jacinto flowerland, Pernicious Albion, spell, World of Dungeons

Sorcery in Flowerland

The Sorcery of Flowerland is the magic of Night. It is unsubtle and unlovely. It excels at destruction, imposition, corrosion, subjugation, and transformation, while succor, mending, light, heat, and delicacy are fundamentally contrary to its nature. Animals fear it, and spirits go mad in its presence. When Sorcery can be seen or felt, it is cloying, chilling, sinuous, and dark. 

distributed by Stefano Corso under Creative Commons


Anyone with the Sorcery skill can learn magical Arts. To do so, they must spend a full day studying one of the Night Tribe’s monoliths, murals, or texts. At sunset, they roll 2d6+Soul. 

  • On a 10+ they learn the Art.
  • On a 7-9 they learn the Art and are scarred or altered by the experience.
  • On a 6- they transform into a Night Demon and try to murder or subjugate everything around them.
Upon learning their first Art, a sorcerer’s blood turns an inky black and becomes terribly poisonous. Practiced sorcerers have use for the blood of their fellows, but extraction is seldom pleasant.


There are nine Greater Arts of Night known to the sorcerers of Flowerland. Lesser disciplines abound, and of course no one knows what magics lie forgotten in the Night Tribe ruins out in the wilds. A sorcerer can bring about any magical effect, so long as it pertains to one of the Arts they know and it does not contradict anything about Sorcery’s nature.

  1. Razor Dance
  2. Dominion Song
  3. Rapture Eye
  4. Night Grasp
  5. Void Gate
  6. Venom Scream
  7. Dream Chain
  8. Soul Stitch
  9. Rime Key

When a sorcerer draws upon the powers of Night to cast a spell, on a 10+, they pick 2 of the following, and on a 7-9, they pick 1. On a 6-, it all goes it shit. (EDIT: This bit is adapted from one of the Druid’s moves in Dungeon World.)
  • The spell achieves what they wanted it to.
  • They are uncorrupted and unharmed by Night’s influence.
  • They keep control of their magic

The effects of Sorcery can last indefinitely. However, there are two limiting factors: any Sorcery effect that does not take place instantaneously ends the moment sunlight touches it, and Sorcery tends to destroy or transform objects and people under its influence. 

Sorcerers have a Curse score. It goes up when they fail to resist the corruption intrinsic to magic. If a Sorcerer’s Curse score is at any point higher than their current HP, they immediately roll 2d6+Soul:

  • On a 10+, they retain control and reduce their Curse by 1.
  • On a 7-9, their control slips, and they increase their Curse by 1.
  • On a 6- they transform into a Night Demon and try to murder or subjugate everything around them.
jacinto flowerland, intro, megadungeon murder mystery, World of Dungeons, World of Lamentations

Welcome to the Scholomance

Flowerland Session #2 coming up, but I also told my friend I’d run a Magic Academy Gone Wrong one-shot for her online. Started as “Lord of the Flies set in Hogwarts”, but morphed into this:


Centuries ago, a forgotten mystic founded the Scholomance, a college built to train fledgling witches and sorcerers, lest solitude and caprice drive them to make mischief out of magic. It flourished over the years, attracting the best and most ambitious magi, but its final headmaster, the Wizard Loshe, trafficked with what mortals ought not and invited a spirit of foul knowledge and dark power into his mind. It subjugated his will, seized his body, and began remaking the school in its own wicked image. His former friends and colleagues fled, taking their students with them, and sealed the Scholomance away behind wards and walls and unaging guardians. But all did not escape. You did not escape. An abandoned student of the Scholomance, you are trapped in the castle with a mad wizard, his lieutenants, a few wily faculty, and your own desperate fellows. 

But you have a chance. When the professors left, the Scholomance awakened. The Founder imparted it with a keen intelligence and power over the castle’s servitors and mechanisms. It retains its full power and purpose only in the Tower of Repose, which houses Scholomance’s dormitories, bathrooms, and storerooms. Here, it can shield the remaining students from the predations of Headmaster Loshe and the demon coiled tight around his heart. In other wings, it is weakened, slumbering, or insane.

Character generation is the same as Flowerland, only backgrounds indicate who your parent(s) are, there is no need for a Sorcery or Shamanism skill, and you get equipment by rolling d6 three times on the following table.

All characters begin with 1 white button down shirt, 1 pair of black slacks, 1 black robe, 1 wand (required for magic), and 6 of the following.

You deal d6 damage unarmed, d6+3 damage with a weapon, 2d6 damage with a particularly appropriate weapon (using a hammer against a skeleton, for example). Each piece of armor reduces damage taken by 1, but you can’t stack pieces of the same kind on top of each other (so you can’t wear two helmets at once).

1-1-1: Spell: Summon Salamander
1-1-2: Spell: Summon Sylph
1-1-3: Spell: Summon Undine
1-1-4: Spell: Summon Gnome
1-1-5: Spell: Summon Phantom
1-1-6: Spell: Bind Spirit
1-2-1: Spell: Unlock
1-2-2: Spell: Lock
1-2-3: Spell: Repair
1-2-4: Spell: Sabotage
1-2-5: Spell: Assemble
1-2-6: Spell: Deconstruct
1-3-2: Spell: Diminution
1-3-3: Spell: Beasting
1-3-4: Spell: Glamor
1-3-5: Spell: Hex
1-3-6: Spell: Obfuscate
1-4-1: Spell: Obliviate
1-4-1: Spell: Illuminate
1-4-2: Spell: Ignite
1-4-3: Spell: Flourish
1-4-4: Spell: Gust
1-4-5: Spell: Rain
1-4-6: Spell: Spark
1-5-1: Spell: Darken
1-5-2: Spell: Snuff
1-5-3: Spell: Freeze
1-5-4: Spell: Vacuum
1-5-5: Spell: Fog
1-5-6: Spell: Magnetize
1-6-1: Spell: Push
1-6-2: Spell: Pull
1-6-3: Spell: Ascension
1-6-4: Spell: Gravitation
1-6-5: Spell: Barrier
1-6-6: Spell: Manipulate
2-1-1: Weapon: Pitchfork
2-1-2: Weapon: Shepherd’s crook
2-1-3: Weapon: Scythe
2-1-4: Weapon: Sickle
2-1-5: Weapon: Hatchet
2-1-6: Weapon: Mallet
2-2-1: Weapon: Chef’s knife
2-2-2: Weapon: Cleaver
2-2-3: Weapon: Straight razor
2-2-4: Weapon: Table leg with bent nail
2-2-5: Weapon: Broom (sharpened handle)
2-2-6: Weapon: Cane
2-3-1: Weapon: Fencing foil
2-3-2: Weapon: Oar
2-3-3: Weapon: Bat
2-3-4: Ranged Weapon: Lawn darts (12)
2-3-5: Ranged Weapon: Bow and arrows (12)
2-3-6: Weapon: Anchor
2-4-1: Weapon: Decorative sword
2-4-2: Weapon: Serving fork
2-4-3: Weapon: Brazier
2-4-4: Weapon: Curtain rod
2-4-5: Weapon: Poker
2-4-6: Weapon: Roasting spit
2-5-1: Ranged Weapon: Tomahawk
2-5-2: Ranged Weapon: Boomerang
2-5-3: Ranged Weapon: Blowgun (12 darts)
2-5-4: Ranged Weapon: Blunderbuss
2-5-5: Weapon: katana
2-5-6: Weapon: Military saber
2-6-1: Pack of cigarettes
2-6-2: Pack of Goetia trading cards
2-6-3: Bottle caps (100)
2-6-4: Box of snack cakes
2-6-5: Pornographic chapbook
2-6-6: Hall pass
3-1-1: Armor: Pot with eyeholes
3-1-2: Armor: Mascot head
3-1-3: Armor: Rugby helmet
3-1-4: Armor: Hockey mask
3-1-5: Armor: Antique helm
3-1-6: Armor: Large skull
3-2-1: Armor: Hammered tin breastplate
3-2-2: Armor: Shin guards
3-2-3: Armor: Heavy poncho
3-2-4: Armor: Shoulder pads
3-2-5: Armor: Fencing jacket
3-2-6: Armor: Parka
3-3-1: Armor: Antique gauntlets
3-3-2: Armor: Plywood Shield
3-3-3: Armor: Platter Shield
3-3-4: Armor: Work gloves
3-3-5: Armor: Boxing gloves
3-3-6: Armor: Garbage lid shield
3-4-1: High heels
3-4-2: Red silk robe
3-4-3: Ragged black scarf
3-4-4: Tuxedo
3-4-5: Evening gown
3-4-6: Furs
3-5-1: DIY tattoo kit
3-5-2: DIY piercing kit
3-5-3: Makeup kit
3-5-4: Pomade
3-5-5: Hair dye
3-5-6: Cat ear headband
3-6-1: Switchblade
3-6-2: Brass knuckles
3-6-3: Bag of rocks
3-6-4: Shiv
3-6-5: Bicycle chain
3-6-6: Slingshot
4-1-1: Cat
4-1-2: Dog
4-1-3: Crow
4-1-4: Serpent
4-1-5: Bat
4-1-6: Weasel
4-2-1: Spyglass
4-2-2: Magnifying glass
4-2-3: Rope, 50’
4-2-4: Bear trap
4-2-5: Compact mirror
4-2-6: Rucksack
4-3-1: Straw hat
4-3-2: Heavy cloak
4-3-3: Umbrella
4-3-4: Tent
4-3-5: Sleeping bag
4-3-6: Box of matches
4-4-1: Wound kit
4-4-2: Curse kit
4-4-3: Vermifuge kit
4-4-4: Fever kit
4-4-5: Cough kit
4-4-6: Venom Kit
4-5-1: Phylactery (full)
4-5-2: Phylactery (empty)
4-5-3: Bottled rest
4-5-4: Bottled dream
4-5-5: Silver hoop
4-5-6: Red paint
4-6-1: Homunculus
4-6-2: Dog skeleton
4-6-3: Chalk
4-6-4: Vial of blood
4-6-5: Vial of blessed water
4-6-6: Sticks of incense (6)
5-1-1: Pouch of golden lotus powder
5-1-2: Bottle of laudanum
5-1-3: Bottle of wine
5-1-4: Bottle of fine liquor
5-1-5: Bottle of loathsome liquor
5-1-6: Bottle of cough syrup
5-2-1: Keg of gunpowder
5-2-2: Magnesium flares (3)
5-2-3: Firecrackers (6)
5-2-4: box of matches
5-2-5: flask of kerosene
5-2-6: Candles (12)
5-3-1: String of garlic
5-3-2: Blue glass eye
5-3-3: jar of salt
5-3-4: wooden stakes (24)
5-3-5: Weapon: silver-plated knife
5-3-6: Silver bell
5-4-1: Goggles
5-4-2: Armor: Leather apron
5-4-3: box of glass eyes
5-4-4: Box of pins
5-4-5: Jar of formaldehyde
5-4-6: Mannequin
5-5-1: Atlas of the Scholomance
5-5-2: Location of 1 secret passage
5-5-3: Demonological treatise
5-5-4: Botanical treatise
5-5-5: Bestiary
5-5-6: Necrology
5-6-1: Flute
5-6-2: Violin
5-6-3: Harp
5-6-4: Pound of clay
5-6-5: watercolors
5-6-6: hammer and chisel
6-1-1: compass
6-1-2: pound of lard
6-1-3: sack of marbles
6-1-4: Copper wire, 20’
6-1-5: dark glasses
6-1-6: camera
6-2-1: tin of fish
6-2-2: name of lesser demon
6-2-3: bicycle
6-2-4: roller skates
6-2-5: pot of glue
6-2-6: bolt cutters
6-3-1: manacles
6-3-2: flask of acid
6-3-3: padlock and key
6-3-4: notebook and pen
6-3-5: goldfish in bow
6-3-6: needle and thread
6-4-1: bushel of apples
6-4-2: human skull
6-4-3: diamond ring
6-4-4: pearl necklace
6-4-5: Sublimated Darkness
6-4-6: Hardened Flame
6-5-1: Clarified water
6-5-2: Rare Earth
6-5-3: Reified Aether
6-5-4: Immortal Blood
6-5-5: Chloroplasm
6-5-6: sack of sandwiches
6-6-1: Malodorous cheese
6-6-2: choice cut of meat
6-6-3: Dead chicken
6-6-4: itching powder
6-6-5: stink bomb
6-6-6: whoopee cushion

Some common enemies/creatures/allies/victims:
  • Baglings: monsters of cloth and ivory Wizard Loshe stitches together with magic and spider silk. 
  • The Servants: shadow-fleshed dogmen with tools for hands that maintain the castle at night. In places where the Scholomance is asleep or damaged, they attack or act erratically.
  • Bocklin: goat people that populated a village that was sealed away with the rest of the Scholomance. Loshe likes to tangle cursed thread in their horns to compel their obedience.
  • Sophia’s Eidolons: Sophia, the Prime Warlock of the Summoning School, could not escape the Scholomance in time. She has taken up residence in the Library Wing and defends herself from Loshe and his servants with a combination of summoned servants and the forbidden magic contained in the deepest reaches of the Library. Unfortunately, she is stretched a bit thin, so she doesn’t have enough control over her eidolons to keep them from attacking innocents, too. 
  • Gyges: a vampire and former Headmaster freed from his prison in the Crypts by Wizard Loshe. He is thoroughly evil and has animated most of the interred, but he has no interest in the Scholomance anymore and loathes Loshe for placing him in servitude. 
  • Dame Balustrade and the Inquisition: a group of knights who claim to have entered the Scholomance by means of divine intervention. They hate magic and all its practitioners, and though the seek to kill the Wizard Loshe for his black magic, they wouldn’t mind snagging a few students along the way. 


This draws on: Harry Potter, Seclusium of Orphone, Paolo Greco’s Mysteries and Mystagogues, Scrap Princess’ post post apocalypse 
jacinto flowerland, intro, Pernicious Albion, World of Dungeons

Flowerland 20 Questions

Alakanthus is a mostly-pre-colonial horrible fantasy New World. However, it is shamelessly anachronistic—modernish technology, like airboats, diesel engines, and radios exist. The important thing is  that it is loud, unreliable, vents smelly exhaust, and could plausibly be found in a shitty riverside fishing camp. The colonizers, from the Empire of (Pernicious) Albion are vaguely Victorian England. They want Alakanthus, they want all of it, and they have the muscle and money to get it. Full control is still a ways away; Houndport provided a toehold on the continent that the Empire is only now beginning to exploit. The native Beast Tribes are mostly subsistence farmers and hunters, and they aren’t passive subjects of invasion. There have been at least two other major empires in Alakanthus, and the Tribes are the only ones left standing.  


Magic is pretty rare. The Empire can’t spare the resources to send many honest-to-goodness magicians (though the Church of the Sovereign Mother maintains some subtle-but-powerful wards around Houndport), and the sorcery of Alakanthus kills or transmutes its users too often for its practitioners to be common. Sun Giant devices are mostly destroyed or locked away in their mouldering complexes. Non-humans other than the Beast Tribes are almost nonexistent. There are a handful of Night Tribe sorcerers not crystallized into monuments or destroyed in whatever catastrophe ended their empire, and a few bunkers still hold fallen Sun Giants, though for what purpose no one knows. 

by marsmettnn tallahassee, distributed under Creative Commons
by Marie Coleman, distributed under Creative Commons

20 Questions by J Rients

What is the deal with my cleric’s religion? Most Alakanthines worship nature and ancestor spirits. Shamans can speak directly to these spirits, as well as perceive their influence when they meddle with human affairs from the spirit world. Powerful and canny shamans form pacts with these minor gods, though these deals can easily go wrong, even if the shaman abides by the terms of the pact. Shamans have another job—purifying or soothing the spirits corrupted or enraged by intruders, sorcerers, or polluters. Clergy of the Church of the Sovereign Mother are big NPC nasties.

Where can we go to buy standard equipment? Morrison Morrison in Houndport runs a store most of the gear you’ll need, but if you want new weapons, armor, or anything unusual, you’ll have to find a smuggler or bribe a quartermaster.

Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended? Samuel is a mechanic with a workshop on the southern edge of Houndport. He doesn’t ask too many questions, but the Interim Governor has it in for him.

Who is the mightiest wizard in the land? The Beast Tribes speak of a terrible Pythoness far to the east. Royal Warlock Jack Helton is the greatest of the settler’s wizards, but he has been on an expedition out in the wilds for the last year, and is not expected to return. There is undoubtedly some Night Tribe horror buried away that could annihilate either with ease, but everyone, Beast Tribe and Houndporter alike, would rather not think about that.

Who is the greatest warrior in the land? The Coyote Prince demonstrated his supremacy as a warrior to the Beast Tribes by felling the League Long Crocodile. However, the Old Worlders favor Lieutenant Charlotte Black, who single-handedly gunned down a Bear bandit gang when the killed the rest of her patrol.

Who is the richest person in the land? Interim Governor Lascelle is the scion of a staggeringly wealthy trading company, but until the Queen selects a Governor Proper, she cannot pursue her business interests freely.

Where can we go to get some magical healing? You mostly can’t. There is a hospital in Houndport that will hasten recovery from serious illness and injury. There is a Bat village a couple days to the south of Houndport with a talented shaman, but the Church of the Sovereign Mother is already sending missionaries to convert or reeducate them.

Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath? Powerful spirits, such as Hungry Grandmother or Son of Rain, can lift curses and cure illnesses, but their shrines are distant and their prices unpalatable. The right sort of Night Tribe sorcery could probably work, but they almost always cause more problems then they solve.

Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells? Sorcerers in numbers greater than one tend to kill each other pretty quickly, so no. Students of the forbidden should seek out Night Tribe monuments if they wish to learn more, though doing so risks annihilation or possession by the monument’s resident/prisoner. Becoming a proper magician would require spending several years in a university in Albion, as well as the acquisition of a Magician’s License.

Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC? The Royal Society outpost contains scholars from a variety of fields. If you want services from someone with a more dubious profession, post a classified in the Iron Conch Inn, but be subtle—agents of the Queen stop by from time to time.

Where can I hire mercenaries? The Iron Conch Inn is the place to go. Sellswords and soldiers of fortune look for work there.

Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law? Practitioners of Alakanthine sorcery are to be sanctified and incinerated by order of the Sovereign Mother and will be exorcised and ritually drowned by the Beast Tribes. Interim Governor Lascelle has banned the purchase and open carrying of weapons by civilians, but those who already have them can keep them without penalty. The residents of Houndport hate this—they live in a frontier town surrounded by miles of crocodile-infested swamp, and so there is a healthy black market.

Which way to the nearest tavern? The Iron Conch Inn is for the hoi polloi. Military officer and the wealthy dine and drink on the first floor of the Grand Willowaithe Hotel, which, while not nearly as nice as its name would suggest, is as close to high class as the monied of Houndport can get. 


What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous? Killing a crocodile or python will earn you some serious credit. Sun Giants and Night Tribe sorcerers are rare and extremely dangerous. Members of the Royal Society have been wanting to dissect a panther demon for some time.

Are there any wars brewing I could go fight? Nope, but the Crown is gearing up for a large scale “pacification effort” to create a sister-colony for Houndport.

How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes? There’s a fighting ring held behind the Iron Conch Inn every night. Someone’s been organizing serious gladiator matches out in the swamp ever Tuesday.

Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?Wouldn’t you like to know.

What is there to eat around here? Meat is mostly fish and crow. Crocodile is a delicacy. Planters have had luck with rice, sugar cane, and orange trees, but large farms are rare. Little livestock, since there’s not enough grazing land or grain to feed them.

Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for? The machines and devices of the Sun Giants, the dangerous monuments and vanishingly rare texts of the Night Tribe, the (hopefully mythical) Azoth Fountains, the uncountable riches of the City of Crocodiles.

Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure? The Beast Tribes say the nearest Sun Giant bunker has got something seriously nasty living in it, but those ruins are also stuffed with some major wealth and tech.

jacinto adventures, flowerland, intro, World of Dungeons

Flowerland Classifieds

Notices posted about Houndport:
A business supplier of mine has gone missing in the swamps to the south. 500 sp for whoever finds him. Ask for Geoffrey at the Iron Conch Inn for details.
Crown missionary needs guards for a week’s journey. Pay is 400 sp each. Ask for Sister Aggorath at the Church of the Sovereign Mother.
Looking for scrap metal. Supposed to be a whole city’s worth a ways to the north. Will pay 100 sp/pound.
BOUNTY: THE CROWN HEREBY OFFERS A BOUNTY OF 100 SP FOR EVERY GOLD EYE BANDIT CAPTURED ALIVE AND 2000 SP FOR THE CAPTURE OR EXECUTION OF THEIR LEADER VISKARION. LAST SEEN IN THE HILLS TO THE WEST. THEY ARE ARMED, DANGEROUS, AND PRACTICE UNSANCTIONED BLACK MAGIC

Entertainers wanted for diplomatic event in one week. Must be able to work with Beast Tribe. 300 sp for evening’s work. MUST WASH. Inquire at Town Hall if interested.

500 sp for information leading to the identification and capture of those responsible for the Crowley Street Murders.

Gigantic specimens wanted. 50 sp per pound of beast, double if it’s alive. Ask for Dr. Farefellow at the Royal Society outpost.

And an image dump:
distributed under Creative Commons by Chauncey Davis

distributed under Creative Commons by Kim Seng

HOUNDPORT TOWN HALL
distributed under Creative Commons by Universal Pops
ELDER GIANT BUNKER ENTRANCE
distributed under Creative Commons by Tim Suess
 GOLDEN LOTUS
Imported from distant Qelong. It lets you see the hidden, but also lets the hidden see you.
distributed under Creative Commons by Jinjian Liang
jacinto flowerland, intro, is this gonna work, World of Dungeons

AMATEUR HOUR IS ANON AND AGAIN

I have been trapped alone in a house with no car and no running buses for like three days so I started rereading Richard G’s old posts, and therefore started thinking about rpgs without levels and low magic settings and colonialism and industry and hexcrawls and Tartary, basically, and I’ve wanted to set a game in Florida for a long time and so I made this.

FLOWERLAND: Pre-colonial horrible fantasy Florida

  • Hummingbird-people hunt giant crocodiles through the radioactive Everglades as schoolbus sized pythons slowly digest murderous robots!
  • Evil(er?) Victorian Henry Flagler digs up weapons of mass destruction from ancient bunkers to defend the insane resort towns his nepotistic underlings are building in the middle of the swamp!
  • Heavily armed holy order of missionaries and petrochemical engineers that hunts down shapeshifting crocodiles and panther demons!
  • Oil rigs awaken ink-blooded sorcerers from their millennial slumber at the bottom of a vast and cursed lagoon! 
  • Well dressed stranger perform strange surgeries on unwary travelers!
  • Soft sand, warm beaches, venomous conchs and landmines from antiquity!
  • more spiders than God can count!
  • THERE ARE MOSQUITOES IN YOUR EYES!
  • THERE ARE MOSQUITOES IN YOUR EARS!
  • THERE ARE MOSQUITOES IN YOUR MOUTH!
    THERE ARE MOSQUITOES EVERYWHERE!
  • And many more?!

DOWNLOAD HERE TODAY

 I WANT TO RUN THIS SOON.