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Occult Rituals

Occult Rituals

It’s a common belief that only those initiated in the rites and practices of arcane, divine, or psychic magic can cast spells, but this is not strictly true. Hidden within dusty libraries and amid the ramblings of lunatics lie the mysteries of another form of spellcasting—occult ritual magic. These spells are rare, coveted by both those eager to gain their power and those wishing to hide their existence. Most traditional spellcasters consider these rituals dangerous and uncontrollable, something to be avoided or used as a last resort. They fear the power these ceremonies grant to the uninitiated, as the rituals allow those with only a glimmering of understanding the ability to interact with the underlying fabric of magic.

While anyone can attempt to cast occult rituals, the process is fraught with peril. The strange and intricate incantations are often challenging to perform with precision, and failure can weaken the casters or even unleash horrors upon the world. Even when successfully performed, each occult ritual has a price—a backlash that affects at least the caster leading the ritual, and often those assisting in its performance.

Click here for the full rules on Occult Rituals.

Seal of Dancing Dolls Source Occult Origins pg. 27 School conjuration; Level 6 Casting Time 6 hours Components V, S, M (a bronze seal embellished with acacia and quartz lacquer worth 500 gp), SC (up to 4) Skill Checks Knowledge (arcane) DC 33, 3 successes; Knowledge (planes) DC 33, 3 successes Range touch Duration 1 year Saving Throw Will negates; SR yes Backlash All casters take a temporary negative level. Failure The outsider to be bound is released and attacks. Effect Designed to create a Jistkan construct that is considered in many ways a precursor to early golems, this ritual uses hours of laborious calculations, recitation, and focus to bind an elemental outsider (a creature with the elemental subtype or a genie) into an inscribed bronze seal, harnessing the outsider's vibrant life force to animate an object. The seal must already be affixed to the object to be animated (usually a mannequin or statue), and the outsider must be available within the ritual area and contained (via binding, a magic circle, or similar magic). Upon successful completion of the ritual, the outsider is bound to loyal service within the seal for a year and a day, losing access to most of its powers and memories and treating the object to which the seal is affixed as its new body. Such animated servitors were most often used as guardians or bodyguards, but also sometimes served as assassins. This seal can be used as is to create an animated object or combined with the Craft Construct feat; the seal replaces any spell requirements in a construct's creation, but not the time investment or material cost. Because the ritual suppresses much of the outsider's power and free will, the outsider to be bound must have twice the Hit Dice of the construct to be created. After 1 year, the construct becomes inert, but it can be reanimated by performing the ritual again at no additional cost beyond preparing a new seal.

Seal of Dancing Dolls

Source Occult Origins pg. 27
School conjuration; Level 6
Casting Time 6 hours
Components V, S, M (a bronze seal embellished with acacia and quartz lacquer worth 500 gp), SC (up to 4)
Skill Checks Knowledge (arcane) DC 33, 3 successes; Knowledge (planes) DC 33, 3 successes
Range touch
Duration 1 year
Saving Throw Will negates; SR yes
Backlash All casters take a temporary negative level.
Failure The outsider to be bound is released and attacks.

Effect

Designed to create a Jistkan construct that is considered in many ways a precursor to early golems, this ritual uses hours of laborious calculations, recitation, and focus to bind an elemental outsider (a creature with the elemental subtype or a genie) into an inscribed bronze seal, harnessing the outsider's vibrant life force to animate an object. The seal must already be affixed to the object to be animated (usually a mannequin or statue), and the outsider must be available within the ritual area and contained (via binding, a magic circle, or similar magic). Upon successful completion of the ritual, the outsider is bound to loyal service within the seal for a year and a day, losing access to most of its powers and memories and treating the object to which the seal is affixed as its new body. Such animated servitors were most often used as guardians or bodyguards, but also sometimes served as assassins.

This seal can be used as is to create an animated object or combined with the Craft Construct feat; the seal replaces any spell requirements in a construct's creation, but not the time investment or material cost. Because the ritual suppresses much of the outsider's power and free will, the outsider to be bound must have twice the Hit Dice of the construct to be created. After 1 year, the construct becomes inert, but it can be reanimated by performing the ritual again at no additional cost beyond preparing a new seal.

Archives of Nethys

Occult Rituals

Seal of Dancing Dolls

Effect