Spells

The Prestige doesn't have spells in the way most would expect. A spell is nothing more than a goal, the term "goal" often being used synonymously with "spell." A spell is a result, a desired effect upon connecting to The Static.

Casting a spell is like a question, and the spell, itself, is an answer. By connecting with the static, the practitioner shapes it into a given form, allowing The Static to manifest effects in the practitioner's environment.
By molding the static into a wall, making it dense and concrete, the practitioner can form a barrier between themselves and a threat. This is how 90% of spells are cast, by molding static into a particular form that causes a specific response. Molding the static into a wall will always form a barrier, and the results will never be different.

Complex spells

A complex spell requires more than static. It requires a resource, a specific scenario, or a variety of other conditions. These spells came about as practitioners experimented with different goals in mind. A complex spell allows one to use The Static to achieve more powerful effects that function as unique spells.

By adding fire to the equation, as an example, The Static can produce unique effects. Take one of the most common spells found in other magic systems: a fireball. By condensing The Static into a confined space, such as a sphere or a bullet, Static will add potential energy that will always manifest as a burst of kinetic force when the energy is released. By hitting someone with a ball of charged Static, the bullet will hit much harder than it normally would.

Adding fire creates a different effect, where the fire can be contained into the same ball of static. The force is compounded with flame, cause not only a burst of kinetic energy, but also a rapid chain reaction with the fire that causes it to grow, and spread. The force will scatter the flames across a given area, usually 5 to 10 feet depending on how it hits a target, and it will fuel the fire, making it burn through whatever it touches at a higher rate.

Rituals

Rituals are different compared to spells in that they don't require The Static to perform. they are also not instantaneous. The goals in a ritual use time as a resource. They require specific conditions, components, time frames, and more to circumvent the use of Static.

Many spells do, however, require the rite, which means some rituals will work for some practitioners while others won't. These rituals are divided into the respective genre so that a practitioner can easily tell what rituals to bother trying.
Every genre has its own set of rituals that can be used by any practitioner who can use said genre. Rituals are useful for many reasons, as they tend to have allow but effective results. The more the ritual requires, the more powerful its effects.

Fickle Power

Not everyone can practice complex spells, in fact some may find it easier to use the element of fire as opposed to water or earth and vice versa. Arcane Genres are highly complex and differ greatly between one practitioner and another.

When one takes the rite, they will undergo a personal journey to discover what they can and cannot do. Some spells cannot be learned by one practitioner while another finds it easy to cast. This is why the spells are referred to as complex.

Standardizing these spells makes it easier for one to learn them, if they are capable of doing so in the first place. By knowing the general idea, using the Arcane Manifestations, they can determine how to get a desired result, and even exploit loopholes that have a similar result if they find the original spell is not in their ability to learn.

The Anatomy Of Spells

Spells and rituals have three parts, as listed in The Simplex Arcana: The goal, source, and failsafe. The goal is the spell itself, what it seeks to accomplish. The source is what drives and powers the spell, usually the caster. The failsafe can be many things depending on whether it is a spell or a ritual.

The failsafe for a ritual functions like an off switch. Most commonly used in Enchantment, the failsafe allows one to negate the spell if something goes wrong. Sometimes it is a trigger word, an incantation that shuts the Enchantment down or a separate series of enchantments that protect the practitioner of something goes wrong.

For spells, the failsafe is less concrete. A failsafe is a logical puzzle the practitioner must solve both before, during, and after casting the spell. This will need a bit more depth.

Spell Failsafes

A practitioner will need to ask themselves a series of questions, and logical handle their answers.

Example-A: If I try to cool my environment to turn this glass of water to Ice, what is it that allows for it to happen.
Answer: the heat is exchanged, rapidly pushed from the glass, causing it to freeze.
Now the important Question: Where does the heat go? It can't go within yourself, the body is too fragile to handle too much of an increase in body temperature.
Answer: Your environment is a good solution but be sure to spread the heat evenly throughout a large area. You don't want to send it into, say an object. The object will be hot to the touch, and depending on how the energy transfers, may melt if too much heat is transferred.



Example-B: A wall of water to block a bullet. It's a simple spell to cast, but how thick does it have to be to stop the bullet, or take away its lethality?
The most important question: do you have time to handle the surface tension? It's important to make sure the water in the wall is still, as water in motion won't stop the bullet effectively. You can bypass this by using The Static as a secondary barrier, which is a good loophole to consider, or simply don't use the water to begin with and only use The Static. While the spell may look impressive, it's not as effective when used as a protective barrier, and is best suited for other uses.