nerdwerds: comfortable curmudgeon

school of Eidolism

this is a school of magic to be added to those introduced in Wonder & Wickedness and expanded in Marvels & Malisons

Phantasm

Project a convincing illusion of any person, creature, or object no larger in size or mass than the caster. Creatures that interact with it physically may make a saving throw to see through it, but creatures that fail their save can be genuinely harmed by it (a phantasmal sword draws real blood). The phantasm persists only until the caster falls unconscious, dismisses it, or performs another spell.

False Face

The caster assumes the perfect appearance of any person they have collected hair, blood, or sweat from, including being able to mimic the target's voice and mannerisms. The disguise is flawless to mundane senses but blazes like a signal fire to anyone who can see magic (see Second Sight). The spell persists without concentration and can be dismissed at any time, but for each full day the false face is worn there is a 1 in 6 chance the caster forgets an aspect of their true identity, chosen by the GM.

Cipher

The caster inscribes a message on any writing surface using a sigil. The message appears to unauthorized readers as nonsense, a foreign language, or a threatening warning, at the caster's discretion. Designated readers see the true message clearly. Any unauthorized creature that attempts to read and decipher the script must save or become compelled to keep attempting to decode the writing, ignoring all else, consumed by obsessive interpretation for a number of turns equal to the caster's level. Creatures that succeed their save recognize the writing as magical but glean nothing.

Labyrinth

A sigil is inscribed on a threshold whether it is a door, archway, or gate. Any creature passing the sigil enters a perfect illusory duplicate of the area beyond, or which the caster may shape freely, and which loops back on itself. Creatures of level less than or equal to the caster's level are trapped automatically, others may save. The labyrinth collapses when the caster wills it or the sigil is destroyed, depositing all trapped creatures at the threshold.

Doppelganger

The caster creates a fully autonomous illusory duplicate of themselves that acts independently and shares their senses. The duplicate can cast any spell the caster knows but each casting has a 1 in 6 chance of consuming the caster's actual memory of that spell rather than the duplicate's. When the duplicate is destroyed or the spell ends roll 1d6:

  1. The caster and duplicate swap physical locations
  2. The duplicate becomes permanent but mindless
  3. The caster takes damage equal to what destroyed the duplicate
  4. The duplicate's final memory overwrites one of the caster's own
  5. The duplicate whispers the caster's most recent secret aloud before vanishing
  6. The caster cannot distinguish themselves from the duplicate for one turn

Shroud of Light

A number of people equal to caster level are rendered completely unnoticeable — not invisible, but beneath perception, edited out of conscious awareness. Shrouded creatures may still be physically interacted with accidentally. The shroud breaks instantly for any individual observer who is attacked by or directly interacts with a shrouded creature, but persists for all others. Shrouded creatures become partially real to the spirit world and may be perceived and targeted by its denizens.

The Lie Made Flesh

The caster speaks a false statement aloud and for the duration of the spell it becomes locally true. A statement like "there is no door here" makes a door imperceptible, unnoticeable, and incapable of opening. "This man is already dead" causes the named person to fall down dead. The lie unravels dramatically when the spell ends, with consequences proportional to how far reality was bent. Saving throws apply to living targets of direct statements.

Consensus

The caster rewrites the shared reality of a small area, imposing a false environment. For example, a dungeon corridor becomes a sunlit meadow, a throne room becomes a decrepit ruin, or a trap-lined hallway becomes the center aisle of a chapel. The false environment is completely sensory and consistent. Creatures may attempt a saving throw each round they take damage from something not present in the false environment.

Eidolism Catastrophes

  1. The sorcerer's face becomes a perfect illusion of a smooth, featureless, and blank head. The sorcerer's actual features still exist beneath but are invisible to all observers (including the sorcerer) in mirrors. The face may be temporarily restored by wearing a mask, which then displays the sorcerer's true features on its surface.
  2. Everything the sorcerer touches leaves a vivid afterimage that persists for one exploration turn. Glowing outlines of hands, footsteps of light, luminous impressions on every surface. These traces are visible to all and will make stealth or secrecy impossible.
  3. The sorcerer becomes convinced one randomly determined companion is an illusion. The sorcerer cannot be persuaded otherwise by any mundane means, and will treat that companion accordingly. The sorcerer will ignore wounds, disbelieve speech, and refuse to acknowledge their presence to others. This is permanent unless treated by a more powerful sorcerer.
  4. A perfect illusory duplicate of the sorcerer appears in a location determined by the GM and begins living the sorcerer's life, interacting with the sorcerer's allies, contacts, and enemies as if it were the original. Unlike a Translocation duplicate, this one is not hostile and it is simply convinced it is the real sorcerer and is baffled and distressed by any suggestion otherwise.
  5. The sorcerer loses all color permanently from their skin, hair, eyes, clothing, and carried objects all becoming a uniform pale grey. This is not an illusion.
  6. The sorcerer begins to perceive the world through a permanent, constant sensory intrusion where they can no longer perceive mundane details clearly. Faces become vague, distances uncertain, and fine detail impossible without a moment of concentration and a successful saving throw to see details. This is not blurry vision or inhibiting, except for fine details that may be important to identify people or places.
  7. The nearest settlement becomes afflicted with mass hallucinations. The inhabitants see the sorcerer everywhere, in crowds, in mirrors, at the edge of vision. This causes significant social disruption and makes the sorcerer notorious and unwelcome. The effect fades after one month but the reputation does not.
  8. The sorcerer becomes invisible to one randomly determined type of creature (ie, dogs, children, liches, sorcerers, demons, etc.) determined by the GM. This is not a glamour or illusion but a genuine perceptual absence. The affected creatures will walk through the sorcerer's space, speak over them, and deny their existence if questioned.
  9. Reality in the immediate area of the casting becomes thin and unreliable. Surfaces become transparent and can be pushed through with effort, sounds arrive from the wrong directions, and objects clothing or people will briefly vanish and reappear. This effect is permanent, an area of wrongness that makes others deeply uncomfortable and causes animals to flee.
  10. The sorcerer's dreams become visible to those nearby, manifesting as a shared hallucination by anyone within 100 feet of the sleeping sorcerer. The content of these dreams is determined by the GM and the sorcerer has no control over what is revealed.
  11. The sorcerer's appearance shifts subtly and randomly each morning, not dramatically but enough that regular acquaintances require a moment of uncertainty before recognizing them, and strangers never quite remember their face accurately afterward.
  12. The sorcerer perceives themselves as someone else entirely. A specific, fully realized false identity with different name, history, and personality (this should be worked on by the both the player and the GM). The sorcerer's true self occasionally surfaces in dreams and moments of crisis, but the false identity is dominant.

#magic