[RPM] Post your rituals here

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless

On the other hand. If being immortal is as simple as casting a 37 energy spell every six months than anyone with a decent path of body skill is likely to be very long lived and your world will have a very high number of powerful wizards and witchs running around.

Yeah, this is where things in RPM get a bit dicey. A person not aging for 6 months means practically nothing. A person not aging for 6 years might cause some minor comments, but is easily excused away. A person not aging for 60 years results in pitchforks and torches or offerings of worship.

Similarly, healing 2d in a few seconds (an 11 energy spell) at TL 8 is noticeable but not world-shattering - you'll on average manage to negate a Major Wound. Healing 20d in a few minutes (by casting that 11 energy spell 10 times in succession) is a different story - you'll take someone from death's doorstep to fully healed.

In either case, if the GM has a problem, some sort of diminishing returns is needed. In the former, you can say, sure, a spell to not age for a given amount of time works as advertised for that time period, but if you keep recasting the same spell everything beyond the first duration is a temporary effect - a character who has maintained this spell for 20 years will instantly age 19 years and 6 months if it is dispelled or runs out without renewing it. If you want it to actually stop aging outright, you have to keep increasing the Duration cost - so you need to pay for a year's worth for the second 6-month period, 1.5 year's for the third, 2 years for the fourth, and so on. If you later let the spell expire (or it's dispelled) and want to recast it again, the actual duration of the new spell is equal to the Duration you pay for minus however long you've spent Unaging.

For example, we've got a witch who decides to cast the 37 energy spell to halt aging for 6 months. When the Duration is up, maintaining it for another 6 months costs 22 energy (1 year) instead of 16. The next two castings are 23 energy (2 years), the next two are 24 (3 years), and so on. Let's say she maintains it for 5 years, then it gets dispelled. She's still 5 years younger than she should be, but she'd rather like to go back to not aging, so she needs to recast. She decides to cast a version that lasts for a decade, costing 52 energy. As she's already spent 5 years Unaging, however, she only gets 5 years out of the spell, and needs to recast, at ever-increasing cost, every 10 years. If she had instead opted to not increase cost each time the duration ran out but just spend 16 energy each time, then when her spell was dispelled at the 5 year mark she would have instantly aged 4.5 years.

Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless

Maintain's Immortality:

Probably just a Quirk - "Always tries to have one particular spell activated." A [-5] Obsession might also fit, but that's probably the limit of it.

[Kalzazz]

I tend to assume for my settings that very very few competent casters ever die of old age

[ajardoor]

I think it is explictly stated in the RPM book that wiping out a mage's mana reserve is a Greater effect - presumably, the trade off is that you don't have to fuss about 'damage dice rolls' and just get a full zilch, without affecting the target's FP, HP or casting rolls.

Seems less swingy that way, less complex and makes the spell powerful enough for a Greater effect. That was my reading/preference, anyhow. Could just be mistaken, though.

[oneofmanynameless]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

I tend to assume for my settings that very very few competent casters ever die of old age

That works, but the quest for immortality is a time honored adventure!

Originally Posted by Varyon

Yeah, this is where things in RPM get a bit dicey. A person not aging for 6 months means practically nothing. A person not aging for 6 years might cause some minor comments, but is easily excused away. A person not aging for 60 years results in pitchforks and torches or offerings of worship.

Similarly, healing 2d in a few seconds (an 11 energy spell) at TL 8 is noticeable but not world-shattering - you'll on average manage to negate a Major Wound. Healing 20d in a few minutes (by casting that 11 energy spell 10 times in succession) is a different story - you'll take someone from death's doorstep to fully healed.

In either case, if the GM has a problem, some sort of diminishing returns is needed. In the former, you can say, sure, a spell to not age for a given amount of time works as advertised for that time period, but if you keep recasting the same spell everything beyond the first duration is a temporary effect - a character who has maintained this spell for 20 years will instantly age 19 years and 6 months if it is dispelled or runs out without renewing it. If you want it to actually stop aging outright, you have to keep increasing the Duration cost - so you need to pay for a year's worth for the second 6-month period, 1.5 year's for the third, 2 years for the fourth, and so on. If you later let the spell expire (or it's dispelled) and want to recast it again, the actual duration of the new spell is equal to the Duration you pay for minus however long you've spent Unaging.

For example, we've got a witch who decides to cast the 37 energy spell to halt aging for 6 months. When the Duration is up, maintaining it for another 6 months costs 22 energy (1 year) instead of 16. The next two castings are 23 energy (2 years), the next two are 24 (3 years), and so on. Let's say she maintains it for 5 years, then it gets dispelled. She's still 5 years younger than she should be, but she'd rather like to go back to not aging, so she needs to recast. She decides to cast a version that lasts for a decade, costing 52 energy. As she's already spent 5 years Unaging, however, she only gets 5 years out of the spell, and needs to recast, at ever-increasing cost, every 10 years. If she had instead opted to not increase cost each time the duration ran out but just spend 16 energy each time, then when her spell was dispelled at the 5 year mark she would have instantly aged 4.5 years.



Probably just a Quirk - "Always tries to have one particular spell activated." A [-5] Obsession might also fit, but that's probably the limit of it.

If you assume that if the spell is broken you'll age instantly to your actual age and you're playing a character whose more than 100 years old then that'd be worth draining (with the aging modifier) for that spell, right?

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by ajardoor

I think it is explictly stated in the RPM book that wiping out a mage's mana reserve is a Greater effect - presumably, the trade off is that you don't have to fuss about 'damage dice rolls' and just get a full zilch, without affecting the target's FP, HP or casting rolls.

It does indeed state that Greater Destroy Magic can do this, but doesn't specify if just that effect is sufficient or if you'd need to combine it with something else. The other examples for Greater Destroy Magic are all Altered Traits (Removed Advantages), meaning that could be the same (although I think your interpretation is probably correct as to the author's intent). I'm not a big fan of absolute effects, however, so I'd prefer to go with Lesser Destroy Magic and ER damage.

Originally Posted by oneofmanynameless

If you assume that if the spell is broken you'll age instantly to your actual age and you're playing a character whose more than 100 years old then that'd be worth draining (with the aging modifier) for that spell, right?

What do you mean by "draining (with the aging modifier)" here?

[oneofmanynameless]

Originally Posted by Varyon

What do you mean by "draining (with the aging modifier)" here?

I mean the Draining disadvantage with the modifier which makes you age in addition to taking damage.

[ajardoor]

Dormant Undeath
Spell Effects: Lesser Create Undead.
Inherent Modifiers: Duration + Duration + Subject Weight.
Greater Effects: 0 (x1).

The subject of this curse, if not resisted, will be doomed to rise again as an undead creature (a zombie, by default) once killed if within the duration of the spell (12 hours, by default). Once animated, the zombie lasts for a secondary duration (1 day, by default). The spell itself does not cause any damage to the subject, nor will it control the resulting undead creature - but that is good enough to make a deployable monster out of an easily killed enemy to create chaos in the opposition ranks. A Greater Create Undead effect would work for a Wight, Crimson Head or Vampire.

Typical Casting: Lesser Create Undead (6) + Duration, 12 hours (6) + Duration, 1 day (7) + Subject Weight, 300 lbs. (3) + Range, 10 yards (4). 26 energy (26x1).


Find the Heart
Spell Effects: Greater Strengthen Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: Bestows a Bonus, all attack and damage rolls with the melee weapon.
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

This spell is cast upon a melee weapon. It provides a bonus of +3 to all attack and damage rolls with the ensorcelled melee weapon for the duration of the spell.

Typical Casting: Greater Strengthen Matter (3) + Subject Weight, 30 lbs. (1) + Bestows a Bonus, +3 to attack and damage rolls with the melee weapon (20) + Duration, 10 minutes (1). 75 energy (25x3).

[ajardoor]

Disable Firearms
Spell Effects: Lesser Destroy Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: Area of Effect.
Greater Effects: 0 (x1).

All ammunition loaded into any sort of firearm is rendered inert by this area effect (20 yards radius, by default) spell - including the caster's own loaded firearm, if an exception is not made (a caster could simply not load the gun before casting, or attach a charm to the gun that undoes the spell). Loading the gun with new ammo would fix the problem, but NOT immediate action, as the problem is not a jam but a bullet defect. This is a great spell for a charm or conditional trigger, set to go off if the caster is threatened with a gun.

Typical Casting: Lesser Destroy Matter (5) + Subject Weight, 10 lbs. (0) + Area of Effect, 20 yards radius (12). 17 energy (17x1).

[Angle]

Here's a set I made up for an elementalist character. The character has the adjustable spell perk for path of energy and path of matter, so most of these are cheaper for her.

Spoiler:  

Grasp of Earth
Causes the Earth beneath the targets to grab their feet and hold them tight.

Spell Effects: Lesser Control Matter
Iherent Modifiers: Affliction: No Legs, Sessile
Greater Effects: 1 (x3)

Typical Casting: Greater Control Matter (6) Affliction: No Legs, Sessile (10) Range: 10 yards (4), Area of Effect: 5 yards radius (4) Duration: 30 Minutes (2), Subject Weight: 1000 lbs (4) 90 Energy (30x3)

Earthhammer Blessing
Enhances the earthen affinity of a crushing weapon made of Iron, Steel, or Stone.

Spell Effects: Lesser Strength Matter
Inherent Modifiers: Narrow Bonus: Crushing Damage from a weapon made of iron, steel, or stone.
Greater Effects: 0 (x1)

Typical Casting: Greater Strengthen Matter (3), Narrow Bonus: Crushing Damage from a weapon made of iron, steel, or stone +4 (8), Duration: 1 Week (9) Subject weight: 30 lbs. (1) 14 Energy (14x1)

Rock Bullet:
Accelerates a rock in the users hand at an opponent, dealing crushing damage.

Spell Effects: Greater Control Matter
Inherent Modifiers: External Crushing Damage
Greater Effects: 0 (x3)

Typical Casting: Lesser Control Matter (6), External Crushing Damage 9d (8) 42 Energy (14x3)

Air Jet
Spell Effects: Greater Control Matter.
Inherent Modifiers: Damage, External Crushing (Double
Knockback; Jet; No Wounding).
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

Typical Casting: Lesser Create Matter (6) + Damage, Exter-
nal Crushing 9d (8) Enhancements Double Knockback, +20%; Jet, +0%; No Wounding, -50% (1). 45 energy (15×3).

Zephyr Blessing
Enhances the targets wind affinity, making them more agile.

Spell Effects: Greater Control Energy
Inherent Modifiers: Altered Traits: Increased Basic Speed

Typical Casting: Greater Control Energy (6), Altered Traits: Increased Basic Speed 1 (20) Subject Weight: 300 lbs (3), Duration 10 Minutes (1) 90 Energy (30x3)

Icy Gust
Spell Effects: Lesser Create Energy, Lesser Destroy Energy
Inherent Modifiers: Damage, External Crushing (No wounding, Double Knockback), Damage, External Fatigue (Hazard: Freezing), Area of Effect

Typical Casting: Lesser Create Energy (6), Lesser Destroy Energy (5), Damage, External Crushing 4d (4), Modfiers: No wounding, Double Knockback (1), Damage, internal Fatigue 2d (8), Modifiers: Hazard: Freezing (4) Area Of Effect 5 yards radius (2), Range: 10 yards radius (4), Subject weight: 1000 lbs, (4) 34 energy (34x1)

Wall of Fire
Spell Effects: Greater Create Energy
Inherent Modifiers: Burning Damage, Area Effect, Range, Enhancements: Persistent, Wall: Permeable
Greater Effects: 1 (x3)

Typical Casting: Greater Create Energy (6), Damage 3d buring (0), Area Effect 5 yards (15 yards of wall) (4) Enhancements: Persistent, Flexible Permeable wall, Extended Duration 3x (24) 102 Energy (34x3)

Fireball
Spell Effects: Greater Create Energy
Inherent Modifiers: Burning Damage, Enhancements: Explosion
Greater Effects: 1 (x3)

Typical Casting: Lesser Create Energy (6), Burning Damage 6d (8), Enhancements: Explosion 3 (20) 102 Energy (34x3)

Swarm of Embers
Causes several balls of fire to fly from a source of fire wthin arms length and assualt a target of your choice.

Spell Effects: Greater Control Energy
Inherent Modifiers: Burning Damage, Enhancements: Homing, Rate of Fire
Greater Effectes: 1 (x3)

Typical Casting: Greater Control Energy (6), Burning Damage 3d (0), Enhancements: Homing, Rate of Fire 7 (24) 90 Energy (30x3)

Wall of Icicles
Creates a wall Made of gigantic Sharpened Icicles with DR 9 and 2 HP. The wall stretches 15 yards in length by default, and lasts 30 seconds.

Spell Effects: Greater Create Matter, Lesser Destroy Energy
Inherent Modifiers: Damage: External Impaling, Modifiers: Persistent, Flexible Rigid Wall, Extended Duration x3, Damage: Internal Fatigue, Modifiers: Hazard: Freezing, Follow up, Area of Effect

Typical Casting: Greater Create Matter (6), Lesser Destroy Energy (5), Damage: External Impaling 3d (0) Enhancements: Persistent, Flexible Rigid Wall, Extended Duration x3 (24), Damage: Internal Fatigue 2d (8), Enhancemets: Hazard: Freezing, Follow Up (4) Area of Effect 5 yards (15 yards of wall) (4) 153 (51x3)

Fog
Completely blocks vision inside the effected area.

Spell Effects: Lesser Create Matter
Inherent Modifiers: Area of Effect.
Greatr Effects: 1 (x3)

Typical Casting: Lesser Create Matter (6), Area of Effect 5 Yards Radius (4), Duration: 30 minutes (2) 17 Energy (17)

Purify Water
Spell Effects: Lesser Control Matter
Inherent Modifiers: Subject Weight

Typical Casting: Lesser Control Matter (6) Subject Weight, 10 lbs (0) 6 Energy (6x1)

[ericthered]

I just built a big set of rituals and I thought I'd post them. Some of them are pretty basic, but also pretty important. This set of rituals was made with a witch specializing in countering other mages in mind. I talk about good use as well as the effects.

I'm still wondering a few things:

1) if a mage has their casting ability taken away by magic, do their charms still work? This is important because one of the charms is meant to restore a casters powers --

2) If I want to reinforce armor, (lets say I want to make an injury resistant leather coat, harry Dresden style), Am I bestowing a bonus, adding a trait (DR) or doing something else?

3) how does the 'flaming sword' build work? Right now the last ritual in the list is that spell, and its just taking object weight, duration, and the external damage numbers (*3 the listed). Is that legal? Relatedly, if I want to give someone the ability to throw fire balls for 10 minutes, how does that work?

Feel free to critique any of the rituals, though I am most concerned about the ones above.

Rituals

Spoiler:  

Create Gate
Spell Effects: Greater Create Crossroads.
Inherent Modifiers: Speed, Duration.
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

This spell creates an open gate from one place to the other that persists for 10 minutes. Its easy to see, but is a very useful spell if you can't find an existing gate that goes where you want to.

Typical Casting: Greater Create XR (6) + Speed 500 mi/sec (32) + duration 10 minutes (+1) = 114 (38*3)


Banisher:
Spell Effects: Greater Create Crossroads,lesser control spirit, lesser sense spirit
Inherent Modifiers: Range.
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

finds the nearest demon within 10 feet and sends it back to hell. This ritual is almost always cast as a charm.

Greater create XR(6) + lesser control spirit(5)+ lesser sense spirit(2)+ 10 yard range (5) = (18)*3 = 54

Curse Killer:
Spell Effects: Greater Destroy Magic, Lesser Sense Magic
Inherent Modifiers: Subject Weight, range, subject weight.
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

Curse killer is a powerful spell aimed at destroying other spells. When cast upon a subject it goes through all spells on the target and dispels them, starting with the largest it can dispel and working its way down until it runs out of energy.

A different but very similar ritual is aimed at areas rather than subjects

Greater Destroy Magic (5)+ Lesser Sense Magic(2)+ range 10 yards (4) Subject Weight 5 tons (6) + fluff (3) = 60 (20*3)

Standard Ward:
Spell Effects: Lesser Control Magic, Lesser Control Undead, Lesser Control Spirits
Inherent Modifiers: area, duration
Greater Effects: 0 (x1).

A basic ward to keep out spells, undead, and spirits. It should be noted while this ritual is useful, it may be a better idea to split this into three separate wards, letting you use higher path skills and making seperate wards (if a mage hammers this ward it will be weaker against demons). On the other hand, the ritual in this form is compact and can be taken as a single ritual mastery, grimoire, or charm, which can represent some major savings.

Lesser Control Magic(5) + Lesser Control Undead(5) + Lesser control Spirits (5) + area 70 yards (9*2=18) + duration 2 months (12) = 45 energy

Alarm System:
Spell Effects: Lesser sense magic, Lesser sense spirit, Lesser sense undead, lesser control matter
Inherent Modifiers: area, duration, excluded beings
Greater Effects: 0 (x1).

Detects supernatural creatures approaching or spells cast within the area monitored. The default ritual rings a bell when triggered (the control matter). The triggers that can be used instead are myriad and individual casters will likely choose a path to their choosing: Sense mind for a mental cue, create energy for an audible cue or a visual flash, and so forth.

Lesser sense magic (2)+ Lesser sense spirit (2)+ Lesser sense undead (2)+ lesser control matter (5) + area effect 1/2 mile (16*2 = 32) +duration 2 months (12) + exclude self (1) =56

Neutralize Caster:
Spell Effects: Greater Destroy Magic
Inherent Modifiers: subject weight, duration, range
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

An extremely useful spell when facing other casters, this spell is almost always prepared as a conditional spell (because you know the opposing caster is going to be relying on his conditionals). It deprives him of the ability to cast. This spell is often worth padding with energy so it doesn't fizzle. This spell is often not make as a charm because it blocks itself -- if its the bigger of the two spells!

The example given is a small version of the spell, and probably unsuitable for the contest described above.

Greater Destroy Magic (5) + subject weight 300lbs (3) + duration 1 hour (3) + range 10 yards (4) =20*3 = 60

Restore Spell Casting
Spell Effects: Greater Restore Magic
Inherent Modifiers: subject weight, duration
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

This ritual is almost always cast as a charm (and so the typical casting below is), because its made to restore the ability of a caster! This does not dispell the effect that deprives the mage of the magic -- if the duration runs out, the caster will be robbed of his magic once again!

I am frankly not sure if a charm still works if the caster has been robbed of his magic. If so, this is one case where a caster wants to keep someone else's charms around! The charm could be purchased, or two mages could have an agreement with each other: you keep my charm valid and I'll keep yours valid.

Greater Restore Magic (4) + lesser control magic (5) + subject weight 300lbs (3) + duration 1 day (7) = 19*3=57


Death Net:
Spell Effects: Lesser Sense Body, lesser Restore Body
Inherent Modifiers: duration, healing.
Greater Effects: 0 (x1).

often cast just before going into combat or constantly on by particularly paranoid hunters, Death Net heals a subject when they fall unconscious. while not always enough to regain conciousness, it stops bleeding and leaves the hunter in a much safer condition.

This spell has many variations. It can be cast as a conditional spell to save on long durations. A sense mind and range effect are often added to alert comrades to the subjects condition. The tigger can be set to if the subject is slowed by wounds or after their first injury rather than on unconsciousness. And the Restore body effect can be made Greater to increase the healing to an amount that can actually bring the subject back to health.

Lesser sense Body (2) + Lesser Restore body (4) + 1 day (7) + 2d damage healed (4) = 17

Death Wall:
Spell Effects: Lesser Strengthen Body
Inherent Modifiers: bestow a bonus, subject weight, duration.
Greater Effects: 0 (x1).

This spell keeps the subject from dying. It is often cast as a precation to make battle (and critical failures on spells) more survivable. It is compatible with death net and the two sync well together: death wall allows large wounds to be survivable, and death net stabilizes the subject.

Lesser Strengthen Body(3) + bestow a bonus (moderate range): +4 to death checks (16) + subject weight 300 lbs(3) + duration 1 week (10) = 48

Untouchable:
Spell Effects: Lesser Control Chance
Inherent Modifiers: bestow a bonus, subject weight, duration.
Greater Effects: 0 (x1).

This spell grants the subject the ability to move just right, moving out of the way of bullets and crossbows instinctively. It does not work against guns used in a melee fashion at close range, and the subject still needs to be aware of the attack. Some casters like to vary this to add danger sense (sense chance + added attribute) for another 17 points, or adding it as a different ritual.

Lesser Control Chance (5) + subject weight 300lb (3) +5 to dodging ranged missiles -- moderate bonus (32) + duration(week) (9) = 49


Spirit Scout:
Spell Effects: lesser create spirit,lesser Create Mind,lesser sense mind(2)
Inherent Modifiers: subject weight,range,duration
Greater Effects: 0 (x1).

This spell creates a small spirit spy. The creature is built like a monkey, coloured to be easy to camouflage, and about 3 inches tall. A mental connection allows the creature to report to the caster and the caster to direct it. Due to create spirit and create mind being lesser, any damage dissipates the creature, any spell cast on it dissipates the creature, and many obstacles require direct supervision for it to overcome. This spell is usually used in places where small animals are hard to come by.

lesser create spirit (6)+lesser Create Mind (6)+lesser sense mind(2)+subject weight 10lbs (0)+range 1 mile (18)+duration 1 day (7) = 39


Flaming Knife:
Spell Effects: Greater Create Energy
Inherent Modifiers: damage, duration, weight
Greater Effects: 1 (x3).

Turns a mildly dangerous blade (in the hands of a witch) into a searing weapon a monster will actually give some respect.

Greater Create Energy (6) + 5d damage (3) + duration 10 minutes(1) + weight 10 lbs (0) = 10*3 = 30