Dawn War Remix: Avandra

 

4e has a warm place in my heart, though when I played it I railed continually against it. The dawn war pantheon in particular I find to be so generic that they wrap back around to being interesting. Some other people on the glog server also noticed this, and have been making some interpretations of the gods into their more odd style. So I thought I might.

Many-Faced Avandra, Opener of Ways, is the god of the roads. She is an interloper among the gods. Many believe that she walked into heaven, though few can ever agree where she walked there from. Many people also believe that she walked straight back out. She is the god of the foreigner, merchant and refugee and army. And she is distinctly abroad. Put her on your encounter tables.

The Peregrine God is worshiped by pretty much everyone in a token way, but some dedicate themselves to her. They are called Way-Priests. Some maintain the roads themselves, other maintain wayside shrine-inns (one room is always reserved. Other rooms might be taken by travelers, fairies, and angels.), others parade idols for miles and miles. The most sacred sacrament of Avandra is the Seek. The seeker makes a sacrifice of blood, and declares what they must find, and thenceforth can have neither home nor death till they have found it. No one makes a Seek lightly, because all know the legends of the tortured ascetic heroes, awful monsters, and legendary questants that Seekers have become.

Some wizards say that the Seek is far older than Avandra, that it led to her godhood, and that she is still seeking something. Others say that Avandra was never a mortal, that she entered this world from some secret direction that no one has yet discovered, that she was something no one has yet named. Yet others say she was a god in a world that ended, and fled its destruction. She has heard all these rumors. They make her laugh.

d20 Masks of the Peregrine God

1. Albatross

2. Old Crone

3. Young Boy on his way to ADVENTURE

4. Wolf

5. Sword-distributing maiden

6. Way-Priest

7. Merchant with Unusual Wares

8. Kord (She thinks this is hilarious, and does a very bad impression)

9. Deer

10. Huntress with Deer Horns

11. Pervasive fog that gets you lost (in the right direction)

12. Will-o-wisp

13. Crossroads Idol (if you stick around it for long enough, she'll get tired and vanish)

14. Runaway Princess

15. Beggar

16. Talking Bird

17. Boisterous Ronin

18. Lost Child

19. Very Large Centipede

20. Unicorn and/or Pegasus

d6 Intentions

1. Mess with you. Following her advice makes any journey twice as long.

2. Bless you, if she thinks you'll need it, with some fairytale boon.

3. Walk and talk with you for a while.

4. Inform you of some nearby quest that she thinks needs taking care of.

5. Roleplay. She honestly just wants to hunt, or merchant, or adventure for a while.

6. Speed your journey up. Following her advice makes any journey half as long.

 We're gonna pretend this counts for the "Patrons: their source of power/wealth and their goals in using the party." GLoGtober prompt.

Fifth Fantasy, Rules and Setting Introduction

(open for full size)

(Posted for GLoGtober 2024 prompt: Anime Inspired Content)

For a while, I've been working on a game I call Fifth Fantasy. It's part of my lifelong love affair with the generic. It is my personal belief that generic fantasy can be quite as good as gonzo fantasy when pursued with a genuine love. The system, if you can bear it, is a hack of Fifth Edition D&D, though I think it has become almost unrecognizable. My rationale for doing this is simple: I should like to be able to call my games "D&D games" and mean it.

It is vaguely inspired by Zelda, Ni no Kuni, and various JRPGs that I've never played. Being, of course, the last person on earth to make a Ghibli-Zelda Heartbreaker, I have no pretensions of it being the best. It is merely mine. I have placed an emphasis on crafting and downtime, which I think to be almost novel and almost playable. The ruleset is not yet complete: I have yet to finish writing all the spells, and I plan to overhaul the Fighter. But I have a desire to release it as it stands.

Click on that little gif to see it.

Setting Primer

Thousands of years ago, men were not like they are now. Their lives were long, and they knew secret arts of magic and the sword that let them reshape the world as they saw fit. We now call those men gods, although they are all but forgotten to us.

500 years ago, the Dark Lord set up his domain in the north, inflicting tyranny and curses for 300 years, before being brought low by his own people in alliance with the people of the east.

100 years ago, the wizard Destrian the Sudden conquered the lands to the south of the central mountain. He built great monuments in order to increase his power, but was eventually exploded by Forthwind the First, Oswald LaMarque, Desdemona the Sorceress, and Clover the Thief. A brief power struggle with Destrian's general, Redmaine, led to the establishment of the Forthwind Kingdom. At this time, also, the Shadow Wizard Council was organized in the north.

50 years ago, Forthwind the First died, and was succeeded by his son. The dragon of the Darkmarsh retreated to his lair. Trade was established with the Eastern Forest.

5 years ago, the storm dragon Akryus came to the central mountains, and began gorging himself on the lightning energy left by Destrian.

1 year ago, the storm dragon began to (excrete? build? spawn?) legions of storm elementals and thundarmors, which thereafter began to decimate the north of the kingdom, and provoking the dragon of the Darkmarsh to wakefulness.

Now, King Forthwind II has declared that whosoever kills the storm dragon shall possess half the kingdom.

 

Fifth fantasy takes place in a world where a year is 4 months long, and a month is 15 days long. A kingdom might consist of 4 towns, and a town might consist of 4 buildings. The world is suffused with the elements of magic: Fire, Ice, Storm, Light, and Dark. These elements permeate into the very stones and bones, and those who are skilled can turn these into powerful weapons and tools. But these elements may also create monsters that menace the land. Therefore, adventurers must go forth into the wild places to protect the people and bring back riches.

The Five Kingdoms

The centermost kingdom, the frontier of the Great Forest, the great kingdom of Adventure, the Forthwind kingdom! Rural and ruined, it is a place of opportunity for all. The king is wise, but rather busy, and the prince is foolish. Dungeons are more common here than elsewhere, built by the old stormlord. Cuisine is wild game and farmed wheat.

Minaterno, the city of the sea, is the cultured port of the world, the crossroads of all places! Ruled by 5 noble families, or, more accurately, by their feuds and intrigues. Rivalry is here considered a form of romance, and cunning is a form of virtue. They love noodles, and harvest wild rice from the darkmarsh, and have a lot of spice.

The Black Axis, called the city of slaves, where shadows grow long and secrets are thick. Despite its nickname, slavery has long been illegal, and they practice a form of representative government, headed by the Shadow Wizard Council. The abundance of Dark aligned materials left by their ancient lord still provides the basis of their economy, and they have the greatest school for mages in the world. Their food is somewhat bland: Mushrooms, Potatoes, Eel, and Whale.

The Eastern Forest is a place dominated by serenity and beauty. This domination is literal: some enchantment seems to lie on the whole domain, and it is hard to break. Decisiveness is valued: To break the peace when necessary, with swiftness and grace. There is a different tradition of mages there, sorted into colors: Red, Blue, Black, White. Their queen is secluded always. They are vegetarian, eating leeks and beans.

The Islands of the Crimson Demons is a place that is suffused with magic and exceedingly dangerous. The eponymous Crimson Demons are the ancient and capricious clan of sorcerer-pirates that have been the only ones to effectively stake a claim on any of the islands, and they have only cleared a small village, ruled by the Elder Demon. They trade often with Minaterno, but rove far and raid occasionally. Culturally, they are similar to Minaterno, but with a greater love of spectacle and less regard for tradition.

 

GLoGtober 2.1: Castles in the Air (Hypogeum)

 

Its GLoGtober once again, and though I pretty much missed last year, I thought I'd return to form with some Hypogeum-posting. The prompt this time is "Atlantis-type situation but in reverse. It goes up instead of down."

Angels (also called Harpies, or simply the Winged People) are a race generally considered legendary in the Hypogeum. It is said they have wings rather than arms, and live in floating cities obscured by the haze of the upper reaches. Which is rather preposterous, isn't it? If humans developed wings, they could never use them to fly. They're too heavy! And floating cities? How would they navigate the narrow archways and passages that connect caverns?

Nevertheless, they are real.

(Spoilers ahead)

Angels are a race of sorcerers. Magic doesn't run in their blood, however. It runs in their feathers. Angel feathers are uniquely adapted to collect and store ambient magic. However, they use this great power rarely. This is because, without it, they would fall out of the sky.

Magic, as everyone knows, is a pervasive gas which tends to collect in liquids or crystals, suspended like the carbonation in a soda. Contrary to this force of suspension, magic is much lighter than air. This is why angels can fly, and why powerful sorcerers are such whimsical assholes: they take themselves lightly.

Because their wings collect magic, frequent flight actually makes it easier to fly, rather than tiring them out. However, an excess of magic in their wings can be rather uncomfortable in daily life (rather like being constantly tugged by your lapels). Since water can easily take up magic, it is easy to wash off, and produces quite potent magic potions. When they are flying, the water condensation on their wings often drops to the ground as droplets, often incorrectly called Angel Tears. When they are at rest, they save these magic potions for a different purpose.

The cities of the angels are diverse. However, contrary to popular belief, they are seldom monolithic structures. But they tend to have this in common: like the angels, they float by magic. Most angelic cities are aggregate structures, with each building or household being held aloft by its own means, and tied to other buildings by ropes. The means by which they hold magic vary: some employ balloons, while others are built around highly thaumiferous plants or minerals. The maintenance of these means is the main use of angel tears among angels themselves.

Rarely, lone angels or solitary clans will build their homes on large aerial darkbeasts. Though this often prevents them from joining a larger angelic city, it is generally agreed to be sick as hell.

The aggregate and modular nature of most angelic cities explains the conundrum of travel. When they wish to enter another great chamber in the hypogeum, they simply lead their buildings through whatever passages are necessary in single file. As well, it is entirely possible for certain buildings to break off and gradually reassemble a city-of-theseus elsewhere.

The extreme concentration of magic in their society obviously makes them targets for ambitious sorcerers and agents of the dragon. This is the reason for their extreme isolationism and nomadic lifestyle.

GLoGhaven

 

:/

I do not like Strixhaven. As an MTG set, it was ill-conceived and cringey. When they adapted it for 5e (curses on its name), they further stripped it of all interest by making every subclass only affect combat (not to mention straight up forgetting what some of the schools were all about). It is egregious and I cannot abide by its very existence in the world, whether I play either game or not. There should not be a world in which Strixhaven, as it currently stands, exists. So it falls to me, the ultimate abiter of good taste, to make things RIGHT. You could rearrange these into wizard school cantrips easily.

LOREHOLD

A: You can read any language that you've never heard spoken.

B: If you have most of the pieces and spend a bit fiddling, broken things work once for you.

C: When you tell a proper story, everyone sits up and pays attention. This includes the dead. 

D: You can talk to ruins, relics, and artifacts. They are surprisingly mobile when they want to be.

PRISMARI

A: As long as you are touching it with your hands only, you can sculpt non-solid elements into solid forms.

B: You can perform a dangerous dance which causes you to become the center of attention. You can do this while attacking.

C: While performing the dance, choose two non-solid elements. You can manipulate those elements in [class level]*5' as if you were using your hands.

D: You can shape non-solid elements into creatures, though you have to take more time for bigger creatures and you can't control more than one.

QUANDRIX

A: You are a smartypants, and can estimate and calculate easily (use Wolfram Alpha) / You can do minor shenanigans: illusory duplicates, acting as though you had two extra mage hand arms, and vanishing completely for half a second.

B: You can spend up to [template] minutes calculating, after which you can summon a fractal that looks how you choose which deals [minutes] damage attacking, has [minutes] HP, and armor as chain. Very Pointy. Lasts [minutes] minutes.

C: You can cause people to think you are an expert and a great wizard by saying something about "quantum"

D: You can sacrifice a fractal to open a portal to its location, which lasts [minutes] rounds.

SILVERQUILL

A: You can create light as a lantern. You bleed ink.

B: You can use up a well of ink to summon a little imp thing. You must give it a secret (may be untrue), which it loves to tell to people (though it loves people admiring it more). Annoyingly intelligent. You can fully control [templates] instances.

C: People believe it when you lie.

D: You can use up a book's worth of ink to fly, somehow.

WITHERBLOOM

A: You can make any organic material into food, or poison

B: You can expend all your rations or all your poisons to make that many noxious pests. You can't control them at all and they love nothing more than causing plague and famine and souring cow milk.

C: You can cause bones (nonliving) to float, and living plants to grow at twice the rate.

D: If you have a whole living creature, you can make the entire thing (including the soul) into food that fully heals all who consume it (if it is the same sort of creature as the consumer, it can even revive the dead), or a potion that transforms the consumer into that creature. Both effects cause the consumer to gain some or all of the memories and feelings of that creature.

EXTRA CREDIT

*: You can keep excellent hold on an item, even if you trip.

*: You can cast spells or abilities one handed OR while running.

*: If a spell or ability would requires materials, time, etc. you can ignore that and use it as though you used the least amount of those possible [templates] times per day

*: You can use an ability at the same time you cast a spell

*: You know how to find things in any library

*: You get invited to wizard banquets

*: With lab conditions, you can keep spell or ability effects going indefinitely

*: You can slowly levitate a foot off the ground

*: In a land aligned with your college, cast with +1 magic

*: You can try to cast any spell reasonably within your schools domain with instability equal to your magic.

*: Once per template, cast a spell you don't know.

A description of the Heavens (hypogeum)

 

A sketch of an inhabitant drawn by the Sorcerer

This is an account of an expedition to the ceiling, by this humble creature. We made the usual journey from the village of the blue folk (which stands adjacent the cavernous ruins of the orb) by way of the western fountain path to the wall of the cathedral. Here, we set up a camp. We chose this place for it was known to be traversable vertically, owing to the rooms inset in the wall and the ledges higher up. Other places, the wall-rooms of which did not connect well, were not suitable.

After resting for a time (the lights passing half over the water), we resolved to ascend. The first room contained stairs upwards and downwards, as we had heard (it is said that the stairs down were where the Farmer discovered one of his specialty mushrooms, the one which produces a sweet distinctive taste, which was called by the humans "grape"). Traveling upwards, the way for four rooms was only of interest to a rock darkling, and there were a few other rooms besides which were dead ends. In this section I also discovered a fetching hat. 

As we ascended, the rooms became less tame. They were damp with cloud-dew, and colonized by buoyant moss and the creatures that ate it, and the creatures that ate them. Some of these proved troublesome, such as a darkbeast of the wall-crawling variety (There were few more substantial darkbeasts up here. Infrequent were the flat- or pad-footed beasts, and only sparse the hooved ones). The sorcerer called it a "spidery bastard" and set it aflame (we were lucky it was so damp). Many other things happened which I won't write about.

We eventually were forced out onto the ledges. They were paths wide enough that two could comfortably stand beside one another and have generous room. However, they were dangerous, because of the prevalence of flying beasts and other hazards. These attacks were especially dangerous because of the chance of falling. But we prevailed, in the end, and ascended 4 more levels. When this was done, the roof was in sight. However, in the end there was no way to reach it.

When this became apparent, we began looking for other things to do, since we were in such a special position. The sorcerer (who was a human), and the fighter (a grimalkin) simultaneously spotted a rare sight: an Angel flying about clouds. The rest of us could not see it, and the two who did soon reported it vanished. The two both began speaking very excitedly (one should always plug ones ears when this happens, but I did not). The next thing I knew, we were awkwardly flying towards the last place the angel was seen. I later found out that the sorcerer had drunken three mana potions (our entire supply) to give us this power.

I will not bother with the details of this flight, as I cannot properly render them. But soon we found where the angel had disappeared from and where it disappeared to. Simply, there was a village in the sky held aloft by some kind of balloons. 

Some people who read this might not have seen a balloon or even heard of it. It is a practice done by wizards where they take a special sack and fill it with magic which is lighter than air. This makes the sack float, and it can be tethered with a string and produce mirth. Sometimes a balloon may be made large enough to carry a person into the air for a short time. Humans claim that it is also a practice in their world, and more common than most other magics.

The balloons which held this village were greater, of course, than the balloons anywhere else seen. And this was not the only wonder, for it was evident that there was some illusion disguising the village causing it to be invisible from the ground. And of course there were the people who lived there.

It is a common rumor that there is a sort of human which possesses wings rather than arms and may fly around. It turns out this is true. The humans call these "Angels" (which is what I called it above) or "Harpies". The Sorcerer (who was beyond excited) called them "Ritos". The Sorcerer often says weird things.

They indeed flew around on wings which were their arms. Their legs and feet were dexterous as arms and hands, though the fact that they needed to either sit or balance on one foot made them disinclined to do unnecessary things. They occupy themselves with hunting and maintaining their village.

They hunt for things like aerial beasts, buoyant moss and fungi, as well as ground dwelling creatures small enough to take back to the village. They steal cloth to sew their balloons. They perform the magic that fills them. They gather water that condenses on them to drink. These are their daily tasks.

They are hidden, and free from the influence of the Dragon. They do not revere the forces, for they are humans and do not enter the ruins at all. They live perpetually in anxiety of the failure of their village, for if it does, they will have to hide away in high rooms. Now that we have found them, they will move on so that they are not found. Because of the fantastic nature of their habit and the incredulity of those who live below, they do not object to our speaking about them.

We stayed there for some days, until we left by the same manner as we arrived.

(Translator's note: This text was found in an abandoned village, presumably the "village of the blue folk", hidden in a secret compartment. I have taken many liberties in this translation to make it interesting to human readers, but the main events and descriptions, as well as a few phrases of particular interest, are intact. The veracity of these events is suspect, but I've learned not to dismiss anything)

Ruins

 

Ruins are spaces considered holy by Folk. Inside them you find things that you would find in the rest of the Hypogeum, only denser. This makes them very hard to traverse. Ruin Complexes are normally circular, or some equivalent, becoming denser and denser as you get towards the center. As such, most people give them wide berth, though being able to go nearer the center would make a nice shortcut. Most ruin complexes are almost a mile wide, and dominate the cavern they are in.

They dominate in more than one way. The presence of ruins in a cavern seems to affect, or at least be a good indicator of, the force that Folk revere. Or maybe the Folk built the ruins in honor of a force they already revered? The Folk are weird about religion, as we all know. That all to say, each Ruin Complex seems devoted to, or at least themed around, one Force. Oftentimes they are also pervaded by that force.

As previously stated, ruins are dense. They are full of puzzles, treasure, and most of all, Lore. Loads of (untranslated) hieroglyphs, murals, and gut understanding. Most of the puzzles and treasure are also lore. The ruins will tell you what a Force is like, what is sacred to it, what it hates, etc. There are also depictions and statues of various creatures, most of which are unidentified, but one of which is the Dragon (see: Dragons, forthcoming). Finally, there will be the Prophecy, that a sacred hero will come out of the ruin and defeat the Dragon.

Some say that the hero already came, and he died. Others say he joined the Dragon. Still others say the Dragon used to be a hero himself. These sorts of confusions come about when you're only going off somewhat abstract pictures.

There are also more mundane secrets besides, like the location of treasures, hidden wells, gates, etc.

Piranesi

The ruins are haunted by living statues. These can be found rarely in other parts of the world, but, like I said, the ruins are Denser. They also have unliving statues, and the living ones could hardly be called statues. But they move, and they're made of stone, and the name stuck. Like most things made of stone, very difficult to kill. Have a sword artist or sorcerer at the ready, dangerous as they are, those statues are more so.

Don't get caught up in a puzzle, or you'll die.

Voxelmade

Now I said they are holy to the Folk, and its clear that they have some association with Folk religion, but I feel I should expound more upon this. It is a topic of intense debate (as intense as Folk can get) about whether Folk, or anyone, should be allowed in the Ruins at all. One might expect some hassle if one emerges from a ruin in sight of those people who frown upon it, and especially if one is carrying sacred treasures. 

Folk priests make use of the ruins to understand their faith, navigating them through preordained paths and solutions to review specific commands or insights. The knowledge and tradition of these paths is what makes them priests and not just devotees (devotees might be just as holy and authoritative, but lack the knowledge and experience of ages). If a priest is feeling candid, he might show the way to those he trusts, or might simply tell them the information they seek.

Just the same as the debate regarding entrance to the ruins, is the debate regarding the sort of creature the hero will be. Some Folk cannot imagine the hero coming from among their own race, while others cannot imagine them coming from another race.

Darklings for the most part don't take part in these debates. As usual, they are rather secretive regarding their beliefs. Arites seem pretty hopeful about it though.

Class: Yousei

 

Adapted from Golden Sky Stories

You are an animal, spirit, or monster that has gained the ability to take human form. More than that, you are a being who dwells in the heart, both other's and your own, and has learned to really be a person.

A: Transform, Impression, Nature, +2 WR (Wonder Rating)

B: Appear +1 WR

C: Blessing +1 WR

D: Grand Magic +1 WR

Wonder

Wonder is the energy you use to do your little magic. You get Wonder equal to your Wonder Rating every scene (if you don't use scenes, at dawn, sometime afternoon, and at dusk). If you befriend someone not in your party in a heartfelt way, you gain an additional +1 WR for that session, and receive the same each session you talk to them. Wonder also goes away at the end of a session (unless there was no scene progress), or at the end of the day if you've not spent at least half of what you gained (and not frivolously either!).

Transform

You are not human, but you are a person. When you want to appear human, you must spend Wonder. Appearing completely human takes 4 base wonder, but appearing with some features of your normal form takes 0. +2 wonder is needed to appear at night, +4 for broad daylight, appearing at twilight, in rain, or when the moon is a certain phase (your choice) is +0.

Impression

The sort of thing you are leaves an impression on those you meet, regardless of your form. You are either Normal, Cute, Mysterious, or Scary. You can spend Wonder to modify a reaction check (one to one), but doing so makes extreme results consider you more of the quality chosen above.

Nature

The sort of thing you are has certain qualities, whether in its own nature or ascribed to it by people. The first level, and each time you level up, you can choose to take on those qualities for good and bad. For instance, you might be clumsy but strong, or prideful but able to do something supernatural, or forgetful but lovable. You can have three of these qualities at a time, and can take on or cast off up to three per level. You can temporarily ignore the weaknesses of these qualities by spending wonder as if you were fully transforming in the current scene (but you don't actually transform). Also, most abilities take some wonder to activate.

Appear

You know certain ways used by spirits and animals. You can spend wonder as though you were half-transforming to appear somewhere, provided you didn't say where you were for a while. It might take more if you are moving somewhat impossibly or to short a time had elapsed since you said where you were. 

Blessing

You can spend Wonder as though you were fully transforming to give someone else a power of yours. You may then spend extra Wonder to transfer it to them for the purposes of using that power.

Grand Magic

You can do something really wonderful that could change a person's heart. For 12 wonder, choose one power. You can use it as much as you want at no cost (you will still need to transfer wonder for Blessings). For 20 wonder, no powers have costs. For 30 wonder, everyone (if they agree) can make a wish on you and have it really come true, though this can only be done once ever (and also consumes all extra wonder).

drew this lad for hypogeum

Hypogeum Tables vol. 1

Folk Self portrait (Folkling)

These are tables that DM's can use to randomly generate things in the hypogeum. If you are hoping to play, don't read these! Well, maybe do. I can't stop you.

Part 1: Villages and Folk

Topology

1. Open and defensible Gerum¹. This is the most common, if you don't want to roll
   
2. Crevice or Ruin-gap
3. Amphitheater
4. Collection of Ruin-Stupa in an open or elevated Gerum
5. Clustered around a spire, tower, or pillar
6. Hanging from the ceiling, accessible by ceiling connection
7. One big ruin building
   
8. A vague sphere of under-rooms
9. Clinging to the wall (also the side rooms)
10. Inset into a hill or ziggurat, probably with spirally stairs.

 Physical Quirk

1. Mossy and overgrown
   
2. Giant mushrooms
3. Tombs
4. Houses shaped like their residents
5. Well built and cozy
6. Engraved
7. Exotic Stone
8. Crystals
9. Water Features
10. Supernaturally Dark

Social Quirk

1. Diverse 
2. Even more uniform than usual
3. Devout
4. Mercantile
5. Play a lot of War
6. Host their own adventuring party
7. Scattered Pre-modern or even modern tech
8. Scholarly
9. Colonized
   
10. Sorcery and or Relicseeking common

Cult

1. The Dark
2. The Flame
3. The Moss
4. The Mechanism
5. The Flood
6. The Orb
7. The Stone
8. The Cube
9. The Gate
10. The Song
11. Personality Cult
    
12. Fairies
    

Exports

1. Pottery, Cooking
2. Pottery, Decoration and Storage
   
3. Stonework
4. Metal Tools
5. Food, Staple
6. Food, Luxury
7. Textiles, Beastsilk
8. Textiles, Weavemoss
9. Medicines
10. Fuel
    

Food Source

1. Moss
2. Fruit Bush
3. Mushroom, Sour
4. Mushroom, Sweet
5. Mushroom, Savory
6. Herded Beasts
7. Hunted Beasts
8. Tubers
   

Folk Appearance

General:

1. Amphibious
2. Repitilian
3. Humanoid
4. Vague

 Eyes:

1. Small beads
2. large, wet puppydog eyes
3. Appropriate to their type
4. Inappropriate to their type
5. Eye stalks
6. Eye spots
   

Head:

1. Lumpy
2. Snout
3. Round
4. Crest, Neck-Frill, some other weird thing
   

Ears:

1. Tympanum
2. Large, Round
3. Large, pointy
4. Oh those are actually gills

Color:

1. Red
2. Red-Orange
3. Yellow
4. Brown-green
5. Bright green
6. Forest green
7. Aqua
8. Blue

Clothes:

1. None
2. Loincloth
3. Chlamys or cloak
4. Sari or Toga
   
5. Primitive Pants
   
6. Robe
7. Necklace
8. Plants

 

¹ a gerum is a room-like enclosure, with high walls but often without a ceiling, inside a maze or complex of other such enclosures. Like a cubical, but big and not necessarily quadrangular or perfectly aligned.

Hexcrawl Puzzle!

 

Here's a puzzle! Your party is lost. They need to get to a specific one of the hexes adjacent to their current position, but they can only move randomly to an adjacent hex on their infinite grid of hexes. What's the chance that they will reach their goal after n moves? Post your answers and reasoning in the comments!

Traincrawl: Coldward

 

Traincrawl is a one dimensional depth crawl by SunderedWorldDM. I'm writing the coldward half of this depth crawl, away from the engine and toward the caboose¹, while my Collaborator, whom I have worked with Before will be making the engineward half. The following three tables are depth tables, invented by cavegirl (from whom I have also stolen some entries on these tables). When you enter a new car, roll a d6 on both tables, adding the distance in number of cars from your starting car (so the first car you explore will be +0, the second +1, etc.). Every car has a 2 in 6 chance of being semi-permanently inhabited, and each inhabited car has a 50% chance of having a party and a 50% chance of having a murder mystery. If the car cannot be feasibly inhabited by humans, elfs live there

Car:

1. Boxcar
2. Seating Car (Six seats wide)
3. Seating Car (Four seats wide)
4. Sleeping Car
5. Dining Car
6. Observation Car
7. Aquarium
8. Bar
9. Meditation car
10. Medical Car
    
11. Freezer Car
12. Tomb Car
13. Cryocar
14. Research Car
15. Ritual Car
16. Dessert Car
17. Palace Car
18. Garden Car
19. AI Car
20. Caboose

 Details:

1. Empty
2. Graffiti'd
3. Odd Aspect Ratio
   
4. Maintained
5. Guarded
6. Dead Scavengers
7. Cold
8. Sedate
9. Impervious
10. Filigreed
11. Automated
12. Ticket Check
13. Frozen
14. Laser Turrets
15. Stabilized
    
16. Open Window
17. Opulent Party
18. Crystalline
19. Bose-Einstein
20. Perfect

 Encounters:

1. Empty
2. Scrappers, outgoing
3. Scrappers, returning
4. Broken Servitor
5. Strong Wind
6. Hypothermic Dabbler
   
7. Elf Rescue Team
8. Mummy
9. Mobile Ice Crystal
10. Functioning Servitor
11. Ice Wizard
12. Glass Butler
13. Polar Bear
14. Glass Birds
    
15. Remorhaz
16. Confection
17. Elf Bacchanal
18. White Queen
19. Sentient Ice Crystal
20. The Great Intelligence
    

Descriptions forthcoming, probably in the other 3 collab posts remaining in GLoGtober.

¹Caboose is a silly word

GLoGtober 7: Index Card

At the end of the first week of GLoGtober, how about a Card (or really, a page) to Index the posts I've made so far? I'll update it as I make new posts for GLoGtober, and maybe I'll expand it to include my whole archive. Lazy? Yes. Underwhelming? For the moment. Technically fulfills the criteria? I guess, but I'll probably up my game and redo this prompt if I'm gonna snag that "Completionist Nerd" Badge

Sometimes, one must make the Egyptians and Punt

GLoGtober 3: Orbs and Everything Else (Hypogeum)

 

Orbs

As I wrote about in my Previous Post, it is believed there are three prime substances in Hypogeum: Stuff, Life, and Magic. I wrote there mostly about the movements and behaviors of Life, but here I will talk mostly about the behavior of magic. Like Life, Magic can be either found in a pure, gaseous state, or dissolved into another material. As well, Magic has a material memory like Life. This memory takes the form of Spells.

Orbs are a shape of stuff which is good at absorbing Magic. The type of stuff the orb is made of might have some affect on this ability. Certainly, the type of stuff it is made of affects the spells it is predisposed to. Orbs made of a once living material, like bone or wood, cast spells related to the magic present in the being it was procured from. Orbs might have this sort of intrinsic property if made from another magic containing material.

Other orbs are made from materials which don't normally contain magic, or which have had their magic fully drained or purged of its memory. Crystal is most favored for this (see below). Into such a blank orb is placed a seed spell, which can thenceforth shape the magic absorbed into it. This process of shaping can affect the appearance and form of the orb naturally, or very learned people can try to modify an orb to be more suited to a spell or class of spells. This makes the variety of orbs we find in the world.

Orbs, like swords, might not be made of specific type of stuff, but instead be made out of Orb. These can be found commonly, and might be blank, but more often have a spell in them.

Crystals

Crystals are both a shape and a type of stuff. They are ordered and regular. A cubic crystal forms cubes naturally. A pointy crystal forms points, given more stuff to work with. Despite this natural tendency toward one shape, most crystals can be formed into orbs manually, with some skill and persistence.

Crystals are valuable for one property of theirs: It takes considerable effort to get magic in and out of them. This may not seem like a good thing, but it means crystals are often naturally magical blanks, and if you can get pure magic in them, they store it without turning it into spells. It isn't that difficult to do, its just harder than natural processes allow most of the time. If you find a magic crystal out in the wild, that means either someone put it there, or something really magic happened there once upon a time.

Crystals are used in jewelry and art objects for three reasons: firstly, and obviously, its pretty; secondly, it makes good magic item batteries, making the objects useful; and thirdly, for safety. Magic infused crystals glow, and crystals inset into magical objects become infused. If you are handed a fancy thing, you can tell its not magic (thereby, not cursed) if it has crystals that aren't glowy. Still makes it hard to tell if you are being cursed by a magic item, but at least you know that some random jewelry isn't going to curse you.

You could, of course, just use crystals as light sources. Many people do, especially in areas with lots of them. Adventurers who are sorcerers or relic-seekers use them very often.

Runes

Runes are another shape of Stuff. They are very bad at storing magic in general. However, each rune is alright at storing one specific spell. Magic with any other spell memorized, or no spell memorized, simply slides off it. Magic with a memory is very rare in natural, ambient conditions, so just carving a rune and leaving it out won't attract the specific spell it is attuned to. The spell must be transferred to the rune. 

Most runes are carved into other materials. These runes are durable, but can't hold almost any magic. Some runes are written on other materials with ink. These are both less durable and have less capacity than carved runes. Some inks are very good at storing magic, and so have higher capacity than carved runes. 

The best practice, many say, is to scribe with this magic-storing ink on very magical paper or vellum, making a scroll. Scrolls can basically hold a whole spell, both energetically and mnemonically, but casting the spell drains the stuff of magic, which has the same effect as removing all the water in a sand castle. 

Some scrolls exist in the Hypogeum, but they are very rare, and runes aren't used very much in the current era. The most research about them is done in darkling settlements. Scrolls in general are very basic looking, showing a single large rune. Runes also form naturally, as described above, on some spell containing items, like orbs.

Books

Just like scrolls, books aren't common in the Hypogeum. Most Folk aren't much for literacy, but if they are, they paint things on hard tablets or walls, or carve it in clay, or do other things besides. Its simply too damp to make books feasible. However, they do exist.

Books are sometimes brought in by Humans and other otherworlders. These are written in glyphs that only humans can read, and are generally worthless in the hands of others, unless they are collectors. However, some books written by humans are dangerous things known as "poetry", a kind of tool used by humans to enhance their already silver tongues. Poetry read by humans can be intoxicating, and can rival magic in terms of its ability to affect Folk. Some writings in ruins or dungeons have been identified as poetry by human explorers, lending further credence to the theory that humans were the original inhabitants of the Hypogeum. These ruin poems are known for their ability to make any meaning to them impenetrable to all but the most clever and free-thinking Folk (PC Folk).

Books can also be found, rarely, as treasures. Like all treasures, these seem apparently native to the Hypogeum. Often they have a large rune on the front. If the book is a relic, the rune is an indicator of the spell contained within. Some wise Darklings have discovered that treasure books have internally consistent language, unique to each book so far as they have found. This has become widely known, though not widely used except by weirdos.

A note on Treasures and Relics: Treasures are valuable things found in the Hypogeum. Among almost all people, it is generally accepted that one treasure is worth mostly the same as another, barring extraordinary circumstances, and not accounting for taste or individual usefulness. If you bring a fancy hat back from your adventures, its valued the same as a magic item or filigreed staff or, indeed, a book. Mostly they are used for sentimental and aesthetic reasons anyways. Relics are items, sometimes treasures, that can be used by Relicseekers and contain an intrinsic spell. The nature of magic in an relic is such that only Relicseekers of a certain predilection can use them. An Orb couldn't be used by a Bookseeker, after all!

Porbal

Portals

[Post Pending]

Wizards (Damn Them)

The magic present in people is diffuse and faint, normally unusable, just the background level of magic in any place. Wizards are people who cultivate magic in themselves. Most of the time, wizards are sorcerers, also called arcanophages. They drink or eat things with lots of magic in them so that they may concentrate that magic. Most often they drink magic infused water, sometimes (incorrectly) called distilled magic. Not everyone does, though. Relicseekers attune their minds to a certain sort of relic, allowing them to use or siphon the magic inside objects.

The heavy use of magic has effects on the body and mind of its users. Both sorcerers and relicseekers gradually are changed and mutated by the presence of magic, in such a way that allows more magic to enter their bodies, and be more easily manipulated. Orb-like organs, maze-like brains, and other mutations allow true wizards to contain many spells discretely, absorb magic naturally, and modify existing spells.

However, learning new spells is difficult. Either new relics or runes must be obtained, or maddening insights must be undertaken. The easier way is to take apprentices. Each person has some faint magic already inside them, and that magic has a memory, and that memory is a spell. Cultivating that magic to the point that a person's natural spell may be cast, and thus learned by the teacher, leaves the apprentice an almost capable wizard. 

Of course, for as many true wizards are out there, there are a thousand middling sorcerers and superstitious relic-seekers, skirting along on not even a basic understanding of the nature and behavior of magic. Such is life.

GLoGtober 2: Slimes (Hypogeum)

 

In the Hypogeum, the wise Folk say, everything is made of three things: Stuff, Life, and Magic. Stuff is solid, life is liquid, and magic is normally a gas. Stuff makes up things like rocks, people, etc. Life and magic can be absorbed in certain kinds of stuff, like a sponge. They disagree on whether these elements can be created, or whether they simply change into one another. 

Most creatures have both life and magic in a framework of stuff. Cooking something normally drains the life out of it, making it drier. This is good, because too much life in a steak might mean it starts kicking around your stomach, making you sick. Stuff without any life in is much harder to digest though, sometimes even impossible. Life tends to stick to one shape, regenerating the kind of stuff its in. That's why your blood stops your wounds, while other people's blood makes you sick (unless you are a vampire). 

But if cooking evaporates the life, then you can put a condenser over the top and distill it. Distilled life doesn't have this "memory", and is normally called a health potion. But there is an easier way.

A slime is the simplest form of creature. Its basically just a blob of life keeping its shape. There's almost no stuff in it. It rolls over other organics and digests it, its own life-memory overcoming theirs. Most of the time, it leaves behind all the other stuff that can't be digested. In this way, it is pretty dangerous.

However, life memorizes stuff. It has a much harder time memorizing life. That is to say, slimes are easy to pop, and only a light simmer makes high quality health potions.

Some slimes are more advanced, and have incorporated other materials into their bodies. These slimes are valuable, because the materials they contain are very easy to extract. However, they are also more dangerous, as their life-memory is much stronger, and thus, they are both harder to kill and quicker at digesting. Magic slimes are the easiest and most common variant.

It should be noted that life memorizes the first life-filled thing it comes across. Drinking life that already has a memory, even a weak one, has side effects. Stay safe out there.

Life comes in Green, Red, Black, and White flavors. Magic, Blue, Purple, and Yellow.

GLoGtober plan

Wondrous GLoGtober is upon us! Here is my outline for the starting festivities, rolled randomly from the linked post:

1. Someone else’s setting (CatDragon's Blue Knights)
2. Slimes
3. Orb
4. Dungeon
5. Cleric
6. War (past or present)
7. Index card

Mostly within my wheelhouse, except for the last two. I will be attempting every badge I can garner, but my workload may prevent completion. As well, my RNGesus exemplar requirement was rolled to be Calendar Fiend. I think that's most of the formalities out of the way. Best of luck on this GLoGtober!

Joesky tax:

Hyper-Saffron, drug of choice among the flowered isles. Rolled and smoked. Causes dizziness, mild hullucination, and a "warming" of the vision (enhances the sight of warm colors, causes patterns to appear more intricate, negates feelings of coldness or poverty, etc.). Spectacularly expensive, though just one strand can last an entire day.