Ancient Chinese Magic

From the earliest days in China magic was usually one of either two types: a learned style codified in books and experimentation called fangshi; and an innate, animistic form, much akin to shamanism, known as wu. Fangshi included alchemy, astrology, cosmology, divination, medicine and was largely indistinguishable from ‘science’, as we would term it; wu on the other hand was a spiritual process, involving sacrifice and mediumship. In time, fangshi would come to encompass Taoism and such disciplines as feng shui, but in the early days of Chinese Imperial history, it was a muddle of different disciplines codified and studied mainly by male members of the literati. Wu, on the other hand, was seen as more of an aboriginal talent, strongest amongst the barbarian outsiders, and the province mainly of women, who dispensed its arts of healing, midwifery and the tending of crops and livestock.

Fear of the potential abuse of power which these devotions represented, were the reason for some spectacular purges during the first dynasties, resulting in the extermination of entire families and bloodlines. Both fangshi and wu were thought capable of inflicting curses upon chosen targets and the drive to discover and terminate these evil practitioners was intense indeed.

There were three main forms of attacking victims using this ancient magic and they are as follows:

Invoking Curses

This is hard-core wu magic. The shaman summons evil spirits either by summoning them through the sacrifice of animals (generally cows), or by allowing them to possess an entranced medium and to use this purloined vessel to conjure the curse. In both cases, the efficacy of the spell is enhanced by performing a Rite of Propitiation to pacify the regional spirits and ask them to look the other way while such evil magic is being conjured in their territory. Additionally, these spells require something which is taken from the target – hair; blood; clothing – so that the curse will attach sympathetically to its object.

Rite of Propitiation (Chinese Wu)

The Rite requires the caster to purify the locale, by creating a circle of positive energy. This is done by sweeping a circular area with a new broom and sprinkling fresh water to the four compass points. Gold paper – paper replicas of cash, sometimes referred to as “Hell Money” - is burnt to appease the spirits which watch over the region. While this takes place, the caster chants constantly and expends 3 Magic Points. After this, the caster makes a Luck Roll: if successful, the Rite has worked. Once the purified zone has been established, its influence lasts until the next sunset; another attempt at this spell cannot be made until after the next sunrise.

The result of the Rite is to ensure the greater effectiveness of wu magic for the caster. A subsequent Ancient Curse has a base 40% chance of working; a Spirit Curse has a base 20% chance of working. Manikin-based spells of the wu variety are more likely to affect their chosen targets if cast after a Rite of Propitiation: the target’s Luck Roll against these spells is reduced to half its normal rate (rounded up).

Ancient Curse (Chinese Wu)

The Ancient Curse is a baneful influence over the target: by singling out the victim to maleficent spirits, the fortunes of the target begin to wane. The caster creates a small bag containing various herbs and small animal bones, along with a some of the target’s hair or fingernails, or a small item which belongs to them. While chanting, the caster expends up to 10 Magic Points and 1/1d6 SAN; for every Magic Point they spend on the spell, they pit a 10% chance of the spell working against the Luck of the target in the Resistance Table. Performing a Rite of Propitiation before the Ancient Curse, the spell has a base 40% chance of working.

If successful, the Ancient Curse lasts for 6+1d3 months. During this time, every roll the victim makes is rolled twice and the lowest result taken; their Luck Rolls are halved (rounded down); all monetary negotiations and transactions made by the character will result in at least a 20% detriment against them; and all interpersonal and communications skills will suffer a 20% penalty. Once the duration of the Curse has ended, the bag and all of its contents disintegrates into dust. The only way to lift the Curse is to find and destroy the bag; some warding magicks or magical blessings might remove the influence at the Keeper’s discretion.

Spirit Curse (Chinese Wu)

To cast this spell, the caster needs to act as a medium to house evil spirits; alternatively, they may call upon the aid of another individual to act as a medium on their behalf. The medium enters a trance (due to chanting, dancing or the inhalation of drugged incense) and evil spirits enter the vessel. During the chanting from 1 to 10 Magic Points are spent; for each Magic Point, a d10 is rolled: if the first roll is greater than 1, an evil spirit enters the medium; if the next roll does not equal 1 or 2, another spirit enters; the next roll admits a spirit on any roll greater than 3, and so on. Once a spirit fails to enter, or when the number of rolls equals the Magic Points expended, the process stops.

The spell requires a piece of the victim – hair; fingernails; skin – or a personal item taken from them. Using this item, the evil spirits focus upon their target, leave the medium and begin to adversely affect the victim. Each of the spirits focuses upon a particular skill of the victim: the level of that skill is matched upon the Resistance Table against the power of the spirits, which is equal to the Magic Points invested in the Curse multiplied by 10 (a Rite of Propitiation successfully cast before the Spirit Curse gives this spell a base 20% effectiveness). If successful, the spirits then begin to obsess the victim, giving them strange visions whenever they try to use the afflicted skill: guns seem to writhe and turn into snakes; maps and charts seem to blur and move; hands start to tremble uncontrollably whenever an attempt at First Aid is tried. These incidents are shocks worth 0/1d2 points of SAN but, as weeks go by, these visions and the penalties steadily increase until the target develops a phobia concerning the skills over which they formerly held sway.

If the character makes their SAN Roll when trying to use one of the affected skills, they may then utilise the skill as usual; they may even gain experience and increase the level of the skill as per normal. However, if they fail the SAN Roll, they may not use the skill and may go insane, either temporarily or permanently, as per the usual rules.

The spell is permanent until any of the following takes place: the target undergoes an Exorcism or some other magical process which casts out possessing spirits; they enter a holy place which is anathema to the possessing spirits; or they win the favour of the caster, who may dismiss the spirits at any time they choose with but a word. At the Keeper’s discretion, some magical wards may quell the effect for a certain duration.

Manikins

There are a number of different spells which are invoked by creating a wooden or paper figure and imbuing it with the power of evil over its target. These are not like Western “Voodoo Dolls” but are the created vessels of inimical spirit energies which cast a malefic influence over the target. There are wu and fangshi versions of this magic; wu styles involve a vaguely human figure carved from wood, while fangshi practitioners often use human figures cut from paper and covered with script, although they might also use the wooden manikin, covering it with inked characters.

The wu versions of this spell are somewhat fraught with inexactitude: once the manikin is made and enchanted, it must be hidden within the house of the target or buried in the earth alongside a road or path which the target is known to tread. When the target passes by or nears the manikin, thus activating the spell, they must make a Luck Roll to avoid becoming the target of the baneful magic. If they succeed, another nearby entity attracts the spell and becomes its focus instead. The fangshi versions, wherein writing is involved explicitly identifying the target, have no such issues.

Manikin of Ill Fortune (Chinese Fangshi)

The manikin – either a wooden figure or paper cut-out – is inscribed with writing, using a pear-wood pen (pear wood is considered to be spiritually “neutral” or pure). The text of the spell must identify the target using references to their ancestry. This figure is then buried in the earth at a point where the target will pass by, or is hidden within the target’s home. When the target passes within 2 metres (6 feet) of the manikin, the spell activates.

Creating the manikin requires that 1 POW is sacrificed by the caster and imbued within the image; additionally, during the writing process, 10 Magic Points are expended along with 0/1d3 SAN. Once the spell has been activated, the victim suffers a -20% penalty on all of their physical skill rolls (Dodge; Throw; Shoot; Drive; etc.) and none of their Luck Rolls will succeed from that time on. The spell can be broken only by finding and completely destroying the manikin.

Manikin of Haunting (Chinese Wu)

By means of trances and chanting, evil spirits are summoned and housed within the wooden manikin figure. This costs the caster 15 Magic Points and 1/1d4 SAN. After this ceremony, the manikin is hidden in the earth near where the intended target will pass by, or in the target’s home. When the target, or some other person, passes with 2 metres (6’) of the figure, the evil spirits will emerge and begin to haunt the victim in the manner of a poltergeist.

The victim will be followed by strange knocking and rapping sounds; muttered, indecipherable conversation will float around them; small objects, such as stones, rice, or cutlery, will shower down around them, whether inside or out. Furniture will start to throw itself at the target and doors will shut and refuse to open in the target’s presence; even stranger, objects such as bowls or books will throw themselves through the air and seem to pass through walls, or cracks and other openings far too small to admit them. Finally, objects near the victim will spontaneously burst into flame.

The only way to stop these attacks is to locate the manikin and destroy it. Other magicks designed to ward or protect areas against evil spirits will halt the onslaught for a single day, after which the cycle will begin once more. If, by Luck, the intended victim avoids becoming the focus for the poltergeist but another member of the household is targeted, the caster of the spell may well be content to leave it at that, since the disturbance will most likely encompass the target anyway.

Manikin of the Yanmei (Chinese Wu)

This spell must be cast at night within a graveyard. The ritual infuses the manikin with one sacrificed point of POW and 10 Magic Points; this costs the caster 1d6/1d8 SAN. At the height of the ceremony, the spirit of a vengeful spectre arises and is bound within the wooden manikin, thereby becoming a yanmei, or ‘spectre in submission’.

The manikin is hidden in the usual fashion. If successfully cast against the target, the yanmei starts to visit the victim starting on the night of the next new moon. While they sleep, the yanmei breathes the ‘odour of death’ into their mouth and nose, slowly robbing them of their life force. Each morning, the victim awakens, having experienced horrible nightmares, and a randomly-determined statistic will have been reduced by 0-2 points (roll 1d3). Once one of their statistics is reduced by 50%, the victim begins to see images of the dead around them – in mirrors; reflections; in dreams – and each incident incurs a 1/1d4 SAN penalty. When a statistic reaches 4 points, the victim becomes bedridden and all skills are halved; when a statistic reaches 0, the victim dies and the yanmei is released from its duty.

As per usual, the only way to end the haunting is to locate and destroy the manikin. This frees the yanmei, at which point the caster must make a Luck Roll or find themselves to be the target of the creature’s assault. Traditional wardings and other protections against the undead will temporarily avail the victim, but the attacks will start again at the next new moon following. If rescued from the yanmei, the victim will recover at a rate of one attribute point per week; however, one stat will have been permanently reduced by 1d4 points and this should be determined randomly.

Demonic Manikin (Chinese Fangshi)

Again, since the heredity of the target is inscribed on the wooden or paper manikin, the target of this spell is never in doubt. The spell creates an hideous demon which attacks the target immediately that the spell is activated. The caster sacrifices 2 POW to the manikin, along with 25 Magic Points (spent over time during the manikin’s creation) and 1d4/1d6 SAN. The manikin should be made of pear-wood, or inscribed on paper using a pear-wood brush or pen.

Depending upon which type of manikin is used, the demon appears to be made either out of wood, or of paper. It appears suddenly next to the target and begins its attack, but it can only do so during the hours of darkness. Magical wards and shielding may keep it at bay, but it is otherwise resolute in its purpose and capable of great cunning.

Depending upon the target (or the whim of the Keeper) the demon may appear in a myriad different forms: it might appear as a giant warrior, or a great beast; it might seem to be a dragon, or an hideous hag. Regardless, the damage it inflicts is the same. Of particular interest is the fact that nothing the target can do – weapon; spell; device – is of any use in repelling the creature: all their efforts will avail them naught. Their friends might fare better and they may also discover that the demon is especially vulnerable to fire, taking double damage from such attacks. Nonetheless, even if they seem to have destroyed it, it will return the next night and start its attack once more.

The only way to end the assaults is to destroy the manikin with fire. This is not so easily done, since, having been imbued with spirit, the image moves around and follows the target closely, mystically attuned to their location and never straying more than 100 metres (300’) from their vicinity. During its prowling, it uses the following skills: Hide 80%; Sneak 80%; Dig 75% (if a wooden figure), or Float On The Breeze 75% (if made of paper).

Gu

The Chinese word gu has come to mean a variety of different things over time, including emanations of evil, the casting of spells and the evil spirits of criminals whose decapitated heads have been impaled on poles. It has even come to mean ‘black magic’ generally. During the first dynasties however, it had a specific meaning, that of “poisoning magic”.

Create Gu-Creature (Chinese Fangshi)

The character for the word “gu” is explicitly tied to this form of magic. In ideographic fashion it depicts three winged insect-like creatures hovering over a pot. This is derived expressly from the process of creating a Gu-creature.

First, the caster must make a large pot with a lid that can be sealed tightly; while creating this item, they must expend 2 points of POW and infuse the pot with at least 25 Magic Points (this need not be done all at once). Next they must find one each of the “Five Poisonous Creatures” – a Centipede; a Scorpion; a Snake; a Spider; and a Toad – and place them alive within the pot, which is then sealed. The pot is then buried and left alone for a year.

At the end of the year, the pot is unearthed and opened by the caster: within will be found a single surviving creature which, having ingested the potency of the defeated animals, will have grown in power and dangerousness. The type of creature can be determined on the following table:

01-20%	Centipede
21-40%	Scorpion
41-60%	Snake
61-80%	Spider
81-00%	Toad

The gu-creature obeys the telepathic commands of its creator and can be sent to attack anyone who offends its master. Generally, the gu-creature will attempt to insinuate itself within its target’s home, wait for the best opportunity to attack, and then escape. Anyone besides the creator who touches the gu-creature must make a Luck Roll or suffer a POT 20 poisoning; the bite or sting of the gu-creature is POT 40. If killed, the gu-creature exhales or emits a 3-metre (10’) diameter cloud of POT 30 poisonous gas.

A notorious trick of the gu-creature is to burrow into the body of its victim while they are asleep; thereafter they nestle amongst the victim’s intestines, slowly oozing poison until the victim dies in exquisite agony; this can take up to a month. After death occurs, the gu-creature awaits a convenient time to emerge then creeps away.