Author Topic: Basic Rules  (Read 3198 times)

Offline Stratovarius

  • Forum Host
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 7678
  • Arhosan Emperor
    • View Profile
Basic Rules
« on: March 15, 2014, 08:38:10 PM »
Ritual Magic

Ritual magic is an old form of magic, perhaps the first there was. It began when the first shaman danced around a fire, calling upon the spirits and souls of ancestors past and great beasts of the present to come and aid him. What answered him is uncertain, but it was called up both from within himself and from without, from the sacrifice that he laid upon the altar. It was there that the true power of the ritual was discovered, in a sanctified symbol upon the ground with powerful unguents that help trap and hold the spirit of the sacrifice, binding it to the wielder's will. There was much refining of the process and powders until the current times, where it now resides as a powerful yet fragmented magic, split between the desire to do good, and the ease with which it can do evil.

It is this idea of sacrifice that holds true throughout the Tome of Blood Magic, for all of the rituals within require the giving of a source to power the desired energies, be it the dead soul of a creature, the energy bound within a magical item, or a sacrifice of the wielder's very essence. Conversely, the power offered by a ritual lasts for days, and often weeks, rewarding the gift of sacrifice with long lasting energies that grant many strange and unusual benefits. The gifts imbued into the wielder vary in the method of sacrifice, with those that give of oneself a boon to help, and those that take from another a more overt and harsh mistress. No one wielder has learn how to manipulate all of the methods of power, with each branch preferring to specialize themselves into a source of sacrificial energy that suits their discipline and temperament.

For this, the first segment in the Tome of Blood Magic, the class and rituals presented herein focus on the sacrifice of living creatures, drawing strength and knowledge from the dead carcasses. The ritualist can see into the lifeblood of his sacrifices, and wrench out the gifts that make them strong and unique, appropriating them for himself. His intimate acquaintance with the very source of life has allowed him to twist and break it in others, and he has refined his touch into a deadly weapon, when empowered with his magic. As he progresses in power, the ritualist can cause the soul of the sacrifice to twist and writhe in ways that stretch far beyond the beast's basic nature, even, should he wish, pulling itself to cover his allies, an oft unusual decision among this self-centred class. Be it as friend or foe, the ritualist opens a new horizon, a style of magic very different than anything yet seen.

Rituals
Rituals are the spells of the ritual magic world. They are the known sources of power for a ritual-wielding class, and like spells, they possess common factors as well. All rituals and their effects are considered supernatural abilities, and remain within the ritual-wielder or the affected target until dismissed. Only the ritual-wielder can dismiss a ritual, and he may do so at any time as a full-round action.

Sacrificial hit dice is the measuring stick for the power of the ritual-wielder, and in many ways corresponds to caster level, although certainly not in all. Sacrificial hit dice can be created in a number of ways, with the first being sacrificing a living creature, as detailed below in Performing Rituals. In this case, the sacrificial hit dice is simply the creature's hit dice. There are also classes with alternate methods of sacrificial hit dice creation. Regardless of method, the sacrificial hit dice determines the duration and, often, strength of the effect, and is a universal constant, whichever creation method is chosen.

A ritual-wielder's knowledge and power are not unlimited, and due to the need to maintain length control over the energy of the sacrifice, the amount that he can control is limited. A ritual-wielder can have rituals whose sacrificial hit dice total three times his ritual wielder level. Any time he performs a ritual which would take him above the limit, he has the option of either cancelling enough existing rituals that the newly created ritual does not put him above the limit, or he can simply let the new ritual fail. Likewise, certain rituals require a minimum amount of power. In order to create a ritual, a ritual-wielder must sacrifice a creature whose hit dice are at least equal to the level of the ritual, otherwise the ritual simply fails.

A ritual-wielder is a man of strength, but even that strength cannot last indefinitely. All of his rituals have a duration of one day per sacrificial hit dice, and this time period is known as the ritual duration. There are also rituals which have one use per sacrificial hit dice, such as Brume of Broken Blades, and when the last of those effects has been used and completed, the total ritual ends. In the case of Brume of Broken Blades, the ritual would end one round per sacrificial hit dice after the application of the last touch attack, when that effect was finished. At that time, the ritual and its attendant hit dice no longer count against the ritual-wielder's hit dice cap.

The DC of a save against a ritual created effect is 10 + one half sacrificial hit dice + the ritual-wielder's primary ability modifier. The ritual-wielder needs to have a primary ability score equal to or greater than ten + the ritual level in order to perform it.

Lastly, at any level when a ritual-wielder gains access to a new level of rituals, he can also replace a ritual he already knows with another ritual of the same or a lower level. For example, when he gains access to third level rituals, the ritual-wielder can, if he chooses, either replace a 1st level ritual he knows with another 1st level ritual or replace a 2nd level ritual he knows with a ritual of either 1st or 2nd level.

Performing Rituals
As with all forms of magical energy, there is also a cost of time to be paid during the formation and creation of a ritual. For rituals, given their inherently longer natures than other forms of magic, this time cost can be considerable. A ritual takes five minutes per level of the ritual to perform, ranging from a bare five minutes to thirty-five for the most difficult of rituals, unless otherwise specified or altered.

During the performing of the ritual, the ritual-wielders lays down complicated and complex designs that help control and guide the energy of the sacrifice in the proper direction, and to the correct effect. This is a difficult task, and, if completed improperly, will cause the energies loosed by the sacrifice to fly off, not forming the tight and proper bonding that they should. Creating these signs and symbols requires a spellcraft check of five plus one-half the sacrificial hit dice (rounded down) plus the ritual level. This check is performed at the end of the ritual's creation time.

If the sacrifice for the ritual is a living creature, it must be slain at the culmination of the ritual to release the powers of its soul. To do so, the ritual-wielder performs a coup de grace on the victim. Due to the ritual-wielder's skill and the helpless nature of the creature, it  has no Fortitude save and is killed if it takes any damage. If the creature does not take any damage, the ritual fails. The creatures used for this cannot have been created, summoned or called, including being gained via any class feature, and they must be alive at the time of sacrifice.

Once a ritual has been performed and is active, if it is performed again while still active, the old ritual is lost and replaced by the new, pursuant to the sacrificial hit dice cap. This is true even should the target of the ritual be a different creature, one unaffected by the original.

Should a sacrificed creature come back to life at any point during the duration of a ritual, that ritual is immediately lost. For the duration of the ritual, the sacrificed creature can be raised by any normal means. However, once the ritual's duration is over, the lifeblood of the sacrifice has been damaged to the point that only a True Resurrection or Miracle spell may bring it back to life.

General Terms
This addendum defines the terms described above, for easy reference

Ritual Creation Time: 5 minutes per level of the ritual
Ritual Creation DC: Spellcraft check of 5 + 1/2 Sacrificial HD + Ritual Level
Sacrificial Hit Dice: The hit dice total of the creature slain to power the ritual
Minimum Sacrificial Hit Dice: A ritual-wielder must use a creature with hit dice equal to the ritual's level in order to create the ritual
Ritual Cap: A ritual-wielder can have no more than 3 HD of rituals per ritual-wielder level
Ritual Duration: 1 day/sacrificial hit dice, unless defined otherwise. Please note that if using the final effect of a ritual (such as Brume of Broken Blades), the ritual ends after the effect duration concludes, not when the final effect is used.
Effect Duration: Unspecified, and always defined in the body of those rituals that have one.
Target: The ritual-wielder unless otherwise specified
Difficulty Class: 10 + one half sacrificial hit dice + the ritual-wielder's primary ability modifier
« Last Edit: October 18, 2015, 11:39:12 AM by Stratovarius »