MDMC #39 : Create a Spell Chain/Domain

Aberration Domain

Granted Power
You gains +4 insight bonus on all savings throws against spell or effects from aberrations.

Spells
1. Crown of Eyes: +2 to Spot and Search, can't be flanked.
2. Tremorsense: Sense foes touching the ground.
3. Mucus Cloud: Can breathe underwater and force others to breath underwater.
4. Destructive Scream: Scream for 2d6 damage.
5. Rusting Antennae: Touch rusts metal equipment.
6. Mind Blast: Stuns victims for 1d4 rounds.
7. Ethereal Shifting: You can become ethereal and back for 1 round/level.
8. Corrosive Slime: Acid slime covers your body.
9. Gibbering Horror: Transform you into a large Gibbering Mouth.

Crown of Eyes
Transmutation
Level: Aberration 1, Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 min./level

Ten eye stalks protrude from your head. If a helmet or hat is worn the eye stalks incorporate the material as part of the eye stalks skin. For the duration of the spell, the helmet or hat cannot be removed. The eye stalks allow you to look in any direction, providing a +2 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks. You can’t be flanked. (Based on All-Around Vision of Beholder)

Tremorsense
Transmutation
Level: Aberration 2, Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 10 min./level

Your face loses it's features. Your skin becomes multicolored. You can automatically sense the location of anything within 60 feet that is in contact with the ground, so long as you are touching the ground. (Based on Tremorsense of Phasm)

Mucus Cloud
Transmutation
Level: Aberration 3, Sor/Wiz 3
Components: S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

Your face alters to resemble an Aboleth. Three eyes are arranged vertically on your head. You gain the ability to breathe underwater. A thick mucus is secreted from your body. Underwater the mucus surrounds you with a viscous cloud roughly 1 foot thick. Any creature coming into contact with and inhaling this substance must succeed on a Fortitude save or lose the ability to breathe air for the next 3 hours. An affected creature suffocates in 2d6 minutes if removed from the water. Renewed contact with the mucus cloud and failing another Fortitude save continues the effect for another 3 hours. You're immune to mucus and the mucus of Aboleths. (Based on Mucus Cloud of Aboleth)

Destructive Scream
Transmutation
Level: Aberration 4, Sor/Wiz 4
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Duration: 1 round per two levels
Saving Throw: See text
Spell Resistance: No

You stoops a little. Your eyes and nose become less pronounced. Your mouth widens and can emit a blast of sonic energy in a cone up to 40 feet long as a supernatural ability. Disrupting tissue and rending bone, this attack deals 2d6 points of damage to all within the area (Reflex save as spell instead of supernatural ability for half). You cannot speak normally for the spell duration. (Based on Destructive Harmonics of Destrachan)

Rusting Antennae
Transmutation
Level: Aberration 5, Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 min./level

Two antennae grow underneath your eyes. If you make a successful touch attack, your antennae cause the target metal to corrode, warp, and crack. Any metal weapons, armor, and shields carried by a creature struck are weakened by this effect. The bonus to AC provided by an armor or shield drops by 2, to a minimum of 0. Weapons suffer a –2 penalty on attacks and damage, with a maximum penalty of –6. Magic armor and weapons, and other magic items made of metal, must succeed on a Reflex save to resist this effect.

These penalties last for 10 minutes. You can spends 5 minutes devouring a metal object (whether magical or mundane) transforms it into rust, destroying it permanently. You gain some mentalities of the rust monster and are tempted to rust and feed on metal. (Based on rust by redesigned Rust Monster)

Material Component: A piece of rust.

Mind Blast
Transmutation
Level: Aberration 6, Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: See text
Spell Resistance: No

Your eyes enlarge and whiten. Your nose recesses and four tentacles protrude from your mouth. As a supernatural ability you may create a mind blast in a cone 30 feet long. Anyone caught in this cone must succeed at a Will save (as spell instead of supernatural ability) or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. (Based on Mind Blast of Mind Flayer)

Material Component: Blood of a mind flayer

Ethereal Shifting
Transmutation
Level: Aberration 7, Sor/Wiz 8
Components: V, S
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level

Your hands and fingers elongate slightly and gain a metallic blue coloring. In the Ethereal Plane, you even appears to have a second set of arms underneath the first. You will keep your legs close together although it doesn't slow your movement. You can shift from the Ethereal Plane to the Material Plane as part of any move action, and shift back again as a free action. You can remain on the Ethereal Plane for 1 round before returning to the Material Plane. The ability is otherwise identical with the ethereal jaunt spell. (Based on Ethereal Jaunt of Ethereal Filcher)

Corrosive Slime
Transmutation
Level: Aberration 8, Sor/Wiz 8
Components: V, S
Casting Time 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: See text

Your skin turns molted gray and brown. An ochre slime exudes from you that contains a highly corrosive substance. The slime is particularly effective against stone. A mere touch deals 2d6 points of acid damage to organic creatures or objects. Against metallic creatures or objects, the slime deals 3d6 points of damage, and against stony creatures (including earth elementals) or objects it deals 4d6 points of damage. If grappled an opponent’s armor and clothing dissolve and become useless immediately unless the wearer succeeds on a Reflex save. Weapons that strike you also dissolve immediately unless the wielder succeeds on a Reflex save. A creature attacking you with natural weapons takes damage from its slime each time an attack hits unless the creature succeeds on a Reflex save. You and your equipment gain an immunity to acid for the spell's duration. (Based on Corrosive Slime of Delver)

Gibbering Horror
Transmutation
Level: Aberration 9, Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, DF
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 10 min./level
Saving Throw: See text

Your body bloats and oozes out of the confines of your clothes, multiplying your weight by 8. This increase changes your size category to the next larger one, and you gain a +4 size bonus to Strength, a -2 size penalty to Dexterity, and a +2 size bonus to Constitution. You gain a +10 natural armor. You gain damage reduction 5/bludgeoning. Your size modifier for AC and attacks changes as appropriate to your new size category. This spell doesn’t change your speed. Determine space and reach as appropriate to your new size. Mouths and eyes appear all over your body. You gain the bite attack, gibbering, spittle, improved grab, blood drain, swallow whole, ground manipulation, amorphous, and darkvision 60 ft of a Gibbering Mouther but all save DCs are based on the spell's save DC.

If insufficient room is available for the desired growth, you attain the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using your increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If you fail, you are constrained without harm by the materials enclosing you— the spell cannot crush you by increasing your size.

All equipment is not enlarged can be held within the amorphous body but takes up the space of one swallow whole victim of your original size. Armor cannot be worn effectively. Most other equipment can continue to be used if you choose. Spell can be cast although verbal components are not possible while gibbering. (Based on supernatural and extraordinary abilities of Gibbering Mouther)

Some Introductions for the Aberration domain

The domain could be found among Aboleth, Beholder, or Mind Flayer cultists.

After arriving in a town, the heroes find people gathered in the streets stoning a young man. The young man is a priest of Tacigeren, pursuer of knowledge. The god defied the other gods by trying to study and learn abominations rather than destroy them. Since some priests aided the mind flayer assault of a dwarven city in exchange for knowledge, the worship of Tacigeren has been banned by most civilized nations. No one knows of any wrong doing committed by the young man.

Heroes encounter a strange magical item that they don't understand. They learn the writing or construction appears to be Aboleth. A sage suggests they track down Darsam Thyom, a priest who has extensively studied the Aboleths.

While exploring a cavern, the party hears noises up ahead. If the party speaks Undercommon and gets close enough to hear, it seems to be small talk among old friends. The party finds a massive chamber with large passageways in every direction. In the room a huge Delver sits conversing with an old man. In addition to the old man are a couple of young priests carrying some bags filled with various minerals and precious metals. The older priest trades the minerals and metals for information about the underdark.

Thematic Elements

1. Each spell is patterned after the supernatural or extraordinary ability of monsters found in the Monster Manual (as explained in the contest entry).
4. Every spell has a range of "Personal."
8. One or more spells, or the domain power (if any), grants an insight bonus or luck modifier.