Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Sorcerers of Gruagach, Part I

Gruagach

Neutral Pictish God of the Rustic Way, the Sun, & Magic




















Tenets of Gruagach
* Grow your hair long, just like Gruagach
* Acquire cattle
* Acquire the sun (somehow)
* Eschew civilized things, live the rustic way!

Sorcerers of Gruagach
Special: Gruagach has no clerics in his service, only sorcerers, shamans, and druids. The latter two classes are detailed in Volume II.
 Allowed Weapons: Club, staff, spear, sling, rocks
 Allowed Armor: Woad paint, whether applied temporarily or permanently tattooed, it improves AC and chances to scare others by 2, but also reduces all Charisma checks made with non-Picts by 7
 Holy Symbol: Spirals, Ogham
Can Turn: Demons, mutants
 Gruagachan Mysteries: In keeping with their animistic ways, the faithful of Gruagach can gain a +2 bonus to all rolls related to spirits, but must not touch metal during that time and for at least 24 hours beforehand. Any contact with metal, whether a weapon, armor, or even a tool, utensil, doorknob, or coin, interrupts the bonus.

Pictish Sorcery: Being that their magic is quite archaic, Pictish sorcerers must achieve one higher class level to cast spells than clerics of other gods do. For example, if using Labyrinth Lord rules, they need to be 4th level in order to cast 2nd level spells (rather than 3rd), 6th level to cast 3rd level spells (rather than 5th), etc.

In return, they have a 3 in 6 chance of being able to cast each of their spells an extra time per day (roll after a spell is cast to see).

What is more, a Pictish sorcerer’s spells might even go off when he doesn’t wish them to! Whenever under stress- whenever he loses half his hit points, has to make a save, the sun sets, or the like- there is a 1 in 20 chance of one of his spells (determined at random) being cast on a random target in range. If this occurs, treat it as if the sorcerer cast it himself.

Consequently, they typically meet strange fates, either from their own magic or from irate companions who were accidental victims of said magic. Note that the followers of other Pictish divinities, such as Scathach, might have other triggers for the spells to be automatically cast, like the phases of the moon.


Next week: Sorcerers of Gruagach (Part II)!