Into the Weird Blue Yonder: Mundane Magic Tables

I mentioned in my last post that even magic would be mundane in the "Real" world. I want players to have the option of delving into the mystic arts but would rather not just hand them really powerful or even incredibly interesting spells. It might seem strange to water down magic but these are really tricks. Even the great magic theorists of mundanity are not really dabbling in the good stuff, instead mostly arguing about theory and zealously protecting their orthodoxy.

Albrecht Durer. Christ Among the Doctors

The trade wizard will do a quick fix for your boat but it will really require a true craftsman to truly repair your vessel.  A village wisdom will give you healing herbs but bedrest will still be required. However, mundane magic is still useful and thus it is still practiced. Here are some spells that fit the bill. All spells will have a range of 30ft, require line of sight, and be cast as many times as desired unless stated otherwise. These are spells that are learned more than anything else. In order to make them compatible with other systems, I am saying "level," this will likely refer to your character level, but I think it may also apply to levels of training. I am considering making this system both leveless and classless. So bear this in mind.

1d12 Mundane Magics:
  1. Mend: Cause an object to repair itself. There is a level in 6 chance that this spell will work. On a failure, this spell cannot be cast on the same object again until the sun has risen again. Such repairs typically don't last because the spell only repairs as well as the caster could repair such an object and it fades with time. This fix will last for 1d4 days of use for this object if the caster is unknowledgeable about the kind of craft the object was constructed with. If the caster is knowledgeable, the fix will last 1d6 days of use.
  2. Find: So long as you have a piece of something or someone, you can find them. To do this, you must spend an hour binding the piece to a compass, necklace, or other makeshift directional devices. After which point, the device will gently point in the approximate direction of the target.
  3. Animate: Cause a small object no bigger than a peasant's chair to come to life for a Turn (10 minutes). There is a level in 8 chance that the object will naturally obey your spoken commands. If not this object will require convincing. Objects keep their tendency towards pliancy or rebellion even after this spell has worn off. They retain their personality if animated again. Thus, casters of this spell are known to carry around loyal objects that they can rely on.
  4. Call Wind: Cause a favorable wind to come your way. On a hot day, this might be a cool breeze. On a ship this might be a gentle push int he right direction. There is a level in 4 chance of this spell succeeding. On a failure, you may not cast it again until the next sunrise or until a drastic change in the weather has occurred.
  5. Ease: Remove a level of exhaustion from a creature and add it to yourself.
  6. Douse: You know the direction of the nearest source of water. This spell requires use of a peculiarly shaped stick or dousing rod. If there are multiple sources of water there is a level in 4 chance that this spell will point you in the direction of the most easily attained water.
  7. Predict Weather: You have knowledge of the next week's weather. There s a level in 6 chance of this being a perfect prediction. On a failure, 1d4 days of weather prove to be different than expected.
  8. Heal: You cause a creature you can touch to regain 1 HP and give them Advantage on their next save against a physical malady. This spell requires use of herbs that you have prepared. Each dose takes an hour to prepare and 1 sp in reagents. A target of this spell can only be effected once every 24 hours.
  9. Evil Eye: A creature you see gets a dose of bad luck. PCs lose 1 Luck. if they are the target. In the next 24 hours something goes wrong for this person. Milk is spoiled. The target might step on a rake. Ect. This can only be used on the same creature once every 24 hours. There is a level in 6 chance that this bad luck takes effect immediately. 
  10. Tonic: You prepare a tonic with 1 gp of reagents and an hour's work. This tonic allows the person to drink it to gain Advantage on their next check, regrow a little lost hair, remove a little pain from their joints, ect. Each person can only receive the benefits of this tonic once every 24 hours and a person who uses this tonic daily for more than a week find that it begins to deliver diminishing returns, dwindling to nothing.
  11. Speak to Beast: You understand the language of an animal. Mind you, it is only that animal. So should you cast this on a squirrel, you would only be able to understand squirrels. This spell can only be cast once every 24 hours and it lasts for 24 hours.
  12. Clean: You make a thing or person clean. Each target can only be affected by this spell once every 24 hours.
1d12 Divine Mundanities:
  1. Bless: You can create a vial of holy water with an hour's prayer, or give a level in 20 chance of the harvest being bountiful by walking around their fields with a censer or thurible or aspergillum until you have circled the fields three times (usable only once every harvest), or bless a weapon by anointing it with holy water, giving its user Advantage on a single attack of their choice within 24 hours.
  2. Heal: You cause a creature you can touch to regain 1 HP and give them Advantage on their next save against a physical malady. This spell requires use of herbs that you have prepared. Each dose takes an hour to prepare and 1 sp in reagents. A target of this spell can only be effected once every 24 hours.
  3. Ease: Remove a level of exhaustion from a creature and add it to yourself.
  4. Turn: Unholy creatures must make a DC: 10 Pers Save to come within 10ft of you when you hold aloft your holy symbol. You can create a circle of salt to ward off all incorporeal unholy creatures with a half hour of work and prayer.
  5. Power Word: You can recite a passage of scripture with conviction, pointing accusingly towards an Unholy creature. This creature must make a DC: 15 Pers Save or take 1d4 damage and Disadvantage on their next roll. Unholy creatures that can hear you but are not the target shudder. If they are attempting to hide themselves, they must make a DC: 15 Pers check or be revealed. Priests use this power to root out witches.
  6. Lay on Hands: A creature you touch regains 1d4 HP. You lose HP equal to the amount regained.
  7. Intercede: A person can give you 50 gp and you will restore 1d4 points of Luck to them. This money must be given to a respectable church's treasury or distributed for the good of the less fortunate or else the caster risks divine punishment.
  8. Confess: A creature you can touch must speak the truth until you let them go. This requires you to sprinkle them with holy water and press your holy symbol upon them. Actively moving creatures will be nearly impossible to affect with this spell.
  9. Speak with the Dead: You enable a corpse you touch with your holy symbol to regain the power of speech for a Turn (10 minutes). This can only be cast on a target once per day.
  10. Consecrate: You make a patch of ground holy by sprinkling it with holy water. Undead cannot be raised on this ground. Unholy altars and places are robbed of the power.
  11. Guidance: You may ask your god for guidance regarding a proposed course of action and you will receive a good idea or bad idea answer from your god. There is a 1 in 4 chance that you misunderstand your god's guidance and the answer you perceive is incorrect which increases each time this spell is cast by 1. This chance resets upon the next sunrise.
  12. Liberate: You recite a passage from scripture to a creature effected by a charm or mind control effect. The target may immediately make a Save against the effect with Advantage.
I definitely think the holy spells are weaker thematically, needing some more tinkering but this was my attempt for now.

Comments

  1. The Animate spell is so wonderful. Of course items can be loyal, it makes excellent sense.

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