is cumulative with the casting time reduction for high skill.
;Ritual Gestures
Spellcasters making Elaborate or Sweeping gestures can have a ritual item (wand, staff, rod, crystal ball, holy symbol, censor, tome, fetish, etc) in one hand and still have the hand considered "free." The other hand must be empty. Holding a staff in a single hand prevents two-handed parries while the caster is concentrating.
* Elaborate Gestures: +2 to effective skill. Observers get +2 to any rolls to identify the spell being cast; the caster has an additional -1 on Will rolls to maintain concentration if interrupted. This requires both arms, both hands, and both legs to be free. The caster must be standing and have the space to move a yard in all directions.
* Sweeping Gestures: +1 to effective skill. Observers get +1 to any rolls to identify the spell being cast. This requires both arms and both hands free. The caster must be standing or sitting.
* Firm Gestures: This is the standard. It requires at least one hand free. The caster cannot be prone.
* Subtle Gestures: -1 to effective skill. Observers get -2 to any rolls to identify the spell being cast or to notice that a spell is being cast at all. This requires one hand or both legs free. If both legs are free, the caster must have space to move a yard in all directions.
* No Gestures: -2 to effective skill. Observers get -4 to any rolls to identify the spell being cast or notice that a spell is being cast at all (and if combined with No Words, may not roll!)
;Casting Volume
* Shouted Words: +2 to effective skill, or +1 with Sweeping or Elaborate Gestures. Observers get +2 to any rolls to identify the spell being cast; the caster has an additional -1 on Will rolls to maintain concentration if interrupted. 
* Loud Words: +1 to effective skill. Observers get +1 to any rolls to identify the spell being cast.
* Spoken Words: This is the standard.
* Whispered Words: -1 to effective skill. Observers get -2 to any rolls to identify the spell being cast or to notice that a spell is being cast at all.
* No Words: -2 to effective skill, or -3 with No Gestures. Observers get -4 to rolls to identify the spell being cast or notice that a spell is being cast at all (and, if combined with No Gestures, may not roll!)
Most casting in combat is assumed to Subtle Gestures (to allow two-handed weapon use) and Shouted Words, for a net +1. A caster who is Grappled or Pinned may cast using No Words and No Gestures if she takes an additional -4 penalty, for a total -9 to spell casting attempts.
Spells on other players reduce effective skill by -2 instead of -1.
=== Spell Energy Costs ===
Halve the cost of damaging spells, Regular spells cast on SM+1 targets, and all variants of Animal Control. If a spell fits into multiple categories, reduce the cost by a third. NOTE: The die cap for Missile spells remains unchanged; that is, a Magery 3 caster can produce a 3-die Fireball in one turn, but pays only 2 FP for it; if he concentrates to create a 6-die Fireball on the second turn, he spends a total of 3 FP.
Examples:
* Normally, it takes 15 FP cast Mammal Control on an SM+2 Lion. Reduce that to 5 FP.
* Normally, it takes 6 FP to cast a 3d Frostbite on an SM+1 Ogre. Reduce that to 2 FP.
* Normally, it takes 3 FP to cast a 3d Frostbite on an SM-1 Gnome. Reduce that to 2 FP.
* Normally, the base cost of Repel Mammal is 5 and casting it on a 4 hex radius is 20 FP. Under these rules, reduce the base cost to 3 and the cost for a 4 hex radius to 6 FP.
* Normally, the base cost of distracting Hail is 1/5. Under these rules, it stays 1/5, but it only costs 1 FP to cover a 10 hex radius with distracting hail.
=== Rapid Strike with melee and missile spells ===
A spellcaster may use the Rapid Strike rules to cast a jet, melee, or missile spell and attack with in the same round. Both the casting roll and the attack roll are at a -6 penalty; Weapon Master or Trained by a Master provide their usual benefits.
Four new advantages help in this regard
;Combat Mentalist (25 points)
:You have an innate talent or extensive training that allows you to Concentrate while doing other things. In combat and only in combat, you may take a Concentrate maneuver while taking a physical maneuver. You may not Concentrate twice in the same turn and you cannot Concentrate while stunned.
:Note: This is basically Compartmentalized Mind (Emergencies Only).
;Unflustered Mentalist (10 points)
:You may take the Concentrate maneuver while being grappled.
;Battle Magic Mastery (10 points)
:You reduce the penalty to Rapid Strike to cast and attack with a jet, melee, or missile spell to -3. This reduction is applied to both the the casting roll and the attack roll.
;Heroic Evoker (20 points)
:You reduce the penalty to Rapid Strike to cast and attack with a jet, melee, or missile spell to -3. This reduction is applied to both the the casting roll and the attack roll. If you make a Move and Attack with a missile spell, you suffer no penalty for the spell's Bulk. If you Step and Attack or All-Out Attack, you can add the spell's Acc to your roll as though you were a Heroic Archer.
:If you have both Heroic Evoker and Battle Magic Mastery, you have only a -1 penalty to cast and attack with a jet, melee, or missile spell.
== Notes on Specific Spells ==
;Shape Air
:At the time of casting, Shape Air is guaranteed to pass through one hex chosen by the caster. At any time during the duration of the spell, the caster can Concentrate to shift the end point 30 hexes in any direction.
;Armor, Deflect, Fortify, Shield
:Armor and Fortify do not stack with each other. The DB from the Shield spell does not stack with a Deflect spell or a physical shield. The DB from a Deflect spell does not stack with a physical shield's DB unless it is cast upon the shield, in which case it only protects from the arcs that the shield protects.
;Missile Shield
:Missile Shield is not an absolute defense. Instead, roll vs. Rule of 16-modified Spell Skill for each incoming missile, at a -2 penalty for each missile after the first. If Missile Shield fails to stop an incoming missile, you still get a normal defense!
:Example: Lenia knows Missile Shield at 18. If four archers fire on her, four rolls are made: two at 16, one at 14, and one at 12. If she knew Missile Shield at 24, all four rolls would be at 16!
;Explode
:Increase the casting cost to the square of the damage dice.
Entirely replace Grease, as follows:
:Grease
:Area; Movement College
:Makes a surface extremely slippery. Treat this as Bad Footing; anyone entering the area must pay 1 extra movement point or risk falling over (roll Acrobatics+4, or DX-2), Attacks are at -2 for poor footing, and Defenses are at -1. Any rolls to avoid knockdown in a Greased area are also at -2. Perfect Balance or Sure-Footed (Slippery) negate these penalties. The spell can also make a vertical surface impossible to climb without climbing claws, and (at GM's option) impose significant penalties to climb slopes.
:For double cost, the area is supernaturally slippery, and Perfect Balance or Sure-Footed (Slippery) will not help.
:Duration: 1 minute
:Base Cost: 2 to cast; same cost to maintain.
:Prerequisites: Haste
;Ice Slick
:Ice Slick uses identical mechanics to Grease, above. Terrain Adaptation (Arctic) will also provide protection from an Ice Slick, however, as will wearing crampons. Duration is "until the ice melts" - 1 minute at room temperature, shorter or longer in warm or cold climes.
Entirely replace Flash, as follows:
:Flash
:Regular; Resisted by HT-3; Light & Darkness College
:Creates flash of light directly in the subject's face. This is bright enough to temporarily blind and dazzle the subject, but will not affect others nearby unless ambient lighting is particularly dark. This is treated as a Vision based Affliction that gives a -2 to all DX-based rolls, -1 to all defenses, and -2 to Vision rolls on a failed HT-3 roll. This effect lasts for a number of seconds equal to the margin of failure on the HT roll. As a Secondary effect, the subject is Blind for 15-HT seconds (minimum 2) and then dazzled as above.
:In dark areas (lighting penalty -5 or more) this may act as a Brilliant Flash spell (below), at the GM's discretion.
:Duration: Instantaneous
:Cost: 3
:Prerequisites: Continual Light
:Brilliant Flash
:Regular; Light & Darkness College
:Creates a brilliant flash of light centered on a point designated by the caster. This is bright enough to temporarily blind and dazzle victims facing it. Anyone within 10 yards who is facing the flash is affected by a Flash spell (as above) but receives a bonus on the resistance roll equal to the Speed/Range penalty for distance from the center of the flash.
:Duration: Instantaneous
:Cost: 7
:Prerequisites: Flash
Replace Concussion with the following:
:Concussion
:Missile; Air College; Sound College
:The missile created by this spell is a compressed ball of shimmering air. When it impacts the ground or the target, it Afflicts those nearby with Deafness. Anyone within 10 yards must roll vs HT-5 or get the Deaf disadvantage for a number of minutes equal to the margin of failure. This roll has a bonus equal to the Speed/Range penalty for distance from the center of the blast. Protected Hearing grants +4 on the resistance roll; Deafness grants +8, but does not make a target immune. As a secondary affect, victims are stunned and may roll HT+1 each round to recover. Unlike most Missile spells, Concussion deals no damage.
:For double cost and double casting time, the caster may impose an additional -4 penalty to victims' HT rolls (still modified for distance as normal). 
:Cost: 3 or 6.
:Time to Cast: 1 or 2 seconds.
:Prerequisites: Shape Air and Thunderclap.
Replace Pollen Cloud with the following:
:Pollen Cloud
:Area; Plant College; Druidic Spell; Resisted by HT
:Fills the area with a cloud of pollen. Victims who fail their resistance roll begin coughing and sneezing (-3 DX, -1 IQ; See p. B428). The effects last for 10 seconds, plus additional seconds equal to the margin of failure. Anyone unaffected who ends their movement in the cloud must roll resistance.
:Rate of dissipation depends on the area and the presence of wind. Indoors, the spell usually lasts its full duration, but outdoors on a windy day it may only last 10 seconds or so, and truly heavy weather (stormy conditions, or a magical Windstorm) may dissipate it immediately or make it entirely ineffective (GM's discretion).
:Duration: 5 minutes or less
:Base Cost: 1
:Time to Cast: 2 seconds
:Prerequisites: Shape Plant
;Spell-Archery
:Reduce the casting cost of Spell-Archery to "the cost of the base spell, plus 2 energy". Casters may take a skill penalty to reduce this total cost; don't treat Spell-Archery as an individual spell.
:A caster with Spell-Archery can cast spells with Firm Gestures with a ready-to-shoot missile weapon in hand.
:A Heroic Archer with Spell-Archery may fast-draw an arrow, fast-load his bow (requiring a Bow skill roll at -3), and energize his arrow with Spell-Archery in order to fire it in the next round. The spellcasting roll, when made, is at -3 in addition to any other penalties. Weapon Master (Bow) reduces the fast-load penalty to -1 as normal. Battle Magic Mastery or Heroic Evoker reduce the spellcasting penalty to -1 (having both removes it altogether).
:A Spell-Archer in a real hurry may fast-draw an arrow, fast-load his bow (rolling Bow-3), fast-cast their energizing spell (rolling spell skill at -6), and then fire (at -3) in one second. As above, Weapon Master (Bow) reduces the Bow skill penalties and casting-related advantages reduce the spellcasting penalties. This means that a Spell-Archer with Heroic Evoker, Battle Magic Mastery, Weapon Master (Bow), and Heroic Archer can draw, nock, imbue, and fire, making all involved rolls at -1.
;Hang Spell
:The cost for casting Hang Spell cannot be reduced, only the cost of the subject spell may be reduced and Hang Spell still has the 2FP minimum. For example Richard has Flight-20 and Hang Spell-18. He casts Hang Spell at skill 18 and then casts Flight using Elaborate Gestures and Loud Words but taking the -8 for 3 FP reduction on Flight. After both castings are done he pays 4 FP total, which is the initial cast of flight minus the 3 FP reduction times two since it's also the Hang Spell casting cost. The maintenance cost for Hang Spell is 2. When he uses his hung Flight spell the roll for it is made at 20-8+3=15 as well as any other modifiers such spells on at the time it is used.
==People other than Clerics can heal==
In order to limit the number of required roles, any character with Magery can cast Healing or Animal spells that require Clerical PI 2 or less, as well as Shapeshifting and Shapeshift Other. Druids add Minor Healing to their list of PI2 spells, Major Healing to their list of PI3 spells, and Great Healing to the their list of PI4 spells. Wizards lose access to Food spells with Clerical PI3 or more.
Category:Saga of Westmarch