Tricks of the Trade
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Quintessential Wizard II: Advanced Tactics
Tricks of the Trade
E
ach one of a wizard’s spells can be considered a trick, as it bends or thoroughly breaks the laws of nature to achieve a goal. Despite this abundance of alternate ways to reach an objective, wizards continue to expand their repertoire of methods and tactics, either by devising new spells, or creating new ways to cast the magic they already know. The area of arcane studies is wide and wizards keep probing to find new applications of old knowledge, as well as uncovering new lore which expands their already impressive range of capabilities.
Ritual Spells
Many spells are designed to be cast quickly, as most of the spell has already been cast during its preparation, with only the trigger being left to complete the incantation and set loose the spell’s magical energies. However, nothing stops a wizard from foregoing the preparation-trigger method of spellcasting and using the age-old technique of using a ritual, the original form of spells as they are researched and created. A ritual spell is magic in its raw form; it is tracing all the complicated circles and diagrams on the ground instead of in the wizard’s mind and not waiting for a trigger, but completing the incantation in one sitting. Many spells with complicated results already resemble a ritual, particularly those with casting times longer than one minute, but they are in effect still using the preparationtrigger method – with a very long trigger.
complex diagrams are traced with expensive components in sealed rooms atop a wizard’s tower. Note that the spell must also be in the wizard’s spellbook – a scroll will also work if the wizard can extrapolate its component workings (Decipher Script check, DC 10 + spell level) though the scroll will be consumed in the ritual. The preparations for the ritual are part of its duration, for the lines of the diagrams need to be traced while chanting some of the words of the spell. The character makes a Spellcraft check (DC 10 + spell level); failing this check ruins the whole ritual. Ritualised spells also require material components with a cost in gold pieces equal to the spell’s level multiplied by 10. Once the circle is complete, the ritual’s proper incantations begin. The wizard reads the spell’s instructions from his spellbook, chanting the words aloud and performing the full somatic components. Any expensive material components in the spell are also included in the ritualised spell’s performance, as well as any cost in experience points.
Ritual Durations Original Casting Time 1 free action 1 standard action 1 full-round action Other
Ritual Duration 1 minute per spell level 5 minutes per spell level 10 minutes per spell level 30 minutes per spell level
The main difference between a spell and its ritualised version is the time it takes to complete them. It is one thing to store magical energy inside one’s body and trigger it later, it is quite another to channel it through symbols on the ground and in the air, so it generally takes longer to cast a ritualised spell than it does to prepare it for a later casting.
If the ritual’s total time is over an hour, the character must make a Concentration check with a DC of 10 + spell level at the one hour mark. The character must make subsequent Concentration checks every 10 minutes, but the DC increases by +1 with each successful check. A failed Concentration check means that the ritual fails and the spell is lost.
The advantage of performing a spell as a ritual is one of tantamount importance to wizards, more than any other arcane spellcaster; the ritual does not need to be prepared beforehand and it does not utilise any of the wizard’s daily allotment of spells.
At the end of the ritual’s duration, the spell comes into effect just as if the wizard had prepared and cast it normally, but he does not use up any of his prepared spell slots.
Performing a Ritual
To perform a ritual, the first thing a wizard needs to do is prepare all the components and ingredients. This includes tracing a magic diagram on the ground through which to channel arcane energy into the spell. The simplest circle is composed of lines in the mud traced with a finger and sprinkled with the ritual’s components, while more
Ritual spellcasting cannot be used to build magical items, as such a process requires the caster to channel his own energy as just another part of the ritual to create the item. Also, a wizard cannot cast a ritualised spell from a scroll; he must first decode the condensed instructions into his spellbook.
