Spells

To cast a spell, the shugenja must make a **Spellcasting Roll** of the Elemental Ring aligned with that element, plus the shugenja's School Rank. The difficulty of this roll is equal to the Mastery Rank of the spell. The spell takes a number of turns equal to the Mastery Rank of the spell to complete. Shugenja cannot cast spells of a higher Mastery Rank than their School Rank (except in the case of Affinities and Deficiencies, see below).

Example
A rank 1 shugenja with Air 3 wants to cast a level 1 spell. They will roll 4 dice, needing 1 success, and the spell will take 1 turn to complete.
As well, a shugenja's school will have an **Affinity** and a **Deficiency**, acting as a +1 and a -1 on the Spellcasting roll respectively. They also adjust the shugenja's *effective* School Rank for the purposes of which spells they are able to cast (they do not adjust the shugenja's *actual* rank).

Example
A rank 1 shugenja with an Affinity in Earth and a Deficiency in Wood would be able to cast rank 2 Earth spells, but would not be able to cast Wood spells at all.

## Universal Spells

### Sense

Ring/Mastery
All 1
Range
Personal
Area of Effect
50’ radius from the caster
Duration
Instantaneous
Raises
Range (+10’)
This spell can be cast in any of the four standard elements. It
allows the caster to sense the presence, quantity, and rough
location of elemental spirits (not the evil spirits known as
kansen) of that element within the range of the spell. This is
most frequently applied when looking for spirits with which
to Commune (see below), but can also be useful as a crude,
basic location device. For example, a caster lost in the wilderness
could cast Sense (Water) in hopes of locating a source of
drinking water.

### Summon

Ring/Mastery
All 1
Range
30’
Area of Effect
1 cubic foot of summoned material
Duration
Permanent
Raises
Range (+10’), quantity (+1 cubic foot), composition of material (1-4 Raises, as outlined below)
This spell can be cast in any of the four standard elements.
It allows the caster to summon a modest quantity (one cubic
foot) of the chosen element. The summoned matter appears
(usually in a rough ball shape) in any open space within
the spell’s range. This cannot place the summoned material
inside another physical object or living creature. The summoned
element will behave in a normal and mundane matter
– earth falls to the ground, water soaks anything it lands on,
air blows away, and fire winks out unless there is something
present for it to burn. In general it is impossible to use this
spell effectively in combat, although clever shugenja may
find a few modest combat uses, such as using Summon (Fire)
to ignite a foe soaked in cooking oil. More commonly, the
spell’s value is in simpler functions, such as summoning Water
while in a desert, or summoning Fire to light a campfire
without fl int and tinder.

Raises may be used with this spell to summon a more specific type of the appropriate element, such as wood or iron
with Earth, or tea with Water. The GM should choose how
many Raises (generally anywhere from 1 to 4) this requires.
However, these Raises cannot be used to create rare/precious
materials (such as gold) or spiritually powerful substances
(such as jade or crystal).

### Commune

Ring/Mastery
All 1
Range
20’
Area of Effect
Self
Duration
Concentration
Raises
See below
This spell can be cast in any element
save Void. It allows the
caster to speak with one of the local
elemental kami, asking it a few
questions, which it will answer honestly
to the best of its ability. Typically
this spell will invoke the most
active and energetic spirit of the chosen
element in the area of effect; if all
of the local spirits are quiescent, the
GM may require the caster to call 1
or 2 Raises to “wake up” a local spirit
enough to answer questions.

A spirit reached with Commune will
answer two questions. The caster may
Raise to get more questions (one per
Raise). The caster may also Raise for clarity,
to get a more accurate and informative answer
to the questions. (Kami are notorious for their inability
to fully comprehend human behavior, and asking
questions without Raises for clarity can often result
in confusing, enigmatic, or incomplete answers.) Spirits
do not forget anything, so theoretically a shugenja can ask a spirit about something that happened decades ago;
however, they also do not experience time in the same way
as mortals, so trying to ask about something from long ago
will usually require Raises in order to make the caster’s wishes
clear to the spirit. The nature of the information which spirits
can impart varies by element:

* Air spirits tend to be playful and easily distracted, conveying information as emotions or as riddles and jokes. Since they are more interested in feelings than in facts, and enjoy playing games with those who speak with them, communing with an Air spirit can sometimes be very frustrating.
* Earth spirits are straightforward and matter-of-fact, often blunt, but are also often rather uninterested in the behavior of mortals, have a poor understanding of human emotion, and tend to be overly focused on obscure details such as the color of a piece of clothing or the weight of a horse.
* Fire spirits are irritable and temperamental, and are often angry at being summoned unless they are propitiated with an offering of something to burn. On the other hand, if a shugenja can please them they tend to offer the clearest and most accurate information.
* Water spirits communicate their knowledge through soundless visual images. This can be very helpful to a shugenja trying to investigate a past incident, but since the spirits cannot convey scent, sound, or emotion, the information they provide can often be incomplete or misleading.