Reference: Spellcasting and Maho

[Vutall]

Spell Casting Rolls & Spell Target Numbers

As described in the Book of Earth, the Spell Casting Roll is a unique roll used by shugenja to entreat the kami and cast a spell. When casting a spell, a shugenja rolls a number of dice equal to his rank in the relevant Ring plus his Shugenja School Rank, and keeps a number of dice equal to his Ring. This result is compared to the spell’s TN, which is equal to 5 plus (5x the spell’s Mastery Level).

EXAMPLE: Lucas’s character Isawa Butaro is casting Fires from Within, a Mastery Level 2 spell. Butaro is a Rank 1 Isawa Shugenja, and has Fire 3. He rolls 4k3 (4 = Fire 3 + Rank 1, keeping Fire) against TN 15 (5 + ML 2 x 5). He rolls a 2, 4, 7, and 8, keeping the 4, 7, and 8 for a total of 19. The spell has been cast successfully.

A shugenja may cast only a fi nite number of spells per day. A shugenja character has “spell slots” equal to his Ring in the element in question. For example, a shugenja with Fire 3 can only cast up to 3 Fire spells per day. All shugenja have bonus spell slots equal to their Void Ring, however, and these can be used to cast additional spells in any element of their choice. If the shugenja described above had Fire 3 and Void 2, for example, he could theoretically cast up to 5 Fire spells in one day if he used both of his bonus spell slots to cast additional Fire spells.

A shugenja who fails a Spell Casting Roll is still considered to have used up the appropriate spell slot, as the kami are angered by his failure. However, a shugenja who succeeds in the Spell Casting Roll but then is interrupted before the spell is completed (see below) does not lose a spell slot.

Actions & Casting Time
A spell requires a number of Complex Actions equal to its Mastery Level to cast. The first of these is spent when the caster successfully makes the Spell Casting Roll against the normal TN, which is equal to 5 plus the spell’s Mastery Level x5. Each round thereafter, the shugenja must spend a Complex Action to continue the spell. For example, a spell of Mastery Level 3 would require three Complex Actions to complete. A shugenja casting such a spell would make his Spell Casting Roll in the first round, expend another Complex Action the second round to maintain the casting process, and complete the spell in the third round with a third and final Complex Action. A spell takes effect immediately upon the completion of the last Complex Action required to cast it, unless otherwise specified in the spell description.

A character may reduce the number of Complex Actions required to cast a spell by one for every Raise made specifically for that purpose on the Spell Casting Roll. However, this cannot reduce the casting time to less than one Complex Action.

Characters who are attempting to complete a spell can be interrupted if they suffer damage or are signifi cantly distracted during the casting process. A shugenja who is interrupted must succeed at a Willpower Trait Roll (TN 10) to overcome distraction. If the shugenja suffers damage, the TN for the Willpower roll is 5 plus the amount of damage suffered. A spell that is disrupted in this manner cannot be completed, but the shugenja does not lose a spell slot.

Affinities & Deficiencies
Virtually all shugenja Schools have an Affinity for one element and a Defi iency for another. Most often, Affinities and Deficiencies are of opposing elements (Air and Earth are opposed, as are Fire and Water; Void has no opposing element). This represents both the ritualized teachings of the Great Clans and the inherently oppositional nature of the elements. A shugenja with an Affinity for an element casts spells of that element as if his Shugenja School Rank were one higher. Conversely, a shugenja Deficient in an element casts spells of that element as if his Shugenja School Rank were one lower. If this reduces the shugenja’s effective School Rank to zero, he cannot cast spells of that element.

EXAMPLE: Kit’s character, Soshi Toshiken, is a Rank 1 Soshi Shugenja with an Affinity for Air and an Air Ring of 3. Under normal circumstances, Kit would roll 4k3 for Toshiken to cast an Air spell. Because of the Affinity for Air, however, Toshiken’s School Rank is effectively 2, meaning that Kit rolls 5k3 for Air spells instead.

EXAMPLE: Daniel’s character, Kitsu Hatsuo, is a Rank 2 Kitsu Shugenja with a Deficiency for Fire and a Fire Ring of 2. Under normal circumstances, Daniel would roll 4k2 when Hatsuo was casting a Fire spell. Because of the Deficiency for Fire spells, however, Hatsuo’s effective School Rank is 1, meaning that Daniel instead rolls only 3k2 when casting Fire spells.

Concentration
Many spells described in this section have a listed Duration of “Concentration.” This means the effects of the spell can be maintained as long as the shugenja continues to focus his energies upon them. Concentrating requires the expenditure of a Simple Action each Round. If a shugenja is unable to use a Simple Action to maintain the spell, its effects end immediately. Any shugenja who suffers more Wounds than his Earth Ring while maintaining Concentration must immediately make a Willpower Roll (TN 20 + 5 per Mastery Level of the spell). A shugenja who is distracted in some other way (such as by a shove or a loud noise) must make a Willpower Roll at TN 15. Failure in either case indicates he has lost concentration and the spell’s effects end immediately.

Banishing and Importuning the Spirits
Powerful shugenja have the ability to dismiss or “banish” the elemental kami from an area, replacing them with new spirits who have no prior knowledge of what has happened in the area. This is most frequently done to prevent other shugenja from uncovering their activities with a Commune spell.

To banish the spirits from an area, a shugenja must cast Sense with three Raises (to identify all the spirits in the area) and then cast Commune with five Raises (to persuade those spirits to leave). This must be done separately for each Element, of course.

All Rokugani spells, from the simplest to the most powerful, are actually prayers to the spirits, entreating them to produce an effect for the shugenja. This means that an especially devout shugenja can, in theory, cast almost any spell (whether or not he has the scroll) simply by asking the spirits with sufficient devotion and piety. This process is known as “importuning” the spirits, and it uses the Spellcraft skill.

To importune a spell, a shugenja must cast Commune and spend a considerable time in speech with the kami: five minutes for each Mastery Rank of the desired spell. At the end of that time, the caster must roll Spellcraft (Importune) / (Ring for the appropriate Element), at a TN of 15 +5 per Mastery Level of the spell. With a success, the spirits will grant him the ability to try to cast the spell, once, within the next hour, at a TN of 15 plus the spell’s Mastery Level x 5. The shugenja cannot importune for a spell of higher Mastery Level than he could normally cast.


LEARNING MAHO
Maho is forbidden in Rokugan, and learning or using it is an Imperial crime. Of course, given the lure it represents, this is a crime that is frequently committed. There are a number of ways in which characters may learn maho spells. They may discover an ancient scroll, hidden in a library or a cultist stronghold. They may encounter a corrupted sensei who tempts them with the secrets of blood magic. A “helpful” kansen may sense their desire for power and whisper the spells into their ears. A band of Bloodspeakers or other maho cultists may try to recruit them. All of these methods of learning maho represent specific events which can happen in play – in other words, events which the GM may present to the characters, as a test of their will and purity.

BALANCED MAHO
Characters are restricted to learning maho spells whose Mastery Level does not exceed the character’s current School Rank, taking Affinities into account as normal.


USING MAHO
Like normal spells, maho spells have a TN equal to 5 plus (5 x Mastery Rank of the spell). However, the basic Spell Casting Roll for maho spells is Insight Rank/Element, instead of Shugenja School Rank/Element. This means anyone who can learn the incantations can cast a maho spell. Likewise, there is no Insight Rank restriction on which maho spells one can cast – a brand-new maho-tsukai can cast even the dreaded “Touch of Death” if he can learn what words to chant. Maho spells, like other spells, are cast by spending a number of Complex Actions equal to the Mastery Rank of the spell. Just as with other spells, Raises may be taken to reduce that casting time, down to a minimum of one Complex Action.

However, maho has its own costs which it extracts from those who practice it:

c Blood, the blood of a living and intelligent creature, must be spilled to appease the kansen who are invoked by a maho spell. The caster must spill blood (in Wounds) equal to twice the Mastery Rank of the spell he is casting. Thus, a Mastery 1 maho spell requires 2 Wounds of blood. Note that the caster need not spill his own blood! Many experienced maho-tsukai make a point of surrounding themselves with servants, gullible cultists, or other “allies” who can be wounded or killed to power spells as needed.

c The blood must be spilled whether or not the Spell Casting Roll succeeds. However, the flip side of this requirement for blood is that spilling more blood will please the kansen and produce a better effect. A maho-tsukai gains a Free Raise on his Spell Casting Roll for every additional amount of blood, equal to the required amount, which he spills. Thus, for a Mastery 1 spell, the caster gets a Free Raise for every additional 2 Wounds of blood he spills.

Worse than the blood which maho extracts, however, is the Taint that it inflicts. Although many maho-tsukai refuse to believe they are dabbling in the powers of Jigoku, in fact that is exactly what they are doing, and every time a maho-tsukai calls on the kansen, he opens himself to the Taint. Each time a maho-tsukai successfully casts a maho spell, he gains a number of points of Taint equal to one less than the Mastery Rank of the spell, to a minimum of 1 point.

When a maho-tsukai spills blood to cast a maho spell, he has the ability to take that blood from another person rather than himself. Naturally, most maho-tsukai are quite ruthless and will not hesitate to wound someone else to power their sinister magic. Wounding someone else to cast a spell can only be done if the target is cooperating (a cultist or other minion) or helpless. Examples of helpless targets would include someone who is tied up, unconscious or sleeping, or Stunned. Actually attacking someone to power a maho spell is impossible, since casting the spell is already a Complex Action