Hierarchy
Hierarchy classifies sorcery by scale. Where other axes ask 'how does the spell fire' or 'what does it do,' hierarchy asks 'how big is it.' Five canonical tiers cover the range: minor hex, standard, high hex, grand rite, and taboo.
Each tier has its own characteristic cost, preparation time, and reach. Minor hexes are the everyday operations of working sorcerers; standard sorcery is the trained practitioner's daily toolkit; high hexes anchor signature operations; grand rites operate at era scale; taboo sorcery is the ceiling that even the sect that holds the technique refuses to use.
On this page we walk all five tiers together — what each is, when each is used, and how to read which tier a given spell belongs to.
Core characteristics
The defining properties that set this category apart from others.
- Scale-centricSplits sorcery by the scale of the operation.
- Five canonical tiersMinor, standard, high, grand, taboo.
- Non-linear gapsEach tier multiplies the previous one rather than adding.
- Ceiling-awareTaboo is the customary cap for moral and practical reasons.
How it differs from neighboring categories
Even within the same family, each category has a distinct character. Comparing side by side is the fastest way to grasp the differences.
Hierarchy
The scale hierarchy of a sorcery operation.
Activation Structures
How the spell fires.
Medium Types
What carries the operation.
Effect Types
What the operation actually does.
When hierarchy classification helps
Best when you need to gauge the scale of an operation.
- Gauging an operationDeciding how big a specific spell is.
- Cost estimationEstimating the cost the practitioner will pay.
- Counter-designDesigning how to break a spell of a specific tier.
- Cross-work comparisonPutting two works' sorcery on a common scale.
How the tiers group
Tiers split into three practical bands.
Minor / Standard
Working-sorcerer band. Daily operations.
High Hex
Master band. Signature operations.
Grand Rite / Taboo
Apex band. Era-defining operations, usually banned.
Limits of hierarchy classification
Like any rank system, there are blind spots.
- Varies by workThe same tier behaves very differently across works.
- Effect-blindWhat the spell does lives on the effect-type page.
- Hybrid systemsWorks that use a different tier scheme are awkward to map.
Subcategories
How tier progression actually works
The jump between tiers is the core concept.
Each tier roughly multiplies the operation's scale and the practitioner's cost; the scale isn't additive.
Crossing into a new tier usually requires a 'breakthrough' — an inspiration, a successful crisis, or a heavy investment of resources.
Taboo operations are rare enough that they only show up at the climax of a major arc.
Digging deeper into tiers
Open each tier directly.
Start with Minor Hex for daily-operation scale, then move up through Standard and High Hex.
Read Grand Rite and Taboo Sorcery for the apex band.
Return to Sorcery Overview to reconnect the big picture.