College of Dimensional Magic

by Bob Greenwade

Height, width, and breadth -- all three dimensions are vital to the existance of the world as we know it. There are other physical dimensions in the mix as well, seperating our plane of existance from others. Even time is, in many opinsions, a dimension. Like any other force of being, however, dimensions can be manipulated by magic.

Dimensional magicians typically carry a sectioned staff, with various parts made of iron, marble, oak, and crystal. Their spells are usually accompanied by rainbow-hued beams of energy emenating from the crystal head of the staff, and they may violently backfire on their casters if cast incorrectly. They are generally not easy to use, as they require extra concentration and take longer to cast than usual.

Common Limitations: Concentrate at 1/2 DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- varies (-½).

Basic Spells

Spatial Strike

This spell warps space, causing it to impact all around the target's body (doing generalized damage). If the spell is miscast, the same thing happens to the caster instead.

Power: 6d6 Energy Blast
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 6d6 Energy Blast (-½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 6.

Tearing Space

This spell sends a rip through space, which tears apart the target's flesh (though he does get the defense of any armor). If the caster fails his roll, the spell affects him instead.

Power: 2d6 Ranged Killing Attack.
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 2d6 Ranged Killing Attack (-½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 6.

Dimension Wall

This spell sets up a translucent wall of energy which blocks incoming attacks. If the spell is miscast, the caster suffers from the effects of the Spatial Strike spell.

Power: 6 PD / 6 ED Force Wall
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 6d6 Energy Blast (-½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 6.

Magic View

With this spell the magician may see into the realm of pure magic, and see where magic is located around him. If he miscasts, his eyes focus on a random, meaningless dimension instead, rendering him momentarily blind.

Power: Detect Magic, Range, +3 PER
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 3d6 Flash (-½).
Active Cost: 14.
END Cost: 1; Magic Roll: -1; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 3.

Disrupt Magic

This spell disrupts any specific magic spell or enchantment. If the spell fails, the caster is rendered momentarily blind.

Power: 8d6 Dispel Magic
Modifiers: Any magic spell (+¼); Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 3d6 Flash (-½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 6.

College Spells

Warp Walk

This spell teleports the caster to any location which he is able to see. (He may also teleport "blind," using the rules for that as found in the Hero System Rulesbook.) If he fails his roll, he's still teleported, but not where he intended.

Power: 15" Teleport
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- teleport to hex of GM's choosing (-½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 6.

Peephole

This spell allows the character to see in at any location within a mile. A band of energy appears across the caster's eyes, effectively blinding him to the world around him but enabling him to see through a similar (if very tiny) band at the location he's seeing. If he miscasts, he sees all those locations at once, with the overload of light rendering him momentarily blind.

Power: Clairsentience -- vision, 1600" range
Modifiers: Concentration throughout at 0 DCV (-1), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 3d6 Flash (-½).
Active Cost: 40.
END Cost: 4; Magic Roll: -4; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 7.

Greater Dimensions

This spell warps the caster's dimensions, making him much larger than he actually is. His strength increases proportionally, but it's difficult to maintain, since the caster must spend END for the spell as well as for the STR he uses. If he miscasts the spell, he loses some of his STR and BODY as his body tries (unsuccessfully) to shrink.

Power: Growth, 30 pts.
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 2d6 STR Drain with ½d6 BODY Drain (-½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 6.

Lesser Dimensions

Like its companion spell, this spell warps the caster's dimensions, but this makes the caster small. If the caster misses his roll, he gets only the partial effect of losing some running ability.

Power: Shrinking, 30 pts.
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 1½d6 Drain to Running (-½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 6.

Reach

This spell enables the caster to warp space between him and a desired target up to 8 meters away, allowing him to reach through the tiny warp and affect what's there. To observers, it looks as though the caster's arm were actually stretching the entire distance, with a rainbow-hued cylinder around it. If he miscasts the spell, the warp wraps around him and he becomes tangled up in his own body.

Power: 4" Stretching.
Modifiers: Indirect (+½); Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 3 DEF, 3d6 Entangle (-½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 6.

Intercept

With this spell, the caster creates a tiny globule of energy which maneuvers at the speed of thought to intercept incoming ranged attacks and teleport them to another dimension. If the spell is miscast, then a field is set up around the caster which causes missile weapons to hit with increased force.

Power: Missile Deflection vs. all ranged attacks, +5 to Roll.
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 1½x STUN and BODY vs. missile attacks (-½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 6.

Phase Shift

The caster of this spell is shifted slightly out of phase with the real world, so that physical objects do not affect him. He is, however, affected by mental-based magic, and by certain other spells (which must be designed to affect characters out of phase). While the world appears normal to him, he appears to others as transparent against the rainbow-hued energies of his magic. If the spell is miscast, the fabric of space is torn right through the caster's body, seriously injuring him.

Power: Desolidification.
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 2d6 Killing Attack (-½).
Active Cost: 40.
END Cost: 4; Magic Roll: -4; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 8.

Small Vision

This spell enables the caster to see things as though they were much larger -- because, to him, they are much larger. Actually, he's looking through a pair of short tubes that magnifies the object's dimensions. If he miscasts the spell, the reverse happens, making the caster see everything as impossibly small and rendering him effectively blind for several seconds.

Power: 100,000x Microscopic Vision
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 3d6 Flash (-½).
Active Cost: 15.
END Cost: 1; Magic Roll: -1; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 3.

Far Vision

This spell enables the caster to focus in on something at a great distance and see it normally, by eliminating much of that distance. He's actually looking through twin tubes not much unlike those for the companion spell, Small Vision. The results of a miscast is effectively identical to that of that spell.

Power: +10 Telescopic Vision
Modifiers: Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 20 points in Dimensional Magic College (-½), Side Effects -- 3d6 Flash (-½).
Active Cost: 15.
END Cost: 1; Magic Roll: -1; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 3.

Unique Spells

Dimension Walk

With this spell, the caster may transport himself, along with up to one and a half tons of passengers and cargo, to another dimension. Some of the cargo may be desolidified in some way, as long as it still has some kind of mass (spirits don't count).

The dimension must be chosen when the spell is developed -- indeed, many mages in this College have this spell several times, for the several dimensions which they frequent. Also, the dimension must be one which the caster has frequented regularly prior to buying the spell, or one which he has given thorough research.

Note that, in most cases, a dimension mage will need a minimum of two versions of this spell -- one to go to another dimension, and another to get back. He can't use the same spell to return to where he came from. In fact, the first version learned is usually the latter, since the spell (any version) can be used from any dimension.

This spell will not work near a gateway to a dimension other than the one he's trying to enter. In effect, the gateway "crowds" out the door that the caster is trying to create. Most gateways will only interfere for about 500 meters, but gates that cover more than one hex of space will probably interfere for proportionally greater distances.

This spell is also poorly suited for combat situations, since it takes so much time to cast (five minutes) and is so very tiring.

Power: Extra-Dimensional Movement to one specific dimension, with up to 1600 kg extra mass.
Modifiers: Affects Desoldified (+½); Concentrate at 0 DCV (-½), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- 5 minutes (-2), must have at least 40 points in Dimensional Magic College (-1), Costs 3x END (-1), Side Effects -- 2d6 Armor Piercing Killing Attack Explosion centered on caster (-1), won't work within 250" of an open gateway to a third dimension (-¼).
Active Cost: 60.
END Cost: 24; Magic Roll: -6; Casting Time: 5 minutes.
Real Cost: 7.

Archer's Tunnel

This spell opens up a "space tunnel" that allows ranged attacks of nearly any sort to pass through. It may be cast on the caster himself, or on one of his friends, but in any event it will affect any attacks used by the recipient, without needing to recast the spell each time.

The spell must generate at least enough points to give the attack at +¼ Advantage, in which case the attack skips the barrier between the hex the attacker is in and the adjacent hex. If the spell gives the attack enough points for a +½ Advantage, the attacker may control how much space the attack skips each time he uses it. If the spell gives enough points for a +¾ Advantage, the attacker may also control which direction the attack comes from. While the recipient of this spell may generally change attacks without losing its benefit, he doesn't get the benefit if he tries to use an attack that's too powerful to get a +¼ Advantage from the points given by the Aid.

(Note: this is, admittedly, not how the Aid Power is supposed to work under the 4th edition HERO System. Normally, it could only add the number of dice of damage that a weapon does. However, this is the only way I could find to achieve this effect.)

This spell appears as two balls of energy, one floating directly in front of the recipient and the other at the location where the attack emerges. Effectively, it's teleporting the recipient's attacks to a location where they are less likely to be intercepted. If the spell is miscast, the caster is teleported to a location of the GM's choice.

Power: 2d6 point Indirect Advantage Aid to all ranged attacks.
Modifiers: Applies to all ranged attacks (+2); Concentrate at ½ DCV (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- 1 phase (-½), must have at least 40 points in Dimensional Magic College (-1), Side Effects -- 30" Teleport to GM's choice of location (-1).
Active Cost: 60.
END Cost: 6; Magic Roll: -6; Casting Time: 1 phase.
Real Cost: 10.

Rendor's Redirection

This spell is a defensive application of the Archer's Tunnel spell, combined with qualities of the Intercept spell. While one globule of energy moves to catch incoming attacks, it teleports these attacks to the second globule, directing them toward targets of the caster's choice. A miscasting of this spell disrupts space around the caster, making it more difficult for him to maintain equilibrium to to react to what goes on around him.

Power: Reflection vs. any attack, to any target, +5 to Roll.
Modifiers: Concentrate throughout at ½ DCV (-½), Gestures throughout (-½), Incantations (-¼), Requires Magic Skill Roll (-½), Fragile OAF -- staff (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), must have at least 40 points in Dimensional Magic College (-1), Side Effects -- 2d6 DEX Drain (-1).
Active Cost: 60.
END Cost: 6; Magic Roll: -6; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 9.