Coming Ancient Magic - Coming Soon!
- Thread starter Bloodstone Press
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Bloodstone Press
Explorer
Art in this book includes:
Neoclassical paintings by Albert Aublet, Nikolaus Baur, Nils Blommér, William Adolphe Bouguereau, Benjamin Constant, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Marcantonio Franceschini, Gustave Guillaumet, Ferdinand Leeke, Louis Jean Francois Lagrenée, Jules Louis Machard, Lorenzo Pasinelli, Salvatore Rosa, Peter Paul Rubens, Frederick Sandys, Cesare Saccaggi, Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema, and John William Waterhouse
Background images drawn by me (the arcane letters and shapes along the margins)
AI images in this book include:
Images from Shutterstock, which compensates artists and gives them the choice to opt out, so their art isn't used in training. You can read their policy right here and here. As of last spring they had already paid out several million dollars to contributing artists.
"Contributors will receive a share of the entire contract value paid by customers licensing datasets. The share individual contributors receive will be proportionate to the volume of their content and metadata that is included in the purchased datasets. Contributors will earn a 20% average corporate royalty rate of revenue received by Shutterstock for data licenses."
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You are taking steps to use AI generated art ethically . . . but you are still using AI generated art. IMO, there really is no way to use AI generated art ethically, it still replaces real art created by real artists.
So, still, no thanks.
Bloodstone Press
Explorer
Well, you are going to miss out, because this book is amazing.
Bloodstone Press
Explorer
Very nearly finished now! I expect Ancient Magic will be released before the end of this month. Because there is so much content associated with this project, I’ll be releasing the files over a span of a few weeks, starting later this month.
The releases will begin with some of the add-ons, like the Cosmos and the Languages file. After that, the PDFs of Ancient Magic will be released, followed by the Mature Content Add-on.
Finally, the PoD will be released – probably in May or June – depending on how long the layout and proofs take.
As I look over the files now, I’m overwhelmed by the wild ideas, the amazing spells, the hilarious adventure scenarios, and the sheer volume of content - all taken straight from the ancient world.
Just some of the awesome stuff in this book includes:
Aspects of Magic:
Empowering and altering spells with gemstones, plants, sacrifices, and many other methods
Learn magic at a prestigious institution, or if you prefer one-one mentorship, you can join a cult.
Three New Spellcasting Classes
35 New Subclasses:
Feats for Spellcasters
Spellcasting Equipment
New Spells
More than 250 spells taken straight from ancient spellbooks and curse tablets. These include:
GM Spells
The spells in this chapter are designed for GMs to use in building encounters, adventures, and campaigns. They include things like:
The following monsters are included:
A few of these creatures can teach magic and spells, but they usually want something in return.
NPC Spellcasters
This chapter presents thirteen NPC spellcasters with backgrounds, stat-blocks, and objectives. Not all are adversaries. Some could be the PCs’ allies. Each can be used to build an entire campaign around. These NPCs include:
Adventures in Magic
This final chapter presents thirteen different adventure outlines inspired by the research I did in writing this book. These adventures include:
And none of that even mentions the Add-ons, which include:
Coming soon!
I can’t wait!
Stay tuned for release announcements!
The releases will begin with some of the add-ons, like the Cosmos and the Languages file. After that, the PDFs of Ancient Magic will be released, followed by the Mature Content Add-on.
Finally, the PoD will be released – probably in May or June – depending on how long the layout and proofs take.
As I look over the files now, I’m overwhelmed by the wild ideas, the amazing spells, the hilarious adventure scenarios, and the sheer volume of content - all taken straight from the ancient world.
Just some of the awesome stuff in this book includes:
Aspects of Magic:
Empowering and altering spells with gemstones, plants, sacrifices, and many other methods
- Binding Spells
- Curse Spells
- Daemons and Spirits (both are integral to magic)
- Deities of Magic
- Dreams
- Philosophy and Magic
- Fate
- Freak Births
- Hero Worship
- Miasma
- Oracles
- And much more!
Learn magic at a prestigious institution, or if you prefer one-one mentorship, you can join a cult.
- Alexandria
- The Scholomance
- Domdaniel
- Druids of Eryri
- Khemenu
- a Necromantic Oracle
- Celtic Sisterhood
- Evocaters of Phigalia
- Neuri Sorcerers
- Witches of Lagina
- Witches of Marsi
- And many more!
Three New Spellcasting Classes
- Priest
- Scholar
- Witch
35 New Subclasses:
- For Bards (College of the Muses, College of the Skald)
- For Clerics (Chaos, Death, Fertility, Madness, Magic, Time, and 11 more domains)
- For Druids (Curse Breaker, Wise-One)
- For Scholars (Astronomer, Doctor, Philosopher)
- For Sorcerers (Fate Bender, Rune Caster, Spirit Binder)
- For Warlocks (Fallen Deity, Necrodaemon)
- For Witches (Fascinator, Hag, Pharmakis)
- For Wizards (Cosmic Adept, Primordialist, Thaumaturge)
Feats for Spellcasters
- Origin feats: Academic, Court Magister, Cultist, Spell Master, and 6 more!
- Spellcasting Feats: Alchemy, Cryomancy, Daemonology, Lunamancy, Pyromancy, Necromancy and 13 more!
- Plus: Haruspicy, Skiomanteia, Theriomancy, and more!
Spellcasting Equipment
- Alchemical and Herbal Items (kyphi, healing balm, flying unguent, Insecticide, Orichalcum, explosives)
- War Machines (catapults, ballistae, flame throwers, and more!)
- Civilian Machines (Orrery, vending machine, water mill, and more!)
- Illegal poisons (the sort a witch might use)
- Real spellbooks from history (The Book of Camarius, Chaldean Oracles, the Paigina, and others!)
- Standard Spell Components (black ram, obsidian shard, animal blood, magic wheel, owl skull, etc.)
- Spell components that alter or enhance spells (Ambergis, horse madness, Hyena fat, juice of a crow’s foot, water of chaos, oil of sunlight, etc.)
New Spells
More than 250 spells taken straight from ancient spellbooks and curse tablets. These include:
- Animate Shadow
- Aura of Misfortune
- Bind Celestial Familiar
- Bind Daemonic Minion
- Birth of Pain
- Bond of the Sun
- Borrowed Fate
- Bury the Past
- Chant of Revenge
- Commune with Darkness
- Cursed Fate
- Curse of Abandoned Spirits
- Deadly Disease
- Falcon Spell
- Falling Stars
- Gaia’s Six Words
- Giant Strength
- Glimpse of Omniscience
- Humor Imbalance
- Inspire Rage
- Kiss of Death
- Mummifying Curse
- Power Words
- Prophetic Dream
- Protection from
- Ride the Wolf
- Scorpion Spell
- Subjugation of Osiris
- Summon Phantom Dragon
- Summon Raven Spirit
- Summon Wolf Wind
- Transfer Disease
- Twisted Fate
- Victory Charm
- Wereform
- Word of Rending
- And over 200 more!
GM Spells
The spells in this chapter are designed for GMs to use in building encounters, adventures, and campaigns. They include things like:
- Alter Fate
- Curse of Three Tragedies (one of my personal favorites!)
- Evil Sleep
- Lunar Love Spell
- Midsummer Dream
- Phoenix Spell
- Strike Down
- Summon Vengeful Hellcat
- Vision of Disaster
- Witch’s Blessing
- And 30 more!
The following monsters are included:
- Agathosdaemon
- Biaiothanadaemon
- Cacodaemon
- Cephalagosdaemon
- Dactyl
- Emposa
- Eudaemon
- Hysmidaemon
- Loimodaemon
- Machaidaemon
- Oneirodaemon
- Paradrosdaemon
- Shade
- Telchine
- Troll (alternate)
- Troll-Folk
- War Bird
A few of these creatures can teach magic and spells, but they usually want something in return.
NPC Spellcasters
This chapter presents thirteen NPC spellcasters with backgrounds, stat-blocks, and objectives. Not all are adversaries. Some could be the PCs’ allies. Each can be used to build an entire campaign around. These NPCs include:
- Truly vile Witches from the writings of Lucan, Ovid, and Philostratus (Acanthis, Erictho, Dipsas, and Candia)
- Witches from Greek literature and Norse sagas (Meroe, Grimhild, and Helga)
- Historical figures (Apollonius of Tyana and Damigeron)
- One Pseudo-Historical figure (Atomus the Magus)
- Fictional characters inspired by archetypes of the ancient world
Adventures in Magic
This final chapter presents thirteen different adventure outlines inspired by the research I did in writing this book. These adventures include:
- NPCs accidently drop and break a massive stone idol – and blame the PCs
- The PCs are asked to help rescue a soul lost in the Spirit World, but they may get betrayed
- Speak with Dead cast at the funeral reveals a murderer
- A professor has fallen under a curse. Can you break the spell before he dies?
- The spirit of an Olympic boxer seeks help in recovering his stolen property
- Wrestle a Humanoid bone from the jaws of a ravenous wolf
- A bizarre cult has taken over the town of Copis, they pressure the PCs to join
And none of that even mentions the Add-ons, which include:
- The Cosmos
- Languages of the Hellenistic Age
- Illness and Disease
- Mature Content expansion for Ancient Magic
Coming soon!
I can’t wait!
Stay tuned for release announcements!
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I'm good with that.
There is a lot of good work being done on TTRPGs that does not use generative AI.
We are spoiled for choices these days
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