Wild Surges
A Wild Surge happens when you draw too much power or lose control of it. Surges can hurt or help, but always echo the nature of the school being cast. Each school has its own 1d30 Wild Surge table (found in the Wild Surge compendium):
- Odd results (left column) are negative surges.
- Even results (right column) are positive surges.
When to Roll
| Channeling Result | Roll | Apply |
|---|---|---|
| Failure | 1d30 | Whatever entry comes up (positive or negative); mandatory. |
| Critical Failure | 2d8 | Negative (left) entry indicated; mandatory. The spell also fails. |
| Critical Success | 2d8 | Positive (right) entry indicated; optional — you may ignore it. |
The 2d8 result (2–16) indexes a row: the negative entry is 1d30 result 2 × (2d8) − 3 and the positive entry is 2 × (2d8) − 2.
| 2d8 | Negative (1d30) | Positive (1d30) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 5 | 7 | 8 |
| 6 | 9 | 10 |
| 7 | 11 | 12 |
| 8 | 13 | 14 |
| 9 | 15 | 16 |
| 10 | 17 | 18 |
| 11 | 19 | 20 |
| 12 | 21 | 22 |
| 13 | 23 | 24 |
| 14 | 25 | 26 |
| 15 | 27 | 28 |
| 16 | 29 | 30 |
Surge Severity
Every surge entry has Minor, Moderate and Major versions. Use the one matching the total Strain of the spell that triggered it (base + delivery + modifiers):
| Total Strain | Severity |
|---|---|
| 0–4 | Minor |
| 5–9 | Moderate |
| 10+ | Major |
Surge Targets and Duration
- If a surge refers to "the target" and the spell had several targets, apply it to one at random. If the spell had no targets, the surge affects the caster.
- Unless stated otherwise, surge durations are measured in rounds.
Quick Reference
- Spell DC: 10 + total Strain.
- Strain: taken only on a failed or critically failed Channeling check (Push and Quick Cast Strain is always paid).
- Cantrip: 0 Strain, 2 AP; Push to 1 AP for +1 Strain.
- Minimum Strain: 1 for non-cantrip spells after reductions.
- Sustain: 2 RP in encounters and a new Channeling check against the same DC; Strain and Wild Surge as for casting.
- End a spell early: 1 RP.
- Concentration check on damage: DC 10 + ½ damage taken, per source.
- Invested: max Strain reduced by the spell's Strain cost while active.
- Surge severity: Minor 0–4, Moderate 5–9, Major 10+.
- Stupefied X casters: flat check DC 5 + X or the spell is disrupted (see Encounters).