Mystic Arts

The mystic arts are techniques that wield the supernatural. They are magic, qi, spells, and rituals casted into forms of expressions limited only by your imagination and inner strength.

Mystic Arts Basics

Art Type: Spells

In addition to boosts, counters, stances, and strikes, mystic arts possess a fifth type: spells. Spells do not require attack rolls, and instead require the target to save against the effect. Unlike the other art types, casting a spell provokes. However, you can avoid provoking by casting the spell defensively. To do so, you need to make a concentration check as part of the casting action. You can reduce the DC by increasing the spells casting action, reducing it by 5 for each AP added.

Spells and Concentration

Spell arts with a duration other than instant require you to concentrate to maintain them. You are able to concentrate on a number of spells at the same time equal to your cultivation modifier. You are able to maintain concentration on all of your arts as a free action and as long as you are awake.

If you take damage while maintaining concentration, you need to make a concentration check. Any of your arts with a DC that exceeds your result immediately end. The DC is 10 + the art's realm + the number of injury degrees received from the attack.

Descriptors

Acid

Air

Cold

Curse

Electrical

Force

Fire

Polymorph

Sonic

Summoning

Teleport

Duration

The effects of mystic arts that have a duration longer than instant require its practioner to maintain concentration to be active. They can be dismissed by the art's practioner at will as a free action.

Magic Resistance

Unless otherwise noted, all mystic arts are subject to a target's magic resistance. You must make a tier check against the target's magic resistance score. Add your cultivation modifer to your check. A creature with magic resistance can willingly accept the effects of an art when it is cast upon them.

Tier Check

Tier Checks are made with 1d20 + your tier + your cultivation modifier.

Casting Mystic Arts

Traditions and Styles

Styles are the means of how you cast your mystic arts. A collection of styles form a casting tradition. Every practitioner of the mystic arts follows a tradition, whether they know it or not.

A tradition will have at least three casting styles, and a practictioner must choose at least three of them in order to cast their arts, although some tradition may set some styles as required. Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed without retraining. A tradition also dictates which attribute is to be used as the practicioner's casting modifier, and what actions to perform to recover their spent arts.

GMs are recommended to develop traditions with styles that fit the setting of the campaign, or use those already developed for the setting. It is generally not recommended to let players to freely pick and choose styles as the choices may not fit how the mystic arts are cast in the setting. If a player wishes to create a unique tradition, this should be discussed and agreed with by the GM.

Mystic Core and Tiers

Upon choosing a mystic tradition, you will need to cultivate a mystic core for it by taking the Mystic Core Formation talent; only then will you be able to wield mystic arts. The potency of your core is measured in tiers. Upon forming your core, you attain your 1st tier with its tradition. Mortals generally peak at their 20th tier.

You may develop multiple mystic cores. Each time you do so, you must select a different tradition. Each core's potency is separate from the others. So if you attained the 10th tier of your first tradition while only attaining the 3rd tier of your second, casting a mystic art with your first tradition's styles.

Art Realms

The mystic arts are divided into numbered 'realms'. The power of arts begin at the 0th-realm which is known as the 'foundation'. The 1st to 3rd realms are collectively known as the 'expert' realms, the 4th to 6th realms are the 'master' realms, and the 7th and 9th realms form the 'legendary' realms. The upper legendary realm is generally the peak of mortal ability, but realms beyond that level exist, accessible only by transcending mortal limits. Each incremental power exponentially requires more mastery than the previous. You must cultivate your core's rings to be able to form arts of higher power, with each overlapping ring corresponding to a higher power. You are only able to wield arts of higher realms if your core is of high enough tier.

Refinements

Refinements can be added to your arts to alter or improve its effects, or give you more options. Each refinement increases the art's minimum realm.

Casting Channels

After cultivating your mystic core, you must then develop your casting channels by first taking the 0th-Realm Casting Channel talent. Casting channels form a network through your spirit and body through which your qi flows. Casting a mystic art requires you to form it in the channel by expending its qi, with higher realm arts requiring channels that are just as strong. Higher realm channels can be gained with talents.

Recovery

After casting a mystic art, the channel it was formed in becomes spent. You can replenish the qi in your spent channels after at least a short rest. However, you can force your spent channels to cast an art by expending an amount of stamina equal to the art's realm.

Casting Styles

Addictive Casting

The rush of power from casting mystic arts is particularly addictive. Each time you cast an art, make a Constitution or Wisdom save (whichever is lower) against a DC of 10 + the art's realm. If you fail, you gain one level of addiction. After casting your art, increase the addiction DC by your art's realm for the next art you cast. The addiction DC resets to 10 aftera a full rest.

You can gain the equivalent of 100 gp worth of power components for every increase to the addiction DC by 1 that you choose to take. This power component equivalent only applies to the art you are in the process of casting. Addiction DC increases for this purpose do not carry over to the next art you cast.

When your addition is not suppressed, the next art that you cast grants you a bonus to your casting tier and your art's DCs equal to your addiction level, all thanks to the rush. The addiction effects are then suppressed for a number of rounds equal to the art's realm

Audible Casting

Casting your requires you to speak (such as incanting or chanting), generate a sound, or produce music using an instrument. Doing so automatically breaks your stealth. When in a silenced area or in a vacuum, or you have the deafened condition, you need to make a concentration check to successfully cast your art against a DC equal to 15 + twice the art's realm.

Arts that deal sonic damage or inflict the deafened condition can incorporate their effects into the casting style. The action to cast these arts are reduced by 1 step (down to a simple action).

You can choose to louden your casting strong enough to be detrimental to creatures with hearing. You may choose to have your arts deafen all creatures (including yourself) within close range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 tiers) to gain 100 gp plus 100 gp per realm worth of power components to augment the art. The condition lasts 1 round + 1 round per realm, and the Constitution save DC is equal to 15 + your cultivation modifier + twice the art's realm. On a successful save, the condition last only 1 round. You gain +1 advantage on your save check against the condition from your own art.

You can choose make a Performance check to play music or orate as part of casting your art against a DC equal to 10 + the art's realm. A normal success allows you to cast the art normally, while a failure causes the art to fizzle. For every success degree, you gain a +1 refinement capacity bonus for your art.

Blood Casting

You use your own blood to fuel the power of your arts. When you gain Constitution bleed, you do not take Constitution damage at the start of your turn. When you cast your art, you gain a bonus to your tier and to your art's DCs equal to your current Constitution bleed. Each time you cast an art with blood casting, your Constitution bleed increases by the art's realm.

Card Casting

each time mystic art is cast, draw a card (or roll combo of dice) to determine potency of the art or special effects

Cursed Casting

Your ability to wield magic is quite literally more of a curse than a blessing. Each time you cast a mystic art, make an attribute save using your cultivation modifier against a DC equal to 10 + the art's realm. On failure, you are afflicted with a random curse. The curse lasts a number of rounds equal to the art's realm. After casting your art, increase the curse DC by your art's realm for the next art you cast. The addiction DC resets to 10 aftera a full rest.

You can gain the equivalent of 100 gp worth of power components for every increase to the curse DC by 1 that you choose to take. This power component equivalent only applies to the art you are in the process of casting. Curse DC increases for this purpose do not carry over to the next art you cast.

Devout Casting

You believe in a higher power or philosophy so strongly that your belief can serve as a conduit for your qi. What you believe in, be it a deity or a philosophy, will have tenets which you add to your aspects. Upon adopting this casting style, you must divest yourself of any aspects that contradict your belief's tenets. You can be compelled by these tenets as normal, but refusing the compulsion or acting in a manner that contradicts them causes you to lose your ability to cast arts with this tradition until you atone in a manner determined by your GM. You can invoke any number of your adopted tenets to cast your arts with a +1 bonus refinement capacity for each tenet invoked (subject to GM approval).

Diagram Casting

You focus your magic through drawing intricate diagrams of symbols or patterns. To work, the diagram must be visibly drawn on a surface. It does not matter what it is drawn with, what material the surface is, or the size of the diagram as long as you draw it with one of your body parts as part of your art's action. You can hold a quill in your hard to draw ink on paper, blood on your thumb to draw on your forehead, or use your foot to groove your diagram into the dirt. To draw your diagrams, use either your Arcana, Occultism, or Religion skill against a DC equal to 15 + twice the art's realm.

You can increase the potency of your art by spending more time drawing the diagram, or by making it more complicated. You can gain the equivalent of 100 gp worth of power components to augment the art, and an addtional 100 gp for each realm, for each increase by 1 to the skill DC or for each additional AP to the art's action.

Focus Casting

Your mystic arts training taught you to use a physical object as a focus to cast your magical energies. This focus does not need to be held by you, but must at least be in physical contact with your body. If your focus is broken or out of your possession, you must make a concentration check against a DC equal to 20 + twice the art's realm, and any other concentration checks have their DCs increased by 10.

Your focus can be used as a sort of universal power component, using its worth in gp. It has affinity with any art that you cast. You use your focus' worth in gp as you would with power component except your focus is not consumed when its worth reaches 0 gp. Your focus' worth is restored to full after you spend at least one hour of some form of meditation or prayer with your focus on you. You must craft your focus yourself in order to form that special connection with it.

Illuminated Casting

You emit or conjure bright lights as part of casting your mystic arts, a side effect of how you channel magical energies. These lights can be as simple as a bright flash, or intricate, colorful patterns. Your casting automatically breaks stealth.

You can choose to brighten your casting strong enough to be detrimental to creatures with sight. You may choose to have your arts daze all creatures (including yourself) within close range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 tiers) to gain 100 gp plus 100 gp per realm worth of power components to augment the art. Alternatively, you can make it bright enough to blind all creatures in the same range to gain 500 gp plus 500 gp per realm worth of power components. In either case, the condition lasts 1 round + 1 round per realm, and the Constitution save DC is equal to 15 + your cultivation modifier + twice the art's realm. On a successful save, the condition last only 1 round. You gain +1 advantage on your save check against the condition from your own art.

Madness Casting

Your mind in unable to comprehend the eldritch nature of the magic you wield, or you draw your power from unfathomable sources far too horrific for mortal comprehension. Each time you cast a mystic art, you take sanity damage equal to the art's realm. The Wisdom save DC to halve the damage is equal to 15 + twice the art's realm. You may choose to gain 100 gp worth of power components for every increase by 1 to the DC or for every 2 additional sanity damage taken.

Material Casting

Your mystic arts need to consume material ingredients to fuel their magic. Your mystic arts costs material ingredients in gp worth equal to the art's realm. You need a free hand to hold your ingredients in order to use them for your art. You are unable to cast mystic arts if you have insufficient ingredients or unable to hold them in a free hand.

Your familiarity with mystical ingredients allow you to halve the cost of power component augmentations.

You can choose to make a Craft check to combine and alter your materials as part of casting your art against a DC equal to 10 + the art's realm. A normal success allows you to cast the art normally, while a failure causes the art to fizzle. For every success degree, you gain a +1 refinement capacity bonus for your art.

Mutating Casting

casting an art inflicts a random mutation that lasts a number of rounds equal to the art's power

Odorous Casting

The magic of your mystic arts produce a distinct odor of your choice. This smell counts as a strong scent for creatures with the scent ability. Creatures using scent to track your smell gain a bonus to their Survival check equal to the art's realm. This bonus reduces by 1 every round at the start of your turn; when it reaches 0, the scent of your art has faded. Multiple castings stack together for the bonus to the Survival check to track your scent.

You may choose to produce an overpowering scent to gain 100 gp worth of power components to augment your art, with an additional 100 gp per realm. Furthermore, you can then choose to make your scent so overpowering that it sickens all creatures (including yourself) in close range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 tiers) for an additional 100 gp, and another 100 gp per realm. Alternatively, you can instead choose to have your overpowering scent to nauseate all creatures for 500 gp, and another 500 gp per realm. The Constitution save DC in either case is equal to 15 + twice the art's realm. On a successful save, the condition lasts 1 round instead of a number of rounds equal to 1 + your art's realm. You can gain an additional 100 gp worth of power components for every increase by 1 to the DC. You gain +1 advantage on your save against the scent of your own arts.u

Pact Casting

You form a pact with a legendary outsider who will be your patron and allow you to draw on their power to form your casting. In return, your patron will demand something in return that you must fulfill on a regular basis. This could be an item, a service, or a ritualistic act. The offering is generally made once a day, but a different schedule can be negotiated with your patron through your GM, with more time in-between offerings significantly increasing its value or difficulty. Arts that are used to maintain the pact gain a +1 bonus refinement capacity.

Somatic Casting

Your casting requires some form of movement of your body, such as intricate gestures, martial art moves, or forming hand signs. You must have at least one body part that can wield items, such as an arm, and must not be wielding any item in order to cast your art. Armor check penalty for any armor or shield that you are equipped with applies to your concentration check to cast.

You can choose to make an Acrobatics check to make complex movement or dance as part of casting your art against a DC equal to 10 + the art's realm. A normal success allows you to cast the art normally, while a failure causes the art to fizzle. For every success degree, you gain a +1 refinement capacity bonus for your art.

Tiring Casting

Channeling magical energies is draining for for. Each time you cast your art, you lose stamina equal to its power. However, you can expend additional stamina to empower your art, with each extra point of stamina beyond the initial cost being worth 100 gp worth of power components.

You cannot use this casting style if you are immune to stamina loss or do not possess a Constitution modifier.

Schools

Aeromancy

Aquamancy

Beast

Transmutation

Conjuration

Divination

Terramancy

Pyromancy

Force

Illusion

Inspiration

Mentalism

Mycophyte

Necromancy

Thaumaturgy

Time

Casting Styles of Celesia

The following are the casting styles found in the world of Celesia, and serve as examples of how to develop casting styles of your own setting.

Alchemy

Associated Ability: Intelligence.

Casting Styles: Addictive, Concentration, Material, Mutating, Prepared, Prolonged, Skilled (Alchemy), Tiring.

  Alchemy practitioners are known as 'alchemists'. Alchemists are able to use their qi to tap into the essence of ingredients, refine them together, and store them in solid forms as alchemical pills. Alchemy practitioners use their Intelligence as their cultivation modifier as the tradition requires detailed learning and understanding of ingredients. Alchemy arts, in the form of volatile pills, must be prepared in advance. Alchemical pills can be refined within an alchemist's turn, but at the cost of becoming inert and useless after after a day, and can only be activated by the alchemist himself because of the shared qi. Talents may allow an alchemist's pills to last longer or be used by other creatures. Alchemists gain twice the benefit of using power components for alchemy arts if they are trained in the Alchemy skill, three times at expert, four times at master, and five times at legendary. Recovery:  

Arcane

Associated Ability: Intelligence.

Casting Styles: Concentration, Diagram, Focus, Material, Prepared, Prolonged, Skilled (Arcana), Somatic, Tiring, Verbal.

  Arcane practitioners are known as 'arcanists', but also go by other names: 'mages', 'sorcerers', 'wizards'. Arcanists meditate on metaphysical formulas, equations, and theories of the multiversal reality. When they achieve a level of understanding, the enlightenment enables them to refine their qi into formations that tap into the essence of reality itself. Arcanists use their Intelligence as their cultivation modifier as the tradition requires detailed learning and understanding of complex metaphysical concepts and formulas. Arcane arts must be prepared in advance. Arcanists refine their qi into formations stored in the channels of their core, ready to be triggered upon command. Arcanists have an easier time at writing magic scrolls. Recovery:  

Bardic

Associated Ability: Charisma.

Casting Styles: Audible, Concentration, Emotional, Illuminated, Prolonged, Skilled (Artistry, Dance, Musical Instrument, Oratory, Singing), Somatic, Verbal.

  Bardic practitioners are known as 'bards'. Bards use tap into the raw power of emotions and feelings evoked by the arts, and refine them with their qi to manifest fantastical effects. Bards use Charisma as their cultivation modifier as much of their power relies on the bard's confidence and allure. Bardic are always have an audio or visual component and can never be executed stealthily, unless they have a target of personal. (benefit) Recovery:  

Blood

Associated Ability: Constitution, Charisma.

Casting Styles: Addictive, Bleed, Concentration, Mutating, Odorous, Tiring.

  Blood practitioners are known as 'sanguinists', and also sometimes as 'bloodmages', 'hemomancers', or 'hemophages'. There can be no life without magic, and no magic without life. Sanguinists are able to tap into the essence of the universe using blood, the vital fluid that flows through all living creatures, as their medium. Sanguinists use Charisma as their cultivation modifier as tapping into the essence in blood requires a powerful sense of self. Sanguinists can use Charisma instead of Consutition for any calculation that uses that attribute. Recovery:  

Faith

Associated Ability: Wisdom, Charisma.

Casting Styles: Bleed, Concentration, Devout (required), Diagram, Focus, Illuminated, Material Prolonged, Somatic, Verbal.

Faith practitioners are known as 'priests'. Other names they are known by are 'clerics', 'oracles'. Priests draw their arts from a complete faith in a patron, an ideal, a concept. That faith and trust in another is so powerful that it transcends the priest's connection to it into the power that lies beyond physical reality.

  spells with alignment descriptor cannot be cast if does not match divine caster's source. When casting a divine spell, the divine caster can increase the spell's casting time by 1 act to make a Knowledge (religion) check. The caster can treat his spell as being a number of tiers higher equal to the check's result divided by 20 (up to his maximum tier), but only to determine the number of checks or dice that scale up by the spell's tier, and the spell's DC. The spell's actual tier does not change.  

Nature

Associated Ability: Wisdom.

Casting Styles: Bleed, Concentration, Focus, Material, Oathsworn, Prolonged.

Nature practitioners are known as 'animists'. Other names there are known by are 'druids', 'shamans'. Animists form a deep connection between their own essence with that of life and nature around them.

When casting a nature spell, the nature caster can increase the spell's casting time by 1 act to make a Knowledge (nature) check. The caster can treat her spell as being a number of tiers higher equal to the check's result divided by 20 (up to her maximum tier), but only to determine the number of checks or dice that scale up by the spell's tier, and the spell's DC. The spell's actual tier does not change.

When a nature caster casts a spell with an elemental descriptor (acid, air, cold, earth, electricity, fire, and water) and she is in physical contact with the matching element, she can increase her spell's tier as being one higher (up to her maximum tier), but only to determine the number of checks or dice that scale up by the spell's tier, and the spell's DC (the spell's actual tier does not change). This stacks with with tier increase from making a Knowledge (nature) check. The contact between the element must be against the caster's natural body with no clothing or other barriers in-between, even if this contact deals damage to her.

Occult

Associated Ability: Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma.

Casting Styles: Bleed, Concentration, Focus, Material, Pact, Prolonged, Somatic, Verbal.

Occult practictioners are known as 'occultists'. Some are also called 'witches', 'warlocks'.

Occult spells are also called rituals. The casting time of rituals are always in minutes per tier, regardless of what is listed in the spell's description. Occut casters are not naturally trained spellcasters, and magic does not come easily to them. They rely on their knowledge of mystical lore, belief in superstitions, and ritualized practices almost haphazardly formed over many generations. Occult casters need to make Lore check related to the spell (GM fiat) at DC 10 + the spell's tier. Alternatively, they use an appropriate Knowledge skill (GM fiat), but the DC is increased by 5. Lastly, they can instead use Spellcraft, but the DC is increased by 10. Occult casters can augment rituals by adding more standard actions to the casting time. Each additional standard action increases the spell's tier by 1 to determine the number of checks or dice that scale up by tier and the spell's DC (the spell's actual tier does not change. The caster must choose to extend the casting time before completing the spell's casting.  

Pact

   

Prana

Associated Ability: Wisdom, Charisma.

Casting Styles: Bleed, Concentration, Material, Prolonged.

  Prana spells do not require material components, but instead require the caster to spend qi points. A prana spell costs qi points equal to its power. Prana casters can augment prana spells by spending additional qi points:   1 point for each caster level increase by 1, 2 points for each effective spell power increase by 1 (up to her maximum power), but only to determine the number of checks or dice that scale up by the spell's power, and the spell's DC (the spell's actual power does not change).  

Psychic

Associated Ability: Intelligence, Charisma.

Casting Styles: Concentration.

  Psychic practictioners are simply known as 'psychics, but can also be called 'psions'.   Psychic magic is also known as psionics, and relies on powerful minds capable of generating magical energy through thoughts alone. Casting psychic spells cost psi points equal to their tier, but does not need somatic or material components except for those with a listed cost. Psychic casters can augment psychic spells by spending additional psi points:   1 point for each caster level increase by 1, 2 points for each effective spell tier increase by 1 (up to her maximum tier), but only to determine the number of checks or dice that scale up by the spell's tier, and the spell's DC (the spell's actual tier does not change).