1d6 Outcast Origins

Inspired by the classes of MÖRK BORG and CY_BORG. For players who want some inspiration beyond the basic character creation guidelines in my rules. Roll 1d6, choose, or use the standard method.

Languages

Almost everyone in the Tower Lands speaks Halish. Common Halish, also known as city Halish or high Halish, is spoken by cosmopolitan folks and travelers. You can get around and trade with it just about anywhere, but things beyond that might be difficult out in the sticks. Just about every village has its own regional dialect of Halish.

Cultic languages are used by cults for devotional purposes. Archaic languages are the dead tongues of pre-Halish peoples. Barbaric languages are spoken by foreigners.

Few are fluent in the First Speech, the language of the gods. Those who are speak with the power of tongues to anyone who understands any human language.

The raun of the Tower Lands have their own language, Tauruh. All who live in human communities, and most who don't, also speak Halish.

Characters can be partially or fully fluent in a language. Partially fluent characters can stumble through trade and asking for directions; anything more requires a check.

Characters can also be partially or fluently literate in a language. Common Halish is written in the Halish script. Regional Halish can be written, but almost never is. Surviving archaic languages are written in ancestors of Halish script, cultic languages in encoded forms. Barbaric languages have their own scripts, if any. Tauruh has no script; certain archaic raun languages survive in writing, with their own scripts, but no one speaks them anymore.

The First Script is even rarer than the First Speech. Any character fluently literate in a human language can read the First Script as if partially fluent, but only those trained can write in it.

1. VAGABOND KNIGHT

Once, you served your liege lord with honor. You were their hand, their shield; their glory was your glory. When they fell, you should have faced death with them as a true warrior.

You didn't.

Now you have nothing. No house, no liege.

Your honor? That's up to you.

You have a given name and the name of your birth house. You once called yourself Sir and announced yourself by your liege lord, sworn house, and martial instructor. Maybe you still do.

Masculine names: Alden, Caim, Doran, Galen, Kander, Magnus, Ortus, Rogal, Torn, Varic.

Feminine names: Adraia, Bellona, Camilla, Ellica, Farnese, Ianthe, Kainé, Marika, Pyrrha, Yonah.

Ungendered names: Anri, Ciaran, Derwe, Elai, Falin, Gideon, Harrow, Liane, Miquel, Penthe.

House names: Artorias, Berengar, Cerilian, Embelyon, Follinense, Ivalis, Kiriona, Lupercal, Maliante, Nausicaa, Pergamond, Vendren.

You're an expert swordsman, trained in the high arts. Your style (1d6 or choose):

1. Iron Gate, baiting out the fatal misstep.
2. Void Current, moving without thought or hesitation.
3. Crimson Tide, leaving the foe no room to recover.
4. Kingfisher, poised for the perfect opening.
5. Six-Armed Fighting Deity, dazzling with blinding speed.
6. Ogre's Fist, throwing everything into the decisive blow.

Other skills: military weaponry, armory, horsemanship, tactics, heraldry, etiquette.

Languages: common (fluent).

Literacy: common (fluent).

Your sword (1d6 or choose):

1. A champion's honor - long, graceful, inlaid blessings.

2. A vanguard's claw - solid, rugged, trophy pelts.

3. A butcher's cleaver - broad, heavy, indelible stains.

4. A disciple's devotion - simple, balanced, meditative engravings.

5. A marine's luck - short, nimble, pearl ornaments.

6. A foreign novelty - curved, strangely weighted, unfamiliar orange gems.

You also have:

- mended arming coat, leggings, and shoes

- medium armor (AC 2), dented and rusting

- shield, defaced of its former banner

- dagger

- backpack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- lantern

- 3d6 Đ

What was your liege lord's fate? (1d6 or choose):

1. Fought bravely against a superior foe.

2. Victim of their own incompetence.

3. Betrayed by a trusted retainer.

4. Executed for crimes against their own liege.

5. Disappeared. Their end remains unknown.

6. You killed them yourself.

2. FORSAKEN BANDIT

You weren't lucky enough to be born into a house. So you made your own. Your chosen, your brethren, bound by oath against a world that held no other place for you. You took what you wanted, went where you pleased, chose your names and spit in the eyes of the gods.

They're gone now. Maybe it's what you deserve.

As an outcast, you've chosen your own name. You keep your given name hidden, for fear of curses.

Outcast names: All In, Beadless, Crow, Drummer, Goblin, Fair Flower, Hound, Mourner, Nine, One-Eye, Rotgut, Smiler.

Skills: common weapons, military weapons, skirmishing weapons, fieldcraft, stealth, tactics, appraisal. You're an expert in 1 of your skills.
Languages: common (fluent), regional (fluent in your home, partial elsewhere).
Literacy: common (partial).

Your favorite weapon (1d6 or choose):

1. A looted sword, battered but still good steel.

2. A pair of matched axes that whistle when swung.

3. A short spear, talismans tied around the shaft.

4. A smith's hammer, freed from its labors.

5. A hunter's bow, string dyed deep red, with 20 arrows.

6. Lots and lots of knives (when you can conceal more, use a depletion die, starting at d8).

You also have:

- weather-worn cloak, tunic, and sandals

- light armor (AC 1)

- dagger

- backpack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- 1d3 torches

- 3d6 Đ

What happened to your gang? (1d6 or choose):

1. Betrayed you and left you for dead.

2. Killed each other over a score.

3. Taken out by a rival gang. They think you're dead too.

4. Caught and executed. You alone escaped.

5. Pardoned and knighted. You alone refused.

6. Did something you couldn't live with. You left.

3. PROSCRIBED HERETIC

You served the gods once. In the seclusion of your temple, you tended the shrines, left the offerings, chanted the devotions on behalf of those who petitioned. It was a simple life, but one of purpose.

Your cult fell out of favor, made an enemy of the Lords. Those not purged were scattered, driven from your sanctuary. Now that simple life of prayer and duty is gone. But there are other ways to serve the gods.

You have a given name, and are addressed as Sister or Brother.

Masculine names: Alden, Caim, Doran, Galen, Kander, Magnus, Ortus, Rogal, Torn, Varic.
Feminine names: Adraia, Bellona, Camilla, Ellica, Farnese, Ianthe, Kainé, Marika, Pyrrha, Yonah.
Ungendered names: Anri, Ciaran, Derwé, Elai, Falin, Gideon, Harrow, Liane, Miquel, Penthé.

Skills: sacred rites, iconography, orthodoxy, heresy, prophecy. Choose 1 more or roll 1d4: 1. physick, 2. natural lore, 3. ancient lore, 4. cosmic lore. You're an expert in 1 of your skills.

Languages: common (fluent), cultic (fluent in your cult's language, partial for others), archaic (partial).

Literacy: common (fluent), cultic (fluent in your cult's language, partial for others), archaic (partial).

You carry a symbol of your cult's patron deity (1d6 or choose):

1. The knotted cord of Old Beleg, who guides travelers home through the wilderness.

2. The peeled anath bark talisman of Fevered Lodra, who banishes disease.

3. The six-fingered hand of Demara the Compassionate, who cares for the unwanted and the strange.

4. The scrimshawed fang of Ragahur, who delivers omens in the wounds of savaged livestock.

5. The blue linen shroud of the Cloud Dancer, who guides the souls of those undergoing sky burial.

6. A vellum bearing the obscured name of the thing entombed beneath your old temple. Is it free now?

You also have:

- ascetic's robes and sandals

- sturdy staff

- knife

- knapsack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- 2d6 candles

- scrolls bearing sacred texts

- ritual incenses, pure salt, chalk

- 3d6 Đ

What heresy was your cult accused of? (1d6 or choose):

1. Offering immortality to the devoted.

2. Sheltering escaped slaves.

3. Denying the divinity of the Lords.

4. Seeking the obscured name of the God-King.

5. Misappropriating offerings.

6. Preaching poverty for the highborn.

4. CURSE-MARKED SCION

You were favored. Born into a high house, destined for glory. From your first breath, you learned the arts of power--the blade, the honeyed word, the sacred rite. You took the Dust, chanted the litanies, prepared to receive the divine gift.

You failed.

With the mark of your curse upon your flesh, you were cast out. Now you're alone, feared, shunned. But the power is still yours--and you don't intend to waste it.

You have a given name. Your house name was stripped from you, but you remember it still.

Masculine names: Alden, Caim, Doran, Galen, Kander, Magnus, Ortus, Rogal, Torn, Varic.

Feminine names: Adraia, Bellona, Camilla, Ellica, Farnese, Ianthe, Kainé, Marika, Pyrrha, Yonah.

Ungendered names: Anri, Ciaran, Derwé, Elai, Falin, Gideon, Harrow, Liane, Miquel, Penthé.

House names: Artorias, Berengar, Cerilian, Embelyon, Follinense, Ivalis, Kiriona, Lupercal, Maliante, Nausicaa, Pergamond, Vendren.

Skills: dueling weapons, tactics, heraldry, etiquette, sacred rites, orthodoxy, nerve control.

Languages: common (fluent), cultic (fluent), First Speech (partial).

Literacy: common (fluent), cultic (fluent), First Speech (partial).

What sign graced your banner? (1d6 or choose):

1. The crossed blades, ever ready to win glory.

2. The twin moons, constant as Heaven's cycle.

3. The thunder beast, whose roar shakes the Towers themselves.

4. The crow, collector of debts to the ancient dead.

5. The scroll, honoring the wisdom of forebears.

6. The anath leaf, renewing against all adversity.

You are a tuner, blessed by Dust with the power of the gods. You know 2 random spells of the 1st Circle, and you can sense Dust nearby as a prickling beneath your skin.

What curse-mark do you bear as a sign of your failure? (1d6 or choose):

1. Your eyes are solid black and slowly weep inky tears. You can see twice as far in dim light.

2. One of your arms is withered and scarred, fingers ending in claws. As small weapon.

3. A second mouth opens on your neck, occasionally muttering gibberish. It can detect poisons and identify elixirs by tasting a small amount, without harm to you.

4. Your skin is pale blue. If you soak in water for a full day, heal 1 wound.

5. Horns sprout from your forehead. As weapon with a running start.

6. You have a thin tail, ending in a stinger. At grappling range, deliver a poison that will kill a human in 1 round, then take a wound as your tail rips off. It regrows as the wound heals.

You have:

- fine tunic, cloak, and sandals

- side sword, still little used

- dagger

- knapsack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- lantern

- gold ring bearing your banner sign (worth 1d6x10 Đ).

- 4d6 Đ

5. EXILED BARBARIAN

You aren't from around here. Did you dream of leaving home, or dread the thought? Your kin made the choice for you.

Now you're a stranger in a strange land. Unfamiliar words on your tongue. People living in the shadows of towers that scrape the heavens, praying to the sorcerers within as gods. Thinking themselves your betters.

You'll show them.

You have a given name. What other names, if any, do you carry from your homeland?

Barbaric names: Aelfrith, Amalek, Bayarjargal, Ceolmund, Ch'ayña, Dishaa, Hannu, Hildegard, Inanna, Jagannath, Leofric, Narangerel, Osorkon, Pariwana, Qhispe, Rajendra, Ragnar, Sehener, Temüülen, Wulfgar.

Your people (1d6 or choose):

1. sail upon the frozen waters of the far north. Skills: skirmishing weapons, armory, fieldcraft, seamanship, navigation, appraisal.

2. raise great cities of red stone in the jungles of the east. Skills: military weapons, armory, tactics, hunting, cosmic lore. Literacy: common (fluent).

3. ride across the great grass seas of the south. Skills: skirmishing weapons, horsemanship, animal husbandry, tactics, fieldcraft, navigation, midwifery.

4. trek the oasis roads through the deserts of the southwest. Skills: skirmishing weapons, animal husbandry, tactics, navigation, desert survival, appraisal.

5. make the harsh slopes of the northwestern mountains your own. Skills: military weapons, skirmishing weapons, mountaineering, fieldcraft, navigation, tactics, cosmic lore.

6. wander in the forgotten margins of the Tower Lands. Skills: common weapons, skirmishing weapons, animal husbandry, navigation, fieldcraft, midwifery, appraisal.

You're an expert in 1 of your skills.

Languages: common (fluent), barbaric (fluent in your native tongue).

If your native tongue has a script, you read and write it fluently.

You brought a weapon with you (1d6 or choose):

1. A curved sword, grip adorned with protective talismans.

2. A polearm with a deviously hooked head.

3. A mace with a striking weight of smooth green stone.

4. A pair of ring-shaped blades balanced for throwing.

5. A short bow with a graceful recurve, surprisingly powerful, with 20 arrows.

6. A broad axe, blade engraved with complex knot designs.

You also have:

- clothes brought from your homeland

- light armor (AC 1)

- dagger

- knapsack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1d3 days' rations

- 1d3 torches

- coins and valuables from your homeland, worth 3d6 Đ

For what crime were you banished? (1d6 or choose):

1. Stealing from a well-connected merchant.

2. Lying with the spouse of someone powerful.

3. Defiling a holy place.

4. Exacting vengeance, well deserved but forbidden by law.

5. Deserting the field of battle.

6. Transgressing against the role of your gender.

6. RUNAWAY SLAVE

Work. Sleep. Work. Sleep. Work. Die. The future laid out before you.

You had other plans.

You have a given name, and nothing more.

Masculine names: Alden, Caim, Doran, Galen, Kander, Magnus, Ortus, Rogal, Torn, Varic.

Feminine names: Adraia, Bellona, Camilla, Ellica, Farnese, Ianthe, Kainé, Marika, Pyrrha, Yonah.

Ungendered names: Anri, Ciaran, Derwé, Elai, Falin, Gideon, Harrow, Liane, Miquel, Penthé.

You've endured the hardest the world has to offer. You're an expert at surviving deprivation.

How did your former master use you? (1d6 or choose):

1. Laboring in their fields. Skills: weather-reading, animal husbandry, midwifery.

2. Toiling in their mines. Skills: digging, caving, underground foraging.

3. Keeping their house in order. Skills: sneaking, eavesdropping, appraisal. Literacy: common (fluent).

4. Rowing their ships. Skills: seamanship, navigation, endurance. Languages: barbaric (limited).

5. Fighting in gladiator pits. Skills: brawling, common weapons, dueling weapons.

6. Seeing to their pleasure. Skills: acting, lying, apothecary, midwifery.

Languages: common (fluent).

Literacy: none.

What did you take from your master when you fled? (1d4 or choose):

1. An heirloom sword, pommel shaped like a heraldic beast.

2. A shirt of fine polished mail (AC 1).

3. A golden amulet set with emeralds (worth 3d6x10 Đ).

4. A manual with instructions for a random spell of the 1st Circle.

You've also stolen:

- tunic and sandals

- knife

- knapsack

- flint

- tinderbox

- waterskin

- 1 day's rations

What mark of your servitude do you still bear? (1d6 or choose):

1. Scars of the lash on your back.

2. A tattoo on your cheek, your old master's banner.

3. A missing finger, taken as punishment.

4. A bone-deep fear of dogs.

5. Devotions to gods not your own, spoken morning and evening.

6. You will never have a child of your own.

The Saltway Cave

Those who travel the Saltway that links Velmire to the rest of Saldis know to set watches at night. They say it's worse than vorn or even sharruk, what makes pilgrims vanish. Tales tell of shining eyes, pale, gaunt faces, teeth too many and too sharp. 

In a cave shrouded by undergrowth, sheltered from the road, they hide from the sun. One mad enough to track them back from their night attacks might discover it.

Encounters

1-in-3 per turn:

1-3.   1d6 pale ghuls. Strength d8, speed 40', claws or grapple, AC 0, morale 8. On grapple, will bite next round if not shaken off. Nearly blind, navigate by keen hearing and smell. Fear fire (check morale at 4 when threatened with it) and sunlight (always flee). Anyone clawed contracts ghul plague on 1-in-6, 2-in-3 if bitten.

4-5.   Cugel, semi-sane ghul (strength d8, speed 40', meat cleaver or claws and teeth, AC 0, morale 8), 50% with 1d3 feral ghul friends. Still speaks, remembers his name and past as a graverobber. Loves being a ghul and eating people. Wears a large gold medallion (70 Đ) and matching armbands (110 Đ each, 250 Đ as a pair), otherwise naked like the rest.

6.      Nona, semi-sane ghul (strength d8, speed 40', claws and teeth, AC 0, morale 5). A pilgrim from Velm, taken from the Saltway while bound for Kyther, infected and turned. Terrified and desperate to escape this place, fighting the cannibalistic hunger clouding her senses. Still wears a rapidly disintegrating shift.

Ghul Plague

Incubation: 1d3+1 days.

Progression: 1d3 per day. 1-2: sickness persists, 3: sickness progresses.

Stage 1: Fatigue, aches. Take sickness as a burden.

Stage 2: Fever, weakness, severe muscle pain. Incapacitated.

Stage 3: Death on 2-in-3. Otherwise, begin transforming into a pale ghul.

Stage 4: Fever breaks, pain continues. Impaired vision, photophobia, eyes begin to cloud visibly. Intense craving for fresh meat.

Stage 5: Pyrophobia, worsening photophobia. Skin becomes pale, sunlight becomes intensely painful. Teeth, hair, and nails begin to fall out. Cravings for meat intensify, eating becomes compulsive. On 5-in-6, progressive amnesia, aphasia, loss of behavioral control.

Stage 6: Final transformation. Sharp teeth and claws grow in. Muscle pain recedes, bringing enhanced strength (d8). Characters who suffered mental symptoms become feral and can no longer adventure. Those who retain their minds may continue playing, but no one can resist the hunger for long.

Map Key

> < - Narrow tunnels. PCs must remove packs and spend a round to squeeze through. The ghuls can squeeze through as part of normal movement, but still only one at a time.

1. Entry Cave

Empty. Damp, still air stinking of decay and filth. 50% chance of firelight visible from 3 (see below).

2. Ghul Den

Recesses piled with scraps of rotting fabric, animal hides, leaves, and mosses, forming crude bedding.

3. Kitchen

Animal skins spread out around the floor. Large firepit ringed with rocks against the north wall, with a rusted metal spit, equally degraded cooking implements strewn nearby. 50% chance the fire is lit (light visible from 1 and 5) and Cugel is here with 2 feral ghul sous-chefs. Cugel is berating the ferals to come closer to the fire, which he fears less than they do, while turning a skewered human leg over the flames--he still likes his meat cooked. He wears a battered cylindrical hat that might have been white once. The smoke and light from the fire cloud all the ghuls' senses; the PCs can remain unnoticed with a skill check.

4. Holding Pens

Branches and reeds roughly lashed together to form two enclosures. In one lies Lanya Kiriona, still human, clothes stained and torn, bloodied from multiple bites and claw scratches. She is weak, near death, and feebly begs for rescue, promising reward. She is a successful textile merchant from Kyther, captured from the Saltway en route to Velm. Her promise is good; if rescued, she will contact the PCs a few weeks later with a generous reward and lifelong discount. By that time, she will have turned and be taking to her new hunger with surprised relish.

Stench of blood from 6.

5. Ghul Den

Recesses piled with scraps of rotting fabric, animal hides, leaves, and mosses, forming crude bedding. Especially powerful stink from 7. If Nona has not been encountered yet, she is here, huddling in her bedding and avoiding the other ghuls.

6. Abattoir

Stench of blood as the PCs approach. Within, nearly every surface is covered in the stuff, some dried, some fresh. Dead bodies hang upside down from hooks hammered into the walls--mostly animals, a few human.

A small pile in a recess contains 30 Đ, 4 wheels of fine cheese worth 5 Đ each (pungent, attracts predators), 3 coin-sized rubies worth 70 Đ, 50 Đ, and 40 Đ, and 3 pouches of powdered semmec spice that have been spoiled by the damp.

7. Midden Heap

Piled bones--animal and human--mixed in with torn, rotted clothing and shit. The stench is overpowering. If the PCs can bear it, digging through the heap reveals (1d6, 1 per turn): 1. 40 Đ, 2-5. a silver bar worth 50 Đ, 6. a gold circlet set with sapphires worth 100 Đ.

8. Unused Cave

Empty. Narrow fissure in the floor leading down into 9.

9. Tomb Ritual Bath

Old mortared stonework, tiled floor, plastered ceiling. A rectangular bath in the center, 4' deep, is half full of polluted water. A stone counter on the north wall holds a tarnished silver censer worth 90 Đ, a pair of silver mirrors worth 30 Đ each, and three ivory combs set with garnets, worth 12 Đ each, among broken clay jars and long-spoiled incense and perfumes. On the south wall, carvings in a pre-Old Kingdom style depict a bird-headed deity presiding over a procession of skeletons.

The east doorway is partly blocked by a large stone. It looks like it was levered out of the way.

10. Tomb Antechamber

A small stonework room. The north wall bears pre-Old Kingdom carvings of a crowned person leading a hunt against a menagerie of beasts. The south wall bears carvings showing a crowned person holding a scepter over a prostrate person without a crown.

11. Tomb Mausoleum

A stone sarcophagus on a low dais dominates this room, already open. Within lies an ancient, withered corpse. A black residue has leaked from its mouth and coats much of the sarcophagus around it. Anyone touching it contracts ghul plague on 5-in-6.

The rest of the room is filled with clay jars and stone chests, some already looted, others unsealed with the contents spoiled by moisture. Still present and intact are 400 Đ, 60 bronze javelinheads (5 Đ each, 25 Đ each to a collector), 2 fine robes with gold and silver embroidery worth 80 Đ each (ruined by moisture), 3 coin-sized beads of raasi amber worth 50 Đ each, and a bale of silver silk worth 100 Đ (ruined by moisture).

All the Lights in the Sky: Magic

The First Speech

The language of the gods. Those who speak it fluently have the power of tongues. Daemons speak it.

Its alphabet is the First Script. Anyone literate can understand it with a skill check. Those who read it fluently can read any script.

Scrolls

Vessels for the wisdom of the ancients, inscribed with command words in the First Script. One who understands can identify them with a turn of study.

One who understands a scroll can unleash the spell within by taking it in hand and chanting the command words. This takes a full round in combat, with interruption spoiling the effort. When the spell is cast, the scroll is destroyed.

Tuning

Imbibe Dust, engrave your will upon it, and unleash it to shape the world.

The art of tuning is that of nerve control. Anyone can learn this skill. Even without Dust, it can be used to master body and mind, enduring pain that would break most.

To become a tuner, undergo Assimilation. Imbibe Dust and roll 2d6 on the Assimilation table.

02        Rejection. Assimilation fails; roll on the Dustburn table at -2. If you survive, attempting Assimilation again will kill you.
03-05   Failure.
06-08   Success.
09-11   Acceptance. Success, and roll on the Dustburn table at +2.
12        Wild Talent. Success, and roll on the Dustburn table at +3. Next time you're stressed, instantly learn a random useful spell (1d6: 1-3 1st Circle, 4-5 2nd Circle, 6 3rd Circle); cast that spell without a skill check from now on.

Then make a nerve control skill check on the Dustburn table.

01-02   Die.
03        Take Dustburn and gain a curse-mark.
04-05   Take Dustburn.
06        Unharmed.

If you survive, you're out for 1d6 hours.

Dust-Sense

Tuners can sense Dust nearby, as a prickling in the skin. The more Dust and the closer, the stronger the sensation. This includes Dust in the bodies of other tuners.

Even if they haven't imbibed Dust, tuners can always identify one another on skin contact.

Learning Spells

Study for 1 week per Circle with a master, 2 weeks per circle with a manual, or swallow a scroll. Make a nerve control check, summing all dice instead of taking the highest. Consult the spell learning table.

1st       6
2nd      8
3rd      10
4th      14
5th      18

On a success, you learn the spell. With an instructor or manual, repeat attempts grant +1 each.

Casting Known Spells

Imbibe Dust. It can simply be swallowed, but most tuners favor specialized inhaler masks. This takes an action in combat, but can be done in advance; Dust remains in the body once imbibed.

Meditate, weave the hand signs, intone the chants, and make a nerve control check. This takes a full round; if interrupted or the check is failed, the casting is spoiled. Take Dustburn equal to the Circle of the spell.

If successful, expend imbibed Dust according to the Circle of the spell.

1st      10 Đ
2nd     20 Đ
3rd      40 Đ
4th      80 Đ
5th      160 Đ

Successfully cast spells take effect at the start of the caster's next action.

Dustburn

Dustburn is a burden. When a character takes Dustburn, they roll 1d6; on a roll equal to or under their current Dustburn, they gain a curse-mark.

If a character starts a day with unused Dust in their pool, take Dustburn equal to the highest circle of spell that could be cast with it.

Characters heal 1 Dustburn per week. At 7 Dustburn, they die.

Creating Spells

The creator describes the spell they want to develop. The referee determines its Circle. Spend 1 month per Circle, 10 times the casting cost in Dust, and roll on the spell learning table. On success, create the spell. On failure, waste time and Dust.

Inscribing Scrolls

Scroll inscription is a skill of its own. Only a tuner literate in the First Script can learn it.

To inscribe a scroll with a known spell, spend time and Dust per the scroll inscription table.

1st      1 day           50 Motes
2nd     3 days         100 Motes
3rd     1 week         200 Motes
4th     1 month        500 Motes
5th     3 months     1,000 Motes

Then make a scroll inscription skill check. On failure, the scroll is destroyed and the materials are wasted.

Finally, cast the spell into the scroll. On failure, the scroll remains intact and the scribe can try again.

Spells

The following is a catalogue of spells known by tuners throughout the Tower Lands. Many are said to originate with the God-King's own apprentices, those first and most esteemed masters. These are certainly but a few of the spells in existence, those most widely known and used.

1st Circle - 1d12

01   Adept's Illuminator
02   Aeda's Kinetic Barrier
03   Audible Glamour
04   Basilisk of Command
05   First Daemonic Binding
06   Hypatia's Igniter
07   Lemniscate's Heuristic
08   Lesser Healing Transfiguration
09   Odravek's Lesser Ward
10   Phaedra's Blinding Breath
11   Tsandar's Remote Manipulator
12   Urizen's Focal Lance

Adept's Illuminator
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Hour
An object the caster touches glows with Dust-light as bright as a torch. It cannot be extinguished until the duration expires, but it can be covered.

Aeda's Kinetic Barrier
Range: Self
Duration: 1 Minute
A shimmering plane of force extends from the caster's spread fingers. It can be manipulated like a physical shield, and functions as one, imposing a -1 penalty on enemies' attack checks against the caster. The barrier is magical, and thus effective against attacks that ignore nonmagical shields.

Audible Glamour
Range: 30'
Duration: Focus
For as long as the caster focuses, illusory sound emanates from a point they can see within range, up to as loud as a shout or as quiet as a whisper.

Basilisk of Command
Range: Speech
Duration: Instant
The caster weaves an auditory basilisk into a one-word command, and a creature that can hear and understand is compelled to obey. Commands to self-harm or commit suicide are ineffective.

First Daemonic Binding
Range: Self
Duration: 1 Hour
A random sprite-class daemon appears before the caster and will obey their commands for 1 hour. It has d4 strength and the intelligence of a small animal. If a specific sprite's true name is known, it can be summoned instead of a random sprite.

Hypatia's Igniter
Range: 30'
Duration: Instant
A small spark of flame appears at a point the caster can see within range, capable of lighting objects on fire like a flint and steel.

Lemniscate's Heuristic
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
The caster touches an enchanted object and learns its powers and control mechanisms. On 2-in-3, they also learn of any curses it carries.

Lesser Healing Transfiguration
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
A living creature the caster touches is instantly healed of up to 2 wounds.

Odravek's Lesser Ward
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Hour
A creature the caster touches is protected from basilisks and transfigurations. Such effects are neutralized on 1d6 over the spell's circle, or 2-in-3. Note that this includes beneficial spells, such as the Lesser and Greater Healing Transfigurations.

Phaedra's Blinding Breath
Range: Self
Duration: 1 Minute
The caster exhales a thick cloud of obscuring fog that fills a 30' diameter area. The cloud evaporates in 1 minute; a strong wind may disperse it faster.

Tsandar's Remote Manipulator
Range: 60'
Duration: Focus
A hand-shaped floating construct appears before the caster, moving at their mental command. It can lift and move small objects within range. The hand persists as long as the caster focuses on maintaining it.

Urizen's Focal Lance
Range: 150'
Duration: Instant
A beam of destructive energy lances from the caster's hand toward a target within range. It acts as a missile weapon, ignoring nonmagical armor and shields.

2nd Circle - 1d12

01   Aeda's Thermal Shroud
02   Basilisk of Affinity
03   Basilisk of Slumber
04   Glamour of the Chameleon
05   Glamour of Multiplicity
06   Hypatia's Combustive Spray
07   Lemniscate's Skeleton Key
08   Lodivo's Contactive Trace
09   Odravek's Adaptive Seal
10   Phaedra's Ensnaring Strands
11   Second Daemonic Binding
12   Tsandar's Helpful Elevator

Aeda's Thermal Shroud
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Day
A creature the caster touches is shielded from intense heat. The subject is immune to environmental heat and gains AC 3 against heat-based attacks.

Basilisk of Affinity
Range: Speech
Duration: Instant
The caster weaves an auditory basilisk into a spoken phrase, and a humanoid creature who can hear is instilled with great affection and respect for them. They become eager to help the caster, though they won't do anything for the caster that they wouldn't normally do for a good friend. Cruelty or violence toward the subject breaks the spell; otherwise, it lasts until the caster leaves the subject's presence.

Basilisk of Slumber
Range: Speech
Duration: Instant
The caster weaves an auditory basilisk into a soothing melody. All creatures that hear the caster's chant are struck by a wave of intense drowsiness. Alert creatures, such as those engaged in combat, are briefly disoriented, losing their next action. Unsuspecting creatures fall deeply asleep, remaining so until they wake up naturally or are roused by another.

Glamour of the Chameleon
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
A creature or object the caster touches is wrapped in an illusory shroud that makes it invisible to normal sight. Anything the subject wears or carries is also affected, but held objects become visible when put down. Held light sources still cast light as normal. The veil is fragile; vigorous motion by the subject, like attacking, breaks it and ends the effect. Otherwise, the effect is permanent.

Glamour of Multiplicity
Range: Self
Duration: 1 Minute
1d4 illusory images of the caster appear at the caster's side, mimicking their movements exactly. Any attack aimed at the caster has an equal chance of hitting an illusion instead, causing it to vanish.

Hypatia's Combustive Spray
Range: 10'
Duration: Instant
A jet of flame sprays from the caster's hand in a 10' cone, damaging all creatures within. A successful check to leap clear of the spray halves the damage roll.

Lemniscate's Skeleton Key
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
A magically locked door or container the caster touches is unlocked.

Lodivo's Contactive Trace
Range: Self
Duration: Focus
This spell can be cast in two ways: using a sample of fresh tissue from a living creature, or using an object a living creature has touched. If cast using a tissue sample, the caster can picture an object the donor has touched. As long as they hold the sample and focus, the caster knows the distance and direction of the object. If cast on an object, the caster can picture a creature who has touched the object; as long as they hold the object and focus, they know the distance and direction of the handler.

Odravek's Adaptive Seal
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
A portal or container the caster touches is magically locked. The caster can set a password or designate any number of individuals who may bypass the lock. The portal or container can still be broken; this destroys the lock and ends the spell.

Phaedra's Ensnaring Strands
Range: 10'
Duration: Instant
The caster spits a wad of sticky fluid that spreads into a net filling a 10' cube area. Creatures in the area can make a check to leap clear; those who fail are entangled, unable to move until they escape. Creatures with d6 strength or less can escape in 1 turn; those with d8 or d10 strength can escape in 1 round. Those with d12 strength are immune. Unlike real spiderwebs, the web is highly flammable. Creatures caught in a burning web suffer a damage roll; after 1 round, the web burns away.

Second Daemonic Binding
Range: Self
Duration: 1 Hour
A random sandestin-class daemon appears before the caster and will obey their commands for 1 hour. It has d6 strength and the intelligence of a trained dog or ape, and may be capable of limited speech. It has a 1-in-3 chance of knowing a single 1st-Circle spell. If a specific sandestin's true name is known, it can be summoned instead of a random sandestin.

Tsandar's Helpful Elevator
Range: Self
Duration: Focus
By focusing, the caster can move up and down through the air at up to 20' per round. The caster can move laterally by pushing against objects. Any weight over normal encumbrance prevents levitation. The caster can levitate as long as they focus; pushing off objects to move does not disrupt their focus, but anything more distracting does.

3rd Circle - 1d12

01   Aeda's Projectile Screen
02   Baleful Transfiguration
03   Celestial Step Method
04   Hypatia's Explosive Orb
05   Lemniscate's Versatile Antidote
06   Lesser Holding Transfiguration
07   Mai-Yun-Set's Disjunction
08   Odravek's Greater Ward
09   Second Art of Awakening
10   Third Daemonic Binding
11   Urizen's Vorpal Edge
12   Yashi's Abyssal Sight

Aeda's Projectile Screen
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Hour
A creature the caster touches is wrapped in a transparent barrier that stops all missile attacks, including focal lances.

Baleful Transfiguration
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
A creature the caster touches has its flesh hideously twisted, suffering a damage roll at +1 and gaining 1d3+1 random curse-marks.

Celestial Step Method
Range: Self
Duration: Focus
The caster gains the power to fly at up to 120' per round. They can move freely in any direction, including hovering. The caster must focus to control their movement; the effect persists as long as they do so.

Hypatia's Explosive Orb
Range: 240'
Duration: Instant
A ball of flame leaps from the caster's hand toward a point within range, where it explodes in a 20' radius, damaging all creatures within. A successful check to leap clear of the blast halves the damage roll.

Lemniscate's Versatile Antidote
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
A creature the caster touches is purged of all poisons. Injuries already done by poisons are not healed, but any further effects are prevented.

Lesser Holding Transfiguration
Range: 120'
Duration: 1 Turn
A creature with strength d6 or less that the caster can see within range is paralyzed, unable to move.

Mai-Yun-Set's Disjunction
Range: 120'
Duration: Instant
All spells within a 10' radius centered within range are dispelled on 1d6 over their Circle. Enchanted items are unaffected.

Odravek's Greater Ward
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Hour
A creature the caster touches is rendered immune to basilisks and transfigurations. Note that this includes beneficial spells, such as the Lesser and Greater Healing Transfigurations.

Second Art of Awakening
Range: Self
Duration: 1 Minute
The caster gains superhuman speed and reflexes, with the following benefits:
- They can move at double speed (60' per round).
- They automatically win initiative against non-awakened opponents.
- They gain strength d8.
- They can make two missile attacks per action.
- In melee combat, they can take the 2 highest dice on their attack check. If both are higher than their opponent's highest die, the caster hits twice.
When the effect ends, the caster takes exhaustion.

Third Daemonic Binding
Range: Self
Duration: 1 Hour
A random esper-class daemon appears before the caster and will obey their commands for 1 hour. It has d8 strength dice and the intelligence of a person, capable of full speech. It has a 2-in-3 chance of being able to cast spells up to the 3rd Circle. If a specific esper's true name is known, it can be summoned instead of a random esper.

Urizen's Vorpal Edge
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Minute
A bladed weapon the caster touches is wrapped in a shimmering halo of Dust that can cut through nearly anything, ignoring nonmagical armor and shields.

Yashi's Abyssal Sight
Range: Touch
Duration: 1 Hour
A creature the caster touches gains infravision to a distance of 60'.

4th Circle - 1d10

01   Aeda's Unseen Eye
02   Basilisk of Delirium
03   Fourth Daemonic Binding
04   Phaedra's Killing Breath
05   Greater Holding Transfiguration
06   Greater Healing Transfiguration
07   Hypatia's Wall of Flame
08   Lemniscate's Panacea
09   Urizen's Vector Shift
10   Tsandar's Mighty Grasp

Aeda's Unseen Eye
Range: 240'
Duration: Focus
An invisible floating sensor appears at the caster's side, allowing the caster to see through it. The eye can fly at up to 30' per round, up to 240' from the caster. It has normal vision and infravision out to 60'. It can fit through spaces as small as 1" wide, but cannot pass through solid objects. The eye persists as long as the caster focuses on maintaining it.

Basilisk of Delirium
Range: Speech
Duration: Instant
The caster weaves an auditory basilisk into a piercing shriek. All creatures who hear it are stricken with hallucinations for 1 hour, causing them to act unpredictably. Each round, roll 1d3 for the reaction of each creature affected: 1 peaceful, 2 terrified, 3 violent.

Fourth Daemonic Binding
Range: Self
Duration: 1 Hour
A random aeon-class daemon appears before the caster and will obey their commands for 1 hour. It has d10 strength, possesses the wisdom of higher beings, and commands magics up to the 4th Circle. If a specific aeon's true name is known, it can be summoned instead of a random aeon.

Greater Healing Transfiguration
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
A creature the caster touches is instantly healed of all injuries. Dying creatures are restored to full health immediately, and wounded creatures are cured of all wounds. Severed limbs do not regrow, but will reattach if present when the spell is cast.

Greater Holding Transfiguration
Range: 120'
Duration: 1 Turn
A creature the caster can see within 120'is paralyzed, unable to move.

Hypatia's Wall of Flame
Range: 60'
Duration: 1 Turn
An opaque curtain of raging flame springs up from a point the caster can see within range. It can be up to 1,200' square total, with any shape. Any creature who touches the wall suffers a damage roll; for those passing through it, the roll is at +1.

Lemniscate's Panacea
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
A creature the caster touches is cured of all diseases.

Phaedra's Killing Breath
Range: Self
Duration: 1 Hour
The caster exhales a cloud of corrosive vapor that fills a 30' diameter area. Creatures in the cloud take 1 wound per round, and any who breathe it suffer a damage roll at +1. The cloud evaporates in 1 hour; a strong wind may disperse it faster.

Tsandar's Mighty Grasp
Range: 120'
Duration: Focus
A large, translucent, floating hand-shaped construct the size of a person appears at the caster's side, moving in response to the caster's thoughts and capable of lifting and throwing objects within range. The hand can move up to 20' per round, lift up to 1,000 lbs., and throw objects hard enough to deal damage. Creatures can make checks to avoid being grabbed by the hand. The hand persists as long as the caster focuses on maintaining it.

Urizen's Vector Shift
Range: Self
Duration: Instant
The caster steps through folded space to a location they can see.

5th Circle - 1d6

01   Aeda's Unshakeable Fortress
02   Entreaty to Higher Beings
03   Fifth Daemonic Binding
04   Implacable Spear of Heaven

05   Rending Transfiguration
06   Urizen's Folded Path

Aeda's Unshakeable Fortress

Range: Self

Duration: Focus
A 5' radius globe of force surrounds the caster and anyone else within. It is completely impenetrable to all matter and energy; nothing can enter or escape it, and it can withstand even a strike from the Spear of Heaven. The fortress persists as long as the caster focuses on maintaining it, but it has a limited supply of air, enough for one person to survive for 3 days.

Entreaty to Higher Beings
Range: Self
Duration: Instant
The caster makes contact with higher beings to receive their wisdom. The caster may ask yes-or-no questions. Roll 1d8 for each: 1-5 correct answer ("yes," "no," or "impossible to answer"), 6-7 unknown, 8 incorrect answer ("yes" or "no.") If asked to predict the future, the higher beings will answer based on whether the event in question is more likely true than not; for example, if asked, "Will my capital be attacked this year?" the higher beings will answer "yes" if an attack is at least 51% likely and "no" if it is 50% likely or less. For each answer received, there is a cumulative 1-in-6 chance for the caster's mind to be shattered, rendering them permanently unfit to adventure unless restored by some other powerful magic.

Fifth Daemonic Binding
Range: Self
Duration: ???
A throne-class daemon whose true name is spoken appears before the caster and will obey their commands. Thrones possess d12 strength. This is the least of their powers.

Implacable Spear of Heaven
Range: Sight
Duration: Instant
The Spear of Heaven strikes a point the caster can see. Creatures within 120' of the target point who are not immune to heat are incinerated; those within a further 240' suffer a damage roll at +2. Creatures who look at the Spear of Heaven with unprotected eyes are blinded.

Rending Transfiguration
Range: 60'
Duration: Instant
A single creature, or an object of up to human size, that the caster can see within range instantly turns to ash.

Urizen's Folded Path
Range: Touch
Duration: Instant
The caster and up to 6 other creatures currently touching them are transported through folded space to a place the caster has seen. Each traveler has a 1-in-10 chance of injury while passing through folded space; injured travelers suffer a damage roll.

All the Lights in the Sky: Rules

I've been posting about my current campaign lately, and have more content coming down the pipe. I figured I should probably explain the basics of how it's running.

Character Creation

(For creating new characters during the campaign, after completing the intro adventure The Silver Chamber.)

Choose name, age, look, home, and past occupation. A character has knowledge and skills appropriate to their background, assuming broad competence.

Record possessions: clothes according to the character's social station, backpack, 3d6 motes of Dust, small knife, flint, tinder, one-handed melee weapon of your choice.

Choose 1 or roll 1d6 for further possessions:

01   One-handed melee weapon

02   Two-handed melee weapon

03   Shield

04   Bow, 20 arrows

05   Thief's tools

06   2 random 1st-Circle spell scrolls

Choose armor: none, light (AC 1), medium (AC 2).

Record any other common possessions and provisions appropriate to the character's background.

Skills & Skill Checks

Characters can do anything within their competence if they have the time and tools.

When competence is challenged or time or tools are limited, make a skill check. Roll 1d6 if the character is unskilled, 2d6 if skilled, 3d6 if an expert, 4d6 if a master; take the highest. If unopposed, 4+ is a success. If opposed, roll off; high roll wins, with ties that must be broken going to PCs.

Starting PCs should have several useful adventuring skills and may be experts in one or two things. Mastery requires experience.

To learn new skills or improve existing skills, spend time learning from instructors and manuals.

Burdens

Things that can burden a character:

- a heavy pack
- hunger

- thirst

- exhaustion

- wounds

- sickness

For each burden, a character takes -1 to skill checks involving feats of strength and agility.

Encumbrance

Characters can carry 5 items on their belt. Items on a character's belt can be retrieved quickly. Small items can be bundled together in a pouch.

Armor takes up belt slots equal to its AC: 1 for light, 2 for medium, 3 for heavy.

A backpack can hold 10 items. A backpack with 6 or more items in it is a burden. Packed items take time to retrieve.

Common sense determines what can and can't be carried on a belt or in a pack.

Survival

For every 3 days without food, a character takes hunger. Hunger is a burden. When a character eats their fill, they lose all hunger. If a character has 7 hunger, they die.

For every day without water, a character takes thirst. Thirst is a burden. When a character drinks their fill, they lose all thirst. When a character has 3 thirst, they die.

For every night without proper sleep, a character takes exhaustion. Exhaustion is a burden. When a character rests for a full day in a comfortable place, they lose all exhaustion. When a character has 7 exhaustion, they pass out.

Durability

When an item is used strenuously or for something it's not designed for, it loses durability. Most items have 3 durability. Excellent items have 4, crap items and fragile items have 1. Repairing an item costs half its purchase price.

Dungeons

Dungeon time is measured in turns, about 10 minutes each. When the party has a long conversation, navigates through multiple rooms, searches a location thoroughly, or gets in a fight, a turn passes.

Candles cast light for about 10' and last 6 turns. Torches cast light for about 30' and last 6 turns. Lanterns cast light for about 30' and last 24 turns per flask of oil.

Each turn, and whenever the party makes a lot of noise, roll for an encounter, usually 1-in-6.

Reactions

When an NPC's reaction is uncertain, roll 2d6.

02        Violent

03-05   Hostile

06-08   Suspicious

09-11   Indifferent

12        Friendly

Initiative

In combat, and whenever else order of action is uncertain, roll 1d6. Highest die acts first, then next-highest, until everyone's acted.

Combat time is tracked in rounds, about 6 seconds each. In each round, everyone gets 1 action, which they can use to do anything they could do in a few seconds.

Once everyone's acted, if the fight continues, a new round starts. Everyone rolls for initiative again.

Melee Combat

When two characters fight blade to blade, they make opposed skill checks. The winner hits and inflicts damage on the loser. On a tie, the characters clash dramatically.

Missile Combat

When an archer, slinger, or thrower takes aim at a target, they make a skill check to hit against the target's check to evade. Characters can evade missiles by sprinting, ducking behind cover, or blocking with a shield. If the archer wins, they hit and inflict damage on the target.

Damage

When a character takes damage, make a damage roll, 1d6 minus the character's AC.

01-03   The character takes a wound. A wound is a burden. When a character has 3 wounds, they're down and dying.

04-05   The character is down and dying. Without help, they'll bleed out in minutes.

06+       The character dies.

Morale

NPCs have morale scores from 2 to 12; 7 is average for humans.

When morale is tested, roll 2d6 at the end of the round. On a roll over the character's morale score, they flee or surrender.

Individuals check morale when wounded. Groups check when first outnumbered, when reduced to half strength, and when their leader falls.

Weapons and Armor

Small weapons take -1 on damage rolls, minimum 1 before armor applies.

Two-handed weapons take +1 on damage rolls.

Polearms get a free attack against the first enemy to enter melee.

Crossbows take +1 on damage rolls, but take a round to reload.

Shields inflict -1 on enemies' attack checks and can block arrows.

Light armor is AC 1 and takes up 1 belt slot.

Medium armor is AC 2 and takes up 2 belt slots. Each day a character marches in it, they make a skill check or take exhaustion. Swimming is impossible in medium armor.

Heavy armor is AC 3 and takes up 3 belt slots. Each day a character marches in it, they take exhaustion. Stealth and swimming are impossible in heavy armor.

Healing

When a character gets treatment from a skilled healer and rests for a week, they're healed of all wounds.

A dying character can be stabilized with medical supplies and a skill check. This takes a turn. On a failure, the patient dies.

A character who's been stabilized from dying is out of commission until treated by a skilled healer for a month, and gains a distinctive scar.

Monsters

Creatures with strength and speed beyond human roll bigger dice for physical skill checks. The size of a creature's dice is its strength.

A dog or goblin has strength d4. A horse or gnoll has d8. A bear or ogre has d10. A giant or dragon has d12.

For each step below or above d6 strength a creature has, it takes 2 less or 2 more wounds to kill.

In addition to its strength, a monster's description includes its speed per round, its AC, its attacks, and its morale score.