The Practical EnchanterThe Practical Enchanter is your guide to a fabulous array of magics and magical items, ranging from the

simple charms of the hearth and home to the awesome ritual spells of high magic. Students of practicalenchantment can and do create mystical wards, forms of golems utterly unknown to less accomplishedpractitioners of the arcane arts, and produce effects that lesser magi can barely comprehend.

The system also includes a diverse assortment of options for expanding and modifying the basic d20 magicsystem, creating mystical orders and enchanted lands, hundreds of new magic items, an incalculable numberof new spells, and systems for completely revising the wealth-per-level basis of magical power.

Expand your horizons with The Practical Enchanter.

Written by Paul M. Melroy

Edited by Patrick “Stanley” Bryant and Paul M. Melroy

Art Direction by Paul M. Melroy and Patrick “Stanley” Bryant

Project Managed by Patrick “Stanley” Bryant and Paul M. Melroy

Interior Design and Layout by Paul M. Melroy

Capital Investment from Patrick “Stanley” Bryant and Paul M. Melroy

Copyedited by Carol A. Melroy

Playtested by a pack of dreadfully annoying people who utterly abused every loophole they could possiblyfind and made us fix them.

Battered unmercifully by Grod the Barbarian. Additional commentary by Lute, the Elven Bard,Commander Varsin of the Adamant Brigade, Guildmage Xanos, and Guard Commander Elidon.

Copyright © 2004-2005 by Paul M. Melroy and Patrick E. Bryant

Distant Horizons Games logo trademark Distant Horizons Games.

Cover art from The Past, by Thomas Cole.

ISBN 978-1-4303-0268-1

Do you have Questions or Comments? Visit us at WWW.DistantHorizonsGames.Com or email us atFeedback@DistantHorizonsGames.Com.

d20 System' and the 'd20 System' logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used accordingto the terms of the d20 System License version 6.0. A copy of this License can be found atwww.wizards.com/d20.

"Wizards of the Coast is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States and other countriesand is used with permission."

Sam

ple

file

2

Editor’s NoteWhen Paul first approached me about this book, I admit I was somewhat surprised

by the subject. While magic, of course, is the most popular thing in fantasy games, rarelydoes anyone seek to apply it in a rigorous, consistent manner. Of course, Paul wassimplifying considerably from an actual fantasy world, which he visited regularly toexpand his legendarily-large notes and get the correct spell names.

It was on such an expedition that he has the fortune (misfortune?) of meeting Grod.Grod is a truly strange character. He seems to leap off the page and attack people. Infact, we had to recall one mis-enchanted version where he really did leap off of the pageand attack people. As it happened, Grod is one of those irrepressible characters who justwon’t leave you alone.

Paul, to my everlasting despair, took an immediate shine to Grod and his distinctivestyle of smashing things, and arranged for Grod to come visit my office. This resulted inme taking several painkillers (Grod has a very loud voice), a fifth of bourbon, andreplacing my desk, cabinets, and secretary. I suppose I should have realized that peoplein dull jobs often have a secret longing for adventure. Last I heard there was a newleather-clad barbarian wandering around hacking at things. Grod is not only destructive,he is infectiously so.

The other result of Grod’s visit was that I decided he would indeed, along with a fewfriends, make an excellent commentator on this book you hold in your hands, inexchange for my antique silver watch and platinum desk set. Grod actually agreed to doit for free, but only after he took my watch. I should also like to thank the rather lessviolent Lute Moonshadow, Guildmage Xanos, and Guard Commander Elidon for theirhandsome contributions. Several other minor or anonymous sources also contributed.

Sadly, it seems that Grod was very erratic about using any sort of comprehensiblelanguage. I have therefore edited his comments slightly for clarity and the removal ofprofanity, which often means using big words Grod wouldn’t understand. Despite suchmodifications, I have attempted to reproduce Grod’s distinctive style for the benefit of thereader. Grod feels that using grammar in any coherent sense equals civilization, whichobviously must be avoided. As Grod was bad about signing his posts as well, I haveadded his name after them, though only where he did not already mention himself inthird person. I think he likes hearing his name.

Please, if any of our readers are prone to heart attacks, seizures, or ravishing byheroic barbarian conquerors, quit reading now. We are not responsible for Acts of Grod.Lastly, any errors in our knowledge regarding magic surely reflect only our poor andlimited survey, not our sources. Please do not blame Grod. He gets angry.

Patrick Bryant

Primary Editor

Sam

ple

file

3

ContentsFlyleaf Credits 1Editor’s Note 2Welcome to the Practical Enchanter! 6

How to use this book 6Magical Engineering 7The March of Progress 8

Chapter One: The Enchanter’s Grimoire 10Common Bonuses 11

Armor and Shield Bonuses 11Circumstance Bonuses 12

Environmental 12Equipment 12Situational 12

Mecha and Powered Armor 13Competence Bonuses 14Deflection Bonuses 16

Enhancement Bonuses 17Attribute 17Effective Level 18(Add) Metamagic 20Movement and Actions 22Vitality 24Weapon/Armor/Shield 25

Inherent Bonuses 30The Hall of the Mountain King 30

Insight Bonuses 31Luck Bonuses 32Morale Bonuses 35Natural Armor Bonuses 38

Polymorph Effects 38Resistance Bonus 39Sacred and Profane Bonuses 40

Holy Objects 44Damaging Turning 44

Exorcist 45Focus of the Divine 45Mighty Turning 46Planar Affinity 46Quickened Turning 46Sacred Hand 46Secondary Spell 46Slayer 46

Size Bonuses 47Exotic Bonuses 49

Alchemical Bonuses 49Dodge Bonuses 49Order and Chaos Bonuses 49Racial Bonuses 49

Buying off ECL adjustments 49Subsumption 51

Synergy Bonuses 51Worldlaw Bonuses 51X-Bonuses 51

Special Functions 52Constructs and Golems 52

Animated Caravan 58Pinata Golem 59

Curses 60Damage Reduction 66Energy Resistance 68Extradimensional Storage 71(Granting) Feats 75Party Magic 77

Legionary Spells 77Stormblades 79

Regeneration and Fast Healing 79Sentience 81

Spirit Allies 83Fetches 83Lesser Golems 83

Sam

ple

file

4

Computers, Cyberdecks, and AI’s 83Andoril’s Helpful Turret 87

Shapeshifting 87Animal Form Modifiers 92

Spell Absorption 95(Bonus) Spells 99Spell Resistance 101Spell Storing 102Summoning and Channeling 104

Hoodoo Man 105Item Creation Tables

Recharging and Upgrading Magic Items 106Dedicated Items 107

What Happens to the Money? 109Spellbooks and Scribe Spell 111

Chapter Two: Practical Enchantment 112Spell Research 113

General Principles 114Built-in Metamagic 114Standard Spell Formula Modifiers 115

Extended Duration 115Increased Number of Targets 115Increased Range 115Permanence 115Personalized 115

Costs and Modifiers 116Research Roll Modifiers 117Campaign Resources 119

Applied Spellcraft 120Runic Formulas 120Caster Level Modifiers 120Power Amplification 120Combined Effects 121Runewright 122Spellcraft Talismans 122

Shields 122Seals 122Periapts 122Fetishes 122

Expert Rogues 123Magical Artificers 123

Intensive Study 123

Chapter Three: Enchanter’s Feats 125Arcanum Minimus 126Blood Bond 128Create Artifact 129Create Relic 129Dispelling Mastery 130Empowerment 130Enchantment 131Harvest of Artifice 131Heartstone Attunement 132

Hedge Magic 132High Magic 133Imbuement 134Intuitive Enchantment 135Merchant 136Mystic Conversion 136Occult Ritual 136Personal Immunity 137Quick Learner 137Scholar 138Scribing 138Searing Faith 139Siddhisyoga 140Spell Expertise 140Spell Researcher 141Spell Shorthand 141Spirit Binding 142The Opening of the Ways 143Touch of Hathor 143Transference 143X-Slayer 143

Bane Scarabs 144Specialized Feat Listings

Damaging Turning 44Exorcist 45Focus of the Divine 45Mighty Turning 45Planar Affinity 46Quickened Turning 46Sacred Hand 46Secondary Spell 46Slayer 46

Hoodoo Man 105In The Spotlight 183Intensive Study 124Runewright 122Subsumption 51

Converting Older Characters 144

Chapter Four: Living In a Magical Land 145Social Magic Items 146

Amulet of Hands 146City Gate 146Cloak of Flames 147Decanter of Endless (Holy) Water 150Endless Sideboard 150Eternal Flame 151Foundation Stone 151Healer's Pouch 151Imperial Seal 152Master's Badge 153

Sam

ple

file

5

Orichalcum 154Regalia of Might 154

Perpetual Fountain 155Phantom Mill 156Pouch of Rainbows 157Reliquaries 157Rod of Fortification 158Rod of Harrowing 160Scorpion Lance 160Sortilege Staff 161Wealthstone 161Wind Tower 162

Draupnir 163Town Resources 165

Chapter Five: Alternative Systems 171Talents 172

Talent Allotments 172Cybernetics 175Superheroics 175

World Laws 175Basic Superhero Packages 177

The Basic Telekinetic 177The Basic Telepath 178The Generic Hero 178The Strongman 178The Armored Adept 178The Gadgeteer 178The Element Master 179The Martial Artist 179The Mystic 179The Speedster 180

Stunts and Breaks 181Shapeshifters 181The Savage 182The Operative 182The Blaster 182Channelers 182The Wishmaster 182

In The Spotlight 183Wealth Level Templates 184Charms and Talismans 189

Common Charms 189Common Talismans 200Black Magic Charms 203Black Magic Talismans 204Creating Charms and Talismans 205

Chapter Six: Great Enchantments 206Heartstones 207

Heartstone Attunement 207Heartstone Spell Capacities 208Sample Heartstones and Orders 209

The Order of Sirac 209

The Brightblades Company 210The Merathi Mages Guild 210The Obsidian Blades 211The Lions of Mitra 211The Bear Lodge 211

Wards Major 212Minor Ward Powers 214Major Ward Powers 216Awesome Ward Powers 218

Prophets 219Sample Wards 220

Hendrick’s Tower 220Caer Tenebri, The Citadel of Night 222The Celestial Forge 223The Cavern of Visions 223The Chalcedony Springs 223Hellgate Keep 224The Vale of Sendril 224Zhandrek Outstation 224Zhandale’s Library 225The Forest of Forgetfullness 225

Ward Suggestions 225

Appendix One: Reference 228Object Properties Summary 228Construct Properties Summary 228Size Changes 229Psychic Constructs 230

Appendix Two: Spell Index 233

Appendix Three: Legal Information 238

“Grod not need entry. Grod everywhere.”

“NO Grod! NOT YET!” - Lute

“You’re letting these people post directly into mymanuscript?!” -Paul

“Well, they’re not coming back to my office!” -Ed.

Sam

ple

file

6

Welcome to ThePractical Enchanter!

A.K.A.: How to use this book.

The Practical Enchanter delves into the trueheart of fantasy: magic. It brings many thousands ofnew spells, new item functions, methods of makingitems, types of items, feats, ritual magic, inscribedmagic, inherent magical talents, race design, wealthlevel templates, magical orders, enchanted buildingsand regions, and Grod the Barbarian (who seems toget in everywhere) to your game.

The Enchanter’s Grimoire is a practical guide tospells, and is divided into three basic sections:Common Bonuses, Exotic Bonuses, and SpecialFunctions. To save space, this section introduces theTemplate Spell - basic effect descriptions with rulesfor applying modifiers to produce individual spells.For example, the Enhance Attribute template covers59,520 individual spells even before you beginworrying about the generalized spell formula

modifiers (page 115). Of those, the SRD only actuallylists 12 - but takes up a lot more space doing it.

As a rule, any template-generated spell should betreated as a standard spell - freely available to bards,sorcerers, and other spontaneous casters who want totake them as well as to wizards who select one as oneof their free spells from level advancement. Theyshould also be treated as benchmarks - they’re alreadyoptimized and you generally aren’t going to be able tocreate a better version.

Each subsection covers a different type of bonusor function, whether or not it yet occurs in the SRD,and includes a breakdown of creating items usingthem.

The Grimoire is not concerned with which spelllists any given spell appears on. That’s partiallybecause the major distinctions appear to be based onwhether or not a spell heals or blows things up (bothtopics which are quite adequately covered in theSRD), partially because such decisions are best left tothe game master, and mostly because it would bloatthis book by several thousand useless pages trying tocover each variant in the templates.

Sam

ple

file

7

Common Bonuses covers the (enormous) list ofspells which simply grant game-mechanic bonuses,why some of them are less useful when used inenchantments than others, and which ones can beapplied to any given game effect.

Magical Engineering

The Common Bonuses section can be a boon tothe Min-Max crowd. After all, it covers all the thingsyou can stack and how to do it.

It can also be a boon to keeping them undercontrol. It covers all the things you can’t do, and whynot - and lets the game master and less calculation-inclined players match the Min-Max crowd withoutmuch effort if they feel the need to do so.

It isn’t much good for the “romance of highmagic” or the “magic item creation shouldn’t be amathematical exercise in getting the best price for agiven function” crowd. Like it or not, d20 magicsimply isn’t mystical or romantic. It’s a game. It hasstandardized rules and predictable results. As far asthe characters go, magic is as much a branch ofengineering as is the construction of buildings.

As for not wanting people who invest their verylife force in creating items to want to get the bestvalue for it - well, would you ask a merchant to stoptrying to get the best price for his goods because“business shouldn’t be about making a profit”?

The Practical Enchanter is designed for thosecharacters who actually live in a world of magic,rather than for those who are simply visiting for a fewhours of excitement.

Exotic Bonuses covers the strange stuff,including the bonuses you can’t get from spells (andwhy not), racial bonuses, effective character levelmodifiers, and how to buy off, calculate, or acquirethem.

Special Functions covers designing your owngolems, curses, pocket dimensions, sentient, feat-granting, and cooperative items. As a side benefit itcovers computers and cyberdecks, channeling spirits,and generalized summoning effects, among others.

The generalized Item Creation Tables are fairlystraightforward, and are principally concerned withexpanding the range of options in creating items - andin getting the characters to come up with their ownmissions when they want some rare magicalcomponent.

What about Psionics?

In d20 games psionics normally use the samemechanics as magic; the differences are mainlystylistic. All of the game systems in the PracticalEnchanter can be applied to psionics, pretty muchwithout alteration.

Spell Research covers the general principles ofspell power, complexity, and combination - and howthey restrict spell designers. Practical details includethe effects of assistance, expenses, laboratories,libraries, and other modifiers. The utterly recklessmay even attempt to improvise spells on the fly.

The March of Progress

In d20, magic is much like every other branch ofmedieval engineering: a practical study governedmostly by rules-of-thumb. An organized method ofexploiting the local laws of nature to get what youwant. Progress gets made in every other scholarlyfield: why should magic be an exception?

If it could be done a thousand years ago, it canalmost certainly be done as well or better now.Perhaps next time the characters find the legendarysword of some ancient king, its chief value should liein its historical significance, the honor of bearing sucha noble blade, and perhaps in the blessing (or curse) ofthe spirit of the king who wielded it in life - not in itsnow easily-duplicated enchantment.

Items created by gods or natural forces may beanother matter of course, but there’s no reason torestrict such things to the distant past either.

Applied Spellcraft covers runic inscriptions -including formulas, caster level modifications, poweramplification, and combined effects. While player-characters may use such things for little more thanitem creation, using inscribed runic formula to gainaccess to exactly the magical effect they want to put

Sam

ple

file