The following magical disciplines grant your character a wide range of new utilities by granting them supernatural powers. Each entry details what magical effects you can produce, actions your character may take which will benefit from your gambits, some actions made safer when you are performing them, and offers a selection of equipment used to practice them.
When you add a magical discipline to your playbook, also add one of the items listed in its equipment section to your playbook. These items are magical foci, special props used to channel your supernatural potential into reality. Instead of one of these foci, you may choose one of the following items as a ganeric focus.
- Generic Foci: Wand, Staff, Ring, Tome, Crystal, or Musical Instrument.
Alchemy: Alchemists use magical force to affect matter. Most alchemists see magic as a science, the study of the effects of the arcane upon physical objects. Alchemists can transcend the bounds of physical chemistry by using magic to speed along reactions, or even create ones that do not have the proper stimulus.
- Actions: You can magically project flames, sparks, acid, venoms, or blasts of extreme cold to make attacks. You count as being appropriate facilities for treating physical injuries during downtime. You are knowledgeable about both the arcane arts and basic chemistry. You can affect the physical nature of a substance you transmute, up to a volume of matter which you could physically lift. You can cause matter to be softer, lighter, heavier, harder, or even appear to be made of a different substance. You can force a sample of matter to react in a certain way without the proper conditions for that reaction to occur, such as causing metal to rapidly and deeply rust. You can attempt to counter or dispel other alchemy-type effects you encounter. Most of your transmutations last for the duration of the scene, but longer effects can be achieved with a long-term experimental project.
- Position: It is a safe action for you to attempt to activate scrolls, wands, or rituals which are under the purview of alchemy's effects. This includes effects which transmute matter or creatures, effects which project various elemental attacks, or effects which restore vitality.
- Equipment: One of - Alchemist's reagent kit, Herbalist's toolkit, or tuning fork set.
Attraction: Attraction allows the human mind to manifest its desires upon the world directly. While to the outsider these manifestations may appear as good fortune or happenstance, the chaos magician knows that their hard work has finally paid off. Such a practitioner uses rituals to refine an image of the future they seek, and each repetition makes their change in destiny ever more certain. Most chaos magicians keep a journal or ever-developing art piece on hand which is a physical representation of their intended manifestation, and continuing to add to it is a mainstay of their rituals.
- Actions: You can cause things to occur around you seemingly out of nowhere in furtherance of your team reaching their goals. A chandelier's chain suddenly could snap, a tavern patron could happen to leave their purse on the bar, enemy archers could narrowly miss your charging companion, or a sudden shift in the weather could turn the tide in your team's favor. You can cause others to seemingly suffer from terrible luck to you team's benefit. You are knowledgeable about both the arcane arts and long-term planning. You can attempt to counter or dispel other attraction-type effects you encounter. Your effects are usually well-timed and potent enough to last for the length of the current scene, but long-term ritual projects can produce permanent effects.
- Position: It is a safe action for you to attempt to activate scrolls, wands, or rituals which are under the purview of attraction's effects. This includes effects which control or change time or destiny, bestow curses or blessings, or apply some temporary protection to a being.
- Equipment: One of - Sigil journal, Dream board, or Meditation mat.
Conjuring: Conjuration allows its practitioner to manipulate points in space without affecting the matter in between. This can allow them to produce objects seemingly from nowhere, or even slip their own body through solid objects. From the folds of their capes, their long sleeves, or even behind a teammate's ear they can produce any number of handy objects they've seen before. Many conjurers delight in using their magic to befuddle others, while more esoteric practitioners use their studies to probe the space outside reality itself.
- Actions: You can use magic to bend space. This can allow you to produce objects or even creatures seemingly from nowhere. You must be aware of the general location of anything you wish to conjure, as you need to know how much space to remove to bring it to you. You can manipulate space to allow you to pass through solid matter or teleport short distances. When you displace yourself in this manner you must have recently seen the location you intend to arrive, usually within the bounds of the last few scenes. You are kowledgable about both the arcane arts and are practiced in mundane sleight of hand. You can attempt to counter or dispel other cojuration-type effects you encounter. When you conjure an object or creature it usually remains in your location until the end of the current scene, when it will somehow return to its original location. Permanent effects, such as a conjured creature companion, can be achieved with long-term summoning projects.
- Position: It is a safe action for you to attempt to activate scrolls, wands, or rituals which are under the purview of conjuing's effects. This includes effects which summon or create objects or beings, effects which displace creatures and objects in space, and effects which allow the caster control over their own location in space.
- Equipment: One of - Silk tophat, Billowy silk cape, or Set of brass cups.
Divination: Divination allows the human mind to perceive things which are not avilable to the being's normal senses. Many diviners see patterns in everyday occurances, and know how to read those patterns to predict the future with utmost certainty. Other practitioners alter their consciousness to perceive the world around them without the limits of their senses, locating hidden objects or identifying distant figures. Regardless, the mind of a diviner is always filled with new perceptions of what could be and what will be, and can potentially set actions in motion to arrive at a desired outcome.
- Actions: You can attempt to predict something which will occur, and can make simple changes to ensure it either will or will not occur. This can include knowing where to be to avoid notice, predicting the location of something important to your goals, or even detecting something's current location by tracing its path from a known previous location. You can extend your senses to perceive things a short distance away from you, and can use long-term remote viewing projects to perceive things from a great distance away (both spatially or temporally). You are knowledgable about both the arcane arts and the study of patterns and ciphers. You can attempt to counter or dispel other divination-type effects you encounter. Most of your predictions are valid for the duration of the scene you made them, but more distant futures can be perceived with long-term pattern-studying projects.
- Position: It is a safe action for you to attempt to activate scrolls, wands, or rituals which are under the purview of divination's effects. This can include any effect which allows the user to shift their perception of time and space, any effect which can locate hidden objects or beings, effects which detect magic or particular types of object/creature, or effects which detect the disturbance of an object or place.
- Equipment: One of - Stargazer's set, Clay tea set, or Bag of bones or runes.
Hypnosis: Hypnosis is the magical control of one mind by another. Hypnotists are able to use subtle motions and facial ticks to implant ideas or emotions into other beings. Some experienced practitioners can even detect these types of ticks in others, essentially reading their surface thoughts as they have them. Many hypnotists ply their trade in the easing of mental ailments, while more nefarious practitioners use their manipulative powers to acheive wealth and glory.
- Actions: You can attempt to magically influence the minds of others. This can include shifting their emotions, changing their perception of you, or giving them directions they are then compelled to carry out. You are able to sense the general location of nearby minds, and can read the surface thoughts of beings who you can see clearly. You can cause a being to fall asleep, awaken, or focus their attention upon a particular object or being. You are knowledgable about both the arcane arts and the basics of psychology. You can lash out with raw psychic energy to attack the minds of living beings. You count as being appropriate facilities for the treatment of mental injuries during downtime. You can attempt to counter or dispel other hypnosis-type effects you encounter. While your ability to read, detect, and affect minds does not reach very far or last longer than the current scene in the heat of a moment, you can greatly extend your reach and produce permanent effects as the result of long-term hypnotherapy projects
- Position: it is a safe action for you to attempt to activate scrolls, wands, or rituals which are under the purview of hypnotism's effects. This can include any effect which allows the user to detect, read, or change a creature's thoughts, as well as effects which compel actions from them.
- Equipment: One of - Shiny pendulum, Distinct spectacles, or Set of singing bowls.
Necromancy: Necromancy is the magical act of communicating with spirits. Classic necromancers use their rituals to communicate with or bind the spirits of the dead into service, but those of older animist traditions communicate directly with the spirits of nature. Exorcists or vampire hunters may practice necromancy without ever considering themselves a magician, their calligraphy seals and strung cloves of garlic acting as purpose-built tools to protect the living from the unliving.
- Actions: You can summon the spirits of the recently deceased, either to communicate with them or to press them into service. You can communicate with nature sirits, and may be able to receive favors from them. Most spirits will require some form of payment or compensation in return for their service. You can use props and words of power to limit a nonliving being or drive them out of a living being or object they are possessing. You can shrive living souls, attacking other beings with just a touch. You are familiar with many types of unliving beings, and may know how to permanently destroy them or how to press them into your service. You count as being appropriate facilities for the treatment of curse and disease-derived injuries during downtime. You are knowledgable about both the arcane arts and the various religions of your world. You can attempt to counter or dispel other necromancy-type effects you encounter. Your necromantic effects usually last the duration of the current scene, but permanent effects (such as a summoned skeletal guardian) can be produced as the result of long-term ritual projects.
- Position: It is a safe action for you to attempt to activate scrolls, wands, or rituals which are under the purview of necromancy's effects. This can include any effect which summons a spiritual or undead being, including effects which cause them to serve the magician. This also includes effects which directly attack the soul of a target, including bestowal of curses.
- Equipment: One of - Bell with book and candle, Iron pot of sticks, or Sweet-smelling offeratory herbs
Ventriloquism: Vetriloquism is the magial manipulation of force. Traditional vetriloquists are able to project their voice from a distant source, but more daring practitioners have found many other uses for shifting the direction of force. Negating gravity on a thrown object, redirecting the impact of a long fall, or even curving light around one's body are all possible once the ventriloquist understands the breadth of their ability to redirect local forces.
- Actions: You can directly affect force and energy in your local area. You can produce swells of air pressure and gravitational fluctuation to attack a target. You can cause sounds, including your own speech, to be produced from a distant location you can see. You can mimic sounds you are familiar with or have heard recently, including to completely change your voice. You can attempt to detect nearby changes in forces such as heat an pressure. You can bend light to produce mirages, displace an image, or cause something to be unseen. You can redirect or displace the force of an impact, either to negate it entirely or to shift the force to a different object you can see. You can shift air pressure and gravity to cause an object or being to temporarily levitate under your control. You can attempt to counter or dispel other ventriloquism-type effects you encounter. Most of your effects last until the ed of the current scene. Permanent effects, such as producing a constantly-levitating basket for loot storage, an be achieved as a result of long-term imbuement projects.
- Position: It is a safe action for you to attempt to activate scrolls, wands, and rituals which are under the purview of ventriloquism's effects. This includes effects which produce auditory or visual changes, cause targets to shift in appearance or visibility, or effects which directly project raw force or energy such as pressure, light, or pure magic.
- Equipment: One of - Articulated wooden doll, Silver whistle, or Dowsing rod