FENG SHUI Conversion: Part Two, Magic

Jeph

Explorer
I'm sure you've all read Doc M's two story hours about the bost gamedays. FENG SHUI: SIX IN THE CHAMBER and it's sequal, awesome little reads. If you haven't get off your butt and read them! NOW!

Okay, now that you've done that, you'll probably know that Feng Shui is a method of arranging furniture and stuff to enhance your flow of chi. It also happens to be an action movie role playing game. In this sereis of threads I'm attempting to convert the fast furiousness of FENG SHUI to the d20 system. Part Two, Magic.

DoS denotes Degree of Success, which is equal to your check result minus the DC. Nov denotes novice, App denotes apprentice, and Mst denotes master.

Magic in Feng Shui is nothing like standard fire-n-forget d20 spells. It assumes that spells are no better at doing stuff then simple guns, fists, and badassness. There are various Magic Schticks, similar to schools of magic, that define a sorcerer's mystical abilities. They are Blast, Divination, Fertility, Heal, Influence, Movement, Summoning, and Weather.

I propose that each Schtick be turned into three feats: Novice, Apprentice, and Master. Each area will be tied to a key ability: Blast (Cha), Divination (Wis), Fertility (Cha), Heal (Wis), Influence (Cha), Movement (Int), Summoning (Cha), Weather (Wis). As you can see, Charisma and Wisdom are the most important magical abilities, with a bit of magic thrown in.

Okay, now for the crunchy bits. :cool:

Certain classes will have a Sorcery Bonus, either Low or High. The Sorcery Bonus will follow the same progressions as Saves do. The feats will have minimum Sorcery bonuses and key ability scores as requirements. When a character casts a spell, they roll 1d20+sorcery bonus+key ability modifier. If this Casting Check fails to beat the desired spell's Casting DC, you suffer the difference in damage. If a spell allows a save, your check result is the DC.
Casting a spell normally takes a standard action, unless noted otherwise. The Casting DC of a spell is 10 for nocive level, 15 for apprentice, and 20 for master.

When a character attempts to cast a spell, they immediately take subdual damage equal to the spell's casting DC minus five, divided by five. They take this damage even if the spell fails.

Characters may Overpower their spells by sacrificing points of their Sorcery Bonus. Before they cast a spell, they may declare that they are sacrificing up to their full Sorcery bonus. The spell gains a +2 bonus to the roll for each point sacrificed. Immediately after casting the spell, the character loses the sacrificed points from their Sorcery Bonus. These points return at the beginning of the next game session.

Alternatively, a character may permanently sacrifice bits of their Sorcery bonus. If they do so, these points will never return. However, each point sacrificed in this manner grants a +10 bonus to the roll, instead of a measly +2.

Novice Caster [Magic]
You are able to cast minor spells of a certain sort.
Prerequisites: Sorcery Bonus +1, key ability 13+
Benefit: Choose a type of magic (Blast, Divination, Fertility, Heal, Influence, Movement, Summoning, or Weather). Your may cast Novice-level spells from that school of magic.
Special: This feat may be taken multiple times: once for each type of magic.

Apprentice Caster [Magic]
You are able to cast fully fledged spells of a certain sort.
Prerequisites: Sorcery Bonus +5, key ability 15+, appropriate Novice Caster feat
Benefit: Choose a type of magic (Blast, Divination, Fertility, Heal, Influence, Movement, Summoning, or Weather) in which you can cast Novice-level spells. Your may cast now Apprentice spells from that school of magic.
Special: This feat may be taken multiple times: once for each type of magic.

Master Caster [Magic]
You are able to cast powerful spells of a certain sort.
Prerequisites: Sorcery Bonus +10, key ability 17+, appropriate Nocive Caster feat, appropriate Apprentice Caster feat
Benefit: Choose a type of magic (Blast, Divination, Fertility, Heal, Influence, Movement, Summoning, or Weather) in which you can cast Apprentice-level spells. Your may cast Master-level spells from that school of magic.
Special: This feat may be taken multiple times: once for each type of magic.

BLAST

Blast is the spell that people use to blow things up. You point, it explodes. Everything in the target area takes an amount of damage as shown on the table below, reflex save for half.

Your character only knows a limited number of ways to blow something up. For each point of your sorcery modifier, choose one energy or attack form, such as fire or a storm of whirling blades.

Lv. . . Damage . . Range . . Area
Nov . . DoS+02 . . 020'. . . 5' radius burst or 5' by 20' line
App . . DoS+08 . . 100'. . . 15' radius burst or 5' by 50' line or 20' cone
Mst . . DoS+14 . . 500'. . . 25' radius burst or 10' by 100' line or 40' cone


DIVINATION

Use Divination to learn stuff that you wouldn't normally learn. Note that if you try to use Divination to ruin the plot line, the GM will beat you with a stick and the spell will fail. Divining takes a different amount of time depending on what use it is put towards.

Read Thoughts: You read the surface thoughts and emotions of a single creature within 20 feet. This is a Novice application of Divination. It is negatable by a Will save, takes a move action to activate, and lasts for as long as you concentrate.

Scry: You cast your senses out to another creature or place, and watch it from afar. This is an Apprentice application of Divination if you have been to the place, met the person, or have a vivid description of the target, and a Master application if you have only a vague description or none at all to go upon. Activating Scry takes 10 minutes of meditation, and it lasts for as long as you concentrate.

Prediction: You can gain good advice about a future situation. This is a Novice application of Divination if the occurance is within a few hours, Apprentice if it is within days, and Master if it is within weeks or more. The advice given is always extreemly cryptic, but useful if it can be decipered. GMs, be creative! Predicting takes five, fifteen, or forty-five minutes, for novice, apprentice, and master applications, respectively.

Warning: Designate an area when you cast this spell, and outline the are with chalk, colored sands, or whatever. If this outline is ever broken, the spell fails. If the outline is ever crossed, you automatically know of the occurance, no matter where you are. This is an Apprentice application of Divination, and takes a variable length of time to cast. How long does it take to draw a chalk circle around North America?

FERTILITY

Fertility magic has to deal with measuring and altering the flow of chi in a person or area. It can be used as both a defense and a weapon. The uses for Fertility are given below.

Germination: You create a powder or potion that lets plants grow in even the most barren wasteland. This takes a few hours of toil, and is a Novice application of Fertility. Alternatively, you may use this spell to increase a couple's chances of conception. Doing so is an Apprentice application of Fertility, and is commonly used to bless marriages.

Growth: All plants within 15 feet of the caster have their size increased. They increase by 5% for Novice spells, 20% for an Apprentice spell, or 80% for a Master spell. If you use this spell, farmers will like you.

Rush of Chi: A target within 20 feet gains a +1 (novice), +3 (apprentice), or +5 (master) bonus to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom, your choice, for a number of rounds equal to your DoS. Afterwards, the target is Fatigued (-2 to Str and Dex, can't charge or run) until the end of the encounter.

Steal Chi: A target within 20 feet suffers a -1 (novice), -2 (apprentice), or -3 (master) penalty to Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom, your choice, for a number of rounds equal to your DoS. In addition, apprentice level castings stun the target for one round, and master level castings stun them for half the duration of the penalty.

Restore Chi: As a novice level use of Fertility, a living creature that you touch has all temporary ability pnealties removed. If you cast this spell at Apprentice level, they heal one point of temporary ability damage, as well. Mastrer level castings allow them to heal your DoS in temporary ability damage.

HEAL

Let's just say that if a party has a character with the Heal spell in it, it will survive much longer. Heal is the quickest, fastest way for characters to regain their precious Hit Points, and to get rid of icky, nasty poisons and diseases.

Healing the wounds of an ally takes a full round action. They regain one Hit Point, and if the ally is at negative HP and dying, they automatically stabalize. That is a novice use of Heal. As an Apprentice level spell, the target may regain your DoS in HP.

As an Apprentice or Master use of Heal, you may cure a target of poisons and diseases. This is an Apprentice spell if the affliction's DC is 20 or less, and a Master use if it is 21 or higher. If your sorcery check beat's the affliction's DC, it is dispelled.

As an Apprentice level spell, you may reduce an ally's temporary ability damage. They regain your DoS in points of temporary ability damage.

INFLUENCE

Use Influence to madify the thoughts and memories of others, and to creater powerful illusions. Influence is a nasty little charm, and is considered evil by the populace (those that know about magic, anyway).

Emotion: You may inspire an emotion in the subject, such as greed, courage, or anger. You may also specify the object of this emotion. For instance, you could project the thought that the Baron is in love with the wife of his son, to create a little havoc. The duration and strength of this emotion depend on the level of the spell: Novice: 1 minute x DoS, mild. Apprentice: 10 minutes x DoS, strong. Master: 1 hour x DoS, overpowering.

Command: You may give a target a simple, clear instruction which they are compelled to follow. They may ignore your command with a successful Will save. If they would normally object to your command, they gain a +2 bonus on their save. If your command goes against one of their fundamental beliefs, this bonus increases to +6. If your command would obviously, directly kill them, the bonus is +10. The number of targets and length of time for which the command persists depends on the level of the spell: Novice: 1 target, lasts for 1 minute x DoS. Apprentice: DoS in targets, lasts for 10 minutes x DoS. Master: Targets everyone that can hear you, lasts for 1 hour x DoS.

Illusion: You may enchant a creaute to believe that they are experiencing something that they actually are not. The target may negate this illusion with a Will save. You can effect up to your DoS in targets. The duration for which the illusion lasts, and the complexity of the illusion, depend on the level of the spell: Novice: 1 round x DoS, affects 1 sense, static. Apprentice: 1 minute x DoS, affects up to 2 senses, and can be fluctuating or moving. Master: lasts 10 minutes x DoS, affects any and all of the target's senses, and can be rapidly changing and fluctuating.

MOVEMENT

This ability allows you to manipulate matter and energy, causing things to move around. You can move other stuff, yourself, anything you want.

Remote Manipulation: You may manipulate objects at a distance, with an effective Dexterity score equal to five plus your Intelligence modifier. Each round, you may move lifted objects up to your DoS x 5 feet, as long as they remain in sight. Your effective strength score is equal to 10 (nov), 14 (app), or 18 (mst). Remote Manipulation lasts for as long as you conecntrate.

Flight: As a novice level use of Movement, you may levitate yourself in the air, rising to a maximum height of 10 feet, plus five feet times your Int modifier. As an apprentice level use of Movement, you may fly like a bird, with a speed of 30 feet plus five times your DoS. Flight lasts for as long as you concentrate.

Speed: You may increase your movement rate and initiative score by either 30'/+2 (nov), 60'/+4 (app), or 90'/+6 (mst). This increase lasts for a number of rounds equal to your DoS.

Heart Ripper: Moving around your opponent's internal organs hurts them a hell of a lot. A single opponent takes damage equal to your DoS plus 2 (nov), 8 (app), or 14 (mst) as you rearrange thier innerds. They may reduce damage by half with a successful Fortitude save.

SUMMONING

This magical ability lets you summon creatures from other times and planes of reality. They will not necceccarily do your bidding, but hey, that's what Influence is for, right? This ability also grants limited control over supernatural creatures.

Summon: You summon a creature with a maximum of 3 (nov), 9 (app), or 15 (mst) hit dice. They can avoid being summoned with a successful Will save. Once summoned, they stay summoned for one day per point of your DoS. However, they will most likely hate your guts unless you use strong Influence magic.

Banish: You can send a creature with a maximum of 3 (nov), 9 (app), or 15 (mst) hit dice back to it's home time and plane. They can negate this banishment with a successful Will save. However, they will most likely accept it as a service, and quite possibly owe you a favor.

Desecration: You fill an area with unholy energy, making supernatural creatures more comfortable. While within 30' of the selected point in space, supernatural creatures gain a +2 (app) or +4 (mst) bonus to all attacks, saves, and checks. The ritual desecration lasts for a number of days equal to your DoS, and is stationary once created. A desecration can nullify a consecration (see below), and vice versa. Desecrating an area takes about an hour of meditation.

Consecration: You fill an area with holy energy, making supernatural creatures shy away. While within 30' of the selected point in space, supernatural creatures suffer a -2 (app) or -4 (mst) to all attacks, saves, and checks. The ritual consecration lasts for a number of days equal to your DoS, and is stationary once created. A consecration can nullify a desecration, and vice versa. Consecrating an area takes about an hour of meditation.

WEATHER

Use this ability to change the local climate conditions. Weather manipulation can make a nice destraction, and can be used to pester and harm the enemy, as well as provide good cover. Slight weather changes (such as causing rain on a heavily overcast day, or dispersing a few clouds) are Novice level, moderate changes (like causing rain on a barely cloudy day) are Apprentice level, and drastic changes (like causing a snowstorm in July) are Master level.

Characters can also use Weather to create a lightning bolt. This works just like the Blast ability, except those who succeed at their Reflex save take no damage, nut just half damage.

COMBINING SPELLS

Players should be creative, because cool things are more likely to happen when you want them to. There are various ways in which the multiple spells and abilities can be combined to make really spiffy spells.

For each additional effect past the first that comes from the same area as the original spell effect, the casting DC increases by 2 (nov), 4 (app), or 6 (mst) points. For each additional effect from a different area, the casting DC increases by three (nov), six (app), or nine (mst) points. Characters must have all the feats required in order to use an effect, even in conjunction with a different effect. The key ability for the Sorcery check should be the key ability of the area with the most powers present, or the area with the most significant contributing power.

example: Ki-Nu-Cheng has been surrounded by the mobsters. They level their guns, as if they didn't know what's coming. Sianara, suckers. Jenny, Ki-Nu-Cheng's player, wants to cast a spell that blasts all the mooks surrounding her, and also throws them back a few feet. She combines an apprentice level Blast centered on her with an apprentice level Remote Manipulation bull rush attempt. The Casting DC is 15 (base) + 6 (extra aprentice level power) = 21, and Ki-Nu-Cheng uses Charisma as the base attribute for his Sorcery check.

Whew! Done! All advice is welcomed warmly. Be on the look out for FENG SHUI Conversion: Part Three, Charactes!
 

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