Sorcery skill
Sorcery is new magic skill added in DR 3.0. Your Sorcery skill indicates your ability to use Mana types that you're unfamiliar with. This is used instead of your Primary Magic skill to determine if you're able to cast a spell that uses a different mana type. Training this skill is NOT, in and of itself, illegal. However, some spells are still illegal to use in any town's Justice zones, and if you use them (or explicitly teach Sorcery) you can be charged with Forbidden Practices.
Your Sorcery ranks have three effects:
- It serves as an alternate primary magic skill for any off frequency spell. Keep in mind that in most cases, "frequency" is a broader concept than "guild." A Bard would use Sorcery to power Clear Vision (a Lunar spell), but use Elemental Magic to power Fire Shard (an Elemental spell, even though it is not taught by his guild). If there is an extreme difference in skill, a fraction of your PM and Arcana may be used in place of Sorcery, though with none of the other benefits listed below.
- It reduces the chance of a sorcerous or necromantic backlash occurring.
- Clerics, Moon Mages and Warrior Mages will need to meet minimum Sorcery requirements to permanently learn their guild-based sorceries.
Sorcery is by definition a MU-only skill: it is the skill of casting outside the magician's frequency and is irrelevant for characters that do not have attunement. NMUs cannot learn or teach Sorcery.
Training Sorcery
- Very early learning (up to about 70 ranks) can be learned from FOCUSing on runes outside your mana type.
- Note: Runestones with basic tier spells (e.g. Protection from Evil or Refresh) teach better than runestones with intro tier spells.
- Listen to a Primary Magic class from person with a different mana type (e.g. a Warrior Mage teaching Elemental Magic skill to a Cleric)
- Listen to a class in Sorcery skill. DO NOT do this in Justice zones.
- CAST spells from other mana types that you find on scrolls or runestones. Beware of backlash.
- Through magical research (e.g. RESEARCH SORCERY). Requires 250 Arcana skill. Beware of backlash.
- Targeted Magic spells from different mana types will teach Sorcery if the cast is challenging, rather than if the attack is challenging. Beware of backlash. The backlash chance from Targeted Magic and Debilitation is lower than non-combat spells
- Learning from casting spells of different mana types comes from the base prep of the spell. You can increase the power of the spell by augmenting the cast with cambrinth or the HARNESS command, but that mana will not translate into experience.
- If you have mana issues, try casting with a cambrinth. This can help you train faster too, each cast MIGHT accept more mana than the raw spell, but that is unclear and needs tested. - 230 sorcery, mm with 100th circle magics
Note: The Sorcerous Patterns feat will reduce the severity/backlash of CAST spells, but not from magical research.
Spells and abilities that boost Sorcery
Spells and abilities that decrease Sorcery
None