OSR: Class: Speleomage

Speleomages roam the Veins of the Earth. They have hidden colleges. Practices forbidden on the surface are routinely performed. Their services are in considerable demand, but survival rates are low. Initiates often become ingredients. Undergraduates are the first to be eaten in times of famine. The hidden speleomasters guard their spell libraries jealously. Most are inhuman, twisted things, half-alive and entirely mad, surrounded by fawning students and ambitious apprentices. In the mythic underworld, these mages are the equivalent of surface-world Orthodox Wizards.

Nagy Norbert

This class uses the GLOG format.
Base Wizard class.

Perk: You have no smell and cast no shadow. You can learn and cast spells from any school without penalty.
Drawback: You cannot cast spells in bright light. Lantern light is usually fine. Sunlight is not. You can only sleep in total darkness.

Cantrips:
1. Dim or extinguish all non-magical light sources within 10’.
2. Touch stone to mark it with your signature rune.
3. Flick something within 30'. Cannot deal damage, but can knock over a coin or make a faint noise.

Noodle Li

Spelomage Spell List

Spells adapted from Veins of the Earth are marked with a *.

1. Magic Missile 
R: 200' T: creature D: 0 
Target takes [sum] + [dice] damage, no Save. As a Speleomage, your spell is a dark bolt of black fire and ash.


2. Blood into Rope* 
R: touch T: self  D:[sum] minutes.
Drain your blood into a rope. 30' per point of self-inflicted damage. Rope counts as magical. If you cast this spell with 3 [dice] or more, you can cause the rope to appear anchored to any point you can see, provided the other end can reach your hand.

3. Calcite Gap* 
R: touch T: [dice] creatures D: [sum] rounds
Targets can move through calcite formations, stalactites, stalagmites, minor crystals, etc. without penalty, pushing them aside as if they were tall grass. If the spell ends while inside, they will be trapped.

4. Hollow Head* 
R: touch T: willing creature D: [sum] hours
Your brain disappears. Your head has a hinge and opens like a box, but only you know this and only you can open it. You are immune to mind-altering magic for the spell's duration. You store things inside your skull, but if the spell ends while things are inside, they will mix with your brain-matter. Usually this is fatal. Ambitious wizards sometimes add drugs or molten occultum.

5. Shadow Blood
R: touch T: self D: [sum] rounds
You have hidden your shadow inside your body to protect it. Now, it protects you. Reduce all incoming damage by [dice] for the spell's duration.

6. Control Water 
R: 50’ T: a bucket’s worth of water D: concentration 
Control a small amount of water within 50’. At one [die]: (a) propel a small boat, (b) carry a small item through the water, (c) allow someone to swim at 2x speed, (d) force someone to swim at half speed, (e) splash something no more than 5' away, (f) dry something that is wet, (g) freeze a small amount of water, (h) cool a hot cup of tea. Each [dice] you invest increases the effects.

7. Matchstick Men* 
R: touch T: burning splinters of wood D: [sum] rounds
Transform a handful of burning wood or paper into tiny fire golems. [sum] golems appear, 1-2" high. They fade quickly, but will obey your commands. 

8. Fear 
R: 50' T: creatures up to [sum] HD D: 0
Target creatures must Save vs Fear or take a morale check, or flee from you. If you cast this spell with 4 [dice], creatures unused to supernatural occurrences (peasants, domesticated dogs, etc.) must also Save or age 2d10 years. This spell may induce Rapture attacks (VotE pg. 107) in surface creatures.

9. Wall of Stone  
R: 20’ T: wall D: permanent 
You rearrange stone to form a 10’ by 10’ panel per [dice]. You can mold the wall, similar to cutting holes and notches in a sheet of paper. The wall has Defense 10 and [dice]x2 HD. If it is horizontal, the wall must be anchored on at least 2 sides. The stone is brittle and flaky. If used in territory controlled by a faction, it may be considered an act of war or a prelude to an invasion.

10. Featherfall 
R: 10’ T: [dice] creatures or objects D: 0 
If you would take fall damage, you can cast this spell as a reaction to negate it. You float gently to the ground (possibly alarmingly late).

Emblem Spells 

11. Annihilate
R: 50' cone T: area D:0
A blast of hideously bright light and impossible, stone-melting heat blares from the your hand. You take [dice] damage. All targets in area [sum]x2 damage, Save for half. Creatures or objects destroyed leave ash shadows on the walls.

12. Mutate
R: touch T: creature D: permanent
Save negates. Save once per mutation. Target gains [dice] random mutations. If the creature chooses to fail its Save, roll double the number of mutations, and the caster chooses which half are gained.

Jeff Simpson

Mechanical Notes on the Speleomage

Despite the strange mix of spells, these wizards are sensibly orthodox. Most of their spells are pure utility, with a few sensible damage spells and damage reduction. It's a solid mix. Their dooms, as expected, are very dangerous. 

Speleomages don't have light on their spell list. Light is too valuable; if you see someone casting it, you'll hunt them and kill them just to gain it, possibly losing the spell in the process.

Alex Konstad

Mishaps
1. MD only return to your pool on a 1-2 for 24 hours
2. Take 1d6 damage
3. Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then Save. Permanent if you fail.
4. Blind and Deaf for 1d6 rounds
5. Panic for 1d6 rounds
6. Completely lost. Have no recollection of paths, landmarks, recent directions.

Dooms
1. Swallowed by stone. If you scream or hammer as hard as you can, people nearby can hear you, but cannot reach you even if they tunnel through the rock. Vomited out after 24hrs.
2. 3d10 Shadows rise and follow you. They will attack your friends and allies first.
3. Shadows dark enough to conceal texture are like chasms to you. You'll fall down the next one and splash into the Nightmare Sea. You do not know this is about to happen. It might already be happening. You could already be falling down, down, to the sunless depths. You won't have time to drown. 3d100 ravenous Shadows will boil up when you fall and attack anyone nearby.