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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenjib" data-source="post: 873465" data-attributes="member: 530">I'm wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions on how to implement various magical traditions without having to write up a dozen or more new classes or PRCs.  Ideally there would be one alt.magic system that can capture this kind of thing with minimal effort.Basically, what I am looking for is a mechanism to create more themed spell casters rather than the general approach usually taken, but with the flexibility to design my own themes.I also prefer a model of study into occult secrets and lore rather than innate power (so more like wizard, less like sorcerer), but this is probably the easiest adapted part.  This helps to build a body of occult lore around each tradition, jealously guarded by it's practitioners.I suspect that there might not be any easy way, but does anyone have any ideas?  Would any of the published products help with this?Some examples of the occult traditions to show the scope that I am after:    Byurinese Witchcraft    Byurinese witches are greatly feared where they exist among the Northern Horselords, across the foothills of the Ma Sari Peaks, and down through the eastern Central Kingdoms for the terrible curses they can inflict upon their unfortunate victims.  Rarely, someone will seek out one of the witches in a moment of dire need.  The price is always terrible.  A preferred currency of the witches is the supplicant’s firstborn daughter, which they raise as their own, teaching them in the ancient ways of witchcraft.  Woe to the person who refuses to hand over a promised daughter and in so doing invokes the deadly wrath of a witch.  Byurinese witches are also known to deceive men into intimacy during the full moon, often disguised as current or former lovers.  If the resulting child is a daughter, it is raised as a witch.  If it is a son, it is sacrificed and the child’s blood is used to fuel the witch’s dark magic.    Learning Byurinese Witchcraft:  Byurinese Witches are trained in the art from birth, and must be raised as a child by another witch.  Exceptions to this rule are extremely rare and occur only under very special and unique circumstances.    Feyalla’i    From the desert they come:  The mysterious and legendary Feyalli.  Slipping quietly into the spaces between perception, they weave their magic.  Feared assassins and near imperceptible spies, the Feyalli appear suddenly out of thin air, strike with deadly precision, and quickly melt into the sands from whence they came.  Feyalla’i often multiclass as rogues.    Learning Feyalla’i:  The Feyalli do not share their secrets with outsiders.  One must be an honored and trusted member of a wandering feyalli band before becoming initiated into the ranks of their occult order.  Most of the Feyalli were born and raised in the desert.  The Feyalli have an instinctive distrust of outsiders, so only a very small number of foreigners throughout history have earned their trust and respect to a high enough degree to be given their ancient secrets.        Shaping    The Tsa Shapers are a priesthood shrouded in legend and mystery.  Situated high in the Ma Sari peaks, their temples are centers of the most philosophically advanced spiritual movement in Haalyr.  Quietly reflecting on the nature of being and non-being, the priests of Tsa for the most part live quiet and contemplative lives above the clouds in the mountain peaks at the edge of the world.  By embracing and exploiting the fundamental ambiguities of the nature of reality, the shapers have the powerful ability to bend reality around them in many awe-inspiring ways.    Learning Shaping:  Shapers are trained at Tsa temples high in the Ma Sari peaks through a regiment of meditation, self-reflection, discipline, and the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment.  Only the most worthy of candidates are accepted into training by the shapers.  Among other criteria, candidates must be humble, clever, lacking in ambition, and eager to learn.    Namarundese Serpent Eaters    Members of an ancient and forbidden serpent cult that has been driven nearly to extinction, the serpent eaters learn to wield great power over snakes.  In addition to commanding snakes to do their bidding, an accomplished snake eater can even take on aspects of the snake, invoking these serpentine qualities to achieve powerful effect.    Learning the Art of the Serpent Eater:  Namarundese Serpent Eaters undergo a dangerous initiation ritual in which they are bitten by the deadly blue cobra.  The candidate is given no aid and must overcome the venom (Injury DC 18, 1d6 con initial, 2d6 con secondary) without any magical assistance.  Should they survive the poison, the snake that bit them is killed and eaten by the initiate, who may afterward begin training.</blockquote>

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