Necromancy

 Dyson Logos #Dicember2021 Prompt: Skull

Continuing to update: The hierarchy of the undead.

Some magic users are able to communicate between the realms of the living and the dead. They are necromancers. Their craft is that of the parlay.

Skeletons: Souls that don't cross over are slowly driven insane. Necromancers promise them a return to the realm of the living by binding them into skeletons.

Zombies: Not souls at all, there are other dark forces that seek entry into the world. The freshly dead are ready conduits for these dark entities that hate life.

Draugr:

Weight: 

Ghouls:

Ghost:  

Wraith:

Revenant: 

Banshee:

Mummies: There are rituals that can extend life beyond death by trapping the spirit in canopic jars. Generally the ultimate goal is to transplant the spirit into a still living being.

Vampires: The darkest means of achieving immortality, vampires are mortals who extend their own lives by draining the life of others, usually by consuming their blood.

Liches: A lich is a wizard who has used magic to exist beyond the limits of their mortal forms. They subsist on magic like the living subsist on food and water.

May I spend the Night?

Dyson Logos #Dicember2021 Prompt: Night

 We've all seen it: "We make camp in the dungeon." I'm here to cite the rules and tell you my favorite DM phrase, "Yes, But..."

This one is going to quote a lot of rules, if you haven't figured it out I lean heavily into B/X, Holmes, and derivatives of those systems (like OSE and Basic Fantasy).

Wandering Monsters

1-in-6 chance every 2 Turns (20 minutes) or 42% chance each hour. So the party wanted to hole up in a dungeon for 8 hours and "rest" making 3 checks each hour, these are their chances of rolling a 1 on their wandering monster check somewhere along the way. By the end of 8 hours the party will have made no less than 24 wandering monster checks.

2 Hours: 66.5%

3 Hours: 80.6%

4 Hours: 88.8%

5 Hours: 93.5%

6 Hours: 96.2%

7 Hours: 97.8%

8 Hours: 98.7%

Almost, but not quite, impossible to make it 8 hours without being interrupted. Most books seem to refer to sleep needed as "an uninterrupted night" which could be anywhere from 6 to 12 hours so using 8 hours seems fair. Scientifically a "healthy" amount of sleep is 7 to 9 hours.

A wizard cannot get sufficient sleep inside the dungeon to regain spells unless they go to great lengths to make themselves nigh impossible to wake up and their companions are able to keep them protected. Obviously natural healing cannot take place since it requires 24 hours of total uninterrupted rest.

Yes! You make camp in the dungeon. BUT, you regain no spells, abilities, or hit points. Statistically speaking all you did was manage to get into a fight!

NOW! What about overland travel? The grand adventure? Surely camping out under the stars is a viable option!

And it is! The referee will check 1/day by the rules (although it does give them leeway to check more frequently). I will generally check one time every eight hours (morning, noon, night) giving the adventuring party a 42% chance of having an encounter in a 24 hour period. By chunking it into 8 hours it also allows for spellcasters to regain their spells on the first "successful" wandering monster check while resting.

Edited 7/17/2022 for clarity

For the Adventurer who has everything

 Dyson Logos #Dicember2021 Prompt: Presents!

Barrel of Hiding: This nondescript barrel can hide human or smaller sized creature plus a light load that they are carrying. The barrel offers protection against mind reading, remote viewing, and invisibility to anything within the barrel. The barrel's weight is unaffected by this magic.

Companion Chest: This large locking chest has four doglike legs and moves 90' (30'). It can carry 2,000 coins unencumbered or up to 4,000 coins at half speed. It has a moral of 6 and will run full speed in a random direction for 2d6 turns if targeted by an attack or trap.

Gibberer's Stole: A white and green stole embroidered with golden writing. Read Magic or Read Languages will reveal the writing to be magical but incomprehensible. Whenever the wearer speaks there is a 2-in-6 chance that they speak gibberish and cast a random spell on themselves or the closest eligible target. Area spells are always centered on themselves. Can only be removed with Dispel Curse.

Minotaur Ring: If pierced through the nose the wearer grows bull horns and a d6 gore attack.

Witch's Bridle: If worn the wearer turns into a riding horse retaining their intelligence but losing the ability to speak. The wearer is unable to remove the bridle themselves.

 Thurible of the Unseen: This silver thurible is decorated with eyes fashioned from onyx. Placing a gem worth at least 100gp in it will cast Detect Magic or Find Traps.

Old Daemons

 Dyson Logos #Dicember2021

Did some research on Daemons. Interesting stuff, a lot of Daemons in the western tradition predating Christianity actually being entities that bring good fortune. It reminds me how much influence Abrahamic religions actually have in RPGs which, on the surface, appear to lean into pantheons with multitudes of gods.

It makes me want to really lean into a world where there are countless divine beings among the mortals. In Mesopotamia after sacking a rival city-state they would sometimes take the statue of the city-state's god and move it to their own capital, effectively holding the god of that city-state captive. That is wild and sparks a million campaign ideas in and of itself.

What if all the clerics in a city-state lost their magic if their god or goddess was taken from the city and held hostage in another city-state. What if by holding a god hostage, a city-state's clergy gained the powers of that god or goddess?

Having the protection of a god or goddess within your city-state in that world would literally fend off disease, bring good weather, and improve security. Just look at some of the magic the clergy in the city-state would have access to!

1. Cure Light Wounds
2. Purify Food and Water
3. Speak with Animals
4. Cure Disease
5. Remove Curse
6. Create Water
7. Neutralize Poison
8. Speak with Plants
9. Commune
10. Create Food

 Now you have a "points of lights campaign" where these Daemons are highly localized, and due to political maneuvers not necessarily evenly distributed. And on the fringes where the smaller towns and villages have been stripped of their guardian Daemons the people start to look for older more capricious alternatives to fill the gap <insert Magic Users>.

Shame and Glory

Keeping it going! Dyson Logos #Dicember2021

Honor, Bushido, Law/Chaos, Good/Evil, Paragon/Renegade, Light Side/Dark Side, Sanity - it comes in a million flavors but it all boils down to the same thing. Actions have consequences (and not all consequences are bad). I have never seen it particularly well mechanized in a TTRPG.

I'm really back and forth on whether I want that in my game. Really it comes down to three categories of this type of "Consequence Tracking."

Cosmic Warping: Good/Evil/Law/Chaos is a real tangible thing that can manifest and warp the "real world" in noticeable ways. Examples: Star Wars (Jedi/Sith), Dark Sun (Preservers/Defilers), Call of Cthulhu (Sanity)

Social Perception: This is a reflection of how the character is perceived by those around them. Examples: Legend of the Five Rings, Pendragon

Flavor/Static: I made a category as a catch all for systems that have it, but don't really USE it. In these it is usually used as classification tool rather than a dynamic influence on the world. Example: D&D Alignment

I like #1 and #2, but when broken out like that I don't really think they would be the same mechanic. For the purpose of the prompt (SHAME) I'm going to lean into #2 with a quick hitting idea I might refine later.

The idea I really like that seems light on DM book keeping is the same way that Fallout tracks relationships with factions. Helping a faction will give GLORY which will give positive modifiers to reaction rolls and loyalty rolls with people from that faction. Working against a faction will provide Shame which gives negative modifiers to reaction rolls and loyalty modifiers.

I think this needs more work, but it is a starting point. Also, putting a pin in "Cosmic Warping" to revisit that one at a later date.

 

Buy two Magic Swords and get a Magic Shield FREE!

I started this blog because I'm working on a module, a module that could possibly never see the light of day because I am a perfectionist. There are things in it though that should get out into the world and today's #DICEMBER2021 idea spark is BLADES, the perfect excuse to drop some loot on you.

 

Bounty Blade: A long sword with a broad cross-hilt that can be held with one or two hands. The pommel has an empty setting below the grip where a gemstone is missing. +1 sword. The wielder may request that a bounty be paid in a single gem worth 500gp per HD of the target the bounty is being placed on. That gem is then set into the pommel and the wielder can locate the target's direction but not distance as an action. Additionally, the wielder gains +3 against the named target. The bounty lasts 30 days and 30 nights, after which if the contract is not fulfilled the gem magically returns to the person who originally placed the bounty. If the bounty is completed, the gem falls out of the pommel and is the wielder's to keep.

Necromancer’s Cleaver: A thick butcher’s knife with a rust red blade and sickly matte green handle like old copper. +1 dagger. When used to amputate an appendage it immediately becomes undead under the command of the being from which it was amputated. HD 1-1 (3hp) AC 7 ATK 1x1d6 THAC0 20 MV 120’ SV NH.  The hand has normal undead resistances but cannot be turned as long as its owner is alive.

Target Targe: A wooden shield covered in burlap with a red and white target emblazoned on it. +2 vs. Missiles. All missile attacks made vs. targets within 15’ of the wielder instead target the wielder.

Going Berserk

Dyson Logos #DICEMBER2021 

I wanted to explore Barbarians more after listening to an episode on them @ The Wandering DMs on my way to work this week. Today's topic is RAGE so its the perfect time to dig in!

What informs the Barbarian?

1. Cuchulainn (Irish Mythology): Maybe the original Incredible Hulk?

2. Hercules: Kills is family in a divine rage

3. Achilles: In The Iliad he kills basically everybody

4. Odin (The Furious One) and the Beserkers (Bear-shirts) of the Norse

5. Shakespear: Hamlet in Hamlet and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet

6. Comics: Obviously the Hulk, but Batman, Thor, & Wolverine are also prone to murderous episodes

 

What is super interesting as I go through the examples, they are all BAD things.  The rage that seems to inform D&D's Barbarian is not a strength, it is a weakness of the hero/protagonist. To the point that a proneness to raging is used AGAINST people. Often it is a tactic in fiction to drive your enemy INTO a rage to take advantage of their blind fury.

 

 Spell:

 

Berserker's Rage (MU 1)

Duration:  3 Turns

Range: 60'

This spell causes 1 creature with 4 HD or less to fly into a berserk rage. In this rage the target has a morale of 12, deals double damage, takes double damage, and will not die as long as the spell is in effect. The target will attack hostile targets first but in the absence of hostile targets it must succeed save vs. spells each round or attack non-hostile or friendly targets.

Magic Item:

Berserker's Rönd: A circular wood shield painted yellow with the blue motif of a bear head. It is shod and studded with iron. Around its rim it is worn and gnawed upon. Biting the Berserker's Rönd will cause the user to fly into a Berserk rage for 3 turns dealing double damage, taking double damage, and unable to die until the effect ends. This state ends if there is nothing to kill within line of sight. The user will target hostile targets first, however when there are no more hostile targets the user must succeed save vs. spells each turn to not attack non-hostile or friendly targets.

 

Strict Time Records Are Not Kept

 Dyson Logos #Dicember2021

#Dicember 3^rd, and the prompt is CHILD. Something that always bothered me in D&D was the long lived people because I could never wrap my head around the relationships between folk with such disparate lives. Are their life-cycles like humans? Does an elf remain a child for 160 years? Do they mature at the same rate (16-18 years) and then just have an extended adulthood? These things bother me (they shouldn’t).

Well, I came up with a solution for my game (expanding hard on Tolkien’s elven wood).

Different peoples don't have different lifespans.  In wild spaces like faerie woods and the mythic underworld time itself moves slower. These places are inherently cruel and capricious, places that mortals have long known offer two things: power and death. A day spent in these ancient locals will see the civilized spaces advance a week, a year spent in these places of power will see 6 years pass in the rest of the world. Therefore, ancient kingdoms of elves and dwarves deep in these place will seem to be strange immortal folk, even to their own cousins living in civilized lands. However, those living in these magical places do not perceive the difference in the passage of time and gain no benefit of a fuller life or more experiences, it is only noticeable to those who pass back and forth between the two realms.

 

This is why magic users build their towers in such places, why elves rarely venture far from their woods, and why dwarves seldom descend from their mountains. It is also why adventurers are so rare and unconnected, over time they begin to see the world differently. Repeated excursions into these places have a lasting impact, the hours and days slowly adding up as they watch their friends and family grow old and infirm. Most are merely forgotten, wealthy mysterious strangers returning to homes that no longer remember them.

 

Bringing Back Magical Research

I struggle to post because I'm a perfectionist. I'm hopping onto Dyson's DICEMBER2021 challenge to try and break that (I'm only 1 day late, I might go back and make up the ammunition prompt this weekend). Here we go with the ICE prompt!

Dyson Logos #DICEMBER2021

There are a few rules in D&D that are as evocative as they are difficult to implement. One that always gets my imagination spinning is Magical Research:

"It is also possible for a magic-user, through expenditure of much money for research, to create new spells. The Dungeon Master must agree that the spell is appropriate to the level of the character trying to create it, the magic-user must spend 2000 gold pieces per level of the spell and one week of time. He then has a 20% chance of success." -Holmes Basic D&D

Magic always felt like it walked a line between science and art;  on one hand governed by incomprehensible cosmic laws and on the other a deeply personal expression of the wielder. Here is an exploration into the creation of an Ice Mage (although this system could be expanded to all kinds of magical disciplines).

Here we go, a completely untested mechanic to destroy your game!

At level 1 a Magic User may choose a Discipline (examples: Ice, Fire, Storm, Undeath, etc). The default is a generalist which treats all spells as non-discipline.

When finding a spell scroll or spell book the caster may make a check to add the spell to their spell book. Each spell may only be checked once per level to see if it is learned. Attempting to learn a spell from a scroll uses of the scroll whether or not the check is successful.

Before attempting to learn a found spell the Dungeon Master determines if the spell is within the Magic User's discipline, outside of their discipline, or antithetical to their discipline. Magic Users have a greater chance to learn spells within their discipline and a lesser chance to learn spells antithetical to their discipline.

A magic user may spend 2000 gold pieces per spell level and one week of time to re-interpret or convert a found spell to their chosen discipline before attempting to learn it (thus increasing their chances of ultimately adding the spell to their spell book). Generalist magic users may not do this.

I would take this further, only allowing magic users to prepare one copy of a given spell. However, one could imagine a magic user preparing Icicle Volley (magic missile), Spark Shower (magic missile), and Fire Arrow (magic missile).

Some example "converted" spells:

Icicle Volley (Magic Missile): Auto-hit, 1d6+1 piercing, +1 missile/5 levels, x2 vs. fire creature (the piercing damage reduces the effectiveness vs. undead offsetting the bonus vs. fire).

Glacial Armor (Shield): AC2 vs. Missiles, AC4 vs. Melee. Successful melee hit shatters armor ending effect but dealing 1d6 damage to attacker.

Freeze Shut (Hold Portal): Open with fire based spell/ability or forced open by creature with +3HD more than the caster.

Cold Snap (Web): Frozen creatures can't move (Str to break free), flames negate effects

Freeze Solid (Hold Person): Paralyze (save vs. spells)

Bitter Cold (Cloudkill): Freezing fog moves 20'/round dealing 1 hp damage/round to all creatures in contact with it. <5 HD also save vs. death.

Flash Freeze (Transmute Rock to Mud): Transmute 3,000 square feet of water into 10' sheet of ice. Creatures caught in/walking on ice move 10% regular speed.