d20 Modern Setting [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 01:32 AM

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A Birthing Story

Before the last man, there was the first man. Before the first man, there was the last man.

The last man's name was Norwago, and he was a great warrior. It is said that he was a great shot with his rifle, a slayer of many men and women and animals, and could seduce any woman he wanted by saying two words. It so happened, however, that after many trials and wars, he stopped encountering people; this was before the current world was made, mind you, and it is important that you understand they had wars every day back then in that world.

There was a world before that, however. It was a paradise, a place of plains and forests and deserts. They had no jungles or swamps, or muck or mire. There were no animals bigger than a human. It sounds fantastic but I posit to you that it is true. Humans, of course, thus had nothing to fear from the earth or the sky or the night except other humans. Humans, you see, are the worst hunters of other humans.

They squandered that old world; without the checks and balances you and I are used to, the pacts they made with the earth were soon forgotten, and they vaulted themselves high into the heavens on the screams of fire-spirits encased in shells of metal and rendered flesh of the ancient dead. They progressed as we have from spear and bow to gun and bomb, but they did not stop. They pressed the light so thin that it cut flesh and steel alike, and split the atom repeatedly without consequence. Not that these things were bad, but they contributed to the imbalance of the wars, which, if you remember, they had every day, and so a terrible rage built up in the earth, like the anger of a mother whose children are unruly and spoiled, becoming a terrible savage thing.

Soon, there had been so many wars the land was bare and the sky was brown. Norwago was a hunter to the end, though, so he hunted for many days, and for many days, he found no men or women to slay. None who were enemy, any way. However, at the end of one day and by the sleeping body of Enji-azhu the Dreaming Man Whose Eyes Touch the Stars, he saw a figure gazing upon the sunset dressed in a long cloak and many beads. As he approached quietly, he saw the figure was a woman; here, he thought, was an easy mark, for he knew the two sacred words that could seduce any woman, no matter who the woman was.

He crept up ever so silently, so that she would be able to hear him when he spoke, but as he got near, she turned, and fixed her big yellow eyes at him. He was momentarily stunned, for her eyes looked like the yellow sunset, and they were cut through with black marks like a great lizard. He did not hesitate for long, and spoke the two sacred words, but the woman was not seduced. Puzzled by this, he called out to her.

“Woman!” he shouted, “why is it that the words do not call you to love me?”

She merely gazed at him. He brought up his rifle to shoot at her, but found it taken from him. She looked away from him, using only one hand to put the rifle to his forehead even as he crouched.

“I know those words. My people forged those words and another pair for women to use upon you, that your people would never vanish from the earth. Perhaps they do not work on me because I am not a woman,” she spoke, her voice smooth, like water on silk.

“Are you a man, then?” Norwago asked.

“Neither am I a man.” was the answer.

“Then a name?”

“I have no one name,” she said.

They stood in silence that way, and eventually the sun did set, the moon rising in the sky and the stars shining impossibly brilliant in the heavens, glittering like seashells scattered over an infinite shore. Only when the moon held itself in place over her eyes did he realize the sight that he saw.

“I know who you are, then,” Norwago said, “you are the Princess Who Shape-Shifts, also called Combekancini.”

“Yes,” she replied, and her skin rippled like a pond when a stone was thrown into the waters, “and you also know of my people?”

He replied that yes, he had heard that she belonged to a people who once ruled the world before even humans came about, but he knew no more than books had told him, for he did not listen to stories very often.

“I am one of the Nanguraji, the Kings who remain awake when my people went to sleep, because we learned to hear the earth and touch the sky, that which you humans are born to do, as you are born of the earth. My people are not given a second chance, but they are still retained by the earth, thinking they are not slaves to it. However, the earth is predisposed to you, who are not the children of the Mother of All Things and are instead born entirely of the earth, growing from it like trees.”

She took the rifle away from his head, throwing it to the ground, and he rose to his feet.

“Of what does this concern me?” he asked.

“There are no more enemies, Norwago,” she said, “and the earth has sent me from its depths where my people hide as its proxy.”

He blinked at this, looking left and looking right, expecting a trick. The reptile-people under the earth were often tricky at times, attempting to engage humans in deals that they could not win.

“So you have come seeking a deal?”

She leaned close to him.

“No deal,” she shook her head, “an absolute pact. An ultimatum.”

“How is that different than a deal?” he asked.

She took in a breath.

“Because, Norwago, the pact you make here will bind all your people that are left. It is the only hope they can have. You have broken your bond with the earth, but again, as you are the only children of the earth who have risen up to craft and have culture not given to you by gods or spirits or the Mother of All Things, the earth has not lost its faith in you. It believes that you can forge a new pact, a new covenant. It has faith that you will once again spread over the earth and keep it safe and maintain the balance that has been lost.”

He thought on this, sitting on the rocks and watching the sky. At last, he stood.

“I agree,” he said, “we will begin terms.”

“No,” said the shape-shifter, “there are no terms. You are born of the earth with the power to see the machine that makes the world, and while you have tried to maintain it, you also do your best to rust the gears and turn the flywheels into wrenches. The earth says this. Your actions and devastation of the order of the world have seeded a terrible thing of savagery and rage deep inside the realms of spirit, for the earth loves you, and tries ever so hard to push away her rage, but she can bear it no longer. The terms will place you and this thing on the same world, and you will live in the bed you have made. If you thrive in it, the earth will bless you with harvest again, and fire will cook your food, and air will let you breathe. The earth wishes for you to try to push her anger, to seek harmony again and live as you should with the earth and not against it. You have no terms to present. The sky agrees with her on this, and he will strike you and all your remaining kind down with thunder if you say no to me.”

“I still wish to present questions, and perhaps a term,” he said.

“Then speak, even if it will do nothing,” she shook her head.

“If there are no more enemies, then who will be my wife? From whom will humanity then spring?” he asked.

“There are still humans, far and wide. The earth is broad and round. I have already told you more of your people exist, Norwago.”

He thought heavily and picked up his rifle from where the princess had tossed it.

“Well?”

“How long do I have to decide?”

“Until the sun rises.”

He thought again.

“Then my terms are this. I will agree to this covenant. This new contract with the earth, that humanity and the savage thing dwell on the same world, but I will sate some of the thirst of the savage thing myself. I will be its first victim. And in return I wish for you to put in good word for me when I reach Death's great city.”

The princess was taken aback, but nodded.

“It is not what I was told to do, but for surprising me, I will make this part of the new covenant. Know that the savage thing will not have absolute dominion over the land, for that is the human's job, that over time, it will subside, ever so slowly, and as it does, you will be reminded of its presence by the beasts that it leaves behind. I will watch your people, Norwago. I expect great cities of them.”

They both then bled themselves on the ground, sharing Norwago's boot knife. The shape-shifter's skin rippled again, revealing the olive-brown scales and slender, reptilian body she truly possessed, and Norwago nodded as he watched the brown and black earth blossom green almost instantly. He saw the vines take shape and the trees grow, and heard deep bellows in the growing jungle. Before long, he began to see the thorns growing and the poison dripping from the leaves. He felt a malevolent urge overtake him, and claws and talons tore his body into three pieces.

The lizard-woman collected the pieces of his body and took them with her deep underground to where the Nanguraji worship the earth, even as the savage thing stretched to all corners of the world, reaching deep into time and pulling out what terrors it could find to menace the humans it sought, devouring the great and empty cities and ripping apart the land. The humans who did survive went into caves or hid in the roots of great trees until the savage thing felt sated enough that the humans could begin to build again.

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The Words of the Earth Angel
When I was a child, a thing of the ancient earth would come to me from underground, from the caves in my yard, carrying a cloak over its back, a twig in its left hand,and a lantern in its right. It would step under my window and take the light from the lantern and begin speaking. This is what the earth angel once said to me:

“Once, there was a glorious city on the earth where all of humankind dwelled. The city's name was Hajoria, and they were collected there by the will of the earth. You see, before then, there were no intelligent tool users on this world who were born upon it. They had all come from somewhere else, from the vast stars in the sky, worlds within the world-folds, or from the Mother of All Things itself. However, there was a long enough lapse in one stretch of years that the human race could be born, and I will tell you of that story some other day.

For now, girl, listen carefully for what I will tell you, for it will save your life one day.

After humans had been born and the Mother of All Things had found them, she brought them all together and engaged them in conversation. Finding them to her liking, she married herself to one of them, and he became king of all men and women, and his name was Ainaku. The pair stayed together until there was born unto them five children. They built a great temple to see her off, and she left behind the five servitors, beings formed from all her knowledge gathered in the creation of the first tool-makers she had crafted.

They were Weyven of the mind's bounty, Amemait of the sky's reaches, Mo'omaet of the burning soul, Harrow of the sand's flow, and Jomaig of the deep ocean dreams. These five servitors led humanity to five great forms of being, teaching them the ways of the world. Each of these entities was bound to serve humans, and so Ainaku created a noble council of five of his courtiers to watch over each of the servitors and be guided by it. The servitors still sleep to this day, though one is known. Weyven, the servitor of mind, grants power and immortality to the black mother across the mountains in the human kingdom Ortelia.

The city was a bastion of mathematics and technology, with artistic and philosophical schools to rival any that would be built for two thousand years. The people knew peace and decadence, and competed with one another in games of intellectual prowess and high ideals. They sought to be more moral than their neighbors, and they gave everything they had, which was nearly everything, to anyone who would ask. Want and need were almost driven away, though no complacent land can ever extinguish the human desire to expand its mental boundaries.

It was in this time that the king's children began to reach the age of curiosity. There was one child, Raielesk, who was insatiably curious. He took his father's spear and went among the realms, the folded worlds. He sought out the end of Otherside and with Death guiding him, keeping him safe beneath her cloak, he saw the tombs of the One Thousand Foul Things. He wandered even into the empty fields of ash and through the past and future of the world, watching with wide wonder as humans left for the heavens in the belly of monsters, and viewed with terror when monsters fell from heaven to devour all that existed.

At last, he reached the edge of the world. I know you want to ask me how one reaches the edge of a thing that has no edge, but even infinity ends, even though it does not end. At the end, however, there are great and terrible monsters who sit and devour the World of Three Ways, the border guardians, who have names so vast and incomprehensible no one, not even we who are the messengers of the earth, can pronounce them unless we pass into the void. There he meditated for many days, thinking he had seen all there was to see, and was visited by a woman whose skin shone like the moon at night. They shared many nights together and she shared with him wisdom that seemed to come from beyond anything that he knew.

She warned him about waiting too long where he was, for there was a balance in all things, and waiting where he was could destroy what balance existed through uncaring feet. He said he would listen, and she walked back to the center where the world would wait for him. That boy, however, that foolish boy, he still watched the giant things devouring what was cast off from the world, and just as he was about to turn around, he heard a voice calling to him.

The voice was saying that he could hold dominion over all the lands of the earth, if only he would not be ruled by it. He cried out, stating the pacts that had been made with the plants and the animals, and the voice called him young and foolish, and his people silly, miserable, and primitive, that it had seen others like his people, who allowed the world to rule them, and not the other way around. The voice told him the people needed guidance, and he foolishly listened to those words. So his body was taken over by the spirit he met there, the spirit of a being now called the Old God. He raised his arms to the edge of the worlds and made a bridge to the lands beyond, and called a swarm of gods to come with him.

They were outsiders, these beings who feasted on adulation and the power that came with it, devouring their worship like parasites, invading their lives and drawing them away from the earthen pacts, putting their feet down on the soil and commanding it, like a demanding tenant. The earth groaned under their weight and the people cheered them for it. You see, the world exists in a place of harmony. Certainly the harmony is thrown in turmoil many times, like the storm crashing to the shore, but balance reasserts itself over time. These gods cared not for balance, only for power and their games they played with humans.

Soon Hajoria was split by many hundreds of factions, each ruled by a god, who each held dominion over one small thing, shackling the spirits and demanding tribute and obedience. In time the people came to think each god was more powerful than the other gods, and so began a vicious circle of violence wherein the people sought to kill more than the people who were ruled by the other gods.

The Old God sat back in his throne and let the games go on. Both the celestines and the demons in this time still lived in the heavens, on the great mountain where they had been placed by the Mother of All Things, with a staircase where humans could climb to air their grievances. The demons, seeing this destruction, brought it to the attention of the Old God, who took the demons and cast them out, saying that in his world, demons knew their place in the dark abysses of the world, not with gods in their heavens.

The celestines watched as their spouses and lovers were thrown into the dark realms ruled by Death and begged her to take them in, so she did, granting them dominion over a portion of her realm and calling it the Underworld. The celestines offered themselves to the gods as messengers and heralds, workers and bureaucrats, even as the spirits suffered under tyranny, causing those beings to cry out that even the caretakers of the world had betrayed them. Soon the celestines were everywhere among the gods, and no sooner had they done so than they lashed out.

The demons poured from the Underworld, ejecting the Old God from the boy's body, for none knew as much about possession as they, and in a single night, the sky split as if day was upon it. The two powers thus enacted a ritual to cast him out of the World of Every Way, and forever close its borders to him. Enraged, he took with him the source of all gods and sealed them and the celestines that had stayed in those realms in their domains, trapping them beyond their addiction and their power, while the others were hunted and slain by the demons and celestines both, too disgusted with the power of such beings to take it with them, and so it sat, untouched. The celestines, nearly dead, retreated to the far corners of the spirit worlds to rest eternally, and the demons crawled back to their Underworlds, still too shattered and without a home to cope with the anguish they felt.

As for Hajoria, in that night, it had burned, shattered and splintered, the great golden statues becoming ever shrouded in ice and blood. The Thousand Keys were scattered to the corners of the world, and the last standing statue wept even as the city's fabulous spires sank beneath a sheet of frost and shivering darkness.

That was the end of the first city of humanity.“

That is what the shape-shifting earth angel told me that night; the Nanguraji are strange in their way.

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The Story of Utchusu and Hopper, and How Half of Hopper's Cunning Lives in the House of Humankind
Once all the spirits did not know where the animals should be. It was right after the animals had got made that the spirits thought they would get fed up very quickly with all kinds of chaos, so they went to the first hunter, Utchusu, who was out looking for food to bring to his wife, for she could get very irate if she had nothing to cook.

They said, "man, you will need to make us a spear shaft for every animal, and each one must be a different size" and Utchusu agreed, not wanting to offend the spirits. They went to his wife Hetchea, and they said "woman, you will need to make us a spear head for every animal, and each one must be a different size." Thinking this might be hard, she agreed anyway, and when Utchusu returned home, they both talked about making the spears.

So they began, working for a thousand years to make them, and when at last they were done, the spirits appeared before them again. "Now," they said, "you must take them to Pyaku mountain and present them to the animals. Give the biggest to the strongest animal, the next biggest to the next strongest animal, and so on until you have given the smallest one to the weakest animal.

Now, hopper had heard all of this from the window of the hut of Hetchea and Utchusu, and he ran off as quick as he could go to where all the animals were. When the spirits came and told the other animals, they all decided to try and get some sleep so they would be well-rested come the morning. Hopper wanted to be there first, so he thought he'd make it hard for the other animals to sleep.

He jumped all around, throwing rocks and banging sticks and howling and screeching, but the other animals just kept right on sleeping. When at last the morning came, hopper was so worn out he could hardly stand. He took a stick and put splinters in his eyes so that his eyes would stay open, but all that happened was that he fell asleep and the splinters pinned his eyelids together.

When the animals came to the mountain in the morning, the man and his wife handed out spears to all the animals so the spirits could see who was the strongest. He gave the biggest one to the reaver and the next biggest to the rootscraper, the next to the deathwalker, and so on, all until only the smallest spear was left. They asked where the last animal was, and all the other animals woke up hopper and brought him before man, who could not see because sticks were in his eyes.

They laughed, the man and woman and the animals, all at hopper's misfortune, but the spirits saw that although he had made a mistake, that hopper had at least tried to be cunning, so they gave him and his descendants some more, even at Utchusu gave him the last spear.

"Even though you were late and so obviously the weakest," Utchusu said, "you are a proud and hard worker, and a good and sneaky hunter. If you wish, you can come and live in my hut with me, but you must leave half your cunning outside."

Hopper, upon hearing this, immediately used his spear to cut himself in two, each with one half of his cunning, and while one bit of cunning ran off into the jungle, the other walked into the house of humans, and has been there ever since.

What the Stone Wall Said
Part of this is translated from what was found written on a stone wall. The other is my own research.

There was once a time when there was no World of Three Ways. There merely was. Everything folded in on itself so many times that there was no such thing as up. There was a flow of energy through it, a focus point for the chakra of the universe, an anchor from which the divine spring flowed forth. This energy took the shape of crystals growing in the deep folds, in the higher dimensions where there were things that could know anything they ever wished. It could be said that these entities were everything and each other all at once; they were simply the same being in different time-dimensions.

They sought to feed in ever greater amounts from the core of the folds, but there was no core, all power spread evenly throughout the folds. So they created a song and called it the Song of Creation, and used it to shatter the crystal into a billion pieces. This caused a storm to rip through the worlds, centered on the shards of the crystal. Approaching its center, they found themselves drawn to a place where they were each an individual entity.

These creatures were the One Thousand Eternal Things. These One Thousand Eternal Things found a world within that fold, a place where great masses of void fell in between clusters of points that overflowed with the energy of the storm. However, it soon became evident that the storm “outside” this world had calmed. This is generally referred to as an increase in entropy, the spontaneous formation of seeming order out of chaos; this so-called “central” world served as a major filter for the chaotic masses of energy contained within the multiple folds. The One Thousand Eternal Things explored, finding many worlds within, as the energy slid through the boundaries of the universes and took shape as matter and energy.

There were rocks circling the stars, and, flying through the void, they encountered a planet; note this could have been any random planet. It had never needed to be ours, we just got lucky. They all gathered together and sculpted a single beast, a great and powerful snaking pillar of strength and a monument to themselves. Each of them came up and pressed their faces into it, forming places on it into their likeness. So proud of their creation were they that each of them took a portion of his or her life and pressed it into the sculpture.

It did not stir until at last the sun fell, and it came to a dread life, writhing and moaning, and it broke into One Thousand Foul Things, which slithered and stirred, giving painful birth to all manner of horrors, the One Thousand Thousand, or One Million Terrors, and the Eternal Things went to war against them. They called down fire and lightning and magma, swirling and burning the seas and the depths of the earth until the One Million Terrors were dead. The One Thousand Foul Things were torn out of the World of Three Ways, and the One Thousand Eternal Things made one thousand keys, using them to lock up the Foul Things.

Soon, however, the Eternal Things fell among each other, for the Foul Things had cursed them with jealousy. They warred amongst themselves, creating a turbulence that the things that crept about in the stars followed, finding the world rife with energy. Such creatures descended upon Aesca in that time, the Heralds of Yaruj, their enemies the Screaming Worms, the Iokyu, the First Children, and so many others that it is impossible to name them all and not have the sun come up. Eventually, however, this activity attracted one entity that made the others scatter like schools of reef fish before a shark. This was the Mother of All Things, a seeder of life to barren worlds.

She took up the pieces of the Eternal Things and crafted demons and celestines, one a destroyer and one a maintainer, to help her with the task of making a new world. Ymanu-Jela the Dreamer of Life was the name of one such celestine, and the Mother of All Things told him to dream of animals, and so he did. She took them from his head and put them around on the land. Another was named the Black-Haired Woman Who Mothers A Fiend in Her Breast, who was a demon, and the Mother of All Things told her to dream of stones. She took those from her head and put them around, too. From there, she made the dragons and the angels of the earth and watched and waited.

This is where the story breaks, obviously. In other stories, specifically, in the orthodox version of the story, the Mother of All Things creates life first, and then creates the demons and the celestines to help upkeep her creation, creating the demons first, who were far too adept at their task of destruction and the celestines second to create a trinity of balance. Of course, the One Thousand Eternal Things do not appear in the orthodox version of the story, either. In the most common variant of the story, the dragons and the angels of the earth are one and the same, with the earth-angels being mutations of the dragons that those beasts feared and hated.

The official (and most common) line is that she had set about rolling life into draconian shapes, where the earth dreamed, she followed its ideas, making beasts with scale and claw, terrible teeth and membranous forms. She fashioned for them a mind, and set them each to a task. With minds, she hoped they would think and learn and grow, taking after herself, for all parents wish for children who will succeed them.

Her creations, called the dragons, certainly did think and grow, but they did not learn or imagine. They could not dream or work outside of the tasks they were given. Only one or two in any generation could do this, and they were ostracized and killed or eaten by the jungles. The dragons simply ruled in their great kingdoms and only watched the world, wanting for nothing, searching for nothing, and becoming nothing more than they were. They warred over petty differences, making the things the Mother had set them to make, for they could only make weapons. She gave them the secret of growing crops, and they grew thorns and terrible venoms. She gave them the secrets of life, and they made diseases and poison fungi.

Saddened, the Mother of All Things continued her work, ever more despondent and uncaring even as the dragons tore at each other's hide, like predator and prey. The animals themselves grew to giants, swarming over the land, consuming and ripping and tearing, washing the earth red. Once, while she wasn't paying attention, the earth made a deal to give them a second chance one day, and thus dreamed that a great stone fell from the sky and destroyed the dragons and buried their animals beneath dust and rock, dragging them away into the earth-dream. When she saw the land, she wept, and her tears caused the plants to spring forth again.

Eventually humans arrived and she saw that there was a child who would succeed her, even if she did not directly create it. The story says humans made deals with the earth and the sky to live and breathe, to farm and cook food as part of a cycle of bargains and pacts. There's more to this, however. Since the ground is as alive as the sky, and vice versa, and the barrier between one totem and another is slim at best, after all, if Time and Space are the same, then what about Matter and Energy or Fire, could it be said that the entirety of creation as a single creature, and if so, what sort of creature could it be?

Roger Drinks-From-the-Source was the first to characterize the enfolded dimensions as a living system. He called it a self-regulating physiological system that maintained the proper conditions for life. You can call this a self-regulating system if you like, but it is alive. It lives a life of its own, whether or not you care about it. That's okay. It doesn't care about you. Not at all. You see, James He-Who-Weeps later concocted the idea that planets like ours are not just self-regulating systems, and they are alive, while working for Marsden Space Agency looking for life on Rajula.

One of his chief collaborators was Janet Hands-Like-Sun, who came up with the hypothesis that the larger biomass is present to drive bacterial life, and that they are a large part of a communal organism. The idea that symbiosis with bacteria drives evolution in addition to mutation and natural selection instead of larger animals, that multicellular life is a slave to the microbe, is a controversial idea on many levels; the idea that one thing sacrifices itself for all living things is not typically something one wants to be a part of, especially when no choice is given in the matter, and on another level, no one really likes to think that they are the biochemical servant of a parasitic bacterial swarm.

It is also wrong. The sheer amount of energy beings in the universe far outnumber the pitiful numbers of bacteria. The organism, Gaia, it shall be called beyond here, is a conglomeration of memetic ideas that exist in higher dimensions than most humans can sense. Gaia itself is centered here on Aesca, with parts of her body reaching out into all the folds, and is the folds themselves. Crystals are part of the cerebral cortex of the Gaia organism, and the intricate machine of life talked about by the creatures that sometimes speak with experiencers and abductees is part of her muscle system.

People in legends do fantastic things. In March of 3431, an Arasan soldier with no prior history of such behavior faced down an army of invading tanks and plowed his way through them with a toy knife. Another story recently told tells of a girl named Angela Fire-in-the-Belly who turned into a dragon in front of a crowd gathered at an outdoor concert and fought a battle with something that “looked like a big spider.” A dragon. Red scales and breathing fire, flapping leathery wings in the air. Medical examiners later stated she was human, and not a shapeshifter as some suggest.

The Marahu tribe along the eastern side of the Scarlet Sea believe that Ymanu-Jela created the first being in the universe, which he cut into five pieces and buried, which would later become the seeds that the dragons absorbed to make some of them neighbors with the earth and called out to the Roshori, the race from the stars who taught the Marahu mathematics and astronomical knowledge. The Roshori are said to be masters of water and scale covered or birdlike in nature. The scientists will tell you they are mistaking awakened dragons, and the Marahu myths are recent, but even if this is true, why would such creatures impart their knowledge to humanity?

Why do humans have this potential? Certainly everything tries desperately to become human, or make bargains with humans; ancient races and spirits vie for the attention of humanity, animals try to walk upright with no fur or scales. It appears the universe is humanocentric, but at the same time, so much more vast than ourselves it seems to make little or no sense at all.

How Shield Lizard Came to Live in the House of Humanity
Many years had passed since the hopper had given up half his cunning to be with man and woman in their home, and he had prospered above all the other animals. Shield lizard looked in on them often from where he was in the world, and wanted to prosper so well himself. He wandered off into the jungle, seeking out the other half of hopper's cunning, which was also a hopper, and found her chasing dragonflies by a waterfall.

"Hopper," he said, and she turned to see him.

"What do you want?" she asked, "to play fivestones? I will win."

"I want to live with man, too," shield lizard said, "I want to prosper like the other half of your cunning."

Hopper thought for a moment.

"I will help you," he said, "if you give me your horns and your size so I can make a frightening disguise. If you live with man, after all, you will not need them."

Shield lizard so agreed and gave hopper his three horns and his great size, and when it was done he was small and had only a beak to defend himself. He shivered at the idea, and looked sternly at hopper.

"Now, hopper, use your cunning!" he demanded.

"Very well," hopper said, "challenge the man Utchusu to an eating contest. Whoever wins shall be the other's servant."

"But I will win, I am the greatest eater in the jungle!" moaned the shield lizard.

"You must trust me!" hopper replied, and so the shield lizard, with no other option after giving up his most valuable defenses, relented and walked up to the hut where the first hunter and his wife were living with the other half of hopper's cunning.

"Utchusu the hunter! Come out!" he cried.

Looking outside after the shouting, Utchusu saw a very small shield lizard, no bigger than his table, hollering and bellowing outside. He turned to his wife Hetchea and said "look there, it is dinner," and with that, he stepped outside.

"There you are," shield lizard said, "stay your spear. I challenge you to an eating contest, and whoever wins will become the other's servant for ever and ever."

Utchusu so agreed, for he could hunt any time, and a servant like shield lizard, with a good nose for tubers and truffles, would always be welcome. He called his wife out and had her prepare a sumptuous feast of all Utchusu could find in the jungle.

First came the fruits, and shield lizard easily ate twice as many as Utchusu. After that came the vegetables and roots, and once again, shield lizard ate twice as many. Shield lizard began to get worried, for he so wanted to lose. That night, he sought out hopper again.

"Give me back my size and horns, for I am winning!" he screamed.

"No, you have already lost," said hopper, "go back tomorrow and I swear that Utchusu will beat you five times over."

And so shield lizard went back, despondent. He climbed up to the table like the last two days, and on this day, Hetchea had prepared a feast of meat, cooked, boiled, broiled, and even grilled and still hissing from the cooking fire. Utchusu ate his legendary fill, and shield lizard nearly gagged at the smell of it and could eat none.

It was true, for by the end of the day, no meat was left, and Utchusu had eaten it all. Shield lizard accepted defeat, and followed the first hunter and his wife into their hut, where he prospers to this day.

The Grasslands Kingdom
There used to be a man known as Chigaki the Ashen-Armed Whose Enemies Fear His Glare, and he traveled with a woman named Maulu the Heavy-Backed, who had no other names. They were members of the tribe of the White Rocks That Eat the Rivers, which had gotten into a war with its neighbors over a matter of succession, and it so happened that the tribe lost its name and was forced to wander until could find another.

After a long time, the two warriors had come to a place where there was nothing, just a grand empty space with no trees or grass or flowers of any sort, where only the thick jungle had put vines and thorns. They cut their way through and found a tall stone sitting straight up and down.

“What is this?” said Chigaki, “why is this stone here?”

Maulu merely nodded and scratched her chin.

“Never mind why it is here, it will serve us well,” she said, and so ordered him to push it over. When he did, the stone fell all the way to the sea, splashing the waters out. He looked at her and shook his head.

“What have you asked me to do?” he said, upset.

“I have merely asked you to do something I would have done, anyway,” she said.

“Now the vines will be angry with us, and all that jungle in that direction!”

She laughed.

“No, Chigaki,” she replied, “they will not be angry with us. We will drill holes here and there so the vines and trees can grow up through part of it.”

So they set about, drilling holes in the great flat stone so the vines and trees could go through. Looking up, Chigaki, shook his head and clucked.

“Look there, you've destroyed all the clouds,” he said, and it was true, for the clouds that were in the sky had been dragged down by the falling stone and pushed into the Scarlet Sea to the west, where they frothed at the seashore.

Maulu stuck her hands in her pockets.

“Well, you are a man!” she shouted, “set fires here and there! Then capture the smoke and wring the grayness out of it. Make a big bucket of it, we'll use it to paint mountains later.”

He did as he was told, and Maulu set herself about dumping her waterskin out over the pits and gouges in the stone to make rivers and places for animals to drink. About this time, however, a zaruk flew overhead and saw what the two humans were doing, and flapped as fast as it could to go and talk to the thunder about what he had seen.

At first, Thunder was angry, but quickly became placated when he saw they were working hard to make new clouds and new parts of the sky. He headed east to the new shoreline and descended downward until he was touching the stone, and where he touched, it exploded into sand and knocked over the growing trees. The path of Thunder took him right up to where Maulu and Chigaki were working, and he boomed his loud voice at them.

“What have you done?” he asked.

Maulu remained calm.

“Oh, great father,” she said, “we have explored this land from up to down and top to bottom, and are looking for a new place to explore.”

“For what reason are you exploring?” he asked.

“Human ones,” Maulu said.

“Our people have fought a great war,” Chigaki said instead, “they have been wandering for many years without a name and we sought to find one. We did not mean to destroy this part of the sky by pushing over the stone.”

Thunder scratched his chin.

“Well, you are putting it back,” Thunder nodded, “so that is good, at least.”

Maulu immediately went back to making grass come out of the rock, and she ordered Chigaki to keep making clouds. Thunder saw this and went off to the rocks to watch them work, still scratching his chin.

“Your people are lost, you say?” he asked.

“That is right,” Chigaki answered, “they seek a place to live.”

Thunder slapped his own knee and laughed.

“So now there is a new land for them to live!” he shouted.

Chigaka and Maulu looked at one another, then at the new land they were making, and laughed themselves, going off with Thunder to get drunk so much that they forgot to put in new trees. That was how the Grasslands Kingdom was first made.

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Memoir of the Start of the Atomic Age
I was watching, rapt, held, my father's hand in my own.

"Wait for it," the old man said, adjusting the goggles on my eyes to ensure they were in their place.

I held tighter, straining to see out of the bunker, the wait interminable as the radio operator counted backwards to zero. A flash of light stung me, and a dull roar echoed across me, rattling my bones and shaking my core. My eyes were wide behind dark lenses as the universe erupted into a flurry of activity behind them. A pillar of smoke climbed into the heavens, lit by an umbrella of the same.

There was another roar there, one that was not the bomb, not the echoing screams of men, excited and hollering, shouting the glory of science. The sound I heard continued to roll and crack as the pillar rose ever higher. The cloud twisted and pulsed, like the hide of some great worm, the puffs of smoke rising over the umbrella wriggling like ever-hungry palps reaching for the sky.

There was a monster in the clouds. It seemed to be gurgling, laughing as the clouds faded, it, too, shouting and praising the men in the bunker.

I began to shake, suppressing a whimper; this was no mere awakening. That horrid thing was waiting in the wings, and today it was making its presence known to anyone who would look, as if to say 'I am here, I was always here.'
I'm pretty sure I screamed. I remember my father shouting at me, calling me a little girl, and I punched at him, the other scientists laughing.

Now, I am old. A little while after I moved out of my parents' home, I found a cabin as far from civilization as I could, for I started seeing the monster everywhere. In toys, games, the smoke drifting from the mufflers of cars, in hot rods, vinyl jackets, sometimes even worn on the faces of people walking the streets. I'd scream at them, shout, wail, clutch at their faces.

I'd spend nights in jail.

It was in jail with me, too, especially in jail. As soon as I was out again, as soon as I was free, I'd come to realize I was still caged in its maw, and so I ran as far as I could, so that's where I am now, here, in this cabin, built with my own hands and tools I made myself. It's not here. I haven't seen it on the ground since.

On the ground. That's right. Sometimes I see it, see them, squirming through the air, so far up in the atmosphere it looks like little bits of hair or marsh-worms crawling through mud.

Or maggots through a corpse.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 01:34 AM

From a Book on the Occult
Terrible things are waiting outside.

Not outside the door, mind you. Outside. Beyond the edge of the world. It's round, and there are edges to it. One can walk around the continents and sail the seas and end up back where you started and yet you can still walk to the place where even the sky stops and the cliffs fall off. It may seem like a fantastic concept to someone from outside, but it's as normal as fire can have a wife and brings gifts to human beings.

Perhaps wait is a bad word to use; one can only wait if one gets impatient only if one has anything you might class as ambition or impatience. After all, even the patient eventually get upset at being forced to wait if you wait long enough. These sorts of entities don't have anything a normal human might call an emotion. Even then, there are other things outside even that. Other worlds. Things it's hard to imagine because you or I just don't have the basic concepts of whatever other reality may exist out there. It's not something to worry about since it is likely someone from here might never encounter it, but take the example of the bald men.

On March 3, 1944 NC (3447 FA), songwriter Shiana Who Makes Fingers Bleed was working in her yard at 3 pm when three men approached her from the street. No one else seemed to notice their presence, but the men approached her over a piece she had done for a local band. They were slim, tall figures, though one was two feet shorter than the others, though all had gray or white skin, wearing long black coats and gloves with wide-brimmed black hats. She invited them inside, whereupon the smaller of the men began to look around her home, checking the basin and bottom of fruit and flower bowls and spent several minutes arranging her utensil drawers before all three men excused themselves and left without even mentioning the song she had written again.

Such behavior is not an isolated incident. In that same year (On June 3, 3 pm), three months later, three similar figures arrived at the home of Benjamin Hunts by Day and asked if he had a daughter; he replied that he did, and they began questioning him violently about the flagstones in his yard and what possessed him to buy a red car instead of a nice drab brown one instead. Feeling trapped, Benjamin began yelling back, causing the men to become further agitated and threaten him with arrest, though they produced no badges. When his daughter arrived home, the three men immediately apologized to her and left, but not without leaving behind a series of small metal strips that later turned out to be simple tin.

Other incidents like these have sometimes come to light, always with strange behavior. One woman reports an individual who was eating a box of cereal with a fork in an alleyway, and when she approached him, he asked if it was the right way. She told him no, and he became angry and threw the box as far as he could before attempting to attack her with the fork. Another man was walking home from work and was assaulted by three men of the same description, who forced a radio and pocket phone onto his person while repeating “you'll all be thankful one day” before vanishing down an alley. Subsequent investigation revealed the goods were legitimately purchased.

Outsiders don't always seem to have sinister motives, either. Some of them seem to be just like normal people, at least at first, until they start talking about things and places that can't possibly exist.

On August 14, 1935, at 4 am, an isolator walking between Blue Rock and Bloody River encountered a gentleman in a loose shirt and slacks carrying a flashlight walking down the road. He said he was on a Ross road, between Kilcot and Newent, when his car stalled and fell into a ditch. He was looking for a payphone and wanted to know why this section of the road was unpaved. When the isolator led him into a nearby corn town, the man screamed and begged to know where he was, but vanished a few moments later, seemingly ripped away from physical reality by an ethereal hand.

A couple, Janet and Roger of Rootscraper, was walking along Barangu Road in Thurber on June 21, 1946 when they encountered a bewildered and seemingly mute boy who possessed illegible identification made of plastic that corresponded to no known language; he was admitted to the hospital for wounds and was eventually adopted by the couple. When he finally learned to speak in a language the couple could understand, he had grown too old to be able to remember where he had come from or who he might have been.

Encounters with outsiders can often be with alien animals, such as the strange beast of Millen County. There are two towns that flank the Upengu river there, Wadiju and Regina, both of whom have a history of strange encounters. On Saturday, May 7, 1934, a woman was walking up the side of the Green Tree ridge outside Wadiju when she came face to face with a tall, lanky creature that possessed a long, thin face, like a grassbag or rodunjo, four stick-like legs, and a tail like a paintbrush all set on a thick, rotund body that seemed too large to be supported by the limbs. She retreated back home, but the creature followed. While inside, she called to police, but by the time they had arrived, the creature had wandered back up to the ridge. It had left deep, moon-shaped prints in the ground and the woman reported that it had been wearing garment of some kind, as if it had an owner or was intelligent. Future sightings of the creature began to pile up, and witnesses all described something similar in shape and size, overall brown, and a few even reported as to its cry: an unearthly ululation that spikes into high octaves or a short, heavy snort. Eventually, however, the reports ceased, and the beast was either eaten or returned from whence it came.

There are also things in the world modern science hasn't yet gotten to; these are cryptids and other entities that don't have enough corroborating evidence of their existence to be considered worth studying. Some students do go after such entities and phenomena, but by the time they're being observed, it's too late to be seen by the people gathering the evidence.

On April 9, 1923 NC (3426 FA), the town of Watkinsville in Riverscar county in Minnaca burned to the ground in a fire said to have been started by a sleeping smoker. Neighboring communities said they could hear the screams echo through the night as they rushed to put out the flames. Several onlookers also reported “tall figures” moving in the fire. In 1933, a couple driving down Highway 12 reported they had stopped by the burning ruins to pick through them, and on their drive home, they both saw a slender, nude, genderless figure whose face was made of flames seated in the back seat. They threw out the charcoal, and the form disappeared. Since then, there have been multiple sightings of the thing, an entity now dubbed “effigy face,” and it seems to protect the ruins of the town from decay and defilement.

Nature's a funny fickle thing. You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. That's the nature of the world, and the nature of, well, nature. Something has to die for another to live. Some people try to circumvent this: they use natural fibers, become vegetarians or raw fooders, or even try to distance themselves from society at large, but these efforts, are, in the end, fruitless. Something still died; something still ended its life for them to continue to exist.

Other animals have been paying the price of living near us since time immemorial; without the death of animals, we would have no society in much the same way as without the death of animals, bears would have no fish. Our factories and our pollution are the same way; it is a double-edged sword.

Those who eat raw foods are, in effect, eating that which still lives, as a lettuce leaf is still breathing, and a raw peanut is still a living seed (and toxic!). Ever notice how onions in a fridge keep growing? Plants in general (fruit excluded; it's designed to be eaten) don't want to be eaten; otherwise they wouldn't grow in inhospitable regions, cover themselves with thorns, create poisons, or twist themselves into strange shapes like trees or insular bushes. What defines the difference between plant and animal in this case? Certainly the difference is cellular, but not in the drive to protect itself and survive.

Life is built and designed to destroy other life, otherwise, there would be no life. No poisons would flow across the world, no venoms would develop, plants would not grow thorns, and beasts would be without teeth and claws.

Oh, what a perfect world.

Human beings, like all things, are also built to destroy, but we have a leg up over other animals in this case (and again, in most of our other enterprises, as well) in that we can destroy large amounts of things efficiently, note our mistakes in destroying those things, and correct them in a single generation. No other animal can claim to create such complex processes for degradation, destruction, and mutilation in its spare time as we do.

It is what we were built to do; our bodies, without fangs or claws or the power to spit acid, our pulpy, easily pierced flesh, yet with the ability (some would say need) to eat almost anything, plant or flesh, and survive in a wide range of climates, were blessed with the ability to reflect upon and accurately correct mistakes in our techniques. Rocks become sharpened rocks, then they are put on sticks, metals are discovered and worked, and so on. The human claw can now kill thousands from miles away, and we don't even need to see our prey.

What's worse, the human claws are now toxic. Our talons shred through the very land itself, ripping and rending at the earth, and we do it by accident. Therefore, it is our responsibility to police ourselves, since anything we do eventually comes back to us, not always by accident. Everyone already knows this, of course, from the smallest grade school kid to the oldest tycoon.

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Johnny Lee and the Woman Who Wouldn't Yell
One day Johnny Lee was out picking fruit from the frost-vines when he heard a cry for help. He followed it to a find a small clearing where there was a woman sitting there with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed. She huffed at him when he entered the clearing, and he looked at the pile of sticks by her feet.

“So, what is the matter?” he asked.

“Wood is hiding the fire from me again,” the woman grumbled, and Johnny Lee nodded in understanding.

“Wood hides fire from me quite a lot,” he said, “but sometimes I can get it to give it up.”

She looked at him and nodded.

“That is all well and good, but how does it help me?” she asked.

“Very simply,” he said, and clapped his hands together, “I will make the fire come out.”

He scowled at the fire, screaming in rage and anger, then struck his fist into the ground.

“Wood!” he shouted, “give up your fire or I will come in there myself and get it!”

No sooner had he shouted this than all the sticks in the clearing burst into flame. Startled, he quickly dumped all his water out on all the flames except the one at the woman's feet. Now the woman was smiling in excitement.

“Can you teach me to do that?” she asked.

Johnny Lee was a friendly sort, so he nodded and patted the woman on the shoulder.

“Certainly,” he said, and sat down to cook his dinner at the newly-made fire, “tomorrow we will begin.”

The next morning, the woman and Johnny Lee started looking for a rock, a big one like a cliff, and when they found one, they stood side by side looking at the rock. He pointed up one side.

“Climb this rock,” he said, “and you'll see how it's done.”

She she tried to climb the rock, falling each time she tried, breaking her wrist once and forcing them to sit and wait for many days until she could try again.

“Can't you tell me how?” she asked.

“I can't tell you how,” Johnny Lee said, “you have to see it.”

So it went, and eventually she managed to climb all the way up the cliff. She leaned over the edge and watched Johnny Lee scowl at the cliff, and handholds appeared wherever he reached, and he quickly and easily pulled his way up.

“How about now?”

“I told you already, you have to see it.”

They looked at what was on top and saw nothing but more jungle. Johnny Lee started walking again, and the woman complained that her feet hurt. He said nothing, and had her make a fire and cook food when it came time to camp and carry his pack when it came time to leave in the morning. She was inconvenienced by this, but said nothing.

Eventually, however, it started to rain. Johnny Lee scowled at the sky, and the rain went away.

“Can you tell me how it's done now?” she asked.

He scowled at her this time, and she put up her hands in defense.

“It's not far now, I'll show you in a minute.”

He came to a big herd of uchgrunchucks, and waved to her.

“It's almost here,” he said, come out into the field.

So they went, and they waited for several days until the herd was suddenly spooked and the ground thundered.

“It's coming!” he shouted, “the way is coming!”

And he quickly hid, not telling the woman to do so.

Suddenly, a great big gariax burst out of the trees, and the woman screamed and ran, being chased by the terrible beast. She felt the hot breath on her neck and heard the roar of the monster just behind her. She ran over fields and through forests and over rivers, but it never gave up. She could see Johnny Lee out of the corner of her eye, laughing and howling while riding a stormcloud.

By now she was running out of energy, for she had run almost all the way to the sunset, and could take no more. She was so angry with Johnny Lee for lying to her, angry at the sky, angry at the gariax for not giving up, and so ticked off she just stopped and turned around. The woman shouted as loud as she could and struck her fist into the ground, making the gariax stop in its tracks. She narrowed her eyes and stuck out the side of her lip, and the gariax walked away. Suddenly, her eyes went wide, and she started to smile.

“That's how it's done,” said Johnny Lee, who walked off waving goodbye.

From a Notebook Found in a Shed Outside a Small Town
You're watching a corpse decay. Flies come and lay their eggs, maggots hatch, the flesh bloats and bubbles, sending a rising stench through the air, a sickly sweet and delicious smell. Hunger washes over your being, though not for food. As the smell disperses and ends and the corpse dries up, becoming another husk of blackened skin and bones, you want to see it again. You want to watch a bigger animal, so you find a shield lizard.

The first was a Kershin, a big one. I wanted to find a mastiff, but I didn't know where and so I settled for a rich guy's Kershin. Why the rich guy? He doesn't need it; he can get a new lizard. Besides, watching his face as I clubbed the thing with a brick and ran into the woods with it was beautiful. I found a particularly nasty section of the swamp and crouched on a tree to watch the rotting process.

It was amazing.

The flesh pulsed and bloated within a few hours. Flies came shortly thereafter. Maggots. I like maggots. I like watching them, watching their bodies move, generating red fractals of potential death and disease.
The smells and colors evident after the first day were marvelous. Our time together, the shield lizard and I, it was all too short, so I started going back to the neighborhood to get more lizards. Watching each one, recording their dying yelps and their rotting visage in my mind, waiting impatiently for the next one. Lizard after lizard. It's a wonder I wasn't caught. I started to get a little careless.

That's when I saw the boy playing alone in his backyard.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 01:45 AM

Continents
Five major land masses dot the surface of Aesca, and each one presents a differing geological environment.
Arcadia is an equatorial region, a series of islands and island continents that lie near to or next to the mid-oceanic ridge of the Inner Sea. The islands are very tropical, and retain a sort of dry warmth year-round due to the presence of multiple active volcanic regions across the lands. The major animal life is crocodilian in nature. A massive beast known only as The Memory swims the seas there, and the people do without most forms of electricity, seeing it as the province of those who would devour spirits.

The continent of Arna lies north of the equator, and is quite near the influence of the Southern Lands, so jungles carpet the fertile lowland regions, and mountains of impossible height climb into the sky. Massive animals stalk the landscape, reptilian creatures with bird-like features, claws, and teeth. Natural defenses run the gamut from armor plates to acid spines, fire breath, and poisonous bites. The most technologically advanced kingdoms in the world dwell here, with an active space program and manufacturing facilities that boast spiritual aid. To the west, the subcontinent of Byzenu holds the remainder of Arna's kingdoms.

Lafié is to the south of the equator, and is far from Savage Influence, but its relative nearness to the Nazro continent reduces the amount of life on the land, so the continent is mostly a cold region dotted with aged crags and fog-shrouded temperate forests. Local animal life is like that found in Arna, but a bit smaller, and much more dangerous, with even more bizarre natural defenses. The people have long depended on summoned spirits to help with daily tasks, and so never developed technologically as fast as the other continents, but the war seventy years ago has left them with little choice but to update themselves.

Nazro is a continent of two extremes: poison-tainted jungle to the south, and mind-numbing toxic wastelands to the north. Insect spirits swarm over the continent like flies on a carcass, and the people who live there dwell inside airtight homes, clean valleys near hot springs or a wadi, or else in massive cities out in the wastelands.

The Southern Lands still lies under the influence of the Savage Realm. Expeditions to the continent are short and typically result in broken equipment, tattered clothing, and nonfunctional gear. This is not always a result of the wildlife of the area, but of the Savage Realm’s effect on machine processed goods. Otherwise, the land is bountiful, rich in minerals and plants, and the dominant landforms are giant mammals found nowhere else in the world.

The Politics of the Thing
The reach of the plagues left many homes and lands fallow, devoid of people. The famine that followed drove humanity closer together, and the resulting war and depression kept them there. With nowhere to go but further into the cities, the major ports and trading points began to grow in unprecedented size and structure. Buildings crossed each other, new layers of roadways were formed, and airships plowed gray, smog-filled skies. The era of the supercity had begun.

Those outside the walls banded together for survival, with illness and hunger rampant among them. They managed to eke out decent lives for themselves after a time, but bandits, monsters, and disease still sweep their meager populations. Called “Waksoochohoo” (wilderness/savage born) by those who live safe inside supercities, they are looked upon as less civilized and even pitied, and those among them who wield magic are feared, for more often than not, they are more powerful than those who live in the cities.
Multiple kingdoms and countries dot the surface of the world, ruled by men and women with the ambition to control their fellows, or merely those with a desire to see order imposed on an otherwise chaotic landscape. Listed below are some of the more important and powerful kingdoms and lands in the world.

Arna
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Arna is a continent of jungles and savage wilderness, though while less savage and destructive than the Southern Lands, it is no less inhospitable. Covered by miles of unforgiving environments, predators, and humidity, Arna still remains one of the most populated and modern continents. Wireless networks cover the kingdoms, allowing rapid information transfer and human contact unprecedented in previous eras.

There are ten major kingdoms on the continent of Arna, each having its major borders change during The Great War. Several kingdoms even ceased to exist, many smaller territories merging with larger ones. Each of the ten kingdoms that still exist came into being at some point during the Age of Wars. Each began as a small fiefdom and shrank or grew as the times came, and were consolidated into larger kingdoms at the end of the Great War.
The country of Aloris is actually a loose confederation of people and tribes living on the edge of the Southern Lands, and is a second world country. Temporary structures dot the landscape and the people live in highlands or other regions chosen for the difficulty of animals to invade them. The ruling body is a series of tribal elders who send messages to one another over long distances on animal back.

Arasa is a representative republic, once a fertile region, now carved up by corporate concerns. To the north, the Theosin effect has stripped away much of the local life, and over the rest of the country, corporations taking advantage of tax laws and extraterritoriality laws have tightened a grip on the local government. Arasa is home to Seelie’s once proud main headquarters of Heimdall, now a blasted ruin, a shell of its former self. The rest of the landscape is covered in temperate and coniferous forests.

Anaquiei is a representative democracy sandwiched between Fernia and Ortelia, east of the Heaven's Ridge mountain range. South of Maichu, the region is dominated by subtropical plains and arid regions populated by gigantofauna that feeds on the golden grasses, in addition to the smaller creatures native to the edged of the rain-shadow deserts that move into Fernia.

The Bandit Kingdoms is the name given to the region that backs up to the Moon's Road mountain range made up of multiple theocratic dictatorships ruled by the priests of given family spirits. The borders constantly shift as countries are swallowed up by ancient vendettas and warrior clans push and pull at their enemies, who change almost daily due to the thick piles of deals and contracts with each other and the land.

Calfrua, a constitutional monarchy, lies between Saqui Isi and Thalgaio, and is covered in pine forests and temperate forests to the south. It backs up to the Dragon's Teeth mountain range and is bordered by Charnra.

The grasslands kingdom of Charnra has long been a low-income region, and has the highest population of Waksoochohoo on the continent. Its population was hardest hit during the famine, and much of the region never recovered. Many of the rice fields lie untouched and overgrown, and the jungles have reclaimed many of the smaller towns. A large population of wanderers comes through Charnra, as it is the central most kingdom in Arna. It is ruled by a democratic parliamentary monarchy and has a large number of states within it. Most of the land is jungle running to the east, with higher, tropical grasslands toward the west coast. It is Charnra where these articles will largely focus.

The representative oligarchy of Chippelwa is directly between Maeri and Arasa, and is famous for the basalt structures along its northern and southern coast. A decline in national resources in recent years has turned the population to attempt farming nuts and fruits in an attempt to supplement its failing economy. Injections from Maeri have helped keep it afloat.

Cresya is a constitutional monarchy to the far west of Byzenu, on the far side of the Graymel mountains, facing the Outer Sea and the Domere Empire in Nazro. It is to the south of Rius, and trades iron ore for much of the goods that are produced there.

Daum, between Lindblum and Maeri, is a badlands covered in dying trees and active geothermal regions along its eastern shores, and the interior is covered in thick jungle. Where humans dwell, there are rice paddies, though the kingdom does not produce as much as Charnra, it does produce much of the non-citrus fruits found in the kingdoms, and the land is regularly mined for precious stones. The region was once the ancestral home of the Tribe of Earth, but its people have long been forgotten.

Fernia is a land of rain shadow deserts, and in times gone by, a refuge for rough and tumble thieves and brigands. In more recent years, the people have turned the kingdom around, making it one of the most technologically progressive nations in the wake of war and famine, at least within the cities. Out in the scrub lands and the deserts, however, the kingdom has reverted back to a time of lawlessness and houses the fiefs of new bandit lords.

Lindblum sits on the edge of the Southern Lands, and is covered in dense jungle to the south and sparse subtropical forest to the north. A multitude of products come from the jungles here. Lindblum is home to the Falg Snowfield, a one hundred mile radius perfect circle of constantly falling snow in the middle of the jungle region and its surrounding rivers. The region was once the capital area of the Tourmekian empire, and many ruins still dot the shorelines and forests, their spires reaching into the sky and covered in vines and moss.

Maeri is a kingdom of deep fens and natural beauty, the land covered in springs and on both shores of the inland sea. The forests here are ripe for logging, and charcoal appears in great amounts on the eastern side of the inland sea. The western side is dotted with larger cities and is a kingdom of trade and commerce. Its low land is home to a multitude of animals and maintains a temperate climate year round due to winds from the sea. Maeri is currently ruled by an aging dictator named Veron Onsteff, the daughter of a man who, in his youth, helped push back a military coup.

Maichu is an absolute democracy; the ruling councils exist only to count the votes of the people, standing in sharp contrast to Reisa. The current rulers are well-liked, and the conomy is fairly stable, relying on logging and mining interests in the mountain territories and evergreen forests that dot the landscape. Possessed of an altitude a bit too high for the tropical grasslands of the nations further south, Maichu is also home to a foreign legion trained to move through the pine forests with silence.

Marsden is a tropical republic of swamps and jungles, with its largest settlements on the beaches. It is a popular tourist destination, covered in pristine and untouched jungle filled with pamukkale springs and mineral deposits, tropical fish in fresh waters, a booming citrus industry, as well as a wide variety of beaches, ruins, and a near-never-ending supply of strange plants and animals. The Marsden Kingdom Defense Force’s long range weapon systems served almost every Arnan army in the war, and the kingdom now plays host to technology and missile programs, as well as the kingdom’s current space program.

The Orthodox kingdom of Ortelia is the seat of the central Gaian church, and still holds many of the old ideals in high esteem. The kingdom is responsible for almost all the wheat and bread products consumed by the Arnan kingdoms. The church in Ortelia is the government, a theocracy with a royal caste who rules individual territories in the nation. It was the first nation attacked in the war, and the last to join the fight. Ortelia boasts the Great Cathedral at Poroit, which began construction over a thousand years ago and still continues to this day.

Reisa is a kingdom often ignored. During the war, however, the kingdom’s traditional militant activities came to the fore, as the draft was re-instituted at the request of the citizenry. Willing to fight with little or no provocation, and possessed of a nationalist ideology, the kingdom is one in which foreigners are not welcome and adventurers are looked at with more disdain than anywhere else on Arna.

The kingdom is filled with evergreens, oil wells, and logging communities. The highlands of the region are conducive to sparse tundra environments, snow, and lots of fossil fuel resources. Nearly every other resource in the kingdom comes from the outside, shipped in for an exchange of the oil and gasoline that make the region so rich.

Reyoon is a total monarchy, and it consists of thick and heavy forests along the monsoon corridor of the inland Scarlet Sea. Tribal councils at the village level maintain order while nobles acquire wealth and power. It's considered an anachronism, and doesn't hold a lot of international power, since they refuse to do business with corporations that don't have a high-born member among them.
Rius is one of the last bastions of the ancient empires; the people there have made much more binding contracts with the land, and the rulers of each of the regions within the country command great power, but only when they are within their regional borders. It contains a variety of much smaller kingdoms and fiefdoms, each with an overriding and general theme; Malsolia, for example, is covered with overgrown and unnatural plants, while Eirsus is a kingdom of rock and stone.

Saqui Isi is a meritocratic oligarchy that faces the northern seas and is surrounded by Arasa and Calfrua. Potential leaders are selected through a process of trials similar to the inheritance system of Charnra, but are judged on their actions during the tests before being sent to the capital to finish their training. The country counts Winneqten and Maeri among its enemies, and has several purchasing deals with Charnra for military hardware.

Sciol/Seiol is and has been a communist democracy for nearly a hundred years; the cycle of leaders is on a three year voting schedule, and no one can serve a consecutive term. Candidates can only acquire money for their campaigns through grass-roots effort, and can not take corporate donations. It's a very small country, barely larger than one of Charnra's average states, but maintains an international presence due to its neutral tendencies.

The Taibach empire is one of the oldest countries on the Arna continent. It still serves its emperor with honor and distinction, though recent emperors have managed reforms that create a more rounded, democratic system of passing laws and interactions with other kingdoms.

The country of Thalgaio is a plutocractic meritocracy that remains fairly isolated except for a few minor wargames played with Reisa. They are an Orthodox country, though the older variations of the faith are starting to crop up here and there. They're the closest kingdom to the Nazro continent on the eastern side, and many of its cities have Etheran districts.

The island empire of Varasia is dominated by unique plants and wildlife, and a highly animistic Gaian faith. The region is mostly forested mountains with a few active volcanoes. Cherry trees dot the islands, and the people are highly concentrated within metropolitan areas. The mountainsides are lush forests and terraces that serve as grasslands. A lack of metals and an abundance of wood and stone have led to unique architectural styles and methods of waging war for the people there.

Vesla still holds onto its old monarchy, but has a tribal council who takes care of most of the affairs of the kingdom.

Winneqten has a democractic tribal council that makes up its government.

Arcadia
Far from any supercity, far from the Waksoochohoo, far from most greed and pain and hate, lie the lands of Arcadia, a place almost geopolitically unchanged since the fall of the Atlantean empire. More of a series of island continents, Arcadia is seat of the Neo-Gaian movement and the Faith of Bhirav, the Amarites. In that faith, mobs and other spiritual entities are the souls of the dead. The Amarites invite some of these spirits into their bodies, so that they might point the way to Death in song and dance.

Because of this, it is said that using them for power, to trap them in circles, or otherwise bind spirits in any way is to prevent them from returning home or showing Death the way to souls. For centuries, this deprived the lands of much electrical power, forcing them to rely on wind or solar energy, though in recent years, some geothermal plants have made headways into the area, although they are very limited in number.

Lafié
The tribes of Lafié have also been without electricity and modern magic until as recently as fifty years. Several of the early tribes followed a form of spiritual animism which led them to attempt to call and bind spirits, and the people used this method to better their own lives. Where any other culture may build a house of wood, metal, or paper, the Lafié constructed buildings of spirit matter wrought by mighty magical beings. When the end of the war came, the people of Lafié were forced to abandon their feudal society and much of the trappings of their culture.

Now, their culture still lives in song and myth, but most of the kingdoms have slowly accepted modern technology into their lives, alongside the ancient arts of spirit binding. Much of the lands are still not heavily active traders, though they maintain much stronger ties with Arna than previous generations. With the war over, much of the xenophobia between the two continents has evaporated, and they willingly share information and goods.

Nazro
Nobody likes a Nazro, they just won’t admit it. When the Savage Realm arose, the people on Nazro performed some terrible act, or else unleashed a horrific weapon, one that tainted the very background magic of the continent (in order to curse a whole continent, you have to do something pretty bad). The landscape is carpeted in toxic mana, and, by proxy, a phenomena called Vapors or Ga-muganu is ever-present. Once normal oxygen is converted to a deadly gas in many regions, and so the people carry masks with mixtures of herbs inside them to purify the air. Inside large cities, massive towers scrub the air with filters of these concoctions to at least purify some of the air. Every Nazro-born human being carries a soul drawn through by toxic mana, and their bodies suffer for it in bruises and bumps that never heal.

Most technology in the desert relies on local animal or plant life, ancient technology left behind to rot, or else is centered on keeping people alive. In the jungle, though, anything may go, as very few who enter ever come out again.

The holy book of the most common religion among these lands is the Mashr’agun, and is a source of contention among the Gaia-worshippers of Ipher and the lesser tribes, for while the Ipher worship Gaia as a god-entity, the Mashr’agun paints her as a more personal figure, and one spirit among infinity (albeit the strongest among them). Part of this contention is that the Al’mahagun, the place where the book was mostly written and compiled, is controlled by the people of Ipher at this time.

Major Players
There are a variety of companies and corporations vying for economic and political might in Arna’s current environment. Several of these major international groups are sketched below.
Gaia Health Organization is a group concerned with putting the world back together after the disaster of the 3500 surge. Originally founded in 3472, the GHO has been a minor player until the breakup of a large adventuring clan called Green Thumb swelled their ranks with old adventurers eager to train a new generation, taking the group from being simply well organized to well-trained.
Hatachi Information Systems is a research and development firm for information technologies out of Sulia in Ortelia. They make most of the cell phone technologies and computer hardware seen in most adventurer’s guilds. Their OS, Beehive, is currently the most used operating system in the world. Its “competitor,” Mirabel General Labs, markets its own “indie” OS, Envelope, mostly to programmers and technophiles who have yet to get with the times.
HOUND Global Security is a private security firm granted extraterritoriality by the Arasa Post-war Reconstruction Compact. Once an arm of Seelie, HOUND has fully separated into a private force that still maintains exclusive ties to its parent company. HOUND also runs a wide variety of biological, eugenics, and human engineering labs, the most notable of which is its AUG program, a series of rituals and formulas that allow it to create the super soldiers for which it is so famous, though most of its members are no longer such beings.
Jofield Arms Manufacturing, Limited makes guns, swords, and armor. Lots of them. Not truly a major player, as it has very few inroads into the cultures of the cities, Jofield Arms remains popular among adventurers and the Waksoochohoo, making it a maligned figure in many governmental and societal circles. Many people agree that Jofield is just “arming the problem,” so to speak, and would like nothing more than to see it shut down.
Lifestar, Incorporated is a genetic engineering firm that specializes in studying cryptids and their genetic relationships with humans, a risky and difficult proposition at best, considering cryptids don’t have anything that could resemble inherited materials of any sort. Lifestar also runs several magically active pharmaceutical and alchemical compound manufacturing plants for treating various aura-based diseases in addition to somatic medicines.
Medical Mechanical Manufacturing is an offshoot of the now-defunct Southend Manufacturing Company, which went under in the early 3480s after it attempted to begin manufacturing golems again. Research uncovered some years prior was released to the public, allowing the secret of the golem to be revealed, showing that the company was murdering innocents to gather the souls in order to make their golems work. The company currently makes surgical tools and other medical supplies, as well as a wide variety of prosthetics.
Seelie Energy Solutions is the source of most of Arna’s power and manufacturer of a wide variety of types of power plants and a major player in the creation and maintenance of supercities. Seelie makes two kinds of “factory ready” reactor-cities, whole cities built around reactor cores that tap the blood of the earth for a kind of “tidal power” created by the action of the thrumming essence, though in truth this is outdated technology. New power plants utilize sky-trap trechnology for fire spirits to generate electricity, and most of the old Stream plants are simply being used to measure local spirit world health. The company’s aging leader, Kurtis J. Seelie, remains practically unseen, but it is rumored he is seeking a worthy successor.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 01:52 AM

Species
Now the fun begins. You get to pick a species. There’s really only one dog on top of the heap, but all the options are listed below for you ungrateful bastards who don’t want to be the species in charge of things around here.

Humans
Humans are, well, human. You know the drill. Two arms, two legs, questionable between the ears. Humans come in all shapes and sizes and colors, and they’re frickin’ everywhere. However, it’s possible to identify where a human might come from by his or her physical appearance. After all, despite high and mighty talk about the end of racism and global inclusiveness, people still look at an Arnan sideways for datin’ an Arcadian.

Many of the traits listed below are stereotypical. Anybody can be anything, especially in a global culture, though for a stereotype to exist, it had to come from somewhere. These traits and ideas are listed merely to provide sketches than anything else.

Arcadians are typically thin, lithe, and wide-eyed. They are often tall, and their skin ranges in color from olive-brown to almost sheet-white in color. The most notable mark of an Arcadian, however, is often his or her hair. Arcadians are usually looked on by the other Tribes as one might look at a métier de: they’ve always been proponents of peace, what with being in the middle of everyone. The Lafié suffered under Atlantean rule, however, and it can be a sore point, though the Arcadians have mostly forgotten something that was so long ago. Among other ethnicities, Arcadians are considered childlike, weak, and lackadaisical.

Arnans are a moderate people. Moderate height, moderate weight, and a moderate musculature run rampant among them. Tan skinned and variably haired, these are usually the descendants of Tourmekian influence who have dwelled on the land for generations. The Orthodox Gaian church has pressed its influence on the people for millennia, and they are a widely varied lot. Much more schismatic and restless than other ethnicities, the ancestors of these people spread across the lands during the Time of the Gods, though it is now centered almost entirely on Arna. Among other ethnicities, Arnans are considered boorish, lacking intellect, and prone to hasty judgments and have a lack of common sense.

Aurans are excessively dark in skin, eyes, and hair; the open plains and scraggly forests of their homelands have made them dark as a survival measure. They carry fat well, and their usual musculature comes not from any sort of regional requirement but ritualistic martial cultures. The extremely matriarchal culture is facing some hurdles when meeting with the more “equal shares” culture the Arnans have brought with them during the period of restoration. Many now masterless spear-warriors, free to roam, have set their sights on Arna as a place to explore and adventure away from the new politics of their ancestral home. Among other ethnicities, Aurans are considered taciturn, stubborn, and set in their ways.

Etherans are often a small people, not typically very tall, usually thin due to malnutrition coupled with an athletic lifestyle, and usually possessed of a light tan skin. Magi born of the ethnicity are always toxic mages, the magic they funnel changed into something wholly other. Most, if not all, Etherans born on their home continent possess bruising one might associate with birthmarks, and their slow healing processes net them lifelong pain. Among other ethnicities, Etherans are feared and hated for the foul cursed beings that they are, though not so much anymore. In fact, the current way might be even more insulting: Etherans are trendy. With their slight figures, unapproachable culture, and bizarre habits, the ethnicity is getting more than its fair share of public exposure.

Golems
Around 3380, a group of companies got together and formed a conglomerate named Southend Consortium. They began making personal and home products, starting with kitchen appliances, pots, and eventually, the world’s first dishwashers and iceboxes. Twenty years after the consortium was founded, one branch warehouse in the city presented a whole new product. The golem.

Really more of a metal frame with tacked and stapled-on metal and rubber parts that should in no scientific way be moving, the golems produced by Southend are not mechanical in any way. The internal structure of the machine is often made up of spinning clockwork and analogous parts, and in the center is its Core, if that. Just as many were made out of corn husks, sticks, bone, or mud and clay as well.

The Core is a small box, about twice the size of a human heart, with the Tourmekian word for “Life” written across it. Two years after manufacturing had begun and the creatures were being purchased by the rich and company owners, something strange began to happen. Many of the older ones began to leave their jobs, ask questions about what it meant to exist, and in some cases, wander off into the wilderness. There was no explanation available for why such a thing was happening, but people kept buying the things anyway.

Most models were built for domestic services, considering the humanoid shape they were made in, a form useful for artistic merit but not for heavy labor or war. When the war finally did come, the companies that composed Southend Consortium mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind a ruined city and factories full of unused parts.

Today, many golems are a repressed minority; the time after that war allowed human to find new scapegoats for the common problems of their societies. Golems bear many of these prejudices, especially in cities, where the elite can look down upon throngs of commoners below and single out those who are different or whose lot in life should be service. Welcome to the maligned minority.

Ironically, many golems have become the key initiators of the new music movement, having created jazz styles and modern music, filling up clubs with patrons and singers. While a few golems remain calm and repressed, many express the full emotional range that humans do.

A golem is really nothing more than a skeletal metal frame with metal and rubber attached to it, or else some other set of conglomerated parts or materials. Oddly enough, they can still touch, feel, and breathe like a normal human being. While breathing does nothing for them, some learn to do so simply out of habit, or to attempt to mimic humans. The bellows inside many of them allows some semblance of the act. Other than that, the head and chest areas of an golem are usually filled with all manner of clockwork and analog parts, resembling the interior of any number of appliances, full of transistors and fuses, blood vessels, and perhaps a quivering organ or two. Repair on an awakened golem isn’t always a pleasant affair for the machine.

Golems have made some headway in modern society as sympathetic beings. Information that came to light in the early ‘80s has made many golems something of a sore spot for many companies working on true robotics technology; nobody wants to be accused, even falsely, of sacrificing humans to tear out their souls and put them inside constructs. Since they are essentially murdered humans, many golems have successfully lobbied to earn paychecks paid by the government or the surviving former leaders of the Southend Manufacturing Consortium; currently, Medical Mechanica Manufacturing hires a prodigious number of golems.

GOLEM TRAITS
Golems are constructs. They also share the following traits:
Size: Golems are medium-sized.
Speed: An golem’s base ground speed is 30 feet.
Ability Scores: A heroic golem have Constitution scores. Golems have two fewer points with which to determine their ability scores.
Starting Occupation: Golems have a tendency to suddenly “wake up” with knowledge they shouldn’t possess or never knew they possessed. Golems start with an occupation like everyone else.
Armor: An golem hero can wear a suit of armor or have certain types of integrated armor attached to its frame.
Critical Components: Although they are constructs, golems have vital areas, mostly the analog gadgets and gizmos in their heads and chest, the Core, and major limbs. Consequently, they are subject to critical hits.
Cybernetic Incompatibility: If it ever comes up, ever, (which it shouldn’t, dammit) a golem cannot be fitted with cybernetic attachments.
Immunities: Golems are immune to mind-influencing effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, necromancy effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless. They are not subject to nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain (except as noted under Destruction/Restoration, below), energy drain, or the effects of massive damage. They cannot be raised from the dead (but again, see below).
She Looks Almost Lifelike: Distinguishing a golem from a human requires a successful Spot check (DC 5). It can use the Disguise skill to increase the Spot check DC.
Rejuvenation Cycle: A golem runs on, well, who the fields knows. It does, however, get real hot, its internal whatchamajigs getting overly hot and reducing performance. It needs to just sort of settle down and sit very still for awhile, about 8 hours a day, in order to deal with overheating. It also gets tired and needs to catch up on its dreams. If it fails to rejuvenate, it suffers a cumulative –1 penalty on attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws each day until it fully cools itself off.
Repairable: Golems cannot heal damage on their own, but can be repaired using the Repair skill. A successful Repair check (DC 30) heals 1d10 points of damage to a golem, and each check represents 1 hour of work.
Destruction/Restoration: A golem reduced to 0 hit points is immediately destroyed and cannot be repaired, although its Core may be removed and installed in an similar but intact frame. A golem’s Core is in its chest, and it looks like a little white box with the Tourmekian word for “life” written on it (just so you know what you’re looking for in your wind-up buddy).

When a golem’s Core is removed, the golem suffers one point of Charisma drain that cannot be restored by any means. When you find or build an applicable frame, it’s possible to attempt to hook the Core up to it and cross your fingers. Doing so takes a Repair skill check with a DC of 30.
Sensation: A golem hero can taste, smell, feel, and see normally.
Skills: A golem gains and assigns skill points as other nonhuman characters do.
Free Language Skills: A golem can read, write, and speak one language. One!
Height and Weight: A golem has the same height range as a human. Its weight, however, is equal to 1.5 × the normal weight of whatever it is a human would weigh. They’re usually made of metal and rubber and clay and all.
Magic Restriction: Golems cannot take the Magical Background (Magus) or (Dreamer) feats.
Mana: Golems gain mana just as organic heroes do (remember that objects can have mana ratings).
Level Adjustment: +0.

Example Cryptid: Elf
Vicious, solitary predators, elves are dark-skinned, dark-haired, and very limber entities that tend to live in the wilds of the jungles, near fey mounds, or in the Near Realm. Legend says these creatures built vast forest empires in ages past, but they have either been changed by the Savage Realm or else were always this way, and were more numerous.

Elves hunt alone, but many often bring with them trained animals or else insinuate themselves into groups of adventurers or similar humans, who can get them the fresh meat they need to stay alive. If left to their own devices, elves often use their appearance to lure travelers into the wilderness to starve or die from illness and disease, and feed upon the remains.

Elves typically don’t do work unless they have to, or the work entails helping children. Elves adore human children for reasons unknown, and are known for leading them back to cities or settlements over miles of rough and dangerous terrain. While they will do work, they need to be given incentive to do so. Many elves, while they need raw flesh to survive, enjoy sugars, especially modern processed candies, or anything sweet furnished by human hands. They feed on mana, like most cryptids, but absorb it through their eating of the animus left behind in raw flesh, or, more enthusiastically, blood.

You see, most creatures can convert pattern energy into animus energy (we call it “digestion,” and it’s part of that chemical and magical process), but elves (along with dragons and a few other magical creatures like vampires and so on) can’t. For this reason, they need a fresh animus to add to their own. Unlike other creatures who use complex digestion procedures, the flesh falls apart and the animus joins almost instantly in an elven mouth. For this reason, the creatures have a relatively undeveloped stomach, making them love all sorts of unprocessed sugars, fish, and other forms of simple foods as snacks, even if the real meat is magical energy.

ELF TRAITS
Elves are humanoids. They also share the following traits:
Size: Elves are medium-sized.
Speed: An elf’s base ground speed is 30 feet.
Ability Scores: -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity. Elves are thin, yet limber.
Feats: Elves receive one less feat at first level than normal starting characters.
Skills: Elves treat their intelligence scores as if they were 2 points lower for the purposes of determining skill points gained per level.
Blood Hunger: Being incapable of converting mana from proxy to animus like humans or other creatures, elves need to absorb the animus of living things to replenish their own auras. An elf that goes 24 hours without draining the blood from a living creature (or eating a pound of raw, fresh flesh) suffers 1d4 points of Constitution damage.
Biter: Elves, while they look normal, have a set of vicious fangs for rending meat and an enzyme that quickly breaks down spiritual matter, either the animus or pattern, and having the side effect of decaying its real-world proxy, something like an incorporeal acid. This means, in rules terms, that they have a bite attack. This attack deals 1d6 plus one and a half Strength modifier piercing damage plus 1d4 mana damage.
Hypersensitive: Elves have large ears, up to six to eight inches in length, with a broad base and a muscle suite that allows them to be turned and flicked in the direction of noise (also makes a handy tool for flicking away flies). They’ve also got a heightened sense of smell and their large, almond-shaped eyes see easily in the dark. They gain low-light vision and gain a +2 species bonus on Spot, Search, and Listen checks, and the benefit of the Blind-fight feat.
Flawed: Elves can only receive the benefit of one flaw.
Leaper: Elves have tight tendons and dual-layered ligaments in their knees, ankles, and upper thighs. While these ligaments are bad for storing energy during a run, they’re excellent for making quick, powerful snaps. They gain a +10 species bonus on Jump checks.
No Magery for You: Elves cannot take the Magical Background feat. Exception: Elves can take the Magical Background (Talent: Acrobatic) and Magical Background (Talent: Longsword Talent) feats.
Cryptid: Elves cannot possess the Cryptid Blooded feat.
Level Adjustment: +0

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 01:57 AM

Flaws
You don’t have to have flaws, but they can sure help you out. A flaw is something you can take at character creation to reduce your capabilities. Now, before you say “but mister, why would I do that,” you should note that just like in other games, you get stuff back for it.

Taking Flaws
You can as many flaws as you like, but only two of them count for the purpose you take ‘em for: bonus feats. You can get a bonus feat for each flaw you take, up to two flaws total. Of course, you won’t be stopped if you want to take more. You can’t take flaws after 1st level, though, and you can’t get rid of ‘em, so be careful.

Basic Flaws
Basic flaws represent a character who’s just not that good at doing something or maybe he’s got a lame leg.

All Thumbs
Your crasher is terrible with machines. They tend to just not do what you want them to, and they never respond with anything more than breaking, emitting purple smoke, or deciding they’d rather go the other way when you turn the wheel.
Effect: You have a –4 penalty to Disable Device, Drive, Repair, and Pilot checks. You cannot take proficiency feats for vehicles.

Feeble
You’re weak of body, possibly poisoned by the mana of the wastelands or you have a wasting disease like polio or worse.
Effect: You take a –2 penalty on all Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution based ability and skill checks.

Frail
You may be skinny, scrawny, thin, or just downright not all that healthy. You tend to take hits harder than most.
Effect: You gain 1 less hit point per level. This can reduce the amount of hit points you gain at a new level to 0.

Not a Fighter
You’ve just never been good at swinging your fists.
Effect: You take a –2 penalty on all melee attack rolls and a –1 penalty on melee damage rolls.

Oblivious
You tend to never notice things, even when they’re right in front of you.
Effect: You take a –4 penalty on Listen and Spot checks.

Pacifist
No fighting for you!
Effect: You can love it or hate it, but you talk before you fight, and even then, you won’t actually hurt anyone. Grapple, trip, and sunder are all still viable options, though. Monsters and obvious beasts from beyond may not be safe from your wrath, however, depending how much of a pacifist you are.

Pathetic
You are a loser. You always will be one, too.
Effect: You have 2 fewer points with which to acquire ability scores.
Special: Only use this flaw if you're using point buy.

Poor Reflexes
When it comes to reactions, you just, you can’t move out of the way. You zig when you should have zagged.
Effect: You take a –3 penalty on Reflex saves.

Scrawny
You're scary thin. Maybe you’re a magus and don’t eat nearly enough, or you’re a plague victim. If you take an exceptionally tough hit, you’re more likely to go down than others.
Effect: Your massive damage threshold is equal to your Constitution score minus 4.

Slow
You’ve never been one for track.
Effect: Your base ground speed is reduced by half, round down to the nearest 5-foot interval.

Smog in the Noggin’
Some terrible fate befell your poor dewdropper, and now she can’t recall her own name, or anything else for that matter.
Effect: You don’t remember jack. Get out two blank character sheets and shoot a gender and maybe species at your GM, then give him the spare character sheet and dice, cross your fingers and pray. Note that this flaw counts not only as two flaws, but it bypasses the rule that only lets you get feats from taking two flaws. That’s right, you can get up to four bonus feats by taking this flaw. Of course, that don’t mean the GM is gonna be all nice and let you pick ‘em, or that he’s going to stop at just two more flaws, now, does it? Hey, maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll just make some up!

Shaky Hands
You’ve suffered nerve damage from poison or have flawed nerves, and as a result, your hands shake and shudder, never quite doing what you want them to.
Effect: You take a –2 penalty on ranged attack rolls and a –2 penalty on Disable Device and Craft checks.

Weak Stomach
You get sick very easily. Your immune system is shot to hell and your body ain’t what it used to be and is likely to fail at any moment.
Effect: You take a –3 penalty on Fortitude saves.

Weak Will
You are highly suggestible, gullible, and easily lead astray. Your mind is weak to the enchantments of the fey, and other similar creatures.
Effect: You suffer a –3 penalty on all Will saves.

Supernatural Flaws
Supernatural flaws represent strange bloodlines, bizarre curses, and other supernatural strangeness that hinders you or makes life difficult.

Bad Luck
You were born under a bad sign. That’s about it, really. Life never goes your way, and you foul up just about anything you get your hands on.
Effect: You can now fail skill checks on a roll of natural 1. If you roll a natural 1 for any roll, or fail a roll by 10 or more, the worst possible outcome happens. Weapons literally break, you fail a jump and land face-first, you cut gashes in yourself trying to fix an engine (and break the thing in the process!). It just sucks to be you.

Bad Mojo
You’re bad mojo. Foul juju. Not the kind of person you want to hang around.
Effect: Enemies get a +2 to hit you and your allies, and gain +1 to their damage rolls.

Cursed
You are cursed, cursed to wander they Earth until your feet rot or you run out of money. Or not. You’re just…. Cursed. Somewhere along the line, you made some supernatural creature very angry, and it cursed the heck out of you.
Effect: Well, it’s a curse. It sucks to be you. Instead of being something like a Geas, an inconvenience you can either follow or DIE, a curse happens all the time. A curse is something like an automatic 50% miss chance on everything you attack or a –6 penalty on all damage rolls. Make sure it’s bad for you in many ways. So, if this flaw is so much worse than the others, what’s it good for? Unlike other flaws, you can get rid of this one. The process is long and complex, and usually involves more than one adventure. Either way, you shouldn’t be able to get rid of it until at least level 9 or 10.

Geased
You have to do something or keep something in mind, and it’s just so damn inconvenient. A Geas is a powerful ban placed upon you by some greater power, perhaps due to family line or a curse.
Effect: A Geas can range from having to always use things that are red (+2 Purchase DC on all items) to never being able to shoot a gun (which has its own inherent problems). The problem with disobeying a Geas is that it usually means death. Or atonement. Note that a Geas should be great enough in magnitude it’s worth the feat it grants you. That’s the GM’s call.

Jinxed
Stuff around you tends to happen spectacularly. It’s both good and bad, good for your enemies, bad for you and your allies.
Effect: Jinxed is just like bad luck, except it extends to your party and not you. Yeah, this and Bad Mojo seem like nice flaws to take, don’t they? Keep in mind that you’re the only one around when all this bad stuff happens, and it don’t take an Intelligence 15 brainiac to know you’re not the kind of person they want hanging around.

Juice Flusher
Normally, when a Magus connects with the source of magic within him, his eyes glow just a tad, and the air trembles. Not so for you.
Effect: When you use your magical powers, the air shakes, the ground trembles beneath your feat, your eyes glow brightly, and your hair stands on end. The magical power radiates tangibly, crackling about your hands and sweeping away dust particles…. And that’s just without casting a single spell. Why is this a hindrance? There’s a reason the phrase “gack the mage first” is common among adventurers, and guess who radiates “mage” like a lighthouse? By the way, you need to be taking the Magical Background feat to use this flaw.

Magic Vulnerability
You’re just one of those people who’s got a body that soaks magic up like a sponge. This is a problem, though.
Effect: You suffer from a –2 penalty on all saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities. Not only that, but your Defense is 2 points lower with regards to touch attacks, and you can never gain spell resistance.

The Visitors
There are people who claim to see lights in the sky, or other strange and esoteric things. Those whose madness teeters on the brink of an abyss of spiraling insanity, these people who have claimed to touch what lies beyond reality. You are one of them.
Effect: You have a madness rating, just like an occultist, and one form of permanent insanity (namely, hallucinations of stark-white featureless beings that tinker with your head and body). You cannot take Magical Background: Occultist.

Weak Soul
Your soul is dim, your mana is weak.
Effect: You receive one less mana per level. This can reduce the amount of mana you gain in a level to 0.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 02:08 AM

Occupation
Alright, now it’s time to figure out what you do for a living. If you’re a good little player, you’ve already done this. Heck, you knew what you wanted to do before you looked at this section, even. You had an idea way back when you were trying to stay above the water in the first section. This works exactly like that one rulebook that you’re supposed to be using, except there’s a set of new occupations to choose from.

Martial Artist
Martial artists are wanderers, sincere students, practitioners of the art, or just lone adventurers who’ve taught themselves a few moves by trying to put some onto real practitioners.
Prerequisite: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose two of the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you receive a +1 competence bonus on checks using that skill. Balance, Concentration, Focus, Jump, Knowledge (popular culture, tactics), Perform (dance, keyboards, percussion instruments, sing, stringed instruments, wind instruments), Sense Motive, or Tumble.
Bonus Feat: Choose either Combat Martial Arts or Defensive Martial Arts. You may select Combat Martial Arts even if you do not fulfill the prerequisites.
Wealth Bonus: +0.

Occult Theorist
Occult Theorists are those who study supernatural occurrences. They’re often a little touched in the head, and they run the gamut from normal folks to magic users with an interest in the paranormal. The things they study often earn them ridicule, but they don’t let that get to them. Others are just magical professionals, working for the church, a university, an engineering firm, or some other organization.
Prerequisite: Age 15+.
Skills: Choose three of the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you receive a +1 competence bonus on checks using that skill. Concentration, Decipher Script, Gather Information, Knowledge (arcane lore, art, behavioral sciences, earth and life sciences, history, physical sciences, tactics, or theology and philosophy), Research, or add a new Read/Write Language or a new Speak Language.
Bonus Feat: Select either Magical Background or Educated.
Wealth Bonus: +1.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 02:13 AM

Alignment & Allegiance
This is where things start to get odd; Aesca doesn't use alignments and allegiances like normal. You have an imbalance, a myth, and an archetype.

Imbalance
Everyone's got a problem with an imbalance, that's what makes you human. Each of the five elements and the lesser trinity can form an imbalance in your body, and each of them can affect what feats, powers, and magic you might end up with. For example, you need a fire imbalance to become a fire magus. People are not, as the radio likes to say, "gentle as the waves but violent as the storm," however, they are one or the other, nor are Fire people "consumed with passion." Those three things are a Water trait, an Air trait, and a Light trait, respectively.

Air: An Air imbalance manifests as a good lung capacity, lightness of body, and common sense. It also comes with wishy-washy behavior, boredom, and the inability to make good decisions, and sometimes shortness of breath as opposed to good lung capacity. They easily get angry with Ether people and are very defensive around Fire people, but get on well with Water people.
Earth: People with an Earth imbalance tend to be stoic, patient, and are associated with the elderly an awful lot. They're easily worn down by arguments, though, and just like the elderly, tend to very scatterbrained and like to repeat themselves. They're very defensive when it comes to people with an Ether imbalance and are easily angered by Water types. They get on well with Air people.
Fire: Those with a Fire imbalance tend to do everything at the speed of life; they're quick to make decisions, have strong personalities, and often have metabolic problems (they often need to eat a lot). They also suffer from fevers more easily, are defensive when around people with a Water imbalance and are offensive around people with an Air imbalance. They get along well with Earth people.
Water: A Water imbalance is characterized by wisdom and clarity of thought. They change their minds a lot, though, even if they're easy to get along with, as they fill the needs of anything or anyone that comes their way. They find themselves getting angry with Fire people a lot, as they might find them a bit too concerned with themselves, and they get defensive when confronted with Earth people. They get along well with Ether people, though.
Ether: As the element of the heavens, Ether people tend to be emotionally distant, moreso than Dark people, but this is because alien vistas and bizarre beauty forms in their head. They're prone to talking to themselves, minor forms of madness, and long periods of staring at walls or rivers. They tend to be poets and philosophers, and tend toward antisocial tendencies. They get along well with Fire types, oddly enough, but don't do well with Earth types, and Air types get more aggressive around them.
Wood: A Wood imbalance is hard to characterize, since, like both Light and Darkness, it's a member of the lesser trinity, and thus more likely to be evenly distributed throughout the body. Usually, these are people who prefer to be outside of a city, in places where things are growing, and a wanderlust often takes them. It can also be characterized instead by an agreeable mood and a willingness to understand or get along with others, though it often comes with a dangerous pacifism.
Light: A light imbalance is generally characterized by an upbeat mood, a difficulty in seeing anything as hopeless, and a cheery disposition, though not always. It also tends to manifest itself as trouble sleeping, though someone with such an imbalance tends to be a morning person more than anything else.
Dark: You need a Darkness imbalance to become a dark knight. A darkness imbalance usually comes straddled with a grim, almost emotionless detachment from the world and people. This is, however, simple an outward appearance. People with a Darkness imbalance are easily overcome by negative emotions, and usually cultivate this distance to lessen their impact.
The Taint
The two forms of taint don't typically form a permanent imbalance, and generally only persist a few days. Regardless, here is their mention, just in case.
Toxic: People with a Toxic imbalance are typically sick. If not, they tend to sound like they're sick, bruise easily, and smell like rotting meat. On the other hand, they can live off junk food and persist in places where the toxic count is high. Toxic imbalance fixes itself very quickly; a day without junk food is all it takes.
Savage: A Savage imbalance comes saddled with a lot of hate, poorly contained rage, and the inability to make decisions unclouded by extreme emotions. Savage imbalance is considered very dangerous, and can thicken hair and skin, sharpen teeth, and make computers hiss and emit pink smoke.

Archetype
Protagonists have an archetype, be it Child, Hero, Mother, Senex, or Trickster. You recover Whisper dice by acting in accordance with your archetype. Changing archetypes is possible through shaping events, which take place in climaxes. Archetypes are fluid; a child may become a hero and drift into being a mother when he sees the horror of his own violence, back into hero for one more adventure, and finally end up a senex, teaching the new generation.

Child: The child is innocence and naiveté, though he or she may not be an actual child. It takes the form of a child who can give information or wisdom to their elders by pointing out flaws in a system by being outside it, or an adult with child-like, ignorant, or innocent qualities who points out the flaws in a given system by existing as an innocent. The child's conflict comes from the difficulty of retaining innocence in a dark and dangerous world, and the presence of antagonists who don't see the child as anyone worth listening to or mentioning.

The Child recovers two action points by retaining innocence despite an adversity that could kill or ruin him.

The Child recovers an action point by pointing out a flaw in a system, from a part that doesn't belong where it does to a legitimately silly setup of laws.

Hero: The hero is on the front lines of the world, fighting from a position of real or perceived weakness and displays courage and self-sacrifice, extending from anything from martial to moral excellence. Heroes exist to protect by acting, and their stories are ones of departure and sacrifice for greater rewards. Heroes run into adversity more often than most other archetypes, and their conflict runs that gamut from antagonists trying to actively ruin them and their own families and communities turning against them as they grow in power.

The Hero recovers two action points for overcoming adversity that could kill or absolutely ruin him.

The Hero recovers one action point for overcoming a minor adversity through martial skill, such as a monster.

Mother: The mother is similar to the hero in that she is self-sacrificing, but she is not a martial entity, rather, the great mother protects and shields at her own expense. A mother's conflict revolves around being placed into situations where she must choose between her own well-being and the well-being of others, and being a mother means choosing “others” every time. Antagonists will take advantage of this, and will often point out that the mother's behavior is illogical or terrifying.

The Mother recovers two action points for allowing herself to be placed in a situation where she could be ruined or killed instead of more than one other person.

The Mother recovers one action point for stopping to care for others at her own expense.

Senex: The senex is the wise old man or woman; she imparts wisdom to other legends and to other individuals. This type of character has access to knowledge or information other archetypes don't, given the situation. A senex's conflict involves his past coming back to haunt him, the knowledge he has given freely twisted to a dark purpose, or that such knowledge is being used as leverage to force people to pay some price or another in order to get their hands on it.

A senex recovers two action points for imparting knowledge to another character that allows him or her to overcome one of her archetype conflicts.

A senex recovers one action point for imparting knowledge that allows another character to succeed at a minor task he or she wouldn't have succeeded at before.

Trickster: Like the child, the trickster points out the flaw in the system. Antagonists don't come to the trickster; he makes them through his or her actions; it's the trickster's job to find flaws in a system or way of thinking and ruthlessly exploit them in a humorous or dangerous manner rather than pointing them out through ignorance. The trickster is also somewhat contrary in his behavior, if only to make others come to the conclusions he has.

The Trickster recovers two action points by pointing out a flaw in a system by exploiting it publicly and humorously.

The Trickster recovers one action point any time he makes someone look foolish by holding on to their old ideas.

The Myth & Subplots
A myth is an overarching theme for each story; the five types are ritual, origin, social, trickster, and eschatology myth. Myths change during each climax, reaching towards a goal, usually an eschatology myth, though not always. A given myth is made up of stories, chapters, and scenes. A collection of myths is a saga. A given myth generally focuses on a specific character, and a series of stories may belong to one myth or another. The myth type has overarching effects on the characters in it, changing the way some archetypes work and granting blanket modifiers to some types of rolls.

A subplot involves a backstory and a thread of events woven through multiple stories. Each protagonist has a subplot that is a particular kind of myth; whenever an element of their backstory inserts itself into a story, the overall myth switches to their subplot type until that element is resolved. For example, a Hero with an Eschatological subplot is in a Ritual story about the actions of a mysterious spirit on the border of a city, but suddenly a gang of black-masked goons that resemble those controlled by his antagonist become involved. The story takes a sudden twist as the protagonists realize that the fate of the world is at stake, and the story now becomes an eschatological myth until the plan of the black-masked men is foiled.

Ritual: A ritual myth concerns itself with a magical practice and is associated with temples and places of worship. It deals with religion, magical theory, and powerful imagery that comes with these things. Ritual myths have a surreal and mystic pace, focusing on the things and places that intersect with the real world and all between. Entities find it easier to pass in and out of reality, and powers are more likely to behave like one expects them to. A ritual myth concerns itself with complex behaviors and codes to which aspects of reality are beholden.

A ritual myth adds a +2 bonus to all protagonist rolls pertaining to magic, be it passive or active (this means talents get +2 when activating or using powers, magi get +2 for streaming, add a +2 bonus when trying to decipher magical effects or writings, defend yourself against powers, and so on).

Origin: An origin myth, or aetiology, concerns itself with the creation of a custom, object, or name. An origin myth concerns itself with how things got to be the way they are, or how they are going to be. In regards to customs, while a ritual myth concerns itself with a complex pattern of behavior, an origin myth details why and how it began. An example of an origin myth would be the creation of a new geological feature through the actions of the protagonists or a particular way of shaking hands to honor a fallen soldier, while another would be the discovery and naming of a place.

Origin myths add a +4 bonus to all rolls to craft something or create something permanent while they are active.

Social: A social myth reinforces or defends current social practices. This type of story is concerned with balance and the way things are, or why certain practices are considered moral. A social myth is a morality play where decisions relating to maintaining the status quo are those that are the correct ones, whether or not they are the right ones. A story in which spirits punish a criminal for his misdeeds or where a lazy worker starves to death in the lean season are social myths.

In a social myth, all rolls made in inhabited areas get a +2 bonus. Dice rolls made outside of settled areas are made at a -2 penalty.

Trickster: The trickster myth concerns itself with a prank pulled by the heroes or by spirits or gods themselves and its repercussions. An example of a trickster myth would be that of Hopper and Rat disguising themselves as one another to steal food from buckets meant for other spirits or Hopper tricking Rootscraper into accepting large size as if it were a gift and putting massive horns on his hands.

Trickster myths make it easier to fail dramatically. In a Trickster myth, everyone (both protagonists and antagonists) has the bad luck flaw. However, in a Trickster myth, it's easier to succeed dramatically through effort, so you get a to roll an extra die every time you spend an action point and add it to the total.

Eschatology: In this myth, the world changes in a fundamental way, bringing about the end of the world or a dramatic change. Eschatological myths have a rushed tone, speeding the action up to a frantic pace as the protagonists rush to prevent the change from occurring or race against time to cause the change in the first place. Examples of such myths in the real world include the story of Ragnarök and the Book of Revelation.

In an eschatological myth, protagonists recover 1 action point per day that passes (to that character's normal maximum).

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 02:20 AM

Classes and Mana

Dedicated Hero
Add the following talent to the Dedicated Hero’s talent trees.
Observant: The dedicated hero is naturally able to read body language and other nonverbal clues that betray a person’s mannerisms. He can add his base Will saving throw bonus to all Sense Motive and Gather Information checks.
Prerequisites: Empathy, Skill Emphasis.
Hang by a Thread: When reduced to -1 mana or lower, you may still act as though you were staggered.
Old Soul: When you take this talent, you gain 1 mana for each Dedicated level you possess. In addition, you gain 1 mana for each Dedicated level you take hereafter.
Soul Man: You recover mana at twice the normal rate.
Prerequisite: Old Soul.

Mana
Mana is the inherent magical potential all things possess (more on this in the magic section). Humans, though, have more than their fair share. They’ve got extra energy they can use to bargain spirits with, such as when humans make pacts or ask for favors from spirits, or they can give themselves a little extra “oomph” with which to do their work. The more powerful the person is, the more extra energy they possess, and their aura becomes unto a beacon. Or a lighthouse for hungry magic-eating critters. Either or.

Mana represents the animus or pattern of an object. When it goes away, the object in the real world begins to show signs of decay and can fall apart or fade away. Mana is sometimes called “ki” when it is possessed by a living creature.

Mana is essentially the “hit points” of your soul. Everything has a mana die, which represents their personal reservoir of energy. This mana die is based on the character’s class.

Strong: 1d4 (4 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Fast: 1d4 (4 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Tough: 1d6 (6 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Smart: 1d8 (8 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Dedicated: 1d10 (10 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)
Charismatic: 1d8 (8 + Charisma modifier at 1st level)

Creatures gain mana as well, but they cannot spend it as humans or heroic nonhumans do, only powering their abilities with them. Nonliving objects have an amount of mana equal to their hit points plus hardness.

Spending Mana
When you spend mana on a magical effect, some of the energy bleeds into the physical world. For magi, this means the air seems to shimmer around them and their eyes flash a color appropriate to their element for a brief moment. For occultists, lights flicker, strange sounds echo in the world, cold drafts whip through the air, and so on. Talents may have small displays related to their expenditure, and uses on the standard list don’t have anything out of the ordinary that really occurs, other than a strange burst of luck. A wound that has its damage reduced doesn’t seem as bad as it did when you first created it, and so on.

Powering relics and traces creates visible flashes of light and color, audible sounds, and so on, making the usage pretty visible.

Uses of Mana
Mana can be burned away to affect change in reality, a local human’s mental force affecting the landscape of existence by its shine. As humans in large groups can affect change, so can humans with enough force of will. Humans have many uses of mana, even those who are not great heroes. Creatures, on the other hand, can only spend mana to affect the world in very specific ways, however, heroic creatures, the excessively rare, can spend mana just like humans.

The following are uses of mana that can be used by humans and heroic nonhumans.

Convert Damage: You can convert lethal damage into non-lethal damage by spending 5 mana per point you wish to convert. You must spend this mana at the time you are injured, or else it won’t work out very well.
Damage: Some creatures damage mana directly, instead of physical damage.
Power Relic: Some Relics require mana to activate them, especially Relics from the Osiir and the Letaji Ancients.
Power Trace: Traces can be powered by mana. The amount of mana consumed by a trace is variable, dependent on the trace in question (note that nonhumans cannot use traces).
Use Magic: If you have a magical background, using it almost always entails spending mana. Some magical backgrounds afflict mana penalties; this is like normal mana loss, except it doesn’t heal until some condition or another is met.

0 Mana
When you reach 0 mana, you have reached your spiritual limit and are staggered. You can only take one move-equivalent action. If you do, you fall unconscious until you gain back at least 1 mana. If you fall unconscious this way, you incur mana debt (you hit -1 mana) and begin to fade.

Mana Debt and Fading (-1 to -9 Mana)
When you reach negative mana, you are biting into your own soul, not the extra amount that mana represents. You are unconscious and fading (losing 1 mana each round) as your soul gives way. You’re okay unless you reach -10 mana. Each round, there is a 10% chance your body grips onto the vanishing wisps of your soul like a frightened child and you stop fading. Once you reach -10 mana, you are dead.

Massive Mana Loss
You have a mana threshold equal to your Charisma score. If you lose more mana than this on a single effect, such as a beastie hitting you or a failed Streaming roll that sucks sufficient mana down the drain, or almost any ritual effect, you have suffered massive mana loss. You make a Will save (DC 15) or drop to -1 mana and begin to fade.

Recovering Mana
This is easy, watch: Mana recovers at the same rate as hit points. See?
Of course, you can also recover mana faster in certain areas. In nodes, for example, you recover mana much faster, dependent on the node in question. A manatouched location adds its rating to the amount you heal per period of resting, as well, as if you had that many extra levels. For example, a rating 4 manatouched location adds +4 to your effective level for purposes of healing mana. The Mana Realm counts as a rating 5 manatouched location for this purpose.

A magus, summoner, or occultist can gain back mana much quicker by making a Charisma check (DC 15) with a bonus equal to a node’s power rating. Success recovers an amount of mana equal to the result -15, but deals an equal amount of nonlethal damage.

Objects and Mana
Objects have an amount of mana equal to their hardness and hit points combined, though some objects have more or less. Relics have a different mana total than normal objects, and this change is listed in parentheses next to the Relic in question. If an object’s mana total reaches -10, it breaks down and vanishes.

Creatures and Mana
Creatures have a mana score, as well. They use a mana die and their Charisma scores to determine their mana totals.
Construct, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrous Humanoid, Ooze: d6.
Animal, Plant, and Vermin: d8.
Dragon: d12.
Aberration, Elemental, Fey, Magical Beast, Outsider, and Undead: d10.

Such creatures recover mana at the same rate as any other creature. Heroic golems use their class mana die instead of a d6.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 02:23 AM

Skills
Skills. You know what these are. A few things need to be cleared up, though. Don’t worry, this won’t be as in-depth as the magic system, okay?

New Uses For Old Skills
A few skills have changed or require some minor clarifications.
Concentration (Con)
Use this skill to hold on to spells while damaged. If you fail a check while holding on to a spell, you lose the spell (it either drops or you fail to cast it). You can cast defensively with a check of DC 15 + the spell’s level, and thusly avoid an attack of opportunity while casting.
Knowledge (Arcane Lore) (Int)
Despite its normal use in d20 Modern, this is not the skill to use to learn magic. This is what they didn’t teach you in high school. Section 001 and 130 in the library. Books people look at you sideways for checking out. Arcane Lore can tell you all the crazy things that may or may not be happening. It is the skill that tells you about certain monstrous habits, crazy conspiracy theories, psychics, talking to the dead, magicians, paranormal happenings, ancient dead gods, and all sorts of stuff nobody knows much about or cares about. With Knowledge (Arcane Lore), you have to be a little off your rocker to begin with, and you might even be a bit gullible. This type of knowledge is never completely accurate, but it’s better than not knowing a single thing about what you face, if you ever end up on the business end of a vengeful beast from another dimension.
Knowledge (Earth & Life) (Int)
This skill will tell you about well-known magical creatures, geographical features, and so on. It will, for example, tell you all about the feeding habits of the lowland dragon or the uchgrunmaka, or how the death-tree is so poisonous (protip: it's a giant stinging nettle). It'll also tell you about the animus and an orgus, since it deals with the whole of the living aura.
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) (Int)
This is the skill that covers magic. It will tell you how Auras form from interactions between proxy and pattern, or how to build a sky-trap, in addition to throwing together some basic mathematics for building a ritual circle.
Knowledge (Technology) (Int)
This knowledge skill will gladly tell you how something works, such as why there's a liver in your golem pal (it helps focus Darkness mana), or how a sky-trap functions and what the new ones are like, in addition to things like memetic cyclers and the new machines and other tech being churned out by engineering firms across the continent.

New!

Focus (Wis)
Trained only
You can find your center no matter where you are.
Check: You can maintain inner peace and stay calm in a sticky situation. With a successful check (DC 15), you can gain a +2 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks made in heated social circumstances for the next 10 minutes.
Fall Asleep: With a check (DC 20), you can fall asleep even if you are not particularly tired.
Weather Harsh Conditions: A DC 25 check allows you to gain a +5 bonus on Concentration checks due to harsh weather or conditions, and a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves to resist the damaging effects of weather caused by extreme heat or cold.
Find the Center: In combat, you can make a Focus check (DC 20) to gain a +1 competence bonus on attack rolls for 5 rounds.
Recover Mana: As a move-equivalent action, you can make a Focus check (DC 15) to recover 1d4 mana. You can only benefit from this function of the skill once per day.
Stop Fading: If you are fading, you can make a Focus check (DC 15) to stop your fading.
Action: Falling asleep, weathering conditions, and finding the center are full round actions. Recovering mana is a move-equivalent action. Stopping fading is a reaction.
Retry: Normally, no. I mean, come on, think about it. Maybe that harsh condition thing there, but that’s it. If you try to meditate for six seconds and screw it up, you should by all rights have a penalty in a social situation. You can retry recovering mana and stopping fading as much as you like.

Speak Language
Aesca has literally thousands of languages to learn. These are important for the Speak Language and Read/Write Language skills, as well as the Smart Hero’s Linguist talent. Only a few are listed below, so there’s not a complex language map all laid out takin’ up space.

Aquan*: Arusi, Aquan*, Lemuelan, Rakathan
Once the predominant languages of the Tribe of Water, most of these languages fell out of use in the northern regions of Arcadia, and are now typically only used by the tribal cultures further south. Lemuelan, however, is spoken in some of the larger cities on the southern ends of Lemuria.
Ardek: Thalgo, Aramik, Gelphic, Norden
Once spoken by the old tribal cultures of Resia, these languages are fading out of use, and the government grants a small stipend to those who speak them. Some of the languages have drifted south into Ortelia to a degree, and are experiencing a cultural resurgence.
Atlantean: Atlantean*, Arcadian, Muan, Lamuran, Dergai
These languages are spoken mostly in Arcadia, and it is the predominant family among northern Arcadian settlements.
Auran*: Auran*, Lafié, Chia Fao, Andonese
The dominant languages of Lafié and the Tribe of Air. Only Auran is no longer spoken among them, instead appearing on ancient scrolls or in the halls of academics.
Chukto: Chauk, Damuini, Allatat
Languages spoken among the badlands and jungle tribes of Asham, the western portion of Charnra, across the Scarlet Sea. These languages are still spoken by rural folks out in the badlands, from homesteaders to wanderers.
Ignan*: Ignan*, Fernian, Falus, Grefel
Members of the Tribe of Fire once spoke languages of this family, now restricted to the kingdom of Fernia. Only two of the languages see any modern use, one of them among Fernia’s citizens and the other among the bandits of the region.
Etheran: Etheran, Nazrum*, Dangruffi, Dordai, Andrese, Kolliman
Etheran is still spoken by the members of the Tribe of Ether who live on the wastelands outside the Nazro Desert. Nazrum is all but dead, appearing only in textbooks and few ruins outside the wasteland areas.
Terran*: Algonk*, Taff*, Nequindus*
Languages spoken by the extinct Tribe of Earth, now long gone, and only found in strange, esoteric ruins.
Tourmekian: Tourmek*, Valdish, Izzabellan, Lougai, Arathian, Mornoth*
The languages forced on citizens under the Tourmekian empire. Izzabellan is based on a Tourmekian base, and every high school student in Charnra is taught Izzabellan as a standard. The move has been causing the slow death of other languages around the continent, and led several groups to compile as much information as possible written in as many languages as they can muster.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 02:29 AM

Feats
Pretty much all the same feats from the modern book thing exist, along with a whole buncha new ones!

Initial Feats
These are feats you have to take at first level. You can’t use a flaw-obtained feat slot to take an initial feat (so the most amount of initial feats you can have is two).

Feet of Clay, Body of Oak [Initial]
Most golems are metallic in nature. You’re made of sterner – or more bizarre – stuff.
Prerequisite: Species: Golem
Benefit: Chose one of the options below. You gain the benefit listed.
Clay: You are made of wet, slippery clay. You gain 1 additional hit point per level, but anyone tracking you gets a +2 bonus on his Survival checks.
Wood: Your frame is made up of dried bark bits, and your “hair” is probably old vines or carved bark of some sort. Anything that deals fire damage to you increases by 1 point per die, but you can heal naturally at the rate of a normal biological creature.

Moonlighter [Initial]
You’re an old soldier with a new job or someone who really likes to work. This feat can represent jacks of all trades or veteran soldiers now off to some other career.
Benefit: You gain a second starting occupation. You must meet all prerequisites for the new occupation, and any bonus feats the occupation gives instead become prerequisites. If the occupation lists several feats, you must have taken at least one of them. You gain the listed skill, wealth bonus, and reputation bonus increase.

Toxic Body [Initial]
You are so steeped in toxic imbalance that your body depends on it.
Prerequisites: Must have been born in Nazro.
Benefit: A fouler aura than normal surrounds your body. On the upside, you’re immune to poison of any kind. Cyanide is like sweet, almond-tasting candy. On the downside, you need it to live. Clean air is your anathema, clean water, your strychnine. Treat normal food like puffer poison and a good whiff of clean air like a blast of cyanogen gas. A day you go without drinking strychnine, eating a chunk of rat poison, smoking tar-filled cigarettes, and downing a quart of used oil is like going a day without food. Use the normal rules for starvation and thirst if you can’t get your hands on some sweet, sweet pollution.
Special: You can avoid most of the downsides of this feat pretty easy; just spend some money on some really nasty cigarettes (purchase DC 3, comes in packs of ten), and your problem is solved. You’ll end up smoking about three packs a day, though.
You can still get drunk, even though you’re immune to the alcohol; it’s the clean parts what get you drunk.
This feat can be purchased as a Cryptid-Blooded trait for 2 TP.

UnOrdained [Initial]
You have achieved the rank of Sister, and have some authority within the Orthodox Church of Gaia.
Prerequisite: Jotunheim Training.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Focus checks. You have the rank of Sister, which grants you some privileges and responsibilities. Add +1 to your Reputation.

Waterproof [Initial]
You’ve got a face that doesn’t need makeup. You were an golem built for purely entertainment purposes, much like the mechanical nightingale so loved by an ancient emperor. Your face, joints, and seams are all enclosed by rubber costuming, making you appear practically human for all intents and purposes. You may even have a wig on your head.
Prerequisites: Golem, Perform (Sing) 4 ranks.
Benefit: The Spot check DC required to notice you are not human rises to DC 15. Note that if you are not spotted, you can behave much like a normal human and avoid a large amount of prejudice.
Special: Such golems are rare, purchased only by the elite or nobles, though with the war and stock market crash, many nobles have lost their status and have been forced to free or sell their possessions.

General Feats
General feats can be taken any time your crasher gets a feat slot and can meet the prerequisites.

Action Boost [General]
You have more powerful inner strength.
Benefit: When you spend an action point to add to a d20 roll, you roll d8s instead of d6s.

Advanced Action Boost [General]
You are luckier than normal.
Prerequisite: Greater Action Boost
Benefit: Whenever you spend an action point, you roll d12s instead of d10s for the action point result.

Aim for the Joints [General]
You can clip and wing targets with a measure of reliable skill.
Prerequisites: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Benefit: You can take a -4 penalty on your attacks with a personal firearm to deal non-lethal damage.
Normal: You shot that dude.

Deep Trance [General, Supernatural]
You can recover mana by entering a meditative trance.
Prerequisite: Focus 4 ranks.
Benefit: You can make a Focus check (DC 20) to recover 1d6 mana per level you possess. Doing so leaves you fatigued, and you can only gain this benefit once per day. To use this feat, you must spend 1d4 hours in a meditative trance in which you are unable to move.

Greater Action Boost [General]
You are luckier than normal.
Prerequisite: Action Boost
Benefit: Whenever you spend an action point, you roll d10s instead of d8s for the action point result.

Jotunheim Training [General]
You have been to Jotunheim and back, and the experience has left you tempered into an even-headed representative of the Orthodox Church of Gaia.
Prerequisite: Human female, Magical Background (Magus), Age 18+, Knowledge (physical sciences) 4 ranks, Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 4 ranks, Streaming 4 ranks.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Streaming rolls. For learning to be resolute and kind during all times, you gain Focus as a class skill. You gain a permanent allegiance to Good and the Orthodox Church of Gaia. You also gain the rank of Childer, and everything that goes with it.

Magical Background [General]
At some point in your life, magic has left its mark upon you. Whether through birth or training, you possess a modicum of magical power. Welcome to the wonderful world of hurtin’ yourself for power!
Benefit: Choose a type of magic. You gain the benefits listed. Please note that some Magical Backgrounds have prerequisites. The effects of this feat vary dependent upon the magical background you choose. Check the feat section of the relevant section in order to know the benefits of each of them.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you take this feat, you must choose a different magical path. You can choose Talent more than once. Each time, you must pick a different Talent.
The first time you take this feat, your mana die increases by one die type if it’s less than 1d10 (for example, 1d4 becomes 1d6, 1d6 becomes 1d8, and 1d8 becomes 1d10). Add 1 to your mana total for each level you have previously gained.
Normal: You’re about as paranormal as a rock (which, granted, around here, is pretty paranormal).

Mana Battery [Magic]
You can store more magical energy. Your soul is much like a sponge for inner magical power, soaking up more than its normal share.
Benefit: You gain 3 additional mana.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time you take this feat, the amount of mana it grants is increased by 1.

Membrane Sense [General]
You can sense weaknesses in the local membrane.
Prerequisite: Wisdom 13+
Benefit: You can, as a full round action, judge the strength of the membrane within a 60-foot radius around you. You must have one hand free to use this feat (you know, so you can stick out your palm and narrow your eyes and all). This allows you to look for specific “holes” that may lead to the Mana Realms a bit easier (and help you avoid just falling right on in).

Never Say Die [General]
You have a greater reserve of inner strength.
Benefit: Add +3 to the amount of action points you gain at each level.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time after the first, you add +1 to the amount of action points you gain each level. For example, if you take this feat twice, you gain +4 action points at each level.

Open-Minded [General]
You pick up some more expertise at the expense of your other abilities.
Benefit: You immediately gain an extra 5 skill points. You spend these skill points as normal. If you spend them on a cross-class skills they count as 1/2 ranks. You cannot exceed the normal maximum ranks for your level in any skill.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Each time, you immediately gain another 5 skill points.

Overchannel [Magic]
You can burn off your life force to channel magical power more effectively.
Benefit: While casting a spell, you can increase your effective caster level or power rank by one, but in so doing you take 1d8 points of damage. At 8th level, you can choose to increase your effective caster level or power rank by two, but you take 3d8 points of damage. At 15th level, you can increase your effective caster level or power rank by three, but you take 5d8 points of damage. This damage does not trigger a massive damage save, even if it overcomes your massive damage threshold.
The effective increase in caster level or power rank increases the number of mana points you can expend on a single casting, as well as increasing all caster level-dependent effects, such as range, duration, and overcoming spell resistance.
Normal: Unless you’re an occultist, your caster level is equal to your total levels in classes that cast spells plus one.

Sidekick [General]
You pick up a friend, a bosom buddy, somebody you can’t get rid of.
Prerequisite: Character level 6th+
Benefit: You get a patsy! He or she is 2 levels lower than you, and under the control of the GM, and has the same general allegiances you do. Other than that, the sidekick follows your orders, and may be a student, a friend, a colleague, or just somebody who tags along and carries the pack.

Trappings [Magus]
You learned to focus your magic through a behavior.
Prerequisite: Magical Background (Magus, Occultist, Summoner, or Dreamer)
Benefit: Choose a consumable material or focus, such as powdered dust from a specific plant, a teddy bear, a toy, a book, and so on as well as a magical background you possess. If you have that item in hand when you use your powers (Summon your avatar, take on Dragon-shape or use dreamwalking, and so on), you gain a small bonus. If you are a magus, you gain a +2 bonus on Streaming checks, but suffer a -4 penalty without it. If you are an occultist, you increase your caster level by 1 and reduce ability burn by 1 (to a minimum of 1), but without it, your caster level drops by one and you burn 1 additional Constitution. If you are a summoner, increase your calling level by 1 when using your focus or component and add +1 hit point per hit die to your avatar, but decrease it by 2 without it, and you must pay 1 extra mana per avatar hit die to summon it, which remains as a penalty. If you are a dreamer, add +2 to Dreamwalking checks and +1 to your dreamer level, and suffer a -4 penalty without and reduce your Dreamer level by 2.

Contacts
Your character knows people from his or her background. Whether they are important or not, that’s for you to decide. You start with 6 points with which to purchase contacts (plus one for each point of Charisma bonus and each rank in Diplomacy you start with), which have two variables: power and loyalty. Power could mean personal power, political power, wealth, or their status in an organization. Loyalty is how willing they are to stretch the bar for you.

Power
0: That bum over there. The bottom rung at Graham’s Diner. No social influence.
1: Random adventurer; the bottom rung of an organization; Graham himself; mob soldier.
2: Bartender; beat cop; fence. Meets people on a regular basis.
3: Knows many people and is a minor leader. Gang boss; police detective; middle manager; HOUND solider.
4: Knows lots of people. Division manager; police captain; AGENCY operative.
5: The leader of an organization; a noble of a Reisan house; somebody named Darrel P. Lynch, Esq.; a High Mother; an Eidolon or High Soul.

Loyalty
0: You know his name. May not even like you.
1: Modicum of respect, like a regular customer or client.
2: A friendly relationship, but it’d be a stretch to ask for much. Willing to be inconvenienced for you.
3: Solid mutual respect. Will go out of his or her way for you.
4: Established relationship and a level of trust exists. Will turn his back on your during a gunfight; might even bring his own gun.
5: Will put his or her life on the line for you.

Supernatural: For two points, you can make your contact supernatural. This means he or she has a magical background or is a spirit of some sort.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 05:21 AM

Magic: Mana and the Elements

To see a world in a grain of sand
and a heaven in a wild flower,
hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.
- William Blake
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs20/f/2007/280/6/3/Aescan_Element_Wheel_by_mr_author.jpg

The sum of matter and energy in the universe remains the same. No, that's not exactly right. The sum of matter and energy in the universe is continually supplemented by the actions of local universes. Energy in the Everywhen is expressed differently as it approaches three dimensional space, flowing back out again into its myriad forms. Dreams is on the other end of this expression, but isn't, with mana that flows back in and through it to the Silver Web and to Aesca Prime again, making dreams an objective reality and Aesca Prime a subjective expression of that reality.

The Axis Mundi is the catch-all term for the direction of the current, and is often represented in maps by a line, though a ball or glob might be a more apt description, even if it is still wholly inaccurate. Mana comes in from the Horizon, a region beyond which the laws of the primary membranes cease to operate, in a non-mana state, into the three-dimensional plane of Aesca prime. The Savage Realm, the subsentient realm in which Savage mana resides, infects the Axis Mundi like a disease or mold. It rides the incoming stream to the three-dimensional planes, dropping off clumps of itself onto animals and plants. Since it infects parts of the Border Realms as well, and as it represents the primal fury of nature given from by human fear, it drags with it primal beasts such as the dinosaurs so common to the land.

When mana enters three-dimensional space, it becomes either energy or matter; a soul is the primary method by which mana is converted to matter; sometimes it is converted to energy or even visible light. A soul is capable of defining the mana that is converted much like a filter – this is the reason that some creatures with magical abilities do not need to eat extra food, while others must harvest mana from specific objects, while others can eat bizarre foods such as rocks or the air itself. Matter is converted back to mana and then pulled back through the soul before being integrated into the body again as energy or matter (allowing certain types of monsters to harvest ambient mana and, say, grow spikes or other body parts). Extra mana can cause odd expressions; for example, mana that is converted to an elemental property and then dumped back into the mana realm before cycling back again causes mutation when a soul attempts to interpret the extra mana incorrectly. This is the effect responsible for horns or scales growing on perfectly normal folks. This can be a temporary effect, as well. Spirits inside a host aura (the term for the union of proxy, soul, and orgus) can cause expressions of physical mana in the host, violently disrupting their bodies or changing the body to suit them.

Magi operate by forcing non-souls to dump mana into the physical plane as a manifestation of energy; for example, a magus can't force someone else's soul to alter their basic biology (so they can't make crystals form in someone's bloodstream, for example), but spirits operate just within the Near Realm as entities with conscious control over the expression of this mana in three dimensions.

Mana current flows from Dreams to the Silver Web into the physical plane after it passes through the Savage Realm, so the dreams of humanity taint the creatures that it carries along; since some of these realms also express three dimensional entities, creatures can be dropped off there. Aesca Prime is unique in its stability, however, so expressions of these energies in three dimensional format are tenuous at best, and easily acted upon by the forces there. A sea scorpion passing through a pocket or bubble in the realms ruled over by spirits of fire might pick up resistance to that element simply to survive, or it might pick up something else, resulting in a Eurypterid with the ability to breathe fire or with part of its body made of molten energies, simply because that's what the pocket says that particular expression is. Expressions of this three-dimensional template then carry over into Aesca Prime, where they result in monsters.

Lead is the heaviest manifestation of mana; once it expresses, it stabilizes and ceases to resonate. However, lead is just like any other three-dimensional object in that it can express in any other three-dimensional realm it passes through. While it cannot pick up a template, it can get caught in the wash again and be dumped onto Aesca Prime. This sometimes results in alien lead that can be shaped by magi or users of magic; more often, it results in the living metal, naus.

Spirits and some humans can form short-lived artificial souls called filters, allowing them to project themselves into a specific realm by controlling the flow of mana through the filter; this results in a manifested entity called a daemon. The daemon is, for all intents and purposes, simply a hand with all the creator's senses and consciousness. Unlike normal realm travel, when one is using a daemon by projecting, the projecting individual cannot simply walk from one realm to another and must open gateways at specific locations. Thankfully, this is a much safer and simpler method to use than walking from one realm to another.

This section will introduce these concepts and explain them in greater detail.

The Element Wheel
In Gaian philosophy, the element wheel is a construct that comprises five elements, or rather, five basic principles upon which all magical phenomena hang. These elements are Air, Earth, Ether, Fire, and Water.

The doctrine of phases says that these five elements are each transitional states of one another, creating a generating and restraining cycle of interactions between them. In this cycle, Fire becomes Earth, Earth becomes Air, which becomes Water, which becomes Ether, which becomes Fire again. In the overcoming cycle, Fire overcomes Air, Air overcomes Ether, Ether overcomes Earth, Earth overcomes Water, and Water overcomes Fire.

These other correlations can be made within general Gaian philosophy, as well.

{table=head]Element|Direction|Color|Finger|Taste|Sense|Limb
Air|East|White|Middle|Salty|Smell|Right Arm
Earth|South|Gold|Thumb|Bitter|Touch|Right Leg
Ether|Center|Violet|Pinky|Sour|Sound|Head
Fire|North|Red|Ring|Spicy|Sight|Left Leg
Water|West|Blue|Index|Sweet|Taste|Left Arm[/table]

{table=head]Element|Viscera (Wood)|Viscera (Light)|Viscera (Dark)|Season|Creature
Air|Lungs|Diaphragm|Skin|Spring|Sylph
Earth|Stomach|Intestine|Ribcage|Summer|Gnome
Ether|Brain|Heart|Liver|Change|Yashtaeri
Fire|Gall|Eyes|Bladder|Fall|Salamander
Water|Kidney|Spleen|Pancreas|Winter|Undine[/table]

Mana can also carry these elemental connotations. Within a living being, all five of these elements are present, as are the various types of mana colored by the lesser trinity. All in all, there are eighty types of mana within the world and body. The balance of all eighty of these types of mana within the body is called ‘Peng,’ which can also be controlled by conscious thought and expression by meditative trances and practices. For more on this, see Peng, below.

The Lesser Trinity
Underneath the element wheel is often displayed the trinity, three other basic elements that can alter or color the other five. Think of them like “flavors.” This trinity is Wood or Life, Light, and Darkness. Each member of the trinity creates a balance within an animus.

Gaian Mana is created when Wood is applied to any of the five elements. This mana nurtures and supports life in all forms, and is the mana most commonly present inside living auras. Under its influence, water becomes rain, air becomes a soft breeze, fire becomes sunlight, earth becomes fertile clay, and ether becomes the heavens.

Light mana is created when Light is applied to any of the five elements. Light is active, bright, and full of movement. Light mana changes the effects of elements as follows: water becomes mist, air becomes electricity, earth becomes crystal, fire becomes warmth, and ether becomes light. Light represents positive emotions, such as love and happiness.

Dark Mana is created when Darkness is applied to any of the five elements. Dark Mana is created when mana is cast off after reactions, or when mana lies around the underworlds too long. It is the energy of the underworld. Under its influence, water becomes ice, earth becomes salt, fire becomes ash, ether becomes vacuum, and air becomes choking dust. Darkness represents negative emotions, such as fear and hate.

Crossover can occur very quickly between Darkness and Light imbalances due to their nature; positive emotions often create negative emotions elsewhere. For example, love can be manipulated into heartache and emotional devastation. Other imbalances can have profound effects on mana. For example, adding Wood to Earth changes its place in the earth/fire cycle, creating an imbalance in the harmony of the wheel. This imbalance can have harmful and damaging effects on the world, so a proper balance must be maintained.

These, combined with Toxic and Savage mana, create the eighty types of mana used in managing the balance between all things within the world.

Toxic Mana
Mana can be corrupted, as well. This effect does not overcome the trinity, instead creating something like an overlaying effect that can be felt and detected. Toxic mana has a very unbalancing effect on the animus that contains exceptional amounts of it. Toxic mana is very easy to obtain, as well. Drinking unprocessed water, consuming partially decayed meat, eating anything made in an automated factory (unless there was indeed an actual human somewhere along the line, which makes grocery stores safe), and angering spirits are the quickest, easiest ways to get this kind of corruption. Getting it out of the body is relatively easy; stop doing what got it in you, and in a few days, the body should balance itself out.

The continent of Nazro is awash in toxic mana, and from it, many studies have shown several things about the effect of toxic mana on the elements. Toxic mana has an easy time corrupting the atmosphere; when toxic-influenced oxygen is breathed, it incorporates very quickly into the body, throwing the aura wildly off-balance and causing disruption of the lungs and bloodstream. Corrupted water quickly becomes a powerful acid, and corrupted soil gives way to unforgiving wasteland.

Certain creatures and plants feed on toxic mana, and these make up the toxic bloom of the forests on the Nazro continent. Many of these creatures are insect spirits or fed by insect spirits.

Savage Mana
Savage Mana is created when the influence of the Savage Realm comes upon other forms of mana. The Savage Realm is a world that represents the primordial fury of nature. Unlike the elemental of life and wood, the Savage element is chaotic, primal, and untamed. If unchecked, savage influence can overcome and encompass the other three types of mana charge by its mere existence, and for that reason, it is extremely dangerous.

Those influenced by savagery can actually change their state, and it is the element most often associated with shapeshifting, specifically into animal or animal-like forms. Features of savage influence are exceptional amounts of body hair, feral eyes, unkempt head hair, attacking by biting and clawing, and eating raw meat without becoming too ill. Too much savage influence can change a person or creature profoundly, as is seen almost every day in the wilderness.

The world is unbalanced; the land has too much savage influence within her at the moment, and this makes the animals of the wild larger, meaner, and covers them in bristling natural weaponry. It causes the growth of vast jungles and increased oxygen levels, heat, and forces more magic into the world, much like a weed forcing a storm drain further open.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 05:31 AM

Magic: Peng, Mutation, the Gaiasphere, and Faith

Peng
The term “Peng” means many things. In its first state, it means “balance of elements,” or rather, the coexistence of elements within the living body, through the element wheel, the trinity, toxicity, and savagery. This definition delineates a clear description of the balance of the eighty types of mana that a Peng student, called a wonder-worker, hopes to achieve. A wonder-worker will often travel into the wilderness for weeks at a time in an attempt to balance this Peng within the self.

Peng is not just the balance within the body, however. The world also has a Peng. Building a dam, for example, throws off the world Peng, which must be compensated for somewhere else. Building one or two dams, however, is not a problem; only when the balance is thrown wildly off course do problems occur.

The precept of Gaiism is that there are seven types of Peng, seven types of balance, that must be achieved before the soul transcends, and only when these Peng are achieved can the soul move on. It is believed that the current path of the soul is but one of many trips (confirmed by Death itself) back to the prime. It is said that one who achieves all seven types of Peng can move on, without the need to return the physical realm.

World Peng is the First Peng, and is controlled by the planet’s breath, its movement, and the connections between all living things. Understanding of this balance initiates the serious student of Peng into the Sevenfold Path, a path of mystical understanding that leads to true mastery over the flows of mana through the body.

The Second Peng, the Body Peng, is formed when the proxy moves, forcing the aura to shift and follow. The path of Gaiism says that with a balanced body, the mind will soon follow, and with it an understanding of how the animus hangs upon the universe. The Second Peng contains multiple motions and movements, many types of kata meant to help maneuver the Peng flow in the body.

The Third Peng is Form, and it is perfection of form and posture that allows the wonder-worker insight into the animus. By taking positions and holding them for days at a time, the wonder-worker learns how the animus can shape the world around it. Form contains many yoking positions and hand motions meant to help focus the self in preparation for the Fourth Peng.

The Fourth Peng, Concentration, states that the energy of the body, mind, and soul is easily subverted and controlled by a focused resolution. This balance is meant to focus the mind and body on the tasks at hand, and not be distracted by petty emotions or feelings of misgiving.

The Fifth Peng, the Peng of Intent, is the statement of resolution to follow the eightfold path and the view that feelings of anger and vengefulness are harmful to the body and soul. One must be clear in thought and deed, and this Peng also focuses on the discarding of lies, though not lies by omission.

The Sixth Peng, Action, teaches that body is a state of expression, as it is the form of the aura in the physical realm. Much like how unwholesome magic can corrupt the animus, so unwholesome actions and behaviors corrupt the proxy. This Peng is meant to engender a balance of actions with the balance of Intent. With understanding of these two concepts, the wonder-worker can move on.

The Mind is the Seventh Peng, teaching that a controlled cognition is a sense that all incoming thoughts and expressions are processed immediately, and only then can the right frame of mind be achieved. The wonder-worker must be ardent, aware, and mindful, and put aside thoughts of worldly desires and aversions, and be strong in thought and mental qualities.

Once a wonder-worker has mastered at least the fourth Peng, the Peng of Concentration, his or her masters, called Onguru, she may be initiated in the Three Hidden Peng and become an Onguru herself. These are balance precepts that go beyond the physical into the mana realms themselves, and are part of the soul’s final transformation. The Three Hidden Peng are Soul, Realm, and Spirit.

The Eighth Peng, Soul, is an understanding of the personal aura, of the own animus and its tie to the body and mind, making the human animal into a threefold being. With this comes a clarity of purpose and mind that allows the Onguru to finally sense the world the way it was meant to be sensed, without judgment and ignorance.

Realm, the Ninth Peng, is the balance between the realities and the solid forms of membranes. This understanding is that all worlds are as one and that all beings are as one whole, allowing the Onguru to begin to sense the edges of his own reality, coming to the realization of the Tenth Peng.

Understanding of the Tenth Peng, Spirit, is characterized by a realization that in the matters of the human and magi, that humans (and all things) are simply spirits with physical form, and the right actions can harm them. When so focused, the Onguru can enter a state of whole being, where the body, mind and soul, or proxy, orgus, and soul, are bound as one, and yet can detach from the body as a spiritual being.

Mutation
Sometimes, mana imbalance causes physical effects. Normally this is simply sickness; for example, the denizens of Nazro sport prominent, almost permanent bruising (an art in some places), and sometimes women will die after their first child if they do not heal. Other imbalances can lead to normal illness that can be cured through the simple changing of eating habits for a little while. However, this does not always help. Sometimes the imbalance is permanent.

Savage imbalances can lead to excess body hair, tough, claw-like nails, sharper teeth, and anger problems. Earth imbalances can toughen skin, obscure the eyesight, and so on. A common problem with exposure to raw earth mana causes crystals to form in the blood, blocking capillaries and flow to major regions of the body, causing pain and sometimes necrotizing flesh. This condition is called “crystal anemia.”

Mutations are almost always dangerous, not very good, and lead to health issues down the road. However, there are a few notable cases. An amnesiac in Milford was found in 3452 with a crystal growth structure grafted to her nervous system. The silicate structure actually allowed for faster information processing, as her nervous system had interwoven with it in such a way as to make writing mRNA patterns on the crystals possible, and the electronic signals in her body were able to interpret these mRNA patterns. The mutation vastly increased her intelligence and response time, but limited her motor capabilities.

Pulses and Manastream
Excess mana is what creates magical effects on Aesca’s surface. Increased magic means increased numbers of humans being born with magical capabilities and increases the number of cryptids, spirits, and manatouched locations in the world. This “extra” mana spillover is cause by pulses, almost like waves or a tide coming in. Throughout history, this “tide” has increased and decreased, changing the amount of extra mana on the surface of the planet at any one time.

It can be measured by samples of mana seeds, or by the pulse timing of ley lines. Currently, there is more magic on the planet than ever before in history. An incoming “tide” in 3400 was strong enough to shatter and destroy physical objects, as well as generate massive growth in plants and bacteria. For a time, the excess mana has continued to increase, then suddenly dropped off for about six months before pulsing again.

During the lulls, magic used tends to slow or become slightly more difficult, and children born during this time period show reduced magical capabilities. In eighteen to twenty years, it is imagined that there will be a period of six months to three years in which society slows due to this lapse of magical capability, and already some farms and food stores are preparing for it.
This six months ended a year, and mana pulsed again, decimating several supercities and towns.

Manastream is a violet gas-liquid that slowly churns under the planet’s surface. Stream deposits resemble veins and arteries in surveys, and indeed, they are believed to be the life-blood of the living planet. It is intensely magically active and protected under Dresnau international law. Currently, Seelie Energy Solutions has special permission to drill into these vein structures for plants whose purpose is to measure mana levels and study the flow.

Stream moves under stress, and the fact that it does not move from the plants is proof enough that nothing is wrong with the plants themselves. Each plant contains a wide variety of medical equipment and measuring tools used to keep tabs on the planet’s “health,” peng, and current “heart rate.” Multiple power plants can even get together in order to measure what they believe are emotional shifts.

Falling into Stream is usually a bad idea; it’s unknown exactly what happens, but it is known that the individual generally doesn’t show back up again. Stream also has an extreme mutation effect in living things, enhancing already natural abilities to an incredible degree, though in humans this often causes insanity. Those exposed who have enough of themselves said that they heard a multitude of screams, voices, chatters, and unearthly howls in a single moment, overpowering their own identities.

The Gaiasphere
The planet of Aesca is, essentially, alive. All things upon the planet, both animal and chemical, create a planet in constant flux. Volcanoes spew carbon dioxide into the air while bacteria in the soil multiply to devour that gas, which leach agents back into the dust and dirt that aid in the shifting of continental shelves to create more volcanoes. This action, along with others, creates a world of life. This cycle, not just of life, but of chemical transformation, is called the Gaiasphere.

The Gaiasphere encompasses all that is the planet of Aesca, including its moon and the violet star, a series of rocks and stones in the sky that resembles a flower, a compass, or an eight-pointed star that orbits the world. All that is within the Gaiasphere is said to be a part of the living planet, and is a part of life.

The magic pulses are part of this great being, like the inner tides of the human body’s chemical flux, or the animus of a massive creature. Aesca is, for better or worse, in as much magical flux as chemical flux. In recent years, the Gaiasphere is acting strangely, with bizarre storms, unattached beings forming from rusted machinery and rubble before collapsing again, and multitudes of people in a single town having identical dreams of the same night.

Current crackpot theories posit that the world has existed in a state of non-consciousness, that the world simply was and had roughly the combined intelligence of a bug, going about its business without cares or worries. These same theories speak of the strange occurrences as the birthing pangs – for better or worse – as an entity on the edge of consciousness.

The major forms of faith in Aesca are land-based, specifically, animistic shamanism. On the continent of Arna, this splits into two major faith groups, these being the Quahanu faiths and the Muscora faiths. Both of them rely heavily on the Whisper as sources of inspiration.

The Whisper is the general term used to refer to the presence of the "land-song" or "core of being" to which all people are attuned. Every human hears a soft and trilling song, seemingly referring to a being or state of being to which all things are tuned. The song can always be heard, far off in the distance, if one takes the time to listen for it for just a brief moment, but it doesn't interfere in daily life and is usually drowned out by thoughts (and is very easily drowned out by the sounds of the city or jungle at night). It is interpreted many different ways by many different people (the natives of the Nazro continent hear something, too, but their words for it generally translate to "the scream" or "the cry of pain.").

Quahanu faiths share the idea that each spirit is is own entity separate from a whole, but is part of the whole. The idea that a rock is its own rock but part of Rock while at the same time not being part of sky is one such example. These faiths also, as a whole, tend to believe the Whisper refers to a tangible entity. Muscora faiths, however, believe the Whisper refers to an ideal, a generalized song of existence, and believe that each spirit is a piece of a greater, unknowable entity to which they are all connected. To use the rock example, a rock spirit is just a visible piece of the whole of an unknowable entity of which everyone is part. These distinctions are important; should a Quanahu follower visit Death, for example, he or she would believe they were speaking with Death itself, while a Muscora follower would believe they were visiting what piece humans can understand of Death, and that Death is indistinguishable from, say, the sky.

Both have a degree of truth; spiritually speaking, everything is part of everything else leading up to the whole of perceived existence, but both groups draw a line. The majority of the faithful, however, fall somewhere between these groups, mixing pieces of both in various regions of influence and ideologies.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 05:38 AM

Magic: The Membrane and the Mana Realms

Aesca is separated from the Mana Realm, more specifically, the Near Realm, by a phenomena called the “membrane.” Membranes, in the Aescan sense, are spatial constructs identified by the fact that they take up and represent space within other dimensional phenomena; for example, there are multi-dimensional membranes within and throughout the world that take up different places and amounts of spaces. Each of these is theoretically infinite in size from the inside, though from the outside, is perhaps smaller than even an atomic particle.

Aesca’s physical world exists inside what is called the “Prime” membrane. However, this membrane floats within and is grafted to the local Near Realm or Near Membrane, which is a membrane that exists as a copy of the physical realm as an energy construct, controlled by and controlling the physical Aesca.

In this way, matter could be said to be a construct of spiritual energy, a result of the resonance of magical energies of varying frequencies interacting. However, it is known that neither matter nor spiritual energy exist without each other, though physical matter persists for some time in the absence of its personal magical energy, or pattern.

Membranes are typically undetectable to the mortal eye. Inside membranes, which connect to and pierce through what they are within, and sometimes even wrap around, there are multiple other membranes. The interior of a non-prime membrane is called a “Realm.” Inside a Realm, there are other locations, smaller areas that are more specific in their layout, and these are called “Trods.”

Membranes vary in thickness with respect to one another and to the angles at which they are approached, making it harder or easier to get inside or move around within them. For example, while within one membrane, it may be very easy to return to the prime world, while from another, the prime membrane is impossible to breach.

Since Realms exist inside capsules of multi-dimensional energy and these other realms exist inside others that are wrapped around other capsules, it’s possible that one or more realms may collide or slide against one another. When this occurs, one of several things happens. A new universe may be created; this is called a “bubble,” and it can even have its own internal physics and sentient life, unaware of what lies beyond it. It can also affect bubbles already in place, by changing the laws of physics inside, causing mass extinctions, or changing dominant paradigms swiftly and dangerously. They can do the same thing to each other, and it’s believed a major shift caused the death of the gods and even the changing of some of the ages on Aesca prime. Think of them like “reality-quakes.”

Layers
Layers are sets of membranes and realms either closely related or easy to get to from one another. This has nothing to do with their location; rather, it has more to do with the ease at which they are traveled to and from in regards to each other. Sometimes a membrane stretches through multiple layers, making it easier to get to other realms from one area and harder further into the realm, while making it easier to get somewhere else from there instead, while in truth there is an infinity of space between them.
There are ten layers all told, and these are referred to as the Prime, the Near Realm, the Middens, The Inner Realms, the Penumbra, the Reflections, the Border Realms, the Outer Realms, the Shoreline, and the Horizon Realms.

The nearest world to physical reality is the Near Realm, and it is in many ways a reflection of the real world, save for the fact that certain colors change, become dimmer or brighter, and living beings become swirls of energy; it is the energy expression of reality, and the realm where souls reside. Magi relate the experience to looking through an infra-red camera, but with indescribable colors, sounds, sensations, and smells coursing over the world. It is here that the animae and patterns of real world objects reside, and spirits often drift invisibly on this side.

The Middens contain realms close to the near realm, a catch-all term for the places like trods and mounds, just past the Near Realm. A few fey kingdoms litter the area, vast forests with rising spires of castles and so forth. City-spirits are rare, but they are treated like enemies when they do appear. In certain ways, these worlds mimic Aesca, but are fundamentally different or suffer from changes and alterations.

The Inner Realms are the homes of powerful spirits such as Eidolons and High Souls. Bountiful paradises, dark worlds, and other such places dot the “landscape.” These little trods are quite similar to what ancient God Realms may have looked like, and it’s said that High Souls or Eidolons are insipient gods, or at least, the current manifestation of them. Occultists and Ritualists often come here to find answers pertaining to those old realms and judge the nature of reality.

The Penumbra is a dark and shadowy ring that fogs the rest of the realms, making it hard to pass through to the other side. This region marks the beginning of the more bizarre realms and places, and it is the home of dreams, The Unlit Sea, and the Bleak Isle. Many of the domains here are like traps, nearly impossible to escape from. It is from material crafted in the Penumbra’s realms that the prisons of the dark lords are crafted.

The Reflections are series of Realms and Bubbles that represent human fears, inadequacies, and accomplishments, either past or future. The Underworld is here, as is the great city of Megalopolis, also known as "The City." It is also an active memesphere, and there's a lot of crossover between it and the physical world.

Older Realms often fall apart, decay, or otherwise crumble. The Border Realms, then, are a series of realms which are essentially “lost pieces” of the physical realm and the other realms. Vast cities hanging in purple voids, rocks floating aimlessly in the air, and long tunnels and vortexes where reality is drifting upwards into wrecked spires, trees that grow sideways from interminable rock walls while towers hang upside-down in lightning-wracked skies are common sights as these once-great realms slowly fall to pieces. They drift into this layer due to its “low pressure” nature.

The Outer Realms are the regions in which the Godsrealm lies, a fallow and gray waste that now falls to pieces, each of the domains of those gods currently rotting and encapsulated within their own membranes. Other Outer Realms rarely follow established physics, close as they are to the Horizons, or else they establish their own. Travelers here should be wary, lest gravity change at a moment’s notice, or at the whim of the powerful and corrupted spirits that often roam these realms. Old Celestia is here, as are a wide variety of other realms that are impossibly old, perhaps formed when the world was made, the first law from the chaos.

The Shoreline resembles the Outer Realms much more closely than it ought to, but it follows its own twisted semblance of physics quite well due to its relatively high sentient population in certain regions. Called “pockets,” these places contain people pulling chaos matter from the horizon for use in life, to build a vast city called Lerneas at the edge of the axis mundi, the pillar or spindle upon which Aesca is held. It bends and twists as it approaches the edge of this realm, resembling a river delta and accompanying city that drifts with strange and swirling matter and babbling voices. The Shoreline also holds the edge of the Savage Realm, on the “other side” of the axis from the prime, like a string corrupted with a growing mold.

The Horizon Realms are the true edge of reality. An endless, churning field of chaos and storms separated and bound by a thin layer of reality that leads directly back to the Penumbra, specifically, dreams, like a thick membrane or plastic bag easily broken. Matter without form or direction and energy without bounds rule here, as do vast things obscured by the mist. Feathers as long as skyscrapers, eyes a mile wide, fish scales, tentacles, and leathery skin are seen as brief flashes in the swirling unreality. To gaze too long at this edge, it is said, is to go mad.

The Near Realm
The Near Realm, or Near Membrane, is the closest realm to the Prime Membrane. It exists as an overlay of physical reality, an energy construct that perfectly resembles it in every way. Think of it like a conjoined twin that copies everything you do, because it is you. That is, there’s no “Near You,” only your aura. In fact, the Near Realm is where auras exist, both patterns and animae.

Magi appear to exist in a state partially lodged into the Near Realm, at least, at their basic, sensory level, allowing them to sense the goings-on of the location, more specifically, it is likely their orgus extends sensory tendrils into this realm instead of being locked inside the soul.

An animus is a living aura. It appears to a magus (or anyone who can see the Near Realm) as a series of pulsing patterns and colors, akin to looking at an infra-red scope, though it is more colorful.

A chemical process in a nonliving object has a pattern base. Despite being in magical and chemical flux, it does not achieve an animus base unless a certain number of chemical reactions within the given reaction possess carbon and hydrogen; otherwise, the patterns can be seen to merge and literally reshape like yarn within the process. Once the process reaches stasis, the new patterns stabilize and go about their business, unless those patterns react with other local patterns (i.e., something’s on fire).

Energy being released shows up in “pattern sparks” before crossing over into the physical realm in the form of light, heat, or what have you as the pattern (the spiritual aspect) merges with the proxy (the physical aspect).

Matter is energy that exists in a simultaneous state in the Prime and the Near Realm. When it exists in the Prime without a pattern, it’s energy. If it exists in the Near Realm without a Proxy, it’s a spirit (or spirit object).

Magi generate this process or else take control of it, placing it into motion. Complexity in Reaction Theory says that this is why an animus is so hard to affect: it’s already in complex chemical and magical flux, and attempting to wrest control of those processes requires conscious knowledge of all simultaneous processes.

Ley Lines
Crossing the world like a drunken spider’s web are places where the membrane is weak, but differently than in manatouched locations. Something like spiritual rivers, ley lines are sets of magical energy that serve a function similar to oceanic currents.

Ley lines, from the side, look like walls, but cross-sections reveal a region of magically inactive areas beneath them, resembling something like three circles stacked in a pyramid shape as the excess spirit energy attempts to drop into the middens layer of the mana realm. These create something like a magical breathing apparatus for the Prime, allowing new energy to be formed into patterns as old objects decay and new objects are formed. This generates two “mana wells” that circle over one another, and spirit energy (and sometimes physical energy) collect and rest on top of these “spiritual eddies,” which can create a phenomena called “listing,” where wisps of visible energy discharge or strange lights can be seen to “flow” through the air at odd intervals.

The places where ley lines meet are called nodes, places of intense magical power. However, like lines, these nodes are always shifting with the planet’s magical flux. It may be possible to predict the general location of a node by measuring the magical metabolism of the planet, but at the moment, it has not been done.

Manatouched Locations
Places where the prime membrane is weak are known as “manatouched” locations. In a way, they can be seen as Prime Trods. Manatouched locations are areas where other realms bleed through, like a Realm of fear or an underworld dripping through into an old castle, making it haunted by strange noises, lights, and other such displays of energy as magic leaks through. These are not mundane places; the laws of physics break down, emotions take tangible shapes, and wanderers can become lost. Fey are often attracted to them, making them doubly dangerous.

Types of manatouched locations range from places bigger on the inside than the outside, haunted houses, old graveyards, abandoned towns, ancient ruins carpeted in mobs, pristine beaches, to crumbling churches with a “creepy” vibe.

A manatouched location can even be created and strengthened by those who live around it. For example, a murderer lives in a house and kills five people in their fear. He is caught, but locals also fear the house. It takes on a frightful resonance. In the beginning, it is simple and weak, and people walking by are “creeped out,” and locals talk of tearing the place down. Eventually, someone explores the house, becomes afraid, sees things from the corner of his vision, and either dies or kills his companions, generating more fear. As it continues to be feared, the house becomes a more powerfully resonating place, perhaps even attracting demons or opening a breach to an underworld membrane.

Such places range from Baker’s Field, a town beset with the supernatural, to Crosswest Fields, where strange sounds echo across the landscape, to Cahtie Forest, where time and space seem distorted, to other places even more bizarre and strange. Such places touch the Mana Realm, and the border between the real world and the world of magic is hazy and indistinct. Cryptids are drawn here, and spirits frequent the places.

Mechanically, these are rated from zero to five. Note that some cryptids and spirits gain other bonuses (specified in their entry) when in Manatouched locations.

{table=head]Rating|What it’s Like
0|Normal; nothing to see here.
1|A weakening of the membrane; strange dreams echo in sleepers. Someone is watching….
2|The membrane has holes, like a sieve. Strange sounds echo across the land. Humans feel a slight chill down their spine sometimes.
3|The local membrane is weak. Strange sights and glowing lights in the sky are frequent.
4|The membrane is still there, but only as a border. As above, but now children can disappear and fey sightings abound.
5|There is no spoon. Or membrane. Dreams come while still awake, memories resurface, and humans can walk right into the Mana Realm if they’re not careful, unless they wanna go in.[/table]

Certain types of Manatouched locations exist. These classifications cover broad categories used to refer to the phenomena that appear there, as well as any resonance they may possess.

Groves are places where pure nature is untouched by the Savage Realm’s influence. These are locations of almost pure Wood-aspected mana energy. Pure forests with perfect and clear streams within them, green moss that hangs gently from boughs and mighty aged oaks are hallmarks of a grove.

Hauntings are man-made locations that have since become manatouched. Humans have a habit of attaching emotional resonance to these places, and more reports and investigating magi just fuel the fires. Hauntings are characterized by pulses of lights (visible energy discharge), strange movements of objects, cold sensations across the skin, and sometimes scratches or welts appearing on those inside the location.

Mounds are places that attract fey on a regular basis. They take the form of mysterious piles of debris and detritus in forests and other locations surrounded by a sensation of calmness or activity. Mysterious lights in the woods, bizarre creatures, and disturbing music are often present at Mound locations.

A Nexus is a Manatouched location that exists as a primal state of one of the five basic elements. Earth, for example, might be an impossibly tall and majestic mountain, and Water may manifest as a primal and deep lake. Other manifestations include constant rain, a sea of lava, an incessantly burning fire, a boundless river, or any mixture of these. One such example might be a massive volcano eternally erupting and being worn away in the middle of the sea or a place where space and time erupt like a fountain in the center of a vast plain.

Weirds are just locations that are, well, weird. They don’t obey much of any unified rules, though common manifestations within them are strange cryptids, odd sounds, glowing lights, and a general sensation of being watched while in the area. Along with Mounds, Weirds are the most common locations to form bridges to the Mana Realms.

Overlays and Deadfalls
There are two major phenomena, which, although rare, can have devastating psychological impact on their victims. These are called overlays and deadfalls.
Overlays often occur when a manatouched location is too big for its britches, usually when the area is the size of a small town. An overlay occurs when fundamental aspects of reality change, for example, colors change, a symbol appears more frequently, or strange creatures walk the streets unseen. Overlays typically have no effect on anyone other than the viewer; for example, a young woman may see horrible creatures in the corner of her eye, but no one else can perceive them, or a young man may see symbols everywhere, but no on else sees a connection.

A Deadfall is when an entire realm superimposes itself upon the world with dramatic effects. A victim may be catapulted into a twisted parody of the realm world, rife with stinging winds and fire, or a dark and shallow copy of his home, unable to escape.

Both overlays and deadfalls usually happen to single individuals or small groups, but not without reason. Most often, the reason for the phenomena is buried within the phenomena itself, most often sever emotional distress or discomfort or something else equally traumatic or disruptive; it takes a truly powerful sensation to change the fabric of reality so readily and quickly. Outside of a city, these places go by the name "Zone of Isolation," for what tends to happen in them, and adventurers will often plow their way through for the magical treasures usually found inside.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 05:42 AM

Spirits
Spirits are generally living things that exist as energy constructs. This extraplanar energy follows a separate physics and metabolism than anything prime, though they can exist perfectly well in the prime, creating their own little gates to home inside their bodies.

Cryptids are not spirits, but are instead powerfully magical creatures with both a physical body and an aura. They are, in effect, spirit beings whose home plane is Aesca’s prime membrane. Cryptids are things like lake monsters, harpies, and other prime monsters that exist despite evolutionary and environmental shifts.

Mobs are the weakest of spirits, resembling glowing balls of light and smoke in rainbow colors. They are known by many names, from dregs to spots to soulflies to “the glows.” They are little, barely sapient bundles of life energy that are not tied to any location and are quite simply spirit plankton. They sometimes emerge when a human dies peacefully (making a very surreal death scene for those who discover it), cluster in weak manatouched locations, other magically powerful areas, and are a major component of Summoner religious practices in Arcadia.

These creatures have an affinity for water, and often appear near it, most especially the River of Heaven in Arcadia. They can also be crystallized into a form of energy called “chrysm,” which, when suspended in water, can be used for a wide variety of effects, including harvesting energy for use in electrical batteries.

Mobs can be used as vessels for powerful spirits, who form a will and shape the mobs into a physical proxy. Human souls, the Unbodied, can use them to form temporary bodies by sheer force of will, if they are strong enough, causing a group of mobs to cluster together into a body that emerges from the spiritual energy cloud. Summoners, for example, are often using force of will to create, then conglomerate, mobs into a physical spirit.

Minor Spirits, or Zobani, are the dregs of the spirit world. These are the free spirits most typically bound into electrical batteries or steam engines. They’re typically weak-willed and easy to bind into objects. These spirits hide, so it takes an enterprising user of magic to coax them out or a stronger spirit to help. These are also messengers used by more powerful entities to deliver power or edicts to their servants or patrons. Minor spirits encompass things like bird spirits and lizard spirits, or the spirit of a comb or other such objects.

Moderate Spirits, or Balak, are spirits of average size and power. Many foes that exist in the spirit world take on this shape. These are the spirits of elder trees, of the names of books, or free wandering powerful spirits like centipedes or rat spirits. These are the most common sorts of spirits one sees in the Mana Realms, typically because they are the most active. They don’t normally stay in their domains like more powerful spirits, and they don’t hide like smaller spirits.

Eidolons are powerful spirits. Not in the same league as High Souls, but they are powerful in their own right. They are perhaps the most powerful spirits an astral explorer may encounter that would wish him or her ill. While Concepts and High Souls may want to see a traveler dead or trapped, there is often no fighting them, but with Eidolons, the direct struggle would not be futile. Eidolons often pick areas to stay within, and when they manifest, they are human shaped “demons” or else draconic or equally large entities.

High Souls, or Devas, are the spirits of specific cities and other such places. They represent the important things in human life that exist outside the mind or are simply very powerful spirits. When they manifest in the real world, they often have human parts, such as faces, hands, or legs, though they can look as bizarre and alien as any other spirit. Others look like monsters of incredible size and power.

Concepts, or Totems, are spirits that represent a key concept in human nature, such as Death, Dreams, or Hate. Usually in human form, these spirits may even wander the realms of humanity and have more or less normal lives. Sometimes great magi look for these totems to learn from them or bargain for power. Human-formed concepts are known to bargain more freely. Song and Dance, for example, are both known to seek out mortals specifically to spread their great loves and ideas. Concepts rule Realms, whole worlds inside their own personal membranes shaped by their desires and wants.

Servitors are the servants and children of long-dead gods, twisted by Godstench into something horrid, or else corrupted by their trip through the toxic mana created by the decaying gods. Servitors have no unifying theme save that which was given to them by the gods. Typical manifestations, however, include impossible metabolisms, strange and unearthly geometries, impossible to describe after an encounter event, and flailing tendrils or weeping green mists.

There are two major types of spiritual domains aside from Realms ruled by Totems, and Trods ruled by Devas. These are called Quiets and Turfs.

Quiets are called such due to the fact that they typically manifest as calm and serene locations, with open fields and clear blue skies amid primal and wondrous forests. The spirit who rules a given Quiet often doesn’t mind travelers stopping by to chat, and they’re good places to take a rest. However, there are Quiets that look dark and twisted, and they are home to treacherous and foul spirits of hate, greed, or murder.

Turfs are small homes to a variety of spirits, and can exist in any realm, even the prime. They manifest as small roadside shrines, small caves, clearings that are preternaturally free of leaves, and so on. A turf is typically at human mercy, even though the spirits within can extract revenge against desecrators.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 05:59 AM

Magi
"Everybody sees what they want to see in magic. Oh, it's pretty, oh, it's shiny. They seem to forget that at the end of every fairy tale the mage is missing her eyes or skin, stuffed in an oven, or burning on a pyre." – Theodore Bronson

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv115/gaias_hiccup/Aesca/Fire_by_alexiuss2.jpg

Magi are the most common wielders of magic on Aesca. It is a power that is inborn, stirring inside the human soul since its first arrival upon the world. Unlike ritualism or occultism, no training is needed to attain it, but discipline is needed to master it.

The Golden Age
When Gaia sealed away the five Dragon Gods and gave the world new life, human magic had been wiped from the world. No more wizards or holy men or artificers existed among the people still alive. Before long, those people, making do without gods, began to manifest power heretofore unknown, or else known in small, out of the way places, the power of the great elements.

It is believed that in this time, the magic was tied to blood. The leaders and royal families of the five remaining tribes of humanity were privy to this great inner strength, and used it to better the lot of all peoples below them. They raised great citadels and lifted them into the sky, seeking ever loftier heights of magic and science. This was the Golden Age, and the five great kingdoms seemed eternal.

When at last the citadels fell and the new order rose from the ashes, people saw this time as legendary and dismissed or altered many of the tales that originated in the Third Age, including that Gaia herself had sired the leaders of the four tribes and ruled over the fifth, the Tribe of Ether, for at least a time, that each of the four original magi was formed when she was cut into four parts, or even that the first four were formed of the element they represented.

Witches and Folktales
At the rise of the Fourth Age, humanity began to drag itself out of the morass created by the fall of the Third Age, and superstition once again came to power. It was said that magi were given over to dark powers, or that inborn magic was a tool of temptation. Perhaps, due to the actions of the ruling class during the previous age, this idea was not totally unfounded. Many of the original bloodlines were hunted down and killed during the early years of this age, though these witch hunts dwindled to nonexistence as the secrets of magic were unlocked and the power of artifice was rediscovered.

Magi, at least, according to legend, became immensely powerful through the use of artifacts, relics, and specially built armors and weapons created during this time, used as living siege engines. At Gaia's Wall, an image rests where craters dot the landscape beneath a man in white wielding lances of blazing light hovers, laughing, above. As the world was remade by the Savage Thread, the bloodlines again became scattered.

At the dawn of the Fifth Age, these people were seen as spirits made flesh, taking the form of men and women, being born as the sons and daughters of humanity, and it is possible that they can leave the world of men behind like so much dross. Other stories painted them as fey replacements of normal children, or even great and enlightened beings taking human shape to guide the destiny of people, or rule them.

The Balance Has Been Lost
Because magi have the ability to sense the spirit worlds, they can sense imbalances in the local spiritual landscape, and the balance in other people. They can even sense such alterations within themselves. Many seek to correct these imbalances, these shifts in the Peng, and so create or encounter philosophies to deal with what they see as undue alterations to the natural state of being. It was magi who preached of transcending flesh and suffering in the courts of the Tourmekian and Atlantean empires, and it was magi who wandered into the jungles with not but staff and robe to seek true understanding of the shape of the spiritual world.

This need to seek balance and understanding also stems from the way magus power manifests in the mind and the world at large. As a magus channels and focuses one element, he or she may be prone to imbalances, becoming ill, or with fire magi becoming aggressive and mean-spirited, earth magi reacting slowly and becoming lazy, water magi becoming too kind-hearted and complacent, and air magi losing their attention every so often. To counteract this, magi practice meditation and physical forms of exercise such as kata. Many magi have special diets and routines, or live in places that help swing their internal balance the other direction.

When the Hurting Starts
As an infant, a magus is easily detectable. Doctors call in specialists (at least one per hospital) that can detect fluctuations in auras that key for magus power or potential power, run genealogies to find magi in the child's background, and consult astrological charts to insure that the child's prognosis is correct. Sometimes training for the eventual awakening is begun in the infant stages, as well as psychotherapy and careful watch over the circumstances of the child's life.

The reason for this is that when the power awakens, an event often called a "flare," it is most often violent and destructive. It can result in death or injury for those near the magus unless the individual was given careful coaching or had previous practice with mental and physical exercise needed to help redirect the sudden burst of energy.

Flaring occurs over a brief moment, perhaps, at its greatest length, a full second, whereupon the magus is given massive, near-unbridled amounts of power, and reacts purely by instinct. A flare can potentially destroy buildings, start gargantuan fires, and otherwise shift the landscape, or target small areas with devastating strength. Of course, it can also simply be a moment of pure and absolute awareness and dissipate the energy harmlessly. Afterwards, the magus is often disoriented for several hours, as new senses overtake the body. The spirit worlds can now be sensed and watched, just on the other side of physical reality.

When the Hurting Stops
Magus power is raw, primal, and lies somewhere within the true nature of the human soul. It spills forth from the mind like a burst dam or stampede of cattle, needing mental control to shape and harness. Otherwise the energy comes free in ways that physically harm the magus, wracking the body and tearing at the soul. This damage can come in the form of nose- or ear-bleeds, ruptured skin, and internal hemorrhaging.

The Connection is the primary link between the soul of the magus, the Near Realm, and the physical world. It is the moment, the time when a magus submerses his or her senses. The real world dissolves into auras and patterns, with living creatures seen as glowing bits of energy. All senses submerge, and new smells, sounds, and sensations drift and churn as if through thick water.

Magi can discern things about auras and local peng through practice and training, most often by any government agencies, church programs, wilderness ongurus, or even small shops in shopping arcades or by the roadside. Some magi, however, learn all on their own, though most of these do not make it in one piece, if they are alive at all.

Paths to Power
Magus power, being inborn and instinctive, offers many interpretations and paths to improvement for the eager student. Mostly, this is accomplished through the use of techniques, methods of training mental capability into following predictable, instinctive paths.

Much like physical martial artists, a technique artist seeks to unify the mind and body through regimented practices and training. By their nature, technique artists cluster together in like minded groups, in schools, and in practice circles inside cities. Whether they hone their arts for combat or simply for fun (cursed city kids), technique artists are the most common form of magus; the threat of one’s head suddenly exploding in a shower of magical energy is usually enough to make one cautious in honing magical skill.
Technique schools often sit near martial arts schools, as the two philosophies operate on the same principle, and in many places, are the same philosophy. Both espouse training the mid and body for periods of extreme stress, whether in combat or daily life.

Not all magi, however, focus on techniques. Some would wander the wilderness and instead seek to force their power directly, or else seek to shape it by their own will. Peng Students are rare, but no less dangerous than technique wielders. Like the ancient founders of the schools of magus abilities, Peng Students seek their own path to inner enlightenment through a phenomena they call Peng, the conscious flow of magical energy through the body, shifting and moving their own aura.

Peng Students are not often combatants, but some are. More often, they seek inner enlightenment through asceticism and mastery of a seven-step journey called The Sevenfold Path of Peng. Whether the student consciously or unconsciously learns the path is irrelevant, only that the lessons are learned. The seven steps are World, Body, Form, Concentration, Intent, Action, and Mind, and are explored in more detail in the section on magic in general.

Industrial Strength Light and Magic
Magi focus the power of the four primary elements of mana, their bodies acting as a filter for mana of that type. In a way, a magus acts like a living ley line, cycling mana through their body, taking in and putting out mana. Each of the four elements covers rough "themes" of power that sometimes overlap, though some logical overlaps do not occur, almost as if the mana itself refuses to react in that way.

Air magi manipulate air pressure and current. They can call the winds to knock down, hinder, slow, or stop opponents in their tracks. Air magi can find work in construction, safety industries, and maritime industry.

Earth magi can manipulate object densities and shape, as well as arrangements of solid forms. Telltale signs of earth magus tampering can easily be seen in strange or unnatural rock formations, disturbingly hard plaster, and sculpted handholds in walls. Earth magi are regularly employed in construction, public works, and agriculture, seeing as their powers offer cheap, effective results in those industries.

Fire magi do one thing well. Considering how their powers create chemical reactions that release energy, resulting in fire, explosions, and the destruction of people and property, their powers are pretty much a one trick pony. In their defense, however, it’s a really cool pony. Fire magi can be used to reduce fires, and some have found that, through careful manipulation of the release of chemical reactions, they can remove poisons and diseases affecting others. As it is the manipulation of a living aura, however, this process is difficult, if not impossible.

Water magi can influence liquids and reduce temperatures, funneling energy away from its source to cool an area or leave it dripping with ice. Water magi find work in public industries, since they can sense and detect impurities in water, remove the water from the impurities, and direct river flows if needed. These magi can also heal wounds and broken bones, but the mechanism involved is still largely unknown, and is difficult, due to, again, the fluctuating properties of a living aura.

Streaming (Cha)
Trained Only; Requires the Magical Background (Magus) feat

Use this skill to shape the flows of magic around you, detect magical energies, and decipher or track auras.
Check: You can make a Streaming check to create a magical effect, analyze auras and local problems or other phenomena in the mana realms, and so on.
Creating Magical Effects: This is simple. As a standard action, you choose what function you’re using, what strength you use the function at, and it does its thing. You are limited in the scope of your effects by your Power Rank and your current mana. The DC of any effect is 17, plus twice the power rank you are using to create the effect. Success causes the power to drain an amount of mana equal to the power ranks used to create the effect. Failure costs an amount equal to twice that amount. If you fail the check by 6 or more, you must make an immediate Fortitude save (DC 15) or be stunned for 1 round. If you fail by 11 or more, you must make an immediate Fortitude save at the same DC or drop to -1 hit points and begin bleeding.

If you cannot pay the cost of a failed check with mana (for example, if you would drop below 0 mana and begin fading), you suffer an amount of Constitution burn equal to the difference. For example, if you need 4 mana for an effect and you only have 2, you suffer 2 points of Constitution burn (but the effect still goes off). You cannot die directly through mana loss. If you lose an amount of mana equal to your Charisma score, you must make a save against massive mana loss as normal.

Granting conditions on an effect can provide bonuses or penalties on your roll to affect magical change. Most effects do not grant a saving throw, though some do (this is sometimes the GM’s call).

{table=head]Condition|DC Modifier
Allow Reflex Save| -2
Touch Attack | -2
Juice Flushing | -2
Area Effect | +2 per 5 foot radius
Living Aura | +20[/table]

Allow Reflex save: The effect grants the target a Reflex save for half damage or a diminished effect of some sort. The DC is 10 + your Charisma modifier + the amount of power ranks used.
Touch Attack: You must make a touch attack to hit your target with the effect.
Juice Flushing: Your body is surrounded by a nimbus of energy as you let the subconscious “cap” on your power fall away. Sounds cool enough, until you realize you’re probably going to be the only guy attacked next round.
Area Effect: Affecting an area with your power. Capped at your power rank.
Living Aura: Directly targeting a living creature, like, say, trying to ionize the air inside someone’s lungs or setting a man’s clothes on fire (animus bleed effect). Important if you want to heal.

Dealing Damage (Everybody): The amount of damage dealt by a magical effect is equal to 1d6 for each power rank used in the attack. Damage type is usually decided by the type of attack (rocks usually deal bludgeoning, water usually deals slashing or piercing, ice deals cold damage, fire deals fire damage, lightning bolts deal electricity damage, and so on).
Flight (Everybody): You can fly at a speed of 5 feet per round, up to your power rank, or twice that as a double move. You can sprint four times your normal flight movement. Your flight maneuverability is good (unless you’re an air magus, then it’s perfect, and you get a +10 speed boost). Using this ability is like flipping a magnet over; you’re latching onto mana in the near realm while at the same time playing with your own aura’s polarity. It’s tough to do, and has a +2 modifier to the DC to pull off. This is why lots of magi who want to do this often practice by hovering off the ground in meditation. The effect lasts for 1 hour per power rank used to activate it.
Snare (Earth, Air, and Water): You can use your element to trap a target (such as melting the ground beneath his feet, increasing air density, and so on). You make a normal ranged attack roll against your target. If you hit, the target must make a Reflex saving throw. Targets that fail are entangled, suffering a –2 penalty on attack rolls and a –4 penalty to Dexterity. If the snare is anchored to an immobile object (even to the ground), the trapped character cannot move. Otherwise, he can move at half speed, but cannot run or charge. A save that fails by 10 or more means the target can’t move at all (is helpless), and a successful save negates the effect entirely.
A second successful snare attack renders the target helpless if he wasn’t already, and opponents get a +4 on attacks against him. The target loses all dodge bonuses to Defense and his Dexterity score is treated as 0 (a –5 modifier to Defense).
Targets can break out of an Earth or Water snare by damaging it. The Snare takes damage an inanimate object with hardness equal to its rank and hit points equal to twice its rank. Regardless of the Snare type, if the target succeeds on a Strength check (DC 10 + the Snare’s rank), they break free automatically as a move-equivalent action. A captured character can make an Escape Artist check DC 10 + the Snare’s rank to break free, as well.
Wind Rush (Air): You can control air and gusts of wind within normal range. You’re capable of creating gusts of wind the push with a Strength bonus equal to your rank, with an additional +4 bonus. This allows you to blow over opponents as if you had just made a trip attack against them.
Conductor (Fire): You can conduct electricity with a damage equal to 1d6 x your power rank through your body and any conductive material that you are touching. Anyone touching you or the material (up to normal rank) is allowed a Fortitude save for half.
Density Shield (Air): You can surround your body in a dense layer of air, gaining Damage Reduction of 1 for every 2 ranks you use. Any damage reduced by the attack is instead taken directly to your mana until you drop the effect. The air inside the dense air armor lasts for 30 minutes, just in case you wanna go swimming or something.
Quantum Leap (Fire): By using 5 or more power ranks, you can temporarily transform yourself into energy, hurtling to another location you can see (this means line of sight) that’s within 25 feet. For each extra rank, increase the distance you can travel by 5 feet. There can’t be anything in the way. If there is, the thing that was in the way takes 5d6 damage per Power Rank you used (so the minimum is 25d6; this models that you can blow holes in buildings, but not collapse the whole thing), and you, well, there’s pieces of you all over the landscape.
Lithokinesis (Earth): You can pick up and move earth-based materials: soil, rocks, minerals, glass, concrete, dirt, and so forth, without any visible means of support, up to 100 pounds per power rank.
Breakdown (Earth): You can, with a simple touch, reduce an object’s hardness equal to your rank. If the object’s hardness reaches 0 through one application of this power, it falls apart. Relics cannot be destroyed in this manner, and the hardness reduction is reduced by two-thirds. Relics gain a saving throw.
Cling (Earth): By molding rock and stone as if it were clay, you can climb almost any surface (except for a surface like plastic, as if that’ll ever happen), allowing you to attach yourself to walls and ceilings up to five feet per rank per round, with no chance of falling. It takes an opposed Strength check to pull you off, and you gain a +4 bonus, plus an additional +1 for each power rank you are using.
Fertility (Earth): You can increase the fertility of an area, such as large fields and so on. This use of the skill isn’t very helpful for player characters, but it’s a big boon to farmers.
Incorporeal (Earth): You can phase harmlessly through matter not by reducing your own density, but that of objects around you. This is hard to do, and you must make a check every round, with the DC increasing by +1 for every round you are within an object. You must use 1 power rank per foot of material. It doesn't work on lead.
Shape Stone (Earth): By thrusting your hands toward an eligible source of materials, you can create objects out of rock, stone, glass, dirt, and so on. You can create an object sufficient to full a 2.5-foot cube per rank. So with four ranks, you could create two 5-foot cubes with a hardness of 4. Created objects are embedded into whatever materials they are formed from. A character surrounded by created walls has cover against attacks. Exception: You can create weapons such as spears, staves, clubs, and swords out of materials, altering density so that they are viable weapons. In order to do anything appreciable, you must make a relevant craft check. The power ranks you need to use are equal to twice the craft DC of the object divided by 5, so a DC 25 object requires 10 power ranks to make, and all the materials must be present (a gun, for example (DC 20) requires 8 power ranks). It still won't fire, though, unless you put bullets in it.
Reduce Flames (Fire): You can reduce sources of fire by 1d6 damage per rank. If a fire’s damage reaches 0, it goes out. You can affect single fires only, but you can affect more with the Area Effect applied to it.
Burn it Out (Fire): You can remove diseases and poisons by attempting to affect the target directly. This incurs the normal penalty to affect a living aura, but you only need five power ranks to pull off the effect. Lucky you.
Aquakinesis (Water): You can control the movement of water, up to 100 pounds per rank. You can create water tentacles and other such shapes, and you can push against objects with a force that has a Strength bonus equal to 4 + the power rank used. You can use this power to grapple. It has a Strength bonus equal to 4 + the power rank used.
Cold Snap (Water): You project energy that freezes water out of the air and you can freeze solids, up to one 5-foot square per rank per round. Anyone moving across ice you make must make a Balance check or Reflex save (DC 10 + power rank + your Charisma modifier) or fall prone. It melts at the normal rate.
Create Water (Water): You can condense local water, up to one 2.5-foot cube per rank. You can create water over an opponent’s head and drop it. You make a normal ranged touch attack roll and the target gets a Reflex save. If the save succeeds, you deal no damage, but if the save fails, you deal nonlethal damage equal 1d6 x to your rank. You can condense water around an enemy, but you have to concentrate on the effect, and you suffer the living aura penalty (+20 to the skill check DC of the effect). The subject suffocates and drowns as normal if he’s held for too long. He can break out with a swim check (DC 10 + power ranks used + your Charisma modifier), and he’s allowed a Reflex save as if you dropped the water on him.
Healing (Water): By a means unknown, water magi can heal wounds. You can remove 1d4 damage up to power rank. Healing in this way costs double the normal amount of points and takes ten minutes. You can remove a stunned or nauseated condition with a DC 17 Streaming check. You can heal only others, and only within one hour of any given wound.
Analyze Phenomena: Take a move action to Connect, submerging your senses into the spirit realms, and your eyes take on a faint glimmer. You use Streaming just like a Spot or Search check to notice magical effects. You can also notice moods and emotions, using Streaming like a Sense Motive check.
Try Again: Usually, no. For analyzing phenomena, yes. You can't Take 10 or 20 on any application of this skill.

Magus-Specific Feats
There are a few feats for a Magus to help improve his or her casting ability. These are listed below.

Bloodline of the Elements [Initial, Magus]
You are directly descended from one of the four bloodlines of the Golden Age.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Magus), must not have the Extra Element feat
Benefit: Increase your power rank by 1. You take on some of the aspects of your element; you may have fiery red hair, gold or yellow eyes, perspire pure water, or some other minor feature that marks you as a child of the elements.

Extra Element [Initial, Magus]
You've got a little extra oomph.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Magus)
Benefit: Choose an element other than your initial element. You gain access to that element's applications of Streaming and access to technique feats of that element.
Special: This is exceedingly rare. Really, really rare. You cannot take this feat more than twice, no matter how many beginning feats you manage to wrangle.

Magic Eater [Magus]
You can literally feed off of magical energy.
Prerequisite: Magical Background (Magus)
Benefit: You no longer need to eat or drink, and you can absorb mana directly from creatures with the (spirit) subtype. You touch (or put your hand inside) such a creature and spend 3 mana. You recover 1d6+2 mana and deal 1d6+2 mana damage to the creature in question. The creature is allowed a Will save (DC 10 + your power rank + your Charisma modifier) to negate the effect.

Magical Background (Magus) [General]
You have the inborn power of the original four children of Gaia.
Benefit: Choose Earth, Air, Fire, or Water. You gain access to that element's application of Streaming. Concentration and Streaming become class skills for you. Your power rank is 1.

General Techniques
These are techniques anyone can learn and master, without belonging to or contacting a member of a given school. Many schools have guarded their techniques jealously, and even in the modern era, retain their phobia of allowing those they do not trust to learn them. These techniques are ones that have been in common use for centuries, stolen early, or else developed independently many times over.

Proxy of the Elements [Technique]
You form an elemental to attack for you.
Prerequisite: Magical Background (Magus)
Benefit: You can, as a full-round action, create an elemental of the appropriate element. It is not a true elemental, but a proxy created by you. You spend mana equal to the elemental's hit point total, and this mana is considered spent. The elemental exists for as long as you concentrate. If the elemental leaves line of effect or sight, it dissipates. At power rank 1, you can create a small elemental, at power rank 3, you can create a medium-sized elemental. At power rank 5, you can create a large elemental, at power rank 7, you can create a huge elemental, at power rank 9, you can create a greater huge elemental, and at power rank 11, you can create an elder huge elemental.

Air Techniques

Aerial Maneuver [Technique]
You can use your mana to augment combat maneuvers.
Prerequisite: Magical background (Magus, Air)
Benefit: You can spend mana as a free action when you attempt a bull rush, trip, or disarm. Each mana you spend, up to your power rank, adds +1 to any rolls required by the maneuver.

Far Strike [Technique]
You can use small dense pockets of air to strike an opponent.
Prerequisite:Magical Background (Magus, Air)
Benefit: By expending 1 mana per power rank as a free action, you can make normal unarmed attack rolls against an enemy up to 30 feet away for 1 round. This attack is made at your base attack bonus +1 per power rank used. You gain a damage bonus equal to the rank of power used as well. In all other respects, resolve this as an unarmed strike, albeit at range.

Earth Techniques

Earth Strike [Technique]
By punching the earth, you end a shockwave across the ground, striking your opponent.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Magus, Earth)
Benefit: For 1 mana per power rank, you strike the ground beneath your feet and one opponent standing on the same surface you are and up to 60 feet away must make a Fortitude save or suffer 1d6 bludgeoning damage per power rank you used. Opponents failing this saving throw must make a Reflex save or also be knocked prone.

Earth Wave [Technique]
You push forward with the earth.
Prerequisites: Earth Strike
Benefit: When you strike the ground, you may spend 2 points of mana per power rank you wish to use. This technique creates a 15-foot wide and 60 foot long wave of dirt and rock in one direction that bull rushes your opponents as a large creature with a Strength of 18 + twice the power ranks you use. Make opposed Strength checks. Any creature failing this check also falls prone at the end of the bull rush. This technique cannot push anyone into empty air (off a cliff or into the water, for example, though it can deposit them next to it). Creatures that ready an action to voluntarily fail their strength check are not prone, and count as though they are charging (meaning your allies can attack somebody by using this wave as if it were your movement, and they can’t attack anyone being bull rushed by the wave of dirt).

Earthquake [Technique]
You strike the earth with your hand, and your enemies are damaged.
Prerequisites: Earth Strike
Benefit: When you strike the earth with a fist, you may spend 2 mana per rank you wish to use, and everything (objects, too) within 30 feet that is touching the ground must make a Fortitude save or suffer 1d6 bludgeoning damage per rank you used. Unattended objects suffer half damage, and creatures failing their Fortitude save must make a Reflex save or fall prone.

Glorious Transmutation [Technique]
You can craft items with less effort.
Prerequisites: Craft (mechanical or structural) 6 ranks, Magical Background (Magus, Earth)
Benefit: You reduce the power rank you need to craft items by 1 to a minimum of 1. Choose a simple item, such as a spear, longsword, skirmish sword, shield, or type of archaic armor made mostly out of metal. You can craft that item without making a check, and you only need 1 power rank.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time, you can must choose a different item. This feat only reduces the power rank requirement for other items twice (to a minimum of 1).

Quick Wall [Technique]
You can throw up walls of dirt.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Magus, Earth)
Benefit: For a cost of 3 mana per power rank, you can create a wall five feet on each side for each power rank you use (ten power ranks, then, get you a wall fifty feet on each side). No matter how tall or long it is, the wall is always two feet thick. This wall is made out of whatever is in the area, as long as it’s not alive.

Fire Techniques

Blast of Fire [Technique]
You hurl a bolt of flames at your enemies.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Magus, Fire)
Benefit: You can dump mana into attacks. As a normal attack action, you can spend 1 point of mana per power rank to deal 1d6 points of fire damage for each power rank you use with a range increment of 30 feet. You can hurl as many of these little blasts as you have attacks in a round. You must make a ranged attack to hit.

Fireball [Technique]
You can easily cause an explosion.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Magus, Fire)
Benefit: You can generate an explosion of fire that deals 1d6 points of damage per your power rank that is a 5-foot radius for each power rank you use. You must still make a Streaming roll, but the DC increase is eliminated dependent on which DC increase is higher. For example, using 4 power ranks to deal damage in a 25-foot radius normally carries a DC of 35 (17 + 8 (4 power ranks for damage) + 10 (5 power ranks for radius). With this feat, the DC becomes 25 (35 – 10 = 23). The cost is 1 mana per the highest power rank used, like normal.

Lightning Bolt [Technique]
A common technique, the lightning bolt does exactly what it claims to do.
Prerequisite: Magical Background (Magus, Fire), Tumble 2 ranks.
Benefit: You spend 1 mana per rank you wish to use, choose one target, and deal 1d6 per rank used to that target (who gets a Fortitude save for half) as both your target and yourself become the most charged objects around. You must be off the ground when you activate this technique, or the charge fails.

Shocker Ball [Technique]
You have learned to compact dense air and electrical energy into a damaging strike.
Prerequisite: Magical Background (Magus, Fire)
Benefit: In melee, as part of your unarmed attack routine, you can spend 1 point of mana per rank to deal +1d6 damage to your opponent per rank you use. Half this damage is electrical damage, and half of this damage is concussion damage.

Strikes of Flame [Technique]
You can augment your attacks with fire.
Prerequisites: Magical background (Magus, Fire)
Benefit: As a free action, you can spend 1 mana after making a melee attack roll to deal an additional +1d6 points of fire damage as well as your normal melee damage.

Water Techniques

Bucket Break [Technique]
You stop water from falling out of the sky or else force it to burst out of a bucket.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Magus, Water)
Benefit: You thrust your hands outward, and water falling stops briefly in midair to hurl forward at your opponents in a 60 foot line. This attack deals 1d6 non-lethal damage (Reflex save for half) and costs 1 mana for each power rank you use. If you use this power on a bucket of water, the same effect occurs, but the bucket takes the damage as well. You can also use this power on a lake or other body of water. The effect is still a line of water.

Freeze the Serpent [Technique]
Your serpent of water can freeze solid.
Prerequisite: Serpent of Water
Benefit: As an immediate action, you can spend 1 point of mana to freeze your Serpent of Water solid. This has a few benefits. If you just made a grapple check, it retains whatever grapple bonus it had attained before you froze it. You can also freeze it in response to an enemy attack, gaining your power ranks used to create it as a bonus to your defense. As a swift action, you can unfreeze the serpent at no cost to you.

Frost Storm [Technique]
You can create a storm of ice shards.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Magus, Water)
Benefit: You can spend 1 mana per power rank you use to create a 15-foot cone of razor-sharp shards of ice. The damage is as normal (Fortitude save for half).

Serpent of Water [Technique]
You create a tentacle of water that strikes an enemy.
Prerequisites: Bucket Break
Benefit: As a move action, you spend 1 mana per power rank you wish to use, and you create a tentacle of water condensed from the air. The lash lasts for 1 round per power rank used, and deals 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every two power ranks you used. You can use the lash to make standard attacks up to 15 feet away. You can make attacks of opportunity against adjacent targets. At your option, the lash can form a spike, blade, or simply remain a thick tendril to deal piercing, slashing, or bludgeoning damage.
You can use the lash to make disarm or trip attacks with a Strength of 10 + your Charisma modifier + the power ranks you used. It has your base attack bonus and acts as a medium-sized creature.

Water Bullet [Technique]
You create small spheres of water and bat them at your enemy.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Magus, Water)
Benefit: As a swift action, you create one or more spheres of water (up to your power rank, but no more than the amount of attacks you are going to make in that round) that then freeze solid. You spend an amount of mana on each sphere up to your power rank, and then make a ranged attack (range increment 30), swatting the orb at your enemy. These “bullets” deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage for each point of mana spent to create them. This counts as a thrown weapon.
For example: Crush wants to attack an enemy at ranged and has two-weapon fighting, a base attack bonus of +6, and four power ranks. She can create three spheres that each do 4d6 damage, but doing so costs 12 mana (4 times 3).

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 06:00 AM

Technique Artist
The Technique Artist seeks to understand the link between body and mind, and focuses on honing magical capability in a martial manner.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Technique Artist, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +2.
Skills: Streaming 6 ranks.
Feats: Combat Martial Arts or Defensive Martial Arts, at least two technique feats.
Class: Must not have levels in Peng Master or Peng Student. A character with levels in either of these classes can not take levels in Technique Artist, and vice versa.

Class Information
The following information pertains to the Technique Artist advanced class.
Hit Die
The Technique Artist gains 1d8 hit points per level.
Mana Die
The Technique Artist gains 1d10 mana per level.
Action Points
The Technique Artist gains a number of action points equal to 6 + one-half his character level, rounded down, every time she attains a new level in this class.

Class Skills
The Technique Artist’s class skills are as follows.
Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Focus (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (popular culture) (Int), Listen (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Perform (dance) (Cha), Streaming (Cha), Survival (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 3 + Int modifier.

Table: The Technique Artist
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Def Bonus|Rep Bonus
1st|+0|+0|+1|+1|Power Ranks|+1|+0
2nd|+1|+0|+2|+2|Technique|+1|+0
3rd|+2|+1|+2|+2|Bonus Feat|+2|+1
4th|+3|+1|+3|+3|All Conflicts Stance|+2|+1
5th|+3|+1|+3|+3|Technique|+3|+1
6th|+4|+2|+3|+3|Bonus Feat|+3|+2
7th|+5|+2|+4|+4|Spiritual Awareness|+4|+2
8th|+6|+2|+4|+4|Technique|+4|+2
9th|+6|+3|+5|+5|Bonus Feat|+5|+3
10th|+7|+3|+5|+5|Technique|+5|+3[/table]

Class Features
The following features pertain to the Technique Artist advanced class.
Power Ranks
The Technique Artist rises in power as he gains levels. Refer to the chart below for power rankings gained by the Technique Artist as he or she gains levels in this advanced class. Technique Artists, like other magi, power effects by using mana points and skill checks. The key ability score of a Magi is Charisma. The saving throw DC of an effect created by a Technique Artist is 10 + the power’s rank + the Technique Artist’s Charisma modifier.
{table=head]Level|Power Rank
1st|2
2nd|3
3rd|4
4th|5
5th|6
6th|7
7th|8
8th|9
9th|10
10th|-[/table]
Technique
At 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 10th level, the Technique Artist gains a bonus technique feat. This feat must be chosen from a list of techniques the Technique Artist has access to.
All Conflicts Stance
At 4th level, the Technique Artist’s martial training pays off. The Technique Artist chooses active or passive. If she chooses active, her unarmed strikes now deal 1d6 lethal or non-lethal damage (her choice). If she chooses passive, she gains an additional +2 dodge bonus to her Defense against melee attacks. She can spend a full round action to switch her stance to active or passive, or an action point to do so as an immediate action. The Technique Artist must have Combat Martial Arts to be active, and Defensive Martial Arts to be passive.
Spiritual Awareness
At 7th level, the becomes more capable of fine-tuning her connection, allowing her to sense auras and partially behave as though she were in the Mana Realm. While connected, the Technique Artist adds her Charisma bonus to her Defense as a deflection bonus.
Bonus Feats
At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the Technique Artist gains a bonus feat. The feat must be from the following list, and the Technique Artist must meet the prerequisites to select it.
Acrobatic, Advanced Combat Martial Arts, Armor Proficiency (Light), Athletic, Combat Throw, Defensive Martial Arts, Dodge, Elusive Target, Improved Combat Martial Arts, Mobility, Spring Attack.

Peng Student
The Peng Student is a magus that focuses on learning the truth behind his or her personal power and less about technique.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Peng Student, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +1.
Skills: Streaming 6 ranks.
Feats: Magical Background (Magus).
Class Feature: Skill Emphasis class feature (applied to Streaming).

Class Information
The following information pertains to the Peng Student advanced class.
Hit Die
The Peng Student gains 1d6 hit points per level.
Mana Die
The Pend Student gains 1d12 mana per level.
Action Points
The Peng Student gains a number of action points equal to 6 + one-half his character level, rounded down, every time she attains a new level in this class.

Class Skills
The Peng Student’s class skills are as follows.
Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Focus (Wis), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (arcane lore, earth and life sciences, occult lore, popular culture, theology and philosophy) (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Treat Injury (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 5 + Int modifier.

Table: The Peng Student
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Def Bonus|Rep Bonus
1st|+0|+1|+0|+2|Power Ranks, First Peng (World)|+1|+0
2nd|+1|+2|+0|+3|Second Peng (Body)|+1|+0
3rd|+1|+2|+1|+3|Bonus Feat|+2|+0
4th|+2|+2|+1|+4|Third Peng (Form)|+2|+0
5th|+2|+3|+1|+4|Fourth Peng (Concentration)|+2|+1
6th|+3|+3|+2|+5|Bonus Feat|+3|+1
7th|+3|+4|+2|+5|Fifth Peng (Intent)|+3|+1
8th|+4|+4|+2|+6|Sixth Peng (Action)|+4|+1
9th|+4|+4|+3|+6|Bonus Feat|+4|+2
10th|+5|+5|+3|+7|Seventh Peng (Mind)|+4|+2[/table]

Class Features
The following features pertain to the Peng Student advanced class.
Power Ranks
The Peng Student rises in power as he gains levels. Refer to the chart below for power rankings gained by the Peng Student as he or she gains levels in this advanced class. Peng Students, like other magi, power effects by using mana points and skill checks. The key ability score of a Magi is Charisma. The saving throw DC of a spell cast by a Magus is 10 + the power’s rank + the Peng Student’s Charisma modifier.
{table=head]Level|Power Rank
1st|2
2nd|3
3rd|4
4th|5
5th|6
6th|7
7th|8
8th|9
9th|10
10th|-[/table]
First Peng (World)
At 1st level, the Peng Student understands the flow and connections of the world around her, and how they pertain the first type of peng, the world peng. She gains Track and Guide as bonus feats. She also gains a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves against ingested poisons and diseases.
Second Peng (Body)
The Body Peng is formed when the proxy moves, forcing the aura to shift and follow. The Peng Student can force the aura to flow without the need for her body. At 2nd level, the Peng Student becomes in tune with the movement of Peng within her body, and can cycle and ebb her own aura like a bag filled with water. The DC to track a Peng student by aura alone increases by +5, and the Peng Student gains a +2 competence bonus on Balance, Jump, Tumble, and Climb checks as she can now shift her aura and body weight by thought alone.
Third Peng (Form)
A Peng Student can attempt to copy a technique she has seen before. She must make a Streaming check as normal, however, and the DC is 5 points higher. For example, to copy the Strikes of Flame technique at four power ranks, she must make a Streaming check (DC 30) to succeed.
Fourth Peng (Concentration)
The Peng Student becomes a master of the interruptions of his flows and movement, for with mastery of the Fourth Peng comes understanding that the energy of the body, mind, and soul is easily subverted and controlled by a focused resolution. At 5th level, he masters the Fourth Peng, and gains a +4 bonus on Concentration checks to Stream defensively. He also gains a +2 bonus on Initiative checks.
Fifth Peng (Intent)
When the Peng Student reaches this level, he achieves an epiphany. That is, the Peng Student achieves a state of absolute commitment to resist feelings of anger and vengefulness, and to develop compassion. Of course, it could all be bunk and the Peng Student understands that full intent requires full action. At 7th level, whenever the Peng Student spend an action point to modify a Streaming check result, she rolls an additional 1d6 and adds that to her action point result.
Sixth Peng (Action)
The body is a state of expression, as it is the form of the aura in the physical realm. Much like how unwholesome magic can corrupt the animus, so unwholesome actions and behaviors corrupt the proxy. The Peng Student learns to do away with these things and becomes clearer in deed. At 8th level, the Peng Student gains a +2 competence bonus on Streaming rolls.
Seventh Peng (Mind)
With clear consciousness, the Peng Student can see things as they really are. A controlled cognition is a sense that all incoming thoughts and expressions are processed immediately, and only then can the right frame of mind be achieved. At 10th level, the Peng Student can connect as an immediate action.
Bonus Feats
At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the Peng Student gains a bonus feat. The feat must be from the following list, and the Peng Student must meet the prerequisites to select it.
Attentive, Alertness, Defensive Martial Arts, Elusive Target, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mana Battery, Membrane Sense, Open-Minded, Overchannel, Sidekick.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 02:33 PM

Technique Master
The technique master seeks to broaden his horizons by learning and mastering more techniques.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Technique Master, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +6.
Skills: Jump 12 ranks, Perform (Dance) 6 ranks, Streaming 12 ranks, Tumble 12 ranks.
Feats: Combat Martial Arts, Defensive Martial Arts, at least four technique feats.
Class Feature: All Conflicts Stance.
Class: Must not have levels in Peng Master or Peng Student. A character with levels in either of these classes can not take levels in technique master, and vice versa.

Class Information
The following information pertains to the Technique Master prestige class.
Hit Die
The Technique Master gains 1d8 hit points per level.
Mana Die
The Technique Master gains 1d10 mana per level.
Action Points
The Technique Master gains a number of action points equal to 7 + one-half his character level, rounded down, every time she attains a new level in this class.

Class Skills
The Technique Master’s class skills are as follows.
Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Jump (Str), Knowledge (popular culture) (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Perform (Dance) (Cha), Streaming (Cha), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 5 + Int modifier.

Table: The Technique Master
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Def Bonus|Rep Bonus
1st|+1|+1|+1|+1|Power Ranks, Technique|+0|+1
2nd|+2|+1|+1|+1|Bonus Feat|+1|+1
3rd|+3|+2|+2|+2|Greater All Conflicts Stance|+1|+2
4th|+4|+2|+2|+2|Bonus Feat|+2|+2
5th|+5|+2|+2|+2|Must’ve Seen You Do It|+2|+2[/table]

Class Features
The following features pertain to the Technique Master prestige class.
Power Ranks
The Technique Master continues her training, but is not as powerful as a peng master. Still, she gains power ranks as follows.
{table=head]Level|Power Rank
1st|+1
2nd|-
3rd|+1
4th|-
5th|+1[/table]
Technique
The Technique Master, at 1st level, gains a bonus technique feat.
Greater All Conflicts Stance
At 3rd level, the Technique Master improves his All Conflicts Stance ability so that her active stance’s unarmed attacks now deal 1d8 damage and her passive stance offers a +4 bonus to melee Defense.
Must’ve Seen You Do It
At 5th level, the Technique Master gains a floating feat slot to be used for techniques. She must see the technique she wishes to learn in action and must fulfill the prerequisites of that technique. Once learned, this choice is permanent. The Technique Master can spend an action point to change this technique feat as an immediate action to any new technique she has seen and fulfills the prerequisites for.
Bonus Feats
At 2nd and 4th level, the Technique Master gains a bonus feat. The feat must be from the following list, and the Technique Master must meet the prerequisites to select it.
Acrobatic, Advanced Combat Martial Arts, Armor Proficiency (Light), Athletic, Combat Throw, Defensive Martial Arts, Dodge, Elusive Target, Improved Combat Martial Arts, Mobility, Spring Attack.

Peng Master
The Peng Master has progressed beyond student and become a master of his art, learning to become in tune with his body and soul to a masterful degree. The peng master ha learned that there are more than seven kinds of peng, and in fact, there are ten, and seeks to master them all, coming one step closer to true enlightenment.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Peng Master, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Skills: Streaming 12 ranks.
Feats: Magical Background (Magus).
Special: Fourth Peng class feature.

Class Information
The following information pertains to the Peng Master prestige class.
Hit Die
The Peng Master gains 1d6 hit points per level.
Mana Die
The Technique Master gains 1d12 mana per level.
Action Points
The Peng Master gains a number of action points equal to 7 + one-half his character level, rounded down, every time she attains a new level in this class.

Class Skills
The Peng Master’s class skills are as follows.
Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (arcane lore, earth and life sciences, occult lore, popular culture, theology and philosophy) (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Treat Injury (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 7 + Int modifier.

Table: The Peng Master
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Def Bonus|Rep Bonus
1st|+0|+1|+0|+2|Power Ranks, Eight Peng (Soul)|+0|+0
2nd|+1|+2|+0|+3|Bonus Feat|+1|+0
3rd|+1|+2|+1|+3|Ninth Peng (Realm)|+1|+1
4th|+2|+2|+1|+4|Bonus Feat|+1|+1
5th|+2|+3|+1|+4|Tenth Peng (Spirit)|+2|+1[/table]

Class Features
The following features pertain to the Peng Master prestige class.
Power Ranks
The Peng Master continues her training in magical prowess. At first level, she gains power ranks as follows.
{table=head]Level|Power Rank
1st|+1
2nd|+1
3rd|+1
4th|+1
5th|+1[/table]
Eighth Peng (Soul)
The Peng Master realizes her own masters have been hiding truth from her, and she has progressed into a state of wholeness with her body and mind. However, she discovers a new kind of Peng within herself, and with its realization she binds it deeper to her body, completing the trinity. The Peng Master gains a +2 bonus on Streaming checks.
Ninth Peng (Realm)
The Peng Master does not stop there. She seeks to breach the very barriers of the real and the realms, gathering mana from the other side. For at 3rd level, with the understanding of the difference between the real and the realm, the Peng Master can spend an action point as a free action to add the result to her mana, but never more than her mana per day.
Tenth Peng (Spirit)
The Peng Master realizes the truth of the matter of the human and magi, that humans (and all things) are simply spirits with physical form, and the right actions can harm them. At 5th level, the Peng Master no longer modifies the Streaming DC when churning out raw magical effects.
Bonus Feats
At 2nd and 4th level, the Peng Master gains a bonus feat. The feat must be from the following list, and the Peng Master must meet the prerequisites to select it.
Attentive, Alertness, Defensive Martial Arts, Elusive Target, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mana Battery, Membrane Sense, Open-Minded, Overchannel, Sidekick.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 05:51 PM

Fun for the Whole Family: Shamans
"Any crasher can blow his brains out. It takes a special kind of sweathead to be good at it."
– Joan Abrams

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv115/gaias_hiccup/Aesca/The_Staircase_of_time_by_Furgur.jpg

Aesca is covered head to toe in spirits, and the people have temples, leave behind carved stones, write letters, burn incense, and ask priests and priestesses to put in a good word for them. This is because a few angry spirits can ruin your day if they really wanted to, from papers blowing away to water pipes bursting on a new suit. That isn't to say spirits are openly malicious, just capricious, and they're one more thing to share the world with that can be as intelligent as (or even more so) than a human being, and they often have their own agendas.

Most spirits go on about their jobs like nothing is out of the ordinary and even enjoy their jobs; spirits of books like being read and spirits of buildings like housing people. These spirits do like to keep tabs on what's going on around them, and they have a myriad of deals going with all the spirits around them; building spirits have an ongoing bargain with air spirits not to blow them over unless the wind gets too strong, river spirits have a deal with mountains to take away small parts of them, and so on.

Humans and most forms of animal life don't need these deals because they come into the world with their own souls, which automatically take care of that which is needed for them to exist in the world. That isn't to say that they can't make deals. Shamans are such beings that make deals that are worth a little something extra.

Petitioning Spirits
Generally, one asks nice before petitioning a spirit for anything. This typically involves a process unique to the shaman or his or her tradition, but can be a regimen based on something the shaman heard about on the radio or in a book or something. It can be something learned in college, or based on an ancient family tradition. In all cases, though, it's based around asking nicely. Some folks would rather take, though, and the spirits put up with it because humans are above them in the magical food chain, and their mana is the tastiest. These shamans become something like drug pushers, with a wide variety of weaker spirits working in concert to get their fix while "nicer" shamans can afford to call up bigger and meaner beings to get things done in beefier chunks of time and space.

Shamanism and Ritualism
Whenever you see a ritualist do something on the magnitude of turning someone into a bamboo log or binding an electricity spirit into a circle to use as a power source, they've almost always got some shaman training. Since ritualists are famous for bringing solid manifestations of spirits into the real world while controlling mana flows directly, it can be sort of a second calling for them to get more out of the deals they make and allow them to harness further control over spells and effects.

Mentors and Guides
Human shamans themselves are often petitioned by a multitude of powerful spirits to be their hands and eyes on the three-dimensional plane. Since what happens on Aesca Prime trickles down and in through all the realms, the events there are worthwhile to watch and attempt to affect with the energy spent chasing down humans and asking them for aid. In return, such spirits will guide and serve as mentors to budding shamans, helping them wander the spirit realms as friends and allies.

Dreams & The Silver Web
Shamans sometimes refer to other realms and membranes as planes; they interact with them and their denizens much more often than most other folks. More specifically, shamans interact with Dreams and the Silver Web quite a lot. They're the metaphysically closest things to the Near Realm aside from Fate's domain (and that's a wizard's bag), so it pays to bring them up a little here. Anything outside Aesca Prime's three dimensions is often called "Everywhen" in addition to the more pedestrian (and official) Mana Realms.

Dreams is directly connected on the opposite side of the Near Realm as an incoming and outgoing location. It is most typically a plain studded with radiant grasses and trees, worm-like landscapes, trails, furrows, burrows, and odd stony structures here and there dotted with strange rune carvings. The moon has a parallel here, as does every realm with a three-dimensional expression. To the south is a frigid and cold wasteland where the ice scintillates in the light of the dim twilight. To the west there lies a coastal region that rests on the edge of time. To the north is a largely uninhabited realm where the terrible things imagined by humanity run free or else are imprisoned deep within a solid metal or earthen prison known as Keloris, and this region border's Death's Realm. Lying in that region is also the city Kephalapsis, ruled by a man known as King Yavun. The eastern side of dreams is the most inhabited and traveled, with a variety of geographical features that would be nonsensical in the waking world. In the very center lies the castle of the Dream-King, who carves up human dreams with his crew of spirits and sells them to all manner of beasts, demons, and other, stranger things. The Underlands lies beneath Dreams, and is connected to Aesca Prime's interdimensional network of tunnels that sit under the world.

The Silver Web is a three-dimensional plane of no weight where racing white streaks of energy flutter back and forth across thin, wispy strands that meet in clusters of lumpy matter; sounds not unlike jolts of electricity or the booms of lightning resonate across the realm at large, and it is the home of the memesphere. Creatures like little totems said to represent an individual's suffering or joy twitter and have bouts and combat with one another; memes are both created by and affect Aesca Prime, being born of behaviors and ideas and having an affect on those behaviors; where arguments tear apart and devour ideas, someone in the physical world might be yelled at by another. Also in the silver web are large tracts of land, spheres piled high with misshapen flesh or metal and bizarre towers of both intermingled that collect the electricity that dances here and there.

Favors, Bargains, and Shards
You can, once you petitioned a spirit, have it do one of two things: grant a favor or make a long-term deal with it.

Favors are pretty simple, one-time, well, favors from a spirit. Spirits can generally only grant favors based on their type, and once a shaman knows them, they can always call on them in return for the cost of the favor, be it spilling blood, setting fire to a cut-out letter A, or cleaning a statue. Shards are a favor that are effectively pieces of the spirit in question (and in some smaller spirit cases, the whole critter), and shamans with active shards are known as being "ridden." This can subtly alter a shaman's appearance, grant the shaman superhuman endurance and strength, or simply grant a short-term boon before the shaman's soul devours them completely.

Bargains are long-term favors struck with the very land itself. A shaman might strike a bargain with a campfire kami so that it doesn't hurt her, or make a deal with the totem of cars to always be able to activate one of its children. Bargains tend to place taboos and geasa on a shaman, and are not undertaken lightly. The shaman tends to lose in the end, unless they know the spirit well, because he or she is asking for a major spirit's constant contract, rather than a short term favor. Bargains often call for self-mutilation, sacrifice, or even tattoos to mark the shaman.

Spirit Types
Spirits come in a wide variety of forms, from elemental spirits to beings that are a mixture of multiple mana types. They each have different tasks or jobs that they tend to fall into, and aren't very good for much else. Shamans call on different types through widely differing means, from literally building a tech spirit out of materials to burning incense to attract air spirits.

Air spirits and other elemental spirits are easy to recognize, as they are, well, light and airy, the spirits of puffy, cloudy days, brisk chill winds, warm jungle breezes, oxygen, nitrogen, and other such gases. They are also spirits of long distance messages, dancing from one place to another, carrying with them change and light. Air spirits tend to deal with transportation or messages and are usually male in personality and shape.

Earth spirits are tough, solid entities made of dirt and rock, or are piles of walking crystal, or other solid forms that are the souls of mountains, firm earth, sea beds, bedrock, and caves. They are often female in shape and personality, and can also be the heralds of motherhood, fertility, and relationships. They can work in tandem with fire spirits to become beings of living magma or swirling ash. Earth spirits serve to protect, cradle, lift up, and stabilize parts of the spirit world.

The non-gendered Ether spirits are mysterious beings that seem to have only the purpose of representing eternity, knowledge, or other far-reaching thoughts and ideas, if they represent anything at all. They are generally unpredictable and chthonic in their behavior, changing into bizarre shapes or flashing images of infinity to the summoner or witness.

Fire spirits are the spirits of lightning strikes, hearths, wildfires, and firestorms. They work with all spirits equally, giving vitality and life, burning away the old, shaking up the status quo, and breaking down barriers. Fire is also hypnotic, and gives way to creation and stories of the ancient world, carrying the progress of humanity and reaver alike, representing electricity as well. Fire is a male element.

Water spirits are the spirits of lakes, rivers, summer rains, and work in tandem with air spirits to create magnificent storms, hurricanes, or tornadoes. They are fluid and quick, curious, and far-reaching. Water is a herald of healing and destruction, Water is a female element.

The Lesser Trinity & The Taints
In addition to the five primary types of spirits, there are those that represent the lesser trinity of elements, controlling them and ruling over them and their ideas.

Light spirits are the spirits of the morning, of burgeoning hope, and positive ideas. They are the melancholy spirits of lonely temples and kindly old men and women on the roadside. They are the kind word that spurs humans to succeed and the sunny days under which children play. They can also be destructive, as any light can become a searing terror when mixed with Fire.

Darkness spirits are found in back alleys, under decades-old schools, and where sadness and fear take hold. They are natural fears, the fears of the dark, embarrassment, and other negative emotions that poke and prod humanity into action. They are the spirits of crumbling buildings, the shadows on the moon at night, and the autumn wind as winter sets in.

Deep forests and gardens are home to Wood spirits, who are spirits of living, churning nature. They are embodiments of life in general, and are the spirits of turnips, trees, vines, and all that which is alive, including animals and those things that are neither plant or animal.

Toxic spirits are one form of taint spirit. They are quietly destructive, worming their way into the machinations of other spirits and of humanity, breaking things down from within, not in the way that darkness pulls downward, but in a dangerous, overbearing manner, threatening to destroy all they touch, poisoning sea and sky. They do not openly seek to spread this effect, instead simply causing it by their presence, sometimes even seeking cleansing or redemption, though some of them are necessary for the world to function. They are the spirits of leaky oil barrels, radiation, and garbage dumps.

Savage spirits are the second form of taint spirit; they are filled with heedless, destructive rage, mindless and rending. They are the spirits of hate and malice that fill the world, and they are the spirits of natural poisons and venoms, spawned of the human fear of the woods in the darkness. They are predatory and are things such as monsters out of slasher flicks, horrible alien monsters, and parasitic beasts that feed on and control other spirits.

Other Spirits
While all spirits have a ruling series of elements, some represent specific concepts or mix all elements equally. These spirits have tasks aside from their element, and are listed below.

Tech Spirits represent just about everything man-made, from computers and houses to power lines, knives, pots, pans, and cars. Tech spirits are just as important to the mana realms as anything else, and indeed, in places, they hold it up. Support beam spirits and duct-tape spirits can act as much like spiritual glue and stability as any naturally occurring Earth spirit can, and in some cases, are even better at the job. They can cover a wide range of powers and effects, often as much as other spirits collectively, though they are much more methodical about their practices and serve humans above all else, sometimes not stopping to think about the consequences of their actions.

Insect Spirits are the spirits of insects, vicious monsters of mandibles drizzling with acid or saliva, chock full of venoms and toxins, feeding on the waste of the physical and magical worlds. They are a necessary part of the ecology of the magical realms, and they are the cleaners and repair workers of damaged magic. Insect spirits are also guardians of nature and purity, though they are attracted to rot, decay, and pollution. They can sense it, and devour it from within. They often are found in conjunction with tech spirits, even though the two oftentimes don't get along very well.

Memes are weak organisms and usually the most common form of spirit used to implant shards; they don't have the capacity to say no and the shaman can devour the entire thing without fear of retaliation. They are small ideas and concepts, from viral songs to minor arguments, fundamentalist thoughts, and other such things. It's believed they are a very weak, perhaps larval form of Totem, though most of them aren't more powerful than the zobani category.

Totems are the most powerful of spirits, and literally are their respective ideas, rather than representing them. While a fire spirit represents a campfire or the heat of a given boiler, Fire is literally everything he claims to be, all fires that burn, have burned, or will burn. Calling on a Totem for help or a bargain is not something any shaman takes lightly, unless the Totem is the one who initiated contact. Unlike most other spirits, Totems regularly take humanoid and even human forms.

Learning This Stuff
Most shamans learned their work from birth. It is possible to become a shaman later in life with a good teacher or a spirit that won't leave you the **** alone. Shamans tend to be taught by an elder or a priestess, though sometimes a wanderer will buy a child for a favor or bargain, and raise the child on the road as an adventurer and shaman. These shamans are expected to return home once their training is complete and serve in the greater community as a mediator between the worlds that most people and see and the world most people live in. As Aesca prime is important to humans, it is also important to spirits, as much as the eddies and deep places in a river are important places to fish in general.

Shamans are almost never taught in groups larger than two, and you can't exactly be born as a shaman (though you can be born talking to spirits and learn from them). Certain traditions require very special teachers, and some paths require no teacher at all, and are learned from the earth itself.

Training is harsh, requiring large amounts of fasting and sometimes tattooing, most of which doesn't use a needle (they spread the ink onto the skin and use a hammer and bone), scarification, running around the wilderness, drugs, walking into mana realms, and running around in the depths of cities. Tombs of steel or bark hold the prospect for days, and he or she visits rock carvings, earth-giants, lakes, and rivers where ancient spirits of the land come to them in dreams to impart ancient and powerful wisdom held by humans and given to them to impart to the students who make the journey.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 06:02 PM

New Feats

Body of Flesh
You can form memetic constructs over your meat body.
Prerequisite: Body of Light
Benefit: Your meat body has a stability of 5. You can apply memes to your meat body.

Body of Light
You can form a filter and daemon, projecting yourself to a spirit realm.
Prerequisites: Charisma 13+
Benefit: Focus becomes a class skill for you if it isn't already. You can form a daemon without having to make a check. See Astral Projection, below.

Little Favor
You know how to wheel and deal the spirit world, though not as good as a shaman.
Prerequisite: Diplomacy 2 ranks, Cha 13
Benefit: You can make minor favors. Minor favors don't have rules per se, but you can use them to flavor your food, produce small lights, note excess magical energies, gain the services of a cheap "hireling," and so on for an exchange of mana and time. You make a Diplomacy check based on the difficulty of the favor you are asking; to make a Search check or follow tracks, the DC might be anywhere from 25 to 30. Dangerous, difficult, or more direct favors might have substantially higher DCs and require you to perform a sacrifice or bring in a powerful artifact. Specifically, you can cast 0-level spells in exchange for minor bans.
Special: You can use this feat to qualify for Understand the Nothing as if you were a shaman.

Magical Background (Shaman)
You have the power to petition spirits or let weak spirits ride you for the benefits they provide.
Prerequisite: Bluff 2 ranks, Diplomacy 2 ranks, Knowledge (theology and philosophy) 4 ranks
Benefit: You gain a single favor or bargain of your choice. Concentration and Focus become class skills for you. You gain a Spirit Empathy pool (see blow).

Reach Out and Touch Something
You can handle spirits and memes.
Prerequisite: Magical Background (any)
Benefit: You can grab anything you can sense in the Near Realm. This means you can grapple with spirits, and they can grapple with you.
Special: Note that magi can already do this. You can buy this feat as a Bargain. It costs 1 hit point.

Understand the Nothing
You talk to rocks.
Prerequisites: Magical Background (Shaman)
Benefit: You can hear and speak with kami living inside patterns (nonliving auras), if they're home. You can also talk to and understand anything else that has a language that could be interpreted. Note that the conversation might not be interesting, but you can understand it.
Special: You can take this feat as a Bargain. It costs 2 hit points.

Astral Projection
If you possess the Body of Light feat, you can enter a state of meditative trance through the use of meditation. You can take others along, but you'll need some sort of hallucinogen and a very small room with poor ventilation. Peyote works just fine, as does a shed out behind someone's place.

You could also walk there, but you use your normal meat body rules when you're there. You may ask yourself, then, why would anyone astrally project? By projecting, you can get where you're going immediately, you don't run the risk of dying, and your residual self-image isn't as restrictive as your meat when it comes to the types of things you can do.
Geography
There are three major types of locations to keep in mind when traveling the realms. These are the stream, axis mundi, or flow, layers, and realms. These are the major places you will be visiting in a projected state.

The stream, also called the void, the axis mundi, and the flow, is empty and full of nothing but a bubbling "river" of formless violet gas-liquid energy, a vast expanse of everything and nothing that can be sailed, flown, or otherwise traveled through forever before encountering anything worthwhile. Creatures of many kinds dwell here, and the distance seems to churn with strange foundations and colors amid the interminable blackness. Travelers have trouble maintaining cohesion in it, since it's not supposed to be expressed as a three-dimensional location, anyway. Daemons lose one hit point per minute they remain here.

Layers are a series of stratifications that contain multiple realms or share a unique set of traits common to all realms within it. Each layer is made up of realms, which are linked by gates and barriers. A layer can exist without realms, and there can be spaces between realms within a layer, which might manifest as an ocean, vast forests, a trackless desert, a mountain range, or even a series of wrought iron scaffolds or roads, or a solar system spinning in astral space. A layer might represent a location on the physical plane, such as a highway, a house, or a skyscraper, and within it are multiple realms.

Within layers are realms, small hotspots of activity or regions in which a spirit, powerful mage, or traveler holds sway. For example, Each human being has their own realm in Dreams, and it is sometimes called an individual's dreaming. Someone might talk of a fish dreaming or a sky dreaming, and this is their individual realm's overriding theme. In effect, a realm is sort of a mini-layer inside another layer, for example, inside a skyscraper layer is a realm that represents desks or windows and other such structures inside it, infinite in size.

Barriers make up "walls" in astral space. These barriers don't have to be walls, rather, they can be vast mountain ranges that are impossibly tall, swirling winds, transparent force fields, the air itself, or tracts of snow that endlessly repeat. Effectively, a barrier is anything that prevents movement through a specific region of a given layer or realm, forming the boundary of the extradimensional membrane. Gates are doors going from layer to layer or from realm to realm, either actual wooden doors, vortexes, shimmering portals, wells, or other such structures meant to confer the transfer from some place to another. Gates are often one-way affairs, though some gates go to multiple locations and can send their users back where they came from.

Anchor Objects and Spirit Objects
Inside the Everywhen, objects that just sit there and don't do much of anything are anchor objects. These are things like the rocks floating amid the void, the furniture in a room, artwork, the stars in the astral plane, and so on. Anchor objects don't take a whole lot of effort to make, utilize, manipulate, transfer, or otherwise screw around with. Conjuring such objects is often very simple, almost as easy as a single thought or idea.

Things that can be moved, manipulated, or carried are spirit objects. All of these things, including realms and layers, have a rating called 'stability.' This is how difficult it is to change the rules, assert control over the rules, or affect spirit objects or anchor objects. Each realm inside a layer has a gateway DC, or rather, how hard it is to get inside based upon the powers that be that are living there. Busting into a Totem's realm, for example, is incredibly difficult, but accessing a minor domain ruled over by a faerie or something is pretty simple.

Getting There
Getting into the axis mundi is easy. Getting into layers is a bit trickier. Dropping into the flow is as simple as making a Focus check (DC 15) and ten minutes of sitting very still and humming, smoking, singing, or meditating. Carrying other travelers requires a bit of a ritual. You need a small room, some sort of hallucinatory drug, and a Treat Injury check (DC 15 + 2 for every participant, up to a maximum number of additional participants equal to your Charisma modifier) in addition to the Focus check.

Entering Layers & Realms
Getting into a layer requires the Focus skill and the Body of Light feat or class feature. Other than that, it's a DC 20 Focus check in order to get inside one. Once inside a layer, you can access any of its realms using their specific gateway DC. Some layers are closed and require the permission of the entities that live there in order to enter, while others require specific entry methods, such as solving puzzles or riddles, or cracking a through a series of mental barriers. Entering somewhere that you don't have permission to enter requires a Focus check with a DC equal to the Gateway DC of the layer or realm.

What to do When You're There
There's a lot of versatility to the Everywhen, it's just not immediately identifiable. All information, past, present, and future, exists somewhere in the Everywhen, and almost anything can be seen or read there. Most of the time, this is pretty easy: the powers of realms and layers won't stop someone from exploring or taking notes, and they won't stop travelers from just goofing around in general. However, when a traveler wants to do something outside what the powers that be and the rules of that realm allow, then he or she has to change the rules. Changing rules requires a Focus check with a DC equal to the realm's stability or an opposed check against the most powerful local meme or spirit's Focus check.

A realm or layer can also represent a sector of the real world, where changing a small piece of the surroundings can dramatically effect reality, such as changing the way a stoplight works, initiating an explosion, or otherwise affecting the way the real object works. If a traveler can make himself the master of such a realm, she can control the way the real world object works with a thought.

Many basic functions of realms and layers are controlled by powerful, ineffable entities that command the physics of that realm. If a realm has no such keeper or master, a traveler can arrest control of the realm by making a Focus check (DC 10 + the realm's Stability). Any attempt that fails by 5 or more alerts anyone monitoring the realm that the attempt was made. If a master or overlord is present in the layer itself that the realm is in, even if it simply left a piece of itself behind, then you can't take away its title unless it no longer exists (or is defeated in astral combat).

Accessing knowledge buried in the memes and images in a realm or layer is often difficult; if it cannot be read and must be interpreted, a traveler must make a DC 25 Focus check, which translates the imagery into something the traveler can comprehend. Changing any such information requires a DC 15 Focus check. Sometimes information is protected by things that must be fought, but once a traveler has full access to information, he or she can destroy it with a full-round action.

Layers and realms can be used as combat fields between travelers. Many spirits and other creatures take affront to this, and so most travelers, even ones in the know, use the astral plane or dreams as the place for this.

Sample Layers & Realms
These are a few examples of realms and layers that a traveler might encounter. Each one has a brief description of its appearance, what can be done or learned there, and a short history.

Type: Domain, Turf, or Trod. Domains are ruled by specific entities and not accessible by default; travelers wanting to enter one must make a Focus check to bust through the gates that lead there. Turfs are open to anyone who wants to go there. Trods are run by spirits, such as devas or eidolons and have areas those beings don't want visitors tooling around in.

Gateway DC: Traveling from one place to another takes a Focus check unless you're allowed to travel there. Not all the gates inside a layer are the same; some have higher or lower DCs, some are open, and some are not. A layer might have a gateway DC to get into it, as well.

Realm Stability: When a traveler wishes to perform an action, modify a meme, or move about undetected, the traveler must make a Focus check at this DC unless the traveler is openly allowed to do so.

Detection Range: A traveler that fails a check to alter a realm or layer might trip an alarm or other such defenses. If a character fails a Focus check within the region, and the difference between the result and the DC is greater than the

Active: The denotes whether or not there's a spirit or conscious entity vigilantly guarding the realm or layer in question. A 'no' in this category means that it still has other defenses that are automatic.

The Shattered Cathedral
This region is a melancholy field in Death's Domain where an old stone temple sits, sunlight filtering gently through its upper reaches. Deep inside are scrolls and books stuffed with ancient stories, tales, and legends of ages gone by. It's also a good place to get ash from the Ashen Fields, which drifts in from time to time, without having to fight armies of the dead or demons for it.
Type: Turf – Realm
Gateway DC: 15
Realm Stability: 25
Detection Range: 10
Active: No

Death's Domain
As described before, this is how Death's Domain responds to travelers who aren't simply walking in from somewhere else (such as sailing in from the Scarlet Sea or walking in through a forest during the Equinox). Death does allow people to simply walk in, but travelers must navigate a treacherous series of wandering spirits and memes, since it's hard to tell a traveler apart from a soul that belongs there, and the clerks don't like that kind of paperwork.
Type: Domain – Layer
Gateway DC: 30
Realm Stability: 35
Detection Range: 5
Active: Yes

Telephone
This is the realm that represents a telephone in the real world; entering here and becoming the master of the phone allows you to make calls using that phone or simply listen in on conversations looking for juicy gossip. People hear a slight, tinny whine when the phone is inhabited.
Type: Domain – Realm
Gateway DC: 10-25
Realm Stability: 10-25
Detection Range: 5-10
Active: Not usually

Astral Combat
The Filter and Daemon
When in the mana realm, travelers project their soul, now called a filter, and construct a proxy out of their mental processes and knowledge of the deep dreams known as a daemon. It can look like almost anything, but humanoid forms are the most common, like a residual self-image. The self image can carry memes, items that it can use, eating up its stability. Such forms have a stability of 10, barring anything else.

HD/hp: A daemon has a number of hit points equal to the character's Focus ranks plus 1d6 per level of the character. A daemon has a massive damage threshold equal to the traveler's Charisma score. If a daemon is hit with an attack that overcomes this threshold, the traveler must make a Fortitude save (DC 20). A failure causes the daemon to fall apart and the traveler wakes back up at home. If the daemon's hit points weren't reduced to 0, the traveler can just return to the Everywhen as soon as he gets back to meditating. A daemon has the same mana dice and mana as the traveler, and in fact, is the traveler's mana total. It is used like normal; a traveler can use any magical background he has just like normal while projected. Any time a daemon takes damage, the traveler suffers half that amount in mana damage.

Initiative: A daemon's Initiative score is equal to the traveler's Wisdom modifier (plus any effects that affect a daemon's initiative).

Speed: Daemons move at a speed of 30, barring memes.

Defense: A daemon's Defense is 10 + the traveler's class bonus to Defense + the traveler's Charisma bonus + memetic modifiers. Touch attacks ignore armor memetic modifiers, but not deflection modifiers. A flat-footed daemon loses its Charisma bonus to Defense.

Base Attack Bonus: A daemon's base attack bonus is equal to the traveler's ranks in Focus. Use the traveler's Wisdom modifier as a bonus to attacks. Treat Focus ranks as if they were base attack bonus for purposes of gaining additional attacks.

Fighting Space: A body of light has a fighting space and reach equal to the character's face and reach.

Saves: Use the same base save bonuses as the traveler. Apply the traveler's Wisdom bonus to all saves instead of the normal ability score bonuses.

Abilities: A body of light does not have ability scores. Anything that would be resolved with an ability check is a Focus check instead.

Skills: A traveler uses Focus checks most of the time when in the Everywhen. The only skill uses that aren't resolved using a Focus check are Bluff, Concentration, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Gamble, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge, Search, and Sense Motive.

Memes: Memes carried and created by the daemon are listed.

Stability: All bodies have a stability of 10. This is effectively how stable a daemon is dependent on the amount of memes stuffed in it. As memes compound on the body, it begins to fracture, and the consciousness of the human projecting himself has trouble maintaining control.

Astral Combat
Combat occurs when a daemon attacks another daemon or spirit. Combat works the way it normally works, with a few exceptions. Combat is resolved with a series of memes, using arguments or other forms of attack to strike, and other arguments, point by point breakdowns, or fundamentalist thoughts to defend, seen as horrible monsters or swords and shields.

Daemons and spirits cannot grapple while not in Aesca Prime.

Daemons reduced to 0 hit points dissipate and the traveler wakes up back home, immediately conscious again. Spirits reduced to 0 mana dissipate and must re-form back home.

Daemons and spirits cannot deal nonlethal damage in astral combat.

Daemons and spirits cannot attack objects in astral combat; memes can be dissipated, however.

Astral Combat Options
Astral combat work like normal combat, but the measure of two combatants is based much more on their mental aptitudes than their physical bodies.

Bull Rush: A bull rush is resolved as an opposed Focus check. Size and multiple limbs do not affect this check.

Disarm: A disarm check is made with a melee weapon and is resolved with an opposed Focus check. If the attack succeeds, the meme breaks away and falls to the ground within reach of the defender. Any daemon can then pick up the meme and use it, but it takes up stability in the new daemon. A disarm attempt provokes an attack of opportunity from the defender.

Feint: Feint is a Bluff check opposed by Sense Motive, just like in the real world. A successful feint attempt eliminates that victim's Wisdom bonus to Defense for one round for the attacking daemon.

Trip: Trip attempts are resolved just like real world trip attempts, but with a Focus check. A trip attempt provokes an attack of opportunity from the defender.

Astral Hazards
Many hazards await travelers in the worlds beyond the waking.
Dissipated: Whenever a daemon is reduced to 0 hit points, kicked out a domain forcibly, or otherwise removed from the Everywhen, he or she is dumped back into his or her physical body painfully, requiring a DC 20 Will save. Success means the traveler is fine, and failure stuns the traveler for 2d6 rounds.

Swapped: If a spirit of other daemon finds its way back along a traveler's path to his or her body, they can be dumped, swapped, ripped, or otherwise screwed with in the same way a traveler can affect a realm. A traveler might return "home" to find that his body has a Gate attached to it, or he's been put back in the wrong body. This requires a tag of some kind to find the traveler's body.

Scraped: Scraping is a process by which a traveler inserts a meme directly into another traveler's head, an emotion overflowing with such terrible maliciousness that rips at a traveler's mind. It works a lot like the memetic attacks used to screw around with another traveler, but it's a lot more direct, easier to do, and a common method of attack for really angry spirits who want to see a traveler suffer. Any traveler subject to such a memetic attack must succeed on a Will save or take ability damage.

{table=head]Meme (CR/Craft)Save DC|Damage
Displeasure (2/50)12|1d6 Wis
Disapproval (3/75)14|1d6 Wis, 1d6 Cha
Anger (4/100)15|2d6 Wis
Rage (6/150)18|1d6 Wis, 1d6 Con
Hatred (6/150)18|3d6 Wis
Malice (8/200)21|1d6 Wis*, 2d6 Con[/table]
* Half this damage is ability drain.

Creating scraper memes is a complicated process. A spirit needs no help; it can simply make them and slam a traveler if its paradigm includes the ability to do so. A traveler, on the other hand, needs to sit in the silver web and capture memes while making a Focus check every hour. The base DC is 20, and the difference between a success and the result is deducted from its total Craft difficulty. Once the difficulty reaches 0, the scraper meme is complete and it takes up 1 stability. These memes are notoriously illegal. Using them is likely to get you tagged by any government entities wandering the Everywhen.

Tagged: Tagging is the act of attaching a meme to a daemon and using it to follow it back to its body. Tag memes often hide inside other memes, using them as camouflage. They are easily stuck memes, such as popular songs playing in the background or cute words and phrases. Noticing that you've been infected takes a Focus check (typically DC 21 or higher). They automatically report to their creator where you're going.

Dreamers and Astral Projection
Dreamers and some Visions can use Dreamwalking to physically enter dreams or mentally enter dreams. They can use these rules when projecting into dreams and taking others out of dreams. Simply replace all instances of Focus checks with a Dreamwalking check. If a Dreamer uses its dragon shape, instead of gaining ability score bonuses and natural weapons, it gains an additional 5 points of stability to be filled with armor and (basic) melee attack memes; choose them immediately. You do not need to make Dreamwalking checks to attract or make these memes.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 06:07 PM

Memes

The bulk of the Everywhen is populated by memes flitting here and there. These are tiny ideas that stick to bigger consciousnesses and bolster them by their presence or else move about on their own, performing their own little tasks and fighting with one another or grouping with similar ideas and expressions. Travelers can even make memes by interacting with the memesphere, capturing free memes, or inviting memes to exist with them for a short time.

Attaching Memes
When a traveler acquires a meme by making it or capturing it, it becomes attached to the traveler's daemon and takes up stability, acting on the daemon and threatening to tear it apart if the traveler isn't careful. If there's not enough space, a daemon must dissipate other memes attached to it or shed them into astral space.

Creating and Attracting Memes
To create or capture a meme, a traveler must make a number of Focus checks. The number is listed next to the given meme. Each check represents 1 round of congealing astral space or offering the kind of thoughts the meme likes to stick to in order to gain it. Each check must exceed to meme's DC; a daemon cannot utilize the meme until it's either complete or attached to it. While creating or attracting a meme, the daemon is paralyzed.

Dissipating Memes and Objects
Upon encountering a free meme or an object, a daemon can attempt to dissipate it. In order to dissipate it, the daemon must wrestle control of the layer or realm by overcoming the realm's stability. If the check succeeds, the object or meme vanishes. Some objects or memes are easier or harder to destroy. Destroying a meme attached to a daemon or spirit uses an argument or a viral meme (see memes, below). Barriers and gates cannot be dissipated.

Meme Descriptions
These are memes that can be attached to daemons and spirits. Each meme's generic name is followed by its stability, its creation DC, and the number of successes you need.

Accuracy (Varies): These memes are the ideas and memories of sharpshooters and gunslingers. They allow the daemon to become more accurate with ranged attacks. They could appear as a Stetson, a bandanna, or even affect the daemon by making its limbs longer and lankier.
+1 Bonus: Stability 2/DC 20/2
+2 Bonus: Stability 4/DC 25/2
+3 Bonus: Stability 6/DC 30/2

Agent (Stability 1/DC 15/2): An agent is a small memetic organism that cannot attack or adequately defend itself, but represents the traveler or the daemon and can help speed up tasks in the spirit world; it's a common practice, but looked down upon by humans if it's used as a messenger or delivery person. You can't bother to show up yourself, so you send a weak spirit to do your dirty work.
Hit Dice/Mana Dice: An agent has half the hit dice and mana dice of its creator and uses d4s for both. It gains an additional amount of hit points and mana equal to its creator's Focus ranks. They always have maximum hit points and mana. An agent reduced to 0 hit points or mana points simply dissipates. They have a massive damage threshold equal to their creator's Charisma score. If this number is surpassed, it must make a DC 20 Will save or be destroyed.
Defense: An agent's Defense is 10 + its creator's Charisma modifier.
Saves: An agent has no good saving throws. Apply the creator's Wisdom modifier to its saving throws.
Skills: An agent has 10 skill points. All skills are class skills for the agent, but it can have no more ranks than the creator in any given skill. An agent spends skill points and makes skill checks normally.

Armor (Varies): These memes provide protection against attacks. They impose no Dexterity bonus or any penalty to movement. Their difficulty and stability is based on how well they defend you. Such memes are obvious for what they are, appearing as armor, a glow, or even organisms wrapped around the daemon.
Light Armor: +1 Defense/1 DR, Stability 1/DC 10/1
Medium Armor: +3 Defense/2 DR, Stability 2/DC 15/1
Heavy Armor: +4 Defense/4 DR, Stability 3/DC 20/1

Glass Ceiling (Stability 5/DC 25/3): A glass ceiling is a special kind of meme that can be used as a barrier to block other memes and travelers. It can be placed over a gate or from one wall to another, and remains active and immobile until it is dissipated or you take it down. Once you erect it, you choose a specific type of meme. Any daemon can pass through the field, but if it carrying a meme of the specific type, that meme is removed from the daemon and it must remain on the other side or be dissipated. Daemons attempting to sneak memes through must succeed on an opposed Focus check versus the creator (the creator gets a +5 bonus to this check). Glass ceilings are removed from the daemon who created them once used, freeing up their space. Multiple glass ceilings can be erected inside a realm or layer.

Defense Memes (Stability 1/DC15/1): Defense memes are thought processes that are particularly rigid and thus make a juicier target for viral memes. A daemon with one attached gets a +4 memetic bonus on saving throws against viral memes.

Informatic (Stability 1/10/1): Informatics are memetic constructs that store vast amounts of information, such as books, symbiotes, or scrolls, and make it easier to carry such knowledge from one place to another to compare and contrast information. Some other memes require informatic memes to function normally.

Lies (Varies): The usual defense mechanism of fundamentalist memes, lies are often not something spirits allow in their realms. To spew a lie, a traveler in a realm or layer with an active spirit or controller must make a Focus check against the realm's stability. If the check fails, the lie cannot be used in the realm or layer until the traveler leaves and comes back.
Innocuous Idea (Stability 5/DC 25/3): This meme makes the daemon invisible. It grants a +20 bonus on Hide checks, which becomes a +40 if the daemon is holding still. The daemon becomes visible if it performs any overtly hostile action, but can become invisible again as an attack action.
Hazy Recollection (Stability 2/DC 20/1): This is usually a half-forgotten thought and cloaks the daemon in a misty form that provides a 20% miss chance in combat. Activating it is an attack action.
Ego (Stability 2/DC 15/1): An ego is a duplicate of the daemon. It can be activated as an attack action and occupies a space next to the daemon. If there's no spare space, the meme can't be activated. Any attacks directed at the daemon have a 50% chance of striking the ego instead. Any hit on the ego dissipates it, but it can be reactivated again next turn.

Place Memory (Stability 1/DC 15/2): This meme is a small organism, statue, pendant, photograph, or some other item that represents memory of a location; when you create it, you set a condition which makes it awaken and tear you back to a particular place. It must be a place you have permission to enter. For example "when I am reduced to fewer than 10 hit points" could be a condition and "The Shattered Cathedral" could be the place to which you are returned.

Precision & Power (Varies): These are the vestiges of ideas about swordfighters, spearmen, knife fighters, martial artists, and other such warriors. They affect a daemon by adding a bonus to its melee damage rolls, making a knife look more jagged or bulging muscles on the daemon.
+1 Bonus: Stability 1/DC 15/1
+2 Bonus: Stability 2/DC 20/1
+3 Bonus: Stability 3/DC 25/1
+4 Bonus: Stability 4/DC 30/1

Propagator (Stability 1/DC 10/1): A propagator is a meme that travels easily from one daemon or spirit to another. They are completely harmless, but they allow rapid communication from one place to another; only the intended recipient gets the message, but if they're blocked or hidden, you may have to make a Focus check to talk to them.

Rigid Imagery (Stability 1/DC 15/2): A daemon with this meme gets a +4 resistance bonus on Focus checks to resist disarm attempts.

Sacred Cow (Varies): These sorts of memes create an invisible force field around a daemon that other memes are loathe to attempt to assail, adding a deflection bonus to Defense.
+1 Defense: Stability 2/DC 20/2
+2 Defense: Stability 3/DC 25/2
+3 Defense: Stability 4/DC 30/2

Shield (Varies): Shields are fixed ideas, rigid memetic creatures that are stiff and unyielding. They are held in the hand and used to interpose themselves between the daemon and an incoming attack.
+1 Defense: Stability 1/DC 10/1
+2 Defense: Stability 2/DC 15/1

Sprinter (Varies): These are ideas about running, climbing, jumping, and in general moving around. They provide a bonus to the daemon's move speed.
+5 feet: Stability 1/DC 20/2
+10 feet: Stability 2/DC 20/3

Tag Meme (Stability 3/DC 20/3): A tag meme is a spirit that hides as another idea and reports its location through a propagator to another traveler, spirit, or daemon. You must hit with a touch attack to transfer the tag to another daemon or a spirit. Until it's spotted and removed, the person who planted it knows where the spirit or daemon is (and if it goes home, the identity of the traveler). It can also be used to trace a traveler back to his or her body for applying a scraper. If the traveler leaves the realm and comes back, they are no longer a valid target for scraping, and you must tag them again.

Viral Meme (Varies): These are memes that are phrases, sounds, words, or images that invasively work their way into a traveler's head and disrupt other memes. They rapidly propagate and destabilize other ideas in a very short amount of time while they remove themselves from the propagator's head. To affect someone with a viral meme, you literally have to shove it into the target's body or daemon, and they must make a Will save. A successful save negates the meme's affect.
Insidious Lyric (Stability 1/DC 20/3): Insidious Lyric has a save DC of 12 and dissipates 1d2 memes the target has.
Memorable Phrase (Stability 3/DC 25/3): Memorable Phrases have a save DC of 15 and dissipate 1d4 memes.
Lolhopper (Stability 3/DC 25/3): Your target can has brain pain. You pick a meme the target can't has and attempt to dissipate it. Lolhopper has a save DC of 18.

Weapon (Varies): Weapons come in many varieties, from swords to fireballs to guns, bows, spears, lightning bolts, and other such attacks. Arguments tamed and put on leashes might suffice, as might vicious fears and malicious behaviors. Weapons are typically obvious. A daemon might crackle with teeth spawned of a vicious argument, ready to be flung at an opponent or a bomb might burn just beyond the shoulder, waiting to be thrown.
Melee Attack: Melee attacks typically appear as swords, knives, chainsaws, or claws used to scour an opponent's body. They have the following options.
Melee Attack (1d6): Stability 1/DC 10/1
Melee Attack (1d8): Stability 2/DC 15/1
Melee Attack (2d6): Stability 3/DC 20/1
10 foot reach: Stability +1/DC +10/+1
+1 Critical Multiplier: Stability +1/DC +5/+1
+1 Threat Range: Stability +1/DC +5/+1
Ranged Attack: Ranged attacks are thrown stones, bolts of lightning, bullets, worms, teeth, or arrows flung at an opponent. They all have a x2 threat range and critical multiplier, and a range of 300 with an increment of 30. Ranged attacks have the following options.
Ranged Attack (2d6): Stability 4/DC 20/2
Ranged Attack (2d8): Stability 5/DC 25/2
Ranged Attack (2d10): Stability 6/DC 30/2
+10 foot increment: Stability +0/DC +5/+1
+1 Critical Multiplier: Stability +1/DC +5/+1
+1 Threat Range: Stability +1/DC +5/+1
Area Attack: Area based attacks, such as grenades and the aforementioned fireballs, are one use, consuming themselves in short lived tantrums before petering out. They have a burst radius of 10 and a range increment of ten feet. Area attacks have the following options.
Area Attack (3d6): Stability 3/DC 15/3
Area Attack (4d6): Stability 4/DC 20/3
Area Attack (5d6): Stability 5/DC 25/3
+1 Use: Stability +1/DC +5/+1
+5 area of effect: Stability +1/DC +5/+1
+1d6 damage: Stability +1/DC +5/+1

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 06:21 PM

Ordeals and Favors
Ordeals
Not enough things to keep track of on your character sheet? Hit points, mana, feats, skills, class features, ability scores, saving throws, and gear not enough? Want something… more? Try Spirit Empathy! Just take the Magical Background (Shaman) feat, and you get a fun new pool of points you can spend as if they were mana to use favors! You can never have more Spirit Empathy than mana. Note that anyone can have Spirit Empathy built up, but they can never use it consciously unless a shaman trades them a Favor.

Dancing/Music
Dancing is, well, dancing, usually accompanied by chanting and the shaking of instruments. You make an extended Perform (dance, keyboards, percussion instruments, sing, stringed instruments, or wind instruments) check (1 hour, 3 successes). You set the DC when you start the check, and that grants you points of Spirit Empathy.
{table=head] Perform DC |Spirit Empathy
15 | +1
20 | +2
25 | +3
30 | +4
35 | +5[/table]
Performing such rituals is often part of festivals and carnivals meant to honor spirits and hopefully placate them. If you are performing as part of a festival, you earn double Spirit Empathy. For each hour you perform, you must make a Fortitude save (DC 12 + 1 for each hour that has passed) or become fatigued.

Fasting
You can starve yourself to show devotion to the spirits. Fasting can involve bread and water, or it can involve staring at a tree while listening to your stomach slowly die a painful death (never seen a fat shaman, have you?). For each three days you fast, you can add 1 point to your Spirit Empathy pool.

Painting
Creating elaborate works of art gets the spirits to recognize that you're serious about this thing. Using Craft (visual arts), you make an extended check (1 hour, 6 successes). You set the DC when you start the check, and that adds to your Spirit Empathy.
{table=head] Craft DC |Spirit Empathy
15 | +1
20 | +2
25 | +3
30 | +4
35 | +5[/table]
Painting complex patterns such as these is seen as a sacred form of artwork, and many such shamans have gone on to careers in fine art, as well as been called to prepare artwork for festivals. For each hour you paint, you must make a Fortitude save (DC 12 + 1 for each hour that has passed) or become fatigued.

Pledges
A pledge is a promise to perform an action, such as cleaning up a pond, arranging a protest of some kind, or sitting in front of a bulldozer to see who rusts first. Pledging is an extended Diplomacy check (1 hour, 3 successes) with a DC varying on what you're planning to do, from 15 for easily fulfilled, legal activities to 30 or so for, say, performing acts of ecoterrorism or vandalism. You get a +1 to Spirit Empathy for each 5 points over 10 for the DC of the pledge.

Scarification/Maiming
You can scar or maim yourself to add to your Spirit Empathy pool. Removing a finger, an eye, and so on can grant you such a bonus. For each permanent -1 penalty you choose to apply to a skill check or saving throw, you gain 3 Spirit Empathy. You can take up to a penalty of -5 total for each session and up to two sessions per day. You can spend an entire session acquiring a physical flaw, as well, and this grants you 20 Spirit Empathy. After one session, you are fatigued. After two, you are exhausted. A session takes thirty minutes and a purchase DC 10 (with all the drugs you need to increase the pain and such) to saw through somethin'.

Performing this act is a way to honor the spirits, to show them the sacrifices you are willing to make to cover the sins of the past, the terrible places you are willing to traverse to save the lives and souls of that which is not human, and your dedication to your cause. Spirits can see and understand this direct method more clearly than simple promises, which can be easily broken.

Tattoos
A tattoo is a mark that brands your flesh as a petitioner of that spirit. You can't tattoo over an old tattoo, and you can carry only five such tattoos. Each tattoo reduces the amount of Spirit Empathy or mana you have to spend on a favor or possession based upon a given type of spirit by 1, to a minimum of 1.

Favors
Favors are temporary boons and aid a shaman can call upon, taught to him or her by specific spirits. They can have alternate costs, and these are listed in the favors that do; alternate costs only pay for the base cost unless otherwise noted. You can get bonuses on this check by performing certain ordeals; see above for these ordeals. Favors have no range unless called out in the description; otherwise, if you can see it, you can affect it, unless it's behind a window or a wall or something.

Acoustic Shadow
Spirits: Air
Casting Time: 1 swift action
Base Cost: 5 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: 1 minute per level
An acoustic shadow is an effect by which intervening objects, sonic waves, or air currents absorb sound. This most often occurs in heavy or pitched battles, and can result in a swordfight or a gunfight occurring not ten feet away that is completely inaudible. This favor forces this sort of effect to start emanating from you, muffling the sounds of a fight, but not other noises, within 10 feet of you.
+1 Mana: You extend the radius of the effect by 5 feet (maximum 100 feet total)
Alternate Cost: You must scream as loud as you can that a fight is about to occur.

Arson
Spirits: Fire
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 5 mana
Saving Throw: None, but see below
Duration: Instantaneous
Arson catches people and things on fire. A target takes 1d6 fire damage and catches fire unless he or she succeeds on a Reflex saving throw (DC 15). Flammable objects keep burning normally after the fire gets started.
+1 Mana: +1d6 fire damage on the initial "lighting" (max 5d6 total).

Bullets & Blades
Spirits: Tech
Casting Time: 1 minute
Base Cost: 1 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: Instantaneous
You run your hand over the earth or the surface of rock, concrete, or near an appreciable supply of metal, and craft a single bullet (you must make a Craft (mechanical) check with a DC equal to the type of bullet you are making). This favor can also be used to make normal swords and knives, and in the old days, was used to do so. If you have the mastercrafter feat, these weapons can be mastercrafted with the appropriate costs added in.
+1 Mana: When creating bullets, you create one additional bullet (max 50).
+x Mana: When creating bullets, you create special ammunition. The mana cost is the wealth cost of the ammunition.
Alternate Cost: Destroy a technological item of equal value to the weapons you are creating.

Burst of Sand
Spirits: Earth, Fire
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 1 mana
Saving Throw: Fortitude partial (see below), Base 11
Duration: Instantaneous
The spirits of dirt and grime are your friends, and they'll fling themselves into your enemy's eyes if you ask real nice. This favor deals 1d6 nonlethal damage to one target, so long as the target has eyes, even if they're enclosed by goggles or a helmet (Fortitude save for half damage).
+1 Mana: The attack deals 1d6 additional damage (maximum 5d6 total)
+2 Mana: If the victim fails his Fortitude save, he's also blinded for 1d4 rounds.

Chill Metal
Spirits: Earth, Water
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 1 mana
Saving Throw: Will negates, Base 12
Duration: 7 rounds
This favor makes up to 25 pounds of metal cold. Unattended, unawakened metal gets no saving throw. Worn metal gets a saving throw. A creature touching the metal takes cold damage; a creature carrying metal that weighs more than one-fifth its weight also takes damage. Using the favor underwater causes ice to form around the metal in sufficient quantity to raise it to the surface. If a creature is hot enough to take fire damage, it negates the cold damage on a 1 for 1 basis.
{table=head]Round| Damage
1 | None
2 | 1d4
3-5 | 2d4
6 | 1d4
7 | None[/table]
+1 Mana: You can target an additional creature (maximum 5 creatures total) or +25 pounds of metal (maximum 300 pounds).
Variant: Fire spirits teach a variant that heats metal most often referred to as Mobile Forge; just reverse the effects to deal fire damage.

Chill of Winter
Spirits: Air, Water, Earth
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 1 mana
Saving Throw: Fortitude half, base 11
Duration: Instantaneous
Sometimes you just want someone to feel that clammy, icy touch to get them to go away or know what it's like to walk a hundred miles uphill in the snow (both ways). This favor puts the cold of winter in 'em. The victim suffers 1d6 cold damage (Fortitude half).
+1 Mana: +1d6 cold damage (maximum 5d6 total)
+1 Mana: If the victim fails his Fortitude save, he's also fatigued.

Clumsiness
Spirits: Darkness, Wood, Toxic
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 1 mana
Saving Throw: None (but see below)
Duration: 1 minute/level
Shamans are famous for curses, and lots of folks carry around medicine bags that are chock full of the stuff that you need to get rid of them or ward them off. You utter a minor curse on the victim and make a ranged touch attack. If the victim is wearing a medicine bag made by another shaman, he gets a saving throw against the favor (Fortitude, base 11). If not, well, he automatically suffers the 1d6+1 penalty to his Dexterity score that this favor inflicts.
+1 Mana: The victim suffers an additional 1 point of penalty (max +5).
Variant: There's a variant favor that inflicts a Strength penalty. It's "Weakness."

Curse
Spirits: All
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 9 mana
Saving Throw: Will negates (Base 13)
Duration: Permanent or until lifted
Curses get thrown around almost as a matter of course among shamans and other spellcasters; they're almost a badge among adventurers. This favor afflicts the ire of a given spirit on a target, causing him or her to suffer a horrible effects, gaining the Cursed flaw. You must set a condition that the victim could reasonably fulfill with a quest or hard work in order for the curse to be lifted.

Drown in Life
Spirits: Wood, Ether
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 1 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: Instantaneous
Everything that lives churns with the energy of Stream and wood. This favor ignites that spark and opens the door to the river of life and lets loose the energy therein. The target you designate suffers 1d4+1 force damage as his body overflows with life; the ground beneath his feet erupts into a similar flurry, plants suddenly sprouting before they die, and it breaks free of his body, lancing to another victim within 30 feet, who also takes 1d4+1 force damage. This favor does not work on unawakened objects, but works just fine on trees and so on.
+2 Mana: The initial victim takes another 1d4+1 damage, and you may target another secondary victim, but you cannot target a single person more than once (max 10d4+10 total to the initial victim).

Eagle Eye
Spirits: Air, Ether
Casting Time: 1 minute
Base Cost: 6 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: 1 hour (D)
This favor has the very simple effect of letting you look over an area from above; normally, this is through a flizard or bird's eyes, but the air has plenty of eyes all on its own if there aren't any birds nearby. You can't see normally while this is going on, so you should try to find yourself first (an easy task, taking a free action to do). You suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks like this, since it's pretty disorienting.

Entangle
Spirits: Wood, Earth
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 1 mana
Saving Throw: Reflex, base 11
Duration: 1 mana per round
You flick a seed or two in the direction of your opponent if no vegetation is around, or if there is, it simply reaches up and grabs him. Entangle only affects one opponent at a time, and if the opponent fails his Reflex save, he's immobile and entangled; he suffers a -2 penalty on attack rolls and a -4 penalty to his Dexterity and can only move at half speed. If the victim succeeds, he still only moves at half speed. They still whip around and try to grab him, following him if he moves. When you stop paying the mana cost, the plants retain their growth.
+1 Mana: +1 Save DC, max +3
+1 Mana: Radius boost (Spending +1 mana makes it a 5-foot radius instead of a square, and then each 1 mana after that increases the radius by 5 feet to a total of 8 additional mana and a 40 foot radius; if you turn this favor into a radius attack, the vegetation doesn't move out of that radius).
Variant: Metal and tech spirits teach a variant favor known as "Wirework" for obvious reasons.

Eulogy
Spirits: Darkness, Light, Toxic, Insect
Casting Time: 1 full round
Base Cost: 20 mana
Saving Throw: Will, base 10 (but see below)
Duration: Instantaneous
Let's say you want to say a few final words to someone. This favor makes sure they're final. To start this favor up, stare your victim down and start delivering a speech about that person as if they're already dead. You can be nice, or you can be an *******, but your victim must be able to see and hear you clearly, and you must make direct eye contact to get this wake started. It also only works on things that understand you, as well. Once you start, the victim (and only the victim, unless someone nearby is a connected magus) sees a specter armed with an executioner's sword, a type of Darkness spirit called a malyoté, over your shoulder. Once the speech is over, the malyoté takes flight and the victim makes a Will save. If they fail, they die. That's it. If they succeed, they fend off the spirit's advances. Either way, you cannot attempt to use this power on them again. For each round you talked about the person, the Will save DC increases by +1, but so does their ability to turn tail and run, and if you lose sight of them, you've got to start all over again.

Extispicy
Spirits: Ether, Earth, Light, Darkness
Casting Time: 4 hours
Base Cost: 5 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: Instantaneous
Extispicy is the act of reading the future in entrails, specifically, the liver, lungs, and intestines. It can be in animals or it can be in people, but in all cases the results are the same; the diviner asks a question about a future event, specifically, whether or not it will be a good idea, and gets a general figure about the event in question by the animal, its innards, the fires used to cook it, and the events at a table featuring the animal in question. The shaman makes a Focus check, and the result determines how much information the shaman gets. Since the past, present, and future can all be changed by events, the information is never precisely accurate, but can give the shaman a pretty good idea if it's okay to host a birthday party outside or whether to bring his gun to a knife fight, just in case. If the sacrificial victim was human, he gets a +10 bonus on this check. It works in general like a Vision's precognition power, though all DCs are 10 higher.

Fog
Spirits: Water, Air, Toxic
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 3 mana
Saving Throw: None (but see below)
Duration: 1 minute per level
You blanket a 40-foot diameter area in deep and intense fog that provides full concealment to people and things more than ten feet away from each other and partial concealment to anyone sanding right next to each other. The fog does not blow away in natural breezes.
+1 Mana: +10 feet to the diameter (maximum 200 feet diameter)
+2 Mana: You imbue the fog with intense cold, fatiguing those who enter. Creatures can make Fortitude saves (base 11) to avoid the fatigue effect.
+3 Mana: The fog is a weak miasma, and deals 1d6 nonlethal damage per round to all those inside it. The duration drops to 1 round per level. Creatures can attempt a saving throw each round (Fortitude, base 11) to halve the damage.
+3 Mana: The fog becomes even thicker, offering total concealment to anyone inside it and reducing movement speeds by half.
Alternate Cost: Light up a battery flood flashlight when you activate the favor and keep it on.

Fully Loaded
Spirits: Air, Tech, Earth
Casting Time: 1 swift action
Base Cost: 3 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: Instantaneous
This favor moves ammunition from somewhere on your person into the firearm you're holding. It loads any form of ammunition you dictate to any firearm you are currently holding, as long as you own the ammunition in question and you are carrying it on your person, be it in a backpack or pockets, and it fully loads the firearm in question (including internal magazines).

Guide
Spirits: Air, Ether, Water
Casting Time: 2 minutes
Base Cost: 7 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: 1 hour/level (special)
This favor calls on a zobani or balak to serve as a guide, sent by a spirit you've dealt with previously. It's a simple spirit that has a stranger form than most, is insubstantial, but can carry on a conversation with you about the local surroundings and hover a bit away from you and serve as a light (it works just like a standard flashlight). The spirit has 3 hit dice and has no attacks.
You can spend 3 mana every time the duration runs out to keep the guide around for half as long as it was previously around (so, if you have 3 caster levels, the duration is 3 hours; at the end of that 3 hours, you can spend 3 mana to have the guide stick around for another hour and a half, and after that time has passed, you can spend 3 mana to have it for 45 minutes, and so on).
Alternate Cost: Kill a small animal you captured or purchased yourself, and crush the heart with your bare hand.

Guiding Eye
Spirits: Air, Tech, Insect
Casting Time: 1 full round
Base Cost: 4 mana
Saving Throw: Will negates (Base 12)
Duration: 1 round/level
This power lets you triangulate an enemy's position more accurately for your friends and allies. In the past, it guided the arrows of archers; nowadays, it guides sharpshooters to criminals. Your victim makes a save. If the saving throw fails, then everyone attacking the victim with ranged attacks gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls (+1 for every two levels, actually, to a max of +3).
+1 Mana: You negate up to 10% concealment to the target (max 20%)
+4 Mana: You negate up to +4 bonus from cover to the target.
Alternate Cost: You stand completely out in the open in line of sight of your target and then close your eyes for the duration of the favor.

Liberated Ammo
Spirits: Air, Tech
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 7 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: Instantaneous
This favor moves ammunition from someone's firearm to your open hand. It removes the whole magazine or the whole nine yards and puts it in your palm. This favor is most often used to defuse fights before they start.
Alternate Cost: Dump your whole lot of ammunition and firearms. Pockets, bags, magazines, arrows, bolts, hot loaded rounds, everything. You have to be carrying a firearm and ammunition in order to pay this cost. No getting out of that ****.

Lightning Strike
Spirits: Fire, Tech
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 5 mana
Saving Throw: Reflex half, Base 13
Duration: Instantaneous
This favor calls a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky, in through a window, or even from thin air in the dampness of a cave. It deals 5d6 damage. If the sky is overcast at the time, the bolt deals 5d8 electricity damage instead.
+1 Mana: +1d6 damage (maximum 10d6).

Master's Hand
Spirits: Tech, Ether, Fire
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 10 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: 1 minute/level
In old times, this favor was used by braves to grant their soldiers proficiency with a single weapon, allowing even commoners to wield spears and bows, and for the brave's party to use weapons found in the field. With a touch, a weapon spirit enters the arms and body of the person you perform this favor for, and they become proficient with a weapon of your choice.
The recipient must have a medicine bag for this favor to work.

Medicine Bag
Spirits: All
Casting Time: 3 hours
Base Cost: 10 mana, 2 Constitution burn, 1 action point
Saving Throw: None
Duration: Instantaneous
Shamans are famous for putting together medicine bags to protect friends and family. This is the favor for pulling that off. The shaman collects feathers, stones, beads, tobacco, and cannabis, stuffing the materials into a hand-made leather pouch to be worn around the neck or at the belt, in addition to one or more things important to the recipient, and finishes up the favor by asking a small spirit to live inside. It offers a +1 bonus to all saving throws against shaman favors and some favors and abilities require the recipient to have a medicine bag to function.

Misfire
Spirits: Tech, Insect, Light
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 9 mana
Saving Throw: Will negates (Base 13)
Duration: 1 minute/level
Sometimes it's enough to defuse a fight before it begins, or you just don't want some crasher shooting you in the face while you nail him. This favor makes a gun spirit get uppity and prone to mistakes by supercharging it with mana energy. This favor makes an opponent suffer a -4 penalty to all attack rolls on you.
+1 Mana: The opponent suffers an additional -1 to attack rolls (max total -10)
+1 Mana: +1 save DC (max +2)
Alternate Cost: Throw down all weapons you are carrying on your person or surrender (if you have no weapons).

Possess Animal
Spirits: Darkness, Wood
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Base Cost: 15 mana
Saving Throw: Will negates (Base 11)
Duration: 1 hour/level
This favor allows a shaman to possess animals, sending a seed of his aura out to hook up with a critter that lives within a mile of the shaman's location. The shaman does not have direct control over what sort of animal he possesses, only its general capabilities, such as a small predator, a mid-sized predator, a flying animal, and so on. Once the shaman has possessed the animal, he or she is free to use the animal's faculties as his own. He cannot use powers through the animal (or use favors, unless the favors specifically says so) or speak while possessing an animal, but the shaman can write messages or attack. If the animal dies, the shaman returns to his body, no worse for the wear.

Possess Human
Spirits: Darkness, Light
Casting Time: 1 hour
Base Cost: 20 mana
Saving Throw: Will negates (Base 15)
Duration: 1 minute/level
Shamans were once feared for their ability to be anyone or disguise themselves as anyone they wished. This favor hearkens back to those days and is seldom learned or used, much like how human sacrifice passed into the mists of history. This favor comes in two parts. First, the shaman must mark the individual he wishes to posses with a brand, a tattoo, or a corrupted medicine bag, usually without the victim's knowledge. After this is done, the shaman can activate this favor and possess the marked victim. The shaman can use favors and magical backgrounds while possessing the victim and has access to the victim's hit points and Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores. Everything else does not change for the shaman. The shaman gets a +10 bonus on Disguise checks made to appear as that person. If the victim is willing, the duration changes to 1 hour per level.

Rebuke Spirit
Spirits: All
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 9 mana
Saving Throw: Will negates, base 15
Duration: Instantaneous, 1 round/level, or 24 hours
This favor can be used several ways. You can touch a target, and manifested spirits cannot approach him unless they make a Will save. You can direct this favor at a charm you hold, and if you hang it up over a building, will do the same thing for the building for 24 hours. This also suppresses curses laid on people for the duration of the favor.
When used on a shaman using the Shapeshift favor or a transformed Dreamer, that shaman is allowed a Will save or must revert to his original form.

Remove Curse
Spirits: All
Casting Time: 1 hour
Base Cost: 15 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: Instantaneous
You confront a curse. The curse takes on a form in astral space and you must project and fight it. A spirit should be about on par with a monster a couple levels higher than the person afflicted by the curse; it can be reasoned with in this state, or it can simply be attacked. If you lose the fight, you cannot use this favor on that same curse ever again. If you succeed, you end the curse. You can also speak with the curse directly instead of fighting it, if the curse is amiable enough to do so, convincing it to leave or making a deal with it to do so.
The recipient must have a medicine bag for this favor to work.
Variant: The spirits also teach a variant called “confront disease,” which is used only in the most dire of circumstances.

Riding the Rails
Spirits: Tech, Air, Earth
Casting Time: 1 minute
Base Cost: 1 mana per three miles
Saving Throw: None
Duration: See below
Shamans used to use songlines to walk back and forth across the land, but the location of those lines has long since been lost, as they now shift and change over the landscape. However, there are lines that don't move which now crisscross the continent: train tracks. A contract is made with the open sky and the ground like before, but a tech spirit now assists, offering up use of the train tracks to power the ancient lines. As humans believe in the mystical power of the train to get them to where they're going, this favor will always aid shamans. A shaman starts singing a song, a rail song, traveling song, or the song of a "nearby" line, and starts to walking down or alongside a train track. He can take up to four others with him, and travels up to 3 miles per point of mana he spends during the trip, tripling the speed at which the "passengers" travel overland.

Rusting Touch
Spirits: Tech, Insect, Water, Darkness, Wood
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 6 mana
Saving Throw: Will negates, base 11
Duration: Instantaneous
This favor confuses and scrambles the spirits in unawakened metal, causing them to break down and fall apart. Only ferrous metals are affects, since you're really applying an air spirit to the metal itself, causing oxidation. Actually, this power works on anything that oxidizes. Against metals, it deals 1d6 damage (ignoring hardness). It doesn't damage living tissue, but if you touch bare skin with the favor, your target must make a Will save or become fatigued (due the rapid oxidation of glucose in their system). You have to touch your target, and a Will save negates any damage.
+1 Mana: +1d6 damage (max 10d6).
+1 Mana: +1 save DC (max +3)

Shapeshift
Spirits: All
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Base Cost: 10 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: 1 hour/level (D)
This favor is facilitated by one of the shaman's mentor shards. When you pick the favor, you pick one of your mentor shards and one of the options below. Whenever you activate this favor, you gain the abilities listed. You lose the ability to speak while in animal form. Each time you activate this form, it is the same animal. Any equipment you are wearing melds into your form and becomes nonfunctional. In all cases, you gain low-light vision. If this favor's duration runs out, you can spend its invocation cost again to keep the duration going. You cannot recoup mana lost in activating this favor so long as it is active. You cannot use your shards while this favor is active.
Aquatic: These are forms such as fish, sea scorpions, sharks, and razorfins. When you choose this form, you choose air breathing or water breathing.
Air Breathing: You can hold your breath for a number of minutes equal to four times your new Constitution score. You gain a swim speed of 60 and your Constitution increases by +4. Your Strength increases by +4 and you gain a +2 bonus to your Natural Armor. You gain a bite attack that deals 1d6 damage.
Water Breathing: You gain a swim speed of 40 and your Constitution increases by +2. Your Strength increases by +4 and you gain a +2 bonus to your Natural Armor. You gain a bite attack that deals 1d6 damage.
Hunter: These are hoppers, brushrunners, and cravets. Your base speed becomes 50 feet. You gain a +2 bonus to your Natural Armor and +4 bonus to your Strength. You gain a bite attack that deals 1d6 damage. You also gain the Scent quality and can track at your full movement speed.
Slayer: This form includes beasts such as deathwalkers, rootscrapers, and other big, angry animals. You become a massive, ferocious monstrosity. You increase in size to Large, gain a +8 bonus to your Natural Armor, gain +8 Strength, and two claws attacks that each deal 1d6 damage, in addition to a bite attack that deals 1d8 damage. Your speed does not change. If you chose this form, the favor's cost is 10 mana higher.
Flyer: This form is simply that of a flizard or bird of prey. Your base movement drops to 10 feet, but you gain a fly speed of 60 (good maneuverability), a +4 bonus to your Dexterity score, and a +2 bonus to your natural armor. You gain a bite or talon attack that deals 1d6 damage and the Weapon Finesse feat.
+3 Mana: You can activate this favor as a standard action.
Note: In order to use this favor, you must hunt down the animal in question and slay it in an honorable fashion before preparing the hide. You must keep a token of the killing on you when you wish to use this favor, be it a bone, skin, preserved eye, or a foot.

Snake!
Spirits: Wood, Savage, Insect
Casting Time: 1 swift action
Base Cost: 2 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: 1 minute per level
You thrust out your arm and fling a tattoo off your arm, which transforms into a medium-sized viper. You can throw the viper up to 30 feet, and it makes an immediate attack. It follows your commands until the favor's duration is up, at which point it becomes a tattoo again. The same occurs if the snake is slain.
Alternate Cost: You allow yourself to become the victim of the viper's poison (make a Fortitude save as normal).

Substitution
Spirits: Ether, Toxic
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Base Cost: 1 mana
Saving Throw: None
Duration: Until discharged
This favor calls up a spirit of the void, who directs much of the harm imposed upon you to a small figurine, which takes the injury for you. You construct a small wooden figure with 1 hit point, and it takes half the damage meant to be dealt to you. You must carry the figurine on your person, and when it takes all the damage it can, it breaks. Until such time as it breaks (and the spell is discharged), you cannot recover the mana you lost.
You need a medicine bag for this favor to work.
+1 Mana: The figurine can store 1 more hit point (maximum your hit point total).

Switch Action
Spirits: Tech, Insect
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Base Cost: 5 mana
Saving Throw: Will negates (base 13)
Duration: 1 round/level
Sometimes you need to empty all your bullets as fast as you can, or you need to prevent someone else from doing so. By making an entreaty of someone's firearm, you can change a gun from Single Shot, Semi-automatic, or Automatic to any of the others. For example, you can make a machine gun a Single-Shot firearm or turn a revolver into a fully automatic weapon for the duration of the favor.
+1 Mana: +1 to the save DC (max +2).
Alternate Cost: Eject all ammunition from your own firearm. You cannot reload or pick up another gun while the duration is in effect.

Wealth Calling
Spirits: Earth, Ether
Casting Time: 5 minutes
Base Cost: 3 mana, 3 hit points
Saving Throw: None
Duration: 1 hour/level
You can give yourself a bit of luck when using this favor. The spirits of the earth and wealth answer your request by making it a little easier for money to come your way. You earn double the amount of money for playing on a street corner and gain a +4 circumstance bonus to Gamble skill checks while this favor is in effect, as well as Survival checks made to find food. When used in conjunction with a Profession check, it offers the same bonus.
You need a medicine bag for this favor to work.

Weapon Bless
Spirits: Tech, Fire, Water, Air, Insect, Darkness, Light
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Base Cost: 5 mana, 4 hit points
Saving Throw: None
Duration: Until discharged
You prepare a weapon or bullet, inscribing the name or identity of the target upon the item in your blood, burning incense and wrapping prayer strips around it or the handle. You must specify the enemy directly, even if you do not use its name, such as "the serpent that lives in Many-Days' yard."
When used against the enemy so named, the weapon gains a +2 enhancement bonus on its attack and damage rolls the first time it strikes the enemy.
+1 mana: +1 enhancement bonus (maximum +5 total).
+3 mana: The weapon overcomes the foe's damage reduction.
+5 mana: The weapon is treated as a bane weapon against that particular foe for the first round of combat.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 06:27 PM

Bargains
Bargains are a more permanent favor, a form of passive magic that assists the shaman in daily life in exchange for something just as permanent from the shaman. These costs are anything from tattoos to self-mutilation, or even permanent removal of pieces of your soul, and are constant protections and abilities. Costs are permanent losses; they cannot be recouped.

Celerity
Cost: 4 hit points
Spirits: Air, Ether, Fire, Water
You add +10 feet to all your movement speeds. You may make this bargain twice.

Claws of Ice
Cost: 1 hit point, and you scar the top of the tendons on the back of one of your hands.
Spirits: Air, Water
Whenever you clench your fist, four curved spikes resembling claws form themselves out of ice that then hover over the back of your hand. They vanish if you open the hand or try to use it for anything else. You can use this claw as a natural weapon that deals 1d6 cold damage. As a standard action, you can fling these claws as if it were a shotgun blast (base damage 5d4 cold, with a range increment of 10 feet; they lose 1 die of damage for every ten feet, but you get a +1 bonus to the attack roll).
Note: A water magus may buy this Bargain as a Technique feat instead; it does not cost hit points in that case.

Earth Bargain
Cost: 2 hit points, you must leave a small statue (abut 1-2 cm in size) behind in whatever room you stay in overnight.
Spirits: Wood, Earth
You leave no tracks and cannot be tracked through the use of the Track feat. However, you may choose to leave tracks. If you choose to leave tracks, you leave tracks of whatever shape you desire (chosen when you take this bargain), such as lizard tracks, a trail of water, and so on.

Even in Darkness
Cost: 2 hit points, and take up to a -3 penalty to up to two different Strength or Dexterity based skills (you take -1 to one skill and -2 to another skill).
Spirits: Darkness, Light, Ether
You gain Darkvision with a range of 120 feet, Low-Light Vision, and suffer no penalties for Spot checks for that same difference.

Gift of Food
Cost: 1 hit point, must spend one week in the wilderness without purchased goods.
Spirits: Earth, Water, Insect
You do not need to use Survival in order to get along in the wilderness, at least at far as food is concerned. You do if other party members want to eat, though.

Guardian Spirit
Cost: Take up to a -4 penalty to up to four different Strength or Dexterity based skills (you can take -2 to two skills or -1 to 4 skills, and so on), 2 hit points. You get some neat new scars.
Spirits: Tech, Air, Earth, Ether
You have a bit of luck when it comes to ranged attacks; the bullets miss, are turned to the earth, zip around you, or might even never reach their target. You gain a +5 bonus to your defense against ranged attacks.

Hardy
Cost: Take up to a -2 penalty to up to two different Strength or Dexterity based skills (you can take -1 to two skills or -2 to one skill) or 5 mana loss.
Spirits: Earth, Water, Fire, Insect, Toxic
You gain a +5 bonus on saving throws made to resist disease and poison.

Speak With Animals
Cost: 3 hit points, and you must place a tattoo of your primary shard or path somewhere on your body.
Spirits: All
You can talk with animals as if they were people. Animals aren't too smart, and they see people as just funny-shaped versions of themselves, but you can certainly talk to them, even if the conversation isn't all that interesting. You can use Diplomacy instead of Handle Animal to deal with them, if you wish.

Spirit Sight
Cost: 5 mana, and you gain a neat new facial tattoo, or, you gain the Murky-eyed or Shaky flaw from putting out one of your own eyes.
Spirits: All
This bargain is pretty simple. You gain the ability to see into the mana realm like a magus. You can connect like one, and you can use the Focus skill like Streaming.

Stride in Thorns
Cost: The wood takes your blood and a piece of your soul, and you lose 4 hit points and 4 mana.
Spirits: Wood, Water, Toxic, Insect
You are not hampered by thorny growth or heavy underbrush; it simply gets out of your way.

Thick Skin
Cost: Take up to a -4 penalty to up to four different Strength or Dexterity based skills (you can take -2 to two skills or -1 to 4 skills, and so on), 1 hit point.
Spirits: Earth, Wood, Savage
Your skin becomes thick and hardy, though it may not look or feel it at first blush. Your natural armor bonus increases by +3.

Wrapped in Shadow
Cost: You offer up your dreams to Darkness, suffering a -2 penalty on Focus checks and -2 to Will saves.
Spirits: Darkness, Toxic, Savage
You can use the Hide skill while being observed. You can hide yourself from view even in the open with no cover.

Selling Powers
You can sell a guardian spirit, a favor, or a bargain. You will need to agree with another person from your local region or someone who's accepted as a local by the community, perhaps someone who failed a test or who just doesn't have a spirit to protect them. You swap a path ability for a feature of equal power with the person you're selling to. You can't buy Magical Backgrounds with this, but you could buy the I'm Holding a Giant Metal Plank advanced class feature or one of the character's base class talents, for example.

If you're selling a favor or bargain, it must be for one of those two types of powers; you must find a shaman to trade with, unless the person you're selling it to offers a commensurate favor in return (for example, if you sold the Entangle power, you could exchange it for a promise to pay for all your meals from now on or something of equal value).

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 07:07 PM

The Paths
Shamans have Paths, chosen when a character first takes the Magical Background (Shaman) feat. Each path adds class skills to the Shaman's class skill list (if these skills are already class skills, you get a +1 competence bonus to that skill), and each path alters the shaman's life in some dramatic way in the form of an oath. Violating an oath is psychologically devastating, and results in the shaman doubling all costs to all powers and behaviors until such time as the slight has been rectified.

Basic Path: Medicine Man
This is the most common path shamans follow; it has no special restrictions other than the ones other shamans work under.
Class Skills: Craft (any one), Knowledge (theology and philosophy), Perform (any one).
Base Ability: You gain a +2 bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive checks when dealing with people. Spirits are canny creatures, and these interactions can give a lot of confidence with real people.
Ability I: You gain a bonus favor or bargain. If it's a bargain, you don't have to pay the cost associated with it.
Ability II: You gain a bonus favor or bargain. If it's a bargain, you don't have to pay the cost associated with it.
Ability III: You gain a bonus favor or bargain. If it's a bargain, you don't have to pay the cost associated with it.
Ability IV (The Healing Medicine): You learn how to make the healing medicine. This is a Craft (chemical) check (DC 25), has materials that have a Purchase DC of 16, and such a potion can cure a single disease, restore 1d4+1 ability damage, 1 point of ability drain, or heal 3d6 hit points of damage to a single person. It takes 5 hours to make, and is only good for 24 hours. It can also remove a point of temporary madness or break one point of permanent madness into 5 temporary madness.

The Naturopath
The jungle consumes all, and yet it still reaches for the sky for the kiss of life from the sun. Normally found near the edges of the Southern Lands, naturopaths have been cropping up in other places, part of a cult that springs up in cells among the wealthy every so often under a single leader, who often takes them out into the jungle to "get back to nature," where they are usually summarily devoured by something big and with more teeth than the Osmond family.
Class Skills: Craft (pharmaceutical), Knowledge (earth & life sciences), and Survival.
Oath: You cannot make bargains with or learn favors from tech spirits.
Base Ability (Fertile Palms): You can grow plants simply by touching the earth. Used on the ground, this causes the next season to be three times as fertile. Used to grow plants, you turn normal jungle into thick brush, impeding movement. This costs 2 mana (or Spirit Empathy) to use.
Ability I (Speak with Plants): You can talk to plants as if they were people. They're even more boring than animals, but older plants are more intelligent and have much more to say.
Ability II (Body of Oak): You have a 50% chance to turn a critical hit into a normal hit.
Ability III (Body of Sun's Light): You can spend 5 mana (or Spirit Empathy) to illuminate yourself with Sun's life-giving radiance. Anyone adjacent to you suffers 5d6 fire damage (Reflex save for half; DC 10 + 1/2 your level + your Charisma modifier). Anyone within 30 feet must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your level + your Charisma modifier) or be blinded for 1d6 rounds. Anything susceptible to sunlight within that radius suffers its full effects.
Ability IV (Consume Building): You can spend 1 action point or 10 mana (or Spirit Empathy) to consume a building with the jungle. It must be a free-standing building out in the jungle itself, and no more than 4 floors. Scavenging the building is impossible, and the floors become unusable.

The Child of Lost Souls
In Arcadia, this path is known as the Road Amara Took, and alternatively as several other names across the Scarlet Coast, including the Way of Bamboo Lords and Path of Jungle's Life, this is a path joined by summoners the world over, especially adventuring summoners. It allows them to support and aid their avatars with a suite of spells and effects. The Amarites see this as the holiest of life choices; such pilgrims are looked to for guidance and wisdom.
Scarification and maiming are not common practices among followers of this path; dancing, singing, and painting are the most common forms of ordeals among them.
Class Skills: Focus, Knowledge (theology & philosophy), and Sense Motive
Oath: To take this path, you must have Magical Background (Summoner), and you cannot take levels in the Summoner class. You must render aid to any injured cryptids you encounter.
Base Ability: You gain a special ability from the class list of the Summoner class.
Ability I: You caller level increases by a number equal to 2 plus half your levels in the Shaman class (divided by 2).
Ability II: You gain a special ability from the class list of the Summoner class.
Ability III: You gain a special ability from the class list of the Summoner class, or increase your Caller level by 2.
Ability IV: You gain a special ability from the class list of the Summoner class, or increase your Caller level by 2.

The Gun Dream
Gun spirits are, as a matter of course, completely insane. This goes for most sword spirits, bow spirits, spears, and so on. These are all lumped under the term "gun spirits" in modern lingo, but old-timers call these spirits "man-slayers" or "endbringers," due to the belief among many tribes that it would be these kinds of spirits who bring the death of humankind. They are tool spirits made to help humans kill other humans, and the paradox drives them to insanity; they awaken more often than not, and with this awakening comes a curse. More swords and guns are relics than almost any other tool.

Gunners follow the bloody and beautiful trail of weapons through the ages, from the first bow built to slay a man to modern high-explosive incendiary rifles. They drift in the dream of war and combat, bringing peace to man-slayers and their turbulent souls. Gunners seek out the true nature and purpose of such battles, hungry for knowledge and enlightenment wrought in the screams and clangs of battle.

The path of the gunner is fueled by apocalyptic visions of the end of the Magitech Empires and hope for the future at large. As counselors to gun spirits, they understand the violence and madness inherent in these machines and the potential for destruction; common folk may say they bought a gun or sword for protection, but regardless, they are tools designed by humans to kill other humans, no matter what the words used to describe the action. Murder is still murder, even if you dress it up.
Class Skills: Craft (electronics), Craft (mechanical), and Knowledge (technology).
Oath: A gunner must offer her services to fix, repair, or improve weapons or armor that she sees being mistreated or used poorly, or fix any piece of technology that she finds broken and can understand or fix, unless it is too far gone, in which case she must shut it down with dignity.
Base Ability (Quick Draw): The gunner gains the Quick Draw ability; if she already had it or takes it later, she gets a +3 bonus to Initiative checks.
Ability I (Aura of Malevolence): A gunner radiates a palpable aura of menace. With nothing but a grin and a maddening smile, she can make the bravest quiver in their shoes. The gunner attempting to unnerve opponents can make an Intimidate check as a move action and target a number of enemies equal to her Charisma modifier. If she succeeds on her check by 10 or more, the opponents are not shaken, but frightened for one round instead.
Ability II (Close Combat Shot): The gunner gains the benefit of Close Combat Shot, as the Gunslinger class ability.
Ability III: (Sin Eater): The Gunner can take a full-round action to devour the violent history of a gun and its terrible actions. This ability immediately makes a tech spirit based on a weapon Friendly, any taint or malevolent intent the gun itself has is gone, and costs 5 mana to use. The Gunner also suffers 1 point of Wisdom and Charisma burn as she literally eats the painful past of the weapon.
Ability IV (Speaker for the Gun): The gunner can spend an action point or 10 mana (or Spirit Empathy) to avoid being struck by any weapon designed to hurt another person, as the weapon refuses to hurt him or her. Thus, she could not negate the attack of someone who struck at her with a chef's knife, unless that knife was previously used to kill someone. This power works just fine on pretty much every gun and sword, however.

The Way of the Brave
Once, in the past, shamans led war brigades and strike teams for their tribes. As time progressed, they became generals and leaders of squads. Often female, in the past two centuries, the gender lines have been crossed and both men and women fill these roles in small forces. These shamans seem implacable, and indeed, the training of the brave involves subjecting him or her to horrible sights to jade them, not for themselves, but for those around them.
Class Skills: Intimidate, Knowledge (tactics), and Sense Motive.
Oath: A brave cannot turn down an offer of combat. This offer is any made when confronted with pulled weapons, or verbally with a direct offer.
Base Ability (Aura of Courage): Every ally within 30 feet of the shaman gains a +2 bonus on Will saves.
Ability I (Implacable Foe): Braves become immune to fear effects, and allies within 30 feet get a +4 bonus on saves against the same.
Ability II (Untouchable Foe): The Brave gains a +4 bonus on Defense against attacks of opportunity and a +2 bonus on Reflex saves.
Ability III (Inspiring Shout): At a cost of 5 mana, the shaman grants a single ally a +2 bonus on attack rolls and saving throws for a number of rounds equal to the shaman's caster level.
Ability IV (Striking Allies): With the expenditure of 10 mana, all allies within 30 feet of the shaman gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks, and saving throws made in combat for the rest of the encounter.

The Herald of Dreams
Those that see the vast cities of dreams in their nightly wanderings, failed awakened dreamers, and explorers of the Everywhen behind the lids of both their own dreams and others. Consummate wanderers of the spirit world, they often stare as if watching something far away, even when awake.
Class Skills: Craft (chemical), Focus, Spellcraft
Oath: A Herald of Dreams can have no other Magical Backgrounds and must rest for 10 hours instead of 8 to recover anything a normal person would use 8 hours for.
Base Ability (Mighty Daemon): The herald uses a d8 for his daemon's hit dice instead of d6. In addition, the massive damage threshold of his daemon increases by 3.
Ability I (Meme Management): A herald can dissipate any memes carried on his daemon as a free action instead of a move action. In addition, he can add +5 to the DC of creating or attracting a meme to reduce the amount of stability it consumes by 1, to a minimum of 1.
Ability II (Mighty Daemon II): Melee and ranged attacks made by the herald's daemon deal an additional 1d6 points of damage.
Ability III (Domain Backdoor): The herald gains a +10 bonus to break into Domains and closed Trods that he's previously broken into.
Ability IV (Mighty Daemon III): The herald uses a d10 for his daemon's hit dice instead of a d8. In addition, the massive damage threshold of his daemon increases by 3. In addition, melee and ranged attacks made by the herald's daemon deal an additional 2d6 points of damage (instead of an additional 1d6).

The Psychopomp's Road
Death comes for us all. The living often try to run, but even then, they only die with legs burning and heavy like lead stones. Their souls flutter to Otherside, where they wait silently for Death to arrive and pick them up. They cannot move, and terrible things wander back and forth in the shadows, feeding on their fears and inadequacies. Their own betrayals seek to destroy them in this time, and other beasts feed on or reproduce using these souls. Psychopomps are shamans who protect the dead until Death comes for them, keeping them company, solving their problems, and hiding them from the monsters that dwell there.
Class Skills: Bluff, Knowledge (theology & philosophy), and Focus
Oath: Psychopomps must spend at least 24 non-consecutive hours out of each week in Otherside or the White City in Death's Realm, talking to the dead, taking messages to the living, and scaring off the monsters from the souls that lie in wait.
Base Ability (Door to Otherside): A psychopomp can enter Otherside by spending 2 mana to do so and crawling through a small tunnel (such as a sewer pipe or narrow alley) or opening a door in a Darkness-unbalanced area. This is not Death's Realm proper, but it can be reached by finding the Theryx and following it to the sea.
Ability I (See Death): If, encountering a corpse, the psychopomp spends 5 mana, he can discover how the corpse was killed. This is a simple answer, such as "by poison" or "falling," and can get a little more complex, but still leaves room for interpretation. It won't tell you who did a killing, but can tell you if it was murder or not, even if it looks like a suicide to the forensic analyst.
Ability II (Soul Eater): A psychopomp can make a melee touch attack and spend 1 action point to attempt to force a ghost into the White City. This ability has a Fortitude saving throw DC of 10 + the psychopomp's shaman level + Charisma modifier. A failure means the ghost is instantly dissipated and sent to the city. A success means the ghost just suffers 5d6 damage instead.
Ability III (Ghostly Visitor): A psychopomp can project his or her daemon into the Near Realm. While so projected, the psychopomp is incorporeal in regards to the physical world, but can manifest visibly and speak to people on the "real" side of the membrane. They can't attack people with memes in this state, but can use favors as if they had line of sight. This is a dangerous place to be, since other magic-users can affect them just fine.
Ability IV (Death's Promise): You make a promise to someone, who must keep it on penalty of death. You word your promise simply, and it must be one the target could easily fulfill; "promise me you won't let go of my hand or you will die," or "go across the river and don't look back until you are past the threshold of your home," and so on, and your target must make a Will save (DC 20 + your Charisma modifier). If they fail, then the promise is binding. You spend 1 action point to make the promise binding; if they break the promise, they die.

Shaman
This advanced class is used to gain greater shaman abilities.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Shaman, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Skills: Concentration 6 ranks, Focus 6 ranks.
Feats: Magical Background (Shaman)

Class Information
The following information pertains to the Shaman advanced class.
Hit Die
The Shaman gains 1d8 hit points per level.
Mana Die
A Shaman gains 1d10 mana per level.
Action Points
The Shaman gains a number of action points equal to 6 + one-half his character level, rounded down, every time she attains a new level in this class.

Class Skills
The Shaman's class skills are as follows.
Concentration (Con), Craft (chemical, pharmaceutical, visual art, writing) (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Focus (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Investigate (Int), Knowledge (arcane lore, history, popular culture, theology & philosophy) (Int), Profession (Wis), Read/Write Language (none), Research (Int), Search (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Speak Language (none), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Treat Injury (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 5 + Int modifier.

Table: The Shaman
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Def Bonus|Rep Bonus
1st|+0|+0|+0|+2|Favors|+0|+0
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+3|Ability I|+1|+1
3rd|+2|+1|+1|+3|Bonus Feat|+1|+1
4th|+3|+1|+1|+4|Extra Favors|+1|+1
5th|+3|+1|+1|+4|Ability II|+2|+2
6th|+4|+2|+2|+5|Bonus Feat|+2|+2
7th|+5|+2|+2|+5|Extra Favors|+3|+2
8th|+6|+2|+2|+6|Ability III|+3|+3
9th|+6|+3|+3|+6|Bonus Feat|+3|+3
10th|+7|+3|+3|+7|Ability IV|+4|+3[/table]

Class Features
The following features pertain to the Shaman advanced class.
Favors
At 1st level and every level after that, the Shaman gains two new favors or bargains, except at 4th and 7th level, when the Shaman earns four total new favors or bargains.
Ability
At 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 10th level, the Shaman continues her personal path, gaining more power as she does. The shaman gains the listed ability under her chosen life-path.
Bonus Feats
At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the Shaman gains a bonus feat. He must choose these feats from the following list, and he must meet the prerequisites of the feat to select it.
Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Blind-Fight, Cautious, Confident, Deceptive, Deep Trance, Educated, Endurance, Frightful Presence, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Renown, Studious, Toughness, Weapon Focus.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 10:33 PM

In the Afterlife: Beyond Death
"The Green Mountain may have a great climate, but the Underworld has the best parties."
– Sebastian Werner

http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv115/gaias_hiccup/Skeleton_by_behnkestudio2.jpg
A Paladin.

A man dies. His life has been full and fruitful, his relatives kind, and his Saturdays were filled with worship in his local churches and shrines. His animus slowly fades, vanishing to Death's Realm, a pocket world that is a dark, greasy reflection of the Prime. There it waits, a physical reflection of the soul. The body rots and decays, falling to pieces without an animus to bind it.

The soul is picked apart in this time by small creatures that steal the man's wallet, the cash within, and pieces of his clothing, reflections of life and memory. When evening comes the day his soul fully arrives in Death's Realm, Death herself shows up and drags the soul-corpse away, stripping him further of blood-stained gold teeth, rings, and jewelry, his good deeds made manifest. A man or woman who arrives here as a good and gracious soul may be found clean, without wounds, and draped in finery.

She takes him to a great black river known as the Chokatla, which exists as a normal river in physical reality and a powerful symbol in her realm, and throws him on a barge with others. Death makes her way down that dark river amid bony spires crawling with unearthly spiders and crabs until she enters the Silent Sea. From there, the barge crosses the thick and still waters until coming to rest on the shore of the Bleak Isle, where the souls are unloaded.

Souls are judged for their merit and how much sin they possess. Sinners (which consist of almost everyone, because nearly everyone has a few sore spots in their life), mostly those with guilt or fear of having Sin, though those who say they have none often have the most, are processed like corpses and strung up in the suicide trees, their Sin harvested like a crop. Those who committed suicide for any reason, even the most noble of self-sacrifices, are taken to the Ashen Fields like sinners, but instead of being strung up, they are transformed into twisted, gnarled trees.

Those with low enough levels of sin to return to life, either entering the realm that way or having hung on the trees for long enough, have their memories stripped from them, stored away, and are returned to the waiting room of the world of the living to be reborn. Those who enter the realm with no sin at all pass on, and even Death knows not where.

Sin is harvested, collected by dokkalfar, ashen-skinned and white haired elves, and stranger things that dwell here, and eventually finds its way the Underworlds, where Sinborn fight and die for its power for the glory of the demons. Sin is not simply the wrongs of a human soul; it is the stuff by which the universe will one day be unmade.

The Amazing Red Tape Journey
When a soul is picked up, it has to be taken to the island where it will be processed. The spirit world is a complex series of rankings and stratifications, and Death's realm is no different. Dockworkers of many names pick up soul-corpses and set them into piles based on sin content and species, and may forget one or two here and there, who wander about the realm unhindered or who get mixed in with other species lines.

With certain amounts of sin, one needs it to be bled off. The dockworkers are to separate those who need a hanging from those who can enter the court system directly. Both types of newcomers to the courts are shocked awake, either fresh from the tree or fresh from the barges. They enter the court lines based on their species or life-path, and are judged on their merits. They are given a lawyer, of course, a dokkalfar, who pleads their case while a prosecutor bites back.

Those who have fulfilled their life-path properly are sent back with a higher ranking in the cosmos, their memories removed like old clothing and put into storage before that happens. Monsters can get off fairly easy. As long as they've been doing what the monsters are supposed to do, they get a free ride, and could even be reborn as a human or a different type of monster entirely. Humans are also lucky; their path is not set, and their rebirth depends largely on how much of a jerk they were and how much of a jerk the judge working on their case is. They still have their memories at this point, and can plead their case before moving on through the system.

This is where dead-bribes come into play. Living relatives burn corpse-money or plant money on the corpse so the soul has it with him or her upon entering the court system, and the money can be used to buy his or her way past certain officials or into new lives. At the same time, that person's enemies might burn bribes to tie up the system even further. The soul moves through the One Thousand Underworld Judges, with court appointments and dates set.

In the mean time, the soul lives in Death's Realm. No longer possessing a proxy, it can not go back to the living world, but the living can certainly visit it. The White City is the meeting place for the dead, demons, and all manner of monsters and beings that dwell in the realms to come and sell or buy as they wish. The living here are given special writs and badges so that they can be easily identified by the guards, who dole out harsh punishments to the dead who break the law. The dead who miss court dates must reschedule, and might never escape from this place. Towns dot the landscape outside, growing telka root and black maize for demons and the dead to purchase and use.

In the Beginning
All the universe was once a dream, churning and bubbling before time in formless chaos, where time itself was even an illusion. Eventually, the dream ended, and time began. Galaxies and stars formed, and the heavens were sailed by great beings of life and energy, lighting on worlds as they seethed with existence, then departing again into the sky. Eventually, to one hot and desolate world wracked with millennia-long rains and lifeless chemicals fell the Mother of All Things, whose dream before time was the dream of chaos, and life began.

Starting small at first, the Mother of All Things gave birth to algae and bacteria, which swarmed and burbled in the soup at the dawn of the world. Eventually, the world became full of this soup, needing ever more room and complexity. She created demons, whose goal was to break down what had been wrought by the hand of those beings that sailed the sky, and more notably, her own creations.

Having made the universe, the demons sought to break that down, too, but they were unable to, absorbed in their work on Aesca as they were. However, the demons proved too efficient, so the Mother of All Things made Celestines to uphold her works while she created. Plants and animals grew, to fish and amphibians to reptiles and eventually, to archosaurs.

These beings gave way to the first tool users, but they were crude and single-minded, specialized, resistant to sudden and dramatic changes, and warred among themselves. So she gave them the gift of prophecy and memory, and with it they sought to shape the very flesh of others, creating. They could not, however, sustain or destroy what they had made, and so the Mother of All Things waited.

Eventually, the sky fell upon them, and those that did not die slept. With what survived, the Mother of All Things began again. The mammals, this time, covered the world and became fruitful, blossoming into a myriad of fantastic and amazing forms. In time, they began to rise on their own, without urging from the Mother of All Things, and came to use tools in their own way.

The Human Factor
The mammals became apes, and the apes became humans. Unlike the archosaurian empires, humans were able to know their own faults, and were able to improve on their own. They shaped the world with their will, but each of them sought to tear down what the other and they themselves had made. Others still upheld what had been made, either with word, machine, or deed. In this way, the Mother of All Things saw her creation complete, and left the world, leaving the Demons and Celestines in their varied kingdoms to watch over humanity.

However, each continued their duty. When the first of the humans died, however, the demons discovered something amazing. Death did not take the soul beyond and send for a new soul at the edge of her domain. Instead, it found that the soul needed to be recycled. Humans, uncertain of their place, literally did not know how to move on. The soul itself was filled with a new creation, as well, a black, bilious substance that seemed to draw chaos near it.

The Demons were intrigued. This tool-user was crafting, by its simple existence, some manner of material that could be used as energy to power their abilities. They bargained with Death for the material, and it agreed, forging an alliance that would one day save the Demons. As humans entered that realm with Sin, it was harvested and sent to Celestia. There the Demons experimented with and refined the Sin, feeding upon it, growing stronger with it, and uncovering ways to produce it in still-living souls to sweeten the latent energy.

Here was a creation that seemed to serve a purpose of destruction, and truthfully, when humans were destructive to others and themselves, they produced it in massive quantities. Large amounts of Sin could, when used properly, could destabilize massive portions of reality, creating deadfalls, chaos-pits, and all manner of effects. Celestines redoubled their efforts, attempting to counter what was swiftly becoming an arms race of sin and virtue among humanity.

The New Old God
The being known as the Old God soon arrived upon the world with a group of followers that came to be known as Gods. They had departed another world that had long since died, and they sought a new kingdom to rule. Finding humans on Aesca, they decided to settle. The Old God and his lieutenants, horrified to find Demons swarming in the realms reserved for deities and celestial beings, threw them out and closed the realms to their activities. Those Celestines that protested were thrown out with them and scattered to the spirit worlds, or else killed in that great war, which included nearly all hosts.

The Demons, uncertain of what to do as the Gods ruled over humankind, were welcomed to Death's Realm, boring deep inside that infinity beyond the Bleak Isle, hiding in the obsidian peaks of the Blackspire Mountains. They presided over the battlegrounds and dark cherry forests of the Ashen Fields, forming groups that sought out Sin hidden within those places, struggling to survive.

Eventually, the Old God began to feel complacent and proud, ruling over his pantheon and the humans below, controlling their lives and their beliefs so as to engineer a need for his existence. It was then that the Celestines struck. A leader had grown among them, Resharis Skin-Like-Diamonds, who had been communicating with his Demon counterpart, a scout named Ahari of the Thousand Tears, and he rallied the Celestine armies to fight the gods, both in Celestia, the Godsrealm, and beyond.

Ahari of the Thousand Tears sealed the Godsgate, by which souls were fed into the realms of the gods, capturing Death's city. Death, furious, but understanding the necessity of the war, did little to stop the Demons, though it said they would pay in kind for their taking advantage of its hospitality. The Celestines, for their part, began to kill priests of the gods. Without their mortal conduits, the gods had no real power over the land, and the seeds of reality began to sprout anew, and spirits once more began to awaken.

In a war that to human eyes would seem to be nothing more than light skirmishes, the bitter conflict lasted centuries. Eventually, however, without new souls to feed them, the gods died, one by one. The Old God left, taking the Godsource of Aesca with him, sealing the Celestines inside the realm he had claimed, and they too, faded from existence before they could be retrieved. The bodies of the gods and Celestines began to rot, filling those connected realms with the death stench of deities.

Fetching the Source
The Second Age of humanity began to dawn. The world still ravaged by the war of judgment, humanity feared the heavens. They began to seek power within, and discovered magic of the self. Wizardry became the power of choice, and with it, they advanced their science to a massive degree. They hoarded magical power from commoners, so that nobility held a monopoly on that strength. The most powerful among them sought even more power, and began to draw from any source they encountered. Eventually, they discovered the power that could be harvested from oppression and pain, and sought even it.

They became more than human, then less. They became known as Dark Lords, beings of immense and incredible power that stole from even the realms of the gods. In time, they were slain by their human servants in a massive and violent uprising. When they arrived in Death's Realm, they had to be captured and taken to the Bleak Isle and carried beyond the Ashen Fields. No longer human souls, they could not be strung up, but they could not be returned to the world of the living, for their power was too great.

Death sought the philosophies of the gods. Many gods believed in infinite punishment for finite sins, damning souls to eternities of torment, playing cruel games with the dead. Death so banished them, then, creating the Underworlds, elaborate prisons from which no real escape could be made. The demons, now with more of Death's realm to explore, filtered into the Underworlds, where they set up kingdoms, tasked with guarding the prisons of the Dark Lords, beings better than even demons at destroying and breaking down the old.

Even so, their power was so great that they began to work their way free of their prisons, so Death added a new wrinkle to their entrapment. She tasked groups of demons with choosing humans that would carry a shard of a Dark Lord's power within them. Not enough to corrupt them, but enough to funnel that energy corrupted by too much Darkness. These humans filtered the power of shade and chaos, and were handed what amounts to a divine mandate to use their powers.

Demons, being spirits of malicious intent and trickery, sometimes planted too large a filter within the humans chosen. Those humans often became powerful warriors, and many of them slowly turned to acts of destruction as their bodies were subsumed by the personality of the Dark Lords. Death soon found that in creating a method to keep them caged, she had given the Dark Lords another potential method of escape.

In eons past that, before humanity even came to the world, a warrior had dared to defy her, and so was allowed to remain in the world until such time as all evil was extinguished. Being a practical person, she had accepted the bargain, taking note of the source of his power. Rather than filter through the effort of binding his soul to his body, she simply corrupted the source of his powers, that the link could never be severed.

Now that source was to be invaluable, for it could create undying soldiers devoted to light and justice. Death surmised that she had disrupted the balance of the world, and thus would create balance anew to fix her error. She called in an old debt from a man named Calthas, who had sold himself to Death when but one empire ruled the world. Calthas was sent to retrieve this mystical power, The Light, from the tainted Godsrealm, and return it to an old fort now called the Deathless Citadel, deep in the Ashen Fields.

So Death sent out the demons again, this time to select noble souls who would be bound to the undying energy she had tainted The Light with so long ago. These would be Paladins, based out of the stronghold in Death's Realm, they would police the darkness.

hiryuu

2010-02-25, 10:47 PM

Feats
The following is a new feat.

Magical Background (Paladin or Dark Knight)
You are possessed of the power of darkness or light.
Prerequisite: Base Attack Bonus +1, Knowledge (theology and philosophy) 2 ranks, Dark or Light imbalance.
Benefit: Choose either dark knight or paladin. You can't enjoy the fun of both.
Dark Knight: You gain 1 rank in the Weapon of Night power and 1 floating point to spend on powers or keep. Your maximum rank in Dark Knight powers is equal to 1 + one half your levels in the Knight advanced class (maximum 5).
Paladin: You gain 1 rank in the Armor of Light power and 1 floating point to squirrel away or spend. Your maximum rank in Paladin powers is equal to 1 + one half your levels in the Knight advanced class (maximum 5).

Dark Knight Powers
That cursed woman was just standing there, solemnly. Arthur grimaced, finally getting a good look at her armor. The black plates seemed unnatural, like an oil slick, and her nearly skintight pants seemed etched in impossible designs. With a slow flourish, she buried her sword’s blade into the ground a full three inches and clenched her fists over the hilt.
He thought he heard her scream in pain as the wave of black energy didn’t so much roll outward as the edges of the effect seemed to tear from her skin to devour and warp reality as they swept towards everything, knocking the buzzing insects around her into dust and transforming nearby plants to ash. His own skin roared and he screeched, heaving backward from his hiding place into the open.
When he regained faculty over his own fingers and could see again, she was standing there, resolute, sword in hand, dirt still clinging to the tip.
“When I say I will fight you, it does not mean ‘run and hide,’” she growled.

Armor of Darkness
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank.
As a standard action, you summon a suit of armor to you. The armor appears around your body in series of black whisps, tendrils of darkness, or as bubbles of poison. At rank 1, you create a set of armor that provides a +1 bonus to your Defense and DR 1/-. At each rank thereafter, the Defense bonus and DR increase by 1, to a maximum of +5 Defense and DR 5/-. The armor has an armor check penalty of -2 and a max dexterity bonus of +4. You lose 1 mana per minute the armor exists. You can dismiss it as a free action.

Army of Darkness
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank
You can, for a 10 mana penalty, instill energies into a corpse, granting it a semblance of life. You create a zombie or skeleton, which can have hit dice of up to your rank. You can control a number of these undead equal to your hit dice total. If any of these undead are slain, you can simply make another.

Dark Wave
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank
As a full-round action, you spend 3 mana and suffer 2d6 damage as black energy tears from your body and flicks outward in a sweeping, foul ring, and every creature that is within a 30-foot radius burst of you receives 1d6 plus an additional 1d6 damage per rank you possess in this power (to a maximum of 6d6). The victims can make a Will save (DC 10 + your ranks + ½ your level + your Charisma modifier) for half damage. You do not trigger massive damage saves from the damage you take when you use this power, but you sure can trigger 'em in other people.

Envenom Weapon
Prerequisites: Weapon of Night
Power Cost: 2 per rank
When you activate this power as a standard action for 3 mana, your weapon of night becomes coated with a visible sheen of energy that acts like a mild poison. The next target you strike with the weapon must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ your level + your Charisma modifier) or suffer 1 point of Constitution damage per rank you possess in this power.

Not so Fast
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank
As a standard action, you spend 5 mana and wrap an opponent in dark energy that then vanishes. That opponent’s base ground speed is reduced by half, and he or she can only perform one standard action each round. The opponent is allowed a Fortitude save (DC 10 + your ranks in this power + ½ your level + your Charisma modifier) to negate the effects.

Souldrinker
Prerequisites: Dark Wave 1 rank or higher
Power Cost: 2 per rank
As a standard action, you can, for 10 mana, once per day, deal 1d6 damage to all living creatures within 30 feet. You gain temporary hit points equal to the total amount of damage dealt.

Sunder Undead
Prerequisites: Army of Darkness 2 ranks or higher
Power Cost: 1 per rank
With a flourish, you can sunder the link between a dead proxy and an attached animus. You deal 3d8 damage, plus 1d8 per rank you possess, to all undead within a 20 foot radius of yourself. Intelligent undead or undead directly controlled by another Dark Knight are allowed a Will save (DC 10 + your ranks in this power + your Charisma modifier) for half damage.

Tainted Squire
Prerequisites: Army of Darkness 1 rank or higher
Power Cost: 1 per rank
You can instill greater energies into one of your controlled undead. It gains an additional hit die per rank you possess in this power, and gains an intelligence score equal to 5 + your rank in this power.

Weapon of Night
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank
As a move-equivalent action, you create a weapon that deals slashing damage, which can be in any shape, from a vortex of purple energy to a sword made of the night itself. It can be sundered (hardness 10 and 10 hit points), but you can create a new one as a move action. At rank 1, the weapon deals 1d8 damage with a threat range of 19-20. At rank 2, its damage improves to 2d6. At rank 3, it deals 3d6 damage. At rank 4, it gains a +1 enhancement bonus, and at rank 5, its enhancement bonus increase to +2.

Paladin Powers
“Breakin’ stuff for justice!”

Armor of Light
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank.
As a standard action, you summon a suit of armor to you. The armor appears around your body in a flash of light. At rank 1, you create a set of armor that provides a +1 bonus to your Defense and DR 1/-. At each rank thereafter, the Defense bonus and DR increase by 1, to a maximum of +5 Defense and DR 5/-. The armor has an armor check penalty of -2 and a max dex bonus of +4. You lose 1 mana per minute the armor exists. You can dismiss it as a free action.

Blessing of the Source
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank
You gain a +1 sacred bonus to all saving throws equal to your rank in this power.

Clear Out!
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank
You can, as a standard action, unleash a burst of energy into the ground. You perform a Bull Rush attempt at every enemy within 10 feet of you. You gain a +4 size bonus on this attempt, and an additional +1 sacred bonus per your ranks in this power. Enemies may move more than 5 feet, as if you had moved with them. All enemies affected by this power take damage equal to your ranks. This ability costs 5 mana to activate.

Fading to Death
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 2 per rank
You slowly become an undead creature. Normally, when you die as a Paladin, Death picks up your soul and takes you to the Deathless Citadel, a spire of bleached and rotting bone in the gray wastes of the Ashen Fields. With this power, you can stick around for a bit. At rank 1, your flesh turns pale, and you gain immunity to stunning. At rank 2, your eyes sink in, and you become immune to poisons and disease. At rank 3, you have a 25% chance to avoid the effects of a critical hit. At rank 4, your look on the verge of death, and you become immune to critical hits and death from massive damage. At rank 5, you become an undead creature. You lose your Constitution score, and your flesh begins to rot away. After a few days, there’s nothing left but bones and tattered clothing. Your summoned armor, if any, looks tarnished and dull, and your weapons, if any, take on a worn appearance.

Healing Touch
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 2 per rank
You gain a pool of hit points equal to your Charisma bonus plus your ranks in this power times half your level. You can distribute these hit points to a target or yourself by touch, but never more than the maximum hit points that character possesses. You spend an amount of mana equal to the total of the hit points you heal.

Holy Light
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank
As a standard action, you can project a ball of light from your open hand that deals 1d6 damage per rank you possess (to a maximum of 5d6) to any creatures with an allegiance to evil or with the evil descriptor and any creature that has the Magical Background (Dark Knight) feat, regardless of its allegiances. You must have line of sight to the target, and you must make a successful ranged touch attack to hit. The target may make a Will save (DC 10 + your rank + you Charisma modifier) to halve the damage. This attack costs 1 mana per die of damage it deals.

Ska-Blow!
Prerequisites: Sword of the Heavens 2 ranks
Power Cost: 1 per rank
You may spend 2 mana and a standard action in order to make one attack. If the attack hits, your target must make a Will save (DC 10 + ½ your Paladin level + your ranks in this power + your Charisma modifier) or be dazed for 1 round.

Shield of the Soul
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank
As a standard action, you spend 2 mana per rank and call into being a shield that provides you with a +1 Defense bonus per rank. You do not need a free hand to use it. The shield remains for 2 rounds per rank in this power. You can spend another standard action and more mana to call it back into existence.

Sword of the Heavens
Prerequisites: None
Power Cost: 1 per rank
As a move-equivalent action and a cost of 1 mana, you create a weapon that deals slashing damage, which can be in any shape, from a plume of white metal to a blazing beam of daylight. It can be sundered (hardness 10 and 10 hit points), but you can create a new one as a move action. At rank 1, the weapon deals 1d8 damage with a threat range of 19-20. At rank 2, its damage improves to 2d6. At rank 3, it deals 3d6 damage. At rank 4, it gains a +1 enhancement bonus, and at rank 5, its enhancement bonus increase to +2.

We All Fall Down
Prerequisites: Clear Out! 2 ranks
Power Cost: 1 per rank
You can, as a standard action, spend 7 mana to attempt a trip attack at every opponent within 10 feet. You gain a +4 size bonus on this attempt, and add a +1 sacred bonus for each rank in this power you possess. Opponents you do not trip cannot immediately try to trip you.

Knight
You know the drill by now.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Knight, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +3.
Skills: Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 3 ranks
Feats: Magical Background (Dark Knight or Paladin)

Class Information
The following information pertains to the Knight advanced class.
Hit Die
The Knight gains 1d8 hit points per level.
Mana Die
The Knight gains 1d8 mana per level.
Action Points
The Knight gains a number of action points equal to 6 + one-half his character level, rounded down, every time she attains a new level in this class.
Class Skills
The Knight’s class skills are as follows.
Concentration (Con), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcane lore, streetwise, tactics, theology & philosophy) (Int), Profession (Wis), Read/Write Language (none), Spot (Wis), Speak Language (none), and Treat Injury (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 3 + Int modifier.

Table: The Knight
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Def Bonus|Rep Bonus
1st|+1|+2|+0|+1|Sense Allegiance, Power Points|+1|+0
2nd|+2|+3|+0|+2|Smite 1/day|+1|+0
3rd|+3|+3|+1|+2|Bonus Feat|+2|+0
4th|+4|+4|+1|+2|Divine Calling|+2|+1
5th|+5|+4|+1|+3|Smite 2/day|+3|+1
6th|+6|+5|+2|+3|Bonus Feat|+3|+1
7th|+7|+5|+2|+4|Greater Calling|+4|+2
8th|+8|+6|+2|+4|Smite 3/day|+4|+2
9th|+9|+6|+3|+4|Bonus Feat|+5|+2
10th|+10|+7|+3|+5|On Your Feet|+5|+3[/table]

Class Features
The following features pertain to the Knight advanced class.
Sense Imbalance
By spending a full-round action, the Knight can designate an Imbalance, either Darkness or Toxic (or Light or Savage, if a Dark Knight), and sense the absence or presence of such auras in the area. After another round of concentrating, he detects the general strength, and on the third round, their exact locations. This can detect people, locations, and objects with these particular imbalances.
Power Points
At each level gained in this advanced class, the Knight gains 2 additional power points. His maximum ranks in powers are equal to half his level in this advanced class plus one.
Smite
At 2nd level, once per day, a Knight can rain down some mighty fierce whompin' on a single attack. When using a smite, he adds +4 to his attack roll and gains a damage bonus equal to his character level; this otherwise works just like a normal attack and it takes no action to apply the smite to an attack. The smite works regardless of who (or what) just got clobbered; the Knight has to use his own judgment on who or what has been naughty enough to deserve such a pounding. At 5th and again at 8th level, the Knight gets an additional daily use of this ability. The Knight can also spend 10 mana to use this power.
Divine Calling
The Knight, at 4th level, gains a contact for free. This contact is a Celestine or Demon with a power rating of 2 and a loyalty of 3. At 7th level, the contact improves to a power rating of 4 and a loyalty rating of 4.
On Your Feet
At 10th level, if the Knight is reduced to -1 or fewer hit points by a damaging effect, he can spend an action point (or 30 mana) in order to immediately make a Fortitude save (DC 15). If the Knight is successful, he is at 1 hit point and still standing. This ability can be activated in response to a failed massive damage save.
Bonus Feats
At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the Knight gains a bonus feat. He must choose these feats from the following list, and he must meet the prerequisites of the feat to select it.
Aim for the Joints, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Armor Proficiency (Light), Armor Proficiency (Medium), Armor Proficiency (Heavy), Contacts, Deep Trance, Iron Will, Membrane Sense, Weapon Focus.

hiryuu

2010-03-14, 09:29 PM

Children of an Elder God: Occultism
http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv115/gaias_hiccup/Aesca/The_Legend_of_Alhazred_by_jezebel.jpg

Eons ago, during the First Age of Man, Aesca was home to many gods. They were worshipped by the myriad humans and other races, and in return granted power to their most devout followers. At the end of that age, these gods and this history were lost to apocalypse.

Ages came and went, and in the Fifth Age, fate again came to the world. The humans in the Era of Knowledge were decadent and jealous. They lusted after the power Magi possessed, angered at the lot in life of those who were born without magical power. The academies were filled with learned men and women who, in secret, sought ways to give magical energies to those without it.

Through studies of esoteric lore and archaeological expeditions, they learned of the gods, and set about creating cults and prayers to these entities in the hopes of gaining their favor. When no miracles were forthcoming after years of work, they turned to Magus allies to find out why. These Magi breached the Mana Realm, exploring until they found the Godsring, and the domains of these gods in far corners of the Outer Realms.

The domains lay broken, their skies charred green-black and giant bones strewn across the landscape. The gods were dead, but the power still lingered, trapped and stagnated by the death-stench of the vast beings who once dwelled there. This energy came to be known as Alhasheem, though the term was changed to Godstench during the Bloody Mother period.
Undaunted, the cults and faithful altered their prayers, with their mental training designed to contact deities they instead opened their minds to the energies that lingered in those forgotten domains. The power flooded in. The prayers and spells worked at long last, though extensive alteration was needed for them to work.

There was not much time that passed until the magic that was discovered was banned. It resulted in madness or worse: without the conscious effort of gods blocking the power that came, the spells harmed their caster, and they opened the human mind to eternal contemplations of things that drift amid chaos and the interminable nature of the universe.

In the modern world, this type of spellcasting, called Occultism, is illegal. Practitioners are considered a danger to themselves or others. Some practitioners learn to pace themselves, using power only when they need it. Others dive into the energy, becoming something akin to a twisted priest of a favorite dead god or goddess or follower of some ancient and elder race that preceded even the Mother of All Things.

All occultists first learn how to take a spell or prayer found inscribed on a wall or in a book and twist it, altering phrases, lines, required mental state, and hand gestures to synch up with the new nature of the prayer. What this does is allow the occultist to mentally bore a tiny hole in a god’s domain and let a bit of the power through. Without the presence of an actual god to serve as a filter, the occultist has to be careful not to let too much power through.

When all is said and done, and the occultist deciphers and fixes the spell, she learns it, locking it into place in her mind. She will never forget it, for it burns indelibly to memory, and she takes one step closer to the edge of the abyss. There is no limit to the number of spells an occultist can know, save for the amount she can find and decipher.

Casting Spells
In order to cast a spell, the occultist simply makes the appropriate gestures and speaks the appropriate words while being in the right frame of mind. It’s easy, and this is also part of its downside. When an occultist spell is cast, lights flicker, small breezes whip up, dark whispers reach the ears of onlookers, and an acrid stench fills the nostrils of the same before the spell effect even goes off (and that’s just whispered message).

The major problem with occult spells is thus: casting spells by using Godstench as a power source is equivalent to carrying around a bag of dead, rotten fish and taking a deep breath out of it to blow into an enemy’s face. Occultists who cast even simple spells can easily become sick for several days, sometimes even weeks. This ranges from vomiting to light headedness to sometimes even becoming bedridden. Retching and vomiting are the least of an occultist’s worries, for sometimes even the practitioner’s sanity slips away.

It’s a Mad, Mad World
Channeling the energy of dead gods, drawing words and runes upon one’s flesh for power, it’s enough to make a fella go mad. If he wasn’t already. In game terms, this spiraling madness that occultists experience is measured in a score called “madness.” Go figure.

Madness comes in two types: permanent and temporary. You gain a point of temporary madness when you cast an occult spell, and varying amounts of temporary madness when you encounter Scary Things. When you take the Magical Background (Occultist) feat, you gain a permanent madness rating of 1.

Each time you learn an occult spell, you gain 1 point of permanent madness. Each time you accrue 5 points of temporary madness, you gain 1 point of permanent madness. When you gain 5 points of permanent madness, you gain a dementia (the GM has a fun table for you, unless he wants to pick or trusts you enough to pick yourself). Temporary madness goes away at a rate of 1 per day, unless it has converted to permanent madness, in which case you should snag some drugs and pray for the best.

Making a Madness Save
Whenever you encounter a gruesome, disturbing, or terrible sight, or come to some horrifying realization, you must make a Will save (DC 10 + your current permanent madness rating). If you succeed, congratulations, you’re safe, you managed to stave off some of the effects. If you fail, well, bully for you. Note that it’s a long, hard, dark crash of a spiral into crazytown.

Encountering the Unimaginable
Creatures can cause madness to accrue. Whenever your occultist catches in his eyes a creature from beyond, which includes any cryptid that is not normal, some hideous beast from the domain of a dead god, or some other abomination, you make a madness save. The madness gain varies with the creature. Some creatures have madness denotations that are marked, others do not. Those that do always cause that particular amount of madness, and those that are not marked, well, the GM makes a judgment.
Severe Shocks
Shocking sights of a more mundane nature can cause madness, as well. The following are some examples of sufficiently extreme situations.

{table=head]Madness|Shocking Sight
1t/0p|Surprised to find mutilated animal carcass
1t/0p|Surprised to find human corpse
1t/0p|Surprised to find human body part
2t/0p|Finding a stream flowing with blood
2t/0p|Finding mangled human corpse
2t/0p|Awakening trapped in a coffin
2t/0p|Witnessing a friend’s violent death
3t/0p|Seeing a Hespergog attack someone*
3t/0p|Meeting someone you know to be dead
3t/0p|Undergoing severe torture
2t/1p|Seeing a corpse rise from its grave
3t/1p|Seeing a gigantic severed head fall from the sky
1t/5p|Seeing a terrible and alien entity rise from the sea.[/table]
*This might have the side effect of making you wince.

Getting Treatment
You can get treatment for madness, but the problem is that what you’re doing is illegal. Several places have “safe houses” for occultists, and if you can get yourself into one, you can attempt to convert permanent madness into temporary madness so it can be healed. You must have no temporary madness, and your permanent madness rating is a minimum of 1 + the number of occult spells you know.

Each week, make a Will save (DC 15 + current permanent madness). If you succeed, you have converted one point of permanent madness into temporary madness. If not, wait until next week and make the save again, this time with a +1 bonus. This bonus is cumulative for each week that you fail. If you acquire a point of temporary madness before then, the process starts over when you lose it. You lose dementia if you lose the “prerequisites” for it.

Learning Occult Spells
This is easy, often deceptively so. In order to learn a spell, an occultist must first identify the object or tome that contains the proper information. To do so, she must read the book in question or decipher the coding on a wall. This takes a Decipher Script check (DC 15-30) taking 1 hour, regardless of lingual knowledge (knowing the language in question reduces the DC by 5). Afterwards, the Occultist must make a Knowledge (Occult Lore) check with a DC of 15 that takes one half-hour per spell to decode the spells contained therein. Once decoded, they remain decoded. Occultists no longer need the notes to see the spells in the wall or tome.

In order to learn the spells and add them to his repertoire, however, the occultist must make a Spellcraft check (DC 15) to convert them. Again, once converted, they remain so. The occultist can now attempt to “dry cast” these spells. To do so, she must open to the page that contains the spell and place a hand upon it or place her hand upon the wall that contains it. The prospective caster makes a Spellcraft check (DC 20) to cast the spell normally. If she succeeds, the spell goes off, and any ability score costs are doubled.

Occultist spells have a cost. This cost comes in many forms, the most common of which is ability burn. Once a spell is cast, it drains energy from the occultist’s body or else causes corporeal corruption of the occultist’s form. This is ability burn. Ability burn is like ability damage, except that it cannot be healed by any means save time.

Reading a given tome for spells causes madness and takes time. See the chart below for the given times and madness gain.

{table=head]Tome class|Examination Period|Decipher Script check|Number of spells|Initial Madness|Madness upon completion
A|1 week|20|0|1t/0p|2t/0p
B|1 week|20|1|1t/0p|3t/0p
C|1 week|25|2|1t/0p|4t/0p
D|2 weeks|25|1d4|2t/0p|3t/0p
E|2 weeks|25|1d6|2t/0p|3t/0p
F|2 weeks|25|3|2t/0p|3t/1p
G|2 weeks|30|1d6+1|3t/0p|3t/1p
H|3 weeks|20|1d4+1|3t/0p|3t/1p
I|3 weeks|25|1d6|3t/0p|3t/1p
J|3 weeks|30|1d4+5|3t/0p|3t/1p[/table]

Note that tomes have “classes.” This exists merely for ease of reference and of the not having to write down all that crazy stuff for every new tome that gets listed.

The Gods Themselves
Research into the nature of the dead gods has revealed their names and the things they once were worshipped for. Those who know of their names and godly domains can perhaps utilize them to puzzle out the names and powers of new spells.

Aball Hadez: A god of language and glyphs, dungeons, and traps, Aball Hadez was a patron of bookkeepers and librarians, as well as students, translators, and even torturers. He guided ancient wizards in their studies and aided those who would uncover the truth. Now, his corrupt prayers dazzle or blind onlookers, conceal, and reveal information better left buried.

Alaqui: Alaqui was a goddess of change and of nature. She ruled over the beasts of the forest and of the wild things within man. She was a fertility goddess, providing bounty to the world. In death, her once freely granted spells serve to transmute other creatures, form living things from the dust of the earth, stunt crops, and otherwise toy with the aspects of nature she once defended.

Daggros: A god of heroes and justice, Daggros was the consummate warrior, a master of arms, and a keeper of honorable battle. He protected warriors and was prayed to when battle seemed imminent. Warriors called out to him in the fields, with every swing of their blades and every crash of metal on metal. He was strength personified, granting warriors great strength, thickening their skin, and guiding their blows. Now, his corrupt prayers augment and change living beings in horrible ways.

Ishina’tah: A goddess of the human animal and of desire, Ishina'tah often appeared as a beautiful woman surrounded by myriad foods and servants in various states of undress. The magic she granted her worshippers was to bring beauty and wonder to the world, as well as a healthy amount of foods and other things used not just to feed others, but to feed decadence and enjoyment. Her domain now lies wracked with green and poisoned marble, and her will is corrupted to temptation and gluttony.

Knoph-Geh: A dark god of death and destruction, Knoph-Geh once preached that all things eventually spiral into despair and death. He once granted his worshippers the power to raise armies of the damned to serve them. In his own death, his power is drawn upon to further his own twisted agenda, in a spate of irony, his energies are utilized exactly as he would in life, though he no longer gives them knowingly. Many spells of Knoph-Geh are necromantic in nature, sapping life energy or twisting it to the caster’s desires.

Ling Shau: Ling Shau was a goddess of the sea. Storms, endless waves, and the crushing depths of the ocean were hers to lord over as ultimate ruler. Now creatures of unearthly shapes and hideous, glistening countenance cry her name in vain, and her spells rule over the vast and mind-bending loneliness of the true depths of the ocean, where ancient and forbidden things sleep and stir.

Shing Havur: A revealer of truth and the bearer of knowledge to humanity, Shing Havur is usually depicted as an elderly gentleman with a book full of the secrets of existence. His death-energies are used to fuel spells of divination and learning, though the secrets revealed are tinged with wretched and terrible promises that teeter on the edge of eternal abysses wrapped in fetid vapors.

Shyr: God of artifice and creation. Shyr’s domain now consists of rusted trees somewhere between machine and flesh, bizarre black bat-winged creatures, oil rains, and sapient mechanical denizens with dark designs. Smog-wracked coal-colored towers dominate cityscapes and razor edged metallic grasses choke the oily rivers. Strange mist floats here, mist that squeals and pops when set to flame, and that devours the unwary piece by piece, transforming them painfully into more of the fog.

Url Getad: The god of insects and secrets. While Shing Havur revealed, Url Getad hid and sequestered for his own ends and purposes. Little has changed in those eternal years between his death and the use of his corrupt power by humanity. His power is still a discoverer of secrets, but also reveals terrible, unadulterated truth.

Ancient Beings
There were many ancient races on the surface of Aesca, eldritch and eternal powers who once ruled the world. Much of their knowledge has faded to memory, but enough remains for Occultists to draw power from.
The Iokyu were among the first to find and live upon the world, supposedly before even life came to Aesca, before the One Thousand Things, before the Mother of All Things. During the time of the Dragon Kings, they were astral predators who fed upon those serpents that went wandering. It is said that they were the enemies of the other beings using the world at that time, and eventually were sealed away during a vast war that spanned millions of years. The world was eventually abandoned again, but the deep prisons of the Iokyu remain, as do many of their enemies. Iokyu are inky-black serpents of impossible shape and size possessing three eyes. They can, however, take humanoid shape, and often do, through no intent of their own, when dealing with humans.

Occultist Spells
Occultists glean spells from ancient tomes, ruins, and other, darker places, learning and compiling magical knowledge wherever they can. Using the dark knowledge they possess, they filter the unused power of dead gods into their bodies, risking soul and sanity in the pursuit of great strength.

All occult spells have both verbal and somatic components, but no material components. Using a focus, such as the holy symbol of a deity whose energies rule over the power of a given spell, grants a +1 bonus on the saving throw DC (See the feat “Trappings”). Such foci cannot be bought, only found or given.

hiryuu

2010-03-14, 09:33 PM

Occult Spell List
Aball Hadez’s Glyph: You sicken and stun a nearby creature.
Banishment of Url Getad: A single victim is hurled into a pocket dimension.
Banishment of the Rancid Husk: You encase your victim in a foul-smelling cocoon.
Blight: A foe suffers a penalty on attack rolls and takes Constitution damage.
Bounty of the Deep: You summon a school of fish.
Call Blight Flower: Summons a blight flower to aid you.
Call of the Third Eye: You summon a shadowy Iokyu to bargain with or fight for you.
Close the Wounds: You heal, but at a price.
Corrupted Might: You gain an attack and damage bonus.
Crushing Despair: One victim suffers a penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks.
Cursed Barbs: Entangles enemy in emaciated vines, deals damage.
Dark Dreams: A single creature sees you in a dream.
Dark Rising: You animate a zombie.
Dark Speech of Knoph-Geh: You stun nearby creatures with hideous speech.
Eldritch Fire: Ancient fires burn your enemies.
Eldritch Might: You cause explosive, damaging, and mutating bonuses to strength.
Eldritch Shield: A foul aura grants you protection from the next occult spell cast at you.
False Vision: Creates a tactile, audible, and visual illusion.
Fangs of the Iokyu: A phantom maw grapples and pins a target.
Fires of Heaven: A beam of light deals 1d6 damage per level and detonates.
Grasp of the Burning Soul: Your touch attack deals 1d6 fire damage and corrupts the body.
Ignorant Body: Your body ignores well, everything, for the time being.
Life of Shyr: You bring objects to life.
Misdirected Mind: You make someone think another is you or an ally.
Muddle Sensation: You dim and befuddle a creature’s senses.
Open Third Eye: You can see beyond what the eyes can see.
Rain of Shadows: Black ichor falls from the sky, slowing those it hits.
Raise the Fallen: You restore life to someone, but at what cost?
Ravage the Mind: You tear into someone's thoughts.
Rewards of the Deep: You summon a large school of fish and golden artifacts.
Seal: You deal damage to an extraplanar entity.
Shing Havur’s Mirror: The next spell that would target you specifically rebounds.
Shyr’s Marionette: You animate objects to move at your command.
Shroud of Mists: Shadow, foul aura grants +2 or higher Def bonus and sickens.
Song of Alaqui: Damage plants and plant creatures.
Sign of Shing Havur: Your next spell becomes harder to resist.
Speak in Tongues: You can speak any language.

The Spells

Aball Hadez’s Glyph
Evocation (Aball Hadez)
Cost: 1 Constitution and 1 Wisdom
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude partial (12 + Int modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes
You draw a series of hideous and flowing red lines in the air that converge into a sigil not seen on this world for eons. All those fools within range who dare act against you (this means all opponents) are wracked with burning pain as they gaze upon the blasphemous sigil. If they succeed at their Fortitude saves, they suffer a –2 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws for 1d6 rounds. Those who fail are instead stunned for 1d4 rounds.

Banishment of Url Getad
Transmutation (Teleportation, Url Getad)
Cost: 2 Dexterity
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (12 + Int modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes
With a palm, you push a victim within one size category of yourself backwards, causing them to fall out of existence and into a place that resembles Godstench, a place where green and brown mists hang in the air. The subject cannot move, but is still fully aware of what happens around it. The creature returns unharmed to the spot it was removed from. If the space is occupied, then the victim returns to the nearest empty space. This spell cannot be used to cage someone (by placing a crate or box over the area); they simply appear in the nearest open space.

Banishment of the Rancid Husk
Conjuration (Alaqui)
Cost: 1 Dexterity
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: See below
Spell Resistance: Yes
Thick, greasy strands of strange greenish-brown matter not unlike a cross between mucous and caterpillar’s silk encase your victim, which must be large or smaller. The target is allowed a Reflex save (DC 12 + your Intelligence modifier). If he succeeds, he is entangled, but on a failure, the target is immobilized, helpless, and unable to move, completely encased in the rapidly hardening husk. The shell has a hardness of 10 and hit points equal to twice your level.
The husk exudes a horrible stench, and everyone within a 20 foot radius of the encased creature or the pile of matter must make a Fortitude save (DC 12 + your Intelligence modifier) or become sickened so long as they remain within the area.

Blight
Necromancy (Alaqui)
Cost: 1 Constitution
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude half (DC 14 + Int modifier); see below
Spell Resistance: Yes
Calling on twisted fungi and wretched swamp waters, you deal 1d4 points of Constitution damage to an enemy, and that victim suffers a -2 penalty on attack rolls (plus an additional -1 for each four levels, so -3 at 4th, -4 at 8th, to a maximum of -5 at 12th). An enemy that succeeds in his saving throw only takes half the Constitution damage, but the attack penalty remains. An enemy that succeeds on his saving throw cannot be affected by it again until his ability damage heals.

Bounty of the Deep
Conjuration (Ling Shau)
Cost: 1 Constitution
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: See Text
Target: one creature
Duration: See Text
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
This spell directs a group of fish with total hit dice equal to 2 plus 1/2 your level (monster hit dice count as levels for this purpose), with no one fish exceeding 4 hit dice. This can either call fish to a body of water or port near you or it can send them to an area. In either case the target location must be an area reasonably habitable by the fish and within the general likeness of their natural habitat (fresh vs. salt water, temperature, acidity, etc.). You designate a general port, shore, lake, or other body of water or area therein for them to go to. The fish arrive magically within 1d4 minutes. This spell grants no mental control or mastery over the fish. The fish can leave within 1 hour if there is no food available, or within 1 week if a food supply is available, but in either case may decide simply to stay.

Call Blight Flower
Conjuration (Alaqui)
Cost: 2 Wisdom
Casting Time: 1 full round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft. / 2 levels)
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: No
This spell calls a Blight Flower from Alaqui’s domain to fight for you. The creature can battle or perform any other services required of it. The blight flower appears where you designate within range and acts immediately upon the casting of the spell.
Species Traits
Pollen (Su, 2 mp): A blight flower can, as a standard action, surround itself with a flurry of pollen. This is a burst of 30 feet, and carries an inhalation vector poison with a Fortitude save DC 16. The initial damage is 1d2 Dexterity and the secondary damage is 1d6 Strength.
Blight Flower: CR 4; Medium-size Outsider; HD 4d8+16; hp 34; MD 4d10+12; mp 34; Mas 18; Init +2; Spd 30 ft., Climb 30 ft.; Defense 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+2 Dex, +4 natural); BAB +3; Grap +4; Atk +4, 1d6+1 (vines/slam); FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SQ Pollen, damage reduction 5/+1, blindsight 120 ft., acid resistance 5, cold resistance 5; AL Alaqui, summoner; SV Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +6; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 13, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 8, Wis 14, Cha 16.
Skills: Intimidate +10, Spot +9, Listen +9.
Feats: Alertness, Power Attack.
Possessions: None.
Advancement: -

Call of the Third Eye
Conjuration (Iokyu)
Cost: 4 Strength, 2 Dexterity, 4 Constitution, 10 Wisdom, 2 action points
Casting Time: 2 hours
Range: Special
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: No
You draw a ritual circle, giving prayers to dead gods and offerings to mysterious spirits. At the end of the ritual, you make a Knowledge (Occult Lore) check DC 20. If you succeed, the spell works, but if you fail, you take the ability burn as normal.
This spell summons an Iokyu. Whether it is kindly disposed to you or not is at question. If you have something to offer, it is possible the creature is willing to bargain with you. If not, the creature may still bargain, but its price will be dictated as opposed to settled on by mutual agreement. Once in the real world, the Iokyu is free to act as it pleases; the creature is not beholden to you. Note that such creatures have not been seen on the world in ten thousand years at least.
Species Traits
Immunities (Ex): An Iokyu is immune to poison, paralysis, polymorph effects, electricity, and fire damage.
Alternate Form (Su, 1 mp): An Iokyu can take the form of a normal human as a standard action. While in this form, however, the Iokyu still has three eyes.
Skill Bonus: An Iokyu gains a +4 species bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive checks.
Devour Soul (Su, 50 mp): An Iokyu can devour the soul of a living person through its eye, thus making the victim immortal. A victim gains Fast Healing 4 and becomes immune to disease, stunning, and critical hits. The downside? The victim is beholden to the Iokyu, and dies if the Iokyu in question does, or if the Iokyu wills it. An Iokyu often asks for a price when negotiating to make humans immortal, hoping that the human does not know the downside to the bargain.
Take (Su, 5 mp): An Iokyu can, as a full round action, “take” body parts. It simply reaches out and the parts leave. The removed part is simply gone, unless a soul or vital organ was taken, in which case a saving throw is involved (Fortitude, DC 27). Otherwise, the target receives no save. Common sense dictates the effect. A missing eye means a penalty on ranged attacks, and a missing mouth means no speech or eating.
Wish (Sp; 100 mp): An Iokyu can grant wishes, but only to others.
Artifice (Su): Iokyu can make magic items normally. Iokyu-made magic items are covered in runes and often made of driftwood or coral.
Iokyu: CR 20; Medium-size Outsider; HD 20d8+100; hp 190; MD 20d10+140; mp 250; Mas 21; Init +5; Spd 30 ft., fly 150 ft. (perfect); Defense 15, touch 14, flat-footed 11 (+4 Dex, +1 natural); BAB +20; Grap +21; FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SQ damage reduction 15/+3, immunities, darkvision 120 ft., blindsight 120 ft., low-light vision, alternate form, skill bonus, devour soul, take, acid resistance 20, cold resistance 20, sonic/concussion resistance 20; AL any it feels like; SV Fort +17, Ref +17, Will +20; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 13, Dex 20, Con 21, Int 26, Wis 26, Cha 24.
Skills: Appraise +24, Bluff +27, Diplomacy +31, Intimidate +27, Knowledge (any six) +24, Listen +26, Spot +26, Sense Motive +28, Hide +21, Move Silently +21, Spellcraft +24, Use Magic Device +23, Concentration +21.
Feats: Alertness, Archaic Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Focus (longsword), Improved Critical, Power Attack.
Possessions: None.
Advancement: By character class.

Close the Wounds
Necromancy (Healing, Alaqui)
Cost: 1 Wisdom, plus see below
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
Upon completion of this spell, you accelerate the natural healing process to near-instant, and all that goes with it. Gangrene sets in and chews at flesh, the wound closes, heals, scabs, and the scab sloughs off, all in a matter of seconds. The target takes at least 1 point of Strength damage and heals an amount of wounds equal to the additional price you pay. At base, you heal 1d8 + your level (maximum 5) hit points of damage. For an additional 1 Wisdom, you heal 2d8 + your level (maximum 10) damage, and the target receives another point of Strength damage. For an additional 1 Wisdom and 1 Strength, the target receives 3d8 points of healing + your level (maximum 15) and receives 2 additional points of Strength damage. For an additional 2 Wisdom and 2 Strength, the target receives 4d8 + your level (maximum 20) points of healing, and takes an additional 3 points of Strength damage and 1 point of Dexterity damage. Your target loses mana equal to the amount of hit points healed and suffers one wound level.

Corrupted Might
Evocation (Daggros)
Cost: 1 Intelligence
Casting time: Standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 minute
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Calling upon strength unused for millennia, you suffuse your body with a foul odor and drip black ichor from your pores. You gain a +1 luck bonus to attack and damage rolls while the duration lasts, +1 for every three levels you have attained (maximum +3).

Crushing Despair
Enchantment (Daggros)
Cost: 1 Wisdom
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
You fill an enemy with fear and dread, casting doubt upon the outcome of battle or any endeavor. The victim suffers a -1 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. This penalty increases by an additional -1 for each 5 levels you possess, to a maximum of -5 at 20th level.

Cursed Barbs
Transmutation (Alaqui)
Cost: 1 Dexterity, 1 Strength
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area: 40-ft.-radius spread
Duration: 1 min/level (D)
Saving Throw: Reflex partial; see below
Spell Resistance: No
Twisted purple vines erupt from the ground in a cacophony of thorns and dark leaves. Creatures in the area take 1d4 damage and are trapped by the vines, held fast and entangled. A creature can break free and move at half its normal speed by making a DC 20 Strength check or a DC 20 escape artist check, but in so doing, the creature takes an additional 1d4 damage. A creature that succeeds at its Reflex save is not entangled and takes only half damage, but moves only at half speed through the area. Each round on your turn, the plants attempt to ensnare anyone still moving through the area.

Dark Dreams of Ishina’tah
Enchantment (Ishina’tah)
Cost: 2 Charisma
Casting Time: 3 Actions
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One person
Duration: 24 hours (but see below)
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
By drawing upon the decadence of Ishina’tah and animal instinct within the human mind, the occultist can manipulate a given target. The occultist focuses her gaze on a victim; the next time the target goes to sleep, they have graphic, torrid dreams about the caster within a palace of marble surrounded by innumerable bounty. These dreams are exceptionally graphic and vivid. Within the next 24 hours of meeting the victim after such dreams, the caster receives a +10 bonus on any Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate checks made specifically against the target. Such checks made in an attempt to seduce the target receive a +15 bonus instead.

Dark Rising
Necromancy (Knoph-Geh)
Cost: 2 Strength, 3 Constitution, 1 Wisdom
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Touch
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You touch a corpse, and it immediately rises as a zombie. As long as you remain within line of sight, the zombie follows your instructions. If you leave line of sight, the zombie continues on its own agenda, and it’s hungry for the flesh of the living. The foul mists that fuel it and spill from its mouth and eyes escape into those it bites, ensuring that upon their death, they also rise as free-willed undead just like it (Fortitude save DC 12 + your Intelligence modifier negates). As opposed to normal zombies, the creature and any zombies it creates have an Intelligence score of 2 and an automatic allegiance to evil and chaos.

Dark Speech of Knoph-Geh
Evocation (Knoph-Geh)
Cost: 1d2 Strength
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./ level)
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (12 + Int modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes
From your mouth utters a strange and guttural series of blasphemies and hideous speech that tears at the inside of your throat. One target within range hears the words and their promises of fathoming energies beyond the Realms human minds can know, and is stunned for 1d4 rounds plus 1 round for every level you have attained (Max +5).
Tomes: Mostly found in tomes or on walls dating back to the Era of Learning, this spell is a basic spell for the worshippers of Knoph-Geh. It was one of the first spells the original occultists decoded and was instrumental in leading to the development and alteration of other, older spells.

Eldritch Fire
Evocation (All)
Cost: 1 Charisma
Casting time: Attack action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./ 2 levels)
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
This is the bread and butter of the occultist’s arsenal. After speaking the dark and grating incantation, the caster’s hand glows with a pale and sickly green light. The energy leaps out at the occultist’s victim, dealing 1d6 points of damage for every two levels of the occultist (maximum 5d6).
Tomes: This spell is found in practically every tome, it’s like it’s the hat of eldritch power: everybody’s got one.

Eldritch Might
Transmutation (Daggros, Knoph-Geh)
Cost: 2 Strength
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless) (DC 12 + Int Modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes
You instill chaotic, swirling energies into the target, causing his or her muscles to quiver and grow, erupting into uncontrollable spasms of horrible pain. The explosive muscular growth causes wracking sensations, offering out a -2 penalty to Defense for your victim…er, target. However, the best part is that when it matters, the target gets to roll 1d6+1 per round and add that total to his or her Strength as an enhancement bonus so that each round, the enhancement bonus offered to Strength is new and different (as are the muscle groups that keep building and rebuilding themselves on the inside and outside of the subject’s flesh).

Eldritch Shield
Abjuration (All)
Cost: 1 Wisdom
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Personal
Target: Self
Duration: Permanent until discharged
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
An obvious, swirling mass of greenish mist surrounds your body, emitting a strange stench. The next time you would be targeted specifically by an occult spell, the spell is instead disrupted and its effects canceled.

False Vision
Illusion (Figment)
Cost: 3 Wisdom, 2 Intelligence
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft. /level)
Effect: Visual figment that cannot extend beyond four 10-ft. cubes + one 10-ft. cube/level (S)
Duration: Concentration + 3 rounds
Saving Throw: Will disbelief
Spell Resistance: None
This spell creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force, as visualized by you. It includes sound, tactile, and thermal effects. You can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect.

Fangs of the Iokyu
Conjuration (Iokyu)
Cost: 2 Wisdom, 1 Charisma
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
The Iokyu were known for their dark silhouettes and bared teeth. This spell calls up a shadowy Iokyu and its bared, gleaming maw to bite at your enemies. The illusion resembles a shadowy humanoid lying on the ground, propped up by its hands and snapping at foes below it. Treat the figure as a 20 foot radius of shadowy illumination (20% concealment for all inside), and treat the entity (or rather, its teeth) as a large creature with a Strength of 19 and a base attack bonus equal to your caster level. Each round, on your turn, it attempts to grapple an enemy, the closest to its open mouth. If it succeeds, it lifts the victim into the air 5 feet and begins to chew, making a new grapple check each round and dealing 1d6+4 damage if it succeeds. They continue to crush until the spell ends or the opponent escapes, and which point it keeps attacking.

Fire of Heaven
Evocation (All)
Cost: 4 Charisma
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Saving Throw: Reflex half (DC 13 + Int modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes
A thin bolt of white light streaks down from the heavens and detonates, causing 1d6 points of fire damage per character level (max 10d6) to everything within a 15-foot radius. The spell does not set fire to objects, but will destroy them.

Grasp of the Burning Soul
Evocation
Cost: 2 Charisma
Range: Touch
Casting Time: 1 action
Duration: 1 round per level (max 10)
Saving Throw: Fortitude partial (DC 11 + Intelligence modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes
You draw upon the Godstench to fuel a green and sickly fire, but instead of hurling it, you touch your foe directly. Your touch attack deals 1d6 fire damage, and forces the creature hit to make a Fortitude save or take 1 point of temporary Constitution damage.

Ignorant Body
Abjuration
Cost: 4 Constitution, 2 Charisma, 3 Strength
Casting Time: Full-round action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: See below
Spell Resistance: See below
Your body ignores reality for a time. You become immune to damage, the effects of all magic and spells, poison, paralysis, disease, stunning, death effects, starvation, suffocation, blindness, deafness, and anything that would affect or harm you in any way. At the end of the duration, however, all of these effects that would have occurred during the time you were immune all trigger on the same round that the spell ends. For example, if you cast this spell and were poisoned, shot three times, and then drowned in a river, you would still live, unharmed, until the spell’s duration wore off, at which point you would take the total damage from being shot, make a saving throw against the poison, and then possibly die from suffocation and drowning.

Life of Shyr
Transmutation (Shyr)
Cost: 2 Charisma, 1 Constitution
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets: One Small object per level; see text
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Shyr was a god of artifice, and his lingering energies can imbue properties into objects, however temporarily. With a flourish and shadowed words, you grasp the smoke-choked sky of Shyr’s domain and imbue inanimate objects with mobility, mortality, and a semblance of life. Each such animated object then immediately attacks whomever or whatever you initially designate.
An animated object can be of any nonmagical material. You may animate one Small or smaller object or an equivalent number of larger objects per caster level. A Medium object counts as two Small or smaller objects, a Large object as four, a Huge object as eight, a Gargantuan object as sixteen, and a Colossal object as thirty-two. You can change the designated target or targets as a move action, as if directing an active spell.
This spell cannot animate objects carried or worn by a creature.

Misdirected Mind
Enchantment (Mind Affecting, Ishina’tah)
Cost: 2 Charisma, 2 Wisdom
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (DC 13 + Intelligence modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes
When you complete this spell and point at your chosen victim and another subject, you immediately become that person in the victim’s eyes. For example, you could cast this spell at two security guards, and your chosen victim would immediately believe that you were the security guard he’s known all his life, and that his once companion was you, and you just cast a spell at him. Attacking the target cancels this effect (“You’re not Martha!”).

Muddle Sensation
Enchantment
Cost: 1 Charisma, 1 Dexterity
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./level
Target: One creature
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (DC 13 + Intelligence modifier)
Spell Resistance: Yes
You befuddle and reduce a target’s senses, making it hard for him to move in the world around him. The victim receives a -2 penalty on Spot, Listen, and Search checks, and treats the world as though night had fallen (shadowy illumination), granting all others around him 20% concealment. The penalty on Spot, Listen, and Search checks is increased by an additional -1 for every six levels you have attained, to a maximum of -5 at 18th level.

Open Third Eye
Divination (Iokyu)
Cost: 2 Intelligence, 2 Strength, 3 Charisma, 1 Constitution
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 min./level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You call upon the knowledge and Wisdom of the Iokyu to open a strange eye on your brow, one which flickers with a green light. You confer on yourself the ability to see all things as they actually are. You see through normal and magical darkness, notice secret doors hidden by magic, see the exact locations of creatures or objects under blur or displacement effects, see invisible creatures or objects normally, see through illusions, and see the true form of polymorphed, changed, or transmuted things. Further, the subject can focus its vision to see into the Near Realm (but not into other extradimensional spaces). The range of sight conferred is 120 feet. You gain a +4 bonus on Spot and Search checks while the spell is active. The third eye negates concealment of all types while the duration lasts.

Rain of Shadows
Conjuration (Shyr, Alaqui)
Cost: 3 Wisdom, 1 Constitution
Casting Time: Full round action
Range: Medium (100 ft. plus 10 ft./level)
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Reflex partial (see below)
Spell Resistance: No
You fill a twenty foot radius area up to forty feet high with a dark, sticky rain that spatters on the ground and then slips away beneath the earth. Those who fail their Reflex saves take a 20 foot enhancement penalty to their speed and take 1d4 points of negative energy damage per level (maximum 5d4) (Reflex halves the speed penalty and the damage; Evasion covers only the damage, not the speed penalty). The saving throw is made only once. The rain makes it difficult to use magic. Ability burn costs are increased by 1 Wisdom, and mana costs increase by 1 point.

Raise the Fallen
Necromancy (All)
Cost: 10 Wisdom, see below.
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Touch
Target: One dead creature
Saving Throw: Will negates (DC 19 + Intelligence modifier)
Spell Resistance: No
You restore life to a deceased creature. The creature can have been dead for up to 10 years per caster level. A raised creature has a number of hit points equal to its current Hit Dice. Any ability scores damaged to 0 are raised to 1. Normal poison and normal disease are cured in the process of raising the subject, but magical diseases and curses are not undone. While the spell closes mortal wounds and repairs lethal damage of most kinds, the body of the creature to be raised must be whole. Otherwise, missing parts are still missing when the creature is brought back to life. None of the dead creature’s equipment or possessions are affected in any way by this spell. Upon casting this spell, you gain 5 points of permanent madness. This spell cannot bring back a creature that has died of old age. This spell can resurrect elementals and outsiders and destroyed undead.
This spell has a price. In order for it to work, you must sacrifice an unwilling creature (or, barring that, yourself) that is at least ten years younger than the target. This restriction does not apply if you use yourself as the sacrifice.

Ravage the Mind
Necromancy (All)
Cost: 1 Intelligence, 2 Strength.
Casting Time: 1 standard
Range: Touch
Target: One creature
Saving Throw: Will half (DC 12 + Intelligence modifier)
Spell Resistance: No
You claw at the victim's mental pathways, ravaging them with tendrils of your own mad thoughts. The victim takes 1d4 points of Intelligence damage, and, on a failed save, is stunned for one round.

Rewards of the Deep
Conjuration
Cost: 5 Constitution
Casting Time: 10 minutes
As bounty of the deep, but this summons an entire school of fish, and also brings forth 1d6 of the golden artifacts used to summon dwellers. These artifacts are useless for any other purpose and have no sale value.

Seal
Evocation (All)
Cost: 1 Charisma, 1 Strength, 1 Wisdom
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5ft./2 levels)
Target: 1 outsider
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
You draw a one to two inch wide circle in the mud, with chalk or pencil on a wall, or with whatever is available and how, touching it with one finger and pointing at an outsider with another. When you cry the name of this spell, the circle activates and becomes a small portal, ripping a chunk out of the outsider and drawing it into the circle. The outsider takes 1d6 damage for each level you have attained (maximum 15d6). If this damage kills the outsider in question, all of its remains are sapped into the circle in a stream of innards and gore. In this case, any death throe ability it may have is negated.
Tomes: This spell was specifically designed to combat the natives of the plane of Shyr, who seem to have dark designs on the world of Aesca. The last combatant of that ancient war, an alchemist named Shukar T’lessine, left the spell practically anywhere she could reach with a pencil or carving tool.

Shing Havur’s Mirror
Abjuration (Shing Havur)
Cost: 5 Strength, 2 Wisdom
Casting Time: Full-round action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Permanent until discharged
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Your body is surrounded by an aura of obvious, crackling energy. The next time an occult spell is cast specifically at you, the spell is canceled without effect and the energy “caught” by the spell is warped and redirected at the caster. Treat the spell as though you had just cast it, but without the relevant ability burn (but with the madness gain).

Shyr’s Marionette
Transmutation (Shyr)
Cost: 1 Charisma
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: 1 object
Duration: Concentration
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You designate an object of small size within range, and it animates. It has the statistics of an animated object its size, and it follows your unspoken commands, so long as it remains in sight. To use this spell, you must have both hands free.

Shroud of Mists
Abjuration (All)
Cost: 1 Charisma, 1 Strength
Casting Time: Attack action
Range: Touch
Target: One living creature
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving Throw: None, but see below
Spell Resistance: Yes
A green, pallid aura surrounds you, obviously corrupt and filled with dark dreams of dead gods. The creature touched gains a +2 deflection bonus to its Defense. All creatures adjacent to the target must make a Fortitude save (DC 12 + your Intelligence modifier) or become sickened for 1d4+1 rounds. They must make this saving throw each time they enter the affected area. Multiple failures overlap. Creatures that succeed on their saving throws are immune to the effects for the rest of the spell’s duration. The bonus to defense granted by this spell increases by +1 for every six levels you have attained, to a maximum of +6 at 18th level.

Sign of Shing Havur
Transmutation (Shing Havur)
Cost: 2 Intelligence
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Range: Self
Target: Personal
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You draw the burning glyph of Shing Havur into your forehead, carving magical energy as it flows through you. The next spell you cast has its saving throw DC increased by +3.

Song of Alaqui
Necromancy (Alaqui)
Cost: 2 Charisma, 2 Wisdom, 1 Constitution
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: Touch
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude half (DC 14 + Intelligence modifier); see text
Spell Resistance: Yes
This spell withers a single plant of any size. An affected plant creature takes 1d6 points of damage per level (maximum 15d6) and may attempt a Fortitude saving throw for half damage. A plant that isn’t a creature doesn’t receive a save and immediately withers and dies. This spell has no effect on surrounding plant life or soil.

Speak in Tongues
Divination
Cost: 2 Charisma
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 10 minutes per level
Saving Throw: None (harmless)
Spell Resistance: No
This spell allows you to speak, understand, read, and write one additional language for the duration of its casting.