Pattern-Based Sorcery {15 points}

Pre requisites: Advanced Pattern, Sorcery

Abstract:

Pattern Sorcery is the art of incorporating the Pattern itself in your sorcery spells. The cost is high...105 points is a lot to tie up in two combined powers, however Pattern Sorcery was never intended for beginning players, or for that matter most Elders. It represents a true level of mastery if the ways of the cosmos. Both players and GM should consider it carefully before introducing it to a campaign, because it could be easily be abused and unbalance the game... it will require a fair and firm hand to adjudicate in some cases. Why would anyone want this?

Except for the microspell that permits one to summon material from elsewhere, and the teleportation microspell, regular sorcery and even runic sorcery only work in one given shadow. By use of time consuming changes, or the still limiting but easier use of a lynchpin, each spell needs to be recalibrated one way or another for each shadow it's used in (and that includes teleportation because you still need to have the correct 'magic of shadow' lynchpin to leave from anywhere). Spell effects are usually always broken when you cross a shadow to another. For example the basic 'Turn to Stone' spell listed in the first rule book can be countered just by dragging the victim from one shadow to another.

The Logrus and perhaps Broken Pattern Tendrils are usually the only means of firing a spell off from across shadow lines. There is an important distinction to be made here.. The Logrus is still taking the spell from your point of origin, to the place you want to fire it off, and releasing it there. The spell is not crossing shadows, it's being carried by another power and released from afar.. and on top of that you still must calibrate you 'magic of shadow' lynchpin even if the Logrus does carry it. Application of another Power as a Defense (Pattern, Trump, or Logrus) enables you to counter most sorcery spells anyways. True, these defenses are not very quick to bring up, but if you can do it, they are impervious to basic sorceries.

Pattern Sorcery lets you overcome those limitations and more, that's why it's expensive.

Pattern Sorcery comes with a few intrinsic benefits, along with the addition of some new micro-spells that work with the existing Sorcery system.

Benefits of Pattern Sorcery

The lynchpin 'Magic of Shadow' becomes obsolete. Instead the Pattern itself is interwoven into the spell and that particular lynchpin is no longer necessary. What this does is basically make it so that the spell will work in any shadow, and you no longer need to use the 'magic of shadow' lynchpin to calibrate your spell for any particular shadow enviornment.. the Pattern does that for you. Don't think of it as a part of a spell you no longer cast, think of it as a part that you have already cast with the bulk of your spell. Just as Greyswandir has a part of the Pattern in it, so does your spell have a small piece of the Pattern tied up temporarily in it. For a lack of a good analogy, the Pattern becomes the active culture in the yogurt that is the spell. What is actually happening is that part of the spell is automatically adjusted by the presence of the Pattern, making it functional in any shadow, at any time. There are of course limitations. Shadows where the power of the Pattern is blocked, or shadows were magic does not function at all can still prove to be a hinderance. In the case of where the Pattern is blocked, but magic still works, the Pattern Sorceror could still use the old fashioned 'magic of shadow' lynchpin.

Shadow effects now are unaffected by different layers of shadow, by the same principal described above. To put it bluntly, dragging someone from one shadow to another doesn't instantly break the spell any longer. The spell with an element of the Pattern in it, is now considered for all intensive purposes 'real', and it moves or crosses through shadow just like you do, and remains unphased by that movement, just like you do. Note, however as above, if the spell tries to cross into shadows where Pattern is inherently weak, non existent or blocked, the spell will also be similarly affected. Pattern based sorcery is no longer lightly dismissed by other powers. Pattern Defense may take quite a while to wear away such a spell, and the GM may rule that basic Pattern Imprint may not be enough to ward off or break such a spell.. or that it may become a matter of a time consuming psychic process.. like forcing a trump contact...high psyche could be a big help in this case. Otherwise API may be necessary to shatter or shield against the spell. Spells can be defended against or broken by Trump or Logrus Defenses, but not without cost. A Trump Defense will still require a comparison of the two relative psyche's.. While use of the Logrus will work but could result in a powerful shock of feedback as described on page 44 of the ADRPG (Logrus sensitivity to Pattern). The cure may be very well worse than the symptom!

New Microspells for Pattern Sorcery

Microspell: Shadow Seek
This microspell takes the rest of this spell and gives it mobility to seek out it's target across a distance greater than line of sight, and even across shadow. The caster must know the target intimately. It's not enough to know their correct name, or what they look like.. the spell could be diverted to one of the target's shadow-selfs. The caster must have spent some time with the target and possess a true feel for their mannerisms, appearance, and aura. The rate at which the spell moves is based on the relative distance; within the same shadow the spell will home in on the target within seconds. If the target is across shadow, it will move at the rate of a constant hellride untill it finds the target, or the power supplying it fades out. NOTE: This microspell almost always requires use of the Microspell Magical Energy, or some other power source. It is possible with luck or extreme cleverness to dodge a spell out in shadow (providing one knew about it at all) by ducking in to Pattern blocked shadows, or shadows were magic will not work, or ducking into the Courts of Chaos were the spell may fail from proximity to the Logrus' home enviorns. Such spells, unable to find their target may bounce around through shadow till sooner or later the energy supplied to them dries up and they fade. GM's should be judicous, it takes a lot of power to send something across the multiverse. Don't let someone with a psyche of 1 get away with sending spells from Amber to harry someone on Earth or near Ygg...
Base Casting Time: 30 minutes.
Possible Lynchpins (5 minutes apiece)
Identity of Target, Duration of Search (optional), Likely Shadows to Search (optional- allows caster to indicate which types of shadows are likely or to exclude certain types of shadows, all of this can speed up the process)
Microspell: Spell Shift
This microspell again actually just modifies the other microspells, and is meant to be used in conjunction with Shadow Seek. What this does is to call upon the Pattern to alter the spell to fit the enviornment. Use Random and Corwin's drive to Amber in Nine Princes of Amber as an example. As they drove, their car suffered numerous transformations to match their surroundings. In this case the spell is altered by the Pattern to likewise match it's surroundings. This microspell calls upon the power of the Pattern more than any previous ability or effect of Pattern Sorcery, and would-be practioners should be aware that they are surrendering a certain amount of control of this spell to random chance- or depending how you look at it, the Pattern itself. For example: if the caster intends to send a fireball to his brother wherever he may be in Shadow, then a fireball will go to him.. But what if his brother is in an aquatic shadow? Well, the Pattern will shift the spell to follow the intent that was instilled in it by the caster. This spell requires the caster to be very specific about what he/she does intend. The fireball could become a plague of insects in one shadow, a computer virus destroying the PC's systems, a lightning bolt in the one after that. What may or may not happen rests in the hands of the GM.
Base Casting time: 30 minutes

Limitations and Notes on Pattern Sorcery

If the GM in the campaign is using sentient, or even semi-sentient Patterns, than you can rest assured that by using part of it in your spell the Pattern will know exactly what you're doing, at least in terms of the spell. You also suffer the chance that the Pattern will inact a 'line item veto' on your spell. This power does NOT confer the ability to hang spells on the Pattern (that is an advantage exclusive to the Logrus).

At the GM's discretion, you may need a new place to store your spells. While this is an optional limitation, it is not unreasonable why a special receptacle may be necessary to hang Pattern Sorcery spells. Remember, you have a piece of the Pattern stored in that spell, and a conventional 'hanging' tool may not have the capacity to handle that. A special device could be created by someone with API and conjuration...

Lastly, Pattern Based Sorcery is very eye-catching to those with extra senses. Even in their 'hung' state they will be glaringly obvious to someone with mage sight (by ability or spell), Logrus Sight, or even API. Placing psychic neutraility on a artifact used to hang Pattern sorcery spells is not sufficient to hide them, such an artifact would require four or more points to render such hung spells invisible to those who could see them. When activated, they leave a trail through shadow just like a hellrider does