DS Manual

Version 3.3

Foreword

Fellow Role-Player,
Do not take these guidelines as etched in stone. They are flexible and I personally encourage you to adapt them to fit you and your group better. As for anything else, I feel the more I write the more I give away, and this is a game of discovery. I implore DMs and Players alike to welcome a little shaky footing; it makes for a much more interesting game.
With dice in-hand,
Avinash Arora

Dungeons & Dragons is not a game that you necessarily win, or that even has an endpoint. What you are trying to do is grow your character over time, become more powerful, and tell a story.

-David Ewalt, “Of Dice and Men”

Special thanks

So this is the manual for DS—which by the way stands for Dragonsphere Solace campaigns, however I’m making it generalized because it has since turned into an entirely new system. MUCH credit must go to the cutest blonde ever, Dan Bennett, for being some of the best inspiration for D&D ever, for always cracking out an amazing game, for keeping me on the edge of my seat, for opening my eyes to new worlds and for allowing me extensive usage of his system, Dragonsphere. By the way, my rules are loosely based off of his system, which revolves more around role-playing than remembering numbers and statistics all the time. Another special person in my D&D career goes by many names, the most famous is of course, Askarius, but he has also been known by Castado, Aramil (sometimes Elistra), and my personal favorite, the short lived Caliseth because we couldn’t remember the name Castado, until he changed it to Caliseth, and then we couldn’t remember Caliseth, so he changed it back to Castado. Joe Bruno (4), you’ve opened my eyes to creative thoughts that even my imagination couldn’t muster up.

Thanks to Tolkien for being the ever-inspiring elf/dwarf/Gandalf/hobbit in all of us. And the usual respects to Wizards of the Coast, to Tux and the online pen and paper world that I once belonged to and still hold dear to heart. Last but not least, the stupidest, smartest, most clever, most blunt, sneakiest most oblivious and obvious person alive, Greven Il-Vec. (Copyright infringement, away! Yes, it’s a Magic the Gathering™ card, but it was also the biggest Twinkie™ to ever live). For giving us so many stories, so much inspiration and giving all of us a special someone to make fun of, thanks Andrew Muller. I’m everyday adding to this list of special thanks, so don’t feel bad if you’re left out. I understand that this is now available online and other people are reading this and offended that they are not in it, don’t worry when I get time I’m going to write up a very full special thanks, it will probably go on for several pages. I feel it’s only right, because this isn’t my piece of work, without you guys this couldn’t have happened. There’s one man I have to thank over all; a man who needs no introduction, Gary Gygax.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

Starting Stats

Magic or melee, everyone starts with ten points distributed however you want among four stats. The four stats that make up a character are Strength, Speed, Endurance, and Power. Three core stats make up the body and one stat is responsible for superhuman abilities (magic, feats, etc.).

Strength (STR)

The main feature of this stat is similar to the THAC0. This is your “did I hit it?” as well as your “did I hurt it?” stat. Your ability to carry excessive amounts of stone statues, your attack bonuses, and other strength features that endurance doesn’t seem to cover is what strength is. Also, how muscular you are.

Speed (SPD)

Your dodge ability, your speed in running and walking, your speed in attacks/in-battle-movement and quickness is all encompassed by Speed (sometimes referred to as agility). Reflex saves use SPD, and in some cases your armor class can be just a raw immense speed. Additionally, some “notice” checks, how fast you pick up on something, how quickly you realize something impending relate to speed in a mental fashion, so speed also relates to quickness of the mind.

Endurance (END)

Your willpower, your strength of mind, your constitution of character, your ability to keep it together. This is endurance. Resistance to poisons, and other extra-bodily intrusions is fated by your Endurance score. Overall health is determined by Endurance.

Power (PWR)

These points act like a reservoir that you can tap for power, but are also a determining factor in not only how many Magic Spells you can cast, the amount of times you can activate a Wondrous Feat, and also how powerful they are. Additionally, this is the only stat point that can reduce to zero. In lieu of PWR, a character can use END to exhibit feats of power but in much smaller doses.

A note on zero-stat reductions

If any of your stats go below zero you are probably dead or otherwise unable to do anything you are normally useful. At exactly zero, each stat has a special effect on you.

• SPD=0: you are unable to do anything but a slow weak stride, though still conscious.
• STR=0, you are incapacitated and conditions may render you unconscious, or even dead.
• END=0 you are unconscious, and maybe even dead depending on the scenario and DM’s kindness.
• PWR=0 you are physically and mentally drained, you are able to only walk (and not run or flee). You may continue to “cast” using END, and if you choose to cast Magic Spells or perform Wondrous Feats using your END instead you may only expend 1 point at a time and each attempt may render you unconscious due to strain, a roll that will depend on circumstance, but by default is a 1d10, in which your roll should be lower than double of your remaining END.

Other stats include Hit Points (HP) which is your health, Rapid Regen (RR) which is how much HP you regenerate every turn, Gold Pieces (GP), which is how often you get laid. Here’s a quick cheat sheet starting and advancement pretty bullet list for reference usage

Strength (STR): How much damage you can do.

Speed (SPD): Speed of movement/attack/reflex, also initiative.

Endurance (END): Hit Points and Rapid Regen come from Endurance.

Power (PWR): Ability Power, the well you draw upon to cast spells or perform wondrous feats.

Other stats include:

Hit Points (HP): Health status

Rapid Regen (RR): How much HP you regenerate per turn.

Building a character

Besides the usual stuff, name, race, and starting equipment (which is all subject to whatever starting conditions your DM sets out), there are a few attributes you have to keep in mind. Characters all start at level 1, but there are a few base stats you get at level 0. Level 0 can be thought of as the outcome of your formative years, and Level 1 is the result of your more personally-driven early adolescence.

Level 0 Character Creation

HP

Starting HP is 10*END. Example: If my END was 4, my starting HP would be 40 (10*4), and every level I gain would add HP to my total (See sections HP in Power Levels or HP in Body Levels for more detail)

Starting HP for any character level 2 or above, things can get a tad complicated…

<math>HP=10\times E+5.5\times M+E\times M+6.5\times E\times B</math>

Or for a slightly easier “Fill in” version:

<math>HP=10{\times }_{E}+5.5{\times }_{M}{+}_{E}{}_{M}+6.5{\times }_{E}{}_{B}</math>

Where E === Endurance Points, M === Power Levels, and B === Body Levels

STR, SPD, END, PWR

You have 10 points at level 1 to spread amongst all of your stats (except power, which always starts at 1), and there is a minimum score of one for each stat. At level 0 you have neither Body nor Power levels, but you may distribute points however you like. Your initial stat distribution should reflect your character’s backstory.

Guided Character Creation

Rather than picking and choosing character stats and a history, I recommend a guided character generation that’s more in line with A) a realistic randomness and B) complex character histories that are geared towards roleplaying and the style of gameplay that DS aspires to encourage.

Character History

History Points, what another set of stats? I thought this was roleplaying. Okay, hear me out, these points are just used for character creation. You have six history points to spend in each of four categories:

• Family: your family life, standing, general upbringing
• Academia: how you fared in school, trade, or something similar
• Social: your social nature, circle of friendships, charismatic standings
• Flaw: a character flaw (or flawlessness) determined by the DM or a rolling table

Figure 1 - History Points

Academic Specialties

This is typical for my own setting, but my list of specialties include:

• History & Lore
• Engineering
• Practical Magic
• Pure Magic
• Physicking (Medicine)
• Music, Culture & Languages
• Husbandry, Agriculture

I intentionally will not define the subjects further than that, but I leverage these specialties in character history to allow players to do extraordinary things they perhaps would not have thought of on their own. E.g. using their Engineering knowledge to pick a lock even though they may not be the thief-type character, their knowledge of Practical Magic to manipulate the inner workings of a magic-assisted elevator, or their Physicking prowess to make a healing spell more effective. I try to encourage and reward roleplaying and engagement wherever possible, so this whole “History Points thing” is a route that could simply end up as a footnote in someone’s character sheet, or allow a player to get more engrossed in their character. Entirely optional, but I encourage it.

Rolling for Stats

There exists a tremendous amount of options here. My recommendation is you roll 2d4-1 for Strength, Speed, and Endurance, in a fixed order and do not allow players to reposition their rolled stat points. It creates interesting dynamics and forces players to draw lines from their origin history to these rolled stats. When you have to reconcile an origin history and stats that are not in perfect alignment, you create a well-rounded and fleshed-out background. It provides the motivation to come up with a story for a character who comes from a line of blacksmiths that ultimately became a doctor. All of a sudden this character has an interesting life journey and a set of unique skills that no blacksmith or doctor would have on their own, you can already see quirks and out-of-the-box solutions coming together, and this whole process took only 20 minutes to execute. This is my preferred method for character creation, as it prevents players from “min/maxing,” and brings people just a little bit outside of their comfort zone. If the players find themselves hating their characters, they’re only level 0, and from level 1 onwards they can shape the path that their characters will walk, honing them more to their preferred set of tactics. The idea is to broaden horizons, make for a more interesting party, keep the game fresh for the battle-hardened, pile-of-dead-character-sheets veterans, and provide a much easier entry for the new-to-tabletop players.

Leveling Up

Every level gains you a few things, HP, and every even level gains you a special point. There are two kinds of levels you can take: Power levels and Body levels (Vegeta…). Power levels gain you power, and Body levels gain you extra HP and allow you to improve your Strength, Speed, or Endurance.

Power Levels

HP

For a Power level you gain 1d10+END HP. Example: if my END was 4, taking a Power level would gain me 1d10+4 HP. If I rolled a 5, I would gain 5 (my roll) plus 4 (my END) to get 9 HP. For fast character generation you can use 5.5+END to speed up dice rolling if need be, but it is to be avoided whenever possible.

Stat Points

During a Power level you automatically gain 1 Power point.

Body Levels

HP

For Body levels you gain END d10 + END HP. Example: if my END was 4, taking a body level would gain me 4d10+4 HP. If I rolled a 5, 4, 6, and 7 on my four dice rolls, I would gain 5+4+6+7 (my dice rolls) plus 4 (my END) to get 26 HP. For fast character generation you can use END*6.5 to speed up dice rolling if need be, but it is to be avoided whenever possible.

Stat Points

During a Body level, you may choose to add a stat point to either Strength, Speed, or Endurance (any stat EXCEPT Power).

Any time your Endurance (END) goes up by 1

In order to eliminate the urge to front-load Endurance when building your character, and thus enabling higher HP rolls during later levels and potentially stunting your character’s usefulness early on, I’ve created a mathematical equation which would essentially “Reroll” your previous levels with your new endurance. As such, any time your endurance goes up you get to add a certain amount of HP to your character. While you can do this the old fashioned way and reroll the added HP to your previous levels, that can get cumbersome and clumsy to figure out. There’s just a couple of variables you need to figure out and input into these formulas:

Variables	B === # of Body levels you have taken M === # of Power levels you have taken <math>{HP}_{0}</math> === Current HP
Dice-Rolling Method	<math>{HP}_{1}={HP}_{0}+\left(B-1\right)d10+M+11</math> Where <math>{HP}_{1}</math> is your new HP total
Fast Calculation	<math>{HP}_{1}={HP}_{0}+\left(B-1\right)\times 6.5+M+10</math> Where <math>{HP}_{1}</math> is your new HP total

Figure 2 - HP Formulas for END Increases

Special Points

You gain your first special point at level 2, and 1 special point every 2 levels thereafter (4, 6, 8, etc.). Special points can be used for creating Invocations. These invocations fall into three categories, Magic Spells, Salient Attributes, or Wondrous Feats.

Magic Spells

Special points can be used to invent a Magic Spell (working with your DM), or enhance an existing Magic Spell so that it adds a multiplier—according to the DM’s discretion. A special point can also be used to enhance a school of magic. Finally, TWO special points (meaning you CAN save them up) can be used to add a new element to your belt (or a mastery)

You may not learn more than 1 element for every 10 levels you have, and any conflicting elements must have a role-playing worthy reason, generally speaking this is not something that happens easily.

For Magic Spells, you will want to explore the Invocations section, as well as the Magic Spells section.

Wondrous Feats

Special Points can be used to establish Wondrous Feats, something more physical than magical. They fall under three foci, Strength Focus, Speed Focus, and Endurance Focus. Using your special point to create a wondrous feat might look like creating an ability to shrug off Magic Spells, let us call this feat “Shrug it Off” – this Endurance feat would allow you to shrug off 20 damage per power point invoked.

Salient Attributes

Special Points can be used to create unique Salient Attributes for your character. As something more permanent, generally Salient Attributes come with a positive and a negative feature. As an example “Magic Resistance” – This would allow you to resist magic damage (permanently) but also inhibit magic healing. So, let us say you have Magic Resistance 1; you automatically reject the first 10 points of incoming magic anything, whether it be damage, healing, or something else.

Tiers

Great devotion to attributes bear fruit in the long run. By training specific attributes day in and day out and sacrificing all other privileges (like not having an HP above 100 at level 20) does have its benefits. Progressing through a set of tiers allows the player to gauge him or herself against all odds. Stats can be vocalized more easily by using tiers, e.g. “I have Tier 2 Endurance” (which sounds way cooler than saying “I’m level 10!”). At Tier 5 and above, you are considered Epic in that area, e.g. “I have Epic Strength!” There is a formula for generating the tier bonuses, the bonuses and math are briefly explained in Figure 3 - Tiers below, and it’s not nearly as complicated as it sounds.

Figure 3 - Tiers

Invocations

There are three types of invocations, Magic Spells, Wondrous Feats, and Salient Attributes. Further stratifying the three types of invocations: Magic Spells classify under both Elements and Schools, Wondrous Feats classify under different Focus areas, and Salient Attributes classify under Elements.

You gain your first special point at level 2, and when you do, you may begin to create various invocations for yourself.

A Word on Creating Your Own Invocations

This is both the fatal flaw and god-sent blessing of the DS system. Every DM will have their own preferences for their players to follow to help adapt to his or her style of playing. There are certain campaign situations that will only allow for certain things, and certain people who will allow anything to happen. While this is completely up to house rules, these are the rules that are fair in my house.

Magic Spells

Creating a magic spell follows a relatively straightforward formula. You describe what you want the spell to do in illustrative description, and the DM will tease out the stats and give you a formulaic way to integrate it into the game. As a quick example, a “Firebolt” spell would fall under the element Fire, and the school Evocation, and as a base spell it would do 1d10+1 damage and have a range of 30 ft.

Elements

Elements are divided in three types, Material (Water, Earth, Electricity), Ethereal (Fire, Wind, Sonic), and Metaphysical (Divine). A material element cannot be learned by someone who has learned its ethereal component, and vice versa. Metaphysical is compatible with all other elements. A relatively simple hierarchy for dominions, elements, and masteries can be seen below in Figure 4 - Elemental Hierarchy.

Figure 4 - Elemental Heirarchy

In a multi-elemental spell caster, you are allowed to take only one element per 10 character levels (and none from opposing elemental dominions). While there are some exceptions, unless it fits in with the roleplaying and there’s a fantastic story behind it, Player Characters cannot mix a material element with its ethereal partner. Masteries are even more so restricted, so while you can be a Fire and Water mage at the same time in certain exceptional circumstances, you cannot be a Fire and Ice mage. Every DM is different, and every group is different, so a set of rules will be excluded in this supplement and you should consider setting up your own, if any at all. In a level 40 character, it would not be unheard of to see a magic user wielding Fire, Vibration (Sonic), and Holy. Not totally normal, but well within the realm of possibility. Figure 5 - Element and Mastery Descriptions and Examples below contains brief descriptions and some examples for each of the elements and masteries.

Element		Mastery
Water Manipulating potable and non-potable forms of water Move Water Create Water Cool Water		Ice Ability to freeze and manipulate frozen water Freeze object Shoot Ice Ice Wall (or Shield)
Earth Manipulation of dirt (can be refined into manipulation of stone, and eventually metal) Move earth Stoneskin Shoot Metal		Nature Manipulation of the earth at a larger scale, including organic plant-life Flourish the Trees Wall of Vines Alter Earth
Electricity Manipulating major forms of electricity Bolt of Lightning Electric Force Field Charge Weapon		Bioelectricity Generating and manipulating minor forms of electricity, including organic animal-life Paralyze Being Accelerated Healing Control Other
Fire Manipulating existing fire, and generating heat Flare Gun Wall of Fire Heat Object		Detonation Igniting a fire from nothing, and explosiveness Explosive Charge Swarm of Flames Incendiary Cloud
Wind Manipulating air Sudden Gust Still Air Whispering Wind		Weather Manipulating atmospheric weather Concealing Mists Call down the sky Vortex into the heavens
Sonic Manipulating sounds, and mild concussive forces Feinting Sounds Banshee’s wail Force Missile		Vibration Manipulating the strings that make up the universe, and major concussive forces Force Cannon Unmake Reality Earthquake
Divine Directly channeling a deific strength to perform otherworldly tasks Heal Divine Intervention Protection		Light & Dark Directly manipulating or utilize light, or the absence thereof. Shadow-jump Light spear Simulacrum

Figure 5 - Element and Mastery Descriptions and Examples

Schools of Magic

In addition to elements, there are also different schools of magic. This is where it gets a little more confusing. Brief descriptions and examples of what kinds of Magic Spells fit into what schools are shown below In Figure 6 - Schools of Magic Descriptions and Examples. Oh, by the way, you make all of your own Magic Spells (subject to DM approval, of course), so have an open mind.

Schools of Magic
Abjuration Protection, barriers, and blockades Circle against evil Protection from [specified element] Heal, Cure Magic Spells Bless Holy Smite	Conjuration Calling, Creating, Healing, Summoning, and Sending. Create water/food Create lesser familiar Create greater elemental
Enchantment Mind and person magic. Making real changes on a non-physical level. Sample Spells: True Strike (apply +25 bonus to next attack roll) Bane/Bless	Evocation Coalescing magical energy into real force and application, damage, and other effects. Sample Spells: Fireball Ice Storm
Illusion Anything that doesn’t actually have real, physical effects. Sample Spells: Illusionary wall Change appearance Solidify illusions (accompanied with conjuration)	Necromancy Manipulate the power of death, and life. Sample Spells: Raise dead Drain life Animate Dead Summon lesser/greater undead
Transmutation Changing the properties of something on a real and physical level. Sample Spells: Bull’s Strength Polymorph self/other Transmute self/other

Figure 6 - Schools of Magic Descriptions and Examples

Wondrous Feats

Wondrous Feats can be thought of as “Melee Spells.” Falling under one of three foci, Strength, Speed, or Endurance, Wondrous Feats are more physical in nature and while still using Power as a reservoir for invocation, they do not fall into Elements or Schools as Magic Spells do. Similar to Magic Schools however, Foci can be leveled up as well as individual Wondrous Feats.

Foci

Wondrous feats are more physical in nature, but circumstantially can be blended in a number of ways interacting with other invocations.

Strength Focus	Speed Focus	Endurance Focus
Physical might, capacity to move and lift weight, melee weapon accuracy and damage Brute Force – deal extra damage with an attack	Quickness of feet, run speed, agility, and reflexivity, ranged weapon accuracy Run up the wall – run on a wall or ceiling surface up to 30 ft	Physical durability, stamina, resistance to outside influence, and general constitution Thick Skin – Ignore the next 50 points of incoming damage (Temporary HP)

Salient Attributes

Salient Attributes are permanent features and characteristic traits embedded in your character. Salient Attributes cannot be removed from you, nullified, or ignored like magic or equipment sometimes can. Salient Attributes all fall under an element, which can be bolstered the same way a Focus or School can: Water-, Earth-, Electricity-, Fire-, Wind-, Sonic-, or Divine-Salience.

Salient Attributes all feature one positive aspect and one negative aspect. If possible, they follow an “equal-but-opposite” rule, however some Salient Attributes make this difficult; as always, check with your DM.

Elemental Salience

Some examples of Salient Attributes in their categories:

Elemental Salience
Water Salience Dorsal Fin – Move at double speed underwater, but half speed on land	Fire Salience Firebrand – Immune to burns, x2 damage from cold
Earth Salience Stalker Walk – Move silently, but at half speed.	Wind Salience Wind Sail – More susceptible to ebbs and flows of wind
Electricity Salience Hold a Charge – Any incoming electricity damage is instead incurred slightly more slowly, more vulnerable while holding a charge.	Sonic Salience Feeling The Squares - +2SPD Against incoming melee attacks, -2 SPD against incoming Ranged attacks
Divine Salience Divine Reasoning – May seek answers to mundane, unknowable questions, but the answers may mislead (Is this trap armed?)

Leveling up Schools, Foci, or Salience

Using a Special Point on magic can be used in a few ways. A Special Point can be used to enhance a school of magic, which makes all Magic Spells under that school strengthened in their primary factors. For example, I am a fire-mage, and I have an engulf-weapon weapon Magic Spell which engulfs a weapon in flames, I have a heat subject, which is a touch attack that increases the subject’s temperature severely, and I also have a ward-against-flame Magic Spell, which increases the subject’s fire resistance. These are three different enchantments, and they all fall under the Enchantment school. The first Magic Spell adds 1d4 fire damage per energy I spend casting the Magic Spell, the second increases the subject’s temperature by 1d4-3 per energy, and the final Magic Spell increases the Magic Spell resistance and fire resistance by 3 and 10 respectively per energy. Now, with my newly found arcane point I’m going to put it into the dominion of enchantment. Not one, not two, but all of my enchantment Magic Spells have increased. For each level that I increase my dominion by, I add a die or increment to the variable effects. My first Magic Spell now deals 2d4 per energy I put in, my second Magic Spell now increases the subjects’ temperature by 2d4-6 per energy, and my third Magic Spell provides Magic Spell resistance of 6 per energy and fire resistance of 20 per energy. An enchantment dominion of level 6 would mean I add 6 dice or increments to the Magic Spell. So now I deal 7d4 per energy extra damage on the sword. You get the idea? The dice rolls are made up, and they should be chosen by your DM. It is recommended that you tell him what you want the Magic Spell to look like, its effects, and its uses; allow the DM to pick the numbers for you.

“What’s stopping someone from requesting a Magic Spell that annihilates people at level one?”

The answer? Technically, nothing. But truly, it’s fear of incurring the DM’s wrath at such a foolish question! There really is nothing from preventing a player to ask the question and it is technically possible. My general guideline is that a player never wants a weak Magic Spell, they want an amazing Magic Spell. I tell them how to work towards it, and they follow my step-by-step approach. You can use a special point to ‘upgrade’ a Magic Spell, which can be more powerful, modifies the original spell in a fundamental way, or give it some kind of flexibility.

One Final remark about magic: The DM’s discretion rules over ALL. If the DM says you can have something, then you can. Make your case strong if you want to be an exotic magic user, if you do it well you may be rewarded for creativity.

Leveling Up Your Invocations

There’s a significant amount of confusion and question around Invocations, as there always is. Specifically, leveling up schools, and how Tiers affect Magic Spells. This is not simple, and every individual Magic Spell will differ, so work with your DM for leveling each up. So let’s walk through an example of a simple “Manipulate Fire” Magic Spell. This can be used to damage, to ignite, or to illuminate. The Magic Spell Manipulate Fire I was originally developed as an evocation Magic Spell with the following description: Grow a self-sustaining fire that floats above the caster’s hand, and is approximately 3 inches in diameter that can be projected to sight range. Deals 1d10 points of damage and lasts for 1d10 rounds. So at level 1, using 1 PWR, it will do exactly that. Now, let’s imagine we’re level 20, with 10 PWR (so tier 2 PWR) and the evocation school is now level 3, and the Magic Spell itself is level 3.

A Study in Magic Spells

1001	Spell Level	School Level	Tier Level	PWR Used
	1	0	0	1
Damage	1d10+1
Size	3" dia
Time	1d10 rounds

What? That didn’t help? What do you mean this makes no sense?! Okay, fine. Let us walk through each aspect of these changes. So, the chart on the left (1001) shows our Manipulate Fire I Magic Spell with its three attributes, size, damage, and how long it lasts (in bed). The base Magic Spell we talked about earlier is shown in the left grouping. These are the stats of the Magic Spell if you were to cast it with 1 PWR.

3001	Spell Level	School Level	Tier Level	PWR Used
	3	0	0	1
Damage	3d10+3
Size	5" dia
Time	3d10 rounds

3301	Spell Level	School Level	Tier Level	PWR Used
	3	3	0	1
Damage	6d10+6
Size	5" dia
Time	3d10 rounds

3321	Spell Level	School Level	Tier Level	PWR Used
	3	3	2	1
Damage	7d10+7
Size	5" dia
Time	3d10 rounds

Okay, now level up your Magic Spell. It’s now Manipulate Fire III. What happens to it? Well, it’s somewhat simple for this part. Add 1d10 for each stat. This is where it comes in handy to have a DM moderate and judge, what do you do for size? In this case, the DM says 1 inch per enhancement is reasonable. Okay, innuendos aside, that sounds fair. So we’re Magic Spell level 3 now, which is 2 higher than 1. So we add 2 to everything. See the table on right (3101). Now we’re cooking, everything is a bit better. Okay, school levels and Tier levels basically work the same, with the exception that Tiers work on all of your Magic Spells, and school or foci levels would only work on Magic Spells in that school or foci.

So, let’s upgrade our school to Level 3. That’s 3 higher than before, so we’re going to upgrade our primary stat (Damage) by 2. See left (3301) for our Manipulate Fire III at Evocation III. Take that 3d10 and add 3d10 to it. Okay, so we enhanced our damage a bit more, now we’re at 6d10!

Now, let’s make ourselves Tier 2, we have 10 PWR now, and we are going to see the rewards of that. On the right (3321) we can see that our damage has gone up even further to 7d10. This is beginning to become quite a powerful little seed. I say seed, because PWR is the blossoming agent. Table 3321 shows what this Magic Spell looks like cast with a measly 1 PWR point. Yeah, it’s significantly higher than our base level 1 Magic Spell, but it’s not really awe-striking.

So far our enhancements have all been “adder” enhancements; add a dice, add an inch, add a round. PWR is a multiplier enhancement. Some of you may already be foaming at the mouth. Stop that, it’s gross. PWR is a multiplier, but it only affects one attribute, however you get to choose which one on each casting. You can divide it up, but that can get complicated. So, you can take your enhanced Magic Spell and multiply it by the amount of PWR you use to cast. This is the blossoming of your Magic Spell, how much of your energy you use in each individual casting. So, I want to deal massive amounts of damage. I use 3 PWR and enhance my damage for this cast. 7 x 3 === 21. All of a sudden I am dealing 21d10 points of damage in one Magic Spell. I can enhance any of the attributes this way. Below (3323a, b, c) a table shows the effects of using PWR to enhance each of the Magic Spells attributes. The Magic Spell is just the seed, the Invocation level, School level, and Tiers are like fertilizer, but the power you channel and pour into each casting determines just how big the flower will grow.

3323a

3323b

3323c

Extra PWR used for Damage

Extra PWR used for Size

Extra PWR used for Time

3323

Spell Level

School Level

Tier Level

PWR Used

3323

Spell Level

School Level

Tier Level

PWR Used

3323

Spell Level

School Level

Tier Level

PWR Used

3

3

2

3

3

3

2

3

3

3

2

3

Damage

21d10+21

Damage

7d10+7

Damage

7d10+7

Size

5" dia

Size

15" dia

Size

5" dia

Time

3d10 rounds

Time

3d10 rounds

Time

9d10 rounds

A Study in Wondrous Feats

1001	Feat Level	Focus Level	Tier Level	PWR Used
	1	0	0	1
DR	+20 DR
Time	1d10 rounds

2001	Feat Level	Focus Level	Tier Level	PWR Used
	2	0	0	1
Damage	+40 DR
Time	2d10 rounds

For example: “Thick Skin” is a Wondrous Feat that increases your DR by 20 for 1d10 round of actions shown on left (1001).

Similar to Magic Spells, you can level up the Feat, or the Focus. This Feat falls under the Endurance Focus, so for this exploration we can upgrade our Feat Level. This increases all facets of the feat by an even factor, as shown on right (2001).

2221	Feat Level	Focus Level	Tier Level	PWR Used
	2	2	2	1
DR	+120 DR
Time	2d10 rounds

1005	Feat Level	Focus Level	Tier Level	PWR Used
	1	0	0	5
DR	+100 DR
Time	1d10 rounds

2225	Feat Level	Focus Level	Tier Level	PWR Used
	2	2	2	5
DR	+600 DR
Time	2d10 rounds

Going even further, we can level up the Focus, and the Tier, both of which impact only the primary effect, as shown below left (2221), expending 1 Power in activating Thick Skin gains you 20 DR, but expending 5 Power (shown below center, 1005) gains you 100 DR. Expanding on that, each point of power drastically improves the Feat for a single activation. Now that we have “Thick Skin II,” are Focus 2, and Tier 2 Power, if we expend the same 5 Power we gain 600 DR for 2d10 rounds. Wondrous Feats grow at the same geometric rate as Magic Spells do.

Fast Character Stat Generation

Here’s a quick run-down table of character stat points that you can build in case you want to build a character that’s not level 1. A quicker way would simply be to take your level +10 for your total stats, and your level / 2 (rounded down) for your special points. If you roll your HP using your final END at your target level, you should not have any wonky formulas to deal with.

Stat Count Lookup Table
Level	Minimums				Assignable				Level	Minimums				Assignable
STR	SPD	END	PWR	Any	Special	Max		STR	SPD	END	PWR	Any	Special	Max
0	1	1	1	1	6	0	10		26	1	1	1	1	32	13	36
1	1	1	1	1	7	0	11		27	1	1	1	1	33	13	37
2	1	1	1	1	8	1	12		28	1	1	1	1	34	14	38
3	1	1	1	1	9	1	13		29	1	1	1	1	35	14	39
4	1	1	1	1	10	2	14		30	1	1	1	1	36	15	40
5	1	1	1	1	11	2	15		31	1	1	1	1	37	15	41
6	1	1	1	1	12	3	16		32	1	1	1	1	38	16	42
7	1	1	1	1	13	3	17		33	1	1	1	1	39	16	43
8	1	1	1	1	14	4	18		34	1	1	1	1	40	17	44
9	1	1	1	1	15	4	19		35	1	1	1	1	41	17	45
10	1	1	1	1	16	5	20		36	1	1	1	1	42	18	46
11	1	1	1	1	17	5	21		37	1	1	1	1	43	18	47
12	1	1	1	1	18	6	22		38	1	1	1	1	44	19	48
13	1	1	1	1	19	6	23		39	1	1	1	1	45	19	49
14	1	1	1	1	20	7	24		40	1	1	1	1	46	20	50
15	1	1	1	1	21	7	25		41	1	1	1	1	47	20	51
16	1	1	1	1	22	8	26		42	1	1	1	1	48	21	52
17	1	1	1	1	23	8	27		43	1	1	1	1	49	21	53
18	1	1	1	1	24	9	28		44	1	1	1	1	50	22	54
19	1	1	1	1	25	9	29		45	1	1	1	1	51	22	55
20	1	1	1	1	26	10	30		46	1	1	1	1	52	23	56
21	1	1	1	1	27	10	31		47	1	1	1	1	53	23	57
22	1	1	1	1	28	11	32		48	1	1	1	1	54	24	58
23	1	1	1	1	29	11	33		49	1	1	1	1	55	24	59
24	1	1	1	1	30	12	34		50	1	1	1	1	56	25	60
25	1	1	1	1	31	12	35		51	1	1	1	1	57	25	61

Cheat Sheet

What is this? Cheating? Not in my game! No, this is a quick run-down of the rules and stuff. Most of this stuff is just used for character generation, leveling up, but also just for refreshing before each game.

Leveling Quick Reference
Any Level Up	Mind	HP: 1d10 + END per level
1 Point in PWR
Body	HP: END d10 + END
1 Point in STR, SPD, or END
1 Special Point every Even Level (2, 4, 6, 8, etc.)
END + 1	HP: 10 + [Body Levels - 1]*6.5 + [Mind Levels](Always round down)

Over on the right you’ll see the Leveling Quick Reference. This is all you probably need as far as leveling up stats is concerned, and for new characters starting at levels higher than 1, please feel free to make use the Starting HP Calculator in lieu of rolling (but rolling is ALWAYS better)

Starting HP Calculator
END === <math>\text{ }E</math>	Mind Levels === <math>\text{ }M</math>	Body Levels === <math>\text{ }B</math>
<math>HP=10\times E+5.5\times M+E\times M+6.5\times E\times B</math> (I apologize in advanced for how complex this formula is)

Special Points Reference Guide
+1 School	+1dx to primary roll/effect
+1 Focus	+1dx to primary roll/effect
+1 Spell	+1dx to all rolls/effects
+1 Tier	+1dx to primary roll/effect
+1 PWR	xPWR to any roll/effect of your choosing

You will also find a Specials Reference Guide, this ought to make leveling up Magic Spells, figuring out damage, and the like, a lot easier.

	Player Stat Tiers
Mortal Tiers	Tiers	END	SPD	STR	PWR
Tier 1	+10 RR	1.5 Act	x2 damage	+1d10 effect
Tier 2	+20 RR	2 Act	x3 damage	+2d10 effect
Tier 3	+30 RR	2.5 Act	x4 damage	+3d10 effect
Tier 4	+40 RR	3 Act	x5 damage	+4d10 effect
Epic Tiers	Tier 5	+50 RR	4 Act	x6 damage	+5d10 effect
Tier 6	+60 RR	5 Act	X7 damage	+6d10 effect
Tier 7	+70 RR	6 Act	X8 damage	+7d10 effect
. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .	. . .
Tier n	DR (n*10)	+(n/2+1) Act	x(n+1) dmg	+(n)d10 eff

Below you’ll see Player Stat Tiers, and you may also notice a division of Tier 1-4 and Tier 5+. You may have noticed that Tier 5 jumps in the expanded description and thought it a typo, but it is not. Tier 5 and above is considered to be comparable to that of a quasi-deity. The Tier n formulas only apply to tiers 5 and above.

And finally, quick stat abbreviations:

STRStrength: Attack bonuses/damage

SPDSpeed: Speed of movement/attack/reflex

ENDEndurance: Will/Constitution/Fortitude and deflectionRRRegeneration Rate: The rate at which you regain hit points (per turn)

PWRPower: Special Power Points

ActAction: How many actions per turn during combat (and a multiplier for anything speed-related)

HPHit Points: Health statusGPGold Pieces: How often your character gets laid