Warlocks and Witches (POSM)

__TOC__
In a great amount of literature and folklore, magical abilities are considered supernatural; they're not normally attainable by most humans, but instead represent gifts or lore granted by dangerous powers. Wizards who subscribe to these beliefs do not learn spells from study and research; instead, they constantly seek to make contact with more knowledgeable (and therefore perilous) entities of extraplanar origin. The best of these creatures can be considered chaotic or neutral, while the worst are creatures of such malice and power that the wizard risks his body, mind, and spirit when merely contacting these entities.
Wizards who rely on these patrons for magical power are known as warlocks or witches. Imps and familiars teach them their first spells as novices, and as they grow in power they seek more and more powerful tutors. Magic comes easily to these characters, a supernatural boon that allows them access to all the normal spell powers of a standard wizard. There is a grave risk involved with contacting these extraplanar powers: the risk of losing one's spirit to the powers that grant the wizard his spells. Magic itself is seen to be wrong for mankind, an abomination of nature, and people believe that wizards who dabble in such things will eventually be consumed by the hungry powers they bargain with for power.
Warlocks use the spell point system as described earlier in this chapter, with the following notes:
* Free magicks may be used to provide the wizard with access to any spell in his repertoire, although they're still more expensive than fixed magicks.
* The wizard may exceed his normal spell level limit using the optional rules described previously.
* The wizard may decide to cast spells for greater effect by simply spending more spell points when he actually casts the spell.
* The wizard can save spell points by choosing to cast spells with a prolonged casting time, reduced power, or spells with a special casting condition.
* Warlocks and witches gain bonus spell points for high Intelligence scores.
In this system of magic, a wizard uses his normal allocation of spell points to select his arsenal of spells. Like the channeller, the character doesn't actually spend his spell points until he actually casts a spell, and his battery of spells remains in his memory without vanishing. In other words, the warlock may make use of any of his memorized spells freely until he runs out of spell points. However, please note that the warlock may never cast more than nine spells of any one level in the course of a single day.
However, all warlocks and witches have a serious limitation: Each time they spend spell points to cast a spell, they risk attracting the attention of a chaotic or evil power. The character has a percentage chance equal to the number of spell points expended, minus his character level, of being forced to take a step into the pact of service with the malevolent power. For example, a 7th-level wizard casting a 4th-level spell (15 SPs) has an 8% chance of drawing too much of his patron's power and being required either to add to the debt of service that he owes his masters or start on the path of servitude to another dark master. There's always at least a 1% chance of this happening, regardless of the character's level.
The first few steps of service are easy for the character, and not too great a burden. In fact, when the character begins play as a 1st-level initiate, there are no particular game or role-playing effects of his allegiance to these powers, although some societies may shun or persecute anyone who publicly admits to trafficking with supernatural powers. Increasing levels of servitude to the warlock's patron may have the effects shown below; the DM is encouraged to be creative and malevolent. Note that these stages of commitment parallel the Dark Powers checks of the Ravenloft® campaign setting.
Stage One, Enticement: The character's patron grants him a gift of some kind, but one that comes with a price. He gains a minor unnatural feature or trait that gives him both an advantage and a disadvantage. These could be red-glowing eyes that permit him to see 30 feet in the dark; small horns, fangs, or talons that can be used to inflict 1d4 points of damage in hand-to-hand combat; the ability to hide in shadows as a thief of equal level; acute hearing or sense of smell, giving the character a +1 bonus to surprise checks; or the ability to speak with dead, speak with animals, or use some other 1st- or 2nd-level spell as a granted power once per day. In return, the character acquires a visible mark, feature, or characteristic that marks him as one who deals with forbidden powers: his footprints are backwards, his voice is unnaturally raspy and sepulchral, his face shows some concealable mark of his allegiance, or whatever else the DM decides is appropriate. The general effect causes a –1 to –2 reduction to Charisma.
Stage Two, Invitation: The warlock's patron powers grant the character enhanced abilities of some kind, but the strengthening of their bond also brings periods of weakness or vulnerability on the character. The enhanced abilities could be a +1 to +2 bonus to any ability score, a bonus of +5 to +10 hit points, or superhuman stamina that allows the character to ignore minor fatigue or the need to sleep for more than four hours. In return, the character must suffer through periods of weakness when his patron is distant or inaccessible. For example, the character may have the spell point costs of his spells doubled during daylight, moonlight, in temples or sacred ground, or on ships or boats. The more powerful the advantage, the more universal the character's disadvantage. In addition to his lapse in magical power, the character may also suffer a halved Constitution, Strength, or Dexterity score for as long as the condition persists.
Stage Three, Touch of Darkness: The warlock's hitherto concealable features or subtle traits become so widespread or deformed that there is no chance of concealing what he is without magical aid. For example, he may sprout great bat-shaped wings that permit him to fly with a movement of 15 (C), his body may develop satyr-like hoofed goat legs that permit a movement of 18, small horns may lengthen into dagger-sized weapons capable of inflicting 1d6 damage each, his skin may become scaly or leathery for a natural AC of 6, he may sprout a spiked tail that permits him to attack for 1d6 damage, or his blazing eyes may cause fear in anyone who meets his gaze. Unfortunately, these sinister developments usually prevent the warlock from associating in normal human society for the rest of his life, with a loss of 3 to 6 points of Charisma. In addition, the character acquires some ghastly habit or dependency that marks him as a creature of darkness. For example, the warlock may have to drink blood once per day, eat raw meat or dirt, or sleep only in graveyards. The character's alignment changes one step towards evil or chaos to match that of his patron, incurring the normal penalties for a change of alignment.
Stage Four, Embrace: The warlock gains some supernatural immunity or resistance, but also acquires a supernatural vulnerability. For example, he may gain the ability to only be struck by magical weapons, as well as immunity to sleep and charm spells, resistance to spells of a certain school, immunity to poison, the ability to assume gaseous form (much like a vampire) or some other powerful attribute. The price he pays is a vulnerability such as susceptibility to holy water and turning attempts by priests, the inability to stand contact with common materials such as cold iron or garlic, or the inability to set foot on sacred ground. (Take a look at the customized limitations in Chapter 1 for more ideas.) This weakness can be deadly if used against the character by enemies who discover its existence.
The character's alignment changes one additional step towards that of his patron, possibly incurring penalties for the change. In addition, there is a 1% cumulative chance per day that the character's patron compels him to undertake some service or observe some rite. The character is controlled by the DM for 1d6 days before he regains full command of his faculties.
Stage Five, Creature of Darkness: Eventually, the warlock's pact with darkness overcomes whatever vestiges of humanity remain in his heart, and he becomes a slave to the powers that raised him. At this point, the warlock is no longer viable as a player character and passes permanently into the DM's hands as an NPC. Powerful new abilities manifest, such as magic resistance, additional increases of ability scores, and powers associated with undead monsters or fiends of various sorts.
Resisting the Descent: Fortunately for player characters, warlocks can attempt to resist the encroaching evil by fighting off the descent into darkness by sheer force of will. However, this is not easy. When the character's use of spell points creates the possibility for a descent to a new level of servitude, the warlock can acquiesce and accept the new stage, or he can fight to retain his independence. This requires a saving throw vs. breath weapon, with a penalty equal to the level the character is threatened by—a warlock at Stage Three who is in peril of falling to Stage Four makes his saving throw with a –4 penalty. The psychic turmoil of this conflict completely occupies the character's attention for 1d3 days, during which he cannot cast spells and fights with a –3 penalty to his attack rolls.
Warlocks and Recovering Spell Points: Witches and warlocks don't automatically recover spell points with the passage of time. For these spellcasters, spell points represent an ever-dwindling store of magical strength that can only be recharged with significant risk. Once the character's spell points have been expended, he must perform a special ceremony or rite to summon his extraplanar sponsors and negotiate with them for additional spell power. This requires at least eight hours per character level, which means that a high-level wizard may require several days in order to renew his spell powers.
This ceremony restores the wizard to his full allocation of spell points; at no time can the wizard have more spell points than the maximum permitted for his level, specialization, and Intelligence bonus. When the character advances in level, he gains the full allotment of spell points for his new level without resorting to the ceremony.
Studying Spells: Like channellers, warlocks can change their allotment of spells and free and fixed magicks by resting and sitting down with their spell books.
The Warlock Campaign: If this variant magic system is used in play, wizards are generally detested by the rest of the world. Invariably, they turn towards evil as the beckoning power of darkness lures them into its embrace. Playing a heroic wizard in such a setting will be extremely difficult; by the time most wizards reach 5th or 6th level, they'll be well on their way to becoming menaces to the lives and sanity of all around them. A good-aligned witch or warlock would be extremely scarce, since the basic premise of this entire system of magic is that the end justifies the means—a difficult concept to reconcile with the precepts of good. These rare wizards must carefully ration their spells, using their magical powers only in the direst situations, or they'll soon find that they've set foot to a road from which they cannot turn back.