Magic - Overview
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Magic in this world is a living, breathing force - woven into the fabric of existence. It permeates every land, every forest, every mountain peak, and every hidden corner of civilization. For some, it is an art, crafted with skill and creativity. For others, it is a powerful ally or a fearsome weapon. And for the most curious souls, it becomes a lifelong quest, an ever-unfolding mystery demanding both wonder and respect.
Whether shaping the elements, weaving illusions, communing with spirits, or bargaining with ancient entities, magic offers an endless array of possibilities. It can heal the wounded, illuminate the dark corners of the earth, and break the chains that hold mortals captive. But this same power can sunder worlds, corrupt the hearts of the unwary, and invoke horrors best left slumbering. In magic’s embrace, knowledge becomes a double-edged sword; those who harness its wonders are inevitably changed by it.
No one remains untouched by the interplay of risk and reward that defines magic. A single miscast spell might fell a fortress, or a clever incantation might mend a kingdom’s wounds. In this world, each venture into the arcane is an invitation to marvel at cosmic potential - and an ever-present warning that the line between triumph and catastrophe is perilously thin.
For the aspiring mage, the question is never just whether you can wield magic, but whether you should - and how to do so without being consumed by its power. Those who successfully walk this tightrope of discovery and restraint become living legends, their destinies inseparably linked to the magic they command. And thus, the door to the arcane stands ajar for any who dare to reach for it, promising boundless opportunity and, in equal measure, the allure of danger.
Cypher System: Using the standard Cypher System rules, nearly all magical abilities boil down to Intellect actions (unless it’s a physical manifestation of power, in which case Might or Speed might apply, eg. for the Monk of the Fist). Training, assets, and specialized focuses can further reduce difficulty. This consistent approach helps maintain Cypher’s streamlined style while still providing room for nuanced roleplay and mechanical differentiation between these various forms of magic.
Magic System List
Alkemancy
Created by: Witch (Alchemist)Commonly used by: Whoever can pay for them Magic is harnessed through the usage of enchanted potions, salves, extracts, and other consumable items. Pros: Potions, etc. for various effects; portability; versatility; instant use for everyone.
Cons: Time-consuming to prepare; ingredients may be rare; limited shelf life; can be destroyed, lost, or stolen. Learning Difficulty: Access to rare ingredients or recipes could require special contacts or research.
Notable Practitioners: Famous alchemists who pioneered new concoctions, potions, or discovered mythical ingredients.
Potential Mishaps: Explosive failures in brewing, unintended side effects from mislabeled ingredients.
Optional Skill: Alchemy or Craft Alkemancy - characters trained or specialized in Alkemancy reduce the difficulty of potion-creation tasks.
When Rolling: When creating a new potion, testing a concoction’s potency, or determining the outcome of a volatile mixture.
Bardic Performance
Commonly used by: Creative (Performer) Magic is invoked through music, poetry, or storytelling, manipulating the thoughts and emotions of targets. Pros: Inspirational; versatile; can affect emotions.Cons: Vulnerable to disruptions; requires creativity; limited range. Learning Difficulty: Requires artistic talent and consistent practice; master performers might be extremely rare.
Notable Performances: Legendary concerts or political speeches that changed the course of history.
Potential Mishaps: A missed note or disrupted performance may lead to backfiring emotional effects or an offended audience.
Optional Skill: Perform (Music, Poetry, Oratory) - training can lower the difficulty of enchanting or influencing an audience.
When Rolling: When trying to inspire allies, manipulate emotions, or infuse a performance with magical energy.
Curses
Commonly used by: Witch (Warlock) Curses are powerful negative effects cast upon individuals or creatures, often fueled by dark or malicious intent. Pros: Easy to use once learned; strong, lingering effects.Cons: Requires a powerful backing by a patron or dark source; can provoke wrath if misused. Learning Difficulty: Involves forbidden lore, often learned from grimoires or dark mentors.
Notable Patrons: Specific demons or dark entities who grant curse power in exchange for favors.
Potential Mishaps: Curses can rebound on the caster if performed incorrectly or if target breaks the curse unexpectedly. Spells & Rituals: Curses
Optional Skill: Cursing or Hexing - training reduces difficulty when crafting or casting a powerful curse.
When Rolling: Anytime the character attempts to inflict a curse on a target. Difficulty might vary based on target’s resistances or the presence of required components.
Divination, Divine Invocation
Commonly used by: Cleric (Paladin, Sage, Priest), Enquirer (Diviner) Magic is drawn from devotion to deities, angelic beings, or higher planes, channeling divine energy for miracles and guidance. Pros: Access to divine powers, blessings, guidance.Cons: Requires faith, deity’s favor, moral obligations. Learning Difficulty: Often learned through religious orders, requiring vows or commitment.
Notable Deities: Key gods or angels who grant different types of blessings or special rites.
Potential Mishaps: Loss of divine favor if the character strays from the faith’s tenets.
Optional Skill: Theology or Divination - training/specialization lowers the difficulty of drawing forth divine insight or blessings.
When Rolling: When a character calls upon a deity for guidance, tries to interpret visions, or channels holy power to produce a miracle.
Dreamwalking
Commonly used by: Dreamwalker Magic is harnessed through dreams, astral projection, and traversing the dream realm to gain insights or affect minds. Pros: Exploration of other realms, prophetic visions, subconscious powers.Cons: Unpredictable, mental strain, vulnerability during dreaming. Learning Difficulty: May require specialized mentors or occult knowledge to safely navigate dreams.
Notable Dream Events: Historical accounts of dreamwalkers who solved great mysteries or unleashed nightmares.
Potential Mishaps: Getting trapped in a dream, encountering malevolent entities that lurk in the subconscious.
Optional Skill: Dreamlore or Mindwalking - training lowers the difficulty of crossing into dreamscapes or shaping them.
When Rolling: When initiating a dreamwalk, defending against dream entities, or gleaning information from a dream realm.
Elemental Magic
Commonly used by: Monk (Monk of the Elements), Spirit Caller (Elementalist) Manipulation of natural elements - earth, air, fire, and water - to produce magical effects and wield the forces of nature. Pros: Elemental control, environmental adaptability, diverse abilities.Cons: Vulnerable to opposing elements, environmental limitations, complex control. Learning Difficulty: Often requires in-depth study of each element’s nature or discipline under a particular elemental school.
Notable Elemental Sites: Places rich in elemental energy that empower or test practitioners.
Potential Mishaps: Elemental backlash, natural disasters, or summoning elemental spirits with minds of their own.
Optional Skill: Elemental Control (Fire, Water, Earth, Air) - training reduces difficulty of conjuring or shaping that specific element.
When Rolling: Each time the caster summons an elemental effect, directs elemental forces, or resists opposing elements.
Familiar Bonding
Commonly used by: Warden (Druid) Magic is channeled through a bonded animal companion, forming a mystical link that enhances both the caster and the familiar. Pros: Companion protection, additional senses, loyal ally.Cons: Requires constant care, vulnerability of the familiar, limited range. Learning Difficulty: The bond develops over time through shared experiences and empathy.
Notable Familiars: Famous or legendary animals known for extraordinary feats.
Potential Mishaps: If the bond is severed or the familiar dies, the caster may suffer emotional or magical backlash.
Optional Skill: Animal Handling or Familiar Lore - training assists in improving synergy with the bonded creature.
When Rolling: When issuing complex commands, maintaining the magical link, or performing a ritual to strengthen the bond.
Hexes
Commonly used by: Witch (all) Little annoyances or jinxes cast onto people or creatures to inconvenience or distract them. Pros: Easy to use, quick effects.Cons: Requires something personal of the target (hair, trinket, etc.). Learning Difficulty: Generally simpler than full curses, but still requires understanding of sympathetic magic.
Common Uses: Petty revenge, pranks, teaching lessons to minor foes.
Potential Mishaps: Minor spells backfiring or misfiring, resulting in comedic or inconvenient consequences for the caster. Spells & Rituals: Hexes
Optional Skill: Hexcraft - training can lower the difficulty of quickly casting small jinxes.
When Rolling: Whenever attempting a quick, minor magical harm (e.g., causing bad luck, itching, mild fear).
Ki Energy Manipulation
Commonly used by: Monk (Monk of the Fist), Mystic (Sorcerer) Magic drawn from one’s inner life force (Ki). Sorcerers harness it for spell-like effects, while Monks channel it to enhance physical abilities. Pros: Self-sustaining, adaptable, can enhance physical abilities.Cons: Exhausting, requires training, risk of overexertion. Learning Difficulty: Intense discipline, martial arts training, or inherent inner power.
Notable Temples: Ancient dojos or hidden sanctuaries where practitioners learn Ki techniques.
Potential Mishaps: Overuse leading to physical collapse or spiritual imbalance.
Optional Skill: Ki Mastery - training lowers the difficulty of harnessing inner energy for attacks or defensive techniques.
When Rolling: Anytime the character focuses their ki to enhance combat moves, run on walls, or channel energy blasts.
Nature Magic
Commonly used by: Warden (Druid) Nature Magic taps into the living essence of the world, allowing Druids to communicate with, manipulate, and draw strength from plants, animals, and the environment itself. Through a deep spiritual bond with the natural world, Druids can accelerate plant growth, calm (or enrage) beasts, and even influence weather or terrain to protect allies and restore balance. Pros:- Versatile environmental control, including growing plants or summoning animal allies.
- Strong healing or restorative abilities tied to nature’s energy.
- Minimal reliance on external resources like arcane foci; draws directly from the environment.
- Requires natural surroundings or living organisms to be most effective.
- Heavily dependent on the druid’s relationship with nature; areas of severe blight or unnatural magic can weaken these abilities.
- Ethical and moral pressures: using nature’s power irresponsibly can upset the balance of ecosystems.
Notable Natural Wonders: Sacred groves, living forests, or elemental focal points that enhance or challenge a druid’s communion with nature.
Potential Mishaps: Overextending the environment’s lifeforce, causing rapid decay or unintended animal aggression.
Typical Uses: Regenerating damaged lands, calming raging beasts, summoning plant growth to create barriers, or guiding lost travelers through dense wilderness.
Cultural Impact: Societies may view druids as protectors of sacred sites or fierce guardians against unchecked expansion or exploitation.
Optional Skill: Druidic Lore - training helps reduce difficulty when communing with plants, controlling wildlife, or shaping the environment.
When Rolling: Whenever the druid grows vines for entanglement, summons beasts, or harnesses the raw power of nature for healing or offensive capabilities.
Necromancy
Commonly used by: Spirit Caller (Necromancer) Involves manipulating life force, raising the dead, and controlling spirits, often delving into taboo or forbidden knowledge. Pros: Control over life and death, access to forbidden knowledge.Cons: Taboo, moral dilemmas, risk of curses or spiritual backlash. Learning Difficulty: Often taught in secret or forbidden academies; moral lines are easily crossed.
Notable Necromancers: Historical figures infamous for creating undead armies or discovering dark secrets.
Potential Mishaps: Summoned spirits turning hostile, undead minions attracting hostility.
Optional Skill: Death Lore - training in necromantic rituals reduces difficulty and mitigates negative side effects.
When Rolling: When raising corpses, commanding undead minions, or siphoning vitality from foes.
Pact Magic
Commonly used by: Witch (Warlock), Enquirer (Diviner), Spirit Caller (Infernal Conjurer)The caster forges a contract with a powerful supernatural being, gaining magical abilities based on the entity’s domain or nature. Pros: Accessible to anyone willing to make a pact; endless variety of patron-based powers.
Cons: Patrons often manipulate their partners; easy loss of power if the patron is angered. Learning Difficulty: Depends on finding and convincing a patron; some require rituals or quests.
Notable Patrons: Ancient demons, fallen angels, or eldritch beings - each with distinct powers and terms.
Potential Mishaps: Patron demands that conflict with moral codes or threaten the world’s balance.
Optional Skill: Pact Negotiation or Occult Bargaining - training can reduce the difficulty of both forging and maintaining otherworldly pacts.
When Rolling: When calling upon the patron’s boons, summoning ephemeral servants, or channeling dark/celestial energies.
Relic Usage
Commonly discovered by: Wayfarer (Dungeon Delver, Archaeologist)Commonly used by: Whoever can pay for them Involves harnessing advanced artifacts from an ancient civilization, each with unique powers. These relics are typically found in ruins or dungeons. Pros: Often straightforward to use; can grant unique abilities.
Cons: Rare, fragile, may have cryptic usage requirements, and often have limited usage. Learning Difficulty: Figuring out relic functions may require deep research or puzzle-solving.
Notable Relics: Famous relics said to shift continents, control weather, or unleash terrifying powers.
Potential Mishaps: Relics can malfunction, cause chaotic effects, or draw unwanted attention.
Optional Skill: Relic Lore - training lowers the difficulty of identifying relics’ functions or safely activating them.
When Rolling: Whenever activating, deciphering, or maintaining a relic from a lost civilization.
Rune Magic
Created by: Mystic (Enchanter)Commonly used by: Whoever can pay for them Magic is channeled through intricate runic inscriptions on objects. These runes can offer permanent effects, rechargeable powers, or one-time activations. Pros: Precision in spellcasting, permanent inscriptions, versatile.
Cons: Requires knowledge of runic language, time-consuming, risk of misplacing or corrupting runes. Learning Difficulty: Runesmithing is often an intensive craft taught by specialized masters.
Notable Rune Types: Elemental runes, protective wards, or illusions inscribed on armor or weapons.
Potential Mishaps: Runic feedback or corrupt runes that cause unpredictable magical surges.
Optional Skill: Runesmithing or Glyph Craft - training reduces the difficulty of creating permanent or rechargeable runes.
When Rolling: When carving new runes, empowering them with energy, or reading foreign inscriptions.
Spirit Magic
Commonly used by: Warden (Shaman) Spirit Magic allows Shamans to commune with ancestral spirits, nature spirits, and various otherworldly entities residing within the spiritual realm. By forging a connection with these spirits, Shamans can call upon them for guidance, channel their energy for healing or offensive spells, and even temporarily fuse their essence with the Shaman’s soul. This deep connection with the spirit world often involves ceremonies, trances, and ritual offerings to maintain balance and respect. Pros:- Access to powerful ancestral or elemental spirits for aid and guidance.
- Potential for healing, protection, and community-oriented blessings.
- Rituals can strengthen bonds with nature, spirit animals, or tribal ancestors.
- Requires maintaining respectful relationships with spirits; offending them can result in lost power or curses.
- Vulnerability to spiritual corruption if dealing with malevolent entities.
- Extended rituals may leave the Shaman in a trance-like state, exposing them to danger.
Notable Spirit Realms: Mystical planes where ancestral spirits dwell, accessible only through elaborate rituals.
Potential Mishaps: Summoning a spiteful spirit, possession by an entity, or spiritual backlash if balances are disturbed.
Typical Uses: Cleansing haunted grounds, channeling the wisdom of forebears, strengthening community with blessings, or compelling hostile spirits to stand down.
Optional Skill: Shamanic Rituals or Spirit Lore - training lowers the difficulty of contacting benevolent spirits or banishing malevolent ones.
When Rolling: When invoking ancestral spirits for guidance, binding elemental spirits, or channeling otherworldly energies.
Time Magic
Commonly used by: Witch (Oracle) Time Magic grants Oracles the power to perceive, manipulate, and influence the flow of time. Whether granting prophetic visions, accelerating or decelerating moments, or even (rarely) venturing into the past or future, Time Magic is both potent and perilous. Oracles must wield it with caution, as even slight alterations can have cascading effects on reality. The powers of time magic must remain carefully restrained, for without limits, its wielders could be tempted to undo or reshape every unfavorable outcome they encounter. Visions of the past should be indistinct - fleeting impressions rather than clear recordings - and grow increasingly unreliable the further back one peers. As for glimpses into the future, they should be rare and cryptic, offering only fragmented possibilities rather than a definitive path, reflecting the uncertain and ever-shifting nature of what is yet to come. For example, during exploration or combat, a time magic user might experience a sudden flash of danger - an instinctive sense that something is about to go wrong. With just enough time to shout a warning, they may not be able to explain the threat, but their insight grants their companions a bonus to avoid traps or incoming attacks, or helps them negate a potential penalty before it takes effect. Spells & Rituals: Time Magic Pros:- Unrivaled ability to foresee potential futures, offering tactical or strategic advantages.
- Potential to manipulate the passage of time for oneself or allies, granting speed, slowed enemies, or short-term rewinds.
- Can bring great insight into history or upcoming events, helping avert disasters.
- High risk of paradoxes, reality distortions, or temporal backlash.
- Physically and mentally taxing - overuse can cause rapid aging or memory gaps.
- Strictly regulated or frowned upon in many societies due to its destabilizing potential.
Notable Temporal Events: Eclipses, cosmic alignments, or rare astrological phenomena that empower Time Magic or open time rifts.
Potential Mishaps: Unintentional creation of temporal loops, locking oneself or others in a never-ending cycle, or summoning chronovores - entities that feed on temporal energy.
Typical Uses: Glimpsing future outcomes for prophecy, reversing a recent mistake through short-term rewinds, speeding up tasks in critical moments, or preserving crucial artifacts in a stasis field.
Optional Skill: Chronomancy - training reduces difficulty and risk of paradoxical backlashes.
When Rolling: When slowing, accelerating, or glimpsing time, especially during high-stakes scenarios like reversing a crucial event or predicting an imminent threat.
Wizardry
Commonly used by: Mystic (Enchanter, Wizard), Creative (Illusionist) Wizardry in Farenia is taught formally in specialized schools and relies on Aeum, a material found in the ground. Wizards draw on Aeum through staffs, jewelry, or ambient energy, creating versatile spells.Pros: High versatility; structured learning through academies.
Cons: Requires Aeum as a power source, which is strictly mined and regulated; inventing new spells is difficult. Learning Difficulty: Formal training at an academy is expensive, academically rigorous, and time-consuming.
Notable Academies: Places where wizards refine their craft, form alliances, and study ancient texts.
Potential Mishaps: Arcane overload, Aeum shortages, or magical duels resulting from academic rivalries.
Optional Skill: Arcane Knowledge or Spellcraft - training lowers the difficulty of inventing spells, controlling Aeum, and performing advanced magic.
When Rolling: Whenever casting a wizardly spell, conducting arcane research, or tapping into Aeum-powered devices.
Activation: reading a scroll, burning an incense, breaking a stick, shooting an arrow, throwing a power, drinking a potion, saying a trigger word, etc. Pros: Versatility.
Cons: If you buy a scroll etc, you do not know exactly what you get except you purchase them from trusted sources. The caster could have woven in effects you are not expecting. An alchemist can examine another alchemists potion, but a potion created by a wizard is very hard to examine, without destroying or triggering the effect.
General Magical Mishaps
Usable for critical failures. Higher results are increasingly disastrous.| # | Title | Description | Consequence | Consequence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glitter Puff | A harmless burst of coloured sparkles erupts around the caster. | Any Fellowship-based Test with by-standers is at –5 for 10 minutes | Next social task is hindered; purely cosmetic |
| 2 | Flickering Tongue | For a few moments the caster's words arrive half a second late. | –10 Charm/Intimidate for 10 minutes | Verbal tasks hindered one step for 10 minutes |
| 3 | Chromatic Hair | Hair or beard shifts to an odd hue until sunset. | –5 Fellowship when dealing with conservative NPCs | First impression tasks hindered; fades after a day |
| 4 | Sneeze of Sparks | Caster sneezes crackling motes every few minutes. | Stealth Tests at –10 for 1 hour | All sneaking actions hindered for 1 hour |
| 5 | Gremlin Glow | Small carried items emit faint light. | –10 Concealment for 1 hour | Stealth tasks hindered; artifacts/cyphers more noticeable |
| 6 | Echoing Footfalls | Footsteps echo loudly even on soft ground. | All Move Silently Tests at –20 for 30 minutes | Speed-based sneaking tasks hindered two steps for 30 minutes |
| 7 | Ravenous Twinge | Sudden intense hunger distracts the caster. | Gain 1 Fatigue if a meal isn't eaten within an hour | Take 2 Might damage if food not consumed within an hour |
| 8 | Phantom Odour | A lingering sulphurous smell clings to the caster. | –10 Gossip & Charm for the next social scene | Social tasks involving smelling distance hindered one step |
| 9 | Bleeding Ink | Fresh writing the caster touches blurs and runs. | Must redo any written work; lose 30 minutes of downtime | Writing or crafting task hindered; 1 Intellect damage from frustration |
| 10 | Pocket Magnetism | Coins & cutlery stick to the caster's clothing. | –10 Agility-based Tests that require free movement for 1 hour | All fine-motor Speed tasks hindered for 1 hour |
| 11 | Paper Cyclone | A minor whirlwind scatters loose parchment nearby. | Any Research/Test involving documents is at –10 for the scene | Intellect tasks using written notes hindered; GM intrusion may lose a clue |
| 12 | Wilted Greens | Plants within 2m droop or brown. | Rural NPCs treat caster with –10 Fellowship until next dawn | Any Nature/Animal Handling task hindered until next day |
| 13 | Shattering Tink | Thin glass objects in short range develop hairline cracks. | Pay 1d10 s in replacement costs or suffer –10 Trade for craft work | One carried artifact/cypher depletes by 1; social apology task required |
| 14 | Delayed Shadow | Caster's shadow lags noticeably behind movements. | Scholars or priests react warily: –20 to Influence them for 24h | Observation against caster eased; stealth hindered one step for 24h |
| 15 | Momentary Amnesia | Caster cannot recall a friend's name or a password. | –10 Intelligence Tests for 1 hour | Next Intellect roll hindered; lose 2 Intellect points (recoverable) |
| 16 | Arcane Static | Ambient magic devices within 5m hiccup. | Next spell cast by anyone within range is +1 CN harder | Next cypher/artifact use in immediate range is +1 step harder |
| 17 | Spirit Buzz | Invisible whispers sap courage. | Caster tests Cool at –10 or gains 1 Broken condition for 5 rounds | Make Intellect defense (Diff 3) or become frightened for one minute; 2 Intellect dmg on fail |
| 18 | Ether Drain | Caster feels suddenly weak and pallid. | Lose 1 Wound (ignores TB) and suffer –10 to all Tests for 10 minutes | Lose 3 Might and 3 Speed points; tasks hindered one step for 10 minutes |
| 19 | Looping Step | The last physical action repeats involuntarily. | Must redo previous action; if impossible gain 1 Fatigue | Must repeat previous action or lose next turn; GM intrusion possible paradox |
| 20 | Arcane Backlash | A pulse of raw magic bursts from the caster. | Caster and everyone within 2m take 1d5 Wounds (ignores armour caster gains 1 Corruption | All creatures in immediate range take 4 damage (any Pool, ignores Armor caster loses 2 XP unless narrative restitution occurs |
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