Birthright spells » Spell:Enhance Trait


Birthright spell











[top]Overview


A parental trait can be selected or enhanced in an unborn animal. The spell is most often used on an aging prize bull to ensure that an offspring is as much like the sire as possible, to select for specific traits in a dog breed, to choose the gender of a child, or by a cheating spouse to make sure that the child looks like them...

[top]Description


Some things are too important to be left to chance, the birth of a male heir, the valuable pure black coat of a thoroughbred foal, the fine leaves desired in a hybrid. Through this spell the wizard influences the traits inherited by a child from its parents, while not perfect the result is usually as desired. For animals the spell must be cast either before sex (to select for or against the mother or father's traits) or within an hour of sex (to select for a trait of the father) or 3 months (to select for a trait of the mother). For plant hybrids the spell must be cast within a day of the graft or other form of hybridization.
The spell has a 90% chance of allowing 1 trait per spell-caster level to be selected from one parent or the other (for the purposes of the spell gender is considered a (male only) trait, as is each ability score, height, skin tone, hair color, eye color, facial features, etc). The spell is far less effective on traits like racial heritage, and has only a 10% chance of working on the bloodline derivation, it cannot increase or decrease the bloodline score of the child.
When cast on a child with the bloodline of Azrai the effects can be wildly variant as the corrupting bloodline warps the magic of the spell, such warping - akin to the awnsheghlien transformation - has also been known to occur when the spell is cast by a wizard with the bloodline of Azrai, particularly one of evil alignment. A contemptible wizard could cast the spell to kill the unborn child by provoking a miscarriage.

[top]Use

[top]Notes


This is a non-adventure spell with zero combat application. It should not therefore be taken into account when determining the maximum number of spells that a wizard can know.
Although the spell is well known amongst the nobility, they typically believe that there are several different spells - one for nobles, one for animals, one for plants, etc. No wizard is foolish enough to suggest otherwise lest the noble be forced to consider whether they are somehow similar to mere cattle or swine...
The spell is typically cast for a substantial fee, particularly in cases where a woman wants the child who looks just like me - and is noted for a husband who spends much of his time away from home!

[top]Tips and Tactics


The Anuireans, Brecht, and Khinasi have selectively bred animals and crops for centuries and used this spell extensively ever since it was first developed in Khourane during the time of the Anuirean Empire.
The Khinasi consider using the spell on a human child to be perfectly reasonable - why not ensure that the child is born free of defect? Or blessed with some virtue of the parent? In Anuire this use of the spell is frowned upon socially but often used secretively despite the potential shame. the Brecht prefer to leave such things to fortune and rarely use the spell on Brecht children. The spell is unknown in the Rjurik Highlands or Vosgaard where wizardry of any type is scorned.

[top]AD&D spell version


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