Spell Cards

Call a recently departed soul back from Sheol's waiting halls. The target must have died within the last 24 hours: their soul has entered Sheol and awaits judgment, but has not yet been processed. When the soul hears the call, it may return.

The caster must have personally met the target. You cannot revive a stranger whose name you do not know; the call requires recognition to reach.

On a successful cast, the target returns at 1 Wound with all strain cleared. They retain any Critical Injuries they had at death; these must still be treated normally. If the target died from a Killed result (141–150), Revive returns them alive but that injury is reduced to Lights Going Out (131–140) and still requires immediate treatment before the start of their next turn. The trauma of crossing back reduces the target's maximum strain by 2 until they complete a full week of rest.

Death in Dort is not instantaneous passage. Sheol, the plane of the dead, runs like a bureaucracy; souls queue, petitioners are logged, and the paperwork of eternity moves at its own pace. A newly dead soul waits in the outer halls of Sheol for up to a day before their case is called before a death-priest and judgment is rendered. In that window, the soul is findable. After judgment, it has moved deeper; processed, filed, and no longer reachable by this working.

• Stronger Call (): A gem worth 250+ gf is used instead. The casting check gains , representing a more substantial offering to the powers of passage.

•   The target returns at 3 wounds instead of 1.
•   The trauma is gentler; maximum strain reduction is only 1 instead of 2.
•   Remove one Critical Injury from the returned character at the moment of revival.
•   The caster suffers 2 strain from the effort of bridging the veil.
•   The soul comes back disoriented; the target is Staggered for the remainder of the encounter and adds to all checks until they complete a full rest.

The caster lays both hands on an engaged ally and draws warmth into them. The target heals wounds equal to twice generated, to a maximum of 10. The target also recovers all strain.

A pulse of warm light radiates outward at the moment of healing; every other ally engaged with the caster recovers 1 strain.

• Communal (): Also heals one additional ally within Short range for half successes (rounded down) and 2 strain.

• Recall the Recently Dead (): Target may have been dead for up to one round (since the end of their last turn). On a successful cast, they return at 1 Wound. The caster suffers 3 strain in addition to the spell's cost.

• Mother's Touch (→): Replace one Trial Die with a Crisis Die. On success, the caster also removes one Critical Injury of their choice from the target.

•   +1 wound healed.
•   Target adds to their next check this scene.
•   The healing leaves a faint mark; that mark adds to the next Heal cast on this target.
•   Caster suffers 1 strain.
•   The wound transfers; after healing is calculated, the caster suffers 2 Wounds, ignoring Resistance.

Choose one humanoid within Short range. On a successful cast, divine compulsion seizes the target's body; they freeze in their current posture and may take only free Quick Actions (speech, perception). They cannot move, attack, or perform Maneuvers. Resist (Discipline), see the convention at the start of this section: target rides out the casting round, then rolls Discipline at the end of each subsequent turn at difficulty equal to the caster's net successes.

The target locks in exactly the posture they held at the moment of casting; mid-step, drawing a blade, mouth open mid-word. Allies looking on can read what the target was about to do.

• Silence (): Target also cannot speak; no verbal commands, no spellcasting, no Leadership checks while held.
• Extend Range (): Range becomes Medium.
• Multi-Bind (): Up to 2 humanoids within Short range. Each rolls its own resist independently.
• Iron Word (→): Replace one Trial Die with a Crisis Die. On a successful cast the target is also Staggered when the spell ends, until the end of their next turn.

•   Caster recovers 1 strain from the conviction of the binding.
•   When the spell ends, target adds to their first action that turn.
•   The hold visibly humbles witnesses; caster adds to their next Intimidation or Leadership check this encounter.
•   The binding sears caster too; caster suffers 2 strain (in addition to base cost).
•   The compulsion turns inward; the caster is held for one round instead.

Call a soul back from beyond judgment. The target has been dead for more than 24 hours, has passed through Sheol's courts, and has been judged and processed. Their soul is no longer in the waiting halls; it has been filed, assigned, and is somewhere deeper.

The caster must speak the target's full name and have personally known them. This is not a working that functions on strangers.

On a successful cast, the target returns at 3 wounds. All Critical Injuries persist and must be treated. If the target died from a Killed result (141–150), that injury is reduced to Lights Going Out (131–140) on return and still requires immediate treatment; Resurrection does not erase the cause of death, only reverses it. The target's maximum strain is reduced by 3 until they complete a full week of rest; most of those who return describe the experience as wrong in a way they struggle to articulate.

A failed Resurrection does not mean the target cannot be brought back; it means this casting could not do it. There are two reasons a soul may not answer: it is refusing to return, or something more powerful has claimed it. The GM determines which is true, and may not tell the party immediately. Both can be stories.

A failed Resurrection consumes the gem regardless.

• Richer Offering (automatic with 1,000+ gf gem): A gem of this quality adds to the casting check. This represents literal bribery of the divine bureaucracy, not disrespectful so much as practical, and well understood by most death-adjacent clergy.

•   The target returns at 5 wounds instead of 3.
•   The maximum strain penalty is reduced to 1 instead of 3.
•   Remove one Critical Injury from the returned character. They carry the others.
•   The caster suffers 3 strain and is Staggered until the end of their next turn from the effort.
•   Something came back with the soul, or instead of it. GM's discretion; the gem is consumed and the target is technically present, but something is off.