Rituals

This article complies with version 0.94 of Runarcana RPG

Any act established in a repetitive manner can be called a Ritual. In Runarcana, a Ritual is a magical practice that uses gestures, words and ingredients in search of a magical result, just as with Spellcasting, with its somatic, verbal and material components. Unlike Spellcasting, a Ritual cannot be performed during combat, having a minimum execution time of 10 minutes.

The biggest difference between magic and ritual is in the conduction of magical energy: While in Spellcasting it happens quickly like lightning tearing through reality, during a Ritual this change happens gradually, through meticulous control of magic, whether consciously or not.

Ritual Casting

Ritual Casting

Spell Level	DC	Additional Time	Copy Time
1	11	10 minutes	1 hour
2	13	15 minutes	1 hour
3	15	25 minutes	1 hora
4	17	30 minutes	2 hours
5	19	35 minutos	2 hours
6	21	45 minutes	2 hours
7	23	1 hour	3 hours
8	25	2 hours	3 hours
9	27	4 hours	5 hours
10	29	8 hours	10 hours
* There are no spells above the 6th level that have the Ritual descriptor, but the rules for using them in this way are laid out here so that the master has the freedom to use them as he sees fit.

Certain spells have a special marker: Ritual. Such spells can be cast using the normal rules for spellcasting, or they can be cast alternatively through Ritual Casting. The Ritual Casting of a spell takes an additional amount of time to cast based on the Rituals table.

For this Ritual, a Skill roll is made to execute this spell, making this form of casting not consume Mana points, which also means that the Ritual Casting of a spell cannot be cast at higher levels.

The skill can be Arcana, Religion, or Nature, based on the type of ritual being performed. A Wizard will use Arcana for their spells known and in their spellbook, while an Acolyte will use Religion and a Shaman will use Nature.

To cast a spell as a ritual, a spellcaster must have a trait that grants him the Spellcasting ability in addition to the Ritualist trait. The spellcaster must also have the spell prepared or on his list of known spells, unless the character’s ritual trait specifies otherwise.

To perform a spell like Ritual Casting, you must have all the components to perform the spell and make an Arcana, Nature, or Religion check, DC = 10 + Spell Level. On a success, the spell is performed normally without consuming mana. If the spell has material components that are consumed by the spell, this happens normally. On a failure, the spell is not performed and the components are not consumed, causing only the time invested to be wasted.

Optional Rule

This is an Optional rule for Runarcana, allowing non-spellcasters to use Rituals to cast magic, which should be decided by the GM as it has a substantial impact on how the world shapes itself in this regard. Furthermore, the suggested value in GP/Non-spellcaster is a very high value, and can be reduced if the GM considers it more interesting to increase the viability of this option.

As with other optional rules, the final word on their use lies with the game master.

Trespassing Spellcasting

Trespassing

Spell Level	DC	Additional Time	GP/ Non-Caster	Copy Time
1	13	30 minutes	10 GP	1 hour
2	15	1 hour	50 GP	1 hour
3	17	2 hours	100 GP	1 hour
4	19	3 hours	1.000 GP	2 hours
5	21	6 hours	5.000 GP	2 hours
6	23	8 hours	10.000 GP	2 hours

A noncaster cannot normally cast a spell because he or she lacks the Spellcasting trait and lacks knowledge of spells. However, spells that have the Ritual descriptor can be cast through rituals by noncasters.

For this to happen, several requirements are necessary:

• Ritualist Trait
• Copy of the ritual of the magic in question for execution
• Second copy of the Ritual that will be consumed by the magic
• All material components must be present
• A source of mana is required, such as a mana crystal with the amount of mana points needed to cast the spell
• An amount of gold, based on the level of the spell, is required in additional components that are consumed during the Ritual in the form of candles, incense, among other exotic materials

As with Ritual Casting, only one roll is made based on the skill used to write the spell as a Ritual: Arcana for Arcane spells, Religion for Acolyte spells, and Nature for Shaman spells. This roll is made with a DC = 12 + Spell Level and, at the end of the Ritual, regardless of success, the channeler receives a number of Exhaustion points equal to the spell level - his Constitution modifier.

On a failure, the material components, ritual components, and mana points are consumed, the channeler receives half the spell level - Constitution modifier in exhaustion points, and becomes unable to perform the same ritual for 24 hours.

Creatures that do not have the “Ritualist” trait cannot cast spells this way in addition to creatures with inability to use magic.

Rituals

The most common way to manifest magic is through spellcasting, in which a spellcaster rapidly manipulates mana through training to perform a magical effect. Other ways to manifest magic involve different types of casting, such as innate casting, in which a creature that has the ability to manifest its magic does not need spellcasting techniques to do so, or ritual.

The study of Rituals, Ritualistics, studies how to reproduce certain magical formulas without requiring a great knowledge of magic through the union of more than one officiant during the Ritual, with the ritualistic power being conquered through the repetition of a functional formula.

Some Rituals can be more powerful than Spellcasting, with extremely broad and in many cases permanent effects, which makes them dangerous and in many cases secret.

Conductor and Officiant

Any creature that is not Incapacitated and does not have an inability to use magic, can conduct or be part of the casting of a ritual as conductors or even officiants of a Ritual to achieve the objective of it.

Conductors are the most important point of a Ritual, conducting the energies that are manipulated by him and by other officiants of a Ritual so that it is successful.

The maximum number of officiants a conductor with the Ritualist trait can handle in a ritual is equal to his Charisma modifier + his proficiency bonus. A conductor without the Ritualist trait can handle only half the sum of his Charisma modifier + his proficiency bonus.

If a conductor attempts to conduct a Ritual with more than the maximum number of officiants, the ritual's DC increases by 1 progressively: one more officiant increases the DC by 1, two more officiants increase the DC by 2, and so on.

Performing a Ritual

Performing a Ritual requires a continuous Arcana, Nature or Religion roll with a DC defined by the level of the Ritual, each Ritual has a space of possible successes, with a minimum requirement to be performed.

If at the end of a Ritual not enough successes have been accumulated, the Ritual fails. Some rituals require, in addition to a minimum number of successes to be performed, a minimum number to avoid having a rebound effect.

Some rituals can be performed by more than one skill, but all participants in a ritual must make the same skill roll as the ritual's caster. The ritual roll receives modifiers based on the traits Ritualist, Spellcasting, and proficiency with the ritual skill.

• The absence of the Ritualist trait adds only half the ability modifier to the roll.
• The Ritualist trait adds the ability modifier to the roll
• Spellcasters add the maximum spell level they can cast to the roll
• Proficiency with the Skill adds the proficiency bonus to the roll
• Expertise with the Skill adds double the proficiency bonus to the roll
• Not having Proficiency with the Skill does not force the roll with disadvantage, but it does not add anything to the roll

Although Rituals have a standard duration indicated in the table, it is possible that some have a different duration, from rituals that take longer than another ritual of the same level, to rituals that need to be performed on more than one occasion, such as a 3rd level Ritual that lasts 8 hours, but spread over 4 days, or even another Ritual also of the 3rd level that lasts 3 days of execution with each of those days requiring 8 hours.

Copying a Ritual

To perform Rituals, it is necessary for the conductor to have a book with the Ritual in his or her hands, and in many cases it is necessary to have a second copy of the ritual that is consumed by the same person. To do this, it is necessary to copy a ritual. Copying a Ritual is different from copying a spell into a grimoire.

Spells with the Ritual descriptor can be found written on scrolls or even in Grimoires, and can be copied either to a Grimoire (following the rules for this) or to a ritual book. The level of these spells cannot be higher than half the level (rounded up) of the character making the copy.

Copying spells in the form of rituals does not allow them to be used with spellcasting, for this it is necessary to follow the Grimoire rules, this happens because the Ritual records the entire procedure of the spell, but does not use special inks or even the channeling of energy that is done to write in a grimoire.

A spell that is copied as a ritual in a book can help an Arcane to copy it to his grimoire, but this increases the difficulty, time and cost involved in the process, since a spell in a Grimoire is already a kind of magical object.

The process of copying spells as Rituals into a ritual book takes 10 minutes plus 10 minutes per spell level, while copying Rituals that are not Spells has a time described in the Rituals table.

Ritual Instruction

In order for a ritual to be performed, all participants must have knowledge of the ritual or receive instruction on how to perform their part by someone who has the necessary proficiencies to conduct the Ritual. A Ritual instruction requires 1 minute for each level of Ritual, and a conductor can instruct a number of officiants equal to his Charisma modifier at the same time. During the instruction, the Conductor instructs each officiant's role, teaching him what the lines, gestures and how he should behave during the execution of the ritual are. Upon receiving this instruction, an officiant makes his Arcana (or Religion or Nature) roll without disadvantage if he is not proficient with the skill or the language used in the Ritual.

If an officiant does not have proficiency with the required skill or language and Ritual Instruction is not taken, that officiant rolls for that ritual with disadvantage.

Versioning a Ritual

To version a Ritual from one language to another, already adapted, it is necessary to be proficient in both languages ​​(source and target) in addition to having proficiency in Arcana to be able to make the necessary changes. The time required to do this is 20 minutes per level of Ritual.

Dangers of Rituals

Some rituals are extremely dangerous, either because they were created by the underworld, because they deal with aspects of reality through hidden shortcuts, or for other reasons. When these rituals begin to be performed, dangerous forces are released, and failure can mean not only that the desired result is not obtained, but also additional complications.

Although a Ritual can be found in books, papyrus and even carved in stone, these rituals often have unspoken secrets, such as the omission of the instruction that a copy of it is consumed by the execution of the Ritual.

In some cases, secret rituals may omit a necessary component or even insert additional information that causes the ritual to fail. Studying an unfamiliar ritual is important, and experienced ritualists may spend many months studying a new ritual before feeling confident enough to perform it.

Elements of a Ritual

Rituals

Level	DC	Success	GP	Time	Roll	Copy
1	15	4	50 GP	1 hour	10 minutes	1 hour
2	17	7	100 GP	2 hours	10 minutes	2 hours
3	19	13	500 GP	8 hours	20 minutes	5 hours
4	21	25	1.000 GP	24 hours	30 minutes	10 hours
5	25	100	5.000 GP	168 hours	1 hour	24 hours
6	29	200	10.000 GP	720 hours	2 hours	300 hours

All Rituals have a number of common characteristics based on their level. Each ritual may have several unique instructions or requirements.

Level

The Ritual level defines the duration, DC and minimum number of successes to perform a Ritual. The number of successes can be performed by any number of participants.

Ritual DC

Performing a Ritual is an opposed Arcana, Nature, or Religion check made by all participants in the Ritual.

Success

Every Ritual is an accumulation of arcane and/or spiritual energy. For a ritual to be successful, the amount indicated in Success must have been achieved by the end of its duration. If the number of successes is less than that indicated in Success, the ritual fails. Each success is added to the ritual's success pile, failures remove 1 success from the success pile. A natural 20, if a success, adds 2 successes to the pile, while a critical failure removes 2 successes from the pile.

GP

The base cost in GP of a Ritual, creatures with the Ritualist trait have this cost reduced by half. This value does not include the components and specific costs that some rituals have.

Time

The time required to perform a ritual. Some rituals may have a different execution time than those presented in the same level.

Roll

The time value in Roll refers to the time interval between rolls of a ritual. Like time, some Rituals may have different roll intervals.

Skill

After the ritual title, it is written with which skills this ritual can be performed.

Copy

The time required to make a copy of the Ritual.

Rebound

Some rituals, when unsuccessful, have a rebound effect. If the number of successes is equal to or less than the value indicated in this characteristic, the ritual not only fails, but the effect described in Rebound also happens instantly. Masters can modify the rebound effect based on specific conditions of the Ritual, such as location, dealing with spirits, etc.

Language

Every Ritual is developed in a specific language, for this reason it is necessary to be proficient in the language of the same or to receive Ritual instruction. The absence of this characteristic means that the ritual can be found in any language.

Components

Every Ritual channels arcane energy through a structured ceremony along with techniques specific to each ritual into specific components that are involved in the ritual. When “Ritual” is indicated on a component, it means that a copy of the Ritual is consumed. If there is no secondary copy prepared for this, the primary copy of the Ritual is consumed, which may cause the ritual book to be consumed as well in the process.