The Craft is the term commonly given to the various methods and disciplines of servant creation. It is divided into six schools: Necromancy, Alchemy, Light, Nature, Demonology, and Elementalism. Each school is further divided into Principles and Elements.
Principles and Elements are available from Tomes, which are purchasable accoutrements. Normally access to the tome is required to utilize these components properly, but rolling a 5 or 6 on an attempt with them represents a breakthrough moment that gives you a deeper understanding of how they work, negating the need for handy reference materials. The Tome may then be sold, disposed of, or merely ignored at your leisure.
PrinciplesPrinciples are the fundamental ways a school of magic works; the ways they can be shaped, essentially. Each school possesses three, and while they differ considerably, each set can be thought of roughly as In, Out, and Other. That is, one aspect is putting something into something else, one is taking something out, and one is somewhat harder to generalize across schools.
School | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
Necromancy | Animation | Draining | Sublimation |
Alchemy | Infusion | Denudation | Replacement |
Nature | Growth | Spreading | Mutation |
Demonology | Invocation | Evocation | Transvocation |
Light | Invocation | Evocation | Transvocation |
Elementalism | Bending | Bursting | Precipitating |
ElementsElements are the fundamental materials a school manipulates; what's being shaped, essentially. Each school possesses several, many of them too obscure for most to bother with. The following is an incomplete but still very useful listing.
Necromancy | Bone | Flesh | Blood | Souls |
Alchemy | Vigor | Malaise | Vitriol | Amity |
Nature | Root | Leaf | Stem | Thorn |
Demonology | Fire | Hate | Darkness | Souls |
Light | Purity | Light | Serenity | Shelter |
Elementalism | Fire | Earth | Water | Air |
Levels and PowerNot all magic is equal in strength. Some tricks are simple and easy; others are difficult and immensely complex. The level of magic used to create something generally determines its cost and power, as well as determining how difficult it is for the summoner to pull off.
Level | Name | Sample Minions |
1 | Novice | Zombie, Strengthened Goon, Animate Sapling, Hatefueled Cultist, Tranquil Healer, Campfire Elemental |
2 | Apprentice | Skeletal Warrior, Toughened Warrior, Angry Bush, Tainted Berserker, Lightguarded Soldier, Swimguard Elemental |
3 | Adept | Spectre, Acid Spitter, Thorn Lasher, Hungering Savage, Paladin, Stoneskin Warrior |
4 | Expert | Mummy, , Treant, Half-Demon, Half-Angel, Hurricane Elemental |
5 | Master | Vampire, Superhuman, Oakvine Treant, Ascended One, Enlightened One, Lightning Drake |
Summoner skills are measured on the same scale as spell levels. A summoner attempting to use a spell above or below his current skill level suffers a penalty or gains a bonus equal to the difference.
Summoners increase their skill level by gaining experience. Each roll has an experience gain associated with it that is applied to all aspects being used on the roll. Bonuses to the roll subtract their value from the experience earned, as the summoner is clearly too advanced to gain much knowledge from such an easy attempt. Penalties, on the other hand, add to it, as attempting such an ambitious and difficult task is an excellent learning experience.
Note that rolls of 0 or below may have impacts on the summoner, not just their creation.
Roll | Base Experience Granted |
5-6 | +2 |
3-4 | +1 |
1-2 | +0 |
The amount of experience needed to increase a principle or element is always 3, and experience is applied to principles and elements separately and at full value.
Tomes and LearningTo successfully utilize an element or principle requires considerable knowledge of it. This can be accomplished in two ways.
The first method is to have a Tome of that aspect on hand. Tomes are accoutrements that can be purchased for 3 tokens each, and detail a single element or principle of a single level.
The second is to acquire innate knowledge. This is achieved by rolling a 5 or 6 on an attempt at using the element or principle in question, which results in a much deeper understanding of the aspects being used at whatever level they are being used at, obviating the need for a tome.
Combining SchoolsOne of the most useful and difficult uses of The Craft is combining disparate factors from multiple schools. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, as the schools are arranged as they are for good reason, and melding portions of them requires a considerably deeper understanding than does using the aspects of a school internally.
Specifically, principles and elements may only be used with elements and principles outside their own school if all components are innately known, not simply present in tomes. Beyond this, melded aspects function identically to components from a single discipline.