In the lands of Blood, magic is a potent and powerful force. At once the defense against demons and a status symbol, magic -- or at least, one version of it -- is as much a part of the world as the air we breathe.
In the lands of blood there are no gods or clerics. As such, sorcerers and wizards gain access to arcane and divine spells. If a spell lists both arcane and divine users, the sorcerer or wizard gets the arcane version, not the divine one.
This is the magic of the lands of blood, the source of power and the defense against demons. In old days it was called sorcery but sometime in the forgotten past it was changed into the blood magic. The changes resulting from this have been frightening and it was banned from all High Realms but Uld when the demons came. The fact that this dark magic proved the salvation of the lands is an irony lost on few who know what irony is. In game terms, spells cost a lot more than they normally do.
| TABLE One: Spell Cost for Sorcerer Divine and Arcane spells | ||||
| Spell Level | Hit Point Cost | Hit Point Cost | Sacrifice Cost* | Sacrifice Cost* |
| (for caster) | (for animal) | (blood) | (half blood) | |
| 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
| 1 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | 2 | 30 | 3 | 5 |
| 3 | 3 | 45 | 4 | 6 |
| 4 | 4 | 60 | 5 | 7 |
| 5 | 5 | 75 | 6 | 8 |
| 6 | 7 | 90 | 7 | 10 |
| 7 | 9 | 105 | 8 | 12 |
| 8 | 11 | 120 | 9 | 14 |
| 9 | 13 | 135 | 10 | 16 |
* Cost is quadrupled if the sacrifice is unwilling
Whats the above mean? Good question. Essentially, for every spell you cast, you pay in hit points for casting it. However, others hp can be used also. Animals hit points are listed and apply also to humans with no magic. Other sorcerers blood counts as full, so a level 1 spell could need 2 hit points given. half blood refers to those with sorcery who are multi-classed and thus have less energy to give. Anyone with even a single level in sorcerer qualifies as half blood for sacrificing.
When playing a sorcerer. the above table replaces you're spells cast, while your charisma modifier goes into your spells known.
As an added bonus, those with the blood can, for 5 hit points, coat their weapon in blood and make it +1. 5 more = +2 and so on. This effect lasts 10 minutes and can be done without knowlede of the magic weapon spell. It proved extremely effective against demons. It is possible to enchant objects etc using the same method. People, doors and the like cost 10 hit points, not 5, to enchant by this method.
Sorcerers have no spell limit to how many spells that can cast save their HP. For sorcerers, their Cha bonus for spells goes into the spells they know. Most blood tend to strive to keep very healthy as a result of this. The only limit the blood have with magic is they can't heal wounds done to themselves for spells with other spells. So a Cure Light Wounds spell would heal damage dealt to you, but only if the damaage wasn't done to aid in casting a spell.
In order to sacrifice your power to another you have merely to name them and cut yourself. if the sacrifice is willing, the wound will (rarely) leave a scar healing. Sacrificing oneself involves making the gestures for a spell and cutting yourself with some sort of blade or whatever. The HP needed for the spell is the amount of damage done. Obviously, for weapons such as daggers, it sometimes takes a cut or three to do enough damage to cast high level spells. Unwilling sacrifices, such as slaves, have the scars from being used as a source of magic remain, unhealable by any spell.
The ultimate power of the blood lies in blood. You pay your life for magic and magic is your life. With it, you can work spells and, sometimes, change the tide of battles, but at a high cost. For the sacrifice of yourself, you gain all your HP back + 10 and have 2 rounds to live. The HP can be spent to cast a spell, or if you spend 5 times the spells cost (or all your HP, if you can't do the former) you cast one of your spells to do its maxium possible effect you can do with the spell. Essentially, this is a suicidal attack. You lose all the HP at the end of the second round and will drop dead.
Other sacrifices for power are more insidious, and sometimes more costly. It is possible to sacrifice you're very self - i.e. your mind, speed, strength (any stat except Con or Cha) temporarily or permanently for magical gain. Stats sacked temporarily come back at the rate of 1 point a day. A temporary loss of 1 stat point gives the caster 1 hp / level (max of +10). Losing a permanent stat point gives you permamently +1 hp and 2 hp / level tempprary hit points. Both forms of hp bonuses have to be used in 12 rounds (2 minutes).
Things such as family heirlooms, sanity, friends, items you own and the like can be sacrificed also if you wish. The amount of hp gained depends on the importance and relevance of the sacrifice. Sacrificing too often will weaken any sacrifice.
Psionic powers are both very rare and very common, depending on where you are. In the Lands of Blood themselves these powers are extremely rare. In the jungles of the outland where the lizardfolk live, nearly all species have some psychic abilities. Such abilities are generally feared by spell casters since the lizard folk keep their knowledge of them secret. Anyone can find out what spells do, but psionics is much harder. In addition to this, magic has a harder time stopping psionic effects.
Psionics are different: This game variant means that, while Dispel Magic does work on psionic powers, the DC isn't 11 + the spell casters level but double that. So dispelling an Empathic Transfer cast by a level 3 psionicst has a DC of 17, not 14 for spell casters. The same holds true for Negate Psionics being used on magic but this isn't as well known.
Except for the addition of the Still Spell feat (at no cost whatsoever), wizards are the same as they are in the 3e phb. Sorcerer/Wizardss are illegal in all lands and stripped of their power when caught. In general, besides the use of blood, the primary difference between sorcerers and wizards is that wizards seek knowledge, while sorcerers seek either control over their ability or power in itself.
Game wise, a wizard can cast unlimited cantrips. Also, since Wizards learn magic-oriented feats quicker, they tend to make magical items more. Only wizards can research entirely new spells in this game. Lastly, the language used by wizard spellcasters to make magic is ancient and impossible to learn without training.
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