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RPG Discussions => Gamer's Gallery => Topic started by: Dorchadas on April 17, 2014, 12:34:17 AM

Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on April 17, 2014, 12:34:17 AM
As I mentioned in the Sword and Sorcery Tweaks thread, I'm in the process of working up a sword and sorcery world that's a mix of the Hyborian Age and classic NES games (mostly Super Mario with some flavoring from Zelda, Castlevania, Kirby's Adventure, and a couple others). I figured I'd post some of the stuff I'm working on and see what other people thought of it. Here's the first two races--you can probably guess what they're based on.  (http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb119/dorcadas/Blogs%20or%20Forums/Warlords%20of%20the%20Mushroom%20Kingdom/elf_in_wood_by_jasson78-d1skulf.jpg):


Amanita
(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb119/dorcadas/Blogs%20or%20Forums/Warlords%20of%20the%20Mushroom%20Kingdom/Mushroom_Villager_by_D_MAC.jpg)

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Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Rasyr on April 17, 2014, 02:39:27 PM
Very cool!! I especially like the Aminita!
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Fidoric on April 17, 2014, 08:54:37 PM
Awesome! Go ahead!
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on April 18, 2014, 01:23:01 AM
Thanks guys. (http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb119/dorcadas/Blogs%20or%20Forums/Warlords%20of%20the%20Mushroom%20Kingdom/Next_Gen_Mario_by_Robotpencil.jpg):


Kappa
(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb119/dorcadas/Blogs%20or%20Forums/Warlords%20of%20the%20Mushroom%20Kingdom/lizardman_deathknight_by_cribs-d5zxv9k.jpg)

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Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on April 24, 2014, 12:46:48 AM
The Silent Ones
(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb119/dorcadas/Blogs%20or%20Forums/Warlords%20of%20the%20Mushroom%20Kingdom/ShyGuybyMikePuncekar.jpg):

 

Mycon
(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb119/dorcadas/Blogs%20or%20Forums/Warlords%20of%20the%20Mushroom%20Kingdom/myconid2.jpg)

[/list]
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Rasyr on April 24, 2014, 02:21:10 PM
These are all just soooooo cool!!!
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on April 26, 2014, 12:51:14 AM
Raptok
(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb119/dorcadas/Blogs%20or%20Forums/Warlords%20of%20the%20Mushroom%20Kingdom/AllosaurusbyBakirasan.jpg):



Chuzan
(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb119/dorcadas/Blogs%20or%20Forums/Warlords%20of%20the%20Mushroom%20Kingdom/justin_by_daarken-d3enomp.jpg)

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Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Witchking20k on April 26, 2014, 06:09:57 AM
Seriously.  Awesome.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on April 27, 2014, 08:20:07 PM
Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom Gazzetteer

Agarica
The Kingdom of Flowers
The central kingdom of Agarica, the Kingdom of Flower has extended its influence over most of Agarica for centuries, until the Dragon Emperor brought their dominion crashing down. The land is lush and fertile, with mild summers and warm winters, and has been prosperous for the majority of its glorious history. The new order means the mandragora have scattered as refugees or bowed down to the yoke of their kappa overlords, and the many of the amanita simply see themselves having exchanged one set of masters for another. Some of the kappa who speak Florian have even made a joke at the kingdom's expense by changing a syllable in the name--from kanoku, the Kingdom of Flowers, to kinoku: the Mushroom Kingdom.

For now, the situation looks grim for the Kingdom of Flowers. The Princess of the ruling House of Peach lies captive in the Dragon Emperor's new palace and the other Great Houses of the mandragora are either utterly destroyed or scattered to the winds. Only the House of Daisy, headquartered as it is in the Floral colony on the Raptok Isles, remains entirely free. The Brothers of the Hammer, the elite warrior guard of the Dragon Emperor, scour the Kingdom of Flowers from top to bottom, seeking out those loyal to the old regime and dragging them off in chains. Taxes have increased, and bands of mycon bandits roam on the kingdom's borders almost at will. Now, more than ever, the Kingdom needs heroes.

The Kappa Wastes
South and east of the Kingdom of Flowers, the land slowly rises before suddenly thrusting itself upward into the vast bulk of the Turtleback Mountains. On the other side, in the mountain plateau beyond, lie the ancestral homelands of the kappa tribes. Volcanic and arid, the land is harsh and cruel, forging its inhabitants into raiding and nomadic wandering simply to survive, following the paths of the ancestors as revealed by their shamans. The spirits are more active here than elsewhere, and occasionally reach out and tutor a student in the art of controlling the lava and smoke that leaks from the land.

The kappa would often come ranging out of the wastes on raiding expeditions into the Kingdom of Flowers, but in years past the kingdom's sorcerer-priests raised a mighty eldritch wall on their borders to hold off the kappa. When the Dragon Emperor united the tribes, he did so with the aid of the Xhamekh, a cabal of sorcerers shunned by all the kappa who worship strange gods from the darkness beyond the Star Road. Their witchery proved potent where the shamans' powers had failed, and the kappa horde destroyed the Barrier and flooded over the Kingdom of Flowers almost before the Floral armies could be called up. Those kappa who remain in the Wastes are the ones most dedicated to the ancient ways, whose shamans teach that the kappa are there because the land is punishing them for the sins of their past, and they cannot leave until the ancestors tell them that they have expiated their deeds. There is no love lost between them and the Dragon Emperor's horde, and clashes on the border of the Wastes are as common as they ever were.

The Forest of Shadows
On the Kingdom of Flowers' northern border lurks a vast, trackless woodland. Little light penetrates between the eaves of the forest, and travelers often find that paths through the forest change under their feet, leading them to the heart of the woods and away from safety. If that weren't enough, the forest is home to maddened giant insects and twisted spirits who delight in tormenting intruders before devouring them. Like the Kappa Wastes, the spirits here occasionally take sorcerous students, and the briarwitches are spoken of in low voices throughout the lands of Agarica. The Silent Ones know the safe paths through the forests, and their caravans grow rich on the trade routes they run to the kingdoms beyond.

The Raptok Isles
In the glittering Narrow Sea south of the Kingdom of Flowers lie the tropical Raptok Isles, named after their primary inhabitants. The raptok lead a simple hunter-gatherer existence, hunting the native thunder lizards and warring among themselves. The Kingdom of Flowers established a colony here long ago, and from there the raptok were introduced to the wider world. The colony remains free and is the last stronghold of old floral culture, but their continued overtures to the raptok have mostly been rebuffed. The isles are free of any lord's yoke, and that's how their dwellers like it.

Chai
On the shores of the Great Salt Ocean lies the ancient country of Chai, slumbering dreamily in the east. Originally ruled entirely by mandragora who are culturally distinct from those in the Kingdom of Flowers, the ruling order has become much more diverse since the institution of a series of examinations to qualify for civil service. Now chuzan and amanita fill the ranks of the daimyo as well, and Chai is as strong as it as ever been. It will need to be, because the Dragon Emperor is turning his eye toward it, and while the Chaians have strong defenses to the north due to the threat of the Hyperboreans, their ability to stop an invasion from the south is much weaker.

Life in Chai is mostly peaceful and agricultural. The majority of the population farms rice or cultivates fungus, but herding thunder lizards is another common occupation. They're used for agriculture, for war, for food, and even for sport--thunder lizard racing is a common pastime for the daimyo, and even the commoners can attend a pit fight or a race on festival days.

The Muskalan Confederation
The stronghold of the chuzan, Muskala borders Chai to the east, the Forest of Shadows to the southwest, the Crescent Sea to the south, and Hyperborea to the northeast. With its place as a nexus, it grows fat on trade, and Muskalan merchants are only a little less common than Silent One caravans in the surrounding kingdoms. Unlike the Silent Ones, though, the Muskalans are also known for producing mercenaries, and bands of Muskalan soldiers are in high demand, especially the grenadiers. The creation of bob-ombs is well-known throughout Agarica, but the Muskalans know of a much safer method of producing explosives--yet another source of their wealth.

While Chai is temperate due to its closeness to the ocean and to Hyperborea, Muskala has a far more variable climate. It freezes in winter and bakes in the summer, and its inhabitants are hardy and used to privation. Much of the taxes levied by the Princes of various cities in the Muskalan Confederation go toward buying food to feed their people. Social stratification is also extreme, and a not-insignificant portion of the population is essentially trapped in debt-based peonage. That also fuels the reputation of the Muskalans as mercenaries, as those with no money and nothing left to lose will trade an almost-certain life of drudgery to the slim chance of freeing themselves from debt as a soldier of fortune.

Hyperborea
In the far north of Agarica, where winter never entirely loosens its grip, lies the kingdom of Hyperborea. Ruled by a tribe of white-furred kong-like creatures and their ice witches, the main populace is a cosmopolitan mix of chuzan, amanita, and mycon. While Hyperborea is mostly quiescent in the winter, every summer Chai and Muskala feel the fury of Hyperborean raids moving speedily on their horned ice-snail mounts with blizzards advancing before them. The kingdom is mostly quite isolated, but contains large deposits of starmetal that it trades for foodstuffs and worked goods with Silent Ones caravans. Occasionally, for their own reasons, an ice witch will go wandering into the warmer lands to the south.

Hyperborea claims much more land than the part that's actually settled. Almost the entire northern half of the country is a vast wilderness, ranging from tundra and fungal pine forest in the south to the blasted polar wastes of the north. This part of the country is mostly uninhabited, but ice witches go there on pilgrimmage to commune with the spirits of winter, and the Hyperborean armies occasionally go to fight off attacks from the multi-armed, hairy rampaging beasts that range down from the pole during winter.

The Scarlet City
More of a city-state than a true county, the Scarlet City is one of the few permanent dwellings of the Silent Ones. The city is a technical marvel, a mass of turning gears and puffs of steam and reddish light shining from the ever-burning streetlights, and its technicians travel far and wide offering their services to all the kingdoms in Agarica. Non-Silent Ones are not allowed to remain within the walls after nightfall under penalty of death, but the trade-town outside the gates is still full more often than not. The latest source of speculation on the Silent Ones' actions is the balloon that's risen over the city. Enormous and covered in scaffolding, the Silent Ones seem to be building some kind of structure beneath it and rumors are that they are building a flying city. Most people scoff and something so obviously ridiculous, but others look at the cloud kingdoms and note that the Predecessors did it and no one is quite sure what the limits of the Silent Ones artifice really is.

Etemenanki
Built by the Predecessors long ago, Etemenanki still draws adventurers seeking to delve into its secrets. It is an enormous tower over two miles high, thrusting itself up from the plains on the west of the Muskalan Confederacy. It is so tall that it overshadows many of the Cloud Kingdoms in their orbits, and so Etemenanki is the primary point for those seeking to trade with the inhabitants of those isolated dwellings. While there are routes mapped out that traverse much of the tower, it is so large that well over 90% of its rooms and corridors remain unexplored, either because no one has found a way in, because they are protected by Predecessor traps or wild animals, or simply because they're too far away from the settled regions. The occasional haul of artifacts from an expedition outweighs the tales of hideous death met by many as they explore the tower, though, and so the explorations continue.

The Great Bridge
Perhaps the largest remaining Predecessor artifact in the world, the Great Bridge connects the continents of Agarica and Pithek, extending almost a fifty miles across the Narrow Sea. The entire surface appears to be formed of a mirror-smooth reddish crystal, but it offers as much purchase as well as cobblestone to travellers' feet. Despite its utility, the bridge is rarely used--it is low enough now that waves often wash over it, and there is obviously no place to find food or water other than the sea. Furthermore, the carnivorous fish of the Narrow Sea will occasionally leap over and snatch a traveler to drag them to their doom. Despite these dangers, a few fishing communities have built ramshackle towns in and around the structure of the Great Bridge. These communities are great places for those who want to have few questions asked about their background or who have nowhere else to go.

Pithek
The Scrublands
At the southern terminus of the Great Bridge lies a flat expanse of grasslands dotted with the occasional copse of trees. There are no settlements here, and the area is home to groups of thunder lizards, tribes of savage kong, and ruins from the long-vanished Kong Imperium. There are no colonies from Agarica here because there's nothing anyone wants, and the dangers of the land make it not worth the risks.

The Shifting Sands
Much of the northwestern part of Pithek is a trackless desert, home to widely-scattered oases, savage creatures, tribes of nomadic mycon and brown-scaled relatives of the raptok, and pyramids built by the Predecessors. They extend hundreds of miles toward the Great Sea before petering out in a range of unnamed mountains far to the west. The desert is not well-mapped, and without a reliable map of the oases and with few guides, it is little-traveled.

The Kong Jungles
Across the Narrow Sea from the Kingdom of Flowers and the Kappa Wastes is the vast, steaming bulk of the Kong Jungles. Dotted with ruined temple-cities and outposts of the imperial legions, it's now overrun by barbarian kong tribes, thunder lizards, and predatory flora, and dotted with the settlements of the kremlings. The kremlings are much more civilized than their former masters, but they also are highly isolationist and do shun contact with outsiders unless their venomancers need further raw material for their experiments. Despite the dangers, the sheer variety of alchemical reagents and artifacts from the imperial cities means that there's always one group or another heading to the jungles hoping to make a big score

The rest of Pithek
...is little explored, the hostile nature of the area just across the Great Bridge and the dangers of sea travel except over very short routes or while hugging the coast means that very little of Pithek has been explored, and since what has been explored is so unappealing, there is little appetite for more. The occasional band of enterprising adventurers or explores travels to Pithek, but the continent swallows most of them without a trace. For the moment, Pithek jealously guards its secrets.

The Cloud Kingdoms
There are a number of floating islands, of varying sizes and hovering at varying heights over the land. Most of them are too small to support much more than some small fungus or scraggly trees simply due to a lack of water, but some of the larger ones are inhabited, usually by amanita or by the isolationist pidgit-folk, who refer to all ground-dwellers as "dirtwalkers" with a sneer in their voices and refuse to deal with them. Those who climb Etemenanki can earn their respect and bargain with them for the secrets they have wrested from the cloud-spirits.

Rumors persist of kingdoms that are cloud in truth as well as in name, made of somehow-solid cloud matter, with cloud-plants and cloud-animals and cloud-people. There is never any kind of reliable source for these rumors, only a tale heard in a tavern or something told from a friend of a friend to a caravan guard, but despite that, the tales keep being passed along.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on April 27, 2014, 08:20:40 PM
I need to get Hexographer or something so I can make one of those old-school maps.  (http:///smile.gif)
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Rasyr on April 28, 2014, 12:27:53 AM
that would be cool
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on April 30, 2014, 01:40:01 AM
The Predecessors
History is not a particularly advanced profession in the Kingdom of Flowers, to say nothing of the surrounding lands. The ancient Kong Empire to the south, across the Great Bridge, carved their history in letters two inches deep on the ziggurats of their temple-cities, but their degenerate descendants cannot even read. The raptok keep simple palm-cord records of their geneologies but care little about the lives of others. The kappa shamans know only what their ancestors tell them, and anything the Silent Ones know, they refuse to speak of.

There was an original civilization, or perhaps multiple civilizations, that predate the modern civilizations of Agarica and Pithek. Their ruins lay all over the known world, from the glittering miles of the Great Bridge that connects the northern and southern continents to the underground vaults built of mirror-smooth bluish stone to the cloud-islands that hover in the sky to the great pyramids in the deserts of Pithek. Some sages believe that the birdlike statues left behind in some of the ruins hint at the true appearance of the Predecessors, pointing to their giant stature and the scale on which many of the ruins were built. Others point to the use of trefoil patterns and postulate a race with radial symmetry, like the squids that infest the Narrow Sea. Still others point to the cloud kingdoms and confidently proclaim that the Predecessors must have had wings. Some sages believe that there were multiple groups who destroyed each other in a series of cataclysmic wars, leaving the land free for the emergence of younger civilizations. Not so much as a single Predecessor bone has ever been found, much less a carven image that could be definitively identified as one, so the question remains.

Though no Predecessors live in the ruins, they are frequently still inhabited. The underground caverns are remarkably geologically stable, and while cracks in the walls occasionally let in magma or toxic fumes, many caves are inhabited by mycon or kappa tribes who seek solitude and will enforce it with their blades. Some of them are inhabited by hideous creatures, like the shadowcrawlers that hide on walls and ceilings and leap down on their prey, the predatory or pyroclastic plants, the firedragons who swim in the magma, the degenerate reptilians that look like kappa except for their vacant expressions and the spikes that adorn their shells, or the undead remains of those who succumbed to the ruins' many dangers. Some ruins even have still-active traps: whips of flame that suddenly swing out of walls, collapsing and resetting floors or ceilings, elevators that lead down into unknown darkness, or floors that vanish to dump intruders into spiked pits only to reappear above the mangled corpse. Above-ground ruins tend to have been plundered long ago and be much less dangerous, but there are exceptions.

One important aspect of Predecessor remnants is the Warp. There are a series of pipes through the known world, constructed of a shiny green metal that cannot be destroyed or even harmed. They are found everywhere--in the remaining Predecessor ruins, sticking out of hillsides, in the middle of amanitan towns, in the Kappa Wastes, even under the sea. Many of them are simply the pipes they appear as, and entering them only goes for a short distance before the the path is blocked by earth or silt or rock, but others go...elsewhere. Sages call the place that connects the pipes the Warp, and it allows the traveler to cross vast distances in the blink of an eye, or even travel to other worlds. Many great historical events feature the presence of one of these other-worldly visitors: the collapse of the Kong Empire is traced to a revolt by their kremling slaves instigated by one such, and there are entire legend cycles of the Hero in Green who appears from the Warp just when things seem at their darkest.

Many mandragora hope that in the current crisis in the Kingdom of Flowers a wandering hero will come to save them, but so far, it appears only a hope.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Witchking20k on May 01, 2014, 02:48:28 PM
What wonderful work- and I think Wonderful is the appropriate word.  You should be very proud.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Rasyr on May 02, 2014, 02:02:18 PM
I definitely agree.. This is just soo cool overall!!  I have this urge to create a gnome-like race based upon the Amanita (just a bit shorter though).
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on May 30, 2014, 01:03:12 AM
I am still working on this--I just spent a while bouncing around on what I should do next, and finally decided to do hedge magic to get the baseline of how powerful magic is out of the way before I write any of the sorcery schools listed above. Those will be a bit more complex, since they're all taught by specific organizations, so the sorcery schools are bound up in training paths and will end up written together where advancement in the training path grants more sorcerous power and the ability to learn spells. (http:///smile.gif)Then alchemy, artificing, a bestiary...I'll keep grinding away, though I'm not actually playtesting this yet, so things may go pretty slowly.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Rasyr on May 30, 2014, 03:49:21 PM
Cool!!!! Cannot wait!!
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on June 03, 2014, 01:28:36 AM
I lied.  :-[ I revamped skills first.

Skills and Healing revamp

I almost always end up tinkering with the skill list in the games I run, with the notable exception of White Wolf games. I can't really claim realism or anything, because a realistic skill list would have tens of thousands of skills (almost 7000 (http://www.ethnologue.com/" class="bbcode_url) for languages alone!) and give the players hundreds if not thousands of points to spend at character creation, and that's just too much to deal with. It's just aesthetic preference.

Combat Skills
Axes & Hammers: Axes, battle axes, warhammer, etc.
Blunt Weapon: Maces, flails, morningstars, clubs, staves, and so on.
Long Blade: This is the skill for broadswords and all larger swords.
Marksman: This is the skill for bows, crossbows, slings, and other ranged weaponry.
Short Blade: This is the skill for shortswords and all smaller swords.
Spears: Spears, short spears, polearms, and other long-hafted pointy weapons.
Throwing: Any muscle-powered thrown weapon uses this skill.
Unarmed: This should be pretty self-explanatory.

Magical Skills
Hedge Magic (Will): This is the skill for minor magics and petty cantrips. It works the same way the Spellcasting skill normally works, with a single skill rating and multiple spells that use it.
Eldritch Lore (Int): This is similar to the Magecraft skill, but has a slightly different focus. It has no base skill, only specializations, which include the Outer Dark, specific schools of sorcery, the Predecessors, necromancy, etc.
Magical Sense (Wis): Often called "Witchsight," this skill is only available to sorcerers and is more expansive and less limited than the Sense Magic Talent. Magical Sense can see the swirl of magic around magical items (whether they are in-use or not), places of power, sorcerers, Predecessor ruins, and so on. It has no range limits beyond those imposed by the character's own senses, but it is a double-edged sword--just as strong light can blind physical sight, powerful magic can blind witchsight and leave the sorcerer vulnerable.
[Sorcery] (varies): This is not one single skill, but many. Every sorcery spell is a single skill, and all must be bought and trained separately. What spells are available varies based on the school of sorcery the character chooses. Major Adepts treat the spells as Favored skills, and Minor Adepts treat them as unfavored skills. Non-Adepts cannot learn sorcery, though they may learn hedge magic.

Non-combat skills
Acrobatics: As written.
Athletics: As written.
Command (Cha): Command is the ability to give orders and expect people to obey them. It is primarily used in military or strictly hierarchical situations with positions of authority, though it can also be used to exert control over a mob. It can even cover orders in a bureaucratic situation, but that will often come across as imperious and may lead to difficulties down the line even if the target follows the character's orders.
Crafting: As written.
Deceive (Cha): Deceive is the ability to spin a convincing lie and to keep track of lies already told. It can be used to bluff past guards, scam money from people, convince others of the character's authority, or forge documents. It's usually opposed by Empathy.
Empathy (Wis): Empathy is the ability to determine what other people are feeling, including telling if they're lying or trying to discover any ulterior motives. It's often used to oppose other social skills.
Endurance (Con): Endurance is the skill to keep going under adverse conditions. It is used to resist spells that target the body, diseases and poisons, torture, extreme temperatures, and so on. It is also used to keep going on forced marches, swim for hours, go without sleep, or otherwise continue when others would have given up.
First Aid: See below for how I've modified the healing rules.
Gimmickry: As written.
Intimidate (Str): Intimidate is the skill of achieving goals through threat of force, either direct or indirect, physical or social. It is not typically subtle. It is often opposed by Empathy or Resolve.
Lore: As Written. Specializations here include Culture Lore (for the different countries, plus Kremlings, Kong Imperium, Mycon, Pidgit-folk, etc.), Star Road, Strategy/Tactics, Law, History, Engineering, etc.
Navigation: As written.
Negotiate (Cha): In addition to buying low and selling high, this skill also covers trade deals, making treaties between two rival groups, and acting as an impartial third party. It has some aspects of persuasion, but the skill-set is not entirely the same.
Perception: As written.
Performing Arts: As written.
Persuade (Cha): Persuade is the ability to convince others to do what you want through charm or reason. It involves both appeals to emotion or to logic, depending on the individual making the arguments. It is often opposed by Empathy or by other social skills.
Resolve (Will): This is the character's mental fortitude. It is used to resist spells targeting the mind or emotions, anything that might damage the character's sanity, intimidation, mental deprivation, and so on.
Riding: As written.
Stealth: As written.
Streetwise: As written.
Survival: As written.
Tracking: As written.
Trickery: As written.

Healing
Above 1/3rd of the character's total hit points, everything works exactly the same as the Novus healing rules would indicate.

From 1/3rd of the character's total hit points to 0, they're Wounded. They heal only their Constitution Bonus in hit points. A Constitution Bonus of +0 heals one hit point every two days, -1 heals one hit point every three days, and so on. This level of healing continues until the character is no longer Wounded. Successful use of First Aid on a Wounded character heals an extra number of hits equal to half the ranks they have in their First Aid skill.

Below 0 hit points, they're Heavily Wounded. They heal their Constitution Bonus in hit points per week. A Constitution Bonus of zero heals one hit point every week and a half, a Constitution Bonus of of -1 heals 1 point every two weeks, and so on. This level of healing continues until the character reaches 0 hit points, at which point they become Wounded. Successful use of First Aid on a Heavily Wounded character heals one tenth (rounded up) of the ranks the healer has in their First Aid skill. A character may benefit from First Aid once per day.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on June 08, 2014, 06:25:58 PM
Most sorcerers in Agarica draw their power from spirits, channeling external energies to power their magicks: the sorcerer-priests of the Kingdom of Flowers and the Great Goddesses, the briarwitches and the spirits of the forest, the shamans of the kappa tribes manifest and their ancestors, and the warlocks of the Circle of Xhamekh and the  dark that lies Beyond the Star Road. However, the most common form of magic has nothing to do with the spirits. Hedge magic isn't as powerful as sorcery since it relies  on the wielder's own personal energy stores, but it's much easier to use and the lack of dependence on insular organizations means that it's much more widespread than  sorcery. While it's not ubiquitous by any means, nearly every large village has a hedge wizard or witch who can perform a few cantrips, and many people know a single  spell that's useful in their daily lives.

Hedge magic is mostly personal. Rare is the spell that can affect anything other than the caster, and the majority of those spells only function through touch. Most  spells also require a lengthy casting time, so while a powerful pyromancer can wave their hands and incinerate a group of bandits, a powerful hedge wizard can light a  fire after chanting for thirty seconds.

Hedge wizards need only take the Hedge Magic skill to use their talents, and otherwise it functions under the normal rules for casting spells given in Novus. A hedge wizard may take the Minor Adept Talent with a  focus on Hedge Magic to purchase Hedge Magic spells at the Major Adept pricing level. In addition, some spells come in multiple closely-related versions, such as  Baker's Boon or Ward Off Rain. A character who knows one version of such spell may buy other versions for half the normal cost.

Note: Trying to reverse-engineer these spells will show that they are more expensive to cast or to modify with casting options than the spell-creation system would  indicate. This is deliberate.

Hedge Magic Spells

Abjure Cold (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  12
Cost:    3
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: 5 minutes
Duration:One day
Description: The caster is protected from natural temperature extremes down to 0 degrees. They can wear normal spring clothing and walk through cold winds and snow  with no ill effects for the spell's duration. Skilled hedge witches can protect themselves from even more extreme temperatures, though Abjure Cold automatically  fails against any magically-tainted cold or ice sorcery. Another version of this spell called Abjure Heat protects from heat up to 100 degrees, but is otherwise  the same.
Base: Ward
Casting Options: Per additional day (+6 CTN/+2 SP), Per additional 10 degrees (+3 CTN/+1 SP)

Aethyrial Eyes (MJ 4/Mn 5/ N 6)
CTN:  23
Cost:    5
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: One minute    
Duration:One hour
Description: After using this spell, the caster can sense the presence of nearby spirits. Only their presence is detected and something of their nature (forest  spirit vs. solar spirit vs. earth spirit, etc.), not their specific location or actions.
Base: Reveal

Baker's Boon (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  16
Cost:    2
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: 10 minutes    
Duration:One hour
Description: This spell aids cooks, making sure that their bread rises well, that the soup doesn't burn, and that the soufflé doesn't collapse. It provides a +2  bonus to any use of the Craft: Cooking skill for its duration. There are dozens of versions of this spell for nearly any craft or skill imaginable. All of them only work  on tasks that require time investment under relatively simple conditions, however--in game terms, on a subdivision of the Craft skill. There is no Athlete's Boon  that makes running easier or Swordswoman's Boon that allows the caster to fight better.
Base: Aid
Casting Options: Up to one day (+6 CTN/+2 SP), Increase bonus to +4 (+3 CTN/+2 SP)

Boar's Stomach (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:    14  
Cost:  2
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: 10 minutes
Duration:One day
Description: The caster's stomach becomes much more accommodating, allowing them to eat nearly anything that could possibly provide nutrition. Boar's  Stomach cannot be used more days in a row than the caster's Constitution, and after such a period the hedge wizard needs a similar period of eating regularly to calm  their system down. This spell does nothing to make the food more appetizing.
Base: Transform

Calling the Flames (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:    12
Cost:    1
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 3 rounds
Duration:Instant
Description: The caster touches a flammable object and casts the spell, and the target kindles alight. It cannot be cast on any living thing. It can be used  on clothing, though the long casting time makes it impractical unless the target is restrained.
Base: Conjure

Clasped Together (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:     12
Cost:    2
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 5 minutes
Duration:One day
Description: This spell allows the hedge witch to stick two objects together. One object can be an immobile surface such as a floor or wall, but the other must be  small and light enough for the caster to hold in a single hand. The magic is not particularly powerful, and trying to pull the two objects apart is only TN 12.
Base: Telekinesis
Casting Options: Per additional day (+6 CTN/+2 SP), Per +1 to the TN to break objects (+1 CTN/+1 SP)

Diang's Touch (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  12
Cost:    3
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 3 rounds
Duration:Special
Description: Originally from the Kingdom of Flowers, this spell has spread throughout most of Agarica. It allows the hedge wizard to enchant a single metal weapon  to increase its DR by 1 for the duration of the next combat or for an hour, whichever comes first.
Base: Aid
Casting Options: +1 additional DR to weapon (+3 CTN/+2 SP), last for multiple combats up to an hour (+4 CTN/+1 SP)

Discourse with Birds (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:   15
Cost:    2
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: One minute
Duration:One hour
Description: After casting this spell, the hedge wizard can speak the language of birds, understanding them and being understood in turn. It doesn't grant any  particular understanding of avian customs or insight into the avian mind, and such conversations are often fraught with miscommunications and frustrations. There are many  varieties of this spell, covering all the myriad kinds of animals.
Base: Communication
Casting Options: Up to one day (+5 CTN/+2 SP)

Draw Out Sickness (MJ 5/Mn 6/ N 7)
CTN:   24
Cost:    5
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 20 minutes
Duration::One day
Description: This lengthy spell gives the target a +2 bonus to their next roll to resist a disease they are currently suffering from. It does not to prevent the  target from contracting such a sickness in the first place. A variant of this spell, Draw Out Poison, works on venoms and toxins of all kinds.
Base: Aid
Casting Options: Up to one week (+8 CTN/+3 SP), increase bonus to +4 (+3 CTN/+1 SP)

The Evil Eye (MJ 5/Mn 6/ N 7)
CTN:   26
Cost:    6
Vs:   Will (TN 16) / Resolve
Range:   20 feet
Casting: 3 rounds
Duration:One hour
Description: The hedge wizard looks balefully at their target and curses them, draining their proficiency in a single area of expertise. In game terms, it applies  a -2 penalty to a single skill.
Base: Aid
Casting Options: Up to one day (+6 CTN/+2 SP), increase penalty to -4 (+3 CTN/+1 SP)

Flicker (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:   17
Cost:   2
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: Instant
Duration:1 minute
Description: With a hurried chant and a gesture, the hedge witch vanishes from sight. The spell only lasts a moment--just long enough for the caster to move to a  better hiding place--but after casting it, the hedge witch can make a Stealth roll even if under direct observation.
Base: Illusion

Gleam and Shine (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  12
Cost:    1
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 2 rounds
Duration:Instant
Description: Touching a reflective or clear surface and speaking the words of this spell, the hedge wizard cleans and polishes the surface as well as an hour of  manual labor could. Gleam and Shine does not work on anything living.
Base: Change Environment

Gnomon (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  12
Cost:    2
Vs:   N/A
Range: Self
Casting: 5 minutes
Duration:Instant
Description: This spell allows the hedge witch to determine the time of day and the direction she is facing at the time of casting. It only functions during the  day.
Base: Reveal
Casting Options: Spell lasts 20 minutes (+10 CTN/+3 SP), Spell lasts one hour (+15 CTN/+6 SP),

Grasp of Iron (MJ 3/Mn 4/ N 5)
CTN:   19
Cost:    3
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: One minute
Duration:20 minutes
Description: One of the caster's palms gains the resilience of iron, allowing them to pick up sharp, hot, or cold items without injury. They also gain a +1 bonus  to unarmed attempts at grappling or subduing someone.
Base: Aid/Transform
Casting Options: Up to one hour (+5 CTN/+2 SP)

Grasp of Sparks (MJ 3/Mn 4/ N 5)
CTN:    19
Cost:    3
Vs:   DEF
Range:  Touch
Casting: Instant
Duration:One round
Description: The hedge wizard's hand flickers blue as he touches a target and unleashes a static discharge. If the target fails to Save, they are stunned for one  round.
Base: Flash
Casting Options: Per extra round stunned (+2 CTN/+1 SP)

Hide of the Ox (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  16
Cost:    3
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: 3 rounds
Duration:One hour
Description: The caster's skin hardens, becoming more resistant to damage and granting AR 1. This stacks with worn or natural armor, but not any other form of  sorcerous protection.
Base: Defend
Casting Options: Up to one day (+5 CTN/+2 SP), increase bonus to AR 2 (+4 CTN/+2 SP)

Hold Fast (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  12
Cost:    2
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 5 minutes
Duration:One day
Description: The hedge wizard touches a door, window, or other locked portal and recites the spell, and the target behaves as though stoutly barred for the spell's  duration. It can still be broken into (Save vs. STR TN 16 / Athletics roll), it simply requires more force than normal.
Base: Telekinesis
Casting Options: Per additional day (+5 CTN/+2 SP)

Maiden's Prayer (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:    12
Cost:    2
Vs:  N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 5 minutes    
Duration:One day
Description: The target of this spell becomes unable to sire or conceive a child for the spell's duration. A variant, Gelding's Gift, works on domesticated  animals.
Base: Aid/Heal

New Life's Welcome (MJ 4/Mn 5/ N 6)
CTN:  22
Cost:    3
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 10 minutes
Duration:One day
Description: This spell is used during childbirth to reduce the risk to both mother and child. When cast successfully, it can prevent infection, reduce the  recovery time for the mother, and make even dangerous situations like breach births go smoothly. A version of this spell called Foal's Blessing works on  unintelligent animals.
Base: Aid

Predict the Weather (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:   12
Cost:    2
Vs:   N/A
Range: Self
Casting: 1 minute
Duration:Instant
Description: The caster looks up at the open sky and reads the patterns in the clouds and the winds, allowing them to determine the probable course of the weather  up to a day in the future. Predict the Weather cannot account for the interference of sorcerers or mischevious or malevolent spirits.
Base: Divination

Rope Trick (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:     17
Cost:    3
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 3 rounds
Duration:10 minutes
Description: This spell allows the hedge witch to manipulate the entire length of a rope while simply grabbing one end. The rope can move in any direction and tie  itself in knots, but it neither moves quickly enough nor has enough force to entangle anything that can move faster than a snail. It may be up to 50 feet long.
Base: Animation

Shadows Hide Me (MJ 3/Mn 4/ N 5)
CTN:     19
Cost:    3
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: 2 rounds
Duration:Up to one hour
Description: The hedge wizard uses this spell while concealed, and it makes the shadows around them deeper and harder to see through. The caster gains a +4 bonus  to their Stealth roll to remain hidden as long as they stay in the same place. The bonus, and the spell, fail instantly if the caster moves.
Base: Aid

Shepherd's Call (MJ 3/Mn 4/ N 5)
CTN:    20
Cost:    5
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Up to one mile
Casting: 15 minutes
Duration:Special
Description: This spell summons animals that are well known to the hedge witch, either because they are theirs and have been named, or because the hedge witch  marked them in some way, such as with a collar, dye, a brand, and so on. The summoned animal will come to the caster will as much speed as they can without compromising  their safety. It does not work on any intelligent creature.
Base: Influence/Summon

Soothing Hands (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  12
Cost:    2
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 3 rounds
Duration:Instant
Description: This simple healing spell cures minor injuries, restoring the caster's Willpower Bonus in hit points. More skilled hedge wizards can also use it to  stop bleeding, though major injuries still require medical attention or a sorcerer's aid. Soothing Hands cannot be used more than once on the same set of injuries.
Base: Heal
Casting Options: Per additional hit point (+1 CTN/+1 SP), Per point of bleeding healed (+2 CTN/+1 SP),

Spring's Freshness (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:    15
Cost:   1
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: 1 minute  
Duration:Instant
Description: The hedge witch is cleansed of dirt, grime, blood, stains, and otherwise made clean and fresh. It won't provide any health effects and cannot cure  wounds or stop bleeding, nor does it work on any of the caster's clothing or gear, but it does remove dead skin, detangle hair, and otherwise provide all the benefits of  a long shower with soap. This is quite possibly the most widely-known spell in the world.
Base: Transform

Swift Slumber (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  12
Cost:    2
Vs:   N/A
Range: Self
Casting: 5 minutes
Duration:Special
Description: Immediately after casting this spell, the caster lies down and goes to sleep. Thereafter, every hour spent asleep is as refreshing and invigorating as  two hours normally would be.
Base: Aid
Casting Options: For a +1 bonus to all rolls an hour after waking (+8 CTN/+3 SP)

Wanderer's Blessing (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:   12
Cost:    1
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Touch
Casting: 10 minutes
Duration:One day
Description: This handy spell keeps a pound of food from spoiling for one day. There are other variants of this spell as well, like Vintner's Blessing for  wine or Embalmer's Blessing for those with less savory practices.
Base: Ward
Casting Options: Per additional day (+5 CTN/+2 SP)

Ward Against Vermin (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:  15
Cost:    2
Vs:   Will (TN 16) / Resolve
Range:   1 yard radius
Casting: 1 minute
Duration:One hour
Description: After casting this spell, no pest up to the size of a rat will approach within 1 yard of the caster. Ward Against Vermin only functions against  animals acting naturally and free of coercion, and fails utterly against bewitched animals. Even sufficiently-large groups of rats or insects moving in unison can cause  it to fail, to the terminal disappointment of more than one hedge witch. More powerful hedge witches can even kill vermin who dare approach them.
Base: Ward
Casting Options: Up to one day (+3 CTN/+2 SP), per addition yard (+5 CTN/+2 SP), ward kills vermin (+8 CTN/+4 SP)

Ward Off Rain (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:   17
Cost:   1
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: 2 rounds
Duration:One day
Description: The caster is shielded from rain while the spell is in effect. No matter how powerful the storm, the hedge witch and their clothing will remain  completely dry. This can also protect against water being splashed or dripping while indoors, though a bucket is a large enough amount that it will shatter the spell.  There are other less-widespread versions of this, such as Ward Off Blood for midwives or Ward Off Alcohol for those who frequent taverns. There's even a  Ward Off Sunlight known by some members of the nobility.
Base: Ward

Witchlight (MJ 2/Mn 3/ N 4)
CTN:     17
Cost:    2
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Self
Casting: 3 rounds
Duration:One hour
Description: This spell creates a glowing globe of light that hovers around the caster, illuminating the area as well as a torch. The color varies--though it's  usually some variant of red or gold, some witchlights are cooler colors as well. The casting options allow the caster to move the witchlight up to the maximum range, but  it will automatically move to remain within that range if the caster moves.
Base: Change Environment
Casting Options: Witchlight can move 10 feet away (+2 CTN/+1 SP), Witchlight can move 50 feet away (+5/+2SP)

Witchsight (MJ 3/Mn 4/ N 5)
CTN:  19
Cost:    3
Vs:   N/A
Range:  Special
Casting: 1 minute
Duration:10 minutes
Description: The caster can see the flows of magic through the world, allowing them to make Perception rolls to determine if there are active spells or sorcerers  within their line of sight. No extra information about the magic is granted, though the appearance is often tinged by the tradition the sorcerer is from. A priest of  Tharu's magic might appear as a mystic wind or a tinged with lighting, while a kappa shaman might seem to be guided by their ancestor as they make the gestures to use  their spells. If the caster knows the spell they are looking at, they can automatically identify it. GMs may allow Eldritch Lore rolls to identify other magic if  appropriate.
Base: Reveal
Casting Options: Up to 20 minutes (+4 CTN/+2 SP), Up to one hour (+8 CTN/+3 SP)
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Rasyr on June 09, 2014, 02:08:28 PM
Very interesting spells!
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on June 12, 2014, 04:31:08 PM
Thanks!

I actually think a pretty good setting would come out of making magic just that kind of low-power everyday stuff on one end and rituals on the other...but it's not this setting.

Next up is probably one of the sorcerer-priest orders of the Great Goddesses. Not sure which one yet.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Trentin Bergeron on June 13, 2014, 01:09:48 AM
1) This is all awesome sauce!

2) I love the additions to the skill list. There is some smart additions there. Do you feel Endurance overlaps with what a standard CON save might cover?

3) The healing idea is superb! I like the gritty nature of it. I wonder if the system would benefit from a hit points/wounds breakdown where once hit points are reduced to 0, you reduce wounds with a similar scheme? I would worry that the healing idea as presented is effectively removing 1/3 of a characters HP. Also, I think there really should be some gradual effect when damage becomes extreme. I know some people don't like the "death spiral" and that total effect can be mitigated, but if you're taking lots of damaging hits, there should be some affect on your abilities. I would have to brainstorm some ideas.

Dorchadas - Maybe we could start a new thread in Novus forum on "alternative damage systems" and see what ideas we can drum up?
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Witchking20k on June 13, 2014, 02:34:37 PM
Firstly, this is amazing material.  I hope Tim is negotiating furiously for you to publish it with/through him! LOL

On the Damage Systems note...

Tim and I had a discussion some months ago about that sort of thing.  I introduced a Wound Threshold into my game.  Basically- if you take your wound threshold in Hits from a single attack you start to suffer incremental penalties.  I play a lot of d6 currently- so, the penalty structure is based off of that.  I was tweaking how to calculate the threshold as we went.  But here is a sample based off of a Threshold of 5.

26+     Critical Injury -5 * Save vs. Con or Death
21-25   Severely Injured -3 ** Must Make Save vs. Will or Flee Battle
16-20   Injured -2 ** Must make Save vs. Will or Flee Battle
11-15   Hurt -1
6-10     Dazed -1 until next action
1-5       No Effect

The real success of this is that I introduced scaled enemies into the game.  Tim will recognise it from some of my previous writing:  But you scale the threshold based on the Challenge Rating of the Enemy: Vermin, Minion, Average, Tough, Strong, Mighty.  Then if they have a CON bonus it adds to the Threshold.

Example: Vermin Threshold 3, Minion 5, Average 7, Tough 9, Strong 11, Mighty 13

The end result was quicker battles as weaker foes would flee or perish due to the threshold.  It is a huge departure from core Novus rules- but, the BEST aspect of Novus is that it is customizable (as we have mentioned elsewhere).  I only play tested from levels 1-3.  The characters used the Threshold of Average 7+their CON bonus.

Another neat aspect is that to adjust the scale of the game you can simple adjust the Threshold up 1 degree for the players.  So, to run a higher-end, epic scale, game you can use the Tough 9+ Threshold for players.

Oh, and you can run a game without Hits using it if you want.  But, I haven't tried that.

Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on June 13, 2014, 03:55:55 PM
1) This is all awesome sauce!



Thanks!  (http:///bigwink.gif)

2) I love the additions to the skill list. There is some smart additions there. Do you feel Endurance overlaps with what a standard CON save might cover?




I'm actually planning on getting rid of saves and making everything skill-based (see this thread (http://www.firehawkgames.biz/forum/index.php?topic=1051.0" class="bbcode_url)), but I included saves in the mechanics (and will continue to do so) for people who aren't making as many changes to the basic system as I am.  (http:///smile.gif)

3) The healing idea is superb! I like the gritty nature of it. I wonder if the system would benefit from a hit points/wounds breakdown where once hit points are reduced to 0, you reduce wounds with a similar scheme? I would worry that the healing idea as presented is effectively removing 1/3 of a characters HP. Also, I think there really should be some gradual effect when damage becomes extreme. I know some people don't like the "death spiral" and that total effect can be mitigated, but if you're taking lots of damaging hits, there should be some affect on your abilities. I would have to brainstorm some ideas.




I thought about a death spiral, but I deliberately left it out because I want to encourage the use of Boon points for special effects, combat maneuvers, and targeting limbs to cause penalties to people rather than just swording someone in the hit points, which is probably what players would do if that caused combat penalties. (http:///tongue.gif)


Firstly, this is amazing material.  I hope Tim is negotiating furiously for you to publish it with/through him! LOL

On the Damage Systems note...

*snip*

Oh, and you can run a game without Hits using it if you want.  But, I haven't tried that.




A game without hit points and that system would be a bit like the way True20 works, I think. I like games without super-escalating hit points because it avoids one of the problems of D&D-like games--namely, the need to constantly introduce new, more powerful opposition as previous foes become pushovers. Novus has escalating HP, but within a fairly narrow range (well, except for kappa and raptok here, since they're so huge), so it allows for improvement while still letting a few guys with knives be a threat to a great warrior.

I do love the idea of having a mechanical way to determine who runs and when so that every battle isn't a fight against terminators. I'll probably come up with some way to include that in monster descriptions when I start statting them up.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Trentin Bergeron on June 13, 2014, 05:06:18 PM

...

On the Damage Systems note...

...




Now this is interesting... I will have to dig up the thread.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Witchking20k on June 13, 2014, 07:04:58 PM
There was no thread- it was a PM conversation- but feel free to start a new thread! Ah heck...I'll do it right now.

Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on June 16, 2014, 04:19:42 AM
The Order of the Star-Filled Sky
Sorcerer-Priests of Nyahré

Nyahré is the goddess of mysteries and endings, of night and the passage of time, and of hidden things, and while her priesthood as a whole takes up the duties of psychopomps, chroniclers, confessors, gravediggers, and exorcists, the Order of the Star-Filled Sky is devoted to the seeking of hidden knowledge and the defense against that which such seeking can uncover. After a year-long novitiate in which prospective members must take a vow of silence and a vow to avoid the light of the sun, they are initiated into the Order and taught the rudiments of sorcery.

Members of the Order of the Star-Filled Sky must obey the following rules:
--Honor Nyahré in All Things: Members of the order are priests of Nyahré first and foremost, and they must conduct all of the duties of the priesthood: the Rite of Renewal at the dark of the moon, hearing confession from those who wish to unburden their mind of secrets, exorcism of demons, and so on.
--Do Not Reveal the Secrets of the Order: While sorcery is the most obvious knowledge that falls under this stricture, many secrets are told to the Order in confession or are learned through their studies, and members may not reveal any of them without the permission of a higher-ranking members.
--Fight the Darkness Whenever You Encounter It: One of the primary duties of the Order is to combat the things that come from the darkness beyond the Star Road, the abominations called "demons" by the common people. Members of the Order are duty-bound to investigate any rumors of demons they encounter.

All members wear black robes and cloaks. The inside of their cloaks are often sewn with bits of glass, or gems for higher-ranking members, in the patterns of the night sky. Many members also wear masks bearing stylized smiling faces.

Ranks
Initiate
This is not the lowest ranking in the Order, but is it is the lowest ranking that has any contact with the outside world. Initiates attach themselves to a senior member, performing tasks as designated by their mentor.
CP Cost: 3
Prerequisites: Eldritch Lore (Path of Night and Secrets): 2, Lore (Star Road): 2, Lore (Kingdom of Flowers): 2, Major or Minor Adept Talent (Path of Night and Secrets)
Benefits:
--Support and access to a senior member of the Order, who can provide aid and assistance, but will also demand tasks of the character.
--Room and board in any Temple of Nyahré. Only the initiate may take advantage of this benefit.
--Tutoring in the spells Hidden from Darkness, Scent of Corruption, Shatter the Strands, Sidereal Revelation, and Star Fires.
Responsibilities: Initiates must obey all orders given to them by senior members of the Order. They are expected to especially obey the orders of their mentor without question, and must give 10% of any money they earn from any outside activities to the Order.

Seeker
Seekers are full-fledged members of the order, responsible for their own actions and able to travel as they desire. They often take some time to seek out new knowledge to add to the Order's archives.
CP Cost: 4
Prerequisites: Character is already an initiate, Eldritch Lore (Path of Night and Secrets): 8, Lore (Star Road): 8, Lore (Kingdom of Flowers): 8, one other Lore skill at 5, at least two spells at 8
Benefits:
--Access to the libraries of the Order of the Star-Filled Sky. This can provide bonuses to Lore rolls, at the GM's discretion.
--The character may buy the Nightvision Talent.
--Tutoring in the spells Cloak of Night, Golden Scale of Truth and Lies, Grasp Knowledge, Historical Discernment, and Unity of Minds
Responsibilities: Seekers are expected to share any esoteric knowledge they learn with the Order's historians for cataloging in the Order's archives.

Guardian
Guardians are distinguished from seekers by their greater knowledge of the mysteries, including some of the Order's rituals. This is the highest level most members of the Order ever attain.
CP Cost: 5
Prerequisites: Character is already a seeker, Eldritch Lore (Path of Night and Secrets): 15, Lore (Star Road): 15, Lore (Kingdom of Flowers): 15, one other Lore skill at 10, one Eldritch Lore skill at 5, at least one spell at 10 and three spells at 5
Benefits:
--Access to the secret archives of the Order of the Star-Filled Sky, containing forbidden knowledge and all those things the Order believes are too dangerous to be widely known. This can provide bonuses to Eldritch Lore rolls, at the GM's discretion.
--The character may buy the Darkvision Talent.
--Tutoring in the spells A Moment of Chains of Searing Light, Nyahré's Judgement, Unflinching Eye of the Starlit Heavens
--Tutoring in the rituals Still the Loose Tongue and Traverse the Star Road
Responsibilities: Guardians must investigate any rumors of demonic activity they hear about on their travels and verify the truth of the rumors and, if there is a basis, the danger such a threat poses and the best way to deal with it. They also expected to be a part of that solution, once they determine its nature.

Shrouded One
Few members of the order ever attain the title of Shrouded One, as it requires absolute devotion to the principles of Nyahré. Many shrouded ones conceal their appearance at all times, and some of them seem to fade from sight and from memory to a preternatural degree.
CP Cost: 6
Prerequisites: Character is already a guardian, Eldritch Lore (Path of Night and Secrets): 20, Lore (Star Road): 20, Lore (Kingdom of Flowers): 20, two other Lore skills at 10, one Eldritch Lore skill at 10, at least two spells at 10 and four spells at 5
Benefits:
--The ability to found their own sanctum of the Order, which is authorized to train new members and contain archives of eldritch lore.
--The character may buy the Occulted Talent.
--Tutoring in the rituals Eternal Imprisonment and Instill Knowledge
Responsibilities: Shrouded Ones are the masters of the Order of the Star-Filled Sky, and as such have many administrative duties that they must fulfill. That does not relinquish them from their duties to hunt out demons and seek all knowledge they can, which means that Shrouded Ones are often incredibly busy at all times.

b]New Talent: Occulted[/b]
Cost: 5 CP
Trainable: No
Description: The character's appearance is supernaturally bland, with even the eyes of those deliberately looking for them seeming to slide right over them. Anyone attempting to find the character in a crowd or remember any details about their appearance suffers a -4 penalty to the attempt. Furthermore, without extraordinary attempts to remember their appearance--drawing a portrait soon after meeting them, magically recording the members, etc.--after about a month, observers will remember no distinguishing characteristics about the character at all.

The Path of Night and Secrets
The magic of the Order of the Star-Filled Sky is dedicated to seeking out knowledge, to uncovering secrets, and to fighting demons. It is the most overtly martial of any of the orders of sorcerer-priests, even more so than Diang's, but damaging spells may only be used on creatures of darkness--demons, the walking dead, ghasts, blooddrinkers, and so on.

A Moment of Eternity (Wis)
CTN: 20
Cost: 2
Vs: N/A
Range: Self
Casting: Instant
Duration: 20 minutes
Description: This spell stops time, but only for the caster. Or perhaps it speeds up their thoughts so much that time only appears to be stopped. Regardless, while the spell is in effect, the caster cannot move or cast spells, but they can think or work through any purely mental exercise or problem. This can reduce the amount of time necessary to research a problem by a large amount--though the caster cannot turn the pages of books while they are under the effects of A Moment of Eternity, it can make translation or other such tasks much faster. It is also possible for two members of the Order who are linked by Unity of Minds to simultaneously cast this spell and conduct an extended conversation in an instant.
Base: Movement
Casting Options: Up to one hour (+8 CTN/+3 SP)

Chains of Searing Light (Will)
CTN: 28
Cost: 5
Vs: DEF
Range: 50 feet
Casting: Instant
Duration: 1 minute
Description: The caster waves their chains and glowing chains appear out of the air and bind the target tightly, burning their flesh and restricting their movement. If the target fails to get out of the way, they are Stunned for the spells' duration and suffer the caster's Willpower Bonus in damage every round. This damage does not scale, and can be prevented only by non-metal or natural armor. It normally only works on creatures of darkness, but can be modified to work on any target.
Base: Attack/Flash
Casting Options: affects non-creature of darkness (+4 CTN/+2 SP), up to 10 minutes (+4 CTN/+2 SP), up to one hour (+8 CTN/+3 SP), per additional targe (+2 CTN/+1 SP)

Cloak of Night (Int)
CTN: 24
Cost: 4
Vs: N/A
Range: 50 feet
Casting: Instant
Duration: 10 minutes
Description: This relatively simple spell simply blots out all the light in a ten-foot radius globe. Any being with the Darkvision Talent or another ability to see through darkness will be able to ignore the spell, but anyone else will be blinded. That includes the caster, unless they have some mystical way of seeing in total darkness.
Base: Change Environment
Casting Options: Increase casting range to 100 feet (+1 CTN/+1 SP), per extra 5 foot radius (+2 CTN / +1 SP)

Golden Scale of Truth and Lies (Wis)
CTN: 15
Cost:
Vs: Will (TN )/ Resolve
Range: 20 feet
Casting: Instant
Duration: 10 minutes
Description: The sorcerer casts this spell on a single target, and a scale takes shape in their sight. Every time the target speaks, the scale weighs their statements for truth and balances itself accordingly. Note that this only reveals what the target believes to be true, and a deluded target who sincerely believes what they are saying will ring true to the spell. The sorcerer and target do not need to share a common language for truth to be discerned. The spell only lasts while the caster is actively maintaining it, and will fail if their concentration is interrupted.
Base: Divination
Casting Options:

Grasp Knowledge (Wis)
CTN: 14
Cost: 1
Vs: Will (TN 15) / Resolve
Range: Touch
Casting: 3 rounds
Duration: Instant
Description: The Order of the Star-filled Sky is devoted to learning and secrets, even if those who know those secrets refuse to tell them. This spell allows the sorcerer to reach into the target's mind and scoop out knowledge like a dipper into a bucket of water. A single casting normally allows the caster to ask a yes/no question or read the target's memory of a single instant, but it is possible for more skilled sorcerers to learn more information than that at a time. Additional uses on the same target in a single day grant the target a +4 cumulative bonus to resist Grasp Knowledge.
Base: Telepathy
Casting Options: Up to 20 feet (+4 CTN/+2 SP), per additional subject scanned for (+3 CTN/+1 SP)

Hidden from Darkness (Int)
CTN: 17
Cost: 1
Vs:  N/A
Range: Self
Casting: Instant
Duration: 20 minutes
Description: The sorcerer can conceal themselves from creatures of darkness, preventing sight or scent from finding them. The spell is most effective when the caster remains totally still, since the air can have certain odd ripples during movement that will otherwise give the concealed away. This spell is highly maleable, and skilled sorcerers may change it to a great degree.
Base: Conceal
Casting Options: Hide from demonic senses (+5 CTN/+2 SP), per additional sense hidden (+3 CTN/+1 SP), per additional target hidden (+2 CTN/+1 SP), up to 20 foot range (+4 CTN/+2 SP), up to 1 hour duration (+3 CTN/+1 SP), affects non-creatures of darkness (+4 CTN/+2 SP)

Historical Discernment (Wis)
CTN: 20
Cost: 2
Vs:  N/A
Range: Touch
Casting: 5 minutes
Duration: 6 minutes
Description: By touching an object and casting this spell, the sorcerer can delve into its past, experiencing three of the most important and pivotal events in the object's life. A treasured sword might reveal its gifting from a duke to the duke's heir, the heir using the sword to kill her father, and the new duchess's death in battle. The events play out in the caster's mind, taking one minute of real time to view 10 minutes of history, allowing the sorcerer to view an hour of events at a time. Skilled casters can learn of even more events with a single caster or search for demons or demonic taint in the past, using the same criteria for such as the Scent of Corruption spell.
Base: Divination
Casting Options: Per additional event viewed (+2 CTN/+1 SP), experience 1 hour of subjective time in one minute (+3 CTN/+1 SP), sense demonic taint in past (+5 CTN/+2 SP), per additional target who experiences the visions (+2 CTN/+1 SP)

Nyahré's Judgement (Will)
CTN: 25
Cost: 4
Vs: Con (TN 18) / Endurance
Range: 50 feet
Casting: Instant
Duration: Special
Description: The sorcerer intones one of the secret names of Nyahré and points at a creature of darkness, and the target is enveloped with pure white flames. The target of the spell must roll two Con saves in a row to escape the flames (or the caster must accumulate three Boon points vs. the target's Endurance rolls), taking 1d10 hit points of damage every round. If the target fails two Con saves in a row, the flames utterly consume them, destroying them in a burst of holy light or banishing them from whence they came. Until the target escapes, neither the target nor the caster may take any action other than to engage in a contest of wills. Nyahré's Judgement works with lesser effect on goetic sorcerers or the demonically tainted; instead of dying when two Saves are failed, the target takes 2d10 damage and the spell ends.
Base: Attack II/Flash
Casting Options: Per additional 50 feet of range (+3 CTN/+1 SP), -1 penalty to the target's Save (+4 CTN/+2 SP)

Scent of Corruption (Wis)
CTN: 15
Cost: 1
Vs: Will (TN 17) / Stealth
Range: 50 feet
Casting: 1 minute
Duration: 20 minutes
Description: This spell allows the sorcerer to detect demons or demonic influence nearby. Actual demons in disguise or possessing a target will have a ghostly shadow of their true form layered over whatever form they are currently occupying, and targets of demonic magic will have faint wisps of vile black smoke swirling around them. If anyone who traffic with demons but is not currently under demonic influence is nearby, the caster will be able to smell the faint scent of rot, but will not be able to determine the source. The Scent of Corruption roll does not automatically pierce all concealment, and it is possible for clever or subtle demons to hide themselves even skilled Order sorcerers.
Base: Reveal.
Casting Options: Range up to 100 feet (+8 CTN/+2 SP), Lasts up to 1 hour (+3 CTN/+1 SP), reveals corruption to additional targets (+2 CTN/+1 SP each)

Shatter the Strands (Will)
CTN: 14
Cost: 1
Vs: Will (TN 15) / Resolve
Range: 50 feet
Casting: 2 rounds
Duration: Instant
Description: The caster can break chains of demonic magic, freeing those who have been caught in its terrible grasp. It can also exorcise those who have been possessed, though that is significantly harder and often it is easier to use a ritual designed for the purpose. By default, Shatter the Strands can dispel anything with a cost of 3 SP or less, though casting options may be used to increase this limit. It may be used on non-demonic magic as well, though it is more taxing when that occurs. When used for an exorcism, treat the demon's hit points as the SP needed to "dispel" it.
Base: Conjure
Casting Options: Per additional 3 SP of dispelling (+2 CTN/+1 SP), per additional 10 feet of range (+2 CTN/+1 SP), affects non-demonic magic (+5 CTN/+2 SP)
 
Sidereal Revelation (Wis)
CTN: 12
Cost: 1
Vs: N/A
Range: 10 feet
Casting: 2 rounds
Duration: 5 minutes
Description: The Star Road gazes down on everything below them, and this spell allows the Order to tap into some of what they see. It allows the caster to shift their senses to a location away from their body, as long as that location has an unobstructed path to the heavens--either by being outdoors, by being near an open window, by being in a tent with flaps open, or otherwise being privy to heaven's gaze. While the spell is in effect, the caster will known if their own body is attacked or moved, but all of their senses are otherwise at the location they have chosen as the spell's target.
Base: Reveal
Casting Options: Per additional 10 feet of range (+2 CTN/+1 SP), spell lasts 10 minutes (+3 CTN/+1 SP), spell lasts 20 minutes (+6 CTN/+2 SP)

Star Fires (Will)
CTN: 18
Cost: 1
Vs: DEF
Range: 50 feet
Casting: Instant
Duration: Instant
Description: This spell sears creatures of darkness with the clear light of the stars. It is a Damage 6 attack + Will bonus and counts as fire damage against anything it can affect, which includes demons, the demonically-tainted, and undead. Using this spell as a way to determine who carries demonic taint is inadvisable, as taint can come due to the malefic actions of sorcerers and not simply because of one's own actions.
Base: Attack
Casting Options: Affects all within a 5 foot radius (+5 CTN/+2 SP), per additional point of base daamge (+2 CTN/+1 SP)

Unflinching Eye of the Starlit Heavens (Wis)
CTN: 22
Cost: 3
Vs: Will (TN 17) / Resolve
Range: 25 foot radius
Casting: 2 rounds
Duration: 5 minutes
Description: The caster intones the words of this spell and a wash of light destroys all concealment and wipes away all illusions. Disguises become easy to see through, magically shapeshifted creatures or sorcerers display their true forms (though they do not actually change into them), invisibility and other methods of concealment are pierced, and so on. It only functions on targets that are under starlight, as per the Sidereal Revelation spell.
Base: Conjure/Reveal
Casting Options: Per additional 3 SP of spells seen through (+2 CTN/+1 SP), Per additional 5 foot radius of effect (+2 CTN/+1 SP)

Unity of Minds (Int)
CTN: 22
Cost: 3
Vs: N/A
Range: Touch
Casting: Instant
Duration: 10 minutes
Description: The sharing of knowledge is made easier when it can directly be pushed from mind to mind, and this spell allows that to happen. When the spell is cast on a willing target (and the target must be willing), the caster and the target are placed in a state of mental communication. They can freely share thoughts with each other and will always known each other's general direction and health as long as they remain within 50 feet of each other. The Order uses this spell both to coordinate actions while in dangerous places and to quickly impart knowledge. It is almost never used in teaching, as it is believed that imparting knowledge too easily won't give the student a proper respect for the effort required in learning.
Base: Telepathy.
Casting Options: Increase casting range to 10 feet (+2 CTN/+1 SP), increase casting range to 50 feet (+8 CTN/+3 SP), increase duration to one hour (+6 CTN/+2 SP), per additional target (+3 CTN/+1 SP), increase distance for link 50 feet (+2 CTN/+1 SP)

Rituals
Path of Night and Secrets rituals are cast using Wisdom.

Eternal Imprisonment[b/] (6 CP)
CTN: 37
Casting Time: 6 hours
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Eldritch Lore (Path of Night and Secrets) 15, Eldritch Lore (Outer Dark) 10
Consequences: None
Description: This powerful ritual requires 4 casters, but it allows a group of wizards to place a single target into stasis in a crystalline prison. The target must be placed in a circle inlaid with silver and iron and remain stationary for the entire duration of the ritual, but Eternal Imprisonment does not itself immobilize the target until the ritual is complete. If successful, an enormous crystal forms around the target, preventing them from taking any action at all for as long as the ritual lasts. It can be unwoven by anyone who knows Eternal Imprisonment and has enough time, but the casters must also choose a trigger condition that can be used to free the target. This can be a password, a length of time, a particular event such as a stellar conjunction, the presence of an item or person, and so on. Otherwise, no time passes for the target. They do not need to sleep, eat, or breathe, do not age, and exist in a deep slumber occasionally disturbed by odd dreams until they are freed.
Base: Flash/Ward

Still the Loose Tongue[b/] (6 CP)
CTN: 47
Casting Time: 6 hour
Range: Unlimited
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Eldritch Lore (Path of Night and Secrets) 10, Empathy 5
Consequences: The ritual rebounds on the caster, affecting them instead of the target
Description: Under the light of the stars, the sorcerer performs this ritual using one of the target's prized positions and an object that mystically represents a single topic--for example, a sword used in a particular war or battle for that conflict. If the ritual is successful, the target is completely unable to speak about that particular topic, even obliquely or through omission. Attempting to do so causes one hit point of damage as the target's mouth crashes down on their tongue and jams their teeth together. Continued attempts to do so will lead to nosebleeds, bleeding from the eyes or ears, or pounding headaches. Barring additional magic, the ritual is permanent.
Base: Influence

Traverse the Star Road[b/] (5 CP)
CTN: 32
Casting Time: 5 minutes
Range: Unlimited
Duration: Instant
Prerequisites: Eldritch Lore (Path of Night and Secrets) 10, Lore (Star Road) 10, Navigation 5
Consequences: The caster and their companions are hurled to a random destination.
Description: The Star Road fills the heavens, but occassionally something happens and a piece of the road is hurled down to the earth, usually crashing somewhere in the remote location. Knowledgeable sorcerers can use that piece to provide them a step up to walking the Star Road, allowing them to travel hundreds of miles in the space of a few breaths. When the ritual is cast, everyone near the fallen Star is transported to another fallen Star. The caster must know the location of the Star they want to transport to within at least a couple miles, though they need not have visited the exact spot, and they must have spent at least an hour at the location they are transporting from. Failure to perform the ritual properly or to meet the above conditions hurls the caster and their party to a random fallen Star...or strands them on the Star Road, leaving them to find their own way out.
Base: Teleportation

Instill Knowledge[b/] (6 CP)
CTN: 34
Casting Time: Varies
Range: Touch
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisites: Eldritch Lore (Path of Night and Secrets) 20, Empathy 10, others as necessary
Consequences: The target's mind is overloaded with chaotic memories, causing damage equal to the amount the casting roll is failed by and sending them into a coma for one day per point of damage.
Description: The Order's ultimate teaching method, Instill Knowledge allows the sorcerer to implant knowledge and memories directly into the mind of a target. This can be used to raise skills multiple levels at once, learn languages or Talents that normally would require lengthy training times in an instant, or even fill another's mind with the caster's entire life. The ritual takes one hour per CP point of the information transferred and a similar length of time for other memories, depending on their complexity. The caster must personally know what they want to instill, or must have another ritual caster with them who knows it.
Base: Telepathy
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on June 16, 2014, 04:21:05 AM
I have to do six more of those? Ugh.  :-X

In good news, I bought Fractal Mapper at DriveThruRPG since it's on sale now, so I might have a map of Agarica and Pithek ready at some point.  (http:///smile.gif)
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on June 24, 2014, 03:23:59 PM
I should note that "Install Knowledge" still requires the recipient to pay the CP cost of whatever they're getting. It just removes any training or studying time.

Next up is probably the pyromancers of the Kappa Wastes, though I might stat up a few monsters to see if I can get the hang of it. I also used some of my vacation time and took next week off, so maybe I'll buckle down and put some time into learning Fractal Mapper so I can get a map out.

Edit: Also, the initiate rank should allow the Order of the Star-Filled Sky to learn the Magical Sense skill.
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on June 26, 2014, 05:41:10 PM
Writing this is an exercise in how many synonyms I can find for "fire."  (http:///bigwink.gif)
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: imported_Rasyr on June 26, 2014, 07:55:25 PM
http://www.thesaurus.com is your friend...
Title: Warlords of the Mushroom Kingdom
Post by: Dorchadas on June 27, 2014, 09:02:41 PM
Currently using: Fire, flames, radiance, conflagration, embers, molten, magma, lava, cinders, heat, incandescent.

Torch, Blaze, and Inferno are the three ranks, though I suppose I could use "blazing" in one of the spells...
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