Magic Rules
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One of the defining elements of fantasy fiction is magic, and more specifically the Magic-users who wield it. Magic gives mere mortals the ability to call lightning from the sky, blast their enemies with balls of fire, or heal their allies of deadly wounds.
In Adventure’s Edge, anyone has the ability to learn magic if they put their mind to it. It takes patience and skill to master it, but most wielders of the arcane merely dabble in its mysteries. This chapter discusses the types of magic and how to use it; the following chapter contains a list of many spells available for spell casters to learn.
Types of Magic
Magic comes from the world around us and is harnessed by Magic-users to cast spells. Magic is divided into two classifications, Low Magic and High Magic. Low Magic comprises the simplest of spells, those castable by commoners and other non-magician classes. High Magic comprises the full range of magic and is wielded by Magic-users only.
Casting Spells
To cast spells, spell casters must meet certain requirements.
- They must have ranks in the spellcraft skill.
- They must know a spell or spell list.
- Magic users must have an F level equal to, or greater than the level of the spell that they are casting. Fighters and Rogues will only ever be able to cast Low Magic spells.
- They must have an Intelligence stat bonus equal to or greater than the level of the spell. Low Magic spells are all 1st level spells and require a 12 Intelligence. 
- They must have available Magic to cast the spell.
- They must have a spell focus, that being a wand or staff that they are attuned to. 
- They must be able to speak aloud words of power associated with the respective spell. 
Power needed to cast a spell
Casting a spell costs one point of Magic to cast, regardless of the level. Level 5 spells or higher also incur one point of Fatigue.
Time needed to cast a spell
Casting a spell takes a number of actions equal to the 1/2 the level of the spell (rounded up); Low Magic spells also require one action. If a spell takes more than one action, the preceding actions are called preparation actions.
Preparation actions
1st level spells are considered to be cast without “preparation”, in that there are no preceding actions that need to happen before the spell is cast. Higher-level spells require preparation actions, during which time the caster is vulnerable to having their spell disrupted. When a caster is preparing a spell, they are actively going through spell casting motions, preventing them from doing any other action including movement. Casters can move in between preparation actions.
Concentration and losing a spell
If a caster is preparing a spell and suffers a distraction, on their next turn they must make a DL15+level of the spell Discipline check. The primary cause of requiring a discipline check is injury; if the caster is struck or takes damage while preparing a spell, they must make the check; failure requires rolling on the Spell Casting Mishaps table. Discipline checks are modified by any Edge penalties that are affecting the character, from being wounded, grappled, or tossed about. Failing the concentration check requires a subsequent roll on the Spell Casting Mishaps table. If a character is stunned during a preparation round, they automatically lose the spell and roll on the mishap table.
| Spell Casting Mishaps | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Mental Block. Complete casting failure. Lose magic. Casting this spell is at -1 Edge until after a full rest. |
| 2-3 | Mana Spike. Internalize the spell, lose magic and take 2 Stun. |
| 4-6 | Mana Burn. Lose magic and take 1 HP damage. |
| 7-10 | Botch spell. The spell fails and produces a loud bang. Magic is lost. |
| 11-14 | Botch spell. The spell fails and produces a bright flash of light. Magic is lost. |
| 15-17 | Lose control. The spell fails, but magic is not lost. |
| 18-19 | Mishandle spell. Spell requires an additional action to complete.
Treat this action as a Preparation action. Roll spell attack again at -1 Edge. |
| 20 | Errant Spell.
For Directed spells, roll for off-target. Then roll spell attack on the first target in range in that line. If no available targets, spell goes off at maximum range. For Indirect spells, all targets in range roll Luck, lowest becomes new target. Include self in the roll. |
Spell components
In addition to time and power, there are two components to casting a spell - foci and verbal.
Caster’s can cast a spell missing one component, but they subtract one Edge from their spell attack roll and increase the DL by +5.
Foci components are physical items that a spell caster uses to focus their power. For Magic-users, this can be any number of objects including wands, staves, rods, or even bonded weapons; The key requirement for any foci is that they must be handheld and not worn. Foci are bonded items, and if a caster is not able to hold their foci, they are not able to use the foci component in their spell casting.
Verbal components vary between single shouted words to a litany of words or phrases. Some spells can be spoken in the caster’s common tongue, and some must be spoken in ancient magic languages. Some can be poetic, some chants or prayers, and some dark words of power. If a caster is unable to speak, or if their voice is muffled or muted in any way, they cannot use verbal components to cast a spell.
A magician unable to use their focus or speak cannot cast spells. 
Spell Casting Roll
Casting a spell requires a Spell Attack roll, even if there isn't a direct target of the spell. When there is no defense to cast against, the target to cast any spell is 5 plus the level of the spell. As with skills, if a caster is not at a minus Edge, and if their Spell Attack Bonus meets or exceeds the difficulty, they are not able to fail the spell. If a caster is at one or more minus Edge, they can always fail the spell by rolling two 1's.
For example, a Magician with a +8 Spell Attack Bonus wants to cast a 3rd level spell. The DL is 5+3=8. Under normal circumstances, they cannot fail the attack roll. If they are not able to present their wand, having been disarmed, they are now at minus one Edge and the DL increases by 5 to 13. This means they must roll at least a 5 on two D20's taking the lower roll, and failing to do so results in rolling 1d20 on the Spell Casting Mishaps table.
Natural 20’s
On directed spells, a natural 20 is a critical hit and the damage range is doubled. A second D20 is rolled to see where the target is struck, and damage is calculated against the DB of the struck location.
For indirect spells the caster can choose to scale one element of the spell for free if the spell is scalable or add a +5 to the DL of the spell to dispel it (if the spell has a duration).
Targeting spells
Spells are delivered one of four ways; casting them upon themselves, touching a target, directing the spell energy at the target, or indirectly at a target through intention.
- Self-spells and spells cast upon a willing target do not need an attack roll unless the caster is rolling at minus edge; in this case the minimum DL is 5+level of the spell.
- Touch spells are delivered by touching a willing target. If there are not environmental factors (such as losing an edge from being on a rocking ship), an attack roll isn’t necessary. However, if the target is unwilling and tries to avoid the touch, the caster must touch their target with a melee attack roll (the same as if they were trying to punch them), although a caster cannot combine a physical attack with the spell (i.e., it is still a touch, not actually a punch).
- Directed spells requires a spell attack roll as the caster is projecting the energy of the spell at their target. Most elemental attack spells are directed spells, but many others are too. Directed spells are always visible effects and require a spell attack roll against a target’s Defense Bonus. Targets are able to dodge spells, but unless they have another spell or magic item that allows it, spells cannot be parried.
- Indirect spells are targeted through intention and require line of sight unless specified otherwise, meaning the spell caster must see their target. There are some indirect spells that do not require line of sight, for example certain scrying spells rely upon visualizing the target. Indirect spells are rolled against the target’s Intelligence instead of their Defense Bonus.
| Drop / Off Target | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | 3-4 | 5-6 |
| 15-16 | 17-20 | 7-8 |
| 13-14 | 11-12 | 9-10 |
Learning a spell
For each rank in spellcraft acquired, any character with a 12 Intelligence can learn a number of Low Magic spells equal to their Intelligence bonus. Alternatively, Magic-users may learn a single spell list (or High Magic). Magic-users can always choose to learn a new selection of Low Magic spells in lieu of a spell list that level. Learning a new spell requires access to the spell (in written form) or a teacher who already knows the spell. Learning the new spell requires an associated knowledge check (DL equal to 10+Spell Level). If the character has the help of an instructor who knows the spell, they gain a +1 Edge for being aided. Each attempt to learn a spell requires one hour of focused study per spell level. If the caster fails their spellcraft check, she must wait until the next day before making another check for the same spell. Low Magic spells are treated as 1st level for learning purposes.
Some spell casters keep magical notebooks, commonly referred to as spell books, though a spell ‘book’ could just as easily be a stone tablet, carvings on a staff, or runes on polished stones. These spell books contain notes, diagrams, and musings on various spells, and allow spell casters to learn whatever spells they contain. Casters can acquire spells and record them in their own spell book for study until they have available skill points to learn new spells. Casters do not need a spell book to cast spells they already know.
Spell interactions
A number of spells can be used to cancel or interact with a spell that has already been cast. If not specified in the spell description, any spell that attempts to modify another spell goes against a DL equal to 15 plus the target spell level. If the spell being cast is lower than the target spell, the attack is at minus one Edge for each level lower; if it is higher than the target spell it gains one Edge for each level over. The bonus Edge are applied after the first roll for casting purposes. For example, if a Magician is trying to Dispel an existing spell and they are not at minus Edge for any reason, and they are casting their Dispel at one level higher than the target spell - they would roll their first Die to confirm their spell works at all, then they would roll their bonus Edge die and take the higher to see if they successfully dispelled the target spell. If they were at minus two Edge to their spell casting, perhaps from injury and missing their wand, they would roll their three dice to see if their spell goes off, keeping the lowest and discarding the other two, then they would roll the bonus Edge dice and choose the highest number from the pool. Essentially gaining or losing Edge as part of an interaction do not count towards a spell succeeding or failing, only towards defeating another spell.