dungeon doll

A grand construction of marble, more sepulcher then castle. Standing stark against rocky peaks, it gleams in the sunlight. The surrounding earth is dry and cracked. Nothing grows for miles around. Supply wagons arrive monthly, laden with plunder, sustaining the castle's men. 40 crossbowmen , clad in black leather, man the walls. Another 40 armoured footmen lurk inside. Boisterous mercenaries, their banners spanning the continent. If the castle is approached, a party of these mercenaries will ride out, demanding treasure for themselves and scrolls for the lady. The lady of the castle is the Immaculate Herald, a Chaotic Wizard . She is bald, her tongue is pale blue. She wears silver chainmail, as light as a feather, and wields a pair of daggers--one of dark steel, one of bone. If she is beseeched, the Immaculate Herald will cast geas upon those who would disturb her. She sends them off on fanciful quests, then forgets about them. She expects this to be a death sentence. If one wher...

A slender youth stands before two horsemen, armed and armoured. Her hair is dark and matted. Behind her stand a labourer and a coward. " We are free people. I am Jackdaw. I spilled the blood of Magnus Threefinger. " " We come on a vessel taken from our former captors," the woman behind her adds. " We seek work and shelter. We number fifteen in total." The coward says nothing. A Note This was supposed to be a summer campaign, but then a whole lot of life happened, and my summer ended up being pretty crazy. In the end, we played four sessions. Despite this, I was still very pleased with the narrative that emerged over the course of these sessions. I've collected them all here. Our story ends in tragedy.   The Campaign Luke Gearing's Wolves Upon the Coast . Run until my classes start back up (the end of summer). The Reavers fan zine proved extremely useful in prepping and running this game. Intended tone: Beowulf by way of Berserk . Soundtrack:...

A dungeon god . For a zine I'm working on. *** Its shrines are found in rotting libraries knowledge lost and left to putrefy a thrumming nest of scrolls desiccated power crawling with wasps To make prayer to It pacify the nest with torch-smoke reach in with a hand and let a gilded wasp sting sacred ink into the palm a permanent mark. A mage could earn Its blessing by offering her most precious tome to the nest, and inviting a gilded wasp to live within her. In doing so, she transcends the need for scrolls and grimoires knowledge kept by the swarm. THE BLESSED: you can eat paper but only paper the body rejects all else liquid, liquor, potion dry flesh, humming with bugs a book is enough to sate you for a week and any text you consume is known to you completely.

In esoteric circles, it is well-documented that the title of Arch-Druid must be earned in blood. Witches have their own practices. In order to attain the title of Crone, a witch must acquire the wisdom of ages. This must be taken from one who is already a Crone. Once a Crone is found, a reaction roll must be be made, a positive reaction dictating that they will part with their wisdom freely. On a neutral roll, you must prove your worth by completing a momentous task. On a negative reaction, you must kill them and take it. In any case, to gain a Crone's wisdom, you must drink it. The old Crone is killed, and you will ascend to Cronehood. This process is extremely painful, requiring the drinker to live the lives of all previous Crones in their line. The new Crone's flesh will age rapidly, turning wrinkled and sinewy. She will carry herself with newfound strength. Ascension increases wisdom to 18, as well as the usual increases from advancing a level. Regardless of how this power...

Variant reaction roll for when you arrive at a settlement in an 'iron age' type game. I'm not a historian, this is primarily inspired by Beowulf , when he and his company come across Hrothgar's men. A couple years back I very briefly ran Wolves Upon the Coast , but felt I wasn't doing a good job providing direction to the adventure locations, and was unprepared to handle lodgings without inns and taverns. This is my attempt to give myself a framework for both of these things in the future. If I was using these rules at my table, I would set prices for lodging depending on reaction rolled, based on what felt appropriate for the system.   Declaring Yourself When coming into contact with warriors of a town or larger settlement, you may be asked to declare yourselves . To do so, state who you are, what your purpose is, and what you wish to gain from the settlement (a place to rest, a place to trade). Brag about your accomplishments for good measure. Make a reaction roll...

A while ago I had a dream about a giant bear made out of wood, filled with books. This is my attempt to expand on that. [If I ever actually put this in a dungeon, I would try to add a rumor table entry indicating its contents, or describe it as sounding hollow, rather then try to use the fire weakness as a gotcha.] The Li-Bear-Y Magnesius the One-Armed was a mage of unmatched hubris. As he traveled the world, he grew tired of paying increasingly exorbitant fees to transport his large selection of tomes. Eventually, he came up with an idea: A giant beast which could carry all of his books in its belly, which could easily be extracted through the mouth. After Magensius's untimely death, the schematics for his Li-Bear-Y were sold at auction. Every so often, a wizard makes another one.   Li-Bear-Y Abilities Very rare. Appears as a giant wooden bear, covered in arcane runes. Stats as a Bear AC as a ship's hull. Filled with scrolls! Roll below. Takes -1 damage per die from weapons...

Speak: "I am the thief of fate the stoat that drinks gold from the hen's empty nest no lock will go un-broken no hoard will go un-plundered I am trespasser and transgressor I will take everything from you." strike a door or container with your staff and it will reveal its secrets to you swinging open with a thunderous crack.