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
The Path of Rapid Regression
Chaos is birth and death, beginning and ending. Mages who follow this path find themselves sinking into a primal, bestial state, their flesh and psyche transforming to something feral. The beast within stalks them, both physically and mentally, clawing and gnawing at their thoughts and their civilised beliefs. In the end, those who succumb to this path devolve into burbling protoplasm, reduced to primal elements by the chaos they thought they controlled.
Step 1 – Eyes of the Wild
Accompanied by a low moan of pain, the chaos mage’s eyes migrate to the edge of his face, over a period of 1d6 days. His pupils split into hourglass shapes, or narrow to slits like a cat’s. The character may resemble a fish, bear, deer, or any other animal, and the physical changes are often accompanied by strange quirks the mage does not notice himself. For example, he may startle like a doe if surprised, grunt strangely without realising it, or exhibit other slightly animalistic traits.
Step 2 – Primal Musk
The cloying scent of the beast clings to the character, a strong, unpleasant smell which rises from his skin, and clings to his clothes and other belongings. The nature of the scent is variable, but most often is related to the chaotic appearance of Eyes of the Wild. Again, the
character begins to show minor bestial traits, using his hands rather than utensils to eat, or simply dipping his face into a bowl rather than raising it to drink.
The character gains a +2 bonus to all non-player character reaction checks involving animals and a +1 insight bonus to all Handle Animal checks. It is off-putting for most civilised beings, though, and the character incurs a –1 penalty to all non-player character reaction checks involving those who care about pleasant body odour.
Step 3 – Bestial Pelt
With a tormented scream, the practitioner falls to the ground, his flesh rippling horribly. Thick matted fur erupts from his skin, covering him from head to toe. Other small, animalistic traits begin to appear as well, such as the beginnings of a stunted snout, pointed ears or vestigial horns. Some may mistakenly believe the mage to be a werewolf.
The thick pelt grants the mage cold resistance 2 and a +1 natural Armour Class bonus. Conversely, as the wild begins to seize his mind, he loses touch with what it means to be human (or whichever race he belongs to), suffering a -2 penalty to all Charisma based skill checks that do not involve animals.
Step 4 – Animal Reflexes
The mage goes into an excruciating fit resembling animalistic epilepsy. While little or no outward change is apparent, the practitioner’s nerve endings and sensory organs are altered. As the character’s body changes, his senses become far more acute, his muscles begin to react faster, and his mind begins to shed rational thought, in favour of instinctive reaction.
The character gains a +1 bonus to Reflex saves, a +1 bonus to all Listen and Spot checks and a +1 bonus to Initiative. He suffers a -2 penalty to Intelligence, however, as his mind sheds its higher functions.
Step 5 – Primal Mind
At this step, advanced concepts such as reading, philosophy and debate become foreign to the character, as the mage begins to have difficulty thinking for long stretches of time. He loses focus rapidly, becomes forgetful, and has a hard time grasping the basics of sentient existence.
The character suffers a -2 penalty to all Intelligence-based skill checks.
Step 6 – Guttural Voice
The high pitched shriek of change is the last remotely human sound the character will ever make. At this stage, the character loses the ability to speak more than a few words as his throat and mouth restructure themselves to become more animalistic. He grows a definite snout and descends into barks or howls within a sentence or two. Strangely, the character’s ability to work magic is not impeded.
The character suffers a -2 penalty to all Charisma based skill checks, which stacks with previous penalties. Conversely, the character gains the ability to speak with all natural animals, at will.
Step 7 – Beast Soul
The character begins tearing at his own limbs as he succumbs to more serious changes. He shreds the flesh of his legs as they become shorter and snaps the bones in his arms as they grow longer. When the character rises again, he is changed – the transformations begun in the previous steps become more pronounced, his face grows more vulpine, his ears elongating and sliding towards the top of his head.
The character’s mental state deteriorates rapidly at this state, but his animalistic instincts become heightened. He loses 2 points of Intelligence, but his bonus to Listen and Spot checks increases to +3.
Step 8 – Chaotic Regression
Primal energies flood the character’s body, resulting in a dangerous deterioration of mind and flesh. The chaos taint is so strong and the damage so severe that it is no longer met with pain. Instead, the wild surge of energy brings spasms of ecstasy, which flare as the character’s hair/fur falls out in tufts and his skin gains a moist sheen. Vulpine features are lost, in exchange for a look that resembles nothing so much as a fish crossed with a foetus.
The radical changes weaken the mage’s body and he suffers 2 points of Constitution loss.
Step 9 – Back to the Sea
Shuddering in ecstasy, the character is assaulted with more wildfire changes. His moist flesh turn pale and thin, vestigial scales show in some places, while internal organs are visible in others. This primordial flesh requires constant application of water, lest it dry out, crack and split.
The character must pour one litre of water over his body each hour or suffer 1d8 points of damage from cracking and peeling. He also suffers a –2 circumstance penalty to all saves versus heat and dehydration. On the positive side the character gains the ability to breathe underwater through gills that appear on his neck and the character gains damage resistance 10/- from all water-based attacks or ooze attacks.
Step 10 – Primordial Regression
The final overload of chaos energy breaks down the last shreds of sentience that remain in the chaos mage. The resulting thing weeps in rapture as it sinks down into a greasy puddle of amoebas. The character’s essence is dispersed, destroying him utterly.
