Description: Mind magic invoked by the scribing, etching, or tattooing of the written form of magical languages. It is normally only practiced by theorists and specialists because of the slow casting process and limited conditions, but it has many applications in cases where a triggered or long-lasting effect is needed, but a full-blown enchantment (or on-site mage) would be too expensive.

Runecasting is the written sister to spellcasting. Each of the magical languages has an alphabet, & each of those alphabets has an active form known as the runic form. Like spellcasting, there are different levels at which runecasting can be done.

# Words of Power

# Spells

# Bonding

# Narrations

Runes are either written without a Word of Power, or inactively, or with one, or actively. Inactive runes need to be activated to have an effect. This is usually how spells are written for spellcasters. Active ones infuse whatever they are written into with the intended effect of the spell.

The material the rune is placed on and the material it is written with matter.

Lowering: The difficulty of enacting a rune can be lowered via a long and arduous process of repeating the rune within the rune. For some runes, this merely means writing the rune on top of itself repeatedly, for others it means drawing a smaller version of the rune within the confines of the first rune. Because of this, it is easier to lower difficulties with some materials than others (for instance, it's hard to repeat an etching over and over again without destroying the medium you are writing on). The chart below tells how many repetitions it takes and how long that generally takes to lower it one point at the listed difference.

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	Difference		Points lowered

+7

impossible

+6

61 repetitions (600 minutes)

+5

55 repetitions (510 minutes)

+4

46 repetitions (420 minutes)

+3

37 repetitions (330 minutes)

+2

31 repetitions (270 minutes)

+1

25 repetitions (210 minutes)

0

22 repetitions (180 minutes)

-1

19 repetitions (150 minutes)

-2

16 repetitions (120 minutes)

-3

13 repetitions (90 minutes)

-4

11 repetitions (75 minutes)

-5

9 repetitions (60 minutes)

-6

7 repetitions (45 minutes)

-7

5 repetitions (30 minutes)

-8

3 repetitions (15 minutes)

-9

2 repetitions (10 minutes)

-10

1 repetition (5 minutes)

Longevity: The material used to write the runes and the material the runes are written on effect how long they last, as well as the success rate of the spell. The chart below shows the longevity by success rate for a rune on a normal piece of paper written with normal ink:

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	Success		Time

Tie

no change

NS

+30% intended time

SS

+60% intended time

ES

+90% intended time

Words of Power: Use of a single rune to enact an effect. Unlike spellcasting, difficulties can still be lowered this way.

Spells: A written formula for a spell, without an enacted word of power. It requires a spellcaster to enact the word of power.

Bonding: Using runes to connect a caster to an object or another being.

Narrations: Describing what you want in runic language, then activating.

Languages: The magical languages of Shem are listed in a chart below next to the spheres they work best with.

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	Language		Spheres

Demonic

Darkness

Shadow

Darkness

Undeath

Velenu

Pestilence

Hassian

Hatred

Elemental

Ice

Cosmos

Moons

Fire

Earth

Water

Weather

Air

Metal

Force

Sun

Moons

Time

Flora

Fauna

Hex

Destruction

Balderdash

Chaos

Luck

Change

Mischief

Hladomor

Famine

Despair

Unseelie

Nightmare

Envy

Glorious

Hope

Korongo

Peace

Sol

Sun

Onomatos

Music

Reinean

Love

Home

Miraazi

Vision

Sophian

Wisdom

Ceying

Insight

Angelic

Light

Shepherd

Light

Harvest

Juris

Order

Madzene

Creation

Aldar

Creation

Argent

Life

Bihotzan

Healing

Nom

Truth

Korfic

Family

Lunarian

Moons

Ygg

Flora

Indrik

Fauna

Chronurian

Time

Seelie

Dream

Manatic

Magic

Pesperis

Luck

Islandic

Celebration

Shonite

Connection

Thothim

Knowledge

Story

Brannish

War

Skill

Wathite

Might

Draconic

Dragon

Wealth

Djinni

Fate

Cocidian

Hunt

Unsaid

Silence

Divine

Balance

Learning: Assuming 6 hours of study a day, five days a week, the following chart tells how long it takes an average human to reach certain power levels. An adept student would lessen the time intervals, of course. For other races, the chart might well be horribly different. This is just to give an idea.

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	Power		Time (in years)

25

166

24

143

23

121

22

102

21

85

20

70

19

57

18

46

17

37

16

30

15

25

14

21

13

18.5

12

16.25

11

14.25

10

12.5

9

11

8

9.75

7

7.75

6

6

5

4.5

4

3.25

3

2.25

2

1.5

1

1

Fatigue: If difficulties are lowered, the consequences increase a level. Special to exceptional, etc.

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	Time spent		Exceptional success		Special success		Normal success		Tie		Normal failure		Special failure		Exceptional failure

25 hours

-16

KO

KO

KO

KO

KO

Death

22 hours

-13

-16

KO

KO

KO

KO

KO

19 hours

-13

-16

-16

KO

KO

KO

KO

13 hours

-13

-13

- 16

-16

KO

KO

KO

10 hours

-10

-13

-13

-16

-16

KO

KO

7 hours

-10

-10

-13

-13

-16

-16

KO

4 hours

-7

-10

-10

-13

-13

-16

-16

1 hour

-7

-7

-10

-10

-13

-13

-16

30 minutes

-4

-7

-7

-10

-10

-13

-13

15 minutes

-4

-4

-7

-7

-10

-10

-13

10 minutes

-1

-4

-4

-7

-7

-10

-10

5 minutes

-1

-1

-4

-4

-7

-7

-10

1 minute

None

-1

-1

-4

-4

-7

-7

30 seconds

None

None

-1

-1

-4

-4

-7

15 seconds

None

None

None

-1

-1

-4

-4

9 seconds

None

None

None

None

-1

-1

-4

3 seconds

None

None

None

None

None

-1

-1

Casting: How it works!

Decide what effect you want. Determine what sphere is best for that. Do you have a language that can effect that sphere? Great!

Decide if you want to write a Word of Power (best for simple effects), a spell (moderate effects), or narration (complex effects). Write the runes. Repeat to lower the difficulty if wanted and possible. Activate with a Word of Power.

For bonding, inscribe a fraction of the rune on each of the things you want bonded to each other. Activate with a Word of Power on the receiver. If the bond goes two ways, you will need two Words of Power.

Failure: See here.

Sensing: See here.

Auras: None.