Deryni Magic Rules

[Bynw]

I could have added this to the Traits post but thought it might get lost so it is now here where it is in plain sight.

Deryni Shields
Shields are governed by the Power Trait. Thus if you have that Trait, you have Shields.

As a reminder, all Deryni Trait rolls are made at Disadvantage if you only have Power. Once you get Spell Trained, then you roll the standard 2d6. See the Deryni Traits section for more information on that topic.

Shields have 3 modes of operation:

• Fortress - Your Shields are rock solid. Providing the best protection. But the Fortress is also a Prison. You are not able to cast outward from it either or communicate with Mind Speech without touching. All Tests are easy for you 4+ to succeed.
• Normal - Your Shields are up and provide protection against unwanted intrusions. But they also allow in anyone that you, as the character, let in. Any Tests to resist intrusions, detection by other Deryni are at standard 5+ difficulty.
• Down - Your Shields are down and not providing adequate protection against anything. All rolls are at Hard 6 only to succeed if even a Test is allowed.

No matter the current mode. It stays in place even if a Deryni is asleep or unconscious. Normal is where they are assumed to be at unless the Player announces otherwise.

[Laurna]

Bynw I think you could change this topic heading to Game rules of Deryni Magic.

Then add your other post on Deryni magic Fatigue to this topic.

That way all magic rules can be found more easily.

Thanks

[Bynw]

All Deryni abilities are rolled with Disadvantage, at least in the beginning, unless they state otherwise.

Power is the primary Trait that controls all other Deryni Traits. Without Power, a Deryni is just a human without any special abilities of their Heritage.

Power allows a Deryni to do a number of things:

• They can control their own body
• They can cast about with their mind and extend their senses
• They can read the surface thoughts of others
• They can use Mind-Speech and Rapport
• They can use Shields
• They can Truth-Read
• They can use basic utility spells such as Flame Conjuring, Handfire, basic Warding, and even use basic raw attacks, they can attune objects, and activate magical items.

Again, these all start out at Disadvantage. Although some things may be hard requiring a 6 to be rolled while other things maybe easy requiring a 4+ to be rolled.
Touch or line-of-sight is often required for these abilities.

[Bynw]

Telekinesis, this Trait allows the Deryni to move objects with their mind. These are small objects. A Deryni cannot move a mountain or an extremely large object without help from others. Generally the object cannot be any heavier than something they could lift with brute strength. Like Power, this is rolled at Disadvantage.

[Bynw]

Spell-Trained. Generally the best most Deryni will ever reach and it has a lot of abilities associated with it. This is a fully-trained Deryni. A Human can take this Trait but it only will given them insight and information about Deryni powers and abilities. Nothing more.

Once a Deryni is Spell-Trained. Their previous rolls at Disadvantage become Standard rolls. Thus all their Power Trait abilities are now Standard rolls as is Telekinesis if they have it as Trait.

Spell-Trained allows a Deryni to:

• Banish Fatigue on themselves or others
• Allows the Deryni to control someone else's body
• They are fully able to Mind Control and produce control triggers
• Death Reading a recently deceased person
• Memory Assumption and Integration
• Able to Preserve the recently deceased (Healer Trait required)
• Scrying
• Able to use Sympathetic Magic, such as weather control
• Heart Stopping (Telekinesis Trait required)
• Able to learn advanced Spells

[Laurna]

I thought that Weather Control requires higher training than Spell Trained.  Or at least it is a subset spell that must be learned separately and perhaps is a guarded specialty that only some know. Thinking it would fall in a similar category as Portal making.

[Bynw]

I thought that Weather Control requires higher training than Spell Trained.  Or at least it is a subset spell that must be learned separately and perhaps is a guarded specialty that only some know. Thinking it would fall in a similar category as Portal making.

Any of those advanced type of spells. Scrying, weather magic, ect and more can be done better within the context of a Ritual. Portal making is generally done via Ritual due to the amount of energy required to make a Portal. But it is presumed that Camber, alone, made his moving Portal without assistance so it is possible.

[Bynw]

Ritual Magic

This branch of Deryni power is complex. Rituals can be created for a host of different things. Among them are any of the advanced spells such as Scrying or Weather Magic. Also it can be used for a Awakening Power in a Human. (Which is it's own Trait as well.)

Rituals usually need more than one participant but not always as most often there is a large amount of energy required for the working.

A character's known rituals can be added to their character sheet.

[Bynw]

Deryni Master

With this Trait, all of the power rolls are now at Advantage for this Deryni Mage. What can you achieve? It is limited by your imagination and what the GM will allow.

[Bynw]

How to Trace a Transfer Portal Jump

The character must have the Spell Trained Trait and the jump that is being traced must be less than 24 hours old at the time it is being investigated. This is just a standard 2d6 Test. There maybe additional issues to make the Test more difficult or less difficult imposed by the Game Master. This can only be attempted once by a single Deryni. Success learns the unique coordinates of the destination Portal.

Checking to see if a destination Portal is Trapped

The character must know the unique coordinates of the Portal in order to check it to see if there is a magical based trap imposed on it. This is accomplished by the Deryni reaching out from one Portal to the destination Portal and probing it to see if he can detect a trap.

A Test is called and if successful then the dice are totaled. This is a contest of skills. The user vs the trapper. The total here must be equal to or greater than the dice total that the trapper made when setting the trap in the first place. If the total indicates a successful detection, the user will know if the trap is lethal or not. But may not know the full extent of what the trap actually does.

If the roll is not successful or the total is not high enough. The user is unable to detect any traps. He may attempt to do so again after 24 hours time has passed.

Setting, disarming, removing a Trap from a Portal

At this point the character is required to have the Spell Trained Trait.

To set a trap on a Portal, one must be physically present in relationship to the Portal. A Test is made and if successful the dice are totaled. This is the strength of the trap on the Portal. The number that will be used by others to see if they can detect, disarm, or remove the trap.

If the Test fails, then the character must wait another 24 hours before he is able to again attempt to set a trap on the Portal.

Traps can do many different things. This is left to the player, the character and the Game Master to decide what takes place and what triggers the trap to be sprung.

To disarm a trap on a Portal, one does not need to be physically present. This can be done from the destination Portal as one is making the jump connection. Also, the character must know that the trap is actually there, although the Game Master can "go along" and let the player do as they will.

The user makes a Test and if successful he totals the dice. If the total is equal to or greater than the above strength of the trap, then it is disabled. Note that a disabled Portal will automatically re-enable itself again after 24 hours. This does not remove the trap, it only disables it.

If the Test succeeded but the dice total was too low. The trap is still enabled, but the character may be unaware of the failure and think that the trap has been disabled.

If the Test failed, then the character knows he failed at disabling the trap.

In either of these cases, the character may try again to successfully disarm the trap after 24 hours have passed.

In order to completely remove a trap from a Portal. The character does need to be in physical contact with it, just like when setting a trap. And the player must announce that he is indeed attempting to remove the trap from the Portal permanently.

The trap must first be disarmed before it can be removed. For the removal, another Test is made, if successful, then the dice are totaled once again. This total must be 3 points higher than the strength of the trap that was placed in order to remove it.

Like the previous rolls. If the Test is successful and the total is less than the required. The character might believe he has removed the trap. Also, like the previous actions, this can only be attempted by the character once every 24 hours.

The person that set the trap is able to disarm or remove it entirely, without the need of a Test.


Destroying a Transfer Portal

Destroying a Portal is not an easy task. It requires a lot of energy and the Ritual Magic Trait.

A Hard Test at Disadvantage is made, even if being preformed by a Deryni Master Trait character. And this requires the expenditure of Grit in order to rip the Portal from reality. However, if a character does have the Telekinesis Trait, they succeeded on a roll of 5, or 6.

The amount of Grit required are based on the age and other factors of the Portal that is being destroyed. The following chart is a guideline.

Portal Age	Grit Cost
Hours to Days	2
Days to Weeks	3
Weeks to Months	4
Months to Years	5
Years to Decades	6
Several Decades	7
A Century	8
More than a Century	9

The Game Master can increase or decrease the amount of Grit needed to destroy a Portal based on another of different circumstances, including but not limited to the skill of the Portal creator and how frequently the Portal is used.

In order for the character to be able to get the required amount of Grit outside help is often required or the character may trade in 1 Hit Point for each point of Grit. These 1 Hit Points must be declared prior to making the Test. And the loss is permanent.

Creating a Transfer Portal

Creating a Portal generally requires both time and manpower. This also requires the Ritual Magic Trait in order to attempt to create a Portal.

The location of the Portal must have a base of natural earth or rock and it is usually octagonal in shape. The selected area is warded with Wards Major and then power is poured into the area. At this point a Hard Standard Test is made. Like the destruction of a Portal, the Telekinesis Trait allows successes on a 4, 5, or 6. Generally speaking at least 5 points of Grit are necessary to create a Portal. The Game Master may raise or lower this number based on situational factors.

The extra Grit is generally pulled from the energy reserves of others within the ritual framework. Or at the cost of 1 Hit Point per point of Grit a single user can create a portal.