Today's edition of #WestMarchesWednesday is about turning the world's flavour into game effects!
D&D magic is pretty generic, with different kinds of magic not particularly having any specific "in-world flavour", but setting up a world of your own (or borrowing someone else's) means you can build that flavour into the world and make some specializations which incorporate that flavour into the rules. I'm also writing this using 5th edition D&D rules, so creating an archetype for someone to choose makes sense. For my West Marches game, seeing as I'm basing it on the Dragon Age world of Thedas, blood magic is probably the most recognizable and flavourful kind. In Thedas, blood magic uses the power inherent in blood to fuel spellcasting energy, and dominate others or cause violence. Although it is not inherently evil, most of its practitioners are evil, and the cultural expectation is that any blood mage is a dangerous apostate. The Chantry (Thedas' main cultural church to the faith of the Maker) has outlawed blood magic altogether. Thoughts: I've seen some versions that people have already written up for this that involve the caster taking damage to power up their spells, but I decided not to go with this as it 's likely to just overtax any healer-types and tie up resources for an adventuring party. I want to emphasise that Blood Mages are powerful, that they can control people whose blood they're able to get hold of, and that they're very dangerous. So I want to give them some benefits against foes who have been wounded (using 4th edition's Bloodied status, which was pretty handy), or anyone whose blood they already have (in a vial, or that they've collected earlier). This is likely to lead to them being creepy people who collect other people's blood, which is generally frowned upon in polite society, but not an evil activity in itself. Seeing as the Dragon Age world also relies on mages being trained (Circle mages) or untrained (apostates), I think this suits Sorcerers better, who reflect being apostates well. What I'd do is give them a separate, selectable ability at 1st level, with them choosing their archetype at 3rd level, rather than 1st. This way, being a Blood Mage is a little more like a specialization, rather than something you are from the start. Archetype: Maleficarum (Sorcerer archetype) Blood mages, or Maleficarum, employ dark rites originally taught to mortal by demons, in order to access powerful magic. They must be willing to sacrifice their own life force, or that of others, to access this power. Sorcerer Level - Spells Gained 3rd - Hold Person, Inflict Wounds 5th - Fear, Vampiric Touch 7th - Blight, Death Ward 9th - Dominate Person, Geas Ritual Casting 3rd-level Maleficarum feature A Maleficarum gains the Ritual Caster feat, if they did not already have it. Blood Magic 3rd-level Maleficarum feature When a Maleficarum targets a living creature with a spell they cast (they must be a specific target- merely being in the spell's area does not count), they gain 1 free Sorcery Point which must be used on casting the spell, and the target has disadvantage on saving throws against the spell. This only applies if the Maleficarum can touch some of the target's blood (or has a sample within a vial within reach). Malefic Harvest 6th-level Maleficarum feature Within 1 round of a living creature dying, a Maleficarum may take an action if they are within touch range to regain 1 used Sorcery Point. Blood Control 14th-level Maleficarum feature When a Maleficarum of this level tries to control a living target's blood using the Blood Magic feature, they can access any blood within a 20-foot radius of them, not just within touch range. A Maleficarum using a damage-dealing spell and the Blood Magic feature inflicts +1d8 necrotic damage in addition to the spell's damage. Blood Corruption 18th-level Maleficarum feature A Maleficarum's control of their targets corrupts their blood. Any living target who has failed a saving throw against a Maleficarum's spell has disadvantage against any spells the Maleficarum casts. This effect is permanent, and cannot be dispelled (but could be removed with high level spells). See what you think of this, and whether it would a) be fun to play or play alongside, and b) reflects the world and gives some crunchy effects to go along with the creepy fluff. If you have any cool stuff reflecting your world's features, let me know about what it is, and what it does! Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 5 February 2020. Comments are closed.
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AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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