jacinto classes, LotFP, new age dnd, san serafín, type v

having the time of your life

Been playing Shantae. Aggressively nostalgic, exceedingly Crayola, surprisingly excellent. Been have interested in playing it since it came out for the Game Boy Color. Anyway, it has me thinking about dancing. Also been thinking about Gus L’s Imperial Cultists. So here’s a prancing bardlike that mashes the two together.

from Etrian Odyssey


Dancers

from black swan

HP, attack bonus and XP as Cleric. Saves and Equipment as Thief.

Dancers perform magic dances, which aren’t memorized and forgotten like spells–they can be attempted as often as the dancer wishes.

Each Dance function like Lamentations of the Flame Princess skill. You start out with a 1-in-6 chance of succeeding on checks pertaining to the relevant dance, but you can increase the odds of success with skill points. At level 1, you start out with 4 skill points to allocate however you wish; every time you level up, you gain 2 more. You can only improve Dances you’ve learned, naturally. A Dance cannot exceed a 5-in-6 chance of success. If all of this is too complicated for you, just use the thief’s Hear Noise skill odds for all known dances.

Dances always work, but for every turn you perform a Dance, you must make a check with the relevant skill. If you succeed, you continue your performance unfazed; if you fail, you take a level of exhaustion. (There are a lot of ways to do this. In my games, for each level of exhaustion, you suffer a -1 penalty to all attribute, attack, and skill rolls, and move as if you were encumbered by an additional level. If you roll a negative number on a roll while exhausted or reach a movement speed of 0, you fall unconscious for d4 Turns. Eating a ration and resting for a Turn removes one level of exhaustion.) When you are dancing, you move no faster than 30′. If you are struck by an attack while dancing, you must make a Save vs Breath or end the dance.

from Shantae

Dances
You begin play knowing two Mysterious Dances dances. To acquire more, you must find them in your travels. Learning a dance from a tutor takes a week. Learning a dance from written instructions takes a month.

Mysterious Dances

  • Arson Dance: When you perform this dance indoors, no fire within that structure can be extinguished until you leave or stop dancing. This may work in a limited area (such as a single story or wing) in very large buildings. 
  • Vorpal Dance: This dance ends by tracing a finger or toe across a flat surface. This creates a cut with a depth in inches equal to twice the number of turns you danced, regardless of material. 
  • Murder Dance: For each round you perform this dance, every creature that can see you takes d6 necrotic damage as they slowly crumble to dust; they can Save vs Spell for half damage
  • Scandal Dance: Any creature that sees you perform this dance must Save vs Spells or pay attention to nothing else but you for as long as you continue to dance. This does not change its disposition towards you. 
  • Shatter Dance: Completing this dance breaks every mundane piece of glass within a number of feet equal to 10 times the number of Turns spent dancing.  
  • Dark Dance: Completing this dance extinguishes every torch, lamp, or other light source within a number of feet equal to 10 times the number of Turns spent dancing.

Forbidden Dances
Known to no one. Can only be learned from forgotten texts.

  • Bone Dance: animates a number of HD of undead equal to half your level, rounded up. They obey your spoken commands until you stop dancing, at which point they go berserk.
  • Wind Dance: As per Stormspeech. Lasts until you stop dancing. 
  • Dance of Monstrosity: As per Summon. Replace all mention of caster level with number of turns spent dancing.
  • Dance of Change: When you complete this dance, you may polymorph into a mundane animal of your choice with HD equal to or less than half your level. The transformation lasts for as long as you danced or until you choose to revert to your true form. 
  • Immolation Dance: Performing this dance sets you on fire and makes you immune to all heat and flame. Any creature in melee range of you takes d6 damage, and you ignite every flammable thing you pass by. Ceasing to dance ends your immunity to heat, but it doesn’t douse you. 
  • Prominence Dance: For as long as you perform this dance, the Sun shines overhead as if it were noon. Only works outdoors
  • Nocturne Dance: For as long as your perform this dance, the sky darkens and the stars shine as if it were midnight. Only works outdoors.
from Magi

So the idea behind all of this is you have multiple pressures on the character, most of which revolve around the overloaded encounter die/Hazard System.

  • Rations encumber you, but let you reduce exhaustion.
  • Exhaustion reduces the amount of stuff you can carry (including rations) and makes you more likely to fail dances, which exhausts you more
  • Dancing takes time, which makes encounters and complications more likely, which might require more dances to resolve.
  • Armor makes it safer to use dances in combat, but leaves you less room for rations and makes you even slower while you dance.
    jacinto assassins, classes, is this gonna work, LotFP, monks, san serafín

    Love and War

    Having taken a closer look at Swords and Wizardry Complete, I have come to the conclusion that assassins are boring and monks are dumb. This is somewhat inspired by +Arnold K.‘s excellent post on void monks.

    Saint of Honey and Salt
    a class for old school D&D-likes

    HP and XP as Magic-users
    Attack bonus and saves as Clerics

    Also called Las Basiliscas, the Velvet People, Pretty Poisoners, Beauty Monks

    Each major city has a House of Honey and Salt, which acts as the home and headquarters of all Saints in the region. These Houses are temple-brothel-hospitals; few injuries or illnesses are beyond the flesh-crawling curatives of the Saints, though they charge a high price.

    Saints are the enemies of the medusae, the drow, and the Weaver’s Guild. Their cousins are the vampires. They have treaties with the basilisks, dryads, nymphs, succubi, and shadows. Saints make servants of bees and flesh golems.

    Saints have a reputation for espionage, though nobody knows where their interests lie. They’re that good. A nation’s monarch having a Saint in their court is viewed the same way as having a child king or a doddering regent: a sign of instability and bad things to come.

    The dogma of the Saints is Love and their doctrine is Spite. A Saint cannot wield weapons and must avoid inflicting pain wherever possible (This is interpreted liberally. The Saints as an organization make extensive use of poisons, and have no problem telling their underlings to do exceedingly painful things to their enemies). Saints also cannot wear armor, as it conceals their bodies.

    from full metal alchemist

    A Saint is like this:
    You’re always a little flushed, a little feverish, though you never seem to sweat. The whites of your eyes have no blood vessels, you tongue and lips are red; your hair is albino white or the iridescent black of crow feathers or else it shines like the sun on the sea etc etc. You look like the fervid imaginings of a court poet or a Raymond Chandler character or the lover of a hero from antiquity.

    • While you suffer the physical effects of old age like anyone else, you always appear to be in the full flush of youth. 
    • You are thoroughly trained in the arts of dancing, singing, and/or acting. 
    • Your Charisma score increases by 1 every time you gain a level, to a maximum 18. If you wish, you can use your Charisma score in place of your armor class.
    • You can make somebody’s blood weep painlessly out of their skin by touching them, flesh to flesh. A hand’s worth of coverage deals d6 damage (and requires an attack roll in combat, assuming they aren’t completely covered). More area of contact deals more damage, to a maximum of d20. This makes grappling with you very dangerous. Looks sort of like this:
    by Bernypisa, distributed under Creative Commons

    Level 2: Sweet Nothings
    You can cast Suggestion at will by whispering into somebody’s ear for a full round, close enough that they can feel your breath on their face.

    Level 3: Fascination

    You can Charm someone by kissing them. They must be willing or restrained, and they get a saving throw. People Charmed in this way become obsessive, withdrawn, feverish, and Detect as Chaotic and/or Evil.
    Level 4: Fountain of Youth
    During downtime, you can prepare a special bath of animal hormones, plant extracts, and generally weird drugs that

    • cures diseases
    • restores lost limbs
    • removes deformities, like scars, tumors, and dermal fungal colonies

    This bath costs 1,000 gp and works for a single person. You might have trouble finding the ingredients in backwater areas, though you can haul them around if you so choose; they count as 2 significant items. 

    Level 5: Carnation

    You can spend a downtime action to change your appearance. You can’t radically alter your body plan (so you can’t become a quadruped or grow new limbs or change your arms to wings) or mimic a particular person, but you can change your build, posture, sex, pigmentation, and so on. 

    Level 6: Pretty Poison

    If you consume a poison or drug and survive, you become immune to its effects. Furthermore, consuming a poison or drug to which you are immune allows you to preserve it in your body for d6 Turns. Anything that eats you (or at least a significant chunk) isn’t going to be feeling so great after, and your bodily fluids work as a contact poison of the same type, though victims get a +3 to saving throws against it in this form. Saint Malvada defeated the Blue Iron King by spitting into his eye, then getting his pet dragon to eat her arm.

    Level 7:
    You can read someone’s mind as per ESP by staring into their eyes for a full round. They can feel you reading their mind, so usually they must be restrained or otherwise unable to look away. 

    Level 8: All Shall Love Me and Despair
    Once a day, you can issue a Mass Command. (As Command, but afflicts everyone in earshot)

    Level 9: House of Honey and Salt
    You found your own House of Honey and Salt and gain 2d6 disciples.

    Level 10: Only Lovers Left Alive
    Once per day, you can kill someone with fewer HD than you have levels by touching their bare chest with your forefinger. No save.

    christian dior
    from fire emblem awakening
    jacinto Carcosa, LotFP

    Postal Service of Carcosa

    In the beginning, when the Primordial Ones constructed their first cities, there was Mail. They sent missives and read them, and thus they prospered.
    When the Primordial Ones and their works fell to monstrosity, the Great People took to the business of civilization, and so there was Mail. They sent missives and read them, and thus they prospered.
    When the Great People and their works diminished into nothingness, the Serpent People bent their sorceries to the task of civilization, and so there was Mail. They sent missives and read them, and thus they prospered.
    The Serpent People and their works are gone now. The world is gone dark and strange, and monsters revel in the wilderness. We are small and few and harried, but so long as we live, there is Mail. We send missives and read them, and thus will we prosper.

     Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

    by diamond-mind, distributed under Creative Commons

    When the Thirteen Peoples of Carcosa murder, devour, and enslave each other, when sorcerers build their power on mountains of sacrifices, when horrors beyond the comprehension of the People slither through the desecrated ruins of civilization, you keep the faith. You remember the Charter. You deliver the Mail.

    Create characters as normal for Carcosa.

    • Sorcerers can’t learn nasty Carcosa rituals, but they can cast spells from Silent Legions (if they manage to find any). 
    • You may also choose Specialist as a class.

    Players start out in the castle in Hex 1512, ruled by the Lawful Purple Sorcerer known as the Postmaster General. Their first mission is to travel to Carcosa and swear their oath of service upon the steps of the First Office.

    jacinto classes, LotFP, Pernicious Albion

    how they hunger

    Most D&Dish barbarians don’t do it for me. Insane, screaming rage shouldn’t really be a question of resource management. So here’s an mystic order of heathens going into ecstatic rampages instead.

    Beast Knight
    a class for old school rpgs
    by Tiptoe distributed under Creative Commons

    (also maenads, berserkers, werewolves, bassarids)

    HP: as dwarf
    Saving throws: as dwarf
    Experience: as elf
    Attack bonus: as thief

    Once every few centuries, the sleeping nature gods of Albion awaken and convene a Wild Hunt, running down all they come across. Those they overtake have a choice: join the Hunt and be consigned to an eternity of slumber and slaughter with Albion’s elder deities, or perish. The Beast Knights are an order of warriors founded by a Britonnic hero who escaped the Hunt after joining–a feat performed neither before nor since, not by angels or demons or the greatest of fairies.

    The Beast Knights venerate wild animals: the grace of predators, the desperation of prey, nature red in tooth and claw etc etc. They’ll talk about it at great lengths if you let them. In any case, Beast Knights, upon initiation, take a spirit of the deepest forest into their minds and bodies. Its supernatural strength, rather than strict training, allows them to fight as effectively as any warrior. Beast Knights traditionally wear hoods or masks depicting the face of an animal, such as a wolf, bear, hart, or crow. Some believe these become a part of the knight’s body when they fight.

    by Lulsa Uribe distributed under Creative Commons

    Beast Knights improve their skills as half as fast as a specialist/thief. In LotFP, they start with 2 skill points and gain 1 more every level.

    When a beast knight spends a Turn calling up their spirit, they enter a frenzy. Knights in this state:

    • attack as a fighter. If fighters are entitled to special maneuvers, beast knights cannot use them.
    • must run on all fours, and their speed becomes 1.5 times that of a human
    • deal d8 with unarmed attacks (bite and claw)
    • must make a melee attack every round. If there are no enemies left, they move onto allies or bystanders, though they can still choose who to attack.
    • cannot use any skill or perform any task that requires anything more than base animal cunning

    To come to their senses, a beast knight must roll equal to or under 1+half level on a d6. This takes a full Turn, and if they take damage during that time, they automatically fail. Every time a non-frenzied beast knight takes damage when their current HP is 50% or less than maximum, they must make an identical check to stop themselves from going into a frenzy.

    The wild spirits that possess Beast Knights hate all the works of mankind; if a knight dons metal armor, their spirit will not allow them to frenzy until the next full moon.

    Knights can use their Languages skill to determine if they can speak animal languages (Serpent; Bird; Swine; Mew, the language of cats; etc).

    jacinto classes, clerics, LotFP, wonders and wickedness

    Cult Class(ic)

    I’ve had this idea rolling around in my head for a while, and when I saw this post by Arnold, i figured out how to fit it all together.

      GODLING

    A  race-class for Old School D&D

    HP and XP as Magic-user
    Save and Attack Bonus as Cleric
    Godlings are minor, furtive divinities unable to directly interfere with the Land of the Living and the mortals therein. Instead, they act through cults and miracles, in hopes of establishing a true religion and becoming a greater god. Godlings can look like pretty much anything (that isn’t stupid) and their size and appearance becomes progressively more impressive as they gain levels.
    SHRINES

    Godlings can perceive, speak with, and cast spells on anything near their shrines. If all of a godling’s shrines are destroyed, their connection with the Land of the Living is permanently severed (i.e. it’s time for a new character).

    1st level godlings start with a single shabby shrine in the nearest settlement. Godlings gain 1 xp for every gold piece spent on improving any of their shrines. Improvements can be aesthetic, or they can make the shrine harder to find or destroy. Godlings can also build new shrines to make themselves harder to permanently banish–establishing one costs 1000 sp and doesn’t count towards experience.

    FOLLOWERS 
    from princess mononoke

    To interact with the Land of the Living beyond their shrine, a godling needs followers to act as proxies. In any town they have a shrine, they can establish a cult. To do so, they need to formulate some sort of creed or promise for their followers. Funny clothes help, too. The total number of cultists cannot exceed the godling’s level. Cultists work like retainers, save for the following:

    • A godling can perceive through any of their cultists’ senses, communicate with them mentally, and cast spells through them 
    • Cultists will do any mundane, non-dangerous task their godling tells them to do without question, and can be trusted not to steal items or money. 
    • Cultists receive a permanent +1 to Morale for every spell their godlings casts in their presence
    • Cultists do not require payment

    Godlings still might have other worshipers, but cultists are the ones fanatic enough to put themselves at risk. Godlings can hire regular retainers, too, though they require pay and won’t sing your weird songs or wear those stupid robes. Other player characters cannot become cultists.

    MIRACLES

    Godlings can cast a number of spells equal to their level each adventure. They can cast any spell they know and begin knowing all the spells in a single school. Godlings can gain access to additional spell schools by hunting down one of their fellows in the Land of Spirits and eating them. Any spell that targets the self can instead be cast on a godling’s cultists. A godling’s spell school is a reflection of their nature:

    Devil: Diabolism
    God of Nature: Elementalism
    God of Death: Necromancy
    God of Magic: Spiritualism
    God of Travel: Translocation
    God of Dreams: Psychomancy
    God of Life: Vivimancy

    LOCALITY

    The Spirit World coincides perfectly, intangibly, and invisibly with the Land of the Living. Every location in the Spirit World has a Land of the Living analogue. Godlings can directly interact with creatures and objects in the Spirit World, so players should be explicit where their character is–a godling can function perfectly well hanging out in town, sending miracles at a distance, but they won’t be able to interfere with Spirit World obstacles for their co-adventurers if they do so.

    In any situation where a godling actually enters combat (such as when they confront another spirit or if they are pulled into the Land of the Living by a spell), they fight as a Cleric of equal level.

    jacinto angels, clerics, LotFP, monsters, Pernicious Albion, spell

    Lawful Awful

    The Watchers are secret society of humans who have pledged themselves to the cause of the Grigori. The communicate with each other through coded messages and dreams, arranged by their angelic patrons. Most Watchers are just regular people with eccentric religious views and a casual disregard for the kind of bodily harm their masters tend to cause, but a few have been transformed as a reward for their service.

    Soteriomancer
    HD 2-10 Speed human
    Armor none Attack staff
    Morale 10 Alignment Lawful
    Magicians who have sworn to aid the Grigori. They are often members of Albion’s occult aristocratic class, keeping their allegiances secret as they sabotage their fellows and excavate sleeping angels.

    Soteriomancers function as magicians with levels equal to their HD. They know a number of Spiritualism spells equal to half their level and can expend any prepared spell to cast Refine Corpus instead.

    Refine Corpus
    The caster transforms a single human within 10 ft into a more virtuous being. The caster can apply half their level to the target’s saving throw if they so choose. This miracle has 7 variations. Soteriomancers acquire a new variation every level in ascending orders. 

    1. Subtly alters the brain structure of the target, preventing them from ever sleeping again. The target may make a Save vs Magic; on a success, they no longer need to sleep anyway. On a failure, they will suffer the effects of sleep deprivation until they go mad and die.
    2. Sublimates the target’s digestive organs into nothing. The target may make a Save vs Magic; on a success, they can subsist purely on aether and no longer need to eat or drink. On a failure, they will die or thirst and starvation during the days to come.
    3. Destroys the ability of the target’s body to regulate its temperature–they no longer produce body heat and cannot sweat or shiver. The target may Save vs Magic; on a success, they are completely untroubled by any temperature a natural climate can produce; on a failure, they die of hypothermia over the next few hours as their body becomes room temperature.
    4. The target’s lungs and associated respiratory organs dissolve into intangible golden dust. The target may make a Save vs Magic; on a success; they no longer need to breath. On a failure, they will quickly suffocate.
    5. The target no longer ages. The target may Save vs Magic; on a success, they may enjoy their new immortality. On a failure, this stasis prevents their body from healing itself–all wounds they suffer become permanent and all damage they take affects their maximum HP
    6. The target becomes perfectly androgynous and biologically sexless. The target may Save vs Magic; on a success, they become immune to Charm spells. On a failure, they henceforth automatically fail all Saves vs Poison/Death.
    7. The target must Save vs Magic or be enthralled by the soteriomancer, pledging themselves to the cause of the Grigori with no thought of previous alliance. They also undergo the seven previous versions of Refine Corpus, one per Turn in ascending order, automatically succeeding each saving throw. On the seventh Turn, they transform into an angel with HD equal to their level rounded to the nearest multiple of 3. 

    Lazarene Knight
    HD 1-10 Speed human
    Armor none Attack sword
    Morale 12 Alignment Lawful

    from Darkest Dungeon

    The body of a great warrior, mummified and possessed by the soul of a particularly virtuous Watcher. They wear winged golden armor, and beneath are wrapped in bandages anointed with myrrh. All Lazarene Knights carry a massive bronze jar and their back, which they use to capture souls and spirits. Knights can be Turned as undead, which is the subject of a number of heated theological debates.

    Lazarene Knights can cast Soul Harvest at will. Captured souls are trapped in the Knight’s jar and Charmed/infatuated with the angel that raised the Lazarene Knight from the dead. When encountered, Knights start with d6+1 souls in their jar.

    A Knight can expend 1 soul to do any of the following:

    • Send the soul to the Hereafter that creates a pillar of golden fire that deals d6×half HD of the soul
    • Have the soul animate and control a number of HD of undead equal to its own HD. This purges any disease, decay, and corruption from the bodies.
    • Send the soul to possess someone. This functions as the Bewitch/Charm Person spell. 
    • Allow the soul to possess them. This heals the Knight for d6×half HD of the soul, and causes the Knight to speak in first person plural.
    jacinto clerics, LotFP, Pernicious Albion

    Albion Jobs and Hangout Session 2

    I lost the notes and posts where I kept track of everything, so I’m eyeballin’ it and will do a better job this time.

    Session 1: 150 XP, £100 each for the ornamental Roman armor
    Session 2: 600 XP, £200 for the various goods you stole, and £1500 to be divided among you for bringing the courtier back. You also have the Engine of Avode and a barge called The Pike. You just got back to Queen’s Crossing. 

    You owe Madam Eugenia £50 for rent, and she’s posted the following jobs:

    From the Royal Society
    A team of scholars has disappeared on an expedition to Osric’s Tor. £1,500 for returning them alive; £750 for returning their remains. We will also pay for any antiquities safely recovered from the site. Speak Professor Lately at the Queen’s College for the particulars. 

    From Magus Banister
    Some prole saw a carbuncle scuttle into the abandoned grotto at old Stockade Hill. Get me its Carbuncular Matrix before those simpering pretenders from the Zoological Society do.     £2,000.

    SESSION RECAP
    Scavenger’s Weir is a town that consists of a network of islands connected by a series of weirs and bridges. The party was hired by the Postmaster of Queen’s Crossing to find some missing couriers.

    1. The people of Scavenger’s Weir were weird and pushy. Mr. and Mrs. Clasp, the town’s mayoral couple, REALLY INSISTED that they have the party for tea. Tilda the Summoner slipped away to visit an ex-nun the Clasps had badmouthed, and who had tried to get them a message.
    2. Mrs. Clasp tried to force the rest of the gang to eat her food. They got into a fight with her, and she proved to be a lot tougher than her delicate exterior would suggest, especially after said exterior cracked away beneath their weapons, revealing something approximately like the following. Her attacks make the party slow and sluggish.
    3.  Tilda the Summoner comes back with Sister Joanna, nun of the Queen Mother. She then summons a salamander, which burns down the house. Mrs. Clasp runs out with the party, reassuming her disguise. Nobody bothers to rescue the explains that she’s a demon, looking for a device stolen from her, which she had tracked here. She hadn’t been able to spirit the device out of town, because the Scavengers were abusing it to rob people and guarded it jealously. 
    4. Tilda’s salamander breaks from her control, and the party subdues it.
    5. Joanna, seeing Mrs. Clasp as a demon, fights her. They both end up in the water. The ruckus from the burning house attracts the attention of the townspeople, who lock the party up in a warehouse. 
    6. They escape with their cell-mate (one of the missing couriers), managing to acquire the key and kill both of their guards. Tilda summons the salamander, which again breaks from her control and sets the warehouse on fire.
    7. Hearing the Scavengers coming, they flee through a hidden trapdoor the courier points out to them, leading to the interior of the island.
    8. They fight their way past some Scavengers. Jessica the Vampire the blood one while he was dying. As they walk down the passage, he reanimates and attacks them, but is killed.
    9. The remaining townspeople, having heard the ruckus (guns are loud!), holed themselves up in the final room. They’re open fire when the party opens the door, so they throw all their loose gunpowder and shot into the room and send Tilda’s salamander after it. The explosion kills all of them, as well as the fighter Bartholomew III (I think?). 
    10. The party finds a large, conch-like device, filled with gears and with an X on it. Goldenloin the warlock calls on Penemue to translate the inscription on it, which reads “ENGINE OF AVODE/THAT DEMON OF LANGUOR”
    11. Through experimentation, they find that the X is a Roman numeral, and that it will put people to sleep if they feed it 10 HP worth of blood. People that have given into temptation associated with Avode (presumably the real name of Mrs. Clasp) are particularly susceptible. 
    12. They use the Engine of Avode on the townspeople who were waiting in the ruins of the warehouse, and took a scavenged barge back to Queen’s Crossing.

    LESSONS LEARNED

    1. I’m going to do initiative by phase. Initiative determines who goes first within a phase.. I’m terrible with initiative and fitting monster actions logically within a round, so hopefully the extra structure will help. Brendan’s Final Castle playtest made me like the phase system.
      1. Ranged attacks
      2. Melee attacks
      3. Magic. If you want to cast a spell and you’ve taken damage that round, make a save or roll on a calamity table.
    2. The Engine of Avode is pretty powerful, but it will attract a lot of unpleasant attention. Haven’t tried something like that before (they sure never saw Avode die, did they?), but we’ll see how it goes. Politicking and navigating various factions is an important part of Albion, so having magic items be the center of a power struggle fits.
    jacinto encounters, LotFP, monsters, Pernicious Albion, table

    Albion Encounter Tables

    Albion’s wilderness encounter tables use 3d6. I like the distribution on this–the tail ends of the bell curve have scary/useful NPCs, while the middle bits have more common monsters and criminals.

    Another trick I’m interested in trying is having monster/NPC behavior tied to the number you encounter. For example, if the Referee determines that the party encounters d6 goblins, a roll of 2 or less means that you meet 2 goblins fleeing from something else on the encounter table, while a roll of 5 or more means they are hauling a little extra treasure after a victory. This lets you vary encounters more without relying in longer tables or lots of extra dice rolling.

    3d6 In the windy moors of Albion…

    • 3: The Morrígan (ancient Britonnic war-witch, majordomo of the House of Death, potential warlock signatory)
    • 4: Merchant with 2d6 bodyguards; if there are 9+, they plan on robbing their employer
    • 5: Noble with 2d6 bodyguards; if there are 9+, they are transporting a prisoner
    • 6: d6+3 knights; if there are 7+, they have sworn fealty to the lord of the nearest domain; on a 6-, they are on a mission from a distant domain
    • 7: d6+3 Watcher Cultists
    • 8: Shepherd (armed with a gun) with d6+1 Albion hounds and 3d6 sheep
    • 9: Malkin (enormous, evil cats)
    • 10: 2d6 bandits; if there are 10+, they are hauling £2d100 in trade goods
    • 11: 2d6 wolves; if there are 10+, they are attacking another creature on this table
    • 12: 2d6 Britons; if there are 7+, they are being pursued by constables
    • 13: Spakehound
    • 14: d6 Wights
    • 15: 2d6 Vampires, level equals 13-No. Appearing. Masquerading as (1-Nobles 2-Magician and servants 3-Bandits 4-Knights)
    • 16. 2d6 Werewolves, level equals 13-No. Appearing. Masquerading as (1-Bandits 2-Britons 3-Merchant and bodyguards 4-Hunters)
    • 17. Magician and d6 bodyguards. If there are 4+, the magician intends to use them in a ritual
    • 18. Lady of Joy-forgotten (sybaritic fairy-noble recently banished from her domain by a rival aristocrat)
    jacinto amateur hour, classes, clerics, is this gonna work, LotFP, monsters, rituals

    propagating my incompetence

    Edited the new warlock, but that doesn’t warrant a whole post on it own. I’ve been trying to get this patron system right for over two years, ever since I tried to glue World of Dungeons magic onto LotFP when one of my players cut a deal with The Man With A Clock For A Face.

    With aching slowness, I am teaching myself InDesign. Here’s a thing I made for practice. Thinking my post-Albion project will be a monster hunt/pokécrawl.

    painting by John Singer Sargent

    illustrations by Harry Clarke

    pdf is available here

    jacinto classes, i am sick, LotFP, Pernicious Albion, spell

    Warlock 3.0

    Warlock, a class for Lamentations of the Flame Princess
    HP, XP, and Saving Throws as Magic-user

     

    Albion crawls with failed divinity: fallen angels, dethroned fairy queens, rogue incubi, all the exiles and rejects of Faerie and the Hereafter. While most look upon these beings as gods or demons, to be feared or adored, warlocks are those cunning or foolish individuals who instead see opportunity. Eschewing the hard study of magicians and the enlightenment of clerics, warlocks rely on their talent as rhetors to broker deals with these beings. All power they gain is through trade, and so they must constantly perform servies or find payments for their patrons. This struggle often pushes warlocks into the ranks of Albion’s freelancers and mercenaries.

    The locus of a warlock’s magical power is her contract, which contains the seals and signatures of every spirit with which she has formed a pact. Contracts describe the kinds of requests signatories will grant, as well as the kinds of tasks the warlock will perform in return. Signatories reward warlocks who have proved their worth and make a greater range of favors available as they gain levels.

    A warlock starts with a contract with a single spirit. She may add any number of spirits to her contract, but must first find them and make them signatories, usually in return for a some sort of service.

    A warlock can request favors from her signatories as often as she wishes. However, spirits are fickle; they may grant the request without question, demand payment, or punish the warlock for pestering them unless appeased in some way. Warlocks do not need to settle their debts to signatories immediately, but outstanding obligations sour a spirit’s disposition and make it more difficult to extract favors from them.

    Signatory: Old Queen Mab
    She was ancient when the heath lay deep beneath the sea.
    Sphere: Curses
    As the sometime Queen of Faerie, Mab above all else desires revenge against the King of Roses Red, who deposed her, and the supposed allies who let him. When she speaks with her vassals, she seizes control of a nearby animal or weak-willed human and speaks through their mouth.

    The Curse of Many Lances
    Prerequisite: 1st level Warlock
    Mab inflicts a curse of the warlock’s design that pertains to lances, bleeding, wounds, or impalement.

    The Curse of Stitched Eye
    Prerequisite: 3rd level Warlock 
    Mab inflicts a curse of the warlock’s design that pertains to dreams, insomnia, sleep, or sleep walking.

    The Curse of Eternal Darkness
    Prerequisite: 5th level Warlock
    Mab inflicts a curse of the warlock’s design that pertains to darkness, night, occlusion, or the color black.

    The Curse of Chains
    Prerequisite: 7th level Warlock 
    Mab inflicts a curse of the warlock’s design that pertains to bondage, chains, imprisonment, limitation, or servitude.

    The Curse of Changed Flesh
    Prerequisite: 9th level Warlock 
    Mab inflicts a curse of the warlock’s design that pertains to metamorphosis or any other sort of bodily transformation.

    For the Referee
    When a warlock calls on their signatory, the Referee makes a reaction roll to determine their initial disposition. Most favors should be no more effective than a spell a magician of the warlock’s level could cast. If they are more powerful, apply a penalty; signatories should grant extravagant requests either in modified form or in return for very difficult or dangerous services.

    Feel free to apply bonuses or penalties based on the situation—favors that align with a signatory’s goals (or at least amuse them) might get a bonus, while those that offend a signatory’s sensibilities might receive a penalty.

    • Malicious: The signatory harms the warlock or otherwise complicates their situation in a manner pertaining to their Sphere, and the warlock takes a -1 penalty to the next reaction roll with this signatory
    • Annoyed: The signatory harms the warlock or otherwise complicates their situation in a manner pertaining to their Sphere
    • Bored: The signatory does nothing.
    • Interested: The signatory is inclined to grant the warlock’s request
    • Cooperative: The signatory is inclined to grant the warlock’s request, and the warlock gains a +1 bonus to the next reaction roll with this signatory.

    Once the Referee has made the reaction roll, the warlock must actually convince their signatory to perform the favor. This proceeds like any other conversation with an NPC. The warlock says what they want, the signatory states their price, and then they haggle. However, this requires a great deal of extemporizing, so here is a heuristic to use if you get stuck:

    There are three broad classes of things signatories want: Sacrifices, Rituals, and Services. Agreeing to perform a Ritual or Sacrifice each increases a signatory’s reaction by 1 step. Agreeing to perform a Service has a variable effect, depending on its difficulty and complexity, but a Service that takes a session to complete should increase the signatory’s reaction by two steps.

    Warlocks do not need to perform Sacrifices, Rituals, or Services immediately, but for every outstanding Ritual or Sacrifice, the warlock takes an cumulative -1 penalty to signatory reaction Rolls. Services cause a -2 penalty to signatory reaction rolls.

    Rituals
    When a warlock offers to perform a Ritual in negotiation, roll on the following table to determine which the signatory wants.
    Performing a ritual takes 1 Turn and requires chalk and incense.

    1. Perform a ritual over the body of a recently slain foe, claiming their soul for the signatory.
    2. Perform a ritual to summon an agent of the signatory into the area.
    3. Perform a ritual to banish a rival’s influence from the area.
    4. Perform a ritual to attune the area to the signatory’s sphere.
    5. Perform a ritual to erase all evidence of the signatory’s meddling.
    6. Capture someone nearby and compel or convince them to swear a binding oath, making them an agent of the signatory.

    Sacrifices
    When a warlock offers to perform a Sacrifice in negotiation, roll on the following table to determine which the signatory wants.
    Sacrifices take 1 Round. Sacrificing a live, healthy goat (1 Turn) takes the place of any Sacrifice.

    1. Blood: d6+level damage
    2. Flesh: d4 Strength damage
    3. Grace: d4 Dexterity damage
    4. Judgment: d4 Wisdom damage
    5. Nous: d4 Charisma damage
    6. Time: incapacitated for d6 Turns
    7. Vigor: d4 Constitution damage
    8. Wit: d4 Intelligence damage 

    Services
    Queen Mab’s services usually involve some of the following:

    Objects

    1. Explosives
    2. Poison
    3. Regalia
    4. An exquisite meal
    5. A curse
    6. An ancient and enchanted weapon
    7. A treaty from times primeval
    8. A parasol
    9. A gown
    10. A rose

    People

    1. A spy
    2. A knight
    3. A child
    4. A cook
    5. A maid
    6. A shepherd
    7. A lord or lady
    8. An ambassador
    9. A magician
    10. The King of Roses Red

    Incidents

    1. Sabotage
    2. Assassination
    3. Marriage
    4. Sowing the earth with salt
    5. Framing someone for a crime
    6. Transformation
    7. Defenestration
    8. Decapitation
    9. Burial
    10. A feast

    Locations

    1. A busy kitchen
    2. A terrible prison
    3. A haunted barrow
    4. A decaying castle
    5. A splendid ballroom
    6. The cold and empty moor
    7. The Kingdom of Faerie
    8. A moonlit glade
    9. A backwater village
    10. A haberdashery

    Dispositions

    1. A hated rival
    2. A friend betrayed
    3. A wrathful widow(er)
    4. A murderous parent
    5. An erstwhile ally
    6. An aging guardian
    7. A fading beauty
    8. A vengeful victim
    9. An old friend
    10. A loyal servant