Ritual

'''OOG AD Note: Rituals are inherently unpredictable. They do not have any guarantees of their success.'''

In Game Lore
Rituals were the means to do significant magic before Mystfall. They took days or weeks of preparation and every minute detail needed to be accounted for. Often a hastily done or unplanned ritual ended with destruction or the death of the people involved.

Ritual hold a deep and powerful cultural relevance to NOSians as Pre-Mystfall ritual was interpreted as the embodiment of the will of NOS. Philosophy, Academics and Alchemy all stemmed from the study of ritual.

Ritual was also an important aspect of other Material Plane inhabitants but much of that knowledge was lost during The First Contact War.

The Order of Olt
The Order of Olt was the only officially recognized subset of the NOSian Church that was allowed to do rituals.

Many rituals were suppressed or redacted by The Church under heresy laws.

Established Ritual
Established rituals are typically simple rituals that imbue an item or change it in some way. These rituals are well established and typically work exactly how you want them every single time. These rituals tend to be the ones beginners are taught as they are the least likely to cause backlash, or the backlash is usually non-lethal if done incorrectly.

Examples of these rituals can be imbuing a weapon with extra power, baptizing a new follower of a religion or bringing someone back from the dead.

Spontaneous Ritual
Improvisational rituals can often be done at sites of power, with a person who has deep knowledge of how a ritual works.

These tend to be situational rituals that involve many people and resources and there is a very specific goal that needs to be achieved.

A few of these rituals have been recorded in Carreg Wynn, as it is generally regarded as the best place to do spontaneous rituals due to its position in respect to the ley lines.

An example of a spontaneous ritual is a mass teleportation spell that aims to bring people to a specific location and back once.

A ritual that uses a specific focus that will cleanse it or free a soul from within it.

Exploratory Ritual
Exploratory rituals are the most dangerous and also the most rewarding. These were tools may not have a very specific tangible goal but aim to either open up new worlds, new lands, or change something fundamentally about a person or an object.

No intelligent ritualist walks into an exploratory ritual without a grave reverence and many friends. These rituals have been rumored to be able to unravel the very fabric of a person if they go wrong.

These rituals require vast and deep understanding of rituals. These rituals require nearly every aspect to be planned in advance, from the time that the ritual is meant to be done to the exact line work in relation to the ley lines.

OOG Tips on Rituals
Ritual magic is innately chaotic and dangerous and all characters, even experienced ones approach rituals with that reverence and seriousness of that in mind. One should never approch a ritually casually lest their very arrogance affect the outcomes.

Rituals are found in two ways. Blueprinted rituals, like baptisms nearly always work as expected as long as a character has the blueprint and requirements for the blueprint. A single person does not have to do the ritual and the blueprint requirements can be fulfilled by multiple people within the ritual.

Exploratory Ritual Master list
General factors to consider in order of importance...


 * 1) 1. Email the AD before game


 * 1) 3. Goal

It can be left to the AD to decide but mind-reading leaves everyone disappointed. Have a clear stated goal for the ritual. It can be as simple as "I want a magic item." To "Remove this curse." To "Explore the effects of this hidden ritual I found."

The only exception to this is if you're doing an exploratory ritual where you want the AD to decide what is going to happen. Typically these rituals require CRPs or a compelling personal plot but that is not always the case please email the AD with questions.


 * 1) 4. Length

Detail what steps you have taken to prepare your ritual space. This includes set up time, props and preparation (like alchemy or magic).

Rituals should not be excessively long or exceptionally short. A good sweet spot is typically between 10 to 30 minutes. A 30-minute ritual should include several other people as part of it including scripted parts for each. This includes AD involvement.


 * 1) 5. Meaning

Much like the hated book reports from school. Meaning is exceptionally important. It may be as simple as a lot of triangle symbolism for a NOSian along with a three step process that involves 3 people.

Try to incorporate lore, places of power, religious beliefs, props, items of note, elements and leylines into the ritual.

Eg. I wish to create a special fire sword so I shall go to the elemental shrine. Attune my circle to fire and earth, fire for my sword, earth for the metal. I am loyal to Lord Fire, and have an item from lord earth and I'll incorporate these things into the ritual.

I'll then say a chant to call upon lord fire and lord earth and present these items that are attuned to fire, a candle, a piece of obsidian, a sword imbued with the heat of magic, and my crest that is made from sacred silver that was charred and melted by a fire elemental.


 * 1) 6. Resources

Investing resources is an important part of doing a ritual. Loosely we can reference the law of equivalent exchange, however rituals are fickle things and merely having the physical components is not enough, rituals have instability, the shape of the ritual itself uses power, stepping in and out of the ritual uses power, summoning the elements or other components requires power. It is a good rule to overinvest in a ritual, otherwise rituals have a habit of taking that power from the lifeforce of their creators.
 * 1) 7. Performance

Performance is another important aspect, if the ritual is engaging and engages other players and its creation and execution you will gain large bonus points. Don't stress too much about having an exact script but it's always good to have a general outline of the steps that are involved. Does the ritual engage the senses? Have you implemented taste, smell or movement? Do you dance, sing or perhaps chant? Think of your ritual as a show that you're putting on for the Art Director.

The involvement of multiple people in a ritual is a large boon, most of the time a number between 3 and 6 people is pretty good.