Curious Pastimes - Rules: Ritual Magic

What are Rituals?

Rituals are ceremonies of varying complexity that are undertaken by a Ritual Group within a specially sanctified area known as a Ritual Circle, generally as a means of generating magical or supernatural effects that may not be achieved by 'standard' magics or other means. Most Rituals usually last between 10 and 15 minutes and most Ritual Groups consist of a Ritualist (who leads and guides the ceremony) and Contributors who actively participate in the ceremonial process. Effects may range from a simple divination for limited information, through to the summoning and binding of powerful magical creatures and it should be no surprise that while the former is fairly easy, the latter is likely to be outrageously difficult. All Rituals should be regarded as extraordinary events that require both considerable preparation and planning in order to have a reasonable chance of success.

Ownership of a Magical or Special Item or play of a Special Character should be regarded as a privilege. Those doing so are expected to show at all times exemplary adherence to both the letter and the spirit of the rules. Failure to do so will result in a single warning, and subsequent infractions will result in the removal of said item or special characters

What can be Achieved Through Ritual Magic?

The short answer is "Almost anything" but this is clearly an over simplification.

The purposes to which Ritual Magic may be put are almost infinite, but include activities (in increasing order of difficulty) such as:

Divining information about aspects of game plot.
Determining the weaknesses of a particular enemy.
Creation of a limited duration/effect magic item.
Making a permanent magic item.
Summoning or binding major supernatural entities or powers (including such creatures as angels and demons).
It all too frequently appears that Rituals are only performed in pursuit of yet another magical weapon or item or another magical creature to wreak havoc upon the Ritualist's enemies. Such self-aggrandisement is often associated with much greater degree of risk than may be experienced by those taking a longer-term approach or those aiming for more subtle ends.

Unfortunately, for those who use Rituals without due care, Ritual Magic has become a far more hazardous endeavour than was previously the case (in all likelihood as a direct result of changes in the magical forces that underpin the world). It is therefore extremely important that those preparing to undertake a Ritual are aware of the risks associated with what they are attempting to do. The 'unusual' nature of Rituals and their (all too frequent) dependence upon the benevolence of capricious Higher Powers means that their success is by no means a foregone conclusion. Those that attempt to achieve major supernatural or magical effects are more likely to fail than to succeed, unless the execution of the Ritual is near flawless and various 'precautions' have been taken (see later).

Ritual Skills

There are two skills that fall under the overall heading of Ritual Magic, which are absolutely fundamental to the ability of a Ritual Group to function; the skill Ritual Magic itself and Contribute to Ritualist (see Basic Skills: Magicians' Skills).

Ritual Magic - allows a character to perform Magical Rituals under the supervision of the High Mage. The character must have Magery, Shamanism or Corporealism at Level 1 or 2 before they can buy Ritual Magic. Between 1 and 20 points may be used to buy this skill. Ritual Magic may not be used to contribute to Rituals. Points of Ritual Magic always count at full effect (see diminishing returns for points of Contribute to Ritualist below).

Contribute to Ritualist - this allows a player assist a Ritualist for the purpose of completing or increasing the chance of success of a Ritual. One or more points can be bought using character points (on a point-for-point basis) and then used as part of the 'point total' for any Ritual. The contributing character then becomes part of the Ritualist's Ritual Group (and must participate in the Ritual within the Ritual Circle) for the duration of the Ritual. The use of such points are restricted to a single Ritualist, during the period between one sunrise and the next. To contribute to a Ritual a character must also have a minimum of Level 1 or 2 in any of the three Spheres of magic. At no point may the points of contribute in a Ritual Group exceed twice the points of Ritual Magic possessed by the Ritualist leading the Ritual - excess points will be discounted.

Ritual Groups

The composition of a Ritual Group is vital to its chances of success or failure. The strength of the Ritualist (in Ritual Magic) and the amount of power contributed by their Ritual Group define how easy it is to control and focus the power of the Ritual Circle. Thus, a powerful Ritual Group will be more likely to succeed and less likely to fail or fail badly.

However, it is important to point out that as a Ritual Group accumulates more points the relative contribution of each additional point becomes proportionately less. Thus, there may come a threshold beyond which the additional numbers of participants required to boost the group's power become more of a burden than a benefit when one takes into account the increased difficulty of producing a coherent Ritual.

Finally, aside from the power of the Ritual Group, it is vital that participants are selected on the basis of personalities and skills that allow them to work together. No-one in a Ritual Group, not even the Ritualist, should act as an isolated individual. The Group should function as an indivisible whole - performance of a good Ritual is not about egos but about co-operation, choreography and co-ordination.

Ritual Circles

Ritual Circles are areas of latent power that may be tapped and enhanced by using the appropriate ceremony. These areas are often marked by stone circles or naturally occurring 'amphitheaters'. However, areas of power have been known to manifest themselves in other locations varying in size, location and ease of access. The potential power of a Ritual Circle varies considerably from circle to circle and in the case of lower power circles makes their identification fairly difficult, requiring the services of an adept in such matters (in most cases the High Mage). Essentially, Ritual Circles can be roughly categorised as being of low, medium or high power (Lesser, Mundane and Greater Circles), with frequency of occurrence decreasing radically as power increases; i.e. there are quite a few Lesser Circles, it is possible to periodically encounter Mundane Circles and Greater Circles are very rare. The whereabouts of Greater Circles are usually well known and they are frequently marked as areas of magical power with henges, standing stones and the like.

It must be emphasised however, that a Ritual Circle is really only a conduit that allows access to Supernatural Forces and Higher Powers. A good analogy is that of a pipe; a Lesser Circle is a narrow tube that allows only a limited flow of power from such forces to enter the material world, whereas Greater Circles act as a broad conduit for such power. The art of enacting a good Ritual is to control and manipulate such power, with Ritual points really acting to focus the power that flows through it .

Thus, the degree of Ritual Magic that may be worked within a Circle is roughly related to its power, with greater input of outside power (i.e. Ritual points) being required to achieve much with Lesser and Mundane Circles. In general the rule is - only attempt very hard Rituals in Greater Circles and attempt nothing other than divinations/minor blessings etc. in lesser Circles.

Although Ritual Circles are places of greater latent power, they are the subject of a number of commonly held yet incorrect beliefs.

Ritual Circles remain latent until activated by the High Mage (and other rare but powerful folk)and may only be kept open through his continued acquiescence. Until this point they cannot be used as a focus for Ritual Magic.
Under normal circumstances it is not possible to use Ritual Circles to teleport, either between circles or from a circle to another geographic location. Undoubtedly such an effect could be achieved with the correct Ritual, but to do this the circle would have to be activated and under the supervision of the High Mage or one of his appointed vassals.
Finally, it is important to note that Ritual Circles are potentially dangerous places for the uninitiated. They may be regarded as points of conjunction between the planes, where the boundaries that separate such planes from each other become a great deal weaker, making it a great deal easier for creatures native to these planes to be summoned or break through, particularly if they possess significant power. Furthermore, there is massive latent magical power present in Ritual Circles, which may itself be visible on all planes of existence and thereby act as a transplanar beacon for creatures that can sense such things. This perhaps accounts for the frequent rumours of hauntings and possession associated with such areas, in particular with Greater Circles, where the power is greatest and the juxtaposition of the planes is closest.

How Rituals are Assessed and Marked

Each Ritual is assigned a points target according to its difficulty rating and this must be equalled or exceeded in order for a Ritual to succeed. The score that a Ritual Group achieves is based upon the number of points that they bring into the Ritual Circle, modified by a number of multipliers:

Ritual Circle power.
Quality of Ritual.
Degree of Sacrifice.
Difficulty of the Ritual
Of these the most important is the Quality of the Ritual, but all the others can greatly affect the chances of success or failure and, indeed, the degree to which this happens (see below).

When considering the likely difficulty of a Ritual the key to maximising your chance of success is to be realistic. Thus, the greater the result that is expected from a Ritual, the greater the difficulty and the lower the chance of success. It should be quite clear to anyone who gives it more than a cursory thought that a Ritual to bind an angel into a sword is likely to be unbelievably difficult, while a Ritual to determine the whereabouts of a lost Faction item would be much simpler. This is really all it takes to assess how hard a Ritual is likely to be. A second pointer should be for the Ritualist to have a short audience with the High Mage, who will (for a small fee) provide an accurate assessment of the Ritual's difficulty and offer advice about how that difficulty could be reduced.

However, it is also vitally important to remember that difficulty is not just a measure of whether the Ritual succeeds or not; it also determines the risk of different levels of failure. Rituals are difficult things at the best of times and the price of failure is high, sometimes catastrophic - in the worst cases involving the death of not only the Ritual Group, but members of their Faction, friends and allies.

Finally, if you are going to attempt a difficult Ritual, at least make sure that everything else - quality of Ritual, the points in the Ritual Group, the power level of the Ritual Circle and the degree of Sacrifice are all the best you can manage (see later).

Rituals are graded as being simple, mundane, hard, very hard or miraculous. To use the earlier example:

Simple - divining information about aspects of game plot.
Mundane - determining the weaknesses of a particular enemy.
Hard - creation of a limited duration/effect magic item.
Hard to Very Hard - making a permanent magic item.
Miraculous - summoning or binding major supernatural entities or powers (including such creatures as angels and demons).
Points in the Ritual Group

it is foolish for a Ritual Group to attempt anything but the simplest divination with a total of less than 20 points of power and an ideal might be considered to be about 25 points. In more powerful Circles, fewer points are required to achieve a given effect than would be required in a Mundane Circle, which would itself require fewer points than would a Lesser Circle for the same Ritual.

Power of the Ritual Circle

this is pretty simple really - the more powerful the Circle, the more powerful the effect that may be achieved or the easier it is to succeed in a Ritual. So, choose the timing of your Ritual so that it may be undertaken in a Circle of appropriate power. Do not attempt anything more difficult than a mundane Ritual in a Lesser Circle, anything more powerful than a hard Ritual in a Mundane Circle and do not ever attempt very hard or miraculous Rituals anywhere except the Great Circle at Renewal and without the most extensive preparation.

Quality of the Ritual

there are a number of criteria by which a Ritual may be judged and for ease and practicality's sake these are classified as:

Role-playing - bit obvious really - a good Ritual should have real soul.
Structure and form - quality and clarity of the relationship between what the Ritual Group are asking for and the structure and form of the Ritual. Ritual Groups should think clearly about the appropriateness of the Powers that they invoke to achieve a given end. For example, calling upon elemental powers to control or bind undead is likely to end in disaster, whereas using the powers of the Spirit World or Corporeal magic are far more likely to result in the best chance for success.
Cohesion - how the Ritual Group works together, how well the Ritual hangs together and how well the different parts link and interact.
Costume/props - it is not intended that personal wealth and therefore good props should swing a Ritual but costume and props should not include trainers, street clothes etc. these get a "poor" to "very poor" rating. Good looking consistent costume (even if quite cheap/simple) will usually get a "good" rating. "Excellent" - is likely to be reserved for the truly exciting/visually stunning.
For a given Ritual, each of these is ranked as either:

Very poor
Poor
Average
Good
Excellent

Each of these are allocated points dependent upon their rating, which are totalled to give a final score and overall rating for the Ritual.

However, it should be noted that the final rating can never be more than one category higher than the lowest score gained for an individual primary judging category. For example, if by some means an overall good rating was achieved, but that for cohesion was poor, the final rating would be reduced to average.

Degree of Sacrifice

this is one area that seems to cause most confusion amongst Ritual Groups. Sacrifice is often an integral part of the negotiation between the Ritualist and the Higher Powers required for the successful completion of a Ritual. While not necessary in lesser Rituals, appropriate Sacrifice may be used to assist in more difficult Rituals or to help compensate for lack of Ritual points or a less than ideal level of Ritual Circle power.

However, it is important to dispel any misunderstandings about the nature of Ritual Sacrifice:

The Sacrifice must be of something that really matters to the Ritualist. So captured enemies are effectively useless for this purpose, while snapping a magical sword would be much more appropriate.
It should not be of the "victim plus sacrificial knife" school since the life of a victim usually matters little to the Ritualist and such a Sacrifice would therefore be more likely to offend those it is intended to propitiate.
The extent to which a Sacrifice matters to a Ritualist is reflected in the likely benefits to be gained. Sacrifice of unique objects will bring greater benefit and good will than Sacrifice of mundane or clearly unimportant items, which are more likely to insult and anger Higher Powers.
Thus, Sacrifice of a unique object that really matters to the Ritualist or their group/faction is likely to help significantly in the determination of success or failure of a Ritual. Sacrifice is to be recommended in any Ritual which has been classified as hard or very hard and is an absolute necessity if a Ritual has been classified as miraculous (see above).

Possible outcomes of Rituals

There are a range of different levels of success or failure in the Ritual Circle, upon which the final result is dependent. They fall into the six broad categories below. The chances of each of these taking place are dependent upon the difficulty of the Ritual that is being attempted. It is fair to say that the harder a Ritual is, the easier it is to balls it up. Conversely, mundane and simple Rituals will be unlikely to result in catastrophic failure. However, it is clear that the balance is shifted in favour of the disastrous as the difficulty of the proposed Ritual increases (and the base chance of success goes down).

Ritual Outcomes

Exceptional success

These are very few and far between and are likely to only occur as a result of Rituals that are well above average in their preparation and execution. The Ritual Group may actually get more than they initially asked for

Complete success

Are reasonably achievable for a significant proportion of well thought out Rituals that have been attempted with appropriate skill and resources according to the difficulty of the task. The result will be as hoped for by the Faction or individuals performing the Ritual.

Partial success

May occur when a Ritual almost succeeds but for one reason or another does not quite match up to the ambition of the Ritualist. In addition to not getting quite what was asked for the Ritualist can also expect the result to include a negative/humorous/ embarrassing/troublesome effect.

Complete failure

The Ritual fails completely with the likelihood of some adverse effects.

Atrocious failure

The Ritual fails badly and has serious repercussions upon the Ritualist and those involved in the Ritual and perhaps their Faction.

Catastrophic failure

The Ritual fails completely in the worst possible way - with a certainty of truly dreadful adverse effects for all those in the Ritual Circle and a high likelihood of repercussions on the Faction themselves. Dear oh dear...

Summary - how to undertake a successful Ritual

General

Don't ask for anything ludicrously powerful - be realistic.
If you do want to achieve something significant, don't try and do it all at once - split it into two or more, less demanding Rituals.
Always take advice from the High Mage if in any doubt.
Maximise factors such as Ritual quality, Ritual Circle power, points of Ritual Magic and degree of Sacrifice that contribute to Ritual success.
Ritual Circles

Don't forget that lower power Ritual Circles are only really useful for low power Rituals.
Plan ahead - find out the power of the Ritual Circle before planning a Ritual for an event.
Pick a Ritual Circle of sufficient (or greater) power for your Ritual.
Ritual Groups

Make sure that you have enough points in the group - 25 as a total of Ritual Magic and Contribute to Ritualist is a good number to aim for.
Conversely, don't go wild on points - the relationship between number of points in the group and number of points that count is not linear.
Ritual Quality

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
Ensure that everyone knows what they are doing.
Ensure that your Ritual Group works as a team, not a group of individuals.
Unless you are absolutely certain of the cohesion of your Ritual Group, do not try and involve large numbers (greater than 8).
Make sure all your group are in costume - the better looking the Ritual Group the better for your Ritual.
Don't be boring or formulaic - nobody minds themes but don't try to apply the "it worked last time" strategy.
Sacrifice

Sacrifice may help improve chances of Ritual success quite significantly, depending upon the importance of the Sacrifice to the Ritualist.
Don't risk angering the Higher Powers by trying to palm them off with Sacrifices that are of no value or which are clearly unimportant to the Ritualist.
Processes for Rituals

All rituals must be submitted through the Faction Head Ritualist. Players should be aware that this role is part IC role-play and part OOC organisation. Mercenaries will of course liase direct with the Head Mage, unless they are contracting their ritual to a Faction Ritual Group, in which case these should use the Faction Head Ritualist. For those involved in booking Rituals - i.e. Faction Head Ritualists - the following options should be applied:

Pre-event

by email using the standard Word document to the Head Mage, Brother Gabriel, at brother_gabriel@hotmail.com, remembering to include "" (ignoring the "") in the subject line.

At the event

using the printed version of the Word document (included in the annual event guides as well as available to download from our web site) submitted directly to the Head Mage.

If you are unable to follow either of these procedures then please contact us as soon as possible and we will arrange an alternative method of booking Rituals. Forms that are submitted partially completed will not be processed. If you have a problem filling in a form you should contact the Head Mage as soon as possible.

It is to players' advantage that they book their Rituals prior to attending an event, not least in order to qualify for the significant cost reductions listed below. In addition, pre-booking also allows the Game Team to prepare for your ritual and for us to inform you of any special effects that will be available to you at the event.

IC Prices for ritual bookings:

 
Pre-Booked
Un-Booked
Lesser Circle
2 gold
8 gold
Mundane Circle
4 gold
12 gold
Greater Circle
8 gold
16 gold

 
 
 

The IC payment for a Ritual may only be made immediately prior to the Ritual itself. You cannot pay for a Ritual at any other time.

At events there will be some time available for last minute Rituals (due to unforeseen circumstances) but this should not be relied upon, particularly at the larger events, since Ritual slots fill up astonishingly quickly and each Faction is only guaranteed a limited number at any one event. Such Rituals should be both discussed and booked with the Head Mage, Brother Gabriel.

Ritual Results

Once you have finished a Ritual the Ritual Group should leave the Ritual Circle and return to their Faction. You will be informed of the outcome of the Ritual in due course. At smaller events where there are a few Rituals this may be immediately after the Ritual. At larger events where the Ritual Circle is in continual use it may be a little time after the Ritual. There is a dedicated team of Ritual Circle referees as well as staff to process any paperwork arising from the Ritual result. We undertake to return the results to the players within a reasonable time after the Ritual.

Special Effects

At some of the larger events there will be special effects available such as lights, smoke and sound effects. In order to request customised sound and/or lighting effects a member of your Ritual Group must arrange to meet the Ritual Circle FX team at least 2 hours before your ritual is due to take place with clear instructions regarding the effects required. If this is not done, only the most basic effects may be available and these will be implemented entirely at the discretion of the FX team.

And so it began......

Dawn breaks, war looms, the evil Lord is gathering his armies to wage a campaign of destruction upon the free peoples of the world. It is up to I, Sir Maximilan Pegasus to stop him, with my trusted band of adventurers we must gather the enchanted sword of Tek, the Shield of Way-Lem and the amulet of Subsidence and together we shall slay this abomination! “TIME FREEZE” And bam, the fantasy world fades away, the enchanted sword of Tek in my hand is a rubber sword smothered in coloured ribbons with a laminated card cable tied to the hilt, I look down and I’m wearing plastic armour and unflattering heropants, and the magical world of my imagination washes away to reveal a field in Wigan, but you know what? It’s larp and I’m a larper, it’s what I do.
I started larping when I was 17, I’d never role-played before, I’d never played D&D or Warhammer, never played WoW or any form of online game, I’d never even read Lord of the Rings, I feel somewhat privileged that I hadn’t done any of those things, I think it gave me an untainted attitude towards what larp could be, I had no preconceptions about saving the maiden fair, slaying the dragon or smiting the liche, to me it was just a new thing to try.
It was cold, really cold, 10am on a September morning, the rain was battering down and I’d been given a faux fur tunic, a mouldy old sword and been pointed towards a man and told, “You’re monstering, there’s the ref he’ll tell you what to do.” I obeyed, I played wave after wave of zombies, orcs and various line monsters and to be honest, was cold, bored and hungry. That is, until lunchtime, the teams switched sides, I got into the kit I’d scrounged up, as with most first timers, a black trenchcoat. I took the mouldy old sword, stood with my fellow adventurers and it hit me, I’m a god damn hero!
Pow, there it was, a new larper was born.