4.1.2 Magical effect

When casting magic, there are nine components that define a magical effect:

• The nature of the magic that the character is trying to achieve (e.g. attacking, healing, detection, illusion, etc.);
• The magical skill that the character is seeking to use to achieve the effect. Certain magical skills are better than others at achieving particular effects (e.g. Truth magic skill is the best skill for casting detection magic) and so there may be limitations in what can be achieved using a particular magical skill (e.g. Death magical skill cannot be used to heal, etc.);
• The power of the enchantment, i.e. how big an impact the enchantment has;
• The finesse of the enchantment, i.e. how subtle and selective the enchantment's effects are;
• The duration of the enchantment, i.e. how long its effects last;
• The range of the enchantment, i.e. how far away the target (or centre of the target area) of the enchantment is from the caster;
• The area of effect, i.e. how wide an area is affected by the enchantment;
• The degree of concealment, i.e. how obvious the magic is to onlookers;
• If relevant, the investment of an enchantment into an item to create delayed effects and/or repeating enchantments.

The magical effect determines the difficulty of the enchantment, which is equal to the sum total of the degree of difficulty associated with its power, its finesse, its duration, its range, its area of effect, its degree of concealment and (if relevant) its investment into an item.

Overall difficulty of magical effect = Power + Finesse + Duration + Range + Area of effect + Degree of concealment + Investment

The magical effect also determines which magical skill and characteristic will be used for the dice roll that determines whether the enchantment is successful or not.