First, let’s look at a powerful divine ritual: Wind Control.

As we see for most powerful effects, the priest must roll against DL 80, which at first may seem just impossible.

Achieving such a high roll is only possible for a character whose Channelling Skill Level is at least +18, as this is a prerequisite for purchasing the ritual.

However, that’s just the beginning.

The Ritual Mastery Ability can add up to +26 to the roll, but this bonus comes with requirements:

• The ceremony must last over an hour (+1).
• The ceremony must be celebrated with festivities pleasing to the deity (+1).
• It must be performed on a traditional altar of sacrifice (+1).
• Conducted in a temple (+1).
• Attended by an Otherworldling associated with the deity (+4).
• The offering is a voluntary human sacrifice (+8).
• In addition to the priest, another priest with Channelling skill takes part in the ceremony (+1 per priest, max 10 priests).

Also, with a good Theology check, the same Ability can grant additionally up to a +12 bonus.

Next, Ritual: Sacrifice involving human sacrifice, with the highest successful roll, gives another bonus of +28 to the overall roll.

With all prerequisites met, the priest would roll Channelling with a bonus of +84, enough to summon the storm of ages. However, attaining this bonus requires fulfilling all prerequisites and achieving extremely successful rolls on the way. Also, it involves a voluntary human sacrifice – a scenario with many dependencies that may not always align.

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So, How Does It Support Worldbuilding?

Firstly, the significance of human sacrifices. In many fantasy settings, we often encounter cultists and evil cultures that engage in the practice of sacrificing people, but the rationale behind such actions is seldom explored. These numerical bonuses provide a tangible explanation for these unsavoury practices. Especially when rolling high numbers is rarely necessary, the scenario of human sacrifice emerges as a last resort in times of dire need – perhaps to sink an enemy’s navy or calm a storm that threatens to sink their ship – very real situations that may come up during Your game and place PCs to an interesting moral dilemma.

Moving on, describing rituals. Picture yourself as the GM narrating scenes where NPC priests engage in intricate dances, burn incense, and sing together as part of a spellcasting ritual. However, when it comes to PCs casting the same spell – they just cast it?

In the Asteanic World, the most significant temples are those inhabited by Otherworldlings. Despite their dangerous nature and alien way of thinking, these creatures are often housed in temples. This raises the question: why hold such entities in temples? Once again, the provision of real numerical bonuses for priests active in these temples provides justification for their presence.

This is just one example of how the rules in SAKE intertwine with worldbuilding. Other examples include:

• Unpoliteness and especially cursing are frowned upon because the curse can be a real magical one. It’s impossible to understand the difference without knowledge of magic.
• The region’s nature god and Otherworld pocket have an immense impact on the region’s culture. For example, in Gurgeland, the nature god hates humans and human souls entering the Otherworld after death, so Gurges look much more favourable towards necromantic practices. They also sometimes try to trap their deceased souls in items and make magical Soulbleed weapons from them.
• The whole domain rules system basically builds the world itself.