Category:Biomancy

Biomancy is fleshcrafting. The body is treated as a malleable substance both in terms of its anatomy and its physiology. A work of biomancy is not comparable to a prince turned into a frog with a bale polymorph spell or even a curse. Biomancy is not limited to creating small creatures of the animal type. And its results are usually irreversible, at least in the absence of further biomancy. A dispel magic spell will not help a prince fleshcrafted into a sentient doormat.

Biomancy engages in the redesign of the body by means that may, in some cases, overlap superficially with the tradition of real-world science but that are ultimately and fundamentally alien to it. Biomancy can be a work of magic or of psionics, typically, in combination with a creation feat or can be a manifestation of supernatural abilities granted by the Dark Powers. Fleshcrafting through the use of real-world science, such as breeding or genetic engineering, is bio-engineering, not biomancy. Fleshcrafting through the use of real-world science that stretches or exceeds the limits of that science with the assistance of the Dark Powers is still bio-engineering. Dr. Victor Mordenheim and Dr. Frantisek Markov are creatures of the tradition of real-world science and are bio-engineers, not biomancers.

The Illithid of Bluetspur are the premier biomancers of the Land of Mists. Their creations include the Shattered Brethren, the Illithid Vampire, the Thrall Clasp, and Marcu Vasilis. Lyssa von Zarovich contributed, presumably as a necrologist, to the Illithid Vampire and so most probably has acquired at least a familiarity with the principles of biomancy. Easan the Mad is a gifted an enthusiastic biomancer. Yagno Petrovna is a prolific biomancer, although it is doubtful that he recognises himself as such and it is probable that his narrowly focused work, steeped in his religion, and of which he alone is capable, has contributed little to the field of biomancy, aside from scores of mongrelmen. Isolde is a biomancer, a "gift", after a fashion, of the Dark Powers that functions in terms of her ability to loosen with precision her hold over the Twisting. Silessa proved to be a beneficiary of this gift.

Two feats for magic-based biomancy are provided in Appendix I of the Nocturnal Sea Gazetteer p. 243: Create Magical Beast and Create Aberration. Their terms stipulate that for "pure hubris and perversion" the biomancer courts the attention of the Dark Powers.