By the Pricking of My Thumbs ... Spell Teaser for Magonomia

March 7, 2021 Andrew Gronosky

We’re working on finishing up the manuscript for Magonomia Core Rules. If roleplaying a wizard who uses Renaissance themed magic appeals to you, our crowdfunding campaign is accepting late pledges through March 31, 2021. Here’s an example of one of our 200 spells in the core book, inspired by Renaissance sources:

By the Pricking of My Thumbs

Degree 3 Sorcery; governed by Mercury

A Fetish temporarily grants (Good +3) Alert for Approaching Creatures.

By the pricking of my thumbs,

Something wicked this way comes.

--William Shakespeare, MacBeth, Act IV, scene 1

Onstage Preparation: Fast

Augmentation: None

Components: A bag of animal parts, blood, incantations

Activation: Create an Advantage vs. 3

Duration: Until the next sunrise or sunset

A spirit you have evoked into an object—a Fetish—can be awakened with two drops of your blood (one from each thumb). It lends you its Aspect, (Good +3) Alert for Approaching Creatures, which you can use as a skill instead of Notice to detect people approaching.

The spirit gives a silent warning in the caster’s mind when a significant mortal creature approaches. What counts as significant depends on the spirit’s perceptions, not on human reason, though it only goes far off if the Activation failed. If you succeed with style at detecting creatures, the spirit tells you something true and relevant about the creature, as it did for MacBeth’s witch: “something wicked this way comes,” in her case.