Rule: Effort

Arts are fueled by Effort, a representation of the mage’s available focus and magical energy. This Effort is separate from the power used to cast spells, and a mage who has exhausted his spells for the day might still have a considerable fund of Effort left. Effort is deployed and regained much more quickly than spellcasting slots.

Effort is measured in a score equal to one plus the mage’s Magic skill plus the higher of their Intelligence or Charisma modifiers. Adventurers with the Partial Mage class have an Effort score one point lower than full Mages, though never less than one point. Healers, Vowed, and other Partial Mage classes have this decrease already factored into their listed Effort calculation.

Using Effort requires that it be Committed. The Effort is sunk into fueling the power, but will return automatically once a certain time has passed. There are three durations for which Effort is Committed, and each art indicates in its description how long the Effort must remain Committed to trigger it.

• Commit Effort for the day to trigger powerful arts. One point of Effort is invested in the power and returns the next morning after the mage has had a good night’s rest.
• Commit Effort for the scene to trigger more modest abilities. One point of Effort is invested in the power, but returns as soon as the scene is done.
• Commit Effort indefinitely to activate a persistent, lasting ability that keeps active as long as you keep one point of Effort Committed. You can reclaim this Effort at any time as an Instant action, immediately turning off the art. This Effort can remain invested indefinitely even while you’re asleep or unconscious provided you have a few minutes to prepare things properly before falling asleep. If you’re suddenly struck unconscious or killed any such powers immediately end.

Whenever Effort is Committed, only a single point is required. A very few powers might require more than one point to be Committed, but if so, it will be specified in the ability.

Each tradition has a separate pool of Effort; there is Necromancer Effort and High Mage Effort and Healer Effort and so forth. An Adventurer who picks two different traditions has two different pools of Effort, neither of which can be used to fuel arts from the other.