Charms

The most common type of magic, these are small objects or simple rote actions imbued with magical power. They require a minimum RadCount to be used.

Radiance 0

 * Luck Chips : Small poker chips that contain stored Luck. By "cashing in their chips" (casting the chips away from them, which uses up their charge), the user gains an additional Head Count coin for every chip they spend.


 * Pixie Stix : Drinking straws full of concentrated "Radiance Dust", collected by capturing pixies and shaking them (careful, they bite). One strawful of the dust can make up on level of difference between the local RadCount and a higher level needed for use of a charm.

Radiance 1

 * Ace of Spades : This charm can be placed on any digging tool. The item in question can allow the user to excavate twice as fast as normal. In addition, if the item is used as a weapon, it will do bonus damage equal to the number of successes on a three-coin Head Count, in addition to the normal type of damage for the item.


 * Acorns : Charms can placed on acorns allowing them to carry a small charge of lightning. Acorns are rare in the UnderWorld (no trees, after all), but some UnderWorlders try to gather acorns from the surface after a thunderstorm (Throw 6 coinsyou find 1 appropriate acorn for each success). Those acorns can be thrown at a target (range: immediate) and will do 2 coins of electrical shock damage for every acorn thrown.


 * Bedtime : A mix of fine sand and eyelashes blown from the palm of the hand across the subject to be put to sleep. 2 successes on a three-coin Head Count will put the target into a deep, natural sleep. The target can be woken as normal.


 * Beer Goggles : This is a charm that enchants any pair of glasses, turning them into eyewear that allows the user to see in the dark. One success in a three-coin Head Count is needed during the creation of the Beer Goggles. If three successes are achieved, the goggles will also be able to see the invisible or magically obscured.


 * Begging Hat : The Begging Hat is a beat-up old hat with a charm placed upon it that attracts money. The user lays it down, and throws a three-coin Head Count. The had will magically attract small amounts of money, subway tokens, and even food if the throw garners two successes or more.


 * Brass Knuckles : A set of brass knuckles that have been imbued with the essence of a sledgehammer, enabling them to do far more damage than their appearance would merit. When a successful attack is made with the knuckles, the attacker makes a three coin Head Count. Each success equals a bonus coin for damage determination, in addition to the 1 coin normally bestowed by the knuckles.


 * Colours : Enchantment placed on any clothing emblazoned with signs of the character's allegiance (the emblem of their Lord, for example), that allows it to act as armor against attacks. When the item is created, throw a three-coin Head Count. The number of successes achieved is the protection offered by the armor. Multiple layers of Colours are not permitted.


 * Daedalus Twine : A ball of string or yarn that unwinds along twisted passages to help wanderers find their way in, out or through a labyrinth. The user places the ball on the ground and the ball rolls along, spooling its thread out behind it, leading the way. Requires a Head Count using 3 coins (modified by appropriate bonuses), and requires 2 successes.


 * Dowsing Rod : A dowsing rod is a stick with a charm placed upon it that can be used to find sources of drinkable water. One success on a three-coin Head Count is all that is required (well, OK, that, and a stick).


 * Forget-Me-Knots : A charm to hold a captured thought. As the information is remembered, a knot is tied to trap the thought and keep it from being lost. The knot or bow can take any form, and is a favored charm of Nomads. The user throws a 3 coin Head Count. If no successes are garnered, the charm fails. If one success is made, the charm succeeds. If 2 or more successes are made, the memory can be retrieved by anyone untying the knot, rather than just the original user.


 * Free Ride : The Free Ride is an OysterCard (an RFID debit card used to pay for public transport) that has been enchanted to allow the user to pass through turnstiles without having to pay. Normally, UnderWorlders would simply leap over the turnstiles, but that is not possible in stations which use floor-to-ceiling revolving iron gates known colloquially as "Iron Maidens" &mdash; the Free Ride allows passage through these. No Head Count is needed.


 * Life Stone : A stone worn on a necklace, enchanted to give the wearer an extra coin to resist damage during combat. No Head Count is necessary.


 * Mob Cap : This charm, when placed on an ordinary hat or cap, allows the target to blend into crowds, becoming indistinct and unmemorable. The user throws a three-coin Head Count, and each success acts as a one coin penalty against anyone's efforts to locate the user within the crowd.


 * Moths of Confusion : A charm placed on a small wicker cage filled with moths (two successes on a three-coin Head Count to enchant the moths, but first you have to gather them). When the cage is opened, the moths flutter around the face of the target, distracting the target from whatever he or she is doing. Throw a three-coin Head Count. 1 success indicates the target is distracted...3 successes indicates that the victim suffers temporary amnesia for about an hour.


 * Pack o' Smokes : This charm summons transportation. The user takes a regular pack of cigarettes, and taps them three times on the heel of his hand. The user then takes out a cigarette and lights it. Transportation of some form will arrive before the end of the cigarette if the user can make three successes on a three-coin Head Count.


 * Protective Incense : This charm allows the smoke from any stick of incense to create a perimeter of smoke roughly 20 feet across. A three-coin Head Count is thrown. Every success will add one level of difficulty that must be overcome by anyone attempting to cross the smoke. The smoke lasts for as long as the incense burns.


 * Sleep Visor : A sleeping visor of the sort handed out on airlines or at hotels, imbued with a charm that allows the wearer to experience a full night's rest in only one hour. No head count is necessary.


 * Soup Stone : This is a charm that will allow the user to create a pot of soup by dropping any stone into a pot of boiling water. Its successful use will feed one person for every heads result on a three-coin throw.

Radiance 2

 * Abracadabra : A charm to heal wounds. The word "Abracadabra" is written 3 times on a scrap of paper, and then bound over the wound. A three-coin Head Count is thrown, and a number of wounds is instantly healed for every success gained.


 * Bluebeard's Key : A charm which will unlock any lock. To create the charm, you need a found key, and then you need to wrap a blue hair around it seven times. (Blue hair is not as hard to find as it once was, especially if you look in Greenwich Village). When the key is used on any lock, throw a three-coin Head Count. 1 success will open the lock.


 * Freeze Tag : This charm can be placed on an torn-off matress tag, turning it into a powerful weapon (see, there's a reason you're not supposed to remove those). If an attacker can successfully slap the tag onto a target during combat (treat as a hand-to-hand attack), the tag will freeze the target in place. The charm will activate on three successes on a three-coin Head Count. The target will remain unable to move until the tag is removed.


 * Glowstix : This charm, when placed upon a stick, makes the stick in question radiate all of the sunlight it once absorbed. The Glowstix can then be used as light sources In the UnderWorld. Many UnderWorlders carry them wrapped in cloth to douse their light until needed. No Head Count is necessary to create this charm.


 * Guiding Light : A flashlight or lantern with a stored charm within it that allows the light to shine in the direction where the user wishes to go. The light will bend around corners, etc. to aid in traveling to a particular location. This charm can only be used to guide the user to a location, rather than find a specific person or object. A Head Count of three coins, achieving 2 successes is necessary for its use, otherwise it functions as a normal light.


 * Hair of Rapunzel : A short coil of rope braided from strips of cabbage leaf. (2 successes on a three-coin Head Count to create) When uncoiled, it grows into a length of climbing rope as long as needed. It reverts to its former size when re-coiled.


 * Hot Rocks : This charm is cast on any two stones. A three-coin Head Count is thrown, and if two successes are achieved, the stones will always radiate the heat of a campfire if they are placed in contact with each other. The heat sheds no light, and will do 3 coins of damange if anyone touches the stones while they are in contact. The heat completely disappears if the stones are moved apart.


 * Ill Wind : The creation of a short blas of gale force wind by pointing at your target and whistling. The wind will begin from the end of the caster's finger, and travel at full force to the target. The wind is strong enough to knock over any target that is slightly larger than man-sized, or less. The wind itself does no damage, but could certainly be dangerous if directed at someone precariously balanced over a precipice, for example. Requires a 3 coin Head Count with 2 successes.


 * Jinx : A charm that can cause the target to fail whatever action he or she is attempting. The caster crosses their fingers, kisses the knuckles and points at the target. A Head Count is thrown, and 2 successes are required to make the target fail. If 3 successes are achieved, then the target not only fails, but fails spectacularly.


 * Life Vest : A charm which allows an article of clothing to act as a life preserver that works on both water and in the air, protecting the wearer from falls as well as drowning. It takes a 3 coin Head Count to activate. One success will bestow buoyancy, and 2 will bestow weightlessness.


 * Protective Chalk : This chalk is able to draw lines through the Radiance. Inscribing a circle with it protects those inside from the effects of charms directed at them. (No Head Counts necessary) Obscuring the chalk line will remove the protective effects.


 * Red Rover : A voical charm for retrieving small personal items. The user says, "Red Rover, Red Rover, send (object) over" while holding out their hand, palm up, to receive the item. A 3 coin Head Count is throw, and on 2 successes, any personal item owned by the user, but currently in hand, will appear.


 * Slapstick : A charm placed on any stout piece of wood (approximately two feet long) carried in a plain burlap sack. When the bag is opened, the stick will fly out and begin to thwack any target appointed by the owner about the head and shoulders until the bag is opened a second time--at which point the stick returns to the bag. Creating the Slapstick required two successes on a three-coin Head Count. The stick is a distance weapon which does 3 coins of damage.


 * Strength of the Green Knight : A charm that bestows upon the user two additional coins to resist damage, and one additional coin for Strength Feats. It is cast by weaving a tendril of ivy around the caster's neck, which grows tendrils down around the torso and limbs. Creation of this powerful charm requires three successes on a three-coin Head Count.


 * Voice of the Mermaid : This charm requires the user to breathe in through a conch shell. No Head Count necessary to create the charm &mdash; although you do have to find a conch shell. Breathing in through the shell will give the user a magnificent signing voice and a charming and easy manner which makes them much more persuasive. (Throw a three-coin Head Count. The effects last for a number of turns equal to the number of successes, and bestow a bonus to persuasion equal to those successes as well).