This week we are back with our second last path focus. I am thinking of maybe doing some blog posts on fantasy religious groups and divine magic in Gal Hadre once the path magic series is done. Let me know if this is something that would interest you and if you care more about the magic or the religious groups.
So, the Path of Stone Awakened, one of the four elemental paths opposed by the Path of the Worldwind. Spells of this path that do damage usually do acid damage which generally ignores armour and could be used to cause damage over time. Most of the other combat related spells somehow manipulate earth, stone or metal.
We will start with a basic tier 1 spell, Protection of Stone. This grants the Caster unnatural constitution that scales with their intelligence; unnatural stats grant automatic successes to checks with that stat and add to the stat bonus when relevant. The main impact of this is the caster gets to increase their damage reduction. That makes this spell particularly useful for casters that like to get up close and personal and may take damage back from their targets. Higher levels of this spell could affect others or even multiple people, last longer or increase the level of unnatural constitution you gain.
Next we have something with a bit more utility, Stone Walk. This lets the caster move through stone and earth as long as they start and end their movement outside it. But clearly this lets the caster walk through a solid stone wall. The main downside is it is a reaction spell, so you lose your reaction for the round you use it. Also it is relatively difficult to cast for a tier 1 spell. You could have a similar spell that worked for metal instead of earth and stone. Higher tier versions of this spell would probably let you stay inside earth or stone for a limited amount of time or grant the ability to others or a group.
Third for tier 1 we have Earthspear, which summons a spear that can be thrown or used to stab. Easy and quick to cast, this can get you a weapon that does a bit of armour piercing damage into situations where you couldn’t normally have weapons and because you can use it multiple times, you can equip a couple of people for a few rounds before the weapons start disappearing. Higher tier versions could do outright magical acid damage, last longer, or do more damage generally.
Now we move into tier 2 with Acidic Blast, this deals a 3 meter long cone of damage. It doesn’t do a ton of damage to any one target, but does completely ignore armour. It is also quick and easy to cast for a tier 2 spell. A tier three version could do more damage, let the cone start at a point some distance away from the caster, have a longer cone, or keep dealing damage to the target for several rounds after the spell is cast.
Secondly in tier 2 we have Grounded. Difficult but quick to cast, it reduces the final amount of damage you take by half and if you were unharmed for a round, heal slightly instead. And as long as you maintain direct contact with the ground, so no shoes or anything, has to be direct, the spell continues. Originally designed for Stone Awakened elementals, this makes them particularly difficult to take down unless you can somehow force them off the ground or onto wood or something to break their contact. A tier 3 version of this spell could increase the healing, lower the final damage even more or add additional effects.
For tier 3 we have Earthshaper, which has a fairly long casting time but lets the user then shape earth, stone and metal as if it was thick mud or clay for 1 minute. The formed earth, stone or metal has the same structural integrity the material has so as long as the form can hold its shape you can craft all sorts of fun things with it. The casting time is too long to be of use in combat and given the risks involved with any castings of dragon magic it isn’t going to be used repeatedly day in and out by a caster. It isn’t particularly great at making weapons as it is done without the heating and cooling processes that are used to give weapons the right hardness and brittleness. But if you were making disposable throwing weapons, or putting metal bands on clubs it could make some rather primitive, limited use weapons. What it is useful for is making things out of solid stone like carving a door or window out of the rock without weakening the surrounding stone.
When it comes to hybrid spells, the first one I made using this path is Living Stone. Using a combination of Life and Stone Awakened magic it animates up to 1 cubic meter of stone into a magically powered creature for a few minutes. It doesn’t require you to have carved the stone into shape before you cast it, the stone can flow to create the desired creature. Rare for hybrid spells to only be tier 2 it has average casting difficulty and a moderate casting time. Being tier 2 it is relatively achievable for a mage to learn compared to the experience required for a tier 3 hybrid spell. Tier 3 versions could last longer, animate more stone, or maybe let the stone be divided among multiple smaller creatures.
The path focus for Stone awakened is unnatural protection from magic, which reduces the damage taken from all types of magical attacks. It balances the broad application with only providing a small amount of damage reduction.
What do you think of the Path of Stone awakened? What spells would you make in this path? Come back next time as we look at another fantasy army.
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