Kalendraf
Explorer
A Tainted World
Centuries ago, a cabal of powerful wizards performed an exotic ritual to further enhance the powers of all arcane casters. But something went terribly wrong, and the entire arcane spell pool became tainted, instantly killing or corrupting all arcane casters and turning items created by arcane magic into cursed items. So horrific was this Taint that those affected by it sporadically channeled corrupt energy causing those around them to die, become tainted themselves, or mutate into aberrations or magical beasts.
The largest churches raised great armies and battled against the growing army of tainted creatures. But the losses were terrible, and only a handful of their forces survived. The smaller churches which had not sent as many forces found themselves thrust into positions of power, and they quickly moved to occupy the political voids created by the great war. A period of widespread religious crusades followed, with each church trying to wipe out opposing ones. Today, only a handful of powerful churches remain.
New generations of arcane casters rose up and some of them became tainted as well. Thus, the churches created special forces, known as Witchhunters, to hunt them down before they could do much damage. The witchhunters are also responsible for finding and destroying items crafted by arcane magic. Recent items created by divine power now bear a special magical mark (viewable under detect magic) to identify them which can not be duplicated in arcane items. Any item not bearing this divine mark is illegal, and must be destroyed.
The players begin here, in a world where arcane magic is truly dangerous, powerful churches rule the land, magic items are much rarer than normal, and some items they find may be illegal to possess. Special campaign rules for PC arcane casters are in place, since they face tremendous adversity here.
Centuries ago, a cabal of powerful wizards performed an exotic ritual to further enhance the powers of all arcane casters. But something went terribly wrong, and the entire arcane spell pool became tainted, instantly killing or corrupting all arcane casters and turning items created by arcane magic into cursed items. So horrific was this Taint that those affected by it sporadically channeled corrupt energy causing those around them to die, become tainted themselves, or mutate into aberrations or magical beasts.
The largest churches raised great armies and battled against the growing army of tainted creatures. But the losses were terrible, and only a handful of their forces survived. The smaller churches which had not sent as many forces found themselves thrust into positions of power, and they quickly moved to occupy the political voids created by the great war. A period of widespread religious crusades followed, with each church trying to wipe out opposing ones. Today, only a handful of powerful churches remain.
New generations of arcane casters rose up and some of them became tainted as well. Thus, the churches created special forces, known as Witchhunters, to hunt them down before they could do much damage. The witchhunters are also responsible for finding and destroying items crafted by arcane magic. Recent items created by divine power now bear a special magical mark (viewable under detect magic) to identify them which can not be duplicated in arcane items. Any item not bearing this divine mark is illegal, and must be destroyed.
The players begin here, in a world where arcane magic is truly dangerous, powerful churches rule the land, magic items are much rarer than normal, and some items they find may be illegal to possess. Special campaign rules for PC arcane casters are in place, since they face tremendous adversity here.
