Magic III: True20 Companion (Secret, Low Magic, Structured)

The True20 Companion has a chapter on horror adventure and includes a couple of alternate Roles for this genre. The Arcanist is the magic-using Role, while the Spiritualist is a psychic. The psychic gains powers normally – just like the True20 Adept above – but must select powers from a list of about twenty psychic powers. The Arcanist is a spellcasting magician with access to all powers, but whose power grows at a slower rate. In compensation, the Arcanist gets more skill points.

Susan Temple
Type: Arcanist 1st (the Talent)
Abilities: Str –2, Dex +1, Con +0, Int +3, Wis +1, Cha +3
Background: Spiritualist
Skills: Bluff 4 (+7), Concentration 4 (+4), Diplomacy 4 (+7), Knowledge (current events) 4 (+7), Knowledge (history) 4 (+7), Knowledge (supernatural) 4 (+7) (B), Knowledge (theology & philosophy) 4 (+7) (B), Language 4, Notice 4 (+5), Stealth 4 (+5), Ride 4 (+5)
Feats: Jaded (B), Supernatural Focus (Ward) (B), Wealthy
Supernatural Powers: Fire Shaping +4, Teleport +4, Ward +7
Combat: Attack +1 (-3 with derringer); Damage +2 derringer or Fire Shaping, -1 hatpin, or –2 unarmed; Defense +1 (+0 flat-footed); Initiative +1
Saving Throws: Toughness +0; Fortitude +0; Reflex +1; Will +3; Sanity +7
Conviction 3; Wealth 12; Reputation +1; Virtue; Vice
Equipment: hatpin (Dmg +1), whalebone corset (+1 Toughness saves), derringer (Dmg +2)

(B) denotes bonus feats and skills derived from Susan’s background. Her key ability score is still Intelligence.

The slow advancement version of Susan doesn’t change any of her abilities, it just makes her spells harder to cast. She can still set a man on fire with Fire Shaping, but she has only a 50% chance of success. (Were she to try to set three men’s clothes on fire, this would drop to 30%). She can still teleport to anywhere she can see with a DC 10 check or back to her home with a DC 15, but her chance of success is lower (75% and 50%). Her Ward works just as before, but as a contested check, her die roll is now 1d20+7 instead of 1d20+10.

Susan’s fatigue check does not change; it is usually Will DC 11, +1 to the DC for every power she uses in one hour. Because the rank of her powers has gone down, her Ward is slightly easier to maintain, requiring only a DC 11 Concentration check instead of DC 14.

The result: More skill points for Adepts means more diverse characters who will do things besides work magic. The skill and rank differences mean that powers are not as potent as before, and fail more often, but they remain quick and easy to cast, with the primary limit being increasing fatigue saves after several casts in a one hour period. Magic is still an easily-kept secret, probably more secret than before since powers are less useful in general and less obvious when they are used. Players require nothing besides the True20 book; the slower power-growth of the Arcanist can be reproduced on the wiki or hard coded into character generation.