Nether Colleges¶
Rules system: homebrew Sancturi system (2017 drafts; Conjunction revised March 2022). Legacy design material, not canon for play.
Lore page: Arcane Colleges.
The four college lists of the Nether (Void) domain, whose opposite is Astral: Chronomancy (Time), Conjunction (Warp), Nethermancy (Entropy) and Telemancy (Rift). The thirteen-tier ladder is on Arcane Colleges. Conjunction and Telemancy share the Molecular Disorder debuff and detect each other's tags and beacons.
Chronomancy (Time)¶
Tempus-Neque. "Chronomancy deals with the distortion and manipulation of Time. This college is almost universally ill-favored among mages due to two factors. The first is that it is considered an extremely dangerous magic even for the most proficient due to fact that the alteration of time can have significant unforeseen complications. The second is that almost all mages that begin to master this this magic are never heard from again." (S309, June 2017)
Terms¶
- Temporal Shift: a state applied to beings and objects not yet fully fixed in the current space-time, usually after being affected by time magic. It greatly increases the chance of a Temporal Fissure.
- Temporal Fissure: a tear in time-space; very dangerous, and can completely destroy a spell's target or caster.
- Time Paradox: can split reality, one of the realities then being destroyed, with equal chances as to which. Paradoxes resolve by removing the paradoxical elements, one of which is always the being who introduced the paradox (the caster).
- Temporcision: named only, in Chronosphere, alongside Time Paradox resolutions.
Spells¶
| Tier | Spell | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| I Novice | Revert Form (full cast) | Rewinds the age of a non-living, non-magical object by up to N years; a recently broken object can be restored. Affected by Temporal Shift. |
| II High Novice | Accelerate Decay (full cast) | Ages a non-living, non-magical object by up to N (Rank × Order) years. Affected by Temporal Shift. |
| III Initiate | Rewind Body (full cast) | Rewinds a living creature's bodily state (damage, injuries and any effects on body or spirit) back N turns. Affected by Temporal Shift. |
| III Initiate | Temporal Awareness (passive) | Attunes you to nearby Temporal Shifts: sense them within N feet and see their origin when visible within N feet. |
| IV High Initiate | Temporal Shunt (counterspell) | A slight shift in space-time around an attack gives more time to dodge or block it; abjure value +3 to Dodge or +2 to Block. |
| V Adept | Time Recoil (full cast) | Sets a checkpoint for the target; after a set time they are reset to it (health, objects held and so on), though effects they produced meanwhile remain. Affected by Temporal Shift. |
| VI High Adept | Chronosphere (std cast) | A protective shield making the area immune to all time magic, even protecting those inside from Temporcision and Time Paradox resolutions. It is immobile (fixed in space and time), and no caster can use time magic inside it. |
| VII Arch-Adept | Time Anchor (full cast) | Removes all time effects from the target, including Temporal Shift; immune to time effects for N turns. |
| VIII Master | Slow (full cast) | Slows the target's time displacement. Affected by Temporal Shift. |
| IX High Master | Haste (full cast) | Increases the target's time displacement to 2 turns per turn. Damage-over-time effects on the target deal double damage. Massive bonus to Dodge, Block, etc. Affected by Temporal Shift. |
| X Arch-Master | Time Projection (ritual) | See events at your present location in the past or future, without interacting. |
| XI Grandmaster | Rewind Time (full cast) | Rewind a short period of time; only you know events are being replayed. You are affected by Temporal Shift. |
| XII High Grandmaster | Time Stop (full cast) | Freezes time while you move freely. Everyone, including you, within 20 feet of you or with whom you interact (for example hitting with a projectile) is affected by Temporal Shift. |
| XIII Arch-Grandmaster | Time Gate (ritual) | Moves you and others inside the circle through time. All travellers are affected by Temporal Shift. |
Conjunction (Warp)¶
Locus-Samine. "Conjunction deals with the warping and/or tearing of local planar space between two points. Often used for teleportation and pseudo-summoning. Because of it's raw and violent nature, many conjunction spells inflict substantial wear and tear on their subject(s)." (S310, the most complete college list, revised 2022)1
Terms and conditions¶
- Molecular Disorder (stacking debuff): frequently applied to objects and persons shunted or teleported through subspace. It magnifies the negative effects of teleportation and shunting and acts as a soft cooldown on them. Its length is set by the spell that applies it, and its effects by the shunt or teleport spell cast while it is present.
- Decoupled (condition): a single free-standing object not attached to others. A whole body of water is decoupled; a section of it is not. Individual stones in a wall are not, but the whole wall may be, if it stands by gravity alone.
- Loose (condition): like Decoupled, but also includes fluids and gases.
- Tagged (condition): the target has an active Conjunctive Tag on it.
- Untethered (condition): the target is not physically connected to other objects in any way; a grappled, leashed or held target does not qualify. The author asks: "What is diff with Decoupled???"
- Willing (condition): if the target is conscious, they can choose to react negatively to the pull of the spell.
The famous conjunctive mages are Lystervar and Nythassi, whose named spells appear below. Lystervar is spelled Lysterval in several spell names.
Spells¶
Molecular Disorder entries give the stack applied and its duration, then the shunt's effect on a living target and the Break Object save for a non-living one, scaling with the stacks already present.
| Tier | Spell | Casting | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Novice | Conjunctive Tag | ritual, 10 mp; 1 full round per 5 lbs | Tags a Decoupled object for use as a target in certain conjunction spells. A caster can keep up to [Skill Proficiency] tags; a tag lasts until forgotten, willingly or by exceeding the limit. Any cohesive, independent object under [Skill Level × 50] lbs, living or dead, may be tagged. |
| I Novice | Lystervar's Call (Lesser) | standard cantrip | Teleports a small Untethered, Decoupled, Willing, Tagged object of [Skill Level] lbs or less within [Skill Level] hexes to your hand. Molecular Disorder +1 for 2 + 1d8 turns; living: [1 + 2 × stack]d8 thunder and Dazed+1 for 0 + [stack]d4 turns; non-living: save vs [7 + 3 × stack] Break Object. |
| II High Novice | Minor Conjunction | ritual, lbs/5 mp; 1 full round per 10 lbs | Shunts (a short-range teleport through local space) a Tagged, Untethered, Willing target within [Skill Level × 20] miles on the same plane to you. Molecular Disorder +1 for 5 + 1d8 turns; living: [2 + 2 × stack]d8 thunder and Dazed+1 for 1 + [stack]d4 turns; non-living: save vs [9 + 3 × stack]. |
| II High Novice | Minor Warpstream | standard channel, 12 mp, 2 mp+ | A small warpstream draws all Loose matter from one hex into an adjacent hex; anything entering is moved at once. Against unwilling subjects it is an attack to Hit vs Poise, Dodge. It can hurl loose rock, furniture, fire, water or magma into the target hex as an attack (to Hit vs Cover, Dodge). Lasts while channelled on the same pair of hexes. |
| II High Novice | Blink | full action, 12 mp | Shunts you to a location you can see within [Skill Level] hexes; you must be Untethered. Molecular Disorder +1 for 4 + 1d8 turns; [1 + 2 × stack]d8 thunder and Dazed+1 for 1 + [stack]d4 turns. |
| III Initiate | Concussive Flash | standard action, ?15 mp | Warps space on one hex and releases it, a small concussive blast affecting everything in the hex. |
| III Initiate | Shimmerfall | guard (thunder) | React to incoming attacks in line of sight against Dodge or Cover, +2 to both defenses. |
| IV High Initiate | Conjunctive Examination | full action, 4 mp | Examine [Skill Proficiency] hexes, detecting Conjunctive Tags, Telemancy Beacons and Molecular Disorder (with stacks and severity) on all objects there. |
| IV High Initiate | Quick Conjunction | minor action, lbs/5 mp | As Minor Conjunction with more speed and less care. Molecular Disorder +1 for 5 + 2d8 turns; living: [3 + 3 × stack]d8 thunder and Dazed+1 for 3 + [stack]d6 turns; non-living: save vs [12 + 4 × stack]. |
| IV High Initiate | Nythassi's Exchange | full action, 18 mp | As Blink, but you exchange places with a Tagged, Untethered, Willing object in sight within [Skill Level] hexes; you must be Untethered. Molecular Disorder +1 to both for 4 + 1d8 turns; living: [1 + 2 × stack]d8 thunder and Dazed+1 for 1 + [stack]d4; non-living: save vs [7 + 3 × stack]. |
| IV High Initiate | Warptear | 120' | Tears space in a line from the caster: 4d8+4 Blight damage vs Dodge, Poise; on injury knocks the target prone. |
| V Adept | Shunt Proficiency | passive | Your Molecular Disorder effects are lessened: damage −1 die, break chance −3, Dazed −1 turn. |
| V Adept | Wall of Distortion (unfinished) | full action, ?5 mp | A wall of distortion that massively limits ranged attacks through it. |
| V Adept | Lystervar's Call | minor cantrip | Teleports a small Untethered, Decoupled, Willing object of [Skill Level] lbs or less within [Skill Level] hexes to your hand; it must be fully visible (no concealment or cover) or well known to the caster (an object in their or their allies' backpack). |
| V Adept | Warpstream (unfinished) | standard channel, ? mp | Streams Loose, unbreakable, non-living matter (water, loose rock, magma) from a distant but familiar location within [Skill Level × 10] miles into [Skill Proficiency] contiguous hexes. |
| VI High Adept | Nythassi's Circle (unfinished) | standard action | Distortion around one hex pushing back on all adjacent hexes: things move out fairly well (−1 to hit), but attacks into it have −3 vs Dodge, Cover and −2 vs Block, Poise. |
| VI High Adept | Lysterval's Recoil (unfinished) | guard (thunder) | Shunts an attack aimed at the caster aside: +2 vs any Cover-based attack (and +2 vs its other defense); Glancing Hits deal no damage. |
| VI High Adept | Concussive Sphere (unfinished) | standard action | A larger-area Concussive Flash. |
| VI High Adept | Lystervar's Warpshot | guard (thunder) | A telegraphed warp tunnel to the target, using a guard slot, aiding direct single-target ranged attacks dealing physical, aural or somatic damage: the attack is teleported to the target, +2 to Hit vs Cover and Dodge, ignoring all ranged penalties. Broken if the target leaves line of sight or the caster is Hit. |
| VII Arch-Adept | Nythassi's Wall (unfinished) | standard action | Nythassi's Circle formed into a larger wall, with severe pushback making transit nearly one-way. |
| VII Arch-Adept | Shunt Gate (unfinished) | ritual, ? mp | A one-way gate between locations over short distances. |
| VIII Master | Shunt Expertise | passive | Molecular Disorder lessened further: damage −2 dice, break chance −6, Dazed −3 turns. |
| VIII Master | Nythassi's Spellsheathe | augment, ? mp | Augments an attack against two of Dodge, Cover, Block: +1 to Hit, ignoring Somatic (lightning, thunder, blight) and Aural (fire, cold, acid) guards. |
| IX High Master | Lysterval's Redirect (unfinished) | guard (thunder) | As Recoil, but shunts the attack at a different target: on a miss the caster picks a new target and makes the attack. |
| X Arch-Master | Lysterval's Longshot (unfinished) | augment, ? mp | Augments an attack vs Dodge or Cover: range increments tripled, +2 to Hit and +1 Advantage to Crit. |
| XI Grandmaster | Shunt Mastery | passive | Molecular Disorder lessened further: damage −3 dice, break chance −10, Dazed −5 turns. |
| XIII Arch-Grandmaster | Mass Conjunction | full action, ? mp | Summon up to [Skill Level] objects at once into different hexes within [Skill Level] hexes in line of sight. |
Further names are queried without rules: "Conjunction?" (V), "Major Conjunction?" (VIII) and "Grand Conjunction?" (XI); tiers IX, X, XII and XIII also carry "??".
Nethermancy (Entropy)¶
Chao-Statera. "Nethermancy deals with the forces and energies of the Void. It often takes advantage of entropic disparities between the local environment and points in the Void to create a current of Nether energy from one point to another." (S311, May 2017)2 It shares the Willing condition with the other colleges.
The header of famous mages is mislabelled "Famous Vivanimancy Mages". Its first entry is Gustraeva; the second, "?? (Acadian)", is a copy of Poltemarc's entry on Animus Colleges and is ignored here.
| Tier | Spell | Kind | Casting | Target | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I Novice | Disassociation | Augment, 0 mp | Minor | 1 target visible 30 | A burst of entropy weakens the target's Absorbs by 1 and adds +4 to the chance of breaking target objects, for a single Action. |
| I Novice | Identify Nethermancy | Action, 0 mp | Minor | 1 object visible 30 | A detailed understanding of the Nethermancy spells active on a creature, object or zone in range. |
| II High Novice | Void Bolt | Action, 18 mp | Standard | 1 target visible 60 | A highly unstable burst of void energy dealing Somatic-Blight damage, attack vs Dodge, Cover: [REA] + 6d6 at 10 feet or less, 5d6 at 20, 4d6 at 30, and so on to 1d6 at 60. +4 to Interruption. |
| III Initiate | Spell Suppression | Action, 12 mp | Standard | 1 spell visible 15, 10 turns | Suppresses a lower-order spell's effect for the duration by sapping its energy. "?? requires the spell scaling rules!!" |
| III Initiate | Nether Block | Guard, 16 mp | Guard | self | +2 Block, Dodge and Poise vs attacks dealing Physical, Somatic or Aural damage; for Block, counts as a blocking item with 5 Block. |
| IV High Initiate | Nether Ward | Action, 26 mp | Standard | 1 ally visible 15 | A ward against Aural and Somatic damage types (+2 Absorb). |
| V Adept | Void Lance | Action, 38 mp | Standard | line 60 | As Void Bolt, in a line from the caster. |
| V Adept | Gustraeva's Target Matrix | Action, 8 mp | Minor | 1 target visible 60 | Assigns a Void Entity a target location, which it attacks (tries to destroy and break apart) for 2d6 rounds. |
| VI High Adept | Inverted Energy Zone | Inverts energy in an area: healing deals damage, fire becomes cold, frost becomes hot. Affects only energy sources of lower order than the spell. "?? requires the spell scaling rules!!" | |||
| VII Arch-Adept | Anti-Gravity Zone | An area where gravity does not apply. | |||
| VII Arch-Adept | Repulsion Shell | A shell of nether energies repelling matter and energy from both sides. | |||
| VIII Master | Disintegrate | Complete destruction of the target object. | |||
| VIII Master | Void Zone | An area of netherspace damaging all who remain inside. | |||
| VIII Master | Complex Nether Energy Matrices | Gustraeva's: intricate nether energy patterns for better control of nether entities. | |||
| IX High Master | Anti Magic Zone | name only | |||
| X Arch-Master | Nether Barrier | name only | |||
| XI Grandmaster | Nether Symbiosis | The energy pools of two sources or beings are tied and shared for a short time; life energy is also shared, at a reduced amount. | |||
| XIII Arch-Grandmaster | Juxtaposition | Merges a portion of the material plane (size set by the caster) with the Void, acting like a large Anti-Gravity, Void and Anti-Magic Zone; land, buildings and objects are torn apart. |
Tier XII is "??".
Telemancy (Rift)¶
Locus-Odium. "Telemancy deals with the creation of rifts between planes and points in space. Used in teleportation, portals and inter-planar travel." (S312, August 2017) It uses the same Molecular Disorder debuff as Conjunction.
| Tier | Spell | Casting | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I Novice | Telemancy Beacon | ritual, 20 m | An invisible beacon at a point in space, used by other spells to connect points across vast distances and even planes. It needs a little power to maintain; each lasts [Skill Score × 2] days and can be recharged at its location for the same period at ¼ the cost. A second Novice entry, "Transjunction??", is a name only. |
| II High Novice | Unstable Rift | ritual, 8 m | An unstable rift between two beacons on the same plane within [Skill Level × 10] miles, lasting 2d6 rounds; 2 medium or 1 large person or object may pass per round. Travellers gain Molecular Disorder for 4d6 hours. When it ends both beacons are destroyed. Each creature already carrying Molecular Disorder has a 50% chance to destroy the rift, and if so a 50% chance it happens before they pass; either way they take 5d8 per stack. |
| III Initiate | Self Teleportation | full action | Teleport yourself to a known, active (powered) beacon on the same plane within [Skill Score × 10] miles. Molecular Disorder for 3d4 hours. |
| III Initiate | Telemancy Examination | passive | Detect Telemancy Beacons, Conjunctive Tags and Molecular Disorder during Detect Magic. |
| IV High Initiate | Minor Teleportation | ritual, 5 m | Teleport 1 willing object or subject to a known, active beacon on the same plane within [Skill Score × 10] miles; Molecular Disorder for 3d4 hours. An object already carrying Molecular Disorder has a 50% chance of going astray (d20 × 10% × target distance travelled, direction d8 from the present location) and takes 5d8 per stack regardless. |
| IV High Initiate | Improved Telemancy Beacon | passive | Your beacons last [Skill Score] months. |
| V Adept | Long Range Teleportation | passive | Your teleportation spells span 10x their stated range. |
| V Adept | Scramble?? | "Makes any Teleportation have a high likelihood of failure on the target, or may end up at wrong location??" | |
| VI High Adept | Summon Minor Void Entity | ritual | Summons a minor void entity (Nether Crawler, Nether Worm). |
| VI High Adept | Improved Telemancy Detection | passive | During Identify Magic, determine the distance and direction last travelled through a beacon. |
| VII Arch-Adept | Teleportation Portal | ritual, 5 rounds | A portal to a known, active beacon on the same plane within [Skill Level × 10] miles; Molecular Disorder for 3d4 hours. |
| VIII Master | Master Telemancy Beacon | passive | Your beacons last [Skill Score] years. |
| VIII Master | Summon Median Void Entity | ritual | Summons a median void entity (Nether Beast). |
| IX High Master | Interplanar Teleportation | passive | Your teleportation spells span 50x their stated range and reach adjacent planes. |
| X Arch-Master | Summon Major Void Entity | ritual | Summons a major void entity (Nether Stalker). |
| XI Grandmaster | Grand Telemancy Beacon | passive | Your beacons last [Skill Score × 10] years. |
| XII High Grandmaster | Summon Prime Void Entity | ritual | Summons a prime void entity (Nether Kraken, Nether Dragon). |
Tier XIII is blank.
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Blinks, shunts, conjunctive tags and warps in the current rules, including Lystervar's spells: Telekinetics ↩