Noticing magic is a Simple Perception + Intuition [Mental] Test with a threshold equal to the Skill

Rating of the being performing it minus the Force of the magic, or 6 Force if theres no skill involved
(minimum 1 in either case).
STEP 1: CHOOSE SPELL
You can attempt to cast multiple spells simultaneously in the same action, even at different targets. To
do this, you have to split your Spellcasting + Magic dice pool between the spells you want to cast
. The number of spells you can cast simultaneously is limited to your Magic attribute
STEP 2: CHOOSE THE TARGET
If you need to see the target, line of sight can be established with your natural vision, including using
reflective surfaces and looking through transparent objects. Cyber- or bioware visual enhancements that
have been paid for with Essence count as natural. Any technological visual aid that digitizes or
augments the visual input for you (a camera, electronic binoculars, Matrix feeds, etc.) doesnt work
A magician in the physical world can only cast spells on targets that are in the physical world.
Similarly, a magician in astral space can only cast spells on targets that are present in astral space
(though auras of things in the physical world can be seen, auras alone cannot be targeted). If youre
using astral perception (or you are otherwise dual-natured), you can cast spells on targets in either the
physical world or astral plane. Only mana based spells work in astral space, even if youre in the
physical world astrally perceiving the target.
Area Spells: Area spells can be cast on a specific target or a point in space that you can see. Unless
noted in a spell, the area of the spell is a sphere centered on the target with a radius in meters equal to
the Force of the spell. All targets in the area of effect that you can see, friend and foe alike, are valid
targets for the spell. If a potential target is outside your vision (behind a screen, for example), theyre
not affected.
STEP 3: CHOOSE SPELL FORCE
Higher Force spells are more powerful, but cause more Drain. You can cast a spell at a Force up to
twice your Magic rating
If the number of hits (not net hits) you get after applying the limit exceeds your Magic rating, the
spells Drain is Physical instead of Stun damage.
STEP 4: CAST SPELL
Complex Action. Make a Spellcasting + Magic [Force] Test, including dice pool modifiers for injury,
sustained spells, and so on.
: You can bypass some of the preparation, but it can take a toll on your body. This action is called
Reckless Spellcasting; it lets you cast a spell as a Simple Action instead of a Complex Action, but with
an added +3 Drain Value
When direct combat spell is successfully cast, it inflicts a number of boxes of damage equal to your
net hits on the opposed test. The opposed test generally pits your Spellcasting + Magic [Force] against
either Body (for physical spells) or Willpower (for mana spells). The target does not get to resist the
damage, only the Spellcasting test.
When indirect combat spell The spell then is launched with an Opposed Test that pits the magicians
Spellcasting + Magic [Force] versus the targets Reaction + Intuition, kind of like shooting a gun (in
this case with bullets made of acid, or fire, or something equally unpleasant to be hit by). So you dont
really need to be able to see the targetyou can cast these spells blindfolded or with artificial image
enhancement as long as youve got a clear line of fire. The Damage Value of a successful indirect
combat spell is Force + net hits, with an AP equal to (Force). Damage from an indirect combat spell is
resisted with Body + Armor (adjusted for the spells AP).
When indirect area spell travel from the magician to the point of detonation and then go boom. The
test is like that for grenades (p. 181): a Spellcasting + Magic [Force] (3) Test with scatter of 2D6
meters. Unlike grenades, you get to add your net hits on this test to the Damage Value of the spell, but

only if you beat the threshold; otherwise the spell still detonates, but the hits are used to reduce scatter
by one meter per hit.
DETECTION SPELLS
standard range of the sense a Detection spell grants is the spells Force x casters Magic in meters as a
radius from the target of the spell. Extended range detection spells have a Force x Magic x 10 meter
range. The more net hits you get when casting the spell, the more detailed information you receive.
Active: Active detection spells involve an Opposed Test between the casters Spellcasting + Magic
[Force] and either Willpower + Logic (+ Counterspelling if available) [Mental] for living things with
auras, (Force x 2) for magical objects, or the object resistance for mundane objects (p. 295)
Passive: A passive sense is simply on and feeds sensory input to the subjects brain like other senses
no interpretation necessary. While the spell is sustained, Perception Tests using this sense have a
limit equal to the net successes from casting of the spell instead of the subjects Mental limit.
Counterspelling cannot be used to defend against a passive sense, but once an opposing spellcaster
realizes there is an active sustained spell, she can try dispelling it .
Glitches: A glitch on a Detection Spellcasting Test may result in false or misleading information.
Likewise, a critical glitch may inflict extra Drain (e.g., +2 Drain Value), translate any Drain damage
suffered into Physical Damage, temporarily strip the subject of a sense, or inexplicably apply the
intended sense to others (particularly opponents) in range hopefully theyll remember to thank you for
your help in spotting you and your team
SPELL DEFENSE
Declaring this protection is either a Free Action or, if you dont have one left, an Interrupt Action that
reduces your Initiative Score by 5. Each Combat Turn, you have a pool of dice for spell defense equal
to your Counterspelling skill. When a spell is cast, you may choose to use some or all of your
Counterspelling dice to defend against an incoming spell. Against each spell attack, you have to choose
how many dice from this pool to allocate for defense, and you can select how many people (including
yourself if you desire) are covered by these defensive dice. You can protect a number of people at one
time equal to your Magic Rating. These dice are then added to the defense tests of everyone youre
covering. The pool refreshes at the beginning of each Combat Turn.
DISPELLING
Dispelling is used to counter a sustained or quickened spell. A Dispelling Test is the dispellers
Counterspelling + Magic [Astral] v. spells Force + casters Magic (+ amount of Karma spent on
quickening the spel1
. Every net hit reduces the number of hits the caster had in casting the spell. This may reduce the
effectiveness of the spell (for example, it could affect a Shadow spells visibility modifier). If the spell
is reduced to 0 net hits, the spell ends completely. Regardless of how it goes, you take the Drain from
the spell as if you had cast it
Physical if the spells Force was higher than your Magic rating, Stun otherwise.