2 November 2024

GLOG: Wizard Chassis

Mere six years after I've started with the list of wizard schools, I have finally put together magic rules and a wizard chassis that I am rather content with. Enjoy!

All of these are (or should be) wizards.
From here.
 

The Rules of Magic

Spells are spirits, kindred to demons, souls or fairies. The runes and diagrams in a spellbook, the incantations memorised by a wizard, or the engravings on an enchanted item - these are just bindings for the spell-spirit and ways to control it.

When you cast a spell, you empower it with raw magical energy to manifest itself into the world. Raw magic released without a spell to refine and define it produces chaotic, dangerous effects and generates octarine light. Concentrated raw magic has a tendency to explode unless stabilised into occultum - an extremely valuable substance that still has a tendency to explode, but slightly less so. It can also power great workings of magic.

Minor spells, called cantrips, infest a wizard’s soul and bind to it. They are like spiritual parasites. Unlike true spells, they can be used at will with no incantation or gesture, but cannot be learned or exchanged.

The above is what wizards believe about magic, though it might very well be wildly inaccurate. Wizards train in meditation and other, stranger techniques, modifying their own minds to make them more accommodating and alluring to spirits. A wizard's mind is a dangerous place - a menagerie of cantrips, spells and raw magic. For every ten students who enter an apprenticeship, only three emerge alive and sane technically not insane.

Spellcasting

Spells need magical gestures and an incantation to be invoked. Thus you must be able to speak and either have a hand free, or wield an implement (wand or staff). You cannot use a two-handed weapon in the same round you wish to cast.

When you take damage, you are too distracted to cast until the end of the round, unless you succeed on an Intelligence/Concentration check, or unless you don’t feel pain.

You can attempt to cast a spell subtly, with no incantation or gesture. Make an Intelligence/Concentration check. On success, the spell goes off as intended. On failure, the spell fizzles, but still roll the MD - some may be spent, and Mishaps or Dooms may still happen.

Magic Dice

Raw magical energy you possess is represented by Magic Dice (MD). These are d6 and you normally get them from Wizard class templates. When casting in a place of power (ancient circle of stones, top of a wizard tower, near a ley line), step up your MD to d8, but beware of instability.

When you cast a spell, choose how many MD to invest into it. The results depend on the number of [dice], their [sum] and sometimes the [best] roll. Armour penalty decreases [sum] per each MD, applied after Mishaps and Dooms are assessed. Any spell with [sum] reduced to 0 fizzles.

Armour penalty (AP) is equal to 1/2/3 for light or shield/medium/heavy armour.

Any invested MD that shows 4+ is spent, otherwise you can use it again. When an effect says that a MD is burnt, it is automatically spent, no matter what it rolls. All spent MD are regained when you get a good night’s rest. Spells just return to their receptacle once cast and can be used as long as you have MD.

Magic is fickle and dangerous even to a well-learned mage. Rolling a double on your MD causes a Mishap (bad), while a triple leads to Doom (very bad). Still resolve the spell as normal, if possible.

Saoirse is decked out for a skirmish rather than spell-casting, with leather armour and a shield (AP 2), but she tries to heal her friend anyway. She casts with 2 MD, rolling 3, 3. This is a Mishap, but the spell still works, if weakened: [sum] = 3 + 3 + 2 × (-2) = 2. At least the friend survives.

Overchanneling & Corruption

Your MD represent the amount of power you can relatively safely channel, but if you need more power, you can overchannel. Use any number of extra MD that work normally, except that they are always spent. Afterwards, gain the same number of Corruption Dice (CD). These represent the spiritual wounds on your soul where it burned from too much magic. They can be seen with supernatural sight as black, shifting scars on your aura.

All CD are rolled every time you use magic. They do not count towards [sum] and [dice], but do count towards Mishaps and Dooms. CD can only be removed with long ritual cleansing during downtime in Town.

Mishaps

Magic is inherently unstable. Mishaps happen when you roll a double on MD when casting a spell. Reference the doubled number on this table:

#Mishap Effect
1The spell fizzles with no effect. Embarrassing.
2You can't remember how to do language or magic for 1d6 rounds.
3Spend the next round screaming in pain, or take exploding 1d6 damage.
4You mutate for 1d6 rounds, then make a Save. Permanent if you fail.
5Your spell mutates, permanently.
6A burst of wild magic does... something.
7+You explode, dealing [sum]+[dice] damage to everything nearby. You are quite dead, but then again you must have been tinkering with your MD, so that's on you.

Some wizarding traditions may have specialised mishap tables instead.

Dooms

Magic is inherently dangerous, even ruinous. When you roll a triple (or more) on MD, gain a Doom specific to your wizarding tradition. Dooms are gained in order: the first is a warning, the second is a hindrance, the third and final Doom will kill or ruin you, unless you can escape it via a quest. Should you survive your final Doom, all your future Dooms will instead be Mishaps.

You could also refrain from casting spells with more than 2 MD. But who would do something boring like that?

Counterspell

All spells can be countered by their opposite. As a reaction when you know a spell is being cast, you may attempt to disrupt it with your own spell. Cast a memorised spell, but instead of its normal effect, decrease the [sum] of the countered enemy spell by your [sum]. If their [sum] reaches 0, the enemy spell dissipates with no effect, otherwise it goes off with the lowered [sum]. Note that [dice] are unaffected unless the spell was countered completely.

Elements have obvious opposites (fire vs water or ice, lightning vs earth, healing vs necrotic), but you can counter other effects, too, if your GM agrees. For example, perhaps hold person counters teleport, fear might negate charm, stoneskin might disrupt flesh to stone, etc.

The Language of Magic

In the time before time, the Laws of Magic were chiselled into the very fabric of Reality by the primeval powers that be. Scholars call the language in which the Laws were written High Arkanum or Venderant Nalaberong. That language is now long-lost and nigh forgotten. Only a few syllables remain known - the Words of Power that archmages and gods treasure above all.

Low Arkanum is the common language of magic, likely derived from Venderant Nalaberong but retaining next to nothing from its potency. Still, it is the only language capable of properly binding spirits and channelling magical energies, so all scrolls, spellbooks, magic circles and most magic items world-wide use it. If a wizard does not know Low Arkanum, they cannot use a spellbook, though they can still cast spells they know and gain new spells from another wizard. Note that incantations and trigger phrases are often in a different language, to make using the magic item easier for the intended and harder for a non-intended user.

Spellbook & Memory

As spirits, spells cannot be (easily) copied, only moved. With an hour of meditation, you can move spells as you like between any receptacles you possess - your brain, spellbooks, wands, scrolls. Casting a spell requires that it is prepared within your brain (an action), or in another receptacle at hand (a full-round action).

You have [Intelligence + magic-using templates] Memory Slots to hold spells in your brain, while a spellbook takes up 1 Inventory Slot and may contain up to 10 spells.

Scrolls & Wands

Scrolls are parchments with rune arrays and diagrams drawn in expensive inks that can hold a spell and 1 MD to cast it with. While scrolls are also drawn up in the language of magic, their trigger incantation can be read by any literate person to use the spell within, burning up the scroll.

A wizard with Leyline Lore may use their own MD instead, preserving the scroll and the spell within. They may also move the spell out of the scroll, the same way as from any receptacle, which results in an empty scroll. Draining the MD from a scroll is not possible, but empty, energised $crolls are used as a form of currency by some magi.

Wands are like an even more expensive scroll which isn’t destroyed when used. Any creature with magic can burn a MD to charge a wand, but depending on its materials, each wand has a limit to the MD it can hold.

Staff

Wizards often carry staves which serve as a focus for channelling magic and to poke at strange, glowing things. As a wizard, you may create your own staff. You will need some special wood and other materials, plus about a week of work, and may then roll or choose a staff on the table below. Or you can buy a staff, which is quite expensive and humiliating.

d12StaffEffect
1CascadeWhen you roll a Mishap, add +6 to [sum].
2Chanter'sIf you spend a full round loudly chanting, add +2 to [sum].
3FluxRetain MD on 1-4.
4FulminantEvery MD that rolled 6 adds +1 MD to the spell.
5LeyIf you roll a Mishap of 7+, instead refresh all MD.
6MaledictAll CD rolls add to [sum] and [dice].
7PowerSet any MD to 6, but burn all MD used in the spell.
8ResonantAdd +1 MD if you, the player, can say an incantation in rhyme.
9SafetySet any one MD to 1.
10SpellburnReroll any MD, but burn it.
11VancianAdd +1 MD, but the spell cannot be used again until you rest.
12WardingGain +1 to all Saves for every unspent MD.

Pointy Hat

Every self-respecting chartered wizard has a tall, pointy hat. Only members of the Mage Guild who have passed the Candle Test may legally wear a wizard hat, so people will presume you to be one if you wear such a hat. The Mage Guild takes very unkindly to impersonators.

A pointy hat fills 1 Inventory Slot and can be destroyed (describe how) to add +1d6 to any Save.

Tingling Tongue

All magical things taste weird. A good lick will always tell if something (someone?) is magical or mundane, though probably not its properties.

Tasting a potion will never kill you and will give a hint to its effect.

I Need More Power

Each of the following can grant you permanent +1 MD, once.

Wear exquisite robes (worth at least 100 gp) and no armour.
Steal the staff of an archmage or a fairy godmother's wand.
Eat or marry a powerful creature of magic.
Learn your True Name.
Devour god-flesh.
Bind another wizard's soul.
Willing possession by a demon.
Deal with a Devil, the Fair Folk, or an Outer Thing.
Start a cult that will feed you power through sacrifices.
Drink directly from a ley line or a pure elemental force.*
Consume an energy field larger than your head.*
Replace all your blood with a more potent fluid.*
Tattoo your whole body with magic runes.
Implant magic knucklebones.
Inject liquid occultum.*
Experience other dimensions.
Do all the drugs you can find at once.
Make a pact with a spirit to be your familiar.
Control a tower, a dungeon, or other demesne.
Learn the secrets of life and death to transcend mortality.

*) Without exploding, of course.

Rituals and Workings

There are other forms of magic and other ways of using it than just spellcasting. Rituals, borrowed power and inherent talent can all be used for magical workings, but their rules will have to wait for a future post.
  
This remains the single best depiction of what it means to be a wizard, ever.
We are not taking the wizard by Matt Rhodes Art
  

Class: Wizard

“The only difference between wizardhood and godhood is a good night’s sleep.”
Andreas Alazar, archmage

 

“I have become omnip-” KABOOM
Andreas Alazar, last words

Wizards are… well, weird. They are the kind of people who would find an alien soul parasite which can control fire and decide that they want it in their mind. Who would not want to control fire at the cost of their sanity?

Wizards are what you get when you replace every ounce of common sense with child-like curiosity and every last scrap of self-preservation with hunger for more power.

Wizards are the worst. Every undead or chimaera or other abomination of nature, every rain of frogs or acid, every cursed pair of slippers has a wizard behind it who had decided that it was a good idea. Wizards have a surprisingly hard time telling apart good and BAD BAD BAD WHY WOULD YOU EVER EVEN THINK ABOUT IT ideas.

Once upon a time, the plural of wizard was war.

Quest: per Wizarding Tradition
Languages: choose one option from
  • literacy, the language of magic and one other language, or
  • any three languages.
Items: simple robe, spellbook, ink & quill, plus per Wizarding Tradition
Skills: per Wizarding Tradition

A: The Gift, Wizarding Tradition, 2 Spells, +1 MD
B: Leyline Lore, Unshaped Expression, 1 Spell, +1 MD
C: Wizard Vision, 1 Spell, +1 MD
D: choose one of Signature Spell or Spell Ward, 4 Spells, +1 MD

The Gift
You can use magic. For every Wizard template you have, gain +1 MD.

Wizarding Tradition
Roll or choose a tradition that you are trained in. This gives you your spell list, cantrips, Perk and Flaw, and more.

You can still cast spells from outside your tradition, but you either have to cast them from a spellbook, or pay 100 XP the first time you memorise them.

Note that “Wizard” is your class; the traditions are an archetype within that class. Thus you cannot multiclass to take two traditions - you would still be a wizard. If you want different spells, find or buy them, but that doesn't change your wizarding tradition. Your Perk, Flaw and cantrips are stuck with you unless you take some drastic measures.

Spells
Every wizarding tradition has a list of (usually) twelve spells such wizards are trained in - 6 Basic spells, 4 Advanced spells and 2 Emblem spells. You will learn these spells as you gain templates. At each template, you:
A: Roll one (d6) and choose one Basic spell.
B: Roll one (d8) Basic or Advanced spell.
C: Roll one (d10) Basic or Advanced spell.
D: Choose any four spells from your tradition’s list.

Leyline Lore
With a touch, you may transfer MD to and from other willing magic-users or some magic items. This may not exceed anyone's normal limit of MD.

You can hear nearby ley lines and other places of power as a faint tingling.

Unshaped Expression
You can bodge together a spell-like effect appropriate to your tradition by pouring any number of MD into a target and hoping for the best. Describe what you are trying to do, but exact effects are adjudicated by the GM and are usually haphazard and dangerous. Mishaps and Dooms apply.

Wizard Vision
With concentration, you can see enchantments and invisible things as a faint lensing of light and can tell roughly how big they are. By making eye contact with someone, you can tell if they are possessed, undead, ensorcelled, or a spellcaster.

Signature Spell
You have trained a spell so well it became a part of your very self.

Choose one spell from your tradition that you know. That spell is always prepared in your brain without taking up a Memory Slot. That spell never triggers Mishaps and Dooms.

Spell Ward
Reduce [sum] of all harmful magics targeting you by 2. Once per session, shatter a spell that targets you. This does not apply to the effects of Mishaps and Dooms.

Sourcery by Marc Simonetti

26 February 2024

The Many Schools of Magic

The Manse has recently published a very nice rant on categorisation of magic where they discuss several approaches to the classification of spells and derive their own schools of magic, a neat and clean system of seven traditions with a rigorous naming convention. But there's a fallacy in this approach, I venture. It's tempting to create a well-defined, all-encompassing set of categories and just use them for everything. I will freely admit to doing just that many a time. But real-world systems are rarely if ever neat. There's always something off, missing or superfluous. New findings undoing the symmetry of old theories, things that do not fit into known patterns, weird edge cases that could go either way, someone who made a mistake a century ago and now it would be too costly to fix it. Classification is a human invention and humans are imperfect.

If the classification of magic is to be used in-universe, I think a different approach is needed. Embrace this imperfection, build on it. Explain it, so that it stops being an irritant and becomes a piece of lore.

Also, why should there be only a single classification?

  
The Imperial Collegium recognises eight schools of magic:
  1. Abjuration
  2. Conjuration
  3. Divination
  4. Enchantment
  5. Evocation
  6. Illusion
  7. Restoration
  8. Transmutation

Restoration is a very recent addition, founded and still led by Archmage Hasenbach, whose groundbreaking research into positive energy allowed any mage to wield the healing arts that a generation ago would be the sole purview of the divine. Any naysayers who point out that white magic is quite common outside of the Imperium are usually booed out by Hasenbach's near-fanatical followers.

Necromancy used to be a recognised school for centuries, but also illegal for most of the time. After decades of academic misuse, where every spell deemed inappropriate would be labelled as necromantic, and after increasingly pointed inquiries from the Inquisition about why exactly does the Collegium keep a library wing dedicated to illegal magic, Necromancy was officially struck from the Rolls of Magic in the year 769 of the Three United.

One might also wonder about Enchantment and Illusion, the two odd schools out. There used to be a single school of Prestidigitation, but a falling-out between two archmages about three centuries ago led to a schism that created two new, closely related yet highly quarrelsome schools. It is a public secret that whether a spell is an enchantment or an illusion depends entirely on who publishes the paper first.

Foreigners are sometimes confused that the school of Enchantment works with mind-trickery rather than creation of enchanted items. Well, there used to be a school of Imbrication dedicated to crafting enchanted items, but it was officially disbanded in the wake of the Dwarven Trade War.

In Nymbia, magic is colour-coded:
  • White Wizards are the only sanctioned practitioners. They deal in healing, protection and exorcism. Some tower-cabals can get quite militant about their exorcisms, training squads of professional undead hunters, though this get rarer the further one gets away from the Dead Lands.
  • Grey Wizards are a wide assortment of hedge practitioners who hold very disparate secrets, from wood-singing and fate-reading to teleportation and unmaking. They are not allowed to own a tower, so a grey practice rarely has more than a single master and one or two apprentices.
  • Black Wizards are practitioners of the dark arts, which is a nebulous set of practices that include necromancers and biomancers, but also telepaths, mindcrafters and most alchemists. They are outlawed everywhere but in Alema.
  • "Red Wizards", or rather Pyromancers, as they actually call themselves, are foreign to Nymbia, coming from the Great Swamp. Their magic is very limited and narrow in scope, but all the more powerful for it. So powerful in fact, that the authorities have not yet found a response to their increasingly common depredations. Hence also the reason why Black Wizards are now allowed to settle and openly practice in Alema, whose countryside suffers the most from the flame-makers' raids.

An island nation of Sik has an alternate colour scheme to their practitioners:
  • White Mages are healers, just as in Nymbia, but much less belligerent. They are widely recognised as the best surgeons on the continent, capable of cutting away ills of the body and the mind alike.
  • Blue Mages study weather control and ship magic. They can be quite potent war-casters, but their primary focus is binding the powers of the ocean and its storms for use in transportation and agriculture.
  • Silver Mages are spellwrights who specialise in charms - a type of talisman - and wards. While charms against insects, snakebite or the cold, glamour-charms to allure and impress, or any kind of dowsing-charm are sought-after export goods, the much more powerful wardstones that can protect a whole village from locusts or pirates are never sold outside of Sik.

The Mage Guild of Thorlan considers every spell to be an aspect of the four Great Elemental Dragons:
  • Air also covers everything related to swiftness, movement and communication.
  • Earth also deals with the Dead, as the Old Stone Serpent holds dominion over the dearly departed in Thorlan. Earth sages traditionally handle matters of inheritance and murder investigations.
  • Fire also deals with destruction, counter-spells, curses and high emotions.
  • Water also deals with knowledge, illusions, cleansing and low emotions.

24 February 2024

Hexploration Adventure Quickstart

If you prefer fantasy wilderness to post-apocalyptic wasteland, here are some starting tables for you.


  • Start with d6-1 rations, a backpack, blanket and waterskin, plus normal clothes.
  • Roll for a Weapon, Armour and Money.
  • Roll for a Background and get its items.
  • Roll for d3 other starting Useful Items.
  • Choose or roll d6/2 languages. Do not round, languages can be half-known.
  • If you'd like to have a class, you can roll here.

d12Weaponsd8Armour
1Club1None
2d2 Knives2-4Light
3Staff5-6Medium
4Axe7Heavy
5Sword8Shield and roll again
6Shortbow & d6 ammod6Money
7Spear1Ring worth d100 silver coins
8Warhammer2d4 silver coins
9Battle-axe3d6 x 10 silver
10Flail42d6 x 10 silver
11Longbow & d6 ammo52d8 x 10 silver
12Zweihänder6d10 x 100 s in debt, roll again

d66Backgrounds
11Acolyterandom scroll41Jailermanacles, club
12Astrologerstar chart, spyglass42Jugglerd4 torches and knives
13Barber-Surgeon razor, soap43Linkboylantern, oil for 8 hours
14Blacksmithhammer, tongs44Locksmithd4 lockpicks
15Butcherbig knife, big ham45Lumberjackaxe, firewood
16Carpenterhatchet, saw, drill46Masonhammer, 3 iron spikes
21Coachmanwarm cloak, hat51Minerpick-axe, lantern
22Con Artistfake jewellery52Minstrellute, perfume
23Cookbag of salt, wineskin53Prostitutedisguise kit
24Drunkardd6 bottles of booze54Sailorrope (15 yds), booze
25Farmerflail, donkey55Scribepaper, ink and quill
26Fishermanlarge net, d4 fish56Seamstressneedle and thread
31Fur Trappersnare, d4 pelts61Servantstolen horse
32Guardspear, helmet62Smugglerwaterproof sack
33Herder(d3) goat/sheep/swine63Thiefrandom useful item
34Houndsmanpuppy, whip64Tradernice clothes
35Huntershortbow, signal horn65Undertakershovel, gold teeth
36Cheesemakerwheel of cheese66Wet Nurseloyal urchin

d66Useful Items
11Unmarked package*41Tent & bedroll (3 Slots)
12Toolbelt with common tools42d2 Blankets
13(d3) Pick-axe, shovel, crowbar43Warm travelling clothes
14Metal file, d4 lockpicks44Musical instrument
15Chain (3 yds) & padlock45Silver hand mirror
16Grapnel & rope (15 yds)46Stolen signet ring
21Pouch of caltrops51Small but vicious dog (HD 1)
22Weighted net or Beartrap52(d4) Crow, falcon, owl, parrot
23Waterproof bag53Mule & cart (carry 30 Slots)
24Tinderbox, 2d4 torches54Random follower
25Lantern, oil for d12 hours55Helmet or Shield
26d4 Jars of black oil56d6 Javelins
31Random potion61Favour owed by local VIP
32d4 Healing salves or Bandages62Location of a secret hideout
33Red salt or Bezoar (d4 doses)63Membership of secret society
34Vials of glue, grease and acid64Extra background, no items
35Bomb, (d2) smoke/shrapnel65Random trinket
36Poisoner's ring with poison,
(d4) lethal, sleep, paralysis, charm
66Treasure map

*) Can contain any item you want that fits into 1 slot and is not too rare or expensive.

d66How Do You Know Each Other?
11From the same village41Idolise same famous figure
12From the church42Looking for same item
13From the tavern43Looking for same person
14Childhood friends44Woke up in the same bed
15Mutual friend45In a riot together
16Respected rivals46Met on a boat
21Saved people from a fire51Met on a funeral
22Served in the army52Met on a wedding
23Scammed by the same guy53Named in same inheritance
24Servants to the same lord54Both have a rare disease
25Stole a thing from the other55Both got mysterious letter
26Same horrible fashion sense56Shared embarrassing secret
31Defenders in a siege61Mentor/student
32Plague lockdown survivors62Prison cell mates
33Last members of a cult63Roommates
34Had the same lover64Pen pals
35(Ex-)Lovers65Related
36Former coworkers66Will open a pub together

You wake up in the middle of an uncharted wilderness. Good luck.

22 February 2024

Critical Spells!

Warlocks in Encounter Critical can cast one spell per day per level. This is not the only magic they wield and it is a rather limited amount even on higher levels. That seem to point towards spells being the specialist tools and big guns, something that changes the situation rather than yet another magic blast - that's what the Magical Attack skill is for, after all. The booklet presents a few spells, but here is my expansion and reinterpretation of them into a set of game-changers.

If you're unsure about range, duration or effect, think "more, longer, fancier". Warriors of EC should be riding a tyrannosaurus while wielding a light sabre in one hand and a rocket launcher in the other, so Warlocks should be comparably awesome when casting their spells. At least in my Encounter Critical.
 
Encounter Critical fanart, I think.
  
d20 Warlock Spells
  1. Evil Eye: The warlock curses an enemy (such as making its weapon explode or its eyes rot away) if it fails a Psi Resist roll. One of the warlock's eyes is permanently strange-looking once he learns this spell.
  2. Battle Banner Imperative: The warlock's side will go first in every round of combat and retainers cannot fail morale or defy orders.
  3. Stop: Freeze one creature or object in place, even in mid-air. No saving throw is allowed. The spell lasts until the Warlock casts another spell, or until the victim is attacked – though that first attack always hits.
  4. Double: Create a copy of one creature or object, which will last until the next dawn. When the duration ends, a random one of the twin things disappears.
  5. Demon Master: Gain control of one demon, no save. Must be recast every day.
  6. Possess: The warlock dissolves into smoke and flows into another creature. They can control it completely until it takes damage.
  7. Mimic Special Ability: One special ability of a creature or object can be copied and used as a spell by the warlock. Only one ability can be copied at a time – if this spell is cast again, the warlock loses the older stolen ability.
  8. Phantasmic Projections: Creates completely realistic, albeit intangible, illusions. This includes sounds, smells and animated illusions.
  9. Tesseract: The warlock teleports somewhere they can see. This can be cast in an instant, even to dodge any danger.
  10. Transportal: Two magic circles prepared by the warlock in advance are linked by a portal. The portal lasts until dismissed or until the warlock casts this spell again.
  11. Transmogrify: The warlock can transform himself into any creature from which he owns a trophy.
  12. Walk on Water or Wind: Wears off when the warlock touches the ground.
  13. Ice Sculpt: Form any object or structure out of ice. It lasts until the warlock casts this spell again, even in heat.
  14. Matter to Mist: Dissolves one object into mist and then condenses it into a tiny crystal. When the crystal is broken, mist billows out and the object is reconstituted.
  15. Shape Earth, Wood or Flesh: Material can be slowly moulded into any shape desired.
  16. Phasic Sphere: The warlock activates a previously prepared magic circle, creating a softly glowing but transparent sphere of force. Nothing can pass through the sphere – not creatures, missiles, magic, psionics, phasics, teleportation nor air. It lasts until dismissed, or until the warlock casts this spell again.
  17. God Speech: The warlock can speak with anything.
  18. Darkstorm: Sudden thunderstorm brings bad visibility, strong winds and torrential rain.
  19. Rain of Fire and Brimstone: Flames start raining from the sky, dealing the warlock's magic damage to everyone not under a roof (and to the roof, too).
  20. Warlock Bomb: The warlock conjures an orb that will explode violently (3d20 damage in close range and half that in short range) when shattered. Can be cast with a delayed timer or a special trigger. The explosion can easily breach walls.