Grand Rituals - The forbidden magics you run campaigns about

[ScrapyardDragon]

So first, I want to get this out of the way. More than anything else I will ever make for this game, CONSULT YOUR SM BEFORE USING THESE. A lot of these are absolutely broken. They are meant to be broken. The kind of magics that one guy learning how to do cast one is something you can run an entire campaign about. Equal part proper mechanics for your main villain's world ending plot and the power fantasy that is being an exalt. You have been warned.

Grand Rituals. The absolute apex of magical power. Difficult to learn and even harder to cast, with those able to do so able to determine the fate of entire crystal spheres. For the better, or (usually) for the worse. Grand Rituals, mechanically speaking, count as 6th level spells for interaction with other mechanics, cannot be casted fettered, and come with the ritual keyword to denote them as such. Their existence does not mean learning one means having six dots in that spell school however, just that they are a step above 5th level magic.

Learning a Grand Ritual requires having 5 dots in the relevant spell school to even begin the process. The would-be caster must then perform 9 successful TN 35 Intelligence + Arcana tests to research and devise the spell, each of which takes an entire day. Upon completing the 9th successful test, she may then spend 500 exp to finally learn the spell. At SM discretion, this process may be shortened or even skipped entirely if the caster comes across the proper documentation on how to cast the spell, but the experience cost must always be paid regardless.

Finally, as a word of warning, whenever a Grand Ritual is successfully cast, everyone within the sphere with at least 4 dots in the ritual's school, or 3 dots in divination, is aware of such. That doesn't mean they know who or where the caster is, or what ritual was actually cast, just that it has been.


Changelog:
5/24/2023 - thread created

[ScrapyardDragon]

Abjuration

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World of Silence
Abjuration 6
Focus Power test: Abjuration + Willpower
Target Number: 45
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Social, Somatic, Verbal, Ritual, Material
Duration: 1 week.
This spell creates massive magic dead-zone, and takes an hour to cast. The spell creates an area with a 10km radius, centered on where it was cast. It is impossible to cast non-abjuration spells while inside this area, non-abjuration spells with an area of effect simply stop at the edge, and non-abjuration spells with a lingering effect simply end if the subject enters the area. If psychic phenomena would ever occur within the area, the result is automatically Warp Echo. Finally, everything within the affected area appears in greyscale, and sorcerers feel something is slightly off, even if they don't know the spell's effects yet.
Material: uranium oxide in a phial made of sapphire

Conjuration

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Heroic Servant
Conjuration 6
Focus Power Test: Conjuration + Willpower
Target Number: 45
Action: Full Action
keywords: Material, Somatic, Verbal, Ritual
Duration: See text
You summon an exalt from across time and space to aid you. You can't pick exactly who you will get, but they will have roughly the same goals as you, even if their motivations for that goal differ. Aside from regular requests and instructions (which they are not expressly obligated to carry out) you may give them up to three commands which they must comply with. Issuing a command they hate is an easy way to make them detest you and potentially turn on you the moment their own goals are met, by the way. The exalt remains summoned until either they die, the caster dies, or their third command is completed, at which point they return to where and whenever they were summoned from at full HP and Resource, unharmed from anything that may have occurred to them while summoned. This spell's second material component is optional, is not consumed, and can be effectively anything, but if you do offer one, the exalt summoned is usually one the item had a personal significance to if possible.
Material: Currency worth five thousand thrones, and a second object (see text).

Demiplane
Conjuration 6
Focus Power Test: Conjuration + Willpower
Target Number: 45
Action: Full Action
keywords: Somatic, Verbal, Social
Duration: Indefinite
The caster creates a pocket dimension, with an area up to one square kilometer. The nature of the demiplane is reflective of the caster; for some it is nothing more than a large white room, for others it may be a castle floating in a void or a giant standing in an endless sea. A character may only ever have one demiplane, but may change the design of it by recasting the spell. When this spell is cast, the sorcerer may nominate a touched object to function as a permanent passageway to the demiplane; doorways lead to it when walked through, paintings can be jumped into, bottles can be uncorked to draw the holder into them, etc. The sorcerer always treats the interior of their demiplane as a valid destination they are extremely familiar with to access it with the gate or teleport spells, though if exiting the demiplane with those spells they treat their origin point as wherever they were before they entered the demiplane.

Divination

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Destiny
Divination 6
Focus Power Test: Divination + Intelligence
Target Number: 65
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Social, Somatic, Verbal, Ritual, Material
Duration: Indefinite
There is no other spell more feared by the gods than this, for no other spell has more potential to bring an inevitable disaster than this one. Every spell has the potential to bring great harm to the caster, either through misuse or though inviting the chaos of the warp unto them. But no other spell truly condemns the sorcerer with every casting. Upon a successful casting, the sorcerer receives a vision of an important moment in their future in which they must make a choice. They know not the outcome of their decision, or precisely when it must be made, but they will roughly know the circumstances in which it will come to pass. From the moment this vision is received, its occurrence is inevitable, fate itself will make it so, for good or ill. Dread it, run from it, destiny still arrives.
material: A Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, which must be set into a crown made of lead.

Enchantment

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Override
Enchantment 6
Test: Enchantment + Charisma
Target Number: 45
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Attack, Language Dependent, Mind-Affecting, Saving Throw, Ritual, Focus
Duration: Instant
This works as dominate, save that it does not require concentration to maintain, the spell is effectively permanent until they break out or you release it yourself. You may only control up to your Command + 1 at a time with this spell.
Focus: A golden birdcage

Evocation

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Meteor
Evocation 6
Focus Power test: Evocation + Charisma
Target Number: 50
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Social, Somatic, Verbal, Ritual, Focus
Duration: 1 week.
This spell destroys planets. Upon being cast a large object, such as a meteor, moon, or orbital cannon, appears in the sky and begins charging up, aimed at a location on the planet of the caster's choosing. The spell's power depends on how long it takes to charge, and at any time the caster may cancel the charging early, the spell taking about 10 minutes to make impact. If given at least a full day to charge, it is treated as a surface bombardment using a lance weapon. If given at least three days to charge, it is treated as a surface bombardment using a Torpedo. If the spell is given the full seven days to charge, the entire planet will be destroyed. If the caster is killed, the charging period ends automatically.
Focus: A 5 dot artifact.

Healing

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Crusade
Healing 6
Focus Power Test: Healing + Wisdom
Target Number: 45
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Focus, Somatic, Verbal, Ritual
Duration: See text
you coat an area 100m in radius that remains centered on the focus with a divine light. Those within this area with the same alignment as the caster gain +1 resilience, +2 strength, and heal one lost hit point at the end of each of their turns. The caster may spend a half action every round to maintain this area. The area's size degrades by 5m every minute after the caster stops maintaining the area, and the caster must make an alignment test when the area is fully reduced to zero.
Focus: A holy symbol large enough to be seen from a distance.

Illusion

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Metaverse
Illusion 6
Focus Power Test: Illusion + Intelligence
Target Number: 50
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Focus, Somatic, Verbal, Social, Ritual
Duration: See text.
The caster blends dream and reality to create a new illusiory world designed to his own specifications. The illusory world is very much real to those inside, and they will believe it has always been that way unless they pass a Wisdom + Scrutiny test to see through it to reality again. If someone who has already passed this test directly informs someone who trusts them, they will be able to make the test again with a TN of only 25. The illusory world begins with a size of 1 cubic kilometer, and the caster may cause it to grow by up to 1 cubic kilometer once every 24 hours. The illusory world persists until either the caster dismisses it as a free action, dies, leaves the affected area, or more than half of the sapient beings inside the illusion pass the test.
Focus: a diorama of the illusory world.

Necromancy

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Miasma
Necromancy 6
Focus Power Test: Necromancy + Intelligence
Target Number: 45
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Somatic, Verbal, Ritual, Material
Duration: see text
you shroud an area 10m in radius with a miasma of death and disease. Those within this area with a different alignment than the caster must make a TN 20 Constitution test or suffer a wound to the body every round. Any living creature that dies within the area rises as one of the walkin' dead. By spending an additional full action in his next turn, the caster increases the radius of this area by 10m, to a maximum of 10km. The caster may instead spend a half action every round to merely maintain this area. This area's size degrades by 10m every minute after the caster stops maintaining it.
Material: Incense burned in a censer made of obsidian.

Transmutation

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Magnum Opus
Transmutation 6
Test: Transmutation + Wisdom
Target Number: 70
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Social, Verbal, Somatic, Material, Ritual
Firstly, no power, artifact, or other effect can allow the caster to ignore this spell's material component; the price must always be paid in full. This spell creates a philosopher's stone (effects detailed below).
Material: the lives of 10,000 people

Philosopher's Stone
This red stone is spoken of in all manner of legends across the wheel - if one looks too close, they may catch a glimpse of thousands of faces calling out to them. It has many uses, but can only be used for one at a time.
By default it functions as an implement, and provides the bearer with a +2k1 bonus to focus power tests and the ability to ignore the focus and material keywords of spells by raising the spell's TN by 5.
It may also be set into any item made of nonmagical metal as if it were a hearthstone (ignoring the lack of a slot). While set into the object, the item is treated as if it were made or orichalcum, but the stone loses it's usual effects until it is removed.
Finally, if one swallows the philosopher's stone, they gain the regeneration (1) trait and are effectively immortal (as if they had a gem or immortality) until they cough it up or someone cuts it out of them.

[Divergent Reality]

Candyland

Epulaturgy 6

Focus Power Test: 50

Action: Full

Keywords: Focus, Material, Ritual, Somatic, Verbal

Action: 1 hour

Duration: Permanent

This ritual was unintentionally developed by a team of starved wizards after their efforts to create a terraforming spell stalled too long. "You don't eat until you complete this spell" was their final instruction. With a banquet fit for any royal feast laid before them outside their workshop they fervently completed this spell. Upon completion of this ritual the landscape twists and warps into all manner of edible versions of itself. Any inorganic and nonliving matter is subject to this change along with any non-sentient living organisms. The area is a radius of 1 kilometer plus an additional kilometer for each additional raise on the Focus Power Test

Focus: A living spellcaster starved for three days.

Material: 1000 kilograms of foodstuffs used as a model for the new landscape.

[insertnamehere]

Eye of Terror
Daemonology 6
Focus Power test: Daemonology + Willpower
Target Number: 45
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Corrupting, Focus, Ritual, Social, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Instantaneous
This spell has the potential of enveloping entire planets in warp energy, irrevocably changed into a daemon world. The sorcerer spends 2 hours meticulously carving a 3m ritual circle, remaining inert until the spell is cast. You can also make multiple circles to create a larger ritual area but they cannot be further than 5km from each other and each circle must be within range of 2 other circles. Of course, if a circle is ruined or destroyed before casting then the spell fails. The effects depend on how many circles you create before casting, with 1 creating a rift into the warp that lasts for 1 hour spawning 1d10 lesser daemons of random alignment and half that amount in greater daemons, every round. The daemons are not bound to the caster, meaning they can help or hinder whomever they see fit. At a minimum of 3 circles, the effects of a Rift torpedo occur within the confines of the ritual area turning it into a warp tainted hellscape. After the rift torperdo effects, everyone within the area suffer 1d10 Corruption and Insanity and 1d5 wound every hour for 1 week, unless they have the Daemonic trait, are certain exalts (at the SM's discretion), or have complete protection from the warp in some way. At 10+ circles, the previous effects occur but are permanent.
Focus: Hammer made of Warpstone and a Chisel made of Wraithbone

Warp Rift
Wyrding 6
Focus Power test: Wyrding + Composure
Target Number: 40
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Focus, Ritual, Saving Throw, Social, Somatic
Duration: See Text
The caster uses the branded sorcerer as a conduit to attract and build up as much warp energy as possible to then have it released in a wave of destructive phenomena. At the casting of this spell, every round the branded sorcerer is alive he emits a pulse of malignant warp energy within 3d10m + 10m per his caster level and suffers 1d5 wounds. Everyone affected by the spell must roll Psychic Phenomena. Anyone that rolls a 75+ on the Phenomena roll must perform a Arcana + Willpower test. On a success, roll Perils of the Warp as normal. On a failure, creatures with the Daemonic or Stuff of Nightmares traits suffer 1d10 wounds. Otherwise, creatures turn into Chaos Spawn that gains Regeneration (3), loses Warp Spawn, deals 3k2 E damage to those without the daemonic trait in melee range at the beginning of its turn, and any armor it was wearing becomes fused into its flesh granting it additional armor. Spawn are hostile to everyone and will attack the nearest creature on sight except for other chaos spawn.
Focus: A Sorcerer branded with runes and sigils

[Traskus]

A word of warning: if the casting of any of these spells can be traced back to the caster/s they gain the wanted hindrance without gaining xp.

Unending Penis Barrage
Conjuration 6
Test: Conjuration + Willpower
TN: 50
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Focus, Ritual, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Concentration (full action)
Focus: a cyberdong

This ritual takes 4 hours to complete, after which a dark cloud gathers across the continent that rains phalluses of all sizes and races of origin. The phalluses create concealment and those with an aversion to male genitalia are dazzled until the spell ends or they can't see them anymore. Also, you know, the unpleasantness of dicks hitting you constantly whenever you go outside. The cloud dissipates, the phalluses disappear, and the spell ends one day after concentration is broken.

Summon Ketamine Ape

Conjuration 6

Focus Power Test: 50

Keywords: Material, Ritual, Social, Somatic, Verbal

Action: Full Action

Duration: Instant

Material: 20 doses of ketamine and 100 kg of fruit

You summon a giant ape that's high on ketamine over the course of an hour, very zen and under your command. It is immune to nonmagical fear, and has the profile of a huge creature without the crawler, amphibious, flyer, or quadruped feats. The ape will return from whence it came when dismissed or when it reaches 0 hp, and cannot die while summoned.


Greater Baja Blast
Evocation 6
Test: Evocation + Charisma
TN: 50
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Material, Physical, Ranged Touch, Ritual, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Instant
Material: 100 liters of sugary soda

A blast of natural and artificial tropical lime flavor emits from the ritual circle, directing itself toward a target within 1km. The spell deals 4k4 damage of each type (i, e, r, x) with the line (10) property. It destroys and ignores all cover. Those that live lose all fatigue, and are immune to fear and can ignore critical damage until the end of the scene unless it would kill them outright.


Transmute Idaho
Transmutation 6
Test: Transmutation + Wisdom
TN: 50
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Material, Ritual, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: Instant
Material: 1 kiloton of potatoes

The ritual requires 83 hours and 57 minutes to cast. Upon completion, the spell transmutes the climate into a semidesert and changes the shape of the area into that of Idaho. The area affected is dependent on the political borders of the second largest ordering of the country (usually a state or province), or an entire island.


Homoerotic Vortex
Enchantment 6
Test: Enchantment + Charisma
TN: 50
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Ritual, Saving Throw, Somatic, Verbal
Duration: One day

The ritual conjures a vortex with a diameter equal to the number of hours the ritual took to complete in kilometers. Those within the vortex may resist with an Arcana + Willpower test. Those that fail must kiss the next individual of the same sex they see before the end of the spell, at which point the spell ceases to affect them.

[ScrapyardDragon]

Made a ritual for technomancy since I figured I may as well do that.


Biobliterator
Technomancy 6
Test: Technomancy + Intelligence
Target Number: 50
Action: Full Action
Keywords: Material, Social, Somatic, Touch, Verbal, Ritual
Duration: Indefinite
A helpless (or dead) target is painfully and forcibly transformed into an obliterator (book 1, chapter 17), though it retains it's own racial power (if it had one) instead of the bloody minded power. The Obliterator is programmed to obey the caster’s commands. No, it won't work on the exalted. Not even if you try that. Or that.
Material: an armful of mechanical parts, including at least 3 very rare weapons.