Enter the Inner Circle
DivinationDivination spells enable you to learn secrets long forgotten, predict the future, find hidden things, and foil deceptive spells.
Many divination spells have cone-shaped areas. These move with you and extend in the direction you choose. The cone defines the area that you can sweep each round. If you study the same area for multiple rounds, you can often gain additional information, as noted in the descriptive text for the spell.
Ritual Level 4
- Casting Time
- 40 minuetsRituals take far longer than spells to perform — typically 10 minutes per ritual level, and sometimes hours or days. The ritual fails if its casting is interrupted.Spell rule: Casting Time ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Components
- V, S, M (initiate’s blood), F (membership token), SC (at least 1—the initiate—and at most 20)V (Verbal): Spoken incantations, often chanted by all participants throughout the casting.S (Somatic): Precise ritual gestures performed during the casting.M (Material): Physical substances consumed by the ritual. Costly components are listed with their price.F (Focus): A prop used but not consumed by the ritual — it can be reused.SC (Secondary Casters): Additional casters who aid the primary caster; the required count appears in the components line as "SC (…)".Spell rule: Components ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Range
- touchHow far the ritual's effect reaches from the primary caster, measured like a spell's range.Spell rule: Range ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Target
- creature touchedHow the ritual is aimed: a Target (specific creatures or objects), an Effect it creates, or an Area it covers. "Target or Area" means the ritual uses either, at the casters' choice.Spell rule: Aiming a Spell ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Duration
- instantaneousHow long the ritual's effect lasts once completed — from instantaneous to permanent. A trailing "(D)" means the primary caster can dismiss it.Spell rule: Duration ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Saving Throw
- noneIf the ritual allows a save, this lists which save and its effect. A ritual's save DC is usually fixed by the ritual rather than derived from a caster's ability.Spell rule: Saving Throw ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Spell Resistance
- noWhether a creature's spell resistance can block the ritual's effect (Yes/No).Spell rule: Spell Resistance ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
Skill ChecksThe heart of a ritual: during the casting the primary caster (and sometimes assistants) must succeed at the listed skill checks. Each entry gives the skill, its DC, and how many successes are required. Failing a check can trigger the ritual's Failure entry.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
| Skill | DC | Successes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge (local) Knowledge You are educated in a field of study and can answer both simple and complex questions. Like the Craft, Perform, and Profession skills, Knowledge actually encompasses a number of different specialties. Below are listed typical fields of study. View on Archives of Nethys ↗- Arcana (ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, constructs, dragons, magical beasts) - Dungeoneering (aberrations, caverns, oozes, spelunking) - Engineering (buildings, aqueducts, bridges, fortifications) - Geography (lands, terrain, climate, people) - History (wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities) - Local (legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids) - Nature (animals, fey, monstrous humanoids, plants, seasons and cycles, weather, vermin) - Nobility (lineages, heraldry, personalities, royalty) - Planes (the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, outsiders, planar magic) - Religion (gods and goddesses, mythic history, ecclesiastic tradition, holy symbols, undead) | 29 | 1 | ||
| Perception Perception Your senses allow you to notice fine details and alert you to danger. Perception covers all five senses, including sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. View on Archives of Nethys ↗ | 29 | 1 | ||
Choose one:
|
29 | 1 | ||
| Stealth Stealth You are skilled at avoiding detection, allowing you to slip past foes or strike from an unseen position. This skill covers hiding and moving silently. View on Archives of Nethys ↗ | 29 | 1 |
BacklashHarm or strain the casters suffer simply from performing the ritual, regardless of whether it ultimately succeeds.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
All casters are exhausted.
FailureWhat goes wrong if the ritual's skill checks fail — often dangerous, ranging from wasted effort to summoning a hostile creature or worse.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
The primary caster, as well as any secondary caster who failed a skill check, is blinded, deafened, and rendered speechless. This is a curse effect that can be removed with remove curse and similar effects.
Description
This ritual forms the basis of an initiation ceremony for the secret society. Other organizations might have their own versions of the ritual, substituting Perception and Stealth for two skills appropriate to the organization (such as Knowledge [religion] for a church). The primary caster and all secondary casters but one must be members of the organization, and exactly one secondary caster—the initiate—must not be.The primary caster begins by describing the nature of the society and requirements of membership, seeking indications of understanding and acceptance by the initiate throughout. The primary caster acknowledges any society leaders who are present and invites them to reject the initiate if they choose. If no leaders are present, the primary caster looks for other signs of symbolic rejection, and if any are perceived, the primary caster can cancel the ritual before attempting the required skill checks. If this occurs, all casters suffer the backlash, but there is no failure effect.
If the ritual continues, the initiate must attempt either the Stealth or Perception check as a test. If the initiate fails this, the ritual fails regardless of the number of other successes, but if the ritual would otherwise succeed, only the initiate suffers the failure effect. Finally, the primary caster collects the initiate’s blood into an appropriate receptacle and immerses a membership token in the blood while the initiate speaks the oaths of membership. When the initiate finishes the final oath, the ritual is complete and the backlash occurs. If the ritual is successful, each caster other than the initiate immediately knows who and what the initiate is, as per blood biography, as well as any lies the initiate deliberately and knowingly spoke during the ceremony, as per discern lies. If no falsehood is revealed, the initiation succeeds and the membership token is attuned to the new member. Thereafter, when worn or carried by the member, the token grants a +5 competence bonus on Bluff checks to pass secret messages to members of the organization and a +5 competence bonus on Sense Motive checks to receive secret messages from members of the organization, in addition to any other properties the token has.