Golem2176 said:
I would like to request a new spell. Name it what you will, I don't truly care about the name. The spell must in fact be able to infuse a being with any template, that the caster chooses, that can be applied to it. All other spell mechanics are ripe for the designers choice. Thanks!
Here's a sample ritual from the Book of Templates Deluxe. This is the ritual for applying the Aberrant template to a creature. The pdf has several pages of rules for using rituals to alter creatures, including modifiers, costs, sacrifices, and so on.
Grafting Ritual
Transmutation (Ritual)
Level: Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S, M, F/DF, XP
Casting Time: 2 days
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: Creature or creatures within range
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes
Ritual DC: 14 + 1 per HD of target creature(s)
Wizards, caught up in mad hubris, can’t resist making some creature “better”. With this one ritual process, the ability of one creature can be added to another, resulting in an aberrant.
Including the leader, the ritual group must have two levels of spellcaster per
HD of the altered creature or creatures. The group must cast polymorph other during the rite, as well as a spell or spells that closely resemble the gained ability (acid arrow for acid, fear for a fear moan, and so on). Creatures upon which the ritual is cast must be willing or they can make a Fortitude saving throw to resist the spell.
Unwilling creatures must also be bound and unable to resist for the duration of the ritual. Any creature that fails its save to resist, or that willingly undergoes the ceremony, must make a final Fortitude saving throw (DC 14 – the number by which the leader exceeded the ritual DC). A successful save grants the Aberrant template and one special ability, so long as the creature is of an appropriate type. Those who fail the save gain the Wretched template instead, and failure by 6 or more results in gruesome death, as the creature is turned inside out, or suffers some similar fate. The ritual does not grant any control over newly formed creatures—those transformed into wretched bodies usually attack their creators.
The ritual must be repeated for each new ability the targets are given, but may be cast once for a suite of similar abilities (like all of the moans—with cause fear, fear, stinking cloud, and hold person required by the ritual). This adds +1 to the DC of the ritual for each sub-ability in the suite (+4 for the complete moan suite). Each additional casting on a single target makes it more likely the transmuted creature is killed or made wretched. The base DC for the final Fortitude save and the ritual Spellcraft check increases by +1 for each extra attempt.
Material Components: The ritual requires relatively fresh samples of the creature from which the desired ability comes along with a large number of reagents and other mundane materials. The spell gentle repose may be used to preserve creature parts. The components cost 350 gp per HD of creature(s) to be affected.
XP Cost: 30 XP per HD of creature affected.
Failure: Failure in the ritual roll means the creatures upon which the spell is cast must make a similar Fortitude save as if the ritual succeeded (DC 14 + the number by which the caster failed the ritual Spellcraft check), or become Wretched (failure) or die (failure by 6 or more). Those involved in the performance of the ritual suffer 1 point of temporary Wisdom damage, while the ritual leader takes 1d6.
Botch: A botched ritual results in the same consequences to targeted creatures as a failure (save DC 35). The ritual’s leader takes 2d6 temporary Wisdom damage and loses 1 point of Wisdom permanently. Everyone else involved in the ritual takes 1d6 temporary Wisdom damage.
