dspeyer
2012-03-12, 06:30 PM
The Ritualist
The world is full of arcane power. Tapping it is the hard part.
It takes more than a few unintelligible words and fleeting gestures to access the world's power. Beginning ritualists may spend years learning theory before even attempting a ritual, and first rituals hardly ever succeed. A single line half a degree out of place can bring down an entire resonance. But for those with the patience, determination and skill to succeed, ritual casting opens a tremendous wealth of possibilities.
levelfortrefwillbabspecialcantrips knownmax spell level
10020cantrips, ritual casting, cantripify31
20031arcane blast 1d641
3113142
41142specialize52
5114253
62253arcane blast 2d663
7225364
82264multitarget64
9336465
103375arcane blast 3d665
11337566
124486imbue66
13448667
144497arcane blast 4d667
15559768
1655108steadymind68
175510869
1866119arcane blast 5d669
1966119deep understanding69
20661210create arcane seed69
Hit die: d4
Skills: 2+int
Class Skills: Concentration, Knowledge(arcana), Knowledge(religion), Knowledge(the planes), Spellcraft (see also the specialize class feature)
Ritualists cast from the sor/wiz list (known as the sor/rit list in places where wizards are a dim and implausible legend) and use intelligence to determine save DCs where relevant.
cantrips(su): Cantrips are bits of arcane magic too simple to be true spells. A ritualist knows a fixed number of cantrips and can use them at will. Once chosen, the cantrips cannot be changed.
ritual casting(su): A ritualist can cast powerful spells via elaborate rituals. To perform a ritual, she must have detailed instructions for it (most ritualists keep spellbooks for this purpose) and be well-rested (8 hours rest out of the past 24). The ritual itself generally consists of drawing an elaborate diagram on the floor (usually in chalk) then performing a series of chants and gestures. If the ritual is performed correctly, the spell will then take effect. If not, all the effort is wasted.
Advanced ritualists can abbreviate rituals by freehanding key curves and by visualizing instead of drawing some of the components. Less advanced ritualists who attempt this generally fail and achieve nothing. It is critical for a ritualist to know the extent of her own abilities.
Before starting, the ritualist must decide how abbreviated a form to use. At the end of the ritual, she makes a spellcraft check to see if the ritual was successful (the dc is determined by the level of the spell and the time spent casting it, see table below). If the caster is interrupted, she must make a concentration check or start over. Note that a ritual takes the entire time listed, so a 1 round casting takes effect on the beginning of the caster's next action.
lvl8h1h10m2m5r2r1r
1st10172431384552
2nd14212835424956
3rd18253239465360
4th22293643505764
5th26334047546168
6th30374451586572
7th34414855626976
8th38455259667380
9th42495663707784
No magic can be used to directly aid the performance of the ritual as that would create a destructive feedback loop. An item or effect that boosts intelligence or all skills can function, just not one that specifically boosts spellcraft.
cantripify(su): Upon completing a ritual, instead of releasing the spell, the caster may compress it into a single-use cantrip and hold it inside her soul. She can then release the spell as if it were a cantrip she knew (action and components as listed in the spell discription) except that once cast that cantrip is gone.
A ritualist may hold levels of cantrips equal to her caster level (so a 3rd level Ritualist could hold cantrips of a 2nd level and a 1st level spell, or three 1st level spells). At any time, she may drop a readied cantrip (presumably to make room for a different room), in which case the energy drains harmlessly into the astral plain. Readied cantrips can be destroyed by Dispel Magic and similar effects, but the ritualist holding the cantrip gains a +10 circumstance bonus to any opposed caster level check.
If a ritualist has Silent Spell, Still Spell, Quicken Spell or similar feats, they apply to releasing the cantrip, not performing the ritual.
arcane blast(su): While shaping arcane energy to a purpose takes time, simply hurling it at an enemy does not. Once a ritualist becomes familiar with arcane energy, she may form it into a destructive beam. The beam has a range of 60ft and requires a standard action and a ranged touch attack.
specialize(ex): For those who take it seriously, spellcraft is not a single subject: it is nine. In addition to putting ranks in spellcraft, a ritualist may put ranks in spellcraft(abjuration), spellcraft(conjuration) and so forth. These new skills are treated as class skills for ritualists but for no other classes (not even factotums). When making a spellcraft check related to that school, a ritualist adds both ranks in general spellcraft and ranks in the school's spellcraft (as well as int modifier and any relevant bonuses).
multitarget(su): When casting a ritual (not as a cantrip) that affects a single creature or object other than the caster, the ritualist may instead effect up to 5 creatures or objects. All the targets must be present at the end of the ritual.
imbue(su): When casting a ritual (not as a cantrip) that affects a single creature or object, the ritualist may instead imbue the target with the spell. She must set a simple trigger for the spell to take effect (e.g. when attacked or when the person holding it shouts "for Heironius!"). When the trigger takes place, the spell takes effect immediately. Any given target may only hold one imbued spell at a time. Imbued spells can be destroyed by Dispel Magic and similar effects.
steadymind(ex): A ritualist may take 10 on spellcraft checks to perform rituals even when threatened.
deep understanding(su): A sufficiently advanced ritualist can recognize how even complex spells are in a sense elements of the universe. She selects 3 level 1 spells and adds them to her cantrips known.
create arcane seed(su): A master ritualist may take a set of spells and embed it permenantly in the arcane structure of reality. This is known as an arcane seed. Once the seed is created, other casters can be taught to use it.
Creating an arcane seed takes 8 hours and costs 5000 xp. When casting a ritual, the ritualist may choose to place the resulting magic in the seed rather than have it take place. This costs xp of (spell level)*(number of spells already in the seed)*50. A ritualist can only add spells to seeds she created.
Once a spell is in a seed, it may be unleashed upon the world over and over again with little effort by practitioners who provide power for it. However, tapping and empowering an arcane seed is a completely different skillset from performing raw rituals, so those who create seeds rarely use them. Instead they train others to make use of the seeds. And sometimes their students train students. The Beguilers and the Warmages make use of ancient seeds, planted by forgotten ritualists.
Author's Notes:
The idea here is to keep the key ideas of a wizard (the flexibility and the power when a plan goes perfectly) but tone the overall power down to tier 3. Also I was trying to capture the feel of things like the High Magic from Mercedes Lackey's Obsidian Mountain trilogy or high-level thaumaturgy from Harry Dresden.
I'm targetting a fairly reliable 1 hour casting time for new spells in a school the character has specialized in. I hope I haven't missed something about optimizing skills.
As for Create Arcane Seed, I doubt actual PCs will find it very useful, but it's always bugged me where beguilers come from.
And a cookie for anyone who noticed the cheap shot in the flavor text.
The world is full of arcane power. Tapping it is the hard part.
It takes more than a few unintelligible words and fleeting gestures to access the world's power. Beginning ritualists may spend years learning theory before even attempting a ritual, and first rituals hardly ever succeed. A single line half a degree out of place can bring down an entire resonance. But for those with the patience, determination and skill to succeed, ritual casting opens a tremendous wealth of possibilities.
levelfortrefwillbabspecialcantrips knownmax spell level
10020cantrips, ritual casting, cantripify31
20031arcane blast 1d641
3113142
41142specialize52
5114253
62253arcane blast 2d663
7225364
82264multitarget64
9336465
103375arcane blast 3d665
11337566
124486imbue66
13448667
144497arcane blast 4d667
15559768
1655108steadymind68
175510869
1866119arcane blast 5d669
1966119deep understanding69
20661210create arcane seed69
Hit die: d4
Skills: 2+int
Class Skills: Concentration, Knowledge(arcana), Knowledge(religion), Knowledge(the planes), Spellcraft (see also the specialize class feature)
Ritualists cast from the sor/wiz list (known as the sor/rit list in places where wizards are a dim and implausible legend) and use intelligence to determine save DCs where relevant.
cantrips(su): Cantrips are bits of arcane magic too simple to be true spells. A ritualist knows a fixed number of cantrips and can use them at will. Once chosen, the cantrips cannot be changed.
ritual casting(su): A ritualist can cast powerful spells via elaborate rituals. To perform a ritual, she must have detailed instructions for it (most ritualists keep spellbooks for this purpose) and be well-rested (8 hours rest out of the past 24). The ritual itself generally consists of drawing an elaborate diagram on the floor (usually in chalk) then performing a series of chants and gestures. If the ritual is performed correctly, the spell will then take effect. If not, all the effort is wasted.
Advanced ritualists can abbreviate rituals by freehanding key curves and by visualizing instead of drawing some of the components. Less advanced ritualists who attempt this generally fail and achieve nothing. It is critical for a ritualist to know the extent of her own abilities.
Before starting, the ritualist must decide how abbreviated a form to use. At the end of the ritual, she makes a spellcraft check to see if the ritual was successful (the dc is determined by the level of the spell and the time spent casting it, see table below). If the caster is interrupted, she must make a concentration check or start over. Note that a ritual takes the entire time listed, so a 1 round casting takes effect on the beginning of the caster's next action.
lvl8h1h10m2m5r2r1r
1st10172431384552
2nd14212835424956
3rd18253239465360
4th22293643505764
5th26334047546168
6th30374451586572
7th34414855626976
8th38455259667380
9th42495663707784
No magic can be used to directly aid the performance of the ritual as that would create a destructive feedback loop. An item or effect that boosts intelligence or all skills can function, just not one that specifically boosts spellcraft.
cantripify(su): Upon completing a ritual, instead of releasing the spell, the caster may compress it into a single-use cantrip and hold it inside her soul. She can then release the spell as if it were a cantrip she knew (action and components as listed in the spell discription) except that once cast that cantrip is gone.
A ritualist may hold levels of cantrips equal to her caster level (so a 3rd level Ritualist could hold cantrips of a 2nd level and a 1st level spell, or three 1st level spells). At any time, she may drop a readied cantrip (presumably to make room for a different room), in which case the energy drains harmlessly into the astral plain. Readied cantrips can be destroyed by Dispel Magic and similar effects, but the ritualist holding the cantrip gains a +10 circumstance bonus to any opposed caster level check.
If a ritualist has Silent Spell, Still Spell, Quicken Spell or similar feats, they apply to releasing the cantrip, not performing the ritual.
arcane blast(su): While shaping arcane energy to a purpose takes time, simply hurling it at an enemy does not. Once a ritualist becomes familiar with arcane energy, she may form it into a destructive beam. The beam has a range of 60ft and requires a standard action and a ranged touch attack.
specialize(ex): For those who take it seriously, spellcraft is not a single subject: it is nine. In addition to putting ranks in spellcraft, a ritualist may put ranks in spellcraft(abjuration), spellcraft(conjuration) and so forth. These new skills are treated as class skills for ritualists but for no other classes (not even factotums). When making a spellcraft check related to that school, a ritualist adds both ranks in general spellcraft and ranks in the school's spellcraft (as well as int modifier and any relevant bonuses).
multitarget(su): When casting a ritual (not as a cantrip) that affects a single creature or object other than the caster, the ritualist may instead effect up to 5 creatures or objects. All the targets must be present at the end of the ritual.
imbue(su): When casting a ritual (not as a cantrip) that affects a single creature or object, the ritualist may instead imbue the target with the spell. She must set a simple trigger for the spell to take effect (e.g. when attacked or when the person holding it shouts "for Heironius!"). When the trigger takes place, the spell takes effect immediately. Any given target may only hold one imbued spell at a time. Imbued spells can be destroyed by Dispel Magic and similar effects.
steadymind(ex): A ritualist may take 10 on spellcraft checks to perform rituals even when threatened.
deep understanding(su): A sufficiently advanced ritualist can recognize how even complex spells are in a sense elements of the universe. She selects 3 level 1 spells and adds them to her cantrips known.
create arcane seed(su): A master ritualist may take a set of spells and embed it permenantly in the arcane structure of reality. This is known as an arcane seed. Once the seed is created, other casters can be taught to use it.
Creating an arcane seed takes 8 hours and costs 5000 xp. When casting a ritual, the ritualist may choose to place the resulting magic in the seed rather than have it take place. This costs xp of (spell level)*(number of spells already in the seed)*50. A ritualist can only add spells to seeds she created.
Once a spell is in a seed, it may be unleashed upon the world over and over again with little effort by practitioners who provide power for it. However, tapping and empowering an arcane seed is a completely different skillset from performing raw rituals, so those who create seeds rarely use them. Instead they train others to make use of the seeds. And sometimes their students train students. The Beguilers and the Warmages make use of ancient seeds, planted by forgotten ritualists.
Author's Notes:
The idea here is to keep the key ideas of a wizard (the flexibility and the power when a plan goes perfectly) but tone the overall power down to tier 3. Also I was trying to capture the feel of things like the High Magic from Mercedes Lackey's Obsidian Mountain trilogy or high-level thaumaturgy from Harry Dresden.
I'm targetting a fairly reliable 1 hour casting time for new spells in a school the character has specialized in. I hope I haven't missed something about optimizing skills.
As for Create Arcane Seed, I doubt actual PCs will find it very useful, but it's always bugged me where beguilers come from.
And a cookie for anyone who noticed the cheap shot in the flavor text.