The various manifestations of magic-like powers (divine, arcane, or psionic) are collectively known as The Gift. When an individual is strongly connected to one of The Gifts, he is said to be Gifted. The Gifts usually develop it at an early age. A family of means will send their children to be formally trained in the way of their gift(s). Rare individuals have more than one gift, and even rarer still (but not unheard of) is to have three of The Gifts. In the case of multiple Gifts, one of The Gifts tends to show itself earlier than the others, but by adulthood most gifts have surfaced. Yet, Gifts can be latent and develop later in life.
Not all the manifestations of The Gift are tied to classes or class abilities. Several feats are available that provide unique, if not unusual, benefits. In particular it is known that the undead benefit from twisted and perverted Gifts.
Of course not everyone has The Gift in class or other form. Lacking The Gift is considered a sign of commonness. Some believe that the various Gifts are hereditary. The royalty of both the North and South go to great lengths to guarantee that their children posses at least one parent’s Gift. It is rumored that magical manipulations are used to guarantee results. And when those fail, infantcide and childswapping are utilized to achieve the desired outcome.
Those that are able to see magic are said to have The Gift of Sight. When using this Gift, their normal vision goes gray and they perceive the everyday world as mere shades of black and white. Consequently, it is called “looking into the gray.” Magical emanations, regardless of the gift through which they are being generated, are visions of color. The colors and shapes allow the visionary to identify the nature of the magic as well as the source.
The Gift of Sight is common among the elven people, humans, and half-elves.
The Gift of Sight maps to the wizard class. There is no sorcerer class. All wizards know the spell detect magic, which is the manner they see into the gray to perceive magic without actually casting a spell. The use of sight is of vast importance to this class. A blinded or otherwise unable to see (blind-folded) wizard has a chance of arcane spell failure = 25% per spell level – 5% per caster level. The benefit is ocular processing by most races is with high fidelity. A wizard is able to learn an unlimited number of spells in this manner and even has a chance of learning a spell from an enemy as he casts it.
This gift is also known as the divine gift. A possessor of this gift has exceptional tuning to one of the four elements (earth, fire, water, or air) through the sense of touch. Through touch alone he is able to store magical energy from the elements and manipulate their life giving properties.
Priests do not worship gods in this campaign world. They gather their mystic energy by contact with the element they are atuned toward. To gain spells each day, the priest must immerse himself within his element and absorb its energy. A priest of water would bathe in a stream, earth would burry himself with dirt, air would stand in the wind, and fire exposes himself to the sun. The contact must be total, that is, the priest strips nude. Exposure to the elements can be difficult underground. The DM will limit the spells recovered in situation when immersion in the elements is not possible.
Each priest gains the domain for his elemental sphere and one other. Choose from chaos (fire, air, water), destruction (earth, fire), healing (water), knowledge (air), luck (air, water, fire), plant (earth, water), protection (earth), sun (fire, air), or travel (air, water). Do not choose from animal, death, evil, good, law, magic, strength, trickery, war.
All priests can turn (or command) undead as per the PH since undead are the antithesis of the life bringing elements.
Weapons and armor are restricted. Earth: can use weapons and armor made of metal, wood (it grew from the earth), or stone. Air: can use weapons that are designed to fly through the air, and may melee with them, e.g., short spears. Air: no armor other than padded. Fire: can use weapons that burn (flaming arrows, oil) and all strictly metal weapons and armor. Water: can use any wholly organic weapon or armor.
At fifth level a priest can ignore his element, including damage from weapons or forces constructed of this element. Ignoring the element can be used once per day with a duration of one round per level. The protection extends to everything the priest carries on him at the time, but not to other beings (except a familiar).
At seventh level a priest may summon his element once per day. The material is raw and pure, but basic (not metal for an earth priest, for example). The amount is 1 cubic foot per level and can be shaped as desired within short range (25’ + 5’ / two levels). Air summoned in this manner manifests itself as a gust of wind capable knocking down huge or smaller creatures [make a table of DCs]. The duration is one round per level.
At ninth level he gains access to the appropriate summon elemental spell.
Probably the most uncommon form of The Gift is the Gift of Listening. To these individuals, magic has the sound of music if they but listen. Listening is a difficult talent involving individual impressions of asthetics and tonal qualities. Because one hears his own voice differently than it is actually spoken, the Gift of Listening is difficult to practice.
Those that can listen map to the bard class. Due to the difficulty with mastering magic via hearing, spell advancement is slower than other casting classes. A bard with blocked hearing (wax in the ears) have a chance of spell failure of 15% per spell level - 5% per caster level. When in a foreign element (underwater with water breathing), the chance is 20% per spell level - 5% per level. With no hearing (magical deafness), the chance is 25% per spell level - 5% per caster level.
Some are blessed (or cursed, depending on your viewpoint) with the ability to note good and evil through smell and taste. (These two sensations appear to be magically linked.) How the different forces of good and evil are sensed does not depend on the individuals’ alignment. Rightousness has a sweet taste, while abject hatred has a foul odor. Most with this gift choose to follow good in view of the sensory consequences of the alternative. It is not hard to see how those that pick the less popular route are retched individuals with extreme and psychotic bents to their personalities.
Those whom can smell good and evil map to clerics of good and evil, respectively, and to the Paladin.
Déjà vu, precognition, and related feelings are lumped into the general category of the “sixth sense.” For the majority the sixth sense is unreliable and unpredictable. Many don’t believe it exists at all, that the notion that the future can be known is ludicrous.
Those that are able to control their “sixth sense” to some degree map to the various psionic classes: psion, wild talent, sensei, and psychic warrior. The psion class maps very closely to the sorcerer, and the sensei is a variation of the monk. The wild talent and psychic warrior classes do not map well to existing classes. See the section on psionics for more detailed information.
Some are able to sense the existence of life itself, the spirit of the land. They immerse themselves in the natural surroundings and tend to shun cities. It is said that everyone can sense the spirit of the land and that somewhere there is a patch a land that their soul is particularly attuned to. Many wander the world in search of this spot of land.
Those that can sense the spirit of the world are druids and rangers. While the ranger protects the land in general, a druid seeks out that particular place in the world that was meant for him to protect. This search is known as the time of wandering. This period of a druid’s life normally lasts between levels 2-12 (2d6). When the search is over, the druid has found his guarded lands.
While on his guarded land, a druid has the following additional powers:
· Remain concealed from others while within his guarded lands. This is not proof against magical detection. The druid cannot move, cast spells, etc. while so concealed.
· Speak with animals in his guarded lands at third level.
· Speak with plants in his guarded lands at fifth level.
· Live without water or nourishment when within his guarded lands at seventh level.
Note all gifts result in a calling that drives an individual to pursue a certain lifestyle. These gifts tend to go unnoticed, and are thus believed to be rare. See the house rules section for new feats.
Copyright © 1999, 2002 John Lipp