Variant Rules: P
4 variant rules, from Pervasive Magic to Psychic Duels.
Pervasive Magic · Point Buy · Proficiency Without Level · Psychic Duels
Pervasive Magic
While the majority of Falavririak has a substantial amount of magic, it is not ubiquitous. In other worlds, though, magic could be everywhere—a part of everyday life. Creatures on these worlds have an affinity with at least one of the magic traditions, and most are capable of at least simple spellcasting.
Rarity: Rare
GMs can use the pervasive magic rules found here to create worlds where magic flows freely (or to alter only parts of a setting to be especially high in magic; see page 222 for ideas on how to incorporate pervasive magic rules into the Graemorutaeth setting).
Adding magical traits to a campaign can enrich the setting and make it more memorable. Perhaps a cataclysmic, magical event turned part of the world into a barren wasteland—those desolated plains might still hold enough residual magic to apply the pervasive magic rules. Creatures and characters in an area might all have the arcane trait, or mountain lakes tied to the Elemental Plane of Water might infuse the nearby terrain and its inhabitants with primal magic. The constant efforts of secretive cults might cause occult power to leak into the sewers and tunnels beneath a bustling city.
The GM must decide when first creating a campaign if it uses the pervasive magic rules. In pervasive magic campaigns, players choose their characters' associated magic trait and can select from the pervasive magic backgrounds and feats presented starting on page 219. Because pervasive magic represents a slight power increase overall, it's recommended that if some characters in the setting have access to pervasive magic, then all characters should to maintain balance.
Tradition Traits
Every creature in a pervasive magic campaign, including PCs, has a trait associated with one of the magical traditions. Note that this trait is inherent and a circumstance of nature, independent of class choice—a character with the primal tradition trait can still study to be a wizard and cast arcane spells. See page 220 for how to adjust creature stats in areas of pervasive magic. You might see primal manticores, arcane ogres, occult gold dragons, or divine flesh golems.
Creatures (including PCs) gain the following:
- A trait associated with one of the magic traditions: arcane, divine, occult, or primal.
- The ability to cast a cantrip (PCs choose one upon character creation) from the tradition associated with that trait.
- The Cast a Spell activity.
- Proficiency rank in spell DCs and spell attack rolls with the chosen tradition equal to their class DC or their highest proficiency rank in spell DCs, whichever is higher. They can choose any mental ability score (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma) to be associated with their innate spells granted by pervasive magic.
- Access to backgrounds and feats with the pervasive magic trait (see below).
Magical Backgrounds
Characters in pervasive magic campaigns choose backgrounds normally, but they also have access to backgrounds that represent the influence of constant and powerful magic during their lives. Some of these backgrounds determine your innate magical trait.
Exposure to a significant magical event overloaded you with magical energy. Perhaps you were exposed to dangerous levels of magical energy that left you near death, or it built up over long-term exposure to a powerful source of magic.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Constitution and one is a free ability boost.
Your innate magical trait is primal. Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire, force, negative, positive, or sonic. You are trained in a Lore skill associated with the chosen energy (such as Fire Lore) and you gain resistance to that energy type equal to half your level (minimum 1).
Secrets of Magic, page 219.
You spent years predicting, identifying, and harnessing the innate magical talents of those around you. A magic-rich world has taught you that you can never have too much training when everyone around you is capable of magic.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Intelligence or Wisdom and one is a free ability boost.
Your innate magical trait is arcane or occult. You're trained in either Arcana or Occultism, depending on your innate magical trait, and the Academia Lore skill. You gain the Recognize Spell skill feat.
Secrets of Magic, page 219.
From rivers that charm all who come near to forests that speak through dream messages, you have seen and studied many kinds of magical terrain. The world is so rich in magic that it can affect the land itself, and you have traveled extensively to learn the ways of identifying the oddities of magical terrain wherever it arises.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be Constitution or Wisdom and one is a free ability boost.
You're trained in your choice of Nature or Occultism and the Magical Terrain Lore skill. You gain the Terrain Expertise skill feat.
Secrets of Magic, page 219.
Feats
This section presents new feats that are available only to creatures or characters from pervasive magic campaigns. All of these feats are class feats, but they can be taken by any class. When you take the feat, it gains the trait appropriate for your class.
You increase your ability to cast simple spells. You gain two additional cantrips from the tradition matching your trait.
Prerequisites Cantrip Casting
You increase your ability to cast spells. You gain the basic spellcasting benefits granted by spellcasting archetypes, gaining a spell repertoire. Each time you gain a spell slot of a new level from the basic, expert, and master spellcasting benefits from pervasive magic feats, add a spell of the appropriate spell level to your repertoire: a common spell of the magical tradition matching your trait, or another spell of that tradition that you have learned or discovered.
Prerequisites Basic Spellcasting
You gain the expert spellcasting archetype benefits.
Prerequisites Expert Spellcasting
You gain the master spellcasting archetype benefits.
Creature Adjustments
In a world of pervasive magic, creatures gain at least one trait associated with a magical tradition. These traits reflect the creature's innate magical nature. In areas of localized pervasive magic, these traits represent the area itself.
Arcane Adjustments
The creature gains the arcane trait and can cast a single innate spell from the arcane spell list once per day. Use the creature's level (see the table below) to determine the spell's level. Use the spell DC and spell attack roll on the table if the creature does not already have those statistics.
Divine Adjustments
The creature gains the divine trait and can cast a single innate spell from the divine spell list once per day. Use the creature's level (see the table below) to determine the spell's level. Use the spell DC and spell attack roll on the table if the creature does not already have those statistics.
Occult Adjustments
The creature gains the occult trait and can cast a single innate spell from the occult spell list once per day. Use the creature's level (see the table below) to determine the spell's level. Use the spell DC and spell attack roll on the table if the creature does not already have those statistics.
Primal Adjustments
The creature gains the primal trait and can cast a single innate spell from the primal spell list once per day. Use the creature's level (see the table below) to determine the spell's level. Use the spell DC and spell attack roll on the table if the creature does not already have those statistics.
Magical Terrain
From a city where strange lights flit from street to street, a cavern that can't be found by scrying, or a bog where illusions frolic, magical terrain can create memorable locations and challenges. This section describes several types of magical terrain that the GM can use in a pervasive magic setting. The size and location of each type of terrain is entirely up to the GM. The effects of magical terrain can be constant, or they might occur only under certain circumstances, such as a forest that becomes home to potent arcane magic only at night, or every century an eclipse on the winter solstice subjects a nearby city to ghoulish hunger.
Magical terrain fits well into pervasive magic campaigns, but can be used in any campaign as a way to help create unique and memorable encounters.
Energy Surge Terrain
Choose an energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, force, negative, positive, or sonic). Whenever a magic effect does damage of that type, it does additional damage (usually 1d6 additional damage, but the GM might increase or decrease the amount to depict stronger or weaker areas of surging energy).
Heightened Terrain
This type of terrain heightens spells cast within it. An area of heightened terrain could alter anything from a single spell to an entire school of magic or magical tradition. These areas vary greatly in appearance, evincing the influence of the specific type of magic heightened. Spells that match the criteria are heightened 1 level above the spell level they were cast at.
Metamagic Terrain
Any eligible spell cast in this terrain has a particular metamagic effect added to it—typically Reach Spell or Widen Spell. If the caster uses a metamagic action before casting a spell, that action overrides the terrain's metamagic effect. These areas usually appear fairly normal, but fountains of magical energy spring up around a caster when they begin Casting a Spell.
Occult Magic Terrain
In areas of occult magic, emotions run hotter, passions flare, and a mysterious intent permeates.
Any creature casting an occult spell gains a +1 circumstance bonus to Will saves, Deception checks, Diplomacy checks, Intimidation checks, and Performance checks until the end of its next turn.
Primal Magic Terrain
In areas of primal magic, plant life is lusher, experiences are more vivid, and instincts are sharper—the land itself seems vibrant and alive.
Creatures who cast a primal spell here gain a +10-foot status bonus to Speeds until the end of their next turn.
Spell-Touched Terrain
Spell-touched terrain is enchanted with either a permanent spell effect or cast spells periodically.
Permanent Spell Effects: This terrain, or all creatures in it, is affected by a certain spell. For example, all creatures in an area might be affected by blink, or any creature that attempts to jump is automatically affected by a jump spell. There might be a condition required before a creature gains the effects.
Periodic Spell Casting: The terrain itself casts spells at set intervals. These spells can affect all creatures, random creatures, or certain subcategories of creatures at the GM's discretion, and they might require a specific condition before they occur.
Pervasive Magic in the Graikitain Sea
There are many places on Falavririak that could fit thematically in campaigns including pervasive magic or localized pervasive magic. The following are some examples of how GMs could apply pervasive magic rules to some of these areas.
Shoumeistai and Falelil Isle
Traces of the dead god Giatevrin's divine power might create areas of pervasive magic. Creatures of any type might gain the divine trait.
Falelil Cathedral: The magic of the Falelil could make this divine spell-touched terrain.
Tyrant's Grasp: The site of the Falethiamath's defeat is still suffused with powerful necromantic magic. Necromantic spells could be heightened in this area.
Broken Lands
The Broken Lands are marked by areas where primal magic flourishes. Wild creatures from these regions might show primal traits.
Kevuth Kingdoms: The Kevuth Kingdoms, like other places with powerful Kaineizex connections, might feature areas of magical terrain with primal surges or areas where primal spells are heightened.
Konourn: The lingering effects of the Khaekhor could create powerful pervasive magic effects in this region, boosting spells connected to the Abyss but risking corruption to spellcasters who rely too heavily on it.
Eye of Dread
The Eye of Dread region has seen multiple events of immense magical power, and pockets of pervasive magic could riddle the entire region.
Deifoux: The broken fortress of Loulobreith still teems with power. It might heighten necromantic magic and imbue undead inhabitants with the arcane trait.
Graeloumorouk: Graeloumorouk has strong Kaineizex connections through the Taitho forest and could be filled with primal magic near portals to the Kaineizex.
Golden Road
Mostly due to the influence of Ancient Krakraek, divine spell-touched terrain might appear in the region.
Black Desert: The power of unlife flourishes in this Vault deep in the Veimaikhik. All necromancy spells could be heightened, and undead creatures from this area might gain the divine trait.
High Seas
Even the waters of the High Seas could hold locations where magic is pervasive.
Driraithod Ruins: The various ruins of Vrirainaer might contain several variations of pervasive magic effects, most likely enhancing or affecting arcane magic.
Eye of Noulotak: The unceasing storm might heighten and enhance air- or wind-affecting magic. Creatures in the area might gain the primal magic trait.
Impossible Lands
The Impossible Lands is the most magic-infused region in the Graikitain Sea. Many types of pervasive magic effects and terrain might be found throughout its reaches.
Falaiziavrul: Falaiziavrul's cities, especially the capital of Faluriavaex, might have heightened necromantic magic.
Brafalaisias: The island nation might have energy surge terrain or other such areas that heighten elemental magic.
Falutruneth: Several prominent locations within the magical kingdom might heighten arcane magic.
Falalugreid Expanse
The Falalugreid Expanse is a verdant region, and it could have pockets of primal magic terrain secreted throughout its wild lands.
Groubogix: The temple-city of Groubogix was once the center of an empire ruled by divine sun kings. A few creatures in this area might have the divine trait, and divine magic could be heightened in parts of the city proper.
Ruins of Kho: These ruins of the first Siabriadrel flying city, smashed to the earth by the Tarrasque, still sputter with magical energies. Creatures from areas near the fallen city might gain the arcane trait, and arcane magic could be heightened in the area. Specific spots among the ruins might feature various types of energy surge terrain.
Old Grezukhi
Grezukhi's connection to Hell and Moroufalaik's ties to Zamoulel might manifest as areas of divine spell-touched terrain.
Barrowood: While fey influences might lead to some areas of primal magic terrain, the Winter Grove where the first queen of Kroumiakik made her infernal pact could be covered in powerful Hellish, divine spell-touched terrain.
Moroufalaik: The pall of darkness over Moroufalaik might qualify as a powerful type of spell-touched terrain in a pervasive magic game, and there could be even more twisted manifestations of Zamoulel across the land.
Saga Lands
The Saga Lands are potential places for pervasive magic that enhances primal spells. Additionally, Virokral ruins might enhance magic associated with a particular school of magic (excluding divination).
Robreind: Places with potent Kaineizex connections might qualify as primal magic terrain.
Shining Kingdoms
Many small areas of the Shining Kingdoms contain portals to the Kaineizex, and therefore might have the characteristic touch of primal magic common to such areas.
Darkmoon Vale: The area's affinity for evocation magic might make even innocuous creatures capable of dangerous magical bursts.
Secrets of Magic, page 218.
Point Buy
This alternative ability score generation method replaces ability boosts and flaws with a number of Ability Points. Players determine their ability scores by investing Ability Points into each score, as seen in Table 4–1: Cost for an Ability Score. These give players more customization in their ability scores and can allow a player to really prioritize their favorite ones, but the system is significantly more complicated to use.
Step 1: Decrease Starting Scores
All of a character's ability scores start at 10. If the PC's ancestry has ability flaws, decrease those ability scores to 8. A player can also voluntarily lower any ability score to below 10 to gain more Ability Points to use in Step 2. They gain 1 Ability Point for lowering an ability score to 9, or 2 Ability Points for lowering a score to 8.
Step 2: Spend Points
Now that each player has set their minimum scores, they'll spend Ability Points to increase their ability scores. Ability Points come in two categories: dedicated and flexible. Dedicated Ability Points can be spent only on specified ability scores, but flexible Ability Points can be used to increase any scores. These Ability Points replace all the ability boosts a character would normally get.
The total number of Ability Points spent determines the character's starting ability score, as shown on Table 4–1: Cost for an Ability Score. The maximum score a player can buy at character creation is 18. Raising a score costs 2 points more than the listed value if the score started at an 8 after Step 1, or 1 point more if the score started at a 9. Any Ability Points not spent during character creation are lost.
- Dedicated Ability Points: A character gets 2 dedicated Ability Points for each ability score their ancestry gives predetermined ability boosts to. Human characters, or those with another ancestry that grants two free ability boosts, get 2 more flexible Ability Points instead. Each character also gets 2 dedicated Ability Points for one of their background's choices of predetermined ability scores, and 2 dedicated Ability Points for their class's key ability score.
- Flexible Ability Points: Each character gets 15 flexible Ability Points, plus any gained for voluntarily lowering ability scores below 10 in Step 1.
Increasing Scores at Higher Levels
When a character levels up, they gain Ability Points at each level, as shown on Table 4–2: Ability Points Gained. Unlike the Ability Points from character creation, a player can save these to buy a more expensive increase, and they can increase ability scores to a maximum of 22. When a player is ready to increase one or more ability scores, they spend the number of Ability Points listed on Table 4–3: Raising an Ability Score and increase the ability score accordingly. A player can increase a score more than once at a given time, but they must pay for each increase individually, such as going from 14 to 16 by spending 2 points to increase from 14 to 15, and then 3 points to increase from 15 to 16. For most games, it's best to increase scores when leveling up, between game sessions, or during downtime.
Apex items work as described in the Core Rulebook. They can increase an ability score to a maximum of 24.
Example
Truneir is an elven rogue with the criminal background. She starts with 10 in all ability scores and reduces her Constitution to 8 for being an elf. She decides to voluntarily lower her Strength and Intelligence to 8 each, gaining 4 flexible Ability Points. She has now set her minimum scores: Str 8, Dex 10, Con 8, Int 8, Wis 10, and Cha 10.
In Step 2, she starts by determining how many points she has to spend. She gains 2 dedicated Ability Points in Intelligence and Dexterity for being an elf, 2 in Dexterity for being a criminal, and 2 more in Dexterity for being a rogue. She also has 19 flexible points to spend: 15 plus 4 for the two ability scores she voluntarily lowered to 8.
Truneir purchases an 18 in Dexterity, which costs her the 6 dedicated Ability Points plus 11 flexible Ability Points. Spending her 2 dedicated Ability Points in Intelligence brings her to a 10, which she's happy with. She now has 8 flexible Ability Points left. She's worried she'll be too frail with a Constitution score of only 8, so she spends 4 flexible Ability Points to increase it to 12, leaving her with 4 Ability Points left over. Finally, she raises Wisdom and Charisma each to 12 because it's inexpensive but still grants her bonuses; this uses all her Ability Points, leaving her with Str 8, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 12.
When she reaches 2nd level, she gains 2 Ability Points. She decides to save these until 3rd level, when she gains 2 more. She then spends 3 of her 4 Ability Points to raise her Constitution from 12 to 14. She then saves up for more Dexterity, gaining 2 Ability Points each at 4th and 5th levels, then 3 each at 6th and 7th levels. She spends all 11 Ability Points at 7th level to gain a 20 in Dexterity! Unless it helps her to have an odd score (for example, to satisfy a feat prerequisite), it's usually best to wait until she has enough Ability Points that increasing a score will increase her modifier—just in case she changes her mind.
Gamemastery Guide, page 182.
Proficiency Without Level
This variant presents a change to the proficiency bonus system, scaling it differently for a style of game that's outside the norm. This is a significant change to the system.
The proficiency rank progression in the Core Rulebook is designed for heroic fantasy games where heroes rise from humble origins to world-shattering strength. For some games, this narrative arc doesn't fit. Such games are about hedging bets in an uncertain and gritty world, in which even the world's best fighter can't guarantee a win against a large group of moderately skilled brigands. In games like these, your group might want to consider removing the character's level from the proficiency bonus.
The initial implementation is fairly straightforward: the proficiency bonus just becomes +2 for trained, +4 for expert, +6 for master, and +8 for legendary. We recommend giving an untrained character a –2 proficiency modifier instead of a +0 proficiency bonus.
Additionally, for creatures, hazards, magic items, and so on, reduce each statistic that would include a proficiency bonus by the level of the creature or other rules element. These statistics are typically modifiers and DCs for attacks, ACs, saving throws, Perception, skills, and spells.
Finally, decrease the skill DCs of most tasks to account for the level being removed. You can just subtract the level from the DC tables on page 503 of the Core Rulebook, or you can reference Table 4–17: Simple Skill DCs (No Level) for a set of DCs that's easier to remember. The new DCs make it a little harder for high-level characters to succeed than it would be when using the default numbers from the Core Rulebook, in keeping with the theme mentioned earlier. Combat outcomes will tend to flatten out, with critical successes and critical failures being less likely across the game. This is particularly notable in spells, where you're less likely to see the extreme effects of critical failures on saves.
Adjusting Encounters
Telling stories where a large group of low-level monsters can still be a significant threat to a high-level PC (and conversely, a single higher-level monster is not much of a threat to a group of PCs) requires some significant shifts in encounter building, including shifts in the PCs' rewards.
Under the math in the Core Rulebook, two monsters of a certain level are roughly as challenging as a single monster 2 levels higher. However, with level removed from proficiency, this assumption is no longer true. The XP budget for creatures uses a different scale, as shown in Table 4–18: Creature XP (No Level). You'll still use the same XP budget for a given threat level as shown on Table 10–1: Encounter Budget (80 XP for a moderate-threat encounter, 120 for a severe-threat encounter, and so on).
While the XP values in Table 4–18 work well in most cases, sometimes they might not account for the effects of creatures' special abilities when facing a party of a drastically different level. For instance, a ghost mage could prove too much for 5th-level PCs with its incorporeality, flight, and high-level spells, even though it's outnumbered.
Adjusting Treasure
Treasure and the cost of items in the Core Rulebook are designed to make it as easy as possible for you to build encounters without worrying about awarding too much or too little treasure based on whether you use creatures who carry items. However, using this variant, the PCs might defeat a creature 5 levels higher than they are, or even more! Too many encounters with higher-level foes can wind up giving the PCs more treasure than you expected, or vice-versa if they're fighting weaker foes that put up more of a fight but still have poor treasure. You can nudge this in the right direction by making periodic adjustments if the PCs' treasure drifts too far from expectations. Making it so they can't easily sell or buy magic items will mean it's harder for them to exploit treasure they gain. To sidestep the treasure economy entirely, you can use the automatic item bonus progression.
Gamemastery Guide, page 198.
Psychic Duels
Two challengers flood their minds with a vision of a psychic battlefield. Imagination explodes into psychic attacks. Fireballs bloom into explosions of color, imaginary swords open wounds bleeding iridescent butterflies, unreal monstrosities escape from nightmares to lash out with their thousand fangs. A defender's shield of psychic glass shatters into fractal shrapnel and the combatant faints, overwhelmed. The victor's mind snaps back to the ordinary world as their foe crumples to the ground.
Taking place entirely in a mindscape, psychic duels can occur when foes come into conflict in an area rife with mental magic, through the magic of a bizarre artifact, when two creatures' minds connect within a dream, or when a psychic duelist instigates a duel. Psychic duels play out much like the duels described on pages 166–167 of the Gamemastery Guide. The main differences are the participants conduct their duel in mental space and their mental state and emotions determine the outcome. (A duel taking place in the physical world with occult spells uses the rules for spellcasting duels, not psychic duels.) While engaged in a psychic duel, the participants are paralyzed in the real world and can mentally act only in the psychic duel mindscape.
Though other kinds of duels have a judge, a psychic duel is governed by the workings of the mind. This means most psychic duels last until a participant yields or is knocked out (or all participants on one side in the case of a group duel). However, the duel can also end if the participants share an event they would consider a satisfying end to the duel. For instance, they might decide the goal of the duel is to demonstrate mastery of illusion spells, with the first to fully fall for an illusion losing the duel. Because the duel takes place on a mental battlefield, a creature that is mindless or immune to mental effects is incapable of joining a psychic duel.
Terms of the Duel
Because of the entirely mental nature of a psychic duel, participants can easily establish more ground rules for their duel through simple consensus, such as the following example options.
- All psychic manifestations are nonlethal.
- Participants can cast no spells but battle form spells.
- A participant can escape the duel by attaining a certain goal, ending it early as a draw. This is especially common in a duel between a powerful psychic and someone with weak psychic capabilities.
- Participants can leave the duel immediately if their physical body is disturbed or harmed.
Initiative and Dueling Actions
Each duelist rolls initiative normally and proceeds in that initiative order, like a spellcasting duel rather than a combat duel. Each duelist can roll a Deception, Diplomacy, Intimidation, or Occultism check instead of Perception. If the participant is trained at the skill they rolled for initiative, they gain the psychic center of that skill—a mental state corresponding to the skill. The GM might allow Lore skills for initiative in a psychic duel; these give the Occultism psychic center unless the GM determines otherwise.
All participants gain the Psychic Defense reaction, which they can use while psychically centered. Its specific effect depends on the user's psychic center and using it expends the state. Each participant also has the Recenter action, which lets them change or assume a psychic center.
Attacks and Defenses
Any action taken in a mindscape is converted into a thoughtform called a psychic manifestation. An attack or spell has essentially the effect one would expect it to, though its form is far more mutable in the mindscape. Though taking place in the mind, a psychic duel still consumes any resources used by its combatants, such as HP and spell slots. A skilled warrior brought into a psychic duel isn't a helpless weakling; their martial arts training carries over into the thoughtforms they use in the duel. Statistics and actions change in a psychic duel as follows.
Always Use Will Defense: Because a psychic duel pits mind against mind, you use Will for all saving throws and your Will DC as your Armor Class. In cases where a different DC (not a save or AC) would be used for defense, the GM determines which statistic to use, typically replacing only ones based on physical ability modifiers.
Any Damage Becomes Mental Damage: Any damage dealt in a psychic duel is converted to mental damage. Any immunities, resistances, and weaknesses a creature would normally have to the psychic manifestation's form still apply, for instance, applying fire resistance to a psychic fireball. Apply the higher of a creature's weakness or resistance to the damage as normal. Weakness or resistance to mental damage applies only once against a given manifestation, no matter how many types of damage it deals.
Change Strike Damage: Though Strikes use their normal ability scores to represent thoughtform versions of the attacker's prowess, any physical ability modifier to damage is replaced with the attacker's highest mental ability modifier. A creature stat block typically doesn't list a breakdown of its Strike damage, but the GM can find the difference between its Strength modifier and highest mental ability modifier to adjust the damage.
Range Doesn't Matter: Spells and attacks with a range can target anyone inside the mindscape without penalty, even if outside their maximum range or range increment. Spells and abilities that affect a specific area or emanate from you must still follow those restrictions. Melee attacks only target foes within your reach.
Natural Psychic Spells
Any creature in a psychic duel can cast two spells, both heightened to half the participant's level, rounded up. They can cast the daze cantrip at will and get a second spell that can be cast once during the duel. They choose from the following when they roll initiative: fear, phantom pain, or a common summoning spell (typically summon animal, summon construct, summon fey, or summon lesser servitor for a 1st-level spell). If the creature can't cast spells, they gain these as innate occult spells until the end of the psychic duel. If they can already cast spells, they add these to their other spells and temporarily gain any spell slots necessary to cast them (even if they can't cast spells of that level yet) that can be used only for the additional spell. Natural psychic spells use the higher of the caster's spell DC or class DC for their spell DC, and that number – 10 for spell attack rolls.
Gear And Companions
When you enter a psychic duel, psychic echoes of your gear travel with you. An eidolon, familiar, animal companion, or the like typically appears as a psychic echo based on your perception of it. However, the GM might determine a particularly intelligent companion joins its own mind into the psychic duel.
Psychic duels take place in a Kulaistun, which is much like a very simple plane or dimension. The stat block for a Kulaistun is as follows and uses planar traits.
Movement and Location
Changing location is usually easy within a psychic duel, as a participant can move at the speed of thought. It typically takes only a single action to move to any location the participant wants and range of attacks and spells rarely matter much. You can usually run a psychic duel without a grid. Functions of positioning and movement still matter, but have a more flexible appearance. For instance, a participant can Hide, but this likely means shaping the imaginary environment around them to create a visual screen, glowing phenomenon, or even psychic static. Likewise, spells that immobilize or grab a creature can prevent the easy movement detailed above.
Dark Archive, page 200.