INTERESTING INFORMATIONS regarding MY SETTING

THE FOLLOWING IS A COLLECTION OF INFORMATION ABOUT MY MAIN SETTING THAT I AM COLLECTING HERE SO I DONT FORGET IT

Dwarfs
Dwarfs are from dwarfland (also known as Duergar, The Construction, the Manufactory). dwarfland is a world marred by industry, construction, and art. this is because Dwarfs are obsessed with one thing and one thing only: making stuff. They never aren't making stuff. dwarfish ethnicities/cultures/whatever you want to call them are known by what they make stuff with, for example

1. The Dwarfs of Wood and Wine
2. The Dwarfs of Flame and Steel
3. The Dwarfs of Sand and Bone
4. The Dwarfs of Meat and Skin
5. The Dwarfs of Electricity and Glass

Dwarfs do not reproduce they do not have genitals. those dwarfs that are skilled enough to makee other dwarfs are called MOTHERS. dwarfs are usually too busy making things to have gender, and so they are all agender. only those dwarfs that stop making things identify as any sort of gender.

SOMETIMES something weird happens to a dwarf. they lose their obsession with crafting and manufacture, and get a new obsession: DESTROYING THINGS. these corrupted dwarfs are called DEROS and can also be found in dwarfland. they are also too busy for gender, but instead are too busy destroying stuff. they will never make anything unless it is to a) destroy it or b) to help destroy something else. sometimes a DEros will search out the building materials of their dwarfish culture more than other materials, but they are happy to destroy anything

GHOSTWORLD is not the afterlife. there is no afterlife, without the use of powerful necromancy. GHostworld does have dead things in it. it is unclear if these are the actual dead thing they claim to be, or if they are just really good at lying. Ghosts that exist for longer become more monstrous and weird. Ghosts haunt our world to get power. the more power they get the more monstrous and weird and BIG they become. ghosts never die, they are only banished back to the ghostworld and will eventually come back to a) wreck vengeance and b) grow more power. Ghosts never forget anything

The Calendar is a circle. there are 4 seasons on it (springtime, summertime, autumntime, and wintertime). there are 13 months on it (3 in springtime, 4 in summertime (the lizard people really like summer (also they might all die without this longer heat period), 3 in autumntime, and 3 in wintertime). there is a leap year every 5 years (leap years cause the midsummer month to be 32 days long, rather than 31 days). The new years day (The Beginening) is the first day of springtime.

The Lizard People HATE wintertime. they cant have kids, they cant grow or hunt food, they cant even really leave their houses without special coats and heatpads and whatnot. this is because they are lizards. they also hate wintertime because it seems that MAMMALS are more powerful during it. the lizard people are incredibly weakened, but those disgusting mammals just keep on going, unhindered by the cold because of their fur and fat and warm blood. terrible violent Orca raids are more common during the winter months.

The game i will soon be playing in this setting happens in a certain region. here are some country descriptions for a handful of the nations that can be found in this region

• THE CITY-STATE OF KARM: very industrial and small nation-state, government watches all actions done, but isn't too harsh with punishments. mysterious waste dumping facilities are inhabited by weird creatures and esoterically-thinking directors
• POINT UNPLEASANT: very controlling and authoritarian dictatorship, very arid and just generally unpleasant. the government is hiding many secrets
• THE IMPERIUM OF HYBERIA: empire currently in a renaissance. filled with new marvels of pre-industrial engineering, even miraculous personal vehicles! what powers all these devices?
• THE WIZARD COURTS (of Xigzaea and of Xigzuu): two twin nations, owned by rival sibling wizards who hired extradimensional weirdos, freaks, and mercenaries to help them destroy the other wizards
• DRAUGR: immense empire of the undead to the north
• THE NATION OF ATH: athiest country, killed their god and now live within it

VAMPIRES

vampires are made from a living being "infected" with a semi-intelligent black ichor/ooze, known as CONCENTRATED VAMPIRISM. this slime replaces all of their blood, and gives them weird weaknesses and maybe a handful of powers. there are many different strains of the plague, but all of them make the body nigh-immune to pain and damage. The different strains of the vampire ooze all have extremely different weaknesses and powers (examples will be present in an upcoming post of random generators). anything can become a vampire. unintelligent animal vampires are known as CHUPACABRAS. Vampires do not necessarily have to consume blood, but they are compelled to eat meat and blood, and they must introduce the slime into the bloodstream to reproduce. 

DEVILS

DEMON is a general term for "weird thing from somewhere i am not familiar with". these include space aliens, wizard creations, extradimensional weirdos, members of other species, and Those People with the Weird Beliefs from Over the Mountain. DEVILS are a specific kind of creature. devils are from Hell. hell is not the afterlife. You can get to hell by just digging really, really deep. Hell is a a weird pocket dimension that can be accessed from anywhere in the universe by digging very deep. devils live here, and come in a monstrous and terrifyingly weird spread of variation (devil generator forthcomingg). Devils have no concept of mortality or impermanence, as they are all always reborn if they are ever destroyed. almost all things in hell is a living Devil, and most Devils are intelligent enough to speak.

THERE IS MORE THAT WILL COME i might make general posts like this to help me remember, there will be more extravagant posts however

the races of the other world with no name

The following are the most prominent races present in the other world with no name (or lizard world, for reference purposes), which is the planet that the last post is set in

The Lizard People
the most prominent race in the world. they essentially function as this planet's version of humans, but since mammals are extremely rare and always exceedingly violent and disgusting, humans are not present at all. there are many different cultures, ethnicities, subspecies, etc., just like humans

Elves
Since they are extraterrestrial in origin, they can be found on many different worlds. However, I have already written about them. a lot. Just think alien almost humanoid sadists, and you have the majority of what they are down.

Dark Elves (Drow)
the Dark Elves are the opposite of elves in every way. they are pacifists, instead of living in space they live underground and on the ocean floor, they are exceedingly religious (elves are all athiests), and they have inverted color palettes. for every elf alive, there is a mirror dark elf that hides away somewhere underground, worshiping the center of the world. think inverted color palette pacifist evangelical christians who worship the center of the world. Sometimes they will mutate into the terribly inverted nilbogs.

Homonculi
the homonculi are created by wizards, witches, cultists, alchemists, priests, etc. for many purposes. They are small creatures of flesh, brought to life through some arcane means, and augmented for some purposes by their creators. they are different from golems in that a golem is a hunk of material puppetted by esoteric and eldritch forces, whereas a homonculus is an actual living creature of flesh and blood (although they do tend to have unnatural abilities, and all have regenerative properties). If you cast dispel magic on a golem, it would fall apart. If you cast dispel magic on a homonculus, nothing would happen, for now they are living creatures.

Robots
Robots are created by roving factories that swallow all of the resources that they come across and produce artificial beings that they drop off while crawling. They are made of stone, metal, plastic, wood, bone, and many other sorts of material, and they are powered by some mysterious energy. They can look like anything, and are usually made for some specific use, though that use is usually not known by the robot.

The K'Kladorf
k'kladorf are a race of eyeless giant mole crickets that live underground. They see the world through their sensitive hairs and antennae, and speak with a clicking and clacking insect language. They are hoarders of all materials/goods/items, which don't necessarily have to be valuable, and they are very paranoid at all times. They revere those who go up to the surface as heroes, like how we honor astronauts, and they are incredibly individualistic. K'kladorf enclaves/holds don't have a true leader, because each cricket believes themself to be the leader.

most orcas probably look like this

The Orcas
Orcas are semi-humanoid, larger than a human intelligent whales from The Wall of Whales. They have mouths filled with ravor-sharp teeth, and come in many sorts, ranging from smaller dolphin-men to great blue whale ogres. They are all obsessed with violence and with killing things, and that is truly all that they live for. Also they are famous for their "sexual depravity".

This was drawn by my friend xenon, whose art can be found at twcannibalism.tumblr.com!

Lycanthropes
Werewolves come from the moon. Or, rather, one of the moons. They are a strange "mutant" kind of lizard person, changed by alien parasitic worms into some kind of mammalian predator, somewhere between a hound and a person, or maybe (though less common), some other mammal and a person. They are incredibly varied, even in the same familial group, and the disease can be passed down from parent to child. However, these worms are newly introduced, and thus only newly infected first generation werewolves exist.

The Vermis
The Vermis are undead creatures. They are made when a living being is eaten by worms, who absorb the person's consciousness and wish to continue that person's life, as an undead conglomeration of worms and bugs. Some say that there are more mindless versions of these creatures that are made through other means, such as druidic magic, the powers and influence of The Graveyard, or by some collective consciousness of a group of creatures.

Gorgons
Gorgons are intelligent mammal-like reptiles with incredibly powerful venom and poisonous skin. Some say that the venom and poison of a gorgon can turn you to stone, but this is almost completely unfounded. Their venom/poison paralyzes whoever is subjected to it. They will usually walk on all fours, but can walk in a more upright fashion for a short time.

Cadavers
The Cadavers are undead creatures, in a similar vein to the Vermis, though they are more of a being's corpse rather than the creatures that fed upon a being. If something can die and leave behind a corpse, it can become a Cadaver. Cadavers will usually be rotting meaty creatures, preserved dead flesh, or a dusty and ancient skeleton, though any kind of dead thing at any point of decomposition or preservation is an option. Unlike the Vermis, cadavers usually forget their past lives before death, or only have the faintest of recollections of them.

Undines
Undines are a race of aquatic amazons, of a sort. They are an all female race of fish people who have formed many warring empires and nations underwater, and even some that crawl up onto land. When underwater, they appear to be dunkleosteus, but with great variety of skin tone and other such features (some might have bright red hair-like gills coming forth from their heads). When above water, they take on a humanoid form, but they retain the toothy and bony faces of those antediluvian aquatics. They are violent, but in a more military style, rather than the Orca type of brutal combat.

is this game a gonzo game?? yes

I HAVE BEEN GONE FOR A WHILE AND I HAVE MANY THINGS

SORRY ABOUT MY ABSENCE

but while i was gone, I was working on many things! I began an over-skype dungeons and dragons game (which i will be posting about over here), and I am working a second over-skype dnd game, which will be played shortly. The first game is entirely improvisation (or almost entirely) so i cannot really talk about it, but the second game is more planned out. it will be a large-ish wilderness sandbox, found in a region of one of the two main planets for my main dungeons and dragons setting (I created a new world solely for this game) I am here to talk about the region, through the use of jeff rient's 20 questions.

1. What is the deal with my cleric's religion?

Well there are a whole lot of religions, but the most prominent (at least on this continent) is The Concordance of Ahjax, it is a church that worships lots of different saints, demigods, bishops, etc. who are all lesser to an ultimate being named Ahjax, who is actually an only-semiconscious reptilian titan who floats through space with a belly full of serpents. Other major cults and religions include a great dog made of and embodying energy named Growl, a sentient spirit of natural disasters who takes on the form of a roving stormcloud, the floating and screaming god/planet known only as The Graveyard, a weird being of pure chaos and weirdness from the place between dimensions, an embodiment of the network of all of life, and so many small godlings, demigods, demons, spirits, etc.

1. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

the town that the players begin the story in (The Citystate of Karm) is fairly economic and industrial, and so standard equipment is easily enough purchased there. Other nations ad towns will have their own shops as well, though what they consider standard might vary.

1. Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?

Most of your characters would be "monsters" that might require special armor and gear. all of the playable races are much stranger than the average fantasy equivalent, and the closest things to humanoids are the extraterrestrial sadist elves and the most populous race, the lizard people

1. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

On the coast of the northern half of the region (the region is on the outward portion of an ocean gulf), there are the constantly warring twin nations of The Court of Xigzaea and the Court of Xigzuu. They are ruled by wizard siblings who hate each others guts, and got 8 other cosmic weirdos and spirits each to help them destroy the other. They might be the most powerful wizard in all the land, but of course wizards everywhere are constantly ascending into the heavens, turning themselves into liches, mutating their form into some monstrous version, seeing the truth behind reality, etc.

1. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?

obviously it is the first and forever king of The First Nation! or maybe its that giant jarl to the north, or the other giant jarl to the north. How about the dictator that rules the nation at Point Unpleasant? I've heard he was pretty good at fighting. Wasn't there some big muscle-y lady a while ago who tried to free all of the slaves in the whole region? she had a big sword i think. Lots of people are constantly doing amazing feats of strength and winning wars and battling monsters and whatnot

1. Who is the richest person in the land?

We all know this! the terrible roving robot factories that trawl over the entire world and take resources, only to craft them into living beings. those machines have taken so many resources, they must be the richest! or maybe its some wizard. might be the beauracro-council of Karm, they have a lot of factories and stores and whatnot. Most rulers are pretty rich, just in general. Its probably some terrible moster or dragon or god though

1. Where can we go to get some magical healing?

why would you ever go to magic to heal yourself, you fool! do you want to grow a second face on your shoulder or some eyeball on your foot or something? if you really want to use magic for something that won't just heal with a good amount of morphine cough syrup and waiting, most doctors have some minor witchcraft skill, and you could totally ask around for some sorcerer who could try to fix you up. there might be some woodland witches that'll help you, and some priests/cult leaders/clerics as well

1. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?

Firstly, undeath is not a disease, how could you be so bigoted. secondly, alignment change isn't really a thing in this setting. However, for most of that other stuff? look for a doctor or wizard or priest that can help you. They'll probably have an ad in the local paper, or maybe some sign up at their storefront. Curing death might be a bit more expensive, and i hop you like still rotting/being incorporeal. However, there is one thing that cannot be cured, and that is lycanthropy. Once you have the worms of the hound in you, you cannot get rid of them, no matter how hard you try. Any amount of mammal worm in your body is too many mammal worms.

1. Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?

There are a lot of organizations that more arcane types can belong to. So many that most cannot be named here. You could, of course, go into service as an apprentice in the Wizard Courts, or you could learn from a pack of wilderland druids. You might get your power from a higher being, in which case you might belong to a church of some sort. There are lots of small sorcerer schools, and most cultures have their own types of magic and magic-users. There are so many schools, cults, monastic sects, etc.

1. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?

anywhere you can find any other kind of NPC, though they will oftentimes band together into guilds and sects and houses and whatnot. The Citystate of Karm has many merchants and engineers in it, as well as many economists

1. Where can I hire mercenaries?

anywhere good adventuring gear is sold, or at the MultiRegional Mercenary Militia, a company that allows for mercenaries to get licenses and work for even more money than they could before. Most major cities have an office of theirs.

1. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?

Many places. In the Nation-State of Ath, all religion and bowing down to higher than mortal beings is illegal. In the Nation-State of the Concordance of Ahjax, all worship of religions other than the Concordance of Ahjax is forbidden. Most rulers have their own fears and superstitions that influence their lawmaking, and thus, many countries have some esoteric and confusing rules.

1. Which way to the nearest tavern?

Ask the local Drunkard. every town has a Drunkard. they might not be drunk on alcohol, however

1. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?

There are so many. like i mentioned above, there are the roving robot factories, but those are huge and hard to destroy. There are the Orcas from the Wall of Whales (an ocean to the north, which is actually nowhere close to the region but orcas end up everywhere) (orcas are sort of this settings replacement for orcs, as they are bigger than human-sized intelligent whales that can sort of waddle on land). Probably some wizard just made some horrifying concoction of two beasts that everybody hates for killing all of their livestock. there are many monsters that rove the wilderness.

1. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

Lots of wars, between lots of countries. 

1. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

Yup, you just have to find them. Only one is very famous throughout the entire region, and that is the Imperial Arena of Point Unpleasant, where dissenters to the dictator are thrown. It is famous primarily because of horror stories that escapees from the nation tell of it.

1. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?

So many. The chaotic weirdness demon I mentioned above is trying to intrude upon the world, and thus there are followers of it, and every cult/monastic sect/etc. is a secret society

1. What is there to eat around here?

Some places have fine dining, others have meat pies and rat-on-a-stick, some places have only dirt and potatoes, some places have basically fast food

1. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

lots of them, especially the ones rumored to be hidden in The First Nation, if you can get over the walls

1. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?

Just over the hill. or maybe in the sewer, the cave just outside of town, the nation to the south/north/east/west, etc.

Races of the World With No Name, Part 1

The World With No Name is my primary pure fantasy setting, with all of the wizards, orcs, dragons, and dungeons that you know and love. Except it is actually more of a science-fiction setting where the majority of the people are uneducated superstitious peasants and thus think that all of the science is magic and that all of the creatures of the world were created in an instant by some god. Of course, there are definitely gods, they just aren't omnipotent nor universe-creating.

Below there are the basic descriptions of many of the races of this world, along with false beliefs regarding them and their true origins.

The Serpent People
The Serpent People died out many thousands of years ago, possibly millions of years ago. They had empires that spanned the entire world, they studied the origins and machinations of magic, they fought or were allies with the ancient elves, and they had incredible lifespans. What made them fall nobody knows, but now there lie in many parts of the world the strange metal, stone, and plastic machines and buildings of these ancient people, forever rotting despite their enhanced strength of material

Many of the things above are true. However, there is one thing that most people do not know about these snake folk; they used advanced genetic engineering and other sciences to create a vast amount of the races and creatures that crawl the world today.

Like this, but with more blood and claws and tumors

The Elves
I've written about elves before. Basically, they are sadistic pieces of crap.

Elves are just as old, if not older, than the Serpent People. However, unlike those snake men, Elves come from some otherworldly star or planet. The ones on our world have been stranded here for millions upon millions of years, slowly tearing the planet apart limb from limb. Elves are like an intergalactic disease, traveling from world to world only to destroy, maim, decay, and burn all in order to entertain their terrible immortal minds. They are chaotic beings from another world, and all (or most) fae creatures in the universe are descended from the original extraterrestrial stock. Elves in our world may come in many sorts, but those in space have horrifying monstrous variety. Many alien peoples know to flee when they see a vast and blubbery elfin leviathan barreling down through their atmosphere, ridden by and pregnant with the murderous violent spawn that will implode that planet.

The Humans
Humans come from many different cultures and races in our world, and they are the majority race, at least on the surface and in civilized lands.

Humans were modified from primitive and ancient apes by the Serpent People. They came in a handful of varieties that were bred for different uses, ranging from sport hunting to arena fighting to beauty pageants to information storage, which all interbred and merged together after the death of the snake empires, forming the hominid race that lives, breathes, and eats on the surface of our planet.

Upper Dwarf

The Dwarfs
Dwarfs are short human relatives that live primarily underground, and come in two main varieties.

Lower Dwarf

The first are known primarily as "Upper Dwarfs", and they are the more well known sort. Upper Dwarfs live closer to the surface, and they are short, squat, fat, and hairy. Upper Dwarfs are superstitious and xenophobic, extremely paranoid and obsessed with the forthcoming apocalypse that will wipe out all fleshy life. They create their numerous structures, statues, and robotic creations for the purpose of "surviving" after the Meatpocalypse destroys their fragile forms, and they hoard precious objects for the same purpose. Their religion is based on a mixture of the movements of the sky (astrology and astronomy) and the movements of the earth (geology), and is much more like a system of superstition than an organized religion. Upper Dwarfs are wary around strangers, and hide many, many things from them. Each dwarfish city-state has its own culture, but there are many things that shared between them (such as their religion).

The second sort of dwarf is the "Lower Dwarf", which is found in the deepest caverns and subterranean expanses. They are pale-skinned and bright-eyed, with frail and slight frames wrapped in slimy and nigh-hairless skin. They do not have large civilization, and live underground in roving gangs and tribes. They crawl on the ceilings and walls of caverns, hoarding bones, coins, rocks, and anything else they find interesting. They are quite bestial, and have no qualms over stealing and murdering anything that has something tasty or shiny in its pockets or on its bones.

Dwarfs were also created from primitive apes by the Serpent People, but they were made for more specific purposes than humans originally were. Dwarfs were crafted and bred for two primary uses: work and war. Their emotions and minds were controlled by snake chemicals and machines, to make sure they were subservient and unwavering when working, or violent and unrelenting when fighting. These chemicals and machines have been gone for generations, leading to the widespread dwarfish paranoia and xenophobia that is widespread today, among other neurological disorders. Lower Dwarfs evolved from those original dwarfs that had been isolated in the deepest caves for centuries, changing their forms to fit their cavernous environs.

He's probably hiding a big fat queen in his attic

The Halflings
Halflings are short and slight human relatives that lived in burrows and hives out in plains regions, before they were more forcefully integrated into human societies. Unknown to most humans, they live in eusocial hives ruled by a great and corpulent queen that births all of the hobbits in the nest, with most of the hive being sterile and muscular females. They function very similarly to eusocial insects, but they are hominid in origin. In human societies, however, they will typically hide their queens in a basement or attic, and will attempt to mimic a family usual to the human culture they are present in. There are also many halflings that have left their queens, and those half-pints are called Street Goblins. They live in chaotic and unstable gangs and tribes in the streets of cities and towns, stealing from rich people, begging on the sides of streets, brawling in alleys, etc. Halflings have been created with subservience in mind, either to a Serpent Person or to a queen, and when they have no leader they devolve into instability and violence. Street Goblins are able to reproduce without the need for a queen, though how is unknown.

Halflings, similarly to the races above, were created by the Serpent People. They were engineered as easily disposable pets and messengers, with queens created to produce mass quantities of these small humanoids. Their brains were wired to serve a leader, and their bodies were made small and slight in order to easily produce them cheaply. When the Serpent People all died out, this leader instinct and small frame coincided to create the eusocial halfling burrows and hives. However, since queens were expensive to maintain, as they required fairly large amounts of food, each and every halfling drone (the sterile female halflings) have a built-in ability to produce a single child agametically, which can be activated with certain chemicals in order to produce a quick messenger.

I said they came in staggering variety

The Hoblings, Hobs, and Bugbears
Hoblings are small humanoid goblins that come in great uncanny and monstrous variety, with some looking just like small humans and others have more mutated features. Hobs are created when a Hobling reaches a certain age (varies from population to population), and enters a puberty-like stage, growing and mutating into a strong and human-sized Hob. Bugbears are a third stage in the life cycle of a Hob, and are born when either a Hobling or a Hob dies. After death, a Hobling or Hob decays and fills with insects, worms, grubs, bacteria, fungi, plants, and beasts of all sorts, becoming a monstrous undead abomination with glowing eyes of fireflies and squirming decomposers under its hairy and stretched skin, crawling on the fragile and dusty bones of the goblin.

Hoblings and Hobs are both quite different in behavior. Hoblings may seem fearful and naive, but in reality that hides a veneer of manipulation and stealth. Hoblings might seem like nothing more than simple thralls, but they are actually the ones pulling the strings. Hobs are more straight forward, and more often will bully others into submission rather than manipulation, though they are still quite conniving and controlling. Both Hobs and Hoblings are incredibly militaristic and greedy, and they love to take things from others and hurt others simply because they can. Bugbears, on the other hand, are sneaky shadow monsters and bogeymen, crawling through the night and stealing into houses and homes to their unknown deeds.

Hobs are one of the very few creation of the Elves, and were originally created as toys just to torture and as agents of the fae monsters. Hoblings were made as slight sneaks and masters of stealth, their many slight fingers useful as weapons and tools. Hobs were made more as soldiers, and they were trained to use brute force and violence to hold sway. Both stages of development become Bugbears after death simply because the Elves did not wish to lose vital assets to them. The extreme change over time was done to save on resources. Even though it may not be obvious at first, these creatures were made through collaboration with the Serpent People, during one of the periods when the two races were allies and friends.

The Orcneas
I've already written about Orcneas (they have undergone a name change). Basically, they are violent and murderous, but pretty friendly.

The Orcneas were created by the Serpent People as war machines. Dwarfs comprised the majority of soldiers (there were some Serpent soldiers as well), but Orcneas were like living tanks, siege engines, and cannons, or like berserkers, myrmidons, and other horrifically skilled and violent soldiers. Those larger sorts are called Ogres. Orcneas populations were kept low by the Serpent People, but after their death there were great booms in Orcneas populations, slowly turning into the horribly violent race known today. Their name is descended from the Serpent words for "Eaters of Corpses", due to them being fed on the rotting cadavers left behind after a battle. Orcneas are actually one of the few races made by the Serpent People who were not controlled chemically, but they were brainwashed and taught that violence and war was a game.

More is Coming Soon

Class and Race Week Day 2: The Mummifier and the Residual Spectre

Here is a class that slowly mummifies its body and grants itself strange esoteric powers, and a race of undead ectoplasms left over from a ghost's untime in this unworld.

The Mummifier
Parent Class: Priest
Hit Dice: d6 (+3/level after 9)
Attack Bonus: 1/2 level, rounded up
Saving Throws: as Priest (see below)
XP to Level 2: 2,750

Prerequisites to playing this class:

• Must have a physical body that can be preserved. If the race you are playing is normally incorporeal or semi-incorporeal, you must somehow acquire a physical form. If you are playing a race that cannot be easily preserved, such as slug-people or certain elves, then you cannot play this class much, since they would be harmed by the preservation process.

Mummifiers have the following class features:

• All experience from treasure must be spent on acquiring special materials (such as incense, wrappings, holy texts and relics, etc.) to begin or continue the mummifying process and to gain religious knowledge.
• At level 2, your unarmed attacks are considered magical and deal 1d4 damage on a hit. This damage goes up one die type every second level (d4 to d6 at level 4, d6 to d8 at level 6, etc.). At level 4, additional damage equal to half the unarmed damage is added to weapon attacks (1d3 at level 4, 1d4 at level 6, etc.)
• Every level (beginning at second level), you choose an esoteric power. Most esoteric powers are once a day, with a handful of at-will abilities and the possibility that a mummifier will choose the same power twice or more. The esoteric powers available vary, but some possible ones might include:
• Speak to Stones
• Night-vision
• Turn Food to Dust
• Control Flames
• Sticks to Snakes
• Mind Control
• Immunity to Disease and Poisons
• At level 9, the mummifier chooses to either unlock the ability to inflict the terrible disease known as Mummy's Rot (in addition to other possible diseases), or to be able to cure any disease.

The Residual Spectre

Ability Scores: +WIS, -CON

Racial Traits: Is incorporeal (can pass through inanimate objects and living creatures (causing a strange feeling)). Cannot use non-magical physical equipment at all. Is able to see where any living thing is at all times, but cannot see inanimate objects in darkness. Can possess living things and inanimate objects to gain a physical form, at least for a time. Can speak with the dead once per day (plus wisdom modifier if positive). When inhabiting a physical form, use the average of the host's and spectre's physical ability scores.

Class Restrictions: Residual spectres can play any class, but the majority are magic-users and priests, simply due to the immaterial nature of these small spirits. However, when inhabiting a body, they are able to utilize the physical equipment required of other classes.

Residual spectres are the remnants of immaterial undead (and some material ones as well!) when they pass through an area. They are cast off, with no memory of their parent ghost's past life, and with not much in the way of paranormal power. All they can do is take another being's physical form and contact other, much more powerful spirits in the area.

Class and Race Week Day 1: The Slime Catcher and the Dust Bunny

Here is the first pair of playable things for class/race week: a class that starts out as just a person with a lil pudding buddy but can become either a slime hunter or the arcane servant of the demon king of slimes, and a race of small constructs grown from the dust and grime lying around your house.

The Slime Catcher
Parent Class: Professional
Hit Dice: d6 (+1/level after 9)
Attack Bonus: 1/2 level, rounded up
Saving Throws: as Professional (Specialist/Thief) (see below)
XP to Level 2: 2,250

Slime catchers have the following class features:

• +2 to saves v. slimes (any effects caused by oozes of some sort), +1 to saves v. poison
• Can speak OOZOID, the alien language of slimes and puddings
• Begins play with an oozing companion that can follow very simple commands. Statistics-wise, it functions as whatever the weakest slime in your game is. It can go into small spaces and do very simple actions. Can speak oozoid.
• Is able to catch and train slimes into monstrous companions. These can be any slime, and it will usually take more time/have more risk the more deadly the pudding is.
• Optional system to determine risk/time: it takes 1 week/hit die, and to succeed they must make a skill check as if they were trained in the skill (following the 5MORE skill system). On a failure, it either takes 1 additional week (cumulative), or you are injured by the slime.
• At level 2, chooses one of the following features:
• Gain a special bonus to hit and damage slimes, equal to 1/3 level, rounded up. This is in addition to your normal to-hit and damage bonuses from leveling and ability scores.
• Gain the ability to cast spells, in a similar manner to a magic-user. All infernal enchantments come from the demon lord of slimes and oozes JUIBLEX, or from similar fiends. Gain spells as the cleric once did (with the first spell being at level 2, etc.). Special spell lists and tables will be forthcoming.
• At level 4, gains one of the following features based on their choice at level 2:
• Is able to track slimes and oozes and puddings with incredible accuracy (functions as if an EXPERT in the skill), and has decreased penalties when attacking recklessly or defensively against slimes (rather than penalty being double bonus, penalty is equal to bonus)
• Can shapeshift into a slime at-will, by making a check of 1d20+level+WIS modifier, against 10+hit dice of goal slime+any other bonuses from special features. Every successful check imposes a -1 penalty, and an unsuccessful check means you cannot shapeshift for the rest of the day.
• At level 6, gains one of the following features based on their choice at level 2:
• All damage dealt by the slime catcher is treated as magical for purposes of killing oozes, which are normally effectively immune to physical damage.
• Can imbue their slime servants with intellect and cunning, allowing them to follow more complex commands.
• At level 9, gains one of the following features based on their choice at level 2:
• Is effectively immune to the caustic effects of oozes, as well as to the powers required to destroy them. They take minimum damage from acid, fire, lightning, etc.
• Can invoke Juiblex itself, or the fungal demon queen Zuggtmoy (as well as certain other powerful demons). They will usually require a favor or sacrifice for whatever they will do. Lesser demons can be invoked from a spell acquired at a lower level.

Dust Bunnies

Dust bunnies grow from dust and sand and hair and all other sorts of particles you might have lying around. The vast majority of them are very small, even shorter than a halfling, but there are records of almost human-sized ones from incredibly dirty ruins and abandoned structures. Dust bunnies generate naturally over time, but they can be created on purpose by wizards or even by a simple commoner with the right charms.

Ability Scores: +DEX, -STR

Racial Traits: Is able to learn very basic information from the dirt in a location. Can fuse together with other dust bunnies to create larger and stronger creatures. Is able to see in low-light conditions just as well as normal light. When fighting against larger creatures, they are adept at crawling all over them to attack (make a DEX check to crawl on a larger creature and attack them). Cannot use large weapons, and must use medium weapons two-handed (even if human-sized, unless fused together).

Class Restrictions: Dust bunnies can play any class, but the majority are fighters or professionals, followed by magic-users, followed by clerics (dust bunnies are very secular). Sub-classes typically fall into the realm of their parent class for these purposes.

A Handful of Announcements

I have many things planned in the upcoming days/weeks/whatever on this here blog.

The first is that next week is what will be called Race and Class Week, where everyday I create and post a playable race and a playable class, and occasionally one or the other will be replaced with a race-as-class style class. This will go from Monday (Labor Day) to the following Sunday.

The second is that I am working on a large(ish) adventure that I will post a pdf of after I play it with my group. It still needs a name, but I have the basic concepts down. It is a dungeon filled with undead halflings, strange mutants made by a morally ambiguous wizard, ancient fungal monstrosities, and demons from space.

I am also going to make more Colorpocalypse posts in the upcoming days, as well as conversions to make it into a more normal OSR game.

Have a great day!