These mechanics are a work in progress, and thus subject to change. They were designed to function with the Pathfinder 1e System.
Who has to worry?
Luckily for many practitioners of magic upon the wide and vast land of Numiastra, not every discipline of magic is as concerned with the dangerous side-effects of Circuitbleed as the unfortunate practitioners of the arcane - see the list below for the types of magic on Numiastra and the unique mechanics of Circuitbleed as they relate to such practitioners.
- Divine: Treats spell level as halved rounding down for purposes of which spell level tables to roll on for Circuitbleed Effects. All worshipped entities are treated as Patron Entities with a Grade equal to their Divine Classification with all Foci, though only one of a divine caster's personal pantheon is treated as the source of their Subsumation Rite - typically their most trusted or favorite tale or deity(Or the most powerful Patron Entity).
- Natural: Treats spell level as halved rounding down for purposes of which spell level tables to roll on for Circuitbleed Effects. The power of the caster's associated geographical feature counts as a Grade III Patron Entity with all Foci.
- Kinetic: Unaffected by virtue of not using The Lattice.
- Bardic: Unaffected by virtue of not using The Lattice.
- Alchemy: Unaffected.
- Arcane: No special mechanics. As described below.
The Circuitbleed Roll
Whenever a spell is cast, the caster rolls a 1d100 first to determine if a circuitbleed effect triggers. At base, the percentage for a circuitbleed effect triggering is 10% x Spell Level(With no chance to trigger on cantrips). There are ways to lower this chance(Described later), and inversely in some areas or under some circumstances it may be higher as well.
If a Circuitbleed Effect is triggered, the triggering caster rolls on the appropriate circuitbleed effect table for the given spell level(A separate table for each level of spell) to determine the effect that takes hold upon them.
Blood Magic
Overall, the practice of offering up pre-existing Atlen as a buffer to blunt the effects of circuitbleed is referred to by the denizens of Numiastra as
Blood Magic - a broad category that encompasses everything from offering up one's own life essence to using the life essence of others or worse.
As it is such an enormous category, Blood Magic has largely been codified into a handful of "Schools" that denote different methodologies and practices that can be used to blunt the effects of circuitbleed - these schools are listed below alongside their mechanics.
Of note, for better or worse,
Blood Magic is an exclusive ability of Arcane Casters.
An Arcane Caster may only have one Blood Magic school learned at a time.
To take a focus in a Blood Magic School, any character with a level in an Arcane Casting Class can take the feat
Blood Dedication for the school of their choice, gaining one power from the school's list automatically. Further powers can be learned through the finding of hidden masters across Numiastra to teach them or via other methods such as(NOT YET BUILT).
Flagellation
Blood Mages who focus on the Flagellation school focus primarily on offering up their own life as a buffer to blunt the effects of Circuitbleed - whether out of a masochistic enjoyment of the act or some invariably twisted moral 'code' that causes them to view their focus as some sort of a moral 'high ground' to other Blood Mages.
School Abilities
- Slitvein Tidewall: Whenever you cast a spell, you may choose to take as much damage as you please(Dealt as Untyped Damage) to reduce the Circuitbleed Roll by an amount equal to double the damage you take(Which you must decide upon before the Circuitbleed roll is made). Alternatively, you can raise or lower the number of the result you roll on the corresponding Spell Level table by 1 for every 5 points of damage you suffer in the same manner(Chosen after the Circuitbleed roll is made) - if you would lower or raise this result below or above the Spell Level table, you enter the Spell Level Table below or above it.
- Blood Reflector: Whenever you are the target of a spell that requires a saving throw, you can take untyped damage in iterations of 10 to raise your saving throw result by 1(This is done after your saving throw is made but before you know whether you succeeded or not). If you successfully save against the spell after taking damage from this ability, you force a Circuitbleed Effect on the caster from the spell level table one lower than the level of spell you saved against.
- ???: The secrets of the Flagellators reveal themselves only to those who seek the deepest depths of pain and suffering...
Excoriation
Blood Mages who focus on the Excoriation school focus primarily on offering up the lives of others as a buffer to blunt the effects of circuitbleed - often feared and derided as the most villainous and vile of all Blood Mages, Excoriators are infamous for their rituals to offer up the lives of others to save themselves from the effects of circuitbleed.
School Abilities
- Gouge and Drain: Whenever you cast a spell, you can choose to automatically slay a helpless creature within your natural reach as part of the action of casting a spell whose HD is equal to or greater than twice the spell's level - if you do, you cast the spell without suffering the effects of circuitbleed on its' casting and add +2 damage per die to the spell you cast(If it is a damaging spell).
- Bleeding Fuel: Whenever you cast a single-target spell, you can attempt to rip a living creature's very life essence asunder to empower your casting - any living creature(Not only the spell's target) is a valid target for this ability so long as you have line of sight and effect to them and they are within 30ft +5ft/2 levels you possess. The living creature in question takes a number of d6s of damage equal to the number of Arcane Caster Levels you possess - for each point of damage they take, you can apply an equal penalty to the spell's d100 Circuitbleed Roll, though this must be decided upon before the roll is made. Any points you choose to save are lost if the Circuitbleed Roll does not trigger Circuitbleed - if it does, however, you can raise or lower the number of the result you roll on the corresponding Spell Level table by 1 for every 5 points of damage they suffer(though you cannot pass into higher or lower spell level tables). Creatures you target with this ability are entitled to a Fortitude Save(DC based on your mental casting ability score) to halve this damage. If they successfully halve this damage, you take the other half.
- ???: The secrets of the Excoriators are revealed only to those who drown themselves in blood to find their salvation...
Ruination
Blood Mages who focus on the Ruination school are a rare bunch and few in number - and unlike the other schools, Ruiners eschew life essence as a fuel source altogether in favor of offering up an even more precious resource to preserve themselves; Atlen itself. Offering up the life essence of the world around them, these rare and volatile Blood Mages plunge entire countrysides into famine and drain entire forests to power their most powerful spells, making them perhaps even more hated than Excoriators.
School Abilities
- Sundered Lands: Whenever you cast a spell, you can render a variable number of squares upon the battlefield lifeless and impassable to deflect the effects of Circuitbleed - for each square you affect in such a way, you reduce the Circuitbleed Roll for that spell by 5(Which can be done after the Circuitbleed Roll has been made). This ability does not work for spells of level 5th or above, and does not automatically kill any creatures that may be inhabiting those squares(Only mundane plantlife, vegetation, and any other mundane creatures not currently in combat), instead forcing them into the nearest open square without provoking attacks of opportunity.
- ???: Most of the secret arts of the Ruiners are kept secret from any and all beings except those who seek out their strongholds and join their ranks...
Necrolytic
The oldest and most powerful school of Blood Magic, the Necrolytic School is a school of Blood Magic that is nearly exclusive to the undead - living creatures are unable to make use of most of this school's rituals or methodologies which rely on the caster being able to draw upon their unholy constitution to counter the effects of circuitbleed in the rawest way imaginable: countering the shift in Numiastra's leylines that causes the Circuitbleed by using their own bodies and essences to stabilize the connection. This process, while incredibly dangerous, is among the most successful known ways to counteract Circuitbleed - though the expenditure of Atlen its casters require for their spells doubles or even triples as a result. While the bulk of this schools practices and rituals are able to be used only by the undead, a handful are available to Living Creatures - which often serve as "Gateway Drugs" into an Undead Transformation, as living mages who dabble in the Necrolytic School almost invariable begin a crash descent into undeadhood - unable to abandon the raw power the school provides even it means abandoning their decency.
School Abilities
- Necrolytic Catalyst: Whenever you cast an arcane spell, you may choose to have it expend twice as many slots or spells per day to roll twice and choose your result on the d100 Circuitbleed roll to determine if Circuitbleed occurs. If Circuitbleed triggers despite this, you may apply either the Extend, Intensified, or Silent Metamagics to the spell without raising its casting time or expended slot level. If you avoid Circuitbleed after using this ability, you take 5 untyped damage per spell level from the backlash on your living body.
- Necrolytic Conversion(Requires Undead Type): Whenever you cast an arcane spell, you may choose to have it expend twice as many slots or spells per day to completely ignore the effects of circuitbleed for the casting of that spell. Additionally, when you do so, the spell in question is automatically heightened to the highest spell level you can cast for DC and damage purposes without raising the level of slot it expands or the spell's casting time.
- ???: The true secrets of Necrolytic Blood Magic reveal themselves only to the true vile souls who cast themselves into undeath or who pledge themselves to The Vrýkus Throne.
Channel Carving
A less bloody and somewhat more "humane" means of counteracting circuitbleed(By the standards of mages, at least), Channel Carving is an ancient practice that relies upon the caster physically and mentally altering the way they cast their spells to carve magical "trenches" or "channels" into them which allow for the Circuitbleed energies to escape into the nearby area instead of into their own bodies. While it does require some technique, it is among the easiest and most accessible ways for mages of all skill levels to mitigate the effects of Circuitbleed.
Mechanics
Whenever any creature that has levels in a casting class that has interacts with Circuitbleed Mechanics(Described at the top of this page) casts a non-cantrip spell, they can choose to "Channel Carve" as part of the action of casting that spell - doing so automatically lowers the level the spell being cast is treated as for determining which Circuitbleed Level Effect Table the caster will roll on(Allowing a 4th Level spell to roll on the 3rd Level Circuitbleed Effects Table). A 1st level spell, when Channel Carved, does not trigger circuitbleed. However, casting a spell with this effect automatically renders all terrain within 10ft x the Spell Level into difficult terrain, and deals the same amount of damage to all unattended objects within this radius as unavoidable damage that ignores hardness. Cannot be used in conjunction with any Blood Magic Abilities.
The Rite of Subsumation
Perhaps the most common means by which living creatures are able to blunt the effects of circuitbleed, the Rite of Subsumation is an ancient technique whose original innovators have long since been lost to history that has nonetheless become widespread in the ages since the Skyfall Calamity. Requiring a living creature to accept the patronage of another more powerful entity and allow them into their very soul, the rite allows for a living creature to outright negate the effects of circuitbleed at set intervals by calling upon the connection to their patron to undo or outright rewind their bodies and minds to a state before the negative effect occured, akin to restoring a device from a clean backup.
Subsumation
The eponymous ritual for which the rite is named, Subsumation refers to the automatic process which is performed by the Patron upon the bound creature at an interval decided upon by both parties when the Rite is initially sealed. Each Patron has a minimum length of time between Subsumations depending on their grade, and after the Subsumation schedule has been established it largely cannot be delayed - happening on the set schedule without much alteration, though exceptions are not unheard of they are usually unable to be delayed or quickened by more than a day regardless of Patron Grade.
When the bound creature is Subsumated, they are automatically cleansed of all Circuitbleed Effects whose type matches their Patron's Focuses(Described below) - while all other Circuitbleed Effects are subjected to a removal attempt by the Patron, who rolls a d20 with a bonus equal to their Grade x 5 against a DC of 20. If successful, the given Circuitbleed Effect is removed and any effect it caused upon their person negated if any linger(So long as the creature is not dead, which nullifies the Rite outright).
However, the Subsumation is a double-edged sword - a Circuitbleed Effect that has not been removed after a number of Subsumations equal to 1 + Patron's Grade becomes "locked" and can no longer be removed by the Patron in question and can thereafter be removed only by powerful mortal magic(Depending on the nature of the Circuitbleed Effect).
Patron Entities
The first step on the path to the formation of any rite is for a living creature choose his or her patron entity - all entities that are capable of sustaining a Rite of Subsumation are divided into the following three "Grades"; a loose categorical estimation of their power as a whole for the purpose of the Rite. While oftentimes the highest grades of Patron Entity do correspond to incredibly powerful god-like beings, it is not always the case - certain specialized creatures, while weak, may be wise or cunning or magically specialized enough to serve as masterful Patron Entities despite their own lesser status.
- Grade I: The weakest of the Patron Entities, Grade I Patrons possess at most two foci and allow for linked creatures to Subsumate once every two weeks at the quickest. Additionally, Grade I Patrons allow for bound creatures to select Circuitbleed Effects one number higher or lower than the number rolled on the given spell level effect table instead of the one they rolled.
- Grade II: Moderately strong Patron Entities, Grade II Patrons possess at most four foci and allow for linked creatures to Subsumate once every week at the quickest. Additionally, Grade II Patrons allow for bound creatures to select Circuitbleed Effects two numbers higher or lower than the number rolled on the given spell level effect table instead of the one they rolled.
- Grade III: The mightiest Patron Entities, Grade III Patrons possess up to six foci and allow for linked creatures to Subsumate once every 24 hours at the quickest. Additionally, Grade III Patrons allow for bound creatures to select Circuitbleed Effects two numbers higher or lower than the number rolled on the given spell level effect table instead of the one they rolled and allow for a reroll on the d100 roll to determine if a Circuitbleed Effect Triggers once a day.
Patron Foci
Each patron available to sustain the Rite has at least one focus and Anathema focus - a focus, in Patron Entity terms, relates to the types of Circuitbleed Effects; each "Focus" corresponds to one of these types and denotes a type of Circuitbleed Effect that, each time the Patron Entity Subsumates the bound creature, is automatically removed. Anathema Foci, therefore, are the inverse - a type of Circuitbleed Effect the given patron is incapable of removing automatically or manually. Not all Patrons possess Anathema Foci, but many do.
Of note, a Patron that has a Focus whose corresponding type is described as a higher or more severe version of a lesser type counts that Focus as the lesser type's focus as well(For Example - a Patron with the 'Lethal' Focus is also treated as having the 'Injury' focus).
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