Warlocks and Witches
In a great amount of literature and folklore, magical abilities are considered
supernatural; they’re not normally attainable by most humans, but instead
represent gifts or lore granted by dangerous powers. Wizards who subscribe to these
beliefs do not learn spells from study and research; instead, they constantly
seek to make contact with more knowledgeable (and therefore perilous) entities
of extraplanar origin. The best of these creatures can be considered chaotic or
neutral, while the worst are creatures of such malice and power that the
wizard risks his body, mind, and spirit when merely contacting these entities.
Wizards who rely on these patrons for magical power are known as warlocks or
witches. Imps and familiars teach them their first spells as novices, and as
they grow in power they seek more and more powerful tutors. Magic comes easily to
these characters, a supernatural boon that allows them access to all the normal
spell powers of a standard wizard. There is a grave risk involved with
contacting these extraplanar powers: the risk of losing one’s spirit to the powers
that grant the wizard his spells. Magic itself is seen to be wrong for mankind, an
abomination of nature, and people believe that wizards who dabble in such
things will eventually be consumed by the hungry powers they bargain with for power.
Warlocks use the spell point system as described earlier in this chapter, with the following notes:
Free magicks may be used to provide the wizard with access to any spell in his
repertoire, although they’re still more expensive than fixed magicks.
The wizard may exceed his normal spell level limit using the optional rules
described previously.
The wizard may decide to cast spells for greater effect by simply spending
more
spell points when he actually casts the spell.
The wizard can save spell points by choosing to cast spells with a prolonged
casting time, reduced power, or spells with a special casting condition.
Warlocks and witches gain bonus spell points for high Intelligence scores.
In this system of magic, a wizard uses his normal allocation of spell points
to select his arsenal of spells. Like the channeller, the character doesn’t
actually spend his spell points until he actually casts a spell, and his battery of spells
remains in his memory without vanishing. In other words, the warlock may make use
of any of his memorized spells freely until he runs out of spell points.
However, please note that the warlock may never cast more than nine spells of any
one level in the course of a single day.
However, all warlocks and witches have a serious limitation: Each time they
spend spell points to cast a spell, they risk attracting the attention of a
chaotic or evil power. The character has a percentage chance equal to the number of
spell points expended, minus his character level, of being forced to take a
step into the pact of service with the malevolent power. For example, a 7th-level
wizard casting a 4th-level spell (15 SPs) has an 8% chance of drawing too much
of his patron’s power and being required either to add to the debt of service
that he owes his masters or start on the path of servitude to another dark
master. There’s always at least a 1% chance of this happening, regardless of the
character’s level.
The first few steps of service are easy for the character, and not too great a
burden. In fact, when the character begins play as a 1st-level initiate, there
are no particular game or role-playing effects of his allegiance to these
powers, although some societies may shun or persecute anyone who publicly admits to
trafficking with supernatural powers. Increasing levels of servitude to the
warlock’s patron may have the effects shown below; the DM is encouraged to be
creative and malevolent. Note that these stages of commitment parallel the Dark
Powers checks of the Ravenloft® campaign setting.
Stage One, Enticement: The character’s patron grants him a gift of some kind, but one that comes with
a price. He gains a minor unnatural feature or trait that gives him both an
advantage and a disadvantage. These could be red-glowing eyes that permit him to
see 30 feet in the dark; small horns, fangs, or talons that can be used to
inflict 1d4 points of damage in hand-to-hand combat; the ability to hide in shadows as a thief of equal level; acute hearing or sense of smell, giving the
character a +1 bonus to surprise checks; or the ability to speak with dead, speak with animals, or use some other 1st- or 2nd-level spell as a granted power once per day.
In return, the character acquires a visible mark, feature, or characteristic
that marks him as one who deals with forbidden powers: his footprints are
backwards, his voice is unnaturally raspy and sepulchral, his face shows some
concealable mark of his allegiance, or whatever else the DM decides is appropriate. The
general effect causes a –1 to –2 reduction to Charisma.
Stage Two, Invitation: The warlock’s patron powers grant the character enhanced abilities of some
kind, but the strengthening of their bond also brings periods of weakness or
vulnerability on the character. The enhanced abilities could be a +1 to +2 bonus to
any ability score, a bonus of +5 to +10 hit points, or superhuman stamina that
allows the character to ignore minor fatigue or the need to sleep for more than
four hours. In return, the character must suffer through periods of weakness
when his patron is distant or inaccessible. For example, the character may have
the spell point costs of his spells doubled during daylight, moonlight, in
temples or sacred ground, or on ships or boats. The more powerful the advantage,
the more universal the character’s disadvantage. In addition to his lapse in
magical power, the character may also suffer a halved Constitution, Strength, or
Dexterity score for as long as the condition persists.
Stage Three, Touch of Darkness: The warlock’s hitherto concealable features or subtle traits become so
widespread or deformed that there is no chance of concealing what he is without
magical aid. For example, he may sprout great bat-shaped wings that permit him to fly
with a movement of 15 (C), his body may develop satyr-like hoofed goat legs
that permit a movement of 18, small horns may lengthen into dagger-sized weapons
capable of inflicting 1d6 damage each, his skin may become scaly or leathery
for a natural AC of 6, he may sprout a spiked tail that permits him to attack for
1d6 damage, or his blazing eyes may cause fear in anyone who meets his gaze. Unfortunately, these sinister developments
usually prevent the warlock from associating in normal human society for the rest of
his life, with a loss of 3 to 6 points of Charisma. In addition, the character
acquires some ghastly habit or dependency that marks him as a creature of
darkness. For example, the warlock may have to drink blood once per day, eat raw
meat or dirt, or sleep only in graveyards. The character’s alignment changes one
step towards evil or chaos to match that of his patron, incurring the normal
penalties for a change of alignment.
Stage Four, Embrace: The warlock gains some supernatural immunity or resistance, but also acquires
a supernatural vulnerability. For example, he may gain the ability to only be
struck by magical weapons, as well as immunity to sleep and charm spells, resistance to spells of a certain school, immunity to poison, the
ability to assume gaseous form (much like a vampire) or some other powerful attribute. The price he pays is a
vulnerability such as susceptibility to holy water and turning attempts by
priests, the inability to stand contact with common materials such as cold iron or
garlic, or the inability to set foot on sacred ground. (Take a look at the
customized limitations in Chapter 1 for more ideas.) This weakness can be deadly if used against the character by
enemies who discover its existence.
The character’s alignment changes one additional step towards that of his
patron, possibly incurring penalties for the change. In addition, there is a 1%
cumulative chance per day that the character’s patron compels him to undertake some service or observe some rite. The character is
controlled by the DM for 1d6 days before he regains full command of his faculties.
Stage Five, Creature of Darkness: Eventually, the warlock’s pact with darkness overcomes whatever vestiges of
humanity remain in his heart, and he becomes a slave to the powers that raised
him. At this point, the warlock is no longer viable as a player character and
passes permanently into the DM’s hands as an NPC. Powerful new abilities manifest,
such as magic resistance, additional increases of ability scores, and powers
associated with undead monsters or fiends of various sorts.
Resisting the Descent: Fortunately for player characters, warlocks can attempt to resist the
encroaching evil by fighting off the descent into darkness by sheer force of will.
However, this is not easy. When the character’s use of spell points creates the
possibility for a descent to a new level of servitude, the warlock can acquiesce
and accept the new stage, or he can fight to retain his independence. This
requires a saving throw vs. breath weapon, with a penalty equal to the level the
character is threatened by—a warlock at Stage Three who is in peril of falling to
Stage Four makes his saving throw with a –4 penalty. The psychic turmoil of
this conflict completely occupies the character’s attention for 1d3 days, during
which he cannot cast spells and fights with a –3 penalty to his attack rolls.
Warlocks and Recovering Spell Points: Witches and warlocks don’t automatically recover spell points with the passage
of time. For these spellcasters, spell points represent an ever-dwindling
store of magical strength that can only be recharged with significant risk. Once
the character’s spell points have been expended, he must perform a special
ceremony or rite to summon his extraplanar sponsors and negotiate with them for
additional spell power. This requires at least eight hours per character level,
which means that a high-level wizard may require several days in order to renew his
spell powers.
This ceremony restores the wizard to his full allocation of spell points; at
no time can the wizard have more spell points than the maximum permitted for his
level, specialization, and Intelligence bonus. When the character advances in
level, he gains the full allotment of spell points for his new level without
resorting to the ceremony.
Studying Spells: Like channellers, warlocks can change their allotment of spells and free and
fixed magicks by resting and sitting down with their spell books.
The Warlock Campaign: If this variant magic system is used in play, wizards are generally detested
by the rest of the world. Invariably, they turn towards evil as the beckoning
power of darkness lures them into its embrace. Playing a heroic wizard in such a
setting will be extremely difficult; by the time most wizards reach 5th or 6th
level, they’ll be well on their way to becoming menaces to the lives and sanity
of all around them. A good-aligned witch or warlock would be extremely scarce,
since the basic premise of this entire system of magic is that the end
justifies the means—a difficult concept to reconcile with the precepts of good. These
rare wizards must carefully ration their spells, using their magical powers
only in the direst situations, or they’ll soon find that they’ve set foot to a
road from which they cannot turn back.
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