As previously stated, this series is part of my greater effort to push Hebrew mythology and folklore into gaming, challenging Greeks, Vikings, Celts and whatnot in the process. If you have an image of a hassidic rabbi struggling with a viking guy at the moment... you're awesome!
Three Blessed Charms
While not part of the seven virtues, these charms are also useful and powerful and are worthy of mentioning. They follow the same rules as virtues, but don’t require such strict purity to attempt and have lesser consequences of failure (usually simply a -2 luck penalty to all rolls for 1d6+1 days or a minor misfortune of the DM’s choice.)
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| I am what I am Protect and save Amen |
The Charm of Augury (see below)
Take a new knife with a black hilt and make a circle on the ground of such a size so that you will be able to seat inside it with a boy or a girl who are younger than nine years and older than eight years, and anoint the child with oil mixed with soot scraped from a pan, and warn him not to look outside the blessed circle, and after that whisper in his right ear "Catcriel who Answers, may you show yourself to this boy and answer truly to what I ask” three times whisper this and then the child will see a strange man riding a white mule and say to the stranger three times “welcome in the name of God," and after that say "right before my eyes, may you get down from this mule," and after that ask your question. And after you found out what you wanted to know, tell the stranger "leave in peace" and if the boy didn’t see anything of that, he will repeat all the above mentioned three times, but if the stranger lied, the child will say "in the name of Sansiel, may you tell me the truth," and remember naught of this and that.
And do this only once for every cycle of the moon* lest you invoke the wrath of the Almighty’s great host of righteous angels.
* a lunar month (29 or 30 days).
This powerful charm summons an angel to answer truthfully and to the best of his knowledge to a single question asked by the kabalist. Note that not all angels are friendly and certainly none of them are omniscient, so the answer given is likely to be untrue or partial, depending on the angel. In any case, as long as the kabalist and the child remain within the circle, both are safe from any physical or magical attacks attempted by the summoned angel.
Roll Outcome
1 The angel is offended and attempts to harm the kabalist
2-10 The angel gives an incorrect answer
11-16 The angel gives a partial answer
17-19 The angel answer the question
20 The angel answers the question and gives a useful advice
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| "Please, do pass..." |
The Charm of Protection (DC 13)
To bring in the thief, take a newly-bought axe and write on it this holy name, and hang it above your door and the thief will come and surely be destroyed.
As soon as someone with ill-intentions enters the kabalist’s home, the axe immediately comes to life, attacking the intruder with a +14 attack bonus for 2d8+14 points of damage for three rounds before becoming an inanimate object again. Only one door per home can be trapped; trying to trap more doors simply cancels the previous charms.
This charm can be used in conjunction with the Virtue of Success.
The Charm of Legacy (DC 14)
For the baby to be wise, let the woman’s son or husband write on her breasts; Asa on the right breast and Tma on the left breast, and the baby will suck wisdom, and grow in wisdom, and walk only the path of righteousness, and fear no evil.
This charm is used by kabalists who want to ensure they have proper heirs to inherit their places and lead their communities in justice in wisdom. A baby who enjoyed this charm will gain a +4 inherent bonus to all mental abilities and his alignment will be Lawful Good regardless of the circumstances of his childhood. Substituting "Asa and Tma" with "Koh and Zri" will instead enhance the child’s physical abilities, but this is rarely used since Kabalists don’t particularly value physical prowess.
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| "Asa and Tma," sadly on paper... |
Using all four names will grant a +8 bonus to all abilities, but will also guarantee the child will grow to be Chaotic Evil and betray his family and faith when he reaches maturity. Such monstrous children often grow to be mighty but depraved warlords or insane, scheming sorcerers of unspeakable potency.
I hope you've enjoyed this post. See you soon with more awesome rituals, creatures and even an antediluvian mini-campaign...
Shouldn't the translation to the line in the pic be "Be whom I may be". Something like that?
ReplyDeleteIt is the traditional translation.
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