Freeform Magic

Magical skill allows a player to attempt to cast a spell by crafting a simple phrase consisting of a focus and a locus. The difficulty of the spell is set by the Referee, and the player must make a Magical Check to cast the spell. If successful, the spell is cast, and its effects are determined by the Referee.

As a baseline, here is the Difficulty level by Magical:

Magical	Difficulty
Unskilled	Hopeless
Skilled	Very Hard
Competent	Hard
Professional	Moderate
Veteran	Routine
Master	Easy

Note that difficulty is situational and it is perfectly feasible in a desperate situation that even a Master may confront a Difficult task.

Focus

There are five main foci a character must state to set a spell:

• Convey: to move/communicate
• Feel: to perceive/sense
• Create: to grow/mutate/heal
• Control: to manipulate/command/master
• Destroy: to weak/break/damage

Locus

There are six possible loci for a spell:

• Energy: this include electricity and fire among others.
• Matter: every tangible and natural element such as objects, water, air and so on.
• Time: the space-time fabric.
• Mind: everything that deals with mental domains.
• Body: the physical part of a person or creature.
• Soul: everything that deals with spiritual force.

Mishaps

Magical can be a overpowering skill or not, depending on the chosen setting. To balance the potential overpower of Magical skilled characters, the Referee may define Mishaps to make the use of magic more dangerous and risky.

Mishaps may be bland or severe and should cause injury, mutations or even the loss of Magical skill itself.

Here is a list of a generic mishaps, use it as a reference to flesh out your own:

1. Backfire: The spell affects the caster instead of the target. The caster takes damage or is affected by the spell's effect as if they were the target.
2. Mutation: The caster undergoes a physical or mental change, potentially losing or gaining abilities or skills. This could result in permanent stat changes, or cause the character to become disfigured or unstable.
3. Drain: The spell requires more magical energy than anticipated, draining the caster's magical reserves. This could result in reduced magical ability or an inability to cast spells for a period of time.
4. Wild Magic: The spell's effects are unpredictable or uncontrollable, potentially causing harm to unintended targets or creating unintended consequences.
5. Corruption: The spell taps into dark or chaotic magical energies, corrupting the caster's mind or soul. This could result in alignment shifts, moral degradation, or other psychological effects.
6. Catastrophic Failure: The spell fails spectacularly, potentially causing an explosion or other destructive event. This could result in damage to the caster or their surroundings, as well as potential collateral damage to innocent bystanders.
7. Temporal Shift: The spell causes a rift in the space-time continuum, resulting in unintended temporal displacement or time loops. This could result in the caster being transported to a different time or place, or being stuck in a temporal loop until they find a way to break the spell's effects.
8. Summoning: The spell inadvertently summons a hostile or dangerous entity, which may attack the caster or their allies. This could result in combat or other dangerous situations.
9. Mind Warp: The spell causes the caster's mind to become distorted or delusional. This could result in temporary or permanent mental illness, or cause the caster to behave irrationally.
10. Curse: The spell attracts the attention of malevolent spirits or entities, who may seek to harm or curse the caster. This could result in long-term effects such as bad luck, illness, or other forms of misfortune.

Example

Let's say our character, a wizard named Azura, wants to cast a spell to create a protective shield around herself using Freeform Magic. She decides to use the focus "Create" and the locus "Energy" for this spell.

Azura begins by wording her spell: "I create a protective shield of energy around myself."

The Referee determines the difficulty of this task based on the situation and the character's Magical skill level. Let's say the Referee decides that this task is "Hard" for Azura, who is a Competent wizard.

Azura rolls a Magical Check against the difficulty of "Hard." She rolls a 9, and with her Magical skill bonus, her total roll is 10. This is higher than 8, so the spell is successfully cast.

A shimmering shield of energy materializes around Azura, protecting her from harm. However, given the narrow margin of success, the Referee decides that there will be a Mishap for this spell due to the potential overpowering nature of Freeform Magic. The Mishap causes Azura's eyes to temporarily turn purple, and she experiences a slight headache.

Azura successfully cast her spell with some consequences.

Creatures and NPCs

Creatures are divided by size, having a different impact on their physical characteristics. Sentient beings are effectively NPCs, but they have no limitations on characteristics and abilities like humans. To build other creatures, the reference table below may be useful.

Size	Shape	Agility
Tiny	1d3	1d6
Small	1d6	1d6
Medium	2d6	2d6
Large	3d6	2d6+2
Very Large	4d6	2d6
Massive	5d6	2d6-2
Colossal	6d6	2d6-4