Hello everyone, and welcome to the next installment in a series of articles focusing on the Cleric Domains in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game (Or, for this week, a particular Druid domain, as this week’s domain is only available to them). The goal for each of these is to provide you with a quick overview of your domain powers, spells, and introduce you to a god or goddess from real-Earth mythology who could be a deity using this particular domain.
All that said, welcome to this week’s article on the domain of Erosion.
The Erosion Domain is described as “You command the crumbling of stone and revel in rust; the decay and destruction of metal and stone over time appeals to and delights you.” – so you’re enjoying erosion of many different kinds, the destruction of things over time, and likely the corruption of purity, and the onset of old age. – You’re a bit of a pessimist most likely.
So, what does a DRUID (this domain is currently only available to druids, unlike the other domains we normally have) with this domain get?
First, they get Rusting Touch. This allows you to deal damage to metal objects equal to 1d6+half your level of damage. If the item is non-magical, you ignore hardness, and the same goes if your level is higher than its caster level. – Bearing in mind that a typical sword has between 2 and 10 hit points, that means that you have the potential to destroy someone’s weapon in one hit. Of course, if they’re magical, they become much tougher, even if you ignore the hardness, but even so, it’s still a good ability to have.
Secondly, you get Erosion aura. When this is activated, all metal objects around you lose 10 points of their hardness, though magic items get a saving throw. More importantly, however, it means that you can remove the damage reduction and hardness from constructs, making them a much easier opponent than they would otherwise be. (An Iron Golem without damage reduction is a much easier foe to handle than it is with the ability intact).
Spells:
The spells you get with the Erosion domain are as follows:
Expeditious Excavation
Need a fast trench or ditch? Buried alive? Here is your answer. You can even dig beneath the feet of your opponents causing them to tumble in, though since it is only 5 feet deep, the effect of that is somewhat limited. Finally, while the spell normally causes the dirt and earth to simply dissipate, you can choose to have it kick up a cloud of dirt, granting concealment for 1 round (and giving you the chance to take cover in the hole you just dug).
Soften Earth and Stone
This is one of those spells that you need to discuss with your Game Master. For while it is certainly handy given the right circumstances (especially if you’re dungeon delving, and don’t care about collateral damage), the actual description of it is very much left up to the Game Master’s discretion. For example, it says “You affect a 10-foot square area to a depth of 1 to 4 feet, depending on the toughness or resilience of the ground at that spot.” – so while you obviously affect granite less than dirt, it doesn’t give specifics on how much. The same issue goes for how it affects buildings, in that no damage is stated, only that it does. – So while this can be a handy spell, it’s one your Game Master needs to consider the impact of.
Disable Construct
A spell directly linked to incapacitating constructs, this renders (on a failed save) the construct helpless, and can even affect constructs normally immune to magic (though they get a +4 bonus on their save). This is one of those extremely circumstantial spells, but when it is useful, it has the potential to be exceedingly useful to you. You could, with a bit of luck, incapacitate a golem for an entire combat, making it much, much easier for you and your party to take it out of action.
Rusting Grasp
This is the spell that makes those heavily armored opponents run for cover. With a simple touch attack, you take away 1d6 points of their armor, if they’re wearing metal armor. More importantly, there IS NO SAVING THROW – so you can make those pesky fighters, cavaliers, and paladins much easier to deal with, with just one simple spell. You can also target their weapons, with a similar procedure. Again, note that there is NO SAVING THROW, even for magical weapons, so this is potentially a very dangerous spell. It’s even useful against metallic or ferrous opponents such as an iron golem, dealing damage to them (3d6+caster level). As it has a duration too, you can even perform multiple attacks.
If you’re a metal-wearer or user, and you see a druid with this spell active: RUN!
Transmute Rock to Mud
This allows you to change 2 Fridge Sized blocks (per level) from stone to mud, meaning that you could destroy statues and small buildings, or even turn a dungeon floor into a quagmire (my favorite). Causing cave-ins is a good trick as well.
Sympathetic Vibration
This spell sets up a vibration in a free-standing structure (including a ship), that causes 2d10 points of damage per round, and which ignores hardness, with no saving throw. In effect, you have the opportunity to reenact Samson taking down the temple of Dagon. And that is quite cool, I have to say, even if you don’t just pull down a couple of columns for it. 😛
Disintegrate
One of the highest damage spells in the game, causing 2d6 points of damage per level, and even at the level where you get it, it’s 26d6. If someone is killed by it, their body is disintegrated, leaving behind only fine dust. (Although high Fortitude Saves are a great help against this, a creature making the save still takes 5d6 points of damage, and could be reduced to dust.)
Earthquake
A localized earthquake that does damage depending on your location (you don’t want to be underground with this), it presents a lot of ways for a cleric to make things go bad, like creating quicksand, or trapping someone in a destroyed building. (note that the damage given to a building is a flat 100, not the 8d6 that creatures take – buildings can’t dodge).
Implosion
This is basically Harm writ large. You can now do an attack causing damage (a minimum of 170) per round, with a save negating the damage. But you can attack a new creature (or the same one) each round, up to ½ your level in rounds. So, at level 20, you can attack 10 creatures over 10 rounds, or one creature 10 times, as long as you maintain concentration. You’re basically summoning black holes inside people, though this is described as a “destructive resonance” that causes people to collapse in on themselves. Very thematic, very cool, and very deadly.
Note: This week’s deity will be slightly different in that it doesn’t focus on a specific god, instead it focuses on a group of supernatural beings, who, in the Pathfinder system, are represented as gods individually. This particular version however, covers someone who worships them as a group instead. As such, please welcome the Four Horses of the Apocalypse!
New Deity
Four Horses of the Apocalypse
The Carriers of the Apocalypse, the End of Time, the Riders on the Horses of Death
Alignment NE
Worshipers doomseekers, the elderly, the mad, and those who want to see the world burn
Cleric Alignments N, LE, NE, CE
Domains: Death, Destruction, Erosion, Evil, Madness, War
Sub-domains: Blood, Catastrophe, Insanity, Plague, Rage
Favored Weapon: Whip
Symbol: 4 horses entwined, one black, one red, one white, and a pale one
The deity known as the four horses of the apocalypse is actually 4 different daemons of god-like or near god-like power. Usually, they’re viewed as mere mounts, to be claimed by the strong riders that are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but these mounts have power of their own, even if it is weaker than that of their riders. Specifically, where others worship the individual horsemen, those who worship them together actually draw there powers from a combination of Abaddon (where the horsemen reside) and the horses themselves.
These mentally unstable followers believe that all civilization, all life, and everything in the universe is on an inevitable path leading towards ruin, and they see in everything the erosion of society, the decay of morals, and the inevitable rot setting into all living things.
The Horses do not generally seek worshipers, but they will happily grant spells to those who do worship them. They do not have any holidays, but they ask that at least once a fortnight, each of their followers destroy an effigy of civilization, whether that is small or large, an actual building or a representation of one does not matter to them. As such, while some appease the horses by building small wooden houses and burning them once a fortnight, more daring (or crazier) worshipers might burn down actual churches or towns.
Prayer is done in the middle of the night, in the darkest hours, and always in a whisper barely audible, and preferably near a sleeping non-worshiper, to symbolize the fact that rot and decay can take root in anyone, at any time.
Kim Frandsen
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