Shadow Caster - Handbook

Version 1.0 by Kaithar.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Preface
Chapter 2: Abilities
Section 2.1: Strength
Section 2.2: Dexterity
Section 2.3: Consititution
Section 2.4: Mind
Section 2.5: Soul
Section 2.6: Charisma
Chapter 3: Races
Section 3.1: Game notes
Section 3.2: Human
Section 3.3: Nemucolo, Dwellers of Forest. Elves
Section 3.4: Atracolo, Dwellers of Dark. Dark Elves
Section 3.5: Antricolo, Dwellers of Caverns. Dwarves
Section 3.6: Half Elf
Section 3.7: Laeta, Joyful Ones. Gnomes
Section 3.8: Umbra Mythicos, Shadows of Myth. Shadai
Section 3.9: Altavitae.
Section 3.10: Subtumvitae
Chapter 4: Archetypes
Section 4.1: Mage
Subsection 4.1.1: Archetype summary
Subsection 4.1.2: Detailed description
Subsection 4.1.3: Magical skill tree
Section 4.2: Ranger
Subsection 4.2.1: Archetype summary
Subsection 4.2.2: Weapon types
Section 4.3: Warrior
Subsection 4.3.1: Archetype summary
Subsection 4.3.2: Detailed description
Subsection 4.3.3: Important game info
Subsection 4.3.4: Weapon types
Section 4.4: Devout
Subsection 4.4.1: Archetype summary
Section 4.5: Rogue
Subsection 4.5.1: Archetype summary
Section 4.6: Umbra Incantor, Shadow Enchanter
Subsection 4.6.1: Archetype summary
Subsection 4.6.2: Restrictions
Chapter 5: Morality
Section 5.1: Introduction
Section 5.2: Personality traits
Chapter 6: Experience & Progression
Chapter 7: Skill Mechanics
Chapter 8: Magic & Spell casting
Chapter 9: Feats
Chapter 10: Religion
Chapter 11: Equipment Basics
Chapter 12: Combat Mechanics
Chapter 13: Arcane Artifacts: Crystal Column
Section 13.1: Introduction
Section 13.2: Game specific note
Chapter 14: Geography, Currency, Society
Chapter 15: Treasure
Chapter 16: Adversaries & Monsters
Chapter 17: Professions

1 Preface

2 Abilities

2.1 Strength

Obviously, strength is a measure of how physically "strong" you are.
This impacts carry capability, melee damage, checks involving physical prowess, and movement speed.

2.2 Dexterity

Three words: "Ease of movement".
Ability to duck, dive, dodge ... any check based on fine motor control.

2.3 Consititution

Constitution represents physical resilience.
Checks such as poison and disease depend on this stat.
Please note things like HP and concentration checks aren’t based off this stat.
The former is a more linear form and based on lifestyle and training. The latter is resilience of the mind.

2.4 Mind

Mind affects checks requiring thought.
It affects MP availability, concentration, and focus checks (such as spell accuracy), basically mind controls finesse in areas requiring prowess.
A character with high mind can resist spells, master more magic, and craft spells so exactly the can light a candle with a high power fire missile and only burn the wick.
This stat also affects regeneration rates during meditation.

2.5 Soul

Soul compliments mind.
Representing will power, soul is the basis for the raw power of spells.
The mind may shape and craft the spell, but it is nothing if it doesn’t come from the soul.
While mind influences checks relating to the sense and resisting enchantment, soul influences checks involving strength of will and faith.
This includes a realisation of self check, which is required to break free of (or to realise the presence of) an enchantment that you are subject to.
A character with high soul can generate a fireball capable of destroying a whole army.

2.6 Charisma

Every person projects their self image differently.
A quiet, shy person may project an image of them not being there.
A tyrant may project an image of power, fear and control.
Charisma represents the power to control self images for your own ends.
This affects checks requiring intimidation, charm, concealment, disguise, trading, and so on.
Note however charismatic people are easily remembered, and that is not always a good thing.


3 Races

There are many tales relating to the origins of the common species of this land.
The Antricolo people believe that their god filled this world with the power of magic and that the rocks absorbed this power and from these rocks the first dwarves were born.
The Nemucolo, with their high standards, have an expectedly high claim of origin. They record their origin as being purposely created from magical energy by their chosen deity.
However, the Altae priests know better, having preserved knowledge from before the others had language to record with. Originally, they say, there was only one race. Where those people came from, the priests do not know. At that time, the world was filled with magical energy, and this energy flowed in the blood of the first race. A few of these primitive people had such strong inner strength that they became a part of the magic in their veins.
Those with a drive for good, filled with love and caring, merged with the magic and became the first of the Altavitae. Those who cared only for anger, hate and the evil in their souls were consumed by the magic, becoming the first Subtumvitae.
For others, the change was smaller. These lacking the powerful force of an alignment, but filled with the capability of becoming something else, began a slower and more gradual change. These people, left the others, obeying a mental pull to a distant land, eventually becoming the Laeta.
For a few hundred years, the race grew. They developed crude concepts of communication and language, giving rise to the similarities found in the languages of the races. Then came the Great Split. Few details exist about this event, most references simply describing it as a disaster. Some scholars think it may have been an early Tyrant raid. Whatever it was, it scattered the people of the first civilisation. Some took refuge in the cave systems of the mountains, eventually adjusting to their underground homes and becoming the Antricolo. Others sought shelter in the depths of the forest, developing an empathy with nature, and became the Nemucolo. Those who were left turned nomadic, and physically changed only a little on their path to the Humans they are now. Their lifestyle has left them with more non magical skills at the expense of their magical ones. Eventually they formed more stable gatherings, which became the first cities.
Atracolo are descended from the Nemucolo that lived in the forest. Nemucolo, with their close life and balance with nature chose to use their magic for purposes of good, using the more evil forms of magic only when forced, and never more that minor evil. The Atracolo however believed that the evil forces of magic had just as much use as the good. Over generations, they have become creatures of evil, living in the dark, and with darkness in their soul, they generally believe that the ends justify the means and excel at offensive and dark magic.
Umbra Mythicos can’t quite be dismissed as a myth, though many would like to. While they represent both a race and a way of life, it is with the race we are interested with here. Little is known about them, since no one reliable has ever claimed to have met one. The sketchy information, found in folk tales and rumours, suggests they are remarkable mainly for a lack of any dominant racial influence, with a strong magical force at their disposal. A legend claims they are children of "angels and men", suggesting an Altavitae may have been involved in the birth of the race, though a careful and detailed search search by the Altavitae priests and scholars has found no evidence supporting this.
-- Archive material from "History of Life and Magic"


3.1 Game notes

Please note, these Elder names are translations to common. The originals cannot be pronounced or transcribed using the language available.
The people those Elder names refer to don’t use them most of the time.
The suffix, -colo or -vitae, can generally be dropped if the context provides clarification. The correct form of this contraction is noted in each section
Elder race names have no plural but instead can be used to refer to a single member, a group or the whole race, like “sheep”. Context is crucial.
We specifically deal with Half Elfs, but the following covers other mixtures:
Thus the only half breed unions that are common enough and different enough to be a separate race are Half Elves.
Thus half breed always refers to Half Elf unless specificied otherwise.


3.2 Human

Your bog standard human. Not specialised to anything (except perhaps staying alive and getting in trouble) but able to try their hands at most things.


3.3 Nemucolo, Dwellers of Forest. Elves

Slightly taller than Humans due to life in the trees, averaging 6".
Slightly longer fingers than humans by about a quarter of an inch.
Hair is generally worn long, and in addition to the normal blond, brunette, black shades, a dark mossy green and autumn leaf red are common colours.
Eyes are a startling green at birth, but may gradually change colour as they get older. Common colours are green, blue, brown, amber yellow, burgundy red, and a purple/violet colour common in the flowers found in the deeper parts of the forest.
Having lived in the forest so long, they tend to be graceful, soft spoken, and spend much time considering before reaching a decision.
Naturally tend toward martial arts and dance.
Most dislike armour and heavy clothing, since it obstructs movement, but can overcome this with time.
Many Elves are pacifistic, most prefer not to meddle in the affairs of others. They are rather good at achieving victory though indirect means.


3.4 Atracolo, Dwellers of Dark. Dark Elves

Originally desired access to all magic, the evil magic they sought has consumed them so that they can no longer cast any magic for Good.
Their basic physical appearance is similar to Elves, but they prefer shorter hair, their hair and eyes turn black as they mature, and their skin is a shade of grey.
While they prefer darker places they do not generally live underground, though they will live in caves if they can be expanded along the rock face to allow more light in.
More often they can be found in the darkest and densest part of the forest. Dense woodland in a valley is also a favourite location.


3.5 Antricolo, Dwellers of Caverns. Dwarves

Shorter than Humans, though not as short as Gnomes, averaging 4"6.
Muscled build, due to dealing with heavy objects from an early age.
Tend toward shorter hair in brown, red and black.
Dwarven men tend to have some facial hair, but not too long since it would get in the way and be hard to keep clean with all the rock work and dust around.
Good with rocks, caves, metals, etc.
Surprisingly thick skulls and remarkable reflexes.
Plural is Dwarves, contraction is Dwarf’s, possessive is Dwarven.


3.6 Half Elf

Appearance is the same as humans, though they tend to have the elven trait of exotic hair/eye colours. Unlike elves, the half elves don’t experience alignment restrictions.


3.7 Laeta, Joyful Ones. Gnomes

Mini Hunans pretty much, generally 3"6’-4" tall.
Dislike evil magic, but capable of it with just as much power as any other.
Taught language by Altae scholars, so Gnomish is much more similar to that of Elder than the others.
The Laeta have been sucessful in avoiding the control of the Tyrant’s new empire, though they pay for it by living in a state of self imposed exile.
Some of them have learnt to pass themselves off as Dwarven children, though they still have to avoid the militia while visiting smaller villages, however they typically avoid larger settlements where identity is more likely to be investigated.
Although the Tyrants did look for them at first, they gave up when they realised that quite a lot of Laeta mages were as skilled in hiding their settlements. Most raiding parties, after discovering they’d been walking in circles or following false leads all day, reported that the remote Laeta lands were empty of people and animals. A few outposts were setup, however most of their occupants fled from the many subtle fear inducing effects after only a week at most. The more stubborn occupants went mad and killed themselves.
The Tyrants and military forces are now sufficiently convinced the area is haunted or cursed that they have left it alone.
Probably for the best, since this has avoided provoking the Altae.


3.8 Umbra Mythicos, Shadows of Myth. Shadai

In Elder they are named Umbra Mythicos, Shadows of Myth, since no credible research has shown the existence of them as a people and the Altae refuse to believe otherwise. This name is usually used in a dismissive context.
The people following the lifestyle of these people are refered to by schollers as Umbra Incantator, Shadow Enchanter.
They name themselves Shadai.
Powerful mages, multiple bonuses yet to be finalised.
Apparence basically human, though slightly short.
Exotic eye and hair colours are common, sometimes leading people to think they are half-elf.
Originally spent time with humans, but suspicion and distrust caused them to go in to hiding.
Very secretive, but for good reason (will become evident when I complete the race info).
They are forbidden to reveal that they are not human.
This means they are supposed to refrain from public displays of higher level magic, to avoid drawing attention.
They only break cover in exceptional circumstances.
For a Shadai to give you personal information is to be considered a compliment of the highest order and a sign of great trust.
If they draw too much attention to themselves they will be treated with great mistrust.
Allowing information about them to leak out can be considered as a crime by their leaders.
See Umbra Incantor (4.6 on page 1↓) for more information on restrictions. All Shadai share the archetype’s restrictions regardless of if they are actively training.


3.9 Altavitae.

Incredible magic users.
Naturally capable of shape shifting, since their natural form is purely magical energy.
Do not suffer normal ageing effects or death of natural causes.
Limited natural teleportation ability.
Possess a form of telepathy thus can communicate with any creature capable of some form of though, though this is limited to the level of intelligence of the creature.
Generally this takes the form of images, sensations, and emotions.
Sounds can be used, but even sentient and self-aware beings do not tend to think in words unless they are actively communicating.
Less aware creatures such as wolves and birds are limited in their ability to understand communications.
They are strictly forbidden to taking any action that reveals they are not one of the normal humanoid races.
This means they are supposed to refrain from public displays of higher level magic, to avoid drawing attention.
They only break cover in exceptional circumstances.
If they draw too much attention to themselves they will be instructed to account for their actions.


3.10 Subtumvitae

Have enough shapeshift to take human form, but their eyes will be either red or black, hair is black, skin is best described as "burnt til black".
Do not suffer normal ageing or natural death.
Teleportation ability slightly worse than that of the Altra.
They can join forces with players only if given sufficient incentive.
Never turn your back on a Demon.
They are not, technically speaking, forbidden from revealing their nature, since it is generally somewhat obvious they’re not nice people.
Explicitly stating that they are actually a Demon is considered a bad idea though.
The Evil NPCs will treat you with mistrust, all other NPCs will be hostile at best.
Other Demons may consider you a threat if they realise you are one of their kind.
A number of groups of NPCs will consider hunting you down for the good of all.
Generally better to be thought of as a human mage who’s had a spell gone wrong.
They won’t like you, but they won’t be out to kill you as quickly.


4 Archetypes

Archetype (ark eh type), noun:
  1. The pure, untainted concept from which all similar instances are derived, copied, or emulated.
  2. The simplest form embodying a certain concept.
In most games character classes are, at the end of the day, rounded out packages that are often simply variations on a theme.
A player wishing to create a character must choose the class that the feel most accurately embodies their desired personality in the new world.
While this is often good enough, and certainly with a little skilled RP you can cover any differences between your character vision and the actuality, there are times when the choices simply don’t come close enough.
Additionally, such a large collection of classes leads to a case of over complexity, having dozens of classes that are similar, yet different.
To this end, our class system is based on a similar ethic to it’s magic system... we supply you, the player, with building blocks, not cookie cutters.
Thus characters are built on the basis of Archtypes...
Using these bases, you can create any “class” you can think of.


4.1 Mage

Even though most people use magic simply for menial tasks such as lighting fires, the arcane arts are limited in range and variety simply by the imagination of the Mage.
The mage has dedicated much time to the furthering of their powers.
The number of Arcane Schools that a Mage may join is limited by the Mind bonus.
Once an Arcane School has been commited to it cannot be abandoned, however progress is not further limited by Mind bonus.

4.1.1 Archetype summary

4.1.2 Detailed description

Once upon a time, many decades ago now, everyone studied magic. It was taught to children much as reading, writing and arthimatic are still taught.
We know this from the few surviving records from that time. Though surely a few people from that time must still live, they don’t talk about it.
The coming of the Tyrants put an end to what is privately called the Age of Enlightenment. When they originally seized power, magic was used to fight back against them. A longer history is detailed elsewhere, here we only need to note that the mages failed.
As soon as they had power they executed anyone suspected of knowing combat magic and have kept magic on a tight leash ever since. Some scholars have been permitted to continue studying magic, since many applications of it make lives easier for the ruling class.
The saviour of magic has been the Tyrant’s inability to fully subjugate the world. Although they have an iron fist rule of the humans, and the Elves and Dwarves have submitted to nominal subjugation to protect their lands and lives, that doesn’t represent the full population of the lands.
The surviving free races are just as secretive with their magic as the scholars and surviving old generation mages.
Brief history lesson over, how does one learn these now forbidden arts? There are a number of routes.
In the Tyrant controlled areas, with magic kept so secret, you must first earn the trust of someone that knows what you want to learn. The obvious route of becoming a Scholars apprentice is also the most dangerous, since you will be the first to receive suspicion if anything even vaguely magical happens. Surviving becomes a matter of learning how to make yourself seem particularly boring, dense or unimaginative.
The Laeta have established a magical school where magic is taught in groups with the most promising are taken on as apprentices for faster training.
Altae and Subtum teaching practices, much like everything else they do in their natural forms, challenges description by the lower races.
In Shadai tradition, the basics are still taught to the youngsters as part of their basic education. Any qualified Shadai mage can take on apprentices, usually either 1 or 2 at a time, and does so based on their own whims.
Usually they take on youths that impress them or that show particular talent. Some take on promising close relations as apprentices. Occasionally they take on apprentices without obvious reasoning, responding to some private thought.
It is extremely rare for Shadai mages to take on an apprentice for a fee, since they consider their arts to be something sacred and the idea of selling such knowledge is distasteful. There have been exceptions in response to mitigating factors, but they are very special cases.
Differences aside, the logic of magical education is fairly standard.
First one learns the patterns of the various magical components, learns to create them their minds and hold those patterns. No matter the form the magic takes, the patterns of the basic blocks are constant.
The patterns are associated with a linguistic symbol, an easily pronouneable sylablle that can invoke the memory of the pattern. The symbols used are always the same, being derived from the simplified Eldar and used to record complex spells.
When the student can create these patterns without concious effort they move on to learning to combine the patterns. The simpliest spell requires two patterns. One defines the objective, the other the element that gives the result it’s basic shape.
When casting spells through stones the objective pattern represents the crystal used, while the element is the rune it’s placed on.
Next the student must learn to channel energy through the patterns they have created. This is the most dangerous part of the tuition since an undisicplined mind could cause an uncontrolled magical discharge, which could have lethal results.
It’s difficult to convey in physical terms exactly how this works. The combined patterns form a blueprint through which the magical energy passes to create the final structure.
It can be thought of as a three dimensional projection that forms like a balloon inflating. A poor description of the indescribable, but good enough to convey the idea.

4.1.3 Magical skill tree

Each skill and subskill has it’s own experience counter and level.
In cases where a spell attempts to counter another spell, a resist check is performed between the effective level of the two spells.
  1. Barrier
    Magic related to creating psuedo-physical barriers
    The first barriers Mages learn to create block only lower level spells and low momentum objects.
    1. Sphere of energy
      Level up to create spheres and arcs with greater radius and more resistive to spells and objects.
    2. Plane of energy
      Level up to create planes withe greater area and more resistive to spells and objects.
    3. Complex field shapes
      Allows more complex deformation of the barrier, including creating and closing holes.
    4. Resistive variation
      This subskill allows the caster greater control over what is blocked, including blocking or permitting light and sound.
    5. Persistence
      Allows a barrier to absorb magic from the environment with varying efficiency, permitting it to remain in existence after the caster ceases it’s maintainance.
      How long the barrier survives is a function of this subskill.
  2. Dispersion
    Magic related to disruption and dispersal of spells.
    1. Disruption of maintained spell
      This enables the disruption of a spell that is being actively maintained by a caster.
    2. Dispersion of enchantments.
      This enables the blanket removal of enchantment spells from items and areas.
    3. Dispel enchantment.
      This enables the removal of specific enchantments.
    4. Dispel Divine
      Divine effects such as consecration cannot be removed by other Dispersion skills.
    5. Antimagic field
      Prevents further casting in the affected area.
  3. Divination
    Magic related to retrieving Information.
    1. Analyse object
  4. Elemental - Magic related to channeling elemental energy in to different forms. Primary combat spells.
  5. Enchantment - Magic relating to applying persistant and semi-persistant effects to objects and creatures. Includes weapon enchantment and Buffs.
  6. Illusion
    Magic relating to image projection
    1. Disguise self
      Provides a method to alter your appearance. More flexible than Shapeshift, but is an illusion only.
  7. Kinetics - Magic relating to imparting momentum and force to an object.
  8. Nature - Magic relating to flora.
  9. Psionic - Magic relating to the mind
  10. Space - Magic relating to the deformation of space.
  11. Summoning - Magic relating to the creation of physical objects
  12. Temporal - Magic relating to moving through time.
  13. Transmutation
    Magic relating to the alteration of one thing in to another
    1. Shapeshift
      Provides the ability to reconfigure your body’s structure and appearance.
      You cannot create or destroy matter with this spell. Skiller practicioners may aborb other biological matter to increase their weight, or discard weight as a lump of biomass.
      Large reconfigurations require more skill than more cosmetic ones, since the form you adopt must be biologically viable for the period you wish to use it.
      Shapeshifting does not alter the casters fundemental genetic structure and thus the body will over time reassert the caster’s natural form and may after a short time reject radically altered tissue.
      Reverting to your original form is error free, however doing so generally has to be done by the caster. Since this spell does not require maintaining it cannot be Dispersed and instead requires a mage with suitable levels in Shapeshift Revert Other.
      This all means that if you botch a Shapeshift in a way that renders you unable to survive in the present environment, usually accomplished by attempting a radically new form without proper supervision, you will need to find someone with the levels necessary to revert that shapeshift before it is worth attempting Resuscitation. Other spells that don’t require the body, such as Reformation, are exempt from this difficulty but obviously incur their own penalties.
  14. Vivamancy - Magic related to life force. Specifically fauna. Healing spells.
  15. Void - Experimental nullification magic.


4.2 Ranger

The bow is a delicate tool. Correcting for weather conditions and relative motions is tricky.
The Ranger has devoted much thought to the intricacies of ranged weapons, not just bows and arrows but also less common items such as throwing knives.
While the Ranger is not strictly limited in how many weapon types they can study, they only improve through practise and thus tend to specialise in a smaller number of types.

4.2.1 Archetype summary

4.2.2 Weapon types

While there are ranged weapons other than the ones listed here, traditional training revolves around the 5 that are proven as easy to acquire, easy to use and suitably portable.
Throwing axes and spears might sound like a good idea, but try carrying around any quantity of them and you’ll realise why rangers don’t take intensive training in them.
An exception is non-combat projectiles. All rangers are taught how to throw nets, vials, small bottles and grappling hooks as part of their introduction to balistic theory.
Any ranger that has attained their first level of proficiency in a combat weapon will be competent with such items.
  1. Long bow
    Designed for longer distances and slower firing rates.
    Requires very light armour on firing arm and shoulder.
    Strength affects range, Dexterity affects chance to hit, damage is constant reduced by percentage of range.
  2. Short bow
    Designed for firing speed and shorter distances.
    Requires very light armour on firing arm and shoulder.
    Dexterity affects firing rate and chance to hit, Strength affects damage.
  3. Crossbow
    High damage, even against metal armour, but very slow reload time.
    No armour penalty on firing, armour affects reload time.
    Some times used as single shot and discard, reloading after combat is complete.
    Works well when paired with an assistant doing the reloading.
    Strength affects firing rate, Dexterity affects chance to hit, damage is constant.
  4. Sling/Slingshot
    Low to medium damage. Relatively easy to replenish ammo.
    Although it is possible to inflict considerable damage, the sling has a number of secondary uses.
    It’s low damage potential is balanced against the easy supply of stones to use as ammo and the rate of fire.
    This range type goes very well with magic use.
    Can be used with light armour.
    Strength affects damage, Dexterity affects chance to hit, Constitution affects firing rate.
  5. Throwing knives
    High damage against softer materials, but very limited ammo.
    Requires no encumbrances to be used effectively, so silk armour only.
    Dexterity affects chance to hit with a slight bonus to firing rate, Strength affects damage.


4.3 Warrior

Any idiot can swing a sword around, but it takes some real training to lop off more your enemy’s head more often than your friends. There is a lot more to really handling a shield than simply putting it between you and your enemy.
Through training, the Warrior may learn new tricks to best his opponent or learn how to handle unusual weaponry.

4.3.1 Archetype summary

4.3.2 Detailed description

A Fighter’s primary purpose is to bash, smash, stab and poke the enemy until they give up or die. To that end a fighter’s core skill is his ability to wield his weapon of choice.
Upon entering combat academy, a novice is introduced to all the basic weapons. He is shown how to hold them, attack with them, how to block with them. Enough to get a feel for all the common options. He is then allowed to pick the path he feels comfortable with, the weapon that feels like an extension of his body.
Then the real training begins.
First he is taught the substance of his weapon, how one defends, attacks, kills with that weapon.
Once he understands the ways the chosen tool can be applied, style is taught. The ways to move gracefully, to make one move smoothly become another. The art of the warrior’s dance.
Finally, he is taught tactics. Every enemy is different, as every weapon is different. Once one has dedicated themselves to the path of their weapon, one must learn the strengths and weaknesses of ones opponents, and how to use them to win.
Sometimes a novice will feel the calling of a more exotic style of fighting. The Academy possesses masters of all disciplines, so they are afforded the opportunity to attempt this path.
Sometimes a novice apprentices to a master away from the hall. Often in this case, the student learns the style of the master.
Once a novice has become competent with their weapon, they may choose to learn a secondary weapon, one that complements their primary choice. Choosing to learn a short sword or dagger to complement a broad sword, for instance.
A fighter may choose to learn as many styles and weapons as he chooses, but beware that a jack of all trades is rarely a master of anything.
A fighter is also taught basic magic to make his craft easier. Healing, enhancing and protecting spells. He is also taught the craft of maintaining his equipment.

4.3.3 Important game info

The first task when creating fighter is to choose their discipline. Some weapons, like the great axe, can only be used in one style. Others, like hand to hand combat, have multiple styles. Each weapon and style pair have their own xp counters and a list of key moves that help define that style. Each of these moves has an xp counter and difficulty rating.
A fighter:

4.3.4 Weapon types


4.4 Devout

We all know deities exist. Elsewhere in this work, you will find a detailed listing of the major ones, their personalities, preferences and any other details that may be of use to you. Phone numbers removed after threats of biblical proportions.
Most people in this world of ours do not have this kind of information. Thus while not strictly atheists, after all a god with a grudge is pretty hard to deny (not to mention dangerous), most inhabitants have only passing familiarity with the ways of the divine. They know the location of their local temple; they visit on occasion, when sorely pressed. Yet it is not accurate to call these people "faithful" in the religious sense.
The Devout, on the other hand, have expended serious time and sense to get as emotionally close to their chosen deity as possible. Embryonic holy men, they are often to be found employed in temples or conducting scholarly studies of the divine mysteries.

4.4.1 Archetype summary


4.5 Rogue

While many may view the thief as a hazard to be avoided, the Rogue archetype does not carry connotation of morality or station. The friendly locksmith, the tomb exploring archaeologist, the Retriever of stolen items, and invisible spy are all examples of those employing the skills of the thief, yet working for the side of good.
Specialising in stealth, misdirection, traps and locking mechanisms, the Rogue also puts his excellent dexterity to use work with one of the tools of his trade, the dagger.

4.5.1 Archetype summary


4.6  Umbra Incantor, Shadow Enchanter

Referred to in Elder as Umbra Incantor, Shadow Enchanter. In Common, Shadow Caster.
Of all the professions you may meet in the world, there are not many so elusive and convoluted as the Shadow Casters.
There are two ways in which people join this select group. Most are young Shadai, that have trained from a young age. Upon occasion, however, the Shadow Casters see sufficient promise in an young outsider to take him or her on as an apprentice. Since they are willing to teach their disciplines to anyone who proves worthy of their time and trust, those who their adepts take as apprentices are also referred to as Shadow Casters.
Shadow Caster magic is very impressive and unique, being both flexible and powerful.
Shadow Casters, to put it simply, are masters of magic in it’s purest form. After much meditations and devotion to magic and to nature they have come to see magic as an absolute and pervading force, independent of element, alignment or form until the mage in question attempts to command that power. With such an enlightened view of magic, and of the world in general (to them it is not so much Good and Evil as Kindness and Cruelty), they have pushed the limits of magic beyond those of more biased view.
As this would suggest, Shadow Casters possess access to all forms of magic, and can learn any spell, irrespective of any limits that may apply to lesser minds. Their only limitation upon spell knowledge is that of their own understanding of the nature of magic (read: they can’t cast spells they don’t understand. level and teaching are the key attributes here). They are also, through intensive research, beginning to discover the ability to use magic to manipulate time itself.
It is now important to draw some attentions to the down sides of this class.
Shadow Casters don’t do physical combat. Period. They are capable of devastating combat through pure magic, however if you gave a a sword to a member of the Shadow Caster race, he or she would have little clue what to do with it. They lived in isolation so long that they can’t cope with the concept of engaging in physical combat, you might as well suggest they engage in cannibalism. This has led to a "revulsion" to weapons and armour, and while those of higher mentality have learnt to deal with witnessing physical combat, actually becoming involved directly in it still has a distressing effect.
While their apprentices, being of other races, don’t suffer the same kind of repulsion in combat, the mental state that they employ is shattered by combat, leading to similarly distressing effects.
It is also worth pointing out that most people view Shadow Casters and their apprentices with a great distrust since they can’t understand their mentality, and as such don’t know what to expect. They don’t know if the stranger has come to save their village, slaughter it, or simply have a cold drink and a nights sleep. As such, Shadow Casters have problems interacting with others not of their mentality, and feel particularly uncomfortable in crowds.
In legends and military sarcasm you may hear Shadow Casters spoken of as vague bringers of chaos and destruction. This is an accurate portrayal of how the Tyrants see them.
As a final note on Shadow Casters, not only are they not easy to play, but they must walk a careful line, not inflicting undue suffering, not attracting direct attacks... they may look appealing, but there is a sting in their lifestyle.

4.6.1 Archetype summary

4.6.2 Restrictions


5 Morality

5.1 Introduction

Good and Evil are relative to Morality and Belief.
There are many historical figures that have been labelled as evil, however that labelling fails to deal with intent.
Imagine a character, a ruler, about whom you have no prior information.
Upon investigating this person, you discover he is a ruler by force; He controls the military, thus he rules.
His aim is to take control of the world and form a single perfect nation.
Classic world domination plans, perhaps.
His priests worship the Goddess of the afterlife, and frown on those who do not.
He treats his subjects fairly, not over working them or imposing heavy taxation.
They are educated, he has ensured a reasonable level of healers and teachers are available to them.
They generally respect him for his fairness, his justice system is strict but not unfair or cruel.
Free commerce is encouraged, though the commerce rules are enforced aggressively to help protect the populous.
So from that information, which of the 9 standard alignments does he have on his character sheet?
While most of his subjects consider him good, but not nice or forgiving, some, resenting the religious and political control, will view him as an evil dictator.
The standard concepts of alignment do not include scope for a persons view on right and wrong.
Your enemy will not describe himself as evil unless he is willing to admit what he is doing is wrong.
Since many "Evil" people/characters believe their actions to be justified, righteous, or necessary for the greater good, they are unlikely to consider themselves evil.
In fact they may consider their enemies (possibly you) to be the "Evil" ones.
In order to add some depth to characters, our system uses scales of different facets of mentality and morality, this will hopefully also provide personality guides for reacting to situations.


5.2 Personality traits

Each of these 11 facets must be scored between -5 and +5, but not 0.
Negative values cost the same number of points as positive values of the same magnitude.
You can spend up to 30 on these traits.
  1. Mercy
    Merciful (+5) vs Ruthless (-5)
  2. Selflessness
    Selfless (+5) vs Selfish (-5)
  3. Medic
    Healing (+5) characters are likely to try and help and heal others when they can.
    Harming (-5) characters are only interested in bringing pain to others.
  4. Religion
    Pious (+5) characters respect either religion and are more likely to follow instructions from a religious authority.
    Sacrilegious (-5) characters actively rebel against religion and may well actively work against religious authorities.
  5. Order
    Characters promoting Order (+5) will attempt to create, improve and protect heiracries and rule sets.
    Characters promoting Chaos (-5) will try to create confusion and discord, though not necessarily conflict.
  6. Instinctual
    Instincts (+5) vs Planning (-5)
  7. Logic
    Logical (+5) vs Emotional (-5)
  8. Redemption
    Traits softened (+5) causing stat adjusters to move toward zero, restrictions are eased by one notch.
    Traits amplified (-5) causing stat adjusters to move away from zero.
    Actual results noted in relevant sections.
  9. Negotiator
    Impartial (+5) vs Biased (-5)
  10. Loyalty
    Loyal (+5) characters will obey any instruction from a recognised authority
    Independent (-5) characters will only obey instructions where they feel it in their interests to do so.
  11. Orthodoxy
    Traditionalist (+5) characters are slow to accept change and tend to stick to known and tested methods.
    Flexible (-5) characters are more liberally minded and willing to gamble on untried ideas.

6 Experience & Progression

7 Skill Mechanics

8 Magic & Spell casting

9 Feats

10 Religion

11 Equipment Basics

12 Combat Mechanics

13 Arcane Artifacts: Crystal Column

13.1 Introduction

Most of the artifacts scattered around the world have deteriored, knowledge of their purpose and use lost over time. On the other hand, knowledge of the columns seems to have been retained reasonably well, though some details have become obscured.
There are a couple of myths describing the origins of the columns.
One is that a Goddess witnessed a massive war and wept for the loss of life, and from her tears the columns grew. We consider this reasonably unlikely.
Another is that two great mages fell in love, and since they had to do so much dangerous travelling, they created the columns to let them stay together forever.
What we definitely know is that the columns are a work of high magic, the working of which is long since forgotten.
The physical structure of the column is a reasonably uniform hexagon rising out of the ground. The material appears colourless, but it scatters light like a prism.
Miners working near a column have reported that the column appears go down further than they have managed to go so far.
At the surface the column glows slightly in the dark, the miners have reported it appears to get brigher further deeper you go. It is believed that that the column goes down far enough to draw energy from geothermal energy.
The column has been enchanted with a number of complex spells.
Every time you touch it, it retains an imprint of you. The contingency spell will then track you, and should you die the spell will trigger and perform an Echo Imprint spell to recreate your body as it was at the time of your last imprint refresh. It will also teleport your body and equipment to you.
The incredible thing about the columns is that they don’t just retain a single imprint, but rather every imprint they are exposed to.
Although there are many of these columns, the core of the crystal is actually an intersection of a single distortion spell.
In other words, the center of each column is a filament thin “portal” that is connected to all the other components.
While it would be extremely dangerous to make contact with this intersection, you can direct short range spells through them safely enough provided you have a strong enough reference by having visited the other column already. The main use of this effect is to enable short range group teleports to be used to move over large distances, creating the fastest mass transit network in existence.
It is important not to attempt Scry Area spells through the columns, the amplification of so many intersections has caused every sucessful caster of such spells to die or go mad. What information has been gained from attempts suggests the existance of some form of other space accessable from the interesction, though not much is know of it currently.
The columns have been enchanted with a number healing and restoring spells that aid the recovery of the wounded near by, explaining why they tend to be surrounded by more vegetation that the rest of the area they are in.
Careful mapping and testing has revealed the columns are scattered around the world in a complex but predictable pattern. As you progress “outward” in the pattern the size and relative power of the columns decreases as if each sucessive set of columns are echos of the previous ones.
The pattern, combined with the raw power required for the creation of the largest known columns, lends support to one of the common facts in all myths about the columns: All the columns were created at once, with a single spell cast at the location of the largest column.
One theory is that each smaller set some how came in to being through “echos” of the power that created the set above them. Another is that deep below the surfaces of the planet there exists some kind of physical connection between the columns, forming some kind of web like pattern.
Certainly this explains why there are so many of the columns, and why they seem scattered to more places than could be visited in a lifetime. Even after hundreds of years of recorded study and search of the columns there remain many that have yet to be visited.
Curiously, there are also a number of locations where a column has been predicted, but the crystal can’t be reached. Quite a number of points fall on deep ocean, some appear to be within active volcanos, and there are even a few that are assumed to be buried deep under mountains.
Small shards that have broken off have been found to retain enough of the enchantments to refresh an imprint after building up enough magical charge, absorbing energy from the environment. Though the imprinting enchantment is the only measurable affect they have, this has proven so useful that all the accessible shards have long since been gathered up and are rationed out to allow each combatant to have one.
Recharge period for a shard is about an hour, and once it acheives that level of charge it appears to be saturated and doesn’t charge further.

13.2 Game specific note

The columns were formed by a single extremely powerful spacial distortion spell cast by a number of mages.
The initial spell created the largest intersection to the newly created “pocket dimension”. Further intersections formed in a cascading manner, smaller intersections producing a pattern around each until the intersections were small enough to collapse rather than stabilise.
Since the intersections are inherently dangerous due to their thread like dimensions, the next part of the spell was a Purification spell, using a diamond as the reference. This caused large mass of pure graphite to form around and through each intersection.
Graphite being a reasonably weak material, they used fire and pressure spells to attempt to convert the graphite to diamond. This was only partially sucessful, most of the graphite mass crystalising in to a hexagonal form with similar strength. (Technically known as hexagonal diamond or Lonsdaleite)
The crystal was then enchanted with it’s various long term spells, including a continuous Duplication spell, bonding any carbon that comes into contact in to the crystal latice. This repairs surface damage over time and causes the small spines that break off so easily.
This information is known only by the mages who cast the spell, long since departed from this world, and the deities in existence and curious enough to pay attention.

14 Geography, Currency, Society

15 Treasure

16 Adversaries & Monsters

17 Professions

Copyright (C) 2010 Version 1.0 by Kaithar.