Enchantment nature: Barrier
Magical skill used: Air, Darkness, Death, Earth, Fire, Light, Projection, Water; Death, Fire and Water magic are best.
Description: A barrier enchantment is one that creates a magical wall or barrier that stops other characters passing through it. The size of the barrier is determined by the area of effect of the enchantment (e.g. a barrier with area of effect 1 would be at most 2 metres across). The range of the enchantment is the range from the caster to the centre point of the barrier at the time of casting. Depending on the magical skill used, the barrier may also inflict damage on people touching it (see below).
Power: The power of a barrier enchantment determines how difficult it is for people to break through the barrier. Most barrier enchantments are physical; to break through them, a character must make a dice roll using his/her ST + Athletics (including lifting specialism) at a difficulty equal to the Power of the barrier enchantment (or twice the Power if Earth magic was used).
For barriers that inflict damage on people that touch them, the Power of the enchantment determines how much damage is inflicted.
The minimum Power of a barrier enchantment is 1.
Finesse: The finesse of a barrier enchantment determines the height and shape of the barrier as follows:
| Finesse | Description |
| 0 | Low simple wall. A rigid rectangular sheet with 2 metre height. Wall can be climbed over or walked around. |
| 2 | Simple shape enclosing area (e.g. circular wall forming open-topped cylinder around area, open-topped cuboid wall) |
| 4 | Complex shape (e.g. following a river bank) |
| +1 | If barrier is tall (say 5 metres height) |
| +2 | If barrier is covered over, i.e. barrier creates its own ceiling |
| +3 | If barrier is very tall (height defined by the area of effect) |
| +3 | If caster can change the shape of the barrier at will (e.g. to create a doorway for people to pass through) |
Limitations: The magical skill used limits the effects of the barrier the caster can create. The referee should apply discretion, but the following list may help.
| Skill | Barrier restrictions: |
| Air | Wall of wind. Creates a physical barrier of winds that prevents movement. As well as stopping movement through the barrier, every time a character attempts to break through the barrier, he/she will suffer physical blunt damage, based on a damage dice roll with basic value equal to the Power of the enchantment. Maximum concealment is 3. |
| Darkness | Shadow wall. Creates a wall out of darkness that prevents movement. The effective Power is halved against characters who are not light-aligned. As well as stopping movement through the barrier, every time a light-aligned character attempts to break through the barrier, he/she will suffer life-draining damage, based on a damage dice roll with basic value equal to the Power of the enchantment. Armour provides no protection against this type of damage. Always very obvious - maximum concealment is zero. |
| Death | Wall of bones. Creates a ghostly barrier of ethereal bones that prevents movement. Barrier is mental rather than physical; to break through, a character must make a dice roll using his/her WP + Trance (including mental resistance specialism) + any mental resistance at a difficulty equal to the Power of the enchantment. As well as stopping movement through the barrier, every time a character attempts to break through the barrier, he/she will suffer life-draining damage, based on a damage dice roll with basic value equal to the Power of the enchantment. Armour provides no protection against this type of damage. |
| Earth | Wall of stone. Creates a barrier made from stone that prevents movement. The barrier is very solid, so the difficulty for breaking through is twice the Power of the enchantment. Once one character breaks through the barrier, there will be a gap through which others can pass. Does no damage to those that touch it. Always very obvious - maximum concealment is zero. |
| Fire | Wall of fire. As well as stopping movement through the barrier, every time a character attempts to break through the barrier, he/she will suffer fire damage, based on a damage dice roll with basic value equal to the Power of the enchantment (doubled if the character is water-aligned). Metallic armour provides no protection against this type of damage (i.e. the maximum armour protection value is 3 points). Always very obvious - maximum concealment is zero. |
| Light | Prismatic wall. Creates a wall out of bright light that prevents movement. The effective Power is halved against characters who are not darkness-aligned. As well as stopping movement through the barrier, every time a darkness-aligned character attempts to break through the barrier, he/she will suffer life-draining damage, based on a damage dice roll with basic value equal to the Power of the enchantment. Armour provides no protection against this type of damage. Always very obvious - maximum concealment is zero. |
| Projection | Mental barrier. The attack has no effect on unnatural targets that have no mind (e.g. automatons or certain undead). Barrier is mental rather than physical; to break through, a character must make a dice roll using his/her WP + Trance (including mental resistance specialism) + any mental resistance at a difficulty equal to the Power of the enchantment. Does no damage to those that touch it. |
| Water | Wall of ice. As well as stopping movement through the barrier, every time a character attempts to break through the barrier, he/she will suffer cold damage, based on a damage dice roll with basic value equal to the Power of the enchantment (doubled if the character is fire-aligned). Metallic armour provides no protection against this type of damage (i.e. the maximum armour protection value is 3 points). Always very obvious - maximum concealment is zero. |
Examples:
Tim has a Fire magic score of 5 with no specialism in barrier spells, and a WP of +2. It is a hot sunny day on arid plains and a combat is taking place. Tim wants to put a wall of flames around him to stop anyone being able to melee attack him. The enchantment is Power 5, Finesse 2 (simple cylinder 2 metres tall), Range Self (i.e. 0), Concealment 0 (very obvious to onlookers), Duration 1 Minute (i.e. 2), Area of effect 3 metre diameter (i.e. 2), Investment 0 = Difficulty 11 in total. His basic value is 5 +2 = 7. He uses hand gestures and words when casting to give a modifier of +2, plus the referee rules that the arid conditions give him a +1 modifier to the use of Fire magic. This gives him an overall basic value of 10. He risks 9 points to get a dice roll of 3D + 1. In the event, he rolls a 4, 3 and 3, giving a dice roll result of 11; the enchantment suceeds. A wall of flames springs up around Tim. An opponent attempts to charge through the flames to get to Tim. The opponent has to make a dice roll using his ST + Athletics (including lifting specialism) at a difficulty of 5 to break through; as he makes the attempt, the flames burn at him and Tim makes a damage dice roll using a basic value of 5 to determine how much damage is done.