Category: Isle of the Unknown

Isle of the Unknown’s clerics, like its magic-users, are okay. But for Isle of the Unknowndead, I want more bloody-minded eccentricity. 

Clerics have 1d12 levels. Their saves are 12-half level. They know one spell of each spell level they can cast. All clerics hate, in descending order (1) undead (2) non-clerics (3) non-believers. They only hate non-believers enough to work work with them under some circumstances.

by Edwin Howland Blashfield

This cleric’s title
 The (A) (B) of (C)
A
1. Glorious
2. Resplendent
3. Radiant
4. Miraculous 
5. Wrathful
6. Beneficent
7. Ascendant
8. Merciful
9. First
10. Golden 

B
1. Face
2. Crown
3. Throne
4. Hand
5. Daughter
6. Son
7. Sword
8. Eye
9.  Tongue
10. Servant

C
1. Heaven
2. God
3. the Angels
4. the Saints
5. the Gate
6. the Goddess
7. the Sun
8. the Moon
9. the King
10. the Queen

The flavor of their fervor
Clerics with the same doctrine consider each other to be heretics of the worst sort.
1. Cleanliness is next to deviltry.
2. All magic (other than their own miracles) is evil, and witches must be burnt
3. Fire is the face of God
4. Dance and song (aside from hymns, of course) are a sign of dangerously loose morals
5. BLOOOOOOOD
6. The infidel should be converted, and, failing that, slain.
7. Vow of silence
8. Never cut any hair
9. Clothes are a sign of weak moral character
10. Burn incense at all times
11. Believers must never show their face
12. They are the Chosen One, and God speaks to them personally
13.  The End is nigh, and must be hastened
14. Heal the sick and care for the wounded
15. Lies to non-believers are not sinful
16. God loves the powerful and hates the weak
17. Wealth is a barrier to salvation
18. Those who tolerate evil are evil themselves
19. The world has already ended.
20. The Flood is coming.

Their miracle
1. They need neither sleep nor sustenance
2. Fire cannot harm them
3. None may lie in their presence
4. Their voice sounds like a heavenly choir
5. They cannot drown
6. Though they never seem to walk faster than a stately amble, their overland travel speed is four times as fast as an unencumbered person walking on a road, regardless of terrain
7. They can hurl bolts of lightning
8. Trees, bushes, and crops yield their fruit instantly at the cleric’s will
9. The can create golems using the language of God
10. They can command animals

The vestments they wear
1. A shining suit of golden plate
2. A flowing robe, embroidered with images of dying martyrs
3. Leaves and drying mud, plastered onto their body
4. A stinking cilice
5. A towering miter, adorned with jewels
6.  A simple, stained cassock
7. A  tabard over a coat of chain
8. Most of a bear
9. Bull horn headdress
10. the death-mask of a saint
11. a clerical collar
12. A halo, strapped to the back of their head
13. A ragged cloak
14. Filthy remains of the extravagant clothes they were wearing the moment they heard God
15. A wimple and habit
16. a woolen loincloth
17. a number of diaphanous veils, obscuring their face
18. flowing white robes and a golden sash
19. Angels tattooed all over their body
20. ritual scarification

The weapons they bear
1. A bladed crosier
2. An actual shepherd’s crook
3. A longsword with the image of an eye set into the hilt
4.  A deep black (1-spear; 2-sword; 3-mace; 4-dagger) seized from a slain demon
5. A revolver, inscribed with passages from holy writ
6. a dagger, carved from a saint’s thighbone
7. A massive, weighted aspergilium
8. A coal-powered contraption that sprays gouts of super-heated holy water
9. A spear forged from metal fallen from heaven
10. A shining silver bow, stolen from a pagan goddess
11. A bow and 7 heavenly arrows, (allegedly) fletched with feathers donated by an angel
12. Frothing fury; they deal d12 damage with their teeth and bare hands
13. The axe that executed an infamous heretic
14. An red-bladed sword forged in the flames burning books and quenched in the blood of the faithless
15. Nothing; they are an avowed pacifist and seek only to evangelize 
16. A small cannon on a cart
17. 2d10 grenados, confiscated from an alchemist
18. a scourge, once used for self-mortification
19. A war-fan flabellum
20. A thurible ball-and-chain

EDIT: Super awesome automagic generator here

Isle of the Unknown’s magic-users are okay I guess but I like Logan Knight’s idea of making a crazy undead Island of the It’s Unknown Why Anyone Would Come Here so here are some necromancer tables.

Necromancers are all Magic-Users with 2d8 HD. Their saves are 12 minus half level. They have 1 random spell per available spell level. Like the Isle’s vampires, they might have use for adventurers, so roll on a reaction table  if you have one.

From Viewtiful Joe

by Harry Clarke

This necromancer’s source of power is
1. A wheezing wheeled calliope. Its disturbing music must reach the dead for it to raise them.
2. A room-sized mechanism of cedar and black metal. Their magic only works within a 10 mile radius. 
3. A kiln. Reanimate earthly remains by placing them in its cool black flame.
4. A book bound in gold. Must read directly from its pages to work their magic.
5. A silver-gilt hookah. Breathing its smoke into the faces of the weak-willed transforms them into shambling servants
6. Red candles. If placed on a grave or tombstone and burned, it reanimates all those buried below.
7. Tarnished silver coins. If placed in the mouth of someone recently deceased, it creates a powerful form of undead, but there are only twelve, numbered with Roman numerals.
8. A wand twined with asphodel. Stolen from the King of the Dead; can raise the dead with memory intact.
9. An ebony and silver pocketwatch. Raises all dead in sight, but permanently returns them to a peaceful afterlife after 12 hours.
10. A crude bronze knife. Anyone killed with this knife will rise again as a loyal zombie servitor
11. Parasitic orchids. Infest skeletons and the recently deceased; animation is sustained with sunlight
12. A bone signet ring. Any remains affixed with a wax seal bearing its symbol rise again, but fall if the seal is destroyed or removed.

This necromancer wears
1. A suit of armor made from bones
2. Nothing but swirling tattoos
3. Stilts
4. A peacock-feathered coat
5.  Black and red ritual vestments
6. Ceremonial garb carved from jade
7. clawed prostheses of wood and ivory (1-4 random limbs)
8. A crow mask
9. A mask shaped like a rose blossom
10. a tooth-studded cloak
11.  A spider head mask
12. heavy gold jewelry
13. knives strapped to every part of their body
14. body piercings everywhere
15. a swarm of live hummingbirds, attached to their clothes with tiny chains
16.  long white gloves
17. a blond wig
18. an electric green ballroom gown
19. a little black dress
20. a domino mask

This necromancer’s servant(s) is/are
1. A murder of crows.
2. A pack of wolves.
3. Thirteen crude clay idols, human shaped and the size of a child.
4.  2d6 ex-bandits, each bound to service with a sigil tattooed to their chest
5.  an elderly butler in traditional garbs
6. an axe-wielding brute, who always wears a cowl
7. a swarm of rats.
8.  Six stone gargoyles.
9. a man with the head of a wolf. 
10. an easy to replenish swarm of razor-edged origami spiders
The servants’ special ability is
1. The necromancer can see through their eyes and speak through their mouth
2. They can disguise themselves as an unassuming human
3. They can disguise themelves as statues
4. They can spread disease
5. They are master poisoners/terribly venomous
6. They can fly through the air wildly, on great gusts of wind
7.  They can draw on the necromancer’s memorized spells in times of need
8. They are immune to mundane weapons.

This necromancer’s magic fails in the presence of/contact with
1. The sound of iron bells
2. Sunlight
3. Moonlight
4. Rowan wood
5. A holy relic
6. a hamsa
7.  recitation of the Prayer of St. Apollinaire
8.  holy water
9.  wolfsbane
10. a crowing rooster 

from Twilight Princess

A little disappointed with Isle of the Unknown. It has bad-wacky monsters and lacks the aesthetic consistency of Carcosa (as icky as it was). However,  I really like vampires, and hexmaps can be easy to repurpose, so here is a table to replace IotU’s polyhedral panda-snakes with undead.

from Boktai

An encountered vampire has 3d6 HD. Its saves are 13 minus half HD. They aren’t necessarily hostile, especially to potentially useful adventurers, so roll on a reaction table if you’ve got one.

This vampire can
1. Transfix with its stare. Target must Save vs Magic or stare into vampire’s eyes until eye contact is broken.
2. Murder with its song. Can sing a bloody tune that deals 1d6 damage/round to all others in earshot.
3. Freeze with its breathe. Range: Melee; target Save vs Paralyze or take -4 to hit as icy blood courses through body. Lasts until dawn.
4. Bind with its shadow. Shadow is an impassible obstruction. If someone occupies the same space as it because of a change in lightsource, they take d12 damage/round until the shadow is moved.
5. Rend with its claws. Each successful attack also reduces AC from armor by d4.
6. Warp with its touch. Can cast Polymorph Other at will on whoever it touches; lasts d6 rounds.
7. Subjugate with its words. Can cast the cleric Command spell at will.
8. Avenge with its death. Whoever lands the killing blow on this vampire becomes a vampire.

This vampire feeds on
1-90: Blood
91: Mud
92: Other vampires
93: alms, willingly given
94: hair
95: fingernails
96: roses
97: Gold
98: Marrow
99: Dreams
100: Darkness

This vampire turns into
1-30: Baaaats
31-60: a giant wolf
61-90: mist
91: a gentle breeze, holding aloft fragrant flower petals
92: a monstrous man/bat hybrid
93: a swarm of scarab beetles
94: a ghastly blue flame
95: a black cat
96: a two-headed serpent (extremely venomous)
97: a lemur
98: a mobile patch of grave mold
99: a twisting length of red silk
100: two smaller vampires

This vampire wears (among other things) a(n)
1. full suit of armor
2. silk robe
3. waist-coat
4. magnificent dress
5. jackal mask
6. thigh-high boots
7. cape
8. crown
9. makeup
10. broken shackles
12. fur coat
13. veil
14. wimple and habit
15. mohawk
16. large number of tiny bells
17. smoked lenses
18. bunch of empty scabbards
19. giant steel cestus
20. antlered headdress

This vampire’s secret weakness is

(If a vampire reduced to 0 HP succeeds a Save vs Magic, it will return in d20 days, regardless the state or location of its body, unless its killers take advantage of its secret weakness. These can be determined by tricking vampires into revealing them, or finding a true sage, hierophant, or scholar who can divine the answer.)
  
1-30: A stake through the heart
31-60: Decapitation
61-90: Exposure to sunlight
91: recitation of its epitaph (located in a graveyard d10 hexes away in a random direction)
92. fatal wounding with a silver spear
93. submersion in a swift-moving river or stream
94. burial by a cleric in consecrated ground
95. incineration
96. repairing and reblessing its vandalized burial place
97. physically carrying its body into the underworld. The King of the Dead is known to provide generous bounties for this.
98. vertical, head-first burial
99. mouth packed with salt
100. sincere absolution from its most-wronged victim