Sorcery
Sorcery & Alchemy Magic works in the world of Conan the Roleplaying Game. Magic is not, however, a replacement for technology or a way to circumvent the existing technology to give the world a more modern edge. Magic does not even work in favour of the characters all the time. Magic is best used as a villainous obstacle. There are no practical day-to-day applications of sorcery in Conan the Roleplaying Game. Thus, the asshuri do not have access to psychometry spells to help them solve crimes. Judges cannot use mind-reading spells as some sort of lie-detector. The kings and law-makers of Shem probably do not even know these spells exist. Rituals play a large part in daily Shemite life. Most Shemites have at least one rank in Perform (ritual) – they are taught basic home rites to keep the gods placated. However, only priests can do a full rite. If a full rite is wanted by a person, he brings a sacrifice to the temple and asks the priest or priestess to perform it. Most rites involve water, which is used to cleanse away demons that may cause illness; cleanliness is a large part of daily magical life. Flour is also used for most rites. Magic circles are drawn with it and gods are represented by piles of flour around the circle. The earth-based rituals performed by the priests of Shem are, for the most part, non-magical. Most of the rituals are honorific or ceremonial, not magical, intended to solve immediate difficulties in life. Most of the priests of Shem are not sorcerers and cannot cast real spells; they take the nonsorcerous options for the scholar class, choosing bonus feats in lieu of new sorcery styles and bonus skill points instead of advanced spells. The non-sorcerous versions actually are the more skilled characters. Although the people of Shem believe something supernatural is happening during the rituals, nothing really is. Most divination used by the people of Shem amount to training and insight, much like a modern Tarot card reader. She knows what the cards represent and what the patterns they form mean but she does not cast true sorcery.
Fetishes
Shemite magic often revolves around physical objects as a focus for magical energy. They provide something for patients to believe in and something for healers and sorcerers to likewise have faith in.
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Amulets Amulets are often given by healers to patients for wearing or bearing. To create the amulet, the healer must make a successful Craft (herbalism) check (DC 15) to figure out what herbs belong in the amulet, then he must perform the healing ritual over it (Perform (ritual) (DC 12) or set by opposed Sense Motive if subject has doubts). Creating an amulet gives a healer a +2 circumstance bonus to his Heal skill check or a +1 circumstance bonus to the patient’s saving throw, whichever is the most helpful and/or appropriate. Certain gods have rivalries with other gods and having an amulet of a god gives a +1 against whatever the rival god might throw at a person. For example, pregnant women wear amulets of Pazuzu against Lamashtu. Lamashtu prey upon unborn children, so the amulet gives the women a +1 bonus to aid in the protection of the unborn child, be that a saving throw or a skill check or a defence value.
Magic Bowls Many Shemite sorcerers and magicians write magical letters on bowls. These bowls are then buried or given to the temple for placement on or near the temple altar by the priests. By performing the correct ritual (Perform (ritual) (DC 18)), the person creating the magic bowl increases the potency of his magic, giving him a +2 to his Magic Attack roll on any one spell intended to be cast that day.
Poppets Poppets are crude bread-people or animals made from a baked mixture of sacred flour and water intended to represent the target of a spell. The poppet must have a magical link
But ever since he had watched half his troop swallowed screaming by a black cloud conjured up by a Zuagir shaman, Shamtare had no love of sorcery. It was unnatural, unmanly, and it turned his bones to water. John C. Hocking, Conan and the Emerald Lotus
