Etheric Defense

There are several basic capabilities of all characters when it comes to the etheric that can protect them from harmful effects when used carefully. The core of the entire system of etheric defenses is the ability of all characters to sense etheric effects around them.

Etheric Perception

This test would be Simple(D2) if it weren't for the usual circumstances of such attacks. A character quietly meditating in solitude does make a Simple(D2) test for Etheric Perception with the target being the perceiver's Magic Attribute. Most circumstances will be far from this peaceful. The etheric noise level of a party of three or more, moving about, scouting, et cetera raises this test to Challenging(D3). The presence of magical artifacts or the confusion of melee would certainly raise difficulties another level. The result of a successful test is that the target individual(s) learn that a spell is being cast at them. A similar test is possible to determine if an object possesses etheric power - though all that is revealed is whether the item is in fact enchanted, not it's capabilities.

Once detected, etheric attacks can be deflected with Protective Spell Skills. These spells are most often cast with the Essence method so that they can be effective in time to thwart another's casting. Unlike the perception ability above, these spell skills must be learned individually.

Figuring out what a magical artifact does is a "fraught with peril-enter at your own risk" kind of thing. More often than not the actual spell contained within the artifact will be triggered. The key is not being the target of the spell.

Discern Magical Writing/Function

The function of a magical device or the identity of a spell contained within a scroll (or other text), symbol or potion may be determined by any practitioner of a Method consistent with the item being studied. If a character has learned only the Prayer and/or Ritual Methods his discernment of magical capabilities will be limited to textual works.
Magic (or Miracle as appropriate) is the default attribute for this test. Difficulty level should be determined from the highest (base) difficulty level of spell contained within the device (+1 per additional spell). This difficulty may be increased by the GM to account for significant discrepancy between known Method and the artifacts construction. The difficulty should be decreased by -1 if the character already knows any spell within the device. The exercise will take (Difficulty * 1000) / (Magic Proficiency * Method Level) minutes of quiet contemplation to accomplish. Success in this test reveals the component functions/spells and an appropriate triggering mechanism (though not necessarily all triggering mechanisms). Failure of the test triggers the spell(s) with the Mage as target. 20% of the time this will result in destruction or damage to the device (generally will eliminate one spell/function from the device).

Example: Woodaxe (a Cabalist of considerable talent) is brought a mysterious magical number puzzle (Magic Square device) for evaluation. He negotiates a fair price for his services and retires to his laboratory to examine the device.
The GM indicates that the device is very complicated, with a difficulty to discern of D6. Since this is a similar to a Cabalistic Rune, the GM allows only a +1 difficulty modifier. Woodaxe spends appropriate time investigating the item (7 * 1000)/(25*6)=47 minutes later he feels he has cracked the code and rolls his difficulty test 7D vs. [25 + 6 points Method]. If he succeeds he discovers the "Detect Enemies spell that triggers Create and Accelerate Poison Gas". If he fails the spell(s) goes off leaving him in a cloud of poison gas, gasping for his last breath, with a 20% chance of having damaged the device (he won't care, but his client might).

Reading Magical Texts (Learning Spells)

A spell is "learned" from a written source during an enchantment of the spell formula using an Etheric Discord rating equal to the difficulty of the spell contained within the formula. If the written spell is from the same Method as the character attempting to learn it, each point of such method training counts twice in the time calculation. If the text is written in a language unknown to the learner, this difficulty should be increased according to the degree of difference between that language and those known by the investigator. The spell is actually cast during each hour of the enchantment process, and appropriate fatigue expended.

Example: Friar Green finds a scrap of parchment tucked between the pages of an old bible in the nightstand of a room he's using for the evening. Though the markings are written starkly and with maddeningly erratic strokes he does find some familiar Latin words therein. Convinced he has found some marvelous relic, he begins the tedious process of deciphering the note.
The GM tells the player that the spell is a D4 Prayer written in French (a descendant of Latin using the same alphabet and thus only a +1 difficulty). The player digs out his calculator and character sheet.

Etheric Discord	4	spell difficulty + 1 =	5
Miracle Proficiency	16	he's not been at this long	16
Method	2	Prayer, doubled	4
Formula	5 * 1000 / 16 * 4 =		78+

78+ enchanting days later (about 3/4 the time it would have taken him without the help) Friar Green's learned the spell - assuming he has the 500 EP.

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