How to Cast a Ritual

A ritual involves special words, motions, and objects to create favor with the gods or the powers of nature. Rituals are used outside of combat situations.

Prerequisites: This indicates any conditions that must be met before a character can learn this power. Prerequisites usually include philosophy rank, but can also include mental and physical rank, class, race, skill ranks and feats.

Potency: Potency is used for ritual versus ritual or power interactions. The potency of a ritual is compared verses the potency of the second ritual or the potency of the power equaling the sum of the die roll and the philosophy rank. The size of the die roll is dependent on the power being utilized. The higher potency wins.

Components: Components are items that are needed in order for the ritual to be performed. If any of the items are not available then the ritual cannot be completed.

Focus: The focus is an item that the magical powers are channeled through in order to please the deities or the powers of nature. If the proper focus is not available the ritual will not function.

Cost: This indicates any energy costs required to utilize the power. Power costs can be in terms of Stamina or Resolve Spent, Stamina or Resolve Burn, Karma, or any combination. See Energy for more information.

Cast Time: The cast time is the time required for the ritual to be cast from beginning to end. If the ritual caster cannot concentrate or is disturbed during this time frame the ritual does not function and the components are consumed.

Duration: Duration indicates the amount of time that a ritual remains in effect. Duration is often measured in rounds,phases, hours, or even days. For a duration measured in rounds, the effect lasts for a number of full rounds equal to the duration of the ritual, (the user gains an additional "partial round" for the first round the ritual is activated). Occasionally, a ritual will have a duration of Concentration, indicating that the ritual will remain as long as you continue to concentrate on it (see Concentration for more information). If the effects of a ritual are instantaneous, the duration line will be absent from the power.

Area: For rituals that affect an area (or targets in an area), this indicates the shape and size of the area. For more information on types of areas see Areas of Effect.

Target: This indicates who or what may be targeted by the ritual. This includes the number of targets (if limited) and the type of creatures or objects that may be targeted (i.e. Humanoid, Living, Undead, etc).

Effect: The effect line describes what a ritual does and what its effects are. Some rituals have multiple effects (listed as Primary Effect, Secondary Effect, etc). For a ritual with multiple effects, each effect occurs in order regardless of the result of the prior effect(s).