jacinto classes, is this gonna work, new age dnd, type v, witch

55555

Thinking about running 5e again, probably for San Serafín.

In 5th edition, if you want to play a nature character, you can pick one of the following.

  • Druids
  • Nature Clerics
  • Nature Paladins
  • Rangers
  • Barbarians (some barbarians are extra nature-y. don’t get those ones confused with the barbarians that are extra angry)
  • Fighters with Survival, Nature, and Animal Handling skills 

These do have various amounts of hippy and a broad range of mechanical differences, but explaining them even to a very engaged, interested player is KIND OF A LOT. I am playing a 5e game where it took a player three sessions before she could regularly remember if her class was a wizard, warlock, or sorcerer, and that makes sense. You  have to dig through the book to really get the differences–there’s nothing about the names that really let you know how they actually work. SO, I’m crushing down the class list to four and then rewriting archetypes to cover a wider range of characters.

FIGHTERS are slashy smashy stabby types. (Paladins, Rangers, and Barbarians are getting collapsed into fighter). Monks, too, probably.

  • Champions: You fight more better
  • Barbarian/Ranger: Ferocious Conan type, also pretty good out in the wilds
  • Paladin: Knightly righteous dude, can cast some spells.

WARLOCKS are witchy and wild and traffic in gods and monsters. (Clerics and Druids are getting collapsed into warlock). They can learn to Wild Shape as a Pact Boon and can choose the Pact of Many Gods for a animist/priest/medium type deal. I’ll probably write a patron for a benevolent Abrahamic deity type.

ROGUES are thieves and assassins.

WIZARDS are scholarly magic types.

Sorcerers, Bards, and maybe Monks are out.

Fighter Martial Archetype: Paladin
THIRD LEVEL
Spellcasting. When you reach third level, you can cast cleric spells.

Cantrips. You learn two cantrips of your choice from the cleric spell list.

Spell Slots. The Paladin spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

Spells Known of 1st level and higher. You know three 1st level cleric spells of your choice. The Spells Known column on the Paladin spellcasting table shows when you learn more cleric spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be a level for which you have slots. When you gain a level of Fighter, you can replace one of the cleric spells you know with another spell of your choice from cleric spell list that you have slots for.

Spellcasting ability. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your cleric spells. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you sue your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a cleric spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

     Spell Save DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier
     Spell Attack modifier = proficiency bonus + Wisdom modifier

Sense Evil and Good. You know if there is an aberration, celestial, elemental, fey, fiend, or undead within thirty feet of you, as well as its general direction.

SEVENTH LEVEL
Weapon Bond. At 7th level, you learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon. you perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a long rest. The weapon must be within your reach during the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon and forge the bond.
     Once you have bonded the weapon to yourself, you can’t be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated. If it is on the same plane of existence, you can summon that weapon as a bonus action on your turn, causing it to instantly teleport to your hand. For purposes of damage immunity, your bonded weapons counts as magical.
     You can have up to two bonded weapons, but can summon only one at a time with your bonus action. If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.

TENTH LEVEL
Divine health. You are immune to disease. You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned and gain resistance to poison damage.

FIFTEENTH LEVEL
Taboo. You can issue a divinely enforced edict, preventing all around you from breaking a rule of your creation
     When you use this ability, you shout a one-word command. All creatures in earshot must make a Charisma save vs your spell save DC every time they attempt to perform that action. If a creature fails their saving throw, they cannot attempt to perform that action again until the beginning of their next turn. This lasts until you lose Concentration or move from the spot you created the taboo.
     You must take a short rest before you can use this ability again.

EIGHTEENTH LEVEL
Occult resistance. You have advantage on saving throws against all spells.

Warlock Abilities
Patron: The Many Gods
You have formed a pact with a minor deity: a beast, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, or aberration with some measure of immanence. They cannot provide you with the kind of power an Archfey, Fiend, or Great Old One can, but they are also willing to help you personally–you can help them as much as they can help you.
     You can summon one of your patrons with a 10 minute ritual. You can ask it to cast a spell it knows or to perform some other favor, like convey you to a destination, help you in a fight, deliver a message, or retrieve an object. Patrons always require something in return–they feed off of occult power, and you can always expend a spell slot as payment, but they also accept the expenditure of hit dice, blood, favors, treasure, or anything else that aligns with their ethos and goals. More powerful patrons require more sacrifice. Patrons are NPCs like any other–there is always a chance they will demand more for a favor, refuse to help you, or even temporarily become hostile.
     You do not learn spells of 1st level or above. Whenever you would learn a spell, you can give the ability to cast it to one of your patrons. Patrons can cast such spells at will at your behest, enabled by your payments/sacrifices, but when operating on their own prerogative can only cast each spell they know once per long rest.
     You start with a single patron. It is a beast, dragon, elemental, fey, fiend, undead, celestial, or aberration with a CR of 1 or less. It can cast your Spells Known at level 1.
     When one of your patrons is reduced to 0 HP, you can revive it with an 8 hour ritual.
      You can gain a patron by establishing friendly contact with a creature and completing a 1 hour ritual in its presence. You can always understand you patron, even if you do not share a language or it does not have a language.

Warlock Pact Boon: Pact of Borrowed Skin

You can use the Druid’s Wild Shape class feature once per short rest.

Warlock Eldritch Invocations

Shapeshifter

Prerequisite: Pact of Borrowed Skin, 5th level

You can Wild Shape into creatures with a CR of 1/4 your level or less.

Maleficence

Prerequisite: Pact of Borrowed Skin, 15th level.

You can Wild Shape into dragons as well as beasts.

jacinto classes, clerics, demon, djinn, LotFP, occult, original dungeons and dragons, san serafín

a god is a kind of monster

This blog is slowly turning into an extended and not very good meditation on how clerics work, so bear with me while I get it out of my system. I’m working on some dice drop tables that could actually be of use to someone for next post. I recently did a reread of the Games With Others archives, so this post leans on Pearce’s work here.

SO:
Fighters solve problems with violence.
Thieves solve problems with trickery.
Magic-users solve problems by knowing things, or, depending on how you see it, breaking the rules.
Clerics tend to exist in this space between  fighters and magic-users: they have okay spells and an okay capacity for violence. This is perfectly fine, but when I crunch clerics down to the aesthetic core that actually appeals to me, I get:

Clerics solve problems by getting someone else to do it for them.

Reading over the Original Dungeons and Dragons rules, the 2d6 reaction check was originally used to determine the outcome of transactions, rather than a more general way to figure out an NPC’s attitude towards the players. This meshes well with the idea of clerics doing things by proxy, but I think there is a better, easier, and more satisfying way to do that then my old warlock class.

From Monstress 1. written by Marjorie Liu,, art by Sana Takeda
Spirit Medium

Progression
HP, XP, attack bonus, saving throws as Cleric. Equipment restrictions as magic-user.

Commune
You understand and can be understood by any monster, even if you do not share a language.

Bargain
Influence a monster or band of allied monsters. You can do this to soothe hostile creatures or extract services from neutral to friendly ones. To Bargain, you must offer the monsters some form of payment and then make a reaction check. Mediums can only do this once per band of allied monsters per encounter. 

     2: The monster becomes hostile and attacks. If it was already hostile, it attacks the medium.
     3-5: The monster refuses the offer, or continues its current course of action.
     6-8: The monster refuses the offer, but will reconsider if the medium gives better terms.
     9-11: The monster accepts the offer.
     12: The monster accepts the offer and gives the medium its name.

by Bertha Lum

This is predicated on the medium offering suitable terms. Monsters pretty universally accept fresh blood (d6 HP worth for something simple like getting them to cast a 1st level spell, help in a fight, give information on the locals, or settle down if they have only a few HD, but a major secret, protection for a whole adventure, or calming a dragon could require quite a bit more); however, if the medium has an item appropriate for the monster (rare incense for a mummy, or a flower for a dryad, for example), they can use it as payment instead. These items are quite probably expensive, but they also encumber as at least 1 significant item each. Mediums can also offer to kill rivals, track down treasure, restore shrines, observe a taboo, whatever. Referees should feel free to have monsters make suggestions.

Summon
When you knows a monster’s true name, you can call it forth whenever you wish. Chant its name, carve its name into the ground, burn a paper doll with its name on it, whatever. A Turn later, it shows up, stepping out of a shadow, welling up out of the earth, or scuttling down from the ceiling. You can then Bargain with it.

Miracle
If a monster knows a spell, you can Bargain for the ability to cast it once.

Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Spectre Invoked by Princess Takiyasha by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

The way I use “monster” here presupposed a Princess Mononoke-esque animist universe where animals, gods, and monsters all sort of exist on the same spectrum. Mediums shouldn’t be able to use Bargain on a bandit (though it would be fun to put otherwise human magic-users in the monster category, now that I think about it). If you’re going for a more naturalist feel, you could limit Bargain to only explicitly supernatural critters (ghosts, djinni, elementals, etc).

jacinto classes, clerics, LotFP, san serafín, spell, table

beneath the teeming heavens

Here’s a big ole generator that makes monsters/gods that are suitable as retainers. Got the idea from this and this.

there are a handful of gods of middling power scattered across the island of San Serafín (the Red and Gold Rebel, Dreaming Beast Al-Mi’raj, YV YN YR, but starting shamans must call out into the void and take whatever minor spirit answers.

from persona

GENERATING A GOD

  1. Roll 1d20 to determine the god’s stat block. All gods start with 2 HD.
  2. Roll 1d20 to determine the god’s shape
  3. Roll 1d20 to determine the god’s domain
    • A god can use its Major Power 1/day and its minor power at will.
    • Minor powers in parentheses are movement types
    • Gods can cast spells with a range of Self as Touch spells if they target their shaman
    • A god’s Aspect affects its appearance
click to make it bigger

GENERATING A GOD’S NAME

  1. Roll 1d4 to determine how many syllables compose the god’s name.
  2. Roll 1d100 to determine which syllables compose the god’s name.
 
 
from final fantasy 12 revenant wings
jacinto adventures, classes, garden, is this gonna work, LotFP, monsters, npcs, occult, san serafín

that old time religion

“Later he saw Jesus move from tree to tree in the back of his mind, a wild ragged figure motioning him to turn around and come off into the dark where he was not sure of his footing, where he might be walking on water and not know it and then suddenly know it and drown.”
 from Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood

Thinking about this post. Also thinking about Mononoke. The standard old school D&D cleric worships an impersonal, benevolent god. That’s an okay model, but I like the idea of deities as more present, dangerous, and visceral. A little more animist, I guess. Clerics can befriend gods, or form grudging alliances with them, or press them into service. Sometimes, clerics have to kill them. In this model, gods are NPCs and spells and adventures in one, and they influence clerics (shamans really, I guess) in direct ways.

Anyways, here’s a sketch of what this would look like:

She rebelled against her masters, so they tied her to a tree out in the scrub and left her there to die. When she finally became too tired to kick away the coyotes, when she had nothing but three days of hunger and three days of thirst, when her will to live exceeded anything her body could do, she swore by the blood in her mouth and then sun in her eyes that there would be a reckoning.

There is a tree in courtyard of the mayor’s house in the village of Segundo. It grows the most remarkable red flowers and draws the most remarkable red butterflies. The mayor ignores them, but every morning he pours a bottle of excellent red wine on the tree’s roots, and girdles its trunk with another red sash. He is a fine man, the nephew of the old lord, so the Segunderos ignore these eccentricities, but they wonder why he would lavish so much attention on a tree while ignoring the fruits of his labor, or why he would grow so fearful when he found out the merchant wouldn’t be bringing any shipments of wine for the second season in a row.

La Dama Roja, Goddess of Blood and Sunshine
AC 16 HD 3+1 MV 90’ (30′) ATK Spear DMG 1d8+1 ST Fighter 3 AL Chaotic
Spells, at will: Light, Command, Cure/Inflict Light Wounds

The true name of La Dama, the one that will let a shaman make a pact with her, is carved into the trunk of the tree in the mayor’s courtyard, beneath the dozens of tattered red sashes. If the shaman botches the pact-making ritual, she will do her best to brutally murder the mayor, who was the man who tied her to the tree all those years ago. If the shaman helps her kill the mayor, her Loyalty will increase by d4. 

If a shaman wishes to extract a favor from a god without making a Loyalty check, they can make it an offering. La Dama accepts only blood. A small task, like casting a 1st level spell, participating in a fight tipped in the Goddess’ advantage, or translating the words of a creature that can’t communicate with humans, might require d6 HP. Major favors, like casting a 5th+ level spell, joining a fight with desperate odds, or revealing a powerful and ancient secret, might require 5d6 HP.

The Goddess of Blood and Sunshine makes a Loyalty check or requires an offering when the shaman violates one her her taboos in front of her, or when the shaman asks her to violate one of her taboos:

  • BEG NO PARDONS
  • SHOW NO MERCY
  • BOW TO NO ONE
jacinto classes, demon, djinn, spell, type v

pokédungeon

I don’t like Find Familiar or Conjure X spells in 5e D&D, and I’ve been circling around the idea on how to fix them for a while. I think this is how I will do it next time I run Type V–spells that call up a critter what does as you say, but prevents the caster from recovering the spell slot used until the creature is dismissed. This sort of amortizes the benefit of a spell slot over the course of a day, as opposed to making them a single-use get-out-of-jail-free cards. It also gives me a measure for what these creatures should be able to do–there needs to be a reason to pick this spell over any other 1st level spell. Finally, it means I don’t have to fuss with class mechanics, which is a big plus. How to implement this:

  • Wizards can get this spell as is.
  • Warlocks can get this as an Invocation that lets them use a Warlock slot to cast it 1/day.  (Being able to cast it 1/short rest would let warlocks be able to easily circumvent the cost of losing the spell for the day, since they could just dismiss the creature and take a short rest.)

I’ll probably make a version for 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th levels, as well. Stronger versions might only be for a single creature.

Minor Covenant
1st-level conjuration 

Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: 10 feet
Component: V, S, M (an opal, ruby, piece of quartz, or sapphire worth at least 50 gp)
Duration: Permanent

You summon a lesser spirit that appears in an unoccupied space that you can see in range. A spirit summoned by this spell disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or you choose to end the spell, which takes an action. As long as this spell is in effect, you cannot regain use of the spell slot you used to cast it.

The kind of material component you use determines the kind of lesser spirit this spell summons.

  • An opal summons a sylph
  • A ruby summons a least djinn
  • A piece of quartz summons an true gnome
  • A sapphire summons an undine

The spirit will not attempt to harm you or your companions. It receives its own place in initiative. The spirit obeys any verbal commands you issue it (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands to it, the spirit will follow you without taking any other action.

As an action, you can temporarily dismiss the lesser spirit. It disappears into the Void where it awaits your summons. As an action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 10 feet of you.

The spirit can break free from the bonds of this spell. It may make a Wisdom save whenever

  • you give the spirit a new command
  • you insult the spirit or place it in egregious danger
  • you command the spirit to perform an action that requires it to ignore one of its compulsions or perform one of its taboos.

If the spirit succeeds its Wisdom saving throw, it breaks free from your control, becomes hostile to you and no longer obeys your commands. You cannot temporarily dismiss it, and ending the spell no longer causes the spirit to disappear, though it does allow you to recover the spell slot used to cast this spell.

Sylph

from bravely default

Small elemental, unaligned                                                          

AC: 15
HP: 6
Speed: 0 ft, fly 30 ft.                                              
STR: 4 (-3) DEX: 20 (+5) CON: 8 (-1)
INT: 10 (+0) WIS: 10 (+0) CHA: 12 (+1)                   
Skills: Perception +2, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7
Damage Resistances: slashing, piercing, bludgeoning
Languages: Common, Sylvan
CR: 1/8                                                         

ABILITIES

  • Innate Spellcasting (at will): The sylph can innately cast the cantrip Gust. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma. 
  • Keen Smell: The sylph has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell. 
  • Ethereal: Sylphs can squeeze through spaces as if they were Tiny creatures

                                                                              
ACTIONS

  • Superior Invisibility: The sylph magically turns invisible until its concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). Any equipment the sylph wears or carries turns invisible with it.

    DISPOSITION
    Sylphs are spirits of air and propriety. They despise rudeness, ugliness, and violence, and delight in courtesy, beauty, quietude, and refined conversation. Despite their ostensibly peaceable and orderly natures, sylphs will steal, murder, and torment to punish those they have deemed transgressors. 

    from final fantasy 12 revenant wings

    True Gnome

    Medium elemental, unaligned                                                    

    AC: 11 (natural armor)
    HP: 19
    Speed: 30 ft                                                              
    STR: 15 (+2) DEX: 10 (+0) CON: 14 (+2)
    INT: 4 (-3) WIS: 12 (+1) CHA: 12 (+1)                   
    Skills: Perception +2, Nature +4
    Damage Resistances: slashing, piercing
    Languages: Common, Celestial                                 
    ABILITIES

    • Innate Spellcasting (at will): The true gnome can innately cast the cantrip Mold Earth. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma. 
    • Quiet Strength: The true gnome has advantage on Strength checks to lift, carry, bend, break, and otherwise manipulate inanimate objects

                                                                                  
    ACTIONS

    • Punch: Melee Weapon Attack. +4 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. 2d4+2 bludgeoning damage.

    DISPOSITION
    Ursulines are spirits of earth and obligation. They dislike dishonesty, destruction, and disorder, and appreciate respect for wildlife, honesty, prudence, and sleeping. 

    from final fantasy

    Least Djinni

    Small elemental, unaligned                                                    

    AC: 15 (natural armor)
    HP: 2
    Speed: 0 ft, fly 40 ft                                                              
    STR: 18 (+4) DEX: 12 (+1) CON: 10 (+0)
    INT: 10 (+0) WIS: 8 (-1) CHA: 14 (+2)                   
    Skills: Stealth +3, Athletics +6
    Damage Resistances: slashing, piercing, bludgeoning
    Damage Immunities: fire
    Languages: Common, Primordial                                 
    ABILITIES

    • Innate Spellcasting (at will): The ursuline can innately cast the cantrip Control Flames. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma. 

                                                                                  
    ACTIONS

    • Discern Desire: The least djinni touches a creature and magically knows what the creature most desires at that moment. 
    • Bite: Melee Weapon Attack, +6 to hit, 1 reach 5 ft, one target. d4+4 piercing damage, and the target must succeed in a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 minute.
    • Invisibility: The least djinni magically turns invisible until it attacks or casts a spell, or until concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). Any equipment the least djinn wears or carries is invisible with it.

    DISPOSITION
    Djinn are spirits of flame and desire. They dislike equivocation, moderation, and cowardice. They love the exertion of power, achieving desires, and eating.

    Undine

    Medium elemental, unaligned                                                    

    AC: 2
    HP: 9
    Speed: 25 ft, swim 40 ft                            
    STR: 6 (+2) DEX: 12 (+1) CON: 8 (+2)
    INT: 11 (+0) WIS: 10 (+0) CHA: 16 (+3)                   
    Skills: Persuasion +5, Performance +5
    Damage Resistances: slashing, piercing, bludgeoning
    Languages: Common, Primordial                                 
    ABILITIES

    • Innate Spellcasting (at will): The undine can innately cast the cantrip Shape Water. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma. 
    • Translucency: The undine can become invisible in water as a bonus action
    • Amorphous:The undine can squeeze through a space as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing

                                                                                  
    ABILITIES

    • Claw: Melee Weapon Attack, +3 to hit, 1 reach 5 ft, one target. d6+1 piercing damage, and the target must succeed in a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 1 minute.

    DISPOSITION
    Undine are spirits of water and vanity. They dislike dirt, modesty, poverty, and circumspection. They like performance, ostentation, and cleanliness. They really love drowning people.

    jacinto classes, demon, LotFP

    call you up

    Spirits that a level 1 summoner can choose from. 

    Ursa Minor

    from etrian odyssey

    A lesser bear deity who lost all of her worshipers to a single landslide. She is polite, lugubrious, and faintly maternal. While in her youth Ursa was a goddess of war and wild, she has become domesticated over the last few centuries, preferring the slow pleasures of novels and teatime to the rush of the hunt. Nevertheless, she is always keeping an eye out for potential worshipers, who would put her on a path to becoming the ferocious Ursa Major once again. 

    • Stats as a 3 HD black bear
    • If fed three rations, she can Enlarge herself as a 3rd level magic-user.
    • A talented cook and a passable patissier
    The Darker The Hour
    by Patrick Feller, released under Creative Commons

    A wayward young demon taking the form of a small, black cat. Its relative youth and the fact that it has been separated from its siblings has left it afraid and impressionable, if no less malicious. The Darker The Hour craves approval and authority. It loves things that are cool and hates things that are lame. It will cause the greatest amount of chaos possible if left to its own devices.

    • Stats as goblin
    • Can force itself into the mouth of any creature in melee range, though they can Save vs Paralysis to resist. Once in their body, it can make them Charmed by any human in line of sight, though the host can save to resist. Moreover, it can place insert thoughts into its host’s mind. These must be short enough to be said with a single breath, and the host is under no compunction to act upon them–they simply believe the thought to be their own. Hosts do not remember being possessed.
    • Hosts will respond with confusion or hostility if summoners start barking orders at The Darker The Hour while it is possessing them.
    The Damascene Spider
    screenshot from Bloodborne

    Something like a spider, something like a man, born in a crypt as a simple spider, but has grown fat on dead saints. It has acquired something of their benevolence and all of their wisdom, and is the size of a large dog. The Damascene, on one hand, wants to aid the sick, comfort the dying, and give to the poor, while on the other, it wants to wind everything up in silk and slurp them up when they’ve gone all runny. It has given up anthropophagy for now, but views lapses on this front as more venal than mortal.

    • Stats as crab spider. It does not have fatal venom.
    • The Damascene’s bite is not venomous, but it can drool some venom onto a wounded creature, healing them for 1d6+1 HP. This is exhausting for the spider–it must rest 1 Turn and consume 1 ration before it can repeat the procedure.
    • The Damascene can extrude 10 ft of silk (as strong as a rope) per exploration turn.
        jacinto classes, demon, djinn, LotFP

        the happy dead

        Another revision of my summoner class, along with two more spirits.


        Las Muertas
        If a summoner learns the True Name of a dead human, they can call their spirit forth from the Lands of the Dead. These ghosts are invisible to all but their summoner (or those with the means to see magic) and care utterly incapable of interacting with the physical world. However, if their summoner commands them to possess a corpse, they can use it as an intermediary to interfere with the living. Las Muertas retain all of their knowledge, mental capacity, and abilities from life, but acquire all of the physical capabilities and limitations of their host. When a host is destroyed, its possessor is banished back to the Lands of the Dead and cannot be summoned until the following midnight.

        While the personalities and motivations of Las Muertas vary as much as the living, they are uniformly incapable of boredom, though they may enjoy some activities more than others. One of the dead can spend a decade at the bottom of a well unphased. Moreover, leaving the stultifying Lands of the Dead makes them labile and manic–Las Muertas have a notorious taste for rich food, liquor, and tobacco. 

        There are rumors of a town in the northernmost reaches of Las Taifas where summoners call up the dead and willingly release them into the Lands of the Living. The sheikhs denies such speculation.

        Búho  
        Búho is a spirit consisting of 12 porcelain owl dolls.

        • Their heads turn to face the most powerful Chaotic creature in the immediate vicinity
        • Their bodies rattle in the presence of magic. 
        • Each time someone lies in Búho’s presence, one of the dolls breaks. 

        The dolls must remain within 12 feet of each other. They can move as fast as a human, but only when nobody can see them. While unobserved, they can carry small objects. As long as an area has an egress accessible to a normal human, they can leave, even if they aren’t large or strong enough normally (so if Búho is in a room with a closed door, the dolls can leave if nobody can see them. If the door’s locked or actually a heavy portcullis, they’re stuck) If all the dolls break, Búho is banished. Búho cannot speak.

        Búho always tries to reveal secrets and uncover the truth, regardless of the consequences. The older and darker the secret, the more Búho tries to reveal it. It most commonly comes into conflict with humans when it comes across a powerful secret–murder, infidelity, falsified noble lineages. It haunts those it believes to be responsible, hoping that observers can figure out the rules of its abilities to put together the truth.

        jacinto classes, demon, djinn, LotFP

        to slay a king or rout a host

        My abridged copy of 1001 Nights is filed with dubious Victorianisms, but every once in a while it just really comes together. The genie Al-Ra’ad Al-Kasif to the puckishly homocidal fisherman Judar:

        Ask what thou wilt and it shall be given to thee. Hast thou a mind to people a ruined city or ruin a populous one? To slay a king or rout a host?

        So now I’m thinking about summoner types again. The last iteration was a bit too complicated and wasn’t quite doing what I wanted it to do. Here is yet another iteration, one that’s probably pretty close to complete, incorporating some advice from +Arnold K.

        Summoner 3.0
        by Kawanabe Kyōsa


        HP, XP, Saves as magic-user
        Summoners cannot perform magic under their own power, and instead call forth spirits to do it for them. First, a summoner must acquire the true name of a spirit. They can do this by finding it while adventuring or extracting it from the spirit itself, through trickery, violence, or diplomacy. Then, they must bind it. This is analogous to a magic-user preparing spells; the spirits a summoner has bound determines which ones they can summon over the course of a day. Finally, they can summon the spirit, which requires the traditional Loyalty roll (2d6 under a target number between 3 and 12).

        At midnight, summoners can bind spirits whose true names they know. This takes as long as a magic-user memorizing spells from a spell book. Bound spirits, whether they are currently summoned or not, count against a summoner’s retainer total (if applicable to your rules of choice. Otherwise, they can bind a number of spirits equal to half level+Cha mod).

        Summoning a spirit takes as long as casting a spell. When you summon a spirit, make a Loyalty check to see if you retain control of it. A spirit’s base Loyalty is increased by 1/3 your level (if your ruleset of choice does not provide a method for retainer loyalty, start it at 6) If you succeed, the spirit performs a single task for you to the best of its ability, then returns to the void, ready to be summoned again. If you fail, the spirit is free to do as it pleases until you subdue it or bind it again. Malicious spirits will attack you or otherwise sabotage your progress, while benign or neutral spirits will just leave or watch you get eaten by skeletons.

        • If you command a spirit to cast a spell, add the spell level to the 2d6 roll.
        • Spirits commanded to perform exceedingly long-terms tasks might require multiple Loyalty rolls. A spirit commanded to guard its summoner for an entire day would require Loyalty rolls every time it sustained significant damage, for example.
        • For every spirit you have currently summoned, you suffer a -1 penalty to Loyalty rolls.
        • Spirits have their own motives and personalities. If you command a spirit to act against its truest nature, you suffer a -1 to -3 penalty to the Loyalty roll, depending on how egregious the breach of its code would be.
        • You can gain a +1 bonus to a single Loyalty roll by giving the spirit an offering. This can be anything from a bottle of rum to a live goat, but the upshot is a single offering encumbers at least as a significant item and costs at least 50gp×the spirit’s HD.
        • A summoner can banish any spirit under their control at will, but they must be in earshot.
        • Spirits that die return to the void, and cannot be summoned until bound again.

        Example Spirits
        Inklings

        from legend of zelda: wind waker

        Spirits of hexed ink and sublimated shadow, about as intelligent as a human toddler. They possess a catlike susceptibility to affection, but also delight in cruelty.

        Stats: As goblin
        Can spider-climb and squeeze through spaces coin-sized or larger. Inklings take d4 damage per turn in lightless environments are their substance bleeds off into the ambient darkness.

        from dark souls 2

        Agrode
        A crow the size of a mastiff. She has many red eyes, and speaks through the small human face hidden inside her beak. She is obscene, manic, funny, and enthusiastically anthropophagous. Agrode holds power over sight and thought.

        Agrode adores children, and most commonly comes into conflict with humans when she starts kidnapping sons and daughters. Despite the fact that she is a giant, filthy, demonic crow, she actually takes quite good care of them, loving them with all her evil heart and teaching them all the secrets of her wicked wisdom. Some of the greatest witches in history were raised by Agrode. Occassionally, desperate parents leave their children out where Agrode is known to roost. She gratefully accepts them, then kills the parents for neglect.

        Stats: As giant bat, no blood drain, Alignment is Chaotic
        Can cast Comprehend/Obscure Languages, Phantasmal Force, and Forget at will. She can cast Charm Person at will, but only on those below the age of 18.

        from final fantasy xii

        The Queen of Lions
        The spirit of the Queen of Sheba’s consort. Her features are concealed behind red lacquer armor and samite, but she stands a full head taller than the tallest man. She is taciturn, patient, suspicious of magicians, and wrathful towards liars. Hers are the powers of fortitude and purity.

        Stats: As Ogre, Alignment is Lawful, cannot be harmed by man-made weapons
        Can Turn Undead as a 3rd level Cleric, can speak to animals

        Al-Ra’ad al-Kasif

        from tales of vesperia

        An ifrit, once immensely powerful, now sadly dissipated. He appears as a louche, middle-aged man in rich clothes. He is a knowledgeable accountant and talented lawyer, though leaving him to his own devices in financial matters is not necessarily wise, as his reach exceeds his considerable grasp.

        Al-Ra’ad is a traditionalist djinn, and does not try to push too hard against his summoner’s orders. However, he desperately wishes to repair his ring, broken millennia ago by the wife of an old master, in hopes of restoring his former power. He is also a gourmand and a minor alcoholic, and his appetites occasionally surpass his best efforts and good intentions.

        Stats: As Gnoll, Alignment is Lawful
        Can Change Self at will. Al-Ra’ad is abnormally strong, and can carry twice as many items as normal. He can easily perform any feat of Strength a normal human is capable of, and automatically succeeds all such Strength checks. He only makes checks for tasks that would exceed the capabilities of a single person.

        jacinto classes, djinn, is this gonna work, LotFP

        bound djinni class

         Bound Djinni
        a class for Old School D&D-alikes
        by edmund dulac

        HP, XP, Saves, Attack Bonus, Equipment Restrictions as Elf.

        You are a spirit of flame and desire, sealed inside a magical vessel such as a ring, lamp, or sword. You must obey the commands of the person who holds your vessel. In fact, you must try to bring about all desires they verbally express in your hearing, whether they want you to or not (they can, of course, tell you to immediately stop what you are doing). You must always follow the letter of your vessel-carrier’s wishes, though you can otherwise interpret them however you want. This isn’t a matter of threat of punishment–this is simply what bound djinn do, though they certainly don’t always like it.

        You do not need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. However, once you have completed all outstanding wishes, you are compelled to return to their vessel until called forth again. You must be within a few feet of your vessel into enter it. You cannot take any items with you.

        Djinn vessels are indestructible, barring Wish-level magic, the fire of an ancient dragon, or divine intervention. Should you manage to get your vessel destroyed, you will be free to do as you please, assuming a magician doesn’t manage to cram you into a snuff box again.

        Water and earth are anathema to djinn. You take d4 damage per turn of submersion or interment. 

        by edmund dulac

        Act of Change
        When outside of your vessel, you can assume any shape you desire, within the parameters of Polymorph Self or Disguise Self. However, your height and length cannot exceed twice your level in feet. Changing shape is also tiring–every time you do so, Save vs Magic or take d4 Constitution damage. You do not need to make this Save the first time you assume a shape after resting inside your prison.

        Act of Creation
        Starting at level 3, you can create objects from nothing, but only to fulfill a command by the owner of your djinn-prison. The total value in gold pieces of objects you create over the course of a day cannot exceed your current experience total divided by 10. If a created object leaves your presence a number of turns greater than your level, it vanishes into black smoke. Djinni-created food and drink nourishes like any other meal if eaten before it vanishes.

        Act of Strength
        Starting at level 5, when in human or demihuman form, you can easily perform any feat of Strength a normal human is capable of and automatically succeed all such Strength checks. You only need to make Strength checks for tasks that would surpass the abilities of a single person. You can carry twice as many objects without being encumbered, as well. This does not confer any bonuses to combat.

        Act of Nature
        Starting at level 7, when in human or demihuman form, you can fly on a whirlwind at will, albeit clumsily, as the Chariot of Air spell.

        Act of Desire
        At level 9, you can grant a Limited Wish to the possessor of your vessel 1/week.

        Etc

        • Typically, the carrier of a djinni’s prison is another PC, though it could be some magician who decided to give the mercenaries a little help. The relationship between a bound djinni and the carrier of their prison comes down to the players, though circumstances will probably conspire to keep them from outright wanting to kill each other–if a djinni engineers a TPK, they might end up stuck in their prison in the bottom of a dungeon for a couple centuries.
        • If you see a tower of diamond or a castle of steel, it probably has a powerful djinni bound at the bottom, supporting the structure’s existence with their presence. Releasing them destroys the edifice, and releases a barely-sane spirit of epochal rage into the world at large.
        • You could have a djinn-binder class who has half thief skill progression and MU XP who automatically gets an NPC djinni. For the semi-competent hero who stumbles onto awesome magical power.
        • There are plenty of people who want a bound djinni of their own. Careless owners of a djinn-prison might find their former servants fighting against them.
        jacinto classes, new age dnd, type v

        poké-esqe

        Tried to make a 5th edition D&D warlock pact for Final Fantasy-esque summoning awhile back and I’m still not happy with the result. This fits more neatly into the way 5th edition classes work, leverages the large number of existing creatures in the Monster Manual, and allows for pokemon-style critter-collecting.

         
        Otherworldy Patron: The Monarch
        from tactics ogre: let us cling together

        You are the student of an asura, deva, or legendary monarch in the Art of Royalty and have learned to command fealty from lesser spirits.

        Starting at 1st level
        You can spend your action to bind a willing or incapacitated elemental, fey, incorporeal undead, celestial, fiend, or dragon with a CR equal to or less than your warlock level divided by 3, rounded down (If your level is 1, you can bind creatures with a CR of 1 or less). You can only have 1 bound creature at a time. If you exceed this limit, you must choose a creature to release from its binding. Released creatures appear in a space adjacent to you. If they are neutral or friendly, they will simply depart. If they despise you, they will give you at least a 24 hour running start before they start trying to kill you.

        You can spend an action to conjure a bound creature for 10 minutes.. The creature appears in a space adjacent to you and is friendly to you and your companions for as long as you maintain concentration.  The creature gets its own initiative and turns. It obeys all spoken commands you give it, and commanding it does not require you to spend any actions.

        If your concentration is broken, the creature breaks free from your control. If it was hostile before you bound it, it again becomes hostile towards you and your companions, and may flee to cause greater mischief. If it was neutral or friendly, it might require you to convince it to enter your service again, possibly demanding a bribe. You cannot dismiss an uncontrolled creature, and uncontrolled creatures do not count towards your bound total.

        The creature vanishes once the 10 minutes expire. Dismissing a controlled creature early is a free action. Bound creatures can die like any other.

        You can conjure a bound creature once, and regain your use of this ability when you take a short or long rest. 

        Starting at 6th level
        You can bind up to three creatures.You can conjure any one of them once, and regain your use of this ability when you take a short or long rest.

        Starting at 10th level
        You can bind up to five creatures. You can conjure any one of them once, and regain your use of this ability when you take a short or long rest.

        Starting at 14th level
        You can bind up to seven creatures. You can conjure any one of them once, and regain your use of this ability when you take a short or long rest.