Risen of the Pit
Mongoose
After considerable effort, I managed to track down a copy of the Infernum trilogy as PDFs (and personally I can't wait to get my hands on a real copy of each book so I can start to use them- the PDFs are only for reading and studying), and while I liked almost everything, there was one thing that stuck in my craw. Sorcery. It's not the system, in fact I found it quite workable, and a surprising change given the traditional D20 system. What I found les than impressive was the spells.
Don't get me wrong, exorcisms and wards are definately useful (especially given the Imp ability to crawl inside your ear and control you at high levels), and summoning is a good way to get places fast (assuming the sorcerer is there before you), so all in all they work well for roleplaying. But, call me a D&Der, but I'm used to sorcerers having the power to harm and slay without even demonic firearms- and even Conan, with its low-level magic, has stuff like pulling out hearts, dissolving bones and conjuring virulent plagues. In a hell-based setting, I can't help but envision weird and terrible magics- a screaming flurry of wind that peels flesh from bone, boiling hot blood raining down and scalding those caught beneath it, a scourge of lightning lashing from the sorcerer's hand, spells that can crack bedrock and dissolve steel.
And frankly, it seems to make sense that such things would be present- after all, the modern technology of the pit is only a relatively recent adaption, so what would the demons have used for ranged support earlier? Why would they have fostered a policy of "sorcerers are honorary demons" (granted many individuals ignore this, or at least resent the "easy ride" that sorcerers get) if all that they can do is the unimpressive stuff listed in the corebook? I mean, yes, a sorcerer can use Summoning to pull a demon from safety to be assassinated, but the knowledge of arcane geometrics designed to counteract this are wide-spread in Hell now, and a one-trick pony doesn't get any breaks.
So, am I alone in thinking that a few offensive spells would be a good addition to the list of rituals? If I'm not, would anyone be interested in helping me actually make such spells?
Don't get me wrong, exorcisms and wards are definately useful (especially given the Imp ability to crawl inside your ear and control you at high levels), and summoning is a good way to get places fast (assuming the sorcerer is there before you), so all in all they work well for roleplaying. But, call me a D&Der, but I'm used to sorcerers having the power to harm and slay without even demonic firearms- and even Conan, with its low-level magic, has stuff like pulling out hearts, dissolving bones and conjuring virulent plagues. In a hell-based setting, I can't help but envision weird and terrible magics- a screaming flurry of wind that peels flesh from bone, boiling hot blood raining down and scalding those caught beneath it, a scourge of lightning lashing from the sorcerer's hand, spells that can crack bedrock and dissolve steel.
And frankly, it seems to make sense that such things would be present- after all, the modern technology of the pit is only a relatively recent adaption, so what would the demons have used for ranged support earlier? Why would they have fostered a policy of "sorcerers are honorary demons" (granted many individuals ignore this, or at least resent the "easy ride" that sorcerers get) if all that they can do is the unimpressive stuff listed in the corebook? I mean, yes, a sorcerer can use Summoning to pull a demon from safety to be assassinated, but the knowledge of arcane geometrics designed to counteract this are wide-spread in Hell now, and a one-trick pony doesn't get any breaks.
So, am I alone in thinking that a few offensive spells would be a good addition to the list of rituals? If I'm not, would anyone be interested in helping me actually make such spells?
