Chapter Five: Gamemaster Options Chapter Five Gamemaster Options The Imperiums Campaign Setting is more than a collection of towns and NPCs It is a world filled with valiant battles and political intrigue Creatures of lore emerge from ancient forests making demands upon the mortals they cross and the influence of the gods can be seen throughout the Aeliode if you know where to look The new rules in this chapter are designed to work hand in hand with this world and expand the types of games and stories that can be told Many of these rules focus on expanding social, or at least non-combative, opportunities and types of encounters Major Ritual Divine spellcasters are not the only ones who have access to divine magic As divine magic relies upon a degree of devotion to a god, and not an understanding and manipulation of magical laws (arcane magic), any petitioner who offers devotion to a god has a chance of gaining the god’s attention and receiving a blessing These ways of offering devotions to a god are open to any character, no matter their class A major ritual may be performed by groups of worshipers in the hopes of receiving a blessing from their god Each major ritual takes one hour to perform The chance of attracting a god’s attention with a ritual is based upon the total number of levels of those involved in the ritual For each ten class levels held by the participants in the ritual, there is a 1% chance of the ritual being heard and a blessing granted The maximum change for the ritual to be heard by a god is 10% no matter how many total class levels are participating in the ritual A person may only participate in one Major Ritual per day If the ritual attracts the attention of the god, the character leading the ritual will be granted one spell from the Cleric spell list of 3rd level or below This character must use the spell within the next 24 hours or the spell is lost As with a minor prayer, the character may request a certain spell if they wish or the DM may grant a spell they feel will be most helpful to the character in their current situation If the DM chooses the spell, the spell must have the characters best interest in mind Minor Ritual Emergence Divine Magic A minor prayer can be made as a full round action in the hopes of gaining the favor of a god This action, which can be taken only once per day, has a 1% chance of gaining the god’s attention and allowing the character to receive one 1st level spell from the cleric’s spell list that can be cast anytime within the next 24 hours Characters can pray for access to a specific spell, however, sometimes the god knows better than the character what would help the most The DM may instead give the player access to a spell that would be more helpful in the situation that the character faces If this occurs, the DM is allowed to use knowledge of the full situation and give the character access to the best option (if there is one) The DM should have the character’s best interests in mind and not use this as an opportunity to make things more difficult Spells that can be granted are limited to the spells available to a cleric of the same god Examples of actions that constitute a Minor Prayer are listed with each god’s entry In the Imperiums setting, folklore and a person’s actions are powerful forces that shape the world around them A person’s reputation can precede them and influence reactions from those the meet In some cases, it is even possible that a person’s actions and devotion to the gods manifest physically as their body shows outwardly what is in their souls In game terms we call this an emergence An emergence is a trait that grants a player character a special ability Sometimes they manifest physically, sometimes they are the result of the average person having hear tales of the character’s acts of heroism Other times the emergence is an indefinable mystical quality gained by the character and picked up on by others No matter how the Emergence manifests, those who interact with a player character who has an emergence may soon pick up on the trait and know the indomitable adventurer for what they are These abilities, unless categorized otherwise in their description, are supernatural effects (Su) 53