Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Guardian Monsters - Listed and Considered
Thursday, July 15, 2021
The Psionicist class for 5th ed
The Psion Mentalist is dedicated to the use of psionic powers to influence, manipulate, and dominate the minds of those around him. He forgoes the development of psionic abilities of the body to instead focus on the disciplines of the mind.
The Psion Mentalist must start with a 16 in at least one of the following abilities: INT, WIS, or CHA (to be eligible for psionic powers). The Psion Mentalist starts with 6 hp and gains d6 hp per level.
Weapons & Armor
The Psion Mentalist can choose any armor or weapons. The Psion Mentalist gains additional armor and weapon proficiencies at the rate of Magic Users (1 every 6 levels)
Class Proficiencies
INT, WIS, CHA, Animal Handling, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion
Ability Score Improvement
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1 (20 max). Increases in INT, WIS, or CHA would increase psionic strength points (see below).
Starting Psionic Ability Points
Roll d100, adding 1 point to the total for each point of INT, WIS, and CHA score.
Additional Psionic Strength Points per level
+2d10 (maximum of 344 points)
Acquisition of Psionic Combat techniques (by level)
1st - Mind Blank & Mind Thrust
2nd - Thought Shield & Ego Whip
3rd - Mental Barrier & Id Insinuation
4th - Intellectual Fortress & Psychic Crush
5th - Tower of Iron Will & Psionic Blast
Psion Mentalists acquire the following psionic disciplines by level:
1st - Object Reading, Sensitivity to Psychic Impressions, Empathy, ESP
2nd – Detection of Good/Evil, Clairaudience, Hypnosis
3rd – Animal Telepathy, Detection of Magic, Clairvoyance,
4th – Aura Alteration, Telempathic Projection
5th – Telepathy, Invisibility
6th -- Mind Bar, Domination
7th – Mass Domination, Precognition
8th – Telepathic Projection
9th -- Astral Projection
10th –Cell Adjustment, Suspended Animation
11th - Energy Control (cancel energy attacks),
12th –Dimension Walk
13th – Dimension Door
14th-- Probability Travel (to parallel worlds/planes)
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Gnomes, Svirfneblin and the family of illusionist trickster Wee Folk
In the DMG, they are described as "lively and full of humor - often on the black side or practical jokes".
They are described as living in homes: "sometimes based upon earthen burrows, although 75% of the time it will be made in rocky hill formations" (MM), and that they "enjoy the open world of growing things almost as much as their mines and burrows" (DMG). In short, just as we would expect someone with the instincts of both Leprecauns and Dwarfs.
In the MM, they are rumored to have "magical abilities". This is revealed in the PH to be illusionist skill, up to seventh class level (casting 4th level spells). These innate illusionist powers are developed more fully in the description of the Deep Gnomes, the Svirfneblin.
Svirfneblin: 3' tall with pointy ears, home: far beneath the surface of the earth
powers (1x per day):
blindness
blur
change self
non-detection and silent movement (constant)
unlikely to be surprised (1 in 12)
immune to illusion
(20-40% magic resistance)
Wee Folk - The Illusionist Tricksters
The Wee Folk have been classified according to a number of different titles, including leprechauns, brownies, pixies, sprites, and bookas. They seem to have a number of traits in common, suggesting they form something of a family group.
Their similarities to the Gnomes are manifold, including the pointy ears. The MM suggests that Brownies and Leprechauns are the result of a Halfling/Pixie combination. It seems just as likely that Gnomes are the result of a Dwarf/Leprechaun combination.
Brownies: 1.5' tall with pointy ears, home: quiet, pastoral areas; "friendly but shy"
powers (1x per day):
invisibility in nature (at will)
ventriloquism
dancing lights
continual light
mirror image
confusion
dimension door
protection from evil
cannot be surprised
Leprechaun: 2' tall with pointy ears, home: fair, green lands with lush hills and dales; "mischievous nature"
powers (at will):
invisibility
polymorph non-living object
create illusion
ventriloquism
cannot be surprised
(80% magic resistance)
Pixie: 2.5' tall, with wings and pointy ears, home: most idyllic of woodlands, "highly mischievous"
powers (at will):
invisibility
polymorph self
create illusions (2x per day)
know alignment
cause confusion
dispel magic (1x per day)
dancing lights (1x per day)
ESP (1x per day)
Otto's Irresistible Dance (1x per day)
(25% magic resistance)
Also related:
Sprites: 2' tall, with wings and pointy ears; home: meadows and wooded glens, "shy and reclusive"
powers (at will):
invisibility
detect good/evil
move silently
Booka: 1' tall, with wings and pointy ears: home: attics, roofs, chimneys; "mischievous but hates evil"
powers (at will):
invisibility
(10% magic resistance)
Thursday, November 3, 2011
On the origins of Giants and giantism
Our Council of Sages, after extensive and dangerous investigation, has at last solved the riddle. The giant beasts are not members of giant animal species that can be eradicated. Rather, they are the result of some sort of natural process which turns normal animals into giants!
Giantism Mutation
This process, this giantism mutation, appears to be most associated with areas of high mana concentration, such as tall mountains, powerful rivers, natural springs, and cave openings. Beasts in those areas are born to normal-sized parents, but due to some magical enhancement, undergo a spectacular growth rate which vaults them to giant-status by the time they mature.
Giantism in Humans
It has been previously assumed that giantism in humans was related to the dark arts or dealings with demons. Many a witch has been burned at the stake when her child evidenced giantism. The Sages now recommend that the Trial by Burning sentence be considered non-mandatory in these cases, allowing the mothers of such children the opportunity to defend themselves in court before being wed to the Burning Man.
Origins of Giant Races
The Sages have even determined that the different mana sources produce different effects in the humans affected with giantism:
- the mana of the river waters produces the race of Storm Giants
- the mana of the volcano fields produces the black race of Fire Giants
- the mana of the underground caverns produces the race of Hill Giants
- the mana of the high mountains is more variable, producing either Stone or Cloud Giants.
As few adult females are ever seen among the Giants, perhaps boys are more prone to giantism then girls. Or perhaps the young human females who are cast out of their homes, when their parents see the giantism at work, are simply less able to survive into adulthood. At any rate, this discovery helps explain why no babies are ever seen among the Giants.
The Rise & Fall of Giant Hordes
This discovery also helps explain the rapid rise and fall of giant hordes, as well as their general state of primitive culture. Giant culture is primitive because all of them are essentially orphaned children, cast out of their homes and villages at a young age (the few that somehow escape the mandatory penalties, that is). As adults giants are unable to produce their own offspring, there is little continuation of culture among them.
Giant hordes tend to rise and fall as people move into areas with high mana. It is an odd twist of fate that these hordes, which usually end up destroying those advanced human settlements, are actually the children of the would-be settlers.
The dynamic goes something like this: after a generation or two of settlement, enough giants arise to be able to destroy the settlement. The lack of settlement leads to a lack of giants, allowing a later generation to attempt to settle the magically-rich area.
The lesson is clear, and has been emphasized by the Council of Sages: the mandatory sentence that falls upon children with giantism must be enforced with renewed vigor! Only when children with giantism are fully eliminated will human settlement in mana-rich regions be secured.
Friday, October 28, 2011
The Magic value of Gold
However, magic also streams upward from below. Vocanoes and natural springs, as everyone knows, are locations of powerful magic. Items that have their origins in the earth often retain powerful magical properties, such as crystals and, of course, gold.
The Magical Properties of Gold
The obsessive attraction exerted by gold upon magical creatures is well-known, and of course, felt by humans as well to a certain degree.
Dragons are the most notorious hoarders of gold, jewels, and gems. The possession of these magically-potent items appears to be connected with the longetivity of those magical beasts.
Some have speculated that dragons consume the treasures as food, but this idea is contradicted by the fact that dragon hoards never seem to shrink, only grow. The well-attested observation of dragons swallowing piles of gold seems to be explained as the method by which the dragon carries the treasure back to its lair. Presumably the treasure is regurgitated bird-style into the dragon's hoard, although this has not been observed (by anyone who lived to tell of it) to this point....
The Hoard of the Goblin King
The lure of gold upon the subterrainean goblinoids is also well known, most legendarily in the case of the hoard of the goblin king. Goblins who lair amidst the piles of gold appear to grow large and strong, perhaps owing to the magical properties of the magic-charged gold itself. The gold also appears to be used in their mating practices, as the significant presence of gold in their breeding pens attests.
The Minotaur Lords of Bullhead City
The shifting labyrynths of Bullhead City are reported to be awash in gold. The multitude of aggressive and powerful minotaur who constantly struggle for dominance there, however, has precluded much investigation.
It has been noted, however, that minotaur encountered in the wilds can be distracted and/or diverted by the surrender of bags of gold. Examination of human victims of minotaur attacks indicates that the bullmen have no interest in humans as a food source, only as a source of wealth.
The Secrets of the Dwarven Mines
As everyone knows, the Dwarven Mines are rich in two items: gold and magic weapons. How the dwarves produce magic weapons has long been a mystery, as they show no aptitude for magical ability in any other sphere.
It is suspected that the dwarfs somehow harness great magical power from the gold (and other magic susbstances) as they harvest it from the rocks in their deep caverns. This magical over-exposure may account for madness that overcomes those few humans who attempt deep delves into the Dwarven Mines. The hearty natural anti-magical resistance of the Dwarfs seem to shield them from the ill-effects associated with repeated exposure to these high concentrations of magical power.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Being detected while Scrying - the perils of assisted-astral travel and remote viewing
"Various devices for seeing at a distance (such as crystal balls, various scrying devices such as dishes or pans of water or mirrors, and spells such as clairaudience) are DETECTABLE."
The astral nature of remote viewing
The explanation for this potential detectability is the fact that they scrying device is a form of assisted astral travel. The astral spirit of the remote viewer actually goes to the location being viewed. That is why someone viewing a scrying device goes into a trance while viewing, as their spirit is actually undergoing astral travel, their conscious mind cannot be with their physical body.
Countering the Scrying Attempt
If the creature being observed is a magical creature/spell user/psionic, it has a change of realising that he is being observed.
Detection of Invisibility Table, pg.59 of the DMG
As per the DMG, if the creature realizes he is being observed, he can cast a darkness or a dispel magic upon the spot of observation (described in the DMG as a "small disturbance in the air caused by the magical viewing"), which is the location of the remote viewer's astral body.
Vulnerability to astral attack
If the creature being observed, or anyone at the remote viewing location, has psionic powers or the ability to see into the astral plane, the remote viewer would also subject to psionic attack. Attempts at "soul capture", such as a magic jar, could be conceivable as well....