Magic

Magic is RARE but beyond that it is also subtle, slow and

meticulous. Some people believe or

whisper about it but while they may

have claimed to have seen it in

person, no one has ever really seen a fireball or magic missile. Most

times when magic was used to kill it

was more likely them drowning

nowhere near a body of water or

their body burning from the inside.

School vs Spell Spells differ from spell

categories. In Genesys the magic

system lists several broad open categories; Attack, Augment,

Barrier, etc. Individual spells

achieve a more specialized task. To

better clarify things, these categories

will be referred to from here on as Schools of magic. We will use 'spell'

for individual task or rituals that

produce magical effects.

Some Schools have additional skill level requirements. Table 3.1:

Requirements shows what rank a

character needs to have to learn any

given School.

REQUIRMENTS

School Skills Rank

Attack All 3

Augment All 1

Barrier Arcane & Divine 1

Conjure Arcane & Primal 2

Curse Arcane & Divine 1

Dispel Arcane & Divine 2

Divination All

Heal Diving & Primal 1

Utilty All 1

Starting Magic As the character advances

they will want to unlock more Schools so they can cast spells from

these Schools. While a character

starts with one School for each rank

in their spellcasting skill, they must spend 5XP for each additional

School after game play has begun. A

character cannot have more Schools

than they have ranks in their

spellcasting skill. Individual spells on the other hand can only be

learned if the character has the

appropriate School. It cost 1XP per

spell the character would like to know at the start of the game. There

is no limit to the number of spells a

character can know.

Rite vs Spell There are two types of spells; Rite and Spells. Rites are spells that

have been carefully crafted and

practiced repeatedly over decades or

even centuries by many different

spellcasters. Every aspect of the Rite has been researched and crafted

making them far more effective than

Spells and even accomplish things

that seem nearly impossible. Rites can be found in Tomes and Scrolls

of Eldritch Knowledge or can be

taught to a character by a mentor or

some other being.

Spells on the other-hand are crafted by characters using their

knowledge of magic. A player crafts

the spell using the rules later in

Building a Spell. Spells can be crafted on the fly and usually are

but tend to be the character’s

repertoire of magical abilities.

There is one notable exception

to spellcraft; Dispel.

Magic

Dispel Dispel is quaint and simple

compared to any other school. There are no know rites and the caster

doesn’t need to build a spell for it.

Dispel can be used to end the effects

of an ongoing spell or counter a spell as it is being cast. Countering

a spell or dispelling an ongoing

concentration spell is an opposed

Magical Skill versus Magical Skill

check between the two spellcasters. Dispelling an ongoing spell that isn’t

being concentrated on is a Magical

Skill check with a difficulty equal to

the original spell’s casting difficulty.

Attack Spell The Attack spell acts similar

to a weapon. Regardless of the

options added to the attack spell it

does damage equal to any

SPENDING h AND d ON MAGIC SKILL CHECKS

Cost Result Options

h or

d

The magical energies exhaust the character, and they suffer 2 strain or

1 wound (controlling player's choice).

This character and all allied spellcasters in the encounter add to

any attempts to cast spells until the end of the controlling player's next

turn

hh or d

The spell doesn’t take effect until the start of the next round, or after a

minute in narrative gameplay.

If the character is using a magical item, it becomes damaged one step

(see Table I.5–4: Repairing Gear, on page 89).

Until the end of the encounter, enemy spellcasters add when casting

a spell that targets this character.

hhh or d

The spell is slightly more powerful than expected. One character of the

GM's choice is targeted or otherwise affected by the spell as well.

All other spellcasters and creatures attuned to magical energies within

a day's travel become aware of the character (and depending on their

disposition, may be very interested in finding them and doing them harm).

d

The character overexerts themself or loses their magical connection

and is unable to cast spells for the rest of the encounter or scene.

The GM picks the target of the character's spell. If the caster is an

NPC, the controlling player picks the target of the spell instead.

dd

The character completely lose control of their magical energies or

draws the ire of their deity, suffering one Critical Injury (at the GM's

discretion, this may instead take the form of some of terrible or hilarious misfortune, such as temporarily being turned into a small

woodland creature, being struck by lightning on a clear day, swapping

bodies with someone else in the encounter for the remainder of the

day, or summoning an avatar of divine or infernal wrath).

If the character is using a magical item, it is completely destroyed

Magic

uncanceled s plus the skill’s linked characteristic.

Divination Divination is the ability to

reveal information, whether in the

form of secrets long forgotten, glimpses of the future, the locations

of hidden things, or visions of

distant people or places.

Many of the spells that allow

you to see and/or hear distant people and places. This could be

now or in the past or future. Many

times remote viewing will require an

object from the Complications option that are connected to the

target.

When the spell involves

viewing the past or future we use

the Duration table for base modifier. While viewing the past is easier, the

modifier is the same as the Duration

modifier (i.e.: one minute in the past

is 0 while a month into the pass is 0). When viewing farther into the

past than a year continue the trend,

adding a difficulty for each time

frame (i.e.: decade, century,

millennia, etc.). The future is less certain and

thus harder. Add two to all the

modifiers listed in Deration table to

figure out the modifier for the spell

for viewing the future. Because of the fluidity of the future, this can be

problematic

Utility The school of Utility is

extremely flexible and possible the most powerful. It can be used to do

almost everything that doesn’t fit

into the other school.

Some things might seem to mirror other schools, it’s more in the

application of the spell than what it

does. Animating an object for

instances will allow the spellcaster

make a mop clean the floor, while summoning would summon a

servant that uses the mop.

Animated objects only have

modes of locomotion and abilities logical for their form. While the

spellcaster can argue that the mop

can move across the floor or ‘swim’

in water, it would require wings if

the caster wished it to fly and a mouth to talk. The augmentation

school can be included to give the

object movement and abilities it

wouldn’t normally have.

Combining Schools There are times that the

caster may want to cast a spell

that’s effects fall into multiple

schools; summoning an invisible servant, adding a curse to an attack

spell, etc. As long as the caster has

access to all the schools needed to

produce the effects of the spell they

can construct the spell as normal, otherwise they do not have sufficient

knowledge.

Magic

Building a Spell

When a player wants to build

a spell is can be as simple as picking options from the tables

bellow. Should the player want to do

something that fits the School but

isn’t listed they can work with the

GM to make that spell. Using the simple example, the

player is going to need to first pick

at least one option from at least one

School’s effects table. This will be the base difficulty of the spell;

Attack and Conjure being the

exceptions. Attack spells start with

an Easy ( ) difficulty before adding

any options. Conjuration uses the Silhouette of the creature +1 or half

an object’s rarity rating as the base

difficulty before adding any options.

After that you will need to figure out the duration, range and

casting time, applying the modifiers

from the options listed in the

appropriate tables to the difficulty.

The caster cannot choose an option that’s modifier is greater than the

ranks they have in their Magical

Skill. If the spell difficulty is too high

they can adjust the range, duration and casting time and/or add some

options from spell complications.

Once the player is happy with the

spell they are done, it’s as simple as

that. Write it down and or cast it. Should the player want a spell

to do something that isn’t listed,

that is when they need to include

the GM. This option should be done

outside of combat or in-between games. First, they should consult

the tables to find something that is

similar to what they want to do and

note the modifier listed. Then they

can run it by the GM so see if they

agree, if not adjust the modifier as per the GM’s ruling. Once they and

the GM agree the can write it down

for use later.

No spell can ever have a

difficulty less than Average ( ), no matter how many modifiers are

used. They can however be as

difficult as the player wants but

failure to cast a spell can result in some horrendous consequences.

Range & Area of Effect Standard spells require the

target be in line of sight and within

close range (30 feet). Lengthening the range of the spell increases the

difficulty, while eliminating the need

for line of sight should upgrade the

difficulty of the spell. Typically, a spell effects a

single target or small area. Should

the spell target more than one

creature or thing it requires an

increased area of effect. If the spell will affect all of the creatures or

object in the spell’s area of effect

you don’t need to specify the

number of targets. If only a few or

select creatures or object are affected, then you must increase the

difficulty of the spell. Summoning

more than one object/creature will

also increase the difficulty of casting the spell by a number equal to the

number of creatures or objects.

Object that are part of a collection

can be considered a single thing

(i.e.: coins and bills, bag of marbles, bushel of apples, etc.). If the target

is the caster the difficulty is

Magic

decreased by one. All targets of the spell must be within the range and

area of effect of a spell.

If the target of a spell is an

area, a standard spell’s effect a 5-foot area. Increasing this area of

effect increases the difficulty of the

spell’s casting.

Duration Typicality a spell has some set time it last. Some, like attack and

healing, don’t require more than an

instant for the spell to take effect. If

a conjured creature or object, ability

boost or shield is to be effective, it must last longer than a round. The

difficulty modifiers for Attack and

Healing spells are double the listed amount.

Regardless of the length a

spell lasts they usually require

concentration on the part of the caster to maintain the spell. Spells

can be sustained using the

Concentration maneuver as

described in the core rule book.

SPELL RANGE AND AREA OF EFFECT

Components Cost

Personal: Affects only you (also called “personal range”). -Touch Spell: Target must be Engaged with the caster. Unwilling

targets require an Average ( ) Brawl check as part of the spell to cast.

-

Additional Summons: The spell summons one additional item,

weapon, or creature. In addition, after casting the spell, you may spend aa to summon one additional item, weapon, or creature

(and may trigger this multiple times, spending aa each time).

+

Additional Targets: The spell affects one additional target within range of the spell. In addition, after casting the spell, you

may spend a to affect one additional target within range of the

spell (and may trigger this multiple times, spending a each

time).

+

Expanded Spell: Increase the radius of effect of the spell by five-

feet. (This option can be taken multiple times, increasing the

radius by 5 each time.) +

Blind Spell: Doesn’t require line of sight.

Medium Range: Increase the range of the spell up to 100 feet. +Long Range: Increase the range of the spell up to 500 feet. +Extreme Range: Increase the range of the spell up to one mile. +Remote Range: Increase the range of the spell to anywhere on the planet. (Must also include the cost for Blind Spell).

+

Magic

Casting Time No spell can be cast in an

instant. Traditionally spells can take

hours to cast, but with a little effort,

a caster could reduce the time down

to seconds. When building a spell we start with the spell taking ten

minutes to cast. Increasing the time

needed to cast a spell will lessen the

difficulty while the reverse will

increase the difficulty to cast. The caster must spend the whole time

working to cast the spell. Any

interruption of more than a few

seconds can scuttle the spell wasting any time or effort (and

consumable components) already

invested, forcing the caster to start

from scratch.

Complications Spell complication can add

flavor to spell as well as make

casting easier. Each complication

reduces the difficulty of a spell’s casting but as stated earlier no spell

can have a difficulty less than

Average ( ). Complications fall

under several types.

Component: Many spells

require special objects or rare ingredients. This can be anything

like a ceremonial athame, a rune

inscribed skull, blood or tea tree oil

incense. The rarer, more exotic or

hard to acquire the object is the more it will reduce a spell’s difficulty

by. Should the spell component be

consumed by the casting the

complication’s value is double. Any component can be made by the

character or purchased. If crafting it

yourself, see Crafting Rules (See

Crafting supplement) elsewhere.

Cost for components are determined by the GM based on rarity and any

laws that may govern the substance.

A spell can have no more than two

complications from this type.

Ritual: All spells have some ritualistic competent, chanting,

intricate hand gestures etc, but ones

that require skill or more elaborate

SPELL DURATION

Components Cost

No concentration or maintenance required

One minute. +

10 minutes. +

One hour. +

One day. +

One month. +

One year. +Permanent. +

CASTING TIME

Components Cost

One Action +

One minute +

One hour -

Four hours -

Eight hours -

One day -

Magic

rituals fall into this category. Elaborate ritual requires acts that

fall outside of the norm of society

and are usually more of the

outrageous occult trappings. This

can be anything from animal or human sacrifice, to orgies and

blood-letting. Regardless of the

details they do not require skill and

must be something that can get you

jailed, ostracized or worse. These rituals take quite some

time and you cannot have a casting

time less than the starting ten

minutes if you use this option. It may seem unintuitive that

something that requires skill would

make it easier to cast, but the

difficulty is offset by the caster being

required to make a skill check to fulfil this requirement. First figure

out what you want this pre-spell

requirement is; drawing intricate

runes on the floor or wall, interruptive dance to a god,

centering one’s self, etc. If the

requirement produces a component,

see above. Based on that, figure out

what skill best reflects the requirement, then choose what

difficulty you want for the skill

check. This difficulty is the number

you will lessen the spell’s difficulty

by and is the number of minutes it will take to perform.

Before the spell can be cast,

the caster must succeed at the

appropriate skill check. Failure means they must try again, while

success means they can proceed to

casting the spell as normal. Should

there be any uncanceled h or d,

increase the strain taken by the spell by an equal number of

uncanceled hs and ds.

*= Bloodletting can be done using a will or unwilling person or animal. Willing

participants (including the caster) takes one wound that cannot be negated.

While an unwilling participant must take at least one wound (damage after soak value).

SPELL COMPLICATIONS

Components Cost

Illegal or Immoral Objects: illicit substance, human blood, etc. -Personal: The object is something that belonged to the target. These

need to be something that the target used daily, or values, nothing that is cast away like currency.

-

Body Part: The object was part of the target, hair, finger nail, finger,

ear, etc. -

Elaborate ritual: Sacrifice, orgy, drug consumption, bloodletting*,

etc. (see description). -

Skilled Ceremony: Sand drawing, dancing, etc. (see description). varies

Trappings: Specially prepared objects (i.e.: rune covered skull,

anointed athame, etc.).

-Half

rarity

Magic

ATTACK EFFECTS

Components Cost

Blast: The attack gains the Blast quality with a rating equal to your

character's ranks in Magical skill. +

Close Combat: May select a target engaged with your character.

Deadly: The attack gains a Critical rating of 2. The attack also gains

the Vicious quality with a rating equal to the character's ranks in

Magical skill.

+

Fire: The attack gains the Burn quality with a rating equal to your

character's ranks in Magical skill. +

Holy/Unholy (Divine Only): When dealing damage to a target that

the GM determines is the antithesis of the character's faith or deity

(such as a priest of a god of life attacking an undead zombie), each s deals +2 damage, instead of +1.

+

Ice: The attack gains the Ensnare quality with a rating equal to the

character's ranks in Magical skill. +

Impact: The attack gains the Knockdown quality. The attack also

gains the Disorient quality with a rating equal to the character's

ranks in Magical skill. +

Lightning: The attack gains the Stun quality with a rating equal to

the character's highest rank in Knowledge skills. The attack also

gains the Auto-fire quality. (You must increase the difficulty by one

to use the Auto-fire quality as normal.)

+

Manipulative (Arcana Only): If the attack hits, you may spend a to

move the target up to five feet in any direction. +

Non-Lethal (Primal Only): The attack gains the Stun Damage

quality. +

Destructive: The attack gains the Sunder quality. The attack also gains the Pierce quality with a rating equal to the character's ranks

in Magical skill. +

Empowered: The attack deals damage equal to twice the characteristic linked to the skill (instead of dealing damage equal to

the characteristic). If the attack has the Blast quality, it affects all

characters within short range, instead of engaged.

+

Poisonous: If the attack deals damage, the target must immediately

make a Hard ( ) Resilience check or suffer wounds equal to

the character's highest ranks in a Knowledge skill, and an equal

number of stain. This counts as a poison.

+

Magic

AUGMENTATION EFFECTS

Components Cost

Increase Skill: increase one skill by one. (This option can be taken

multiple times, each time increasing the skill by one) +

Divine Health (Divine Only): The target increases their wound

threshold by a value equal to the character's ranks in Knowledge for

the duration of the spell. +

Haste: Targets affected by the spell can always perform a second

maneuver during their turn without spending strain (they may still

only perform two maneuvers a turn). +

Primal Fury (Primal Only): The target adds damage equal to the

character's ranks in their Magical skill to unarmed combat checks,

and their Critical rating for unarmed combat checks becomes 3. +

Swift: Targets affected by the spell ignore the effects of difficult

terrain and cannot be immobilized. +

Superhuman Ability: Increase one of the target’s natural abilities beyond the norm. (i.e.: super hearing, danger sense, quicker

climbing speed, etc.) +

Talented: The target gains 1 rank of a tier 1 talent. Increase the difficulty by one for each additional rank beyond the first.

+

Increase Characteristic: increase one characteristic by one. (This

option can be taken multiple times, each time increasing the Characteristic by one)

+

Supernatural Ability: Give the target an ability beyond the norm.

(i.e.: flying, turn invisible, etc.) +

BARRIER EFFECTS

Components Cost

Basic Defense: Each affected target gains either ranged or melee

defense equal to the ranks in your Magical skill. +

Add Defense: Each affected target gains ranged and melee defense

equal to the ranks in your Magical skill. +

Empowered: The barrier reduces damage equal to the number of

uncanceled s instead of the normal effect. +

Reflection (Arcana Only): If an opponent makes a magic attack

against an affected target and generates hhh or d on the check,

after the check is resolved, they suffer a hit dealing damage equal to

the total damage of the attack.

+

Sanctuary (Divine Only): Opponents the GM determines are the

antithesis of the character’s faith or deity automatically disengage

from affected targets, and may not engage them for the duration of

the spell.

+

Trap: The target may not leave the area of effect without making a

Strength check, difficulty equal to the rank in your Magical skill. +

Magic

CONJURATION EFFECTS

Components Cost

Summon Rival: The creature summoned is more powerful than the

average summoned being. -

Summon Ally: The creature the character summons is friendly to

them and obeys their commands. The character may spend a

maneuver to direct the creature, allowing them to determine its

action and maneuver. (If the character summons multiple creatures, the character may spend one maneuver on their turn to direct the

turns of all summoned creatures.)

+

Summon Supernatural: The creature the character summons is supernatural in nature.

+

CURSE EFFECTS

Components Cost

Enfeeble: Chose a Characteristic, upgrade the difficulty any time

the target makes a check using that Characteristic. +

Enervate: If a target suffers strain for any reason, they suffer 1 additional strain.

+

Misfortune: After the target makes a check, you may change one

to a face displaying a f. +

Despair (Divine Only): The target’s strain and wound thresholds are

reduced by an amount equal to the character’s ranks in their

Magical skill.

+

Distract: Add a to all checks made by the target. +

Doom (Arcana Only): After a target makes a check, you may change

any one die in the pool not displaying a t or d to a different face. +

Paralyzed: The target is staggered for the duration of the spell. This

affect may not be combined with the additional target effect. +

DIVINATION EFFECTS

Components Cost

Communication: To way communication with the target. Double

the cost if the target is dead or the communication is mental. The

target (or it’s body) must be in range when the spell is cast.

+

Locate: As long as the target is within the range of the spell you

know in what direction and roughly how far away it is. +

Steal Sense: You can see or hear what the target can. +Identification: You can choose an aspect of the target and gain

information about that subject; is it magical, weakness, defense

value, Characteristic, wound count, etc. For each aa you spend

you may choose another aspect.

+

Remote Viewing: You can spy on a person, place or thing that you

are either familiar to or have something from the target. +

Magic

Peer Through Time: Gain knowledge of the future or past. varies

HEAL EFFECTS

Components Cost

Natural Healing: The target heals as if they had a full night’s rest. -

Heal: Reduce the number of wounds the target has suffered by a

number equal to the uncanceled s. +

Restoration: Select one ongoing status effect the target is suffering.

This status effect immediately ends. +

Heal Critical: Select one Critical Injury the target is suffering. If the

spell is successful, the Critical Injury is also healed. +

Revive Incapacitated: The character may select targets who are incapacitated.

+

Sooth Mind: Select one Mental Trauma the target is suffering from.

If the spell is successful, the Mental Trauma is healed. +

Cure Madness: Reduce the target’s Madness score by one. +

Resurrection: The character may select a target who has died

during this encounter. If the check is successful, the target is

restored to life, suffering wounds equal to their wound threshold. If the check fails, no characters may attempt to resurrect the target

again.

+

UTILITY EFFECTS

Components Cost

Ignite: Light a candle, torch or some other small flammable item.

+

Prestidigitation: Create a harmless minor magical effect;

sparks, disembodied sounds, faint floating lights, etc. +

Telekinesis: Move things remotely with a Strength score equal

to your ranks in your Magical skill. +

Alchemy (Arcane Only): Transform one substance into another. + Animate: The target object can move on its own. The character

may spend a maneuver to direct the object, allowing them to

determine its action and maneuver. (If the character animates

multiple things, the character may spend one maneuver on their turn to direct the turns of all summoned creatures.)

+

Polymorph (Arcane Only): Transform the target into another

creature. While in the new form, they retain any mental

Characteristics, otherwise are the new creature.

+

Magic

Magical Accouterment

Potions Potions, elixirs, magical

powders all produce a magical

effect. Strength potions, dust of

disappearance or a healing salve are all examples of potions.

Anyone with the Alchemy skill

can imbue a substance with power

that is released when it is used. Crafting a potion is similar to

building a spell. Take all the

appropriate steps to build the spell

but stop before casting it. Only

Complications that are consumed by the spell can be chosen as an

option. Next decide the

circumstances that will activate it;

drinking, smashing, blowing/sprinkling it, etc. Once you

have the difficulty to cast and how it

activates you can begin using the

standard Crafting Rules (See

Crafting supplement) using that difficulty if the crafter has ranks in

a magical skill. If the crafter doesn’t

posses the talent Mad Science or

any ranks in a magical skill,

upgrade the difficult by two.

Foci & Lenses Foci and lenses are a catchall

category for objects that have been

used in rites and spells that they

themselves have become attuned to magic. While foci are used specify in

one school of magic, lenses can be

used for any spell or rite. These

objects can be anything from wands, ceremonial robes and crystal balls to

weapons or other trappings of faith.

Both are rare and valuable, but

Lenses are doubly so because of

their flexibility. Characters are

unlikely to ever find one for sell and there isn’t any known way to force

the creation of one. These objects

are passed down though covens and

family lines and have been created over centuries of use.

A lens or focus have various

levels of magical power and come in

several types. They have a rating of

one to four, reflecting the number of

s the spellcaster can call on when

casting a spell or rite. A lens can be

used by any and all spellcacters for

any spell or rite. Foci on the other hand are limited to a school or skill.

A focus for instance that is a set of

catholic vestments would be only

usable by those with the Divine magical skill, while a wand could be

used only for Attack school spells. A

focus will have the school or skill

listed in its description along its

rating.

Artifacts Artifacts are objects the have

had so much raw magic focused

through them that they themselves

are magical devices. Like foci, artifacts are limited to a school or

magical skill, but instead of adding

a , they add their own ranks to the

caster’s ranks in their magical skill. This increase in ranks not only help

in casting a spell, but also the

building of a spell.

Magic

Mad Science

Mad Science is a caught-all

for those that have figured out how

to paint outside the lines of

traditional science. Be it a deathray that shoots lightening, stitching

together dead flesh to make new life

or rocket pack, these devices

shouldn’t work or be replicated, but are. Some may think it is some kind

of magic, but magical casters do not

feel the presence of magic and mad

sciences cannot use magical items.

Mad Scientists rules work similarly to spellcasters with several notable

exceptions.

First and foremost, Mad

Scientists rely on their Mechanics skill instead Magical skills. They are

not spell casters and so their

abilities come from the fancy

gadgets they create and not intricate

hand gestures and exotic herbs. This also means that they

cannot make use of foci, lenses or

artifacts since they do not posses

any ranks in Magical skills. Likewise, spells from the school of

Dispel do not interfere with MS

devices. Magic can affect a MS

device just as it can any other

mundane object. Secondly, your wacky inventor

is not limited to schools like

spellcasters. The scientist starts the

game with access to the options in

all schools. They cannot however use an option that is limited to a

Magical skill (like Doom from the

Curse school). Since there are no

options in the Dispel school, that too is off limits to the Mad Scientist.

Also, unlike magic and

magical items, MS devices can be

used by anyone. Once a device is

created it any numb-nuts can pull

the trigger or use a rocket pack to take to the skies. Most devices, like

their mundane counterparts may

require a skill roll to use. Follow the

rules regarding interacting with an object as normal.

Lastly, Mad Scientists don’t

cast spells, they build devices that

produce effects some might think

are magical. When building the device, think of what the device it

supposed to do each time you pull

the trigger, flip the switch or do

whatever it is that activates the device. From there we follow the

steps in Building Spells earlier in

this supplement.

Building a Device You will need to start by

choosing at least one options from a

school, much like when crafting a

spell. Once you have that, you will

need a casting time. This represents

the time needed for the device to activate. Pulling a trigger for

instance would be an action. Some

devices may need to be turned on

but takes time to ‘build up a charge’ before they can be used, thus a

longer casting time.

Next you will need to figure

out range and duration. Duration

can be as simple a one round for things like ranged weapons. Some

devices’ effect will need to last

longer; say a handy tool bag that

can produce any tool needed, will need a longer duration so that the

Magic

tool will ‘stick around’ awhile. Likewise, a ‘clockwork’ creature will

only function as long as the

duration chosen during this phase

of creation. Devices also run on a

power source and duration can affect how fast it burns through that

fuel. But while the tool bag wouldn’t

need any range (you’re pulling the

conjured object out of the bag) the

ranged weapon cannot hit a target outside the device’s range. Like

spells, if the device uses options

from the Attack or Healing schools,

the modifier costs are doubled. The range will be added into the

difficulty as normal but record the

duration modifier to be used for

figuring the device’s Power

Requirements (minimum 1). Before the device can be build

there is one more set of options that

can be applied; Complications.

Instead of the normal complication that spellcasters use device will

have Item Quality. Certain negative

item qualities (Cumbersome,

Prepare, Slow-Firing & Unwieldy)

can be added to the device, lowering

the difficulty by a number of

equal to the total ranks in these

qualities. Inaccurate reduces the

difficulty by two. Once you have selected all the

options and have the final difficulty,

you are ready to get the parts for the

device. Add the number of upgrades

to the difficulty then multiply that by 10. This is half the street value of

the device and the cost in parts to

build a MS device.

Now it’s time to put it all together. Figure out what sized

Silhouette the device you’re

cramming this into. If the score is greater than the Silhouette upgrade

the difficulty by that many. Once

you’ve paid the cost of the parts,

you can start making the

Mechanics check. It will take a number of days equal to the score to

build. Each day the Mad Scientist

will need to spend eight hours

working on the device, at the end of

which the must make a Mechanics check against the device’s difficulty.

The days need not to be consecutive.

Record each day’s rolls. Once the

player has made a number of successful rolls equal to the number

of build days the device is finished.

As long as the check success, the

device is finished. Make a record of

the device’s Rarity of 8 and figure out any uncanceled a, t, h or d

and spend them using the Table:

Mad Science Build Roll. Failing the

roll means that the device doesn’t work and while the parts can be

salvaged, the inventor must start

over.

Reliability All Mad Science has a flaw; Reliability. The higher the ranks in

this quality, the better it is and all

devices start with 3 ranks. No device

can ever have a Reliability lower

than 1 for any reason. When using a MS device, you can use a number of

h equal to the ranks of the

Reliability quality to cause a

malfunction to occur. Each time a malfunction occurs roll percentile

dice and consult the Table: MS

Device Malfunction. Add 20 if the

device has minor damage and 50 if

it has major damage.

Magic

Tools & Workshops Every tinker needs a place to

work. This can be a desk in their

home or a full workshop. To make a MS device you must have at least a

set of tools. Tool sets of higher

quality can add a to Mechanics

checks, and this include the checks made to building MS devices.

Workshops add to Mechanics

checks.

Powering MS Devices All Mad Science devices

requires power, much like the strain

cost of magic. This power can be

provided by electricity, gas or even

the user in strain. Each type of fuel will come with a host of pros and

cons, including size, cost and rarity.

No matter the fuel source, all MS

devices have the Limited Ammo

quality. The ranks in this quality are based on the different fuel types. A

device uses this ammo once each

time it is used or the duration

elapses for device that continuously

run.

Steam: Be it coal or oil

burning to produce steam, these large devices can produce a lot of

power. Steam-powered devices

cannot be built into any device with

a Silhouette of 4 for oil (kerosene or petrol) and 5 for coal. This will give

the device a Limited Ammo rank

equal to three times the Silhouette

divided by the Power Requirement.

If the device is smaller than the Silhouette required for the fuel

type you will need a back-mounted

boiler called a Steampack,

connected to the device via a cable.

Building one is an Average ( )

Mechanics check and cost £2 in

parts or can be purchased.

The device will need a pound

of coal or liter of oil equal to the Silhouette of the boiler to run. It will

take 1 Maneuver to replace one

pound of coal or all of the oil back

into the boiler.

MAD SCIENTIST BUILD CHECK

Cost Result Options

a or

t

Reduce the Power Requirement by 1.

Add an item quality to the device. If it is ranked, add 1 rank each

time you use this option.

aa or t

Decrease the Silhouette of the device by one without changing the device’s score.

Raise the ranks in Reliability by 1.

t Reduce the Power Requirement by two.

Reduce the ranks in Reliability by 2.

h or

d

Lower the ranks in Reliability by 1 to a minimum of 1.

Raise the Power Requirement by 1.

dd If the Mechanics check was failed, the parts are useless and the Mad

Scientist must start over from scratch.

Magic

Battery: While not cheap or easy to get a hold of, batteries where

produced as early as the 1830s.

Batteries come in two sizes; large

and small. While a small battery can be put in anything of a Silhouette of

2 or higher, a large battery can’t be

placed into anything smaller than a

4. Large batteries have 50 charges

while small ones have 20. Divided the charges by the Power

Requirement to figure out the ranks

in the Limited Ammo quality.

Mechanical: To power these devices you need just a little bit of

elbow-grease and time. Mostly found

in clockwork devices this option requires someone to wind up the

tension of the device. It takes a

number of Maneuvers equal to the

Silhouette of the device to wind it up

fully. Regardless of the Power Requirement, this option only

provides 1 rank in the Limited Ammo

quality.

Personal: Be it an electrical

shock or some other physical affect, the device causes the user Strain.

The device must be something

hand-held or strapped-on and in the

possession of a living person to function. Adding this option will

decrease the Reliability ranks by 3

and give the device a rank of 1 in

Limited Ammo. While the device

doesn’t need to be reloaded it instead cost a number of Strain

equal to the Power Requirement per

use.

MS DIVICE POWER SOURCES

Fuel Source Encu Cost Rare

Steampack 3 £5 5

Coal, 1lb. 1 5d 3

Kerosene, 1l 2 2s 4

Large Battery 2 £1 6

Petrol, 1l 2 3s 4

Small Battery 1 15s 7

OBJECT SILHOUETTE

Silhouette Examples

1 Ring, coin, pocket knife, derringer, mouse.

2 Large knife, pistol, rat.

3 Carbine, doctor’s bag, cat.

4 Rifle, carpet bag, medium dog.

5 Backpack, large dog.

6 Potbelly stove.

7 Cannon, suit of armor, human.

8 Motorbike, horse.

Magic

Devices This is a small collection of devices available to character and serve as an

example of what can be done. We will start with a walk-though of building the

device.

Device Build Examples Theodor Grant is a moderately skilled (Mechanics skill rank of 3) and fairly intelligent (4) Mad Scientist. Have time and money on his hands he sits

down to build a couple of device in his very nice workshop (adds to

Mechanics checks); a rifle and servant.

Deathray The first thing Theodor wants to build is a Deathray. He decides it will be

a rifle with a decent range and good damage. Starting with the Attack school he

picks the Empowered option starting with a Hard ( ) difficulty ( from

Empowered and from Attack). Next he chooses the Long Range option from

Range adding to the difficulty and since this is an attack it will only have a

Duration of instant. Since the deatheray is a rifle it will need a Casting Time of

1 action so each trigger pull will activate the device add more to the

Difficulty. This brings the total to .

Theodor feels that that difficulty is too high, so he decides to add the

Inaccurate and Slow-Firing (1) quartiles. Inaccurate drops the difficulty by two

and the Slow-Firing by another one. This brings the difficulty to Daunting

( ) which is far more acceptable to Theodor. This will also give the device

a Score of 4. Since Theodor had already decided to build this into a rifle, the

Silhouette and difficulty are equal which means he will not have to upgrade the

difficulty.

So, after he gathers the £40 in parts he sits down in his workshop to put it together. After spending four days he makes his Mechanics check resulting

in a sss, hh & t. He decides to use one of the h to lower the ranks in

Reliability from the starting 3 to 2 and the other to raise the Power

Requirement by 1. He decides to use a large battery as the power source giving

him a Limited Ammo rank of 25 (50 divided by a Power Requirement of 2). He uses the t to increase the Reliability from 2 to 4.

Clockwork Servent Pleased with his deathray Theodor moves on to making a clockwork

servant. Using Conjuration, he choses a standard human minion but adds on

the Summon Ally option. This gives him a starting difficulty of . Next is range, which doesn’t need to be changed from the standard since the servant is

the target. Duration and casting time are two that he thinks about a lot.

Casting time will be the ‘down time’ between the durations, so he decides to go

with a four-hour casting time and one day duration, meaning that the servant

Magic

will run for a day but be ‘out of commotion’ for four hours of that time. These

options add to the difficulty. Unfortunately, he cannot justify any of the

item quality to lower the difficulty so he has a Formidable ( )

Mechanics check. He spends the £50 and five days required to build the

device and nets ss & a on his roll. Luck for him he didn’t waste his time and uses the 0 to add the item quality of Reinforced to the servant.

Example Devices

Clockwork Servent

BRAWN AGILITY INTELECT CUNNING WILLPOWER PRESENCE

2 2 2 1 2 1

SOAK VALUE WOUND THRESHOLD M/R DEFENES

3 6 0 0

Skills (group only): Brawl, Mechanics.

Talents: None.

Abilities: None.

Silhouette: 7 Price: £100

Rarity: 8

Special: Limited Ammo (1-Mechanical), Reinforced, Reliability 3.

While he may look like an average sized man, this device is a ‘clockwork’

man. Composed of layers of gears and cogs covered by clothing a porcelain mask, there is something ‘off’ about him making most people a little uneasy in

his presence.

A mechanical servant that can do little more that cook, clean and other

household jobs. Every night someone must wind his gears. This will take over a minute, but he cannot continue his function until his motors are fully charged

and he regains motion. This takes about four hours.

Deathray Skill: Ranged-Light

Damage: 6 Range: Long

Encumbrance: 2

Price: £80

Rarity: 8

Power Source: Large battery Special: Inaccurate, Limited Ammo (25), Slow-Firing (1) & Reliability 4

The deathray is modified rifle. The strange device has a large dish at the

end of the muzzle and a large battery revivor carved into the stock.

Magic

MAD SCIENITIST DEVICE MALFUNCTION

d100 Result

01–10 Minor Hiccup: Add a to the next usage of the device.

11-20 Shaken: The user takes 4 Stain as it shocks them.

21-30 Major Hiccup: The device stops working for two rounds. When it

starts working again the next check using this device add to it.

31-40 What Just Happened?: The device stops working for two rounds but

when it comes back increase the ranks in Reliability by 1.

41-50 Minor Damage: The device has minor damaged. If it already was

damaged, move the damage type up by one.

51-60

Inefficient: There is a power issue. If the device has the Limited

Ammo quality, reduce the rank by 1 to a minimum of 1. If the device

costs Strain, increase the Strain taken by 1.

61-70

Extreme Hiccup: The device stops working for 1d10 rounds. When

it starts working again it gains the Inaccurate quality if it did not

have it already, other wise lower the Reliability by 2.

71-80 Warped:

81-90 Moderate Damage: The device has moderate damage. If it is already

damaged increase to major damage.

91-100 Voltage Surge: the device has minor damage and does two wounds

to the user.

101-120 Major Damage: The device has major damage. If the device was

already damaged, it is destroyed (see above).

121-150 Destroyed: The device gives up the ghost and falls apart. The is nothing usable in the debris. The user takes a number of wounds

equal to the device’s Silhouette.

150+

Self Destruct: The device explodes sending shrapnel in all directions. The user and anyone engaged with the user takes two

times the device’s Silhouette in wounds and anyone within short

range takes a number of wounds equal to the device’s Slihouette.