Magic Traditions

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Using Casting Traditions

Casting traditions are comprised of general drawbacks, sphere-specific drawbacks, and boons. General drawbacks and boons must be selected when the caster gains their first level in a casting class, while sphere-specific drawbacks are gained when the character first gains the sphere they modify.

Drawbacks come in one of two forms: general and sphere-specific. General drawbacks must be selected as soon as the caster gains her first level in any spellcasting class. Sphere-Specific Drawbacks must be chosen as soon as the caster gains the drawback’s prerequisite sphere.

Boons are the opposite of drawbacks: instead of adding limitations and requirements to a caster’s magic, they add bonuses and benefits. A caster must possess 2 general drawbacks for each boon gained. Drawbacks used to purchase boons in this way are not counted toward bonus spell points.

Multiple Traditions

When gaining a level in a casting class beyond their 1st, a caster may apply that casting level to a new tradition.

They gain an entirely separate set of spheres, talents, caster level, spell points, drawbacks, and boons, which are determined similarly to but completely separate from the first set. When creating a magical effect, they must choose which of these traditions (and its associated spheres, talents, spell points, etc.) they will use; they cannot use aspects of one tradition to empower the other.

Whenever the caster gains a level in a casting class, they must decide which of their traditions that casting class level will be applied to for gaining spell points, casting level, and talents.

General Drawbacks

General drawbacks grant the caster bonus spell points (although they may also grant boons, as detailed under Boons below), according to the following chart. Some drawbacks are especially powerful; these drawbacks count as two drawbacks when determining the number of bonus spell points gained.

Number of Drawbacks	Bonus Spell Points
1	+1, +1 per 6 levels in casting classes
2	+1, +1 per 3 levels in casting classes
3	+1 per odd level in a casting class (1, 3, 5, etc.)
4	+1, +1 per 1.5 levels in a casting class (2, 3, 5, 6, etc.)
5	+1 per level in a casting class

Sphere-Specific Drawbacks

Rather than grant bonus spell points, sphere-specific drawbacks grant the target an extra magic talent in their prerequisite sphere. A creature does not gain this bonus magic talent until they gain the sphere-specific drawback’s prerequisite sphere. A sphere-specific drawback may be removed by spending a magic talent, in essence ‘paying back’ the talent gained from the drawback.

General Drawbacks

Casting Requirements

Focus Casting

Your magic requires you to use an item such as a wand, holy symbol, ring, or staff to create magic. Using magic without your focus requires you to make a concentration check (DC 20 + 1/2 the caster level) to produce the desired effect. Failure means time (and any spell points) are spent, but no effect happens.

If a focus is lost, stolen, or broken, the caster must create a new focus by securing the necessary item and spending 8 hours bonding with it. At the GM’s discretion, however, another caster’s focus may be used instead.

Galvanized

Your magic was forged by war, and is integrated with your fighting abilities. To use or concentrate on your abilities, you must wielding a martial or exotic weapon with at least some metal components (even some metal decorations on a wooden weapon are sufficient). You must be able to attack with the weapon, and have proficiency with it. The weapon itself has no special properties, but can not have the broken condition. Being disarmed, or having the weapon sundered counters any sphere abilities you are casting or maintaining. If a polymorph spell causes the weapon to become part of your body you lose your abilities, unless you can still attack with the weapon somehow. You can still switch between weapons while maintaining sphere abilities.

You can not take this drawback if you took the Focus Casting drawback.

Material Casting

Your magic requires the expenditure of specific materials: precious metals, rare components, etc. The exact nature of this material should be worked out with the GM, but as a rule of thumb, this should cost a silver piece worth of materials per caster level per ability used.

Mental Focus

Your magic requires you to have a focus that is not always possible to achieve. You normally have focus, but lose it whenever you fail a save versus mind-affecting magic, have a critical hit confirmed on you, or a condition causes you to lose the ability to concentrate (such as being nauseated or helpless or failing an enforced concentration check such as from being entangled).

Using magic without your mental focus requires you to make a concentration check (DC 20 + 1/2 caster level) to produce the desired effect. Failure means time (and any spell points) are spent, but no effect happens.

If focus is lost, the caster can refocus by meditating as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity.

Somatic Casting

You must gesture to cast spells—a process that requires you to have at least 1 hand unoccupied. When using magic, you cannot wear armor heavier than light without incurring a chance of arcane spell failure.

You may select this drawback twice. If taken a second time, you cannot wear any armor or use a shield without incurring a chance of arcane spell failure.

Verbal Casting

You must speak in a loud, clear voice to cast spells. Using magic alerts all nearby hearing creatures to your presence and location, effectively breaking stealth. You cannot cast in an area of magical silence, or in any other situation where you are unable to speak clearly.

Hindered Casting

Charged Spells

You must prepare a sphere effect into a charge before you can use it yourself. Preparing a charge takes 10 full-round actions (without allowing swift or free actions) in a row that provoke attacks of opportunity. If you are disrupted before you finish your charge, you must start all over to create it, but any spell points invested into its creation are not lost.

You must determine spell points that will be used as part of the charge as well as the talents, feats, class abilities, any other modifiers or variables at the time of casting. Any temporary increase to caster level, ability score or other such modifier must be active during the entire creation process in order to benefit you when expended.

Expending a charge to use the sphere effect takes up the same action as using it regularly, and provokes (or does not provoke) attacks of opportunity as would normally happen with the effect. Spell points invested in a charge are locked and cannot be used for any other purpose until expended in the charge.

A charge remains until you rest and regain spell points, but can be dismissed prematurely as a free action (this wastes the charge). You can maintain a number of charges at once equal to your magic skill bonus plus your casting ability modifier.

This drawback counts as 2 drawbacks for the purposes of determining boons. Temporary talents (such as those granted by the prodigy’s adaptation ability) cannot be used as part of a charge.

Incompatible: Diagram Magic, Prepared Casting

Coy Caster

Your magic is a fickle thing, or perhaps you’re simply possessed of performance anxiety. If you attempt to use magic while you know you’re being observed, you must make a concentration check (DC 15 + 1/2 the caster level) to produce the desired effect. Failure means time (and any spell points) are spent, but no effect happens.

If you believe you are hidden or alone, even if you’re not, you may use magic normally.

Diagram Magic

In order to perform any magical effect, either you or your target must be entirely contained within the boundaries of a special diagram. Creating this diagram requires a full-round action for every 5 ft. square contained within the diagram.

Once the circle has been drawn, make a spellcraft check as part of the full-round action to draw the final part of the circle against DC 15 + the maximum caster level of any effect to be performed within the circle to determine if it was done correctly. You may take 10 on this check even if in combat or stressed.

You can increase the speed at which you draw the diagram but at greater risk of making a mistake. For every step by which you reduce the time required to draw the diagram, increase the spellcraft DC by +5 to a maximum of +20 to draw the circle as a free action, but doing so prevents you from taking 10 on the check.

The diagram need not be drawn with any special materials, and can be done with sprinkled salt, paint, blood, or anything else that may be on hand so long as it is clearly visible. If the diagram is disrupted (any amount of damage dealt to the surface it is carved upon, or sufficient force from water, wind, or any other effect that might disperse the material the diagram was created with) then any magic previously cast stays in effect, but no further spells may be used until a new circle is drawn. Spells and effects created by magic within the diagram and summoned creatures never disrupt it even if they would otherwise.

This counts as 2 drawbacks when determining the number of spell points gained.

Emotional Casting

Your magic requires heightened emotional states of mind to use. When subject to a non-harmless magical effect that invokes an emotion (such as fear effects, spells with the (emotion) descriptor, or charms such as Fear or Hostility) you are unable to use magic.

Extended Casting

Your magic takes longer to use than normal. When using an ability gained from a sphere or talent, increase the casting time by one step: swift actions become move actions, move actions become standard actions, standard actions become full-round actions, full-round actions take 1 full round to complete, and 1-round actions take 1 minute to compete.

This drawback counts as 2 drawbacks when determining the number of spell points gained.

Prepared Caster

You must prepare your magic beforehand to use it. After resting to regain spell points, you must assign each of your spell points to a sphere you possess. You cannot spend more spell points in a given sphere in a day than you have assigned to that sphere.

Skilled Casting

You must create your magic through singing, drawing, or some other activity. Your magic is tied to a particular Perform, Profession, or Craft skill (although with GM permission another skill may be substituted).

You must succeed at a skill check to use any sphere ability. The DC of this skill check is 15 + the ability’s caster level. For every 2 points by which this skill check falls short of this DC, the ability manifests at -1 caster level. If this reduces the ability to a caster level below 0, the manifested ability fails and any spell points used are lost.

A caster with Skilled Casting must be able to perform their skill to use their magic, which is similar to but not the same as possessing other drawbacks. For example, a caster who must draw to create magic must have at least one hand free, although unless he also possesses Somatic Casting he may do so while wearing heavy armor without a chance of arcane spell failure. Likewise, a caster who uses music to create magic must be able to speak, but unless he also possesses Verbal Casting he can do so quietly and not break stealth.

Strenuous

Your magic takes a physical or mental toll on you that limits how quickly and easily you can use it. You can not spend more than 1 spell point from your spell pool per round, and never as part of an immediate action. You can still use an ability that requires multiple spell points by voluntarily increasing the casting time to a number of rounds equal to the cost in spell points.

You can not take this drawback if you took the Extended Casting drawback.

Terrain Casting

Your magic draws upon the primal energy and nutrients of the terrain. Whenever you use a sphere talent or ability you must either spend an additional spell point or increase your casting time by one step, else your magic drains and corrupts your space and all adjacent squares.

Terrain that has been blighted in such a manner prevents those who possess the Terrain Casting drawback from using sphere talents or abilities as if it were a dead magic zone. Areas that have had its nutrients drained are affected in different ways depending upon location (water may turn brackish or stagnant, while soil may become barren or salted); regardless of location, blighted areas will generally heal naturally after a year.

Personal Cost

Addictive Casting

Your magic is addictive. Whenever you spend one or more spell points, you must pass a Fortitude save against your addiction DC (Your addiction DC is 10, + 1 for each roll you have previously made. Thus, your first roll would be a DC 10, the second a DC 11, the third a DC 12, etc.). If you fail this save, you gain a minor addiction, suffering a -2 penalty to Constitution. Spending a spell point mitigates this penalty for 1 minute.

If you already possess a minor addiction and fail your Fortitude save after spending spell points, you gain a moderate addiction. This gives you a -2 penalty to Constitution and Strength, and requires 3 saves to overcome.

If you fail your save and already have a moderate addiction, you gain a severe addiction, suffering a -2 penalty to Dexterity, Constitution, Strength, Wisdom, and your primary casting attribute (if not Wisdom).

Each day you do not use a spell point, you may make a Fortitude save against your addiction DC to overcome your addiction. After making a save in this fashion, your addiction DC is reduced by 2. You must succeed at 2 consecutive saves to overcome your addiction. Unlike normal addictions, an addiction to magic cannot be cured with magic, although the Heal skill can be used to help overcome addictions similar to overcoming diseases. If you overcome an addiction and later gain it again due to failing your Fortitude save, your addiction DC resets itself to its highest previous amount.

This counts as 2 drawbacks when determining the number of spell points gained.

Anemic

Your magic interferes with your natural circulation. If you are immune to bleed damage, you lose that immunity. If you are not subject to bleed damage (such as because of your creature type), you become subject to it.

Whenever you take slashing or piercing damage, as well as bleed damage from any other source, you suffer 1 point of bleed damage plus an additional point of bleed damage for every 10 points of your magic skill bonus; this stacks with all other sources of bleed damage.

The Heal DC to stop yourself from bleeding increases by your magic skill bonus. Healing from magical sources does not stop you from bleeding unless the caster succeeds on a magic skill check against your magic skill defense. If you receive healing from a non-magical source (including fast healing or regeneration) you must still receive a Heal check in order to stop the bleeding.

Draining Casting

Using magic saps your lifeforce. Using any sphere ability deals you 1 point of nonlethal damage which cannot be healed through any means except rest.

This increases to 2 points at 5th caster level, 3 points at 10th caster level, 4 points at 15th caster level, and 5 points at 20th caster level. Creatures immune to nonlethal damage cannot gain this drawback.

Innate Curse

Your magic comes from a source that curses you, or your cursed condition is a side effect of your casting ability. You suffer the hindrance of a singular oracle curse, and do not get its benefit, nor the benefits that come with increased level. Use your magic skill bonus as your oracle level to determine any penalties from its hindrance. This curse is permanent and cannot be removed.

Not all curses are appropriate for this drawback, and the GM is the ultimate arbiter of which oracle curse you suffer from.

Special: If you already possess an oracle’s curse (or gain one later), then you retain this curse in addition to the other other curse, but each curse must be a different type of curse and provide different kinds of benefits (even if you don’t possess the curse mastery feat).

Narcoleptic Casting

Your magic has a pacifying effect that can lull you to sleep. At the end of any round in which you spend 1 or more spell points (or the equivalent for characters that qualify for a casting tradition but spend an alternate resource such as ki in place of spell points) you must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw with a DC of 10 + 1/2 your total levels in casting classes (minimum DC 11) or fall asleep standing up for 1 round.

Sleeping creatures are helpless. Slapping or wounding awakens an affected creature, but normal noise does not. Awakening a creature without dealing damage is a standard action (an application of the aid another action).

Creatures immune to sleep cannot gain this drawback; if a creature later becomes immune to sleep after gaining this drawback, they may immediately retrain it for another drawback or lose it, recalculating their spell points as appropriate.

This counts as 2 drawbacks when determining the number of spell points gained.

Madness Mantra

Your magic fights against you for control. At the end of any round in which you spend 1 or more spell points you must succeed at a Will saving throw with a DC of 10 + 1/2 your magic skill bonus or enter into an enraged state at the beginning of your next turn. While enraged, you gain the antagonized condition, always treating the creature(s) closest to you as your antagonist(s).

The GM may rule that the nature of your power will make you focus specifically on your allies, or beings of great importance to you (for example power that comes from a demon bound inside you may cause you to inflict harm to those you value the most before it can be contained).

When you attempt a Sense Motive check to end the antagonized condition, the skill check is made against your own magic skill defense + your casting ability modifier (minimum DC 15).

Incompatible: Emotional Casting

Painful Magic

Your magic consumes you the more you rely on it. You must pass a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the ability’s Caster Level) whenever you use magic, or be sickened for 1 round. If you use magic while sickened, you must pass a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the ability’s Caster Level) or be nauseated for 1 round.

Other

Center of Power

You have an obvious physical feature which is the source of your magical power. Whenever you cast, any creature within 30 ft. of you can clearly see that your magic originates from your center of power. If a critical hit is confirmed on you, your center is disrupted, and you lose 1d4 spell points (if you have them) and are dazed for 1 round.

A creature can target this with a called shot. The center of power is considered a tricky shot (-5).

At the GM’s discretion, certain kinds of physical restraint might also make spellcasting require a concentration check equal to 20 + the caster level of the ability, depending on the nature of the center of power and the restraint. An undesirable polymorph effect may also produce the same results.

You can not take this drawback if you took the Magical Signs drawback.

Expensive Locus

Resting to regain your magic requires an increasingly expensive locus, requiring you to dedicate more and more of your wealth to sustaining your magical power. This locus, and the way you gain power from it can take multiple different forms depending on what is appropriate for the character concept; from setting up expensive runes and talismans to calibrate your astral self, requiring an expensive laboratory to process your material components, or simply sleeping on a dedicated pile of gold to get in touch with your draconic side.

Whenever you rest to regain your spell points, it must be with a locus with a cost of 50 gp x your magic skill bonus squared. The base cost of the locus increases to 100 gp at a magic skill bonus of 10 or higher. This wealth has to be dedicated purely towards fulfilling the locus, with no other utility; meaning that magic items, or equipment you possess cannot count towards this drawback.

Using magic without your locus requires you to make a concentration check (DC 20 + 1/2 the caster level) to produce the desired effect. Failure means time (and any spell points) are spent, but no effect happens. If a locus is lost, stolen, or broken, the caster must create a new locus by securing the necessary items of the requisite monetary value and spending 8 hours bonding with it. At the GM’s discretion, however, another caster’s locus may be used instead.

Magical Signs

Your magic is accompanied by a tell-tale sign; for example, your body glows brightly, the sound of tortured souls shriek as you cast, feelings of a deep chill affect all creatures within 30 ft. All nearby creatures know when you are using magic, as well as the nature of the magic used.

Rigorous Concentration

Your magic requires intense amounts of concentration to use. When making a concentration check (such as to cast defensively or while taking damage), the DC increases by +10.

You may increase the casting time by one step to take extra time focusing and negate this penalty.

Wild Magic

Your magic is not entirely stable and can result in a variety of unwanted effects. Whenever you spend a spell point, there is a 10% chance an unexpected event happens alongside your magic. Roll as if you had activated a rod of wonder. Add that effect to those you produce with your magic. At the GM’s discretion, wild magic tables, or even tables of his own creation, may be added to the possible effects your magic can create.

Wild Magic, Variant

You have a base wild magic chance of 10%. This wild magic chance does not stack with wild magic chance from other sources.

You may not possess both this drawback and the Wild Magic general drawback found in Spheres of Power

Witchmarked

Some aspect of your characteristics is a dead giveaway about your magical nature. This could be any purely cosmetic modification or sensation that is hard to hide such as a vestigial tail (or tails), glowing eyes, an aura visible to the naked eye or the stench of death clinging to you.

The intensity of this trait grows proportional to your power. You take your caster level as a circumstance penalty to Disguise checks. Anyone who sees you and/or beats your Disguise check is able to identify you as magical and may make a Knowledge (arcana) check DC: 20 - your caster level (minimum DC 0) to learn your caster level and what base magic spheres you possess.

You may not take this drawback if you also have the Magical Signs drawback.

Sphere-Specific Drawbacks

Alteration

Beast Soul

You cannot bestow the Blank Form.

You must select a talent that grants a form with the bonus talent gained through this drawback.

Lycanthropic

You can only target yourself with your shapeshift ability. You cannot gain the Mass Alteration nor Ranged Alteration talents.

Conjuration

Elongated Summoning

Summoning a creature requires 1 minute of concentrated effort, rather than only a standard action.

Creation

Down to Earth

Your objects are all rooted to a surface and you cannot create objects in mid-air. All your creations must be created on a surface large enough to hold them.

You gain the Created Momentum talent as the bonus talent from this drawback and may still create objects with momentum, but this does not allow the object to detach itself from a surface in the process of creation (meaning you can only target creatures that are on the surface where the created object is going to be).

Incompatible: Limited Creation (create)

Limited Creation

Choose either alter or create. You cannot use this ability, nor take talents which augment this ability.

You may still gain Expanded Materials if you choose not to be able to create objects.

Material Focus

You may only create or alter objects of a single, special substance such as ice, cloth, bones, etc.

You may choose iron or stone as your material, in which case you do not gain an extra magic talent from this drawback.

You may choose shadowstuff as your material (you still receive the additional talent with this choice). Shadowstuff has hardness 5 and 10 hp per inch.

You cannot take the Expanded Materials talent.

Dark

Meld into Dark

You cannot create darkness, and you may only target yourself when granting a (meld) talent. You may only select (meld) talents and Quick Meld from the Darkness sphere.

However, you may also use (meld) talents in all dim light and darkness, not just areas of your darkness.

Death

Deathful Touch

You may use ghost strike as a melee touch attack, but not as a ranged touch attack. You can only make melee attack with the Cryptic Strike talent.

You cannot gain this drawback if you have selected ghost strike with the Necromantic Limit drawback.

Necromantic Limit

Choose either ghost strike or reanimate. You cannot use this ability, nor take talents which augment this ability.

Destruction

Aligned Combatant

Choose an end of the alignment spectrum that you possess (good, evil, lawful, or chaotic). Your destructive blast deals no damage to creatures who possess this alignment and full damage to creatures of the opposite alignment (evil for good, lawful for chaotic, etc.). Neutral creatures (those who possess neither your selected alignment nor its opposite) suffer half damage from your destructive blast.

Destructive Touch

You may only make melee touch attacks with your destructive blast. It cannot be used as a ray attack. You may not select the Explosive Orb, Extended Range, or Guided Strike talents.

If using the Energy Wall or Energy Sphere talent, the ability must begin in a square that is adjacent to you. If using the Rebuff talent, you can only protect yourself or an adjacent target with that ability.

Energy Focus

You may only make a destructive blast of a single energy type. You may not gain any blast type talents, except with the bonus talent gained from this drawback.

Shape Focus

You may only make a destructive blast of a single shape. You may not gain any shape type talents, except with the bonus talent gained from this drawback.

If your chosen shape is the default blast shape, you may choose any non-shape destruction talent as your bonus talent.

Divination

Limited Divination

Choose either sense or divine. You cannot use this ability, nor take talents which augment this ability.

Hidden Magic

You do not gain the base divine ability to detect magic, nor the base sense ability to decipher magical text. You may still gain other senses through magic talents and gain the ability to detect other things (undead, charms, etc.) through the divine ability.

Enhancement

Bodily Enhancement

You cannot enhance equipment and objects with your enhancements, only creatures. You must choose an (enhance) talent with the bonus talent gained by this drawback.

Personal Magics

You may only target yourself and your own equipment with your enhance ability. You cannot take the Ranged Enhancement talent, and any magic (except for the Bestow Intelligence, Lighten, and Animate Object talents) bestowed on an object ceases to function when wielded by another creature.

Fate

Neutrality

You lack a strong connection to any alignment type. You cannot use the hallow word.

Personal Fate

You may only target yourself with your words.

Illusion

Disappearance

You cannot create illusions or tricks, except to make things disappear. You must select the Invisibility talent as your bonus talent for this drawback.

Personal Illusion

You may only place your illusions onto yourself. You must select the Illusionary Disguise talent as your bonus talent for this drawback.

Life

Limited Restoration

Choose either restore or cure/invigorate. You cannot use this ability or abilities, nor take talents that only augment those listed abilities.

Regenerate

You may only target yourself with your Life sphere abilities.

Light

Lens Focus

You cannot create glow effects.

You may only select (lens) talents and talents that augment (lens) effects, and must select a (lens) talent with the bonus talent gained from this drawback.

Nimbus Focus

You may only cause your glows to shed light in a specific shape. You may not gain any (nimbus) talents, except with the bonus talent gained from this drawback, and must always apply its effects to light shed by your glows.

Roving Glow

You cannot place glow effects on objects or creatures. You must select the Dancing Lights talent with the bonus talent gained from this drawback.

Touch of Light

You cannot cause objects to glow as a ranged touch attack. You cannot take Ranged Light. If you use the Area Glow talent, you must center the effect on yourself.

Mind

Animal Shaman

You may affect animals and vermin with your charm effects, but not any other creature type.

This does not grant a bonus talent.

Empath

You cannot plant suggestions into a target’s mind, as the Mind sphere base suggestion charm.

You must select a (mind) talent with the bonus talent granted by this drawback.

Nature

Nature Spirit

You cannot use geomancing powers, only (spirit) talents. You cannot gain talents that augment the geomancing power, but you may select any (spirit) talent, even if it would normally require a geomancing package you do not possess.

You must select a (spirit) talent with the bonus talent granted by this drawback.

Protection

Limited Protection

Choose either ward or aegis. You cannot use this ability, nor gain talents that augment it.

Protected Soul

You cannot target other creatures with your aegis, only yourself.

You cannot select this drawback if you choose aegis as your lost ability with the Limited Protection drawback.

Aligned Protection

Choose an end of the alignment spectrum that you possess (good, evil, lawful, or chaotic). Your wards and aegis only provide protection against creatures of the opposite alignment (evil for good, lawful for chaotic, etc.).

Creatures who possess your selected alignment or are neutral (those who possess neither your selected alignment nor its opposite) are not stopped by your barriers, hindered by your wards, and your aegis provides no protection against attacks that originate from those creatures.

Telekinesis

Limited Telekinesis

You may only use your telekinesis on one type of material (water, metal, stone, etc.) chosen when you gain this drawback.

Time

Personal Time

You may only target yourself when using alter time abilities that target creatures. You cannot gain the Ranged Time or Group Time talents.

Altered Time

You cannot use the haste and slow alter time abilities. You must select a (time) talent with the bonus talent gained through this drawback.

War

Battle Manipulation

You cannot create totems, but you may still use (rally) talents. You may target a creature with your (rally) talents, treating all creatures within 30 ft of you as if they were within the area of one of your totems.

You must select a (rally) talent with the bonus talent gained through this drawback.

Solo Combatant

You cannot target other creatures with your (rally) talents, only yourself.

You must select a (rally) talent with the bonus talent gained through this drawback.

Warp

Bender

You cannot teleport, you may only bend space.

You must select a (space) talent with the bonus talent gained through this drawback.

Limited Warp

You may only teleport when within an area that meets a specific condition and can only choose a destination that also matches that condition.

Choose one of the following conditions or speak with your GM about finding another appropriate one: you can only teleport to and from areas of dim light or darkness; you can only teleport to and from a body of water; you can only teleport to and from fire; you can only teleport to and from a living tree.

You cannot gain this drawback if you possess the Bender drawback.

Personal Warp

You may only target yourself with your teleport ability. You cannot gain the Unwilling Teleport or Group Teleport talents.

You cannot gain this drawback if you possess the Bender drawback.

Weather

Focused Weather

You may only affect one weather category: Wind, Precipitation, Cold, or Heat.

If you choose cold you may lower the severity of heat but cannot increase it. If you choose heat you may lower the severity of cold but cannot increase it. You cannot take talents that alter an aspect of the weather you cannot affect.

Boons

Caster Level Bonus

Atmoturgy

Choose a weather category (Aridity, Cold, Heat, Precipitation, or Wind). While in weather of this type of severity level 3 or higher, you gain a +1 bonus to your caster level. At severity level 6 or higher, this bonus becomes +2.

Deathful Magic

The closer you are to death, the more powerful your magic. When you are at half hit points or less, you gain a +1 temporary bonus to your caster level. When you are at 1/4th your total hit points or less, this temporary bonus increases to +2.

Draw Magic

You gain a +1 bonus to your caster level whenever at least 3 creatures under the effects of your sphere abilities are within 30 ft. of you. This bonus increases to +2 if there are at least 6 such creatures within 30 ft.

Empowered Abilities

Your magic grows in strength the more you use it. If your current number of spell points is half your total spell points or less, you gain a temporary +1 bonus to your caster level. If your current number of spell points is 0, the temporary bonus to your caster level becomes +2.

Metamagic Expert

Whenever you augment a sphere ability with a metamagic feat, that sphere ability manifests at +1 caster level.

Overcharge

You may overcharge your magic, giving yourself great power at the cost of your own strength. Whenever you use a sphere ability, you may give yourself a +2 bonus to your caster level for that ability, but you become fatigued afterward. If you are already fatigued, you become exhausted. If you are exhausted, you collapse to the ground unconscious for 1d4 rounds.

Sanguine Empowerment

At the beginning of your turn, when you take damage from an ongoing bleed effect, your caster level increases by +1 until the start of your next turn.

Wild Surge

As a free action, you may gain a +2 bonus to caster level to the next sphere effect you cast before the start of your next turn by increasing your wild magic chance by 100% for the same period.

Other

Bound Creature

Your magic is tied to a magical creature, who shares essence and power with you.

You gain the Conjuration sphere (or the Extra Companion talent if you already possess the Conjuration sphere), and a companion who serves as the source of your power. Unlike a normal companion, this companion is not an extraplanar, and you may choose upon gaining the companion what creature type it possesses (although it does not gain the immunities or other qualities of its creature type). Your companion’s first (form) talent should reflect its creature type. This bound creature cannot be summoned or dismissed, and costs no spell points to use.

You do not suffer a chance of failure from the Focused Casting drawback so long as your bound creature is on the same plane as you and is within Long range (400 ft + 40 ft per caster level). If your bound creature dies, you suffer a chance of spell failure as outlined in the Focused Casting drawback until you gain another bound creature. You cannot bond with a new creature for 30 days or until you gain another level, whichever comes first. The new bound creature must be the same creature type as your previous bound creature.

A caster must possess the focus drawback to select this boon. You may gain a dragon companion as outlined in the Halfling Dragonrider racial archetype (Skybourne Player Guide, page 23), but this boon instead costs 4 drawbacks.

Easy Focus

When maintaining a sphere ability through concentration, you only need to spend a move action to maintain concentration instead of a standard action. This does not decrease the sphere ability’s casting time, only the action used to maintain concentration.

Embodiment

You have come to mentally embody some substance in spirit. Select some substance to which you have a mental or philosophical kinship, and magic that can only affect certain substances or work through certain substances can still affect you if you wish to be so affected. This doesn’t allow you to use talents or abilities that only affect items of a particular nature on yourself, but allows you to use abilities that could reasonably apply to you apart from a material limitation.

For instance, you couldn’t use the Nature sphere to use Towering Growth on yourself via Embodiment (trees), but you could use Limited Telekinesis (Ice) to move yourself. Similarly, having Embodiment (trees) would allow another with Limited Warp (trees) to teleport to your location if you knew they wished to and allowed it to happen.

Fortified Casting

You may use your Constitution as your casting ability modifier if it is higher than your usual casting ability modifier.

You must possess the Draining Casting drawback to select this boon.

Overwhelming Power

Creatures under the effects of at least 1 of your sphere abilities suffer a -1 penalty to their saves against your other sphere abilities. This penalty increases to -2 if they are under the effects of at least 3 of your sphere abilities.

Virtuoso

Your magic is blended into your performance making it more difficult to identify. Whenever you make a Skilled Casting check, onlookers make their Spellcraft check against your result or against the typical DC (whichever is higher) to identify the sphere talent or ability.

In addition, if they fail their check by 5 or more, they interpret your casting as nonmagical activity.

In addition, if you purchase this boon with either somatic casting or verbal casting in addition to Skilled Casting, you do not automatically alert nearby creatures to the casting of your sphere talents or abilities by those drawbacks alone. Creatures specifically observing you for the purpose of detecting spellcasting are still entitled to their Spellcraft check as written above.

You must possess the Skilled Casting drawback to select this boon.

Wild Will

Choose an environment from the ranger’s favored terrain list. Animals, vermin, and magical beasts commonly found in your selected environment are especially susceptible to your magic; your talents are treated as 2 caster levels higher when affecting these creatures.

Vermin common to these environments are treated as animals with an Intelligence score of 1 for the purposes of affecting them with your mind-affecting talents.

This boon may be taken multiple times, each time using a different environmental setting.