Untold Realms

Call Lesser Beast is a common spell that brings forth a creature from the local area to do the sorcerer’s bidding.

Description

Most sorcerers know how to Call a creature to serve them, so while this is technically a Conjuration spell, it is not as evil as the other summoning spells Conjurers use.

This spell brings a creature up to Very Large size from the area around the sorcerer, up to ½ mile away. The creature will come at best speed, and do the bidding of the caster.

To cast the spell, the sorcerer must have some form of materials from the type of creature he is calling—not necessarily that specific creature, but one of its kind. This is usually hair, claws, teeth or some such token. The caster then must cleanse his mind focus on the desired creature for 1d6 x 30 minutes.

If the spell fails, it could mean that the caster made some form of error, or that no creature of the desired kind is within ½ mile range.

After the creature has completed whatever task the sorcerer desires, it will wander off as it normally would. Any hostile creature must be sent away by the sorcerer as its last act, otherwise it will attack the caster.

Stats

Magnitude: First. Path: Conjuration. Arcane Cost: 4 AP. Difficulty: Moderate (+0). Range: ½ mile. Duration: Special. Damage: None. Grimoire: Almost any sorcerer will have this spell. It is passed down from master to apprentice.

Casting Requirements & Process

The casting requirements for casting Call Lesser Beast include: – Casting Time. The spell requires 1d6 x 30 minutes of preparation before casting. – Intimate Materials. The spell requires personal materials from the kind of beast being called (hair, claws, teeth, etc.)

To cast the spell, the sorcerer brings forth the needed materials, and goes into a trance, casting his mind outward to find the desired creature. Upon a successful task roll, the creature has been found and will come to the sorcerer to do his bidding. This can take minutes or hours, depending on the type of creature called.

Variations

There are a few known variations of this spell. These usually involve the addition of obvious techniques in the casting process, such as chanting or specific gestures. This reduces the cost for the spell to 3 AP.

One interesting variations used by the sorcerer-priests of Tahoqua in service to their demon-god Onag is to add their own blood to the casting. This further binds the creature to the sorcerer, and reduces the difficulty to Easy (+1). It also causes 1d3 of additional damage to the sorcerer.

Design Notes

This is the basic spell that Barbarians of Lemuria calls Summon Mighty Beast. I like to think there are basically two kinds of summoning spells: what I think of as calling and summoning. The difference is the first causes a creature in the local area to come to the caster and do his bidding. The second actually brings forth a creature from somewhere else, whether that is from another dimension or a physical manifestation of an enslaved spirit.

That is why I think those who follow the path of Conjuration are so evil—they are literally summoning the spirits they have enslaved by killing their physical bodies. I got the idea from watching the original Mortal Kombat movie (“Your soul is MINE!”) I think calling a beast is morally OK, though, or at least not as evil as such enslavement.

I also split the spell into two levels, Lesser and Greater. I think the Lesser version is fine for creatures up to bear size or so, but after that it should have a higher cost or be more difficult.

Also, for some of the stats, I honestly just winged them. You can chnage or ignore the range and difficulty stats as you wish. The biggest question is how to do the time for the creature to get to the sorcerer. That may just be handled with a simple dice roll. Maybe the GM just picks a time for the most dramatic effect. Your call.

The cost of the spell is calculated as follows: – The baseline cost for a First Magnitude spell is 5 AP, with a minimum of 2 AP. – Casting Time. The casting time of the spell was mentioned in the core rulebook, so I kept it. Basic requirement, so cost is still 5 AP. – Intimate Materials. The spell requires a part of the body of the kind of creature called (hair, claws, teeth, etc.) This was a common sense requirement. Cost is -1 AP, now 4 AP.

If you add in the blood cost, that will bring the total cost down 1 point more. Same with obvious technique.

Marc #grimoire