The Rules of Magic

(This page is NOT OFFICIAL, and is part of an ongoing documentation project. It is subject to massive change and is not meant to be ICly used in its current state (despite reflecting many of the existing rules on the grid).)

Alongside combat, Magic on Chiaroscoru, both Light and Shadow, has a few rules of its own in execution. General rules are listed first; specific rules and exceptions are in subsequent sections.

General Casting
To Cast a Spell, the caster selects the ability he wishes to use and +taskrolls (for Light skills) or +casts (for Shadow skills) the skill with a 0 modifier. In order for the spell to be considered successfully 'cast', the caster must roll a Fair or better on the die roll.

For Shadow skills, rolling a Poor or less results in Mageblock.

Transformation and Summoning skills
Certain skills, most notably Eliodon, Call of the Chit, Wildform, Lycanthropy, Wings of Heresy, and Thaumaturgy, result in the physical transformation of the caster to another form (or partial form) or the summoning of another entity. These skills require one combat 'round' to successfully invoke, but once in place remain even after the caster is rendered unconscious, until the caster wills the effect to end or it is dispelled by a cleric of the Light (in the case of Shadow abilities).

When the transformation is complete, the skill is then used as a replacement for any activity involving the physical capabilities of the form or transformation, while mental abilities remain untouched; additionally, the caster may be limited by the shape he chooses. To give two examples:

A Cleric transformed by eliodon into a Mongoose uses Eliodon for all physical rolls while in that shape... but is, for all intents and purposes, a mongoose. She cannot wield a mace or fire a bow, she can't carry off massive suits of full-plate armor, and she can't exceed the capabilities of the form - but she certainly dodges like a mongoose, and fights like one as well.

A Transmuter using Wings of Heresy sprouds wings that enable flight, but the wings aren't useful for any other purpose. Wihle the wings remain without concentration, and Wings of Heresy is rolled for all activities relating to flight, the caster is not otherwise prevented from doing whatever they like with their hands or feet - they just have an extra set of appendages goverend by the skill.

Note that transformations, once complete, do NOT preclude the use of other abilities, provided the new form can fulfill the casting requirements of the ability.

Concentration Skills
Certain skills are so physically taxing that they require ongoing concentration to maintain. Wings of Faith, Mage Shield, Shadowcloak/Shadowmask, and Melange are the best examples, but there are others.

These skills, too, require a round to 'invoke', and cannot simply be summoned into existence as a response to an attack or other stimulous without using up a turn to do so. Additionally, they are mentally taxing - any further magic requires a division of will to use while these skills are invoked and maintained. Practically, this results in a -1 (cumulative with invoking more than one concentration ability!) penalty to any further magical skills used while maintaining the effect.

If a magic-user fails in a subsequent casting -- that is, rolls poor or less -- /all/ currently active effects fail.

Always-On Abilities
There are a very few (usually subtle) abilities that are considered 'always on'. Most are Light powers: Fleet-of-foot, Foehammer, Trinity, Fenrir, Rapport, Lexicana - but there /are/ a few shadow abilities (notably Anticipation) that fall into the same vein.

Always-on abilities are still rolled, when appropriate, and Shadow ones can still induce mageblock... but they can be used alongside concentration abilities with no penalty at all.

You can Foehammer while invoking Wings of Faith, for instance, without Foehammer having any penalty, or use Anticipation and Shadowcloak in much the same way. These skills are more instinctive and 'easier' to reach than others, generally subtler applications of power that do not take the same level of focus to use.