Manual of Merging

warhorse11h · 03-28-2019, 05:22 PM

Manual of Merging This ancient book is a relic of ancient times. Some legends claim it even predates the Mnoren. No one knows very much about the contents and there are few historical accounts regarding it. The most common thread to all these stories is that the Manual of Merging contains instructions and incantations to merge two wizards staffs into one, creating a new magical staff, that, in defiance of all that is currently known, is not bound to a specific wizard, but can be bent to the will of anyone with the courage to grasp it. One wizard, Garahn al Majeres of Ardonirane claimed to have found the book and used it to merge his staff with the staff of his greatest rival, creating a staff that had the Mana of the greater, and all of the enchantments and the ability to combine its eldritch strikes making them even more deadly. He wrote in his account, that he placed both staffs in the center of a pentagram and recited the incantations in the book and stated that he knew he had succeeded as the book vanished with the last invocation. A second account, from the wizard Grimm Mar told of another wizard of his acquaintance who had come into possession of the book. Stealing the staff of his master, (by unknown means), he intended to use the book to merge his staff with that one and seize control of the local guild and then make himself lord over the surrounding area. Unfortunately for him, he lacked the ability to match his ambition. Having placed the staffs into the pentagram, he began the rites, but foolishly, he did not check the pentagram, which was faulty. In mid rite, a greater demon appeared and seized both staffs and the head of the unfortunate wizard, promptly vanishing. Only the head, the rest of the body remained. At that instant, the book vanished as well. Other accounts recite similar details, none of which can be verified. If the Manual of Merging exists, it is believed to be hidden in one of the largest and most deadly dungeons of Cidri. The Wizards Guild states that the book does not and has never existed, but inevitably investigate, with great thoroughness, any reported sightings and go out of their way to obtain any original documents describing it. They pay exorbitant amounts without question to obtain these sources. No one seems to know more.

JLV · 03-28-2019, 08:30 PM

Nice! Of course, I'm a sucker for a good book description -- especially if it comes with effects on the reader too (my Call of Cthulhu background speaking out there...)

warhorse11h · 03-29-2019, 09:00 AM

Just a germ of an idea, not sure if I want to use it as an adventure hook or as a unique ancient artifact or as the foundation of some very powerful artifacts.

In line with the first option:

The Dwarves of Rubydelve, ever industrious miners, recently made a discovery in a new shaft they were digging. They broke into what they thought was a natural cavern complex, but upon examination they observed that it was a man-made chamber about the size of a Melee map. It was divided into small chambers. In one chamber, they found two skeletons wearing the remains of their robes and armor. Under the hand of one, they found a half rotted but still legible scroll. The scroll contained a map and near its center was an x marked on the map with a hand written notation that this was the location of the Manual of Merging. Unfortunately, there are no names for any of the geographical features on the map and the map legend is missing. Nothing else was found and what was apparently the entryway into the chamber had collapsed and is too fragile in the judgment of the dwarves to be safely cleared.

Skarg · 03-29-2019, 11:17 AM

It would indeed be potentially super-powerful if it allows the Rule of Five to be overcome.

I like that it's not clear what causes the book to vanish. It could be one (or more) of:

* Maybe part of what makes the enchantment work is that the book channels the forces that resist it working in a way that either obliterates the book, or forces the book to be teleported a very long way away.

* The book is just enchanted to do that by a creator who wanted to avoid it being over-used.

* The book is only possible as a one-time-use item like a scroll.

* The book (and using the book in particular) tends to summon powerful demons and/or demon-summoners who tend to snatch the book away, perhaps using an invisible demon.

* Other things...

warhorse11h · 03-29-2019, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skarg

It would indeed be potentially super-powerful if it allows the Rule of Five to be overcome.

I know, and staffs, RAW, bend the rule of five as it is. Even without any spells being placed onto the staff. Combining the abilities of two could very well break the game.

I do think it is a very good hook to dangle in front of some greedy characters and send them off on a chase for something that isn't what they think it is.

warhorse11h · 03-30-2019, 04:42 AM

Taking my first stab at describing the working of the Manual of Merging. Please excuse the wall of text, but I wished to be thorough. I invite editorial comment and suggestions and areas of conflict I may not have addressed. Please note, I injured my back last weekend and an currently medicated, so my thought processes may not be up to par.

The Manual of Merging does indeed merge the two staffs into one, but there are limits to this merging. The mana capacity of the staff becomes that of the greater staff, even if it exceeds the level of mana that the wizard can store in it. He can only recharge it to its normal level, but the remainder, if any, recharges at the ambient mana rate (1 ST per day). The occult strike range and area of use stays at the level of the caster's staff but it receives a permanent +2 bonus to damage done and if there is a +DX he gets that immediately. Once the caster has obtained the appropriate staff spell, any capabilities his staff may have gained through the merger of the staffs that were not previously apparent, become immediately available, but prior benefits remain. Spells cast on the staff of the caster are unaffected, spells on the merged staff are added up to four total. (Avoiding breaking the rule of five) The caster is made aware, by the merger casting, of the spells on the staff to be merged and selects the ones he wants, if any. He doesn't have to add them. Excess spells are converted into one of two forms that become properties of the new staff. One is resistance to magic and the second is a capacity to store spells. When the staff merge is completed, each excess spell on the staff are converted on a one to one basis to provide one point of magic resistance or a one spell reservoir for storage. Each of these capabilities is limited to a value of +5.

The magic resistance of the staff, while wielded, affects the wizard as well. If anyone casts a spell on him, the magic resistance value of the staff is added to the die roll to hit, making it more likely the spell will miss. This applies to benevolent spells as well. If the wielder attempts to cast a spell on himself, it affects the die roll he must make as well. Otherwise, his spells function normally. Area spells, not aimed at the staff wielder, but which he is in the area of, will affect him normally.

The second capability is spell storing. The staff may gain the ability to store up to five spells. The wizard can either cast spells to fill the staff capacity or he can leave it empty. If it is left empty, and an opponent casts a spell on the wielder and it gets past his magic resistance, the staff will store it, preventing it from harming the wielder. The wielder can subsequently release the spell against another person, at which time it would affect the new target. This costs the wielder no ST to do and it does not have to be a spell he knows. He rolls 3D6 just to insure his staff is aimed at the target.

Magic theorists state that they believe the effects of merging support the idea that one staff is placed into a pocket dimension, where it continues to exist as a separate entity, but is linked to the staff of the merge caster, and supplies some power to him or her through the staff link. They won't generally talk about it outside of the local guild, but perhaps, in a tavern or an inn, after a couple of cups of ale or a few drinks of liquor, they may be less guarded.

An example: Wizard 1 ST 10, DX 14, IQ 12 has a Staff II/Manastaff 1 die damage occult strike and has charged it with mana up to 10 ST. It is immune to drop and break weapon and critical failure results. He has light and darkness spells on his staff. He fights Wizard 2, ST 8, DX 13, IQ 14 has Staff III/Staff of Striking, occult strike (1D6) range is two hexes in any direction at +3 DX charged with 12 ST of mana and the spells light, slow movement, summon wolf. Wizard 1 decides that he wants to merge the staffs and has the Manual of Merging available. He draws his pentagram and conducts the rite, making his to hit rolls and missing nothing. He decides to add only the summon wolf spell to the staff and to ignore the two other spells on the target staff, and channel them to magic resistance and spell storing. Completing the rite, the book vanishes as does the staff of wizard 2.

His new staff has Mana 10/12, the 10 is his staff mana and he can recharge it as normal or allow ambient Mana recharging. The 12 is the Mana available to him through the merger. He can use this Mana, but he cannot recharge it. It is restored at the rate of 1 ST per day. His staff Mana must be drained before he can access the merged Mana. Wizard 1, upon examination finds that his staff now is +3 DX and does 1D6+2 damage against his front hexes. His staff now has the spells light, darkness, and summon wolf. It also has gained magic resistance +1 and the ability to store one spell. When he obtains the IQ to learn Staff III, he will find his staff has gained the ability to strike two hexes distant in any direction, he just didn't know it earlier. He will have to take the new spell to replace the old in order to make use of these new capabilities, but he retains the benefits he already had.

warhorse11h · 03-30-2019, 12:58 PM

I took a whack at this book as the latest of a number of unique or extraordinarily rare books that provide a variety of benefits and some that are accursed.

The idea that has inspired these books, or at least has developed in tandem with them is a concept of the Mnoren.

It may be that the Mnoren did not leave Cidri, they are still there, but their numbers are declining. Perhaps their inter-dimensional travels affected their DNA, or some other factor is at work, but they became increasingly unable to breed. Geneticists in their number theorized that humans were acceptable breeding partners, even if primitive and simplistic. The books were amongst a variety of projects developed to create humans who could be improved to a point where they could be viable breeding stock. When characters, usually adventurers, attain a sufficient level of power, they can be invited to ascend and become, if you will, adopted members of Mnoren society. But the Mnoren wanted proven stock, not simply ones who ran into one book and used it repeatedly until they achieved sufficient power. As a result, they placed an enchantment onto the books that would make them vanish when used. This same enchantment would detect for the most extensive ruins and dungeon complexes as the new hiding places of these books and other treasures.

warhorse11h · 03-31-2019, 09:23 AM

the lack of comments indicate its pretty bad. I will confine the idea to the circular file and move on then.

JLV · 03-31-2019, 12:44 PM

I think the concept is actually good (and I already said that, I think). This one may be too specific in some ways -- it has a very specific application, and it's a huge one, so it's a potential game-breaker in every sense of the word. I'm wondering if there aren't "other books" that might be a little less crushingly powerful (or, perhaps, are just as crushingly powerful, but can only be used by someone with an IQ of 30 or something) so that they are still important, maybe even vital, quest objects, but can't be directly translated by the players (or the villains) into a game-breaker.

warhorse11h · 03-31-2019, 03:58 PM

Let me see if this helps nerf this puppy a little bit. Plus makes it dangerous to contemplate.

Manual of Merging This ancient book is a relic of ancient times. Some legends claim it even predates the Mnoren.
The Manual of Merging does indeed merge the two staffs into one, but there are limits to this merging. The mana stat of the two staffs merges to the sum of the two or the maximum the staff wielder can have. Any excess mana provides a +1 DX for the staff being merged, (DX +1 only, no more). If there is no mana excess, there is no +1 DX. The occult strike capability receives a +1 to damage done as a result of the merging. Spells cast on the staff of the caster are unaffected, spells on the merging staff can be added to it, but only to a maximum of four. (Avoiding breaking the rule of five) If the number of spells on either staff would take the merged staff beyond four, then the wizard merging the spells gets to determine which spells are lost. The wizard can convert lost spells into one of two forms that become properties of the new staff. One is resistance to magic and the second is a capacity to store spells. The new merged staff can have the ability to store one spell or enchanted to have magic resistance of 1, or do both, but no more. Each of these capabilities count as a spell for the total of four.
The magic resistance of the staff, while wielded, affects the wizard as well. If anyone casts a spell on him, the magic resistance value of the staff is added to the die roll to hit, making it more likely the spell will miss. This applies to benevolent spells as well. If the wielder attempts to cast a spell on himself, it affects the die roll he must make as well. Otherwise, his spells function normally. Area spells, not aimed at the staff wielder, but which he is in the area of, will affect him normally. The maximum level of magic resistance is +5, of course, this requires you to find the Manual five times, which will not be easy.
The second capability is spell storing. The staff can gain the ability to store one spell for each application of the Manual of Merging, provided you can find it again after using it the first time. The wizard can either cast spells to fill the staff capacity or he can leave it empty. If it is left empty, and an opponent casts a spell on the wielder and it gets past his magic resistance, the staff will store it, preventing it from harming the wielder. The wielder can subsequently release the spell against another person, at which time it would affect the new target. This costs the wielder no ST to do and it does not have to be a spell he knows. He rolls 3D6 just to insure his staff is aimed at the target.
Magic theorists state that they believe the effects of merging support the idea that one staff is placed into a pocket dimension, where it continues to exist as a separate entity, but is linked to the staff of the merge caster, and supplies some power to him or her through the staff link. They won't generally talk about it outside of the local guild, but perhaps, in a tavern or an inn, after a couple of cups of ale or a few drinks of liquor, they may be less guarded.
An example: Wizard 1 ST 10, DX 14, IQ 12 has a Staff II/Manastaff 1 die damage occult strike and has charged it with mana up to 10 ST. It is immune to drop and break weapon and critical failure results. He has light and darkness spells on his staff. He fights Wizard 2, ST 8, DX 13, IQ 14 has Staff III/Staff of Striking, occult strike (1D6) range is two hexes in any direction at +3 DX charged with 12 ST of mana and the spells light, slow movement, summon wolf. Wizard 1 decides that he wants to merge the staffs and has the Manual of Merging available. He draws his pentagram and conducts the rite, making his to hit rolls and missing nothing. He decides to sacrifice his darkness spell and add the summon wolf spell to the staff and to ignore the two other spells on the target staff, and channel them to magic resistance and spell storing. Completing the rite, the book vanishes as does the staff of wizard 2.
His new staff has Mana 12. Wizard 1, upon examination finds that his staff now is +1 DX and does 1D6+1 damage against his front hexes. His staff now has the spells light, and summon wolf. It also has gained magic resistance +1 and the ability to store one spell. He also notes that the book vanished.

Finding the manual a second time. Some sources claim that the book calls to its own. If one has found it one time and then lost it, he may be able to locate it more easily a second time. Legends claim that a staff that has been used for merging can provide its owner with the direction to the book. Not its distance or elevation, at least until is one is very close. Keep in mind, it will not be close and by the time you reach it, if you try, it will likely have had many opportunities to provide itself with guardians of great power.

Merging procedure
1. Secure the staff you want to use for the merging with your own.
2. Draw the Pentagram
3. Place both staffs in the Pentagram
4. Break the link, if any between the staff and its former owner (3D6 contested save between your IQ and that of the former owner) If you succeed, proceed to step 5. Otherwise, try again.
5. Break the link with your staff (3D6 vs IQ) If you succeed, continue, otherwise try again
6. Roll 4D6 vs IQ to merge the mana of the two staffs. (No more than what you could put into by purchase of mana.)
7. Roll 3D6 vs IQ to merge the occult strikes of the two staffs (maximum +1 Damage)
8. Decide which spells on each staff you want to keep and which to eliminate.
9. Roll 3D6 vs IQ for each spell on your staff you want to keep or eliminate You make the roll the spell stays or goes as you wish.
10. Roll 4D6 vs IQ for the spells on the other staff. You succeed, the spell stays or goes as you wish.
11. For each lost spell, you can make one 4D6 roll to either add one point of magic resistance or one point of spell storing ability. But you can only add one point of either, no more.

A few trivial points. Once you begin the ritual, you cannot stop.
Breaking off the ritual results in the loss of both staffs.
For each failed roll there is a cumulative 1D6 chance a greater demon will appear with two goals. One, seizure of both staffs and second, killing the wizard conducting the ritual. Good Luck!

03-28-2019, 05:22 PM	#1
warhorse11h Join Date: Aug 2018	Manual of Merging Manual of Merging This ancient book is a relic of ancient times. Some legends claim it even predates the Mnoren. No one knows very much about the contents and there are few historical accounts regarding it. The most common thread to all these stories is that the Manual of Merging contains instructions and incantations to merge two wizards staffs into one, creating a new magical staff, that, in defiance of all that is currently known, is not bound to a specific wizard, but can be bent to the will of anyone with the courage to grasp it. One wizard, Garahn al Majeres of Ardonirane claimed to have found the book and used it to merge his staff with the staff of his greatest rival, creating a staff that had the Mana of the greater, and all of the enchantments and the ability to combine its eldritch strikes making them even more deadly. He wrote in his account, that he placed both staffs in the center of a pentagram and recited the incantations in the book and stated that he knew he had succeeded as the book vanished with the last invocation. A second account, from the wizard Grimm Mar told of another wizard of his acquaintance who had come into possession of the book. Stealing the staff of his master, (by unknown means), he intended to use the book to merge his staff with that one and seize control of the local guild and then make himself lord over the surrounding area. Unfortunately for him, he lacked the ability to match his ambition. Having placed the staffs into the pentagram, he began the rites, but foolishly, he did not check the pentagram, which was faulty. In mid rite, a greater demon appeared and seized both staffs and the head of the unfortunate wizard, promptly vanishing. Only the head, the rest of the body remained. At that instant, the book vanished as well. Other accounts recite similar details, none of which can be verified. If the Manual of Merging exists, it is believed to be hidden in one of the largest and most deadly dungeons of Cidri. The Wizards Guild states that the book does not and has never existed, but inevitably investigate, with great thoroughness, any reported sightings and go out of their way to obtain any original documents describing it. They pay exorbitant amounts without question to obtain these sources. No one seems to know more.

03-28-2019, 08:30 PM	#2
JLV Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Arizona	Re: Manual of Merging Nice! Of course, I'm a sucker for a good book description -- especially if it comes with effects on the reader too (my Call of Cthulhu background speaking out there...)

03-29-2019, 09:00 AM	#3
warhorse11h Join Date: Aug 2018	Re: Manual of Merging Just a germ of an idea, not sure if I want to use it as an adventure hook or as a unique ancient artifact or as the foundation of some very powerful artifacts. In line with the first option: The Dwarves of Rubydelve, ever industrious miners, recently made a discovery in a new shaft they were digging. They broke into what they thought was a natural cavern complex, but upon examination they observed that it was a man-made chamber about the size of a Melee map. It was divided into small chambers. In one chamber, they found two skeletons wearing the remains of their robes and armor. Under the hand of one, they found a half rotted but still legible scroll. The scroll contained a map and near its center was an x marked on the map with a hand written notation that this was the location of the Manual of Merging. Unfortunately, there are no names for any of the geographical features on the map and the map legend is missing. Nothing else was found and what was apparently the entryway into the chamber had collapsed and is too fragile in the judgment of the dwarves to be safely cleared.

03-29-2019, 11:17 AM	#4
Skarg Join Date: May 2015	Re: Manual of Merging It would indeed be potentially super-powerful if it allows the Rule of Five to be overcome. I like that it's not clear what causes the book to vanish. It could be one (or more) of: * Maybe part of what makes the enchantment work is that the book channels the forces that resist it working in a way that either obliterates the book, or forces the book to be teleported a very long way away. * The book is just enchanted to do that by a creator who wanted to avoid it being over-used. * The book is only possible as a one-time-use item like a scroll. * The book (and using the book in particular) tends to summon powerful demons and/or demon-summoners who tend to snatch the book away, perhaps using an invisible demon. * Other things...

03-30-2019, 04:42 AM	#6
warhorse11h Join Date: Aug 2018	Re: Manual of Merging Taking my first stab at describing the working of the Manual of Merging. Please excuse the wall of text, but I wished to be thorough. I invite editorial comment and suggestions and areas of conflict I may not have addressed. Please note, I injured my back last weekend and an currently medicated, so my thought processes may not be up to par. The Manual of Merging does indeed merge the two staffs into one, but there are limits to this merging. The mana capacity of the staff becomes that of the greater staff, even if it exceeds the level of mana that the wizard can store in it. He can only recharge it to its normal level, but the remainder, if any, recharges at the ambient mana rate (1 ST per day). The occult strike range and area of use stays at the level of the caster's staff but it receives a permanent +2 bonus to damage done and if there is a +DX he gets that immediately. Once the caster has obtained the appropriate staff spell, any capabilities his staff may have gained through the merger of the staffs that were not previously apparent, become immediately available, but prior benefits remain. Spells cast on the staff of the caster are unaffected, spells on the merged staff are added up to four total. (Avoiding breaking the rule of five) The caster is made aware, by the merger casting, of the spells on the staff to be merged and selects the ones he wants, if any. He doesn't have to add them. Excess spells are converted into one of two forms that become properties of the new staff. One is resistance to magic and the second is a capacity to store spells. When the staff merge is completed, each excess spell on the staff are converted on a one to one basis to provide one point of magic resistance or a one spell reservoir for storage. Each of these capabilities is limited to a value of +5. The magic resistance of the staff, while wielded, affects the wizard as well. If anyone casts a spell on him, the magic resistance value of the staff is added to the die roll to hit, making it more likely the spell will miss. This applies to benevolent spells as well. If the wielder attempts to cast a spell on himself, it affects the die roll he must make as well. Otherwise, his spells function normally. Area spells, not aimed at the staff wielder, but which he is in the area of, will affect him normally. The second capability is spell storing. The staff may gain the ability to store up to five spells. The wizard can either cast spells to fill the staff capacity or he can leave it empty. If it is left empty, and an opponent casts a spell on the wielder and it gets past his magic resistance, the staff will store it, preventing it from harming the wielder. The wielder can subsequently release the spell against another person, at which time it would affect the new target. This costs the wielder no ST to do and it does not have to be a spell he knows. He rolls 3D6 just to insure his staff is aimed at the target. Magic theorists state that they believe the effects of merging support the idea that one staff is placed into a pocket dimension, where it continues to exist as a separate entity, but is linked to the staff of the merge caster, and supplies some power to him or her through the staff link. They won't generally talk about it outside of the local guild, but perhaps, in a tavern or an inn, after a couple of cups of ale or a few drinks of liquor, they may be less guarded. An example: Wizard 1 ST 10, DX 14, IQ 12 has a Staff II/Manastaff 1 die damage occult strike and has charged it with mana up to 10 ST. It is immune to drop and break weapon and critical failure results. He has light and darkness spells on his staff. He fights Wizard 2, ST 8, DX 13, IQ 14 has Staff III/Staff of Striking, occult strike (1D6) range is two hexes in any direction at +3 DX charged with 12 ST of mana and the spells light, slow movement, summon wolf. Wizard 1 decides that he wants to merge the staffs and has the Manual of Merging available. He draws his pentagram and conducts the rite, making his to hit rolls and missing nothing. He decides to add only the summon wolf spell to the staff and to ignore the two other spells on the target staff, and channel them to magic resistance and spell storing. Completing the rite, the book vanishes as does the staff of wizard 2. His new staff has Mana 10/12, the 10 is his staff mana and he can recharge it as normal or allow ambient Mana recharging. The 12 is the Mana available to him through the merger. He can use this Mana, but he cannot recharge it. It is restored at the rate of 1 ST per day. His staff Mana must be drained before he can access the merged Mana. Wizard 1, upon examination finds that his staff now is +3 DX and does 1D6+2 damage against his front hexes. His staff now has the spells light, darkness, and summon wolf. It also has gained magic resistance +1 and the ability to store one spell. When he obtains the IQ to learn Staff III, he will find his staff has gained the ability to strike two hexes distant in any direction, he just didn't know it earlier. He will have to take the new spell to replace the old in order to make use of these new capabilities, but he retains the benefits he already had.

03-30-2019, 12:58 PM	#7
warhorse11h Join Date: Aug 2018	Re: Manual of Merging I took a whack at this book as the latest of a number of unique or extraordinarily rare books that provide a variety of benefits and some that are accursed. The idea that has inspired these books, or at least has developed in tandem with them is a concept of the Mnoren. It may be that the Mnoren did not leave Cidri, they are still there, but their numbers are declining. Perhaps their inter-dimensional travels affected their DNA, or some other factor is at work, but they became increasingly unable to breed. Geneticists in their number theorized that humans were acceptable breeding partners, even if primitive and simplistic. The books were amongst a variety of projects developed to create humans who could be improved to a point where they could be viable breeding stock. When characters, usually adventurers, attain a sufficient level of power, they can be invited to ascend and become, if you will, adopted members of Mnoren society. But the Mnoren wanted proven stock, not simply ones who ran into one book and used it repeatedly until they achieved sufficient power. As a result, they placed an enchantment onto the books that would make them vanish when used. This same enchantment would detect for the most extensive ruins and dungeon complexes as the new hiding places of these books and other treasures.

03-31-2019, 09:23 AM	#8
warhorse11h Join Date: Aug 2018	Re: Manual of Merging the lack of comments indicate its pretty bad. I will confine the idea to the circular file and move on then.

03-31-2019, 12:44 PM	#9
JLV Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Arizona	Re: Manual of Merging I think the concept is actually good (and I already said that, I think). This one may be too specific in some ways -- it has a very specific application, and it's a huge one, so it's a potential game-breaker in every sense of the word. I'm wondering if there aren't "other books" that might be a little less crushingly powerful (or, perhaps, are just as crushingly powerful, but can only be used by someone with an IQ of 30 or something) so that they are still important, maybe even vital, quest objects, but can't be directly translated by the players (or the villains) into a game-breaker.

03-31-2019, 03:58 PM	#10
warhorse11h Join Date: Aug 2018	Re: Manual of Merging Let me see if this helps nerf this puppy a little bit. Plus makes it dangerous to contemplate. Manual of Merging This ancient book is a relic of ancient times. Some legends claim it even predates the Mnoren. The Manual of Merging does indeed merge the two staffs into one, but there are limits to this merging. The mana stat of the two staffs merges to the sum of the two or the maximum the staff wielder can have. Any excess mana provides a +1 DX for the staff being merged, (DX +1 only, no more). If there is no mana excess, there is no +1 DX. The occult strike capability receives a +1 to damage done as a result of the merging. Spells cast on the staff of the caster are unaffected, spells on the merging staff can be added to it, but only to a maximum of four. (Avoiding breaking the rule of five) If the number of spells on either staff would take the merged staff beyond four, then the wizard merging the spells gets to determine which spells are lost. The wizard can convert lost spells into one of two forms that become properties of the new staff. One is resistance to magic and the second is a capacity to store spells. The new merged staff can have the ability to store one spell or enchanted to have magic resistance of 1, or do both, but no more. Each of these capabilities count as a spell for the total of four. The magic resistance of the staff, while wielded, affects the wizard as well. If anyone casts a spell on him, the magic resistance value of the staff is added to the die roll to hit, making it more likely the spell will miss. This applies to benevolent spells as well. If the wielder attempts to cast a spell on himself, it affects the die roll he must make as well. Otherwise, his spells function normally. Area spells, not aimed at the staff wielder, but which he is in the area of, will affect him normally. The maximum level of magic resistance is +5, of course, this requires you to find the Manual five times, which will not be easy. The second capability is spell storing. The staff can gain the ability to store one spell for each application of the Manual of Merging, provided you can find it again after using it the first time. The wizard can either cast spells to fill the staff capacity or he can leave it empty. If it is left empty, and an opponent casts a spell on the wielder and it gets past his magic resistance, the staff will store it, preventing it from harming the wielder. The wielder can subsequently release the spell against another person, at which time it would affect the new target. This costs the wielder no ST to do and it does not have to be a spell he knows. He rolls 3D6 just to insure his staff is aimed at the target. Magic theorists state that they believe the effects of merging support the idea that one staff is placed into a pocket dimension, where it continues to exist as a separate entity, but is linked to the staff of the merge caster, and supplies some power to him or her through the staff link. They won't generally talk about it outside of the local guild, but perhaps, in a tavern or an inn, after a couple of cups of ale or a few drinks of liquor, they may be less guarded. An example: Wizard 1 ST 10, DX 14, IQ 12 has a Staff II/Manastaff 1 die damage occult strike and has charged it with mana up to 10 ST. It is immune to drop and break weapon and critical failure results. He has light and darkness spells on his staff. He fights Wizard 2, ST 8, DX 13, IQ 14 has Staff III/Staff of Striking, occult strike (1D6) range is two hexes in any direction at +3 DX charged with 12 ST of mana and the spells light, slow movement, summon wolf. Wizard 1 decides that he wants to merge the staffs and has the Manual of Merging available. He draws his pentagram and conducts the rite, making his to hit rolls and missing nothing. He decides to sacrifice his darkness spell and add the summon wolf spell to the staff and to ignore the two other spells on the target staff, and channel them to magic resistance and spell storing. Completing the rite, the book vanishes as does the staff of wizard 2. His new staff has Mana 12. Wizard 1, upon examination finds that his staff now is +1 DX and does 1D6+1 damage against his front hexes. His staff now has the spells light, and summon wolf. It also has gained magic resistance +1 and the ability to store one spell. He also notes that the book vanished. Finding the manual a second time. Some sources claim that the book calls to its own. If one has found it one time and then lost it, he may be able to locate it more easily a second time. Legends claim that a staff that has been used for merging can provide its owner with the direction to the book. Not its distance or elevation, at least until is one is very close. Keep in mind, it will not be close and by the time you reach it, if you try, it will likely have had many opportunities to provide itself with guardians of great power. Merging procedure 1. Secure the staff you want to use for the merging with your own. 2. Draw the Pentagram 3. Place both staffs in the Pentagram 4. Break the link, if any between the staff and its former owner (3D6 contested save between your IQ and that of the former owner) If you succeed, proceed to step 5. Otherwise, try again. 5. Break the link with your staff (3D6 vs IQ) If you succeed, continue, otherwise try again 6. Roll 4D6 vs IQ to merge the mana of the two staffs. (No more than what you could put into by purchase of mana.) 7. Roll 3D6 vs IQ to merge the occult strikes of the two staffs (maximum +1 Damage) 8. Decide which spells on each staff you want to keep and which to eliminate. 9. Roll 3D6 vs IQ for each spell on your staff you want to keep or eliminate You make the roll the spell stays or goes as you wish. 10. Roll 4D6 vs IQ for the spells on the other staff. You succeed, the spell stays or goes as you wish. 11. For each lost spell, you can make one 4D6 roll to either add one point of magic resistance or one point of spell storing ability. But you can only add one point of either, no more. A few trivial points. Once you begin the ritual, you cannot stop. Breaking off the ritual results in the loss of both staffs. For each failed roll there is a cumulative 1D6 chance a greater demon will appear with two goals. One, seizure of both staffs and second, killing the wizard conducting the ritual. Good Luck!