Wreak the chaos
In this game, only weavers can utter learned incantations, effect precise motions in the air, grasping nervously the spellbooks or scrolls they’ve been entrusted with but which they might yet be unable to fully comprehend, and so attempt to pull at the fragile threads of arcane magicks which lace the edges of reality. Given the underlying chaos in the weave, however, only those with experience and skill can do so with a modicum of control.
How to weave
To attempt to weave a spell, roll 4 or above on a d6. On a success, with the exception of weaving easier and more mundane spells outside of pressure situations like a fight or chase, the effect will be based on a further three d6 rolls, applying in order each die result to the table columns below. There are three elements to a spell: whilst weaving, you’re attempting to (1) weave (2) a thread (3) affecting a target. The only fragments of a spell which you can control, and must declare in advance of weaving, are the duration (so at an instant, delayed, or lasting for around an hour or permanently), and the potency coiled at its foundation (so to double or triple the effect, the weave takes two rounds or three).
weave | thread | target
1. Conjure & Summon ..... Dimensions ..... Chosen Area
2. Harm & Destroy ..... Elements ..... Chosen Target
3. Manipulate & Enchant ..... Illusion & Form ..... Everyone Here
4. Perceive & Learn ..... Life & Death ..... Random Area
5. Protect & Negate ..... Light & Dark ..... Random Target
6. Vanish & Banish ..... Space & Time ..... Self
Here's an example of this in action:
GM: Right, Krisga, it's your turn. There are three of these wretched gruntlebugs between you and the door, and Jin's already taken a hit. What are you doing?
Riley (Krisga): I want to weave. I'm going to try and wreak some havoc, give Aldric a chance to move.
GM: Ok, what's the duration and potency?
Riley (Krisga): Instant. Just one round, no doubling.
GM: Go for it.
Riley (Krisga): (rolls 1d6) That's a 5, so yeah, it's working. Now the three d6s. (rolls) Ok so I've got a 6, a 2, and a 4.
GM: So that's, let me check...Vanish & Banish...Elements...Random Area. What are you thinking? What's the weave?
Riley (Krisga): Right, so, yeah, so I think that my incantation pulls at something in the air, and the elements in a random area, wherever that might be, just...disappear? Like the air itself gets ripped out of a patch of the room?
GM: Love that. So as Krisga's words twist and quicken, there's a sound like a held breath and then a sudden violent absence, a void maybe a couple of feet wide, right in the middle of these three creatures. The air collapses into it, like it's sucking into the void, and you see their cloaks and fur get yanked sideways, one of them stumbling into another. It lasts maybe a second before reality snaps back, but that's enough maybe to distract them. Aldric, you're up next, and it looks like you've got a window. Do you take it?
Craig (Aldric): Absolutely, I'm swinging right for one of them.
GM: Go for it, and add a +1 to hit this time, cause they're off it!
How to master the elements
Until you’ve found a mentor and undergone intense research and training, whilst you might have a tentative ability to pull at those threads, you’ll be lucky if you end up with the particular effects you intend. After completing each phase of that research and training, you may master one of the three elements. Decide which one, and then whenever you weave, choose one of the six options in that element, and only roll on the other tables. After mastering all three, you may learn to create your own spells.
Weave chaos regardless....
A weaver is likely curious more about experimenting & learning to master the weave, about the effects woven and what chaos might be introduced into the moment, than about directly influencing the situation in which the party find themselves. So in a fight, maybe it’s less about attacking with a spell, and more about wreaking havoc, which gives others by coincidence a chance to take advantage of the distraction. So once you’ve rolled on these tables and discovered the essence of the spell you’ve woven, visualise your surroundings, think about what’s been happening, ask the GM (or your oracles if playing solo) anything to clarify the scene, and think about how the blend of results might spread total chaos. Get creative. Suggest what happens when your character completes their arcane incantation, and subject to the GM’s discretion, that’s exactly what takes place. The GM will then assess damage, grit, and any other consequences.
...but maintain your focus
If you’re interrupted whilst weaving, like if you lose initiative and take damage from an attack, whatever one-round spell you were trying to cast will simply fizzle out. If you’ve stated your intention to enhance its potency over two or three rounds and are interrupted, roll under your vigor trait on 3d6 to maintain concentration, a failure meaning again that the spell fizzles out.
Weaving the mundane
Attempting to weave into reality precisely what you envision, it ain’t straightforward. However, outside pressured scenarios and with a little more time as you try to decipher the arcane sigils & runes in your spellbook or scrolls, you can attempt to pull at less fragile threads in the weave to create a more mundane effect that won’t last long. To do so, roll a smarts traits check (watching out for drain & stress). On a success, choose on this table the effect which happens. On a failure, roll 2d6 on this table to reverse or corrupt the result and learn the mishap that accidentally occurs. As always, get creative, and subject to the GM’s discretion, let the chaos spread!
2. Bring Warmth or cold
3. Cleanse small item or area
4. Create small bonfire
5. Float object or one person
6. Forge dancing lights
7. Make grease or glue
8. Mend small object
9. Perform minor magic trick
10. Pour some water
11. Ring sound of a bell
12. Whisper in the mind
Here's an example of this in action:
GM: Ok so you're all bedded down, and aside from the occasional sound of the woodland critters you heard before, it's all pretty quiet and the others are asleep. Krisga, you said you needed to do something?
Riley (Krisga): Yeah, so it's getting pretty frustrating now. We all know I'm going to try again, right?!! I just need to mend the clasp on this cruddy spell book before I lose any more pages. It's been driving me mad!
GM: Right, so it's Mend Small Object again. No pressure situation, so let's roll your smarts traits check.
Riley (Krisga): (rolls 3d6) Oh. Great, now there's a surprise! That's a 15 and my smarts is 13. Another fail!
GM: Ooft, so you're getting used to this now. Roll your 2d6 and let's see what the reverse or corruption is.
Riley (Krisga): (rolls) That's a 9.
GM: Ok, so Perform Minor Magic Trick. So instead of mending the clasp, Krisga, your fingers go through the motions, the incantation feels right, and then...you see the clasp disappear entirely. Just gone, maybe in an entertaining puff of smoke that dissipates quickly in the warm breeze. But in its place, for about ten seconds, the spell book kind of floats in a slow circle in front of you. Thankfully, nobody else is awake to see it, so you don't get the embarrassment you got last time, and then it just flops back into your hands. But yeah, it's still very much broken. And now it's also missing its clasp. Maybe the weave found that funnier than mending the thing. Knowing the weave, it's likely hidden the clasp in the boots or pockets of one of the others, anticipating an amusing reveal next time there's an audience!
Riley (Krisga): I just stare at the book.
GM: Haha, yep, so roll 1d6 stress.
Weaver duels
If two or more weavers confront each other, or in a fight end up acting simultaneously on initiative, they may state their intention to duel. The weavers each roll their usual 1d6 to check if they manage to weave a spell. The weaver with the lowest successful roll makes their check of three d6s, suggesting the effect created, but the weaver with the highest successful roll is able to counter and narrate how that effect might be manipulated, to their advantage if they wish. In the event of a draw on the usual 1d6 check, both or all weavers make their check of three d6s, no doubt wreaking total havoc as all the effects clash and blend with each other. The GM’s discretion is final on the resolution and consequences of any effects within a duel.
Here's an example of this in action:
GM: So as you round the corner of the corridor, there she is. This necroweaver you've been hearing about. Right there in front of you, like she knew you were coming. She's already got her hands moving and is incanting something that sounds pretty dark. It's just you and her, so what's your plan?
Riley (Krisga): Well it's about time. She's mine, I can take her. Time to duel!
NPC Weaver (GM): Ok dokey. Let's dance. So let's each roll a d6 and see what happens.
Riley (Krisga): (rolls) It's a 4 from me.
NPC Weaver (GM): (rolls) Oh boy, also a 4 for me.
GM: Right, so you're both weaving in a duel and Krisga you've obviously caught on quickly and begin your process without missing a beat. Let's have the necro roll first. (rolls 3d6) Ok, so she's rolled Harm & Destroy, Life & Death, Chosen Target. So let's say...yeah, so she's looking straight at you Krisga. She wants to rot something in you from the inside. What's she doing with that? What does it look like?
Riley (Krisga): Maybe it's like her hands are pulling something dark out of the air, like she's drawing a thread of decay directly toward me.
GM: Superb. Now Krisga, you've seen what she's doing but you're rolling simultaneously. Roll your three d6s.
Riley (Krisga): (rolls) Protect & Negate, Space & Time, Self.
GM: Beautiful. So what does Krisga do with that?
Riley (Krisga): Ok so just as that decay thread reaches me, I snap like a ward around myself, but not just a shield. I fold a tiny pocket of time around it, so the thread hits the ward and maybe just...stalls? Like it's stuck in a moment that isn't moving. She can see it hanging there in the air between them, suspended. No idea what happens though.
GM: Yep that sounds about right. The thread's frozen mid-air, still coiled with whatever dark thread she pulled from the weave, caught between one second and the next. You can see she's staring at it, maybe trying to manipulate its speed against what you're negating. So there's like a small moment where this push and pull happens, with nothing moving, pure cracking tension of magicks in the air. You get the impression if nothing's done, at any second there could very well be an explosion of that tension. So what's the plan?
Riley (Krisga): Can I redirect it back at her, this dark thread she's controlling?
GM: Sounds like nothing could go wrong with that. Let me check her grit first...
Watch out for burn & rot...
You guessed it - messing with chaos magicks that you don’t fully comprehend is...dicey! The more you attempt to weave, not only is it more likely that you’ll end up drained or stressed, but at any point, say if you’ve pulled something truly potent or chaotic from the weave, the GM might ask you to roll a vigor traits check. A success means you’re ok for now. A failure means that you’re burned, in other words that your mind’s fried, that your system’s boiling with adrenalin, and that until you rest up for a while, you won’t have the energy & focus to muster another attempt at weaving. But...
...if you fail & roll 16 or over? Oh boy, you’ve meddled too far, and that’s where the arcane rot seeps in: Roll 1d6. On a 1 your face or body begins to mutate or disfigure. On a 2 your eyes start to glow a colour chosen by the GM. On a 3 your skin begins to grow fur or scales. On a 4 your bond with the weave warps and corrupts, phasing you incorporeally between time or dimension when you least expect it. On a 5 you become a rabid addict to the weave, craving more, weaving more, a manic servant to chaos. And on a 6, well, you and the GM can feel free to carve out an even more gruesome or hilarious rot. Re-roll if you’ve rolled the same result before, or combine the results to make things worse!
Creating your own spells
Once you’re truly learned in weaving and have mastered its three elements, with the GM you may create a similar table but with more specific d6 results divided into those three same elements. You may then research and seek further training to master this table in a similar manner, rolling at random but then gradually mastering each element, at which point you may then create a further table, and so on and so forth into the heart of the weave!
what's next?
Hopefully you're not burned & drained by all that arcane weavin' here! So we're almost done on the character creation side of things. Next up, it's time to learn about health & healing!