OpenQuest: Faith and Invocations

Some religions not only do not use magic, they consider it an affront to their god(s). They have, instead, acquired powers of casting out demons, blocking spells, and resisting magic.

This document presents one approach to give NPC members of a specific monotheistic religion anti-magical abilities. It is intended as a complement to Domains.

New Mechanics

Faith

Some believers have a percentile score called Faith representing their unshakable belief in their deity. (Religion represents knowledge of specific religious doctrine and dogma.)

Faith grants the following benefits:

• A character with Faith may substitute their Faith score on any Persistence or Resilience Test.

• Those with Faith may also pray for Divine Intervention with a nonzero chance of that prayer being answered.

• Faith grants use of all Invocations that the Referee deems appropriate for their setting.

• A character who loses some or all Faith may perform Penance to regain some of what they lost.

Not every believer may have Faith. Most commonly those with Faith are priests, monks, nuns, witch hunters, paladins, candidates for sainthood, and others who define their lives or livelihoods by their faith. Even then, most professional clergy may have very low or no Faith; they’re pretending to believe out of fear or for fringe benefits.

Sanctity

Objects and places usually acquire Sanctity from an Invocation. Either an object or place is Sanctified or it is not.

Effects of Sanctity

If an unholy creature attempts to touch a Sanctified object, the creature must pass a Persistence Test. Failure indicates they cannot bring themselves to approach it. A Fumble means they flee immediately.

Unholy creatures take 1d6 extra points of damage if struck by a Sanctified object, even if they are insubstantial or othewise impervious to harm. (Creatures with no HP take damage to their MP.) Prolonged contact does this damage per combat round. Armor does not protect against or absorb this extra damage. (Armor still stops damage from the weapon itself.)

Any being that uses magic will feel uneasy around Sanctity. They must also make a Persistence test, but cannot approach only on a Fumble. On an ordininary Failure they must make tests to use any magic, as if Stressed. Users of magic take no extra damage from Sanctified objects.

Other effects of Sanctity vary with the type and form of the object. For example, the object may imbue the area around it with its Sanctity.

Limits of Sanctity

If a Sanctified object is Sanctified again, its effects do not “stack”. Likewise, if two or more Sanctified objects radiate their Sanctity into the same area, the area is simply Sanctified.

Sanctity remains as long as the sanctified object is used in the service of the consecrator’s deity. If someone uses a sanctified object it for a purpose of which the deity would not approve, the object becomes desanctified. Some forms of spiritual (or physical) impurity may also desanctify an object.

“Unholy” Creatures

“Unholy” creatures include demons, undead, spirits, and other inherently magical creatures.

This category specifically excludes natural creatures, even if they use magic or come from other worlds. It also excludes supernatural servants of the deity, if any.

Divine Intervention

Any believer may pray for divine intervention. In this case, the Referee makes a Faith Test. If the roll scores a Critical Success, the deity will intervene to answer the invoker’s prayer. However, this intervention will, if at all possible, resemble a coincidence or happenstance rather than any supernatural influence, as befits a deity who forbids magic.

If the believer has Faith 10 or less, roll 3d10; if they all come up 0, the deity heard the believer’s plea. (This is essentially one in a thousand.)

Invocations

Invocations channel the power of the invoker’s deity to defend against monsters and magic, or to perform some other miracle.

Unless otherwise specified, Invocations have the following requirements and limits:

• The invoker must be able to see all targets.
• The invocation has a maximum range of 30 meters.
• Invocations follow line of sight.
• Each invocation takes a full combat round to perform. The invoker may take no other action during this time.
• The invoker must speak in a loud, clear voice.
• The invoker must present a holy symbol or hand gesture during the Invocation.
• If the invoker is wounded while reciting the Invocation, they must succeed at a Persistence test to finish the Invocation.
• The invoker must succeed at a Faith test at the end of the Invocation to determine whether it takes effect.
• An invocation takes effect at the beginning of the next round.

All invocations have one or more of the following notations:

Ceremony

The invoker must spend at least ten minutes performing an involved sequence of prayers and gestures to invoke the effect.

Continuous:

The invoker must maintain focus on the target(s) of the Invocation while chanting a repeating prayer to maintain the effect.

Material (type):

The invocation requires an additional material component to perform.

Mental

The invocation requires no words or gestures, but the invoker may do nothing else for the duration of the invocation.

Reaction

The invocation uses a combat reaction, not the full combat round.

Resist (skill):

Instead of an unopposed Faith test, the invoker must succeed at an Opposed Faith Test against the target’s given skill.

Touch

The invoker must touch the subject of the Invocation.

Abjure Magic

Reaction, Resist (magic skill)

The invoker utters a holy phrase against a single recently cast or ongoing spell. The invoker need not know what that spell does.

The invoker must succeed at an Opposed Test between the invoker’s Faith and the skill used to cast the spell. If the spell is Divine Magic, proceed as if the skill to cast the spell was 100% minus any penalties for Domain or active Abjure Magician invocations. If the invoker wins, the spell ends.

This power can affect spells cast using a magic item, but it cannot affect magic permanently bound into an item. For example, if an invoker abjures a spell cast through a sorcerer’s Spell Matrix, the caster loses the magic points used in the nullified spell, but the Spell Matrix itself is unaffected. To destroy the magic in a magic item an invoker can only destroy the item.

Abjure Magician

Continuous

The invoker takes a combat round to begin a chanted prayer in a continuous loop. The next round, depending on the results of the Faith test, one of the following effects occurs:

In the case of Divine Magic or other effects normally used without a skill test, the subject must first pass a Test with a score of 80% (or 50%), as if their unmodified “spell Test” were 100%.

If using the Domain rules, use the following table instead:

The effect continues as long as the invoker continues to chant. If the invoker is wounded, or attempts any activity other than chanting, they must make a Persistence roll to continue the current chant. If they are gagged or fall unconscious, the chant ends.

Abjure Monster

Continuous, Resist (Persistence)

The invoker points at one or more unholy beings and begins chanting prayers of rebuke.

Each unholy being or being possessed by a spirit in the direction the invoker indicates must succeed in an Opposed Test between the invoker’s Faith and the creature’s Persistence. If the invoker wins the Opposed Test, the being must retreat from the invoker. On a tie the creature can stay at a fixed distance but cannot approach.

Note that this Abjuration is directional and depends on the invoker maintaining concentration. If the invoker attempts to Abjure targets in another direction or perform any other action, the effect ends.

Abjure Spirit

Resist (Persistence)

The invoker presents a holy symbol and chants prayers of rebuke against a possessing spirit. The spirit’s host must remain within range during this ordeal.

At the end of the round, if the invoker succeeds at a Faith test, the spirit must succeed at a Persistence test or leave its host and return to wherever it came from. If the invoker fails or the spirit succeeds, it remains in its host.

If the Faith test scored a Critical Success, the spirit requires a Critical Success to remain. If the Faith test Fumbles, that invoker cannot try to abjure that spirit again for a day.

Anoint

Ceremony, Material (oil), Touch

The invoker anoints a person, or rarely a non-sapient animal, with oil.

An anointed being may make Persistence and Resistance tests using the invoker’s Faith score if it’s greater than their own skill.

Anointing only lasts for the duration of one conflict, or one day if the anointed does not enter conflict.

Bless

The invoker locks eyes with a subject, makes a holy gesture, and says a simple prayer. If the invoker succeeds at a Faith test, the subject receives a Blessing.

For the next day the subject may add +20% to one skill test. Once used, the Blessing ends.

A subject may carry only one Blessing at a time. They may not transfer it to another character, even through Assistance. If the subject does not use the Blessing within 24 hours, the Blessing expires.

Note that this invocation is very difficult to use in physical combat. Both invoker and subject of the blessing must take their eyes away from the fight, essentially losing an action and putting themselves at risk. If blessings have a use at all in combat, it’s immediately before the fight.

Consecrate Ground

Ceremony, Material (holy water)

The invoker consecrates a plot of land whose maximum size depends on the invoker’s Faith:

The rite of consecration requires the invoker to walk the perimeter of the land; the time this takes adds to the required time of the rite.

When the ceremony is complete, the plot of land acquires Sanctity. Unholy beings cannot trespass on Sanctified ground without suffering the effects of its Sanctity, even if they fly over.

If using the Domain rules, the Domain Strength of consecrated ground is 1 step above the ambient Domain Strength. For example, if the Domain Strength of a village is 1, the consecrated ground of its temple yard will be 2. A Domain may not have a Strength greater than 5.

Discern Domain

Mental

(This invocation assumes the Referee is using Domain rules. Otherwise this invocation has no effect.)

The invoker pauses a moment to search their feelings. If they pass a Faith test, they can feel the Domain Strength of the Domain around them, if any. If they fail the test, they cannot try again for one hour.

Standing in their deity’s Domain brings the invoker a sense of peace and safety. Conversely, standing in the Domain of an opposed power instills a feeling of fear and danger.

Discern Magic

Mental

If the invoker succeeds at a Faith test, a cold, prickling sensation warns the invoker that they are in the presence of magic: an active spell, magic item, or magical creature. If they fail, they cannot try again for one hour.

For an invoker to detect a source of magic, it cannot be more than 30 m away and must not lie behind a barrier more than one meter thick. Spells to conceal the type of magic still read as magic, but the direction and distance is less clear.

If using Domain rules, standing in their deity’s Domain extends the range at which they can perceive magic. The maximum distance depends on the Domain Strength at the location of the magic source.

If the source of magic is not within line of sight, the invoker will only know its direction and relative distance.

Discern Faith

Mental

If the invoker is within range of another person and succeeds at a Faith test, they can gauge the other person’s degree of Faith relative to their own: no Faith, -20% or less of their own (but still nonzero), about the same, or at least +20% or greater. If the other person’s Faith is for a rival deity, they will know that as well.

If the invoker fails the Faith test, their feelings remain unclear and they cannot try again for one hour.

Discern Sanctity

Mental

If the invoker is within range of an object or place and succeeds at a Faith test, they can gauge whether an object has Sanctity, and whether it was sanctified by their deity or a hostile power.

Initiate

Ceremony

The invoker elevates an ordinary Lay Member of the deity to an Initiate. The Lay Member must be a follower in good standing with the deity’s religion, have a Religion skill of 40% or more, and meet any other conditions for Initiation.

The Initiate gains a Faith score equal to their POW × 2. This score will rise (or fall) with the Initiate’s adherence to the deity’s laws.

Proselytize

Divine inspiration can grant the invoker a more persuasive tongue than they normally possess. When attempting to persuade one or more NPCs to follow the principles of the invoker’s deity or convert to their religion, a invoker who succeeds at a Faith test adjusts their Influence skill by an amount based on their level of success.

Unlike other Invocations, this invocation may be reserved for leaders of the religion, e.g. Priests or High Priests.

Restore

The deity sometimes guides the hands of those attempting to save lives. An invoker who succeeds at a Faith test adjusts their Healing skill by an amount based on their level of success.

The healer must still use a healer’s kit, and spend several minutes (or more) patching the patient up. See the Healing skill in the Skills chapter (OpenQuest 3rd edition, p 44) for other limitations and effects.

Sanctify Altar

Ceremony, Material (holy water)

The Invoker sanctifies an altar by sprinkling holy water and reciting prayers. An altar must have a flat surface at least 1 meter by one half-meter, and be made of stone or hard wood. A Sanctified altar acts as a mobile place of worship for communities that lack a permanent structure.

The altar acquires Sanctity, as does the space 30 meters around it. Unholy beings must pass a test of their Persistence or avoid the altar. If an unholy being successfully resists the effect, they do not make the test again until they leave the altar’s presence.

The altar’s presence extends no more than 30 meters, and is blocked by walls and other obstructions.

If using the Domain rules, an altar increases the Domain Strength by 1 in a 10 meter radius around it. If the area of effect overlaps with another altar, building, consecrated ground, or icon, the Domain Strength does not rise further.

Sanctify Building

Ceremony, Material (holy water)

The invoker ceremonially purifies a building at all four corners by sprinkling holy water and reciting prayers. A building must be stationary, with four solid walls and a roof. Wood is acceptable, but brick or stone is preferred. A sanctified building usually serves as a church, temple, or shrine to the deity.

A Sanctified building’s Sanctity repels unholy beings. They must pass an Test of their Persistence before they can willingly enter. If a unholy being successfully enters the building, they do not make the test again until they leave the building.

If using the Domain rules, the interior of a Sanctified building has a Domain Strength 1 greater than the area outside the building’s walls. Additional altars and icons do not raise the Domain Strength further, nor does consecrated ground.

Sanctify Icon

Ceremony, Material (holy water)

The invoker ceremonially purifies an image of a saint of the deity, or a symbol of the deity themself, by sprinkling holy water and reciting prayers. An Icon acts as a focus for informal worship.

A Sanctified icon repels unholy beings in the same way as an altar.

If using the Domain rules, an icon increases the Domain Strength by 1 in a 10 meter radius around it. If the area of effect overlaps with another altar, sanctified building, consecrated ground, or icon, the Domain Strength does not rise further.

Sanctify Water

Ceremony

The invoker recites prayers over a container of pure, clean water. At the end of the ceremony, the water gains Sanctity and becomes holy water.

In addition to its use in other ceremonies of sanctification, a vial of holy water may also be used to repel unholy beings from a line no longer than 10 meters or area no larger than 3 meters in diameter. If contained in an easily broken vial, holy water becomes a thrown weapon against unholy beings.

An invoker may only sanctify one liter of water per ceremony.

Sanctify Weapon

Ceremony, Touch

An invoker says prayers over an unheathed weapon held in their hands. The weapon’s Sanctity does 1d6 damage against unholy beings. This damage ignores armor, although the base damage of the weapon does not.

Note that a ranged weapon must use Sanctified ammunition to harm the unholy. An invoker can Sanctify no more than 20 arrows, bolts, stones, or bullets per ceremony.

Seek Portents

Ceremony

The invoker prays for a sign from their deity. The invoker must formulate a question, the more specific and unambiguous the better. Within the next few days, the invoker will have a dream, vision, or portent that provides an answer.

How accurate this answer is depends on the results of a Faith Test:

(If the invoker is a player character, the Referee makes this test in secret.)

Portents can and often do predict the future. In such cases the Referee should formulate the true answer taking into account what’s likely to happen given present circumstances, rather than force events to a predetermined end.

Penance

An individual who loses some (or all) Faith after committing a sin against their deity may offer penance in hopes the deity will restore their power.

To perform an act of penance, the penitent must spend at least a night in prayer, asking for the deity’s forgiveness. A invoker may also demonstrate their penitence by a grand gesture: donating a large amount of money or goods to a worthy cause, undertaking a dangerous quest, etc. (To appease bloodier gods, the penitent might scourge themselves, inflicting 2d6 damage upon themselves over the course of a night.)

When the character’s act of penance is complete, the penitent makes a Faith Test with the following modifiers depending on the nature of their penance:

If the act of penance is a Success or greater, the penitent has regained full use of their Invocations and any other powers granted by Faith.

Using Faith and Invocations

Abjure Magic and Abjure Magician can severely take the fun out of being a magician. “Unholy” beings and spirits fare little better, as demonstrated by the probability of Opposed Tests. If the Referee wants their players with magic-using characters to have fun they should make those with Faith few and far between.

Prefer Domains over Invocations

The Domain rules provide a simple, gentle, progressive way to dampen magic in some areas while giving the players ample warning that magic may not work freely.

• Domain Strength 1 eliminates “automatic” uses of magic. Player characters may notice that even outside of combat magic requires a skill test. The Referee should also provide ample clues that a god claims this land: holy symbols on walls and gates, priests in unfamiliar (or familiar) robes, peasants with an odd look of contentment.

• Domain Strength 2 gives targets of magic a boost to their resistance skills. The Referee may wish to describe the sensation of a spell “bouncing”, or the momentary sensation of an overwhelming presence.

• Domain Strength 3 and 4 provides flat penalties to magical skills, which is simpler than a contested roll. By now player magicians will notice their diminished casting ability or spell power.

• Domain Strength 5 eliminates all magic. If players at this point do not realize that they cannot cast spells freely in the deity’s presence, that is their problem.

In contrast, a priest coming out of nowhere and making their spell hard if not impossible to cast will likely come as a total surprise, for which few players can plan.

Consider “Simple Faith”

In Ars Magica 4th edition, from which I (cough) borrowed a number of ideas, some holy folk had a “True Faith” score from 1 to 10. When someone cast a spell at a cleric with True Faith, the Referee rolled a ten-sided die; if the result was at or under their Faith score, the spell simply failed. Certain religious relics also had “True Faith” which added to the True Faith of its bearer, even if the True Faith was 0.

One could simplify Faith to have a similar effect: spells cast at the possessor would have a chance of simply failing. Holy relics and holy places could give a bonus of +20% to Faith, or +50% for a truly potent relic or temple.

While these simplifications would lose the “sorcerer-busting” character of this system, a Referee might prefer a simple die roll to a menu of twenty Invocations.

Reserve Faith For Major NPCs

Even in conventional, pro-magic, polytheistic OpenQuest religions, Lay Members far outnumber Priests and Initiates. In Faith-based religions, those with Faith resemble Priests or Holy Warriors of other religions.

Logically, someone who scrupulously obeys the will of a no-magic and likely no-fun deity will become famous (or infamous). Depending on the attitudes of their neighbors, they will become either leaders of a community or weird old hermits in the wilderness.

Therefore, NPCs with Faith should be rare and memorable: the bishop of a major city, the uncommonly holy village priest, the mendicant friar on the path to sainthood, the zealous demon hunter.

Give Invocations Loopholes

As written, two forms of magic confound Invocations:

1. Magic items cannot be abjured, only destroyed by mundane means. Exception: if the item allows the possessor to cast a spell, a casting of the spell may be abjured. The possessor may even lose some MP or a “use” from the item. But the item itself is unaffected.

2. Depending on the setting and rules, no Invocation can stop ritual magic. If the ritual leader makes a skill roll at the end of the ritual, an invoker might interrupt it with a prayer, depending on timing. Otherwise, one must physically stop the ritual from being completed.

The Referee may exempt certain other supernatural powers from the effects of Invocations, e.g. mutations, psychic abilities, or a form of “subtle magic” that Invocations cannot discern or affect.

Introduce Invocations Incrementally

The Referee may decide that not all those with Faith can use all Invocations right away. For example, in my Polar Continent setting, adherents of Taluism learn “Rites” based on their rank in the religion. The in-universe explanation is that the power of Faith requires memorizing and speaking prayers from the Book of Rites correctly.

One can use other conventions to restrict access to Invocations, such as:

• Orders or divisions within the religion, e.g. the Templars in the Polar Continent use Discern Magic and Sanctify Weapon in their witch-hunting and monster-hunting duties, while others usually don’t.

• Different sects of the same religion, e.g. the “Builders” fence magic in with Consecrate Ground and Sanctify Building, while the “Hunters” use the Abjure Invocations and the “Seers” rely mainly on Seek Portents.

• Different religions, e.g. two clashing Faith-based religions differ on whether Sanctify Icon is idolatry, whether Proselytize clashes with free will, and whether Restore steals souls from paradise.

The Faith-Based Campaign

Faith and Invocations were intended mainly for ultra-religious NPCs opposed to player character magicians. As I wrote these rules I realized some player may want to play a crusader against magic and monsters.

Some tips for the Referee, off the top of my head:

• If not immediately obvious, Faith and Invocations are incompatible with any other magic system, current or future. One can practice anti-magic or magic, not both.

• Invocations are more limited than just about every magic system. Except for Bless, Proselytize and Restore Invocations only affect magic and monsters. As partial compensation Faith grants access to every Invocation the Referee allows.

• I don’t know what the Growth Point cost for gaining Faith would be off the top of my head. 5? 10? Maybe “pay as you go” for each Invocation? Of course if all PCs have Faith the Referee can simply spot them the points.

Faith for PCs

PCs cannot spend Growth Points to increase Faith. It only increases with Acts of Faith and Good Works, as defined by the Referee.

Depending on the religion and setting, Acts of Faith may include:

• Prayers and religious observances at specified times.
• Pilgramages to holy sites.
• Abstaining from “unclean” or evil practices despite temptation.
• Obeying religious and civil authorities unless their directives contradict core tenets of the faith.

Good Works may include:

• Providing alms to the poor, or perhaps even giving all their wealth away save that necessary for survival.
• Saving lives, human or otherwise.
• Improving society somewhat.
• Proselytizing their deity to the young and unbelievers.
• Opposing (or slaying!) enemies of the deity.

Each Act of Faith or Good Work should be worth 1d6 percentage points.

The Referee should only increase a character’s Faith if the Act of Faith or Good Work requires siginficant effort or sacrifice for the PC. Conversely, they may remove points of Faith if the PC commits impious or evil acts, e.g. lying, cheating, stealing, killing, taking the deity’s name in vain.

Frequently Posed Questions

Why a New System?

Many of the Invocations I’ve outlined have no parallels in OpenQuest Divine Magic or Personal magic. The Divine Magic spell Consecrate, for example, merely lets the caster know if someone or something has entered the boundary.

Also, invokers wouldn’t run out of resources like users of Personal Magic, Divine Magic, and Sorcery. This makes them a serious threat to users of those kinds of magic. The One Magic system from OpenQuest Companion is more of a match, but I wanted the feel of a religion that hated magic. Existing systems just didn’t quite fit.

Thus I invented this system.

Why This System?

Originally I devised this system for the monotheistic religion of Taluism on the Polar Continent.

In formulating not only the abilities of Taluists but their inabilities, I asked myself why did Taluism not dominate all of the Polar Continent?

• One non-Taluist nation has active gods with their own Domain and their own (magic wielding) priests.

• Another non-Taluist nation aggresively pursued alchemy and artificing, so they have magic items immune to Taluist abjuration.

• A magic-based resistance movement within a Taluist empire uses a subtle mental magic both to elude Discern Magic and escape capture. They also work ritual magic and alchemy in their safe havens.

• Natural barriers between the Taluist theocracies and other lands and a “no tolerance” policy for Taluism have kept other regions safe so far.

Thus the minimalism of their powers, and holes like enemy Domains, magic items, ritual magic, and the reliance on feet on the ground naturally emerged.

Why Faith?

Originally I based the precursor of Invocations on Religion. At some point I realized that, if I had a Priest with a Religion of 75%, he’d be extremely hard to beat for beginning to mid-tier characters. I needed a second skill that could keep pace with (Personal) Magic Casting.

Since I was already “borrowing” from Ars Magica, I decided to call this second skill “Faith”. It’s notionally based on actual belief, not just knowledge of doctrine and advancement within a religion.

An honest monk might have high Faith; a corrupt bishop might have low Faith. It would keep players guessing.

Why So Many Invocations?

An early draft divided Invocations into “Rites”, but as I elaborated on, for example, the Rite of Abjuration, I found that I was grouping three or four mechanics into a single “Rite”. The naming scheme tries to keep Invocations with the same basic purpose or mechanic with the same verb, while keeping distinct applications of a mechanic in distinct Invocations. There are some obvious exceptions:

• Abjure Magician: Originally this would have used multiple Opposed Tests between magic skill and Faith, but as I imagined myself throwing that many dice, I decided to simplify it.

• Consecrate Ground: Maybe I should have called it Sanctify Ground, but I couldn’t let go of the term “consecrated ground”.

• Discern Magic discovers “unholy” magic, while the other three Discern abilities detect “holiness”. Originally I thought I’d just give the Templars¹ the Detect Magic spell. However, I could see the argument that even non-Templars might discover magic in their midst. Plus I like the idea that Domain makes magic easier to find in the same way silence makes tiny sounds more audible.

• Sanctify Weapon caused the same internal debate as Discern Magic: non-Templars might want to arm themselves against the unholy. Here, though, I thought I blended it into the Sanctity rules a little more cleanly.

• Seek Portents just has an awkward name. I wanted to keep the “verb, optional noun” theme going. This is just another variation on Divination.

• Arguably I’ve written all the Invocations from a player character perspective. Initiate and Seek Portents are the worst in this regard: Inititations and Divinations should really happen off-screen. I guess I wanted to give Referees a better idea of the abilities and limits of Taluism’s miracles-not-magic approach.

If someone is tempted to write more Invocations, remember that Taluism’s One God hates magic, and therefore permits his followers the bare minimum to hunt down “sorcerers” and “demons”. I’d also encourage other Referees to stick with the Abrahamic and mostly Christian theme of Invocations … just no Biblical plagues or explicit miracles, please.