AGIC

Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.

Magic is the manipulation of the forces of the universe by means not fully understood. Magic is often described as supernatural, but truly there is no such thing. If it exists, it is natural. You just need a better understanding of nature.

Wizards have the ability to tap the energies around us, channel them and mold them into some form or action. The use of magic is about control. It takes as much effort to create a delicate and complex effect as it does to unleash a deadly inferno.

In Industrious Sorcery magic is available to all. Just about anyone can learn to use magic if they choose, and many non-mages may know a spell or two for their particular needs. In fact, many mundane skills have a magical component to them.

Magic Skills

Spells are skills which are purchased and improved in the same manner as non-magical skills. Most spells have a variety of applications and effects. A person with the Fire Starter skill can shoot a bolt of fire, launch a fireball, cause a pillar of flame to erupt from the ground, or light his pipe. As with other skills, spells can have a specialization, a specific effect that the caster is particularly good at performing.

When attempting a spell, add the spell skill another skill appropriate to the situation. It is perfectly acceptable to combine non-magic skills with magic. For instance, a psychic detective could combine a Divination type skill with Gather Information or Search.

The spell has a base difficulty determined by the complexity and power of the spell. Most spells scale, allowing the mage to cast the spell at a higher level of difficulty for greater effect. The spell description may list multiple difficulties, or you can reference Appendix 1: Spell Conversion Charts for altering spells.

The player rolls for the attempt. The total successes are first compared to the spell difficulty to determine if the spell went off. If successful, the Effect Value applies to the result. For damaging spells the successes translate to extra damage dice. For other spells extra success extends the duration of the spell. If the roll fails usually nothing happens, but the mage receives a Stun wound for the next round. If the mage is stunned two rounds in a row they receive whatever physical wound is next on their character sheet.

Assuming the spell was cast, the target of the spell makes a Dodge or Stubbornness defense roll using the successes from the casting attempt as their difficulty.

Dylan launches a bolt of fire at his opponent. It is a Difficulty 1 spell but he chose to cast it at Difficulty 3 so it will have a higher base damage. He rolls 4 successes. Good for him, the spell went off and he gets to roll an extra die for damage because of the Effect Value (one extra success). But first he has to hit his opponent, just casting the spell is not enough. His opponent now rolls Dodge versus Dylan's 4 successes. (In case of a tie, Dylan wins because he initiated the action. The Effect Value rule doesn't apply to this phase of the attack, just the casting phase.)