Savage Worlds suggests that Miracle casters (ie, Clerics, Paladins, other holy types) have a rough understanding of their religion's taboos, and take a -2 penalty to cast spells for a week when they "sin" and break a minor taboos. If you don't play SW, that's a significant penalty. More serious violations cause a complete loss of their Divine power until the character undertakes a quest for atonement.
Most forms of D&D have similar mechanics, though the Atonement spell often wussifies it.
These quests are an awesome opportunity for DMs to railroad their party into doing what they're told for a few sessions. A few sessions means that the players get to spend time telling the cleric "this is your fault," when things go bad. In general, it should be an adventure for everyone. The cleric should be the hook, but the heroics should be shared as normal. Obviously, it should be fun (for the players) and challenging, so there's no way to be specific about what they face. Here are the basic plots:
1. Rescue the Stolen Relic from the bad guys.
2. Find the Lost Relic before the bad guys do. (same thing, only whoever has it doesn't know what it is)
3. Cleanse the Desecrated Holy Place.
4. Pilgrimage to The Holy Place. (Only works if getting there is dangerous)
5. Follow the Leader (a pilgrimage retracing the steps of the God/Prophet/Saint)
6. Banish the Enemy, defeating a powerful supernatural evil (a Demon, for example)
All of these lend themselves to pretty standard adventures, so that's not a problem, and most of them can actually be incorporated into a prefab adventure with minimal effort. Change the generic +2 Mace in the refuse pile in the room to the side right before the BBEG's chamber into the Scepter of Ramalamadingdong, the most holy King of That Place, who drove the weasels out of Finland. Make it shine with holy light and you have a Find the Lost Relic. Put it in the BBEG's hand, and it's a Rescue the Lost Relic. Make the ruined city be the birthplace of the God, and have the players drive out the infidel to make it safe for the faithful.
The Religion in my game world is pretty monolithic, but there are sects. For my own edification, I am going to present the most militant (i.e. PC-friendly) sect - The Awakened Flame.
The symbol is a torch.
The Priests are called Guardians.
The holy hour is sunset, holy day is the winter solstice. The Enemy are nightmares (aka demons, devils, angels etc) and those who traffic with them (conjurers, necromancers, etc. magic users) They light torches at sunset, and massive bonfires at the solstice. They are all about fighting the darkness, literal and figurative.
The minor sins are: extinguishing flames at night, sleeping at night without a Guardian on watch, fleeing from a powerful (relative to the character) Enemy, allowing the weak to be threatened by the Enemy, sparing an Enemy, failure to observe the holy hour.
Major sins: allying with the Enemy, allowing the Enemy to desecrate a holy place, failure to observe the holy day, failure to protect the weak.
Redemptive quests will often be of the Banish the Enemy sort, though there are a number of relics from the Awakening Wars, when the Guardians first appeared and held off demonic hordes for critical days while the First Awakened worked the spell that separated reality from the dreamworld of magic and evil.
In Savage Worlds, a priest who takes the AB: Miracles (Guardian) Edge automatically gets the Smite power, in addition to the two they normally choose. This power (and any other Guardian power that is appropriate) has fire trappings, meaning that anyone hit rolls 1d6. On a 6, they catch fire.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Hang my head in shame
It's been more than 7 days since my last post.
The shame.
And only two weeks in.
My excuse was that I was at Mysticon in Roanoke this weekend (my first con) and my brain overloaded.
My redemption will be two posts this week. Three, actually, since this one is just blathering.
I will refrain from presenting the con-as-dungeon which was my (and possibly everyone whose ever been to a con's) first impulse.
The shame.
And only two weeks in.
My excuse was that I was at Mysticon in Roanoke this weekend (my first con) and my brain overloaded.
My redemption will be two posts this week. Three, actually, since this one is just blathering.
I will refrain from presenting the con-as-dungeon which was my (and possibly everyone whose ever been to a con's) first impulse.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Floare Robes
The people of Floare have long been famed as traders and travellers. They are found in the farthest flung parts of the known world and their reputation for close bargaining gives many people legitimate cause for concern. The arrival of one of their merchants in a village means miraculous sights and impossible stories, but also danger. They are absolutely unscrupulous in terms of the bargains they will make, though they are legendary for keeping their deals. There are many, many folk tales that illustrate both sides of the coin.
Their robes are distinctive, elaborately embroidered with mottoes and the flowers of the wearer's house. Most are mundane items with little value other than for their beauty. In the age of the magi, however, the mages of the red tower gave certain favored traders robes that aided them in their journeys. The robes give the wearer +1 to all saving throws, and +3 to resist any environmental hazard (weather, natural disasters, etc). They also enabled the wearer to travel for a day as if making a forced march without any of the negative effects of doing so, though each day of such use would nullify the robes' other abilities for one day following.
The last ability of the robe is concerned with the flowers embroidered on them. Each flower can be plucked and used to cast a spell. The particular spells available depend on the specific robe, but they will all be first and second level spells that target the caster. It is said that the mages of the red tower had mystical seamstresses who would embroider new flowers on a merchant's robe when they returned to Floare, but if those rumors are true, the secrets are lost.
(For BXD&D) Roll 3d6 for the number of flowers embroidered on the robe. For each, flower, roll 1d8 for the spell contained in the flower.
1 Protection from Evil
2 Shield
3 Ventriloquism
4 Detect Invisible
5 Mirror Image
6 Resist Cold
7 Bless
8 Detect Magic
(Spells For PFRPG and SW forthcoming.)
Their robes are distinctive, elaborately embroidered with mottoes and the flowers of the wearer's house. Most are mundane items with little value other than for their beauty. In the age of the magi, however, the mages of the red tower gave certain favored traders robes that aided them in their journeys. The robes give the wearer +1 to all saving throws, and +3 to resist any environmental hazard (weather, natural disasters, etc). They also enabled the wearer to travel for a day as if making a forced march without any of the negative effects of doing so, though each day of such use would nullify the robes' other abilities for one day following.
The last ability of the robe is concerned with the flowers embroidered on them. Each flower can be plucked and used to cast a spell. The particular spells available depend on the specific robe, but they will all be first and second level spells that target the caster. It is said that the mages of the red tower had mystical seamstresses who would embroider new flowers on a merchant's robe when they returned to Floare, but if those rumors are true, the secrets are lost.
(For BXD&D) Roll 3d6 for the number of flowers embroidered on the robe. For each, flower, roll 1d8 for the spell contained in the flower.
1 Protection from Evil
2 Shield
3 Ventriloquism
4 Detect Invisible
5 Mirror Image
6 Resist Cold
7 Bless
8 Detect Magic
(Spells For PFRPG and SW forthcoming.)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Tiger Trap
(For Pathfinder rpg 5th lvl druid/4th lvl ranger spell, possible for others)
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (a tiger's fang)
Range: 20'+5'/level
Duration: 1 hour/caster level (plus see description)
Save: see description. Spell Resistance: see description.
This spell creates a pit that is 10'x10'x10'+5' in each direction per 5 levels of the caster (max 30'x30'x30' at 20th level).
If this spell is cast in an area where a creature is standing, that creature falls into the pit. If any creature in the area has spell resistance, and the caster fails to overcome it, the spell fails completely. If the creature moves into the area after the spell is in effect, they are affected normally, with no SR roll. If a creature is within their normal reach of the edge of the pit (ie, adjacent to it, for most M sized characters) they may drop whatever they are holding, make a reflex save to catch the edge, and pull themselves up their next turn as a move action. Note that they drop their stuff BEFORE attempting their save. They may elect to skip the save and hold onto their weapons. A character who CAN fly, but who is not in flight, can make a reflex save to take flight. Any character who falls takes normal falling damage.
In the bottom of the pit is one tiger for every four 5x5 squares. These are normal tigers in all respects, except as noted. IT IS NOT FRIENDLY TO THE CASTER OR HER ALLIES. The tigers will attack anyone who falls into the pit. They will attempt to jump to attack any characters hanging from the side of the pit. Remember that the tiger itself is 10' long, adding that to the result of the jump roll to determine if the tiger can reach. If the tiger hits a dangling character, they will use the grab ability and attempt to pull the character down into the pit. Any character or creature who falls in will be subject to attacks, including the caster.
A 9th level caster (first level the spell is available) will create a 15x15x15 pit with 2 tigers in the bottom.
A 20th level caster will create a 30x30x30 pit with 9 tigers in the bottom.
When the spell ends the pit disappears, trapping any creatures remaining in the earth, including the tigers, where they will suffer normal damage for being buried alive. They immediately take 8d6 points of damage, and 1d6 points of non-lethal damage per minute. If they fall unconscious, they must make a DC 15 Constitution check each minute or take 1d6 points of lethal damage. If they are not rescued, they will eventually die.
If the DM is particularly nasty, he may wish to reserve this information, should the players discover this spell as a scroll or in a spellbook:
Any creature who dies as a result of being buried alive in the pit will rise as a ghost and stalk the caster until the caster is dead, or their remains are retrieved and buried appropriately. An appropriate burial for a tiger is to carry a tooth or claw of that tiger as a trophy. Any ghost that is defeated in combat will rejuvenate in 2d4 days, and it will take any given ghost 1d4 days to find the caster once they appear.
Casting Time: 1 round
Components: V, S, M (a tiger's fang)
Range: 20'+5'/level
Duration: 1 hour/caster level (plus see description)
Save: see description. Spell Resistance: see description.
This spell creates a pit that is 10'x10'x10'+5' in each direction per 5 levels of the caster (max 30'x30'x30' at 20th level).
If this spell is cast in an area where a creature is standing, that creature falls into the pit. If any creature in the area has spell resistance, and the caster fails to overcome it, the spell fails completely. If the creature moves into the area after the spell is in effect, they are affected normally, with no SR roll. If a creature is within their normal reach of the edge of the pit (ie, adjacent to it, for most M sized characters) they may drop whatever they are holding, make a reflex save to catch the edge, and pull themselves up their next turn as a move action. Note that they drop their stuff BEFORE attempting their save. They may elect to skip the save and hold onto their weapons. A character who CAN fly, but who is not in flight, can make a reflex save to take flight. Any character who falls takes normal falling damage.
In the bottom of the pit is one tiger for every four 5x5 squares. These are normal tigers in all respects, except as noted. IT IS NOT FRIENDLY TO THE CASTER OR HER ALLIES. The tigers will attack anyone who falls into the pit. They will attempt to jump to attack any characters hanging from the side of the pit. Remember that the tiger itself is 10' long, adding that to the result of the jump roll to determine if the tiger can reach. If the tiger hits a dangling character, they will use the grab ability and attempt to pull the character down into the pit. Any character or creature who falls in will be subject to attacks, including the caster.
A 9th level caster (first level the spell is available) will create a 15x15x15 pit with 2 tigers in the bottom.
A 20th level caster will create a 30x30x30 pit with 9 tigers in the bottom.
When the spell ends the pit disappears, trapping any creatures remaining in the earth, including the tigers, where they will suffer normal damage for being buried alive. They immediately take 8d6 points of damage, and 1d6 points of non-lethal damage per minute. If they fall unconscious, they must make a DC 15 Constitution check each minute or take 1d6 points of lethal damage. If they are not rescued, they will eventually die.
If the DM is particularly nasty, he may wish to reserve this information, should the players discover this spell as a scroll or in a spellbook:
Any creature who dies as a result of being buried alive in the pit will rise as a ghost and stalk the caster until the caster is dead, or their remains are retrieved and buried appropriately. An appropriate burial for a tiger is to carry a tooth or claw of that tiger as a trophy. Any ghost that is defeated in combat will rejuvenate in 2d4 days, and it will take any given ghost 1d4 days to find the caster once they appear.
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