An effective (albeit often excessive) way to block a path or restrict access to or from an area, elemental barricades are magical "walls" that are erected by spellcasters through magical means. A difficult enchantment to cast, the spell takes a great deal of power and concentration to cast, as well as an increasing amount of time depending on the size and strength of the barricade. Once cast, most barricades cover an area of a short distance across, which is usually enough to block access to and from a specific room's access point. Once cast, the enchantment remains in effect even if the spellcaster no longer concentrates on upholding the spell, ensuring the spellcaster can tend to other matters without fear of an opponent sneaking up behind them through the now blocked area.
Each barrier is charged with a specific element's magical energy, with the barricade's energy field often glowing with a faint color that makes the casting element. The barricade will stay in place for a number of days equal to it's difficulty level upon which it will diffuse and release it's remaining elemental energy back into the arcanosphere. While the barricade is up however, the elemental energy will repel any physical objects or people that attempt to pass through the barricade, dealing 5 Damage of the corresponding elemental type to any character that makes direct contact with the barricade.
The Dispel action available to Arcana is not effective against the raw evocation magic in an enchanted barricade, however most spellcasting types have the potential to dispel an elemental barricade through a technique called "neutralization". When a barricade is enchanted, it is infused with the magical energy of one of Alwaus' core elemental forces (Fire, Earth, Water, and Air). Each of these elements has a corresponding "rival" elemental that counters the magical charge of it's own magical energy. While the principals here are similar to the most basic principals of abjuration magic, the application and precision required to dispel an enchanted barricade is far from complex. A spellcaster need only release the same (or more) amount of magical energy back at the barricade to dispel the enchantment. In fact the neutralizing energy doesn't even need to be magical in nature, provided the one dispelling the barricade has reliable access to the neutralizing element. A barricade cast via Hydromancy will have a light blue shimmer and often be coated in a thick sheet of ice. The deployment of a flamethrower or incendiary grenade will be just as effective at removing the barricade as an arcanist hurling a series of fireballs at the barricade.
While the barricades are primarily disabled by magical spells of the opposing element, the GM is encouraged to permit any creative thinking the players may have. Generally speaking the barricades will continue into whatever surface they touch for an appropriate distance to make tunneling an ineffective solution.
In non-structured encounters dispelling a barricade is as simple as making a check with the skill that corresponds to the method of neutralization with a difficulty equal to the barrier's level (See chart below). For example, if a Swamp-Witch was using her magic to dispel an Average barricade she would make an Average Primal check (Narratively speaking this is casting a spell so she would also need to take the normal amount of strain). If the check succeeds to barrier is immediately dispelled (regardless of the wound threshold the barrier would normally have) with
a and
h being used to increase or decrease the time taken to dispel the barricade safely. On failure the barricade remains at full strength.
In structed encounters the barricade can only be dispelled by targeting it with an attack action using the corresponding skill to neutralize the barricade. The difficulty to the check is equal to the distance the attacker is from the barricade just like a typical attack action. Barricades typically have a Ranged and Melee defense of 0 however the GM may increase this to represent specific situations in the encounter. If the attack is successful and the damage type is of the appropriate neutralizing element the player may deal wounds to the barricade as if it was a normal adversary (including factoring in any soak it may have.) Once the barricade has suffered a number of wounds to exceed its wound threshold the barricade is immediately dispelled and is no longer active.
Conversely, a damage barricade can also be "recharged" by suffering wounds from a damage type that matches it's initial casting element. If for example a pyromancy barricade was to caught in the explosion radius of an incendiary grenade, it would instead remove wounds equal to the damage it would have been dealt (still factoring in soak). Adversarys and PC's can both target a barricade directly with their attacks to trigger this effect. A barricade cannot typically be recharged beyond it's original wound threshold.
| Difficulty to Diffuse |
Wound Threshold |
| Simple ( - ) |
5 Wounds - Soak 0 |
| Easy (x) |
5 Wounds - Soak 2 |
| Average (xx) |
10 Wounds - Soak 2 |
| Hard (xxx) |
13 Wounds - Soak 3 |
| Daunting (xxxx) |
20 Wounds - Soak 3 |
| Formidable (xxxxx) |
25 Wounds - Soak 4 |
| Impossible (Xxxxx) |
30 Wounds - Soak 5 |
| Barricade Element |
Damage Types To Diffuse |
Damage Types It Deal On Contact |
| Pyromancy |
Cold Damage, and direct applications of Water |
Fire Damage |
| Geomancy |
Lightning Damage, and direct applications of Wind |
Toxic Damage |
| Hydromancy |
Fire Damage and direct applications of Heat |
Cold Damage |
| Aeromancy |
Toxic Damage and direct applications of Earth and Stone |
Lightning Damage |
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