The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed
The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed
188 A Final Word on Boneforging Boneforging is the greatest of the gifts of Azzanoth the Glutton to the Kanahraun who worship him, but some Games Masters may feel these items are too powerful for their campaigns. In any event, Games Masters are encouraged to strictly limit boneforged items, as the secrets of their construction are the sole purview of the feral drow, who do not sell or trade them to any other race. There are other routes Games Masters may consider to limit the power of boneforged items, should it be considered necessary. For example, it may be that all energy-draining weapons inflict this damage on target and wielder both, or that they only function a limited number of times. Alternatively, Games Masters may wish to rule that any creature slain with an energy-draining boneforged weapon will rise as the same type of undead from which the bone was originally taken, a being obsessed with finding and killing the individual that condemned him to this unlife. More drastically, Games Masters may wish to rule that boneforging cannot be used to create magical items. In summary, boneforging is a marvellous way to depict the savagery and depravity of the feral drow, but as always, the final decision lies with the Games Master. Lifebinding The process of lifebinding was first discovered by the clergy of Ydrillia, She of the Veil. However, they did not hold the secret for long before it was stolen, and knowledge of lifebinding is now widespread amongst the drow. The clergy of Ydrillia never identified the thief who first took the knowledge from them, and though thousands of years have passed, they have never ceased looking to exact vengeance. Through lifebinding, a spellcaster creating a magical item may use a willing or unwilling sacrifice to provide a portion of the experience point cost, literally ripping away part of the sacrifice’s soul to power his latest magical creation. This may also be done for spells that require the expenditure of experience points, such as wish. Whether the sacrifice is willing or unwilling, he is unable to generate more than half the experience points needed for any given purpose. The remainder must be provided by the drow performing the sacrifice and creating the magical item. Unlike the caster, it is quite possible for the sacrificial creature to lose one or more levels through this process, but as the ritual also involves his painful death, the loss of levels is likely to be the least of his worries. Obviously, the amount of experience the sacrifice can donate to the ritual is also limited by the amount of experience points the sacrifice actually has; no more than half of the sacrifice’s total experience points may be used in the ritual of lifebinding. The lifebinding ritual allows only one sacrifice, be it willing or unwilling, to be used in magic item construction. Thus, the spellcaster must be prepared to donate at least half the experience point cost to create the magic item. A willing sacrifice may give half of his experience points to the ritual, but an unwilling sacrifice may fight against his tormentor even to his death, holding his soul together by strength of mind as the drow performing the lifebinding attempts to extract it. In game terms, this struggle is expressed as a Wisdom ability check. The unwilling sacrifice must roll on the chart below, and the result of his Wisdom ability check will determine the percentage of his experience points wrested from him in the lifebinding ritual. If the unwilling sacrifice succeeds mightily on his Wisdom ability check, he deprives the drow performing the ritual of all but a small portion of his experience points. The drow must then make up the remainder himself. Obviously, a willing sacrifice is better for the lifebinding ritual, but such a sacrifice is much more difficult to obtain than an unwilling one. However, using an unwilling
Unwilling Sacrifice Wisdom Check Wisdom Check Result Percent of Total Experience Drained 26+ 5% 23-25 10% 20-22 15% 18-19 20% 16-17 30% 14-15 40% Less than 14 50% sacrifice holds dangers beyond merely obtaining less experience points than expected. An unwilling sacrifice may very well ruin the item entirely. Forcing a traumatised soul into the delicate process of magic item creation can have a number of unexpected effects on the final product. A resisting sacrifice may, as his last, unwitting act of defiance, alter or spoil the item fabrication procedure, making the item less useful, utterly useless or even quite dangerous to touch. Despite these concerns, the opportunity to offset half the experience point cost of creating a magical item is more than enough incentive for most drow spellcasters to use lifebinding whenever possible. The exact effects that a resisting sacrifice can have on the lifebinding ritual vary with the nature of the item under construction. To determine what, if any, impact the unwilling soul has on the final magical item, find the appropriate table below and roll 1d20. This roll is modified by the difference in levels between the spellcaster performing the lifebinding ritual and the unwilling sacrifice. For this purpose, only the spellcaster’s level in the class he is using to create the item is counted (for example, a drow with four levels of fighter and five levels of wizard would be counted as a 5 th level character). However, the total levels of the sacrifice (before the loss of any experience points due to the lifebinding) are counted for the purposes Potions Roll Effect 1-14 Potion functions normally 15-16 Potion functions normally, but with additional unwanted effect 17 Potion is inert 18 Poison I 19 Poison II 20 Poison III of this check. Therefore, if the drow mentioned above were to be an unwilling sacrifice, rather than the performer of the ritual, he would be counted as a 9 th level character. For every level by which the spellcaster exceeds the sacrifice, subtract one from d20 roll. Conversely, for every level the sacrifice exceeds the spellcaster, add one to the d20 roll. No matter what the result, the experience points of both the sacrifice and the spellcaster are considered spent. Monsters as Lifebinding Sacrifices A drow may certainly use a monster as his sacrifice for the lifebinding ritual. The only true stipulation is that the sacrifice must be sentient, as the gods of the drow will be unimpressed if one of their followers kills a simple gursk in hopes of making a magical item. To assess the number of experience points that can be gleaned from a monster as a lifebinding sacrifice, simply determine its effective character level by adding together its Hit Dice and its level adjustment (if any). Assume the monster has the minimum experience required to meet its effective character level. Potions The lifebinding ritual is rarely used to prepare potions, as their cost in experience points is slight enough that it is simply not worth the time, trouble or risk to a spellcaster. However, many inexperienced drow cut their teeth in the lifebinding ritual by first using it in the creation of potions. 189
- Page 140 and 141: 138 In such a campaign, the drow wo
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- Page 156 and 157: 154 The Pitiless Blade Class Levels
- Page 158 and 159: 156 raiders, drow who are charged w
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- Page 162 and 163: 160 Shadow of Mu’Ushket Class Lev
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- Page 166 and 167: 164 The Taskmaster of Olyet’Naru
- Page 168 and 169: 166 Tormentor of Polshoath The wors
- Page 170 and 171: 168 Grip of Torment (Su): By the ti
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- Page 174 and 175: 172 effect is identical to the inse
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- Page 178 and 179: 176 The Elven Avenger Class Levels
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- Page 182 and 183: 180 Normal: When you climb any surf
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- Page 192 and 193: 190 Scrolls Roll Effect 1-16 Scroll
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- Page 198 and 199: 196 If the victim makes his initial
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- Page 222 and 223: 220 Combat The druuge prefers to at
- Page 224 and 225: 222 Hulurn Medium Animal Hit Dice:
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188<br />
A Final Word on Boneforging<br />
Boneforging is the greatest of the gifts of Azzanoth the<br />
Glutton to the Kanahraun who worship him, but some<br />
Games Masters may feel these items are too powerful<br />
for their campaigns. In any event, Games Masters are<br />
encouraged to strictly limit boneforged items, as the secrets<br />
of their construction are the sole purview of the feral drow,<br />
who do not sell or trade them to any other race.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are other routes Games Masters may consider to limit<br />
the power of boneforged items, should it be considered<br />
necessary. For example, it may be that all energy-draining<br />
weapons inflict this damage on target and wielder both,<br />
or that they only function a limited number of times.<br />
Alternatively, Games Masters may wish to rule that any<br />
creature slain with an energy-draining boneforged weapon<br />
will rise as the same type of undead from which the bone<br />
was originally taken, a being obsessed with finding and<br />
killing the individual that condemned him to this unlife.<br />
More drastically, Games Masters may wish to rule that<br />
boneforging cannot be used to create magical items.<br />
In summary, boneforging is a marvellous way to depict the<br />
savagery and depravity of the feral drow, but as always, the<br />
final decision lies with the Games Master.<br />
Lifebinding<br />
<strong>The</strong> process of lifebinding was first discovered by the<br />
clergy of Ydrillia, She of the Veil. However, they did not<br />
hold the secret for long before it was stolen, and knowledge<br />
of lifebinding is now widespread amongst the drow. <strong>The</strong><br />
clergy of Ydrillia never identified the thief who first took<br />
the knowledge from them, and though thousands of years<br />
have passed, they have never ceased looking to exact<br />
vengeance.<br />
Through lifebinding, a spellcaster creating a magical<br />
item may use a willing or unwilling sacrifice to provide<br />
a portion of the experience point cost, literally ripping<br />
away part of the sacrifice’s soul to power his latest magical<br />
creation. This may also be done for spells that require the<br />
expenditure of experience points, such as wish.<br />
Whether the sacrifice is willing or unwilling, he is unable<br />
to generate more than half the experience points needed<br />
for any given purpose. <strong>The</strong> remainder must be provided<br />
by the drow performing the sacrifice and creating the<br />
magical item. Unlike the caster, it is quite possible for<br />
the sacrificial creature to lose one or more levels through<br />
this process, but as the ritual also involves his painful<br />
death, the loss of levels is likely to be the least of his<br />
worries. Obviously, the amount of experience the sacrifice<br />
can donate to the ritual is also limited by the amount of<br />
experience points the sacrifice actually has; no more than<br />
half of the sacrifice’s total experience points may be used<br />
in the ritual of lifebinding. <strong>The</strong> lifebinding ritual allows<br />
only one sacrifice, be it willing or unwilling, to be used<br />
in magic item construction. Thus, the spellcaster must be<br />
prepared to donate at least half the experience point cost to<br />
create the magic item.<br />
A willing sacrifice may give half of his experience points<br />
to the ritual, but an unwilling sacrifice may fight against<br />
his tormentor even to his death, holding his soul together<br />
by strength of mind as the drow performing the lifebinding<br />
attempts to extract it. In game terms, this struggle is<br />
expressed as a Wisdom ability check. <strong>The</strong> unwilling<br />
sacrifice must roll on the chart below, and the result of his<br />
Wisdom ability check will determine the percentage of<br />
his experience points wrested from him in the lifebinding<br />
ritual.<br />
If the unwilling sacrifice succeeds mightily on his Wisdom<br />
ability check, he deprives the drow performing the ritual of<br />
all but a small portion of his experience points. <strong>The</strong> drow<br />
must then make up the remainder himself.<br />
Obviously, a willing sacrifice is better for the lifebinding<br />
ritual, but such a sacrifice is much more difficult to obtain<br />
than an unwilling one. However, using an unwilling