The Lightkeeper

 

About halfway through writing the Master of Ropes I wondered what else I could apply a similar class concept to and immediately thought of torches, so to continue the work of gearomancy I present the Lightkeeper:

Lightkeeper

Starting Gear: Lantern, 3 pints of oil, 3 torches, 10 candles.

Skills: Lantern, torch and candle making.

A: Enkindler, Guild Crafter

B: Lantern Lore

C: Torchbearer

D: Illuminator, Torch Soul

Enkindler: Light sources you carry burn for twice as long. By snapping you can create a small spark of flame. You can brighten and dim light sources you carry, making them up to twice as bright or dimmed to the point the light goes out.

Guild Crafts: By joining the Lantern Guild they have taught you unique ways to craft light sources. You can apply these any time you make torches, lanterns or other light sources. Using such techniques takes any listed requirements, access to alchemist ingredients and 1 gp per batch you make (1 lantern, 6 torches, 18 candles) on top of any normal material costs.

Lantern Lore: As a trained member of the Lantern Guild you have come to understand the secrets to creating lantern masterpieces, each with unique abilities and gifts.

Torchbearer: As long as you are holding a light source it cannot go out by mundane means, including running out of fuel or naturally sputtering out. Allies get +1 to morale checks while within your light.

Illuminator: As light brings illumination, your light brings truth. You can burn a whole torch or pint of oil worth of fuel in an instant, creating a blinding flash of light. All illusions, shapeshifters and other magical deceptions within 30 ft of you must save or have their nature revealed.

Torch Soul: Pulse with the inner heat of the flame, you always count as a lit torch. Only magic can extinguish you, dealing 1d6 damage. With a minute of rubbing your hands together you reignite.

Guild Crafts Modifiers:

• Masterwork: When you craft light sources you can take the time to prepare them as the masters of old. These light sources will burn for twice as long thanks to your expert work.

• Marine: Water is often an enemy to the flame, but to the Lantern Guild this means nothing. Using a pound of salt you can infuse a light to burn with a blue white flame, allowing it to burn in water as well as air.

• Bloody: These light sources can burn using the life force rather than oil or another source. Each hour they burn the light source deals 1d3 damage to the bearer. If unattended they go out at the end of the hour.

• Trick: Many of the guild’s light sources are sold for their unique properties. With your education you can change the color of the light, add sparking effects or other minor tricks. A popular modification is the candle clock, which sparks each hour. Trick candles and other knickknacks are also possible.

• Smoking: The smoke essence contained within all things can be cultivated and brought forth. When such a light source burns it produces a thick smoke that can fill a room in half a minute. Such a smoke causes coughing and cannot be seen through. These sources of light and smoke burn particularly quickly and are consumed in a minute.

• Miner’s: Tired of dealing with silly things like sconces, these light sources are coated with a special adhesive, allowing them to be stuck to surfaces by simple contact. A single strong tug is enough to remove them, and they fall off when extinguished. Despite the puzzling of many scholars no one is sure why this adhesive only works for light sources.

Lantern Lores:

• Heartfire Torch: As fire illuminates it can show the secret fires of the heart. The wood must be infused by whispering a secret to it that has never been told, though it can be done by anyone. While this torch burns small strands are visible through the smoke to the bearer, giving them a general insight on how two creatures feel about each other. The strands that would connect the bearer to anyone else are never visible.

• Wistful Lantern: This lantern always looks back, never focusing on the present. Craft it with components at least a century old, often requiring the melting down of historical artifacts. While burning this lantern spectral images of what happened 10 minutes ago in this location become visible. For each extra pint of oil sacrificed to the flame you can push this vision back 1 hour, 1 day, 1 month, 1 year, 1 decade, 1 century, etc.

• Shadow’s Candle: The wick of this candle must contain a strand of hair stolen from someone sleeping. As long as you hold this candle and it burns you cannot be perceived by others, nor will they wake from slumber. This enchantment breaks if you cause major disturbances or harm.

• Hand of Glory: The grim work of this candle requires the left hand of a person who died by hanging. By using the fat of this deceased evildoer to make a candle and place it in the hand the hand of glory is complete. When lit anyone present save the wielder must save or be paralyzed until the candle departs, save ends.

• Soul Lantern: Requiring rare Stygian iron this lantern is infused with the magic of the lands beyond the river. While this lantern burns its ghostly light renders the dead visible. If a creature dies and soul is not claimed you can transfer their soul into the lantern for as long as the fire within burns. Such a soul can faintly be seen within the pale flickering flames and you can hold conversation with them.

• The Kindling: Many Lightkeepers consider this torch an overstep beyond their role as warden of illumination, yet this lore is still passed down generation after generation. Crafting this torch requires burning something of value to you. While this torch burns all burning objects visible burn down twice as fast, but also twice as bright.

In addition to these lores, there is the magnum opus of being named a Sunbringer, a crown all Lightkeepers seek. There is also the lesser known role of Starsinger, nearly forgotten in this age.

Sunbringer

 Capture a shard of the sun and house it in a lantern.

Ascended to the role of Sunbringer, you have risen beyond your peers. This lantern will never dim, another battle won in the war against darkness. All darkness, magical or otherwise, is banished within this light. Your sun lantern can flare to a blinding light for as long as you wish and for your glory you can never be blinded. You have taken the first step on the path to Sunforger, the attention of both the Light and Dark will is now upon you.

Starsinger

Sing the light of a star into a glass phial.

You know a song to capture the eternal light of the evenstar in a crystal phial. While the light may dim it will never truly be gone, just as the hope of mortals. Anyone who can see the silver light gains +1 to morale and saves against fear. Many immortals crave to bask in the light of the evenstar so closely and treat you with respect beyond your mortal peers. Finally you may hold the phial aloft and in a cry of glory expend the light in a silvery burst – all allies within the light are rallied as the darkness is banished from their heart and unholy creatures are filled with dread for your power.

The Master of Ropes

This little class came about randomly from a side world building project I’m working on, based around the idea of using knots for magic. As a player who often loves gearomancy making a whole class around a single piece of equipment sounded like a fun challenge. Thus I present to you the master of ropes:

The Master of Ropes

Starting Gear: Two knives, Rope reel, As many inventory slots of rope, cord, and/or fiber as you want.

Skills: Rope making. (1) Sailing, (2) Knitting, (3) Weaving, (4) Mountaineering

A: Rope Friend, Knot Whisperer

B: Rope Lores, Iron Serpent

C: Eye of The Knot

D: Silver Cord

Rope Friend: By concentrating you can control a number of ropes equal to the number of templates in this class you have. These ropes can move as fast a walking person and can maneuver and coil like a serpent, allowing for actions that don’t require dexterity (pull a lever, hold a torch, but not write a letter or dice onions). You can also talk to ropes, threads, string, etc as long as they aren’t made into something like cloth.

Knot Whisperer: The knowledge of knots has soaked deeply into your hands and soul. Nothing is more steadfast than your knots, which can only come undone by other creatures. Ropes you grasp dance to this knot song, and with seven heartbeats will tie or untie themselves in any configuration.

Rope Lores: As an initiate of the Cord Schools, you have been taught to fashion sacred cords. By fashioning each rope as detailed below you gain access to their magics.

Iron Serpent: Ropes have such faith in your command that as long as they are anchored or grasped they can perform impossible feats, such as rising straight into the air like a pole or hovering parallel above the floor. While grasping a rope you can imbue it with your strength, making it as hard and rigid as iron.

Eye of The Knot: Within the knot space and time are twisted, pulled tighter between the coils. When you pull a knot closed around a creature or object you can begin the sacred knot chant for thirty seconds. Upon completion they are sealed into this interdimensional knot space until the knot is undone. You can have a number of such sealing knots active at any time equal to twice the number of templates in this class. Creatures get a save to avoid being pulled into the seal.

Silver Cord: You now understand that the sacred connection between the body and soul is held together by a brilliant silver cord. By loosening this cord your soul can journey beyond while you sleep or meditate, allowing you to explore the great astral dimensions. With instruction you can teach others this ability, allowing them to come along with you on such adventure. Should the silver cord be cut (a very difficult task) your souls are cast adrift across the universe, likely forever lost.

Rope Lore:

1. The Loop of Truth: Over the course of a week you can speak truths into a rope, imbuing it with the virtue of honesty. One fiber of the rope must be a lions hair or saints hair. Anyone looped by this rope can only speak truths, and must save to avoid answering questions.

2. The Endless Coil: By folding at least a kilometer of rope into a single coil or spool you can push the rope density beyond what space-time can handle, collapsing your creation into a rope singularity. This coil of rope is endless, more rope can always be fed out.

3. The Golden Thread: By spinning thread with passion and love in your heart you can create a ball of golden thread in a week. By thinking of something you love you can toss the ball, which will roll and unwind to show you the path there. It’s also a ball of golden thread. Excessive creation of golden thread will often draw the attention of the fair folk, golden thread is kinda their thing.

4. The Trick Rope: Your ropes can find a space between, in the cracks and left over spaces beyond reach. Such a rope must be stolen without being noticed, then unwound and rewound again. By holding onto your rope or climbing it you and others can enter this liminal space. The between spaces are usually abandoned and safe, a place to catch your breath. The trick rope must be kept dangling out into the real world, a tether between dimensions. Should it be cut or pulled away you and your companions will be cast adrift in the spaces between forever.

5. The Noose: This rope is fashioned from a noose used to hang another. By placing the noose around your neck you are both living and dead, with one foot in the world of the living and other in the world of the dead. Phantoms and spirits are often intrigued by your curious state.

6. The Innocent Rope: Taking a rope that children have played with for at least a week you can draw out the innocent and playful nature infused within the cords. As long as you are jumping rope with this particular length of rope other creatures cannot bring themselves to harm you, save for the mindless and most vile of creature.

The above rope lores are only the most common such tricks, it is like there are forgotten or hidden rope lores to discover. The following are two examples of such lores, presented in Delta Template formats:

The Linked Chain:

A heretical lore, you can forge a chain into a loop and invite the traitorous links into your heart.

 As long as this chain hangs around your neck all your rope magics apply to chains as well as metal ropes. The chains always seek bloodshed and can be commanded to whip around in a frenzy, dealing damage as a mace.

 

The Circle of Thread:

Splintering from the Rope Schools three decades ago, followers of The Thread can forge a golden needle, then embroidering the sacred runes into the back of your hand.

For as long as this rune remains intact all rope magic applies to cloth as well. As long as you are wearing clothes you handmade yourself your defense counts as Chain armor.