1879: Players Companion Spell Preview

We’re still working on the 1879 Players Companion. Among other things, it will have a collection of KAVs and new Base Spells. Let’s take a sneak peek at one of each.

KAV: Burden of Guilt

Base Spell: Bind
Lodge: Anglican Church
Tier: Initiate
Casting Difficulty: TMD
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Rank + 5 feet
Duration: Rank + 8 rounds
Effect: WIL + 4
Strain: 2 + target count

This KAV requires the priest to speak to the target or targets during the casting, and will not work if the target or targets do not understand the priest’s words. The priest brings to the minds of the target or targets all of the sins or offenses they have committed, and shackles them with the weight of their own conscience. If the target or targets are Christian, extra successes on the Spellcasting Test increase the Action penalty to the magician’s Rank plus 2 Steps per extra success, and if Anglican, to Rank plus 3 Steps per extra success.

If the Spellcasting Test scores three or more extra successes against an Anglican target, the target must succeed in their first WIL Test against the Effect Test result, or will repent of their sins and confess their guilt to the priest. If they are forgiven, and abandon the actions they were taking to stand with the priest, the target is immediately freed of the binding.

This spell is less effective against targets who do not follow the Christian path. Reduce the Effect Step by 2 against Jews and Muslims, by 3 against faiths not of the Book but with a similar moral code (Hinduism and Buddhism serve as examples), and by 5 against atheists and other traditions that do not include a divinely inspired mechanism of guilt.

Base Spell: Convince

Tier: Novice
Casting Difficulty: TMD
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Self
Duration: Rank minutes
Effect: Adds Rank to CHA and CHA-based verbal persuasion Skills
Strain: 3

The magician bolsters their argument magically. They focus on the subject at hand, and make a Spellcasting Test against their own base Mystic Defense. If successful, the magician adds their Spellcasting Rank as a Step bonus to their Charisma and to Charisma-based verbal persuasion Skills, such as Haggle or Slough Blame, for the duration of the spell. Each extra success in the Spellcasting adds 2 minutes to the duration. Two extra successes can be used instead to add +1 to the Effect, but only one such bonus may be gained.