WITCH ASTEROID

 In Desul there are those who forsake the powers of magic. Whether in a religious extreme or a clinical obsession, they strip their own bodies of the potential for magic. This involves a surgical removing of the ears and the sensory organs just below the skin around the skull. These anti-magic deafs are nicknamed "Snails," for they move slowly and often need a device to prop them up (or some would rather crawl along the ground and lean against walls). This is because they have lost not only their hearing, but their entire center of balance. The surgery is ironically magical in nature and also cuts them off from vibrational frequencies so the Snails lose an element of their touch as well. They experience injury, but they cannot feel pain. Their physical stamina is nearly limitless. They can crawl and crawl without every tiring. A Snail's body will crumple and die before it gives up on its pursuit. They are completely unaffected by magical ability. A magical flame will ha...

 I want an alternative to spell books. I like the image of a mage carrying around a bookshelf of reading material, Death Stranding -style. I like Dungeons & Dragons and Knave and Cairn. The cloistered scholar archetype is intriguing. But I still want a creative alternative.  How do wizards in traditionally wet or humid environments hold their magic? How does the magic-user in the wild — outside of their high tower, carrying all other manner of gear — find the cargo space to fit a few textbooks? And what really is magic?  Waves. Vibration. Sound. Magic affects everything. Naturally, the magical organ is the ear. It keeps balance. It filters these waves, intoning them within the body and solidifying their magical effect. Let’s create a “spell book” with these parameters. I’m going to call them “totems” instead. They are small, often hand-sized objects, perforated with holes that create unique sounds at specific volumes. Each totem holds one spell. Rolling a random spel...

   Seek the Myths. Honor the Seers. Protect the Realm. Spring. One day until Sceptremass. Sir Baldric and Sir Brom part ways with Jabek, a captain of the warty guard, and decide to ride towards Fort Grasp; the Seat of Power of the Realm. Journeying North, they come across a group of shepherds at night. They speak of tigers killing sheep in the East. In the morning the Company gallops with urgency to the fort. The river joins trifold and the knights have difficulty crossing. Brom is across with ease, but Baldric must be aided by his squire Dorf. Afternoon on the day of Sceptremass. The Company approaches the colossal structure, noise and jubilation inside. A courtyard filled with guardsmen training, archery, sparring with hay dummies, dogs chasing carved sticks. They tie their poor exhausted horses up with a young squire named Spike. The Company enters the grand hall, tables set with food and drink. Two Sworn Bell Knights guard a locked door on the right. One of them, Sworn B...

 Seek the Myths. Honor the Seers. Protect the Realm. Spring. Four days until Sceptremass. Young Knights-Errant; Baldric the Gilded Knight , a beautiful force of violence in a short-and-shiny package, and his squire Dorf ; Brom the Rune Knight , a hulking thoughtful behemoth, and his squire Noll . Visitors from a distant Realm. They are instantly cursed by false paths amongst eastern bluffy crags. Dorf takes a watch all night and nearly depletes his Clarity to 0 (it is left at 1). The next day the Company runs into a logging team of warty guards captained by Jabek . He wears full plate with a frog helm, but is NOT a Knight. The warty guards mention “The Toad,” and how they’re gathering materials for his castle. The guards deposit massive logs beside the lake and depart on fat donkeys.  The next day the Company come upon two scouts investigating the prints left in the boggy mud by the overweight mules. They are Scout Tom and Scout Cole , wearing strange leather bodysuits with...

“How can only one zombie be scary to a group of adventurers?” Short answer: watch an Evil Dead movie. Cheating answer: let’s design a new zombie. The core zombie: AC 8, HP 11, ATK 1 slam +2 (1d6), MV near, S +2, D -2, C +1, I -2, W -2, Ch -3, AL C, LV 2 Undead. Immune to morale checks. Relentless. If zombie reduced to 0 HP by a non-magical source, DC 15 CON to go to 1 HP instead. Let’s add some old-school flavor and edit Undead: Undead. Silent until it attacks. Immune to morale checks. In the world of Lefort undead are always corpses possessed by demons . After watching Evil Dead: Rise tonight I realized how similar this concept is to the Evil Dead series and was inspired to create this post.  This isn’t some poor soul dimly reanimated. This is a master of chaos and evil inhabiting corporeal form,  possibly for the first time. ATK 1 gore +2 (1d8 + black bile), I +1 Black Bile. DC 12 CON or 1d4 CON damage (can’t heal while ill). Repeat check once per hour; ...

Incorporeal and possessive demons underly most of Lefort’s fantasy antics: monsters, wizards, and also the undead. Undead are similar to other kinds of demon-possessed creatures (like minotaurs being demon-possessed cows), except the creature in this case is a corpse. Undead, like zombies or wights, are summoned magically by inviting a demon through occult ritual into a corpse to possess. And undead, like skeletons, are still encountered naturally, demon-possessed bones wandering around with semi-sentient abandon. Most demons are powerful enough to possess whole graveyards’ worth of corpses, making chaotic deals with warlocks and liches for undead armies. Ghostly and specterish undead, like wraiths, are transitory souls that demons have latched on to in the same way, favoring their natural state of incorporeality. Twisting Liches Argus, the Wizard-King of Argusdoom Wizards who seek to extend their lifespan can become a lich. Wizards of any alignment can become a lich, but the process ...

1. Adamic Plum Within Shiver, on the neighboring mountain to Zahir's pear tree , grows the adamic plums. Light-yellow plums grow on the surface in lush fields of vibrant tall grass. Uprooting the plums' plant reveals roots in the shape of an elderly man. When the roots are exposed to the cold air of Shiver they speak out of the elderly man's mouth: 1. The words of a random scroll! Which, if quickly written down on parchment, can be cast as a scroll.  2. A poem! An arrangement of words never before spoken. Listeners gain permanent +1 WIS. 3. The True Name! Of: 1. Adom 2. A demon king 3. A ruler 4. An assassin. 4. "Filth!" Yellow gas slowly spews out of the elderly man's mouth. After a minute the gas becomes Cloudkill.  2. Kingsfeather It's rumored the first kings of Lefort used this flower to gain power. If kingsfeather is worn against one's forehead the wearer can cast Command using their CHA. Kingsfeather cults exist in the slums of Babilan, but the...

The Assassin’s Guild; also known as the Masked Assassins of the Mascot Guild, Skin Devils, Brain Eaters, and Ghouls. AC 15, HP 44, ATK 3 thinsword +8 (1d12) or 2 automatic crossbow (far) +8 (1d8 + poison), MV near (climb, swim), S +4, D +4, C +3, I +4, W +4, Ch +5, AL N, LV 9 Poison. DC 15 CON or target's eyes roll back and it turns on its allies for 1d4 rounds. DC 15 WIS on turn to end effect. They, and the other cabals of Lefort, have no need for the traditional currency of the gold system. The assassins deal in organs. 1. 1,000g, 1h, Heart Like gold is trivially assigned massive wealth, so have certain organs. The heart is incredibly valuable because these organs serve multiple purposes. The assassins of the guild go through intense body-modification to make them untraceable and unrecognizable between operations, as well as make organic repairs.  It’s rumored that some masked assassins have been alive since the guild was created, hundreds of years ago, by using these...