Spell Seed: God Mode.

Spell: God Mode

Well, it’s not always a spell. Depending on the universe, it’s a spell, a miracle, an alchemical centering ritual, a psionic mnemonic exercise, a reasonably benign bit of hyper-geometry… whatever fits the local supernatural paradigm, really. To activate it, the spellcaster has to jump up twice, crouch twice, shuffle to the left, shuffle to the right, shuffle to the left again, shuffle to the right again, and – this is the important part – be able to metaphysically perceive the two glowing spheres of light that have just manifested in front of the spellcaster.  If the caster touches the sphere on the left, and then the sphere on the right, congratulations: he is now immune to all forms of damage! For about one minute, at the end of which the caster is knocked absolutely unconscious for the next day.

This is usually enough time for somebody in the occult/supernatural/metaphysical world to notice the spellcaster and bring him in for processing, particularly since the caster in question has also helpfully broadcasted his location to everybody with supernatural senses within a thousand mile radius.  Traditionally, in any kind of factionalized supernatural underground situation the new caster is kept unharmed, even if the various factions get rather energetic in their attempts to secure him; also, traditionally the faction that secures the caster gets to decide whether they get to keep him, or whether someone else does.  

They are not allowed to dispose of the new caster: somebody’s going to want him. Also, the relative value of a new spellcaster is generally considered to be high, but not extortionate; most of the major factions will be able to put together a credible offer for one easily enough. Lastly: you never know when somebody acquired via this method will grow up to be a major supernatural power, so it’s usually considered smart to not have the caster associate his recruitment with too many negative memories.  More than one turf war has been peacefully-enough resolved by one faction reaching out to somebody that they ‘fostered’ to another faction.
Nonetheless, if you’re wondering where the voluntary aspect of joining a faction comes in, let me assure you: if you come to the attention of the supernatural via this spell, there isn’t one.  This causes less friction than you’d expect, though. Aside from everything else, if you get ‘recruited’ by this method then you are, by definition, a supernatural entity that can be taught more esoteric abilities.  A lot of mages eventually decide that it all worked out, in the end…

One thought on “Spell Seed: God Mode.”

  1. Heh. I recognize that sequence… I used the chorus from the “Witch Doctor Song” as a wild magic back in the 1st ed. AD&D days (back before “wild magic” was a thing in D&D) to trigger spells at random. Mostly because I wanted an excuse to use a d30 in-game, and the 1st level Magic User spell table had 30 entries.

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