Prepared Spells

Some mages choose to prepare a number of spells in advance. The mage performs the casting normally (including spending any required Mana), but when the spell is complete (in the case of extended actions, when enough successes have been accumulated to meet the target number) the caster suspends the spell and sets a trigger to activate it later. The caster must perform this trigger. It’s usually a magic word or a particular gesture, accompanied by the mage’s intent to activate the spell (so accidental uses of the trigger phrase or gesture don’t set the spell off).

Prerequisite: Time ●● + conjunctional Arcanum

Cost: 1 point of Mana (spent when the spell is activated)

• Activating a prepared spell is an instant action; the mage can do it almost any time.

• The Storyteller decides if the prepared spell is Improbable to Sleepers depending on the circumstances of its use. If he deems it to be sufficiently subtle, Sleeper witnesses might not impose dice modifiers on the Paradox roll.

• Any Paradox roll is made when the spell is triggered, not when it is prepared.

• A mage can hold a number of prepared spells simultaneously equal to his Gnosis. He cannot cast them all at once, however. He can activate only one per turn.

• A prepared spell, even one that has not yet been triggered, is considered an active spell when counted toward the total number of spells a mage can have active simultaneously or cast upon himself (based on Gnosis).

• Activating a prepared spell requires the mage’s player to spend a point of Mana. If the mage doesn’t or can’t dedicate Mana to activate the spell, nothing happens, although the spell remains prepared. If the holding time expires without the spell being activated, it dissipates and is lost.

• The target of the spell is chosen when the spell is activated. If the spell allows its target a resisted defense (i.e., the target’s Resistance Attribute is subtracted from the spellcasting dice pool), the effect must instead be cast as an Aimed Spell. Contested spells function normally. Per Bill Bridges Errata, conversion of a non-Aimed Spell to an Aimed Spell requires +1 Arcana Proficiency (dot).

• Add an additional two-die penalty per extra two days for Instant Casting.
• Add an additional success per extra two days for Extended Casting.