Formulaic ritual
Overview
Formulaic rituals are rituals whose techniques and practices have been successfully refined to make the ritual as efficient and easy to cast as possible. Formulaic rituals are highly focussed - the caster gives up flexibility to gain reliability and efficiency. In addition magicians can learn to master formulaic rituals, making them even easier to cast.
There is a large body of formulaic rituals that have been promulgated throughout the Empire by the Imperial Conclave called Imperial Lore. These rituals are not the only formulaic rituals in existence, but they are so well known that they can be attempted by anyone powerful enough to do so.
Imperial Lore and the Ritual List
- Imperial magicians can attempt any ritual that is in Imperial Lore if they have the ranks to do so
- An Imperial magician may choose to master a formulaic ritual that is part of Imperial lore
The ritual list describes all the formulaic rituals which are part of Imperial Lore. These rituals are known throughout the Empire and any magician or coven that has sufficient magical power can attempt to cast them.
Magicians can learn to master formulaic rituals that are part of Imperial Lore. Mastering a ritual means that any crystal mana used is doubled in effect, which makes the ritual much easier and cheaper to cast.
Creating a New Formulaic Ritual
- Creating a new formulaic ritual would take an individual decades
- Some Imperial titles are able to direct scores of magicians to create formulaic rituals more quickly
- Creating a new ritual requires the magicians to cooperate to create a ritual text
Creating a new ritual is a significant undertaking. In pre-Imperial times it might take decades to formulate even a simple ritual.
To improve the speed with which new formulaic rituals could be created, the Empire created titles such as the Dean of the Lyceum and Provost of the Halls of Knowledge to co-ordinate the research efforts of many disparate magicians. By working together these magicians are able to create formulaic rituals much more quickly. The citizen who holds either of these Imperial titles can direct the research of Imperial magicians allowing them to create one or more new formulaic rituals.
The new formulaic ritual is only complete once a ritual text has been produced. The ritual text is given into the care of the magician who held the Imperial position when the work was completed.
Ritual Texts
- A ritual text describes a formulaic ritual
- Magicians can learn to master the ritual contained in the ritual text
A ritual text is a rare, magical item that contains all the details necessary to master a ritual. Most (though not all) ritual texts take the form of a description of the ritual, including all the rules, and at least some in-character commentary on the ritual.
A character who has the physical ritual text can master the ritual it describes by buying the extra rituals skill or using an empty ritual slot. This follows all the other rules for learning a skill during time-in. Unless the ritual is part of Imperial lore, a character cannot teach it to another character without having the ritual text. The ritual text must be taken to GOD or shown to a referee to allow the ritual it contains to be mastered in the field.
Unless a ritual is formally added to the body of Imperial Lore (through Declaration of the Imperial Conclave), only someone who has possession of the ritual text can master it, and the ritual is no easier to perform spontaneously than any other effect.
Adding a Formulaic Ritual to Imperial Lore
- The Imperial Conclave can pay to add a ritual text to Imperial Lore
- The ritual text which is used up as part of the process
If the owner of a ritual text wishes then they can ask the Imperial Conclave to add the ritual to Imperial Lore. If the Imperial Conclave agree and the costs are met, then the ritual text is consumed but the ritual becomes part of Imperial Lore.
Once a ritual text has been added to Imperial Lore it follows all the normal rules for formulaic rituals in Imperial Lore. Any magician may attempt to cast the ritual and may choose to master the ritual if they have a slot available.