The Sweet Circle
(Cultist)
With Halloween just behind us, we have made this Candy Week, devoted to our favorite thing about the holiday. In honor of Candy Week, we went looking far and wide for a new cult that could satisfy our themes. The Sweet Circle, a cult with inscrutable aims that uses candy in their malevolent rituals, was what we found. These strange and sinister cultists represent the dangerous side of something nearly all of us love so well, and might just make you think twice about that next piece of candy.
New Cult
The Sweet Circle
The Sweet Circle is a vast conspiracy that operates in small cells, giving members little to no contact with one another. The cult seems to exist to influence the world through the creation and distribution of magical candy, a slow and nefarious process aimed at eventual world domination. They operate quietly, often out of sight of even each other, using their sweets to spread the agendas of the cult’s mysterious leaders, which include separating people, growing dependence on sweets, and fattening up the young. The cult is led by a network of hags and serves essentially to create superior feeding stock for its monstrous matrons.
The Sweet Circle’s ceremonial garb is a light pink robe with a white and red striped apron worn over it. Members wear special red and black gloves and orange hats while preparing their candies.
Alignment: Members of the Sweet Circle cannot be good or lawful.
Restricted Spells: Members of the Sweet Circle cannot cast spells with good descriptor or the lawful descriptor.
Channeled Energy: Negative.
Familiar: nuglub gremlinB2 or ratlingB4
Sacrifice: Blood or wealth.
Hexes: Members of the Sweet Circle can select from the following hexes.
Create Candies (Su): A cultist of the Sweet Circle can create 1 pound of candy per day, which can take the form of any candy the cultist chooses. Candy produced in this way is magical in nature and lasts for 24 hours before fading to nothingness. A creature that consumes at least 1 oz. of this candy suffers a -4 penalty on saving throws made to resist the cultist’s spells and hexes.
Healing Candy (Su): Once per day, a cultist of the Sweet Circle can create 2d4 bright blue spheres of juicy gummy candy. Any creature that consumes one of these candies recovers a number of hit points up to the cultist of the Sweet Circle’s class level. A single creature can benefit from a healing candy only once each day.
Poison Food (Su): The cultist can touch a single piece of food in order to infuse it with a sweet tasting poison that sickens the consumer and causes dangerous convulsions. A cultist can only affect a single piece of food in this way at a time, and the touched food remains affected until it is consumed, or until another piece of food is selected. The affected food causes any creature that consumes it to become nauseated for 1 round, and also become exposed to the sweet poison.
Sweet Poison (Sp) ingested; save Fort varies (DC = 10 + 1/2 the cultist’s level + the cultist’s Intelligence modifier); frequency 1 hour for 8 hours; effect 1d4 points of Wis damage and –1 penalty on all Fort saves for 8 hours; cure 1 save.
At 10th level, the sweet poison requires 2 saves to cure.
Sustaining Sweets (Su): The cultist can affect a number of pieces of candy each day equal to her Intelligence modifier in order to make them as satisfying as a full meal. This requires a special ritual, which requires 1 minute to complete. At 10th level, these candies also provide a +2 morale bonus on saving throws for 24 hours.
Tasty Candy (Su): The cultist can instill a strong desire to eat candy in another. As a standard action, the cultist can look at a creature within 30 feet and attempt to compel them to eat candy. The target must succeed on a Will save or be compelled to seek out and consume the nearest piece of candy. This effect lasts a number of rounds equal to the cultist’s Charisma modifier, or until the target consumes at least 1 piece of candy.
Candy of Influence (Secret of the First Circle) (Ex): At 1st level, a cultist of the Sweet Circle leans how to create candy that makes those who eat it friendly to the cultist. The cultist of the Sweet Circle can create 10 pieces of such candy with an hour’s work. Any creature that eats this candy must make a Will save (DC= 10 + 1/2 the cultist’s level + the cultist’s Charisma modifier) or become helpful towards the cultist as though affected by the spell charm person, except that the duration is 24 hours. A creature that eats a second piece of this special candy within that period receives no saving throw to resist its effects, and the duration resets to 24 hours from the time the second piece was eaten.
Candy of Magic (Secret of the Second Circle) (Sp): At 9th level, a cultist of the Sweet Circle learns how to imbue a piece of candy with a spell he knows. To do so, he must spend an hour and 15 gp per spell level of the spell he wishes to imbue in the candy, and he must cast the chosen spell on the candy. This magical candy remains potent for 1 week. Any creature that eats it in that time becomes affected by that spell. The creature must be a valid target for the spell, or it has no effect.
Candy of Slaying (Secret of the Third Circle) (Ex): At 17th level, a cultist of the Sweet Circle learns to create candy that can kill those that eat it. By spending an hour and expending 1,000 gp worth of rare components, she can create a single piece of jet black candy that kills whoever eats it, unless the target succeeds on a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the cultist’s level + the cultist’s Charisma modifier). Even a creature who succeeds on this saving throw suffers 1d4 points of damage per cultist level.
Ascension: At 20th level, when the cultist becomes an outsider, she gains the chaos and evil subtypes, as well as immunity to charm effects, curses, diseases, and poisons. Additionally, any creature that eats her candy of influence becomes affected as though by the spell dominate person, instead of charm person.