Advanced Spellcasting Draft¶
Rules system: homebrew, a 2026 revision of the Sancturi skill-based system (unfinished; no numbers yet).
Lore: Astral Law and the sources of magical power are described on Nature of Magic.
Legacy design material, not canon for play. The working notes Advanced Magic & Notes (S205, 2026) rebuild Sancturi spellcasting around three ideas: every spell needs a Source; a spell is built from a Form, Kinetics and Augmentations; and magic is divided into nine major and twenty minor Spheres instead of the twelve Arcane colleges of Sancturi Magic System. The draft is unfinished and still weighs alternatives, which are kept as alternatives here. Its passages on Astral Law and the four sources of power are lore and are only summarised.
Sources¶
"All magic requires a Source. A Source is an expression of matter or energy of the same type/domain as the magic effect." A Fire spell needs a Fire Source. A Source need not be bound to the caster unless the spell consumes it; often it is "simply used as a gateway/connection to bring in the caster's own bound matter or energy". Most Sources exclude others, except multi-domain Sources such as Smoke (Air-Fire) and Ice (Air-Water).
| Source | Rules |
|---|---|
| Summoned | Summoned by the caster and bound to them for the duration; mobile, and often amplifies the spell. Summoning it requires another Source. It has a number of charges; each time a spell consumes it, one charge is spent until it is snuffed out. Downsides: it must be present before casting, which can warn clever opponents of the coming spell's domain, and it often takes considerable time to summon. |
| Environmental | A natural or constructed non-magical instance of the right energy or matter: a brazier of hot coals or a bonfire for Fire, deep shadows from firelight or twilight for Shadow, sunlight for Light. It may or may not be bound to the caster, depending on whether it was Consecrated to the caster or a bound dependent. |
| Divine | A single, ever-present and inconsumable Source: the god's Astral Shard, which serves for all its relevant domains. The caster need only possess a Consecrated object (Astral Bond). |
| Enchanted | Persistent Summoned Sources provided by magic items, bound through a Relational property, with set charges recharged automatically by the enchantment: wizards' staves, orbs and the like. Wearing an item is often not enough unless it has a large Aura; "hands and head appear to be the most effective contact points for interacting with an Aura." |
Source strength (undecided). The author asks whether to have "different classes/strengths of sources … or maybe have fewer classes and then a numeric strength metric", and drafts four classes: Attuned (not made of the Source substance but attuned to it), Crude? (contains at least some of it), Primary (constructed at least in part of it) and Pure (constructed entirely of pure Source substance).
Constructing spells¶
Divine casters need not concern themselves with spell formulas, which are embedded in the Astral Shard. Every other caster binds formulas and equations into an algorithm, the spell, which is time-consuming; most must prepare and memorise spells to use them in a timely manner.
A spell has three kinds of part:
- Form (1 or more): the heart of the spell, with its primary effects and base cost.
- Kinetics (0 or more): how the effects move and what area they cover.
- Augmentations (0 or more): add effects or alter existing ones.
The five Forms¶
| Form | Latin | Deals with |
|---|---|---|
| Evocation | Evoco | Energy; usually instant, with an immediate effect that leaves side effects while the primary effects "disappear almost as soon as they arrive". |
| Conjuration | Creo | The creation or summoning of sustained matter and energy. |
| Abjuration | Exeo | The flow of energy to magical effects; most commonly repulsion or counter of matter and energy. |
| Transmutation | Muto | Altering bound matter or energy. |
| Divination | Profor | Gathering information from bound matter and energy. |
Two further Forms are marked "Want to get rid of": Summoning (Elicio), the sustained summoning of intelligences and living matter or energy, and Enchantment (Incanto), sustained effects attached to a bound object, which "seems like Conjuration & Alteration cover this".
Effect duration¶
| Instant | Fixed | Charged | Sustained | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stable | Effects happen immediately and do not span turns. | The number of turns is fixed at cast-time and cannot be altered. Duration cost is linear. | The number of charges is fixed at cast-time. Charges are used on demand. Normally also a maximum number of turns. | The spell continues for as long as it is sustained. Sustaining cost is linear. |
| Unstable | — | The number of turns is fixed at cast-time and cannot be altered. Duration cost is exponential. | — | The spell continues for as long as it is sustained. Sustaining cost is exponential. |
A separate list of duration states follows, unexplained: Volatile, Unstable, Reductive (Degenerative / Decline / Reduce), Stable. The Kinetics and Augmentation headings have no text.
Rubric types (alternative scheme)¶
A second, overlapping scheme calls the parts of a spell rubrics:
- Source: the base building block, dealing with how the energy that constructs the effects is formed, where and for how long. Sources are Conjuration, Divination or Alteration.
- Kinetics: often required by a Source to modify range and area of effect.
- Forms: sub-domains of magic. The examples for Fire are Chaos (Abjuration), Heat, Flame (Conjuration) and Combustion (Evocation). Forms have base effects that can be extended; sub-domains restrict the effects available.
- Aspect: specific effects, often dependent on a form or group of forms. Aspects of Heat: Melt, Ignite, Boil, "??Cook"; of Flame: Ignite, Consume, Burn.
- Amplifications: increase the power of a rubric.
- Meta: "normally an Augmentation that doubles as another type of Rubric, allowing very complex spells to be formed."
Fragmentary notes on how rubrics combine pair source with range, form and area, and form with range and area, under the labels "Full - required relationship", "Black - nothing other than a Amplification" and "White" (blank). A note asks for a flaming-sword example ("it's an enchanted effect"). The Forms are grouped by what they act on:
| Group | Forms |
|---|---|
| Works on Bound-Neutral | Abjuration (Exeo), Evocation (Evoco), Divination (Profor) |
| Creates Bound Effects | Conjuration (Creo), Summoning (Elicio) |
| Effects on Bound Objects only | Alteration (Muto), Enchantment (Incanto) |
Where each power works¶
The draft's account of the four sources of Astral power is lore; its rules consequences are where each kind of magic functions:
| Magic | Focus and energy | Planes where it works |
|---|---|---|
| Arcane (Mithis) | Requires a focus, whose capacity often limits spellcasting. Energy is regained only on the Material Plane. | Mithis casting, items and enchantments function anywhere Astral Magic functions. |
| Divine (Astral) | Requires a focus, normally an Astral Object. Held only by Gods, Elementals and other Astral Shard holders. | Astral, Material, Elemental and Abyssal Planes; not the Ethereal, Shadow or Void Planes. |
| Demonic (Abyssal) | Operates like Mithis magic, but the energy is stored inside the demon rather than drawn from the surroundings. | The same planes as Divine Magic. |
| Ethereal (Eldritch, Elder) | Possessed by everyone and everything; creating a new object has an Ethereal Energy cost. | Any plane. |
Magic focuses¶
"The focuses of Magic mirror the Planes":
| Tier I | Tier II | Tier III | Tier IV | Tier V | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inner | Positive | Light | Fey | Life | ||
| Negative | Darkness | Necromancy | Death | |||
| Abyssal | Contract | Summoning | Fel | Felbind | ||
| Elemental | Air | Aeromancy | Vapors | Telekinetics | ||
| Earth | Geomancy | Gravity | Transmutation | Spellbind | ||
| Fire | Pyromancy | Lightning | Channeling | |||
| Water | Hydromancy | Alchemy | Frost | |||
| Outer | Void | Transjunction | Abjuration | Scrying | Nethermancy | |
| Spirit | Divination | Charm | Curse | Divination | ||
| Shadow | Illusion | Fade | Animation | Shadowmancy |
Three focuses are described:
- Alchemy: the manipulation of chemical reactions, such as catalysing reactions and allowing combinations of materials that would otherwise be impossible or take thousands of years.
- Hydromancy: the manipulation of water: currents, waves, rain, whirlpools. Combined with other Spheres it produces Blood Magic, Healing and Plant Growth effects.
- Frost: the manipulation of the state of water to produce ice and frost: freezing water, ice bolts, ice shards, wave of frost.
And three Void focuses:
- Transjunction: time and space manipulated to create intra-planar rifts and conjunctions: teleportation, blink, some material conjurations and time travel.
- Abjuration: time and space manipulated to plane-shift objects and effects: protective circles, counterspells, banishment.
- Scrying: time and space manipulated for long-range or navigational divination and discovery.
Spheres of Astral Magic¶
"The 9 Major Spheres or Colleges of Astral Magic are the 4 elemental spheres (Air, Earth, Fire, Water), 2 energy spheres (White, Black) and 3 planar spheres (Spirit, Animus and Phase)."
| Sphere | Domain |
|---|---|
| Air | The element of air, movement and its associated energies, including kinetics. |
| Earth | The element of earth, constancy and its associated energies, including gravity and cohesion. |
| Fire | The element of fire, change and its associated energies, including heat and energy. |
| Water | The element of water, change and its associated energies, including reactions. |
| White | Positive energy, creation, order, emotions and feelings (love, happiness, enlightened). |
| Black | Negative energy, destruction, chaos, emotions and feelings (anger, unhappy, confusion). |
| Spirit | The soul, spirit and the Ethereal Plane. |
| Animus | Thought, the mind and the Shadow Plane. |
| Phase | Planar intersections and the Void. |
The twenty minor Spheres¶
Each minor Sphere lies where two major Spheres meet:
| Air | Earth | Fire | Water | White | Black | Spirit | Animus | Phase | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air | — | — | Frost | Storms | Light | Dark | Channl | Shdw | Astral |
| Earth | — | — | Metal | Botan | Heal | Necro | Blood | Charm | Abyss |
| Fire | Frost | Metal | — | — | Light | Dark | Channl | Shdw | Abyss |
| Water | Storms | Botan | — | — | Heal | Necro | Blood | Charm | Astral |
| White | Light | Healing | Light | Healing | — | — | Life | Truth | Ctrct |
| Black | Dark | Necro | Dark | Necro | — | — | Death | Illusion | Curse |
| Spirit | — | — | — | — | Life | Death | — | — | — |
| Animus | — | — | — | — | Truth | Illusion | — | — | — |
| Phase | — | — | — | — | Ctrct | Curse | — | — | — |
The source abbreviates in the grid: Channl (Channel), Shdw (Shadow), Botan (Botanical), Heal (Healing), Necro, Ctrct (Contract). Its definitions:
| Minor Sphere | Formed from | Study of |
|---|---|---|
| Abyss | Earth or Fire + Phase | The Abyss and bridges to the Abyss. |
| Astral (Astra) | Air or Water + Phase | The Astral Plane and bridges to it. |
| Contract | White + Phase | Enforceable magical contracts. |
| Curse | Black + Phase | Curses and their application. |
| Blood | Earth or Water + Spirit | Blood and its energy. |
| Botanical | Earth + Water | Plants and plant systems. |
| Channel | Air or Fire + Spirit | The transference of magical energy, knowledge or spirit into a target vessel. |
| Charm | Earth or Water + Animus | Altering the thought and decision-making of living beings. |
| Dark | Air or Fire + Black | Darkness and its different expressions. |
| Death | Dark + Spirit (as written; the grid gives Black + Spirit) | Ethereal negative life energies and the soul. |
| Frost | (left blank; the grid gives Air + Fire) | The removal of heat energy. |
| Healing | (the grid gives Earth or Water + White) | Corporeal life magic. |
| Illusion | (the grid gives Black + Animus) | Sensory creation. |
| Life | (the grid gives White + Spirit) | Ethereal life magic. |
| Light | (the grid gives Air or Fire + White) | Different expressions of light. |
| Metal | (the grid gives Earth + Fire) | Metal, magma and crafted matter. |
| Necro | (the grid gives Earth or Water + Black) | Corporeal negative life energies and bodies. |
| Shadow | (the grid gives Air or Fire + Animus) | The border between the Material and Shadow Realms. |
| Storms | (the grid gives Air + Water) | Storm systems and lightning. |
| Truth | (the grid gives White + Animus) | Truth. |
Aspects¶
"Within each sphere of Astral Magic are different aspects of that magic (different ways of manipulating it). The sphere plus its aspect form the core of a magical effect." Common aspects: Divination (information gathering, understanding), Abjuration (banishing, blocking or warding), Conjuration (creation and summoning), Evocation (destruction or releasing energy), Alteration (enhancing or reducing), Transmutation (changing from one state or form to another) and Enchantment (no definition).
The draft offers an analogy to computation: the magic type (Astral, Ethereal, Divine) is the power source, the college (Earth, Abyssal, Ethereal) the peripheral or input/output device, and the aspect (Divination, Abjuration, Alteration) the logic.
Soul spell ideas¶
Under the note "Merging Ethereal with Astral Magic … they are not all that different after-all … just different sources of the same thing," the draft lists spell ideas without rules:
- Spiritual Affinity: a charm-like spell that makes a relationship special, "specially bad when negative".
- Soul-sense: sense the presence of nearby souls.
- Dominion: create an asymmetrical transitive bond.
- Soul bond: a powerful permanent version of Spiritual Affinity.
- Soul collector and Capture soul (no description).
- Spirit ward: uses a soul's energy to power a ward.
- Soul drain: convert a soul binding to magical energy.
- Soul knife: a damage dealer, stronger against artificial soul bindings and extraplanar creatures.
- Soul trap: temporarily bind a soul to a location; the target suffers pain for every hex away from it.
- Corpse explosion: sever weak or artificial soul bindings, causing a necrotic explosion.
- Spiritual exorcism: banish extraplanar and other artificial soul bindings.
- Spirit wind (no description).
Gap
The draft gives no costs, skill levels or worked spells, and its Kinetics and Augmentation sections are empty. How the nine Spheres replace the twelve colleges in play is not stated.