Drow Magic. Sorcery Of Endless Night.pdf - RoseRed

BLACK CEREMONIES
and the skill associated with the final DC check. For
example, a dwarven ceremony which strengthens the
clan’s armour before battle would be based off the
skill Craft (armoursmith) and might involve dozens
of participants smashing hammer against anvil and
intoning ancient chants.
The black ceremony black sunrise, which turns the
sun dark and cold as obsidian, is based off Knowledge
(religion), requires the presence of hundreds of
participants and mandates the sacrifice of an avatar of
the Dark Mother of Spiders. Thus, the ceremony is an
orgy of blood and ecstatic worship, which can only be
conducted in areas of absolute darkness.
Once the format of the ceremony has been decided, all
that remains is to calculate the final check DC of the
ceremony and make the appropriate skill check. To
calculate the final check DC, simply add up the DC cost
of all the components (effect, materials, range, target,
duration); the total is the DC of the check.
The Key Participant
Each ceremony must have a key participant, the
character or Non-Player Character whose skill ranks
will actually serve as the base for the final skill check.
Typically, the key participant will be the ceremony
participant with the highest rank in the appropriate skill
(or the character with the highest ranks in Spellcraft).
For the drow and their black ceremonies, the key
participant is almost always a dark weaver (particularly
if the dark weaver has taken levels in the ceremony
master prestige class).
Though the key participant’s skill ranks will be used
as the base for rolling the final skill check to see if the
ceremony is performed successfully, there will be many
times when the DC is so prohibitively high that there
is no way that one individual, no matter how skilled,
can succeed at the check. To overcome this, the key
participant can designate a number of assistants equal to
his Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma modifier. With a
successful skill check against a DC of 20, each assistant
can add a circumstance bonus to the key participant’s
skill check equal to 5 + his relevant ability bonus (see
Advanced Aid Another).
Sub-checks: While the key participant can perform
any sub-checks which are associated with the magical
ceremony, he need not do so. Nor must his assistants
perform the checks. Instead, any participant involved
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Advanced Aid Another
The aid another option presented in Core Rulebook
I is very useful for allowing low level characters to
assist one another in the successful use of their skills.
It does, not however, provide enough of a bonus to
make it useful at higher levels. Using this option,
when a character makes a successful DC 20 skill
check (for which he cannot take 20), he can add a
total circumstance bonus equal to 5 + his relevant
ability bonus to another character’s check with the
same skill.
in the ceremony can be called upon to use the relevant
skill – it is for this reason that skilled dancers are called
upon to participate in the black ceremony of feasting.
Successful Final Skill Check
If the final skill check is successful, the ceremony is
carried through to completion without incident and its
effects, whatever they may be, occur immediately.
Failed Final Skill
If the final skill check to complete the ceremony fails,
then all the preparations and effort were for naught.
The ceremony’s effects do not occur and all materials
involved in the conducting of the ceremony are lost.
There may be other negative consequences associated
with the failed execution of a magical ceremony, but
these are left up to the Games Master’s discretion.
Sample Black
Ceremonies
The drow are the undisputed masters of ceremony
magic, having perfected literally hundreds of
ceremonies over the long ages of their imprisonment.
Their ceremonies are uniformly bloody, sinister affairs,
presided over by grim priestesses and dark weavers,
who lead their followers in the performance of acts
which devils would find repugnant.
The following black ceremonies are but a small
sampling of many. Use them as a guideline in the
creation of your own black ceremonies.
The following ceremonies are presented in a format
similar to spells, first listing the effect component, then
the material component, then range, target and duration.
Each entry closes with a description of the ceremony’s
effects and rituals involved in its conducting.