WITCH ASTEROID

“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...

When I host a TTRPG game in Lefort I allow six playable ancestries or races: 1. Humans are scattered across the island and the most common ancestry. 2. Halflings are the scarcest ancestry, being rock-salt homunculi created by ancient wizards. 3. Goblins are small, shark-like albinos that reside in secluded communities. 4. Dwarves are stocky, large-skulled, hairy artisans that isolate in the Shadowdark below the surface. 5. Elves are pastel-skinned aliens with Gigeresque garments. More on them in the future. 6. Half-Orcs are tusked pig-men that make up the nobility of Boar Valley. Granted, these are the six core playable ancestries in the Shadowdark rulebook, and also commonly the core playable ancestries in other fantasy roleplaying games. I was really curious why half-orc was the default, instead of orc. There's no core option to play a half-dwarf, or even the iconic half-elf. What's the in-game reason "full" orcs aren't players? I'm guessing it's because...

The people of Lefort keep track of the year by the seasons. Each season -- Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring -- has 91 days. Between Winter and Spring is the Lost Day, the 365th day of the year, also known as the mark of the New Year. Poems tell of a battle between Madeera and Memnon, where Madeera sacrificed the 365th day to bring order to the rest of the seasons. 1. Midsummer Villagers celebrating Midsummer in the village of Harmony The 45th day of Summer. A secular celebration of light, warmth, and love. It's customary for people to wear pastel colors and make sun tapestries, sheets of canvas painted entirely white that reflect the sun's light.  Demon Kings , like Sabet and King Lauren, have twisted the holiday into less wholesome directions, hosting pleasure festivals and naked parades that take up the entire wilderness of Boar Valley.  The king of Sowden has been trying to quell these demons by sending violent militia to "deal with them." For the past few years Mids...

All of these demons  possess an animal or a person, and have a true form that’s intangible and invisible, present only after their host has been killed. Their true form can only be seen by magic-users with wizard vision , and can't be killed or affect reality without possessing another host.  1. The False Orc, Boar Priest, The Camel King, King Swinniginn, The Old God of Adversity A diminutive orc mockingly donning the arch priestess of St. Terragnis' robes. The False Orc mimics the posture of a priest, satirically spewing blasphemy against the Shadowdark Gods as he wanders across Boar Valley. He rides atop a camel covered in thick dust, flora invasively sprouting from underneath its hooves. Bestows bad luck on his followers' enemies. AC 12, HP 39, ATK 3 scepter +4 (1d8) or 1 spell +4, MV near,  S +4, D +0, C +2, I +1, W +4, Ch +0, AL C, LV 7 Blind (WIS Spell). DC 12. All in near are blinded for 1d4 rounds. Snuff (WIS Spell). DC 12. Extinguish all light sourc...

Demons can be pretty fun. But I also think the traditional D&D lesser demons and their lore is confusing and I’d rather make up my own. Incorporeality Elric of Melnibone is very cool. In the classic sword & sorcery series he acts as much like a wizard as he does a fighter, conjuring spirits to come to his aid. I’m a big fan of the invisible, intangible, and all-around mysterious nature of the demons. There’s something much more terrifying about ultimate chaotic evil if it can’t be comprehended. This also matches the real-world description of most spirits and demons. They’re often speaking through objects, possessing animals and people, and summoned invisibly in occult ritual. Possession Demon possession! Super super fun. I watched Journey to the West (2013) this month and I thought it was great. Especially loved its treatment of demons. The demons appear to have possessed and transformed common animals beyond their natural form, increasing in size, intelligence, humanoid form, ...

There's a tabernacle a days travel on foot from the crossroads intersecting the great cities of Madonis, Babilan, and Sowden. The huge rectangular tent, large enough to house a hundred people, can be seen from the road. In front is an altar, set above a roasting fire, for the animal sacrifices. Between the altar and the tent is a horse-sized vase full of water. The tent, altar, and vase are gated and surrounded by hundreds of pilgrimaging believers. The tabernacle at the crossroads This is the house of Adom, the god of storms, justice, pillaging, and last resorts. Adom's twelve disciples live inside the gated tabernacle. The disciples have stats as assassins , being envoys from the Assassin's Guild on Gallows Isle. They guide pilgrims, one at a time, inside the gated area to talk to Adom.  "Adom" No one (except the disciples) has seen Adom. He's depicted as an elderly man in red robes with a long, gray beard, a fiery sun glowing behind his head, and spitting l...

Drolo is the living embodiment of "if a tree falls in a forest, and there's no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?" He lives in the Ninth Cavity, a secluded cave on the eastern coast of Babilanaya. He doesn't exist unless he's interacted with. When travelers visit the Ninth Cavity, Drolo is there. But when those travelers leave (or sleep, or die) there is no longer Drolo. Otherwise Lefort would descend into chaos. Drolo is a chaotic archmage, but not necessarily an evil one. The laws placed upon reality are evil, and he intends to break all of them. True freedom is spiritual anarchy.  When Drolo does exist it is in a state of change. Every even day he exists in his Peaceful form and every odd day he exists in his Wrathful form.  The forgotten forms of Drolo the archmage In his Peaceful form Drolo appears as a teenage human boy covered in golden body paint. His eyes are closed and he has an out-of-place, thin mustache. Peaceful Drolo wears a simple cloth...

The half-orc templar of Sowden have been searching for the fabled Holy Grail of Lefort for years. They've whittled down the location to be somewhere within the jungle of Boar Valley, which the King of Sowden has named the Green Grail. At the center of the jungle lies an ancient temple, long abandoned by its Viperian council. Viperian shamans, wearing red (blood-dyed) cloaks with patches of white spots, care for the Holy Grail deep within the temple.  Viperian fresco of a dire fungus In actuality the Grail is an inverted psychedelic mushroom, its shaft sprouting up into a cap that grows outward like a chalice. An unlimited supply of clear jelly pulsing with purple energy sits in the grail, slowly infusing with the mushroom's psychoactive chemicals. The tendrils of the mushroom grow deep underneath the jungle for miles and miles, potentially expanding under most of the island.  The 2d4+1 shamans (stats as viperian wizards) sip from the Holy Grail as part of their spiritual ritua...

The people of Lefort worship the common Gods of Shadowdark, but modern mysticism on the island has introduced four new spiritual masters. The tallest mountain of Shiver grows an immortal pear tree. It's been growing since Lefort was created, and will grow until it's cut down. The pears are entirely ordinary but always juicy and delicious. The bark of the tree, however, is said to be the physical manifestation of the word of God. Zahir's prophetic dream Zahir is a Babilanayan human with a pointed beard, his hair shaved close to his head. He wears a loose brown robe, always strangely clean, tied at the waist with rope. Zahir lives on the tallest mountain of Shiver. He's accompanied by 4d6 philosopher-priests (stats as acolytes). After a prophetic dream explaining what he must do, Zahir stripped part of the bark away from the pear tree and wrote the First Book on the back of the phloem, a collection of poems observing the nature of the world. The First Book's musings o...