Rituals and Idols
“After weeks of wild goose chases, I tracked the suspect to a backwater Chelish town, where my accent and foreign dress drew unfriendly stares from the locals. Still, the murdered boy’s family had paid well, so I persisted. It was odd; I seemed to be always one step behind the suspect, and the smell of brimstone wafted ominously wherever he had been. Those who had seen him clammed up when I questioned them, as if afraid to utter his name. At last I approached a warehouse from which came an eerie chanting, and knew I’d found him. I crept inside.
“There was the murderer, his eyes blazing white, holding aloft the severed head of what looked like an angel. When bloody, black-skinned wings began to sprout from his back, I fled for my life—contract be damned.”
—Meera Blackthorn, private detective
Magic comes in myriad forms, some more unconventional and more dangerous than Golarion’s usual spellcasting disciplines. Lurking just beneath the surface of society are occult traditions that seek to explore strange mysteries, understand forgotten lore, and bring about supernatural transformations. Among these occult traditions are occult rituals and idols.
The following pages present two new rules systems: occult rituals and idols. The rules for occult rituals first appeared on page 208 of Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures, and explain how to use this unique form of magic. Occult Adventures also includes methods and guidelines for creating your own new occult rituals, as well as almost a dozen examples of existing occult rituals. The section below integrates the use of occult rituals into the campaign setting, and explores a number of ways they can find their way into your adventures. Pages 54–59 detail nine new rituals. Among the occult rituals found here are one that the Night Heralds use in attempts to free Tychilarius from its prison and a bloody rite performed by Red Mantis assassins to determine whether their quarries have returned to life.
The system for creating idols is new to this book, but a major plot point of Pathfinder Module: The House on Hook Street revolves around a sinister idol with its own plans. Complete rules for creating your own idols appear on page 60, followed by a pair of examples.
Rituals in Your Game
There are a number of ways you can work occult rituals into your campaigns. These mysterious ceremonies are ultimately just another way to utilize magic, but they have the added benefit of being available to characters who aren’t necessarily spellcasters. However, they have an inherent element of danger to them. Each occult ritual has a particular consequence that occurs if the casters fail to properly perform the ritual, and also includes a backlash that affects one or more of the casters even if the ritual is implemented correctly. Because of this, sometimes the backlash from or the effects of failure of an occult ritual can help drive stories, as those involved with the casting must then seek a way to reverse the negative consequences of their actions.
Occult rituals work well to help explain how a group of cultists achieve things that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. For example, a sect of Dark Tapestry cultists made up of thieves and murderers can call out to the unthinkable entities they venerate without needing to personally cast spells. Used in this way, occult rituals can remain in the background as a way to explain events that the rules for spells and magic items can’t.
Occult rituals need not be the sole property of antagonists in a campaign. In fact, such a ritual
can become the main driving factor of a long-term campaign. This can begin with the PCs needing to solve a problem and a helpful scholar mentioning that she read something once about a ceremony that could help. Occult rituals are rare, so the PCs would need to seek out knowledge of the specific one they seek. Being taught an occult ritual takes only 1 day per ritual level, but for PCs trying to piece together the specifics of the ritual by poring over archaic tomes and piecing together esoteric knowledge, the process of learning a ritual takes much longer—often many weeks or months. Once the PCs uncover the mysteries of the ritual, they must gather the necessary components to begin performing it. If antagonists are aware that the PCs are close to completing the rite, they could strike in an effort to disrupt the casting (and consequently afflict the PCs with the consequences for failure).
Rituals work best for specific effects that a GM can tailor perfectly to her campaign—the more complicated and unique to a certain situation the better. You shouldn’t use them to simply replace magical effects not available to a party of adventurers. Occult rituals find greater significance in a campaign if they are a focus of the storyline or a dangerous alternative that the PCs must carefully consider before undertaking.
Idols in Your Game
Essentially a combination of artifacts and intelligent items, idols are powerful objects that have gained sentience and command magical abilities that they can use to perform amazing acts. Idolatry has a long tradition in the real world, and it isn’t uncommon for people on Golarion to build cults around powerful items. Some idols can even grant spells to their followers, blurring the lines between object worship and true divinity even further.
Idols aren’t typically intentionally created, and more often than not they have evolved to what they are now over ages of veneration. For instance, a simple Kellid totem might begin to respond to the calls of those who honor it only after hundreds of years of worship and thousands of sacrifices made in its honor.
Idols can show up in any place and in any campaign that features ancient societies, strong magic, or otherworldly forces. An idol can be at the center of an antagonistic cult, with the ancient item pulling the strings of its mortal followers, and proving to be the true threat in the long run. A benevolent idol might instead be in need of rescue, perhaps pleading with a group of adventurers to move it to another location or protect it from those who wish to do it harm.
A beneficial idol can be a source of power for a group of PCs who are undertaking a quest that is important to it. As they are often ancient things, idols can also serve as sources for lost or obscure information or as sparks for further adventures.
Aiudara Activation
Created using ancient elven knowledge, the aiudara network is a system of gates placed throughout the solar system. Also known as “elf gates”—a term elves consider vulgar—these portals come in two distinct models: linked gates and hubs. Linked gateways connect two aiudara together, while hubs allow a single location access to multiple sites.
The art of crafting new aiudara remains lost to Golarion’s elves, but occult rituals for activating most existing linked gates persist. Rules for this ritual are presented below. Rules also exist for activating hub gates, although these aiudara are rare. The ritual for reconnecting a hub gate to all its affiliated gates is modified from the ritual below as follows: Level 7; Casting Time 70 minutes; Components add F (a rare gem worth at least 5,000 gp); Skill Checks add 1 Knowledge (history) success; Failure same effect, except the hostile creature comes from the summon monster VII list (and potential additional creatures come from the 6th-level list or lower-level lists).
Known rituals to activate aiudara can be found within the libraries of Kyonin and the Mordant Spire, while the writings of the Ekujae and Snowcaster elves detail similar procedures for maintaining gateways in their respective territories.
Aiudara Activation
Source Occult Realms pg. 54
School conjuration (calling); Level 6
Casting Time 60 minutes
Components V, S, M (a diamond-tipped stone chisel worth at least 500 gp), SC (up to 4)
Skill Checks Knowledge (arcana) DC 29, 3 successes; Knowledge (geography) DC 29, 3 successes
Range touch
Target one inactive aiudara
Duration instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The primary caster is exhausted.
Failure The portal creates a temporary one-way link with a random location, immediately delivering a hostile creature as though via summon monster VI. At the GM’s discretion, the creature may be accompanied by 1d3 creatures of the same kind from the 5th-level summon monster list, or 1d4+1 creatures of the same type from a lower-level list.
Effect
By repairing damaged magical runes and realigning the energies based on the gate’s planetary position, the caster reactivates a dormant aiudara. A reactivated gate automatically reconnects with its linked twin, acting as a two-way gate (as per the spell) between the locations. The caster knows the gate’s password—which might be anything from an Elven phrase to a song’s refrain to a spell—from the research required to learn this ritual. All other creatures who use this gate must also know the password to access the gate’s magic after it has been reactivated.
Analytical Congress
Designed by members of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, the analytical congress occult ritual was first created to help groups focus on conducting research. The ritual relies on the resolve of a study group’s mentor to form a cohesive team, allowing the order to both include less intelligent allies in research tasks and boost learned allies’ ability to assist in study.
Today, instructions for the analytical congress occult ritual are held within a secret room in the order’s Haraday Theater, located in Caliphas in Ustalav. The order viciously guards the ritual’s details, though rumors report that an exiled Ustalavic noble and former order member has sold them to a mysterious buyer in the Kalistocracy of Druma.
Analytical Congress
Source Occult Realms pg. 54
School transmutation; Level 4
Casting Time 40 minutes
Components V, S, M (a spool of copper wire and incense worth 500 gp), SC (at least 2, up to 8)
Skill Checks Diplomacy DC 31, 1 success; Perception DC 31, 2 successes; Sense Motive DC 31, 1 success
Range touch
Target primary and secondary casters
Duration 1 day (D)
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); SR yes (harmless)
Backlash The primary caster and all secondary casters take 1 point of Dexterity and Strength damage.
Failure The primary caster takes 2d6 points of Intelligence damage and Wisdom damage; all secondary casters take 1d6 points of Intelligence damage and of Wisdom damage.
Effect
Through a process of reaching mutual understanding and agreeing on a shared goal, the casters of this ritual are joined in the pursuit of knowledge. Each secondary caster holds on to a section of long copper wire, while the primary caster questions them. Only when assured of the purity of joint purpose among all casters does the primary caster permit the other casters to let go of the wire, successfully completing the ritual. Failure by the primary caster to conduct this purpose-driven interrogation, or by the secondary casters to withstand it, can lead to severe mental trauma for all involved.
While devoting the remainder of the day to research and study, each caster can choose one of the following bonuses after the ritual’s completion.
• Decrease the time necessary to attempt an untrained Knowledge check by using a library (as per the Knowledge skill) to 1 hour.
• Gain a +5 insight bonus on all Knowledge checks of one type for the remainder of the day.
• While using a library or similar research resource, replace a required Knowledge check with a Perception check at a –5 penalty.
• Reroll any one Knowledge check attempted over the course of the day.
Eternal Apotheosis
The depraved path to becoming a lich is a deeply personal experience for those who dare tread it. All spellcasters seeking such a goal must spend months, and more frequently years, gathering eldritch knowledge and conducting fell experiments to research the myriad routes to undeath. Even then, it is exceedingly rare for two liches to have achieved immortality in the exact same way, although their motivations—incredible power without the limitations of a mortal body—are often quite similar.
The ritual below represents just one way some liches have transferred their souls into phylacteries. Other rituals tied to lichdom involve bargains or liaisons with evil outsiders, caster-created alchemical tinctures infused with the energy of loved ones’ souls, and other such trying necessities. Although heinously evil, the eternal apotheosis occult ritual is perhaps the most direct way to achieve lichdom.
The eternal apotheosis occult ritual was devised by Socorro, the Butcher of Carrion Hill, in his attempts to become a lich, a process he completed with the aid of the Whispering Tyrant. Socorro painstakingly tested his theories before creating this version of the ritual, and many innocents suffered in his voracious quest for this terrible knowledge. Once he devised a working version, Socorro greedily kept it to himself, sharing its details only with a few wicked casters he deemed truly worthy of lichdom.
However, Socorro abandoned his records of the ritual when he fled Ustalav at the end of the Shining Crusade. Since then, the rite’s details have discreetly passed through the hands of wizards and other unscrupulous spellcasters across the Inner Sea region, even surviving beyond the area and surfacing in various places all across the world.
The last confirmed sighting of such a record came from a team of Pathfinder agents, who had traveled to the solitary tower of the wizard Kraeghan, a day’s journey north of Kalsgard in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. A confrontation ensued at the site, the agents reported, and the book was stolen by umber-robed cultists. The Pathfinders confirmed that the eternal apotheosis occult ritual was detailed in the book in addition to a host of other abhorrent rituals and fell knowledge that they could not identify before the unknown villains set upon them and absconded with the tome.
Eternal Apotheosis
Source Occult Realms pg. 55
School necromancy [evil]; Level 9
Casting Time 9 hours
Components V, S, M (incense made from ground-up bits of undead creatures), F (phylactery worth at least 120,000 gp), SC (at least 1, up to 21; see text)
Skill Checks Knowledge (arcana) DC 34, 3 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 34, 3 successes; Spellcraft DC 34, 3 successes
Range primary caster
Duration instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash All secondary casters take 20d6 points of damage. Those slain are reduced to dust.
Failure The primary caster becomes a forsaken lich, doomed to inevitable destruction in 1d10 days.
Effect
The primary caster must begin this incantation at dusk. The ritual must be performed in a place of significance to the caster and is typically the site where she began her descent into evil, or a site where she committed a great atrocity. Unlike other occult rituals, the secondary casters are simply fodder for the necromantic energies unleashed by the aspiring lich; they do not contribute to the ritual beyond taking the damage of the ritual’s backlash. Unlike with normal occult rituals, these secondary casters do not need to be willing participants, but they do need to be within close range (25 feet + 2 feet per character level of the primary caster) of the primary caster for the duration of the ritual. For every seven secondary casters, the ritual’s level is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 6th level), the casting time is reduced by 1 hour, and the number of skill checks required decreases by one. When reducing the ritual’s level in this manner, the primary caster can choose which check or checks are eliminated. The primary caster also receives a +1 bonus on the required skill checks for every four secondary casters, as normal.
Casting this ritual funnels raw and very painful necromantic energy through the primary caster, possibly eviscerating all of the secondary casters in the process. Successful completion of the ritual allows the primary caster to transfer her soul into the phylactery, forever sealing it within the magical receptacle and turning her into a full-fledged lich.
Fiendish Transformation
Wicked ceremonies and rites on Golarion and beyond offer myriad means for humanoids to meld with fiendish entities. The most infamous of these rituals are found within carefully guarded copies of the Book of the Damned; each ritual contains information regarding its fiendish subject’s boons. One specific, four-part ritual (described on page 45 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lords of Chaos, Book of the Damned, Vol. 2) can result in a mortal transforming into a demon. This painstaking process, however, takes at least several years, and not all who want to harness fiendish power wish to fully transform.
Described here is one of the more rudimentary rituals for fiendish transformation. By contacting an evil-aligned plane, the ritual caster entreats a powerful force (typically a fiend of CR 20 or higher) to temporarily imbue him with fiendish powers. Such ritual negotiations are fraught with danger and can lead to the caster being pulled from his reality and into nightmarish realms. Still, the allure of such temporary power is strong for those seeking a quick means of achieving greater success.
Fiendish Transformation
Source Occult Realms pg. 56
School transmutation [evil]; Level 6
Casting Time 60 minutes
Components V, S, M (powdered obsidian, vial of unholy water), F (the severed head of a good-aligned outsider whose CR was 10 or higher)
Skill Checks Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate (choose one) DC 31, 3 successes; Knowledge (arcana) DC 31, 2 successes; Knowledge (planes) DC 31, 1 success
Range primary caster
Duration 1 week
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The caster takes a –4 penalty on Will saves for the next 24 hours.
Failure The caster gains 1 permanent negative level and must succeed at a Will saving throw (DC = 16 + caster’s Charisma bonus) or be transported to a random location in Abaddon, the Abyss, or Hell (based on the ritual), as per plane shift.
Effect
A solitary ritual, the rite of fiendish transformation must take place in an area bereft of light, save for that of a single candle. The candle is centered on a circular sigil crafted out of powdered obsidian and lined with unholy water. As the ritual commences, the caster holds aloft the severed head of a good outsider, through which a fiendish patron speaks. The circle channels the patron into the head without summoning its full presence, and the primary caster can choose which evil plane the creature comes from (Abaddon, the Abyss, or Hell).
A grueling negotiation determines whether the ritual succeeds or fails. Success imparts the half-fiend template to the primary caster for 1 week, while simultaneously damning the soul of the primary caster to the plane he has contacted.
Reconsecrate Altar
Altars exist across Golarion, each dedicated to a particular deity or philosophy. Most altars spend some time as mundane edifices of metal, stone, or wood before being blessed with the attention of the deities they honor. Once invested with power from their deities, the altars become magic items that can grant temporary blessings to faithful who pray at them. Specific rules for altars belonging to Golarion’s 20 main deities are detailed starting on page 246 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods.
Through neglect or vandalism, altars can lose their deific connections, becoming useless beyond displaying the faintest of magical auras. Such damaged altars must be reconsecrated by faithful worshipers of the altar’s patron deity. A ritual for reconsecrating altars revitalizes such damaged magical fonts with holy (or unholy) purpose.
Reconsecrate Altar
Source Occult Realms pg. 56
School evocation [chaotic, evil, good, or lawful; see text]; Level 5
Casting Time 50 minutes
Components V, S, M (holy or unholy water), F (a holy symbol of the altar’s deity worth at least 300 gp), SC (up to 4)
Skill Checks Knowledge (planes) DC 27, 2 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 27, 3 successes
Range touch
Target broken alter
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The primary caster is exhausted.
Failure For a period of 1 month, none of the casters can be targeted by divine magic that draws its power from the deity previously tied to the altar. (This is a curse effect, and can be removed with remove curse and similar effects.)
Effect
This ritual works only on inoperative divine altars, rendered powerless through damage or other ways, and must be performed on a holy day of the deity to which the altar is dedicated. In order to repair a broken altar, the primary caster and all secondary casters must be worshipers of that same deity. The exact process of revitalizing altars varies by religion, but such rituals require a dose of holy or unholy water when dealing with good- or evil-aligned deities, as well as a masterfully wrought holy symbol regardless of the deity’s alignment. By speaking numerous prayers and conducting the required religious ceremonies, the primary caster can restore the altar to its previous function, effectively restoring its capabilities as a magical item.
A reconsecrate altar ritual has the chaotic, evil, good, or lawful descriptors depending on the alignment of the altar’s deity. For instance, a reconsecrate altar ritual performed to restore the altar of a lawful good deity has the lawful and good descriptors. A ritual tied to a nonlawful, nonchaotic neutral deity has no descriptor.
Scarlet Vigil
The Red Mantis assassins are consummate professional killers, and their senior members possess the ability to know when any targets they have slain has been brought back from death. This specific skill, taught to the most skilled assassins who handle the highest-priority targets, ensures that the Red Mantis keep their well-earned reputation as killers who make sure their jobs stay finished. Sometimes, though, even this insurance is not enough.
Occasionally, a Red Mantis agent puts down a quarry so troublesome that the greater order cannot depend on a single agent to put the target back in the grave should the victim somehow be brought back to life. The Red Mantis have developed the ritual below for just such occasions. The killing assassin acts as the ritual’s leader, and a cadre of novice members is brought before the target’s remains. Upon the ritual’s completion, those secondary casters receive the same resurrection sense as the assassin who performed the kill, but only for that assassinated individual. Only novices who show the most promise are involved in this ceremony, as it is considered a sacred and most practical gift from the mantis god Achaekek. The Red Mantis assassins believe their deity would not brook the involvement of unworthy or unprepared participants in a scarlet vigil occult ritual. In fact, those senior assassins who have suggested involving novices the wider leadership considers unworthy are often demoted in the group’s ranks until they show better judgment.
In addition to the practical purpose it has for the assassin, this ritual serves as an advanced initiation rite for the novices who are deemed worthy to participate. While the original assassin is free to move on to other missions, the neophytes who partake in this vigil are tasked with ensuring that the target never returns to life—a holy mission from Achaekek that takes priority above all other assignments. By participating in this ritual, these novices also get a glimpse into the resurrection sense ability that they will learn should they continue to survive and advance in their Red Mantis training.
Scarlet Vigil
Source Occult Realms pg. 57
School necromancy; Level 7
Casting Time 7 hours
Components V, S, M (a giant mantis claw), SC (at least 2, up to 4)
Skill Checks Heal DC 30, 2 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 30, 3 successes; Perception DC 30, 2 successes
Range close
Target one corpse and secondary casters; see text
Duration instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash All secondary casters take 2d6 points of damage.
Failure The primary caster is stunned for 1d6 rounds (no save). The targeted corpse is immediately revived, as if via the spell resurrection.
Effect
This ritual requires the intact corpse of a target slain by the primary caster, who must possess at least 5 levels in the Red Mantis assassin prestige class. Each of the secondary casters must possess exactly 1 level in the Red Mantis assassin prestige class. During the ritual, the primary caster reveals meticulous details about the victim’s demise to the secondary casters, describing in anatomical detail the damage done to the individual and pointing out visual cues on the corpse, all while connecting the methods of execution to the teachings of the mantis god Achaekek, patron of the assassin order. During the ritual, the secondary casters must use a giant mantis claw to draw blood from themselves in a place where the corpse was damaged; in the case of poisons and similar effects, the location can be symbolic. If the corpse took damage in many different locations, the secondary casters must draw blood from themselves in the place where the victim sustained the most damage.
If the ritual is successful, the secondary casters gain an intrinsic link to the deceased individual; from that moment on, the secondary casters know if the assassinated creature is returned to life, as per the Red Mantis assassin resurrection sense class ability. An assassinated body used in a failed scarlet vigil occult ritual cannot subsequently be used in another such ritual. Since failing to correctly perform this ritual unravels the primary caster’s assassination and puts all casters at risk, high-level Red Mantis members choose their secondary casters carefully, sometimes watching them for months to determine whether they are worthy of participating, as well as seeking guidance from senior leadership and Achaekek concerning which novices are the best choices.
Trial of the Sixteenth Step
As with most practices related to Razmir, the Living God, the Trial of the Sixteenth Step is an elaborate fabrication. Outwardly, the trial is described as a grueling ordeal wherein the faithful of Razmir earn the direct blessing of the Living God, gaining the ability to channel his divine power. The reality is far more mundane: the “clerics” undertaking the trial are kept hidden in luxurious surroundings for several days and then are provided with a focus, typically in the form of an extravagant amulet or ring, which the ritual charges with magical energies.
The true Trial of the Sixteenth Step occult ritual is performed in hidden compounds and prisons throughout Razmiran. The divine connections of imprisoned worshipers of outside faiths are subverted, siphoning the worshipers holy power into the foci provided to those deemed worthy of undergoing the false trial. Through this perversion of faith, the members of Razmir’s clergy are able to channel small, stolen acts of divine healing.
Trial of the Sixteenth Step
Source Occult Realms pg. 58
School necromancy [evil]; Level 6
Casting Time 60 minutes
Components V, S, F (a ring or amulet worth at least 5,000 gp), SC (up to 4)
Skill Checks Bluff DC 29, 3 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 29, 3 successes
Range close
Target one creature; see text
Duration 1 week; see text
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The primary caster takes 2d6 points of damage.
Failure The primary caster takes 2d6 points of force damage for each use of channeled energy being siphoned. All secondary casters take 1d6 points of force damage per use of channeled energy being siphoned.
Effect
In order to enact this ritual, the primary caster must interact with at least one creature capable of channeling positive energy to heal living creatures. This subject must have at least one use of channel energy remaining for the day. The primary caster then engages in a ritual of deception, eroding the subject’s faith and siphoning it away into the focus item. This requires equal amounts of subterfuge and religious knowledge on the part of the primary caster, who ensures the subject willingly concedes matters of faith without entirely forsaking her deity.
If the ritual is successful, the subject loses a number of uses of channel energy equal to the primary caster’s Charisma modifier. These charges are stored in the focus for up to 1 week. The wearer of the focus can release the channeled energy as a standard action to heal living creatures in a 30-foot burst centered on the wearer. The amount of damage each use of channeled heals is equal to the amount it would have healed if coming from the target creature.
Utterings of the Wendo
The spirit world of hana juju is familiar to most natives of the Mwangi Expanse, and those who practice interacting with it—the wendifa—are its conduits in the region. The wendifa commune with the countless entities known as wendo, often seeking guidance from these enigmatic forces. Most common form of communication is a ritual allowing a supplicant to become a temporary vessel for a specific wendo, who speaks through the petitioner.
Utterings of the Wendo
Source Occult Realms pg. 58
School conjuration (calling); Level 6
Casting Time 60 minutes
Components V, S, M (crushed animal bones and two smooth stones), SC (up to 8)
Skill Checks Diplomacy DC 31, 2 successes; Knowledge (nature) DC 31, 3 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 28, 1 success
Range primary caster
Duration concentration of the primary caster
Saving Throw Will negates; SR no
Backlash All casters are exhausted and gain 1 temporary negative level (DC = 16 + the primary caster’s Charisma bonus to remove the condition after the first day).
Failure The primary caster is immediately afflicted with malaria with no onset time (disease—save DC 18; frequency 1/day; effect 1d3 Str and 1d3 Con/day plus fatigue; cure 2 saves). At the GM’s discretion, a particularly powerful hostile wendo may possess the primary caster (as per possession). This persists for the following 24 hours.
Effect
By using finely crushed animal bones to mark her own skin with symbols associated with a specific wendo, the primary caster readies herself for possession by that wendo. After lying prostrate and placing smooth stones over her eyes, the primary caster negotiates with the wendo to convince it to inhabit her body.
An unwilling wendo can resist the summons by succeeding at a Will saving throw. If the wendo succeeds at the saving throw, it doesn’t enter the primary caster, but the ritual is still considered a success. A wendo that fails or forgoes this save is summoned into the primary caster’s body, where it speaks by way of the caster’s voice, which takes on elements associated with that wendo (a gravelly quality for a wendo tied to the earth, for example). The wendo has no further control of the caster’s mind or body, and it must leave the primary caster when that caster ceases to concentrate. While the wendo speaks through the caster, secondary casters can ask it questions, at a maximum rate of 1 question per round (regardless of the number of secondary casters). The wendo speaks in a language the primary caster knows and can refuse to answer questions, can answer them cryptically, or can lie using Bluff with a +16 bonus on the attempt. The wendo is not otherwise beholden to the ritual casters.
Waking the Drowned God
The organization calling itself the Night Heralds is obsessed with communing with denizens of the Dominion of the Black, and among its many ambitious and insane goals is the desire to free the horrifically powerful creature some call the Drowned God from its hidden prison. Often misconstrued as an actual deity—a falsehood made evident by its inability to grant spells—the Drowned God is actually a being of the Dark Tapestry whose proper name is Tychilarius. This terrifying being from beyond the stars is further described on pages 56–57 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Bestiary.
Dozens of tomes describe supposed methods to release Tychilarius from its hidden prison. Most of these esoteric rites require the discovery of a reliquary containing a fragment of Tychilarius that somehow escaped its interdimensional confinement. By using such salvaged icons, which include teeth, bits of skin, and even a few of the beast’s many horrible eyes, the ritual performer can create a link between the Drowned God and a potential host from whom Tychilarius can manifest during a terrible ritual. Cultists such as the Night Heralds have performed many such rituals over the years to try to call Tychilarius back to this world, but to date none have succeeded, and many cultists have perished during these persistent attempts. Despite these failures, the Night Heralds and other cultists remain unfazed and continue their efforts to unleash Tychilarius on the world. Their final victory, they believe, is nigh.
Waking the Drowned God
Source Occult Realms pg. 59
School conjuration (calling); Level 9
Casting Time 9 hours
Components V, S, F (a piece of Tychilarius’s body), SC (at least 4, up to 12)
Skill Checks Knowledge (arcana) DC 35, 2 successes; Knowledge (dungeoneering) DC 35, 2 successes; Knowledge (planes) DC 35, 5 successes
Range close
Target one helpless or willing creature with at least 11 HD
Duration instantaneous; see text
Saving Throw none; SR no
Backlash The primary caster and all secondary casters each take 1d4 points of Intelligence damage.
Failure The primary caster is immediately pulled into the Dark Tapestry and killed. No means can locate the primary caster’s remains or return her to life.
Effect
The primary caster begins the ritual by placing the focus in a pool of water that measures at least 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 50 feet deep. After this is done, the secondary casters surround the pool and perform ceremonial chants and wild supplications to the Drowned God, while the primary caster whispers the horrifying truths of Tychilarius into the target’s ear. The unspeakable horror and veracity of the whispers create a stronger bond between the target and the Drowned God. The ritual casters then place the target inside the pool.
If the ritual succeeds, the vast and alien mind of Tychilarius overwhelms the target. The Drowned God immediately and hideously transforms the target’s body and irrevocably destroys it, replacing the gory remains with the writhing form of Tychilarius, now freed from its prison and unleashed to wreak the destruction it craved so hungrily, and for so long, in its unknown prison. The target is annihilated and can be restored to life only with a miracle or wish spell.
Idols
A strange amalgamation of magic item and minor deity, an idol is a self-aware object that possesses extraordinary power. Its influence waxes and wanes with the success or decline of its cult and the sacrifices its cult provides. Unlike with magic items, an idol’s creation is not always intentional. In some instances, statues and objects used as the focus of prayers and divine requests absorb some sentience of their own. For example, an ancient oak might obtain idol status after centuries of veneration in a sacred druidic grove, or the mummified corpse of a revered saint could eventually become an idol and the source of unexpected divine power.
The growth of an idol’s power and cult often takes years, as aspiring religious leaders attract worshipers, entice wealthy benefactors, and supplicate their idols, struggling to stave off the degeneration that naturally occurs when idols lose favor. Idols gain extraordinary powers as they acquire followers and influence, and older idols with large followings possess a host of abilities that can threaten—or aid—entire regions.
Idols share much in common with intelligent magic items; they have alignments, mental ability scores, languages, senses, and a variety of special abilities. These abilities allow idols to exert their will over devotees and grant favored followers slivers of their power in return for supplication. An idol gains these abilities through worship and sacrifice, and they increase the idol’s Ego score. The higher an idol’s Ego score, the more powerful it becomes, leading to larger cults that can become benevolent organizations or dangerous foes.
As they possess Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores (see below), idols can sometimes be considered creatures, and should be treated as constructs when such situations arise.
Ability Scores
Like intelligent magic items, idols possess all three mental ability scores: Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Each one of these ability scores begins at a value of 10, but can be increased to as high as 20 through sacrifices (see below). For every 10,000 gp in sacrifices the idol receives, the idol can increase all three of its ability scores by 2 points, or increase one of these ability scores by 4 points and one other ability score by 2 points. Each time an idol’s ability scores advance through sacrifice, its Ego score (see below) increases by 3 as a result of its improved ability modifiers.
Ego and Alignment
Ego is a measure of the total power and force of personality that an idol possesses. An idol starts with a base Ego score of 5 plus the sum of its ability score modifiers, and its Ego score increases as it gains followers. Idols have wills of their own, and as embodiments of their alignments, are always absolutely true to their alignments. If a worshiper is not faithful to an idol’s goals, a personality conflict erupts. These struggles for dominance use the Items against Characters rules (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 535) to determine how the idol maintains its influence over its followers and dominance over its cult leaders.
Number of Worshipers Ego Modifier
Up to 10 +1
11 to 50 +2
51 to 100 +3
101 to 200 +4
201 to 500 +6
501 to 1,000 +8
1,001 to 2,000 +12
2,001 to 3,000 +16
3,001 and higher +20
Communication and Senses
All idols have the ability to see and hear within 60 feet and can communicate empathically. Empathy allows the idol to encourage or discourage certain actions through urges and emotions. An idol reads and understands Common plus a number of additional languages equal to its Intelligence modifier, and gains or loses additional means of communication and senses as its power and Ego score ebb and flow. An idol with an Ego score of 10 or higher gains the ability to speak the languages it knows. An idol with an Ego score of 15 or higher doubles the range of its senses to 120 feet, and gains darkvision out to 120 feet. An idol with an Ego score of 30 or higher gains blindsense, can communicate via telepathy with creatures within 100 feet, and can use comprehend languages at will.
Composition
Whether they’re massive stone statues or golden arks, idols each have an Armor Class, hardness, and hit points for normal magical objects of their size and composition. For every 10 points of the idol’s Ego score, add 2 to its hardness and 10 to its hit points.
An idol’s Fortitude and Reflex saving throw bonuses are equal to 2 + 1/2 its Ego score (rounded down); to determine its Will save bonus, add the idol’s Wisdom modifier to this amount.
Difficult to Destroy: An idol can’t be destroyed by normal means. Though it has hit points and can be broken like other objects, it can’t be completely destroyed by taking additional hit point damage. Idols are instead destroyed when a creature successfully performs a very specific and often difficult task. The GM should determine what action is necessary to destroy an idol when she designs the idol, and these destruction requirements should be thematic to the idol’s background, abilities, and role.
Sacrifices
Sacrifices come in a number of forms—sacred feasts, magic items, the weapons of slain enemies, gold, and the blood of slaughtered creatures are just a few possibilities. For an idol to benefit from such offerings, they must be offered up in the idol’s presence—typically within a 20-foot radius of the idol—and can’t be removed or disturbed for 1 day.
Sacrificed Items: The sacrifice value of feasts and treasures is based on their standard costs as listed in the equipment tables in Chapter 6 of the Core Rulebook. All such items must be freely given. After 1 day, sacrificed food spoils and nonmagical treasure mysteriously vanishes from sight. Magic items offered in this manner receive a Will save with a DC equal to 10 + 1/2 the idol’s Ego score. Items that succeed at their saves are not sacrificed, though they don’t gain immunity from further sacrifice attempts. Artifacts can’t be sacrificed.
Blood Sacrifice: Slaughtered living creatures also increase the power of an evil idol when sacrificed. A creature without an Intelligence score is not a suitable sacrifice for an evil idol, and attempting to sacrifice such a creature may offend the idol. Animal sacrifices offer the least benefit; a creature with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2 has a sacrifice value of 250 gp per Hit Die. The tortured awareness of fate felt by a creature with an Intelligence of 3 or greater offers the most advantage to the idol, having a value equal to 500 gp per Hit Die when it’s slaughtered, plus an additional 100 gp for each point of Intelligence bonus the creature has. A nonevil idol that accepts a blood sacrifice immediately shifts its alignment to evil. The remains of a blood sacrifice vanish after 1 day.
Sacrificial Limits: Although cults may offer sacrifices as if their idols were insatiable, the benefits an idol can gain in a single month is limited. The maximum sacrifice value an idol can benefit from in a month is equal its Ego score × 500 gp (see Holy Days for exceptions to this maximum).
Idol Entropy: Power gained by idols is not permanent, and worshipers must maintain whatever strength an idol has achieved through offerings. Without sacrifice and veneration, idols eventually become nearly inert vessels for a trapped, frustrated entity, relying on whispered promises to entice the weak-willed to rebuild their congregations. Not only does an idol’s Ego score decrease when its popularity among worshipers declines, but an idol that doesn’t receive monthly sacrifices whose sacrifice values total at least its Ego score × 100 gp also takes 2 points each of Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom drain at the start of the following month (to a minimum of 10 each), decreasing its Ego score accordingly, and loses the use of one special ability. This is permanent, though the points and abilities can be regained through sacrifice and worship as normal.
Holy Days
Three days per year are especially holy to idol-worshiping cults. Each month can contain at most one holy day. These days are set when the GM designs the idol and can’t change later. On these days, the normal monthly limit on the maximum sacrifice value the idol can benefit from temporarily alters. For the 24-hour period of a holy day, the idol’s cult can offer and the idol can benefit from sacrifices whose value is up to the normal monthly limit, and these sacrifices don’t otherwise count toward the monthly limit. This amount stacks with any sacrifice value already accrued earlier in the month for the purposes of gaining ability score increases, but any value accrued on the holy day is spent first. At the end of the day, any unspent sacrifice value from the holy day expires. Blood cults often initiate their most diabolical plans on holy days in hopes of increasing their idol’s power and influence, emerging from underground cabals to affect great slaughter in the communities in which they hide. Such cults also often make painstaking preparations several days in advance of their idols’ holy days—activity that might tip off savvy adventurers and others who would thwart their plans.
Abilities
An idol gains one of the following special abilities for every 5 points of Ego it has, and for every 10 points of Ego the idol has, it can select one additional special ability that it can access only on its holy days. Some abilities have another ability or a minimum Ego score as prerequisites. These abilities can be selected only once unless otherwise specified.
Activating an ability or concentrating on an active ability is a standard action for the idol, unless otherwise stated in the ability’s description. The caster level for these effects is equal to half the idol’s Ego score.
Animate (Su): This item can animate at will, as per the spell animate object. The idol retains its mental ability scores as normal in this animated form.
Channel Energy (Su): The idol can release a pulse of negative or positive energy to cause or heal damage, as befits its alignment. This functions as the channel energy cleric class ability, but the pulse radiates in a 60-foot radius centered on the idol, and deals or heals 1d6 points of damage for every 5 points of Ego the idol has (DC = 10 + 1/4 the idol’s Ego score + the idol’s Charisma modifier). The idol can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + its Charisma modifier.
Conceal (Su): The idol is warded from divination spells, as if under the effects of a nondetection spell with the idol’s Ego score serving as the DC.
Deific Aura (Su): The idol radiates a holy or unholy presence. An idol with an Ego score of at least 10 gains the benefits of a permanent protection from chaos/evil/ good/law spell, as appropriate for its alignment. An idol with an Ego score of at least 20 gains the benefits of a permanent magic circle of protection from chaos/evil/good/ law instead. An idol with an Ego score of 30 or more gains the benefits of a hallow or unhallow spell instead.
Divine Source (Su): The idol can grant divine spells to worshipers, allowing them to select it as their deity for the purposes of determining their spells and domains. The idol selects two domains upon taking this ability. These must be alignment domains matching the idol’s alignment if possible; if not, it can select the remaining domain or domains from among all domains. The idol grants access to these domains as if it were a deity. Creatures that gain spells from the idol don’t receive any spells per day of levels higher than one-quarter the idol’s Ego score (minimum 1); they lose those spell slots. The idol can select this ability one additional time, adding one additional domain, to a maximum of three domains. An idol must have an Ego score of at least 10 to select this ability.
Enthrall (Su): Once per day, the idol can trigger subtle reverence in the minds of nearby creatures. This ability functions similarly to an enthrall spell, though the idol need not speak or sing—its divine presence manifests as a gentle ecstatic hum in the minds of witnesses, potentially swaying the weak willed toward veneration. An unwilling target can negate this effect with a successful Will save (DC = 12 + the idol’s highest ability score modifier).
Feast or Famine (Su): Once per month, the idol can reward its followers by exerting its influence over the weather, usually by manifesting rain to relieve droughts and yield fertile crops through an effect similar to control weather. Conversely, angered idols can turn the weather against their followers to show displeasure or to reflect their mood toward trespassers, creating the more hostile seasonal effects of control weather.
Fly (Su): The idol gains a fly speed of 30 feet with average maneuverability. The idol must have the animate ability to select this ability.
Immortal Promise (Su): The idol grants a form of immortality to some of its worshipers. Each day, the idol selects a number of its worshipers equal to its Ego score. While within 1 mile of the idol, these selected worshipers do not age; do not need to eat, drink, or breathe; and do not suffer any ill effects from extreme heat or extreme cold. The recipients of this gift can change daily on the idol’s whim. The idol must have an Ego score of 10 or more to select this ability.
Revelry (Su): Once per day, the idol can thrum with deific power, affecting a number of enthralled supplicants equal to its Ego score with an effect similar to heroes’ feast, with a caster level equal to half its Ego score. The idol must have the enthrall ability to select this ability.
Skill Ranks (Ex): The idol gains 10 skill ranks. These ranks must be applied to Intelligence-, Wisdom-, or Charisma-based skills, unless the idol has the animate ability (allowing it to select Acrobatics) or the fly ability (allowing it to select Fly). This ability can be selected multiple times.
Spellcasting (Sp): The idol gains the ability to cast a limited number of spells as spell-like abilities. This ability can be selected more than once. Each time it is selected, the idol gains 5 points to spend on spells. A spell costs a number of points equal to its spell level (minimum 1). The idol can activate each spell-like ability once per day. By spending double the cost for a spell, the idol can use that spell-like ability up to three times per day. All spells must come from the cleric spell list. No spell can have a level higher than one-quarter the idol’s Ego score (minimum 1). The caster level for these spells is equal to 1/2 of the idol’s Ego score, and the save DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell level + the idol’s highest ability score modifier.
Supernatural Presence (Su): The idol’s presence is supernaturally unsettling or captivating. Foes within range of the idol’s influence may become frightened or shaken. The range is 60 feet, and the duration of the fear effect is 5d6 rounds. An affected opponent can resist the effects with a successful Will save (DC = 10 + 1/4 the idol’s Ego score + the idol’s highest ability score modifier). An opponent that succeeds at the saving throw is immune to that idol’s presence for 24 hours. On a failed save, the opponent is shaken, or frightened if it has 4 Hit Dice or fewer. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.
Teleport (Sp): Once per day, the idol can teleport as per the spell. The idol must have either the spellcasting ability or the fly ability to select this ability.
Sample Idols
The following are examples of specific idols.
Earthbound Reliquary
Aura strong (all schools)； CL 20th；Weight 20 lbs.
Alignment neutral good; Senses 60 ft.
Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 14, Ego 14
Language speech (Common)
The Earthbound Reliquary consists of a 2-foot-long glass cylinder that is 6 inches in diameter. It is filled with swirling golden gas and topped at each end by intricately tapering, carefully engraved copper caps. Discovered in a flea market stall by its cult’s founder, the item purports to hold the imprisoned spirit of a legendary Sarenite hero who helped found the Dawnflower’s mortal religion. The cult’s claims are refuted by Sarenrae’s powerful temples, which have driven the relic’s veneration underground as a malign heresy that threatens to usurp the true church’s teachings. Still, the cult founder is convinced of the idol’s divine powers and ties, and so a splinter sect with the idol at the center has emerged.
The idol seeks to spread the true message of the spirit that is trapped within it to as many people as will listen. For its own enigmatic reasons, it communicates empathically with its cult’s founder, who poses questions and attempts to decipher the answers in a manner similar to communicating with rapping spirits (Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures 230). These writings are considered holy works by a cult of just over 200 followers, who print them as life-affirming broadsheets questioning the greater Sarenite church’s doctrine and claimed origins. Few can question the cult’s good works, and its congregation is quickly growing. Though driven into hiding, the cultists emerge to treat the sick, aid the poor, and preach their gospel of selflessness and piety.
The reliquary is fragile (hardness 3, 20 hp, break DC 15) and is kept carefully guarded in an underground catacomb. The Earthbound Reliquary has the channel energy ability (2d6 positive energy, DC 15) and can channel positive energy 5 times per day. Its cult largely uses this ability to heal the injured during evangelical work. It also possesses the deific aura idol ability.
The idol seeks to challenge the authority of Sarenrae’s greater church, and these motivations have brought it to the attention of powerful inquisitors. Despite the cult’s good works, it may be only a matter of time before the idol is discovered. Should those discoverers hail from the mainstream church of Sarenrae, the idol could be in serious danger indeed, despite the good works it has wrought since its cult’s founding.
Destruction
Reducing the idol to its base Ego score and bathing it in at least 20 points of positive energy in 1 round overcharges and destroys the idol.
Effigy Of The Raven-Mother
Aura strong (all schools)； CL 20th；Weight 45,000 lbs.
Alignment neutral evil; Senses 120 ft., darkvision
Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 18, Ego 30
Language speech (Common, Druidic), telepathy 100 ft.
Chiseled from a weathered basalt boulder, this imposing stone statue stands some 10 feet tall and is roughly carved in the shape of a voluptuous, downcast woman with a subtly disturbing raven’s head sprouting from one shoulder. The idol emanates a disorienting hum that seems to bypass normal hearing, but can be perceived in the deep recesses of the mind. Once venerated as a beneficial fertility goddess by an ancient people, the idol was long ago corrupted by an evil sect of druids who practiced in blood sacrifice and starved the idol of all other sacrifices until she would accept their profane offerings. Now only selfishness and insatiable hunger motivate the idol, which fights to retain relevance in the face of the coming of new and more powerful gods.
The Effigy of the Raven-Mother is worshiped by generations of enthralled villagers on a windswept island in the Ironbound Archipelago. Some 2,500 devotees gather thrice yearly on the idol’s holy days to indulge in worship and revelry, led by bloodthirsty druid elders. These days fall on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, and on the winter solstice. The villagers bring yields of their seasonal harvests to offer in supplication to the voracious idol. Any enemy warriors who attempt to raid their remote shoreline villages and are captured by the villagers are also readily offered as sacrifices, their hot blood spilling onto the idol’s stone facade and their screams echoing across the island.
The idol’s sturdy and immutable construction makes for an imposing, near-indestructible monolith (hardness 14, 1,110 hp, break DC 60). The idol has the conceal, deific aura, enthrall, feast or famine, revelry, and supernatural presence abilities.
The Effigy of the Raven-Mother knows that it has likely reached the peak of its power, and as the tales of far-off cities and rich adventure beckon younger generations, it is aware that the tide may be turning away from its bloody worship. The idol has dictated that its cult leaders capture as many sacrifices as possible for its next holy day, even if those sacrifices are not enemy warriors. The idol hopes to acquire the animate ability so it can relocate its massive bulk closer to the coast and the majority of its followers’ villages, to better ensure it does not fall into irrelevance and lose its powers.
Destruction
As a fallen fertility idol, the effigy must be essentially starved to death to lose its potency. Its ability scores must be reduced to 10 each through deprivation of worship and sacrifice. Only then can a single strike from a ritually clean sickle cause the idol to crumble back into the earth, inert and entirely powerless.
