"Go to the sign of Marvel's Axe, a dubious inn on the edge of the Thieves Quarter, in the City of Greyhawk, and look to your own wrist. If you perceive a bracelet and dangling dice, watch for the next throw in the war between Law and Chaos and be prepared to follow the compelling geas." -Signal

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Cyberpunk, Cassandra's Mark of Friendship


If it were not for Shadowrun this would have most likely been my favorite SciFi game. The dark future setting is one that I have always enjoyed be it Cyberpunk, Shadowrun or even Paranoia. Cyberpunk 2020 is the second edition of the game and cleaned up and simplified many of the rule issues from the first edition. This setting is closer to the genre made famous by William Gibson. The secondary material for the game system is top notch as well. If you are looking for a dark future game and you don't want magic or a psychotic computer looking to ruin everyone's life then go with Cyberpunk.


Spell:

Cassandra's Mark of Friendship


Level: First
Range: None
Duration: Permanent
Ares Effect: Creature Touched
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 1 Round
Saving Throw: None

This spell is cast on a frind or associate of the magic user and when completed an invisible mark appears on the recipients forehead. The mark can only be seen by the caster, the recipient and all others who bear a mark from the same caster and all who see it will know what it means. True Seeing will enable the mark to be seen but will not impart its meaning. Anyone bearing this mark will radiate a minor aura of magic that can be detected by spell or ability.

In addition to the obvious effect of the spell it also has the effect of immediatley alerting the caster and all others bearing their mark when one of the bearers dies. The spell does not alert them to how the person died but it does let them know who died and the approximate location of the persons demise. The knowledge of the persons death will be accompanied by an intense series of pains that will cause 1d4 of damage to all with the mark. Other than the awaremess and the resulting damage there is no obligation to act.

The reverse of this spell puts a mark on the recipient thay will be visible only to those bearing the Mark of Friendship and by the caster. This mark clearly indicates that the bearer is the sworn enemy of the caster. The bearer of the Mark of Friendship is under no obligation to act in any way on this.

Either mark may only be removed thru use of a Limited Wish or Wish spell or by the free will of  the caster. The caster may not alter the type of mark though they can remove the old one and replace it with a new one.

The material components of this spell are a drop of blood from both the caster and the recipient of the mark as well as a small patch of dog fur for the former casting of the spell. The latter requires a small serpent whos head is crushed under the heel of the caster during the casting of this spell.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.

2 comments:

Digital Orc said...

This is good stuff! I'm glad I found your blog. I recently did a similar post on my own gaming blog. http://digitalorc.blogspot.com/2011/05/cyberpunk-where-did-it-go.html

Digital Orc said...

Very cool! My biggest post, in terms of hits, is my own Cyberpunk 2020 character Cassandra.

www.digitalorc.blogspot.com

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