Learn What I Heard the Sea-born Seer Relate (GLAUGUST, M&M: Fates)

The lot has been cast, and my quest decided: the PRIMEUMATON spake that I must "Breathe New Life into an Old Post". So I shall, and This post seems apt for my Mazes and Minotaurs game.

Fate

The Fates sit before their hearth at the center of the world (which is everywhere), spinning, weaving, cutting, mending, all the twistings of the lives of men. They do this at the behest and consent of Zeus, king of the gods. Of course, he commands them only because he is fated to. Who can search out the workings of the gods?

All the gods (including rather minor ones) can reveal fated futures to men, and especially to their priests and special oracles (which can sometimes include horrible beasts like harpies or sphinxes). It is a bit of an effort. Way easier to just tell them things that were or are, rather than will be. Further, there is a difference between a thing prophesied and a thing fated. Prophesies can be conditional: You will surely die unless you eat that berry. Fates are absolute: You will kill your father and marry your mother.

The conditional nature of prophesy is not uncertainty in the future: the Fates know your future, inexorably. It's instead the choice of the god giving the prophecy to not give you the full story. They're still truthful, and probably more useful than a fate. But if you choose to eat the berry and not die, that was your Fate from the beginning. If you don't eat it and die, that was your Fate from the beginning too. But the god isn't telling you which one will happen.

When a character levels up, they roll to detemine if their Fate has been decided. Roll 1d10, minus the magnitude of their luck modifier, whether positive or negative. If this result is equal to or under their new level, their Fate is decided. A table of fates is given below, which can be rolled by the DM, modified by the character's Luck mod. Or the DM can simply choose which one they have. The gods have been known to play dice, but they aren't bound by them.

Example: Alexandros and Boops (it means "ox-eyed") level up to level 2, and have a luck mod (after ability enhancements) of +1 and -1 respectively. They both roll 3 on their d10 roll. The magnitude of both their luck scores is 1, so they both subtract 1 from 3 and get 2, which is equal to their level. Then, the DM rolls for their Fates. Alexandros gets a +1 to his result here, whereas Boops gets a -1 to his.

Fates (2d6)
≤2. You are going to (or have already) wronged the gods, and will die an ignominious death and have one of those special ironic punishments in hades.
3. You shall die by the sword. Which probably isn't news to you.
4. You shall die by your child.
5. You shall die in some circumstance (1d6):

1. Fire
2. Water
3. Under the earth
4. In the sky
5. On the horns of a bull
6. Due to Bees.

6. Roll again. If you roll this result again, treat it as 5. The result of the second roll is reworded to leave a multitude of interpretations.
7. Roll again. If you roll this result again, treat it as 8. The result of the second roll is complicated by the following factor (1d6):

1. You shall come within a hair's breadth of this fate, but it will not happen.
2. This fate will only come after you have wandered nearly the whole world
3. This fate will only come after you have lost what is dearest to you
4. This fate will only come if you devote yourself to one specific god.
5. This fate cannot come to pass until a certain person or monster is dead
6. This fate is surely impossible, and can be safely ignored! (until it comes down on your head)

8. You shall defeat the terrible [Monster/Evil wizard/What-have-you].
9. You shall learn a great secret.
10. You shall wage a war against [City-state] and win.
11. You shall found a great city.
12. You shall ascend to godhood.
(results 2-5 are "Fated Deaths" while results 8-12 are "Fated Quests")

While you possess a Fate, you cannot die until it is completed. You could be chopped into pieces, turned to stone, cast into the pits of Tartarus, wither until you become a grasshopper, etc. but you can't die. Mechanically, this means that while you could be incapacitated by damage, and "die", effects such as a Nymph's Kiss of Life or a Mithraic Priest's Divine Resurrection have no time limit to work on you, since you aren't technically dead (just mostly dead, and therefore slightly alive). You can also be raised by divine intervention, or even minor intervention (Thanatos will recognize there's been some sort of a mix-up, and bring you back).

However, if you would die, instead you lose something else. This starts at the edges of your life and works in. Maybe you lose your father first, then the rest of your family, then your good name, then that magic item you use all the time, then perhaps a level, then your sight or strength... This also happens if you ignore your fated quest for a year, or do something drastic to avoid a fated death (such as trying to kill your kid). At any time you may declare that you have "nothing left to lose". This stops the "clock" for your tragedies, but you'll roll twice and take the lower result for all rolls that don't work to fulfill your Fate, and you die as soon as possible after you fulfill your fate.

Just because you have a Fate doesn't mean the spindle of Clotho stops turning. You still roll to see if you have a new Fate each time you level up. However, while you have an unfulfilled Fate, your luck modifier doesn't affect the d10 roll (though it still affects the fate-table roll), and you roll an extra dice for each unfulfilled fate you have and take the highest result. Also, rolling a Fate from a level up doesn't tell you (the player or the character) what the fate is. You still need to find an oracle for that, and probably should do it quick before some oracular monster uses it to mess with your head.

Example: Boops levels up to level 3 while still having his fate unfulfilled. He rolls 2d10 to see if he has a new fate, and gets 3 and 8. His luck mod doesn't affect this at all, and he has to take the higher. 8 is higher than his new level, so he doesn't have any new fate.

Finally, none of the gods take kindly to being toyed with. If you use your outlandish Fated Death to do some dumb shenanigans, expect the sudden appearance of your paradoxically unborn child, or a mysterious swarm of angry bees.

Mazes and Minotaurs: d30+ Gods to Show Up for a Minor Intervention

Sometimes a player might make a Minor Intervention without being very specific, or maybe the god they named is busy at the time. Here's a vague list of gods, mostly historical, that might show up instead. I've tried to make it so that the neighbors of each entry are related in some way. The GM may of course decide how the god reacts, but a default behavior is also listed.

1. The Moirai, goddesses of Fate. Mostly just here to giggle, but might give prophecy.
2. Dike, of Justice. Stern and totally impartial, will cut a liar's tongue out.
3. Aedos, of Shame. A veiled woman with a diffident mien, but audacious in word, will reveal whatever people don't want revealed.
4. Nemesis, punisher of hubris. Sympathetic to the unlucky, spiteful if you've prospered
5. The Furies, punishers of sin. If you did kinslaying or breached xenia, will try to kill you. If not, sit around picking their noses.
6. The Graces, givers of gifts. Will cure one curse (of yours or the enemy), or double your Personal Charisma temporarily.
7. The Hours, of fruitfulness. Their mere presence speeds the growth of plants, but mostly they just dance about.
8. Calliope, of Epic poetry. Beatifically bored, wants to see or hear something interesting.
9. Clio, of History. Will tell you, at length, the details of local history and folklore. Mystic fortitude save to stay awake.
10. Euterpe, Erato, Polyhymnia, of Song. The game is a musical now, no more talking only singing.
11. Terpsichore, of Dance. Everyone present gets +3 to their Grace score temporarily.
12. Thalia, of Comedy, and Melpomene, of Tragedy. In an extended and lively debate about how this should end.
13. Urania, of Astronomy. Very agreeable, if sleepy, by daylight; Would like you to leave her alone at night.
14. Iris, of the Rainbow. If she actually shows up, she has a message for you. It's very important.
15. Hermes. Sometimes just shows up!
16. Pan, of the countryside. Will likely scatter everyone about, like they all got drunk and woke up somewhere random. After this, will randomly bother the scattered party members.
17. Eros, of sudden Love. Will select either the two most likely partners, or the two most unlikely partners, and target them with his arrows (which they might dodge).
18. Morpheus, of sleep. Will send all present to sleep, and give them a collective dream, which might be pretty helpful for conflict resolution (50% gate of horn, 50% gate of ivory).
19. Thanatos, of death. 50% he has come for a random person present. If he hasn't come for a specific person, might be persuaded to end someone early.
20. Hebe, or Ganymede, of youth. They (whichever is present) bear the cup of youth, and offer a sip from the worthiest (highest level) mortal present (they can then offer this to an ally). Restores all health and reduces their age by 2d6, down to 16 at lowest.
21. Heracles, of heroes. Gives 100 glory (mazes and minotaurs XP for fighters) to the hero with the highest glory.
22. Asclepius, of health. His first concern is the sick, dying, and dead; Will cure the most dire present (including bringing the dead or undead back to life).
23. Aristeaus, of bees. Believes the situation can be only improved with the addition of a considerable quantity of bees; They aren't angry but there sure are a lot.
24. A Nymph, of whatever is most prominent in the vicinity. Much older and more powerful than player character nymphs. Character (1d4): 1. Amorous 2. Dread 3. Innocent 4. Wise.
25. An Anemoi, of the Winds. Anemoi (1d4): 1. Bearded and grumpy Boreas 2. Youthful and refreshing Zephyrus 3. Warlike and Blustering Notos 4. Contemplative and sullen Eurus.
26. A Nephele, or more likely quite a few, of the Clouds. Delightful encouragers of philosophy and fantasy and apparent enemies of common sense; Will speculate for hours.
27. A Lampad, or more likely quite a few, of Torches. Silent, mischievous, beckon for you to follow (1d4): 1. into the underworld (maybe back out) 2. into a sacred grove 3. up to the starry heavens 4. to be hopelessly lost.
28. Hecate, of magic. Gives 100 wisdom (mazes and minotaurs xp for wizards) to the hero with the highest wisdom, and changes one curse, enchantment, or fate into something stranger.
29. Proteus, of the sea-change. All know his challenge: To the one who can hold him through 3 of his transformations, will tell the future or grant some (broadly beneficial, but possibly weird) change to their physical forms. If you can't, suffer mutation.
30. Chronos, of time. Unlike most gods, who are flighty and fickle and prone to their own desires, he is very patient, and will slow down time or stop it to hear and consider the situation. Surprisingly, perfectly willing to send you back in time. Resolving paradoxes (or choosing not to resolve them) is his job, and he loves his job.

You can and should comment more gods to add to the list. Default behavior is optional.

Encompassing

Wise men have said that writing non-fiction is well worth the time. So I am doing that. This is simply a small essay that attempts to capture or describe a quality or motif that I find wonderful in art. I am no great scholar, so I merely present this to those wiser than I for consideration and inspiration. If I make claims of history or the science of art here, you may feel free to treat them as nonsensically as they strike you.

The topic of this ode is that quality for which I think the best name is "Encompassing". It is the attempt of a work of art to be universal, primarily by touching lightly on the fullness of a certain set of natural things. I think it is a good name, because contained within the word is a quite common application of the idea: to Encompass, circling around the cardinal directions, and thereby around the world.

I think that, even in saying this, examples are springing up in your mind, dear reader, but I will give my own examples of several works, mainly songs or poems, that possess this quality. The song that spurred this essay into being is a modern song set to old music, by John Renbourn, called "Wexford Lullaby". Woven throughout the song is that simple version of the motif which I have already discussed, the four cardinal directions. Yet that is not the only such set in the song.

A clear set can be found in the fifth and sixth stanzas (or the third verse, as I learned it), where we see the sun (both rising and setting), moon, and stars (or lack thereof). Even in those same stanzas, we see the Christian motif of the Nativity, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. Less overt and cleanly divided, but still quite clear, is the stages of life: infancy, youth, adulthood, and deathbed. And finally, merely the icing which coats and sweetens the cake, the many mentions of all sorts of natural environments: The sea, the hills, the fields, the forests, the sky, et cetera.

Of note is that all these sets are put in service of the theme of the work. They are not merely the listing of things, but emphasize the feeling of impending loss that the singer is expressing. I think this is something common to all encompassing works of good quality. They use these sets to apply the theme of the work, increasing its scale or applicability. The singer's loss becomes not only an individual emotion, but something that suffuses the world.

To me, an encompassing work has something of a medieval, or pre-medieval, feeling to it. It seems to evoke welsh triads, proverbs, and other poems meant to instruct the listener in lore and the ways of the world. It gives the impression of a kind of epic wisdom. The Rota Fortunae, the four humors and elements, the three primes of alchemy... I don't know if it was actually more common in the medieval period; I certainly see a good deal of modern works that involve it.

There's simple dyads as well, which don't often lose much potency for being simpler. Night and day, the living and the dead... I think about the stories in which the hero's great victories are told, but never without a mention of their eventual demise. The Psalms almost always speak of sorrow, then of joy, and often feature other encompassing sets as well.

A rarer kind of emcompassing, at least modernly, is ekphrastic. Consider the second stanza of the Song of Eärendil. In this case, the encompassing serves not to make the theme universal, but to make the theme comprehensive. It communicates that Eärendil is not merely impressive in a single aspect, but in all ways both he and his possessions are beautiful and noble (the set of Costly Materials is, of itself, a rare theme nowadays. You don't often hear a poem mentioning several different kinds of gems).

Another rare set, perhaps sensibly rare in the modern day, is the set of Trades. You may look to the mid-19th century "Song of the Lower Classes" for an example here: the Farmer, Miner, Builder, Weaver, and Soldier. Of course, the Trades as a set have become far too specialized and numerous to be encompassed in art without a considerable amount of cleverness (or tedium).

To touch briefly on one last example, the two famous sets of paintings by Thomas Cole, "The Course of Empire" and "The Voyage of Life" are great examples of encompassing works of visual art. There are, of course, many others. Many ancient triptychs seem made to touch briefly on everything. I have personally, in my travels, seen at least 5 different sets of statues for the Four Seasons.

I do not think that this quality of encompassing is necessary or overwhelmingly common. But it is certainly beautiful where it makes a fine appearance. I have read, seen, and heard many great works whose focus dwells totally on a single theme in a single instance. However, I think the idea is worth considering while you, dear reader, are creating your own art. To make a work encompassing can give it both a sense of perspective, and of great significance.

(Though, perhaps it is not necessary to explain in such detail to a reader of this blog the joys of making comprehensive lists or referencing reductionist classifications. Oh well!)

51 questions for your GLoGhack (and mine)

From Phlox's GLoG discord

1. How do I make enough money to have regular meals? (Deus)

2. What do people do to get Fucked up around here?  (Vayra)

3. How much racism are we talking? Fantasy racism or regular? (Vayra)

4. Who's the nearest religious figure I can annoy? (Vayra)

5. Why do most sensible people avoid [Magic Users]? (Gorinich)

6. What's the local sports team? What do they play? are they any good? (Vayra)

7. What's my sword made of? I started with three rations, what are they? Are they any good? (Vayra)

8. What actually is a GLoG? (Everythings)

9. Where can I find some orbs? (Gorinich)

10. What do orbs do? (Gorinich)

11. Why's the Milk gone? (Everythings)

12. Can I have a pet? Can I have a weird pet? Can it talk? (Vayra)

13. Am I allowed to be famous from the start or do I have to figure it out in play? (Vayra)

14. Am I allowed to be cursed from the start or do I have to figure it out in play? (Vayra)

15. What possible explanations would you accept for me being a time traveler, or from a different dimension? (vayra)

16. Is evil real? What is it? (random_interrupt)

17. Frogs? (Everythings)

18. What's the best combat aircraft available? How much does it cost? How much does a flight of four of them cost? (vayra)

19. That's too expensive. How can I steal one/four? (vayra)

20. Are italians real? why not? Can I say my rations are ragu, in case I run into some? (vayra 🙄)

21. Is there some kind of wizard boss, or kung fu boss, how good is his kung fu/wozerdry? (random_interrupt)

22. What's the die I'm going to be rolling for checks? Is my character aware of its existence? What's the save vs. existential horror? (fifth)

23. How many children am I allowed to start with? How about chickens? (vayra)

24. What's the deal with demons in this setting? Pure evil, just a type of creature, incarnations of desire or sin, depends on the subtype? (sylvanas_iii)

25. Same as the above, but with angels (sylvanas_iii)

26. How mad do people get when you pick their pockets? Are we talking "fight to the death" or "nooooo stooooop" or somewhere in between? (vayra)

27. How long is a round? How is momentum tracked? [Can I make a peasant railgun] (fifth, abridged)

28. Do I have to be from around here? can I be from space? (random_interrupt)

29. Roll under or roll over? What are the ability scores and what's an average score? (sylvanas_iii)

30. What happens if I steal another player's character sheet? can I mind control them, or do I become them? (fifth)

31. How easy is it to learn to cast FIREBALL? (sylvanas_iii)

32. What happens at 0 hp? is it different for NPCs? What about below zero? (Vayra)

33. How much xp do I get for buying pizza? (fifth)

34. Does destiny exist? Can it be changed? Can I stand outside it and watch you all like a spectator at a puppet show? (random_interrupt)

35. what direction do numbers go in? (fifth) 

36. Have you playtested any of this? (Vayra)

37. How many types of magic user are there? do they stack? (sylvanas_iii)

38. Are there sumptuary laws? like, will I get flogged for wearing magenta? (random_interrupt)

39. What are the important dates to know? Big festivals, metaphysical anniversaries, eclipses, comets, etc? (vayra)

40. Can I play as many goblins? a Mimic? a literal dragon? (sylvanas_iii)

41. What exactly is a hitpoint anyway? Toughness, luck, skill, or chi? (random_interrupt)

42. What kind of goblins are there in this world? if there aren't any, what's the closest thing? (sylvanas_iii)

43. If I play a priest, do I have any actual political power, or will I get treated like any other dusty knave?  (random_interrupt)

44. Can I use this class I found on the internet with the same name and concept as one you've provided? (phlox)

45. What's the optimal substance to consume before playing this GLoGhack? (and why is it orbs?) (everythings)

46. How many classes are on offer? How many of them are magic things? (sylvanas_iii)

47. Can I play (insert literally any character here)? (sylvanas_iii)

48. How much do I have to read? (phlox)

49. Will we actually be using the inventory rules, or can I just pretend? (phlox)

50. Why? (purplecthulu)

51. Whom? (fifth)

Now you can answer all fifty-one, or randomly choose however many you want! Hope you enjoyed this brief foray into stealing Transcription.

d12x3 Legendary Weapons + Examples

 

 

Forms1. Sword
2. Staff
3. Bow
4. Axe
5. Spear
6. Ring
7. Vase or Container
8. Rake or Shovel
9. Mace or Hammer
10. Wand or Vajra
11. Crown or Jewel or Technique
12. Clothes or Armor or Warform

Powers
1. Can summon forth some element
2. Super Massive
3. Shoots energy beams
4. Wields itself
5. Summons living things
6. Cuts/Pierces/Smashes at great size (levels mountains)
7. Summons Illusions
8. Destroy Magic
9. Super Hard / Sharp
10. Multiplies itself
11. Can kill gods
12. Destroys Creation

Sources
1. Owned by powerful being
2. Made by a powerful being 
3. Actually a notable object (a mountain, the ocean, the moon, etc.)
4. Actually a metaphysical object (the sins of men, universal order)
5. Actually a spirit or god transformed into a weapon
6. Very Old or Experienced
7. Made of something mundanely valuable
8. Made of something legendary
9. Is itself a divinity
10. Exploits universal axioms (trigrams, moieties, harmonics)
11. Given a powerful name, which it grew to fulfill 
12. It just works060 TRIGRAM SCEPTER
Fucks with feng shui on like. Continent scales. Wave it around and mountains, rivers, kingdoms, and oceans will rush about to find more stable and auspicious positions. You can move one place to another with some precision, but that shuffles around basically the whole geography. If you do the math you can mitigate consequences.

657 JADE GHOSTS HOOP
Opens an unrestricted gate to the underworld, causing numerous ghosts to be ejected due to the underworld's strong spiritual pressure.

172 LYING CRESCENT MOON
A bladed crescent with a central handle, an embodiment of the moon on earth. When swung she causes the actual fucking moon to shift around accordingly, and creates pale, swaying phantasms around the wielder with the flashing of her blade. (Varya)

432 WORMS EMANATION LABRYS
a labrys which writhes in the grip, sends forth a slice which kills 2/3rds of those it touches.

1A9 SHATTERED RIGHTEOUS WORD
Once a rebellious divinity of pride, murdered and broken for their sin. Now thirsts for retribution. Its edge grows sharper by its wielders arrogance- with sufficient self-confidence, could overcome even the god's self-absorbtion- if of course the wielder truly knows themselves as greater. (Fifth)

788 HEAVENGOLD CAULDRON
made from the gold which colors the clouds of the celestial realm, if you place an enchantment inside it, the enchantment reduces down to mercury.

595 CELESTIAL AXIS SPEAR
This jeweled spear can pierce right through anything, and is unbreakable. In reality it is the celestial official in charge of the axis mundi, in disguise.

404 VIOLENCE UNFOUND
An axe which is literally war and blood feuds. Can be made into many, but they don't like. fly around and wield themself. Heavy handed metaphor.

A41 WISDOM STONE
yeah this is just an ioun stone. owned by ioun once. you ever notice how everyone in the osr uses the term "ioun stone" but nobody actually uses the god ioun? I think its interesting. Apparently the stones predate the god.

363 NORTHERN RAINS
A bow of crystal. Actually, obviously, the Northern Rains. When shot at something, the arrow erodes it as if there had been a torrential flood for weeks.

320 NATURES DANCE HARMONY
A bow of rowan. The string vibrates at a frequency that harmonizes with the concept of size, allowing the whole item to grow or shrink when plucked.

Ω95 SELF EMPTYING IRON
This dread aspect causes one's flesh to become like iron, and shine like the sun. Its the fusion of yourself with the spirit of Iron Pyramid, a disciple of the enlightened one, and reflects his wisdom.

634 ALL POWER GENERATOR
This ring of pearl about a handspan in diameter crackles and gives you vertigo. It can shoot out a beam, the power of which seems to increase each day since you receive it. Its actually the energetic output of the whole universe. Having it actually in the universe is probably gonna get some celestial lawkeepers after you.

90A TEN MACE STRENGTH
A mace of bronze. Named so as to give it the power of ten maces. Actually just splits into ten maces.

523 GREAT TREE JAVELIN
a very heavy redwood javelin. Actually, you guessed it, a massive redwood tree.

364 PASSIONS AND LONGINGS
A very dangerous bow. When shot, causes its target and anywhere between 1 and 1000 bystanders (including oneself) to die. Pious and enlightened folk are immune. No other immunity can stop it.

493 SEVEN MOUNTAINS RANGE
A stone axe, sharp and hard. Really a nearby mountain range.

A30 FIVE PHASES CULTIVATION
A technique of internal alchemy. By especially positioning elemental energy in your body, you can cause it to feed off each other in a growing and accelerating cycle. The energy provided means the user will no longer need to eat, but imbalance and meltdown at common. Those of exceptional strength may purposefully overclock it to fire devastating beams, but this runs an even higher risk.


(please ignore the weird formatting)