Magic is everywhere in Savage Pathfinder Whether it’s hidden occult lore practiced by dark cultists, the righteous rituals of clerics, or the potent spells of sorcerers and wizards, these rules handle it all in one simple system.
We call all of these effects “powers.” They work the same from game to game, but the particular use, modifiers, and Trappings give the same core powers endless variations.
Characters gain access to magical powers by taking an Arcane Background, either Magic or Miracles or one of the more specialized Class Edges.
Each type of Arcane Background has the following entries, listed in its description, and may have additional abilities or drawbacks as well.
Arcane Skill: This is the skill you roll to activate your hero's powers. Buy it just like any other skill.
Starting Powers: This is the number of powers a hero starts with when she takes an Arcane Background. Additional powers may be learned with the New Powers Edge.
Power Points: The number of Power Points the character starts with. A hero increases Power Points by taking the Power Points Edge.
Available Powers: The list of powers characters with that Arcane Background may take.
Each power has the following statistics:
Rank: The Rank a character must be to learn the power.
Power Points: The cost to activate the power in Power Points.
Range: The maximum distance between the caster and the power’s effect. Range is often expressed as Smarts or some multiple thereof. If so, read Smarts as inches on the tabletop (twice that in yards). A Smarts of d10, for example, means the power can be cast up to 10″ (20 yards) away.
Unless the power says otherwise, Range has no effect after the power is activated. An ally who has been granted invisibility, for example, may then move beyond the caster’s Smarts with no ill effect.
Duration: How long the power lasts in rounds (unless otherwise noted).
Powers expire at the end of the character’s turn X rounds later, where X is the Duration listed. Count the round the power activated. If the cleric activates boost Trait (Duration 5) on the second round of combat, for example, it remains in place until the end of her turn on the sixth round.
Powers may be maintained for their base Duration for 1 Power Point per individual.
Unless it says otherwise, the caster can terminate a power she’s activated as a free action. She must terminate the entire power—she can’t leave it on for some and off for others.
School: The Arcane School of magic associated with this power.
Trappings: These are descriptive ideas and suggestions for how the power might look or manifest for different characters.
Modifiers: The specific Power Modifiers a caster can use when activating the power. Those with the “gold star” bullets are Epic Powers. These are unlocked with Arcane and Divine Mastery Class Edges.
Players are encouraged to note their powers’ Trappings and what the character might call them.
A druid in Savage Pathfinder might think of his spells like this:
• Barrier (Wall of thorns)
• Boost/lower Trait (Blessing/Curse of Gozreh—slight healthy or sickly green glow)
• Entangle (Entangle—grasping vines rise from the earth)
• Protection (Bark skin—skin turns vaguely bark-like)
A sorcerer might record her spells as:
• Barrier (Wall of force)
• Boost/lower Trait (Enhance/Diminish—lavender or deep purple glow)
• Entangle (Bind—ethereal ropes)
• Protection (Mage Armor—ethereal energy shield)
In the magically charged world of Golarion, any character with an Arcane Background can sense magical or divine auras within 5” (10 yards), unless they are magically concealed. This is an action.
Detecting magic at a greater range or gaining specific information requires the detect arcana power, which can also be used to reveal items or beings protected by conceal arcana. See detect/conceal arcana.
Identifying magic items requires a Common Knowledge roll for everyday items like healing potions. More obscure items require an Occult roll.
If a character takes a new Arcane Background after character creation, she gets a d4 in its arcane skill if she doesn’t already have it and any new powers it grants. If she already has an Arcane Background or Mystic Powers, she uses the highest starting Power Point total and all her Arcane Backgrounds and Mystic Powers share this pool. Otherwise, she also gets the Power Points listed for the Edge.
Class Edge abilities apply only to powers provided by that class.
Trappings allow the core powers presented in this chapter to have many different appearances. They don't usually have a game effect of their own, but are important for atmosphere and theme.
One character might fire magical missiles of glowing white energy while another hurls deadly icicles. Both use the bolt power and share the same mechanics, but they look and "feel" different.
Trappings do matter when an obstacle or opponent has a particular strength or weakness. If an ice troll suffers +4 damage from fire- or heat-based attacks, for example, a blast a player describes as a fireball counts as a fire attack and does +4 damage.
Once described, a power’s Trappings don’t change unless the caster uses an Advance—see below.
A character can alter the power’s effects or Trappings temporarily using Power Modifiers.
Sometimes logic dictates a power’s Trapping should have some additional effect. Zapping someone with a lightning bolt while they’re standing in water should cause additional damage, for example.
When this occurs, the GM can decide there’s synergy that either increases or decreases the effect or damage (GM’s call) by +2 or -2.
Oppositional forces, such as fire and ice or light and darkness, don’t have synergy against one another (though such effects are sometimes accounted for in some creatures’ Special Abilities). If a fire blast hits ice armor (protection), for example, there’s no additional effect because they cancel each other out.
A character can learn two new powers when he takes the New Powers Edge. He may instead add Trappings to his powers in place of one or two of the new powers. A hero who takes the New Powers Edge, for example, could choose one new power and add an ice Trapping to her bolt. The GM may also allow a character to change the Trapping of existing power when she gains an Advance. This should reflect a major change in the character in some way as determined by the player and GM.
Sometimes a power’s Trapping imposes a Limitation on the power. This gives the power focus at the expense of versatility. The Limitation is permanent and always in effect unless changed with an Advance as noted below.
Each Limitation placed upon the power reduces its total Power Point cost by 1 (to a minimum of 1). If this would normally reduce the cost to 0, you gain a +1 bonus (+2 maximum) to the arcane skill total instead.
Range: The power’s Range is reduced to Touch (if its usual Range is greater).
Personal: The power’s Range becomes Self (if its usual Range is Touch or it has the Range Limitation, above). This includes an item if the power is normally cast on an object (such as smite).
Aspect: The character can only access one aspect of a power (that has more than one choice), such as sloth/speed or boost/lower Trait.
The target of powers activated with the Range Limitation must be within the Reach of the caster's unarmed attack or natural weapon. The caster rolls his arcane skill but must meet the target's Parry and use this roll as the target's value in any appropriate opposed roll.
A character activates a power by picking a target within Range and making an arcane skill roll. Failure means the power doesn’t activate. The caster spends 1 Power Point regardless of any Edges, unless the ability specifically says it reduces the minimum cost to 0.
Success means the power activates and consumes all the Power Points allocated to it, even if it misses the target (such as with bolt), or the defender resists. A raise has additional effects noted in the particular power description.
Backlash: A Critical Failure when activating a power is called Backlash. It causes a level of Fatigue and all currently active powers instantly terminate.
A character must be able to see his target and cannot be Bound or silenced.
When a power ends, the caster can spend 1 Power Point to extend it by its base Duration. If a power’s Duration is five rounds, for example, it can be maintained for another five rounds for 1 Power Point.
Maintenance is per target but ignores other Power Modifiers, so renewing boost Trait on three allies costs 3 Power Points and extends the effect of each another five rounds.
Unless a power says otherwise, the caster can terminate it as a free action.
Powers don't stack beyond their maximum benefit or drawback. This includes effects from magic items that specifically use those powers. For example, a ring that simply says it increases Strength a die type does so even if the wearer's Strength is currently increased by boost Trait (Strength). If the same ring said it gives minor boost Trait (Strength), however, it would only stack with the actual spell or other items up to the power's maximum (two die types).
Powers that target different Traits or abilities, such as boost/lower Trait, are considered separate powers in this context. Strength may only be increased up to two die types by boost Trait, for example, but Strength and Fighting could both be boosted up to two die types as each one is a separate Trait. Similarly, a sorcerer could cast deflection (melee) on an ally who's already benefiting from a robe of scintillating colors.
A character recovers 5 Power Points per hour spent resting.
What constitutes rest is up to the GM, but generally, it means sitting, eating, tending wounds, sleeping, and avoiding any strenuous activity. Walking or riding a horse isn’t usually restful, but riding in a cushioned carriage might be.
A few interruptions don’t stop a character from resting — standing watch, planning, sharpening weapons, and so on (GM’s call).
An arcane hero can also spend a Benny to regain 5 Power Points. This is a free action.
Each power activated is its own action, and the same or different powers may be cast multiple times as a Multi-Action. A wizard might start combat by invoking protection and deflection, for example, or a priest might attempt to banish a spirit while invoking smite on his mace.
A character may cast a power with fewer Power Points than required (whether she has them or not) by increasing the difficulty of her arcane skill roll (If there is no skill roll, as with Mystic Powers, the character cannot short the power).
For every Power Point a character shorts, she suffers a -1 penalty to the roll. Casting a 3-point healing with 0 Power Points, for example, inflicts a -3 penalty.
Shorting is risky. If a character fails a shorted arcane skill roll, it’s considered a Critical Failure!