Encyclopedia Magical: Sorcery Vows

Encyclopedia Magical: Sorcery Vows

RuneQuest

Abilities

Alchemy

Divine Magic

Sorcery

	Spells
	Arts
	Vows
	Demons

Spirit Magic

Wizardry

Magic Items

.: Abjure Armor
Presence Gained: 2
Never wear any physical armor.

.: Abjure Armor (Metal)
Presence Gained: 1
Never wear metal armor

.: Abjure Arms
Presence Gained: 2
Never use a weapon of any type. The Rokari have the lesser Vow of Abjure Knightly Arms (1), which permits them to use staffs, daggers, and other decidedly un-military arms. If such a Rokari later takes Abjure Arms, the lesser vow is subsumed (and he only gets 2 total Presence).

.: Abjure Arms (Knightly)
Presence Gained: 1
Never use military arms (allows the use of staffs, daggers, etc.)

.: Abjure Day
Presence Gained: 3
Never cast spells during daylight hours. Ritual spells must conclude during the hours of darkness.

.: Abjure Liquor
Presence Gained: 1
Never drink alcoholic beverages.

.: Abjure Night
Presence Gained: 3
Never cast spells during night hours. Ritual spells must conclude during the hours of day.

.: Abjure Rune Magic
Presence Gained: 1
Never sacrifice for Rune magic, and must never cast any you now know.

.: Abjure Spirit Magic
Presence Gained: 1
Never learn spirit magic, and must forget any you now know.

.: Adulation
Presence Gained: 1
Devotion is given to a saintly relic, icon, or idol. The relic must be kept safe, given ornamentation, routinely tended, prayed to, etc.

.: Cannibalism
Presence Gained: 2
Must eat the flesh of your own species at every meal.

.: Celibacy
Presence Gained: 1
This includes sex of any type, including homosexual, cross-species, etc.

.: Devotion
Presence Gained: 2
Each year, sacrifice 1 POW to the Invisible God. Only available to Malkioni.

.: Devotion [temple]
Presence Gained: 1
must attend a selected temple at least 1 day a week, preventing long distance travel. This vow may be repeated, for the same or different temples, but must be a different day each time, of course.

.: Devour Foe
Presence Gained: 2
Must feed on any creature you kill. Even a small bit will suffice (or even a successful Bite attack in combat). Blood counts as food.

.: Eat only [species]
Presence Gained: 2
May eat only [species], dead or alive.

.: Eat only Burnt Food
Presence Gained: 1
All solid foodstuffs must be cooked, even the smallest leaf.

.: Fasting
Presence Gained: 1
Must not eat or drink on one chosen day a week. This Vow may be repeated.

.: Flee [element]
Presence Gained: 2
This ritual Ceremony costs 1 POW. It is rare among humans. Once performed properly, you are harmed whenever you are left exposed to the full force of the named element. For instance, Flee Sky would harm you if touched by full sunlight. Flee Storm would harm you via moving air (i.e., wind), and so forth. When taking this Vow, you must choose what kind of loss you wish to take (FP, MP, HP, or POW). This Vow can be repeated (no POW is lost on future ceremonies). The first Flee Element vow causes you to lose 1 point per hour exposed. On second and subsequent Flee Element vows, you may accelerate the harm done. You may also choose to add another type of loss to the basic Vow, keeping the points additive. Note: creatures without a particular stat cannot select that type of loss.

.: Gluttony
Presence Gained: 1
Must ritually devour five or sick times the normal amount of food daily. Sometimes results in an increase of SIZ over time and often a decrease in CON as well.

.: Great Ritual
Presence Gained: High Vow
Requires a sorcerer to spend an hour in preparation before casting a spell.

.: High Vow
Presence Gained: Magic Bonus
This is the first vow an apprentice normally takes, and is the only vow that can be taken before a sorcerer has learned all three basic Arts. The user must adhere to his Sect's general strictures (such as Caste definitions). The High Vow's Presence boost is equal to the sorcerer's basic Magic Bonus (not counting magical boosts). If the bonus is 0 or less, the student still gets 1 Presence for the High Vow. When a sorcerer converts to another sect, he loses this Vow. However, he can retake it in his new sect the next time he qualifies for a new Vow.

.: Illumination
Presence Gained: Varies
1 presence for every 10% progress towards Illumination he has. Once illuminated, this Vow becomes null. The Presence gained for it does not go away, but no longer increases.

.: Lawspeaker
Presence Gained: 1
The sorcerer must attend and arbitrate all matters of law when asked.

.: Lore Mastery
Presence Gained: 1
Presence for certain skills mastered at 90%. Qualified skills include all Read/Write skills, any Lore, plus Ceremony, Enchant, and Summon. Sorcery spells do not count.

.: Necrophilia
Presence Gained: 1
Must sleep with a corpse weekly. This Vow does not conflict with Celibacy.

.: Never Kill a [species]
Presence Gained: 1
The sorcerer is still permitted to let a [species] die by inaction, and he can order someone else to kill a [species].

.: Never Speak to Non - [group]
Presence Gained: 1
Converse only with people who belong to a specific group

.: Rituals
Presence Gained: 2
Must spend an additional melee round in preparation before casting any spell.

.: Sacrifice Appearance
Presence Gained: 1
Lower APP by 2. May be taken more than once. Training APP back up breaks the Vow, though Boost APP is legal. APP cannot be lowered below 1 by this Vow.

.: Sacrifice Constitution
Presence Gained: 1
Lower CON by 1. See Sacrifice Appearance. CON can be reduced to 0 or less, but if this happens, the sorcerer's CON-boosting spells must be sufficient to raise his CON to at least 1 or he dies at once.

.: Sacrifice Power
Presence Gained: 3
Lower species-maximum POW by 1. This only reduces current POW if it is already at species maximum. A human sorcerer who'd taken this vow 5 times (for +15 Presence) would have a species maximum POW of 16.

.: Sacrifice Strength
Presence Gained: 1
Lower STR by 1. See Sacrifice Constitution.

.: Seclution
Presence Gained: 1
Spend one week of every year in total seclusion. During this time, the sorcerer may not speak, may not cast any spells, and must avoid contact with the outside world. This week must be the same week every year. This vow may be repeated. However, if the sorcerer breaks this Vow, he loses the Presence for all Seclusion Vows he has taken.

.: Shun [element]
Presence Gained: 2
Cast no spells that create, evoke, or otherwise manipulate the selected element. For example, a sorcerer with Shun Sky could not cast Create Air. A sorcerer with this vow may learn Resist spells vs. the chosen element.

.: Shun Harm
Presence Gained: 3
Cast no attack spells. Generally only taken by healers.

.: Shun Holy Ground
Presence Gained: 2
Never enter the holy ground of a non-chaotic cult. If you are taken there against your will, the Vow is still broken.

.: Shun Immortality
Presence Gained: 1
Never cast or maintain the Immortality spell upon yourself (you may do so for others), nor receive any similar life-extending magic.

.: Shun Tap
Presence Gained: 1
Never cast or maintain Tap.

.: Silence
Presence Gained: 3
Never communicate verbally. You may use Telepathy, hand signals or the written word to communicate. This does not prohibit spell casting.

.: Tend Familiar
Presence Gained: 1
You can get this Vow simply by taking a familiar. When your familiar dies, the Vow is cancelled, but by taking another Familiar (or resurrecting the old one), you can accept this Vow again the next time you qualify for a new Vow.

.: Vegetarianism
Presence Gained: 2
Eat no flesh.

.: Vegetarianism (Partial)
Presence Gained: 1
Forbids eating the flesh of warm-blooded animals (only)

.: Vessel Vow
Presence Gained: Free INT
The first Vow taken upon acquiring the basic Arts [Intensity, Multispell, & Range]. A wizard with no free INT gets no Presence, but should he forget a spell (and free up some INT), the Presence returns.