fairy – hex culture

August 9, 2018June 26, 2019 jacinto clerics, demon, elves, encounters, fairy, idyll, magic, monsters, npcs

watched by the waters, watched by the sky

Been playing around with Mageblade, and I quite like it. Working on more monsters for that community-building game, and the system has been a good fit.

I made these with their relationship with a community of people in mind–the kingfisher spirits might steal fish from the players and their village, but they could also be bribed into helping them sail, for example. The monsters are also the source of potential local taboos–ringing bells in the woods might attract moon beasts, for example, or gutting fish might lead to the local deities noticing and stealing them. I also designed them so that they could be plugged into the magic system, Pokemon-style, but that’s another post.

Major inspirations are Mushishi, Shin Megami Tensei and Bloodborne.

from shin megami tensei IV apocalypse

Two house rules to keep in mind:

If a monster does something they’re good at, roll under their Aptitude. If they do something they’re bad at, roll under half their Aptitude. Use the tags in their stat blocks to help you decide what they’re good and bad at. Unless otherwise stated, monsters are always good at fighting.
Spirits appear as a mirage-shimmer to people with +1 Wisdom modifier and can be fully observed by people with +2 Wisdom modifier or more.

Wind Spirits

Wind spirits can raise, banish, strengthen, weaken, or redirect wind in line of sight. The maximum strength of the wind they can control depends on their level.

sylphids

Level 1 (4 hits), Defense 0, Aptitude 10, Damage 1d4

Ability Magnitude Gentle breezes

Young wind gods, cat-sized and blue-green, singing with a voice like a panpipe. They are like the glimpse of a kingfisher out of the corner of your eye, even when you manage to look at it directly. They love gifts of ribbons and fresh fish–they congregate in a great viridian haze when the scent of fish blood is strong in the air.

sylphs

Level 3 (12 hits), Defense 1, Aptitude 12, Damage 1d6

Ability Magnitude Stiff breezes and lesser winds.

Minor wind gods, hound sized, a confusion of emerald-blue wings, calling out in a clear contralto. They are like the reflection of a great kingfisher in troubled water, an elfin face peering out of its mouth, sometimes walking like a bird, sometimes walking like a human. They love rare flowers, jewelry of any sort, and the flesh of fish from the deepest sea. They can be seen whirling around leviathans that have risen to the surface, looking for a chance to eat.

greater sylphs

Level 5 (20 hits), Defense 2, Aptitude 14, Damage 1d8

Ability Magnitude Powerful gusts and lesser winds

True wind gods, human sized, wings unfolding like petals on a blooming flower, watchful eyes peering from the center. They can take the shape of a beautiful human of indeterminate gender, or else a tempest of cerulean and green wings and flashing beak and claws. They desire the true names of islands, exquisite treasures, and the flesh and blood of sacred fish. They appear singly when artifacts are excavated or when sea-gods make themselves known, looking for a chance to steal or feast.

high sylphs

Level 7 (28 hits), Defense 3, Aptitude 16, Damage 1d10

Ability Gales and lesser winds.

Elder wind gods, bigger than a draft horse, like a dream of a kingfisher in flight, a corona of wings and feathers that recalls the motion of waves and the arc of sea-spray. In human shape, they are gorgeous giants, but they can also take the form of a flock of brilliant kingfishers or an enormous kingfisher crowned and jeweled.

Ora Marin, the Kingfisher God

Level 10 (40 hits), Defense 4, Aptitude 18, Damage 1d12

Ability Whirlwinds and any lesser wind.

The God of Wind-Over-Water. His wings are beyond counting. He moves like a stormcloud of azure feathers or a wave of green iridescence through the sea or a golden-crowned kingfisher with wings to block the Sun. As a human, he is a crowned dancer, raising fair winds with his fan of blue feathers and sea-oat, whipping up foul winds with his fan of green feathers and palmetto frond.

Moon Spirits

Moon spirits can shed soft white light or summon a pall of darkness. The intensity of the brightness or darkness depends on their level.

elvers

Level 1 (4 hits), Defense 0, Aptitude 10, Damage 1d4

Ability Range As far as light shed by a candle

Larval moon gods, small enough to fit in your cupped hands. They are something like a white-furred moth and something like a flower blossom, always reduced to a milky silhouette as if occluded by mist. They are delighted by the ringing of bells, the scent of burning incense, and warm spilt blood.

elving-children

Level 3 (12 hits), Defense 1, Aptitude 12, Damage 1d6

Ability Range As far as light shed by a torch

Moon god nymphs, the size of a small dog. They are gracile, fronded, petaled, and winged, with wet human eyes concealed in their folds like pearls in a mound of silk, everything blurred as if by a haze of water. They adore the pealing of bells, the scent of burning sacrifice, and spilt lifeblood, which they lick with deep red tongues.

elves

Level 5 (20 hits), Defense 2, Aptitude 14, Damage 1d8

Ability Range As far as light shed by a campfire

Imago moon gods, the size of a child. They are thin, pale, sharp-toothed, four-armed, moving as easily on all limbs as their hind legs, and human-like when standing, with a ruff of white hyphae on their heads and necks, a cape of flower petal wings that unfold from their backs, revealing wet raw flesh like the meat beneath a fish’s gill. They are attracted to the tolling of great bells, the burning of the living, and those near death, who they kill and drain of blood if they are able.

from bloodborne

elving-beasts

Level 7 (28 hits), Defense 3, Aptitude 16, Damage 1d10

Ability Range As far as light shed by a bonfire

Elder moon gods, the size of a stag. They are pale creatures of gossamer and bone, their many thin limbs concealed behind luxurious effusions of white hyphae, their fronded flower wings trailing like a veil, concealing the gills-slits on their back. They swim as swiftly as they fly and run, but wherever they are, the sounding of old ritual bells, the sudden deaths of many, and living sacrifices prepared in accordance with the ancient agreements draw their attention without fail.

Moon Orphan, the Abandoned God

spirit | huge | graceful | wise

Level 10 (40 hits), Defense 4, Aptitude 18, Damage 1d12

Ability Range A light like the full moon or a darkness like the new, as far as the eye can see

The terrible God of Moonlight, luminous, fronded, billowing. It drives its immense and delicate body through the deepest waters or celestial heights with uncountable limbs, shedding gently glowing clouds through its blue-lipped sporangia, singing lunar hymns through uncountable mouths in communion with the Moon, guiding it through its course in the sky and the cycle of its phases.

January 18, 2017 jacinto demon, elves, fairy, flowerland, monsters, new age dnd

blades of grass

a 5e monster for weird florida. Been thinking about Pearce’s Monstrum 1 and Monstrum 2 posts, and while I haven’t faithfully applied those principles here, I wanted something that didn’t immediately and obviously fit into the D&D taxonomy (in some ways it doesn’t matter if your kobolds are dogmen or lizard people or birdlings or shivering clouds of diamond dust if players know that it’s a fodder enemy in the same genus as goblins and bullywugs).

~~~

you might think it’s a coyote at first when you see it running down the trail–its skeleture is right, and it has that canine posture on all fours, but then it rears back on its hind legs and then keeps going, sprinting like a human, reaching for you with its sharp fingers. it looks more like a person up close, but its mouth is a little too wide and its teeth are far too sharp, and when you cut it, its blood is pink and viscous, like real blood mixed with milkweed sap.

GRASS HOUSE DWELLER
medium fey, chaotic neutral
Armor Class 15
Hit Points 7
Speed 40 ft, 60 ft on all fours, 30 ft climb speed
STR 8 (-1) DEX 14 (+2) CON 10 (+0)
INT 10 (+0) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0)
Skills: Stealth +6
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages unknown
Weaknesses radiant damage, makes their blood burn like wet sodium
Graceful. Can take the Disengage or Hide action on each of its turns
Hide in the House. Has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks when hiding in grass
Grass House Walker. Moves through palmetto, tall grass, and natural difficult terrain silently and without penalty
ACTIONS

Claw. Melee weapon attack. +4 to hit, 1d6+2 slashing damage
Green glass blade. Melee weapon attack.+4 to hit, 1d8+2 slashing damage, breaks on a roll of maximum damage.
Weird. The dweller can cast one of the following spells per short rest. Use WIS as spellcasting ability score. Its spell save DC is 14 and its spell attack bonus is +4

as entangle. The dweller gently palpates the ground; if it is stone it flexes like soft flesh, if it is dirt or sand the dweller reaches below the surface and manipulates something unseen there. Slender pale arms churn through the ground, delicate strong hands with opalescent fingernails drag down whatever they find.
as fog cloud. The dweller scores the earth deep with its claw and black smoke boils up out of the gash.
as unseen servant. There is the faint smell of cut grass and open earth, pollen and tiny insects hang in the air.
as thunderwave. The dweller throws back its head and roars like a thousand thousand cicadas, it’s the worst sound you’ve ever heard, you can taste it in your teeth, feel it blast through the fine bones of your jaw and ears.

Pact. Once per day: Three dwellers within 5 ft of each other can use their action in the same turn to summon a demon if they are outside in a wilderness area. Roll or choose based on situation, all have fiend type. Demons have their own initiative and act in the interests of the dwellers unless separated from their summoners, in which case they act of their own free will.

sunstroke demon (as yellow faerie dragon) a ragged coyote corpse leaking mirage-shimmer from the rents in its hide, running weightlessly across the ground, flitting from branch to branch as easily as a crow.
palmetto demon (as imp) scuttling mass of palm scrub detritus: palm fibers, browning fronds, broken roots, sand clods. It doesn’t change shape, but just shows you what it’s been all along, changing from spider to rat like an optical illusion resolving itself
anhinga demon (as spectator) has a 60 ft swim speed. it coils through the air like an eel through water, braided serpentine bodies throwing off coils and wings that dissolve into black feathers as fast as they form. its conjoined heads are spotted with angry red eyes, each stare carrying a different curse.
ash demon (as azer) it could almost be a charred corpse and often disguises itself as one, but its skin is thick like charcoal. when roused the red glow of its internal flame can be seen through the cracks in its skin, and its breath is heavy with smoke.

There are dwellers in other houses, too. The Petal House Dwellers have the character of both spiders and moths, and their magic is white and filamentous. The River House Dwellers are hulking and patient and make familiars of toads and crocodiles. There is a Pure House, too, a House long ago and far away and high above, with dwellers of infinite beauty and cruelty, who drink up the creatures of the earth, who would pull apart the world like a ripe fruit and eat it if they could.

March 19, 2016 jacinto fairy, intro, is this gonna work, magic, occult, Pernicious Albion, spell, type v

MAGICIANS: THE MAGICKING: THE RPG

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a very good novel that you should read. I have been wanting to run a game based on it (Austen pastiche in moody Napoleonic-era Britain; wicked fairies, whimsical magicians, intrigue, kidnapping, murder) for quite some time; my setting Pernicious Albion is me turning it into a D&D game. I have been wanting to run something more true to form, but it’s a bit tough. Magicians operate in quite a different scale than most people; one of my favorite parts of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a footnote where the author tells us Spain considered demanding reparations for one of the main characters after he rearranged a fair chunk of its geography.

Ars Magica and Fate are obvious solutions, but I’m not too hot on actually running them. This is a bullshit hack, but its starts to get at the feel I’m going for.

Character Creation
Make a 5th edition character. Pick human as the race, and do not pick a class. You are all Magicians.

Magicians start with 10d6 Magic dice. This represents the strength of their sorcery. They can temporarily lose Magic dice through exertion, but they can never have more than their maximum.

Magicians do not have a set list of spells. Each time they cast one, they determine what it does by assigning dice to its Duration, Range, Area Of Effect, and Intensity. Each category must have at least one dice, and can have up to 5. The total number of dice assigned to a spell cannot exceed a magician’s current Magic dice.

Once a magician has determined a spell’s effects, they roll all of the assigned dice.

When a dice comes up 6, the magician removes it from their pool of Magic dice until they take a long rest.
If a number of dice greater than a magician’s level come up 1, the spell is a botch. Something happens, and it is related to the spell’s effect, but only incidental to what the magician wanted to happen.

Casting a spell does not expend Magic dice unless they come up a 6. Unless the spell is a botch, the spell always works, even if the magician loses or runs out of dice.

The following charts state how many dice a magician must assign to a given category in order to achieve a given effect. All spells use the same Duration, Range, and Area Of Effect Tables, but no two spells use the same Intensity table.

Most of the tables are self explanatory. Area Of Effect details the size of the area effected around the actual spell. Intensity (each Intensity table is listed with each spell) details the greatest creature, object, or concept that can be affected by the spell. If a magician has an Area Of Effect that encompasses an entire city but an Intensity of “a torchfire” when casting the spell It Burns, they could put out every candle in town. If Intensity ever seems to encroach on Area of Effect, just use whichever the magician has placed more dice in.

DURATION

1d6 A moment
2d6 A day
3d6 A week
4d6 A month
5d6 A year and a day

RANGE

1d6 an arm’s span
2d6 a stone’s throw
3d6 shouting distance
4d6 within sight
5d6 out beyond the horizon

AREA OF EFFECT.

1d6 all within an arm’s span
2d6 all within the range of a thrown stone
3d6 all within shouting distance
4d6 all within sight
5d6 all to out beyond the horizon

Spells
There are, of course, far more spells than this. Magicians start with 3.

Utterance of Black Feathers
Allows a magician to perform feats of manipulation, transformation, summoning, and destruction pertaining to crows.
INTENSITY

1d6 one crow
2d6 thirteen crows
3d6 a murder of crows
4d6 crows to cover a field
5d6 crows to blacken the sky

Breath of the Holy Earth
Allows a magician to call forth, direct, and banish wind. (+Alex Chalk gets credit for this one)
INTENSITY

1d6 a draft
2d6 a breeze
3d6 a gust
4d6 a gale
5d6 a whirlwind

It Burns
Allows a magician to enkindle, throw, extinguish, shape, and otherwise manipulate flame.
INTENSITY

1d6 a torchfire
2d6 a campfire
3d6 a bonfire
4d6 a funeral pyre
5d6 a housefire

Fingers of Night
Allows a magician to create, shape, and banish darkness

INTENSITY

1d6 a shadow like that of a passing cloud
2d6 the gloom of a thick forest
3d6 night, just as the last of the sun is leaving the sky
4d6 a moonless night
5d6 a darkness heavy enough to be felt

Greatest Folly
Allows a magician to ignite, strengthen, diminish, and twist feelings of affection.

INTENSITY

1d6 Delight
2d6 Friendship
3d6 Infatuation
4d6 Craven Obsession
5d6 Love

Really should put up a setting sketch, but I’m tired and don’t feel very good so eh. Tomorrow maybe. Here’s some pictures of magicians.

the Lackaday Twins (not actual title, by John Singer Sargent)

John Pharoah, Ursurper to the Northern Throne (not actual title, from El Shaddai)

Lord Umberlin of the Bells (not actual title, from etrian odyssey)

Claude the Gaul, wanted in 10 counties for violating the course of history (from Persona 5, not actual title)

April 17, 2015 jacinto dungeon, fairy, garden, vampire

In the Lambent Gardens

The God of the Earth pointcrawl turned into something else and it’s super fun to write so here’s some NPCs and monsters and stuff in it.

The Gardens of Lambence

There is a garden where the flowers bloom forever, where nothing ever grows or dies, where everything waits in the quiet light of an eternal blue hour. These Gardens of Lambence are a cursed place, raised up from the wilderness by two beings of ancient and wicked power: the Evening Prince, who is both sorcerer and vampire, and the Countess of Broken-heart, who counts herself among the lords and ladies of Faerie. They have grown to hate each other in their immortality, but neither can raise a hand against the other; by the laws of the fairies and the laws of the dead, the Gardens belong equally to both.

Encounter Table

d6 Evening Consorts, +2 to Reaction rolls
Heart-break Courtiers, +2 to Reaction rolls
Chambliss, make a Reaction roll every encounter
The Evening Prince will arrive at this location next Turn; d6 anxious Consorts arrive and beg the players to leave or hide (unless the players have already caused trouble in the Gardens, in which case they try to kill the party as neatly and quickly as possible)
The Countess of Broken-heart will arrive at the location next Turn; d6 anxious Courtiers arrive
and beg the players to leave or hide (unless the players have already caused trouble in the Gardens, in which case they try to kill the party as neatly and quickly as possible)
Roll twice

The Countess of Broken-heart

HD 9 Speed human
Armor as leather Attacknone

Morale 8 Alignment Chaotic

Wolves proclaim her arrival and foxes bear her train: the Countess of Broken-heart, her dress the purple of beaten flesh, her high crown fashioned from black horn. A single red scar mars the pallor of her face, and all who knew or asked whence it came are now ashes.

The Countess of Broken-heart has spent the long years of her feud with the Prince devising tortures of such complexity and cruelty that they give pause to even Lucifer, her dearest friend and weekly chess-partner. Her rage is so great because she already possesses the instrument of the Prince’s destruction, but cannot use it. Years ago, the Prince vitrified the angel Suriel when it attacked him in his own Gardens. The Countess can free Suriel to complete its murderous mission without violating any of the rules of hospitality, but she shall not so long as the Prince holds her lover hostage.

Glamor: The Countess can alter the seeming of a creature of object nearby. Glamors perfectly fool all the senses, but cannot effect true change. Glamor-swords hurt and seem to wound, but never quite manage to kill; glamor-horses gallop across the landscape, but their riders find that they never get anywhere. Anyone who interacts with a glamor is entitled to a saving throw to see through the illusion.
Polymorph: Once a day, the Countess can transform an object or creature with fewer HD than herself into any non-magical animal. The victim may make a saving throw to resist the transformation, but if they fail, they turn into a creature with their knowledge and personality until the effect is dispelled.
Fairy-magic: The Countess is a fairy and has all the corresponding powers and weaknesses. As a noble, she can cast spells as a 9^th level magician; she knows 5 Psychomancy and 4 Elementalism spells.

The Evening Prince

HD 9 Speed human
Armor as chain Attackrapier

Morale 9 Alignment Chaotic

He speaks very softly and smells of the lilies woven into his coat, but his shadow drags behind him as heavy and luxuriant as a cape of sable. The Evening Prince was a magician of prodigious talent when his heart yet beat, and now even the gentlest of his speech makes the air shiver with what he might do.

The Evening Prince wants to kill the Countess. He hates her down to the cold marrow of his bones, hates that she lives in the Gardens as if they were hers. He knows she hates him too, so he turned her favorite consort into a nightingale and locked her away in his chambers inside a golden cage. The Countess cannot harm him so long as he has her lover, for fear of losing her forever.

Vitrify: Once a day, the Prince can conjure a giant spar of smoked quartz around a creature with fewer HD than himself. The victim may make a saving throw to avoid imprisonment; should it fail, it is trapped indefinitely, fully conscious but immune to aging, hunger, thirst, or the need to breathe.
Vampire: The Prince is a vampire, and has all the corresponding powers and weaknesses. He can transform into a nightingale, and will hide among the flocks that live in the Gardens if severely wounded.
Magician: The Prince cast spells as a 9^th level magician; for W&W casters, he knows five Necromancy and four Translocation spells.

Evening Consorts

The Prince’s white-haired vampire servants, who loll about the Gardens in black evening suits when they aren’t tending to the Prince or maintaining grounds. Though they all adore the Prince—he Charmed them into doing so—they have no interest in his feud with the Countess, and would much rather spend their immortality playing tennis and taking long baths. They cannot refuse a direct order from their master, but have no compunction keeping secrets from him or willfully misinterpreting his instructions to maintain the Gardens’ status quo or protect peaceful outsiders.

HD 3 Speed human
Armor as chain Attackgiant scissors (as sword) OR trowel (as dagger)

Morale 8 Alignment Chaotic

Vampire: Evening Consorts are vampires and have all the corresponding powers and weaknesses. All of them can turn into nightingales, and will hide among the flocks that live in the Gardens if they fail a Morale check.

Broken-heart Courtiers

The Countess’ black-haired, white-cloaked fairy servants, who meander through the Gardens when they aren’t attending the Countess or working as house-staff. Though they are sworn vassals of the Countess, they have no desire to see her grudge to its bloody conclusion—drinking cordial and holding dances are far more appealing. The Courtiers must obey all of the Countess’ commands, but will happily keep secrets or follow the letter, rather than the spirit, of her orders when it suits them.

HD 3 Speed human
Armor as leather Attackgiant needle (as spear) OR ribbon (as whip)

Morale 8 Alignment Chaotic

Fairy: Broken-heart Courtiers are fairies and have all the corresponding powers and weaknesses. They can cast Shroud/Invisibility on themselves at will.

Location: Tennis Court
Appearance

A tennis court with a ten foot high spar of smoked quartz jutting from where the umpire chair should be. Close examination yields a murky figure trapped in inside, and anyone listening closely can hear a muffled, endless scream of rage. Two Consorts and two Courtiers are playing a friendly game of doubles, despite the fact that they are on guard duty.

History

The quartz contains Suriel, Third Sphere Angel of the Moon. Some years ago, it decided the Prince was infringing on its domain, and made the mistake of interrupting one of his tennis games in an attempt to confront him. Its prison rests on the old court even now, daubed with specious red sigils that siphon Suriel’s power and maintain the Gardens’ endless duskShould anyone efface these symbols, the natural cycle of night and day will return.Should anyone break open Suriel’s prison as well (0 AC, 100 HP), the angel will burst forth in a blast of scorching light and start rampaging across the Gardens in search of the Prince.

Suriel, Angel of the Third Sphere and Governor of the Moon

HD 7 Speedhuman (fly)
Armor as plate Attack longsword, angelic weapon

Morale 11 Alignment Lawful

Armor Gematria: Suriel is immune to damage that is a multiple of or contains the number 3.
Angelic Weapon: An ivory hierogram, embedded in Suriel’s palm. On a successful hit, it causes spears of lightning to plummet from the heavens onto the target, dealing d12 damage. If taken from the angel, it can be used 5 times before breaking.
Domain: Suriel can cause localized eclipses. They only affect a small area (a village or a city block, for example) and are unnoticeable to anyone outside the afflicted locale. If the angel so wishes, it can center the eclipse on a particular person or item, so that they are trapped in a false and endless night. Suriel can also exert some control over gravity. It can double or halve gravitational forces at half shortbow range around itself

March 19, 2015 jacinto demon, fairy, i am sick, monsters, Pernicious Albion, wonders and wickedness

Personages Seen in the Miserous Hills

Prose is a little extra purple today, but this was fun to write. Adapting my half-assed God of the Earth dungeon for Albion.

Countess of Secrets-kept, true Lady of Faerie
Wolves proclaim her arrival and foxes bear her train: the Countess of Secrets-kept, her dress the purple of beaten flesh, her high crown fashioned from black horn. A single red scar mars the pallor of her face, and all who knew or asked whence it came are now ashes.

HD 10 Speed human
Armor none Attack none
Morale 9 Alignment Chaotic

Abilities

Command Canine: All foxes, hounds, and wolves in Albion must obey the Countess, for they sold their service to her long ago.
Fairy-power: As a greater fairy, the Countess can cast Totem/Polymorph Other, Geas/Covenant, Revisitation/Teleport, and Bewitch/Charm Person. She cannot cast more than 10 spells in a day.
Lich-craft/Animate Dead: The Countess’ closest and dearest ally is Lucifer, with whom she plays chess every Sunday. As a birthday present some centuries ago, he gave her the ability to raise the dead, though she only has power over the remains of the damned.

Her servants are three brothers named Mercy-me, Noose-tight, and Lackaday. They are perfectly identical in their hideousness and eloquently rude to all but their mistress. Each has a different, baroque scheme to depose the Countess, claim her title, and curse her house unto thirteen generation as revenge for these long millennia of servitude. They bicker amongst themselves endlessly.

The Countess of Secrets-kept is currently pursuing the God of the Earth for its heart, so that she can make it into a chess pawn–she misplaced her last one, carved from Helen of Troy’s rib.

Too Little Too Late, Demon of the 4th Circle
It changes shape like humans change clothes, but no matter how it looks, it always feels wrong, like a nail pounded into the flesh of the world. Without its magic, Too Little Too Late is as red and slick and slender as a man without skin, its mouth crowded with crocodile teeth than can punch through steel.

HD 9 Speed human
Armor as plate Attack as longsword (claws)
Morale 8 Alignment Chaotic

Abilities

Temptation of the Miser: Victim must save vs Magic or have a large, beautifully cut gem worth £100×d10 grow painlessly and harmlessly in their forehead. Removing this gem is excruciatingly painful, horrifically bloody, and invariably fatal.
Deception: Too Little Too Late can assume any human appearance it pleases
Hell-power: As a demon, Too Litle Too Late can 9 spells a day from the Diabolism school. It can also assume bodily control over humans by crawling into their mouths, though they are allowed a single Save vs Magic to expel it.

Too Little Too Late hunts the God of the Earth to possess it and build an infernal kingdom from the safety of its monstrous new body.

July 23, 2014 jacinto encounters, fairy, LotFP, Pernicious Albion

Fairy hexes 31-40

This is the last of the fairy hexes for now. A post on how fairies work, and then hexes from another faction.

A Roman officer, accompanied by 20 soldiers, is dumping chest after chest of coinage (1000 pounds sterling in all) into a crumbling well. Iridescent caskets of fairy-metal weapons and armor are stacked neatly nearby. UNDEAD OFFICER: HD 7, AC Plate, MV Slow, d8 Weapon damage, paralyzing touch (d6 Turns, Save vs Paralyze to avoid). UNDEAD SOLDIER: Lvl 1 Fighter
The Barony of Crossed Heart. A fairy-noble and his small army of charmed townspeople besiege the castle as the Baron and his knights cower within. There is some talk of turning the Baron into a bowl of fig pudding.
Two groups of fairies—one arrayed in red, the other in grey—in pitched battle. At sunset, the fallen arise to prepare themselves for the next day’s fighting. Any outsiders who involve themselves, however, remain dead.
A man wearing a mask shaped like a beetle sells an array of mundane goods. He must accept anything as currency; he will sell a length of rope for three pounds sterling, three acorns, or three diamonds.
A young woman reads a book beneath a tree. She wears a most excellent hat; everyone who sets eyes on it agrees it is the best they’ve seen. She’s willing to pass it on to anyone who can beat her in a game of cards, but expects high stakes from her opponents.
A locked chest sits atop a pile of gravel. Whenever someone sees the contents, roll 1d6. On a 1-3, the contents appear to all the senses as a golden statue of a beautiful woman, inlaid with lapis lazuli. On a 4-6, they appear as a naked little man who licks his lips when touched or held. Roll separately for each viewer.
Several foxes in ragged waist coats and top hats run through the brush, pursued by a hunting party of lesser fairies. The foxes are actually Gaulish saboteurs.
A beacon of flame burns atop a slender stone tower. Should it ever go out, a murder of crows great enough to blot out the sun will descend on this hex and attack everything that lives within.
Grey-winged moths congregate in the meadow around a sealed dolmen. It contains vampire lord from the east, locked away since antiquity. He is rather reasonable, but exceedingly hungry.
An abandoned glass palace rests on the floor of a lake. Anyone who breaks a sword in the center of the throne room becomes lord or lady of the castle, with all the rights, responsibilities, and assassination attempts that implies.

July 21, 2014 jacinto angels, encounters, fairy, LotFP, Pernicious Albion

Fairy Locations 21-30

Here, the Giant of Slumbering Days runs down his prey of lost sheep and lost shepherds and innocent travelers. He does so merrily, with great peals of laughter and blood in his teeth, for none are so happy as him when he eats. GIANT OF SLUMBERING DAYS: HD 10, AC as chain, MV Fast, d12 damage club, Save 8, those hit by club must Save vs Paralyzation or go last the following turn.
A small patch of Perpetual Day. At the center of this hex, a golden sun burns in a tired red sky.
A grey stone path wanders through a misty forest of black trees. Anyone travelling along the path will never reach the end of the forest, even if they turn back; to escape, they must cut through the underbrush.
The ore in these hills can be refined into Sublimated Darkness, a substance treasured by the smiths and metallurgists of New Londinium. A single person can mine about 200 silver pieces worth in a day.
A field of pale asphodel beneath a cloudy sky. The Lands of the Dead are close to this place; those buried here cannot return or be raised as undead, and anyone who Save vs Death in sight of the flowers automatically fails.
A trio of fairy-maidens torments a troupe of 10 Royal Knights. They have decided they must be wed, and will persist until driven off or each has been promised someone’s hand in marriage. ROYAL KNIGHT: Lvl 0 Fighter. FAIRY-MAIDEN: HD 4 AC as chain, MV Fast (fly), d6 damage weapon, Save 12, At-will: Invisibility, Change Person, 1/day: Shrink
Two Angels of the Sixth Sphere escorting an iron-shackled fairy-noble. She is the Countess of Mercy Withheld, and they are taking her to the Immanent Fortress on charges of collaborating with the forces of Hell. They are very sure of her guilt, but can not remember why.
A man wearing a wolfshead helmet and suit of black armor is tied to a tree with thick strands of ivy. He is the Diabolus Loricae, trapped here for assaulting the King of Roses Red long ago. Anyone who frees him will have their hands cursed crimson, marking them as enemies of the King. If freed, the Diabolus will perform a favor for his liberators and offer a pact to any Warlocks.
A man in fashionable clothes lies dead on the dirt, impaled with spears of holly. His pocket-watch bears the crest of House Savile.
A horse-sized wolf with a mass of prehensile tentacles instead of a head stands in the center of a ring of mushrooms. It can only leave if attacked. SPAKE-HOUND: HD 6, AC as chain, MV Fast, d10 damage tentacle, Save 10, Casts Commune on target the turn after a successful grapple.

July 18, 2014 jacinto encounters, fairy, LotFP, Pernicious Albion, table

Fairy Locations 11-20

A circle of rowan trees stand atop a barrow. Bound beneath in a circle of iron is the fairy known as the Elphame Prince, imprisoned there by a magician he wronged long ago. Locks and traps bar the way, but the Prince will owe a favor to whoever frees him, and enterprising Warlocks can form a pact with him.
An unsupported ivory gate looks onto a desolate moor, though the field behind it is green and lush. Anyone who walks into it and closes the doors behind them will return an hour later, aged one year, bearing vague memories of war, with a Wisdom score increased by 1. Anyone who does this twice returns a day later, aged ten years and losing 1 point of Constitution. Those who enter a third time do not come back.
The Witmarrow Witch lives here in a dilapidated hut. If she burns someone’s dearest possession, she can discern their deepest secret by examining the ashes. She will perform this service with no regard for legality or propriety for anyone who tells her their own darkest secret. WITMARROW WITCH: Lvl 5 MU
A mountain-sized spider with a castle carved into its carapace picks its way across the countryside on slender legs. It will not leave the hex of its own free will. The castle’s 101 fairy courtiers, with no lord or lady to guide them, have fallen into cruelty and decadence.
A bronze spear is thrust into the center of a great stone wheel. It requires a difficult Strength check to remove. When thrust into the ground, the spear transforms into a 12 foot long serpent with a caustic temperament and venomous bite, grudgingly loyal to the spear’s owner.
Statues of a man and woman in postures of repose sit atop a mouldering blanket. Weathered clothing hangs from their frames, and each clutches a chicken bone. A pile of wicker rots next to them.
Stilltown, a seemingly Briton village of 57 souls, stands here. Its inhabitants are all changelings, and they have done all they can to reject their fairy blood. They treasure the banal and pastoral, but their exceedingly poor grasp of such things means they often turn to magic when they think no one is looking. On the night of every full moon, every Stilltowner awakens with an irreducible urge to whirl shrieking through the night sky. They find this a source of great embarrassment.
A giant, frozen midstride, looms over the landscape. She is the Giant of Love Lost, untouchable by weapon or spell or poison. When she threatened to crush New Londinium, the magicians of Albion cursed her so that for every second she experiences, a century passes for the rest of the world.
A small patch of Eternal Night. At the center of this hex, strange stars shine in unfamiliar constellations.
A troupe of fairy-knights have made their camp here. They will accept any challenge, such as combat, magical duel, or game of chance, and award the winners with a scroll of Glamour. They will Glamour losers to look like filthy beggars, no matter how they scrub themselves or change their clothes.

GLAMOUR

Magic-user Level 4

Duration: Permanent

Range 10’

This spell allows human magicians to wield the deceptive power of the fairies. The caster can change the appearance of any creature or object within range in any way, so long as no single dimension is altered by more than 10%. Unwilling targets are entitled to a Save vs. Magic to resist. Dispel Magic destroys the illusion.

July 18, 2014 jacinto adventures, fairy, is this gonna work, LotFP, Pernicious Albion, table

The Pernicious Atlas

I do not like talking about things I will do, because they do not always happen, and then I feel silly. But I will have a fair amount of free time for the next year, so if I don’t have something good to show for it, I ought to be embarrassed.

My plan is to compile and organize and refine all my Albion stuff into The Pernicious Atlas. It will be a retroclone friendly book/pdf/publication/whatever containing:

a 400 hex wilderness crawl
setting-appropriate versions of the Warlock and Beast Child
a brief bestiary, including information that ties the creatures to the class features of the Warlock and Beast Child
a handful of spells, each interacting with hex locations in some way
some tables for running the faux Regency era English society of New Londinium, the setting’s main city, and all the social warfare, character/literal assassination, and rumor-mongering that implies

Feedback is welcome, of course, but this is something I might be selling for dollars, so if helping for free bothers you, keep that in mind.

Anyways, here are 10 fairy-related wilderness hexes, in no particular order or geographical grouping.

In these fields of rose and thorn stands a lonely hill of stone. Deep within its dusty halls, upon the throne he claimed by right of ancient pact sits the fairy-lord of Albion: the King of Roses Red and Fair, a crown of flowers in his hair.

A woman stands in a golden cage garlanded with roses. She weeps and wrenches at the bars, but she sings exquisitely and without pause.

Heartbreak, a Briton village of 30 souls, stands here. Its ruler is Pretty Tyrant, a minor fairy-noble and self-styled Earl of Heartbreak. He has extracted the obedience and adulation of the village’s inhabitants with magic, stolen their children, and disguised Heartbreak’s ruinous state of repair (the fruit of his neglectful rule) with glamour and illusion.

A gallows creaks in the wind. Anyone hung from them, whether they be fairy or king or simple wretch, is dead forever, beyond the reach of magic or miracle.

Orchards and verdant gardens surround the foundation of an old manor. Everything here is cursed with deathly poison (Save vs Poison or die upon eating any of the garden’s fruit, drinking water from its well, or breathing the scent of the flowers).

Here hunts a fairy-hound. It savors the blood of magicians and attacks them on sight. However, it will act as the mount of anyone who subdues it, and it is sensitive to loud noises and terribly afraid of flame. FAIRY-HOUND: HD 4, AC as leather, MV Fast, d8 damage bite, Save 12

A spring burbles at the base of a standing stone. Any magician who bathes in it can inscribe Speak with Dead in their spellbook. If they do so at night, d12 skeletons will rise up from the earth and attack. SKELETON: HD 1, AC as cloth, MV Medium, d6 damage weapon, Save 14

An inn stands alone in the heath. The innkeeper says that the pleasure of the party’s company is payment enough, but they must ask no questions and make no demands under her roof. Should they violate her conditions, they will awaken d10 hexes away in a random direction, each with their maximum HP permanently reduced by 1. Regardless of the party’s compliance, the inn vanishes the next morning.

A circle of white stones encircles a copse of ash trees. For every day that passes within the circle, an hour elapses without.

A crudely hammered sword of iron lies in a field. It bears no enchantment, and in fact is utterly unremarkable, save for the fact that its wielder killed the Lady of All Nights millennia ago. All titled fairies will recognize the sword, and treat its owner as a peer. This is not always helpful.