Pain

Pain magic is an unusual and dark form of magic typically only practiced by sadistic and/or masochistic mages. In order to fuel the magic, one must draw upon the energies created through causing immense pain, unleashing psychological and bodily torment.

Torture

Torture is required in order to fuel your magic; either by inflicting pain to yourself or an unwilling individual, or inflicting psychological torment to victims.

Self-Flagellation
The least dark form of Pain magic involves harming yourself instead, however even still flagellation is rarely as far as it goes for those wanting to explore its power. A scant few are able to incorporate only self-flagellation and avoid the darker energies available but these are few and far between and are normally tied to religious or monastic orders. In order to benefit from this you must deal at least 1 Hit Point damage to yourself as part of casting the spell, upon doing so you activate the Tier 1 effect of the listed Pain spell you wish to cast.

Physical Torture
Physically tormenting individuals with blades, cudgels, or other such weaponry is easy both on the battlefield and off the battlefield. If you would deal at least 1 Hit Point of damage to an opponent you can choose to cast the spell or try to prolong their pain before casting the spell. Prolonging the pain involves another attack roll against the Physical Defense and Bodily Defense of the individual, and if both succeed you can activate the Tier 2 effect of a Pain spell you wish to cast. If you don't prolong the pain, you can activate the Tier 1 effect.

Psychological Torment
Sometimes more permanently damaging than the injuries inflicted by weapons, psychological torment cuts deep and leaves long-lasting emotional scars in those its inflicted upon. Upon reducing a target's Resolve or Sanity through the use of the Intimidate skill you can make another Intimidate check against their Mental Defense, this time at a +5 to the roll. This intimidate check is done as part of casting the Pain spell, and on a success you're able to activate the Tier 1 effect of the spell. If combined with Physical Torture you can activate the Tier 3 effect of the Pain spell in question.

Tiered Spells

Pain spells are unique in that they are segmented into three different tiers of effectiveness, all determined by the amount of pain inflicted upon casting the spell. Due to the presence of the tier system, not inflicting pain before casting a Pain spell results in a worthless spell fizzling out not long after being cast. In order to activate Tier 3 effects, you must not only physically break someone but also psychology break them.

Gag of Hell

Spellcasting DC: See below| MP Cost: 6 | Duration: Instantaneous | Range: 6 squares

You create a flaming gag which latches itself to your victim's face, horrifically burning and scarring them. You make your Spellcasting roll against their Physical Defense.

• Tier 1: The opponent takes 1d4 fire damage bypassing armor, and they can't speak for 1 round thereafter.

• Tier 2: The opponent takes 2d6 fire damage bypassing armor, and they can't speak for 1d4+1 rounds thereafter.

• Tier 3: The opponent takes 4d6 fire damage bypassing armor, and they can't speak or breathe causing them to begin suffocating.

Diabolic Aura

Spellcasting DC: 30 | MP Cost: 10 | Duration: 1 day | Range: Self or target touched

A malicious evil aura surrounds you, deviously feeding upon the contempt of others in an attempt to force them to act out of character. People willingly try to avoid you unless you deliberately approach them. You and your allies are unaffected by the compelling aura if you or an ally were the one to cast the spell.

• Tier 1: Righteous individuals are unsettled around you with holy men and knights alike seeing you as aberrant and potentially dangerous. They will attempt to accost you to question what you're doing, and are prone to making a scene if you make them.

• Tier 2: Righteous individuals are deeply disturbed by your presence, and wish nothing to do with you. Animals and people alike try to avoid you out of fear, and defenders of the peace (such as knights) will attempt to arrest you, often without legal precedent or any truly lawful claim.

• Tier 3: Damn near everyone who meets you wishes they hadn't, your aura causes animals and people alike to flee in fear and just being within the same city as righteous individuals causes their stomachs to begin churning and causes them to sweat and begin fearing for their life. Anyone who chooses not to flee from you instead makes an attempt to attack and kill you on sight, trying to commit murder all so they can remove your presence.

GM's Note: This spell is very much intended to sow discord and chaos into an area where this occurs. If the player places the spell upon themselves the encounters aren't meant to be difficult (if battle occurs) but is instead meant to paint an individual or organization poorl for even attempting such a thing. If an enemy is using this spell, they must make a Spellcasting check against the Mental Defense of players who would be compelled to attack them.

Melancholy

Sellcasting DC: 35 | MP Cost: 14 | Duration: 1 day per Primary Attribute | Range: N/A (see description)

Upon casting this spell you must choose a victim who will receive this curse, and must have a strand of their hair, blood, or something from the person's body which can be used to link the spell to them. After casting the spell the target has a Spellcasting check made against their Mental Defense, and on a successful hit they are afflicted with this curse. See the tiers below for the effects.

• Tier 1: The individual experiences intense emotions of dread and lethargy, acquiring the Depression mental illness for the duration of the spell.

• Tier 2: The victim saddled with this curse finds no enjoyment in anything they do, toiling away in life and feeling like nothing will pull them from this hole. In addition to the effects of Tier 1, the individual also begins to seclude themselves away from their allies and friends, choosing to be alone and staying out of large social gatherings as much as possible.

• Tier 3: The victim afflicted with this curse is thrust into a supernaturally powerful black hole of emotion and thought, sucking all of the life from them as well as all of their hopes and dreams - including ones which they didn't know they had but now are lost. This act causes them to go into a vegetative state for the duration of the spell until the final day, where they will attempt to commit suicide. They are also counted to be suffering from the effects of the Depression mental illness but double the penalties from it in any action not related to committing suicide.