Workings

ritual-scale magic - for when a caster earns a Yennefer-at-Caer-Morhen moment

Every spell keeps its printed 5e effect plus spell tier modifications as its baseline - normal casting, normal slot, normal action economy. A Working is a separate, ritual-scale casting of that same spell: rare, costly, and defended, not a routine action. Baseline casting is always available the moment a caster has the spell; Workings are gated by caster tier and require the conditions below, regardless of level.

Caster Tiers

Tier Char. level Spell access Working scale
Novice 1–4 cantrips–2nd none - too early for ritual-scale magic
Adept 5–10 3rd–5th small - one building, a small camp, a handful of people
Master 11–16 6th–8th large - a fortress, a village, a battlefield
Archmage 17–20 9th vast - a region, an army, multiple settlements

This uses the same tiers as the Identify and Detect Magic rules - a caster's tier is one consistent thing across every system, not tracked separately per rule.

Earning a Tier

Reaching the level threshold is necessary, not sufficient. A caster who hits level 5 has the capacity for Adept tier - the slots, the theoretical reach - but doesn't gain Adept-tier Workings, identification, or spell enhancements until they've completed a Trial fitting their tradition. Until then, they're capped at their previous tier's ceiling; baseline spellcasting is unaffected, that's just ordinary 5e.

What counts as a Trial
Not a side-quest assigned in advance - best recognized after the fact, in the moment it actually happens.
Transition The shape of the Trial
Novice → Adept the first time magic is genuinely decisive at real personal risk -  not a safe, testing-ground casting
Adept → Master a first Working attempted under genuine stakes - succeeding proves it, and even surviving a failed attempt can count
Master → Archmage an act of consequence that reshapes something lasting - a region, a bloodline, a war's outcome - and costs the caster something real
Trials differ by tradition
Tradition How the Trial is judged
Academy-trained (arcane) formal and external - an exam, a rite, sign-off from a superior; Corvin-types treat this as the only legitimate path
Hedge / druidic no formality at all - recognition by the land or spirits themselves, proven in practice rather than tested
Fey or other-pact (warlock) the patron decides, on its own terms, sometimes demanding something specific and personal
Divine sanctioned by faith, usually through ordeal or a proof of devotion
Running it at the table
Don't pre-announce a Trial as a quest marker -recognize it after the fact: "that was it." If a caster hits a level threshold with no natural Trial in sight, build a contract around the kind of decisive magical risk that would supply one, rather than a generic fetch-quest. And a caster can still attempt a tier's Working before completing its Trial - treat it as unstable: no locus discount, doubled cost, and a harsher failure state. Ambitious players get a real option; it's just a genuinely risky one.

Universal Requirements

Casting time: minutes to hours, never an action or reaction.
Nothing on this list happens in six seconds. Scale the time to the scope - a small Working might take ten minutes; a vast one, most of a day.
Total concentration.
The caster takes no other action, gets no reactions, and cannot move meaningfully while the Working is underway. They are genuinely vulnerable - which is the entire point. Someone else has to hold the line.
A locus.
Every Working needs an anchor - standing stones, a warded circle, the fortress itself, a significant object or place tied to the effect. No locus, no Working, at any tier.
A real cost.
Never just "you're out a spell slot." At minimum, exhaustion; at higher tiers, something narratively permanent - aging, a lasting debt, a piece of the caster that doesn't come back. See the tier cost table below.
A failure state that matters.
If the caster is struck, badly disturbed, or the locus is broken, the Working can fail outright or backfire. This is what makes defending the caster a real tactical problem for the rest of the party - not flavor text.

Cost by Tier

Tier Casting time (typical) Cost
Adept 10–30 minutes 1 level of exhaustion
Master 1+ hour 1–2 levels of exhaustion, may not clear on a short rest
Archmage several hours to a full day severe and often permanent - a point of a physical or mental stat, years of life, a lasting debt or obligation
A caster at Master tier, given time, a locus, and people willing to defend her while she works, can raise a ward over a fortress the way Yennefer did at Caer Morhen - but she can do nothing else while she holds it, she is exposed the entire time, and she pays for it after. That's the shape every entry below is built from.

Working Lookup Table

Base spell Working effect Min. tier Locus Notes
Shield Raises a ward over a large area for a scene, not a person, impenetrable in every way, except by walking through. Master (keep) / Archmage (city) a gate, a keep's walls, a summoning circle - to a city the Caer Morhen case - see the example above
Wall of Stone / Force A permanent or season-long barrier - sealing a pass, walling off an approach Master the terrain itself, or worked stone already in place a truly permanent barrier should age the caster on top of the standard cost
Counterspell A standing ward suppressing a category of magic (no scrying, no teleportation) over an area, for as long as it's maintained and defended Adept (building) / Master (region) a warded threshold or circle a caster of equal or higher tier can unravel it directly
Mass Cure Wounds / Heal Blesses or heals an army or village after a battle - a scene-ending act Archmage none required, but a shrine or holy site reduces the cost if the caster dies mid-Working, the effect completes only partially
Remove Curse / Greater Restoration Lifts a curse laid on a bloodline or a whole region Master (bloodline) / Archmage (region) something tied to the curse's origin wrong locus = outright failure, and may provoke whatever bound the curse in the first place
Scrying / Divination An oracle-working - hours of ritual to answer one real question with certainty Adept (vague) → Archmage (certain, detailed) a scrying pool, mirror, or sacred site the answer often costs something to hear - fits a world where nothing comes free
Teleportation Circle Moves many people, or an army, across real distance Archmage a prepared circle at both ends without a prepared destination circle, roll on a mishap result instead of guaranteed success
Antimagic Field Suppresses all magic across a fortress or region, temporarily Archmage center of the affected area suppresses the caster's own magic too - total vulnerability by design
Astral Projection Long-range planar travel or scouting, bypassing normal travel danger entirely Master a quiet, undisturbed space to begin the working the silver cord can be targeted or severed while the body lies vulnerable - the same exposure principle as any other Working
Control Weather Already Working-shaped as printed Master open sky, high ground just add a locus and the standard tier cost - no other changes needed

Teleportation-family spells and large-scale Shield are handled here rather than in the Magic Adjustments spell-tier handout.