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Elder Magus Spell Paths

Rules system: homebrew, the skill-based Sancturi system (2017 documents; nine ranks, energy costs in e).

Lore: the Magus and the Elder Demesnes are described under Elder Magic.

Legacy design material, not canon for play. Nine-rank spell progressions for two paths of the Elder (Eldritch) Magus: the Blade path (Magus - Blade, S275) and the Blood path (Magus - Blood, S276). Both drafts open with the same demesne framework. The Magus as a Spellcraft feat is on Sancturi Magic System.

Demesne framework

Both paths draw on Elder Demesnes chosen from three groups (S275, S276; the heading above them is "??" in both):

Group Demesnes
Planes Shadow, Ethereal, Astral, Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Light, Darkness, Void
Aspects Order, Chaos, Balance
Manifestations Mind, Body, Spirit

Both also list the effect kinds "Control, Drain, Exchange, Disease". Each spell names the two demesnes it combines (for example Body + Chaos) and, in bold in the source, its damage type.

The nine ranks are I Novice, II Initiate, III Apprentice, IV Intermediate, V Disciple, VI Adept, VII Master, VIII Grandmaster and IX Archmaster. Actions are Standard, Minor, Full, Reaction, Counterspell, Ritual (with casting time), Augment (modifies an earlier spell) or passive; e is energy. Entries marked Unfinished are placeholders in the source.

Blood path

Elder Demesnes: Body, Chaos, Darkness, Light and Ethereal. (Blood Charm uses Body + Shadow, a demesne not in this list.)

Debilitated Lifeforce (debuff): "drained too much already and cannot easily drain more. This effect reduces additional effects from drain type effects. It can stack and usually lasts until the target has had a Full Rest or has recovered at least 90% of their total Health."

I - Novice

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Bloodletting Body + Chaos Reaction, 1 e Alters a single attack within 60'. If the attack deals 10 or more Piercing or Slashing damage, then a Wound+1 condition will be applied to the victim.
Bloodseeking Body + Chaos Reaction, 3 e Alters a single attack within 60'. Grants +2 Hit v Block, Cover & Dodge to a single attack made against a creature that has blood.
Hemophilia Body + Chaos, Blight Minor, 3 e (+1) Single target 120'. Clandestine. Hit v Endure, Grace. All Bleeding and damage taken is calculated with Advantage to Damage. Lasts 1 day + 1 day per extra e.
Transfusion Body + Darkness, Blight Full, 5 e Touch source and target. Restores [Skill Rank] Health to one by taking health from another. The amount taken and given is always equal and is determined after Absorb and Resistance (if any). Absorb is calculated as if 3 dice. If the spell causes an Injury, add the Debilitated Lifeforce debuff. Each stack of Debilitated Lifeforce reduces the amount taken from the source (and given to the target) by ½. If the source is not incapacitated and unwilling, a successful Grab attack is required.

II - Initiate

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Blood Protection Body + Light Minor, 2 e Single target 30'. An enchantment that grats +5 Resistance to Blight effects and +15 against those effects originating from you. The spell lasts 1 hour.
Blood Charm Body + Shadow, Blight Ritual, 1 rnd/target lvl, 5 e Charms the target for 1 hour per [Proficiency]. Hit v Acuity, Resolve. Requires physical possession of a sample (single drop) of the target's blood (which is consumed).
Boiling Blood Body + Darkness, Blight Standard, 7 e Single target 120'. 3d10 + [Prof] Blight damage on Hit. If the hit causes an Injury, then the target is also Stunned for 1 turn.
Breath of Exhaustion Body + Darkness Standard, 6 e 30' Cone. Hit v Endure, Grace. On a glancing the target is afflicted with Exhaustion+1. On a full hit the target is afflicted with Exhaustion+2. Each crit stack can add an additional +1.

III - Apprentice

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Blood Fury — — Unfinished: Enrage the target when in battle.
Tainted Blood Body + Darkness, Blight Full, 6 e Single target 120'. Hit v Endure, Grace. A disease that causes any Healing, Mending, Cure or Restore effect to also cause damage. The disease progresses in severity each time one of these effects is applied. It causes 1d8 damage per stack.
Tormenting Pain Body + Darkness, Blight Standard, 8 e 60' radius. Everyone in the area with a Wound condition to suffer an extra 'tick' of wound damage.
Wasting Disease Body + Darkness, Blight Standard, 5 e Single target 120'. Hit v Endure, Grace. The disease 'hits' every turn until it ends. On a miss, the disease ends. On a hit, the wasting disease drains 2 HP, 1 STR and 1 FOR and grants the disease a stacking +1 bonus to hit. On glancing, the wasting disease drains 1 HP.
Hemophilia (Advanced) — Augment, +2 e Anytime the target takes 10 or more Slashing or Piercing damage a Wound +1 condition is added. It will not add this condition above Wound 3.

IV - Intermediate

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Blood Plague Body + Chaos, Blight Standard, 10 e 60' radius or 120' cone. Hit v Endure, Grace. Spreads all blood-borne diseases from all targets in the area to all bleeding (Wound+1 condition or greater) targets in an area.
Blood Siphon Body + Darkness, Blight Standard, 8 e 60' radius or 120' cone. Hit v Endure, Grace. Fresh (100%) take 1d6 Blight. Wounded (75% health or less) creatures take 3d6 Blight damage. Bloodied (50% or less) take 5d6. For every 3 points of damage caused, you gain 1 energy.
Expel Disease Body + Light Full, 6 e Single touched target. Removes a single disease effect from the target. The weakest disease is always removed first.
Blood Charm (Advanced) — Augment, +5 e Lasts 1 day per [Proficiency] and produces a strong Charm effect. Only 1 target can be under the effect of this stronger charm at a time.
Boiling Blood — Augment, +3 e If the Hit causes an Injury, then the target is also Stunned for 1 turn.

V - Disciple

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
(unnamed) — — —
Blood Curse — Ritual Unfinished: strong curse. Requires physical possession of a sample of the target's blood (which is consumed).
Blood Thrall — Ritual Unfinished: allows you to keep permanent minions under your thrall. You can have up to your own level in minion levels, but no single minion may be more than ½ your level. A being under a Blood Thrall has reduced CHA, ING and REA, but has increased STR and FOR. The thrall is essentially kept in an extreme state of infatuation which consumes every waking thought.
Hemophilia (Mass) — Augment Unfinished: area effect
Tormenting Pain (Advanced) — Augment All creatures in the area now have their Wound conditions removed as if by Mending. All damage caused is returned as healing to the caster.
Wasting Disease (Mass) — Augment, +9 e 60' radius or 120' cone. Your Wasting Disease can now affect all targets in an area radiating from you.

VI - Adept

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Symbol of Hate — Ritual Unfinished: Places an invisible symbol on the target. Whenever another creature looks at they must save or have an inexplicable hate for the creature. If in battle, they will become a high priority target. Out of combat, reaction penalty of -12.
Mirrored Wounds — — Unfinished: Piercing and Slashing damage are split across the target(s).??
Blood Golem — Ritual Control the actions of another directly like a puppet. This is not mind-control, but direct control of the body.

VII - Master

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Exchange Life — Ritual, 10 minutes Unfinished: allows you to raise the dead by exchanging life force.
Symbol of Love — — Unfinished: Places an invisible symbol on the target. Whenever another creature looks at they must save or have an inexplicable love for the creature. If in battle, they will protect the target. Out of combat, reaction bonus of +12.
Wasting Disease (Advanced) — Augment, +12 e Your Wasting Disease can now advances at 3x the normal rate.

VIII - Grandmaster

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Lycanthropy — Ritual, 1 minute, 30 e Curses/infects a target with the Lycanthropy disease (it is a complex hybrid between disease and curse and is not removable by any known means). Requires the powdered heart of the beast they will be transforming into.

IX - Archmaster

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
? — passive ?
Mirrored Wounds (Mass) — Augment, +? e Unfinished: all Slashing and Piercing damage to you is mirrored to everyone within X

Blade path

Elder Demesnes: Earth and Chaos, Order.

Blade Ritual (debuff): "a single blade can only benefit from one ritual at a time and the blade can only be enhanced by a single ritual."

I - Novice

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Bonded Blade — Ritual, Reaction, 1 min, 5 e Bonds a single bladed weapon with you. You can summon or dismiss that weapon as a Reaction with no cost.
Flying Daggers — Standard, 2 e Single target attack 60'. Attack vs Dodge, Cover. Deals 4d6 + [Prof] Piercing damage.
Sharpened Blade — Ritual, 1 min, 3 e The bladed weapon (Slashing or Piercing) deals an extra die of damage for 1 day. Only 1 weapon at a time can benefit from this blade ritual.

II - Initiate

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Blade Armor Earth + Order, Slashing Minor, 6 e Blades surround you. All creatures in adjacent hexes take 2d8 Slashing damage per turn starting or ending in those hexes.
Hail of Knives — Standard, 6 e Small area (5' radius) within 120' is pelted with bladed knives. Attack vs Dodge, Cover. Deals 2d12 + [Prof] Piercing damage to those in the area.
Halt Blade — Counterspell, 5 e +4 Block, Cover vs any Piercing or Slashing attack.

III - Apprentice

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Blade Storm — Standard, 8 e 30' radius around with you at the center. All creatures starting or ending their turn in the area take 3d8 Slashing damage. Lasts 2d6 turns.
Frenetic Blade — Ritual, 1 min, 5 e The bladed weapon (Slashing or Piercing) gains +4 multistrike for 1 day. Only 1 weapon at a time can benefit from this blade ritual.
Sword Sentinel — Minor, 6 e Enchants an existing blade to act in your defense. You gain the Block bonus as if you were proficiently wielding the weapon. Lasts 2d8 turns.

IV - Intermediate

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Blade Barrier — Full Unfinished: creates a barrier of whirling blades
Curse Blade — Standard Unfinished: makes target blade difficult to handle, reducing chance to hit and increase fumble

V - Disciple

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Shatter Blade — — —
Sword Sentinel (Riposte) — — Unfinished: can use a Reaction to attack someone who attacks you

VI - Adept

No spells listed.

VII - Master

Spell Demesnes and type Action and cost Effect
Vorpal Blade — — —

VIII - Grandmaster

No spells listed.

IX - Archmaster

No spells listed.

Notes

  • The Blood path lists Boiling Blood twice: as a II Initiate spell whose description already includes the stun on Injury, and as a IV Intermediate augment (+3 e) that adds the same stun.
  • At VIII Grandmaster the Blood path has the ritual Lycanthropy, which "Curses/infects a target with the Lycanthropy disease (it is a complex hybrid between disease and curse and is not removable by any known means)". Other sources make Lycanthropy a Fae plague; that difference belongs to Magic.
  • An earlier Magus draft (S277) is superseded and another (S278) discarded; neither is used.

Gap

Neither path has spells listed for every rank: the Blade path has none at VI, VIII or IX, and its IV to VII entries are names or placeholders without costs.