Showing posts with label Aliens?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aliens?. Show all posts

Saturday, December 21, 2024

Star-Crossed Lovers (How to Win the Dawn War)

As the party are travelling through any temperate part of the world, they hear a cry from a nearby hamlet. A woman runs screaming into the night. Her husband has turned into a monster.

The woman is Lissia, and what was once her husband is Huon. They are poor farmers, and their marriage was never happy. Huon was strict and demanding, and Lissia tries to remember how he used to be when they were young. She saw a shooting star last night, more immense and bright than she had ever seen, and even heard the crash.

The thing that was once her husband is stretched and lean. Chaotic black horns grow from its head, branching and knotting and kinking, covered in a bloody velvet. Its face is a mask of fractured and chitin-like bone, and its eyes glow with a weird light, like fungal gold. Two fingers on each hand have shriveled so that a triple claw is all that is left. If it is given a few minutes, it shall learn how to speak.

(Looking on it prompts a save (or Attack vs. Will) or take 2d6 psychic damage as alien thoughts worm their way into your mind from the newly grown symbols that are its mulitations)

It is, it will tell you, the star that fell. It wants... something. A pleasure unheard of in his far home. It can't go back, now. Earth is for fools and exiles. It meant to come in secret, but it has already been discovered. This man felt close, close to what it knew, what it wanted. So it took him. He took him. He did not mean to change him.

(If you ask him his name, he will not want to tell you. If you insist, he will let out a dread keening which calls to mind images of a burning theater, mushrooms growing in your stomach, and a deep red. Another save vs. 2d6 psychic damage.)

The star is the spawn of Gibbeth and Hadar, a prince of the dreadful parody of the world that is Dim Carcosa. Its main body is out in the woods, and very dangerous to look upon. It glows with the same feverish light as the creature's eyes, and causes the plants to grow quickly and strange, some leaves and flowers flapping away with a fairy-dusting of spores. Its consciousness has all but left it, overshadowing the spirit of Huon, enveloping and slowly digesting it like an amoeba. The spirit will be gone before sunrise.

Angels saw the falling of the star and are on their way to destroy it. They do not know about Huon yet. If the party makes use of the Cerulean Sign, the consciousness of the star will leave Huon and return to its main body. If its main body is destroyed, and its consciousness is exorcised, it will leave the world altogether (and then Gibbeth will eat it for being a disgusting pervert). If he is exorcised, the mutations Huon received will be reduced, but will still greatly disfigure him, and his spirit will be left in a pathetic state (though, he may be healed by divine intervention). Lissia will not leave him. They will probably live happily ever after, with the power dynamic significantly shifted.

If the star is not exorcised, something else will happen.

He will fall in love.

The memory of love left under all of Huon's superiority and meanness will grab hold of him. Humanity, as it turns out, is as alien, and as infectious, to the stars as any of their thoughts are to us. Huon (as he will, eventually, ask to be called) will fall in love with Lissia. What happens from there is so up to the players that I can hardly write about it. I will say, however, that it is not impossible for Lissia to love the Star-Huon (which, perhaps, says something a little worse about her than her modest peasant appearance suggests), and there are two or three gods who might take pity on their plight. But that is another story.

Friday, February 12, 2021

Locheil's setting questions for my Space Fantasy

 


Which specific NPC do I want to piss off the least?  

You probably don't want to piss off the Amethyst Emperor. His palace assassins will mess you up, and could probably follow you to any planet in the system. He's pretty hard to piss off though, since you'd need to actually be in his court (an erratic and incredibly fast space station) to do so.

Which god should I want to piss off the most? 

If you are anything like a cross-section of the OSR community (that is, a no-gods no-kings heathen), you probably want to piss of the Cult of the Golden Nimbus, the resident theocracy of the greenhouse-prarie planet Akron.

What's the worst thing I could meet at a crossroads? 

A Salipish Gravatic-Sorcerer, because that probably means your crossroads are about to erupt into space *or* that your crossroads are the property of a Salipish floating-warlord.

What's the nearest thing that can utterly destroy me to your starting town? Or starting town equivalent? 

Depends a great deal on what planet you are on. Oredonian sea monsters (and undersea ruin-reactors) for Oredon; the crushing pressure of the dream barrier for Lannit and its moons; Roche-limit asteroids, boiling tidal geysers, and crashing sky-fortesses for Salip; Falling into a predatory plant on Akron; and the aforementioned Assassins in the Amethyst Court.

Is apotheosis open to my character? If not, why not? 

Probably not open because there isn't ostensibly any gods. You might be able to do something godlike with the tech in Oredon's ruins, or the ruins in the Reverie Belt, and you could probably get a cult as a dreamer in Lannit, as a warlord on Salip or Kazran, and the Amethyst Court is basically heaven.

Do people in your world have souls? Why? 

People have dreaming bodies, and sometimes reincarnate, but there's nothing really seperating the soul from the body and mind. Reincarnation is just people sometimes coming back from the dead with a new body, nothing about your essence inhabiting a different body.

Does jazz exist in your setting yet? Can I invent it and not be stoned to death? 

The people of Akron can do some wild things with a bugle and not!cello, but pianos and saxaphones haven't been invented. Really depends on who's the possible stone-thrower.

What's the weirdest country/polity/region/area on your map? 

Akron is weirdest in terms of ecosystem (thermosynthetic and carnivorous plants) but is basically a medieval world, Lannit is weirdest in terms of geology (a hollow gas-giant with an internal dream world), Bazran and the Amethyst court are weirdest in terms of diversity of magic and races.

Do guns exist yet? If they do, is there anything making them weird/different?
guns exist but are basically gravititional or magnetic crossbows, flinging sharp bits of metal with no combustion.

Is there a divide between mundane/magical animals? 




Friday, April 28, 2017

Things in the Moon World

What is the Moon World?

The earth is encapsulated by many, many crystal spheres, called the heavens. The sphere closest to the earth is the Lunar sphere, and on the surface of that sphere is the Lunar World. The Moon, the one we see, is a hole in this sphere, as are most of the stars (Some of the stars are holes punched through more spheres than the Lunar sphere. Mercury, for instance, is punched through two spheres, the lunar sphere and the mercurial sphere. Other planets are similar). In addition to spheres above the earth, the earth itself is a sphere with a multitude of spheres below it, that we know as the hells. The Moon World is dominated by a fertile desert of silvery sand and dark water, but not all areas on the Moon World are like this. Its like the ocean; most of earth is covered in it, but some of the most interesting places are not. These places include the Land of Pillars, the Solar Reach, The Country of the Selenians, and the Forest of the Night.
Dark Waters

How Do I Get to the Moon World?

The easiest way is to die a good man. The Moon World is basically heaven, so you'll go there if you reach nirvana, become a saint, something like that. Then you'll live a few lifetimes there in beautiful bliss. You'll go native, forget that you ever lived on earth, and try to work towards going up another level. 
If you want to get to the Moon World without reincarnating several times, you will probably get on a rocket or cannon. Then, you are shot through the largest hole in the lunar sphere, the Moon. However, you will probably be attacked by legions of celestials.
Silver Sands

How do the Moon People Feel About Us?

The newly reincarnated view us with grace and pity. However, they really can't express this as they are spending a short eternity in ecstasy and bliss. Those that have lived a few lives there view us with judgement and contempt. We are to be avoided or we might corrupt the good and decent folk up there. Incursions are to be dealt with swiftly and harshly. reincarnation is encouraged and accepted. If any celestial petitioners are sent to help the terrestrial sphere, they will be of the newly reincarnated, so we aren't murdured instead of help. Essentially, we are demons to them, albeit pitiful ones. They are the humans, in their mind. They have their own angels from the mercurial sphere. Demons similarly are formed from human souls, and view themselves as humans and view us as angels.

Who Rules the Moon?

The moon is ruled by She who Looks Down on Us with Grace, Selene. In a similar way to the souls reincarnated on the moon for their goodness, Selene used to be the godess of earth, but ascended because of her skill at producing good mortals. Gaia occupied the position of Moon Goddess before, but she was cast to earth to make way for Selene (Gaia doesn't really like Selene). The sphere directly below us, the underworld, the infernal sphere, is ruled by the goddess Cthon, who is really bad at producing good souls, and that's why we don't have any demons reincarnating into humans. I'll write about Cthon and the underworld later.
Earthly Servants of Selene

What can I Fight?!

The Blissed

The first thing you'll fight on the moon will probably be the legions of newly ascended souls. Their touch spreads agonizing bliss and, if you take too many hits, makes you forget about the lower world. The pain from fighting might give them clarity about their past lives, though to them this will seem like a vision of hell. 

HD: as commoner with exploding dice. Defence: as cleric. Attacks: +3 to hit, 1d2 psychic caress
  • Beatific Touch: When The Blissed collectively do 10 damage to one target, that target makes a saving throw or fall into helpless bliss, which lasts until the next long rest. When they deal 30 damage to a target, the target must make a saving throw or forget about earth.

  • Horrific Awakening: When The Blissed, or one of those that took an effect from Beatific Touch, take maximum damage from a weapon, they take an additional 1d6 psychic damage and then re-roll their reaction dice and become a commoner. This dispels any effect given by Beatific Touch
    Like These Except Really Happy

Pyrotechnic Angels

Angels are constructs built by Selene and other powerful moon-dwellers to house the souls of the souls which have reincarnated several times, and can no longer manifest their forms. These particular angels are used as shock troops, due to their volatility and distracting presence. Generally, the most wrathful and inspiring souls are used in these angels. They resemble rolls of paper, which unroll slightly into a small, flat figure with simple cut-out appendages, covered in glyphs and colorful ink. If they are burned heavily, or close enough to the roll, which contains magic explosive powder, they explode into dazzling, powerful humanoid forms for a short while before dissapearing. Their magic power is a potent drug as well as an explosive, and counts for all purposes as a soul. Their paper halves the cost of copying your next spell.

HD: as fire elemental. Defence: as fire elemental. Attacks: +5 to hit, 1d4+1 slashing damage (special)
  • Dazzling Form: When The Pyrotechnic Angel takes fire damage from one attack equal to the number of its HD, or is reduces it to 1/8 its hitpoints, it makes a save (which it can, and likely will, choose to fail) or combusts into flame, dealing Xd8+3 radiant or fire (whichever is more effective) damage per attack, where X is the damage that the last fire attack dealt. It also gains immunity to fire and radiant damage. It persists in this form for a number of turns equal to its HD minus half the damage the last fire attack dealt, after which it fades and vanishes. It can also choose at any time to voluntarily combust.
    Probably Not Like This

Bismuth Angels

Like Pyrotechnic Angels, Bismuth Angels house a veteran soul. They are used as guardians and builders, and their touch creates strange order. They house creative and steadfast souls. They vary wildly, from the size of a pixie, to a crystalline behemoth. Shards of their crystal can be used as an arcane focus, or holy symbol, and it grants +1 AC and +1 to the relevant spellcasting score when casting conjuration and illusion magic.
HD: 1d8 Defences: as Earth Elemental or Iron Golem, with weakness to thunder & damage. Attacks: Xd6 piercing, cold, or force (whichever is more effective) (special) 

  • Original Forms: Bismuth Angels roll 1d6 to determine size (1. tiny 2. small 3-4. medium 5. large 6. huge) and roll 1d8 to determine their number of hit dice.
    Yeah
  • Crystallizing Touch: The Bismuth Angel's attacks deal damage equals to their number of hit dice. When this attack first hits a bloodied creature, increase their AC by 1 and halve their speed. 
    Also Yeah
  • Creative Harmonies: Each round, the Bismuth Angel can, as a Move action, create a crystalline structure with an volume up to (5*(6-the result of the size roll)) Ft^3. This construction lasts for a number of turns equal to their HD.
    If you want, I guess? I Guess???
There are other angels, such as Selenite, Sand, and Abyss Angels. For variety's sake, I'll talk about other creatures.

Giant Fucking Marine Invertebrates

What else would you find on the moon?


But Larger
You can probably find stats for these. Giant Isopods and other chitinous creatures are used by souls that are between Blissed and Angels, conscious and human-like, for food and armor. Giant slugs are bred for beauty, docility, and size. The powerful, human and non-human, will create a sort of living, moving gardens out of exceptionally large and beautiful slugs. Sea Pigs are used as breeding grounds for giant snails, which are used like dogs to hunt or herd dangerous or useful creatures respectively. Sea cucumbers are bred for waste management. Squid, octopi, and cuttlefish are psuedo-sapient and are revered as seers and prophets. 

Greys

Yeah, why not? Here, they are known as Selenians. They cannot comprehend other spheres, as they are not of human souls. As such, they fall through stars like we fall down invisible wells. They are completely blind in terrestrial light, though they can operate acceptably under the light of the moon and stars. Those who survive the fall and aren't killed as a monstrosity spend their nights gazing upwards, seeing straight through to the lunar world above. They occasionally try to modify cattle and other livestock to resemble the invertebrates of the lunar world. If this is unsuccessful, they will starve on the meat of earth. Stats as commoners, though they might have some weird tech or magic.

I think that's alright. done.