The Pallid Aether: Vesper Nhal's Folio
A bereaved anatomist's folio turns sorcery toward aetheric corruption, bargaining with demons and twisting living bodies in pursuit of a voice from beyond the grave.
Spellbook · BRP sorcerer, necromantic specialist · Level 5
The Pallid Aether: Vesper Nhal's Folio
A bereaved anatomist's folio turns sorcery toward aetheric corruption, bargaining with demons and twisting living bodies in pursuit of a voice from beyond the grave.
Ex librisVesper NhalBRP sorcery, expressed through necromantic rites
At a glance
Level
5
BRP sorcerer, necromantic specialist
Spells
8
2 signature
At the table
A margin note
Plot hook
Spells
8 spells1st level
5- Disorients the target as described by the standard Muddle sorcery spell.
- Duration
- The sorcerer's POW in combat rounds, unless extended by recasting.
- Target
- One visible target
- Components
- A whispered corruption formula and a mark traced with the silver needle; no costly material is specified by the standard spell.
- Save or attack
- Use the spell's standard target resistance procedure, if applicable in the campaign's BRP sorcery rules.
- Higher levels
- Use the spell's listed level and power point cost; do not add custom scaling.
- Source
- Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, Sorcery, Muddle
- Reduces a target's power points as described by the standard Pox sorcery spell.
- Duration
- The sorcerer's POW in combat rounds, unless extended by recasting.
- Target
- One target valid under the standard Pox spell
- Components
- A spoken name and a drop of the caster's blood; the blood is flavor only, not a standard mechanical requirement.
- Save or attack
- Target resists according to the standard Pox spell rules.
- Higher levels
- Use the spell's listed level and power point cost; do not add custom scaling.
- Conditions
- Power point reduction, subject to the spell's resistance procedure
- Source
- Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, Sorcery, Pox
- Creates an area of darkness as described by the standard Midnight sorcery spell.
- Duration
- The sorcerer's POW in combat rounds, unless extended by recasting.
- Target
- The area or target permitted by the standard Midnight spell
- Components
- A borrowed shadow, a low chant, and the usual sorcery power point expenditure.
- Save or attack
- No attack roll specified by the standard spell; use its standard targeting rules.
- Higher levels
- Use the spell's listed level and power point cost; do not add custom scaling.
- Source
- Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, Sorcery, Midnight
- Summons the exact demon prepared for, which appears within the standard spell's stated time; negotiation and binding are handled by the BRP rules.
- Duration
- Summoning and service follow the standard Summon Demon and demon rules.
- Target
- A prepared demon
- Components
- The demon's required preparations, bargains, and any POW or power point costs depend on the demon; consult the standard spell and creature rules.
- Save or attack
- No attack roll to summon; binding, resistance, or negotiation follows the standard spell and creature rules.
- Higher levels
- Costs and binding requirements depend on the specific demon under the standard rules; no invented level scaling.
- Conditions
- Requires appropriate preparations and successful binding or agreement as applicable to the demon
- Source
- Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, Sorcery, Summon Demon
- A second folio rite for the canonical Summon Demon spell. The demon, preparations, arrival time, and binding follow the same standard rules.
- Duration
- Summoning and service follow the standard Summon Demon and demon rules.
- Target
- A prepared demon
- Components
- A circle of grave salt and a list of offerings chosen for the intended demon; exact costs and binding requirements follow the standard rules.
- Save or attack
- Binding, resistance, and negotiation follow the standard spell and creature rules.
- Higher levels
- No added scaling; see the standard Summon Demon rules for the chosen demon's costs.
- Conditions
- Summon only a demon for which the caster has made the required preparations
- Source
- Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, Sorcery, Summon Demon
3rd level
2- Determines the target's POW as described by the standard Witch Sight sorcery spell.
- Duration
- The sorcerer's POW in combat rounds, unless the standard spell specifies otherwise.
- Target
- One target valid under the standard spell
- Components
- The caster fixes their gaze on the target and speaks its name; no special costly component is specified by the standard spell.
- Save or attack
- Use the standard spell's targeting rules.
- Higher levels
- Use the spell's listed level and power point cost; do not add custom scaling.
- Conditions
- Target's POW is determined
- Source
- Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, Sorcery, Witch Sight
- Creates a magical alarm as described by the standard Ward spell.
- Duration
- As specified by the standard Ward spell and the ward's design.
- Target
- A warded area or trigger defined under the standard spell
- Components
- A warding mark written in bone dust or ash; these are descriptive materials, not additional standard costs.
- Save or attack
- No attack roll; set detection conditions using the standard Ward rules.
- Higher levels
- Use the spell's listed level and power point cost; do not add custom scaling.
- Conditions
- Alarm triggers according to the ward's chosen conditions
- Source
- Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, Sorcery, Ward
4th level
1- Causes the target to suffer a disfiguring feature as described by the standard spell.
- Duration
- As specified by the standard Curse of Sorcery spell.
- Target
- One touched target
- Components
- A touch and a sigil of the deformity desired; the standard spell does not require a costly component.
- Save or attack
- Use the standard Curse of Sorcery targeting and resistance rules.
- Higher levels
- Fixed at spell level 4; use the standard spell's power point cost.
- Conditions
- Disfiguring feature, determined under the standard spell
- Source
- Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, Sorcery, Curse of Sorcery
In the margins
3 notes
DiaryThe dead do not answer more honestly than the living. They merely have fewer reasons to lie.
WarningNever let the pale filament touch the tongue. It remembers every name spoken over a corpse.
FormulaDraw the ward around the threshold, not the body. The thing invited may arrive from any direction.
The book itself
Aetheric corruption is this caster's personal interpretation of sorcery, not a separate BRP subsystem.
The numbered tiers below refer to sorcery spell levels, not character levels. BRP has no standard character levels or class-based preparation limits.
In standard BRP sorcery, spells are readied from a grimoire, cast by spending power points, and generally last for the sorcerer's POW in combat rounds unless their description specifies otherwise.
The caster
BRP sorcery, expressed through necromantic ritesVesper Nhal
Studies: Necromantic sorcery and aetheric corruptionManner: Soft-spoken, precise, and unexpectedly courteous, even while discussing mutilation or the dead.Focus: A silver autopsy needle used to trace aetheric sigils in the air or across bone.Quirk: She labels every preserved bone with the last words its owner spoke, even when no one else can read the script.Wants: Find a way to summon her sister's spirit without allowing an aetheric entity to take its place.Vesper was a battlefield anatomist who tried to preserve the dying with occult techniques. After her sister died during one such attempt, she devoted herself to studying the border between life, death, and the things that cross it.
The book
A narrow, black-linen folio bound in cracked hide, its pages stained with silver-gray aetheric residue. The illustrations show bones threaded with luminous veins, and the ink shifts faintly when watched.
Its wards · GM only
About the book
FormatBlack-linen folio
ThemeNecromancy through aetheric corruption and the summoning of corrupted beings
Written by aBRP sorcerer, necromantic specialist
Caster level5
SystemBasic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine, sorcery rules
Plot hooks
1A village's recently deceased are developing luminous threads beneath their skin, and the folio's marginalia names the local cemetery as the source.
2A lesser demon summoned by Vesper claims it knows the whereabouts of her dead sister, but demands the folio's final blank leaf as payment.
3The folio's former owner has returned as a corrupted being and is searching for the silver needle used to bind the book shut.
Media
0 imagesNo images yet.
Visual sheet
Turn The Pallid Aether: Vesper Nhal's Folio into a sheet
A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.