Witch/Warlock for Cerilia

This type of magic user has been unable to master true magic either through
the lack of available instruction, or because of the character lacks the
elven or Deismaar bloodline. Instead, the character turns to sources of
magical power other than mebhaighl; the powerful, dark forces of the Shadow
World. Occasionally, these dark entities contact youthful humans for magical
instruction; other times humans seek out the entities through arcane
rituals, and petition them for instruction; also, witches have taken on
students and introduced them to their dark art.

I recomend that normal Cerilian wizards and magicians be considered
channelers, whether or not the Players Option rules are used or not. (I
don't use them.) Whereas wizards and magicians channel mebhaighl for their
powers, witches and warlocks must go to their dark entities for more spell
powers. That is, wizards and magicians forget a spell (or expend spell
points) but retain their link to the mebhaighl, so once they rest and study,
they have recovered the ability to cast the spell. Witches and warlocks cast
spells on borrowed power, possibly corrupt mebhaighl from the Shadow World.
Thus they must go back to the dark entity and request more power. This is
the problem. The dark entity desires to exude a powerful directing influence
over its protégé. As a result, witches and warlocks face a life-long
struggle with forces which relentlessly strive to control their spirits.

While wizards and magicians are most common in Anuire and Khinasi, witches
and warlocks are most common in Rjurik and Vos. This is mostly the
consequence of limited access to proper mebhaighl training in those regions.
Even still, this dark path is sufficently dangerous that there are certainly
no more witches than there are wizards in Cerilia.

Preferred Schools: enchantment/charm, conjuration/summoning, necromancy

Barred Schools: none

Weapon Proficency: limited to dagger, dirk, knife, sling, staff sling

Nonweapon Proficency: Bonus : Sprit Lore. Recommended: Artistic Ability,
Astrology, Brewing, Cooking, Herbalism, Reading/Writing, Religion,
Spellcraft, Weather Sense.

Hindrences:

Receives a -3 to reaction rolls, or a -5 in Rjurik and Khinasi societies.

Spell recovery requires a special cerimony to contact the Shadow World, and
requires 8 hours per level of the character.

The Player's Option lists a Power's Check in the Witch section. One is also
part of Ravenloft. It works this way, every time the Warlock attempts to
recover his spell power, he contacts his dark mentor. There is a chance that
the enitity demands some submission in exchange for the power being offered.
If players don't have either Ravenloft or Player's Option the following
formula could be used in its place, which is nearly identical to the
Player's Option results:

% chance =1.9+(.9*spell level)+(.6*spell level squared) - character's level

This system allows higher level witches to cast low level spells without
fear.

In the event of a power check, the character must spend d3 days resisting
the entity's attempt to gain a greater degree of control over them. Of
course the character could just submit to the dark entity, but if they
choose to resist they must make a save vs Breath Weapon, or pass to the next
stage of subserviance. By the time a character has decended to the 5th level
of subserviance, he is now completly in the DM's hands as a servant of some
Shadow World power. These levels are described (with some slight difference)
in the Player's Option: Spells and Magic, the Necromancy Guidebook, and
Ravenloft. As character's decend through the levels, they gain dark powers
and suffer handicaps.

Kenneth Gauck
c558382@earthlink.net