Magic Rules

Magic in Rifts is pretty straightforward as-is. No house rules of note here. Some clarifications on specific abilities are here, based on in-game calls.

The Nature of Magic

On "Supernatural" and "Magical" Creatures.

A clarification taken from the Book of Magic:
"It is important to note that the sphinx, dragons, unicorns, Faerie Folk and a handful of other superhuman beings possessing supernatural strength and abilities, but known as creatures of magic, are not 'supernatural creatures' (they are more magical than supernatural, or at least not in the same way as demons and gods)."

The Rifts

Some rules and notes on the Rifts and how they work.
The below rules apply to rifts 99% of the time. There are always exceptions, however, especially when dealing with greater and often incomprehensible megaversal powers.

Rifts function similar to Stargates from that media franchise. Stepping through one is like being sucked through a wormhole, transporting you somewhere else in the Megaverse after seconds (usually) or sometimes even minutes, hours, or more.

You can not gaze into an open rift and see the other side. Instead, a rift is usually a shifting portal of shimmering colors and shapes and patterns that defy logic and reason.

Open rifts do not suck out or spew forth atmosphere or elemental stuff; an open rift won't suck the oxygen out of an area, nor will it drain an ocean.

Radio and communications signals may or may not pass through open rifts. There is no way to predict if this will work outside of either active and involved experimentation, or else through the use of very specifically-worded magical abilities and spells.

Unless specified otherwise, nonliving objects that enter rifts must be actively brought through by the will of their possessors. For objects sent through alone, roll 1d4: 1 = it pops back out where it entered, 2 = it ceases to exist entirely, 3 = it pops out of a random rift somewhere else in the Megaverse, 4 = as 3 but also something completely different emerges on the other side. Yes, this means rifts are not effective methods of delivering bombs.

Magic Rules

Some rules on the use of magic and magical systems in our games.

Techno-Wizardry

I'm adding a few balancing rules on TW systems.

TW Power Recharge Costs and Times

The rapid consecutive use of TW powers results in increased activation costs and even damage to the component systems.
Single-use Instant Effect Powers: This includes things like TW laser blasts, and such, basically things that don't have durations. Each successive empowerment use after the first builds a cumulative 1% chance of burning out the TW wires and coils for that component. Burned out components must be completely replaced and re-magicked before they can be reused. The user can pay additional PPE at the time of use to prevent this buildup, but the cost likewise increases by 100% the base amount each time.

For example, charging a standard TK Revolver (p. 138 RUE) costs 3 PPE for a full 6-shot cylinder. If those are used in battle, the user can immediately recharge it, but doing so has a cumulative 1% chance of burnout unless she pays 6 PPE this time. If she does this yet again in the same combat, the new safe cost is 9 PPE, and onward.

Extended-Use Effect Powers: This includes duration-based effects and such like force fields, etc. These are handled exactly as Single-use powers, only the burnout buildup is 10% instead of 1%.

When using the Magic Force Field of TK Armor (p. 88 WB: Arzno), the initial activation is 15 PPE for 60 MDC until depleted or ten minutes of use. If activated immediately after expiration/depletion, there is a 10% buildup of burnout chance unless 30 PPE is paid. If used again, the cost goes to 45 PPE, and so on.

In any case, damage buildup on a device lingers until repaired. This is significantly cheaper than full component replacement however.

Safe Recharge Time

In order to ensure that your TW devices remain in top condition, you should let them recharge for 1 hour per involved spell effect between uses for the components to "cool down" and re-attentuate themselves to reality.
It is because of these cooldowns that a good TW will build an arsenal of many different toys and effects, so they can cycle between them as needed.

Magic Spells

House Rules notes on the nature of spells and their casting.

Spellcasting during Combat

Spellcasting in combat requires different allocations of Dice based on the spell level. Divide the spell level by 3, rounding up, and that's how many Dice are required to cast that spell. For Spells of Legend, rituals are almost always required, which will be decided on a case by case basis.

Specific Spell Changes

Some specific spell changes and clarifications. Additionally, some spells make no sense being at the level they are, so I've changed them.
Create Zombie: (p. 144 BoM) Change the paragraph beginning with "Zombies will rise again..." to the following: "Zombies will always rise again, unless destroyed by fire, plasma, natural lightning, or mega-damage explosions of 100 MD of greater, or an exorcism is performed. Otherwise, it will regenerate all SDC. and body parts within 48 hours and seek out its master for new instructions. There is no limit to the number of zombies a mage can command."
Fly as the Eagle: Is now level 8, instead of level 7.
Heal Wounds: The level 5 version does not heal MDC. That requires Heal Self (level 7) or Greater Healing (level 8).
Impervious to Fire: PPE cost is doubled to 10.
Reflection: Is now level 2, instead of level 4.
Resist Fire: Is now level 2, instead of level 3.
Winged Flight: Is now level 7, instead of level 8.