Rituals

Ritual magic is outlined in Unearthed Arcana, but will be somewhat simplified for purposes of these games. Note that many of these rituals are designed for use in E7 games, to take the place of higher-level healing spells that have become unavailable to players due to the level cap. Even though that is their purpose, there's nothing keeping these rituals from being used in high-level games.

In order to "learn" a ritual, a player must make the Prerequisite check. Failure means that the character may not try again until his circumstances have changed; he has put another point into the skill, has access to a teacher or a new library, etc. Success means that he may perform the ritual whenever he wishes, so long as the necessary reagents are available. He does not have to have access to any sort of book or tome, though having access to such things generally provides a circumstance bonus on some of the checks.

Due to the strenuous nature of rituals, taking 10 and 20 is not permitted.

Distill the Aquavitae
Prerequisite: Knowledge (religion) 40

Reagents: Blood from a dragon of Young Adult age or older; water from a shrine where a man was born of a woman; honey from flowers that bloom at sunrise; a retort made from polished platinum; special herbs

Casting Time: 8 hours

Participants: Ritualist only

Target: One dose of aquavitae

Gathering and preparing the herbs requires a DC 30 Herbalism check; the retort will cost at least 5000g but may be reused. The ritualist may secure the other reagents by any means he so desires. Once they are all assembled, he must brew them, making a DC 30 Alchemy check and a DC 40 Knowledge (religion) check. He then spends eight hours distilling, making a DC 35 Craft (ritual) check every hour. Finally, at the end of the distilling, he makes a final DC 40 Knowledge (religion) check to correctly preserve the aquavitae.

Aquavitae, when drunk, restores all lost ability score points and all negative and drained levels. Alternatively, if poured into the mouth of a dead man's head, it restores that body to life as though resurrection had been cast upon it.

Exorcism
Prerequisite: Knowledge (religion) 30

Reagents: Holy water; optional sacred implements

Casting Time: 6 rounds

Participants: Ritualist and up to one helper

Target: One sentient creature under possession

This ritual involves a great deal of chanting and holy water. Each round, a DC 30 Knowledge (religion) check must be made to speak the complex words of the ritual correctly, and a DC 15 Craft (ritual) check must be made to apply the holy water properly. At the end of the sixth round, the ritualist makes a second Knowledge (religion) check with a +2 sacred bonus for each sacred implement present. The result of that check becomes the DC of the possessor's Will save. If the possessor fails this Will save, the possession immediately ends.

The Eye of the Beholder
Prerequisite: Knowledge (arcana) 35

Reagents: Special pigments worth at least 500g; see below

Casting Time: 10 rounds, with additional prior preparation necessary

Participants: Ritualist only

Target: 60' radius

The purpose of this ritual is to suppress arcane spellcasting, much as a beholder's central eye does. The ritualist must first prepare special pigments worth at least 500g; preparing these pigments requires a DC 25 Herbalism check and a DC 25 Craft (ritual) check, as well as one hour.

Once the pigments are prepared, the ritualist may either draw the necessary glyphs directly or may carve them into a solid surface. Either way, three DC 25 Craft (ritual) checks and one DC 35 Knowledge (arcana) check must be made. When the ritual is complete, any arcane spellcaster who has line-of-sight to the glyphs must make a DC 20 caster level check to cast any arcane spell. The check DC is increased by one for every additional 100g spent on the pigments.

The pigments lose their potency after 1d8 days, at which time, the ritual ceases to be effective. More pigments must be prepared to refresh the ritual. If the ritualist chose to carve the glyphs, he does not need to make the Knowledge (arcana) check again and the three needed Craft (ritual) checks are only DC 15.

Kiss of Cleansing Smoke
Prerequisite: Knowledge (religion) 30

Reagents: Incense worth at least 300g, eight white candles and one black candle

Casting Time: One hour

Participants: Ritualist and up to two assistants

Target: One creature

The ritualist first carves runes into the black candle, requiring a DC 20 Craft (ritual) check. He then places the nine candles in a circle around the recipient and lights the incense. He then chants for one hour, making a DC 30 Knowledge (religion) check once per hour. At the end of the hour, the candles all flare and the incense burns out, the final wisps of smoke washing over the recipient and leaving him cleansed.

At the conclusion of the ritual, the recipient is healed of all ability damage, and any disease or poison still affecting him is removed. He also is cured of all ability drain to any one ability score.

Neph-sigil
Prerequisite: Knowledge (religion) 35

Reagents: The ritualist's own blood; see below

Casting Time: 6 rounds; see below

Participants: Ritualist only

Target: All non-native celestials with line-of-sight in a 30' burst

The ritualist draws his own blood using any implement at hand, or his own teeth, if necessary. This inflicts one point of damage on the ritualist. The ritualist then makes a DC 20 Craft (ritual) check and a DC 35 Knowledge (religion) check to accurately draw the sigil on a flat surface. Finally, the ritualist places his hand in the center of the sigil. The blood is consumed in a brilliant burst of light; all non-native celestials who are caught within the light are subjected to banishment with no save.

The sigil can be prepared up to an hour before use; after this, the blood is dried and the ritual is lost. The ritualist can cut deeper in order to draw more blood to draw the sigil faster; for each additional point of damage inflicted, the casting time decreases by one round (to a minimum of one round) and the Craft (ritual) DC increases by one (to a maximum of 20).

Song of Grave-Healing
Prerequisite: Knowledge (religion) 30

Reagents: holy oil, golden thread, and treasure worth at least 1000g per hit die of the creature to be raised

Casting time: 4 hours

Participants: Ritualist and up to three assistants

Target: One corpse, which must be intact enough that it could live if its wounds were closed; see below

This ritual is designed to restore life to a creature who has died violently. The subject of the ritual must have been dead no more than eight sunrises before the ritual is complete; once the ninth sun rises, the ritual will no longer work.

The ritualist places the body in a circle of holy oil. Connected to this circle, she creates another circle into which the treasure is placed. The circles must be precise; this requires a DC 15 Craft (ritual) check. The song must then be sung, requiring a DC 20 Perform check. The oil is then lit; while it burns, the ritualist must use the golden thread to stitch closed any wounds the body has, requiring a DC 30 Heal check.

Finally, at the end of the ritual, the song must be completed, requiring another DC 20 Perform check. The correct words must be spoken, requiring a DC 30 Knowledge (religion) check. The treasure melts and boils away, an offering to the God of the Dead, who accepts it in exchange for the soul of the target. The God of the Dead is jealous, however, and keeps a small portion of the target's soul behind (the target loses one level, per raise dead).

Failure on the Craft (ritual) check, the Knowledge (religion) check or either of the Perform checks results in the ritual having no effect and the treasure being lost. Failure on the Heal check results in the body being improperly prepared and the target rising as an undead, who immediately attacks the ritualist.

On Ritual Design
Some of these DCs seem particularly high, especially given that a player is capped out at 12 skill ranks. Well, it's worth noting that, with the Ritual Mastery feat, and assuming a reasonable ability score (16), such a player is able to automatically meet a DC of 25.

In fact, it is possible for a character who is focused on mastering a particular ritual to automatically make a DC 50 check at 7th level. This presumes making maximum use of assistants (+2 Aid Another), item bonuses (+5 masterwork and +5 enhancement), synergy (+3 with a feat), Skill Focus (another +3), a talent (+2), and even potential racial (+2) and maximized ability score (+7 with the right spells) modifiers, but it is still possible.

Rituals intended for use by 1st level characters, if indeed there are to be any, should have a DC 15 prerequisite. This DC should increase by 5 for every level; at level 7, a DC 45 ritual is achievable with a bit of planning, and a DC 50 ritual can be automatically performed by a dedicated character. In order to provide such characters with a true challenge (and keep powerful magics out of the hands of everyone but those who specifically build for it), DCs of 60 and even 70 are called for.