Enter the Umbral Court
NecromancyNecromancy spells manipulate the power of death, unlife, and the life force. Spells involving undead creatures make up a large part of this school.
Ritual Level 8
- Casting Time
- 80 minutesRituals 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 (a whip made of braided strips of skin flyed from the target), SC (at least 2 and up to 7)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.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
- closeHow far the ritual's effect reaches from the primary caster, measured like a spell's range.Spell rule: Range ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Target
- one creatureHow 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
- permanentHow 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
- Will negatesIf 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
- yesWhether 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intimidate Intimidate You can use this skill to frighten an opponent or to get them to act in a way that benefits you. This skill includes verbal threats and displays of prowess. View on Archives of Nethys ↗ | 31 | 2 |
| Knowledge (planes) 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) | 31 | 2 |
| Knowledge (religion) 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) | 31 | 4 |
BacklashHarm or strain the casters suffer simply from performing the ritual, regardless of whether it ultimately succeeds.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
casters take 1 permanent negative level.
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 casters are immediately shunted to a single place on the Shadow Plane that is anywhere from 5 to 500 miles (5d%) from Xovaikain, Zon-Kuthon’s deific realm, as plane shift. Within 1 round of arriving, the casters are attacked by a number of apostle kytons equal to the number of casters plus 3.
Description
Before this ritual can be cast, the casters must reach deep into the target’s mind to extract the most personally heinous torture the target could imagine, and then the casters must inflict it upon the target during the casting. This often involves whips, spiked chains, barbed hooks, or other torturous elements usually constructed from the target’s own skin and viscera. While the target endures this torture, it must recite the parable of Nidal’s pact with Zon-Kuthon while the casters alternatingly chant epic poetry vaguely detailing the Midnight Lord’s travels behind reality and the unfathomable horrors that he is capable of inflicting on the target’s soul. If the target does not cower in fear at these descriptions, the ritual fails.Upon successful completion of this ritual, the target’s eyes fill with inky black shadow, and it gains the following benefits. It is immune to spells from the shadow subschool and those with the shadow descriptor, though it can choose to suppress or restore this immunity as a standard action. The target also gains regeneration 5, bypassed by good weapons and spells and silver weapons, and DR 15/good or silver.
If the target’s alignment is not already lawful evil, it immediately shifts to such upon this ritual’s successful completion. Further, this ritual ties a shard of the target’s soul to Zon-Kuthon and his realm on the Shadow Plane. If the target commits a heretical act against Zon-Kuthon’s faith, there is a 25% chance (1–25 on d%) that at a random time within 24 hours the target is transported to Xovaikain via plane shift into a private, eternal torment-scape of the Midnight Lord’s choosing. This effect cannot be suppressed or removed.