Sorcery

Sorcery: Terrestrial (Emerald) Circle Sorcery | Celestial (Sapphire) Circle Sorcery | Solar (Adamant) Circle Sorcery
Necromancy: Shadowlands (Iron) Circle Necromancy | Labyrinth (Onyx) Circle Necromancy | Void (Obsidian) Circle Necromancy

The magic of Charms comes naturally to the Exalted, enhancing their Abilities and making impossible feats trivial. Yet there are feats more transcendentally difficult and powerful than jumping over mountains and taming societies to the Exalt's will. These feats are the work of sorcery—mastering the occult Essence flows of the world and shaping the Essence of Creation.

Not every Exalt studies this power. Weaving the Essence patterns of spells is demanding, torturous and dangerous. Sorcery is slow and awkward to use on a combat scale. Only the weakest spells brook interruption without risking the sorcerer's death, and only a few of the lesser effects have practical benefits when cast during a battle.

Where Do Sorcerers Come From?

Learning the secrets of sorcery is a process of initiation. The prospective sorcerer must overcome five trials—which is either considered part of the "training time" or played out, as the Storyteller and player feel appropriate. According to legend, the first person to overcome these trials and initiate herself was a Solar named Brigid.

The first trial is humility. The initiate must learn to see beyond his own hubris, often in the course of challenges impossible to finish, deliberate humiliation by a mentor or contemplation of past failures. Storytellers might encourage players to take the lead in describing this initiation, as players are sometimes resentful when their character is humiliated at the Storyteller’s hands. Brigid's humiliation was that she could not match the power of her peers—she had no skill in developing Charms.

The second trial is tutelage. The initiate must find a teacher—not necessarily a mentor as such, but a person or spirit able to give them a new insight. The Salinan College, a sorcerous academy of the First Age, encoded the principles of sorcery into the world. This ensures that the Solar Exalted can always find someone to bring them sorcerous wisdom. Even the greatest lost spells can be discovered again, given enough time, by those willing to listen to the secrets the world holds ready for them. Brigid's tutelage came from four powerful spiritual beings of uncertain provenance—presumably servants of the Unconquered Sun, although he has never spoken on the matter.

The third trial is a journey. The Lawgiver must wander and, through wandering, learn appreciation for the world as it is. Her glorious works may someday remake Creation, but the present matters as much as the future. The third trial is about understanding the importance of each moment of life. Brigid traveled to the elemental poles in pursuit of sorcery's secrets. The fourth trial is fear. The Solar must learn mastery over her darkest fear—whether a fear of losing her way, of causing others' deaths, of claiming her true power, of finding herself powerless or simply of "spiders." For Brigid, this fear was found at the end of her journey, when she faced the Unconquered Sun and feared herself unworthy of him.

The fifth trial is sacrifice. To become a sorcerer, one must make a terrible sacrifice. This trial is repeated when the sorcerer ascends to higher levels of initiation, so that a sorcerer who cuts off his finger or abandons a brother to learn Terrestrial Circle Sorcery might lose a portion of her sanity to reach the Celestial Circle and cast aside her own true love to master the Solar Circle. Brigid's sacrifice, if any, was unknown.

In the First Age, sorcery was widely known and practiced. There were vast libraries and colleges established to record and disseminate sorcerous lore. Only the youngest and weakest Celestial Exalted ignored the potential of these secrets, and initiation into the Terrestrial Circle was common for educated and cultured Dragon-Blooded. This infrastructure no longer exists. The knowledge of sorcery is scattered through the world, and mighty bargains must be struck and great quests undertaken to recover the more powerful spells.

Learning Sorcery in Play

Characters wishing to use sorcery must learn the Sorcery Charms (or, for necromancy, the Necromancy Charms. This is a process that requires initiation, and it teaches them the worldview and insights necessary to cast spells of the appropriate circle. This is not enough to begin casting, however. Spells in Exalted are too complex to cast from a book. The character must memorize a spell, internalizing its structure and precepts, and doing so costs experience points. The ability to cast spells—that is, to take sorcery actions—is useless unless the character also learns the specific spells he hopes to cast. Characters who wish to learn spells they cannot currently cast must have the Storyteller's permission.

Inventing Sorcery

Creating spells is demanding. It requires months or years of effort. The magician must have a properly stocked library to research magic and a testing field of some sort where everything living is expendable. In the First Age, magicians typically had their demon servants ferry them to rocky islets in the middle of the open ocean, where they could work their prodigies of destruction without fear of accidentally leveling a metropolis.

The mechanical process of creating a spell is simple—it is an extended dramatic action based on (Intelligence + Occult). The difficulty is equal to the spell's circle—1 for Terrestrial Circle spells, 2 for Celestial Circle spells and 3 for Solar Circle spells.

The Solar's player makes one roll for each 300 hours of dedicated research done by the character—one month's work, if the character dedicates herself to nothing else. She must accumulate a number of extra successes equal to (Circle x 10) to complete the construction of the spell. The use of an Occult Excellency is highly recommended.

If the Lawgiver is working from partial notes or attempting to recreate the effects of a well-known but lost spell, the player rolls (Intelligence + Lore) instead of (Intelligence + Occult). The amount of information she has about the spell proportionally reduces the number of successes required—if she knows half of the structure of a First Circle spell, she needs only five extra successes to figure out the rest.

Sorcery Actions

Using sorcery requires a sorcery action. Most characters cannot take sorcery actions, any more than they can take a fly action or a shapeshift action—that's why the character must first learn the appropriate Charms.

Shape Sorcery (General Rules)

Characters use sorcery actions to enact sorcerous rituals. This action type lets the character shape a single spell that he knows.

Shaping a spell takes the character out of active participation in a battle—he may operate on combat time, but he cannot focus on or react to events. He cannot use Charms or Combos, including reflexive Charms. He cannot take voluntary reflexive actions, such as speech, Move or Dash. He can benefit from the established effects of ongoing or permanent Charms, and he can—as a special exception to the rule on reflexive actions—activate his anima.

Sorcery is inherently Obvious. Observers might not know what spell the Exalt is casting, but it is obvious that the Exalt is using sorcery unless the spell description states otherwise.

If the character is distracted, then his player must make a reflexive (Wits + Occult) roll for the Exalt to keep his concentration. This roll is difficulty 1. If this distraction inflicts damage, subtract an external penalty equal to the health levels lost from the character's successes. If the roll fails, the spell dissipates harmlessly and has no effects. If the roll succeeds, the shaping effort continues. If the player botches the roll, the effects can be terrible. The magic might run terribly awry, or it could dissipate as brilliant heat and burning light. The consequences in the former case are left to the Storyteller. In the latter case, everyone within a number of yards equal to the spell's Circle takes a number of dice of lethal "Essence burn" damage equal to the sorcerer's Essence.

Essence spent on a spell is committed for the duration of the shaping. Once the character takes a Cast Sorcery action (see below) the Essence is no longer committed unless specifically stated. If the character loses the spell due to distraction, he refocuses on the world, and the player makes an immediate Join Battle roll.

Shape Terrestrial Circle Sorcery (Speed 5, DV -2)

The character shapes a Terrestrial Circle spell that he knows. Doing so always costs one temporary Willpower plus the Essence cost of the spell. The character can take a Cast Sorcery action as his next action, releasing the spell and rejoining any battle. If the character does not do so, consider the spell interrupted.

Some Terrestrial Circle spells have Speeds measured in long ticks or dramatic actions. War magic often takes effect on the military time scale, while long rituals are interruptible dramatic actions.

Shape Celestial Circle Sorcery (Two Actions—each Speed 5, DV -3)

The character shapes a Celestial Circle spell that he knows. Doing so always costs two temporary Willpower plus the Essence cost of the spell.

The character must take two full actions to shape the spell. He spends the motes and Willpower on the first of these two actions. The character can then take a Cast Sorcery action as his next action, releasing the spell and rejoining battle. If the character does not take these three actions in sequence, consider the spell interrupted.

Some Celestial Circle spells have Speeds measured in long ticks. The character must still take two full actions to shape the spell. Other spells have Speeds measured as a dramatic action, in which case the character may shape the spell as a single dramatic action of the length stated.

Shape Solar Circle Sorcery (Three Actions—each Speed 5, DV -4)

The character shapes a Celestial Circle spell that he knows. Doing so always costs three temporary Willpower plus the Essence cost of the spell.

The character must take three full actions to shape the spell. He spends the motes and Willpower on the first of these three actions. The character can then take a Cast Sorcery action as his next action, releasing the spell and rejoining battle. If the character does not take these four actions in sequence, consider the spell interrupted.

Some Solar Circle spells have Speeds measured in long ticks. The character must still take three full actions to shape the spell. Other spells have Speeds measured as a dramatic action, in which case the character may shape the spell as a single dramatic action of the length stated.

Cast Sorcery (Varies, DV -0)

Characters use this action to release the energies of a spell and refocus on the world. The character still cannot use Charms or Combos, including reflexive Charms. He still cannot takevoluntary reflexive actions. He still benefits from the established effects of ongoing or permanent Charms.

This action causes the spell to take effect. If there is an ongoing conflict, such as a battle or war, the character returns to active participation. Determine the Speed of this action by making a Join Battle roll.

Necromancy Actions

As the dark mirror of sorcery, necromancy requires the same sort of ritual actions to cast. Just like Shape Sorcery actions, Shape Necromancy actions make a character immobile and prevent him from using Charms or Combos, though he can still benefit from persistent effects. He cannot take any other actions, reflexive or otherwise, except to activate his anima effect.

Like sorcery, necromancy is Obvious, and players of characters distracted while casting must roll (Wits + Occult) at difficulty 1 to prevent the spell from failing. Each level of damage suffered from an attack that distracts a necromancer applies one point of external penalty to this roll.

Shape Shadowlands Circle Necromancy (Speed 5, DV -2)

The character shapes a Shadowlands Circle spell that she knows. Doing so always costs one temporary Willpower plus the Essence cost of the spell. The character can take a Cast Necromancy action as her next action, releasing the spell and rejoining any battle. If she doesn't, consider the spell interrupted.

Some spells have Speeds measured in long ticks or dramatic actions. War magic often takes effect on the military time scale, while long rituals are interruptible dramatic actions.

Shape Labyrinth Circle Necromancy (Speed 5, DV -3)

The character shapes a Labyrinth Circle spell that she knows. Doing so always costs two Willpower points, plus the Essence cost of the spell.

The character must take two full actions to shape the spell. She spends the motes and Willpower on the first of these two actions. The character can then take a Cast Necromancy action as her next action, releasing the spell and rejoining battle. If the character does not take these three actions in sequence, consider the spell interrupted.

Some Labyrinth Circle spells have Speeds measured in long ticks. The character must still take two full actions to shape the spell. Other spells have Speeds measured as a dramatic action, in which case the character may shape the spell as a single dramatic action of the length stated.

Shape Void Circle Necromancy (Speed 5, DV -4)

The character shapes a Void Circle spell that she knows. Doing so always costs three Willpower points, plus the Essence cost of the spell.

The character must take three full actions to shape the spell. She spends the motes and Willpower on the fi rst of these three actions. The character can then take a Cast Necromancy action as her next action, releasing the spell and rejoining battle. If the character does not take these four actions in sequence, consider the spell interrupted.

Some Void Circle spells have Speeds measured in long ticks. The character must still take three full actions to shape the spell. Other spells have Speeds measured as a dramatic action, in which case the character may shape the spell as a single dramatic action of the length stated.

Cast Necromancy (Varies, DV -0)

Characters use this action to loose a spell's effects and refocus from the twisting necromantic energies of the Underworld to the world around her. She still cannot use Charms or Combos or take any voluntary reflexive actions.

The spell now takes effect. If the character is taking part in any ongoing conflict, her player now makes a Join Battle roll for her to rejoin the fray.

No Moon Anima

The No Moon anima ability can be devastating when using sorcery for combat. As described in Exalted and in The Manual of Exalted Power—The Lunars, the anima ability does not mention necromancy. When your game includes necromancy, the No Moon anima affects necromancy identically to sorcery.

Necromancy and Blood

Lifeblood is more than just a viscous, red liquid. It is the symbol of both life and death, and it contains both Essence and meaning. Ghosts and other dead things desire blood because they lack it. They lust for it, and they are tied to it. Blood has power over the things of the Underworld. Even though the spells don't necessarily mention it, any spell that directly affects ghosts involves spilling blood. Doing so may require nothing more than jabbing a finger to shake a drop of blood on the ground (an Abyssal Exalt's bleeding caste mark fills the requirement, too). The blood captures and focuses the necromancer's Essence, aligning it with the ghosts she desires to affect. The amount of blood required is small enough that it causes no real harm. Most necromancers have no problem with the need (and keep a ready supply of bandages). A few others, such as nephwracks or the Deathlords themselves, find this more of an issue. They must take blood from the living, and generally take far more than they need.

Spell Format

Each spell lists its cost in motes—not counting the Willpower necessary to invoke the spell—and the target of the spell. It then proceeds to a description.