Spells (Cronos)
Wizards of Cronos automatically have access to and learn the following spells at each appropriate level, even gaining a +1 bonus to all rolls for them. In return, they only have (at most) a 25% chance of being able to learn other spells, taking a -1 penalty to such non-temporal magic even if they do.
LABYRINTH LORD
1st Level: Detect Magic, Resist Cold (if recipient is unclad in a Golden Age manner), Shield* (deflects via Time displacement), Time Missile (as Magic Missile*, but rather than causing actual damage, targets must save vs. spell or every 3 damage it would have done gives them a cumulative -1 penalty to all rolls for the next hour due to unnatural aging)
2nd Level: Augury, Bless (thanks to getting brief glimpses of the future), Hold Person (by freezing the target in Time), Amnesia*, Mirror Image* (showing an image of oneself from the past and/or future), Ray of Enfeeblement* (by causing rapid aging), Shatter* (the same, but to an object)
3rd Level: Dispel Magic (causing the spell to age to its rapid conclusion), Remove Curse (reverse; by disrupting Time around the target), Time Bomb (as Fireball*, but causes an aging effect like Time Missile, above, to those caught in the radius instead), Haste* (reversible)
4th Level: Bounty of the Titans (as Create Food and Water, but those who wish to partake of it must be unclad and/or in a bucolic setting, reflecting a Golden Age), Dimension Door* (freezing Time and then starting it again once the wizard arrives at the destination), Globe of Invulnerability: Lesser* (causing magic to rapidly age to its conclusion)
5th Level: Flame Strike, Feeblemind*, Teleport* (freezing Time, like with Dimension Door, above)
6th Level: Anti-Magic Shell* (causing all magic to age to its rapid conclusion), Temporal Gate (as Gate*, but opens a portal to other times only)
7th Level: Clone* (bringing a different temporal version of oneself into the present: no gold is required, but each round spent together triggers a Cronos test)
8th Level: Temporal Stasis*, Time Stop* (both available at an earlier spell level)
DCC RPG
1st Level (d8): Blessing (thanks to getting brief glimpses of the future), Detect Magic, Bounty of the Titans (as Food of the Gods, but those who wish to partake of it must be unclad and/or in a bucolic setting, reflecting a Golden Age), Paralysis (by freezing the target in Time), Resist Cold or Heat (if recipient is unclad in a Golden Age manner), Second Sight, Magic Shield* (deflects via Time displacement), Time Missile (as Magic Missile*, but rather than causing actual damage, targets must make a Will save DC 15 or every 3 damage it would have done gives them a cumulative -1 penalty to all rolls for the next hour due to unnatural aging),
2nd Level (d5): Curse (by disrupting Time around the target), Forget*, Mirror Image* (showing an image of oneself from the past and/or future), Ray of Enfeeblement* (by causing rapid aging), Shatter* (the same, but to an object)
3rd Level (d5): Bolt from the Blue, Time Bomb (as Fireball*, but causes an aging effect like Time Missile, above, to those caught in the radius instead), Dispel Magic* (causing the spell to age to its rapid conclusion), Haste*, Slow*
4th Level (d3): Planar Step* (freezing Time and then starting it again once the wizard arrives at the destination, or even can create a temporal gateway), The Dreaming*, Warp and Weft*
5th Level (d3): Magic Bulwark* (causing all magic to age to its rapid conclusion), Mind Purge*, Replication* (bringing a different temporal version of oneself into the present: no gold is required, but each round spent together triggers a Cronos test)
Avatar of Cronos
Align: N
MV: 35’ (fly 140’)
AC: -5
HD: 12 (24)
Atk: 1 scythe
Dmg: 3d12 (6d12)
SP: Cronos wizard spells/abilities (caster level 24), immune to any harmful time effects, may assume titan size for up to 1d12 hours a day (doubling in HD and damage done)
Magic Resistance: 65%
SV: M24
Mor: 11
Appearing as winged, aged men, Cronos Avatars care little for mortals except for those who interfere with Time. If they encounter those who have done so (including any who have cast spells on the Cronos Wizard list), then roll any die. Odds: the Avatar will reap the mortal by attacking them and anyone who gets in his way for the next 3d4 rounds. Evens: the Avatar rewards the mortal by removing 3d4 years of age from them. Note that even wizards of Cronos get no special treatment in this situation since they only follow his methods; they aren’t his worshippers. In any case, once finished, the Avatar will likely fly off in search of another Golden Age.
DCC RPG stats:
Init: -2; Atk scythe +13 (3d12) or titan form: +28 (6d12 +9); AC 24; HD 12d10 or titan form: 24d10; MV 25’ (fly 130’; Act 1d20; SP Cronos wizard spells/abilities (caster level 24), immune to any harmful time effects, may assume titan size for up to 1d12 hours a day (doubling in HD and damage done); SV Fort +22, Ref +12, Will +20; AL N
Cronos Encounters (1d4)
1. Emerging from the mists of time, the party stumbles across a/an (roll 1d8): [1] attractive woman who is dressed strangely, [2] pair of foolish but cheerful adolescents who consistently say ‘dude’, [3] muscular, emotionless man (who is actually mechanical on the inside and looking for a woman... to slay), [4] young man whose (time traveling) wagon went 11 miles per hour and can’t understand where (or when) he is now, [5] eccentric, but learned man with a scarf and long coat, [6] version of themselves from another time, [7] weird-looking being (a Time Traveler if using DCC RPG rules), [8] old man.
Of course, it might not be immediately apparent that the traveler is from another era. The party will likely only find out when he or she (roll 1d6): [1] uses temporal magic (and is therefore a level 1d12 Cronos wizard; 10% chance of actually being a Cronos Avatar), [2] blurts out something about the future, likely causing some sort of paradox (a base 65% chance), [3] shows that they themselves or one of their possessions is either quite primitive or advanced, [4] tries to kill the party in the name of ‘setting the future straight’, [5-6] all of the above!
2. Whether they’re actually having fun or not, time really flies by and the party is sent forward 1d1,000 (then roll 1d20): [1-5] rounds, [6-10] minutes, [11-14] hours, [15-17] days, [18-19] months, [20] years. Among other things, the world is now more (roll 1d6): [1] desolate, [2] dangerous, [3] bizarre,
[4] harmonious, [5] advanced, [6] reroll twice. The further ahead they travel, the more noticeable the change.
Hopefully, the party can return via one of the following methods, even attempting to stop that future from ever happening if they so wish (roll 1d5): [1-2] immediately by going back the way they came, [3-4] they’ll automatically be brought back to their own time within 1d12 turns, [5] they cannot return, except by some other method that they might uncover. In any case, time might not fly by so much for them now.
3. A strange fog is spotted up ahead. If the party enters, then they may realize (eventually) that they have been sent back in time 1d1,000 (then roll 1d20): [1-5] rounds, [6-10] minutes, [11-14] hours, [15-17] days, [18-19] months, [20] years. Unless it’s known what transpired then, consider that it was/is more (roll 1d6): [1] primitive, [2] dangerous, [3-4] harmonious, as if a Golden Age, [5] primeval, [6] reroll twice.
Like with future travel, the greater the time change, the more noticeable it will be and might have the same possible ways to return. Unlike future travel though, there is also a risk of causing paradox- a base 5% chance per result on the d20 roll- if and when the party somehow returns to the present. Note that those chances will certainly increase dramatically for any people they slay, impregnate, prevent from being slain, or prevent from getting impregnated while there.
What is more, if the party does manage to change the present, then there’s a 66% chance of a follower of Janus (see Bonus Divinities tab above) arriving within 1d3 days to punish them.
4. Didn’t we just go through this? Cronos weaves the party into a Knot of Time, causing them to experience, over and over again, the same 1d6 (then roll 1d4): [1] rounds, [2] minutes, [3] hours, [4] days. It repeats 1d20 times before working itself out (or longer, if the Referee or Judge is so inclined), though the party has a 50% chance of breaking the cycle earlier if they (roll1d4): [1] assassinate a being that is caught in the loop too, determined at randomly and secretly, possibly even being a party member, [2] do something completely uncharacteristic and random (per Referee or Judge), [3] send a message back to themselves by remembering what not to do, requiring an Intelligence check, [4] learn to be especially kind and humble (and possibly nude), like in a Golden Age.
In any case, the party will likely be very unnerved by this (re)turn of events, while those unaffected by the loop will have absolutely no idea that anything strange happened at all.
Next week: clerics of Saxon gods and goddesses!
