Thronesposting

kids these days always on their god damn thrones

 

There are no mundane thrones.

A king's throne can delude you (echoes of former grandeur). A lich's throne can possess you. A god's throne will evaporate you. 

The oldest valleys were the thrones of giants. Life grows wild in these places, towering many-crowned stags and titanic long-robed slugs. Men raised in these valleys grow tall; giants raised outside of these valleys diminish. (What was, will be.)

[Why does this happen? The soul (which is contained in a jewel-like organ in the ass, keep up) leaves an indelible imprint on the world. A heavier soul leaves a deeper imprint. This is as true of a dragon's lair as it is of a king's throne.]

 

Wizards, kings, and wizard-kings all require thrones. They spend inordinate amounts of time sat in a sort of meditation/cultivation: the technical term for this is brooding. This funnels power into the throne, to various magical ends...

d20 Throne Effects

1. All things that die nearby immediately arise as undead.
2. Walks under its own power on six powerful leonine legs.
3. Drains the blood of illegitimate kings.
4. Controls the flooding of the two closest rivers. 
5. Reveals the future in apocalyptic fragments.
6. Sees thru all depictions of the King's Eye. [☸]
7. Midas curse!!!!!
8. Projects close range divine terror field. Can be extended with psychic training.
9. Invites gnomes. Generates whimsy at industrial scales.
10. Shoots beholder beams. +1 beam per mounted jewel. 
11. Gradually grows, turning you into a giant. 
12. As supercomputer.
13. Guarded by two angels.
14. Shapeshifts, conceals, disguises, glamours, and beguiles.
15. Calls barbarian warriors from faraway lands.
16. Grants passage into dreams.
17. Blinds God.
18. Bestows d12 superhuman heirs.
19. Summons spirits of pestilence.
20. Ages you backwards.

A dynastic throne has been cultivated for many lifetimes, and therefore possesses many effects. A stolen throne is just as potent, but volatile and willful.

Powerful thrones are embedded in the world. They can't be moved: if you want to abuse the wizard's recliner, you'll have to move in with him. Likewise, if the recliner starts giving you trouble, you'll have to move out to be rid of it.

In the wake of a great and powerful evil, the land must be abandoned. What remains is a husk ruled by the throne itself. The undynasts call these cicada cities.

A broken throne eventually fades. If some brave soul were to enter a cicada city and destroy the throne, the land would eventually return to its natural state.

[The process takes hundreds of years, so it's not a serious priority for anyone with the power to do anything. Those who seek the cicada cities usually do so for less altruistic reasons.] 

Dogbox: 3 Dungeons + Fairies

pei lee

Spoilers, I guess, for Dogbox.

I've started with the three smallest dungeons and their hexes, as a warmup. Lil design ramble at the end.

Dogbox

Cath Celdaenn! ...is not an easy setting to share. The Doggerlands are much more cohesive because they exist outside of me: amphibious where Cath is hadopelagic.

The domain game is still far far far far far over the horizon, but before that I'd like to stick wheels on this setting and take it for a spin. Thankfully, Mssr. Primeumaton has provided a bandwagon-like structure I can siphon gas from (do bandwagons have gas?)

Here's me throwing my hat over the fence. Expect all of these bullet points as blogposts sometime this year.

bit o process sketching

You play as disinherited failscions sent to live in the countryside. You have until the social season (3 months) to...

1. ...make 1000 sovereigns and buy your way back into high society.
2. ...get engaged to someone rich and powerful.
3. ...get your inheritance back.

If you fail, you die (socially).

The Hexcrawl

1. The manor you live in. Haunted, obviously.
2. Town. Beyond this point, the rest of the world. 1 vampire + 7 vampire hunters in a hostel (because I would like to try my hand at ripping off penny dreadful)
3. Village. Depopulated and destitute. Mutant plague? let's go with that
4. Hills. Two manor-castles hosting rival parties.
5. Battlefield. Three manor-castles, fuck it. Also haunted, obviously.
6. Fairy forest. Real wilderness, like in prehistoric times. +1 castle overrun by fairies.
7. Sump. Poison salt marsh dark souls shithole. +1 castle sliding into the sea.

The Dungeon(s)

• Bythesea Castle (small)
• Shithole Village (small)
• The Manor (big as i can manage)

To Do List

• a decent class pdf
• streamlined player-facing vice rules
• manor creation rules: pick one of the 8 houses, pick npc entourage, pick shitty bastard cousins
• runnable dungeons (for once in my fucking life)
• 3 hooks + encounter table per hex <-- woahh buddy dont hurt yourself
• 8+ romance ready npcs 

Crazy? I was crazy once (GLOG Class: Mad Scientist)

In lieu of reworking the sleuth I have decided there are not enough wizards in this setting

MAD MAN MAGIC MAN
Start with: loose silverware, straitjacket and/or fancy hat, jokebook full of Schemes, schemebook full of jokes
-1 Save vs possession per template
A - 4 Vices, Reagents
B - Spell Coupling
C - Humorist
D - See Spirits or Selective Blindness

Reagents
You scrounge up [level] slots of reagent during downtime. (These are highly controlled substances: your level represents your ability to synthesize and stabilize, or procure illicitly.)

You can cast your vices as spells by spending reagent. Roll a d6 for each slot spent. For each die that rolls 1, 2, or 3, you get the slot back. (it's just MD you carry around)

Anyone can use reagents this way. You're just the plug.

Spell Coupling
You can couple your vices together: when one is cast, the other is cast for free.

Vices uncouple on a 1-in-6 during downtime. When they do, gain a new vice.

Humorist
You can balance a person's humors to remove a vice from them. This takes an hour and a slot of reagent.

The removed vice is captured in a "potion", which you can drink to gain the vice, or destroy to summon an angry spirit (as grenade).

Coupled vices take twice as much time and resources to remove.

Selective Blindness
If you would see horrors beyond comprehension, you can instead choose not to see them.

[design notes: i think a good wizard pushes the magic system to its limit. This one is not that, but i think it's offset by every spell talking and having history with one another.]

[The tone turned out much friendlier and more prosocial than I initially planned (i.e. making your spells kiss and have babies, having a "heal" on C template) but in retrospect that's about right for a glogzard in gothic horror. I like when non-support classes have support mechanics because it saves me having to write a cleric]

[Also, there's enough grimdark "insanity" mechanics-- so help me god, this one's going to be about funny little guys]

Dynamics (classes for 2+ pcs)

In place of a class, you may start with two dynamics. Each dynamic is shared with at least one other character. (distribute starting items between both characters)

Dynamics level up and gain templates like classes. Everyone in a dynamic contributes equal XP towards its progression. You decide which of your dynamics to put XP towards.

Sleuths
Start with: magnifying glass, pipe, limp
A - In all fields of knowledge, one of you can answer exam questions on a 5-in-6.
B - You are both in pursuit of a Great Mystery.
C - You cannot compromise evidence or destroy information.
D - You know exactly what your partner is about to say or do, even when you are miles apart.

Foils
Start with: épées, loveless engagement, criminal record
A - Each partner gets a different duelist technique.
B - You get +1 attack/turn when fighting back-to-back.
C - You can Save to riposte any attack on your partner. If you fail, you take the hit in their place.
D - Once, you can bring your partner back from the brink of death with a kiss.

Spellbreeders
Start with: two random spells, sack of kibble (3 slots), butterfly net
A - Each partner gets +1 MD.
B - If you cast a spell at the same time as your partner, they combine to produce a new one. They decay back into their components after casting.
C - When you combine spells, you choose between two or more potential offspring spells to cast. (The gm has to give you at least two.)
D - When you combine spells, you keep the new spell in addition to all its components.

Faithful
Start with: book of prayers, flask of gin, durable leather boots
A - One of you is immune to blasphemy. The other is immune to prayer.
B - You deal max damage to undead.
C - You and your partner can swap immunities and alignments 1/day.
D - You know the names and HD of each angel or demon you meet.

Runaways
Start with: crossbow, silver ring, torn wedding dress
A - When one of you escapes, the other does too.
B - You can forgo an attack to guarantee that your partner's lands.
C - You and your partner fit together in any space larger than a briefcase.
D - Your movement can't be slowed or stopped by anything, including sleeping curses and solid walls.

Hunters
Start with: matching scars, absorbing novella, harmonica
A - Treat your teeth and nails as daggers.
B - You can secretly and wordlessly communicate with your partner via knowing looks and nonverbal cues.
C - You can deal d6 damage to your partner to attack again on your turn. You can do this any number of times.
D - You can howl to summon your partner and/or d6 wolves (or wolf equivalents) to your side 1/day.

rosewaterjelly