This is based off the Chromatomancer from a Blasted, Cratered Land. I've taken plenty of ideas from them, though many were adapted. Also, I don't like the name, as the Wizard School Velexiraptor came up with is more about Art than colors, and Chromatomancer seems to imply something based on colors as they exist in our world, like something from the Lightbringer series, not on those colors in reference to art.
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| source unknown |
Wizards spend far too much time trying to wrangle Magic. They study the properties of it and endlessly refine their methods, trying to contain the inexplicable. They carefully monitor students, looking for what traits make a student the best at channeling or capturing spells, they carefully breed spells to be uniform and efficient and cling to rigid procedures until they become creeds; yet all of this misses the point.
Magic is not some obedient house-pet that can be properly trained and ordered into doing the proper thing. Magic is the wind, the roaring blaze, the rumble of the Earth's chtonic plates. It is the wail of the Void, the light of the Sun. Magic cannot be bound or ordered, it is the antithesis of those things. Magic is the breaker of chains, the leveler of all things.
This is why tyrants and rulers have always tried to contain or control it, for no man can control magic. It, by nature, cannot be contained. It is inexplicable, appearing out of the wilds and in the dead of night, arriving without prompting and leaving just as suddenly, the careful plans of men in it's wake. For this reason, Magic has long been associated with Art.
The true Artist is one who is driven to create not for financial or ideological gain, but by the burning need to take something that does not exist and make it so. It is a desire that can be denied or sublimated, but never crushed or eradicated. It is the thing that exists for the sake of itself. What is the use of Art? Why do we need it? We do not, yet a life without it would be intolerable. So with Art, so with Magic. Do not ask why it is, for such a question misses the point. 'It is' is the question and the answer.
Still following? Good, then we can begin:
Wizard-Artist:
When did Inspiration (Magic) first strike you?
1d4
1- When you were a child, one of your drawings came to life.
2- When you were a dissatisfied youth, you didn't know what you wanted to do until you tried Art on a lark and found what you were born to do. The magic came later.
3- When you were trapped in the toil and drudgery of life, you sought a way to inject a living spirit into the dreariness of your life. Art was the method and it worked, now everything else is dross besides your burning desire to create.
4- After you suffered terribly. You sought a way to lighten your burdens and deal with your angst. Your pain fuels you to create masterpieces.
Who is your ally?
1d4
1- Another Artist. They might not even be magical, but they're better than you, even you admit that. They are rival and inspiration and friend in one. Roll twice on the following table to see how successful they are. You could appeal to them for a favor, but you'll definitely need to help them with one of their future projects.
2- Your patron. You are funded by a wealthy patron. Your patron is wealthy, likely powerful and interested in you. Your patron will occasionally commission you to make something for them, for which they will pay handsomely. They also can provide access to the upper tiers of society, provide invitations to exclusive events, etc.
3- Your mentor. He taught you magic and/or art and for that you are eternally grateful. He will occasionally need your help to pay his bills and do things he can't as an older person. But should you need anything, he will always do his best to help you. He is a font of wisdom and knows much more than he lets on.
4- Your biggest fan. You have an admirer who is really, really into you, either as a Wizard, as an Artist or as a Person. If you treat them nicely and continue to do what they do, they would do almost anything for you. Just don't mistreat or abuse them, or they might become someone you'd rather not meet.
How famous are you?
1d6
1-2- Literally who? No one knows who you are, with few exceptions. You are a starving artist.
3- Cult following. A small group of people are utterly rabid for your work and will pay handsomely for it. You start with 1d20+20 extra silver.
4- Literal cult following. A small religious group are convinced you are a God in disguise or a secret prophet for their obscure faith. They are constantly pestering you to make things for them and to join their congregation. You start with 1d20 extra silver + the creepy interest of a bunch of (mostly benign) cultists.
5- Up and coming. You are well-known in certain circles. People know who you are in at least a vague sense and they might have seen that one painting you made for City Hall. You start with 1d20+20 extra silver.
6- Don't you know who I am? You are famous, a genius widely known in your home town/city/tribe. When you reveal yourself, you're confident you will take the art world by storm. You start with 3d20+5 extra silver.
The Wizard-Artist is a sub-class for my basic OSR Wizard class. For any other details, see the base class
here.
Power: You are skilled in one artistic medium of your choice. The most common one is painting, but it need not be for you. You can also work with charcoal, pen and ink, pencils or practice a less common form, such as sculpture, performance art, etc.
Drawback: You are driven by a compulsion to create. Ideas constantly pop into your head. You must work on a creation of yours at least once per day. If not allowed to make Art or at least work toward a creative goal, you will lose 1 MD per hour until you hit 0. From there, you will gradually become obsessed with creating something and will resort to unusual or unorthodox methods and mediums. For example, if locked in a dungeon you may use the links of your chain to scratch designs into the stone floor or smear your feces onto the wall to use as paint.
1d12
1- Absorb Color
2- Animate Artwork
3- Alter Perspective
4- Create Negative Space
5- Focal Point
6- Imbue with Emotion
7- Implied Lines
8- Inspiration
9- Pose Subject
10- Prismatic Ray
11- Take Memory
12- Vanishing Point
13- Prismatic Defense
14- Raise Dead Movement
15- Summon New Color
16- Turn to Art
Legendary Spell: Magnum Opus
Absorb Color
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R: touch T: object or surface D: one action
You can touch an object and steal up to [dice] of it's colors. These colors form spheres of compressed color. If shattered against an object or surface, the spheres explode into a spray of color that coats the surface or object struck. Creatures hit in the face by a wave of color are blinded, unless they are wearing helmets or have a shield, in which case they may save against being blinded.
Animate Artwork
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R: 10' T: piece of art D: one action
You can pull one creature or object depicted in a piece of art into the real world. This object or creature now functions as if it were real and gains any abilities or properties attributed to it by the artwork.
Note that the quality of the artwork determines the effectiveness of whatever object or creature you manifested. Masterwork artwork produces something identical to it's real life subject, while lesser works will produce objects or creatures with only 50% the strength of real life versions of the subject, while crude works or doodles will produce something with only 25% strength as compared to real life versions.
Alter Perspective
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R: 1000' T: point in space D: [dice] minutes
Select a point in space within range. You create an invisible sensor within range. You can look through that sensor as if you were standing where it is placed. You may only observe, no other sense data is transmitted. Additionally, the sensor cannot move once placed.
Create Negative Space
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R: 30' T: area around creature or object D: [dice] rounds
One creature or object you target suddenly has space around them expand, creating more space between it and other objects around them. This space can be created in a radius centered on the target or in a line from the target to the closest non-target object. Once the duration ends, the extra space disappears as space returns to it's previous dimensions.
Focal Point
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R: 30' T: creature or object D: [dice] minutes
One creature or object within range is suddenly cloaked in an aura that draws attention toward it. When a creature can see, hear or otherwise perceive the existence of the target, he must save. On a failed save he will be compelled to go investigate what the thing is. How he interacts with it will depend on what the thing is- he will look at a painting, talk to a person, etc.
Creatures may receive penalties to their save if they have some further reason to investigate the target of the spell or they may receive bonuses to their save if the target isn't something very interesting by itself.
For example, if the target of the spell is a blank canvas and people are aware of this fact, they are much less likely to want to go look, so they get a bonus to their save. If, on the other hand, the thing is naturally interesting or exciting to look at, such as beautiful woman in a skimpy outfit or a Clown attempting to juggle hatchets, that will give creatures a penalty to their saves.
Imbue with Emotion
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R: touch T: object D: varies
One object you touch radiates a powerful emotion. When a creature sees that object, he must save. On a failed save, the creature is filled with that emotion. If cast with 3 or more [dice], you can imbue wild and uncontrolled emotions such as homicidal rage, crushing depression, ecstatic bliss.
If cast with 1 [dice], lasts for [dice] hours. If cast with 2 [dice], lasts for [dice] days. If cast with 3 [dice], lasts [dice] weeks. If cast with 4 or more [dice], lasts as long as the caster wishes or permanently.
Implied Lines
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R: 30' T: point in space D: [dice] minutes
You can create an invisible object up to 10*[dice]' long, 10*[dice]' wide and 10+[dice]' tall. The object has [sum] HP and lasts for the duration or until it is destroyed. When the duration ends, it disintegrates back into the ether.
Inspiration
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R: 30' T: creature D: one action
One creature within range has a sudden burst of inspiration relating to what they were thinking about. If this new idea is tried, the creature attempting it gets a +[dice] bonus to any rolls made to attempt it.
Take Memory
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R: self T: your visual field D: one action
You may perfectly capture a scene in your mind's eye and store it in your memory. You can then perfectly recreate this scene in any artistic medium of your choice. Created Memories are stored in your Mental Inventory/Memory Slots.
Vanishing Point
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R: 10' T: point in space D: [dice] minutes
Target a point in space or along a surface, such as a wall, ceiling or floor. From this point emerges an invisible sphere with a radius of 10*[dice]'. The caster can choose to make this sphere smaller if he wishes. Any creature that passes into this sphere seems to disappear from view in some sort of logically explainable way, such as they stepped behind something or disappeared over the horizon. If no logically explainable way can be visualized, they simply disappear. Creatures or objects that enter the sphere will remain unseen until the duration ends.
Color Out of Space
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R: touch T: surface D: 2[dice] rounds
By touching a surface, you can cause a new color to cover up to [dice]' square of the surface, or the entire surface. If cast with 3 or more [dice], you can cover either [sum]' square or divide the coverage among a number of objects that have a surface area of [sum] or less.
Choose one of the following Colors to manifest. These colors remain for the duration, after which they disappear from mortal perception once more.
- Obliva: A color that is darker than dark, beyond the pitchest of black. Obliva devours all light that touches it, creating a sucking hole in the viewer's field of view. Those who see it are filled with fear or are fascinated with it. Creatures who see it must save, on a failed save, they are scared of it and will try to destroy it or flee from it. Creatures that pass their save will move closer to try and investigate it.
- Paryl: Paryl hides from light. Anything the color of Paryl is invisible.
- Sub-Red: Sub-Red is the color of heat. Anything colored Sub-Red will absorb heat from any object it touches and grow hotter as a result, but will not melt, burn or be damaged by it.
- Superviolet: Superviolet is the color of magic. Anything colored Superviolet drains mana from whatever it touches, causing spell-casters wrapped in it to slowly lose their mana. Also, if an active spell is cast near someone wearing Superviolet, there is [dice]-in-6 chance it targets the Superviolet instead of the intended target.
- Chi: Chi is the color of Freedom. If a living creature is touching or covered by Chi, he can double any modifiers used to sneak, hide or escape.
- Nightshine: Nightshine is the color of Desecration. It is present when Outsiders tear their way into the world, when the Dead are Raised and when the Unnatural has occurred. Undead and Abberrations are colored this. These creatures leave faint trails of this color. Anything colored or covered in Nightshine will provoke fear and disgust in creatures not covered by it. Non-Nightshining creatures must save or react in a matter appropriate to the marked creature (in a ballroom, they will summon security to have you escorted out; in a dungeon, they will attack or run).
- Wispa: The color of souls and life. Anything covered in Wispa has advantage on any rolls made on the Death and Dismemberment table (rolling twice and taking the worse result) and they regain 150% more HP/FS from healing effects. Ex: If a spell makes you recover 4 HP, you recover 6 instead.
- Whashari: The color of change and Chaos. Any living creature that sees Washari must save or develop a mutation. Gazing at it for long periods of time can also affect one's mind and drive you insane.
Raise Dead Movement
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R: 100' T: up to [sum] creatures D: one action
Up to [sum] creatures within range must save. On a failed save, these creatures become infected with an Artistic Movement and it's associated ideals. They will immediately move to begin propagating this movement, only letting survival and imminent danger distract them from this. As in, they will still act to protect themselves, eat, sleep, etc.
If cast with 4 or more [dice], it can affect everyone within range, with the exception of up to [sum] creatures.
Select one of the following Artistic Movement to Raise:
- Dadaism: Those infected become nihilistic. The world drains of sense and reason. The infected will make nonsensical art and engage in activities with a heavy sense of ironic detachment, perpetuating nonsense while engaging in large amounts of hedonism and self-destructive behavior. When enough infected gather in one area, they create an aura of depression that makes those within doubt the meaning of life if you fail a save.
- Impressionism. The infected will develop powerful synthesia. They will taste sounds, hear colors and see smells. They will start licking, sniffing and otherwise engaging with conventional stimuli in unconventional and inappropriate ways. When enough infected gather in one area, this synthesia becomes infectious.
- Cubism: The infected cannot see the full forms of objects, to them, all objects break down into their component pieces. They will become disgusted with other creatures and seek to avoid dealing with them except to gratify desires or fulfil vital needs. When enough infected gather in one area, you will start to see other creatures as horrible piles of shapes.
- Surrealism: The infected begin to hallucinate. Clocks melt, birds walk on human legs, cats explode into children's toys. When enough infected gather in one place, they begin suffering collective hallucinations, so they all see the same thing, and these hallucinations have a chance of manifesting in reality. Ex: they all hallucinate clocks melting like gorgonzola cheese in the sun, so the clocks actually do.
- Classicism: The infected become obsessed with old styles of dress, manners, cuisine, social structures, etc. Expect them to ramble on about how good things were "Back in my Day", wear archaic clothes and possibly try to overthrow the current government to replace it with an older, long-dead regime. When enough infected gather, certain individuals will start to mimic the actions of long-dead historical figures. Ex: In America, a tall guy might start LARPing as George Washington and he does this so well that the others declare him to be Washington's Heir and try to get him elected (or something like that).
- Baroque: The infected begin acting in an elevated way, as if they were actors on a stage. They favor dramatic gestures, bold color choices and fabulous outfits. The more decoration, the better. When enough infected gather in one place, everything seems to gain another layer of detail.
- Symbolism: The infected become depressing, disillusioned people who don't like their current situation but have little idea of how to change it. They will engage in protests, civil disobedience and generally disengage from what they dislike most about their society. When enough infected gather, all creatures and objects will be represented in abstract forms based on collective perceptions.
- Modern: Exactly like Dadaism, but the infected instead create an aura of unbearable smugness, as they "get it", but you just aren't sophisticated enough to.
Turn to Art
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R: 30' T: creature D: one action
One creature within range must save. Creatures with HD equal to 3x or more than [dice] automatically pass their saves. Creatures with more HD than [dice] add the difference as a bonus to their saves. Creatures with less subtract the difference from their saves.
A creature that fails his save is transformed into a piece of art of your choice. For example: a painting, sculpture, mosaic, etc. Damage or edits done to the artwork reflect on the creature. The caster may transform the creature back as a free action. Alternatively, a casting of 'Dispel Magic' cast with equal or greater [dice] can restore a creature to normal.
Chaos and Corruption of the Wizard-Artist:
When you roll doubles, roll on the Chaos table. The spell still goes through. You receive 1d3 Doom Counters.
When you roll triples, roll on the Corruption table. The spell automatically fails. You also receive 1d4 Doom Counters.
At 10 Doom Counters, you invoke the Doom of Fools.
At 20 Doom Counters, you invoke the Doom of Kings.
At 30 Doom Counters, you invoke the Ultimate Doom.
Chaos of the Wizard-Artist:
1d6
1- One random item you have changes color. Roll for a random color. Includes weapons, clothes, bags, etc.
2- For the next 1d10 minutes, instead of footsteps your feet leave tiny drawings of 1d4 [1= Cats; 2= Birds; 3= Dogs; 4= Women] wherever you step.
3- One random work of art within 100' changes to become 1d6 [1= Crasser; 2= Lewder; 3= More approving of authority; 4= More anti-authoritarian; 5-6= Promotes something unsavory.] If there is no art within 100', affects the closest one.
4- For 1d10 minutes, you appearance "art style" changes. For the duration you look like 1d4 [1= A pencil drawing; 2= A cartoon character; 3= A charcoal sketch; 4= A Cubist monstrosity.] This does not affect your stats, only how you appear.
5- One random creature within 100' is struck by inspiration. This creature must save or immediately abandon whatever he is doing to create this work of art. The work takes 1d6 hours to make and is 1d6 [1= Awful; 2= Bad, but they're extremely proud of it; 3= Mediocre, but they've shown potential; 4= Well Done; 5= A Great Work; 6= A True Masterpiece.]
6- One random piece of art within 100' becomes sentient and gains the ability to communicate for 1d10 minutes. The art piece's personality is dependent on what it is. For example, a painting of a Holy Maiden will be virtuous and kind, while a painting of sinners being tormented in Hell will issue forth the screams of the damned and the cackle of demons.
Corruption of the Wizard-Artist:
1d6
1- All items you have change color. These are the most irritating, eye-gouging shades imaginable. Additionally, there is a 2-in-6 chance some of them will be Colors from beyond the Mortal Spectrum (see above). These changes are permanent, except for Colors from beyond, which fade after 1d10 minutes.
2- Within 100', all items lose their colors, becoming black and white. All their colors spill out as liquid and cover the ground around them, staining everything they touch and mixing with other colors.
3- All pieces of art within [dice]*10' change to depict 1d4 [1= Depraved sexual acts; 2= Horrible murders; 3= Blasphemies against God/the local Deity; 4= You doing something embarrassing.] If there is no art within range, affects the nearest piece of art.
4- One creature within 100' is inspired. That creature must save or abandon whatever he is currently doing to create this art. His art will take 1d10 hours to make and is done in the medium of 1dX [1= Manure; 2= The corpses of the dead; 3= Gold, silver and precious stones; 4= Ivory or bone.] The creature will become obsessed with his art and will not do anything but work on his art or do things that will advance his project. If prevented from doing so, the creature will resist using all possible means, up to and including violence.
5- The artist becomes trapped inside an invisible structure. This structure has [sum] HP and takes half damage from non-magical sources. It lasts for 1d10 minutes or until destroyed. When it hits 0 HP, it disappears.
6- You see yourself from an alternative perspective, as if your body were a character in a work. You see yourself from a 1d4 [1= Worm's Eye view; 2= Bird's Eye view; 3= Distant, wide view; 4= From the enemy's perspective.] This lasts for 1d10 minutes. You have disadvantage on anything requiring precision for the duration, unless you pass an appropriate check to get around the disadvantage imposed by your new perspective.
Dooms:
Doom of Fools- You are struck by a fit of wild inspiration. You immediately abandon whatever you are currently doing to begin work on this new project. You lose the ability to cast spells or work on other projects until it is finished. This project will take a minimum of 1d20+2 hours to complete. Whatever you created then comes to life. To see what you were inspired to create, roll on the table below. Once your work is finished, your powers return.
You were inspired to create...
1d4
1- A Creature. The creature you created becomes real. It has 1d8+2 HD, 1d6 AR, Attacks with a bonus of +1d4 and makes 1d4 attacks that do 1d3 (1= 1d6; 2= 1d8; 3= 1d10) damage. The creature is 1d4 (1= Bestial; 2= Self-Aware, but very stupid; 3= As smart as it's creator; 4= Far smarter than it's creator.) The creature has it's own agenda which it will pursue unerringly, though you might be able to reason with it.
2- A Building. Somewhere near you, a building will spontaneously appear in the closest village, town or city. The building is full of 1dX [1= Horrible monsters that rampage across the surrounding area; 2= Rare and potentially dangerous treasure (cursed, magically radioactive, etc); 3= A long lost historical/religious/political figure who will massively upset the status quo; 4= A powerful faction plucked from another part of the world, or potentially from another one. This faction is 1dX [1= A school of warriors; 2= A Wizard Academy; 3= A thieves' guild/crime syndicate; 4= A secret brotherhood of assassins; 5= A pack of religious zealots/cultists; 6= Roll twice- the first result is what it actually is, the second is what it appears to be.]
3- Tool or Weapon. A tool or weapon (50% of either) appears from the work near the creator. It is either a magical weapon or a tool that can do something spectacular, such as transform substances into others (lead into gold, stone into meat, etc). There is a 2-in-6 chance that this tool has some sort of horrible downside, such as a curse or terrible side-effect associated with it.
4- Scene. The artist painted a scene showing characters the players have met doing something unexpected. This scene is now guaranteed to occur in reality unless it is stopped, like a curse. The artist has created a scene depicting 1d3 [1= A marriage between two unlikely people the party knows; 2= An important/beloved NPC dying; 3= The party suffering some consequence for something they did, such as being cursed, chased out of town, attacked by strange creatures, etc.]
Doom of Kings- You are struck by a fit of divine inspiration. You immediately abandon whatever you are doing to begin work on this new project. You lose the ability to cast spells or work on other projects until it is finished. This project will take a minimum of 1d8 days to complete. You will neglect eating, sleeping or otherwise caring for yourself until it is done, unless someone is there to remind you and force you to do so. Whatever you created then comes to life. To see what you were inspired to create, roll on the table below.
You were inspired to create...
1d6
1- A Creature. The creature you created becomes real. It has 1d10+10 HD, 1d6 AR, Attacks with a bonus of +1d6 and makes 1d4 attacks that do 1d3 (1= 1d8; 2= 1d10; 3= 1d12) damage. The creature is as smart or smarter than it's creator. The creature has it's own agenda which it will pursue unerringly, though you might be able to reason with it.
2- A Portrait. You created a portrait of someone you knew. The portrait becomes real and begins trying to destroy the original to take their place. The portrait is mostly identical to the original subject, but as colored by the artist's perceptions. Someone the artist hated will appear more brutish, someone they loved will seem more beautiful, etc. The portrait has identical stats as the original subject.
3- A City. A city that previously did not exist appears out of nowhere near the artist. This city is 1d4 [1= Full of magic that functions according to different rules than in other places in the world; 2= Full of wickedness, greed and corruption; 3= Full of parties and laughter and music; 4= Full of monsters and never-before seen creatures.] The city's inhabitants are 1d3 [1= Basically normal people; 2= Insane; 3= Odd, working off their own bizarre form of logic.]
4- A Landform. Suddenly, the landscape changes as 1dX [1= A mountain; 2= A deep canyon; 3= A lake; 4= A vast forest; 5= A wide grassland; 6= An enormous waterfall] suddenly appears. The landscape shifts and changes to fit in this new feature in a coherent way. This one is likely to cause large amounts of unintentional destruction.
5- Tool or Weapon. A tool or weapon (50% of either) appears from the work near the creator. It is either a magical weapon or a tool that can do something spectacular, such as transform substances into others (lead into gold, stone into meat, etc). There is a 4-in-6 chance that this tool has some sort of horrible downside, such as a curse or terrible side-effect associated with it.
6- A Scene. he artist painted a scene showing characters the players have met doing something unexpected. This scene is now guaranteed to occur in reality unless it is stopped, like a curse. The artist has created a scene depicting 1d4 [1= One member of the party dying; 2= The party kneeling before one of their enemies; 3= A marriage between an unknown person and one of the party members; 4= A great disaster that the party is caught up in, such as a great fire, a flood, a powerful storm at sea or a large battle.]
Ultimate Doom- You are struck by a fit of diabolic inspiration. You immediately abandon everything to complete your magnum opus. You give everything to create this work, every ounce of strength, cup of blood, every drop of power and talent you have into own sublime and magnificent work. After it is completed, you vanish mysteriously and are never seen or heard from again.
You were inspired to create...
1d3
1- A Creature. The creature you created becomes real. This creature is a 1d4 [1= Great Hero, King or Redeemer; 2= Monstrous Villain, Thief or Destroyer; 3= A great force of natural change, oblivious and uncaring of mortal concerns; 4= Something from Outside the conceptions of all mortals, which defies all of our rules, starting with the natural laws.]
2- A Door. You created a door. This door leads to 1d4 [1= Another plane of existence; 2= A lost place in your world; 3= It leads not through space, but through time. It leads either to the past or future (50% of either); 4= The Painted Lands.]
3- A Scene. The artist painted a scene showing characters the players have met doing something unexpected. This scene is now guaranteed to occur in reality unless it is stopped, like a curse. The artist has created a scene depicting 1d3 [1= The entire party dying or dead; 2= One of their enemies triumphant in the worst possible way; 3= The end of the world. Maybe not 'The End' but still a catastrophe damaging enough to rewrite all the rules about how the world works.]
You can overcome this Doom by seeking out one of the Muses and proving your worth to them or creating a True Original Work, a piece of artwork inspired by something not from this world, or something that no mortal has seen in at least 1000 years.
