Nearyn |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I've been meaning to make some infernal rituals for use in my group's Way of the Wicked campaign. I've finished the framework for a series of 9 rituals, and have finished the first draft of the first ritual. I present the work to you, hoping for feedback and insight. Thanks in advance.
The 9 layers
The 9 layers is a series of infernal rituals, used by diabolists and devil-worshippers, to further the glory of their patrons, the 9 hells, and the prince of darkness himself. Like the highly structured hierarchy of hell, each ritual must be led by a ritual-master, also known as the Centre. Other participants, known as pillars, may assist the ritual, but aside from the Centre, no more creatures than twice the HD of the Centre can get benefit from the ritual. If there are more Pillars than twice the HD of the Centre, the Centre chooses who receives the benefits of the ritual, through the ceremonial marking of the chosen Pillars.
In order to perform a ritual the Centre must at the least, have HD corresponding to the layer. A 1HD Centre can only perform the Avernus ritual, while a 3HD Centre can perform the Avernus, Dis and Erebus rituals, but not the Mammon ritual or above. A 9HD creature may perform all 9 rituals. In order to participate in, or benefit from, the rituals, the participants must also possess at least 7 intelligence. The Centre must possess at least 10 intelligence, speak infernal and be able to speak infernal. Each ritual takes a certain amount of time to perform, during which time the participants can take no other action. If a ritual is disrupted (such as by the Centre being attacked, or more than half the Pillars ceasing to participate), the ritual comes to an abrupt end, and must be started anew.
Ritual 1 – Avernus
Avernus is an ash-blasted desert, dotted with molten pools of iron and serrated cliffs of metal jutting out of the ground. Invoking this ritual touches on the inhospitable first look the damned get at hell, and channel it to use against the enemies of Asmodeus.
To perform the Avernus ritual, the Centre must succeed at a DC 15 knowledge(Planes) or knowledge(Religion) check, to recall the proper incantations. The Centre pours religious oils(worth 10gp) on firewood, burns the wood to ashes(these ashes may be prepared in advance), then passes a handful of ash to each chosen Pillar, who must be within 10 ft of each other. After 10 minutes of prayer, the Centre drives a nail into an infernal unholy symbol (usually wooden), and speaks the name of the Archdevil of Avernus. At this, the ritual is completed and the Centre, as well as any chosen Pillars, benefit from the Avernus ritual.
Benefit: Upon completion of the Avernus-ritual, during the next 7 days, you may, as an immediate action, conjure long, sharp iron spikes to coat your worn armor. This effectively turns the armor into a spiked armor of its type, but also inflicts 1d4 points of piercing damage against natural attacks and creatures grappling you. This effect persists for 1 hour and can only be invoked once during the 7 days after the ritual. Once the hour has passed the spikes turn into ash and disappear. If the creature conjuring the spikes is not wearing armor, the power is expended but has no effect. Once the Avernus ritual is completed, no creatures who benefited from it may benefit from it again for the next 7 days.
Cost: The ritual requires religious oils worth 10gp, the ash from 20lbs of firewood(1cp) per 10 chosen Pillars, to be scattered among the participants. A nail of no required value, and an infernal unholy symbol(1gp minimum).
---------
So, that's the first ritual I've written for this series of 9 rituals. The idea is to make the following rituals progressively more powerful (and more complicated/expensive), while maintaining a connection to the layer that is being invoked. Again, your feedback is very much appreciated.
-Nearyn