Intro: Agalia, The Empire of Sin

—On the history of the world.—

“The Church of Endless Heavens preaches the world was made in six days by the grace of Mother, each of which lasted an aeon.”

“On the first day, Mother came from the heavens, and pulled the earth from the depths of the endless sea. The sun is the spot from which Mother descended.”

“On the second, Mother’s breath flowed over the world, creating the sky and wind.”

“On the third, Mother’s blood was cast on the land, giving birth to the plants and animals, and for a day they lived as lowly beasts.”

“On the fourth, Mother gave the sky, the winds, the earth and the life that lived upon the Earth, souls, hence creating The First People, the Spirits. Then, Mother created the laws that bind the Spirits, and hence, the laws of the physical world.”

“On the fifth, Mother crafted The Second People, us, Man, from blood, ashes, and clay. We too were granted souls, and with them a gift. While we lacked the power of the Spirits, we were not bound by their laws. In fact. We can shape and change a Spirit, with effort and knowledge and faith.”

“On the sixth, Mother cautioned the People from breaking her laws, and then ascended back to the heavens. It was a glorious farewell, with a promise of an eventual return.”

“On the seventh, the Beast, the Ur-Satan, crawled forth from the depths of the sea. A terrible demon, that desired nothing less than to devour everything.”

“For seven years it rampaged, corrupting and devouring everything in its path. It’s hunger gnawed at the laws of the world, threatening to undo Mother’s work. In its wake came a horde of demons, made in it’s own image.”

“At the end of those years, six heroes, chosen by Mother, three of each People, banded together to defeat the Beast. With holy wisdom, they wove the laws of the world into a prison for the Beast. However the prison is not perfect.”

“Should the rites sustaining it fail, or some maddened fool cast the gates open, then the Beast will be free. And so the cycle of history forms.”

“The faith in the rites and their meaning fades, till the gates weaken. Demons slowly but surely flood into the land. Then, the Beast elects a Satan, who rallies the Demons and declares a crusade against the world. The Church gathers heroes, and throws them on the rampaging horde as kingdoms fall and lives end. Until the Satan is slain, the rites are re-established, and the Beast is firmly trapped within its prison.”

“Again and again this has happened. Again and again it will, until either the Beast or the world meets its end.”

“The next turn of the cycle is soon. The Empire of Agalia has grown fat and decadent, choking on laws that are bought and sold with gold and blood. The rites have been neglected, the prison weakened. Demons crawl forth from the West, where the sea turns to sand, and from within, as Sin sprouts like vile weeds. A Satan has risen, but their identity is unknown. The Church is calling for heroes and fools, for the faithful and the heretic, to go west. Go west, and find riches and glory in the slaying of demons. May some brave souls ensure that the Satan falls, and the Beast remains within its prison.” -From the personal diary of Sage Traila, Ex-Priestess of the Church.

—What is a Demon?—

“There are three kinds of Demons, though the lines between them often blur and twist. What they all have in common, is that they are formed of or shaped by the Beast’s hunger. Silver burns them like acid, and the foolish often harness their souls as a source of power.”

“The first is the Spawn of the Beast, sent to devour and kill to feed their sire. They are the most simple form of Demon, driven by mindless hunger.”

“The second are the Living Blights. When enough hatred, malice, suffering, or greed gathers, it may give birth to a demon embodying those, clawing forth from, corpse or earth. In the wake of the other two types, the Blights will sprout like vile weeds.”

“The third and most dangerous are the Abominations. They are born when a Person, be they Man or Spirit, are utterly consumed by Sin or Curse. Sin, in this case, refers to an all consuming obsession. Something that eats and eats and eats at one’s self until it is all that remains, twisting one’s flesh and one’s form as it empties out the soul. The touch of a Demon, too, can set one on the path to Demondom. Many of the most terrifying Demons have been fallen kings and demonslayers.”

“And a Satan.. A Satan refers to a Demon, no matter the type, who has become a Herald of the Beast. If left unchecked, they will release the Beast from it’s prison.” - Demon Slayer Vladdin’s notes for his apprentice, dated seven months before he became a Demon and laid waste to his home kingdom.
——————————————————————————————————————————
Author’s Note:
I‘m basing Agalia off of the Roman Empire in the age of it’s decline. If the Roman Empire had flintlock guns, magic, and had to deal with both nature spirits and Demons.

Of Blood and Glory!

It’s probably too early in my blog’s age to have made my own GLOG Hack. Do I care? Nope~ So say hello to:

Of Blood and Glory!

Inspirations are!

Arnold K at Goblinpunch

Vayra over at the Mad Queen’s Court

Basically everyone else over on the OSR Discord!

Note! There’s not a lot of setting stuff in this. That’s on purpose! Taking a que from Vayra, I’m planning on making setting ‘books’, each with their own classes and setting. Though I mean setting in the idea of ‘stuff to give the GM to put a setting together’. I plan on posting a introductory post  to one later this week as well!

As for what that setting’s theme is going to be..? Well. I’m a big fan of the souls game, and the very first one, Demon Souls, is overshadowed by the games that followed it. So, I’m going to make a setting inspired by it, with a little dash of some other stuff I like. My Corruption Rules are going to play a pretty important role in the setting as well.

Got the picture from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/596304806900863739/?nic_v1=1b3%2FhSd42upyHywddpRhwYU2PjaDiBa49PyaQUzRQNQy5co4hOU9KeN0ahlpfttSZQ

Corruption: Negative Advancement for Weird Fantasy.

So. The stereotypical Lovecraftion madness trope, and the accompanying system of Sanity Scores is.. Well in my opinion it’s not very interesting or tasteful most of the time. Seeing something alien to your worldview won’t turn someone into a sputtering cultist of whatever that thing is, and such systems rarely really model what’s going on in the fiction. 

Hence, my rules for Corruption. Corruption represents your character being warped and twisted by the weirdness they encounter.

Corruption and Curses

[https://www.pinterest.com/pin/249527635587494718/]

Every character starts at Corruption Level: 0. The first time a character reaches 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 Corruption Points, they gain a Corruption Level. Corruption maxes out at 100, and Corruption Level at 10.

A character takes additional damage from all sources of damage equal to their Corruption Level. Every time a character gains a Corruption Level, they gain a Curse. Either a random one from the Curse Table below, or a specific one from the source of the Corruption Level. At Corruption Level 10, your first Curse is upgraded into a Final Curse. A Final Curse is calamitous and removes your character from the game, at least as a player character. Of course, they often do so by turning said Character into a monster.

Anything that would drain levels now gives the victim X Corruption Points, where X is equal to twice the levels it would have drained. Cursed Items may give Corruption Points every time they are used.

A Curse is made of four components. It’s name, it’s ability, it’s drawback, and the form it takes as a Final Curse. A curse’s ability must always be active or have an active benefit, which should give more Corruption when used.

Removing Corruption

Any spell that returns Negative Levels can remove Xd4 Corruption Points, where X is equal to [Spell Level] or [Magic Dice]. Drinking holy water will remove a point of Corruption for every liter consumed. 

Corruption Levels and Curses cannot be removed. Such a deep warping of one’s self cannot be truly undone. Not by mortal hands. And even if they would be removed, it just means a new Curse, new Corruption, can fill that hole.

Random/Example Curse Table

1: Curse of the Drowned

Ability: When you touch someone, you can gain a point of Corruption to make them Save. On a failed save, their lungs are filled with water.

Drawback: You cannot swim. If you enter water, you plummet to the bottom at incredible speeds.

Final Curse: You instantly drown, and your corpse rises again an hour later as an undead NPC, flesh soaked to your rotten bones. Anyone within 10’ of you has to save versus the Curse’s ability every turn.

2: Minor Vampirism

Ability: Your tongue becomes a mosquito like proboscises. You can attack someone with it to drink their blood. This deals 1d6 plhs [Corruption Level] damage, and heals you an equal amount of HP. If this would heal you above your max HP, gain that much corruption.

Drawback: You must kill someone by feeding every week or die.

Final Curse: Your body starts to shake and crack. In an hour you will become a NPC and crawl out of your old body as a True Vampire, a blood hungry and mosquito-like monster that regenerates incredibly quickly. The beast will attempt to devour and convert as many mortals as it can find. 

3: Demon Arm

Ability: Your left arm turns black, the flesh on it twists and writhes, with crimson claws for fingers. The arm has a 10’ reach, and the claws deal 1d6. The arm can devour anything that fits into the palm of it’s hand, absorbing it into your flesh, giving you a point of Corruption every time you do so.

Drawback: If your Demon Arm is exposed to sunlight, it burns and starts to smoke, making you lose [Corruption Level] Max HP for the rest of the day.

Final Curse: Your cursed flesh devours your body as the arm swells. You turn into an eternally hungry demon which heals 1 HP every minute, making it immortal. It does not regenerate under sunlight. The cursed arm now resembles a mass of crimson worms in the shape of a clawed arm(20’ reach, 2d6 damage, same devouring as the Ability).

4: Midas Flesh

Ability: Your flesh takes on a golden sheen. You can consume wealth to heal yourself. For every silver you consume, you heal 1 HP and gain 1 Corruption. 

Drawback: Your flesh starts to grow heavy and burdensome. Lose [Corruption Level] movement.

Final Curse: You instantly die and turn into a golden statue. Your statue is worth [Your Max HP times 10] Gold. The first [your level] beings to touch your corpse must Save or suffer the effects of your Final Curse.

5: Body Thief

Ability: When you make eye contact with a creature, you gain up to [Corruption Level] Corruption to possess it for that many minutes. When you do so, your body falls asleep, and if it dies, you die as well.

Drawback: Your body is weak and frail. Your physical stats are reduced by [Corruption Level] to a minimum of 1.

Final Curse: Your body dies, and you become a hateful, body-stealing, and ever hungry spirit NPC. You possess the nearest creature, and whenever you possess a creature, the body you leave dies. 

6: Eyes of the Gorgon

Ability: Your eyes turn into grey orbs. When you make eye contact with a creature, you can gain X Corruption, where X is equal to its HD, to make the creature save. If they fail the save, they are turned to stone for [Corruption Level] days.

Drawback: You become cold blooded. Unless you spend an hour warming up, every roll you make in a day is made with disadvantage.

Final Curse: You start to shed your skin. In an hour you will emerge from your old skin as a Gorgon NPC. A Gorgon is a monster with the upper half of a sapient species, the lower half of a serpent, and snakes for hair. Anyone who looks upon a Gorgon risks being turned to stone (Every time someone looks at a Gorgon, they must save or be turned to stone) . The Gorgons are filled with a terrible hunger for petrified flesh and wealth.

Author’s Note

While the example curses are more Fantasy then Lovecraftian, I imagine it should be easy to come up with Curses that fit that genre. Simply focus on Curses that warp the mind and draw attention from whatever eldritch nightmares infest your settings.

I’m probably going to make a Book of Curses at some point as well. And some classes that play with Corruption.

Secret Jackalope 2020: d6 Gonzo Dying Earth Locations

So! For Secret Jackalope, I was asked to make d6 dungeon/location prompts for a gonzo dying earth setting, each a paragraph long at most by TheManWithAHammer(https://themanwithahammer.blogspot.com/?m=1). And I was given the option to add a list of monsters/denizens to each entry. Which I’ll do. Heck, I’ll make a d6 list of monsters/denizens plus traps/hazards.

—

1: Forests of Pillars: A field of golden pillars, stabbing at the sky. Around each pillar, the sand of the desert has turned to obsidian, reflecting the scarlet light of the dying sun. Upon each pillar divine names of power are inscribed, in a language that can only be learned by theft or gift. 

d6 Denizens and Hazards of the Forest of Pillars:

1: The Eater of Names.

2: Knife Dunes

3: Merchant Bugs of Vowe’el

4: Infectious Glyph

5: Crawling Priests of Secrets

6: The Gale that Calls

—

2: Qilphort: A Qilphort is a massive parasitic tree, hailing from the stars. Their spear-roots burrow into the earth and flesh around them, draining every drop of life. Yet the fruit held in their highest lofts are said to make mortals into immortals, fools into sages, and the weak into the mighty. When the sun devours the world, they will leave it’s empty corpse behind.

1d6 Denizens and Hazards of the Qilphorts:

1: Hungry Roots

2: Bone Bees

3: False Fruits

4: Worm Squirrels 

5: Drowning Blood

6: The Root Parasite

——

3: Lakes of Color

Lakes of liquid color. Crimson flowing on the surface as blue worms it’s way to the sky. Beware them, for the colors can draw a man in and devour their soul. Yet in these colors can be used to draw weakness from the flesh and turn beasts to men. The seventh color, Violet, does not exist outside the minds of man. Hence it cannot be found in liquid or entity form. Yet as the world and it’s laws die, perhaps it will force itself into existence.

1d6 Denizens and Hazards of the Lakes of Colors:

1: Red Piranhas 

2: Orange Fingers

3: Yellow Anglerfishes

4: Green Eyes

5: Blue Vines

6: Indigo Stalkers

——

4: Tomb-Cities of the Ancients:

Ruins and tombs of iron and glass. When the Sun Bombs fell, the world of the ancients died in a flash. Their shining cities became tombs, home of ashen specters and poisoned treasures. The hate of a newborn star, quick to die, will never fade.

1d6 Denizens and Hazards of the Tomb-Cities of the Ancients:

1: Metal that Hates

2: Sun-Shadow Phantasms

3: Sun-Hated Creeping Ivy

4: Maddened Automata

5: Buried Firestones

6: Dormant Sun Bomb.

———-

5: Sun-Eater Temples:

Temples of black stone and dry ice, reaching towards the sky like grasping talons. The air around them is deathly cold and silent. Sound cannot exist in and around the temple, and all light in that radius is dimmed at best, devoured at worst. These are temples to the death of the world, each one slowly but surely devouring the life of the sun. If left unchecked, they will bring the world to end in a hundred years.

1d6 Denizens and Hazards of the Sun-Eater Temples:

1: Silence Elementals

2: Chilling Breaths

3: Entropy Walkers

4: Signs of Undeniable Truth

5: Nameless Visitors.

6: Hungry Holes.

————

6: The God-Corpse:

When the Sun-Bombs feel, a massive corpse fell from the sky. It smashed into the earth, it’s blood spewing forth a army of demons and a world of madness. Yet from it’s flesh miracles can be wrought. But it’s heart has never stopped beating. Even as rot claims the holy flesh, it’s heart keeps on beating.

1d6 Denizens and Hazards of The God-Corpse:

1: The Mosqqueen. 

2: Hateful Hairspires

3: Southern Carrion Wurms

4: Bad Blood

5: Holy Eaters of the Sacrement.

6: Terrible Tumors

———

And there we go! That’s my Secret Jackalope entry fulfilled.

Kaiju Challenge: Gigantes

So! On the OSR discord, I proposed a challenge for my fellow GLOGgers. Write up rules to fight and/or PLAY as kaiju/giant monsters.

And it would be rude to not supply a entry myself. So. Here you go:

[https://www.pinterest.at/pin/69524387977825901/]

The Vitae Gigantes, a rare potion that everyone knows the ingredients for. One third holy water, one third ground up bone from a man eating beast, and one third Gigantes-hearts blood. When drunk, it grants the power for men to turn into inhuman giants, capable of laying low armies. Those weak of body who drink it however, may have their hearts flutter and crack from the attempt to drive the transformation.

The average Gigantes is six times the height of a man. Their skin is like armor and they can rip a man limb from limb. Their appearances are variable, yet always as monstrous as their heart. As they grow in age and power, they become more and more monstrous, armed with beastly mutations of terrible power.

They say the first Gigantes was the child of the ocean and a foolish and desperate king. The child grew and grew, and laid low all of the king’s foes. With every day that passed, more and more of their inhumanity shone through.

When there where no more foes for the King’s child to slay, it turned on the kingdom. It’s hunger for battle and flesh by that point could not be sated. Scores of men and women and children where cast into it’s maw. When the kingdom was in ruins, it’s father melting in it’s stomach, did it’s rage cool and it’s heart stop beating. The enemies of the kingdom, for there where many, swarmed across the corpse like maggots. The Vitae Gigantes was discovered, and the rest is history.

In the modern era, Gigantes are worth their weight in gold. Every kingdom has at least one to protect their borders. A kingdom’s might is measured not in their armies, but the number of Gigantes they have.

Gigantes are treated as heroes, worshipped as minor gods of war, showered in riches and fame. Yet should they succumb to wrath or attempt to betray the kingdom, then the kingdom’s other Gigantes will strike them down, and devour their heart to grow in power, lest they meet their own end.

[https://www.pinterest.at/pin/147492956533982168/?nic_v1=1bKrmT5p8dqZbr5KFLkrbpzMXrfxB0liii4lPcDYCx%2BODTjx0JHRKMfbQAx9SmrQuY]

Mechanics:

When the Vitae Gigante is drunk, the user must make a CON save. On a fail, they suffer from a heart murmur and take 1d10 damage. If you succeed, you gain a Gigantes form. You can transform to and from the Gigantes form at will. 

For Gigantes scale, *everything is six times that of the normal scale, but the numbers stay the same.* Things that normal scaled people cannot hurt, like buildings, now have HD and HP. 

If a Gigantes hits something normal-scaled, it’s damage is multiplied by six. If something normal scale hits them, that damage is *divided* by six.

When a character transforms into their Gigantes form, everything they are wearing and carrying is absorbed into them. Their stats *stay the same.* Armor is incorporated into their titan like flesh. Weapons are absorbed into their flesh and become useless, unless enchanted to grow with them(which costs 1d100 + Xd100 GP, where X is equal to how many special abilities the weapon has). By default, a Gigantes unarmed attacks deal 1d4 + STR Mod(if it’s a bonus) damage. They can still use all of their other abilities(provided they weren’t tied to a absorbed weapon), which are scaled up to be on Gigantes scale.

A Gigantes also possesses Atavisms. Mutations of the flesh and soul, that grant terrible power. A Gigantes starts with 1  Atavistim, and every time they level up or devour the heart of another Gigantes, they gain another. Every Atavism both grants a new ability, and makes the Gigantes’ Gigantes form more monstrous. They are only useable in Gigantes form, and their side effects are only present when in that form.

1d4 Example Atavisms:

1: Burning Breath

Mutation: The Gigantes’ mouth glows with fire, that licks their lips whenever they open their maw. Any attacks made with their mouth deal a additional 1d4 points of fire damage.

Ability: The user can take a turn to breath in. On there next turn, they release a wave of fire from their mouth. A 30’ cone of fire that deals 2d4(Gigantes Scale) fire damage.

2: Flesh of Thorns

Mutations: The Gigantes’ skin is covered in spikes and thorns. Bristling with them. They cut through the air with every movement, rattling with every breath. -2 to Stealth.

Ability:  Whenever the Gigantes’ takes damage, anyone within 10’ of them takes 1(Gigantes scale) damage.

3: Blinding Marks

Mutations: The Gigantes’ flesh is covered in the occasional orb. The colors of these orbs is the same as the Gigantes’ eyes. They’re creepy to look at. 

Ability: As a action, the Gigantes can cause the orbs to briefly shine incredibly brightly. Everyone else who is looking at the Gigantes must Save or be blinded for the next 1d4 rounds.

4: Wicked Wings

Mutations: The Gigantes’ sprouts massive wings. Their exact appearance depends from Gigantes to Gigantes. In any case, they allow for flight.

Ability: The Gigantes can fly for [level or HD] minutes per day, at a speed of twice their normal movement.

———-

Links to the other participant’s posts:

Deus ex Parabola: https://as-they-must.blogspot.com/2020/02/giant-monster-i-hardly-know-ster-glog.html

Nroman: https://espharel.blogspot.com/2020/02/osr-kaiju-rules-and-class-kaijui-barely.html

Princess in Yellow: http://wordsforyellow.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-beasts-may-challenge-our-gods.html
Phlox: https://whosemeasure.blogspot.com/2020/03/nephilim-i-hardly-know-im-kaiju-osr.html
Lexi: https://crateredland.blogspot.com/2020/03/giant-robots-deserve-giant-monsters.html

Saints: a GLOG Class

Saints

So a bit ago on the OSR Discord, I suggested a way to make clerics be different from Wizards while fitting the theme of magic being risky to use.

The core idea is simple. When a Saint casts a Miracle, they gain a random Curse until the end of they day. What a Saint’s Curses and Miracles are depends from their Path to Path.

Lynn over at Words for Yellow made her own version of the idea. As I didn’t have a blog at the time, she cited me via my discord username. Anyways, here is my version of the Saint, designed to be a template similar to the GLOG Wizard class, with its countless schools.

In fact I’m designing this so Lynn’s Saint can work as a Path.

A Saint in service to some Deity/Entity/Philosophy.

[Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/729231364642492897/]

Saint: A mortal who invokes the Miracles of the divine, or their philosophy, at the cost of being burdened with terrible curses.

Your starting equipment, starting skills, and stat bonuses and maluses granted by Saint are determined by your Path.

Saint A: Path, Miraculous

Saint B: Burden, First Boon

Saint C: Second Boon

Saint D: Divine Retribution, Final Boon

Path: A Path is a Saint’s philosophy, or the God they worship, whatever it is, it’s something they put all of their faith into. Every Path has 10 Miracles, 12 Curses, and 3 Boons.

Miraculous: Perform a Miracle at the cost of afflicting yourself with a Curse. When you choose a Miracle from your Path to cast, roll 1d6 for a Curse, adding +1 to your roll for each Miracle you have used in the same day. Curses last the rest of the day unless otherwise noted or if that wouldn't make sense. 

Burden: Once per day, select an enemy when you use a Miracle, inflicting them with the Curse instead of yourself.

Boons: Every Path has three Boons. A Boon is simply a special ability unique to Saints of that Path. Using these does not afflict a Saint with a curse.

Divine Retribution: Once per day, spread one Curse that afflicts you onto an enemy. They will be alleviated when you are, or can release the Curse afflicting then separately.

—The Silence, A Example Path—

Her symbol. Represents tranquility and the curve of the sky.

A alien goddess, watching from the void above at the world below. Her heart is full of love, and she longs to share it with the mortals of the world below and bring them peace.

However there are three problems in her way. A. Her definition of peace can be summed up as “calmly and quietly floating in space, free from greed and suffering”. B. The average mortal is not able to get to or survive in space. C. Sound hurts her, for she is a creature of silence and nothingness as much as she is a creature of love.

Her Saints are her way around that. Chosen mortals, tasked with easing suffering, allowing mortals to reach the void above, and making them able to survive in it. She communicates with them through their dreams. Each is host to a tiny shard of her power. They are not built to hold such power, hence they Curses they suffer from.

Saints of the Silence gain +1 Stealth with each template they have in Saint, but lose -1 HP with every two templates they have in Saint.

Starting Items: A dagger, a weightless rosary made of black star-stone.

Starting Skills: Cultist, Doctor, or Begger

Boons of The Silence:

First Boon: Blessed Hands: [Level] times per day, the Saint can lay hands on another creature to heal them 1 HP OR clear 1 Fatal Wound from then.

Second Boon: Aura of Silence: The Saint possesses a Aura of Silence they can toggle on and off with a action. The Aura has a radius of 10’, and no sounds can exist within the radius of a active Aura.

Third Boon: Void Form: The Silence blesses the Saint with a form capable of surviving in the depths of space. The Saint’s new form is strangely beautiful and matches their ideal self, does not need to breath or eat, can levitate up to 5’ off the ground(which allows you to move in a zero-g environment without pushing off anything), and takes no damage from ambient temperatures(ie fireball still burns you, but you can walk around just fine in a blizzard or volcano).

Miracles of the Silence:

1: One creature or object you see has gravity reversed on it for the next 1d6 rounds. Things with reversed gravity fall at a rate of 20’ per round.

2: Swap the positions of two objects or beings you can see, however the largest thing you can effect with this is a large house.

3: Up to 10’ of inanimate(ie not alive or a spirit or undead or some kind of being) material you see ceases to exist.

4: One being you can see becomes incapable of hurting any other being for the next hour.

5: Up to [level x 2] HD worth of beings you can see must Save or fall asleep for 1d4 hours.

6: One sleeping being you see dreams of the Silence and her love. They must Save or forever have the memory of the Silence’s limitless love for them and everyone else on their mind.

7: Change the appearance of one thing your touching in any way that is purely cosmetic.

8: One thing you can see is not affected by gravity for the next hour. It won’t automatically float away, but if pushed into the air it won’t fall down till the duration ends.
9: All beings you can see become able to communicate with each other through telepathy for the next hour. This telepathy transmits emotion and thoughts, translates them so everyone linked can understand each other, and only truth can be said with it.
10: One being you see takes 1 point of Non-Lethal damage every time it attempts to harm another being in the next 24 hours.

Curses of The Silence

1: You cannot talk. When your lips move, nothing comes out except silence.

2: You are blinded, and see only the void between stars.

3: You are deafened, and hear only the song of the spheres.

4: You feel cold. Incredibly cold. Cold enough that it numbs your reaction times. Whenever you roll Initiative, roll twice and take the worst result.

5: One inventory slot of yours has everything in it crumble to star dust. (The player chooses)

6: You are filled with a desire to be under the sky. Every hour you are not under the open sky, Save or be forced to do everything under your power to get under the open sky.

7: The Sun hates you. Whenever sunlight touches you, Save or be turned to a statue made of the same kind of stone as your rosary, until the curse ends.

8: Sound hurts you. Whenever you hear any noise that isn’t quiet, Save or take 1d4 damage.

9: You cannot rest unless you are in pitch black darkness.

10: All of the money upon your person ceases to exist.

11: Every time you fail a save, you also fall asleep for 1d4 turns.

12+: You are teleported into the void between starts for X turns. When you are teleported by this Curse, unless you have Void Form, take X divided by 2 damage, where X is the result of your roll.

Welcome! + 1d6 Cursed but Useful Magic Items

Welcome to my blog! I’ll be writing and posting stuff from or for my tabletop games, or for the OSR in general. I’ll also probably end up posting random setting stuff my muse comes up with as well. By default my go to ruleset is the GLOG, and as such most of my mechanics will be written with the GLOG in mind.

I’m aiming to try and post at least a post per week.

Anyways here we go. Six magic items that while useful, are also cursed. Something nice and small to start the blog off. 

1: A ring made of elven bone. When worn, it fuses into the user’s finger bones, and must be forcefully torn off (deals one point of damage to Max HP when removed). The wearer can make any creature they make eye contact with Save. On a failure, that creature will believe anything you tell them in the next 24 hours. However, when wearing the ring, the character must Save every time they would tell the truth, and on a failure, they instead lie.

[Source: https://thedailywant.com/real-human-bone-ring/]

2: A knife with a blade of obsidian and a hilt of dragon bone. The blade cannot deal damage to anything animate(ie, golems, undead, elementals, living things, demons and angels, etc), and neither can you as long as you carry it. However, the blade can cut *anything* that is inanimate. Including the fabric of space and time. The user can swing the blade to create a portal. One end must be where the blade was swung, the other anywhere the user can see. The size and shape of each pair of portals is determined by the cut. (Ie, if you cut a circle with a 10’ radius into the air, the portals will be circles with a radius of 10’)

[Source: https://www.jjstonecraft.com/products/transparent-obsidian-knife-with-deer-bone-handle]

3: A stone chain, 20’ long and covered in runes of unknown meaning. When wrapped around something, it causes the chain and that thing to float into the air. However if it touches the skin a living creature, it will wrap around them and  attempt to strangle them as they’re lifted into the air.

4: Six golden arrows, covered in spiral patterns. When fired, you can declare your target. The launched arrow will fly after your target until it hits. When it hits it will automatically deal max damage and then burrow up to 5’ into your opponent(and hence end up going through most humanoids in a very bloody fashion, which may end up provoking a Save or Die). At dawn, every of the arrows that you fired and did not recover will act like they where shot at you. The first will go for your left hand, the second your right. The third goes for your left foot, the fourth your right foot. The fifth goes for your head and the sixth your heart.

5: A crystal skull. A see through, red crystal to be exact. Anyone who looks into it’s eyes must Save or swap bodies with the last being to touch it. They keep their mental scores, but use the body’s physical scores. Both beings gain a point of Trauma, for the swap involves both beings have their souls violently torn from their bodies.

[Source: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005SN6454/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?ref_=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_.kWvtb0TT0TYW]

6: A old and heavy coin that glows softly with green light. The heads side shows a gold skull, tails is a decapitated snake, also made of gold. Any bet WILLINGLY made over the result of the doin’s flip is magically binding, and the losing party has to do their end of the bet. (Ie, if you and I agree to bet with the coin, and I say “If it lands heads you have to give me all your gold” and you say “If it lands tails you have to give me all weapons”, then if one of us loses the bet, we cannot *not* give the stuff up.) Every day you have the coin in your possession, Save or lose a point of CON and gain a random mutation. 

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Author’s Note: The reason only half of the entries have a picture is because I couldn’t find pictures that worked for each entry. I’ll probably edit this post when I do.