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- Rituals in Immoren
- Magic Item Creation
- Raise Dead
- Gun Mage Rituals
In addition, rituals bring magic to the dabblers. You can dabble in wizardry, and those who do likely learn little rituals to help them in their lives. Indeed, even priests of Morrow whose powers would not qualify them as combatants (therefore not clerics) would still know the right rituals to heal the sick or purify a pool of putrid water.
However, while rituals as a concept fit perfectly well into the setting, not all rituals do. There are many rituals which make specific reference in their rules to extraplanar travel. Obviously without these other planes of existence these sorts of rituals are not appropriate. In addition, there are many rituals which are just magical ways of doing every day tasks. The high fantasy of creating a shadowy horse instead of just riding a real one is higher fantasy than should be used here. Thus, these two types of rituals were the ones who were most commonly placed on the inappropriate rituals list below.
There is one other ritual type which made the list. Creation of magic items is an easy, almost forgettable, task in the current edition. It takes an hour, costs a portion of the materials, and it's done. This is absolutely not how Iron Kingdoms magic item creation works. Thus, among new rituals in that section of this site are Create Magic Item. It is complicated, risky and expensive, and should bring the creation process more in line with magic item creation in Iron Kingdoms.
The following rituals are not appropriate in Iron Kingdoms. They are organized by source book.
Player's Handbook- Brew Potion; Consult Mystic Sages; Consult Oracle; Disenchant Magic Item; Drawmij's Instant Summons; Enchant Magic Item; Hand Of Fate; Leomund's Secret Chest; Linked Portal; Loremaster's Bargain; Phantom Steed; Planar Portal; Shadow Walk; Tenser's Floating Disk; Traveler's Feast; True Portal; Voice Of Fate
Player's Handbook 2- Call Wilderness Guide; Create Campsite; Reverse Portal; Speak With Nature; Wyvern Watch
Arcane Power- Imprisonment; Magic Map
Divine Power- Hallowed Temple; Succor
Primal Power- Eagle's Flight, Water's Gift
Eberron Player's Handbook- Ancestral Whispers; Conceal Dragonmark; Fluid Funds; Inquisitive's Eyes; Secure Shelter; Seeming
Forgotten Realms Player's Handbook- Analyze Portal; Purge Spellplague; Purify Spell Scarred; Seek Rumor; Shadow Bridge; Shift Mote; Walk Crossroads; Waterborn
Open Grave- Corpse Gate
Changed Rituals
The rituals below were not inherently disruptive to the setting in any major way. They simply had one or two aspects which were either too high fantasy or out of line with Iron Kingdoms. The ritual name is listed, and anything written below it is a change from the original ritual. For example, Raise Land has the key skill listed as Nature, and the original was listed as Arcana. In addition, the “Change” category is a change to the text without rewriting Wizards' paragraph. Any aspect of the original text which contradicts the change text should be ignored and replaced with the text below.
There were also a number of changes to the raise dead ritual, but they are not detailed below, but rather in the tab to the left.
Adjure
Change: Rather than targeting immortals, the spell targets infernals or intelligent undead.
Detect Treasure
Change: The focus rod must be made of whatever material you are searching for. In addition, as worth is fluid, the ritual finds the largest concentration of the material is question, rather than the most valuable.
Primal Grove
Change: The hidden grove created with this ritual is not hidden in another realm, but rather becomes impossible to locate with tracking or even randomly stumbling upon it. If one is not aware of the precise directions needed to locate the grove, they will simply pass it, or every sign of the nature just outside the grove will seem wrong to continue heading in the direction of it. Only if the creator of the grove shows someone the way will they be able to locate it. The way is often confusing enough, that the person shown could not simply explain the way, and showing the way on a map would never lead a person into the grove.
In addition, the caster can change the path to the grove by casting this ritual once more within the grove. At this point, all who knew the way in must be shown again or become lost trying. Any who are brought into the grove blindfolded or unconscious must make a DC 25 Nature check to even find their way out.
The grove does not produce food of any unusual sort, but is instead a haven for the druid who casts it. Often, primal tribes and meetings of Orboros druids happen in these groves. In addition, they are a place to train beginning druids away from the threats and distractions of the outside.
The grove is permanent, and the Nature check made when casting the ritual only decides how large the grove is.
Raise Land
Key Skill: Nature
Change: You must upkeep the ritual or the land floats slowly back down onto Caen. Each day when you wake up, you must immediately spend a healing surge to keep the ritual active. This can be done at any distance away from the raised land.
Spirit Idol
Level: 12
Category: Binding
Requirement: Must be using a soul cage as the focus
Change: The subject need not be willing, only recently dead.
Steed Summons
Change: The minor action in this power does call the creature to you, but only through a mental command. The creature is aware of your location and will attempt to get to you while avoiding dangers. It does not teleport, though this spell can be cast at any distance. The beast will not attempt anything that would harm it to get to you. The spell is discharged only when you cast it on another beast.
Tree Shape
Level : 8
Tree Stride
Change: Increase the Nature check DC by 3 for each creature beyond yourself who can have access to the portal.
Whispers Of The Edifice
Key Skill: Religion
Requirement: Must worship the 12 fathers
In the Iron Kingdoms, creating items from the magic of the universe is a difficult and dangerous process. Magic does not give up its secrets and its power so easily, and if the person requesting this power does not have the requisite will, he will suffer ill effects.
To create an item, a caster must decide exactly how to allocate the various energies that will remain active wherever the item is, and how to infuse them properly. One imbues an item by having the energy flow through the body, with the goal of having all of the energy ultimately as part of the weapon's design. When only working with minor enchantments, this is relatively simple as long as one knows the process. However, when vast amounts of energy run to the item it tends to leave a scar on the caster's soul.
For centuries, this was simply the cost of creating a powerful magic item. People who made a few powerful weapons or pieces of armor tended to have very short lives. However, after a few centuries of this process a discovery connected technology and magic which would change the kingdoms forever. A process known as mechanika allowed the creation of items as powerful as the magic equipment of the past without requiring such a massive outpouring of energy all at once.
The major difference between the two, past the creation process, is the power source. The cost on the caster seems to be what powers a magical item, and it never seems to fade. However, mechanika requires some outside power source, and this is accomplished through a number of means. Most mechanika uses an “accumulator” which is essentially a source in which to store magical energy. When attached to a mechanikal device, it hums to life.
Creating Magic Items
Infusing an object with a permanent magic effect is invariably dangerous and expensive. The creation of an epic weapon may represent an entire life's work between the gathering of the needed components and the physical cost of the enchantment. Ultimately it is the way the most powerful objects in the kingdoms come into existence, and certain things can only be created through this means.
| Enchant Magic Item | |
| With great effort and preparation you work magic into the item before you for as long as needed, hoping you succeed without any major harm. | |
| Level: 4 | Component Cost: Special |
| Category: Creation | Market Price: Special |
| Time: Varies | Key Skill: Arcana or Religion |
| Duration: Permanent | |
It takes 1 hour per level of the magic item to enchant it, and you must remain conscious for the duration. After working for longer than 12 hours you must make an Endurance check each hour after 12. The DC for the check is equal to the item's level plus the number of hours past 12 you have worked. Each time you fail the check, take a -1 penalty to the arcana or religion check required at the conclusion of the ritual.
After the entire duration of the ritual has passed roll an Arcana or Religion check (depending on the magic item) and apply any penalties or bonuses that you have accrued while casting the ritual. The check DC is equal to 10 plus the item's level. If you succeed at this check, the item is created. If you fail, you must cast the ritual for another hour (making any necessary endurance checks) and then attempt another check. This may go on as long as necessary.
The market price of a magic item is inestimable. The cost to the creator, as well as the sheer difficulty of the creation, are difficult to place a price on. Thus, many magical items cost up to five times more than the component cost, if they are ever sold at all.
After enchanting a magic item above level 5 a caster must make a saving throw. The throw takes a penalty equal to the number of levels it is above 10. No matter what penalties accrue, a roll of a natural 20 is a success. On a success the item is created with no negative effects to the caster. However, if the check is failed, the character permanently loses a healing surge. On a roll of a 1, the character loses two healing surges. If this was the character's only remaining healing surge, it dies immediately after the creation of the item.
Mechanika
While many projects cannot be undertaken through mechanikal means, most can. The creation of mechanika is a process that cuts magical creation into components that are assembled to eventually create a magical item. As a result the process is not only be done more quickly (thanks to the fact that a number of the parts are interchangeable) but also more safely. This is because there is often only one component which is dangerous to create in any piece of mechanika, and it is generally much less magically powerful on its own than the finished product.
Creating Mechanika
The process for creating can be handled in two different ways. In keeping with the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons, item creation should not be overly complicated. In any attempt to simulate the process of mechanika creation, it is impossible to leave a certain amount of complexity out. It is simply not that easy a process.
Here, we are handling it the simpler way. This is not preferred, and we will absolutely be replacing this ritual with a full mechanika system. However, this is a complicated process that has a huge impact on the game as a whole. So we are taking out time. The ritual below is not accurate to the Iron Kingdoms setting since there is no chance at all of permanent damage from item creation, and the process happens as one whole piece. For now, we are hoping that it will be enough, however, to make mechanika fun to make without too many issues.
The item made from the feat below does require an accumulator to run it, and those are detailed in the Mechanika section under equipment. Mechanika requires these items and is thus less powerful. As a result, reduce the cost of mechanikal items from their magical equivalents by 20%.
| Craft Mechanikal Item | |
| Using a combination of technology and magical acumen you create a new and powerful item. | |
| Level: 4 | Component Cost: Special |
| Category: Creation | Market Price: Special |
| Time: Varies | Key Skill: Mechanika |
| Duration: Permanent | |
You cast this ritual on the gathered materials before you. The item must already be of the type you're trying to make (thus what is to become a mechanikal sword cannot be a spear) and you must have the necessary components gathered. The component cost is equal to the component cost of the item you're attempting to create. In addition, you may not create an item above your character level.
It takes 1 hour per 2 levels (round down) of the item to create it. You may split this time however you like, but starting where you left off adds one hour of time to the process. After working for longer than 12 hours in a row you must make an Endurance check each hour after 8. The DC for the check is equal to 10 plus the number of hours past 8 you have worked. Each time you fail the check, add one hour to the amount of time required to finish the item.
After the entire duration of the ritual has passed roll a Mechanika check. You may take 10 on this check. The check DC is equal to 10 plus the item's level. If you succeed at this check, the item is created. If you fail, the item is created but nonfunctional. To repair the item to a functional state, you must spend half the item's original creation time casting this ritual, and in the end make another Mechanika check equal to the original.
Raise Dead
You complete the prayers of this long ritual and a light shines forth. As the body begins to move you prepare for the worst.
Level: 12
Component Cost: 5000gp
Market Price: 1000gp
Category: Restoration
Time: 2 Hours
Key Skill: Religion
Duration: Permanent
In order to restore a soul to a dead body, the person must have been killed within 30 days of beginning the ritual. The creature cannot have died of any natural causes, or this ritual has no effect. You must have some portion of the body before you for the entirety of the ritual, and the soul must be willing to return from Urcaen.
After completing the ritual, the dead creature returns to life with no healing surges at his bloodied value. After the returns to life, make a saving throw. If the creature being raised has a different alignment than your god, take a -2 penalty on the throw. If the creature worships a god in opposition of yours take an additional -2 penalty. Consult the following table to determine the effect (if any) that raising the creature will have. If you suffer any ill effect, the target creature must immediately make a similar saving throw on the “Subject Effect” table.
In addition, should you suffer any effects, another person of your faith with the Ritual Caster feat can cast Remove Affliction on you to negate the effect. However, you both permanently lose a healing surge upon the completion of the ritual. Other effects may occur at the end of Remove Affliction as determined in the effect's entry.
Effects of Raise Dead on Caster
| Caster Effect | |
| Saving Throw Result | Effect |
| 10 to 20 | No Ill Effect |
| 8 and 9 | Weak Immune System |
| 6 and 7 | Spirit Plague |
| 4 and 5 | Loss of Limb |
| 3 | Ability Loss |
| 2 | Gnarled Hands |
| 1 | Exchange of Souls |
Weak Immune System: You permanently take a -4 penalty to saving throws against poison and acid effects.
Spirit Plague: You are constantly haunted by spirits that look like the person you raised. You lose one daily power slot until the condition is healed.
Gnarled Hands: Your hands twist and deform. You may no longer wield any weapons or manipulate objects heavier than 10 pounds. If the Remove Affliction ritual is cast on you and the caster rolls lower than a 20 on the heal check, he also gains the Gnarled Hands effect, and you are not healed of it.
Ability Loss: You lose 4 points of an ability score of the DM's choice. The ritual to erase this loss costs 3,000 more gold than it normally would.
Loss of Limb: A limb of the DM's choice is burnt in the aftereffect. After another priest casts Remove Affliction to restore the lost limb, roll a saving throw. On a failure, the ritual does not restore the limb, but you both still lose a healing surge.
Exchange of Souls: One other creature within 20 squares of you dies immediately and you lose a healing surge. If there are no other creatures within 20 squares, you die as the other person is raised. Remove Affliction has no effect on this state.
Effects of Raise Dead on Subject
The caster of this ritual is not the only person who tends to suffer ill effect. The person being raised is also in a great deal of danger upon returning to the living. If the caster suffers any ill effect, the subject of the spell must roll on the table below.
| Subject Effect | |
| Saving Throw Result | Effect |
| 15 to 20 | No Ill Effect |
| 10 to 14 | Foul Stench |
| 6 to 9 | Aura of Death |
| 3 to 5 | Mental Suffering |
| 1 to 2 | Haunted |
No Ill Effect: None of the below happens.
Foul Stench: You take a -2 penalty to Diplomacy and Stealth checks as you give off a foul, decaying odor.
Aura of Death: A feeling of doom seems to hang in the air around you. You gain a +4 bonus to Intimidate and take a -2 penalty to all other Charisma skills.
Mental Suffering: Each day upon waking from an extended rest, the subject must make a saving throw with a +3 bonus. If it fails this check, it gains no effect from the extended rest as it has constant nightmares about death.
Haunted: The subject returns to Caen with another soul. The two inhabit the same body and effects that reveal souls reveal both in the same body. Animals seem taken aback as they sense something wrong. This also has the same effects as Aura of Death.
In addition to the above effects, haunted characters have a painful reaction to holy sites. Getting within 100 feet of one causes damage equal to the character's healing surge value immediately, and 1 point of damage for every 5 minutes the character remains close.
As gun mages progress in level they gain more knowledge of rituals and advance their connection to their weapons. Here are a few of the basic rituals understood by all gun mages.
Magelock Bond
By etching specific runes into the side of the magelock metal your weapon is made of you form a connection that goes deeper than blood.
| Level: 1 | Component Cost: 100 gp |
| Category: Bond | Market Price: N/A |
| Time: 8 Hours | Key Skill: Arcana |
| Duration: Permanent | Require: A Bonded Magelock |
This ritual is of central importance to a modern gun mage. The ritual requires that the gun mage etch runes into his Magelock weapon, be it pistol or rifle, representing his soul and his connection to his gun. After the ritual is complete, the gun becomes an extension of the caster.
This has a number of effects. First, it causes the gun to react to the power of its master. Your gun's Fortitude defense increases by one for every two levels, and Base HP increases by one each time you gain a new level. This is a retroactive effect for guns that you bind to after having already gained a number of levels. In addition, any spells you cast to protect or benefit yourself also have their benefits conferred onto your weapon.
However, this connection also comes with a cost. If your gun is ever destroyed (by means other than arcane erosion), make an immediate saving throw. If you fail, permanently decrease the number of healing surges you are allowed in a day by 1.
A gun mage can bind himself to a number of guns equal to his Charisma modifier.
Reinforcing Runes
These runes come from a time when gun mages did not have magelock weapons, and they make a regular gun more durable to damage and arcane erosion.
| Level: 1 | Component Cost: 10 gp |
| Category: Bond | Market Price: N/A |
| Time: 30 Minutes | Key Skill: Arcana |
| Duration: Life | Require: Non-Magelock Gun |
You make the weapon you hold more durable. The degree to which it is more durable depends on your arcana check. In addition, the gun grants a +5 bonus on the saving throw to avoid arcane erosion.
| Arcana Check Result | |
| 9 or Lower | Increase Base HP and Fortitude by 1 |
| 10-19 | Increase Base HP and Fortitude by 3 |
| 20-29 | Increase Base HP and Fortitude by 5 |
| 30-39 | Increase Base HP and Fortitude by 7 |
| 40 or Higher | Increase Base HP and Fortitude by 9 |
Magelock Bond: Alertness
Your bond to your gun strengthens, and this small weapon's thirst for battle keeps you more aware of your surroundings as long as you are prepared to wield it.
| Level: 2 | Component Cost: 100 gp |
| Category: Bond | Market Price: N/A |
| Time: 8 Hours | Key Skill: Arcana |
| Duration: Permanent | Require: A Bonded Magelock |
You spend most of this day etching complex runes into your weapon, strengthening your personal connection. This ritual may only be cast on a weapon that you have already cast the Magelock Bond ritual on. You gain a +2 bonus on Initiative rolls and a +2 bonus on Perception rolls as long as you are touching this pistol.
Craft Rune Bullet
You work through an intensive process to craft a Rune-Cast bullet, which involves etching a small rune in each bullet, filling the rune with molten lead and then sprinkling gold shavings in the molten metal. The gold in the rune conducts your spells like an electrical current.
| Level: 1 | Component Cost: Special |
| Category: Creation | Market Price: N/A |
| Time: 10 Minutes | Key Skill: Arcana |
| Duration: Permanent | Require: Gunner's Kit |
This ritual represents the work required to craft one rune bullet. Each rune bullet is specific, you choose a rune bullet from the ones you know at the time of crafting. The cost of this ritual is determined by the type of rune bullet, and this often carries a required material as well. For example, it costs 2gp of gold shavings to create an Arcane Bullet.
You may create any number of rune bullets, but you may still only cast so many in any given encounter. In addition, keep in mind that you are the only person who can use the Cast Rune Bullet power with your rune bullets.
Magelock Bond: Link Sight
Your connection to your weapon strengthens once more and you can now see through the barrel of the gun as if it were your own eyes.
| Level: 10 | Component Cost: 300 gp |
| Category: Bond | Market Price: N/A |
| Time: 10 Hours | Key Skill: Arcana |
| Duration: Permanent | Require: A Bonded Magelock |
This ritual may only be cast on a bonded magelock weapon. When wielding that weapon you may use a minor action to make an Arcana Check (DC 20). If you succeed, your sight is transferred to the barrel or sight of your gun, which you can dismiss as a minor action. You must be within 20 feet of your gun in order to use this ability, and you cannot see through your own eyes until you dismiss the ability.
This allows you to establish line of sight based on where your gun barrel is pointing rather than where you can look, enabling trick shots and safe use of cover.
Magelock Bond: Call Pistol
There is a constant connection between you and your weapon as such that all you must do is reach out your hand and your weapon flies to be fired once more.
| Level: 15 | Component Cost: 500 gp |
| Category: Bond | Market Price: N/A |
| Time: 12 Hours | Key Skill: Arcana |
| Duration: Permanent | Require: A Bonded Magelock |
You etch a series of runes and symbols around the handle of your gun so small and precise that from a distance they appear to simply be part of the handle's construction. This may only be cast on a bonded magelock weapon that you previously cast Magelock Bond: Sight Link on. You now have the ability to call that weapon across a limited space.
You may use a minor action to reach out your hand and make an Arcana check with a base DC equal to 20. If you succeed the gun begins to tug in your direction at a speed of 18 squares per round. The gun must either be within 50 feet or you or you must be able to see it. If the weapon is tied down or it would be impossible for it to fly to you for some reason, then it will not move.
If someone else is holding the weapon you may make an Arcana check opposed by their Reflex Defense to take the weapon using this ability. If you are unsuccessful on your first attempt, you may not try again against that creature for the rest of that day.
If your weapon is on your person, or within five feet and its flight would not be opposed, you may use this to draw your gun as a minor action. You may call up to two pistols at once using this ability.
Magelock Bond: Gun Scrying
Even when taken from you, if you concentrate you can now sense the location of your gun as if you were there.
| Level: 18 | Component Cost: 500 gp |
| Category: Bond | Market Price: N/A |
| Time: 12 Hours | Key Skill: Arcana |
| Duration: Permanent | Require: A Bonded Magelock |
You etch runes representing eyes and ears down the barrel of both sides of your gun. This ritual may only be cast on a bonded magelock weapon that you previously cast Magelock Bond: Call Pistol on. You now have the ability to scry the location surrounding your gun from nearly any distance.
Once per day you can attempt to scry on your gun by spending a standard action and making an Arcana Check. Your check determines how much you know about the surrounding situation.
| Arcana Check Result | |
| 9 or Lower | No Knowledge |
| 10-19 | Know direction the gun is in |
| 20-29 | See as if standing in the gun's location |
| 30-39 | Hear as if standing in the gun's location. |
| 40 or Higher | Sense how near or far from the gun you are |
