Witchery is the lowest level of magic available to characters. It is the magic of hedge wizards and witches who have not exposed themselves to the higher forms of magic.
Although Witchery might appear to be weak in comparison with magical approaches such as Magery or Theurgy it can, if used wisely, be a very powerful tool. The balance comes in its relative ubiquity: Witchery may be more commonplace and easier to learn which leads to a wider range of use whilst not necessarily being confined to specialists.
Witchery is is in many ways a more intuitive form of Magery. The veil permeates the world and is not derived from the gods but is a power from elsewhere. The veil's power is ubiquitous to those who know how to tap it.
Witches and Shamans have attuned their senses to this faint resonance, tapping into the background energy to work magic on mundane things around them. In many parts of Kerethad where there are no great colleges, these magicians are valued for the small charms and blessings they can provide to their community.
Since the focus of Witchery is to reduce effort or augment comfort, few of its spells are overtly specialized in the ways of death and combat. Those arts are left to practitioners of higher magics.
Given its nature Witchery can be accessed in a number of different ways:
Through a culture reflecting secrets known by a social group.
Through a career representing knowledge used by a vocation.
Through a cult or company that has, over time, mastered these magical forces.
Through an individual practitioner who may be willing to share their knowledge.
As an exception to the general rule of thumb, characters from careers which specialize in Witchery may start with a number of spells equal to one tenth of their Witchery skill.
Witchery is usually taught by someone skilled in its use. If available culturally or professionally then such teachers are likely to have taught Witchery during a character’s formative years. If being learned during the course of a campaign, it costs three Experience Rolls, and takes one week to learn a new Witchery spell.
Learning spells may also come with a monetary cost – depending on the teacher and perhaps the spell. Precise costs will be dependent on circumstances, but as a general rule it costs 100 Silver of goods or services per spell. Tuition in Witchery may also be free in certain circumstances: attaining a particular rank in a cult, say, or in recognition of services rendered.
Witchery takes only a single Turn to cast. Each spell costs one Magic Point which is deducted from the Magic Point total whenever it is successfully cast. Casting any spell successfully requires a Witchery roll. The Witchery skill covers every spell a character knows. Thus, a character with Witchery 70% would cast all their Witchery spells at this level: Witchery spells do not have discrete skill ratings.
If the Witchery roll is a...
Critical Success: the spell’s Magic Point cost is zero.
Success: the caster loses 1 Magic Point and the spell works successfully.
Failure: the caster loses 1 Magic Point, but the spell does not work.
Fumble: the caster loses 1d3 Magic Points for the spell and the spell fails to work.
Due to their minor or petty nature, all Witchery spells have a default Intensity and Magnitude of 1
Capacity Characters have no actual limit to the number of Witchery spells they can learn, provided that the Games Master permits them to have access to new ones. Such knowledge might be restricted or unavailable in the game world.
Unless a spell has either the Concentration or Instant traits it has a natural duration which lasts the entire scene or action for which the spell was used. A few spells have custom durations noted in the spell’s definition.