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Contents What’s Inside...............................5

Chapter 1: Introduction.......................7Who are the Spirits?……….......….7A Typical Binding Ceremony……..…8Societal Reactions to Pactmaking......8Pact Magic in Action….......……….9Ancient Lore.…………......……..11The Binder’s Quest......................13Character Concepts…….….….….14Pact Magic in a Fantasy Setting .......15Adventuring for New Spirits..........15

Chapter 2: Races.................................17Atlan ..……........................…..17 Atlan Paragon..........................19Demon Eye……................…….20 Demon Eye Paragon..................22Frehmin...................................23 Frehmin Paragon......................25Hobgoblin ................................25 Hobgoblin Paragon...................28Troglodyte ...............................28 Troglodyte Pact Paragon.............30

Chapter �: Classes...............................31Empyrean Monk………...............31Foe Hunter……….................….35Occult Priest.............................39Pact Warrior……................……43 Battle Trance Options................47Soul Weaver………..........………47Spirit Binder………....…..……...51Unbound Witch..........................54Warbinder................................58 Vivilors.................................61Variant Class Features...................62

Chapter 4: Spirits................................63Spellcasters & Spirit Binding...........63Binding Spirits...........................63Side Effects................................65Pact Magic Strategies....................66Multiclass Binders.......................66What Do You and Your Foes Know?..67Limiting PCs.............................67Table: Summary of Spirits..............681st Level Spirits..........................702nd Level Spirits.........................823rd Level Spirits.........................964th Level Spirits........................1105th Level Spirits........................1246th Level Spirits........................1387th Level Spirits........................1508th Level Spirits........................1629th Level Spirits........................170

Chapter 5: Skills, Feats & Flaws.......179Skills .....................................179Pact Magic Feats……...........…..180Table: Summary of General Feats...182Table: Spirits by Constellation.......184Table: Occult Domain Paths.........185

Racial Feats.............................191Pact Magic Flaws.......................193Constellation Feats....................194Anima Spirits...........................196Anima Pactmaking Feats..............196Community Pact Magic...............199

Chapter 6: Prestige Classes..............201Atlan Demon Binder...................201 Table: The Abyssal Spirits ..........202Binder Sage………………..……203Child of N’alyia..………...……..205Esoteric Traveler........................206Indomitable Spirit……......……..207Lemurian Devil Binder................209 Table: The Infernal Spirits..........210 Goliath Devil (Ahnok)..............211Mana Prefect............................212Mask Adept..............................214Master Soulwright........…………215Pact Magician…………......…….217Ravage Binder......…….........…..217 Ravager Vessel........................219Ravage Hunter……….....………220Savage Warbinder.......................221Soul Stealer..............................222Spirit Exorcist………..…………224Tattooed Binder........................225Telchine Sorcerer......................226Temporal Binder……......………227Undying Spirit….……..………..228Unmarked Vessel.......................230Vatic Knight.............................231Vatic Witch..............................231Voltanic Angel Binder..................233 Table: The Celestial Spirits.........234

Chapter 7: Spells..............................235Spell Lists………………......…..235Pact Magic Divine Domains..........236Spell Descriptions……….....…...237 Pact Maladies.........................239

Chapter 8: Magic Items...................247Table: Pricing Gnostic Books........247Descriptions of Items .................247Table: Summary of Items.............248

Chapter 9: Organizations................257Locating & Joining an Organization..257Atlan Explorers Club................. 258 Spirit: The Overmind ..............259Death Company........................260 Spirit: Quicksilver...................261Desert Merchant Guild...............262 Spirit: Humble Ohbai..............263Fifth Mountaintop Brigade...........264 Spirit: Silent Step...................265The Hatchery...........................266 Spirit: Iona Ophid...................267 Casters Rebuilt as Binders.........267The Living Flame......................268 Living Flame Ambrosia.............268 Spirit: Jehotek ......................269Midnight Sun...........................270 Spirit: Xasa Culthic.................271Night Watch.............................272

Spirit: Noble Marius................273Ravage Binders.........................274 Spirit: Prime Ravager...............275Soul Seekers Lodge....................276 Spirit: Soltanis.......................277Spellwright Academy..................278 Spirit: Forty-Two....................279Titan League............................280 Spirit: Primordial Titans ...........281Witches Circle..........................282 Pact Sex Magic.......................282 Spirit: Everrona .....................283

Chapter 10: Encounters....................285Ancient Library.........................285The Apocryphal Desert...............286 Binding Grotto.......................288Aranea Pledgeling .....................289 Aranea Binder Feats................290Astral Byways..........................290 Priest Eater...........................291 True Atlans...........................291Child Binder............................292Flame Ghoul...........................293Gnostic Vault...........................294Iron Heart Ghost......................294Lemurian Hobgoblin..................295Living Nightmare......................296 The Outer Darkness..................298 Technomagical Cyclopes...........298Pact Battle Magic......................300Rakshasa Pact Mages..................300 Rakshasa Pact Rajah...................300The Ravaged Sea.......................301 Podform..............................303 Invisage...............................303Restoring Spirits to Life..............304Spirit-Bound Nautilus.................306 Spirit Helmsman....................306Spirit-Touched Creature..............307 Common Spirit-Touched Beasts..307Spiritual Vampire.......................308Stellar Monoliths.......................309 Stellar Touchstones....................309Spiritual Taint...........................310The Telchines...........................310Vatic Naga...............................311 Vatic Naga Paragon..................311Vile Pact Magic........................312

Chapter 11: Epic Pact Magic.............313Epic Characters.........................313Epic Pact Magic Feats.................315Epic Spirit Binding.....................316Six Epic Spirits.........................316

Chapter 12: Game Tools..................327Pact Magic Adventure Ideas…......327Designing Spirits.......................330Designing Pactmakers.................331

Index.................................................332Main Index..............................332Creature Index.........................335

Appendix: Open Game License Version 1.0A...........................336

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WHAt’sInsIDe

PACt MAgICPact magic is about people’s stories, awesome powers, and daily choices. Pact magic involves evoking and binding the spirits of ancient entities in order to gain a small set of wondrous abilities. This book is a guide for the use of pact magic in your fantasy d20 System game. In this book, you will find numerous spirits to bind, a feat that enables all spellcasters to explore pact magic, and new races, classes, feats, spells, magic items, creatures, locations, and organizations.

Pact Magic for EveryoneAt the heart of this guide are over one hundred spirits—elusive ancient entities similar to ghosts, but much more. Each spirit has a legend and theme. A character can summon a spirit and merge with it to gain supernatural abilities for the day. A simple mechanic is introduced here that allows a spellcast-ing character—a bard, cleric, druid, paladin, ranger, sorcerer, wizard, or other—to try out pact magic even mid-campaign without making a major permanent commitment. By forfeiting one’s daily repertoire of spells, a spellcaster seals a pact with a spirit to gain its abilities. You will find great variety among the many spirits. There is Aza’zati the Green Wyrmling, with his nose for gold coins. Ethanial Midnight is a suave torturer rejected even from Hell. N’alyia, the First Vampire is the ideal choice for blending in with the undead. Then there is Mana, an exiled aberration skilled with lost magic; and Xalen d’Marek, Archivist of Fell Secrets, is perfect when taking home large monster carcasses and treasure hordes. Pact magic is straightforward and inspired by the methods and format of magic as described in real-world works such as The Lesser Key of Solomon and Kandisha. You will find geometric seals, legends, thematic abilities, manifestations of the spirits, and side effects that occur when a binder is careless and ends up subjected to a spirit’s influence. You can also gain bonuses by tactically aligning your actions to match a spirit’s legend. There is a summary table and the layout is easy to access during play.

New RacesIf pact magic is as ancient as spirit lore claims, then surely whole civilizations have taken root in its use. You will find five races that trace their heritage to pact magic. The atlan is an ancient offshoot of human stock hailing from a now-drowned empire of cruel pactmakers. A demon eye was infused (or infected) with pact magic as a child in the womb. The frehmin have distant genie ancestors; like genies, these desert people commune with primal anima and craft their own spirits. Also featured are the well-known hobgoblin and trog-lodyte, which among all savage humanoids are adept at pact making.

Binder ClassesYou will find eight classes, including the spirit binder, which focuses all of his or her talents on binding multiple spirits at once. The other seven classes afford a limited ability to seal pacts each day while mixing in features of familiar classes. The empyrean monk is a martial artist who draws upon spirits to augment his kicks and punches. There is the foe hunter: whether an assassin,

What kind of man stands alone against an army?

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bounty hunter or spy, she binds to a spirit that best matches the kind of quarry she is hunting. The occult priest teaches himself divine spells as he dares to plumb the spirits for secret knowl-edge for how to become a god. The resilient pact warrior sum-mons spirits to emulate the tactics of great warriors of yore on the battlefield. The soul weaver pours over spellbooks as a wizard does while also sealing pacts, resulting in a wide access to magic and the ability to “reweave” the spirits she binds to include her own spells. There is the unbound witch: a terrifying binder who can rip apart spirits and use their abilities in ways that are hard for others to resist. Finally, the warbinder leads confidently as she shares her abilities with her allies.

Feats & FlawsNumerous feats allow pact magic users to alter and augment spirits’ granted abilities and class features. For example, the Ignore Binding Requirements feat allows you to bypass the usual alignment, racial, and skill requirements needed to bind spirits. Feats also allow atlans, demon eye, half-elves, and others to develop key racial traits. A flaw is an adverse penalty that is taken to gain a bonus pactmaking feat. Finally, each spirit belongs to one of thirteen constellations. Thirteen corresponding feats allow binders to greatly augment their pacts.

Unusual PactsCommunity pact magic allows binders to affect a town or bri-gade of allies or foes, while anima—called generic spirits—can be bound at different power levels and thus are available to binders at every level. The Craft Spirit feat allows characters to design their own spirits from aspects of two or more anima.

Prestige ClassesYou will find numerous prestige classes. The binder sage cul-tivates his knowledge of spirits and learns how to interview them. The master soulwright focuses on moving his supernatu-ral abilities into items, other creatures, and even locations. His followers and allies can utilize his abilities, and his stronghold reflects his temperament. The pact magician focuses on acquir-ing useful pactmaking feats. Another path is as the temporal binder who joins with an ancient spirit of time to gain faster movement, undo the ravages of aging, and quicken his spells and/or supernatural abilities. The ravage hunter tracks and eliminates insane rogue spirits that can possess the unwary, while the ravage binder seeks to control these spirits to gain eternal life. Perhaps most insidious are the atlan demon binder and the lemurian devil binder who focus on blood-soaked pacts with abyssal and infernal spirits.

SpellsNew spells allow high-level spellcasters to bind with low-level spirits while keeping their daily spell repertoire. Also presented are spells that correspond to spirits’ granted abilities, to ease adjudication of their use. In addition, if a deity of pact magic exists in your campaign, a divine caster can select from several pact magic spell domains.

Magic ItemsAmong new items, binding gems allow characters, including monstrous creatures, to use pact magic briefly in emergencies or for a final confrontation. Craft-minded binders can create tough constructs and shadowy simulacra that host spirits. Items such as N’alyia’s set of vampiric teeth afford one the binding of

notable spirits. Most useful is a natural substance called desert spice, which allows a pactmaker to augur his own future to better select a spirit for the day, among other benefits. Finally, tomes, cloaks, and braziers enhance one’s binding checks.

OrganizationsYou will find thirteen organizations each keyed to a different constellation of spirits, with detailed histories, aspirations, and rules for PCs to advance and gain benefits of membership. Each organization grants its members access to a unique spirit. For example, the warriors of Death Company seal pacts with Quick Silver, the Wind in the Wasteland and seem to resist death; while members of the Fifth Mountaintop Brigade bind Silent Step, the Limbless Monk as they seek to subvert the activities of those who oppose the use of pact magic.

LocationsThe Apocryphal Desert, the Outer Darkness, the Nightfang Weald, the Ravaged Sea—binders scare young apprentices with tales of these mysterious seams in the fabric of the mul-tiverse. Characters might wish to explore the rolling dunes of the Apocryphal Desert to find a missing page out of someone’s life—woe to those whose souls are burned by the noonday sun. There are no easier quests under the devouring waves of the Ravaged Sea, where ghostly tendrils of a sundered empire shift between reality and nonexistence. The primordial towering oaks of the Nightfang Weald transform fools into savage mon-sters. The Outer Darkness is no safer. It disgorges bizarre cy-bernetic pact mages under a impossible configuration of stars.

CreaturesAmong the new creatures are special companions that may be evoked with a spirit. For example, a binder of Hexus may find herself accompanied by a free-willed “living curse.” Pact magic specific creatures include the spiritual vampire, who retains his soul even in undeath; and the Lemurian hobgoblin, which is a large-sized, thoroughly infernal goblinoid that is born with the capacity to seal pacts with the spirits of devils. Adventurers must beware the flame ghoul, the dalrok, and the priest eater, among other monsters of woe. Characters may also encoun-ter bizarre creatures such as the shark-like soul eater, the tome cat that eats legends, the tree of eyes that absorbs and stores spiritual energy, and beasts that can be “distilled” to improve one’s binding capabilities.

Epic SpiritsThese spirits of epic power are blends of opposing forces that would tear apart a normal binder. Yet those who can master The Frost Queen of a Thousand Webs, among other epic spirits, rank among the most terrible of magic users.

For the Game MasterNo book is complete without suggestions for game masters. You will find thirteen adventure ideas as well as instructions for creating your own spirits and classes in order to surprise, reward, or entrap player characters.

What You Need to PlayThis book requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook, v. 3.5, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. If you are a game master, you also need the DMG v. 3.5 and the MM v. 3.5, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

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INTROCHAPteR 1

IntRoDUCtIonWhat is pact magic, why might characters utilize it, and what are common reactions to its use? A method of magic translated from medieval works is the basis for pact magic presented here. Modifications and additions reflect role-playing mechanics as well as the heroic quests and classic themes of Good’s triumph over Evil. Additionally, this chapter explores various questions. How do characters discover spirits? Do priests, wizards, and other characters embrace pact magic, reject it, or twist it to their own use? What stories drive heroes, and what can happen when characters quest in search of new spirits? You will find answers here to these and other questions, as well as a vignette illustrating a day in the life of a spirit binder.

WHo ARe tHe sPIRIts?Real-world scholars and practitioners of pact magic hold vary-ing perspectives on the nature of the spirits. Drawing from these sources and common fantasy motifs, the spirits invoked by pact magic could have different possible origins. Ancestors: Some souls return to empower the living as gifts authorized by a people’s gods. These spirits are less like ghosts and more like divine servants that carry out godly designs. Exiled or Forgotten Creatures: Spirits of mighty beings may be lost or exiled. Where are the Olympian gods? Did they cease to exist due to neglect? Or do they still reside in some mysterious place beyond space and time, Heaven and Hell? Fiendish Entities: These evil beings seek to lure mortals into selfish power. They may appear regal and helpful, or use other ruses to confuse and corrupt otherwise hesitant mortals. Free People: The multiverse, with its mortals, genies, gods, and other beings, is an illusion or fabrication. Some call it a “matrix.” The “real reality” lies beyond the confines of the mul-tiverse. A soul can escape to reclaim its “true” body and free-dom from slavery. Certain beings likely patrol the boundary between the multiverse and this reality, monitoring events.

Nature Spirits: These are the essence of mountains, oceans, forests, and progenitor animals such as Brother Coyote and the Great Bear. Such spirits have their own perspectives and goals. At best, mortals conceive of nature spirits in human terms in order to grasp their significance and to try to negotiate for influence over the caprice of the natural world. Whether people should interact with these spirits is an-other matter. Consider that a lion may be “natu-ral,” but toying with a hungry lion is a foolish and dangerous proposition. Otherworldly Beings: These spirits hail from realms we fail to understand, places of shadows, reflections, thoughts, and dreams. Many of these beings possess trickster-like qual-ities and can be dangerous because we do not understand how to deal with them. Prisoners: In Greek mythology, the gods im-prisoned the rebellious titans. In other myths, demons are often consigned to fume in dark pits. Yet their power can be tapped from these

twilight prisons by following eldritch rituals. Psychological Aspects of One’s Self: The mind is a tangle of archetypes, half-thoughts, psychic potentials, and sto-ry threads that may harnessed when we shun what we think we know. Strange rituals evoke these fragments of the self. Perhaps the evoked qualities hint at a next step in evolution. Transcendent Souls: This perspective teaches that the ma-terial body is a crude, loathsome husk, a trick foisted by an evil entity. However, bright individuals can shed their crude bodies through the acquisition of gnostic knowledge. The spirits have used this knowledge and may share it with special mortals.

Although this book does not take a hard stance to advocate one specific perspective, most of the spirits presented here were once mortals, demons, or angels whose souls now lin-ger in some remote, unknowable place. An intriguing and flex-ible location for the spirits is outside the multiverse of planes,

Azos the binder researches a spirit’s legend, geometric seal, and summoning ceremony.

IntroducIng Pact MagIc Into Your caMPaIgnThere are several ways to place pact magic in an ongoing cam-paign. The simplest way is to describe it as an ancient art that is lost to time. This explains why it is “new” yet full of history and options. A character might find a tome, meet a binder, stumble upon an ancient artifact, or be approached by agents traditionally allied with or against a spirit’s cause. Because any spellcaster can learn to seal a pact with a spirit, options such as these work well for most adventuring bands.

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all together beyond space, time, and existence. This approach allows characters of all ethos and morals to seal pacts and express humanistic stories that are familiar to them while not interfering with a campaign setting’s cosmology. Alternatively, spirits hail from planes of existence corresponding to thirteen constellations. If you wish, within your campaign setting, various groups may have incompatible answers, or take stances to further their own agendas even if they know the truth.

Summoning a spirit involves drawing a unique diagram and fol-lowing procedures specific to that spirit.

A tyPICAl BInDIng CeReMonyA pact magic user, also called a binder, summons spirits and enjoys their aid. How specifically does this work? Most of the description here draws from real-world pact magic, with some alterations to fit a heroic fantasy setting. The process is variously referred to as summoning a spirit, evoking a spirit, pactmaking, or sealing a pact. Here are typical steps. First, a binder researches a spirit, including its name, associ-ated geometric seal, and legends. He will want to find out how fit he is to channel that particular spirit. When summoning a spirit requires a binder to speak elvish then he wants to learn this language because even a small mistake in pronunciation might cause an unwanted effect. For the next step, the binder prepares to conjure the spirit. This involves drawing a magic circle that contains the spirit’s geometric seal, and then performing a ritual. The ritual might be simple or complex. Pact magic requires preparation and uninterrupted completion over the course of several minutes. This differs from the usual role-play spellcasting. The advantage is that once you acquire a spirit’s abilities, those abilities are a

natural part of you, often usable at will all day long. Now, the binder summons the spirit. This is not a trivial mat-ter. Just moving slightly outside the magic circle, missing a step in the ceremony, or making some other mistake can lead to serious consequences. Thus, a pact magic user must attempt a binding check to summon a spirit without error. Some spir-its are far more difficult to summon than others are. As the summoner evokes the spirit, he may experience waves of emo-

tion, bodily sensations, or other phenomena that threaten to confuse him and cause a mistake.

Some people say that with training they can see a spirit manifest in the same

way that a psychic can view auras. The spirit may appear as someone famil-iar; often, however, it has a terrible or frightening appearance that combines various human, animalistic, and su-pernatural qualities. Next, the binder and spirit negotiate. This requires a forceful and smooth personality to obtain a spirit’s favor. Each spirit rules over a theme. The spirit wishes to dominate the binder for its own ends. If the negotiation goes well, then the spirit grants the binder mastery of four to six abilities that fit with that theme. In exchange, the spirit has gained a foothold or window into the world. If a pact magic user is careful, he secures abilities for a short period, typically a few hours to a few days. For convenience, this is 24 hours in game

terms. The binder gains supernatural abilities such as breathing fire, dominating

monsters, foreseeing the future, and locating gold coins.

If a pact magic user is not careful, then his personality may shift to meet the spirit’s needs. In game terms, this involves per-sonality quirks as well as possible alignment shift if the binder makes a major mistake. A mistake may also harm other people. For example, if a stray hair fell into an area that you used as a summoning circle, then the owner of that hair might suffer a price for the benefits that you enjoy. Similarly, a binder may experience bonuses and penalties when dealing with a spirit’s traditional enemies and allies; one of the spirit’s foes might be one of the binder’s beloved family members! Finally, a binder receives tactical bonuses when he actively strives to live out a spirit’s story and aspirations. This repre-sents a deep simpatico between spirit and binder. These bonus-es are minor by themselves; but when added together, they can become major advantages.

soCIetAl ReACtIons to PACtMAkIngDiscovery and power are exciting, but the conflicts and conse-quences that flow from binding spirits can be more exciting, and more dangerous. Sometimes, when a person unearths something old then society embraces it. Often, however, lore has been forgotten for a reason. Perhaps pact magic fell out of

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