After taking a week off for Canadian Thanksgiving and forgetting to post this on Sunday we are back with a new Gal Hadre post, the second in our series on paths of dragon magic. Now we look at the Path of the manifest Beast. This is the path of shapechangers, formtakers and those looking to augment their abilities by borrowing those of animals and magical creatures. Technically able to do direct damage spells, like nearly every path, that is not the focus of this path unlike some of the elemental paths. Path of the Manifest Beast casters generally take a more hands on approach than many other mages. It should be noted that most Manifest Beast spells can only be cast on willing targets. Again like last time it is important to remember that there are more spells than spellcasters in the world of Gal Hadre so these are just a representative sample of possible magics.
The first spell we will look at this time is Wolfsense, a very simple and easy to cast spell that gives the caster a heightened sense of smell for 1 minute. While this has effectively no combat use, it is very helpful to scouts and hunters trying to track things while remaining out of sight. While it lasts for only a minute, it is relatively safe to cast repeatedly over hours, especially for experienced casters focused on this path. Similar spells could improve a different sense.
Next is the spell Embrace the Beast, which makes it more difficult to influence either the caster or someone they are touching through any means magical or mundane. Given the magical abilities of some mages to adjust the actions of others, this spell can be very useful when fighting another magic user, especially from the path of living fire. But it remains a situational spell. Higher tiers of this spell would increase the protection granted.
Now we get into some more directly combat related spells with Feral Awakening. This spell allows the caster or a touched ally to grow claws for one minute. This allows the caster to arm themselves or martially focused comrades in situations where they could not take obvious weapons and shift from being non-threatening to armed in a moment. Similar spells could grant a different type of natural attack such as a bite attack, higher tier spells could be increased damage or with a debuff when damaged by the claws.
Fourth we have Awaken the Troll, that gives a decent amount of regeneration for a short period of time. Unlike many other Manifest Beast spells, Awaken the Troll can be cast at range, targeting someone a few meters away. However it is one of the most difficult and longest to cast tier 1 spells of this path. Because life magic is its own path, that doesn’t just focus on healing, many but not all of the other paths of dragon magic have ways within them to provide healing. Improved versions could provide more healing, or healing for longer.
Track sense may be the most obviously magical tier 1 manifest beast spell, in that it causes tracks in a small area to glow briefly. This allows the caster to track something over terrain that would be nearly impossible otherwise, ensuring that it is nearly impossible for your target to escape. Great for a party of adventurers, but what they can do others in the world likely can as well… Better versions of this spell might make it last for longer and appear only to the caster so they could move over difficult ground and track.
Now we move into tier 2 spells where one can gain multiple traits from one spell, starting with Bearskin. Like some other spells, it is touch based, not caster only. It grants some natural armour, heightened sense of smell and resistance to cold temperatures. It also has the advantage of lasting for 2 minutes where most spells last for maximally 1 minute. When one knows only a handful of spells, having ones that can be used in a variety of situations makes them more valuable. Each of the three abilities can like Wolfsense, be their own tier 1 spell. A tier 3 version of this spell is probably just turning into a bear for a limited period of time.
The second tier 2 spell we will look at is Dire Form, which unlike the previous spell, is all about becoming a wrecking machine in combat. It only works on the caster, but it causes them to grow and gain strength and toughness. Combined with a melee weapon or a spell granting natural attacks and the caster goes from a minor threat to a significant one quickly. It may even end a fight before it starts as the enemy realizes that they bit off more than they can chew. Upgraded versions of this spell would probably just add more combat bonuses or increase the time you are large.
The hybrid spell I want to look at is only tier 2, when many hybrid spells are tier 3. Flameclaw is as simple as it sounds, effectively Feral Awakening, so claws, plus fire magic. You get claws that deal fire damage. Similar spells could have frost, acid or other types of elemental damage or be different natural attacks.
One thing I did not mention in the Path of the Worldwind was the advantage that having path focus (which in the rules I have written is a feat you can take for any path) grants. In world, path focus would be people who have spent a significant amount of time studying this path. For the path of the Manifest Beast, it means that while you have an active spell you gain a bonus to one of your physical stats.
What do you think of the Path of the Manifest Beast? What types of spells would you want to create within it? Which of the remaining six paths of dragon magic do you want to see next?
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