Paired Suffering
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 6
- Casting Time
- 6 hoursRituals 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, F (an ornate ceremonial dagger worth at least 1,000 gp)V (Verbal): Spoken incantations, often chanted by all participants throughout the casting.S (Somatic): Precise ritual gestures performed during the casting.F (Focus): A prop used but not consumed by the ritual — it can be reused.Spell rule: Components ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Range
- touch; see textHow far the ritual's effect reaches from the primary caster, measured like a spell's range.Spell rule: Range ↗Casting Occult Rituals ↗
- Duration
- instantaneous; 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
- 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 (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) | 30 | 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) | 30 | 4 |
BacklashHarm or strain the casters suffer simply from performing the ritual, regardless of whether it ultimately succeeds.Casting Occult Rituals ↗
The primary caster is staggered for the next 24 hours.
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 is affected by slay living (using the ritual’s save DC and caster level).
Description
The caster prepares a ritual site no more than 100 feet long by 100 feet wide by 20 feet high, including sigils that prevent souls from escaping the perimeter. At the culmination of the ritual, the caster forces two spiritually close humanoid creatures experiencing a transitional state of their lives into ritual combat to the death. Among most humanoids, only teenage twins (fraternal or identical) young enough that they haven’t gained a level in a PC class can be targets of this ritual; other pairings work only at the GM’s discretion. One of the targets must slay the other with the ceremonial dagger focus for the ritual to succeed; even if all the checks succeed, if either target leaves the area while the other lives, or if someone else slays one of the targets, the ritual counts as a failure, and the primary caster suffers the failure effects.If the ritual succeeds, the soul of the creature slain by the ritual dagger is trapped within the ritual site. The surviving target has a choice either to allow the soul into her body, or to bar it from doing so. If the surviving target allows the soul inside her, she becomes a spiritualist, with the slain target as her phantom. If the surviving target chooses not to allow the spirit entry, it instead becomes an unfettered phantom and eventually a malevolent ghost, haunting the ritual site. This ghost cannot directly attack the surviving target, but in order to overcome its rejuvenation, someone must provide proof of the surviving target’s death (false evidence is not sufficient; that target must actually be dead).