The Will is Quicker than the Eye

Legerdomancy (Aka: Skeptics, Copperfields, Hennings, etc)
Gothfae

            John Cant was a Sleeper, well, he still may be a Sleeper but no one has seen him since 1956 and he is thought to be dead. Cant was also a Professional Skeptic, and could find ways to explain almost any supernatural event in a way that the masses would accept.  He had grown up doing street magic, and developed a keen mind and fast hands. He was recruited by the Sleepers in the 40’s never knowing, or suspecting, that they actually covered up real supernatural events, and for 2 years he worked close with them burying the mystic under the scientific, the wonder beneath rationality. Despite the best efforts of the council, and of his skeptics mind, the weirdness of his job kept creeping in more and more until one night after putting down an Unnatural Servant, and losing a friend in the process, John Cant went mad and stumbled his way back to his hotel room.

            There were many things in that room that he could have embraced to explain his shattered worldview. The bottle of whiskey, a revolver, a blade… instead he sat and took a new deck out and began to manipulate it. By morning he had begun to question everything he had ever held as true in his life. He performed trick after trick on himself, until it blurred together into a mass of misdirection and questions. He took a sabbatical from his job, one the sleepers were only to happy to grant. He was a good operative, and needed to recover.

            Cant spent the next year repairing his mind by building up a radically new belief system, one that stated that observation created reality. He returned to the Sleepers and was even more effective at debunking the freaks, and even began to quietly take apprentices. Over the next 5 years he trained 12 apprentices in his school; 4 young boys, 4 women, and 4 men. Having trained a complete set of ‘face cards’, John stepped into a disappearing cabinet on his 53rd birthday and was never seen again.

            Legerdomancy was Cant’s preferred name for his school though it has been called many other things in the 40 plus years it has existed. Cant had a very specific training regimen and strict limitations on who he would recruit. For the most part this has been adhered to by the classically trained Legerdomancers. The one major change in the school is that now, in addition to Illusionists and Prestidigitators; they will also mentor special effects artists, and other hi-tech misdirection enthusiasts.

Central Paradox : While using magick and altering reality to the lowest common denominator the Legerdomancer must never reveal it to be anything but cheap stage tricks and misdirection. They cheapen and belittle the very power they wield to suspend disbelief, while actually increasing the overall disbelief in magick.

Legerdomancy Blast Style: Legerdomancy has no blast.

Note on Generating Charges: Use of magick to achieve any of these effects will, as normal, not get you a charge.

Generate a Minor Charge: Perform magic for a small crowd; close-up, street, stage, the type doesn’t matter. It should be a series of small tricks, or at least one fairly involved trick Debunk successfully a minor effect, or explain a trick to a small crowd of people. A special effects artist working on a movie would gather minor charges every day doing his job.

Generate a Significant Charge: Perform magic for a large crowd; a full night-club, a theater appearance, having your special effects shown in theaters. Debunk successfully a Significant or Major effect, or explain a trick to a large crowd of people.

Generate a Major Charge: Create a new Illusion and perform it regularly for at least 6 months without it being explained or publicly debunked (After that time you can publish the trick yourself). Debunk a long term, commonly accepted paranormal occurrence that has not been debunked before. (The Hope Diamond, The Bermuda Triangle, and Crop Circles all fell into this category once). Hi-Tech illusionists may do the same by creating a new and much improved technique that becomes widely used within the next 6 months. (Bullet Time, Go Motion, and the Jurassic Park CGI were all examples of these types of situations.)

Random Magick:

 Legerdomancy is all about deception. Their magick can alter the ‘truth’ of almost any situation, and distract, manipulate and deceive. In addition it may produce effects identical to mundane Prestidigitation, Sleight of Hand, Illusion or other forms of Magic. For a list of Magic terms that can spur ideas for new spells see – http://www.magicland.org/beginner/terms.shtml

Taboo:
Legerdomancers can never acknowledge the reality of magick or paranormal events, even to other adepts or members of the OU. Any magick used on them willingly must be ‘Rationalized’, or they break taboo.   They can intellectually rationalize magick used against them, any half-assed believable excuse is good after the fact if asked, but if pressed they will have to do some deep thinking, or ‘Rationalize’ it in order to not break taboo.

Note on Taboo: A Mentor/Apprentice may break taboo without losing charges as long as they are following the training methods as laid out by John Cant.

Starting Charges: Starting Legerdomancers begin with 4 minor charges.

Note: When altering memories, or physical events reality will always follow the path of least resistance. A healing spell can be written off as the damage not being that bad, evidence of a spectral assassin that leaves no evidence will create spore consistent with a ‘normal’ attack with the same outcome.

Minor Formula Spells:

Rationalize
1 Minor Charge

This spell takes no time to cast, and is the first spell taught to every Legerdomancer. It is usually used to allow others to cast beneficial spells on the Adept. When this spell is cast, any single event or magick used in the same round is re-written in their memory into a non-paranormal event. It can only be cast on one’s self. For an additional charge it may be used to change a threatening event into a non-threatening event, thus removing a recently gained failed or hardened check. This spell is instinctual and happens the moment the event is over allowing the Legerdomancer to continue unhindered by the effects of their stress check.

Nothing up my Sleeves
1 Minor Charge

The caster can make one small item hidden on themselves or nearby completely unfindable for a number of minutes equal to the 10’s die of the skill check. Small is generally defined as anything they could hide on themselves normally in most circumstances. A shotgun is right out unless you have a trench-coat, but a hold out pistol isn’t so hard. This defeats all detection methods, except magick. It is a contested adept roll for magickal detection. Otherwise guns don’t show up on x-rays, or on metal detectors, etc. It can not be extended, only re-cast.

Pick a Card, Any Card
2 Minor Charges

When cast
on someone within the Adepts line of sight they gain a sense through the target for a number of seconds equal to the adept roll. Any action taken by the adept breaks this sensory impression. Each additional minor charge spent adds a number of seconds equal to the Adept’s skill. Spending a minor charge in this manner does not break the adept’s concentration. Using this ability for extended periods (More than a couple minutes contiguously) can force Self checks when the spell ends, and may also force a self check just to end the spell. During the spell the caster is insensate and would require a vigorous shaking, or being dealt a point of damage to pull out from external stimuli. Those with Aura Sight or similar may be able to detect the adepts spying.

The Great Houdini
2 minor Charges

The Adept may use their adept skill for any one escape or magic skill test. This can simulate everything from pick locks, to double-jointed, to regurgitate keys.
Note that no tools are required for this skill use; you just must have dropped the lock-pick after you got out
of the cuffs or something, clumsy fool.

Prestidigitation
3 minor charges

The adept may produce a magic tool from their clothes or other nearby hiding place, or failing that from forced regurgitation or other uglier hiding places. This covers things such as a deck of cards, the ace of spades, lock-picks, etc. Small, inanimate, totally mundane items associated with their craft. With the advent of Penn and Teller guns and knives and other dangerous items are now commonly associated with Magic and can be produced at will.

Snatch
3 Minor Charges

Akin to Prestidigitation in that it summons items. In this case it summons nearby items to a location specified by the caster. (Look your card jumped to the top of the deck, now it’s in your back pocket, oh and I have your gun to so let me out before I kill you.) If the caster can actually touch the item and the location, this spell only costs 1 Minor charge.

Trick of the Light (aka: Some of the People, All the Time)
4 Minor Charges

This spell works the same as Rationalize with the following changes. The event can be anything that has happened in the past week and it can be cast on anyone. In this case a paranormal event can be redefined as one encounter with the paranormal. The caster must verbalize, write, or sign the rationalization of the new memory to the target in a language they understand, if only with hints and suppositions. Trick of the light does not work on anyone currently holding a charge of any level.

Significant Formula Spells:

Debunk
1 Significant Charge

This spell, when cast alters all the evidence of paranormal activity at a site to point towards mundanely explainable events. Each charge covers an area of about 1000 square feet.

All of the People Some of the Time
1 Significant Charge

Identical to Trick of the Light expect it works on those currently possessing magickal charges.

Oh Bullwinkle, not again
2 significant charges

As per tools of the trade, except it covers living creatures associated with Magicians and Illusionists. Just thank Las Vegas for those huge predatory jungle cats

Mass Hysteria
3 Significant Charges

As per trick of the light except it works on up to 50 people, all of which must be able to see the caster, and understand the casters chosen form of communication..

Smoke and Mirrors
4 Significant Charges

This effect is targeted at a paranormal event, whether it is mobile or stationary, and lasts for a number of hours equal to the Adept roll. During this time the effect will mask the event making anyone witnessing it more likely to rationalize it naturally. Those bearing charges, or with high Soul scores (60+) may disregard this rationalization as they like.

Major Effects:

Make a large scale illusion or special effect completely true, with a completely rational explanation. Completely re-write a paranormal event, no matter how many witnesses there were, to be completely mundane, with evidence to back it up. Some say Cant used a major charge to deceive the Invisible Clergy and ascend as the Magus. Or perhaps the Skeptic.

What you hear:
While the Legerdomancers are all about exposing mundane tricks and debunking other peoples Magick, they have a strict code about their effects, much as mundane magicians have regarding theirs. While there are certainly Copperfields that can levitate, perform mental magic, pass solid objects (like themselves) through other solid objects, and more mystifying abilities, they are loath to share them with each other. It surprising there are many ‘known’ formula spells as there are.
Also there are rumors that like cryptomancy there are actually two schools of Legerdomancy: The Sleeper controlled Skeptics, and the free agent Copperfields. This too may be a deception.
No, this is nto copywritten, how silly. But if anyone uses it somewhere else, please be kind enough to use my name or something 😉