Magic Mania
It’s Madness Week here at Necromancers of the Northwest, and we’re all addled for a week full of lunacy. Spells that drive one completely crazy are nothing new, from the classics confusion and insanity, to the new and exciting spells from Horror Adventures, including spells that bestow phobias and transport people to an extradimensional maze of maddening terror. We continue that tradition today with three new spells that bring madness and mayhem to your caster’s fingertips.
GHOSTS OF MADNESS
School enchantment (compulsion) [mind-affecting]; Levels antipaladin 3, mesmerist 4, psychic 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, spiritualist 4, witch 4
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
Twisted and insane ghosts appear in the target’s mind, whispering hellish and depraved rhymes that erode his mind and drive him to insanity. The target becomes dazed for 1d8 rounds as the ghosts wreak havoc on his mind and prevent him from acting normally. When the daze effect ends, the target might gain a random madness, depending on how long he was dazed. If the target was dazed for 3 rounds or less, he does not gain a random madness; if the target is dazed for 4-6 rounds, he gains a random lesser madness; if the target was dazed for 7 or 8 rounds, he gains a random greater madness. Regardless of the madness gained, the saving throw DC for that madness is equal to the saving throw DC for this spell.
INVISIBLE WALLS OF INSANITY
School enchantment; Levels cleric 6, occultist 6, psychic 6, sorcerer/wizard 7
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M/DF (madman’s blood mixed with grave dust and diamond powder worth 750 gp)
Range touch
Area 100-ft.-radius spread
Duration 1 day/level
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
You erect invisible walls of intangible psychic energy that seeps into those who enter the 100-foot-radius area surrounding the touched location. The walls affect any character that passes into the area, possibly infecting her with a potent madness that prevents her from leaving the area. It has no effect on creatures already in the area when the spell was cast. Whenever a character enters the area, she must succeed on a Will save or gain the agoraphobia madness (see the end of the article) with respect to the area of this spell, except that the onset time of that madness is reduced to 1 round. You may specify a number of specific individuals equal to your caster level who can enter this area without suffering from this madness when you cast this spell.
MANIPULATE MADNESS
School enchantment [mind-affecting] Levels antipaladin 2, bard 3, cleric 4, druid 4, inquisitor 3, medium 2, mesmerist 3, psychic 4, shaman 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, spiritualist 3, witch 4
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
You reach into the target’s thoughts and agitate the seeds of madness therein, either strengthening or relieving its dread grip. When you cast this spell, you must choose whether you wish to enhance or weaken a madness the target is suffering from. The target is aware of which version of the spell is cast. If the target fails the Will save, then you may increase (if you chose to strengthen the madness) or reduce (if you choose to weaken the madness) the saving throw DC of a madness by 1d6. If the target is not suffering from a madness when you cast this spell, it has no effect.
New Madness
Agoraphobia is one of 10 new madnesses introduced in Weekly Wonders: Index of Insanity – New Madnesses, which is available for sale at drivethrurpg, Paizo, and the d20pfsrd.com store.
AGORAPHOBIA
Type lesser madness; Save Will DC 16; Onset 1d8 days
EFFECT
See text.
Dormancy Effect None
DESCRIPTION
A character afflicted with agoraphobia becomes obsessed with a particular place, unable to bear leaving its presence, causing her to become trapped inside a building or similarly defined space, unable to ever join the wider world. Unlike many forms of madness, a character’s ability to function and think is largely unaffected by her agoraphobia; instead, her inability to leave the place where she feels safe makes her a prisoner of her own mind, paralyzed by an irrational fear of the outside world. While agoraphobia typically affects people after some tragedy or other trauma, often taking hold of them in their own homes, this madness can also seize upon the device of obsession or interest, drawing an individual to a location to which they feel a strong connection, and, as the madness sets in, making her feel compelled to remain in that place for a variety of contrived reasons. For example, agoraphobia might strike those examining haunted manors or ancient ruins, drawing even cautious and rational people into their grip. While affected by this madness, the individual is drawn uncontrollably to a particular location (usually the place in which the madness was first encountered, though other locations are possible, as deemed appropriate by the GM). Once there, the afflicted character loses any desire to leave ever again. Her madness causes her to believe herself to be unable, or perhaps just unwilling, to leave the chosen location, requiring a successful Will save with a DC equal to this madness’s DC to do so. Recovering from agoraphobia while within the location the character is bound to is impossible.
When a character recovers from this madness, she gains a permanent +2 bonus on saving throws made to resist spells and effects that would restrict her movement.