Witchcraft • Legacy Protective Rite
Bounty / Strength to the Unborn
Bounty, also called Strength to the Unborn, protects developing life through gestation or germination. It supports a pregnancy, seed or young plant by strengthening its ability to survive until birth or emergence.
Bounty / Strength to the Unborn at a Glance
| 5.5e / 2024 | No direct conversion published here |
|---|---|
| 5e / 2014 | No direct conversion published here |
| Pathfinder 1e | Not added to the Pathfinder Witch list by default |
| D&D 3.5e / Legacy d20 | Cleric 4, Druid 4, Witch 4, Fertility 4 |
Legacy quick facts: Necromancy; Cleric 4, Druid 4, Witch 4, Fertility 4; V, S, M; 1 hour to cast; close range; duration through gestation. Strength to the Unborn ends at birth or germination. Fortitude negates; spell resistance is marked harmless.
Spell Rules by Edition
Strength to the Unborn — 5.5e / 2024
Status: no direct conversion is published here.
Strength to the Unborn — 5e / 2014
Status: no direct conversion is published here.
Strength to the Unborn — Pathfinder 1e
Status: the legacy rite is not added to the Pathfinder Witch list by default.
Strength to the Unborn — D&D 3.5e / Legacy d20
Historical source: Strength to the Unborn, also named Bounty, is a 2003 third-party d20 rite. These are its original mechanics, rather than an official 3.5e revision.
| School | Necromancy |
|---|---|
| Level | Cleric 4, Druid 4, Witch 4, Fertility 4 |
| Components | V, S, M |
| Casting Time | 1 hour |
| Range | Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) |
| Target | One life form or area |
| Duration | Until birth or germination |
| Saving Throw | Fortitude negates |
| Spell Resistance | Yes; harmless |
A developing plant draws the nutrients it needs from the surrounding soil; a developing child draws them through the normal pregnancy. The spell does not drain life unnaturally, but the supporting environment or parent must meet the increased nutritional demand.
Under the legacy rules, inadequate nutrition can impose up to 1 temporary Constitution loss per month, to a maximum of 9, on the supporting parent. The caster also adds +1 per caster level to the developing life form’s “survival DC”, using the source’s terminology. Temporary Constitution loss can be recovered normally.
The protection ends once the child is born or the plant emerges. The material component is a parchment bearing protective symbols, burned in a cauldron during the rite.
Source terminology: the book gives a +1 per caster level adjustment to the developing life form’s “survival DC”, but does not define its base DC or resolution procedure. Agree on that procedure before casting Strength to the Unborn. The phrase does not supply a bonus to the Survival skill or change the spell’s saving throw DC.
The source gives one life form or area as the target but no dimensions for a planted area. Establish the target and area with the Games Master before the one-hour rite begins.
What Changed?
- D&D 3.5e / Legacy d20: the spell remains a long-duration protective rite tied to developing life and agricultural growth.
- Pathfinder 1e: no default Witch conversion is assumed.
- 5.5e / 2024 and 5e / 2014: the pregnancy, Constitution and Survival mechanics are not carried forward.
Counterplay
The original spell identifies Withering Touch as its counter. Dispel Magic and Counterspell follow the normal rules of the edition being played rather than overriding that specific legacy interaction.
Edition Boundary
Strength to the Unborn uses the legacy gestation duration, temporary Constitution loss and source-specific “survival DC” terminology. These mechanics are not automatically part of a modern Witch conversion. Choose the edition panel before applying the rite.
Using Strength to the Unborn in Play
Strength to the Unborn is a long-duration protective rite rather than a combat spell. It works best as household, agricultural or coven magic tied to a family, orchard, seed store or other developing life that the characters have reason to protect.
Worked Example: Strength to the Unborn at Caster Level 8
A level 8 caster performs the one-hour rite. Close range is 25 + (5 × 4) = 45 feet. Strength to the Unborn provides the source’s +8 adjustment to the developing life form’s “survival DC”; the Games Master uses the procedure agreed before casting, because the book does not define it.
In the legacy nutrition rules, a supporting parent with Constitution 13 who suffers the monthly penalty for three months loses 3 temporary points, leaving Constitution 10. The spell caps this loss at 9 points and permits normal recovery. Strength to the Unborn’s protection ends at birth or germination, so it supplies no continuing benefit after that point.
Related Magic
Mythical Context
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, the grieving goddess prevents seed from sprouting, and the restoration of her favour brings grain back to the fields. The hymn treats germination and harvest as matters of divine care. That connection offers a fitting mythical setting for Strength to the Unborn as agricultural rite, without supplying its game mechanics.
Historical Context
A Middle Kingdom hippopotamus-ivory wand in the Metropolitan Museum bears an inscription invoking protection for the child Minhotep, born of Sitsobek. Protective figures on the object ward off malign forces in its ritual imagery. It records a historical concern for infants’ safety; its exact practice should not be equated with Strength to the Unborn’s gestation or Constitution rules.
Rules Sources and Licensing
Legacy source: Liber Mysterium: The Netbook of Witches and Warlocks, © 2003 Timothy S. Brannan and the Netbook of Witches Team, p. 135, under “Bounty/Strength to the Unborn”. The historical mechanics are Open Game Content under the Open Game License v1.0a. Artwork and the new play examples, context commentary and edition-status notes are not designated as new Open Game Content.
Read the source-book transcription. The source lists Fortitude negates and marks spell resistance harmless; it does not add harmless to the saving throw. The “survival DC” wording is retained with its unresolved procedure explained in the legacy panel.
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