Knacks: Concentrate, Extinguish, Feed, Fire Trick, Range

Apprentice Degree: Hand of Flame
Adept Degree: Heart of Flame
Master Degree: Soul of Flame

Before they were driven away, the original royal family of Castille commanded the power of El Fuego Adentro: one of the most destructive Sorceries known. Flames leapt and swelled at their command, they bathed in the fires of the mightiest volcanoes, and the greatest could even create creatures of living flame. The Sorcerers could be identified while using their magic by the tiny flames burning within their eyes whenever they were controlling a fire.

Even though the royal family was chased out of their palace and many were killed, a few survived. Some of them seek to redeem their family’s good name, while others sulk in hidden places, waiting for their opportunity to take the throne back from the Church and their “puppet king.” Many are afraid to use their magic at all, since its use is a death sentence if the Inquisition gets wind of it.

While heroes who take El Fuego Adentro used to hail primarily from Rancho Gallegos (it was the only place in Théah where they could develop their skills safely), the art is slowly growing more common in the fledgling nation of Madeira, where Sorcery can be practiced openly without fear of religious persecution. Regardless, they must be careful about when and where they use it, for public displays will bring the Inquisition (and, potentially, even more dangerous parties) down on them like a sledgehammer. GMs may require heroes who purchase El Fuego Adentro to take a 3-point Hunted Background to represent this.

Sorcerers who practice El Fuego Adentro have come to be known as Pyromancers.

Apprentice Degree
As an Apprentice, you have taken the fire and made it a part of you. Fire- and heat-based damage cannot harm you, and any equipment kept in close contact with you (such as worn clothing) is protected from harm as well. You could, for instance, swim in the molten fires of a volcano and it would feel like a soothing hot bath. In addition, you can direct the movement of one fire within 10 feet. This fire will ignore winds, and move across water if you will it (although it will be extinguished if you don’t use the Feed Knack). More fires can be controlled over greater distance with the Concentrate and Range Knacks.

Adept Degree
Adepts of El Fuego Adentro can grasp fire in their hands as though it were a solid object. They’ve been known to climb roaring flames like a ladder or scoop up handfuls of fire to hurl at their enemies. (See the Fire Trick Knack for further details.)

Master Degree
Masters of El Fuego Adentro have gained the ability to give flame the semblance of life. Flickering birds of flame can be sent to land on thatch roofs during sieges, and serpents of flame can crawl down the backs of prisoners, more painful than any lash. (See the Fire Trick Knack for further details.) 

Limitations

Fire Movement. Although fire under the control of a Sorcerer can defy wind and water, it cannot move very quickly. A fire being directed by a Sorcerer can only move one inch on the Action map, plus one inch more for each Mastery Level the Sorcerer has earned (Apprentice = 1, Journeyman = 2, Master = 3). Sometimes it can be faster simply to let the wind direct the fire for you.

The Spark. Sorcerers of El Fuego Adentro cannot actually create fire, nor can they cause a fire to grow except by feeding it with tinder and combustible materials, just like anyone else. They must work with what already exists, and they must be careful to keep it burning. Any time the fire leaves contact with a fuel source, the Feed Knack must be used to prevent it from going out.

Sorcerous Knacks

Concentrate. This Knack allows the Pyromancer to control more than one flame at a time. For every Rank in this Knack, the Hero can control one additional fire beyond the first.

Extinguish. This Knack allows the Pyromancer to put out flames with a thought. The Sorcerer may, by spending one Action, reduce the damage of one fire by a number of dice equal to his Rank in this Knack. (See the Game Masters’ Guide, page 200, for fire rules.) If this brings the fire to 0 dice, it is completely extinguished. This can affect 100 square feet of fire per Rank in this Knack. The Feed Knack can be used by another Pyromancer to combat this action.

Feed. By using this Knack (no Action is required), the Pyromancer can keep a fire burning without any fuel to feed it. Without it, the moment he directs a fire away from its fuel source, it dies out. However, this Knack requires that he use his own life force to feed the fire. The Feed Knack prevents a fire from diminishing in size until the next Phase, but for each die of damage the fire would have lost (its full damage if it should’ve been put out, such as by being immersed in water), the Pyromancer takes two Flesh Wounds of damage. The damage is reduced by one for each Rank in this Knack. He must test against this damage at the end of each Phase in which he suffers at least one new Flesh Wound of damage.

For example, a Pyromancer with Rank of three in this Knack uses it on a six-die fire to keep it at full strength when it should have been reduced to a three-die fire. This inflicts six Flesh Wounds per Phase, but since he has a Rank of three in the Feed Knack, he only takes three Flesh Wounds per Phase. However, if something happened that would extinguish the fire (e.g., the person on fire dives into the water), he would have to take twelve Flesh Wounds per Phase to keep it burning, which would be reduced to nine by his Rank in this Knack.

Fire Trick. As a Pyromancer increases in Mastery Level, he learns new tricks he can perform with fire via use of his Fire Trick Knack.

Apprentice-Level Fire Tricks:

• Fire Starting. This Knack allows the Pyromancer to suffer one Flesh Wound in order to light a fire under adverse conditions using normal fire starting techniques (flint and steel, etc.). The severity of the conditions is limited by the Sorcerer’s Rank in the Fire Trick Knack:
  • Rank One: damp tinder or strong wind.
  • Rank Two: wet tinder or light rain
  • Rank Three: waterlogged tinder or medium rain
  • Rank Four: non-combustible tinder or heavy rain
  • Rank Five: any material or weather conditions
• Flaming Blade. The Pyromancer plunges his blade into a fire, using his magic to protect the metal from the heat, and to keep the flame burning. This allows the Pyromancer to add his Mastery Level times his Rank in the Fire Trick Knack to his Damage Roll with the weapon.

Adept-Level Fire Tricks:

• Fireflies. The Pyromancer spends three Actions and suffers one Flesh Wound to create a ten-foot by ten-foot cloud of living “fireflies” from a fire at least one die in size (reducing the fire in size by one die immediately; see page 200 of the Game Masters’ Guide for details). The Flesh Wound suffered when creating the fireflies cannot be reduced using the Feed Knack, and will not go away (even after suffering a Dramatic Wound) until the fireflies are killed by immersion in water or dispelled by their creator (which can be done at will). These creatures can be controlled by their creator and resemble burning embers of flame floating on the wind, but don’t need to be maintained with the Feed Knack. Any creature caught in the cloud suffers one Flesh Wound of damage every Phase unless wearing heavy clothing or some other sort of protection. The fireflies can move up to three inches or one Level on the Action Map per Phase. A Sorcerer can have one cloud of fireflies in existence at a time for each Rank he has in the Fire Trick Knack.
• Hurl Fire. The Pyromancer spends one Action to reach into a roaring fire, pick up a handful of flame, and throw it at an opponent. The Range on this attack is five plus (two times Brawn) with no penalties to hit, and the Hero rolls Finesse + Fire Trick for his Attack. Should he successfully hit, the attack inflicts one die of damage, plus one more per Mastery Level of the Pyromancer, and is immediately extinguished (the tossed fire cannot be kept burning with the Feed Knack). This Knack inflicts two Flesh Wounds to the Sorcerer each time it is used, but the Feed Knack can be used to absorb this damage.

Master-Level Fire Tricks:

• Firebird. The Pyromancer spends ten Actions and suffers five Flesh Wounds to create an enormous and strangely beautiful bird made of flames from a fire at least four dice in size (reducing the fire in size by four dice immediately). The Flesh Wounds suffered when creating the firebird cannot be reduced using the Feed Knack, and never go away (even after suffering a Dramatic Wound) until the firebird is killed by immersion in water, or dispelled by its creator (which can be done at will). The firebird’s wingspan is approximately 40 feet. It can be controlled by its creator without a die roll. The firebird’s Traits are considered Rank Three, but it cannot be harmed except by immersion in water. Historically, Castillian Sorcerers used firebirds as steeds, carrying them up to fifty miles a day for each Rank in the Fire Trick Knack their creator possessed at the time of creation. One passenger can be carried for each Rank as well. The firebird’s touch does not burn, but it can explode in a huge ball of fire (a Rank 4 Explosion) if its creator wishes. Doing so causes it to extinguish itself immediately.
• Flame Serpent. The Pyromancer spends five Actions and suffers three Flesh Wounds to create a serpent of fire from a fire at least two dice in size (reducing the fire in size by two dice immediately). The Flesh Wounds suffered when creating the serpent cannot be reduced using the Feed Knack, and never go away (even after suffering a Dramatic Wound) until the serpent is killed by immersion in water, or dispelled by its creator (which can be done at will). The creature can be controlled by its creator without a die roll. The serpent’s Traits are considered Rank Three, but it cannot be harmed except by immersion in water. When it hits, its target suffers one die of damage for each Rank in the Fire Trick Knack its creator had at the time of its creation. This diminishes by one die after each hit until the serpent is reduced to zero dice, at which point it is a tiny wisp of flame that crawls away to recuperate (requiring an open flame, which will restore it at the rate of one die per Round of immersion in flame, up to its original maximum). A Sorcerer can maintain one flame serpent in existence for each Rank he has in the Fire Trick Knack.

Range. This Knack allows a Pyromancer to extend the range at which he can use his abilities. Without this Knack, a Pyromancer can only affect fires up to ten feet away, but with it, he can affect fires up to forty feet away per Rank in this Knack (to a maximum of 200 feet at Rank Five).

Game Master’s Secrets
While it may seem that a Pyromancer is feeding a dying fire using his own life force, he only serves as a conduit for the true source: the Barrier itself. Some Phantom Guards have discovered small sections of the Barrier that appear brittle, marked by piles of greasy, grey ash. This is the result of El Fuego Adentro use, and the phenomenon would be far more widespread if the Sorcery was more common. In addition, El Fuego Adentro is capable of melting ice patches in the Barrier created by Cheimónas Sorcery.