Talk:Rituals (FiD)
Chat GPT Prompt for Rituals
I am giving you the rituals chapter of Blades in the Dark along with example rituals. I will also give you the magnitude scales mentioned in the rituals rules.
divination
resurrection.
Create a new life form.
Setting: Blades in the Dark is set in Duskvol, a dark fantasy Victorian setting. I am using this is a different setting, World of Greyhawk from Dungeons & Dragons. My version of Greyhawk is similar to 15C Europe with magic. This magic comes in two kinds, rituals and powers. Rituals represent the slow magic often performed by organizations like churches and wizard guilds. Powers are easier, more limited in scope, and on a personal scale. Where Blades in the Dark have the ghost field, my setting has the ether. Where Blades in the Dark uses electroplasmic energies, my setting uses planar energies. There are three planes rituals mainly draw on; the Feywild that lies between the Earth and the elemental planes, the Shadowfell that lies between the Earth and the Astral realms (these two are from Dungeons and Dragons), and the Netherworld that likes between Earth and the Far Realms (the Netherworld is unique to my version of Greyhawk).
Here are the ritual rules from Blades in the Dark, edited to fit my campaign setting.:
Rituals: A ritual a slow and costly process but can create very powerful effects. Unlike modern arcane techniques that utilize the scientific application of planar energies, rituals depend on strange occult powers and entities to realize their effects. To enact a ritual is to come into contact with these abyssal forces and entreat them to do your will. It is a practice not without considerable risk.
FINDING A RITUAL SOURCE A PC with the Ritual special ability begins with one known ritual, already learned (answer the questions below to create it). To learn a new ritual, a PC must first find a source. A source may be secured as payoff from a score—perhaps you steal a ritual book when your crew robs the Museum of Antiquities. You might also secure a source as the goal of a long-term project—by consorting with cultist friends, studying ancient texts, or some other method you devise.
LEARNING A RITUAL Once the source of a ritual is found, you may undertake a long-term project to learn the ritual. Most rituals will require an 8-segment progress clock to learn. The player and the GM answer questions about the ritual to define what it will do in play and what is required to perform it (see below). The player records these answers in their notes for future reference.
Ritual Questions 1. GM asks: “What does the ritual do and how is it weird?” Player answers. 2. Player asks: “What must I do to perform the ritual, and what is its price?” GM answers. A ritual takes at least one downtime activity to perform and inflicts stress on the caster according to its magnitude. If performance of the ritual is dangerous or troublesome in some way, it requires an action roll (usually Attune). A ritual may also have additional costs, such as a sacrifice, rare item, the start of a dire progress clock, etc. 3. GM asks: “What new belief or fear does knowledge of this ritual and its attendant occult forces instill in you?” Player answers.
Example Ritual Answers Player: “The ritual wards a person so that the ghosts of their victims cannot find them. It's weird because... as long as the ward is in place, the person sometimes weeps tears of black blood.” GM: “Spend a downtime action to prepare a mixture of tobacco, dream smoke, and crematory ash from a victim—which the target then smokes. You take at least 3 stress when you perform the ritual, which will be its quality for a fortune roll when it's challenged by a spirit—so you might want to take more stress to make it more potent.” Player: “Gotcha. My new fear is what will happen if the spirits figure out where the ward came from and turn their vengeance on me, instead.”
PERFORMING A RITUAL To perform a ritual, you must have the Ritual special ability, then follow the method outlined by the answers to the ritual questions. Most rituals will take one downtime activity to complete, though the GM may call for two (or more) downtime activities for very powerful or far-reaching rituals. Some rituals may be partially performed during downtime and then fully manifested at-will later by completing the last incantation or ritual action. In this case, simply make a note that the ritual has been “primed” and may be unleashed at a later time.
When you perform a ritual, you take an amount of stress as established by the ritual questions, according to the magnitude of the forces brought to bear. The GM uses magnitude as a guideline for setting the stress cost—it may be higher or lower at their discretion to better describe the nature of the ritual. Some claims and special abilities also reduce the stress cost for ritual casting.
Rituals take time to cast. Use the duration examples on the magnitude table to reduce the stress cost based on the time needed, generally no less than an hour. The GM may also tick a progress clock when you perform a ritual—to advance the agenda of an arcane power or entity, or to show the steady approach of a dark outcome that is a consequence of the ritual's use. If a ritual is dangerous or troublesome to perform, make an action roll (usually Attune) to see if unpleasant consequences manifest. If a ritual has an uncertain effect then a fortune roll should be made to see how well it manifests. Because a ritual is a downtime activity, you may spend coin 1-for-1 to increase the result level of your fortune roll (this represents the expenditure of expensive or rare ritual materials). If a ritual is both dangerous and uncertain, then both rolls may be called for. Each performance of a ritual is a unique event, and may not always work the same way each time. The GM or players may call for a round of questions to establish a ritual anew. Rituals are a way to bring in a wide variety of arcane effects into the game. Use with caution! If you ever go overboard, address the questions again to establish new weirdness and costs if things have gotten out of hand. The abyssal forces are not playthings and cannot be considered a reliable or safe source of power.
Here are the tables for magnitude in mediawiki format:
| Scale | Area | People / Group Size |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | A closet | 1 or 2 people |
| 1 | A small room | A small gang (3-6) |
| 2 | A large room | A medium gang (12) |
| 3 | Several rooms | A large gang (20) |
| 4 | A small building | A huge gang (40) |
| 5 | A large building | A massive gang (80) |
| 6 | A city block | A colossal gang (160) |
| Scale | Duration | Range |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | A few moments | Within reach |
| 1 | A few minutes | A dozen paces |
| 2 | An hour | A stone's throw |
| 3 | A few hours | Down the road |
| 4 | A day | Several blocks away |
| 5 | Several days | Across the district |
| 6 | A week | Across the city |
| Scale | Quality | Force |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Poor | Weak |
| 1 | Adequate | Moderate |
| 2 | Good | Strong |
| 3 | Excellent | Serious |
| 4 | Superior | Powerful |
| 5 | Impeccable | Overwhelming |
| 6 | Legendary | Devastating |
| Scale | Examples |
|---|---|
| 0 | A rusty knife, worn & tattered clothing, rickety shack on the street |
| 1 | A fighting blade, ordinary clothing, shared apartment, cheap food or drugs |
| 2 | A pistol, respectable clothing, private rented room, typical ghost |
| 3 | A coach, boat, military rifle, fashionable clothing, small home |
| 4 | A luxury vehicle, townhouse, typical demon or powerful ghost |
| 5 | A large townhouse, small ship, custom-tailored clothing, lightning barrier |
| 6 | A mansion, large ship, rare essences or arcane artifacts, powerful demon |
| Scale | Examples |
|---|---|
| 0 | A firm shove, a candle flame, breeze, tiny spark |
| 1 | A solid punch, steady wind, torch flame, electrical shock |
| 2 | A powerful blow, howling wind, burning brand |
| 3 | A crushing blow, staggering wind, grenade, searing fire, electrical surge |
| 4 | A charging horse, burning forge, bomb, whirlwind, electrocution |
| 5 | A ship's cannon, raging thunderstorm, massive fire, lightning strike |
| 6 | Hurricane wind, molten lava, tidal wave, electrical maelstrom |
Below are the example rituals I mentioned in the introduction. Among the example rituals the first two are canon from the original rules, the others are designed by me using these rules.