Interlude: Magic Gathers

There is a key element of the game that we have been neglecting, and that is magic! Now I know that Jaden and Kriv use magical attacks in combat, but magic is far more prevalent and useful than that in the D&D world! In 4th edition, the magic system is based on rituals.

Rituals are "complex ceremonies that create magic effects"; in another setting you would call them spells. The player's handbook goes into significant detail about them starting on p. 296; I'm going to attempt to condense two and half pages of mechanics explanation into a few paragraphs. The descriptions of all the rituals start on p. 300; you may find it handy to reference one of them as you read this explanation.

Rituals are written, and come in two forms: on scrolls, and in books. Scrolls contain a single ritual that can only be used once and can't be copied. They can be bought (for the listed marked price), sold (typically for half the market price), or found (as treasure/rewards). Books can contain multiple rituals and once committed to the book can be used anytime. Ritual books can also be also be found (and they could be empty, partial, or full) or bought (empty). Rituals can be added to a book by copying them from another book (but not a scroll) and occupy as many pages as the level of the ritual (a book is 128 pages exactly). You must be at or above the level of the ritual to copy it in, and it costs the market price of the ritual to copy it in. Rituals can be copied out of a book into scroll form, but it requires effectively casting the ritual on the scroll itself, and requires all the performance elements listed below (plus it takes twice as long).

Performing a ritual requires several elements.

1. Each ritual has a level, and you must be at or above that level to cast it.
2. Rituals take a certain amount of time, anywhere from 5-10 minutes for simple ones, and hours for more complex ones (so these aren't something you'll be casting during combat). Rituals on scrolls take half as long to cast as ones in books (thus half the time listed in the description).
3. Rituals require spell components (eye of newt, alchemical agents, that sort of thing) that you have to buy special, so there is a monetary cost involved. These can be stocked up on, it's not like you always have to buy them ad hoc.
4. Some rituals require a skill check, which usually determines how effective the spell is. Allies can help you with this roll (if they're within 5 squares).
5. Anyone can cast a ritual from a scroll, but a ritual in a book requires the Ritual Casting feat and must be studied for 8 hours before the first time you cast it (unless you get the ritual as part of your class, then you don't need to study it first).

There is no penalty for stopping a ritual halfway through, and the components you bought for it won't be used up, even partially, till it's done. Once a ritual is cast, there is a duration the magical effect lasts for. This is contained in the ritual description.

We'll go over this stuff more when we play Saturday. Hope everyone's week is going well!