In Notches, spellcasting does exist, but it is rare. Discharging Effects and casting Spells are d20 Skill checks, like any other Action.
Discharging of Effects
Alchemy: preparation of Discharges: Flame, Chill, Acid, and Concussion, which all cause direct Injury.
Other Discharges inflict Conditions: Poison, Sleep, Obscurity, Nausea, Laughter, Bliss, Paralysis, Blindness, Deafness, Confusion, or Panic. Each is a discrete Skill.
Note: a natural-1 d20 roll means the Device discharges all spells, centered on the Character holding the Device.
Alchemy: preparation of Potions: beer, spirits, or hangover-recovery; infectants, vaccinations, or antibiotics; poisons or antidotes; psychedelics or hyperfocus; sleep or wakefulness. Each potion, together with its antidote, is one discrete Skill.
Healing: first aid (stop Bleed-out); cure disease; stabilize wounds; restore calm; defuse anger.
Communication and Divination: Heliograph operation; calligraphy; read scripts. Recording devices can be placed and set in motion, but must be recovered manually.Inscribe Glyphs: Glyphs can be placed to produce various effects, and armed with various triggers. Types of specific Glyph skills: Inscribe Scroll; Inscribe Trap; Inscribe Spellcast-Focus.
Learning Effects and Spells
Formulas are rare to find. Also: Characters need to employ a mentor or teacher to learn an Effect or Spell, or risk Backfire as a Complication when discharging it.
Time and cost of preparing Effects
Effects each require 10 minutes to prepare. Each preparation also requires 10GP worth of unusual materials, which the Player needs to specify. Materials also may draw the attention of authorities or other factions if you buy them publicly.
Schools of Magic
Abjuration: force-field, dispel Glamer, shut portal. Abjuration is socially accepted, and many Town Guard captains are Skilled in ForceField. Investigators are trained to dispel Glamer. The need to close portals is exceedingly rare, so few people ever develop this Skill. These Skills require rare Devices (1000gp), and each casting consumes 1 gram of thorium (10gp worth).
Glamer: psychological effects which deceive or compel their target. Almost all societies consider these Skills as criminal acts. In most cities, glamer spells are studied and practiced only in universities under strict surveillance and control. There are rumors that Investigators use these Skills for interrogations. Each casting of a Glamer takes 10 minutes, and costs the caster a level of Stress.
Enchanting: related to Glyphs, but the Effect is inscribed into a portable object (wand, staff, briefcase…). They Glyph persists, but 10 minutes and 10gp of materials need to be expended to charge it. Casters can add the same number of charges as their casting Bonus.
Other Spells, other Schools
The Players and Game Host may describe other Schools and Skills of spellcasting. Apply the same general principles: normally spells cost 10 minutes and 10GP worth of materials to cast.
Higher-Tier Effects and Spells
Once Characters achieve 4 Notches in a Spell or Effect, they can increase the potency as a multiple of the base Skill. Higher Tiers mean increasing either the number of persons affected, or the intensity of the effect on one person (or object). Each Tier increases the preparation time and material cost: 2nd Tier is double, 3rd Tier is triple, etc.
Note the danger for casters of Glamer spells: how do they avoid Harming themselves with excessive Stress?
Disrupting an Effect or Spellcast
Preparation requires 10 uninterrupted minutes of concentration. One could contaminate or disperse materials; grapple the preparer or disrupt their concentration; break a Device; and possibly destroy a Glyph (though that probably will trigger its Effect).