The College of Amethyst is situated next to the Haunted Graveyard of Altdorf, where countless bodies were hastily interred during the Red Plague. It is a cold, stone, tomb-like structure in itself, and deathly quiet, as the Amethyst Wizards do not speak. They are Mentalists, and communicate with each other through thought. They are masters of the mind, and the Battle Wizards of their number frequently focus on the more nightmarish aspects thereof.
A Mentalist is often disturbing company for a band of Warriors, but he still possesses unique skills among spell-casters that can be extremely useful in a variety of situations.
The Mentalist has statistics identical to the Wizard initially and at higher Battle-Levels. However, he has as a different spell and equipment selection. Instead of the Hand of Death Scroll, he starts with an Amethyst Ring, the use of which is a mystery to all others. Instead of a sword, he uses a staff, which inflicts 1D6 damage with no strength added, but allows him to Attack in Ranks, able to strike a target up to two spaces away (as opposed to the normal range of one space).
All Mentalists are given an Amethyst Ring when they leave the college to find their fortune in the world. This ring focuses the Mentalist’s mental abilities and powers, and enables him to make a single attack causing 1D6 wounds with no modifiers whatsoever, hitting automatically. The Amethyst Ring can only be used once per game.
The Mentalist does not speak nor vocalize. He may, however, communicate with the other Warriors by means of transmitting his own thoughts and by receiving their surface thoughts. This ability makes all attacks on the Mentalist –1 to hit, as he picks up clues and intents from the opponent. In addition, the mentalist cannot be prevented from casting spells or communicating by any silence effects or spells.
Select spells from the spell decks in the same way as a Wizard for initial spell selection. Although the majority of these spells will not be found on the Mentalist's expanded spell list below, this is fine. These spells represent his attempt to diversify by picking magics from outside his primary college, for the sake of adventuring.
This Ring does a single attack per adventure of 1D6 per Battle-Level of the Mentalist. Nothing protects from this mental assault, it is not a magical attack, nor a physical one, effects such as ignore pain and so forth will not have any affect on it at all.
The mentalist’s Telepathic ability can be used to find certain secrets or hidden places in the dungeon from its denizens. If an adventure or event occurs that requires finding or discovering some item or place (like a key, swords to kill the lich king, and so forth), the Mentalist may spend one turn to read the mind of a monster. This time of mind reading cannot be taken by any other activity, no movement, no combat, the mentalist must simply concentrate a turn. The Mentalist rolls a D6 and if the result is 6, the monster knows where the item is, and the next room entered the Warriors discover the item after all other events have taken place. This discovery replaces any normal method of finding the item, there will not be two keys, for example.
The Mentalist may use any equipment or magical items usable by the Wizard, with a few exceptions. If any Treasure Cards are found which contain new spells (such as a Finger of Doom scroll) listed as usable by the Wizard, the Mentalist cannot utilize them, as they are outside of his area of expertise. The Mentalist will only use his Staff in combat. Other weapons are only useful to him if they are ranged weapons, or if he should happen to find a magical Staff.
The Mentalist may visit Settlements, but his ability of reading minds, combined with the fact that just about everybody knows about this ability of Amethyst Wizards, and with his generally sinister appearance causes everyone to give him a wide berth. He may not visit the Gambling House (or if he does, nobody will play a game against him) as it is feared he could spy on everyone else's hand or somehow mystically alter the roll of dice. If he were to visit the Alehouse, no roll would be made on the chart at all. Not even charlatans or troublemakers will dare disturb him, so nothing of note will happen at all. Indeed, there are simply no Settlement Events for the Mentalist, for good or ill, though Catastrophic Events still apply. If he should have a horse, it will not be stolen, as the would-be thief will be convinced that he will simply be given away by his own thoughts.
The Mentalist may not visit the Wizards' Guild. Members of the Amethyst College are just not all that sociable at all, even among spell-casters of other Colleges, or among Warrior-Wizards for that matter. The only exception to this rule is that, should he lose his Amethyst Ring or his Staff for whatever reason, he MUST get a replacement at the soonest opportunity. If there is a Wizards' Guild in a Settlement, he must try to visit it as soon as he enters, where, by dealing with the Wizards there, he will be able to acquire an Amethyst Ring and/or a Staff for 200 gold each. He may not have more than one Ring, and has no use for more than one Staff.
As the Mentalist advances in skill, he selects additional spells in the same way as the Wizard, as described in the Wizards' Training section beginning on p. 50 of the Roleplay Book, except that he selects from the following list of spells.
Some of the spells on this list are identical to those available to the Wizard, though they might have different Casting Levels due to the Mentalist's differing specialties. New spells added to this list are described immediately following it.
* indicates a new spell
+ indicates a spell with altered Casting Level or special rules
DEFENSE Coughing
Courage*
Drop
Feign Death+
SPECIAL Fleet of Foot
ATTACK Iyrtu's Embrace*
DEFENSE Anticipate*
Nausea
Slip
Soul Steel*
SPECIAL Tongues
Zone of Silence
DEFENSE Confuse
SPECIAL The Manacle of Caloe*
Soul Share*
Speed
ATTACK The Purple Scythe*
DEFENSE Amaranth*
HEALING Fortitude (Heal Wounds)
SPECIAL Dispel Magic
Second Sight
ATTACK Fire of Judgement (Fireball)
DEFENSE Blur
Dazzle
SPECIAL Cause Animosity+
Invisibility
Sleep
Speed of Lykos*
ATTACK The Caress of Laniph*
The Choking Foe*
SPECIAL Rout*
ATTACK Spasm*
DEFENSE Fools' Gold
SPECIAL Glory!
ATTACK Purple Sun of Xereus*
SPECIAL Chorus of Valour
Wild Kin of Zandox*
ATTACK The Fate of Bjuna*
SPECIAL Spirit Control*
ATTACK Carnival of Death+
SPECIAL Alter Allegiance*
SPECIAL Transport of the Damned
SPELL NOTES
Courage
The Mentalist is no longer afraid (i.e. subject to Fear or Terror) of any
Monsters present. He is also immune to any fear-causing spells
for the remainder of this Turn.
Target: The Mentalist
Duration: Current Monster Event / One Turn
Feign Death
Changed from Casting Level 2
Anticipate
A single attack against the Mentalist this turn will automatically
miss. Declare which attack will automatically miss before rolling.
Target: Any Monster fighting the Mentalist
Duration: One Turn
Iyrtu's Embrace
The Mentalist attempts to crush a single adjacent Monster, inflicting 1D6
Wounds plus his Strength, with no modifiers for anything (armor,
Ignore Pain, etc.) except for natural Toughness.
Target: Any Monster adjacent to the Mentalist
Duration: Immediate
Soul Steel
The Mentalist or any one Warrior adjacent to him has +1 added to his
Toughness for the remainder of the turn.
Target: Mentalist or any adjacent Warrior
Duration: One Turn
The Manacle of Caloe
A single Monster on the same board section may be bound so long as its
Strength does not exceed 2D6. It is unable to move until the Manacle is
dispelled. It is not affected in any other way; it can fight, shoot or even cast
spells if it is so capable. A token should be placed under the Monster's base to
indicate that it has been entrapped thus.
Target: Any Monster on the same board section as the Mentalist
Duration: Until dispelled
Soul Share
Any friendly model on the same board section may be chosen by the Mentalist
in order to "share souls" with it. For the remainder of this Turn, he
has exactly the same natural characteristics (Toughness, Move, Initiative, WS,
BS, etc.) with the exception of Wounds, remaining power points, or bonuses/penalties
to Toughness or Move due to armor.
Target: Mentalist
Duration: One Turn
Amaranth
The Mentalist or any Warrior in the same board section has his starting
Toughness (not counting armor) doubled to a maximum of 10 for the remainder of
this Turn. The Mentalist may only cast this spell on one recipient per Turn.
Target: Mentalist or any Warrior in the same board section
Duration: One Turn
The Purple Scythe
The Purple Scythe replaces the Mentalist's normal attacks in close combat for
this Turn. It automatically strikes all Monsters adjacent to the Mentalist,
causing 2D6 Wounds to each target. The Scythe remains in play in subsequent
turns (at no additional power cost) until dispelled, until all Monsters on the
same board section are defeated, or until the Mentalist is reduced to 0 Wounds.
Target: All adjacent Monsters
Duration: Current Monster Event
Cause Animosity
Changed from Casting Level 6
Speed of Lykos
The Mentalist or any Warrior up to 6 spaces away may be targeted by this
spell. The recipient is able to move at a blinding rate, and can be placed any
unoccupied space in the same board section or in any previously-explored dungeon
section that could be reached by foot (i.e. not barred by closed doors, pits,
the Firechasm, etc.) though pinning and interposing models may be ignored.
Target: The Mentalist or any Warrior within 6 spaces
Duration: Immediate
The Caress of Laniph
A single Monster within a maximum range of 24 spaces is crushed for 4D6
Wounds.
Target: Any Monster within 24 spaces
Duration: Immediate
The Choking Foe
A single Monster within a maximum range of 18 spaces is surrounded by purple
energy. It must make a Willpower test (roll 1D6 and add Willpower, passing
on a roll of 7 or more). If it has no Willpower rating, use Initiative instead.
If it fails, it is unable to hold its breath and is killed regardless of how
many Wounds it has.
Daemons and the Undead (as well as any other creatures that do not need to
breathe or are otherwise not truly alive) are immune to this spell.
Target: Any Monster within 18 spaces
Duration: Immediate
Rout
Any Monster within the same board section may be targeted by this spell, so
long as it is not immune to psychology or does not cause Terror on its own.
During the Monster's turn, instead of attacking, it may be forced to run in any
direction of the Mentalist's choosing, ignoring pinning. Any Monsters adjacent
to the fleeing creature or the area he is running through must make a Willpower
test (or an Initiative test, if no Willpower statistic is available) with a
target value of 7 or more, or else they will turn and flee as well, unless they
are Fear- or Terror-causing creatures (or otherwise immune to psychology).
Target: Any Monster in the same board section as the Mentalist
Duration: One Turn
Spasm
A single Monster within 9 spaces of the Mentalist suffers 4D6 Wounds with no
modifiers for Toughness or armor. Undead and Daemons (or other
creatures that are not truly alive) are unaffected by this spell.
Target: Any Monster within 9 spaces of the Mentalist
Duration: Immediate
Purple Sun of Xereus
The Purple Sun template from WFB would be ideal for marking the area covered
by the Purple Sun of Xereus. Otherwise, a circular template that fits within a 3
square by 3 square area will be needed. The Sun comes into being immediately in
front of the Mentalist, and immediately travels 4D6 spaces forward, leaving a
wake of destruction.
Anything touched by the template is automatically killed and turned into
amethyst crystal on a roll of 3+ on 1D6. The Mentalist does not gain any gold
for any monsters so destroyed, and any Treasure they carried is destroyed is
well. Magical Resistance applies, though this spell cannot be "reflected".
The Sun remains in play, progressing another 4D6 spaces in the same direction,
until it is dispelled, it leaves the playing area, or it reaches an impassable
obstacle (such as a wall).
Target: 3 square by 3 square area adjacent to the Mentalist
Duration: Until the Sun is dispelled or blocked
Wild Kin of Zandox
The shadow dogs make a total of 6 attacks with WS 5 against any one Monster
(or 3 attacks each against any two Monsters) within 2 spaces of the
Mentalist, inflicting 3D6 Wounds per hit.
Target: Any enemy within 2 spaces of the Mentalist
Duration: Immediate
The Fate of Bjuna
A single Monster on the same board section as the Mentalist suffers 1D6 Wounds for each point of Strength it has, with no modifiers for armor (even if magical). This spell has no effect on the Undead, Daemons, or creatures immune to psychology.
Spirit Control
The Mentalist is able to gaze into the next room -- Go ahead and draw a
Dungeon card to determine the room, and a Monster Event if applicable. If there
are no Monsters in this room, go to the next adjoining room, generating it and
checking for Monsters until some can be found. One of these Monsters is selected
by the Mentalist, which he may now control, making it open doors, move into
unexplored areas (generating them as it moves), attack other monsters (who will
retaliate) or perform any other action which isn't alien to its nature, like
injure itself.
The spell lasts for as long as the Mentalist remains in a trance-like state and
does not perform any other action (including casting spells). He is treated as
having a WS of 1 while in this state, and the trance will automatically be
broken if he is struck or affected by a spell.
For GM moderated games, the GM may exercise some discretion when determining
which Monsters are valid targets to be controlled by this spell, and what
actions they may be forced to perform.
Target: One Monster in an unexplored part of the dungeon
Duration: Until the Mentalist's trance is broken
Carnival of Death
Changed from Casting Level 11
Alter Allegiance
Any one Monster within 6 squares may be mentally attacked with this spell. The victim must make a Willpower test (or intellectual Initiative test, as applicable) with a target value of 7 or more. If it succeeds, it is unaffected. If it fails, the Monster is controlled by the Mentalist and may even attack its former comrades. This effect lasts until all enemies in the current board section have been defeated, at which point the bewildered creature immediately runs away, never to be seen again. If, for whatever reason, the creature should be attacked by the Mentalist or his allies while under the Mentalist's control, it will revert to enemy status, and no gold will be gained for defeating it.