In DFA Rituals v2.0, a magic circle is a ritual infrastructure tool. It enables, amplifies, or constrains magical effects, and is often essential for stabilizing high-risk or complex workings.

• Purpose:
  • Contain: Prevent summoned or volatile entities from escaping
  • Focus: Amplify intent and suppress external interference
  • Anchor: Bind magic to a location, allowing time-delay or sustained effects
  • Protect: Defend caster from feedback, corruption, or ritual backlash

• Establishing a Circle:
  • Must be deliberately constructed using time, space, and symbolic logic.
  • Can be physical (chalk, salt, stone, blood) or energetic (light, resonance, projected wards).
  • Requires narrative time to draw, mark, or empower — not instantaneous.

• Circle Stability Factors:
  • Environmental Interference: Wind, damage, disruption can break a physical circle.
  • Emotional Instability: A caster losing composure can weaken a metaphysical circle.
  • Countermagic: Opposing forces can attempt to unravel or corrupt it.

• Circle Relevance to Ritual Scale:
  • Low-scale rituals (e.g., single-target divination) may *optionally* use a circle for precision.
  • High-scale rituals (e.g., planar summoning, ward creation) *require* one to function safely.
  • Circles can be reused if undisturbed, or even layered to house multiple effects.

• Failure States:
  • Incomplete or broken circles expose the caster to unfiltered magical consequence — backlash, entity escape, feedback loops.
  • A botched circle may become a conduit for unintended forces — escalating a ritual into disaster.

• Compel/Invoke Opportunities:
  • Circles offer clear Compel hooks (someone smudges it, or a cost forces you to break it).
  • Can also be Invoked for bonuses when used to isolate a target or shield the caster mid-scene.