Neuropathological Sidekicks for Wizards

Maufesto (vice: refined taste; spell: detect poison)
(except anything nonalcoholic also counts as poison)

When something especially frightening, dramatic, or embarrassing occurs, gain a random Vice (d40).

1. Chain Smoker (Cannot hold breath, persistent stink)
2. Nervous Giggles (-1 to Stealth checks)
3. Refined Taste (Cannot drink water)
4. Daydreams (Act last in initiative)
5. Absent-Minded (-1 to Brains checks)
6. Miserable Bastard (-1 to Reaction rolls)
7. Bleeding Heart (Take 1 damage after each of your attacks)
8. Twitchy Eye (Cannot aim for shit)
9. The Yips (-1 to Strength checks)
10. Creepy Smile (-1 to Charisma checks)
11. Shaky Hands (Cannot pick locks or defuse bombs)
12. Milk Drinker (Only drink milk)
13. Poor Hygiene (-1 to Reaction rolls)
14. 'Fraidy Cat (Afraid below 1/2 HP) All characters have an immutable fear response: fight, flee, freeze, or fawn. If you don't know yours, pick or roll it whenever it becomes relevant.
15. Honorbound (Cannot retreat)
16. Queasy (-1 to Constitution checks)
17. Doomed (-1 to Fate checks) 
18. Bottomless (Consume double rations)
19. Rage Machine (Yell before each of your attacks)
20. Punching Bag (Take +1 damage from striking attacks)
21. Flagellant (Take +1 damage from slashing attacks)
22. Martyr (Take +1 damage from stabbing attacks)
23. Penny Pincher (Cannot part with money)
24. Sloppy (-1 to Grace checks)
25. High Strung (-1 to Nerve checks)
26. Lazy (Cannot run)
27. Fainting Spells (Save or lose a turn when a spell is cast)
28. High Roller (Save or raise the stakes)
29. Dependent (Choose another character, -1 to all checks when they are not in the room)
30. Claustrophobia (Cannot enter crawlspaces)
31. Erotophobia (Cannot enter brothels)
32. Godless (Cannot enter churches)
33. Teetotaler (Cannot drink alcohol)
34. Sinking Feeling (Cannot swim)
35. Dumb (Monosyllabic speech)
36. Emotionless (-1 to Reaction rolls)
37. Gullible (-2 to save vs lies)
38. Flirtatious (-2 to save vs charms)
39. Willowy (-2 to save vs threats)
40. Regicidal (Recognize other co-conspirators on sight)

Each vice you have grants +20xp until cured. Vices can be reliably cured by churches and brothels (like in Darkest Dungeon :D) and less reliably by a wizard or psychotherapist.

They aren't intended to be part of your character forever, unless you find them endearing. (see below)

Adan (vice: sinking feeling; spell: black tentacle)
(if there is neither water nor mirror nearby, it emerges from your pupil)

To a psychopaladin, or anyone else who can see spirits, vices are daemons (psychic shoulder-entities who cast spells and give bad advice). You may recognize some of these from the two daemon posts: for example, Dolores is the punching bag and Despite is honorbound. If you possess those vices, those daemons will be the ones on your shoulder, whispering in your ear and voicing your basest instincts.

[Also, each daemon is linked to a spell. Thus, all daemons have three names: the vice, given by doctors; the spell, given by wizards; and their own, used for personal affairs]

Vices are what happen when you possess a daemon. What happens when a daemon possesses you?

Possession is an entry on the overloaded encounter die. Make a mental save or treat with laudanum. Otherwise, you are possessed: choose arm, leg, or mouth. The daemon can commandeer those body parts to fulfill its whims.

For example, Corus wants to pocket the family photograph that doesn't belong to you. She'll first try to convince you to do it. If you refuse and she's in your right arm, she'll snatch it herself. If she's in your mouth, she'll beg pathetically for it. 

[Digression: fighting your daemons in public makes you look mad, which NPCs hate. It is socially acceptable in the Doggerlands for women to be a little mad, but not too much.]

If you agree to pocket it, she'll be placated, and you can use this to bargain with her in the future: I did you a favor last time, so you be quiet now. Not all daemons are unreasonable.

Multiple possessions must occupy different body parts. You can let a different daemon into each limb, or allow one to take over your whole body.

If you get possessed while you have no more parts to possess, you go completely mad. Roll a new PC.

[This, to me, is a more salient dungeon crawling clock than rations or lantern oil. Your mileage may vary.]

Thea (vice: dependent; spell: half duplicate)
(the missing half is always the most important part)

 The 40 vices above and the 40 daemons in the other posts don't line up, but I'm sure y'all can make it work. Here's four more to make up the difference.

• Chérie - A lump of black stone shaped like a fetus in various stages of development. Perceptive, vulgar, intellectually dishonest. Feigns helplessness to get what she desires most of all: cigars. When cast, an object you touch cries like a baby for [sum] minutes.
• Vestal - A rusty chain around your neck. Dreamily compares you to a drowned corpse; would like you to play along, cold, wet, and breathless. Cries distractingly if you have sex. When cast, your target can't breathe for as long as you hold your breath.
• Sven - You, slowly pulling snakes out of a hole in your head, with a fork. Appears in mirrors, rasps painfully. Wants to destroy everything that reminds you of your past. When cast, forget the last [sum] minutes, removing any vices gained (and other mental hitchhikers).
• Onoskelis - The back half of a pale horse. Startles at the slightest provocation, then gets mad at you for laughing at her. (She thinks everyone who isn't also terrified is laughing at her.) When cast, kick a wizard in the head for [sum] damage. All of their prepared spells go off at once, simultaneously and randomly.

more nsfw ahead

surprise ttrpg book review thinkaloud

Eagle-eyed readers may notice the table of vices is stolen from/inspired by Vice & Violence, a pornographic(!) free(!!!!) fantasy ttrpg by Rapscallion. The rest of this post is a list of various things from V&V that I liked and intend to steal for my games (more than Daggerheart ever did for me), because this is my blog and I do what I want.

Veils (a magic system)

 

d12 Metaphysics of Magic

from this reddit post

What are spells? (d12)

1. Spells are deeply ingrained memories of your previous, godlike existence. These are instinctive and indescribable, as if flexing muscles you no longer have. They cannot be shared, only unlocked through introspection and enlightenment.
2. Spells are arcanometabolic parasites, like magical mitochondria, that exist symbiotically entwined with your soul. Wizardry is the hereditary over expression of this magical potential.
3. Spells are the sudo commands of a universal simulation. Higher level spells require higher order administrator privileges, which in turn involves tricking the universe into thinking you created it.
4. Spells are favors, traded painstakingly with the G-ds in exchange for services and debts.
5. Spells are angels, bound by duty to defend important people and places. Acquiring spells requires binding them to service, either by persuasion or Pokéball.
6. Spells are ripples in the 6th dimension, sometimes referred to as the Weave. This vast, interconnected energy topography defines the leylines of the world. When two spells with specific wavelengths collide, they may cancel each other out or mutate into an aberrant waveform. All spells have an opposite which can be used to counterspell themselves.
7. Spells are ghosts, once-living spirits untethered from flesh at time of death. Finding new spells involves haunting local cemeteries and bottling up poltergeists. Wizardry is often considered taboo, except in specter-plagued city morgues, where wizards are a logistical necessity.
8. Spells are history, echoes of great feats performed long ago. Casting is empowered at the site of a great occurrence or in the presence of an important corpse or relic.
9. Spells are manifestations of sentient will; by wanting something badly enough, the universe can be bent to the wielder’s will. Wizards, therefore, are masters of want.
10. Spells are reactions born from rapidly-decaying rare elements. Charcoal, bladders of helium, and white iron are common spellcasting tools. Gold is inert, and resists magic. A wizard’s backpack is very heavy and explosively volatile. Most wizards, fearing radiation, wear lead-lined robes. They tend to die from lead poisoning.
11. Spells are languages, through mastery of which one may speak with the elements of the world. Most wizards know short commands; masters can hold a conversation and tell stories in their spelltongue.
12. Spells are dogs; loyal, easily trained, enthusiastically servile beings native to the ethereal plane. They were once the pets and servants of a higher intelligence, but some ancient catastrophe destroyed their civilization. Perhaps some of these spell-lords are still out there…

Machina Ethikos

jake zetter
One becomes a philosopher by asking questions. One becomes a wizard by asking very dangerous questions.

Observation: It takes a lot of energy to be a good person. Where does that energy go?What is the relationship between this energy and evil? How might one harness that energy?

That last question was the inspiration for the Machina Ethikos, a senior thesis project so diabolical and perverse that the ad-board swore its inventors to secrecy--at least until the patent could be finalized.

Soular Energy

The principle is simple; a soul contains energy proportional to its moral strength (among other arcanometaphorical factors). To elevate the soul, one must expend energy. In turn, degrading the soul releases said energy.

This is why Evil is a distinct field of study in magic canon; it is the technique of harnessing one’s moral freefall. The deeper one’s depravities, the more energy can be released. Consider the widespread use of human sacrifice in traditional ritual magic.

This is also why great wizards are so often evil, or at least amoral. Power corrupts, in part, because corruption is a means to power.

Despite their best attempts, academics have yet to fully understand the mechanics of universal morality. Hexyard output for acts of evil appears to fluctuate wildly based on intention and cultural context, making it nearly impossible to study in a controlled environment. Only the angels are said to know the true nature of good and evil, but if they do, they refuse to share it.

angels angels angels

On the Nature of Angels

Angels are beings of pure morality. They are children of the Sun, although they speak fondly of the stars, as if they were distant relatives. Their souls are extremely energy-rich, so much so that they constantly shed light. The intensity and wavelength of an angel’s light describes the strength of their soul, and therefore their age. (blue = young and strong; red = old and experienced)

As time passes, angels expend their souls and slip closer and closer to human morality, until they are put down by their fellows—a holy ceremony called ignova. Angels who do not undergo timely ignova may develop self-preservation instincts, fleeing angel society and eventually sinking to demonhood.

It didn’t take a genius to make the connection: the market demanded energy, and angels had it in spades. The only question was extraction.

The Mechanism

Each Machina Ethikos is unique in design; mass produced prototypes are never as effective, as they lack in personalized cruelty. The device remains closed most of the time, so as to prevent a mess, although a porthole can be opened at the operator’s discretion.

Noise is not a concern until extraction is three-quarters complete, at which point the wick may suddenly develop a sense of pain. Once this occurs, the device should be relocated to a sub-basement or dungeon.

Generated magical power can be rerouted automatically into nearby artifacts, grimoires, and golems, or stored in crystal arrangements and personal leylines for later use.

Once extraction is complete, the Occupational Health and Sorcery Administration demands that any leftover demons be recorded and exterminated. To skirt these regulations, many wizards elect to simply release the runoff into the countryside.

 

Needless to say, the wizards have been at war with the angels for a long time.

and all for a 3.6 GPA

⚿ If you really want to learn, step inside.

Hunger Lives in the Wolf

pauliina kinjama / kipine

 "The endosymbiotic hypothesis suggests that mitochondria were originally independent organisms that fostered a symbiotic relationship with eukaryotic organisms. They generate power for the animal, and piggyback onto its reproductive success."

—heavily paraphrased wikipedia

Anyway.

Magic is and is not a part of the human organism, which plays host to a wide array of spells. These dwell in the body, tucked away in corners that cannot be dissected out, assisting oneself in the basic functions of life.

They make up what you might call your soul.

It is theorized that all animal drives—hunger, procreation, and so on—are magical in nature, which explains why great feats so often arise from great emotion. [Consider a mother lifting a car off of her child; isn’t that a kind of magic?]

No part of the soul is shared among all living things. Lust, for example, is unknown to certain species who produce purely asexually. Hunger is an alien concept to angels, who drift thru existence as filter feeders, deriving energy from meaning itself.

Likewise, some magicks are more pronounced in certain species or individuals. This is why no (relatively) sane sorcerer would turn their Pride against that of a high lord Crab; the crab wins 9 times out of 10.

(This also explains how certain individuals can be born with inherent magical prowess, why wizards often specialize in one type of magic, and why magic often follows a bloodline; its all genetic.)

The unifying theory of magic is thus: that magic is life, and life is magic. All living things are similar in the sense that they are magical, from the hungry wolf to the mana-made angel to the reanimated zombie. Humans are not just magical, but too magical in too fundamental a way to extricate themselves from the natural world.

Joesky Tax

Wolf-that-looks-like-a-blue-jay
HD as wolf; AC as wolf; maul as wolf
Appears: pack of 2d6
Special: always described as a blue jay, except by wizards, who describe it as an octarine jay. Does not fly because it is a wolf 

 

patterson clark