Some adepts of other schools claim to hear the universe speaking to them. They’re obviously insane, but you can sort of understand where they’re coming from; because the cosmos speaks through you. Not with anything so crass as words; it speaks in movement, cadence, flow and pattern. When you dance. Then you’re one with the movement of the spheres, and empyrean fire guides your steps.
There are religions that claim the world was created by dance. Certainly, dancing as magick is as ancient as it gets, though it’s typically relegated as an adjunct to ritual, rather than the purpose. There are a few ceremonies that focus on dance, such as rainmaker dances, ghost dances, and the whirling dances of the Sufis, but they’re the exception that proves the rule. The art of movement as dance is universal; all cultures dance, and it’s both revered as a high art form and derided as something any drunken partygoer can do. It’s perhaps the earliest and most fundamental expression of art, and it’s wasted on the vast majority of people. They’re all caught up in their little lives, too distracted, afraid to immerse themselves in the infinite.
It’s this ubiquity coupled with weak symbolic tension that relegates Saltaremancy to Minor School status, though, it can reward its devotees with surprising power. Devotees like you; who have put in the work, endured bone-breaking practice and lonely hours to hone the art, to finally dance through pain and exhaustion to the other side.
Dance for Your Supper
Anyone can dance, and even be good at it with practice. Being great at dance is something else, and will mess up your body in the long run. All that wear and tear means that it skews heavily toward being a young person’s game; older Saltaremancers tend to retire and become choreographers.
Thanks to the school’s weak symbolic tension, you need to put a lot of energy into casting spells. The majority of spells are performed through dance, and are therefore not fast. You don’t need accompanying music – though there’s no downside to having it – you just need to feel the harmonies of the cosmos. Unless specified by the spell, the minimum time you must dance for a spell to take effect is the lower digit of the casting result.
Ω: 1
Domain: Movement with purpose, patterns, rhythm, stamina, grace and agility, along with enticement.
Generate a Minor Charge: Spend three hours dancing where you can be observed by others, with no longer than a two minute break between sets. Marathon dance sessions will require a Fitness check to complete, with the accompanying danger of taboo on a Matched Failure or Fumble. If you have a dance partner for the duration (who will need to make a dance-related or Fitness check to keep up with you), you generate an extra charge. Alternately, learn and master a dance new to you (it must be sufficiently different that it isn’t a variant of something you already know, verified with a Knowledge check, if necessary). If you injure yourself (whether accidentally or on purpose) while dancing, you gain a charge (subject to normal charging restrictions), but it you break step when it happens, you will taboo.
Taboo: You must never break step (avoided with a dance-related Identity or Fitness check) or fail to complete a dance; that disconnects you from the cosmic tempo, voiding your charges. You also taboo if you refuse a genuine invitation to dance.
Starting Charges: 8 Minor
Minor Spells
Dance of the Seven Veils
Cost: 1 minor
To cast this ancient spell, you must dance within view of your target as you cast the spell. Make some flirtatious gesture toward them and they’ll fall in love with you, for a number of minutes equal to the casting result. The type of love they feel will depend on their sexual orientation and any pre-existing relationship they have with you. They’re not compelled to obey you, but in general they’ll try their best to please and help you. If you manage to talk them into something that offends their core beliefs, they suffer a Self-4 check when the spell ends, and may seek retribution.
Dance Until Dawn
Cost: 1+ minor
Kick your heels up in this lively dance and all your fatigue and any movement or injury-related penalties to vanish until the sun comes up. For each additional charge, you may lead another person in the dance for them to gain the same benefit.
En Pointe
Cost: 1 minor
Cast this spell – which may be done reflexively – while dancing, and for a number of hours equal to the units digit of the casting result, you may substitute your Saltaremancy for Fitness or Dodge checks.
Interpretive Dance
Cost: 1+ minor
This dance doesn’t appear to be a dance at all; instead you incorporate subtle sways, gestures and steps into your natural movement to impart a message. You can choose the intended recipients of the message from anyone who can see you (even over recorded video), and convey any message or emotion that could be expressed in a number of words equal to the casting result (add an extra charge per additional 10 words).
Moonwalk
Cost: 1 minor
Older Saltaremancers call this “Dancing on the Ceiling”, but the effect is the same. As long as you keep dancing, the spell grants you perfect balance and the ability to act as if gravity is only one-fifth normal for you. Thus you can make incredible grand jetés, jitterbug across a telephone wire, or tap-dance up the side of a building. The effect lasts for a number of minutes equal to the casting result.
Step to the Beat
Cost: 1 minor
When you step through the opening measure of a formal dance (which takes a Round), you gain a Hunch for your next Pursuit, Fitness or Dodge check. Not completing the dance doesn’t cause you to taboo in this case, as the Hunch informs you how it will end.
Two to Tango
Cost: 1 minor
Step a few fancy moves – such as the start of a tap routine – and make a gesture of invitation to a target; they’ll feel an irrational compulsion to try to complete the routine as their next action, or suffer a Self-4 check. If they do resist, then you must complete the routine as your next action, or else taboo.
Dance Dance Revelation
Cost: 2 minor
Lose yourself in a dance to the point that you can’t tell where you end and the universe begins. If you fail the casting check, nothing happens, but you can’t cast this spell again or gain any charges until dawn tomorrow. On success, you gain insight from the cosmos, and may ask the GM a question, which they will answer truthfully.
Land of 1000 Dances
Cost: 2 minor
Start dancing and cast this spell; nearby people will gather to watch, to a maximum group size equal to the casting result. Depending on the location, situation and presence of music, some of the group may start dancing along with you, while others simply watch the display. You have no control over the group’s mood or response, and they will disperse after the casting result in minutes. The spell can’t draw in anyone who has pressing duties elsewhere, and imposes a -10 Notice check for those attending to pay attention to other things. If you hit a Matched Success, everyone will dance, albeit in their own uncoordinated fashion; if you manage a Critical, everyone spontaneously syncs up into a choreographed number worthy of a Bollywood extravaganza.
Lost in the Dance
Cost: 2 minor
Dance until your identity is subsumed by the dance, and when it ends, you awake from your reverie with a suppressed ego and new frame of reference. For a number of minutes equal to the casting result, you’re able to perceive the cadence and motion behind the tawdry backdrops of the world. With your enhanced perspective, you can perceive magick, demons, Avatars, and imperceptible entities with a Notice check. However, your state renders you vulnerable to being used as a conduit or outright possession by ethereal entities, and you suffer a -20 penalty to resist such indignities.
Pas de Deux
Cost: 2 minor
By dancing with someone, you can bring them into sync with the flow of the universe. For this to work, your partner must make some effort to dance with you, and a Fitness check to see how well they do. When the dance ends, they may ignore all Difficulty and Penalties for a number of minutes equal to the casting result, and if their Fitness check succeeded, they gain +10 to an Ability of their choice for the duration.
Poetry in Motion
Cost: 2 minor
You don’t need to be formally dancing to cast this spell, but you must be moving with all the grace, elegance and precision of a dancer. As you do, lock eyes with your target, and they’ll suffer a Helplessness-4 check, as they realize just how clumsy, crude and graceless they are compared to you.
Rumble Rhythm
Cost: 2+ minor
You can cast this reflexively by beginning to dance when you’re in danger. As long as you keep dancing, any physical attack made against you suffers 20 Difficulty (i.e. rolls under 20% fail, unless 01). If you would be hit by an attack while dancing and the attacker’s result is less than your Saltaremancy, you may spend a charge to have the attack completely miss you, as you simply dance out of harm’s way.
Soft Shoe Shuffle
Cost: 2 minor
Sometimes bad things happen, and when they do, you can dance away those blues. When you’re called on to make a Stress Check, by reflexively breaking out into a dance, you may shift the check to a different but plausible Stress Gauge.
Strap It Up
Cost: 2 minor
Dancing is hard on the body, and you’re used to dealing with sprains, bruises, tears and breaks. Cast this spell while you tightly bind a wound and it will heal damage equal to the higher of the casting result digits, as well as suppressing any associated injury penalty for a number of hours equal to the same digit. You don’t need to dance when casting this spell, and it may be used on others.