PDA

View Full Version : [Incantations] A Wizard did it before; he can do it again



Mewtarthio
2007-11-09, 06:23 PM
Shandelm's Hybridization
Transmutation
Skill Check: Knowledge (arcana) DC 30, 5 successes; Heal DC 15, 2 successes
Failure: Death
Components: V, S, M, F, B
Casting time: 70 minutes
Range: Touch
Targets: Unconscious Animal and Humanoid touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This incantation was designed so that even the lowliest of humans could attain the power of a beast. It is one of the more painful rituals known to man, both in terms of outright physical agony and in the mental strain placed upon its subjects, and is primarily used by amoral "physicians" and insane cultists. There have been reports of subjects willingly undergoing this transformation, and it's certainly possible given the sheer number of lunatics in the world, but on the whole the victims of this spell are unwilling test subjects, or else people conscripted by highly utilitarian (or else outright evil) governments seeking to build a new "super-soldier."

In a nutshell, the casters of this incantation simply cut the subjects in half crosswise and transplant the humanoid's upper body onto the lower body of an animal that is either the same size or one size larger, using the magic of the ritual to keep both alive during the process. This has the effect of applying the Tauric template to the two subjects, provided the subject survives. The new hybrid creature does is not created with full control over its new faculties and must undergo a period of physical and mental rehabilitation, as described in "Backlash" below. Most texts detailing the use of this incantation reccomend the casting of a geas during this time: This is not strictly necessary, but is usually the only way to get any loyalty out of the creature. This can only be undone by a wish, miracle, or similar effect.

Failure
If the incantation fails, both subjects simply die messily.

Material Component
Medicinal herbs and alchemical substances worth 1,000 gp for each Hit Die of the base animal

Focus
An arcane laboratory and special equipment worth 2,000 gp

Backlash
The new hybrid creature is created with all ability scores save Con burned down to 0. This means that the subject remains immobile and unconscious for the next day and must wait and recover the damage naturally before returning to full health. Additionally, the humanoid subject (who is the controlling force of the new creature) loses a class level permanently, as though raised from the dead. Humanoids that had only one class level before the transformation (and therefore now have only Animal HD) invariably go insane.

Shandelm's Second Head
Transmutation
Skill Check: Knowledge (arcana) DC 25, 5 successes; Craft (taxidermy) DC 20, 1 success
Failure: 1d6 Con damage to subject
Components: V, S, M, XP
Casting time: 60 minutes
Range: Touch
Targets: Unconscious creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

One of Shandelm's less popular rituals, this incantation grafts an additional head onto the subject. Shandelm always complained of the difficulties involved with grafting a new head onto a subject: Though it superficially appears simpler than Shandelm's Hybridization, the difficulties involved with successfully interfacing both brains makes this much more trying on the caster. Still, it is significantly nicer to the subject (at least, to the subject that survives, assuming it can find employment despite being a horrific two-headed freak of nature).

This incantation applies the effects of the Multiheaded Template (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20020621a) to the subject. Only one head can be added per casting.

Failure
The new head is dead and useless. Fortunately, it can be removed fairly simply, as the failure of the incantation means the new head has not yet been grafted to the spinal cord. There are always still some blood vessels that now run into the useless head, however, so removing the head causes 1d6 Con damage to the subject (leaving the head attached has no downside save for the smell, appearance, and rather large blind spot). The head can also be safely removed with a heal spell.

Material Component
The severed head of another creature of the base creature's type. The head must be reasonably fresh (ie slain within the past hour) when the incantation begins. Additional costs include unguents worth 100 gp, glue, a needle, and some thread.

XP Component
75 XP per Racial Hit Die of the subject

Backlash
The subject suffers from miscellaneous psychoses for about a week following the incantation. Such illnesses include difficulty eating, speaking, or using a mouth; trouble rectifying the odd sensation of seeing through two pairs of eyes at once; aversion to mirrors; pathological fear of needles, sewing, taxidermy, and the name "Shandelm"; and mood swings between depression, complete sorrow, and rage. These are perfectly normal. Dissassociative Identity Disorder, however, is not normal, and should be reported to the most important local magical authority: You may have discovered the breakthrough Shandelm never found!

======

This last one deals with lycanthropy. I'm stating it now so that you know that, if lycanthropy is intended to be mysterious and unknowable in your campaign (or if you'd rather not trace its origins to an experiment gone horribly wrong--which is perfectly understandable, given that it's just about the only curse that a twentieth-level cleric can't fix), you should avoid this next part.

Shandelm's Elixir of Animal Form
Transmutation
Skill Check: Knowledge (arcana) DC 35, 6 successes*; Craft (Alchemy) DC 35, 5 successes
Failure: Reversal, Delusion
Components: V, S, M, F
Casting time: 90 minutes
Range: Touch
Effect: 5 doses of cursed lycanthropic poison
Duration: Until the next full moon (see below)
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (see below)
Spell Resistance: No

Shandelm intended this incantation to produce an elixir that would grant the drinker the powers of an animal without nasty side effects of Shandelm's Hybridization. Failure after failure plagued him until one full moon, when all his subject miraculously transformed into wolves (an animal which, in his mind, represented the best traits of pack hunters). He joyously stepped up production of his elixir, and it was several months before the magnitude of what he had done became clear. Shandelm's government employers soon invaded his lab to arrest him and seize his research, only to find the man himself insane and rabid following a recent slip-up. His most important work, the notes regarding the creation of his elixir, were not present and were never found.

This incantation is primarily alchemical in nature and involves performing certain procedures on animal blood, transmuting it into a liquid capable of spreading the curse of lycanthropy. It is a poison of sorts, and consuming the liquid is much like suffering the bite of a natural lycanthrope: The victim must make a DC 15 Fortitude save (provided the victim is a humanoid or giant within one size category of the base animal) or contract lycanthropy, with all the usual effects that this entails. Each successful casting produces five doses of the liquid. This liquid is also immiscible with any other substance (including lycanthropic poisons of a different animal) and lighter than water, so dilution is not a problem--one could theoretically, with enough doses, poison a well with lycanthropy. The elixir remains potent until the next full moon, after which point it turns into blood.

*A divine caster may substitute Knowledge (nature) in place of Knowledge (arcana) for the purpose of casting this incantation. Knowledge (arcana) is still the only skill that can locate the necessary instructions, however.

Failure
Mixed improperly, the elixir explodes in the face of whoever failed the second check. The resulting effect depends on the number of checks that were made successfully:
{table=head]Successful Checks | Effect
0-3 | The caster becomes startled and wet, but beyond that suffers no ill effects besides embarrassment
4-6 | The animalistic nature of lycanthropy affects the caster's mind, causing him to mistakenly believe that he has been transformed into the base animal. The caster's Int becomes 2, and he will refuse to speak or understand any language or act intelligently at all, instead emulating the behaviour of the base animal. A heal spell undoes the effect.
7-9 | The caster himself is infected with lycanthropy. Due to the volatile nature of the elixir during its creation, the caster assumes animal form immediately, as though from a failed Control Shape check, and automatically is aware of his condition. This also means that the affliction starts out too advanced for belladonna; additionally, remove disease and heal are ineffective[/table]

Material Component
The blood of an animal killed at the start of the incantation, as well as miscellaneous alchemical ingredients worth 500 gp for each Hit Die of the animal. This animal is considered the base animal when applying the lycanthropy template. Additionally, the animal must be killed, and (strangely enough) cannot be resurrected.

Focus
An alchemical lab

Altair_the_Vexed
2007-11-09, 07:09 PM
Looks good - someone needed to do the mechanics for this sort of thing: the monster manuals are fully of the horrific hybrids of "mad wizards", but we never get to look at the crunchy bits that let them do that.

I'll need to read up on / be more familiar with Incantation rules before I can comment on balance.

Duke Malagigi
2007-11-09, 07:10 PM
This wizard of yours should be hanged, drawn, shot, quartered, decapitated, impaled through the heart and burried under a crossroads. These incantations are too despicable for use by non-Evil character. Other than that they look pretty good.

Ramos
2007-11-09, 07:14 PM
This wizard of yours should be hanged, drawn, shot, quartered, decapitated, impaled through the heart and burried under a crossroads.
Unfortunately, the above have no effect on any wizard of high enough level to make 5 DC 30 checks in a row in a regular basis. Use Balefire, Imprisonment, Sever Soul, Spiritual Evisceration and similar stuff.

Alex12
2007-11-09, 09:30 PM
Unfortunately, the above have no effect on any wizard of high enough level to make 5 DC 30 checks in a row in a regular basis. Use Balefire, Imprisonment, Sever Soul, Spiritual Evisceration and similar stuff.

My wizard from my current campaign could easily hurt him/kill him in a very large number of ways, some more painful than others.
"Nanite Plague!"
Now he'll face an eternity of agonizing pain, and he can't cast spells (or do anything else. Ordinarily I'd have the nanites kill him quick, but torturing this guy doesn't count as evil.)
Oh, and for good measure "Area Planedump!" onto his workshop. Now it's-correction, it was in a plane composed entirely of an infinite amount of antiwater. Now it's a really big burst of energy.

Mewtarthio
2007-11-10, 08:29 PM
...Wow. Quite a lot of hate out there for Shandelm. I mean, he's pretty evil, but I wasn't expecting this strong of a reaction.

Either I'm a much more evocative writer than I thought, or I'm really bad at guaging what people consider offensive.

Duke Malagigi
2007-11-10, 09:06 PM
...Wow. Quite a lot of hate out there for Shandelm. I mean, he's pretty evil, but I wasn't expecting this strong of a reaction.

Either I'm a much more evocative writer than I thought, or I'm really bad at guaging what people consider offensive.

Yeah, you're a really evocative writer. Just try to come up with a cheerier and less unnerving character, spell or rule addition next time.

Behold_the_Void
2007-11-10, 09:17 PM
A suggestion might be a spell that creates weird animal hybrids like the Owlbear. Not a half-and-half but a blending of the two.

Mewtarthio
2007-11-11, 05:20 PM
The trouble is that there's no template for that. You basically have to build an entirely new monster from scratch. Besides, I'd imagine that "Create Owlbear" is an entirely separate incantation that just creates owlbears: An Owlbear is a special owl/bear blend, while Shandelm's Hybridization pretty much just cuts two creatures in half and sews them together.

Or maybe owls and bears are genetically compatible. :eek: