Foreboding is a difficult emotion to evoke, but amplifies the enjoyment of having wandering monsters in adventure games. This is a procedure for using them in old school D&D. I used a variant of this procedure in Emern, but this is the cleaned up version.
Example of a wandering monster table using monsters from Necrocarcerus.
You will need
A wandering monster table organised into rows and columns as above.
A blank table with the same number of rows and columns as above.
3d6, with one die distinct from the other two.
Procedure
Designate one PC as "the guard" or "on watch" who will roll. Whenever a random encounter is rolled for, they pick up the 3d6 and roll it. The distinct die determines the column, telling you what they encounter, while the other 2d6 tell you which monster it comes from. The guard should fill out the grid as entries are rolled.
Each of the top six columns has a different effect:
1 - Monster - The party encounters the monster(s). Roll surprise and opening distance.
2 - Lair - The party discovers a lair of monsters. Roll surprise and opening distance. If the PCs surprise the monsters and the monsters do not surprise the PCs, the lair is empty.
3 - Spoor - Monsters are nearby. -3 on the distinct die's next roll (count rolls less than 1 as 1).
4 - Tracks - The monster has passed this way recently. Characters who can track can follow this to hunt the monster. If they choose too, roll the distinct die and subtract 2 from its result (count rolls less than 1 as 1). Or, characters may choose to divert away from the tracks and add 2 to their next roll of the distinct die.
5 - Traces - Traces can be used to identify monsters.
6 - Traces - Traces can be used to identify monsters.
Notes on Designing Tables
These are regional tables, obviously, and you can certainly have more than 11 entries organised around a bell curve. The important part of this method is really the columns and the possibility of more than a binary outcome for the roll.
This does mean that just under 33% of all random encounter rolls will result in the possibility of encounter a monster. If you wish to reduce this, switch to a d8 or d10 and add more Spoor, Track and Trace columns.
Traces
Each monster should have two distinct traces. Repetition is fine, but whenever possible, repeat the entries in different columns rather than the same column, unless the purpose is to confound the PCs. If your game has a skill governing knowledge of monsters, consider allowing the PCs to roll it to identify some possible candidate monsters who would leave these traces. If you don't play with such a skill, consider making the traces such that together, they provide a relatively clear and narrow list of candidates. When I used this in Emern, one of the entries was giant shock lizards, so the PCs encountered lizard scales and clawprints all over the place, with the shock power remaining a surprise to be discovered in the actual encounter.
Tracks
The main purpose of tracks is to help the PCs determine where the monster is without seeing them directly. Footprints on the ground or crushed vegetation are classics, but I also like to use distant recurring sounds. I like to salt the tracks entries with a few blanks or "None" entries for monsters that are untrackable, which creates foreboding. However, I would encourage you not to simply make every incorporeal, flying, etc. monster untrackable. The Flying Oozes leave chemtrails from their jetpacks, for example.
If you increase the number of columns, consider secretly rolling 1d6 whenever tracks are rolled. 1-3, the PCs mistake the direction the tracks are going, and when they think they are veering away, they are actually closing in on the monster, and vice versa.
Spoor
My favourite kinds of spoor are abandoned lairs, camps, prey or victims. I normally count spoor as relatively fresh, but you may wish to roll 1d6, with 1-3 meaning it is fresh (and therefore provides -1 to the next roll), and 4-6 meaning it is old (+1 to the next roll). Spoor is also a good entry if you want to introduce clues or other details about the world or story, since it is a trace of the monster stopping for a brief period. Spoor can also involve minor trap / non-combat encounters - the table above has the Mendicant Parasites leaving gibbering madmen in their wake who the PCs can try to interrogate.
Lair
Lairs should not automatically result in encounters, but they should require immediate action or decision to avoid having an encounter, whether to seek cover, run away, etc. if the PCs don't want to fight or clear it. Use the No. in Lair entry to determine how many monsters should be encountered. This is also where most monsters will store their treasure, as opposed to sitting in the purses or stomachs of monsters randomly wandering around.
Depending on the monster, I sometimes allow PCs who destroy or eliminate the lair to remove or blank the entry on the wandering monster table, allowing them to partially clear the area. Future rolls of that entry do not produce random encounters. This creates a different feel between monsters who are singular, recurrent entries (there is only one Pustulent Dragon in the region) or precarious invaders, and ones who are swarms or hordes or endemic to the area.
Monster
The actual monster, obviously.
May 20, 2013
May 16, 2013
Getting Places in Necrocarcerus
There are many ways to get around Necrocarcerus. Whenever the PCs need to get somewhere, roll 2d6 to determine who can get them there. This does not exhaust the possible modes of transport used in Necrocarcerus, it is simply the list of means willing to accept the typical adventuring band as passengers.
2 - No One. Trains are blocked or not due for many days, guides unavailable, The PCs must journey overland to reach their destination using their own resources.
3 - Horde of Pilgrims. A motley band of 2d6 x 100 mendicants and religious fanatics are traveling there by foot, usually along roads. PCs eat for free, the pilgrims will guard them while they sleep. 2-in-6 chance that a cleric with 2d6 levels is attached to the group. They will expect a sizable donation of money or a taxing service somewhere along the journey (always the least convenient time). The pilgrims move at a base rate 1 hex / 10 km per day.
4 - Mounted Knaves. 1d6 x 10 bandits and / or mercenaries mounted on horse-like creatures are willing to guide the PCs to the location in exchange for financial compensation. 50 obols per hex (10km) per person is a standard rate. Haggling over the price is possible, but it simply increases the base 2-in-6 chance that they will betray the PCs to 5-in-6. If required, they will rent horse-like mounts to the PCs for a mere additional 50 obols per day per person. The knaves travel at a base rate of 4 hexes / 40 km per day.
5 - Private Portal Porter. Paid guide to the nearest portal for a mere 200 obols per person. Will not go through portal. Roll 1d6. 1-2 it goes where it's supposed to, dumping the PCs 1d6 km from their location in less than a minute. 3-4 it gets close. 1d6 x 10 km from target destination. 5-6 Portal goes somewhere else entirely. Porter is not always aware of this.
6 - Capitalist Caravaneers. 2d6 wagons and owner-operators. Always in a rush somewhere else. Will hire PCs for 10 obols per person per day to protect them from danger. Prorated refunds expected for nonperformance. Don't hassle the camp followers, even if they hassle you first. Move at a base rate of 3 hexes / 30km per day.
7 - Public Transit. The train system is extensive and popular, and the safest way to travel. The transit system is a major employer for the newly dead, and maintained by the Guardians. Tickets may be purchased at any rail station for 10 obols per person per day of travel. Barring the occasional strike / labour stoppage, trains travel at a base rate of 7 hexes / 70km per day. Weapons must be stowed in storage lockers until the end of the trip. 2d6 passenger cars per train, plus another 2d6 cargo cars, an engine and a caboose.
8 - Styxian Fishing Boat. Goes anywhere there is water, and a few places there isn't. Typically crewed by tactiturn and gaunt figures with a penchant for ominous robes and chain smoking / smoking chains. 10 obols per hex / 10 km travelled. Moves at a base rate of 5 hexes / 50 km per day on water.
9 - Chartered Air Sloop. 2d6 air pirates for crew. Cargo is almost certainly illicit or plundered. Unwelcome in all civilised places, though common enough there nonetheless. They cost a flat 10,000 obols upfront to charter for a single trip lasting no more than 3 days, and will fly anywhere at a base rate of 120 hexes / 1,200 km per day unimpeded or slowed by terrain. Attacks by other air pirates and Perfected Spiders are known hazards. Will wait for returning parties for a mere 2,500 obols per day.
10 - Debt-ridden Demonic Draisine. Two imps will pedal the PCs along any rail line they please, though they take no responsibility for collisions with conventional trains using the same lines. The imps demand their weight in unusual organs per day (payment upfront) and have a base movement rate of 8 hexes / 80 km per day. They travel only along rail lines and constantly attempt to renegotiate their rates, pleading penury.
11 - Stomach-Howdah. The specially prepared stomach of a giant earthworm fitted out for luxury travellers and operated by a trained earthworm handler. Stewards, fine foods, rare wines, all the comforts of the living world for merely 500 obols per person per day. There will be 2d6 other passengers, plus their sycophants and personal servants. 1-in-6 chance a mysterious murder happens while aboard. The worm moves underground at a base rate of 4 hexes / 40 km per day, unimpeded or slowed by terrain.
12 - Convenient Nearby Portal. A conveniently accessible, nearby portal that is publicly known can be activated to transport the PCs to within 1d6 km of their target destination in less than a minute. 2-in-6 chance the portal is two-way.
2 - No One. Trains are blocked or not due for many days, guides unavailable, The PCs must journey overland to reach their destination using their own resources.
3 - Horde of Pilgrims. A motley band of 2d6 x 100 mendicants and religious fanatics are traveling there by foot, usually along roads. PCs eat for free, the pilgrims will guard them while they sleep. 2-in-6 chance that a cleric with 2d6 levels is attached to the group. They will expect a sizable donation of money or a taxing service somewhere along the journey (always the least convenient time). The pilgrims move at a base rate 1 hex / 10 km per day.
4 - Mounted Knaves. 1d6 x 10 bandits and / or mercenaries mounted on horse-like creatures are willing to guide the PCs to the location in exchange for financial compensation. 50 obols per hex (10km) per person is a standard rate. Haggling over the price is possible, but it simply increases the base 2-in-6 chance that they will betray the PCs to 5-in-6. If required, they will rent horse-like mounts to the PCs for a mere additional 50 obols per day per person. The knaves travel at a base rate of 4 hexes / 40 km per day.
5 - Private Portal Porter. Paid guide to the nearest portal for a mere 200 obols per person. Will not go through portal. Roll 1d6. 1-2 it goes where it's supposed to, dumping the PCs 1d6 km from their location in less than a minute. 3-4 it gets close. 1d6 x 10 km from target destination. 5-6 Portal goes somewhere else entirely. Porter is not always aware of this.
6 - Capitalist Caravaneers. 2d6 wagons and owner-operators. Always in a rush somewhere else. Will hire PCs for 10 obols per person per day to protect them from danger. Prorated refunds expected for nonperformance. Don't hassle the camp followers, even if they hassle you first. Move at a base rate of 3 hexes / 30km per day.
7 - Public Transit. The train system is extensive and popular, and the safest way to travel. The transit system is a major employer for the newly dead, and maintained by the Guardians. Tickets may be purchased at any rail station for 10 obols per person per day of travel. Barring the occasional strike / labour stoppage, trains travel at a base rate of 7 hexes / 70km per day. Weapons must be stowed in storage lockers until the end of the trip. 2d6 passenger cars per train, plus another 2d6 cargo cars, an engine and a caboose.
8 - Styxian Fishing Boat. Goes anywhere there is water, and a few places there isn't. Typically crewed by tactiturn and gaunt figures with a penchant for ominous robes and chain smoking / smoking chains. 10 obols per hex / 10 km travelled. Moves at a base rate of 5 hexes / 50 km per day on water.
9 - Chartered Air Sloop. 2d6 air pirates for crew. Cargo is almost certainly illicit or plundered. Unwelcome in all civilised places, though common enough there nonetheless. They cost a flat 10,000 obols upfront to charter for a single trip lasting no more than 3 days, and will fly anywhere at a base rate of 120 hexes / 1,200 km per day unimpeded or slowed by terrain. Attacks by other air pirates and Perfected Spiders are known hazards. Will wait for returning parties for a mere 2,500 obols per day.
10 - Debt-ridden Demonic Draisine. Two imps will pedal the PCs along any rail line they please, though they take no responsibility for collisions with conventional trains using the same lines. The imps demand their weight in unusual organs per day (payment upfront) and have a base movement rate of 8 hexes / 80 km per day. They travel only along rail lines and constantly attempt to renegotiate their rates, pleading penury.
11 - Stomach-Howdah. The specially prepared stomach of a giant earthworm fitted out for luxury travellers and operated by a trained earthworm handler. Stewards, fine foods, rare wines, all the comforts of the living world for merely 500 obols per person per day. There will be 2d6 other passengers, plus their sycophants and personal servants. 1-in-6 chance a mysterious murder happens while aboard. The worm moves underground at a base rate of 4 hexes / 40 km per day, unimpeded or slowed by terrain.
12 - Convenient Nearby Portal. A conveniently accessible, nearby portal that is publicly known can be activated to transport the PCs to within 1d6 km of their target destination in less than a minute. 2-in-6 chance the portal is two-way.
May 10, 2013
Random Door Generation System
The generator requires 2d6, with the dice being different colours or otherwise clearly distinguished (I will refer to them as "light" and "dark"). The generator can be used either prior to play or during play. Using it will give you jerky, irregular corridors and directions more akin to a cave or labyrinth rather than the apartment floor plan style of conventional dungeons. This is intentional.
Doors
Roll 2d6
The direction the "1" on the light die is facing is the direction of the corridor the door is blocking (including up or down).
The direction the "1" on the dark die is facing is the direction to the trigger for the door.
If both dice come up even, the door is unlocked.
If one die comes up even and the other odd, then the door is locked.
If both dice come up odd, the door is stuck.
If the total of the die roll is 7, the door is trapped.
If you roll doubles, the door is already opened (it may be stuck open).
This does mean all upwards-pointing doors will be either stuck or locked but never unlocked, and all downwards facing doors will either be unlocked or locked, but never stuck. I also use it so that the orientation of the door follows the orientation of the die, so if it's oriented in a diamond shape instead of a square, the door is also set in a diamond shape instead of a square.
May 7, 2013
Necrocarcerus Rail Map
Completed my map for Necrocarcerus using AutoRealm. The brown lines are the rail lines, the big labels are regions, the small labels are sections of the macro-urban terrain inhabited enough to be cities demographically (there are many unmarked "towns" and "villages"). Click for the big version (it's pretty big). For scale, this map covers about as much area as Australia.
Apr 15, 2013
Your Body is a Temple to the Black Vermin Gods Pt. 3
Part 1 is here.
Part 2 is here.
Putting Things Inside Yourself
Concoctions
Concoctions differ from mere potions in that they are intended to have a permanent effect by transforming the inner functions of the person. All concoctions are made using Lore (Alchemy), and require a Resilience test from the drinker. Critical failure on the Resilience roll leads to horrible, immediate death; failure results in 1d10 damage that cannot be stopped by magic; success results in no effect whatsoever; on a critical success the concoction works and the drinker experiences whatever effect it is intended to have.
The King of Poisons
An edible black sludge made from the mashed remains of a murder gnome that has eaten a snake that has eaten a rat that has eaten a spider that has eaten a scorpion that has eaten at least ten fire ants. The drinker becomes immune to all poisons, and is considered to have passed any test involving poison with a critical success. Their fingernails turn black. Most common in the Orthocracy and Dwer Tor.
Quicksilver of Longevity
A silvery fluid injected up the nose and into the brain. The recipient stops aging for twenty years and their nose drips silver mucus for the rest of their life. May be used multiple times, but only in sequence. Orthocrats are the most common users of this concoction.
Smoke of Changing Gender
The ground-up gonads of ten different sentient creatures of the desired sex mixed with jimson weed and other herbs and then smoked. The smoker changes sex permanently into the desired sex (usually accompanied by visions of a woman in white performing the changes). Using the magically-potent gonads of sorcerers allows the smoker to change genders with merely an ordinary success.
Coals of Clear Fate
Hot coals made from the sacred wood of the Dreaming Tree set aflame by lava. Must burn to ash while on the tongue, then the recipient must swallow the ash. Grants three visions of how the recipient could die, each one further along in life but more horrible. Recipient must choose one, and will die of it, but cannot be killed prior to that situation. The visions are often vague about some of the critical details. Often used by warriors of the Forest People.
Red Glass Powder
Made by pulverising the vitrified blood of Eternal Night. Must be inhaled. Inhaler gains +25% to all skill rolls at night-time. Pretenders to the Throne of Night must use this concoction publicly to prove their mettle.
Parasites & Symbionts
Purple Literacy Worm
Purple Literacy Worms enter the skull through the nose or ear, and sever the optic nerve before replacing it with themselves. The effect is to render their hosts literate in all languages, though the worm cannot supply meaning or break ciphers. The worm is affected by all conditions that affect the host's body, but must resist separately. The host may survive a poison that kills the worm, or the worm may be magically confused while the host resists. Two outcomes are most likely: The worm either starts eating through the material around it (the host's brain), causing a major wound and the loss of 1d6 INT, or the worm detachs from the back of the eye and the host is blinded until it reattaches. Persistence 25%, Resilience 25%
Whispering Liver
A blackish, intelligent, demonic fluke that replaces the liver of the host and renders them immune to the effects of alcohol or other poisons. Whispering livers talk to their hosts, though most of the advice they offer is bad. The give the host jaundice when they feel they are being ignored. Whispering livers are caught by drinking from unfiltered water and reproduce by provoking the host to vomit a wriggling mass of juveniles into the nearest water source.
Horror Ants
Horror Ants come from the dream world. Once in the Dawnlands, they attempt to build portals to allow more Horror Ants in. Horror Ants' bite requires a Persistence test to resist. Otherwise, the victim is charmed to want to help the ants, who take up residence in their throat and create a certain amount of droning and vocal fry whenever the host speaks. The ants can be killed by eating noxious peppers, drinking poisons, electrical shocks, or by spells specifically targeting them. Disobeying the ants requires a Persistence test: failure causes the victim to collapse and begin screaming as they are filled with terrifying hallucinations. Horror ants are a common vermin in the dream world and tend to slip through portals to it left open too long.
Foot Rats
A soulforged rat species found in the Orthocracy, mated pairs of Foot Rats gnaw off the feet of hosts while they sleep, injecting a soporific anesthetic to complete this task unnoticed and dealing 1d8 damage in the process. They then graft themselves onto the stumps. Foot Rats double the speed a host can walk at, but they are fidgety, and if the host goes more than an hour or so without walking anywhere (for example, if they are trying to sit by a camp fire or read a book), the rats will take it upon themselves to start moving around. The rats sleep for four to six hours at a time, as they please.
Part 2 is here.
Putting Things Inside Yourself
Concoctions
Concoctions differ from mere potions in that they are intended to have a permanent effect by transforming the inner functions of the person. All concoctions are made using Lore (Alchemy), and require a Resilience test from the drinker. Critical failure on the Resilience roll leads to horrible, immediate death; failure results in 1d10 damage that cannot be stopped by magic; success results in no effect whatsoever; on a critical success the concoction works and the drinker experiences whatever effect it is intended to have.
The King of Poisons
An edible black sludge made from the mashed remains of a murder gnome that has eaten a snake that has eaten a rat that has eaten a spider that has eaten a scorpion that has eaten at least ten fire ants. The drinker becomes immune to all poisons, and is considered to have passed any test involving poison with a critical success. Their fingernails turn black. Most common in the Orthocracy and Dwer Tor.
Quicksilver of Longevity
A silvery fluid injected up the nose and into the brain. The recipient stops aging for twenty years and their nose drips silver mucus for the rest of their life. May be used multiple times, but only in sequence. Orthocrats are the most common users of this concoction.
Smoke of Changing Gender
The ground-up gonads of ten different sentient creatures of the desired sex mixed with jimson weed and other herbs and then smoked. The smoker changes sex permanently into the desired sex (usually accompanied by visions of a woman in white performing the changes). Using the magically-potent gonads of sorcerers allows the smoker to change genders with merely an ordinary success.
Coals of Clear Fate
Hot coals made from the sacred wood of the Dreaming Tree set aflame by lava. Must burn to ash while on the tongue, then the recipient must swallow the ash. Grants three visions of how the recipient could die, each one further along in life but more horrible. Recipient must choose one, and will die of it, but cannot be killed prior to that situation. The visions are often vague about some of the critical details. Often used by warriors of the Forest People.
Red Glass Powder
Made by pulverising the vitrified blood of Eternal Night. Must be inhaled. Inhaler gains +25% to all skill rolls at night-time. Pretenders to the Throne of Night must use this concoction publicly to prove their mettle.
Parasites & Symbionts
Purple Literacy Worm
Purple Literacy Worms enter the skull through the nose or ear, and sever the optic nerve before replacing it with themselves. The effect is to render their hosts literate in all languages, though the worm cannot supply meaning or break ciphers. The worm is affected by all conditions that affect the host's body, but must resist separately. The host may survive a poison that kills the worm, or the worm may be magically confused while the host resists. Two outcomes are most likely: The worm either starts eating through the material around it (the host's brain), causing a major wound and the loss of 1d6 INT, or the worm detachs from the back of the eye and the host is blinded until it reattaches. Persistence 25%, Resilience 25%
Whispering Liver
A blackish, intelligent, demonic fluke that replaces the liver of the host and renders them immune to the effects of alcohol or other poisons. Whispering livers talk to their hosts, though most of the advice they offer is bad. The give the host jaundice when they feel they are being ignored. Whispering livers are caught by drinking from unfiltered water and reproduce by provoking the host to vomit a wriggling mass of juveniles into the nearest water source.
Horror Ants
Horror Ants come from the dream world. Once in the Dawnlands, they attempt to build portals to allow more Horror Ants in. Horror Ants' bite requires a Persistence test to resist. Otherwise, the victim is charmed to want to help the ants, who take up residence in their throat and create a certain amount of droning and vocal fry whenever the host speaks. The ants can be killed by eating noxious peppers, drinking poisons, electrical shocks, or by spells specifically targeting them. Disobeying the ants requires a Persistence test: failure causes the victim to collapse and begin screaming as they are filled with terrifying hallucinations. Horror ants are a common vermin in the dream world and tend to slip through portals to it left open too long.
Foot Rats
A soulforged rat species found in the Orthocracy, mated pairs of Foot Rats gnaw off the feet of hosts while they sleep, injecting a soporific anesthetic to complete this task unnoticed and dealing 1d8 damage in the process. They then graft themselves onto the stumps. Foot Rats double the speed a host can walk at, but they are fidgety, and if the host goes more than an hour or so without walking anywhere (for example, if they are trying to sit by a camp fire or read a book), the rats will take it upon themselves to start moving around. The rats sleep for four to six hours at a time, as they please.
Mar 30, 2013
Your Body is a Temple to the Black Vermin Gods Pt. 2
Part 1 is here.
More ways to alter your body:
Cutting Pieces Of Yourself Off
Amputation
Amputated limbs may be turned into familiars by the person they were once part of. All that is required is either the Pet spell (from RQ6) or the Call Spirit spell (from OQ). For the duration of the spell, the limb will be animated and may be commanded to perform any task the caster requires. The body part will continue to decay, but so long as it remains intact, it may reanimated repeatedly.
Amputated hands and feet are also preferred containers for charms, magic point stores, etc. and may be turned into such using the normal rules for their creation.
Blinding
Ritual removal of the eyes can grant Witchsight / Second Sight as per the appropriate spell (depending on whether one is using RQ6 Folk Magic or OQ Battle Magic). The ritual requires the surgeon to have the appropriate spell and achieve a critical success on a Healing test. The ritual can be performed on someone whose eyes have already been removed - it is the elaborate pattern of scars and modifications that carry the spell.
Members of the thaumaturge caste in Dwer Tor often ritually blind themselves as part of an ascetic withdrawal from the concerns of the polis. This is most commonly done late in life, as a form of retirement. Murder gnomes in the Orthocracy usually blind one family member to help them find souls to consume.
Castration
Ritual removal of the testes will transform them into Magic Point Stores (as per the spell) capable of holding a number of Magic Points equal to 1/3rd of the donor's POW at the time of removal. The donor's POW score is not affected. The ovaries can be used in the same way, but the greater danger and difficulty of extracting them makes this less common. The ritual requires the surgeon to test both Sorcery and Healing successfully, and one of the two tests must be a critical success.
Removal of the testes is a reasonably common, though not ubiquitous, condition of admission to schools of sorcery in the Orthocracy of Kaddish. It is fairly uncommon for anyone else, though the Kadiz and Hill People do castrate some war captives as a form of non-magical ritual humiliation.
Circumcision
Priests who are circumcised may spend 8 hours meditating to regain a single spell they have cast, once per day. Circumcising someone is a Healing test and can be done by anyone.
Ritual circumcision is not practiced in the contemporary Dawnlands, but was extremely common among the priests of the Children of Night, who retain this power in undeath.
Grafts
Grafting is the process whereby a limb or organ from one being is attached or implanted magically on or into a second being. There are two main reasons to graft a body part onto someone: To recover from a Major Wound that damaged or removed a body party; or to replace a body part with one that grants powers or attribute increases.
If you are using the normal Openquest Battle Magic rules: A Heal spell at Magnitude 6 can be used to graft on a body part on. The body part being grafted on must replace a missing or damaged body part (it must have either taken a Major Wound or have been surgically removed).
Using my house rules (which include using RQ 6 Folk Magic): The grafter must know both the Heal Folk Magic spell and have the Healing skill. They must cast the Heal spell using the Healing skill and score a critical success on the Healing test to successfully graft the part on. The location must either have taken a major wound or the body part must have been surgically removed.
Surgical removal of limbs requires a Healing skill test. On a failure, the patient loses half their current HP (enough to cause a Major Wound). If they are not at full HP, this may kill them. On a successful test, they lose 1/4 (one quarter) of their current HP. Either way, the limb is removed.
Grafting body parts on has two effects. If the location was suffering a major wound, the character recovers from the Major Wound, replacing any lost attributes, skills, etc. once they have healed to full HP.
The second effect is that the person gains some feature of the new body part. Determine what the body part was and apply the following rules:
Limbs: Take 1/4 of the STR, DEX and SIZ scores of the recipient and the body part's donor and compare the their respective attributes. If 1/4 of any of the donor's score is higher than 1/4 of the recipient's respective score, then increase the appropriate attribute by the difference. If 1/4 of any the recipient's score is higher than 1/4 of the donor's respective score, then decrease the appropriate attribute by the difference.
If the donor had a special touch-based power, or a claw attack, these may be gained by the recipient.
Organs: A character can modify any one attribute by grafting on an appropriate organ. 1/4 of the recipient's attribute is compared to 1/4 of the donor's respective attribute. If the recipient's attribute is higher, then reduce it by the difference between the two quartered scores. If it's lower, then increase it by the same amount. Only one attribute may be changed at a time by organ replacement.
If the creature had an organ associated with a special attack or power associated with a body part (e.g. a Medusa's gaze attack; a cockatrice's beak), then replacing the recipient's organ with the appropriate donor organ grants that power.
Grafts are a relatively common way of dealing with severed limbs. The Kaddish use organ grafting more than other cultures do.
More ways to alter your body:
Cutting Pieces Of Yourself Off
Amputation
Amputated limbs may be turned into familiars by the person they were once part of. All that is required is either the Pet spell (from RQ6) or the Call Spirit spell (from OQ). For the duration of the spell, the limb will be animated and may be commanded to perform any task the caster requires. The body part will continue to decay, but so long as it remains intact, it may reanimated repeatedly.
Amputated hands and feet are also preferred containers for charms, magic point stores, etc. and may be turned into such using the normal rules for their creation.
Blinding
Ritual removal of the eyes can grant Witchsight / Second Sight as per the appropriate spell (depending on whether one is using RQ6 Folk Magic or OQ Battle Magic). The ritual requires the surgeon to have the appropriate spell and achieve a critical success on a Healing test. The ritual can be performed on someone whose eyes have already been removed - it is the elaborate pattern of scars and modifications that carry the spell.
Members of the thaumaturge caste in Dwer Tor often ritually blind themselves as part of an ascetic withdrawal from the concerns of the polis. This is most commonly done late in life, as a form of retirement. Murder gnomes in the Orthocracy usually blind one family member to help them find souls to consume.
Castration
Ritual removal of the testes will transform them into Magic Point Stores (as per the spell) capable of holding a number of Magic Points equal to 1/3rd of the donor's POW at the time of removal. The donor's POW score is not affected. The ovaries can be used in the same way, but the greater danger and difficulty of extracting them makes this less common. The ritual requires the surgeon to test both Sorcery and Healing successfully, and one of the two tests must be a critical success.
Removal of the testes is a reasonably common, though not ubiquitous, condition of admission to schools of sorcery in the Orthocracy of Kaddish. It is fairly uncommon for anyone else, though the Kadiz and Hill People do castrate some war captives as a form of non-magical ritual humiliation.
Circumcision
Priests who are circumcised may spend 8 hours meditating to regain a single spell they have cast, once per day. Circumcising someone is a Healing test and can be done by anyone.
Ritual circumcision is not practiced in the contemporary Dawnlands, but was extremely common among the priests of the Children of Night, who retain this power in undeath.
Grafts
Grafting is the process whereby a limb or organ from one being is attached or implanted magically on or into a second being. There are two main reasons to graft a body part onto someone: To recover from a Major Wound that damaged or removed a body party; or to replace a body part with one that grants powers or attribute increases.
If you are using the normal Openquest Battle Magic rules: A Heal spell at Magnitude 6 can be used to graft on a body part on. The body part being grafted on must replace a missing or damaged body part (it must have either taken a Major Wound or have been surgically removed).
Using my house rules (which include using RQ 6 Folk Magic): The grafter must know both the Heal Folk Magic spell and have the Healing skill. They must cast the Heal spell using the Healing skill and score a critical success on the Healing test to successfully graft the part on. The location must either have taken a major wound or the body part must have been surgically removed.
Surgical removal of limbs requires a Healing skill test. On a failure, the patient loses half their current HP (enough to cause a Major Wound). If they are not at full HP, this may kill them. On a successful test, they lose 1/4 (one quarter) of their current HP. Either way, the limb is removed.
Grafting body parts on has two effects. If the location was suffering a major wound, the character recovers from the Major Wound, replacing any lost attributes, skills, etc. once they have healed to full HP.
The second effect is that the person gains some feature of the new body part. Determine what the body part was and apply the following rules:
Limbs: Take 1/4 of the STR, DEX and SIZ scores of the recipient and the body part's donor and compare the their respective attributes. If 1/4 of any of the donor's score is higher than 1/4 of the recipient's respective score, then increase the appropriate attribute by the difference. If 1/4 of any the recipient's score is higher than 1/4 of the donor's respective score, then decrease the appropriate attribute by the difference.
If the donor had a special touch-based power, or a claw attack, these may be gained by the recipient.
Organs: A character can modify any one attribute by grafting on an appropriate organ. 1/4 of the recipient's attribute is compared to 1/4 of the donor's respective attribute. If the recipient's attribute is higher, then reduce it by the difference between the two quartered scores. If it's lower, then increase it by the same amount. Only one attribute may be changed at a time by organ replacement.
If the creature had an organ associated with a special attack or power associated with a body part (e.g. a Medusa's gaze attack; a cockatrice's beak), then replacing the recipient's organ with the appropriate donor organ grants that power.
Grafts are a relatively common way of dealing with severed limbs. The Kaddish use organ grafting more than other cultures do.
Mar 28, 2013
Your Body is a Temple to the Black Vermin Gods Pt 1.
A couple of players in the Dawnlands game have remarked that there's a cyberpunk or transhumanist feel to it because of the relentless modification of the PCs' bodies. Two died and came back as undead last session, one with silver wiring for the nerves that were smashed in by a stone altar hurled by a golden golem, and the other with mercury blood that replaced the blood he'd lost when the altar shattered and lacerated him. I don't know why I like body modification as a theme in my rpgs (I have no piercings or tattoos in real life), but here are some of the kinds of modifications PCs can have:
General rules
All body markings require an artist with Craft (Skin Artist) to make a test. Receiving a body marking is a painful, often dangerous, process in the Dawnlands, and the recipient of one takes an amount of damage equal to the relevant factor when it is applied. The factor will be described in each entry. This damage cannot be blocked by armour or magic, and must be healed naturally. On a failed test, only the damage is inflicted, and no benefit is gained. This damage can cause major wounds. All body markings require the recipient to invest a number of improvement rolls equal to half the factor.
Spell tattoos may be used to hold folk / common / battle magic spells, with each tattoo of at least hand size holding one (and only one) spell. Spell tattoos may be of any magnitude. The artist creating the tattoo must know the spell at the correct magnitude. The spell counts as permanently active, and has the recipient as the target for any effect. If for some reason the spell effect would end due to a condition, it is suppressed so long as the condition holds then reactivates as soon as the condition is gone. Spell tattoos require the recipient to invest a number of Magic Points equal to the spell's magnitude which are not recovered unless the spell tattoo is removed.
Body Markings
There are four kinds of permanent marks on the body that can be made to have supernatural effects: Tattoos, Moko, Weals and Brands. PCs may pierce any body part they so please. This is a common way to hold charms and magic point stores, but is not itself magical.
General rules
All body markings require an artist with Craft (Skin Artist) to make a test. Receiving a body marking is a painful, often dangerous, process in the Dawnlands, and the recipient of one takes an amount of damage equal to the relevant factor when it is applied. The factor will be described in each entry. This damage cannot be blocked by armour or magic, and must be healed naturally. On a failed test, only the damage is inflicted, and no benefit is gained. This damage can cause major wounds. All body markings require the recipient to invest a number of improvement rolls equal to half the factor.
Tattoos (Factor: Spell Magnitude)
Spell tattoos may be used to hold folk / common / battle magic spells, with each tattoo of at least hand size holding one (and only one) spell. Spell tattoos may be of any magnitude. The artist creating the tattoo must know the spell at the correct magnitude. The spell counts as permanently active, and has the recipient as the target for any effect. If for some reason the spell effect would end due to a condition, it is suppressed so long as the condition holds then reactivates as soon as the condition is gone. Spell tattoos require the recipient to invest a number of Magic Points equal to the spell's magnitude which are not recovered unless the spell tattoo is removed.
Spell tattoos are common to all cultures in the Dawnlands. In Dwer Tor they are mainly used to control slaves and shunned by the upper classes.
Moko (Factor: Converted MP)
Moko are tattooed scars done by chiseling grooves into the skin and filling them with pigment. They convert maximum Magic Points into maximum Hit Points permanently at a ratio of 1 to 1. Any number of Magic Points may be converted, though a person with 0 MP still falls unconscious. The recipient does not automatically receive HP and must recover them by resting.
Weykulni and Forest People are the most common users of moko, especially their warriors.
Weals (Factor: Converted HP)
Weals are bulging scars, often caused by the insertion of foreign material (including pigmented particulate) into open wounds. Weals convert maximum Hit Points into maximum Magic Points permanently at a ratio of 1 to 1, as the inverse of moko. A person may have a higher maximum Magic Point total than their POW using this method.
The Kaddish use weals more than anyone else does.
Brands (Factor: Spirit Armour Points)
Brands here refer to scar designs caused by burning. Magical brands grant armour points in spirit combat (only). A person may have up to 6 points of armour against such attacks. Branding deals twice the normal damage receiving a body marking does.
Part 2 is here.
Part 2 is here.
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