Hedge Magic

A mystic’s culture and belief system help guide her practice of hedge magic. Lifestyle, ethical code, favored foci, and methods of instruction determine the appearance and method of a hedge mage’s power. A worker of Appalachian hoodoo magic might use very different gestures, foci, and special ingredients to work a healing magic than a medicine man or a voudon priestess. The rituals all result in healing, but the look, form, smell, and feel of the actual workings are very different. Hedge magic tends toward a set pattern of actions, or ritual, and does not have the advantage of flexibility in casting that Awakened Magic has, but it still alters the way things are.

Hedge magic is cast through rituals. Each level in a hedge magic Way (also called a Path) describes a range of powers available at that level, but the hedge magician cannot simply cast these willy-nilly — she learns and casts specific effects through specific rituals, and can only use those effects for which she knows a ritual. For instance, two dots of Conjuring allow the hedge magicians to move objects or to teleport (“conjure”) them across a distance. Each type of object requires a separate ritual. A hedge magician who can pull rabbits from a hat cannot necessarily cause a coin to disappear from his hand to reappear in someone’s pocket. He needs at least two separate rituals for these tricks.

Each time a student learns a new level, he receives a new ritual for that level. Thus, a character with two dots in a Way knows two rituals automatically. Storytellers and players can work together to create new rituals that suit their chronicles. Kinfolk hedge mages might have slightly different rituals than non-Kin practitioners.

## The Structure of Paths

The Paths of magic and science are not dependent on the tools the sorcerer uses or the studies that the sorcerer undertakes. Be it a technosorcerer using a teleportation apparatus or a student of arcane magics transported by a spirit of wind, both use the Path of Conveyance, although they have very different means of implementation.

Paths are broken down into two different parts: spells (also referred to as effects) and rituals. Spells can be cast quickly and can be modified and customized easily to allow for changing environments and situations. Rituals are much longer, more formalized and often more powerful castings that can work permanent changes. Spells and rituals are divided up into six levels; only the first five are available during character generation (and, in all fairness, Storytellers should restrict newly generated sorcerers to no more than the third level of experience in any given Path).

### Aspects

Some spells have aspects (or effect components), parts of the spell that the sorcerer must specify prior to casting. When a spell is cast, the player determines how much he wants to emphasize each aspect, by according dots from the Path rating into the various aspects. In essence, a sorcerer must divide up successes among various aspects of the spell, just like a mage — affecting multiple people requires several successes, extending the duration requires extra successes and so on. The default success for a Path assumes casting the spell on one target for the Path’s usual specified duration. Anything beyond this requires extra successes placed in the aspects, to gain additional targets, longer duration, wider area, stronger effect and so on. Each Path lists several aspect possibilities. These aspects show the typical limits of the Path at that level of casting — if your sorcerer has three dots in a Path, then the typical spell hits the third aspect level at best. If you wish, you can cast a spell with a lower aspect; since you use the highest aspect to determine difficulty, this means that a sorcerer with a high level in a Path can cast lower-level effects more easily. Each aspect that you invoke beyond the first level costs one success — so many Paths require two or three successes to affect anyone other than the caster for more than a moment. Conversely, if you score enough successes, your Storyteller may allow you to pick a higher level aspect: If you manage to double your required successes, you can push one aspect a level above your normal limit! Thus, on a really good roll, your sorcerer might cast a spell with a much stronger effect or longer duration than normal.

#### Ignoring Aspects (Optional Rule)

The new system of aspects for spells and rituals adds flexibility and detail to Sorcery, but at the cost of some simplicity. If Storytellers prefer, they can easily ignore the aspects and merely set all aspect ratings to equal the dots of knowledge the sorcerer has in the Path or that he is using. So, for instance, if a sorcerer has three dots in Healing, then any healing he does will cure one level of bashing damage, relieve fairly major pains, cure any disease of Toxin Rating 2 or lower and cause lethal damage to heal 25 percent faster than normal, with a difficulty of 7. When choosing to ignore aspects, the Storyteller will have to adjudicate how many successes are necessary for an effect to work; generally, however, a single success will allow for a relatively simple effect to come off, while 3 successes will ensure that most spells will work without difficulty.

### Rolls

Almost all spells and rituals require an Attribute + Ability roll. Often, this is Intelligence + Occult (Intelligence + Science or Intelligence + Technology for those practicing extraordinary science or technosorcery), but some Paths have different requirements (see each Path for details).

### Difficulty

Effects have a base difficulty of (4 + level of the path used, or the highest desired aspect if an aspected effect).

### Time

Effects normally take one turn per level of the effect (or the highest aspect of the effect) to cast, unless noted otherwise. Rituals take a minimum of 10 minutes and normally take much longer; most rituals have a description indicating their time component.

### Extended Rolls

If a spell needs more successes than the sorcerer thinks he can get in a single period of casting, he can try for an extended roll, just as with most skill checks. Each additional roll adds time equal to the amount already spent in casting. For example, if Father Michael had determined that there was little chance of him actually making the blessing work, he could try for an extended roll. Since the highest aspect is 3 dots, the first die roll of the casting will take 3 turns. The second die roll will also take 3 turns, the third die roll will take 6 turns to complete, the fourth 12, etc. As with all extended task checks, a failure on a die roll simply means no successes are gathered, but a botch instantly kills the spell, and any chance of success.

### Failure

If a sorcerer fails to generate enough successes, the spell fizzles. Most such failures merely result in the energy being wasted, with only minor inconveniences or side effects (indeed, for most simple effects, failure has no further results).

### Botches

As sorcerers don’t tug and pull at the Tellurian with the same dynamic force that Awakened mages exert, they don’t suffer the burning backlash of Paradox. On the other hand, a sorcerer does still do magic, and channeling such forces is not without inherent risk. When a sorcerer botches, those risks come home.

Typically, a botch results in some sort of chaotic misfire or horrid backlash from a spell. The exact effects depend upon the Path in question and the use in particular. Most Path descriptions include ideas for various botch possibilities. The Storyteller should tailor the results of the botch to the Path’s power level, the desires of the sorcerer and the style of magic used. For instance, a machine designed to harness metaphysical energy is far more likely to explode than a flying carpet.

## Rituals

Many Paths have rituals associated with them (and some Paths can only be used as rituals, such as Enchantment and Alchemy). Rituals are collections of precise mystical formulas that take time and effort, and usually some small expense, to bring about but have effects that are greater than a quick spell. Rituals normally take longer to work than a spell or effect, but their power can be much greater — often greater than that which a student of the Path would normally be able to summon at their current level of experience.

Most rituals require a basic level of knowledge about an associated Path; those that do not can be learned by anyone, even those who have not studied the Path (an example of this is Counterspells, which are really just a set of rituals and spells that are common knowledge to all Paths). This knowledge requirement is indicated by the dot rating of the ritual; if a ritual has a rating in dots, you must have at least that many dots in the Path to learn it. All rituals cost 3 points to learn; finding someone to teach one to your character, or the grimoires necessary, is always another matter… many of these rituals are known only as rumor or legend. In some exceptional cases, even the totally uninitiated can use rituals, casting them by rote out of a grimoire… or they can try! Botches in these cases are usually incredibly bad.

### Creating Rituals

Sorcerers can create new rituals, under certain special circumstances. They might happen upon a new alchemical formula, for example, or they may perform a given extended casting of a spell so many times that they formalize the process. Storytellers may also wish to create their own rituals for inclusion in their games. The guidelines here are just that, guidelines; as always, let your own judgment as Storyteller and the needs of your chronicle be your guides.

That said, typically, a ritual allows a spell to have a greater duration, power or area of effect than a normal spell will allow, at the cost of a much greater casting time (most rituals take at least 10 minutes to cast, and many take hours or even days). Some rituals will give the sorcerer access to more ability than he would normally have (usually equal to an additional dot in the Path; so a Level Three ritual might let the wizard cast an effect that would normally need Level Four in the Path). In the case of Paths with aspects, a ritual might allow the sorcerer to cast an effect created with twice the normal amount of aspected success, or might give access to powers that are related to the Path, but not a normal aspect of the Path.

The creator must have knowledge in the Path at least one dot higher than that needed to learn the ritual (especially if the ritual allows the sorcerer using it to exceed his normal knowledge). He must also spend some months in research, working on perfecting the new ritual (during which time he will cast the ritual many, many times and likely become thoroughly sick of it before he is done). Once all this is accomplished, roll Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 9). You must achieve at least 3 successes for the sorcerer to successfully create a ritual that will actually be useful and comprehensible to others; otherwise, it’s back to the drawing board. At the Storyteller’s discretion, an astounding success (6+ successes) may result in a ritual that is exceptional in some way; it may be easier to learn (lowered Path knowledge), have additional (beneficial) effects or take less power or time to cast. A botch might mean that the work is simply wasted, that the final test ritual backfires (injuring the creator) or that the ritual works, but has some unexpected (and undesirable) side effect.

## Conjuration

The Way of Conjuration enables the hedge mage to move objects about from one place to another. They can pull rabbits out of hats (in truth), summon swords or other weapons to hand, and, at the highest level, move a human or human-sized object without physically touching the target. Such objects must be prepared in advance using methods dictated by the caster’s belief system. This can include sacrifices, ritual inscriptions, cleansing rituals, prayer, or some other means descriptive of the caster’s beliefs.

Conjuration is a difficult type of hedge magic. The caster cannot choose just any item, but must use one already ritually prepared (and often carried on the caster’s person until needed). A different ritual exists for every object or item, and the hedge mage cannot substitute one item in a ritual for a different item. For each level a hedge mage knows above the level required to move a particular object, the caster may move an additional object. For example, a hedge mage knowing two levels of Conjuration may move two objects of the size and kind described in level one.

Roll: Dexterity + Occult

Cost: 1 Willpower

### First Dot

The caster can nudge a tiny object (coin, card, small knife) without touching it at a range of 10 feet or less. The contains no real force and anyone who picks up the item can prevent the caster from moving it.

### Second Dot

The caster can move a small, simple item, such as a book, a rope, a jar, or other similar object, or conjure (i.e., teleport) it across the intervening space. The range is up to 15 feet from the caster. To stop it, an individual must make a Strength roll, difficulty 5, to pick it up or otherwise stop it from moving.

### Third Dot

Large, complex objects such as swords, boom boxes, and laptops, or simple lifeforms such as snails, insects, or goldfish, are conjurable or movable by the caster. The mage can levitate the target, move it, or snatch it from thin air. The object must be no larger than a chair and must be within 25 feet. It can weigh as much as 200 pounds. Anyone wishing to stop it must make a Strength roll, difficulty 7.

### Fourth Dot

Now the caster can move, levitate, or summon a living mammal, reptile, bird, or other complex lifeform less than the mass of an adult human. Each type of animal requires a different ritual. Inanimate objects such as steamer trunks or small pianos can be targeted at this level. Maximum range is 50 feet.

### Fifth Dot

The caster can move or conjure a human or human-sized animal or object from up to 60 feet away, provided the living subject is willing or unconscious. This works best with a long-time partner who does not panic at the disorientation this causes. Botching this effect can be disastrous; at best it simply fails, but given a particularly bad failure it can cause serious injury or death.

## Divination

Predicting the future, gaining insights into what is to come, or telling fortunes — the art of divination has stood as the hallmark of the magically or psychically gifted person. From the Delphic Oracle to modern day tarot readers, diviners hold a position of both awe and fear. People both want and dread to know what lies ahead for them.

Fortune-tellers crawl out of the woodwork, setting up shop in downtown storefronts, in middle-class neighborhoods, or via a flashy website. Most of them are fakers who occasionally hit the mark square on. The hedge magic Way of Divination, however, allows Kinfolk to part the veil between the spirit world and the material world so that they might read the threads of fate and see what outcomes are most likely. This ability makes diviner Kinfolk valuable to the Garou of their tribe as well as to their families.

A diviner may cast only one ritual per scene and must spend one Willpower point per casting. Viewing the future also grants the possibility to alter it if the diviner can see clearly where to tweak the threads of fate. Storytellers, of course, have the final say as to how useful or how detailed this ability can be.

Roll: Perception + Occult

Cost: None

### Aspects

#### Time Period

• One week

•• One month

••• One year

•••• 10 years

••••• 20 years forward, up to 100 years backward

••••• • Almost unlimited, in either direction

#### Accuracy

• Incredibly vague at best

•• Generally accurate, but deeply cloaked in symbolism

••• Accurate, but not always explicit

•••• While still cloaked in symbolism,the truth isin there, and digging it out shouldn’t be too hard

••••• Your results are almost always accurate and usually easy to understand

••••• • You know what will happen, when it will happen and who it will happen to, without question… unless you’re wrong, of course

#### Question

• A very simple question (can be answered with Yes or No… but don’t expect to get that simple an answer!).

•• A specific question that can be answered quickly: “Is this bridge safe?” is okay. “How are the bad guys are going to attack us?” is not.

••• Aquery that is somewhat detailed but could be answered using publicly available knowledge, if you knew where and how to look and had the time.

•••• A detailed question that requires information or details that have been hidden by time, distance or deliberate obfuscation but can still be unearthed with effort.

••••• A very detailed question or one that would need access to information that has been lost to time, is very distant or has been actively guarded and hidden.

••••• • No question is too complex, no information too obscure.

### Tools of the Diviner

Different Hedge Mages use different paths of knowledge and tools to see the future. Most settle on one set of tools that suit them best, while a small few will select the tools that are most suitable for a given situation or a given client. Few use more than a handful of techniques, however.

In game terms, the tools the sorcerer uses are irrelevant. In the story, they are vital; you probably won’t find a technosorcerer using the entrails of a goat to tell the future or a neo-pagan using powerful probability analysis software. The tools you use can be a great jumping off point for stories; just possessing, for instance, an advanced laptop for statistical analysis could get you in trouble in some parts of the world, for example, and fishing about in the guts of a goat you just slaughtered would be a great way to get yourself imprisoned in some parts of the United States (and possibly killed in other parts of the world).

**Astrology** Predicting the future through the interaction of the stars and the planets and their positions in the sky.

**Augury** Prediction by observing the actions and flight of birds

**Bibliomancy** Drawing the future from random page-turning in books

**Cartomancy** Using a deck of cards to predict the future (e.g. the tarot)

**Casting** Using carved stones or sticks to study the patterns they make (runes, joss sticks)

**Dowsing** Searching for water, miner als, etc. using a forked stick or wire.

**Haruspication** Reading the future in the entrails of a sacrifice

**Oneiromancy** Interpreting the symbolism of dreams

**Palmistry** Reading the future in the lines and structure of the palm of another.

**Probability Analysis** Using chaos math, statistical analysis and probability to determine what may happen in the future.

**Scrying** Looking for the future in pools of water, crystal balls, mirrors, etc.

Other tools include reading tea leaves (tasseography), numerology, examining the shoulder blade (scapulimancy) and a host of others — some would say that there are as many means of divination as there are diviners, although that might be a bit pedantic

## Healing

By this Way, a hedge mage can heal many kinds of injuries and diseases, banish or control pain, and generally treat ills of all sorts. This Numen does not perform miracles (although it may seem to do so). Healing takes time, whether it involves injuries or disease. Healing is effective for relieving pain so long as the healer remains in contact with the sufferer. The healer can also reduce the likelihood of infection when working with a wound.

Practitioners of Healing hedge magic usually need some form of medical knowledge, whether it be dots in the Medicine Ability or non-traditional sorts, such as acupuncture, herbalism, shamanic healing, meditation, reiki, or some other form of medicine. Kinfolk who know veterinary medicine can use Healing magic to treat wolf Kinfolk. Use of this Path consumes the healer’s energy and, without care, can bring about burnout, or cause psychological damage to the healer. Healers often take care to get ample rest, practice relaxation techniques, and even seek psychological counseling when necessary.

This Numen cannot heal aggravated wounds, though it may ease the pain from such wounds.

Roll: Manipulation + Empathy

Cost: 1 Willpower per ailment

### First Dot

This level allows a healer to soothe headaches, backaches, or equivalent pains. While the ailment does not go away, the pain backs off for a while. The number of successes dictates the length of time the pain relief lasts (as a guideline, a few hours per success).

### Second Dot

This level enables the healer to treat sprains, flu, migraines, minor infections, and the like. With multiple successes, the caster can cut the healing time in half or even better.

### Third Dot

At this stage, the healer can mend broken bones and spur nasty wounds to heal faster and without infection. Fractures do not immediately mend themselves, but they do take much less time to heal. Relief and healing for the common cold occur at this level. A Healer can help an Incapacitated character get back on her feet so she can move to a safe place, but she cannot completely heal wounds as bad as those.

### Fourth Dot

This level of Healing can fix compound fractures and severe trauma, speeding up the healing process and preventing infection. Such injuries heal 50% faster. The healer’s touch also banishes pain. A healer of this level can also heal chronic diseases such as asthma, arthritis, diabetes, etc. The conditions do not disappear overnight, but take weeks. The cures last so long as the healed individual takes appropriate steps to avoid re-acquiring the disease.

### Fifth Dot

Through a great deal of effort, a healer at this level can cure the most serious diseases, including AIDS, cancer, heart disease and other “hopeless” ailments. Major traumatic injuries and broken bones heal in one to three weeks.

### Example Rituals

#### Healing Sleep (•)

The healer can place a patient in a deep, restful sleep that relaxes and revitalizes. The patient wakes from even a few hours of sleep refreshed and alert, with a clarity of thought and purpose. In game terms, the player rolls Manipulation + Intuition versus a difficulty of 6; if more than one success is rolled, the (willing) patient falls into a deep slumber. This ritual normally results in 9 hours of sleep; subtract one hour for each additional success. At the end of that sleep, the patient awakens revitalized; all bashing damage is healed, and the patient regains a point of Willpower.

#### Mike’s Cure-All (••)

Although the exact version referenced here appears to date from the Chicago speakeasies of the 1920s, versions of this ritual have been around for centuries. When cast on a patient who has been drugged, poisoned or merely over-indulged, the patient immediately begins to flush any toxins in their system; depending on the length of time it’s been since the toxins were introduced and the method of introduction, they might be expelled through sweat, vomiting or diarrhea, tears or some combination. This is rarely pleasant for the patient, but in the end, the toxins are removed, and any effects they may have on the patient are negated (already existing damage will not be healed, but any side effects or further damage will cease). The difficulty of this ritual is 6, and the healer must score more successes than the Toxin Rating of the drug or poison that the patient has in their system (or the highest Toxin Rating, in case of multiple drugs or poisons). This ritual can be cast as an extended task, and while it will flush out even alchemical concoctions and poisons, it does not affect vitae in any way; a ghoul will not have the vitae in his bloodstream forcibly removed, nor does it remove a blood bond.

#### Wakey-Wakey (••)

With this ritual, a Sorcerer can revive anyone from even the deepest sleep. Even magically induced slumber can be broken with this ritual, although the caster must generate more successes than the originator of the sleeping spell did. The base difficulty of this ritual is 6; normally only a single success is needed, although someone who is drugged, is a naturally deep sleeper or is incredibly exhausted may require more successes. This ritual costs one Willpower to cast.

#### Revive (••••••)

The pinnacle of understanding in the Path of Healing is the ability to bring back one that has traveled beyond Death’s Door. Even masters of the Path can only call back those who have very recently died, and survival is never assured; more than once, a patient has been revived, only to succumb once again to his injuries. The healer burns two permanent Willpower and rolls against a difficulty of 9; she must achieve at least 3 successes, plus 1 additional success for every three minutes the patient has been dead (not counting the length of time the ritual takes to cast). If successful, the healer loses any remaining Willpower they may have (these points, unlike the initial two, can be regained over time), is physically exhausted and at -2 dice on all dice pools for the next week. The patient, while revived, still suffers from whatever ills killed him in the first place; if immediate medical attention is not forthcoming, he will quickly die once again.

## Herbalism/Brewing (No Rituals)

The herbalist, or natural healer, has long occupied a place in folklore and in the culture of pre- or non-technological societies. In later history, the snake-oil salesman exploited for their own ends the trust many people once placed in non-traditional healers. Many herbalists — and many herbal con-artists — merely relied on recipes handed down through generations or conjured whole from their imagination to produce potions, ointments, tinctures, possets, and other herbal concoctions. These mixtures or brews sometimes worked, when the herbs and other ingredients contained viable substances. Otherwise, they were just so much “snake oil.”

The Way of hedge magic known as “herbalism” or “brewing” enables the practitioner to imbue natural ingredients with real power so that their natural healing (or poisoning) abilities achieve greater results. At the highest level of knowledge, these substances produce effects that border on the miraculous. The Garou treasure and protect these Kinfolk, valuing them for their ability to effect cures when normal means fail.

Kinfolk who study this herbal magic Numen must first have at least one dot in one of the following Knowledges: Herbalism, Medicine, or Science (botany). Naturally, the more dots in the appropriate Knowledge, the greater the probability of success. Using this Path requires time and effort, as the practitioner must find and gather, or grow, the proper herbs, flowers, roots, or mosses. In addition, preparing potions or other herbal concoctions takes time involved in boiling, steeping, crushing, or otherwise transforming the ingredients into the required mixture.

The strength and effectiveness of the mixture depends on the herbalist’s successes (Intelligence + Herbalism). One success produces something that marginally works but may look foul and taste bitter, or worse. With four or more successes, the concoction not only succeeds but does so with twice as much effectiveness — and tastes delicious, to boot!

Of course, herbalism also allows for the concoction of poisons. Those who ingest such poisons or mixtures with harmful effects may attempt a Stamina roll against the herbalist’s successes to resist or survive the effects.

Roll: Intelligence + Herbalism

Cost: none

### First Dot

The poultices or brews made at this level can cure minor aches or rashes, induce or prevent sleep, preserve foods longer than their normal freshness, relieve symptoms of non-chronic illnesses, and produce other effects that would not fall under the category of “magic.”

### Second Dot

At this level, the herbalist’s products quickly cure minor illnesses or pains, avert or enable pregnancy (100% certainty), alter a person’s mood, attract or deter insects or animals, cure intoxication, and produce other effects that seem miraculous, but not necessarily supernatural.

### Third Dot

The substances made at this level can put people to sleep with just a pinch, cure moderate pains and illnesses, cut healing time in half for open wounds and broken bones (more for Garou), put partakers in light trances or elevate the libido, and cause other effects that may raise eyebrows due to their speed and effectiveness.

Spirit

### Fourth Dot

This level of mastery enables the herbalist’s concoctions to clear up an infection in minutes, cure life-threatening illnesses, neutralize poisons, temporarily increase someone’s physical traits (one or two dots to Strength, Dexterity, or Stamina for one scene), and other equivalent effects. Cultural expectations and Storyteller judgment play a part in the effects, which are neither sudden, flashy, nor permanent.

### Fifth Dot

At this level, the herbalist produces truly spectacular potions, brews, balms, and the like. Love potions, sleeping concoctions, healing balms, deadly poisons, oils of flying, and other seemingly impossible mixtures enable the user to alter her reality for at least a little while, or, in the case of poisons and healing medicines, permanently. The truth of the matter should remain open to discussion and have a plausible explanation behind it. Extreme effects, such as changing forms, should not occur instantly, but should take effect subtly or over time.

## Hellfire

Thought by many to be at least tainted by darkness, if not outright of evil origins, the Path of Hellfire taps into the deepest, most primal, and destructive of forces. Legends ascribe the beginnings of this power to the infernal realms, pacts with malevolent elemental spirits, and bargains with beings better left alone. The master of the path of hellfire can demand, and receive respect; he will also receive suspicion and fear, whether he demands them or not.

A student of the Path of Hellfire learns to summon and control powerful elemental attacks; blasts of lightning, bolts of fire or mystic energy, clouds of poison gas or other deadly effects. Unsubtle and direct, these powers, utilized properly, can obliterate even the most deadly of foes, in the hands of a master. Students of this Path should remember that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing; they are not immune to the effects of their own powers, and using this power in combat normally requires planning beforehand

Hitting a target with a blast of Hellfire requires a successful Dexterity + Melee roll (difficulty 7). Striking at an area lowers the difficulty to 5 but allows those in the area a chance to escape.

Roll: Manipulation + Occult

Cost: One Willpower

### Aspects

#### Damage

Two dice of lethal damage per success spent. Although the basic form of Hellfire is a gout of flame, Hellfire does not do aggravated damage by default: for aggravated damage, spend 2 additional successes (some special effects preclude aggravated damage). Total number of successes spent on damage (including to buy aggravated damage) cannot exceed the dots the caster has in Hellfire.

#### Range

• Touch only. The sorcerer must make a successful Brawl attack in order to hit his target and deliver damage (which is in addition to normal melee damage.

•• Less than 10 feet

••• Less than 25 feet

•••• About 50 feet

••••• Any target within 150 feet

•••••• A target within 200 yards or so

#### Area

• A single target

•• A small area; 3 square feet or so

••• No more than a couple of square yards or so

•••• 10 square feet(which can be arranged as awall, circle or whatever).

••••• 20 square feet

•••••• Approximately 50 square feet

### Special Effects

All special effects are optional and, in fact, must be purchased (using freebie or experience points; cost is equal to the cost in successes +1), as each is a separate study in destruction. Each could be considered a separate destructive Path, of which Hellfire is simply a generic sampling.

**•• Earthquake:** The ground cracks open, engulfs the target and crushes him before subsiding. The target will then have to dig his way free (Strength roll against difficulty 6, need as many successes as health levels suffered, extended task). Lethal damage only.

**•• Lightning:** A bolt of electricity fries the target. If the target is touching any conductive material (water, a suit of plate armor, wires, etc.) and anyone else is touching that material, they suffer the same damage the target did. Can be aggravated.

**• Decay:** Does no damage to living targets, but anything they are wearing or carrying begins to rust, decay, warp and generally fall apart at a high rate. Within 2-3 turns, anything they are wearing or holding will be junk. This effect destroys three pounds of material per point of damage that would be scored (some substances and anything that has been enchanted, will be resistant to this effect).

**• Dust Storm:** A blinding, stinging cloud of fine dust whirls through the area, scouring everyone in the area. Must be bought with at least three dots worth of area. All beings in the path of this cloud are blinded for the duration of the cloud (one turn per health level of damage inflicted).

**• Sleet:** A blast of freezing water and ice cuts across the target. Not only does this inflict damage, but it can also obscure vision (at least momentarily), and the ground surrounding the target is at least wet and may be rather slippery. Lethal damage only.

**• Smoke:** A thick cloud of poisonous smoke billows forth from the caster, enveloping the area. (This effect must be bought with an Area of at least 3 dots). Everyone within the cloud takes one health level of lethal damage per turn, unless they have some kind of protection (a gas mask buys 2 turns of exposure but is then rendered useless) or do not need to breath (like vampires). Vision is totally obscured (even advanced vision, like thermographic or night vision) while within the cloud. Can be aggravated.

**••Tanglewood:** nearby plantslash out,throwing storms of splinters, thorns, etc. at the target. A truly lucky magician might be able to stake a vampire this way, but don’t count on it (difficulty 9, at least 5 successes needed). If the target is actually standing among any kind of dense undergrowth, the plants will envelop him (extended Strength roll against difficulty 7, need as many successes as health levels suffered to break free). Lethal damage only.

**•••• Drowning Tide:** This effect requires a large body of water to work (an Olympic size swimming pool is sufficient). A sudden wave or undercurrent reaches up and drags the target under the surface, smashing her body and causing drowning damage. To escape, the target will have to get to “shore” and drag himself out of the water (Strength roll, difficulty 8, number of successes needed depends on how long he is in the water and how far he is from safety, but at least 2 successes necessary). This continues until the target escapes or dies. Drowning damage only.

### Sample Rituals

#### Fire’s Weal (••)

This ritual allows the user (or whomever they cast the ritual upon) to resist natural flames, and provides at least some protection against even mystical flames. Roll (Manipulation + Occult) against a difficulty of 7; if you score more than 2 successes, you can soak fire damage as if it were bashing damage, instead of aggravated; more successes reduce the soak number needed (so 5 successes on this check would result in the recipient being able to soak fire damage as bashing, with a -3 on the soak difficulty). This ritual costs one Willpower and lasts one scene.

#### Hellblade (••)

This simple ritual attunes a weapon (normally some kind of bladed weapon, often a dagger or sword) to the powers of this Path. By spending one Willpower, you may engulf the blade in mystical fires; while burning, the weapon does aggravated damage and does 2 additional dice of damage. These fires last for up to one scene, unless the magician tries to hand the weapon to another user, at which point the flames die out. Requires a Manipulation + Occult roll, difficulty 7, with at least 2 successes rolled to take effect.

## Shadowcasting

With mastery of this Path, the shadows become your tools, the darkness your ally, and the night your friend. Despite the accusations of those who claim that the Path is, if not actively infernal, at least tinged with an ineffable darkness that can corrupt the unwary, the Path of Shadows is no more inherently evil than most other Paths. Whatever evil a sorcerer finds on the Path of Shadows, he brought himself.

A shadowcaster learns to manipulate and conjure shadowstuff — at first, mere simple shade but, with experience, near-tangible blackness or total nightfall. Color and light are absorbed and extinguished by these shadows, which dance and caper at the sorcerer’s beck and call. Needless to say, such displays can be quite unnerving; even a novice sorcerer can conjure effects that will frighten the wits out of most normal humans.

Roll: Manipulation + Occult

Cost: 1 Willpower

### First Dot

The caster can deepen and darken shadows and darkness in a room or area. The overall lighting doesn’t alter, but those shadows that do exist will be much darker than they ought to be. If you desire, those shadows can carry with them a feeling of unease and spookiness. Exact effects depend on the situation (using this ability in a brightly lit office will have little effect, while doing it in a shadowy warehouse would give a sorcerer (and others) the effect of an extra dot of Stealth.

### Second Dot

By shaping the shadows in his area and muffling the sounds he makes, the sorcerer can become almost impossible to discover. He can make his appearance indistinct, his voice eerie and creepy and the shadows deep and dark around himself. Add 2 dice to dice pools involving Arcane, Disguise (for purposes of hiding your appearance, not for taking on the appearance of others), Intimidation or Stealth. If the sorcerer casts the shadows on another, the victim will begin to see things out of the corner of his eyes, horrible shadowy forms that dissolve when the head turns. Strange creaks, ominous footsteps and hollow laughter will inhabit his hearing, and a rising sense of dread will occupy every spare thought. A Willpower roll (difficulty equal to the number of successes rolled) is necessary to avoid fumbling and hesitation; while not enough to cause penalties, this will cause someone to reconsider whether or not they should be here, instead of safe at home in his well-lit living room….

### Third Dot

The shadows rile and coil about the shadowcaster. Color fades from the area, and sounds become mere whispers and murmurs… or sudden piercing laughs, screams and other sounds of terror. Panic rises in all but the most stout hearted (Willpower roll, difficulty equal to the successes rolled + 2; failure indicates either a sudden, near irresistible urge to be elsewhere or a –1 to all tasks). You may add 3 dice to your attempts to conceal your character (or another).

### Fourth Dot

The shadows are the sorcerer’s allies in all ways. Those who oppose him must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) or be struck down in near-terror (-2 on all tasks — fear this great may drive some to frenzy). Add 4 dice to your dice pools for Intimidation, Arcane and Stealth. Cameras and other electronic recording devices will fail unless the operators succeed at an Intelligence + (appropriate skill: Computers, Investigation, Photography, Science) roll (difficulty 8, generally, although very simple equipment might need only a 6).

### Fifth Dot

The shadows reach out and engulf the caster’s opponents; what they see there is enough to reduce even the greatest to shivering wrecks. Used offensively, the opponent must make a Willpower check (difficulty 8, 3 successes needed) or be reduced to uselessness for several turns; a victim that was already afraid of the dark or enclosed spaces will probably require psychiatric attention before recovering. Those shrouded in the darkness will be totally invisible to those outside it (and to each other). Naturally, the caster can see in his own darkness. Any recording device brought into the darkness fails immediately (no roll allowed); any pointed at the darkness see only roiling masses of… nothing. Inky blackness. Shadows.

### Sixth Dot

The legendary sorcerer can give the shadows a physical form, shaping them into chains or tentacles to grab and hold those he wants stopped. The number of successes scored represents the total amount of Strength that can be brought to bear against opponents; you can divide these points up as you want. Bright light will weaken these shadows; sunlight will destroy them. Alternatively, the caster can use this power to dim even the brightest lights; even the sun will dim, although only temporarily, and only in a small, well-defined area (an alley way or courtyard, for example).

## Shapeshifting (No Rituals)

While the World of Darkness is indeed home to some shapeshifting monsters, a few sorcerers learn to alter their bodies through magical practice rather than inborn heritage. Perhaps it’s a spoken word that calls to the primal animal within or the intervention of an animal-spirit or even a little judicious genetic engineering. This Path is very elemental, often calling upon instinctive knowledge, and many sorcerers have lost their personalities to the beast-side conjured up. Others lose their identity in malleability. For a few, shapeshifting is less an art than a natural talent, but one unchanneled by the callings of the true Changing Breeds. It seems that Shapeshifting comes in as many forms as its practitioners.

Roll: Stamina + Animal Ken

Cost: One Willpower per use

### Aspects

#### Shift Scale

• A minor cosmetic change: The sorcerer can change eye colors, grow hair, etc.

•• Noticeable change: The sorcerer grows small claws, sprouts scales on the hands or the like.

••• Significant change:The sorcerer replaces some body part with an animal feature — a full clawed paw, a nasty shark jaw or an externalized digestive system.

•••• Half-shift:The sorcerer can shift half of his body into another form or find some halfway point between human and animal with significant traits of each. The sorcerer might resemble a bipedal wolf (of size somewhere between human and wolf) or could have bird wings and a beak with human legs.

••••• Full shifting: The sorcerer can change completely into animal forms.

••••• • Mythic shifting: Not only can the sorcerertake on animal forms, he may turn into forms that he only imagines.

#### Subject

••••• The sorcerer can only affect himself.

•••• The sorcerer can affect a different subject instead of himself.

••••• The sorcerer can affect two subjects at once.

••••• • The sorcerer can affect up to three subjects at a time.

#### Disparity

•-••• The sorcerer can only affect himself and must take only one animal feature.

•••• The sorcerer can make two unrelated shifts: having a wolf claw and a raven’s head or changing himself to have fangs and an opponent to have whiskers.

••••• The sorcerer can make three unrelated shifts.

••••• • The sorcerer can freely mix and match shifting traits.

## Spirit Chasing

This Way enables a hedge mage to create a bond between herself and a chosen type of plant or animal. Those who practice this Way believe, not unlike the Garou, that every living thing possesses a soul or animating spirit.

A spirit chaser uses her bond to watch and learn from her chosen animal or plant. Unlike the process of learning Gifts, no bargain exists between animal/plant teacher and student. The practitioner starts by contacting the spirit and simply watching it. Next, she asks questions of the spirit and tries to mimic its natural abilities. After this, the spirit chaser devises a private ritual in which she pleads with the spirit, requesting it to appear. When this happens (and it can take a very long time), the spirit chaser explains that she would like to learn its ways. For example, a spirit chaser choosing a bear spirit would ask to learn the ways of bears. The spirit might require some kind of proof of sincerity or a quest undertaken to prove the spirit chaser’s worth, but if it agrees, it allows the spirit chaser to learn the basics of living like the chosen creature.

As learning progresses, the hedge mage learns to focus her senses to see as her animal does. She might even learn special activities, such as a bear’s ability to hibernate or a lion’s ability to use claws. This Way is unique to every practitioner

Note that this Numen does not provide the ability to see, hear, touch, or summon spirits. It does provide a degree of intuitive communication with a chosen spirit type, such that queries might be answered by a gentle breeze, the snap of a twig, or even the brief appearance of the spirit’s type of animal or plant, and the spirit chaser intuitively understands the meaning of such responses. Others would easily interpret it as being all in the spirit chaser’s imagination, but she knows better. At higher levels of awareness, it’s even possible that a spirit might like the spirit chaser enough to materialize before her now and then, or use other Charms that signal its direct presence.

Roll: Manipulation + Occult

Willpower cost: 1 point

### First Dot

The mystic learns to “eat” the food of the chosen spirit. The proper food needs to be available (water and sun for plants; pasturage for herbivores such as cows or deer; grubs, honey, berries, etc. for bears; raw meat for wolves or other predators). She receives full nutrition from this food as if she were her chosen animal. Rituals might involve cud chewing, squirreling food away to eat later, burying food, and so forth.

### Second Dot

The spirit chaser can match his own sensory levels to his animal. For example, a lynx might allow the spirit chaser to see in the dark or sniff out predators or prey. Scenting humans, sniffing out a trail, finding food, or “reading” the air are some of the rituals that might accompany this level.

### Third Dot

Animals and plants know how to survive and what to do when they need healing. Plants “heal” by means of photosynthetic energy, while some animals lick their wounds, or fall into a healing sleep. The vibrational rate of a feline’s purr seems to have some healing properties as well. Each year, for some part of the winter, some creatures hibernate; temperatures are cold and food is scarce, so hibernation is a type of self-induced coma to insure survival. At this level, a spirit chaser may fall into a healing sleep which heals one Health Level for each success rolled on Spirit Chasing. With three successes, the spirit chaser could heal three levels after 12 hours of sleep. Rituals include hiding, healing, cleansing & purging venomous or poisonous wounds, and childbirth.

### Fourth Dot

At this level, the spirit chaser received the inner wisdom of the chosen animal or plant spirit. Based on the level of success on a roll to use this level of power, the Storyteller decides how much and what sort of information provided to the spirit chaser. An oak spirit might give the spirit chaser insight into an event that happened when the oak was a sapling. A wolf spirit might give the caster knowledge of something affecting the survival of wolves in a particular part of the world. The Storyteller can make use of this power to give story hooks to the characters. Rituals might include seeking visions, detecting lies or making intuitive leaps.

### Fifth Dot

The most committed and dedicated spirit chasers may attain this advanced level of mastery. Here, the spirit chaser receives the ability to practice some aspect unique to its bonded animal or plant spirit. She might, if bonded to a deer, be able to run especially quickly or leap high fences. A practitioner bonded to a bear might call on great strength; one bonded to a lion might grow claws for battle. Certain plants might give the caster skin that could be poisonous to the touch. At least three successes are necessary to invoke this ability, which is the closest a Kinfolk may come to experiencing the Garou’s shapechanging ability. Possible rituals may involve shielding, through growing a thick coat of hair or tree bark; offensive powers, such as growing sharp, strong fingernails; scaling a vertical surface as a spider might; and other abilities.

## Summoning, Binding, and Warding (All Rituals)

Perhaps the most ubiquitous among legendary sorceries is the ability to bind and control various natural or supernatural entities. Sorcerers can use their powers to command ghosts, demons, animals — even other people. With protective circles the sorcerer hedges out enemies, while with summoning spells, he calls the subjects to him.

Summoning, Binding and Warding are perhaps the most dangerous of spells. Attempts to bind creatures almost inevitably make them hostile. A sorcerer may not know that a ward is unsuccessful until an enemy attacks! And, of course, many hapless sorcerers learn to summon creatures long before learning to bind and control them. Worse still, many extradimensional beings possess will too strong to be easily bound.

All Summoning, Binding and Warding powers are rituals; the sorcerer must properly prepare and incant to make the effect happen. The aspects determine the sorts of creature that the sorcerer can summon and for how long. Each type of creature requires a separate ritual: Summon Rats, Bind Rats and Ward Against Vampires are all separate rituals.

Summoning, Binding and Warding covers many different areas of study. Material Summoning refers to physical creatures, like the summons of rats or bats. Daimonic Summoning affects angelic or demonic entities. Ephemera refers to the practice of dealing with spirits in general; Necromancy covers dealings with ghosts of the dead. Coiling or Technomantic Summoning refers to the practice of summoning or binding technological items — some modern sorcerers might even call their cars to them or ward their computers against viruses!

Roll: Intelligence + Occult

Cost: One Willpower

### Aspects

#### Creatures Affected

A creature compelled by a Summoning must appear to the sorcerer. Thus, the sorcerer can see spirits or the like that are brought forth, vampires are forced from hiding, etc. Note that the creature must move under its own power; the spell does not teleport it into the location. Thus, Summoning a toaster does little good unless it has wheels.

• Simple creatures: The sorcerer can affects mall, unintelligent animals, like rats, bats and insects. This also functions upon simple nature spirits or basic technological devices.

•• Large creatures:The summoner may affect large animals like wolves. The summoner may also affect ghosts of the dead or larger technical devices like televisions.

••• Humans: The summoner’s magic functions upon normal humans or upon self-willed natural spirits. Computers and complex electronics may be affected.

•••• Paranatural: The summoner can affect ghouls, other sorcerers and similar supernatural entities. Technomagical devices may be affected.

••••• Supernatural: The summoner’s powers reach beyond to affect truly supernatural material beings such as vampires, werewolves and the like. The sorcerer could use technosummons against airplanes, wards across entire buildings and so on.

••••• • Celestial: The summoner can invoke his powers against gods, demons and angels.

#### Number

Each dot of Summoning allows the sorcerer to summon one creature of the appropriate type or one swarm for small animals and insects.

#### Warding Strength

Each dot causes the subject to lose one die from all actions against the sorcerer.

With Warding at three or above, the sorcerer may create a Warding Circle; unless the creature scores more successes on a Willpower roll than the sorcerer’s player scored on the Ward roll, the creature cannot pass into or out of the circle.

#### Binding Intensity

Binding levels are cumulative. Note that a creature may expend a point of Willpower to resist a Binding, though the sorcerer may recast it.

• The creature cannot act against the sorcerer.

•• The creature must truthfully answer any single question put to it.

••• The creature truthfully answers questions and must perform any one service demanded, though it may twist the intent of the service.

•••• The creature performs a task for the caster as directed, following the orders closely.

••••• The sorcerer may command the creature to perform one task on behalf of another person and order it to answer any questions put to it by others.

••••• • The creature follows the spirit as well as the letter of the sorcerer’s commands.

#### Duration

• One turn

•• Three turns

••• One scene

•••• One day

••••• One story

••••• • Permanent

## Weather Control (No Rituals)

Weather witches have always been among the most revered and feared members of the sorcerer community. In ancient time, a witch could doom a community to a slow death by withholding the rains the crops needed… or could wreck it quickly by bringing on storms that flood the fields, destroy homes and kill the unwary. On the seas, those who could call the winds were lifesavers in truth, for a becalmed vessel was one that would die.

Most cultures consider weatherworking to be a woman’s art, drawing on the ties between her fertility and the bounty of the land and the elements, but this is far from universal; in some African tribes, weather magic was men’s magic, for example. Technosorcerers make no such distinctions, of course, but then, their mastery of this Path is thought by most to be limited at best. (Whether this is true is a question of some debate, however, as there are a few who always seem to have the wind at their back, cloudy skies and convenient fog banks when they need them.)

Weather magic can be terribly powerful but is also usually very slow to take effect. Changes in the weather are usually measured in hours or days; you can speed these processes up, but you cannot summon tidal waves out of nothing or storms from clear skies. When given time to work, however, weathercraft can command forces that are truly awesome and terrifying to behold, but not without cost. Even simple changes can leave a sorcerer drained; major workings can demand terrible sacrifices or even the death of the caster.

Roll: Manipulation + Willpower

Cost: Weatherworking is expensive. An effect costs one Willpower per 2 dots in Intensity, plus one for every 3 dots of Duration, Speed and Scale (or fraction thereof).

### Aspects

#### Intensity

• You can make small changes in the environment: a sudden cold breeze, a slight drop in room temperature, a softening of the light in a room, the sudden flaring of candles.

•• Minor changes to the environment are possible; you can summon up a dense fog, ensure that skies are cloudy or create favorable winds.

••• The rains and winds are at your command. Rainshowers come when you call them, and strong winds blow where you will. You can change the local temperature by as much as 30 degrees in either direction and can calm strong seas or currents.

•••• Storms move and surge where you will; powerful rains, gale force winds, heat waves and cold snaps (changes of up to 40 degrees in temperature), and powerful tides and undercurrents are all at your command. You can also take control of existing weather patterns; an additional Manipulation + Occult roll (difficulty 7) allows you to direct some phenomenon of the storm (hailstones, powerful waves, lightning bolts, smashing winds, etc.) at a specific target. These attacks do (4 health levels + the caster’s successes); a new roll must be made for each attack . Lightning bolts do lethal damage (aggravated if the subject “botches” the soak roll), other attacks do either lethal or bashing damage depending on their exact effects.

••••• Your control over the thunderstorm is absolute. Great waves surge and crash when you command, and no man can stand when you send the winds against him. The blizzard and the drought are your weapons. Elemental attacks sent against others do 6 health levels + your successes on a Manipulation + Occult roll.

••••• • You can summon the most destructive of weather patterns: tornadoes, hurricanes and monsoons, killing frosts, dust storms, lethal heat waves and raging thunderstorms. Their elemental attacks can kill even the most powerful of men; attacks do a base of 8 health levels + successes rolled. Storms of this magnitude will disrupt local weather patterns for weeks or even months after the storm itself fades away; the faster the storm is summoned the more extreme the aftermath and disruptions.

#### Speed

• The changes you request will happen…eventually. Depending on the severity of the change, it might take anywhere from minutes to a week or more for the weather you summon to arrive.

•• Minor manipulations of the local weather occur within a few seconds or minutes of your enacting the change. Major changes still take long periods of time to take effect, depending on the severity of the shift.

••• Small changes take effect within a minute of your calling them, and larger changes require only a few hours to a day to take effect. The most extreme of shifts in weather, however, still take several days to set up.

•••• Minor changes are almost instantaneous, larger changes occur within a few hours, and extreme changes happen in a day or two.

••••• Minor changes occur when and how you ask them to, larger changes happen in an hour or so, and even extreme changes usually take place within a day of you asking for them.

••••• • Even the largest of storms come within an hour or two of your calling them. Summoning a storm with this kind of speed is guaranteed to mess up local weather patterns and will certainly attract large amounts of attention from those who watch the skies… not to mention weirding out every meteorologist on the same continent as you are.

#### Duration

• A few seconds, no more, and only for minor changes.

•• A minute or so. Major changes cannot last this short a period of time.

••• A few minutes, maybe half an hour at most.

•••• An hour at most

••••• Several hours, maybe a day.

••••• • Up to a week.

#### Scale

• 50 square feet or so. Minor changes only.

•• Affects about a half-mile area.

••• A mile or two in size. Extreme changes cannot take place in this small an area.

•••• An area roughly five miles in diameter. All but the most extreme changes are possible.

••••• An area 20 miles in diameter. Any kind of changes are possible.

••••• • An area nearly 100 miles in diameter.