Game Mechanics for Simulating Magic

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Some spell effects are also categorized as Aggressive or Reactive. Usually Action Rolls are Aggressive and Defense Rolls are Reactive, but Perception is always Aggressive and Stealth is always Reactive. Other exceptions exist.

Magic Spells
Most magic is done with spells, which are treated as Narrow Skills. The dice value of the spell (SD) can be used alone, combined with your Magic dice to make a Second Roll, or combined with both Spirit and Magic to make an Action Roll. Most spells roll Spirit + Magic + SD.

Local Magic Resistance
A Threshold value which all magic Action Rolls must overcome. Special times or places can alter local magic resistance. In Burning Sky the default magic resistance is 3 dice.

Ectoplasmic Damage
Many spells use Ectoplasmic Damage (aka Ecto-Damage) which is computed differently from weapon damage. The general formula for Ectoplasmic Damage is 1 wound, V-1 fatigue, and 3 stun. Single-victory hits, however, do the same damage as weapons.

Restrictions on Learning Magic

 * You cannot have more dice in Magic than you have in Spirit.
 * You cannot have more dice in Magic than the total of all your spell dice.
 * You cannot have more dice in any individual spell than you have in Magic.

Sensing Magic
Any character with at least 1 die of Magic may spend a few minutes attempting to sense magic by rolling Spirit + Magic against a Threshold secretly determined by the GM. This Threshold represents the strength and distance of the magic, as well as any arcane protections against detection. Typically, each 10' of distance raises the Threshold by 1 die.

If successful the character senses there is magic either present or absent, perhaps as a tingling through your spine, a barely perceivable hum in the air, or some other fleeting quality that vanishes after only a moment. The sign is different for everyone, and most commoners are unaware of their own cues. Illusion magic normally cannot be detected in this way, as part of its power includes fooling rudimentary detection methods of this kind. A high number of victories may, at the GM's discretion, reveal more.

Boosting Spells
You may boost the power some spells by taking Fatigue Damage. For every point of Fatigue taken, add dice equal to your Magic dice to your roll. If your spell inflicts Damage, boosting increases that damage by 1 Fatigue/Victory (total, not per Fatigue taken).

Abbreviations
"V" means the number of Victories; "SD" means the number of dice in the spell; "VSD" means V + SD; “Fat” means Fatigue Damage.

Combat, Travel and Camp Magic
These are rough categories which suggest default values for various spells. V = victories; SD = spell dice (narrow skill dice); VSD = V + SD

Spell Alignments
Local areas may have different background thresholds for different kinds of spells. For this purpose spells are divided into the groups below. (The alignment and alignment group names are not perfect and may need changing.) Note that these alignments do not have any automatic connection with spell types such as "Golden", "Crimson", etc.

Dangers of Magic (in work)
[ Spell effect +/-, summon foe, temp increase/decrease in spirit, attract stalker, big "noise", stun self, twisted effect, personal spirit guide/pest, leave a trail or a marker, take damage, attract pests, ]