4e Forgotten Realms - Arcane Magic Post-1385dr - V0.2

4E Forgotten Realms: Arcane Magic Post-1385DR

Livor Mortis

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Contents

1 The evolution of arcane magic

1.1 Pre-1385DR: the Weave . . . . . . 1.1.1 The Weave as a xture . . 1.1.2 The Weave as an amplier . 1.1.3 The Weave as a veil . . . . 1.2 Post-1385DR: the Spellplague . . .

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2 Mechanical changes

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3 Power-plane associations

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2.1 Measurement of power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Power-usage-related encounters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 'Discovery of the arcane source' skill challenge . . . . . . . . . . .

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The evolution of arcane magic

Arcane magic has always drawn its power from the dierent planes and its denizens. However, the Year of Blue Fire (1385 DR) has changed drastically the way to address such power. 1.1

Pre-1385DR: the Weave

The Weave was a focus for arcane magic, created by the goddess Mystra. Its purpose was threefold:

1.1.1 The Weave as a xture The rst purpose of the Weave was to establish an easily accessible xture that would allow casters to draw from faraway and ancient realms. Planes that would be beyond a mere mortal's reach were all connected to the Weave.

1.1.2 The Weave as an amplier The second purpose of the Weave was to amplify the power taken from other realms, to ensure that the denizens of those would not suer any detrimental eects from having power drawn from their homes.

1.1.3 The Weave as a veil The third purpose of the Weave was to shield casters from the entities that populated the planes they drew upon. This was a safeguard that would stop the more malicious of those entities to track down and take advantage of the casters that used their power. 1.2

Post-1385DR: the Spellplague

With Mystra's death, the Weave collapsed and with it, its functionality disappeared. This has several eects upon the way arcane magic is now used. Firstly, the use of a xture has become obsolete. The Spellplague has drawn the unreachable planes that were connected to the Weave closer, and casters can now directly draw from them. However, this also means that they are no longer shielded. Occasionally, denizens of the planes appear in front of arcanists, be it with either a request from them in return for their continued use of the plane's resources, or with a more confrontational means of attempting to stop the caster from doing so in the future. This is also related to the last of consequences, which is that the power needed from a plane is now substantially bigger than it used to be. While it is still not enough to inconvenience those who call it home, the use has become easier to track. Ironically, the dangerous pockets of Spellplague that still remain on Toril can change a creature and infuse it with some of its power (typically through spellscars), and is the only source of arcane magic that does not draw upon 3

other planes, and therefore doesn't catch the attention of any higher beings. As such, it is the only 'safe' source of magic. 2

Mechanical changes

2.1

Measurement of power

Each keyword is associated with one or more planes. Whenever a caster uses a spell with certain keywords, he draws the power for that spell from one of the planes associated with each keyword. This power is equally distributed among each plane drawn from. The power is measured in Arcane Power Units (APU). The amount of power required for a spell is directly related to the level of the spell, and its potence (At-Will, Encounter or Daily). Suggested power usage per spell: • At-Will spells: 0.1 APU * spell level • Encounter spells: 0.3 APU * spell level • Daily spells: 0.7 APU * spell level 2.2

Power-usage-related encounters

Whenever a PC has drawn a certain amount of APU from the same plane, its denizens will take notice and establish contact with him/her. This should result in an encounter, be it a combat encounter, a skill challenge or some kind of quest. The treshold amount of APU might be a xed number (e.g. 100) or a semi-random number (e.g. 80+2d20). The 'pool' is reset whenever an associated encounter occurs. Each succesfully completed encounter might provide an automatic success in the 'Discovery of the arcane source' skill quest (see below). Warlocks have specic pacts with certain denizens, and therefore draw all their power related to this pact from a specic plane. They have a special anity with this plane, and should thus be allowed a larger APU pool from the specic plane they have established a pact with. Other PCs may have anities with certain planes as well, depending on race, background, etc. To avoid the encounters to become too numerous, the size of APU pools might increase per tier. For example, at the Paragon tier they might increase from 100 APU to 350 APU, and at the Epic tier, to 1500 APU. Also, completed encounters might increase a person's anity with a source plane, and enlarge their pools. When a PC reaches 80% of any APU pool, they are surrounded by a magical eect that can be sensed, but not completely identied unless by someone who has completed the 'Discovery of the arcane source' skill challenge. All that can be detected by someone who hasn't completed this challenge, is the keyword that is related to the APU pool in question (or several keywords, in 4

case several APU pools are beyond 80%). When a PC reaches 95%, there will be a more visible eect, be it a physical manifestation (e.g. constant chills), a mental inconvenience (e.g. terrible nightmares) or an eect on the character's surroundings (e.g. plants slowly wither around the character). 2.3

'Discovery of the arcane source' skill challenge

After a number of encounters have aroused the suspicion of the PCs, or perhaps out of sheer curiosity, they might want to research the actual source of their arcane powers. This should be a dicult skill challenge that should be very hard to complete succesfully before the Paragon tier. Every skill check might reect a week of study, among other things, depending on the skill used. More details later. 3

Power-plane associations

Warlock pacts: • Dark pact: Shadowfell • Fey pact: Feywild • Infernal pact: The Nine Hells (Astral Sea) • Star pact: Far Realm

Keywords: • Acid: Banehold (Astral Sea), Root Hold (Elemental Chaos) • Cold: The Deep Wilds (Astral Sea), Cresting Spires (Elemental Chaos) • Fire: The Nine Hells (Astral Sea), The Undying Pyre (Elemental Chaos) • Force: The Fugue Plane (Astral Sea), Gates of the Moon (Astral Sea) • Lightning: The Deep Wilds (Astral Sea), Sky Home (Elemental Chaos) • Necrotic: Banehold (Astral Sea), The Supreme Throne (Astral Sea), The

Abyss (Elemental Chaos)

• Poison: The Demonweb Pits (Astral Sea), Towers of Night (Astral Sea),

Shadowfell

• Psychic: Arvandor (Astral Sea), Feywild • Radiant: Celestia (Astral Sea), Eternal Sun (Astral Sea) • Thunder: Dwarfhome (Astral Sea), Sky Home (Elemental Chaos)

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• Charm: Arvandor (Astral Sea), Feywild • Fear: The Dismal Caverns (Astral Sea), The Abyss (Elemental Chaos),

Shadowfell

• Healing: Celestia (Astral Sea), Green Fields (Astral Sea) • Illusion: Arvandor (Astral Sea), House of Knowledge (Astral Sea) • Polymorph: The Deep Wilds (Astral Sea), Dismal Caverns (Astral Sea) • Sleep: Gates of the Moon (Astral Sea), Nishrek (Astral Sea) • Teleportation: Arvandor (Astral Sea), Feywild

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