Sorcery: Knowledge Spells III

Sorcery: Knowledge Spells III

Knowledge spells are very useful. Glass Wall lets the caster see through walls. Know Location and Pathfinder let the caster avoid getting lost. Summon Shade lets the caster divine the future.

  

Glass Wall

Keywords: Buff.

Full Cost: 52 points.

Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: Three minutes.

This spell lets the subject see through solid walls, floors, ceilings, or other similar barriers up to 4 feet thick (material doesn’t matter). The subject can just barely see the outline of the barrier he is looking through – not enough to impair vision in any way. This spell automatically works in conjunction with all of the subject’s other vision advantages (Infravision, Ultravision, etc.).

Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Advantage, Glass Wall, +400%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; No Signature, +20%; Sorcery, -15%) [52]. Note: “Glass Wall” is Penetrating Vision 8 (Magical, -10%; Specific, Barriers, -40%) [40].

  

Know Location

Keywords: Information.

Full Cost: 1 point.

Casting Roll: None.

Range: Self.

Duration: Instantaneous.

Gives the caster a reasonable idea of his geographical location (to within a couple of miles). This will be expressed in terms of the nearest named features that the caster has heard of (if in doubt as to whether or not the caster has heard of the feature, the GM should roll against the caster’s Area Knowledge). For example, “You are in Bangkok, roughly 100 meters north of Siam Paragon.”

Statistics: Accessory (GPS; Sorcery, -15%) [1].

  

Pathfinder

Keywords: Information.

Full Cost: 17 points.

Casting Roll: IQ. Use Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim.

Range: 100 yards.

Duration: Instantaneous.

The subject recalls the direction to a certain place, or the proper way to go to get to that place – his choice, as if he had Absolute Direction (p. B34). The caster makes an IQ roll to impart the information in question. Time penalties apply, based on the time since the subject last time visited the place in question. Use Long-Distance Modifiers (p. B241) and substitute “days” for “miles.” A critical failure could cause tell the subject a wrong direction!

This spell does not work in environments such as interstellar space or the limbo of the astral plane, but it does work underground, underwater, and on other planets.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Advantage, Pathfinder, +50%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Increased 1/2D, 10x, +15%; No Signature, +20%; Reduced Duration, 1/180, -40%; Requires IQ Roll, -10%; Sorcery, -15%; Time-Spanning, Past, +50%) [17]. Note: “Pathfinder” is Absolute Direction (Magical, -10%) [5].

Summon Shade

Keywords: Information.

Full Cost: 74 or 124 points.

Casting Roll: IQ. Special casting time (see below).

Range: Unlimited.

Duration: Instantaneous.

The caster summons a “shade” of the subject from a possible future, to answer the caster’s questions. The caster may ask a general question that affects many people as long as least one of those people is present. In all cases, the GM may apply penalties if he feels that the topic in question is not something with a fixed answer. If so, he should divulge this penalty to the sorcerer’s player, who may then decide whether it’s worth casting the spell.

The casting roll takes a -1 penalty for each year in the future that the shade is drawn; -5 if the subject is not present or -10 if nothing pertaining to the subject (clothing, hair clippings, etc.) is present. -10 if the subject’s full name is not known, in addition to the Long-Distance Modifiers (p. 241) to the subject.

The shade will not lie (except on a critical failure) but it will be disoriented; therefore its answers may be unclear and imprecise. The margin of success should determine the clarity of the answer. Since the shade only comes from the most likely future, this spell may be an unsatisfactory augury.

At the time from which the shade is drawn, the subject will have a vivid dream in which he will see his questioner(s) and remember all that is said – if the predicted event came true.

The basic (74-point) version of this spell requires 10 minutes to cast! The improved (124-point) version requires only the usual one or two seconds.

Statistics: Precognition (Active Only, -60%; Cosmic, Subject needs not to be present, +50%; Directed, +100%; Long-Range 3, +150%; Magical, -10%; Nuisance Effect, Time modifiers, -15%; Nuisance Effect, Name and something pertaining the subject is required, -10%; Once per year per subject, -60%; Reduced Fatigue Cost 1, +20%; Reliable 8, +40%; Visible, -10%) [74]. The improved version adds Reduced Time 10 (+200%) [+50].