Job Information
The art of black magic is quite dangerous, affording the wielder a measure of authority over the very core forces of the cosmos. Roaring blasts of fire, sudden frosts which chill flesh to ice, even the force of gravity itself may be generated and manipulated by the careful employment of Black magic spells. Though many individuals of myriad backgrounds may wield these spells of overwhelming destructive force in some limited capacity, no trade holds greater knowledge and mastery of Black magic than the clever Black Mage.
Whether by long study in an institution of academia, an apprenticeship within an occult master’s secluded sanctum, or in more chaotic efforts at self-instruction, the way a Black mage comes to their mastery is by study. While others may be born to arcane power or derive it from service to mystic entities, a Black mage’s power is their own; built piece by piece from long research and trial. This diligent and contemplative lifestyle more often than not leads venerable black mages to consult upon the most pressing and vital matters of the world. Rare is the kingly court or governing council which has not found itself in need of the insights of a Black mage in times of greatest peril. |
Main Abilities
Innate Ability: Destructive Trinity
Blizzard, Fire, and Thunder count as spells that the Black Mage automatically knows. When they gain the ability to cast Intermediate spells they automatically gain Blizzara, Fira, and Thundara. When they gain the ability to cast Expert spells they automatically gain Blizzaga, Firaga, and Thundaga.
Defining Ability: Astral and Umbral Magic
After the Black Mage casts a spell that deals elemental damage the next spell of the opposite element restores MP equal to 50% of their damage dealt and spells of the element they just cast deal one additional step of damage and have their MP cost increased by 50%. This effect is cumulative with itself, increasing indefinitely and remaining until they cast a spell of a different element than the one they initially cast.
The opposing elements are as follows:
Defining Ability: Manafont
By expending two points of Destiny to use Manafont as an Instant action, the character can now cast any of the Black Magic spells that are one rank higher than they actually have access to for the remainder of the chapter. In addition, they have access to all Black Magic spells of their rank or lower, even if they did not choose to obtain these spells previously. The character must still be able to pay the MP cost of any spell cast in this method.
If the Black Mage could already cast Black Magic spells of any rank, this ability gives them a +4 bonus on opposed rolls for the remainder of the chapter.
Defining Ability: Raw Power
As an Instant action the Black Mage may permanently sacrifice two attribute points from either their RES or DEX score to do one of the following:
Ultimate Ability: Elemental Mastery
Whenever the Black Mage casts a spell that would deal damage they may choose to change it into a different damage type. Creatures hit by spells cast by the Black Mage take 50% additional damage from those spells if they are vulnerable or weak to them.
Blizzard, Fire, and Thunder count as spells that the Black Mage automatically knows. When they gain the ability to cast Intermediate spells they automatically gain Blizzara, Fira, and Thundara. When they gain the ability to cast Expert spells they automatically gain Blizzaga, Firaga, and Thundaga.
Defining Ability: Astral and Umbral Magic
After the Black Mage casts a spell that deals elemental damage the next spell of the opposite element restores MP equal to 50% of their damage dealt and spells of the element they just cast deal one additional step of damage and have their MP cost increased by 50%. This effect is cumulative with itself, increasing indefinitely and remaining until they cast a spell of a different element than the one they initially cast.
The opposing elements are as follows:
- Fire and Ice
- Earth and Wind
- Lightning and Water
- Holy and Shadow
Defining Ability: Manafont
By expending two points of Destiny to use Manafont as an Instant action, the character can now cast any of the Black Magic spells that are one rank higher than they actually have access to for the remainder of the chapter. In addition, they have access to all Black Magic spells of their rank or lower, even if they did not choose to obtain these spells previously. The character must still be able to pay the MP cost of any spell cast in this method.
If the Black Mage could already cast Black Magic spells of any rank, this ability gives them a +4 bonus on opposed rolls for the remainder of the chapter.
Defining Ability: Raw Power
As an Instant action the Black Mage may permanently sacrifice two attribute points from either their RES or DEX score to do one of the following:
- Permanently gain 2 attribute points, which they can only spend on PWR or MND. If done in combat, the Black Mage also gains a temporary +2 bonus to PWR and MND until the end of the current combat. This bonus is cumulative.
- Permanently gain 2 skill points. These skill points can be used to exceed the Black Mage’s normal skill point cap.
- Attempt to Inflict Instant Death on a single creature within Medium Range with an opposed roll.
- Gain a point of Destiny.
- Fully restore the Black Mage’s MP.
Ultimate Ability: Elemental Mastery
Whenever the Black Mage casts a spell that would deal damage they may choose to change it into a different damage type. Creatures hit by spells cast by the Black Mage take 50% additional damage from those spells if they are vulnerable or weak to them.
Job Abilities
Ability: Arcane Insight
A Black Mage may trade part of their body to expand their mind. After rolling a skill check using any Lore skill the character may permanently reduce their lowest attribute by 1 (to a minimum of 1, they cannot use this ability if it would go lower). If they do they may treat their die roll as though they rolled a 12. Do not reallocate skill points if the character’s finesse changes due to this ability.
Ability: Cascade
As a Standard action a Black Mage may empower their next spell cast with raw mana. The next spell they cast consumes an additional 25% of their maximum MP and deals additional damage equal to the amount of MP lost.
Ability: Counter Magic
The Black Mage gains Magical Counterattack (100%) – whenever the Black Mage is affected by any spell cast by an enemy, they may return fire with any spell they know automatically as a Counterattack. The spell still costs MP, but is considered an Instant action. The Black Mage cannot use Counter Magic if they are occupied with a Slow action of their own or if the spell was Reflected, and they may only perform one magical counterattack each round.
Ability: Damage Dispersion
Once per combat when the Black Mage takes damage from a single target spell or attack they may split the damage evenly amongst all allies (rounded down).
Ability: Dark Nebula
Once per chapter when the Black Mage takes damage they may immediately use an Instant Action to deal (PWR x Quarter-Level) Shadow damage to the target that attacked them and all enemies within Short Range of that creature. Creatures hit by this ability are inflicted with Stop with no opposed roll.
Dark Nebula may not be used if the Black Mage is already in the middle of using a Slow action.
Ability: Elemagnetism
Scavenge checks a Black Mage makes to gain Shadow, Fire, Ice, Holy, Stone, Wind, Water, Elemental, and Magic components automatically succeed.
Ability: Elemental Seal
The Black Mage declares they’re activating Elemental Seal as an Instant Action to make their next Single-target spell or attack ignore the effects of the foe’s M.ARM score, remove the effects of Shell if they possess it, and their M.ARM score is reduced to zero until the start of their next turn. This job ability may be used once per combat.
Ability: Empower Skill
When making a skill check outside of combat the Black Mage may spend 25% of their maximum MP to lower the difficulty of that check by one step, using magic to more easily succeed at the task. They may continue to use MP to lower the difficulty of the task even further, provided they have the MP to do so.
Ability: En-Spell
The Black Mage empowers all weapons within a short range with a specific element as a Standard action, increasing the damage each of these weapons deals by one step for their next attack and making the attack deal Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, or Ice damage (your choice).
Ability: Focus
As long as a Black Mage remains at 100% hit points, their spell casts cannot be interrupted (due to knockback effects, critical hits, etc) and they gain a +2 bonus on opposed rolls to inflict or resist any effect caused by a spell. This includes the first attack or effect that would reduce their hit points below 100%. In addition the Black Mage always rolls an additional d6 when making one specific type of skill check, chosen from the following list when this ability is gained: Language, Systems, or a single type of Synthesis or Lore.
Ability: Golden Gaze
The character is able to see through magical illusions (as per the Illusion and Advanced Illusion spells), and always rolls an additional d6 when making one specific type of skill check, chosen from the following list when this ability is gained: Awareness, Inquiry, or Negotiation.
In addition, a Black Mage with this ability can instantly glean the surface thoughts of any sentient creature (even if they don’t speak the same language), simply by spending one point of Destiny, making eye contact with the target and looking directly into their soul. In this way, a character with Golden Gaze is often privy to secrets that others simply couldn’t know. Bosses, Notorious Monsters, and other extremely powerful individuals require a successful opposed Finesse check before the Destiny can be spent, at the GM’s discretion.
Likewise at the GM’s discretion, the mage might suffer from a slightly higher difficulty on future Stealth rolls due to their constantly softly-glowing eyes.
Ability: Gravity Wall
The Quarter, Demi, and Black Hole spells may be used as an Instant action when a ranged attack or spell is made against the Black Mage or a creature within a Short Range of them, reducing the damage of that attack or spell by 25%, 50%, or 75% (respectively) by spending MP. In addition Gravity and Gravija have their damage increased by one step and they count as Wind spells for the Astral and Umbral Magic defining ability.
Ability: Ley Lines
While within an elemental field a Black Mage may use a Standard action to create a Circle of Arcane Empowerment for every creature within Short range of the Black Mage. All spell casting of the same type of element as the elemental field while within the circle cannot be interrupted (due to knockback effects, critical hits, etc) and deal an additional step of damage.
Ability: Mana Well
Once per chapter a Black Mage may cast a spell or summon without requiring any MP or Destiny to do so.
Ability: Mighty Spell
When the Black Mage scores a critical hit with a damaging spell they may have that spell deal additional damage equal to (PWR x Rank of Spell being cast).
Ability: Obliterate
Once per chapter, the Black Mage may activate Obliterate as an instant action (even when it would interrupt an enemy’s turn) in order to make a Force check to destroy any Large object (such as a weapon wielded by a titanic creature, a towering marble pillar falling towards them, or even an entire town) at up to a Long Range with a +4 bonus to the check. At the GM’s discretion, Obliterate can also be used to destroy smaller, nonsentient objects that are predominantly magical in nature. This ability may be taken multiple times, increasing the bonus granted by +4 each time.
Ability: Osmose
Once per combat a Black Mage may choose to drain mana from a target as a Slow action. Osmose destroys (PWR x Half Level) + 2d6 points of the target’s MP, and the caster regains a number of Magic Points equal to the amount lost by the target.
Ability: Reality Tether
Once per chapter when taking a Rest the Black Mage gains attribute points until they have the appropriate amount for a character of their level. They may choose to allocate these points where they see fit but may still not go past their normal attribute point cap.
Ability: Resonance
When the Black Mage casts a spell each other party member with access to Black Magic may spend MP equal to their level, increasing the damage dealt by the Black Mage’s spell by one step per party member spending MP in this way.
Ability: Specialization
Choose an element upon gaining this ability; Ice, Fire, Water, Earth, or Lightning. The Black Mage deals an additional damage step whenever they inflict elemental damage of the chosen type. For example, if a character that has taken an Ice specialization attacks with an Ice Strike weapon that normally deals (PWR x 3) points of damage, it would now do (PWR x 4) instead, and so on. Furthermore, whenever they roll maximum damage with a damage-dealing spell (regardless of the spell’s normal elemental type!), they gain an additional advantage based on the chosen element. When they learn Astral and Umbral Magic they may choose not to increase the effects of that ability after casting a spell using their chosen element.
Ability: Somnumancy
The Black Mage gains a +2 bonus on opposed rolls for Sleep and Sleepaga spells they cast.
By spending 1 point of Destiny they may observe or infiltrate the Dreams of a sleeping creature as a Slow Action, manipulating, implanting, and modifying them as they see fit. Doing this allows them to suggest an action or actions to the target that remain in the back of their mind upon waking; eventually they will try to act upon the implanted memory as though it were their own.
Ability: Storm Stones
By making a successful Force check as a Slow action when in an Elemental Field, the character may form an Elemental Stone of the appropriate type; for example, an Ice Stone from a raging blizzard. Upon a successful usage of Storm Stones, the Elemental Field effect immediately ends.
This ability allows a lucky and intellectually-gifted mage to theoretically release and re-absorb the same Elemental Field effect over and over ad infinium.
The difficulty of the Force check is determined by the GM based on how powerful and dangerous the terrain is; that said, it is rarely less than Challenging (11) or higher than Supreme (20). Failure likely means a previously-released elemental field dissipates before the Black Mage can recapture it.
Ability: Study Spell
The Black Mage immediately learns two currently unlearned Black Magic spells of a Rank that the character knows Black Magic spells from. This ability may be taken multiple times.
Ability: Subtle Sorcery
The character’s spellcasting is especially secretive. Creatures must succeed on a Challenging (11) Awareness check to notice when they are casting a spell, using magic, or that they are magical in any way, shape, or form. Certain traits may lower the difficulty of this subtlety, such as taking the Golden Gaze ability, transforming into a new creature, or overtly displaying their magical abilities. In addition the Black Mage always rolls an additional d6 when making one specific type of skill check, chosen from the following list when this ability is gained: Acting, Performance, or Stealth.
Ability: Transpose
Once per combat the Black Mage may make an opposed Force roll as an Instant action against a creature. On a success, they briefly swap their elemental vulnerabilities. For the current round the target is weak to the elements it was immune to or would absorb, vulnerable to the elements it was resistant to, resists the elements it was vulnerable to, and is immune to the elements it was weak to.
Ability: Unnecessary Force
Whenever the Black Mage deals damage to one or more enemies with an offensive spell of Expert rank or higher, they may make an opposed Force check; a success means the target(s) suffer a Medium Range knockback effect. In addition, the Elemental Seal job ability may also trigger off of Group-target spells and affect all targets struck.
A Black Mage may trade part of their body to expand their mind. After rolling a skill check using any Lore skill the character may permanently reduce their lowest attribute by 1 (to a minimum of 1, they cannot use this ability if it would go lower). If they do they may treat their die roll as though they rolled a 12. Do not reallocate skill points if the character’s finesse changes due to this ability.
Ability: Cascade
As a Standard action a Black Mage may empower their next spell cast with raw mana. The next spell they cast consumes an additional 25% of their maximum MP and deals additional damage equal to the amount of MP lost.
Ability: Counter Magic
The Black Mage gains Magical Counterattack (100%) – whenever the Black Mage is affected by any spell cast by an enemy, they may return fire with any spell they know automatically as a Counterattack. The spell still costs MP, but is considered an Instant action. The Black Mage cannot use Counter Magic if they are occupied with a Slow action of their own or if the spell was Reflected, and they may only perform one magical counterattack each round.
Ability: Damage Dispersion
Once per combat when the Black Mage takes damage from a single target spell or attack they may split the damage evenly amongst all allies (rounded down).
Ability: Dark Nebula
Once per chapter when the Black Mage takes damage they may immediately use an Instant Action to deal (PWR x Quarter-Level) Shadow damage to the target that attacked them and all enemies within Short Range of that creature. Creatures hit by this ability are inflicted with Stop with no opposed roll.
Dark Nebula may not be used if the Black Mage is already in the middle of using a Slow action.
Ability: Elemagnetism
Scavenge checks a Black Mage makes to gain Shadow, Fire, Ice, Holy, Stone, Wind, Water, Elemental, and Magic components automatically succeed.
Ability: Elemental Seal
The Black Mage declares they’re activating Elemental Seal as an Instant Action to make their next Single-target spell or attack ignore the effects of the foe’s M.ARM score, remove the effects of Shell if they possess it, and their M.ARM score is reduced to zero until the start of their next turn. This job ability may be used once per combat.
Ability: Empower Skill
When making a skill check outside of combat the Black Mage may spend 25% of their maximum MP to lower the difficulty of that check by one step, using magic to more easily succeed at the task. They may continue to use MP to lower the difficulty of the task even further, provided they have the MP to do so.
Ability: En-Spell
The Black Mage empowers all weapons within a short range with a specific element as a Standard action, increasing the damage each of these weapons deals by one step for their next attack and making the attack deal Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, or Ice damage (your choice).
Ability: Focus
As long as a Black Mage remains at 100% hit points, their spell casts cannot be interrupted (due to knockback effects, critical hits, etc) and they gain a +2 bonus on opposed rolls to inflict or resist any effect caused by a spell. This includes the first attack or effect that would reduce their hit points below 100%. In addition the Black Mage always rolls an additional d6 when making one specific type of skill check, chosen from the following list when this ability is gained: Language, Systems, or a single type of Synthesis or Lore.
Ability: Golden Gaze
The character is able to see through magical illusions (as per the Illusion and Advanced Illusion spells), and always rolls an additional d6 when making one specific type of skill check, chosen from the following list when this ability is gained: Awareness, Inquiry, or Negotiation.
In addition, a Black Mage with this ability can instantly glean the surface thoughts of any sentient creature (even if they don’t speak the same language), simply by spending one point of Destiny, making eye contact with the target and looking directly into their soul. In this way, a character with Golden Gaze is often privy to secrets that others simply couldn’t know. Bosses, Notorious Monsters, and other extremely powerful individuals require a successful opposed Finesse check before the Destiny can be spent, at the GM’s discretion.
Likewise at the GM’s discretion, the mage might suffer from a slightly higher difficulty on future Stealth rolls due to their constantly softly-glowing eyes.
Ability: Gravity Wall
The Quarter, Demi, and Black Hole spells may be used as an Instant action when a ranged attack or spell is made against the Black Mage or a creature within a Short Range of them, reducing the damage of that attack or spell by 25%, 50%, or 75% (respectively) by spending MP. In addition Gravity and Gravija have their damage increased by one step and they count as Wind spells for the Astral and Umbral Magic defining ability.
Ability: Ley Lines
While within an elemental field a Black Mage may use a Standard action to create a Circle of Arcane Empowerment for every creature within Short range of the Black Mage. All spell casting of the same type of element as the elemental field while within the circle cannot be interrupted (due to knockback effects, critical hits, etc) and deal an additional step of damage.
Ability: Mana Well
Once per chapter a Black Mage may cast a spell or summon without requiring any MP or Destiny to do so.
Ability: Mighty Spell
When the Black Mage scores a critical hit with a damaging spell they may have that spell deal additional damage equal to (PWR x Rank of Spell being cast).
Ability: Obliterate
Once per chapter, the Black Mage may activate Obliterate as an instant action (even when it would interrupt an enemy’s turn) in order to make a Force check to destroy any Large object (such as a weapon wielded by a titanic creature, a towering marble pillar falling towards them, or even an entire town) at up to a Long Range with a +4 bonus to the check. At the GM’s discretion, Obliterate can also be used to destroy smaller, nonsentient objects that are predominantly magical in nature. This ability may be taken multiple times, increasing the bonus granted by +4 each time.
Ability: Osmose
Once per combat a Black Mage may choose to drain mana from a target as a Slow action. Osmose destroys (PWR x Half Level) + 2d6 points of the target’s MP, and the caster regains a number of Magic Points equal to the amount lost by the target.
Ability: Reality Tether
Once per chapter when taking a Rest the Black Mage gains attribute points until they have the appropriate amount for a character of their level. They may choose to allocate these points where they see fit but may still not go past their normal attribute point cap.
Ability: Resonance
When the Black Mage casts a spell each other party member with access to Black Magic may spend MP equal to their level, increasing the damage dealt by the Black Mage’s spell by one step per party member spending MP in this way.
Ability: Specialization
Choose an element upon gaining this ability; Ice, Fire, Water, Earth, or Lightning. The Black Mage deals an additional damage step whenever they inflict elemental damage of the chosen type. For example, if a character that has taken an Ice specialization attacks with an Ice Strike weapon that normally deals (PWR x 3) points of damage, it would now do (PWR x 4) instead, and so on. Furthermore, whenever they roll maximum damage with a damage-dealing spell (regardless of the spell’s normal elemental type!), they gain an additional advantage based on the chosen element. When they learn Astral and Umbral Magic they may choose not to increase the effects of that ability after casting a spell using their chosen element.
- Ice: Deadly cold freezes the enemy in place and inflicts the negative status effect Stun for one round.
- Fire: The target begins burning, suffering (PWR x 1) points of Fire damage which ignores M.ARM at the start of each of their turns until the flames are extinguished with a Standard action, exposure to liquid, or the GM’s discretion.
- Water: A veil of pure, flowing liquid shimmers into being around the Black Mage, granting a +2 bonus on rolls to resist the effects of negative status effects until combat ends. This effect is cumulative.
- Earth: The Black Mage sends the target hurtling upwards into the sky with a powerful eruption. The target is thrown a Medium Range into the air as a knockback effect, and generally suffer 50% of their maximum health in damage when they collide with the ground from such a height. Notorious Monsters, Bosses, and Superbosses are immune to being knocked into the air in this way.
- Lightning: The Black Mage becomes enervated and filled with a surge of energy. They may use this burst of energy to either move a short range, gain a +2 bonus to their next roll, or shock one unconscious ally within a short range to return them to life with 1 hit point.
Ability: Somnumancy
The Black Mage gains a +2 bonus on opposed rolls for Sleep and Sleepaga spells they cast.
By spending 1 point of Destiny they may observe or infiltrate the Dreams of a sleeping creature as a Slow Action, manipulating, implanting, and modifying them as they see fit. Doing this allows them to suggest an action or actions to the target that remain in the back of their mind upon waking; eventually they will try to act upon the implanted memory as though it were their own.
Ability: Storm Stones
By making a successful Force check as a Slow action when in an Elemental Field, the character may form an Elemental Stone of the appropriate type; for example, an Ice Stone from a raging blizzard. Upon a successful usage of Storm Stones, the Elemental Field effect immediately ends.
This ability allows a lucky and intellectually-gifted mage to theoretically release and re-absorb the same Elemental Field effect over and over ad infinium.
The difficulty of the Force check is determined by the GM based on how powerful and dangerous the terrain is; that said, it is rarely less than Challenging (11) or higher than Supreme (20). Failure likely means a previously-released elemental field dissipates before the Black Mage can recapture it.
Ability: Study Spell
The Black Mage immediately learns two currently unlearned Black Magic spells of a Rank that the character knows Black Magic spells from. This ability may be taken multiple times.
Ability: Subtle Sorcery
The character’s spellcasting is especially secretive. Creatures must succeed on a Challenging (11) Awareness check to notice when they are casting a spell, using magic, or that they are magical in any way, shape, or form. Certain traits may lower the difficulty of this subtlety, such as taking the Golden Gaze ability, transforming into a new creature, or overtly displaying their magical abilities. In addition the Black Mage always rolls an additional d6 when making one specific type of skill check, chosen from the following list when this ability is gained: Acting, Performance, or Stealth.
Ability: Transpose
Once per combat the Black Mage may make an opposed Force roll as an Instant action against a creature. On a success, they briefly swap their elemental vulnerabilities. For the current round the target is weak to the elements it was immune to or would absorb, vulnerable to the elements it was resistant to, resists the elements it was vulnerable to, and is immune to the elements it was weak to.
Ability: Unnecessary Force
Whenever the Black Mage deals damage to one or more enemies with an offensive spell of Expert rank or higher, they may make an opposed Force check; a success means the target(s) suffer a Medium Range knockback effect. In addition, the Elemental Seal job ability may also trigger off of Group-target spells and affect all targets struck.