Soul Magic
Soul Magic (Syllabus of Violation)
A forbidden branch. While other schools work through matter or perception, Soul Magic directly manipulates identity-level metaphysics. In current play, casting follows Technique Glyph declarations (Intent -> School -> Glyph -> Scale -> Tags). Classification: Core School
Fictional Permission
When you hold Soul Magic in your Grimoire, you have specific fictional positioning.
Soul Magic CAN:
- Perceive and read the state of nearby souls (emotional signature, damage, bindings)
- Inflict direct Soul Integrity damage, bypassing physical defenses entirely
- Bind enslaved souls into prepared corpses to create mindless "flesh golem" undead (Necromancy)
- Bind, anchor, or sever a soul's connection to a body
- Communicate with spirits of the deceased (Spirit Calling)
- Create permanent metaphysical alterations to a willing (or unwilling) soul (Soul Carving)
Soul Magic CANNOT:
- Be used without triggering a Sanity Erosion check (no exceptions)
- Be learned without the Forbidden Knowledge trait
- Instantly raise an army of zombies mid-combat without prior alchemical preparation
- Heal soul damage (soul damage is permanent; even Soul Magic cannot easily repair it)
Technique identity: Soul Magic defaults to Hohl for suppressive voiding and Band for binding/tethering.
The Requirement of Soul Sight: Soul magic is impossible to practice without first obtaining "soul sight," the ability to perceive souls directly. Acquiring soul sight is an extremely difficult and dangerous process for most people, often risking permanent psychological or spiritual damage. Because it is highly illegal, only rogue criminals and specialized priests (who are granted exemptions or divine workarounds) specialize in it. It is exceedingly rare to see a standard mage capable of performing even basic Soul Magic.
The Core Matrix
Your Soul Magic training unlocks cumulative Technique Glyph access:
Use this tier ladder as canonical for live casting.
Stack example: Dampen a soul signature -> Soul Magic -> Faden + Hohl -> Standard -> stealth, voiding
Cost Examples
Costs follow the canonical scale — see Magic System. School-specific examples:
- Trivial (0 Ticks): Hohl pressure twitch on a nearby soul signature.
- Regular (1 Tick): Band tether or emotional spike.
- Hard (2 Ticks): Kreis-assisted spirit interrogation/compulsion.
- Complex (2 Ticks): Siegel + Schleier brand, binding, or identity tamper.
- Miracle (4+ Ticks): irreversible soul-level severance with campaign-scale fallout.
Specializations
Specializations now function as Glyph Doctrines:
- Spirit Calling: Kreis + Anker doctrine (stable contact channels and bindings)
- Soul Carving: Kreis + Faden doctrine (precise edits with permanent consequence risk)
(For sensory detail and deeper theory, see Schools Lore.)
Soul Carving
Soul Carving (Modification)
Soul Carving is the most invasive, agonizing, and reviled branch of Soul Magic. It directly modifies, damages, or enforces permanent magical effects on a target's soul. Classification: Specialization Parent School: Soul Magic
Technique Glyph Doctrine
Soul Carving specializes in precise identity edits and permanent metaphysical consequences.
Glyph Behavior Upgrade: a carving may be masked: the scar reads as natural to other soul-sighted observers (fiction-gated, no extra tick).
[!NOTE] Doctrine Move
Brand of the Geas (doctrine move): When you carve a compulsion or curse into a soul, roll + Willpower (or +Finesse for a surgical cut). 10+: it binds; choose one — it resists removal, it doesn't scar the target's integrity further, it keys to a condition. 7-9: it binds, but choose one — the target takes Soul damage, +1 tick, the act leaves a mark on you (Sanity exposure). 6-: the soul rejects the brand; the GM makes a hard move. Clinical, neutral phrasing.
Fictional Permission
When you hold Soul Carving in your Grimoire, you have specific fictional positioning.
Soul Carving CAN:
- Permanently link two souls together.
- Inflict permanent curses, compulsions (Geas), or metaphysical damage that bypasses physical healing.
- Cripple a target's ability to generate or shape mana.
Soul Carving CANNOT:
- Truly destroy a soul. It can only be twisted, fragmented, or scarred.
- Be healed by Medical Magic. A severed arm can be regrown; a severed soul fragment is gone forever unless reattached by another Soul Mage.
- Be practiced without Soul Sight.
The Core Matrix
This specialization's live-casting access follows its Technique Glyph doctrine.
Cost Examples
Costs follow the canonical scale — see Magic System. School-specific examples:
- Trivial (0 Ticks): Harmless soul surface scratch. Mark soul with harmless nick -> Soul Magic -> Faden+Hohl -> trivial effect, touch range, single target, fades
- Regular (1 Tick): Shallow bleed of focus and nerve. Open shallow soul bleed -> Soul Magic -> Hohl+Band -> standard effect, near range, single target, short
- Hard (2 Ticks): Graft minor affinity onto your own soul. Graft minor affinity to self -> Soul Magic -> Band+Kreis -> hard effect, self range, permanent hook, risky
- Complex (2 Ticks): Agonizing brand on another's soul. Brand slaver's mark on enemy soul -> Soul Magic -> Siegel+Band -> complex effect, touch range, single target, cruel
- Miracle (4+ Ticks): Tear a rival mage's soul and steal their power fiction. Rip rival soul and graft talent -> Soul Magic -> Siegel+Band+Spiegel -> miracle effect, touch range, single mage, permanent hook, forbidden
(For sensory detail and deeper theory, see Schools Lore.)
Core-school glyph sets by training level: Soul Magic.
Spirit Calling
Spirit Calling (Ghosts)
Spirit Calling is the incredibly dangerous, flatly illegal branch of Soul Magic that interacts with, binds, and contains incorporeal souls and unruly spirits. Classification: Specialization Parent School: Soul Magic
Technique Glyph Doctrine
Spirit Calling specializes in stable contact channels, bounded invocation, and controlled communion.
Glyph Behavior Upgrade: a channel may be left ajar: the spirit stays within earshot for a full scene (fiction-gated, no extra tick).
[!NOTE] Doctrine Move
Parley the Dead (doctrine move): When you open a channel to a spirit or soul, roll + Willpower (to bind) or +Social (to parley). 10+: the spirit answers; choose one — it answers truthfully (for a price), it doesn't alert its binders, you hold it a full scene. 7-9: it answers, but choose one — it demands a price, it's hostile or partial, the channel bleeds (Sanity exposure). 6-: something else comes through; the GM makes a hard move.
Fictional Permission
When you hold Spirit Calling in your Grimoire, you have specific fictional positioning.
Spirit Calling CAN:
- Perceive, communicate with, and bind incorporeal spirits and souls.
- Tear foreign souls out of host bodies (exorcism).
- Enslave a soul to power a physical construct or corpse.
Spirit Calling CANNOT:
- Be practiced legally. It carries an automatic death sentence in Altazia.
- Create a soul from nothing. Souls are eternal and indestructible; they can only be moved, bound, or damaged.
The Core Matrix
This specialization's live-casting access follows its Technique Glyph doctrine.
Cost Examples
Costs follow the canonical scale — see Magic System. School-specific examples:
- Trivial (0 Ticks): Chill wash as something passes. Sense passing spirit chill -> Soul Magic -> Faden+Hohl -> trivial effect, near range, aura tick, instant
- Regular (1 Tick): Coax imprint to whisper one secret. Coax corpse imprint to speak -> Soul Magic -> Hall+Hohl -> standard effect, touch range, single corpse, brief
- Hard (2 Ticks): Force hostile ghost to manifest and obey one order. Compel hostile ghost manifestation -> Soul Magic -> Band+Kreis -> hard effect, near range, single spirit, short
- Complex (2 Ticks): Bind spirit to drain a living target. Bind spirit to leech vitality -> Soul Magic -> Kreis+Band+Schleier -> complex effect, near range, two targets, instant, cruel
- Miracle (4+ Ticks): Shred a spirit and keep its essence. Shred powerful spirit for essence theft -> Soul Magic -> Kreis+Siegel+Spiegel -> miracle effect, near range, single spirit, permanent hook
(For sensory detail and deeper theory, see Schools Lore.)
Core-school glyph sets by training level: Soul Magic.