Haunted Communion
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 7
- Casting Time
- 70 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 (special paints and a small, salted pastry), F (silver bell worth 500 gp), SC (up to 18)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
- one haunt within 60 ft.How 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
- 1 hour and 10 rounds (D); see textHow 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge (arcana) 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 | 3 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Linguistics Linguistics You are skilled at working with language, in both its spoken and written forms. You can speak multiple languages, and can decipher nearly any tongue given enough time. Your skill in writing allows you to create and detect forgeries as well. View on Archives of Nethys ↗ | 31 | 1 |
BacklashHarm or strain the casters suffer simply from performing the ritual, regardless of whether it ultimately succeeds.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
The primary caster is 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 casters take 1 permanent negative level and a –4 penalty on all skill and ability checks for as long as the negative level persists.
Description
This ritual must be performed within 60 feet of a haunt. The primary caster rings the silver bell using an object associated with the haunt’s origin or source of power. Once this is done, the primary caster draws an intricate circle adorned with occult symbols around a plate bearing the small, salted pastry.If the incantation is successful, the haunt’s spirit enters into the pastry (making the haunt inert for the duration of the ritual) and one of the casters must eat the pastry before the next hour or the ritual ends. Failure to do so allows the haunt to go free and increases any DCs of the haunt’s effects by 4 and grants a +4 bonus on attack rolls made by the haunt for 24 hours. Once a caster eats the pastry, the spirit of the haunt speaks through the individual who ate the pastry, and is required to truthfully answer 10 questions (1 question per round) before departing, though since the haunt is an emotional echo, the answers may be brief, cryptic, or repetitive, as with speak with dead. Once the 10 questions are answered or the spell is dismissed, the haunt can manifest as normal.