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 the Whore
While most chaos paths wreak havoc with the victim’s body and mind, the path of the whore decimates the mage’s moral centre instead. The chaos mage becomes obsessed with the concept of prostitution, in all its many forms, as a metaphor for the give and take of chaos magic. In an attempt to better understand his art, the chaos mage thus becomes the ultimate prostitute, advancing at last to become a wretched, cosmic whore enslaved to the will of beings beyond mortal understanding.
Step 1 – Questions of Worth
The chaos mage begins to question the value of everything, doing his best to categorise the actions of others by their ‘value’ in terms of gold, gems or whatever system of judging wealth he adopts.
Step 2 – Hired Help
The chaos mage is simply unable to do anything himself that he can hire someone else to do for him. Shining his shoes, fixing his breakfast and the performance of sexual favours are all things the chaos mage not only pays for, but prefers to pay for in lieu of earning them in other ways, or doing them himself. If presented with the opportunity to buy the services of someone, the mage must succeed at a Will save against a DC of 10 or be forced to take that opportunity, even if it would prove financially ruinous.
Step 3 – Whore’s Eye
The chaos mage is adept at judging the value of things, or at least their perceived value. His greed and lust for the act of transaction leads him to spend wildly on items he does not need, so long as he feels he is getting the better end of the deal.
He gains a +2 bonus to all Appraise checks. Should he feel that the value of the item exceeds its price, he must purchase it, unless he succeeds at a Will save (DC 10). His whorish ways inflict a steady drain on his finances – at the end of every month he is assumed to lose 10% of his total wealth (including land and possessions).
Step 4 – Crude Proposal
Unable to restrain himself, the chaos mage continually propositions anyone he meets, always entreating them to perform acts which are, at best, out of character for them. The chaos mage cannot reliably control this urge, so when he meets someone for the first time, chances are good he will proposition them.
The chaos mage suffers a -4 penalty to all non-player character reaction checks and a -2 competence penalty to Diplomacy checks.
Step 5 – Seductive Offering
After a few slaps in the face and possible legal entanglements, the chaos mage has learned to make offers that are more enticing. Still, his slavish devotion saps his better judgement and he is prone to rash acts.
The chaos mage receives a +2 competence bonus to both Bluff and Sense Motive checks mage when attempting to convince someone to do something which most would consider reasonable. He loses 2 points of Wisdom, though he uses his original Wisdom score when casting chaos magic effects.
Step 6 – Gleam of Coin
Hiring others no longer appeals to the mage, who now Believes his handling of chaos magic has entitled the world to a piece of him, so long as they are willing to pay the price. The chaos mage will perform any service for a reasonable price, though he can refuse
those offers which result in immediate personal injury.
The character must succeed at a Will save against a DC of 15 to resist accepting any offer which is put before him. He is considered to automatically succeed if such an offer would result in immediate injury or death.
His whorish ways are now severely draining his finances – at the end of every month he is assumed to lose 20% of his total wealth (including land and possessions).
Step 7 – Obsessive Servitude
The chaos mage begins to hire himself out for menial or repulsive tasks, often hiring himself out to a whorehouse or other place of demeaning, spiritually exhausting labour. The chaos mage must spend a minimum of one week a month (though not necessarily in a single stretch) performing this type of work, to the exclusion of all else.
The character loses 2 points of Constitution and Strength, as the demeaning tasks wear at body and soul.
Step 8 – Hireling
The chaos mage is now incapable of performing actions without being hired to do so. Even his companions must make reasonable offers of pay if they wish the chaos mage to assist them.
The chaos mage simply will not perform work of any sort without recompense. His apparently heartless greed means that he has to be paid in order to perform any service. Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks are all made with a –2 penalty as the character loses his ability to empathise.
Step 9 – Soul of the Slave
The chaos mage has little will of his own at this point, but will offer his services to any who pay even the feeblest sums. Those who know his condition can prey upon him, as offering him a copper piece to sever a finger seems just as reasonable to his addled mind as would a request to shine a lord’s shoes.
The chaos mage suffers a -2 penalty to all Will saves. His whorish ways have now permanently crippled his finances – at the end of every month he is assumed to lose 40% of his total wealth (including land and possessions).
On the other hand, he has become as renowned as the Whore of Babylon and will undoubtedly have an entourage of (foolish) followers – he gains the Leadership feat. If he already has this feat, he gains a +4 bonus to his Leadership Score.
Step 10 – Whore of Chaos
The chaos mage offers his body and soul up to the forces of chaos, the mindless and seething energies which lie beyond mortal ken. Sadly, they hear and accept his offer, snatching him away and amusing themselves with his puny mortal existence for a few generations, then casting him aside like a despoiled rag doll. The character’s soul is ruptured horribly and expires immediately.
