Maanzecorian always fascinated me, as a knowledge- and philosphy-loving deity of a very evil race. He always felt like the perfect patron of Estriss, the illithid in the Cloakmaster Spelljammer novel series. I was disappointed when he was unceremoniously slain in the Dead Gods adventure, so I took this opportunity to create the potential of a revival (or, for those who wish it, another deity to masquerade as him).
Maanzecorian (PDF Version)
(The Philosoflayer, the Crowned Philosopher)
Intermediate Power of Gehenna, LE
Portfolio: Knowledge, philosophy, debate, exploration
Aliases: None
Domain Name: Chamada/Rictus
Superior: None
Allies: Arcanic, Boccob, Hermes, Ilsensine, Lendor, Thoth
Foes: Dugmaren Brightmantle, Gzemnid, Orcus/Tenebrous, Psilofyr
Symbol: Silver crown set with red gem
Wor. Align.: LN, N, LE, NE
Besides Ilsensine, the only other power venerated within the illithid pantheon was the Philosoflayer, Maanzecorian (mahn-ZEH-core-ee-an). He embodied the search for knowledge and understanding through philosophical debate and discussion that preoccupies many mind flayers. He was no less bent on domination than the Tentacled Lord, but he believed there were ideas and knowledge that could be gained from other creatures first.
Little is known about Maanzecorian’s origins, and even illithid mythology is vague on the matter. While they have no explicit stories about his origin, some mind flayer communities do have legends about cultural heroes that some sages believe hold the origin of the Philosoflayer. In these tales, an ancient mind flayer was the first to develop reasoning and curiosity beyond the base hunger and domination desires of his brethren. He spent years traveling from community to community, exploring, learning, and teaching his insights to all those illithids he came across, and in the process uncovered many secrets known to other races, both above and below ground. Finally, as he neared the end of his life, he stumbled across a cave filled with great treasures, and in the center floated the Great Brain Ilsensine itself. However, this mind flayer ignored all of the treasures, for they were but fleeting and material possessions, and petitioned to the Tentacled Lord for the answer to just one question that he had been pondering. Impressed with this illithid’s desire for knowledge over material possessions, the Great Brain granted the request. The question posed by the illithid was one of such profound insight that even Ilsensine didn’t know the answer, and so blessed the mind flayer with immortality to pursue this question and return once it had discovered the answer.
Sages who hold that this is in fact an origin story for the Philosoflayer point to the similarities between the tale and the tenets of Maanzecorian; the idea that even the learned can still gain new knowledge from others is a core belief of the faith. Other sages hold instead that this is a tale spawned as a contrast to the story of Diirinka, to show how superior illithids are to others, as the material and magical wealth of Ilsensine was nothing compared to possibility of an exchange of ideas and knowledge. For their part, mind flayers dismiss this speculation as drivel; not all communities share a version of this tale, and it clashes with their view that Ilsensine is the creator of the perfection that is all things illithid, including Maanzecorian.
The Philosoflayer had better relations with other powers than Ilsensine, and as such he occasionally acted as a mediator when the Great Brain needed a somewhat more moderate voice. This did not mean that Maanzecorian wasn’t domineering and condescending towards other powers; he believed in the superiority of the illithid race just as much as the Tentacled Lord does. However, he knew when it was important to forge amicable agreements with the gods of other races. Such agreements only lasted as long as they were beneficial, and the actions of illithids as a whole still marked him as a foe of most other underdark powers, but in times of mutual danger Maanzecorian was more likely to advocate for cooperation compared to Ilsensine. Despite this difference, he was still viewed suspiciously or hostilely by other powers of the underdark.
Most of Maanzecorian’s true allies were those with whom he shared a passion for philosophy and scholarly debate. He was a regular visitor to Arcanic’s Archive; the two had an old relationship based on a long-running friendly philosophical feud over the nature of knowledge itself. Through Arcanic, the Philosoflayer has gained a nominal ally in Boccob the Uncaring, and two were known to debate the philosophy of magic and psionics. He had also established a mutually beneficial agreement for trading knowledge with Lendor. This agreement was said to have come about when the pair debated the nature of time for nearly a year without break; it only came to an end when Maanzecorian conceded to the Master of Tedium’s greater knowledge of time and incredible skill at making extremely long, convoluted arguments that nevertheless had not one extraneous word. Finally, he was on good terms with both Hermes and Thoth, regularly exchanging information on natural philosophy and alchemy.
Despite these relationships, the Philosoflayer hoarded knowledge and secrets, and was very stingy with what he traded away. He despised those who themselves hid knowledge away or hid truth with lies and deception. Gzemnid the Gas Giant was his most hated foe for these very reasons, but he never dared to move openly against the beholder power due to its strange relationship with Ilsensine; for all of his knowledge, Maanzecorian was never sure how the Great Brain would react. He had a mutual animosity towards Dugmaren Brightmantle, prompted mainly by repeated attempts by Wandering Tinker to make off with secrets stored in the Philosoflayer’s great library. He would have preferred to ignore the dwarven power and was often irate that Dugmaren’s repeated harassment made that impossible. Finally, he held deep disdain for the myconid god Psilofyr and the philosophies of peace and pacifism the Spore Lord espoused.
While a dangerous destination, Maanzecorian’s great library in Rictus was known throughout the planes as a place where almost any knowledge could be bought, but the price was invariably steep. Not long ago, however, the Philosoflayer stopped answering prayers from his priests and Rictus took on a crumbling pallor, indicating clearly that the illithid god had been slain; at the hands of an undead power named Tenebrous if rumors are to be believed. This unleashed a rush of adventurers, fiends, and other planeswalkers intent on pillaging his great storehouse of knowledge. Those few who managed to return reported a vast array of traps, guardian beasts protecting the decaying halls, and other dangers. Not everyone who hears these stories believes them and the number of people who think the tales are simply made up to discourage competition, and so there is no shortage of people willing to mount expeditions.
If recent reports are to be believed, the situation may have changed within Maanzecorian’s realm. One barmy githzerai in Sigil claims to have made it into the center of Rictus with his party of adventurers, at least if one can listen long enough to his ravings. He reports either a vast glowing pool or a giant glowing book on a pedestal in a large room, and one of his companions touched the object. Following a bright flash of light and pain to his mind like a fiery hot poker, he saw his allies screaming and clutching their heads; the sights and sounds apparently broke him and he fled the library. Whatever happened, reports from the Prime indicate that the Philosoflayer’s priests have begun to receive spells again. Whether these events are connected is unknown, but there are those who believe some hidden contingency has restored Maanzecorian to life, while there are others who claim that Ilsensine or some other power is now answering prayers to the Philosoflayer. Whatever the truth is, it will become clear in time.
Maanzecorian was known to dispatch his avatars to the Prime Material Plane in order to meditate and share knowledge with his priests and discuss philosophy. He was also known to appear to take part in negotiations between illithids and other races if he deemed such actions highly advantageous; while it is not common knowledge even among his priesthood, the Philosoflayer was instrumental in the negotiations that opened the illithid embassy on the Rock of Bral. Finally, he was also widely believed to have dispatched his avatars in search of hidden knowledge and secrets across a variety of worlds on the Prime Material Plane.
Maanzecorian’s Avatar (Mage 32, Cleric 30, Psionicist 30, 20-HD Mind Flayer)
Maanzecorian appeared as an illithid of great height with pale purple skin and olive green highlights and extremities. Yellowed tusks sprouted from either side of his tentacles, and his white eyes gleamed with a faint, sickly light in the darkness. He always wore elaborate, expensive robes decorated with complex geometric patterns, while his elegant silver crown set with a large ruby levitated inches above his head. He drew his spells from the spheres of all, astral, charm, divination, healing, law, numbers, protection, sun, thought, time, and travelers, and all wizard schools. If Maanzecorian has truly returned, it is unknown if he will continue to use this form.
AC 0; MV 12; HP 200; THAC0 2; #AT 4
Dmg 1d3+1 ×4 (tentacles ×4) + special
MR 40%; SZ L (10 feet tall)
Str 16, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 20
Spells P: 12/12/11/11/9/9/8, W: 7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7/7
Psionic Summary: Mental #AT: 2; Mental THAC0 −5; Mental AC −10; Dis all/Sci all/Dev all; PSPs: 450; Att all; Def all.
Saves PPDM 2; RSW 3; PP 5; BW 7; Sp 4
Special Att/Def: Maanzecorian disdained physical combat, preferring to use his spells or psionics to immobilize or disable opponents. Unless he felt insulted or hungry, he also preferred to discuss a situation dispassionately to any form of combat, but should it be necessary, he could employ all the abilities of a standard illithid in order to slay a foe, especially one he had disabled first.
Three times per day each, the Philosoflayer could cast disbelief, domination, hypnotism, hypnotic pattern, power word, stun, rainbow pattern, and solipsism. Once per day he could cast Mordenkainen’s disjunction and screen, and he could call down a weird upon one group of creatures within 60 feet. The ruby in his silver crown operated as a gem of brightness that had no adverse effects on illithids within the area of effect.
Maanzecorian could only be struck by weapons of +1 or greater enchantment. He was immune to feeblemind, confusion, and other spells that would diminish his mental capacity, as well as all magic or psionics that would exert mental control over him.
Other Manifestations
The Philosoflayer eschewed omens and most manifestations, favoring instead direct mental communication with his followers. Such communications were usually in the form of simple directives to search for information on some object or location or to explore some new area. The goals of these directives always held some benefit for Maanzecorian or the illithid community the follower was a member of. On rare occasions the Philosoflayer imbued a follower with direct knowledge for up to a week in the form of a language or nonweapon proficiency.
Maanzecorian was served primarily by intellect devourers and thought-eaters, as well as brain golems, brain moles, cerebral parasites, contemplators, gray philosophers, observers, translators, and ustilagor. The Philosoflayer displayed his favor by having books fall over and open to a relevant or overlooked passage, a hidden note, or some other piece of information that is new to the follower. Maanzecorian displayed his disfavor with headaches, bouts of forgetfulness, and lethologica (the feeling that words are on the “tip of the tongue” or, to illithids, the tip of the tentacle).
The Church
Clergy: Clerics, specialty priests, wizards, psionicists
Clergy’s Align.: LN, N, LE, NE
Turn Undead: C: No, SP: No, W: No, Psi: No
Cmnd. Undead: C: Yes, SP: No, W: No, Psi: No
All clerics and specialty priests of Maanzecorian receive religion (illithid) as a bonus nonweapon proficiency.
The priesthood of Maanzecorian is small and not found in all communities, but like Ilsensine, many mind flayers at least pay lip service to the Philosoflayer. Unlike the priesthood of the Tentacled Lord, Maanzecorian’s clergy is not transient. Priests of the Philosoflayer carefully recruit new members to sustain the faith through the generations, although they usually make a point not to grow too large so as not to risk a power struggle with Ilsensine’s church. Members of the Philosoflayer’s church on occasion become the dominant power among the Venerator Creed, but more often the priests keep themselves out of illithid politics, focusing instead on acquiring knowledge and debating philosophy. While priests rarely join creeds, this is not true for other followers of Maanzecorian; those who do get involved in illithid politics are drawn most often to the Thorough Biter and Influencer Creeds, with smaller numbers in the Possessor and Awaiter Creeds. Their thoughtful, philosophical bent usually keeps them out of the elected positions outside of the creeds, but they also make ideal librarians, bookkeepers, and diplomats, and are often called upon to serve such roles when needed. This also makes members of the Philosoflayer’s faith the most likely illithids other races will have non-hostile contact with outside of the dedicated merchants.
Temples dedicated to Maanzecorian are always home to great stores of knowledge for their communities. The largest are home to halls for study, reading rooms, and lecture chambers, while the smallest are simple libraries and records halls. Comfort is an essential element of their design, and all will have the highest quality rugs and plush upholstery the priesthood can afford. Chambers are often domed, and utilize a variety of stone for construction, but shades of black, green, and white are favored. The Philosoflayer’s symbol adorns column capitals, arch peaks, or dome centers as well and trophies are displayed in a manner that encourages learning about their origins. These displays, often gruesome by other races’ standards, turn temples dedicated to Maanzecorian into museums of a sort. In the private section of the temple restricted to members of the faith, an idol about 18 inches tall depicting the Philosoflayer rests at one end of a chamber above a simple altar adorned with red or green cloth. Fine rugs and cushions fill the chamber, making it a very comfortable location to discuss and debate philosophy.
Novices in the service of Maanzecorian are called the Naive, while full priests are called the Learned Ones. The strict hierarchy of the Philosoflayer’s church eschews titles for lower-ranked priests, instead utilizing a ranking system from First Rank through Ninth Rank; beyond that every Tenth Ranked priest garners a unique title based on their personal achievements in philosophy or sagacity. Specialty priests are called episthellids. The priesthood of Maanzecorian consists primarily of specialty priests (86%), with the remainder clerics (7%), psionicists (4%), and, where they are accepted into the community, wizards (3%). Ulitharids are less common among the Philosoflayer’s clergy (2%) than Ilsensine’s but still rise quickly to the top ranks of the church; the rest are almost entirely normal illithids (98%) with priestly elder brains being virtually unheard of. It is said that some non-illithids find their way into Maanzecorian’s service, but these creatures would never be accepted by the main church. If they exist, they are likely led by rogue, exiled clergy members. Finally, rumors persist that there exists a community of alhoon devoted to the Philosoflayer, but should they exist, they would be considered heretics by the main church.
Dogma: Knowledge brings understanding and power; always be curious and seek out the unknown. Explore new territory and lands, for these places will always contain new things to learn use this newly acquired and newly understood knowledge to further illithid civilization. Knowledge can be found in unexpected and surprising places; other races are weak and pathetic compared to the illithid race, but do not discount them as a source of surprising information. While domination of these races is key to the long term advancement of illithids, it is not always the best way to acquire their knowledge. In such cases, negotiation is warranted and a worthy pursuit, but never forget that they are your lessers; never grovel or beg. What knowledge they possess that you do not is not worth lowering oneself to such a level.
Day-to-Day Activities: Priests of Maanzecorian are first and foremost seekers of knowledge. Some choose to specialize in certain fields, while others may seek to gain a wide variety of knowledge across many fields. Other members of the church are commonly found as merchants and diplomats, although these are rarely themselves priests. Such individuals have more interest in learning about and dealing with other races, and often are the closest any illithid gets to being affable towards such creatures. Finally, any voluntary leader of an illithid exploration party is almost certainly a follower of Maanzecorian, especially in Wildspace. These individuals hold an insatiable eagerness and curiosity towards the unknown, and a fair few become obsessed with some of the mysteries they discover on their trips, especially when it comes to ruined and lost civilizations.
Important Ceremonies/Holy Days: The illithid new year (which varies from world to world) is considered holy to the Philosoflayer’s church. This day, known as the Contemplation of New Beginnings is private to the members of the church, and is an all-day affair separated into different phases. The first phase has each member of the church spend time in private considering their goals for the new year. This is a time when each member reviews what they’ve learned in the past year, and then chooses what they wish to learn in the coming year. Some choose to delve deeper into topics they’ve been focusing on already, while others decide to take a new approach or learn something entirely new. The second phase has all members of the church coming together in communal chambers to discuss their topics with others. This serves both as a report on their progress and a way to seek insights from sources they may not have considered; individual members are encouraged to converse with members of the temple that they don’t often discuss such matters with. In the final phase, the high priest of the temple leads the congregation in a sort of “psychic song” about the glory of knowledge and learning; those telepathic beings who have managed to psionically eavesdrop on this event report that it is at times hauntingly beautiful, terrifying, and mentally painful.
Major Centers of Worship: While not as common as temples of Ilsensine, those dedicated to the Philosoflayer are more common destinations for traveling illithids. The clergy of Maanzecorian attempts to keep contact with their fellow members of the faith in different settlements so long as they are not actively hostile, and they welcome visitors of the faith within their temple halls. The largest such temple can be found on the world of Falx, located within the younger city of Tentacles-Grip-Tightly. Known as the Lyceum of the Sophiflayers, houses 80 priests and contains the grandest library known throughout illithid space. Besides housing this vast store of knowledge written in hundreds of tongues, the Lyceum of the Sophiflayers features a museum open to all illithids and debate halls used for teaching and philosophical debate. In addition, the temple serves as the primary training facility for those illithids who wish to become explorers of both wildspace and the planes. The apparent death of the Philosoflayer has led to major disruption within the temple, but things may be changing if rumors of his return are true.
The city of Oryndoll beneath the surface of Toril once hosted a small but significant cult of the Philosoflayer based in the Cenotaph of Maanzecorian. With his demise, the Elder Conclave has dispatched many expeditions in order to retrieve as much knowledge from the libraries of Rictus as they can, lest they be lost or captured by other forces. Expedition members have reported strange things and signs that the decay of the realm may have halted; the Elder Concord has been in deep discussions about just what this may mean.
While the population of illithids on the Rock of Bral is not particularly large, its role as the center for diplomacy between the disparate mind flayer nations and the various other races of the spheres has caused it to be a haven of sorts for Maanzecorian’s faith. The shrine dedicated to the Philosoflayer in the subterranean levels of the embassy is nearly as large as the embassy’s shrine of Ilsensine. While many mind flayers on Bral are reluctantly assigned to the post or living in a form of exile, those who willingly or even eagerly accept such a posting are often followers of the Philosoflayer.
Affiliated Orders: The priesthood of Maanzecorian may be a part of the Venerator Creed or completely independent, depending on the community. While they do not sponsor any independent orders, wealthy temples do sponsor organized exploration missions on occasion. In addition, some churches operate in ways reminiscent of human monastic orders, focused on collecting and distributing texts and pondering philosophical truths.
In Clusterspace, the caste of illithid wizards within the sphere’s illithid empire is heavily associated with the church of Maanzecorian. The church itself has few priests, but many wizards in this sphere are also members of the priesthood. The caste focuses on diplomacy and exploration, in particular the recovery of ancient magic items from the earliest days of the Astromundi civilizations.
Priestly Vestments: Maanzecorian’s clergy dresses less ostentatiously than the clergy of Ilsensine. They wear collared robes of olive or yellow-green embroidered with red or silver thread along the open neckline and down the front. The patterns of this thread become more geometrically complex as the member of the clergy advances up the ranks. Heads are typically adorned by square hats with the same pattern as the front of the robe, although not all members of the clergy wear these, preferring to keep their heads bare. The holy symbol used by the clergy is an oval cabochon-cut ruby in a silver setting, either worn as an amulet or in the center of the hat.
Adventuring Garb: When traveling, clergy of the Philosoflayer rarely dress particularly differently than other illithids, although they are always sure to wear clothes comfortable for extended trips. They do not advertise their positions to non-illithids, but neither do they hide it, while all illithids can tell when they are a member of Maanzecorian’s faith. They are slightly less likely to travel with thralls, who normally do all of their fighting, and as such they seek out weapons and protection magics much more often than others of their kind. They never wear armor, however.
Specialty Priests (Episthellid)
Requirements: Wisdom 16
Prime Req.: Wisdom
Alignment: LE
Weapons: Any
Armor: None
Major Spheres: All, astral, charm, divination, law, numbers, protection, sun (reversed only), thought, time
Minor Spheres: Healing, travelers
Magical Items: Same as clerics
Req. Profs: Diplomacy (PO:S&M)
Bonus Profs: Research (PO:S&M)
- Episthellids must be illithids or ulitharids.
- Episthellids are not allowed to multiclass.
- Episthellids may select nonweapon proficiencies from the wizard group without penalty.
- Episthellids can identify the general purpose of magical items, just as bards can, at a 5% chance per experience level.
- In order to aid in the casting of their priestly magic, all episthellids have reduced magic resistance. Rather than the standard 90%, they have a magic resistance of 18%.
- Episthellids can cast comprehend languages (as the 1st-level wizard spell) or thought capture (as the 1st-level priest spell) once per day.
- At 3rd level, episthellids can cast read magic (as the 1st-level wizard spell) or withdraw (as the 2nd-level priest spell) once per day.
- At 5th level, episthellids can cast know customs or memory read (as the 3rd-level priest spells) once per day.
- At 7th level, episthellids can cast divination or solipsism (as the 4th-level priest spells) once per day.
- At 10th level, epsithellids gain the sage knowledge nonweapon proficiency in one subject of their choice. They must spend at least a month of uninterrupted, intense study on this topic before the proficiency is actually acquired.
- At 10th level, epsithellids can cast disbelief (as the 6th-level priest spell) once per day.
- At 15th level, episthellids can cast consume knowledge (as the 7th-level wizard spell) or feeblemind (as the 6th-level priest spell) once per week.
Maanzecorite Spells
2nd Level
Existential Crisis (Pr 2; Enchantment/Charm)
Sphere: Thought
Range: 30 yds.
Components: V, S, M
Duration: 1 rd./level
Casting Time: 5
Area of Effect: 1 creature
Saving Throw: Neg.
This spell inflicts a target with an existential crisis, embroiling their mind in an internal conflict. The specifics of the crisis depend entirely on the worries of the target; the caster has no control over the specific crisis that embroils the target’s mind. A saving throw versus spell, modified by the target’s Wisdom, is allowed to avoid the effects. While under the effects of this spell, a creature can take no actions other than basic defense as they struggle to make any decisions, doubting all of their possible options, not to mention their past decisions. For the duration, they must be guided around, unable to move any further than 10 feet per round, and they are slow to react, suffering a −2 penalty to their Armor Class and Saving Throws. Note that a high Dexterity score can offset this penalty.
The material component for this spell is the priest’s holy symbol.
4th Level
Block Knowledge (Pr 4; Alteration)
Sphere: Thought
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 1 rd.
Area of Effect: 1 creature
Saving Throw: Neg.
By means of this spell, the caster can create a mental block within a target’s mind that walls off particular knowledge or skills. The caster must be able to identify a discrete piece of knowledge in order to create this block, which can fall into one of the following categories:
Knowledge of a specific person, place, or object. In this case, the affected creature will have no memory at all of the chosen item. For example, if a target is made to forget one of their party members, they will react to them as a stranger, and any memories of events in which they participated will exclude them. A similar situation occurs with places and objects; for example, if made to forget about a single building on a street, their memory will include the other buildings, but they will be surprised at this “new building” that has somehow squeezed in where there was no space before. An affected creature who carefully examines their memories may realize something is wrong from incongruities (“Where did that fireball come from that killed the goblins last week? None of us are wizards!”) with a successful Wisdom check, modified as determined by the DM based on how obvious the incongruities are. Any place larger than a single average-sized building can be forgotten, but it requires an additional material component of a 500 gp diamond.
Knowledge of a single skill or ability. In this case, a single weapon proficiency, non-weapon proficiency, or class ability can be walled off and caused to be forgotten. If a weapon proficiency is forgotten, so is any associated specialization or mastery; the creature fights with such a weapon as if they were non-proficient. Class abilities that can be walled off include a single thief skill, a bard’s lore ability, a cleric’s ability to turn undead, and the shapechange ability of druids, among others; spellcasting itself cannot be walled off and is handled as below. Innate abilities that are constant and automatic cannot be affected; a paladin’s circle of protection and the saving throw bonuses of paladins, druids, and specialist wizards are examples of these types of unaffected abilities.
Knowledge of a single spell. In this case, the caster blocks off all knowledge of a single spell; this can be chosen specifically or at random from among the target’s known spells. Any copies of the spell currently memorized are wiped and the target will be incapable of memorizing new copies of the spell. The target will act as if they’ve never seen the spell before; priests will be unable to recall the methods to request the spell and wizards will see the spell in their own spellbook as unintelligible gibberish. As knowledge of the spell is simply walled off and not truly forgotten, it still counts towards their Known Spell limit.
A successful saving throw prevents the knowledge from being blocked. The mental block created by this spell lasts for one day per level of the caster and a remove curse or heal spell can eliminate the block before its expiration. If the spell is cast in conjunction with a small, highly detailed bust of the target worth 5000 gp, the knowledge block is permanent and can only be eliminated with a wish or limited wish. This bust is consumed in the casting.
The material component for this spell is the priest’s holy symbol.
Extract Knowledge (Pr 4; Alteration, Divination)
Sphere: Thought
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 1 rd.
Area of Effect: 1 creature
Saving Throw: Special
With this spell, the caster may forcibly extract information and knowledge from a single target. If the target is willing, this transfer is effortless and instantaneous, mimicking the 2nd level priest spell, impart knowledge, and the information in the target’s head is retained without issue. However, if the target is unwilling, they are allowed a saving throw vs. death to resist the spell. This saving throw is modified with a −1 penalty for each point of the caster’s Intelligence above 14 (so −1 at 15, −2 at 16, etc.) to a maximum of −4. If the saving throw is failed, the caster is able to extract on piece of knowledge or information the target knows. Information extracted can be simple or complex, but it must be identifiably unique; information such as a schematic for a machine, the route through a maze, the recipe for a magical potion, or a list of names in a conspiracy plot. Memories cannot be extracted, although knowledge contained within a memory (such as the identity of someone the target met in a market at a specific date and time) can be extracted. This process can be lengthy and is quite painful. The base time for extraction is 1d4 rounds and the target suffers 1d3 points of damage per round. The DM may decide to apply a modifier to the duration roll depending on how simple or complex the knowledge is. Creatures cannot be reduced below 1 hit point with this spell, but should the damage be enough to do so, they are rendered unconscious at the end of the duration. This spell does not restrain a target, so those not physically or magically prevented from moving can act as they wish for the duration.
Targets of this spell suffer a form of temporary amnesia if they are unwillingly affected. They forget the details of the knowledge or information for 1d6+4 days, although this amnesia can be dispelled with any magic that eliminates a forget spell, such as heal.
The material component for this spell is a specially-made coin of gold set in the center of a larger copper coin; production of this coin costs 100 gp in materials and workmanship. If the target is a willing recipient of the spell, the coin can be reused, otherwise it is consumed.
Another great entry, thank you for your wonderful job!
Thank you! :D
I like to think that Maanzecorian came back because he couldn’t die without finding the answer to his question.
That’s definitely one of the “potentials for return” I had in mind for him! :D