This class draws heavily from the Mage class in the Old School Essentials zine "Carcass Crawler Volume 1", as well as, you know, Gandalf.
Magic has long been tamed. Gone are the days of binding unruly spirits to your will, of spell failure and horrible accidents, of Doomed sorcerers laying waste to entire nations. You weren't apprenticed to a tower-bound recluse; you studied for years in a state-sponsored school designed to produce high-functioning servants of the empire. Now your allegiance has faltered, for whatever reason, and that reliable, standard magic you were taught may prove essential in your journey. Perhaps you'll unearth older, freer arts of magic along the way, and bring them to light.
Starting Equipment: A staff inlaid with runes in bronze wire or a bronze ritual dagger, fancy robes, a two-shot derringer with 4 rounds, a notebook, a pen that writes in your blood without requiring an open wound (just takes it straight from your veins), and an addiction to nicotine or laudanum.
Skills: Arcana and 1d3: 1. Research, 2. Occultism, 3. Tinkering
A: Dependable Magic
B: +1 Magical Talent, +1 Improved Talent
C: +1 Magical Talent, +1 Improved Talent
D: State Truth, +1 Magical Talent, +1 Improved Talent
Dependable Magic: You are possessed of various magical abilities, which you can perform reliably and at will. Gain 3 Magical Talents from the list below. To use these abilities, you must have a magical implement in your hand (your staff or ritual dagger, for example) and the ability to speak freely. You gain one additional talent and can improve one talent you already possess for each template of Wizard you take.
State Truth: You have a pool of 15 words, with which you can make statements that will become absolute truth. Every word you use in these statements is subtracted from your pool, which can never be refilled. The DM should be charitable with their interpretation of the truths and consider your intent. The truths you create do not necessarily persist indefinitely or apply universally, depending on the magnitude: if you say "The Sun is gone," the Sun will only disappear for a few minutes and the effect will be confined to your local area, but if you say, "I am holding a magical sword," the materialized sword may well be permanent. Exceptionally powerful creatures and sorcerers may attempt to defy your truths. You and they both roll a Charisma check, and the winner's view of reality prevails.
Magical Talents
First, a digression: many of the below abilities refer to more and less powerful magic than your own. Generally, the power of any given magic is the level of the caster plus the number of MD used, if any. If the DM doesn't have any clue what that might be, they can roll (probably on 1d3 or 1d4, maybe higher for particularly powerful effects). If there's a tie, unless there's a specific edge case (as with Antimagic below), the casters should roll opposed Charisma checks to see who is more powerful.
1. Detect Magic: 10 minutes of searching allow you to detect any magic within a room or a 50' x 50' area, whichever is smaller. You can see invisible spirits and creatures as indistinct shades.
Improved Detect Magic: You can see magic and spirits with the naked eye.
2. Hold: You can seal any door, lid, or other object that can be opened and closed for [template] minutes. For this duration, it can only be opened with magic more powerful than your own or by completely destroying the affected object.
Improved Hold: If you choose, the duration of your Hold on objects is indefinite. You can also Hold creatures with less HD than your templates in this class for [template] rounds, and they can Save to escape every round.
3. Open: You can instantly open any door, lid, restraint, or other object that can be opened, even if it is locked or sealed. Magic more powerful than your own can prevent this.
Improved Open: You can attempt to open creatures. They must Save, taking 2d6+[templates] damage on a failure and half as much on a success.
4. Mantle: Your allies have +2 to Saves and Morale when within 30' of you. When you want to, you bring a sense of lightness and purity wherever you go. When you are cloaked, you are unidentifiable to anyone who doesn't succeed a Save.
Improved Mantle: You may take 2d6 damage to cause [template]*2 creatures you can see with no more HD than [template] must Save or become terrified of you for 1d6 minutes.You may also attempt to use this on a single creature with more HD than [template].
5. Antimagic: You may attempt to cancel any magic you are aware of. You have a 5-in-6 chance of defeating magic weaker than your own, a 3-in-6 chance against magic roughly equal in power to your own, and a 1-in-6 chance against magic stronger than your own. This takes an instant for immediate effects, or an hour for permanent enchantments. Temporary effects are immediately ended, while permanent effects are suppressed for 10 minutes.
Improved Antimagic: You may take 1 damage to automatically succeed on Antimagic rolls against weaker magic, 1d6 against equal magic, and 3d6 against stronger magic.
6. Staff: If using a staff created specifically for your use as a mage's tool (the one from your starting equipment counts), it deals magical damage. It can also radiate light in a 30' radius for [template] hours per day.
Improved Staff: Your staff has +2 to hit and +1 damage. Supernatural creatures that bear you ill will take 1d6+[template] damage and must check Morale when they enter the light of your staff.
7. Fire: You may light fires by touching your magical implement to flammable objects. This fire is unnaturally virulent, spreading quickly and easily lighting things not usually easily burned (such as creatures).
Improved Fire: You can take 1d8 damage in order to light an area as large as 20' x 20' on fire.
8. Suggestion: You may give a creature who can understand you a command, which they must Save against or follow for [template] rounds. They have a bonus to this Save equal to the number of words in the command. This command cannot be directly harmful to them. Regardless of whether they Save or not, they are aware that you attempted or succeeded to magically compel them.
Improved Suggestion: When you use your Suggestion on a creature with less HD than [template], they either do not get a Save or must obey your command for [template] hours (your choice).
9. Locate: If you have a map of an area, you may perform a 1 hour ritual to pinpoint a specifically named object or creature on that map. Magic more powerful than your own may hide your target, unless you possess a fragment or bodily material from it.
Improved Locate: The regular Locate ritual only takes you 10 minutes. You may perform the full hour-long ritual to also highlight the fastest (but not necessarily safest or most practical) route to your target.
10. Obscure: You can create thick fog banks that block all sight around anything you can currently see, which dissipate in [template]*10 minutes, or faster in strong wind. Any creature you do not specifically exempt has a 2-in-6 of becoming lost inside the fog, unless they know the terrain well or it would be an impossibility to get lost.
Improved Obscure: You can perform a ritual to protect a person, place, or object from detection. Performing it on a person or object takes 10 minutes, and they are either unable to be detected by magical means for [template] days or have a 4-in-6 chance to avoid unwanted notice for [template] hours (your choice). Performing it on a place protects it from magical detection for [template]^2 years, and anyone who seeks it or would stumble upon it have a 5-in-6 chance of getting lost and missing it, unless they are specifically exempted by name during the ritual.
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