Troupe: Doomsday uses an ad-hoc magic system: there are no pre-written spells, spell slots, or spell points. Using magic works like any other challenge in the game.
Magic Concepts
At a high level, every spell that is attempted will have an Effect, Duration, and Magnitude. To minitgate the riks of spellcasting, sorcerers will often use sympathetic components.
- Effect
- What the spell achieves. Read more about spell effects.
- Duration
- How long the spell’s effect lasts.
- Magnitude
- The difficulty of the spell to cast, represented as a number; when casting a spell, the sorcerer must achieve as many boons in the casting challenge as this number.
- Sympathetic components
- These are objects, reagents, and materials that help connect the sorcerer to the spell that they’re casting; they should form a link between the caster and the effect, the effect and the effect’s target, or between all three; the link can be physical, metaphorical, or symbolic. Read more about sympathetic components.
Spell duration
The longer a spell lasts, the higher the magnitude of the spell.
Spell Magnitude
Through discussing the desired effect and duration of that effect, a final number is arrived at. The sorcerer must then complete a spellcasting challenge as many or more boons as this number.
Casting spells
There are two different ways for a Character or Creature to invoke magic:
- Incantation
- Ritual
| Spellcasting Method | Casting Time | Effect Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Incantion | 1 exchange | 1 exchange |
| Ritual | 1 turn | 1 hour |
Incantation
The sorcerer performs the spell for 1 exchange.
- Double the performance time to increase the duration of the effect by one or reduce the strain cost by one.
- Double the magnitude to lengthen the spell duration from seconds to minutes or from minutes to hours.
Ritual
The sorcerer performs the spell for 1 Expedition Turn.
- Double the performance time to increase the duration of the effect by one or reduce the strain cost by one.
- Double the magnitude to lengthen the spell duration from hours to days, from days to weeks, or from weeks to months.
Magic schools
There are three schools of magic:
- Elementalism
- Elemental magic spells; read more about Elemental magic.
- Enchantment
- Spells to bring creatures under sway; read more about Enchantment.
- Mimicry
- Spells to imitate creatures’ abilities and powers; read more about Mimicry.