Sorcery

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The most common kind of Gifted, Sorcerers are born with an innate connection to the flows of Essence in the world around them. To a Sorcerer, there is little to no boundary between the Essence in their aura and the flow of Essence in the world - all of it can be used, with enough training.

Invocations

Invocation are the result of thousands of years of mankind’s research into Essence and the way it functions. Sorcerers see Essence as a raw force of creation and destruction, and use Invocations to mold it to their will. Each Invocation is a collection of patterns, gestures, or words, that aid a Sorcerer in directing and manipulating Essence to achieve a specific result. For example, a Sorcerer learned in the Elemental Fire invocation, knows how to manipulate Essence to create, alter, or extinguish flames.

Learning Invocations

Each Invocation is learned as a separate skill. At character creation, Invocations may be taken up to level 5, at a price of 2 Metaphysics points per level. During play, the first level in an Invocation costs 10 Experience points, and every level afterwards costs 3 Experience points times the new level.

Casting Invocations

Using an Invocation requires three steps. First, the required amount of Essence must be gathered. This is called the Summoning. Second, the Essence must be focused into the desired effect. This is called the Focus, and usually requires a roll using Willpower and the Invocation level. The more powerful the effect, the more difficult the Focus roll will be. Finally, the summoned Essence must be dismissed, lest they run rampant and cause trouble.

The Summoning

In this step, the Sorcerer must gather the Essence required to power the Invocation she wishes to cast. This may take mere seconds if the Sorcerer has Essence Channeling, or it may take hours or days if only ambient Essence is gathered through rituals. If the Sorcerer can gather the required amount of Essence in one turn, they may perform the Focus roll as part of the same action as the Summoning.

The Focus and Dismissal

Once all the gathered Essence has been Summoned, the Sorcerer uses the Invocation to weave it in the desired pattern and then dismiss its energy. In game terms, the Focus and Dismissal are usually treated as a single Attribute + Invocation Task. If the Invocation can be resisted by the target or victim, treat it as a Resisted Task.

If large amounts of Essence are used, the Sorcerer takes a penalty on the Focus Task. If 10 or more Essence is channeled, the Task is performed at a -1 penalty for every 5 Essence channeled. So an Invocation using 8 Essence won’t have any penalty, while an Invocation using 13 Essence will carry a -2 penalty.

Failed & Corrupted Invocations - Preventative Dismissal

If a Focus Task fails, the energies created by the gathered Essence run wild, possibly striking nearby people, turning against the caster, or producing other unexpected results. To prevent this, the caster must attempt a Preventative Dismissal. A similar Dismissal task is required for any Invocation cast in anger, or with the intent to harm or cause destruction. This is to prevent the used Essence from becoming tainted with the negative emotions, thus producing other negative consequences.

In game terms, a Dismissal Task takes at least one turn to perform, and should be performed as soon as possible. Though the Sorcerer may wait before Dismissing the corrupted Essence, if they wait too long it may explode on them before they get the chance to Dismiss it. The Dismissal is a Task using Willpower and the Invocation level, and takes double the penalty due to Essence spent as the Focus Task, meaning -2 for every 5 Essence channeled.

List of Invocations

Affect the Psyche

This Invocation uses the emotional nature of Essence to influence the feelings of a person. This Invocation uses the Sorcerer's Willpower and is resisted with a twice the target’s Willpower attribute.

Influence Emotional State

The Sorcerer induces or suppresses a specific emotion within the target. This costs 2 Essence if the person was leaning towards the intended emotion, 4 Essence to inspire a different emotion, and 8 Essence for an utterly opposite emotion. It’s up to the Director to decide if the Invocation changes the target’s behavior in the way the Sorcerer intended: a scared attacker may decide to flee, surrender, or fight to the death, for example.

This emotional change lasts for 1 turn per Success Level. The Sorcerer may double the Essence cost to have this last for 1 minute per Success Level. Despite the short duration, clever mundane manipulation may cause the change to last longer, at the Director’s discretion.

Beguile

The Sorcerer charms the subject, making them believe that the Sorcerer is a trusted friend, or even a loved one. The subject will attempt to aid the Sorcerer to the same extent as a close friend would. If the subject believes the caster or their perceived allies is attempting to harm them, they may attempt a difficult Willpower Test to break free early. This costs 4 Essence, and lasts for 1 minute per Success Level. An additional 4 Essence increases the duration to 10 minutes per Success Level.

Induce Sleep

The Sorcerer instills a feeling of weariness in the subject, causing them to attempt to lie down and fall asleep on their next turn if uninterrupted. This costs 1 Essence if the target is already tired or ready to sleep, 3 Essence if the target is awake and alert, and 5 Essence if there is something stopping the target from falling asleep, such as pain or drugs.

The sleep brought on by this effect is not magically sustained, so the subject may be woken up by any means that would otherwise rouse them.

Blessing

This Invocation alters probability, making the subject luckier and more successful. All the Essence spent on the Blessing must come directly from the Sorcerer. Ambient Essence, Times of Power, and Symbols may not be used to power this Invocation.

Due to its chaotic nature, this Invocation always requires a Dismissal task.

Good Luck

This effect grants the subject a small amount of good luck. For every 3 Essence spent, the target gains a +1 bonus that may be used on any one test or task. The bonuses may all be applied to the same roll, or they may be split as desired between many rolls. This blessing ends when the last bonus is used, and Essence spent on this Invocation is not restored until its benefits end. For example, a magician who gives a friend of theirs a +5 Luck bonus has their own maximum Essence lowered by 15 until the luck is used up.

Cleansing

This effect neutralizes a curse or other harmful supernatural effect that is affecting the subject. This works against all kinds of curses placed by humans, and occasionally also those placed by other beings. Removing harmful magic costs the same amount of Essence as the harmful power cost to place (or 20 Essence if the original effect didn’t cost Essence), and is resisted by the Task that was used to create the effect.

Communion

This Invocation makes the Sorcerer more aware of Ambient Essence, melding their consciousness with the land and animals around them. This connection runs deep into their soul and is full of dangers, potentially harming the caster’s mind and body. This Invocation is usually performed in parks, forests, or other places of nature, where the Essence is less tainted by human emotion. Using it in a city risks overwhelming the caster with the cries of dying trees, the cold suffering of wild animals within the city, and the chaos of humans living there.

The Focus Task of this Invocation uses the caster’s Perception and the Invocation level.

One With the Land

Becoming one with the land costs 2 Essence and lasts for 1 minute. The caster enters a trance in which they are aware of everything occurring in the surrounding area. This has a radius of 10 meters times the caster’s Willpower. Every additional point of Essence spent increases the duration by 1 minute or the range by a number of meters equal to the caster’s Willpower. Once the Communion begins, the caster is aware of the whereabouts and emotions of every living being in the area, whether animal, human, or supernatural. Any attempt to communicate with a spirit in the area gets a bonus equal to the Success Levels on the spellcasting task on this Invocation.

Unfortunately, this exposes the caster to any pain, suffering, anger or other negative feelings of every being in the area, and risks suffering psychic backlash. When performing Communion in an area deeply plagued by suffering, anger, or pollution, the caster must succeed on a Difficult Willpower Test or take up to 20 points of Essence Damage. This Test takes a -2 penalty in areas with constant negative emotions (such as a slum), or a -4 or -6 penalty in a place full of suffering (a burning forest or a prison camp).

One With the Beasts

This effect allows a Sorcerer to merge their consciousness with that of an animal. This costs 3 Essence per minute, though the caster may end this early with a Difficult Willpower test.

To cast the Invocation, the Sorcerer must have eye contact with an animal, and the animal may attempt to resist the Invocation task with Willpower (doubled). If the Sorcerer succeeds, their mind melds with the beast’s and they may control the animal’s actions as though it were part of their body. While joined, the caster sees, hears, and experiences everything the creature senses. The Sorcerer may also attempt to use their own Metaphysical powers through the animal, though this draws on the animal’s own Essence Pool.

This bond is not without risk: any Life Point damage that the animal takes while melded is dealt also to the Sorcerer as Essence damage, and if the animal is knocked out or reduced to 0 or fewer Life Points, the caster must succeed on a Difficult Willpower Test or have their Life Points and Essence points reduced to 0, and have to take Consciousness and/or Survival tests as usual.

Divination

This Invocation allows the Sorcerer to glimpse into the Realm of Memory, and see into the past or future. When taking levels in this Invocation, the Sorcerer must decide what tools they use to divine information. Common tools include tarot decks, crystals, rune stones, tea leaves, and palm lines. A Sorcerer attempting to use this Invocation with a divinatory tool other than their preferred one gets a -1 penalty to the Focus Task, while a Sorcerer attempting to use this Invocation without any divinatory tool has a -2 penalty.
This Invocation uses the Sorcerer’s Perception and Invocation level.

Glimpse The Future

This effect allows the Sorcerer to peer into the most likely future. They must concentrate on a particular inquiry, spend 6 Essence, and roll a Perception and Divination Task. If the Task is successful, the character receives a series of symbolic images pertaining to the question posed. If the Task results in 4 or more Success Levels, the images contain more specific information that is less ambiguous in nature.

These glimpses only reveal the most likely future. The future can always be changed, though that is often easier said than done.

Glimpse the Past

Just as Divination allows one to peer into the future, a Sorcerer can also use this Invocation to look into the past. This works much like looking into the future, costing 6 Essence and using the Sorcerer’s Perception and Divination Levels. If the Task is successful, the Sorcerer gets symbolic images of the most memorable or powerful past events relating to their inquiry, with a result of at least 4 Success Levels giving more concrete information.

Elemental Air

This Invocation allows a Sorcerer to govern the forces of air, from creating and manipulating wind, to conjuring blasts of electricity and forceful tornadoes.

Alter Wind Speed

Creating or calming wind costs 1 Essence for every 5 km/h by which the Sorcerer wishes to increase or decrease the wind speed. This creates a single gust of wind, unless the Sorcerer spends additional Essence, with each point of Essence causing the wind to last for 1 minute. The wind can flow in any direction, and is not limited to blowing away from the caster. The gust has a range of 10 meters per Willpower Level, and the Sorcerer may increase this range by spending additional Essence, each point increasing the range by 10 meters.

If the wind created by this effect exceeds a speed of 60 km/h, the Sorcerer may spend 5 more Essence to create a whirlwind instead of a steady blow. Such a whirlwind has a radius in meters equal to 5 times the caster’s Willpower, and every additional Essence spent increases the multiplier by 1. The Caster must repeat the Focus roll every minute the tornado is sustained, and if failed the caster loses control over its motion.

Creating a whirlwind always requires a Dismissal task.

Cleanse and Create Air

This effect allows a Sorcerer to transform pure Essence into breathable air, and remove poisons or contaminants from the air around them. This would allow the caster to breathe indefinitely in a small space without suffocating, and would protect them from toxic gasses or smoke.

It costs 1 Essence to create enough air for an adult human to breathe for 1 minute. By spending 1 point per turn, the Sorcerer may create a small “bubble” around themselves that keeps hazardous airborne materials away. The Sorcerer may tend this protection to other people, by spending 2 Essence per turn for each other person.

Lightning Bolt

The Sorcerer can ionize the air to create a powerful electric discharge. For 1 Essence, the bolt inflicts 3 damage to a single target, ignoring any metal armour that the target is wearing. For every additional point of Essence spent, the Sorcerer can increase the damage by 3 or make the bolt bounce to a secondary target. Each secondary target takes ½ of the damage dealt to the original target.

Elemental Earth

This Invocation grants the Sorcerer mastery over earth and stone.

Mold Earth

The caster can reshape stone for 1 Essence for every 2 kg of stone (10 cm cube, or 1 litre) up to 20 kg (10 litres). Afterwards it costs 1 Essence for each 10 kg (5 litres). Shaping metals costs 5 times as much. For example, making a 2x1 meter doorway in a 10cm thick wall would cost 56 Essence (20 for the first 20 litres, then 36 for the other 180), while warping a 2 kg sword to make it unusable would cost 5 Essence.

Making precise shapes or fine details, such as when creating art or tools, doubles the Essence cost, and the Sorcerer must succeed at a relevant Art task.

Tremor

Causes the ground around the caster to tremble. This has a range of 10 meters, and increasing the range costs 1 Essence for every additional 5 meter radius. A light tremor costs 10 Essence, and knocks objects off shelves, and staggers people giving them a penalty on all tasks requiring movement or concentration equal to your Success Levels on the Invocation task.

A moderate tremor costs 30 Essence, and may cause avalanches, cave ins, and may cause people to fall unless they succeed on a Simple Dexterity test with a penalty equal to your Success Levels. A major earthquake costs 60 Essence and may damage structures, if their foundations are within the effect’s range.

Any usage of this Invocation that uses 50 or more Essence for this effect always requires a Dismissal task.

Stone Strike

The caster launches nearby stones at a target. There must be loose rocks in the area to use this effect. This deals 5 damage for every 2 Essence spent.

Elemental Fire

Fire is one of the most ancient forces known to man, and is one of the most potent. Fire magic allows the caster to wield great power, though it carries a great risk, as if a Sorcerer fails to Dismiss a fire Invocation, it often ends up with them suffering the same fate they attempted to put on others.

Blaze

The Sorcerer creates a fire nearby. A flame the size of a candle costs 1 Essence, a flame the size of a torch costs 2 Essence, and a flame the size of a campfire costs 3 Essence. This lasts for 1 turn per Success Level. If cast on flammable material, the fire remains after the Invocation ends - otherwise the fire goes out as soon as the magic is removed.

Larger flames can be created, costing 2 Essence per cubic meter of flames, or 1 Essence per square meter if creating a sheet of flames. Anyone coming in contact with the flames must succeed on a Difficult Dexterity Test or take damage equal to 3 times the caster's Willpower. This latter usage always requires a separate Dismissal Task.

Fire Protection

The Sorcerer may ward a creature from fire. This costs 2 Essence and reduces the fire taken by the subject by 3 for 1 turn, and every additional Essence spent increases the protection value by 3 or the duration by 1 turn.

Shift Flames

This effect allows the Sorcerer to extinguish flames or move them away from their fuel source. Every meter of radius to be affected costs 2 Essence.

Striking Flames

The Sorcerer creates a bolt or wave of flame, or a fiery explosion. For 1 Essence, this creates a bolt of flame dealing 3 damage, with each additional point of Essence increasing the damage by 3. Alternatively, the Sorcerer can widen the bolt into a wave, costing 2 Essence per meter of width. The Sorcerer may instead spend 2 Essence to create an explosion of fire with a radius of 1 meter, and may increase the radius by 1 meter for each 2 additional Essence.

Heat Metal

The caster increases the temperature of a targeted metal object. Heating cold metal to a comfortable temperature costs 1 Essence. Heating room temperature metal to a painful heat costs 2 Essence, and deals 2 damage for every Essence point spent beyond that. Anyone holding the affected metal drops the object unless they succeed on a difficult Willpower or Constitution test (the target’s choice).

Melting a metal object costs 10 Essence per kilogram, and this always requires a separate Dismissal task. Anyone holding or wearing the molten object takes 10 damage for 2 turns, until the liquid metal drips off them.

Elemental Water

This Invocation allows the Sorcerer to control all forms of water - liquid, gas, or solid.

Cause Rain

This effect causes rain clouds to appear high above the caster. This only works outdoors and above ground. It costs 5 Essence to cause a light rain for 1 minute over an area with a radius of 3 meters per Willpower level, plus 3 meters per Success Level. Every additional 3 meters or 1 minute of duration costs 1 more Essence. Causing hard rain or sleet increases the cost by 4, causing snow increases the cost by 6, and causing a heavy hail (dealing damage each round equal to your Willpower plus your Success Levels to anyone caught within it) increases the cost by 10. Like all major applications of magic, this effect always requires a Dismissal Task.

If used during a sunny day, double the cost of this power. If used during a dry spell, in a desert, or in any other place where such precipitation is unlikely, triple it instead.

Create Water

A sorcerer can create 1 litre (kilogram) of purified water or ice for every Essence Point spent. Ice created in this way can be in any form, limited only by the creator's imagination - though intricate shapes may require an Intelligence and Arts Test. A sheet of ice can also be used to make the ground slippery or to freeze shut a door.

Created water can be suspended in mid air, creating a cloud of fog. Once Essence per meter radius creates a thin mist that imposes a penalty on all sight-based Perception rolls equal to your Success Levels on the Invocation task. Tripling the cost creates a fog that blocks all vision beyond 1 meter1, making vision-based Perception beyond that distance impossible, those within 1 meter have a penalty as above. The duration of this effect depends on the local weather (at the Director’s discretion).

Purify Water

The Sorcerer can clean water or other water-based fluids from contaminants. This costs 2 Essence per liter if the caster wants to convert the fluid to pure water, or 5 Essence to remove a specific component.
For example, if a Sorcerer has a 2 liter bottle of poisoned wine, 4 Essence would turn it to pure water, while 10 Essence would remove the poison and leave the wine.

Healing

This Invocation allows a Sorcerer to heal the wounds of a living being and cure diseases afflicting it, using its own Essence pool. Casting this Invocation requires physical contact between the caster and the subject.

Heal Wounds

This restores 1 Life point for every Essence point spent. The subject loses 1 Essence for each Life Point restored, and their maximum Essence is temporarily reduced by ½ that amount. The maximum Essence is restored once the subject gets a good night’s sleep. If the Sorcerer casts this on themselves, they must spend the required Essence, and are then drained as usual.

Cure Disease

The Sorcerer may attempt to cure a minor disease - anything that could be treated by antibiotics or over-the-counter drugs, or that is no more severe than a cold or the flu. This costs 20 Essence.

Illusion

Essence can be used to fool the senses, creating effects that look, sound, and even smell like the real thing.

Illusions are not solid, thus they may deceive any sense except for touch, and they do not cast shadows (though an illusion of a shadow may be added). An illusion always has tiny flaws which people may notice, to discern that the illusion is false. Unless stated otherwise, an illusion may only add objects or effects to what people can perceive, not hide things from the senses (though an illusion can block sight, such as an illusory wall hiding a doorway).

The Focus Task of this Invocation uses the caster’s Intelligence and the Invocation level. Most illusions work as a resisted Task, pitting the caster’s Invocation Task versus any observer’s Intelligence and Perception.

Visual Illusion

An illusion that fools only vision, but produces no sound, smell, or heat, costs 1 Essence per cubic foot that the Illusion occupies. This lasts for 5 minutes, extended by 1 minute for every additional Essence spent.

Auditory Illusion

The cost of creating sound with this Invocation depends on the volume: a soft noise, such as a whisper costs 1 Essence. A sound as loud as normal speech costs 2 Essence, and a sound as loud as a shout costs 3 Essence. A particularly loud noise (such as a lion’s roar, or the roaring of a jet engine) may cost 5 or more Essence, at the Director’s discretion.

This is a one-off sound, lasting no more than a couple of seconds. Producing an extended sound doubles the cost, making it last for 5 minutes, and an additional minute for every additional Essence spent.

Full Illusion

Creating a full illusion that fools every sense except touch costs 3 Essence for every cubic foot of the illusion. This lasts for 1 minute, and an additional minute for every additional Essence point spent.

Hideaway

The Sorcerer may use Essence to dampen their presence, making them almost invisible to cameras, and affecting the minds of those nearby to avoid perceiving them. This does not render them invisible or inaudible, it instead subtly tricks other people to avoid looking in their direction. The subject will see crowds subtly part ways to avoid it, and people will even subconsciously walk around hidden objects.

Anyone looking at the subject must make a Difficult Perception Test with a penalty equal to the Success Levels on the Invocation Task. Success means that they can see the semi-transparent image of the subject, though their edges seem blurred. Failure on this task means the person is completely unaware of the subject. Attacking or otherwise attracting attention will reduce the effectiveness of the magic. The mental aspect of the Invocation will fail, and people will be able to see the subject’s glimmering outline. Even so, attacking the hidden subject is difficult, carrying a -1 penalty on hand-to-hand attacks and a -4 penalty on ranged attacks.

Obscuring a human or human-sized object costs 6 Essence per 10 minutes duration. A larger subject (the size of a horse or car) costs 10 Essence per 10 minute duration. Anything larger costs 20 Essence per 10 minutes (or more at the Director’s discretion).

Masking

Less obtuse than making something completely imperceptible, the Sorcerer may make a magical creature or object seem non-magical. Any Gifted looking at the subject may attempt to see the subject’s true aura with a Difficult Perception Test with a -1 penalty for each Success Level on the Invocation Task. If the subject is a living being, the Perception Test gets a +1 bonus for each 10 Essence in the subject’s Essence Pool.

This costs 1 Essence for every 5 minute duration.

Locomotion

This Invocation allows the Sorcerer to manipulate forces at a distance and move great loads. The Focus Task of this Invocation uses the caster’s Intelligence and the Invocation level.

Spirit Limbs

This effect grants the Sorcerer a powerful force to lift and move objects with their mind. This force has a Strength score, and can lift or carry as much as a character with that Strength level could (see table). Creating a force with a Strength score of 1 costs 2 Essence. Increase the Strength score by 1 for every 2 additional Essence spent. This lasts for 1 turn per Success Level.

Float

This effect allows the Sorcerer to make people or objects hover or float. The Sorcerer can move the subject at a rate of 5 kph (4 meters per turn). If the subject is high in the air or if strong winds are present, the Sorcerer may have to fight to maintain control against the currents, unless they can somehow control them.

If the Sorcerer casts this on themselves it costs 5 Essence per minute. Casting this on someone else costs 10 Essence per minute, and the movement is controlled by the caster. Unwilling targets may resist with a Simple Willpower Test.

Projection

The Sorcerer may send a portion of their Essence to see or act in a location distant from their physical body. This Invocation uses the Sorcerer’s Perception and Invocation level.

Clairvoyance

This ability allows the Sorcerer to cast their senses to see and hear into a distant area. The caster chooses a location within range, and for 1 minute the caster may see and hear from that location using their regular senses. This does not replace the Sorcerer’s normal senses. For 5 Essence the Sorcerer may place the sensor anywhere within 100 meters per Perception Level. For 10 Essence the range is 1 kilometer per Perception Level. The caster may increase the range by 1 kilometer for each additional Essence spent.

Projection

This ability allows the Sorcerer’s consciousness to temporarily leave their body. While projecting, the Sorcerer is a being of pure Essence, unconstrained by physical barriers, but also unable to affect the physical world, except through the use of metaphysical powers.

Starting the effect costs 5 Essence, and the caster must leave behind at least 5 Essence in their body, to tether their soul to the body. 1 Essence is drained from the projecting Sorcerer every hour. This Essence can not be restored until the Sorcerer returns to their body. The Sorcerer can fly at speeds of up to 100 kph per Willpower Level. While projecting, the Sorcerer can use magic and other Gifted powers, but anything other than sensory or mental powers may only affect other spirits, not physical beings. If the projected Sorcerer’s Essence is reduced to 0, they must pass a Survival Test. If they succeed their consciousness returns to their body, they are reduced to 0 Essence, and are unconscious. If they fail or if their body is reduced to 0 Life Points, the Sorcerer dies.

While Projecting, the Sorcerer may attempt to find and utilize a Gateway cross into the Realm of Dreams and through there make their way to the other Outer Realms. Finding a Gateway requires a Difficult Perception Test.

Shielding

The Sorcerer may wrap themselves in pure Essence to protect them from harm. Shields can block either Essence based effects or physical effects. The caster may create both a physical and Essence shield with the same action, spending Essence individually on each one. Shields are usually invisible, though flare up when struck, making it very clear that something magical is afoot. Powerful Sorcerers may make the shield completely invisible, making it possible for them to pass it off as mundane protection. Shields created with this invocation don’t have a set duration, though they must be fed a constant stream of Essence - any Essence spent creating a shield isn’t restored until the shield is lowered (either by being broken, the caster losing consciousness, or being dismissed as an action).

The Focus Task for this Invocation uses the Sorcerer's Willpower and their Invocation Level.

Essence Shield

The simplest form of shield, it dampens Essence-based attacks. For 3 Essence Points, the caster gets a shield with a Protection Value of 10 plus the Success Levels on the Focus task. Every additional point of Essence spent adds 1 to that Protection Value. Any hostile magic, Seer power, or other supernatural Essence based effect aimed at the caster must have a Focus result higher than the Protection Value of the shield, or have no effect on the protected individual.

If an effect is negated, subtract the Success Levels on its Focus task from the Protection Value of the shield. Once the Protection Value reaches 0, the shield is broken. Any attack that drains Essence (such as Soulfire, mithril weapons, or the attacks of certain beings) may damage the shield, lowering its Protection Value by 1 for every 3 Essence damage dealt.

Physical Shield

A physical shield blocks physical objects from hitting the caster. For 1 Essence the Sorcerer creates a shield with 1 Armour and 5 Capacity. Every additional Essence point spent increases the Armour by 1 and the Capacity by 5.

The physical shield functions much the same as a separate character wearing Armour: an incoming attack has its damage reduced by the shield’s Armour, and the remaining damage is then subtracted from the shield’s Capacity. Once the shield’s Capacity is reduced to 0, the shield is broken. Any excess damage remaining from an attack that breaks the shield is dealt directly to the Sorcerer.

Invisible Shield

By spending 10 additional Essence at the time of casting, the Sorcerer may render the shield completely invisible, even when it blocks an attack, though It may still be sensed by a Gifted being.

Wall

By spending 10 additional Essence at the time of casting, the Sorcerer may form the shield into a two-dimensional plane instead of wrapping it around themselves. The wall may have an area up to the Sorcerer’s Willpower level in square meters, and it may be angled in any direction. Alternatively, the wall may be shaped into a sphere or hemisphere with a radius equal to half the Sorcerer's Willpower Level.

Ward

A special kind of Essence shield, a ward serves as a long-term protection against spirits and prying eyes. A ward has a Strength score, and any spirit or supernatural being attempting to pierce the ward must win a Resisted Task, using their Strength and Willpower against the twice Ward’s Strength (this is a static score, not a roll). If the supernatural being loses, it is barred from crossing the ward and, and is wracked by pain, taking 2 points of Essence damage and suffering a -2 penalty to all tasks for 1 minute.
The ward also blocks location or sensory powers used to peer into it or out of it, but it doesn’t affect other metaphysical powers.

Creating a ward with 5 Strength and a radius of equal to the Sorcerer’s Willpower costs 10 Essence. The Strength can be increased by 1 for every 4 Additional Essence spent, and the radius can be increased by the Sorcerer’s Willpower for every 1 additional Essence.

Soulfire

Some Sorcerers learn to harness Essence as a form of pure destruction. Blasts of Soulfire look like streaks of pale blue or green energy, and are extremely dangerous to Essence-based beings. Whereas most creatures suffer some Essence loss, spirits usually take the full force of the Soulfire.

Soulfire Burst

For 3 Essence the Sorcerer may deal damage to 1 target equal to their Willpower level. Each additional point of Essence allows the caster to increase the damage by their Willpower, or affect an additional target. Essence-based creatures and effects, such as undead, spirits, and magical shields take Essence the full amount of damage to both their Vital Essence and Energy Essence, while other creatures take ⅓ of that amount as Essence damage. Inanimate objects are immune to Soulfire.