The Ferryman
Brief History:
When people die, their souls meander around the world and eventually disappear. No one is really sure where they disappear to. Some souls are held in Choradesa by powerful emotions and they become malevolent spirits and harm the living. When the Ferryman found his way to this plane, he saw all these aimless spirits and wished to help them rest.
The Ferryman's envoys spread his message, but it was not well recieved by most. Death had always been a constant in Choradesa and these souls were just doing what they were meant to do, whatever it was. However, the envoys also started to teach the mortals about how to defend themselves from the dangerous spirits and taught them how to prevent the hostile spirits from even forming in the first place. Eventually, the Ferryman had followers in almost every region. They may not always be the most popular priests, but there would always be someone available to send the spirits to a safer and more secure afterlife.
Later, the Ferryman had also given his more devoted followers the ability to manipulate and percieve the souls of living beings. This includes the ability to percieve a person's aura, to weaken or strengthen different parts of a person's psyche, weaving your spirit into equipment and empowering it, and even temporarily overpowering a person's freewill and possessing them.
Power Investiture
Power Investiture 1 (Acolyte): Both- Exorcism (IQ-2), Hidden Lore (Spirit) (IQ-1), or Enchant (IQ-3) [1]
- Vow (Send the Dead) [-5]
- Exorcism (IQ+1), Hidden Lore (Spirit) (IQ+2), or Enchant (IQ+0) [8]
- Exorcism (IQ+5), Hidden Lore (Spirit) (IQ+6), or Enchant (IQ+4) [24]
- Vow (Send the Dead) [-5]
- Sense of Duty (All Spirits) [-5]
- Exorcism (IQ+9), Hidden Lore (Spirit) (IQ+10), or Enchant (IQ+8) [40]
Vow (Send the Dead) [-5]: Whenever you come across a corpse, either one you found or one you've made, you must perform funerary rites to send their souls or cast Final Rest on the body. Funerary rites take about 15 minutes per person.
Sense of Duty (All Spirits): If you hear about any restless spirits, you must put them at ease. Either by solving the problem that is keeping the spirit there or by exorcising it.
Spells
To buy spells, you must have the appropriate Power Investiture level. To use spells, you need to be in at least a Low Sanctity area and have a Holy Symbol of the Ferryman in your hand or inscribed to your weapon, shield, or armor.
Acolyte:
- Continual Light: Cause a light to emit from an object.
- Minor Healing: Restore a small amount of missing Hit Points.
- Materialize: This spell shows a spirit to anyone who couldn't see it normally.
- Mystic Mark: Place an invisible mark on a subject. This can be seen by the caster, others if the caster wishes, and those using Aura, See Secrets, Mage Sight, Detect Magic, or anything similar.
- Sense Spirit: Find any ghosts, spirits, undead, or other similar supernatural entities within the area of effect.
Cleric:
- Final Rest: Makes a corpse immune to all necromantic magic.
- Planar Spirits (Specific Spirit)* : You may summon spirits that have been sent to the various other realms. Each kind of spirit you wish to summon is a different spell.
- Skull-Spirit: Places a Spirit into a skull, animating it to do the caster's bidding.
- Summon Spirit: Talk to the spirit of a dead person to answer one question to the best of their ability.
- Panic: Those in the area affected flee in mindless fear.
- Foolishness: The subject suffers a penalty to their IQ and IQ-based skills.
- Strengthen Will: Temporarily increases the subject's Will.
- Weaken Will: Temporarily reduces the subject's Will.
- Aura *: Shows the caster an aura around the subject. This can give an idea of what kind of person they are, if they have any levels of Incantation Gift, Power Investiture, Magic Resistance, or Magic Susceptibility, whether the subject is being possessed or controlled in any way, and whether the subject is in the grip of any violent emotion.
- Astral Vision: See insubstantial entities such as spirits, subjects of Ethereal Body, etc.
- Solidify: This spell makes a spirit visible and tangible.
Champion:
- Dispel Possession: Ends any Soul Rider, Possession spell or advantage, or their animal equivalents on the subject.
- Projection: The caster briefly projects their mind away from their body to any spot within line of sight to peruse their surroundings from a different viewpoint.
- Seeker: See the surroundings of an object or person the caster is familiar with and if close enough, leads you to the target.
- Soul Rider: The caster can see through the subject's (IQ 6+) eyes, hear through their ears, etc.
- Bravery: Makes the subject fearless.
- Terror: Anyone in the area who fails to resist must make an immediate Fright Check.
- Command (Spirit): Target spirit becomes caster's faithful slave until the spell expires, however the spirit may pervert the caster's orders to be malicious. Each class of spirit (Mortal, Primal, Divine, and Outsider) requires its own spell.
- Turn Spirit: Causes a single subject in spirit form to retreat from the caster.
- Turn Zombie: Inflicts 1d of unmitigatable injury on anything in the area that was animated using the Zombie spell as you drain the energy from the spirit trapped inside the zombie's body.
Zealot:
- Possession: The subject (IQ 6+) becomes unconscious and the caster has full access to the subject's memories, skills, and spells. While in the subject's body, the caster's body lies unconscious unless they have Compartmentalized Mind.
- Bind (Spirit): Like Command (Spirit), but permanent.
- Will Lock: Make subjects unable to leave an area willingly.
- Entrap Spirit: Seal a spirit in any kind of container. This can be as small as a jar or as large as a building.
- Ethereal Body: The subject becomes ethereal and able to move through solid objects.
- Soul Jar: Traps the subject's soul in some object (the object does not need to be a jar). If your soul is in a "jar", you are unaffected until either your body dies, or the jar is destroyed. The death of your body does not kill you, your consciousness shifts to the "jar", where you are able to see, hear, and even cast any spell you know at skill 20+. If the "jar" is destroyed, then you are immediately killed without any hope of resurrection.
- Greater Planar Spirits (Specific Spirit)*: This allows you to summon anything that is a Spirit.
Powers
These are advantages that you can buy because of your devotion to your diety.
- Spirit Tamer: Higher Purpose + Ferryman Essence 1 [4]
Any attempt to bring a spirit to peace is at +1. This includes any investigation rolls in attempting to find out its purpose for staying, any attacks or damage rolls when attacking a spirit, using the Final Rest spell, Active Defense and Resistance rolls from a spirit, etc. The GM has the final say in whether a roll is affected. This does not stack with other forms of Higher Purpose.Requires Power Investiture 3 (The Ferryman) - Soul Conduit 1: Channeling (Specialized: Mortal Spirits) + Ferryman Essence 1 [4]
You may attempt to go into a trance. This takes a minute of concentration and a Will roll (+2 if you have Autotrance). Once you have entered this state, nearby spirits of deceased people may communicate through you. They will only speak or write in a language they know. If they are able to possess, you are counted as "touching" them, but you are concidered wary and gain a +5 to resist.Requires Power Investiture 2 (The Ferryman) - Soul Conduit 2: Medium (Specialized: Mortal Spirits) + Channeling (Specialized: Mortal Spirits) + Ferryman Essence 2 [8]
You are able to "sense" nearby spirits of deceased people. You don't see them visually, but you know when they're nearby. If you share a language with them, you may even speak with them. You may try to call nearby spirits to you, but they are not guaranteed to answer your summons.You may also attempt to go into a trance. This takes a minute of concentration and a Will roll (+2 if you have Autotrance). Once you have entered this state, nearby spirits of deceased people may communicate through you. They will only speak or write in a language they know. If they are able to possess, you are counted as "touching" them, but you are concidered wary and gain a +5 to resist.Requires Power Investiture 3 (The Ferryman) - Soul Conduit 3: Medium (Specialized: Mortal Spirits) + Channeling (Specialized: Mortal Spirits) + Spirit Empathy (Specialized: Mortal Spirits) + Ferryman Essence 3 [12]
You are able to "sense" nearby spirits of deceased people. You don't see them visually, but you know when they're nearby. You interact with them as though you had the Empathy advantage with them. If you share a language with them, you may even speak with them. You may try to call nearby spirits to you, but they are not guaranteed to answer your summons.You may also attempt to go into a trance. This takes a minute of concentration and a Will roll (+2 if you have Autotrance). Once you have entered this state, nearby spirits of deceased people may communicate through you. They will only speak or write in a language they know. If they are able to possess, you are counted as "touching" them, but you are concidered wary and gain a +5 to resist.Requires Power Investiture 4 (The Ferryman) - Soul Tax 1: Energy Reserve 5 (Special Recharge Only) + Ferryman Essence 1 [4]
You have an Energy Reserve you may draw upon to use for any reason (even if the ability has a specific pool of ER it draws from). The easiest way you can recharge this is by sacrificing 1 FP to fill it with 1 ER. This FP you sacrifice is Soul Drain damage. You can only recover this lost FP at a rate of 1 FP per day. If you take your FP in longterm damage, you die.Additionally, the cost of Final Rest is reduced by 4. Every time you successfully cast Final Rest or burn Funerary Herbs to send a soul, you may siphon some of the spirits power to fill 2 ER of the Soul Tax pool if you choose to. You can have a maximum of 5 ER available at a time.Requires Power Investiture 1 (The Ferryman) - Soul Tax 2: Energy Reserve 10 (Special Recharge Only) + Ferryman Essence 1 [8]
You have an Energy Reserve you may draw upon to use for any reason (even if the ability has a specific pool of ER it draws from). The easiest way you can recharge this is by sacrificing 1 FP to fill it with 1 ER. This FP you sacrifice is Soul Drain damage. You can only recover this lost FP at a rate of 1 FP per day. If you take your FP in longterm damage, you die.Additionally, the cost of Final Rest is reduced by 8. Every time you successfully cast Final Rest or burn Funerary Herbs to send a soul, you may siphon some of the spirits power to fill 3 ER of the Soul Tax pool if you choose to. You can have a maximum of 10 ER available at a time.Requires Power Investiture 2 (The Ferryman) - Soul Tax 3: Energy Reserve 15 (Special Recharge Only) + Ferryman Essence 2 [12]
You have an Energy Reserve you may draw upon to use for any reason (even if the ability has a specific pool of ER it draws from). The easiest way you can recharge this is by sacrificing 1 FP to fill it with 1 ER. This FP you sacrifice is Soul Drain damage. You can only recover this lost FP at a rate of 1 FP per day. If you take your FP in longterm damage, you die.Additionally, the cost of Final Rest is reduced by 12. Every time you successfully cast Final Rest or burn Funerary Herbs to send a soul, you may siphon some of the spirits power to fill 4 ER of the Soul Tax pool if you choose to. You can have a maximum of 15 ER available at a time.Requires Power Investiture 3 (The Ferryman) - Soul Tax 4: Energy Reserve 20 (Special Recharge Only) + Ferryman Essence 3 [15]
You have an Energy Reserve you may draw upon to use for any reason (even if the ability has a specific pool of ER it draws from). The easiest way you can recharge this is by sacrificing 1 FP to fill it with 1 ER. This FP you sacrifice is Soul Drain damage. You can only recover this lost FP at a rate of 1 FP per day. If you take your FP in longterm damage, you die.Additionally, the cost of Final Rest is reduced by 16. Every time you successfully cast Final Rest or burn Funerary Herbs to send a soul, you may siphon some of the spirits power to fill 5 ER of the Soul Tax pool if you choose to. You can have a maximum of 20 ER available at a time.Requires Power Investiture 4 (The Ferryman) - Spirit Mending: Healing (Injuries Only + Energy Reserve Only) + Ferryman Essence 3 [17]
On a successful IQ roll, you may heal any sentient target. You have an Energy Reserve specifically for this ability. You can only spend ER from Soul Tax. Every point you expend heals the target by 2 HP. If you attempt to heal a target more than once per day, you take a cumulative -3 penalty to the IQ roll to heal.Requires Power Investiture 2 (The Ferryman) and at least Soul Tax 1 - Soul Drain 1: Leech 1 (Malediction 1 + Ranged + Accelerated Healing + Resists With Will + Hazard: Soul Drain + Steals FP + Only Heals FP) + Ferryman Essence 11 [47]
If there is a target you can see, you may Concentrate on the target and attempt to steal their FP. You and your target have a Quick Contest of Wills. You are at a penalty equal to the distance between you and your target, and your target is at a penalty equal to your Power Investiture (The Ferryman) level. If you succeed, you can steal 1 FP from the target. You must roll again every second. If your FP pool is full, you may fill your Soul Tax Energy Reserve.This ability is a directly targeted drain on the soul or whatever magical energy holds your target together. This means that any insubstantial targets, non-sentient undead targets, or any constructs take HP damage instead of FP damage. Any FP or HP damage the target takes does not recover normally. The damage is in the form of longterm fatigue or hit point damage that only returns after a day of rest or reenchanting. If your target takes their full FP or HP in Soul Drain longterm fatigue or hit point damage, they are killed instantly. If they reach 0 FP without dying, you cannot drain any more from them.Requires Power Investiture 2 (The Ferryman) - Soul Drain 2: Leech 2 (Malediction 1 + Ranged + Accelerated Healing + Resists With Will + Hazard: Soul Drain + Steals FP + Only Heals FP) + Ferryman Essence 13 [53]
If there is a target you can see, you may Concentrate on the target and attempt to steal their FP. You and your target have a Quick Contest of Wills. You are at a penalty equal to the distance between you and your target, and your target is at a penalty equal to your Power Investiture (The Ferryman) level. If you succeed, you can steal up to 2 FP from the target. You must roll again every second. If your FP pool is full, you may fill your Soul Tax Energy Reserve.This ability is a directly targeted drain on the soul or whatever magical energy holds your target together. This means that any insubstantial targets, non-sentient undead targets, or any constructs take HP damage instead of FP damage. Any FP or HP damage the target takes does not recover normally. The damage is in the form of longterm fatigue or hit point damage that only returns after a day of rest. If your target takes their full FP or HP in Soul Drain longterm fatigue or hit point damage, they are killed instantly. If they reach 0 FP without dying, you cannot drain any more from them.Requires Power Investiture 3 (The Ferryman) - Soul Drain 3: Leech 3 (Malediction 1 + Ranged + Accelerated Healing + Resists With Will + Hazard: Soul Drain + Steals FP + Only Heals FP) + Ferryman Essence 15 [60]
If there is a target you can see, you may Concentrate on a sentient target, undead, spirit, or construct and attempt to steal their FP. You and your target have a Quick Contest of Wills. You are at a penalty equal to the distance between you and your target, and your target is at a penalty equal to your Power Investiture (The Ferryman) level. If you succeed, you can steal up to 3 FP from the target. You must roll again every second. If your FP pool is full, you may fill your Soul Tax Energy Reserve.This ability is a directly targeted drain on the soul or whatever magical energy holds your target together. This means that any insubstantial targets, non-sentient undead targets, or any constructs take HP damage instead of FP damage. Any FP or HP damage the target takes does not recover normally. The damage is in the form of longterm fatigue or hit point damage that only returns after a day of rest. If your target takes their full FP or HP in Soul Drain longterm fatigue or hit point damage, they are killed instantly. If they reach 0 FP without dying, you cannot drain any more from them.Requires Power Investiture 4 (The Ferryman) - STUPIFYING SUCK 1: Leech (Steal IQ) + Ferryman Essence 10 [40]
Whenever you drain a target with your Soul Drain, you may steal levels of IQ up to the amount of HP you can drain per second. This will lower their Will, Perception, and any IQ-based skills they have. Your victim recovers these lost attributes at the same rate they recover FP. You do not gain these attributes, you just harm your victim.Requires Soul Drain 1 - Timbre of Terror: Affliction (Dread: Caster, 2 yards + Baleful Song) + Invalid Essence 4 [20]
You may make a Concentrate Maneuver to sing or play your instrument and activate this ability. Anyone who comes within 2 yards of you must succeed a Quick Contest of Will with you (the target has a penalty equal to your Power Investiture level) or be afflicted with Dread (Caster). Anyone who is afflicted with Dread (Caster) cannot come within 2 yards of you while you are Concentrating on this ability.Anyone who fails to resist is under its effects until you stop playing, a minute has passed, or they are knocked unconcious. If any of these happen, they may attempt another resistance roll the next time they enter the radius of the ability. If you stop for any reason then restarts the ability, anyone who successfully resisted must make the resistance roll again.Requires Power Investiture 1 (The Invalid) and Singing or Musical Instrument skill of 14+ - Return from the Beyond: Extra Life + Ferryman Essence 5 [20/Life]
When you fail a Death Roll, your body is instantly obliterated. Your spirit will take its place, but your allies cannot see, hear, or touch you (unless they have Medium or Channeling) and you cannot cast any spells or abilities that you normally would be able to do while insubstantial. After a few days, people will be able to see you. Eventually, your body will slowly reform and you will be able to interact with the world again.Your new character will be a full HP copy of your previous. If you have missing limbs, eyes, digits, etc. and enough unspent character points, you may buy off these disadvantages now. If you died without a Character Point debt, you may purchase this package as you fail your Death Roll.When you use this advantage, you use up the extra life and it must be bought again. If you have already reached 50 Invalid Essence, you may still purchase the package for 20 points, but you do not apply any more Essense Disadvantages because of it.Requires Power Investiture 3 (The Invalid) - Soul Sister: Duplication (Construct) + Ferryman Essence 10 [46]
If you have a full Soul Tax pool (15 points), you may expend all of the Soul Tax reserve to create a copy of yourself that is completely insubstantial. This copy exactly the same as you, but it will obey your command. This copy also cannot be healed at all, be drained to refill your Soul Tax reserve, or use any healing abilities other than First-Aid. If you have Soul Tax 4, the copy gains an additional 5 FP.Requires Power Investiture 3 (The Invalid) and at least Soul Tax 3
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Essence Disadvantages
Followers who gain Ferryman Essence begin to look more like the denizens of the Ferryman's Realm. Their hair, scales, or feathers become shock white with a faint ethereal glow. The tips of any extremity are faintly transparent.
Every 5 points of Ferryman Essence gives others a +1 to a Religion roll to identify the celestial you follow. Coreligionists will react to you at +1 per 5 points of Ferryman Essence (max +5) and people opposed to your religion will react to you at -1 per 5 points of Ferryman Essence (max -5).
Every 10 ranks of Ferryman Essence requires you to take a rank of one of the disadvantages below.
| Disadvantage | Description |
|---|---|
| Enemies (Hunters) This can only be taken 2 times |
A group of people who think the abuse of the dead is an unforgiveable sin and will attempt to elimanate those who use that power and anyone who travels with them. This Disadvantage is a group of less powerful people Hunting you and your party. If you kill them, they will be replaced by another from the same organization:
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| Enemies (Untamed Spirits) This can only be taken 2 times |
Packs of wandering spirits can be dangerous and must be taken care of. Every once in a while, you'll come across hostile spirits that will attempt to kill you or your allies. This Disadvantage is a group of less powerful spirits (or one powerful one) Hunting you and your party. The frequency of these attacks are dependent on how many times you take this:
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| Nightmares This can only be taken 2 times |
You are plagued by nightmares every night. Sometimes they are so bad that you lose sleep because of them, resulting in an FP penalty that only can recover when you've had a good night's rest. A roll of 3 or 4 will result in you being so terrified that you're shaken for the day. Giving you a -1 to all skills. The frequency of this depends on how many times you take this:
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| Phantom Voices This can only be taken 3 times |
During stressful situations, you may begin to hear voices. They may be unintelligible, repeating the same word over and over again, or some other inconvinience. Whenever the GM thinks you are experiencing enough stress to trigger this, they roll 3d. On a 6 or less, you experience these voices. The severity of them depends on how many times you take this:
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Blessed Items
These are standard items that you might find for sale in a temple of The Earth Shaper. They are not Enchantable however.
- Funerary Herbs: 1 GP ($100) 0.01lbs
- The Ferryman's Holy Symbol (Basic): 5 SP ($50) 0.1lbs
- The Ferryman's Holy Symbol (Small): 25 SP ($250) 0.25lb
- The Ferryman's Holy Symbol (Medium): 1 EP ($1,000) 0.5lb
- The Ferryman's Holy Symbol (Large): 4 EP ($4,000) 1lb
- The Ferryman's Holy Symbol (Grand): 16 EP ($16,000) 5lbs
A small bundle of herbs. When burned, it will send the spirit of a recently departed person to their prefered afterlife and act as a casting of Final Rest on their body.
A small talisman inscribed with a XXXXXX that is made of wood, stone, or metal. Holding this object in your hand allows you to cast spells gained from following the Ferryman, but does nothing else.
A small talisman inscribed with a XXXXXX that increases the Sanctity Level (The Ferryman) of a person holding it in their hand by 1 to a maximum of Low Sanctity. Holding this object in your hand allows you to cast spells gained from following the Ferryman.
A medium talisman inscribed with a XXXXXX that increases the Sanctity Level (The Ferryman) of a person holding it in their hand by 1 to a maximum of Normal Sanctity. Holding this object in your hand allows you to cast spells gained from following the Ferryman.
A large talisman inscribed with a XXXXXX that increases the Sanctity Level (The Ferryman) of a person holding it in their hand by 1 to a maximum of High Sanctity. Holding this object in your hand allows you to cast spells gained from following the Ferryman.
A massive talisman inscribed with a XXXXXX that increases the Sanctity Level (The Ferryman) of a person holding it in their hand by 2 to a maximum of Very High Sanctity. Holding this object in your hand allows you to cast spells gained from following the Ferryman.
Enchantments
These are enchantments you may be able to add to equipment.
- Ghost Weapon
- Dancing Weapon
- Dancing Shield
- Soul Jar
- Possession
