Also known as Blessing, White Magic, and Boons, Benemancy is the magic of good fortune. At its most basic (Hope Circle), it allows the magician to bestow minor blessings and turns of fortune upon a target. At middle levels (Faith Circle), it can bestow significant gifts of good fortune, channel the raw energies of good luck itself, and even provide some protection from negative magicks. In its highest form (Fulfillment Circle), the magician can completely eliminate the consequences of a poor decision or insulate a target against significant black magic.
Benemancy is a very common path. It is most often a secondary area of study that pays for itself in the love of the people on whom the magician bestows his blessings. It is generally a subtle enough art that even those not preserved by Benemancy might attribute the good fortune they receive to the (non-magical) blessing of the Benemancer. Many cultures, however, recognize the paradoxical similarity between the blessings of Benemancy and the horrible curses of Malomancy and respectfully fear the magician, lest luck at dice and a safe journey become a plague of boils and a barbarian raid.
Benediction
Cost: 4 motes
Prerequisite Spells: None
For the next 24 hours, the target cannot botch rolls of one Ability chosen by the caster, and the target gains a number of additional dice to all those Ability rolls equal to the magician's Compassion or the target's Heroism, whichever is lower. This spell may provide its bonus to the same target more than once while another Benediction is in effect, but no Ability may benefit from its effects more than once at a given time. This does not affect Charms or rolls to activate Heroics.
Bolster the Believer's Faith
Cost: 5 motes
Prerequisite Spells: None
The target regains 1 point of temporary Willpower. This may not raise a target's temporary Willpower higher than her permanent Willpower.
Bless the Soldier's Arms
Cost: 5 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Benediction
For the next 24 hours, one of the target's Abilities chosen by the magician counts as 2 higher for the purpose of choosing and activating Heroics. No one Ability may benefit from this spell more than once at a given time.
Heroism-Enhancing Talisman
Cost: 5 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Bolster the Believer's Faith
The magician may transfer Heroics from himself to the target, to a maximum number of feats equal to the magician's Compassion. The target's Heroics pool cannot exceed its normal maximum capacity. Exalted and other Essence-wielders who do not have a Heroics pool instead gain 2 motes per feat transferred to them in this way.
Limitless Reserves
Cost: 6 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Heroism-Enhancing Talisman
If the number of feats in the touched target's Heroics pool is less than his Primary Virtue, his Heroics pool is raised so it equals his Primary Virtue. Used on one of the Exalted or other Essence-wielding being, this spell causes the target's Personal Essence pool, if it is currently lower than her Permanent Willpower score, to be equal to her Permanent Willpower.
White Witch's Blessing
Cost: 5 motes + 1 feat
Prerequisite Spells: Benediction
The magician chooses 1 Heroic she is capable of activating (including those that grant an Edge temporarily). For the next 24 hours, the target may activate that Heroic (using the magician's Ability and Heroism instead of her own) by paying the feat's cost, even if she normally does not meet the minimum requirements. Exalted and other creatures who do not have a Heroics pool may spend 1 Willpower to activate this Heroic, instead.
Preserve from Death
Cost: 4 motes
Prerequisite Spells: None
This spell negates a number of successes on a damage roll equal to the magician's Compassion on the next single life-threatening injury suffered by the target. No target may benefit from more castings of this spell than her Heroism at any given time. It is possible for this spell to last for months or even years before its power is used up. A life-threatening injury is defined as any injury that would result in the target's incapacitation or death.
Good Luck Charm
Cost: 8 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Benediction
For the next 24 hours, the target receives 1 extra die on all Ability checks other than those used to activate Heroics or related to Charms. No one may benefit from more than one Good Luck Charm at a time.
Virtue-Encouraging Counsel
Cost: 10 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Heroism-Enhancing Talisman
For the next 24 hours, one of the target's Virtues is increased, though the magician cannot increase a Virtue so that it exceeds his own. The target benefits from this blessing exactly as if her Virtue were at the new level - gaining feats, greater magical potency, increased protection from certain negative effects, more dice when channeling Willpower through that Virtue. In the case of Exalted and magicians whose Quirks imitate the effects of the Great Curse, this increased Virtue can also be a liability.
Good Witch's Favor
Cost: 10 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Bless the Soldier's Arms
For the next 24 hours, the target's Heroism is counted as 1 higher for the purposes of choosing and activating Heroics and resisting negative effects (including spells). The maximum benefit any creature may gain from all uses of this spell upon her at a time cannot exceed her Conviction. Exalted and other creatures who do not have a Heroics pool may spend 1 Willpower to activate Heroics, instead.
Expand Mortal Potential
Cost: 10 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Bless the Soldier's Arms
For the next 24 hours, one of the target's Attributes is increased by the magician's Compassion or the target's Heroism, whichever is lower, but no Attribute may benefit from this spell more than once at a given time.
Pass the Sacred Gift
Cost: 10 motes
Prerequisite Spells: White Witch's Blessing
For the next 24 hours, the target benefits from 1 Edge the magician possesses even if she normally does not meet the minimum requirements. No one may be the recipient of more Edges than her Conviction.
Prayer of Wish-Fulfillment
Cost: 10 motes
Prerequisite Spells: White Witch's Blessing
For the next 24 hours, the target may attempt to activate any Heroic related to one Ability chosen by the magician at the time this spell is cast, even if he and/or the magician would not normally meet the requirements. The dice pool for this Heroic is equal to the magician's Compassion + the target's relevant Attribute. The target must spend feats as normal to fuel this activation (Willpower, in the case of targets that do not have Heroics pools). If this spell is used to allow the target to imitate an Edge, its dice pool for the roll is instead equal to the magician's Compassion.
Assign the Penance
Cost: 12 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Preserve from Death, Virtue-Encouraging Presence
This spell affects a target within (Compassion x 10) yards. The magician must give instructions in the target's native tongue, and the target must be able to hear and understand them. If the target carries out the instructions, this spell counters the effects of one Malomancy spell. The instructions should reflect the nature of the curse in some way, and their complexity and the length of time it takes to complete them depends on the Benemancer's power compared to that of the Malomancer who bestowed the curse. These are minimums, however, and a Benemancer can assign more complex or challenging tasks if he wishes.
If the magician pronounced the curse, the task may be as simple as apologizing, requiring a single turn to complete. If the magician's Heroism is higher than that of the Malomancer who bestowed the curse and the curse is only of the First or Second Circle, the task requires at least a number of hours equal to the Heroism of the Malomancer. If the magician's Heroism is higher than that of the Malomancer or the curse is only of the First or Second Circle, the task requires at least a number of days equal to the Heroism of the Malomancer. If the magician's Heroism is equal to or less than the Malomancer's - but greater than half the Malomancer's Heroism - and the curse is of the Third Circle, the task requires at least a number of weeks equal to the Heroism of the Malomancer. If the curse is of the Third Circle, and the Heroism of the Malomancer who cast it is twice that of the magician, the Benemancer cannot lift the curse.
Trust in the Soul's Power
Cost: 17 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Virtue-Encouraging Counsel, Good Witch's Favor
For the next 24 hours, the target's permanent Essence is treated as 1 higher. This improves a magician's capacity to store Essence and grants increased protection from many Charms and spells. It does not make a mortal into one of the Exalted or God-Blooded or allow her to build a pool of Personal or Peripheral Essence. If used on one of the Exalted or God-Blooded, it increases the maximum Essence pools of these beings in addition to providing the benefits granted mortals, but does not allow the being to learn Charms higher than her normal Permanent Essence would allow. Multiple uses of this spell on a single creature are cumulative, but a creature's Permanent Essence can never be raised by more than her Heroism. A magician cannot cast this spell on a target whose Permanent Essence has already been temporarily raised by the magician's Compassion or more. If this spell is used on one of the Exalted or other Essence-wielding being, this spell can no more than double the target's normal Permanent Essence rating.
Call on the Dragon's Favor
Cost: 17 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Trust in the Soul's Power
The magician chooses one Dragon-Blooded Charm whose Minimum Essence and Minimum (Ability) requirements the target meets. For the next 24 hours, the target may activate the chosen Charm by spending Essence, though she always counts as "not of the same Aspect" for purposes of calculating the cost of this Charm. Targets that cannot normally use Essence begin with (Permanent Essence + Willpower) motes and regain Essence in exactly the same fashion as magicians. Magicians use their normal Essence pools, but add (Permanent Essence + Willpower) additional motes to both their current and maximum Essence pool for the duration of this spell, those these extra motes may only be spent to activate the target Charm. It is possible to benefit from this spell more than once, with each casting allowing the target to use additional Charms, but multiple castings do not further increase the target's Essence pool.
Beg Celestial Intercession
Cost: 20 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Call on the Dragon's Favor
This is identical to Call on the Dragon's Favor, but instead allows the target to wield a Charm normally available to one of the Celestial Exalted (Sidereal, Lunar, or Solar) whose minimum Essence, (Ability) or other requirements she meets. The number of motes of Essence the target begins with (or gains) is instead equal to (Essence x 3) + Willpower.
Wield the Small God's Might
Cost: 20 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Beg Celestial Intercession
This is identical to Call on the Dragon's Favor, but instead allows the target to wield a Spirit Charm whose minimum Essence and (Virtue) requirements she meets. The number of motes of Essence is instead equal to (Essence x 3) + Willpower + (sum of all Virtues).
Reverse the Fatal Step
Cost: 14 motes
Prerequisite Spells: Good Witch's Favor
This spell requires no shaping. The magician merely spends the motes and Willpower before his next turn to activate its magic. The hero may erase the action he took last turn, together with its consequences, opting to take another action, instead. For example, if he stepped on a floor tile that triggered an alarm, he may reverse the consequences of stepping on that tile and choose another.
This spell does not allow the magician to take the same course of action in the hopes of garnering a better result. If she fired an arrow at a guard's back and achieved a single success on the roll, and that guard detected the ambush in time to dive out of the way and raise an alarm, the magician could reverse the consequences of attacking the guard but could not simply fire the arrow again in the hopes of rolling more successes on the attack the next time or that the guard will roll fewer successes to detect and/or evade the attack. Changing an action superficially (such as by spending Willpower or describing the attack differently) will not change the result, though significant changes in the intent of the action (such as firing the arrow at a tapestry near the guard in the hopes of bringing it down on him) might grant another roll.
A single turn's action can only be affected by this spell once. If the magician missed the guard on the first attempt and then failed to bring down the tapestry on the next, she could not cast this spell a second time in order to try that turn a third time.
Restore the Weary Faith
Cost: 14 motes
Prerequisite Edges: Heroism-Enhancing Talisman
For the purposes of channeling Virtues and spending Willpower, the current story ends for the touched target, restoring all temporary Willpower to the recipient and allowing him to channel Willpower through Virtues as if he had not done so since the beginning of the story.
Conditional Blessing
Cost: 20 motes + 1 feat
Prerequisite Edges: Prayer of Wish-Fulfillment
This spell affects a target within (Conviction x 10) yards. The magician must speak aloud one or more prohibitions or required courses of action - to a minimum number of combined prohibitions and required courses of action equal to twice the number of blessings bestowed - and a blessing in the victim's native tongue so the target can hear it clearly. The course of action may be anything short of an immediately suicidal course of action, and the prohibition can be anything the victim could reasonably avoid without certainty of death. So long as the victim adheres to the courses of action and does not violate any of the conditions, this spell functions, but should she disobey the geas, the blessing bestowed by this spell immediately vanishes.
The blessing may be one or more Benemancy spells with a duration greater than instant other than Conditional Blessing the magician knows. No target may benefit from more spells linked to Conditional Blessing(s) than her Heroism. For as long as Conditional Blessing's effects lasts, the blessing aids the target so long as she does not violate the geas.
The duration of Conditional Blessing varies. If used to provide only the benefits of First Circle Spells, it lasts a number of years equal to the magician's Conviction. If used to provide the benefits of any Second Circle Spells, it lasts a number of months equal to the magician's Conviction. If used to provide the benefits of any Third Circle Spells, it lasts a number of days equal to the magician's Conviction.