M'OSKQORRG'S ODDITIES #3

M'OSKQORRG'S ODDITIES
Discoveries from Time in Exile
by David Moskowitz

Little Known Dwarven Enchantements

Your father’s/mother’s an elf - in the days of the 500 year war, those words were grounds for a fatal duel amongst the dwarves. In the immediate generations following the 500-day celebration ending that war, war fatigue and frequent accuracy kept the brawling pretty much blood-free. But some members of both species never lost the taste for the exotic, and even dominant genetics purged the elvish looks from those of mixed blood, such heritage would reveal itself in the most un-Eleven of locales, the mines. The following spells were (mostly) designed to help them cope.

Casters with at least one-half dwarvish blood may reduce the INT and DEX requirements by 4 as well as the per-level WIZ cost by 2.  Others cast the spells with INT and DEX requirements of a level higher than the spell’s base, and +5 to the basic WIZ cost.

LEVEL 2
Rock Breaker [Combat]
WIZ Cost:  10
Range: Touch. Caster need not be using the tool, but if the user transfers the tool to another user the enchantment ends.
Duration: Eight hours or until the player wielding the tool stops using it--in combat or for mining—for more than 10 minutes (or transfers it as detailed above).
Power up? No.
Description: This enchants any pick, shovel, or hammer-type weapon to gain extra power on the down stroke/follow-through. In addition to making any mining activity 20% more productive, in combat, spite damage occur on any roll of 5 or 6. Additionally, all rolls of 6 will permanently reduce the opponent‘s armor effectiveness by one. (Adjudicate which piece according to relative heights of combatants).

LEVEL 3
Mask Enchantment [Cosmic]
WIZ Cost: 8
Range: That of the enchantment masked.
Duration: If a follow-up spell is not cast within 10 minutes, the protection fizzles, and the WIZ is lost. Otherwise, until the masked enchantment vanishes or the spell is negated. (See below for additional rules regarding negation and power ups).
Power up? Yes, see below:
Description: With the exception of elven heritage , nothing is more shameful than needing performance enhancing magics to perform basic dwarven tasks. If successfully cast, this spell will block the next enchantment cast from Detect Magic and Omnipotent Eye spells. Of course, it will not affect the basic senses, so if the user casts a Hellbomb Burst afterwards, only magic detection will be fooled as to the nature of the destruction.

If an Omnipotent Eye is cast directly at the object of enchantment, the Eye still reveals nothing, but the Mask vanishes. Every level higher level of the spell provides an additional layer of protection. So if a caster uses a fourth-level Mask (i.e. one above base), it will take two Omnipotent Eyes to make the enchantment vulnerable to magical detection.

Burning Beard [Conjuring]
WIZ cost: 8
Range: 20 feet.
Duration: Until the caster—who must be within range--cancels it, or the affected dwarf loses consciousness. (Prevents smoking-in-bed style accidents and is a sure-way of judging who loses a drinking contest.)
Power Up? No.
Description:  What was designed as a permanent and particularly nasty curse for a former lover of Lady S-- now survives in a more utilitarian form. The dwarf’s beard burns, giving off heat and light, but neither consumes the beard nor hurts the dwarf.  Keep in mind only extreme circumstances might cause a dwarf to cast this on himself—or others, for elven magic, if not quite taboo, is certainly gauche.


(Un)fairer Sharer [Conjuring]
WIZ Cost: 10
Range: 50 feet radius +25 per caster’s level.
Duration: Until cancelled or target goes out of sight or hearing range of the caster.
Power Up? Yes, details below:
Description: Designed for the mines but usable on fishing boats, in the fields come harvest time, or when diving into the kind of loot pile seen only in illustrations. This one gleans the wealth from other carts/baskets—spiriting away percentages of a particular element/food item from the target’s container to the caster’s. The base is 5% per hour, at the end of which the target makes a fourth-level saving roll on IQ to see if he notices the missing metal.

In terms of powering the spell up, for every additional level, the caster can:
1.    Add another target.
2.    Increase the gain from one target by 5%, also giving the target a +3 on the saving roll.
3.    Add two levels to any one target’s saving roll.
A wise caster will use these options to maximize gain, minimize risk.

A few notes:
1.    While multiple instances of the spell can co-exist, each must select a single targeted metal/food item.
2.    Because of the potential for taxation without notification and the resultant uprisings, most urban areas invest significant resources insuring the spell is neither cast, nor taught, nor learned.
3.    Accordingly, as severe as the punishment may be for using this spell, in the interest of maintaining civic order, making an unsupported accusation of its use should be a capital offense. (GM’s can adjudicate what defines sufficient support.)

{Thanks to Kopfy, Cartomancer, and the press agent of M’ozzesss for unknowingly providing inspiration. They are not to be held responsible for results of my research.}


Copyright © 2012, David Moskowitz
Artwork free for use clip art