Rules

The rules presented here are incomplete. This is partially because I'm not done with adapting the Talislanta rules. It is also to avoid republishing Talislanta setting information (i.e. plaigarism).

Character Creation

• Characters start with two free Aspects, one for their race and one for their culture.
• Each character then gets 8 Phases, with one Aspect and four Skill picks per phase.
• Skills must follow the skill pyramid, as described in the FATE rules.
• You are limited to two boxes per Aspect, with the exception of a single three-box Trait.
• During character creation, you should note down any special or unusual equipment your character owns. Your equipment should be within reason given your rating in Wealth (which I am using as a skill). For other items, a Wealth roll can decide whether your character owns or has access to any item you did not list. Note that unique items that are especially important to your character should be purchased as Aspects.

Skills

More here later.

Magic

Spellcasting ability is represented by Orders (aspects) and Modes (skills). An Order is a magical tradition. It governs the style of your magic use, as well as what sort of effects you can generate. Decriptions of the most well-known orders in Talislanta start on page 44 in the main book (4th edition).

Modes govern what sort of effects you can generate, and with what level of skill. Each mode is an abstract representation of a large number of related spells. You may create a spell as your character (who is assumed to have known it all along) casts it, but it can spice things up to come up with descriptions of spells your character knows ahead of time.

Note that modern Talislantan magic cannot:

• Return the dead to life or create life.
• Affect time or causality.
• Blend together Powers (ex Fire and Earth) or Modes in a single spell.

See the Talislanta book for descriptions of the 12 Modes. Example spells are described with each Order in the main book.

Casting a Spell

1. Determine the intent and parameters of the spell. Using the modifiers for the mode, determine the difficulty of the spell.
2. Roll using the appropriate mode. If you did not succeed by atleast one, you are subject to a spell penalty. Every point of spell penalty reduces your magic rolls by a cumulative -1 for the remainder of the session (Note: I may change this to a -1 per two points of spell penalty, if magic ends up seeming too weak). You may invoke the Order you used to ignore the spell penalty.
3. Determine the effect by the Margin of Success as follows:

Margin of Success

• +2 or better....The spell works better than you had intended. No spell penalty is accumulated.
• +1.................The spell works as intended. No spell penalty is accumulated.
• 0.................Success. The spell works as intended.
• -1.................Partial Success. The spell works, but is less potent than you had intended.
• -2.................A failure. Nothing happens.
• -3 or worse....A catastrophic failure. An appropriate side effect is determined by the GM.

If you are using a favored Mode/Order combination, the Order may be activated to improve the spell roll. This can often improve the MoS to a level that no spell penalty is acquired, making it a better option than activating the Order to ignore the spell penalty.

FATE Order Information

(tentative and incomplete)

Cartomancy

 Favored: (Alter and Influence)?
 Restricted: Transform and Summon.

Cryptomancy

 Favored: Ward and Reveal.
 Restricted: Transform.

Crystalomancy

  Favored: Defend and Heal.
  Restricted:

Elemental Magic

 Favored: Conjure, and one additional mode by element:
    Pyromancy:  Fire
    Aeromancy:  Move
    Geomancy:   Defend
    Aquamancy: Transform
 Restricted:

Invocation

 varies heavily by religion.

Mysticism

 Favored:  Influence and Reveal.
 Restricted:

Natural Magic

  Favored: Reveal and Heal.
  Restricted:

Necromancy

 Favored: Summon and Heal.
 Restricted:

Shamanism

  Favored: Reveal and Heal.
  Restricted:

Witchcraft

  Favored: Ward and Reveal (and Heal?).
  Restricted:

Wizardry

  Favored: Any one mode of your choice.
  Restricted:

Spellcasting Modifiers

More here later.

Combat

More here later.