In the most simple form of spellcasting, a mage builds an Imago on the fly, responding to a need by drawing on her knowledge of the Arcana and the symbols of her Path.
This kind of spell — improvised magic — is the most common form, as opposed to the personal specialties of a Praxis or the formalized learning of a Rote.
When casting the spell, the mage creates a dice pool based on her Gnosis and her dots in the highest Arcanum included in the spell. The mage must decide what she wants her spell to achieve before rolling, and a single success means the spell is cast to her specifications.
The character must have all Arcanum dots used in the spell.
General Effects
Spellcasting results in the following general effects, but each of these can be increased through changing Spell Factors or risking Paradox.
- The spell grants a one-die bonus or penalty, deals one point of weapon damage, or heals one wound.
- The spell lasts for one turn.
- The spell hits one subject of Size 5 or less, or an area equal to an arm’s-length circle around a point.
- The mage must be touching the subject of the spell, or be casting on herself.
- The spell takes an amount of time to cast based on Gnosis.
The magic casting dice pool is modified by Yantras and Spell Factors. The penalties to spellcasting can exceed the normal –5 penalty cap to dice pools. In cases where the penalty would reduce the dice pool beyond 0 — and thereby a chance die — by an additional –5 even after including bonuses from Yantras, the spell is too complex for the mage to cast and it automatically fails.
The mage may need to spend Mana as part of spellcasting.
Improvising a spell using a Common or Inferior Arcanum costs one point of Mana, in addition to any other Mana the spell may require.