Alchemy and Witchcraft¶
Rules system: Sancturi homebrew (skill-based system of the Sancturi campaign, 2017-2019). Legacy design material, not canon for play.
Lore page: Alchemy and Witchcraft.
Contested
The Multi-spiritualism limits differ between the overviews and the Aegic recipe document (see the open question Multi-spiritualism limits), and where witchcraft sits among the kinds of magic is the open question Witchcraft's place; Mithis metals.
The class feats of the Sancturi system's alchemy family, which unlock class-like features and skills: Aegic, Malefica and Aphotic Witchcraft, Corporeal and Empyrean Alchemy, and Artificer. This page gathers the overviews, the early witchcraft design notes with their reagent types and the rare Hollowsong talent, the delivery types of potions and mixtures, and the list of Ethereal Alchemy ideas. The recipes are on the pages below.
| Page | Contents |
|---|---|
| Aegic Witchcraft | Charms & Talismans, Salts, Circles & Barriers, Drams & Oils |
| Malefica Witchcraft | Curses & Hexes, Familiar and Evil Spirits, Summoning and Fetishes |
| Aphotic Witchcraft | Black Magic, Blood Alchemy & Magic, The Sight |
| Corporeal Alchemy | the three recipe rubrics |
| Alchemical Reagents | reagent classes, prices and the reagent grid by Fae realm |
Class feats¶
The November 2018 overview (S212). Each feat names its two attributes.
| Feat | Attributes | Prerequisite | Skills | Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aegic Witchcraft | WIL, ING | Language-Abyssal ≥ 1 | Drams & Wards, Circles & Barriers, Charms & Talismans | "The mastery of the creation of magical effects from Abyssal (demonic) reagents", focused on circles, charms, talismans, drams and wards. Multi-spiritualism: more active charms and talismans than an ordinary individual, up to 1 + ¼ of the [Charms & Talismans] skill level in talismans and 1 + 1/10 in charms. |
| Alchemy-Corporeal | REA, ING | Language-Gaelic ≥ 1 | Potions, Mixtures & Coats, Salves & Tonics | spells made from Corporeal reagents, "the Terrestrial expression of Magic"; "The concoctions act as both spell and power source and no additional magical focus is necessary." |
| Alchemy-Empyrean | REA, ING | none | Elixirs, Brews, Vapors | spells made from Empyrean reagents, "the Celestial expression of Magic", likewise needing no focus |
| Artificer | REA, DEX | a Spellcraft feat and a Crafting feat | Artificer- |
"a specialized sort of alchemist that combines an external power source, known spellcraft and strong crafting skills to produce magical items" |
| Malefica Witchcraft | ?? | Language-Abyssal ≥ 5 | Abyssal Bond, Abyssal Summoning, Curses & Effigies | "a master with curses, effigies and summoning", able to bond with dark spirits. Familiar: the witch replaces an ordinary animal's spirit with a demonic one, which mentors the witch for +1 to all witchcraft skills (Aegic, Malefica and Aphotic) while in sight and contact; it has skill points equal to half those spent on [Abyssal Bond]. |
| Aphotic Witchcraft | ?? | Black Magic, The Sight, Sacrificial Magic | "a practitioner of Black magic that can produce dark concoctions and trades with demons for magical spells", able to gain the Sight. Sacrificial Magic: trade blood and lifeforce with devils and demons for enchantments and spells. Black Magic: Alchemy or Artificing with Blood Magic for "dark concoctions, poisons, elixirs and charms". The Sight: levels up the witch's sight, which "works in both places", the Material and the Hollow, where devils' and demons' is limited to the Hollow and Abyss. |
Artificer focus feats¶
An Artificer "is a creator of magical objects and permanent enchantments", requiring a Spellcraft feat (the spellcraft that shapes the item's effects and decides which power sources work with it: Mithis, Fae or Ethereal) and a Crafting Specialization feat. These with the Artificer feat open the Artificer skill for that spellcraft and craft; the Artificer feat is taken once and covers every such pairing the artificer learns. The archive's earlier artificer rules are on Artificer and Magic Item Creation.
The overview ends with headings for Reagents and Concocting, Labs, and Potion & Buff stacking, left empty.
Witchcraft design notes¶
The Witchcraft Overview (S213, late November 2018) opens with "How do we classify Witch magic?? Ethereal." It treats witchcraft as covering "a broad range of abilities and skills relating to Devils, Demons and Hollows", and so "a branch of Elder Magic as it relies on Divine Magic, Abyssal Magic and Ethereal Magic to function".
Reagent types¶
| Type | Substance |
|---|---|
| Element | an elemental substance corrupted with Abyssal energies |
| Somatic | a substance with associated lifeforce, corrupted with Abyssal energies |
| Spirit | a substance with an associated corrupted soul |
| Abyss | a pure abyssal substance acclimated and now stable on the Material Plane |
| Source | a Mithis object that produces Hollowing effects; not consumed, but "dangerous to handle and rare" |
| Target | a substance with lifeforce that is part of or related to the intended target of a hex, charm or curse |
Everything except a witch's top two orders needs only one of three Hollowed reagents (Elemental, Somatic, Spiritual), older reagents transforming into one of the three as the witch levels ("??"); the top two orders need specific reagents.
The three witchcrafts¶
- Aegic Witchcraft (Multispiritualism: several talismans at once, base Mystical Armor 2), which "most consider ... White Witchcraft": Aegic Circles; Wards and Drams; Talismans and Charms.
- Malefica Witchcraft (Bonded Spirit), requiring a Demonic Pact and the ability to understand, speak and read and write Abyssal; Dark Witchcraft: effigies, totems, hexes and curses; Summoning ("summon and contain/bargain with Devils and Demons"); Spirit Bond, the familiar.
- Aphotic Witchcraft (The Sight), requiring a Demonic Pact; Dark Witchcraft: Blood Magic ("Trade blood with Devils and Demons for magical enchantments and spells"); Black Magic, combining Brew or Artificing with Blood Magic; The Sight.
The Hollowsong¶
A rare Aegic skill: "the ability to shape and communicate with the wild parts of the Hollow with singing." The Hollowsong is "a rare talent and songs must be taught and generally only affect certain classes of hollows"; songs cannot override the direct command of a Hollowlord. Witches use it "to calm beasts of the Hollow and transform difficult terrain into something more favorable to them".
Witchcraft as abjuration¶
A sketch under "Witchcraft - Abjuration" relying on three Hollowed reagents (Elemental, Somatic and Spiritual):
- Charms & Talismans: only a single charm active at a time; up to skill level / 3 talismans. Talisman of Luck (+2 Luck for 1 day), Talisman of Sight ("grants infravision?"), Spirit Protection Charm (+2 Armor vs Incorporeal attacks), Hollowed Protection Charm (+2 Armor vs Mithis-based attacks), Hollow Limiter (limits the spread of a Hollow).
- Bottles: Witches Mist ("a dense mist, which those wearing a Talisman of Sight can see through without penalty"), and the placeholders Slow, Attract/Taunt Demons, Protection from Evil (a small circle of protection against evil), Disruption (disrupts Hollowed spellcasting) and Defilement (disrupts Divine spellcasting).
- Applied: Hollowing (raises Hollowing rates on the target and its susceptibility to possession), Slumbering (slows and eventually puts to sleep), Hollowed Visions/Confusion (overloads the senses with Hollowed sights, sounds and smells).
The later Aegic recipes keep most of these; see Aegic Witchcraft, which also gives the newest Multi-spiritualism limits ([Charms & Talismans] level / 4 talismans; an extra charm at levels 10, 20, 30).
Potions and mixtures¶
General rules from 2017 (S225), with the note "does this belong in Core Rules???":
| Type | Rule |
|---|---|
| Imbibe | additional drinks replace the effect of any previously quaffed potions (as written) |
| Ingest | effects can stack |
| Quaff | can drink with a short cooldown, defined by the potion |
| Mist | a non-instant area of effect such as a mist ("What about an oil slick?") |
| Contact | an effect on contact, usually with air |
| Weapon Coat | a coating on a weapon |
Ethereal Alchemy¶
A nine-line idea list of 2017 (S223) for Ethereal Alchemy:
- Amiable Potion
- Mana Pots
- Euphoria: Grace and Resolve buffs
- Powercasting: "increases mana throughput in blood … can put more energy into a single spell"
- Magic Resistance: reduces casting ability, but grants 2 Absorb and +4 to checks against any magic
- Courage: removes fear, increases Resolve
- Nondetection: protection from scrying and detection
- Misdirection: scrying returns results from another chosen object
- Protection from Group
Gap
No Empyrean Alchemy recipes, Artificer skills or Ethereal Alchemy rules were written.