Spellcasting Basics

All magic-users, whether practitioners of divine, natural, or arcane careers, use the same broad, flexible system. Whatever their source or focus of power, they’re all accessing the same magic, albeit in different ways. A user of magic is referred to herein as a magic-user; this refers to any character or creature using magic, whatever career they possess, if any.

Magic-users use Magic Points to cast their spells. Different careers may refer to this reservoir of magical potential as spirit, energy, mana, faith, or any number of other names.

Magic Attribute

The Magic attribute determines how many Magic Points (MP) a magic-user has available, and also forms part of the dice pool used when casting a spell. A character’s Magic attribute can be increased in various ways. Spellcasting ability improves incrementally as magic-users improve their Magic attribute, granting access to more powerful spells, knowledge of more diverse spells, and a greater pool of MP to cast spells with. This can also allow a magic-user to study multiple magical careers and still be able to cast powerful spells.

Magic Points. A magic-user’s total MP is equal to three times their Magic attribute (unless a career or ability says otherwise). Most spellcasters have an additional reserve of MP in an implement such as a staff or wand.

Maximum spell MP. A magic-user can spend no more MP on a single spell than the value of her Magic attribute. Thus, a character with a Magic attribute of 5 could spend no more than 5 MP on each spell. In this way, the Magic attribute acts as a cap upon a magic-user’s power.

Magic Points

Magic points (MP) are the reservoir of power magicusers expend in order to cast spells. When a magic-user runs out of MP she cannot cast any more spells until she rests and regains her MP. The amount of MP that a caster has depends on her Magic attribute (three times her Magic attribute).

Different careers may refer to Magic Points in different ways, whether that is mana, faith, energy, power, spirit, juju, mojo, or something else. Players should note their character’s name for Magic Points on their character sheet.

A magic-user recovers MP by resting. Once per day, a magic-user may spend an hour to regain MP. During this hour she might pray, meditate, study notes she has written about her spells, or take any other sort of focused, non-stressful action. A magic-user can only spend time to regain MP if she is relatively well rested— usually this means after 8 hours of sleep. After resting, she fully regains all of her MP.

Casting a spell costs MP. Again, you can pay no more MP for a single spell than your Magic attribute.

Secrets

The world is governed by uncountable secrets. Everything has a secret—every element, every material, every creature. Some secrets are broad, and some are more specific; some are common, and others are rare. These secrets can be discovered by magic-users, and hold the key to their use of magic.

There is no finite list of secrets. However, some common examples include good, evil, life, death, air, fire, earth, water, demons, beasts, fey, plants, shadow, metal, undead, and weather. A secret gives a magic-user the key to a “thing” in the world. Secrets are words of power— the true names of things in the world, whether those things be elements, objects, or creatures.

Characters learn secrets by selecting the Arcane Secret exploit. The GM should determine which secrets are available; for example, the PCs could embark on a quest to find the secret of dragons. Like skills, secrets operate in a keyword-based manner, and are divided into elements, creatures, and virtues.

Virtues are present only in certain beings who personify or exemplify that virtue; most creatures are free-willed. There is no set limit to the number of secrets—technically, there is a secret of curtains and a secret of shoes—but those below are common secrets.

An additional secret, self, is automatically known by all creatures. This ensures that a caster can always affect themself, and also serves as an “all” secret for some specific enhancements.

Some of the common secrets listed below are occasionally referred to in different ways.

• Person. Person is equivalent to humanoid.

• Good & Evil. Good and evil damage is often referred to as holy and unholy damage.

• Life & Death. Death damage is often referred to as necrotic damage. The life element cannot cause damage.

Common Secrets

Special--Self

Creatures--Aquan, Automaton, Aviab, Beast, Demon, Fey, Goblinoid, Insect, Person, Plant, Reptile, Spirit, Undead

Virtues--Good, Evil

Elements--Acid, Air, Death, Earth, Fire, Ice, Lava, Life, Light, Lightning, Magic, Metal, Mist, Ooze, Shadow, Sound, Space, Void, Water, Wood

Skills

Skills, such as abjuration, evocation, creation, and divination, are areas of study. While a secret holds the “magic” part of spell, the skill holds the “technical” part—the practice of spellcasting. Non-casters can have ranks in magical skills, representing their knowledge of that subject, but when the skill is combined with a secret a spell is formed.

Magical skills represent areas of arcane expertise in the sense that each applies the power of magic to a different sort of effect.

Skill Form

Abjuration Abjure [element], [creature], or [virtue]

Affliction Inflict [element]

Compulsion Compel [creature] or [virtue]

Creation Create [element]

Displacement Displace [element] or [creature]

Divination See [element], [creature,] or [virtue]

Enchantment Enchant [creature]

Evocation Evoke [element]

Healing/Mending Heal/mend [element] or [creature]

Hexes Hex [creature]

Illusion Illude*

Infusion Infuse [element] or [virtue]

Movement Move [creature] or [element]

Summoning Summon [creature]

Transformation Transform [element] or [creature]

* Does not require a secret

List of Magical Skills

The following are the default magical skills in the WOIN RPG. Words in parentheses following the skill name indicate the spellcasting verb associated with the skill.

Abjuration (Abjure). Abjuration spells can provide numerous types of defenses. Most abjuration spells defend individual creatures or objects, but you can create a spell that limits the movements of creatures into or out of an area, enhance Defense, grant damage resistance, or restrict the movements of certain creatures. Abjuration also includes the suppression or dispelling of magical effects.

Affliction (Inflict). Affliction spells are the reverse of infusion spells. An affliction spell saps a creature, reducing its attributes or other aspects, or causes diseases. Afflictions inflict END-based conditions on a creature.

Compulsion (Compel). Compulsion spells force creatures to act certain ways. Weaker compulsions let you set a specific task for the character to perform, while more powerful compulsions give you ongoing control of the creature’s actions.

Creation (Create). Creation spells let you make objects or energy out of nothing. You cannot create creatures, and any energy you create is no more damaging than the weakest evocation, but many other effects are possible.

Displacement (Displace). Displacement is the manipulation of time and space. Through its use, time can be sped up, slowed, or even stopped, and different dimensions and planes can be accessed. This includes teleportation, phasing, and dimensional travel.

Divination (See). Divinations allow the magic-user to discover information, view distant locations, to see things normally unseen, and to let her spells reach extreme distances.

Enchantment (Enchant). Enchantment spells alter the moods and emotions of creatures, making them more likely to perform certain actions. Unlike compulsions, enchantments cannot force a character to perform more than the most primitive actions; at best, an enchantment might put a creature to sleep or make it attack in a frenzied anger. Enchantments inflict WIL-based conditions on a creature.

Evocation (Evoke). Evocations are the flashiest, most impressive end of spellcasting, and the most directly applicable to combat. Evocations are what a caster uses to throw fire and lightning, blast her enemies, or wield ice and lightning as weapons.

Healing/Mending (Heal/Mend). Healing spells cure or mend damage and other afflictions to creatures, or to objects with the appropriate element type. Healing spells affecting objects are called mending spells.

Hexes (Hex). A hex is the opposite of an abjuration—instead of providing defense, it instead weakens a target’s defenses.

Illusion (Illude). Illusions are sounds, images, and other sensory deceptions.

Infusion (Infuse). Infusion spells fill creatures with spiritual or elemental energy, enhancing attributes that are related to the chosen element, or making the target detect as the chosen virtue or element.

Movement (Move). Movement spells enhance movement abilities, allowing creatures to swim, burrow, fly, and travel at great speeds. They also enable you to move other objects using telekinesis-like spells.

Summoning (Summon). Summoning spells can bring creatures to you from elsewhere (such as the classic demon summoning), create a creature out of existing material (like turning bones into a skeletal warrior), or can create a creature whole cloth (like making a construct out of ectoplasm).

Transformation (Transform). Transformation spells can physically transmogrify your target into a particular type of creature or into a particular substance you choose.