Chain Madness
This spell allows a priest to create insanity in
the mind of a target creature, which then becomes
contagious. A creature must have an Intelligence
score of 5 or above to be subject to the effects of
chain madness. When the priest casts the spell, the
target creature is allowed a saving thrnw vs. spell
with a -4 penalty to avoid the effects. These effects
are not immediately obvious; there is a minimum
latency period of 48 hours. After this time, the afflicted creature must make a daily Wisdom check
and, when this fails, the creature develops the
symptomsof a fevered, agitated, severe depression.
An affected creature has a -3 penalty to all
attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and ability
checks. The creature must also make a successful
Wisdom check to perfom any premeditated action
(as decided by the DM). For example, a creature
fights as best it can to defend itself if attacked,hut a
Wisdom check is required to initiate an aggressive
action of its own, plan a trap or ambush, and so on.
The duration of the madness is 1d4 + 4 days, but
at the end of this time the creature must make a
system shock roll. If this fails, the insanity continues for a further 1d4 + 4 days. This continues until a
successful system shock roll is made or the creature
dies. A creature that fails an initial system shock
roll loses 1 point of Constitution permanently for
each subsequent system shock roll failure.
A creature reduced to 0 Constitution dies.
The great danger of chain madness lies in its
contagion. Each affected creature can infect up to
six other creatures per day. Tbe effect spreads
through physical contact, including during the original latency period. Even a shake of a hand is
enough to convey the madness. Each potential secondary victim is permitted a saving thrnw vs. spell
to negate the effect. If affected, secondary victims
develop the same madness after the same latency
period and are themselves contagious. However,
tertiary victims save vs. spell at + 1, later victims
save at +2, and so on along the chain.
Chain madness can be cured by a successful
dispel magic spell, a remove curse, or a Heal spell.
Detection spells that read a creature's name (for example, know alignment, detect good/evil) have a 5%
chance per level of the caster to reveal that something is subtly wrong in the mind of an affected creature. This may be crucial to containing the outbreak
when the malady is still in its latency phase.
This spell is rarely used, for it is hazardous to
the priest casting it. If the casting priest rolls below
his Wisdom score on d100 when casting the spell,
then he suffers the effects of chain madness, but
without becoming contagious.
[Iuz the Evil]
Iuz
Sphere: Charm(Illusion, Phantasm)
Level: 6
Range: 30 yds
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 9
Area of Effect: 1 creature
SavingThrow: Special
Components: V, S, M
Duration: Special
Casting Time: 9
Area of Effect: 1 creature
SavingThrow: Special
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