Topic: Animist "Animal Mastery" base list question

[dutch206]

Why does the Animist base list "Animal Mastery" allow absolution at level 30?  That spell has absolutely no relationship to any other spell on the list.

How about replacing it with a spell that turns the target into a small harmless animal or a tree?

[Ecthelion]

What the author's intentions were I cannot say. It might be that the Animist was also supposed to get a powerful attack spell at very high level. But your idea sounds interesting. The smallest change would perhaps be to keep all the existing spell parameters and only alter the effect of the spell to be that the target gets turned into a small harmless animal (fits Animal Mastery best IMHO) for the duration instead of losing his soul.

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

No idea why it is there. It was part of the spell list way back in RM2 (i.e. prior to 1995, prior to 1990 even).

[Michael Petrea]

To represent the ultimate domination over an animal via the taking of its soul?

Just guessing here.

If so, I think it might be better represented as an "Animal Withering" that turns the target animal into a wasted vessel (reduce all stats to 1?) for the requisite duration.

[markc]

 Are not humans animal also? I think that was the intent.  So the Animist gets the power at X levels above normal clerics but they can do the same sorts of things.

MDC