Backgrounds

d20 Result

1 Blacksmith - Your family apprenticed you to Carter, and you learned the basics of his trade.  Gain 1 rank in Craft (blacksmithing), and 2 ranks to place among Craft (blacksmithing), Craft (armorsmithing), or Craft (weaponsmithing).  These skills are considered class skills for the purposes of your maximum number of ranks.

2 Bookworm - Much to your family’s chagrin, you often shirked your chores and disappeared.  They knew where to find you, though--nose-deep in books at the library.  Gain 1 rank in Decipher Script, which counts as a class skill for purposes of maximum ranks.  If you have access to an adequate library (DM approval), you may spend one hour to make a Knowledge skill check.  You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on the check if you are trained in the Knowledge skill or may attempt the check with a -2 penalty if you are untrained.

3 Carpenter - Your father was a carpenter, and you spent your childhood at his elbow.  Gain 3 ranks in Craft (carpentry).  This skill is considered a class skill for the purposes of your maximum ranks.

4 Cook - Your mother shared her family recipes with you, and later got you a job in the kitchen of the inn.  Gain 3 ranks in Profession (cook).  This skill is considered a class skill for the purposes of your maximum ranks.  In addition, you may examine food and roll Profession (cook) to determine whether it is safe to eat.  The DM will determine the DC, based upon what may or may not be wrong with the food.

5 Criminal - Your family never earned an honest living, and neither did any of their friends.  Gain 1 rank in Bluff.  This skill is considered a class skill for purposes of your maximum rank.  You can spend 1d3 days tracking down a former associate to help you procure forgeries, illegal goods, or a buyer for items.

6 Doctor - You got hurt a lot as a child, and frequently spent time under Wilfred’s care.  During your convalescences, he taught you a thing or two.  Gain 2 ranks in Heal, which is considered a class skill for the purpose of your maximum ranks.

7 Entertainer - Your parents performed on the Scaleboards, and brought you in on the act.  Gain 2 ranks in a Perform skill that you did not already have.  That skill is considered a class skill for purposes of your maximum ranks.

8 Exile - Your family comes from somewhere else, but were exiled when you were very young.  You do not know why.  Sometimes, you daydream about a homeland you barely knew.  Gain one additional language.  You may take regional feats other than Bullheaded and Tireless (subject to DM approval).

9 Farmer - Your family is the reason Slanawall does not have to rely on the Empire to eat.  Well, part of the reason anyway.  Your father is fiercely proud, though your farm is humble.  Gain 1 rank in Knowledge (nature) and 1 rank in Profession (farmer).  These skills are considered class skills for purposes of your maximum ranks.

10 Jeweler - Your mother is the only jeweler in town.  She trades mostly in those jewels that come through the market, but occasionally a miner will bring her something shiny they found while looking for coal.  Gain 1 rank in Appraise and 1 rank in Craft (gemcutting).  These skills are considered class skills for purposes of your maximum ranks.

11 Left Behind - Many merchants, caravans, and pilgrims pass through Slanawall on their way to somewhere else.  Your parents were among them.  When they left, they left you behind.  After they did not come back for you, you were taken in and raised by locals.  Gain one additional language.  You may take regional feats other than Bullheaded and Tireless (subject to DM approval).

12 Mason - Your father is a member of the Mason’s Guild, and was bringing you up to join him before you got a notion to go adventuring.  Gain 1 rank in Craft (stonemasonry) and Knowledge (architecture and engineering).  These skills are considered class skills for purposes of your maximum ranks.

13 Extraordinary - roll on the Extraordinary Backgrounds table, then roll on this table again.  If your second roll is also Extraordinary, ignore it and roll again.

14 Merchant - Your mother taught you to haggle before you learned to speak, and you quickly developed an eye for quality in the markets around the crossroads.  Gain 1 rank in Diplomacy and 1 rank in Appraise.  Diplomacy is considered a class skill for the purpose of your maximum ranks.

15 Militia - Your older brother joined the militia, and would let you drill with him at home when your chores were done.  Gain Martial Weapon Proficiency in either the battlaxe, longsword, warhammer, glaive, or halberd.  If you are already proficient in all of these weapons, choose one and gain the weapon itself.

16 Miner - You are the third generation of your family to go under the ground to support Slanawall.  Gain 1 rank in Knowledge (dungeoneering) and 1 rank in Profession (miner).  These skills are considered class skills for the purpose of your maximum ranks.

17 Poverty - Your family never had much to go on, other than hope and the charity of others.  You were raised on the streets.  Gain 1 rank in Gather Information and 1 rank in Sense Motive.  These skills are considered class skills for purposes of your maximum ranks.

18 Riverboat Pilot - Your mother piloted a river barge that brought coal downriver to Dune, and returned with goods and supplies.  You learned the ins and outs of the trade.  Gain 1 rank in Handle Animal and 1 rank in Profession (riverboat pilot).  These skills are considered class skills for purposes of your maximum ranks.

19 Tanner - You father taught you to prepare and cure leather to make all sorts of useful items.  Gain 3 ranks in Craft (leatherworking).  This skill is considered a class skill for the purpose of your maximum rank.

20 Wild Thing - You grew up outside the polite confines of the village.  Maybe you were an orphan who refused charity.  Maybe your parents preferred to live as hermits.  Whatever the reason, you can get by pretty well without civilization.  Gain 2 ranks in Survival.  This skill is a class skill for the purpose of your maximum ranks.

Extraordinary Backgrounds (1d3 and 1d10)

d3 d10 Result

1 1 Haunted - Lots of people worship their ancestors.  Some even talk to them.  Yours talk back.  You are haunted by a particular ancestor who has taken far too much interest in your life.  Sometimes he provides helpful advice, but other times his presence is inconvenient at best.

1 2 Old Book - Your great-grandfather Æsc was rumored to have been a wizard.  When you came of age, you inherited his journal.  The journal is a spellbook, containing all 0th level spells, and 7 random 1st level spells (roll on Table 7-23, DMG, pg. 239).  The journal also has a tendency to absorb the reader's attention.  Any character reading the journal (including to prepare spells) must succeed at a DC 13 Will save or be fascinated by Æsc's stories.  The character may make a new Will save each hour until he/she succeeds.  If this rapture is disturbed by an outside influence, the character fails to prepare any spells from the book and must start over if he/she wishes to do so.

1 3 Family Heirloom - Your mother has given you a lucky feather, which has been passed down since your great grandmother stopped to pick it up and thereby avoided being killed by a runaway wagon.  Once per week, you may re-roll one d20 roll whose outcome directly effects you.  Should you lose or damage the feather, ill fate will surely befall you.

1 4 Family Heirloom - When you came of age, you were gifted with a longsword that has been in your family for generations.  Gain a masterwork longsword.  It is, of course, rumored to be cursed.  But who would believe such superstitious nonsense?  Surely not your grandfather, gods rest his soul, who fell to his death from a roof after he buried the sword in a field.  Nor your father, who was blinded in a mining accident after allowing the sword to rust.

1 5 Undead Bane - Many ages ago, so the stories go, the world was beset by a plague of undead.  Your ancestor valiantly fought against them.  Some of his spirit has been reborn in you.  You gain a +2 divine bonus to Will saving throws against undead.  The undead can sense your gift, and are likely to target you before others.

1 6 Betrayal - Centuries ago your ancestor committed a grave betrayal that resulted in the deaths of those who most trusted her.  She was cursed, and that curse, though diminished by time, has passed through her bloodline to you.  You gain a +2 bonus to Bluff checks.  Something about you just seems untrustworthy, though, requiring you to make a Bluff check to be believed, even when you are telling the truth.

1 7 Demon Consort - One of your ancestors learned forbidden knowledge and began summoning dark forces.  Whispers in the family suggest she did more than just summon them, and demon blood is suspected to run through your family.  You have electricity resistance 5.  You also have a faint aura of evil, irrespective of your actual alignment.

1 8 Obsessed - You were beaten in a test of skill.  Not only beaten, but embarrassed.  You must show the world that you are the best around.  Gain 1 rank in a skill of your choice (that can be used competitively).  This may temporarily put your ranks over 4 at 1st level, but does not otherwise alter your maximum.  There is an NPC who you must prove you are better than in this skill.  If you defeat him, you must look for another NPC to defeat, and so on.

1 9 Blood Debt - Your ancestor killed someone important, and that person has spent generations seeking revenge.  Gain a piece of masterwork equipment of your choice.  You are going to need it, with them coming after you.

1 0 Forbidden God - Centuries ago your family suffered a great loss, that of a child.  They felt abandoned by their gods, and reached out in their sorrow, yearning for a god they could believe in.  From deep in the outer realms of reality, something answered.  You worship a foreign god.  You gain a Domain feat for free.  You must worship secretly, or face the wrath and jealousy of other gods.  Their anger, however, does not compare to what your god would do should you betray him.

2 1 Forbidden Knowledge - You have come into possession of a book of forbidden lore.  As a full round action, you may refer to it to make a Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (history), or Knowledge (nature) skill check with a +2 circumstance bonus.  For five minutes thereafter, you suffer a -2 penalty to Wisdom ability and skill checks as your mind reels from the shock of what you have read.  If you are a wizard, once per month, you may attempt to learn a new spell from the book.  Refer to Table 7-22 (DMG, pg. 238).  Roll 1d6.  If the result is 1-3, roll under the Minor column.  If the result is 4-5, roll under the Medium column.  If the result is 6, roll under the Major column.  If the result is a spell whose level exceeds your abilities, you suffer 1 point of Wisdom drain.

2 2 Grievously Injured - You suffered a fatal injury, and were brought to Augra in an effort to save your life.  She poured all of the healing magic she could muster into you and saved your life--barely.  The injury has never fully healed, but neither has the magic fully ended.  Reduce your total hit points by 3 (minimum 1).  You gain the feat Faster Healing (CW, pg. 98).

2 3 Lucky - You were born under the omen of a shooting star.  It foretold luck for all your days.  You never stop to consider where that luck might come from.  Once per day you may re-roll a d20.  If you do, the DM gains the ability to force any player to re-roll one d20 that same day.

2 4 Faithful - You believe fervently in your god.  Gain the ability to use cure minor wounds, guidance, or resistance once per day as a spell-like ability.  Should you fail in your faith or devotion, you lose this gift forever.

2 5 Oracular Heritage - Seven generations ago your ancestor made a sacred pilgrimage to the mountain of Ghrian.  When he returned, he had the second sight.  He foretold that one day you would have it, as would your seventh descendant.  You are nowhere near as clairvoyant or famous as Augra, but you occasionally have a sense of what is to come.  Once per week, you may use augury as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to 1 + your Wisdom modifier.

2 6 Born under an Onyx Moon - You were born in the month when Ghaelach comes down to earth and walks among mortals.  Roll 1d4 to determine the phase of the moon under which you were born.  Crescent: 1/day you may use detect thoughts as a spell-like ability.  Half: 1/day you may use expeditious retreat as a spell-like ability.  Gibbous: 1/day you may use disguise self as a spell-like ability.  Full: 1/day you may use command as a spell like ability.  Any time the moon is in the same phase as your birth, you feel its pull.  During that one week per month you suffer a -2 penalty to Will saves.

2 7 Sickly but Studious - You suffered a grave illness as a child that left you bedridden for years.  Your legs never recovered, but you spent the time reading voraciously.  You gain the Lore ability (DMG, pg. 191), adding 1 + your Intelligence modifier to the check.  This 1 stacks with levels if you later gain Lore from another source.  Your movement is treated as though your load is one step heavier than it actually is (PHB, pg.162).  If you carry a heavy load, your movement speed is reduced a further 5 ft.

2 8 Which Came First - You received an egg.  It may have been in the family for some time, or it was given to you as payment for a favor by a mysterious stranger.  Or maybe you just found it in the wilderness.  Roll d% and the DM will describe the egg to you.  Who knows what might be inside?

2 9 The Workingest Class - You work hard; you play hard.  Gain the Tireless feat for free.  If you already have it, gain Toughness instead.  You are also an alcoholic.  You must make a DC 15 Will save to avoid drinking when given the chance.

2 0 Antiques Shitshow - You spent a lot of time examining antiques in the market.  From a distance.  After the first vase slipped through your butterfingers, the owners would not let you handle the merchandise.  You gain a +2 inherent bonus on Appraise checks, as well as Knowledge (history) checks regarding objects.  You are clumsy, and suffer a -2 penalty to Reflex saves involving manual dexterity.

3 1 Graywacke Survivor - You contracted a horrific mining disease, known as Graywacke.  When you cut your hand on the strange gray rock, you thought nothing of it.  When the gray began to spread from the wound over your skin, the seasoned miners had you isolated in a hut on the edge of town.  Miraculously, you survived, though the ugly patches of stone that cover your body betray your condition and hurts your ability to move gracefully.  You gain +1 natural armor, but suffer -1 armor penalty.

3 2 Secret Society - You were approached by a secret society and asked to join.  Membership has its privileges, but also its obligations.

3 3 Treasure! - While exploring a nearby field, you found a small buried coffer that contained a modest treasure.  Surely the owner will not miss it.  Double your starting gold.

3 4 Beneficent Tapeworm - Somewhere along the way, you ingested a parasite.  It pre-processes your food, and it always takes its share.  You gain a +2 parasite bonus on saving throws to resist anything ingested.  You eat twice as much.

3 5 Heart of the Elements - As a child, you studied a book of nursery rhymes called Draíocht na Talún, an Uisce, an Aeir, agus na Tine.  One night you became stuck on a certain passage, and found yourself repeating it over and over.  You were barely aware of the fire leaping from the hearth, the wind and rain suddenly bursting through the windows, and the earth shaking and rising beneath your feet.  The words consumed you.  Your next memory is standing in the room, which had been devastated by the elements.  The book did not survive, either.  In your chest, you felt a deep connection to the earth, water, air, and fire of the universe, though they are forever beyond your control.  Whenever you are exposed to an element (or the damage type associated with that element), its opposite element rises from within you, granting 2d4 resistance to the triggering element.

If the exposure does not cause elemental damage equal to or greater than the resistance, you are dealt damage of the opposing type equal to the difference.  For example, if you are on fire and would suffer 5 fire damage, you generate 2d4 cold resistance.  If you roll a 7, you would suffer no fire damage, but 2 cold damage.

An unusual amount or variety of an element is required to trigger the effect, i.e. you will not be injured just walking around on the earth and breathing the air.  A sandpit or windstorm, on the other hand . . .

3 6 Prismatic Stain - Legends say that great treasure lies at the end of a rainbow.  As a child, you chased after a rainbow--and found the end.  The light disappeared into a glistening waterfall.  You thrust your hand through the beams and your world went dark.  When you awoke, the rainbow was gone, but you had a faint, colorfully mottled stain on your hand.  Over time, you found it responsive to attacks against you--particular colors grow larger and things happen.

When your hand is empty and unbound, as an immediate action, you may use it to defend yourself, causing it to flare different colors.  You may: use the Deflect Arrows feat (red); deflect a spell or spell-like ability that requires an attack roll, causing it to miss (orange); receive a +2 inherent bonus on saving throws to resist gasses, clouds, poisons and petrification (yellow); gain the benefits of evasion against a breath weapon (green); receive a +2 inherent bonus on saving throws to resist mind-effecting spells and abilities, or shield the contents of your hand from divination (blue); gain spell resistance 10+HD against the next spell that affects you (indigo); interrupt an attack against you to cause 4d6 points of damage to the weapon being used to attack you, ignoring hardness (violet).  You may use an immediate action each turn to maintain a blue effect, continuously shielding your hand from divination.  If damage from the violet effect exceeds the hit points of the weapon, it is disintegrated.  If you use the violet effect against a natural attack, you deal the damage to the attacker, but if you exceed it's hit points, only the mode of natural attack disintegrates.

If you are in the area of a cone of cold spell or effect, it does not affect you, but the stain swells bright red and bursts into flames, inflicting 20 points of fire damage upon you.  If you are in the area of a gust of wind spell or effect, it does not affect you, but the stain swells bright orange and seeps an acidic pus, causing you 40 points of acid damage.  If you are the target of a disintegrate spell, the stain swells bright yellow and arcs of lightning shoot up your arm, dealing you 80 points of electricity damage.  If you are touched by a passwall spell, the stain swells bright green and your veins visibly fill with green poison--you suffer 1d6 Constitution damage and must succeed at a DC 18 Fortitude saving throw or fall comatose.  If you are struck by a magic missile spell, the stain swells blue, and you must make a DC 18 Fortitude save or be petrified.  If you are in the area of a daylight spell, the stain swells indigo and you must make a DC 18 Will save or be confused.  Finally, should you be the target of a successful dispel magic spell, the stain swells bright violet, lancing up your arm, and then implodes, disintegrating itself and your arm from mid-forearm down--your prismatic stain is gone forever [alternatively: make a DC 18 Will save or be shifted to a random place on a random plane, as per the plane shift spell].

3 7 Distant Melody - You hear music.  No one else can hear it, and it is often brief and faraway.  Maybe you are going crazy, or maybe there is another reason.  You may spend a move action to focus on the music, rolling 1d6.  1: No effect.  2: Gain the benefit of a bard's countersong ability.  3: You are affected by a bard's fascinate ability.  4: Gain the benefit of a bard's inspire courage ability, as though performed by a 1st level bard.  5: Gain the benefit of a bard's inspire competence ability on the next skill you use.  6: Choose a result from 1-5.

For the purpose of these effects roll a Perform check using a bonus of ½ your HD + your Charisma modifier.  The effect lasts 1d20 rounds.

You are constantly either listening to, or straining to hear the music.

3 8 Betrothed - Your family has arranged for you to be married.  If you are male, you will be expected to support your family.  If you are female, you will be expected to stay home and raise a family.  Whether you go through with the marriage, and how it affects your adventuring life, are left for you and your DM to work out.

3 9 Dead Inside - Last year, while shaving by yourself for the first time, you watched your reflection slit its own throat with the razor, and die before your very eyes.  You have not had a reflection since.  You have not told anyone, for fear they will think you a vampire.

3 0 Built, Not Born - You do not know it, but your parents are not your parents.  Though a perfect simulacrum of a humanoid of your chosen race, you were built by someone.  Who built you and for what purpose are a mystery.  Change your type to living construct (MMII, pg. 215) and gain the associated traits.

Dwarves in Aon Rud have an additional Racial Trait.

Taste:  Dwarves can distinguish among different minerals by taste.  A dwarf who licks an object or puts it in his mouth can make a Wisdom check to identify the materials.  The DM determines the DC based upon the rarity and purity of the materials involved.  At the DM's discretion, a dwarf may use this ability to detect additives (such as poison) to food and drink.

inspired by Christian Caverly's tendency to lick everything while playing Thearch Ironthew.

Many deities in Aon Rud do not have alignments or aligned domains.  When choosing domains, clerics must choose at least one domain from their deity, but may also choose one domain from their deity's parent (if any) or an aligned domain fitting the cleric's own alignment.

Many deities in Aon Rud do not have alignments or aligned domains.  Paladins of such deities are not strictly prohibited from associating with evil people, especially if there may be an opportunity for reform.  They must still abide by their code of conduct, including preventing their associates from committing overtly evil acts.

Perception-based skills too often overlap and needlessly eat up valuable skill points.  We just use Hide and Spot for all cases.

inspired by Paizo's Pathfinder

Prerequisite
Shield Proficiency.

Benefit
As an immediate action, you snap your shield in place to ward off a blow. Your shield prevents you from taking an amount of damage up to the shield’s Hardness.  You and the shield each take any remaining damage, possibly breaking or destroying the shield.

Special
A fighter may select Shield Block as one of his fighter bonus feats.

from Paizo's Pathfinder 2E

Base
Attack Fort Ref Will
Level Bonus Save Save Save Special
1st +1 +2 +0 +0 Boar's fury
2nd +2 +3 +0 +0 Scent
3rd +3 +3 +1 +1 Boar's hide (+1 natural)
4th +4 +4 +1 +1 Boar's tusks, inspire orcs (+2 morale)
5th +5 +4 +1 +1 Diehard
6th +6 +5 +2 +2 Boar's hide (+2 natural)
7th +7 +5 +2 +2 Inspire orcs (rage), additional rage
8th +8 +6 +2 +2 Dire boar's fury
9th +9 +6 +3 +3 Boar's hide (+3 natural)
10th +10 +7 +3 +3 Inspire orcs (2/day), tireless fury, ferocity

Hit points are what separate heroes from the masses.  They represent the resiliency, grace, and determination that come from a life of adventure.  They also represent the luck and divine favor that accrue to daring mortals.  Flesh wounds, near misses, singeing flames, and the like will wear them away.  Rest, prayer, potions, and other means can restore them.  No matter how many hit points you lose, your character is not hindered in any way until your hit points are gone completely.

0th-level non-player characters have no experience to protect them from the dangers of the world, and therefore no hit points.  They are not disabled at 0 hit points, but immediately become disabled upon sustaining any damage.

Massive Damage
If you ever sustain a single attack that deals 50 points of damage or more and it doesn’t kill you outright, you must make a DC 15 Fortitude save.  If this saving throw fails, you immediately drop to -10 hit points and are dying, regardless of your current hit points.  If you take 50 points of damage or more from multiple attacks, no one of which dealt 50 or more points of damage itself, the massive damage rule does not apply.

When your current hit points drop to 0, you are disabled.  Because every character receives the Diehard trait for free, when reduced to between -1 and -9 hit points you may choose to remain conscious and disabled or to fall unconscious.  You must make this decision as soon as you are reduced to negative hit points.

When disabled, you can only take a single move or standard action each turn (but not both, nor can you take full-round actions).  You can take move actions without further injuring yourself, but if you perform any standard action (or any other strenuous action) you take 1 point of damage after completing the act.

Healing that raises your hit points above 0 makes you fully functional again, just as if you’d never been reduced to 0 or fewer hit points.

When your character’s current hit points drop to -10, or if he takes massive damage, he is dying.

A dying character immediately falls unconscious (if he was not already) and can take no actions.  The character takes 1 point of Constitution damage every round.  This continues until the character dies or becomes stable.

When your character's Constitution drops to 0, he is dead.

Magic's rarity in Aon Rud has resulted in many "common" material components becoming uncommon, and therefore not included in the standard material component pouch.  The following items must be separately acquired:

Contingency:  the eyelash of an ogre mage, rakshasa, or similar spell-using creature

Displacement:  a small piece of leather made from displacer beast hide, twisted into a loop

Ghoul Touch:  a small scrap of cloth taken from clothing worn by a ghoul, or a pinch of earh from a ghoul's lair

Iron Body:  a small piece of iron that was once part of either an iron golem, a hero's armor, or a war machinex

Planeshift:  planar tuning forks

Rary's Mnemonic Enhancer:  ink consisting of squid secretion with black dragon's blood.

Secret Page:  will-o'-wisp essence

Sequester:  a basilisk eyelash 

The following spells have slightly different material components:

Evard's Black Tentacles:  a piece of tentacle from any creature

Scare:  a bit of bone from a corpse, skeleton, or mummy

Monstrous Materials (adapted from "Power Components", Dungeon Master's Guide, pg. 36 and "Metamagic Components", Unearthed Arcana, pg. XX)

Rare and magical beasts can be the source of material components that may augment or even transmute the effects of spellcasting and item creation.  The knowledge of what ingredients may be helpful, and what effects they may have, is as rare as the ingredients themselves.  Characters will need extraordinary knowledge, or the assistance of sages or divinations, to find out.  Of course, there is always trial and error . . .

Example:  The horn of the rare red minotaur can be combined with a potent mixture of herbs that can aid in restoring wholeness to the afflicted.  So potent is the energy contained in the concoction that a cleric who uses it while casting greater restoration need not devote any personal power (XP) in order to cast the spell.

Example:  The eye of a hag is said to contain wisdom and vision.  It can be used while casting prying eyes to apply the Enlarge Spell metamagic feat without increasing the spell's effective level.

In addition to augmenting or transmuting spell effects, components from supernatural and magical beasts can sometimes replace a magical item's spell requirement.

Some examples include:  displacer beast pelt for displacement in a minor cloak of displacement; blink dog brain for blink in a ring of blinking; behir gland for lightning in a javelin of lightning; behir hide for resist energy in armor of electricity resistance; and rust monster tendril for rusting grasp in a gauntlet of rust.

A spellcaster of any kind can create a new spell.  The research to do this requires access to a well-stocked library, typically in a large city or metropolis.  Research requires an expenditure of 1,000 gp per week and takes one week per level of the spell.  This money goes into fees, consultants, material component experimentation, and other miscellaneous expenditures.  At the end of that time, the character makes a Spellcraft check (DC 10 + spell level).  If that roll succeeds, the character learns the new spell if her research produced a viable spell.  If the roll fails, the character must go through the research process again if she wants to keep trying. 

A viable spell is one that you allow into the game.  Don’t tell the player whether you think the spell is viable when research begins.  (That’s the point of the research.)  However, feel free to work with the player before the research begins and give him guidance on the parameters under which an original spell might be acceptable in your game. 

Research to create new spells is always in addition to any other research involved for gaining spells that already exist.  The number of spells that sorcerers and bards can know is strictly limited; members of those classes can never exceed these limits even through the research of original spells.

In the same way that a PC spellcaster can research a new spell, a PC may be able to invent a new kind of magic item.  And just as you have to be careful about new spells, you need to be careful with new magic items.  Use the magic item descriptions in this chapter as examples on which to base new magic items.  A new magic item needs all the information that similar, existing magic items have, possibly including activation type, activation time, and caster level.

When you use magic to summon a type of creature, you will get the same specific, individual creature every time you use the same type of magic to summon it.  The first time you summon the creature, you get to roll its ability scores and hit points (you can take standard statistics if you do not want to risk it).  You also get to name the creature.

Every time you summon the creature, it remembers all of its previous experiences.  If the creature’s Intelligence is 1 or 2, you may use the Handle Animal skill to teach it tricks.  If it is killed or dispelled, however, it becomes unavailable for 24 hours (reducing your ability to summon).  After a year and a day, or whenever your ability to summon improves, you may replace one specific creature with another of its type.

Incantations are like spells, but they can be cast by characters who are not spellcasters.  This variant enables characters who know the correct ritual gestures and phrases for an incantation to achieve powerful magic effects.  Incantations don’t use spell slots, you don’t have to prepare them ahead of time, and you can use an incantation an unlimited number of times per day.

Incantations have drawbacks:  They’re time-consuming to cast, and success isn’t assured.  They are often expensive, and some require additional participants to complete the ritual.  Some incantations work only under certain specific conditions, such as during a full moon.

Most important among the drawbacks, an incantation rarely fades away quietly if the caster fails to perform the ritual correctly.  Instead it reverses itself on the caster, explodes with a cascade of magical energy, or weakens the barrier between worlds, enabling hostile outsiders to emerge onto the Material Plane.

Discovering Incantations

Obscure tomes and spellbooks filled with mystical ramblings, descriptions of magic theory, ordinary arcane spells, and utterly useless or incomprehensible magical writing often hide the instructions for performing incantations.  In those dusty volumes, diligent readers can find incantations with real power—magical recipes that provide step-by-step instructions for achieving a powerful effect.

If the characters have access to a well-stocked library of magical information, finding a set of instructions for a particular incantation requires a successful Knowledge (arcana) check with a DC 10 lower than the DC for casting the incantation.  Just being aware of the existence of a particular incantation requires a Knowledge (arcana) check with a DC 15 lower than the incantation’s casting DC.

Creatures under the effects of haste age twice as quickly for the duration of the spell.  Creatures under the effects of slow age half as quickly for the duration of the spell.

In addition to the DC 20 Strength or DC 25 Escape Artist check provided by the spell, a creature that has failed its initial Reflex save may cut itself loose by dealing 20 points of slashing damage to the web.

In addition to the Strength or Escape Artist checks provided by the spell, a creature that is loose, but still in the web may move 5 feet by dealing 15 points of slashing damage to the web.  The creature may not move more than 5 feet per round in this fashion.

Any character who worships a deity and has been exemplary in faithfulness may call upon that deity in times of great need.  The chances of being heard and answered are small, but never zero.  The deity may intercede through agents, allies, small miracles, or--very very rarely--personal appearance.

A deity's ability to intercede on other planes may be limited.  Devout followers should also take care not to abuse the privilege of their gods' attention.