Riley Routh

1 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

 foRewOrD
Welcome to The Arcanist’s Toolkit!
Within these pages, you will find seven different
ways to use the Cortex Prime system to simulate
magical abilities in your games. This is a companion
to the Cortex Prime Game Handbook, so be sure to
seek that out if you haven’t already.
These seven mods (short for “modules”) can be
plugged into any game you run using Cortex, and
each will provide a new play experience. They range
from the plain and simple to the crunchy and
complex. Each of them reflects a different tone for
the games you put them in. In one, magic might be an
everyday force on par with electricity in our world. In
another, magic might manifest in only a rare few.
Not only that, but each of these mods will produce a
different kind of magic-user. For some, magic might
feel as natural as breathing, even if the wider world
doesn’t understand it. For others, magic might come
at a heavy price, or require decades of study. Long
ago, ‘arcanist’ referred only to a manufacturer who
kept a great secret of their craft. Will the arcanist
you create choose to keep their secrets, or share
them with the world?
Below, there is a table summarising the seven mods
included in this book. Each has a complexity die
rating, as well as a short description of what to
expect. Further into each section, you’ll find detailed
rules for running those mods, examples of play, and
some unique SFX for that special magic sauce. How-
ever, as you already know if you’ve read anything
about Cortex, what lies within are mere suggestions.
You must feel free to tweak, shift, combine, bend,
break, and flip these mods to suit your game best.
The ultimate goal with each of these mods, and
indeed this entire project, is to inspire a world, or
several worlds, that they can slot into. I don’t expect
you to include more than one of these in a single
game. In fact, doing so would probably get very
messy! Instead, I want to show off the versatility and
potential inherent in the Cortex system, and maybe
spark a few ideas in the process. Each mod comes
with some suggestions for the way you build your
game, but the details are yours to finesse.
Happy building!

The Seven Mods – A Summary

Spheres Complexity: ④ A trait set representing an affinity with certain elements.

Augmentation Complexity: ⑥ A method for modifying your base traits.

Spells Complexity: ⑩ A system for inventing, learning, and performing spells.

Grounding Complexity: ⑧ Dangerous magic that can be only barely controlled.

Rituals Complexity: ⑥ Magic that takes time and skill for powerful effects.

Dolormancy Complexity: ⑧ Using complications and stress to fuel your spells.

Synchronicity Complexity: ⑥ Probability manipulation to encourage unlikely events.

2 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

The boat rocked beneath our feet as the
mighty beast roared. Several of the other
sailors covered their ears in terror and pain,
but Ansk stood firm on the deck. It was as
though he was oblivious to the fact that we
were about to capsize.
I watched him with curiosity, despite the
danger. He brought his hands together in one
swift motion, then performed a strange
gesture I couldn’t quite fathom.All of a
sudden a great wave pushed our craft back
the way it had came. Everyone clung on for
dear life as the beast gave chase, but with
another gesture our sails billowed, quickly
outrunning the lumbering creature.
Nobody else noticed, and he never once spoke
of it after that day, but it seems clear to me
that Ansk somehow harnessed the wind itself,
and that every sailor aboard the Faraway
that day owes him their life.
SphereS
I
Spheres are a trait mod that gives characters magical
power over a particular category of the world. As a
set, spheres can have between three and six traits,
and each trait in the set represents an area of
influence the character can use to channel magic.
When using spheres, characters don’t know specific
spells. Instead, they’re rated at each sphere accord-
ing to their affinity with that trait. While I don’t
recommend using spheres as a prime set, I do think
they work best when everyone has at least a ④ .
That way, even PCs who have no interest in FIRE
magic can make use of it.
When rating spheres, each PC usually has one ⑩,
one ⑧ , one ④ , and the rest at ⑥
.
To use magic in this system is as simple as including a
sphere in your dice pool. The exact effects of the
magic depend on the intent of the character and, as
always, the result of the roll.
Spheres can also come with sphere statements.
These are trait statements written to represent the
character’s relationship to that sphere. This will help
narrow down those broad areas into more specific
and productive approaches. That also means
characters can challenge them and earn growth, if
you’re using that mod. This is great for more closely
defining a character’s personal relationship with
their magic.
3 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
Here’s a very simple example of a set of spheres you
could include in your game.

• AIR: Magic relating to flight, freedom, and the

sky.
• EARTH: Magic relating to strength, holding things
in place, and the ground.
• WATER: Magic relating to movement, emotion,
and the sea.
• FIRE: Magic relating to energy, passion, and
change.

These are, of course, the four elements. Spheres

work best when there are clear links between each
sphere, as there are in this case. Take four of five of a
group, and see if they can work as spheres. Here’s
another four:

• DAWN
• DAY
• DUSK
• NIGHT

You could decide that these are literal — your magic

is most powerful at those specific times — or meta-
phorical. Like all good trait sets, a little interpret-
ation goes a long way.

Spheres are also a natural choice for converting

magic systems from other games. Perhaps you could
use the classic schools of magic — abjuration,
necromancy, and the like — as a set of spheres? How-
ever, if your list of spheres starts growing beyond six,
see if there are any cuts to be made. Otherwise, you
risk spheres becoming too central a trait set, possibly
overshadowing the others.

Spheres and Growth

Spheres are mechanically modelled after roles, so if
you want your game to include growth mechanics,
you can step up spheres whenever you would be able
to step up a role. For example, with the growth pool,
the difficulty die would be ⑩ .

In addition, spheres can actually contribute to

growth by using trait statements, which can earn you
growth dice when challenges. See “Spheres Example
#2” for more.

4 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

Spheres Example #1
Lucy’s character, Karin, is a sphere mage in an invest-
igative fantasy setting. Her magic comes from her
natural inquisitiveness, so the four spheres in her
game are are WHO, WHERE, WHEN, and WHY. The
other question words, like “What”, were deemed a
little too vague to be a sphere.
When Karin decides to try and spy on the corrupt
guards in her village, she casts a spell to avoid them
noticing her. Lucy’s GM rolls difficulty as normal, and
comes up with a 12.
Spheres Example #2
Zach’s character, Mellirae, is part of a classic fantasy
action game about a war between wizards. Mellirae
has the somewhat abstract spheres CREATION,
DESTRUCTION, CHANGE, and STASIS. In addition, the game
uses sphere statements to add more depth to these
spheres. Mellirae’s sphere statement for CHANGE is:
As long as time runs forwards,
change is an inevitability.
When to Use Spheres
Spheres are the simplest mod here, given that
they’re just another trait set. The reason they’re here
at all is to show that magic doesn’t have to be
complex or overwrought to work in your games. You
could use spheres when you’re throwing together a
game half an hour before the first session, or when
you want to teach Cortex to newer players.
But experienced players are likely to get just as much
joy out of them. You can help by pairing spheres with
some unusual magical SFX that let them put a little
more power into their rolls. You can also get more
detailed on what kinds of powers are involved in
each sphere, or leave it up to interpretation.
In terms of setting, you want to look at worlds where
the system of spheres is crucial to the balance of
everyday life. There’s no point using “SPRING / SUMMER
/ AUTUMN / WINTER” if your game has nothing to do
with the seasons. Spheres also work best in games
where magic is not necessarily hard to master, either
occurring naturally in certain people or simply being
another set of skills. Characters can use them
whenever they want, after all, so you’ll have the most
success in worlds where GMCs aren’t constantly
going “What is this sorcery??”
Lucy constructs a dice pool including her SNEAK ⑥
skill, her JUSTICE⑩ value, and her WHERE I’M NOT
WANTED ⑧ , distinction — the prime sets — and
because she’s casting a spell she includes a sphere
too. She reasons that WHERE is the best choice here,
as she’s trying to obfuscate her location.
Her WHERE rating is only a ⑥ , but it’s good enough
for her to roll. She rolls, and gets a heroic success, so
Karin simply melts into the shadows near the guard
tower, waiting for her mark to emerge.
As it happens, some sessions into the game, Mellirae
discovers that the evil wizards on the opposite side
of her conflict have discovered time manipulation
magic! This upends what Mellirae knows about the
magic of change, so Zach challenges her sphere
statement.
He triples her CHANGE die for the next roll he makes,
and then steps it down. Come the end of the session,
Zach will have to think about how he wants to
rewrite the statement, given this new information.
Spheres SFX
Here are five simple SFX you can use to enhance
spheres. None of these are specific to a named set of
spheres, with the idea that you can include them
regardless of what your sphere set is. Feel free to
write your own SFX making reference to FIRE, DUSK,
or whatever else you’ve got.
• Talent for Growth: When you succeed at a test
including a sphere, spend a Ⓟ to create a
WATCH AND LEARN ⑧ asset. Anyone can use this
asset alongside a ④ ⑥ or sphere.
• Destructive Proclivities: When you include a
sphere to destroy an object, spend a Ⓟ to step
up your effect die.
• Sphere Blend: When you spend a Ⓟ to include
an additional sphere in a dice pool, step up your
effect die. Afterwards, step down one of the
included spheres until the end of the session.
• Rein In: When you include a ⑩ ⑧ or sphere,
gain a Ⓟ and step it down. You can recover it
by activating an opportunity rolled by the GM.
• Pushing Through: Whenever you take stress
attached to a sphere, spend a Ⓟ to step it
down. At the end of the session, if you still have
stress on that sphere, step it up.
5 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
AugmeNtatiOn
I could’ve run for my country at the Olympics.
They tried to recruit me, actually, but I wasn’t
interested. Fame brings questions, and
questions were the last thing I needed.
Instead, they had me working night shift at a
strange facility, transporting large metal
cases from a van to an iron hatch on the other
end of the building, and back again.
Most employees, they said, managed a single
van’s delivery in ten trips, totalling about
three hours.After months of work, I got mine
down to two trips and twenty minutes.
I never asked what was in the cases, and I
don’t regret that. Like I said, I don’t do
questions. But the men who came calling for
me one day... they had questions.And when it
became clear I didn’t have answers, I had only
one choice.The only choice I’ve ever had.
Run.
II
Augmentation is a mod that allows characters to use
magic to enhance their basic abilities. Augmentation
can represent transformative magic, a pool of inner
strength, or a sudden burst of power.
Augmentation is not a trait set. Instead, you apply it
to one of your prime sets — attributes are a common
choice, and the one I’ll use by way of example.
Using this mod, with scratch-built characters,
players can spend their character creation points on
unlocking augmentation for any one trait. These
points can come from the same pool as the ones used
to assign specialties and signature assets; characters
usually get five. Two points allow a PC to augment a
trait. If you’re using archetypes, consider giving each
archetype a choice of two traits to augment.
When you augment a trait, you automatically unlock
the following SFX attached to that trait:
• Lesser Augmentation: Double this trait.
Afterwards, step the trait down until you
succeed a recovery test including the trait’s
original size as a complication.
Augmented traits also have two locked SFX, Greater
Augmentation and Reliable Augmentation, described
in “Augmentation and Growth” below.
6 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

Augmentation Example #1
Kit’s PC, Xander, has an augmented INTELLIGENCE ⑩ huge muscles in one arm, or have your fingers briefly
attribute. Kit and his GM worked together to decide
that this means Xander can access vast recesses of
knowledge he has previously spent time memorising.
That means that when Xander comes face to face
with a mighty sphinx, he can use Lesser Augmentation
to try and solve the sphinx’s riddle.
Kit builds a dice pool, doubling his INTELLIGENCE and
adding ⑩⑩ alongside his other traits. He rolls
and succeeds in the test, so Xander’s foe lets him
pass without cause for a fight. However, Xander’s
INTELLIGENCE has been stepped down to ⑧ until such
a time as he can recover it.
Augmentation Example #2
Richard’s character, Lace, has an augmented MIGHT
⑧ attribute. However, he used Lesser Augmentation
earlier in the session, so currently Lace’s MIGHT is
⑥ . This proves tricky in the next scene, when a
gang of thugs try to steal her hard-earned gold!
Lace fights them back, but she’s in bad shape. Richard
decides to have Lace rest by the river for a few hours
and regain her STRENGTH. This is a recovery scene, so
the GM rolls the standard difficulty ( ⑧⑧ ) plus
the original size of the augmented trait (⑧ ). They
get a total of 11.
Richard rolls HEALTH ⑥ , PATIENCE⑩ , and SILENCE IS
GOLDEN ⑧ . He gets a total of 12, with a ⑥ effect
die. In a normal recovery scene, the effect die
matters, but in this case all that matters is that Lace
succeeded, so her MIGHT returns to ⑧ once more.
Using augmentation always involves a clear sign of
magical interference. If you activate Lesser Augment-
ation on your AGILITY attribute, describe how you
momentarily become incredibly flexible or slightly
blurry around the edges. If you augment STRENGTH in
order to hurt someone, you might suddenly grow
turn to claws. Whatever the case, it’s not subtle!
Characters with augmentation usually aren’t flinging
fireballs at each other. Instead, they have something
like superhuman ability, but they have to be careful
when they choose to use it. Once a trait is stepped
down, characters might feel more sluggish, slow to
react, or less able to perform at their best.
The effects of augmentation are always temporary,
and only last for a single test or contest. Note that
you can use Lesser Augmentation multiple times
before you recover it, but you step down the trait
every single time. A single recovery test returns it to
its original size.
Recovering from Augmentation
The recovery test mentioned in the SFX above is just
like a test you would make to recover a complication.
It usually involves a standard difficulty of ⑧⑧ .
Usually, recovery tests have a variable outcome
depending on whether your effect die is greater than
the complication, but augmentation is much simpler
— if you succeeded at the test, regardless of your
effect die, you step the trait up again. See “Augment-
ation Example 2” for more.
Augmentation and Growth
As well as Lesser Augmentation, an augmented trait
comes with two other locked SFX. These can be
unlocked through growth like any other SFX.
• Reliable Augmentation: Spend a Ⓟ to immedi-
ately recover this trait to its original size.
• Greater Augmentation: When you activate Lesser
Augmentation, spend a Ⓟ to step up and
double the trait.
In addition, characters can use growth to augment
additional traits. This costs roughly the same as get-
ting a ⑧ specialty - so three sessions with the
session records mod, 5 XP with the milestones mod,
and a ⑧ difficulty for the growth pool.
7 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
When to Use Augmentation
Augmentation is not the showiest of magical
abilities, so it’s reasonable to put it into a setting
where magic is fairly common. Maybe almost
everyone has at least one augmentation, and the
unusual few who don’t are thought of as lesser
individuals by wider society.

Augmented traits are also highly personal. One

character’s augmented PERCEPTION might look very
different to another’s, even if they’re doing the same
basic thing. Perhaps augmentations are themed to
animals or elements — a character’s eyes might
become owl-like, or take on a fiery hue.

You also don’t have to stick to attributes. What

would an augmented value look like? That might be
particularly appropriate for paragons of particular
virtues — paladins and the like.

Not everyone has to be augmented, though! By using

points, augmentation is an option for characters who
want it, but giving alternatives (specialties and signa-
ture assets) to characters who don’t.

Augmentations SFX
Augmentations are SFX by their nature, but if you
want to add more customisation you could attach
any number of the following SFX to the relevant
traits. These are slightly less impressive than Reliable
Augmentation and Greater Augmentation, so you could
consider allowing characters to have some of these
unlocked from the start.

You’ll note that all of these SFX trigger when you

activate Lesser Augmentation. However, if you later
unlock Greater Augmentation, these will still trigger!

• Instinctive Learner: When you activate Lesser

Augmentation, spend a Ⓟ to use a specialty
belonging to another character in the scene.
• Impossible Speed: When you activate Lesser
Augmentation, you disappear from the scene
until your next action, when you appear else-
where in the same scene.
• Stand Firm: When you activate Lesser Augment-
ation, you can’t be forced to move anywhere
until your next action.
• Enchanting Aura: When you activate Lesser
Augmentation, another character in the scene is
guaranteed to remember or forget you for the
next week (your choice).
• Flare: When you activate Lesser Augmentation,
triple this trait. Afterwards, shut down Lesser
Augmentation until the end of the session.

8 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

The last applicant they saw that day was
perhaps the most promising. He claimed to
have invented a spell, “Link Light”, which he
performed for them.
Following the first nervous incantation, the
candles in the room briefly flared before
settling back to their original state. Professor
Sasky raised their eyebrows, unimpressed, but
the young man was still intoning the spell.
He walked over and put out the nearest
candle, and every other candle in the room
went out at the same time.Then, he lit the
original, and all at once the other candles
were restored.
Interesting, the Professor thought.“What’s
the maximum range?Within a building?
Within a city?”
“Well,” he stammered,“If my calculations are
correct... I’m pretty sure it’s infinite.Anywhere
in the world.”
The Professor stared blankly for a moment,
mind racing with the potential applications.
Then, with a slight smile, they said “Welcome
to the Academy, young man.”
III
Spells
Spells are a resource mod that allows characters to
learn, create, and use various predefined magical
abilities. With this mod, PCs have a limited number
of spells they can use before they need to rest, but
each one represents a potent power for a specific
situation.
A spell is a resource in this system. It has a name, a
die rating, and a short description indicating when it
might be used. For example:
GUST OF AIR ⑥ : A strong breeze flows through the area,
pushing away unsecured objects.
Like any resource, spells are rolled separately from
the rest of the dice pool and added directly to the
total. Resources can’t hitch, so even a ④ spell can
be a useful, if minor, boon. Spell resources usually
consist of a single die, though characters can invest
multiple points in one spell to use it multiple times
per rest period.
The GM can provide a full list of spells available to
the characters… but that’s a lot of work! Instead, I
recommend that the GM encourages players to think
of the kinds of effects they might want their
characters to be able to perform, and start creating
with those in mind.
9 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
Accessing Spells
To use this mod, the GM should decide how easily
accessible they want spells to be. There are two dials
they can turn to affect that: prerequisite traits, and
resource points.
Prerequisite traits are traits that characters need to
have before they can choose spells. For example, you
might require that a character buys a MAGIC ⑥ recover the resource. The Cortex Prime Game Hand-
specialty, or starts with a MAGE ⑧ distinction — or
even both! Think about how many hurdles there are
in being a magic-user in your setting, and apply pre-
requisites accordingly.
Your prerequisite traits should always be more
specific than the ones suggested above. Think about
how a character might have become a mage, and use
that as your distinction.
Resource points are the number of points a
character can spend on spells when creating their
character. Usually, characters receive five points to
spend on signature assets, specialties, and spells.
However, I recommend increasing this to seven
when using spells (especially if you have a specialty
prerequisite anyway), and you can go even higher if
you want your characters to have lots of spell access.
Each point spent on a spell steps it up once. The first
point gives you a ④ spell. The second steps it up to
⑥ , and so on. At character creation, spells can’t be
rated higher than ⑥ . For each spell, consider
whether you learned it from someone, read it in a
tome, or if you designed it yourself.
Mana
Unlike regular resources, you can assign resource
points to spells you haven’t invented yet! You can call
these banked points “Mana”, or something more
appropriate to your setting. You essentially bank
these points for the future, when you can create your
own spells or learn from others.
Sample Spells
FRIENDLY WORD: Encourage a SONIC BLAST: Temporarily stun or
character to like you a bit more. deafen everyone nearby.
VANISH: Shimmer and briefly turn LIES TO ASH: Characters who lie
invisible to those around you. involuntarily cough up ashes.
Casting Spells
Casting a spell is as simple as committing the
resource die to a dice roll. Like any resource, you can
commit multiple dice from the same resource to a
single roll. Doing so spends all those dice, but you
only choose one to add to your total.
Once it’s used, that spell can’t be cast again until you
book suggest that GMs can allow players to recover
resources for one Ⓟ per die recovered. To my mind,
this is too powerful for spells, but you might
implement a limited form of this — perhaps only one
spell can be recovered per session in this way. Other-
wise, you can recover resources at the beginning of a
session or during a period of downtime.
Improvising Spells
Creating spells of your own is a process that takes a
few stages. You need at least one banked point to
create a spell. First, you take a test, usually against a
standard difficulty of ⑧⑧ . You can do this any
time, whether it’s over several days of quiet study, or
in the heat of battle, but if there are complicating
factors the GM can add extra dice to the difficulty
such as THE HEAT OF BATTLE ⑥ .
If you succeed at the test, you create the spell. Spend
the requisite Mana to add the spell to your list —
each point after the first steps it up. You can’t step up
the spell beyond the effect die of the test. Also, be
sure to note that the spell is temporary; it goes away
at the end of the session.
Now that you’ve created the spell, you can use it in a
future dice roll any time before the session ends.
When you do, it’s used up just like another resource.
At the end of the session, you get back any Mana you
spent on improvising spells this way, ready to be
used again in the future.
WELL-WORN PATH: Visualise a
route to help find your way
ONE GIANT LEAP: Jump into the air
to an impossible height.
10 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
Spells and Growth
You can use growth mods to permanently add an
improvised spell to your list. It costs 2 sessions in the
session record, 3 XP with milestones, and a difficulty
equal to the spell’s rating for the growth pool. This
also permanently removes the Mana you spent from
your resources.
If you improvised a more powerful version of a spell
you already know, you can upgrade your existing
resource rather than starting from scratch by
spending Mana equal to the difference (see “Spells
Example #2”). You still need to have invented the
more powerful spell during the session, though.
Spells Example #1
Tim’s PC, Aelor, is a wizard who uses the spells mod
to create and cast spells. When he created Aelor, he
also created a couple of spells: WAVE OF WATER ⑥ He adds that directly to the total, making 16.
and MIND BLAST ⑥ . Each spell cost him two points
at character creation — one to create the resource,
and another to step it up.
In the first session, Aelor is suddenly set upon by a
pack of bandits! He decides to try and use WAVE OF
WATER ⑥ to wash them away so they’ll stop bother-
ing him. Tim’s game uses action-based resolution, so
he rolls first.
He constructs a dice pool using RESILIENCE ,⑥
SOLITUDE ⑧ , ELVEN MAGE ⑧, and a specialty in
ELEMENTAL MAGIC ⑥ . He also commits his WAVE OF
WATER ⑥ resource, but doesn’t roll that yet.
Spells Example #2
Brandon’s PC, Clay, has a spell that he uses to shake
the earth, unbalancing his foes. It’s called TREMORS
⑥ , but he wants to make it more powerful, so he
tries to invent a higher-rated version of the spell.
Alone in his study, Clay works on the new spell.
Brandon describes how Clay pores over the details,
looking for inefficiencies to eliminate and
researching new channelling techniques. Brandon’s
GM rolls ⑧⑧ for the difficulty, and comes up
with a total of 4. This should be easy!
Clay builds a dice pool out of INTELLIGENCE ⑥ ,
SPELLCRAFT ⑧ , and MIND OF AN OBSESSIVE ⑧ . He
can’t use his TREMORS ⑥ spell here, because he
doesn’t want to actually cast it right now. Brandon
rolls, and gets a 14, but rolls a hitch on the ⑧ . The
GM activates it, assigning a TIRED ⑥ complication
and giving Brandon a Ⓟ .
You can also use growth to earn more banked Mana.
One session in the session record, 2 XP with mile-
stones, and a ⑥ difficulty for the growth pool all
provide two Mana.
Lastly, you can learn a new spell from another
character without spending growth. Someone will-
ing to take a few hours to teach you a spell is all the
opportunity you need; add the spell to your list and
spend the Mana. You can’t spend more Mana than
your teacher spent — so if they’re teaching you a
spell they know at ⑧ , you can’t have it at⑩ , even
if you have four Mana banked.
Tim rolls, and gets a total of 11. He then rolls his
resource die afterwards, which comes up with a 5.
Tim’s GM rolls a dice pool for the bandits to try and
escape the torrent of water, but only gets a 12. Tim
describes how he conjures forth a great wave from
his fingertips, using the force to blast his attackers
back with ease.
The spell was a huge help in turning the tide of
battle! Remember, even if Tim had only rolled a 1, he
would still have added it to the total.There is a down-
side, however. Aelor only had one die assigned to
WAVE OF WATER, meaning he’s lost that spell. He will
recover it at the start of the next session, or over
downtime.
Then, they look at the result. Because Brandon
doesn’t have an effect die, it defaults to a ④ . Not
very powerful! But Brandon got an heroic success 10
points higher than the difficulty. That steps up the
effect die twice, resulting in a ⑧ effect. So, if
Brandon can spend three banked Mana, then Clay
can put together a spell called TREMORS ⑧ .
Clay can use that spell in the rest of the session, but
once it’s over, it’s gone. But because Brandon’s game
uses the milestones mod, at the end of the session he
can spend 3 XP to permanently keep it.
Brandon spends the XP and permanently removes
one of the three Mana he spent to create the spell.
He only removes one because he’s stepping up his
existing spell by one step. The other two points go
back in the bank, ready to be used next session.
11 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
When to use Spells
Spells are an investment for the GM just as much as
for a PC. The sheer number of words it’s taken to get
to this section should be a testament to the fact that
this is a crunchier form of magic than most of the
others in this book! But that will appeal to as many
players as it will scare away, and you probably
already know if you’re interested in using it or not.

As far as setting goes, I recommend using spells in

worlds where magic is commonly known, if
uncommonly used. It’s up to you whether just
anyone can learn magic, but I recommend it; if it’s an
incredibly rare phenomenon then those players
looking to learn new spells will have a hard time! You
can build whole games around the idea of hunting for
new spells, but there also has to be a reason for
characters to use them. Keep those in mind when
putting spells in your game.

Spells SFX
Here are five SFX you might invite characters to
unlock alongside their magical traits (whether they
be specialties or distinctions).

• Overcharge Spell: Double a spell resource die

(you still only add one to the total). Afterwards,
shut down that spell until the end of the session.
• Secret Spell: When you cast a spell, spend a Ⓟ
to include STEALTH in your dice pool as an
additional skill. If you succeed, nobody around
you knows that you cast the spell, though its
effect is still obvious.
• Fast Learner: When you learn a spell from
someone else, spend one fewer resource point
(to a minimum of one).
• Calm Improviser: When you invent a spell, spend
a Ⓟ to step down an environmental
complication such as UNDER ATTACK.
• Beginner’s Luck: When you invent a spell, spend a
Ⓟ to step up the resulting spell. You spend
resource points as though it were a step smal-
ler; at the end of the session, step the spell
down.

12 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

 GrouNding
Someone cried out from the back of the pack.A
fallen oak had separated her from the rest of
the group, and she had no way of lifting it.
The crowd parted and looked expectantly at
June.“Can you help her, Spirit Mother?” She
nodded, and stepped forward.
“Okay,” she muttered under her breath,“Let’s
just take it slow.”
June clenched her fists and crouched down,
screwing up her eyes. She felt the flame within
herself unfurl, as though threatening to
immolate her, but she forced herself to not get
overwhelmed.
With a great roar, the oak tree shattered.The
woman on the other side screamed, holding up
her hands against the shards. June smiled.
The fire was not something to be treated
lightly, but it made her feel so... powerful.
IV
Grounding is a mod to represent a particularly
unstable and dangerous kind of magic. Characters
using grounding have multiple challenges to face —
not only using their magic correctly, but also keeping
their own abilities in check and not succumbing to
the power at their fingertips. Characters who want
to use grounding need a distinction that reflects
their training or natural ability, as well as a specialty
related to the specific effects their magic can per-
form. This might be TIME MANIPULATION, BLOOD MAGIC,
or anything else.
When a grounding mage wants to make use of their
power, they do so by declaring the effect they want
to perform. The GM chooses a difficulty for the
effect represented as a die rating, and if the PC still
wants to proceed, they begin a contest. If the dif-
ficulty is higher than the player was expecting, they
can always back out and choose a different
approach.
In a grounding contest, the PC is fighting to gain
momentary control of the chaotic magical forces
within themselves. The PC uses their own traits,
usually some combination of traits related to will-
power and inner strength. However, the traits you
choose can reflect the way in which that character
treats their magic — maybe they use intimidation
skills instead!
The magic, controlled by the GM, uses a dice pool of
three dice of the stated difficulty. The magic can also
make use of complications affecting the PC.
13 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
The grounding contest proceeds just like any other
contest — the PC starts, the GM responds, and so on
until one side gives in or fails to beat the total. Note
that because the natural flow of grounding magic
always wants to rage and heighten itself, the GM
should only give in under exceptional circumstances.
Never say never, but never, you know? The PC, how-
ever, can give in whenever they want, and earns a
Ⓟ for doing so.
If the PC wins the contest, the desired effect takes
place. If an asset or complication is created as a
result, the size of that trait can’t be higher than the
difficulty rating the GM started with.
Grounding Example #1
Jenny’s PC, a lizard technomancer named Irik-Zi, has
magical power with grounding. When creating Irik-
Zi, Jenny made sure to pick up the TRAINED
TECHNOMANCER ⑧ distinction and the ELECTRICAL
HIJACKING ⑥ specialty. So, when she’s faced with an
uncooperative access terminal she needs to bypass,
she’s ready!
Jenny explains that Irik-Zi just wants to get the
terminal to open the nearby door, which Riley, the
GM, decides is ⑥ difficulty. If Irik-Zi wanted to
open every door in the facility she’s infiltrating, that
might be ⑩ difficulty instead.
Jenny assembles a dice pool to begin the contest,
using WILL ⑥ , FOCUS⑧ , TRAINED TECHNOMANCER
⑧ , and her ELECTRICAL HIJACKING ⑥ specialty. She
rolls the dice, receiving a total of 9.
Grounding Example #2
Ashley’s PC, a true-name wielder named Helene, is
trying to use her grounding to banish a spirit haunt-
ing her home. Unfortunately, things aren’t going so
well!
The difficulty of the effect was determined at ⑩ ,
since it affects the entire house. If she wanted to
create a smaller sanctified space, or only temporarily
ward the house, it might have been a lower difficulty.
Ryan, the GM, rolled a 15 on the last round, with a
⑥ effect die.
If the PC loses the contest, the GM has two options.
They can either inflict a complication equal to their
effect die, in which case the magic has lashed out and
harmed its wielder. Alternatively, they can decide
that some magic takes place… but not necessarily
what the PC hoped!
With grounding, characters need not memorise
specific spells — they can invent whatever effects
they like. Nor is there any kind of growth system, as
a character with grounding is assumed to be equally
capable of exhibiting vast ( ⑫ ) powers as minimal
④
( ) ones. Whether that character can control them
or not is another matter!
Riley assembles a dice pool to represent the magical
energies Irik-Zi is trying to harness, using three dice
of the stated difficulty: ⑥⑥⑥ . They roll, and
manage to get a 10, beating Irik-Zi’s total! Not to
worry, the ball’s back in Irik-Zi’s court. Jenny rolls,
and manages to get a 14!
Well, there’s no way that Riley’s dice pool for the
magic is going to beat that, but Riley’s read these
rules, and they know that magic doesn’t usually give
in! So, they roll again, and of course, they don’t
manage it, only getting a 10 again.
Irik-Zi won the contest, so Jenny describes how: the
terminal jerks and shudders, incomprehensible
symbols flickering across its display, before going
completely black. Seconds later, the locked door
clicks and smoothly slides open!
Ashley rolls, but only receives a 11. With the contest
over, Ryan could inflict a ⑥ complication on
Helene, but he decides to take the other, more dan-
gerous option available to him.
He creates a new scene distinction instead: THE
HOUSE IS SCREAMING ⑥ ! It seems Helene’s magic has
accidentally woken additional spirits, and they’re
angry! She’ll certainly be hearing about this at the
next Neighbourhood Watch meeting, if she can’t fix
the problem quickly!
14 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
When to use Grounding
Grounding is low-availability, as it’s too dangerous to
be feasibly harnessed by the general populace. It
therefore best suits settings where magic is rare and
special. Given that there isn’t much growth to be
done with grounding, it makes sense to approach it
as a natural talent — characters are either born with
it, or they don’t have it.

Depending on your tolerance for Chosen One non-

sense, you can get a lot of dramatic mileage out of
grounding going wrong! Just picture it: “I was proph-
esied to lead the world into a new age of peace, but I
can’t even light a candle without setting the barn
ablaze!” Me, I love that stuff.

You can take it even further. Maybe magic-users in

this world are feared and shunned by polite society?
After all, you and I know that the mage doesn’t really
control their magic, but does the average individual
in your civilization know that? Perhaps mages need
to keep their magic under wraps, not just for fear of
unintended consequences, but to avoid exile!

Grounding SFX
Here are five ideas for SFX you can apply to
characters using grounding. You can attach these to
grounding distinctions or specialties.

• Last-Ditch Surge: When you fail a grounding con-

test, spend a Ⓟ to reroll up to two dice. You
can’t reroll hitches this way.
• Tempered Expectations: When you engage in a
grounding contest, step up your distinction die.
If you win the contest, step down your effect
die.
• Take Me, Instead!: When you fail a grounding
contest and didn’t give in, spend aⓅ to choose
whether to take a complication or create an
unintended effect.
• The Louder, the Better: When you engage in a
grounding contest, step up or double your
specialty die and step up two of the base dice in
your magic’s dice pool.
• Mana Reflection: When your magic rolls an
opportunity in a grounding contest, spend a Ⓟ
to step up your specialty die for the rest of the
contest.

15 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

It sounded like fun.
Pietre was all too happy to join in when he
thought it was a game.The cards, the coins,
the back-and-forth... it all seemed so silly.
Then the room started shaking.The light bulb
fell from its fixture and shattered in the
centre of the sigil. Pietre screamed and
jumped back, but his friends grabbed his
hands tightly.“Don’t break the circle,” Amy
hissed.Too scared to disobey, Pietre nodded
and played his part.
The curtain rail was the next to fall.Amy had
put blackout curtains up, but as the wall
shook a beam of setting sunlight hit them all
square in the face.Then the bookshelf
collapsed under its own weight, and the
candles they had placed so carefully melted
down to stubs in seconds.
Pietre watched, astounded, as the sun set at
twice its usual speed.They were momentarily
plunged into darkness.All heads turned to the
opposing window.They had played their part.
Now it was just a matter of waiting to see if
the sun would rise again.
RituaLs
V
Rituals are a mod for depicting spells that take time
and skill to perform. Anyone can take part in a ritual
- there are no special requirements for being a
participant - but some characters are likely to do
better than others.
Rituals usually take the form of a written set of
instructions (but you don’t have to write all those
instructions — see "Creating Your Own Rituals" for
more). The characters follow these instructions to
channel magical energies, eventually releasing them
to produce the desired effect. Rituals can take hours
or days to be completed.
The usual effects of a ritual are significant in
magnitude, but such power comes at a price. It's not
uncommon for participants to be exhausted or even
harmed by performing the ritual.
One thing that makes rituals an unusual mod is that
there needn't be a special "magical" trait like a
SPELLCASTING specialty or a FOCUS skill. Instead,
characters use their mundane abilities to channel
magic. The actual magic comes from the instructions
given in the ritual, rather than the individuals taking
part. That doesn't stop a character from having a
RITUALIST specialty - it's just not required to take part.
Rituals are treated like challenge pools (as in Tales of
Xadia) - pools of dice, all of the same size, that
characters can roll against in successive tests. The
size of dice involved reflect the magnitude of the
desired effect, while the number of dice represents
the length of the ritual.
16 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
Ritual instructions are usually accompanied by a few
suggested tests, as well as the ritual's size and
number of dice and any associated SFX. This lets the
characters know what they're in for! There are some
example rituals listed on the next page.
When performing a ritual, each character taking part
takes a turn rolling against the ritual. If a character
succeeds in the test and their effect die is larger than
one of the dice in the ritual, that die is removed. If
their effect die is equal to or smaller than a die in the
ritual, they step that die down instead. If a ritual die
would be reduced below ④ , it’s removed. Once all
the dice in the ritual are removed, the ritual is
complete!
Ritual Attacks
Once every participant has had a turn, the ritual
attacks a participant. The targeted PC’s player rolls
to set a difficulty for the ritual first, and the GM rolls
the ritual pool second, giving the PC a complication
or stress on a success.
An attack usually imposes a complication like
EXHAUSTED or DRAINED, but particularly dangerous
rituals might impose more severe complications!
Remember that like a challenge pool, rituals can
include the highest complication of the participant in
their dice pool.
If a ritual takes a character out of the scene, they
can't participate in the ritual any longer. It's not
uncommon for especially high-stakes rituals to kill
their participants, but the ritual text should always
make this clear before the characters attempt to
perform it.
Ritual SFX
Rituals can also have SFX. A common SFX for rituals
is Mass Attack, which allows rituals to attack all
participants at once.
• Mass Attack: Add a ⑥ and keep an additional
effect die for each additional target past the
first. For each opportunity you roll, keep one
fewer effect die (minimum one).
This is a slightly weaker version of Area Attack from
the Cortex Prime Game Handbook, to reflect the fact
that it’s not used by PCs. More ritual SFX are
provided in the examples on the next page.
Creating Your Own Rituals
The three rituals listed on the following page are just
a few of the many possibilities for powerful magical
effects. However, as a GM telling a specific story,
you’re likely to want to tailor the rituals available to
your characters to that story.
In the fiction of the game, a ritual usually represents
several pages worth of detailed instructions. Out of
character, there’s no need to write a whole book
every time you want your players to encounter a
ritual, but I do recommend giving them the following
elements to prepare them.
First, write a short paragraph explaining the
intended effect of the ritual. Unless the characters
are being actively misled or are particularly bad at
deciphering what it means, a ritual shouldn’t claim to
do one thing and then do the opposite. That’s no fun
for anyone!
Next, give a few suggestions for tests the characters
might take to tackle the ritual. Be sure to spread the
love on these, rather than making every approach
linked to a single trait.
Characters shouldn’t be limited by the suggestions
given. There are always creative workarounds!
Rather, they should offer a guide when players feel
lost. Because anyone can take part in a ritual, let
players get creative when deciding their actions.
After that comes the actual traits of the ritual. Start
with one just named RITUAL with a dice rating repres-
enting its difficulty. There’s no reason a ritual should
be less than ⑥⑥⑥ , and more than 5x ⑫ is
likely near-impossible.
Give your ritual another two traits — usually one
representing the kind of magic being performed, and
another representing a particularly thorny element
of the ritual. Lastly, add one or two SFX. You can’t go
wrong with Mass Attack, but add whatever kinds of
SFX you like.
Usually, PCs don’t get to see the “stat block” of a
thing they’re planning to tackle. But with a ritual, it
makes sense that they’d be fully informed before
diving in, right? So go ahead and share your hard
work! You can even make finding and deciphering
these rituals a major part of your game, if the
characters are hardened ritualists.
17 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
Rather than provide an example of play, here are some examples of rituals you can use in your game. Tweak the
suggested trait sets at your leisure, and note that since all SFX are addressed to the person using them, "you" in
these SFX uses refers to the GM.

A Possible Future
See several weeks into the future, with some caveats. The
ritual can mentally transport any of its participants up to
RITUAL⑧⑧⑧⑧
two months into the future, but you can only see your TIME MAGIC ⑩
own perspective, not anyone else's. Furthermore,
participants only remain in that future for a maximum of UNCERTAINTY OF PROPHECY ⑥
five minutes. Lastly, the future is not set in stone, and
events may conspire to ensure that what you see is not
• Mass Attack: Add a ⑥ and keep an additional
effect die for each additional target past the
what eventually happens.
first. For each opportunity you roll, keep one
fewer effect die (minimum one).
Possible approaches: meditate on the outcome
without distraction (MIND, SOLO); quickly perform • Possibility Glimpse: When you roll an opportun-
mathematical solutions to focus the timeframe ity, before it is activated, step down TIME MAGIC
(SPEED, MATHEMATICS); remain anchored to the present for the rest of the scene to reroll it.
to aid your safe return (SPIRIT, RESOLUTE).

Secrets Bound
This ritual forces a target to keep a particular piece of
knowledge to themselves. They can allude to the secret,
RITUAL ⑥⑥⑥⑥
and can mention that they have a secret at all, but are MIND MAGIC ⑧
physically prevented from speaking, signing, writing, or
LIFELONG OATH ⑩
otherwise communicating it. The target must be con-
scious and present for the entirety of the ritual, but need
• Patterns of Behaviour: When you inflict a
not agree to be the target.
complication on a participant, pay them a Ⓟ
Possible approaches: convince the target to take the and step it down to rename it FRACTURED MIND.
Until it is recovered, the character loses a
oath (CHARM, MANIPULATE); confuse their memory
crucial memory.
while ensuring the security of your own (WILLPOWER,
FOCUS); keep the target bound with physical force • Unwilling Target: If the target of this ritual is
(STRENGTH, FIGHT). unwilling, include one of their traits in the dice
pool when defending.

Entreatment
This powerful ritual allows its participants a few short
moments with a deity, or force of similar power. The deity
RITUAL ⑩⑩⑩⑩
manifests in a specially prepared circle for no more than DIMENSIONAL MOVEMENT ⑧
five minutes, but can leave earlier as it wills. The entity
you summon might offer a blessing, provide valuable
DIVINE MIGHT ⑫
insight, or simply instil all spectators with divine awe. Do
not try to fight the entity. Do not try to fight the entity.
• Mass Attack: Add a ⑥ and keep an additional
effect die for each additional target past the
first. For each opportunity you roll, keep one
Possible approaches: recite prayers to the appropri-
fewer effect die (minimum one).
ate deity (KNOWLEDGE, DIVINITY); watch out for signs of
response or recognition (WITS, PERCEPTION); or resist • Spectacular Summon: When all dice in this ritual
the splendour of supernatural power (POWER, are removed, all participants must defend
VITALITY). against a ⑫⑫ test using WILL. Characters
who fail this test are PARALYSED ⑫ until the
entity leaves the scene.

18 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

When to Use Rituals
Rituals are risky and rare things, and while anyone
can take part, they are secret (possibly even for-
bidden) logic. The natural home for rituals in a game
is in settings that are closely tied to the real world.
Cosmic horror about ordinary individuals stumbling
into forbidden secrets is the perfect opportunity to
make use of rituals.

Don't let yourself fall into the easy trap - "dangerous"

and "forbidden" does not mean evil! Using a ritual
can be a heroic act just as much as a villainous one. It
all depends on context; on what the ritual will do
when it's completed. You can have the PCs try to
stop a ritual, by letting the GMC participants choose
whether they attack the PCs or work to complete
the ritual. It can be a dramatic ticking clock!

Alternatively, you can make rituals common know-

ledge in your setting. You can use them to instil a
sense of tradition in smaller communities, who might
perform rituals on an annual or other regular basis.
But that doesn’t make them any less dangerous!

Rituals SFX
While anyone can take part in a ritual, characters
who want to be veteran ritualists might enjoy any of
these five SFX. Note that these are SFX for
characters, rather than for rituals themselves.

• Resilient Ritualist: When you are attacked by a

ritual, spend a Ⓟ to ignore a complication for
that roll.
• Well-Read: Whenever another participant in a
ritual rolls a hitch, step down KNOWLEDGE to let
them reroll that hitch.
• Ritual Healer: In a ritual, instead of attacking the
ritual pool, you may attempt a recovery test on
another character, using the ritual pool as the
base difficulty. When you activate this more
than once per scene, spend a Ⓟ each time.
• Unfortunate Conduit: When you fail to remove a
ritual die, gain a Ⓟ . If you do, the ritual
immediately attacks you and you alone.
• Dark Lore: When you have several hours alone
to decipher a ritual, double your WITS. If the GM
activates a hitch, the complication is stepped up
and renamed CORRUPTION.

19 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

 DolorMancy
The “gift”, as my fellow colonists insist on
calling it, is getting worse. Something about
the atmosphere on Osion has triggered what
our medic initially thought was an allergic
reaction. If he hadn’t accidentally breathed in
the scent of my blood sample, thereby curing
his common cold, we might never have
discovered my new ability.
Our leader, Mallory, is trying to regulate my
visitors. Obstensibly, she’s looking out for my
health, but I think she’s more worried about
her authority being undermined.A sense of
hero-worship seems to have overtaken
everyone else, which makes her nervous. But if
she wants to slow down the number of people
coming to me every day, looking for a miracle
cure, that’s fine by me. I never asked for this.
It takes me an hour to get out of bed. I can
barely see, and my brain doesn’t move as quick
as it used to. Still, this seems to be my lot in
life now. Before we left Earth, we were told to
make the best of the situation we found, so
that’s all I can do. But I can’t help but
wonder: did my reaction give me any other
abilities?What else could I do? And will I ever
get a moment alone to find out?
VI
Dolormancy is a mod that allows mages to transform
their own pain into magical power. Dolormancers
are encouraged to push themselves further and fur-
ther to gain greater abilities, but every time they do
there’s a chance that things become much, much
worse.
Dolormancy magic makes use of complications, but
works equally well with the stress mod. See
“Dolormancy and Stress” for more.
At character creation, creating a dolormancer is as
simple as taking a distinction that relates to your
origins in this kind of magic. Did your PC learn these
methods from an experienced fellow mage, or did it
occur naturally from their birth?
Whatever the name of the distinction, it comes with
three locked SFX (as well as the usual Hinder), each of
which can be unlocked in the normal way.
• Exertion: Step down HEALTH to include a relevant
complication in your dice pool. Recover it at the
end of the session.
• Exemption: Spend a Ⓟ to include a relevant
complication in your dice pool.
• Exacerbation: Include a relevant complication in
your dice pool. Afterwards, step it up.
(For Exertion, GMs can substitute HEALTH with any
other appropriate trait, such as CONSTITUTION or
VITALITY. If none of your traits seem to fit, you can
always have it step down the distinction itself.)
20 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
All three of the dolormancy SFX offer different
methods of doing the same thing — the one you
choose simply determines the means by which your
character accesses your magic. The effect is the
same, however — you turn a complication, which can
usually only be added in dice pools against you, into
a tool to aid you.
But be aware: like any trait, a complication needs to
be relevant to the dice pool in order to be added.
That means adding INJURED ⑧ to a sprinting contest
isn’t going to fly. But remember, you’re doing magic!
If you can figure out a way to twist your pain into res-
ults, you can include it. The best way to approach this
is to think of the energy that caused the pain being
turned outward.
Dolormancy Example #1
James’ PC, Arthur, has a distinction called NOVICE
DOLORMANCER ⑧ , and has unlocked the Exertion SFX.
Arthur is halfway through a tough trial he needs to
pass to impress the Elder Council, and has already
gained a CONCUSSED ⑥ complication.
For his next challenge, Arthur is called upon to crack
a wooden board in half, but he has no weapons! He
could try to chop it, but James has a better idea. He
activates Exertion, stepping down his HEALTH from
⑧ to ⑥ , and adding his CONCUSSED ⑥ session. But since that would bring his HEALTH to ④,
complication into the dice pool.
Dolormancy Example #2
Khala’s PC, Nix, also has a distinction called
DOLORMANCER ⑧ , but she has the Exacerbation SFX
unlocked instead. Nix is a detective, and she’s
currently on the case of a girl lost somewhere in the
city. She’s made it through a few scenes unharmed,
annoyingly, but finally she manages to get a thug to
⑩
inflict a nasty cut, leaving her BLEEDING .
“Big mistake”, Nix thinks! She describes how she
uses the blood flowing from her arm to trace back
the location of the lost girl that she’s searching for.
But Khala’s GM, Eric, isn’t so convinced — after all,
what is it about being BLEEDING that allows Khala to
use this power? The complication needs to factor
into the effect somehow.
You can’t use dolormancy to include relevant
complications rated at ④ , since these would nor-
mally be included in your dice pool anyway.
The GM might also decide that a complication needs
to reach a certain size before effects of a certain
magnitude can be achieved, limiting any created
assets this way.
Dolormancy and Stress
If you’re using stress, dolormancy works exactly the
same way. You use a relevant stress trait, just like you
would complications. However, there’s a special joy
to tailoring complications to players, just to have
them find creative ways to twist them around! So
even if your game includes stress, why not consider
making use of both stress and complications as
appropriate?
He succeeds, so James describes how Arthur strides
up to the wooden board and tries to crack it with his
own head, reversing and releasing the concussive
force within! The watching elders nod appreciat-
ively, and Arthur has achieved his aims.
After the test is done, Arthur takes a moment to
⑥
relax, but his HEALTH is still at , and won’t recover
until the session is over. That means James has, at
most, one more chance to use his dolormancy this
is it really worth it?
Eric persuades her to be a bit more interpretive, and
after thinking about it for a moment, Khala suggests
a different power. What if the BLEEDING complication
lets her find the girl’s relatives — her own blood, so
to speak? Eric is the symbolic type, so he goes for
this, and lets her roll.
Khala activates Exacerbation and uses the
complication in her dice pool alongside her WISDOM
⑧ , DIVINER ⑩ , and DOLORMANCER ⑧ . She
succeeds massively, so Eric assigns her a clue asset,
describing how the blood droplets seem to shift and
form shapes of people, silhouettes cast against the
pavement. Nix knows where to go, but then the cost
of Exacerbation kicks in. Now, she’s BLEEDING ⑫ , and
looking pretty rough!
21 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit
When to Use Dolormancy
It’s a pretty hardcore mod, as those examples might
suggest. There are probably less gruesome or vis-
ceral ways to use it, but frankly, why bother? The set-
tings that want dolormancy are the ones that will
revel either in the gory details or in the inner turmoil
of its characters. After all, complications can reflect
mental or social problems just as much as physical
ones, and finding ways to twist OUTCAST ⑩ or
MISUNDERSTOOD ⑥ into magic could be exciting!

Dolormancy is highly interpretative. If your group

just wants to be told how magic works, this might not
be the mod for them, as it all depends on just what
complications they’re assigned. But if your players
are always trying to use fixed spells to do things that
aren’t strictly allowed, then try putting Dolormancy
in front of them.

Dolormancy SFX
As well as the three base SFX, you can apply any of
the following five SFX to your dolormancy distinc-
tions to offer different bonuses. Some of them only
apply when you activate a specific SFX, creating a
sort of prerequisite system.

• Time and Tide: If you activated Exertion this

session and you remove a complication, spend a
Ⓟ to also recover your HEALTH one step.
• Double Jeopardy: When you activate Exemption,
double your complication die. If the GM
activates a hitch on this roll, step up the res-
ulting complication.
• Pick at the Scab: When you activate Exacerbation
and succeed at the test, spend a Ⓟ to rename
the complication you included.
• Old Hand: When you use dolormancy to rep-
licate a magical effect you’ve done before,
spend a Ⓟ to step down the complication you
include.
• Bloom of Blood: When you use dolormancy to
inflict harm on another, gain a Ⓟ and step up
the complication you include.

22 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

SynchrOnicity
“What are the odds?”
VII
Synchronicity is a mod for representing unusual and
indefatigable luck magic. Characters capable of
wielding synchronicity can manipulate probability to
their whims, causing unlikely events to take place
around them at all times.

When creating a character using this mod,

characters can have a signature asset called
SYNCHRONICITY ⑥ , which they buy in the usual way
you buy signature assets. That signature asset comes
with the following SFX already unlocked.

• Manipulate Synchronicity: Rename this asset. At

the end of the scene, shut it down for the rest of
the session.

That’s all synchronicity is – it’s an asset ready to go

whenever you want, without spending a Ⓟ . But
what it represents is far more important. Syn-
chronicity is untapped probability — the chance that
anything could happen right now. When you activate
Manipulate Synchronicity, something does. Maybe it’s
a freak rainstorm that lets you get away from those
bandits hunting you down, or a crucial GMC shows
up to clear up some confusion. Synchronicity lets you
do (almost) anything at all.

23 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

So, what are the limits? Well, there’s one big one:
synchronicity cannot do anything that would not be
physically possible in that moment. You cannot use it
to turn invisible, because it is not physically possible
to turn invisible. If you know for a fact that that
crucial GMC is in another country, then you can’t
synchronicity to have them show up, because there’s
no way they could’ve gotten there.

In addition, the effects of synchronicity are perhaps

not as unearthly as the other mods in this book. No
glowing blue lights or strange ethereal sounds will
accompany your synchronicity — it simply happens.

But whatever you do, there needs to be a non-

magical explanation for whatever just happened to
happen. An unlikely, improbable, one-in-a-million
chance explanation, but an explanation nonetheless.

One more thing to be aware of. Synchronicity is a

diegetic power – that means that when you use it,
you know you’re using it. Compare that to spending a
Ⓟ , which is non-diegetic. Your PC doesn’t know
that you just spent a Ⓟ to help them, but they do
know when they manipulate probability in their
favour.

Synchronicity Example
Kristine’s PC, Mary-Kay, has synchronicity. Through
a series of unfortunate events, Mary-Kay ended up
in jail just one day before her wedding! She’s got to
get out, ideally without anyone noticing. So she takes
a moment, centres herself, and decides that the
prison guard left the keys in the lock. As soon as she
looks up — yep, there they are. She renames her
asset to PRISON KEYS ⑥ , but for now she doesn’t
even need to roll it. The keys are there for her to take,
so she does!

If Mary-Kay ends up in trouble later in the session,

she may wish she’d found another way out of the cell,
as her synchronicity isn’t coming back any time soon.

24 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit

When to Use Synchronicity
Synchronicity seems best suited to games set in the
modern day. The mod hinges on the distinction
between the understood and the not-so-under-
stood, so placing it in our own world (or something
close) is likely to have the biggest impact.
Beyond that, this mod is undeniably a bit of an odd
duck. It’s mechanically extremely simple, but has
significant implications for your characters. If you
want a magic system that’s going to seed the plot for
your game, synchronicity is a good one — you can run
sessions of the characters tracking down the true
source of their power. Are they amnesiac patients of
a failed government experiment? Alien sleeper
agents? Victims of a fey trickster? You can, as the
cool kids say, play to find out!
With this framing in mind: I’ve mentioned that you
can buy synchronicity like any other signature asset,
but in practice I recommend giving all your
characters it for free, or else docking the initial
points by one. If you play a game where some players
have synchronicity and others don’t, you might find
that the focus of play inevitably trends towards
those who have it. That can be a fun conceit in some
games – the mundane PC surrounded by weirdos is a
tried-and-true character trope – but since it has
mechanical effects here, it’s worth ensuring
everyone’s on board with that dynamic.
Credits
Writing, Design, Layout
Riley Routh
Illustrations
Tres August
Special Thanks
Ash Routh
Cam Banks
Matt Turner
Miriam Robern
Ti Lam Collier
and the Cortex Prime Discord
Synchronicity SFX
Below, I’ve written five SFX you can apply to
characters with a special amount of control over
their synchronicity. These can help narrow down the
breadth of possibilities for using the mod.
• Seize the Moment: When you activate an oppor-
tunity rolled by the GM, recover your
SYNCHRONICITY.
• What Just Happened?: Immediately after you
activate Manipulate Synchronicity, spend a Ⓟ
to find a convenient hiding spot or escape the
scene entirely.
• Capable of “Anything”: When you activate
Manipulate Synchronicity to bluff having a differ-
ent kind of power, step up your effect die.
• Whatever Happens, Happens: Gain a Ⓟ to
activate Manipulate Synchronicity, but the GM
chooses the asset’s new name.
• Karmic Outcome: When you activate Manipulate
Synchronicity, double the resulting signature
asset die. Afterwards, take a complication with
a rating equal to the asset.
This work is based on the Cortex Prime roleplaying
game system, designed by Cam Banks and edited by
Amanda Valentine, and licensed for my use under
the Cortex Prime Community License.
Find out more about Cortex: www.cortexrpg.com
Cortex, Cortex Prime, and associated logos are
registered trademarks of Dire Wolf Digital, LLC.
Version 1.1
© Riley Routh 2023
25 | The Arcanist’s Toolkit