Ruminations on Magic part 2 - Charms and Rituals

Continuing my ruminations on the nature of Fantasy magic, I was curious as to how many folks utilize the magic properties of gems and herbs as outlined in the 1e DMG? I’ve been thinking of working up some low level magic such as charms, poultices, unguents, ointments, etc that would have either very limited applications or single use application. The Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds series produced by Troll Lord Games, actually has some pretty intriguing information on the subject. I think it is the book Living Fantasy (but I’ll have to go back and make sure) that is really a compilation of tidbits of information for use in a fantasy campaign (actually that is the crux of the whole series – system neutral so it makes handy reference). It’d be nice to work up little rituals that have minor magical applications such an example could be warding off a certain type of dark sidhe during a certain time of year and only under specific circumstances by standing on one foot, holding a sprig of mistletoe in the right had while inscribing the symbol of the sun on one’s forehead while reciting the salutation to the dawn in forward and reverse three times at mid day during the vernal equinox will grant the subject +2 bonus to save against the charm effects of a particular type of entity for one cycle of the moon. This makes a good case for using NPCs such as alchemists, midwives, apothecaries, barbers (in the old sense where they acted as surgeons and dentists), goodwives, lore keepers, astronomers, astrologers, wise men, etc in a campaign (even if they are not necessarily codified as NPC classes as such). Hrm, intriguing, I’ll have to explore this further and post some of my rituals and charms…

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