Black Magic Bargain (spell)

[rferries]

Give your voice to the Sea Witch in exchange for a chance to be human, or sell your soul at the crossroads for unsurpassed Perform (blues) skill.

Black Magic Bargain
Universal ([Evil])
Level: Sor/Wiz 3
Components: V, S, F, XP
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: See text
Target, Effect, or Area: See text
Duration: See text
Saving Throw: See text
Spell Resistance: Yes

A favoured spell of fiends and witches, you grant your victim their heart's desire at great cost.

This spell allows you to duplicate the effects of wish, with several provisos.

Firstly, the wish may only be granted on the behalf of someone else, not yourself. Furthermore the beneficiary may not be anyone you regard as an ally and may only make the wish of their own free will (i.e. they may not be under the influence of any mind-affecting magic).

Secondly, in exchange for the wish the beneficiary must agree to make an exorbitant payment of some kind. Such payment is never financial but can otherwise take many forms, including: being subject to an irremovable greater bestow curse, being permanently baleful polymorphed if they do not perform a difficult task for you in an agreed-upon time, giving you their most beloved child, or even relinquishing their immortal soul after their death or at a specified date. You are free to make the terms of the payment as difficult or complex as you wish but they must be at least as stringent as the aforementioned examples.

Thirdly, unlike wish the XP cost associated with this spell is not paid immediately. Instead, you must pay it if the contract is ever destroyed (see below).

Once the terms of the wish and payment have been agreed upon and the contract signed (see below), casting the spell itself is only a standard action.

Focus
A contract detailing the terms of the wish to be granted and the payment owed, signed by both parties in their own blood. Once the spell is cast the contract remains in your possession and is invulnerable to almost all harm. Apart from wish or miracle spells or divine intervention it can only be destroyed by you or the beneficiary, which instantly undoes any effect of the bargain, reverses any payments made, and inflicts the XP cost of the wish on you.

XP Cost
The minimum XP cost for casting wish is 5,000 XP. When a wish duplicates a spell that has an XP cost, you must pay 5,000 XP or that cost, whichever is more. When a wish creates or improves a magic item, you must pay twice the normal XP cost for crafting or improving the item, plus an additional 5,000 XP.

[Westhart]

I really like the flavor, but consider that they gain access at 5th level and 5000 xp at 5th?.

Seems kinda high...

[Darth Ultron]

This is really complicated for a spell. It might make a better feat or other special ability.

[Morphic tide]

This is really complicated for a spell. It might make a better feat or other special ability.

I point you at the list of things Wish can do. Or Prismatic Wall. Or really any of the options and probability heavy spells.

[rferries]

Re: power level of spell - yep! It's in the caster's best interest for the contract NOT to be broken, to avoid having to take the XP hit. If that means sabotaging the beneficiary in some way, so be it...

Re: complexity - this isn't really intended for PCs (except for particularly cruel ones), it's more an explanation of how the average wicked witch of the woods might be able to provide truly magical services even if she personally is easy to defeat in combat.

[Darth Ultron]

Re: power level of spell - yep! It's in the caster's best interest for the contract NOT to be broken, to avoid having to take the XP hit. If that means sabotaging the beneficiary in some way, so be it...

Re: complexity - this isn't really intended for PCs (except for particularly cruel ones), it's more an explanation of how the average wicked witch of the woods might be able to provide truly magical services even if she personally is easy to defeat in combat.

It's not ''too powerful''.

The problem is that it gives a wish to anyone casting 3rd level spells. The ''drawbacks'' are pointless to a player. A player will say in a second ''The demon wants my first born? Ok, I go home and make a baby and give it to the demon.''

And in 3X you can't say ''npc only''. And players can do all sorts ''not bad'' things to each other for endless wishes.

I think it would make a better vile feat.

[Zancloufer]

This is the kind of wish that is doubly controlled by the DM though. I mean yes the player could do "sure I'll go make a kid to give to the witch" but for a DM that, well, that is something quite interesting. Definitely things you can do as the DM in that case to make the player work for their wish.

Player wants an epic sword? Well the witch will only except the secret Macguffin hidden away in Mount Doom. You can make all sorts of quests to have the player running around to fulfill their end of the bargain. From the player's perspective it seems like they got something for nothing. For the DM? Massive plot hook. Remember the wish is only as "free" as the DM deems it in this case.

[rferries]

It's not ''too powerful''.

The problem is that it gives a wish to anyone casting 3rd level spells. The ''drawbacks'' are pointless to a player. A player will say in a second ''The demon wants my first born? Ok, I go home and make a baby and give it to the demon.''

And in 3X you can't say ''npc only''. And players can do all sorts ''not bad'' things to each other for endless wishes.

I think it would make a better vile feat.

The drawbacks are designed so that they can't be fobbed off - if your PC is so willing to sacrifice their child then a) it's not their most beloved child and b) the payment should be replaced with something harsher, like their voice (if they're a spellcaster, rendering them unable to cast verbal components) or eyesight (if they're a melee character), etc. I suppose I should include a line about the spell failing if the payment isn't deemed severe enough or somesuch.

It wasn't meant to be NPC only, just a spell that you can't cast without harsh alignment penalties if you're non-Evil.

A feat is an option, but I wanted at least the possibility of PCs casting it for hapless commoners for the evulz and I can't see it being worth investing a feat in when the caster gets relatively little in that case (sure you can collect commoner's souls but it's not like the DM will let you use the spell to entrap the BBEG in a contract).

This is the kind of wish that is doubly controlled by the DM though. I mean yes the player could do "sure I'll go make a kid to give to the witch" but for a DM that, well, that is something quite interesting. Definitely things you can do as the DM in that case to make the player work for their wish.

Player wants an epic sword? Well the witch will only except the secret Macguffin hidden away in Mount Doom. You can make all sorts of quests to have the player running around to fulfill their end of the bargain. From the player's perspective it seems like they got something for nothing. For the DM? Massive plot hook. Remember the wish is only as "free" as the DM deems it in this case.

Precisely, thanks!