Optional rules for Channelling in WFRP 4e v2

This post is a re-write and refinement of the original Optional rules for Channelling in WFRP 4e, because well… these things are never right first time are they?

Attracting The Winds

The Swirling Winds can be a fickle master, at one moment blowing strongly and at the next fading to a light breeze. Wizards with the Second Sight Talent are able to perceive these Winds and with the right preparations are able to encourage the Winds to blow more strongly in a specific place. Inner sanctums with expensive decorations, ritual chambers at the summits of great towers and sacred groves hidden deep in the woods are all examples of wizards creating spaces to encourage the flow of magic to aid their workings.

Preparing an area is a costly business in both time and expense. First of all the wizard must dedicate a space with the right equipment and paraphernalia. The GM has final say on how much this actually costs, but using the Workshop on page 305 of the core rule book as a guide price is a good starting point.

The next step is the more mystical side of things; meditation, chanting and making the area as receptive as possible to the Winds of Magic. In practice this means making a Challenging (+0) Extended Channelling Test with a target of 15 SLs. Only one roll is possible per day, so completing the task may take some time.

Once 15 SLs have been reached the area is prepared and will start to benefit from the efforts of the wizard. The area covered (chosen by the wizard) is WPB yards in diameter. Inside the zone any rolls for the Swirling Winds are made at +1 to the die roll.

Anyone entering such an area may make an Average (+20) Lore (Magic) Test to recognise its purpose.

The wizard must spend a minimum of half an hour per week maintaining the area. No roll is required, but should the wizard be away from the area for an extended period of time, it will lose it’s beneficial effect and will need to be re-attuned with another Extended Channelling Test.

Example: Berchtold (a Grey wizard) has found an unused cellar in a house on the edge of the town. In exchange for a sizeable amount of gold the owner has told Berchtold he may make use of the cellar to do with as he pleases (he’s not the sort to go prying and is the sort to turn a blind eye).

Berchtold proceeds making the cellar his, drawing arcane symbols, creating a ritual circle in the centre, stocking the shelves with ritual components and generally making sure he has all of the accoutrements of his craft available and in the right place.

Once everything is in place he begins meditating, attempting to attune his surroundings to the Winds of Magic. He rolls Channelling (Ulgu) on consecutive days until he has reached 15 SLs. After the fourth day, he has finally completed the task.

Petty Spells and Lore Effects

Once a Wizard has learned the Arcane Magic Talent, they may start to experiment by extrapolating and extending the techniques they have learnt and applying them to their Petty Spells. The following optional Endeavour may be used.

Petty Spell Augmentation

By experimentation and application of the theories you have learnt through your arcane studies, you are able to modify a Petty Spell to benefit from the Lore effects of your Arcane Magic Talent.

Make a Channelling Test against a Casting Number of 1, followed by a successful Language (Magick) Test to create the variant. Casting tests using the new variant are at CN 1.

Imbuing Ingredients

A sensible wizard prepares before going out into the dark to do battle with unknown terrors. Ingredients are an essential part of a wizard’s toolset and refined ingredients much more so. Refined ingredients cost twice the amount of the standard ingredients, but in addition to their normal properties, they may be imbued with magical energy to aid with the casting itself.

Imbuing ingredients is time consuming, as magic is slippery stuff and hard to bind to physical objects. To do so make an Extended Channelling Test as if you were about to cast the spell, with each roll taking around 10 minutes. When the Casting Number reaches 0 you have successfully imbued the ingredients with the power necessary for that spell. When you use those ingredients to cast the spell, treat the CN as 0.

The ingredients are of course consumed in the process of casting the spell and there is a further limit in that the wizard may only maintain imbued ingredients for a single spell at a time.

Example: Berchtold is preparing to go into battle and wants to make sure he has a useful spell up his sleeve before the fight even begins. Channelling during battle is a very risky business, so instead he elects to imbue the ingredients he needs to cast Blast (or Shadow Ball as he prefers to call it). The CN of the spell is 4, so he spends 8 silver shillings buying the refined ingredients he needs. He then begins Channelling until he reaches the CN of the spell.