In the Ciniverse, magic is often used as a plot device. These spells are found just in time to save the day or start the trouble the Cast has to deal with during the Episode. They are usually powerful, world-changing, and play a vital role in the storyline, be it good or evil. After playing that role, most of those spells disappear, never to be mentioned again.
Plot device spells should be given special consideration. Generally, they should be one-shot rituals: they can be used once, and cannot be repeated afterwards, for any number of reasons. Some possible explanations include special requirements (like needing an alignment of stars and planets that only happens once every 6,000 years, give or take), components (a unique item that can never be replaced after being consumed by the spell), or circumstances (the spell to summon one demon doesn't work for all demons, just that one). These special spells should not be too difficult to cast, either, so Success Level requirements can be waived or reduced - some spells just “want” to be cast, and anybody with a modicum of skill can use them (not necessarily a good thing).
Finally, plot device spells should be very rare - one or two per Season are probably as common as they should be. If you player types start waiting for some mega-spell to save the day, your Director isn’t doing it right.
Preparations
Setting up the spell may require very little effort (cracking open a book and reading it, for example), but preparations often must be made beforehand. They include things like setting up a ritual site, finding all the ingredients to be used in the spell, or waiting for the right time (midnight, the full moon, a total solar eclipse, or a Jackson Five reunion). Common elements used in many spells include:
CANDLES: Electricity is for muggles—magic works best in flickering candlelight, just like grandma used to spellcast. Many rituals call for lighting a number of candles (four to thirteen, usually), generally arranged in a
circle, square or pentagram.
ITEMS: Some spells need specific items to be effective. These objects have a special meaning or inherent trigger. They may be crucial to the ritual’s success or they may simply make it easier.
MAGIC CIRCLE: Gather a few of your best friends in a circle, have them hold hands and chant and presto! - they’ll definitely think you’re insane. In the Ciniverse, that’s the way a lot of rituals work, though. Sometimes the circle is drawn on the ground, and if someone smudges or erases the lines, the spell fizzles—or does something unexpected (and keep in mind there are precious few good surprises when you’re using magic).
OCCULT SYMBOLS: Some spells work better when you paint a few pretty pictures. You’ve got pentagrams, hexagrams, candygrams, runes, Sumerian cuneiform writing, and Amazon Indian pictographs. Stick figures might do it, but don’t count on it.
These preparations are plot-driven, not rule-driven. Most of the time in the show, setting up the spell is no big deal and is done largely off-camera. For minor spells, the prep work should be insignificant. If the
preparations are important, then getting it done should be part of the Episode’s plot or subplots. Fighting a pack of demons to obtain a mystic crystal, maxing out your credit card to buy that last fragment of the Scroll of Butt- kicking, or making a pact with dark forces to get what’s needed—these can all be possible plots and subplots dealing with the preparation of a spell. See Appendix II for some ideas for trappings.
Spellcasting
Once everything is in place, casting a spell requires a Willpower and Occultism roll. Drama Points can be used normally to increase the spell’s chance to succeed (but your Director may bar such use unless the need is dire). If the roll fails (i.e, the total is less than nine), the spell doesn’t work—the ritual simply fails. Generally, there’s no other down side here; your character just wasted some time, candlepower and pretty speechifying. Actually, it’s when the roll succeeds that things get interesting ... in the sense of the ancient Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times.”
The roll’s Success Levels are compared to the spell’s Power Level. If the number of Success Levels is less than the spell’s Power Level, something magical happens— but it is rarely what the caster intended. The spell’s intent may be twisted or perverted, and the caster may be injured—or even killed—as the magicks draw on her life force to fulfill their purpose. The Director can decide what happens, or she can roll on the Spell Side Effect Table below.
If the roll results in Success Levels greater than or equal to the spell’s Power Level, the spell works perfectly. Unless, of course, it takes an unexpected turn no matter how many Success Levels were rolled. But no good and true Director would do something like that, now would she? Scratch that—in the Ciniverse, any
frequent use of magic is going to go wrong at some point. Best to expect some nasty consequence with magic (regardless of the die rolling result), and plan accordingly.
Casting multiple spells without resting is very difficult, as the magician’s will is sapped by the constant strain. Every successive spell cast without a significant period of rest (at least two hours per spell Power Level) suffers a cumulative -2 penalty. So, the second spell of the day is at -2, the third at -4, and so on. Only powerful Witches can cast multiple spells in a row, and even then they’ll probably have to burn some Drama Points to keep it up. Even worse, using the same spell more than once adds an additional -1 to the penalties above.
EXAMPLUS TOTALUS: Ericka is trapped in a room. The door has several locks on it, and the walls are reinforced steel (although she doesn’t know that). First she tries to unlock the door with a spell. It works, but only one of the locks is released. Frustrated, Ericka decides to try and blow out a portion of the wall. That spell suffers a -2 penalty given Ericka's fatigue. Reinforced steel says “no way”. Realizing now how strong the walls are, Ericka returns to the locked door. She attempts the unlock spell again. This time it suffers a -4 penalty due to fatigue, and -1 for repeated use—the total modifier is -5.
Togetherness
Spells that require multiple magicians don’t require multiple rolls. The participant with the highest casting bonus (Willpower + Occultism + Sorcery [if any]) or Quick Sheet Magic Maneuver Score is called the primary caster. She does the rolling. The casting bonus of other participants is not used.
When more than the required number of participants is available, the extra help comes in handy. Every magician above the minimum needed adds +1 for every Success Level she achieves on a separate casting roll. So, if a spell normally requires three casters and four Witches are around, the one with the lowest casting bonus adds +1 per Success Level to the primary caster’s casting total. The bonus for a single helper may be small, but it could be the difference between arcane achievement and pain-inducing prestidigitation. Making magic with a full coven of 13 Witches can really put some mustard in the mojo. There is a downside though—each additional caster’s failure subtracts two from the primary caster’s final result. Regardless of the quality of the help though,
the total bonus added by the additional magicians cannot exceed the primary caster’s Willpower and Occultism (and Sorcery) bonus. In effect, the primary caster’s bonuses can be doubled, but no more than that.