Pacter Spells

Pacter Spell Limits

Pacter sorcery is powerful, but it has several fun-damental limits that apply to whatever effects it might try to create. The guidelines below can be helpful if a PC tries to expand the tradition’s spell list, or if a GM wants to create a new spell as an adventure reward for a Pacter PC.

Spells only involve Shadows. Pacter magic only involves the summoning, augmentation, and manipulation of Shadows and Shadow energies. Everything the spell does should have some sort of relationship to a Shadow, either to conjure it, boost it, or control it. This relationship should not merely be a fig leaf of justification for an unrelated power; if the player wants to create a spell that conjures an extremely temporary Shadow that just happens to explode like a fireball where they conjure it, the idea should be declined.

Spells don’t borrow Shadow powers. A caster can summon a shapeshifting Deceiver, but they can’t create a spell that merely borrows a Deceiver’s shapeshifting power. If a caster wants a magical effect to happen, they have to call up a Shadow that can create that effect on their own.

Pacter magic is cooperative with Shadows. The normal relationship between a Pacter and a summoned Shadow is cooperative, unlike most other forms of summoning. The Shadow and the mage might not like each other much if their natures aren’t in sympathy, but the Pacter is providing valuable metadimensional energy to the Shadow, and the Shadow is trying to do their job correctly. Spells that torment, drain, or take unfair advantage of a summoned Shadow aren’t in the tradition’s style.

Spells don’t directly harm Shadows. While a Pacter can control Shadows, they have no spells that cause direct, intentional harm to them. Even their Put Down incantation only works on their own summoned entities, and their Shadow Ward spells only harm Shadows that intentionally try to cross them. Creating a spell that is expressly de-signed only to hurt Shadows would be considered a betrayal of their fundamental relationship.

It’s hard to keep a Shadow in existence. Pacters who want a Shadow army are going to have to conjure them up a few at a time as per the rules on page 104. Some Pacter spells can cause a Shadow to stick around without Light Focus, but all of these spells impose significant costs on the caster and aren’t really suited for conjuring a swarm of disposable servants who follow them around all the time. GMs should not allow players to create spells that let them easily maintain a large group of Shadows that can go with them on adventures or otherwise act as constant retainers.

Afflictive Focus Pact

Level 2

The Pacter binds a specific visible Shadow they have summoned into a unity of shared pain. Whenever ei-ther one would take hit point damage, the damage is actually suffered by the other party. If the damage is actually enough to kill or mortally wound the other party, then both subjects take the full damage. Because of these shared consequences, the use of this spell is not considered a betrayal by a summoned Shadow. The pacted Shadow must be within 30 meters of the caster for this spell to have effect. Once cast, it persists until the targeted Shadow is banished or destroyed or the caster drops the spell as a Main Action. A caster can have only one Afflictive Focus Pact active at once.

Analyze Shadow

Level 1

The caster may target any visible subject within one hundred meters. If the target is a Shadow, the caster learns its hit dice, its Principles, a few sentences describing any special abilities it may have, and can discern whether or not it has been summoned by a caster or is supported by other channels of metadimensional energy, albeit not specifically what those channels are.

This spell can penetrate conventional shapeshifting guises adopted by Shadows; only defenses that specifically allow for resisting magical detection allow the Shadow a Mental save to resist being found out.

Blood Sacrifice

Level 5
While the use of this knowledge is forbidden by all respectable Pacter schools, a master of the art knows enough about the synchrony of human lives and Shadow hungers to use the one to feed the other. This spell is cast as an Instant action when the Pacter personally kills an intelligent creature who knows that the caster is killing them. A victim who lacks the frisson of personal horror and recognition does not provide the necessary energy to the process. One visible Shadow of no more hit dice than the victim is then fixed in the world for one month, with no need for Focus or other sustenance.

The Shadow need not be one summoned by the caster; free Shadows may be fed by this spell. If the Shadow has too many hit dice to be fed by one victim’s death, the caster may kill additional targets during the same scene without re-casting the spell. So long as enough hit dice of sentient creatures have been murdered with-in the same scene, the spell can benefit the Shadow.

Extremely powerful or insatiable Shadows may require more than these few deaths to fuel them, or the murder may not be able to satisfy them for as long as a month.

Call Deceiver

Level 4
A shapeshifting Deceiver is called up by this spell, with the statistics given on page 118. The Shadow is quite intelligent and capable of exerting its own judgment in service to its summoner’s will. The Deceiver remains as long as Light Focus is maintained, plus one hour per caster level thereafter.

Call Devourer

Level 5
A horrific Devourer, as per page 119, is summoned forth. While tremendously lethal in combat, these Shadows are constantly struggling against their summoner’s will, and require intense focus to control.

Maintaining control of a Devourer requires the caster to maintain Deep Focus and spend a Main Action each round directing it. Devourers can only be ordered to move to particular locations or eat particular living creature. If the caster loses Deep Focus or is incapacitated, the Devourer will break free, remaining in existence for one round per caster level and seeking to eat all flesh around it, starting with the caster and then moving on to the nearest creature. A Devourer can be safely sent back by the caster provided they still have control, but the Devourer must be fed 3d6 hit points of the caster’s own life force in order to go quietly. If the damage is enough to mortally wound the caster, the Devourer breaks free instead. Devourers cannot be controlled or pacted by spells cast by their summoner.

Call Drudge

Level 2
The wretched and slavishly fearful Shadows known as Drudges are useful for a Pacter who requires manual labor services, as per page 119. A Drudge called forth by this spell will be fearfully obedient to the Pacter, but cannot effectively fight or use tools more complex than picks or shovels. A Drudge will remain as long as Light Focus is maintained, plus one hour per caster level afterwards.

Call Lesser Servitor

Level 1
This spell summons a Lesser Servitor as described on page 122. The servitor will obey the caster with suicidal devotion and a human degree of intelligence, but it has no sentience or personal will, and is unable to fight effectively. The Lesser Servitor remains so long as Light Focus is held and it is not destroyed by violence.

Call Manipulatory Manifestation

Level 1
A Manipulatory Manifestation is summoned up as described on page 122. The manifestation persists as long as Light Focus is maintained, or for ten minutes per caster level thereafter.

Call Minion

Level 3
While most Shadows are apt for particular kinds of service, there are times when a Pacter requires a more versatile tool. This spell calls up a Minion as described on page 123, a Shadow capable of almost any form of service. The Minion remains as long as Light Focus is maintained, persisting ten minutes afterwards per caster level.

Call Myrmidon

Level 2
The Pacter beckons forth a Myrmidon Shadow as described on page 123. The Myrmidon is suicidally loyal but is limited to the kinds of service normal for its breed; combat and guardianship. The Myrmidon remains until destroyed or until Light Focus is dropped, after which it persists for one round per caster level before evaporating.

Call Odalisque

Level 2
The Pacter invokes a Shadow known as an Odalisque, as described on page 123. The Odalisque is suicidally loyal to the summoner, but cannot perform actions contrary to its Principles. It persists until it is destroyed or until Light Focus is dropped, vanishing one round per caster level thereafter.

Call Render

Level 4
The Pacter summons up a hulking Shadow of iron claws and tremendous strength, as described on page 124. While sluggish and stupid, a Render can lift, dig, and crush with inhuman ease. The creature remains as long as Light Focus is maintained, plus one round per caster level.

Call Shadow Chariot

Level 3
The Pacter summons up a Shadow Chariot vehicle as described on page 124. The vehicle is sentient and can pilot itself with human intelligence. It persists until destroyed or until Light Focus is dropped, plus ten minutes per caster level thereafter.

Call Stellar Phoenix

Level 5
The strange and magnificent Stellar Phoenix is summoned up by this spell, as per page 125. The Phoenix is an aerial transport capable of flying its occupants between worlds within a solar system, though it has no meaningful offensive ability. It has a human-like intellect and can operate itself without need for a pilot. The Phoenix persists as long as Light Focus is maintained; if Focus is lost, the Phoenix will continue to its last indicated destination, deposit its passengers, and vanish.

Call Vigilant

Level 3
The Pacter calls up a Shadow known as a Vigilant, as described by the entry on page 125. These Shadows are largely useless except as guardians, but quite effective for that purpose. The Shadow persists while Light Focus is maintained, or one day per level afterwards.

A Vigilant will not leave the general environs into which it has been summoned, usually a single building or starship, or a less defined zone no more than a hundred meters in diameter.

Conjured Implement

Level 1
Metadimensional energy is drawn forth and forged into a mechanical device no more complicated than a TL3 firearm and no larger than can be carried by the caster unaided. While this object appears to be normal to casual inspection and is as sturdy as most objects of its kind, it’s actually nothing but a thin energetic force shell, and cannot mimic properties that require specific chemical makeups such as foodstuffs, consumables, or explosives. The object persists as long as Light Focus is maintained, and then for one hour per caster level thereafter. If the object is broken, it vanishes instantly.

Directive Focus Pact

Level 4
A specific mission or task is assigned to a summoned Shadow, providing it with the necessary metadimensional nourishment necessary to remain in this world even without the aid of its summoner’s Focus. The spell must be directed at a visible Shadow the caster has summoned, and the Shadow must be given a single

specific task to accomplish. This task can be somewhat open-ended, such as “Guard my residence” or “Kill this man”, or “Maintain my household and entertain my guests”, but extremely open directives like “Fight the enemies I indicate” or “Impersonate this city councilor and enact my political plans” are too loose. Once the Shadow is so directed it will carry out its task indefinitely until it becomes impossible to do so or until this spell is dropped. Once the task is inapplicable or the spell is ended, the Shadow becomes free. Most free Shadows will evaporate by the end of the scene, but intelligent or powerful ones may be able to find a substitute source of metadimensional energy to sustain them.

Prolong Pact

Level 3
This spell is cast as an Instant action performed when the caster drops Light Focus from a Shadow they have summoned. When Focus is withdrawn from the summoned Shadow, any remaining summoning duration is tripled. Thus, if a Shadow normally remains for 5 hours after Light Focus is withdrawn, it will instead remain for 15 hours.

Put Down

Level 1
Unlike most spells, this invocation can be cast as an Instant action. One visible Shadow within 10 meters that the caster has summoned or created is instantly banished. Note that this or a similar spell effect is the only way to get rid of a summoned Shadow before its natural duration has elapsed without destroying it, and thus betraying a Pacter’s implicit bargain with a summoned entity. A free Shadow is immune to this spell, even if the caster was its original summoner.

Shadow Compulsion

Level 3
The Pacter targets a visible Shadow within 30 meters and issues it a single sentence of command. This command cannot be suicidal or entirely contrary to its Principles. The Shadow gets a Mental saving throw to resist the command; on success, it’s immune to this spell for the rest of the scene. On a failure, the Shadow will carry out the command until it is completed or until the end of the scene. If the Shadow is harmed or attacked by the caster or their allies, however, the spell breaks immediately.

Shadow Cyst

Level 2
A specific Shadow summoned by the Pacter is folded down into a transdimensional space attached to the caster, escaping conventional detection by TL4 sensors. The affected Shadow vanishes when the spell is cast; it may be called forth or put back into the cyst as a Main Action so long as the spell is in effect. It can be put into the cyst from any range, but when called out of it, it manifests within 10 meters of the caster. While encysted it is undetectable by conventional sensors, and even spells that detect magic will only discern it on a successful opposed Wis/Cast Magic skill check between the investigator and the caster. The spell lasts for one hour per caster level.

Shadow Displacement

Level 2
The metadimensional linkage between a Pacter and their Shadows can sometimes be manipulated in physical forms. By casting this spell, the Pacter can exchange places with any Shadow they have summoned, provided it is within ten meters per caster level. Effects and substances that prohibit conventional teleportation bar this spell as well.

Shadow Domination

Level 4
A single driving, overwhelming compulsion can be implanted in the mind of a visible Shadow within 30 meters. The compulsion may not involve more than a few sentences of direction, but the Shadow will carry out those directions to the best of its intellect and ability until the task is completed. The more ambiguous the command and the more personal initiative is required to carry it out, the greater the Haze inflicted; at its simplest, a command to perform a particular physical action would be Haze 2, while a command to plot against its summoner to obtain a particular end would be Haze 4. The command cannot be suicidal to the Shadow or directly contrary to its Principles. Shadows get a Mental save to resist this spell. On a successful resistance, the Shadow is immune to this spell for the rest of the scene.

Shadow Enslavement

Level 5
A visible Shadow within 30 meters is utterly enthralled to the caster’s will. The Shadow gets a Mental saving throw to resist this effect, with a +4 bonus if it has more hit dice than the caster has levels. On success, the Shadow is immune to this spell for the rest of the scene. On failure, the Shadow must obey the caster to the limits of its own nature for as long as it exists, until this spell is dispelled from it, until the caster releases it, or until it is banished or destroyed. Maintaining this control is very taxing for the caster, and adds one point of System Strain that cannot be discharged until the spell is ended, after which it can be restored by normal rest.

Shadow Impulse

Level 2
The Pacter targets a visible Shadow within 30 meters and issues it a single sentence of command. This command cannot be suicidal or entirely contrary to its Principles. The Shadow gets a Mental saving throw to resist the command; on success, it’s immune to this spell for the rest of the scene. On failure, it will carry out the command until it has completed it or until 1d6 rounds have passed, whichever comes first. A Shadow affected by this spell is immune to it for the rest of the scene. If the Shadow is harmed or attacked by the caster or their allies, the impulse breaks instantly.

Shadow Nourishment

Level 1
The caster is capable of subtly instantiating critical bodily necessities, acquiring sustenance and nourishment from an infusion of metadimensional force. Only the caster can be affected by this spell, but it spares them from needing food, water, air, or rest for the next 24 hours at the cost of one additional System Strain. They may regain hit points and decrease System Strain as normal if they choose to remain still for eight hours in lieu of sleep.

Shadow Puppetry

Level 3
This invocation allows the Pacter to adopt remote control of a Shadow’s form, provided it is one summoned by them and that it’s within the same solar system. While controlling the Shadow, they’re oblivious to their real body’s surroundings and instead use the senses of the Shadow they’re possessing. They use the abilities, hit points, and skill bonus of the Shadow rather than their own attributes. While possessing the Shadow they can make it perform actions that are contrary to its nature, such as using complex tools or behaving in a way antithetical to its essence, and as they are the ones performing the action the Shadow will not consider it a betrayal of the pact. The Pacter cannot cast spells while possessing a Shadow, but can use the target’s natural powers. The Pacter must use a Main Action to safely end this spell; if the Shadow is killed, banished, or dissipates while the caster is in control, the Pacter must make a Physical saving throw or be immediately reduced to zero hit points. This spell lasts until the Shadow is no more, the spell is ended, or the caster’s true body is reduced to zero hit points.

The strain of using this spell adds one point of System Strain to the Pacter.

Shadow Reinforcement

Level 1

The caster can heal damage that has been inflicted on a Shadow, patching it with a surge of metadimensional energy. The spell affects one visible Shadow within 30 meters and heals 1d6+2 damage per caster level. This spell can also repair damaged Conjured Implements.

Shadow Ward, Greater

Level 3
This spell works much like Lesser Shadow Ward, except the line created can bar even Shadows with more hit dice than the caster. It lasts as long as Light Focus is maintained, but can be broken just as a lesser ward is by any proffered hostilities from the other side of the line.

Shadow Ward, Lesser

Level 1
As part of the spellcasting, the Pacter may indicate a line up to ten meters long per character level, placing it on any visible solid surface and shaping it in any configuration desired. Shadows with equal or fewer hit dice than the caster has levels cannot pass the Ward without

making a Mental saving throw to do so; on a success, they suffer 1d6 damage per caster level in crossing it. Shadows with more hit dice than the caster has levels may cross it without difficulty. If the Shadow is physically dragged across the line by some force, it can do nothing but try to escape back. The ward lasts as long as Light Focus is maintained, or until a Shadow is attacked or harmed by someone or something on the other side of the line. In such a case, the ward evaporates instantly.

Shadow Ward, Perfected

Level 5
The finest ward available to a Pacter without recourse to advanced arcanotechnological engineering, the Per-
fected Shadow Ward functions much as a Greater Shadow Ward, but Shadows with equal or fewer hit dice than the caster do not even have the opportunity to make a Mental saving throw to cross the line. It is maintained as long as Light Focus is held, and can be broken by hostilities just as the other wards can be.

Substitutionary Focus Pact

Level 3
A portion of the caster’s intellect is walled off and used to direct and fuel a Shadow the caster has summoned. Each time this spell is cast, the Pacter gains one point of System Strain that cannot be shed until this spell is ended, after which it can be restored through normal rest. While the spell is in effect, one summoned Shadow of the caster’s choice no longer requires Light Focus to remain in existence. The caster cannot have more instances of this spell in operation than their Cast Magic skill level.

Summon Forth the Servant

Level 4
The caster may teleport in any single Shadow they have currently summoned, provided the Shadow is within the same solar system at the time. Shadows bound to particular locations cannot be teleported by this spell. Effects and materials that block conventional telepor-tation also block this spell.

Summoner’s Font

Level 5
This spell shapes the metadimensional currents of a particular area into a zone that is highly nourishing to summoned Shadows. When cast, the Pacter conse-crates an area up to a frigate or a large building in size. Shadows they summon into this area do not require Light Focus to maintain their existence, and persist as long as the Summoner’s Font spell is maintained. If the caster wishes to take one of these Shadows outside the area, they must maintain any necessary Light Focus on it as long as it is outside the zone. A caster can have only one Summoner’s Font active at a time, and the spell persists until they are reduced to zero hit points or drop the effect, upon which all affected Shadows instantly vanish. This spell can be maintained almost indefinitely, but the spell slot used to fuel it cannot be reclaimed for a different use until the spell is allowed to lapse.

Sustaining Focus Pact

Level 4
The caster can permanently fix a Shadow into the terrestrial world by forming a ritual pact with it. The energy of the pact itself is sufficient to sustain the Shadow, and no other attention or Focus on the caster’s part is necessary. The details of the pact vary, but most Shadows can be satisfied by a day-long ritual involving components with a credit cost equal to their hit dice, squared, times 1,000 credits. Once the pact ritual is complete, the Shadow is securely embodied into this world until it is destroyed or banished. This process does free the shadow from the direct control of the caster, however, and strips it of any Principles that would compel obedience. Thus, most casters have reason to ensure that the recipient Shadow is a very trustworthy friend to begin with. This spell will not function on Shadows with more than three hit dice.

Telepathic Shadow Link

Level 2
This spell forges a telepathic connection between the caster and a visible Shadow. The caster becomes capable of communicating with the Shadow, assuming it is intelligent and wishes to do so, and the bond persists out to any intrastellar distance for one hour per caster level. If the targeted Shadow is one the caster has summoned, the effect lasts as long as the Shadow remains in this world.