Overview
Mystical powers in SoHL encompass all supernatural abilities — arcane spellcasting, divine miracles, spiritual gifts, and other extraordinary capabilities.
They arrive on a character as two kinds of item, and the difference matters: a Mystery is a standing condition the character is subject to, applied through the effects it carries; a Mystical Ability is an act the character performs, and it has a test of its own. This page covers using them at the table; those two pages cover the items themselves. What the traditions actually are is the rules chapter Esoterica.
Casting Spells and Performing Miracles
To use a mystical ability:
- Open the character’s sheet and go to the Mysteries tab.
- Find the ability you want to use, under Mystical Abilities.
- Click its EML value to roll a success test — the same way you roll a skill. (Hold Shift while clicking to skip the roll dialog.)
- The system rolls the test against the ability’s Effective Mastery Level; read the outcome and apply the ability’s effect from the rulebook.
Mystical Devices
A Mystical Device is a magical item that contains mystical abilities. Enchanted weapons, holy relics, and magical rings are all mystical devices. The device holds nested Mystical Abilities that the wielder can invoke.
When a Mystical Device is given to a character (by dropping it onto their sheet), its abilities become available on the Mysteries tab.
The Mysteries Tab
The Mysteries tab on a Being’s sheet shows:
- Mysteries the character has learned
- Mystical Abilities available to the character
See also
- Mystical Ability — the item, its Effective Mastery Level, and the Success Test that performs it.
- Mystery — the item, and how a standing condition is applied.
- Affiliation — the standing a power can draw on.
- Being — the sheet the Mysteries tab belongs to.
- Skill Tests and Opposed Tests — how the roll behind a casting is read.
- Esoterica (rules) — what the traditions are, and what each ability does.
- User Guide — back to the index.