Conjuration as a Single Discipline

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One major difference between magic in the Helgram Game, and magic in the Sable Game, is that Conjuration can be taken either as a Class of magic, as part of a magical degree, or the student can choose to forgo studying magic as a whole, and just concentrate on the conjuration of items from scratch, or imbuing living creatures with additional abilities. Potential conjurers still need to have enough Talent to have been accepted for a BMg.

At heart, Conjuration as a single discipline offers a different angle to mech-tech magic. While many of the techniques are similar to those involved in setting powering spells into items, conjuration involves the mage either enhancing an existing item, or creating an item from its basic, unworked materials and giving it purpose by imbuing it with the stuff of Chaos. At the Advanced level, a conjurer doesn’t even need the basic unworked materials to create an item. Conjuration of this style is easiest within the Courts, but is still relatively simple in the Black Zone. Beyond the Black Zone, the stuff of Chaos becomes thinner until you reach the Dancing Mountains, beyond which there are no longer enough loose strands of Chaos to perform this kind of Conjuration.

Once the item has been enhanced or imbued with its abilities, it remains enhanced in perpetuity, even if it is taken beyond the Dancing Mountains. This is in contrast to items made using magical Conjuration, where the enchantments on an item need to be maintained periodically at lower levels. On the other hand, magically conjured items do not have the limitation that they need to include the stuff of Chaos.

At the lower levels, Conjuration is not a discipline with instantaneous applications, but it can be very useful over time.

ADRPG High Compelling does not exist within the Helgram Game.

Basic Conjuration (10pt)

This includes the basic mech-tech magic syllabus (but not the rest of a degree in Magic), so the student understands how to link magic to items. It also includes knowledge of the “Checkspell”, which allows the mage to check the magic of the Shadow they’re on. It then takes these concepts and builds on them, until the conjurer can modify and enhance existing inanimate items, or create enhanced inanimate items from their base materials. Such items are limited to a single instance, and the conjuration can take up to a fortnight of dedicated time, depending on how complex the item is.

At basic level, enhanced or conjured items will be non-living and will usually have a single form, or at most one alternate form that is related to the base one (for example a sword and a dagger, as both are bladed weapons; or a revolver and bolt-action rifle, as both are non-automatic firearms; but not a sword and a revolver, as they’re different kinds of weapons). The abilities that can be conjured into such items will usually be applicable to the item conjured, enhancing its inherent properties: for example, a sword can be made sharper, or break less easily, but at heart it remains a sword; while an enhanced firearm might have a better range or more stopping power. The main exceptions to this are that protection spells (on the item and the wielder) and checkspells (to allow the enchantments within an item to adapt to different Shadow conditions) can be woven into virtually any item.

Unlike items conjured by students of a full mage course, where any active magics are only accessible by the Talented/Sensitives, for items made by a specialist conjurer, anyone can active those magics, as long as they have the key to do so, for example triggering a shield, getting the item to change form.

Advanced Conjuration (20pt, or +10pt from Basic)

Advanced conjurers are able to take a living creature, and imbue it with exceptional abilities, such as greater strength or endurance, increased durability. Through this method, the conjurer can, for example enhance a guard creature, or riding mount. This is not a quick process, however, taking about a month of dedicated work

If the creature is designed to specifically serve an individual, the process also involves the conjurer (or the person the creature is being enhanced for) sharing some part of their inner self with the creature to bind them together. This process takes between one and three months, depending on the creature. Such creatures would act as an arcane connection to their conjurer or owner. On the other hand, the  process gives them a higher level of intelligence, observational skills and reasoning ability than would be normal for an unenhanced creature of the same species. It also gives the creature a basic ability to communicate with its owner. This could fall anywhere between just impressions and or full conversations, depending on the time taken to make the link. For the purposes of character generation, such creatures would count as 5pt personal items.

With respect to inanimate items, the conjurer can enhance up to a dozen items at once, either from a base item, or the raw materials required to make that item, as long as they’re all the same, with the same enhancements. The time taken to create the group of items is roughly the same as it would be for a basic conjurer to make a single instance of the same item.

Advanced conjurers can also enhance or imbue single items where the bounds of the enhancement are no longer limited to the base characteristics of the item itself. For example, a sword which has been enhanced at this level can change form into a very different item (say, a pistol), or perhaps burst into flames. The main restriction is that it cannot change from an inanimate object into a living creature. Making such an item takes up to a month of dedicated work, depending on the complexity of the item. For the purposes of character generation, such items would count as 5pt personal items.

With additional time, an inanimate object can be given up to twelve forms, although each additional form takes up to a week to conjure in, over and above the enhancement of the base item, depending on how similar or otherwise it is to the base . For the purposes of character generation, such items would count as 5pt personal items.

Finally, the Advanced conjurer can make a single item out of nothing more than the stuff of Chaos and give it form. It can then be enhanced as required, as detailed above.

Exalted Conjuration (40pt, or +20pt from Advanced)

Exalted conjurers can create small, relatively simple creatures from nothing: birds, small animals, reptiles, etc. It is not possible to create large (bigger than, say, a sheep or goat) or more advanced creatures such as primates, humans, cetaceans and cephalopods. If these creatures are unenhanced, then the process takes about a week. If any enhancements are then added to them, it takes rather longer. Only one creature can be enhanced at once.

Exalted conjurers can co-enhance up to six living creatures, as long as they are all the same species, with the same enhancements. The time taken to enhance the group of creatures is roughly the same as it would be for an advanced conjurer to enhance a single instance of the same creature. If the group of creatures is to be linked to the conjurer or another person and eachother, that person needs to share part of their inner self with each creature, and the process can take several months. For the purposes of character generation, a group of linked creatures would cost 10pt (5pt, N&N).

The “instant” conjuration of inanimate objects becomes possible. A single inanimate object can be created from the stuff of Chaos within five minutes or so, as long as the Conjurer is undisturbed; and up to a dozen of the same object can be made in the space of about 30 minutes. If any enhancements are applied to such objects, they must be applicable to the inherent properties of the item conjured, and this doubles the time required to bring the item into being (to 10 minutes/1 hour). Therefore, a plain, unenhanced sword can be created in five minutes, while one that has been made sharper or more durable can be made in ten. However a ten-minute sword could not have any additional features like an alternative form or the ability to burst into flames, as those are not inherent properties of a sword.

Items that have been created “instantly” do not have the same durability as other conjured items which have had significant time dedicated to their creation or enhancement. Usually, they will last a number of days equal to the psyche of the conjurer before they begin to fade and ultimately cease to be. Moreover, living creatures cannot be conjured using this method.

Exalted conjurers can co-enhance up to twelve items, as long as they are all the same, with the same enhancements. Such enchantments do not need to be limited to the base characteristics of the item. The time taken to enhance the group of items is roughly the same as it would be for an advanced conjurer to enhance a single instance of the same item.

It also becomes possible to enhance a single item to have both an inanimate and a living form: for example a pocket watch and a living creature that has a link to the conjurer or owner. These items will normally have no more than four or five seperate forms. They can take between three and six months to conjure.

An Exalted conjurer can also imbue a Power into an item or creature. This can only be done to one item at once, and the Conjurer needs to have access to the Power they wish to imbue, either through their own initiation or by working with an initiate of such a Power in order to use it in a conjured item. The process can take up to a month, depending on the Power. For the purposes of character generation, these would count as 10pt items.

This level of Conjuration is not available to starting player characters.