New metamagic: Spellweave, Comments welcome Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Outline Switch to: Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Eyeless Blond]

Had a bit of a brainstorm while readine the Wheel of TIme series, let me know what you think.

Spellweaving

Spellweaving is a way for initiates to temporarily sustain spells without concentration or expensive sustaining foci. This metamagic is actually two seperate techniques, lesser and greater. The lesser has no requirement other than the ability to cast spells; the greater also requires that the caster be able to use Conjuring [up for debate: require lesser weaving, plus Invoking?] . Only one of the two techniques can be learned as a single metamagic; to get the other requires another initiation.

In the lesser version, an initiate simply draws up a simple spell form (a Complex Action) and lets this "weave" sustain the spell for him, much as an elemental would using the Spell Sustaining service. Although very easy to create, such a weave is also very unstable. A spell sustainned in this way loses one point of Force for every (Grade) full Combat Turns it remains in the "weave". A spell that reaches 0 Force or is unable to meet the required Threshold (such as with Shapechange spells) immediately ends.

Just as a mage can take his sustained spell back from an elemental, so can an initiate take his spell back from a weave and sustain it himself; any loss of Force, however, accumulates and is permenant. Thus, a Grade 2 initiate who casts a Force 3 Magic Fingers spell, puts it into a weave for a Turn, takes it back, then puts it into another weave for three Turns will have a Force 1 Magic Fingers spell at the end of the last turn.

The greater version is somewhat trickier: the initiate conjures up what some theorize is a lesser form of an ally spirit or elemental (though this technique is not restricted by tradition; indeed it was a shaman who first discovered it) to sustain the spell for him, and then binds it to the spell. Conjuring this "weave spirit" must be done either while the initiate is sustaining the spell to be woven into it, or the spell must be cast immediately following the conjuration (on the initiate's next available action). The spirit must have a minimum Force equal to the spell being sustained, though there is no inherent upper limit.

Follow the normal rules for conjuring a nature spirit or elemental to determine Target Number and Drain, though no matter how many successes are earned on the Conjuring Test only the one "service" is earned. As with ally spirits, initiates who conjure a weave spirit must invest some of their own magic into the weave: the initiate must give the weave spirit one point of his own Magic attribute. This Magic point comes back to him when the weave spirit's service is finished (when the spell ends normally). If the weave spirit is destroyed, however (see Spell sigils below) the initiate must check for Magic Loss.

Spells sustainned in this way are much more stable than the lesser form, but still degrade over time. Use the same rules as above, but change the time from (Grade) Combat Turns to (Grade) hours. The spirit itself does not degrade, but vanishes (and returns the invested Magic point) if the spell ends, is dispelled, or concentration is reassumed by the caster.

Spell Sigils- The combination of a weave (or weave spirit) with its associated spell is typically called a sigil. Sigils are bright, glowing objects on the Astral plane, much like active foci. Their form depends on the initiate, but usually are small pictograms (shamans and hougans) or complex geometric shapes (hermetics, especially Pythagoreans). Sometimes the sigils themselves "float" in Astral space around the target, other times they stick directly to it. Either way sigils are very obvious when unmasked: when Assensing a sigil a single success tells the perciever the exact Force of the effect, and three successes tells the perciever the exact spell being sustained.

Sigils can be masked much like a normal sustained spell. Lesser sigils behave exactly as normal spells; greater sigils require the initiate mask both the spell and the weave spirit as seperate entities.

Destroying a sigil in astral combat is actually rather easy; they were never designed to take abuse. Treat attacking a sigil as you would attacking a focus or other astral object. In addition, every time the Force of the sigil decreases, the associated spell decreases in power as well, just as it does normally over time. Again, a sigil that reaches 0 Force or is unable to meet the required Threshold (such as with Shapechange spells) immediately ends.


How's that look?

(Edit: 5/31: changed the way greater weave spirits work, and gave initiates something different to think about.)

This post has been edited by Eyeless Blond: Jun 1 2005, 06:40 AM