Wednesday, October 18, 2017

OSR: Electromancers- Determinists, Spark-weavers, The Lightning Children

Electromancers should have come before Necromancers in alphabetical order, but oh well.  Electromancy is the manipulation of lightning and magnetic fields.  And while that sounds limiting, it is really isn't.  Electromancers and electromancy are most commonly associated with the War of the Currents, a massive conflict in New York City between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.  And while the war is over, the conflict is still fresh in people's minds, as it was the story in all the newspapers for months, especially during the Summer of 1927.   For more information on the War of the Currents, see here.

Electromancers pick their starting spells from the following 1d12 table.  Spells 13 and 14 are rare and as as valuable as a magic sword. 

Electromancers also have the following Power which they can use at will, and the following Drawback that always affects them.

Power: Can pass electricity through your body without hurting yourself.

Drawback: You are magnetic.  If any metal that touches your skin, it sticks to you and you will need to succeed a STR check to pull it off.


                                                      
Electromancer spell-list:
1d12
1- Automate Action   
2- Defribulate
3- Disturb Thoughts
4- Divine Retribution
5- Edison's Insult   
6- Eliminate Pain
7- Incapacitating Grip
8- Magnetize
9- Overdrive
10- Sense Electricity
11- Shocking Blow
12- Tesla's Retort

13- Cause Malfunction
14- Hail to the King

Legendary Spell: Attract Iron


Automate Action
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R: touch        T: self or creature            D: [dice] minutes

You touch one creature and create a glowing bulb of electricity that anchors onto the creature's body.  The bulb fires electricity through them, causing them their muscles to move without their conscious control.  For the duration, you may control the creature's actions on your turn (you may also take actions yourself) or you can pre-program certain actions (attack, run away, etc).

If you choose the latter, the creature rerolls their initiative for the duration with a +[dice] to any initiative rolls (assuming d20 initiative). 

Defribulate
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R: touch        T: creature            D: one action

You shock someone with enough electricity to restart a stopped heart.  If a creature has died but their body is still mostly intact, this can drag them back to life, assuming they didn't die of something that a restarted heart wouldn't be able to help with, such as being burned alive, digested, decapitated, etc.  If done on a living person, they must succeed a Save or suffer a heart attack.

Creatures that suffer a heart attack must make another save.  On a successful save, the creature takes 2d6 CON damage and take a -[dice] penalty to any STR or CON checks for the next [sum] days.  On a failed save, the creature dies.  This only works on creatures with hearts.  Creatures with multiple hearts get a +1 bonus to their save per heart.    

Disturb Thoughts
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R: 30'        T: creature            D: one action

A target creature in range must save.  On a failed save, you cause every synapse in their brain to fire at once, triggering a massive seizure.  On a successful save, the creature instead suffers a mental blank, immediately forgetting what they were doing, unless it was some sort of mindless task. 

Divine Retribution
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R: 50'        T: creature            D: one action

You call down lightning from the clouds and direct it to strike a target.  The target takes [sum] lightning damage, save for half.  You can only use this spell outdoors or in a space where you can see the sky.  If you cannot see the sky from where you are, the lightning comes from your hands and only does 1d6+[dice] lightning damage.

Edison's Insult
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R: touch        T: object                D: one action

The caster telemagnetically accelerates a metal object no bigger than 5 lbs.  With an attack roll, the caster can inflict weapon damage on a target by launching the weapon.  This does damage as if you used the weapon to make an attack

This spell can also be used to accelerate bullets, which travel as well as if they had been fired from a gun (and do equivalent damage), as long as the bullets aren't solid lead (and most bullets aren't).  This is much quieter than shooting a gun.

This spell was made by Arnold K.


Eliminate Pain
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R: touch        T: [dice] creatures    D: [dice] rounds

Any creature you touch, for the next [dice] rounds, does not feel pain for the duration.  This makes them immune to any ability that would inflict pain upon them, as well as giving them a +[dice] bonus to any saves vs fear. 

For the duration, damage rolls against the creature are secret, with the Referee recording them.  Only after the spell ends does the creature find out how damage he took. 

Incapacitating Grip
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R: touch    T: creature        D: concentration

Electricity runs through your hands.  Anyone you touch takes [dice] lightning damage and must make a save to do anything other than thrash about.  The Wizard must succeed a STR check to keep hold of their target each turn. 

Magnetize
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R: touch        T: creature or object            D: [sum] minutes

One creature or object you touch becomes magnetic.

At 1 [dice], the creature has any metal on their body become adhered to him and must make a STR check with penalties equal to -[dice] to remove any of these objects.  At 2 [dice], the creature attracts nearby metal objects within 10*[dice]', giving any creatures fighting them with a metal weapon +[dice] to their attacks.  At 3 [dice], the creature is dragged towards large metal objects, such as a man in metal armor, a car, or etc.  At 4 [dice], the iron in the creature's blood is drawn towards his skin, causing him to take [dice] damage a round for the duration.

The same applies to objects. 

Overdrive
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R: 30'        T: creature            D: one action

One creature is healed and regains [sum] FS.  This creature, if it failed a save against Fear recently, may save again.

Sense Electricity
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R: 10'*[dice]        T: self            D: [sum] minutes

You can sense electricity within 10*[dice]'.  If you are fighting a species that uses electrical impulses to cause its muscles to contract you get +[dice] to your Armor as you can see their muscles clenching as they move.  This cannot help you dodge something you physically cannot get out of the way of (requiring a saving throw or Referee's Discretion).  

Shocking Blow
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R: touch        T: self                D: one action

You may make a melee attack with a metal weapon or with your fist.  On a hit, the target takes [dice]d6 lightning damage and must save.  On a failure, the creature also is hurled backwards by 10*[dice]'.

Tesla's Retort
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R: self        T: self                D: [dice] minutes

You surround yourself with elctromagnetic fields that repel all ferrous metals.  No one with an iron weapon can strike you, bullets fly off course, and if you fall onto a metal surface, reduce the fall damage you take by a number of d6s equal to [dice].

The spell is mine, but the name is from Arnold K.


Cause Malfunction
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R: 30'        T: electrical machine        D: one action

Target machine that runs off electricity within range suffers a catastrophic malfunction.  If you invest four or more dice in this spell, it is rendered unusable until it can be thorougly repaired. 

Hail to the King
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R: 30'        T: 10*[dice] foot circle centered on you D: [dice] rounds

All creatures within [dice]*10' must save or collapse onto the ground, paralyzed.  They can repeat their save every round.


 Chaos and Corruption, simplified:

When you roll doubles, roll on the Chaos table.  The spell still goes through.  You receive 1d2 Doom Points. 
When you roll triples, roll on the Corruption table.  The spell automatically fails.  You also receive 1d4 Doom Points.
At 10 Doom Points, you invoke the Doom of Fools.
At 20 Doom Points, you invoke the Doom of Kings.
At 30 Doom Points, you invoke the Ultimate Doom. 


Chaos of the Electromancer:
1d6
1- The Wizard loses a spellcasting die.
2- One random person within 50' becomes magnetic for 1d10 minutes.  All metal that touches them sticks to them, and all ferrous projectiles get +2 to hit them.
3- One random person within 50' is struck by lightning and takes 2d6 damage, save for half.
4- One random person within 50' of the Wizard has a seizure.  This seizure lasts for 1d6 minutes, and each round the person afflicted can make a save.  On a successful save, the seizure stops.
5- One random person temporarily becomes immune to electrical damage.
6- The Wizard develops Wizard Vision.

Corruption of the Electromancer:
1d6
1- The Wizard is struck by lightning and takes 2d6 damage, save for half.
2- The next magic spell cast within 50' automatically targets the Wizard, unless it was cast by the Wizard on himself.  Then it targets a random person.
3- The Wizard develops Wizard Vision.
4- One random person within 50' has their electrical synapses suddenly erupt forth, doing 1d6 damage to them.  Additionally, the people near the affected person must save.  On a failure, the electricity arcs from the original person, hitting them and doing 1d6 damage as well.  This electrical charge can arc through as many people as there are nearby, only stopping when the closest person to it passes the saving throw.
5- A cloud forms over the Wizard, 1d100+10 feet overhead.  This cloud follows the Wizard for 1d10 days,
each day, roll for the weather the cloud produces.  Today the cloud produces 1d6 (1= Rain; 2= Snow; 3= Hail; 4= Blood; 5= Fish, frogs, or an appropriate small animal; 6= Mildly acidic rain, does 1d2 damage for each minute exposed)
6- For the next 1d10 minutes, the Wizard can suddenly sense all electromagnetic radiation within 100', they must save.  On a success, they can see EVERYTHING.  On a failure, they go mad for the duration.

Dooms:
Doom of Fools:  You have some sort of psychic seizure and shoot a lightning bolts out of your eyes in random directions every round for 2d6 rounds.  There is a 40% chance per item that your gear is destroyed.  Any small metal objects that you are carrying become fused to your body.

Doom of Kings:  As above, except 50% and all medium sized metal objects carried become a part of your body.

Ultimate Doom:  As above, except 60% and you automatically fuse with the nearest big metal thing.  This could be a WWI tank, a septic tank, or a telephone pole.  Attempting to intentionally induce this Doom in a controlled environment so as to fuse your body with something cool has a 40% chance of going horribly wrong unless rubber gloves, tesla coils, and goggles are somehow involved (which brings the chance of things going horribly wrong down to 25%).

This Doom is avoided by stabbing yourself with an arrow made from a cursed tree or by stealing a vault full of electricity from the Pinkies.


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