Legend of the Five Rings – Reflexive Spells

   Reflexive Spells can be used without taking an action – or even during someone else’s action. It’s a part of their design. Sadly, this means that they’re invariably pretty weak. They must be taken as innate powers with no casting roll required, and so only free raises may be used with them. They’re most commonly encountered built into special techniques. Some of the more common reflexive spells are listed below, but there are others – and some higher level possibilities.

   Level One:

• Self-Hypnosis: the user may instantly convince him or herself that something is the truth, however silly it may be – foiling powers and abilities that detect lies or are triggered by them.
• Tongue’s Lure: the user may make a contested willpower check to get someone to reveal more then they meant to in a conversation.
• Ch’i Battle; the user may make a contested void check to make an opponent who just attacked them to lose his or her next attack.
• Strength of Steel: doubles the user’s armor bonuses for three combat rounds.
• Undetection; adds the user’s stealth check result to the target number of any attempts at detecting the user by magic for the next hour.
• Psychic Weapon I: creates an arrow, knife, or similar small, light, weapon. It will last for up to ten minutes, although it will immediately vanish if someone attempts to use it against it’s creator.

   Level Two:

• Warcry: causes fear for two rounds in those nearby, with a TN of (User’s rank + 1)x5 to resist.
• Redirect; the user may make an opposed check against an attacker to redirect an attack to another target within five feet.
• Fortune’s Aid; allows the user to keep all the dice he or she rolls on a particular skill check or effectively doubles his or her skill rank for a single roll.
• Crippling Blow; allows an attack to cause a special effect, such as blindness, reduced movement, or some similar severe penalty, for the next hour. The victim, however, may resist normally and the attack must connect for the spell to take effect.
• Touch of Arcana: allows the user’s flesh, or a specific weapon he or she touches, to take on the properties of a particular magical material for the next five rounds.
• Serene Aura: keeps a chosen target from instigating any hostile action or contested roll against you for up to an hour – as long as you also refrain from doing so against them. This doesn’t work on animals, demons, or those lost to considerations of honor.
• Magic Disruption: allows the user to strike a magic-wielder and make a contested void check against them. If the user wins, his victim will be unable to use any form of magical powers through the end of the next round. This will not, however, work again before the end of the next round; there won’t be anything to disrupt.
• Psychic Weapon II: creates a one-handed weapon, bow, or similar weapon. It will last for up to ten minutes, although it will immediately vanish if someone attempts to use it against it’s creator.
• Mastery: allows the user to automatically succeed on a check, but only with a minimal success.

   Level Three:

• Blades of Truth: negates all of a target’s special damage-reducing powers save for spending void points for (Honor) rounds.
• Blade Arcane: causes whatever weapon the user indicates to be treated as an arcane material of his or her choice for the next five rounds in addition to whatever other properties it may have.
• Ultimate Evasion: the user evades any one single-target attack.
• Psychic Weapon III: creates a two-handed weapons of choice. It will last for up to ten minutes, although it will immediately vanish if someone attempts to use it against it’s creator.
• Ranged Strike: allows the user to make a single melee attack using archery range modifiers.
• Otherworldly Essence; the user may add his or her level in a chosen dimensional energy to every die used for an attack roll, damage roll, defense roll, or skill roll this round.