PDA

View Full Version : Greasy grimy gopher guts... for science!



superslacker
2010-05-13, 09:30 PM
Inspired by the film Stardust and the frustrating lack of options for non-divine Divination...

An archetype of divination long glossed over by most spell writers is the sacrifice of animals and the reading of their entrails, though there is historical evidence that this was among the oldest and most revered forms of fortune-telling. With spells like augury and divination readily available for clerics to gain knowledge without all the mess, it seems like adding the material component of an adorable forest animal would simply be adding flavor, but this is untrue. Being willing to sacrifice a life for knowledge, even an unintelligent one, adds a dark stain to what is otherwise often seen as a harmless "white" school of magic. The arcane structure behind this magic (i.e., the ingame nuts and bolts for why the caster's answers are in the animal's guts to begin with) also opens the door to disturbing questions such as: will I get more reliable answers or answers to more difficult questions in the entrails of intelligent creatures? Do the entrails of familiars or animal companions contain information about their masters? With a little thought it is easy to see what a slippery slope an animal-sacrifice divination variant can be, and thus what a wonderful tool for neutral/evil characters.

Entrails
Divination (see notes)
Adept 2, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, M, F
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous

Sacrificing the life of a small animal (a living creature with the animal subtype), you gain the answer to a specific question by examining its precisely butchered remains. The question must be specific enough to be answered in three words or less and can only be used to answer questions about events that have already occurred--in other words, this spell cannot see into the future, though you of course may deduce a course of action based upon the answer to a question you had no mundane way of attaining. The base chance of gleaning a correct answer to your question from this grisly method is 50% + 2%/caster level + 4 x the HD of the sacrificed creature, to a maximum of 95%. Thus, Griselle the 5th level witch, sacrificing a 1/4 HD bat has a 61% chance of reading its remains correctly and gaining the answer to her question. However, were she to sacrifice a 1 HD wolf instead, her chance of a correct answer would jump to 64%. Though unpleasant, this spell is not considered evil.
However, a darker potential exists. Sacrificing a magical beast, humanoid, or any other living creature with at least a 3 Intelligence that is also not immune to critical hits changes the formula for success significantly: 50% +2%/caster level + 10 x the HD of the sacrificed creature, with a maximum of 100% reliability. For example, Griselle gets hold of a nixie in the pond near her hut, and lacking any other use, decides to read its entrails. Her chance of success is 50% + 10% for being 5th level + 20% for the nixie's 2 HD for a staggering 80% chance of getting a useful answer. Used in this manner, the spell gains the evil descriptor and is considered an evil act.
If either use of the spell fails, the caster has a 50% chance of knowing it has failed (i.e., unable to get a reading). Otherwise they derive a false answer from the spell.

Material Component: The creature to be sacrificed, which must be living, subject to critical hits, and at least 1/4 HD.
Arcane Focus: A silver, glass, or stone knife worth at least 10 gp, used to sacrifice the creature.

Innards
Divination (see notes)
Adept 4, Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M, F
Casting Time: 5 minutes
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Instantaneous

This spell functions as entrails, above, but the spell can see approximately one week into the future and thus questions asked and answers given may be about events that have not occurred. However, it is important to note that any answers given are purely information: there is no higher power phrasing it in terms to further its own purpose, nor is there any hint of an opinion or possibility of suggesting a course of action. For example, it may indicate that all other things being equal, Bartholomew the witch-hunting paladin will come into Griselle's swamp this Thursday, but will not suggest a course of action on how to change that fact nor will it update the caster if that changes.

Critiques welcome, though a response might be awhile (deploying).

Jarrick
2010-05-13, 11:13 PM
I approve. This is cool. *Copypastesave* :smallbiggrin: