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Upcoming (Hopefully) Kelyn of Ilrion PDF

April 9, 2012 /

Reposted from the Google Plus page:

Looking to expand the Kelyn NPC from the previous post. The post about his unusual companion, Mishabroo, contained information about the mage at various levels. I hope to make it into a PDF with full stats of Mishabroo, two (only two) new proficiencies, new spells, new creatures and hopefully some new magic items. April is really busy, so I'm not sure of the timeline.

It will be stated per the ACKS rules, but hopefully won't be too hard to adapt to other systems.

I worry about proficiency inflation, so I only add two. One of them is a mage class proficiency related to mages that train under Kelyn. It will be similar to the Black Lore of Zahar proficiency. The other has to do with Kelyn's ability to quickly create formulas for magic items.

The spells will deal with Kelyn's unusual focus on constantly improving Mishabroo, his fear of teleportation and psionicists and his dislike of blasting spells like Fireball and Lightning Bolt. One of the spells will be Call Primordial - this is related to a series of posts I did on primordials a few months ago. Some of the other spells, including ritual spells, will come from the SRD.

The new creatures will initially come from his early cross-breeds and constructs. Kelyn has a preference for constructs, mostly because he is trying to duplicate Mishabroo and is unable to do so. Other creatures will be stated forms of the primordials mentioned earlier.

Kelyn won't have a fully detailed repertoire in order to allow GMs to customize him into their campaign. The snapshots of Kelyn through history should also allow adventures in time.

As far as the new magic items, a couple of them will appear to be of little use to the PCs. Hopefully these items can serve as hooks for possible new quests.

Mishabroo

April 7, 2012 /

Kelyn was born into a family of modest means. For reasons known only to the gods, he was born an only child. Others in the village of Issenthale, where he grew up, considered this a bad omen for the family. It wasn't his use of magic - a handful of children in Issenthale had the gift. More than that, the local mage was friendly enough and did what she could to help crops grow and protect the village from goblin and ire goblin raiders. What troubled the people of this small village was that Kelyn manifested his powers at five years old.

Most children with the gift do not begin to manifest the gift until twelve or thirteen years old. Even the local mage marveled at his tender years. She immediately began his training despite the fact that Kelyn's family could not afford the training. She was more concerned about him controlling the power rather than money. She felt responsible to do what she could to help.

When Kelyn began his training, the mage soon discovered that he had a great talent for magic. He had a knack for learning the language of magic very quickly. At the time, his ability to manifest magic seemed to be quite limited.

After two years, though, the mage doubted her ability to handle him and recommended that the family send him to her mentor in the city of Ilrion. The family did not want to be separated from Kelyn, but painfully agreed that it was best. The mage supported his training to avoid inflicting double pain on the family.

On the journey to Ilrion, he managed to make his favorite toy move on its own. Although roughly formed from odd-shaped wood scraps, Kelyn loved this toy because it was made by his father. Kelyn managed to hide his toy's power for a number of years while he trained.

When he ended his training at the age of 17, he made an unusual request at his graduation. The custom was that a graduate could only take one item from the house and the clothes on their back. Most graduates took the opportunity to take one of the magical devices the great mage either made or found on his many journeys. Kelyn asked only for Mishabroo, the toy made for him by his father. The great mage knew that it had some magical power, but he dismissed the animated toy as a trifle.

Those that know of  Kelyn of Ilrion are well aware of the error of that assumption. Mishabroo is the feared companion of Kelyn. Despite its rough appearance, unchanged since its creation, Mishabroo demonstrates a wide range of powers.

Since Mishabroo was awakened on that journey to Ilrion, Kelyn has imbued it with many abilities. Mishabroo has been given a level of intelligence and an ability to communicate through telepathy. Mishabroo can also plant any memory it possesses into the mind of another creature. These memories include many that Kelyn has placed there himself. If Mishabroo is somehow teleported away from Kelyn, it will always reappear at Kelyn's side a short time later.

In combat, Mishabroo can grow to twenty feet tall. It can also transform into stone or iron at any time. It can also extended any one of its limbs out to double its current height. When this power is manifested, the hand and limb appear to be attached by a thick rope. The rope is not visible until this specific power is manifested.

Using Kelyn and Mishabroo

Kelyn is ultimately fated to become a god of magic. When Mishabroo has all the powers described above, Kelyn is almost a demi-god in power. At this point of Kelyn's life, he has researched several unique spells, he has created all manner of constructs and bizarre creatures. He has traveled the Astral Sea and is able to summon any primordial he wishes. He has traveled to the stars and knows how to construct a spacefaring ship.

If Kelyn is encountered just as he is graduating, he will be a 4th level mage. At this point, Mishabroo can communicate through telepathy and has the intelligence equivalent to a dog. Mishabroo can also extend his limbs, however he cannot grow in size, nor manifest any of the other abilities listed above.

Kelyn is at his weakest at this point if you use the ACKS rules. He is not able to create scrolls, potions, etc. He can only imbue Mishabroo with powers from spells he already knows. This means his spell book contains: ESP, Phantasmal Force, Extend Limbs (a custom spell taught by his mentor) and any other spells the GM wishes to provide.

Once Kelyn is able to research spells at 5th level, he begins to amass formulas for creating magic items and generating his own spells. His spell book should include many custom spells, including the processes to call specific primordials.

At levels between 4 and 14, here are some guidelines for the powers that Mishabroo has and certain spells that should be in Kelyn repetiore:

6th level - Mishabroo can visually plant a memory in any creature. Kelyn has just begun to place his own memories into the Mishabroo. Mishabroo can also communicate telepathically and has the intelligence of a dog. Kelyn should have at least Clairvoynace, ESP, Phantasmal Force, Extend Limbs.

7th level - Mishabroo can manifest all powers listed above and can grow to twenty feet in height. Kelyn should have all the spells listed above plus his own spell Grow Wooden Objects. This version allow him to increase the size of any wooden object up to 20 feet tall or double its normal height, whichever is greater. Intelligent creatures get a saving throw.

9th level - Mishabroo can manifest all powers listed above and can turn to stone or iron. Kelyn should have all the spells listed above and the custom spells, Transmute Wood to Stone, Transmute Wood to Iron and Transmute Iron to Stone. All these spells are similar to transmute mud to rock and are reversible. Kelyn should also be able to reliably summon three types of primordials.

11th level - Mishabroo can manifest all powers listed above and can teleport back to Kelyn if it is teleported away from Kelyn. Mishabroo has the equivalent intelligence of a monkey. Kelyn should have all spells listed above and the custom spells Prevent Teleport, Reverse Teleport, Track Teleport, and the ability to call at least five types of primordials. In addition, Kelyn can also creature items that temporarily increase the target's Intelligence.

14th Level - Mishabroo has all the powers listed above and it has the equivalent intelligence of a human (INT 9). Kelyn has many ritual spells at this point. These include Dimensional Lock, Protection from Spells, Maze, Trap the Soul, Clone, Mage's Disjunction, Astral Projection, and Time Stop. Kelyn has also written the Codex Primordicalus - a complete guide to summoning any primordial.

More Thoughts On the New Setting

March 24, 2012 /

The language of magic is common enough that the upper middle class and idle rich like to impress each other at parties with their so-called knowledge of the secret tongue.

This cause mages to seek out areas of refuge away from anyone speaking magic. Otherwise, they could inadvertently begin casting spells and nobody wants to do that by accident!

In cities, mages organize network of so-called Quiet Areas. These quiet areas are areas safeguarded against anyone that would speak magic, even other mages. If a Quiet Area cannot be found, a good mage always has the ability to use two helpful and relatively inexpensive magic items. The first silences the area around where he is sleeping. The second locks the door. Wholesale manufacture of magical items is rare. These two items are a noted exception - they are created by mages for mages. They are not made available to anyone that does not practice magic.

As a mage increases in power, these magic trinkets and even the Queit Ares tend to become less effective. The growing need to avoid accidental spell casting drives a mage to build a stronghold away from other people.

This is the primary reason why mages, as they get more powerful, have less to do with people and the real world and seek refuge their stronghold. Many even escapes to the various planes that float along the Astral Sea.

Another effect of the common knowledge of the language of magic is that all magic items have a code word to activate. Weaker items usually have easy-to-guess code phrases. Any fighter with experience can usually guess the code phrase for weaker magic items.

In a d20 based system, determine the DC for a mage to get the code word, divide the cost of the item by 100. That provided the DC to beat on a d20. For those using ACKS, a limited ability to guess activation words is included in the Adventuring proficiency.

Since the knowledge of the language of magic does not grant the ability to use magic, a would-be magic user has two options. The most popular option is to join a temple and offer your services as an emissary. Emissaries, often called clerics, are given a measure of power by a deity in exchange for service. This arrangement usually works out well for both deity and cleric. However, due to a large number of potential applicants, clerics do not gain the ability to use divine power right away. A cleric must go through a time of testing to prove their devotion.

There are a number swordsmen and military men in urban areas that left the temple before gaining the ability to use divine power. Their lack of faith makes them a bit resistant to divine magic, including any healing magic.

For those using ACKS, this is a new proficiency called Lack of Faith. It provides a small bonus (+1 or +2) for saving throws against all divine magic. It also forces a character to make a saving throw against healing spells to be healed.

For those that want the ability to wield magic, but do not have the desire (or faith) to join a temple, there is only one option: psionics. The Science of the Mind holds the promise of allowing anyone to harness the power of magic that exists within themselves. In that sense, psionics are nondiscriminatory. The difficulty for the would-be psion is that not all teachers that claim to know the science actually do.

Finding a teacher that can actually imbue psionic power is difficult in urban areas. It is almost impossible in more remote areas. It takes a powerful psion to provide the training and the ability.

For those using ACKS, only a 9th level or greater psion can imbue power. Imbuing the ability is a power a high level psionicist must learn to use. The cost is great and can be done a limited number of times in a psionicist's life.

The drawback to being a psionicists is that it is a one way trip. Once a person becomes a psionicist, he or she can never become something else. No temple, even the most inclusive ones, will ever admit a psionicist as a cleric. Without the ability to use magic, there is no option to become a mage. Psionicists are not trusted by fighting men and will not be trained.

The other cost for learning psionics is tremendous difficulty with the language of magic. Whereas anyone else can learn and speak the language of magic with realtive ease, the act of gaining their power removes this ability. This also prevents them from using their Suggestion power and "placing" magic phrases into a mage's mind while he/she is asleep in order to trigger a spell.

Psionicists are not driven to seclusion by their power. Unlike mages that are born to their power, a psionicist chooses theirs. Their power is not bound to
a certain language or phrase. In fact, many psionicists tend to enjoy people and crowds as they gain power. Instead of building strongholds and castles, they build schools and train others.

The schools are not publicly advertised. Many temples actively seek to destroy such schools. These schools are seen as destroying the faith of the weak-minded. To a cleric, true power comes from a deity, not from within.

Mages tend to see psionicists as second-class spell casters. A common expression is "those that can't do, teach" often used as a pejorative. To a mage, the powers of a psionicist can be either duplicated by magic (ESP, Clairvoyance, Telekinesis) or are not very useful (Postcognition). There are limited battle powers available to a psionic. A mage can easily prevent their thoughts from being read by a psionicist without resorting to magic. (This last statement is often repeated, but not entirely true. The mage chooses to think in the language of magic thereby preventing a psionicist from understanding a mage's thoughts. However, thinking in the language of magic requires a lot of concentration to prevent a spell from being cast by accident.)

The rest of society does not see any difference between the three methods of using magic. To them, having the power is a price too high, even in a world with supernatural creatures.

Clerics always build strongholds near populated areas. More followers = more power.

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