Sorcery: Fascination

"Bewitching" reassumes its old meaning when this art comes into play. Many people once feared that a witch could steal their souls; to a degree, they were right. By working the charms and bindings of the Fascination Path, you can shackle the will of another and bring him to your side.

Spells from this Path take several forms. The most obvious domination flows directly from the sorcerer to her target; a more devious route travels through an amulet, charm or potion that the witch gives to a third party, either to carry or to use. The most insidious weaving carries through the air, unseen and undetected. One moment the target is himself; the next, he belongs to the enchantress, or to her client.

"Client" is the best term for a person who hires a Fascination sorcerer. Many sorcerers make good livings by weaving entrapment spells for third parties — would-be lovers, business rivals, political conspirators and so forth. While folklore exaggerates the power of willbinding, there's no doubting its effectiveness. That control doesn't usually last forever, but it often gets the job done, at least for a while.

Bewitchment takes a multitude of forms; some enchanters enhance their physical beauty or instill themselves (or their clients) with confidence or guile, while others channel a mystic snare into some object or concoction. The doll impregnated with personal effects; the spell woven from words, hair and helpful spirits; the love philter; sweet glance or pillow book — all are classic examples of Fascination at work. Either form requires a ritual beforehand to set the spell in motion. A "glamour" spell is easy: The enchantress simply performs some personal rite upon herself, calling upon whatever powers she employs to make her more impressive. In the case of a client, she works die magic on her patron instead. The client collects the benefits, the sorcerer collects her fee, and the magic works in a general way; everyone the subject meets falls under her spell.

An enchantment against a specific person is a bit more difficult: Raising a connection between the caster and her subject, the binder employs bits of the victim's hair, nails, skin or bodily fluids, conjures whatever mystic energies she prefers, and performs some "knotting" rite. This could involve braiding the hair into a circle, making a doll with blood and clay, mixing semen into a potion, etc. — that chains the subject to the caster, her client or an object. If there's a third party involved, the sorcerer must include some bit of him (or it) in the spell. If the caster succeeds, she snares her prey.

Once set in motion, Fascination creates a bond of influence. As the enchanter, you'll garner a certain amount of influence, either for your self or for your client. Depending on the nature of die spell, that attention may come from several people or from a single, love torn sap. The more specific the spell, the more powerful its effects; a roomful of people may notice a literally fascinating person, but a guy who has been linked to that same person by a magical thread may find it impossible to ignore her. Kinds of influence have their downsides, of course; a charismatic individual stands out whether she wants to or not, and may receive unwanted attention, too. An entrapped man might fawn on his beloved, but he'll obsess over her, too. That could get unhealthy... very unhealthy for both parties.

In game terms, you roll an appropriate Social Trait + your Occult Knowledge whenever you cast a Fascination spell. That Trait depends on the method you've chosen to employ, and the roll is the same whether you cast the spell 1 on yourself or on your client. Generally, such spells play on that client's best features; if she's attractive, the Fascination may enhance that beauty (Appearance); if she gets her way through cunning, a Manipulation-based spell might work better; if force of personality is her strong point, a wise sorcerer will play to that strength (Charisma). Each enchantment is woven especially for the circumstances, however; if the extraordinarily attractive.

General enchantments don't actually alter your physical features or make you more sociable; instead, they "blend the edges," setting you in your best light. People see you differently — you don't change, their perceptions of you do. Specific Fascinations work differently, snaking into your subject's heart and wrapping it up in a package. Since both types seek different results, each form of Fascination works differently. To be proficient in one type, buy the Path normally and specify your specialty; To be an accomplished enchanter, pay an additional three points and purchase both forms. The two types cannot be combined.

General Enchantment: With this form, you attract attention from a large group of people. None of them will be especially bound to you, but they'll become very attentive to your desires. Infatuation, loyalty, respect, lust, even fear — folks feel what you want them to feel until the spell wears off. A general Fascination's effects depend on the sorcerer's skill. Setting things in motion requires a (Social Trait) + Occult roll. If you're playing Fairy Godmother to some other character's Cinderella, roll her (Social Trait) + your Occult rating. The difficulty is normal (Path Level + 4), although a good Social roll or really appropriate circumstances might lower that number by one to three places. The better the roll, the longer the magic — and the Dice Pool bonus — lingers (one hour per success rolled). Note that a large Dice Pool is a double-edged blade; a really impressive person can make a really memorable mistake.

Roll: (Social Attribute) + Occult (This is unusual; the character can choose any of the three Social Attributes to use with this path.

Modifiers: +1 if trying for some emotion other than attraction/interest +1 if target's WP is 5+

Cast Time: 1 per level of effect.


Like most Revised Sorcery Paths, Fascination has multiple Aspects--the first level in each Aspect can be had for a single success; increasing any of them beyond the first costs an additional success for each rank.

Aspects:

Level of Influence (The character should select a single Social attribute to gain the bonus for any particular use of the Path):

* Minor: You stand out in a crowd, and individuals find you interesting. Add 1 die to social dice pools.

** Stirring: You aren't the center of the party, but you are listened to. An individual will make it a point to hang out with you. Add 2 dice to pool.

*** Life of the Party: A subject will go out of their way to be with you; add 3 dice to social rolls.

**** Major: You are throwing this party, aren't you?: What you do, others pay attention to; Individuals will sacrifice quite a bit to earn your approval. +4 dice

***** Trendsetter: Unmistakable influence. An individual will kill for you, or even die themselves. +5 dice.

****** Legendary: A smitten target becomes your virtual slave.


Number (this is the number of people affected by your charms)

* One Person

** Two People

*** Small group (10 or less)

**** Small party (up to 50)

***** Crowd (hundreds)

****** Stadium full of thousands of people


Duration

* A Short While--a few minutes or so

** One scene

*** A day or so

**** A couple weeks

***** Several Months

****** Indefinitely

To resist being Fascinated this way, the target rolls his Willpower against your Path Level + 4- Each success reduces your influence by one level, but under most circumstances, he may only roll once, when the casting takes place. If you're abusive or demand really unreasonable things (shoot a cop, give me your gold card, etc.), your paramour immediately gets another roll. If he succeeds, the Fascination breaks completely right then and there. Naturally, "abusive" and "unreasonable" are pretty subjective; a man with low self-esteem might take an awful lot from his "beloved" before cracking, and a smitten gangster might be perfectly willing to shoot a cop if you ask him nicely. The breaking point will depend a lot on the characters and their relationship up until then. Unless this Fascination is dispelled, it lasts until some event breaks it.

Certain people are immune to this Path's effects. Characters with similar mind-influencing powers (Domination, Presence, Dementation, Psychic Phenomena, the Mind Sphere, etc.) can wave Fascination away without effort, while innately mystical creatures (shapechangers, faeries, etc.) can counter the spell with Rage, Glamour or Quintessence if they care to (each point reduces the enchantment by-one level). A Blood Bound character will never turn against her previous master, though she might be Fascinated by someone else for a short while. Spirits, ghosts and inhuman creatures are totally unimpressed; they might look fondly upon a charming mortal, but cannot be drawn in by this magical bond.

A general Fascination spell can be easily undone; you perform some "smothering" action (a hood thrown over the enchanted one's face, a whispered unweaving spell, a denial of the subject's beauty, etc.) to undo your own enchantment. Breaking a specific charm is much harder; a new spell, similar to the first, must be woven with many of the same materials as the first. Even then, the affected person makes a Willpower roll to resist the second rite; if he succeeds, the spell remains in effect, even if all parties concerned want it broken!

Outside parties can break an entrancement if they've got the skills to do so. A character with this Path (or any of the aforementioned mental powers) can detect a Fascination spell placed on another person by making a Perception + Occult roll (difficulty . From there, he might be able to dispel it by placing a counter-command on the Fascinated party (all normal rolls apply). Five successes or more breaks the sorcerer's hold over the victim. To reassert control, the enchantress might appeal to her thrall with a psychic push through the existing bond (Manipulation + Occult, diffi-culty 6). This effort, which can be done only if the enchantress is present, acts like a soak roll against the meddler's attempts. Whoever wins this roll wins the victim — for now.

Despite the sexual connotations of the Path, Fascination is more a matter of heart than hormones. The entrancee simply wants to please — and possibly to possess — the entrancer. Depending on the personalities involved, the goals of the entrancer and the activities they pursue together, the bond may or may not be sexual. Since many people equate intense desire with sexual attraction, the spell might raise a few unexpected issues, too; a CPO who commissions you to make his underlings loyal to him could discover that many of them — including the men — suddenly have crushes on him, too. This is the nature of magic: to set forces in motion. Where they go once they're released is out of the enchanter's hands.

Roll: (Social Trait) + Occult

Cost: No Willpower cost

Effects: See above.

Price of Failure

This sort of magic can go wrong in several ways: You might end up looking really horrible and get the opposite of what you wanted (reverse the planned effects); you could fry your victim's mind and end up stuck with a besotted lapdog; other people could get jealous (homicidal, even); or your target could simply snap and decide to keep safe forever — even if it meant killing you to do so.