Labyrinth Lord - Crimson Pandect - A Handbook of Eldritch Lore(1) - PDFCOFFEE.COM (2024)

The Crimson Pandect A Handbook of Eldritch Lore

By Kevin Crawford

Table of Contents Uttered Names................................................................................4 Paths of Power................................................................................5 Works of Sorcery..........................................................................84 Sanctums........................................................................................99 Dark Cabals.................................................................................108 Resources.....................................................................................118

Written by Kevin Crawford. Art by Storn Cook, Gary Dupuis, Toby Gregory, William McAusland, Bradley K McDevitt, Marc Radle, Michael Scotta, John Ward, and Konstantin Yuganov. © Sine Nomine Publishing, 2012. ISBN 978-1-936673-25-4 Labyrinth Lord™ is copyright 2007-2012, Daniel Proctor. Labyrinth Lord™ and Advanced Labyrinth Lord™ are trademarks of Daniel Proctor. These trademarks are used under the Labyrinth Lord™ Trademark License 1.2, available at www.goblinoidgames.com.

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Uttered Names

A sorcerer’s first human sacrifice is always himself. Others pay prices in blood and gold. They buy and kill and cozen with honeyed words, attaining their desires through the strength of their arm and the sharpness of their wits. Some live on in glory and some die in bitter shame, but every thing they buy has a limited cost. If they can only spill enough lives or seize enough gold or speak enough beautiful words, they can have their desire. The prices they pay have an end. Magic requires more. Small souls flutter around the edges of its consuming light, moth-hearted men and women who dabble in small sorceries and petty spells. They fear to give themselves to the power, to pay the price that would buy them what they truly desire. Some cannot bear to pay the years of sweating study and agonizing self-discipline. Others excuse themselves for a lack of brilliance and arcane talent. A few turn away for fear of what they will become, for dread of being something both more and so much less than wholly human. These petty incanters are weak. They are weak in will, weak in mind, and weak in the white-hot ambition that cools for neither god nor man. The true mage knows that he can have all that he desires. He can have the keys to the heavens and the maps of the worlds beneath. He can have every pleasure and every secret between the thrones of the gods and the Hells below. And all that he must pay is everything he is. In the Paths of Power chapter, the Crimson Pandect describes new paths of red sorcery for your Labyrinth Lord games. While the paths are written for the Red Tide campaign setting, all of them include tips for 4

readily adapting them to your own setting. Six of the eight paths are provided as full-fledged magic-user variant classes, the better to add fresh spice for those players who crave a greater abundance of arcane opportunities. In Works of Sorcery, learn the subtle secrets of a new method for handling the acquisition of arcane power. Rather than relying upon the plundered spellbooks of enemy wizards, sorcerers must conduct their own costly researches and search out ancient caches of forgotten secrets. Behold the new rules for transforming this plundered lore into new spells, fresh-forged magical devices, and unholy amalgams of tormented life. The Sanctums chapter provides a guide to the construction and furnishing of a wizard’s retreat, a place of study and safety for their prized lore. Their rules for occult facilities and sorcerous features interlock neatly with the rules for research, giving a powerful impetus for any wizard to find a lair of his own- and the gold to equip it as he wishes. With Dark Cabals, the Labyrinth Lord will find tools for generating contentious groups of wizards. Whether magical academies, lonely towers, sinister schemers, or demonic cultists, use the tools in this chapter to swiftly flesh out a band of wizards capable of giving your players a worthy foil for their ambitions. Finally, in the Resources chapter, you’ll find tables and tools for quick creation of arcane treasures, eldritch tomes, pre-designed spellbooks, and NPC wizards. In addition, a handy pronunciation guide is provided for names and words of importance, along with a record sheet to track a wizard’s occult progress.

Paths of Power

The arts of sorcery have a long pedigree in the world plagued by the Red Tide. Aside from the familiar sorceries of the High Path magic-users, practitioners as diverse as the clear-eyed astromancers of the Gadaal, the wild flesh-sorcerers of the Shou and the sinister elven Kuan Amelatu all have their places in the wilds of the Sunset Isles. The following pages include eight of the most common such paths to be found in the Isles, though there are doubtless dozens more that might have a handful of surviving adepts. For those Labyrinth Lords who prefer to use their own campaign worlds, each path has notes on how to convert it into a group suitable for your own campaigns. Each path is built around a basic theme, and this theme can easily be exported to the particulars of your own home-brewed world. A holy mage is a holy mage, whether she is a Makerite Theurge or an invoker of one of your own deities. Two of the paths in this section are simply interpretations of the base magic-user class. The High Path is the Red Tide campaign world’s equivalent of the canonical magic-user class, while the Stitched Path represents those arcanists who have given in to the sinister temptations of soul-vivisection. These paths are identical to the standard magic-user in all respects save for those few specific tweaks given in their description. The other six paths are all new magic-user variant classes. They exchange the flexibility and raw power of the High Path for a more restricted, focused set of sorceries. None of them gain spells higher than seventh level in power, and all of them have their own specific spell lists and class abilities.

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These other six paths are treated as magic-users for all purposes not directly covered by their class description. They can use enchanted items restricted to magic-users, and any special effect that hinges upon a character’s class treats them as magic-users. These variant sorcerers have much more limited spell selection than that of a conventional High Path mage. They cannot use a spell scroll unless the spell on it appears on their class list. In some cases, this may permit them to use clerical spell scrolls, as some of them have cleric spells on their allowed list. By the same token, standard High Path magic-users cannot use scrolls or copies of the unique spells on the variant class lists. Each path’s unique arts are the product of a lifetime of dedication, and it is not generally possible to poach effects from each other. Every path is serviceable for use by a PC, though some of them are more commonly found than others. Even the bloody sorceries of the Stitched Path might be suitable for a PC wizard, though such a figure is likely struggling to redeem himself from his past sins. The other paths all have a wide spectrum of devotees, both saintly figures of valiant righteousness and brutal arcanists who care nothing for the lives of others. Even Shou PCs can take them up, if they can somehow conceal their true nature from the hostile humans of the Isles. A player should confirm the availability of a given path with the Labyrinth Lord before making such a character. Magic-user players should also take care to review the Works of Sorcery chapter for the new rules on gaining spells and acquiring arcane treasures. If these rules are being used in your campaign, the players will need to know as much in order to plan their inevitable quests for innumerable tomes of plundered lore.

Astromancy Seers of What Is To Come Requirements Prime Requisite Hit Dice Maximum Level Weapons Armor Attack Table Saving Throws

Must be human or Shou Wisdom 1d4 None Dagger, Spear, Bow None As per magic-user As per magic-user

Born amid the highland mountains of the Gadaal people, astromancy is a path devoted to the heavens. Its practitioners spend sleepless hours in study of the stars and the procession of celestial lights, mapping their inexorable courses against the destinies of men below. Their skill as diviners is peerless, but they are capable of more earthly sorceries when the hour demands such skill. Astromancy relates to divination, fate, fortune, and the stars. It has numerous spells of foretelling and prophecy, and it can bend the fates of friends and foes to outcomes more pleasing to the astromancer. Certain astromantic enchantments call upon the light of the stars to blast those threats that cannot be warded off with curses or dire portents. Astromancy is weak in altering and affecting unliving objects. It has no spells to mold dead matter or transform objects. The light of the stars can be used to blast and burn, but it is a poor tool for exerting more subtle influence. Its oracular powers are also weak in perceiving what has already come to pass, as opposed to those events that portend the future.

Origins

Astromancy was first practiced by the dark-skinned Gadaal highlanders of the southern mountain lands. They were a poor people by the standards of other lands, with little but stone, goat hides, and watersmoothed mountain gems to adorn their weapons of bronze and chipped flint. Their clans warred and wed among the icy peaks and green vales of their homeland, 6

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+

Hit Dice 1d4 2d4 3d4 4d4 5d4 6d4 7d4 8d4 9d4 9d4+1 +1 HP per level

Astromancer Progression XP Class Abilities 0 Starlit Sight, Celestial Clarity, Prophetic Wisdom 2,501 5,001 Scatheless Destiny 10,001 20,001 Foretold of Old 40,001 80,001 160,001 310,001 460,001 +150,000 per level

Astromancer Spell List Spell Level 1

2

3 Assured Destiny

4

6 Anti-Magic Celestial Door Shell

1

Battle Auspice Baffled Stars

2

Celestial Bolt

Blazing Gaze

3

Detect Evil

Celestial Lamp

4

Detect Magic

ESP

5

Favored Path

Find Traps

6

Identify Magic

Horoscope

Clairvoyance

7

Light

Know Alignment

Curse

8

Omen, Lesser

Locate Object Dispel Magic

Second Stroke

Paralyzing Choice

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Read Languages

Lucky Token

Fated Blade

Speak with Plants

Past Shadows

Omen, Greater

Foul Fortune

Starfall

Stone Tell

Sleep

Remove Curse True Seeing

Speak with Animal

True Speech

10 Read Magic 11

Sight of the Sky

12 Theft of Luck 7

Arcane Eye

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Augur's Sight

Auspicious Journey

Avert Fate

Bleak Forewarning

Blighted Legion Borrowed Time

Deathly Misfortune Detect Lie Entangled Fates Light the Inner Flaw

Unveiled Verity

Commune

Alter Fate

Braid the Soul Effacing Word

Cloud of Contact Other CondemnaPlane tion Contingent Defer Doom Sorcery Echoes of the Dispel Evil Next Find the Path Far Sight Geas

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Poisoned Outcome Power Word, Stun Sagacious Insight Vision of Salvation

Mind Blank Nine Lives Prophecy Symbol Temporal Stasis Time Stop

and the ease of ambush and sudden attack encouraged an avid desire for foretellings. The first astromancers were simply the keenest-eyed men and women of the clan, those with a gaze sharp enough to spy out enemies where they hid and notice the signs of traps laid in the narrow mountain passes. The wise among them learned to draw comparisons between the tide of stars overhead and the endless cycles of war and peacemaking that rippled through the scattered Gadaal clans. In time, these patterns became more perfectly understood, and the astromancers developed a particular language of gesture and tone to describe the relationships, colors, times, and progressions of the sky above. It was in the course of this language’s development that the first astromancers understood that they could evoke the power of what they described through the medium of the language itself. A perfect replication of a celestial relationship below could create an effect that echoed the meaning of the conjunction above. Eventually every clan had their astromancers. They were sought for omens and portents, and they gave what their kinsmen needed- but they also subtly shaped Gadaal society to be less warlike and less prone to internal strife. They could see the blood and pointless death that came from the constant feuding, and it was a headstrong chieftain who refused their counsel. Only the brashest and most ambitious astromancers sought overt leadership of their clans, but all of them had a powerful influence on the choices of the Gadaal leaders. How could it be otherwise? They knew what would come of the choices that were made. The astromancers themselves had a loose society of their own, often meeting in truce even while their own clans feuded. They established observatories upon the highest peaks to better study the stars overhead. They scorned the lenses and elaborate engines of lesser astronomers, relying only on their matchless clarity of sight to peer into mysteries of the upper world. They recorded their wisdom on goat-hides and tablets of stone, and passed their secrets on from one generation to the next. In the centuries before the Red Tide rose to scour clean the world, the astromancers were counted a reclusive 8

Astromancer Spell Progression Spell Level Class Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 1 2 2 2 1 3 3 2 4 3 2 1 5 3 3 2 6 4 3 2 1 7 4 3 3 2 8 4 4 3 2 1 9 5 4 3 3 2 10 5 4 4 3 2 1 11 5 5 4 3 3 2 12 6 5 4 4 3 2 1 13 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 14 7 6 5 4 4 3 2 15 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 16 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 17 8 7 6 5 4 4 3 18 8 7 6 5 5 4 3 19 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 20 lot, reluctant to involve themselves in the affairs of the world. Kings and princes sent envoys bearing precious gifts, but few astromancers were tempted by such blandishments. The greatest among them who left the southern mountains was the Archmage Lammach himself, the savior of the refugee fleet and the prophet who foretold the Red Tide’s advance. Those few records that have survived the disaster do not say whether the deep sages of the southern mountains also foresaw the world’s doom. If they did, no known mention of it or their response has come down to the present.

In the Present Day

Astromancy is rare but not unknown in the modern Sunset Isles. Archmage Lammach was able to pass on the rudiments to a few pupils before he died in the great Shou wars that followed the Landing, and some among the refugees had obtained a degree of training. None of them were masters to match the great mountain seers of the south, but it was enough to start a few lineages of instruction in the tropical isles.

Of course, far more mountebanks and charlatans claim to be astromancers than actually are, some of them darkening their skin with extracts and juices so as to better pass for a Gadaal, or feigning the spun goathair clothing and intricately-carved stone ornaments traditional to those folk. These pretenders are less successful than might be expected, as astromantic oracles are notorious for their clarity and precision, and such talk is the very opposite of a fortune-teller’s cant. Most of them succeed only in bilking ignorant peasants and those rich daifu with more worries than sense. True astromancers often resent using their abilities for mere pecuniary gain. They utter the truths of the heavens themselves and wield the blinding light of destiny; why should they prophesy some farmer’s broken leg in a market stall? Still, the gemstones they grind for their seeing-powders and the rare plants and strange stones that go into their luck-charms don’t come cheap. Astromancers often find themselves sought out by ruffianly bands of adventurers who want the advantage of the astromancer’s insights when on their next expedition. Astromancy itself is a respected path, one lent particular prestige by the Archmage Lammach. Enough men and women have pursued the art that it is no longer the exclusive property of the Gadaal, though most astromancers remain at least partly related to their clans. While the veracity of astromancy is well-known, the magistrates of the Sunset Isles do not accept it as evidence in trials, just as they refuse magically-obtained evidence from other paths. It is too easy to fabricate such things, and there have been enough quiet tales of astromancers who “improved” what their oracles showed them.

Adventuring

Astromancers are not unknown among adventurers. Their research may involve imperishable truths of heavenly light, but financing their studies has decidedly terrestrial costs. Astromancers have the same avid interest in occult tomes and arcane treasures as those wizards of any other path, but they can also gain enlightenment from remote mountaintops and ancient observatories, along with the long-lost divinatory tools of vanished races.

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Future Fates Destiny is a mutable thing in this world, and what is foreseen is not always what will come to pass. Some prophecies are stronger than others, but even the most inexorable can be averted by sufficient effort and a trace of luck. When a seer divines some future event, it will come to pass if no significant actions intervene. A wilful choice to disrupt the future fate is often all that is required to change what is to come, though the most dire prophecies might require heroic deeds to avert. Astromancers sometimes become leaders of an adventuring band, largely due to their powers of foresight. They don’t have the offensive power that a yamabushi or High Path mage commands, but the have the ability to give the party quick answers to important questions. Their numerous fate-bending spells are also handy for helping the group survive mistakes that would otherwise prove lethal.

Training

Most astromancers are educated by a relative, as the art is commonly passed down within a family to its most gifted, clear-eyed members. Over the course of several years, the apprentice is taught exercises which sharpen their sight, attune them to the mystic resonance of the stars, and prepare them to perform the demanding songs and exacting gestures of the language of the heavens. A few astromancers are found as members of formal magical schools, teaching others the subtleties of their art in exchange for considerations of their own. Further advancement in the art requires hours of silent stargazing, vocal training to emulate the celestial tones, elaborate and painful physical conditioning to assume the occult postures with sufficient exactitude, and petitions made to silent, enigmatic stellar patrons. Their rites are not bloody or ornate. They are cold- cold with the indifference of the stars overhead and the chill, endless grinding of the wheels of fate. When astromancers seek to master new spells, they must learn the secret names and configurations of destiny required to evoke the desired effect. Such experimentation can be dangerous, as an ill-sung word or imprecise gesture can suddenly expose the

astromancer to a surge of lethally bad luck or lingering affliction. Astromancers spend their research costs on preparations to sharpen their focus, historical almanacs, celestial records, unguents for greater flexibility and precision, and a host of small gems, roots, bones, and other fragments that can be used to catch errant currents of luck. As with most magical paths, the astromancer is considered to owe a certain debt to his master, even after his apprenticeship is completed. The years spent acquiring an education are partially paid by the many helpful labors an apprentice can perform around the observatory, but the strong clan traditions of the Gadaal have bled over into their magical customs. An astromancer who denies a request for aid from his master had best have an excellent reason for doing so if he means to escape the scorn and mistrust of his colleagues. Any apprentice who’d spurn his own master, they reason, would surely do that much worse to any rivals.

Astromancers In Your Campaign

Astromancy can easily be reflavored as the magic of a specialist diviner or holy oracle in your campaign. It’s particularly useful for allowing a PC with a “seer” concept to actually have some practical use in the middle of a dungeon. As might be expected, if you allow such diviners in your campaign you’re going to need to be careful not to build adventures reliant upon the PCs’ ignorance. They will find things out, so let them make their discoveries and then let the challenge rest in what they can accomplish with the information.

Class Abilities

Starlit Sight: Astromancers all have remarkably keen eyesight as a result of their celestial studies and certain unique magical practices. They can see perfectly well at any light level greater than total darkness, and cannot be blinded- indeed, even if their eyes are torn from their heads, their sight remains unimpeded. At 7th level, their vision becomes so acute that they can examine any object within visual range as if they were standing next to it. Note that the special abilities of Thieves to hide in shadows are partially magical in nature, and are not particularly susceptible to the sight of the astromancers. As it is in the nature of the wise to see, it is in the nature of thieves to be unseen.

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Celestial Clarity: Astromancy is more limited in the range of its effects than some other paths may be, but it is surpassingly precise in its own sphere. Unlike most oracles and foretellings, auguries granted by astromancy are always extremely clear. They may not be complete or detailed, but they never require allegorical readings or puzzled decipherment by the hearer. When giving an astromancer the results of an augury, the Labyrinth Lord should be very explicit about the information that is gained. Prophetic Wisdom: Astromancers have an uncanny knack for recognizing magically significant foretellings. They can always distinguish lies, coincidences, and random ravings from auspiciously significant events and prophecies, though they may not understand the message being conveyed. Foretold of Old: At 5th level, astromancers become so keenly attuned to their own personal destinies that they become impossible to surprise. They are always alerted one round in advance to any impending ambush or surprise encounter, and can foretell the general nature of the incoming event. Scatheless Destiny: It is very difficult to stain or cut short an astromancer’s appointed fate. At 3rd level the astromancer becomes immune to curses or cursed magical items. At 7th level, he may roll twice on saving throws versus instant death magic such as Death Spell or Destruction. At 9th level, the astromancer can briefly avert a terrible fate; once per day, he can negate a spell, attack, or effect that would result in his death. Other subjects of the circumstance are affected normally.

Astromancy Spells Alter Fate Level 7 Duration Special Range Special The astromancer’s will is graven on the destiny of the world around him. This spell has the same function and limits as the Limited Wish spell. Altering fate is highly corrosive to the astromancer’s own powers, however, as the brutish reweaving of destiny’s coils makes it impossible for the caster’s own spells to use them until they have had time to recover. After using this spell, the caster is unable to cast any further spells for one day.

Assured Destiny Level 3 Duration Special Range 240’ With this spell, the astromancer nudges the web of fate slightly to produce a likely desired outcome. They may decree that a particular subject within range will perform a particular action at a given time within one week. The target may make a saving throw versus spells to resist the destiny, in which case they are immune to this spell for one week’s time. Targets cannot be compelled to take actions harmful or costly to themselves or perform deeds greatly out of their character. This spell can be dangerous for an astromancer, as it creates an astrological bond between them and the subject. If the target is wounded or harmed within an hour of performing the action, the astromancer receives the exact same injuries. If the target dies, the caster must save versus death or die as well- and no astromancy can affect this save.

Augur’s Sight Level 3 Duration Instant Range Self This spell grants a brief but clear vision related to the most likely outcome of a particular course of action. The spell can range up to a month into the future, showing the caster the most significant probable result of that course of action within the available time. If several outcomes seem roughly equally likely to the Labyrinth Lord, several outcomes are shown. 11

Spells and Self-Defense Certain spells in this tome leave a target unable to act save in self-defense. What this means is that the target is not treated as helpless for purposes of coupde-graces, and retains their normal armor class and dexterity bonuses. They are unable to activate any of their other abilities, however, even those that could normally be triggered outside of a round’s action.

Auspicious Journey Level 4 Duration 1 day/level Range Special This spell favors a journey with all the good luck that might be desired. When cast, the astromancer identifies a single ship, caravan, or group of people and a particular destination. For the duration of this spell, the journey toward that destination will be remarkably fortunate. No wandering monsters will be encountered, fair winds will always fill a ship’s sails, weather will not muddy or slow a caravan, and the travelers will never become lost. In general, those affected will cover twice as much distance each day as they would otherwise. The astromancer must remain with the group to maintain this spell.

Avert Fate Level 3 Duration 1 hour/level Range Special This spell grants a limited blessing of protection to the subject, allowing them to escape some grave misfortune. One time while the spell is in effect, the subject may choose to automatically succeed on a saving throw before rolling it. The scales of destiny must be balanced, however, and the next saving throw made after that is automatically failed. If this balance is not rectified by the time the spell runs out, Avert Fate may not be cast on them again for a week.

Baffled Stars Level 2 Duration Instant Range 240’ The caster briefly absents himself or another from the web of astral fate. This spell functions identically to Dispel Magic, but affects only magical effects upon a single living target, and suppresses the effects for only 1d4 turns.

Battle Auspice Level 1 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ This war-blessing arms up to a dozen allies within range against the deceits of their foe. For the duration of the spell’s effect, the recipients cannot be surprised.

Blazing Gaze Level 2 Duration Instant Range 30’ The caster’s piercing sight becomes a weapon as a terrible radiance gouts forth along the path of his gaze. Any creatures in a straight line out to the full range of the spell will take 2d6 damage, with a saving throw for half.

Bleak Forewarning Level 4 Duration Instant Range Self This augury will warn the caster of a pressing present danger to their life and happiness, if one exists. If the peril comes at the instigation of a person known personally to the caster, they get a vision of the malefactor. Otherwise, they receive only a succinct description of the peril- “The Shining Blood clan of Shou are planning to overrun your home.”, “Your wife is committing adultery with your favorite odalisque.”, “The Enlightened Sage of Tien Lung wants you dead.” and so forth. This spell can be cast only once per week.

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Blighted Legion Level 3 Duration 1 turn Range 60’ radius from caster This broad-ranging curse afflicts all the enemies of the caster within the area of effect. Those of 3 or fewer hit dice are not allowed a saving throw versus it, though more powerful subjects can save versus spells to resist it. While under its effects, all targets suffer a -2 penalty to hit rolls and a -1 penalty to saving throws and Morale.

Borrowed Time Level 3 Duration Instant Range Self The caster’s grasp on the future is so strong that he can pull back fragments of it for present use. On casting this spell, the astromancer may take 1d4 rounds worth of actions immediately, albeit no spells may be cast during this time. After these actions are taken, however, the caster is dazed and unable to do anything but defend himself for an equal number of rounds.

Braid the Soul Level 6 Duration Instant Range Touch Most souls are destined to fly to the refuge of the heavens of the gods. Some unpledged souls drift deeper into the mysterious gray void between, and some among the wicked are snatched by the Hell Kings, but all mortal souls are meant to leave the earth after death. This enchantment cheats this cycle, braiding the soul of one recently dead back into a body. The corpse to be used must be fresh and possessed of all its constituent parts. It must be of the same species and preferably the same gender- the soul’s former body might well suffice if it didn’t die by violence. Provided the soul has not been seized by demons or enraptured by the joys of the heavenly realms, it may voluntarily choose to return to life in this new body. Most souls can only be blandished back within forty days after their death, and many pass on even more quickly. The soul is always aware of the identity of the astromancer and the body prepared for it, and may elect to remain dead. This spell can be used to re-embody an elven soul, provided it has not yet been reborn into a new life.

Celestial Bolt Level 1 Duration Instant Range 120’ A torrent of brilliant starlight erupts from the astromancer. The spell creates one bolt for every three levels of the caster or fraction thereof, each bolt doing 1d4+1 damage to the chosen target within range. A maximum of four bolts are created by this spell.

Celestial Door Level 5 Duration Instant Range Special The unities of heaven and earth open a way for the skilled astromancer. This spell functions as a Teleport spell with no chance of error, but it does have certain limitations- the destination must have been visited by the caster at some point, and starlight must be shining on it at the time the spell is cast. Note that the light produced by the Celestial Lamp spell qualifies for this purpose.

Celestial Lamp Level 1 Duration Permanent Range Touch This spell captures a tiny reflection of the imperishable light of the stars, causing a single non-magical unliving object to cast bright light out to a 60-foot radius. The caster may shroud or focus this light at will, and it will persist until he chooses to extinguish it or the spell is dispelled.

Cloud of Condemnation Level 1 Duration Instant Range 120’ This spell functions as does the Deathly Misfortune enchantment and is cast in the same way, but it affects all enemies of the caster within a 20’ radius of the targeted point within range. The environment erupts into pandemonium as every possible accident and violent error overwhelms the unlucky victims.

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Contingent Sorcery Level 6 Duration Special Range Self The caster may store up a spell against a future fate. He identifies a particular event or condition he may find himself in and then casts both this spell and the spell he wishes to be automatically triggered under those circumstances. The spell to be triggered must be an astromancer spell. On activation, the caster may choose its target and particulars just as if he had cast it at that moment himself. Only one spell may be held contingent at a time.

Deathly Misfortune Level 4 Duration Instant Range 120’ This spell requires no verbal or somatic components, and can be cast even while the astromancer is bound and gagged. A single target within range must make a saving throw versus spells or be suddenly overwhelmed by lethally bad luck- stones fall from the ceiling, a chair collapses in jagged shards beneath them, they choke on their food, they slip on a dry floor and brain themselves, or so on. Whatever the specifics, the spell does 1d6 damage to the target per two full caster levels.

Defer Doom Level 5 Duration 1 turn/level Range Touch This spell can be used to briefly forestall the death of the target. If the subject is brought to zero hit points while the spell is in effect, their death is momentarily delayed by 1d4+1 rounds. During this time they ignore all hit point damage and death effects and may act normally. If they haven’t been brought to a positive hit point total by the time the deferment ends, they drop dead. Even if they have managed to cheat their fate with healing in the interim, they must make a saving throw versus death or be taken up regardless by their inexorable fate.

Echoes of the Next Level 6 Duration 1 round/level Range 120’ The caster and up to six of his allies see the shadowy imprint of the future in every action around them. For the duration of this spell, they are immune to surprise and will always win initiative rolls. At the beginning of every combat round the Labyrinth Lord will advise them of the general intended actions of their enemies, though these plans might well change after the caster and his friends have had their turn.

Effacing Word Level 7 Duration Instant Range 60’ radius The astromancer speaks a prophecy of awful doom for his enemies. This spell has the same effect as the clerical spell of Holy Word, but affects only the caster’s enemies, and all effects are shifted down by one category. Thus, creatures of 12+ HD are unaffected, those of 8-11 hit dice are deafened for 1d4 rounds and penalized by -2 to hit and -25% movement rate, and so forth.

Entangled Fates Level 4 Duration 1 round/level Range 60’ The caster selects two targets within range and tangles their destinies together in a dangerous knot of causality. Both targets get a saving throw versus spells. If a target fails the save, any hit point damage suffered by the other subject during the duration of the spell also appears on them. The link does not carry over any other negative effects, and a subject stops transferring damage once it dies.

Far Sight Level 6 Duration 1 turn/2 levels Range Special Visions of distant places may be summoned up by the skilled astromancer, though there remains the danger of peering too deeply into the darkness of the sky. This spell must be cast outdoors beneath a starry sky. For the 14

duration of the spell, the caster may choose any point beneath the night sky and observe it from any altitude desired. He can peer into windows, but he cannot generally see into roofed spaces. After each casting of this spell, the astromancer must roll 1d20; on a natural 1, he is enraptured by the depth of his vision and rendered catatonic for 24 hours.

Fated Blade Level 3 Duration 1 turn/2 levels Range Touch This blessing imbues a weapon with a fated lust for a particular target’s blood. The astromancer must know the true name of the chosen victim of the weapon, or else be within visual range of the target. While the spell holds, any attacks or damage rolls made by that weapon against the target may be rolled twice and the better result taken. Only one weapon can be fated to slay a given target at any one time.

Favored Path Level 1 Duration 1 hour/level Range Self Beneath an open sky, the astromancer cannot go astray. This spell gives the astromancer an exact knowledge of

their location and heading for the duration of its effect, so long as they remain outdoors.

Foul Fortune Level 3 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ This curse blights the target’s luck in matters of chance and randomness, provided that they fail a saving throw versus spells. While under the spell’s effect, they must roll twice for damage or variable spell effects and take the lower of the two rolls. They will also automatically lose any games that rely significantly upon chance.

Horoscope Level 2 Duration Special Range Special With an hour’s time and careful contemplation, the astromancer can cast a horoscope for a living entity. The target either must be present for the horoscope or the astromancer must know their true name and hour of birth. The horoscope will reveal whether or not the subject is under any current poisons, diseases, enchantments or curses, though only the presence of each category is noted and not their specific natures. A five or six word precis of the target’s personality is also obtained, and a few words of advice that result in a +1 bonus to their next saving throw made within 24 hours.

Identify Magic Level 1 Duration Special Range Special The astromancer can apprehend the basic function of a magical item or permanent sorcerous effect, provided he can handle the object. This spell will not reveal command words or specific details about the magic, but it will identify the basic type and power of the sorcery- that an item is a sword +1, for example, or a potion of healing, or that a particular magical pool will transform those who bathe in it. The astromancer must handle the object or touch the dweomered area in order to cast this spell, so they may be affected in negative ways should the effect be malevolent or cursed. 15

Light the Inner Flaw Level 4 Duration Special Range Special This spell can be used to examine a particular plan for unforeseen difficulties. To cast the spell, the caster lays out a specific plot or plan and then interrogates it with horoscopes and auguries. The spell will reveal the largest unknown flaw or danger inherent in the plan and briefly indicate the nature of the error. “The daifu is not at his estate.” for example, or “The corridor is trapped with a mystical alarm.” This spell can only be cast once when planning for any particular goal.

Lucky Token Level 2 Duration 1 week Range Touch Astromancers have great expertise in the creation of good luck charms and tokens of auspicious fortune. This spell requires an hour to cast, and imbues a small bauble with a fragment of good fortune. So long as the bearer carries this token, they gain a +1 bonus to all saving throws. Such tokens wear out one week after their creation, and multiple tokens do not stack their benefits. The token burns out prematurely if the wearer fails a saving throw- plain evidence that the luck is used up.

Nine Lives Level 7 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self Any master astromancer knows tricks for cheating death; this spell empowers that natural ability with greater strength and specificity. Upon casting the spell, the caster may name a particular phenomenon, a specific type of weapon, or a particular sorcery. For the duration of this spell, the named source of injury cannot harm the caster. The caster could name “lava”, for example, and wade cheerfully through a flow of molten stone, or name “swords”, and sneer at an enemy’s enchanted blades, or name “A Dream Lord’s killing gaze” and ignore the awful stare of those masters of the Red Tide.

Omen, Lesser Level 1 Duration Instant Range Self The astromancer can gain a hint of what the future holds. To cast this spell, the astromancer focuses on a particular course of action and opens his mind to a momentary flash of insight. The Labyrinth Lord will advise him if the course of action seems likely to leave him dead, injured, or significantly distressed within the next ten minutes.

Omen, Greater Level 2 Duration Instant Range Self This spell functions much as its lesser equivalent, but it grants a brief glimpse showing the specific nature of the woe to be experienced by the caster within the next ten minutes, assuming they persist in their present course of action.

Paralyzing Choice Level 5 Duration 1 round/level Range 120’ The target of this spell must succeed at a saving throw versus spells or become seized by horrible visions of catastrophic disaster resulting from any action they might take. They are unable to do anything but defend themselves during the duration of this spell. The enchantment affects even those creatures that are normally immune to Hold Person effects, but it will not affect mindless entities.

Past Shadows Level 5 Duration 1 turn/level Range Special While the vast majority of astromantic spells peer into the uncertain future, a skilled magus can reverse the rites to gain glimpses of the past. The astromancer must be in the area to be observed, and can focus on a specific time at any point within the past ten years per caster level. The astromancer then falls into a trance, during which he observes the surroundings just as if 16

he was there at the time, hearing and seeing all that transpires. The vision continues until he leaves the trance. He can perceive all within visual range of the area, but he cannot move his vantage point in the past without recasting the spell.

Poisoned Outcome Level 6 Duration 1 day/level Range 120’ The astromancer may curse a victim within range with a subtle and powerful blight, naming a specific desire that the target must not pursue. The victim gets a saving throw versus spell; on a success, he evades the curse. On a failure, he will have absolutely no chance of succeeding at the action until the spell has worn off or he receives a Remove Curse spell. Even the most trivially simple tasks will prove insurmountable if forbidden, happenstance and his own bad luck conspiring to thwart him at every turn. The desire to be banned must be clear and limited, it cannot be an action consequent upon the choices of others, and the caster cannot poison an outcome necessary for the victim’s continued life and health. Thus, the caster could forbid a victim from buying a particular piece of land, but he could not decree that the land would not be offered for sale.

Prophecy Level 7 Duration Special Range Special The astromancer now commands what is to be. He may cast this spell to utter a prophecy that will inevitably come true, granted the absence of sufficient resistance. The prophecy must involve only the actions of intelligent beings, and not natural phenomena. He can prophesy the collapse of a Shou horde or the commencement of civil strife within a city, for example, but he can’t decree the coming of a plague or the sudden quelling of a hurricane. The Labyrinth Lord is the final arbiter of reasonableness, but should assume the events come to pass unless some equally powerful entity is opposed to the outcome. The more people who are affected by a prophecy, the more likely it is to be subverted or defied. Omens involving no more than a few dozen ordinary men and women almost always come to pass precisely as decreed, while prophecies involving armies or cities merely produce a

strong tendency for events to flow in such a way. PCs and other special figures can never be constrained by a prophecy, though NPCs will usually unconsciously fall into step with the ordination. An astromancer may utter a prophecy no more than once per month.

Sagacious Insight Level 6 Duration Special Range Special With time and study, the astromancer can tease out the deepest secrets of an artifact or enigmatic sorcery. With one day of study and a successful use of this spell, the caster may fully identify a magic item, including command words and any lingering curses. He may also gain a full understanding of a permanent magical phenomenon’s effects, including how it may be bypassed or dispelled.

Second Stroke Level 4 Duration Instant Range 120’ This spell permits- or forces- a second saving throw against a recent effect. It can be cast reflexively even outside the astromancer’s usual turn. A single target in range may reroll a saving throw they just made. If used to force an enemy to reroll a successful saving throw, the enemy gets a save against this spell first. If the enemy succeeds in resisting this spell, the feedback does an unavoidable 2d6 hit points of damage to the astromancer.

Sight of the Sky Level 1 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self The piercing vision of the Gadaal astromancers is legendary. This sorcery augments their natural clearsightedness to a remarkable degree, granting them sight in pitch darkness, clarity through mist and smoke, and automatically piercing the veils of invisibility around any creature with equal or fewer hit dice than the caster.

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Starfall Level 4 Duration Instant Range 240’ A brilliant beam of celestial light shines down to blast the astromancer’s foes. All targets within a 20’ radius from the target point of this spell take 1d6 damage per two full caster levels. Allies are not harmed by the spell and victims may save for half damage.

Theft of Luck Level 1 Duration 1 round/level Range 240’ The astromancer steals a shred of the target’s luck, forcing them to take a -2 penalty to all hit rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws for the spell’s duration.

True Speech Level 3 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self Astromancers do not suffer from the confusion that plagues the auguries of less precise diviners. This spell allows them to speak clearly and comprehensibly with any intelligent being that possesses a language of its own, understanding their speech in turn. As part of this spell, the astromancer may make one prediction to a single listener and explain one way in which it may be averted. Provided the prediction seems remotely plausible to the listener, they must save versus spells or be completely convinced that the astromancer is telling the truth and that their only certain escape is in compliance with their counsel. The listener will automatically reject predictions that make costly or unnatural demands upon them.

Unveiled Verity Level 4 Duration Instant Range Self This spell will provide an answer to any single question, provided that the information desired is known to at least twelve people who do not consider it a secret. The question must be specific enough to be answered with no more than two or three sentences.

Vision of Salvation Level 6 Duration Instant Range Self This focused oracle grants the caster a brief vision demonstrating a means of escaping some present problem. The caster names an obstacle to be overcome or a difficulty to be removed and then casts the spell. The vision then depicts the most likely and practical way available for him to bypass or eliminate the problem. For some exceptionally intractable problems, the “most likely and practical way” may not possess much of either quality.

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The High Path Art and Science Made Sublime Requirements Prime Requisite Hit Dice Maximum Level Weapons Armor Attack Table Saving Throws

Must be human or Shou Intelligence 1d4 None Dagger None As per magic-user As per magic-user

The proud sorcerers of the High Path are heir to the occult might and omnivorous wisdom of the Ninefold Celestial Empire, the foremost human nation of the world before the Red Tide. A blend of foreign magics and native lore combined to give the magocratic Imperials an edge that no neighboring land could hope to match, and their mighty works of arcane engineering brought undreamt-of prosperity to their empire. The strength of the High Path has always been in its flexibility and power. A vast range of occult effects can be produced by the right High Path sorcery, and the archmages of the path are capable of wielding more raw arcane power than any of their rivals. Where their challengers sought to best them with specialized focus, the High Path magi fought them with flexibility and an unanswerable torrent of force. The High Path’s weakness is in its very lack of specialization. Other Paths are capable of producing certain effects impossible for the High Path, thanks to their narrowed scope and more specific training. The High Path is unable to mimic these unique gifts, though they can sometimes work around the lack simply by throwing more power at the problem. In particular, High Path sorcerers are entirely incapable of the delicate manipulations needed to heal or cure a living subject, and experimentation in this vein invariably ends unfortunately for the test subjects. 19

Origins

The High Path is a comparatively recent style of magic, one developed only eight hundred years ago in the Ninefold Celestial Empire. The native self-alchemical traditions of the Nine Immortal Art were combined with the elemental powers of the recently-conquered Kueh yamabushi. The resultant arts were remarkably powerful and flexible. The self-alchemy of the Nine Immortals Art fueled the force behind the Mountain Way’s incantations and lent the hybrid art an incredible degree of raw power. The archmages of the High Path were capable of feats of versatility unknown to other paths- the most famous of these being the sky-splitting might of the Wish. In this burning incantation, perfected spiritual disciplines

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+

Hit Dice 1d4 2d4 3d4 4d4 5d4 6d4 7d4 8d4 9d4 9d4+1 +1 HP per level

High Path Progression XP Class Abilities 0 Disciplined Learning 2,501 5,001 10,001 20,001 40,001 80,001 160,001 310,001 460,001 +150,000 per level

are used to channel arcane force into an invincible manifestation of the archmage’s will upon the world. It wasn’t long until the Emperor himself was a devotee of the High Path, abandoning the Nine Immortal Art that had been the traditional patrimony of the Imperial magocracy. With such an example before them, the remaining practitioners of the Nine Immortal Way were pushed to the periphery of court circles and the dominance of the High Path was secured. In the eight hundred years since, the High Path has been the art of overwhelming choice among Imperial sorcerers and their heirs. Its flexibility, power, and ease of transmission spread it throughout the Ninefold Celestial Empire and its satellite states. Many native arts were crowded out by the new ways, as local sorcerers found its clarity and versatility to be superior to their own cramped magics. As of four hundred years ago the High Path was the form of magic most often associated with wizardry.

In the Present Day

The great majority of magic-users who survived the exodus to the Sunset Isles were devotees of the High Path. As a natural consequence, most of the modern students of magic have followed the lead, and High Path sorcery is now synonymous with magic use in most places. This dominance is frustrated in part by the great mortality among the mighty wizards of the Landing era. The sorceries of these mages were often vital in 20

fending off the savage Shou, and the native witchpriestesses were clever enough to target them for special attention. Almost all of the legends of the Landing died in battle or were assassinated by Shou raiders. Without their wisdom, the next generations were robbed of many of the most powerful incantations and much of the lore the High Path had accumulated. Even today, two hundred years later, there is no real proof that even a single wizard in the Isles is capable of invoking the power of the Wish. High Path mages are respected in most communities, a legacy of their place of honor in the Ninefold Celestial Empire. Many important officials have mastered some degree of sorcery, and in theory all the “daifu” nobility of the Xianese city-state are supposed to be magic-users. In practice, many of these nobles are barely literate, and their selection hinges more on wealth, competence, and political skill than arcane enlightenment. This respect comes at a price. High Path magi are tacitly assumed to be available for important jobs from local officials. Most officials are wary enough of wizards to make these requests only when the matter is of grave significance, and fair payment is expected for the help. Still, a wizard who makes a habit of turning down these pleas is likely to find his social advancement come to a dead stop among the elite of a community.

Adventuring

Most High Path wizards adventure in order to obtain magical lore, as they are even more voracious about accumulating tomes, instruments, and relics than are

Class Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

1 1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6

High Path Spell Progression Spell Level 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 3 2 2 3 3 2 1 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 1 4 3 3 3 2 4 4 3 3 2 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 5 5 4 6 5 5 5 5

7 1 2 2 3 4 4 4 4

most other wizards. Their most powerful enchantments require enormous erudition to master, and where other paths eventually run out of tricks to learn, the High Path mage can continue almost indefinitely. Such learning requires grist, and that means unearthing wisdom long since lost to the darkness. High Path magi fill the traditional roles of the magicuser in an adventuring party. They are weakest in matters of healing and restoration, as their particular arts have no aptitude whatsoever for such magic.

Training

Many High Path magi are trained in an individual relationship with a master. Most such apprenticeships run eight years, though a master particularly generous with his wisdom can complete the necessary studies in only two years. Upon completion of their education, such apprentices are expected to go forth and build their own arcane legacy. Still, a permanent bond of debt exists between the apprentice and the master. A 21

8 1 2 3 4 4 4

9 1 2 3 4

wizard who scorns reasonable requests from his teacher or who acts against his master’s interests risks being condemned as an untrustworthy traitor by his peers. Other High Path magi are taught at small academies set up for this purpose, with a faculty that not-uncommonly contains magi of other paths. These academies rarely train more than thirty or forty students at a time over the course of four years. Many of their pupils are the sons and daughters of wealthy daifu families, and most of these oblates are soon are shunted into courses that teach art, literature, business management, and other practical concerns of the elite. Those that show genuine magical talent are allowed to take classes to cultivate that art. Exceptionally talented commoners might be taken in as well, often as the pet project of some arcanist dreaming of a legacy more exalted than a mere sequence of overfed noble-spawn.

The High Path In Your Campaign

Converting the High Path is remarkably easy, because you don’t need to. It’s a perfectly normal, unaltered magic-user class. The write-up is provided here chiefly to detail the history and development of the High Path in the Red Tide campaign world, and to make it clear that players are allowed to play normal, unmodified magic-users in that setting. By default, elves are treated as High Path mages for purposes of spell list access and study. Those who follow a particular arcane Creed might have their own rules for spell use, but otherwise they use the standard Labyrinth Lord guidelines for their sorceries.

Class Abilities

Disciplined Learning: This ability is only applicable if you are using the rules for spell acquisition described in the Works of Sorcery chapter. To reflect the flexibility of the High Path, at each experience level advancement, practitioners may add one additional spell to their spellbook of any level they are capable of casting.

The Kuan Amelatu Avengers of the Unquiet Dead Requirements Prime Requisite Hit Dice Maximum Level Weapons Armor Attack Table Saving Throws

Must be human, elven, or Shou Intelligence 1d6 None Any Any As per fighter As per cleric

High atop the spine of the Godbarrow mountains rises the gray fortress of Kur Darisum. Within it dwell the elves of the Creed known as the Kuan Amelatu, devout worshippers of death as the gateway to perfect enlightenment. From their isolated mountain fortress they ride forth to defend the dead from the depredations of the living and quiet the uneasy existence of restless spirits. The necrolatry of the Kuan Amelatu is powerful in stilling the undead and channeling the dark forces of dissolution. Their sorcerers can assume certain aspects of the undead and banish restless shades to a final peace. They can defy the encroaching presence of mortality and maintain their existence in the face of terrible foes. Their sorcery is far more limited than that of most mages, however. Necrolatry is useless for anything not distinctly related to death, the undead, and the service of the living to their causes. Furthermore, the seething hatred in which the Kuan Amelatu view all conventional necromancers bars the common creation of undead, forcing the necrolator to fight his own battles as best he can.

Origins

The precise origins of the Kuan Amelatu are lost in the vague and perpetual present of elven history. They have

never been a common Creed, and their lonely outpost in the Sunset Isles was perhaps the only community to be found in the archipelago. They arrived in the isles six centuries ago, occupying an ancient Shou stronghold that had emptied sometime in the prehistoric past. The Kuan Amelatu believe that death is the ultimate enlightenment of the soul, a gift that their perpetual elven reincarnations prevent them from receiving. While mortal races die and pass beyond the world, elven spirits are forever reborn in elven flesh. They cannot experience the wisdom of true death. The Creed believes that someday, with sufficient care and service to the honored dead, they might learn how to break the curse of their incessant recurrence and find freedom from the shackles of existence.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+

Hit Dice 1d6 2d6 3d6 4d6 5d6 6d6 7d6 8d6 9d6 9d6+1 +1 HP per level

Kuan Amelatu Progression XP Class Abilities 0 Favored of the Grave, Guardian of the Gate, Unending Vigil 4,050 8,100 16,200 32,400 Unquenchable Vitality 64,800 127,600 200,001 400,001 Envoy of Night 600,001 +200,001 per level Ally from Beyond

Kuan Amelatu Spell List Spell Level 1

2

3

1

Cold Tongue

Deathly Sight Adept's Ward

2

Corpselight

Detect Evil

3

Detect Magic

Detect Invisible

Call of the Grave Deanimate Dead

4

Gift of Peace

Exorcism

Dispel Magic

5

Initiate's Ward

Impassible Flesh

6

Protection from Evil

Know Alignment

Inexorable Approach Protection From Evil, 10' Radius

7

Read Languages

Mark of Condemnation

8

Read Magic

Sleep

Scent of the Grave Touch of 10 Night 9

Speak With Dead Vitalize, Minor

Purify Flesh

4 Beguile Undead

5 Cenotaph Road

6 Confessional Binding

Blood Ties

Dispel Evil

Corpsewalker

Commune Draining with the Dead Touch Confusion

Free the Soul

Deathless Zeal Magic Jar

Dead Legion Lord of the Gate

Master's Ward Spectral Ride

Detect Lie

Osseous Subversion

That Which Shattering the Waits No Chain More

Sanguinary Ignition

Restoration

Summons to the Dawn

Scars of DediTrue Seeing cation Vitalize, Remove Curse Lesser Sanctify Wall of Bone Grave Reckoning

Immortal Hate Mantle of Noon

7 Avenging Light Contagious Mortality

Vitalize, Greater

The Kuan Amelatu consider the dead to be in need of protection from the cruelties of the living. Too many perish with their life’s labors incomplete, or die at the hands of some vicious criminal, or leave behind loved ones in desperate need. Even those who escape a bad death are prey to the wicked schemes of necromancers or the clutching claws of demons who seek fresh fodder for the Hells. The Kuan Amelatu are dedicated to protecting the dead and avenging the wrongs that tie them to this world.

Kuan Amelatu Spell Progression Spell Level Class Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 1 2 2 3 2 1 4 3 2 5 3 2 1 6 3 3 2 7 4 3 2 1 Despite their reverence for the mystery of death, the 8 4 3 3 2 Kuan Amelatu do not discount the worth of life. As with all elves, they have no real conception of personal 9 4 4 3 2 1 finality- they exist in an endless procession of reincarna10 5 4 3 3 2 tions, of lives lived and deeds done in unending ages 11 5 4 4 3 2 1 past and to come. Even though their past incarnations 12 5 5 4 3 3 2 are usually only hazy recollections and disconnected 13 6 5 4 4 3 2 1 images, it gives a powerful sense of personal continuity. 14 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 15 7 6 5 4 4 3 2 For a cult of death-worshipers, the Kuan Amelatu have very little personal, intuitive understanding of extinc16 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 tion. Their closest analog is an “imperfect life”- an 17 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 incarnation that ends badly, one that does not express 18 8 7 6 5 4 4 3 itself in the fullness of its chosen Creed. Elves have the 19 8 7 6 5 5 4 3 chance to correct these failings in their next incarna20 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 tion. That humans should be denied this opportunity down necromancers has bought a certain unspoken is horrifying to the elven mind. Mortals only ever get truce between the Kuan Amelatu and some of the one chance to live, and what they leave undone and mountain tribes. Neither side will speak of it out of fear unbecome can never be corrected. of what their “own kind” will say, but the fortress in the Godbarrows is not attacked nearly as often as it should It is out of this horror of a malformed life that the be. The lowland humans simply credit the dreadful compassion of the necrolators comes. When they act to avenge a murdered woman or rescue a dead man’s sorcery of the elves. only son, they aren’t simply giving peace to the unquiet dead- they are repairing the faults of a flawed life as best Rumor even has it that there are times when the Kuan Amelatu will take in foundling Shou to raise among they can, and giving their tale a more acceptable end. their own kind. That they take human orphans and petitioners is known, and men all agree that some Shou The colony that arrived in the Sunset Isles came to do can pass for human. Were it to be proven that the elves service to the dead of the Shou. With the renowned were consorting with the Shou so closely, the human bloodthirstiness and savagery of the goblinoids, they reasoned that there must be many spirits in need of lands would not rest until the walls of Kur Darisum were pounded into rubble. shelter and aid. Regrettably, the local tribes did not appreciate this offer of intervention, and for the past six hundred years the only dead that the Shou have wished In the Present Day to give them were the Kuan Amelatu’s own. Kuan Amelatu and their necrolatry are known best in the western reaches of the human lands, in the shadow Still, not every tribe hates the strange mountain-elves so of the Godbarrows. Most who know of them find them bitterly, and their aid in redeeming ghosts and putting suspicious, sinister figures too easily confused with 24

necromancers. Still, they have a great name as ghost hunters and slayers of undead, and villages tormented by the restless dead are always grateful at their arrival. They are also grateful at their prompt departure after the work is done. Priests rarely appreciate the Kuan Amelatu. As a matter of principle, the elves believe that the paradises of the gods are false delights and needless snares on the way to the true enlightenment of the gray void beyond. Still, if a soul wishes to tarry there, the Kuan Amelatu will not protest. The demonic servants of the Hell Kings are hated, however, as their iron claws catch unprotected souls and unblessed dead and drag them shrieking to eternal suffering. Necrolatry is not a well-respected path among sorcerers. Most of them consider it far too encrusted with religious puffery and bizarre zealotry, and its actual scope of power is far narrower than that of almost any other path. It deals with death, the dead, and discerning unavenged sins; such a restricted scope is unappealing to most mages. Those few mages who approach necrolators to gain a better understanding of the path are often suspected to be necromancers, and the Kuan Amelatu themselves are highly suspicious of any interest in their rites shown by an unknown outsider. Necrolators almost always work alone, in part because there are so few of them. Magistrates and city officials are not friends of such wanderers. The Kuan Amelatu have their own sense of right and wrong and a distressing disinterest in the laws of men. Every daifu knows that a necrolator will obey the laws of the city only insofar as he must. An opportunity to avenge the dead will be taken as practicality allows, not as the law would prefer- and all too often, the guilty party is a figure of power in the city.

Adventuring

Adventurers often seek the company of a necrolator simply because they are so useful in dealing with undead. The Creed commands the Kuan Amelatu to quiet the restless dead, whether by spell, sword, or consolation, and they will seek out opportunities to do so. Better still, the Kuan Amelatu have no compunction about tomb robbery, viewing such material things as unseemly anchors for a spirit. 25

Necrolators sometimes choose to accompany adventurers for purely practical reasons. Solving the problems of the dead requires power, and adventurers go where power is to be gained. This does not absolve the Kuan Amelatu from aiding the dead they meet along the way or avenging injustices to one unlawfully slain, but they can honorably seek advancement through deeds of profitable glory.

Training

Kuan Amelatu are almost all trained within the gray walls of Kur Darisum, high in the ice of the Godbarrows. Their days are not so austere and monastic as their sober seeming might suggest, and there is laughter and elven amusement to be found within the great walls. Still, no member of the Creed is ever left to doubt their true purpose- to defend the dead and make beautiful their marred and broken stories. Along with the strange, adult-minded children of the elves, Shou and human orphans are accepted into their service. They are often the offspring of a dead parent that the Kuan Amelatu have avenged. Training is hard, long, and focused, teaching them the employ of physical weapons as well as the elaborate rites of propitiation that channel the powers of night. The spiritual sacrifices that a necrolator makes are substantial. One of the first offerings is the necrolator’s ability to sleep or dream, the very concept of rest torn out of them and rendered up to the silent powers of death. Other exactions involve pain to drive the weakness of life from them, numbing lists of crimes long avenged, and endless hours of prayer on behalf of the unlamented dead. Those students who prove incapable of bearing the burden are allowed to live on as servants within Kur Darisum, or to leave it forever if they choose. Once a full-fledged adept, however, no escape is permitted. Renegades who defy the leadership of the Creed or heretics who seek to exploit the dead are viewed with rabid hatred. Traditionally, Kuan Amelatu who could no longer serve the Creed’s cause committed ritual suicide so as to free their soul for its next incarnation. Betrayers who fail to follow this custom are assisted in it by assassins dispatched from the fortress.

In these latter days, a few Kuan Amelatu are starting to take apprentices outside the fortress, instructing them in the Creed and raising them to the cause in distant lands. The leadership of the Creed frowns on this as a general matter, but has not chosen to forbid it. The need for more necrolators is too keen for them to limit their numbers to those who can reach Kur Darisum. These foreign-trained necrolators are sometimes viewed with suspicion by the traditionalists, who are perhaps too quick to imagine them inclined to heresy and necromantic temptations.

The Kuan Amelatu in Your World

The basic idea of this class- dropping the level limits and tightening the allowed scope of magic- can be used as a template for other variant elf racial classes. If you follow this lead, however, you should take care to keep the allowed magical scope of the variant much narrower than the standard elven spell list. Even something like “elementalist” or “nature mage” is probably too broad“fire sorcery” or “plant magic” is likely a better range. In the Kuan Amelatu’s case, their baliwick is undead, which makes them remarkably handy when hungry ghosts need quieting but substantially less flexible than their standard elven peers. The total number of spells on their spell lists should also be significantly smaller than those of a standard magic-user. This class can also be used as a template for a human warrior-mage class. If you use in this way, avoid giving it much in the way of personal buff spells or other enchantments that significantly augment their martial abilities. If such a war-wizard can boost his own fighting skills he can all too easily end up overshadowing the pure fighters.

Class Abilities

Favored of the Grave: The necrolator’s rites and propitiations make them a beacon of soothing calm to the anguished dead. The necrolator will not be automatically attacked by mindless undead of equal

26

or fewer hit dice unless he attacks first, though his companions have no such shelter. Guardian of the Gate: Necrolators may wear armor and use weapons without impeding their sorcerous abilities. One hand must remain free to cast, however, so few of them use shields when they intend to invoke a spell. Unending Vigil: Necrolators neither sleep nor dream, sacrificing these things in reverence for the greater sleep of death. They still require eight hours of calm in which to renew their spells. Unquenchable Vitality: At fifth level, the necrolator becomes immune to the special effects of an undead creature’s physical attacks, such as mummy rot, ghoul paralysis, or energy drain. Normal damage is still taken. Envoy of Night: By ninth level, the necrolator is a living compendium of knowledge regarding the unquiet dead. He will always recognize the type and special abilities of an undead creature, even unique ones, and can discern on sight the general cause of its existence, whether created by sorcery or forced into existence by an unquiet death. Ally From Beyond: Elven necrolators cannot cast their most powerful spells unaided; the force of the magic roaring through their flesh-bound souls would destroy a fragile body. Instead, they ally with a powerful disembodied soul that is not yet ready to pass over into the paradises of the gods. The magic is thus funneled through the shade instead of the elven necrolator’s soul. These alliances are always of mutual agreement, though some heretics and renegades might force a soul into cooperation. If a necrolator cannot find such a spirit to accompany him he cannot cast sixth or seventh level spells. Most such spirits are bound to a particular token or artifact from their living days, and it is this fragment that the necrolator must keep to hand. These spectral entities have no power beyond their aid in spellcasting.

Kuan Amelatu Spells Adept’s Ward Level 3 Duration 1 turn/level Range Special A more potent version of the Initiate’s Ward, this spell will entirely prevent energy drain or other negative effects from an undead creature’s physical attacks. It also renders the subjects immune to mind control or mental influence from the undead.

Avenging Light Level 7 Duration 1 round/level Range Self The necrolator is mantled by a brilliant cloak of allied spirits comprised of the shades of those whom he helped in death. When attacked or made the target of a hostile spell, the cloak retaliates with a searing blaze that inflicts an automatic 2d6 damage on the attacker. The cloak’s maximum range for retaliation is 100 feet; attackers beyond that distance will not be harmed.

Beguile Undead Level 4 Duration Special Range 120’ This spell operates in the same way as Charm Monster, but affects only undead. Necrolators may arrange for an undead’s destruction with this spell, but they are expected to treat their thralls with respect and dignity, and usher them to final peace as quickly as possible.

Blood Ties Level 4 Duration 1 round/level Range 120’ By touching a person or corpse, the necrolator can sense the subtle ties of blood that connect them with their nearest relatives. They gain an immediate sense of how many siblings and children the subject has, a brief vision of their appearance, and an awareness of which of them are dead. For the duration of the spell, the necrolator has a sense of the direction in which each of 27

them- or the largest fragment of their remains- may be found.

Call of the Grave Level 3 Duration Instant Range 30’ radius The necrolator utters a summons to destruction that few can deny, affecting all enemies within 30 feet of the caster. The caster rolls 1d6 for every level they possess, up to a maximum of 10d6. If this total is equal to or greater than the current hit points of a target, they immediately perish. If the total is less than their current hit points, the call is resisted and no damage is inflicted. Targets may make a saving throw to halve the total before comparing it to their hit points.

Cenotaph Road Level 5 Duration Instant Range Special The necrolator can travel the dark roads of the dead, passing with his comrades through the shadows beneath to reach a desired destination. This spell functions as does the Teleport spell with no chance of error, albeit with certain limitations. The caster must be standing in a tomb, cemetery, or grave site to cast this spell, and it can only take them to another such place of death. If the exact location of a grave site near the desired destination is not known, the spell will take the caster to the nearest serviceable site. Note that random corpse locations do not qualify as a grave- the body must have been buried with intent.

The Cold Tongue Level 1 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self The necrolator is an expert at diplomacy with the dead. While under the effects of this spell, the necrolator may converse with any intelligent undead entity, whether or not they otherwise share a language. The spell even allows communication with disembodied spirits.

Commune with the Dead Level 5 Duration 3 turns Range Self This spell functions as does the clerical Commune spell, but addresses the spirits of the dead rather than the remote divinities. They can answer only questions relating to what they knew in life.

Confessional Binding Level 6 Duration 1 round Range 60’ The necrolator opens a way for the vengeful dead to briefly possess a target, forcing it to answer the questions the necrolator might put to them. On a failed saving throw, the target is forced to answer one question, compelled by the dead to speak. The answer cannot be longer than three or four sentences, but is invariably true and complete as the target knows it to be. If the target succeeds in their saving throw, they may choose to resist the compulsion, but doing so will occupy their entire next round’s actions. This spell has no effect on a target that has never been directly responsible for any intelligent creature’s death.

Contagious Mortality Level 7 Duration 1 round/level Range 60’ radius around caster The necrolator thins the barrier between life and death, allowing the mortality of one to evoke the death of another. If a creature within the area of effect dies during the duration of the spell, their body erupts in a crackling haze of dark energy. All enemies of the caster within 30 feet of the corpse take 2d6 damage. If any of them die, the process is repeated. The chain reaction can extend to the limits of the spell’s area of effect, but a single target can suffer damage from a corpse explosion only once per round, no matter how many ignite around him.

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Corpselight Level 1 Duration Permanent Range Touch The phosphorescent radiance of the grave is evoked in a fragment of bone, leather, hair, or some other remnant of a once-living creature. The glow extends out 30 feet around the object and can be damped at the necrolator’s will. The light remains until it is dispelled or the object is destroyed.

Corpsewalker Level 6 Duration 1 turn Range Self The necrolator can step through the rents in the world created by the anguish of a creature’s death. For the duration of this spell, the necrolator can instantly translocate himself to any location within line of sight where a creature larger than a mouse has died within the past week. He may do so once per round in addition to whatever mundane movement he might perform.

Dead Legion Level 7 Duration 1 hour/level Range Special In service to a cause they loved in life, the dead may rise to serve again. This spell must be cast in a place of death tied to a particular cause or place- the burying-ground of a city, for example, or on a bloodied battlefield. Areas that have been defiled by necromancy or infernal practices are unserviceable for this spell. The necrolator must invoke a clear and direct cause, such as the defense of a city, the destruction of a necromancer, revenge upon their slayers, or some other purpose that would please those who sleep there. If the cause is sufficiently inspiring, the dead will rise from their long rest to fight once more. Such spectral warriors have statistics identical to skeletons, but they cannot be controlled or Turned and can only be harmed by magic or magical weaponry. The number of spirits summoned depends on the density of the dead within the area of effect, but most cramped urban graveyards or clotted battlefields could easily allow for

summoning 2d6 hundred spirits, assuming that many dead are available. The undead are as intelligent as they were in life. They will not perform other services than those related to their cause, but they will conduct their fight as intelligently as they are able under the general direction of the summoner. At the end of the spell’s duration the spirits fade from the world, and may not be summoned by this spell again.

Deanimate Dead Level 3 Duration 1 round/level Range 30’ radius from caster The necrolator scourges the work of those who defy the natural order of death. A shimmering nimbus of dark energy surrounds the necrolator out to a 30’ radius. Any undead created with the Animate Dead spell who come within this nimbus are instantly destroyed. More powerful spells of creation may produce undead unaffected by this sorcery.

Deathless Zeal Level 4 Duration 1 round/level Range 60’ radius from caster The necrolator can fire their allies with a burning devotion to their present purpose and an unconquerable valor in its pursuit. Allies within the area of effect immediately gain a Morale of 12 and become immune to spells which negatively affect their emotions. Every subject within range gains 8 temporary hit points which may cause them to exceed their normal maximums. At the spell’s conclusion, any hit points remaining over their maximum total are lost.

Deathly Sight Level 2 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self The necrolator sees as the dead see. For the duration of the spell, they can see clearly through perfect darkness and distinguish at a glance the living from the undeadeven those that otherwise appear as normal human beings. 29

Draining Touch Level 5 Duration 1 round/level Range Self The necrolator mimics the enervating touch of the dead, opening a channel between his hand or weapon and the darkness of the void. If a living target is hit before the spell’s duration ends, the enchantment discharges into the victim to do 16 points of damage and inflict a -2 penalty to hit rolls and saving throws for the next 24 hours. The spell ends after the discharge.

Exorcism Level 2 Duration Instant Range 60’ This spell acts as does Dispel Magic, but only for purposes of breaking magical charms, mental domination or spirit possession. If a condition could not be ended by a successful Dispel Magic casting, Exorcism will not aid the victim.

Free the Soul Level 5 Duration Instant Range 30’ The snares of mortal circumstance and foul necromancy cannot stay a blessed spirit. When cast at the site of a particular subject’s death, or with the subject’s remains within range, the soul of the target is immediately liberated to pass on to their ultimate fate in the afterlife. This spell will sunder even a Trap the Soul spell or the cruelest bonds of ghostly attachment, and will destroy any intelligent undead. If the spirit is intelligent and does not wish to find peace, it may make a saving throw to resist the liberation.

Gift of Peace Level 1 Duration Instant Range Special The necrolator utters a powerful incantation of peace and forgetfulness to calm the anguished spirits of the mindless undead. For each caster level, 1d6 hit dice worth of mindless undead of 2 HD or fewer are

instantly destroyed. The spell affects all undead within line of sight of the caster, closest first.

Immortal Hate Level 6 Duration 1 round/2 caster levels Range Self The necrolator focuses his hatred upon a single target, fueling himself with a maniacal determination to kill the malefactor. For the duration of the spell, the necrolator regenerates 4 hit points per round for as long as they remain alive. If the necrolator is killed or brought to zero hit points, the spell instantly ends, but the necrolator revives with 5d6 hit points. The necrolator must relentlessly seek the target’s death in preference to any other action, and cannot voluntarily end the spell until the target’s death or successful escape.

Impassible Flesh Level 2 Duration 1 hour/level Range Self While under the effects of this spell the necrolator’s flesh becomes cold and they cease to give any signs of life. They do not need to eat, drink, or breathe. The spell nourishes their mortal needs, and when it ends they are neither hungry nor thirsty,

Inexorable Approach Level 3 Duration 1 round/level Range Self Nothing can forestall the inevitable approach of death. While under the effect of this spell, the necrolator can cross any solid or liquid surface at their full normal movement rate, even if the surface or object could not normally hope to support their weight. They cannot be affected by Hold or Web spells, and their touch is equivalent to a Knock spell cast by a caster of the same level. The caster must be pursuing or seeking a living target, however, or he gains no benefit from the spell that round.

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Initiate’s Ward Level 1 Duration 1 turn/level Range Special This basic ward grants a measure of protection against some of the worst effects of a spirit’s touch. This spell affects the caster and up to five allies within line of sight in a single casting. While under the ward, the subjects are allowed a saving throw versus Death to resist any special effect from an undead creature’s physical attack, such as energy drain or ghoul paralysis. If the attack already grants a saving throw to resist the effect, the ward will not allow a second save.

Lord of the Gate Level 7 Duration Instant Range Touch The necrolator is master of the gate between life and death, and may pull back those souls that have stepped through too soon. This spell functions just as the clerical Resurrection spell, albeit it only functions on a creature dead within the past ten minutes, can only affect a given creature once per day, and does not debilitate the caster after its use.

Mantle of Noon Level 6 Duration 1 round/level Range Self A pool of brilliant light spills around the necrolator, spotlighting him in a five-foot radius. Within that area, the environment is treated as that of a sunlit day. Beings unable to operate in daylight cannot voluntarily enter it, and those destroyed by light must save versus spells each round they are within it or else suffer 10d6 damage.

Mark of Condemnation Level 6 Duration 1 round/level Range 60’ This spell is used to sniff out the culprits behind an angry ghost’s disquiet, and it requires that the caster have a specific dead or undead subject in mind. When cast on a target within range, the necrolator can receive a brief vision showing their contribution toward the subject’s death or haunting. The target may make a saving throw to resist revealing this truth. This spell is not considered licit legal evidence in most jurisdictions, as only the caster is in a position to perceive the vision.

Master’s Ward Level 6 Duration 1 turn/level Range 100’ This spell is a greatly augmented version of the Adept’s Ward, and affects all allies within 100 feet. In addition to rendering the favored immune to the effects of an undead’s touch or mental influence, they also gain a +2 bonus on all saving throws made against undeadgenerated spells and effects.

Osseous Subversion Level 5 Duration 1 round/2 caster levels Range 120’ The necrolator offers vengeance to the spirits of the slain, allowing them to briefly possess the bones within a living murderer’s body. If the target fails a saving throw, he will immediately spend every round of the spell’s duration attacking himself, making normal hit 31

and damage rolls as he struggles to control his own flesh. This spell has no effect on a target that has never been directly responsible for any intelligent creature’s death.

Purify Flesh Level 3 Duration Instant Range Touch This spell acts as a combination of Cure Disease and Neutralize Poison, but only against effects induced by necromancy or the undead.

Reckoning Level 3 Duration 1 round/level Range Self The necrolator brings vengeance upon the living for the sake of the unquiet dead. The necrolator must be wearing some fragment of the victim, whether it be a shard of bone or a smear of blood from a freshly-slain comrade. While this spell is in effect, the spirit of the dead will aid the caster in wreaking revenge on their killer. Every physical attack against the killer is resolved twice, allowing for two hits. Furthermore, the killer suffers a -2 penalty to saving throws against the necrolator’s spells. Only one Reckoning spell may be in effect on the caster at a time.

Sanctify Grave Level 3 Duration Permanent Range Special This ritual seals an area against necromantic meddling or the rise of unquiet ghosts. Up to 100 square yards of area can be protected per caster level. Within this area, undead will not naturally rise and cannot be created by spells or special abilities. Those interred within this ground cannot be made undead against their will, even if their remains are removed from it later, and demons cannot snatch away souls otherwise unprotected by the gods. A necromancer or infernalist can destroy this protection with a few days of obscene rites, and a Dispel Magic operates as normal, but the caster is always immediately notified when one of their sanctifications is under attack.

Sanguinary Ignition Level 4 Duration Instant Range 120’ The necrolator ignites the fragments of mortality that flow within every living creature’s blood, causing them to burst into black flames of finality. The subject suffers 1d6 damage per caster level, up to a maximum of 10d6, and is stunned and unable to act for 1d4 rounds thereafter. A saving throw versus spells halves the damage and eliminates the stun. This spell does not affect creatures who lack blood or ichor.

Scars of Dedication Level 4 Duration Special Range Self The necrolator commits to a particular course of action, inscribing ritual scars to bind the power of his devotion into his less dedicated flesh. The necrolator places himself under the effect of a Quest spell, dedicating himself to a particular goal. Until the quest is completed, he is immune to hostile mind-affecting spells, heals 1d6 hit points per hour, and need neither eat, drink, nor breathe. A necrolator can be under the effect of only one Scars of Dedication spell at a time and can cast this spell no more often than once per month. Failing to pursue the quest with suitable vigor will apply all the usual penalties for negligence and cost the necrolator the benefits of this spell until he resumes his duty.

Scent of the Grave Level 1 Duration 1 turn/level Range 30’ radius from caster The necrolator is sensitive to the presence of the unquiet dead. When cast, this spell will reveal to the caster whether or not an undead creature has been present in the area within the past month, along with a general impression of its type. While the spell duration holds, the caster can track the entity back along its path.

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Shattering the Chain Level 6 Duration Instant Range 60’ radius from caster This fearsome incantation breaks the bonds of occult control that exist between a necromancer and his creations or a greater undead and their spawn. All undead within the area of effect are instantly freed from external control and seized with a ferocious desire to destroy their makers. All affected undead will immediately attack their creators or controllers until destroyed, and cannot be placed under control again. If the makers of the undead are inaccessible, those affected will simply destroy themselves. Mindless undead have no resistance against this spell, but intelligent undead may save to resist the urge. This spell will not affect undead that intentionally embraced their condition or those that have no reason to resent their makers.

Speak with Dead Level 2 Duration 1 turn Range Touch The necrolator can evoke answers from a corpse with this sorcery, provided at least a skull remains of it. Upon casting it, the necrolator can ask one question per caster level. The corpse will answer willingly, but

knows only what transpired after its death- anything of its life before the moment of its expiration is a mystery to it. A necrolator can cast this spell on a corpse only once; after that, they must gain an experience level before they can try it again.

Spectral Ride Level 7 Duration 1 round/level Range 30’ Something of the stuff of wraiths imbues the necrolator and his allies when this spell is in effect, empowering the caster and up to a dozen allies, including their mounts. While the spell is in effect, those under it may pass through solid barriers as if they were spectral undead, hedged out only by measures that would defeat teleportation or spiritual intrusion into an area. They may even travel through empty air, flying at their normal movement speed. If the spell is dispelled while they are within a solid object, they are immediately shunted into the nearest space that can contain them and are stunned for 1d4 rounds.

Summons to the Dawn Level 6 Duration Instant Range Touch Death is the gateway to perfect understanding, but there are times when duty calls a spirit back. This spell will function as a clerical Raise Dead spell, though the spirit may always choose not to heed the call. Most necrolators will not use this spell without a prior understanding with the subject. Under special circumstances, this spell can be used to revive an elf that has been dead for any amount of time, even without the presence of their remains. Doing so requires that the elf have voluntarily refrained from reincarnation during the interim, waiting patiently for the summons at an hour of greater need.

That Which Waits No More Level 7 Duration 1 turn/level Range Touch This spell binds the subject’s soul to their flesh with a tie so tight that even death cannot sever it. If the subject dies while under the effect of this spell, they 33

immediately reanimate as a revenant set on accomplishing the goal that they were pursuing at the time of death. They are unable to communicate with others but act with their full intelligence and can use their class abilities and possessions to best effect. They can cast any spells they had available at the time of death, but cannot recover expended spells. They have their full maximum hit points at the moment of their reanimation, but cannot regain lost hit points by any means. They are treated as undead for any special purpose, but cannot be Turned or controlled, nor can they be raised from the dead until they are destroyed or their goal is accomplished. Once their purpose is complete or made impossible, they evaporate in a cloud of darkness, leaving behind only dust and a few bone chips.

Touch of Night Level 1 Duration 1 turn Range Self The caster’s hand or blade is charged with a black nimbus of deathly force. On the first successful attack made before the spell expires, the force discharges into a foe to do an additional 1d8 damage and weakening them for a -2 penalty to their hit roll for the remainder of the spell’s duration.

Vitalize, Greater Level 6 Duration Instant Range Touch The necrolator fills the subject with an unnatural vitality, curing 4d8+4 damage and eliminating any effect that could normally be removed by a Heal spell. A subject can be aided by only one Vitalize spell per day.

Vitalize, Lesser Level 4 Duration Instant Range Touch A stronger version of the Minor Vitalize spell, this enchantment will heal 3d6+3 points of damage and cure any condition remedied by a Cure Light Wounds spell. A creature can benefit from only one Vitalize spell per day.

Vitalize, Minor Level 2 Duration Instant Range Touch The necrolator can force back an approaching end with this spell, restoring 2d6 hit points of damage to either living or undead beings. This spell does not heal wounds or close injuries, but allows the subject to ignore their presence. A creature can benefit from only oneVitalize spell per day.

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Wall of Bone Level 4 Duration 1 turn/level Range 240’ A foot-thick fence of tangled bones erupts from the earth within range of this spell, forming a barrier up to 1,200 square feet in overall area. Foes of less than 4 HD cannot pass it at all, and those with more suffer 1d6 damage as they push through it. When the spell’s duration ends, the bones collapse into pale dust.

Makerite Theurgy Speakers of the Holy Law Requirements Prime Requisite Hit Dice Maximum Level Weapons Armor Attack Table Saving Throws

Must be human or Shou Wisdom 1d4 None Dagger, Spear, Pole Arm War Hammer None As per magic-user As per magic-user

The warrior-priests of the Maker are not the only souls blessed with the creator’s divine power. The stern folk of Eirengard have long studied the subtleties of their holy books and sacred scriptures, and the Makerite theurges among them have learned how to wield the words of their god as mighty conjurations in the material world. Makerite theurgy focuses on purification, commanding, smiting the wicked, and summoning extraplanar servitors with the power of the Maker’s name. These spells are potent and effective, capable of sensing impurity or blasting the unworthy with the terrible force of the holy words of the Iron Prophet. Theurgy has its limitations, however, as it lacks most sorcery that might improve subject’s Maker-given abilities- it has no spells that confer special powers upon a target or adapt them to new manners of movement or strange environments. Spells that create physical objects are also shunned, as it is expected that theurges should not attempt to add to the store of essential matter which the Maker has endowed upon his creation.

Origins

Makerite theurgy was born from the stern roots of Eirengarder faith, wrought from the same hard creeds and arid earth that gave life to its people. Where the warrior-priests of their god strode forth alongside their famed pikemen, theurges were those who sought a different relationship with their god- one of understanding as much as service. 35

Before the coming of the Iron Prophet, the Eirengarders knew nothing of their god. They were a poor and downtrodden people, eking out a bare life on their dry, windswept plains and scourged often by the Eshkanti raiders from the southern drylands. They fought in vain against the nimble horsemen, and if those proud riders had thought them worth the conquering, they surely would have been brought beneath an Eshkanti heel.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+

Hit Dice 1d4 2d4 3d4 4d4 5d4 6d4 7d4 8d4 9d4 9d4+1 +1 HP per level

Theurge Progression Class Abilities Reasoned Conviction, Honored Judge, Casuistry

XP 0 2,501 5,001 10,001 20,001 40,001 80,001 160,001 310,001 460,001 +150,000 per level

Words of Power

Makerite Theurge Spell List Spell Level 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

Charm Person

Banish Undead

Blinding Radiance

Beguiling Sermon

Banish Demons

Anti-Magic Shell Earthquake

2

Cure Light Wounds

Bless

Cure Disease

Charm Monster

Commune

Hammer of the Maker

Holy Word

3

Detect Evil

Burning Reproof

Curse

Closing the Book

Conjure Elemental

Heal

Instant Summons

4

Detect Magic

Cleansing Steps

Dispel Magic

Creation's Ban

Cure Critical Wounds

Invisible Stalker

Mind Blank

5

Light

Continual Light

Eruption of Light

Cure Serious Wounds

Dispel Evil

Iron Prophet's Guard

Miracle

6

Perfect Recollection

ESP

Hold Person

Detect Lie

End Debate

Power Word, Stun

Power Word, Kill

7

Protection from Evil

Faultless Reasoning

Inexorable Command

Neutralize Poison

Flame Strike

Raise Dead

Restoration

8

Purify Food and Drink

Formula of Absolution

Know Impurity

Rain of Obloquy

Quest

Scourge the Unbeliever

Summon Celestial Servitor

9

Read Language

Inflict Taboo

Protection from Evil, 10' Radius

Remove Curse

Stone Tell

Steel the Pious Will

Symbol

10

Read Magic

Know Alignment

Protection from Normal Missiles

Reveal Ambition

True Seeing

Transfixing Spear

Unmake

11

Remove Fear

Know the Heretic

Remove Curse

Speak with Plants

12

Searing Truth

Parchment Inquisition

Summon Spark

Unendurable Word

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The Iron Prophet arose twelve hundred years ago in a sequence of events still shrouded by mystery. The Makerites cannot even agree on whether the Prophet was a man or a woman, or whether they were an Eirengarder or an outlander. All that they many Makerite sects can confirm is that the Prophet brought the Law, and the Law was given by the Maker. Unlike most other peoples, the Eirengarders believe that there is only one true god. All others may be mighty spirits or great demons, but the Maker alone is a true divinity, and the only fit recipient of human worship. The Maker fashioned all that is, and appointed to the world the Law that would ensure joy and peace among those who followed it. The Maker was otherwise impassible and mysterious, requiring a personal relationship mediated only by the Law. The Law was filled with many commands, some of them strange and difficult of understanding. When the Iron Prophet ascended to the heavens during the terrible battle of the Red Wadi, there were none left to explicate the Law and guide the people in its fulfillment. The warrior-priests were skilled and valiant at executing the Maker’s will, but they were not trained to explain it, not as the Iron Prophet could. The first of the theurges was Amalasuintha, a young woman who some say had loved the Iron Prophet in the holy one’s time on earth. She stepped forward to explain the meaning of the Law and pass judgments in the Maker’s name, and at every protest she explained her understanding so well that every doubter could not help but believe. She spoke the Law so perfectly that the very fabric of the Maker’s creation trembled before the verity of her words, and she worked miracles by the awful might of the Law’s holy truths. She was the first of the theurges, but she soon had companions throughout the Eirengarder lands. Her teachings spread throughout the cities of her people, and men and women came to share her ideals of study and fierce inner contemplation. These “Spear Saints” formed the nucleus of the new social order within the Eirengarder cities, commanding new ways of living and a new, more rigorous ordering of the armies of their people. No more would the Eirengarders suffer under the sabers of their Eshkanti foes. They would defend 37

Makerite Theurge Spell Progression Spell Level Class Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 1 2 2 3 2 1 4 3 2 5 3 2 1 6 3 3 2 7 4 3 2 1 8 4 3 3 2 9 4 4 3 2 1 10 5 4 3 3 2 11 5 4 4 3 2 1 12 5 5 4 3 3 2 13 6 5 4 4 3 2 1 14 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 15 7 6 5 4 4 3 2 16 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 17 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 18 8 7 6 5 4 4 3 19 8 7 6 5 5 4 3 20 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 themselves with the steel of their spears and the might of the Law. The transformation of the Eirengarder city-states into a unified realm famed for its unbreakable pikemen and hammer-wielding warrior-priests was a swift process, but the Makerite theurges played only a limited part in it after catalyzing the change. More and more of them withdrew from earthly affairs of governance, entrusting the role to Makerite priests and unimpeachably righteous laymen in order that they might spend more time meditating on the deeper meaning of the Law. All Makerite theurgy was drawn from the Law and its holy verses. Every letter and word had unimaginable power if only it was properly understood and clearly invoked. One who truly comprehended the depths of the Law would be like the Maker in their power and mastery over the created world. Some theurges embraced the path to strengthen their relationship with their god. Others followed the art for the sake of the power it promised.

In time, the disputes of the theurges began to fracture the initial unity of the Makerites. One interpretation clashed with another, an early reading was dismissed by a later one, and one theurge was condemned as corrupted while another was elevated as sinless. Different cities and factions began to square off behind different theurges, with elements of the priesthood following first one and then another speaker of the Law. The theurges that sparked these quarrels did so out of pious love for their perceived truth as often as they did out of venal interest, but the result was much the same in both cases. When the Red Tide rolled over the world, few theurges were able to escape the general catastrophe. Far more priests and common believers managed to reach the

ships, simply because almost every Eirengarder was among the Maker’s faithful and every significant Eirengarder community had at least one sect of priests to serve it. The cloistered theurges did not have time to escape the catastrophe, and their traditional place as lawspeakers and interpreters of the right was lost to the priesthood. Eirengarder communities had to adapt their customs to this hot and dangerous new land, and if the theurges were not present to deal with the innovations, then the warrior-priests must stand in for them. Even when the theurges had recovered from the confusion and the few surviving elders went among their people, they found their pronouncements less highly regarded than before. The myriad sects were

The Law

While the Law is the heart and soul of a theurge’s power, there is a remarkable degree of debate over what the Law actually says. Recorded by Amalasuintha from the Iron Prophet’s utterances, numerous sects add or subtract Sayings from the Law based on the traditions of their founding Spear Saint. Despite this, several principles seem to be clear through most of the variants. The Maker demands purity of the soul, requiring honesty of word and deed, daily prayer, hard work in a worthy cause, chastity within marriage, compassion to the needy, humility before others, and courage in the face of trials. Sects disagree as to the relative weight of each of these purities, and common believers sometimes find it difficult to maintain them under all circumstances, but most Makerite sects aspire to these virtues. The Maker demands purity of the body, forbidding pork, man-flesh and the meat of carnivores. Some Makerite churches elaborate these purities, forbidding numerous classes of acts, foodstuffs, and drinks, but most believers are content to shun the shameful flesh of pigs and meat-eating beasts. Slavery is widely considered to break this prohibition, as the master is said to eat the flesh of the man who sweats beneath his whip. The Maker demands purity of the mind, which is understood to forbid worship or propitiation of any other god or entity. Most other common folk think nothing of adding a stick of incense to a foreign shrine or saying a good-luck prayer to a convenient deity. The monolatry of the Makerites is unusual, and can be awkward when the locals expect such worship as a sign of courtesy. Some Makerite extremists go so far as to say that even nonbelievers should be forbidden from unclean worship, and such zealots have been known to destroy idols and shrines simply because they were not dedicated to the Maker. A few of the wildest even attack other Makerite churches that lack a sufficiently enlightened agreement with the theurge. Finally, the Maker demands struggle within the believer’s heart, a constant and incessant war against their own weaknesses and sins. Most churches read this as an inward charge, a command that the believer be constantly searching for their own failings. Some Makerite sects find it better to do their searching in the hearts of others, and can be quite ingeniously painful in their inquisition. If the Law is upheld, the Maker promises both prosperity on earth and a glorious paradise in the world to come. The orthodox creed says that this prosperity should be the fruit of one’s own efforts, but some innovators claim that the verses refer instead to a moral right for the pious to enrich themselves with the goods of unbelievers. 38

no longer so interested in interpretations that fed disagreement or difference among the Eirengarders. As few and beleaguered as they were, some communities made certain compromises for unity that would have been unthinkable in their homeland. Holy men who preached uncompromising truth were not welcome, whether or not their truth was genuine.

In the Present Day

Makerite theurges have a special place in Eirengarder society. Honored, respected, and obeyed under most circumstances, they are also expected to embody the highest principles of their sect. Even those Eirengarders who think that a theurge is badly mistaken in his theological loyalties will be deeply disapproving of any failing in them. To be wrong is not nearly so bad as to be unfaithful. Yet despite this common respect and reverence, the Eirengarders have no wish to go back to the old days of theurgic dominance. Those years were marked by theological quarrels, hard words between cities, reluctance to fight alongside “heretics”, and a chilly indifference to the fate of the theologically impure. True, some modern Makerite churches embrace beliefs that are somewhat... unsavory, but if the Eirengarders are to be saved as a people, they must act together, as one, without undue concern for the finer points of / theology. To be certain, it is a pity that the Red House of the Maker sect believes that unbelievers have no right to live when it proves inconvenient to the faithful, but their templars are too useful in the Westmark to allow a theurgist’s complaints to prevent cooperation. Such instances of moral compromise are more common every year. Many theurgists find this polite indifference to be endlessly frustrating, and attempt to emulate the Spear Saints of old in inspiring the people to a right cause. Sometimes their most willing converts aren’t Eirengarders at all, but men and women of other peoples who simply want a powerful, commanding figure to protect and guide them,. While the Makerites have never been a greatly proselytizing faith, some modern theurgists are willing to take listening ears where they can find them.

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Adventuring

Deeds of valor and glory are an excellent way to test one’s faith and challenge one’s conceptions of the Law. Some theurges actively seek out adventuring parties in order to help temper their usual bloodthirstiness and indiscipline. Others find it useful to cooperate so that the wealth and power that come to them can be used in a good cause. And some go along simply because they know that the common folk will pay far more attention to a proven hero than to some Makerite god-botherer full of rules and demands. Most adventuring parties profit much by a theurgist’s aid. Aside from their advantages in dealing with Eirengarders and other Makerite faithful, they have access to many of the most useful clerical spells and can wield powerful offensive enchantments of smiting and blasting. Some groups can grow a little weary of their stern principles, however, and it can occasionally be preferable to fall in the company of those theurges who have a rather more flexible interpretation of the Law.

Training

Theurges are usually trained in Makerite churches, often as a kind of “pet theologian” for the high priest, to back up his or her commands with suitably harmonious interpretations of the Law. Many theurges chafe at this arrangement and leave when their religious superior shows himself more interested in beneficial outcomes than the Maker’s uncomfortable truths. Other theurges are taught in Makerite monasteries or remote schools, brought slowly to understand the use of the Law’s words as potent charms of compulsion and summoning. These freelance theurges often find it necessary to go out into the world, that the events and experiences they encounter might help them understand the Maker’s will for their future.

Theurges in Your Campaign

Makerite theurgy can stand in for almost any “holy wizard” or “demonic cult sorcerer” class in your campaign. The baseline clerical healing or smiting spells should remain, while the other slots on the spell list can be filled with enchantments that reflect the god or demon the wizard serves. Where the theurge is proficient in the Makerite weapons of spear, pike, and hammer, a theurge of a different god likely has their own set of preferred weapons. These options are

largely cosmetic in play, as after the first few levels only a desperate wizard is going to have recourse to physical weapons for his defense.

Class Abilities

Reasoned Conviction: A Makerite theurge is easily convinced of his or her rectitude and can explain the most atrocious acts as natural commands of their particular interpretation of the Law. The theurge always reads as Lawful for all alignment purposes and detection spells. Honored Judge: Makerite theurges gain a +2 reaction roll bonus from all Eirengarders or Makerite believers. In other campaign worlds, this bonus applies to coreligionists of the theurge. Casuistry: The Makerite lives and breathes law of all kinds. When under mental influences or compulsions, the Makerite can reflexively and unconsciously fight the impulse with a careful analysis of its nature and specific demands. As a consequence, they may remain immobile save for self-defense for one round before they must carry out the command or impulse, delaying its effects. Words of Power: At sixth level, the theurge has become sufficiently versed in uttering the Law that his or her least expression is inexorably understood. Every intelligent being can understand anything the theurge says, and the theurge understands every form of intelligent speech in turn. The theurge can make his or her speech so penetrating that it can be heard up to a hundred feet away without any need for a raised voice. A shout can be heard clearly at half a mile’s distance, even through solid stone. The theurge cannot be magically silenced.

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Makerite Theurgy Spells Banish Demons Level 6 Duration Instant Range 60’ radius This spell scorches the senses of demonic or extraplanar entities near the theurge, forcing them to flee or destroying them outright if an 11 or greater is rolled on the turning check. The spell functions precisely as does a Turn Undead attempt by a cleric of equivalent level, but affects only demons and extraplanar entities.

Banish Undead Level 2 Duration Instant Range 60’ radius This spell causes the theurge to blaze forth with the purifying light of the Maker, with an effect equivalent to a Turn Undead attempt by a cleric of the same level as the theurge. This spell does not affect infernal entities.

Beguiling Sermon Level 4 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ radius Majestic truth rings from the theurge’s words as he utters speech so compelling that all intelligent creatures around him must stop and listen to his words. Every targeted creature within 120’ is affected by the spell, and can fully understand the theurge’s words regardless of the language used. For large, undifferentiated groups, he target with the best saving throw versus spells saves on behalf of the entire group- on a failure, all are affected, and on success, none are bewitched. The spell is instantly broken if the theurge or his allies act in a hostile fashion toward the bespelled, or if the sermon is interrupted for more than one round. The spell also fails if the targets are in imminent danger and must act to preserve their own lives.

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Blinding Radiance Level 3 Duration 1 round/level Range Self The theurge ignites a brilliant mantle of light around himself, making it all but impossible to gaze directly at him. Creatures relying on sight suffer a -4 penalty to hit the caster with physical attacks, and the caster takes only half damage from fire or lightning for the duration of the spell. The illumination stretches up to 200’ around the caster.

Burning Reproof Level 2 Duration Instant Range 120’ The theurge calls out an accusation against a target within range, naming some behavior which might possibly be construed as immoral or improper. If the subject is currently engaged in that behavior, they are immediately struck by a bolt of argent flame, suffering 3d6 damage. A saving throw halves the damage.

Cleansing Steps Level 2 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self While this spell is in effect, the theurge’s steps leave behind a trail of luminous radiance five feet wide on either side. Those standing within the trail cannot be poisoned or diseased, including the theurge himself. At the spell’s end, the trail and the protection both fade away. This spell does not cure existing conditions.

Closing the Book Level 4 Duration 1 day Range Self Expert theurges know how to close their minds to external observation. While under the effect of this spell, the theurge is immune to ESP, Know Alignment, telepathic interrogation, or other spells that read the contents of their mind or character. When the theurge is affected by such a spell, he may make a saving throw

versus spells- if successful, he can dictate the result the spell returns. Otherwise, the enchantment returns no result at all. After each intrusion attempt, the caster must make his own saving throw versus spells; on a failure, the spell is exhausted, and peters out.

Creation’s Ban Level 4 Duration 1 round/level Range 240’ The theurge may proclaim a ban on one particular event occurring within the spell’s range. He may forbid a rock from falling, a bridge from cracking, dice from coming up a particular total, or any other decree that affects only inanimate, non-magical objects. For the duration of the spell, the event simply will not occur, however probable it may be. If a creature attempts to make the event occur, they may make a saving throw versus spells to force it. The ban cannot force an unnatural event- the outcome forbidden must be one that is otherwise natural and possible to the subject. The ban also cannot affect events that involve objects outside of the spell radius; a cliff edge could be commanded not to crumble, but an avalanche extends too far to be forbidden.

End Debate Level 5 Duration Instant Range Special There comes a time when argument must cease and a decision must be reached. The theurge must be participating in some form of debate or argument in order for this spell to function. This spell requires no overt incantations, gestures, or components, and needs only a forceful statement of the theurge’s judgment. Once delivered, all other participants within the theurge’s presence must save versus spells. Those who fail are left admitting the correctness of the theurge’s position and will accept it as their own. Even wildly improbable positions can be imposed this way, but they must have something to do with the argument at hand and they cannot obviously result in significant harm to those participating in the debate.

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Eruption of Light Level 3 Duration Instant Range 240’ A brilliant sphere of celestial radiance erupts at a chosen point within the spell’s range, blasting all subjects within a 20’ radius. The light does 1d6 damage per level, up to a maximum of 10d6, with a saving throw allowed for half. The light leaves the subjects scorched and blasted, but it is not flame, and does not count as fire damage for purposes of igniting objects or overcoming resistance.

Faultless Reasoning Level 2 Duration Instant Range 30’ The theurge puts forward a simple, one-sentence proposition to one intelligent creature capable of understanding his words within the spell’s range. If the target fails a saving throw versus spells, he accepts the theurge’s reasoning, no matter how spurious. The conviction will last for one day per caster level before natural reason returns. This spell cannot convince a subject of anything that would be clearly injurious to him or deeply contrary to his nature or alignment.

Formula of Absolution

to something the target must do for their own physical safety, and the target instinctively understands the taboo regardless of its intelligence or the language used. If the target breaks the taboo, it immediately suffers 3d6 damage and takes a -2 penalty to hit rolls for one day. A successful saving throw halves the damage and eliminates the hit penalty.

Level 2 Duration Instant Range 30’ This ritual requires a confession of sins to the theurge, with up to one target per caster level listing those behaviors in the past week that would violate the theurge’s interpretation of the Law. This process usually requires Iron Prophet’s Guard at least ten minutes per target. The theurge then assigns Level 6 a penance, which may be trivial. After completing the Duration 1 turn/level penance, all participants regain 2d6 hit points and may Range 30’ make a save versus poison to throw off any current The theurge calls forth an honor guard of celestial nonmagical diseases. A formula of absolution may be warriors to attend him. One guardian is summoned for performed once per day at most for any given subject. every caster level, and these featureless figures of golden armor and brilliant light will obey the caster without Hammer of the Maker hesitation. Each guardian has AC 2, 1 HD, Move 90’, Level 6 Morale 12, and does 1d6 damage with their spear, gainDuration Instant ing an intrinsic +3 bonus to hit. They can be harmed Range 360’ only by magic or magical weapons. A thunderous impact of sound and light crashes down on a point within range. Every subject within 40’ of the Know Impurity target point is smote for 10d6 points of damage, with a Level 3 saving throw for half. Duration 1 turn/level Range 30’ radius Inexorable Command The caster attunes his awareness to the flow of sorcery Level 3 around him, feeling for pockets of impure energy and Duration Instant unhallowed force. For the duration of the spell, he can Range 120’ automatically sense all magical items and effects within The theurge directs his attention at up to six creatures 30’, regardless of their visibility. Conventional spells within the area of effect and utters a brief command, and magical items will be recognized on sight, while no more than five or six words in length. Provided exotic enchantments will reveal only a general gist of that the command does not lead directly to their own their function. physical injury, the creatures must save versus spells or immediately act to obey the command. For commands Know the Heretic with extended or indefinite duration, targets can atLevel 2 tempt a new saving throw at the start of each successive Duration Instant round. This spell will not affect creatures with more hit Range 120’ dice than the caster has levels. The theurge casts a stern gaze upon the soul of a single target within range. If the subject fails a saving throw Inflict Taboo versus spells, the theurge immediately knows whether Level 2 or not it believes itself a faithful worshiper of the Duration 1 turn/level Maker. A failed save also reveals the class and level of Range 120’ any spell-using class. This spell’s effects hinge upon The theurge utters a quick interpretation of the Law the self-conception of the subject, so an incorrigible which bans a certain behavior, directing the taboo at a heretic may well read as a pious Makerite if they really single target within range. The taboo must not relate believe that they are correct. In practice, many theurges 43

simply use it to size up the strength of their theological opposition.

Miracle Level 7 Duration Instant Range Special The theurge has so perfectly mastered the Law that he is able to impose his interpretations upon the very fabric of the world. This mighty invocation can duplicate the effects of a Wish spell, albeit not without limits. It cannot create physical objects or directly affect unwilling entities, nor can it grant permanent benefits to a creature. It can transport a group instantly, restore injured bodies, dispel hostile sorceries, reveal truths, or perform other marvels within the scope of a Wish. The effects of this spell are also not subject to the usual dangers of twisting or misinterpretation- the spell either works as the theurge expects it will or the casting fails. Casting this spell taxes a theurge enormously, inflicting one level of energy drain that cannot be restored or avoided by any means. The lost power must be earned once more in the usual ways.

Parchment Inquisition Level 2 Duration Instant Range Touch This spell must be cast upon a document, whereupon the original author immediately makes a saving throw versus spells, even if they are long dead. On a successful save, the theurge can get nothing from that document and cannot use this spell again upon it. On a failure, the theurge is alerted to the presence of hidden messages, veiled allusions, or encrypted meanings within the text, though he gets only a vague sense of their meaning. Whether or not the saving throw is successful, this spell will also automatically detect cursed scrolls and function as per Read Magic for analyzing magical script.

Perfect Recollection Level 1 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self The theurge is expected to memorize and master incredible sums of commentaries, summae, decretals, 44

bulls, and scriptures. This enchantment sharpens the theurge’s mind to recall such matter. For the duration of the spell, everything that the theurge senses will be engraved permanently on the theurge’s memory. If the matter has to do with religion or law, almost any volume of material may be kept in memory. Otherwise, the total recall induced by use of this spell cannot exceed one hour per caster level. The caster may choose to forget some such memories to make room for later castings of the spell.

Rain of Obloquy Level 4 Duration Instant Range 240’ The theurge shouts a dreadful imprecation at a target point within range, the words catching alight to fall in blazing fragments on everything within a 20’ radius of that point. Only selected targets are scourged by the words, others remaining untouched. All those affected suffer 1d6 damage per level, up to a maximum of 10d6. A successful saving throw halves the damage.

Reveal Ambition Level 4 Duration Instant Range 60’ The theurge fixes an intelligent target with a stern gaze, whereupon the victim must either succeed in a saving throw versus spells or immediately voice their deepest and most heartfelt ambition. A single person cannot be targeted by this spell more often than once per month.

Scourge the Unbeliever Level 6 Duration 1 round/level Range 120’ A single target is chosen for this spell. If the victim believes himself a faithful worshipper of the Maker, the spell has no effect. Otherwise, the subject is allowed a

saving throw versus spells; on a failure, he is racked by Summon Spark waves of excruciating torment and suffers 3d6 damage Level 3 per round of effect. While gripped by these agonies, he is unable to do anything but defend himself. The victim Duration 1 turn/level Range 30’ radius may attempt a new saving throw at the start of each A bright shimmer of force is called forth, a light said round of the spell to end the effect prematurely. to be a spark from the Maker’s celestial forge. This spark appears as a man-sized flickering flame, though it Searing Truth may manipulate objects with ripples of force in much Level 1 the same way that humans use hands. The spark will Duration Instant obey the theurge unquestioningly for the duration of Range 120’ the spell, and is as intelligent as a human being. Its The theurge directs a blistering condemnation at a statistics are AC 4, HD 3, Move 120’, Morale 12, and single animate target, uttering an unendurable truth it does 1d8 fire damage on a hit. It has an intrinsic +2 that can kill the weak-willed. The victim takes 1d6+1 bonus to hit rolls and can injure foes affected only by damage per four levels of the theurge, rounded up. magical weapons.

Steel the Pious Will Level 6 Duration 1 day/level Range 30’ radius The theurge and all allies within 30’ may pledge themselves to a particular cause or goal. So long as they are pursuing that goal, they maintain a Morale of 12 and are immune to mental influences that would impede their purpose. A person may be under the effect of only one Steel the Pious Will spell at a time, and the goal must be some specific action or result rather than a general field of ambition.

Summon Celestial Servitor Level 7 Duration 1 turn/level Range 30’ radius A figure of molten light is summoned forth by the theurge, with pinions of burning brass and the sound of clashing spears in its wingbeats. This celestial servitor will obey the theurge implicitly. It has base statistics of AC 0, HD 8, Move 120’ flight, Morale 12, and does 1d12 damage with its magical burning spear, with an intrinsic +3 bonus to hit. It can cast the Eruption of Light spell as an 8th level theurge once every three rounds and is immune to damage from fire or electricity.

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Transfixing Spear Level 6 Duration 1 turn/level Range 240’ A lance of brilliant light strikes down to pin a single target within range, forcing it to remain and face the Maker’s judgment. The victim suffers 8d6 damage with a saving throw for half, and for the duration of the spell they can move no more than 10 feet away from the target point. They may not teleport, go ethereal, or otherwise magically remove themselves from the area in question. They may spend their action for the round attempting to break free of the spear, in which case they receive another saving throw to end the effect prematurely.

Unendurable Word Level 4 Duration Special Range 240’ A word of such awful significance is spoken that all living creatures within a 20’ radius of the target point must save versus spells or flee the theurge’s presence in abject horror. The flight lasts for 2d6 rounds.

Unmake Level 7 Duration Instant Range 240’ A single object or creature is smote with the blasting force of the Maker’s wrath, risking immediate and utter annihilation. An object up to the size of a large house can be obliterated, as can any single being. Beings slain by this spell cannot be restored by anything short of a Wish or equivalently powerful magic. The spell is not without its risks, however- a targeted creature may make a saving throw to escape instant death, suffering only 10d6 damage. Such resistance automatically deflects a portion of the blast back at the caster, who instantly takes 6d10 damage.

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The Mountain Way Masters of the Untamed Elements Requirements Prime Requisite Hit Dice Maximum Level Weapons Armor Attack Table Saving Throws

Must be human or Shou Intelligence 1d4 None Dagger, Pole Arm, Quarterstaff, Shortsword, Spear None As per magic-user As per magic-user

Adepts of the Mountain Way are devotees of the natural world. They do not serve as nature-priests do, revering root and branch and beast, but instead study the fundamental powers of creation- flame, wind, earth, and water. These “yamabushi” wield ferocious elemental forces in the service of their own enigmatic purposes. The Mountain Way is focused upon the manipulation of raw elements. Even the least yamabushi has the power to hurl flames and thunder at his foes, and the mightiest of them can hammer an enemy with the weight of a burning mountain. They are commanders of elemental beasts and lords of untamed force. While potent in its sphere, the Mountain Way is limited by its narrow focus. A yamabushi can control elemental powers, but his abilities are poorly suited to sophisticated manipulations, divinations, or powerful imbuements. If a task does not involve the hurling of elemental force, it’s unlikely the yamabushi will find it within their power to perform.

Origins

On the northwestern coast of the continent that birthed the Ninefold Celestial Empire, the people known as the Kueh led lives of simple grace. They fished the rich waters of the sea, harvested their bamboo groves, and wrought beautiful crafts of simple materials and restrained elegance. Noble families cultivated 47

the arts of war amongst themselves, both the overt clashes of bannered armies and the glitter of knives in the dark. Such was their zeal for battle that for a time it seemed as if the greed and ambition of the noble daimyo houses would be the ruin of the Kueh. Some among the people deplored these warlike ways and sought a better pattern of life in the interplay of natural forces. The powers of the natural world were undoubtedly mighty and in constant contention, but they struggled in predictable and contained patterns. Water did not char earth, and wind did not drench the flames. Even the greatest tempests were temporary things, and when they passed the world yet remained. This “Mountain Way” philosophy came to inform much of the ritualized conflict between Kueh houses, helping to restrain the worst of the feuds.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+

Hit Dice 1d4 2d4 3d4 4d4 5d4 6d4 7d4 8d4 9d4 9d4+1 +1 HP per level

Mountain Way Progression XP Class Abilities 0 Natural Harmony, Mountain Sage’s Rebuke 2,501 5,001 10,001 20,001 Elemental Friendship 40,001 80,001 160,001 310,001 460,001 +150,000 per level

Mountain Way Spell List Spell Level 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

Blast of the Elements

Bless

Crown of Storms

Cleansing Rain

Cloudkill

Boiling Geyser

Burning Mountain Strike

2

Detect Magic

Extinguish Flame

Dispel Magic

Hallucinatory Terrain

Command Elemental

Chariot of the Winds

Cyclone

3

Fruiting Vine

Feet of Clay

Eruption of Broken Earth

Lower Water

Conjure Elemental

Control Weather

Earthquake

4

Lantern of the Moon

Fiery Bolt

Fire Ball

Massmorph

Elemental Gate

Desiccating Wind

Elemental Impunity

5

Mountain Stride Metal to Ore

Fly

Mold Stone

Flame Strike

Elemental Blessing

Garden of Black Knives

6

Protection from Evil

Mold Water

Lightning Bolt

Mountain Leap

Frigid Rain

Mantle of Flame

Incendiary Cloud

7

Purify Food and Drink

Reeking Cloud

Mold Wood

Plant Growth

Houses of Stone

Move Earth

Ribbons of Salt and Foam

8

Purify Weapon

Resist Fire

Open Burrow

Searing Blade

Transmute Rock to Mud

Part Water

Statue

9

Read Magic

Rushing Wind

Plant Growth

Speak with Plants

Wall of Stone

Stone Tell

Stone Like Glass

10

Resist Cold

Sage's Shelter

Rainburst

Thunderclap

Wind Scythes

Stone to Flesh

Wind Walk

11

Sense Elements

Water Breathing

Tempest Barrier

Wall of Fire

12

Wind Shield

Wind Steps

Unburn

Wall of Ice

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It also provided an opening for students of occult power. On the lonely mountains of the Kueh uplands the first yamabushi learned of the deep harmony of natural force, and the names and aspects of those powers who could grant their command. The Kueh came to know these men and women as “mountain sages”, or yamabushi- those who had abandoned ties of family and friendship to learn the deep secrets of the world. Some daimyo houses were able to acquire the aid of these yamabushi in battles and fearsome internecine struggles, but most such wizards kept their distance on the high mountain peaks. Apprentices came to share in the secrets, and long lineages of wizards began to stretch down into the lowland towns and cities. The philosophies they taught and their subtle understandings of struggle and harmonious conflict made their teachings quite attractive to the Kueh people. Over the course of several centuries, the Mountain Way melded with the Nine Immortals of their southern Imperial neighbors to become the folk religion of the Kueh. The prowess of the yamabushi was tested when the armies of the Ninefold Celestial Empire finally marched north to add the Kueh lands to their lord’s domain. The southern wizards were no match for the yamabushis in direct battle, but they had countless tricks and sorceries to imbue the numberless legions of Imperial troops they led. The valor of the Kueh was unquestionable and the yamabushi exacted a bloody price from the southerners, but the outcome was never in doubt. Such was the heroic resistance of the Kueh warriors and so impressive was the Mountain Way’s sorcery that the Celestial Emperor decreed that the lords of the south should intermarry with the Kueh daimyo clans. Such valiant men and women ought to be bound to the imperial house, he reasoned, and their virtues properly employed. In time, many of the Kueh lords were more than half Imperial, and their ways and arts flowed southward to influence the Jade Court. Perhaps the greatest result of the Kueh conquest was in the synthesis that later formed between the southern magi and the yamabushis, the mystical convergence that resulted in the High Path that now dominates the ranks of Imperial magi. 49

Class Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Mountain Way Spell Progression Spell Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 2 1 3 2 3 2 1 3 3 2 4 3 2 1 4 3 3 2 4 4 3 2 1 5 4 3 3 2 5 4 4 3 2 1 5 5 4 3 3 2 6 5 4 4 3 2 6 5 5 4 3 3 7 6 5 4 4 3 7 6 5 5 4 3 8 7 6 5 4 3 8 7 6 5 4 4 8 7 6 5 5 4 8 7 6 6 5 5

7 1 2 2 3 3 3 3 4

In the Present Day

Yamabushi are most often found among the Kueh revanchists who dream of a “purified” Kueh nation in the Isles. They are particularly common in the Shogunate, though every sorcerer there is inevitably tainted by the demonic teachings of the Hell Kings, and the elements those magi wield are not the clean, natural powers of their predecessors. The Xianese Army also favors yamabushi for assignment to its border legions, using them as the “heavy artillery” necessary to break Shou swarms or deal with monstrous foes. The High Path wizards of the city-state often look down upon their “primitive blasting”, but their own path’s heritage makes them reluctant to be too overt about slighting the arts of the yamabushi. Many of the staple war-sorceries of the modern day were first developed by Mountain Way practitioners. Many Kueh peasants and common folk consider yamabushi to be notably holy figures, and their blessing and spiritual guidance is prized. The customary yamabushi

habits of remote solitude and simple living lends them a holy air that other groups often esteem, and some can be found serving remote villages as priests and spiritual leaders- and defenders, when necessity calls.

Adventuring

Yamabushi are valued by adventuring groups as powerful combatants. Their offensive sorceries are fierce, flexible, and copious. A yamabushi is never entirely without sorcerous resources for battle, and many adventuring groups are willing to give up the general utility and versatility of a High Path magus in favor of a larger supply of explosions. Yamabushi themselves are known for seeking out an adventuring lifestyle for their own personal reasons. The Mountain Way teaches harmony with the natural world, but that harmony has never prevented yamabushis from acting when order needed to be maintained or some malevolent power needed to be excised from the world. Other yamabushi have not been burdened by an excess of moral reserve, and gladly impose their will upon less enlightened souls.

Training

Yamabushis are usually trained by a single master, serving about their teacher’s humble dwelling or remote fastness in exchange for tutelage. In the present day, it is common for Kueh lineages to keep a regular line of yamabushi, one trained generation upon generation for the benefit of the family. Remote locations are favored for such studies, high atop mountains or amid deep wilderness. It is in the presence of potent natural forces that the arts of a yamabushi are most easily learned. Some students are trained in monasteries or holy places, where a yamabushi has retired for the final years of their life in a less taxing environment. A few arcane academies also have a yamabushi among the faculty, usually one not overly given to the mountain austerities practiced by their brethren. This “city yamabushi” training is sometimes scorned by more traditional mountain wizards, but others will take whatever reinforcement of their arts they can get.

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Yamabushi in Your World

You can use the yamabushi class whenever you need an “elementalist” wizard for your campaign, or if you need to stat up some sort of primitive shaman who wields the fearsome powers of the elements. Even in a world of conventional magic-users, one with a particular bent for elemental blasting might find use for this class.

Class Abilities

Natural Harmony: Yamabushi are skilled in maintaining a harmonious relationship with their natural surroundings. They never suffer from normal climatic extremes of heat or cold, are never damped by rainfall or mud against their will, and can sleep comfortably in even the harshest conditions. Mountain Sage’s Rebuke: The yamabushi can scourge a foe with a bolt of elemental force- flame, lightning, ice, or jagged earth. Hurling this bolt counts as their action for the round, and it requires an attack roll made as a fighter of the yamabushi’s level. The maximum range of the bolt is 100’, and a successful hit inflicts 1d6 damage of the appropriate type. Elemental Friendship: At fifth level, the yamabushi gains an automatic +2 bonus to all reaction rolls with elementals and elementally-aligned creatures, and only the most violent or hungry will immediately attack them or their companions. They also gain an automatic +2 bonus to saving throws versus damage from flame, ice, lightning, acid, or other elemental effects.

Mountain Way Spells Blast of the Elements Level 1 Duration Instant Range 240’ The yamabushi can summon forth and hurl spheres of quintessential element- flame, earth, water, or wind. One sphere is summoned, plus one more for every three full levels of the yamabushi up to a maximum of five spheres. They can be directed at one or more targets within range. The spheres strike unerringly, varying slightly in effect depending on the element employed. Flame spheres do 1d6 points of fire damage, earth spheres do 1d6+1 points of damage, water spheres do 1d6 points of cold damage, and wind spheres do 1d4 damage and buffet a man-sized or smaller target backward five feet per sphere, with a saving throw versus spells to stand their ground.

Boiling Geyser Level 6 Duration Instant Range 240’ A torrent of superheated steam and boiling water erupts from beneath the target of this spell, splashing all victims within a 10’ radius and inflicting 10d8 fire damage. Victims are also knocked prone and buffeted 1d4 x 5 feet away from the center point of the blast. A successful saving throw halves the damage and resists the buffeting.

Burning Mountain Strike Level 7 Duration Instant Range 60’ cone A rain of half-molten rock crashes down on the area of effect, smashing into a cone-shaped area 60’ long and 60’ wide at the far end. Surviving the torrent of flame and stone is largely a matter of luck, as all subjects within the area of effect take 1d10 x 10 points of damage with a saving throw to take half. Damage is rolled individually for each target. This spell gravely debilitates the yamabushi, and can be cast only once per day, whether directly or from a scroll.

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Chariot of the Winds Level 6 Duration 1 day Range Special A glassy chariot of air and light coalesces before the caster, large enough to support up to eight man-sized passengers and their equipment. At the caster’s command, the chariot will fly at a movement rate of 240’ until the spell’s duration elapses or it is dispelled. If the chariot is unwoven or ended prematurely, it will unravel as it lowers its occupants gently to earth. The chariot cannot be harmed while it is in use, though its occupants are not so protected.

Cleansing Rain Level 4 Duration Instant Range 40’ radius A brief mist of brilliant raindrops manifests around the yamabushi out to a 40’ radius, cleansing and purifying all within the area of effect. All poisons and decay within the area are instantly eliminated, including those poisons within venomous animals. Allies of the yamabushi are also healed for 2d6 hit points of damage.

Command Elemental Level 5 Duration Special Range 120’ The yamabushi has authority over wild and dangerous spirits of the mountains. This spell functions just as does the Charm Monster spell, but works only against elementals and similar beings.

Crown of Storms Level 3 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self A luminous halo of crackling energy forms around the yamabushi’s head, absorbing incoming electrical damage. Up to 6 points of damage per caster level can be absorbed by the crown before it dissipates. The yamabushi can end the spell at any time by discharging the energy in a bolt of energy aimed at a single target

within 100’. The bolt does 1d6 damage per 6 points of stored charge or fraction thereof, up to a maximum of 10d6 damage. The target may save versus spells to take half damage.

Cyclone Level 7 Duration 1 round/level Range 360’ This spell can only be cast outdoors, whereupon it instantly summons a roaring whirlwind of to touch down at a location within range. Any targets within 30’ of the cyclone are affected by it, with the debris doing 4d6 damage and instantly killing any creature of 3 or fewer hit dice. Those victims who then fail a saving throw versus paralysis are also knocked prone by the cyclone. Wooden buildings and other light construction are destroyed after 2 rounds of exposure to the winds. The yamabushi may move the cyclone at a rate of 120’ per round to any point within visual range, but he must maintain concentration to keep control of it. If he does anything but focus, the spell ends. If he suffers any hit point damage, he must save versus death or lose focus on the spell.

Desiccating Wind Level 6 Duration Instant Range 100’ cone A terrible, parching gust of wind rolls in a cone before the caster, extending 100 feet long and 100 feet wide at the far end. All living creatures within the area of effect suffer 4d6 damage as the water is drawn from their flesh, with no saving throw permitted. Any nonmagical liquids within the area of effect are instantly destroyed.

Elemental Blessing Level 6 Duration 1 turn/level Range Special The yamabushi and his allies are sheltered against the anger of the elements. For the duration of the spell, the caster and up to eight allies ignore the first 20 points of elemental damage they receive in a round. This impunity includes fire, cold, electricity, and acid damage, as well as the physical attacks of elemental entities. 52

Elemental Gate Level 5 Duration Instant Range Special The yamabushi can ride the elements of the world to reach a distant goal. This spell functions identically to Teleport, but the yamabushi must be able to reach the destination by travelling through a continuous body of water, single slab of stone, or unsheltered stretch of sky. In the latter case, he can translocate only from one outdoor location to another. If the yamabushi has ever been to the destination the spell has no risk of error. If the destination is unreachable through the chosen element, the spell simply fails.

Elemental Impunity Level 7 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self The yamabushi calls upon his pacts with earth and sky, obtaining temporary immunity to all elemental damage and all injurious natural phenomena. Fire, ice, electricity, acid, and great winds leave him untouched for the spell’s duration, and he can wade through lava or inhale poisonous earthen fumes without discomfiture.

Eruption of Broken Earth Level 3 Duration Instant Range 360’ The yamabushi targets a point within the spell’s range before releasing a blast of geomantic energy into the underlying earth or stone. Jagged fragments of fused earth or splintered stone erupt upward in a 20’ radius around this central point, inflicting 1d6+1 damage per caster level on all within the area of effect, with a saving throw for half damage. The spell cannot inflict more than 10d6+10 damage. The spell can only be targeted at an area of earth or stone; other surfaces will not be affected. The spell leaves the surface scarred but otherwise intact.

Extinguish Flame Level 2 Duration Instant Range 360’ With a wave of his hand, the yamabushi can quench a natural fire as large as a house fire, banishing all flame within a 40 by 40 foot area. Natural flames immediately gutter out and the wreckage becomes cool to the touch. Even molten lava can be chilled by this spell, though it has no effect upon enchanted fires. Fire-based creatures take 1d4 damage per two caster levels with a saving throw versus spells to avoid injury.

Feet of Clay Level 2 Duration Instant Range 240’ The yamabushi imbues the earth or stone beneath the feet of his enemies with a clinging softness, affecting all in a 20’ radius around the spell’s targeting point. Those caught within the area of effect can pull free of it in 2d4 rounds, or 1d4 if they’re larger or stronger than the average human. The ground returns to its original condition at the spell’s end. The spell only affects stone or earth- it cannot be used on other surfaces.

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Fiery Bolt Level 2 Duration 1 round/level Range 240’ A roaring blast of fire leaps from the yamabushi to smite a single target within range. The spell inflicts 2d6 damage to the target, with a saving throw for half. The yamabushi can hurl one bolt per round for the duration of the spell’s effect, but doing so counts as his action for the round.

Frigid Rain Level 4 Duration Instant Range 240’ An icy torrent of sleet and hail blasts down upon all creatures within a 20’ radius of the chosen target point for this spell. All those in the area take 1d6 cold damage and physical damage per caster level, up to a maximum of 10d6 damage. Due to the physical component of the rain, immunity to cold will not aid in resisting this spell.

Fruiting Vine Level 1 Duration Instant Range Touch The yamabushi quickens the life within a plant of sapling size or larger, summoning forth 1d4+2 succulent red fruits. Each fruit provides sufficient nourishment and water for one person for one day, though they spoil within 48 hours.

Garden of Black Knives Level 7 Duration Instant Range 360’ A forest of razor-sharp obsidian blades thrust upward from the ground beneath this spell, affecting a 30’ radius area around the target point. The man-tall blades pierce normal flooring and can be summoned even through ordinary wood or flagstones. All creatures within the area of effect take 5d6 damage with no saving throw, as do any who try to move through the garden. The black blades are permanent once summoned.

Houses of Stone Level 5 Duration Instant Range 720’ This variant form of Wall of Stone summons elemental rock that remains permanently in existence after the spell ends, and cannot be dispelled. The spell can summon up to 500 cubic feet of rock per caster level and can shape it into detailed forms at the caster’s discretion. It takes time to fabricate these constructions, requiring ten minutes for every 500 cubic feet of rock to cast this spell. The spell cannot create structures on ground too unstable to bear their weight, and it cannot be used to destabilize or undermine existing structures.

Lantern of the Moon Level 1 Duration 1 hour/level Range 60’ A pale white sphere of brilliant light is summoned by this spell, bobbing at the yamabushi’s shoulder unless directed elsewhere. The sphere casts light in a 30’ radius and can be directed to hang at any point within 60 feet of the caster.

Mantle of Flame Level 6 Duration 1 round/level Range 20’ radius The yamabushi is sheathed in a nimbus of ravening flame, bursts flashing forth to strike nearby enemies. For the duration of the spell, all enemies within a 20’ radius of the yamabushi suffer 1d10 points of damage per round from the flames, taken at the beginning of the yamabushi’s turn. The yamabushi is also immune to normal flames and takes only half damage from magical sources of fire.

Metal to Ore Level 2 Duration Instant Range Touch By touching a non-magical metallic object that weighs no more than 5 pounds per caster level the yamabushi can instantly transform it back into a mass of crum54

bling, fragmented ore. If the object is being worn or used by a creature at the time of its transformation, its owner may save versus spells to resist the change, though the touch is automatic if the yamabushi is within reach.

Mold Stone Level 4 Duration Instant Range Touch The yamabushi can warp and shape stone by touch. A volume of stone up to 1 foot on a side per caster level can be molded with a single spell, and can be given fine detailing at the caster’s discretion. This spell affects only nonmagical stone.

Mold Water Level 2 Duration Instant Range 30’ radius The yamabushi takes command of all water within a 30’ radius of the caster, including any body of liquid that is at least three-quarters water. Liquid inside living creatures is not subject to this spell. As their action for the round, the yamabushi can manipulate the liquid freely, causing it to flow upward, part, or otherwise reconfigure itself to suit his desires. It can be used to drench targets, but has no power to impede their movements or to compel them to drown.

Mold Wood Level 3 Duration Instant Range Touch The yamabushi may touch a single non-magical wooden object or structure no larger than 2 feet on a side per caster level. The wood buckles and shifts, shaping itself in any form desired by the caster. The yamabushi can form fairly precise details in the wood, more so if they have talent as a carpenter. The new shape of the wood is permanent.

Mountain Leap Level 4 Duration Instant Range Special Provided that the yamabushi stands on natural stone or earth, this spell allows him to instantly cross a void of empty space to appear at a desired destination within line of sight. The yamabushi can transport up to six willing companions within ten feet along with him when he translocates. The target destination does not need to be a natural stone or earth surface.

Mountain Stride Level 1 Duration 1 day Range Self The yamabushi’s sure step crosses even the most treacherous natural terrain. For the duration of this spell, the yamabushi will not slip, trip, or fall prey to loose rocks or broken footing when crossing unworked stone or earth. This benefit extends in a 20’ radius to the caster’s allies as well.

Open Burrow Level 3 Duration Instant Range Touch The yamabushi can open a tunnel in unworked stone or earth, fashioning a cylindrical or square tunnel up to 7 feet high and wide. The tunnel can extend up to 5 feet deep per caster level, and cannot penetrate worked stone. The tunnel shapes itself according to the caster’s wishes, including basic details such as steps or simple detailing. Once formed, the tunnel is permanent, though unstable soils or earth will collapse 1d6 minutes after the tunnel is formed.

Purify Weapon Level 1 Duration 1 turn Range 10’ A misting of salt and clean water purifies a weapon for use against spirits and devils. The weapon is treated as a magical weapon for purposes of injuring foes susceptible only to such things, and gains a +2 hit and damage bonus against undead, demons, or elementals. 55

Rainburst Level 3 Duration 1 round/level Range 360’ A brief, torrential rain can be summoned to a point within the spell’s range. The brief monsoon downpour will flood an area 20 feet in radius to a depth of one foot in a single round, quenching flames, ruining nonmagical bowstrings, and possibly causing mudslides in loose earth. All hit rolls within the burst suffer a -4 penalty and spellcasting has a 25% chance of being disrupted. The caster can maintain the torrent for one round per caster level, provided they concentrate. Only one Rainburst spell can be cast per day in any one-mile radius.

Reeking Cloud Level 2 Duration Special Range 120’ A billowing bank of fetid mist is summoned by the yamabushi to choke and gag his foes. Within the 10’ x 10’ x 10’ cloud all breathing targets must save versus poison or be reduced to retching distraction for 1d4 rounds, unable to do anything but move and defend themselves. The caster cannot move the cloud once it is formed, and it will persist for 1d6 rounds if no high winds dispel it sooner.

Ribbons of Salt and Foam Level 7 Duration Special Range 240’ A spill of glassy ribbons fashioned of sea-foam and razor-sharp salt crystals bursts from the yamabushi’s hands to entangle up to a dozen targets within the spell’s range. Such creatures suffer 4d6 cutting damage per round and cannot move from their current positions, and cannot attack or cast spells while so entangled. A successful saving throw breaks the ribbons, though the initial damage is done. Trapped creatures may repeat their saving throw attempt each round this spell is in effect. At the yamabushi’s discretion, he may omit the damaging component of the spell if he desires only to restrain the targets.

Rushing Wind Level 2 Duration Special Range 30’ cone A howling gust of frigid wind sweeps before the yamabushi, forming a cone 30’ long and 30’ wide at the far end. All man-sized or smaller creatures must save versus spells or be bowled over, pushed back to the maximum range of the spell and left prone by it. This spell can be released as a more gentle, steady breeze, providing a full day’s favorable wind for a small sailing ship, provided it does not greatly change its course.

Sage’s Shelter Level 2 Duration 1 day Range Special The yamabushi’s friends upon the mountain do not fear the wind or rain or biting chill. This spell makes a 30 x 30 foot area proof against wind, rain, snow, and natural cold. The space within the shelter is comfortable regardless of the terrain and even the bare ground becomes soft enough for a good night’s sleep. The shelter neutralizes scents within it, preventing most predatory animals from noticing it unless they come directly in view of its occupants.

Searing Blade Level 3 Duration 1 turn Range 10’ radius The weapons of the yamabushi and his allies can be charmed to burn with cleansing fire. Up to one weapon per caster level can be so blessed, with bows granting the effect to their ammunition. The weapons must all be within 10 feet of the caster at the time the spell is cast. Once blessed, the weapons do an additional 1d8 fire damage on each successful hit and may harm creatures affected only by magical weapons.

Sense Elements Level 1 Duration Special Range 100’ radius The yamabushi spends a full minute in careful meditation upon his surroundings, opening his awareness to 56

the masses of the various elements around him. Upon completion of his meditations, he has a relatively clear idea of the locations and shapes of masses of fire, earth, air, or water within a hundred foot radius, sufficient to make a crude map of most stone structures or caves, or to locate subsurface water. The spell is not precise enough to discern the water in living creatures or small details of the areas discovered, and the sense cannot penetrate metal, wood, or magical wards.

Stone Like Glass Level 7 Duration Instant Range 360’ The yamabushi points to an edifice of nonmagical stone within range; instantly, a volume of it equal to a cube two feet on a side per caster level is rendered as transparent and brittle as glass. If any stonework is resting on the transformed matter, the pressure will shatter the block and likely take down that segment of the structure, if not the entire building.

Tempest Barrier Level 3 Duration 12 turns Range Self A swirling barrier of protective winds shelters the yamabushi from normal missile weapons, rendering him immune to arrows, spears, throwing axes, and anything smaller than a giant’s boulder or a siege weapon strike. The tempest offers no protection against magical weapons or attacks.

Thunderclap Level 4 Duration Instant Range 240’ A deafening burst of sound thunders at the yamabushi’s command, affecting a 20’ radius area within the spell’s range. Victims suffer 1d6 damage per caster level, up to a maximum of 10d6, and are all deafened for 1d4+1 rounds. Deafened casters have a 25% chance of miscasting any spell with a verbal component. A saving throw versus spells will halve the damage and eliminate the deafness.

Unburn Level 3 Duration Instant Range 30’ By gathering a handful of ashes or char, a yamabushi can force the flames to give up their meal, reconstructing the item out of the remaining fragments. At least 51% of the original object must be present within the area of effect. If multiple objects are mixed in the same handful of char, the yamabushi can select which one is to be restored. Only non-magical items can be restored with this spell.

Wind Scythes Level 5 Duration Instant Range 240’ Razor-sharp blades of hardened wind flash forth to scathe an enemy when the yamabushi summons the wind scythes. A single target suffers 1d6 damage per caster level, up to a maximum of 10d6 damage, and the scythes hook and carry him to any point within 100 feet capable of bearing his weight. A saving throw versus spells cuts the damage inflicted in half but cannot prevent the transportation.

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Wind Shield Level 1 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self A churning shield of air mantles the yamabushi, protecting him from physical attacks. Missiles suffer a -4 hit penalty against the caster, and even melee attacks incur a -2 penalty to their hit roll. The caster is also immune to noxious gases while the shield is up.

Wind Steps Level 2 Duration 1 turn/level Range 360’ Pale, misty platforms coalesce before the yamabushi in an airy spiral staircase leading up as far as 100 feet. The staircase is three feet wide and will accept any normal human weight on it. Characters may fight on the steps, but if hit by an attack that rolled a natural 20, they must save versus paralysis or fall off.

The Nine Immortal Art Wonder-working Alchemists of the Essence Within Requirements Prime Requisite Hit Dice Maximum Level Weapons Armor Attack Table Saving Throws

Must be human or Shou Intelligence 1d4+2 None Dagger None As per magic-user As per magic-user

The Nine Immortal Art was the ancestral magic of the Ninefold Celestial Empire, the proto-sorcery which gave birth to that magocratic nation. Its internal alchemists and wonder-workers gave them an insurmountable edge over their less sophisticated neighbors. It was not until the bloody conquest of the Kueh lands and the synthesis that became the High Path that the empire changed its customary practice, but even now there remains a proud contingent of fangshi unwilling to give up their ancient studies. The art is of excellent use in matters of internal alchemy, of imbuements and transformations wrought upon the fangshi by his cunning arts. He has rites to transform corruption into purity, to drive out malign spirits, to conjure baffling illusions, and to divine the truth through oracular tools. The Art even unlocks the secrets of extreme longevity to the masterful practitioner. Even so, the art has a weakness in dealing with elemental powers and unrefined energies. It lacks the abundance of directly injurious spells possessed by yamabushis or High Path mages, and the fangshi is almost entirely reliant on allies or personal augmentations to fend off physical attackers. It also lacks the spells of mental domination favored by some other paths, as its changes are purely physical or illusionary in effect. 58

Origins

The precise origins of the Nine Immortal Art are lost in the earliest ages of the people who would become the Ninefold Celestial Empire. All scholars agree that there were primitive alchemists and crude diviners among the proto-Imperials, and the wonders they performed are recorded in many of the most ancient sorcerous tomes of the empire. These books of enchanted bamboo slats and symbol-painted bone sheets memorialize the sagacious wisdom of these “fangshi” and the marvels they wrought for their patron princes. Most modern wizards dismiss the most fantastic tales as the obvious product of exaggeration, as no primitive hedge-alchemist could possibly have accomplished the incredible feats they record.

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+

Hit Dice 1d4+2 2d4+4 3d4+6 4d4+8 5d4+10 6d4+12 7d4+14 8d4+16 9d4+18 9d4+20 +2 HP per level

Nine Immortal Art Progression XP Class Abilities 0 Alchemic Immortality, Skilled Distiller 2,501 5,001 Purity of Essence 10,001 20,001 40,001 80,001 160,001 310,001 460,001 +150,000 per level

Nine Immortal Art Spell List Spell Level 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1

Butterfly Step

Arcane Lock

Cure Disease

Auspicious Direction

Cloudkill

Animate Objects

2

Cure Light Wounds

Continual Light

Discern Recipe

Create Food and Water

Contact Other Plane

Anti-Magic Shell Heal

3

Detect Magic

Effortless Vitality Dispel Magic

Cure Serious Wounds

Dispel Evil

Clay Soldier Army

Hiding the Golden Jewel

4

Floating Disc

Find Traps

Fly

Essence Blades

Dream of the Wise

Death Spell

Invincible Health

5

Light

Invisibility

Haste

Hallucinatory Terrain

Footstep of Falling Leaves

Disintegrate

Magic Sword

6

Nourishing Breath

Knock

Invisibility 10' Radius

Harmonious Passage

Knives of Inexhaustible Hate

Geas

Plum-Wine Mansion

7

Phantasmal Force

Locate Object

Neutralize Poison

Jade Venom Fan

Magic Jar

Move Earth

Polymorph any Object

8

Protection from Evil

Peach Blossom Elixir

Poison Essence

Polymorph Others

Reincarnation

Pavilion of Smoke

Shape Change

9

Purify Food and Drink

Resist Fire

Protection from Evil 10' Radius

Polymorph Self

Sage's Sure Journey

Raise Dead

Simulacrum

10

Read Languages

Restore Wholeness

Protection from Normal Missiles

Prison of Burning Grass

Transmute Rock to Mud

Stone to Flesh

Symbol

11

Read Magic

Thunderclap Shout

Remove Curse

Smite Spirit

12

Turtle Bone Oracle

Transmute Matter

Water Breathing

Sticks to Snakes

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Glass like Steel

Most agree that the fangshi were once a type of priest, servitors of one of the many local gods and powers that were later formalized into the Nine Immortals still worshipped throughout Imperial lands. In time, the complex rites of propitiation and reverence these deities expected caused a schism among the fangshi, with some becoming the ritual specialists that later evolved into the modern temple priest while others withdrew to individual study and experimentation. These protomages were perhaps less interested in the blessings and favor of the Nine Immortals than they were in emulating their powers. Fangshi wield their powers through the manipulation of internal essences. The native force within a creature can be transformed with the correct rites, exercises, diets, and taboos, and this process of gradual spiritual refinement results in the eventual acquisition of marvelous powers. By elevating the base matter of their common, earthly souls, they render it stronger and more perfectly able to channel the limitless might of the higher realms. The greatest fangshi are capable of such heights of inner transformation that age and physical decay cannot cling to them as it does to other men. The balance is a difficult one, for a fangshi who wishes to remain active in the terrestrial world must not permit himself to loosen his material ties too greatly. Eventually, the masters of this art must choose between bodily death or transcendence to a higher state of existence. Some are so loathe to leave the world of lesser men behind that they turn to dark, forbidden alchemies of spirit, and become something both less human and more enduring than they once were. The greatest era of the fangshi was more than eight hundred years ago, when it was the dominant sorcery of the Ninefold Celestial Empire. The emperor himself was the greatest of fangshi, ruling in just wisdom until his eventual transcendence. Even so, folk tales persist in stories of the Black Emperor who ruled just before the final conquest of the Kueh lands, and fanciful stories are told of his atrocities and obsession with eternal life. Kueh nationalists insist that their daimyos only surrendered after a band of heroes had driven off the emperor and forced a more humane replacement upon the throne. Official Imperial histories make clear that such an episode never occurred, and the beneficent 60

Nine Immortal Art Spell Progression Spell Level Class Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 1 2 2 3 2 1 4 3 2 5 3 2 1 6 3 3 2 7 4 3 2 1 8 4 3 3 2 9 4 4 3 2 1 10 5 4 3 3 2 11 5 4 4 3 2 1 12 5 5 4 3 3 2 13 6 5 4 4 3 2 1 14 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 15 7 6 5 4 4 3 2 16 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 17 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 18 8 7 6 5 4 4 3 19 8 7 6 5 5 4 3 20 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 reign of the contemporary Emperor Yong Ji lasted for 87 years of uninterrupted victory. After the Kueh were conquered the Nine Immortal Art suffered a peculiar loss of prestige in the face of the mighty Mountain Way yamabushi. It was though a lengthy effort that some call “reconciliation” and others “outright theft” that the fangshi learned to integrate the Mountain Way of the yamabushi with the Nine Immortal Art. The resultant High Path took many of the best features of both magical arts, and it swiftly became the dominant magical discipline for mages throughout the Ninefold Celestial Empire. Two hundred years later, the Emperor himself was a High Path mage and the Nine Immortal Art became a fusty, ornamental path practiced largely by unregenerate back-country fangshi and Imperial ultra-traditionalists. When the Red Tide swept over the world a significant number of fangshi were able to escape the catastrophe. Their arts of self-transformation allowed them to flee before the encroaching mists, and the great exodus

fleet of Archmage Lammach took in many sea-birds and great fish who transformed back into bedraggled sorcerers. While it would seem that the art may not grant eternal life, it surely inclines the gods to grant a longer one.

In the Present Day

Modern fangshi are often alchemists to daifus and other powerful figures. Their curative potions and healing charms are potent, and their arts of divination can give a patron the narrow edge needed to overcome disaster. Many of these fangshi are frustrated with their lot, vexed at being kept constantly at their cauldrons brewing up healing potions when they really wish to spend their time transmuting their souls into spiritual quicksilver. Such enterprises tend to be expensive, however, and the coarse world offers better pay for the healing potions than for personal enlightenment. Richer or more powerful fangshi tend to prefer isolation for their work, far from the distractions of lesser mortals’ affairs. This does not prevent a steady stream of petitioners from seeking them out, praying their assistance in lifting curses, curing illnesses, and banishing misfortune from a house. Most fangshi send such pleaders on their way with a more-or-less courteous refusal, but there are times when a mighty prince cannot be so easily denied. The mystery of the fangshi’s arts is greater than that of the well-understood High Path, and so even educated men sometimes expect their magic to easily vault obstacles that bar a different wizard. A few fangshi still seethe with resentment over their loss of prestige within Imperial society. Even here in the Sunset Isles, with the empire no more than a charnel ruin, they scheme to undo the injustice of their fall and restore their rightful place as lords of the cities of men. Many of these fangshi mix their resentment with a healthy dose of Imperial supremacism, perpetually angry at the “mongrel debasement” of their pure Imperial culture by the countless other refugee groups of the exile. These zealots are willing to go to great and unsavory ends to ensure that the correct type of people attain their well-deserved rule of the Isles.

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The Nine Immortals

The Nine Immortals are the traditional gods of the Imperial and Kueh peoples, and their broad reach has made them favored among the other races of the Isles as well- insofar as any gods can be said to be popular in this bleak age. Their shrines and temples can be found in almost every town of consequence, and their priests are usual adornments at every funeral that is not dedicated to a different god. The fangshi split from the traditional clergy almost two thousand years ago, and few nowadays have more than an academic interest in the gods. Still, some present themselves as priests and heirs to ancient monastic lineages- and some of these adepts might even be telling the truth. The nine gods are each associated with a sacred color and sphere of influence. Details of theology vary wildly from temple to temple. What is sacred in one place may be blasphemous in another. Kusha, the Red Goddess, is the patron of war and struggle. Warriors and soldiers love her best. Fa Chia, the Yellow God, embodies the concept of law and integrity of belief. Rulers and magistrates make special offerings to him. Mimamsa, the Blue Goddess, presides over intellect and learning. Magi often pray to her for aid in their studies. Sankhya, the Gray God, is a mystical divinity that relates to the concept of existence-as-such. He is beloved by ascetics and philosophers. Shinrai, the White God, rules over endings and negations. Executioners, assassins, morticians, and the old revere him especially. Kega, the Green Goddess, is the deity of becoming, transformation, and growth. Farmers love her best. Tendai, the Black God, oversees corruptions, perversions, freedom, and helpful innovation. Criminals and inventors pray for his aid in their work. Hesika, the Vermillion Goddess, is mistress of perception, sensation, and delight. All who hope for happiness seek her blessings. Inren, the Purple God, is a peculiar being responsible for theological voids, unfilled portfolios, and unacknowledged truths. “He” is worshipped by those who count themselves forsaken by the gods.

Adventuring

Fangshi are superb utility sorcerers. An experienced adept of the Nine Immortal Art has a spell for every necessity, and transformations, divinations, cures, and illusions are all available to the learned wizard. Their ability to quickly and cheaply brew potions is another significant benefit to an adventuring party. This very versatility requires a major investment in spell study, however, and so many young fangshi are forced into adventuring simply to acquire the gold and materials they need to master their potential. Groups that enlist a fangshi have a powerful and flexible ally, but one that is less useful than usual in a direct physical confrontation. The fangshi can imbue his allies with great might, but he can’t hurl the sort of direct, savage elemental assaults that a High Path mage or a Mountain Way yamabushi could summon. Without friends to support and protect him, the fangshi is even more vulnerable than most wizards.

Training

Fangshi are traditionally trained in an apprentice system, laboring for their master for seven or eight years in exchange for the rudiments of the art. The apprentices mind alembics and cauldrons, aiding in the brute physical aspects of the labor while learning to mimic their master’s meditations and personal disciplines. Skilled and powerful fangshi might attract as many as half a dozen pupils, but most content themselves with one or two. The exception are those zealots who believe in the need to reclaim the old glory of the Nine Immortal Art. These enthusiasts will train as many as ten pupils at a time, often taking dangerous shortcuts and teaching flawed practices that produce quick results at the cost of later misfortunes. Such prices are necessary, their masters reason, if the art is to be spread quickly and sufficient minions are to be enlisted. A few traditional magical schools are partly or wholly composed of fangshi, often jealously preserving the traditional ways for those Imperial families that prefer the customs of their forebears. Not all of the faculty at such institutions are hidebound reactionaries or scheming zealots; some simply cherish the wisdom and art of their ancestors. Still, the teachers there rarely have an abundance of appreciation for the modern ways of sorcery. 62

The Nine Immortal Art in Your Campaign

For your own game world, you can use the Nine Immortal Art for wonder-working mystics and hermit holy men. Their abilities are strange and marvelous, and any sort of magical tradition that focuses on personal exaltation and spiritual development could be mapped onto the abilities of a fangshi.

Class Abilities

Alchemic Immortality: Fangshi are almost invariably in strikingly good health regardless of their age, but the skilled among them can persist among men for truly remarkable amounts of time. No fangshi ever suffers the physical ravages of age; up to the point of their death, they retain their adult vigor, if not their youthful faces. For every character level the fangshi possesses, his lifespan is increased by 10 years. A fangshi of ninth or higher level may choose to spiritually transcend at the end of his lifespan, his body vanishing mysteriously and his soul venturing beyond the reach of gods and devils. Skilled Distiller: A fangshi need spend only half the usual research points, gold, and time to create potions under the rules given in the Works of Sorcery chapter. Purity of Essence: At 3rd level, the fangshi becomes impervious to poisons. At 7th level, he can no longer be afflicted by diseases.

Nine Immortal Art Spells Auspicious Direction Level 4 Duration Instant Range Self The fangshi fixes his mind upon a particular goal before casting down a bundle of yarrow stalks, coins, stones, or other small objects. The patterns made will reveal the best direction for travel and two or three words alluding to the nearest danger in that direction. This spell will not function more than once per day for any single goal.

Butterfly Step Level 1 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ While under the effect of this sorcery a single subject within range is made so light-footed that he cannot fall. He may climb his way up or down a vertical surface, or ascend and descend by means of a rope, but for the duration of the spell he will not plunge even if he strides off the edge of a cliff. This spell does not necessarily make him a better climber or allow him to scale surfaces too smooth for him to find purchase upon, but he will never fall due to a mistake in ascending or descending.

Clay Soldier Army Level 6 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ A dozen soldiers of earth and clay climb from the earth to obey the fangshi’s bidding. These soldiers have the following statistics: AC 5, 1 HD, Move 60’, Morale 12, receive a +3 bonus to hit and do 1d6 damage with their enchanted earthen clubs and flint spears. The soldiers are mindless constructs, but will obey the fangshi without hesitation. At the end of the spell’s duration they collapse into muddy piles of earth.

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Discern Recipe Level 3 Duration Instant Range Touch This spell allows the fangshi to ascertain the subtle constituents and composition of a magical device or phenomenon. The fangshi must cast the spell on a single object or magical phenomenon, whereupon he gains an immediate understanding of the item’s powers or the phenomenon’s effects. This close proximity can be potentially dangerous, however- if the phenomenon is harmful or the item is cursed, the fangshi must save versus spells to avoid being snared by it.

Dream of the Wise Level 5 Duration Instant Range Self In dreams, the fangshi finds answers to his queries. This rite is performed before the sorcerer sleeps, summoning oracular dreams that test the fangshi’s skill at interpretation. The fangshi must make an Intelligence ability check after casting this spell; on a success, the Labyrinth Lord gives a relatively clear two or threeword answer to any question relating to current or past events. On a failure, the Labyrinth Lord gives a two or three-word metaphorical answer. This spell leaves the fangshi drained even after his night’s rest, and he can cast no spell for 24 hours afterwards. The fangshi may not ask again about the same basic topic until a month has passed.

Effortless Vitality Level 2 Duration 1 turn Range 120’ The fangshi and up to six of his allies are infused with a mighty surge of vigor and vitality, gaining a +1 bonus on all hit and damage rolls. NPC allies gain a Morale of 12 for as long as the spell lasts. The spell will absorb up to 1 level of energy drain on a given target before being prematurely dispelled.

Essence Blades Level 4 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ The fangshi extends the luminous purity of his spirit over his allies, striking white jade sparks from their weapons. Up to six allies within range can be blessed by this spell, granting their weapons a +2 bonus to hit and damage and allowing them to injure enemies harmed only by magical weapons.

Footsteps of Falling Leaves Level 5 Duration 1 turn Range 120’ The fangshi and up to six allies within range are infused with the reckless, laughing ease of a wandering sage. For the duration of the spell, they may teleport up to their maximum movement range once per round, in place of their usual movement. This teleportation does not draw attacks from adjacent enemies, and must be to a location within line of sight of the subject.

Harmonious Passage Level 4 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ All times and places welcome the harmonious spirit. By means of this spell, the fangshi and up to six allies can blend in perfectly with any group of living creatures, and are automatically assumed to belong. Onlookers do not get a saving throw to resist the spell unless the fangshi goes where only certain specific people are allowed or behaves in such a way as to draw alarm. Those bewitched by the sorcery do not recognize the fangshi or his allies specifically, their minds clouding over and rendering the intruders unimportant to their perceptions. The spell is automatically broken if the fangshi or his allies does something that would provoke attack or alarm in onlookers. Also, the spell must be cast in concealment- the fangshi cannot simply invoke it as a mob of bandits bear down on him and expect them to suddenly take him for one of their own.

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Hiding the Golden Jewel Level 7 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self A prudent fangshi can conceal his life force from those who would despoil him of his remaining longevity. Upon casting this spell, the fangshi may store his life essence in a single organ or limb of his body no smaller than his big toe. If the fangshi is brought to zero hit points during the duration of this spell, he appears to fall dead. So long as the vessel of his essence is not burnt to ashes, dissolved, smashed to paste, or otherwise destroyed, he will rise at the end of the spell’s duration with 2 hit points healed per level. Even if nothing is left of his corpse but that single vital organ, necessary parts will be regrown instantly at the spell’s end.

Invincible Health Level 7 Duration 1 round/level Range 120’ The fangshi strengthens the internal force of himself and up to six of his allies, fueling them with invincible vitality in the face of their foes. All physical damage they may receive is cut in half during the duration of the spell, and they regenerate 4 hit points per round so long as they live.

Jade Venom Fan Level 4 Duration Instant Range 30’ cone The fangshi waves a hand or a paper fan toward his foes, and a cone of acrid green venom leaps forth to sear them. The cone is 30 feet long and 30 feet wide at the far end, and all within take 1d6 acid damage per caster level, up to a maximum of 10d6 damage. A saving throw versus spells halves the injury.

Knives of Inexhaustible Hate Level 5 Duration Instant Range 120’ The fangshi hurls a fistful of yarrow stalks, stones, or other small objects toward his enemies, whereupon they transform into a cloud of flying knives. Up to a dozen enemies within range may be targeted, with the fangshi rolling an attack against each as if he were a fighter of an equivalent level. If the knives hit, the target takes 10d6 damage. So long as the fangshi spends his entire round concentrating, he may continue to make repeated attack rolls until he either stops focusing on the spell, the target moves out of range, or the knives hit the target. A given target can only be hit once by the knives.

Nourishing Breath Level 1 Duration Instant Range 120’ The fangshi may lead up to six allies in these breathing meditations, along with his own exercise. For ten minutes, a careful sequence of motions, breathing patterns, and intonations are made. At the close of the spell, all subjects are refreshed and nourished as if after a good meal and a full night’s rest. A fangshi can use this spell on himself or other for no more sequential days than he has caster levels.

Pavilion of Smoke Level 6 Duration 1 day Range 100’ radius The fangshi gestures, and pale white mist rises to form structures and edifices. These milk-white walls and buildings can sprawl out up to a hundred feet around the fangshi, rising up to thirty feet in height, with an internal layout to suit the sorcerers wishes. The buildings can be quite elaborate in their construction, furnishing and decoration, but they cannot contain traps or other hazardous terrain. While capable of bearing the weight of occupants, the essential nature of smoke remains to them; 6 points of damage to any wall will break a man-sized hole through up to a ten-foot thickness of walls. The smoke pavilion may be sum65

moned in any location large enough to contain it, and vanishes once the spell elapses or is dispelled.

Peach Blossom Elixir Level 2 Duration 1 day Range Special The fangshi begins to learn how to apply his understanding of longevity in philtres and strange potions. This spell allows him to sorcel a flask of common water with a potent echo of vitality. A humanoid who drinks the flask within the next minute will regain the appearance of their youthful prime, appearing just as they did at their most handsome or beautiful. Their true age and physical condition does not change, and the appearance fades upon the spell’s end. A fangshi who drinks his own elixir may maintain the spell indefinitely, albeit most adepts of the Nine Immortal Art scorn to conceal their obvious signs of hale maturity.

Plum-Wine Mansion Level 7 Duration Special Range Special The fangshi may summon a secret refuge for himself and his allies, calling forth a moon gate visible only to himself and up to two dozen allies present at the time the spell is cast. Those who pass through the gate enter into a magnificent mansion, one lushly appointed with every delight and spirit-servants in comely and graceful forms. There is food and drink enough in the refuge to support the sage and his allies indefinitely, and they may rest and recover for as long as they wish within the Plum-Wine Mansion. No conventional magical force can reach into the mansion or extend outward from within it, though priests may recover their spells normally while within. Outsiders may not enter the mansion unless they first spot its moon gate with a Detect Invisibility effect, and then shatter the wards with a successful Dispel Magic. The servants within set up a cry if intruders threaten the inhabitants, though they are unable to offer aid in the fangshi’s defense. The spell ends when the fangshi leaves the mansion, and all within are deposited outside along with their possessions.

Poison Essence Level 3 Duration Instant Range 240’ The fangshi utters seven dissonant tones that taint and curdle the essence within as many as six people or objects within range. The target takes 1d6 damage every round of the spell’s duration, to a maximum of 10d6. On a successful saving throw versus spells the duration is halved, rounded up. Unattended objects do not get a saving throw versus this spell. The fangshi may end the poison at any time. Despite the name, this toxic essence can harm even those creatures impervious to conventional poisons.

Prison of Burning Grass Level 4 Duration 1 round/level Range 240’ The grasses and brush beneath a foe’s feet are charged with a sudden surge of essential power, forcing them to erupt upward in an ensnaring thicket. The bracken forms in a 15’ radius circle around the target point, and a handful of hurled grass seed can provide the effect when natural plants are unavailable. All creatures within the area are trapped for the spell’s duration, able to fight and dodge but not to move from their position. Furthermore, the surge of force that caused the grasses to grow so quickly cause them to burst into spiritual flame, inflicting 1d6 damage on trapped victims each round they remain within the bracken. Victims may cut their way loose from the grass by inflicting 15 points of damage on it with blades or spells. Fire of any kind, however, does not harm the grass. At the spell’s end, the bracken collapses into black ash, though other fires may well have been set by the conflagration in the meanwhile.

Restore Wholeness Level 2 Duration Instant Range Touch A fangshi evokes the original essence of a damaged or destroyed object, coaxing it back to wholeness. The fangshi must be able to support the object in one hand and at least 51% of its original constituents must be present. Upon completion of the incantation, the 66

object is restored as if it had just come from the hand of its maker. This spell cannot restore magical objects.

Sage’s Sure Journey Level 5 Duration Instant Range Special The sage goes where he wills, and this sorcery allows the fangshi to do the same. When cast, the fangshi and up to six allies must be capable of walking one hundred feet in a straight line. At the end of this progress, they vanish, reappearing elsewhere in the fashion of a Teleport spell. The fangshi may unerringly go to any location he has visited before. If attempting to reach some other location, he must be holding a clod of earth, fragment of wood, or some other connection with the desired destination.

Smite Spirit Level 4 Duration Instant Range 30’ radius The Nine Immortal Art contains many apotropaic rites for the banishing of malevolent powers. When this fearsome abjuration is intoned, all undead and extraplanar creatures within 30’ of the caster are struck for 1d6 damage per level, up to a maximum of 10d6. A save versus spell will halve the damage.

Thunderclap Shout Level 2 Duration Instant Range 20’ cone A fangshi has few directly damaging spells, but this incantation allows him to utter a deafening shout that can blast an insolent mob of attackers. All victims within a cone 20 feet long and 20 feet wide at the far end will take 2d6 damage and must save versus spells or be forced back by five feet. Creatures larger than man-sized cannot be blown back.

Transmute Matter Level 2 Duration Instant Range Touch The fangshi is an adept of transformation, and this spell allows him to manipulate base matter into different useful substances. A single casting of this spell allows the fangshi to turn any loose nonmagical matter into a single other raw material or substance, provided that the end result weighs no more than one pound per caster level and is worth no more than one gold piece. Dirt can be transformed into rice, sand into water, or ice into firewood. The transformation is permanent and cannot be dispelled. The end result cannot be shaped or molded- it’s simply a heap of the desired nonmagical substance.

Turtle Bone Oracle Level 1 Duration Instant Range Self A turtle shell, scapular bone, or even a simple piece of wood are heated over a fire as the fangshi intones this spell. After ten minutes of perusal, the fangshi receives one enigmatic piece of seemingly nonsensical advice he may keep to himself or give to one of his allies. The subject may then use that advice once in the next 24 hours to gain a +2 bonus on any single saving throw, as it proves bizarrely applicable.

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Shakunasar The Way of Twisted Flesh and Will Requirements Prime Requisite Hit Dice Maximum Level Weapons Armor Attack Table Saving Throws

Must be human or Shou Intelligence 1d4 None Dagger, Short sword, Battle axe, Spear, Bow None As per magic-user As per magic-user

Shakunasar is the ancient flesh-bending sorcery of the Shou, a fragmented and degenerate art that has fallen from its old glory into a scattered legacy of confused charms and garbled enchantments. The Shou wizards known as “azus” guard their lore jealously and have little leisure to expand their knowledge. Yet within the ancient cities of the wilderness, there remain the tablets and tomes that might show more than this art’s modern heirs could ever dream. Shakunasar focuses on magic that shapes and binds living creatures, with a few inherited sorceries for analyzing complex magic. It is extremely powerful within its limited sphere, having a wide variety of spells related to shapeshifting, mind control, diseases, poisons, and the augmentation of living creatures. Shakunasar is very weak in magics affecting inanimate objects or conjuring inert matter or unliving force. It has a few basic charms related to laboratory repair that have survived, but classical “energy” effects are largely restricted to what can be justified by explosive powders or seething biological fluids.

Origins

Once, in a time long past, the wild Shou of the Sunset Isles were the 68

masters of their own world. Beneath the stern gaze of their god Shakun they had gone forth to conquer every rival race, and they alone were left to be the lords of their native world. Their pride was in their excellence of body and spirit, every generation striving to surpass the glory of their ancestors. It was an ambition that left little room for compassion among them. With every terrestrial foe conquered or driven into the darker corners of their world, the Shou were left to contend with each other. They devised subtle artifices and strange magics to command lesser creatures, and practiced self-excruciating techniques meant to enhance their own personal prowess. Their sage-artisans, the azus, built cities of white brass and eldritch steel, and wrought engines of glass and burning light to perform great works for their nations. When the Red Tide crashed in on the world of the Shou, it found unexpected resistance. The god Shakun

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+

Hit Dice 1d4 2d4 3d4 4d4 5d4 6d4 7d4 8d4 9d4 9d4+1 +1 HP per level

Shakunasar Progression XP Class Abilities 0 Taxonomist, Iron Mind 2,501 5,001 10,001 20,001 Weak Spot, Progenitor 40,001 80,001 160,001 310,001 460,001 +150,000 per level

Shakunasar Spell List Spell Level 1

3 Animal 1 Charm Person Altered Aspect Growth Crystalline Analyze Cure/Cause 2 Burst Potion Disease Cure Light Deliquescent 3 Bless Wounds Cloud Dust of 4 Detect Magic Dispel Magic Repair Enervate Elixir of Galvanic 5 Beasts Might Vitality Fertility 6 Healer's Eye Hold Person Philtre 7 Read Magic Resist Fire Infravision SkinMist of 8 Resist Cold Hardening Osseous Decay Solution Rod of Polymorph Snake Charm 9 Self Disruption Sigil of Feral Speak with Skyward 10 Dominance Animal Shape Tireless Tailored Ward Against 11 March Venom Toxins Venomous Vitality Water Breath12 Touch Siphon ing 69

2

4 Charm Monster Cure Serious Wounds Fog of Passions Hide of Myriad Plates Massmorph

5 Cure Critical Wounds Disease Swarm

6 Arcane Mitosis Conjure Animals

Feeblemind

Death Spell

Hold Monster Heal Ignite Potential

Neutralize Insect Plague Poison Plant Growth Invert Plague Polymorph Others

Protoplasmic Servitor

Razored Hands Skyward Flock Speak with Plants Sticks to Snakes

Rampaging Minion Reshape the Slave

Leader of the Pack Perfect Adaptation Rebel Skin

7 Clone Enforce Obedience Incendiary Cloud Invisible Stalker Leaping Plague Mind Blank Regenerate

Reincarnation Restoration Simulacrum

Shape Change

Titanic Surge

Slave-Shaped Legion

was the sole surviving deity of world’s original pantheon of powers, and the united worship of the Shou made him far more potent than the Tide had expected. He was able to hold back the onrushing mists until his squabbling children realized their peril. The mist that devoured the world of men in months took decades to overwhelm the Shou. Their sageartisans turned every engine and enchantment they possessed against it, but their sorcery was ill-suited to meddling with dimensional powers, and the endless waves of Tidespawned that swept from within the red clouds were more than their warriors could defeat. In the final decades of the war, the desperate azus combined their efforts to breed an altered race of Shouones born resistant to the blandishments of the Red Tide and strong enough to defeat its endless hordes of abhorrent minions. These Shou were larger, fiercer, and more inclined to obedience to their leaders than their haughty forebears. It was too late. There was not enough time to breed an army of sufficient size, and Shakun could hold back the Tide no longer. Rather than permit his people to be destroyed, the god sacrificed his own existence to infuse the rocks of a remote archipelago with his own protective essence, hurling it from his doomed world to a different, more hopeful land. The serpent-people who ruled the world of men in that age were little inclined to seafaring, and it was centuries before the strange new range of islands were discovered where no land had been before. The surviving Shou soon fractured into warring clans divided by their original phenotypes- bugbears, orcs, and goblins all fighting with the bitter frustration of a people denied the wisdom and high culture of their progenitors. If any “old-blooded” Shou survived the carnage of their world’s final days, they gave no sign of their presence. In the chaos and confusion, the sophisticated, scientific arts of Shakunasar were swiftly degraded into little more than crude hexes. The witch-priestesses of the Shou drew upon their faith to summon the powers of the land, but the wizards among them fought and squabbled for the few remaining fragments of the old world’s lore, until even the memory of another land was lost to the Shou. They had dwelled in the Sunset 70

Shakunasar Spell Progression Spell Level Class Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 1 2 2 3 2 1 4 3 2 5 3 2 1 6 3 3 2 7 4 3 2 1 8 4 3 3 2 9 4 4 3 2 1 10 5 4 3 3 2 11 5 4 4 3 2 1 12 5 5 4 3 3 2 13 6 5 4 4 3 2 1 14 6 5 5 4 3 3 2 15 7 6 5 4 4 3 2 16 7 6 5 5 4 3 3 17 8 7 6 5 4 3 3 18 8 7 6 5 4 4 3 19 8 7 6 5 5 4 3 20 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 Isles since the beginning of days, and would dwell there still until Shakun returned to exalt the greatest of them as his true children. In the meanwhile, the ancient cities of the Shou remain places of taboo dread for many tribes, their ruins of stone and white brass and stranger metal found perched high in the mountains and deep within inaccessible jungles. Within the forgotten laboratories of the ancient azus, there may yet remain secrets and tomes that could reveal more of this art to those willing to dare the grim defenses of a race that faced its doom.

In the Present Day

Most Shou tribes have only witch-priestesses among them. Their arts are more intuitive and less academically rigorous than the quasi-scientific way of Shakunasar, and thus are more amenable to the wandering ways of most Shou tribes. Still, some powerful or deeply traditional tribes maintain a contingent of azus that pass on their lore to new generations. Unlike most Shou, an azu can often claim refuge with an unrelated

Shou clan in exchange for teaching their young her secrets. Ancient Shou custom identifies magic-wielding as a female pursuit, and in many tribes all magic-users are considered ritually and socially female regardless of their birth gender. Many such tribes are incapable of even telling the difference between an azu and a witch-priestess’ sorceries, and expect azus to follow the same customs. Not every student of Shakunasar is enthusiastic about this prospect, and some seek a solitary refuge. By way of certain enchantments some azus actually live as humans within human communities, raising Shou-blooded children who are unaware of their true parentage until they are old enough to take up their parent’s studies. Several lines of human azus have thus developed over the centuries. Officially, all of them got their start by plundering caches of “Shou magic” which they bravely wield against the wild people in defense of their own kind. In truth, more than one such lineage is actually composed of Shou-blooded men and women who use the relative order and security of human society as a base from which to seek out lost Shou arcana. Some of these lineages feel loyalty to their human neighbors and seek to defend them from the depredations of their barbaric brethren. Others retain their dedication to the Shou, and some simply nurse a bitter scorn for all who lack their arcane erudition. Most common folk are unaware of the differences between an azu and a normal High Path magic-user. The learned tend to view human azus with mistrust, as their flesh-shaping and mindbending are tainted with the Shou origin of their magics. Many wizards dismiss them entirely as mere glorified hedge-mages, dancing around with bones and sticks and throwing stinking powders at people. All wizards must admit the might of the Shou witch-priestesses, but they chafe at acknowledging the arcane sophistication of such obviously bestial foes.

Adventuring

An azu can fill many of the healing duties expected of a cleric, and has access to powerful spells of charming and binding. Their direct-damage spells tend to be less versatile and effective than those of a High Path mage, as many of them only function against living foes. 71

Adventuring parties often favor an azu when negotiations are expected, particularly ones that might be influenced by a judicious application of mind-bending spells. Other groups find advantage in the fleshwarping spells of the azu, and their ability to create perfect disguises for themselves and others. Certain conventional anti-wizard tactics also work poorly to suppress an azu, as it is very difficult to shut them down with mind-binding sorceries.

Training

Most azus are heir to their magic, taught it by a learned forebear and expected to teach it to their own talented children and grandchildren. For some practitioners of Shakunasar, their Shou roots might still be remembered and secretly honored. Other groups have long since lost any sense of their true origins, and are as human as any of their neighbors. Some childless azus even take in unrelated apprentices, simply so the family heritage of sorcery will not die with them. While azus are not common, it is not unknown for a sorcerous academy to have one of them on staff. Their expertise in the creation of life and the assorted unpleasantly specific lessons in physical and mental alteration they can offer are valued by High Path wizards, even those who might sneer at the dubious origins of their magic. Even when an azu knows and embraces his Shou heritage, they are never so foolish as to actually admit it to others. The common people grudgingly accept the need to use the hated Shou’s witchcraft against them. There is no chance that they would tolerate one of the hated barbarians actually living among them.

Azus In Your Campaign

Need a crazy monster-making wizard? That would be an azu. Shakunasar can be reflavored as a suite of spells good for mad tinker-mages and amoral technomagical experimenters. It might be the degraded remnants of a once-glorious blend of biotechnology and magic, or it might be the first hesitant steps toward the discovery of the mysterious art known as “mad science”.

Class Abilities

Taxonomist: Azus can always identify living creatures at a glance, and are aware of any special abilities

or qualities possessed by that species. Only beings unknown to scholarly lore will baffle the azu. Iron Mind: Azus are past masters at mental manipulation of subject races. Their experience helps them detect and deflect attempts to control their own brains. They are allowed to roll twice on saving throws to resist mind-influencing spells and take the better saving throw. Weak Spot: At fifth level, an azu is so accomplished that he can identify old wounds, natural flaws, and weak spots in a living creature. Once per day, he can call out advice to his allies to grant them a +2 bonus on hit and damage rolls against a single target visible to the azu. The creature also suffers an intrinsic -2 penalty to saving throws against the azu’s spells. The bonuses and penalty last for ten minutes, after which the creature will have adapted to attempts to strike its weaknesses. Progenitor: The azu is remarkably talented at creating novel forms of life. At fifth level, growing new life forms costs only half of the research points and gold indicated in the Works of Sorcery chapter.

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Shakunasar Spells Altered Aspect Level 2 Duration Special Range Touch This charm potentizes the essential mutability within a willing target’s flesh, allowing the azu to mold them into a different appearance. The alteration requires five minutes of work, whereupon a single target of man-size or smaller can be made to appear as any humanoid entity of approximately the same height and weight. The azu can add fur, scales, claws, or any other elaboration they wish, but such additions are purely decorative and do not alter the creature’s base statistics. Perfect mimicry of an individual is possible if a sample of hair, blood, or flesh is available. This spell lasts for one day if used on another subject, or until dispelled if used on the azu himself.

Analyze Potion Level 2 Duration Instant Range Touch This brief incantation allows the azu to analyze any liquid, paste, or powder. The caster is immediately alerted to the liquid’s constituents and any magical effect it may contain. If the liquid is biological in origin, it retains an individual signature that the azu can match to its owner, provided that a hair, blood sample, or other biological element is available for comparison.

Arcane Mitosis Level 6 Duration 1 turn/level Range Self There are times when a wizard needs to be in two places at once, and the azu knows how to reflect his inner identity into multiple outward aspects. This spell physically splits the azu into two identical twins, both carrying the same clothing and equipment, albeit magical equipment is duplicated only in mundane form. The caster’s current hit points are divided between the two copies in any way desired. The two share the same pool of spells, and only one of them may cast during any given round. Both know anything that one copy 73

knows, and both act on their own initiative during combat. If one copy is slain, the other is stunned, and unable to do anything to defend itself during the next round. Any items conjured by this spell vanish when the first duplicate dies or the spell’s duration ends.

Crystalline Burst Level 1 Duration Instant Range 120’ The azu channels the force of this spell into a simple pebble or clod of earth, transforming it into a shimmering crystalline sphere that darts forth to a target location within range. The transformation then unravels explosively as fragments of the crystal burst in a 5’ radius sphere, doing 1d4 damage to all targets within the area of effect. Beings with armor classes of 3 or better are immune to the glittering shrapnel.

Deliquescent Cloud Level 3 Duration Instant Range 240’ A small sphere of earth is etched by eldritch forces during the preparation of this spell. When the azu releases it, it arcs to any point within the spell’s range before collapsing into a billowing cloud of acrid amber fumes that extend in a 15 foot radius around the target point. Everything within the cloud suffers 1d6 points of acid damage per caster level, up to 10d6 maximum. A saving throw versus spells will halve the damage.

Disease Swarm Level 5 Duration 1 round/level Range 240’ The target of this spell is hammered by a ruinous wave of sicknesses and lethal afflictions. Unless the subject is immune to diseases, they must roll a saving throw versus spells. On a failure, they suffer 1d8 damage per round until the spell ends or they die. The symptoms of the plague also inflict a -2 penalty on all their hit rolls and saving throws. On a successful save, the damage is avoided, but the penalties still apply until the spell’s

duration elapses. A Cure Disease spell will end the affliction prematurely, as will the azu’s death.

Dust of Repair Level 2 Duration Instant Range Touch A silvery, metallic powder produced by certain arcane refinements, the dust of repair is of great utility in the hands of a skilled azu. A single spell will produce enough dust to cover an object as large as a man. Provided that the object is not completely destroyed and that at least 51% of its substance is present, the dust will restore it to perfect condition. The dust can restore a corpse to intact freshness if the necessary amount of original matter is available. The dust cannot repair magical or ensorceled objects, however, and must be used within a turn of its creation.

Elixir of Might Level 2 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ This small vial of ichorous fluid is distilled from the arcane energies produced during the preparation of the spell. To complete the sorcery, the azu hurls the contents of the vial over himself or a chosen ally and intones the activating syllables. The chosen subject is infused with a surge of physical prowess, gaining a +1 bonus to their Strength modifier and a boost of 4 points of Strength for encumbrance and lifting purposes. This bonus cannot raise their effective Strength above 18, or their Strength ability bonus above +4.

Enervate Beasts Level 1 Duration 1 turn Range 120’ A powder is ground during the preparation of this spell, a sandy gray dust infused with the arcane energies of the azu. It can be hurled out to the full range of the spell before bursting into a filmy cloud with a 15 foot radius. All non-magical unintelligent beasts of 4+1 HD or fewer in this cloud will instantly collapse in enfeebled helplessness, unable to perform any actions or defend themselves. The enervation lasts for ten 74

minutes, though pain inflicted on the animal will break the effect prematurely.

Enforce Obedience Level 7 Duration Special Range 30’ This spell is a more potent version of a conventional charm, relying on the azu’s knowledge of subtle, inexorable conditioning techniques and the mental weak points of a subject. Only non-extraplanar living creatures are subject to this spell. A single target is chosen within range, and the victim must then make a saving throw versus spells. On a failure, the subject is completely and utterly devoted to the azu, to the point of performing suicidal actions. They will act reasonably and intelligently in carrying out the azu’s commands, and will not flinch from betraying their dearest beliefs. Spellcasters are unable to cast while under the effects of this spell, however. The duration is indefinite until dispelled, but an azu may have no more than one thrall under this spell for every three full points of Charisma they possess.

Fertility Philtre Level 2 Duration Special Range Special In the ancient days of the azus, numerous strange and terrible experiments in crossbreeding were conducted by the learned among them. Almost all of this unnatural knowledge has been lost in the present time, but there remains the formula for a simple and effective philtre of fertility that retains its freshness for up to one hour after this spell is cast. A woman who drinks the elixir will invariably become pregnant after any encounter within the next 24 hours. Unfortunately, the elixir accomplishes its wonders by burning out the reproductive potential of the user; after 24 hours, they will never become pregnant again without the aid of a Restoration spell.

Fog of Passions Level 4 Duration 1d4+1 rounds Range 240’ A quick blend of certain powders and reactive fluids results in a billowing gust of near-invisible mist spreading out in a transparent cloud in a 20’ radius around the target point. Within this cloud, living creatures must save versus spells or be seized with a ferociously powerful emotion. The passion must be basic and primal in nature- rage, terror, lust, greed, or some other simple and direct feeling. Those who fail their save will be utterly absorbed in the emotion for 1d4+1 rounds, unable to do anything but flee, attack, or otherwise act according to their feelings. Subjects can resist the urge to do things they view as deeply morally wrong, but in that case they can do nothing but defend themselves during the duration.

Galvanic Vitality Level 3 Duration Special Range 240’ A coruscating burst of electrical force permeates a number of fresh corpses within the spell’s area of effect. The effects are identical to that of an Animate Dead spell, but can only be used to create zombies out of largely-intact bodies. The shambling, twitching results are not actual undead, instead being motivated by the electrical pulses that play through their restless forms. They will obey the caster’s commands to the point of self-destruction but have no true intellect of their own. A caster can maintain only one batch of galvanic shamblers at a time.

Healer’s Eye Level 1 Duration Instant Range Touch The azu sounds out a targeted creature with pulses of resonant sorcery, listening to the echoes and studying the patterns of light formed on the subject’s skin. After one minute of study, the azu can identify any poisons, diseases, or curses afflicting the subject. Assuming the affliction is not unique or surpassingly rare, the azu will also know the standard methods of curing or treating the trouble, if such exists. 75

Hide of Myriad Plates Level 4 Duration 1 turn Range Touch A willing subject’s skin is made to grow thick, bony plates that crack and powder under enemy attack. The first 1d4+1 physical weapon hits against the target do no damage during the duration of this spell. A target can be affected by this spell no more often than once per hour.

Ignite Potential Level 5 Duration 1 turn Range 120’ Every living creature has potential unknown to it, a reserve of force that it has not properly developed. This protocol ignites the native force of the target, which must either be willing or fail a saving throw versus spells. Under the spell’s effect, they gain a +2 bonus to hit and damage, double their base movement rate, and gain 3d8 hit points which may boost them above their maximum. The force of their vitality is such that they become immune to instant death effects such as Death Spell or Power Word Kill. Such potential comes at a cost, however, and they suffer 1d6 damage for each round this spell is in effect. It may be ended prematurely by the caster, and the subject may forego their action for the round to make a saving throw versus spells to end the frenzy.

Invert Plague Level 5 Duration 1 round/level Range 120’ An affliction becomes a blessing with the rewritten code of life that this protocol impresses on a hostile microorganism. A diseased creature hit by this spell has their scourging sickness alter to become a symbiotic aid to their health and wellbeing. For the duration of the spell, the subject regenerates 3 hit points per round while alive and is immune to further diseases or poisons. At the end of the spell’s duration, the disease shuts itself down and vanishes.

Leader of the Pack Level 5 Duration 1 turn/level Range 100’ radius The azu taps into the primal instincts of feral beasts around him, seizing control of their natural instincts with a combination of tonal stimuli and acrid-smelling powders. All pack, swarm or herd beasts within 100 feet of the caster immediately recognize him as their leader and will obey any commands that are not utterly contrary to their nature. The azu can command the beasts telepathically, though it requires a full round’s action to convey a command, after which the beasts will carry it out as best they can to completion. This spell will not affect creatures with more hit dice than the azu has caster levels, and magical beasts are allowed a saving throw to resist the effect.

Leaping Plague Level 7 Duration Instant Range 240’ This spell summons a bolt of noxious green mist that leaps to strike a single target within range. The victim must save versus spells or suffer 10d6 damage from the flesh-eating microbes in the mist and suffer a -2 penalty to hit rolls for the next turn as the tissue slowly sloughs away from them. Those who save suffer only 5d6 damage and do not take the penalty. Immediately after striking the first target, the bolt leaps to a second, and third, and so forth until it hits as many targets within range as the caster has levels. For each creature that fails a saving throw against the plague, the next creature hit takes a -1 penalty to their own save as the plague strengthens- so if five creatures consecutively fail their saving throw, the sixth suffers a -5 penalty on the save. If a creature makes the saving throw, chain reaction ends and the penalty resets. Creatures immune to disease are not affected by this spell.

Mist of Osseous Decay Level 3 Duration Instant Range 30’ cone A pair of powdery catalysts is mixed to produce a long plume of emerald mist that billows forth in a cone 30 feet long and 30 feet wide at its far end. Within this 76

cloud, the bones of living creatures begin to crumble and snap as they are leached of precious minerals. Victims possessing a skeletal structure within the cloud take 1d6 points of damage per caster level, up to a maximum of 10d6, and are unable to move from their current location for 1d4 rounds afterwards. Creatures that are composed almost entirely of bone, such as skeletons or bone golems, take 1d10 damage per caster level. A saving throw halves the damage and eliminates the difficulty in walking.

Perfect Adaptation Level 6 Duration 1 day Range 30’ cone The azu goes where he must to oversee his work. Powders, fragrances, and colored lights stimulate the creation of new organs and bodily structures to accommodate the demands of the current environment. For the duration of the spell, the azu and up to ten of his allies can operate freely regardless of the natural environment- whether it’s in the midst of a frozen tundra, at the bottom of the ocean, or walking across a pool of molten stone. They can breathe, move, see, and speak normally at all times, and their personal possessions are not harmed by the environment. This spell will not protect against elemental attacks. Only natural phenomena are resisted.

Protoplasmic Servitor Level 5 Duration 1 turn Range 30’ cone A flask of essential salts is hurled at a point within range, whereupon it shatters to release a shape that grows instantly into a man-sized, formless mass of glistening flesh. The protoplasmic servitor is mindless but susceptible to the azu’s telepathic commands. It can move at a rate of 90’ and manipulate objects as a human of Strength 18. It has an armor class of 9, five hit dice, and can strike once per round for 1d8+3 damage that affects even creatures immune to normal weapons. It can mold itself into any shape of appropriate mass, albeit it never loses its fundamental gruesome appearance. Summoning a servitor more than once per day is dangerous; for each summons after the first, there’s a cumulative 25% chance the servitor simply attacks the summoner until killed or banished.

Rampaging Minion Level 5 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ The azu’s arts are dangerous to those who would seek to oppose them with servitors. By a certain arcane pattern of tones and colored lights, the azu sunders the bonds of control that bind an enemy minion and turns it back upon its allies. This spell targets a single living or undead being, which must make a saving throw versus spells. On a failure, its loyalties immediately invert- all whom they once loved, they now hate, and vice-versa. In combat, they will immediately attack their allies or master, and out of combat they will act according to their new loyalties for the duration of the spell. If the subject is charmed, dominated, or otherwise magically bound to an entity, the spell will override the enchantment and infuse the target with an overwhelming hatred for their controller.

Razored Hands Level 4 Duration 1 turn Range Touch The caster, an ally, or a servitor beast is made to grow gigantic claws that glisten with fearsome toxins. Natural attacks made by the subject can be made as if a fighter of equivalent level, and do 1d8 damage. They also force the target to save versus poison or suffer an additional 1d8 hit points of injury. Any class of character may use the claws without hindrance, and they can harm entities that would otherwise be injured only by magic weapons. Subjects can grip objects while the spell is in effect, but cannot perform fine manual manipulations.

Rebel Skin Level 6 Duration 1d4 rounds Range 120’ The azu directs a harsh blue vivifying light in a 10’ radius burst around the target point. All living creatures within this burst must save versus spells or experience the sudden rebellion of their own skin. The tissue will struggle like a separate living creature, trying to pull free from its wearer as it chokes and blinds the victim. The animation lasts for 1d4 rounds, during which the 77

victims are blind, unable to act save to defend themselves, and take 4d6 damage at the start of each round.

Reshape the Slave Level 5 Duration Permanent Range Touch This spell is slow, requiring at least ten minutes for rough, imprecise changes and an hour for careful modification. No special tools are required, but the subject must either be willing or helpless. By means of this sorcery, the azu is able to reshape a subject into almost any dwarven, elven, halfling, human, Shou, or similar humanoid shape. Gender changes, alteration in height or weight, and perfect mimicry of another person’s appearance are all possible. The creature’s innate age, class, statistics and ability scores do not improve, though they can be lessened by harmful alterations. If the subject is to be transformed into a different race, a vial of blood belonging to the appropriate race is required. The change is physically perfect, right down to producing heritable traits in the subject’s children. The change induced by this spell can be dispelled if done within a week of the alteration, but after that the change is permanent, and will not even register as magical to detection spells.

Rod of Disruption Level 1 Duration Instant Range 240’ A slender wooden wand is festooned with carvings and nodules of crystallized sorcery during the preparation of this spell. When the azu releases the sorcery, the rod spits out a series of pearl-gray spheres that home in on the single chosen target within range. The rod inflicts 1d4 damage on the target, +1d4 more for every three full caster levels, up to a maximum of 6d4. If the target is presently under the influence of a magical spell, the spheres react with the enchantment to add an additional +2 damage per die inflicted.

Sigil of Feral Dominance Level 1 Duration Instant Range 240’ The azus are masters of the feral mind. In preparing this spell, the azu draws an intricate mandala on some suitable surface. At need, the mandala is shown to a beast no larger than a horse while certain intonations are incanted. The beast must save versus spells or become immediately obedient to the azu’s wishes, cooperating in all things that will not result in its injury or death. Dominated beasts will fight for the caster, but may flee if brought to half or fewer hit points. They can understand spoken commands but cannot perform services that require reasoning. Beasts can make a new save against the spell every two weeks, and any attack or willful neglect of the beast’s needs will break the spell. The sigil functions only against beasts of animal or lesser intelligence, and magical beasts of 4 or more hit dice are immune to its blandishments. An azu may have no more beasts dominated at once than their allowed number of retainers.

Skin-Hardening Solution Level 2 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ This unguent stiffens the target’s skin as if it were boiled leather, granting them an armor class of 7. If they are wearing equal or superior armor already, they simply gain an armor class bonus of +1. As a side effect, all edged weapons do 1 fewer point of damage to the target while the spell is in effect.

Skyward Flock Level 4 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ There are times when a single set of wings is not enough for a purpose. This spell functions as does the Skyward Shape spell, but can affect up to six of the caster’s allies as well.

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Skyward Shape Level 3 Duration 1 turn/level Range 120’ Feathered or membranous wings sprout from the back of the target of this spell, granting them the instinctive power of flight at a movement rate of 120’. The wings are too large to function indoors, but they are nimble enough to allow for hovering in mid-air.

Slave-Shaped Legion Level 7 Duration Special Range Special With the difficulty of finding worthy minions, the azu forestalls the problem by making his own. This spell requires willing subjects, or else that they be strapped down and incapable of resisting. Up to one hit die worth of creatures may be shaped per caster level in a single casting of this spell. Creatures so altered become larger, stronger, and more fearsome- they gain a +2 bonus to hit, damage and morale scores, and they gain an extra 2 hit points for every hit die. They also act as if under a permanent Charm effect in relation to the caster.. A caster may maintain up to 3 hit dice of these altered servitors for every Charisma point they have. The only way for this spell to be broken is through a Restoration spell or similar magic.

Tailored Venom Level 2 Duration 1 turn/level Range Touch The azu knows how to fashion venoms that are specific to a particular species of creature. To prepare this toxin, a fresh, mostly-complete corpse of the same species must be rendered down with sorcery and certain tools until nothing remains of it but a few ounces of black, tarry liquid. This corpse tar can be preserved for as long as necessary, but once potentized by the spell, it must be applied to a blade within the next five rounds. For 1 turn per caster level afterwards, the weapon’s wielder may roll twice for damage and take the better result when hitting creatures affected by the venom.

Tireless March Level 1 Duration 1 day Range Touch Tablets of strange powders and extracts are fashioned by the azu and imbued with the power of this sorcery. When the azu completes the incantation and gives the freshly-sorceled medicine to up to six allies, they are filled with unsleeping vigor. They need not sleep for 24 hours and can continue marching or otherwise exerting themselves during that time with no negative effects. An azu can continue to dose his companions for a number of consecutive days equal to his caster level. After this run ends, the spell will not work on the subjects until they have had as many days without the spell’s effects as they had while under it.

Titanic Surge Level 6 Duration 1 round/level Range Self The caster consumes certain essences and organ extracts to briefly charge himself with incredible physical prowess. For the duration of the spell the caster gains 36 temporary hit points, which may increase their total above their normal maximum. In addition, they may use the Fighter table to determine their hit rolls, and any weapon they use- including their bare hands- inflicts at least 1d8 damage. They gain a -4 bonus to their armor class, the physical strength of an ogre, and they regenerate 3 hit points per round. They cannot cast spells while this surge is in effect, however, and at the spell’s end they lose any hit points above their normal maximum.

Venomous Touch Level 1 Duration 1 turn Range Touch Subtle alterations in the azu’s body chemistry leaves his hands or teeth sweating a clear poison. On a successful touch or bite attack made with a +4 bonus to hit, the spell ends and the victim suffers 2d6 damage and becomes enfeebled for one turn, suffering a -2 on attack rolls. A successful save versus poison halves the damage and removes the enfeeblement. 79

Vitality Siphon Level 2 Duration Instant Range 120’ An intricate vortex-like medallion is the locus of this spell, its curves calculated to enhance the resonance of the azu’s occult intonation. When aimed at a target within range as this spell is cast, 2d6 hit points are siphoned from the target and transferred as healing to any ally of the azu within range. A successful saving throw prevents the drain, and the spell cannot transfer more hit points than the target has available.

Ward against Toxins Level 3 Duration 1 turn/level Range Touch A number of foul-tasting pills and potations must be consumed by the azu and up to six allies in the course of casting this spell, the whole process requiring at least one minute to take effect. Once the spell is cast, those affected are immune to diseases and poisons for the duration of the enchantment.

The Stitched Path Vivisectors of the Soul Requirements Prime Requisite Hit Dice Maximum Level Weapons Armor Attack Table Saving Throws

Must be human or Shou Intelligence 1d4 None Dagger None As per magic-user As per magic-user

The High Path is a demanding art, and it requires a brilliance and talent from its greatest practitioners that no mere dogged diligence can provide. Every wizard faces the limits of his own capabilities sooner or later. Most of them make peace with their own limitations, accepting what they have been granted. Others seek to surpass these barriers with burning ambition and a relentless search for arcane lore. And some seek an easier road altogether, one paved with the broken souls of more expendable subjects. Where natural talent cannot suffice, stolen vitality may yet serve a sufficiently ruthless sorcerer.

Origins

The arts of the High Path were formulated eight hundred years ago, and in the centuries since they have spread across the world. Before the rising of the Red Tide, there was scarcely a domain on the globe where it was not known and practiced by the wise. And in consequence, there was scarcely a domain on the globe where some impatient sorcerer did not want more than the High Path offered to him. Some were hampered by a lack of talent, frustrated by their own inadequacies in the face of the rigor and insight demanded by the High Path. Others were simply impatient, unwilling to accept years of labor in exchange for an incremental advance in their power. The High Path brought magic to the world, and the world wanted more. The chief limit in wielding the power of the High Path was the strain it put upon the caster’s soul. It was the 80

soul that was the lens for its arcane power, the focal point through which the magic escaped into the world. A mage with a weak soul could not control the power necessary to produce great magics. The only way to strengthen the soul was through months and years of exercises, subtle meditations, obscure arcane pacts, and steady practice. This was not nearly fast enough to suit the progenitors of the Stitched Path. The resolution to this limit was hidden within its own heart. If the sorcerer’s soul was not strong enough, they reasoned, could it not be reinforced with fragments from another soul? With knives of gold and brass and

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11+

Hit Dice 1d4 2d4 3d4 4d4 5d4 6d4 7d4 8d4 9d4 9d4+1 +1 HP per level

Stitched Path Progression XP Class Abilities 0 The Stitched Path, Disciplined Learning 2,501 5,001 10,001 20,001 40,001 80,001 160,001 310,001 Advancing past this level requires enormous blood sacrifices. 460,001 +150,000 per level

terrible experiments, the progenitors carved away slabs of soul-stuff from the helpless victims on their tables, and stitched these spiritual fragments onto their own soul-bodies. The sutures were invisible to sight, but it was all quite real enough to the corpses left behind. The experiment was a success. By reinforcing their own souls with fragments from others, they could summon greater powers and wield mightier spells than they otherwise could. The difference was enormous. It was not until later that they realized that their sorceries were not enough to retain the stolen soul-fragments forever. These spiritual grafts rotted and faded until it was necessary to arcanely excise them before they spread their soul-gangrene to the Stitched magus. Fresh fragments were required for the path. It was then that the price of the Stitched Path became plain. The use of foreign spiritual matter weakened the wizard’s own soul, the suture-holes and anchor-points leaving their spirit bodies raw and violated. Without the soul grafts, their magic was even weaker than before. A steady supply of sacrifices would be needed to maintain their powers. As their souls grew stronger with further experimentation, even more blood must be shed to fuel their powers. Eventually, they reach a point beyond which further advance is almost impossible as their soul-bodies are too defiled and punctured to withstand greater magic. In consequence, Stitched Path magic thrived only where the wizards could get a sufficient supply of fodder. Competition among them for access to a suitable stock of slaves or cowed peasants soon winnowed 81

out all but the cruelest and cleverest among them, and the time they spent fighting each other often kept them off-balance for the inevitable counterstroke from High Path inquisitors. Such conflicts were inevitably bloody and costly on all sides; the High Path had the numbers, and the Stitched Path had the strength... so long as their supply of fodder held out. Some exceptionally ruthless High Path inquisitors were known for methodically exterminating their enemy’s human herds before striking at their weakened master. Still, the temptation of the Stitched Path never wholly left the practitioners of modern magic. It was all too easy to recreate the art, knowing that it was possible, and cells of Stitched Path practice sprang up wherever circumstances allowed for the blood it required. History was to show no different tale when the Red Tide drove humanity on the Sunset Isles.

In the Present Day

Currently, the great stronghold of Stitched Path magic lies in the amber-walled city of Tien Lung, along the southern coast of the great isle of Ektau. Its Academy of Refulgent Wisdom rules the wretched inhabitants, and the Enlightened Sage rules the Academy. Whatever thin shreds of humanity might have restrained the wizards of Tien Lung have long since fallen away, and the inhabitants of the city are merely so many raw ingredients on the hoof. Stitched Path magi are indistinguishable from High Path sorcerers. Their spiritual wounds are visible only under special conditions and as part of certain red rites;

a mage can be working alongside a Stitched Path wizard can operate without hindrance. Those found guilty of in the laboratory for years without ever suspecting the Stitched Path magic are almost always found guilty state of his partner’s soul. of murder as well, so the sentence is inevitably one of execution. Still, rumors persist of magistrates and Stitched Path magic is technically illegal outside of daifus who are willing to overlook certain behavior Tien Lung, but a practitioner who is canny enough to in exchange for favors and help that only a powerful keep his sacrifices discreet or who is willing to suffer sorcerer can provide. the negative consequences of going without bloodshed

The Stitched Path For almost all purposes, Stitched Path sorcerers are treated as normal magic-users, the same as their High Path brethren. They utilize the same spell lists and same spell progression, and they are treated as identical under almost all circumstances. The difference arises from their practice of soul vivisection, and the dark, addictive quality of their path. Every Stitched Path sorcerer must sacrifice at least one hit die worth of human lives every week if he is to retain the unhindered use of his powers. A sorcerer who sacrifices more lives can gain additional strength, a power that allows him to learn and use spells that would otherwise be beyond his capacity to cast. These sacrifices leave permanent scars upon his soul, however, and limit his ultimate potential. When fully empowered by stolen soul-fragments, Stitched Path magic-users can fill any spell memorization slot with a spell one level higher than it could otherwise hold, assuming the spell is available in his spell book. Thus, for example, a 1st level Stitched Path wizard could memorize Web as his initial spell, or a 3rd level wizard memorize Fire Ball in a second level spell slot, if he somehow acquires the spell. These spells are cast with an effective caster level equal to the magic-user’s true level, so that Fire Ball would do 3d6 damage. This power requires fuel. A Stitched Path magic-user must ritually vivisect the soul of an intelligent being of his own species in order to graft the most magically powerful fragments onto his own soul. The tattered remnants continue on to the afterlife, while what remains fuels the magic-user’s powers. These spiritual grafts wither and rot away within one week. The Stitched Path magus must sacrifice a total number of hit dice worth of victims equal to the highest level of spell he desires to cast. Therefore, a human Stitched Path magus who wants to cast 5th level spells during the next week must sacrifice 5 HD worth of humans. A sacrifice requires roughly an hour of torturous butchery regardless of the number of sacrifices to be slain. A Stitched Path sorcerer who fails to sacrifice even a single victim during a week loses this benefit, and also loses the use of one spell slot per level known. Thus, a 1st level Stitched Path sorcerer who fails to sacrifice cannot cast any spells until he does so, while a 5th level magic-user has only 2 1st and 1 2nd level spell slot while his scalpels are unbloodied. The spiritual scars from these unholy sutures permanently hinder the wizard’s arcane development. No Stitched Path magus can advance beyond 9th level without a prohibitively large volume of blood sacrifice. Some Stitched Path magi may repent of their sorceries and seek to heal the wounds in their souls. To do this, they must gain as many levels without sacrifice as they have gained as Stitched Path magi. Thus, a 4th level Stitched Path mage who wishes to leave the red road must reach 8th level without performing any sacrifices. Successful forbearance leaves the redeemed magus as a High Path practitioner. Of course, his former associates are unlikely to approve of this change of heart, and the kindred and avengers of his former victims are likewise apt to be unmoved in their desire for his death. 82

Adventuring

Stitched Path magi make bad adventurers. Their need for a constant supply of human life is cumbersome to supply when on the road, and most communities take poorly to having their members coopted as spell components. Even the typically bloodthirsty lot that make up most adventuring parties are leery of putting their trust in so obviously compromised a soul. Still, it is more common for adventurers to encounter Stitched Path magi as enemies, ones who might rejoice at the prospect of a band of never-to-be-missed wanderers coming within the scope of their insatiable hunger.

Training

though they must have made certain compromises to survive the cruel tutelage of the Academy. A few of these Stitched Path wizards actually despise their unclean powers, and are willing to set out on the long and laborious path that leads to redemption.

The Stitched Path in Your Campaign

Stitched Path sorcerers aren’t terribly useful for PCs in most campaigns, given a predictable player reluctance to cooperate with wizards who use other people as arcane fuel. Their obscene rites can easily be explained as a quick and easy route to power in your own campaign world, however, and NPC villains can profit by the extra boost of power and the plot hooks relating to their lust for blood sacrifice.

Most Stitched Path magi are the product of perfectly orthodox High Path apprenticeships. It was their own weakness or power-lust that moved them to recreate the necessary rituals of Stitched Path soul theft, and their masters have no hint or blame in their new life. Developing these rites is a simple matter for a sufficiently determined and depraved wizard, and no more than five or six months of experimentation is necessary to unlock the red secrets of soul grafting.

A few players might be interested in playing a repentant Stitched Path sorcerer, one who is undertaking the painful process of separating from that red art. This can be an interesting concept, but it’s important to be strict about both the penalties for shunning sacrifice and the benefits for succumbing to the temptation. If there’s no real tension in the choice, the concept is unlikely to be satisfying to the player.

Other Stitched Path magi are graduates of the Academy of Refulgent Wisdom in Tien Lung, often refugees from the brutal political machinations and physical violence common in that half-anarchic city. Not all of these pupils truly intended to be soul-thieves- some of them were simply boys and girls recruited into the Academy from helpless parents. They were brought up in their evil out of custom rather than active choice,

Disciplined Learning: This ability is only applicable if you are using the rules for spell acquisition described in the Works of Sorcery chapter. To reflect the flexibility of the High Path upon which this sinister art is based, at each experience level advancement its practitioners may add one additional spell to their spellbook of any level they are capable of casting.

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Class Abilities

Works of Sorcery

This chapter provides a new system for spell acquisition, magical research, and the creation of sorcerously-imbued magic items. It’s intended to spice up the standard method of acquiring new dweomers and help provoke magic-user PCs into a more lively interest in ancient occult lore and long-lost troves of sorcerous knowledge. With these rules, a library full of venerable tomes becomes a thrilling find to an adventuring wizard, and the simple acquisition of an enemy’s spellbook is merely another step towards new knowledge rather than the assurance of a host of new spells. In addition, guidelines are provided to help the Labyrinth Lord resolve the development of new spells and magic items, and tips are given for determining just how copious a supply of magic should exist within the campaign. With a little care and forethought, the questions in this chapter can help identify problematic magic before it hits the table.

Research Points

The key concept in this chapter is that of research points. Research points simply measure the amount of study and the abundance of occult wisdom available to a particular magic-user. They are accumulated through downtime research between adventures, the study of other wizards’ spellbooks, the discovery of useful arcane tools, and the unearthing of esoteric occult lore. They are spent in order to learn spells from a character’s spell list, develop entirely new enchantments, and craft magic items. Research points are usually nonspecific in nature- a magic-user can spend them on any goal he chooses, and it is not necessary to match the specific source to the specific expenditure. Such detailed record keeping is rarely helpful in play, and tangled interconnections of magic can always justify surprising discoveries in seemingly unrelated topics. 84

Resource points come from two sources- References and Enlightenments. References add research points for the possessor, but the wizard needs to maintain ownership of the items for regular reference and consultation. If the references are lost or destroyed, they lose the research points. If they’ve already spent the points on some enterprise, this loss might actually take them down into negative research points, forcing them to laboriously reconstruct their references before they can make any forward progress. As a consequence, wizards do not sell their reference materials and are often forced to go to elaborate lengths to protect their libraries and precious tomes. The destruction of a wizard’s tower or the plundering of his library can set his labors back by years. Wizards can share references if they trust one another sufficiently, though the collection must be large enough to support the number of simultaneous users involved. Enlightenments are those places, studies, or items that provide a burst of insight that stays with the wizard. Personal research provides enlightenments, as does tutelage or other forms of personal instruction. Research points gained through enlightenment can never be lost by the destruction of notes or books, though they can be spent as any other points.

Research Months

Most magical workings take time, and the usual measurement of this time is in research months. A research month is just that- a single calendar month. A mage can usually accomplish one working of significance per month. Adventurers are busy people, and most wandering mages are past masters at effective time management. It’s not necessary for them to be hunkered down in their laboratory to accomplish their works. In most

cases, they can study and reflect while on the road and perform necessary experiments in rented inn rooms and around remote campfires. Labyrinth Lords are advised to be very flexible about allowing mages to perform their studies while on adventures, or else the wizard could end up trapped in his lab while everyone else goes off and has fun. Mages can generally accomplish one thing per research month. If they want to do something that requires such time and they haven’t already booked their research for that month, they can accomplish it in the time remaining. If a wizard finds a more powerful foe’s spellbook on the 20th of November and wants to study it that month, for example, he can do so successfully provided he hasn’t already committed his time to a different project. It’s generally much simpler to do it this way rather than trying to keep complicated records about the precise dates on which projects start and end. If they want to do something that month and they haven’t already used up the time slot, then the Labyrinth Lord should just let them do it. A few operations require times expressed in days or weeks. These can be done at the same time as projects that require research months, being accomplished while the wizard waits for experiments to finish or ritual schedules to harmonize.

Spellbook Creation and Copying

Every magic-user requires some kind of spellbook. For High Path and Stitched Path magi, these might be conventional tomes of heavy leather or bamboo slats, painted over with intricate notations and diagrams. Astromancers might use specially-designed astronomical tools or tablets of graven stone, while Makerite theurgists could use prayer books dedicated to their god. The precise nature of a spellbook varies, but barring some special ability, every spellbook is an object that can be stolen, lost, or destroyed. Without a spellbook, a magic-user or elf cannot renew spells. Most spellbooks are engraved with sigils and

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marks with deep occult significance, proofs of the magic-user’s authority and ritual right to use their powers. Without the spellbook, he has no occult proof that he has a legitimate right to command the eldritch forces, and the supplementary tables, incantations, and preparatory material are too complex to be kept easily in mind. Reading another wizard’s spellbook requires the Read Magic spell or an equivalent enchantment. A book’s unique sigils of authority and its symbols of completed pacts make no sense to outsiders without the help of the arcane assays provided by the spell. If a spellbook is lost or destroyed, the mage may recreate his research and preparatory rituals. This is much easier than working from scratch, and does not require the expenditure of research points.. It requires one research month to reconstruct a spellbook, with a cost equal to 250 gp per level of the owner. Spellbooks may be copied if a mage wishes to keep a backup set in case of loss or destruction. A wizard can only copy his own spellbook- others were the product of different rites, pacts, and procedures that he cannot duplicate. Copying an existing spellbook requires only one day per spell level and can be done while performing other research activities. It costs 100 gp per caster level. Most magi are leery of creating too many backup copies of their spellbook, for if a rival were able to steal one, they would gain potent benefits in resisting the caster’s spells. The details of this are given below, under “Studying Spellbooks”.

Gaining Research Points The following activities are common ways for a magic-user to acquire research points. Others may exist in particular campaigns, and a Labyrinth Lord might choose to give a lump sum of them to a mage for notable arcane accomplishments. In most cases, however, the magic-user is going to have to spend his time and gold in improving his mastery of the eldritch arts.

underpin the sorcerer’s magic. Accidents happen when fundamental study is involved, and these mischances can be lethal. Still, the rewards of success are powerful truths about the underlying nature of the caster’s powers. The prime attribute check is rolled on 1d20+8, and grants 6 research points if successful. On a natural 20 a mishap on the fundamental research table will result.

Solitary Research

Most arcanists prefer to conduct their research in proper laboratories rather than in rented inn rooms and secluded caves. Such facilities are detailed in the Sanctums chapter, and give substantial bonuses to the ability checks.

A mage may work alone, poring over his spellbook and conducting experiments suitable to his goals. This is a relatively cheap enterprise, and requires one research month to perform, counting as an Enlightenment source of research points. To perform practical research costs nothing, as the wizard can make do with the materials and tools he already has to hand. Theoretical studies cost 250 gp for new equipment and reagents, and experiments into the fundamental principles of their magic cost 500 gp for the exotic components required. Practical research is the safest and most often successful form of study. The mage works to refine his understanding of his existing powers, exploring details of his art and firming his grasp on his present abilities. The discoveries involved aren’t usually revolutionary, but they tend to be reliably slow, incremental improvements. To perform practical research, the mage rolls an ability check of 1d20+4; if equal or less than their prime attribute score, the experiments are a success and they earn 1 research point. On a natural 20, there has been an accident, and they must roll on the mishap table for practical research. Theoretical studies are more daring, seeking out the deeper mysteries of magic and pushing forward into forms of sorcery unfamiliar to the mage. The results for such studies are much less reliably useful, but they also tend to be far more interesting than that of simple practical study. The same prime attribute check is rolled, but with 1d20+6 check. If successful, 2 research points are earned. On a natural 20, the mage must roll on the mishap table for theoretical studies. Fundamental research is the most dangerous variety of study, and involves meddling with the basic forces that 86

If a mishap occurs during the research, it will crop up randomly at some point during the month. The Labyrinth Lord is encouraged to spring them on the party with blithe disregard for convenience, even if it might ostensibly derail their current activities. Sorcerous fallout is just one of the occupational hazards of consorting with experimental magi.

Group Research

Most magical traditions profit by group study, and more than one cabal, school, or academy has been founded by a band of wizards who wish to seek enlightenment together. By combining their efforts, they are more likely to produce fruitful results. When researching as a group, a single mage must be appointed the chief researcher. He can enlist a number of assistants equal to half his maximum retainers, rounded up, plus one more for every four full levels he possesses. Charismatic sorcerers have a much easier time guiding and organizing their often-prickly colleagues than those wizards less talented at interpersonal relations. The other mages must be at least somewhat close to the chief researcher’s level of skill, or their insights are too trivial or awesome to be useful to him; no assistant can be more than 3 levels apart from the chief researcher. Thus, a 7th level wizard could be assisted by a 4th level or a 10th level colleague, but those outside that range are too trifling or too profound to share the same line of research.

Roll 1

Research Mishaps Theoretical Serious curse: -3 to hit rolls for a month Enfeebled Soul: Half max hp for a month Broken Pact: Highest level spell slot lost for a month Poisoned soul: Save vs. poison or incapacitated for month Scarring burns: Save vs. poison or gain permanent scar Exhaustion: 25% chance of spell failure for a month Lab Ruin: Repairs cost 1d10 x 100 gold pieces Dead Apprentice: Save vs. poison or apprentice dies

Practical Fundamental Accidental curse: -1 to hit rolls Dire curse: Cannot manage to for a month hit anything for a month 2 Soul debilitation: -1 maximum Wasted Soul: Max hp of 1/level hp/level for a month for a month 3 Pact damage: 1st level spell slot Betrayed Pact: One spell slot of lost for a month every level lost for a month 4 Poisoned self: Save vs. poison Poisoned mind: Save vs. poison or incapacitated for a week or lose 2d6% of your total XP 5 Tender burns: +1 damage from Terrible burns: Gain permaall sources for month nent scar 6 Overwork: 10% chance of spell Debilitation: 75% chance of failure for a month spell failure for a month 7 Lab Accident: Repairs cost Lab Destruction: Repairs cost 1d10 x 10 gold pieces 1d10 x 1000 gold pieces 8 Clumsy Apprentice: One Obliterated Apprentice: Nothapprentice incapacitated for 1d4 ing is left of one apprentice months 9 Backlash: One 1st level spell Eruption: One random spell Catastrophe: Three random from your book hits you, no from your book hits you, no spells from your book hit you, save save no save 10 Scorched Book: Your spellbook Ruined book: Your spellbook is Maddening insight: Gain 8 needs a week’s worth of repairs destroyed research points, insane for 1 before it can be used again. month in time, favors, or coin, sometimes costing as much as a Once the research group is assembled, the chief thousand gold pieces per level of the tutor. researcher chooses the type of study to be conductedpractical, theoretical, or fundamental, just as if he were studying alone. Every participant must pay the normal A tutor can grant the student a certain number of research points worth of Enlightenment based on their fee for that type of research. All of them may then roll own level, as given in the following chart. prime attribute checks as if they were studying alonebut if any of them succeed, then all of them gain the Mages may learn from any other magic-user, even benefits of success. Mishaps may occur individually to those of different paths. The drastically different apresearchers, but even then, they may gain the benefits proaches can be fruitful in sparking new ideas and of the research if another participant rolls well. enlightenment in a questing wizard. Giving or receiving tutelage requires one research month per Wizards of different traditions can work together three levels of the teacher, rounded up, and counts in this research, but it is more difficult. Participants as an Enlightenment source of research points. not of the same path as the chief researcher suffer an additional +2 penalty on the check roll.

Sorcerous Tutelage

A sorcerer may instruct a colleague or apprentice in the finer points of magical manipulation, sharing the truths they have learned. A mage of any level may instruct another mage, though most wizards are far too proud to take tutelage from those who are greatly their inferior. Most such instruction requires significant payment 87

Studying Spellbooks

An arcanist who gets his hands on another sorcerer’s spellbook can study it just as if he was receiving tutelage from the author himself. Naturally, if he has already received personal instruction from the author, the spellbook will not improve his understanding. The points gained are treated as Reference points, as the

arcanist must continue to consult the book now and then to make use of its insights. A spellbook may be worth fewer points if it was scribed at an earlier stage of a wizard’s enlightenment and has not been updated since. In that case, more recent spellbooks would simply grant the difference in value. Mages guard their spellbooks jealously, and not just because of their value. A wizard who studies the spellbook of another sorcerer can learn the secret details of his pacts and techniques. So long as the possessor takes a half hour or so of study a week to keep the knowledge fresh, he gains a +4 bonus on all saving throws to resist the spellbook author’s spells. Only elves and magicusers can so benefit by study of a spellbook. Studying a spellbook requires only a few days if the author’s level is equal or less than the student’s, and may be done while the mage undertakes other activities. If it is the book of a mightier wizard, it requires a research month. This process is substantially faster than personal instruction because a tutor is taking care not to reveal his own sorcery’s deepest secrets. In addition, the spellbook itself is an artifact of arcane power that can be used without requiring an Enlightened grasp of all its constituents.

Building Artifices and Authoring Tomes

While the process is quite costly, a wizard can gain more power by crafting tools, shrines, implements of sorcerous study, and tomes that recapitulate their arcane lore. Most of the occult volumes in existence were authored by wizards who sought to perfect their understanding by ordering it in a clear, organized way. In the same fashion, the bizarre lab equipment and strange devices beloved by sorcerers are usually built so as to assist in experimentation and ease the development of new magic. The specific nature and description of the artifice is up to the player. Such objects never have a practical magical effect or particularly useful enchantment to them- they are simply tools, books, and devices useful for a wizard’s studies. The Resources chapter at the end of the book contains some tools for generating such. To fabricate such things, the wizard decides whether to make a practical, a theoretical, or a fundamental 88

Tutelage Benefits Teacher Research Level Points Gained 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 6 5 9 6 12 7 16 8 20 9 25 10 30 11 36 12 42 13 49 14 56 15 64 16 72 17 81 18 90 19+ 100

artifice, just as if he were conducting private study. The attribute checks are the same, at the same difficulty, and the same modifiers apply to both. On a critical mishap, a roll is made on the appropriate mishap table for the type of study involved. Artificing requires a research month to execute.

Practical artificing costs 100 gp per caster level, theoretical artificing costs 150 gp per level, and fundamental artificing costs 225 gp per level. Successful practical artificing grants 1 research point per caster level, theoretical artificing grants 2 per level, and fundamental artificing grants 6 per level. Failure means the gold and effort are wasted. These points are Reference points, as the artifice or tome must be retained to make use of it. Theoretically, a crafter could devise an artifice and then hand it to someone else to exploit, but few wizards are so charitable. Extremely wealthy cabals may conduct group artificing, wherein an entire council of magi come together to build some impressive work. While this vastly increases the chances of success, it is surpassingly expensive, since each participant must pay for their own research- and on completion, only one artifice is created. All the participants can share its use if they so choose, but if it is stolen or destroyed, all of them lose the research points it granted.

Finding Arcane Treasures

Naturally, once a wizard dies, his library and laboratory fittings are prey for more lively hands. An adventuring wizard can often hope to find dusty tomes of forgotten lore and shining implements of enlightenment among the personal effects of those evil souls he has liberated from life. It usually requires no more than a few days to

appraise the contents of such occult tomes, or learn how to use a new tool for one’s private studies. Once that is done, the sorcerer gains the item’s research points as a Reference source. Wizards can automatically identify magically-useful artifacts and tomes with only a cursory inspection. The arcane resonance is obvious to their trained senses, and no special detection magic or linguistic talent is required.

Apprentices and Helpers

A powerful sorcerer will often take one or more apprentices to aid his studies. Even if they are too ignorant to be true partners in research, they can perform the basic tasks and manual preparation for the rites that might otherwise occupy the wizard’s time. These apprentices may either be 0-level novices presently being trained in magic, specialist lab assistants, or else full-fledged magic-users with experience levels of their own. Less educated souls are of no use in a magician’s laboratory, though a wizard can still get use out of assistants who do not belong to his own path of magic. A wizard can be assisted by a number of apprentices equal to half their allowed retainers, rounded down, plus one more for every four full experience levels they possess. If this total exceeds their actual retainer maximum, the excess apprentices are simply lab helpers who will prove useless for any activity not related to magical research. Other apprentices might qualify as full-fledged retainers depending on their relationship with the sorcerer. Apprentices make every research check easier, whether in studying, fashioning magic items, or developing spells. For every apprentice assisting a wizard, their prime attribute check is granted a -1 bonus on the roll. Helping a master uses up the apprentice’s own research time, and he or she cannot perform their own activities while assisting their master. Using apprentice labor does not increase the costs involved in the check, though they may require ordinary room and board along with the other expenses incidental to keeping a minion. Apprentices will usually require steady instruction if they are to remain in a wizard’s service. Traditionally, at 89

least three research months a year must be dedicated to teaching them. A wizard can instruct one apprentice at a time, though more can be taught in the same research month if a specialized classroom is available. Twentyfour months of instruction is usually sufficient to turn a 0-level human into a 1st level magic-user of the path taught by their master. Such novices often sally forth to make their own way in the world and are usually swiftly replaced. Still, even accomplished wizards can remain to aid a powerful master, often laboring in exchange for funding and facilities in which to conduct their own research. One other motivation is strong for some less-idealistic masters; because the master knows every detail of the apprentice’s training, he always has the +4 bonus to saving throws against the apprentice’s spells that others can only acquire from possessing a mage’s spellbook. Some teachers appreciate the benefits of having magi around who are less capable of resisting their coercion.

Spending Research Points Once a wizard has a healthy stock of research points acquired either through diligent study or vigorous theft of arcane artifacts, they are going to want to make use of them. The following options are some of the more common uses for a sage’s accumulated erudition. Unless specified otherwise, they require no particular facilities or special equipment. Most accomplished wizards find it useful to build a sanctum for this work, however, and the details of that are given in the following chapter.

Spell Acquisition for Magic-Users

Acquiring new magic is more than simply a matter of copying down a scroll or inscribing a few pages of text in a spellbook. Gaining magic is a hard, personal struggle with the ineffable powers of the arcane. Every ounce of sorcerous power is won through pacts, rites, enlightenments, and personal costs unknown to common men and women. Research points can be spent to represent that kind of effort and to acquire new spells for the caster’s use. Newly-created magic-users and elves may choose two first level spells and one second level spell. This lore is the product of their apprenticeship, and any further spells must be discovered through the expenditure of research points. To acquire a new spell, the mage must spend one research month and an amount of research points and gold as given on the table below. At the end of the research month, he finishes adding the spell. He may only add spells from his class spell list in this way, and he may not add a spell he is not yet capable of casting. He does not require an existing copy of the spell to learn it- its existence on his class spell list is enough. Magic-users and elves cannot add spells to their collection simply by copying them from elsewhere or learning them from another teacher. Every spell requires a deeply personal understanding of the fundamental forces involved, along with elaborate sequences of purificational rites, occult pacts, negotiations with semi-sentient geomantic powers, and intricate ceremonies. A spell can be mastered only after the correct combinations of disciplines, austerities, and propitiations are developed for each individual caster. 90

Spell Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Learning Spells RP Cost 5 10 20 30 40 50 70 80 90

Gold Cost 100 200 400 600 1,000 1,400 2,200 2,800 4,400

Scrolls are not particularly useful to a mage who desires to learn a new spell, as the amount of effort necessary to reverse-engineer the rituals and pacts that went into producing them is prohibitive. They cannot be used to gain new spells or acquire research points.

Creating Magic Items

Granted a wizard has access to the correct facilities for the work as described in the Sanctums chapter, he may venture to fashion items of powerful magic. In most cases, this is a dangerous, expensive, demanding proposition, and the Labyrinth Lord is well within his rights to make it even more so- or ban it entirely if it does not fit the feel of his game. Magic-users cannot create clerical magic items. Rules for the creation of divinely-empowered items are beyond the scope of these guidelines, but as a rule of thumb, if it is an item only a cleric can use, a magicuser can’t make it. Other items can still be created, including swords, armor, or gear that is unusable by an ordinary wizard. Fashioning scrolls and potions can be done with relatively primitive equipment and requires no special facilities. The crafting of more sophisticated items demands specific laboratories and tools as described in the Sanctums chapter. To create a magic item, the mage checks the chart below to find their necessary minimum level and research point cost, and then must spend one month and the listed amount of gold to undertake the work. For potions and scrolls, roll 1d20; on a natural 20, the process is spoilt and the result is a potion of poison or a cursed scroll. The caster may succeed in a prime attribute check to realize that the magic has gone awry;

Magic Item Cost Table RP Cost Gold Cost

Item Type

Level

Diff.

Common potion

2

+1

2

100

Healing, Poison

Uncommon potion

5

+3

4

500

Extra-Healing, Heroism

Rare potion

7

+5

16

1,000

Priceless potion

11

32

Scroll, Spell

1

Scroll, Ward

5

+9 +spell level +4

Ring, Protection

5

+Bonus

Ring, Minor

7

+5

5 Bonus squared+10 25

10,000 Spell level * Min. caster level * 100 2,000 Bonus squared * 5,000 20,000

Fire Resistance, Invisibility, Water Walking

Ring, Major

11

+7

50

50,000

Regeneration, Spell Storing, Spell Turning

Wand

5

+5

10

7,500

Any core wand

Staff

9

+9

25

50,000

Staff of Power, Staff of Wizardry

Rod

7

Weapon

*

Armor or Shield

*

+7 +Bonus *2 +Bonus *2 +3

10 Bonus squared *6 Bonus squared *6 10

10,000 Bonus squared * 5,000 Bonus squared * 2,500 4,000

Invulnerability, Dragon Control Longevity

Rod of Cancellation

x 4 gold cost for plate, x 2 for chain

Elven Boots, Rope of Climbing Bag of Holding, Broom of Flying Misc., Minor 7 +5 25 20,000 Gauntlets of Ogre Power Girdle of Giant Strength, Mirror of Life Misc., Major 11 +7 50 50,000 Trapping * The minimum level for crafting magical weaponry or armor is usually equal to 3 plus twice their bonus. Weapons or armor with special abilities pay for their enchantment plus an additional sum equal to the value of the effect if it were a separate miscellaneous magical item. Misc., Petty

3

1/spell level

Examples and Notes

otherwise, he will not notice until the item is actually used or analyzed with appropriate magic. For other magical items, the researcher must pass an attribute check with the listed penalty to the roll. On a failure, the process cannot be completed that month and must be prolonged into the next at a cost of one-quarter the original gold price. If the mage gives up the effort or cannot afford to continue, his research points are refunded but his gold is lost. A natural 20 on the attribute check requires a roll on the fundamental research mishap table and the complete failure of the project. The wizard retains his research points but loses all gold invested. The costs listed below assume that the magic item being created is of a known, standard type such as appears in the Labyrinth Lord core book. If the magic item is new or of some exceptionally exotic variety, prices in research points, time, and gold will at a 91

minimum double. After the first example of the item is created, further specimens can be constructed at normal costs. The costs also assume an item of “average” usefulness in the class. If the Labyrinth Lord finds the item to be exceptionally powerful or useful, the price might be doubled. Conversely, if it’s an anemic example of sorcery that has only limited utility, the prices might be halved. Final costs are always at the Labyrinth Lord’s discretion. The creation of magic items requires the genius of a single wizard to conduct the work, and cannot normally be performed as a group effort. A wizard may take advantage of the assistance of his apprentices, however, and gain the benefit of any special facilities available to ease the process.

Creating New Spells

Designing new spells is a fraught undertaking for a wizard. It is expensive, unpredictable, and dangerous. Creating a new spell requires the right facilities as given in the Sanctums chapter and the successful completion of two steps. First, the new spell must be approved by the Labyrinth Lord. The end of this chapter includes a lengthy discussion of the concerns around new magic and some guidelines for avoiding problematic dweomers. If the Labyrinth Lord is not comfortable with the introduction of a new spell, then no degree of sorcerous prowess is going to be sufficient to develop it. If the Labyrinth Lord approves of the spell, the fortunate sorcerer may spend a research month creating it. Doing so requires twice the gold and research point expenditure that would be demanded for learning an existing spell, and a prime attribute check at a penalty equal to the spell’s level. If the check is a failure, research can be continued next month at one-quarter of the original gold piece cost and no further research point cost. If the research is interrupted, the entire process fails and must be restarted from the beginning. If a natural 20 is rolled on the prime attribute check, disaster strikes and the process fails with a roll on the fundamental research mishap table. The wizard keeps his research points but loses his gold. As with creating magic items, developing new spells is an enterprise for a single wizard. Apprentices can be of assistance in the process, however.

Fashioning Undead, Golems, and Abominations Against Nature

Wizards have the deplorable habit of creating hideous affronts to natural law. These creatures are often fashioned to be servants, bodyguards or sources of useful magical components. Just as often, a dead wizard’s leavings prove to be even more trouble than the living mage. For building a magical being, the wizard must first develop a plan for its construction. A mage cannot design a creature with more hit dice than he has experience levels. This design requires one research month per hit die of the creature and a monthly expenditure of 2,000 gold pieces and research points equal to the creature’s 92

hit dice. Each month requires a successful prime attribute check at a penalty equal to the creature’s hit dice. Failure indicates that no progress is made that month, and the gold is wasted, though research points are retained. Once a wizard has completed a plan for a specific type of creature he need not repeat the process to create further specimens. It’s possible that wizards might find the plans for certain creatures among the plunder of lost sorcerous caches. Once he has the plan, he must then breed or build the creature. For monstrous hybrids of nature, he must acquire the parent beings, while undead or golems necessitate the accumulation of sufficient raw materials, corpses, and sculpted parts. Assuming those parts can be obtained, he may build the creature at a cost of 1,000 gold pieces and 1 research point per hit die. A final prime attribute check is rolled at a penalty equal to the creature’s hit dice. If successful, one adult being is produced. On a failure, the effort was a waste, and new parents, components, and expenditures must be found to start anew. A wizard may attempt to build as many hit dice worth of minions in one research month as he has caster levels. Magical constructs such as undead or golems are naturally obedient to their creators unless subverted by some other power. Living creatures, however, are under no special obligation to their maker. Still, some wizards prefer such minions due to their ability to naturally breed more of their kind, and rely upon charms and enchantments to hold their loyalty when training cannot suffice. Some attempts have been made to breed entities that are naturally loyal to their creator, but the results have been mixed at best. Most magical entities prove to reproduce very slowly, or are prey to strange maladies and deficiencies of design. The above guidelines are for creating magical beings from the existing list of entities in the Labyrinth Lord core book. Labyrinth Lords should feel free to increase the cost and difficulty for building particularly potent minions who have more power than their hit dice might suggest. Building entirely new species of creatures will likely cost at least double the usual prices, even assuming the Labyrinth Lord approves of the new form of life.

Advice and Guidelines for the Labyrinth Lord When dealing with a campaign full of active magic-user characters, it’s almost certain that you’re going to be faced with a number of appeals for new magic items or unique sorceries. Assuming you intend to permit such things at all, there are certain guidelines that can be helpful in filtering out problematic magic while permitting the players of magic-using PCs to still have a sense of influence over the sorcerous direction of their characters.

One “no” reason is a reluctance to turn magic items into simple off-the-shelf technology. If a wizard PC can simply make whatever magic item he or she needs with a month’s notice, magic items found in the course of adventuring become less exciting. It can be harder for you to challenge a group if they can turn around and produce precisely the magic item they need to solve the problem, and it runs the risk of making the game more about the gear than the players.

The Role of Magic

Another “no” reason is for campaigns that want to emphasize the rarity and ancient provenance of magic items. If all the magic in the world is the legacy of a long-lost empire, it doesn’t fit the theme to have PC wizards suddenly start churning out new glowing hardware.

Before adopting the rules given in this chapter, you need to decide whether or not PC magic-users should be allowed to create magic items and design new spells. Either a yes or a no could be perfectly good answers for any given campaign, but it needs to be an answer given up front, before magic-user players start making plans that aren’t practical for a given game. On the “yes” side, allowing PCs to make magic items creates a handy gold sink for your campaign as PCs pour their wealth into costly and not-always-successful attempts to acquire shiny new magical tools. It keeps gold rewards exciting even for those PCs who have no interest in supporting some frontier domain with their pelf or spending their loot on immovable property. Such freebooters are almost always willing to shed some of their cash for a few potions of healing and a new magic shield. The “yes” answer also plays to the love of flexibility, creation, and magical advancement that often motivates magic-user players. They choose this class because they like to do wizardly stuff, and making magical items and devising new spells is part of the wizard’s traditional shtick. Restricting it to NPCs only or making it prohibitively cumbersome for adventuring PCs can frustrate this entirely natural desire. A “yes” answer also gives you another tool to motivate a group. Dropping a hint of a rich trove of occult tomes can incite a wizard into immediately assembling an expedition of his fellows, and funding the group research he needs to develop the research points he wants can keep even experienced adventurers hopping about to fund the sorcerer’s studies. 93

As in most cases, a happy medium is usually found somewhere between these two poles. Depending on the “magic richness” of your campaign, you may want to allow or forbid certain ranges of creation. Almost all campaigns can stand to allow making potions and scrolls, for example, and other consumable items are usually not too troublesome, but a Labyrinth Lord might decree that permanent magic items are beyond the art of modern wizards. As a default, the existing rules assume that every standard magic item can be created by a sufficiently powerful and wealthy wizard. Scrolls and potions are relatively cheap. Minor permanent magic items such as +1 weaponry and single-use consumable items can be fashioned at relatively low levels for moderate costs. Powerful permanent items are extremely expensive and can require great expenditures in research points- points that could otherwise be put toward learning additional spells. If necessary, you should scale the prices in this chapter to match your campaign’s average wealth; permanent major magic items are intended to be too expensive to be built more than once a level or so. Unless your campaign is extremely generous with both research point finds and gold rewards, wizards will simply not have the cash or research available to create powerful permanent items on a regular basis. They won’t be able to outfit their characters with the fruits of the wizard’s efforts. At best, they’ll be able to fill in with

specific items or produce useful consumables for their expeditions, and even in that case the wizard may well prefer to spend his points on expanding his spellbook rather than churning out another gallon of healing potions for his comrades.

Designing New Magic Items

If a wizard can make magic items, it’s almost a certainty that sooner or later he’s going to want to make an entirely new item. Some Labyrinth Lords will flatly disallow this, and they’re reasonable in doing so. The existing items in the Labyrinth Lord core book are all reasonable artifacts and are unlikely to accidentally blow up a campaign. Still, those referees who want to answer in a more positive vein need to keep certain questions in mind. First, is this deus ex magic? In other words, is this a magic item designed simply to solve a problem in the most direct, crude, and summary fashion possible? If the group has problem X and the wizard comes up to you with a magic item that has the description “Solves problem X, no save.” then it’s not something you should feel obliged to approve. If the item is solving some general or cosmetic case of problem, like “I want a beautiful tropical garden in my frigid mountain fastness”, or “I want a portal between my tower and the city of Xian”, or “I want to be able to find my beloved at any time”, then that’s one thing, and probably fine to allow. If it’s a device intended to simply banish an obstacle, such as “I want to make a sword that just happens to have incredible bonuses against an ultranarrow range of enemies that coincidentally includes my nemesis”, then you can tell them to go back to the drawing board and try again.

Second, is this flavor magic? Is the wizard just building an item that does something cool or in-character for him, without obvious impact on his capacities as an adventurer? Even seemingly powerful effects can be perfectly fine so long as they only apply to some personal goal or sorcerous style. A glass tower with the toughness of granite might be more impressive than a sword +1, but if the tower doesn’t actually do anything a regular stone tower can’t then it’s simple to wave it through as permissible. Later, if it turns out that having a glass tower is a major advantage, you can accept it as a happy coincidence, bill the wizard an extra amount of research points or gold in maintaining the item, or simply decree its tragic collapse and refund the wizard his costs. Third, is this magic on the right scale? Some Labyrinth Lords prefer to keep magic rare and significant. Offering these referees a trivial magic item may not work, simply because they don’t want trivial magic items in their world. They want all magic to be something serious and impressive, and a mug that keeps its contents perpetually chilled does not fit that flavor. By the same token, a palace made of constantly-flowing sand might not be any better than a regular stone palace, but it might be too fantastic to fit the flavor of the campaign. Fourth, is this magic going to have drastic repercussions on the world? Devices that abolish hunger, disease, crime, or want might be fine in relatively limited numbers, but if the item is broad enough in its effects, it might end up making bigger changes in your world than you expect. A stone that allows instant communication with its mates is not an unreasonable magic item, but if they exist in every city they suddenly become a magical version of a telegraph office. Note that it’s not necessarily a bad thing that an item could revolutionize a society. It might be interesting to play along with it, or it might take so long that it’s of no consequence in the campaign’s time frame, or you might enjoy the idea that your players could have such an impact on the world. But you need to notice this possibility before it starts a revolution. Fifth, is this magic simply better than existing items? Does it combine multiple functions into a single neat package, or provide functionality stripped of eccentric side powers and less-useful abilities? Any item that combines multiple effects should likely cost more than

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the two individual items, as a single object takes up fewer magic item “slots” in a PC’s outfit. A glove that combines the effects of gauntlets of ogre power and a ring of fire resistance frees up room to add another ring, for example. You shouldn’t feel obligated to approve magical swiss army knives, particularly if their abilities have no coherent theme. If you do allow them, or improved versions of existing items, they should probably cost at least twice as much as the individual items involved. Even after you’ve approved a new magic item design, you should make it clear that its addition is provisional. If the item turns out to be problematic and used in ways you didn’t anticipate that seem overpowered or disruptive, you can decree that the unstable sorcery fails. You should refund the research points and gold spent on the item in that case, assuming the player was designing in good faith. The experience was doubtless educational for the PC wizard, and the item’s remnants can be sold for the cost of its creation.

Designing New Spells

The same general principles and questions apply to developing new spells, albeit with a few additional quirks. New spells add directly to the wizard’s power in a way that magic items don’t necessarily match, and you need to be careful about a few special factors. First, don’t let wizards steal other paths’ shticks. The only PC who should be using astromancy spells is the astromancer. Even if the researcher wants to build a given spell at a higher spell level or with a somewhat inferior effect, don’t let it pass. Each path is giving up certain things in order to gain access to their own particular advantages, and these limits stop being meaningful if they can simply research analogues of other paths’ signature spells. Second, respect the limits of the path. Some paths have a tighter focus than others. The entire point of the High Path, for instance, is that they can develop a wide range of powerful spells so long as they don’t trespass on the specific themes of other paths. A necrolator, on the other hand, has no business learning spells that don’t relate to death and the undead. The edges of these limits can be pushed in relation to basic magic-user functions such as detecting magic and inflicting magi95

cal damage, but otherwise the spells should stick to the path’s theme Do not be misled by a spell’s special effects. If a necrolator comes to you with a spell that’s all about summoning the restless spirit of a dead creature to possess their flesh and give them giant’s thews, you should probably deny it. The spell boosts strength, and necrolatry is not about augmenting the caster in non-undead ways, no matter how many skulls and bones you hang on it. Identify the practical effect of the spell in play and compare it to the path’s theme. Third, do not be bamboozled by irrelevant limits on a spell. It doesn’t matter if the spell can only be used on a Tuesday while standing on your head in a monsoon rainstorm if the spell was designed to be cast outside of a time-limited situation. What does the spell do? When the caster actually uses it, how likely are those limitations to give him problems? If the limits are all about the difficulties in actually setting up a situation to use the spell, you need to make sure those difficulties are actually significant. If they aren’t, then you shouldn’t consider them a mitigating factor in determining the power of a spell. Fourth, compare it to other spells on the list. Does it do more damage? Does it give better protection? Does it effectively remove targets from the fight, or render them incapable of defending themselves? Make the designer show you the spells most like the one they’ve created, and explain why the differences justify the spell’s level. For example, a spell that renders a victim helpless should be compared to things like Sleep and Hold Person, and if it’s better than those spells it should be viewed very carefully. A spell that does damage in an area should be compared to gold standards like Fire Ball and Lightning Bolt. As a rule of thumb, don’t approve any spell that does more than 10 dice of damage or so at the most. Any more than that and you run into situations where PCs or major enemies will get one-shotted whether or not they make their saving throws. This might be acceptable as a special case or as a top-level attack spell, but it shouldn’t be a bread-and-butter combat spell. Don’t allow spells that instantly remove targets from a fight or render them helpless unless they’re no better than existing options. Be careful of approving spell versions

that are simply scaled versions of existing spells; there’s no reason that a High Path mage should have nine levels worth of Fire Ball variants unless he wants to stuff every spell slot he has with flaming death. Finally, does the spell create a lasting effect? If the duration is measured in hours or days, you’re not so much approving a spell as you’re approving a special power that can be turned on and off at the cost of a spell slot. Buffing and boosting spells should either be very modest in effect, very short in duration, or specific to the caster alone. A caster who spends an action in combat to cast a powerful buff like Haste is making a real choice in a tense moment. One who wakes up and casts a day-long hit buff on his fighter ally is just trading spell slots for raw dice bonuses. By the same token, be leery of spells that create permanent objects. Enchantments that simply make valuable or useful objects that persist indefinitely can have peculiar effects on a game’s economy, or create unanticipated side effects. As with magic items, don’t feel obligated to maintain approval of a spell that turns out to be much better than you expected. If a new spell is causing serious problems in a campaign, simply decree that the magic is unstable and the flux that allowed its operation has faded. If the player was designing in good faith, refund them their research points and gold on the assumption that the whole matter was a useful learning experience for the mage.

Placing Arcane Treasures

The research points gained in the course of independent study are useful, and a mage who can afford to keep up his research can usually add a few new spells yearly and maybe make a potion or three. This might be enough for a wealthy village hedge mage or city dilettante, but adventuring wizards like to beef up their spellbooks a lot faster, and don’t want to sacrifice years in preparing to create a single new spell. To deal with this, you need to be mindful of arcane treasures. Arcane treasures are simply artifacts, books, or objects that can grant research points to their possessor. Spellbooks are one such obvious source- even a first-level wizard’s spellbook is going to be worth a research point to someone who takes it from him. The usual supply 96

of sorcerous enemies will almost guarantee a certain amount of research points simply in the form of their salvaged spellbooks. Other treasures take the form of occult libraries, ancient relics, places of power, or any other macguffin suitable for the interest of wizards. The tables in the Resources section offer a random selection of occult treasures. To determine their value in research points, roll 1d6+2 and multiply it by the level of challenge the area represents. A humble forest sage’s cottage might qualify as a mere point of interest for 1st level PCs, so his collection of bark-scribed observations would be worth 1d6+2 research points. The brass tablets kept within the treasury of a demon prince might be a treasure scaled for 14th level PCs, wherefore their value would be 1d6+2 x 14 points. As always, your personal discretion about the appropriate level of a book may always overrule the default. As a rule of thumb, you should try to make certain that the wizard gets access to at least ten points worth of arcane treasures per character level before they finally advance. Thus, before a new magic-user hits second level, you should make sure to place at least 10 research points worth of arcane treasures where he can be expected to find them. Likewise, between seventh and eighth level, there should be about 70 RP worth of lore lying around at a minimum. If the party makes a particular point of hunting down occult treasures and excavating ancient libraries then

the seller’s price is usually around 500 gold pieces per research point, assuming they understand what it’s worth. Some clever PC will immediately strike upon the idea of writing a spellbook copy and trying to sell that, betting that the buyer will never be in a position to take advantage of the +4 saving throw bonus they will get against the wizard’s spells. You should inform the PC that while wizards can stand to make backups of their spellbooks, repeating the Nine Purifying Excruciations of Yu Lao over and over again to mass produce sorcerously-potent books is not good for a wizard’s long term health. Repeated performances of the rites, purifications, pacts and austerities necessary to copy a spellbook will inevitably result in the wizard’s swift expiry, and so only enough copies for personal security should be created. you should feel free to include far more, but this basic minimum is necessary to be fair to the magic-user. Without the standard ability to simply copy found spells into his spellbook, he’s going to need at least that many research points just to keep up with a bare minimum of new spells.

Buying, Selling and Copying Arcane Treasures

As a general rule, arcane treasures cannot be purchased on the open market. Objects that grant Enlightenment are both rare and usually consumed in their use, and objects that are References cannot be sold on without depriving their former owner of research points. No mage of any sense would sell his library, particularly since the research deficit would force him to compile it all over again if he ever wanted to learn more than he knows now. In the same vein, PCs are highly unlikely to want to sell their discoveries. Almost everything they find will be valuable to them, one further step towards new spells, new magic items, and newly-developed enchantments. Selling it off would be selling a fraction of their PC’s personal power. Still, there may be some cases where a PC will want to unload a valuable tome. As a good rule of thumb, a buyer will be willing to pay about 250 gold pieces per research point in the item. In the rare instance that some heritor is selling off a dead wizard’s library, 97

In the same way many PCs will think to copy their Reference material, either to sell it to another or to have a backup copy. This is generally impractical without some special circumstance. The books that have power possess it due to the particular ingredients, fearsome author, occult circumstances, astrological auspices, and unreproducible details involved in its inscription. While a sorcerer could copy out the words and designs within such a book, they would lack the indispensable arcane energy that makes them more than dead letters on a parchment page. In general, arcane treasures are something the PCs have to either create themselves or find in a hole somewhere. They’re not common articles of commerce to be bought on the open market.

Handling Arcane Treasures in Play

Most arcane treasures take the form of References, though some might grant the wizard a burst of Enlightenment. This usually means that the wizard is going to need a safe place to store these books and relics. It’s not necessary that the wizard carry them all around on his back to keep their research points or use them in his labors. So long as the wizard is keeping them someplace safe, he keeps the points. For the small libraries of novice wizards, an inn room or borrowed cabinet in his master’s home is usually safe enough. As wizards grow more powerful and their collections more elaborate, they’re going to need to spend some

years, and leave him scrambling to recover lost ground and crippled in his ability to add new spells until he’s made up the loss. In both cases, it’s a situation that will likely take over your game until it’s resolved, and if you don’t want that to happen you shouldn’t put it on the table. You can be less gentle with a wizard’s spellbook. It doesn’t take too much time or expense to keep a usable copy, and most wizards with any sense will put that high on their list of necessary expenditures. Even if they fail to take that basic precaution it won’t take them more than a month to restore their spellcasting abilities, and the interim can be a wise lesson in loss prevention. Wizards aren’t going to be able to trade gold for research material under most circumstances. No wizard of any sense is going to give up Reference material. They might be persuaded to offer teaching, however, usually at a rate of 1d6+400 gp per level of the tutor. However, wizards who make a habit of approaching vastly inferior magi to pick their brains for the few morsels of insight they might possess are likely to suffer social repercussions. Approaching someone more than one level below the wizard for training may well result in a reputation for incompetence, implying that the arcanist failed to grasp the basics that are all those lesser lights can offer. money safeguarding it against the keen interest of their contemporaries. As a general rule, don’t threaten a wizard’s library unless he’s wilfully careless about protecting it or does something specifically likely to result in hostile interest. A wizard who suffers the loss of his library is going to be immediately focused on getting it back at all costs, and he’s almost certain to pull the entire party along with him. Outright destruction of it can set him back by

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Sanctums

Sooner or later, every wizard is going to need a lair. Nights spent poring over spellbooks by a campfire or fussing over alembics in rented inn rooms are all well and good, but eventually a wizard will want more than happenstance settings and the study materials he can carry in his pack. A sanctum provides a secure place to store arcane tomes, facilities for easing research, and tools for quickening the acquisition of occult lore. The following pages detail the costs for building various structures and establishing useful facilities. Any wizard with sufficient coin and a salutary location can build a sanctum of their own, and the establishment of a secure home is often one of the foremost interests of a wizard of wealth and accomplishment.

Choosing a Site

Most wizards prefer a certain degree of solitude, the better to have privacy in which to conduct experiments that city ordinances may not permit within the walls. Others would rather have the convenience of a busy metropolis outside their door. In both cases, it’s usually necessary to get the cooperation of local authorities before buying or building a sanctum. Most locals in the Sunset Isles have enough familiarity with wizardry to accept the prospect of a sorcerous neighbor calmly- if not without a certain suspicion. Provided that the mage can point to a reputation for helpful behavior and does not appear likely to unleash hideous abominations into the streets, most cities or villages will accept their intention to dwell there. Some of them might have certain expectations about the mage being helpful in times of crisis, but most cities view such recourse as a last resort. Sorcerous aid does not always come in ways comfortable to well-fed aldermen. 99

Other wizards with worse reputations or less sociability will choose to rear their sanctums in the wilderness, far from human habitations. While the land might nominally be under the possession of some distant daifu or absentee lord, few of them will have any appetite to interfere with a wizard. Such conflicts rarely end well for anyone, and most landlords will prefer to let the wizard die of old age or blow himself up rather than intrude upon their privacy.

Acquiring Laborers and Materials

In or near civilization, there will be little difficulty in finding workers and raw materials for the building. The price of this help is included in the listed structure costs, and need not be purchased separately. A wizard who wishes to dwell in the wilderness, however, must find men willing to work far from home and carry in vast amounts of heavy construction material over unbroken trails. In some cases it simply isn’t possible to get materials in without magical aid. A tower perched atop an icy peak is not going to be able to use wooden timbers unless the owner can somehow lift giant logs halfway up a barren mountainside. It’s up to the Labyrinth Lord to decide whether or not the PC’s plans for overcoming these difficulties are practical. In all cases, however, getting men and materials into the wilderness will be expensive. All costs for structural elements will be doubled, and all costs for features will be increased by 50%. As before, if the owner has some unusual way of being able to move heavy construction material and fragile magical equipment, this additional charge might be waived.

Building the Structure

Once the site, men, and materials are to hand, the structure must be built. Construction with a normal number of laborers will require one day per 500 gold pieces of the structure’s total cost. Additional laborers can be piled on when speed is of the essence; by doubling the building cost, construction time can be halved from its base amount. Thus, if 10,000 gp worth of walls needed to be built, it would normally require 20 days. By spending an extra 10,000 gold, the time can be cut in half to 10 days. Sorcerous assistance might speed this sum. If the Labyrinth Lord thinks that a mage’s abilities would be useful in constructing the edifice, the construction time is lessened by 5% per caster level of the mage. If multiple wizards are involved, only the best applies his modifier. In some cases, the sorcerer will be able to build the structure entirely with his own magic. Those wizards with access to spells such as Houses of Stone could quite possibly fashion their sanctum with no more than a sufficient period of spellcasting. This free construction only applies to structure elements, however- buying features requires too many tools, resources, and implements that cannot be simply conjured.

Buying an Existing Structure

It may be that the wizard would prefer to purchase an existing building rather than erect a new one. Assuming the structure is built within a town or city, the price can be found by determining the cost to build the structure from scratch; the value of urban land makes up for savings in not having to build a new construction. The advantage of such purchases is that the wizard can occupy the place immediately. A structure that stands alone in the wilderness may not be in the best repair and may not be perfectly suited to the wizard’s needs, but it’s also apt to be acquired much more cheaply. In some cases, the only purchase necessary is to kill the current occupants and take it. For those who prefer a greater veneer of legality, the price for such remote buildings is usually half the cost of building it new, plus whatever construction is necessary to render it habitable.

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Acquiring Servants

Some wealthy, powerful wizards go so far as to create their own servants. They might fabricate constructs such as the Porcelain Servitors or the Men of Clay and Jade, or they might assemble hideous amalgams of human and beast, or even summon forth entities from sinister aetherial realms. Such extravagance is usually reserved for the most powerful wizards, as the research and money necessary to create such entities is prohibitive for petty mages.. Most wizards content themselves with mortal servants. These minions can be hired in most population centers or found in the course of the wizard’s adventuring. They are not henchmen, and they will not venture along on expeditions with the wizard, but they can usually be trusted to keep a proper watch on the wizard’s home and property. They will serve about the house in the expected fashion and handle any duties that do not promise undue amounts of physical danger. Rather than a daily or monthly cost for the servants, a lump sum is given to cover their indefinite employment and upkeep. Most employees of a wizard have enough sense to want their pay up front, and by the time a wizard is important enough to have their own retinue their player is unlikely to want to meddle with pettifogging sums of silver every week for upkeep. It’s simpler and easier to just pay a lump sum and then ignore maintenance costs. At 11th level, a magic-user will attract 1d6 apprentices of levels 1-3. While these arcanists are technically finished with their apprenticeships, they have chosen to seek a powerful wizard’s service in order to advance their own education. They can be used as apprentice assistants as per the rules in the Works of Sorcery chapter, and they will be willing to perform even moderately dangerous services for their master, though they will not normally be willing to engage in artificing work on their master’s behalf without very substantial recompense. In return, they will expect that three research months out of the year will be dedicated to assisting them with their plans and education. This need not be spent individually- three months will teach and aid all such “apprentices”, no matter how many of them are present.

A wizard might acquire apprentices well before 11th level, if his actions and relationships make it likely. Most of these applicants will be 0-level humans, striplings and youths who yearn to master the subtle arts of the arcane. Their numbers are at the Labyrinth Lord’s discretion, and they will serve as apprentice assistants for the duration of their education. They also expect three research months of a year be spent

towards teaching them. Once 24 months have been spent teaching a 0-level human, they will become a 1st level magic-user of the path followed by their master. Many such pupils will promptly set off to make their own way in the world, but some might remain under their master’s roof if the mage’s Charisma allows for additional retainers.

Structure Costs Structure represents the basic physical layout of the sanctum- the walls, floors, ceilings, and other essential physical elements. A wizard can certainly live in a sanctum composed only of bare walls and a flagstone floor, but the vast majority prefer the comforts and utility of further features. Most of those features require a certain amount of space, however, which means that there must be enough structure to contain them. Some players will enjoy mapping out the details of their sanctum, drawing plans for the wizard’s lair and specifying the details of its construction. This can be good fun and there’s no reason why a player shouldn’t do it. Still, for those who have less interest in the details, it’s enough to just describe the general outline of the place and then buy enough structure to contain whatever features are desired. Stone Interiors simply condense the cost of a 10x10x10 foot stretch of stone building interior into a single price. For a stone building 30’ on a side, for example, the builder would simply pay for nine squares, or 4,500 gold. This includes the cost of any six-inch thick interior walls desired, as well as footthick exterior walls. Ordinary doors, windows, stairs, roofs, flagstone floorings, fireplaces, and other basic features are included in this price. To buy a multi-level dwelling, the builder simply pays for more than one stack of interiors- a cubic keep 30’ long, wide, and tall would be comprised of 27 squares and cost 13,500 gold. Wood Interiors are treated precisely the same as stone ones, save that they are made of wood. One can stack 101

Structure Costs Structure Cost Stone Interior, 10’x10’x10’ 500 Wood Interior, 10’x10’x10’ 250 Stone Wall, 10’x10’x2’ 125 Wooden Wall, 10’x10’x1’ 60 Stone Tunnel, 10’x10’x10’ 400 Earthen Trench, 10’x10’x10’ 50 Earthen Mound, 10’x10’x10’ 50 Flagstones, 10’x10’ 100 Stout Door 50 Iron Door 100 wooden construction on top of stone buildings, but not vice-versa. Walls are assumed to include a walk along the top and basic machicolations, along with such stairs as are necessary to get up and down. A reasonable number of gates are included in the cost of a wall. Stone Tunnels are the cost of driving a plain square tunnel through hard stone. It includes any reinforcement or shoring that is necessary to keep the tunnel stable. Earthen Trench costs can also apply to tunnels through earth, and earthen mound prices can be used when raising a tor for a wizard’s manor house to preside over otherwise flat land. Flagstones and cobbles prevent mud in rainy weather and prevent wagons from sinking to their axles after every sharp downpour.

Door costs reflect unusually sturdy doors, rather than the simple wooden interior doors included in the cost of interiors. Stout doors are too thick to be battered down by human strength and require axes or a battering ram to break through them. Iron doors are impervious to anything short of magic or a mob with a ram. An interior wall will usually crumble before one of these portals will break. They are, however, exceedingly cumbersome to open and close and are rarely employed outside of important strongrooms.

Feature Costs Features are those elements of a sanctum that serve a particular purpose. While any wizard can stick a cot and a desk in a room and call it a bedroom, equipping a chamber for truly luxurious living is more demanding in its requirements. In the same way, a laboratory capable of genuine usefulness in artificing or research is going to be an expensive undertaking to assemble. Every feature requires a certain amount of floor space, given in the minimum square footage needed. This space must be roughly contiguous, allowing for auxiliary store rooms and closets. Unless specified otherwise, only one wizard can use a given arcane feature in a given research month. If a sanctum is occupied by two wizards but has only a single distillery, for example, they both can’t use the distillery in the same research month. Plunderers can usually salvage a tenth of a feature’s value if they rob the place of its portable furniture, fungible valuables, and easily-resellable equipment. Such ravaging will require that at least half of the feature’s price be paid to restore the losses and repair the destruction caused by the merciless reavers. While such concerns are rarely relevant to PC lair owners, they can be quite important to the owners of sanctums that have recently hosted a hostile band of adventurers. 102

Arcane Forge: Allows the owner to forge magical armor and weaponry. Without it, a wizard lacks the tools necessary to imbue metal and leather with the proper martial enchantments. Audience Chamber: A luxury for the most accomplished or arrogant of wizards, an audience chamber is invariably decorated in opulent style, often with a throne or other suitable perch of authority. As a practical consideration, enchantments are woven into the room that automatically limn in brilliant colored auras those who are attempting to cast or employ mindinfluencing or mind-reading magic. Auspicious Study: Some wizards are paranoid enough to dread the loss of their reference library. These auspicious studies are equipped with sophisticated mnemonic tools and pact-binding implements by which the sorcerer can permanently assimilate the wisdom of their arcane trove. For each research month of study, the mage can turn 5 points of a Reference research point source into Enlightenment. Once the whole of a source has been assimilated, it can be sold or lost with no loss of research points. Baths, Basic: Every home requires a room for bathing, laundry, and sculling. These baths are simple affairs of wooden tubs and stove-heated water, but they serve to tend all the hygiene needs of up to 10 residents. More

Feature Arcane Forge Audience Chamber Auspicious Study Baths, Basic Baths, Opulent Cell Classroom Distillery Integral Wards Kitchen Laboratory, Minor Laboratory, Major Laboratory, Sublime Laboratory, Experimental Living Quarters, Basic Living Quarters, Good Living Quarters, Excellent Living Quarters, Opulent Mundane Workshop Occult Workshop Ritual Chamber Scriptorium Stables/Kennel Storage Crypt Storehouse Superior Equipment Temple, Shrine Temple, Chapel Temple, Fane Vault Well

Cost 10,000 10,000 2,500 500 2,000 500 1,000 4,000 500 500 1,000 4,000 16,000 10,000 500 1,000 2,000 4,000 500 10,000 2,500 Special 1,000 1,000 100 * 2,000 4,000 10,000 2,000 500

Feature Costs Space Effect 900 Make magic weapons/armor, rings 1,600 Imposing place for sneering at mere mortals 400 Turn References into Enlightenments 400 Bathing and cleaning for 10 people 1,600 Restoring luxury for 10 people 100 Secure victim storage 400 Necessary for teaching more than 1 apprentice at once 400 Bulk potions Buy once per 10x10 to block teleporting or scrying there 400 Feeds 10 people 400 Gain -2 attribute check bonus on practical research 900 Gain -3 bonus on practical or theoretical research 1,600 Gain -4 bonus on all forms of research 1,600 Allows designing new spells/items 400 Lodge 8 people in barracks-like setting 900 Lodge 2 people in small individual rooms 900 Lodge 1 person in tasteful comfort 3,600 Lodge 1 person like a king 400 For a mundane minion's labors 900 Make misc items/wands/staves/rods 900 Speeds low-level spell acquisition 400 Faster scrolls. Costs 1,000 * maximum spell level scribed. 1,600 Keeps beasts 400 Keeps bodies fresh 100 Store things, including food Double feature's cost and size, gain -4 on attribute checks 400 Propitiations grant -1 to all prime attribute checks 1,600 Grants -2 on all prime attribute checks 6,400 Grants -3 on all prime attribute checks 400 Extra-secure storage 100 Water supply

baths can be purchased to serve larger contingents. Sanctums without any hygiene facilities at all and more than a handful of residents are apt to fall prey to diseases of magical contamination and uncleansed toxic residues. Baths, Opulent: Frescoes, inset pools, steam rooms, and hot running water characterize these marvels of comfort and cleanliness. While it serves no more people than the ordinary bath, it does it in far more style. Cell: The price includes all that is necessary to lodge up to four prisoners in a 10 x 10 cell with a stout wooden 103

door and a slot for observing the inmates and passing in food and water. Classroom: Every master can teach one apprentice at a time with no special facilities, but if they intend to teach an entire class at once, a classroom is needed. A single instructor can use this facility to teach up to ten pupils at once in the course of a research month. Distillery: There are times when a mage does not have the patience to brew but a single potion a month. The distillery has the tools and equipment to create much larger batches of potions. Only a single type can be created during the research month, but at a cost

of twice the usual research points and brewing costs, 1d4+2 doses of the potion are created. Integral Wards: Gorgon’s blood, lead sheeting, and assorted other peculiar materials are used to protect an area against teleportation or remote scrying. For each 500 gp paid, a 10x10x10 section of the sanctum may be made impervious to teleportation in or out, or from being viewed by crystal balls and clairvoyance spells. This barrier is universal- not even the sanctum’s owner can teleport past his own wards. Kitchen: A household must eat, and while a wizard living alone with his family can make do with a pot over the fire and trips to the village baker, maintaining a larger household requires a proper kitchen. The price includes all the costs for keeping up to 10 people fed indefinitely; month-by-month food charges are too trivial to be worth tracking in most cases, and the kitchen is assumed to have full larders for a month if a siege situation develops. If more people must be fed in a sanctum, this feature can be purchased multiple times. Laboratory, Minor: Simple, modest, but useful, this laboratory grants a -2 prime attribute check bonus whenever making a practical research roll- whether individually, in a group, or when creating a practical artifice. These laboratories do not aid in creating magical items or developing new spells. Laboratory, Major: A larger and more sophisticated library allows a -3 prime attribute check when making either practical or theoretical research rolls. This bonus does not stack with that of a lesser laboratory. Laboratory, Sublime: This vast workroom for learning and experimentation allows a -4 prime attribute check bonus when making any kind of research or artificing roll.

Adding Permanent Magical Effects It’s not unlikely that the sanctum’s owner will eventually want some permanent magical effect added to their home, whether as a convenience, a protection, or a dazzling indication of opulence. Adding these enchantments should generally be handled by the process for creating a new miscellaneous magical item given in the Works of Sorcery section. The difficulty of the task will depend both on how powerful the actual effect is and how readily the Labyrinth Lord wishes to allow standing enchantments. This hesitation may have to do with campaign flavor as much as it does actual game balance. Some may find trivial enchantments to be unsuitable for the feel of their campaign world; impressive sorceries and mighty magics fit their setting, but magical hot running water might be too banal. In general, however, a Labyrinth Lord should keep an open mind about such enchantments, as they make an excellent gold and research point sink for a campaign. sufficient, as only the wealthy or important rate the privacy of actual personal lodgings. Living Quarters, Good: A taste of luxury is granted in two small rooms blocked off in the available space, or a suite for a couple living together. Braziers and fireplaces are installed in cold climes, and the doors have locks against unwanted visitors. Living Quarters, Excellent: This luxurious suite is fit for a nobleman, ample room for the owner and some spouse or favored concubine. The fittings are excellent, the decor is graceful, and the lock applies a -10% success chance penalty to any attempts to pick it.

Living Quarters, Opulent: The Mandarin of Xian must live in such gleaming elegance, with every feature redolent of wealth, taste, and a love of polished comfort. Assuming the owner does not install additional magical defenses, every lock in the room applies a -25% chance to pick attempts and the containers and doors Living Quarters, Basic: These bunk beds and footlock- are too sturdy to be brought down by anything short of ers are sufficient to lodge eight people in the given magic or men with a ram. space. Most servants will consider this to be perfectly Laboratory, Experimental: This laboratory is designed for theoretical thaumaturgy. It grants no bonuses to the experimenter, but allows him or her to attempt the creation of entirely new spells or magic items.

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Mundane Workshop: Blacksmiths, coopers, ropeweavers, and other such laborers sometimes have a place on a mage’s estate. This workshop provides such an artisan with the tools and materials he needs to ply his trade. Occult Workshop: Wands, staves, rods, and miscellaneous magic items of all descriptions can be crafted here in this workshop. Without the arcane tools and enigmatic components stocked in such a facility, a mage could not hope to craft such things. Ritual Chamber: Time is precious, and a powerful sorcerer is often loathe to spend a full research month mastering the rudiments of some petty enchantment. This ritual chamber is designed to allow for quicker completion of the necessary propitiations and pacts that bring mastery of the spell. Magi with a ritual chamber need spend no more than one day per level to master any spell that is two or more levels below their maximum spell level. Thus, a 5th level High Path practitioner able to cast 3rd level spells could master any number of 1st level enchantments at a rate of one per day. Full normal research point and gold costs must be paid as usual, however. Scriptorium: All the necessary tools for swift inscription of powerful magical scrolls are available here. Instead of requiring a full research month to inscribe a scroll, a caster need spend only one day per spell level being inscribed, and the work does not interfere with other research month activities. Normal costs in research points and gold must still be paid. Stables/Kennel: While enchanted steeds of porcelain and jade are fashionable among the mighty, most wizards find practical use in having a few good horses around. These stables will serve to house most ordinary beasts or well-trained monsters. Storage Crypt: Favored by necromancers and the unsavory, this crypt is sorceled with rites to prevent natural decay and spoilage. A few wizards favor them for storing fresh food instead of fresh corpses. Storehouse: A plain storage area for goods that may have some value but are not so precious as to require a vault. Doors are equipped with locks, and shelving and other storage vessels are available within. 105

Superior Equipment: Not so much a feature as an elaboration, Superior Equipment may be applied once to any laboratory, workshop, or other facility for arcane production. The cost and required floor space of the feature is doubled, but it grants an additional -2 bonus on any prime attribute checks that activities using it may involve. Thus, a minor laboratory with superior equipment would cost 2,000 gp and grant a -4 prime attribute check bonus when performing practical research. Temple, Shrine: The gods subtly favor those who revere them- and if they don’t, then certain other powers will. A shrine may be devoted to a particular patron deity, or it may be crowded with idols and altars to half a dozen arcane powers that enjoy the worship of the arcanist. As a consequence of their blessings, up to a dozen wizards may apply a -1 prime attribute check bonus to all their arcane activities. A wizard can benefit from only one temple feature at a time. Temple, Chapel: A bigger and more elaboratelyappointed temple than that of a mere shrine, the chapel confers a -2 prime attribute check bonus instead. At least one priest in residence is needed to maintain the chapel properly, but quarters for them are included. Temple, Fane: A great temple to powers bright or dark, the fane requires at least a half-dozen priests to keep all the rites in order, but grants a -3 prime attribute check bonus. Vault: Some things are too precious to be allowed in common reach, and a vault keeps them secure. The walls are reinforced, the doors are iron or similarly obdurate material, and the valuable contents within are kept within locked containers or chained to sturdy racks. At the wizard’s choice, the vault may be imbued with the integral wards feature at no extra cost, and the walls automatically receive a saving throw at the owner’s level to resist spells that alter or destroy them. Many wizards keep their libraries within rooms arranged as a vault, often with guards on duty to ensure that no evil befalls their precious lore. Well: Water can be found almost anywhere if a sufficiently deep hole is dug. A single well can supply most sanctums with all the water they require, barring the lodging of armies within their walls.

Servants The servants listed below will perform all ordinary duties without demur, and are steady enough to handle the sometimes-frightening doings within a wizard’s sanctum without panicking or forgetting their duties. Only the guardsmen among them are actual warriors, however, and the rest can be expected to flee unfamiliar dangers. Hiring such servants requires a one-time payment to reflect their ongoing employ for some indefinite time. Most work so cheaply that it’s not worth the effort to track their monthly upkeep, and if they die or flee shortly after being hired then the sum can be thought to reflect the difficulty of finding a replacement in such an obviously dangerous post. Long-time servants are expected to be treated properly by their masters. This does not have to do with courtesy- there is no pretension of equality between them, and no need for the master to treat them as anything more than mobile furniture. Still, an elderly, crippled, or sickly servant expects to be retained even past their useful working life. Discarding a long-time family retainer for anything short of a grave offense will badly damage the morale and loyalty of those who remain. Wizards should be careful not to misuse their more senior staff lest it cost them with the others. A wizard may well choose to employ servants or mercenaries beyond those listed below. In that case, the Labyrinth Lord can simply use the costs listed in the core book. Some exceptionally ruthless wizards might purchase slaves if they dwell beyond the reach of those nations that forbid such evils. Stitched Path wizards have a particular need for such luckless souls for their rites of spiritual vivisection. Many slavers are forced to collect their stock personally, as a healthy adult slave might cost as much as a hundred gold coins if the seller must travel into the wilderness to deliver them. Economic considerations lead to raids and kidnapping to supply the lack. The loyalty of a wizard’s servants is sometimes enhanced by sorcery, but those mages who want unshakably faithful minions most often turn to the construction of artificial beings or the summoning of dark, spell-chained powers. Given the predilections 106

Servants Servant Beast Handler Concubine Guardsman, Common Guardsman, Elite Guardsman, Sergeant Lab Assistant Priest Servant Servant, Chief

Cost 100 500 50 100 200 250 200 25 100

of the wizard and the nature of their creations, this sometimes fails to work out quite as well as was hoped. Beast Handler: Whether horses or owlbears, someone needs to take care of the livestock on a large estate. If the wizard has more than a horse or two to his name, he’s going to need at least one beast handler per twelve hit dice worth of monstrous livestock. One beast handler can manage any ordinary number of nonmagical beasts, though a few servants may be required to handle large herds. Concubine: More than just a pretty face, an expert concubine is cultivated, intelligent, artistically gifted, and talented at all forms of negotiation and household management. Those arcanists with no interest in entertainment may pay half the sum to hire a butler with the same practical skills. Employees of this type require private rooms if they are to be respected by the other servants. Guardsman, Common: A proven warrior, guardsmen come equipped with leather jacks, shields, and various hand weapons. Wealthy masters may elect to equip them more perfectly. Guardsmen are brave enough to work for a wizard, at least, and they’ll defend the sanctum against any enemies that seem susceptible to their spears. They are not adventurers, however, and will not go on expeditions to dangerous places. Guardsman, Elite: These guardsmen are equipped as their ordinary brethren, but have been winnowed by time and the trials of war. All of them have two hit dice and at least 6 hit points.

Truly vast household guards might require a captain chosen from among the sergeants, who would require his own private room. Lab Assistant: While the lab assistant is not a proper magic-user, he has enough talent and expertise to serve as an assistant for purposes of magical research. They usually require private rooms if they are to be recruited. Priest: Servants of the gods with the power of miracles are rare in the Sunset Isles. More common is the priest, a devout man or woman trained in the rituals pleasing to the gods and experienced in the running of shrines and temples. Priests require private quarters, though a chapel or fane usually has enough room to house the attendant clergy. Servant: Cooks, scullions, maids, stableboys, footmen, valets, and all the innumerable other minions of a powerful and wealthy personage come under this heading. They may be skilled at their trade, but their trade is not rare or valuable enough to qualify them as a specialist.

Guardsman, Sergeant: Veteran soldiers with a knack for keeping their brethren in line, if the mage has more than ten guardsmen, he’s going to need a sergeant to keep order. In such a case, one sergeant per twenty guardsmen or fraction thereof is necessary. Their statistics are the same as those of an elite guardsman.

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Servant, Chief: If ten or more servants are engaged, one chief servant is necessary for every twenty or fraction thereof. These experienced men and women keep the servants at their labors and ensure that theft and mischief are kept to acceptable levels, and require their own room if they are to be respected by the other servants. Truly vast households may require the guiding hand of a favored concubine or butler to operate efficiently.

Dark Cabals Every Labyrinth Lord needs a fistful of wizards now and again. An arcane academy, a cabal of sinister plotters, a megalomaniacal cult... all of these groups usually have more than one sorcerer involved in the mix, and it can be difficult to characterize these organizations in ways that actually help produce action at the table. A demon-worshiping cult of blood sorcerers is all well and good, but the individual participants tend to blur together into generic malice without some special flavoring to their dastardly deeds. This chapter contains a set of tools for building three different common groups of wizards- academies, cults, and conclaves. Academies represent schools of wizardry or remote towers of instruction, cults cover those bands of wizards who combine to offer gruesome reverence to some eldritch power, and conclaves deal with those groups that are formed to pursue a particular goal, whether benign or malevolent. The odds are that most of the large groups of wizards in your particular campaign are going to fall into one or more of these three types, and your life as a Labyrinth Lord will be easier if you can spice them up with minimal effort.

Using These Tools

Each section contains a brief description of a particular type of group and a set of five tables for use in constructing the organization. By default, you can simply roll once on each table and string the results together to get the group's particulars. You should feel free to specifically pick items off the lists at any time, of course, or roll multiple times to create additional factions or complications within the larger organization. A cursory glance through the tables will show an abundance of problems, unsavory traits, and sources of conflict. This is not to imply that every arcane academy is a hotbed of hidden evil or that every conclave is 108

perpetually at each others' throats- it simply reflects the greater ease of getting practical adventuring use out of a problematic situation. Well-adjusted, harmonious organizations tend to be of no interest to adventurers. The bigger and more obvious the problems, the easier time you'll have in interesting your players. All of these guidelines are designed for creating badly dysfunctional, deeply conflicted, or outright bastardly organizations. If you want a noble, upright, or harmoniously cooperative group of wizards, you can just wave one into existence. Such amiable compacts are usually there to serve as a plot prop, or setting element, or to fulfill some necessary campaign infrastructure duty. In such cases you'll already have a clear idea of its purpose and necessary elements. Using these tools indicates that you want an organization with real problems, one that can serve as a springboard for adventure creation. Once you've sketched out the organization with the group tables, you can flip to the back of the book and use the quick wizard generation tables to personalize individual members of the cabal. Again, the tables are designed to produce wizards with problems and severe personal flaws. Their troubles and afflictions make for quick and easy plot hooks, and their flaws provide an easy way to involve the players. Aside from this, the simple truth is that magic comes with a price. Well-adjusted, reasonable, temperate souls rarely make for powerful wizards. Power is the fruit of obsession, compromise, sacrifice, and occasionally even talent. Adventuring wizards win their power in ways more honest, if bloodier, than those of most of their peers. Those without the courage to seize the lost secrets of the ancients must often as not take their instruction from darker sources. These bleak compromises can be fruitful sources of adventure for a group.

Arcane Academies The practice of sorcery has always been honored in the Isles, due in large part to the magocratic traditions inherited from the Ninefold Celestial Empire. While many wizards learn their arts from solitary masters and family elders, others seek the learning that is to be found at dedicated institutions of magic. These academies usually date back to the earliest years of the exile, some almost three hundred years old. A few even claim to have existed before the coming of the Red Tide, born as refugee cabals of sorcerers allied in strange purposes. These academies all demand some sort of payment for their tutelage. Fees of as many as four thousand pieces of gold might be required of a wealthy daifu's family for the four years of tutelage that most academies offer, while sufficiently talented commoners might be accepted without cost. Some students might be formally indentured to their school's service for some years after graduation, obliged to carry out dangerous missions to repay their masters. Other academies strike bargains with particular noble families or communities, receiving a steady tribute in favors or goods in exchange for making room for chosen applicants. Arcane academies always have use for gold to fuel their faculty's research. Most academies operate with the explicit blessing of the local ruler. Those fashionable schools in the heart of Xian's best district all have junzi patrons to guard their interests, and the terrible Academy of Refulgent Wisdom in Tien Lung is directly led by that city's lord. Their faculty often have the rights and privileges of nobility within these lands, though they are expected to repay such considerations with a favorable regard for the needs of their masters. These schools are a direct gateway to influence in most societies. Their graduates have proven themselves as competent wizards and capable retainers for the powerful. Still, even those daifu families that can afford their services are often uneasy about sending their heirs to study at such schools. The curriculum cannot help but contain a certain amount of danger. Deaths and maimings are rare, but not unknown. In large schools of dozens of students, almost every four-year term sees at least one student dead due to their own missteps or some freak laboratory accident. Still, there is never a shortage of applicants at most reputable schools. 109

Most academies take their students young, no older than sixteen and no younger than twelve. Older students usually lack the flexibility of perception and the uncompromised souls necessary to tame eldritch powers. Their usual childhood infatuations and youthful recklessness is managed as well as possible, but the personal power that even novice mages command can sometimes lead to situations going entirely out of control. There are times when "tragic accidents" must be formulated to conceal the involvement of some powerful junzi's child in an act of blind, feckless violence.

Creating Academy Faculty

To build an academy's faculty, first choose the important people in the institution. Almost every academy will have a single headmaster in charge of the school as a whole, though some might be organized around a ruling council. The presiding wizard is usually the most powerful sorcerer there, though sometimes a diplomatic soul is favored over a mystically potent one. Aside from this headmaster, there may be instructors in individual aspects of magic, mundanely-skilled experts in intellectual pursuits, and important servants and retainers. The table in this section provides a list of possibilities. Four or five important people are a good selection. This is not to imply that they are the only staffers in the school, but they are the most important and interesting ones for purposes of adventure and PC interaction. Their conflicts and needs will be the hooks that drive engagement with the player characters, and you can use them as easy NPC faces for those occasions when the PCs need something from the academy. For each important person, roll once on the tables in this section to generate the source of their authority, the grudge they've provoked from someone in the school, the sin that qualifies as their worst moral trespass, and the weakness that's most likely to lead them into unfortunate behavior. If you want to flesh these souls out with brighter traits, you can use the tables in the Resources section to add virtues and redeeming qualifications as well, but in most cases you can just decide those off the top of your head. As a Labyrinth Lord, what you're most interested in is the ways in

which this person can make things go horribly wrong for themselves and others. The acts that earned their grudges can be directed toward other important people in the school, or outward toward people affiliated with the PCs to provide useful hooks for involvement. The same tactics can be used to tangle others in their sins, or make others the subjects of their particular weaknesses. By the time you've finished generating the important people of an academy, there should be very substantial fissures of stress and spite running through the organization. Naturally, if this mixture is potent enough, outsiders are going to wonder at what's holding the academy together. If half the faculty hate the other half and three-quarters have done things that their own mothers couldn't forgive, how can such an institution possibly hold together? In a word, it's the library. Wizards who join an arcane academy have access to vast amounts of magical lore in the form of the academy's library. They can study huge amounts of research material and learn in months what might otherwise take them years to master. In mechanical terms, the average long-established arcane academy has 1d4+1 x 100 research points worth of arcane tomes, artifacts, and implements of study available to its faculty. Students are allowed only so much of this as is necessary for their schooling, given the unfortunate tendency of youth to act recklessly with what power they have. While this great fund of arcane lore is splendid for any wizard, it forms a sort of trap- as soon as the wizard has added the rituals and rites of the school library to their repertoire and sealed himself to the pacts inscribed in its sorcerous tomes, he can't lose access to the library without being dealt a horrific setback. A wizard who gains access to 300 research points worth of Reference lore might spend it all on adding new spells to his book. Deprive him of his references and access to those books, and he loses 300 research points, almost certainly putting him at a negative total. He doesn't lose access to any of the arts he's already mastered, but to learn a new spell, he needs to somehow climb out of that massive debt. Such an enormous deficiency of magic might require an entire life simply to replace what was lost. 110

He can't even steal the lore and flee, because it would guarantee all the other wizards would stop at nothing to recover it in order to avoid the same awful fate. He can't do anything that would result in the destruction of the academy, either, because if it crumbles his precious library is almost certain to be lost in the general downfall. He must guard with his life the very institution that is full of these poisonous people he despises so much. This tension usually results in baroque plots and counter-plots, with a side order of faction-building among like minded malcontents. Outsiders such as the PCs are perfect tools for eliminating enemies in deniable ways, and very few academy faculty are likely to be without at least one colleague they'd dearly like to see eliminated.

Creating the Academy Facilities

A major sorcerous academy has a student body of thirty to forty gifted youngsters and perhaps twice as many servants, guards, laborers, and faculty members. Students often have their own servants and private quarters, the better to allow the wealthy scions of nobility to focus on their studies. Faculty always have private quarters, and many of them have private laboratories and other arcane facilities as given in the Sanctums chapter. Urban schools tend to operate within walled complexes arranged around a central courtyard where sorceries are practiced. Faculty and students lodge in separate buildings, and sometimes magical facilities are given their own structure as well. The library and the vaults containing the school's magical patrimony are almost always located within the same building as the faculty, the better to discourage thieves. In point of fact, many arcane academies intentionally store their mundane valuables in a different building. The loss of a school's gold and precious jewels is nothing compared to the potential loss of its books, but most thieves would sooner have the former than the latter. These urban schools usually build up a neighborhood accretion of herbalists, glassblowers, scribes, importers, and other merchants dedicated to serving the academy's needs. Less strictly scholarly enterprises often find a home there as well, providing the kind of entertainment that lively young students are apt to find appealing. Sometimes these students fall in among bad

Roll Important Person Power Source 1

Arrogant Noble Student

2

Chaplain

3

Disgraced Ex-Student

4

Ex-Adventurer Instructor

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Arcane Academies Grudges

Brilliant and respected scholar Cuts deals with infernal powers Favored by a local temple Has blackmail on someone Has done many favors for the school

Betrayed a former alliance Bigoted against their faith or ethnicity Blackmailed them

Blocked a protege's advance Destroyed an arcane Foreign Scholar treasure of theirs Embarassed them Gifted Pupil Has powerful patron publically Forced them out of Government Liaison Has zealous minions official position Holds title to academy Killed or maimed Half-Senile Instructor property someone important Important person Lured away a prized Headmaster infatuated with them apprentice Local government owes Refused to lend Hired Relic Hunter them someone money Owns many research Robbed an arcane tome Librarian tomes from someone Owns potent magical Slandered someone’s Master of Discipline item magical path Powerful family ties Seduced their lover or Master of Herbs with school spouse Powerful personal Slandered them to Master of History charisma important people Practices forbidden Spoiled their magical Master of the Grounds sorcery experiment Stole a magical item Monstrous Instructor Provides vital funds from them Remarkably gifted Powerful Alumnus Stole credit for research teacher Stole their glory for Rival School's Master Secret criminal ties some great deed Their family is danger- Swindled them out of School Healer ously influential money Unusual magical Wouldn't help them in School Treasurer prowess a crisis

company, and certain bargains are struck that are not conducive to their long-term interests. Rural schools are more heavily fortified as a practical matter, often replacing some of the servants with a greater number of guards and watchbeasts. Enemies have an easier time mounting a brute-force attack upon such an isolated community, and help is further away. The solitude is conducive to a focus on one's studies, however, and there is much less to worry about students falling in among low people when they're 111

Sins Abusing privileges with commoners Addicted to strange sorcerous drugs Badly neglecting their duties Bedding a faculty spouse or lover Bedding a too-young student Blatantly unfair toward an ethnicity Covering up another's misconduct Cutting deals with foreign agents

Weakness Arcane Lore Blind Obsessiveness Children Cowardice Envy Fame Infatuation Magical Items

Dabbling in dark pacts Men Embezzling from the academy

Money

Helping a crime boss

Overconfidence

Planning to leave with school wealth Plotting death for someone's apprentice Sabotaging someone's research Secretly a worshiper of the Red Tide Selling secrets to rival school Stealing little-used arcane treasures Taking bribes from wealthy parents Tormenting a student who offended them Utterly untrustworthy in word and pledge

Overcontrolling Paranoia Political Power Recklessness Revenge School Influence Sorcerous Power Venality Women

the only human inhabitants for miles around. Some such schools are located on small islands, the better to ensure their privacy. Merchants make trips on specific schedules to bring in necessary supplies, new students, and news of the outside world. It won't often be necessary to have a specific map drawn up for an arcane academy. One of the generic maps from the Red Tide campaign rulebook can be used in a pinch, or else you can simply repurpose an urban map or tower floorplan.

Conclaves One wizard has power. A dozen wizards can shake the pillars of a nation. Conclaves are those bands of ambitious sorcerers who seek to use their united strength to effect a pleasing change in the world. Some of them have altruistic aims, goals that promise to bring good to the lands in which they dwell. Others have a somewhat less disinterested ambition in mind. Most ostensibly altruistic conclaves are open organizations, publicly-known groups that have a visible membership and who act openly before others. Their public nature allows them to actively enlist other groups and governmental structures in their cause, convincing them to lend aid and money to their chosen purpose. Some of these conclaves have existed for centuries as fraternal organizations, traditional power blocs, or keepers of some ancient place of power. Even the peasants in the fields have heard of their deeds. Other conclaves cultivate a greater spirit of discretion. It may be that their goals are too self-interested to please other powers in the area, or they may have fearsome enemies that would strike at any exposure. They recruit through cut-outs and go-betweens, through agents that can vanish in the case of a refusal or who can be eliminated with few questions asked. Their meetings are clandestine gatherings in lonely places, and some go so well-masked that they do not even know each other outside their adopted names and feigned faces. One roll on each of the tables in this section can sketch out the particulars of a given conclave. If you need an explicit antagonist you can always select explicitly hostile motivations, but conclaves can often be most useful as more ambiguous organizations. Leaving the players uncertain as to the real purpose of such wizards tends to provoke investigations and scouting missions that make for easy adventure hooks. Once you've established the basic structure of the conclave, you can sketch out three or four of the most prominent members of the group using the wizard creation tools in the Resources chapter. These figures will be the public face of the conclave, or at least those wizards most likely to deal with the PCs. Their conflicts and grudges can be directed toward each other or 112

aimed at NPCs, with the player characters serving as catspaws to fulfill their personal interests. Where arcane academies and malevolent cults are held together by the promise of arcane power, conclaves are maintained by their shared cause. Most members are too distant to effectively share their libraries, but they can cooperate to beguile catspaws, share the exploration of remote ruins, and lend use of the special facilities of their respective sanctums. Secretive conclaves usually work to involve their membership in something sufficiently criminal to be effective blackmail material, the better to ensure that they don't think better of their commitment. Even so, most long-lasting conclaves know better than to be too harsh with their membership. A wizard left to his own devices can produce all manner of trouble for his colleagues, and leading a conclave with honeyed promises of success lessens the likelihood of such resentment. Most conclave members are expected to provide hospitality and protection for fellow members of the group, and extend such aid to them as does not seriously inconvenience the wizard. Greater duties are imposed by the leadership when a particular plan must be carried out, or efforts must be exerted on behalf of the group's motivation. Some particularly zealous or demanding groups might demand more still, and those wizards with ambitions of leadership often make a point of building alliances of mutual aid with other members of the conclave. Rule of the group is almost always determined by more-or-less democratic means, as the distributed nature of most conclaves makes it too difficult for a would-be tyrant to bring all the membership under his fist at once. They must persuade their colleagues of their fitness- though a little selective murder is never an impossibility. Unless the conclave is focused around the defense of a site or the maintenance of some venerable holding, it's unlikely that the conclave will have much in the way of real estate. Secret organizations might have a favored meeting-place in a desolate or dangerous locale, and some structures might be controlled through a front group.

Conclave Traits Conclave Motivations

Conclave Power Source

Conclave Complications

1

Bolster a political cause

A hidden monstrous power aids them

A conclave member is a A former leader was a wanted criminal legendary mage

Bitter official

2

Build up a human community

An ethnic group supports the conclave

A local faith despises the conclave

A mighty relic of the past was found

Crime boss

3

Contain an ancient evil

An extradimensional power favors them

An ex-member seeks revenge

A secret infernalist was Demon once leader

4

Defend a religion

Common folk love the An experiment has run The conclave created conclave amok awful monsters

5

Defend an ethnic group

Locals only trust the conclave's arbitration

6

Defend the human lands

Many people owe them An old nemesis has a large favors new tool

The conclave forged a great magical artifact

Ex-member

7

Destroy a rival conclave

The conclave controls a Demonic attention vital resource plagues the conclave

The conclave had a bloody civil war

Former victim

8

Explore the unknown lands

The conclave controls an important place

Important tomes are lost or stolen

The conclave had Shou-blooded members

Magus of forbidden arts

9

Find and train gifted students

The conclave has a glorious past

Magical servants are out of control

The conclave held off a Monstrous being Shou invasion

10

Foster their magical studies

The conclave has a vast Rivals want the library conclave destroyed

11

Gain wealth and luxurious ease

The conclave has foreign backers

The conclave conceals a The conclave saved a great crime human community

12

Gather arcane treasures

The conclave has government allies

The conclave has broken into factions

13

Guard a magical site

The conclave has governmental status

The conclave is blind to The conclave was a great peril corrupted by demons

14

Overthrow a ruling lineage

The conclave has many The conclave is framed The conclave was exiled Rich merchant allies in society for dark sorcery from a foreign land

15

Police the local sorcerers

The conclave has powerful magic items

16

Protect members from foes

The conclave has ties to The conclave leadership The conclave was once military units is corrupt zealously ideological

17

Share a powerful library

The conclave is very wealthy

The conclave recently failed a vital duty

18

Study a mysterious site

The conclave knows unique sorceries

The first conclave The conclave's leader is members weren't going senile human

Suspicious lord

19

Support a ruling lineage

The members are unusually powerful

The local ruler hates the conclave

Their ancient arcane regalia was lost

Vengeful creation

20

Sustain a magical tradition

They have numerous secret holdings

There is a serious leadership dispute

They were here before the Red Tide came

Warlord

Roll

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Conclave Past Event

Worst Enemy

Dwarven clan-chief

An important member The conclave extinElven zealot is a traitor guished a demonic cult

The conclave overthrew Necromancer a local ruler Peasant demagogue

The conclave used to be Religious fanatic a noble house

The conclave is The conclave was once relatively impoverished a religious sect

The conclave won a sorcerous war with rivals

Renegade member

Rival sorcerer Shou witch-priestess Spurned lover

Sorcerous Cults The making of pacts and promises is a standard part of almost every magical path. The arcane world is crowded by powers and principalities, entities of strange might and occult virtues. By offering the correct propitiations and rites of reverence, these entities grant the sorcerer the authority required to command arcane powers. In most cases, these entities are either mindless or so alien as to incomprehensible to human intellects. They respond to propitiations in an instinctive, unthinking way and answer to the correct rites with mechanically reliable reactions. A wizard has no more personal relationship with these powers than he has with his alembic. Carelessness with the rites can be lethal, but even their wrath is not so much a thinking anger as it is a fluxion of suddenly erupting flame or the snap of a savage beast. Sometimes, however, a wizard makes contact with something darker- something with a true mind and a truly malevolent will. These "gods" are sufficiently coherent to express desires beyond those of mechanistic ritual, and they promise great things to those wizards who will obey them. Most sorcerers have the sense to shun such powers, fleeing their blandishments and relying on safer, colder entities to grant them their authority. Others listen, and the most foolish or ambitious among them make pacts that wise men would not make. Sorcerous cults are the product of these agreements. In exchange for fulfilling the god's strange hungers, the wizard is gifted with great power and awful stores of forbidden lore. Such dark sorcery is forbidden in most decent lands because of the inevitably corrupting effect of the relationship- eventually, the wizard is so utterly beholden to his patron that escape becomes impossible. Once that point is reached, the alien mind has a hapless slave to work its will on an unsuspecting world. Still, there are always those wizards too foolishly proud to imagine that they could ever be so snared, and those so desperate that they do not care what the cost for aid might be. The five tables in this section provide a quick summary of a cult's goals, concealment methods, and nature. When determining the god's traits, you might want to 114

roll 1d10 once or twice to get the physical appearance of its main manifestation, and then 1d10+10 to get its most characteristic mental traits. The cult motivations assume that the organization has been in existence long enough to be deeply influenced by the god's strange thoughts and ambitions. Younger cults have a more nakedly mercenary interest in arcane power, before the group has had time to become enmeshed in strange theologies and inherited beliefs. The power of a god is shared through the act of worship, preferably with as many cultists and as elaborate a set of offerings as is possible. Through the medium of the unholy rites, the wizard is gifted with the authority of the god and given glimpses of the secret truths that lie beneath the world's sheltering skin. This favor counts as 100 research points worth of Reference aid as long as regular worship is maintained. As the cult grows, this power grows as well- an entire city's devotion might be worth as many as 1,000 research points to the hierarchs among the cult. The cultists must maintain their worship in order to keep these research points; if the god is not sated, it will withdraw its authority. The consequences of this disfavor can be

even worse than the mere loss of the research points. The pacts that are made with such powers can leave the cultist vulnerable to terrible curses or awful dooms from beyond. Every alien god wants its worship to metastasize across the human lands, crowding out all rivals and dragooning all humans into its obscene rites. Some of them have more patience than others about the steps necessary to accomplish this, but none of them are content with constant hiding. A cult leader is always driven on to act, forced to do something constructive every once in a while just to keep the god satisfied. The god itself may or may not manifest in physical form. Some cults worship largely fleshly entities, fragments of some ancient evil curdled into physical form. They give red sacrifices and sonorous praise to such bestial things, and accrue favor from its feral satisfactions. Killing such petty gods often requires heroes; dwarves are especially gifted at murdering such degenerate divinities. Their history with the Mother Below has equipped them with many secret ways of shedding sacred blood, and their heroes can kill things that other men must struggle to permanently slay. These manifestations are inevitably powerful, fearsome creatures, but they are not true gods and even the worst of them must still fear the blades of sufficiently resolute heroes. The least of them might be little worse than an ogre or monstrous beast before they have had time to grow fat on the cult's worship. Cults rarely have actual clerics among their number unless they've been in existence long enough to build up a tradition of worship. Clerical powers are the fruit of a passionate devotion and inner worship that is alien to the cold calculations of a sorcerer. A cultist raised within the faith might develop such burning love for their awful master, but most cult priests are simply

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sorcerers who have decided that the power is worth the price. Ironically, as a cult grows older, it is more and more likely that the clerics in their number will take over control of the faith. Most alien gods prefer blind adoration to calculated servitude. However depraved a cult may truly be, it must offer something meaningful to its lay worshipers. Mages gain a greater or lesser gift of power from the god, but common believers must be given something to justify their fearful obeisance. In some cases, a simple desire to avoid being digested by a twelve-foot tall mound of shrieking pus is enough to spur a believer's zeal, but in the long term a more theologically plausible ground is needed. The table of cult principles provides a list of easy axioms taught by the faith to justify some need of the believer. When building a cult, you should take care to make clear what it is that the common folk get out of the worship. This motivation will make it easier to deduce their response to any meddling from the PCs. Some cults gather only for rites of worship in some lonely, wasted place. Most of them have a temple of some sort, however, one hidden away from the eyes of men. The cult's clergy and leaders most often live there, performing the necessary daily rites and the greater ceremonies attended by the cult's rank and file. These temples need to be close enough to the worshipers that they can be reached every month for the great rites yet far enough from outsiders that they cannot be easily found. Ruins are always a popular choice, as are structures beneath a city or in its worst and most dangerous neighborhoods. Urban activities usually require the subverting of at least some of the local government, however, so as to prevent awkward questions from being asked.

Sorcerous Cult Traits Roll Cult Motivations

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Cult Protective Measures

Cult Crimes

Cult Principles

God Traits

1

Ancestral tradition

Blackmail of government officials

Actually worship the Red Tide

All evil can be blamed on an ethnic group

Aquatic

2

Bewitchment by their god

Critics are paid off and Aid local crime boss coopted

All humanity deserves only damnation

Avian

3

Destruction of a hated enemy

Demonic powers aid the cult

Ambition makes all things permissible

Canine

4

Fear of an angry god

Hideous monsters serve Assassins for their cause Bloodshed is worship the cult

Catlike

5

Heirs to a degenerate society

Local culture encourages silence

Claim rule of their own Compassion, mercy domain and love are sins

Corpselike

6

Legitimizes their personal wills

Only family members are recruited

Extort local commoners

Cult leaders are divinely inspired

Formless

7

Maintaining their arcane power

Sorcerous control of others

Kidnap victims for enslavement

Cult members are intrinsically sinless

Geometric

8

Misguided love for their god

The cult has infiltrated local government

Kidnap victims for indoctrination

Death for the god brings paradise

Humanoid

9

Mistake the god for another

Their god greatly empowers them

Kidnap victims for sacrifice

Deceit is a positive virtue

Reptilian

10

Orgiastic, selfindulgent rites

Their lair is magically warded

Mercenary sorcerers for hire

Hedonism is life's true purpose

Tentacular

11

Promises of a joyous afterlife

They cultivate allies among the people

Oppress local ethnic group

Might makes right

Bloodthirsty

12

Promises of earthly power

They have a corps of elite assassins

Persecute local religion

Once perfected, holiness is never lost

Covetous

13

Promises of eternal life

They hide within an ethnic group

Practice gruesome sorceries

Our will must be done Deceitful to save humanity

14

Protection from political powers

They hide within an existing religion

Produce terrible poisons and drugs

Outsiders hate us for no just reason

Depraved

15

Raw sorcerous power

They lair in the wilderness or ruins

Release monsters on common folk

Outsiders have no rights whatsoever

Furious

16

Rule over an inferior group

They meet in places reserved for elites

Seek to overthrow the government

The cult is the rightful ruler of the land

Gluttonous

17

Shelter from their enemies

They meet only briefly in groups

Smugglers of forbidden The outside world is goods hopelessly damned

Hateful

18

The god is hated by their foes

They pretend to be a harmless group

Steal arcane treasures from others

Sadistic

19

Their god accepts the despised

Threats to the common Summon demons into folk this world

20

Too deep to back out now

Troublemakers are made to vanish

Ally with a hostile foreign power

Theft is worship

Tormenting outsiders is Tyrannical virtuous

Transform victims into Unbeliever spellcasters monsters must all die

Vengeful

Wizard Expertise and Comparative Power As a rule of thumb, most back-country hedge wizards never pass third level, even after a lifetime of study and work. Most of them need to spend too much time making their own living and have little access to outside lore. Their apprentices usually come from their own family members, though now and then a childless wizard will take an apprentice or two just to ensure that their secrets are not lost- and that they have someone to support them when they grow too old to work.

of this level may not technically belong to the daifu nobility, but very few officials will risk treating him or her as anything less. Petty crimes and misdemeanors are almost always overlooked in the case of such wizards, but serious crimes bring a response born of a natural terror towards renegade magi. Other communities likewise tend to confer a sort of unofficial nobility on wizards of this rank, if only to avoid the problems that come from drawing their anger.

Wizards in cities and major towns have a much easier time obtaining instruction and the free time to study, but the personal talent and determination needed for true greatness is no more likely with them than it is with hedge wizards. They reach second or third level much sooner than their rural brethren, but few of them ever surpass that point. The personal sacrifices necessary for the command of greater powers is more than they care to give. Third or fourth level is enough to be regarded as a respectable professional sorcerer and to expect a modicum of courtesy from their colleagues in the art.

At ninth level, most wizards have left behind their associations with ordinary people. They usually dwell in solitude, either alone in towers deep in the wilderness, or in the company of a cabal of like-minded colleagues or apprentices. Most wizards of this level are either natural prodigies who have spent a lifetime honing their gifts or else they are men and women who have done horrible things to attain their stocks of sorcerous lore. Spellcasters this powerful are effectively above the law in most human communities, and towns and villages tend to view them more as ambulatory natural disasters than human beings. If a wizard grows too troublesome he can expect to see whole squadrons of assassins and adventurers dispatched to drive him away, or preferably to kill him. In the meanwhile, the locals endure his frightening ways and hope only to see him turn his attention elsewhere.

Fifth level marks the line between the uninspired bulk of sorcerers and those who have a real talent or a true devotion to the art. At fifth level, a wizard is noticed as a talent worthy of respect- and perhaps a little fear. Many of the wizards who reach this level do it by means that are not entirely wholesome, and the more powerful they get, the more likely it is that they've made certain compromises with morality. This doesn't necessarily mean cultic bargains or Stitched Path magic, though such are always popular with less naturallytalented magi, but it does mean that the wizard has been willing to do things that other men might shy from admitting.. Seventh level implies serious wizardry. Even in a healthy market town of several thousand people, one that naturally attracts wizards for the sake of its convenience and resources, there is rarely to be found more than one wizard this powerful. This is the highest level of wizard that is normally found within common human society, and the headmasters of most magical academies rank at this level. In Xianese lands, a wizard

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Past eleventh level, the wizard joins the ranks of former legends and the mighty sorcerers of old. His name is a byword for magical power, and great lords vie for his assistance. This pestering and the constant appeals to interrupt their studies often drive such wizards to even more emphatic reinforcement of their solitude, their magics and minions enlisted to build tower-fortresses far beyond the lands of men. Others find they enjoy having subjects, and become rulers of their own sorcerous domains, much as the Enlightened Sage of Tien Lung rules his amber-walled city. There are rarely more than a dozen wizards this powerful alive at any one time, though none can say what ancient sorcerers might still live in their long-forgotten fortresses.

Resources

The following pages include a variety of useful tables and quick references for the convenience of a busy Labyrinth Lord. As with any resource in this book, they should be used as cues and initial ideas to help spark your own creativity, and you should never feel obligated to take a result simply because the dice decree it. Even so, it can sometimes be interesting to let an unusual result lie, and think about the ways in which it might actually have come about. With Quick Wizard Generation, you can gin up a sorcerer with a fistful of twenty-sided dice. While handy for the rapid generation of flavor NPCs, you can also use it to generate the arcane schemer at the heart of your latest adventure. The character flaws, ferocious desires, and old grudges generated can be used as hooks for an adventure, or outline a possible plot for you to elaborate. If you’re going to be generating wizards, you’ll need spellbooks as well- and the Quick Wizard Spellbooks section provides premade spellbooks for all of the wizard classes given in this book. To use them, simply determine the wizard’s maximum spell slots for any

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given spell level, and then read off that many entries on the list, plus one. Thus, your average 3rd level High Path sorcerer would read off the first three entries on the first-level list and the first two entries on the second-level list. The sample spellbooks cover wizards of up to thirteenth level. Random Arcane Treasures are available for quick fill-in when you want to add an arcane tome or eldritch relic for the benefit of a party magic-user. These items have no practical magical function, but they do count as precious sources of research points, as described in the Works of Sorcery chapter. The scholarly curiosity of a sorcerer is insatiable, and so a Random Occult Tome generator is also provided. Just toss a few dice at these tables to create a grimoire suitable for inserting into random troves or plundered caches of ancient lore. Finally, you’ll find a Glossary to equip you with pronunciations for some of the more enigmatic words to be found within the book.

Quick Wizard Generation This set of tables is meant to equip you with a quick procedure for generating NPC wizards. The focus of these tables is not on the raw statistics or hit point totals of the NPC, but the qualities that might make him or her useful to you in planning an adventure.

Wizard Path Roll

Path

1-10

High Path

11-12 13 14 15-16 17-18 19 20

Astromancy Kuan Amelatu Makerite Theurge Mountain Way Nine Immortal Art Shakunasar Stitched Path

Each of the tables provides an element of the wizardnegative and positive personality traits, their reasons for adopting their path, an immediate desire they have and the subject of that passion, prominent enemies and friends they may have, present complications in their lives, important places to them, and the particular edge they have in dealing with their problems. You can roll on these tables as your judgment recommends. An NPC meant to be the chief of a crazed sorcerous cult might have several rolls for negative personality traits, while the decadent lord of a calcified arcane order might be eaten up by a half-dozen different passions.

The miscellaneous trait table can be used to give a bit of personal flavor to your wizards. You may not want to roll on all the tables, but instead just pick one or two to give some hook by which your players can remember a particular NPC. “That alchemist in the stained robes who smells like anchovies” tends to be an easier character to remember than one identified only by name.

You may wish to omit rolling for enemies, friends, or subjects of desire if you mean to fit the NPC into an existing social situation. Just use existing characters to fill those roles in the wizard’s life.

If you need to equip your wizard with a spell list, you can use the Quick Spellbook tables that follow to copy one down rapidly. The level and attributes of the NPC will vary based on your needs.

Wizard Traits Roll Why did they become a wizard? Negative Positive

Immediate Desire Subject of Desire

1

Aid his ethnicity or nation

Addicted

Brave

Arcane treasure

Adventurer

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Avenge a familial wrong Break an unwise youthful pact Carry on family tradition Chance to control others Create a better world with magic Defend against the Red Tide Defense against a cruel world Destroy a rival wizard Destroy the hated Shou Discern cosmic truths Earn gold with his magic Impress family or a beloved Magic proves he's superior Obligation to his beloved master Plumb the forgotten past Preserve ancient wisdom Satisfaction of his impossible desires Teach new generations of mages Without magic, he feels worthless

Ambitious Arrogant Bigoted Cowardly Cruel Deluded Envious Foolish Fraud Greedy Insulting Lazy Liar Lustful Obsessive Reckless Treacherous Vengeful Wrathful

Careful Clear-sighted Considerate Diligent Diplomatic Forgiving Friendly Generous Honest Humble Innovative Just Kind-hearted Loyal Peaceful Prudent Self-disciplined Temperate Unbiased

Concealment Debauchery Drugs Escape Favor Fear Gain forgiveness Gold Health Knowledge Love Magical item Obedience Protection Rare ingredient Religious sanction Teaching More time Truth

Apprentice Bandit chieftain Colleague Demonic entity Disgraced noble Famed courtesan Family member Foreign wizard Important official Known criminal Military officer Monstrous being Priest Servant Sinister crime boss Supernatural being Their former master Tong leader Wealthy merchant

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Relationships, Events, and Places of Importance to the Wizard Roll Enemy

120

Friend

Complications

Places

Edge

1

Accident victim

Adventuring A creature has gotten loose buddy

Abandoned dwarfhold

Friend of important official

2

Angry ghost

Childhood friend

A magical item has been stolen

Crumbling tower

Greatly respected in their path

3

Canny blackmailer

Coconspirator

A rival has stolen credit

Daifu's gilded palace

Has a precious magic item

4

Cheated adventurer

Co-religionist

A rival seeks their ruin or death

Dead wizard's crypt

Has blackmail on colleagues

5

Cheated colleague

Eager apprentice

A spellbook has been stolen

Forgotten prehuman tomb

Has blackmail on officials

6

Cheated merchant

Ex-rival

An experiment has gone wrong

Gem-studded cave

Has done renowed deeds of valor

7

Dead mage's family

Faithful servant

They have attracted demonic Haunted dwelling interest

Impeccable magical lineage

8

Demonic entity

Family member

They have something that Hidden arcane everyone around them wants library

Is uncommonly wealthy

9

Deposed noble

Former enemy

They are infatuated with someone

Hushed noble salon

Local government owes them favors

10

Eldritch being

Former lover

They are mocked by their colleagues

Infested ossuary

Married into a powerful family

11

Fellow apprentice

Grateful merchant

They are sick beyond common curing

Lonely mountaintop

More experienced than peers

12

Former friend

Indebted official

They are under official investigation

Long-buried shrine

Numerous people owe them money

13

Former lover

Loyal creation

They nurse a dangerous delusion

Lost monastery

Predictions are believed by nobles

14

Former master

Magical creature

They owe money to someone impatient

Place of natural power

Prophesied for greatness

15

Monstrous creation

Rescued noble

They study forbidden sorceries

Remote, secretive village

Remarkably skilled manipulator

16

Parent or child

Research colleague

Their apprentice has been killed by an enemy

Ruined family seat

Revered as a holy person

17

Rival colleague

Retired mentor

Their apprentices plot against them

Ruined former home of a mage

Saved important person's life

18

Suspicious official

Smitten noble

Their experiments are too dangerous

Ruins of a broken town

Son or daughter of a great family

19

Vengeful student

Trusted bodyguard

Their home is direly threatened

Site of a hideous slaughter

Taught now-powerful apprentices

20

Victim of theft

War buddy

Their old master plots against them

Storm-lashed island

Well-liked by everyone

Miscellaneous Traits Roll Clothing Tastes

Physical Traits

Quirks

Servant

Home Decor

1

Aggresively Beaky or oversized immodest couture nose

Never eats or drinks in public

A beautiful porce- Dusty relics of lain golem-woman long-past glory

2

Austere cotton robes

Blinded in one eye

Fond of recreational drugs

A gnarled homun- Exquisite rugs and culus with evil eyes wall hangings

3

Brocaded silks

Casts no shadow

Abusive toward social inferiors

A simple village lad

Full of smoking vats and alembics

4

Clothing blazoned Chiming voice with family seal

Careless with money

An inept but attractive prentice

Harshly austere simplicity

5

Clothing stained with chemicals

Coldly perfect beauty

Great admirer of artists

Bestial product of a Interior drapery mage’s laboratory much like a tent

6

Clothing stitched with arcane sigils

Emaciated facial features

Is a poet, whether good or bad

Bossy servant who always knows best

7

Clothing stitched with jewels

Entirely bald

Convinced of their Defrocked heretical Many ethnic relics own perfect taste priest and decorations

8

Drab street clothes Eyes glow faintly

9

Ethnic costume

Fingernails are metallic

10

Fancifully hatted and clad in silk

Glowing sigils worn Prone to getting like tattoos lost

11

Furs and hides

Hair of metallic strands

Constantly brags of Grizzled old their path’s power sergeant

Numerous shrines and prayer-scrolls

12

Garishly-colored outfits

Harsh, abrasive voice from injury

Afraid of opposite sex

Honor-bound dwarven servant

Physics-defying elven artifacts

13

Jewel-toned satins

Isn’t reflected in mirrors

Has a great fear of wild animals

Man of iron and brass

Protective sigils on every vertical wall

14

Little more than tattoos or paint

Limned with a faint Likes to perform shimmering secret kind acts

Rakish ne’er-dowell

Scrolls extolling their fine lineage

15

Old military uniform

Missing fingers

Hates giving direct Renegade archivist Scrolls of beautiful answers to queries full of mad ideas calligraphy

16

Shabby, ill-kept robes

Moves with a pronounced limp

Greatly attracted to Slender-fingered other ethnicity “ex”-assassin

17

Star-spangled robes

Numerous small Cares much about scars on their hands omens and luck

18

Sturdy adventurer’s Skin patched with traveling garb old scars

19

Tooled leathers

Smells of lab chemicals

Despises bad manners

20

Translucent gauzes

Unusually long fingers

Loves arguing with Wizened long-time Walls covered in priests family servant diagrams and maps

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Litters of papers and stacked books

Elf who serves for his own reasons

Numerous adventuring trophies

Great lover of Ex-slave who owes eating and drinking the wizard much

Numerous display cases full of relics

Extremely vain

Former pirate who Numerous plants now dreads the sea and growing things

Street urchin with ambitions

Constantly consult- Superb halfling ing horoscopes cook and servant

Shelves full of wellorganized books Stuffed and mounted beasts Tasteful Kueh-style minimalism

Thinly-veiled The latest Xianese concubine/catamite fashions in decor

Quick Wizard Spellbooks To quickly determine the contents of a wizard’s spellbook, just determine the maximum number of spells he can cast for a given level, and then tick off that many spells plus one for each level listed below. For example, a fifth level High Path magic-user can cast 2 first, 2 second, and 1 third level spell- so you’d mark off the first 3 spells from the level one and two rows below and the first 2 spells from level three.

Astromancy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Celestial Bolt, Detect Magic, Lesser Omen, Read Magic, Theft of Luck Sleep, Horoscope, Lucky Token, Blazing Gaze, Greater Omen Foul Fortune, Dispel Magic, Curse, Avert Fate, Assured Destiny True Seeing, Unveiled Verity, Starfall, Bleak Forewarning Celestial Door, Commune, Past Shadows, Paralyzing Choice Sagacious Insight, Poisoned Outcome, Far Sight Alter Fate, Prophecy

2 3 4 5 6 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Detect Magic, Sleep, Read Magic, Charm Person, Magic Missile Invisibility, Web, Mirror Image, Phantasmal Force, ESP Fire Ball, Dispel Magic, Fly, Haste, Protection from Normal Missiles Charm Monster, Wall of Fire, Confusion, Polymorph Self Teleport, Hold Monster, Cloudkill, Animate Dead Disintegrate, Geas, Death Spell Power Word Stun, Delayed Blast Fireball

1 2 3

5 6 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 122

Cold Tongue, Detect Magic, Scent of the Grave, Gift of Peace, Read Magic Speak with Dead, Sleep, Minor Vitalize, Deathly Sight, Mark of Condemnation Call of the Grave, Dispel Magic, Deanimate Dead, Adept's Ward, Purify Flesh Detect Lie, Commune with the Dead, Sanguinary Ignition, Scars of Dedication Cenotaph Road, Osseous Subversion, Restoration, Dispel Evil Summons to the Dawn, Immortal Hate, Shattering the Chain Contagious Mortality, Avenging Light

Cure Light Wounds, Searing Truth, Charm Person, Detect Magic, Protection from Evil Burning Guilt, ESP, Formula of Absolution, Bless, Inflict Taboo Eruption of Light, Dispel Magic, Inexorable Command, Cure Disease, Remove Curse Rain of Obloquy, Neutralize Poison, Charm Monster, Detect Lie Flame Strike, Cure Critical Wounds, Dispel Evil, Conjure Elemental Power Word Stun, Raise Dead, Heal Holy Word, Restoration

Mountain Way 1 2 3

Kuan Amelatu Necrolatry

Cold Tongue, Detect Magic, Scent of the Grave, Gift of Peace, Read Magic Speak with Dead, Sleep, Minor Vitalize, Deathly Sight, Mark of Condemnation Call of the Grave, Dispel Magic, Deanimate Dead, Adept's Ward, Purify Flesh Detect Lie, Commune with the Dead, Sanguinary Ignition, Scars of Dedication Cenotaph Road, Osseous Subversion, Restoration, Dispel Evil Summons to the Dawn, Immortal Hate, Shattering the Chain Contagious Mortality, Avenging Light

Makerite Theurgy

4

High Path and Stitched Path 1

Kuan Amelatu Necrolatry

4 5 6 7

Blast of the Elements, Detect Magic, Sense Elements, Read Magic, Wind Shield Feet of Clay, Reeking Cloud, Fiery Bolt, Bless, Wind Steps Fire Ball, Dispel Magic, Fly, Eruption of Broken Earth, Tempest Barrier Thunderclap, Mountain Leap, Cleansing Rain, Mold Stone Conjure Elemental, Elemental Gate, Frigid Rain, Wind Scythes Mantle of Winds, Chariot of the Winds, Boiling Geyser Burning Mountain Strike, Ribbons of Salt and Foam

Nine Immortal Art 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Phantasmal Force, Cure Light Wounds, Detect Magic, Butterfly Step, Read Magic Thunderclap Shout, Invisibility, Transmute Matter, Continual Light, Effortless Vitality Poison Essence, Dispel Magic, Haste, Fly, Cure Disease Jade Venom Fan, Polymorph Self, Harmonious Passage, Prison of Burning Grass Sage's Sure Journey, Knives of Inexhaustible Hate, Dream of the Wise, Cloudkill Pavilion of Smoke, Raise Dead, Geas Hiding the Golden Jewel, Heal

Shakunasar 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Charm Person, Detect Magic, Cure Light Wounds, Read Magic, Enervate Beasts Altered Aspect, Vitality Siphon, Speak with Animal, Tailored Venom, Bless Polymorph Self, Dispel Magic, Mist of Osseous Decay, Hold Person, Cure Disease Charm Monster, Cure Serious Wounds, Fog of Passions, Skyward Flock Hold Monster, Protoplasmic Servitor, Reshape the Slave, Feeblemind Heal, Rebel Skin, Conjure Animals Enforce Obedience, Leaping Plague

Random Arcane Treasures If the new research and spell development rules in the Works of Sorcery chapter are being used in your campaign, you’ll need to make sure that a suitable amount of arcane plunder is available. It’s not necessary to absolutely ensure that this treasure is found by the magic-users, especially if you’re running a sandbox game, but if it’s not discovered in the course of ordinary adventuring you can expect the magic-user PCs to start explicitly hunting for it. Magic-user PCs can’t gain new spells without spending research points, and that means either slow, expensive private research or locating lost occult treasures. Most magic-users won’t have enough gold or sufficient facilities to support their ambitions on purely personal efforts, so that means you’re eventually going to have to produce some magical treasures for them to hunt. The following list of occult finds provide quick results when stocking a lost library or filling out the private laboratory of a cult sorcerer. Truly valuable arcane resources are guarded jealously and gathered voraciously, so it’s not unusual to find very dissimilar arcane tomes in a sorcerer’s private collection. The research point value of a given arcane treasure will depend on the context in which it was found. If you’re stocking the sanctum of an ancient lich, odds are that the books he prizes are going to be far more potent than the papers hidden under the bed of a petty hedge wizard. 123

First determine the general difficulty level of obtaining the books. Plunder that could be simple for a novice adventurer to obtain might qualify as a 1st level resource, while that lich’s favorite bedtime reading might be the sort of thing that 14th level heroes would struggle to seize. When in doubt, using the general level range of the adventure itself is a good choice. Then roll 1d6+2 and multiply the result by the difficulty level- that’s how many research points the item is worth. Most plundered lore will take the form of References, obliging the finder to maintain possession of the book to hold on to its occult lore. A few finds might be Enlightenments, however, gifting the possessor with wisdom that is not reliant on the possession of a particular tangible object. Most wizards will do almost anything to recover lost Reference works. Without the ability to consult the item and use it as a token of arcane authority, they lose all the research points it granted- which means that they can’t master anything new until they either recover the book or learn enough fresh material to make up the deficit. A wizard who loses a mighty tome might be facing years of painstaking reconstruction of the material if he doesn’t somehow reclaim it from the verminous adventurers who plundered his tower.

Roll 1-2 3-4

5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 15-16 17-18 19-20 21-22 23-24 25-26 27-28 29-30 31-32 33-34 35-36 37-38 39-40 41-42 43-44 45-46 47-48 49-50

124

Treasure

Random Arcane Treasures Roll Treasure

Black jade tablets of a prehuman serpentine race, the surfaces inscribed with crawling characters. Disassembled golem parts with mechanisms of eldritch alloys and shells inlaid with strange gemstones Flasks of rare oils and powders that can be used up in experiments that grant research points of Enlightenment. Tomes bound in the blasphemously-tattooed skins of dwarven Repenters Fragmentary papyri from a distant land, speaking of the rites of dead gods An hourglass etched with meditations upon the nature of time and sand that flows both up and down A sheaf of brittle scrolls penned by a maddened genius in the art of oneiromancy A cloth woven of the hair of sorcerer-elves with words of power picked out in black strands Engravings cut deep within a stone wall that grant Enlightenment to a student A once-common collection of Imperial sorcery primers, vanishingly rare since the Exile A sphere containing a shimmering light that shows visions of arcane truth A reagent that dissolves an object into platonic fragments, granting Enlightenment as it is expended. Records of hideous necromantic experiments conducted by a cruel daifu on his estate Books of dreams analyzed for their arcane meaning Monstrous leather strings knotted in patterns of occult significance The blasphemous prayer books of a Makerite heretic, the margins full of dark recordings The skulls of seven great brother-wizards inscribed with their teachings in blood-red stains The war diary of a mage during the Landing, describing the sorceries common at the time A brilliant hedge-wizard's scrawlings on sheaves of cat hide Iron-bound tomes with leaves of hammered copper speaking of the roots of the world Perfumed volumes of tedious allegorical poetry on alchemical topics Rambling codices depicting a necromancer's slide into enlightened madness Banned volumes of a powerful junzi's horrific occult experimentation on slaves Imperial handbooks of practical sorcerous engineering methods Village wizard's life work in a stack of notebooks on plant growth and fertility

51-52

A chime of seven bells inscribed with occult diagrams; the tones bring Enlightenment

53-54

A set of books written by an elven sorcerer in the course of eight reincarnations

55-56

A pillow book written by a concubine-sorceress, occult truths allegoricized in the debauched images

58-58

Blood-smeared texts recording a torturer's interviews with dozens of guilty wizards

59-60 Vials of rare drugs that produce visions of Enlightenment 61-62 63-64 65-66 67-68 69-70 71-72 73-74 75-76 77-78 79-80 81-82 83-84 85-86 87-88 89-90 91-92 93-94 95-96 97-98 99-00

Incense that burns in patterns of consequence, granting Enlightenment to viewers Books fashioned of pale fish-leather and sea-bone, watery truths uttered within Thin, unnaturally tough sheets of obsidian etched with red-glowing occult lore A weeping mandrake root etched with bleeding sigils; to eat it grants Enlightenment A long row of tedious but extremely comprehensive occult handbooks A bestiary of dream, writing of fauna that exists only within oneiromantic realms Strange metal codex in an unknown language that describes bizarre biological experiments A few scorched volumes describing an elementalist's obsessive study of flame A puzzle-box that folds and unfolds in ways that teach much of spatial truths A never-empty flask inscribed with dark sigils; the wine gives visions when drunk Folded sheets of letters and marks that resolve into arcane secrets when properly manipulated A massive iron-bound tome containing the last confessions of an infernal sorcerer A book bound in the blackened leather of demons that speaks of apotropaic rites A hideously grinning mannikin in a bottle who whispers truths to its owner A case of books inscribed by one of the last survivors of the Landing, passing on his wisdom Books full of a grandfather's instruction to his granddaughter in the finer points of infernalism Volumes full of formulae to compel the gods to grant the sorcerer's desires Codex listing hundreds of obscure entities and the steps needed to pact with them Green-bound volume that sweats at times, full of arcane observations on flesh A mountain-wizard's observations collected on the skins of wild goats

Random Occult Tome Creation The tomes provided by the random arcane treasures table are quick and easy drop-ins for your adventure creation, but there are times when you need to brew up something entirely new. These tables allow you to generate an arcane tome with a few quick rolls. The tables are self-explanatory- roll 1d20 four times to generate the “Ineffable Folio of Sapphire Labor”, for example. The topics given here are largely for flavor purposes. They do not limit what can be done with the research points obtained from the book. Formats Roll

Format

Material

1

Books

Paper

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Scrolls

Wood

Loose Papers

Copper

Tablets

Gold

Drawings

Silver

Threaded Slats

Stone

Thin Sheets

Cloth

Sculptings

Parchment or Skin

125

Adjective Accursed Awesome Bitter Damned Enlightening Erudite Forbidden Harrowing Illimitable Illuminating Impenetrable Indubitable Ineffable Inexplicable Lamentable Perspicacious Proscribed Sagacious Unanswerable Veracitous

Title Part Album Atlas Book Codex Compendium Dissertation Essay Folio Grimoire Handbook Incunabulum Index Lexicon Libram Manual Omnibus Pandect Primer Rescript Tome

Quality Amber Amethyst Azure Brass Copper Crimson Crystalline Ebony Emerald Golden Iron Jeweled Leaden Obsidian Onyx Sapphire Scaled Scarlet Silver Viridian

Roll Author 1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Roll

Name Elements d20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Authorship

Virtue Actuality Affliction Apprehension Axioms Devotion Enlightenment Exactitude Experience Labor Obsession Perception Perfection Principles Studies Truth Understanding Undertaking Verity Wisdom Workings

An unknown author of remarkable brilliance A survivor of the exodus that fled the Red Tide A cruel and debased infernalist A crazed devotee of a sorcerous cult An aged master writing at the end of his life A paragon of a particular magical path An alien-minded elven adept writing for his Creed Some unknown pre-human sorcerer Shou azu scribing truths for his apprentice A demon penning an aid for his slave-mage A promising young genius who died mysteriously Last adept of a dying magical tradition

Topic

Topic Roll Topic

1-2

Aeromancy

51-52 Mentalism

3-4

Animals

53-54 Mountains

5-6

Animation

55-56 Music

7-8

Aquamancy

58-58 Necromancy

9-10

Astrology

59-60 Obscuration

11-12

Avians

61-62 Oneiromancy

13-14

Awful secrets

63-64 Pacts

15-16

Celestial beings

65-66 Plants

17-18

Conjuration

67-68 Poison

19-20

Creating Life

69-70 Pyromancy

21-22

Curses

71-72 Revivification

23-24

Disease

73-74 Sacrifices

25-26

Divination

75-76 Secret History

27-28

Earth magic

77-78 Shapeshifting

29-30

Emotion

79-80 Smithcraft

31-32

Enchantment

81-82 Storms

33-34

Energies

83-84 Summoning

35-36

Exorcism

85-86 Teleportation

37-38

Fertility

87-88 Theurgy

39-40

Illusions

89-90 Time

41-42

Immortality

91-92 Underground

43-44

Infernalism

93-94 Visions

45-46

Insanity

95-96 Warding

47-48

Instruction

97-98 Wizard's diary

49-50

Maps

99-00 Words of Power

Library of Arcane Treasures Reference or Enlightenment

Value

Reference or Enlightenment

Total

Value

Total

Record of Sagacious Expenditures Point Expenditure

Cost

Total

Point Expenditure

Cost

Total

Glossary and Pronunciation Guide Altgrimmr

ALT-grimmer

Angrimmr

ANG-grimmer

Azu

AH-zoo

Eirengard

EYE-ren-guard

Ektau

EHK-taow

Eshkanti

esh-KHAN-tee

Fangshi

fahng-SHEE

Gadaal

gah-DAL

Kuan Amelatu

KOOAHN ah-meh-LAH-too

Kueh Necrolator Red Tide

KOO-eh neh-CROL-ah-tor

Shakunasar

shah-KOON-ah-sahr

Shogunate

Shou

SHOO

Theurge Tien Lung

THEE-urj TEE-en LUHNG

Xian

SHEE-ahn

Yamabushi

yah-mah-boo-shi

127

The name of both a mountain range on Ektau and the capital of the southern dwarven colony in the Sunset Isles. Once the seat of dwarven power in the Isles, but the ancient community vanished a thousand years ago with no visible explanation. The northern mountain range on Aktau and the city of the dwarven High King, the nominal ruler of the dwarven recolonization effort that began centuries ago. A practitioner of the biomantic, mind-bending arts of the ancient Shou scientists and flesh-shapers. The lost republic of vaguely theocratic city-states that birthed both the famed Eirengarder pikemen and the Makerite faith. Eirengarders are big, blonde, and notable for their piety. Largest island in the Sunset Isles archipelago, home to the majority of human inhabitants as well as the Mandarinate of Xian, the most powerful human city-state. Traders, raiders, and wanderers of the desert land of Eshkant, now numbered among the peoples of the Sunset Isles. An adept of the Nine Immortal Art and aspirant toward immortality. A mountain people known for their very dark skin, jeweltoned eyes, and unnaturally accurate divinatory arts. An elven Creed devoted to protecting the dead and avenging their unsatisfied wrongs Pale, slim, dark-eyed heirs to the lords of the northern coasts A practitioner of the death-sorcery of the Kuan Amelatu The surge of red mist that swiftly consumed the entire world three hundred years ago. Only the Archmage Lammach’s ragged fleet of survivors made it to the safety of the Sunset Isles. The Tide still churns a hundred miles off shore, sending strange dreams to its wretched, hidden cults. The ancient biological sorceries of the Shou. Mistrusted in human lands, but too useful to be forbidden. The damned domain in northern Ektau in thrall to the Hell Kings, the souls of its people bargained away by its sorcerous Shogun to save them from death at the hands of the Shou. Near-human tribal savages that hate humans almost as much as they hate each other. Called “orcs”, “goblins”, “bugbears”, and “hobgoblins” by the Eirengarders. A sorcerer who draws his powers from holy words and rites Yellow-walled jungle city of slaves, drugs, and Stitched Path sorcery. Ruled by the cruel Enlightened Sage. Greatest city in the Isles, and capital of the relatively benign Mandarinate of Xian. Devotee of the Mountain Path of the Kueh.

A Adept’s Ward 26 Altered Aspect 72 Alter Fate 6, 10 Analyze Potion 72 Apprentices 88 Arcane Academies 108 Arcane Mitosis 72 Assured Destiny 6, 10 Astromancy 5 Astromancer Spell List 6 Astromancy Spells 10 Class Abilities 9 Augur’s Sight 6, 10 Auspicious Direction 62 Auspicious Journey 6, 10 Avenging Light 26 Avert Fate 6, 10

B Baffled Stars 6, 11 Banish Demons 40 Banish Undead 40 Battle Auspice 6, 11 Beguile Undead 26 Beguiling Sermon 40 Blast of the Elements 50 Blazing Gaze 6, 11 Bleak Forewarning 6, 11 Blighted Legion 6, 11 Blinding Radiance 40 Blood Ties 26 Boiling Geyser 50 Borrowed Time 6, 11 Braid the Soul 6, 11 Building a magical being 91 Burning Mountain Strike 50 Burning Reproof 40 Butterfly Step 62

C Call of the Grave 26 Celestial Bolt 6, 12 Celestial Door 6, 12 Celestial Lamp 6, 12 Cenotaph Road 26 Chariot of the Winds 50 Clay Soldier Army 62 Cleansing Rain 50 Cleansing Steps 40 Closing the Book 40 Cloud of Condemnation 6, 12 Cold Tongue 26 Command Elemental 50 Commune with the Dead 27

128

Index

Conclaves 111 Confessional Binding 27 Contagious Mortality 27 Contingent Sorcery 6, 12 Corpselight 27 Corpsewalker 27 Creation’s Ban 41 Crown of Storms 50 Crystalline Burst 72 Cyclone 51

D Dead Legion 27 Deanimate Dead 28 Deathless Zeal 28 Deathly Misfortune 6, 12 Deathly Sight 28 Defer Doom 6, 12 Deliquescent Cloud 72 Desiccating Wind 51 Discern Recipe 62 Disease Swarm 72 Draining Touch 28 Dream of the Wise 62 Dust of Repair 73

E Echoes of the Next 6, 13 Effacing Word 6, 13 Effortless Vitality 62 Elemental Blessing 51 Elemental Gate 51 Elemental Impunity 51 Elixir of Might 73 End Debate 41 Enervate Beasts 73 Enforce Obedience 73 Enlightenments 83 Entangled Fates 6, 13 Eruption of Broken Earth 52 Eruption of Light 41 Essence Blades 63 Exorcism 28 Extinguish Flame 52

F Far Sight 6, 13 Fated Blade 6, 13 Faultless Reasoning 41 Favored Path 6, 13 Feature Costs 101 Feet of Clay 52 Fertility Philtre 73 Fiery Bolt 52 Fog of Passions 74

Footsteps of Falling Leaves 63 Formula of Absolution 42 Foul Fortune 6, 14 Free the Soul 28 Frigid Rain 52 Fruiting Vine 52

G Galvanic Vitality 74 Garden of Black Knives 52 Gift of Peace 28 Greater 32

H Hammer of the Maker 42 Harmonious Passage 63 Healer’s Eye 74 Hide of Myriad Plates 74 Hiding the Golden Jewel 63 High Path 18 High Path Progression 19 Horoscope 6, 14 Houses of Stone 53

I Identify Magic 6, 14 Ignite Potential 74 Immortal Hate 29 Impassible Flesh 29 Inexorable Approach 29 Inexorable Command 42 Inflict Taboo 42 Initiate’s Ward 29 Invert Plague 74 Invincible Health 63 Iron Prophet’s Guard 42

J

Lord of the Gate 29

M Makerite Theurgy 34 Theurge Progression 35 Theurge Spell List 35 Theurgy Spells 40 Mantle of Flame 53 Mantle of Noon 30 Mark of Condemnation 30 Master’s Ward 30 Metal to Ore 53 Minor 33 Miracle 43 Mist of Osseous Decay 75 Mold Stone 53 Mold Water 53 Mold Wood 53 Mountain Leap 54 Mountain Stride 54 Mountain Way 46 Mountain Way Progression 47 Mountain Way Spell List 47 Mountain Way Spells 50

N Nine Immortal Art 57 Nine Immortal Art Progression 58 Nine Immortal Art Spell List 58 Nine Immortal Art Spells 62 Nine Lives 6, 14 Nourishing Breath 64

O Omen, Greater 6, 15 Omen, Lesser 6, 15 Open Burrow 54 Osseous Subversion 30

Jade Venom Fan 63

P

K

Paralyzing Choice 6, 15 Parchment Inquisition 43 Past Shadows 6, 15 Pavilion of Smoke 64 Peach Blossom Elixir 64 Perfect Adaptation 75 Perfect Recollection 43 Plum-Wine Mansion 64 Poisoned Outcome 6, 15 Poison Essence 65 Prison of Burning Grass 65 Prophecy 6, 15 Protoplasmic Servitor 75 Purify Flesh 30 Purify Weapon 54

Knives of Inexhaustible Hate 64 Know Impurity 42 Know the Heretic 42 Kuan Amelatu 21 Kuan Amelatu Progression 22 Kuan Amelatu Spell List 22 Kuan Amelatu Spells 26

L Lantern of the Moon 53 Leader of the Pack 75 Leaping Plague 75 Learning Spells 89 Lesser 32 Light the Inner Flaw 6, 14

129

R Rainburst 54 Rain of Obloquy 43 Rampaging Minion 76 Razored Hands 76 Rebel Skin 76 Reckoning 30 Reeking Cloud 54 Research Months 83 Research Points 83 Reshape the Slave 76 Restore Wholeness 65 Reveal Ambition 43 Ribbons of Salt and Foam 54 Rod of Disruption 76 Rushing Wind 55

S Sagacious Insight 6, 16 Sage’s Shelter 55 Sage’s Sure Journey 65 Sanctify Grave 30 Sanctums 98 Sanguinary Ignition 31 Scars of Dedication 31 Scent of the Grave 31 Scourge the Unbeliever 43 Searing Blade 55 Searing Truth 44 Second Stroke 6, 16 Sense Elements 55 Servants 105 Shakunasar 67 Shakunasar Progression 68 Shakunasar Spell List 68 Shakunasar Spells 72 Shattering the Chain 31 Sight of the Sky 6, 16 Sigil of Feral Dominance 77 Skin-Hardening Solution 77 Skyward Flock 77 Skyward Shape 77 Slave-Shaped Legion 77 Smite Spirit 65 Sorcerous Cults 113 Speak with Dead 31

130

Spectral Ride 32 Spellbook 84 Starfall 6, 16 Steel the Pious Will 44 Stitched Path 79 Stone Like Glass 55 Structure Costs 100 Summon Celestial Servitor 44 Summon Spark 44 Summons to the Dawn 32

T Tailored Venom 77 Tempest Barrier 55 That Which Waits No More 32 Theft of Luck 6, 16 Thunderclap 55 Thunderclap Shout 65 Tireless March 78 Titanic Surge 78 Touch of Night 32 Transfixing Spear 44 Transmute Matter 66 True Speech 6, 16 Turtle Bone Oracle 66

U Unburn 56 Unendurable Word 44 Unmake 45 Unveiled Verity 6, 16

V Venomous Touch 78 Vision of Salvation 6, 17 Vitality Siphon 78 Vitalize 32, 33

W Wall of Bone 33 Ward against Toxins 78 Wind Scythes 56 Wind Shield 56 Wind Steps 56

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