Druids are limited in the effects they create by the Spirits
of the Land around them and whether those Spirits are known or not, friendly or insane,
and how far from them the Druid is. They are also limited as follows:
Each Druid can only contact a Spirit and request -- through pleas or demands -- so
much of it, this limit to a request is the druid's Spirit score doubled and requests are
calculated using the Invocation Time, Duration, and Effect charts from the SAGA gamebox.
| Spirit |
Request |
| 1 |
2 |
| 2 |
4 |
| 3 |
6 |
| 4 |
8 |
| 5 |
10 |
| 6 |
12 |
| 7 |
14 |
| 8 |
16 |
| 9 |
18 |
| 10 |
20 |
Note that the Range and Area of Effect charts are not used,
if the druid is within the land area of the Spirit being contacted.
The further away a druid is from a Spirit of the Land, the more difficult it is to
contact the spirit and receive its help. It is for this reason that most druids do
not leave their guarded lands, as a druid is automatically able to contact the Spirit of
the Land there.
The further from the Spirit they are calling upon, the more the cost of a request
increases. Further, the cost for the Area to be effected is also added to the
request, as the Spirit must exert its influence over the influence of the local Spirit.
| Distance |
Difficulty |
| Artillery |
1 |
| Visual |
2 |
| Day(s) |
3 |
| Week(s) |
4 |
| Month(s) |
5 |
Another reason druids do not often leave their guarded lands
is the bond they have with the Spirit of the Land in that area, a bond that does not exist
elsewhere. Anytime a druid attempts to contact a Spirit of the Land which is not his
own, they must make a Spirit check with a base difficulty dependent upon their Druidic
Bond skill, modified upwards by four points for each of the following:
- Spirit has gone mad (a result of the ecological ravishing of Athas).
- Spirit is of different type than that of the druid's (if the
druid is bonded to a Spirit in a verdant belt and attempts to contact a Spirit in the salt
plains).
- Spirit is unfriendly to the druid's race (some Spirits do not
like certain peoples or are more friendly with some individuals).
- Spirit is utterly alien to the druid (the spirit of a city,
for example).
It is the Druidic Bond skill which gives a character the
knowledge of how to awaken and communicate with the Spirits of the Land and request a
specific effect. There is no limit on the number of times a character may request
from a Spirit per day, however, all Spirits not bonded to the character must be contacted
as above.
A druid may bond with a number of Spirits of the Land in accordance with their
skill code, all other Spirits must always be contacted. Note that those with a code
of 'X' can never bond to a Spirit, as they just do not have the ability and those with a
code of 'D' must always make an Average Spirit action to commune with even their own
land's Spirit.
| Skill Code |
Contact Difficulty |
Bonds |
| A |
Average (8) |
3 |
| B |
Challenging (12) |
2 |
| C |
Daunting (16) |
1 |
| D |
Desperate (20) |
1(contact) |
| X |
Impossible (24) |
0 |
Further, each druid differs in their particular
abilities. For each Spirit of the Land that a druid is bonded to, they are attuned
to either the plant life, animal life or land most strongly (though they are attuned to
the other two areas as well). Each druid also has a limited number of skills within
each of those areas, the character having two from the following list for each seperate
area: commanding, shaping, altering, summoning, or communicating.
Commanding
This forces a creature, plant or feature of the natural landscape to
respond to simple commands by the caster, as is within their ability to perform.
This effect has perhaps the least utility when it comes to land, though creative
druids can use it over the elements of their guarded lands. As with Elemental
Clerics, if the desired effect can be wholly described by the statement of a word or short
phrase such as "Rain", "Quiet", "Bend", or "Burn"
which is immediately understood without more information being necessary, it falls under
the Commanding effect.
Shaping
This effect allows the druid to reshape the size, weight or physical
features of a creature, plant or the land itself, though it does not allow the change of
one substance or being into another or the addition of anything not already present in the
subject, only the reshaping of what is present. A hill might be resized, a flowering
plant may grow in size, a small creature made large and given claws made from their bones.
This is overall a very useful effect.
Note that reshaped items or beings are permanently altered unless the druid sets a
time limit on their change (via the Duration chart).
Altering
Altering allows what shaping does not, the change of one substance or
creature into another. Water can be made into mud, a man can be changed into a frog,
a non-poisonous plant may be made poisonous, and so on. This is another overall very
useful effect.
Note that altered items or beings are permanently changed unless the druid sets a
time limit on their change (via the Duration chart)
Summoning
Summoning simply brings one thing to another. The growth of a forest
may be redirected, a stream rerouted, a herd of animals brought to the druid's defense, or
allow the druid passage from one area of his guarded lands to another. In most
cases, the Duration chart with the time reversed in proportion to the cost should be
assumed to show how long the change will take to effect.
Communicating
While all druids have a special connection to their guarded lands and the
Spirit, creatures and plants therein, they cannot automatically communicate with them.
This power allows the druid to access information and speak with an animal, plant or
the land itself as though they both speak the same language.
When utilizing an effect within the area a druid is attuned
to, they pay normal costs for the request. When utilizing an effect within the other
two areas, they pay four more points for a request.
They also pay this extra four for all effects in all areas when communing with a
Spirit they are not bonded to.
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