Paths & Numina

Conjuration

Conjuration is the quintessential Path of stage magicians: pulling rabbits from hats and cards from an audience member’s pocket are common examples of its most basic applications. Sorcerers who wish to make a living from their studies often learn Conjuration. Because of this inextricable association with stage magic, Sleepers tend to rationalize Conjuration as simply expert sleight-of-hand.

The path of Conjuration is the ability to move or summon an object or being. While a novice might only perform parlor tricks like coin spinning, an advanced Conjuration sorcerer can hang a spell on their companion before entering a dangerous situation, letting them pull their friend from the (perhaps literal) jaws of death if need be.

Nearly as important as what Conjuration is is what Conjuration is not. Conjuration is very similar to the path of Conveyance mechanically, to the point that there’s often confusion between the two paths — espe­ cially among Awakened Mages who can achieve results common to both Paths with the Correspondence Sphere. Conjuration can’t move the sorcerer wielding it, whereas Conveyance can. A sorcerer also may not use this path to “summon” elemental attacks — that’s the domain of Hellfire. Conjuration can summon a bucket of sand but cannot create a sandstorm.

System

Modifiers: For any application that can be played off as — or described similarly enough to — stage magic, keep one success that would’ve otherwise been removed by wit­ nesses. Even rational consensus is primed by pop culture to believe conjuring an elephant from nowhere is possible with clever visual trickery. Note that actions causing obvious physical harm can’t be explained in this manner.

Using Conjuration on an object in the grasp of some­ one actively resisting incurs a +1 difficulty. Attempting Conjuration to move a resisting target incurs a +2 diffi­ culty. Apply a –1 difficulty for an object well-known to the sorcerer (see also Object Permanence below).

Aspects: Conjuration uses the Aspects of Distance, Number of Targets, and Weight. Conjuration notably doesn’t use Speed. The summoned target appears in­ stantaneously on the successful completion of a spell or ritual. The sorcerer may also choose to buy the following effects with additional successes:

• 1 success to be able to use Conjuration to clum­ sily attack without touching the weapon (–1 die penalty to attack).

• 2 successes to attack as above but without pen­ alty, or to give fine motor control to any object conjured, such as using a set of lock picks from a distance.

• 1 success for each additional round the sorcerer wishes to maintain the effect. The Sorcerer can’t drastically change the effect, such as throwing a

puppet to strike someone after making the puppet dance, without rolling Conjuration again.

Price of Failure: While simple failure means no item is transported, a Conjuration botch runs the gamut from highly inconvenient to gruesome. A sorcerer might send an object to the wrong place, such as sending an item further out of reach or conjuring a prepared weap­ on directly to their own hand. Sometimes the sorcerer summons the wrong object entirely. Alternatively, a sorcerer might only conjure part of the intended item, and one only needs to imagine the horror of botching the Conjuration of a living being.

Sample Rituals

Object Permanence (••)

Hedge magicians naturally have an easier time sum­ moning targets they have a strong connection to, such as a beloved pet or the ritual knife their mentor gifted them. With Object Permanence, the hedge magician forces a supernatural connection to objects for future summoning. This treats the target as “well-known to the sorcerer,” even if the sorcerer found it in a dumpster an hour ago. The sorcerer meditates within 10 feet of the target and spends a point of Willpower. Every success represents a day the target maintains the supernatural connection to the sorcerer. A hedge magician may have a maximum number of targets bound this way at once as they have dots in Conjuration.

Always Armed (•••)

The sorcerer doesn’t have to appear armed to have a weapon at the ready. Due to the nature of this ritual, it’s nearly always hung before the sorcerer enters a po­ tentially dangerous situation. If they need to access the weapon, the sorcerer completes the ritual by reaching into their trenchcoat or a convenient shadow to summon it. Traditionally, sorcerers used this ritual to conjure swords, but in modern times it’s most common for a sorcerer to summon a shotgun or rifle. The summoned weapon can’t be larger than a shotgun or long sword.

Shitstorm (•••)

The hedge magician surrounds themself and com­ panions within 25 feet of them with a swirling shell of small inanimate objects. This adds +1 difficulty to hit anyone covered by the effect with a ranged attack for every 2 activation successes. Additionally, anyone attempting close combat against those affected by the ritual must soak [activation successes] in damage. This is usually bashing, unless the sorcerer was in a room filled

21 Chapter One: Hedge Magic