> [!info] Work In Progress Supernatural power changes what is possible. It may manifest as a powerful feat, an enchanted object, a strange mutation, a legendary technique, alien technology, or some other extraordinary ability. Some characters can manipulate supernatural forces directly; this is known as **Sorcery**. Supernatural power in Asmythe is both familiar and mysterious. Heroes and powerful creatures display impossible abilities, but the source and nature of those abilities depends on the setting the players create together. Supernatural power does not have a scientific explanation. Describe it, don't explain it. ## Supernatural Feats Supernatural Feats are extraordinary abilities, actions, or equipment that exceed the constraints of physical reality. A supernatural feat follows the normal rules for [[Core Rules#Feats]]. A Feat has established fictional authority. Its description says what kind of extraordinary change it can make, its Scope describes how much control it grants over that change, and its Power adds bonus dice when the Feat contributes to an action. Using a supernatural Feat is not inherently more dangerous than using any other Feat. The character has already learned, mastered, acquired, or become whatever gives them that authority. A flaming sword burns things because it is a flaming sword. A telekinetic moves things with their mind. A psychic commands someone to act. These abilities may create dangerous situations, but they do not become dangerous simply because they are supernatural. Sorcery is different. ## Sorcery Sorcery is the ability to invent supernatural effects at will. An Adept with Sorcery can manipulate a specific element or domain to create effects that are not constrained by defined feats. A spell is an **invented feat**. The adept describes what they want to accomplish and the supernatural effect they create to accomplish it. The spell must remain within the authority of the Sorcery domain, but its exact effect can change every time it is used. This flexibility makes Sorcery powerful and dangerous. Sorcery accepts Risk for the ability to invent a new effect when needed. Stopping a wagon with a wall of stone and stopping it by turning the road to mud can have the same Difficulty. The spell used to accomplish that intent determines its Scope and Risk. ### Elemental Domains Every Sorcery Feat has a specific **domain**. A domain establishes the hard boundary of what the adept can manipulate. Within the domain, Sorcery may either manipulate existing reality or temporarily manifest new phenomena from subspace. Fire Sorcery can create, extinguish, move, shape, and manipulate fire. Fire can burn a rope, but Fire Sorcery does not therefore grant authority over ropes. Wind can move a person, but air magic does not grant control over that person's body. Manipulating an elemental domain is different from gaining authority over whatever the effect happens to influence. Domains should be specific and conform to the same guidelines as Traits. If you can't answer these questions, the domain is probably too abstract: - Does it describe one recognizable kind of supernatural manifestation or manipulation? - What does it look or feel like when the domain is manipulated? - What kinds of things are clearly inside the domain? - What kinds of things are clearly outside the domain? - What could happen when a Complication is based on this domain? - Would the other people at the table understand what authority this domain grants? Any domain should be acceptable if the table understands and agrees on its boundaries. Domains can be inspired by familiar fiction, adapted from other settings, or created from imagination. **Domain Inspirations** - **Dynamic** — Motion and stasis - **Kinetic** — Heat and cold - **Photonic** — Light and dark - **Galvanic** — Electricity and energy - **Cosmic** — Spacetime and subspace - **Mutation** — Shape, size, and characteristics of objects - **Corpus** — The living body: people and animals - **Verdure** — Nature: plants, fungus, weather - **Insight** — Perception, detection, prediction - **Pathos** — Emotion, thought, dream Domains may also be inspired by popular fiction, such as **Earth, Air, Water, and Fire Bending**. These are inspirations, not a list of balanced or exhaustive domains. The setting determines what a domain means and where its boundaries lie. ## Casting Spells When an Adept casts a spell, describe: - What they are trying to accomplish. - What supernatural effect they create. - How their Sorcery domain creates that effect. The GM determines Difficulty and Risk like any other action. Difficulty comes from the intent and whatever opposes it. Risk comes from the danger of the action, including the danger of inventing and controlling the spell. Sorcery is inherently risky. A spell has a minimum Risk based on its Scope. | Scope | Minimum Risk | Authority | | ------- | ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | Raw | Risky | Create a direct effect within the domain. | | Dynamic | Dangerous | Control selection, behavior, interaction, or extent. | | Precise | Perilous | Create detailed, complex, convincing, or realistic effects. | Circumstances may make a spell more dangerous, but they cannot make it safer than the minimum Risk for its Scope. ### Raw A **Raw** spell creates a directed, specific supernatural change using the authority of the elemental domain. Directed spells are straightforward expressions of the domain. The player chooses what the spell affects and what change it causes, but does not claim substantial control over the behavior, interactions, or details of the effect. **Examples:** - Throw a bolt of fire at someone. - Push an object with wind. - Freeze a pool of water. - Create a flash of light. - Instill somebody with a strong emotion. - Detect if something, within the domain, is present. A powerful effect can still be Directed. Scope is not Power. ### Dynamic A **Dynamic** spell controls how the supernatural effect behaves. Dynamic spells can discriminate between targets, coordinate several effects, respond to changing circumstances, sustain complex behavior, or affect a larger part of the scene. **Examples:** - Burn all enemies in a zone without burning allies. - Animate vines that pursue and restrain someone. - Maintain a barrier that moves with the group. - Control several objects independently with supernatural force. - Put everybody in a zone to sleep. - Give someone a compulsion with conditions on their behavior. Large areas, multiple targets, selective effects, sustained behavior, and complex interactions are usually Controlled because the spell claims more authority over how the effect behaves. ### Precise A **Precise** spell uses detailed and flexible control to create complex, convincing, or realistic supernatural effects. Precise effects depend on details that would matter in the fiction. They may reproduce something realistically, manipulate intricate structures, alter living systems, or coordinate enough interacting details that the result behaves as though it were real. **Examples:** - Create an illusion indistinguishable from a real person. - Manipulate an object with the precision needed to perform surgery. - Reshape a living creature into another realistic form. - Temporarily alter someone's memories while leaving their other thoughts intact. - Shape existing material into a functional mechanism. - Reproduce a remembered voice, face, movement, and/or mannerisms. Scope is a ruling, not a calculation. When an effect falls between two Scopes, use the lower Scope and keep playing. ### Area and Complexity Area and complexity are both contained within Scope. They matter when they increase the authority claimed by the spell. A bolt of flame and a wall of flame might both be Directed if each simply creates fire where the Adept chooses. Burning every enemy in a zone while leaving their allies untouched is Controlled because the spell discriminates between targets. Reproducing the detailed workings of a living body is Precise because the result depends on complex and realistic interactions. A larger effect does not automatically increase Scope, but an effect that reaches across a substantial part of a scene, affects many independent targets, or requires significant coordination may claim enough additional authority to increase scope. Use the Scope descriptions, the Sorcery domain, and what has already been established in the story. Do not count targets, measure distances, or calculate complexity. As a general rule, if the spell is large enough to affect things outside the adept's perception then the scope increases. ## Requirements and Risk How Sorcery is performed depends on the setting. Sorcerers might speak words of power, make precise gestures, use wands or focusing crystals, draw sigils, bargain with spirits, manipulate implants, or perform some other act established by the players. These requirements are part of how Sorcery works in that world, not universal modifiers. If magic normally requires vocalization, attempting to cast silently might increase Risk. If a wand focuses dangerous energy, casting without it might be more dangerous or impossible. A sympathetic connection might be required to affect something at a distance. Establish these conventions when the setting is created and use them consistently. ### Rituals A ritual is a carefully constructed action, often involving multiple adepts. Rituals can make dangerous Sorcery less risky, or spread the risk among individuals. Rituals require preparation, special equipment, sympathetic connections, formations, rare materials, multiple characters, favorable conditions, or significant time. Create a stack to track ritual progress. A more powerful or complex ritual will have more cards in it. A ritual cannot make the impossible possible or give a Sorcery domain authority it does not possess. It makes powerful magic safer by carefully controlling how the magic is performed. ## Targeting Sorcery can only target things the Adept can identify through their senses or through a connection established by the spell or setting. Sight and touch are common, but other Sorcery might use sound, supernatural perception, empathic connection, sympathetic connection, or other appropriate means. ## Duration and Concentration Spells that manipulate reality are normally instant and persistent. What they change remains changed unless acted on by another force. Spells that create something directly out of subspace energy persist for minutes or hours. Fire remains lit. A broken object remains broken. Someone moved by supernatural force remains where they were moved. Dynamic and precise effects with controlled changes require **Concentration**. Illusions, moving manifestations of energy, supernatural barriers, or continuing control may require the Adept's attention. Stress may break Concentration when appropriate. Effects that create something from nothing use energy from subspace to power the effect. Anything created from subspace energy is recognizable as magical (translucent, soft glow, sparkle, or other setting-defined quality) and quickly fades back into subspace, it is never "real". Created effects last only as long as the current scene. Some [[Wealth and Resources#Artifacts|artifacts]] bind a sustained supernatural effect to a power source instead of requiring Concentration. ## Shapeshifting Reshaping a living creature is **Precise** Sorcery. Living systems depend on complex structures continuing to function together, so changing a creature into a viable new form requires detailed supernatural control. Shapeshifting can change appearance, size, shape, and physical characteristics within the limits of the Sorcery domain, but it does not automatically change attributes, traits, knowledge, personality, memories, or other established characteristics of the character. The setting determines whether transformations are temporary, permanent, reversible, or subject to other supernatural limitations. ## Supernatural Complications Sorcery can go wrong in strange and dangerous ways. A Bungle involving Sorcery may create a supernatural Complication appropriate to the spell, its domain, and the setting. These examples are inspiration, not mandatory results. Choose something that creates a meaningful problem without helping the characters. **Example Complications** 2. **Void Predator** — A powerful void beast tears through reality and attacks the Adept. - Void Beast (4/4, indistinct bear-sized monster) 3. **Void Pack** — 1d6+2 void creatures spill out of subspace and swarm the Adept. - Void Goblins (2/1, mob attack with teeth and claws) - Shadow Imps (1/2, attach themselves to a character and cause hallucinations) - Shade Hawks (3/1, fly and dive-attack) 4. **Withering Pulse** — Organic materials nearby rapidly decay: plants, wood, leather. 5. **Reality Backlash** — Supernatural energy lashes back at the Adept, causing Stress. 6. **Elemental Misfire** — The intended effect manifests at the wrong target or location. 7. **Chaotic Manifestation** — The domain erupts around the Adept and creates an uncontrolled supernatural effect. 8. **Elemental Discharge** — Energy violently detonates into nearby objects; [[Wealth and Resources#Object Durability|objects are damaged]]. 9. **Warped Environment** — The surrounding area briefly transforms according to the domain: freezing fog, gravity surge, creeping vines, distorted light, or something stranger. 10. **Material Collapse** — Stone, metal, and synthetic materials nearby corrode, fracture, or melt. 11. **Subspace Breach** — A rip into subspace opens briefly and minor subspace ghosts emerge to torment the Adept. 12. **Cosmic Catastrophe** — A major subspace entity notices the disruption and intervenes to restore balance. ## Spell Crafting Asmythe does not have a list of spells. Spells are invented when they are cast. The player describes the intent and the supernatural effect used to accomplish it, then determines whether the effect is within the Sorcery domain and whether its Scope is Directed, Controlled, or Precise. The possibilities are uncountable and it would be foolhardy to try and list even a small example of them. But we are not wise, so examples follow. ### Spell Examples **Ray of Indomitable Light — Directed** Project a bolt of searing light at one target. This is Directed because the spell creates a straightforward effect within a single domain. The spell is at least **Risky**. The target or scene determines Difficulty normally. **Ballad of Restful Sleep — Controlled** Put everybody you don't like to sleep. This is Controlled because the spell affects many subjects across part of the scene and imposes continuing supernatural influence. The spell is at least **Dangerous**. Hits determine how effectively the spell accomplishes the intent. A Limited result might leave targets tired or distracted, a Normal result could put them to sleep, and a Surge might leave them deeply asleep or extend the effect beyond what was expected. **Lycanthropy — Precise** Transform yourself into a terrifying wolf. This is Precise because a living body must be reshaped into a detailed, functional form. The spell is **Perilous**. The roll determines how effectively the transformation accomplishes the character's intent. It does not require a separate shapeshifting difficulty or spell-complexity calculation. ## Counter-magic Counter-magic is magic affecting magic. There is no generic anti-magic force. An Adept can interfere with another supernatural effect when their Sorcery domain gives them authority over something involved in that effect. > GM: "The old man raises his hands above his head and tendrils of fire coalesce into a glowing orb of energy. He throws it toward you and it explodes in front of your face. What do you do?" > Kip: "I dive out of the way." > Zee: "I also know the secrets of fire, so I catch the fire and throw it back at him." > GM: "Kip, roll Agility + Evade. Zee, your Fire Sorcery can control the fire, so roll to take control of it." > Kip: "One hit. I fall to the ground and put my hands over my head." > Zee: "Three hits. I reach out and pull the orb of energy toward me, struggling to contain it as it pulses and flickers." > GM: "Zee, you just saved Kip's life. You have control over the fire and can throw it back toward the old man on your next turn." The same principle applies to other domains. Wind Sorcery might redirect magical smoke. Pathos might interfere with a supernatural compulsion. Cosmic Sorcery might manipulate an open subspace portal. The Adept must have authority over something involved in the effect. "I counter the spell" is not, by itself, a magical ability. ## Magic Limitations Sorcery can permanently alter reality only by manipulating things that already exist. It can temporarily create things by drawing power from subspace, but those creations are a magical phenomenon that don't become a permanent part of the world. Anything created from subspace eventually returns there. - **Manipulation** changes form and properties of things that already exists without changing their fundamental identity. These changes are permanent. - **Creation** introduces new mass, energy, or information from subspace. Those creations gradually fade back into subspace. With an appropriate domain, Sorcery can: - Manipulate manifestations of mass, energy, and information defined by the domain. These changes are permanent because they modify existing reality. - Create mass, energy, and information by drawing on power from subspace. Such creations are obviously magical and ephemeral. Regardless of domain, Sorcery cannot: - Change the fundamental identity of something. An animal may change shape, while remaining the same animal, but lead can not become gold. - Teleport mass, energy, or information except by using portals through subspace. - Move anything backward or forward through time. - Bring a dead creature back to life or communicate with the dead. - Distinguish between "good," "evil," or other subjective moral labels. - Exceed the established boundaries of its domain. The setting may add additional limitations when the players establish how supernatural power works in their world. ## License Asmythe TTRPG is published under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)