Category Archives: Magic

Viewer’s Nemesis

VIEWERS NEMESIS          SPELL 4

RARE ABJURATION

Traditions arcane, occult
Cast > verbal
Range 100 feet
Saving Throw Fortitude
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You become aware of any form of magical scrying or remote viewing within 100 feet, and can choose to trigger a magical retaliation.

If you choose to retaliate the scrying device or spell becomes two-way. Anyone on your side observes a magical window looking back at the scrying creature. The scrying creature is paralyzed until the end of your round. Until the end of your round you may cast spells through the window at the scrying creature.

At the end of your round the scrying magic is terminated with a bright flash of light. The effect on the scrying creature is determined by the their Fortitude save.

Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target is blinded until its next turn begins.
Failure The target is blinded for 1 minute.
Critical Failure The target is blinded permanently.

Merner’s Bridge

MERNER’S BRIDGE          SPELL 4

UNCOMMON EVOCATION FORCE

Traditions arcane, occult
Cast >> somatic, verbal
Range 100 feet
Duration sustained up to 10 minutes
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You create a quasi-real bridge of shimmering force. The bridge appears to have no thickness and can be shaped as you wish up to 100 feet long and 20 feet wide. The span does not need to be resting on solid ground and can be used to create a floating platform. It extends as a horizontal plane, either in a straight line or at any angle up to 45 degrees upward or downward. You may create the bridge to be visible to all, visible to you or invisible.

All intelligent creatures can cross the bridge normally but mindless creatures, undead and constructs simply pass through it if they try. The bridge does not block physical, ethereal, and incorporeal attacks from crossing, whether from above or below.

Upon command the caster can make the whole (or part) of the bridge invisible to all except himself and those he wishes to view it.
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Heightened (+1) The length of the bridge increases by 50 feet.

Learnal’s Flying Vessel

LEARNAL’S FLYING VESSEL          RITUAL 4

RARE TRASMUTATION

Cast 1 hour; Cost rare incense, precious oils, and sea salt worth 100 gp
Primary Check Arcana (master)
Duration 1 day
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You transform a rowboat capable of carrying one pilot and two passengers into one that will fly.

During the casting of the ritual you set a word of command for each of the following manoeuvres: Forward, Backward, Turn to starboard, Turn to port, Rise, Descend and Stop. Any creature can control the boat by spending an action to quietly murmur a command word within 30 feet of the vessel. You may control the boat from up to 1 mile away. If several creatures try to wrestle for control of the vessel the you will always win.

The boat has a fly speed of 30 feet forwards and 10 feet backwards. It can ascend and descend at a speed of 10 feet. The boat must move twice its length for each 90-degree turn it makes. This movement translates to 48 miles per day.

In addition to the seven primary command words there is an eighth that only you may use. This command word dismisses the ritual and immediately reverts the vessel to a mundane rowboat.

Some wizards have constructed special ships for this spell. These have sitting keels – A kind of stand built at the base of the keel so that the vessel may set down on land as well as in the water. The aeromancers and hydromancers of Glantarn have perfected further very expensive and closely guarded rituals to make the transformation permanent. The arch-mage Trantaan of Salin-Par keeps a large sailing vessel with a sitting keel in the grounds of his estate and uses it once a year to travel to Gal-din. The small sailing ship of Guildmaster Sparstillan Silverscar is often observed both sailing and flying around Lythandor. He keeps it at dock in Lathen harbour. The Veskian wizard Gorenash of Hoarlag keeps a flatbottomed small merchant vessel which regularly visits Northgate and Tirith-Hendar to trade magical trinkets for Telerash whiskey.
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Heightened (5th) You can transform a large rowboat capable of carrying one pilot and six passengers. The cost increases to 200 gp.
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Heightened (6th) You can transform a sailing ship capable of carrying one pilot and eight passengers. The cost increases to 300 gp.
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Heightened (7th) You can transform a large sailing ship capable of carrying one pilot and twelve passengers. The cost increases to 400 gp.
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Heightened (8th) You can transform a small merchant ship capable of carrying one pilot and sixteen passengers. The cost increases to 500 gp.
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Heightened (9th) You can transform a large merchant ship capable of carrying one pilot and twenty passengers. The cost increases to 600 gp.

 

Zalmazter’s Workbook

Zelmazter was a mage from Glantarn who devoted his life to the study of magical flight and travel. During his adventures throughout The North he collected and created many unique spells and magical items. Mages trained in Glantarn have an exceptional affinity for aeromancy and hydromancy and Zelmazter was the most gifted of his generation. His crowning achievement was the home he constructed for himself many years later, a levitating tower adorned with landing platforms and nesting boxes for his pet griffons and birds of prey. Legend has it that the tower was hidden deep in a mountain gully upon  Zalmazter’s un-timely death. Occasionally stories surface that the tower has been spotted, but so far expeditions have found nothing.

The workbook mostly chronicles Zalmazter’s early travels and the spells he collected along the way. It does not contain any of the mages personal spells which were recorded later when he had settled into a life of teaching in Glantarn. It does contain a variety of odd and esoteric arcane incantations and instructions for creating potions of flying.

The Workbook is a plain, beaten volume in regal blue leather with parchment pages. It is rather small and non-descript for such a renowned and sought-after volume, a mere 10 inches by 8 inches and only 2 inches thick.

Of its recent history the following is known. The Workbook was found in the lair of the red wyrm Scarlak the Crimson, by the Company of Dead Men, and notably the mages Talton and Demetri Galmore. How the book had found its way into the dragon’s horde in the first place is unknown. Some have speculated that the dragon knew the location of Zalmazter’s hidden floating tower.

Unfortunately, the Company of Dead Men lived up to their fateful name and were slain by an unknown number of assailants while staying in the town of Silverspar. The battle was fierce enough to level a whole city block, and left all members of the company dead, and Talton and Dalmetri missing. In the twelve years that have passed there have been no recorded sightings of Zelmazter’s Workbook. However, many of the uncommon and rare spells it is reputed to contain have been finding their way into the spell books of notable mages. With increasing regularity, the use of these spells poses the interesting question, where and to whom does the book now belong? Veskian wizards, aeromancers from Glantarn,  scholars and thieves seek the book.

Zelmazter’s Workbook contains fourteen spells of various levels in the following order; Read Aura, Detect Magic, Shield, Levitate, Fly, Learnal’s Flying Vessel (a rare ritual), Dimension Door, Spider Climb, Merner’s Bridge (an uncommon spell), Sending, Wall of Wind, Elemental Form, Viewers Nemesis (a rare spell) and Spectral Hand.

 

Rune of Pain

RUNE OF PAIN          SPELL 5

RARE ABJURATION

Traditions arcane, occult
Cast 1 minute (material, somatic, verbal)
Range touch; Targets 1 object or a 5-foot-by-5-foot area
Duration unlimited (see below)
Saving Throw Fortitude
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You trace a rune of pain upon the target object or surface making it as small as 1-inch or as large as 3-feet across. You must choose a single word or short phrase to bypass the rune which is invisible to anyone other than you. Any creature that touches the target container or enters the target area that doesn’t speak a passphrase activates the rune, which survivors describe debilitating pain in every part of their body. The effect is based on the target’s Fortitude save.

Critical Success The target is unaffected.
Success The target takes 5d8 negative damage.
Failure The target takes 5d8 negative damage, 1d4 persistent damage, and the target is slowed 2. If the target recovers from the persistent damage the slow condition is removed.
Critical Failure The target takes 5d8 negative damage, 5d4 persistent damage, and the target is slowed 2. If the target recovers from the persistent damage the slow condition is removed.

Any creature attempting to help the target will take 1d4 points of necrotic damage per round while in contact with the victim and magical healing will fail.

You can dismiss a rune of pain by spending an action and speaking the password. You can have multiple runes of pain active equal to your spellcasting ability modifier.

If an area traced with a rune of pain is surveyed with a Detect Magic spell the rune is clearly visible as a shimmering orange glyph. Fake rune of pain are often laid using a combination magic aura, arcane mark and invisibility spells.

If a dispel magic spell is used unsuccessfully to remove a rune of pain it automatically discharges onto the caster. A miracle or wish will remove the rune.

Fire Lance

FIRE LANCE          SPELL 5

RARE EVOCATION

Traditions arcane, occult
Cast >>> material. somatic, verbal
Duration sustained up to 1 hour
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You create a shimmering beam of fire between 1 inch to 5 feet to extend from your index finger. When you Sustain the Spell you can change the length of the beam or cause it to burst into flames hot enough to ignite flammable items and shed bright light in a 30-foot radius (and dim light to the next 30 feet). The fire lance turns blue on contact with magical items.

The fire lance can be used as a weapon and has Reach if extended longer than 5 feet. Make a spell attack roll. The fire lance deals fire damage equal to 5d4 + your spellcasting modifier.

Critical Success The target takes double damage and 1d4 persistent fire damage.
Success The target takes normal damage.

The fire lance is particularly effective at cutting through web, wall of thorns and wall of ice spells. You can cut a 5-foot deep tunnel for every move action you take.

Phantom Rope

PHANTOM ROPE          SPELL 2

UNCOMMON CONJURATION

Traditions arcane, occult
Cast >> somatic, verbal
Range 200 feet
Duration 1 hour
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A rope of magical force materializes in your hands. You can direct either or both ends of the rope to fly and attach itself to any anchoring point within the spells range. An anchoring point can be anything that would normally support a non-magical rope fitted with a grappling hook.

Any creature using the rope gains a climb Speed equal to half of their land Speed.

The rope cannot used to attack or restrain an enemy. It may be used as a trip wire or a part of a trap.

The rope has AC 5, Hardness of 10, and 40 Hit Points. It is immune to critical hits and precision damage. You can Dismiss the spell.
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Heightened (+1) The range increases by 50 feet.

Verbal Haste

VERBAL HASTE          SPELL 4

RARE TRANSMUTATION

Traditions arcane
Cast >> somatic, verbal
Range 30 feet; Targets 1 creature
Duration 1 minute
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Magic empowers the target to speak at great speed and phonetic accuracy. It gains the quickened condition and can use the extra action each round only for verbal actions.

This spell also has the unfortunate side effect of raising the pitch and speed of normal verbal communication making it sound squeaky and comical. This spell puts an unusual strain on the targets vocal cords. Multiple and continuous use is likely to damage their voice, and their ability to cast spells irrevocably.

Chromatic Orb

CHROMATIC ORB          SPELL 1

UNCOMMON ATTACK CONJURATION

Traditions arcane, occult
Cast >> somatic, verbal
Range 60 feet; Targets 1 creature
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You conjure and throw a fist sized sphere of energy that bursts on contact with the target. You must choose acid, cold, electricity, fire, poison or sonic for the type of orb you create and then make a ranged spell attack roll.

Critical Success The target takes 4d6 of the type you choose.
Success The target takes 2d6 of the type you choose.
Failure No effect.
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Heightened (+1) The damage increases by 2d6.

The Black Book of Hoarlag

Numerous descriptions of the infamous Black Book of Hoarlag have been committed to parchment by many reputable scholars. The one presented below is attributed to the sage Braythorne, who despite the old sage’s propensity for dramatic embellishment, not to mention when it suits his own scheming, the  omission of key details, this account is believed the most accurate.

The tome measures two hands tall and two wide while being only two inches thick. It is covered in hard, aged black leather which is cracked and polished to a bright lustre. Its thirty-two pages are wholly filled with the notes and mystical sigils necessary to cast the twelve spells laid down upon them.

The Black Book of Hoarlag was penned by the Veskian archmage Radiscan the Dark. In the tradition of the Veskian wizard slayers, Radiscan amassed a great deal of arcane treasure and wealth during his brief but, by Veskian standards, glorious career. He is credited with slaying more than twenty wizards across the North Kingdoms before running afoul of the Company of The Sage, an adventuring party headed by the bard Rendal Brightstar, and the half‑elven mage Arron Silverbrow.

Shortly after Radiscan’s death his fortified town house in the city of Ravarn was raided by the master thief Lamed Carrilion, himself a former member of the Company of the Sage. The book was removed from the townhouse and sold for the paltry sum of two hundred gold coins to a merchant travelling to the city of Lathen. It was in Lathen’s Magic Market that the true value of the book was discovered. The merchant was surprised to be offered eighty platinum coins by a young mage within minutes of setting up his stall. Looking to turn a quick profit the merchant sold the book, but not before raising the price a further twenty platinum. The eager purchaser was the wizard Balsharan the Red and it is from him that Braythorne obtained a catalogue of the book’s contents.

Eleven months to the day after acquiring the book, Balsharan and his companions found themselves at the third siege of Tarengore. During the hellfire and confusion of a failed attempt to retake the citadel, Balsharan was caught under a falling wall and knocked unconscious. His life was saved when a Ranger Knight of Derthillion dragged his unconscious body to safety, but the Black Book was lost in the castle ruins.

Balsharan led numerous expeditions to find the book to no avail. It may still lie in the rubble; be in the possession of a foul creature of the castle; or have been carried away by someone or something, good or evil, human, or otherwise.

The book contains the following spells in order; Read Aura, Sigil, Burning Hands, Enlarge, Invisibility, Verbal Haste (a rare spell), Slow, Dispel Magic, Phantom Rope (an uncommon spell), Firelance (a rare spell), Rune of Pain (a rare spell) and Alarm.