Strong-Hand Ward

A rare and difficult, but powerful, spell that renders the magician impervious to physical attacks. The actual casting takes time and effort, and the magician must concentrate to retain its efficacy, but for as long as the spell is active, the magician may raise their hand and define a plane of force; the plane lasts for just a moment, but during that moment nothing passes through. Experienced magicians may block attacks from the mightiest warrior without moving a muscle.

The base difficulty of the Strong-Hand Ward is d12, and the base cost, six strain. Maintaining the spell’s energies costs no resources, but demands a check to maintain concentration if anything happens that might distract the caster. The need to concentrate also increases the difficulty of all other checks by a step and imposes a -2 penalty to challenges. Calling upon the ward’s protection costs another point of fatigue or strain, and requires the magician to gesture with at least one hand. (It is possible to do this separately with both hands at the same time.) An advanced version of the spell requires no motion and is limited in range to “close” rather than “reach,” but raises the difficulty by a step and doubles all costs.