Necromancers of the Northwest / Magic

The Book of Forbidden Magic (PFRPG) PDF

Necromancers of the Northwest

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Forbidden Spells of Incredible Power!

Everyone knows that there are some spells that are too dangerous, too wild, or just plain too powerful for any ambitious mage to cast. These rare, exotic, and above all forbidden spells are few and far between, but the immense opportunity that they provide to those who find a way to claim them is well worth the risks. And the risks are many: not only is there a risk that any practitioner who takes up such a spell will be hunted for dabbling in forbidden and “black” magic, but the spells themselves invite danger, and by casting them, the mage opens himself up for the possibility of losing control, and causing a terrible calamity.

Still, such forbidden magic is highly desirable to spellcasters of every sort, because despite all of that, or perhaps because of it, these spells contain more power than those of the average sorcerer or wizard. Destroy your enemies with powerful killing spells like power word massacre and damnation, or take up more defensive magic, like mirror of the witch, which surrounds the caster with nigh-impenetrable mirrors that protect her from all forms of attack. Alternatively, cast dance of demons, and laugh as your victims destroy themselves and each other by enacting a vrock’s dance of ruin. Strip virtually any target of spellcasting ability with demise of the warlock, or force your victims to kill themselves with proclamation of suicide.

The Book of Forbidden Magic includes 47 new spells with the forbidden descriptor. These spells are more powerful than traditional spells, but come with a drawback in the form of profane points, and the possibility that each time one is cast, they may cause a horrible calamity to befall the caster. The book also contains detailed rules governing profane points and calamities, including nearly 50 different specific types of potential calamities, from horrible magical backlash of various sorts to accidental planar rifts of all kinds and numerous sorts of mental intrusion by otherworldly entities. If you want spellcasting in your game to be more exciting, or are looking for more options for your character and enjoy taking risks and dabbling with powers man was not meant to know, look no further than The Book of Forbidden Magic.

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Interesting but the ends doesn't justify the means

Mortagon — Jan 15, 2015, 08:16 am

The book of forbidden magic promises a system that grants more powerful magic, but at a cost.

It introduces a new kind of spell called forbidden spells which are supposed to be more powerful than normal spells, but comes at a cost in the form of profane points and sometimes other drawbacks called out in the spell descriptions. When you cast a forbidden spell you accumulate profane points and risk causing a calamity. The more profane points you gather, the bigger the chance of a calamity and the more severe the calamity becomes.

Calamities range from anything from getting physical deformities, to insanity or summoning fiends and even opening portals to hostile and evil planes.

I found this system to be flavorful and on paper seems both balanced and fun to use. But the big problem I found with this book was the spells. Most of the spells seems fine and balanced at a glance, but that's before you look at the drawbacks. Not only do you get profane points for casting them, risking calamity each time you cast a forbidden spell, most of the spells also has another drawback like including you in their area of effect or bouncing back on you if the target makes his save. I think those drawbacks are horrible enough to justify the spells lower levels, and if not you could just increase the level of the spell or add some other drawback like expensive material components. These options are also touched upon in a sidebar, but still doesn't justify some of the harsh drawbacks already inherent in the spell descriptions.

The spells, for the most part, are cool and I can see the terrified look on my player's faces if a bad guy casts one of these spells on them. I just don't think it's necessary to have both the drawbacks of the spells and the risk of calamity when you cast them, one or the other would balance them just fine in my opinion.

Also I have to add that the Armageddon spell seems really underpowered for a 9th level spell, sure it does 15d6 points of damage per round, but if you have to move it you have to spend a full-round action, and most of the damage is fire damage which is easily negated at higher levels. I also think that most of these spells should have the evil descriptor considering their profane nature.

All in all I will surely find a use for these spells in my Campaign as I think they would make a nice addition to my villains repertoire. I just don't think most of the spells are powerful enough to justify the chance for calamity.

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