By Scott Moore

In this installment of Leylines, we're going to take a look at the column's namesake.

Ley lines, like latitude and longitude, are invisible lines that stretch for great distances across the planet. Unlike latitude and longitude, however, ley lines are not arbitrary designations used to specify one's relative location on the planet's surface. They are, instead, alleged to form patterns that follow specific paths aligned with the flow of natural energies within the planet. It is not unknown for ley lines to merge together at certain points or even to cross or overlap. What follows are some suggestions for introducing the effects of these natural energy "currents" into a campaign.

Natural Energy Sources
The first step in developing ley lines for use in your campaign setting is to select what type(s) of energy or substance they indicate. The following suggestions are by no means meant to be exclusive; feel free to employ any source that would be appropriate within the scope of your campaign world.

Alignment (Chaos, Evil, Good, Law) - These types of ley lines follow an energy current of a certain alignment aspect. Characters who spend a month traveling directly along the path of one of these types of ley lines may find their alignment (temporarily) shifted one aspect closer to that of the ley line (a chaotic good character traveling a lawful ley line, for example, may tend to behave more like neutral good after a month of travel along it). Domain spells cast along these lines are at a total bonus of +2 to the caster level if they match the appropriate alignment aspect or at -2 if they are of the opposing domain. Other possible items of interest that may lie along such ley lines include:
- A string of several small-scale ruined and abandoned settlements (chaos).
- Safe, bandit- and monster-free trade routes (good).
- The stronghold of a necromancer and the lairs of several allied monster hordes (evil).
- Several old cemeteries rumored to be the home to various types of undead (evil).
- Several well organized, highly populated urban centers, with a level of technology higher than what is available in most other areas (law).

Arcane - This type of ley line follows currents of the magical energy that powers sorcerers, wizards, and other arcane spellcasters. An arcane spellcaster who spends at least half a day traveling along or camped near an arcane ley line may experience any one of the following temporary effects:
- +1 bonus to caster level on all arcane spells (or, alternately, a particular school or subschool of spells) cast in the region.
- -1 penalty to caster level on all arcane spells (or, alternately, a particular school or subschool of spells) cast in the region.
- +1d4 circumstance bonus to Spellcraft checks relating to arcane effects.
- Wild surges (random magical events) when casting arcane spells.
These adjustments may vary (or stack) depending on the amount of time a character spends near the ley line.

Divine - This represents the natural flow of magical energy through a world, which powers the spellcasting ability of druids, rangers, and several other divine spellcasters. A nature-based divine spellcaster who spends at least half a day traveling along or camped near a divine ley line may experience any one of the following temporary effects:
- +1 bonus to caster level on all divine spells (or, alternately, nature domain spells) cast in the region.
- -1 penalty to caster level on all divine spells (or, alternately, nature domain spells) cast in the region.
- +1d4 bonus to a druid's or ranger's Wild Empathy ability.
- +1 bonus to Intuit Direction, Knowledge (nature), Navigate, Survival, and/or Wilderness Lore skill checks (depending on which d20 game system you are using).
These adjustments may vary (or stack) depending on the amount of time a character spends near the ley line.

Faults - These types of ley lines follow the natural geological cracks and separations in the continental plates. In addition to being plagued by earthquakes and volcanoes, these regions are also frequently dotted with many natural caverns that can lead to deep subterranean civilizations of monster races, long forgotten buried ruins (possibly swallowed by past earthquake activity), or a combination of the two.

Magnetism - Magnetic ley lines follow the natural magnetic lines of force that surround the planet. Frequently, large deposits of magnetic metal ore (cobalt, iron, or nickel) may cause the ley lines to "bend" towards the location of the deposit. Those extremely attuned to the behavior of ley lines can sometimes even predict which particular ore may be present. As a result, many underground dwelling races, including dwarves, frequently employ dowsers or those naturally attuned to ley lines in order to select potentially lucrative locations for mining operations.

Otherworldly - Otherworldly ley lines are the result of extraterrestrial objects raining down on and colliding with the planet. They may be the result of anything from a vein of buried adamantine left in the wake of a crumbling meteorite to the remaining background radiation left behind from the disintegrating engines of a starship which crashed into the planet ages ago.

Special Materials - Besides magnetic metals, ley lines may also be found running parallel to deposits of metals with special properties, such as silver or mithral. Ley lines may also tend to converge at a point where a magical relic or artifact of great power has remained buried for a significantly long period.

Water - Certain ley lines can denote the route of underground rivers, making it easy for those attuned to them to find clean, fresh ground water when they need to. Such underground rivers may be quite large in size, allowing aquatic creatures (such as nixies) to use them to travel great distances underground.

Discovering Ley Lines
There are several methods for learning of the presence of an existing ley line:
1) Research - In your campaign world, characters may find a variety of obscure books or scrolls on the subject of ley lines, some including maps indicating the location of previously discovered ley lines. In campaigns where the existence of ley lines is not generally known or accepted, some of the more esoteric texts on the subject may well have repercussions on the Sanity of those taking the time to study them (see Unearthed Arcana, chapter 6, for Sanity rules). Also, topographical maps, if available in your campaign era, can reveal patterns in the location of certain geographical features, which may in turn indicate the presence of a ley line along the path connecting them. In campaigns without access to such conveniences, field surveys conducted from high points within a region may reveal an alignment of certain features on the landscape.
2) Dowsing - Dowsing is the practice of using magical knowledge and a specialized tool to locate items underground. The most common tools for dowsing are a plumb line or pendulum, a Y-shaped wooden branch (typically cherry), and/or a pair of short L-shaped metal (usually brass) rods held one per hand. Excluding the pendulum, these tools are collectively known as dowsing rods, regardless of their composition. In addition to one of these tools, the potential dowser must also have skill ranks in Knowledge (arcana or arcane lore). Locating a ley line (assuming one is nearby) has a base DC of 20. Award a +2 synergy bonus to this check for characters that have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (nature). Once a ley line has been detected, identifying the exact nature of the ley line requires a second Knowledge (arcana or arcane lore) check (DC 35). Specialized pendulums or brass rods appropriate for use in dowsing can usually be purchased through the same channels as arcane spell components, but are typically 4x the cost. Those with at least 3 ranks each in Knowledge (arcane or arcane lore), Knowledge (nature), and Survival could easily find an appropriate branch to use as a dowsing rod in a wooded area.
3) Ley Line Attunement - Some creatures have a natural affinity for detecting the presence of ley lines. See New Feats, below.

New Feats
The following feats are suggested for use in campaigns involving the search for and utilization of ley line energies.

LEY LINE ATTUNEMENT [General]
You are innately aware of the natural energy fields of your world and can detect their presence.
Prerequisites: Wis 15+.
Benefit: After a round of concentration, you can attune yourself to the world's natural energy field, giving you the ability to locate the presence of nearby ley lines. A Knowledge (arcane or arcane lore) check (DC 25) allows you to determine what type of energy the particular ley line you have detected employs. You also receive a bonus of +2 on Survival checks for the purpose of determining direction when near a ley line.

AWARENESS [General]
You are well attuned to noticing fine details in the events that occur around you.
Prerequisite: Alertness or Ley Line Attunement
Benefit: You get a bonus of +2 on all Sense Motive and Spot checks.

Ley Line Markers
Due to the natural energies attributed to ley lines and the fact that their presence has been known to various individuals for centuries, many interesting features, both natural and manmade, can be found dotting the landscape along these avenues. Some possibilities are:
- Natural springs or wells
- Particularly huge and ancient trees (perhaps with dryads or an elven Tree of Life)
- Standing stones (either singly or in unusual configurations)
- Communicaton stations (fire, light, and/or smoke beacons) on localized high points
- Cairns or burial mounds
- Temples, shrines, or other holy places (often built on the ruins of an even older temple, shrine, or holy place)
- Faerie Rings (which brings us to our next topic...)

Faerie Rings
Faerie rings are circular patterns of growing flowers, herbs, and fungi that serve to enhance the natural spell-like abilities of certain fey creatures when located along a certain axis of power such as a ley line. Brownies, grigs, leprechauns, nixies, pixies, and other communal fey creatures are capable of creating faerie rings by employing the Craft (faerie ring) skill. Although several fey may work together in cultivating a faerie ring, only one of them need have the Craft (faerie ring) skill. For every 10 fey creatures of the same type that assisted in the cultivation of the faerie ring, any fey of that same type gains a +1 bonus to caster level for any of their racial spell-like abilities when using them from within the faerie ring. For example, a tribe of 26 pixies cultivates a faerie ring along a ley line. If the lead pixie passes their Craft check, any pixie that uses their spell-like abilities from within the faerie ring would receive a bonus of +2 on their caster level, making their base caster level 10.
Faerie rings are considered complex items (Craft DC 20) and are typically 5 feet in diameter. The Craft DC increases by 1 for every foot in diameter increase above 5 feet, so a 15-foot diameter faerie ring would have a Craft DC of 30.

Character Class Options
Druids may select the Ley Line Attunement feat in place of the Nature Sense ability at first level if they desire. Ranger characters may select Ley Line Attunement in place of the Track feat (at first level) or the Endurance feat (at third level).
Ley Line Attunement may also be selected as a bonus feat for the following d20 Modern advanced classes: Occultist (Shadow Chasers), Telepath (Agents of PSI), Acolyte (Urban Arcana - if using divine ley lines), and Mage (Urban Arcana - if using arcane ley lines).

The feats in this article are Open Game Content.
Section 15 -- Ley Lines, Copyright 2002, Scott Moore.