Bright Hope Magic - "The Way"
Important: Magic is -NOT- widely available.
It is currently only available to very few characters who have been successfully gone through the Cult of Ereal - Acolyte recruiting class. Magic does NOT mean such things as casting fireballs, teleport, invisibility and so on. Magic spells done by performing detailed rituals are the ONLY form of available magic. Only Erealite magic exists at this time in the form of the Bright Hope rituals.
Magical skills are designed so that they do not replace related non-combat skills. For example, healing magic will not close wounds, splint bones, and stop bleeding. Rather, it will deal with more esoteric values such as health points, fatigue, recovery speed, and status ailments. Mundane healing techniques will complement magical healing rituals, and vice versa.
Similarly, illusory magic will not replace the need to train in order to stay out of sight or move undetected.
- Players cannot teach other players in magical skills.
- Self-training does not work with magical skills.
- There are game mechanics in place to ensure a character is actually a member of the associated organization before an NPC teacher allows them to learn.
More information on the Magic Release Notes are also available.
Blessings & Rituals - Bright Hope
After years of training, Acolytes have the ability to use limited magic through blessings or rituals. Blessings, while simpler to perform, will drain the Acolyte's sanity but not hurt them. Rituals (also known as 'Sacrifices'), on the other hand, require the acolyte to give of themselves to perform.
Spells (i.e. blessings & rituals) can vary in complexity, but they generally involve a combination of physical gestures and uttered phrases. Rather than there being a 'command verb' associated with each skill-action, as is the case in most skill sets, there are steps you must perform in order to activate a spell.
There are several stones of importance for performing spells. These stones can be donated for reputation to the Cult of Ereal.
| Related Spell | Required Stone (description) | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Blessing of First Warmth | Topaz (a yellowish colored stone) | Stamina & Vitality regeneration |
| Blessing of Enduring Light | Sardonyx (a layered brown stone) | Fortify Health & Endurance |
| Blessing of the Sunrise | Coral (a porous pink stone) | Stun resistance |
| Blessing of the Dawn | Quartz (milky crystal-like stone) | Fortify Willpower |
| Ritual of Mornings Vitality | Amber (a piece of amber) | Acolyte bestows their health |
| Ritual of Morning’s Energy | Garnet (a deep red crystal-like stone) | Acolyte bestows their stamina and vitality |
| Ritual of New Light | Sun stone (a faceted golden crystal) | Acolyte bestows their life force to one in a coma |
In order to recall the spell you know, type:
Recall Ritual
Soon after, a menu will guide you through the list of spells you know. You can then review the ritual involved with that spell. Once you've decided to cast a spell, first type:
Prepare <Name of Ritual>
The ritual name is the same name as on your character sheet. You can shorten or abbreviate it and the parser will still likely recognize what you type in, as long as it's not duplicative of another spell name. After you prepare to cast a ritual, use the emote and speech commands associated with the ritual.
Notes
- You cannot use freeform emotes or the : (emote shorthand) in order to perform the ritual. You need to type out the emote command indicated.
- Each step in the ritual requires more care and deliberate motion than normal movements. Unlike non-ritual emotes and speech, each stage of the ritual will incur round-time.
- Erealite magic suffers enormous penalties at night, wearing armor and when sanity is compromised. So much that it may be near impossible to successfully cast a spell (i.e. Success of 95).
Once the last stage of the ritual is complete, the spell will activate. It will ROLL your SUCCESS, like any other action, and you will either succeed or fail at casting your spell.
There are 3 Main Key Factors that are a part of performing any ritual.
- Sanity
- The Heavens (Environment)
- Armor (Attire)
#Sanity
Every player character has a sanity level. Channelling otherworldly powers is taxing on the mortal mind, and over-use of magic will lead to reduced sanity levels. Sanity gradually restores itself over time - in most cases.
Impaired sanity will gradually reduce your capacity to cast spells. It may also have other deleterious effects, such as reducing your rank bonus.
Sanity will drop faster if you make use of spells provided by different otherworldly patrons. For example, if you channel spells granted by Ereal, then follow up with spells granted by Lucifal or Aera, you will suffer a severe sanity hit.
To a lesser extent, sanity will also suffer a hit when you use spells from multiple schools of thought, even if they are governed by the same entity. For example, if you alternate performing rituals of the Bright Hope and the Nurturing Light.
The Heavens
Most magic is tied to the gods and their incarnations as celestial bodies. The power of each ritual will wax and wane according to the nature of the heavens.
All spells are made more powerful when done outdoors. Spells granted by certain patrons will be affected by the presence or absence of celestial bodies in the sky.
To a certain extent, observational traits such as Weather Prediction and Absolute Time Sense will alleviate unfavorable casting conditions.
Armor (Penalties)
Acolytes performing rituals benefit from unhindered movement. Casting while armored is possible, but the difficulty is increased significantly. The penalty to perform a ritual is proportional to the bulkiness of the armor.
Also, each gesture-based step in a ritual will incur additional round-time if performed while wearing armor.
In many cases, the spell ritual will require that both hands be free. Or that the spell caster is carrying a specific object or reagent.
Damage Checks
If a spell caster incurs damage during the course of performing a ritual, there is a chance that their concentration will be broken and the ritual will be interrupted. In such a case, the spell caster will have to begin the ritual all over again. The chance of this happening is based on the spell caster's willpower versus the amount of damage done.
Gaining SP
Due to "using" character sanity to perform rituals, Magic SP cannot simply be gained by sitting in one location and continuously training. Especially early on, it takes very few spells to drain your sanity to the point of having a 95 success for everything.
Additionally, some shrines give SP for praying to them, but this can only be done once per shrine every 24 hours.
Each casting (successful or not) uses sanity, so the difficulty goes up with every attempt. It starts small and quickly turns into huge jumps.
Spell Resistance
All individuals will have a natural resistance to spells that are hostile or debilitating in nature. This resistance is based on Willpower.
Spell resistance will not apply when the ritual performed is a beneficial one, such as a ritual that heals, temporarily improves a stat, or grants some other benevolent boon.
Spell Effects
Generally, the 'condition' command will notify you if you're operating under an ongoing spell effect.
Traits related to Magic
Aside from the traits that affect the modifiers from heavenly conditions, there are three traits with a major effect on spellcasting.
Luminescence will make it easier to cast spells. Additionally, beneficial spells cast on targets with Luminescence will have a greater impact. Hostile spells cast on targets with Luminescence will have a reduced impact.
Superstitious Fears and, to a lesser extent, Intense Nightmares operate in the exact opposite manner. Both traits make rituals more difficult to perform, and characters with Superstitious Fears will be prohibited outright from training in magical skills. Additionally, beneficial spells will have less of an effect on characters with those traits. Hostile spells will have a greater effect on characters with those traits.