Editing Typhonian Reach
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
+ | ''' | ||
+ | == Introduction == | ||
+ | ''' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ''Know, O Prince, that between the fall of the elder world and the coming of the great glaciers, there was an age undreamed of. An age of wonder and terror, when a newborn species of weak, ignorant, yet clever and ambitious apes gazed with fear... and avarice... upon the ruins of the world they had inherited by chance. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ''For uncounted epochs, monsters had crawled over the primeval earth, their wars and magics twisting land, sea, and sky. Yet all things end. Elder race warred with elder race, to their mutual downfall. Senescent species made horrible pacts with strange Powers to avoid decline. As elder things clung to life and power beyond their time, their wombs and cultures withered. The lands moved upon the waters, and monsters who had ruled over jungle and swamp shivered as the ice came. The life of monsters is as the life of stars, but even stars die. And finally the ancient world collapsed. | ||
+ | '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ''Continents broke; seas boiled as fangs of fire erupted from the deep; the stars of heaven lurched into new constellations. The elder masters' towers fell, their leviathan-gods retreated to nurse their wounds. From the heights of power and erudition, the elder lords were cast into savagery. And in the wreckage, the lowliest slaves... sequestered from the worst of the ruin as fodder for their masters' magics and military experiments... cast off their chains, went forth, and multiplied. | ||
+ | '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ''In only a handful of generations, mankind rose far: mastering fire and bronze, building cities in imitation of the prehumans', developing systems of writing and mathematics... and delving into the same dark sorceries that brought down their predecessors. Power fostered arrogance; wealth nurtured greed; the city walls that sheltered from the wilderness allowed vice to fester in their midst. And in their dark dens and hidden places, the surviving monsters of the elder world grinned in anticipation and stretched out their talons to goad man against his brother, that the world might be theirs once more. | ||
+ | '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ''Yet something happened unforeseen by man and monster alike. From among humans of all stations... from the mightiest hero-lugal to the merest slave... a divine spark alit in mortal clay. Human in form yet wielding the cosmic and elemental power of leviathans, these demigods went among the nations to work wonders and receive the awe of their fellows. | ||
+ | '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ''Did they defend their newborn species as guardians? Uplift and teach it as culture heroes? Oppress it as immortal tyrants? Fleece it as tricksters? Or betray their birth-kind to go among the elder races, not as slaves but as masters over a second age of monsters? | ||
+ | '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ''That tale remains to be told. | ||
+ | '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
== Player Characters == | == Player Characters == | ||
− | + | Ladies and gents, I'll clean this up later, but for now I just need a cut-and-pasted repository for tonight's dry run. | |
+ | |||
+ | '''Ama (Jeremy Kopczynski) (Command, Fertility, Sun):''' The sun rises upon the Yayoi, and impurity withers in its light. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Strength: 10/0/11 | ||
+ | Dexterity: 14/1/7 | ||
+ | Constitution: 16/2/5 | ||
+ | Intelligence: 13/1/9 | ||
+ | Wisdom: 13/1/9 | ||
+ | Charisma: 18/33 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Saves: | ||
+ | Hardiness: 13 | ||
+ | Evasion: 14 | ||
+ | Spirit: 12 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Words: | ||
+ | Command-Charisma 18 plus perfect communication. Gift: Bearer of the Scarlet Crown | ||
+ | Fertility-Control of personal fertility plus immunity to plant based toxins | ||
+ | Sun-Immunity to fire and perfect vision even if eyeballs removed. Gift: Body of Burning Light, Sunlight Sight, Purity of Brilliant Law, Hope of the Dawn. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Facts: | ||
+ | Born among the Yayoi | ||
+ | Sacrificial Priestess | ||
+ | Fighter of Ogres | ||
+ | |||
+ | Weapons: | ||
+ | Bow 1d8 ranged weapon | ||
+ | Armor: Leather AC 7 | ||
+ | Attack Bonus +1 | ||
+ | Wealth: 0 | ||
+ | Influence: 2 | ||
+ | Dominion: 0 | ||
+ | Effort: 2 | ||
+ | Hit Points: 10 | ||
+ | |||
+ | '''Anka (Marikir) (Death, Fertility, Health):''' From the dry lands the green breath blows. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Description | ||
+ | Age: 25; Gender: Female; Hair: Black, unbraided, raggedly cut (sign of mourning); Eyes: Brown; Skin: Tan | ||
+ | |||
+ | Level: 1 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Facts | ||
+ | •Origin: Born to the migrating Tribes. | ||
+ | •Profession: Gatherer, Wife, Mother | ||
+ | •Relationship: Widow & Revered by the Tomb Lords. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Attributes | ||
+ | Strength 13 (+3) [Check: 8+] | ||
+ | Dexterity 13 (+1) [Check: 8+] | ||
+ | Constitution 18 (+3) [Check: 3+] | ||
+ | Intelligence 10 (+0) [Check: 11+] | ||
+ | Wisdom 16 (+2) [Check: 5+] | ||
+ | Charisma 14 (+1) [Check: 7+] | ||
+ | |||
+ | Saving Throws | ||
+ | Hardiness: 12+ | ||
+ | Evasion: 14+ | ||
+ | Spirit: 13+ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Combat | ||
+ | HP: 11 | ||
+ | AC: 6 / 8 | ||
+ | Fray Dice: 1d8 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Base Attack Bonus: +1 | ||
+ | Melee Attack Bonus: +2 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Resources | ||
+ | Effort: 2 | ||
+ | Influence: 2 | ||
+ | Dominion: 0 | ||
+ | Wealth: 0 | ||
+ | Experience: 0 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Words | ||
+ | Death | ||
+ | Fertility | ||
+ | Health | ||
− | + | Gifts | |
+ | Death | ||
+ | Keeper of the Graves (Lesser) | ||
+ | Withholding the Mercy (Lesser) | ||
− | + | Fertility | |
+ | Birth Blessing (Lesser) | ||
+ | Unending Abundance (Greater) | ||
− | + | Health | |
+ | Ender of Plagues (Lesser) | ||
− | + | Equipment | |
+ | Hand Sickle (Light – 1d6+1 damage) | ||
+ | Knife (Light - 1d6+1 damage) | ||
− | == Factions | + | '''Illuminous the Arcane (lordmcdeath):''' '''(Knowledge, Sorcery, Time):''' The shape of things to come is unknown... yet He knows more than you. |
+ | |||
+ | HP: 9 | ||
+ | AC: 2 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Attributes Mod Checks | ||
+ | Str 10 +0 11 | ||
+ | Dex 13 +1 8 | ||
+ | Con 14 +1 7 | ||
+ | Int 18 +3 3 | ||
+ | Wis 16 +2 5 | ||
+ | Cha 13 +1 8 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Facts | ||
+ | -Born into the people of the volcano, awakened the mysteries of fire. (Familar with Cinnabar Order Magic) | ||
+ | -Wandered the earth pursuing lost knowledge, a sage of the ancient and forbidden lore. | ||
+ | -Saved from death by a healing adept. (Familar with the Merciful Hand) | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Words | ||
+ | Knowledge (Int 18, Revealing information) | ||
+ | Sorcery (As Instant, Can have commit effort to cancel low magic or constructs) | ||
+ | Time (Wis 16, Time Sense, Immunity to Scry and Time) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Divine Gifts | ||
+ | -The Best-Laid Plans (Commit Effort for a day and lay out a plan, DM lays out most relevant unknown danger to goal. Once per goal, 1pt) | ||
+ | -Exicision of Understanding (As an action remove memory of language, skill, event, or topic and the worthy may resist in Spirit, 1pt) | ||
+ | -Adept of the Gate (4 Gate invocation, 1pt) | ||
+ | -Adept of the Way (3 Way invocation, 2pt) | ||
+ | -Immediate Foresight (AC 3, 1pt) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Saving Throw | ||
+ | Hardiness 14 | ||
+ | Evasion 12 | ||
+ | Spirit 13 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Effort 2 | ||
+ | Wealth 0 | ||
+ | Experience 0 | ||
+ | Dominion 0 | ||
+ | Influence 2 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Invocations | ||
+ | Barred Gate of Forbiddence (Cast someone out of a location, Spirit to resist) | ||
+ | Kiss of the Crane (1d6 per level to arcane connection, Evasion for half, find target anywhere) | ||
+ | Seal of Regnal Dominion (1 thrall per level, Spirit to resist) | ||
+ | The Trumpet of Far Utterance (Communication between arcane link or close people, pass one 10 lbs object) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Path to the Bright Sanctum (Travel to prepared Sanctum) | ||
+ | Sign of Avulsive Banishment (1d10 per level to any angel or uncreated, can be area effect, backlash if not) | ||
+ | Sunder the Greater Spell (Make the spell not happen, 1d10 backlash for Gate or Way) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Weapon | ||
+ | Throwing Knives (+2, 1d6) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Armor (None, Robe) | ||
+ | |||
+ | '''Pars (EngmaticOne) (Artifice, Earth, Endurance):''' All things of worth are forged from fire and earth. My hammer will make yet greater things. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Name: Pars | ||
+ | Age: 18 | ||
+ | Gender: Male | ||
+ | Hair: Black | ||
+ | Eyes: Green | ||
+ | Skin: Dark Tan | ||
+ | |||
+ | Level: 1 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Facts | ||
+ | •Origin: Commoner of Gath | ||
+ | •Profession: Bronzesmith's Son | ||
+ | •Relationship: Favored by the Priests of Jawa | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Attributes | ||
+ | Strength 16 (+2) [Check: 5+] | ||
+ | Dexterity 13 (+1) [Check: 8+] | ||
+ | Constitution 16 (+2) [Check: 5+] | ||
+ | Intelligence 16 (+2) [Check: 5+] | ||
+ | Wisdom 14 (+1) [Check: 7+] | ||
+ | Charisma 13 (+1) [Check: 8+] | ||
+ | |||
+ | Saving Throws | ||
+ | Hardiness: 13+ | ||
+ | Evasion: 13+ | ||
+ | Spirit: 14+ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Combat | ||
+ | HP: 10 | ||
+ | AC: 2 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Base Attack Bonus: +1 | ||
+ | Melee Attack Bonus: +3 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Resources | ||
+ | Effort: 2 | ||
+ | Influence: 2 | ||
+ | Dominion: 0 | ||
+ | Wealth: 0 | ||
+ | Experience: 0 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Words | ||
+ | Artifice | ||
+ | Earth | ||
+ | Endurance | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gifts | ||
+ | Artifice | ||
+ | Perpetually Perfect [Greater] | ||
+ | Ten Thousand Tools [Lesser] | ||
+ | |||
+ | Earth | ||
+ | Builder of Mountain Peaks [Greater] | ||
+ | |||
+ | Endurance | ||
+ | Body of Iron Will [Lesser] | ||
+ | |||
+ | Equipment | ||
+ | Hammer (Heavy – 1d10 damage) | ||
+ | |||
+ | '''Tarrlak Varr (CowboyEnergy) (Alacrity, Health, Sword):''' The mountain stands. And so do we. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Name: Tarrlak Vaar | ||
+ | |||
+ | Attributes: | ||
+ | Strength: 16 (+2) (Check: 5) | ||
+ | Dexterity: 16 (+2) (Check: 5) | ||
+ | Wisdom: 13 (+1) (Check: 8) | ||
+ | Constitution: 16 (+2) (Check: 5) | ||
+ | Charisma: 10 (+0) (Check: 11) | ||
+ | Intelligence: 8 (-1) (Check: 13) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Facts: | ||
+ | |||
+ | -Was a Martial Arts Teacher even before he became Godbound, and still is. | ||
+ | -Created his own styles from observing nature in motion, such as the Lesser Strife of Broken Earth from the mountains themselves | ||
+ | -He comes from the Mountain City-State of Tolundria, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Words: | ||
+ | Sword, Alacrity, Health | ||
+ | |||
+ | Sword: Treats all melee attacks as magical, can never be disarmed, and can summon any weapon used before to their hand. | ||
+ | Alacrity: Dex to 16, Never surprised, | ||
+ | Health: Invincible defense against disease and poisons, can diagnose in an instant, Con to 16. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Gifts: Flickering Advance (Alacrity) | ||
+ | Steel Without End (Sword) | ||
+ | Nine Iron Walls (Sword) | ||
+ | Shattering Hand (Sword, Greater) | ||
+ | Intrinsic Health (Health) | ||
+ | Lesser Strife of Broken Earth | ||
+ | |||
+ | Saving Throws: Hardiness: 13 | ||
+ | Evasion: 13 | ||
+ | Spirit: 14 | ||
+ | |||
+ | Health: 12 | ||
+ | Effort: 2 | ||
+ | Wealth: 0 | ||
+ | Influence: 2 | ||
+ | Dominion: 0 | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Weapon: Fists | ||
+ | Armour: Incredible martial arts skill | ||
+ | |||
+ | Description: Tarrlak Vaar looks like a dark brown-skinned man in his 50s, complete with a full black beard with streaks of gray in it, going with his long, equally graying hair and carefully styled mustaches. | ||
+ | His dark eyes twinkle with jovial good humour as he overlooks his student's training in his dojo in Tolundria, The School of the Avalanche Fist, where the greatest fighters in the world are made (according to him, of course). | ||
+ | |||
+ | Even though he is in his fifties, he moves, breathes and...well, does everything with the ease of a man in the prime of his life. Even before he was bound to the word of Health, he was known for barely ever getting sick, of training well into the night, | ||
+ | and of going out on long excursions deep into the wilderness with barely any supplies. Similarily, Tarrlack was a master of unarmed combat before he was bound to the Sword and Alacrity, but now his skills have gone deep into the uncanny. He casually parries the sword-swings of entire | ||
+ | mobs of enemy soldiers, and disarms bow-men before they can even draw their strings back. Despite this, Tarrlack refuses to attack except out of defense of himself or of another, believing that unchecked aggression opens one's soul up to the corrupting influences that brought down the devil-kings and so many other strange beings. | ||
+ | |||
+ | == Factions == | ||
'''Citadel of Learning (lordmcdeath)''' | '''Citadel of Learning (lordmcdeath)''' | ||
Line 82: | Line 367: | ||
In matters of religion they are led by priestesses and shamans who attempt to serve as intercessors between the people and anything viewed as supernatural. Until very recently, sacrifices of the high priestess was common. | In matters of religion they are led by priestesses and shamans who attempt to serve as intercessors between the people and anything viewed as supernatural. Until very recently, sacrifices of the high priestess was common. | ||
− | + | '''Ashada, City of the Bitumen Kings | |
− | |||
− | '''Ashada, City of the Bitumen Kings | ||
''' | ''' | ||
(Power 2, | (Power 2, | ||
Line 93: | Line 376: | ||
The fractious oligarchs that jointly rule Ashada were no more than junior merchants, speculators, or less savory things before their rise, but their wealth has made them forget their station, and so they style themselves as Kings. There is little majestic about the trade in slaves bought as needed and sent to work the pits. They grow encrusted and befouled with the stuff, and they sicken and die within 18 moons, but that is the lot of slaves. And after all, it is only right that the pits be fed with those who work them, in payment to the bitumen-spirits for the extraction. | The fractious oligarchs that jointly rule Ashada were no more than junior merchants, speculators, or less savory things before their rise, but their wealth has made them forget their station, and so they style themselves as Kings. There is little majestic about the trade in slaves bought as needed and sent to work the pits. They grow encrusted and befouled with the stuff, and they sicken and die within 18 moons, but that is the lot of slaves. And after all, it is only right that the pits be fed with those who work them, in payment to the bitumen-spirits for the extraction. | ||
− | So, while Ashada is black and ugly and reeks of the underworld, within its asphalt walls are many beautiful things come to satisfy the urges and pleasures of the Kings. | + | So, while Ashada is black and ugly and reeks of the underworld, within its asphalt walls are many beautiful things come to satisfy the urges and pleasures of the Kings. |
− | + | '''The Locust Tribes | |
− | |||
− | '''The Locust Tribes | ||
''' | ''' | ||
(Power 2, | (Power 2, | ||
Line 107: | Line 388: | ||
The Tribes' raids are spearheaded by the cult’s most fanatical marauders. Giving themselves the ancient epithet of “thri-kreen,” or “hunger swarm,” these braves intoxicate themselves on blue mantis flesh and scorpion venom before launching their cannibalistic atrocities. | The Tribes' raids are spearheaded by the cult’s most fanatical marauders. Giving themselves the ancient epithet of “thri-kreen,” or “hunger swarm,” these braves intoxicate themselves on blue mantis flesh and scorpion venom before launching their cannibalistic atrocities. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
'''The Scylax People (hexes 64.27 and 64.29)''' (Power 2, Cohesion 2, Action Die 1d8, XP 0, Dominion 2) Divided between two garrison-towns, Xyph and Xyll, the Scylax People hold the straits enclosing the vital Great Pincer Bay that allows traffic between the Nin-Sish/Father Torrent Rivers and the coasts beyond. They are well aware of their dominant position and charge an exorbitant, at times obscene, tariff to merchants passing in and out. Many traders curse the Scylaxi and would do much to see them humbled. | '''The Scylax People (hexes 64.27 and 64.29)''' (Power 2, Cohesion 2, Action Die 1d8, XP 0, Dominion 2) Divided between two garrison-towns, Xyph and Xyll, the Scylax People hold the straits enclosing the vital Great Pincer Bay that allows traffic between the Nin-Sish/Father Torrent Rivers and the coasts beyond. They are well aware of their dominant position and charge an exorbitant, at times obscene, tariff to merchants passing in and out. Many traders curse the Scylaxi and would do much to see them humbled. | ||
Line 115: | Line 394: | ||
No great workers in stone, the Scylaxi use some of their usurious taxation to hire mason-engineers from more cultured peoples; Xyph and Xyll are expertly fortified and, once dug in, the Scylaxi are as hard to crack as their totem beast itself. | No great workers in stone, the Scylaxi use some of their usurious taxation to hire mason-engineers from more cultured peoples; Xyph and Xyll are expertly fortified and, once dug in, the Scylaxi are as hard to crack as their totem beast itself. | ||
+ | |||
== Other Locations of Note == | == Other Locations of Note == | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
'''Neb-E-Theq of the Twin Grains (hex 74.28)''' | '''Neb-E-Theq of the Twin Grains (hex 74.28)''' | ||
Line 140: | Line 417: | ||
And so it was that all Three Comets appeared in the heavens. The Nin-Sish flooded Her banks, drowning the city and the Stelae and proud Bab-Shet-Gur-Shum. And then the very course of the Nin-Sish changed, renouncing E-adish to reconcile with Father Torrent: for if mortals would not show Her respect, then She would go back to Her mate who would. E-adish was left in mucky ruin, its irrigation ditches overrun with scum in which flies and frogs swarmed. No one dares to resettle, and so it lies amid the silty mire, a festering pit rumored to be haunted by all manner of unnatural things. | And so it was that all Three Comets appeared in the heavens. The Nin-Sish flooded Her banks, drowning the city and the Stelae and proud Bab-Shet-Gur-Shum. And then the very course of the Nin-Sish changed, renouncing E-adish to reconcile with Father Torrent: for if mortals would not show Her respect, then She would go back to Her mate who would. E-adish was left in mucky ruin, its irrigation ditches overrun with scum in which flies and frogs swarmed. No one dares to resettle, and so it lies amid the silty mire, a festering pit rumored to be haunted by all manner of unnatural things. | ||
+ | |||
== NPCs of Note == | == NPCs of Note == | ||
− | + | xxxxx | |
− | + | == Monsters == | |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
'''Ogres''' | '''Ogres''' | ||
Line 184: | Line 457: | ||
''Lesser Lingams (especially favored Spawn):'' AD&D ropers massaged to work for ''Godbound''. | ''Lesser Lingams (especially favored Spawn):'' AD&D ropers massaged to work for ''Godbound''. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
== Astrology and Celestial Bodies == | == Astrology and Celestial Bodies == | ||
Line 266: | Line 524: | ||
The year is divided into twelve moons of 30 days each: Purple, Blue, Bronze (Spring); Yellow, Silver, Scarlet (Summer); Green, Indigo, Copper (Autumn); Gold, White, Coral (Winter). | The year is divided into twelve moons of 30 days each: Purple, Blue, Bronze (Spring); Yellow, Silver, Scarlet (Summer); Green, Indigo, Copper (Autumn); Gold, White, Coral (Winter). | ||
− | There are also (1d8 – 2) days each | + | There are also (1d8 – 2) days each yeah, diced for randomly, when one or more Comets appear in the skies. These inauspicious days are not considered part of the normal calendar. On a Comet Day, I roll 1d6: 1-3, one Comet; 4-5, two Comets; 6, all three Comets. |
Comet Days are not good. I’m not talking “rocks fall, everyone dies” not good, but more like “milk curdles, the farmer in the field is stung by an adder, discord falls upon the house” flavor-y stuff. Demigods are largely above such generalized ill fortune, but I reserve the right to throw a few minor save penalties on those days – say, a single -1 penalty per Comet in the sky. If I’m rolling on a random table for upcoming events, Comet Days tend to force some of the less pleasant results. | Comet Days are not good. I’m not talking “rocks fall, everyone dies” not good, but more like “milk curdles, the farmer in the field is stung by an adder, discord falls upon the house” flavor-y stuff. Demigods are largely above such generalized ill fortune, but I reserve the right to throw a few minor save penalties on those days – say, a single -1 penalty per Comet in the sky. If I’m rolling on a random table for upcoming events, Comet Days tend to force some of the less pleasant results. | ||
Line 278: | Line 536: | ||
'''Sorcery:''' Some specific theurgic invocations discoverable in game are tied to certain celestial conjunctions. In general, an invocation restricted in this manner is considered one level higher: so an Invocation of the Throne that can be performed on only a handful of days per year could be bought as an Invocation of the Way. I’m open to this rule munchkin-combo-ing with A Darkness at Noon one time per calendar year, but such strong magic requires two different magic-workers: one to set the night sky, another to cast the spell. | '''Sorcery:''' Some specific theurgic invocations discoverable in game are tied to certain celestial conjunctions. In general, an invocation restricted in this manner is considered one level higher: so an Invocation of the Throne that can be performed on only a handful of days per year could be bought as an Invocation of the Way. I’m open to this rule munchkin-combo-ing with A Darkness at Noon one time per calendar year, but such strong magic requires two different magic-workers: one to set the night sky, another to cast the spell. | ||
− | '''Time:''' I’m open to a miracle of Time moving the calendar forward or back by one day, say once per year. This does not undo or cause a past or future event, merely changes the actual day. | + | '''Time:''' I’m open to a miracle of Time moving the calendar forward or back by one day, say once per year. This does not undo or cause a past or future event, merely changes the actual day. |
== Languages == | == Languages == |