Bone Thorns

Bone Thorns

Mystic

Apprentice

400 hours

Counts as two skills at character creation

This horrific ritual causes bone spurs to grow & rip the victim's flesh. An apprentice causes painful irritation that reduces all rolls by -3; these take two days to grow, & will fade within a week. A journeyman can grow much faster spikes—12 hours—which cause 2D12 points of damage to a living victim; these Bone Thorns will leave visible bloodspots on the skin, a few of which may even break the surface (but are much too fragile to act as offensive tools). These too fade within a week, allowing their damage to finally heal—this also penalizes actions just as an apprentice's Bone Thorns will. The master's ritual, it is said, grows 'Thorns fast enough to be heard… of course the victim's screams will drown this out. A master's spikes burst visibly through skin within half an hour, causing 2D12 points of damage—directly to life points—and can even cause a point of damage to anyone closely touching the victim. The saving throw to resist this necromantic magic is at a 14 or higher. The caster must stay within close proximity to the target while the spikes grow, and must touch exposed bone at least once, but a punch in the teeth is sufficient.