The "other" spells for the Brotherhood of the Crys

KirinDave

Mongoose
So, I've got a BoTC running in one of my games, and in a game someone else is running I'm thinking of playing one (Shianti shot down, wah!).

It mentions there are "other" spells for the Brotherhood of the Crystal star, but that they aren't fast casting or much applicable without a long time to sit down and devote to them. Now, I have no idea about this. The only time I've read about Banedon doing anything was in book 14, "The Captives of Kaag" where Banedon casts a mapping spell to help LW escape. Maybe the MC tells more about this, but I've never seen it so I have no idea.

I'm curious, how do people aducate these other spells? What kind of things should be expected, and do you let players ever touch them?
 
There are not any other spells mentioned in the MC than those that are used in the game :cry: But they do nicely in my opinion. After 10th level you get the Words of Power which really are something. And Lightning Hand is really a spell to fear. As far as I can recall, it's the spell with the most damage potential in the game. :twisted:

If you want some special spells, I would recommend checking out the Words of Power. There effects are generally quite tweakable. The Power Word version of Sense Evil, would be quite similar to the mapping spell Banedon used. As far as I recall it can find virtually anything in a couple of hundred miles radius.
 
Well, I'm aware there are no other printed materials. Nor do I think there need to be, the BotCs get lots of variety.


What I'm talking about is flavor stuff. For instance, spells that might be useful only in a more abstract story sense ("I have this little spell I'm working on, it helps me stay clean shaven!") or spells that we can say NPCs or off-camera players use to do Real Big Things(tm).

For example, there is obviously a (very secret and well-guarded) spell to create the "Wizard's Oath" effect. Check the text on the Wizard's Oath. There is canonically a (very complex and hard to cast) spell to map out the building which one is currently in.

I'm curious how other GM's use this kind of thing to help "flavor" the class. Do you let BotCs declare a few "cantrips?" Little spells that are impractical for anything but low-key use that can't affect anything critical. The shaving spell, or maybe a spell to make fishing easier, or maybe bitsof a larger "graduate-project" spell that could in the distant and unplayable future become the foundations of future BotC battle magic.


I doubt I'm the only person who's thought of doing this to flesh out BotC characters. I refuse to believe I'm that creative! :)
 
good point. in Legends (all criticisms aside) theres also more spells and abstract uses. eg: banedon uses mind charm place an idea in a guards head and the guard asks him to take a message past the checkpoint and to the king "oh, any message will do" and also the guildmaster also stripped a helghast of its evil and turns it into a kitten (possibly a use of grand word of denial) also banedon is known to have spells to change the number on splitsl cards and eat mangoes neatly (yes you read right, its all in The Tellings)
something to keep gms on their toes, make sure you never openly tell the pc s/he can do this tho :twisted:
 
KirinDave backs away from the forumite who mentioned "Legends."

I didn't do it! I didn't say it!


The way I think I'm going to handle it is by giving Brothers of the Crystal Star a number of "cantrips" a day equal to their intelligence. These spells can never even do a single point of damage, and may never do more than give a +1 to any given skill check. They cannot affect combat in any way.

That way, you can still give them a feel of having "other" magic that's small (or only parts of what may one day be a real spell) and keep it from becoming some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card.
 
One has to wonder how much of a strain the raising of the death hulk fleet is in Fire on the Water.

Spells that involve that mega-level of magic can probably take place outside the context of your normal dice rolls as part of your campaign. As for smaller spells, I forget but is there a spell in the RPG materials for making food out of nothing?

Because several magicians do that in the LW canon(Chiban for instance, in Tahou.)
 
Ghost of Landar said:
As for smaller spells, I forget but is there a spell in the RPG materials for making food out of nothing?

Because several magicians do that in the LW canon(Chiban for instance, in Tahou.)
Well, he might have just teleported the food out of the kitchen. Or the microwave.
 
Ghost of Landar said:
One has to wonder how much of a strain the raising of the death hulk fleet is in Fire on the Water.

Well, one also has to ask if there was more Left-hand magic, Right-Hand magic, or a more-or-less even balance between the two involved in that feat, since by that point Vonotar had already learned the secrets of the Nadziranim.

Also, if I recall correctly (and I might not), he had some sort of power stone at the time aiding his magic... so, depending on how powerful it was, a lot of the death hulk magic might have stemmed from that...

Though, it does sort of ask the question - exactly what sort of higher magic was locked in Loi-Kymar's Guildstaff? If nothing else, it was powerful enough to teleport across an entire continent...
 
i use legends for reference a lot, and this comes to mind, vonotar mind melded with zagarna (and therefore naar) so wouldnt his magical abilities be honed from this even more?
 
Hi, here are a few extra spells for you. These are Necromantic spells for any magic user.

As with the spells of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, Tier I spells can be cast as often as the necromancer wishes. Tier II spells can be cast once per day plus a number of times equal to the necromancers Wisdom modifier. Tier III spells can only be cast as often as the necromancers Wisdom modifier (placing them beyond the reach of a Necromancer without at least a +1 Wisdom modifier).

Whenever a Necromantic spell allows a saving throw to avoid or reduce its effects, the Difficulty Class for the spell is always 10 + casters Intelligence modifier + Tier of effect + half the Necromancer’s class level.

A magic user wishing to study the necromantic arts is treading a dangerous path indeed. Few necromancers willingly share their secrets without demanding something in return, for slowly but surely the nature of the magic takes its toll on the body and mind of the necromancer. Many people learn about necromantic magic from dark tomes written long ago by ancient wizards, but even this method of study is not without its drawbacks. Most texts on the subject are written in the dark tongue or some other ancient language and needs to be translated to be fully understood. This takes a great deal of time and the deciphering of some of these ancient and usually dark languages puts a mental strain on the would-be necromancer.


The Summoning

Tier I - Animate Dead (Endurance: 1 for every full BMD of undead created)

This spell turns the bodies or bones of dead creatures into undead skeletons or zombies that follow the casters commands. It takes a standard action to cast and a further round for the bodies to become animated. Summons a number of Skeletons or Zombies equal to the casters Base Magical Damage die roll. They can be commanded to protect the caster or remain in the area and attack any creature (or just a specific type of creature) entering the area. The summoned undead carry out the casters command given during the summoning round and carry out that order until they are destroyed or are commanded by the Control Undead spell. The caster can maintain control over a number of undead equal to his class level multiplied by his WIS modifier (minimum of class level +1.)
Material Component: Dead bodies.

Tier II - Create Undead (Endurance: 2)

This is a much more powerful spell than Animate Dead, creating a more powerful undead servitor for the caster. It takes an hour long ritual to create the undead and can only be cast at night. Unlike the previous spell any undead created with Create Undead is not automatically under the control of its creator (something that less knowledgeable necromancers may not be aware of.. to their cost) and will need to be controlled using the Control Undead spell. The ritual to cast this spell required a jar of grave dirt to be placed on the chest of the body used and a black onyx gem (value of at least 100gc) to be placed in each of the eye sockets of the corpse. At the end of the hour long ritual the undead servitor will rise up (taking a full round to do so) and unless controlled by the caster (or some other person) it will attack all living beings it sees until it is destroyed or otherwise stopped.
Material Component: Dead body, jar of grave dirt, 2 onyx gems (worth at least 100gc each).

Tier III – Stealing Graves (Endurance: 4)

Possibly the most frightening thing to witness a necromancer doing, Stealing Graves is best carried out (for obvious reasons) in a Graveyard or other mass burial site. The spell is cast as a full round action and all corpses over a day old in an area equal to the casters BMD x10 feet are raised as if by the Animate Dead spell. The undead created by this spell are not all under the control of the caster – only those equal to the casters class level multiplied by his WIS modifier are initially under their control. Remaining undead behave as normal for their type. In subsequent rounds the caster (or others how know the spell Command Undead) can try to gain control of other undead.
Material Component: Dead bodies.

Affect the Living

Tier I – Death Knell
This spell takes what life remains from those already near death. As a result it is quite easy for the necromancer to affect their intended target, but the rewards to the necromancer are not great. It takes one action to cast this spell and then a successful touch attack on the target. The target must already be at -1 END or less to be affected by the spell. The target gets to make a Fortitude save against a DC of 15 to avoid the effects of Death Knell. Failure results in the target loosing the necromancers BMD in Endurance. The Necromancer gains this much END temporarily and also a +2 STR bonus. These temporary effects last for 10 minutes. The spell cannot grant the caster more END than would take the victim to -10 END.

Tier II – Death Rictus (Endurance: 2)

While this spell does not cause damage to those unfortunate enough to be affected by it, it paralyses them and also causes their skin to give of the stench of a rotting corpse. It costs one standard action to cast followed by a successful touch attack. The target is allowed a save (DC 15) to completely avoid the effects of this spell. If the save fails the victim is paralysed for a number of rounds equal to the casters BMD roll +1 per level of the caster and also gives of the stink of a rotting corpse for the same length of time out to a radius of 10 feet. This causes nausea and retching in all living creatures within that area, amounting to a -2 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws and skill checks until the spell ends.

Tier III – Steal Life Force

This spell leeches the life force of even strong, vital creatures fuelling the energies of the necromancer. It takes one standard action to cast and after that a successful touch attack against the target. The target takes the casters BMD+1 per caster level in END damage. The caster receives this as a temporary bonus to his END and also this can increase his maximum END if it would take it above that level. However, the caster can only gain up to the targets remaining END plus 10 (i.e. caster cannot take target to below -10 END). The temporary Endurance points wear of in 24 hours.

Affecting the Dead

Tier I – Halt Undead (Endurance: 1)
This spell affects a number of undead equal to the casters WIS modifier (1 if not a positive modifier). It takes a standard action to cast. Non-intelligent undead like skeletons and zombies get no Will saving throw, intelligent undead do so in the usual way. Those affected by the spell are rendered immobile for the duration of the spell, which is a number of rounds equal to the casters BMD+1 round per two full levels of the caster. The undead affected must all be within 60 feet of the caster and no two can be more than 10 feet from each other.

Tier II – Disrupt Undead (Endurance: 2)

The necromancer uses his learned powers to affect the substance of the undead, causing them physical damage. It takes a standard action to cast. Maximum range is 30 feet. The caster does BMD to the single undead targets END by using the positive aspect of his necromantic learnings to disrupt the physical and magical nature of the undead.

Tier III – Control Undead (Endurance: 4)

This spell enables the necromancer to command undead creatures for a period of time. It takes 1 action to cast, has a range of 30 feet and can be used to control a maximum number of undead up to the casters level x WIS modifier. Each casting affects up to the casters BMD in END Die of undead. The undead targeted make a Will save against the control spell. The undead are commanded by voice. Psychic communication is not possible, but the undead understand the caster no matter what language is spoken. Even if vocal communication is not possible (in an area of a Silence spell for example), the controlled undead do not attack the caster of this spell. At the end of the spell the undead revert back to their normal behaviour. Intelligent undead remember the necromancer that controlled them.

There are more to come if anyone is interested. Comments would be appreciated.
 
Color me interested. The more spells the better! I'll be happy to gank them for NPC usage in my LW campaign (none of my PCs wanted to play wizards - I guess LW wizards feel underpowered compared to D&D wizards).
 
A necromancer reaching 5th level has the ability to create a staff that he can use to store his life force to supplement his own endurance when casting spells. Each day he can transfer up to half his level in END points from his own END to the staff. The END used to fuel the staff is recovered in the usual way. The maximum END that can be stored in the staff is equal to twice the casters class level at the time of the creation of the staff – so a staff created by a 5th level Necromancer can hold a maximum of 10 END, where a staff created at 10th level can store up to 20 END. The END stored in the staff can only be used to supplement the casters own END for the casting of spells that have an END cost, not to top up END lost to injury.

The act of creating a staff requires a material component of either wood or bone, between 4 to 6 foot in length. The wizard must then transfer some of his END to the staff (the exact amount is up to the wizard – anything up to the maximum capacity of the staff). At this point the Necromancer must make an Occult roll with a DC of 20 – the number of END points used when creating the staff. A failure with this roll results in the END points being lost and the staff being broken. If the roll succeeds then the staff has been created, though at this point it only has 1 END in it (the END used by the Necromancer is consumed during the creation of the staff), though the staff is now ready to use and the wizard can transfer END to it immediately. The process of creating the staff is a ritual taking 1 hour to complete and also requires a black onyx gem worth 200gc per level of the caster. The gem is fused to the top of the staff during the creation.

The staff has a hardness and endurance as a normal staff, plus a number of hit points equal to the creator’s class level at the time it was created. If it is ever destroyed then the END is lost from the staff and the wielder of the staff must make a Fort save with a DC of 15, failure of the save will result in the wizard suffering a permanent -1 to Con. If the necromancer’s staff is destroyed, the life energy released by the event causes damage to all within 20 feet equal to the END stored in the staff, divided evenly between all creatures in the area of effect. If any undead are in the area, they will be healed for whatever END others would be damaged for as the damage comes in the form of negative energy. Would be victims of this burst of negative energy are allowed a Ref save against a DC of 15 to reduce the damage by half.
 
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