Magic School - Chronokinesis

[GuardianTempest]

Chronokinesis

This school is an alternative to Transmutation, using Intelligence to cast.

Control over time is one of the most powerful forms of magic out there, it is also one of the most dangerous and unstable. These spells tend to be very unreliable or annoyingly narrow in effects. They are frequently saddled with strict requirements and painful drawbacks (e.g. high TNs, penalty from overuse, random variables, collateral damage, etc.). What has been preserved throughout the eons are only the most stable and reliable of them, which is still very challenging for even accomplished mages. The others are slated as eternally forbidden and left to disappear in the fog of ages, their power deemed too impractical and the damage to causality unworthy.

Optional Inter-Homebrew Rule: For the sake of balance and formality, when an effect/interaction refers to a Chronokinesis spell (e.g. Time Alter's penalty), it also counts other time manipulation spells like the ones from Lestat's Chronomany school.

Level 1

SPOILER: Click to show

Time Alter: Double Accel
Chronokinesis 1
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 20
Action: Free Action
Keywords: --
Duration: One round, ends at the start of your next turn
You can only benefit from one Time Alter spell at a time. Increase your Speed by half (round up) and gain an extra Reaction Action. Casting a Chronokinesis spell in this state causes Psychic Phenomena, halving the roll. When the spell ends, you gain a level of fatigue while your body is forcibly re-synced to the normal flow of time. Each time you cast this spell in the current scene beyond the first, it also deals a rending wound to your Body when the spell ends.

Ballistic Reversion
Chronokinesis 1
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 15
Action: Half Action
Keywords: Focus, Verbal, Somatic
Duration: Concentration (Reaction)
A causal loop in the weapon's mechanism, suggesting that the firing process somehow binds time and space into a causal loop. When the spell ends, the affected weapon reverts to a previous state and reloads any spent ammunition.
Focus: A ranged weapon with solid ammunition

Chronal Sync
Chronokinesis 1
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 15
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Social, Subtle
Duration: Instant
You automatically know the local time right down to the microsecond, along with other pertinent facts like the amount of hours in a day, time zone differences compared to your previous location, etc.

Preserving Dilation
Chronokinesis 1
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 15
Action: Half Action
Keywords: Focus, Somatic, Touch, Verbal
Duration: 1 Day (E)
The touched creature's flow of time slows down to a crawl, seeing minutes pass by in seconds, up to an entire day perceived in 24 minutes. The target can end the spell anytime as a free action but they get a -2k2 penalty when responding to outside stimulus. The spell also ends if they attack or get attacked.
Focus: A timekeeping device

Level 2

SPOILER: Click to show

Invest
Chronokinesis 2
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 20
Action: Half Action
Keywords: Somatic, Touch, Verbal
Duration: One Week (E)
You may spend any amount of resource points while casting this spell. As a free action you can recall the spent resource points in the future, after one minute to a maximum of one week has passed since casting this spell. These resource points are put in a separate pool and are always spent first. One instance of this spell must be completed before you can cast it again.

Delay Spell
Chronokinesis 2
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 15
Action: Reaction Action
Keywords: Combo-OK
Duration: Instant
This spell functions as Dispel, except the target spell is delayed instead of countered. It manifests after X+1 rounds where X is equal to the raises you have against the target spell's Focus Power test. When used in a spell combo, only the combo is affected and X is the number of spells inside it.

Control Zee
Chronokinesis 2
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 20
Action: Free Action
Keywords: Subtle
Duration: Instant
The caster rewinds time in a very short span to reroll a failed test, as if he had spent a Hero Point. This spell can only be cast once per round, and only applies to tests that take up a Full Action or less. Successive uses of this spell in the current scene adds a cumulative -5 penalty to the result. (If you cast Control Zee twice in the current scene, casting it for the third time to reroll a failed test will add -10 to the result.)

Timeline Scrub
Chronokinesis 2
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 20
Action: Half Action
Keywords: Focus, Somatic
Duration: One minute per Chronokinesis rank
The caster freezes a non-magical object in time, making it indestructible to everything except magical attacks. Functions that require moving parts are disabled for the spell's duration. Applying this spell to a broken item temporarily reverts it to a state where it is intact (it's still frozen in time). The caster may end this spell early as a free action. If this spell is cast Pushed, the focus is instead temporarily broken by flash-forwarding it to a nonfunctional state. If this spell is cast Fettered, the focus is instead temporarily reverted to a state where it still functions.
Focus: a non-artifact object you can personally carry

Level 3

SPOILER: Click to show

Time Alter: Triple Accel
Chronokinesis 3
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 30
Action: Free Action
Keywords: --
Duration: One round, ends at the start of your next turn
You can only benefit from one Time Alter spell at a time. Double your Speed, gain two reaction actions, and you may perform an extra half action on your turn. This extra action can be used to repeat a half action you have already done in the current turn. When the spell ends, it deals a rending wound to your body and you a level of fatigue as your body wears itself out. Each time you cast this spell in the current scene beyond the first, it deals two more rending wounds to your Body when the spell ends.

Negate Link
Chronokinesis 3
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 25
Action: Reaction Action
Keywords: --
Duration: One minute (E)
You create a static, slightly-transparent afterimage of yourself at your current position. As a free action or when the spell wears off, you instantly return to your afterimage's position, using it up in the process. Doing so restores your Hit Points, resource points and status conditions to what it was when the afterimage was created. The afterimage has half of your Static Defense, and damage from successful attacks against it are transferred to you upon taking its place. You can only have one instance of this spell active at a time, during which you cannot cast other Chronokinesis spells and take -1k0 when casting other spells.

Khonsu Scrambler
Chronokinesis 3
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 25
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Attack, Somatic, Touch
Duration: Instant
The target's personal time flow fluctuates rapidly at different points. This spell deals 4k3 X damage to a random hit location, with +1k0 for every raise on the Focus Power test. If this spell is cast Pushed, it loses the Touch keyword and affects everyone in a 3d10m radius (including the caster).

Auramurus Barrier
Chronokinesis 3
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 20
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Attack, Saving Throw, Somatic, Touch
Duration: Two Rounds per rank in Chronokinesis
The caster freezes air molecules around the target, forming a protective barrier. Add +2 AP to all hit locations, with +1 for each raise on the Focus Power test. This AP stacks with other sources of armor. The target is also Immobilized unless they pass an Athletics+Strength saving throw. If this spell is cast Pushed, it instead creates a dome of frozen air that has a radius of 1d10m around the caster and cover worth 10 AP, increased by +5 for each raise. This spell has no effect when cast in an airless environment like the vacuum of space.

Level 4

SPOILER: Click to show

Time Skip
Chronokinesis 4
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 30
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Attack, Material, Saving Throw, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Instant
You tear open a portal in time and fling someone into the future. The target of this spell is essentially removed from combat for one round as they fly through a space-time anomaly. The target may make an Arcana + Willpower saving throw in order to avoid taking this trip. If they fail, they return at the end of your next turn, effectively losing their turn.
Material: A Chrono

Clockblock
Chronokinesis 4
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 30
Action: Half Action
Keywords: Attack, Focus, Saving Throw, Somatic, Touch, Verbal
Duration: 1d10 Rounds
The target is frozen in time upon failing an Arcana+Willpower test, becoming invulnerable and immune to all effects including time itself. The target also cannot take any actions (including Free Actions and Reactions) in this state until the spell ends, after which any ongoing effects (e.g. being on fire, aging) resume as normal. If this spell is cast Fettered, the TN becomes 20 and the keywords are removed except for Somatic and Verbal, but it can only be used on the caster. For every raise on the Focus Power test, increase the spell's duration by another 1d10.
Focus: A gemstone

Temporal Metamagic
Chronokinesis 4
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 25
Action: Half Action
Keywords: Combo-OK, Somatic, Subtle
Duration: Instant
Choose an ongoing spell within 5m times your Caster level, you extend or shorten its duration by 1 unit (rounds, minutes, hours, etc) plus another for every raise on the Focus Power test. The target spell ends if the duration becomes zero. This does not work if the target spell has a duration of Instant, Concentration, Indefinite, or One Scene. When used in a spell combo, only the combo's duration is affected (if applicable).

Paradox Haze
Chronokinesis 4
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 35
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Attack, Combo-OK, Saving Throw, Somatic, Touch, Verbal
Duration: Two rounds per Chronokinesis rank
The caster causes a piece of the present to collide with itself. Effects that happen to the touched creature happen twice (damage rolls, tests to avoid conditions, triggered abilities, status changes, HP recovery, etc) unless he passes an Arcana+Willpower saving throw.

Level 5

SPOILER: Click to show

Time Alter: Square Accel
Chronokinesis 5
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 40
Action: Free Action
Keywords: --
Duration: One round, ends at the start of your next turn
You can only benefit from one Time Alter spell at a time, and you may dispel it early by casting it again. Triple your Speed, gain three reaction actions, and you may perform an extra full action or two extra half actions on your turn. The extra actions can be used to repeat a full action or two half actions that you have already done in the current turn, but only once per action. Casting a Chronokinesis spell in this state causes Perils of the Warp. When the spell ends, it deals X+1 rending wounds to the body and you gain two levels of fatigue as your body starts deteriorating from the strain, where X is the amount of times you've cast this spell in the current scene.

Roar of Time
Chronokinesis 5
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 35
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Attack, Material, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Instant
The caster short-circuits the flow of time, causing a temporal cataclysm that lashes out and deals 6k4 X with Momentum and Volatile to everyone else in a 20m radius. The caster is temporarily frozen in time afterwards, becoming Helpless and incapable of taking actions for one round. Every raise on the Focus Power test adds +1k1 to the damage roll and 10m to the radius, but also increases the caster's time spent frozen by one more round.
Material: A timekeeping device

Temporal Isolation
Chronokinesis 5
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 35
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Ranged Touch, Saving Throw, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Five Rounds (E)
Target must pass an Arcana+Intelligence saving throw or be locked out of the timestream along with the caster. They cannot deal or be dealt damage except by each other. The spell can be ended as a Free Action or automatically when the caster falls unconscious or dies.

Photon Recursion
Chronokinesis 5
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 30
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Attack, Ranged Touch, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Concentration (Half Action)
The caster accumulates photons in a small time loop. When he decides to stop maintaining this spell, a powerful beam is unleashed that deals 4k4 E at a target within 20m. The damage roll is repeated for each round the spell is sustained. Every raise provide more photons, adding +1k1 to the damage roll (to a maximum of 8k8) and +20m to the spell's range (maximum of 100m).

[GuardianTempest]

Here's my long-delayed time magic school, chronologically first posted on Zetaboards. Unlike Chronomancy, I tried focusing on different expressions of time manipulation (primarily inspired by Kiritsugu from Fate/Zero). So most of the spells tend to be very localized in effect and more about the time of a specific thing instead of the overall time stream.

Time Alter has been given a significant overhaul from its original incarnation and why it took me so long to post this. I wanted to make using them be decisive and not something to be treated lightly. Originally they're free spells you cast at the start on your next turn and you are penalized for trying to cast it again so soon (saving the dramatic multi-casting for emergencies). My eureka moment for them is considering that you need to cast the spells again to turn them off, and adding a drawback for keeping it on too long. Extended use of the Time Alter spells would best fit near the end of the encounter, where the drawback would become irrelevant in Narrative Time. Yeah, I was shaping the crunch for my mental imagery.

Ballistic Reversion came from being inspired by someone's OC who has a pair of revolvers that reload after 6 seconds (by rewinding time and reverting the spend ammo). It's mostly filler to pad out the list, same with Chronal Sync. Control Zee is something I thought would make sense as an expression of small-scale time manipulation. You can't recklessly spam it due to the accumulating penalty, but would help if you rolled a 7 on a TN 35 test.

I removed Time Alter: Double Stagnate as there's no good purpose for it. Sure you can slow down life-threatening conditions like Fire by making it work once per minute instead of once per round, but on the other hand you're moving half as fast and you have penalties to almost everything you do.

Invest is a spell I made early in development, just for filler. Compressed Overtime is me trying to exploit Narrative Time and what you do with it. Preserving Dilation is a better version of Double Stagnate and used for the opposite reasons of Compressed Overtime. Delay Spell is just a worse Dispel that you can access earlier. There's probably a mountain of interactions if I were to think about how it works in practice, but I don't want to think about it right now.

Negate Link is one of those inspiration abilities I've added, coming from my favorite RHG. It's an underrated ability and I've tried placing a balanced version of it here. Khonsu Scrambler is inspired by the namesake Endbringer's ability of killing people with mismatched time fields.

Time Skip is from someone else's homebrew and I thought it was a good fit. Temporal Stasis is basically the Protoss Arbiter's Stasis ability. Backwarp I took from Mental Omega's support ability that heals units in the targeted area by rewinding their state. Grey Loop is another Worm reference, albeit less pemanent (I ought to reword it in the future).

Paradox Jump is basically Time Travel with a ton of baggage so that I don't have to worry about paradoxes. Roar of time is a Pokemon reference! Temporal Isolation...I guess it's essentially one of Achilles' Noble Phantasms. Turn Cascade is inspired by Transistor, because Royce's dialogue before the battle begins has buried itself into my head. Photon Recursion is another Worm reference, inspired by Phir Se's creative use of his time portal powers.

[GuardianTempest]

Gray Loop removed on account of Lestat's Deja Vu spell. It will be replaced by a stronger version of it that actually imprisons the target in a field of looped time.

[GuardianTempest]

New spell that I've thought about but only decided to add now (Auramurus Barrier, Level 3). I've also adjusted the Time Alter's duration to make it so that you can't assassinate someone by having them read a Scroll of Triple Accel.

Wait, crap, it's supposed to Immobilize the target since it's frozen air...ah whatever.

[GuardianTempest]

Auramurus Barrier now Immobilizes. Control Zee moved to Level 2 while a new spell is added to Level 1.

EDIT: Temporal Metamagic kicked upstairs, Preserving Dilation kicked downstairs and used as a really weird form of first aid. Auramurus Barrier nerfed in AP (previously was 4AP +2 per raise or 10 AP w/ +5 per raise when pushed). I also added Curse of Years, an old homebrew Necromancy spell by CouncilOfShadows. Compressed Overtime exiled.



Compressed Overtime (WIP draft, to be reworded)
Chronokinesis 2
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 20
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Social, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Special (E)
You perform downtime tasks done by yourself (and only yourself) twice as fast, effectively halving the time needed to carry it out. You can end this spell as a Free Action, it also ends if you interact with anyone or vice-versa, or if anything in the environment interrupts your task.

[Traskus]

Curse of years is damning. Not only does losing make it harder to resist but it immediately cascades into you possibly dying in one attack. Also more rolling but s;twilthk,gxeparavkrga.

[GuardianTempest]

You're right, such is the peril of old homebrew. I'm gonna cut out that cascade part.

[GuardianTempest]

Temporal Stasis renamed to Clockblock (which is now a Half Action) because I feel like it (and to reflect the Worm reference). Also added Paradox Haze (based on the namesake card from Magic: the Gathering).

Next spell planned is Dave Strider's signature maneuver: turning a broken item into an indestructible one by locking it in a previous state (Level 2). This also makes almost anything that relies on moving parts useless but I might omit that part if you want.

EDIT: Added Caledamser

EDIT 2: Caledamser no longer exclusive to broken weapons and an opposite counterpart is added.

[GuardianTempest]

My intent with the Time Alter spells is that they're powerful but you can't use them too much, so you have to use them decisively (and dramatically). I've given them their final buff: the extra actions can be used to repeat another action once. I've changed their duration to a single round and requires a free action to cast. In exchange, I added a mounting penalty for consecutive casts of the spell per scene.

I have also merged Caledamser and Twnamser into a single spell. Since the homestuck reference is getting more nebulous, it also gets an English name.

Multiple spells removed either to streamline the school or I'm no longer content with their inclusion. Here they are for posterity .

Paradox Jump
Chronokinesis 5
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 35
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Material, Social, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: One Hour
The closest thing you'll ever get to proper time travel. You disappear into the future for one round, then reappear with no memories of what you did there, with no Hit Points or resource points remaining. 12-72 hours later, you can summon your past self right beside you outside of combat. After one hour, your past self disappears back into the past, losing their remaining Hit Points, resource points and memories of the present. Your past self also disappears upon being dealt damage or when combat begins. This spell cannot be cast if you have no Hit Points.

Turn Cascade (RIP epic Transistor reference)
Chronokinesis 5
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 30
Action: Free Action
Keywords: --
Duration: Instant
The caster takes an extra turn immediately and forfeits her next one, essentially taking her next turn early. Casting this spell in consecutive rounds reduces the caster's initiative by 2 (to a minimum of 1), which lasts until the end of the encounter.
Material: A calendar

Backwarp
Chronokinesis 4
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 30
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Instant
You restore your health to a previous point in time, undoing all wounds and secondary effects dealt by the most recent damage source (a wounding attack that sets you on fire only reverses the ignition). Healing done by this spell includes critical damage. This spell cannot revert damage from the same source more than once. If you are hit with an attack and you already reverted its damage, casting this spell again would have no effect. Getting attacked again will only change what the spell targets.

Curse of Years
Chronokinesis 3
Test: Chronokinesis + Intelligence
Target Number: 15
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Somatic, Ranged Touch, Saving Throw
Duration: Instant
This spell has a range of 15m per caster level. The target must immediately test Arcana + Constitution against the result of this spell's Focus Power roll. If they are successful, nothing happens. If they fail, the target immediately ages a number of years equal to the amount they failed by. Rapid aging is painful and debilitating, causing the target to lose 1 Hit Point plus another for each check they got on their saving throw. If they lose more Hit Points than their Constitution, they also lose one dot of that Characteristic until the end of their scene. If this spell reduces a target to 5 critical damage and/or zero Constitution, they are aged to dust and can not be revived.

Other spells have minor adjustments like TN adjustments or phrasing corrections.

[ScrapyardDragon]

Firstly, fatigue is a death sentence and the only thing worth casting spells that inflict it unto you would be prometheans and other fatigue-immune exalts. Coincidentally, a mythril promethean could absolutely break the game with these spells. Invest to pocket extra resource in downtime, then rampant abuse of time alter to get up to some absolutely goofy shenanigans like charging someone as a half action, multiple attacking them as a half action, and then multiattacking them again.

[GuardianTempest]

Apr 27, 2024 22:38:58 GMT -6 ScrapyardDragon said:

Firstly, fatigue is a death sentence and the only thing worth casting spells that inflict it unto you would be prometheans and other fatigue-immune exalts.

Yes, the spell is meant to be used with decisive timing, enough to do something really cool at a pivotal point of the encounter. And the fatigue applies when the spell ends, not immediately, so even someone at 1 Con could use the extra turn's worth of actions from Square Accel. Still, the penalties are easier to keep track of compared to the first version's bizarre concentration mechanics.

Coincidentally, a mythril promethean could absolutely break the game with these spells. Invest to pocket extra resource in downtime, then rampant abuse of time alter to get up to some absolutely goofy shenanigans like charging someone as a half action, multiple attacking them as a half action, and then multiattacking them again.

I have taken Prometheans into account by also making the spell deal wounds when used too many times with square accel having a cumulative gain. I have not however taken Mithrils into account. Although hit points are more abundant compared to fatigue levels.

One of the cut ideas was that Square Accel would've dealt critical damage to the body for each casting after the first. This caps the spell at 6 uses per scene. With 5 con and Sand asset, the current iteration caps at 3 uses per scene. Hmmm, right, penalty applies when the spell ends.