Magic is unpredictable. You may point and chant, but ultimately magic does what magic does. You can flub a spell you've mastered, or get away with casting a spell that should have knocked you on your ass with just a little dizziness. Friendly spirits may turn on you, mutually incompatible theories of magic somehow operate in the same universe (and room!), and even hard-won adept powers aren't infallible.
Should it be any surprise that sometimes the laws of magic aren't exactly what what some book says they should be?
So open your mind and let go of your preconceptions. Your professor at the academy is the wiz, no doubt, as smart as the old native shaman secluded away in the wilderness is wise. And no doubt some ancient master of the fighting arts has a lot to share. But even they don't know everything -- the existence of uncounted other traditions bear this out. Listen, and you may learn something new about magic. And someday you may even surpass these lessons.

Freecasting In Action Tundra and her crew are trying to sneak into an old guarded warehouse. They would find noise cover useful, since not all of them are good at being quiet. The shaman sees the building's heating system is antiquated, and hits upon an idea. Calling upon the principles of conjuring cold, she concentrates on chilling the air near the thermostat on a nearby wall... Lisa wants to freecast an Alter Temperature 2 effect to cool the air in a localized area. The GM okays this, being that cooling the air is close enough to Ice Sheet and Ice Wall -- spells the character knows -- to permit this effect. (He wouldn't, however, let Tundra freecast Alter Temperature to heat the air.) Lisa makes her Spellcasting test and manages to resist most of the spell drain (which is 3). The GM makes a note of these hits, and the glitch effect. ...and briefly swoons as the air temperature drops. Sure enough, the central heating kicks in, hopefully creating enough noise for Tundra and her team to sneak in and swap the grenade firing pins with defectives. What she doesn't realize is the temperature dropped drastically enough that the anomaly was logged by the security system, and a small spy drone has been sent to investigate the area.

Traditions: Here three new magical traditions are presented. Oludu and Masai are distinct faiths born of the Dark Continent, shattering the concept of African hegemony. And psionic power is re-examined as a unique tradition, one that complements rather than denies other magical paths.

Arcana: And of course, no page devoted to magic is complete without a gratuitous page of new spells and powers. From utilitarian adept powers to the forbidden manipulation of time and space, these unique powers may well find their way into your games. Even if you don't want them there.

Optional Rule: Freecasting
Magic isn't a rigid and clearly defined set of guidelines, but an elemental force that dedicated practitioners shape with will and knowledge. Spells are handy formulae for efficiently shaping said power, but they aren't strictly necessary; casters can exceed this limitation, attempting to channel the raw power of magic beyond the limits of formal knowledge. In short, they can cast a spell-like effect they haven't learned if it's thematically or functionally close to a spell they know, and even create effects beyond the spell list. This is known as freecasting, a tactic common among inexperienced magicians that know fewer spells.
Freecasting carries risk, however, dramatically increasing Drain and thus the possibility of injury. So just because spellcasters can freecast doesn't mean they should; risks and rewards should be weighed. But sometimes being able to create an effect on the spot can save a runner's neck. After all, if she survives, she can learn the spell later... assuming the freecast isn't what kills her.
There are limitations to freecasting. First, it can only be applied to the Spellcasting skill; this sort of free-form approach to magic isn't compatible with Ritual Spellcasting. And someone can't pull just any effect from the ether. The desired effect must be tied in some way to a spell she knows, either thematically or in effect. For instance, if a magician knows Fireball, she can duplicate the effects of Flamethrower or Fire Wall, or heat a metal object or surface; however, using those principles she couldn't freecast an electrical attack, levitate or change shape. If the only Health spell she knows is Increase Body, she could improve another physical attribute or freecast Decrease Body on an opponent by applying the same fundamental magical principles. It's ultimately the GM's call whether a desired effect is close enough to the character's knowledge; beware the player that goes into lengthy justifications why Combat Sense should allow her to turn invisible or shoot ice bolts. At the same time, being too strict with freecasting defeats its intent -- if something sounds plausible and would make for good storytelling, why not let the player attempt it? (After all, with the severe drain and certainty of glitches, permitting freecasting is often the same thing as giving the player enough rope with which to hang her character. Giving in to a player isn't always doing her a favor, after all.) Finally, the character is limited to fairly modest effects; while a small Wall of Fire would be possible for the above Fireball-caster, a very big one is unattainable unless the magician has a very high Magic rating.
A freecast effect is never treated as a learned spell, no matter how often it's cast successfully. A magician that really likes a particular effect is better off just learning it as a spell than repeatedly risking life and limb to freecast it. However, a successful freecasting can be a good justification for the magician to formally learn a spell.
Systems: If a spellcaster wants to create an effect associated with a spell she knows (as described above), she may attempt to freecast it.
Step One: The GM must assign a Force to the effect by using existing spells as a guideline, or wing it for effects not covered by a spell. A character can't freecast and overcast -- if the Force of the desired effect exceeds either her Magic Attribute or Spellcasting skill, the magician can't even attempt it. Further, the maximum Force of any freecast effect is 5, no matter how high her Magic or Spellcasting is.
Step Two: The player makes a Spellcasting test; all applicable modifiers, such as bonuses granted by patron spirits, apply to freecasting tests. However, she resists freecasting drain at the full Force rating plus Drain modifiers (not half Force + Drain modifier like spells). Further, freecasting attempts are always glitches, even if no 1s are rolled on the test, reflecting the difficulty of shaping forces one hasn't mastered. If you roll an actual glitch while shaping imperfectly controlled magic, your glitch is already covered by dint of your freecast attempt, and you don't get hit twice with a double glitch. However, a failed freecasting test is an automatic critical glitch.

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