Church of Death

by Bob Greenwade

To all mortal beings, death must eventually come. The Church of Death is not one which summons up the dead, as one might assume from its name, but rather one which helps the dead to prepare for the afterlife which awaits them.

Priests of the Church of Death must abstain from any careless behavior which might lead to premature death. This includes the use of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, and other casual drugs (though medicines are certainly permitted). They must eat well, except during fasts prescribed by the Church for certain observances and occurances, and exercise regularly, keeping themselves in reasonably good physical condition, allowing for age and disease. The proscribed "careless behavior" does not include appearing on a battlefield, whether the priest is there to fight or simply caring for the dead, since the latter is part of his function anyway.

The priest casts a spell by grasping his Holy Symbol and uttering a brief prayer. Of course, that prayer isn't always all that brief; some can take quite a while. The symbol is a length of wire bent into the shape of a coffin, reinforced with a wire X across the middle. This wire is rather easily bent out of shape, and so is considered fragile.

Common Limitations: Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼). Many spells also take Extra Time.

Basic Spells

Shield of Protection

With this prayer a wall of pure force is erected, which dampens all energy to prevent passage (the energy literally "dies").

Power: 5 PD, 5 ED Force Wall.
Modifiers: Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼), Extra Time -- Full Phase (-½).
Active Cost: 25.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 7.

Dispel

With this prayer, the priest can cause any single magic spell to literally (more or less) "die."

Power: 8d6 Dispel.
Modifiers: Affects any single magical spell (+¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 3; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: ½ Phase.
Real Cost: 7.

Find Magic

By casting this prayer the priest becomes able to determine, simply by touching an item or person, whether that item or person is enchanted.

Power: Detect Magic, +6 to PER Roll.
Modifiers: Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼).
Active Cost: 15.
END Cost: 1; Magic Roll: -1; Casting Time: ½ Phase.
Real Cost: 4.

College Spells

Prepare Corpse

This is the most essential prayer in the Church of Death. The priest spends a full day in prayer over the corpse to be prepared, after which time the body is considered ready for proper burial. The prayer is quite tiring; a priest rarely prepares corpses on two consecutive days. When the prayer is completed, the corpse is cleansed from any impurities that might be required for its later use as a zombie, ghoul, or other undead being.

Power: 6d6 Cosmetic Transform (fresh corpse to proper carcass).
Modifiers: Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼), Extra Time -- 1 Day (-3½), Extra END x6 (-2½).
Active Cost: 30.
END Cost: 18; Magic Roll: -3; Casting Time: 1 day.
Real Cost: 3.

View Destination

Using this prayer, the priest can determine where a person's soul would go if he were to die immediately. The prayer takes about five minutes with the priest's hands on the person in question, but the casting is usually accurate.
Power: Precognition.
Modifiers: No Range (-½), Extra Time -- 5 minutes (-2), Only for seeing current destination of a person's soul (-1½), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼).
Active Cost: 40.
END Cost: 4; Magic Roll: -4; Casting Time: 5 Minutes.
Real Cost: 5.

Find Corpse

With this prayer, the priest can locate any dead bodies in the vicinity. He can generally also tell what (and sometimes who) the corpse was when it was living.
Power: Detect Corpse, Range, Discriminatory, 360 Degree.
Modifiers: Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼), Extra Time -- 1 Turn (-1).
Active Cost: 23.
END Cost: 2; Magic Roll: -2; Casting Time: 1 Turn.
Real Cost: 6.

Find Undead

This prayer makes the priest aware of any undead beings (whether corporeal -- zombies, skeletons, vampires, etc. -- or noncorporeal -- ghosts, shades, wraiths, etc.) that may be in the general direction he's facing. The priest can generally identify the type of undead, and may (with a good enough PER Roll and familiarity with the person) be able to identify the individual.

Power: Detect Undead, Sense, Range, Discriminatory.
Modifiers: Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼), Extra Time -- 1 Turn (-1).
Active Cost: 15.
END Cost: 1; Magic Roll: -1; Casting Time: 1 Turn.
Real Cost: 3.

Turn Undead

With this prayer, the caster can cause one single undead being to turn away from him. The being will continue fleeing the caster at its maximum speed until it can make an EGO Roll at +1 for each step on the time chart since the original casting, or until the prayer is Dispelled.

Power: 8d6 Mind Control.
Modifiers: Can only command to flee (-½), Only vs undead (-1¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼), visible (-¼).
Active Cost: 40.
END Cost: 4; Magic Roll: -4; Casting Time: ½ phase.
Real Cost: 7.

Ravages of Age

This prayer causes its target to age about 20 years (or the equivalent thereof, for non-Human races) in one minute. In game terms, the victim is moved one step down on the Age Chart, with a -5 to the CHA Maxima for STR, CON, and BODY, and +5 to the CHA Maxima for INT, EGO, and PRE.

The values of the former set of Characteristics are appropriately reduced if they fall below the new maxima, with up to 5 points available from Age Disadvantage (whether new or enhanced) to round up if necessary (1 point for STR and 2 each for CON and BODY). Likewise, if the latter three Characteristics were above the old maxima, the values are increased by the appropriate amount. These adjustments are done gradually over the course of the minute in which the prayer takes effect.

The victim may remove this curse by undergoing an hour-long ritual of purification, provided by the Church.

Power: 6d6 Major Transform (young to old).
Modifiers: Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼), Extra Time -- 1 Turn (-1), Gradual Effect -- 1 Minute (-1).
Active Cost: 60.
END Cost: 6; Magic Roll: -6; Casting Time: 1 Turn.
Real Cost: 10.

Unique Spells

Purify Corpse

This prayer purifies a corpse of magic. It's very draining to the priest, and takes a full hour of intense prayer, but it will get rid of all but the most powerful curses and enchantments, including vampirism and other such curses of the undead. (However, the prayer must be invoked before the curse actually takes effect -- otherwise the body is not a dead one, but an undead one.)

Power: 15d6 Dispel.
Modifiers: Affects all magic spells (+2); Only on dead bodies (-2), Concentration throughout at 0 DCV (-1), Costs 2x END (-½), Extra Time -- 1 hour (-2½), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼).
Active Cost: 135.
END Cost: 26; Magic Roll: -13; Casting Time: 1 hour.
Real Cost: 13.

Strike Dead

This extremely powerful -- and extremely dangerous -- prayer shoots a beam of pure blackness from the priest's fingers, draining most of not all the health from the victim's body. The spell is a quite advanced one, and is available only to experienced priests. The priest must be very careful when using this prayer, as failure can cause his god's wrath to turn upon himself.

Power: 8d6 Character Point BODY Drain.
Modifiers: Usable at range (+½), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼), Extra Time -- full Phase (-½), Side Effects -- same effect on caster (-1), not against inanimate targets (-½), Must have at least 40 points in Church of Death prayers (-1).
Active Cost: 120.
END Cost: 12; Magic Roll: -12; Casting Time: 1 Phase.
Real Cost: 17.

Geas of Death

This prayer is used to place a command on someone to kill another specific individual. It's rarely used, and for several reasons, the main of which is that there are few circumstances in which the Church of Death would actually wish a person dead. The fact that the prayer's failure can bring his god's wrath, in the form of a potentially lethal strike of lightning, is another factor, and is the reason that the prayer is taught only to experienced priests.

The prayer takes five minutes of intensive prayer, during which time the caster must lay his hands on the person on whom the geas is given. It is thus impossible to place it on someone who knows what's being done and is struggling against it. Ideally, the geas is given when the target is sleeping or otherwise unconscious, though in some cases the target might cooperate with its casting (as when the geas is part of an agreed-upon sentence or repayment).

Once the prayer is cast, the geased person will go forth to commit the killing, and will do his best to succeed, following his instructions to the best of his ability. The geas will continue until the priest dies, or until the target either makes his EGO Roll (as detailed in the Hero System Rulesbook, page 78) or completes his task.

Power: 20d6 Mind Control.
Modifiers: Only to command a specific killing (-½), Breaks after the given killing is carried out (-½), No Range (-½), Concentrate at 0 DCV (-½), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Requires (Magic) Skill Roll (-½), Relgious restrictions (-¾), Fragile OAF -- Holy Symbol (-1¼), Extra Time -- 5 Minutes (-2), Side Effects -- 15d6 Energy Blast (-1), Must have at least 40 points in Church of Death prayers (-1).
Active Cost: 100.
END Cost: 10; Magic Roll: -10; Casting Time: 5 minutes.
Real Cost: 10.