Suture of the Rift 55902 – GearAscendancy.com

Tier Level: 3

Description: A high-level barrier spell that literally “sews” the air shut. The caster creates a wall of magical scar tissue up to 30 feet long and 10 feet high. The wall is opaque, rubbery, and pale pink. It has an AC of 18 and 50 Hit Points. Any creature that touches the wall or hits it with a melee attack takes 2d6 Acid Damage as the wall tries to digest the foreign object to heal itself. The wall blocks line of sight and spell effects completely.

Cost: 4 Mana Boost.
Duration: 10 Minutes. Roleplay:
Action: You run your finger along the spine of the book, pulling a thread of glowing red light from the binding. You slash the air with the thread.
Chant (Normal): “The world is cut. I am the needle. Close the wound.”
Visual: The air splits open, revealing a wall of organic-looking tissue that knits itself together with rapid, wet sounds. The wall pulses like a giant heart.

Lore of the World-Skin

Suture of the Rift 55902 derives from the Saint’s third revelation: that the atmosphere is not empty space, but the invisible skin of the world. War, magic, and violence are not just actions; they are lacerations upon this skin. The Codex of the Wounded Saint teaches that the only way to protect a breach is to let it heal—violently and instantly.

This spell does not conjure stone or force; it accelerates the metabolic rate of reality itself. It forces the air to “scab over.” The wall created is living, hyper-evolutionary scar tissue. It pulses with a feverish heat because it is biologically active. The acid it secretes is not a weapon, but a digestive enzyme intended to break down “infections” (enemies) so the wound can close. To the Saint, an arrow flying through the air is a foreign contaminant; the Suture traps it in flesh to dissolve it. It is a barrier born of the philosophy that the universe is a living body, and sometimes, the body must reject the virus.

The Use

This is a Tier 3 Strategic Barrier used to reshape the battlefield and punish aggression. Unlike a Wall of Stone (which is passive) or a Wall of Fire (which is purely offensive), the Suture is a reactive biological organism.

Total Line-of-Sight Denial: Because the wall is opaque and rubbery, it completely shuts down enemy spellcasters and archers. They cannot target what they cannot see, and the wall blocks line-of-effect for burst spells.
The “Digestion” Deterrent: Melee enemies hate this wall. To destroy it, they must hit it. But hitting it sprays them with digestive acid. It creates a lose-lose situation for melee attackers: stay trapped on the other side, or burn themselves to break through.
The Emergency Triage: It is often used to seal off a hallway so the party can heal. The “wet” sound of the wall knitting together masks the sounds of the party recovering, providing a gruesome but effective safe haven.

Specific Stats & Mechanics

Tier: 3 (Biomantic Construction)
School: Abjuration / Transmutation (Flesh-Weaving)
Mana Boost Cost: 4 (A heavy investment for a single combat encounter)
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 60 feet
Dimensions: Up to 30 feet long, 10 feet high, 1 foot thick. Can be straight or curved, but must be continuous.
Duration: 10 Minutes (The tissue eventually necrotizes and dissolves into dust).
Frequency: 1 Use per Day (The Codex requires time to generate enough biological mass).

Tier 3 Scaled Values:

Armor Class (AC): 18 (Rubbery and resilient, deflecting glancing blows).
Hit Points: 50 HP.
Damage:2d6 Acid Damage.
- Trigger: Any creature that touches the wall, starts its turn touching the wall, or hits the wall with a melee attack (within 5 feet).
Vulnerabilities/Immunities: The wall is Immune to Psychic and Poison damage. It is Vulnerable to Necrotic damage (which kills the tissue instantly).
Repair: If the caster heals the wall (using a healing spell), the wall recovers HP normally, as it is a living thing.

Requirements:

Skill: Medicine (Expert) or Arcana (Expert) — to visualize the anatomy of the barrier.
Item: Must draw the “thread” from the Codex of the Wounded Saint 519.
Gesture: A slashing motion, as if cutting a hole to let the “blood” out.

Tags: Barrier, Acid, Living-Construct, Line-of-Sight-Block, Area-Control, Biomancy, Scar-Tissue, Codex-Spell, Self-Repair, Organic-Horror, Digestive-Defense, Reality-Mending, Flesh-Wall, Corrosive-Feedback, Siege-Deterrent, Metabolic-Shield, Biological-Ward

Roleplay & Tactics

The Caster’s Experience: Using this spell feels like surgery. It requires precision and a strong stomach.

The Thread: When you pull the red light from the book, it feels sticky and elastic, like pulling a tendon. It resists you.
The Slash: You aren’t waving a wand; you are tearing the world open. You feel a wet warmth spray over your hand as the wall erupts.
The Pulse: Once the wall is up, you feel its heartbeat in the floor. It beats in sync with your own.

The Observer’s Experience:

The Horror: It is disgusting to look at. It looks like the inside of a stomach turned inside out—pink, glistening, and throbbing.
The Sound: It makes wet squelching and knitting noises. When an arrow hits it, it doesn’t clink; it makes a thwup sound as the flesh swallows the projectile.
The Smell: The overwhelming scent of antiseptic alcohol and raw meat.

Tactical Applications:

The “Stomach” Trap: If you have a way to push enemies (like Thunderwave or the Codex’s own Golden Gale), push them into the wall. They take the Acid damage immediately upon touching it, and again at the start of their turn if they remain pinned there.
The Anti-Siege Seal: If a door is being battered down, cast this directly over the doorframe. The enemies break the door only to find a wall of living acid behind it. Every time they ram it, the ram dissolves.
Weapon Destruction: Intelligent GMs may rule that non-magical weapons attacking the wall suffer corrosion. Used against a horde of goblins with rusty swords, the wall might eat their weapons before they can break through.
Cover for Retreat: Cast this behind you as you run. It blocks line of sight for spells, and any pursuing beast that tries to bite or claw through it will be burned, likely discouraging pursuit.

Activation Perception of “Suture of the Rift”

Standard Senses

Sight (Visual)

What is Perceived: A red laceration in the air blooming into a wall of rapid biological growth.
Description: As you slash your hand, a thin line of crimson light hangs in the air like a fresh cut. Instantly, pale pink and white fibers erupt from the line, weaving themselves together with frantic speed. It looks like a time-lapse video of a wound healing, but magnified to the size of a wall. The final barrier glistens with a wet, protective mucus, pulsating rhythmically with blue veins and red arteries.
Positives: The wall is completely opaque and unmistakable, providing an immediate and total visual block against enemy archers or casters.
Negatives: The sight is visceral and grotesque; the “fleshy” appearance can be disturbing to allies, potentially causing squeamishness or hesitation to stand near it.

Sound (Auditory)

What is Perceived: Wet squelching and a deep, resonant thrumming.
Description: The formation of the wall sounds like stirring mac-and-cheese—wet slaps and squelches as the tissues knit together. Once fully formed, the wall emits a low, steady thump-thump… thump-thump sound, the heartbeat of the universe trying to close the breach. When an enemy strikes it, there is a sizzling hiss as the digestive acids react.
Positives: The heartbeat provides a calming, rhythmic metronome that can help synchronize the breathing of the party behind the wall.
Negatives: The “wet” sounds mask the footsteps of enemies on the other side, making it harder to hear if they are repositioning or fleeing.

Touch (Tactile/Somatic)

What is Perceived: Elastic resistance and feverish heat.
Description: When you pull the “thread” from the book, it feels like stretching a heavy rubber band or a tough tendon—it resists you. The air around the wall becomes hot and humid, radiating a “fever heat” (about 100°F / 38°C) as the accelerated metabolism of the magic burns energy.
Positives: The radiated heat is comforting in cold environments and prevents the caster’s hands from stiffening.
Negatives: The sensation of cutting the air feels like cutting actual meat; you feel the “drag” of the knife through muscle, which can be physically revolting to the caster.

Smell (Olfactory)

What is Perceived: Antiseptic iodine and digestive bile.
Description: The air fills with the sharp, chemical sting of strong medical alcohol (sterilization) mixed with the sour, acrid tang of stomach acid and raw enzymes. It smells like a surgery room and a butcher shop combined.
Positives: The sharp ammonia-like scent acts as smelling salts, instantly snapping the caster and allies out of any magical sleep or daze.
Negatives: The smell is overpowering and cloying; it sticks to clothes and hair, making stealth impossible if the wind shifts.

Taste (Gustatory)

What is Perceived: Copper and sour lemon.
Description: A phantom taste coats the tongue—the metallic copper of blood mixed with the intense, puckering sourness of bile. It triggers a salivation response as if the body is preparing to digest something.
Positives: None.
Negatives: The sour taste can cause mild nausea or indigestion for the caster.

Extra-Sensory Perceptions

The Phantom Limb (Proprioception)

What is Perceived: The wall feels like an extension of the caster’s skin.
Description: The caster does not just see the wall; they feel it. When an enemy hits the wall on the far side, the caster feels a dull, distant thud on their own ribs or arm, corresponding to the location of the impact. You know exactly where the wall is being attacked without looking.
Positives: Grants perfect tactical awareness of the barrier’s integrity; you know instantly if a section is about to break.
Negatives: “Sympathetic Pain.” While the wall taking damage doesn’t hurt the caster, the constant sensory feedback of being hit can be mentally exhausting and distracting.

The Immune Trigger (Biological Sense)

What is Perceived: Enemies sensed as “Pathogens.”
Description: The spell rewires the caster’s perception of the battlefield. You stop seeing “Goblins” or “Bandits” and start sensing “Viruses” and “Irritants.” You feel a biological imperative to isolate and dissolve these foreign bodies.
Positives: Helps bypass moral hesitation; you aren’t killing people, you are curing an infection.
Negatives: Can lead to a cold, clinical detachment where the caster views even allies as potential “contaminants” if they get in the way of the cure.

The Tension of the Weave (Spatial)

What is Perceived: The skin of the world pulling tight.
Description: You feel the atmosphere in the room tighten, like a drum skin being keyed up. The Suture literally pulls the space around it together to close the gap. You feel a sense of “rightness” or “closure” in the geometry of the room.
Positives: Gives a sense of security and structural stability; you know the reality around you is held together firmly.
Negatives: Creates a sensation of claustrophobia or pressure in the ears, as if the room has suddenly become smaller.

Sky-That-Was-Cut and Meat-Wall
(Found painted in rust and clay on the ceiling of the Cyst-Cavern)

Listen to the words of the Time-Before-Scars.

In the beginning, the World was a grape. It was full of sweet juice [life]. The Sky was the skin of the grape. It held the juice inside. Then came the Biters-From-Outside [The Void/Enemies]. They had teeth of cold glass. They did not want the juice. They wanted to tear the skin. They bit the Sky. RIIIP. The sound was like a mountain screaming. The Sky opened. The air bled out. The Cold-Nothing came in. The people froze. They tried to build walls of stone to stop the Cold-Nothing. But stone has no blood. Stone cannot heal. The hole grew wider.

Then stood the Healer-of-No-Self [The Saint]. He held the Book-of-Wet-Pages. He looked at the hole in the sky. He saw the edges were ragged. He saw the world was in pain. He said, “You cannot fix a leg with a brick. You cannot fix the sky with a rock. Flesh must answer Flesh.”

The Healer lifted his hand. He did not hold a weapon. He held a Needle-of-Light. He pulled a thread from his own chest. It was red and hot. He threw the thread at the hole. He shouted the Word-of-Knitting.

The air screamed. The air twisted. The empty space became meat. A wall grew. It was not grey like stone. It was pink like a tongue. It thumped like a heart. It was the Scab-of-God.

The Biters-From-Outside laughed. They said, “This wall is soft! We will eat it!” They rushed the wall. They stabbed it with their glass teeth. But the wall was hungry too. When the Biters touched the Meat-Wall, the wall opened. It did not break. It swallowed. Hiss. Sizzle. Gulp. The Juice-of-Burning [Acid] came out of the wall. The glass teeth melted. The Biters dissolved. They became soup for the wall.

The wall ate the enemies. It used their meat to close the hole. It stitched the sky shut. When the hole was gone, the wall fell down. It turned into dust. The sky was whole, but it had a long, white mark. A scar.

The Healer fell to his knees. He was pale. He told the people: “Do not hate the scar. The scar is the door that is locked forever. The scar is the skin becoming stronger than it was before.”

Moral of the Story: When the world is torn open, do not try to build a wall that feels nothing; build a wall that bleeds and burns, for only the thing that is alive can kill the thing that tries to eat the world.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Spell: Suture of the Rift (The Living Barricade) Cost: 12 Magic Points; 1D6 Sanity points. Casting Time: 2 Rounds. Duration: 10+1D6 Minutes.

Overview & Mechanics: A grotesque ritual that invokes the regenerative properties of Shub-Niggurath to seal a location. It creates a physical wall of pulsing, acidic flesh.

The Barrier: Creates a wall up to 10 yards long and 3 yards high. The wall acts as a physical object with SIZ 50 and Armor 4 (rubbery flesh absorbs bullets).
Digestive Defense: Any living creature touching the wall or attacking it with a melee weapon (handheld) suffers 1D6 Acid damage immediately. Weapons may be corroded (Keeper discretion).
Breaching: To move through the wall, one must inflict 20 Hit Points of damage to a single section. However, the wall regenerates 1 Hit Point per round.
Horror: Witnessing the air split open and “bleed” into a wall causes a Sanity check (1/1D4).

Blades in the Dark

Ritual: The World-Skin Suture Tier: III (requires a Ritual setup or Leech/Whisper playbook ability). Stress Cost: 4 Stress (Significant exertion).

Overview & Mechanics: A high-tier area denial ability. It changes the landscape of the score violently.

Action Roll: Attune or Tinker (to manipulate the biological alchemy).
Effect: You create a “Living Wall” barrier.
- Position: This grants you Controlled Position for defense or retreat, as enemies cannot see or shoot you.
- Hazard: Enemies attempting to breach the wall (melee) or climb it face a Level 3 Harm: “Dissolved” consequence from the digestive enzymes. They must Resist to avoid this or find a ranged solution.
Drawback: The wall is terrifying and biological. It generates 3 Heat immediately due to the disturbance in the ghost field and the smell of ozone and gore.

Dungeons & Dragons (2024 / 5th Edition)

Spell: Suture of the Rift Level: 5th-Level Abjuration Casting Time: 1 Action Range: 60 feet Components: V, S, M (A needle and a strip of cured leather) Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

Overview & Mechanics: A tactical wall spell that punishes melee attackers and blocks line of sight.

Effect: You create a wall of living scar tissue on a solid surface within range. You can make the wall up to 30 feet long, 10 feet high, and 1 foot thick, or a ringed wall up to 20 feet in diameter. The wall is opaque and blocks line of sight.
Acidic Feedback: A creature that touches the wall or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it takes 4d6 Acid damage.
Durability: The wall is an object with AC 15 and 30 Hit Points per 10-foot section. It is immune to Psychic and Poison damage. Reducing a section to 0 Hit Points destroys it, leaving behind a cloud of acidic vapor that heavily obscures the area for 1 minute.
At Higher Levels: When cast using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, the Acid damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 5th.

Knave (1e / 2e Compatible)

Spell: Wall of Flesh School: Transmutation / Biomancy

Overview & Mechanics: A dungeon-crawling utility for blocking corridors or covering retreats.

Casting: The caster slashes the air.
Effect: A wall of rubbery, pink tissue erupts, filling a space up to 30ft long. It completely blocks sight and movement.
Properties:
- Digestion: Any creature touching the wall takes 1d6 Acid damage. If a weapon strikes the wall, the weapon takes 1d6 Quality damage (corrosion).
- Health: The wall has 30 HP. It takes double damage from Fire/Necrotic sources but takes no damage from blunt trauma (bounces off).
Duration: 1 Turn (10 minutes).
Reaction: Monsters encountering this wall will usually not attack it unless they are mindless or enraged, as the smell of acid acts as a natural deterrent.

Fate Core System

Stunt: Suture of the Rift Requires: Lore or Physique (Great +4) and a Biomantic Aspect. Cost: 1 Fate Point per scene.

Overview & Mechanics: This stunt creates a massive, tangible map hazard that blocks movement and punishes interaction.

Action: Create an Advantage.
Aspect: You create the Situation Aspect Living Wall of Scar-Tissue with two free invokes. This aspect defines the border between zones.
Obstacle: The wall provides Great (+4) Opposition to any attempt to move through it or see through it.
Digestive Defense: Any character who attacks the wall physically (Fight) or attempts to overcome it with Physique must take a consequence or stress equal to the difference in their roll, or 2 shifts of physical stress minimum, representing the acid spray.
Healing: You can invoke the aspect to absorb damage meant for an ally behind the wall, narrating the wall knitting together to catch the blow.

Numenera & Cypher System

Ability: Suture of Reality Tier: 5 Cost: 7 Intellect Points

Overview & Mechanics: A high-tier reshaping of matter that mimics biological regeneration on a macro scale.

Action: Action to initiate.
Effect: You create a wall of opaque, living tissue up to 30 feet (10 m) long and 10 feet (3 m) high within short range. The wall is a Level 7 Barrier.
Durability: The wall can sustain 30 points of damage before a section is breached. It regenerates 5 points of health per round.
Corrosive Defense: Any creature that touches the wall or strikes it with a melee weapon takes 5 points of Acid damage (ignores Armor). If a weapon strikes the wall, the user must make a Speed defense roll or the weapon is damaged (moves one step down the object damage track).

Pathfinder (2nd Edition Remaster)

Spell: Suture of the Rift Rank: 5 Traits: Abjuration, Acid, Earth (or Flesh/Wood equivalent), Morph, Concentrates Traditions: Primal, Occult Cast: [three-actions] Material, Somatic, Verbal Range: 60 feet; Area: Wall up to 30 feet long, 10 feet high, 1 foot thick

Overview & Mechanics: You stitch the air shut with volatile scar tissue.

Structure: You create an opaque wall of biological matter. The wall has AC 15, Hardness 10, and 50 Hit Points per 10-foot section. It is immune to critical hits and precision damage.
Digestive Enzyme: Any creature that touches the wall, or hits it with an unarmed attack or melee weapon without Reach, takes 3d6 Acid damage.
Healing Factor: The wall gains Fast Healing 5.
Vulnerability: The wall has Weakness 10 to Necrotic/Void damage.
Heightened (+1): The HP increases by 10, and the Acid damage increases by 1d6.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Power: Barrier (Suture of the Rift) Rank: Heroic Power Points: 5 Range: Smarts Duration: 5 Rounds

Overview & Mechanics: A Trapping of the Barrier power that incorporates the Damage Field mechanic.

Trappings: “The Knitting Flesh.” Wet, throbbing tissue that smells of iodine.
Effect: The caster creates a wall of 3 sections. Each section has Toughness 12 and 1 Wound.
Modifier – Damage (+2 PP): The wall secretes digestive acid. Anything touching the wall (including weapons hitting it) takes 2d6 Acid damage. This damage occurs at the end of the touching character’s turn or immediately upon striking the wall.
Modifier – Regeneration (+1 PP): The wall makes a Vigor roll (d8) at the start of the caster’s turn to heal a Wound.

Shadowrun (6th Edition / Sixth World)

Spell: Suture of the Rift Category: Manipulation (Physical) Type: Physical Range: Line of Sight (A) Duration: Sustained Drain Value: 8 (Physical)

Overview & Mechanics: A grotesque barrier spell that weaves mana into rapidly expanding biological tissue.

The Barrier: You create a physical wall of living matter with a Structure and Armor rating equal to your Net Hits. The wall covers an area of up to (Magic x 2) square meters.
Opacity: The wall is opaque and blocks Line of Sight. It blocks movement and physical attacks until breached (Structure reduced to 0).
Digestive Enzymes: Any character who touches the wall, attacks it with a melee weapon, or attempts to climb it suffers 4P Acid Damage (unresisted) at the start of each Combat Round they remain in contact. Weapons striking the wall suffer the same acid exposure (reducing their Condition Monitor).
Regeneration: At the start of each Combat Turn, the wall regenerates 1 point of Structure as the tissues knit back together.

Starfinder (2nd Edition Playtest)

Spell: Suture of the Rift Rank: 5 Traits: Abjuration, Acid, Conjuration, Earth (Flesh), Visual Traditions: Primal, Occult Cast: [three-actions] Material, Somatic, Verbal Range: 60 feet; Area: Wall up to 30 feet long, 10 feet high, 1 foot thick

Overview & Mechanics: You conjure a barrier of hyper-metabolic scar tissue to seal a battlefield breach.

Structure: You create a solid wall of flesh. The wall has AC 10, Hardness 10, and 60 Hit Points. It is immune to critical hits, precision damage, and bleed.
Digestive Secretion: Any creature that touches the wall or hits it with an unarmed attack or non-reach melee weapon takes 3d6 Acid damage.
Sealing: The wall completely blocks line of sight and line of effect.
Vulnerability: The wall has Weakness 10 to Fire and Void damage.
Heightened (+1): The Hit Points increase by 15, and the Acid damage increases by 1d6.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Psionic Power: Suture of the Rift (Biokinetic Barrier) Talent: Biokinesis (Advanced) Learning DM: -4 Cost: 8 PSI Points + 1D Physical Damage (caster feeds the growth) Range: Short

Overview & Mechanics: A high-level application of Biokinesis that forces air molecules and dust to spontaneously organize into cellular structures.

Check: Very Difficult (12+) Biokinesis check.
Effect: You create a wall of dense, rubbery tissue (3 meters high, up to 6 meters long).
Cover: The wall provides Total Cover.
Durability: The wall effectively has 60 Hits and Armor 8.
Corrosive Defense: Any biological creature touching the wall suffers 2D Acid damage immediately. Equipment touching the wall degrades rapidly (Armor loses 1 point of Protection per round of contact).
Decay: The wall necrotizes and dissolves into harmless fluid after 10 minutes (or 1D x 10 minutes with a high Effect).

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

Spell: The Wall of Living Scar Lore: Lore of Life (Ghyran) or Dark Magic (Dhar) CN (Casting Number): 10 Range: Willpower Yards Target: Area (Wall up to WB yards long) Duration: Willpower Bonus Minutes

Overview & Mechanics: You demand the winds of magic knit the air itself into a scabrous barricade.

Barrier: You create an opaque wall of flesh. It has Toughness 50 and 20 Wounds.
Digestive: Any creature engaging the wall in melee combat or touching it suffers a Strength 4 Hit with the Corrosive quality (ignores Armor Points and damages armor).
Terror: The wall has the Ugly trait and causes Fear (1) in those seeing it form for the first time.
Healing: If the caster casts a healing spell (like Regenerate) on the wall, it recovers Wounds as if it were a character.