Welcome back to Midgard Ley Magic, a blog series dedicated to the mysterious lives of geomancers and other ley magic spellcasters. If you haven’t had a chance to read prior entries in the series, you can find them here. This month we discuss ramag Ley Wardens and some of the ley magic abilities, items, and spells they rely on to fulfill their magical duties.

Ramag Ley Wardens

The Ramag tribe from the Southlands was once allied with Glorious Umbuso, the mighty titan empire, and its people used their great aptitude for manipulating ley lines to construct the vast magical web that helped build great wonders. Though they were once human, centuries of exposure to the primal magic emanating from their ley-infused monoliths have transformed and warped them. (For more information on the ramag, see the Abandoned Lands chapter of the Southlands Campaign Setting. A ramag character option for 5th Edition appears in the Unlikely Heroes supplement.)

The ramag maintain an order called the Ley Wardens, many of which are geomancers. They seek out ley lines that become corrupted or “stuck.” These looping, diverted, or congested ley lines can trigger severe primal magic and in turn disrupt the countryside. About 500 ramag travel throughout the Southlands and beyond, seeking eldritch sites with malfunctioning ley lines and performing exacting incantations and related ceremonies that free the ley lines, preventing their unstable energies from overwhelming the landscape or causing unnatural catastrophes.

The Ley Wardens developed many secret ley magic items and spells to help them in their duties, a few of which are featured below.

Ley Line Burnout

Ley lines burn out if overtaxed. When a ley magic spellcaster suffers a backlash after failing their ability check to draw on the power of a ley line, the GM can roll a d20. On a roll equal to or lower than the spellcaster’s result for their ability check, that ley line is burned out for 1d4 days per strength of the ley line: 1d4 for weak, 2d4 for strong, 3d4 for titanic. When this happens, any spell being cast by a spellcaster drawing on the ley line fails, that spell slot is expended without effect, and the caster suffers a backlash effect. Casting ley restoration remedies ley line burnout.

New Ley Magic Feat

While rigorous study is required for any ramag who wishes to join the Ley Wardens, certain individuals possess a natural affinity for manipulating ley lines, making them ideal candidates for the order. Instances of ley sensitive individuals have also appeared among members of other races in Midgard.

The new feat below is an additional character option that extends the list of available ley magic feats featured in the Midgard Heroes Handbook (that is, Ley Initiate and Ley-Bound).

Ley Sensitive

Prerequisite: The ability to tap a ley line to augment your magic (that of a geomancer or ley initiate).

You have a natural aptitude to draw on the power of ley lines. You gain the following benefits:

• Increase your Intelligence or Wisdom score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
• You can add 2 to your spellcasting ability check when tapping a ley line’s power to augment your magic.
• You can tap a nearby ley line from 10 feet farther than the baseline 30 feet.
• You can extend the range and ley line proximity requirements of ley line spells by 10 feet.

New Ley Magic Item

The Ley Wardens must travel vast distances as they seek out corrupted ley lines. When strong or titanic ley lines call for restoration, the Ley Wardens often must enlist the help of other geomancers to perform their reparation rituals. Given that few members of the order are accomplished enough to master teleportation spells, others are rewarded with special amulets capable of opening ley-infused travel portals.

Ramag Ley Portal Amulet

Wondrous Item, rare (1 gem), very rare (2 gems), or legendary (4 gems) (requires attunement by a ley magic spellcaster)

This bronze amulet of elegant ramag craftsmanship features one or more citrine gems embedded in its design. The number of gems is determined by the amulet’s rarity. A single gem can be charged by an attuned ley magic spellcaster when spending a long rest within 30 feet of a ley line. No two gems on a single amulet can be charged from the same ley line.

While wearing this amulet, you can use an action to expend the ley energy infused in a charged gem and open a portal for 1 round. For the duration, any creature can step into the portal by using 5 feet of movement and instantly appear within 5 feet of the location where the gem was originally charged or in the nearest unoccupied space if that space is occupied.

New Ley Line Spells

Much magic has been developed to interact with ley lines.

Ley Restoration

4th-level transmutation (ritual, ley line) (druid, sorcerer, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (two citrine gems each worth at least 50 gp, which the spell consumes, and a black pearl worth at least 500 gp)
Duration: 1 day

You perform an intense eldritch ceremony, acting as a channeling anchor to restore order in a ley line that you can see within range. You must be in contact with the ground to perform this ritual. Upon completion of the incantation, a looping, diverted, congested, or burned out ley line is repaired of any malfunction. Though the current negative effects are removed permanently, nothing prevents a ley line from becoming corrupted again in the future.

Regardless of its original state, a restored ley line becomes easier to tap by any ley magic spellcaster for a duration of 1 day following the end of the ritual. Spellcasting ability checks made to tap the line are rolled with advantage. When rolling for effect, you can roll twice on the associated ley line effects table and choose which of the two results to apply to your spell.

A single caster can restore a weak ley line. Two casters are required to restore a strong ley line. Four casters are required to restore a titanic ley line or shadow road. Each caster must know the spell and have it prepared or scribed in their spellbook. Each caster must also possess the required material spell components. The black pearl is not consumed with the casting and can be reused.

Line Extension

1st-level evocation (ley line) (druid, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a small magnet)
Duration: 1 round

You draw upon the distant energies of a bound ley line and target another spellcaster within range that you can see, creating a temporary ley line connection between you and the target. If the target is located within 30 feet of a nearby ley line, you create a connection to this ley line instead, using the target as a magical relay (a technique geomancers commonly call a “re-ley”). The target spellcaster must be a druid, sorcerer, warlock, or wizard. Unwilling spellcasters targeted by this spell can make a Wisdom saving throw to resist the connection. A successful save prevents the creation of the connnection and the spell has no effect.

If you are not bound to a ley line or there is no ley line within range, the spell has no effect. If the target spellcaster is a geomancer or a spellcaster with the Ley Initiate feat, the relay spellcaster can be used to extend a connection to a ley line located up to 60 feet from the target. The new ley line moves with you and the target, but if you move out of range of the target or the target moves out of range of the ley line, the connection breaks and the spell ends.

The connection or extension created by this spell acts as a temporary weak ley line and remains active until the end of your next turn. It can be tapped by a geomancer or ley initiate or used as a nearby ley line for other spells and effects dependent on the presence of ley lines within range. When tapping the temporary ley line to enhance spells, rolls on a higher effect tier table (strong or titanic) are not allowed. A geomancer cannot bind to this temporary ley line nor can they lock it. This temporary ley line cannot be used for any ability that requires a nearby ley line at the end of a short or long rest. This temporary ley line’s intensity cannot be increased using amplify ley field.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the range to the target caster is extended by 10 feet, and the duration of the temporary ley line is extended by 1 round for each slot level above 1st.

Player Feedback

Have you played a geomancer by now? Do you have any questions about ley lines? What fun events have emerged from the use of ley lines in your campaigns? How are the new ley line spells working out in your adventures? Leave your feedback below and come back for the next installment in this series.

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