Time Flies in Campaigns

​Time Flies Campaigns 

 

The Time Flies rule states that during a campaign, the timeline always advances between game sessions by a period of not less than twice the real-world time that has passed. If it has been a week since you last played, then two weeks passed in the game world; if it has been a month, then two months have passed. Just add the time to the game’s calendar, noting that it includes rest and recovery time or downtime or heroes-on-vacation time If the group is in a dungeon or on a highly time-sensitive mission, apply the additional time once they return to a suitable location. 

 

For campaigns that seek to emulate the storytelling rhythm of a long-form saga, consider increasing this modifier to at least two months of game time between sessions. As a result, characters can age at a noticeable rate (six game sessions equal one year of game time), and generational effects become more pronounced. In addition, this prevents the chronological oddity of heroes going from novice to archmage in only a year or two. 

 

Source: Midgard World Book (Open Design), pg. 13​

​GM Note

So how does this actually work when when a game has to stop in the middle of a combat, etc. you are probably wondering...? Well what happens behind the scene is that if a session stops due to time constraints, fatigue, etc.; the GM will record the amount of time passing and then add that in as downtime available to players at convenient points (while doing long overland travel a day here or there might be added; when resting in an urban area or sanctuary as much as a week or more will be added).

Feat: Ioun Bond

Ioun Bond

​You have chosen to link the power of your arcane bond to an ioun stone

Prerequisite: You must have chosen a bonded object as your arcane bond.

Benefit: Like the arcane discovery of the same name, you can form an arcane bond with an ioun stone. When you choose this feat, you gain a dull gray ioun stone as a bonded object at no cost. A bonded ioun stone must be orbiting your head to have effect. At 12th level, you can turn a bonded dull gray ioun stone into another kind of ioun stone as if you possessed the Craft Wondrous Item feat; if you die or replace a bonded ioun stone that has been transformed in this way, the stone reverts to a dull gray ioun stone.

The transformed ioun stone can have a value no greater than 10,000 gp/caster level.

Source: The Mage's Tower website

​GM Note

 

House Rule:  This feat duplicates the arcane discovery of the same name (People of the River 9).

Feat: Cooperative Research

Cooperative Research

​Your assistance makes spell research far more efficient.

Prerequisites: Spellcraft 1 rank, relevant Knowledge skill 1 rank

Benefit: You can assist another character in spell research. You must both possess Spellcraft and the the relevant Knowledge skill, but either one of you can fulfill any other prerequisites for researching the spell. You provide a +2 circumstance bonus on any Spellcraft or Knowledge checks related to the research, and your assistance increases the research progress by 1 day.

Normal:  Attempt a Spellcraft check and a Knowledge check (arcana for an arcane spell, religion for a divine spell) against the spell research DC; If both checks succeed, you make 1 day’s progress toward completing the spell. When your days of progress equal the total number of days needed, the spell is completed and added to your spellbook or list of spells known.

Special: Each additional researcher or assistance beyond the first adds another day's progress if successful.

Source: The Mage's Tower website

Feat: Adept of the Dark Duality

Adept of the Dark Duality

​You have discovered the secret of tapping into the Dark Duality of magic.

Prerequisite: Cha, Int or Wis +18, ability to cast 3rd level spells or hexes.

Benefit: Your magic is now partially powered by the Dark Duality. You can use magic items which draw their power from the Dark Duality without taking damage.

Spells from the Illusion and Necromancy are cast with increased power and efficiency. Add a +1 bonus to the DC for all saving throws of spells you cast from those schools. Spells with the darkness descriptor or the shadow subschool add a +1 to the effective level at which they are cast. These bonuses are cumulative, so that a spell from the Necromancy school that has the darkness descriptor would have both a +1 to saving throw DCs and a +1 to the level it was effectively cast at.

Tapping into the Dark Duality is not without its costs, however. Spells from the schools of Evocation and Transmutation have their effective caster level reduced by one (except spells with the darkness descriptor or from the shadow subschool).  The reduced caster level affects the spell’s range, duration, damage, and any other level-dependent variables the spell might have, including dispel checks against you. Spells with the light descriptor are weakened even more; their effective caster level is reduced by two.

Any attempt to identify spells cast by a Adept of the Dark Duality through Spellcraft have their DC increased by +5. Spells and items which automatically identify spells in effect function normally.

Any magic items you craft draw their power partially from the Dark Duality. Anyone attempting to use such items that has not been initiated into the mysteries of the Dark Duality must make a Use Magic Device check (DC 15 + the caster level of the item) or take damage (10 hit points + 1 hit point per caster level of the item). Use in this case is defined as activation for those items which require action, being worn or handled in the case of passive use items such arms and armor as well as rings, clothings, etc.

Special: The mysteries of the Dark Duality come with a price. When this feat is taken, you immediately lose one level. This penalty cannot be removed through the use of restorative magics such as restoration or greater restoration. The only way to remove this penalty is by mastering the power of the Dark Duality (taking the Master of the Dark Duality feat) or surviving passage through the Darkbridge (artifact); which confers the Master of the Dark Duality feat upon survivors.

Feat: Abjurant Caster

Abjurant Caster

Your abjuration spells are more powerful.

Prerequisites: Swift Abjuration class ability.

Benefit: The maximum level of spell you can quicken using the Swift Abjuration class ability is now equal to 1/2 your character level (rounded up).

Normal: The maximum level of spell you can quicken in this way is equal to 1/2 your (abjurant champion) class level (rounded up).

Source: The Mage's Tower website

Feat: Abbreviated Spellscript

Abbreviated Spellscript

You have learned an alternate method for recording your spells.

Prerequisites: Must record spells in a spellbook, Caster level 1+.

Benefit: Using a more efficient and compact script when writing spells into your spellbook, you record an entire spell on a single page. Doing so does require double the time it normally would.

Normal: A spell takes up one page of the spellbook per spell level. Even a 0-level spell (cantrip) takes one page. The process takes 1 hour per spell level. Cantrips (0 levels spells) take 30 minutes to record.

Source: The Mage's Tower

Feat: Master of the Threefold Path

Master of the Threefold Path

Prerequisites: Int 28+, Spell Mastery, Flexible Wizardry, Improved Flexible Wizardry, Initiate of the Threefold Path, Adept of the Threefold Path, wizard level 18th.

Benefit: When you use Adept of the Threefold Path to flexibly prepare spell slots, you can finalize one of these slots with a swift action instead of a move action.

Source: The Mage's Tower website
 ​

Wondrous Item: Argent Anhedron Ioun Stone

Argent Anhedron Ioun Stone

Aura strong varied; CL 12th
Slot —
Price 10,000 gp
Weight —

Description

This crystalline stone always floats in the air and must be within 3 feet of its owner to be of any use. When a character first acquires this stone, she must hold it and then release it, whereupon it takes up a circling orbit 1d3 feet from her head. Thereafter, the stone must be grasped or netted to separate it from its owner. The owner may voluntarily seize and stow the stone (to keep it safe while she is sleeping, for example), but she loses the benefits of the stone during that time. Ioun stones have AC 24, 10 hit points, and hardness 5.

This ioun stone grants Alacritous Cogitation (as the feat), while orbiting.

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, creator must be 12th level
Cost 5,000 gp

Source: The Mage's Tower
 ​

Wondrous Item: Amber Sphere Ioun Stone

Amber Sphere Ioun Stone

Aura strong varied; CL 12th
Slot —
Price 100,000 gp
Weight —

Description

This crystalline stone always floats in the air and must be within 3 feet of its owner to be of any use. When a character first acquires this stone, she must hold it and then release it, whereupon it takes up a circling orbit 1d3 feet from her head. Thereafter, the stone must be grasped or netted to separate it from its owner. The owner may voluntarily seize and stow the stone (to keep it safe while she is sleeping, for example), but she loses the benefits of the stone during that time. Ioun stones have AC 24, 10 hit points, and hardness 5.

This ioun stone is also known as the amber sphere of Divine Knowledge; it acts as a holy symbol, grants +3 insight bonus to Perception, Knowlege (Religion) and Intelligence-based skill checks.

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, creator must be 12th level
Cost 50,000 gp

Source: Adventurer’s Vault 2 (WotC 4E), pg. 28

Wondrous Item: Amber Cube Ioun Stone

Amber Cube Ioun Stone

Aura strong varied; CL 12th
Slot —
Price 10,000 gp
Weight —

Description

This crystalline stone always floats in the air and must be within 3 feet of its owner to be of any use. When a character first acquires this stone, she must hold it and then release it, whereupon it takes up a circling orbit 1d3 feet from her head. Thereafter, the stone must be grasped or netted to separate it from its owner. The owner may voluntarily seize and stow the stone (to keep it safe while she is sleeping, for example), but she loses the benefits of the stone during that time. Ioun stones have AC 24, 10 hit points, and hardness 5.

This ioun stone grants Spell Thematics (as the feat), while orbiting.

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, creator must be 12th level
Cost 5,000 gp

Source: The Mage's Tower

Vehicle: Night Monarch Vardo

Night Monarch Vardo

Aura strong conjuration and transmutation; CL 13th
Slot —
Price 22,750 gp
Weight 400 lbs.

Description

Varisians prize these brightly colored wagons for their usefulness in transport and consider them a sign of Desna’s favor. 10 feet wide by 20 feet long, a night monarch vardo functions as a magically treated Heavy Wagon (hardness 10 and 240 hit points). However, the inside is larger than its outside dimensions. Two additional rooms equivalent in size to the first are accessible from the interior of the wagon and are treated as extradimensional spaces. The atmosphere in these adjoining rooms is clean, fresh, and warm regardless of outside conditions. Each has a capacity of 5,000 pounds and 1,000 cubic feet.

A greater boon is revealed when an animal animated from a figurine of wondrous power is harnessed to the wagon. A night monarch vardo does not encumber these creatures, provided they are at least large size. Moreover, if the animated animal takes flight, the wagon can accompany the creature without hindrance. A night monarch vardo can even follow an obsidian steed during its plane shift and ethereal jaunt powers.

When a night monarch vardo is part of a caravan, use the following caravan rules statistics:
Traveler Capacity 6; Cargo Capacity 14
Limit 1; Consumption 1
Special Benefit +4 bonus to caravan’s Resolve

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, mage's magnificent mansion, overland flight, creator must have 6 ranks in the Craft (carpentry) or Profession (wainwright) skill
Cost 11,375 gp

Source: RPG Superstar 2012 Open Call

GM Note

House Rule: Several modifications have been tried (some without success) to the night monarch vardo; each successful modification adds +1 to the vardo's caster level (remember this is not a construction requirement but rather provides the vardo's caster level for dispel magic checks. Here are some of the successes:

Adding the aeonian lantern spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 10,000 gp but adds an aeonian lantern to the vardo's interior.

Adding the alarm spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 2,000 gp but wards it as that spell.

Adding the augment object spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 6,000 gp but doubles its hardness and hit points and adds +20 to the break DC of the vardo.

Adding the dimensional stability spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 8,000 gp but stabilizes its interior (to include the addtional rooms) so that items that use an extradimensional space as a part of their function (cf. bag of holding) function normally.

Adding the disguise caravan spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 8,000 gp but it appears as a completely different vehicle allowing it to seamlessly blend in with the culture and environment around it. Remember it does not disguise those driving or riding in it.

Adding the greater alarm spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 4,000 gp but wards it as that spell.

Adding the hardening spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 12,000 gp but increases its hardness by 1 point per 2 caster levels of the vardo's caster level.

Adding the hidden caravan spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 8,000 gp but prevents it from being detected by all but magical means.

Adding the hidden lodge spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 10,000 gp but increases its interior, changing the right side additional room into a 30 x 30 foot chamber with a sturdy door and a small fireplace. It is furnished with eight bunks, a trestle table, eight stools, and a writing desk. If this spell is added to the vardo's construction twice, the left side chamber is altered to mirror the right side one.

Adding the improved unseen servant spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 4,000 gp but provides an improved unseen servant to assist with chores in the interior of the vardo.

Adding the ironwood spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 12,000 gp but increases its hardness by 10 to a total of 20 and gives it fire resistance 10.

Adding the greater ironwood spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 16,000 gp but gives it DR 5/adamantine and immunity to fire..

Adding the mage's private sanctum spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 10,000 gp but wards the interior as that spell

Adding the phantom driver spell to the ​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 6,000 gp but gives it a driver that makes all driver skill checks (no matter what skills are needed to drive the vehicle) as your caster level + your Intelligence modifier at the time you created the vardo.

Adding the phantom wagon spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 12,000 gp but give it the additional powers and capabilities of that spell (any improvement in an ability, capability, or power, use the better of the two).

Adding the planar navigation spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 18,000 gp but allows it to move from plane to plane as if a greater plane shift were cast upon it.

Adding the secret vault spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 16,000 gp but creates an extradimensional space that is accessible through a trapdoor in one of the vardo's three rooms. This vault is equal in size to 10 cubic feet per CL of the vardo. Once the location of this trapdoor is decided upon, it cannot be changed.

Adding the unseen attendant spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 2,000 gp but provides an unseen attendant to act as your valet while in the interior of the vardo.

Adding the unseen crafter spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 4,000 gp but provides an unseen crafter to assist in any crafting (magical or mundane) while in the interior of the vardo.

Adding the unseen servant spell to the​ vardo's construction requirements increases its price by 2,000 gp but provides an unseen servant to assist with chores in the interior of the vardo.
 ​

Feat: Adept of the Threefold Path

Adept of the Threefold Path

Prerequisites: Int 24+, Spell Mastery, Flexible Wizardry, Improved Flexible Wizardry, Initiate of the Threefold Path, wizard level 15th.

Benefit: When you use Initiate of the Threefold Path, you can flexibly prepare a number of spell slots equal to the number of spells you have mastered with Spell Mastery (and Adept Mastery if that feat is possessed) + 4 flexibly prepared. Furthermore, you can finalize one of these slots with a move action instead of a standard action.

Source: The Mage's Tower website

Feat: Initiate of the Threefold Path

Initiate of the Threefold Path

Prerequisites: Int 20+, Spell Mastery, Flexible Wizardry, Improved Flexible Wizardry, wizard level 12th.

Benefit: When you prepare your spells each day, you can choose to keep a number of spell slots equal to the number of spells you have mastered with Spell Mastery (and Adept Mastery if that feat is possessed) flexibly prepared. Instead of preparing a single spell within each of these slots, you can partially prepare three spells. Anytime after you prepare these flexible slots, you can spend a standard action to finalize one slot, choosing one of the three spells to be finished and fully prepared in that slot.

Source: The Mage's Tower website

Feat: Improved Ioun Shaping

Improved Ioun Shaping

Your skill at creating ioun stones far exceeds most.

Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, caster level 12+

Benefit: Your skill at creating ioun stones is so advanced you may choose one of the following benefits when crafting an ioun stone: when determining the gold piece cost in raw materials you need to craft any item, reduce the base price by 25%; or, when determining the time you need to craft any item, reduce the base time by 25%. You choose the benefit each time you craft an ioun stone. The benefit taken while using this feat stacks with any similar benefit from another crafting feat.

Source: Mage's Tower