Friday, August 29, 2014

Albino Ravens and Blightwalkers

By Jacob H • Friday, August 29, 2014 • 0 Comments

 

 Zombies - Not Zombies
When the a game of Goldmother's Vale begins, Sorceress Orana is focuses almost completely on cracking the remaining protections on Salmu Seru's library in The Broken Spire[0804]. She knows there is a great power source in Windsong Cave[1308] but she doesn't know what it is exactly, how to get to it (it's behind seals) or how to corrupt it to her personal use. She also knows that the snows are coming soon and that the valley folk are about to become hyperactive and hypersensitive to anything they might connect to the "sleeping evil" (Orana always laughs and uses air quotes and melodramatic accents when she says this phrase to her henchmen), and she knows that Sinnu Daku (her personal mercenaries) are not yet assembled in full force. Thus Orana's plan is twofold:

1. Build up a utility force to distract/fragment/control the people of the valley without needing to risk her own troops (the Cult of Blood and Briar might work for this but they're too bumpkiny for her tastes, and she doesn't fully trust them).

2. Create a utilitarian grand-ritual-pentagram around the petrified altar in Windsong Cave[1308]. She's not exactly sure how she'll use the pentagram, but she's begun to piece together enough about the necromancer who used to live in her tower to know that it will probably be called for in whatever relevant ritual she finds.

She figures zombies (well, Blightwalkers) paired with the cult's mutated beasts should do the job nicely.




Albino Ravens
One to two weeks before the game begins, Sorceress Orana and several prominent members of the Cult of Blood and Briar set up a ritual pentagram in the mountains where the treeline ends and created The Black Line[1408]. Each night 3d4+3 albino ravens are birthed from the pentagram there, and at sunrise they fly away to drain the souls of humanoids. A raven must deal 20 HP worth of damage to consume an entire soul and they prefer to do so after a target has already dropped to 0 HP, is sleeping, paralyzed, restrained, young, old or can't otherwise fight back.

During an attack the raven will open its beak and begin to literally suck the soul from its victim (+5 to hit, 5ft reach, 1 target). On a successful hit the raven becomes attached to the humanoid by a ghostly beam. The beam suspends the white raven in the air and it spreads its wings and feathers (like a heraldric eagle) as it drains its target. The target takes 1d4+3 damage at the start of the raven's turn (DC 15 wisdom saving throw).

Once a raven has consumed a soul it flies directly to The Broken Spire[0804] (before Orana has cracked Salmu Seru's library) OR to Windsong Cave[1308] (after Orana has begun her ritual to corrupt the trapped Goldmother). When it arrives at the appointed destination it vomits up the soul for Orana's use before returning to the valley to seek out more targets.

[Stats like a Stirge, pretty stat box 'n whatnot to come eventually]



Blightwalkers
Any humanoid drained of their soul (takes 20 HP worth of damage from a single albino raven), will fall into an apparent deep sleep. They will appear whole and beautiful with regular breathing and a rosy complection, but their eyeballs will be completely black, hard, and smooth like polished obsidian. This bodily restoration/beautification will also occur in corpses drained after death (e.g., a hunter is mauled by a bear and dies in a shreaded mess. Two days later their body is found and drained by an albino raven. After being completely soul-drained their body will appear whole, beautiful and sleeping, but their clothes will still be destroyed).

Humanoid corpses CANNOT be drained IF:
1. They have been dead for a week and a day
2. Funerary rites have begun on the body (even simple, rudimentary or incomplete rites)
3. The tears of a loved one have fallen on the body



A drained corpse will appear to sleep for at least 24 hours, then, at the next sun set, it will open its eyes, begin screaming, and the pentagram at The Black Line[1408] will erupt with a swarm of roaches OR rats OR frogs OR snakes. The swarm will travel directly to the corpse that called for it and can pass through one hex every two hours. Swarms CANNOT travel over sacred or consecrated ground and cannot pass through doors, windows or under lintels. They can however enter homes through cracks, holes and chimneys. Once the swarm has gained access to its body, the creatures will enter it through all available orifices, rapidly hollow it out and then proceed to shamble around with it like a slow moving zombie. Each blightwalker contains a single swarm or a single creature type and if multiple corpses are ready at sunset, multiple swarm eruptions will occur at The Black Line[1408].

[Stats as a Zombie, with different attacks by variant]


Blightwalker (frogs):
Slam - +3 to hit, reach 5ft, one target, 1d6+1 bludgeoning damage
Sticky Tongues - +4 to hit, reach 5ft, one target, DC 15 dexterity save or GRAPPLED (frog tongues erupt from everywhere on the blightwalker's body and stick to the target. If the blightwalker is grappling a target they cannot Slam, only Bite)
Bite - +1 to hit (+5 if grappling), reach 5ft, one target, 2d4+2 piercing damage

Blightwalker (roaches):
Slam
Scream: All the roaches scream and buzz simultaneously. Anyone within 10', DC 12 constitution save or be STUNNED for 1 round and DEAFENED for the remainder of combat.

Blightwalker (rats):
Slam
Exodus: All the rats leave the body enmasse and the skin and bones crumple to the ground like paper. Anyone watching this event DC 15 wisdom save or FRIGHTENED
Swarm: If the rats have exited their body they can swarm over a single target in a clawing, biting mass. DC 20 dexterity save or GRAPPLED and take 1d4+1 damage each turn.

Blightwalker (snakes):
Venomous Slam - +3 to hit, reach 5ft, one target, 1d6+3 piercing damage, DC 12 constitution save or POISONED

Blightwalkers are capable of following and carrying out simple instructions such as "gather flesh", "gather innocents", "dig", "bury" etc.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Goldmother's Vale - Unfinished Alpha

By Jacob H • Sunday, August 17, 2014 • 2 Comments

So... my Goldmother's Vale Hexcrawl isn't done, but it's at a point that's semi-coherent enough to call an "unfinished alpha". There are still big, gaping holes, but you can snag the PDF here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2vRPHp5ZV31ZEd4Uy00b2lQYXc/edit?usp=sharing

I'd love any feedback you've got. =)

Saturday, August 16, 2014

The Cult of Blood and Briar

By Jacob H • Saturday, August 16, 2014 • 1 Comments

Cultists by Matthew Adams

The Cult of Blood and Briar is a relatively recent institution in Horned Mountain Valley, dating back only a couple of generations. They began rather benignly (probably as a response to the valley's growing population) holding low key ceremonies among old growth trees, to mark important yearly celestial events such as the solstice and equinox. Over time they became more and more radicalized, preaching your run of the mill pro-wilderness/anti-civilization doctrines. They took to planting brambles and other painful plants, like poison sumac and nettles, throughout the vale to promote a "return to the wild". Although they possessed no real power, they had a great flair for elaborate ritual and a deep, burning hatred of the Goldmother. Their hatred springs from two fonts. First, they believe the Goldmother abandoned the valley and took her blessing from the trees and land. Second, they believe she should never have allowed humans to settle in, and thus profane, the valley in the first place (lots of self loathing).

Sorceress Orana and the cult took to one another immediately upon their first meeting after she arrived in the valley. She started talking about "points of light in the wilderness" beliefs, displayed actual power, and they swore themselves to her cause without hesitation. In turn she taught them a number of magical rituals so they could aid her as she leads the valley and then the world into the new wilderness.

Structure:
Cult members are almost all from the Flam(tallowmakers), Mull(merchants), and Textor(weavers) families and HIGHLY secretive. There is no official rank or hierarchy to the cult but Rowan Mull[STATBLOCK] is in many ways the de facto leader due to his successful infiltration and manipulation of the Utag clan (and he's the only one who communicates with Orana directly). Max Flam[STATBLOCK] and Violet Textor[STATBLOCK] are effectively his lieutenants and give the most consistently powerful and impassioned speeches.

Nudity, Red Paint and Briars:
Eschewing robes and common cultist attire, members of the Cult of Blood and Briar hold their meetings and perform their rituals naked and masked as it is the closest to nature they can be. Now that Orana has come to the vale they have adjusted this in two subtle ways. The cultists now mask their face using thorny briars (see Briar Shield below), and they paint their bodies completely red. This red paint makes them immune to poison and impervious to the effects of painful plants (e.g., poison ivy, poison sumac, etc).

What does the Cult Want?
To return the world to a primal, natural state
To assist Orana in any way possible
To find where the Goldmother fled and make her suffer for abandoning them

What does the Cult NOT want?
To be discovered or found out
To rapidly induct new recruits
For the valley folk to be united on any front or topic. There must always be dissent.

What else?
Orana taught the cultists five rituals of wild terror. Under normal circumstances, require 20 minutes of preparation, and 10 minutes of casting, or a total of 30 minutes from start to finish. At least two cultists are required for a ritual, and they must each cut themselves with a natural blade (quartz or bone preferred), and incorporate 1d4+1 HP worth of their blood into the spell. They can cast rituals into Splinters of Corruption (detailed below), but doing so requires at least four cultists and 1d6+1 HP of blood from each. Prepared splinters can be broken to instantly release the spell within.

Splinter of Corruption
Splinters can only come from a plant or animal that has died due to a splinter of corruption, and the cultists favor using fragments from antlers and blighted aspens. The normal ritual (2 cultists, 30 minutes, 1d4+1 HP of blood from each), can create 1d6+1 charged splinters. Each additional cultist participating in the ritual ad adding their own blood, charges an additional 1d4 splinters. A virgin may be sacrificed in place of cultists providing their own blood, and will yield 1d6 splinters for each cultist participating in the ritual. Charged splinters glow with a black aura and splinters loaded with another spell glow red (not enough to see by but enough to be seen).

If a charged splinter is inserted into a living organism it will burrow deeply into it and cause it to rot from the inside out. This prevents any natural healing and deals 1d6 HP of necrotic damage each day. Attempting to remove one by non-magical means is extremely difficult. The infected organism must make a Constitution DC20 save whenever the bloated, feverish wound is touched, or immediately go into a feral rage, striking and biting at anything nearby. The pain of touching the wound is so great that even trees will try and hit you away. Anything dying to a splinter will begin to split, crack, and ooze purplish goo. Particularly dense sections of the organism (bones, antlers, hardwood, etc) will appear to blossom into vile looking fractal flowers of potential splinters. The number of potential splinters yielded by a corpse depends on its size and amount of dense biomass, so a small dense creature with bony plates will likely yield more than a medium sized creature made of mostly squishy stuff.

Potential Splinters
Size
Normal
Dense
S
1d4+1
1d8+1
M
1d6+1
2d8+1
L
1d8+1
3d8+1
Giant
1d12+1
3d12

Mutate Beast
Works on unintelligent beasts and animals and is pretty much what it says on the tin. In addition to the mutation animals mutated by this spell have a 25% chance to gibber incessantly, and of those, a 10% chance to whisper one true, evil secret over and over in an ancient language.

Mutation Table 3d4
Mutation Table (3d4)
Roll
Name
Effect
3
Two Heads
One head is "obviously evil" (black with red eyes). When not foaming at the mouth it breathes fire (5' cone, 1d8 damage)
4
Fungal Friend
Tiny black and purple mushrooms sprout in its footsteps. Hallucinogenic.
5
Inner Glow
Stops breathing, sweating and excreting, and begins to emit heat and light. May catch on fire if it gets too active. Normally live 3d6 days before burning up from overexertion.
6
Sticky
Glistens with sweat and pants continually. If stationary for 5 minutes, sticky puddles form beneath it. They stink and should be treated as difficult terrain.
7
Walks Wrong
The creature moves at normal movement speed, but now, walks on its hind legs, moves sideways only, moves backwards only, or has large hairy spider legs.
8
Snakes
Sprouts 1d6 coral snakes on its body. 25% chance the animal and snakes don't get along.
9
Drippy
Its skin cracks and stuff drips out that looks like strawberry jam. Gains pseudopod attack (1d6 bludgeoning)
10
Bloated
Creature bloats and struggles to walk (half speed). If its skin is cut or punctured it will burst, forming a poison cloud (10' diameter, DC12 constitution save, 3d6 damage and poisoned on failed save)
11
Obviously Evil
Turns black with red glowing eyes. Poisonous or painful plants grow faster when it is near, but the animal is totally normal in all other regards.
12
Poisonous Carnivore
Grows a scorpion tail and hungers insatiably for raw meat. Tends to live about 1d6 days before succumbing to hunger and eating itself.

Vile Plants
As a ritual, Vile Plants can be cast with half the requirements of others (1 cultist, 15 minutes, 2 HP of caster's blood). The spell can have two different, but related, outcomes (determined by caster).
1. All poisonous, carnivorous or thorny plants in an area 20' in diameter will grow from seed to full adult size over the next 24 hours.
2. The caster can pass through plants and undergrowth without leaving any traces of their passage for 2 hours (no broken branches, torn leaves or bent grass). Footprints are still left in the dirt, but the plants provide exceptional cover. Additionally, any intelligent creature disturbing any plants touched by the caster for the next day will break out with a severe rash, as if they'd been in poison ivy.

Briar Shield
The caster is able to instantly grow thorny briars on or over an organic object. As the briars grow the caster can shape them to their wishes and must determine an "unlock" passphrase. The thorns dig into the organic material covered (causing no real pain), in such a way that if they are forcibly removed the object covered is destroyed, or at least defaced. The Cult of Blood and Briar uses this spell most frequently to hide their faces so that if their mask is removed without their consent their face is ripped off with it, preserving the secret of their identity. They have also been known to use this spell to hide hostages and treasure. Being covered in the briars provides protection as leather armor (AC 11) and deals 1d4 damage if used offensively. Briars last for 3 days or until unlocked.

Sweet Thorn
This ritual requires two whole thorny plants (roots and all), which transform into 10 sweet thorns (plus an additional 1d4 for each extra participating cultist). The thorns look like large bramble thorns (2" to 3" long), and smell like buttery cookies pulled fresh from the oven. If these thorns are stabbed into, or carried by a creature, the cultists who created the thorns are able to scry the carrier using a bowl filled with the blood of animals less than 6 weeks old.

Aster Flam, proprietor of Tallowyck's Candle Shop in Shearing, recently began making short, fat, sweet smelling candles using these thorns as the wick. When burned in this manner they emit a strong, but initially pleasant, cloying scent that sticks to clothes and hair for about 6 hours. While the cultists cannot track or scry anyone covered in these odor clouds, the smell attracts albino ravens[PAGE].