Deity Disapproval

Table

• 1 — The cleric must atone for their sins. They must do nothing but utter chants and intonations for the next 10 minutes, starting as soon as they are able (i.e., if they are in combat, they can wait until the danger is over).
• 2 — The cleric must pray for forgiveness immediately. they must spend at least one hour in prayer, beginning as soon as they are able (i.e., if they are in combat, they can wait until the danger is over). Failure to finish the full hour of prayers within the next 120 minutes is looked upon unfavorably; they incur a -1 penalty to all spell checks until they complete the full hour.
• 3 — The cleric must increase their god’s power by recruiting a new follower. If they do not convert one new follower to their deity’s worship by the next sunrise, they take a -1 penalty to all checks on the following day. This penalty resets after 24 hours.
• 4 — The cleric immediately incurs an additional -1 penalty to all spell checks that lasts until the next day.
• 5 — The cleric must undergo the test of humility. For the remainder of the day, they must defer to all other characters and creatures as if they were their superiors. Failure (at the discretion of the judge) means they immediately lose all spellcasting ability (including healing and laying on hands) for the remainder of the day.
• 6 — The cleric incurs an immediate -1 penalty to all attempts to lay on hands until they go on a quest to heal the crippled. This quest is of their own design, but generally speaking must result in significant aid to the crippled, blind, lamed, sickly, etc. Once the quest is completed, the deity revokes the penalty. While the penalty remains, it applies to all attempts to lay on hands, even if the “normal” disapproval range has been reduced back to a natural 1.
• 7 — The cleric must endure a test of faith. they gain an illness that costs them 1 point each of Strength, Agility, and Stamina. The ability score loss heals at the normal rate of 1 point per day. The cleric may not use magic to heal the loss. If the cleric endures the test to the satisfaction of the deity, they retain their magical abilities. If not (judge’s discretion), their disapproval range immediately increases by another point.
• 8 — The cleric immediately incurs a -4 penalty to spell checks on the specific spell that resulted in disapproval (including laying on hands and turning unholy, if those were the acts that produced disapproval). This lasts until the next day.
• 9 — The cleric immediately incurs an additional -2 penalty to all spell checks that lasts until the next day.
• 10 — The cleric loses access to one randomly determined level 1 spell. This spell cannot be cast until the next day.
• 11 — The cleric is ordered by their deity to meditate on their faith and come to a better understanding of what they have done to earn disapproval. The cleric incurs an immediate and permanent -2 penalty to all spell checks. The only way to lift this penalty is for the cleric to meditate. For every full day of meditation, the cleric can make a DC 15 Will save. Success means the spell check penalties are removed.
• 12 — The cleric is temporarily disowned by their deity. For the rest of the day, the character cannot accumulate XP and may not gain class levels as a cleric. After the time period expires, the character begins to accumulate XP again as normal but does not accrue “back pay” (so to speak) for XP missed while they were disowned.
• 13 — The cleric loses access to two randomly determined level 1 spells. These spells cannot be cast until the next day.
• 14 — The cleric’s deity wishes to test whether the cleric is a man of the faith or a man of the flesh. Calculate the cleric’s total net worth in gold pieces. The cleric immediately incurs a permanent -4 penalty to all spell checks. The only way to remove this penalty is for the cleric to sacrifice their material possessions. For every 10% of their net worth sacrificed to the deity, one point of penalty is removed. Or, in other words, sacrificing 40% of what they own will return the cleric to a normal spell check penalty. A sacrifice can be destruction, consecration, donation, transformation into a temple or statue, etc.
• 15 — The deity is not forgiving on this day. When the cleric rests for the night, they do not “reset” their disapproval range at the next morning – it carries over from this day to the next. The disapproval ranged resets as normal on the following day.
• 16 — Cleric is temporarily barred from using their lay on hands ability. The deity will not grant healing powers for the next 1d4 days. After that time, the cleric regains the use of their healing abilities.
• 17 — The cleric loses access to 1d4+1 spells, randomly determined from all the character knows. These spells cannot be cast for the next 24 hours.
• 18 — Cleric is temporarily unable to turn unholy creatures. The cleric regains the ability after 1d4 days.
• 19 — The cleric is stained with the mark of the unfaithful. This physical mark appears like a brand, tattoo, or birthmark, with the symbol determined by the cleric’s faith. The symbol is automatically visible to all worshippers of the cleric’s faith, even through clothing, but may be invisible to others. To all who see and comment on the mark, the cleric must explain their sin and describe what they are doing as penance. If they continue to sustain their faith for a week while retaining the mark, it disappears.
• 20+ — The cleric’s ability to lay on hands is restricted. The ability works only once per day per creature healed – no single character can be healed more than once per day. After 24 hours, the ability’s use reverts to normal. All wizards are jealous with their knowledge, as a wizard’s safety is only ensured insofar as they can best their strongest rival. There are no schools of magic, only masters willing to take apprentices. Yet masters are miserly in their training, lest the prices of their devil-bargains be bargained higher by too many callers. There are secrets in the deep places, and they who know the most gains an advantage. As such, a wizard’s spell book, or grimoire, is never particularly thick. Its contents are determined as much by the chance falling of cosmic dust as by anything else. Every spell is rare and powerful. Ingredients are scarce, rituals are lengthy, and mind, soul, and body can be threatened with each casting. Thus, grimoires are guarded fiercely. A grimoire can have many forms. White wizards use spell books; shamans use strings of carved bones; necromancers record spells on scrolls of flayed flesh; Cthulhu cults have rune-inscribed stones; clerics use prayer beads; idolaters utilize sacred gongs; and star-sayers record constellations whose forms contains power. An experienced wizard learns to recognize magic in all its form, so that they can better steal it. Determining spells at a new level: A wizard knows spells as indicated on table 1-12: Wizard. At each level, the wizard learns new spells. In the course of their travels, a wizard may come across recordings of spells. they may steal another wizard’s grimoire. They may find etchings in a lost tomb. They may make acquaintance with a generous demon. They may consult with the corpse of a deceased rival. Should a wizard have a source of knowledge for a new spell, they may choose to learn that spell when they reach a new level instead of rolling randomly. If the wizard has not come across sources of such knowledge, then their spell choice is determined randomly. They choose the level of spell they wish to learn, as limited by the Max Spell Level for their wizard level, and randomly determines the spell. Duplicate results may be re-rolled. The random results reflect the chaos of fate: a spell is a result of finding a transcription, translating and understanding it, communing with whatever powers are necessary to cast it, acquiring the requisite ingredients, and, finally, succeeding in the associated rituals. At any given time a wizard may be working on unlocking a variety of spells, but the ones in which they succeed are limited. Learning a spell: Just because a wizard finds a description of how to cast a spell doesn’t mean they can actually pull it off. Your character must make a check to learn the new spell to which they are exposed. Your judge will give you the criteria for this check. Picking and rolling: Although the concept of randomly determined spells is entertaining and fits with the original concept of Vancian magic, the author has found that it can be disruptive in actual play. No one wants to play the wizard with four useless spells! If the random determination results in a level 1 wizard with useless spells, the author recommends allowing the player to drop up to half the randomly produced spells and choose replacements. The spells listed here are primarily oriented around an adventuring wizard. As such, they do not include the great rites and rituals of the era: those magical invocations which take weeks or months to complete and which can tap into recondite energies beyond the scope of Man. Know that there are more powerful rituals -- of a longer duration and more difficult casting time -- than those described here. These rituals typically mandate spellburn and sacrifices of various kinds, for which the caster can summon forth unearthly creatures from beyond space and time, whose powers are not limited by the physics we know. Such works of magic are reserved for future volumes. With that caveat, it is also possible to cast ritualized versions of the spells presented here, which are more powerful than their more mundane brethren. Especially for wizards, a ritualized casting of a normal spell can generate exceptional results. Typically this ritualized version is actually a different incantation than the normal version of the spell, and as such is considered specialized knowledge that must be discovered or devised in its own manner. Ritualized magic for clerics can also involve some of the following conditions but is typically influenced by the highly specialized rites associated with the worship practices of the cleric’s deity. The following conditions apply to ritualized magic, subject to the approval and interpretation of the judge. Circle of mages: Having a spell invoked by multiple wizards at once can improve its power. One wizard amongst the circle is the primary caster and contributes their spell check and die type to the casting. Each wizard past the first adds half their spell check bonus (including spellburn) to the collective spell checks (tracking fractional benefits, so it takes two individual +1 contributors to grant a +1 bonus to the circle) to a maximum benefit of +10. When the spell check die is rolled, the casting mage can roll a number of times equal to the number of mages in the circle, keeping only the highest die roll and ignoring all lower results. For example, if there are five wizards in the casting circle, the caster can roll up to five times and keep the highest result. A casting circle has a minimum casting time of 1 turn per mage involved and is often closer to 1 hour per mage involved, and may be longer still depending on the nature of the spell. Additionally, if any corruption does occur, it is shared by all mages involved. One additional benefit of a casting circle is the ability for multiple mages to contribute to any additional spells cast during the ritual. For example, the spells wizard staff and breathe life may require casting additional spells to imbue a staff or golem with a particular power. With multiple mages involved in a casting circle, the primary caster may have access to special properties beyond those in their own spell list. Sacrifice: Sacrificing treasure or creatures can improve the result of a spell check. Treasure typically must have some relevance as an ingredient to the spell being cast (for example, a stash of gemstones may help a color spray casting). Depending on the nature of the spell, a benefit of up to +4