Paths & Numina

Enchantment

The Path of Enchantment rewards patience and forethought more than any other Path. There are no spells in this Path, only rituals, causing the hedge wizard to need to learn — or invent — a new ritual each time they want to make an Artifact they haven’t made before. Each of these Artifacts must be carefully crafted by the Enchanter. The first step is to create the mundane base item. Usually these are hand-crafted by the Enchanter, pushing their mundane skills to their limits to make just

26 Sorcerer

the right vessel for their magic. Sometimes, however, the right vessel can be found in the form of a rare or ancient object. Once the vessel has been made or found, the Enchanter can get to the process of infusing the object with magical energy to be used later. The first stage is usually accomplished through Crafts rolls (or, for technosorcerers, Technology or Hypertech rolls), while the latter is a Path roll.

The Artifacts created through Enchantment differ in several key ways from the recipes of Alchemy. Artifacts are usually persistent, or at least can be used many times. Some may be permanent, or nearly so, while others can be used a fixed number of times before their magic dissipates. Additionally, they tend to be weaker than the Wonders created by mages, and more focused. An Artifact can only have a single power, a restriction Wonders don’t have.

Enchanters tend to spend a lot of time and effort on their workshops. Whatever sort of crafting they do to make their Artifacts defines them. They often see themselves as blacksmiths, jewelers, electronics engineers, or woodworkers first, and the magic they can do comes later. This leads Enchanters to pursue high levels of the

Resources Background, as well as others representing a safe and secure space to do their work and the ability to acquire high quality and often exotic raw materials.

System

Modifiers: Once a magician creates a Talisman three times, the difficulty is reduced by 1.

Time: Crafting time for the object, plus 1-3 days per level of the enchantment

Effects: Enchantment doesn’t have Aspects, instead it has the following Effects:

•

The Enchanter can create minor items that are rarely noticeably magical to those who aren’t already aware of their powers. This can add one (or, for restricted circumstances, two) dice to an Attribute or Ability roll or decrease the difficulty by 1 for an attack or skill. Other small boons are also possible.

••

More powerful versions of already possible Artifacts offer two additional dice or a –2 dif­ ficulty on a task. Some of the objects created at this level can change reality in a subtle way, being more magical than previously possible.

•••

Obviously magical items are now possible, though they’ll still seem merely “very weird” to the magically unaware. These include items that offer two additional dice on up to three different Attribute or Ability rolls, and those that confer supernatural perceptions to the user by replicating supernatural powers of no greater than a single dot.

••••

Objects of truly superhuman power. These can raise Attributes above 5, duplicate powers (up to the second dot) of other supernatural beings, and otherwise warp reality in significant ways.

••••• Extremely powerful items often bordering on the mythic. Minor miracles are possible, and often these powers are quite blatant. Items created at this level can reproduce up to three dots worth of supernatural powers. Each dot reproduced this way mimics a single effect — chosen when the item is crafted — even if the replicated power offers multiple effects.

Price of Failure: Failure usually means the magician has wasted days or weeks of their time, possibly ruining the item they were trying to enchant, but nothing worse. Botches tend to be more varied. They can result in explosions that destroy

the workshop. Worse, though, they can result in objects that seem to work, but have some sort of unanticipated side effect. These cursed items tend to be hard to destroy or get rid of, often lingering long after the Enchanter is gone and even finding their way into Sleeper hands.

Sample Creations

•

Army surplus jacket granting two dots of Arcane when worn.

•

A custom handgun subtracting one from the difficulty of all aimed shots.

•

A stuffed animal guaranteeing restful sleep to anyone sleeping in the same bed as it.

•

A silver chain bearing a hawk’s eye medallion with a chrysoprase in that can, once per day, add 2 dice to a long-distance sight-based Perception roll.

•

A silver toe-ring that, when worn on otherwise bare feet, protects from projectiles, adding 2 dice to all attempts to dodge them.

•

A colored candle that, when burned, grants two dots of a Background for the purposes of a one-time favor.

•

An oak frame that preserves anything placed in it for as long as it remains intact. It can only hold flat things, like documents and photo­ graphs, and must be sealed with almond oil and sprinkled with pure water.

••

A pocket flask that attracts bullets when carried in a breast pocket. It can only take one impact, but it provides three dice of lethal soak before being destroyed. This enchantment is very pop­ ular among soldiers heading onto a battlefield and may have originated during World War II.

••

Enhanced bullets dealing 2 additional dice of damage on hits. Each success on the Enchantment roll creates one bullet.

••

A silver dancer’s anklet adding to dice to rolls involving dance when worn and visible.

••

An iron nail that, when driven into someone’s footprint, causes them to painfully stub their toe.

••

A small golden charm alerting the wearer when a single person it is attuned to is in danger. It must be reset each time by sprinkling it with wine. The charm works once per success on the Enchantment roll.

27 Chapter One: Hedge Magic

••

A rowan ring which counteracts fae magic used on the wearer. This cancels one instance of fae magic per success on the Enchantment roll.

•••

Running shoes doubling the speed of the wearer when trying to outrun pursuit.

•••

An amulet warding against sorcery. Three times a day it subtracts dice equal to the successes on the Enchantment roll from spells targeting the wearer. It must be kept in a special jewelry box carved from a single crystal when not worn, or it loses one success permanently per night until it stops working.

•••

A sword for ghost-slaying. It has a core of liquid mercury and does aggravated damage to the Risen and lethal damage to wraiths. It must be blessed by a priest every fortnight or the magic ends.

•••

A salve that heals three non-aggravated health levels in minutes. It must be applied under the light of the moon by someone who loves the wounded. Each success on the Enchantment roll creates one application.

•••

A bull torque made of pure obsidian. When smeared with blood it grants three dots of Strength to the wearer for one scene per success on the Enchantment roll.

•••

A handkerchief which can clean any mundane spill or stain. It requires the user to hum while mopping with it and works once per success on the Enchantment roll.

••••

Heartseeker, a stiletto which unerringly aims for the heart when wielded in rage. It deals Strength + 5 dice of lethal damage. It must be bathed in the blood of each kill it makes or else it loses its potency.

••••

The skull of a dead wizard allowing the user to contact them for assistance. The user “do­ nates” a pint of blood to the skull and can ask one question per success on the Enchantment roll. These questions need not be yes/no, and follow-ups (as determined by the Storyteller) do not count as additional questions. It may only be used during the new moon and requires a Willpower roll at difficulty equal to 4 plus the number of times the skull has been used. The skull crumbles to dust after the last question if the Willpower roll fails. Recently, rumors have

28 Sorcerer

begun to surface suggesting the skull of Porthos Fitz-Empress was recovered and enchanted in this way, though everyone has heard it from a friend of a friend.

••••

A silver torc granting superhuman Strength. The wearer has Strength 5 when using it, and once per day for each success on the Enchantment roll, may gain 3 automatic successes on a task involving Strength. When not worn, it must be kept exposed to the moon whenever the moon is visible.

••••

A silvered mail tunic that automatically con­ verts up to 4 dice of lethal damage per turn to bashing. Upon each use, a few links fall out, and eventually it falls apart (after one use per success on the Enchantment roll). If any attempt at cleaning or repair is made, the magic is lost.

••••

A book that will, once per success on the Enchantment roll, translate anything written in it into the reader’s native language. To acti­ vate it, the page must be sprinkled with paper ash. When set down, the writing reverts to the original language.

••••• A money pouch that never quite empties. So long as at least one quarter (or other medium de­ nomination coin for other currencies) remains in it, up to four times a day it will contain about five dollars (or equivalent) in quarters. If ever used a fifth time in one day, the magic is lost forever.

••••• An amulet of protection from physical harm. When worn, it grants five dice of soak against all damage, including aggravated. However, each use subtracts five years from the user’s life, visible on their organs, but not on the outside.

••••• An amulet hiding the user from magical de­ tection. When worn, it adds 4 successes to the total required to find the wearer with any sort of supernatural power. Each use requires the wearer to solve a new riddle, puzzle, or enigma, activating it for one week per success on the Enchantment roll.

••••• A cloak that hides the movements of the user. It allows them to move silently and undetected even across squeaky floors. Legends say it was developed to defeat the Nightingale floors of Nijo Castle. The wearer is perfectly silent until