Mind magic invoked through dance, Spelldancing is the rarest form of mind magic, and the least widely understood. There is at least one full system of Spelldancing which is based on the seal system of sealcasting, but with full body poses substituting for hand seals. This is known as "formulaic" or "classical" spelldancing. There also exist spelldancing styles which do not appear to be seal-based, which are known as "wild" or "folk" spelldancing. Most magical theorists believe that folk spelldancing is also seal-based, but that the seals are merely better obfuscated in the movements.

This style is undoubtedly the most anime ridiculous style of magic on Shem.

Spelldancing combines elements of spellsinging & sealcasting. Spelldancing requires rhythm, poise, & stamina, & often, synchronization.

A spelldance comes in many forms. The classical forms often resemble convoluted ballet performances, each pause in the performance stopping on a complex pose that activates the spell. Multiple performers in this form can stop on different poses & cast more than one spell, but certain poses cancel each other out. This makes for interesting duels.

A folk spelldance requires multiple participants for anything above a simple cantrip, each person doing one part of the complex spell.

The rhythm of a spelldance is identical in nature to the rhythm of a spellsong.

The poise of a dancer greatly affects the spell of a classical spelldance, because any misstep can either cast the wrong spell or cause the spell not to cast at all. In a folk spelldance, the synchronization is more important, each person doing their own part.

Rhythms: The rhythm of a spell affects the pace of the spell, the way it interacts with the world. A dance that has stresses on the upbeats is a standard, normal spell that doesn't necessarily have a strong energy to it. A spell that has stresses on the downbeats (syncopation) is wilder, more lively for a standard spellsinger.

Up tempo spells have quick, immediate effects. Down tempo spells have long, continuous effects.

Arhythmic spells are pure chaos. Some rhythms are better for certain spheres than others.

Poses: The poses align to the 8 pantheons:

• Sable Night (body twisted up)
• Obsidian Obelisk (body rigid)
• Alabaster Shield (body thrust out, rigidly)
• Platinum Rose (body thrust out, loosely)
• Viridian Pillars (body made as vertical as possible)
• Vermilion Sword (body pointed forward)
• Violet Mantle (body loose)
• Sienna Scales (body balanced on one toe)

Each pose then has a sub-posture which determines sphere. Combining poses combines spheres, but it is very hard to get this right.

Folk Dances: A folk dance takes 3 or more people to complete and usually requires special costumes. The time of the year, time of the day, number and type of people, location, costumes, and intentions of the people all effect the outcome of the spell. However, getting all of these right can allow simple villagers to accomplish important spells--like a good harvest, a clement winter, a safe delivery of a baby, etc. It is generally largely a narrated form of magic.

Lowering: The longer one dances, the lower the difficulty becomes, with modifiers given for people involved and rhythms used.

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	Difference		Points lowered

+7

none

+6

1/60 per 3 seconds

+5

1/54 per 3 seconds

+4

1/48 per 3 seconds

+3

1/42 per 3 seconds

+2

1/36 per 3 seconds

+1

1/30 per 3 seconds

0

1/24 per 3 seconds

-1

1/18 per 3 seconds

-2

1/12 per 3 seconds

-3

1/6 per 3 seconds

-4

1 per 3 seconds

-5

7/6 per 3 seconds

-6

13/6 per 3 seconds

-7

19/6 per 3 seconds

-8

25/6 per 3 seconds

-9

31/6 per 3 seconds

-10

37/6 per 3 seconds

Fatigue: Fatigue comes faster with the athletic dancing involved.

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

25 hours

KO

KO

KO

KO

KO

Death

Death

22 hours

-16

KO

KO

KO

KO

KO

Death

19 hours

-16

-16

KO

KO

KO

KO

KO

13 hours

-13

-16

- 16

KO

KO

KO

KO

10 hours

-13

-13

-16

-16

KO

KO

KO

7 hours

-10

-13

-13

-16

-16

KO

KO

4 hours

-10

-10

-13

-13

-16

-16

KO

1 hour

-7

-10

-10

-13

-13

-16

-16

30 minutes

-7

-7

-10

-10

-13

-13

-16

15 minutes

-4

-7

-7

-10

-10

-13

-13

10 minutes

-4

-4

-7

-7

-10

-10

-130

5 minutes

-1

-4

-4

-7

-7

-10

-10

1 minute

-1

-1

-4

-4

-7

-7

-10

30 seconds

None

-1

-1

-4

-4

-7

-7

15 seconds

None

None

-1

-1

-4

-4

-7

9 seconds

None

None

None

-1

-1

-4

-4

3 seconds

None

None

None

None

-1

-1

-4

Learning: The chart shows how long it takes to reach a skill level in spelldancing, folk or classical.

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	Skill		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

Casting: How it works!

Determine the intended effects. Gather dancers. Make sure everyone knows their parts. Determine starting poses (spheres) and ending poses (casting). Any poses in between will alter the spell. Describe the dance's rhythm and each person's roles. Description helps determine difficulty, which then can be lowered. Spelldancing is best for multicasting. As each dancer comes to their final pose, they roll dancing to determine their effectiveness vs. the difficulty. If two dancers are dancing the same spell, it takes the average of their rolls vs. the difficulty.

Failure: See here.

Sensing: See here.

Auras: None.