Level 1 Sorcerer Reversed Spells

Wyrmbreath

As Dragonbreath, but unleash a blast of icy cold air with Speed 10 but doing 1d6 + 8 damage. If the GM is feeling generous, this can be used for some utility purposes (putting out fire, creating chill water and so on).

Ghost Image

Creates an image that is obviously false, but can be made to move around, though complex movement are impossible (no swinging of arms for a human person). Useful when you need to conjure floating daggers in front of potential usurpers.

Pain Touch

Does 2 points of HP damage to a person touched by the caster, or in other way in contact within 2m (such as through a weapon). This allows the target to make a Magic Defence roll. Armour does not protect against the damage.

Lunar Eclipse

Create a shade of darkness that plunge the surrounding area (5m in radius) into dimness. It is not completely dark (if it was dim before, then it is), but only those with darkvision could see clearly.

Portal

The original Portal spell is originally 2 spell in one (Close Portal and Open Portal)!

Strengthen

Grants the target (within 10m) +1 Attack and +1 damage in combat.

Level 2 Sorcerer Reversed Spells

Hide Aura (expired when dispelled)

Dampen the Sorcerer’s innate magical aura, making him more difficult to be detected as a Sorcerer. The aura can be extend by 2m in a sphere for every 1 extra MP used. It can also be cast on a magical item to prevent its true nature to be known. If a Sorcerer or any other magic-using profession attempt to use a spell to detect auras, treat the Hide Aura spell as a specialised Magic Wall. Magic cast within a Hide Aura, if its level is equal or lower than the MP invested in it, would not be picked up by any magic users.

Mana Lash

As Inflict Wound, but cause the opponent to lose 4 points of Mana instead of 5 points of HP.

Veil Against Unnatural Eyes (Spell Expiry Roll)

Range: 5m
Area of Effect: 2m

Creates an area that is blocked from spells such as Peer and Scry.

Lure Undead

As Hold off the Dead, but this time it lures the undead towards the target, but if they fail their magical defence. This can be tactically useful in some instance, for unless the undead is intelligent, it would just move in easiest method to the caster. Even if there is a pit in front of it.

Wither

This clears a patch of vegetation equal 2m in radius within a range of 15m of the Sorcerer. Trees, weeds, undergrowth and bushes would just wither away, as if water is being siphoned out of them directly and crumble into dust. This spell has no effect on human and other living creatures. Good for removing thick cover quickly.

Warrior’s Luck

Instead of adding -2 to an attacking creature’s hit roll, the Sorcerer gains a +2 on all hit-rolls.  The Sorcerer may cast this spell and attack immediately.

1. The Order of Saint Leondra is dedicated to perserving the history and lore of the True Faith, for they believe faith in the True Faith comes from knowledge and the words of the Saviour. The monks were (are?) holy men, and now cadavers, they persisted in their tasks even though long dead. They had been the source for religious texts (which were then sent to the churches to be distributed). A thing has happened of late, though. The Archbishop of Albion, seeking to soldify support for the unpopular King, wished to amend some of the old text. This, the Order of Saint Leondra, opposed. The Archbishop has declared that those ‘undead monsters’ are to be wiped out and have been sending in adventurers in. Would the PCs be part of the cleansing, or help to preserve the order?
2. Those are not monks of a religious order, but actually the followers of an old god, a thing that walked between voids and blotted out the stars and sun when it did. The tomes which they are writing are actually teachings of a cult that worship the old god, and it was left to those undead monks because anyone who spent sufficient time writing those text would turn insane. Now they are writing it in quantities. Who is going to distribute them?
3. An important text which the adventurers need to further their goal was destroyed during a purging by witch-hunters. All copies of it were burned to ashes. But there is a rumor of a certain place where the library is stocked with all types of ancient tome, and its inhabitants work tirelessly to preserve all knowledge. Yet could the adventurers just marched into a monastery of undead monks and get away with it. What do dead people want from the adventurers in return?

1. Guests of a Different Sort: The lord has a knacks of picking up friends, and one group of them is faerie creatures who dwell there. How the lord struck up a friendship with the fay is a long story. None of the servants were involved in the preparation of the feast. They knew nothing about it but had some details. If the adventurers barge out into the exclusive feast, the faeries would be curious and welcoming, but the lord would be very nervous. The reason? Etiquette. The fay observed a large numbers of strange and obscure customs, and if the adventurers offend anyone of them, the result would be ugly…which may lead to the adventurers being embroiled into any number of adventures.
2. The Forever Feast: If the adventurers barge out, they would be shocked at the guests. They are cadavers, those who are dead but remained alive due to sheer force of will, a sense of mission and perhaps because of their deities’ blessings. Among the guests joining in the revel would be another fabled heroes and immortals. It seems that this minor lord has made quite a connection! The reason why the lord forbids other guests from joining because the experience usually left the guest shocked, horrified and enthralled, all at the same time. However, if the adventurers are worth their salt, they may be able to dine with a long dead champion of the Selentine Empire – and who knows what sort of troubles the adventurers would be getting themselves into!
3. Curious Cusine: The lord over the years have acquired a taste for exotic food, from wanderers in the regions and other visitors. The midnight feasts featured ways of cooking and preparing food that are distasteful to many, and may feature ingredients that would upset even the staunchest of stomach (the GM may decide to include human flesh). If the adventurers are found out sneaking about, they may be involved in the preparation of the next meal (“I have yet to try the taste of tiger meat being roasted with fires of wizardry!”)

1. This cave is the ancient observatory used by a civilisation long ago to observe the movement of the heavenly bodies. The mirror are out of sync with each other, and by arranging them correctly, one would be able to see stars and planets, some unknown to modern astrologers, reflected on the mirror of the ice. However, whoever built this tool has foretelling the future in mind too, for glyphs of all sorts surround the edge of the mirror. A sage coming with the expedition with the adventurers deduce that some disaster is able to happen. Should the adventurer trusts the sage, or do some more digging of their own? There are, after all, libraries of text hidden in acloves around the caves.
2. The Mirror of Ice is used as a form of a signaling device. When the mirrors are aligned correctly, and a flame lit on a great brazier at the top of a platform, the smaller mirrors will direct the light to the great mirror of ice, and it would be reflected out to the sea. The question is : for whom is the signal for? What if the adventurers accidentally woke up some ancient races beneath the sea? Or maybe this is what the sponsor of this trip really wants?
3. The Mirror of Ice is an abandoned project which was never completed. The goal of the project is to direct the lights of the stars of the Five Magus (see Dragon Warriors, or Bloodsword) into a an ancient artefact which would provide warmth and regulate the weather around the region. The region used to be warm and temperate, but due to the movement within the faerie realms, the climate changes and the mages of the land scrambled for a solution. The solution did work, but has such a baneful effect that they believe it is better to abort it. Now someone is attempting to direct the light of the five sorcerous stars into one beam once more…

1. The dreamer was a Mystic, who volunteered to be bury alive, to combat a malign evil that lurked within the region. The priest of one of the old kings of Elleseland was determined to deny the invaders the land that was his home, even if it means destroying it. Invoking a pact with one of the Old Gods, he became a spirit which would spread desolation, plague and famine across the land. The Mystic, an skilled Adept, bound herself to the tomb of the dead priest, and fought back in her dreams. She is no dead, as folktales suggest, but rather in a trance. Apparently she is losing the fight. Perhaps the adventurers could lend a hand.
2. Shalloweaves is in fact bordering on the domain of the fey; the faeries and the villagers living there reached a pact long ago that they would live in peace and would leave the ancient boundaries stones, which mark the start and end of each domain, alone. As the faerie realm existed in an ‘other-space’, they have little way of knowing what is happening in the mortal realm without sending frequent scouts, which the mortals rather not happened. Hence one of the faerie became the ‘dreamer’, retreating to a grove and put herself into a trance whereby she is able to observe the behaviour of the mortals and ensure that they keep the pact. Her actions suggest that she is getting increasing erratic. Perhaps mad. But before the adventurers take any action against her, maybe they should try to inform the faerie folks too, before this crisis escalate.
3. The founder of the village was a gentle deaconess of the True Faith who when on her death bed, expressed her dying wishes, which is to be buried in a grove where she loved to mediate. Due to her devotion, the grove eventually became sacred (though theologists and arcanists believed other factors may be involved). The deaconness found herself, in the afterlife, to be bound to the village who she had found and had been watching over it. Eventually, the origin of Shalloweaves was forgotten, and the hidden presence which sometimes made herself known in others’ dreams and changing the weather became known as the ‘dreamer’. Her recent dreams seems to be hinting at a threat against Shalloweaves; the villagers which the beasts are aggressive against seems to have some part to play in it, and whether the weather swollen with unexpected rain, those seem to be perfect days for rituals. However, whoever is planning some nefarious plans in Shalloweaves has gain a understanding of the spirit who is foiling his plan. The adventurers would have to act fast.

1. Occasionally, a Titan (see Dragon Warrior Bestiary) is trapped in this plane of existence; but what happens this time is even more drastic. A group of Titan hunters have emerged to this plane, and for some reason, they are unleashing storms wherever they go. An Air Elementalist, toying with the limits of his power, have accidentically creates a sentinel air elemental. The Elementalist had in mind a spell of destruction, and the air elemental uses its power to bring across the most destructive force of air that it could find and bring it to this plane. The Titan hunters percieved the sudden shifting of plane as a delibrate attack and insult to their honour, and they will be leaving a trail of destruction till they find this Elementalist.
2. Thick, broiling clouds follow the storm wherever it goes, and survivors have claimed that they had see a “ship of stone” within the cloud. It seems to be made be made entirely of granite and precious stones though no one could get a clear view of it. If divination magic is used, the ship is clearly the source of the storm. Boarding it would require the adventurers to have some way to fly. Within the ship, crystal golems protect and operate it; they do not appear to be hostile. Their leader, also a golem, explained that this ship was created thousands of years ago, and only recently was reactivated. It seems that someone else have been here before and tamper with the enchantments on the ship so that now it is causing such destructions. The adventurers may venture to fix, but the catch is that the golems are just acting friendly, being somehow converted to the cause of the interuder and since they are not alive, no ESP or methods of prying into their mind is going to reveal this.
3. The storm seems to follow a predetermined path, targeting major cities, trade hubs and farms. This is prelude to an invasion. In order to take back Ellseland (see Dragon Warriors) from the ‘invaders of the south’, a charismatic warlord who has claimed descent from the original kings of the island have gathered a coven of Elementalists to summon this storm to wreck havoc. The display of magic is, however, usually beyond the means of mere mortal, even if they channelled their power together. The warlord has actually made a pact with a demon, who is marsquading as one of the Forgotten Gods of Ellseland, for his own goals and purpose. Would the adventurers be able to unmask the deception in time?

1. A Darkness Elementalist (from Dragon Warriors) is testing a theory that it is possible to animate shadows. Those shadow beings will feed off the life energy of their original body. It seems that he was successful, and soon news of shadow-beings  roaming the forests and attacking cities would reach the news of the adventurers. There is something gruesome about this whole set-up though. Killing those shadow-beings would end up killing the villagers; killing the villagers would also end the existence of those shadow-beings. Perhaps the best way to end the crisis is to track down the Darkness Elementalist, but he has already surrounded himself with many shadow-guards. Perhaps seeking the counsel of other Elementalists would shed some light on how to counter this crisis.
2. The gust of wind that sweeps through the village was an astral entity that had escaped from its dimension. It is a manifestation of light, a light spirit if one could define it, and it devours shadows in its path. As it gathers more and more shadows, it would take form as a colossal winged dragon of light. It has no moral, no code of ethics, it is just light. Strangely, it only steal shadows from living creatures, and soon those creatures over time would lose their soul and spirit. For animals, it would appear to be listless; for human beings, they would gradually become just walking corpse. Defeating the light-being would release the souls and spirits, but how do you defeat a creature of pure light which feeds on shadow? Another way is to re-open such a rift, and lure it back to where it belongs, but may also means the soul absorbed by the being would also be lost forever.
3. Not only did the villagers’ shadows disappear, so does a mist settles in the area. Visitors to the village sometimes reported seeing shadows stretched on the floor, but there aren’t anyone around. Worse still, those shadows seemed to have a life of their own, attacking people at times. Long ago an ancient wight-king was imprisoned here, upon the top of a hill where few would venture. If adventurers track the location of the unnatural wind, they would be able to find the entrance. The shadows are being manipulated by the wight-king and they could only be dispersed, not destroyed. Only by finding the wight-king and destroying him would the shadows be released. Over time, the villagers’ mind and will would be dominated by the vile undead; their behaviour would become erratic, friendly at first then becoming more and more hostile as time goes by.

Weapons does fixed amount of damage, but have different Armour Bypass Roll. Armour has an Armour Factor (AF) and to actually hurt the target, you would need to roll the weapon’s Armour Bypass Roll and exceed the AF. If not, your blow simply bounces off.

This is the basic mechanic used for resolving blasting spells too (Speed vs. Evasion) and indirect spells that in D20 would require a Will save (Magical Attack vs. Magcial Defence). With the basic rules out of the way, let’s see how we can have a mass mob combat consisting of hero characters and mooks.

Before we begin, a reminder – the purpose of one roll (or fewer rolls) combat is not to make it a replacement for full fledge combat. It is more for pacing, setting the scene and making combat a ‘strategic game’ instead of micro-management, tactical ones. Hence, the player, when he makes a choice, actually lasts for a few round.

Combat Actions with Attributes

Dragon Warriors, unlike Fate, is not skill-based; this poses a difficulty as this reduces the amount of options for non-combants (whose abilities are more useful when it comes to really tactical combat). Hence in this case the GM must prepare to use attribute checks to replace the usual Attack rolls. The standard attribute check is a 1d20 equal or under the relevant attribute. To simplify opposed rolls (Dragon Warriors do not have skills for opposed rolls), the target number to beat is the relevant attribute of the mob, or the GM can decide one.

Here are the five stats in Dragon Warriors, and here how you can use them for combat.

• Strength – feats of strength (push down a pillar to crush enemies), a throw
• Dexterity - tumbling, keeping out of the way of enemies, athletics
• Intelligence – trick or misdirect the enemy, coordinate the battle
• Psychic Talent - Ironically, I am drawing a blank here. This measures ESP, innate powers of magic and such, and has no use formally unless you are spell-caster.
• Looks – the ultimate dump stat  in Dragon Warriors (it’s a linear 3d6 anyway, so you don’t have much of a choice). Not much use in combat unless you determine that it also means charisma and leadership.

Combat Proper

First, we got to prepare the enemy, right? Take the usual stat for the enemy and for every extra in the group, give it +1 HP (so 5 goblins would get +4 HP).

Second, there is no need for Armour Bypass Rolls here. AF will reduce Combat Effectiveness. Shields bestowed +1 AF.

Third, let’s measure Combat Effectiveness for the party. Everyone will roll their Attack and attempt to hit as normal. Unlike usual combat, there is no missing. Everyone’s Combat Effectiveness (or CE) is equal to the “to-hit roll” (which is Attack – Defence) minus the roll of the 1d20. There are no criticals here. Total up the entire party’s CE.

Next, the enemy will attack too. Unless players come up with something crafty, everyone is going to be attacked. The enemy will just roll once and attempt to hit. That is it, no CE calculation. Every hit, if it does damage, will reduce the party’s CE by the damage inflicted. If the GM deems a party member is swamped (that is, attacked from all sides), give a bonus from +1 to +3 to their Attack score.

Finally, take the party’s CE and divide by the number of players (round up to the most convenient numbers to speed things up; so if you have 4 players, round up to multiples of 4 and so on). This is the amount of damage done.

Attribute Checks

Now, if one of the players decided to go for a strategy instead of wading into attack mode, he makes his attribute test as above. The degrees of success (which is the player’s attribute minus the number rolled, assuming that he rolled under) becomes the player’s CE. However, the GM should give a bonus depending on how effective the strategy is. A general who is trying to funnel his enemies through a chokepoint is doing more good than someone who is just trying to stay out from combat. Give a multiplier to the total CE (x2 for a good effect, x3 for something that would really turn the tide). I afraid it is totally GM’s fiat at this point.

Remember that there is no initiative whatsoever – so even if the adventurers achieve total overkill in the first exchange, the enemies still have a chance to attack for one exchange.

Spellcasting

Now this is a tricky thing – how do you factor in the effect of spells? All spells, as a rule, contribute to CE or directly takes away HP. As a rule of thumb, spells that disable enemies immediately reduce the mob’s HP by 1 for each mob disabled. For blasting spell, treat it as an attack using the spell’s Speed as the attack roll and the enemy’s Evasion as the defence roll. However, do not add the damage to the CE unless it is an area of effect spell. If it is single target spell, add the rank of the spell. If it is an area of effect spell, then roll for damage and add the result to CE.

Spells with Expiry Rolls are presume to last for the entire battle. If a spell has no formal rules for combat but inflicts a certain condition, reduce the enemy’s Attack and Defence roll accordingly. In a pitch, have the sorcerer to test his Psychic Talent and add it to the rank of the spell and come up with a multiplier depending on how ingeniously the spell is used to come up with the CE.

How many spells can a sorcerer/warlock cast per exchange? For sanity sake, it is good to limit to one, as an exchange usually consists of a minute and a sorcerer can cast 10 spells (each round is 6 seconds). If it is an issue, set a formal length of tme for each exchange. Remember that the magic points must be expended for spellcasting and mystics must make fatigue rolls.

Is this workable?

The next question on my mind (and perhaps for any reader) is – is this combat any more fun? Faster? Hopefully someone would playtest this!

Next up, tackling a roll under game – Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying.

1. A few records of Taidezi arrived at Ellesland, probably smuggled out from the country (for those are all considered Imperial treasures) and sorcerers, sages and scholars are scrambling to get their hand on it. Meanwhile, Imperial agents from Khitai have arrived, determined to retrieve the star charts at all cost. If the adventurers meet them, the agents would explain it is more than a matter of pride – the charts itself contain the exact arrangement of “A Doom of the Sky”, a time when the “celestial lights are in disharmonious accord” which made it easier to summon demons and fiends to the world.
2. A merchant, gifted with a star chart of Taidezi from a high ranking Khitian officer, had a few of his scholarly friends examine it and all went away puzzled. The stars are all in a strange arrangement which does not match those of western astrology and the scholars come to the conclusion that either there is something they didn’t know or the chart is a fraud. Yet when the merchant accidentally hang the chart in front of a mirror, certain of the arrangement begin to form Khitian characters! What is the secret hidden within the star chart?
3. Taidezi did more than just record down the arrangement of the stars. He reconstructed them, using the resources of powerful warlords, sorcerers and Imperial Ministers whom were his patrons. He predicted the time when he would die, and retreated into the Sixty-Four-Fold Celestial Formation, a hilly and forested region of natural wonders, with iron pillars erected at certain positioned. If one would climb the Mountain of the Heavenly Wonders and looked down, those pillars would form the major constellations of the Khitian sky. Yet why did Taidezi create such a formation? There are legends that this formation actually channeled the raw Yin and Yang enegry towards its centre, and there Taidezi still live, observing and studying the stars. If  the adventurers are in need of sagely advice, Taidezi and the Sixty-Four-Fold Celeistal Formation is a place to go.

Now entombed within his mound upon an island in a lake, it is said that his malice and bitterness had posioned the waters itself, and wards have been set by the priests of the True Faith to keep his evil in check. Yet recently, the wards seem to be losing its effect – thick rolling fog began to seep out from the lake, and many were found dead in their bed, dying from suffocation. Have the Revenant King come forth to avenge the cowardly attempt on his life?

When was not recorded in the accounts when the Seletine Legions invaded Ellesland were that many of the clans were willing to trade with the legion and found ways to avert wars. The Revenant King was once of those, and even in death his desire was for his people to prosper. Yet when many tenacious kings become malicious wights after their death, priests of the True Faith set up wards to fence them within their mounds. The Revenant King too was confined by such enchantment.

1. The wards are failing simply for one reason – the people of his old kingdom toil and suffered under the rule of the ruthless nobles and the corrputed clegry. Those the serfs and the smallfolks were not of his own people, the Revenant King sees them as his subjects for they live on the land that he once rules. The suffering of the people feeds his fury, which destroys the ward set to confined him. Those who are found dead in their beds are especially wicked men, though they may maintain pious fronts.  If the adventurers do not convince the Revenant King that mortal men could settle the injustice of his people, he may just marched forth and who knows what chaos this would cause?
2. Despite being interned and trapped within his mound, the Revenant King still has certain amount of power in guarding his land – most notably in keeping demonic foes at bay. Despite of not being the True Faith, the undead King was once pious and was proper in conduct, and such received the blessings of the Five Elements of the land. A certain cult, seeking to remove the Revenant King for he is an obstacle to one of their nefarious schemes, set about to secretily uproot the wards and commit murder, then using the priests to stir up adventurers to destroy the Revenant King. Only a certain scholar who has unearthed accounts of the King’s attempt to seek a peace treaty with the Selentine Empire may shed light on the true purpose of the cultists.
3. A certain sorcerer has broken through to the Revenant King, damaging the wards that had kept his power at bay as proof of his sincerity. He had sought an audience with the King and had convinced him the time is right to march upon the corrputed King Hadric of Ellesland, for his corrpution and incompotent rule. For some reasons, the sorcerer has earned the trust of the king and he began the campagin by killing of nobles and people of authority who could organise a proper defence. The next step would be to rise an undead army and then marched to the capital. However, if the adventurers attempt to track down the identity of the sorcerer, they would realise one thing eventually – he was the traitor who sold out the Revenant King’s route to his ambushers. Who is the sorcerer, what’s the secret of his longevity, and how does he get to play Merlin to the Revenant King? Would it be possible for the adventurers to expose the sorcerer’s deception?