Essence magic is a relatively new way of manipulating the force of NE which permeates every quark of our universe. Rather than learning set chunks of magic theory, then the spells that use that theory, essence magic focuses on meditating to the point where the creation of magic is a natural thing, not requiring the memorisation of chants and incantations. Essence magic takes more work to perfect, but is much more flexible and easy to use in the field, as new spells are easily created by even the novice, and the spells do not drain the NE of the caster, using instead the natural NE field of the universe.
For essence magic, extra attributes reflecting the player's skill with each type of spell are needed. By going up a level in Essence Magic, the essence mage may add one point to any one of the attributes above. When using Essence Magic, the caster may choose to use all of their skill in that Essence discipline, or less of it for a reduced effect, as they see fit.
Unwilling recipients of a spell may Save with Aura to resist it, unless a specific save is mentioned in the text.
The causing of damage, through some kind of magical zappy effect.
| Damage | Up to DAM*1D6 |
| Blast Radius or Spread | Up to DAM metres |
| Attack Bonus | DAM/4 |
A defence spell can be in the form of a wall, a dome, or whatever. They can have up to DEF*200 DC and DEF*10 resilience, and a surface area of up to DEF*5 square metres. They can be customised by the caster to be one-directional at the cost of halving the DC, or permeable to specific things (individual objects/characters, or general classes such as "magic" or "red things") only at the cost of halving the DC again.
The player can try to sense for any particular information - danger or lifeform nearby, what the scroll was, identifying a magical object / rune / ward or whatever. Only one chance is available, and the player Saves With DIV to succeed. It does not cover telepathy, so you can't extract knowledge from living beings with it - but the same information may be available in other ways (Identify the object rather than try to read the mind of the person holding it).
To create an illusion for any other character/sensing device, the target must fail to Save with Willpower (assume 5 for machines) minus the caster's DEC. The deception spell must be cast on the specific target(s) - you can't just create an illusion that will fool random people who subsequently walk in.
This involves sending information mentally between entities. Establishing communication with a living being, computer, or whatever can be performed by touch if TEL is 1 or up to TEL*10 metres away (line of sight is required) if it is above 1. Forcibly reading a single memory from their mind, once the link is established, can be performed; they must Save with Willpower minus the caster's TEL to resist. Once a link is made, the caster can break it at will, or it will be broken if the target moves out of range or out of line of sight; the target can break it at will if the caster allows them, and if the caster tries to keep the link open, they can break it by Saving with Willpower minus the caster's TEL.
Levitation and telekenesis; the player may move up to MOT*500kg, at up to MOT*10 kph. This may include himself.
The conversion of something into something else; elemental transformations, shape changes, whatever. The character may convert up to TRA kg of matter in one action.
The creation of specific shapes (up to CRE litres in size) from ectoplasm, a material of concentrated NE. Ectoplasm is a toughish material; CRE DC per litre, but a blade fashioned from it will be too soft to cut. Used as a club, it can do 1D4 damage per litre. The shape will dissolve in CRE*10 minutes. Ectoplasmic objects can be turned into "normal" objects with a subsequent Transformation to convert the ectoplasm into the desired materials.
This covers moving into the future - up to TIM hours ahead. Also, it may be woven into the casting of a spell, allowing its effect to occur up to TIM hours ahead, or when a specific condition is met.
This covers bending and folding space. It involves teleportation: up to WAR*100kg of matter may be sent up to WAR km away. Also, Dimensional Warps may be created, capable of holding up to WAR*100kg of matter.
The control of living or dead matter; up to BIO/2 dead bodies may be controlled at once. Also, it can be used to hypnotise; compete BIO against Willpower. If the target loses, he is under control for 1 turn. Giving a single, specific order is much easier; the caster may double his BIO for the casting.
This discipline covers channelling Natural Energy into an object, thereby enchanting it.
The imbibing of weapons with magical battle auras. When a weapon is enchanted, only its caster may use it ever again; it will never work in the hands of another. The weapon gets WEP added to its Attack Bonuses, and damage is multiplied by WEP/5, rounding up. Also, up to WEP metres from the owner, the weapon may levitate around under the owner's control, allowing them to stab people at a range, etc.
This allows the creation of Essence Magic objects. To create an object, the appropriate physical object must be obtained or made, and then the creator must imbue it with a pattern of natural energy that gives it its magical capabilities.
As this is Essence Magic, characters can make their own magical objects up on the fly, but here are some pre-designed ones to pick from. The GM should use the required OBJ scores in this table as a guideline to choose the OBJ requirements of player-designed objects.
| Name | Effect | OBJ needed to make |
|---|---|---|
| RODS | These are made from any object at least 1cm wide and 20cm long. Their effects are magical bolts with a range of up to 10m per OBJ, and an attack bonus of OBJ. | |
| Weight | The target must, for 1D6 minutes, always be touching the ground at some point. If it is in the air, it plummets. It can be dragged around by characters, but not picked up from the ground. If a character, they can crawl but not stand. | 2 |
| Slowness | Halve reactions, initiative, actions per turn | 2 |
| Haste | Double reactions, initiative, actions per turn | 2 |
| Healing | minus 6D6 damage | 2 |
| Disruption | 5D20 damage, 5m blast from impact point | 3 |
| Power bolt | (OBJ)D6 damage | Variable |
| WANDS | These are made from any object at least 1cm wide and 20cm long. They affect anything touched with the "active" end. | |
| Burning touch | 2D20 damage | 1 |
| Rusting | 5D20 damage, to metal only. | 2 |
| Restoration | Return Stamina/DC to original levels | 3 |
| Dispel Magic | All magical effects are cancelled | 3 |
| Fatal touch | Fatal if contact with the target's flesh is made | 4 |
| STAVES | These are made from any object at least 3cm wide and 1m long. They affect the holder. More than one effect can be cast into the same staff. | |
| Deflection | +3 to Dodge | 1 |
| Levitation | Move at up to 10km/h | 2 |
| Amazing deflection | +10 to Dodge | 4 |
| Protection | Force bubble: OBJ*500DC, OBJ Res. | Variable |
This allows the writing out of runes, providing the character has a RUN more than or equal that required for the rune. No writing implement is needed, the character just needs to touch the surface and mentally pattern the natural energy in the surface into the form of the rune. The rune is visible, glowing faintly.
The creator of a rune may destroy it, or it can be removed with a Dispel Magic, or somebody can overpower it by successfully Saving with Willpower minus the ward creator's RUN score.
As this is Essence Magic, characters can make their own runes up on the fly, but here are some pre-designed ones to pick from. The GM should use the required RUN scores in this table as a guideline to choose the RUN requirements of player-designed runes.
| Name | Effect | RUN needed to make |
|---|---|---|
| DOORWAY RUNES | These effect all who pass through the doorway | |
| Alert | Caster is notified when somebody enters door | 1 |
| Inebriety | Poison Level becomes 29, whatever it was before. | 2 |
| Invisible wall | 100DC accross door | 3 |
| PROTECTION RUNES | Put on an object, to affect all who touch it. | |
| Paralysis | Ten seconds of paralysis, no saving throw | 1 |
| Burn | 1D10 damage | 2 |
| Self Destruct | Object explodes on contact, 3D20 damage, 5m blast radius | 3 |
| ARMOUR RUNES | Put on a vehicle, armour, wall, etc | |
| Regeneration | 1 lost DC is regained per minute | 1 |
| Creaking | Stealth and surprise attacks become impossible | 1 |
| Reinforcement | Maximum DC is increased by half (multiply by 1.5) | 2 |
| Softening | Resilience becomes 0 | 2 |
| Double Reinforcement | Maximum DC is doubled | 3 |
| Curse | -10 Dodge Bonus | 3 |
| ROOM RUNES | Put on a wall or ceiling, affects everyone in the the room | |
| Light Room | The room is always lit, with no visible source | 1 |
| Knowing | The caster may see what's going on in the room, by looking through a Crystal Ball (costs 2c) | 2 |
| Secret Room | All entrances to the room will be invisible from the outside | 3 |
| Sleep | Save with Willpower or fall asleep. Can't be awoken without being taken from the room. | 4 |
| BLADE RUNES | Put on a bladed weapon | |
| Sharpening | Add 50% to damage (multiply by 1.5) | 2 |
| Bloodthirst | Blade seeks blood, +10 Attack bonus | 4 |
| WEAPON RUNES | Put on any weapon | |
| Accuracy | +5 Attack Bonus | 1 |
| Clumsiness | -5 Attack bonus | 1 |
| Anger | Half extra damage (multiply by 1.5) | 2 |
| Weakening | Half damage | 2 |
| Wrath | Double damage | 3 |
| Distortion | -20 Attack bonus | 3 |
| GENERAL CURSES | ||
| Unreliability | Whenever the item is used, it will break if you roll 9 on a 1D10 | 1 |
| Stuck | Objects meant to be carried cannot be put down, armour cannot be removed, etc | 2 |
| Ward | See below | Variable |
A ward is the protection of a defined area from a specific entity or type of entity.
A ward can only be made against living (or undead) things; not against robots or water or bad smells. A ward can be defined in terms of anything that would be apparent from looking at the being attempting to enter the area, such as:
A ward itself is invisible, although the rune at the centre of it will be visible if you look closely. The ward will protect any area the caster chooses, except that it cannot extend more than (WAR*10) metres away from the rune in any direction.