Spellcasting

Spell List

##### **Magic in the World**

Before the Enneade gifted their creations with Soul Marks, most magic in the World came from the gods. Smaller magical expression through Soul Mastery was the most common, and grand magic was generally considered divine providence. By the time of the War of Collapse, the perception of magic had thoroughly changed as the Enneade bequeathed Soul Marks and taught spells to any loyal subject they could get their hands on with some talent.

In comparison to limited magical expressions of a creature’s Soul, spellcasting is a replication of the Enneade’s own magical power, albeit way less potent. The Enneade are great springs of Soul energies - the most powerful form of energy in the World, which is the source of all forms of incredible creation, transformation, and destruction. For a plant or creature to come alive, they require a small amount of Soul energy. The Enneade uses this energy to give life to its Enna and perform their godlike powers. When the Enneade gave spellcasting to their subjects, they allowed them to store Soul energy as they could. With this external source of energy, the Enna and the humans could learn how to manipulate this energy into diverse magical expressions - spells.

As mortal cultures were permeated with magical knowledge and the Enneade’s numbers were reduced to only seven members, the relationship between the divine and the mortals changed slightly. With their magical prowess, Enna and humans could control their environment like never before without the constant aid of the Enneade. The complete reliance on the gods for magical aid decreased even further with the discovery that magic can be fully transferred and taught between mortal to mortal, without any interjection of an Enneade. A lot of magical knowledge has been forgotten in Frostmark after the magical purge of the empire. In the other Realms, magic has become necessary for protection and authority and continues to flourish and develop.

This section introduces you to the concept of magic and spellcasting in the World of Frostmark RPG.

###### **Soul Mastery**

All living things possess a Soul. The Soul gives a creature its consciousness, and each Soul is unique because of the living being’s species, biological traits, experiences, and personality. Depending upon the being’s species, they start off with different amounts of Soul energy. Then, during that being’s life, they accumulate training and experiences, causing their Soul to grow and personalize itself further. Through their racial heritage, when they have reached a certain maturity, a race’s Soul can manifest specific powers in its members. Other times, training and activities can lead to unlocking supernatural abilities.

Any trait, feat, or ability that gives your character a supernatural capability or a magical effect, is Soul Mastery. There are also traits, feats, and abilities that can give you the ability to cast a spell as Soul Mastery. Casting a spell with Soul Mastery means that you can cast the spell without a Soul Check, without Potency requirement, or even a Soul Mark.

###### **Soul Magic**

Soul Magic is the capability to cast spells through spell slots with spells known. You purchase spell known and spell slots with the pool of Potential you receive every level up.  To use Soul Magic your character must have a Soul Mark.

###### **Soul Mark**

Any character with the ability to cast spells with spell slots possesses a Soul Mark - a magical tattoo somewhere on the caster’s body. The Soul Mark stores Potency used to cast spells. The tattoo’s style for your character you decide, but it should be aligned with your character’s theme and spells. For example, a character with many fire spells could have a tattoo with some kind of fiery design. The size of the tattoo grows and swells with the proficiency of the caster. A first-level character would start with a tattoo the size of a small symbol. For a level 20 character, the tattoo will cover most of a body part (a whole arm, leg, chest, back, etc.).

Your Soul Mark will light up as you cast spells, and thus, if you don’t cover it up, it will reveal you as a caster. If you cast a spell with no somatic or verbal requirements, such as casting a spell with the Subtle Metamagic option, the Soul Mark does not shine. Because of the Soul Marks, tattooing is a normal decoration in the World. Therefore, as long as you do not cast a spell, the unactivated Soul Mark does not automatically reveal you as a caster if it is visible.

###### **Acquiring Magic**

Spellcasting requires the acquisition of two things, a Soul Mark and Soul energies (Potency). A Soul Mark is more than just ink; it requires a ritual that may include ceremonious gestures, arcane symbols, and words spoken in Copta. The ritual doesn't always look the same, depending upon which Enneade taught it to their followers.

What is always present, and a requirement, in the Soul Mark ritual is Soul energies - Potency. When a Soul Mark is created, the consumption of at least 10 Soul Potency is required. Any excess ends up in the Soul Mark, ready to use for spellcasting.

Many cults go for the easiest route by sacrificing living beings during the ritual. Archmages usually remove enough Potency from their own Soul Mark to give their apprentice a Mark. Someone fortunate could stumble upon Soul Gems with enough Potency within, or someone equally rich could buy Soul Gems if they have access to the right market. An Enneade can directly reward a character by bestowing them with a Soul Mark.

If the player wants their character to possess spellcasting, the GM and the player should work together to come up with a plausible explanation of how their character obtained their Soul Mark and how they learn spells.

What spells a player can select for their character depends upon their character's backstory and their theme. Example themes could be schools of magic like "illusion," or themes like "fire," "manipulation," "healing light." etc. This is up to the GM and the player to discuss together. Then they pick the spells that they think fit their character's theme from the spell list.

##### **What is a Spell?**

For the Enneade, magic is natural. With their vast intellect and nature consisting of pure Soul energies, they wield vast amounts of magic instinctively. They simply will use their Soul energy to take a specific form or to cause a particular effect - and it happens. However, their power, accuracy, and elegance with their own divine aspects are more profound.

Ya'ammu, the Enneade of magic and sacrifice, was the first Enneade to attempt to teach its Enna how to wield magic. Ya'ammu gave some of its knowledge to them, but its Enna couldn't manipulate their Soul to take such various forms. Ya'ammu discovered that, compared to Enneade's Soul energies, a creature's Soul wasn't as flexible in nature. Ya'ammu pondered how to turn the rigidness of a creature's Soul soft when the creature wanted to use magic. At this point, several other Enneade become interested in his research for their own various reasons. Amongst these Enneade were; Vettias, the Enneade of wisdom and skill, Moqatri, the Enneade of creation and the forge, and Amaknuphis, the Enneade of oppression and subjugation. Collaboration between these gods was not smooth, but their individual expertise led them to groundbreaking results. Besides, this event took place long before Amaknuphis corrupted a tribe of dwarves into the duergar and would make any semblance of tolerance between him and Moqatri impossible.

Together they realized that if Enna and humans would ever cast magic similar to them, they must use other Souls than their own. But Enna and humans could not interact with other creature's Souls in that way. Therefore, an intermediary device had to be created - the Soul Mark. With the Soul Mark, a human or an Enna could store Souls. Some Enneade protested against this invention, fearing that Enna and humans would steal Soul energies from them. But when war would eventually come, any advantage was accepted, and today, Soul Marks are entrenched into the World's cultures.

Still, humans and Enna were incapable of casting magic reliably. Even with the Soul Mark and the ability to use Soul energies through it, Enna and humans couldn't reliably turn the Soul energy into the magical expressions they desired. It was complicated for them, required a great deal of concentration and work, and sometimes backfire into undesired consequences. Ya'ammu had to make magic easier to use for the mortals. Ya'ammu and Vettias consulted, and then, together, they turned to Sokari, the Enneade of writing and communication.

They asked Sokari to link Soul energies and magic to the Enneades' language, Copta - a complicated but elegant language that includes both sounds and movements. Sokari informed them that such was within his power, as he was the one to create Copta, to begin with, but it would require massive amounts of Soul energies to achieve. Vettias and Sokari, while intrigued, were not willing to forfeit parts of their Soul energies enough to cripple their power forever. Ya'ammu had another relationship with self-sacrifice. For the cause of magical progress, Ya'ammu sacrificed vast amounts of his power to Sokari's spell.  Ya'ammu would never recover and fade into a minor player who quickly was destroyed once the War of Collapse started, but Sokari's spell changed the destiny of mortals forever.

As magic was linked to Copta, it could be quantified, demystified, and denominated through the language. Turning sentences and words into specific magical expressions is still beyond the vast majority of mortals. Before Ya'ammu disappeared utterly, the Enneade created special magical effects in Copta and then shared them. These crafted magical effects came to be known as spells. When casting a spell without a verbal component or a somatic component, the caster still has learned the correct words and movements. Even if they do not use it in the casting, it is still within the caster's mind.

Spells can be versatile tools, weapons, or protective wards. They can deal damage or undo it, impose or remove conditions, drain life away, and restore life to the dead. Uncounted thousands of spells have been created throughout history, and many have been lost to time. Some might yet lie recorded in crumbling spellbooks hidden in ancient ruins or trapped in the minds of dead Enneade. Or they might someday be reinvented by a character who has amassed enough power and wisdom to do so.

###### **Learning Spells**

Learning Spells may come from different sources, enlightenment from a divine source, unlocking sleeping ancestry potential in your blood, learning it from an occult text, etc. Either way, once you've learned a spell, it is stored within your memory and your Soul Mark, expanding in size and complexity as you learn and can cast more spells. How this is represented is up to the player, but the chosen spells should influence the arcane markings with their theme.

##### **How to Cast Spells**

Whenever you want to cast spells you must abide by these requirements and rules.

###### **Spellcasting Modifier**

How accurate and potent your spellcasting depends upon your spellcasting modifier. Your spellcasting modifier consists of two things; your proficiency modifier and your spellcasting ability score modifier. You decide which ability score modifier you want for your character if you have spellcasting or require one for Soul Mastery.

The ability score modifier must be one of the mental or social ability scores, and once you have decided on an ability score for your spellcasting modifier it will remain that ability score modifier for the rest of the game. You should choose a spellcasting modifier for your character that makes sense for them. Which ability score modifier would your character lean towards to learn and master spellcasting?

Your spellcasting modifier is calculated as:

*Proficiency bonus + ability score modifier (mental/social) = spellcasting modifier*

###### **Spell Level**

Every spell has a level from 0 to 9. A spell's level is a general indicator of how powerful it is. Cantrips (level 0 spells) are simple but powerful spells that characters can cast without spell slots. The higher a spell's level, the more experienced a spellcaster must be to use the spell.

###### **Spells Known**

Spells you have available to cast are your "spells known." You can gain spells known through race traits, feats, and abilities. You can also purchase spells known by spending Potential.

###### **Spell Slots**

Regardless of how many spells a caster knows, they can only cast only a limited number of spells before resting. Manipulating and channeling Soul energy into even a simple spell is physically and mentally taxing. **You purchase spell slots which decides the number of spells** (in any combination of spells known) **of a certain level you can cast per short or long rest.** As cantrips are far more readily performed, you can cast them unlimited times. Some abilities let you cast spells without spell slots, which is then considered Soul Mastery.

You regain spell slots of level 4 and below after a short rest and recover spell slots of level 5 and above after a long rest.

##### **Attack Rolls**

Some spells require the caster to make an attack roll to determine whether the spell effect hits the intended target. Your attack bonus with a spell attack equals

*1d20 + spellcasting ability score modifier + proficiency bonus*

Most spells that require attack rolls involve ranged attacks. Remember that you have disadvantage on a ranged attack roll if you are within 1 m of a hostile creature that can see you and that isn’t incapacitated.

##### **Saving Throws**

Many spells specify that a target can make a saving throw to avoid some or all of a spell’s effects. The spell specifies the ability that the target uses for the save and what happens on a success or failure. The DC to resist one of your spells equals:

*8 + spellcasting ability score modifier + proficiency bonus*

##### **Souls and Spellcasting**

Souls are an essential part of Soul Magic as they power your Soul Magic casting. This section presents all rules, limitations and mechanics with Souls and your Soul Magic casting.

###### **Potency**

The amount of energy within a Soul depends upon a creature's race and sometimes age. Some humanoids' Souls, like dwarves', elves' and humans', possess the trait of great potential. Through training, traumatic events, and personal growth, some humanoids' Souls grow with their experience. In game terms; The power of a Soul depends upon a creature's CR or level.

The higher the level of a spell is, the more Soul energies it requires. Soul energy is quantified in a Potency (Pot) value. To power a spell of a specific level, you require at least an equal amount of Potency in your Soul Mark. For example, a level 3 spell requires at least 3 Potency in your Soul Mark. This Potency can be just one Soul with Potency 3, or a combination of smaller Souls that equals Potency 3.

Spells of level 4 and above requires at least one Soul of a specific Potency value to be cast. For example, when you cast one spell of level 4, you require at least a Potency 2 Soul in the total Soul and Potency toll. The rest of the Potency necessary to cast the level 4 spell can be of any value, as long as the end total equals at least Potency 4.

These Potency requirements can be found in this table:

 1st
 2nd
 3rd
 4th
 5th
 6th
 7th
 8th
 9th

###### **Soul Check**

Whenever you cast a spell, your Soul Mark must hold enough Potency (and Potency of specific values for higher level spell casting). In addition to this, whenever you cast a spell you must also decide which Souls you use in the casting if you have several options.

Souls are completely secure in Soul Marks, but as soon as a caster casts a spell, they bring out of Souls with enough Potency to cast the spell from the Soul Mark. In that moment of casting, the caster cannot pay full attention to the Souls and they have an opportunity to escape the caster. This is not a personal choice for the Souls, it is simply something in their nature.

When you cast a spell of level 1 and above, you must make a Soul Check. A Soul Check is a check to see if your character is able to keep control of the Souls used in the casting. The higher the level of the spell cast, increases the strain on the caster’s concentration.

Cantrips require less attention from the caster and does not require a Soul Check. A spell cast as a ritual (see below) allows the caster to take their time with the spell and therefore also does not need to make a Soul Check. A spell that requires Soul Consumption (see below) consumes all Souls used in the casting anyway so no Soul Check is needed.

The Soul Check is the caster’s spellcasting ability modifier rolled against the DC of the spell.

D20 + proficiency bonus + spellcasting ability score modifier vs. DC of the spell level

 1st
 2nd
 3rd
 4th
 5th
 6th
 7th
 8th
 9th

You succeed the Soul Check if you roll equal higher than the DC. If the D20 roll is a 1, it is always considered a Soul Check failure. If you succeed on the Soul check, you cast the spell as per normal and all the Souls used in the casting return to your Soul Mark.

If you fail the check, you still cast the spell successfully, but you lose Potency. If only 1 Soul is used in the casting, you lose that Soul. If several Souls are used in the casting, you lose one Soul at random.

###### **Soul Fragments**

Not all creatures carry Souls with Potency values of 1 and above and the Partial Soul Drain Ritual may give you less Soul energy than Potency 1. These smaller Potency values are called Soul Fragments. Fragments can only exist in three values, ¼, ½ and ¾. Potency values of 1 and above cannot have fractions (only full values like 1, 2 and 3.

A cantrip only requires ½ Potency to be successfully cast, but Soul Fragments cannot be used to cast spells of all levels. ¼ Soul Fragments can be used to cast spells of level 0 and 1, but not level 2 and above. No Soul Fragments can be added to the Potency count for spells level 4 and above.

###### **Transforming Soul Fragments**

Any caster with a Soul Mark ican intrinsically transform Soul Fragments into a Potency 1 Soul if they want to. By spending 10 minutes in focused concentration, a caster can take at least 1.5 Potency and turn it into Potency 1, consuming (losing) 1/2 Potency in the process. Any excess of this 1.5 Potency value is also lost. If you would lose concentration during this process you still consume 1/2 Potency and the rest of the Potency remain untransformed. You will have to start again with the process, consuming 0.5 Soul Power again. You decide from which source ½ Potency is spent. Potency cannot exist in fractions above ¾ Potency, so any excess of the Soul consumed is also lost.

*For example, if you would consume ½ of a Potency 2 Soul, it cannot end up as 1.5. Instead 1 Potency is consumed and the Soul is left as a Potency 1 Soul. On the other hand, if you would consume ½ Potency from a 3/4 Potency Fragment, ¼ is left of the Soul.*

You create a new Soul this way with Potency 1. It is considered a whole and cannot be broken down into Fragments. This way you can add together Soul Fragments in your Soul Mark into higher Potency Souls for spell level requirements.

Casters who have the Partial Soul Drain trait can form Souls into even higher Potency values. The process takes the same amount of time and requires concentration. These casters can transform Soul Fragments and normal Potency Souls into higher Potency Souls. The Consumption cost has no limitations of specific Potency values, any Soul Potency can be used to pay it.

The Consumption tax increases with the level of the new Potency Soul:

Transformed Soul Potency        Consumption Potency cost

2                    1

3                    1

4                    2

5                    2

6                    3

7                    3

8                    4

9                    5

The Church of Riahn instructs their priests that combining Souls, which they describe as "maturing" the power that has been bestowed onto them by Riahn, is done through prayer sessions. Whilst not a requirement, the prayer session does offer the necessary concentration required and can be an effective tool to teach discipline.

###### **Losing and Releasing Souls**

Losing a Soul means that you have no control over the Soul and you must subtract it from your available Souls. When the Soul has left a caster for good it disappears to rejoin the mass of Soul energies present in the World or within an Enneade.

On the other hand, consumption of a part of a Soul’s Potency or all of it, is to deplete a Soul. Depletion signifies that the Soul loses identity, personality and memories. If a Soul is completely consumed, the Soul’s experiences and personality disappears and it is reduced to a single spark of Soul energy - the spark that their unconscious body received at birth from the World or an Enneade. That spark is too small and elusive for any caster to control, and it rejoins the Soul Energies of the World or an Enneade.

If you are dying with Souls in your Soul Mark, there is a chance that Souls can escape. While you are unconscious, the confines of their prison weakens with you. Every time you roll a death saving throw, also roll a Resolve saving throw against DC 15. If you succeed, nothing happens. If you fail, a random Soul escapes you. If you would die, each turn a random Soul escapes you until there is nothing left within your Soul Mark.

###### **Resurrection and Souls**

To resurrect a creature, their Soul must be somewhat intact. Resurrecting a creature whose Soul hasn’t been drained simply means that the spell recalls Soul to the body and heals the creature to a point where the body can sustain life. While it is a harrowing event, it doesn’t necessarily need to negatively impact the creature.

Resurrection spells can also trump Soul Marks. If a caster has drained a creature of its Soul, the spellcaster who cast the resurrection spell must roll a Resolve saving throw against DC 10 + the owner of the Soul Mark’s level (or CR)/2 (min 10). The resurrection spell forces the Soul out of the Soul Mark and into its original body on a success. On a fail, the Soul Mark keeps the Soul, and the resurrection spell fails.

If a Soul has been partially consumed, a resurrected creature will not be the same person anymore. Severe memory loss, loss of levels, personality change, lethargy, and other mental issues may afflict the creature - for a period or forever. The GM and/or the player decide what such a fate will do to a creature, as well as how and if it can be treated or recovered.

A Soul that is wholly consumed cannot be resurrected. Nothing of the original identity is left, and the Soul energy wouldn’t be enough to cause the mature body to function anyway.

###### **Giving Souls**

Creatures can also give Souls to each other safely by spending 1 minute in concentration. If concentration is disturbed, the Soul is lost. This can also be performed as an action, but the one transferring the Soul to another must make a Resolve saving throw against a DC of 12 + Potency of the Soul (min 13). On a success, the Soul is given to the other spellcaster, on a failure the Soul is lost.

##### **Soul Drain Ritual**

How a character acquires Potency in their Soul Mark is through a Soul Drain ritual. A Soul Drain ritual requires an undrained corpse that has not been dead for more than 6 minutes. You cannot Soul Drain a corpse that doesn’t have Souls (like a skeleton or zombie created through the *Animate Dead* spell). Performing a Soul Drain ritual usually takes an action.

The ability to perform a Soul Drain ritual is automatically given to a creature when they gain a Soul Mark. If a character is devoted to an Enneade, they might reveal their preferred Soul Drain ritual to the character. Otherwise, the creature chooses their own ritual. How the Soul Drain ritual is performed is for thematic reasons and to add flavor to the ritual.

###### **Soul Drain Ritual on other Spellcasters**

When a spellcaster has recently died, another spellcaster with a Soul Mark can attempt to catch one Soul escaping the spellcaster. Within 1 minute of the spellcaster’s death, one creature can try to gain control of one random Soul that is slipping out of the dead spellcaster’s Soul Mark. The spellcasters trying to catch a Soul must make a DC 15 Resolve saving throw. On a failure, they fail to catch any Soul and on a success they catch a Soul at random.

###### **Enneade Rituals and other Example Rituals**

***Riahn***: Utter a sentence or two of genuine respect to your fallen foe or found treasure and then seek the sun with your eyes, let it burn your vision slightly, in that blinding moment, the Soul is yours. If there is no sun to be found, close your eyes, and see your mind's sun. The ritual is a bonus action to perform in direct sunlight, two actions in complete Darkness and in all other light environments an action to perform.

***Gera***: The body must return to the natural cycle of the world. Either a part must be eaten or laid to rest in the earth to be decayed. Devotees of Gera make it a habit to carry around a pouch of dirt, so whenever they are in areas where digging is impossible, they can cut off a lock of hair, a nail, take some blood, or even a body part, and place it within the dirt to complete the ritual.

***Teranis***: Acknowledge what your foe taught you before they died, or recollect a valuable lesson you've learned in the past. Then make a cut into their forehead so their Soul can seep out of them and into your control.

***Lapuana***: You must justify why the premature end of their life will serve you better than their continued existence. It does not need to be significant but needs to be honest. Then, shed a tear, stop blood flow, or pour a drink in their mouth, or perform some other kind of shift or movement of liquid.

***Borias***: Even when they're dead, you must show your superiority to bring the message through - you are stronger. You must somehow mutilate the corpse, break a bone, sever the head, take a trophy, etc. No pretty words are necessary.

***Suhlmis***: Offer a performance, creation, or even money to the dead, to lure their spirit to you.

***Vegomo***: You must inspect the host of the Soul you're about to drain to discover some nugget of information about them. When enlightenment has been reached, the Soul is yours.

The World

* Lay them to rest appropriately, moving the body, cleaning something up, or giving back their dropped weapon so they can grasp it even in death.
* Drink a mouthful of their blood to pass their spirit into you.
* Whisper a secret of yours into their ear.

Feel free to come up with your own rituals and discuss them with your GM.

##### **Priests of Riahn and Partial Soul Drain**

As the Church of Riahn vehemently finds taking people’s Souls to be morally evil, they teach their Priests Partial Soul Drain instead. The Church and the empire tried to erase the knowledge of Soul Drain even, and flavored Partial Soul Drain as the power given to the priests from their services to Riahn - rather than taken from the participants in a Soul Drain ritual.

In Frostmark, priests of Riahn perform Partial Soul Drain with a living person participating in a Rianish ceremony, often including spoken scriptures in Rianish and some in Copta and traditional gestures and movements. Examples of Rianish rituals that citizens may participate in can be simple blessings, birth ceremonies, coming of age ceremonies, weddings, and funerals. A Partial Soul Drain ritual takes typically 1 hour to complete, which cannot suffer prolonged disturbance. If it is sufficiently disturbed (up to the GM), the priest must redo the ceremony from the beginning. It also affects up to participants. Partial Soul Drain can also be conducted through the *Ceremony* spell, then only taking 10 minutes to perform but can only affect one creature at a time.

A participating creature must be able to agree to the terms set in the Soul Drain ritual; in return for a blessing, they give the bless-giver a part of their Soul energy. However, the creature participating is not required to understand what they agree to, just give their compliance. Today, there are only very few individuals that know the true nature of Souls, Soul Magic and Soul Drain in Frostmark. The empire, sacred arms, and the Church have quite successfully removed this knowledge from the public who believes Soul Marks, Soul Magic and Partial Soul Drain comes directly from Riahn.

With Partial Soul Drain, you receive a part of the participant’s Potency - a fourth of their total (rounded down). If one participant cannot provide at least ¼ Soul Fragment, you do not receive any Potency. If you are performing the more extended ceremony of 1 hour and you have two participants, they could give you a ¼ Fragment if their individual Potency together adds up to at least ¼ Potency.

##### **Creatures participating in the Partial Soul Drain Ritual**

A creature receives two exhaustion levels until they finish a long rest after participating in a Partial Soul Drain ritual. And they need a full week to recover completely before they could potentially join in another Partial Soul Drain ritual. During this time, a participant cannot level up.

If a creature would participate in a Partial Soul Drain ritual before they had rested for a week, they are afflicted with three levels of exhaustion for 4 weeks, and during that time, they cannot level up.

If the creature would participate in another Partial Soul Drain ritual during that time, they fall unconscious and start rolling death saving throws immediately. If they do not die, they are afflicted with exhaustion of level 5 for 7 weeks, and they cannot level up during this time. If they agree to a fourth Soul Drain Ritual, the participant dies, and their Soul is considered consumed.

##### **Potency value of Souls**

The Potency value of a Soul depends upon two factors; the Soul’s race and its CR/level. Animals, the prototype of all life, were created with minimal potential for magical expression and supernatural growth. Animals have, therefore, the least Potency. With their valuable trait of Freedom of Worship, humans start off with the powerful Souls in comparison to their CR/level. Enna exists somewhere between animals and humans.

###### Humans

The GM is also free to decide their own Potency values for specific creatures. Perhaps a Soul has become dimmer from severe sickness or become stronger from a divine boon? The GM has the final say of how Potency that can be harvested from a creature.

##### **Spell Mechanics**

When a character casts any spell, the same basic rules are followed, regardless of the character’s ability origin picks or the spell’s effects. Each spell description begins with a block of information, including the spell’s name, level, school of magic, casting time, range, components, and duration. The rest of a spell entry describes the spell’s effect.

###### **Casting Time: Bonus Action**

A spell cast with a bonus action is especially swift. You must use a bonus action on your turn to cast the spell, provided that you haven’t already taken a bonus action this turn. You can’t cast another spell with 1 action casting time during the same turn except if any of the spells, either the one action spell or the bonus action spell, is level 1 or lower.

###### **Reactions**

Some spells can be cast as reactions. These spells take a fraction of a second to bring about and are cast in response to some event. If a spell can be cast as a reaction, the spell description tells you exactly when you can do so.

###### **Longer Casting Times**

Certain spells (including spells cast as rituals) require more time to cast: minutes or even hours. When you cast a spell with a casting time longer than a single action or reaction, you must spend your action each turn casting the spell, and you must maintain your concentration while doing so (see “concentration” below). If your concentration is broken, the spell fails, but you don’t expend a spell slot. If you want to try casting the spell again, you must start over.

###### **Rituals**

Certain spells have a special tag: ritual. Such a spell can be cast following the normal rules for spellcasting, or the spell can be cast as a ritual. The ritual version of a spell takes 10 minutes longer to cast than normal. It also does not expend a spell or require a Soul Check as you take your time with handling the Soul.

Rituals are however lengthy processes that require great concentration. After casting several rituals per day, the caster is going to experience mental fatigue. You can cast three spells through ritual casting once per long rest with no side-effects, but any consecutive ritual casting before you take a long rest afflicts you with a level of exhaustion. However, if you cast the same spell with ritual casting more than twice before a long rest, you gain a level of exhaustion. Furthermore, if you have 5 levels of exhaustion you cannot cast a ritual spell that would cause you to gain 6 levels of exhaustion.

###### **Components**

A spell’s components are the physical requirements you must meet in order to cast it. Each spell’s description indicates whether it requires Verbal (V), Somatic (S), or Soul Consumption (SC) components. If you can’t provide one or more of a spell’s components, you are unable to cast the spell.

***Verbal (V)***

Most spells require the chanting of Copta, the language of the Enneade and magic. The words themselves aren’t just the source of the spell’s power. It also requires a particular combination of sounds that sets the vibrations of magic in motion. Thus, a character who is gagged or in an area of silence, such as one created by the *Silence* spell, can’t cast a spell with a verbal component.

**Somatic (S)**

Spellcasting gestures might include a forceful gesticulation or an intricate set of gestures. If a spell requires a somatic component, the caster must have free use of at least one hand to perform these gestures.

***Soul Consumption (SC)***

Some spells are more taxing on the Souls in your Soul Mark than others, those spells will have the tag Soul Consumption. Casting a spell with Soul Consumption results in consuming the Souls you use in the casting of that spell. Souls that are consumed by the spell cannot be resurrected. A Soul Check is not rolled with Soul Consumption.

###### **Duration**

A spell’s duration is the length of time the spell persists. A duration can be expressed in rounds, minutes, hours, or even years. Some spells specify that their effects last until the spells are dispelled or destroyed.

**Instantaneous**

Many spells are instantaneous. The spell harms, heals, creates, or alters a creature or an object in a way that can’t be dispelled because its magic exists only for an instant.

###### **Concentration**

Some spells require you to maintain concentration to keep their magic active. If you lose concentration, the spell, and its effects, end.

If a spell must be maintained with concentration, it is written in the spell's entry, specifically after the title of the spell in the parenthesis as “Conc.” The spell specifies how long you can concentrate on it. You can end concentration at any time (no action required).

Normal activity, such as moving and attacking, doesn’t interfere with concentration. The following factors can break concentration:

* ***Casting another spell that requires concentration***: You lose concentration on a spell if you cast another spell that requires concentration. You can’t concentrate on two spells at once.
* ***Taking damage***: Whenever you take damage while you are concentrating on a spell, you must make a Resolve saving throw to maintain your concentration. The DC equals 10 or half the damage you take, whichever number is higher. If you take damage from multiple sources, such as an arrow and a dragon’s breath, you make a separate saving throw for each source of damage.
* ***Being incapacitated or killed***: You lose concentration on a spell if you are incapacitated or if you die.

The GM might also decide that certain environmental phenomena, such as a wave crashing over you while you’re on a storm-tossed ship, require you to succeed on a DC 10 Resolve saving throw to maintain concentration on a spell.

###### **Casting in Armor**

Because of the mental focus and precise gestures required for spellcasting, you must be proficient with the armor you are wearing to cast a spell. You are otherwise too distracted and physically hampered by armor for spellcasting.

###### **Targets**

A typical spell requires you to pick one or more targets to be affected by the spell’s magic. A spell’s description tells you whether the spell targets creatures, objects, or a point of origin for an area of effect (described below).
Unless a spell has a perceptible effect, a creature might not know it was targeted by a spell at all. An effect like crackling lightning is obvious, but a more subtle effect, such as an attempt to read a creature’s thoughts, typically goes unnoticed, unless a spell says otherwise.

**A Clear Path to the Target**

To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can’t be behind total cover. If you place an area of effect at a point that you can’t see and an obstruction, such as a wall, is between you and the point, the point of origin comes into being on the near side of that obstruction.

**Targeting Yourself**

If a spell targets a creature of your choice, you can choose yourself, unless the creature must be hostile or specifically a creature other than you. If you are in the area of effect of a spell you cast, you can target yourself.

**Range**

The target of a spell must be within the spell’s range. A spell can either have an individual target or an area of effect. Most spells have ranges expressed in m. Some spells can target only a creature (including you) that you touch. Other spells only affect you. These spells have a range of “self”.
Spells that create cones or lines of effect that originate from you also have a range of self, indicating that the origin point of the spell’s effect must be you. Once a spell is cast, its effects aren’t limited by its range, unless the spell’s description says otherwise.

##### **The Schools of Magic**

The schools of magic help describe spells; they have no rules of their own, although, some rules refer to the schools.

* ***Abjuration***: Are spells that are protective in nature, though some of them have aggressive uses. Abjuration creates magical barriers, negates harmful effects, harms trespassers, or banishes creatures to other Realms.
* ***Conjuration***: Are spells that involve the transportation of objects and creatures from one location to another. Some spells summon creatures or objects to the caster’s side, whereas others allow the caster to teleport to another location. Some conjurations create objects or effects out of nothing.
* ***Divination***: Are spells that reveal information, whether in the form of secrets long forgotten, glimpses of the future, the locations of hidden things, the truth behind illusions, or visions of distant people of places.
* ***Enchantment***: Are spells that affect the minds of others, influencing, or controlling their behavior. Such spells can make enemies see the caster as a friend, force creatures to take a course of action, or even control another creature like a puppet.
* ***Evocation***: Are spells that manipulate magical energy to produce a desired effect. Some call up blasts of fire or lightning. Others channel Soul energy to heal wounds.
* ***Illusion***: Are spells that deceive the senses or minds of others. They cause people to see things that are not there, to miss things that are there, to hear phantom noises, or to remember things that never happened. Some illusions create phantom images that any creature can see, but the most insidious illusions plant an image directly in the mind of a creature.
* ***Transmutation***: Are spells that change the properties of a creature, object, or environment. They might turn an enemy into a harmless creature, bolster the strength of an ally, make an object move at the caster’s command, or enhance a creature’s innate healing abilities to rapidly recover from injury.
* ***Vismancy***: Are spells that manipulate the energies of life and death. Such spells can grant an extra reserve of life force, drain the life energy from another creature, create the undead, or even bring the dead back to life.

##### **Areas of Effect**

An area of effect spells allows you to affect multiple creatures at once. A spell’s description specifies its area of effect, which typically has one of five different shapes: cone, cube, cylinder, line, or sphere. Every area of effect has a point of origin, a location from which the spell’s energy erupts. The rules for each shape specify how you position its point of origin. Typically, a point of origin is a point in space, but some spells have an area whose origin is a creature or an object.
A spell’s effect expands in straight lines from the point of origin. If no unblocked straight line extends from the point of origin to a location within the area of effect, that location isn't included in the spell’s area. To block one of these imaginary lines, an obstruction must provide total cover.

###### **Cone**

A cone extends in a direction you choose from its point of origin. A cone’s width at a given point along its length is equal to that point’s distance from the point of origin. A cone’s area of effect specifies its maximum length.

A cone’s point of origin is not included in the cone’s area of effect unless you decide otherwise.

###### **Cube**

You select a cube’s point of origin, which lies anywhere on the face of the cubic effect. The cube’s size is expressed as the length of each side. A cube’s point of origin is not included in the cube’s area of effect unless you decide otherwise.

###### **Cylinder**

A cylinder’s point of origin is the center of a circle of a particular radius, as given in the spell description. The circle must either be on the ground or at the height of the spell effect. The energy in a cylinder expands in straight lines, from the point of origin to the perimeter of the circle, forming the base of the cylinder. The spell’s effect then shoots up from the base or down from the top, to a distance equal to the height of the cylinder. A cylinder’s point of origin is included in the cylinder’s area of effect.

###### **Line**

A line extends from its point of origin in a straight patch up to its length and covers an area defined by its width. A line’s point of origin is not included in the line’s area of effect unless you decide otherwise.

###### **Sphere**

You select a sphere’s point of origin and the sphere extends outward from that point. The sphere’s size is expressed as a radius in m that extends from the point. A sphere’s point of origin is included in the sphere’s area of effect.

##### **Combining Magical Effects**

The effects of different spells add together while the durations of those spells overlap. The effects of the same spell cast multiple times don’t combine, however. Instead, the most potent effect - such as the highest bonus - from those castings applies while their durations overlap.

##### Examples

***Character Creation Example 1 “Helos”***

Eve uses Helos’ Potential to buy cantrips, spell slots and spells for Helos;

> Cantrips
>
>

* *Sacred Flame*
* *Spare the Dying*
* *Thaumaturgy* (from background)

> Spell Slots
>
>

* 3 x Level 1

> Spells Known
>
>

* Level 1: *Command*
* Level 1: *Ceremony* (from background)
* Level 1: *Healing Word*
* Level 1: *Sanctuary* (from background)

> Souls: Two level 1 Souls
>
>

*Since Helos has been given a Soul Mark and been taught spellcasting in his backstory as a Crow priest, Eve is free to purchase spells with her Potential pool. At first level, Eve chose [Devotion] as her Primary Selection, meaning that Helos gains major spellcasting at this level. Therefore, the Potential pool equals 60, but Helos receives an extra +10 Potential from the General Upgrade Eve took on Secondary Selection. She purchases three spell slots of level 1 for 30 potential and then picks two cantrips and two level 1 spells for an additional 40 potential. In addition, Helos starts with two level 1 Souls in his Soul Mark.*

***Character Creation Example 2 “Rogath”***

Carl notes down in Rogath’s character sheet that he has 20 Potential stored.

*Since Rogath has no Soul Mark, he cannot possess spellcasting. After all, his village didn’t have the resources or knowledge to bestow something so valuable unto Rogath. Even if Rogath cannot spend his Potential for spellcasting, Carl still keeps the Potential in mind. When Carl gets to play with Rogath in a session, he can spend his Potential to give Rogath small boosts. See Exaltation on page XX.*