Thaumaturgy
Feats of extraordinary willpower and cunning may bend the definition of the natural, and force the world to obey laws of mystery.
These rules are an extension of Beasts in The Night
To cast spells, choose which belief you are enforcing upon the world and the foci you use to accomplish it.
Each focus used in a spell adds +1d6 to your casting pool.
Count each unnatural thing the spell does. Each day of duration, living target, or discrete object counts as a thing. In some cases it may be easier to round to averages for fields of science; Biology, Neurology, Haematology, etc. Roll that many dice for opposition, representing the force of Normality.
If any casting dice roll a result of 5-6, the spell succeeds. If there are more successes for Normality than casting dice, the belief of the caster is shaken and that amount of Normality remains until the next time magic is cast.
Consequences persist where magic does not.
CREATING FOCI
A magician can ritually consecrate physical objects to turn them into Foci for her spells. This also increases the caster's base amount of ongoing normality by 1.
A focus is not undone unless ritually cleansed, which can be attempted with a SAN roll once per day.
There is no limit to number of foci a magician may create this way. They do not work for others.
COUNTERMAGIC
All characters have +2 casting dice to dispel magic.
TRUE MAGIC
There are Magic Words which may be engraved onto the soul, substituting for a magician's raw belief when casting spells. The word FIRE begets fire, as the word SPEAK begets language, as the word FRUIT begets reproduction.
Learning a Word requires weeks of intense study after succeeding a SAN test caused by its effects, or otherwise completing some heroic self imposed feat of epiphany.
Magic Words also permanently retain 2 foci, which are chosen for free, and are more supernal or conceptual than ones created from physical things.
Circles, Bubblegum, True Crime, and Aramaic are examples of supernal foci.
KNOWING ADDITIONAL WORDS
Additional Magic Words may take the place of supernal foci in a spell. Up to three Words may be used in a spell this way, so long as the result aligns with the definitions of each word.
NORMALITY
If Ongoing Normality is greater than half of total SAN all disposition rolls are made at -1. At greater than total SAN this increases to -2, and the use of Magic Words provokes a SAN roll, failure meaning a word is forgotten and must be relearned.
OPPOSED SPELLS
initiative to whoever takes the most ON.
DELAYED SPELLS
A magical effect may be held in reserve, or passed on, until the circumstances to trigger it are met.
Delayed spells work differently to ordinary spells in two ways. The Normality in achieving their effects is doubled, and they use conditions as foci.
The conditions for a delayed spell are increasingly elaborate prerequisites, making the spell happen once they are coincidental. Each condition acts as a foci, each one increasing the casting pool by +1.
Ezekiel Simpson lays out a summoning circle which will conjure a demon when its prerequisites are met. The demon does not exist, has no body, no mind, and no comprehension. With broad assumptions, the Normality of this spell would be 8, doubled to 16. Ezekiel sets conditions on the spell, requiring a caster dressed in black robes, obeisances to the four cardinal directions, the burning of incense, the blood of a goat, the blood of a virgin, a specific hour at dusk, and the use of a wand which has been smeared with coal. These conditions result in a casting pool of 7, which Ezekiel is lucky enough to succeed at. The next person who now completes the conditions for this spell as described will conjure Ezekiel's demon.