What a Wonderful Day

    This idea was taken and modified from a slushpost by Cosmic Orrery.

 

Damien Mammoliti

The Story

    He appears to you as man. His face is like a ruinous ink stain and his conspicuously elegant suit exudes gloom and shadow. His words, unfailingly polite, are always accompanied by a faint ringing in your head. After bread is broken and pleasantries are exchanged, he informs you of his quest to reunite with his siblings Saturday and Wednesday. He thinks Saturday lives near your camp, maybe in a perilous tower of some kind.

    Why can't he go? There is an enchantment preventing him from rescuing his sister, placed by a wicked wizard who desires to marry Saturday. He promises to let the adventurers keep anything they find in the tower, as long as they bring him his sibling.

    If you deny his plea for help, he will give his farewell, bow to you, and leave. The gentleman will disappear in a puff of lavender and brimstone.

    If you accept his quest, he keeps his promise; all of the wizard's treasures are yours. Except, maybe, the wizard wasn't evil? Why does Saturday try to run when she sees the man? What is happening, were you lied to? Should you fight him?

The Stats

• Health as a giant. The weakest kind of giant, if your system has multiple giants.
• He is unarmored except for a fancy suit.
• Only suitably magical weapons may harm him.
• The gentleman's trump card is the Shadowtime. It is activated as an action by opening the door in the man's chest. He may transport anybody he can see into the Shadowtime: a place without death. Without hope. Without light. The door can only remain open for three rounds, as it heavily taxes the man's energy. He can get his vitality back by basking in the darkness for a few hours.
• Despite his claims, he isn't particularly smart, fast, or strong. Also, he's a megalomaniac.

The Truth

    The man's name is Tuesday, and he is an escaped spell. The witch who created him also made six other spells. Most of them are dead now. Saturday remains alive, living in a warded tower of her own making. She has taken a wizard lover, but he isn't enough to fix her broken heart. With his miraculous regenerative ability, Wednesday is the only spell to have escaped the Shadowtime. He poses as a mendicant priest, wandering from world to world.

    Tuesday's goal is to absorb the last two spells and become a god.

-

    This is an experiment in a system-agnostic bestiary. Let me know if its terrible and needs changing, or if it's good the way it is.

Alignment, Part II - I NOW SEE THE WORLD WITH ONE HUNDRED EYES

Agape the Artisan

"I am one with the Force; the Force is with me."

- Chirrut Îmwe, Rogue One

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

- Litany Against Fear, Dune

"Training is nothing, will is everything"

- Ra's al Ghul, Batman Begins

-

    In life, you always looked for power. Exerting control over yourself, knowledge, and the world always brought you great happiness. Whether you were a good or bad person, it matters not, for you are no longer Ordinary.
    One day, as you meditated underneath a tree, or slept peacefully in your bed, or finished your life’s work, you experienced a revelation. In the grand scheme of things, you were meaningless. You were but a sputtering light in the infinite shadows of great Things. As you gazed at the great emptiness of the unreal world, a creature of Omnireality reached out for you.
    Its name was an endless whispered hymn and a gust of chillingly silent mountain air. You were to be its agent in the Cosmic Conquest of the other Powers. You were gifted with the Mastery of your own body and the freedom to do whatever you thought was best.
    You would encounter other People like you, it said. As the Thing left, it bade you to teach them the truth of their fate.

-

Nexumorphic

Class: MONK

Starting Equipment: Nothing. Weapons are for the undisciplined.
Starting Skill [d6]: Philosophy [Nihilism], Philosophy [Hedonism], Flexibility, Acrobatics, Athletics, Meditation.

A: Mastery, Immaculate Balance, The Body Alone
B: Glimpse of Heaven, Cleansing Ritual, +1 Attack per round
C: Annhiliation of the Small Things,
D: Annihilation of the Great Things

Mastery
    You have achieved complete control over your body and its functions. A MONK uses Mastery Points (MP) to achieve feats of great agility and athleticism. Following an hour of quiet meditation, you may fill up your Inventory Slots which as much MP as you wish. You take 1 damage if something would occupy a slot already taken up by Mastery.
    You may use Mastery to: leap 20' horizontally, leap 10' vertically, reduce damage from a projectile or thrown weapon by 1d6, or increase the damage die size of an unarmed attack. You may only spend as much MP in a round as you have MONK templates.

Immaculate Balance
    As long as you end your movement on solid ground, you may move across things that normally can't support your weight: tree branches, clotheslines, spear tips, the surface of the water, etc.

The Body Alone
    Most MONKS disregard armor and clothes, for they are the tools of unexperienced cowards. You gain AC from not wearing armor. For each tier of armor you aren't wearing, gain +1 AC. (Example: Since you aren't wearing plate armor, chain armor, leather armor, or clothes, gain +4 AC.)

Glimpse of Heaven
    Expend a MP to enhance one of your physical senses for [level] x 2 minutes. The senses that are enhanced now border on the supernatural. You could taste magic, smell lies, see incoming attacks, etc.

Cleansing Ritual
    Through an three hour ritual, a MONK may remove a condition from themselves or someone else.

A. Shipwright

Annihilation of the Small Things
    You are anti-magic. Once per Rest, you may remove a spell, curse, or enchantment from existence.

Annihilation of the Great Things
    The physical universe is a lie, a playground for insects and men. Nothing matters but control of oneself, of the soul. Once a Rest, you may either remove an item or person from existence. If removing an item, no save. If removing a person, they enter a STR Contest with you to stay in this universe. If they win, they can never be erased with this ability. If they lose, they stop existing.

Philosopher GLOG

    This is a GLOG hack inspired by some things, fresh and untested. Enjoy.

Let lead and gold be the essence
Let my mind be the foundation
Let arise a bastion against the world

Let the seven metals crown my brow
Let the seven cults uphold my honor
Let the seven planets align my thoughts

I hereby declare
Your spirit will serve under me
My soul shall be your sword
Submit to my resounding call
Answer!

An oath shall be sworn here!
I shall attain the aspect of Heaven and of Hell
Come forth from your restraints
Heroic spirit!

And something answered.

The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford - Campaign Pitch

Chance Dudinack

The Pitch (in six sentences)

1. Something tragic has occurred in the idyllic forest town of Brandonsford.

2. A few weeks ago, a group of hunters were attacked by a dreadful dragon, black of scale and temperament.

3. The townsfolk are terrified by rumors of the dragon.

4. Merchants and craftspeople are refusing to journey to Brandonsford, leading to a decrease in wealth and industry for the town.

5. The ruler of the town, Lord Eric, desperate to resume trade, has put a bounty of 1000 silver on the dragon's head.

6. You are travelers, outcasts, and wanna-be heroes attracted to Brandonsford by the bounty and the rumor of a fantastical hoard of gold that the dragon guards.

The System

    The main system is the GROG by Vayra, with a few changes. The first change is combat. All attacks automatically hit and deal damage. Armor reduces damage equal to the amount of Inventory Slots it takes up, but will be worn down by repeated blows.

    The second change is XP. You gain Experience by doing things within the game world and engaging with the narrative. 10 XP is required for level 2, 30 XP is required for level 3, and 60 XP is required for level 4. Here are some rough XP values, subject to GM modification:

• You gain 1 XP for each important or interesting roleplaying encounter you complete.
• You gain [x] XP for killing a monster, where [x] equals the monster's HD.
• You gain 1 XP for spending a moderate amount of recovered treasure.
• You gain 2 XP for each unique magic item you recover.
• You gain 2 XP for each unique location or area you discover and interact with.
• You gain 1 XP by roleplaying your character's flaws and ideals.

    The final change is retainers. You can start with a number of retainers equal to your CHA score. Talk to me about what you want them to be and we can figure things out. These retainers can be used as back-up PCs in case your original character dies. Retainers gain 1/2 the XP for all of the values above.

jason scheier

The Characters

    You have four classes to choose from:

• The Zouave, a veteran of many campaigns.
• The Thief, a stealthy rogue. (Note: I am planning on not including any archetypes, but if you can convince me otherwise...)
• The Ranger, a woodsman and hunter.
• The Wizard, occult and mysterious.

    More classes may be unlocked through play.

Who Can Know the Heart of a Dragon (Class: Dragonblood)

source unknown

    You remember them as a normal parent. They might have been a little off (their smile was kind of scary) and they might have smelled weird (something old), but they were a pretty good role model. Then, there was a nasty fight between your caretakers, or a strange man with feline eyes showed up at your door, or a peculiar song drifted through on the wind. No matter what happened, one of your parents disappeared.

    That day, you found out you were a dragonblood. The caretaker who disappeared was a dragon walking in the shape of a mortal. You are their legacy. With a glint in your eye, you grew up, reached maturity.

    The world trembled.

A: Blood of the Dragon, Fury, +1 HP
B: Powerful Exhalation, +1 HP
C: Instant Fury, +1 HP
D: Restoration, +1 HP

Blood of the Dragon
    Your eyes are oddly vibrant, your fingernails preternaturally sharp, your smile draconine. Within your heart beats the primordial blood of a dragon. Your kind is regarded with fear, awe, wonder, and hatred in equal measure.
    Choose a dragon species from below. This informs some of your abilities.

Fury
    When your fury is roused, you are truly dangerous. You may expend 2 HP as an action to access one of the below benefits for [template] rounds. This can be done [template] times every Rest.

• +1 To Hit. Your eyes alight, you can see the weaknesses of your foe.
• +2 AC. Your skin hardens into scales.
• +20’ Movement. You move with supernatural swiftness.
• +1d4 damage. Your muscles flood with burning power.

Powerful Exhalation
    You may expend 2 HP to breathe the element determined by your dragon species. This is described in the dragon species descriptions. This breath bypasses Armor Class and does [template] damage.

Instant Fury
    You may now spend 2 HP without it consuming an action. In addition, if you are to die because of HP lost to Fury, you explode in a blast of your dragon species energy, dealing damage equal to the HP lost to everything within 15’.

Restoration
    Legends persist of the healing properties of dragon’s blood. Sometimes, legends are right. You heal 2 HP per round. Lost limbs, including the head, can be restored over 1d4 weeks as long as your heart, the seat of your soul, is intact.

Dragon Species

    Black Dragons inhabit the cold north. Black Dragonbloods can breathe freezing ice in a [template] x 10' line.

    Red Dragons inhabit the dry east. Red Dragonbloods can breathe burning flame in a [template] x 10' cone.

    Green Dragons inhabit the verdant south. Green Dragonbloods can breath hypersonic wind in a [template] x 10' line.

    Gold Dragons inhabit the idyllic west. Gold Dragonbloods can breath scalding acid in a [template] x 10' cone.

Design Notes
    This class was inspired by the thought "What if HP was a currency that you traded in for benefits?" Some other influences were Exalted's Terrestrials and deus' Monk. Happy gaming.

Best GLoG Posts of 2021

    Inspired by the Salties and the 2021 GLOGIES, I reviewed and read most of the GLoG posts of 2021 and tried to pick out my favorites. These are my personal opinions, which means they are absolutely right. All images are from the mentioned blogposts.

---

BEST ADVENTURE: Brewing Bears in my Stomach by Phlox

    This is the OSR adventure/scenario that I had the most fun running in 2021. I played it on Halloween, so I switched out the bears with werewolves, but kept the basic essence of the scenario. My players had a blast! They climbed to the top of the fort and rescued Bela, killed one of Pheloc's beastly guards, and promptly fled town when Pheloc was splashed with lots of potions and turned into mega-ultra-super-werewolf.

    I also incorporated Phlox's Pumpkin Knight, who was arrogant and dangerous. The players skirted out of his way, avoiding a long speech about the terrors of the town.

BEST MECHANIC: GLOGtober Day 4: Domain-Level Locks and Keys by TheFirstGokun

        This article is an interesting way of incorporating metroidvanias, which I like, into a RPG game. The system is very easy to implement, with a simple Lock → Key → Reward structure. The examples given are very cool and suggest a world I would play in or run. Thus I award it the 'Best Mechanic' status of 2021.

BEST SETTING: FIRMAMENT by Locheil

    

    This one was a close one. It was either going to be Black Star of the Cannibal Kings or FIRMAMENT, but Locheil's evocative setting ultimately won due to the unique ideas he presented for nations and classes. A tyrant Sun King? Cool. Demigod knights? Totally. Astrologer-as-class? Definitely on board. I am excited to see what comes next in the FIRMAMENT series.

BEST SYSTEM: Wizards with Guns by FifthDragon

    Wild West + Wizards! The combination seems obvious. FifthDragon manages to not only make a flavorful world that is fun to explore, but also an elegant word-based freeform spell system. I feel like Wizards with Guns catches some of the essence of fantasy and can't wait to shoot people and die in the Untamed Lands.

BEST SIMPLE CLASS(ES): Very Leetle Mountain Classes by Vayra

    I agree with Vayra when she says that sometimes Mountain classes are too big. That is why I really appreciate her leetle Mountain classes, which strip down the archetypes to their core essence and powers. In fact, they inspired me to start making my own simple classes, which I might share sometime soon.

BEST NON-CASTER CLASS: Champion by Locheil

    The best Greek mythology RPG setting is Eikonokosmos, created by Locheil. The first post in the series is the Champion, the fighter-type for the world. It has a cool FATE mechanic, a few excellent archetypes, and a Violence Dice system (which I stole). The class was based on the question: What if masked cleric but fighter? I think this is an exemplary answer.

BEST CASTER CLASS: True Witch by Vayra

    Vayra's Mountain setting has always intrigued me. This is the best caster class, although close seconds are deus ex parabola's Alienist and Locheil's Magos. With a list of twenty spells, four doom lists, four subclasses, and a list of 20 witch-friends, this is packed with content to use and steal, although I personally think the below entry is Vayra's best.

BEST FLAVORFUL CLASS: Sacred Alchemist by Vayra

    Well, I love alchemy, in both its fantastical and real-life aspects. So, when someone came out with an alchemist class focused on the seven six sacred metals, I was excited to read it. The class is packed full of flavor and spells. I like the different alchemy mechanic because of its simplicity, but especially appreciate the varied alchemist orders.

Alignment, Part I - THE ONLY THING THEY FEAR IS YOU

 

CosmicSpaceWhale

“Let’s play a game: which body part do you need the least?”

- Ramsay Bolton, Game of Thrones

"With blood and rage of crimson red,

Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead,

Together with our hellish hate,

We'll burn you all--that is your fate!"

- The Red Lantern Oath, DC

"In a galaxy at war, Savage, there is only one way to get the attention of the Jedi. Slaughter of the innocent. Mercilessly and without compromise."

- Darth Maul, The Clone Wars

-

    Some things just aren’t fair. Long ago (or maybe a few seconds ago, you can’t really tell), you lived a normal life. You woke up, ate, went to work, and slept. You were the definition of Ordinary. Then, due to fate or merely some bad luck, your reality fractured into innumerable pieces.

    Your brain ruptured and oozed neural juices, overloaded with the Truth of the world. You, your mother, your father, and indeed everyone in the world, were just pawns of greater, more primordial Things. Uncaring creatures whose forms drove you to make bloody ribbons of your eyes. Your body broke itself down in despair, bones cracking, muscles spasming, and flesh bleeding. And only one emotion remained in your poor ruptured skull: Rage.

    This was not supposed to happen. You were Ordinary and you were content with that. And then, everything got fucked up. You were dying now, bleeding out of all of your normal orifices and several new ones. ‘Fuck the world’ you screamed with your raw vocal cords. Nothing mattered and that fact made you really mad.

    This anger at the world, at life, at your existence, attracted one of those Things. It built your body back up, giving you a new flesh bag to rip and tear. Of course, your body was built back wrong, for the Thing had no true comprehension of human anatomy. It gave you throbbing muscles, sharp teeth, and wickedly long claws.

    Its name was the sound of a death-scream and of blood spilling from a fatal wound. You were to be its servant in the Cosmic Slaughter of the other Powers. It filled your grasping, feeble mind with images of viscera and a feeling of unending wrath. If nothing truly mattered, you could kill whoever the fuck you wanted and vent your rage at your position.

    Your first act? Pick up a weapon.

spaghettibastard

Class: FIGHTER

Starting Equipment: 2 Large weapons, both covered in fresh blood [2d6 +STR damage, 2 slots each]. 1 Medium weapon, stolen from a victim of yours. [1d8+STR damage, 1 slot]. Some tattered rags OR no clothes at all.
Starting Skill [d6]: Combat [Swords], Combat [Axes], Combat [Hammers], Combat [Maces], Combat [Spears], Combat [Tridents].

Level 1: Born for Battle, Murderous Intent, Kill Dice
Level 2: Clear Mind, +1 Attack per round, +1 Violent Deformity, +1 KD
Level 3: Sudden Death, +1 Violent Deformity, +1 KD
Level 4: Wrath, +1 Attack per round, +1 Violent Deformity, +1 KD

Born for Battle
    War changes a person, in your case physically. Let your body grow and change to fit the needs of the Thing that controls you. After all, what can you do to stop it?
    Every level, you gain a Violent Deformity, which are found in the list below. If you run into a repeat, keep going up until you reach one you don't have.

1. RIPPED MUSCLE. Your muscular system is clearly visible beneath your thin layer of skin. +2 STR.
2. UNBROKEN SINEW. Ligaments and tendons are as tough as leather. +2 DEX.
3. IRON FAT. Bulging with fat, it is hard for you to feel the weak blows of your enemies. Damage reduction of 2.
4. RIPPING CLAWS. Your fingernails grow, twist, and harden until they're shiny black talons. Your fists go up a damage die.
5. WINGS OF DEATH. Wings painfully burst from your back, scarlet and magnificent. You gain a flying Speed of 30'.
6. ARM REACHING FOR HELL. Of course you need a third arm! Another hand to hold a weapon. You gain a third hand and all that implies.
7. EYES OPEN. Your foes wonder how you can see them in the darkness of night. Little do they know, you have eyes in the back of your head. You can never be surprised.
8. SCALES OF STEEL. Skin as tough as steel protects you. +2 AC.

Murderous Intent
    The basic act of murder can be done with anything. All you need is will. Weapons you wield, even improvised ones, deal 1d8 base damage if they would normally deal less. If you have a STR penalty, it no longer applies to your attack or damage rolls.

Kill Dice
    You have [level] Kill Dice (KD), which are d6s. You regain all your Kill Dice on a Rest. You can gain extra dice from dealing maximum damage or from killing a creature with more HD than you. Dice gained from dealing damage can go over your maximum amount. Extra KD that you gain dissipate whenever you go one round without fighting.
    You can roll a Kill Die whenever you deal damage and add it to the regular damage of the attack. You can do the same when you take damage and subtract the value of the die roll. KD are expended on a 4-6 and return to your pool on a 1-3.

Clear Mind
    You’re immune to magical effects that would affect your mind.

Devon Kennedy

Sudden Death
    Weapons on your person can be drawn instantly even if you were wearing them on your back, or hiding them in your boot, or were tied up and couldn't possibly have reached them. Your fists go up a damage die.

Wrath
    WRATH. WRATH. WRATH. WRATH. WRATH. Your weapons never break unless you want. When you choose to break a weapon, you automatically hit with that attack and deal double damage.