Spell: To Take Eyes

This spell requires a human eye in arms reach of the Magic User, or a former eye previously affected by this spell.

When cast this spell causes a sudden and fluid movement of the Magic Users arm and hand directly towards the chosen eye. One digit flicks a closed lid open, if needed, and the index and thumb dip into the milky white of the sclera.

The fingers pinch and pull out iris and pupil intact, like a rose petal plucked from a puddle. The eye is left a bloodshot ball, slightly smaller, fully blind.

In the Magic Users palm the pupil, iris, and sclera they have taken rests like a puddle of raw egg.

The Magic-User may keep this stolen eye in their hand for One Turn per Level before it degrades into a muddled useless soup. The following can be done with the snatched eye, in the same round it is taken or at any time while the stolen Eye is safely in their hand.

The Magic User may discard, crush, and ruin the eye forever in any way they wish. 

They may return it where it came, placing it back into the target just as quickly as it was taken, restoring their vision.

It may be placed into another eye. This can cure blindness and issues of vision in that eye, should the new eye be more functional. with the faulty portions of that eye now safely in the Magic Users hand. The same can be done with inferior eyes.

It may be placed into one of the Magic User's own sockets. It settles in next to their own iris in the sclera, like another bit of oil pooled on water. It rests in the corner or side of the eye, and it does not impair or improve the Magic Users vision significantly, but may also remain there indefinitely. The Magic user may fit one snatched eye into each of their own per Level. 

A snatched eye may be put into the flesh of the Magic User, or another target within arms reach. This eyespot resembles a colorful bruise with a pale halo around a small black birthmark. The being this was taken from can see through the eyes of the flesh it was placed in, if they close their own. The person the eyespot was placed in can resist this with a Magic Save. Should the being this eyespot was removed from die it fades away, gone forever.

A snatched eye is placed into water suitable for any sort of fish it becomes an eyelet. So long as this water is exposed to light and shadow, providing visual nutrition, all eyelet inside it will live forever. Eyelets undulate like thumbnail jellyfish, with the reactive intelligence of a goldfish or guppy. They move in cloudy schools, and follow the movement of light and shadow. They live independently of any bodies they originate from, and can be placed back into sockets and transformed into ornaments as desired.

When placed onto an object an ornamental eye is created. If this eye was taken from the socket of a living being it forms one embedded in the object. It can be seen through by the prior owner. If they have sacrificed one of their eyes for this they must keep one covered to see through the other without becoming disoriented.  

If this is an addition to their visual field, it sits next to the limits of their mundane vision like a facet in a kaleidoscope. Movement seen by this ornamental eye might be detected from it at all times, using a Surprise Roll. The Magic-User may also “switch” their vision to come from this other eye if they choose, at will. 

A Magic User may have one such ornamental eye created from themselves per level. If this is destroyed while being seen through the Magic User will be blinded until they Save, and may only make one Save per day. If this is an addition to their visual field, it sits next to the limits of their mundane vision like a facet in a kaleidoscope. 

Movement seen by this ornamental eye might be detected from it at all times, using a Surprise Roll. The Magic-User may also “switch” their vision to come from this other eye if they choose, at will. A Magic User may have one such ornamental eye created from themselves per level. If this is destroyed while being seen through the Magic User will be blinded until they Save, and may only make one Save per day.

An ornamental eye created from an eyelet or eyespot is an otherwise mundane object, a piece of jewelry or decoration, worth 1d6sp x 10SP x the Level of the Magic User, in addition to whatever the object it was placed in was already worth. It cannot be changed back from this into an eyelet, eyespot, or eye.

A sleeping or helpless target has no way to resist this spell. It causes no pain, and does not alert them.

In combat, or against a “difficult” target, the Magic User must roll a Melee attack, adding their Level, to successfully strike the target. If this misses the spell has become a Risky Casting.

Using this spell on the eye of another species is always a Risky Casting.

MISCAST TABLE
1. The target being snatched from becomes distorted, like it was made of clay and had a clumsy hand pressed into it. This mangling leaves living things hideously deformed with a 1 in 6 chance of instantaneous death. Valuable things are ruined. Snatched eyelets are dead and useless, embedded inside the magic-users hand, making it mostly useless until the dead bits of it are removed by another casting of this spell. A second failed Risky Casting destroys the hand.

2. The Magic Users arm jerks in a horrible spasm. A handful of whatever was being snatched from is combined with their head. This can embed a useless eye into their face, add a grotesque tumorous lump to their head, or even meld their flesh with a lump of solid stone.

3. The Magic Users hand becomes stuck inside what they were snatching from, at the wrist. It does not harm what it was placed inside. If this were a volume of water their hand cannot break the surface of it, or be seen. It is in a null space.

A trapped hand can only be removed by a second successful casting of this spell. If this is attempted immediately, and another Risky Casting fails, the entire Magic-User is pulled inside the surface and vanishes from reality.

4. The eye pulled out is like a dull stone. Not pretty, not useful. It cannot see, it has no value. Any eye it is placed in will be blind now, any object it is placed on will be ruined, and it will float dead in any water it is placed in. If there was not already an intended target, this eye will be placed in a randomly determined target within range.

5. The initial target of the spell is transformed into a perfect gemstone so that the Magic-User is instantly affected by Trap the Soul as if it were a Trigger Object (the Magic User is trapped in that gemstone until it is destroyed). If the target of this spell was an eye in a living human that human is now blind in one eye, but is otherwise unharmed as long as the gem is not removed.

6. The entire body of one target of this spell is bashed into the second target with a hideous force, the Magic-Users arm able to pull in ways that defy physics. This does 1d6 damage per Level to any parties involved. If no living humans were intended to be involved, the Magic User is what gets thrashed. If there was no declared second target, the Magic User will receive this damage if there is no other valid human target within range to receive it.

Spell: To Pass Unseen

This spell causes the Magic User to be, in essence, invisible, so long as the Magic User moves with some subtlety.

The spell lasts until the sun either rises or sets. During the dawn and twilight hours everything affected by this spell is allowed one Save against its effects, but is otherwise helpless.

The Magic User should move cautiously, as if there’s no magic at work, for this spell to be safely effective. They ought to avoid direct lines of sight, preferring shadows to light, and take efforts to not make much disruptive noise. They should stay hidden in the periphery of others vision.

Whether or not they do these things nothing will notice them though, in day or night. The gaze of the night watchman will glance in the wrong directions, and even dogs ears will not hear the little sounds they make. Sleepers will not awake when windows creak slowly open, guardsmen at gates will look to their feet at the moment of passage. Things gone missing are not realized as gone, at least until the changing of the sunlight. If the Magic User were to speak, shout, or even scream, no one would hear it.

The Magic User is not restricted in any way while under this spells effect. They may do anything they are usually able to, including casting other spells.

All Risky Casting rolls for this spell are made at the end of this spells duration, not as it is cast. If any conditions for a Risky Casting are met while casting this spell, or while under its effects, a Risky Casting roll will then be required (or modified).

The caster is able to Save to not be affected by an instance of the following Risky Casting Conditions per level. The Referee should keep a silent, but sincere, tally of such violations until the spell has ended, and then allow the Magic User to make (or fail) their saves.

Risky Casting Conditions
Exposure: Making no efforts to be hidden. Standing in direct plain view. Moving through a direct, unambiguous line of sight without any cover or obscuring elements. This applies to all possible viewers, even "friendly" ones.

Noise: Moving oafishly. Stepping on cats tails, knocking over pots and pans. Breaking windows, doors, crockery. Shouting, speaking, ringing bells, playing instruments.

Action: Stealing things sitting in plain view. The food off a plate as its eaten, the shirt off of someones back. Touching someone with willful force, harming them with a weapon or other implement, attempting to move a conscious being against their will. Moving a sleeping person, or the things they rest on. The Magic User casts a spell after their usual level-based limit.

Condition: The Magic User reaches more than Light encumbrance. The Magic User is injured.

Event: during dawn or dusk, a being Saves against the effects of this spell.

n.b. basically, whenever you would give someone a chance to make a stealth or (sleight of hand) roll to be sneaky this spell is still “safe”, and if they do anything where it would be ridiculous for a roll to work it becomes a risky casting. They stay invisible either way.

Miscasts
1. Anything that was or is looking for the Magic User will find them by the changing of the sunlight.

2. The Magic User is not aware of anything outside of their direct line of sight until the changing of the sunlight.

3. Nothing physical reacts to the Magic User until the changing of the sunlight. They cannot manipulate their environment in any way. Even opening a door is impossible. It’s as if they are immaterial, but cannot pass through solid matter.

4. If being noticed by a being, but then not noticed, The Magic User has a chance of ceasing to exist unless they Save. They are in an ontological fugue if this happens, for all others it’s as if nothing the Magic User did ever happened. They will have never existed, so that no one has ever even imagined them. If this happens they will reappear where the spell was cast when the sunlight changes, and reality instantly readjusts to be as it was if they had always been.

5. The Magic User has only an intermittent relationship with causality, everything they change will have a chance to snap back to being “undone” at the changing of the light unless they Save.

6. All things that were done by the caster while under the effect of the spell become common knowledge, everyone involved in any of it it knows exactly why it happened, and who did it.

Spell: For The Movement of Stones

This spell requires two solid stones.

The stones must be the same weight, as closely as can be measured by the Magic-User when the spell is cast.

The two stones must be of a different kind, at a base enough level that there is no easy argument to be had about their difference. Some dust their stones with pigments, others use different quarries.

The stones may be changed. They can be polished, scraped, chipped, and chiseled as much as is needed. A pair of sculptures could be used as easily as two natural specimens. They may be drawn upon, marked, and altered in any imaginable way. Things may even be attached to them. As long as their weights are matching when cast, all is well.

The location chosen must be known to the Magic-User, but they do not need to have seen it. As long as the image they have of this place in their mind is true the spell will work. If it is something they see now it is irrelevant if that place is in motion, or changing in other ways. It can be living. Distance is meaningless. With clarity of mind any site is possible, if the mind sees it true. A faulty mental image is, however, a hazard.

When this spell is cast the two stones must also be known by the Magic-User, with the same lack of limitations on distance and the same correctness of location required.

The spell takes effect instantly. One of the stones, as chosen by the Magic-User, is the Stone-in-Motion. It travels in as straight a line as can be drawn to the chosen destination. It can change direction instantly, with no loss in velocity, if this is needed.

It travels at terminal speed, never stopping or slowing. It never makes any contact with things strong enough to harm it and end its travel. All else is plowed right through.

It can come as close as an eyelash is thick without touching, but when it reaches its destination it touches it with full impact, as if dropped from the top of the sky.

The second stone is the Inert. It must remain in exactly the same place as it was when the spell was cast. As long as it does not move in any perceptible way the Stone-in-Motion will continue movement until reaching the chosen destination.

If the Inert Stone is moved, the Stone-in-Motion will instantly comply with physics and plummet down as demanded by local gravity. If it has reached its destination already there is no effect, as the spell has already ended.

A living body, even one trying to be still, is always in subtle movement. The spell cannot be cast safely if the Inert Stone is being held.

The Inert Stone does nothing to indicate the Stone-in-Motion has reached the end of its path.

EFFECTS OF A MISCAST

This spell is potentially miscast if the stones are not of the same weight, the secondary stone is not truly still at the time of casting, or if the destination is not actually truly "known" by the caster. The Referee should never, ever warn an Adventurer of a potential miscast if they have not made sure themselves, as it is their responsibility to take precautions.

1. The Stone-in-Motion does nothing, the Inert stone does the same. The Magic-User is instantly flung towards the intended destination as if they were the Stone-in-Motion. They cannot be stopped, and will ultimately collide at terminal velocity.

2. Both stones become Stones-in-Motion, travel to their intended destination, and without making contact with that destination, instantly begin a linked orbit around it at terminal velocity. The stones are half the distance they traveled apart, one across from the other, and the smallest possible distance above the intended destination. They will not change their path to avoid any obstacles, and will not stop their orbit unless destroyed.

3. The Stone-in-Motion does nothing. A different stone in the vicinity is propelled instead. Roll 1d6 to determine its size. 1 is a thumbnail pebble, 6 is a boulder large enough to crush a bull. It comes from the ground below the caster. If the Inert Stone is moved its motion ceases, as usual.

4. Until the Stone-in-Motion reaches its destination, the Inert Stone and everything capable of perceiving the Inert Stone is unable to move, or be moved, by anything. This is something like being frozen in time, "paused" as if in a video from the perspective of your own agency. You do not starve, and need not breathe, but you do exist and can be tampered with. Once the Stone-in-Motion arrives at its destination a Magic Save is required to free yourself, and move again.

5. The Stone-in-Motion instantly splits into two pieces, then four, sixteen, thirty-two, and so on to travel in infinitely many directions at once. This can be like a powder horn exploding, or a barrel of gunpowder, depending on the size of the stone.

6. A piece of the destination equal in weight to the Inert Stone is detached from the whole and pulled towards the Inert Stone at terminal velocity. It cannot be stopped.

Spell: To Make Things Hidden

This spell allows the Magic-User to hide an object outside of all human perception until it is retrieved.

This spell can only be cast in places not being touched by the human hand, natural areas not maintained by civilization. If the world of man can be seen from a place, it is not a place this spell should be cast in.

This object must be placed on the ground before the Magic-User, and the Magic-User must be able to perceive the whole form of every object that will be hidden by the spell.

If you are able to see another area already being "used" for this spell from where you are, then you are not in an area suitable for this spell to be cast in. Note that there are no visual signs that this spell has been cast anywhere it has been.

A single object could be one silver coin, a ruby worth thousands, a priceless crown made of precious stones and metals, a sword in its specific hilt, or a single living creature with closed eyes.

To cast the spell the Magic-User must go into a state of trance, with closed eyes, for one turn for every object that is to be hidden. They must not be interrupted, and no human eyes may observe the spell as it is cast.

At the end of this trance their eyelids are snapped open to see the thing vanished, with only a fading negative impression in their field of view. From then on it is safe, preserved exactly as it was when it was hidden, for as long as it is left.

The object hidden in this way is outside of time and the rules of the physical world. It is also nearly outside the reach of magic. Any spell that would show where the object may be, give directions towards it, or even confirm its existence can be made to fail. If a spell like this is cast, the Magic-User may roll a Save to prevent it from working.

To retrieve a hidden object a human must return to the place where the spell was cast. They must wait there for one turn, with eyes closed, until their eyelids are snapped open. The object will be lying there before them. Anyone may retrieve the thing hidden. To fall asleep in this place would call back a thing hidden.

Living things affected by this spell feel nothing to indicate what has happened. If asleep they are asleep, and if awake they feel no time pass until they are retrieved. If a human were to lie under the leaves of a tree with dappled sun hitting their face as this spell was cast, to be hidden by this spell and retrieved 1000 years later, it would happen between the twitches of a leaf in the breeze. Their clothes would lie there empty for some time, in the shade.

---

Miscast Table

This spell can be miscast using the typical rules in Vaginas are Magic! and Eldritch Cock, and also by violating the various rules above.

All miscasts of this spell affect only the retrieval of hidden objects. It can be known that a miscast occurred when an object is hidden, but the effect should not be rolled for until the object is retrieved.

1. The object that was supposed to be hidden is now simply gone. When the eyes of the retriever snap open there is nothing except a fading negative impression in the field of view.
2. An equivalent object vanishes, as if maintaining a kind of balance. This is a very basic equivalency, the nearest most similar thing is simply gone forever. If retrieving a crown someone will lose a hat. If retrieving a person someone new will be lost.
3. When the retrievers eyes snap open they cease to exist, and the object is in their place.
4. The object retrieved is a weak imitation of  the thing hidden. It appears the same in every way, but falls apart once under stress while fulfilling its purpose. If it was a key it will break in the lock. If it was a person it will be messier.
5. A spawning Mimesis Pest has been retrieved. This is a creature that has a body which looks exactly like the object, and functions in the same ways, but is in truth something else in the midst of a breeding cycle. Hidden on its form is an even number of many-jointed appendages, mandibular mouth-parts, and tiny but numerous pairs of eyes. In 6 days it will die, drying up like a beetle shell, becoming just as fragile then crumbling.
   
   Until then, whenever the object is used (for some intended purpose, not merely touched) roll 2d6. If an 8 or higher is rolled the Mimesis Pest becomes agitated. It viciously bites the user for 1d4 damage, if they fail a Save, before attempting to flee them.
   
   A Mimesis Pest moves at 1/3rd the speed of a person, and can move on vertical and upside-down surfaces as if they were normal ground. It has an armor of 16, and only 1 HP.
   
   While it is spawning, every day there is a 1 in 6 chance that 1d6 non-natural objects near the Mimesis Pest will become one. Only object with rigid forms like weaponry, coins, books, and wooden boxes, are at risk. Cloaks and tarps are not.
   
   Objects that are ever touching the Mimesis Pest, or that it could crawl to and back from are at risk. It has a 3 in 6 chance of not being spotted while it spawns.
   
   Note that an object being magical in nature does not in any way prevent it from being spawned-with by a Mimesis Pest. The "original" is gone if this happens.
   
   In 6 days new Mimesis Pests begin their spawning cycles, dying naturally 6 days afterwards.
   
   Retrieved living beings that are in truth Mimesis Pests should be thought of like puppets on strings, not Doppelgangers. They lack minds, and interacting with them at all qualifies as "use".
6. An arbitrary object appears in the place of the thing hidden. The referee should pick up the nearest text (if not game-related then a book, magazine, etc.), open it to a random page, and without looking place their finger on the text. Whatever object in that text that is nearest to their finger appears. The original thing hidden is gone.

Magic: Epiphanies, Dead Wizards, and Found Spellbooks

I got my copy of Vaginas Are Magic (moving and delayed mail-forwarding slowed me down, but it had mailed on schedule) Anyway, this is brilliant:
"about this “only women can cast these spells” thing. When creating new spells, It is perfectly fine to say that certain spells can only be cast by one sex, or people with brown hair, or people with no eyes. Or by those in certain moods, or who are wearing/not wearing jewelry or clothing made of certain materials, or who are covered in squirrel shit. It can be that arbitrary, that simple. If a caster wants to use these spells without the specific restriction, she can recover a spellbook with the spell in it and research her own version without the restriction. Spell research rules aren’t just there to fill out a page count."

Adding a restriction makes that whole "I found a spellbook!" situation much more interesting. Making up a restrictions on the spot when someone finds a spell has downsides; you might be too "random", too particular, or too predictable. Here's a table.

THIS SPELL CAN ONLY BE CAST BY (D20)

1. Women. Someone or something able to be impregnated and carry a child to term.
2. Men. Someone or something able to impregnate a female of its' species.
3. The Infertile. Castration, Eunuchs, Old Age, the result of illness or curses. Whatever works.
4. Those Who Reject Flesh. They must have eaten a fully vegetarian diet for a full lunar cycle, (unless you have an amazingly detailed calendar) count 30 days of commitment beginning in d30 days (when the next lunar cycle begins).
5. The Bacchanalian: those who have drunk a bottle of wine of at least Decent quality each day, without pause, after an initial night of drunken excess.
6. The Wearers of the Crown. The hair is not cut or washed, and is kept beneath a headpiece of some kind. If you get a haircut or a wash it'll be 1d4 weeks until the spell works again. If you take off the hat it'll be a full 24 hours of wearing it until you may cast again. This headpiece could be a conical "wizard hat", a relatively simple turban, a Crowley style pyramid, a sinister looking capirote, or a glorious dastar bunga kind of thing. Nothing normal. 1d4 x 10SP once you find a good hatter.
7. Those Fasting. At least one full day without food must have already elapsed.
8. Those Who Greet both Dawn and Dusk. The caster has gone at least one full day without sleep.
9. The Mutilated. The caster must be missing a digit, or an ear, or have other visible scarring that impedes the functioning of the body or severely alters the appearance.
10. Those with Hands Adorned. The caster must be wearing rings of precious metal, 1d4 for each hand, and each metal must be different from the others. (gold, silver, iron, copper, steel, brass, platinum, nickel)
11. The Primitive. The caster must consume only foraged foods (including hunted game, if they hunt it). If they mistakenly consume a product of agriculture they will be unable to cast this spell until a day has been spent fasting and then a full day has been spent consuming only natural foods.
12. Those Who Wear The Garb. Robes, cloaks, and so on of (1d6) ornamented linen, fur, velvet, satin, embroidered wool, or silk. Costs 20 x 1d4+1 SP, and a tailor who doesn't ask too many questions or tend to gossip.
13. Those With Blood Upon Their Hands. The caster must have killed something using a Melee weapon within the past hour. Any life will do, some keep a goat or chicken handy.
14. Anthropophagists. Cannibals. One mouthful is enough. It can't be the casters own flesh. It must come from someone else. It need not be cooked.
15. The Decadent. The caster must consume 3 meals of at least Fancy quality, or one of Rich quality, before casting the Spell. If they continue to consume at least a Fancy meal each day they may continue to cast the spell.
16. Bearers of the Symbol. The caster must be holding a (1d6) bell, ceremonial weapon, wand, amulet, goblet, censer. Costs as much as a Silver Holy Symbol. Is obviously an occult tool.
17. The Bringers of Light. The caster must be holding a lit torch, candle, lantern, etc.
18. Those In The Presence of The Dead. A corpse, a skeleton, even a long bone or skull. It must be human.
19. Devourers of Flesh. The caster must have eaten only flesh for a full lunar cycle, timed as with #4.
20. The Placid. The caster must have not Attacked anything with a physical weapon since the lunar cycle began, if you weren't tracking this already it was d30 days ago.

---

You could have a whole thing with magical restrictions and how Magic-Users might have to deal with them.

The big picture would be that Wizards invented magic, or discovered it. Perhaps they were magic. They are gone now, but they recorded their discoveries in coded texts, obscure journals of their esoteric research as usual.
Beyond the encoding the Wizards placed additional limitations on every spell.

A Magic-User is someone who has come into possession of one of these books, and has chosen and begun to translate its’ secrets, and make use of them. This has required both luck and sacrifice, as some of these criteria can only be met through circumstances of birth (or magical transformation). Others require deeds to be done, sometimes merely strange but often quite vile. On occasion it requires only an accessory, or other trinket. This is all quite expensive, and frowned upon by normal society. This might have been done by the Wizards as a filter to attract only suitable acolytes. It might have also only been only perverse whimsy, or a way to mark whoever used Magic as an outsider to normal, moral life.

So as a Magic-User all the spells you would learn would come from this Spellbook, and gaining new Spells upon leveling up would mean you had deciphered a new one (or two). Perhaps Magical Research would be a process that allowed you “translate” a new spell (roll on the Spell Table for the campaign). Or perhaps you only have a tiny folio (with a mere 7 spells), and you want to find the great Thesis rumored to contain three-and-twenty in the lost etc.

It's just a half-sketched thing for now. The main notion is that every spell would requires something from the caster. Maybe components, maybe states of being, maybe having done something. Maybe all of that. It’d be more detailed than that stuff up above, probably some kind of nested chart with occasionally infuriating results. (“To Summon a Great Dragon you must cast the spell Nude, in the Moonlight, having the Requisite Tattoos, accompanied only by Goats and Wielding a Golden Spear.” etc.).

So, at level one you’d have your usual starting repertoire of Spells, but also with it the Tamed Snake Companion, Half-Shaved Hair, and Ceremonial Robes (or whatever) they’d require. As you increased in level you’d gradually become a freakish collection of accouterments and affectations, weighed down by the weird habits of long-dead Wizards. It might be fun.

When I was running Deep Carbon Observatory we tried something else. Magic was a way you were. Being a Magic-User meant you had learned a way. How to be magical. Casting a spell was an ineffable procedure only understandable through wordless epiphany. Realizing that if you had a certain image in your mind as you struck a particular pose and made a specific sound you could cause wondrous effect, but only in that instant. Spell books only described the various things a Magic-User could do, but never how. A Magic-User was someone who sought sublime and terrifying experience to inspire new revelations. This was just a way to have Magic-Users get new spells whenever they leveled up and have it make some sense without them needing to go sit around in a library, since they were all trudging through flood-lands I didn't want to have to think about spell book logistics too much. I could see this getting really interesting with a restricted casting situation the same way, gradually becoming ever-less-normal from what you've realized through Adventuring.

Magic: Spell Descriptions for Wonder & Wickedness

Wonder & Wickedness is almost perfect. You'll need it to make sense of this as a resource, so go and buy it if you don't have it yet.

I've used bits of it in almost everything I've run since I read it, but it does have a couple of gaps in some details. One of them is how every Maleficence also does something special; each has a secondary effect added from a one-word descriptor. It has some suggestions, and you could come up with something new every time if you want, but I started using these tables a while back to save time and precious imagination during character creation, and I've used them for a while now. It makes it so you don't end up defaulting to "fire" and "ice" or whatever.

There's usually a round table discussion before any casting with Wonder & Wickedness, since the spells tend to be so potent and interesting. With these Maleficences there tends to be a nice chat about if it's really the best time to unleash the most horrible cloud of spiders (or whatever) every time.

They're great even if you aren't playing as a Magic-User. I was a Fighter in a friends' game recently, and the description of how the shadows became "unstuck" and began slicing someone to ribbons at the Magic-Users request was really memorable for all of us (the survivors came after us with farm implements, but that's another story.)

Anyway, the tables: Descriptions and sketched out effects for Magical Attacks and Defenses using the "Wonder and Wickedness" system, avoiding the common "magic missile" and "magic shield" aesthetics. They're in that sparser W&W style, but you can add more detail if your game needs it.

In general I have things last an amount of time (Round or Turn) equal to the level of the Magic-User who cast it (that's what "several rounds" means). I use the generic term "Save" because I use a 2 save system, but you might use a 5 save system, and so on. Damage done by a Maleficence or its after-effects are always an open-ended (or exploding) die.

Oh also, if a character uses some kind of thingy (wand or dagger or something) to cast their Maleficence I promise I won't take it away just to screw them over, since it's just fluff (unless it was a situation where they'd be unable to cast anyway, you get the idea).

Your Maleficence 
Roll 1d12
1. is summoned up and guided by you with dramatic, sweeping gestures
2. emerges from your pointed finger
3. spews out from the tip of your staff or wand
4. emanates from a medallion or amulet
5. appears as you assume a strange pose
6. is thrown out from your opened palms
7. sprays out from your open mouth
8. bursts forth from your heart or solar plexus
9. is a geyser from your forehead
10. beams out from your eyes
11. appears from an empty space above your head
12. is projected out from a ceremonial object you carry (dagger, skull, crystal, idol, tablet, goblet).

in the form of
Roll 1d20

1. SWARMING
flying horde of assailants that besiege the target (a sudden flock of carnivorous birds or bats, a plague of tremendous locusts or other winged insects, an army of fae folk with tiny sharp things). The target is disoriented by this hostile cloud and flails around blindly for several rounds, only moving a few yards in a random direction until a Save is made.

2. BEAM
A thin shaft of pure colored light, a laser-like line so bright it looks solid (1d8: red. orange, yellow, blue, green, indigo, violet, white). The target and nearby witnesses must Save or be blinded for several rounds. Whatever is killed by this crumbles to ashes.

3. INFERNO
A long rolling tongue of unearthly fire (1d6: pink, blue, green, violet, black, white). This flame ignites something not normally so flammable after the initial scorch, which then burns, while nothing else does. (1d4. 1. things of metal, 2. skin and flesh, 3. the air like a continual fireball around the target, 4. the ground itself, in a circle around the target). These things burn for several turns.

4. SHADOW
The shadows become a sharpened whirling vortex. +1d6 Damage if the target is in chiaroscuro deep shadows, +2d6 if they are in complete darkness.

5. ABSENCE
A swirling, undulating amoebic mass of pulsating dark and emptiness that causes the target to blur and fade as it envelops them. The target dissolves into the air if they are killed. The useful mind of the target is temporarily erased if they survive, leaving them in a stupor unless they Save.

6. SCIROCCO
A screaming wind carrying particles like ground glass and sandpaper grit. The target is flung back 5' per level of the Magic-User unless a Save is made, with loose possessions thrown much farther.

7. ENERVATION
A dim crepuscular ray of light that withers what it lands on, wrinkling skin and crackling living surfaces with aridity. The target will act last on following rounds, and suffer penalties equal to the level of the Magic-User. Those killed by this desiccate into little dolls.

8. IMPALING
Long dark iron needles, or sudden spears of moonlight silver, or glowing translucent arrows fly forth and impale the target. They are pinned in place, or to the wall, unless a Save is made.Forms and shapes that shoot forth and collide, shatter, and explode.

9. PANIC
A (1d4: mirror-like, transparent, dull metallic, glittering stony) (1d4: disc, triangle, cone, cube) with a sound like (1d4: glass shattering, vibrating bells, an angry choir, hideous thunder). The target and those nearby must Save or react as if they failed Morale for several rounds.

10. GELID
A column of air freezes, void of oxygen, the temperature dipping to below that of the void around the stars for an instant. Unless a save is made, for several rounds after the target may shatter into pieces when struck unless another save is made.

11. BILE
A jet and spray of vile sizzling fluids of a syrupy consistency (1d4: yellow, brown, grey, red). These saturate the target and “soften” them unless a Save is made: whatever strikes them afterwards does twice as much damage for several rounds. If killed the target melts into an oily pool of colors and material.

12. IMP
A sudden assault by a hellish creature (1d4: A snake-thing with arms and wings, a leaping fish with limbs, a small nude pig man, a howling bipedal cat). While mangling the target it takes something from them to return to the Magic-User, before departing whence they came. This can be a mere stolen object, or a severed limb if the target is thoroughly mangled.

13. MIDAS
A cloud of sparkling and twinkling glitter, motes of magic dust. The target is shredded by tiny flakes, and what falls off from them is transformed into precious metal shavings. They crumble into gold and silver leaf as they die. The amount of damage inflicted multiplied by the level of the Magic-User in SP litters the ground around the Target, if they are killed by this.

14. VENOM
A sudden carpet of stinging insects: beetles, spiders, centipedes, and worms that en-robe the target, devouring them as they are filled with venom. For several rounds afterwards the target must Save or suffer 1d6 additional damage.

15. DISTORTION
A contained field of optical distortion warps, wraps, and folds around the target. They are are contorted physically by this, malformed and bent into cubist contortions. Targets must Save or remain in this form for several rounds, severely impaired in movement and action until they unfold.

16. FORCE
A shiny ribbon of vibration and movement thrashes the target, reducing them to a quivering blur thrashing through the air before depositing them on the ground in a place of the Magic-Users choosing, 10' away per Level, unless a Save is made.

17. ERUPTION
Stony ejecta, hot mud, and heaps of dirt and loam are hurled onto the target, knocking them prone, helpless and half-buried unless they Save. If killed they are swallowed whole by the earth into an impromptu burial mound.

18. RESTRAINT
A tiny silver thread, a braid of unknown hair, a length of intestinal rope, or a sort of strange wormy tendril wrap about the target to constrict, crush, and hinder movement. The Target must Wrestle to escape, the Magic-User adding their Level to the contested roll.

19. SPASM
A cobweb-seeming branch of fine spidery lightning (1d4: red, yellow, black, grey) that jaggedly arcs onto the target. This leaves the target numbed and stupefied unless they Save, causing them to drop all held items and be left unable to act for several rounds.

20.
An oily point in the air, an ugly smear that leaves a stain in the visual field like a grease trail. The target is metaphysically loosened, sloughing apart and beginning to dis-incorporate. Those killed by this crumble into a pinguid puddle of slime. This inflicts 1d6 damage to those who step in it, and causes the same effect to any killed by it. This noxious substance exists for 1 turn per level of the Magic-User.

And I've been meaning to implement a second table for the melee range Maleficence, since it behaves differently than the other one in general it might as well have a whole different effect, no? I'll be using this in my next game.

In melee, your Maleficence is
roll 1d20

1. BASILISK
An eerie and unnatural light that pours out of you. Targets must Save or be unable to act the next round, covered in a plaster-like shell. Those killed are turned to limestone.

2. MIASMA
A sudden cloud of reeking gas rises up, a visibly poisonous fog (1d4: periwinkle, tangerine, chartreuse, lilac, beige, rhodamine). This lingers around you for several rounds, inflicting 1d6 damage unless a Save is made.

3. CROWN
An instantaneous appearance of long thin spikes, in a halo all around you like great stag-horns, thorns, or urchins from inside your head. The dense tangle of points provides additional Armor for several rounds, and is never in the way of your actions.

4. KNEEL
Many dark tendrils, grasping claws, statuary limbs, or cruel hooks and chains reach up from the earth. Targets are pulled down prone unless a Save is made.

5. COMBUSTON
a shower of luminous sparks, in a gradient of colors, saturates the targets and make them sparkle. Targets may erupt into flame for several rounds afterwards without warning, unless a Save is made.

6. PINS
your fingernails suddenly lengthen while become sharp, curving to slice through your foes before separating from your hand as new nails reappear. Foes struck must Save or be unable to attack until they remove the embedded nail-blade.

7. FRUIT

a sudden eruption of growth of the ambient flora (even moss or mold) that overwhelm the targets and blanket them entirely as they are pierced with roots and capillary. All killed by this are desiccated into powder, each target producing a number of delicious and unprecedented fruits equal to the level of the Magic-User that each provide a days ration.

8. MELT
waxy clear anemone clusters reach out from you and caress your targets. They must Save or begin to melt, with unarmored foes suffering 1d6 additional damage, and Armored foes becoming less so.

9. REANIMATE
A bitter blast that blows down into the earth, with this you rip out the souls of your targets out and fling them into the underworld as their heats cease beating. 1 target killed per level of the Magic-User remains "alive" as an empty shell. Unable to heal or speak, and lacking any will or conscious thoughts, they will obey simple commands until they are destroyed.

10. GLAMOR
A sudden enchantment in the air about you, a fine mist, a strange scented charm that smells of (1d4: flowers and blood, skin, sweat and fire, hot meat and burnt sugar, decaying vegetables and citrus peels). It causes your targets to assault both themselves, and each other, with supernaturally accented force. Unless a Save is made they will run from you to attack another ally for the next several rounds.

11. CHOKE
The air is sucked from all nearby throats and then pulled out and away with great enthusiasm from their heads. Targets must Save or fall unconscious for several rounds, suffering ear, eye, and nosebleeds.

12. MUCILAGE
A sudden condensation of mucus and muck from the air, which poisons the flesh with septic juices. It is gluey and thick, and foes must Save or move with additional Encumbrance for several rounds.

13. GHOST
The raging ghosts of the unjustly killed rise up, and with great flourish attacks your foes with scavenged weaponry. If attacking what would be considered a "Fighter" this inflicts +1d6 additional damage.

14. CONSTELLATION
An orbit of stones forms around you and batters your targets. Their weapons and shields are dropped, if they carried any, bashed out of their hands by tiny meteors

15. LANGUID
You exhale a humid breath that the slows the flow of time, and stifles the will of the living. Your targets act last next round.

16. FRACAS
You call up the the one thousand invisible hands, who slap, punch, and batter the targets. All remaining targets must Wrestle free for the next several rounds.

17. HEAVY
In a ring around you a weight presses down like great unseen boulders. This concentrated gravity crushes those killed into smears, and those who survive must Save for several rounds if they wish to leave their position.

18. LICHTENBERG
Each target is covered in a coral like netting of white blue lightning on the surface of the skin for an instant. Targets wearing metal armor suffer and additional 1d6 damage from it becoming super-heated. Hair is raised up by aerial static in the general area.

19. MAW
The earth below the feet of targets opens as a rock filled muddy mouth. Targets killed are swallowed up whole into vertical graves, survivors must Save or cannot move away for several rounds.

20. GUARDIANS
A gathering of defensive (1d4: razor sharp crystalline butterflies, flame filled iridescent bubbles, dart-tipped feathers, little winged weapons and shields with eyes) . For the next several rounds any that try to strike you and miss must Save or suffer 1d6 damage.

Magical Defense is another part of W&W that didn't get any fluff at all from the primary text. I haven't use this yet, but I figured Magical Defense ought to use the same thing that Maleficence does: instead of just being a simple "dispel" this would gives it some other beneficial effect.

When you use your Magical Defense
roll 1d20

1. NOURISH
The nullified spell falls to the earth as a glowing honey-smelling liquid. For each level of experience you may cause this ambrosia to instead fill 1 vessel in your possession with enough to double the rate of healing in those who consume it for one day.

2. MIRROR
The sudden appearance of a miraculous mirrored disc reflects the magic into the void. However, there is a 1 in 6 chance that you can choose to reflect this magic at a new target instead.

3. ARMOR
The aura around the target becomes thickened and rubbery, visible as a cotton-wispy shell, after absorbing the spell. They gain Armor equal to your level of experience for 1 turn.

4. ITEMS
You sublimate the hostile magic into the form of banal objects, which might be potentially useful. The objects are made of one material, are one color, and are not especially valuable. One is created per level of experience. (Use the object table in A Red And Pleasant Land or one of the various "I search the body" tables)

5. HEATER
You may redirect the targeted magic into a nearby object, causing it to radiate unearthly force. Objects become hot to the touch, and will inflict additional damage if used violently. If the force is not dissipated from them quickly by striking something they become too hot to hold, and must be dropped.

6. GLOW
The magic is transformed into several gently glowing phosphenes, 1 per level of experience. Phosphenes are identical to candle light, and levitate gently in the air around the Magic-User. They can be directed by the Magic-User to stay near a friendly target as well, until they burn out.

7. FAMILIAR
The magic is redirected into the creation of life, and a small harmless animal crawls out of the ground at the feet of the Magic-User. It will obey all their commands until it dis-incorporates in several turns. (Red and Pleasant Land has a nice animal table, if you need one.)

8. SNUFF
The magic is ceased with an icy blast of unnatural wind, an unbreathable gas which can be used to snuff lights and smother fires and the Magic-Users discretion.

9. OBSCURANTISM
The magic is diffused and scattered along with much visible light around the target, allowing them near invisibility for several rounds.

10. SCRAP
The magic is cast down into the dust, leaving behind a formation of mystical fulgurites that are useful to alchemy and other forms of magical research. These are worth Magic-User level x 100 x 1d6, for research purposes only. Sale value varies wildly, depending on the buyer.

11. MAZE
The magic is sent into an infinite maze in the air, sucked in by a deep gravity of logic and order that is hostile to all magic nearby as well. There is a 1 in 6 chance that another Magical effect nearby can be dispelled.

12. CRYSTALLIZE
Loose minerals in the air and dust are gathered to form elaborate multifaceted traps. These are often mere glass, but on a 1 in 6 occasion a gemstone is formed worth the Magic Users level x 1d6 x 10SP.

13. ECTOPLASM
A slick and slippery slime splatters around the target, this phlogiston muck is both highly flammable and incredibly slippery.

14. DELAY
The flow of time is sped to disperse the magic throughout history, this effect may be used to damage inanimate objects nearby through sudden decades of neglect and wear.

15. GLITTER
A shower of gold leaf shreds scatter around. One turn spent gathering this yields 1d4-1 SP.

16. MORSEL
The magic is made into a tiny object of gustation, an abstract candy or snack. This invigorates the target as it flies into their mouth to their stomach, giving them first Initiative next round.

17. DIN
A roaring, screaming, crashing, awful noise around the target. They do not hear it, but those nearby must check their Morale.

18. FLASH
A sudden burst of colored light (red, blue, violet, yellow) erupts. This stuns those nearby for one round unless they Save.

19. FLAME
You "catch" the magic in your hand, and it sits there as a gentle flame. You may throw this as if it were a knife, and possibly ignite a target as if they were covered in Lamp Oil.

20. RUMINANCE
You "catch" the spell in your mind, and through visualization of a magical counterpoint cause it to cease to be. There is a 1 in 6 chance that you manage to instead "cage" the spell. This means that for a number of days equal to your level, you now have one "casting" of this magical effect that you may expend (in the Vancian style, you can't transcribe it or "burn" the casting on something else).

To Nullify All Weaponry

Magic-User Level 1

Range: Sensory

Duration: 1 Round/Level

With this spell the Magic-User is able to disarm almost any number of foes by replacing their weaponry with flimsy and harmless simulacra. It is believed to function by invoking the services of the obedient Gnomus, mischievous spirits of the earth who hold domain over most all solid matter, and in particular all minerals and metals. They delight in exchanging the weaponry designated by the Magic-User with the inferior materials they have access to. The spell is successfully cast after a few brief gestures and muttered words. Any implements of violence that are witnessed in use by the Magic-User, including those only being brandished with genuine malice, may be targeted. Any number of targets in the Magic-Users field of perception may be targeted, including weapons that are only heard or even smelled; such as the smell of black powder from hidden musketeers, or the clang of swords in a skirmish beyond a high wall.

Weapons that are an integral component of an individual body, such as teeth or talons, may never be targeted. Weaponry that is not being brandished and has not been used in the Magic-Users perceptual presence, such as a dagger in a sheath, may not be targeted. Mundane tools, cutlery, or pieces of armor are valid targets only if they have been witnessed being used as weaponry (such as a shield being used to bash an opponent, or a blacksmith hammer being used to threaten a foe). All individual elements of any ranged weapon (such as a crossbow, quiver, and bolts) must be targeted simultaneously. After a successful casting, for a number of rounds equal to the level of the Magic-User, the wielder of any item targeted by this spell must then roll a Save vs. Magic whenever that weapon is again used to commit violence. If these Saves are successful there is no effect, except for a vaguely foul smell, like feces and pond water, briefly emanating around the weapon. If all Saves are successful during the duration of the spell there is no further effect.

If any of these Saves are failed there is the same foul smell, but the weapon is also instantly replaced by a dull colored simulacrum at the last critical moment before harm would be done by it. This simulacrum is destroyed in use after causing no damage of any kind. Bows snap like bent dry twigs while the quivers fall apart like parchment and the arrows shatter on the ground, steel blades crack and crumble upon impact with bare skin, like aluminium weakened with gallium, and guns burst into a plume of dust upon the pull of the trigger while pouches of shot become fine grained sand. Any and all traces of these weapons dissolve into nothingness.

Referee’s Information

---

The true nature of this spell has been lost to history. While it does not involve any friendly Gnomus, it is the result of a cross-dimensional pact with certain other unearthly beings.

These beings were non-stationary points of willed certainty and structure in a universe of ever-shifting multicolored dust, who were contacted by an ancient Wizard. They existed in an endless landscape of ever changing monolith-mound-dune-heaps in all directions, dotted with occasional forms and structures that went brittle and shattered moments later in an endless creation and destruction cycle. Formless tides of sand became glorious complexities only to warp, mutate, and then crumble; shifting matter ordering itself into an endless superstructure of interweaving configurations of spiraling architecture and abstract statuary for one instant before shivering back into chaos once again. These beings created only to destroy, however, as that was their truest pleasure.

They had complete dominion over this world, and as a result they were intransigent, petty, and fickle. After thousands of failed attempts to bargain with these creatures to gain access to their powers in some way, the Wizard had an epiphany. They explained to the beings the real differences between our world and theirs, and offered them a chance to create destruction and bring entropy in a more profound way than they ever could in their own world. They would be given a chance to enact total violence, destruction, and warfare on our world, instead of theirs.

A deal was truck, and they agreed to an exchange. They would replace any implements of violence designated by the Wizard with equivalent simulacra of fragile dust from their own world. The originals would be kept, stored safely until every individual of their kind was suitably armed. Once this was fulfilled they would then appear in the world those weapons had emerged from, in a form suitable to wage war in, so they could in time eliminate all things and reduce that world to dust. This novelty (destruction without creation) has excited them beyond anything they could conceive of in their own reality, and they have been permanently eager for that day ever since, very happily performing these magical exchanges whenever prompted, each one bringing them closer to the promised land.

The Wizard was never even slightly concerned that the pact would be fulfilled, however, as there were several thousand of these beings that would need to be armed before this pact could be fulfilled . They intended to only use this spell sparingly, and so not risk the ruin of all creation. Unfortunately, after the Wizards death, this spell entered the lexicon of magic without the truth of its’ effects being known, and now across the centuries numerous Magic-Users have been unwittingly supplying the Entropic Battalion that now stands nearly fully armed.

---

Any time this spell is successfully cast by the Magic-User there is a chance that they have mistakenly completed the pact with the Entropic Battalion beyond reality.

The first time this spell is cast take note of how many items were taken by the spell. The next time this spell is cast, roll 1d100. If the number rolled is equal to or lower than the number of items taken, the pact has been completed. If a different number was rolled, simply take note of how many items were taken once again and add it to the total from before. Continue doing this until the pact is completed.  Once the pact is complete the spell will never function again.

Keep in mind the guidelines from the Player facing text above, and remember that ranged weapons count as only 1 weapon taken, despite being 3 items in total (implement, ammunition, and storage accessory.)

At no point is any Player entitled to an explanation of what this roll means simply by asking for one. A Player suspecting that this roll is possibly of negative consequence functions as a perfect simulation of the intuitions a Magic-User would have around accessing such potentially malign magical forces. This spell, as with all spells, is used at the Magic-Users peril.

When the pact is completed there is a low rumble, and a gurgle emanating from the air. There is a shuddering, like an airborne earthquake, and this ripples across the the earth and throws up particulate from the ground. There is a cold burning wax aoer of scent in the air, as all this dust, debris, and even low clouds and mist in the sky are pulled towards and into what appear to a shimmering rip in empty space near nearby the Magic-User. After this there is a few seconds of overwhelming stillness, and then a few members of the Entropic Battalion tumble out as a cloud of iridescent dust, with the weapons floating inside them.

The entropic battalion then gathers together these loose particles of their reality in a solid form around the weapons. This could be a modern rapier or pistol, and some might have an ancient axe or wooden lance. There is great variation. They are aware of how to use them properly, in any case. Their form is based on what was described to them of humans by the ancient Wizard. They resemble dried paint or pressed chalk. They vary in color from pale turquoise to sky blue, lavender, rose pink, or pale yellow, and it is sometimes ivory, umber, or graphite gray; often marbleized, blotchy, and streaked.

They are shaped human-enough: they have four limbs and a single head. Their limbs and and bodies are like gestural and suggestive sculpture. They are often missing some fingers and toes, and lack any sexual characteristics. Some have limbs that are similar to birds legs, or even sticks. Joints sometimes bend backwards. Their heads and faces are frequently squashed, stretched, pinched, and folded in various ways parodic of human ones, but sometimes are nearly statuesque. Their eyes are just pits or holes, as are their mouths, and they make no sounds of their own. They do not breathe.

They seem to communicate through gestures and nods, but they all act in unison quite easily since they are united in their purpose. They do what they do with great gusto and enthusiasm, as this is all a joy for them. They wear grotesque grins, and almost dance as they work and play.  They become gradually deformed when struck and pummeled, until they lose structural integrity and fall apart, like flour or dry mud. When cut they do not bleed.

The Entropic Battalion understand that all things which move must be stopped, and that is what they perceive before all other things. They will attack all moving things immediately. They might flee to try again in better circumstances, if many of them are destroyed, but this is not too often. Their tactics are simple, in that this is complete and total war for them. They seek to leave nothing undamaged. Once the moving things are made still they strip all useful tools, and especially all intact weaponry and armor, to outfit themselves.

They begin working afterwards: the once moving things are reduced to pieces, then into portions of distinctly different materials, and then to ever small particles using millstones and grinders before being remixed into a nauseating biological powder or slurry. After this all the largest structures are broken, downward to all smaller other things until most pieces are nearly equal. The land is flattened if it is not even. Fires are started, large controlled burns in circular forms. The smoke can be seen for miles, dotting the landscapes of the earth.

Once the fire die down the charred debris is ground between stones, mixed with earth, and ground again. The biological slurry is slowly added, processes repeated, and in time all is thusly made similar. This labor takes days on end, but the Entropic Battalion neither sleeps, nor eats, nor grows weary. They will transform the whole earth like this, given enough time, once the moving things that oppose them are made still. They will naturally organize into a tremendous implacable mass as they encounter each other and join forces. Humanity must either repel and annihilate this implacable horde, or witness all civilization be ground to powder.

---

When the first Entropic Beings are encountered there will be 1d6+ of them in the immediate vicinity, meaning that if a “6” is rolled the die should be rolled again and added to the first, only stopping once 6’s are no longer rolled.

If necessary, determine how many Entropic Battalion exist in total using a random generator, such as this one .

Many rifts open throughout the world, with varying amounts of the Battalion emerging at each one. If using a Hex map assign 1d6+ Battalion to each and every hex on the map.

ENTROPIC BATTALION
2HD

8HP

MOVEMENT 100’

ARMOR 12, if unarmored
ATTACK: 1, based on weapon

MORALE: 9, Roll Morale once, at 50% casualties.
Immune to Charm, Sleep, Mind Control, &c
Immune to Poison

Do not sleep, eat, tire, or thirst. Do not need to breathe, and are unaffected by climate.
Vision depends on movement, relative stillness to other moving things is as good as invisibility.

Unable to heal, all damage is permanent.
Cannot be reasoned with, unable to be persuaded.

Only the first Entropic Battalion is armed only with a single weapon. Use a random character generator such as this one to arm the Battalion in the future, use the same equipment you would assume for Farmers, Bandits, or Town Guard, or even assign them weapons using a simple randomized system (e.g. reach into your dice bag and grab a handful).

There should generally be a 1 in 6 chance per day of encountering 1d6+ Entropic Battalion at any time, either attacking the Adventurers, or being witnessed in the midst of their “work” or “play” as they travel.

Of Shrines & Sacrifices

The Perfect Illustration, found Here.

One of my players asked if there was a way they could “store up” sacrifices for Summon, since they were level one and kept failing their domination rolls. That seemed like a modest enough request, so here’s a modest proposal.

A Magic-User may create a Shrine devoted to the evocation of unearthly beings, and use it as an aid for their spell-casting. Shrines are objects created from pure intention and willed specificity, and are empowered only through the singularity of their purpose and consistency in their use.

A Shrine is like a Thaumaturgical Circle or Sacrifice, it provides bonuses for a Magic-User when casting the spell Summon. What is different about them is that they continue to exist after use, and can be used more than once, but must also be “charged”.

A Shrine can be “charged” with up to one Hit Die of bonuses provided by a Sacrifice for each Level the Shrine has. This Hit Die bonus may later be expended by the Magic-User while casting Summon as if the Sacrifice were being performed at that moment, so long as they are within a reasonable distance of it, close enough for it to “hear” their incantations. (Remember that a 1 hit die sacrifice is a bonus of +1 for Animals, and +2 for those of the same species as the Magic-User)

The forms a Shrine might take take are both numerous and limited: It could be a vessel or a statue, or a bas-relief, or a pedestal. It could even be a painting, or a decorative fountain, or even an ornamental mirror. Some even resemble holy reliquaries, or are simulacra of ancient artifacts, but these betray their falsity on any close inspection.

What is crucial and immutable is that a Shrine must be a fundamentally useless object, one that has only aesthetic qualities as opposed to functional ones. If a Shrine ever serves any purpose besides being an aid for evocation it ceases to function as a Shrine forever.

The Magic-User must describe the basic form of the Shrine. A few sentences are fine, but they really ought to have fun with it, and it should not be a typical example of whatever kind of thing it is.

If a Shrine is ever deliberately used for any purpose by the Magic-User, or the Magic-User witnesses, allows, or benefits from its use for any other purpose it will no longer function as a Shrine. This cannot be undone; they’ll have to get a new one. It is at the Referee's discretion if or when this occurs, but basically being used as anything beyond “decorative fountain or bowl” or “weird mirror” is too much.

A Shrine cannot be functional furniture, even a stepping-stool. However, a thing like a stepping stool that is covered in small upward pointing knives would be perfectly fine, as that would make it impossible for use as a stepping-stool, and thus clearly dedicated to something else. Much like this is.

If a Shrine imitates a religious icon or an archaeological item of some kind it does not hold up to scrutiny, at best it only seems like a familiar sort of cross/urn/icon during a hurried first glance.

Shrines vary in their degree of potency as magical tools, and also in their wondrousness and intricacy as physical objects, but these two things are invariably correlated: A potent Shrine always costs a fortune to create, and even the most simple of Shrines are still precious, costly objects.

The power of a Shrine is measured in Levels. A Shrine must have at least one Level, and may also have as many Levels as the Referee permits, and the Adventurers supplies of money and artisans can allow.

To create a Shrine at least one artisan must be found to perform the skilled labor made necessary by the will of the Magic-User. Ideally this artisan would be of great talent and great ignorance, one who will not become aware of the meaning of their work, or prone to superstition. Even better still is if they are a known and trusted associate of the Magic-User, or someone who is given patronage by them.

The Magic-User must hire an artisan to create their Shrine, as the devoted study required to become a Magic-User precludes the learning and mastery of any lesser arts and crafts. As there are no Player skills relevant to this task (no, not even Tinker) this work may not be done by another Adventurer.

Less than ideal craftspeople might require bribes or threats to prevent gossiping once the work is finished, if they are even willing to do the work in the first place. The worst sort will politely decline, or even worse still accept the commission, only to report the Magic-User to religious or secular authorities immediately afterwards.

This process should be handled exactly like hiring a retainer, in particular a Craftsman. Materials might be included in the cost of labor, at the Referee's’ discretion.

It will take the Craftsperson 1d4+3 days to complete their work on the Shrine. Roll twice for their estimate, but use the higher roll. This is what is used to determine the base cost, which must also often be paid up front, and in full.

Roll twice to see how long it actually takes them to make it, again using the higher roll. In addition, if a 4 is rolled roll that die again, and add that second number to the first total. Continue as long as fours are rolled, describing the sources of delay and setback. A Morale roll is made for the Craftsman at the beginning of the labor, upon the occasion of any delays, and again once it is completed. If any of these are failed there is some sort of complication, such as a crisis of suspicion on the Craftsman's part, or a possibly disastrous spread of rumors about the Magic-User. If the Craftsman initially does accept the work there’s not much chance for repercussions, unless the Magic-User was interacting with a most suspicious and hostile kind of person in a very cautious and frightened kind of land.

If averse to using a morale system the Referee should at least roll in secret to determine if the commissioned artisan does something the Magic-User would very much not prefer, a 1-in-6 chance on 1d6 is recommended.

A Level 1 Shrine requires only one Craftsman to create it, but each Level beyond that must be added by another, different Craftsman.

There are many varieties of Craftsmen, and creativity is encouraged in their selection. One might commission a Glassblower, Bonecarver, Alabasterer, Stone Carver, Painter or Miniaturist, Blacksmith (or Goldsmith, or Silversmith), Woodcarver, Cabinet-Maker, Arkwright, Brazier, Bellfounder, Gemcutter, Potter, Glazier, Ivorist, Joiner or Carpenter, Tapicer, or Wiredrawer when making a Shrine. These are not all that might be found, but not all of these are available for hire everywhere, or even in most places besides the largest of cities.

Each Craftsman adds their unique talents to a Shrine: the Arkwright creates a fine oak chest that is also a perfect cube and not hollowed on the inside, then the Miniaturist covers it in tiny painted devils and two-legged fish using only the color blue, while the Brazier casts four brass clawed feet for it to stand on.

A Shrine may be improved upon once it is created, as long as it has been used for no other purpose. A Magic-User may hire a new Craftsman whenever funds are available to add additional Levels to it.

While all Shrines might resemble works of art, not all works of art can be considered as a Shrine. Nor can a Magic-User simply use a found art object as a Shrine, nor can they repurpose icons and relics of the religious faiths as Shrines for their own purposes, except for use as raw materials.

The existence of Shrines as described here does not imply that all art objects in the fictional world of play are used as Shrines, nor does it imply that anything a Summoned creature appears from must necessarily be some kind of art object.

Things that weren’t made as Shrines through the will of a Magic-User can never be Shrines and never were one before (unless they were fully destroyed and then reformed into one). Assemblage sculpture does not count, it must be on the magnitude of, as an example, melting down a golden altarpiece stolen from a church and then having it recast in a new mold.

“Ruined” Shrines, one that no longer function due to being used as something else can be discovered, and a Magic-User could even steal an unruined Shrine and make it their own, although they would have to provide new sacrifices for it.

While those who are trained in the use of Magic will be able to see a Shrine for what it truly is with very little effort even those wholly ignorant of the Art will likely see them as possibly malign objects of a most curious nature.

Shrines always detect as magic, if you are using a spell system with Detect & Read Magic. If you are using Clerics, or a Good/Evil Law/Chaos alignment system a Shrine will always detect as Chaotic and Evil as well. Any Magic-User should be able to discern that a Shrine is in fact a Shrine after a brief period of examination, and usually are quite obvious to them.

For almost everyone in the world art collection is an alien and unknowable hobby, and this is especially the case in any Early Modern setting. “Don’t worry about that, it’s just some art/a carved stone pillar with a laughing skull on it/an oil painting of a goat surrounded by flames and flowers in a hand carved frame/a polished black stone urn with phrases in medieval latin phrases drawn on it in gold leaf” is not a persuasive explanation when being questioned by a possibly hostile person.

Shrines are obviously a strange thing to have around, so owning one is at best seen as extremely eccentric. It's easier if you're rich, because then you could at least surround your Shrine with more mundane strange things and disguise it through context. Although it’s obviously bad to be caught hiding a Shrine it’s still something an Adventurer should probably keep hidden.

While a Shrine is not a necessarily fixed and immobile object it is not a simple task to move one from place to place.

Each Level of a Shrine adds one level of Encumbrance to those carrying it. (Count it as 5 individual items if its loaded onto a pack animal)

Any Shrine above two Levels is remarkably difficult, if not impossible, for any single Adventurer to move without assistance. Try moving a 4’x6’ painting of the hell-dimensions, or even a small hermetic glass coffin through a dungeon by yourself.

A Shrine must fully receive any sacrifice to be infused with its occult energies, and makes it's true nature clear when put to use for its intended purpose.

In addition to all the normal restrictions on what can be counted as a Sacrifice, for a Shrine to store the sacrifice must performed on, at, or into the Shrine in some indisputable and deliberate way. Any damage this would otherwise cause to the Shrine is restored during the process, with stains fading away and all foul liquids are mysteriously absorbed. Likewise there is always some sort of unnatural display once the Summoning is performed and the stored bonuses expended, like all those stains and foul liquids seeping back out.

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On Ritual Garb

A Magic-User may also create clothing that is more conducive to the calling of outside forces to our world, which is to be worn when performing a Summoning. These things are created using methods similar to those used for creating a Shrine.

This is what Ritual Garb looks like.

It’s like a Shrine that you wear, and the Magic-User must provide a description or visual aid of some kind. It is clothing that must exist only for use in Summoning. It must not resemble sane or normal fashion in any way, and also must have no value as armor or as protection from the elements. Ritual Garb has even less plausible deniability during manufacture than Shrines, not to mention while being worn. It must be worn while performing a sacrifice to "charge" it. In addition, a "charge" will go to Ritual Garb before it goes to an uncharged Shrine, if both are present.

Each Level of the Ritual Garb still adds one level of Encumbrance to the wearer due to it's awkwardness, bulkiness, limited ranges of movement, and so on (even if the Ritual Garb involves significant partial nudity). If a Magic-User casts any other spells while wearing Ritual Garb it is ruined.

When seeking out a craftsperson there are curriers, embroiderers, button makers, canvassers, shoemakers, dyers, feltmakers, hatters, tailors, lacemakers, milliners, weavers, drapers, and wig-makers in addition the those mentioned previously. Remember, each Level requires an additional Craftspersons contribution, you can’t just get the same jacket fitted again and again. You get the idea.

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An Adventurer could certainly make use of a great Shrine while wearing elaborate Ritual Garb inside of a Thaumaturgical Circle while performing further Sacrifices for vast and hilarious bonuses, but if the Adventurers really had that kind of budget to spend on casting Summon, and actually pulled off all the logistics to set up that situation up they've truly earned it.