Chapter 5: Spellcasting

The basis of all spellcasting is the cantrip—they are core spells that spellcasters can cast as easily as a fighter can wield a sword. When you gain a spellcasting feat, you’ll either be given specific cantrips you can cast or can choose cantrips from the Arcane, Primal, Divine, or Psionic spell lists. Cantrips each belong to a different school of magic. Charms may also belong to a school of magic—applying a charm to a cantrip changes its school of magic. The schools of magic are:

School	Typical Effects
Abjuration	Prevents or reverses harmful effects
Conjuration	Transports creatures or objects
Divination	Reveals information
Enchantment	Influences minds
Evocation	Channels energy to create effects that are often destructive
Illusion	Deceives the mind or senses
Necromancy	Manipulates life and death
Transmutation	Transforms creatures or objects

Charms

If cantrips are the foundation of spellcasting, charms are the flourish. Charms let you change how a cantrip behaves, typically by changing who you can target with a cantrip or the effects of casting the cantrip. Each charm is associated with a number of cantrips and has one or more tags associated with it—you can only use one charm of a given tag when you cast a spell. There are two main charm tags: targeting and effect.

Targeting

Retains the effect(s) of the base cantrip, but changes how to target the spell.

Effect

Retains the targeting (range, creatures affected, etc…) of the base cantrip, but changes the effect that happens, including if damage is done at all.

Trigger

Retains the effect(s) and targeting of the base cantrip, but changes the circumstances with which the spell can be activated.

Metamagic

Retains the effect(s) and targeting of the base cantrip, but changes how it can be cast.

For instance, you can use the Blast charm, which is a targeting charm, and the Move charm, an effect charm, together when casting a spell, but not the Blast charm and the Spray charm, because they’re both targeting charms. Charms can be added to a cantrip on the fly—you don’t need to decide how you want to combine them up-front. Whenever you see “spell” across the rules, it refers to either a cantrip cast on its own, or a cantrip cast with charms.

You can only have one charm with a given tag attached to a cantrip at a time—if a charm has more than one tag, it counts as both. Additionally, metamagic charms can only be learned and used if you have a specific feat that grants you access to them.

When you take cast a spell, you pay the 1 AP to cast the spell, plus all AP and fatigue needed or each of your charms.

Known Spells and Spell Slots

Spellcasters have a repertoire of cantrips and charms they choose when they gain their spellcasting feat. Your spellcasting feat will also tell you what your spellcasting ability is—this is referred to as +SPELL.

Spellcasters typically prepare the cantrips and charms they want to take with them as part of their daily preparations. The number of combined cantrips and charms you can prepare is known as your Spell Slots. Full casters typically have a number of spell slots equal to their Prowess plus their +SPELL (minimum 1) plus 3, half casters typically their +SPELL (minimum 1) plus two. Always known cantrips and charms, for instance from a lineage or a feat selection, do not count against your spell slots.

Casting Components

Unless otherwise stated, all spells have two components when you cast them: specific words chanted to call forth the magic, its verbal components, specific movements made to shape the magic and its somatic components. Some spells also require a specific materials used to channel the magic, it’s material components. You must have one hand free to make the somatic movements of a spell unless you’re wielding a conduit in one of your hands.

If you are unable to perform the verbal or somatic portions of casting a spell (like you are bound or gagged, you don’t have at least one hand free, etc…), or you do not have the required material components, you are unable to cast that spell.

Spells also have an AP cost or casting time and a fatigue cost—AP cost or casting time represents how complex a spell is to cast, and fatigue cost is how much energy you need to exert to shape the spell.

Conduits

When you gain a spellcasting feat, you also gain proficiency with spellcasting conduits. Conduits are special weapons specifically for spellcasters that let you substitute your +SPELL for attack and damage rolls. Additionally, spells cast through a conduit gain added benefits—a spell can only be cast through one conduit:

Orb (Extend)

Spells cast through it have their duration extended by 1 round.

Wand (Span)

Spells cast through it have their range extended by 10’.

Dagger (Assail)

Allows you to cast uncharmed cantrips as melee attacks using +SPELL for attack and adding +SPELL to damage.

Staff (Expand)

Targeting charms cast through it have their size extended by 5’ in one dimension. Requires two hands.

While there are only 4 conduits, you’re encouraged to flavor these for your character. A Druid, for instance, may have a pinecone and willow branch instead of an orb and wand, or a cleric may have mace and a censure instead of a dagger and a staff. Orbs, wands, and staff can be reflavored however a character would like as long as they retain the same statistics. Any simple melee weapon can be used as a “dagger” conduit, using the simple weapon’s game statistics and granting the weapon’s conduit property.

Concentrating on a Spell

If a charm lasts while you concentrate on it, you need to use the concentrate on a spell technique on each subsequent turn to continue concentrating on it. You must concentrate on each spell individually. Concentration can also be broken by being inflicted with a condition, taking damage, or being forced to mark fatigue by another creature—make a Focus roll, with -1 ongoing for each spell beyond the first you’re concentrating on. On a miss, you lose concentration on all spells; on a weak hit, mark 2-fatigue or choose one spell to lose your concentration on.

Ritual Casting

Some spells have a casting time—those spells are ritual spells, or rituals for short. In order for you to cast a ritual, you must spend its entire casting time performing the verbal and somatic aspects of the spell. Fatigue and material cost for casting a ritual are marked or consumed when you start casting it. If you are interrupted while performing the ritual, you must start from the beginning, paying the fatigue and material cost again.

Spells that neither have a trigger nor have an existing casting time can also be cast as a ritual. To do so takes 10 minutes per AP plus 5 minutes per fatigue, minimum of 1 minute. When you cast a spell as a ritual like this, it does not cost you fatigue, and you can upcast it and combine charms as normal. Cantrips cannot be cast as rituals without an attached charm.

Upcasting

You can upcast a spell to a higher level, increasing its potency. Charms and cantrips, if they can be upcast, all include a description of the amount of additional resources (AP, fatigue, material components) needed to upcast the spell. There’s no limit to how much you can upcast a spell other than your available resources and any described rules in the cantrip or charm body.

Some upcasts are written as +N fatigue - Increase by +Y. In this case, you can use this upcast multiple times, each time paying the described cost.

Multiple Spellcasting Feats

As you level up, you gain the ability to take additional feats. If you take a spellcasting feat when you already have a spellcasting feat, you gain the normal benefits of that feat, but how your spellcasting changes is a little different. Typically, taking a full casting feat will grant you +1 spell slot and 2+Prowess cantrips and/or charms from that class’s spell list, with at least one of those being a cantrip—half casting feat is the same, except it’s 1+Prowess cantrips and/or charms. Spells cast with a cantrip from your non-primary spellcasting feat are cast with that feat’s +SPELL; conduits always use your +SPELL from your first spellcasting feat for their attack and damage rolls. You always use your first spellcasting feat’s spell prepartion rules, drawing from all of the cantrips and charms that you know.

If your initial spellcasting feat didn’t grant you spell slots (like a Sorcerer’s Sorcery feat), you instead typically gain Prowess total spell slots for the first additional spellcasting feat you take, then the normal rules apply. These spell slots are prepared as part of your daily preparations. If you have spell slots and take a spellcasting feat that grants you only inately known spells (like Sorcerer’s Sorcery feat), you instead typically gain a number of cantrips and/or charms from that spell list equal to your Prowess, taking at least one cantrip.