ANT-LERRR: Magic Users

Showing posts with label Magic Users. Show all posts

Monday, 19 January 2015

Bound to a Higher Power

A wizard's power is often not entirely his. Legends are rife with mages bargaining and sacrificing to gather power from things not human. Often these bargains leave their mark, unique to the entreated thing. It is known that such spirits hate familiars not of their choosing, and that this feeling flows both ways. A magic-user balancing between two such bargains is walking a perilous path indeed.

To begin bargaining, one must first find the ritual to call the entity. Such things are hidden, and given up only grudgingly. It is worth noticing that such rituals only call - they do not bind. Such entities cannot easily be bound, and one powerful enough to do so has no need to bargain with them.

Once found, the ritual must be performed, and then the bargaining begins. Not everything these things want will make sense, but one can be assured of their malignant purpose. Once completed, the cast will be marked (table 1) and the entity departs, granting the user benefits to their power. (table 2)

Once an initial pact is made, those who serve their masters well may ask for additional favours. These may be at reduced cost, but will never contradict the entities wishes.

Bonds with weaker entities are possible, and are generally done in a more equal manner, although the gifts are far weaker. Most often, the exchange is that of magical power (slots, buffer points) in return for favours to be cashed in when the entity sees fit. These requests can be ignored, though this spoils the relationship with the entity who may decide to collect more forcefully. If the debt is great enough, additional entities may attempt to collect a soul-bounty.

Marks - Roll for mark and location.

d20	Mark	Location
1	Necrosis.	Forehead.
2	Single, large eye. (50% chance of being dead.)	Eyelid.
3	Cluster of smaller eyes. (Same chance as above.)	Neck.
4	Thick, ugly, matted fur. It stinks.	Mouth.
5	Area becomes bone, and obviously so.	Ear.
6	Pale, unhealthy light radiates from the area.	Right arm.
7	Permanent wound. (30% chance infected, 30% chance burn (not exclusive))	Left arm.
8	Blasphemous tattoo. (50% chance living ink, shifts to various hideous scenes)	Shoulder.
9	Needle-thin quills. (10% chance poisonous)	Back.
10	Minute feathers.	Chest.
11	Gaping mouth. (5% chance speech-capable. 15% chance requires feeding.)	Stomach.
12	Spike. (40% chance bone, 30% chance metal, 10% chance stone, 20% more exotic material)	Back of the hand.
13	Sigil in scar-tissue.	Palm.
14	Visible tumours.	Right leg.
15	Finger-width portal into nothingness.	Left leg.
16	Skin becomes fabric. The pattern shifts.	Right foot.
17	Insect limbs protrude, wriggling madly.	Left foot.
18	A single tentacle sprouts.	Groin.
19	The area is removed. If it is deemed essential, a replacement is offered. This replacement will be inhuman.	Inside the eye itself.
20	No visible mark.	Tongue.

Table 2 - Roll however many times seem appropriate given the bargain.

d10	Gift
1	Additional spell slots / buffer points.
2	Knowledge of spells appropriate to the entity.
3	Knowledge regarding a topic appropriate to the entity.
4	The use of a servitor bound to the entity.
5	The loyalty of lesser servants, on the condition you give the same to greater servants than yourself.
6	A specific item in the entities power to create or possess.
7	The ability to channel the entities power entirely once a month.
8	Counsel on one question a week.
9	Freedom from human frailties (i.e. no ageing, disease, hunger, thirst etc.)
0	A position of promise in the entities court. The invoker is taken to its realm permanently if they cannot offer something more.

Wednesday, 7 January 2015

Blackened and Twisted by Power

Spellburn in DCC is pretty badass, although the existing system requires the spellcheck to make sense beyond recovering spent spells, making using it in LotFP tricky.

What if it wasn't optional?

Magic Users no longer memorise spells, but they do have to lug either a spellbook or a scroll containing spells they wish to cast around with them. Casting a spell now burns off ability points from a physical statistic (determined by spell or a roll) equal to the spells level.

Using the same level brackets as exist for memorisation, we can determine what is within the wizards easy grasp - second level spells become usable at third level, for example. Magic Users can over-extend, but they burn DOUBLE the spells level in ability points, meaning second level spells cost four ability points until the caster reaches third level, third level spells cost six until fifth level, etc. Spellburn damage must heal naturally, at the rate of about a point every [whenever makes sense for your campaign. I'd go for a week.]

To make magic a little more palatable, Magic Users do slowly develop a 'Buffer' of faux-ability points to feed the magic, representing their finer grasp of the magical arts as they advance up the levels. The Buffer should probably regenerate daily, and is equal to the Magic Users level. This amount never exceeds the cost for over-extension, meaning doing so will always incur at least a small amount of spellburn.

Other fun things to steal from DCC for Magic Users is the magic corruption table, perhaps to be invoked whenever a novice warlock over-extends? Or just as a level-up 'perk.' Also Patrons would be really cool. Even if you never intend on running DCC, it's worth picking up just for subsystems to cannibalize.

Sunday, 26 October 2014

Old Familiar, yet less than faithful

Familiars are not an assumed default - magic users must seek them out and entreaty them to enter into the Familiar's Pact, the details of which the creature in question will dictate. Not any creature can be a familiar, but there appears to be no common trend amongst those which can besides some touch of magic about them. Not all can speak, and so the use of Comprehend Languages may be in order. Once the Pact is made, the MU and their familiar will be able to speak and understand each other.

Familiars have something to gain from the bargain - this much should be obvious. They are individual, intelligent beings and demand to be treated as such. They have their own agendas, which they may or may not share. Many will allow themselves to be used as magical batteries, re-usable scrolls - although there is no guarantee that the familiar will not use the stored spell to further their own agendas.

Due to the limited number of familiars in the world, a popular acquisition method is the murder of the previous owner followed by offering terms to the now-master-less familiar - familiars cannot break pacts, nor can MUs. Familiars tend to take a vicious glee in this, regardless of their stance on violence in normal contexts.

Familiars can be asked to do a variety of tasks, and will generally agree, although this will vary by temperament, and they will never follow through with tasks they feel are too dangerous. As mentioned before, they can cast spells stored in them, either on own their own initiative or at the caster's order. They have HD appropriate to creature.

The only common theme for a given pact is the permanent loss of d6 HP by the MU, to a minimum of one. General terms should be negotiated in-character, whilst more esoteric requirements can be rolled below.

Roll as many times as the familiar tells you to.

**edit - blogspot swallowed my table, hence less than useful format.

D10

Terms

Other familiars you meet must be killed, or their plots discovered and thwarted.

Weekends off. The MU must not travel too far from the familiar, effectively halting movement beyond a day’s travel. Weekends off can be waived, but only in promise of next week off at the familiar’s choice.

They must not be watched eating, and will only eat incredibly specific foodstuffs which may or may not be easily acquired. The MU must provide this food.

The MU must remain celibate. If this is not followed, the MU’s lover will be found in chunks about the next adventure location. The familiar will not divulge information on how this was achieved.

Rituals must be performed to the familiar every full moon, often involving expensive perfumes and incenses.

The MU, and by extension the familiar, cannot enter sacred ground. If they enter said ground unawares, they have d4 minutes of uncomfortable itching before they burst into flames. These flames do not go out until put out conventionally, outside of the holy ground.

The MU must speak and write in verse – no prose can be read. Spells are pushing the envelope, but just about get by. The familiar will critique the poetry.

Whenever a tattooist is discovered, the MU must get tattoos of arcane symbols and of the familiar. The first 3 must be easily visible.

The familiar will drink the blood of the MU every night, reducing healing by 1 point every other night from constant cuts.

The familiar despises a spell, and completely bans the MU from casting it. Determine the spell randomly. The MU is physically incapable of that spell.

All familiar effects only last as long as the pact - barring the HP loss, which represents the binding of the MUs soul with the familiar itself. It is theorised this is not actually needed, but used as a method of keeping masters under control.

Familiars can appear in any form, although most prefer subtle, easily explained forms like conventional animals, travelling companions and the such. Others are highly unconventional and have varying difficulties being hidden, such as a disease-familiar or a huge fantastic beast. They have the dietary requirements (unless specifically mentioned in the pact) of a standard creature of their chosen type. The form cannot change.