Phantasm
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The School of Phantasm creates Spells which can confuse the senses of those in the area. This School can not perform legitimately real effects, but can allow the caster to create a semblance of Reality.
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Obvious Phantasms
The Phantasm is an illusion which is obviously not real. The Spell is used for distraction and misdirection rather than to actually fool the senses. An obvious phantasm does not trigger a disbelief roll, as any witness can tell the illusion is not real if they wish to make the attempt.
Realistic Phantasms
The Phantasm is realistic, convincing the senses that there is something present. The Spell is used for distraction and misdirection, but is more likely intended to fool the witness into accepting the illusion as real and acting accordingly. This form of phantasm will trigger a disbelief roll if it contradicts reality in a way that stresses believability, or if the witness interacts with it in a way which it is not able to compensate for.
Direct Phantasm
The Spell creates a phantasm which directly targets an individual or group, altering the senses in such a way as to mislead them. A Direct Phantasm is resisted by the Resolve of the target. The Potency of the Spell determines the Difficulty in any disbelief rolls made by the targets of the Spell. Only those targeted by the Spell are affected by the Phantasm, it can not be sensed by others.
| Spell | Cost | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Obvious | 1 per Sense | Resolve |
| Realistic | 2 per Sense | Resolve |
Indirect Phantasm
The Spell creates a phantasm which can be experienced by anyone who enters the area of effect, or who can experience the phantasm. An indirect phantasm is not resisted, and if it is Realistic, only a disbelief roll with a Difficulty equal to the Spell's Potency can convince a witness the phantasm that it is not real.
| Spell | Cost | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Obvious | 2 per Sense | 2 |
| Realistic | 3 per Sense | 3 |
Interactive Phantasms
A phantasm can be interactive, responding to those who experience it in a fashion which makes the illusion more convincing. When creating an interactive phantasm, the caster controls and directs the phantasm in response to the recipients of the Spell. If the phantasm is not interactive, then it is a static illusion, doing specifically what it was crafted to do, and does not interact with the environment in any way. As long as the Spell is active, it uses the caster's Mental and Social Attributes and will use any Skills the character has to be made believable. The caster keeps passive control of the phantasm and can direct them if paying actual attention. The Essence Cost is added to the total cost, and is not per Sense.
Minor Phantasm
The phantasm is not expected to do much - illusionary torches on a wall will flicker and blow with the wind, while illusionary mice scamper and flee from those who approach.
Major Phantasm
The phantasm is detailed, and must be able to respond to scrutiny. The illusion of a patrolling guard who will stop and respond to sounds or conversation, or the voices of an illusionary celebration, where the listener can make out each individual conversation, are examples of major phantasms.
Massive Phantasm
The phantasm is complex, expected to challenge witnesses and evoke reactions. An attacking dragon who moves realistically, or the whispers of someone's deceased loved ones whispering secrets in their ear fall under this form of phantasm.
| Spell | Cost | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Minor | +2 | +1 |
| Major | +3 | +2 |
| Massive | +4 | +3 |
Charms and Controls
The Spell is used to ensnare the mind of the target, allowing the caster to direct the victim and either confuse their thoughts and memories, or grants the caster outright control of the target.
Emotion
The Spell creates or manipulates the emotions of the target, causing them to feel these emotions as acutely as the caster wishes. The Potency of the Spell is used for the disbelief roll to shake off the emotional effect. It is simpler to create a single emotion, called a charm, allowing the victim to respond to the emotion, but if the caster wishes, a Spell can be used to seize control of the victim's emotional state, manipulating the emotions the victim feels at the caster's whim. The Difficulty for creating an emotional charm is 2, while controlling the target's emotions is 4. If the target resists, the Difficulty becomes their Resolve.
| Spell | Cost | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Charm | 1 | 2 or Resolve |
| Control | 3 | 4 or Resolve |
Memory
The Spell can create or manipulate the memories of the target, altering their sense of self and what they have experienced. The Potency of the Spell is used for the disbelief roll to banish these false memories. The caster can create a charm, which plants a single memory in among the target's other memories, or can attempt to seize control of the target's memories completely, altering or removing what the caster wishes. The Difficulty of creating a mental charm is 3, while controlling the target's memories is 5. If the target resists, the Difficulty becomes their Resolve.
| Spell | Cost | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Charm | 2 | 3 or Resolve |
| Control | 4 | 5 or Resolve |
Thought
The Spell can control how a person thinks, either altering the way they think, or just controlling the person's thought processes outright. With the former, the caster can cause a person to see friends as enemies, or subvert the target's loyalties. The latter completely alters the way the person thinks, controlling and directing the person in the way the caster sees fit. The Potency of the Spell is used for the disbelief roll to break free of the caster's control. The Difficulty of creating a thought charm is 4, while completely subverting the target's will has a Difficulty of 6. If the target resists, the Difficulty becomes their Resolve.
| Spell | Cost | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Charm | 3 | 4 or Resolve |
| Control | 5 | 6 or Resolve |
Assault
A more blatant form phantasm is an illusionary assault. This form of magic is usually tied into the illusions crafted, giving them a little more impact than one would expect.
The caster weaves their illusion with powerful experiences, allowing the phantasm to strike at an opponent's Essence. The illusion itself can not do damage, but the caster can use a Spell Effect as part of the phantasm, and allow the Spell Effect to do damage to the target. This damage always targets the victim's Essence.
If the victim runs out of Essence, any excess damage is removed from the victim's Health. When the victim reaches Essence 0, they must make a Death Save against the attack or fall unconscious.
| Spell | Cost | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Effect (per Effect) | +1 | +1 |
The Disbelief Roll
The School of Phantasm can be quite subversive. Even if the target of a phantasm does not rationally believe what they experience, the subconscious of the victim may still be convinced, and undermine the target's desire to resist Spells from this School.
It is not enough for a witness to say 'this is impossible!' The witness must have an understanding of why the illusion is impossible, and convince themselves that yes, what they are seeing is not real. Phantasms do not just disappear when they are disbelieved, which makes resisting a phantasm that much harder.
The reason phantasms are so difficult to deal with is because even the most blatant phantasms can react appropriately to a witness. A phantasmal which has the touch sense will feel like a wall. Placing a hand on the wall, the witness will feel texture and the pressure of resistance - because the witness' mind expects such to exist. If the witness attempts to bypass the wall, a disbelief roll is required, and if the victim fails to resist, their own mind will work against them, preventing them from passing through. They will 'feel' the increased pressure of resistance against their hand, and react accordingly. A leaf blowing through an illusionary wall may give an indication that the wall is not real, though it may not be enough to convince the witness.
Phantasms do not affect the laws of physics, so a phantasm bridge will not allow those attempting to walk over a gaping chasm. If the illusion is interactive, however, it may 'break' where the person falls through, causing all other witnesses to see the person has fallen through a weak point on the bridge.
The disbelief roll is a passive roll, with the victim rolling their Mental Attribute. The Skill used to resist can vary, depending on what the witness is looking for. Does the witness think the knight he is facing has a strange fighting style? The witness can use their Blades Skill to discern that the knight does not actually have one. Does the bridge look suspect? Craft (Engineering) can show the faults in the illusion.
This is a Passive Roll, and the character subtracts their Successes from the Potency of the Spell. If this results in the Spell having a Potency of 0, the character is able to convince themselves the Spell is an illusion. This does not make the illusion just vanish, and the character does not suddenly see through the illusion - it is still there, but the character can attempt to ignore it.
What Can Phantasms Do?
In most cases, Phantasmal Spells are used to confuse the senses of the target. This is usually done by imposing an increased Difficulty on all actions involving the sense being affected. The Difficulty is usually equal to the Potency of the Spell.
Phantasms can also be used for Social Attacks. If the victim does not attempt and pass a disbelief roll, the Phantasm uses the Potency of the Spell as Successes on any Social Attack being performed.
Other Senses
It is possible to target senses other than the five basic senses, but doing so can be a difficult process. If the character does not have an understanding of the senses to be targeted, the Difficulty of the Spell is increased by +1 for each unusual Sense the character wishes to affect.
Sample Phantasm
Whispers From Beyond (Interactive Realistic Direct Phantasm)
The victim of this Spell hears the whispers of someone they care deeply for. The caster does not know who the person is, as the victim's subconscious creates the identify of the voice. The voice speaks as if they have died, and tries to impart some message to the victim of the spell. This is a Social Attack with an attempt to inspire the victim to some sort of emotional response and action chosen by the caster.
Phantasm and the Path of Veils
The Path of Veils allows a Phantasm to be given a semblance of reality. Items created using Path of Veils are considered 'average' in quality, regardless of how incredible the phantasm looks.
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