Rituals (CShaH)

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If the sha'ir convinces geniekind to design the proper rituals, he will have to leave the gen with the genies until the next full moon. This gives the genies the time they need to study the gen and discover the safest way to alter its being. Once this time has passed, the sha'ir may retrieve his gen. For the time that the gen is with geniekind, the sha'ir will not be able to cast any spells. Under extremely rare circumstances (if the sha'ir has proven himself to be a powerful friend and ally of all geniekind, for example), the sha'ir may be granted temporary use of another gen. This gen will never be as loyal or as efficient as the sha'ir's normal gen. All attempts to retrieve spells by the "stand-in" gen will suffer a 10 percent penalty.
Preparations for the ritual must commence on the next night of the full moon. The proper materials must be gathered and prepared before this time and are specific to each ability to be added or improved. Each ritual requires a variable period of time, depending upon the ability to be added or improved, and the sha'ir and his gen can do nothing that is not directly related to the ritual for the entire duration of the ritual. Eating is forbidden, as is leaving the ritual area for any reason. Sha'irs are advised to cast whatever spells they can in order to make eating, sleeping and other bodily functions unnecessary. (The spell ritual strength in Chapter 4 provides a way for sha'irs to maintain their strength during a strenuous ritual.)
Sha'irs without access to spells that will help them make it through the ritual may not be able to finish the ritual at hand. Rituals that last less than eight hours are relatively easy to complete, though sha'irs with very low Constitution scores (8 or less) will be exhausted at the end of their ordeal and must rest for no less than 10 hours before undertaking any sort of activity more strenuous than eating and drinking.
Rituals that require from 9 to 16 hours to perform are more difficult for mages to undergo. At the end of every hour after the eighth, the sha'ir must make a Constitution check, applying a penalty of -1 to the sha'ir's Constitution at the end of every hour after the ninth. Thus, after the tenth hour, the sha'ir must make a successful Constitution check at -1; following the eleventh hour, the Constitution roll is made at -2 and so on until the ritual is complete.
Failing one of these rolls does not immediately ruin the ritual. The sha'ir who fails such a roll must make a "recovery check," at this point to see if he can keep going. This check is based on Intelligence. The first recovery check is made at the penalty imposed upon the Constitution roll that failed; i.e., if a sha'ir failed a Constitution roll that was made at a -2 penalty, the recovery check (based on Intelligence) would also suffer a -2 penalty. The player of a sha'ir is responsible for recording his failures and the number of recovery checks made. Every recovery check after the first is made at an additional -1 penalty, and this penalty is added to that required by the Constitution roll (their effects are cumulative!). If a character fails a recovery check at any time, the ritual comes to an immediate end, and the sha'ir must deal with the forces he has created or unleashed.
Rituals that end before 16 hours have passed are generally not that dangerous to those involved. While there are a number of elemental forces that are drawn forth during the ritual, these will generally dissipate in a harmless manner. The sha'ir will suffer a number of hit points of damage equal to the rating of the ability or improvement sought for his gen (see below). The sha'ir will be extremely weary if the ritual fails and must rest for a number of hours equal to 24 minus the sha'ir's Constitution. The sha'ir may do nothing during this time of resting and will be fast asleep. The gen is likewise sleeping safely away on its elemental plane. The gen will sleep for as long as the sha'ir it is bound to and cannot be awakened by any means until the appropriate number of hours have passed. The sha'ir may be awakened by damage done to him, but will suffer a -3 penalty to all actions while he is awake. Even if the sha'ir does wake up, his gen will remain on its elemental plane until it has rested the required amount of time.
Rituals longer than 16 hours become intensely grueling affairs. The sha'ir has been up for a long time without sleep, is most likely getting hungry, and thirst will have reduced his throat to a parched waste from which croak the syllables of his chant. Now is the time that many sha'irs find they can go no further and collapse into the sands.
At this point, the penalty on Constitution rolls levels off at -8. Sha'irs must roll every hour just as before and are allowed to make recovery checks as normal. Failure at this point is much more hazardous, however, and releases forces that are often very destructive in nature. As before, the sha'ir will suffer a number of hit points of damage equal to the rating of the ability or improvement the ritual would have bestowed upon the gen. An additional 1d4 hit points of damage are suffered for every hour remaining in the ritual. The gen suffers damage equal to the rating of the ritual, just as the sha'ir did, but doesn't take any additional damage. The gen will immediately flee to its home plane and will remain there for 1d6 days. The sha'ir will fall into a comatose state and will not awaken until all damage caused by the ritual's failure has been healed. If magic is used to heal these wounds and get the sha'ir back on his feet a little faster, the sha'ir must make a system shock roll or collapse back into a coma for 1d4 weeks.
Rituals lasting 24 hours or longer go beyond grueling—they become potentially lethal. After 24 hours, the sha'ir will be forced to roll for dehydration, subtracting 1d6 from his Constitution. A Constitution check is required at 24 hours and for every 2 hours following. Failure at this point becomes very likely and is extremely dangerous. The rating of the ritual, doubled, is suffered as damage by the sha'ir. The gen takes this damage as well and retreats to its home plane until the sha'ir is able to summon it once again, or until called upon by geniekind. In addition, the sha'ir suffers 1d6 points of damage for every hour remaining in the ritual as elemental forces are unleashed and attack. The sha'ir who is not killed by the power of the elements arrayed against him will fall into a deep sleep. The only cure for this wasting away is for geniekind to have mercy on the sha'ir.
There are no hard and fast rules for whether or not the genies take mercy on the sha'ir. In order to give the character a fair chance, the DM should allow the sha'ir to appear, in spirit form, before the genie court. The DM will play the part of the court members, and the scene will be role-played out. At this time the sha'ir must justify his actions to the genie court—was he doing something to aid his gen, or was he merely attempting to garner a bit more power for himself? Use every argument you can think of to condemn the character, and force the sha'ir to use every ploy that he can to save himself. This can be very entertaining roleplaying and makes the player take a look back at his character and question his own motives.
If geniekind decide that the sha'ir is a power monger, the character will normally die, There is a possibility, however, that the character may convince them that he realizes the error of his ways and sincerely intends to reform. If this is indeed the case, the sha'ir must perform a task for geniekind (usually a major undertaking) and will be barred from ever attempting to improve his gen again. For this price, the sha'ir will be returned to the land of the living. His wounds will heal normally, and when they have healed, the sha'ir will awaken and his gen return. From the moment he is conscious, the sha'ir has one week to begin the task demanded of him by the genies. Failure to do so results in the character's sudden, irrevocable death. This has given rise to the saying "sha'irs' demise" in relation to any death for which there is no immediate, detectable cause.
While it appears that adding attributes or abilities to a gen is an impossible task that could end in sudden death, it should be remembered that sha'irs have access to a number of magical aids that will see them through most rituals. Ritual strength is one such spell, cool strength will save the character from the effects of dehydration, and lifeproof will save the character from making any rolls until 24 hours have passed. At that point, the sha'ir must make Constitution rolls as if he had been working the ritual for eight hours.
Altering the abilities or attributes of a gen is a very dangerous undertaking. But, when handled by a proficient mage, the danger is manageable.
Below is a list of the various abilities that a sha'ir can add to his gen, and the ritual rating and requirements for each ability.
==Increased Damage==
Increased Damage
Rating: 15
Ritual Requirements: A large amount of the gen's element (at least 20 gallons, 100 pounds, or 20 square feet) must be present at the center of the ritual area. A gem worth 500 gp must be placed within the element at hand and will be consumed during the ritual.
Time: This ritual requires 16 hours.
Description: Increased damage adds one die to the damage normally done by the gen in question, This ritual may be performed more than once on the same gen, but not more often than once a year.
==Improved Armor Class==
Improved Armor Class
Rating: 15
Ritual Requirements: This ritual requires a diamond of no less than 500 gp value. If the ritual is performed more than once on the same gen, the value of the diamond is increased by 500 gp for each time the ritual is performed,
Time: This ritual requires 16 hours.
Description: When this ritual is performed, the gen receives a +1 bonus to its AC.
==Enhanced Senses==
Enhanced Senses
Rating: 12
Ritual Requirements: The requirements for this ritual vary depending upon which sense is being enhanced. An increase in sight will require two rubies worth 600 300 gp a piece. Smell requires a concoction of rare herbs that costs 600 gp. An increase in the sense of taste uses a special unguent; the ingredients cost 300 gp. To increase the gen's hearing, a set of earrings studded with small precious gems for a total cost of 500 gp (250 gp each) is needed. The gen's sense of touch cannot be increased through the use of this ritual.
Time: Sight improvement rituals last 24 hours;
hearing, taste, and smell rituals last 16 hours.
Description: This ritual improves one of the gen's senses, allowing the gen to become a more competent servant for the sha'ir. There are a number of improvements that can be added to the gen's various senses. No more than one improvement can be added to the gen's senses per ritual performance.
The following improvements are available for the gen's sight:
1. Detect invisible, 30 feet. This ability allows the gen to see invisible objects, regardless of the spell or ability that hides them, within 30 feet. This ability works without fail and cannot be fooled by any magic or magical ability,
2. Infravision, 300 feet. By performing this ritual upon the gen, the sha'ir gives his familiar the ability to see out to 300 feet using infravision. This is not to be confused with "eyes of the eagle" below.
3. Eyes of the eagle. This ritual gives the gen incredibly acute eyesight. The gen can spot creatures the size of rabbits with no difficulty up to 100 feet. If the creatures are hiding, their "hide in shadows" percentage is reduced by 15 percent. Man-sized creatures can be spotted at 100 feet regardless of whether or not the creature has successfully hidden in shadows. At 200 feet, man-sized creatures who are hiding in shadows suffer a -15 percent to their skill roll when attempting to hide from the gen. The "eyes of the eagle" also gives the gen double the normal chance to spot hidden or concealed doors, though they give the gen no special ability to penetrate magical concealment.
4. Eye of truth. This ability gives the gen a chance to see through magical illusions. The chance is 50 percent, +5 percent per level of the sha'ir, -10 percent per level of the illusions' caster. This ability works automatically, and the DM should roll the dice to determine if the gen pierces the illusion.
An increase in the gen's sense of smell can result in one of two enhancements to that sense.
1. Tracker scent. With this ability, the gen can track creatures by the sense of smell. This ability only works when tracking those creatures who travel overland and who are in contact with the earth. Creatures such as djinn and pegasi, which fly, cannot be tracked unless they remain on the ground.
This ability is an enhanced version of the tracking nonweapon proficiency. The gen's base chance to track is 15, and the ability is checked exactly like a nonweapon proficiency. The gen is affected by few of the modifiers listed under the tracking nonweapon proficiency (p. 64, PHB). Those that do affect the base chance are: shallow water (-10), every two creatures in group (+1), every 12 hours since trail was made (-1), every hour of rain (-5). No other modifiers have any effect on the gen's ability to track.
2. Scent of danger. Sha'irs have a wide variety of enemies, many of which like to strike quickly and from the shadows. With this ability, the gen of a sha'ir can detect danger directed at its master—most of the time. The base chance for this ability to work is 14; the DM should roll a d20 whenever there is danger of which the sha'ir is unaware. On a roll of 14 or less, the gen detects the danger and can warn the sha'ir. This ability only detects danger aimed specifically at the sha'ir, not general dangers such as those posed by natural disasters or threats directed at a group of characters. The gen is not able to tell what sort of danger is present, nor where it will strike from, but it does give the sha'ir a chance to take some basic precautions when danger is present. While many sha'irs grumble about the vague nature of their gen's ability to detect danger, all admit it is an ability that is extremely useful.
A gen's hearing can also be augmented in a number of different ways, but, like all senses, it can only be added to once per ritual performance. There are three basic hearing increases listed below.
1. The sound of lies. With this ability, the gen can detect whether or not a person is lying. The gen has a 14 in 20 chance to detect lies. The person in question must be speaking to the gen's sha'ir, and the gen can only determine the truth or falsehood of entire sentences. So, a clever speaker can confound this ability by couching his lies between truths. If a speaker has as many lies as truths in a sentence, the gen will detect the fact that the sentence was neutral, but cannot tell which parts were true and which false. A sentence with more lies than truth will be recognized as essentially deceitful, but the gen will not be able to tell the lies from the truth. A sentence with more truths than lies will be noted as true, even though it contains some falsehood. The important thing to keep in mind is that this ability works on sentences as a whole, not on elements of that sentence. Even the sentence, "The sky is blue, the sky is green, and the sky is blue," would be reported as true by a gen with this ability. After all, there are two true statements in the sentence and only one false.
2. The whispering of the wind. This ability allows the gen to hear any conversation that he can see taking place. No spells or other magical barriers can stop this ability from functioning.
3. Sounds of the gentle zephyr. This ability increases the natural hearing ability of the gen in question. This gen will be able to hear any normal sound made within 100 feet of it. This ability grants the power to control what it hears and doesn't hear to avoid being overwhelmed by a thousand cacophonous voices. The gen is also able to hear characters who are trying to be quiet. A gen with this ability cannot be surprised by any creature that makes sound, and only a silence, 15' radius spell is sufficient to block what the creature can hear. It should be noted that the gen is not able to duplicate either "the sound of lies" or "the whispering of the wind" with this ability. "Sounds of the gentle zephyr" only allows the gen to hear sounds it might not otherwise hear but doesn't allow comprehension of these sounds (such as would be necessary to make sense of conversation some distance away).
==The Falcon's Wings==
The Falcon's Wings
Rating: 20
Ritual Requirements: This ritual requires the feathers of a falcon gathered from the falcon's aerie by the hand of the sha'ir himself. These wings must be glued to the arms of the gen, using a paste made from rare herbs and unguents (total cost 1,000 gp).
Time: 36 hours.
Description: This ritual causes the gen to grow wings from its back or arms, as determined by the sha'ir. It doesn't matter where the wings grow from, the effects of the ritual are the same. Once this ritual has been completed, the gen will be able to fly at 36' a round with a maneuverability class of A. The gen has complete control over its abilities but may fly for no more than one hour at a time without becoming exhausted. The gen may not make swooping attacks, however, as the wings are not sturdy enough to support it through such a stressful maneuver.
==Cloak of Gathering Shadows==
Cloak of Gathering Shadows
Rating: 12
Ritual Requirements: This ritual requires a spider web found under the shadow of a rock. This web must be large enough to cover the gen's upper body at least. The difficulty of finding a web of this sort should be set by the DM, but should not be an easy task. This ritual also requires a handful of hair from a stealthy man (typically a thief or holy slayer).
Time: 18 hours.
Description: This ritual adheres a spider web to the back of the gen. This web contains the essence of shadows in it and will allow the gen to hide itself in such shadows with relative ease. The base percentage chance for a gen to hide in shadows is 55 percent, +1 percent per level of the sha'ir to which the gen is bound. Gens who hide in shadows are subject to the same restrictions as thieves using the same ability.
==Touch of Opening==
Touch of Opening
Rating: 20
Ritual Requirements: A set of golden lockpicks. The cost of this set is at least 2,000 gp, plus the difficulty of finding a craftsman to make them for the sha'ir.
Time: 30 hours.
Description: "The touch of opening" is an ability that allows the gen to open any door that is not magically barred. The gen need only touch the door in question, and any locks will open and bars will lift. The door can then be opened with ease. This ability is also effective against locked chests and other containers, but any magical sealing of those containers will completely foil the gen. Sha'irs who empower their gen with "the touch of opening" are regarded with distrust, even by their own kind. Sha'irs who enhance their gens with this ability must subtract one from their current station. Though they have not committed a crime, it is suspected that they intend to do so once this ability is added to the gen.
==Spell Conduit==
Spell Conduit
Rating: 25
Ritual Requirements: This spell requires that an exact model (though of much reduced size) of the sha'ir be constructed from ivory, gold, silver, and obsidian. The model must be hollow and its interior filled with hair and nail clippings, saliva, and tears from the sha'ir. The model is then hung from a necklace of rare black pearls worn about the neck of the gen. The cost of all these materials is no less than 5,000 gp plus the cost of locating and procuring the necessary items. The craftsman who makes the necklace will also add no less than 1,000 gp to the cost of the ritual (due to the exacting nature of the work). The sha'ir must stay close to the craftsman who designs the necklace so the model will be accurate+ The model will require no less than three weeks to construct, though this time can be reduced by paying an extra 1,000 gp per week of reduced construction time. This is essentially the same as hiring the craftsman as a servitor and sitting with him or her for a full eight hours every day. The model will require at least a full week to get exactly right.
Time: 48 hours.
Description: "Spell conduit" allows the sha'ir to cast spells through his gen. The sha'ir is still the one casting the spell, but the spell issues from the gen's location. The maximum distance allowed between sha'ir and gen is 100 feet per level of the sha'ir. If the gen moves out of range or the sha'ir is forced to move out of range for some reason, the conduit is separated until gen and sha'ir can get back within the required range.
This ability is different than the other enhancements listed in this section because it is not actually a part of the gen. Instead, the ability is embedded in an item that is attuned to the gen and which transfers the spell conduit ability to the gen. Because of this, the conduit can be broken by someone stealing the necklace and model from the gen. There is no known way to spoil the model and necklace (short of a wish spell), so all that the gen must do to restore its spell conduit ability is get the necklace back. Though it is considered bad form, some sha'irs will steal and hold these necklaces for ransom, extorting large sums of wealth for their return.
Other abilities may be invented by DMs, or by players with the DM's approval. Abilities can be quite powerful, but should have correspondingly high ratings and time requirements, as well as expensive or hard-toobtain ritual requirements. This will help to keep things in balance, as lower level sha'irs will not risk their lives to enhance their gens. High power will still lie in the hands of the higher-level sha'irs and a few lucky low-level practitioners.
It should be remembered that if a gen is destroyed or lost, all of its special abilities are lost too; the sha'ir will have to start all over with yet another gen.