[Campaign] Kingdom of Gan Introduction

I have recently recruited several players for an online game. The system is using a combination of the ASU ruleset, minus classes, and the Dirt Simple Dominions Magic rules for magic. Ever since I read this blogpost years ago about having something like a simple point-buy system for creating characters, I've wanted to run one, and here it is.

The Kingdom of Gan is ruled by a wise, mighty, and above all else just King, known as the 100 years King, for his reign was foretold to last 100 years. On the first day of his final year, he went on parade with his young daughter, but out of the sky came a black bolt of lightning that struck both of them, and they disappeared.

Now the seven Kind Counts, the Kings closet allies and advisors, are scrambling to find him. All across the land they are searching for and recruiting the help of the greatest heroes and adventurers to find the King and the Princess.

The blue-clad Count Geoff of Talia hires five extraordinary people to search for his majesty;

Ulfar the Lion The very strong knight hailing from a noble family, secretly is a prodigy with death magic. Skilled with sword and shield and heavy armor, he is attended by servants and a foolish squire.

Thalassa The charismatic adventuress is a ship captain and possesses a magic amulet that warns her of danger and guides her on her quest. She is skilled with spear and net and speaks another language.

Minadora “Mina” Arletto The stealthy and skillful Rogue hailing from Talia. She is skilled with cloak and dagger as well as lockpicks and has +1 bonus AC from her natural swiftness.

Charibert “Bert” Oakheaver A strong halfling with some powers in Earth and Nature magic. He is skilled in hand to hand combat; able to take on those that underestimate his size.

And Hazel the Half-Dragon Is a very strong halfbreed, crossed between a human and an air dragon; raised by a man who slayed her dragon mother. Still has the slayer's magical, lifesensing scythe.

These five purchased armors and supplies, and loaded onto Thalassa's ship, the Anne-Marie, while attended by Ulfar's servants. Bert gave some coins to a young beggar child, and was given a single mysterious Earth Agate as a reward for his kindness.
The Count had spoken of three places near his region that might have something to do with the disappearance of the King; the city known as Delta-City to the South, filled with pirate scum, the Carnarium Empire to the West, which views Gan with hungry eyes, and the Mountain Giants to the Southwest, who have the air magic but not the motive to kidnap the King with the black bolt.

And so, the heroes set sail down South to Delta City while Ulfar's Brother, Mikael the Bear seeks the Mountain Giants, and his father, Remieth Ostamer, seeks audience with the Empire to the West.

Our first session was just introductions and a bit of shopping, and this blog will chronicle the events of the campaign a few weeks behind the actual events. I am extremely excited for the actual campaign and have enjoyed being able to put my plans to use.

My (Dominions-Style) Dragons

I'd like to preface this blogpost by saying that I've never actually gotten far enough in a campaign to have dragons or fight dragons, but I've always had specific opinions on them. I've never been a fan of the ultra-powerful dragons seen in some media, nor have I been a fan of the ALWAYS ancient ALWAYS clever and ALWAYS magically omnipotent dragons you see sometimes. Basically I read this blogpost about dragons and I agreed with everything.

My current game uses Dominions based magic, and the dragons in that are elemental. But there are a limited amount of them in the game, not representing all of the magical Paths. So let's fix that, and show my personal opinions on doing dragons.

I love this fat ass Dragon

Dragons

Dragons are closely tied to a single magical path, and while they do not cast magic as mages do they have some ability to manipulate their power over their path with their age. Dragons have a personality that is usually associated with their path, but all dragons are egotistical, self serving, and somewhat lazy unless very strongly befriended or humiliated to the point of hatred. All dragons have immunity to their elemental type, and magic of their Path is almost impossible to use against them. Dragons have magical power associated with their Path, but instead of casting spells they have innate powers they call “breath”, which is usually associated with their breath weapon along with other innate abilities.

[1] -Fire Dragons-

Color- Red, Rust, or Orange. Rarely Pink.

Breath- Flames. As they age, their breath becomes hotter, capable of exploding or simmering as embers in wait for an enemy to pass over them. Their fire can even move as though it was an animal, seeking to destroy the dragon's sworn enemies. Friendly dragon fire never burns or goes out and can be used to forge weapons and armor of great purity and strength.

Personality- Fire dragons are the quintessential dragon. Quick to anger, passionate, and proud. Red is the kind of dragon everyone thinks of first when you think of “dragon'. Their anger is a seemingly limitless well, and they can be forced into bad decisions or rash action if their enemy is hated enough. But even the most fearsome of Red Dragons could be subdued for a moment with a lavish enough declaration of inferiority and endlessly praising and stroking their ego.

Other- Fire Dragons are great in a fight and have the highest to-hit of all dragons, getting a bonus equal to their level +1. Their claws easily find blood and they go for the throat.

[2] -Air Dragons-

Color- Yellow, Honey, Wheat. They have feathered wings.

Breath- Lightning. They fire great bolts of lightning from their maw, and can control where it lands and how powerful it can become with age. Plus, they can fan their wings to create great gusts of wind, and are known to whisper to create illusions. Powerful Air Dragons can also use their breath like a 'brush' and cast many illusions and glamours across everything it touches for a short time.

Personality- Air Dragons are capricious. Impulsive and sometimes possessing multiple personalities. They are also the most 'cowardly' of all the dragons, though what cowardice means to a dragon is much different then what it means to a human. And calling one a coward is a good way to get a lightning bolt dropped on your head. Air Dragons are also the most likely of all dragons to disguise their true nature and form through illusions, messengers, and are able to throw their voice.

Other- Air Dragons are the best fliers of all dragons, and are extremely agile when flying around. They can outmaneuver almost any other dragon in flight.

[3] -Water Dragons-

Color- Blue, Aqua, Cobalt. They have finned spines and webbing between their claws.

Breath- Water & Frost. The intensity of the cold increases with age, as does the strength of the water jet they can spout. Their water breath can eventually seek out targets to drown, or rush to fill in space and then freeze to kill whoever was caught in the area.

Personality- Water Dragons are known to be distant and flexible. They hide their true emotions well, and many have complex plots and enjoy playing mind and riddle games. Water Dragons, just like water itself, are very diverse and can live in rivers, lakes, the oceans, or in the frozen North and often pick up many different languages and stories to tell.

Other- Water Dragons are naturally the best swimmers in the dragon world and are resistant to both hot and cold water, frost, as well as the pressure from the ocean depths. The older they get the longer they can hold their breath, until eventually they can grow gills and breath underwater.

[4] -Earth Dragons-

Color- Brown, Glossy, Copper or Bronze. Their teeth and claws are metallic.

Breath- Sandstorm. Their breath flies forth like sand that rusts and degrades metal equipment, blasts apart fortifications, and they can slam their fat tails so hard that it creates earthquakes. Extremely powerful Earth Dragons has breath that can petrify living things when it touches them, turning them into stone. Sometimes they can vomit up massive boulders to fling at their foes.

Personality- Conservative and lethargic. Unlike other dragons, Earth Dragons may allow a hated rival to simply pass them by due to being lazy or having other things to worry about. They tend not to change their minds about anything, and befriending one is hard, but once you have you will never lose their favor. Earth Dragons also have impressive memories and can remember seemingly every conversation they have had and every time detail of another being's appearance.

Other- Earth Dragons have the strongest claws and hide of all dragons and they know it. They are also known to eat metallic ores and crystals deep in the Earth to keep their claws and scales strong. They can also eat stones and gravel, which they may be able to gain some energy from but mostly eat it to help grind up their food since it takes months for them to digest whatever they eat. Earth Dragons can dig up some of the most valuable and strongest ores as gifts for mortals.

[5] -Astral Dragons-

Color- Prismatic, Chrome, Crystal. Stars and galaxies are visible beneath their scales.

Breath- Light. Intense light from the sun that can burn undead, or ultra-bright light that can blind anyone caught in it. They can also fire out astral light that saps the strength from those it touches, making them fall to the floor exhausted with several levels drained. Old Astral Dragons are also capable of speaking a decree to the universe and their words make reality change to make it so, if even only for a short period of time.

Personality- Indifferent, arcane, and cosmic. They are obsessed with the bigger picture and always seem to have an ulterior motive. You will never meet one by chance. Astral dragons are one of the strangest and most magical kinds of dragon and they take that in stride. Astral Dragons are also the only kind of dragon known to be able to talk telepathically, and seem to know what you think before you even speak it aloud.

Other- Astral Dragons can appear as comets when they fly, and it is unknown if all comets are Astral Dragons in flight or if they merely appear that way to hide their movements. They are highly resistant to enemy spells. Every Astral Dragon has a secret 'calendar' dictating their 'tide'; where they grow or weaken in strength, size, and magical power from the rotations of the cosmic bodies.

[6] -Death Dragons-

Color- Black, Purple, Dark Gray. They live even in death and may appear as skeletal.

Breath- Death. They exhale black darkness that kills all but the most stalwart. They can also breath out great miasma that spreads disease and terror. By tapping their claw against the ground, they can force nearby corpses to rise as zombie or skeleton servants. Powerful Death Dragons may be able to use breath weapons that copy other dragons but from the realms of the dead; such as Banefire which makes those burned by it feebleminded or black stygian water that inflicts rapid aging. Flapping their wings sends locusts to spread pestilence.

Personality- Nihilistic. Beyond being fatalist, most black dragons know the secrets of death as soon as they are hatched and actually retain their personalities long after the die. They see little value in life and view most mortals as being pawns instead of individual beings. Still; powerful necromancers and mages of other Paths can occasionally attract a black dragon as a bodyguard or lover; though being a black dragon's object of affection can be just as dangerous as its enemy.

Other- Unlike other dragons who become corpses when they die and may be able to be raised by powerful necromancers, death dragons become one with the realms of the dead and act as its guardians and servants. These skeletal dragons are sometimes called reaper dragons and are responsible for forcibly retrieving the most powerful of beings who escaped the tartarian realms.

[7] -Nature Dragons-

Color- Green, Emerald, Chameleon. They tend to have tusks or antlers and have fur.

Breath- Toxic clouds. Nature Dragons breathe out clouds of poison gas that kills those who breath it. They can also breathe out a great amount of leaves that entangles and ensnares those caught in it with vines and foliage. Nature Dragons can speak to every animal and powerful Nature Dragons can even transform beings into other animals by locking eyes with them and exerting their will.

Personality- Nature Dragons are the oldest and often physically largest dragons. They understand better then all other dragons the struggle of mortal beings and the circle of life. This does not necessarily mean they are kind, as Nature Dragons may very well direct a lost child towards a hungry predator to keep the balance in the woods as they would to send them back to their village. Despite seeming calm and rational Nature Dragons also have very sharp senses and instincts and may pounce on anyone who runs from them, triggering some kind of prey drive.

Other- Nature Dragons have some of the most diversity in their body type of all dragons; some Nature Dragons are fat and huge, others are slender like a snake. Many don't even have wings, but they are known to be able to regenerate body parts over time if gravely injured. All dragons sleep for long periods, but Nature Dragons can hibernate for centuries, and many still lie dormant in the wilds.

[8] -Blood Dragons-

Color- Fleshy, Scaleless, Crimson. Always distorted and mutated.

Breath- Vile Blood. Anyone struck by their bloody breath is tainted and will have demons flock to them and the victim will have a desire to sin and murder innocent virgins unless they give a confession and are baptized by a high-ranking priest. Powerful Helldrakes have breath that is known to subvert the will of lesser beings, making them into murderous psychopaths or even changing them into lesser demons upon a touch. If weapons are used against them the blood they spill has a similar effect to their breath, corrupting everything around them. Even in death, parts of the Blood Dragon's body will slough off and transform into demons who will seek to revive their original form.

Personality- Pure evil and insanity. There is no reasoning with a hell dragon, as they are not of this world and seek only the destruction of everything good and pure. Blood Dragons are among the most powerful of all kinds of demons, and having even one of them in existence is a threat to all existence.

Other- Blood Dragons are among the most powerful lords of hell, and the only way to summon one into the world is to partake in a massive torturous sacrifice of many hundreds of virgins. The only way to learn these blood rites is through many powerful and manipulative demons; needless to say only a master blood mage has even a chance of summoning one even with the necessary sacrifices.

[9] -Holy Dragons-

Color- White, with golden claws and armor. Adorned with jewels and a heavenly choir follows them.

Breath- Golden light that restores the wounds of the good and fills the people with hope. Destroys evil utterly and causes the unrighteous to grovel in guilt and lay down their weapons. The wings of a holy dragon can be brought down to their sides and used as impenetrable shields to protect scores of innocents. The glare of an Arch-Angel Dragon can burn a wicked person into dust. Anyone who strikes a holy dragon must make a save or have their own attack turn back against themselves.

Personality- Benevolent and ferocious protectors of the righteous. They do not usually speak except to chant prayers and condemn evil, and to reassure the meek of their protection. Holy Dragons do not exist in this world for very long and only relentlessly seek out their objective before disappearing back into the heavens again. Mighty heroes may occasionally be allowed to ride a Holy Dragon to reach a place of utmost important on a righteous quest.

Other- All Holy Dragons are Arch-Angels sent from heaven, and only in moments of cataclysmic need to they ever appear in this world, usually to face a Blood Dragon or other powerful demonic force. Like all Angels, Holy Dragons are shapeshifters and may appear as a white robed woman to give warnings or prophecies before taking on dragon form to fight. To even see a Holy Dragon is said to be a good omen.

Ars Magica but it's Dominions

Magic has 13 Arts. It has 5 Techniques and 8 Paths; The Techniques are Creo, Intellego, Muto, Perdo, and Rego. The Paths are Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Astral, Death, Nature, and Blood.

Permanent magic items and summons will require magic gems, pearls, or blood slaves (vis) to make. It also requires higher level magic users to perform the rituals in place, though it is always helps if they have the power of a pretender God on their side.

Magic Spell Guidelines by Path

-Fire-

Creo: Create flames, light, heat, or creatures made of flames such as elemental. Restore or grow the power of a flame or flame-entity. Empower a weapon with fire. Heal a God or prophet of fire.

Intellego: Sense nearby fires or learn the properties of fire. Sense the presence of fire Gods or their prophets. Scry remotely through a fire, or learn when a fire was started or put out.

Muto: Change the color, light, heat, or amount of smoke created by a fire. Change the shape of a fire, give the fire unusual magical properties, or transform a fire into a fire elemental or back.

Perdo: Dim or extinguish a flame. Reduce how much fire can light up an area, or make an object/person hard to warm up via fire. Deal direct damage to a fire god or their prophet.

Rego: Make a fire leap or grow in a specific direction. Make a fire selective of what it burns, or command fire elementals. Frighten or Bolster a force that serves a fire God.

-Water-

Creo: Create water, ice, or coldness. Create a water elemental. Create unnatural fluids or purify a body of water. Heal a God or prophet of water.

Intellego: Allow yourself to see through murky water. Sense nearby water, or water hidden in the ground. Sense a God/prophet of water. See everything inside a body of water or what it reflects.

Muto: Change water to another liquid, such as acid, wine, or (non-sacred) blood. Change the flavor or colors of water. Mutate the shape of a water elemental.

Perdo: Dry wet objects, or evaporate pools and barrels of water. Make safe water unsafe to drink, or curse people with desiccation. Deal direct damage to a water God or their prophet.

Rego: Control where water flows, make it leap, or call it to the surface from far below. Spread a natural body of water for passing. Frighten or Bolster a force that serves a water God.

-Earth-
Creo: Create stone or metal, or create it in motion to throw at enemies. Restore damaged statues, forts, or golems. Toughen up a suit of armor or make a golem. Heal a God or prophet of Earth.

Intellego: See through walls, or sense ore deposits deep in the ground. Scry through the eyes of a carved statue. Sense underground movements and sense a God or prophet of Earth.

Muto: Change stone to sand, sand to dirt, tin to iron, and so on. Make a stone much lighter or change its colors and other natural features. Structurally reconstruct a golem or underground space.

Perdo: Destroy fortifications, make armor brittle or turn it to dust. Damage a golem or creatures closly tied to Earth. Cave-in an underground chamber. Deal direct damage to Earth Gods/prophets.

Rego: Make boulders roll or assemble into formations of your choosing. Launch them through the air as projectiles, or cause an Earthquake. Frighten or Bolster a force that serves an Earth God.

-Air-
Creo: Create gusts of wind, thunder-claps, or vapor-illusions. Create weather; rain, fog, and storm. Create bubbles of air to breath underwater. Throw lightning bolts. Heal a God or prophet of Air.

Intellego: Sense the movements of flying units or the weather long before it happens. Know when a weather event is caused by magic, and sense illusions. Sense a God or prophet of Air.

Muto: Make air in an interior chamber fresh and clean or rancid and toxic. Change the weather in progress to a storm of the same intensity, but different effect. Change an illusion.

Perdo: Still and calm the winds and weather. Destroy illusions. Dampen electricity, or force fliers to land. Harm storm elementals, or deal direct damage to Air Gods/prophets.

Rego: Force a storm to move elsewhere, change the direction of the wind, or force air underground. Disrupt a flier's path or steal illusions. Frighten/Bolster a force that serves an Air God.

-Astral-

Creo: Create or focus natural light, from the stars and moons. Create a false memory. Make someone lucky, or conjure anything with a powerful wish. Heal an astral God/prophet.

Intellego: Scry anywhere via astral projection, or sense manipulations of fate. See the invisible strings of magic to know the paths of another mage. Sense an Astral God or their prophet.

Muto: Change or bend the fate of a person. Manipulate a mind, or link your consciousness with another to commune for power. Manipulate raw vis into other forms.

Perdo: Create a disastrous misfortune for your foes, or make them feebleminded. Break a psychic connection, or an area opaque to scrying. Deal direct damage to an Astral God/Prophet.

Rego: Create a portal or jaunt from one location to another, or directly rip the soul out of someone. Turn an Enchantment wild. Frighten/Bolster a force that serves an Astral God.

-Death-

Creo: Create aging clouds, vile curses, or conjure undead servants. Bolster the forces of undeath and help protect them from banishment. Heal a Death God or prophet of a death God.

Intellego: Make the dead speak, or sense when a person will naturally die. Perceive the invisible strings of control of the dead to their masters. Sense a Death God or their prophet.

Muto: Change the mechanics of aging in a person, but not their actual age. Change the forms of an undead creature. Manipulate corruption and rot.

Perdo: Destroy or damage the undead. End or severely weaken a lich or other undead creature that can resurrect. Stop unnatural aging (not reverse). Deal direct damage to a Death God/Prophet.

Rego: Control the undead or make them follow you instead. Counter a curse or change when a slain undead creature can return. Ward against the dead. Frighten/Bolster a force that serve a Death God.

-Nature-

Creo: Create entangling vines, animals, or heal any living thing; including Nature Gods/Prophets. Create poison clouds, empower creatures, reverse aging. Make plants grow in bad soil, make food.

Intellego: Sense animals, speak to animals, or get the feeling of everything that has passed through a forest in recent months. Get a sense for a creature's emotions. Sense a Nature God and their prophet.

Muto: Shapeshift into different natural animals or large monster forms, or polymorph someone into a harmless animal. Turn twigs and tree-bark into food, or change the size or basic state of an animal.

Perdo: Damage living creatures, deforest woodland areas, or wilt brambles to allow for easy passing. Kill creatures or infect them with diseases. Deal direct damage to a Nature God/Prophet.

Rego: Control the behavior of an animal or beast. Wildly change the emotional state of anybody, like putting a human into an uncontrollable berserk rage. Frighten/Bolster the force of a Nature God.

-Blood-

Creo: Create an abomination; a chimera made of many living things. Creates fields of boiling bloods, or summon a demon or horror from outside reality. Heal a freak, Blood God, or a Blood-God Prophet.

Intellego: Sense blood slaves in the nearby area; which is extremely important to perform any serious blood magic. Sense blood freaks, those controlled by blood magic, and Blood Gods/their Prophets.

Muto: Greatly mutate or change a living thing into an unnatural form. Change the bloodline in a living thing, so all its offspring will be different. Change who a horror is hunting, but not for long.

Perdo: Deal damage to blood, and sicken someone by ruining their blood. Destroy abominations or demons, and deal direct damage to a Blood God or their Prophet.

Rego: Control a person's blood to spurt from their skin or leak from their eyes. Control the mind of a blood slave (with ease). Make a pact with a demon. Frighten or Bolster the forces of a Blood God.

Dirt Simple Dominions Magic

Ever since making my last post about Dominions I've been thinking about porting a simplistic magic system to tabletop gaming. Truth be told I still think other forms of magic may be more suitable for dungeon crawling, but I like the Path system in this game and how while it is still focused there is still a lot of flexibility here too.

The numbers of course have to be changed from the game of Dominions. In the video game; having 1 in a Path is apprentice or novice, 2 is a proper mage and 3 is being a “master” at it. We need something more granular for tabletop. Plus simply put the spells are far too powerful and large in scale for what a solo adventurer, especially in a “balanced” party should have!

I've also considered making a sort of game and setting focused more on Dominions itself. I could easily see a game where the best Fighters still use magic to increase their power, because the magic paths are essentially the powers of the gods themselves. It might also be fun to combine this magic system into a game with high flying wuxia action- but this post is about the game mechanics themselves and a new magic system.

Dirt Simple Dominions (Magic)

There are 8 magic paths. There are the four elemental paths; Fire, Air, Water, and Earth- and the four Sorcerous paths; Astral, Death, Nature, and Blood.

Every level, your magic user may gain 1 point in any path of their choosing, including first level.

Casting Rules

Every time you cast a spell, roll your class HD for spell drain. Each level of a path you have ABOVE its minimum casting requirement reduce this drain by -1. For example if you have 4 Air and cast a 2 Air spell, you reduce your drain roll by -2.

Each point of spell drain makes you roll -1 whenever you roll a d20. Attack rolls, Saving Throws, as well as Stealth and Skill rolls are reduced due to fatigue. If you make one of these rolls and the total result is negative, you must save or become unconscious. Excessive spell drain can cause level drain; reducing make HP.

You may ignore the first few points of drain, equal to your TOTAL skill in all Paths + Wisdom modifier. Your negative to d20 modifiers do not start until after you have gone past this allotment.

You recover drain at 1 point per exploration turn.

There are 3 kinds of spells; Charms/Cantrips, which do not require a drain roll but have very weak effects, regular Spells, and Rituals.

Magic Gems

To cast magic ritual spells, you require magical reagents, often in the form of gems. Gems are usually found in sites of power in nature, or generated by magicians who draw them from the elements of nature. To summon any kind of permanent entity or craft magic items, gems are required. Some powerful battlefield spells, such as huge lightning storms or summoning elementals will always require at least one gem to cast.

You can also expend a gem when spellcasting to;

[1] Boost your power in a Path by +1 for one spell

[2] Reduce spell drain by -1d6

[3] Increase the range or area of effect by +50%

[4] Targets get -1 on their saving throws

[5] Cast a spell effect that you have not researched (spontaneous magic)

[6] Create an additional minor or long lasting effect to the spell

You can expend a maximum amount of gems per combat equal to your caster level.

All magic gems come in the form of bright, shining gems. The exception to this is Astral and Blood magic. Astral gems are called Pearls and function the same way, but Blood magic uses sacrificial virgins instead. You must deal 1d6 points of damage to a sacrificial virgin for each 'gem'.

This is how Dominions does it, but you can also have each piece of magic being more unique and special. Magical “gems” for the Path of Fire may actually be found in the form of embers, burnt offerings, charcoal, obsidian, etc. I'd imagine gems are more of a “compression” of magic similar to Tass from Ars Magica, but travelling magicians don't care and will gladly carry around bat ears and broken harp strings for the juice within. Blood magic is more specific, but I would extend what can be sacrificed to a few extra beings like rare pure white animals.

The Paths

Each magical Path has primary powers they control, as well as less common secondary powers.

-Fire-

Primary: Fire and Heat

Secondary: Light, Deserts, Attack, Explosions

-Air-

Primary: Wind and Lightning.

Secondary: Illusions, Weather, Flight, Quickness

-Water-

Primary: Water and Ice

Secondary: Floods, Swamps, Water Breathing

-Earth-

Primary: Stone and Metal

Secondary: Sand, Earthquake, Armor

-Astral-

Primary: Starlight and Minds

Secondary: Fate, Time, Metamagic, Wishes

-Death-

Primary: Undead and Decay

Secondary: Diseases, Aging, Darkness

-Nature-

Primary: Plants and Animals

Secondary: Poison, Emotions, Healing, Senses

-Blood-

Primary: Blood and Devils

Secondary: Purification, Extraterrestrial Horrors

Each spell of a magic Path in its “pure” form typically conjures, defends again, manipulates, grants resistance to or empowers its elements. Secondary elements are more common for its rituals and the special abilities of its summons.

Magic can also be done through cross-paths; which can combine the Paths into all new forms with flexible results. For example; Fire and Water could be combined in a spell for steam related effects, or to create searing acid. Combining Astral and another Path can allow for curses relating to the second Path used in the spell, and so on.

Variant Rules

Instead of choosing your paths per level, split up magic into two classes; The Elementalist/Wizard and the Sorcerer. These classes get 2 free spell drain soak per even level and increase their power level in all their paths +1 every odd level. At 3^rd level they are 2 in each path they have, at 5^th they are 3 in each path, etc. They can never learn new paths.

If you have “Dominion” over a land, you get a few free gems worth of points you can invoke at any time you wish by calling upon your arcane connection. This power from the lands comes from lands matching their Path similar to Magic the Gathering. ie; Deserts can be invoked for Fire gems, Swamps for Water, Starlit ponds for Arcane, Secret elvish glade for Nature, etc.

If you are casting spells in an area with a powerful enemy dominion or are under the effects of some kind of anti-magic curse; roll 1d6 on the table of what you can do by spending gems when spellcasting, and reverse the effect (such as -1d6 drain becoming +1d6 drain).

Magic Paths grant additional stats. If you're basing the game system off of Dominions itself, which has exploding dice and ~10 in all stats for basic units but that easily can go past 20 or 30, you get stat points for every 1-2 points in each Path. If you're basing it off D&D it might be better to make it 3 or even 4 points per Path to get a stat point bonus.

Path Stat Bonuses:

Fire +1 Attack (to-hit) and/or +1 Fire Resistance

Air +1 Ranged Attack and/or +1 Lightning Resistance

Water +1 Defense (AC) and/or +1 Cold Resistance

Earth +1 Protection (Damage Reduction) and/or Encumbrance (Carry Weight?)

Astral +1 Magic Resistance (Saves vs Magic +1)

Death +1 Saves vs Death and/or +1 to total HD of Undead you can control

Nature +1 Reaction Checks with animals, +10 Years of natural lifespan, +1 Poison Resistance

Blood +1 damage and/or +1 to total HD of Demons you can control

Lizard Priests banishing undead horsemen

-Holy-

Very special form of magic only belonging to priests. They have less flexibility then the other paths but do not cause drain, instead paths are empowered by the Dominion and favor of your God which grants you the power freely. The exact effects of the bless and the nature of the banishing and smiting depends on the nature of the God.

Weak Holy: Bless sacred things, banish undead/demons

Medium Holy: Inspire followers of the God, Return damage back to Heathens

Strong Holy: Banish many undead/demons, Smite Heathens