Gods of Dark Magic, Part I

Dark Magic Gods

Some spells may not be worth the price.

Ways of Dark Magic

• Nothing can be helped without harm
• There is great power in the shadow
• The cruel may gain much
• But the darkness will claim them too

Warlocks & Other Dark Magic Users

• Special: Gods of Dark Magic are followed by warlocks. Treat them as clerics except for following the rules herein. Enticed by the power it holds, they risk great misfortune upon themselves. Other classes may foolishly dabble with it too.
• Allowed Weapons: Any.
• Allowed Armor: Medium armor or lighter when casting spells, any when using dark powers.
• Symbols: Per their divinity, but always dark and menacing.
• Can Turn: Those who actively work to harm health, wealth, fortune, fame, love, or hope. The dark will suffer no competition.
• Mysteries of Dark Magic: Warlocks wield dangerous spells, and their targets have a -6 penalty to save against them. See Part II for additional fell powers that dark magic can bestow.

Dark Magic Side-Effects

No good can come when a heavy price must be paid. Roll 1d12. 

1. Doomed to Happen: The spell doesn't work unless a dark test occurs. The dark gods are served in any case.

2. Nothing is Free: The magic only works if a cost is paid. 

3-4. Given is Taken: The spell works, but without a cost incurred, then its results only last for 1d20 minutes, reversing in a most unpleasant way.

5. Area Dark: Along with the magic happening, all within 1d20 x 20' must save vs. spell/ make a Will save DC 15 or undergo a dark test as a strange dimness sets in.

6-8. Standard Darkness: The spell works without need for specific cost for now.

10-11. Success Before the Fall: Encouraged by the magic proceeding at double its usual effect, range, or duration, 2 prices must ironically be paid. One will see if it is worth it.

12. Darkness Eternal: If not already, the area becomes enshadowed or black as pitch. The spell's effect, range, or duration is doubled, or even tripled if the warlock requests that a dark test occur.

Costs

Someone must often suffer for dark magic to take effect. Whether it is the warlock or another, they will likely lose something dear.

Who Pays? (d6)

   1. The warlock
   2. The spell's target
   3. Someone the warlock knows (roll 1d3: [1] the last one they spoke to, [2] the last one they saw, [3] a random relative)

   4. Someone the spell's target knows (roll 1d3: [1] the last one they spoke to, [2] the last one they saw, [3] a random relative)

   5. The next person the warlock sees

   6. The next person the spell's target sees

Payment Required 

The one who must pay can attempt to save vs. spell/ make a Will save DC 15 with a -3 penalty, minus 1 per level of the spell (-4 for 1st level, -5 for second level, etc.) If they succeed, then they are unaffected by the cost and someone else must pay it. Reroll to see who that is. Whoever fails then must pay one of the following (roll d6):

   1. Health: Lose 1d4 points from an ability score for 1d6 days, likely affecting other stats.
   2. Wealth: Have some of their treasure and valuables be lost until recovered (50% chance for each item or treasure type being taken).

   3. Fortune: Suffer from bad luck, now obliged to reroll once any rolls they make that would have allowed them to otherwise avoid misfortune. This affliction lasts for the next 1d6 days.
   4. Fame: Lose 1d6 random friends, allies, or acquaintances, along with any related position and status.

   5. Love: Suffer a -3d6 penalty when dealing with others in supportive ways, likely gaining none for the next 1d6 days.
   6. Hope: Take a -1d2 penalty to all rolls that they would really wish to succeed at for the next 1d6 days, as the darkness takes hold.

For example, if a dark magic side-effect result indicated a 2 (Nothing is Free) then the spell would require a cost. The warlock decides to have it be paid. A 3 and 4 are rolled next, showing that it is someone the warlock knows who must pay the price of fame. They would then lose contact with 1d6 others they know (for their sake, hopefully the warlock is one of them), allowing the dark magic to proceed. Rolling a 2 for his dark magic side-effects twice more would even cause a dark test to occur (see Part II).

Next week: Dark tests & dark powers.

RPG srd Old School 1st ed AD&D Darth Vader Rumpelstiltskin Ravenloft Ringwraith Nosferatu Magic System

Gods of Sword & Sorcery, Part III

Sorcerer Spells Known

Though they can usually cast spells until stopped, sorcerers typically only know 1d3+2 of them for each level that they can cast. These are drawn from either the magic-user or a god, goddess, titan, or demon lord's list, but each one that a sorcerer would wish to know has a special restriction to acquire or consideration for use (roll 1d6):

   1. Must be cast as an arcane ritual each time it's used, requiring 1d6 minutes of preparation.
   2. It is an innate power within the sorcerer, perhaps from some supernatural lineage, and such access makes that lineage increasingly obvious to others.
   3. An occult tome must be acquired to learn and cast it, likely requiring an adventure, great expense, or both.
   4. Only a deal made with an otherworldly entity will provide its knowledge, requiring offering something up in return.

   5. Exotic materials are needed to cast it, costing at least 1d3 x 10 sp.

   6. Reroll twice.

Gods of Sword & Sorcery, Part II

Expanded Sorcerous Changes
Elaborating upon the results in Part I, myriad events can occur when sorcerers push the bounds of magic. When a sword & sorcery side-effect so determines, a suitable sacrifice isn't done, the potential target is selected, and the save is failed (if allowed), changes can happen, emphasizing the sense of chance and even potential chaos found in sorcery.

Who is Affected (roll 1d4)

   1-2. The Sorcerer

   3. The Sorcerer's Target

   4. A Bystander in a Random Direction

Note: when it comes to Changes to the Magic or Changes to the Manifestation (see both below), it is usually the spell itself that is affected by a sorcerous change, so no save is allowed. Otherwise, it is a save vs. spell/ make a Will save DC 15, becoming 1 more difficult to save against for each level of the spell (+1 for 1st level, +2 for 2nd level, etc.) .

Gods of Sword & Sorcery, Part I

Sword & Sorcery Gods

Magic alters, but not always how it's intended.

Ways of Sword & Sorcery

• Demonstrate your great power
• Showing your magic
• What happens is the will of the gods
• But be wary of them too
  
  

Medieval Clerics, Part III

Medieval Magic

Miracles are the manner in which divine magic manifests in the Middle Ages. Such extraordinary events are generally slower to happen and are more subtle than the spells of other epochs. Although the ways they are called upon are detailed in Part I, some additional options are included here.

Medieval Clerics, Part II

Medieval Tests
Remaining on the holy path will lead one to redemption.

1-12. The medieval cleric loses access to all his spells and turn ability. He must engage in various forms of penance in order to receive absolution and no commutations will be accepted. Roll 1d4 to see what specifically must be done to have each one restored. 

   [1] Confess to a stranger 1d4 unvirtuous acts that he has done.

   [2] Fast, eating very little or not at all for 1d6 days, taking -1d3 to all physical rolls during that time.

   [3] Recite psalms for 2d6 turns, doing so where others will hear him.

   [4] Give alms worth 1d10% of his current wealth.

Medieval Clerics, Part I

Orders of the Medieval Age
Serve your faith, and it will serve you well.

Tenets of Medieval Orders

• Be virtuous & humble
• Be pure (abiding by chastity & poverty)
• Doing one's duty (obedient)
• Denounce evil (especially magic!)
• Following the principles of one's faith (by angel or saint)
  
  

Dark Age Clerics, Part III

Dark Age Magic

Most things aren't easy in the dark ages- magic included. Whether spells don't function well or even at all, most would dislike even a cleric using magic.

Spells Available: Use either the standard cleric spell list or the divinity's, but check for each spell to determine its degree of availability for a particular dark age cleric. Different dark age clerics might thus have different spell selections, limited in various ways. Rolling a 12 as a magical side-effect is the only way to restore such spells, and even then, it's not guaranteed (see Part I). Roll 1d8.

Dark Age Clerics, Part II

Dark Age Tests
What has come has gone, perhaps never to return, whether a Bronze Age collapse, Iron Age collapse, or not.

1-9. All things come to an end, some more unfortunately than others. The dark age cleric (or whomever is affected by this test) experiences austerity. Each result will compound when experienced more than once, and might only be undone once he (or the dark age cleric who caused it) rolls a magical side-effect of 12 at some point (see Part I). 

As for what the thing affected is, roll 1d8: [i] magic spell, [ii] thing held, [iii] thing worn, [iv] thing consumed, [v] thing read, [vi] thing sat upon, [vii] mode of transport, [viii] furnishing.