hex culture Uncategorized

laughing through a mouthful of blood

OSE Advanced Genre Rules Illusionist spells are great, but the class itself leaves me a little cold; while I can conceptually wrap my head around the difference between a crunchy Cleric and a Druid, there’s not a lot of daylight between a tricksy MU and an Illusionist–what’s the in-setting difference between what they’re learning and doing?

I also often try to work in classes that are explicitly about dealing with other NPCs, so this was another opportunity; having patrons and followers from the start is a good way to ground players in the setting and drive them into fun situations.

I started reading The Hidden World of Foxes and have been thinking about the animal a lot. They scream and laugh unnervingly like humans, they thrive in environments where we have destroyed most other living things, they can develop almost doglike relationships with people (though I really don’t like the idea of taming wild animals). Reynard’s Maleperduis is an ideal megadungeon: a fox’s castle-labyrinth in which he hides from the consequences of his actions; the Teumessian fox is an divinely uncapturable monster. Most also have associated rival-victims; Renard has Ysengrim (along with a bunch of other characters including Hirsent the she-wolf), the fox Kuma Lisa has Kumcho Volcho, Laelaps the hound hunts the Teumessian fox. There is of course the kitsune and Tamamo-no-Mae, but I am much less famiilar.

So, foxes are: scream-laughing in the dark; offering you a cursed spear of holly if you kill the noble hunting them for sport; sitting in a ring around a bloodslicked meadow with something you’d rather not see in the center; batting at your window begging for help because the Wolf is coming for them; disguising themselves as a reclusive noble family to eat up whatever traveler takes up their hospitality; telling a joke that will knock history off its axis; Lord Renarte laughing from the highest tower of his hidden castle; Vulpecula in the sky singing lies to the stars; helping and hurting and hunting and begging forever and ever.

Fox Royalty

Requirements: None, but being Lawful may put you at odds with your familiars
XP to level 1: 2,500 (as MU overall)
Prime Requisite: We don’t really do that here. Charisma if you gotta
Hit Dice: 1d4
Saves: as MU
Armor: None, no shields
Weapons: any one-handed melee
Language: Alignment, Common, the Nameless Language of Foxes

“Yum!” by Peter Trimming, available here and distributed under CC BY 2.0

Court of Foxes

Once in a great while, a human is born beloved, for whatever reason, to foxes–not just the beasts in the woods, but their gods and ghosts and demons. With this dubious blessing and certain burden, they are often cut loose by superstitious families and neighbors, left to their own (capacious) devices.

Phantom Fox Familiar

As Fox Royalty grow in power and precedence, they are attended by increasingly powerful fox Familiars. These Familiars are venerated criminals, divine tricksters, and related demons. They spend most of their time lurking invisibly or at least insubstantially about the person of the Fox Royalty they are pledged to, unless commanded.

At level 1, and every odd level thereafter until level 11, Fox Royalty gain an additional Familiar. The Familiar’s Rank is equal to ½ the Fox Royalty’s level (rounded up) at the time they acquire it; the first Familiar a member of Fox Royalty acquires is always Rank 1, no matter how many character levels they gain. For example, Fox Royalty at level 3 have a single Rank 1 Familiar and a single Rank 2 Familiar.

from Shin Megami Tensei IV

Spellcasting

Fox Royalty can draw on their Familiars’ power to cast Illusionist spells. A Fox Familiar can be used to cast any Illusionist spell known it its Royalty and equal to or less than its rank once per day. Thus, level 5 Fox Royalty can cast three Illusionist spells per day–one at Level 1, one at Level 2 or lower, and one at Level 3 or lower.

Fox Royalty start knowing three Level 1 Illusionist spells. Every time they level up, they learn one spell of each level of their choice from all Illusionist spells they can cast.

Optional Rule: If a Familiar eats a druid, their Royalty can add spells they had prepared or cast for that day to their spell list.

Familiars in Combat

Fox Royalty can also implore their Familiars to manifest and fight for them. This can be done at the top of the round using phased initiative, and requires an Applicant Reaction check and negotiation / payment every time it is done–foxes, even loyal familiars, are lazy and fickle. If they refuse an offer, they cannot be entreated to manifest for the rest of the day, and if the Reaction table turns up “ill will”, they run off to make mischief for the rest of the day and cannot be used to cast spells. If Fox Royalty has a standing debt to a particular Familiar, it will not appear for their Royalty or allow them to cast its spells.

Summoned Familiars

Fox familiars have stats according to their rank, listed below. They typically serve their Royalty for a number of Turns equal to the Royalty’s level. A manifested Familiar can cast Illusionist spells of their Rank or lower, but this counts against their Fox Royalty’s spells per day. A Familiar that is reduced to 0 HP vanishes for a time, and cannot communicate or give the Royalty spells until the day has passed.

Class LevelRank/Max Spell LevelStatistics
11HD 2 AC 13 MV 150’ (50’) SV +2 ML 7 AL C
32HD 4 AC 14 MV 150’ (50’) SV +4 ML 6 AL C
53HD 6 AC 14 MV 150’ (50’) SV +6 ML 5 AL C
74HD 8 AC 15 MV 150’ (50’) SV +8 ML 4 AL C
95HD 10 AC 16 MV 150’ (50’) SV +10 ML 3 AL C
116HD 12 AC 18 MV 150’ (50’) SV +12 ML 2 AL C
I ues d20+HD >= 16 for saving throws, but you can just use their HD and the Monster Save chart in the system of your choice to figure out their saves.

Special Cases

If Fox Royalty want to summon their Familiars en masse or set them to a long-term or complex task pertaining to espionage, mischief, or nature, they may do so, but this is treated as “Other Magical Research” in terms of time and cost.

Dealing With Familiars

Familiars appear increasingly impressive or frightening with Rank. 

  • A Rank 1 Familiar might appear as a scrawny juvenile fox.
  • A Rank 3 Familiar might appear as a wolf-sized fox barded in gold and silk
  • A Rank 6 Familiar might appear as a seething apparition of shadow and red-gold fire.

While unmanifested, foxes might possess their Royalty’s shadow to speak or appear as clots of foxfire.

All fox familiars are arrogant, cruel, and mischievous, with a soft spot for underdogs and fellow tricksters. Low rank familiars are younger, cruder in their malice, and more beholden to their animal temperament. Higher ranked familiars are older, more circumspect and patient, but also more creative in their cruelty and elaborate in their plots. The highest ranked familiars are demigods in their own right.

Fox familiars obey orders to the letter and spirit that don’t offend their sensibilities, even if they have low Morale/Loyalty. They don’t make Morale checks out of fear–they are  unbothered by danger, but require checks when subject to indignity, disrespect, or significant pain, or when asked to pass up  the opportunity to do something cruel, funny, or both. In terms of payment, they don’t care for treasure or gold, but do enjoy shrines being constructed in their name, incense, offerings of live chickens (and larger, bloodier animals).

“Fox with meat, again…” by Tambako the Jaguar, available here and distributed by CC BY-ND 2.0

Restrictions and Diplomacy

Foxes and foxlike beings are at worst Talkative with Fox Royalty, though they may not be so well disposed towards their traveling companions. Fox Royalty must never directly harm a fox (fortunately, foxes will never willingly harm them, unless it’s very funny), lest their familiars abandon them until they perform some task of great mischief to make it up to foxdom. Tricking a fox, even to the point of harm, is a whole other story, though–all cruelties are allowable to a fox if they’re amusing enough.

Strongholds

At level 11, Fox Royalty are demidivinities in  their own right and may raise a bower or construct wilderness shrine. They will attract 2d4 Clerics of levels 1-3 and can bestow Illusionist spells on them, and all foxes in the region will accord them great, if grudging, respect.

Fox Familiar Statistics Formula

HD: Rank x 2
AC: 12 + Rank
MV: 150’ (50’)
SV: +HD (or as HD)
ML: 8 – Rank
AL: Chaotic

from Chainsaw Man, by Tatsuki Fujimoto
hex culture Uncategorized

abrakadabra

Had this marinating in drafts for forever and finally had the energy to finish it. I’ve been thinking about mechanics that are grounded as much as possible in the consensus and intuition of the play group and encoded as little as possible in the written rules themselves (related the FKR principles that have been bouncing around lately). These are magic rules for a game in the vein of Runequest or Earthsea I’ve been thinking about running lately.

They really only work in a pretty technologically limited setting (the game is Bronze Age-ish), since they’re keyed off of “things within human capacity” which gets really thorny when you have much past that.

Sorcery

Sorcery is an art that provides supernatural means to mundane ends–with their magic, a sorcerer can perform any feat within human capacity, but nothing more. Raising  the dead, inspiring true love, lifting castles into the sky, and other ancient acts of magic are entirely beyond latter-day sorcerers. Within this limitation, however, sorcerers can still achieve much–forging a blade without a hammer or fire, transporting themselves great distances without a cart or mount, persuading people without speaking a word, performing dangerous labor from great distances, auguring long-lost secrets without cracking open a book.

Sorcerers are not equally learned in all forms of sorcery, however. The practice is divided into Lores, each a domain of sorcery that focuses on a single field of human endeavor. The Lore of Stone allows a sorcerer to cleave and shape rock like a mason; the Lore of the Forge allows them to stoke small flames into roaring fires and shape raw metal into smithed goods like a blacksmith. Lores are still constrained by the limits of sorcery; a Stone-sorcerer could raise a tower from living rock, but not create one from thin air; a Forge-sorcerer could turn iron ingots into a sword but could not magic up a blade from nothing.

Although sorcery can wholly replace the time, equipment, and labor necessary to achieve something, the more a sorcerer leans on their own power, the more difficult and dangerous the magic is. To safely, effectively, and reliably cast a spell, a sorcerer needs occult equipment, components, and time roughly equal to what would be needed to perform the act though mundane means. A dearth of resources can be overcome with talent and experience, but always brings some level of risk.

Lores

  • Stone: magic of masons. Cleave rocks, raise stone structures, etc.
  • Yoke: magic of animal husbandry. Train, soothe, command, care for animals, etc.
  • Path: magic of travelers. Travel great distances, move at great speeds, scale walls and mountains, etc
  • Bough: magic of hunters. Camouflage, track, kill at a distance, etc.
  • Forge: magic of blacksmiths. Stoke flames, shape metal, smith objects, etc
  • Bone: magic of doctors. Augur diagnoses, clean and treat wounds, etc.

Examples:

  • A Stone-sorcerer destroying a boulder might bring a staff to shape their magic the way that someone else might use a sledgehammer to direct their strength. In a pinch, they could try to crush the boulder with no gear, but this could exhaust them, injure them, or end in a botched or incomplete job.
  • A Yoke-sorcerer ensorcelling a dog to obey their commands might prepare a series of ritually treated meals for the dog to take the place of the food someone else would use to reward it during training. They could try to fall back on their own power and will, but this could sicken or injure them or the dog, or lead to the dog becoming aggressive and feral instead.
  • A Path-sorcerer could construct a ritual palanquin to carry them to a neighboring town the way someone else would use a cart. Carrying themselves with their own sorcery could injure them or lead them to the wrong place.

Procedure:

  1. The player declares what they are trying to achieve with the spell and how it is going to happen. It must be within human capacity and it must pertain to their Lore.
  2. If their PC has the time and resources equivalent to what the task would take normally, it just works.
  3. If they do not have or are not willing to dedicate the time and resources, the Referee tells them how many dice to roll. If they are well-equipped, they roll 3d6. If they are moderately prepared, they roll 2d6. If they are unprepared, they roll 1d6. Sorcerers who go through brutal training, bathe in moonlight on auspicious nights, complete pilgrimages to locations of great power, wield relics of great power, etc, roll an extra regardless of level of preparation.
  4. If the player’s highest die is 5+, the spell works. If the highest die is 3-4, the spell simply fails. If the highest die is 1-2, the spell fails and there is some backlash: the sorcerer is exhausted or injured, the spell causes an undesirable effect, etc.

Taboo Sorcery

Wisdom of the Beasts

Greedy sorcerers may reach for powers beyond what has been allotted to humans by consuming the lifeblood of an animal. This is a grave taboo–to be one thing and not another is the lot of all mortal life, and the mingling of kinds recalls the dark and formless Chaos that preceded the world as it is known today. A sorcerer who has attained the Wisdom of a beast may achieve anything that it could, just as a Lore affords the powers of human effort. A beast, more than anything, is capable of being itself, and so Wisdom-stealing sorcerers may also assume the form of animals they have consumed.

  • The Wisdom of the Bear allows a sorcerer to exert immense force, tear apart obstacles and enemies, and scale trees and walls.
  • The Wisdom of the Crow allows a sorcerer to fly, to stand on slender tree branches, and communicate with flocks of other crows.
  • The Wisdom of the Eel allows a sorcerer to breathe underwater and swim at great speed.
  • The Wisdom of the Asp allows a sorcerer to inflict venomous wounds and travel through the narrowest of spaces.

The most terrible heights a sorcerer may ascend are by consuming the lifeblood of a divine beast: dragons, sea-serpents, great-wolves, corpse-eagles. 

Forbidden Knowledge

There are Lores that are persecuted at every opportunity by right-thinking people: The Lore of the Rack, perfected by torturers, the Lore of Belladonna, devised by poisoners, and the Lore of the Throne, invented by tyrants. The books that contain them have been burned, the people who learned them have been ground into dust and buried in secret places. The smallest hint that someone has recovered even a part of these Lores will bring down terrible reprisal from regular people, town governments, empires.

There are also Lores that are treated with suspicion or banned in some jurisdictions, but do not necessarily carry a universal taboo. Anything that impinges on the mind of another, allows secrets of others to be augured, or inflicts grievous injury causes too much trouble to be trusted, even if they can only induce a person to do something within the boundaries of their nature and morals. 

  • Heart: magic of courtesans. Persuade, mislead, and seduce.
  • Jaw: magic of gossips. Divine rumors, start whisper campaigns, stir up mobs.
  • Tome: magic of scholars. Augur any information that has been written or remembered.
  • Scale: magic of merchants. Augur the value of objects, divine what people want, reveal the composition of coins, ingots, and other things.
  • Blade: magic of warriors, Cut, gouge, crush, pierce, but also ward off blows.
  • Knucklebone: magic of gamblers. Weigh dice, augur card hands, discern true feelings.