The Quintessential Chaos Mage
The Quintessential Chaos Mage front cover
| Author | Patrick Younts |
| Series | Quintessential Series |
| Publisher | Mongoose Publishing |
| Publish date | 2003 |
| Pages | 128 |
| ISBN | 1-904577-54-7 |
| OGL Section 15 | qcmg |
Note: Material in this section may be "mature" in nature.
The material below is designated as Open Game Content
Breaker
Chaos is destruction, it is terror, it is fire and ice and acid and thunder, a ravening, churning void with the power to rend all of creation asunder. It is within chaos’ power to erode the pillars of heaven, to unravel the bindings of existence, to smash down all that is and all that ever shall be – and it is within the breaker’s power to unleash that fury.
The breaker is a chaos mage who has a natural affinity for using chaos to destroy. This affinity provides him with a measure of protection from the negative effects of a chaos backlash, cushions him from the brutal consequences of a failed caster check and makes it easier for him to cast Direct Damage-based chaos spell effects.
Roleplaying: The breaker is a warrior, a guardian, a killer and a saviour. His magic is the magic of conflict and destruction and he is most at home on the battlefield, unleashing dreadful spells which ravage men and structures with equal ease.
The typical breaker has given himself fully to the wild fury of chaos. He is passionate, lives for the moment, and never takes the long-term view about anything. Breakers are lusty and barely controlled, both on the battlefield and in their public dealings. They have trouble making and keeping friends, at least among the common folk; kindred spirits to warriors of all sorts, breakers are intensely loyal to those who prove their worth in the crucible of combat, the one true way to take a man’s measure – at least to their mind.
Why Play a Breaker?: The breaker is ideal for those players who love to unleash widespread destruction, to hammer their foes with enormous gouts of fire and to shatter high towers with a single torrent of ravening chaos. Breakers are also terrific for those players who use gaming as a form of stress relief, where they can unleash their aggressions on hapless orcs and dragons with wild abandon. At the same time, that is not all a breaker can be. They make ideal avengers (for good or evil) and are natural choices in those campaigns which feature larger than life, mythically-styled heroes.
Adventuring: Breakers prefer adventures which allow them to unleash the full fury of chaos, meaning they thrive best in times of battle and open war. They are ideally suited to, and greatly enjoy, the traditional
types of fantasy adventuring; dungeon delving, dragon slaying and wizard smiting.
Most breakers actively seek out adventure, as the killing arts are not well suited to a more sedentary lifestyle. These chaos mages enjoy the company of fighters and barbarians and are of a more rough and tumble cut than other spellcasters.
Some few breakers, however, prefer more peaceful lives, setting themselves up as protectors or ‘owners’ of either remote villages or, if they have enough power or raw arrogance, major cities. Adventures for these types of characters tend to involve protecting what is theirs from external assault to internal usurpation. This type of chaos mage can be a benevolent shepherds or malevolent dictator, as their morals dictate.
Benefits: Breakers know better than anyone how to unleash torrents of pure chaos energy, to rend, to destroy, to break. They are in every sense the quintessential war mage.
First, they gain a +2 bonus to all final casting DC checks when casting a spell which is solely a Direct Damage-based effect, or which has Direct Damage as its primary effect (see the Chaos Sorcery chapter for full details).
Second, should the breaker fail a final casting DC check when attempting to cast a spell which is solely a Direct Damage-based effect, or which has Direct Damage as its primary effect, he suffers nonlethal, rather than lethal damage. The exception to this is when a ‘1’ is rolled, in which case backlash and lethal damage occur normally.
Penalties: Breakers do not have the same capacity to force chaos magic to create as their fellow chaos mages do. Theirs is the magic of flame, wind, pain and death, and while they can certainly create swords and other implements from chaos, they cannot do it without great cost.
A chaos mage breaker suffers a -2 penalty to all final casting DC checks when casting a spell which is solely a Materialisation-based effect, or which has Materialisation as its primary effect. Further, they suffer normal, rather than nonlethal, damage when casting Materialisation effects, even with a successful caster check. In the case of spells which combine Direct Damage and Materialisation effects, the bonuses and penalties to caster checks cancel one another, meaning the breaker makes caster checks with no bonus and no penalty. Damage is applied normally, namely nonlethal for successful caster checks and lethal for failures.
