Monday 25 January 2016

RPG Person Profile

I'm currently running (at home): D&D 5e/LotFP hybrid.

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (at home) include: SWN

I'm currently running (online): D&D 5e/LotFP hybrid.

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (online) include: zilch.

I would especially like to play/run: =GW Judge Dredd

...but would also try: some sort of wrestling RPG.

I live in: Manchester, England

2 or 3 well-known RPG products other people made that I like: Vornheim-The Complete City Kit, Yoon Suin-The Purple Land, Deep Carbon Observatory (Obvious, but the stone truth).

2 or 3 novels I like: VALIS, The Last Temptation, Siddartha

2 or 3 movies I like: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Dawn of the Dead '78, Once Upon a Time in the West

Best place to find me on-line: G+

I will read almost anything on tabletop RPGs if it's: dense with random tables.

I really do not want to hear about: I'm a Cancerian, I'll take whatever you've got.

I think dead orc babies are ( circle one: funny / problematic / ....well, ok, it's complicated because....) it's complicated because it depends completely upon the setting and what one wants and expects out of orcs. I kind of dislike them, so they tend to be re-skinned. Forced into a corner, it's primal, hate orcs all the way. They don't even have babies. As far as evil humanoids go, I just let the players decide.  As much as the PCs might have flashbacks to their dungeon  'Nam attrocites, no-one is losing sleep in real life over it. Please.

Game I'm in are like (link to something) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ10vPjABk4&list=FLPbElfzq6dFGlWGbNdZ-Gog&index=226

Free RPG Content I made for D&D and Runequest is available here http://daayansongstranslated.blogspot.co.uk/.



If you know anything about Babalon, have a word.

I talk about RPGs on RPG.net/theRPGsite,ENWorld,Dragonsfoot  under the name In_a_flat_field

Tūr Cadas and the Etter Caps

It is a city of spiders. The architecture is as much their work as that of Tūr Cadas' long perished founder kings. Perhaps more so now.

Imagine, conical towers, bricks and mortar, strung with hardened web, calcified after centuries, the webbing darker at the lower levels, the same colour as the dirt of life, meat; the used energy of squalor.

The Crawl Watch, thousands of domesticated, spiders herded by the Etter Caps, magicians trained in the ways of the Great Silk Spiders of Tūr Cadas, called the Silk Masons. The magics they wield have wrought terrible changes.

The higher one's perspective rises, the more the colours of the buildings lighten; here the Silk Masons are still spinning new wonders, delicate manses of the stupendously rich. Witch Elves (who have chosen to live here in large numbers) tend gardens of Yew, bark etched with screaming ancestors, branches thick with the cloud stuff of diaphanous silk.

Two immense cocoons, casts their  shadows across the city.  From a bridge, one can see their movement, the heart of the city, its power, its greatest resource, the home of its inscrutable creators. The surfaces are alive with the migrations of millions of arachna-forms.

Tūr Cadas, the Ghost Moon, the Greater and Lesser Suns

The greatest brothels in the whole of Macmóhrda  . The fantasies of all, are catered. Cultivated venoms, distillations of grieving, modelled for recreational use, still devastating...heavy use will change you over time. Is this whence came the Etter Caps? The alien, changed natives have more in common with the mighty Silk Masons, colossal industry made manifest, webs of delicate arabesque, art and purpose.

Each summer, a migration of Giant Horse Flies blacks out the sky. The spiders feast. These days are called the Buzz Kill.

What price is paid to maintain the City of Bound Whispers? Anything can be bought here, but there are no livestock.

Each morning, the people wake. They will always be lightly brushed with spider silk. Money Spiders maintain obscure functions.

It is considered both a luxurious and a cursed place. Lords, merchant princes, magi, high priests; visit here, but never stay. It is too alien for men, in the end. The natives look like men. But act like men? No, they do not do that.

Each night, the higher silks are illuminate--- tripped out dead moon glow, awash with delirium in lieu of mortal fog. 1000 strong choirs sing dirges in the language of spiders. The spiders never cease working.

Down below, the strange masses, lost to the venoms.

Also human flesh is a thing. But only if you are bad. Or too old. Or too sick Or for some other reason, some arachnid taboo broken, heedless, unknowing. The Crawl Watch carries you away. In the saloons of Low Cadas, 'Special Loin' is served daily. It is a staple. There are no graveyards.

The Witch Elves partake never. "Look how they ape the Masons", they say "they will never be like them!" And they laugh.













The Barbét Recency and the Cyclops


The rolling valleys of Barbét are choked with vineyards and orchards. Slicing through the greenery are alarmingly clear streams, white pebbles reflecting the light from Colossus, the greater sun,  which is considered holy in this land. The hills are verdant and flocks of black sheep and firey, red haired goats are driven across the pasture by hardy,  ruddy skinned shepherds. The peasants of this land have tended their flocks for generations.  They lead simple lives. They know and understand their place in the grand scheme of things: that is, to live and die upon the pasture. Their masters treat them well, watching with their great brass telescopes from their granite castles.

They are called Cyclops and they are as civil a people, as one could hope one eyed giants to ever be.

Their race is older than man and in their refinement, their gentlity, their measured calm; the surplus of years is made apparent.  They stand a full head higher than a man and their frames are broad and powerful.  Their hands are like shovels and yet their fingers are long and dexterous. They are magnificent musicians,  composing heart shudderingly beautiful scores upon their peculiar piano-harps. Their voices are peerless, rich and luxuriant of tone.

True to legend, each possesses but a single, great eye. It is right to say that their depth perception is not good. But those eyes see more than crude matter alone. If they fix upon a spot,  they can see the future of that tightly focused point in very specific terms...the holes that will form in a coat, the lines that will crease a maiden's face, the wound that will fell a soldier.  They use the chrono-scry rarely,  for it calcifies the future,  setting the most likely fate of a person or object in certain terms.  Still,  there are foreign princes who still pay great sums to know something of what a Cyclops sees.

They are not a populous race,  living many thousands of years,  but breeding perhaps once or twice in that great span. They, unlike elves,  have souls.  They are worshipers of invisible Metronon, but they are not fanatics like the men of Torquemada. Moreover,  the Torquemadan empire recognises the important allies these people represent and do not force them to burn their musical instruments or destroy their skewed, surreal paintings. Despite this seeming tolerance, it is no mere conjecture to say, that many within that base empire, where shallowness has been raised to holiness, would love to bring the  Barbét Regency to heel. But for now, they are simply too afraid.

They rule a population of men, generally serving as examples to their lessers in matters of honour and chivalry. Still, they see their human vassels more like the inhabitants of a great doll's house than as people.  Privacy is forbidden. Utilising enormous brass telescopes,  they peer into the most intimate places with complete impunity. To hide from their sight, is to invite a terrible paranoid fury. All peasant's homes have  large, round windows set into the north, east, south and west walls  . Through these  windows, every room in the house can be seen.  They call them 'The Master's Windows'.

They dress in the finest fashions. Indeed,  the salons of Barbét are widely considered to set trends across the continent. They are fond of a wide variey of smoking herbs, many of which are highly narcotic to a human partaker. They hold garden parties, upon clifftop retreats.

They are formidable warrirors, exceptional duelists and famous for their three man jezail teams, incorporating a shooter, a stabiliser and a range finder (vital with the Cyclops lack of depth perception).

They tolerate the persecuted Alephs (as they are known on Idios, You can call them Tieflings if you like. I was never a fan of that name). In fact, many Alephs have settled in the Barbet Regency; enough to be of concern to the Church of Metronon. For now, Barbet represents a great place of security for the Alephs and they do their best to find their way here. Were it not for the fact that they worship the Lord of Secrets, Murmuri , they would come in greater numbers. As it is, there are still a great many secular Aleph and these ones flourish.  The Cyclops tolerate nothing hidden.

Witches, personifying the profane 'secret' for the Cyclops, are not suffered to live. In fact,  all crimes,  even the slightest, are considered an affront to the natural order. If any are discovered,  then execution comes in the form of an iron mallet to the head. This is often carried about by enthusiastic human vassals. Every household has an execution mallet, wielded by the eldest member.

Despite this,  within the captal city of Ergo, thieves operate,  for objects d'art proliferate. The Cyclops produce nothing without idyosyncracy. Their work is not always beautiful, but it is always art. Ot at least their creations seem to unite critics in a perversely universal fashion.

Barbét Cyclops Chevalier

AC 18 (chain & shield), HP 85 Spd. 35 ft Proficiency bonus +2, To hit +8, 2d6+5 dm (massive longsword)

S+5/D+1/C+2/I+1/W+1/C+2

Disadvantage on ranged attacks.

Fated Strike: so localised and specific is the sight of the Cyclops that its power is as much of a hindrance as a boon. If the Cyclops chooses to use it (which it will do as a last resort), roll on the following table. (It takes up a bonus action) :

1 "I see you burn!" Target becomes vulnerable to fire for the next round (or some other random damage type)
2. "I am undone!" Cyclops gains disadvantage on all rolls this round.
3. "Your armour is badly maintained , my friend!" Next hit from the Cyclops reduces AC of opponent by 1.
4. "Tis not the time for battle." Cyclops compelled to do nothing but defend and spout poetry this round.
5. "We both, shall fight to the last! " Cyclops and opponent both do double damage to one another this round.
6. "Winds  of time, blow thy horns!" Cyclops gains advantage on all rolls this round.
7. "The horror! The horror!" Cyclops is nauseated.
8. "You and I may yet be brothers" Cyclops will immediately attempt to parlay. Opponent has disadvantage to strike Cyclops.
9. "Thou art mine bosom enemy!" Cyclops forever hits a critical on a 19 or 20 against this opponent.  It will fight to the death.
10.  "Stare into my eye and see thine reflection." Both Cyclops and opponent gain a level of exhaustion,  faced with a swift developing, cosmic ennui.









Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Geisha Spore-Glyphapillar', GLYPHAPILLAR

Glyphapillar

OLD SCHOOL

Unarmoured, Move 5' 1 HD, HP1 , 0 damage, Morale 7.

Warding Gaze: Anything the Glyphapillar stares at, if it has a mind, cannot approach closer than 5'. This is theoretically close enough to be struck with a longsword or larger. However, with each Glyphapillar present, this range increases by 5'. 

They appear in colonies of d100. (I came to this conclusion after noting that
Eriogaster lanestris, appeared in colonies of several hundred. Glyphapillars are maybe bigger and certainly magical, so I scaled it down a bit)

A certain combination of scents, grants an individual the ability to move freely amidst the Glyphapillar's collective gaze. This may be derived from the 'Black Bark', that is, a genus of tree enjoyed by the Glyphapiullar. This is however...uncertain.

Ashkott Glyphapillar: Burning a Glyphapillar, transforms it into a Vitellary. 





5E

Glyphapillar- AC 6, HP 2, Spd. 5ft +0, 0 Damage    XP 10  CR 0

S-6/D-4/C 0/I-3/W 0/C-4

Warding Gaze: As above, only note that a sngle Glyphapillar may look upon a target as part of their move but, must then take an action to change targets. A single Glyphapillar has a Passive Perception of 12. This increases by 1 for each Glyphapillar present, to a maximum DC of 30.

All else as above. 


Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Geisha Spore-Glyphapillar', GEYSER LORD, ORACLE OF THE VENT, FUMEROLE LICH

Geyser Lord

OLD SCHOOL

Armour as plate and shield, Move 0' (though may disengage to vent lair), 30' when surrounded by water of home vent, 14 Hit Dice, HP 94 , 1d12 dam (Scalding Spray), Morale 10.

Immune to fire damage. Half damage from magical fire. 

Spell Use: Geyser Lord knows spells deemed appropriate for a 14th level magic user. Some are more powerful, knowing and casting spells as an 18th level magic user.

Boiling Column :  The Geyser Lord is enveloped within a poisonous, scalding, torrent of water.  Anyone attacking must save vs poison or become Ill for d6+1 days. Furthermore, d12 damage is taken automatically, due to the searing heat.

Unavoidable Fate: Given the correct offerings,  the Geyser Lord will set you forth upon a heroic path that may be tragic, glorious or both. Roll on the following tables. Replace with your own entries as they are used up.

When you...

1. See the unfurling of the carnellion sail
2. Taste the 'Seeing Bark' 
3. Smell the crushed black poppies
4. Hear three eagles at midnight
5. Receive the gift of the spider 
6. Cause the saddest one to laugh
7. Die the little death
8. Are accused of the Lord's crime. 

You will...

1. Travel to the source of the great river.
2.  Journey to the Temple of Three Errors.
3. Journey to the Tree of the Lonely God.
4. Find the pool where the women go to drown.
5. Seek the counsel of the reptile oracle.
6. Travel to frozen Joten Lodge.
7. Go before the cracked temple.
8. Find the crimson pastures.

Once there,  you will be tasked to:

1. Marry the hideous Goblin Princess 
2. Poison the paladin Regent. 
3. Destroy the sad Golem called Tashok the Grinder
4. Murder the saintly children of the Duke.
5. Find the crown of delight.
6. Sack the temple of love.
7. Ruin the great artist's masterpiece.
8. Apprentice oneself to the Lonely archangel and steal his grimoire.

Upon accomplishing this, the character will achieve a dream appropriate to his/her character. This ought to be determined at the point of asking. There exists an 80% chance that the prophecy will end in the violent death of the character.  This will be expressed in pelucid fashion thusly:

1. Nothing that breathes will ever halt your assent. 
2. Beware the friend without blame.
3. As the Sun shines, so shall the glory be yours. 
4. The bride shamed, will be your damnation.
5. There shall be no curse more terrible than love.
6. Beneath the idol with your mother's face, sorrow will find you. 
7.  One final ascent beyond the clouds and you are gone. 
8.  In your dreams,  they will find you. 

The prophecies always come true unless the Geyser Lord is destroyed. If any result should see the character die before his/her destiny is  fulfilled, pass that death onto the most important NPC in that character's life. If there are none,  it's PC time. Everybody knows that the Geyser Lord's prophecies are inevitable.  It'll serve them right. 

Funerole Lich

Becomes undead.  Can only be hurt by +2 weapons or greater.  Casts as a 20th level caster. Gains a 20' land speed.  
  


5E

Geyser Lord- AC 19, HP 125, Spd. 0ft (though may disengae to vent lair)/30 ft in water +9, 3d6 dam (scalding spray),    XP 13,000 CR15 (Geyser Lord) XP 24,000 CR 20 (Fumerole Lich)

S+1/D+1/C+3/I+5/W+5/C+1


Legendary Resistance: Geyser Lord may choose to pass a failed save; 3/day
Immunities: Immune to fire and posion damage. Half damage from magical fire.


Spell Use: Geyser Lord knows spells deemed appropriate for a 14th level sorcerer. Some are more powerful, knowing and casting spells as an 18th level sorcerer .

Boiling Column :  The Geyser Lord is enveloped within a poisonous, scalding, torrent of water.  Anyone attacking must pass a DC-18 Constitution save or become nauseous  for d6+1 days. Furthermore, 3d6 damage is taken automatically, due to the searing heat.

Unavoidable Fate: see above. 

Fumerole Lich: An undead Geyser Lord casts spells as a 20th level sorcerer. It becomes undead and gains immunity to charm, non-magical weapons, sleep, paralysis and blindness. It gains a 20ft land speed.



Legendary Actions:

Cast a cantrip: Costs 1 action. 

Vent gasses:  vents poisonous steam into the chamber. Everyone within 50 feet must make a DC-15 Constitution save to avoid nausea.  Victim can repeat save each turn to shake it off. 2 actions.

Searing Torrent: 6d6 30' cone heat/bludgeoning damage.  DC-15 Dexterity save for half damage. 2 actions

Master Sorcerer: Cast a 2nd level spell. 3 actions







Lair Actions

The actual lair of the Geyser Lord, is the boiling, underground vent. To challenge it here, one must be able to breathe water,  resist heat, resist poison  and resist extreme pressure. Needless to say,  it dwells within a hostile and alien environment. Without these precautions, expect to take 3d10 damage/round due to boiling water, make a DC-20 Constitution save to avoid gaining a level of fatigue each round due to the pressure and a further DC-15 Consitution  save/round to prevent nausea and 4d6 poison damage

Obfuscating Cloud: Geyser Lord provokes a an underwater fog of sediment.  Acts as darkness in a 100' radius sphere.  The Geyser Lord can see through this cloud normally.

Vent Thing: Geyser Lord manifests a Vent Thing, essentially a small water elemental, entirely under the Geyser Lord's control. Vent Things are toxic. Upon a successful hit,  make a DC-10 Constitution save to avoid nausea. This save may be repeated each round.

Voice of Fate: Geyser Lord marks an opponent. Target must use their best attribute save (representing their heroic potential) to beat DC-18. Failure indicates that the character suffers disadvantage on all subsequent rolls until the Geyser Lord is slain or chooses to mark another character.



Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Geisha Spore to Glyphapillar', GLYPHAPILLAR

Geisha Spore

OLD SCHOOL

Unarmoured, Move 30' land/15'air (when caught on breeze), 1 Hit Dice, HP 3 , 1d3-1 damage, or by weapon -1 Morale 12.

Kiss: The Geisha Spore rarely attacks to cause damage (it only does so if ordered). It generally attempts to kiss, at first with the illusion of consent, but thereafter whenever the target is not paying attention. If the target is not paying attention to the Geisha Spore, it will surprise on a 2 in 6. It only ever attempts to kiss humans.

Fungal Infestation: Save vs Poison -2. Failure results in contamination. Geisha Spore dies either way.
  • Initial effects are minor iirritation. -1 to combat rolls for d3 hours. Phase 1 initiates in d12+2 days. Cure Disease will remove the spore at this point.

  • Phase 1- replacement of muscles and joints with fungal mass. +3 Strength. +3 Constitution. A Remove Curse spell at this point, can still save the victim. Phase 2 initiates in d12+2 days.


  • Phase 2- Replacement of brain. Character dies, but is not cognisant. Resurrect would restore the victim at this point.


  • Upon the arrival of the next storm, facsimile character dies, more spores are released, as described in FotVH.
  •  
     
5E

Geisha Spore- AC 11, HP 6, Spd. 30ft/15 ft in air when caught on initial breeze +4, 1d3-1 damage or by weapon -1,    XP 400 CR 2

S-1/D+1/C 0/I-2/W-3/C+1

 Kiss: The Geisha Spore rarely attacks to cause damage (it only does so if ordered). It generally attempts to kiss, at first with the illusion of consent, but thereafter whenever the target is not paying attention. If the target is not paying attention to the Geisha Spore,it makes a stealth check+3 in an effort to beat the targets passive perception. It surprises its victim if successful.

Fungal Infestation: DC-15 Constitution save. Failure results in contamination. Geisha Spore dies either way.
  • Initial effects are minor iirritation. disadvantage to combat rolls for d3 hours. Phase 1 initiates in d12+2 days. Cure Disease will remove the spore at this point.

  • Phase 1- replacement of muscles and joints with fungal mass. +3 Strength. +3 Constitution. A Remove Curse spell at this point, can still save the victim. Phase 2 initiates in d12+2 days.


  • Phase 2- Replacement of brain. Character dies, but is not cognisant. Resurrect would restore the victim at this point.


  • Upon the arrival of the next storm, facsimile character dies, more spores are released, as described in FotVH.







Thursday 7 January 2016

White Elves and the Ancestor Societies




"Not all the white elves are barbaric and pitiless – some are civilized and pitiless.... They are ruled by two blue-skinned sisters, frost giant queens." Vornheim-Zak S





So as I think I mentioned in an off hand, fluff fashion somewhere back, elves in my game are split into four distinct types, colour coded for easy reference: Dark Elves (heavily inspired by False Patrick's 'Black Glass' essay), Green Elves, Moon Elves and White Elves (Inspired by Zak S' two or three sentences in Vornheim). Here's a stab at a soulless White Elf, culture thing.

Mythos & Lore:

Across (and through)  the Porous Borders, the Hollow World of the gods, awaits in immaculate splendour. Beyond the physical , all things are conceived and known in an endless aesthetic instant. To experience the flesh,  is impossible. It does not constitute a part of a universe composed purely from the stuff of the imagination. And yet...to say that a god cannot understand experience would be quite wrong.  For the most part, they transcend it, but occasionally their aesthetic appreciation reaches a critical mass and they must find some way to feel first hand, the beauty of creation.

This is how the Elves came about.

In the case of the White Elves, two frost giant sisters emerged from the endless white wastes of the Kraal. By parthenogenesis, they gave birth to their people,  all for the sake of longed for sweet experience. To say they were shocked by the frigid cold (whose beauty was now somewhat offset by its tendency to kill) would be an understatement...at any rate, they absorbed some of its bite and cruelty. In many ways,  they were fortunate: they at least were not dealt the bleak hand played upon the Dark Elves. All Elves feel dully as if they have been tricked.

Once one crosses the Porous Border,one cannot go back.

They created the frozen city of Nornrik. From that strange city,  they spread south. Their peculiar talents, beauty and immortality  ensured them a place in society,  especially in Vornheim. However,their soulless natures presented a series of unforeseen problems.

The White Elves live outside the fear of old age. Imperishable, only violence or other outside agency can end them. When they do die, often after countless centuries of life, their consciousness reject what is occurring/has occurred (knowing only oblivion awaits) and these psychic imprints are driven insane, enraged by happen-stance and fear. Death simply does not happen to them. Now rendered psychotic wraiths,  they are incredibly dangerous and cause havoc for their families.

At some point, the White Elves learned to control and bind the ghosts of their fallen ancestors, combining placatory rites, with harsh spiritual torments. This has become the very totem of their society, the frame by which all else hangs.

White Elf 'Mothers' rule their people with every cunning
tool at their command, knowing that ultimately they are the gate that stands between the elves and a murky realm of rage maddened spectres. The word 'Mother' and the word 'Host', are one and the same in the Elven tongue.

Elven women produce something akin to spider silk from their mammary glands. Mothers weave this silk into the Tapestries of the Beloved Dead. These Tapestries are constantly worked upon by Family members and they depict Ancestors engaged in heroic and noteworthy activity. They are vital components of any long term placatory activity.

Organisation:

Each Elven family is a mini-state unto itself, ruled by an autocratic Mother. She determines the laws they follow, the customs they celebrate, the punishments that are meted out. She leads the rituals of the Ancestor Societies, receiving visions and binding ghosts into servitude and fetishes called 'Kaaba'. In practice, she delegates much responsibility, leading only the major rites and observances.

Restrictions:

White Elf society is a matriarchy. Something in the soothing nature of the feminine is believed to calm the insane ancestors. However, some have suggested that this is merely a ploy by the scheming Mothers to maintain the gender status quo. Either way, breaking this taboo seems to lead to madness more often than not.

During rites, The Mother wears a powerful Reindeer skin fetish called a Skikkja. All others wear black cloaks.

Whenever an elf is about to knowingly commit a sin, he/she puts a leaf in his/her hair to avow him/her from responsibility.

White Elf shaman are fond of using reindeer horns as symbols of their power.

Umbilical cords are kept and used as fetishes and jewellery. They must never be lost.




Hair and (Sometimes) fingernails must be not be cut, except during a rite to protect the original owner from malevolent ghosts.

Now D&D

Mechanically speaking, White Elves are the same as High Elves. However,  difficulty arises in terms of modelling the necro-animistic Ancestor Societies. I saw somebody handle shaman as essentially clerics who worship their dead descendants. I think this is probably a reasonable angle of approach.

Ancestor Domain

1st:  Protection from Evil/Good, Sanctuary
3rd: Gentle Repose, See Invisibility
5th:  Magic Circle, Speak with Dead
7th:  Banishment, Divination
9th:  Planar Binding, Dream

Bonus Proficiency: Persuade. Gains advantage on persuade with own people, due to deference.

 Fetch 

Starting at 2nd level,  you are joined by one of your Ancestors in the form of an invisible companion. This Ancestor is bound to your umbilical necklace 'Fetch Cord'. If the cord is destroyed, so is the Fetch. This is the only way to end it. It is a malicious thing, only visible to you. It  takes the form of (d12):

1 An eyeless crow
2 A horrible black moth
3 A rat with an old woman's face
4 A monkey that moves like a Ray Harryhausen creature.
5 A white hare, looks like road kill. Limps.
6 An elven child, mouth and eyes sewn shut.
7. A flat, naked old woman that lives under the bed.
8. An area of utter darkness.
9. A scarecrow that is always in the corner.
10. A puddle of stagnant water.
11. A crawling thing composed of flies.
12. A doppelganger of yourself, insane grin, reptilian eyes.


Initially it does very little but watch. Each Fetch represents tbe shade of an Ancestor and its stats are generated as for an elf. It can be consulted. It has the strange wisdom of the dead.  It will warn you if you are in danger sometimes. It can cast the Thamaturgy cantrip at will. But that is all.

(Channel Divinity) Bind Dead

Instead of destroy undead, at 5th level the you gain the ability to bind undead into fetishes. The table from the Player's Handbook is suitable for determining the level of undead which can be affected. The object in question must be prepared in a ritual that takes 3 hours, although it can be small and innocuous.

Upon binding,  physical undead turn to dust. Physical or ethereal, their animating spirit is drawn into the prepared object. There they will stay unless destroyed.

A fetish grants the use of any supernatural abilities possessed by the dead.  For example, a dagger containing a ghoul's essence,  will paralyse on a successful hit.  All saving throws are at the creature's original difficulty. However, every-time the fetish  is used in this manner,  you must test to bind the creature anew. Failure results in the spirit using the ability against you. A natural 1, means the spirit is immediately freed. In the case of physical undead,  they manifest as spectre.

Using a bound power counts as a use of Channel Divinity.


 Fetch Boon

At 6th level, the Fetch's relationship with you has grown to the point where it now provides a physical benefit.  Choose two from the following list. Choose another at level 9 and a final boon at level 17:

1. The Fetch can now venture beyond the animist's personal space.  It can travel around 100 mph. The Animist can see through its eyes (even if it has no eyes).

2. The Fetch obey commands.  It cannot interact with the physical world, but it is essentially loyal. Without this boon, the Fetch is a stubborn thing and must be persuaded to do the animist's bidding.

3. The Fetch can interact with the physical world, stars as generated.  In all other ways,  treat as a poltergeist. Can be dangerous.

4. Fetch can cast counter-magic once per day at the animist's level. It will do so instinctively.

5. Fetch actively wards the animist (or is it just the Fetch Cord it wants to protect?). +2 A.C.

6. Fetch can possess a target as a ghost. DC 10 + Fetch's Charisma bonus to resist.  Fetch can automatically animate a dead body. Stats as zombie, only with Fetch's mental attributes. Can animate objects or body parts. Can possess as many times per day as Wisdom bonus.

7. Fetch can cast any of the Animist's spells.  It can also deliver touch spells on the Animists behalf.

8. Fetch can see the future and will discuss it in the form of cryptic statements. See Vornheim for an excellent fortune system.

9. Can poison all food and water within 100m radius. Poison is deadly.

10. Can enter dreams and fight as an Invisible Stalker. If killed in dream, wake up with one random insane disorder.

11. Melds Ancestral memory with your memories. +2 Wisdom.

12. Can convert recently slain into Obol (currency used by the dead and demons) 1 HD/CR=10 Obol. For the purposes of XP, 1 Obol=5 XP  This idea is swiped from Matteo Diaz Torres and his 'A Most Thoroughly Pernicious Pamphlet'.

(Channel Divinity) Ancestor Strike

Add an extra d12 cold damage at the cost of a channel divinity use. Crist on a 19 or 20. At 14th level, this rises to 2d12.

Ghost Walker

At level 17, the you may concentrate for a turn to become ethereal. May force any spirit to parlay whist in this state.  May turn up to Wisdom bonus other characters ethereal also.


That's about all I can be bothered writing at the moment. I'll update this with some old school rules eventually, but I figure that it won't be far beyond you, my good reader in converting backwards.








Tuesday 5 January 2016

Fire on the Velvet Horizon, 'Eclipse Lich to EoNian Wyrm' EONIAN WYRM

EONIAN WYRM
OLD SCHOOL
Armour as plate and shield, Move 100' Flying/Ground/Swim/Tunnel, 30 Hit Dice, 270 HP,  4d12 Dam (Dark Coils) 4d8 Dam (Devouring 'Maw') Morale 12

4 Attacks (3 Dark Coil, 1 Maw/1 Constrict)

Constrict. The Wyrm  can make one constriction attempt instead of a Devouring 'Maw' effort. 4d12 damage and target must save vs paralysis to avoid being grappled. Grappled target takes 4d12 damage each round and the Wyrm may continue to make attacks on others around it (it's a mile or so long). Grappled victim may attempt to free itself with a Strength check at -8 at the beginning of its turn.

War of the Monsters. The Wyrm can effectively force conflict between itself and any Titan, Demon or Old One. They must Save vs Magic at -8 to resist.

Frightful Presence. Save vs Paralysis or be stunned for d3 rounds.

Swallow. Makes one Devouring 'Maw'  attack upon a target of huge or smaller. Target must make a save vs Death at -2 to avoid being swallowed.  They take 9d6 damage at the start of each Wyrm turn.

Seize the Darkness. If underground, in space, in the night or otherwise surrounded by darkness, the EoNian Wyrm may repair itself of 8d6 HP. Leaves a space absent of anything for 24 hours.


5E
EONIAN WYRM - AC 24, HP 820, Spd. 100ft Flight/Ground/Swim/Tunnel, +19, 6d12+10 dam (Dark Coils), 5d12+10 (Devouring 'Maw')    XP 155,000 CR 30
S+10/D 0/C +10/I 0/W+8/C 0


Immune to fire, poison, bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from non-magical weapons. Cannot be blinded, charmed, frightened, paralysed or poisoned.

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the Wyrm fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Destroyer. The Wyrm deals double damage against structures.

Multi Attack.The EoNian Wyrm can use its Frightful Presence. Then The Wyrm attacks 5 times with its endlessly rotating, grinding coils before making a Devouring Maw attack or a Swallow attack.

Constrict. The Wyrm  can make one constriction attempt as a bonus action.  +19 to hit, deals 6d12+10 damage and target is grappled. DC-22 to escape.

War of the Monsters. The Wyrm can effectively force conflict between itself and any Titan, Demon or Old One that is of at least CR 25. Target must succeed in an opposed Wisdom check to resist. If the target fails, it must abandon whatever it is currently doing to face the Wyrm in battle.

Frightful Presence. Any creature within a mile of the EoNian Wyrm must succeed at a DC-24 Wisdom save else become frightened for 1 minute. Those affected can repeat the saving throw at the end of each turn. Passing the save grants immunity to Frightful Presence for 24 hours.

Swallow. Makes one Devouring 'Maw'  attack upon a target of huge or smaller. Target must make a DC-18 Dexterity save to avoid being swallowed. Swallowed creatures are blinded and restrained. They take 18d6 damage at the start of each Wyrm turn.

Legendary Actions:

Tail Lash. The Wyrm makes one Dark Coil attack.

Surge. The Wyrm moves up to half its speed in any direction. If it chooses to tunnel, it vanishes from sight, drawing all of its mile long body behind it in a maddening instant.
Seize the Darkness (Costs 2 actions). If underground, in space, in the night or otherwise surrounded by darkness, the EoNian Wyrm may repair itself of 16d6 HP. Leaves a space absent of anything for 24 hours.