Ghul Lord[]
Many are the tales of mysterious magicians in Zakhara, magicians who do not bow to the same laws of magic by which other wizards are bound.
Ghul lords are enigmas who are dedicated to the forces of the Negative Material Plane. Their spells come from a source opposed to the spells of other wizards, and the nature of the magic is as mysterious as the ghul lords themselves.
Requirements: All ghul lords are of chaotic alignments; the mindset required to channel negative energies leaves little room for lawful tendencies.
Role: Ghul lords are often misunderstood and viewed as evil men and women who tamper with the dead. This is not at all true. They have chosen a different magical path, which often leads down roads that "normal," wizards prefer not to tread.
Ghul lords who convince people of their good intentions may find a place within the community as a "speaker of the dead." While they don't have the power to actually commune with the dead, many necromancers understand the nature of most undead and the most effective methods of combating them.
Those ghul lords who choose to live up to their reputation as fearsome wielders of deadly energy often find work hunting down other types of wizards. The ghul lords' naturally disruptive abilities aid them greatly in this, and their unpredictable spell-like powers give them a handy edge in many situations.
Weapon Proficiencies: Unlike most wizards, the ghul lord is able to use swords. A ghul lord can choose from any of the following weapons: dagger, staff, jambiya, dart, sling, short sword, long sword, cutlass, and scimitar.
Nonweapon Proficiencies:
- Bonus Proficiency: Undead knowledge.
- Recommended, General: Debate, artistic ability, etiquette.
- Recommended, Warrior: Survival (desert), set snares.
- Recommended, Priest: None.
- Recommended, Wizard: Languages, ancient; ancient history, reading/writing, spellcraft.
- Recommended, Rogue: None.
- Forbidden: None.
Equipment: Ghul lords may buy and use the dagger, staff, jambiya, dart, sling, short sword, long sword, cutlass, and/or scimitar. Like all wizards, ghul lords do not wear armor nor do they carry shields.
Special Benefits: Ghul lords draw their spells from the Negative Material Plane, and thus have the ability to call up and utilize raw magic energy from the Negative Material Plane. This gives their magic an eerie look and feel and changes its effects slightly.
When a ghul lord casts a spell there is always an accompanying special effect that indicates this is not a normal spell. Every ghul lord has his own unique special effect that is never duplicated by another ghul lord. The following is a list of various special effects that may occur when a ghul lord casts one of his spells:
- Whispering: Anyone within 20 feet of the caster hears a low whispering that seems to emanate from the air around the caster. While the whispers are not discernible as actual speech, there is something menacing to their tone.
- Moaning: Similar to whispering, but the sound is of several people in great pain, moaning out their last breaths.
- Dark light: A halo of purplish-blue light can be seen to emanate from the ghul lord. The light seems to come from his bones, making his flesh transparent and lending him a cadaverous appearance.
- Tears of blood: The strain of casting spells from negative energy causes tiny tears of blood to appear in the caster's eyes. This causes no damage nor does it obscure the caster's vision, but it can be very disconcerting to witness.
- Transformation: The caster's visage undergoes a slight change. The transformation can be one of beauty or of monstrous repugnance, depending upon the caster's choice.
- Flickering: Lights around the caster dim and brighten unpredictably as he casts the spell. This has no real effect on visibility in the area.
There are a wide number of special effects that can be used, but all have two things in common. First, they have no positive or negative effect on the caster or those around him. They are simply for show and cannot cause damage or otherwise affect the real world in a tangible manner. Second, the special effects of a ghul lords' spell casting are strange and unnerving to those that witness them. Special effects are always creepy. Players are encouraged to come up with strange special effects for their ghul lord characters.
Manipulations[]
Ghul lords are also able to manipulate raw magical energies. While much cruder than spells, the abilities this grants are very versatile and quite powerful.
In order to manipulate the powerful energies of the Negative Material Plane, the ghul lord must first learn the various types of manipulations that can be performed. These are similar to the various schools that are used by other wizards. They are
- Attack manipulations. These are used to damage items or creatures. This type of manipulation can form an actual physical attack or can be the unleashing of a purely magical attack. Either option can be chosen at the discretion of the ghul lord, who must state which form the attack will take at the moment of its release.
- Defense manipulations. These form magical barriers that stop physical or magical attacks, decided upon by the ghul lord when the manipulation occurs.
- Informative manipulations. These allow the ghul lord to seek out knowledge that is otherwise unattainable. Through the use of this manipulation, the ghul lord can discover secret doors, reveal the secrets of the ages, foresee the future, or divine the location of lost or hidden objects. Other uses are also possible at the discretion of the DM.
- Movement manipulations. These allow the ghul lord to move through the use of magical energies. Using this, characters may fly, teleport or even pass through to other dimensions.
Each of these manipulations must be learned as a separate nonweapon proficiency, requiring one slot for each manipulation. Characters may start with as many as two separate manipulations at their disposal. Each manipulation taken counts as a nonweapon proficiency slot, though these manipulations are not available to individuals who are not ghul lords.
The manipulations are not overly difficult to use, but they do require the expenditure of the ghul lord's life force. This is represented by the temporary loss of a number of hit points equal to the level of the manipulation currently being used. This may be offset by certain magical items, using a process known as leaching (see below).
When a ghul lord prepares to use a manipulation, he must concentrate for a full combat round. At the end of that round, the player of the ghul lord must state what manipulation will be used, the level of that manipulation, and the effect desired from the use of that manipulation.
Deciding which manipulation to use is easy. The effect desired often decides the manipulation used. Is the ghul lord intent upon hurting someone? Then the obvious choice is to use the attack manipulation. Likewise, if he would like to fly over a chasm, the movement manipulation would be his choice.
Deciding on the level manipulation requires a bit of cooperation between the DM and the players. The level is best determined by taking a look at the effect that is desired and comparing it to a spell that has a similar effect. If the manipulation is essentially the same as a known spell, then the level of that spell is the level of manipulation that must be used.
Some manipulations will have significantly different effects than the spells listed in the PHB and TOM. Some spells may have a shorter range or do greater damage. At this point, it is necessary for the DM to make a judgment call.
In cases where range is concerned, the difference in the range of the manipulation and that of a known spell needs to be at least 50 percent to warrant an increase or decrease in level. That is, if the level of the spell is 6 and it has a range of 100 feet, the manipulation compared to that spell would need to have a range of 50 feet or a 150 feet before a change in level would be warranted. In the first case, the level would be lowered by one, and the latter the level would be raised by one.
Damage is a little more strict. Increases in damage should be rated as a number of dice, depending on the spell to which the manipulation is compared. If, for example, the spell that the manipulation is similar to uses six-sided dice to determine damage, then it would take an increase or decrease of 1d6 to raise or lower the manipulation's level.
Some manipulations may be compared to spells which do a different amount of damage depending on the level of the caster. In these cases, use the level of the ghul lord to determine damage.
Protective manipulations are among the easiest to determine levels for because they will most often correspond on a one-to-one level with existing spells. The PHB and TOM have a considerable number of protective spells within them, which address almost all cases in this regard.
It is important to remember that ghul lords utilize the magic of the Negative Material Plane to power their spells. This energy has great destructive potential but has little in the way of healing or restorative power. The negative energy can be used to good effect to attack or defend, but it cannot heal or create anything as its very nature prohibits this. This must be remembered when using manipulations lest the characters use the negative energy in a way that is not in keeping with its true power.
Negative energy can also have quite unexpected effects if it interacts with standard magic. Any time the area of effect of a ghul lord's manipulations or necromantic spells (see below) overlaps that of a standard spell, the results can be explosive. The same is true if a single target is affected by a ghul lord's magic and that of a standard wizard in the same round.
If this ever occurs, the two energies react in a violent manner, attempting to eradicate one another. The total levels of spells and manipulations should be added together. The total is the number of four-sided dice that are rolled to determine damage. Damage is caused to anyone in the area where the two spells overlap. If the area of effect is a single target, the damage done is determined by rolling six-sided dice, as the magic energies are more tightly compressed and have fewer outlets than they would have if spread over an area.
At 10th level, the ghul lord gains an innate understanding of the forces that animate the undead. The ghul lord may attempt to gain control of these undead, using the force of his will to subjugate them. The ghul lord may roll to control a group of undead as if he were a cleric of three levels lower than his actual level. Thus, at 10th level, the ghul lord may turn undead as if he were a 7th-level priest.
If a ghul lord rolls well enough to turn a group of undead, he may choose to subjugate them instead as if he were an evil priest. Thus a result of "T" indicates that the undead will obey the ghul lord, and a "D" result indicates the complete loyalty of the affected undead. In all other respects, the ghul lord affects undead just as if he were a cleric three levels lower than his current level.
Special Hindrances: Ghul lords are limited in the spells that they can cast without expending their own life force to call upon the energy of the Negative Material Plane. They may only cast spells that come from the necromantic school of magic. The following spells are the only ones that a ghul lord may cast: animate dead (PHB), Bloodstone's frightful joining (TOM), Bloodstone's spectral steed (TOM), chill touch (PHB), clone (PHB), contagion (PHB), control undead (PHB), death spell (PHB), enervation (PHB), feign death (PHB), finger of death (PHB), flame of justice (AQ), flesh mirage (AQ), hold undead (PHB), lifeproof (AQ), magic jar (PHB), mask of death (TOM), reincarnation (PHB), sand worm (AQ), sand form (AQ), shadow veil (SOL) spectral hand (PHB), spirit armor (TOM), vampiric touch (PHB) and wail of the banshee (TOM). These spells may be found in the AL-QADIM® Arabian Adventures rule book (AQ), the Player's Handbook (PHB), or the Tome of Magic (TOM). While there are other spells in these books that utilize the necromantic school of magic, they combine that school with others. Ghul lords may only cast those spells that are derived entirely from the necromantic school.
In addition to their relatively limited spell casting abilities, ghul lords also suffer interpersonal problems. As they spend a good deal of time alone with the dead, ghul lords do not have the best personal hygiene or "people skills." Reduce the beginning Charisma of all ghul lords by three (but no lower than 3).
Ghul lords also suffer from the constant exposure of the negative energies that power their spells and spelllike abilities. This energy slowly corrodes the ghul lord's health. Every level past 3rd, the ghul lord loses one point of Constitution or Strength (determine randomly). As this corruption of the body occurs, the ghul lord takes on a progressively more cadaverous appearance. When either Strength or Constitution is reduced to less than 5, the ghul lord takes on the appearance of one of the undead. Their skin, while not rotted, is drawn tight over their bones and muscles, revealing clearly the veins and tendons beneath the surface. The ghul lord is cool to the touch at this point and may be taken for dead if not closely examined. When a ghul lord reaches this stage, his Charisma is reduced by 2 and the loss of other attributes ceases.
Ghul lords may not use any magical items that are not created specifically for them. The presence of the negative energy within their body makes the use of other magical items impossible.
Wealth Options: Ghul lords have little use for money. They either loose most of the coins they have when digging around in old tombs or they use their wealth to buy strange artifacts for their laboratories. Their beginning wealth is 1d10+10 gp.
Races: Only humans may be ghul lords. The channeling of negative energies is too hazardous for the other races whose very existence depends on the presence of standard magic in their systems.
DMs Note: The ghul lord is a powerful character type with powerful hindrances. Though it is a balanced character type, there is potential for abuse with the manipulations system. It is recommended that you carefully consider the inclusion of this kit as a choice for player characters before unleashing it in your campaign. If you don't believe that your players will handle a ghul lord in the appropriate manner, reserve it for particularly nasty or mysterious NPCs.
Errata: Ghul Lords and Leeching[]
Page 61 (second paragraph) in The Complete Sha'ir's Handbook, discusses a ghul lord's manipulations and mentions "a process known as leeching (see below)." According to Dragon magazine's Sage, Skip Williams, the missing description is as follows:
The damage a ghul lord suffers from a manipulation comes from the negative energy the character uses to power the manipulation; it is temporary only insofar as it can be healed by rest or spells—the character does not lose hit points permanently. Leeching is a complete mystery to our Sage, but here's his suggestion: Defensive items, such as rings of protection, cloaks of protection, and bracers of defense, can block the damage. Each of an item's plusses stops 1 point of damage; bracers of defense have one effective plus for each point of armor class improvement they bestow beyond armor class 10—for instance, bracers of defense AC 4 count as +6 items. A ghul lord carrying several defensive items can choose which one to leech during any particular manipulation. If the manipulation is particularly powerful, the ghul lord can leech multiple items to block all the damage. A leeched magical item becomes non-magical for 1d4 melee rounds no matter how much damage it blocked. Each time an item is leeched, it must save vs. magical fire or be destroyed in a wave of negative energy.
Here is what Julia Martin, a senior member of the roleplaying R&D; staff, wrote on this topic:
The intent seems to be to drain charges from charged magical items in exchange for not draining hit points. For instance, if the ghul lord uses a 4th-level manipulation, he would normally take 4 points of damage (which could heal back normally over time). However, he could instead leech four charges out of a wand, staff, or amulet—perhaps one even created to store manipulation energy (negative energy)—instead of taking those 4 points of damage. It is unclear whether they can leech charges from items that they cannot otherwise use. The DM would have to make that call.
The first method works best for items that have bonuses, the second method works best for items that have charges. You can use both of them in the same campaign.
Last Updated: 7/3/2000.
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20100113215400/http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDShairsHandbookErrata.asp