Sorcery: Blood Magic

Sorcery: Blood Magic

And now let's take a short break from the D&D conversions. Dominions 4 is one of my favourite video games. It's a fantasy turn-based strategy with a vast amount of nations, monsters, and spells. The most unique magic school in the game is the blood magic. It requires a special resource - blood slaves that must be sacrificed. Most of the spells of this type of magic deal with madness, bloodletting, blood boiling, healing, and, most importantly, summoning demons and TMWNMTK.

Blood magic is one of the most ancient forms of magic. In the past, it was practiced in many places on the world, but nowadays it is considered barbaric and uncivilized. In most places, blood magic use is forbidden.

You cannot preserve your own blood or blood of others and use it later to cast spells (but see sacrifices below). Blood mages do not need mana to cast spells, and this fact allows them to cast spells anywhere. A blood mage cannot use FP or ER to cast spells, he can only burn HP. Blood magic is also limited thematically in its effects – a blood mage is able to manipulate blood, cause rage, pain, madness, summon fiends and beings from the Far Realms, transport himself to the Lower Planes, the Far Realm, or back to the Material Plane, banish outsiders, rejuvenate, heal (although he cannot heal himself using his own life energy).

Blood Magic’s Scope It might be reasonable to define blood magic’s scope in greater detail. Blood magic spells can do the following: -          Cause bleeding, either as toxic damage to a creature with open wounds or by afflicting the victim with Hemophilia; -          Summon fiends and Far Realm entities (demons, devils, yugoloths, demodands, kaorti, skybleeders, etc.); -          Transport creatures bodily to the Lower Planes, the Far Realm, or back to the Material Plane from there; -          Open gates to the aforementioned planes; -          Rejuvenate and heal living creatures (HP and FP), neutralize poisons, cure disease, regrow lost limbs, make bodies regenerate, (the caster can only cast such spells on himself when using blood points gained via sacrifice); -          Banish any outsiders, not only fiends; -          Strengthen bodies of living creatures (Afflictions that grants ST, DX, HT, increased Basic Speed); -          Grant fiendish characteristics: claws, horns, DR (usually with Tough Skin), leathery wings, Infravision, Dark Vision, Magic Resistance. These buffs are usually limited with Temporary Disadvantage that grant Vulnerability to holy weapons, cold iron, silver, or other appropriate fiendish weaknesses; -          Leech living creatures to heal FP, but never HP; -          Afflict minds with such disadvantages as Bad Temper, Berserk, Bloodlust, Bully, Combat Paralysis and other forms of madness; -          Cause internal damage by boiling or freezing blood; -          Cause pain, heart attack, or paralysis by freezing blood; -          Weaken bodies (reduce ST and/or HT with Afflictions, grant Low Pain Threshold, Easy to Kill, Easy to Subdue, Hemophilia, etc.); -          Cause Fright Checks (only Terror and Confusion, Awe and Despair are not appropriate); -          Destroy souls (instant kill spells); -          Take control of souls (via Possession with Telecontrol); -          Call down rain of blood (contaminates wells, pollutes the surroundings); -          Reflect incoming damage (DR with Reflection); -          Attack with hellfire (burning attack with Armor Divisor (2) and Affects Insubstantial); -          Create and launch blood projectiles; -          Create vampires via rituals; -          Increase fertility (both of creatures and crops), allowing creation of extraordinary hybrids; -          Detect blood and blood mages, but not blood magic or normal magic.

To gain energy for spellcasting, a blood mage can make a ritual sacrifice. To do so, the mage must make a successful Ritual Magic (Blood Magic) roll. The sacrifice requires 5 seconds to perform on a restrained victim. He can apply bonuses for extra time spent on preparations. The victim being sacrificed must be a sapient creature. The amount of energy gains is equal to (the victim’s IQ * the victim’s HP)/10. This amount is further increased by 20% for every level of Sorcerous Empowerment (Blood) that the victim has. The energy accumulated has a cap equal to the amount of points spent on Sorcerous Empowerment (Blood). Any surplus is lost. This energy dissipates at a rate of 1 point per 24 hours after the sacrifice, unless the sorcerer makes a successful Ritual Magic (Blood Magic) roll each day to prevent energy dissipation. A roll of 16 on this check always fails, and a roll of 17 or 18 is always a critical failure that results in losing all accumulated blood points. The energy can only be spent to pay the Costs HP cost of the spell or to cancel penalties to spell rolls (such as for distance) or as penalties to the target's resistance. Canceling spell penalties is 2 blood points per -1 removed. Lowering the target's resistance is 5 blood points per -1 to the target's resistance roll. Blood points can be spent to alleviate penalties for hardcore improvisation at a rate of 1 blood point to -1 of the penalty. This energy is cumulative, it adds to any unspent energy. This way a blood mage can make several sacrifices in a row to gain a significant amount of energy. Summoned creatures and creatures with no blood cannot be sacrificed to gain energy.

All blood magic spells have the Blood Magic, -15% (Costs 1 HP, -10%; Lesser Mana Sensitivity, -5%) power modifier instead of Sorcery, -15%. Lesser Mana Sensitivity in this case means that the spells can be cast in manaless zones, but that the magic still can be suppressed with specialized antimagic abilities that suppress arcane magic. Note that spending HP to cast spells does not impose a shock penalty.

Finally, the Sorcerous Empowerment (Blood) advantage is Sorcerous Empowerment (Limited Scope, Blood Magic, -30%) [14 for level 1, +7 points/level].

Absolute Madness

Keywords: Area (Leveled), Resisted (Will).

Full Cost: 44 points for level 1 + 5 points/additional level.

Casting Roll: Will.

Range: Unlimited.

Duration: 30 minutes.

Every creature in the area (the area is not selective!) must roll a Quick Contest of Will with you. If a creature fails to resist, it gains the Bad Temper (6), Berserk (6), and Bully (6) disadvantages for 30 minutes. The spell itself does not provoke violence, but any action such as a friendly shoulder pat or an insult can trigger the disadvantages. Any affected creature still has to fail the self-control roll of 6 to succumb.

First level of this spell affects an area of a 2-yard radius. Additional levels double the area of effect.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (Will; Area Effect, 2 yards, +50%; Based on Will, +20%; Blood Magic, ‑15%; Disadvantage, Madness, +70%; Extended Duration, x10, +40%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Malediction 2, +150%; No Signature, +20%) [44]. Notes: “Madness” is Bad Temper (6) [-20] + Berserk (Battle Rage, +50%) (6) [-30] + Bully (6) [-20]. Additional levels add additional levels of Area Effect (+50%) [+5].

Agonize

Keywords: Resisted (HT).

Full Cost: 34 points.

Casting Roll: Will.

Range: Unlimited.

Duration: 3 minutes.

You cause the subject’s blood to move around violently in the blood vessels, sending the subject into agony (B428) if he fails to resist.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Accessibility, Living creatures with blood only, -20%; Agony, +100%; Blood Magic, -15%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Malediction 2, +150%; No Signature, +20%) [34].

Blood Spear

Keywords: Missile, Obvious.

Full Cost: 5.6 points/level.

Casting Roll: None. Use Innate Attack (Projectile) to hit.

Range: 50 yards.

Duration: Instantaneous.

You throw a spear of blood that does 1d impaling damage per level!

Statistics: Impaling Attack (Blockable, -5%; Blood Magic, -15%; Reduced Range, x1/2, -10%) [5.6/level].

Blood Summoning

Keywords: None.

Full Cost: 40 points.

Casting Roll: Will, rolled as a Quick Contest against the summoned being’s Will. Special casting time, see below.

Range: Special, see below.

Duration: Hours equal to margin of victory on Quick Contest of Will.

You summon one being (worth 75% or less of your point value) from one of the following classes of outsiders: demons, devils, Far Realms entities, yugoloths, other fiends (chosen when you pick this spell). While you can request it to have some particular qualities of abilities, the GM creates the sheet and has the final say. Alternatively, if you know a specific being you want to call, you can summon it, but at -5, unless you know its true name.

A penalty applies based on the extradimensional “distance”: There is no distance penalty for creatures that are currently on the same plane of existence. Adjacent planes impose -5, increasing by -5 for every intervening dimension. Prime Material Plane is usually considered adjacent to Ethereal Plane, Astral Plane, and Shadow Plane, but trying to summon a demon to the Material Plane would impose a -10 penalty, because the Astral Plane is between the two planes. Summoning a demon to Celestia would only impose a -5 penalty, because Celestia and Abyss are adjacent. These penalties can be reduced by 5 with a successful Expert Knowledge (Planes) roll.

The summoning itself requires 10 minutes of preparation and ritual. At the end of the casting, you must pay 1 FP and make a Quick Contest of Will against the creature to force it to appear. If you are victorious, the being arrives. It then makes a reaction roll. On Poor or worse, treat it as an Unwilling Ally – it will obey you, but try to subvert your commands or otherwise act against your interests. If the reaction is Neutral or better, it will serve you reasonably faithfully. You can replace this reaction roll with a suitable Influence skill, which varies depending on what type of entity you summon. Unusual skills may apply for this purpose – Law (Diabolic Contract) for devils, Merchant for yugoloths, Ritual Magic (Blood Magic) for demons, and so on.

You can also summon beings to answer questions. Treat this as a Contact Group with an appropriate knowledge category, an effective skill of 18, and a reliability that depends on the reaction roll: Unreliable for Poor or less, Somewhat Reliable on a Neutral reaction, Usually Reliable for Good, and Completely Reliable for Very Good or Excellent reactions. Unlike most spells with a duration, this spell must be maintained; thus, unless you can cast simultaneous spells, using another spell will immediately dismiss the summoned being. However, there is no FP cost to maintain this spell, only to cast it. A summoned being is vulnerable to being dispelled, banished, or warded off with occult techniques. If it is killed, you must wait 24 hours before using this spell again; if dismissed, you must wait five minutes.

Two other versions of this spell summon beings of different potency. Lesser Blood Summoning has a full cost of 14 points, calls forth a being worth up to 25% of your point value, and has a casting time of one minute. Greater Blood Summoning has a full cost of 120 points, calls an outsider worth up to 150% of your point value, and requires one hour to cast. Treat creatures summoned with the Lesser version as having an effective skill of 12, while Greater Blood Summoning provides effective skill 21.

Statistics: Ally (A specific class of outsiders; Built on 75%; Constantly; Adjustable, a broad group with diverse capabilities, provides information, +150%; Conjured, +100%; Immediate Preparation Required, 10 minutes, -45%; Lesser Mana Sensitivity, -5%; Maximum Duration, hours equal to margin of victory, -5%; Requires Quick Contest of Will vs. Will, -15%; Special Abilities, +50%) [40]. Lesser Blood Summoning has Ally, built on 25%, and Immediate Preparation Required decreased to 1 minute, -30%. Greater Blood Summoning is built on 150%, and increases Immediate Preparation Required to 1 hour, -75%. Notes: The Maximum Duration limitation is priced based on Maximum Duration, 12 hours. As a special effect, this spell breaks sorcery rules by allowing free maintenance, but this is offset by imposing a FP cost to cast and dimensional “range” penalties.

Boiling Blood

Keywords: Resisted (HT).

Full Cost: 14 points.

Casting Roll: Will.

Range: Unlimited.

Duration: Instantaneous.

You make the subject’s blood boil. Roll a Quick Contest of your Will against the subject’s HT. If the subject fails to resist he takes 1d burning damage. If the cumulative damage inflicted by this spell exceeds 2/3 of the victim’s basic HP or FP, then he is wracked with severe pain (B428). The pain only ends when the victim’s HP healed past the 2/3 point.

This spell works only against living creatures with blood.

Statistics: Burning Attack 1d (Accessibility, Living creatures with blood only, -20%; Blood Magic, -15%; Malediction 2, +150%; No Incendiary Effect, -10%; No Signature, +20%; Symptoms, 2/3, Severe Pain, +40%) [14].

Cause Fear

Keywords: Resisted (Will).

Full Cost: 33 for level 1 + 9 points/additional level.

Casting Roll: Will.

Range: 10 yards.

Duration: Instantaneous.

You fill the subject’s heart with terror. You can target any creature within 10 yards. Roll a Quick Contest of Will with your subject. If you win, roll 3d for the result, as usual, but add your margin of victory instead of his margin of failure. Your victim gets +1 per Fright Check after the first within 24 hours. If a victim succeeds at his Fright Check, he will be unaffected by your Cause Fear for one hour. Each additional level of this spell imposes ‑1 to the Fright Check. For example, with Cause Fear 4, the subjects must make Fright Checks at ‑3.

Statistics: Terror (Active, +0%; Blood Magic, -15%; Presence, +25%) [33]. Additional levels add ‑1 to the Fright Check [+9].

Frozen Blood

Keywords: Resisted (HT).

Full Cost: 39 points.

Casting Roll: Will.

Range: Unlimited.

Duration: 3 minutes.

You freeze the subject’s blood, paralyzing him for 3 minutes. This spell works only against living creatures with blood.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (HT; Accessibility, Living creatures with blood only, -20%; Blood Magic, -15%; Fixed Duration, +0%; Malediction 2, +150%; No Signature, +20%; Paralysis, +150%) [39].

Lower Plane Shift

Keywords: None.

Full Cost: 85 or 95 points.

Casting Roll: IQ. Special casting time (see below).

Range: Self.

Duration: Instantaneous.

You move yourself to a Lower Plane (Baator, Gehenna, Hades, Carceri, Abyss), to the Far Realms, or back to the Material Plane. To initiate a jump, you must visualize your destination, concentrate for 10 seconds, and make a IQ roll. You may hurry the jump, but your roll will be at -1 per second of concentration omitted (-10 to jump with no preparation at all). On a success, you appear at your target destination. On a failure, you go nowhere. On a critical failure, you arrive at the wrong destination, which can be any place the GM wishes!

You appear at your destination at exactly the same place you left your previous plane – or as close as possible. This means the same place, but on a parallel world. If there is no corresponding “safe” location within 100 yards of your destination – for instance, if you jump while on an airplane to a destination with no plane at your location, or from a half-mile deep mine to a destination with no corresponding mine – the jump will fail and you will know why it failed. This does not prevent you from jumping into other types of danger, such as radiation, gunfire, or wild animals. If you have Danger Sense, the GM should roll before you make a hazardous jump; on a success, you get a warning.

You can carry up to your Light Load when you travel.

The basic (85-point) version of this spell allows you to visit one other plane (Baator, Gehena, Hades, Carceri, Abyss, Far Realms, Material Plane), chosen when you learn the spell. The improved (95-point) version opens this up to any listed plane you are familiar with. You can become familiar with new planes by hitching a ride there – with another sorcerer using this spell, a magician using an equivalent spell, a creature with an innate ability, etc. – or via tomes of knowledge which contain detailed instructions on where and how to travel.

Statistics: Jumper (Interplanar; Blood Magic, -15%; Extra Carrying Capacity, Light, +10%; Improved, +10%; Limited Access, ‑20%) [85]. The improved version replaces Limited Access, -20% with Limited Access, -10% [+10]. Note: The Improved enhancement removes the auto-fail on 14+.

Seek Blood Mages

Keywords: Information.

Full Cost: 7 or 12 points.

Casting Roll: Per. Use IQ for analysis.

Range: Unlimited.

Duration: Instantaneous.

With the basic (7-point) version of this spell, you can immediately sense all blood mages, sorted by the direction to each one. The GM will roll against your Per (plus Talent), minus the long-distance range penalty (B241) to the nearest appropriate blood mage, and inform you if you succeed.

If you do succeed, you may immediately make a follow-up IQ roll (plus Talent) to analyze what you’re detecting. If successful, the GM will give you details for each being based on your margin of success (e.g., success by 0-1 might just give “blood mage,” while success by 4-5 could be “blood mage with Sorcerous Empowerment (Blood) 8 and Sorcery Talent 2”). Any level of success here allows you to weed out “false positives” from known blood mages. In practice, it’s easiest to tell the GM what you are and aren’t looking for (e.g., “I want to find all blood mages with Sorcery Talent 2 or higher”) and wait until both rolls are made for him to give you the details.

The improved (12-point) version of this spell works as above, except that you know the precise location of each subject. This allows you to cast spells on any of them for as long as each remains in that location – or for the next second, if one is already on the move.

This spell and the fact that a blood mage can receive a great amount of energy by sacrificing another blood mage led to the near extinction of the blood mages.

                Statistics: Detect (Blood Mages; Long-Range 1, +50%; Blood Magic, ‑15%) [7]. The improved version adds Precise (+100%) [+5].

Sense Blood

Keywords: Information.

Full Cost: 32 or 62 points.

Casting Roll: Per. Use IQ for analysis.

Range: Unlimited.

Duration: Instantaneous.

With the basic (32-point) version of this spell, you can immediately sense all blood, sorted by the direction to each one. You can omit any known sources of blood that you do not want to detect. The GM will roll against your Per (plus Talent), minus the range penalty to the nearest appropriate instance of blood, and inform you if you succeed.

If you do succeed, you may immediately make a follow-up IQ roll (plus Talent) to analyze what you’re detecting. If successful, the GM will give you details for each instance of blood based on your margin of success (e.g., success by 0-1 might just give “blood,” while success by 4-5 could be “blood of a 32-year-old human male in great shape, without any illnesses”). Any level of success here allows you to weed out “false positives” from known instances of blood. In practice, it’s easiest to tell the GM what you are and aren’t looking for (e.g., “I want to find all spilled blood”) and wait until both rolls are made for him to give you the details.

The improved (62-point) version of this spell works as above, except that you know the precise location of each subject. This allows you to cast spells on any of them for as long as each remains in that location – or for the next second, if one is already on the move.

Statistics: Detect (Blood; Blood Magic, ‑15%; Selective Effect, +20%) [32]. The improved version adds Precise (+100%) [+30].