Mechanics of Power

BASIC RULES FOR SPELL CASTING

These are the simplified rules for spell casting in Bardic Tales. They are designed to be rule-of-thumb no-thought applications for quickie spell casting. They can be used by people who don't want to go too crazy with magic or want to do combats in a hurry. If I have given you costs and data already your current information overrides this information.

GENERAL INFO

A general skill adds three percent per [RANK] if the spell is under the umbrella of the general skill. Any Sorcery, Working, Ritual, Rite or Incantation of the same basic type can be used as a secondary (3% per rank, Maximum of 2) Any other SCF skill even vaguely related can be used as a tertiary (1% per RANK, Maximum of 2).

Modifiers to Spell Casting

MAGE_TRANCE: Adds 15% plus 3% per RANK in MAGE TRANCE if successful. Takes 30 counts and 6 MEN to implement.

SET_UP: Adds 5% per COUNT of set-up up to (KIF/2 + 10) counts or the base success chance, whichever is lower.. (If the casting is measured in units other than counts the set up must also be measured in those units.)

MODS: See the Situational Modifiers. They include: fatigue (endurance and exhaustion), wounds (HTK and POW), and environment (cover for targeting, movement) Spell casting is run as missile use.

TOUCH: Touch adds 10% + 1% per count in contact with a maximum of SCF but never lower than 10%. "contact time" can include casting time!

FOCUS: A general focus is worth +10 or 5 points of POW; a specific focus is worth +20 or 10 points of POW; a personal focus is worth +30 or 15 points of POW. A focus takes 8 cts to apply

SPELL POINTS

Spell points are the things that power spells. They are drawn from the environment or some battery or power source. Mages draw in spell points from the environment at SCF/5 per count. They always have SCF/2 around them. Spell points are generated in basically three ways:

1) Use of MENTAL ENDURANCE (MEN). The ratio is that one MEN equals one SPELL POINT unless declared otherwise.

a) in basic rules return is one MEN per 10 counts.

2) Use of POWER (POW). Ratio is one POW equals one SPELL POINT unless declared otherwise.

3) Use of a POWER SOURCE such as a battery, node line, or a feed from a thaumaturge or other source. This still costs. The cost is one MEN or POW for every 10 SPELL POINTS used.