Spells

Fire spirits can infuse metal with their own fury, turning a sharp edge into a supremely perfect one. This spell enhances the damage of steel bladed weapons, such as swords, knives, naginata, etc. Biting Steel cannot affect weapons which are not metal blades, which are nemuranai, or which have already been enhanced by magical effects. The weapon's DR is increased by 1k1 for the duration of the spell.

This spell embraces a weapon with fire, causing it to be larger and more effective. When the spell is cast, a tendril of fire extends from your hands to engulf your weapon. (If you drop or lose the weapon, the spell effect ends.) This weapon gains a +1k1 bonus to melee attack rolls. The bonus is +2k2 when making attacks against mounted opponents or opponents of larger than human size.

A precursor to the secret elemental transformation spell that Agasha would devise later, this spell stripped a touched object of unwanted Elements, leaving a single Element behind. When the spell is cast, the caster declares a single Element (except Void) that he wishes to reveal. The rest of the elements are destroyed in a fashion appropriate to their type (water boils out, earth crumbles, fire dissipates, air creates a vacuum), leaving behind the desired element. The loss of certain elements may have different effects, based on the item. A lack of water means an item might lose any pliability or movement, a lacking earth means the object becomes brittle, and so on.

The form of this remaining element is left to the GM, and the GM may rule that certain objects (such as a katana) have too many closely intertwined elements to be affected by this spell. This spell may only affect a single object of 1 cubic foot in total size, plus an additional cubic foot per Raise.

Fire's most basic power is destruction, and summoned Fire spirits can easily be unleashed on one's enemies. This spell invokes a single Fire kami, which lances toward the target, hitting unerringly so long as the target is within range. The spell deals 2k2 wounds. The burns this spell inflicts are quite painful, and if the spell targets a shugenja who is casting a spell, his Willpower roll has a TN of 20 plus the damage dealt, instead of the normal 10 plus damage dealt.

Fire spirits can be driven away by the proper invocation, a very useful ability in Rokugani towns and cities where the construction is all wood and paper. The spell dismisses the active Fire kami in the area. All non-magical fire in the area of effect is immediately snuffed out, and any damage dealt by fire (magical or not) reduces its DR by 1k1 until the start of the next round.

This prayer calls on the Fire kami to stimulate the mind and memory, allowing the recipient to recall the most obscure information, details he may have encountered only once or briefly. For the duration of this spell, the target gains a +Xk0 bonus (where X is the caster’s Fire Ring) to any High or Merchant Skill rolls using the Intelligence Trait.

This spell, one of the few directly protective prayers involving the Fire kami, asks the kami to protect one person, enveloping the target in a shroud of bright flames. Neither the target nor anything he carries takes damage from the spell, but anyone who comes into contact with him or strikes him with a melee attack takes 2k2 Wounds. Anyone the target strikes in melee with an unarmed attack or a weapon he carried when the spell was cast also takes an extra 2k2 Wounds. Anything the target puts down, however, cannot be picked back up without subjecting it to the damage from the spell. Ranged weapons such as arrows bypass this barrier of fire, dealing Wounds as normal.

This spell is actually a prayer to the Fortune of Fire and Thunder, inviting his wrath upon your enemy. It can only be cast outdoors, and summons a bolt of lightning from the sky, striking the target for 5k2 Wounds. Everyone within 10' of the target must make a Stamina roll versus a TN of 15 to avoid being deafened for 2 Rounds. If this spell is cast during a thunderstorm, the damage is increased to 6k2 for a moderate storm and 6k3 for a disastrous storm or hurricane.

This spell is a prayer to Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, asking her to bestow her favor on the caster in the form of radiant Fire kami. (In the twelfth century, when Amaterasu is superceded first by Yakamo and then by the Jade Sun, the name and forms of this spell changes, but the effects remain the same.) Once the prayer is completed, warm sunlight blazes down on the chosen area, bathing it in full daylight even if it is at night, indoors, or underground. This spell is particularly popular among shugenja who are assigned to assist in the protection of castles and other vital locations, since a sudden blaze of daylight can bea very effective deterrent to thieves, assassins, and spies.

You summon a blade of pure fire, blazing like the soul of an honorable warrior. The weapon's default form is a katana, but one Raise can change its form to any other sword of your choosing. The katana has a DR of 2k2. When wielding this weapon, you may use your School Rank in place of your Kenjutsu Skill if you wish. If you do possess the Kenjutsu Skill, you add your Honor Rank to all damage rolls made with this weapon. the katana of fire disappears if it is lost from your hand. Instead of summoning the katana for yourself, you may cause it to appear in the hands of an ally within 20 feet. He is treated as the caster for all purposes of the spell, but does not gain the Honor boost to damage.

This spell invokes Fire's element of knowledge and understanding, strengthening the spirit of one of your allies by opening his eyes to the courage of his ancestors. The target of the spell receives a bonus to all attack rolls, Skill rolls, and Trait Rolls equal to your Fire Ring. This effect lasts until either the spell expires, or until the target fails an attack roll or Skill Roll, or until the target suffers Wounds from any source, whichever comes first.

This prayer acts in the exact opposite way of the commonly-used spell Extinguish; instead of urging the Fire kami to depart and thus put out flames, it urges them to greater energy and vigor, making flames harder to extinguish. For the duration of this spell, all fires within the area of effect become impossible to extinguish by normal means, and any magical effort to put them out (such as the aforementioned Extinguish spell) must succeed in a Contested Fire roll with the caster of Osano Wo’s Blessing. This spell is controversial, since it can result in otherwise controllable fires in cities and villages raging out of control. Pacifistic shugenja such as the Asahina and Isawa generally eschew its usage.

Destruction is one of the basic impulses of Fire, and this spell calls on that urge to spread destruction in the caster's surroundings. The spell whips the kami into a frenetic chaos, destroying everything around you. everyone in the area of effect, including you, suffers damage with DR equal to your Fire Ring. This result is rolled once and applied to everyone within the area - however, you take only half damage (rounded up), since the kami do make some effort to avoid you.

Fire is the element of creation as well as destruction, and a skilled shugenja can use this to great effect. This spell invokes the powers of the forge, mighty and merciless, to remake a material item, such as a weapon or suit of armor, into its perfect form. The target item loses all blemishes, including cracks and nicks. This spell cannot repair an item which has actually been broken or destroyed, however, it can only affect items that are of ordinary quality.

Fire is the Element of wit and intellect as well as the Element of destruction. This spell excites the Fire kami within the mind, allowing the target to notice threats and react to them far more quickly than normally. For the duration of the spell, the target is immune to being surprised, adds +1k0 to any Initiative rolls he makes, and may add +3 to his Initiative total during the Reactions stage of each Round.