Crown Of Glory
No two descriptions of Crown Of Glory involve the same type of blade — longsword, hanger, rapier, sabre, shortsword; dagger, cleaver, even a scribe’s trimming knife if one account is to be believed. But they all bear the same features in common: not a blemish on the blue steel blade, a grip of goldenoak plates pinned with nails capped with ivory, and on the low dome of the pommel, a glittering enamel inlay of a ring of golden flames.
* Crown Of Glory takes on whatever physical form is best suited for its owner, whether that be greatsword or carving knife. No matter its shape, it grants the ability to injure subjects immune to mundane weaponry to go with its sorcerously keen edge (+1 damage).
Carrying Crown Of Glory bolsters its bearer’s valour; they are immune to unnaturally inflicted fear and other mental and emotional compulsions.
When the time comes to lead, to share that valour, when its bearer steps up to the task, is when Crown Of Glory wakes up. When its bearer so proclaims their defiance, leads companions against the odds, exhorts people to bravery — then the blade’s magic erupts in a corona of brilliant, warming gold, surrounding its bearer with the phantom banner of rippling sunflame and a ghostly, towering
representation of their ideal self calling all to action. So long as Glory’s bearer moves forward with their conviction, they are at advantage for their next five significant actions (or saves, or tests) and all allies within 100′ radius share in the psychic protections granted by the sword.
* The original form of Crown Of Glory was a bastard sword, the pride and joy incarnate of the hedge knight Amaryllis Sornyai. Sornyai led the beleaguered villagers and artisans of the Windshorn Borders against the depredations of the Bone Sphinx Auf-Nun, and again to stand against the blandishments and threats of the encroaching Duchy of Roatrix. Before her last charge, Sornyai had the Crown’s awakened
magics altered to allow the sword to change physical form, specifically so that whoever came after her could make the full use of the blade.
Tag: trinkets and trifles
Ten 20(-or less)-Word Rings
Another post. But why not, because why not; and it’s cheaper than therapy …
These actually are a bit shorter than the ones from the dragons post, but the flipside of that is that rings are harder to find words to describe the basics of them with without repeating. Aah well. It was still a nice little exercise —
01. Gold, this, roughly hammered and still half raw from the earth, yet strangely appealing
02. A circlet of tiny silver links frozen into place, solid and delicate all at once
03. This signet is carved from a single piece of milky jade, its face sporting a lost academy’s sigil
04. It should burn the flesh, but this slender loop of eternal flame is merely soothingly warm
05. Shivering menace radiates from a segment of viridian demon’s bone, polished from years of wear
06. The delicate miniature landscape enamelled around this steel band is protected by a crystal facing
07. Interlocking segments of ivory and coral make this ring as much puzzle as ornament
08. Simple, and poignant; a tiny braid of chestnut hair, ends interwoven together
09. Crudely forged, this hoop of blackened iron incongruously sports a flawless amber cabochon
10. Twisted together, three rods of glass — ruby, violet, emerald — catch the light when one gestures
These actually are a bit shorter than the ones from the dragons post, but the flipside of that is that rings are harder to find words to describe the basics of them with without repeating. Aah well. It was still a nice little exercise —
01. Gold, this, roughly hammered and still half raw from the earth, yet strangely appealing
02. A circlet of tiny silver links frozen into place, solid and delicate all at once
03. This signet is carved from a single piece of milky jade, its face sporting a lost academy’s sigil
04. It should burn the flesh, but this slender loop of eternal flame is merely soothingly warm
05. Shivering menace radiates from a segment of viridian demon’s bone, polished from years of wear
06. The delicate miniature landscape enamelled around this steel band is protected by a crystal facing
07. Interlocking segments of ivory and coral make this ring as much puzzle as ornament
08. Simple, and poignant; a tiny braid of chestnut hair, ends interwoven together
09. Crudely forged, this hoop of blackened iron incongruously sports a flawless amber cabochon
10. Twisted together, three rods of glass — ruby, violet, emerald — catch the light when one gestures
[emberlight] Pasts, Professions and Small Precious Things
Even in the remains of the world, people have something — someone — that they are, or were, or claimed to be.
Or want to be.
And everyone has a place they came from, even if they don’t want to stay there; and bits of that get carried forward as they forge ahead with a warm glimmer of hope in their hands.
Those things don’t just leave a mark on thoughts and beliefs, name and looks and outlook.
They’re often something literally carried along.
So who are you?
Roll d20 or choose from the following:
01. Briarsmith: ancient shears, collection of thorn-knives, cache of hips and haws
02. Brigand: tattered leather jack, tally-stick spear, bolas
03. Faithful: relic symbol, prayer knots, partial liturgy
04. Messenger: carry-bag, curved knife, passage writ
05. Farmer: sickle, dry rations, bolt of cloth or hide
06. Errant: leather scale cuirass, bow and quiver, painted emblem
07. Nightmare Cultist: morion razor, hymn runes, horn trumpet
08. Hedge-Healer: needles and nettle-thread, poultices, secret hoard of honey
09. Ancestor Warden: knife and cup, pouch of salts, favoured trinkets
10. Scavenger: packs and sacks, old dagger, patchwork coat
11. Wordscrap: homemade ink, bits of tomes, rag-paper and bark and hide
12. Hired Blade: maille mantle, sword or axe, pouch of trade goods
13. Dreamridden: scrap of glassy bone, jack of strong spirits, painted dream-map
14. Minstrel: bone flute, carefully mended instrument, feather-and-glass charm
15. Hunter: collection of snares, bow and quiver, smoked meat or pelt
16. Forager: willow-withe backpack, sharpened trowel, bundles of forbs and fungi
17. Scion: house or family badge, half-plate or furred greatcoat, provisions (or diary)
18. Witch: ritual knives and ribbons, briar paint, lucky charms
19. Craftwright: hammer and traveling anvil (or other tools of the trade), leather apron with runemark
20. Lost: tattered cloak or coat, handful of morion fragments, bloodstained relic of Empire
Some things cross one’s path and are picked up along the way, however, no matter from whence one sprang —
Roll d66 or choose, twice, on this second table.
How did you come by these things? Are they part and parcel of your life until now, something you stumbled upon, something gifted or cursed you, or odder still?
11. Leather mantle, enveloping and hooded
12. Letter or request inscribed in wax on a folding wooden tablet
13. Crow companion (attracted to shining things, carries messages)
14. Wooden knife edged with morion bladelets
15. 30′ of sturdy hempen rope
16. Stoneware, polychrome goblet
21. Rough morion mass, crystalline and thumb-sized
22. Woolen cloak, deeply hooded with two large inner pockets
23. Wooden token, oval and palm-sized, carved with insignia filled with pigment; a town-token
24. Shattered smoky, translucent metal plating — a fragment of armour from a Silent Knight
25. Billet of verdigrised copper the size of two fists
26. Four brindled hare-skins, tanned and trimmed
31. Cat companion (sees spirits, hunts dreams and vermin)
32. String of glass eye-beads, white and blue and turquoise
33. Leather pouch of dried mushrooms
34. A signet ring of tarnished silver once from a lordling’s hand
35. Horn jack with briarwood stopper; filled with cider, weak wine or blood
36. A sword, slim with re-sharpening
41. Tattered book of days with a number of pages missing around mid-autumn
42. Birch-paper map to a dream-ruin
43. Parchment disc declaring protection of the bearer by a specific lordling, with seal; unverified
44. A tiny lock of translucent silver-gold hair in a smooth steel locket
45. The twisting, blackwork key to a temple’s sanctum
46. Fist-sized wax-sealed pot of sticky resin
51. Round lens the size of a walnut, tinted faintly blue
52. Withered heart of some long-dead soul, trimmed and stitched with golden filigree
53. Dog companion (guardianship, pack animal, hunter)
54. An Imperial cavalier’s skull, or so you believe
55. A long rake of hardwood all of one branch; its curving tines further fire-hardened
56. Hollow gourd in a grass-woven carry net
61. Palm-sized, smooth jet stone engraved with strange patterns
62. A tattered battle-banner, wool and old satin, and bloodstained
63. 100′ of nettle-twine coiled in a tight ball
64. A sheep’s fleece
65. A small leather pouch of morion-dust
66. Two fistfuls of grey salt in a wooden box
Or want to be.
And everyone has a place they came from, even if they don’t want to stay there; and bits of that get carried forward as they forge ahead with a warm glimmer of hope in their hands.
Those things don’t just leave a mark on thoughts and beliefs, name and looks and outlook.
They’re often something literally carried along.
So who are you?
Roll d20 or choose from the following:
01. Briarsmith: ancient shears, collection of thorn-knives, cache of hips and haws
02. Brigand: tattered leather jack, tally-stick spear, bolas
03. Faithful: relic symbol, prayer knots, partial liturgy
04. Messenger: carry-bag, curved knife, passage writ
05. Farmer: sickle, dry rations, bolt of cloth or hide
06. Errant: leather scale cuirass, bow and quiver, painted emblem
07. Nightmare Cultist: morion razor, hymn runes, horn trumpet
08. Hedge-Healer: needles and nettle-thread, poultices, secret hoard of honey
09. Ancestor Warden: knife and cup, pouch of salts, favoured trinkets
10. Scavenger: packs and sacks, old dagger, patchwork coat
11. Wordscrap: homemade ink, bits of tomes, rag-paper and bark and hide
12. Hired Blade: maille mantle, sword or axe, pouch of trade goods
13. Dreamridden: scrap of glassy bone, jack of strong spirits, painted dream-map
14. Minstrel: bone flute, carefully mended instrument, feather-and-glass charm
15. Hunter: collection of snares, bow and quiver, smoked meat or pelt
16. Forager: willow-withe backpack, sharpened trowel, bundles of forbs and fungi
17. Scion: house or family badge, half-plate or furred greatcoat, provisions (or diary)
18. Witch: ritual knives and ribbons, briar paint, lucky charms
19. Craftwright: hammer and traveling anvil (or other tools of the trade), leather apron with runemark
20. Lost: tattered cloak or coat, handful of morion fragments, bloodstained relic of Empire
Some things cross one’s path and are picked up along the way, however, no matter from whence one sprang —
Roll d66 or choose, twice, on this second table.
How did you come by these things? Are they part and parcel of your life until now, something you stumbled upon, something gifted or cursed you, or odder still?
11. Leather mantle, enveloping and hooded
12. Letter or request inscribed in wax on a folding wooden tablet
13. Crow companion (attracted to shining things, carries messages)
14. Wooden knife edged with morion bladelets
15. 30′ of sturdy hempen rope
16. Stoneware, polychrome goblet
21. Rough morion mass, crystalline and thumb-sized
22. Woolen cloak, deeply hooded with two large inner pockets
23. Wooden token, oval and palm-sized, carved with insignia filled with pigment; a town-token
24. Shattered smoky, translucent metal plating — a fragment of armour from a Silent Knight
25. Billet of verdigrised copper the size of two fists
26. Four brindled hare-skins, tanned and trimmed
31. Cat companion (sees spirits, hunts dreams and vermin)
32. String of glass eye-beads, white and blue and turquoise
33. Leather pouch of dried mushrooms
34. A signet ring of tarnished silver once from a lordling’s hand
35. Horn jack with briarwood stopper; filled with cider, weak wine or blood
36. A sword, slim with re-sharpening
41. Tattered book of days with a number of pages missing around mid-autumn
42. Birch-paper map to a dream-ruin
43. Parchment disc declaring protection of the bearer by a specific lordling, with seal; unverified
44. A tiny lock of translucent silver-gold hair in a smooth steel locket
45. The twisting, blackwork key to a temple’s sanctum
46. Fist-sized wax-sealed pot of sticky resin
51. Round lens the size of a walnut, tinted faintly blue
52. Withered heart of some long-dead soul, trimmed and stitched with golden filigree
53. Dog companion (guardianship, pack animal, hunter)
54. An Imperial cavalier’s skull, or so you believe
55. A long rake of hardwood all of one branch; its curving tines further fire-hardened
56. Hollow gourd in a grass-woven carry net
61. Palm-sized, smooth jet stone engraved with strange patterns
62. A tattered battle-banner, wool and old satin, and bloodstained
63. 100′ of nettle-twine coiled in a tight ball
64. A sheep’s fleece
65. A small leather pouch of morion-dust
66. Two fistfuls of grey salt in a wooden box
Most Precious Beauty
Twinkling and glimmering, shimmering and shining; atop a massy pile of golden coin, perhaps, or the brilliant crowning glory of the head that wears that heavy burden.
Or perhaps that gleaming gem came prized from between a dragonlord’s lyre-curved horns; or drawn from the throat of a frozen phoenix; or
… Whether gathered from a bloodied altar, gifted from a a dying spirit’s grasp, conjured from strange wombs by witchcraft or willpower, some jewels are unique in their oft-strange beauty.
This 4d20 table offers a quick route to generating unusual gemstones. Roll more than once and combine, if desired, for chaotic results.
of course, since gems can show different colours at different angles (pleochroism), like water sapphire, or sport multiple colours, like rainbow tourmaline or banded agate, the more colours the merrier — and what about some of those other things, aha
Or perhaps that gleaming gem came prized from between a dragonlord’s lyre-curved horns; or drawn from the throat of a frozen phoenix; or
… Whether gathered from a bloodied altar, gifted from a a dying spirit’s grasp, conjured from strange wombs by witchcraft or willpower, some jewels are unique in their oft-strange beauty.
This 4d20 table offers a quick route to generating unusual gemstones. Roll more than once and combine, if desired, for chaotic results.
| Colour | Form | Descriptive | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01. Lemondrop | 01. Orb | 01. Pearlescent | 01. Angel’s tears |
| 02. Oxblood | 02. Pyramid | 02. Adamantine | 02. Petrified organ |
| 03. Sooty | 03. Cabochon – round | 03. Vitreous | 03. Unicorn’s brow |
| 04. Ultramarine | 04. Cabochon – oval | 04. Oily | 04. Daemonheart |
| 05. Orange-Violet | 05. Teardrop | 05. Iridescent | 05. Rose’s heart |
| 06. Moonsilver | 06. Cushion | 06. Opaque | 06. Coagulated ichor |
| 07. Bile | 07. Brilliant-facet | 07. Twinkling | 07. Divine breath |
| 08. Osseous | 08. Lenticular | 08. Glowing | 08. Solidified dream |
| 09. Smaragdine | 09. Eyeball | 09. Pulsing | 09. Marrow of the earth |
| 10. Golden | 10. Spiral | 10. Waxy | 10. Last emperor’s soul |
| 11. Heliotrope | 11. Uncut crystal mass | 11. Twinned | 11. Worldfire flashpoint |
| 12. Carmine | 12. Egg | 12. Bearing inclusions | 12. Six overlapping magics |
| 13. Smoky | 13. Figure – humanoid | 13. Frosted | 13. End of the rainbow |
| 14. Starlight | 14. Figure – bestial | 14. Chatoyant | 14. Death’s gift |
| 15. Ember | 15. Scale | 15. Starred | 15. Seven-generation curse |
| 16. Chartreuse | 16. Amorphous | 16. Murmuring | 16. Dragon brain |
| 17. Verdigris | 17. Cylindrical | 17. Shivering | 17. Cobra’s wisdom |
| 18. Bronze | 18. Shard | 18. Warm | 18. Imperial honey |
| 19. Tyrian | 19. Plume | 19. Cold | 19. Witchbond |
| 20. Cerulean | 20. Cross | 20. Snowflake-scattered | 20. Martyr’s fallen blood |
Trinkets, Trifles and Treasures
You can pick up all sorts of oddments as you wind your way around, across and through the worlds, really ~
where did all these come from?
who can say for some of them?
why not try to find out?
| d100 | |
|---|---|
| 01 | psychopomp’s lantern, a staff of black heartwood hung with lantern-cage and soul-pyxes |
| 02 | double handful of solaurum and lilyglass clockworks, eternally moving and softly chiming |
| 03 | shard of ivory-like substance shot through with silvery paeans to infinity in delicate script |
| 04 | six bluestone tablets inscribed with invokations to a comet-crowned exarch saint |
| 05 | slender sword of ruby-rust wood, sharp as the wind and hard as steel |
| 06 | mantle of soft cloud that shifts in subtle hues of grey |
| 07 | packet of waxed parchment tied with string, inscribed on the inner surface with a ring-pattern |
| 08 | three bangles of blue-silver, eternal ice, slender and gleaming |
| 09 | choker and pendant of red gold and sapphire in the most baroque of Cerulean Hell styling |
| 10 | a rune, viridian, luminescent and undecipherable, that floats idly around the flesh |
| 11 | fractal censer of a dozen metals, smoking with honey myrrh kneaded with souldust |
| 12 | the black iron Blade That Sunders Oaths, with two strikes remaining before shattering |
| 13 | a sprig of radiantly luminous eternal asphodel |
| 14 | a memory pearl large as one’s palm, translucent like a feather-engraved egg |
| 15 | hundred hell-jade coins, waxily golden and ruby, sealed in a sculpted, fang-jawed coffer |
| 16 | tattered fragments of an ancient cerulean scroll naming seven Cores and their imperial desires |
| 17 | ledger of translucent silk paper recording the exchange of souls between several afterlives |
| 18 | violet-and-rose torc shaped from fragments of Wilusan sky-shards |
| 19 | scaly saddlebag filled with thirst-quench-stones, smooth and inviting |
| 20 | brace of corpse shadows knotted together for transport |
| 21 | porcelain and bronze swanbolt caster with a dozen charges of cygnine |
| 22 | flower-embossed crystalline box containing nine cubes of delicate dream-marrow |
| 23 | diary of a long-lost ringwalker, bound in copperscale and sealed with Iron Judge’s solder |
| 24 | petrified reptilian skull, long of jaw and of a deep tyrian hue, and still quite chatty |
| 25 | a string of minuscule suns in the colours of the visible spectrum |
| 26 | a robe of stardust, glimmering softly |
| 27 | a skin-tight full-covering suit of bony chitin, with a spore-body filter in its snarling mask |
| 28 | delicate crystal globe filled with pale rainbow flames |
| 29 | a perfectly matched pair of void sapphires the size of a thumbnail |
| 30 | personal cutlery set carved in delicate lacework from a death’s black bones |
| 31 | three arrows formed of fire-omen shards |
| 32 | cake of crumbling ambrosia, soft, sweet and sticky, wrapped in godskin |
| 33 | nearly complete collection (7/10!) of pearl-bound volumes of Deific Battle-Lands Reclaimed |
| 34 | half-melted sheet of crumpled copper with the lion’s share of a “bounteous” ring-pattern scratched on it |
| 35 | two cobalt blue stoneware bottles, sealed, of finest crimson garden sweetwine |
| 36 | drinking bowl carved, with delicate fluting, from a hollowed out firepearl |
| 37 | delicate woolen blouse embroidered with shadow prayer in faithglass seed beads and gold thread |
| 38 | matched bronze daggers inlaid with calligraphy praising the largesse of the cerulean host |
| 39 | folding starshell writing tablet and stylus, its wax impressed with angel’s sigils |
| 40 | paired flutes, transparent and cool to the touch, carved from a songwraith’s core |
| 41 | five glass-smooth sparkling orbs, palm-sized, that orbit one slowly and randomly |
| 42 | a single massive, peach-like pit, head-sized and silvery, wrapped in heavy waxed cloth |
| 43 | a roughly bound folio, bloodily fingerprinted, supposedly copied from an Iron Court archive |
| 44 | a fluttering, singing nightingale of animate, rosy crystal |
| 45 | twelve skyjade death masks belonging to a lineage of sphinx-kings |
| 46 | a halo, a thin semi-tangible ring of brilliant ruby-gold light |
| 47 | full set of long voidstone nails, black and glittering, to cover or replace one’s own |
| 48 | a leather satchel containing a loaf of sweetbread, a horn of nectar, and four sable peaches |
| 49 | two bundles of porcelain and steel limbs shorn from Eternal Forge workers |
| 50 | a titan-brass blightcaster, slim and spiraled, needing only to be recharged in balefire |
| 51 | painstakingly dyed cloth scroll detailing half a dozen incursions into one single realm |
| 52 | a slender necklace forged of tiny herringbone links of bleak carbuncle |
| 53 | four thick, plush furs, deeply violet-bronze in colour and trimmed to be blankets |
| 54 | three bolts of gossamer woven from midnight whispers |
| 55 | Pakrathi’s Joy, a luminous blood emerald, pendaloque-cut and the size of one’s eye |
| 56 | an elaborately engraved adamantine flask containing a great lord’s soulstuff |
| 57 | paired finger rings of an impossibly hard, matte black substance, strangely cool |
| 58 | a gelatinous, faintly lavender voidmask for nose and mouth, good for twelve hours |
| 59 | six palm-sized tablets of pink glass whose cinnabar etchings describe the Caul-Render’s Seventh Cycle |
| 60 | a gnarled teardrop ingot of of orange-violet metal, tears forged from a wailing sun |
| 61 | rough crystal prism, a blunted shaft of greenish gold, imprinted with scenes of flame-winged glory |
| 62 | a net large enough to catch an ox knotted from coarse, green and white hair |
| 63 | a water-heart, fist-sized, teal and aqua and azure, translucent and cool and soothing |
| 64 | string of a dozen smoked angel-faced trout, tied up neatly for storage |
| 65 | bluelight sword blade, with finished frosting, ready for mounting |
| 66 | the tangled silvery maze drawn with difficulty from an elder monolith’s mind |
| 67 | a well-worn folio sporting battered brown leather covers, scores of unknown flowers pressed between its pages |
| 68 | a single deep indigo horn, recurved, etched with a trail of scarlet glyphs, hollowed for drinking |
| 69 | a chaplet of briar canes insubstantial as milky shadow |
| 70 | set of snakestone aegis jewels meant for implanting into the skin at the pulse points |
| 71 | a palm-sized aloes box containing a rosy-orange sliver of bone that murmurs prophecy |
| 72 | multi-stranded necklace of pressed-petal beads, green-black with age and still headily aromatic |
| 73 | creamy brow-stone, rippled with patterns of flame-and-waves, filled with lost dreams |
| 74 | a riding cat of smoky spun glass, harnessed with bright bronze lace |
| 75 | six bales of mistgrass basketry, wrapped up in speckled olivine oxhides |
| 76 | a collection of teeth of many and varied shapes, all of glittering ruby-red metal |
| 77 | arm-length ribbonsnake of blue-gold flame that coils slowly along the body to warm one |
| 78 | an apple green lens, palm-sized, that reveals ringwalkers and other such travellers |
| 79 | plans for a ten-crew umbraship, metallic bone-ink on battered starfilm |
| 80 | six silverglass amphorae of plasmic wine from a Corerealm afterlife |
| 81 | mummified arm sporting two forearms with taloned paws, studded with flesh-pearls |
| 82 | seven turquoise foam-leather scrolls, a portion of the Ooailaen Theurgy |
| 83 | a delicate finger ring woven of a dozen different hair-fine jewel filaments |
| 84 | fist-sized, shivering black jewel drawn from the brow of a nightmaster |
| 85 | a fragment of the abyss, quivering, suspended in a tiny solaurum cage |
| 86 | a changestone, lenticular and rippling chromatically, wrapped in rough wool |
| 87 | a warrior’s panoply fashioned by a master’s hand from black scaled leather and pale cherry-pink, milky metal |
| 88 | a cutting from a golden sugar plum tree, heavy with roughly glistening fruit and carefully trimmed |
| 89 | pair of heavy torc-like armbands of lunargent, finials filled with stars |
| 90 | four cloak-lengths of finest cloth-of-moonrise |
| 91 | twisted staff of gnarled wood, its ashy bark cracking to reveal black wood veined with still-wet blood |
| 92 | dice set carved of nightmare amber, warm and concerningly inviting to the touch |
| 93 | wanderer’s astrolabe of smoky adamantine, set with delicate needles ready to inscribe the patterns it finds |
| 94 | a spare shadow folded in a limewood box |
| 95 | an IOU on silver tissue for two units of soulstuff from a sage of the graven heavens |
| 96 | a frozen note, its ancient sound lost to the planes for now |
| 97 | diviner’s stones in a dragonsaint’s crop, sundrops and glassy shards and ovals of strange greenish metal |
| 98 | tucked in a worn linen pouch, ten silver coins, a wooden toy frog, and a folding knife of bloodiron |
| 99 | a glassy ampoule filled with the breath of the elder sun |
| 100 | a radiant lacquer case of hundreds of pigments, a dazzling array of impossible colours all tied up in squares of voidskin |
who can say for some of them?
why not try to find out?
Dicember 2021 – reverse
After you’ve gone and expanded your game’s toxic repertoire, what next is there to do?
Why not offer a broader palette of ways to avoid, lessen, or undo some of the various terrible things that adventurers manage to inflict on themselves and others?
In the name of balance, then (hee), here are a dozen treatments and tonics:
01. Crystal Cordial: Clears the mind of fuzziness and confusion.
02. Sunbalm: Protects against infection from undead-inflicted wounds. 4 hrs.
03. Winerose Elixir: Bolsters resistance against poisons (allows second save or equiv.)
04. Saintkiss: Maximizes next applied (or cast) healing ability. Expensive!
05. Silverfog Drops: Clears artificially-induced blindness or misdirection.
06. Heaven’s Hero Elixir: Boosts a single attribute by 1 for 1d3 hrs. Multiple doses not recommended.
07. White Wind Balm: Heals recent burn-related injury.
08. Golden Earth: Repels insects and similar small creatures. 8 hrs.
09. Rainmist Oil: Repels (most) jellies and fungi. 4 hrs.
10. Moon Tarnish: Protects against lycanthropic infection. 2 hrs.
11. Crimson Vision Elixir: Nerve tonic, allows test against paralysis.
12. Lightning Juice: Energy boost, wakes you right up; undoes sleep and sleeplike effects.
Why not offer a broader palette of ways to avoid, lessen, or undo some of the various terrible things that adventurers manage to inflict on themselves and others?
In the name of balance, then (hee), here are a dozen treatments and tonics:
01. Crystal Cordial: Clears the mind of fuzziness and confusion.
02. Sunbalm: Protects against infection from undead-inflicted wounds. 4 hrs.
03. Winerose Elixir: Bolsters resistance against poisons (allows second save or equiv.)
04. Saintkiss: Maximizes next applied (or cast) healing ability. Expensive!
05. Silverfog Drops: Clears artificially-induced blindness or misdirection.
06. Heaven’s Hero Elixir: Boosts a single attribute by 1 for 1d3 hrs. Multiple doses not recommended.
07. White Wind Balm: Heals recent burn-related injury.
08. Golden Earth: Repels insects and similar small creatures. 8 hrs.
09. Rainmist Oil: Repels (most) jellies and fungi. 4 hrs.
10. Moon Tarnish: Protects against lycanthropic infection. 2 hrs.
11. Crimson Vision Elixir: Nerve tonic, allows test against paralysis.
12. Lightning Juice: Energy boost, wakes you right up; undoes sleep and sleeplike effects.
Dicember 2021 – gold
They say that Sussuranukuth is prideful even of the most prideful beasts.
They say that Sussuranukuth treads so daintily that the grass does not dare to bend beneath his talons; that his wings glitter in the light like the sun itself.
They say that his breath is that of sweet myrrh and sleep-bringing fog, or else ravenous flames all the colour of the rainbow, of all the jewels known to mortals.
They say, also, that Sussuranukuth, The Gleaming Glory Scholar, will suffer no part of his treasures failing to match his own dazzling, golden hide.
What else might be found, then, amongst the coin and the ingots and the glittering sun-coloured jewels?
01. golden pomegranate, cunningly hinged to open into quarters; inside, its pips are amber nuggets strung on hair-fine gold wire
02. topaz pendant the size and shape of an acorn, mounted in a “cap” of granulated gold and suspended from a heavy gold loop
03. long-tailed blouse of byssus sea-silk, darkly golden and lighter than air
04. necklace of amber spheres interspersed with rose petals of pale gold
05. heavy gold signet ring, stirrup-shaped and engraved with the seal of the Second Queen’s Fang
06. glass amphora sealed with glittering wax, containing luxuriously luminescent celestial honey from the gardens of paradise
07. knife honed from golden coral, stained with a martyr’s blood
08. waxed-leather-wrapped brick of tissue thin sheets of pounded gold for gilding food and sweets
09. heavy ritual mantle of cloth-of-gold on tawny silk, trimmed with silken tassels
10. golden rosebud locket containing a tiny braid of honey-blonde hair
11. six waxed paper screws of golden lotus dust
12. paired delicate cups of deep yellow jade carved in the shape of peonies
13. roughly-smithed goblet of heavy, unornamented gold, battered with long and careless usage
14. golden ceremonial dagger, its grip inlaid with a scale-pattern of amber and milky-gold glass
15. slender gold circlet inset with a crescent moon of six pale citrines
16. half a dozen bottles of the finest dandelion wine
17. death mask of stiff gold sheet, depicting a sleeping face with wild hair and slightest hint of horns
18. five phials of glittering golden ink tied up with a yellow ribbon
19. heavy multi-layered robe of thick silk velvet dyed with saffron
20. pair of golden haircombs, sculpted with stars and the sun-in-glory
They say that Sussuranukuth treads so daintily that the grass does not dare to bend beneath his talons; that his wings glitter in the light like the sun itself.
They say that his breath is that of sweet myrrh and sleep-bringing fog, or else ravenous flames all the colour of the rainbow, of all the jewels known to mortals.
They say, also, that Sussuranukuth, The Gleaming Glory Scholar, will suffer no part of his treasures failing to match his own dazzling, golden hide.
What else might be found, then, amongst the coin and the ingots and the glittering sun-coloured jewels?
01. golden pomegranate, cunningly hinged to open into quarters; inside, its pips are amber nuggets strung on hair-fine gold wire
02. topaz pendant the size and shape of an acorn, mounted in a “cap” of granulated gold and suspended from a heavy gold loop
03. long-tailed blouse of byssus sea-silk, darkly golden and lighter than air
04. necklace of amber spheres interspersed with rose petals of pale gold
05. heavy gold signet ring, stirrup-shaped and engraved with the seal of the Second Queen’s Fang
06. glass amphora sealed with glittering wax, containing luxuriously luminescent celestial honey from the gardens of paradise
07. knife honed from golden coral, stained with a martyr’s blood
08. waxed-leather-wrapped brick of tissue thin sheets of pounded gold for gilding food and sweets
09. heavy ritual mantle of cloth-of-gold on tawny silk, trimmed with silken tassels
10. golden rosebud locket containing a tiny braid of honey-blonde hair
11. six waxed paper screws of golden lotus dust
12. paired delicate cups of deep yellow jade carved in the shape of peonies
13. roughly-smithed goblet of heavy, unornamented gold, battered with long and careless usage
14. golden ceremonial dagger, its grip inlaid with a scale-pattern of amber and milky-gold glass
15. slender gold circlet inset with a crescent moon of six pale citrines
16. half a dozen bottles of the finest dandelion wine
17. death mask of stiff gold sheet, depicting a sleeping face with wild hair and slightest hint of horns
18. five phials of glittering golden ink tied up with a yellow ribbon
19. heavy multi-layered robe of thick silk velvet dyed with saffron
20. pair of golden haircombs, sculpted with stars and the sun-in-glory
Dicember 2021 – huge
Something I poke at on occasion is oversized (“dire”, “grand”, etc) weapons.
Because yes, sometimes I just want to play Cloud for a while, and I’m not even sorry.
So how to go about it with most of the games I’ve been poking at lately? (Exalted, of course, has this answer baked in already, so it can doodle in the corner over there for a while.) What needs to be covered to fit a sword that’s more like a sharpened steel ironing board into a game?
The way I see it, you need:
– the ironing-board-sized sword (or whatever)
– how its going to be wielded
– what it’s going to do
– what other results/effects
Now, the last thing I want is anything complicated, and while I could just try to bolt on Exalted’s reasoning, it’s fairly intrinsic to Exalts-as-existing-in-universe so that could get a little weird just about anywhere else. (but hold that thought for another time. lol.) I want something fairly simple, so I can apply it to OSE or Black Hack or Wandering Jewel Moons or whatever; sort of like my scratch rules for adding mecha.
So, I think I’ll tinker around with the following.
– A “grand” weapon adds a die of the appropriate type to its damage. Big chopper based on a standard sword in OSE? 2d8. This does still have a low end, but even slabs of metal can just graze.
– You cannot deal subdual damage with a “grand” weapon. (come on, now.)
So how to introduce these? Maybe
– If your system has any kind of class or other abilities, make “Grand Weapon Wielder” an optional choice. Replace one of the Warrior abilities in TBH; make it a selectable Trait in Wandering Jewel Moons; add it to the list of OSE Fighter combat options from Carrion Crawler #1 or let it replace a feature from the Cavalier or Paladin. You get the idea.
But what if your Fighter is a basic Fighter type, with no extras? Or if you don’t want someone to pay for the ability mechanically in quite that way?
– Then I suppose you can say a Strength/Body/whatever minimum is needed; say 17-18 on the usual 3d6 possibility. Maybe 16-18 or even 15, you want PCs to be able to do this or why put it in there as an option?
Yes, it’s a lot of damage. Yes, that’s the entire point.
What these behemoths will do, though, even if their wielder knows what they’re doing, is get in the way the rest of the time. Even if you can and know how to carry the thing, that slab is big, awkward, and intractible.
Which means they eat up encumbrance like a mofo.
Play a game with equipment/encumbrance slots? A Grand weapon eats at least two. Probably three. Definitely twice a normal weapon of its type, for sure.
Track encumbrance by weight? The thing weighs a shitton. This will vary by actual weapon of course, but come on now, the Buster Sword is surely easily comparable to a pile of armour in weight at the very least.
And if you want to be devilish, say if Grand weapons are enchanted (if they are enchanted at all) they have a high chance of being sentient if not sapient. And willful. Lol.
Because yes, sometimes I just want to play Cloud for a while, and I’m not even sorry.
So how to go about it with most of the games I’ve been poking at lately? (Exalted, of course, has this answer baked in already, so it can doodle in the corner over there for a while.) What needs to be covered to fit a sword that’s more like a sharpened steel ironing board into a game?
The way I see it, you need:
– the ironing-board-sized sword (or whatever)
– how its going to be wielded
– what it’s going to do
– what other results/effects
Now, the last thing I want is anything complicated, and while I could just try to bolt on Exalted’s reasoning, it’s fairly intrinsic to Exalts-as-existing-in-universe so that could get a little weird just about anywhere else. (but hold that thought for another time. lol.) I want something fairly simple, so I can apply it to OSE or Black Hack or Wandering Jewel Moons or whatever; sort of like my scratch rules for adding mecha.
So, I think I’ll tinker around with the following.
– A “grand” weapon adds a die of the appropriate type to its damage. Big chopper based on a standard sword in OSE? 2d8. This does still have a low end, but even slabs of metal can just graze.
– You cannot deal subdual damage with a “grand” weapon. (come on, now.)
So how to introduce these? Maybe
– If your system has any kind of class or other abilities, make “Grand Weapon Wielder” an optional choice. Replace one of the Warrior abilities in TBH; make it a selectable Trait in Wandering Jewel Moons; add it to the list of OSE Fighter combat options from Carrion Crawler #1 or let it replace a feature from the Cavalier or Paladin. You get the idea.
But what if your Fighter is a basic Fighter type, with no extras? Or if you don’t want someone to pay for the ability mechanically in quite that way?
– Then I suppose you can say a Strength/Body/whatever minimum is needed; say 17-18 on the usual 3d6 possibility. Maybe 16-18 or even 15, you want PCs to be able to do this or why put it in there as an option?
Yes, it’s a lot of damage. Yes, that’s the entire point.
What these behemoths will do, though, even if their wielder knows what they’re doing, is get in the way the rest of the time. Even if you can and know how to carry the thing, that slab is big, awkward, and intractible.
Which means they eat up encumbrance like a mofo.
Play a game with equipment/encumbrance slots? A Grand weapon eats at least two. Probably three. Definitely twice a normal weapon of its type, for sure.
Track encumbrance by weight? The thing weighs a shitton. This will vary by actual weapon of course, but come on now, the Buster Sword is surely easily comparable to a pile of armour in weight at the very least.
And if you want to be devilish, say if Grand weapons are enchanted (if they are enchanted at all) they have a high chance of being sentient if not sapient. And willful. Lol.
Dicember 2021 – skull
You’ve found a skull!
It happens more often than one might think, in this line of work. Unlucky adventurers, remnants of raiding parties, the aftermath of some beastie’s dinner — skulls turn up in all sort of places.
This one’s … kind of different, though. Starting with the fact that there’s only a skull. No other body bits, no fleshy stains, no hints or clues. Just a skull, sitting neatly all on its lonesome on the floor, or on a shelf, or a stair, or … well, you get the idea.
But that’s not the only interesting bit!
Your new-found skull …
01. … has a sealed scroll, smeared with golden wax, clutched in its jaws
02. … is engraved all over with arcane notations, filled with cinnabar stain
03. … is animated and hostile! sharp fangs sprout as it snaps at you!
04. … is animated and lonely. please, just a chat for a little while, at least …?
05. … is completely covered with delicate mosaic-work in obsidian and rose quartz
06. … has been filled with pellets, stoppered and painted; a macabre rattle to be sure
07. … has been sectioned around the middle, hinged, latched and locked
08. … is overgrown with rust-green moss, and azure mushrooms grow from its orifices
09. … has every second tooth replace with one of silver or crystal or pearl
10. … has been converted into a lantern, candlelight glowing from its eyes and sinus
11. … is surrounded by a corona of pale violet flame that does not burn
12. … is missing the top of its vault, the cranium filled with an iridescent, red-violet ichor
It happens more often than one might think, in this line of work. Unlucky adventurers, remnants of raiding parties, the aftermath of some beastie’s dinner — skulls turn up in all sort of places.
This one’s … kind of different, though. Starting with the fact that there’s only a skull. No other body bits, no fleshy stains, no hints or clues. Just a skull, sitting neatly all on its lonesome on the floor, or on a shelf, or a stair, or … well, you get the idea.
But that’s not the only interesting bit!
Your new-found skull …
01. … has a sealed scroll, smeared with golden wax, clutched in its jaws
02. … is engraved all over with arcane notations, filled with cinnabar stain
03. … is animated and hostile! sharp fangs sprout as it snaps at you!
04. … is animated and lonely. please, just a chat for a little while, at least …?
05. … is completely covered with delicate mosaic-work in obsidian and rose quartz
06. … has been filled with pellets, stoppered and painted; a macabre rattle to be sure
07. … has been sectioned around the middle, hinged, latched and locked
08. … is overgrown with rust-green moss, and azure mushrooms grow from its orifices
09. … has every second tooth replace with one of silver or crystal or pearl
10. … has been converted into a lantern, candlelight glowing from its eyes and sinus
11. … is surrounded by a corona of pale violet flame that does not burn
12. … is missing the top of its vault, the cranium filled with an iridescent, red-violet ichor
Dicember 2021 – blade
Beneath a canopy that sparkles like the night sky — a cunning work of midnight-purple velvet, golden threads and silver beads — a large and fluffy white cat paces to and fro on hindpaws across the length of a raised wooden platform, adjusting racks of exotic textiles, setting out baskets of tiny wonders and tweaking the displays in the worn blackoak booth-front.
Suddenly the cat’s attention is squarely on you, golden eyes like inquisitive twin moons. Snowy white paws cradle a weapon that surely, surely no cat should wield so easily.
A purr.
“Perhaps this humble merchant may have something that catches your eye?”
The ghost cat’s armoury
01. Paired ivory-hilted daggers, etched with silvered prayers to the Saint Of Iris
02. Pyre Tyrant’s Needle, a rapier of frosted steel hilt and basket and blade of crimson flame
03. A sabre polished to mirror brightness, mounted in brass and blackened steel fittings
04. Regret, a longsword consecrated to be the bane of spirits, rosewood-hilted and perpetually damp with blessed tears
05. A belt-knife of bone split and polished from a wyvern’s sting, grip wrapped with tawny silks
06. A perfectly plain-looking shortsword, yet it is sheathed in shadepanther pelt and crystal droplets
07. The Moon Calls Me, a silver-trimmed crystal blade that cycles from dagger to shortsword to hunting sword to greatsword and back
08. An ancient broad-bladed sword of greenish bronze, sporting black gold hunting figures that glow faintly
09. Mistine, the white steel bastard sword trimmed in sapphire and white enamel which ballads claim was the oath-blade of Teitaia, Warqueen of fallen Oakhaunt
10. A slim rapier, basket-guard of twisted ivy and gilded, stained with the blood of a vampire prince
11. Aaite, a curved sickle-like blade of deep red horn, said to be carved from a fragment of an angel’s talon
12. Matched set of broadsword, hanger and three daggers, all smoky steel mounted in bronze and ivory and engraved with the same motto — “Endure” — flanked with tiny inset garnets
Suddenly the cat’s attention is squarely on you, golden eyes like inquisitive twin moons. Snowy white paws cradle a weapon that surely, surely no cat should wield so easily.
A purr.
“Perhaps this humble merchant may have something that catches your eye?”
The ghost cat’s armoury
01. Paired ivory-hilted daggers, etched with silvered prayers to the Saint Of Iris
02. Pyre Tyrant’s Needle, a rapier of frosted steel hilt and basket and blade of crimson flame
03. A sabre polished to mirror brightness, mounted in brass and blackened steel fittings
04. Regret, a longsword consecrated to be the bane of spirits, rosewood-hilted and perpetually damp with blessed tears
05. A belt-knife of bone split and polished from a wyvern’s sting, grip wrapped with tawny silks
06. A perfectly plain-looking shortsword, yet it is sheathed in shadepanther pelt and crystal droplets
07. The Moon Calls Me, a silver-trimmed crystal blade that cycles from dagger to shortsword to hunting sword to greatsword and back
08. An ancient broad-bladed sword of greenish bronze, sporting black gold hunting figures that glow faintly
09. Mistine, the white steel bastard sword trimmed in sapphire and white enamel which ballads claim was the oath-blade of Teitaia, Warqueen of fallen Oakhaunt
10. A slim rapier, basket-guard of twisted ivy and gilded, stained with the blood of a vampire prince
11. Aaite, a curved sickle-like blade of deep red horn, said to be carved from a fragment of an angel’s talon
12. Matched set of broadsword, hanger and three daggers, all smoky steel mounted in bronze and ivory and engraved with the same motto — “Endure” — flanked with tiny inset garnets
Another Hamsterish Hoard 