Blood, Shadow, and Smoke Magic
So you want to enjoy some of the cool vampiric powers of the bloodlines introduced in Scions of the Vampire: Shadow, Smoke, and Blood, but you don’t want to give up your humanity. What’s to be done? Luckily for you, the power of magic can give you a taste of these vampires’ specialties. The following three spells are each inspired by the signature powers of the vampire bloodlines included in that book. Enjoy.
BLOOD SERPENTS
School necromancy; Level cleric/oracle 8, inquisitor 6, magus 6, sorcerer/wizard 8, witch 7
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a vial of snake blood)
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target one living creature
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates, see text; Spell Resistance yes
You cause the target’s blood to animate and turn against him, flowing into a snake-like ribbons which emerge from his open wounds and begin to bite him. Each round on your turn, beginning on the round that you cast the spell, these blood snakes strike the target. The amount of damage that they deal depends on how heavily wounded the target is: the more wounded he is, the more blood snakes there are attacking him, and the bigger they are. Use the following table to determine how much damage the blood snakes inflict on the target each round.
The target does not get an initial Fortitude save to resist the spell, but each round he may make a Fortitude save, and, if successful, he is not damaged by the spell that round. Creatures that do not have blood are immune to this spell.
SHADOWBIND
School necromancy; Level bard 5, cleric/oracle 6, inquisitor 5, sorcerer/wizard 6, witch 6
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target one creature with a shadow
Duration 1 min./3 levels
Saving Throw Will negates, see text; Spell Resistance yes
You pin the target’s shadow in place, which prevents him from moving entirely. The target is paralyzed, even if he would normally be immune to paralysis. Each round, the target can attempt to free himself by making a Will save as a full-round action. If he succeeds, he pulls himself free of his shadow, which remains pinned where it is. This allows the target to act freely, but the loss of his shadow metaphysically weakens him, imposing a -1 penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, ability checks, and skill checks for the remainder of the spell’s duration. For every six caster levels you possess, this penalty increases by 1 (to a maximum of -4 at 18th level). This penalty only applies if the target has to forcibly free himself from his shadow: if the target succeeds on his initial Will save to resist the spell, his shadow is never pinned, and the spell has no effect at all. The target’s shadow returns to him automatically at the end of the spell’s duration.
Because this spell requires a shadow to work, it can only be cast if the target is in an area of dim light or brighter light conditions.
VAMPIRIC MIST
School necromancy; Level cleric/oracle 9, sorcerer/wizard 9, witch 9
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (the severed fang of a vampire)
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect vampiric fog spreads in a 20-ft. radius
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Fortitude half, see text; Spell Resistance yes
You conjure into being a cloud of angry red swirling mist, which drains the life force of those within it. This functions as fog cloud, except that each round on your turn, including the turn in which you cast the spell, the cloud inflicts 5d4 points of damage to each creature within it. A Fortitude save halves this damage. For every two points of damage inflicted in this way, you regain 1 hit point.