DOLMEN FIELDS

 FIELDS OF THE DEAD. Before CHARLEMAGNE’S civilizing age, a community’s dead would be buried under stone cairns and dolmens. These days, tomb robbers frequent these ruins of ancient graveyards for a quick mark.

DOLMEN CONTENTS. Roll 2d10.

2 A corpse clutching TREASURE.

3 A priest corpse, holding a SCROLL.

4 A corpse buried with STEEP equipment.

5 A warrior corpse, armor AS CHAIN intact.

6 A monarch corpse, clad in tarnished valuables.

7 A corpse buried with MODERATE equipment.

8 A corpse holding a map.

9 An animal corpse, lovingly preserved.

10 A corpse buried with CHEAP equipment.

11 An interned corpse.

12 An empty grave, already plundered.

13 A pit of skulls.

14 The corpses of two lovers, embracing in death.

15 A ghoul in a shallow grave.

16 A scavenger-dug tunnel to the UNDERDARK.

17 A pit lined with sharpened bone under a thin layer of earth.

18 A fungal colony that releases toxic spores when disturbed.

19 A volatile potassium charge, shallowly buried.

20 A gilded skeletal hand sticking up, wired to collapse the dolmen.

Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

Condition rules for Pb

 AILMENTS. An AILMENT you contract takes a SLOT. Every UNDERTAKING and day spent TRAVELING, roll MIGHT for each AILMENT you’ve contracted. If you fail, that AILMENT takes another SLOT.

TERMINAL. When an AILMENT takes 5 SLOTS, it becomes TERMINAL. TERMINAL conditions persist even if the AILMENT is cured by rest.

RANDOM AILMENTS.

1 EXHAUSTION. Contract from difficult travel. For every SLOT, -1 to all STATS. At 5 SLOTS, fall into a day-long coma; die if untreated.

2 INFECTION. Contract from filthy conditions. For every SLOT, -1 max HP. At 5 SLOTS, a random limb stops working.

3 LOCKJAW. Contract from rust drawing blood. For every SLOT, -1 MIGHT and FINESSE. At 5 SLOTS, seize up until treated.

4 RED COUGH. Contract from scarlet-smelling air. For every SLOT, -1 random sense. At 5 SLOTS, cough up blood when you try to speak.

5 THE POX. Contract from ghoul bites. For every SLOT, a random part of your body withers and rots. At 5 SLOTS, become a ghoul.

6 MAGE-BLIGHT. Contract from sites of magical disaster. For every SLOT, -1 CHARGE. At 5 SLOTS, you can’t use magic of any kind.

7 SINNER’S BRAND. Contract from the CHURCH’S iron. For every SLOT, -1 to FORTUNE. At 5 SLOTS, the mark is permanent, as is the CHURCH’s ire.

8 ÆTHER FEVER. Contract from Æther exposure. For every SLOT, gain a visible mutation. At 5 SLOTS, seek to hurl yourself into the Æther.

RECOVERY. Take a BREATHER as an UNDERTAKING to heal d6 HP. Sleep a night to heal all HP. Rest in town for a day to cure 1 AILMENT.

Will delete this post when I add these into the Pb rules proper. Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES (GLoG class: DOPPLEGÄNGER)

    Whether through the mundane means of a well-stocked disguise kit, the magical means of metamorphic power, or the psychic means of a dissociative split, you contain multitudes.

SKILLS: Sleight of hand, climbing, or music.

EQUIPMENT: Carving knife, tailor’s kit, a past-life trinket (see below).

A: SECOND SKINS (+1 IDENTITY), MOLT.

B: MIMESIS, +1 IDENTITY.

C: PHYSIOMORPHY, +1 IDENTITY.

D: CULTIVATED, DUALITY or CHAMELEONIC, +1 IDENTITY.

SECOND SKINS. You have an alternate IDENTITY you can occupy with a day of rest. This IDENTITY has its own appearance, temperament, background, and set of connections as appropriate. Every LEVEL, develop another IDENTITY. (Your base character counts as an IDENTITY you can occupy, MOLT, etc. If you MOLT your base character, consider the next IDENTITY you occupy your base character.)

MOLT. If you were to die while occupying an IDENTITY, you can declare that that IDENTITY died instead. You can’t occupy them again, but you survive with 1 HP.

MIMESIS. You can convincingly, but not perfectly, mimic anyone you’ve had at least an hour’s conversation with. Like an IDENTITY, you can assume their mannerisms with a long rest. Anyone with reason to doubt you could roll to discover you for who you are.

PHYSIOMORPHY. Roll stats for each of your IDENTITIES. While you’re occupying a given IDENTITY, you have their stats. (When you’re using MIMESIS, use your own stats.)

CULTIVATED. Each of your IDENTITIES gains 1 TEMPLATE in another CLASS. (Your base character does not.) Choose a CAPSTONE TEMPLATE, either DUALITY or CHAMELEONIC.

DUALITY. Choose only one CAPSTONE TEMPLATE. When you occupy a new IDENTITY after a long rest, you can direct one of your other IDENTITIES to perform a simple task in the area (spread a rumor, buy something, murder someone unsuspecting). By the time you next occupy a new IDENTITY, they’ll have completed their task, and everyone will have seen them do it.

CHAMELEONIC. Choose only one CAPSTONE TEMPLATE. You can occupy a new IDENTITY with an UNDERTAKING (dungeon turn).

PAST LIFE TRINKETS. Start with one. Roll a d20.

1 A pot of air-dry clay.

2 A deed to a 1 house 2 tavern 3 manor 4 castle in a distant province.

3 An archeology kit.

4 A parchment star map. It moves to stay accurate.

5 A baleful wind in a bottle.

6 A taxidermied bear mask.

7 A normal-looking coin. Has three sides.

8 A missing pinky, cut off by your old gang.

9 A locket with a piece of mermaid hair.

10 A mouse branded with an ankh.

11 A silver pocket knife.

12 A set of manacles.

13 A rubber ball.

14 A set of woodcarver’s tools.

15 A bestiary, half-filled.

16 An oar, twice-repaired.

17 A dead opossum, half-made into jerky.

18 A pocket watch inscribed with the words “TOO FAST”.

19 A raw diamond the size of your fist.

20 Something more auspicious. Roll a d6.

1 LIVE YOUR TRUTH. A meditative +1 shortsword. Blood it draws coagulates and animates. Each blood imp has HP equal to the damage dealt to create it, and wills only malice. 

2 HEARTS ARE ENGINES. A cheery +1 cutlass. Drive it into the ground; a cleansing acid rain will fall there in a week. 

3 A genie in a bottle, one wish left. 

4 A ring that lets you bend metal like rubber. 

5 A thimble, holding a lake’s worth of water. 

6 A bag of holding, filled to the brim with marbles.

For my 200th post, a class whose templates have been in draft since the year I started blogging. Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

ABYSSAL SAINT

For FifthDragon’s PELAGIA HADA PLURA setting, with CatDragon’s (BirdDragon’s?) help.

I will dance before the lightning, to music sacred and profane…

SKILLS: Choose HAGIOGRAPHY, RHETORIC, or STEALTH.

START WITH An icon of your patron SAINT, a cold iron dagger, and a HOLY RELIC.

A SACRED ECHOES, FAITHFUL.

B FLAGELLANT.

C SACRED ALIGNMENT.

D SAINTLY BODY.

SACRED ECHOES. Practicing the Virtue of your patron SAINT, and imitating their ways, grants you holy power.

LAZAR, BLUE-FINGERED: You practice the Virtue of PATIENCE.

As long as your hands are bound, you can create lightning.

HERACLES, RED-HANDED: You practice the Virtue of TEMPERANCE.

As long as you can have wet blood on your face, you have super strength.

KING, CROWNED APE: You practice the Virtue of HUMILITY.

As long as you don’t touch metal, you can speak to beasts.

MARY, BLIND LADY: You practice the Virtue of CHARITY. 

As long as you wear blue, you can call angels.

IZANAMI, SWORD-WIFE: You practice the Virtue of DILIGENCE. 

As long as you hold a scream, you have iron skin.

SALTPETER, HALF-FACE: You practice the Virtue of CHASTITY. 

As long as you hold something burning, you can read thoughts.

OLD HOOK, GOD’S OWN HAND: You practice the Virtue of KINDNESS. 

As long as you can see the stars, you can fly.

FAITHFUL. [+LEVEL] reaction bonus to the faithful and beasts. [-LEVEL] reaction malus to the faithless and demons.

FLAGELLANT. You can give your HP, as blood, to others. Body parts you remove skitter off to do the work of GOD.

SACRED ALIGNMENT. Make a flesh sacrifice to your SAINT to more fully embody their image. 

LAZAR, BLUE-FINGERED: The first SAINT. Cut off a finger to become undead.

HERACLES, RED-HANDED: Once a mad prince. Cut off a hand to consume anything safely.

KING, CROWNED APE: The only beast SAINT. Cut out your tongue to turn into beasts.

MARY, BLIND LADY:  Built the first cathedral. Poke out an eye for a curative touch.

IZANAMI, SWORD-WIFE:  GOD spoke, she killed. Cut off your breast to cut with your eyes.

SALTPETER, HALF-FACE: Shot his wife’s lover. Cut off an ear to become immune to pain.

OLD HOOK, GOD’S OWN HAND: Bore the mark of CAIN. Cut out a rib to see two minutes into the future.

SAINTLY BODY. You are a scarred mass of sacred sinew, terrible to behold. Become amphibious.

…I am not a stranger to the rain.

HOLY RELICS. Start with one. Roll a d20.

1 PELAGIA HADA PLURA. Contains useful ecclesiastical lore and rituals, like angel anatomy, marriage rites, and fish-cleaning.

2 WATERLOGGED CORPSE. A tattoo-encrusted sinner. Weighs six times as much when wet.

3 DIVING SUIT.  Blessed ceramic plates, a glass helm, and a gold reliquary holding 8 hours of whale jawbone’s holy air.

4 CATHEDRAL PLANS. Charcoal drawings of the stained glass floors of the great cathedrals, even the long-sunk Ark Madrina.

5 ADAMIC SKULL. Still breathes. Once a day, will answer a question, using its Antediluvian memory.

6 LAZAR’S HEART. Reliquary of ceramic, silk, and blackened flesh. Reanimates a corpse it’s put into for 4 days.

7 LAZAR’S NOTEBOOK. Fiberglass tablets into which are etched overlapping cures to various maladies.

8 HERACLES’S BILE. 8 wax-sealed pots of the original 12. Smash one against yourself to become anointed, entering a state of perfect Serenity.
9 HERACLES’S SIGNET. A tin ring of a lion’s skull. Pouring drinks through your fingers purifies them, whoever drinks them is calmed.

10 KING’S TOOTH. Speak as you cut with this canine-dagger and the wound will bear the shape of your words in Adamic, the primal tongue.

11 KING’S SCEPTER. Anyone who sees you bear this Adamic femur is afraid of you.

12 MARY’S LEFT HAND. Hasn’t rotted; has aged. Shards of sharp, jagged bone grow from whatever it touches.

13 MARY’S VEIL. Her tears are still wet. Anyone will accept it as barter at any cost.

14 IZANAMI’S TEARS. An ivory-capped tube filled with what looks exactly like blood. Corrodes anything.

15 IZANAMI’S WHETSTONE. Cold obsidian, heavy in the hand. Indestructible.

16 SALTPETER’S JAWBONE. Marred by ash, carved by lead. Each of its 17 teeth explode as a stick of TNT.

17 SALTPETER’S FLASK. Everyone has their vices. Drinking the last swig of whiskey lets you breathe fire for a day.

18 OLD HOOK’S KNUCKLEBONE. Four joints. Whoever holds it can’t die, though they can still be knocked unconscious and maimed.

19 OLD HOOK’S HAT. Probably best not to think about the skin-like texture for too long. When its wearer tries to speak, they find they can only whisper hoarse curses.

20 SANCTIFIED ARTIFACT. Roll a d6.

    1 IZANAMI’S SWORD. ???

    2 OLD HOOK’S SWORD. ???

    3 SALTPETER’S GUN. ???

    4 KING’S CROWN. ???

    5 LAZAR’S HEAD. ???

    6 MARY, RETURNED. ???

Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

Another Archon bestiary

 

Click the image for another Archon bestiary. 10 monsters, from 1 to 10 HD. (Well, from the lowliest to the most formidable, in a system that uses HD to mean something much different.)

Here's a compiled bestiary, containing both Archon bestiaries, for a total of 20 bespoke monsters and a d20 adventure hook table.

Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.

A Pb dungeon + notes from a pop science book on the periodic table

Click the map below for a Pb adventure. (Hand-drawn, keyed map when I get to it.)

Just finished a lovely book called “Periodic Tales” by Hugh Aldersey-Williams. It was a walkthrough the cultural history of the periodic table of elements. Here were some of the most interesting things I learned:

• Some common alchemical principles: Lead is primordial matter. All metal is on its way to becoming gold. Sulphur and mercury are 2 elemental metals, from which others can be synthesized. Antimony is uniquely seen as having properties of both lead and mercury.
• An apocryphal etymology for “antimony” comes from the story of the monk Basil Valentine. After having seen pigs take antimony, vomit, then fatten, he gave it to his cloister to see if they’d similarly fatten. They died, and the name arose from the chemical being an “anti-monk”. In actuality, antimony is named “against singleness”, in reference to its dual sulphurous/mercurial properties. Antimony is also called the sage’s matter and the grey wolf of philosophers.
• Shot used to be made in specialized "shot towers". Molten lead was dropped from the top of the tower into a basin of cold water at the foot. The falling drop of lead would cool the drop into the shape of a lead bullet.
• Sulphur has long had an association with purgation and the demonic. The sulfur released in blacksmithy produces a noxious scent. “Wieland, the blacksmith god of the Anglo-Saxons… is often represented as banished along with his forge to an island because his work is so repulsive.”
• Annie Besant, a theosophist and feminist, worked with Charles Leadbeater, an ex-Anglican preacher, to “see” molecules through clairvoyance. They found gold was too complex to apprehend, but they could see and describe hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, getting weirdly close to predicting their atomic weights. One strange molecule they “saw” they first identified as helium, but after getting a sample of helium and finding the helium atoms “looked” very different, they named their unknown atom occultum.
• One account of a particularly bountiful silver mine reported that, in the wake of forest fires, molten silver would flow from the source through the soil.
• A village in Japan suffered from a mysterious bone-softening disease called itai-itai. Turns out, there was cadmium in the rice. Zinc and silver mines upriver contaminated the water, which contaminated the crops.
• One of the early ideas for the telegraph was to hook 26 operators up to the copper wires, one for each letter of the alphabet. Messages would be spelled out by shocking the operators in order.
• In some ancient systems of belief, the sky was made of meteorite-iron. In others, the wielder of a meteorite-iron sword would be invincible and all-conquering.
• In the wake of WWI, chlorine gas inhalation therapy was used to help with influenza. Calvin Coolidge notably used it.
• Bleigiessen is a method of divination where molten lead is dropped into water. The shapes it makes are “read”, similar to tea leaves.
• In Bleak House, by Charles Dickens, there’s a case of spontaneous combustion attributed to grievously imbalanced humors.
• In the early medieval period, the king of England owned many of the isle’s forests. “’Forest courts decreed severe penalties ranging from death for taking the king’s deer to blinding or castration for lesser offenses”.
• The blow-pipe is a useful field for in-the-field chemical analysis. It can be used, in conjunction with a flame, to oxidize or reduce a sample, which helps identify it. (Don’t ask me how. I’m a music major.)

And a few notable quotes:

• “These miners… may well have resented these secular intruders with their blithe unconcern for the miners’ obscure traditions.” (The “intruders” here are chemists, hunting for new elements.)
• “It is the matches that contain our phosphorus and the street lamps our hydrogen, not the other way around.” (In response to a Victorian scientist's dissatisfaction in learning that the human body was also made of elements.)
• “Lead is the reification of gravity. …Lead sarcophagi are traditionally used to preserve the bodies of popes and kings to ensure the soul does not escape.” (Organs were also historically preserved in lead.)
• “When she weeps, her tears are of red gold if they fall on solid ground and amber if they fall at sea.” (About Vanadis, after whom Vanadium is named.)
• “[Zinc arrived] too late to find a partner int he alchemical dance that paired the metals with the bodies of the solar system.”
• “The alchemist, while doing whatever it is that alchemists are supposed to do, inadvertently [made] a genuine contribution to science.”
• “Civilization… is simply organized resistance to oxidation.”

Coming next: another Archon bestiary, then probably another adventure? We’ll see. Thanks for reading, and happy gaming.