Cost: 1 Aspect
Benefit: can develop, prepare, and cast rituals
Permission: casting a ritual requires an Essence Aspect and up to 3 additional preparation aspects, see below
Details
To begin planning a ritual, define what you want it to do. Rituals can do almost anything you want, with the strongest of them being able to stretch the bounds of the rules of magic.
Depending on the desired effect, the GM will assign the ritual's rating:
- Fair (+2): minor instantaneous effects, like reshaping a rock, creating a gust of wind, or gaining a glimpse into a dream or memory
- Great (+4): minor effects lasting up to a day such as warding one's sleep against nightmares, ensuring a day of favourable winds, or making a barrier against spirits; alternatively, you can make effects akin to what a trained sorcerer or seer could perform, lasting up to a few minutes, such as pushing a heavy object, calling or controlling a minor spirit, or glimpsing at distant places on the planet
- Fantastic (+6): major effects like a Great ritual but with longer durations, typically lasting as long as the ritual circle remains unbroken or a focus crystal is intact. For example, binding a spirit for extended service, creating a semi-permanent ward around a building or individual, or sustaining a structure in the air indefinitely
- Legendary (+8): world-changing effects that bend or break the rules of magic. Complete transformation of living beings, manipulating a person's mind and soul, and nearly anything else is possible for those willing to pay the necessary price
With the rating in hand, the next step is to prepare the ritual. Ritual components are varied and often symbolic, so you don't always have to plan ahead of time how you want to prepare for the ritual. In any case, you need to gather a number of Preparation Aspects equal to half the ritual's rating (so one Aspect for a Fair ritual, two for a Great one, etc). Creating a Preparation Aspect requires beating a difficulty of at least the ritual's rating, but is otherwise a standard Create an Advantage action.
Once you have your preparation Preparation Aspects in place, you need an Essence Aspect with a rating equal to or greater than the ritual's rating (so a Fair ritual can be cast any day at twilight, while a Fantastic one usually requires an equinox or similarly powerful source).
Finally, when all the preparations are in place and the Essence is flowing, you may complete the ritual. Performing a ritual is often the easiest part and it doesn't always even require a roll in and of itself, though if the ritual is opposes or is opposed by another character or Aspect, you may choose to use its rating instead of a relevant skill for your roll. For example, if you cast a Great (+4) ritual in an attempt to banish a hostile spirit, you may roll an attack with a +4 bonus instead of whatever skill would normally apply.
Ritual ExamplesA fire broke out on deck during a fight with a rival crew and is rapidly spreading across the entire ship, so Nicolas suggests that Edaaza might be able to cook up a ritual to extinguish the flames. The GM accepts, stating that it would be a Great (+4) ritual since a trained sorcerer or seer could make a similar effect, so Edaaza gets to work. For the Essence Aspect, the fire itself is far larger than a room so it creates a Fair (+2) Aspect on its own, which isn't enough to perform the ritual. Since the fight began in the afternoon, Nicolas asks the GM if he could pay a Fate Point to say that enough time has passed for the sun to start setting, and the GM accepts. This means that a second Fair (+2) Essence Aspect is created, and it merges with the first to create a Great (+4) Aspect, which is enough. Next, Edaaza needs to provide two Preparation Aspects. Nicolas suggests that the first one could be something like In the heart of the flames, if Edaaza willingly runs to the center of the fire to conduct the ritual there. The GM accepts that, so Nicolas rolls with Explore against a Great (+4) difficulty. He rolls a Good (+2) total, which means Edaaza failed. As a result, the Aspect is created, meaning Edaaza is now in the heart of the flames, but the fire deals 2 Stress to her on the way.
For the second Aspect, Jenny suggests that Ralen could distract the rival crew from attacking Edaaza, giving her a bit more room to focus on her spell. She rolls with Parley against a Great (+4) difficulty and gets a Superb (+5) result, so she creates the Aspect A quiet place to work... kinda. With all the requirements fulfilled, Edaaza casts the ritual, and extinguishes the fire, allowing the fight to continue in peace.
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