World
of Dimness
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World
Sundering World
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Thaumaturgy
General Rules
What is Thaumaturgy?
Thaumaturgy is the general magic of the world. The Thaumaturgist
is one who accesses the powers of the world and alters it by the use of
carefully created rituals, paths of magic and paths of power.
Some rituals can only be done with a great deal of preparation while others
can be done in moments.
Thaumaturgy came about in the early days of the age of reason. When
science and observable phenomenon became the path to information the common
power of magic began to fade. At that point the magus of the day
were forced to invent the primary paths of thaumaturgy or lose their power.
How to Play a Thaumaturgist?
Thaumaturgy is a practice in patience. To be an accomplished thaumaturge
takes months or even years of practice. Thaumaturgists also tend
to be characters steeped in mystery. So much of their life is taken
up by the practice and constant renewing of old skill. This combined
with a serious desire on the part of most Thaumaturgists to continue the
mystery.
The Cost - character creation note
The cost for a primary path of Thaumaturgy is as follows:
| Freebie points | Buying | IP | Buying |
| 10 / dot | 1 dot Thaumaturgy (clan)* | 400 IP clan 750 normal | 1st dot before game begins ** |
| 14 / dot | 1 dot Thaumaturgy (normal) | 350 IP clan 650 normal | 1st dot after game begins ** |
| 50 IP x level (clan) | dot in Thaumaturgy | ||
| 80 IP x level (normal) | dot in Thaumaturgy | ||
Primary Paths of Thaumaturgy
There are six common primary paths of Thaumaturgy. The primary path of
Thaumaturgy is where the energy comes to work the magic. This path also
defines the maximum level of ritual you can learn. Not all rituals
directly cost a point of power but at least 1 ability in each path allows
one to access the power source of their path. The primary paths are
either defined by the physical limitations of a particular being (Vitae
and Blood Thaumaturgy) or the magical philosophical tradition that they
hail from (all the rest).
The six common primary paths of Thaumaturgy are:
Earthly Thaumaturgy - This is the magical power inherent in the spirits of the Earth present everywhere. One accesses this power through the gods of Earth.
Godly Thaumaturgy - This is the magical power of God. It is the only priestly magic allowed except for true faith. One gains extra power for Godly deeds.
Spirit Thaumaturgy - This primary path may be learned by any. It uses the power found in the spiritual life to gain extra power. Sacrifices are one of the powers.
Vitae Thaumaturgy - This primary path can only be used by those Connected to the power of life. It uses the power of the World's life force.
Paths of Power
The Thaumaturgy practitioner as well as having access to the abilties of
his chosen path may also learn additional paths of power. These paths
are usually quite narrowly and simply defined. These paths take 10x(GF-1)xlevel
to purchase with IP and may not be purchased with freebie points at all.
(If the storyteller wants it to be possible in his game he should give
a few IP to start the game)
See Wholistic Psychic Gift
system. Therefore, the more powerful and versatile a path is the cheaper
it is.
All paths except the primary paths are limited to level 5. No path
of power may go over the level of the score in the Primary Path of Thaumaturgy.
Paths of power require an individual
skill in its use to use effectively (though a few may not storyteller's
descresion)
Rituals
Rituals contain five essential aspects. These aspects are: Level,
components, casting time, effect time, effect and cost. Everything
else is description (often necessary description). The level of the
ritual defines how much training in a primary path of Thaumaturgy you must
have to be able use that effect (ie dots in Thaumaturgy). It has
no real connection to how skilled you are but is instead defines the amount
of connection you have to your power source. Components come in four
types: somatic (body motions) verbal (verbal speech) material (some necessary
object) and preparation (long drawn out preparation that is not actually
part of the ritual). The casting time of a ritual ranges between
seconds to days in length of time. Effect time is how long the effect
lasts ranging from instant to permanent. The effect is what the spell
actually does broken down in to the nitty gritty. Cost is how many
vitae (or blood the spell takes to cast).
All rituals require the use of a skill called Rituals. The Rituals
skill is identical for all paths of Thaumaturgy.
Rituals among a magical organization are actually fairly common.
For anyone belonging to a magical organization (Settites, Demonkin magical
family, Alexandrian line, Order of Hermes, Bubasti) have 5x level rituals
to begin with and may bargain for more with their peers. For anyone
who does not belong to such an organization they have 3x level rituals
to begin but must work considerably harder to get new rituals.
A character may pay 1 freebie point for 3 extra ritual levels or 1 freebie
point for 6 extra levels if the character doesn't know them yet and the
player has no choice about the particular rituals.
The base difficulty to cast a ritual
is 13 + 3/level. Some rituals might have modifiers to this cost.
The Thaumaturgist must roll Magical + Rituals + d10 to cast a ritual.
Learning Rituals
If the character has the ritual in
hand (or has a teacher) now he has to learn the ritual. The ritual
takes 25 x level of ritual to learn. The Storyteller may add multipliers
to cost at their discresion. To create a ritual requires 200 x level
and again may have modifiers added.
If the character is not completely
fluent in the language of the ritual (or teacher) add a multiplier equal
to 9-language level/2 (note no 1/2 modifier at 8) to the cost of the ritual.
Always round up. Example: Joe wants to learn a 1st level ritual written
in Chinese. He picked up Chinese to the +4 level (9-4 = 5 /2 = 2.5)
therefore to buy the ritual costs 25 x 2.5 = 63 IP.
Ceremonial Magic
You can't go very far before you find stories of ten mages getting together
for the casting of a major effect. This alternative rule is added
to allow for this possibility. The character requires and extra skill
in Ceremony. Anytime a roll is required using thaumaturgy the lowest
roll is used (between their rituals and Ceremony skill)
See the text on Ceremonial Magic.
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