Want to rid yourself or your friend of that embarrassing goblin heritage? Not averse to murder? Then try this vivimantic procedure!
Divide Ancestry
Level: 4
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
Casting Time: 1 day
Cost: 150gp (drugs)
Cast upon a creature of half-race (e.g. a half-elf, half-goat, half-goblin, etc), this unusual procedure causes the subject's body to split permanently into two halves: one pure-blooded being of each parent race. The resulting beings are fully independent and begin their divided existence with identical memories and mental faculties, though the former diverge immediately -- there is no telepathic bond between them. Any talents related to one side of the ancestry are possessed only by the corresponding being.
During the procedure, the subject must be kept under the influence of deeply soporific drugs to the value of 150gp.
Awesome!
ReplyDeleteYou might want to put a modifier on this, otherwise someone is going to try this with half dragons.
ReplyDeleteAnd what happens with individuals from more than two races, like mongrelmen?
The spell would have no effect on a creature with more than two ancestor races. What would you see as being the problem with it being used on a half-dragon? My intention was that it just works on humanoids.
ReplyDeleteHalf dragons are much weaker than their dragon parent. If this spell got into their hands, dragons could breed large numbers of offspring and then gain an army that could overwhelm humanoid nations.
DeleteAs it is the opposite of Xenogamy, I suggest putting it at the same level. That makes it less of an army creator and more of a tool or even adventure goal (scroll, fountain, staff, etc.).
That's assuming the offspring are co-operative with the dragon, but I see what you mean. I'll change the text to specify that both parent races must be humanoid. That was the intention. (I've never heard of half-dragons being a thing, by the way!)
ReplyDeleteHalf-dragons were a 2e creation in Dragon 206, but came into their own in 3.0 as a template in the Monster Manual. From there dragon/human hybrids and dragon humanoids took off in several forms, including the dragonborn in 5e.
ReplyDeleteAnd as long as it is restricted to humanoids, I agree that it should stay 4th level. That allows for all kinds of social commentary as the spell is fairly easy to obtain for vivimancers and other casters if the GM allows.
Thanks for the feedback! It's helped me to refine the text.
DeleteYour welcome.
DeleteBy the way, what were you getting at with half-goat?
It's a spell created for the next issue of Wormskin. In Dolmenwood, goatmen are a prominent race and are able to interbreed with humans. Hence half-goats.
ReplyDeleteOkay, that make sense.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was wrong about the origin of the half dragon. It was part of Council of Wyrms as a way to allow sort of dragon PCs. The Dragon Magazine article provided more indepth material on them.
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ReplyDeleteSo how does this spell interact with artificial genetic hybrids? Example: In my current campaign, someone took a parasitic monster and fused it with some human embryos genetically to create some horrifying lovecraftian anime girls. Is this spell still valid, even though there's no literal 'ancestry'?
ReplyDeleteGood question! Personally I'd rule that it would work with artificial genetic hybrids. It wouldn't work on surgically created hybrids, though, for example.
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