Goblin Rot Magus (Challenge Rating 2)
Sometimes a rare goblin is born that has the capacity to study the arcane arts. Should that goblin survive to adulthood along with his own likely haphazard dabbling in the arts, he might just possess the capacity to learn the most guarded secrets of goblin magic – that of the rot magus.
Ritual Scarification. The path to becoming a rot magus is not an easy one. Sometimes they are chosen as an apprentice by an existing rot magus, but more often then not they come into the path through stumbling across or taking the knowledge from somewhere or someone else. The path is not an easy one to walk, and it often consumes the life force of the magus before they can taste the power it brings. Ritual scarification is the beginning of the path, with the initiate cutting themselves with old and rusted knives, and moving up to placing dead fungus and other rotted material inside of the wounds in order to become one with the rot.
Putrid Magic. Eventually, if the aspiring magus survives its initial training, it learns to tap into the power of the rot that is festering inside of it, channeling it into powerful blasts of desiccation and filth, while also using it as protection against outside sources of disease and poison. All the while, they continue to advance their power in the more traditional arcane arts, at least the most likely limited knowledge they have access to.
Insane Leaders. A full-fledged goblin rot magus is an figure of awesome and terrible power to other goblins. Unfortunately, the power begins to putrefy their minds and their souls, corrupting them while at the same time protecting them. The magus begins to find themselves growing more and more unhinged as the days pass by, and oftentimes find themselves driven away from their tribes. However, those whose tribes choose to keep what could be a very loose cannon around find themselves heavily deferred to, even by tribal leaders. It is not unheard of for a rot magus to ascend to an actual leadership position within their tribes. Those that are exiled, either by choice or by force tend towards one of two extremes – they either spend the rest of their days as hermits within their underground lairs, perfecting their powers on their own time, or they begin to build their own tribe of creatures around them.
Original Art Goblin Ritualist from Pathfinder by Paizo. DND Monster Template by Colby Savell.
Ben Erickson
