So I'm currently working on a new system for ritual magic and I'm in need of some ideas. I have a few of my own but I'm in need of more. Anything, from very gruesome to very conservative. Remember that the rituals should be something that a caster cannot accomplish with a regular spell. An example would be calling down a meteor shower (one which contained the Starstone) or turning an entire city to ash over night (like Razmir did). I'm needing rituals of all types, and ones that can be accomplished by low level characters as well as high level characters. Any ideas and fluff suggestions are very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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I suppose you could convert the variant magic rules for spirits to be used as rituals.
And there is the rune circles of 3.5 races of stone
And the sutra magic
This stuff is probably not what your looking for but it's all I could think of off the top of my head, and I am interested in this,
I do remember a thread on this at the giants in the playground forum
One option could be that low level characters can use a ritual to cast spells that they normally are not strong enough to use. For example, a ritual to use a high level divination spell.
What I'm aiming for is that every ritual has a minimum number of people needed to cast it properly. For each additional person over this number, the leader gets a +1 to his Spellcraft roll.
I do have an idea for a spell that creates pillars to take the place of people so that the caster can complete the ritual without the necessary number of people. There will also be feats to boost you caster level for what rituals you can cast and learn.
I'm also looking at creating archetypes for the sorcerer, wizard, witch, oracle, cleric, and druid to aid in ritual casting and learning.
I'll take a look at your suggestions so far, but like I said, they need to be able to do things normal spells can't. One example for a ritual I'm going to create is going to give benefits to a druid's grove, such as regrowing plants and trees if they are destroyed, hiding its location, and giving benefits to those within. Another would be granting magical protection over a temple or church, allowing the leader to expell unwanted individuals from the temple once per day, among other benefits.
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Like I said I am really interested in what you find
Sutra magic does a somewhat mediocre job of doing some of what you are looking for, but the first part sounds like the epic magic of 3.5
Oh injust remembered a ritual based 3.5 PrC that used what they called "circle magic" if I recall correctly
They were known as the red wizards of thay, it doesn't look much like you are asking for but it is rituals.
There was a 3.5 supplement called Tome of Ultimate Evil, I think. It had rules for creating ritual magic.
If you would like i can post some of the ritual examples that id like to make as well as fluff ideas behind the rituals.
The minimum number of casters is a good idea. We could merge that with the topic I have had up for months. I will bump that, so you can look it over.
can you link it in this post?
as for fluff, here goes some ideas for fluff (note, some of these may put some of the ideas in the vile book of darkness to shame)
1) moaning gutteral sounds (similar to Buddhist monks) to focus the mind and body while performing a ritual
2) dancing with masks and costumes to channel necessary energies
3)the ritual leader covering himself from head to toe in the blood of a ritual sacrifice
4) making a pillar of dead bodies as a center piece of a ritual (bonuses if the bodies are still alive)
5) luede sexual acts being inacted amidst body parts from fresh sacrifices while onlookers chant powerful invocations
6) using wire or rope to rip a man to pieces, utilizing the primal energy from his screams to power the ritual
and here are some ideas for rituals id like to make
1) rewinding time in an area to view things that have happened in the location from 1 to 48 hours before hand (the leader can fast forward through these "hologram" like visuals to get to times he'd like to view, kind of like a magical security footage
2) biblical plagues
3) a permanent magical effect on a temple that a clergy member can enact once per day to expel all unwanted or unwelcome individuals from the holy place.
4) reincarnate something of someone into a new body, one that may be created or altered by magic or technology
5) delving into a person's subconscious to uncover lost or forgotten information, erase information, or implant foreign information. may end up changing the targets personality, viewpoints, and beliefs entirely (could be what Razmir uses on new initiates, similar to the movie Inception)
6) implanting someone with a bloodline
7) protection from other members helping invoke a ritual to prevent murder, competition, and backstabbing between them (may be used by members of specific cults, can also help with problems in evil campaigns)
8) protection of close family or a specific place
9) channel someones rage to give them bonuses to hunt down and kill someone or something that has wronged them in the past (like a person who killed someones family member)
10) steal life from a individual, making them grow older and the leader younger (may be something Razmir could use to not age quickly)
11) protecting a large number of people from harmful spells (useful for mass combat)
12) calling upon an element to give a large group bonuses when using that element (possible sacrifices include suffocating a sacrifice for air, drowning for water, burning for fire, or crushing for earth)
thoughts?