A mage sets a broom to sweeping his floor. A priest lights a candle with the grace of her god. A bard tells an animated story in the night air, illuminated with the dancing cinders of a campfire.

In fantasy films and fiction, those who channel arcane, divine, or psychic powers can often use their abilities for mundane purposes. Such lesser magicks are collectively called “cantrips.”

A character may cast a cantrip by making an arcane skill roll. This is an action, and the effect must be based on one of the character’s existing powers. A sorcerer could use bolt with a fire Trapping to light a campfire, for example. A druid could use entangle to make vines dance to entertain a group of children. A wizard can use sound/silence to ring a bell calling a servant to his study.

Success means the desired effect occurs with no cost in Power Points. A raise has an additional narrative impact of some kind— the candle glows brightly, the vines dance in perfect synchronicity, or the bell rings loud and pure.

Failure causes the spell to fail without effect. A Critical Failure causes the spell to backfire, which requires the caster to lose 1 Power Point or suffer Fatigue. Critical Failure also causes an embarrassment or minor mishap of some sort—an animated broom carelessly knocks a jar of ink onto the floor, a conjured flame lights a book on fire, or the power makes an embarrassing sound or smell.

A successfully cast cantrip’s Duration is the same as the power it’s based on and may be maintained by spending Power Points as usual.

The GM has the final say on what a cantrip can do, but the effect must not replace a power or cause damage (at least directly). It can be used to Test or Support, or grant a +1 bonus on a subsequent roll in the same encounter. For example, if the bard uses a cantrip to impress a crowd of village children, the GM might give him +1 to a Persuasion roll later on if he talks to their parents or someone else who witnessed the kindness.