New Talents
Many of the following talents are tailored for mages, while others are useful to a variety of characters.
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
When your character casts a spell, they may use this talent to consume a physical item and add 1 Boost to the check. Different components are associated with different effects; for example, hawthorn berries are known to enhance projectile War spells, while stibnite is useful for Creature spells that augment accuracy.
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Requires: War Magic 1 Rank When your character purchases this talent, choose one of the following attack spell effects: Acid, Fire, Ice, or Lightning. Whenever your character casts an Attack spell, they always add the chosen effect to the spell without increasing the difficulty. However, they may never add any of the other three effects to a spell they cast.
Mages who take this talent are often referred to by a term depending on their element of choice: acid specialists are called corromancers, fire specialists are called pyromancers, ice specialists are cryomancers, and lightning specialists are fulmomancers.
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
If your character has at least one rank in a magic skill, once per encounter, they may use this talent to add 1 Advantage to the result of their next social skill check.
Additionally, this has a passive narrative effect; your character’s appearance is subtly enhanced by their magic. Others do not note it as supernatural, but may be slightly put off. What form this enhancement takes is up to you, with your GM’s approval, but it should be based on the magic skill your character possesses (as well as their backstory). A character with the Life Magic skill may always be flushed with good health, or their eyes may flash white momentarily. A character with the War Magic skill may be surrounded by the scent of smoke, or their voice may have an intimidating growl. A character with the Void Magic skill may have their hair tousled by undetectable winds, or when they wear a hat or hood, their face might be obscured by strangely deep shadows.
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
When your character casts a spell, you may spend one Story Point to use this talent to add Advantage equal to your character's ranks in Knowledge (Thaumaturgy) to the results.
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Requires: Ensorcelled
If your character has at least two ranks in a magic skill, when using the Ensorcelled talent, they may add 1 Success and 1 Advantage to their next social check (instead of 1 Advantage).
After purchasing this talent, your character's appearance is now noticeably changed by their magic. What form this enhancement takes is up to you, with your GM's approval, but it should be based on the magic skill your character possesses as well as the enhancement they originally possessed with the Ensorcelled talent.
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Your character treats shouken as if they had the Auto-Fire quality. Each attack consumes 1 shouken, though these can often be retrieved after a battle.
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Requires: Elementalist
You gain immunity to damage inflicted by the element you chose when you purchased Elementalist. You also gain one of the following special abilities based on your chosen element:
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
Requires: Ensorcelled (Improved)
If your character has at least three ranks in a magic skill, once per session they may use this talent to force all enemies within Medium range to make a Hard (3) Discipline check as an out-of-turn incidental. If they fail, they must spend all available maneuvers moving away from your character, and they suffer 5 strain, plus 1 additional strain per Threat.
What form this reveal takes is up to you, with your GM's approval, but it should be based on your character's magic skill and the enhancement they possess from the Improved Ensorcelled talent.
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
When your character casts an attack spell, they treat the spell’s Blast quality as having a rating equal to twice your character’s ranks in Knowledge (Thaumaturgy) (instead of their ranks in Knowledge [Thaumaturgy]). When your character casts an Attack spell with the Blast effect, you may spend one Story Point to use this talent to trigger the spell’s Blast quality, instead of spending Advantage (even if the attack misses).
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
While not using a magic implement, your character increases the base damage of all Attack spells they cast by two. In addition, when casting a spell while not using a magic implement, your character may use this talent to decrease the difficulty of the check by one. If they do so, they increase the strain suffered for casting the spell by one.
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
After your character casts a successful Mask spell to create an illusion, you may spend a Story Point to have your character use this talent to make the spell last until the end of the encounter, without performing concentrate maneuvers, and not need to remain within the spell’s range after being cast. You may spend two Story Points to make the spell last until the end of the session instead.
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
After your character casts a successful Animate spell to animate an object or corpse, you may spend a Story Point to have your character use this talent to make the spell last until the end of the encounter, without performing concentrate maneuvers, and not need to remain within the spell’s range after being cast. You may spend two Story Points to make the spell last until the end of the session instead.
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
After your character casts a successful Transform spell on themselves, you may spend a Story Point to have your character use this talent to make the spell last until the end of the encounter, without performing concentrate maneuvers, and not need to remain within the spell’s range after being cast. You may spend two Story Points to make the spell last until the end of the session instead.
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
Requires: Elementalist (Improved)
When your character casts a barrier spell, you always add the Energized effect without increasing the spell's difficulty. When you cast it on something other than yourself, you may use this talent to choose to have the targets of the spell gain the benefits of your Improved Elementalist talent, including energy immunity and the associated special ability.
Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
When your character casts a spell, they may use this talent to spend 1 Triumph to trigger up to three different qualities or spell effects instead of one. These qualities or spell effects must be ones that can be triggered by spending Advantage or Triumph.
Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Requires: Animal Companion
Your character's animal companion increases its Brawn by one, to a maximum of 5, and its wound threshold by four. If it is a nemesis, it increases its strain threshold by four. If it is a minion or rival, it becomes a nemesis and gains a strain threshold of 6. If it is silhouette 0, it becomes silhouette 1. Your character also chooses to increase either its Agility or its Willpower by one, to a maximum of 5, and its Brawl, Discipline, Perception, or Survival by one, to a maximum of 5.
Tier 1
Component Casting
Tier: 1Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
When your character casts a spell, they may use this talent to consume a physical item and add 1 Boost to the check. Different components are associated with different effects; for example, hawthorn berries are known to enhance projectile War spells, while stibnite is useful for Creature spells that augment accuracy.
Elementalist
Tier: 1Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Requires: War Magic 1 Rank When your character purchases this talent, choose one of the following attack spell effects: Acid, Fire, Ice, or Lightning. Whenever your character casts an Attack spell, they always add the chosen effect to the spell without increasing the difficulty. However, they may never add any of the other three effects to a spell they cast.
Mages who take this talent are often referred to by a term depending on their element of choice: acid specialists are called corromancers, fire specialists are called pyromancers, ice specialists are cryomancers, and lightning specialists are fulmomancers.
Ensorcelled
Tier: 1Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
If your character has at least one rank in a magic skill, once per encounter, they may use this talent to add 1 Advantage to the result of their next social skill check.
Additionally, this has a passive narrative effect; your character’s appearance is subtly enhanced by their magic. Others do not note it as supernatural, but may be slightly put off. What form this enhancement takes is up to you, with your GM’s approval, but it should be based on the magic skill your character possesses (as well as their backstory). A character with the Life Magic skill may always be flushed with good health, or their eyes may flash white momentarily. A character with the War Magic skill may be surrounded by the scent of smoke, or their voice may have an intimidating growl. A character with the Void Magic skill may have their hair tousled by undetectable winds, or when they wear a hat or hood, their face might be obscured by strangely deep shadows.
Tier 2
Brilliant Casting
Tier: 2Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
When your character casts a spell, you may spend one Story Point to use this talent to add Advantage equal to your character's ranks in Knowledge (Thaumaturgy) to the results.
Ensorcelled (Improved)
Tier: 2Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Requires: Ensorcelled
If your character has at least two ranks in a magic skill, when using the Ensorcelled talent, they may add 1 Success and 1 Advantage to their next social check (instead of 1 Advantage).
After purchasing this talent, your character's appearance is now noticeably changed by their magic. What form this enhancement takes is up to you, with your GM's approval, but it should be based on the magic skill your character possesses as well as the enhancement they originally possessed with the Ensorcelled talent.
Storm of Steel
Tier: 2Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Your character treats shouken as if they had the Auto-Fire quality. Each attack consumes 1 shouken, though these can often be retrieved after a battle.
Tier 3
Elementalist (Improved)
Tier: 3Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Requires: Elementalist
You gain immunity to damage inflicted by the element you chose when you purchased Elementalist. You also gain one of the following special abilities based on your chosen element:
- Acid: Your equipment cannot be Sundered by acid, and you are immune to poisons.
- Fire: You are immune to the Burn quality, and ignore any Setback imposed by smoke.
- Ice: You cannot be Ensnared by cold effects, and you ignore difficult terrain caused by ice or snow.
- Lightning: You are immune to strain inflicted by the Stun and Stun Damage qualities, and cannot be blinded by bright light.
Ensorcelled (Supreme)
Tier: 3Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
Requires: Ensorcelled (Improved)
If your character has at least three ranks in a magic skill, once per session they may use this talent to force all enemies within Medium range to make a Hard (3) Discipline check as an out-of-turn incidental. If they fail, they must spend all available maneuvers moving away from your character, and they suffer 5 strain, plus 1 additional strain per Threat.
What form this reveal takes is up to you, with your GM's approval, but it should be based on your character's magic skill and the enhancement they possess from the Improved Ensorcelled talent.
Explosive Casting
Tier: 3Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
When your character casts an attack spell, they treat the spell’s Blast quality as having a rating equal to twice your character’s ranks in Knowledge (Thaumaturgy) (instead of their ranks in Knowledge [Thaumaturgy]). When your character casts an Attack spell with the Blast effect, you may spend one Story Point to use this talent to trigger the spell’s Blast quality, instead of spending Advantage (even if the attack misses).
Innate Focus
Tier: 3Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
While not using a magic implement, your character increases the base damage of all Attack spells they cast by two. In addition, when casting a spell while not using a magic implement, your character may use this talent to decrease the difficulty of the check by one. If they do so, they increase the strain suffered for casting the spell by one.
Master of Illusion
Tier: 3Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
After your character casts a successful Mask spell to create an illusion, you may spend a Story Point to have your character use this talent to make the spell last until the end of the encounter, without performing concentrate maneuvers, and not need to remain within the spell’s range after being cast. You may spend two Story Points to make the spell last until the end of the session instead.
Puppeteer
Tier: 3Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
After your character casts a successful Animate spell to animate an object or corpse, you may spend a Story Point to have your character use this talent to make the spell last until the end of the encounter, without performing concentrate maneuvers, and not need to remain within the spell’s range after being cast. You may spend two Story Points to make the spell last until the end of the session instead.
Shapeshifter
Tier: 3Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
After your character casts a successful Transform spell on themselves, you may spend a Story Point to have your character use this talent to make the spell last until the end of the encounter, without performing concentrate maneuvers, and not need to remain within the spell’s range after being cast. You may spend two Story Points to make the spell last until the end of the session instead.
Tier 4
Elementalist (Supreme)
Tier: 4Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
Requires: Elementalist (Improved)
When your character casts a barrier spell, you always add the Energized effect without increasing the spell's difficulty. When you cast it on something other than yourself, you may use this talent to choose to have the targets of the spell gain the benefits of your Improved Elementalist talent, including energy immunity and the associated special ability.
Masterful Casting
Tier: 4Activation: Active (Incidental)
Ranked: No
When your character casts a spell, they may use this talent to spend 1 Triumph to trigger up to three different qualities or spell effects instead of one. These qualities or spell effects must be ones that can be triggered by spending Advantage or Triumph.
Tier 5
Dire Animal Companion
Tier: 5Activation: Passive
Ranked: No
Requires: Animal Companion
Your character's animal companion increases its Brawn by one, to a maximum of 5, and its wound threshold by four. If it is a nemesis, it increases its strain threshold by four. If it is a minion or rival, it becomes a nemesis and gains a strain threshold of 6. If it is silhouette 0, it becomes silhouette 1. Your character also chooses to increase either its Agility or its Willpower by one, to a maximum of 5, and its Brawl, Discipline, Perception, or Survival by one, to a maximum of 5.
