Runequest Thursday #129 - New Sorcery Spell - Reveal/ Conceal!

The very first RPG I ever played was Melee/ Wizard. These were a pair of small box sets about the size of a pocket book that offered the possibility of gladiatorial style combats in a fantasy setting.

The pair later became The Fantasy Trip. Published in 1980 by Metagaming, The Fantasy Trip pulled all the great bits from Melee/ Wizard, expanded on them to make a complete system of magic (Wizard) and combat (Melee), added In the Labyrinth (the GMs guide) and a setting. I loved them, as did all my friends, and we played several campaigns over the next several years.

They have been out of print for a long time, but I still wish I could talk some folks into a campaign once in a while.

The next best thing, I guess, is to use them for inspiration. In this case, I decided to adapt a spell from Wizard to Runequest, specifically to my Sorcery ruleset.

Many of the spells in my Sorcery ruleset can be cast in two, more or less opposing way. Like Sharpen/ DUll, which is probably pretty explanatory.

Here is Reveal/ Conceal, a handy spell for anyone, but especially for someone who deal with magic and magic items a lot.

Reveal/ Conceal     Range – 10 Yards                   POW Check - Yes

Duration – 10 rounds, Permanent is 1 Permanent POW is expended

Cast upon a single nearby person, terrain, feature, object, etc. this multipurpose spell can be used:

1. To find or conceal a creature or object
2. To detect a hidden magical effect on a person, an area or object
3. To hide a magical effect on a person, an area or an object

1. Finding and Concealing: For each rank of the Spell cast, the target of the spell is 10% easier or harder to find with skills like Spot, Scent or Tracking, or with Detect spells.
2. As above, each rank adds +10% to the possibility of Detecting a magical effect. If the effect is readily noticeable with a detect spell, Reveal is unnecessary. If the effect is concealed, perhaps by Countermagic or Rune Magic, such that a Detect spell is not automatic, this spell increases the chance of detection by 10% per rank. If a Sorcerer or other mage is using his Magical Skill to detect for magic, Reveal improves his Magical Skill by the same amount for detecting magic.
3. Concealing a magical effect may ne done to make an enchanted item seem innocuous, or to hide certain elements or restrictions on an enchantment. So an item could have Conceal placed on it to make it harder to notice as magical, by 10% per rank of the spell. Or it might have a conceal on certain enchantments, or elements or restrictions thereof. For example, A female sorcerer enchants her dagger with Sharpen 4, but also with another enchantment for Dull 4, which automatically overrides the Sharpen effect if the dagger is wielded by a man. She further casts Conceal 3 on this Dull spell, so that those who detect the weapon are likely to only notice the Sharpen Spell.

Ranks of Reveal cancels out Conceal. So a reveal 4 will immediately remove the effect of 4 ranks of Conceal for the duration of the reveal. If the spell is affecting something with personal POW, the Reveal or Conceal must overcome that POW, unless the target allows the spell.

Additional ranks of the spell can be used to extend range or duration as normal.

There are a bunch of spell that would do well with conversion, so I might revisit this topic in future.