Wednesday, January 22, 2025

OSR: Revised Medium and Spirit Rules

I wrote previously about the Spirits of the Land here and Mediums here.  This post is mostly new rules concerning those creatures and how they interact with humans.

by Celestialforestfairy
Spirits, including Angels and Demons, are willing to offer power in exchange for services done them by mortals.  This is done through the making of a Pact with a Spirit.  A Pact is an arrangement between a mortal and a spirit.  Usually they take the form of "In exchange for X, you will give Y" or vice versa.  The conditions for each Pact depend on the personality and desires of both parties, as well as what they are willing to accept as potential payment.

Example Spirit Pacts:

"In exchange for blessing us with good harvests, we will give you a virgin girl to do with as you please, with a minimum of ten years before we have to give you another girl."  

"In exchange for a celebration celebrated every year in your honor, you will cure the plague afflicting our village and prevent it from ever returning."  

"In exchange for the sacrifice of a year-old bullock, you will give us a chest of gold."

Spirits can give out blessings to regions, groups or individual people either as a one-time payment for some offering or service, or in an on-going arrangement, often carried out by the mortal's children and their future generations.

Spirit Pacts are binding on Spirits, once a Spirit has made a Pact, it cannot refuse to fulfill it's obligation without harming itself, potentially even destroying itself.  However, if it feels cheated, it will try to weasel it's way out of the Pact or deliver the bare minimum possible.

Spirit Pacts can only be broken via mutual consent- if either party refuses to pay up, the Pact is still valid, even if technically nothing is happening.  Spirits will often refuse to hold up their end of the bargain if they haven't been paid or given what they were promised.

by VigintiDuoXXII

How to Summon a Spirit:

To make a Spirit Pact, one has need of a Spirit.  To attract the attention of one, you will need to perform a Summoning Ritual.  To do this, one needs either the Name of a Spirit or to simply perform an Empty Summoning Ritual.  An Empty Summoning Ritual is a summoning ritual, but it is not aimed at any particular spirit.  It is simply ringing the dinner bell and announcing that there are potential rewards available.  This will usually attract a Spirit, who might be willing to hear you out or perform the service you ask of it, provided the reward is suitable.

If you include a Spirit's Name in the Summoning Ritual, on the other hand, then only that Spirit will detect the Summoning Ritual and be drawn to it.  The Spirit does not have to appear, but it will feel the urge to appear.  It is the equivalent to someone yelling your name in a crowded room full of other conversations.  At best, it's distracting and potentially interesting.  At worst, it's annoying.  

Once the Spirit has appeared, usually a negotiation between it and the summoner will begin.  However, the summoner can also attempt to bind a Spirit to their will and force the Spirit to obey.  This can have very mixed results.

Note that the ritual above describes only a fairly basic Magic Circle.  If you wish to attempt to Bind, or even negotiate with a very powerful spirit, you will need a better circle.

Building a Better Spirit-Trap:

A magic circle is a circle created to channel and contain the forces of magic.  When a circle is formed, magical energies cannot pass over them.  If you've trapped a Demon inside one, that Demon cannot walk out of it.  It must either be released or break the circle.  Note that only magical creatures can be trapped inside these.  A Wizard, Demon or Dragon could be trapped in one.  Farmer Brown cannot.  

Similarly, if you are inside a magic circle and someone attacks you with magic, their attack isn't going to do anything unless it disrupts or breaks the circle.  If it doesn't do either, their power is going to have a much harder time affecting you.  

Of course, not all circles are created equal.

Types of Circles:

Simple-

Construction DC: 5

+1 to trap creatures inside

+1 to resist magic coming from the opposite side of the circle.  

Simple Circles are a single line or chalk, salt or iron shavings.  

Minor-

Construction DC: 10

+2 to trap creatures inside

+4 to resist magic coming from the opposite side of the circle

These are double circles with nodes at the four cardinal directions, marked with statuettes, candles, etc.  

Major-

Construction DC: 15

+4 to trap creatures inside

+8 to protect against magic coming from the opposite side of the circle

These are triple circles, marking the four cardinal directions, the elements, the prominent stars and crowned with a triangle, pentacle or a Star of Solomon.

Master-

Construction DC: 15+X (Depending on what you're trying to accomplish with the circle)

+6 to trap creatures inside

+12 to resist magic coming from the opposite side of the circle

Master circles are minimum three layers and contain countless trinkets, charms and other ritual preparations.  Each one is a masterwork of the Mage's art and painstaking to build.

Breaking a Magic Circle: 

When trapped inside a Magic Circle, a creature can attempt to break out.  It does this by engaging in a Contest with the person standing at the Locus point (Northwards, generally) of the Circle.  This person must pit their will against the trapped creature.  If the trapped creature wins, the circle breaks and it is free.  If the person at the Locus point wins, the creature remains trapped.     

What can the Spirit offer me?

Spirits follow their own Hierarchy within the Spirit World:

The more names a Spirit has, the weaker it is.  Similarly, the opposite is true.  

A Spirit's rank determines it's Will and Authority.  A Spirit's Will is the strength of it's soul and how able it to affect change on the world, in both the Physical and the Spirit World.  

A Spirit's Authority, meanwhile, determines what it has power over and what it can affect.  Spirits cannot affect things outside their Authority, except indirectly.  A Spirit's Authority is based on what type of Spirit it is, but also what it is associated with.  For example, if a Spirit had a strong relationship with a mortal, that friendship will affect the Spirit, incorporating that mortal as part of the Spirit's Authority.  So if that mortal needs help, the Spirit may be able to lend aid where they otherwise could not, though it should be noted that Spirits, as immortals, change very slowly and gradually, so much so that they seem unchanging to beings who do not possess their lifespan.     

Types of Spirits:

Spirits generally fall into two categories- Elemental and Cognitive.

Elemental Spirits are the spiritual counterparts of purely physical forces- in short, Elementals.  They embody these abstract forces and though intelligent, with their own desires, are shaped by those forces that generated them.  All Fire Spirits like to burn and consume things, even if the one you are talking to also like poetry or dancing.  Elemental Spirits are neutral in their morality, defining what is good based on their own element.  For example, Fire Elementals see fire as good and rain as bad.

An Elemental Spirit is always considered to have Authority over their Element, but can also have Authority over other things related to that Element.  The degree that their Authority expands depends on the rank of that Spirit.  For example, a Common Water Spirit cannot control ice, but a Water Knight-Spirit could.

Cognitive Spirits are the embodiments of a particular ideal.  They are often referred to as "Angels" or "Demons" by mortals, depending on whether mortals regard that ideal as a vice or a virtue.  The Humans consider the embodiment of Pride the Demon of Pride, while Elves greatly laud such a creature, referring to it as an Angel of Ego.  Similarly, Orcs Abhor the Demons of Creeping Weakness, which Humans venerate and refer to as an Angel of Peace.  

These Spirits seek to spread their particular ideal and cause it to abound more greatly.  For example, an Angel of Holy Vengeance/Demon of Wrath wants to encourage people to be angry and wrathful, so it will do things to make people angry and encourage it's allies to give in to their rage.  

Cognitive Spirits have Authority over their ideal and can influence it, increasing it, removing it or otherwise manipulating it.             

Examples:

Dendor Vaskil Artur Barker Pigdog Choplicker is a Common Cognitive Spirit that takes the form of a hound that walks on two legs, wears a bowler hat and chain-smokes cigarettes.  He is associated with the Ideal of Determination.  He is too weak to be called "Angel", though a culture that values determination would regard him as a helpful spirit still.  He has Authority over Dogs and Determination.

Oberon is a Royal Elemental Spirit, one of the Sovereigns of the Folk.  He has Authority over Autumn, Time, Lost Things, Secrets, Illusions, Aging, Madness, Decline and Rot.

<Sidebar: Spirit Powers>

If this is all too loosey-goosey for you, then grant a Spirit a number of Powers equal to their rank. 

Common = 1 Power
Uncommon = 2 Powers
Knight = 1d3+1 Powers
Lower Nobility = 1d4+2 Powers
Higher Nobility = 1d6+2 Powers
Royal = 1d8+2 Powers

You could also use the Authority system only for Blessings and if the party decide to square up with a Spirit, use the Power system described above for such encounters.

I generally alternate depending on what my Wizards can do.  If the Wizards use spells, Spirits have a number of limited powers.  If the Wizards are free-form, then so are the Spirits, able to manipulate elements of the world based on their Authority.  

</Sidebar>

by T5-Comix-Cartoonz
Mediums and the Possessed:

Spirits do not have physical bodies, so they cannot directly affect the Physical World.  Similarly, their ability to affect that world is limited the more powerful they become.  This is also why Gods choose to act through prophets and priests, rather than directly manifesting their power to instantly solve any problem they have.  They physically cannot in most cases (see below).

But Spirits have found a loophole in this rule: if you don't have a body, just borrow one.  

Mediums are people who allow a Spirit to inhabit their body, in exchange for Power.  

Medium Rules:    

You can only host a Spirit who's HD or DT is less than or equal to your HD/Level.  If their DT equals your Level, then you can let the Spirit inhabit you for 1 hour.  if you are stronger than the Spirit, it can inhabit you for a number of hours equal to the difference.  If the Spirit is stronger, then you take X CON damage, where X is the difference, per 10 minutes of the Spirit inhabiting you.  

CON Damage done by this comes back at a rate of 1 point per day.  If this CON damage reduces a creature to 0 CON, it dies as it's body can no longer support a soul.    

For example:

Jon Femurbreaker, Level 4 Fighting Man, allows Jarvis, a Spirit of Justice, to enter his body.  

If Jarvis is a Knight-Spirit (DT 4), then he can inhabit Jon's body for 1 hour before Jon starts taking 1 CON damage per every additional 10 minutes.

If Jarvis is an Uncommon Spirit (2 HD), then he can inhabit Jon's body for 2 hours before Jon starts taking 1 CON damage per every additional 10 minutes.

If Jarvis is a Spirit of the Lower Nobility (DT 6) then for every 10 minutes he inhabits Jon's body, Jon takes 2 CON damage per every 10 minutes he hosts Jarvis.

Benefits of being Possessed:


What do you bring to the table?

All Spirits grand their Medium a number of Powers equal to their Rank.  These powers will usually relate to their Authority, which all Spirits naturally possess.  

For example, a Fire Spirit grants her medium the ability to throw a fireball that does 2d6 damage, save for half, as an action.  Or she may grant the ability to manipulate fire as if you were a Free-form Wizard, but only for fire or other aspects she has Authority over.

Other Boons:

Spirits may also be able to grant other Boons to their mediums- though which ones the Spirit can grant will depend heavily on what kind of Spirit the medium has made a Contract with. 

For example, an Earth Spirit might be able to grant Superhuman strength and hardened skin, but it could not grant divination abilities or Shapeshifting powers.  Withstanding damage and being hard to stop are within the nature of Earth and thus things an Earth Spirit might have Authority over, so it could grant those abilities.  Being capable of great foresight or changing form are not things Earth is known for, so it could not offer those things.   

1d12
1- Superhuman strength.  The Medium is much stronger than normal, able to lift and carry double what he could while not possessed.  He can also do things beyond the usual boundaries of a strength roll, depending on the Spirit's rank, such as smashing through a stone wall, lifting a horse or wrestling an Ogre (and winning).  For the purposes of dealing damage with his STR bonus, he adds +1d6 to any damage he deals based on STR.  
2- Superhuman speed.  The Medium is much faster than normal when possessed, either hard to grab or a blur to the eyes of those watching, depending on the Spirit's Rank.  He can act before non-super-fast creatures and when retreating or moving through an enemy's space, he does not provoke opportunity attacks.  Additionally, add the Spirit's rank to any Pursuit rolls.  
3- Superhuman Agility.  The Medium moves like his bones are rubber and his flesh is gelatin when possessed.  He makes all saves to take all damage based on agility or Dexterity into saves to take no damage and adds the Spirit's Rank to any attempt to perform an acrobatic feat.  
4- Superhuman Endurance.  While possessed, the Medium does not get tired and can keep working at peak efficiency.  
5- Hardened Form.  While Possessed, the Medium has skin and flesh that is much harder to damage.  The Medium gains a Damage Threshold equal to the Spirit's Rank, or if the Spirit is rank 2 or less, he simply takes -1 or -2 damage from each hit respectively.  
6- Agelessness.  While possessed, the Medium does not age and cannot be magically aged.  
7- Freedom from Mortal Needs.  While possessed, the Medium does not need food, water, air or sleep.  8- Regeneration.  While possessed, the Medium's body will swiftly repair itself as a free action.  The Medium can, as a free action, roll as many MD as he wishes and recover [sum] HP.  This can also repair Horrible Wounds.  But each time this ability is used, it heavily taxes the Medium's body, shortening the amount of time the Medium can host the Spirit by 10 minutes per MD.
9- Magic Resistance.  While possessed, the Medium gains X-in-10% magic resistance, where X is the Spirit's Rank.  
10- Divination.  While possessed, the Medium can gain access to the Spirit's vision, able to look across it's domain as if using a Crystal Ball or see into the future.   
11- Void Shroud.  While possessed, the Medium is shielded from divination and other sensing abilities, concealed from those who attempt to locate him via divination or reading the threads of fate.  When someone attempts to see the future or divine information about the Medium or anyone near him, add the Spirit's Rank to the DC of the attempted divination.  
12- Shapeshifting.  While possessed, the Medium can alter his form to better suit his purposes.  He must spend at least 1 MD to trigger a transformation, with more being required for difficult transformations.  When he alters his form, his ability scores and stats remain the same (where it makes sense, Referee's Discretion applies), but this puts a toll on his body, reducing the amount of time he can host the Spirit by 10 minutes per time he shapeshifts.  Additionally, if he runs out of time to host the Spirit and it must leave him, he will remain in whatever form he was in when the Spirit left him until he can host it again.  

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