Mechanics

Rules changes and houserules additions

Character Options

Class options are as in the WWN corebook - Warrior, Expert, Mage, Adventurer (multiclass).  Be aware that classes do not work as they do in 5E, as WWN is based on B/X.  Once chosen,  a class cannot change.  A multiclass character advances in both classes simultaneously - which has been simplified into the 'Adventurer' class in WWN, but works the same way.  The types of Mages and 'Arts of the Gyre' partial Mages available will be changed to fit the setting.

Races (and more accurately, Species) will be limited to those that exist in the setting.  Rather than giving each Species/Race a significant bonus that requires a Focus slot, each will get a relatively minor benefit for free.

The only changes to Foci is the addition of new choices.

Classes

Warrior
Expert
Mage

The actual Mage class is completely unchanged from the corebook (attack bonus, spells per day, etc), but the Mage options are quite different. 

Species

Humans

All five races of human are playable, though non-Ashuadi are relatively rare and Steppelanders are extremely rare (outside of Qorai).

Racial Benefit: Tenacious - When rolling Death Dice, you may always drop the highest die (remember, the first two dice rolled during Death and Dismemberment aren't technically Death Dice)

Dwarves

Outside of their stronghold in the Khazramar Commonwealth, dwarves are relatively rare, but certainly not unheard of.  They often travel to get exposure to other cultures and to keep up with current events.

Racial Benefit: Cosmopolitan - If communicating with someone in a major city, you will always be able to find a common language (or enough of one to get your point across)

Ishi'qo (Halflings)

Of the choices outside Ashuadi humans, the Ishi'qo are by far the most commonly seen race.  They have insinuated themselves within all the major human cities and adopted their culture quite thoroughly.

Racial Benefit: Perfectly Adapted - Penalties for going without food or water take twice as long to accrue

Elves

By and large, the elves have chosen to eschew human civilization and live as nomads in the vast deserts of Rumhal.  Those seen within cities are viewed with suspicion and rarely trusted until they prove themselves.

Racial Benefit: Otherwordly - Can see in starlight (not just any darkness) as if it were full daylight

Ogres

Ogres love freedom and as such, are pretty rare to be seen outside of their kingdoms.  While Oroko are seen often enough on trading or pirate vessels, they are are stereotyped as criminals by most.  Urrukh rarely leave the plains of eastern Rumahl, as they have certain superstitions around boats and (like everyone else) are unable to cross the Deep Desert.

Racial Benefit: Coarse - Unaffected by mundane pests and vermin (biting and stinging insects, rats, spiders, etc)

Gnolls

Until recently, Gnolls were unheard of within human civilization, but that has been slowly changing.  While they have existed as nomads for generations, for some modern Gnolls the benefits of an 'easy' city are worth far more than the independence given up when leaving the nomadic lifestyle behind.  While often viewed as uncouth barbarians, Gnolls are starting to be seen more within poor districts - mostly as unskilled laborers or hired muscle.

Racial Benefit: Robust - Can use any organic material as food, regardless of state of decay, disease, poison, etc

Foci

The foci in the book(s) are all available with only minor changes if the rules as written clash with some of the rules tweaks for this campaign.  Additionally, there will be new focus picks available as well:

Thief

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Gotta keep one jump ahead of the bread line, one swing ahead of the sword. You steal only what you can’t afford (and that’s everything).  They’re quick, but you’re much faster - always one trick ahead of disaster. Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat, etc

Level 1: You are a one man rise in crime.  Gain Sneak as a bonus skill.  When Hacking Out Treasure, roll 2d8 and take the highest instead of the base d6 - also, the remaining treasure only has its value reduced by 5x instead of 10x the result of the roll.  Finally, when in an area with enough hand and footholds (such as a forest, a city street, etc), you can freely move in three dimensions without a roll

Level 2: The universe apparently loves you.  Once per day, you can reroll any d20 you roll.  When you are at an advantageous position in battle (hidden, flanking, etc), add +1d6 to your damage.  Finally, you can, once per day, automatically escape from something that is restraining you and that you could plausibly escape from. This includes grapples, lynchings, pit traps, and awkward social situations, but not, for instance, sealed coffins

Vagrant

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You’re a vagabond. Someone wandering the wilderness with no lawful means of support. Scraping by far from the comforts of city life, you are a master of the inhospitable.

Level 1: Gain Survive as a bonus skill.  You may mark a target within your line of sight. You can track them across virtually any terrain provided that they are no more than three days ahead of you. If they are more than three days ahead then you must make an Intelligence check. If they are more than a week ahead, or poor weather affects their tracks, this check has disadvantage.  A single item you could conceivably carry on your person worth over 200sp does not occupy an inventory slot. This applies to containers holding valuables, i.e. a chest or sack filled with coin, as well as single items, i.e. a golden idol.  All saves against inclement weather or exposure are made with advantage

Level 2:  Your wide breadth of experience and paranoia have saved your life many times, and if you attend to them closely they will save you many times more. You always go first in combat. If you are surprised, you aren’t. If you take someone else by surprise you deal maximum damage with all attacks on your first round. You sleep with a loaded gun under your pillow, and unless you’ve been strip-searched you always have d4 knives on your person. If someone demands you hand over all four, you can — but you will still be carrying d4 somehow.  When in town, you may spend any amount of money to buy an Unlabelled Package consuming any amount of Inventory Slots (as you choose). Only when the package is unwrapped do you declare what it contains - which can be anything as long as the contents:

You can put multiple items inside a large Unlabelled Package, including smaller Unlabelled Packages

Veteran

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You are not peasant levy. Maybe you volunteered to protect your homeland, maybe you were a conqueror of foreign lands, maybe you were a mercenary. Either way, you provided your own equipment, learned the art of war, rose through the ranks and saw far more of the world than the average citizen.  This could also represent being an explorer such as Sinbad the sailor

Level 1: You’ve been everywhere, man. Roll 3d12 on the table of probably-true things you did before becoming an adventurer and record the results.  As long as you can see the stars overhead and have an open hand, you can never get hopelessly lost and can always tell the four cardinal directions. 

Level 2:  You’ve seen it all before. Twice. You have advantage on Saves vs. Fear. If you succeed, allies and hirelings who can see you have a +2 bonus to their Save. Even if you fail the Save, if you were carrying a loaded pistol you can take a shot before running away.  All of your inventory slots are considered 'readied.'  You may provoke a creatures that can understand you and is capable of being offended. Once per encounter yell a challenge to an opponent, they must Save or attack you. In civilized areas, this could mean a duel, a joust, or a brawl. The challenged party can set conditions for the duel

Butcher

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Lamb chops are one thing, but have you ever had manticore ribs? You know the underlying Truth of the universe - if it’s made of  meat, you can eat it.

Level 1: Gain Survive as a bonus skill.  You learn 4 random Cuts from the linked table (reroll any duplicates).  You may take a freshly-killed corpse and, in one Turn, convert it into a Cut you’ve learned. Any character can eat a Cut to get its effects. The rest of the creature can be butchered to d6 rations. Uneaten Cuts go stale - and all eaten Cuts’ effects wear off - at end of day.  When reading a Cuts' effects, [HD] refers to the creature's number of Hit Dice in life and [Chain] refers to the dice pool matching [HD] on the Dice Chain chart.

Level 2: You learn an additional 4 random Cuts (reroll duplicates).  Additionally, instead of making a Cut, you can take an hour
and use a large cauldron of boiling water (or some other appropriate cooking equipment) to render a corpse into thaumaturgical  stock, which behaves like a scroll or potion. Monsters render into spells relevant to their place in the ecosystem or their abilities (ex. giant spider - Spider Climb, purple worm - Passwall, goblin thief - Knock, bandit captain - Command). Work with your DM. Spellcasters render into a random spell known in life.

Zealot

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A holy warrior in the grip of the Divine, who cares nothing for their own safety and exists simply as an extension of the gods themselves. You may or may not be part of the Church and they may or may not be okay with that.

Level 1: Gain Pray as a bonus skill.   Your extreme faith gives you access to Fervor and Conviction, each once per day for every two character levels (rounded up).  Fervor: You can choose to enter a rage at the start of your turn, or in response to taking damage.  While in a rage, you have +2 attack bonus and all your melee attacks inflict +d4 damage. While raging, you cannot do anything defensive, curative, or tactical with your allies. All you can do is attempt to kill things. Spellcasting is not impossible, but all your spells must be damaging spells, which deal +2 damage to each target. You can will yourself to stop raging with a 2-in-6 chance of success at the start of your turn as an instant action. If one of your allies has injured you this fight, they count as an enemy.  Conviction:  While fighting in defense of the ideals of your faith, you may negate all incoming damage from an attack as an instant action. Keep a record of the damage you would have taken. At the end of combat, Save. If you fail then you immediately suffer that much damage.

Level 2: Your zeal deepens, preparing you for the eventual jihad.  As an on-turn action, you may spit a litany of hatred at a target, detailing their spiritual, physical and mental shortcomings in excruciating detail and condemning them as an affront to the Divine who will be subject to your punishment. The target must Save or flee in shame. They roll with disadvantage if they share your religion or are particularly devout. This only affects targets that can understand you and would reasonably take offense.  Additionally, your Fervor and Conviction deepen.  Ardor: Your rage becomes focused and cold. You are able to think tactically while using the Fervor ability and need not devote all of your actions to attempting to harm your enemies. You may end your rage on a 4-in-6 instead of 2-in-6.  Martyrdom: Your Conviction ability now allows you to automatically resist a non-damaging mental or magical effect as an instant action or to ignore all Injuries and damage for d6+1 Rounds. You may give in at any time before you reach the maximum rounds rolled.  Once this time is up you suffer additional Death Dice equal to the amount of rounds spent acting and must roll on the Death and Dismemberment table. If you die, tales will form around the story of your death, even if you died far from civilization and no-one lived to tell your story. 

Rules Changes

These are rules that already exist within the corebook but I am tweaking to fit the campaign a little better.

Initiative

To make initiative easier to track and quicker at the table, only players will roll for initiative and there will be no 'initiative number' to put everyone in order.  Simply make a Wisdom check each round.  If you succeed, you go before enemies, if you fail, you go after.  Within those two phases, the players can go in whatever order they decide.

Encumbrance

This will work mostly the same as the corebook, but streamlined.  No extra 'readied' slots can be used.  All items will be either slight or the size of a soap, a stone or a sack (12 per one slot, 3 per one slot, one slot, or all of your regular slots).  For treasure, 250 coins will weigh one stone/slot (gems will be treated as specific number of coins based on size - this is independent of value).  Each level of Fatigue also takes up one inventory slot (and can lead to being encumbered/exhausted as well).

While within the city, encumbrance will be mostly handwaved, as it is assumed you can simply head back to base and grab/drop off anything that is needed.  Inventory management is only worth tracking in a wilderness/dungeon environment where resources for survival are in short supply.

Mortal Wounds

This is being replaced with a Death and Dismemberment table.  Other wound statuses and healing rules are the same, just changing what happens at zero HP.

Critical Hits

Critical hits will use the tables in DCC when the PCs score crits.  When monsters score crits, the PC in question will just immediately roll on the Death and Dismemberment table.  Of course, for cool/deadly monsters like manticores or something I might just roll on the appropriate monster table for them in addition to the D&D roll.  Player classes in WNN line up to DCC thusly:

Skills

As presented in the corebook, skills are binary pass/fail rolls with set DCs.  I prefer the fail-forward/shades of success paradigm in Powered by the Apocalypse/Forged in the Dark games.  This means that for the most part, all skill rolls will be judged on a scale of 2-7/8-10/11+ with that being complication/partial success/full success.

Additionally, having no ranks in a skill will no longer give a -1 to all rolls with that skill.  Instead, the skill will be rolled normally, just with a zero modifier in circumstances where an untrained person could conceivably 'figure it out.'  For trained tasks, the character will roll with 3d6 and the highest die will be dropped (aka 'disadvantage').  Example: Untrained Heal Check - first aid in the field, staunching blood, wrapping a sling, etc; Trained Heal Check - setting a broken bone, treating chronic disease, surgery, etc.

Languages

The rules as written do not allow characters to learn new languages without spending skill points and don't allow for any surprise during gameplay.  To remedy this, I will be taking the language system from Lamentations of the Flame Princess.  What this means is that all characters will start as normal for WWN with their native tongue and Trade Cant, a lingua franca for communicating just enough to make a sale (and will be literate assuming Intelligence is 8 or higher).  However, they will know no additional languages.  When encountering a new language for the first time, a character has a 1-in-6 chance of already knowing it at a roughly proficient level.  For each point of Intelligence bonus or level of Connect or Know skill (whichever is higher) the character has, increase this chance by  an additional 1-in-6.  Each character only ever gets one chance to 'already know' any language.  This can be done a number of times up to the character's INT bonus.  If a character would like to actively learn a language, this same check can be made after 3 months of intense study or 1 month of total immersion, with an additional +1 to the success range for each additional time increment.  After success, the character is considered roughly proficient in the language and any study bonuses are cleared.  An additional check with all the same rules can be made to increase this knowledge to fluency.  If warranted by the character's background, an initial 'already known' language check can be made without counting against the limit above using 2d6 and if both are successful, the character was 'already' fluent in the language.

Magic

While spellbooks are listed as a requirement in the rulebook, there are no actual mechanics for them.  I will simply port the spellbook rules from AD&D (adjusted to the silver standard economy).  Because AD&D doesn't use a slot-based encumbrance system, to make it fit within WWN, regular spellbooks will take 2 inventory slots and traveling spellbooks will take only 1.  Note that in WWN, there is no distinction between arcane and divine magic, meaning anyone with the ability to cast spells requires a spellbook to prepare them each day.

Material components do not appear to be necessary for spellcasting in WWN, so unless a specific spell requires rare ingredients that must be quested for, it can be assumed that any spell components are on hand and take up zero inventory slots.

Experience

This is by far the biggest change from the rules as written in the book.  WWN uses a system that is effectively milestone leveling, but with a tracker for XP.  Instead, we will use a blend of typical old-school exponential XP and this smaller/mile-stone style advancement according to this table:

Level Experience Needed
1 0
2 600
3 1,500
4 3,000
5 6,000
6 10,000
7 15,000
8 22,500
9 35,000
10 50,000

Experience is awarded for defeating monsters, performing feats that align with the three pillars: Exploration/Combat/Role-Playing aka interacting with the fiction (stolen shamelessly from 3d6 DTL's method) or for other reasons as they come up.  Feats are described as Minor, Common or Major and grant 1/32nd, 1/16th and 1/8th of the party's next level requirement, respectively.  To determine the exact amount, generate a total XP Target by adding the XP needed to reach the next level for each member of the party and base all the  percentage awards off that value (ie: if there are two level 2 characters and a level 6 in the party, their total XP target is 6,800 [900+900+5,000] and a Minor Feat would grant 212.5 XP).  All XP is awarded as group XP, split evenly amongst all party members.  XP targets ignore the player's current XP - they just look for the total amount between beginning and end of each level (a lvl two character always has an XP target of 900, even if they currently have 1,350 XP). [[actual percentage of XP gain might change if this is too fast or too slow]]

The goal is for each player to get ~300-500 XP per session, so if these XP rewards aren't working, we'll change things.

 

 

 

House Rules

These are new rules that don't exist within the WWN book that will be in play for the campaign.

Hacking Out Treasure

This is a rule meant to represent someone being unable to loot an item of value and taking anything they can grab, a common trope in the Arabian Nights.  Think of it like Indiana Jones popping a jeweled eye out of a massive statue or someone cutting off a finger from a solid gold idol, etc.

This allows a disrespectful 'hero' to reduce 1d6+level % of the total value of a treasure into a single inventory slot.  However, the remainder of the piece will have its value reduced by 10x this amount due to the defacement.  Yes, you can render a treasure worthless via this method.  Example: a 5,000 gp altar is hacked at by a 3rd level Warrior.  Rolling 3 on their d6 allows them to take 6% (300gp) worth of embossed silver and marble from the altar and cram it into one inventory slot.  However, what's left of the altar is now worth only 2,000 gp.

A Hot Meal

WWN only allows for natural healing via sleep/rest - similar to a Long Rest.  To add something more akin to a Short Rest, I will be adding a 'lunch' mechanic because I love Dungeon Meshi.  Once per day, the group can take a rest for about an hour to decompress and cook a meal for themselves and at the end of that hour, everyone present can heal for 1d6+level HP.  Simply consuming rations will stave off starvation, but not allow for a recovery via A Hot Meal - though rations can be used as ingredients.  The cooking process is fairly simple: if the characters have something edible on hand, there is a 1-in-6 chance that they can convert into something tasty or at least interesting.  This chance is raised by 1-in-6 for each other following that the group has access to: fire, utensils, pots and pans, spices, water.  If unique or magical ingredients are used, the meal will provide additional benefits beyond just healing.

Troupe Play

A mainstay of old-school games, WWN included, is relatively common character death, especially at low levels.  While this certainly has its place as a method of conveying the danger of the adventuring life, it also has a habit of grinding all narrative development for PCs to a halt.  To attempt to keep a sense of danger while still allowing a story to develop, we will be using a troupe-style party.  This means that each player is not stuck with a single character.  Instead, everyone will have a 'main' character, who will have slightly better stats and abilities than a normal PC and will allow for more customization.  Additionally, everyone will have a 'secondary' character who is more normal, and will be more or less randomly generated.  This character will be replaced if killed - either via rolling a new character, or promoted from the ranks of the minor characters.  At the start of each session (and any other time it makes sense), players can pick which PC they want to play as for the night.  If they want, a player could also choose to play as all the hirelings/retainers/level-0 grogs that are accompanying the party for their current adventure instead of one of the core PCs.

This does mean that some characters could be far from the main base of the other characters in the middle of dungeon crawl/heist/etc and time will have to pass for both groups separately until everyone can meet back up.  This is pretty standard for old-school games.  Gary Gygax even has some pretty strong feelings on the topic:

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Death and Dismemberment

When reduced to zero HP, characters do not die immediately. Instead they become Frail as normally and then roll 2d8 plus an additional d8 for every point of System Strain the character has. These additional dice are known as Death Dice. Total the highest three from the whole pool and consult the table below. The human racial ability can never drive this pool below two dice, as it only affects the Death Dice.  Their HP remains at zero.

2 An incredibly unlikely close call. Somebody up there likes you 13 You just got fucked up, bruh. A random Attribute takes damage equal to your current System Strain, then gain +3 System Strain and a Fatigue
3 You’re cut, bruised, scraped or some other minor wound. Gain +1 System Strain and a cool scar 14 Take a Major Injury to the 1: Arms, 2: Legs, 3: Core. Additionally, gain +3 System Strain
4 Drop a held item as you absorb the blow. Gain +1 System Strain 15 Your psyche breaks under the stress of war. Roll d6 and gain +2 System Strain. 1: Run, 2: Hide, 3: Paralyzed and gibbering, 4: Faint, 5: Rage out, 6: Scream. Just so much screaming
5 Gnarly hit, but they barely missed the vein. Save or Shaken for d4 rounds and gain +1 System Strain 16 Something is definitely broken or punctured. You’re a Dead Man Walking and will die in 5d20 hours if not stabilized with First Aid
6 They got you pretty good. Gain +1 System Strain and Slashing – Stunned for 1 round, Piercing/Ballistic – Gain +1 System Strain, Bludgeoning – Knocked prone, Fire/Acid – Shaken for 1 round 17 Blood is spurting to the point of being a trip hazard. You’re a Dead Man Walking and will bleed out in 5d20 Turns if not treated with First Aid
7 A solid hit. Gain +2 System Strain and +2 Fatigue 18 Your intestines have moved to a new zip code. And I'm pretty sure they winked at you.  You’re a Dead Man Walking and you’ll die ignobly in d8 rounds without First Aid
8 Knocked prone, disarmed, in a terrible position and gain +2 System Strain 19 Your insides are feeling much gooeyer than normal. You’re a Dead Man Walking and will drown in your own blood in d6 rounds. A trained medic could probably heal this as if Patching an injury, but it seems unlikely
9 Take a Minor Injury to the 1: Arms, 2: Legs, 3: Core. Additionally, gain +2 System Strain 20 Your body has gone into shock due to its wounds. You’re a Dead Man Walking and will die in d3 rounds unless a trained medic devotes a Main Action to stabilizing you until the end of the encounter then Patches your miserable corpus afterwards
10 Take a Minor Injury to the 1: Arms, 2: Legs, 3: Core. Additionally, gain +2 System Strain 21 Immediate and brutal death. Allies must Save or be Shaken for d6 rounds
11 That could have been the end of you. Save or gain a phobia of whatever just happened. Additionally, gain +2 System Strain 22 Describe the absurd and unlikely way you just died
12 Existential crisis. Gain +2 System Strain and Save or be Shaken until the end of the encounter 23+ Your body is obliterated as you polymorph into red mist. Also, you’re super dead

Status Effects
• A Shaken character must give up their movement or Main Action each round
• A Stunned character must forfeit both their movement AND Main Action each round
• An injured character is inhibited by their wounds. If they only have a Minor Injury, something equivalent to a sprained knee or arm that's out of the socket, then any action using that part of the body is made with disadvantage. If it’s a Major Injury, likely a broken bone, punctured lung or severed ligament, that body part is completely unusable – Arms: No attacks, Legs: No movement and exploration movement for group is at half speed, Core: Cannot exert or carry items, etc. If a character suffers the same Minor Injury twice, it is upgraded to a Major Injury. Each time another injury is taken to a body part already suffering a Major Injury, the character must Save or Die.  When a character gains a Major Injury, they also gain the Frail status.
• Once a character is completely beat to hell, they’re A Dead Man Walking. Any time a Dead Man Walking makes a roll on the Death and Dismemberment table, they must first Save or Die before determining the effects

Healing from Grievous Wounds
After a proper overnight rest, clear all Minor Injuries and remove the Dead Man Walking status. By taking a Turn and making a Heal check, an ally can attempt to Patch a Minor Injury. This will clear the detrimental effect, but not heal the injury itself – leaving it open to be upgraded as normal. This check has advantage over a Hot Meal.
  

Check Result Effect
7 or less No effect OR Patch the injury and add +1 System Strain
8, 9, 10 Patch an injury
11 or more Patch an injury.  Additionally, if the medic has Heal-0 or more, remove -1 System Strain

Any character that has received a Major Injury cannot heal their Fragility through normal means.  They remain Frail until they have been given 2d6 weeks of bed rest in a safe location with at least some amount of first aid, splints, etc.  If attained through becoming a Dead Man Walking, the character must get professional medical treatment for those 2d6 weeks to clear the Fragile status.

Errata

Because of how certain house rules interact with WWN as written, some abilities will have to be changed to fit.

Vital Furnace
Healer Art, pp 81 now reads: Your tremendous life energy can be used to instantly regenerate any non-mortal wound you have received.  Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action to negate the damage from an injury you just received that did not reduce you to zero hit points.  Alternatively, you can Commit Effort for the day as an Instant action to ignore the effects of one roll on the Death and Dismemberment table from a critical hit you have received that did not reduce your hit point total to less than one.  Aside from this ability, the first time you are reduced to zero hit points each day you may ignore the automatic roll on the Death and Dismemberment table.  You must rest overnight following the normal rules for warmth, shelter, etc to regain use of this function of Vital Furnace.  This Art cannot undo damage you intentionally inflict on yourself via some power or magical exchange.

 

Custom Classes

Umhrajji (Pilgrim) - Wise

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A priest of Ishurism. An itinerant preacher who has dedicated their life to spreading the Good Word, traveling throughout the empire to ensure that every child of God knows the love of the Divine. By force, if necessary.

Starting Loadout: Gain Pray as a bonus skill. As a Wise, this class counts as a Partial Expert for advancement. Each level will have a choice of either a specific Art or a Verse (see level 8 & 10 description). At first level, gain the Seasoned Traveler, Personal Immunity, Folk Friend and Ordained Arts

Umhrajji Arts

Seasoned Traveler
When using your personal pistol in combat, your attack bonus is equal to that of a Warrior/Expert rather than that appropriate to your current class, if better.

Personal Immunity
You bear signs of sanctity, and physically harming you is considered taboo in this region. Only the most vicious or desperate people will initiate violence against you, though any will fight if you attack them. Hostile groups will hesitate to attack your companions unless provoked

Folk Friend
Commoners and other low-class natives consider you a useful healer and helper. Once per day, you can expect a commoner who doesn’t hate you to offer you food, a small favor and an ethical quandry.

Ordained
You can preside over any religious ceremonies the same as any mosque-bound mobad or imam. This includes weddings, funerals, baptisms, etc.

Level 2: Set Those Sinners Free or Verse
If you know a person or creature to be sinner, you can inscribe a bullet with their name (their real name) and their sin(s); which takes
an hour. When a sinner is hit with a bullet that has their name and sin inscribed on it, it counts as magical and they suffer double damage. You can only have 6 of these bullets at one time

Level 4: Arbiter or Verse
If a conflict has broken out, armed or otherwise, you can fire your gun into the air, and the immediate violence will stop. You have
1d6 turns to work out a peace deal, gaining advantage on social checks to do so. If your gun leaves your hand during this time, negotiations break down entirely

Level 5: Gunslinger or Verse
Outside of combat, if you stick your gun in a person’s face, they must Save. If they fail, either: They have to do what you say OR You
blow their brains out and they die. If they succeed, they keep their nerve enough to stare you down in turn or at least get out of the way

Level 6: Confessor’s Gaze or Verse
If you believe a person to be a sinner—and you really mean it—but don’t have proof, you can stare them down and they must Save. On a success, they tremble in fear and flee from you. On a failure, they fall to their knees and begin confessing their secrets to you, regardless of whomever’s around them. If they’re innocent, this will damage your reputation as a holy person significantly. If you’re on an elevated position (like a pulpit, rooftop, or mountainside), you can do this to an entire crowd at once

Levels 8 & 10: Verses
Your extensive time on the road has left you plenty of hours alone to study the Testament. Each time you take this ability, you commit one verse to memory and draw strength from your faith. Roll 1d12 to determine which verse takes effect. If you already know the verse, choose the next higher or lower result on the list until you reach a verse that has not already been chosen.

Mystic - Mage

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A practicioner of Ishurist mysticism, sometimes known as a Natural Theologist. You study the physical world through the lens of
your religious dogma. To you, magic is the left over stuff of creation, similar to the cosmic microwave background radiation of our Big Bang. As a natural force, it follows natural rules, which can be bent or broken as you see fit.

Starting Loadout:  Gain Know as a bonus skill. Effort is determined by ranks in Know as well as the higher of Intelligence or Wisdom modifiers. Gain Flexible Geometry and any one other Art at first level and follow the Necromancer Art and Spell advancement after that.

Mystic Arts

Flexible Geometry
The mystic commits effort for the scene. Until the end of the scene, the mystic can use a Main action to focus their will and maintain control of local space, slightly warping it to their benefit. While focusing and stationary, the attacks and Saves of allies within 30 ft gain a +1 bonus and those of enemies receive a -1 penalty.

Compartmentalize Mixture
The mystic commits any amount of effort for the scene and commands a mixture of items (a soup, a pile of coins) that weigh no more than 100 lbs per point of effort to separate into up to 1d3 categories per point of effort. The separation is slow, taking at least a turn, and hindered by even the slightest effort. The categories must be clearly defined and identifiable by inspection. For example, one could split a soup into “vegetables” “broth” and “poison”, or a pile of coins into “minted during the last century” and “older”. You could not, however, split a pile of coins into “handled by Xerphion the Tyrant” and “not handled by Xerphion the Tyrant”, as there’s no way to tell just by inspecting them. One could not separate “a locked chest” and “its contents”, because the items could not flow
freely into separate piles.

Package Neatly
The mystic commits effort for the scene and up to 1,000 lbs of nonliving objects, as designated, are packed neatly. When using this art, the mystic must name the objects or at least their general category (“those coins”, “the contents of that room”) If no packing materials are provided, the objects will be stacked into compact cubes, with the largest and most stable objects at the bottom. If chests, paper and twine, sacks, carts, etc. are provided, they will be utilized as the mystic directs. The packages created will take up the minimum space possible, and will be remarkably sturdy. This effect will continue to pack objects for as long as concentration is
maintained. The objects must be able to move freely. For instance, this art could not pack clothes someone was wearing. The objects will not lift more than 10’ off the ground during the packing process.

Sturdy Circle
The mystic commits effort and draws a circle up to 20 ft in radius in the air. The circle is made of force, as solid as iron. The circle can be drawn in any orientation and remains in place for as long as effort is committed.

Euclid’s Bane
The mystic commits any amount of effort for the day and becomes adjacent to all things within line of sight for the scene. The mystic
is affected as if they were in every location at once, and interacts with everything as if it were adjacent as well. However, the mystic does not suffer multiple effects from the same hazard (even though they are standing in all parts of a wall of fire, they only take its damage once). The mystic can choose to not be adjacent to up to one target per point of effort committed (typically, the sun is the first ignored hazard when using this art).

Turn The Blasphemous
Commit Effort for the day as a Main Action and make the sign of Ish Ammon before one or more visible targets within sixty feet. Roll 2d6 and add your character level; that many hit dice of undead, automatons, or other synthetic, extraplanar, or unnatural life forms must Save or cower for the rest of the scene or until they or their comrades are attacked. Cowering enemies will take no hostile action and may flee unless bound to their location. This power does not affect foes with twice as many hit dice as the mystic has levels. If the rolled hit die total isn’t enough to fully affect a creature, it is unaffected.

Mental Labyrinth
The mystic focuses on a physical impossibility (such as the square root of a negative number, an asymptotic limit, division by zero, etc), commits effort for the day and until sunrise, creates a spiraling labyrinth of thought in their mind. Anyone attempting to read their mind or cast a memory-altering spell must Save or become trapped in the labyrinth. Once per hour, they can Save to escape. Very experienced mind readers may will themselves to sleep to automatically escape in 1d10 minutes. While a creature is trapped in their mind, the mystic can distantly hear its thoughts.

Fear No Flame
Commit Effort for the day as an On Turn action while nominating a visible target. For the rest of the scene, they are immune to non-magical flame, smoke, or explosive damage, and decrease any sources of such magical damage they take by five points per level of Know you have.

Sanctified Ward
Commit Effort as an On Turn action. While the Effort is maintained and until you take some hostile action against a creature, you are immune to Shock damage and gain a +4 bonus to your Armor Class and all saving throws. Enemies must pass a Morale check each round to target you with attacks; on a failure, they may take some other action instead. Once this art is ended it cannot be reactivated for the rest of the scene. Healing and other indirect support of fighting comrades does not count as a hostile action.

Transubstantiation
Commit Effort for the day as a Main Action to transform up to a gallon of any liquid into a nourishing and delicious sahlab. A single
draught of this holy liquid is sufficient to sustain a drinker for a day without further food or drink and will heal 1d6 plus the user’s Know skill in lost hit points. A gallon of liquid is sufficient to help a half-dozen people. The benefits of this art can be enjoyed only once per day, and any undrunk sahlab sublimates away into the air within a minute.

Arcane Script
The mystic commits effort for the scene and while the effort is committed, may use a Main action to completely remove any mundane or magical writing that could fill a space up to the size of a single scroll or piece of paper. They are also able to instead inscribe a personal rune or any single word on any surface without damaging the material. This inscription can be either visible or invisible, though will show up immediately under magical detection.

Mystic Spells

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First Level

Iron Mind
The person or creature touched by the caster is immune to all charm and hold spells for a full hour. Additionally, they automatically disbelieves all illusions cast by 3rd-level or lower spellcasters.

Ammon’s Judgement
The caster designates a circular area of 20 ft up to 200 ft away. This area, for just an instant, links the Material and Supernal realms and the creatures inside hear (what those who have been affected by this spell describe as) the voice of God. All affected creatures take 2d6 damage and are deafened for 2d6 rounds though may Save for half damage and only a round of deafness.

Clear the Path
The caster sends an invisible blade of force along a clearly defined path. Any light debris on the path (snow, small stones, leaves, grass) is pushed to the side. Any pressure plates or tripwires are activated. The caster does not have to be able to see the entire path, but does need to know the approximate geometric route the blade will take. The path is 10’ wide.

Ecumenical Filibuster
The caster begins a philosophical lecture that demands the undivided attention of any number of targets within a 90 ft radius. After
speaking for a full round, any targets that fail their Save are completely enthralled by the caster for as long as they speak (and an additional 1d3 rounds afterwards as they discuss amongst themselves), up to an hour. Targets that do not share a language with the caster, or have 4 or more HD or Levels, are unaffected.

Second Level

Molecular Condensation
Drawing upon their knowledge that energy and matter are simply two states of the same substance, the caster taps into the ambient magic in the area, coalescing it into a solid sphere of between 2 and 8 ft radius. The sphere is unnaturally dense, weighing 2 tons at its smallest and scaling to 256 tons at its largest. It is perfectly smooth and difficult to manipulate. It must be summoned on a stable (though not necessarily sturdy) surface – for instance, it could be be summoned on a flimsy wooden plank, but not on the surface of water or on a sand dune. The sphere lasts until sunrise of the next day, at which point it dissipates into the elemental mana from which it was created.

Luminal Flux
The caster decreases the wavelength of all handheld visible light sources within a 10 ft radius per level of the caster. As they shift
towards the ultraviolet, the rays become more energetic, damaging their bearers. Candles and matches deal no damage but are quite annoying. Torches deal 1d6, lanterns 2d6 and bonfires up to 6d6 depending on size. Magical light sources deal 1d6 per level of the casting plus an amount appropriate to the size of the light itself (a third level spell that creates a magical torch would deal 3d6 + 1d6 damage for a total of 4d6). Any light sources dealing 4 or more damage due to this effect blueshift far enough to no longer be visible, effectively extinguishing them.

Hex of Arum
Up to one creature or object per level of the caster within 60 ft must Save or have their joints locked at their current angle and position for one round per maximum spell level the caster is capable of using. This could affect the hinges of a door, the links in a chain, or the legs of a sprinting horse. Stumbling creatures usually take 1d6 damage.

Dispel Corruption
For the duration, the mystic is able to revert reality back onto the Creator’s true path. Upon hitting an extra planar creature with a melee attack, it is immediately banished back to its own plane. Additionally, using a Main action to simply touch a creature or object enchanted by an evil caster will dispel the enchantment. Finally, an ally may be anointed to remove any mind-affecting spells currently affecting them. The attack portion of this ability lasts for one round per level of the caster.

Third Level

Eye of Heaven
The caster stares into the sun when casting this spell, which is in effect until they look away. While staring into the sun, the caster
sees anything that the sun could see, in any part of the word. They can see it as close as if they were currently 100 ft above ground. At night, this spell does nothing, and it cannot be used in doors. They are blinded until the next sunrise after casting this spell.

Control Gravity
A number of targets up to the caster’s level within 100 ft, who must be touching the ground at the time of casting, are affected. For
as long as the spell is active, they must keep at least one limb touching the ground at all times. They can jump or run if they make a Strength check with disadvantage. If a target is knocked prone, they must make a Strength check to rise from prone. Targets take a -2 penalty to all rolls involving Dexterity.

Cacophony
The caster designates a point or object within 120 yds. A 15 ft radius from that point is affected, which is immobile unless cast upon a creature – who receives a Save. If the Save succeeds, the spell is still cast, but will not follow the target. For one round per caster level within the area, space warps back in on itself, causing all sound to rebound indefinitely. A literal echo chamber. No sound can enter or leave this area. Even if the creatures within are perfectly quiet, their basic biological functions, air resistance due to movement, etc will fill the space with incessant noise for the duration. This prevents all spellcasting or conversation
and drives the creatures within mildly insane due to simultaneous sensory deprivation and overload. Any creatures within this area must Save each round or be affected as follows by rolling 1d10:

1: Writhe on the ground for the duration (no further rolls or Saves)
2-6: Stand confused for one round (roll again next round)
7-9: Attack the nearest creature (roll again next round)
10: Act normally (roll again next round)

Fourth Level

Dredge from the Deep
Buried or covered objects rise to the surface in 30 ft radius circular area you designate within 60 ft. If cast on the ground, coins, stones, and root will be pulled to the surface. If cast on water, sunken objects will rise to the surface and remain there as long as the caster wills it. The total weight of dredged objects cannot exceed 100 lbs per 2 caster levels. If this spell is cast targeting creatures in the area instead, the creatures take 1d6 damage and must Save or be stunned for 1 round. Instead of targeting an area, the spell can instead be cast targeting a single sentient creature. The creature must Save (if unwilling) or recall a memory in perfect detail. The caster designate the memory (“the first time you met your wife”, “where you buried the treasure”). The creature will be lost in a reverie for one round per caster level. This reverie ends if the creature is attacked, threatened, or has to perform any action. This
memory may induce a Fear or Morale test, but must be specific. “The scariest thing you have ever seen” would not work, but “the night your village burned” would.

Shield of the Faithful
The caster designates a willing creature within 30 ft, who begins to emanate light as a bonfire for 2 rounds per caster level. This light is treated as natural sunlight, affecting those weak to it normally. The intense light is distracting to attackers, giving the subject +2 AC. At the time of casting, any other creatures within 10 ft of the target may Save, escaping the area on a success. Those failing the Save – or any who enter the area after the initial cast – take 8d8 damage from the unbearable heat.

Fifth Level

Control Creation
This spell allows the caster to briefly attain the power of the creator deity and control the world itself. The caster focuses their will and attains one of three effects:
• If cast upon the earth, an area of 10 ft per level within 120 yd has a seismic tremor rip through the ground. The main shock is over
in one minute. This earthquake affects all terrain, vegetation, structures and creatures in the area, causing massive destruction. Solidly built structures with foundations reaching down to bedrock sustain half damage
• If cast upon the sea, a similar effect occurs, however it results in the creation of a tsunami or tidal wave
• If cast upon a relatively small body of water, such as a river or lake, the caster can part the waters. A trough 20 ft wide is created,
with the depth and length of the parting determined by caster level – a maximum of 10 ft of depth and 20 yds of length per caster level. The waters can remain parted for as long as the caster wills it

Alara’s Embrace
The caster touches any number of targets, reversing their internal polarity with respect to mana - granting them some measure of
protection against magical forces. For the duration, all targets gain advantage on all Saves versus spells and any affected creature being targeted by a spell will reflect it upon its caster until between 4 and 6 spell levels are reflected (this number is rolled for and kept secret by the DM). Partial reflection is possible based on the ratio of remaining levels and the level of the spell in question. These effects last for one turn per caster level, but this duration is split between all targets, for example a tenth level caster targeting himself gains protection for ten turns, but if targeting his ally as well, each target is protected for only 5 turns each.

Mobad - Mage

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A priest of the Old Faith. They generally leave their small communities for missionary work and to mete down justice upon the increasing amount of wickedness they see in the world. Unlike other spellcasters, Clerics are true theurges, directly channeling the divine energy of their gods into their works.

Starting Loadout: Gain Pray as a bonus skill. Effort is determined by ranks in Pray as well as the higher of Charisma or Wisdom modifiers. Gain Turn Vermin and any one other Art at first level and follow the Necromancer Art and Spell advancement after that.

Mobad Arts

Turn Vermin
Commit effort for the scene and command pests to flee before you. For the rest of the scene, no stinging and biting insects, arachnids, rodents or mundane pests of any kind can come any nearer than within 30 ft of you.

Ward the Evil Eye
Commit a point of effort and cover one eye in its entirety when you use this Art. While covered, no one may target you with a spell, but will instead target the creature nearest to you. Lasts until your eye is uncovered, at which point the effort is refunded.

Paint a Curse Upon the Tomb
Commit effort for the day and drench an object in holy oil. Any creature that takes the object other than you is cursed. Said creature makes every roll with disadvantage. If this would result in a failure for any reason, the creature suffers 1d6 damage. This curse persists until somehow dispelled, or if the cursed object is destroyed by fire. One such object can be anointed in such a way at any time.

The Tongue that Dreamspeaks
Commit effort for the day and split your tongue with a bronze dagger while reading aloud a text before you. You need not understand what you’re reading or even know the language. When you are done, sleep. In your dreams you will understand all that you read and wake with your tongue healed. This can be used to understand even ciphered text.

Exorcise the Hated Evil
Commit effort for the scene and grab the throat of a possessed or cursed creature and press a polished opal to its forehead. Pull the
opal back, and all evil will exit the creature in the form of black, ichor-filled vomit. Afterwards, if the creature was possessed, it is no
more. Likewise, if the creature was cursed, it is cursed no more.

Nail to Them the Nomad’s Curse
Commit effort and write upon papyrus the wrongs a creature has committed and nail them to its home or lair. For every wrong written, the creature will be unable to return to its home and unable to rest anywhere else. At the dawn of every day, one of the wrongs disappears. Creatures who are unable to rest due to this curse take 1 damage at the dawn of every day, and they cannot rest to regain hit points or system strain. This effect lasts until the final wrong disappears or the effort is reclaimed.

Gravesight
Commit Effort as an On Turn action; while it remains Committed, you can see the life energies of living creatures around you as various glowing patterns, regardless of the mundane illumination available. You can perceive sicknesses, poisons, and other physical qualities on sight. As a side effect of this ability, you can see normally even in perfect blackness.

Uncanny Ichor
Your blood is not like the blood of normal beings. Predators find it nauseating and will not bite you unless provoked. Unintelligent predators will not consider you edible. This ichor is reluctant to leave your body, and stabbing or puncture injuries can Mortally Wound you but cannot result in your death unless you are entirely pincushioned by your foes or suffer catastrophic physical damage.

Flesh of Unlife
You no longer require sleep and feel pain only in an abstract sense. You can suffer no more than 2 points of damage from any given instance of Shock and you have a natural Armor Class equal to 12 plus half your level, rounded down.

Blood Sacrifice
You can transfer life force between willing (or helpless) participants. Commit Effort for the day; for the rest of the scene, you can shift hit points from one target no smaller than a dog to another as a Main Action, provided you are touching both. You can shift enough hit points to Mortally Wound a donor, but you can’t give more to the recipient than would refresh their maximum total hit points.

Mobad Spells

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First Level

Beget the Nest of Crowns
Affix upon your brow a crown of twigs and feathers as a part of casting this spell. Birds without number will then cloud the heavens
above and descend. All within 100 ft is considered obscured, ranged missiles will not hit their marks, no one can move more than 10 ft per round, and all sound is drowned by their chirping. These birds swarm until somehow killed en masse or dispelled. This spell is
useless indoors.

The Dusk that Settles on Mud
Sprinkle the dust of a black ore onto clay, mud, soil, brick, limestone, or any other earthen substance. It will turn into constricting, hard, black metal and shrink slowly in size. A 10 ft cube of earth can be enchanted in this way. After 1 round, it will have shrunken down to the size of a pebble.

Anointed Skull’s Whispers
After anointing an undamaged skull in holy water, hide it in a place where neither sun nor moon nor starlight will ever touch it. Upon casting this spell, the skull will begin to whisper. Said whispers ooze from you. Anything that is hostile towards you within
10 ft must Save or be terrorized by the whispers until they leave said radius. A creature terrorized can only commit simple acts, such
as running, screaming, or untrained attacks. The morning after this spell is cast, the skull is destroyed and the spell ends.

Transform All Suffering to Plague
Curse a damaged target with the plague of pestilence. The curse causes the blood from the subject’s wounds to toxify and evaporate
on contact with the air, becoming an aerosol broadcaster of disease. The worse the wounds, the longer the sickness lingers in the air. The subject is non-contagious the first 1d6 turns after the spell is cast. After that, everyone coming within 10 ft of the subject must Save or become violently ill on the spot. The miasma carrying the illness will linger for one turn per 5 hit points the subject has lost (or portion thereof), giving the illness to any who enter the area during that time. The subject is not affected by the illness.
Victims who become ill must Save after 12 hours, and then every 12 hours until the spell ends. A failed save meaning the victim suffers hit point damage equal to the amount of consecutive failed saves to that point. While ill, the victim will be incapacitated (–4 on all attack rolls and saving throws, maximum movement halved if they insist on being active). Complete bedrest gives a +1 bonus to the saving throws, and full attention from a doctor gives a further +1. The sickness and incapacitation will last until the diseased has rolled a number of 12 hour interval saving throws equal to the level of the caster (successful or not), after which the illness fades 1d4 hours later. Victims are not contagious unless they die of the disease, in which case their corpse is contagious, requiring a saving throw from anyone coming within 10 ft, etc. The original subject remains contagious until she regains a hit point by any means

Second Level

Transfigure Dust to Vermin
Motes of dust are turned into lice, rats, and scorpions around you. Point to a creature. The vermin swarm them, biting and gnawing, dealing damage equal to your level. This damage continues each round until the target brings fire to the vermin, or the spell is dispelled.

Enfeebling Wave
A wash of debilitating force erupts in a 20-foot radius at a visible point within one hundred feet. All living creatures within the area must Save or for the rest of the scene their movement rate is halved and they must make all attack and damage rolls with disadvantage. If the save is successful, these penalties apply only to their next round.

Bounty of the Sea
Lift your hands and sing to all the seas of the world. A 30 ft radius of space around you is filled with churning, crashing waves of white-crested green water. Creatures in the water begin to drown, and thus can not speak or cast spells. If they fail a Save, they are picked up and moved to random locations, taking 1d6 damage per caster level at the end of every round. The waves do not relent until one round per two caster levels has passed.

Curse of the Evil Eye
Stare at the creature whom you are cursing and roll 1d20. In that many days, the creature must Save or die. If it has less than 20
hit points, it will die no matter what.

Third Level

Passage Through the Underworld
Cover your ears and close your eyes as a part of this spell’s casting. Then, walk forward. Your body will descend underground, to a place no living or undead creature may follow. The following round, appear anywhere within 120 yd of your original location. You know exactly where you will go. When you emerge, Save. If you fail, a ghost claws through the veil and emerges with you, aggressively haunting the location where you appear.

Set Loose the Beasts Upon Them
A moat 20 ft deep, 10 ft wide, and with an inner radius 30 ft away from you is suddenly carved into the earth and filled with seawater. If these dimensions cannot be met, then the moat tears through any non-magical obstructions to form itself. Inside of the moat, countless crocodiles. Creatures who attempt to swim or leap across must save or take 1d6 damage as they are pulled in. Creatures in the moat cannot move, and take 3d6 damage every round until they Save and can swim outside the area of effect. The moat lasts the remainder of the scene.

Festering Curse
The qualities of a corpse are forced upon a visible living target. The subject begins to rot, fester, and decay in whatever ways the cleric deems appropriate. Food tastes like ashes, water does not quench thirst, and their body is numb to all physical pleasures. They suffer a -2 penalty to all social skill checks due to their repugnance. This transformation does not inflict physical injury, but it makes the target’s life an utterly joyless misery until it is dispelled or the cleric lifts the curse. Creatures with more hit dice than the cleric has levels can Save to resist the curse.

Fourth Level

Chain the Sinner’s Soul to a Demon’s Own
You must know the true name of a demon to cast this spell. You must also anoint a creature in holy oil (taking one turn) as a part of this spell’s casting. The anointed creature is possessed with a demon whose true name you announce. The demon will lie sleeping within the anointed creature. Should the creature ever die, the demon shall be released to do battle with all that is hostile towards you until it is slain or banished.

Idol Guardian
The cleric fashions a statue of either an ancestor, an ancient hero or an avatar of one of their gods from clay, earth or mud. By means of this enchantment, it becomes animate and serves the cleric faithfully. The golem has 4 HD, AC 15, a Move of 40’/action, a +1 skill bonus, Saves of 13+, Morale of 12, and a melee attack of +6/1d10, assuming it doesn’t use a normal weapon. It is fully intelligent and self-willed, albeit utterly devoted to its creator. A golem regains all lost hit points at dusk each day, assuming it’s not destroyed. A caster may have only one golem active at a time. One that has been reduced to zero hit points is destroyed and can only be rebuilt with a month of painstaking repair and re-enchantment.

Fifth Level

Rule
You utter one of the words of power. This utterance forces the world to obey you. You can use this spell to perform one of the following feats: part water up to 100 ft deep; lower the water level of a body of water by 50%; create weather of any kind; or raise up
great walls 100 ft tall and 500 ft wide. These effects last until dawn.

Serve
Another of the words of power, this spell may be triggered as an Instant action by the caster, imparting a burst of unquenchable life force to all allied creatures within 50 feet. For the next five rounds, no affected ally can be reduced below 1 hit point, regardless of the damage inflicted upon them. At the end of the spell’s effect, the caster’s own life energy is exhausted, leaving them with only 1 hit point. A creature can benefit from this spell no more than once per day.

Sha'ir - Mage

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A student of the Seals of Sol-Amur, you are able to bind the capricious djinn, forcing them to serve you.  The djinn prefer the hidden places of the world, so a sha'ir must also learn to become comfortable in the inhabitable wilderness outside the safety of the cities.  As is the case with all mortals wielding phenomenal cosmic power, sha'ir puts his life and even his very soul at risk each time he enforces his will upon the world.

Starting Loadout: Gain Magic as a bonus skill. Effort is determined by ranks in Magic as well as the higher of Charisma or Intelligence modifiers. Gain Djinn Binding and any one other Art at first level and follow the High Mage Art advancement after that.

Sha'ir Arts

Djinn Binding

While a sha'ir is a scholar incapable of truly casting spells, by Sealing a djinn into an appropriate vessel, the sha'ir is able to force it to serve, casting spells and granting boons on command.  The binding ritual consumes all remaining Effort for the day, takes an hour and requires the true name of a djinn to be known.  At the conclusion of this ritual, the djinn is sealed within a specially prepared, small (1 encumbrance slot), usually stoppered, object such as a bottle, lamp, amphora, brazier, etc (though some advanced sha'ir choose to use stranger items, such as swords, shields, goats, etc).  To properly hold a being of smokeless fire, the preparation of the object causes it to become completely fireproof.  Once bound, the sha'ir gains a limited form of spellcasting by proxy (see Sha'ir Spells, below).  Additionally, due to the nature of the Seals, if a sha'ir takes the Spirit Familiar focus, it no longer represents an external spirit, but instead represents additional powers that can be extracted from a bound djinn (though it will be mechanically identical).

Kohl Sight

Commit Effort as on On-Turn Action while applying a specially prepared pigment known as kohl to your eyes.  While the Effort remains committed, your sight is unaffected by natural concealment such as dust, overgrowth, desert mirages, etc.  Additionally, you can always discern the magical workings of djinn as well as djinn hiding nearby in a non-corporeal state.

Storm in a Bottle

While sha'ir are not true spellcasters and thus cannot create magic items, you have studied ancillary texts regarding the Seals that allow for the binding of natural forces.  You can create calyxes using the rules in the Core rulebook.  The time taken represents a pilgrimage into the wilderness, alone.  A container similar to those used to capture djinn will be placed somewhere where no civilized soul will find it, but that remains exposed to the elements.  At the end of the creation time, if the check is successful, you can create a calyx with an effect in line with the natural forces in the region (lightning, wind, dust, storms, venom, etc - work with your DM).  If the sha'ir is level 5 or greater, they may also use this Art to create low-powered, but permanent magic items as if they were a true Mage of the same level.

Exposure Immunity

Sha'ir often find themselves drifting through inhospitable lands in search of more knowledge and power.  This Art serves as a bit of a bulwark against the dangers present in nature itself.  Commit Effort as a Main Action.  While committed, you can ignore the effects of hunger and thirst, as well as natural extremes in heat or cold.  This does not replace food or drink, but allows the sha'ir to continue his journeys at full strength right up until the moment he or she dies of exposure.  The Effort is returned the morning after you are able to sleep in a comfortable bed and have a warm meal.

Prince of All Nations

Commit Effort for the Day as a Main Action.  For the rest of the Scene, you are completely regaled in the finest clothes with all accompanying accouterments, appearing to be as resplendent as Prince Ali (fabulous he), though less ostentatious raiment is also possible. While this Art is in effect, the ruse is believed by everyone and you can move mostly freely as a foreign dignitary.  Even those who doubt can find no immediate flaw in your presentation, but may be irked enough to do more research into your story in the future.  While thus attired, you gain advantage on social checks to those who respect your station, such as peasants, other nobles, etc (and disadvantage on said checks against those that would prey upon it, such as bandits, highwaymen and other uncivilized curs). 

Sandskin

Your skin can reflexively become as thick as drypack earth or as free-flowing as sand.  Such strong ties to the desert wastelands grants you a +2 bonus to all Physical Saves and grants a natural Armor Class of 14.

Break the Shackles

Having such deep knowledge of how to dominate the will of another gives you a measure of protection against similar magics.  As an Instant Action, you may commit a point of Effort for the Day to immediately allow yourself to reroll any Save against a mind-affecting spell.  This Art can even be used after the spell goes into effect to attempt to shake it off.

Grandeur of Abwah

Commit a point of Effort for the Day to turn a normal dwelling into an extravagant abode.  Until sunrise, once observers have passed beyond the entrance, they behold a magnificent foyer and numerous chambers beyond. The place is furnished and contains sufficient foodstuffs to serve a nine-course banquet to as many dozens of people as the spellcaster has levels of experience. The trans-dimensional space contains - liveried and obedient, there to wait upon all who enter - 1,000 servants and acres, 40 fakirs, cooks and bakers. The atmosphere is clean, fresh, and warm, with room to support 60 elephants, llamas galore, lions, bears, a brass band and more.

Wanderer's Knowledge

As vagabonds, sha'ir come across many small pieces of trivia in their travels.  Once per piece of information, you may roll to see if you either already encountered something similar or at least heard about it at some point.  The chance to have come across knowledge about an area's local legends or history is level-in-10.  For basics about local magical rumors or wonders, the chance is level-in-20.

Library of Brass

While traveling the wilds allows a sha'ir to learn many interesting (though mundane) tidbits about the world, sometimes active research is necessary to discern any additional information about truly mysterious or arcane objects and places.  Commit a point of Effort (which is refunded upon your djinn's return) and perform a ritual importuning your bound djinn to scour this world and the realms beyond for anything it can find related to the target of your interest.  Unerringly, the djinn will learn about it.  However, djinn are capricious, and will refuse to give direct answers to questions, rather delivering any information it finds in the form of a riddle, poem, joke, etc.  The djinn is gone for 1d4 turns if it has physical access to the item or place that you are inquiring about, 1d10 days if you have detailed knowledge of it, and 2d6 weeks if you are operating strictly off rumors.  While thus engaged, your djinn cannot be used for spellcasting, however.

The Decree of the Dao

Commit Effort for the Day to roll all spell checks this scene with advantage.  Either of the two rolls may be chosen for each roll, as the sha'ir sees fit.

Whispering Wind

Commit Effort for the Scene to summon a gentle desert wind that carries a message up to one mile away per level of the sha'ir, made up of up to two dozen words or one round’s worth of other sounds. You can likewise cause the whispering wind to move as slowly as a mile per hour or as quickly as a mile every turn. When the spell reaches its objective, it swirls and remains until the message is delivered.  Only one such wind can be summoned at a time.

Efreeti's Presence

Commit a point of Effort for the Day to bring the full force of your personality to bear for the rest of the scene. The mere mortals before you will believe you to be as mighty as the lords, that you could face the galloping hordes or even defeat a hundred bad guys with swords.  Most people will simply cow before you, but those who resist must Save.  On a failure they must show some respect and then genuflect (down on one knee).  Each morale check made before you can be rerolled once as you desire (allies gain an extra chance to succeed while inspired by your greatness, enemies must succeed at two rolls to resist fleeing your awesome presence, etc).

Avoid Fate

Sha'ir are the epitome of the wily rambler who somehow always manages to weasel out of any hopeless situation to fight another day.  By use of this Art, such a description becomes literal.  By using the Seals to bind all consequences into a small token held on your person, you may commit Effort for Day as an Instant Action and for the rest of the Scene, you ignore any effects that require a Save and your health cannot fall below 1 hp. This does not cause you to succeed on Saves, you simply ignore all effects entirely (a fireball targeting you directly explodes but does not even scorch your clothes, etc).  However, at the end of the Scene, the token shatters and you simultaneously fail all Saves that were ignored and any damage that was mitigated is taken in a single blow.  If this takes your hp below 1, gain an additional Death Die for every extra point of damage past what would take you to zero hp (if you are at 2hp when this triggers and have 5 hanging damage, you would gain +3 DD).  Many sha'ir die after use of this Art, but are able to go out in a blaze of glory.

Chain the Whirlwind

By committing any amount of Effort for the Day as a Main Action and drawing upon your connection to the hidden places of the world, you are able to draw up a small, 10 ft tall, dust devil about your person.  Within the radius of the whirlwind, all characters have disadvantage on all attacks due to the swirling dust and sand. Additionally, the whipping winds slow movement to just a few feet per round. The twister lasts the rest of the scene unless the sha'ir dismisses it and has a radius of 20 ft per point of Effort.

Sha'ir Spells

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Sha'ir do not directly cast spells, thus they do not have spell slots.  However, they can engage in a small battle of wills with a djinn they have bound to compel it to use its own magical talents on command - often many times per day.  This is represented via the spellcasting rules of the DCC Corebook. For example, here is how Flaming Hands works in this system.

A sha'ir's Spell Check is [Action Die + Caster Level + Magic Skill + higher of Intelligence or Charisma modifiers].  Spellburn can be accomplished by accruing System Strain.  Additionally, all djinn are vagarious, so each spell will have a Mercurial Magic effect attached to it, differing from djinn to djinn (use the sha'ir's Magic Skill in place of DCC's Luck Modifier for determining Mercurial Magic or any spell effects).

The spells known/max spell level and Action Dice on DCC Table 1-12 (page 50) will determine the magical abilities of the sha'ir.  Note that additional Action Dice mean that higher level sha'ir can either cast a spell and attack in the same round, or cast multiple spells per round!  This increase in max spell level and spells 'known' represent the sha'ir unlocking additional powers from their bound djinn via improved Seals and incantations.  As is normal for DCC spellcasting, the spells a sha'ir 'learns' are determined randomly - though Patron Bond and Invoke Patron are removed from the pool of random options, as they will be used differently in this campaign.

As with any other Mage, they begin play with a 'spellbook,' though in the case of the sha'ir, it takes the form of an appropriate vessel to hold a djinn (which the sha'ir also begins play bound within).  If this vessel is lost, the Djinn Binding Art can be used to force another into servitude, but the spells that can be accessed through it and their mercurial effects will all be different.  By using the Art to bind a second djinn, the first is freed from the control of the sha'ir and can break the Seals entirely by performing appropriate tasks as detailed in the Lore section.

Sahira - Alternate High Mage

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The cunning folk.  Voodoo priestess.  The devil's bride.  Witches go by many names in many places.  WIthin Rumahl, they are known as sahira and they have a monopoly on curses and the command of spirits to enact change in this world.  Science and reason reign supreme among the Ishurists, but even they know better than to disregard the stories their jidda told them as children to scare them to sleep.

Starting Loadout:  Gain Magic as a bonus skill. Effort is determined by ranks in Magic as well as the higher of Wisdom or Charisma modifiers. Gain Evil Eye and any one other Art at first level and follow the Sorcerer (High Mage) Art and Spell advancement after that.  Besides the change in loadout and Art choices, a sahira is mechanically identical to a High Mage.  It is simply an alternate tradition that has focused their Arts on a different magical heritage.

Sahira Arts

Evil Eye
While anyone has the potential to unconsciously curse another with the Evil Eye, you have the strength of will to wield it on command. As a Main Action, glare at a person for whom you harbor negative emotions. This does not need to stem from a specific wrong they have performed unto you, simple jealousy, rivalry or disdain will suffice. Choose Attack Rolls, Saving Throws or Skill Checks. The target gains Disadvantage on all rolls of the chosen type while cursed. The curse begins upon waking the following day, though the sahira may commit Effort for the scene to cause the target to Save or be affected immediately. Only one target can be affected at a time. The curse lasts until the sahira chooses to end it or target takes steps to cleanse themselves of the Evil Eye, at which point the curse is broken without issue. Each culture has their own methods for cleansing the Evil Eye - all are 100% effective.
At Third Level, this ability improves to allow those close to your true target to be affected instead (causing sickness among a farmer's livestock, preventing a banker's children from performing well in school, etc). At Sixth Level, the sahira no longer has to choose between affecting Saves/Attacks/Skills, all three are cursed. Additionally, while within 120ft of the accursed, the sahira may spend a point of Effort for the scene to cause an immediate reroll of any check or save the target makes.

Sympathetic Idol
You spend a turn or more crafting a small effigy of another individual out of common materials. It does not matter if this is cloth, clay, wax or even bronze - the only required component is a bit of the target, namely: hair, nail clippings, blood, etc. Once consecrated, until the next new moon whenever you cast a spell requiring the target to be touched, instead a point of Effort can be committed for the scene to touch the effigy instead of the actual target. This works across any distance.
Depending on the culture, this effigy could take many forms - voodoo dolls, ushabti, small memorial boxes, even distilled into an oil used to anoint the sahira's casting implements.

Profane Ward
Your connection to the innate entropy of the world allows you to subconsciously make slight alterations your movements and the world around you, granting you an Armor Class of 12 plus half your level (rounded down). This can be modified by Dexterity or a shield, but not by other armors. Though you can wear armor if you so choose without affecting this ability, you simply cannot stack the effects. Additionally, you may commit Effort as an On-Turn action to generate a triggered curse on your person. While the Effort remains committed, any living creature that attacks you is wracked with pain to their joints, internal organs and muscles, resulting in a cumulative -1 penalty to both damage done and AC for each such attack.

Grasp the Lifeblood
Blood, as they say, is thicker than water. By use of this Art, the sahira can also cause it to become as thick as steel. By committing a point of Effort for the Scene as a Main Action, you can target an open wound within 50’ and cause one of the following effects:

Each individual wound can only be affected by this Art a single time and due to the loyal nature of blood itself, none of these effects can target the creature that originally shed it.

Enchantress’ Guile
Your control over curses and entropy is such that you can even steal control of those cast by another. By Committing Effort for the day and touching a target that is under the thrall of a mind-affecting magical effect such as charm, domination, etc – you can cause the creature to instead become under your thrall. If the original caster had more levels/HD than the sahira, a contested Int/Cha+Magic roll must be made. This Art can also exchange the control of curses which don’t impact the creature’s thoughts placed upon the target, but such use always requires a contested roll and the sahira makes this roll with disadvantage.

One Among Many
It is well known that sahira are able to change their appearance, with the same witch sometimes being described as an old crone and other times as a seductive maiden. By Committing Effort for the day as a Main Action, the sahira can choose to look like any non-specific person of the same species and gender, changing hair color, age, eye color, voice, etc. This effect lasts until sunrise or the sahira dismisses it. Additionally, if a significant piece of a murdered person (skull, bone, organ, finger, etc) is carried by the sahira, they can choose to perfectly mimic the voice of that dead person instead of a nonspecific voice. The person must have been killed by another sentient being and that being must either be: the sahira themselves, or also dead.

Nightwalker
By Committing Effort for the scene, the sahira can fall into a shadow they are currently touching. The caster becomes two-dimensional and melds into said shadow, gaining the ability to walk across it and any adjacent shadows or other areas of darkness. The sahira cannot be damaged while in this shadow-form, but does not gain the ability to see in darkness due to this Art (though does not lose said ability if gained another way). Any light sources the sahira was carrying are immediately extinguished. The effect ends when the witch comes out of the darkness, either by choice or by the presence of enough nearby light to eliminate any shadow within which to dwell.

Untrod the Path
Sahira who have mastered this Art are notoriously difficult to track back to their lairs. The witch may Commit Effort and while committed, does not leave any trace of their presence. Footsteps in mud do not leave prints, broken twigs mend themselves, signed documents are illegible and even the memories of those with whom they have interacted become fuzzy and indistinct.

Curricle of Whirls
Inanimate objects can be forced to carry the sahira by use of this Art. Any amount of Effort is Committed, determined by the object to be affected – one point: the size of a person, two points: the size of a horse, three points: the size of a cart, four points: the size of a house. The object becomes ambulatory and can carry a number of man-sized passengers based on the effort spent (1/2/4/8). The object moves as a camel and has additional carrying capacity equal to 5 times the Effort spent. By spending an additional point of Effort, the object gains the ability to fly (though appropriate Ride or Sail checks will be necessary if any erratic maneuvers are attempted). This effect lasts while the Effort is Committed.

Hex Bag
By Committing Effort for the day as a Main Action and taking an hour to prepare herbs, bones, inks or other such materials (costing 200s) and bundling them into an ungulate’s bladder the sahira can prepare a hex bag with which to curse her foes. A number of creatures up to the sahira’s level can be affected by the bag. Any creatures spending an hour within 50ft of the bag must Save or be cursed for the rest of the day in the following ways:
   • Disadvantage on either Attacks, Saving Throws or Skill Checks. The sahira makes this choice at the time of casting
   • Gains the Frail condition
   • Becomes frightened of a number of named creatures equal to the sahira’s maximum effort. All creatures affected by the bag are frightened of the same creatures
The bag’s magic lasts until destroyed, dispelled or dismissed by the caster. A new Save is rolled each day the victims would be affected. This effect counts as both a Charm and a Curse.

Hag’s Eye
By Committing Effort as a Main Action, the witch is able to pluck their left eye from their skull. This eye can be left anywhere and the sahira is able to see through it as if it were still in their head. The eye can’t hear (duh), nor can it move, but it can rotate 360 degrees and the witch can see through it across any distance. This effect lasts until the Effort is reclaimed, at which point the eye dissolving into a sticky white goo and a new eye reforms in the sahira’s skull.

Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board
The sahira can Commit Effort for the Scene as an Instant Action to reduce the damage from a fall of any height to zero. The witch falls as gently as a feather on the breeze, alighting upon the earth feet first. Additionally, this Art can be used to negate any attempt to move the sahira against their will, planting their feet on the ground and becoming as a stiff and unmoving as wood.

Sahira Spells

As the Sahira is simply an alternate template to reflavor the High Mage to be more focused on curses and folklore than metamagic and old secrets, the spell list they can draw from is the same as the High Mage itself.  The spells should be reflavored and renamed as stated in the book to match this different tradition.  For example Obnubilation of the Will could be the creation of a juju zombie, Phobic Storm a release of witch's true viasge and Calculation of the Phantasm Eidolon could represent summoning a guardian loa to one's side.

One Shots

Sands and Scoundrels

Cortex

Core Rulebook // Rules Cheat Sheet

Bhaqir Hadin, Alchemist

Jhufet Amal, Artificer

Dhanaz al'Salim, Sha'ir

Jinari Brahmiq, Corsair

Lukram Mittar, Warrior

Blades in the Dark

Core Rulebook // Rules Cheat Sheet

Bhaqir Hadin, Alchemist

Jhufet Amal, Artificer

Lukram Mittar, Warrior

The Potters (Crew Sheet)

Universes Beyond, non-Rosewater Edition

Marvel Multiverse

Character sheet ==> Simplified Version

Henchman Sheet