Channeling

The Core Loop

All magic follows the same four steps, in order:

1. Prepare — assess the item and ready it for channeling using the Enchant Item skill. A poorly assessed item may not hold what you put into it.
2. Channel — push magical energy into the item with a single channeling roll. The number of successes determines how many points flow in. Each energy type requires its own skill (Fire, Electricity, Force, Void, Restoration, Mentality).
3. Seal — when channeling ends — by choice or interruption — the item seals. It holds whatever energy it received. No more can be added.
4. Release — later, the character releases the stored energy through the Release Magic skill, producing the spell effect and destroying the item. See Combat Magic for AP costs, interruption, and what happens when this goes wrong in the middle of a fight.

All sealed items are single-use consumables. A successful release destroys the item. There are no rechargeable magical items.

Enchant Item

Enchant Item is the skill that covers the full workflow: assessing an item’s capacity, preparing it to receive energy, and infusing that energy accurately. It is the foundation of all item-based magic.

How it works:

Enchanting is a single roll. The character rolls Channeling + Enchant Item. The number of successes determines the spell level of the enchantment — that is how much energy the character manages to channel into the item.

The maximum spell level a character can create alone is called the enchant ceiling:

Enchant ceiling = Channeling gift + Enchant Item skill (maximum 10)

The roll cannot produce a spell level higher than the enchant ceiling, even with exceptional luck. The only way to reach level 10 is Channeling 5 + Enchant Item 5.

Item Capacity

The item itself also has a capacity limit, determined by the GM based on the material, size, and quality. A small iron dagger might hold a level 2 spell at most. A finely crafted iron breastplate could hold level 8. The GM sets this cap — the roll cannot exceed it, regardless of the caster’s skill.

The effective spell level is the lowest of: the roll result, the enchant ceiling, and the item’s capacity.

One Chance

Enchanting is a one-chance attempt. The character rolls once. Whatever the result, the item is sealed — no retries, no adjustments. A low roll means a weaker spell than intended, but a sealed item nonetheless.

Zero Successes

Rolling zero successes still seals the item — but with no energy inside. The item is now a sealed, empty husk. It cannot be enchanted again (sealing is permanent). The material is wasted.

Fumble

A Fumble during enchanting is dangerous. The item discharges uncontrolled energy into the caster, dealing a flat 20 points of damage. The item is also destroyed. One fumble per roll — no stacking.

All enchant ceiling, item capacity, and fumble damage values are playtesting values.

Material–Energy Ties

Each energy type can only be channeled into one specific material. The material is not a preference — it is a physical constraint. Fire energy will not hold in silver. Restoration energy will not hold in iron.

Multi-energy spells require composite or alloy items containing both relevant materials — an iron-copper rod for Fire + Force, for instance. Whether such an item is available, feasible, or structurally sound is at GM discretion. The GM Guide’s negotiation principles apply here.

This system has a useful side effect: you can identify a magic item by looking at it. A practitioner carrying a lead rod is about to do something cold. A crystal pendant suggests someone nearby is very interested in someone’s health — or very interested in your health, which is a different concern depending on who they are. The material does not conceal the magic; it announces it. Guards in knowledgeable cities know exactly what to confiscate.

See Spells for the full effect catalog, including which energy combinations produce which outcomes.

Sealing

An item seals automatically when channeling ends — when the channeler finishes, stops touching the item, or takes damage that breaks concentration. Sealing is permanent. No further energy can be added to a sealed item. The only ways out are releasing the spell (which destroys the item) or melting the item down entirely (which destroys the stored energy).

Preventive sealing is a separate act: a practitioner with the Enchant Item skill can seal an item that holds no energy specifically to block future channeling. This is standard practice in:

• Prisons — sealed cells prevent magical characters from enchanting items and making inconvenient exits.
• Armor and shields — sealed armor cannot have magical effects channeled into it by an enemy during a fight. The protection is structural, not active.
• Secure locations — sealed walls, doors, and objects complicate magical entry and exit.

A sealed item is still subject to mundane physical properties. A sealed iron rod still heats up if you hold it in a fire. The seal blocks channeling, not physics.

Sense Magica

Sense Magica is a standalone perceptual skill for reading magical items — detecting sealed energy, estimating capacity, and identifying spells.

See Sense Magic for the full rules, including success tiers and learning spells from items.

Minor Itemless Magic

A character with channeling skills can produce small, incidental effects without an item. These effects are flavor only. They have no mechanical impact — no damage, no bonuses, no substitution for spell effects.

No roll required. No item required. The GM adjudicates what is reasonable. If the effect is starting to look like a shortcut around a spell, it is no longer minor and the GM should say so.

Restoration itemless magic heals superficial wounds only — a cut, a bruise, a minor burn. It does not affect combat health percentages. It does not stop bleeding. It will not stabilize a dying character. For that, you need the Stabilize procedure and a character with Medicine, not a warm feeling and good intentions.

Spell Knowledge

Having the skills to channel an energy type is not the same as knowing how to channel a specific spell. A character must know a spell before they can create it.

How it works:

• Learn from instructions — written instructions (scrolls, copied notes, a well-annotated apprentice’s journal) allow a character to channel a specific spell. Instructions must be present and readable during channeling.
• Learn from a teacher — a practitioner who already knows the spell can teach it. Method and duration at GM discretion.
• Research — developing a new or unknown spell from principles. Time-intensive, uncertain, entirely at GM discretion.

Once a spell is learned, it is known permanently. The character no longer needs instructions to channel it. Instructions are not consumed by use — they can be copied, sold, and stolen.

Knowing a spell does not reduce the difficulty of channeling it. A practitioner who knows a level 8 Fire spell but has an enchant ceiling of 4 still cannot create it. Knowledge clears one gate; skill level clears the other.

Group Channeling (Lore)

In the world of Soltherra, group channeling is theoretically possible: multiple casters could take turns channeling energy into a single item, each contributing their own energy points, potentially exceeding the solo enchant ceiling of 10. This is how legendary artifacts were created and how the great wards that seal entire prisons were built — circles of mages channeling together over days or weeks.

There are no mechanical rules to support group channeling in this version of the system. It exists as narrative context — something the GM can reference when explaining the history of a powerful artifact or the defenses of a sealed fortress. Player characters cannot perform group channeling until future rules are designed and playtested.

Worked Example

Fiera wants to prepare a Fire spell item before the party enters the Valdric garrison. She has an iron rod (the correct material), Fire 3, Enchant Item 3, and Channeling 3. Her enchant ceiling is 6. She knows the Searing spell.

Step 1: Assess. Fiera uses Sense Magica (Wits + Sense Magica) to confirm the rod is unsealed and suitable. The GM has set this rod’s capacity at 4. The roll succeeds — Fiera notes the rod can hold up to a level 4 spell. She notes it the way she notes everything: quietly, and without sharing.

Step 2: Enchant. Fiera rolls Channeling + Enchant Item. She gets 3 successes. The effective spell level is the lowest of: 3 (rolled), 6 (ceiling), 4 (item capacity) = level 3. The rod seals immediately. It now holds a level 3 Searing spell.

Had she rolled 5 successes, the rod would still cap at level 4 (the item’s limit). A single 6 on one die would not be a fumble — that die simply contributes 0 successes and the roll continues. Both dice showing 6 would be a fumble: the rod explodes, 20 points of damage, no item.

The sealed rod produces a level 3 Searing spell when released — 80 points damage to a single target, plus burns that continue for 2 rounds. What it will cost in AP to release, and what happens during combat, is covered in Combat Magic.

Tilly has already offered to carry the rod. Fiera has declined, three times, in decreasing volumes of patience.