Moving delicately along the fringes of the magical worlds are the members of an elite and secretive school. These mysterious figures guard the basis of their abilities with paranoid fervor, especially from other wizards. What little is known of them is learned vainly in rumors and legends hinting at a startling truth: Theirs is the mastery of time. past, present, and future are all merely different lands within their realm; thus they call themselves chronomancers.
In a magical world, few things are entirely impossible. Still, only a small core of intellectuals puts great stock in these legends. In their opinion, not only do chronomancers exist, but these eerie mages are privy to a life like any known before. Much evidence has been gathered and weighed, but most people simply cannot (or will not) conceive of a wizard with power over the natural order of events. Few areas can match the potential for raw power associated with time travel the chance, to experience the far future, the ability to influence the past.
Even in a fantastic setting, there would be those infatuated with holding sway over time. Enter the chronomancers; elite wizards, with the ability to influence temporal forces. Practicing and developing their unorthodox art, these wizards have turned their backs on traditional destiny to forge new lives for themselves and countless others. Chronomancers can wind back the clock or send it spinning ahead, expanding the horizons of your game world and blazing a path to adventures never before imagined.
The Chronomancy Code
Chronomancers are part of a strict elite brotherhood, and are well aware of each other. Senior Chronomancers are known as Temporal Masters, and enforce their will against those who would disrupt the time continuum. Most Chronomancers worship a deity known as Chronos; the God of time
Who are the mysterious Chronomancers?
Chronomancers are shadowy figures by choice. Nearly all of these strange wizards hide their ability to manipulate time from all but their closest companions, and large numbers of them take this one step further by hiding the fact that they are even a wizard. Some believe that their operations would be hindered should chronomancy become widespread knowledge.
Others wish to retain their elite status. Still others fear how the ignorant masses might react. For these reasons and any number of others, secrecy is deeply ingrained into chronomancers at an early stage of their training and fostered throughout the rest of their lives. It is a puzzle that some chronomancers can even trust an apprentice enough to pass on their mystical knowledge. Because of their guarded ways, chronomancers do not attract followers, and hirelings are reluctant to work for them for any length of time. Chronomancers may build keep and gain the benefit of taxing local peasantry if they wish, but most opt for a solitary fortress far from people.
The one respite of their solitary existence is that, somewhere between 12th and 16th level, an apprentice seeks out the chronomancer. This apprentice has reasoned out that the chronomancer is not a regular wizard and has usually pieced together what it is the chronomancer does. The apprentice is assumed to have the necessary minimums in Intelligence and Wisdom to begin study in the art of chronomancy. He or she is likely to be a relative.
Where This Belongs In the CORWYN Campaign
Temporal Prime (the dimension of time) and chronomancers can fit into the World of CORWYN game setting at whatever level the Dungeon Master chooses. This information can be used as background for minor adventures that might involve time travel, or the GM can embrace these concepts and turn the characters loose on an unwary (well, maybe a little wary) time-space continuum. Besides expanding an existing world by allowing access to its past and future, the discovery of Temporal Prime makes an unexplored realm available, complete with new creatures and new puzzles to investigate. The existence of this dimension also gives rise to new character types, a new school of magic, and exciting new magical items for the characters to discover and enjoy.
How to Use Chronomancy in the Game-Setting
This book is broken up into two sections. The first section details everything about chronomancers and their spells that a chronomancer player should know. The rest of the book contains material for the Dungeon Master's eyes only. No players should read this part of the book, as it features all sorts of material that is best discovered in the course of play. Players who are not planning to play a chronomancer should not read this book at all.
The world at large knows little about these wizards, and it is easier for the players to realistically portray their characters if the players are as much in the dark about chronomancy as their characters. As the Dungeon Master, read through this book carefully before considering what sort of a role you want chronomancers to play in your campaign. If you feel that chronomancer player characters would unbalance your campaign, then disallow them in play. You can still use the material presented herein as a background for your campaign, but that doesn't mean that the heroes have to know anything that you don't choose to reveal to them in play.
Chronomancers
Chronomancers draw power for their mystical ability directly from the energy created by the momentum of time. The lifeline of every living thing forms a current in timespace, and the intertwining currents create the time stream. The flow of one time stream covers a reality, and in vortices (a mild form of time turbulences) several time streams can flow closely and allow passage from one reality to another. Vortices range in size and hazards depending upon how many time streams flow through them. Temporal Prime is the dimension in which time streams can be viewed. A chronomancer can slip between reality and Temporal Prime through the use of spells, items, or permanent portals.
Requirements and Restrictions
As a wizard from an elite school, the Chronomancer has some unusual requirements and restrictions. Any of them can be modified with Dungeon Master discretion, of course, but it is strongly recommended that this be done only under special circumstances.
Ability Scores
Two ability scores govern the chronomancer: Intelligence and Wisdom. A chronomancer must have a minimum Intelligence of 16 to understand the abstract theories on which his mystical art is based. A minimum Wisdom of 14 is required as well, to ensure the wizard has the foresight for understanding the implications of using chroncmancy, and the discipline to use it responsibly. It is unlikely that a character without these minimums would ever find an apprenticeship with a Chronomancer.
Racial Restrictions
The school of chronomancy is beyond most demi-humans, limiting the allowed races to humans, elves, and half elves. The innate magic resistance of dwarves, gnomes, and halflings prevents them from channeling the mystical energies properly.
Weapons and Armor
Like most wizards, the chronomancer may use the dagger, staff, dart, blowgun, knife, or sling. Chronomancers are not allowed to wear armor of any type unless it is elven chain mail and the chronomancer is an elf or half-elf.
Alignment
Secrecy and paranoia are infused into the chronomancer at early stage to ensure the secrets of this school are kept as quiet as possible. For this reason, a chaotic alignment is not allowed. A chronomancer who has turned chaotic over time may begin to allow some secrets to slip, but paranoia has an even tighter hold on that wizard, for other Chronomancers often attempt to
"correct" any such indiscretions that may come to their attention. As such, an Chronomancer is unlikely to trust an apprentice of any alignment much less a chaotic one. Chronomancers who shift to a chaotic alignment do not suffer for it directly Their actions are watched more closely by others, though, and what little help they could have expected fromother chronomancers would be long in coming.
Spell Progression
The progression of chronomancers follows the normal wizard pattern, with the exception that the chronomancer gets one extra spell per spell level gained. The bonus spell must be from the school of chronomancy. This allows a 1st-level chronomancer to memorize two spells as opposed to one. However, chronomancers are not permitted to use spells from three opposition schools: abjuration, conjuration/ summoning, and necromancy. The chronomancer may not memorize these types of spells, cast them from scrolls, or use any item that is completely based in one of these magics (such as a wand of conjunction).
Saving Throws
The Chronomancer receives a +1 bonus to their Will save every other level of experience due to the tapping of mystical powers, while Fort & Ref are like that of any other wizard.
Special Abilities
At 4rd level, the chronomancer becomes immune to the effects of slow spells.
At 6th level, the chronomancer gains a competence modifier of +4 on any of the following skills:
History(Future), History(Local), Languages(Future) and Time Sense. The character can apply the
entire bonus to one skill of split it among several, as he desires.
At 8th level, the chronomancer gains hind sight, letting him look back on an event that he has
taken place in, within the last month and deduce what was the cause and general source.
At 10th level, the chronomancer gains a skill boost* (same as the 6th level)
At 12th level, the chronomancer gains a Alteration bonus that allows the player to ask the Dungeon Master for a piece of advice on any proposed alteration, assuming the chronomancer carefully considers and researches the subject. The advice should be more of a suggestion then an answer. After all, there are so many variables involved.
At 14th level, the chronomancer gains a skill boost* (same as the 5th level)
At 16th level, the chronomancer finds that due to the amount of time spend in Temporal Prime has
slowed his aging process by half naturally.
At 18th level, the chronomancer gains a skill boost* (same as the 5th level)
At 20th level, the chronomancer gains the ability to "see in real time". This allows the chronomancer see things as they were, are, and will be.
The Big Picture
Temporal Prime is a pseudo-reality that permeates every plane of existence among the alternate realities. There, time exists in a physical state that can be looked at, measured, and moved through. It is from Temporal Prime that a chronomancer draws mystical energy, and it is by traveling Temporal Prime that one may journey to the past or future. Temporal Prime has been referred to as one of the innermost planes, beyond even the elemental planes. There is a certain measure of truth to this, since time is a basic component of every plane of all known realities, as important as length, width, and depth. This notion is not quite accurate, though. All planes of known realities are reflections cast by the existence of linear spirits and substances within the dimensional plane of Temporal Prime. The elemental planes are the first reflection, that of linear substance. The outer planes are the last reflection, that of linear spirit. And the basic Prime Material plane of reality that balances between them is a merger of substance and spirit: life. Although the planes of existence stem from the dimensional planes, and the proper viewpoint for explanations might be from this direction, it is the specific interaction of linear creatures with Temporal Prime that this book is most concerned with. To make matters as clear as possible, the following information is presented from the viewpoint of such creatures when possible.
