Here we go, time for your first attempt at casting a spell. And yes, that's right, this is like the first level in a video game where they teach you how to play. Bethany is going to try to cast Knit to heal Jean.
The base casting pool is Bethany's Gnosis (1) + Arcana Life (3) + benefit from Yantras=4d10 + Yantras bonus (Again, yantra is just a term for various techniques to aid in casting, such as speaking magic words or making hand gestures).
Bethany's Gnosis is one, meaning she can incorporate 2 different Yantras into her casting. Description for various Yantras begins on page 119. I will list some ones I think you should consider (PICK TWO):
Spoiler: Yantras
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Supernal Verge: In places of magical power, a mage can call on the magic of the domain to enhance their spells. Since this is a "Magical Dream world" so to speak, I will allow you 2 extra die if you use this Yantra.
Concentration: If you take a full turn (combat term, which does not matter hear; think 10 seconds) to focus before casting, you get a +2 dice bonus. In combat, you can get interrupted by taking damage or trying to do something else while concentrating, but that will not be an issue here.
Mantra: A trained mage can speak in "High Speech" (Magic language) to gain +2 dice when casting. Anyone listening would know she was speaking something funny, and a mage would know she is casting. For all intents and purposes, Jean is too damaged to be aware of what is happening, so B does not have to worry about this.
Mudras: NOTE THESE CAN ONLY BE USED WITH A ROTE. A series of hand gestures or similar physical movements which carry magical symbolism. These gestures are tied to skills. Each Spell has it's own specific Mudras skills. For Life, the skills would be Empathy, Medicine or Survival. Bethany could add her 3 dots in Empathy to get 3 dice extra on her roll.
Dedicated Tool: Bethany can incorporate her obsidian knife into casting her spell. Using the knife would theoretically remove two paradox dice (if she adds a single dice to the pool at least one dice must be rolled)
As you can see, most Yantras add about 2 dice, but each has an in game draw back (ie most are not subtle in some way shape or form). I would recommend using the Empathy Mudras, and one other to add 5 dice total, for a total of 9 dice. I am going to ask you to describe what Bethany does and if you use enough detail, and the description makes sense relative to the themes of the spell ect, I will give you an extra dice as well.
Because Mend is a rote, her Arcana counts as level 5 and she gets 3 free raises. When casting a non-rote, the number of free raises is based on your Arcana level in the associated catagory (life in the case of Mend). Without using reaches, the spell will take 3 hours to cast, she must be touching Jean, and will heal 2 bashing damage. With a single reach she can cast the spell from far away, change the casting time to "instant", or to increase the power of the spell (see page 150 for how to increase the power).
For every reach taken beyond the free reach, Bethany adds a Paradox dice to her paradox pool. Before rolling for the spell, I will roll the paradox dice, and any successes subtract from Bethany's casting pool.
Spoiler: Rotes and Praxes
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OK, so now you get how to cast a spell. What does it mean if you have a rote or praxes? These are spells your character is extra good at casting.
A Praxes is a spell that costs no mana. Also, three successes on the casting roll cause an exceptional success and all sorts of good things can happen (See page 115 for a list of good things). Conversely, a rote gives you access to Mudras. Furthermore, rotes always count as having Arcana level five (so casting life gives you 3 free raises). They also don't leave a Signature Nimbus (meaning no one can track your spell use), and only cost a mana point.
Note you can have the same spell as a rote or a Praxes, but you can only cast it as one or the other each time you cast it
Re: New York by Night MtA (IC thread)
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