TERPSICHORA MASK

TERPSICHORA MASK

A white domino mask with elaborate gold and black inlays carved around the eyes. Black laces made of silk hang from the mask’s eyes like tears. It changes from pale white to blood red once activated. Said to be possessed by the spirit of a dancer murdered by an obsessive fan.

What's It Do?
When the command word (TERPSICHORA!) is spoken the mask removes the wearer's subconscious strength limiters allowing them to fight at peak performance at the cost of damage to their body. The wearer's STR & DEX score becomes 18 (+3) and they fight as a Fighter twice their level for the duration of the ability. However the human body has limiters to protect itself, each round the ability is used the wearer's muscles become shredded & their bones riddled with hairline fractures causing 1d2 points of temporarily CON damage. The wearer may end the ability early before combat ends by asserting their will and passing a save vs magic. A failure means the wearer will fight until combat ends regardless of any CON damage received.

Updated the Body Over Mind Spells here btw.

Additionally if the wearer's HP or CON is reduced to 0 or less the user’s body (corpse) rises and eloquently fights unarmed as a Fighter twice their level with their STR & DEX becoming 20 (+5). The body fights (anyone, including allies) for 1d4 plus level rounds or until the body takes damage equal to 8 plus level.

Influence:

My favorite video game of all time is The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask. One of the things the game tasks you to do is collect an assortment of weird masks scattered throughout the world map. All the masks are unique and have different properties and abilities. Now I tend to throw in weird magical masks in my games as an homage to Majora's Mask. This particular mask's ability is from the anime/manga Hunter x Hunter and was used by the sinister royal guard Pitou.
Anime and manga are a gold mine for RPGS btw.

Like this magic item? Let me know in the comments and definitely let me know if you throw it in your games.

The Thing Under The Bed (Halloween Monster)

The Thing Under The Bed 
Armor 14, Move 120′, HD 3, HP 15, Psychic Attack 1d8, Morale 10. Special: Dragged Under
Save vs Paralyzation or be dragged under the bed. See Description.

*This monster only pops up on your random encounter tables during October.

Next time one of your characters(lowest CHA or the player who's the most cautious) tries to cuddle up in bed (favorite inn, property, etc) alone they will get an overwhelming feeling that something is under the bed. If the character gets out of bed, nothing stops them. If they check under the bed, nothings there. If they leave the room nothing happens and the encounters ends. BUT if they ignore that strange feeling and try to go to sleep then The Thing Under The Bed will pay a visit. 
The Thing will wait until the character is fast asleep to strike (Save vs. Paralyzation at -2) and try to drag the character under the bed with supernatural strength. If the character failed their save they are dragged under the bed. If they succeed they manage to fend off the attacker and may roll initiative.

Under the Bed

Characters who are successfully dragged under the bed are pitched into a cold desert-like plane of existence shrouded in total darkness. This realm is the Thing's digestive system and if feeds on fear and misery. The character is stuck here for 1d6+1 days. If the character survives the starvation and dehydration checks then they are spit out from under the bed unharmed save for being exhausted, starving and dehydrated X turns later where X is the number of days spent under the bed.

The Thing Under The Bed takes the form of whatever the character's player's worst nightmare is. That means doing some homework on your players.If the Thing fails it's morale check it will attempt to flee under the bed. If successful it disappears never to be seen again, or will it?
Happy Spooktober!

Blog Update:
Still working on that zine. Turns out decent writing is hella time consuming. lol

Supernatural Magnetism

I've been watching Jojo part 5 religiously since it came out and I’ve been fascinated with the idea that stand users attract other stand users. If you don't watch/read Jojo, all you need to know is it's weird as shit and stand-users are pretty much just magic-users that only know one spell. I wanted to take that attraction and use it in my games.

Supernatural Magnetism

I’ve been testing it with two methods:

The first is by increasing the random encounter chance when a magic-user is in the party.
Normally I check for random encounters on the road once for the day and once at night with a base 1-in-6 chance of something happening.
However, when a magic-user is in the party the base chance increases to 2-in-6. Multiple M-Us don’t increase it anymore than one would. For dungeons I use the same numbers.

The second is by increasing the chance that a random NPC is a magic-user. 

For example in OSR2 one of the NPCs stole a page from a wizard's spellbook but is not a caster himself. Because my PCs have a magic-user I rolled my trusty d6 and BAM! he's a Magic-User now. A lot LotFP modules have small chances of normal people actually being Magic-Users, in those cases I would up the percentage or just flat out make them M-Us. Obviously not every NPC is gonna be some hidden witch but if it seems like a possibility, roll that die! This might be a bit unfair to the non-spellcasting characters but eh, if they don't want weird shit happening to them they should be a farmer or something, or ditch the M-U.

Conclusion

So far I've been pretty happy with the results. Stuff happens more often and I get to suffocate the players with strange happenings. I might fiddle with the numbers some more but I'll update this post if I do. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think.

Honestly I think I just want to see a wizard duel in game.

Death Masks

"L'Inconnue de la Seine"

Death Masks

have been been used to preserve a person's likeness from the time of the pharaohs to relatively recently when photography became prevalent. However a hidden family of morticians in Egypt known as the Coin Eaters(the process is very expensive) have passed down an ancient ritual to imbue death masks with the deceased's personality and memories. This allows one to continue existing on the material plane using a surrogate body after death.

Ritual of Transference

The following components are required to begin the ritual:

• The deceased's head(with/without body) which is cleaned, sutured, and painted to the look alive to the best of the mortician's ability*. This done to ease the transference of the deceased's persona and to shape the mold of the face with wax. Requires a successful Cosmetology Skill roll to complete. A failed roll means the process must be redone from scratch wasting 1d10 x 10sp worth of materials. The client of course foots the bill.
• Offerings of precious metals equal to 1000sp x the character's level that is smelted down to construct the mask. The stronger the personality the more expensive the mask to house it. Requires a Successful Mask Making Skill roll to complete. A failure means the mask must be melted down and recast again, costing the family 1d10 x 25sp worth of materials. The client of courses foots the bill.
• A whole corpse to wear the mask. The family will provide the body for an additional charge of 100sp or will work with whatever the client provides. When the ritual is completed and the mask worn, the corpse takes the physical appearance of the character the mask was made for.

*Mortician Skills- Usually the family requires a substantial donation to allow one of their more experience members to forge the mask. In lieu of coin, the family may also ask for an errand(of varying difficulty) to be completed at their behest. 

1. Novice Mortician- 250sp, 3-in-6 Cosmetology Skill, 3-in-6 Mask Making Skill
2. Experienced Mortician-  500sp 4-in-6 Cosmetology Skill, 4-in-6 Mask Making Skill
3. Expert Mortician-  1000sp 5-in-6 Cosmetology Skill, 5-in-6 Mask Making Skill
4. Master Mortician- 2000sp 6-in-6 Cosmetology Skill, 6-in-6 Mask Making Skill

Once the mask has been forged(and the fees paid) the Ritual of Transference may commence. The family allows the clients to view the forging of the mask but the actual magic is done behind closed doors. Its a family secret after all. In my game the process involves a certain piece of music...and takes three days to complete.

Once completed the mask holds the deceased's Class Level/XP, Mental Stats(INT,WIS,CHA), personality, and memories. The body procured earlier provides the Physical Stats(STR,CON,DEX) and holds any gained XP. As long as the mask stays intact(the mask has 50hp), the character only needs a new body upon death to continue. Though they begin with the stats they had when the mask was constructed and any new xp or levels are lost. I'll let you decided if they get to keep memories or not.

Nábrók (Corpse Trousers)/Necropants

I was listening to the newest Last Podcast on the Left episode about Icelandic Sorcery and was inspired to make a magic item from one of the occult objects they talked about, Necropants.

-Nábrók (Corpse Trousers)/Necropants.
Allows the wearer to reach into their Necropants(the scrotum pocket) and pull a silver coin from it once a day. 1-in-6 chance to pull a gold coin. Works as long as the original widow's coin isn't removed.

In order to create a pair of Necropants a Magic-User must first complete the following ancient ritual:

• Make a true male friend.(Why male? We need that scrotum pocket!)
• Ask said friend to let you skin them from the waist down upon their natural death.
• If yes, proceed. If no, make a new friend.
• Wait until friend is buried, then dig him up and skin him. Make a relevant skill check to not damage it or hire a flesh tailor.
• Once you have the skinned flesh of your friend, steal a coin from a poor widow.
• Place stolen coin in scrotum along with a runic symbol.
• Put Necropants on and bathe in goats milk under the moon.
• Profit???

Congrats your now the proud owner of a pair of Necropants! Taking them off requires a Remove Curse spell.

These'll make a great addition to the magic items for sale at the Ghoul Market. Or make your insane Magic-User NPCs wear them. Anyways let me know what you think!

Familiar Binding, Redux

Samuel's arms fell limp as he slumped to his knees before the gruesome scene before him. Her body lay contorted and strewn across the hay smothered floor in sea of red. The girl's once sky blue eyes stared dulled and vacantly towards one of the shadow soaked corners of the room. From the darkness appeared two hellish points of lights, crimson in color, followed a fiendish voice that croaked from the dark. "The pact is complete young Samuel, thine sibling's soul for the unnatural knowledge thy so desired." "Take thine hand and dab her cooling essence unto the book." A few somber moments passed before the boy sheepishly rose with inky black tome in hand. He took just enough steps before collapsing beside his sister's ruined form. The boy caressed her cheek careful of the torn parts then closed her eyes. After he soaked his hand in the thickened pool around him and pawed into his grimoire the hurried whispers of his familiar.

I was feeling lazy so I decided to steal an old post from my dead blog and update it here. I was pleasantly surprised to find the above scene, I dont even remember writing it.
Anyways the spell to summon a familiar has been done so many times already but I wanted to add my own take to it. I wrote this last year but here it is cleaned up & updated.

The following is a 1st level spell for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

-Familiar Binding-

Throughout history witches & warlocks have taken beastial familiars as aids to their spellcraft. This spell allows the magic-user to bind a otherworldly entity into a contract, bestowing gifts of knowledge and power in exchange for sacrifices. The process takes 8 hours of constant chanting and spell weaving and must not be interrupted by outside forces. The spell must be cast at night.

The entity requires a vessel to house it while it lingers on this plane. The caster must provide the corpse of one of the following:

1. Hare
2. Monkey
3. Crow
4. Lizard
5. Snake
6. Rat
7. Cat
8. Goat
9. Toad
10. Dog
11. Owl
12. Tarantula

or...

1. A child.
2. A Beautiful person.
3. A Hideous person.
4. A Party Member.

The following may be offered during the casting to increase the chance of success:

• Burning of 500sp worth of incense. +1 to Save.
• Ritual Sacrifice of a sapient innocent. +1 to Save per HD of sacrifice(s).
• Burning of elaborate candles wrought from human fat. +1 to save.

After the end of the casting make a Save vs Magic.

• If successful, continue to the bargaining portion of the spell.
• If failed, the spell must be performed again from the beginning with fresh components.

The Bargain & Contract

Once contact has been established, the bargaining process begins. The player rolls randomly to determine the familiar's demands but may choose a boon.

The Familiar demands...

1. Blood fed from your breast, 1d3 hp's worth per week.
2. Ritual Sacrifice of a Virgin, 1 HD's worth per week. 
3. No hair to be on your body, you must groom daily.
4. One of your limbs which it devours once the bargain is complete.
5. You only consume live insects for sustenance.
6. Wealth, to be burned in ritual sacrifice. 50% of all treasure/income gained each week.
7. Pain, you must inflict X points of damage to a human being each week. X equals your hit points.
8. Your offspring(all of them, forever), if none your fertility, if none your genitals. Roll again if you possess none of these things.
9. You worship it. You must dedicate an entire day(12 hours) to worship once a week.
10. You always lie or tell the truth, flip a coin each day to determine.
11. You consume the blood of a whore, 1 cup per day. (Diseases may apply.)
12. You are always intoxicated. See Drunk rules in Rules & Magic book.

In exchange...

1. You are able to use your familiar as a magical conduit, you may cast an additional spell per day without penalties, of any level.
2. You get the Devil's luck, you may reroll any of your dice rolls, once per day and take the better result. Twice per day at 6th level & after.
3. The familiar has denied your death, you resurrect 13 hours after you died in a nearby cemetery/graveyard. Roll on a Dismemberment chart and add that deformity to your body. You will only be resurrected a number of times equal to your Charisma score.
4. Your left hand turns to gold. Anything you touch with this hand turns to gold.
5. Your iris turns blood red when this ability is used, you instantly learn any spell you see cast. Save vs magic for each time you use this ability more than once a day. Failure means you go blind in one eye then the other if failed again.
6. The familiar grants you the tongue of babel allowing you to be understood in any language.
7. Your blood has healing properties for others. 1 HP worth of blood heals 1d2+1 hit points.
8. Your familiar has stolen a angel's voice, you may cast the cleric spell Command once per day. Twice at 6th level & after.
9. Your familiar revels in combat, you gain the Fighter's Attack Bonus and progression.
10. You may cast Dispel Magic as the Cleric spell, once per day. Has no effect on the Familiar and it'll mock you relentlessly if tried.
11. You gain supernatural beauty,  +1 to CHA mod. You may cast Charm Person once per day without expending a spell slot.
12. The familiar whispers demonic knowledge to you in your sleep. You gain 2 Skill points and have a 1-in-30 chance to gain a skill point each night.

Additionally having a familiar reduces all costs and time associated with spell research. This represents the familiar's knowledge as it aids your research.

-Final Notes-

• The Familiar is its own entity, not a slave to be commanded at will, it has its own goals and ambitions and should be played as such by the Referee.
• If the magic-user does not perform his/her's sacrifices, the Familiar will redact it's boon & bestow a curse it it's place. Only a great tribute please the familiar.
• If the Familiar is not given its sacrifices after a week it will drag its master to hell, killing them in the process.
• The familiar has HD equal to the caster's level and is immune to non-magic attacks. Should the familiar die it will reappear 3 days later in the same form it was summoned in.
• Breaching the contract with the familiar is a quest in of itself.
• Should the Caster be killed their familiar will explode into a summon spell equal to twice the caster's level and automatically be out of control. 

Thanks for reading! Make sure to follow for a new post every week! Sometimes 2 posts!

Pishtaco, Fat Eater

I remember watching a episode of Supernatural where a pair of fat eating monsters open a very successful weight loss clinic. Only after one of the monsters starts greedily taking too much fat and killing people do they draw the ire of hunters. I really liked that idea and after doing some research it turns out the monsters, called a Pishtaco, is a local legend from the Andes region in South America. If you want the history & lore check out the wiki here. I'm going to be taking the skeleton of the monster and changing it to better suit what I want it to do.

Here’s the stats real quick:

Pishtaco/Fat Eater
Armor 16, Move 60′, 5 Hit Dice, 22hp, Big Nasty Knife 1d8 then Fat Suck, Morale 9. Fat Suck, the victim makes a Save vs Paralyzation, a failure means they're pinned. At the start of each round a pinned character takes 1d6 Constitution damage and the Fat Eater gains that much hp back as a animated intestine erupts from the Pishtaco's stomach and sucks the fat from the knife wound. At the end of the round the pinned character may make another save to escape.

The Pishtaco looks like a morbidly obese person(usually caucasian) dressed in the local fancy attire. It travels in a carriage with a entourage of followers that wants the “healthy” look the Pishtaco has. The Pishtaco travels town to town offering its services to those who can pay.

The Pishtaco Services

• The Pishtaco can transfer fat from one person to another. When the Pishtaco steals the fat from humans it can't digest it completely and it forms a kind of ambergris in the gut. Once enough fat is gathered it can extracted via vomiting or opening up its stomach upon death. The ambergris can be mixed with water or alcohol(masks the horrid taste) to make a high caloric cocktail. Consuming one pound of Pishtaco ambergris adds 25 lbs of weight once digested and adds 1 Point of Constitution to a maximum of 18. 
• Consuming too much ambergris at once usually leads to heart attack. Save Vs Poison or die for each pound consumed more than twice a day. Note:Make sure to add encumbrance to characters who become overweight.
• Additionally the ambergris has an odd curative effect. If made into a poultice and spread onto a wound it will heal faster and not scar. In game terms a PC heals at twice the usual rate. 
• Candles made with Pishtaco Ambergris last twice as long.

1 lb of Pishtaco Amergriss is worth 500sp to the right people or can be bought from the Pishtaco for a service or some fat, just a bit.

The Gambler

"I thrice had a name, twice a face, and once a soul but lost each to myself."

The Lore

The Gambler is an ancient cursed gamer(self-professed King of Games) that wagered it’s identity* against an old god and lost. Now it wanders the globe eternally cursed to lose any sense of self it may regain.

*Identity consists of a person's Name, Appearance, & Soul.

The Gambler's outward appearance varies based on the local fashion at the time. For example if encountered in the default 17th century period LotFP uses it wears a fresh white doublet beneath a pristine buff coat with fashionable trousers and speckless black leather boots(all won from bets). Where skin would be seen are worn bandages with most assuming the Gambler is a leper. A simple wooden mask conceals its featureless face. Beneath the Gambler’s bandages is a mannequin-like body of a sculpted marble human. A strong minty scent wafts off the Gambler due the peppermint it rubs in the cracks of its skin to keeps fairies from collecting a debt it owes. The Gambler speaks in a low almost whispering voice and is well mannered(a bit dull personality wise) but fiercely competitive and will grow frustrated with each loss though never to the point of violence.

Location & Rules

The Gambler is well known in the underground gambling scene and those there will point to its last known location or current one, for a hefty price. The Gambler stays in one place until it gains a few new identities then goes on to quickly lose them attempting to win back its original self to the same god that cursed it. The Gambler can also be found at Vacant Ritual Assembly's Ghoul Market.

When encountered the Gambler will introduce itself as the King of Games and offer to play a game of its choice with a wager. If the players demand to choose the game and/or wager the Gambler will offer to flip a coin for it. If the PCs win, they can choose the game & terms. The Gambler knows how to play all traditional games and will quickly learn new ones once explained. It has a near infinite supply of treasure to wager with though not all on its person.

The games it chooses to play should reflect the time period. The Gambler's current games of choice are Veintiuna(21) & Liar’s Dice which were popular at the time(I also know how to play them!). If you don't want to play a board/card game  or don't have/know any on hand, offer to play these:

1. Staring Contest
2. Arm Wrestle
3. Rock, Paper, Scizzors
4. Thumb War
5. Hangman
6. Charades

If you want to narrate the game and use a dice to determine the outcome have the players roll a d6 and add any relevant modifiers, then have the Gambler roll a d10. Highest number wins.

The buy in for the first game is 100sp(or higher if the players are ballsy) for each player participating. Winner gets the pot. The Gambler will accept and explain essence* in lieu of coin. Once the first game is over the Gambler will offer to play another round with the bet doubled each time. If the player's tire of playing for coin, the Gambler will offer magic items, or valuable information. The Gambler WANTS/NEEDS identities, its desperate to get its old self back and become human again.

*See Vacant Ritual Assembly #1 for Essence.

Any coin/treasure won from the Gambler counts as XP once the encounter is over. This should keep the PCs coming back for more punishment. If the PCs rack up a debt and cannot pay immediately(no talking their way out of this one) the Gambler will nonchalantly offer to erase it in exchange for their identity. If asked what that entails, the Gambler just says “It shan't be missed”. If they refuse to pay up then the Gambler will forcibly take it by removing its mask and sucking their identity through a small hole where its mouth should be. An eerie whistling sound is heard when this transpires. Should the PCs turn to violence, the Gambler will defend itself with rapier & pistol, & Identity Theft if the requirements are met. See stats below.

The Gambler, 8 HD(30HP)
AC 18(Marble Body) Movement as Human
Save as Fighter = to HD
Morale 10
2x Attacks: 1x Rapier Attack & 1x Pistol Attack(has 4 loaded hidden in Buffcoat)
OR
Identity Theft: (Once per round)
If the target/character owes any form of debt to anyone, the Gambler may suck out their identity. No save.
Losing your Identity:

• All your Ability Scores become 10.
• Everyone forgets you existed(except you & the Gambler).
• Your body becomes featureless & mannequin-like.
• Pacifism: you lose your fighting spirit & flee this battle. Save vs Magic each new combat to avoid fleeing. 

Gambler's Loot:
3d6 x 500sp, 1d4-1 Minor Magic Items*, 1d4 worth of identities it can burn Essence with.
*I really liked Bernie the Flumph's Ghoul Market Items, so I would use those for the Minor Items.

*Me when I introduce the Gambler.

Notes

• Defeating the Gambler causes all currently held identities(1d4) to return to their owners. This also pisses it off.
• The Gambler is cursed to gather identities eternally and thus will respawn 1d4 weeks in a corpse buried in a shallow grave closest to where it died. It regains its marble body and will track down the PCs for a “final game”, death.
• If the PCs encounter the Gambler a couple of times & pay their debts without hostility, the Gambler will offer to trade identities from its current stock as a show of goodwill. Doing this allows the PCs to trade their current identities for a new one. This entails a new Name, Appearance, and Soul(Reroll all Ability Scores).
• Becoming besties with the Gambler gives them its backstory & info on the god of Gambling that cursed it. Perhaps a Quest to aid the Gambler in regaining its identity?

Let me know if you use this thing and how it goes!

Jörmungandr's Blood, Redux

*Note: I posted this on my old blog but I wanted to redo/update it.*

My Last LotFP campaign ended when the earth was hurled into the void of space. How? Why?
PVP man, pvp.

Anyways. What does that have to do with Jörmungandr, child of Loki? or its blood? Well, early in the campaign I had put Skerples’ Tomb of the Serpent Kings out in my campaign's wilderness. My player's stumbled upon it, conquered it and claimed it as their own. Of course one of the reasons they turtled up there was the treasure in the last room. Something so valuable it would serve as one of catalysts for the campaign’s finale…

The Well Room

The last room in the Tomb of the Serpent Kings says to place your own treasure, so I did. I called it the Well Room and it held a way to get Jörmungandr's Blood. Here's what I had in my notes:

• The room is empty save for three items. A large well(15ft wide), a large drillis suspended with rope above the well. The rope winds around a spool hidden in the ceiling. A lever nearby activates the drill.
• The well is miles deep.
• At the end of the well sleeps Jörmungandr, the world snake.
• Activating the drill sends it down to the snake drawing blood that fills the well.
• Roll a d10. An earthquake with magnitude equal to the result erupts after the drill causes the world snake to stir possibly collapsing the entire Dungeon. Insta death.

Looking back this kinda sucks. I never explained how the drill works. Magic, science? Who knows!. What happened to the blood still in the well? Eh. A d10 roll for a possibility of insta death? That's a Raggi fuck you, still digging that. Also a lot of rope. Alot. I think I can do it better, here's what I would use today:

• Large well made of black scale and stone in the middle of room, 20ft wide now. Still miles deep.
• The room’s floor is slick with dried blood.
• Along the walls are ancient clay jars filled with coagulated blood. Useless.
• The big change is instead of a drill now there's a cow sized monstrous tickworm. Its chained up and suspended above the well with its grotesque head pointing down into it.
• A person must continuously crank the enormous spool of chain that now lies next to the well. Turning the lever clockwise lowers the tick into the well.
• Takes 3 turns of cranking for the tick to reach the sleeping serpent and latch on.
• The tick worm is trained to drink until full then detach. Takes 1 turn.
• Now requires 4 turns of cranking counter-clockwise to return a full tickworm back to the surface due to its added weight.

Alright! We got a giant gross tick full of a demi god's blood. Now what? Time to harvest! Now assuming (big assumption) the PC's don't just immediately kill the tick, which is harmless btw. They'll be able remove the blood via a removable plug in the tick's abdomen.

Like this! *gags*

Harvest Notes:

• "Harvesting" the blood yields 20 gallons worth.
• Not leaving at least 10 gallons for the tickworm will cause it to starve and die after a week.
• Not letting the tickworm digest it's yield, which takes a week, causes it to starve & die.
• The blood of Jörmungandr is only usable when it's mixed with the tick's saliva and digestive fluids. I would a place a "how to milk the tick" guide somewhere in the dungeon or in this room. Have it have sketchings of the tick and the hole in its abdomen. Also give the book a weird title and written in a ancient(snake) language.(Put those langage pips to use!)
• Sending the Tick down more than once a day causes Jörmungandr to stir, d4 roll, result equals a earthquake of that magnitude. Increase die size for each time the tick is sent down more than once a day, up to a d10. (7 roll equals a 7.0 magnitude quake, etc.) 1-4 is scary. 5-6 causes minor damage(falling shelves, glass breakage), 7-9 Causes falling rock damage. Magnitude 10 is insta death for anyone in the dungeon as it collapses on itself.
• Harvested Blood spoils after a month.

The Harvested Blood (Jörmungandr's Blood)

Originally I had made the blood similar to cocaine. A supreme high that completely changed a person. I had this change represented by letting characters reroll their ability scores during their first high and take the higher number. Afterwards they would make a Save. vs Magic, a failure would mean that character was addicted and had to take a hit at least once a day. After the first dose you get more tolerant and take on more snake-like qualities on with each failed save, eventually becoming a horrible snake monster. Still sweet, but I want to update it a bit.

The Blood‘s Effects:

1. During the first dosage(8oz), Reroll your physical ability scores(STR, CON, DEX) using 4d6, drop the lowest.
2. While the blood is in your system(lasts 1 hour) you may reroll any saving throws and take the higher result.(Advantage) Does NOT affect saving throws from the Blood.
3. Each time the blood is consumed, make a Save vs. Poison, if you fail you are now addicted to Jörmungandr's Blood and must take one dose each day. Failure to do so causes you to take 1d6 Permanent CON damage each day the blood isn't taken. 0 CON ='s Death.
4. After you are addicted you must make Save vs. Poison after each dose. For each failed save afterwards consult the list below in order:
5. Your eyes become snake like, and you gain infravision(sense heat) with a range of 60ft.
6. Your skin becomes pale & scaley, once a week you instinctively seek solitude to shed your skin. (takes 8 hours of painful shedding)
7. You grow serpentine fangs and gain a 3d6 Poisonous bite attack, usable once a day.
8. Your tongue elongates and bifurcates at the tip, you gain the ability to speak to snakes & reptiles. (Parseltongue yo)
9. Your jaw gains the ability to dislocate, you can swallow large prey whole such as a chicken, or small child. Each such meal counts as a week's sustenance.
10. Your Intelligence & Charisma becomes 3. Congrats on your new life as a snake-person abomination.

Breaking the Habit

A character may attempt to break their addiction to Jörmungandr's blood by spending 72 hours in a dark room, water fasting (consume only water). They still take CON damage as per my addiction rules and RAW starvation rules. After the 72 hours the character may make a Save vs. Poison. A success means they broke their addiction to the god's blood. Any CON score damage suffered by the blood heals at the same rate as HP.

The Woodsman's Hatchet

A long time ago, early in my Referee career I had to quickly improvise some backstory for a spontaneously created magic item. The item in question was the Woodsman's Hatchet and has since become somewhat iconic in my games.

The Lore
Once there was a Woodsman who fell in love with a beautiful maiden. He wooed the woman with small wood carvings of roses and hearts and she fell madly in love with his earthly charms. The two gleefully went to get approval from the woman's family but were denied due to the man's meager earnings. Heart broken the woman fled deep into the woods and was spirited away by the monstrous Beast of the Forest. The woman's family begged the man to save their daughter and promised to give the man her hand in marriage. The Woodsman marched into the forest with a single musket and his trusty hatchet. After days of tracking the beast he finally cornered it outside its lair, a dark cave. The man fired at the Beast with his musket but the missile bounced off the monster's wood-like hide. It charged and tore at the man, who howled in pain. The Woodsman then raised his hatchet and hacked away at the Beast. The monster bled a strange green liquid that seeped into the head of the ax and sharpened it with each strike. Finally after exchanging blows, the Woodsman raised his hatchet one last time and claimed the beast’s head. Exhausted and wounded the man searched the cave but was horrified to discover his beloved’s partially devoured corpse. The sullened man returned her remains to the family and fell back to the forest, never to return. While preparing the woman for burial the family discovered the body was missing one thing, her left hand. To this day the townsfolk say they occasionally find trees and boulders split in half deep in the woods. When asked they claim: “the Woodsman's rage.”

The Woodsman's Hatchet
was lost to time but now it's tradition for me to throw it in any campaigns I run. In fact the only reason I thought to write about it now was because my character found it in a play-by-post game my brother was running. So what does it do? The Woodsman's Hatchet has one simple ability, it can cut through any solid material as if it were wood. Stone, steel, dragon scales, or even adamantine, doesn't matter the hatchet will cut through it. Obviously you don't give this sucker out if your player characters are dungeon crawling, or do. The user still has to use their strength to cut since the material has the consistency of wood. Additionally the hatchet never dulls and in combat any armored foe's AC becomes 12. Now this thing is all pluses, it's useful in and out of a fight. Be careful if you want to throw it in your world as it can and will wreck your game if given to intelligent players. If you want to give it some horrid curse Lamentations style check out the one I made below.

--The Hatchet's Curse--

The beast's blood sharpened the blade but left a dark stain.

Whenever the wielder slays a living thing with the hatchet they must make a Save vs. Magic. For each failure the following happens in order:

1. Your skin becomes bark-like after a night's sleep. Your AC becomes 14 unarmored and you gain +1 permanent point of encumbrance due to your new wood weight.
2. Your skin secretes a resin like substance, attracting crawling things that chew. -1 to all saves as the insects are, distracting.
3. The insects chew deeper. -2 to all saves.
4. The insects reach your brain, -1d6+1 Intelligence. (this again for each additional failed save)

When your Intelligence becomes 3 or less you become a new Beast of the Woods and the following happens:

• The Hatchet is "misplaced".
• Your body is completely made of wood and riddled with crawling things.
• You automatically attack anything that has a melee weapon, preferably a hatchet.
• You lurk in deep woods hunting local fauna and the occasion maiden.

Black Dogs

Recently I started brainstorming some ideas for a new LotFP campaign. I asked my players if they'd rather start in 17th Colonial America or England and they chose the later. Which means, I need new monsters for my random encounter tables. Time to dive back into old world folklore starting with the Black Dogs of the British Isles.


Lore
The lore of Black Dogs goes back centuries, making them a perfect monster for the default 17th century LotFP setting. I did some research on Black Dogs and here's what I got. The lore claims Black dogs tend to be either spirits or demonic in nature. They roam the vast moors of England chasing down those unfortunate enough to travel at night. A few stories even tell of  benevolent hounds haunting cemeteries(perhaps guarding some treasure or the dead?)and churches. The lore even suggests the beasts sometimes guide lost travellers back to the road. We'll factor those in when we make our table but I want our dogs to fall more on the malevolent side, this is Lamentations after all. As for visual descriptions of the dogs, eye witness accounts say the beasts have thick black fur and deep glowing red eyes. One story (the Yeth Hound) describes the dog as headless and mimicking the sounds of a crying child. Creepy stuff. We want our Black Dogs to be a little weird too so we'll be adding our own visuals to the lore. As for other abilities Black Dogs possess they are supposed shapeshifters and use this ability to lure victims to their doom. Additionally since the black dogs of legend tend to be spectral we'll steal the ghostly ability to turn invisible. The size of these creature varies but according to the folktales Black Dogs can be as big as a large dog, all the way to the size of a horse. We'll use the creature's size to determine how many Hit Dice it gets.



Locale

I want my Black Dogs to be encountered only at the following places: Cemeteries, Wilderness crossroads, and Plains. Night only.

Whenever our player's characters are traveling through or resting at one of those places,

Roll a d6. On a result of 1, a Black Dog lurks there.

*If any magic-users are present a black dog is encountered on a 1 or 2 roll. This signifies the chaos magic draws to those who tamper with forces best left alone.*

Alright, time to summon the hounds!

Introducing the "OH GOD, WHAT IS THAT?!" Table.

-Roll the stated dice to create a unique Black Dog.-

The Beast stepped forth from the fog. The flickering light from your torch hesitantly crept towards the creature slowly revealing its hideous vestige.

It was the size of...(roll a d6)

1-2, A Dog, (4 HD) and

3-4, A Man, (6 HD) and

5-6, A horse, (8 HD) and

walked on four legs like a hound of hell. Sulfur and rot filled your nostrils as it's coarse black fur shivered at the sight of its prey. It took a slow, creaking step towards you. Oh God! Surely your eyes betray you! It had...(roll a d10)

1. No Head!
2. An old grinning woman's face with dull glowing yellow eyes!
3. A rapid dog's head that drools maggots. Its eyes glow with pulsing white light.
4. A pale woman's face with a lapping snake tongue. It's eyes are glazed over with glaucoma.
5. A dog's head with glowing red eyes. Its maw hangs open and you can see a sickly blue light in the back of it's throat.
6. A skeletal head of a boar. Where it's eyes should be are two huge wriggling bot fly larvae.
7. A dog's head with a single red eye glowing eye at the center of its face, cyclops-like.
8. A fat balding man's head with black coat buttons for eyes. A sword slowly emerges from its gagging mouth before stopping at the hilt.
9. Two heads; one a goat the other a raven.
10. A single large squid eye that seems to steal glances at everything before settling on you.

[Motivation] What does it want?! (d12+d8)


2--A new head! Yours will do...

3--To Feast on your heart!

4--Eyes are tasty...especially Magic-Users'...

5--A Catholic Tongue.

6-7--To drag you to hell!

8-12--//Your violent death!

13-14--Chase you until you get lost.

15--Gold Coins, or Gems. No silver!

16--A story.

17--Help Finding a lost soul.

18--Guard a local cemetery.

19--Help you if your lost.

20--Lead you to a hidden treasure.

As for its stats...

-Black Dog- 
Armor 14, Move 120′, 6 Hit Dice, 27hp, Claw 1d6 & Bite 1d8, Morale 10. The creature may take on the form of a black hound or person it has seen before. The illusion ends when it attacks. The creature may become invisible outside of combat. The invisibility ends when it attacks.

The Immolated - LotFP Custom Class

The Immolated are those consumed by fire, both physically and mentally. They are dogmatic and devote themselves to one goal, pursuit of the Inextinguishable flame.

The Immolated save as Clerics, have d6 hit dice, advance as a Cleric, and have the AB of a non-fighter.
The following represents the Ritual of Conflagration*, after abilities scores are determined roll a d100 and consult the list below.

• 1-10% of Body Burned - The flames barely acknowledges your soul's ember, you must stoke the fire of your spirit before you are worthy of the inextinguishable flame. Minimal scar tissue, -2 to Charisma for 1d4 weeks as you recover from the flame's harsh judgement. Gain (1) Aspect of Fire. You receive Fire Aspects slower then your brothers & sisters, at every odd level starting at 3rd.
• 11-45% of Body Burned -The flames have shown an interest in you and have given their blessing. Your body bears the scars of fire -2 to Dexterity as the scar tissue slows your movement. Gain (2) Aspects of Fire
• 46-89% of Body Burned- The flames dance and caress your body, some of your extremities are consumed and turned to ash, you are the blessed and enlightened. -2 to Strength, Dexterity, & Constitution as the protective outer layer of your skin sloughs off, +3 to Wisdom as the flames whisper sweet nothings to your charred ear. Gain (3) Aspects of Fire.
• 90-100% of Body Burned- The flames rejoice as your entire body is doused, they refuse to return your body and you sing (scream) as your entire being is consumed and purified. You are the Inextinguishable Flame, and also dead, Create a new Character.

* Ritual of Conflagration - is a week long process of which a Immolated acolyte prepares their body to communicate with the sacred flames. Involves fasting & and the copious consumption of high proof alcohol. The ritual ends when the acolyte sets themself a flame, elevating their status within the cult to full fledged Immolated. The Immolated use the ritual as a ranking system for within the cult, the more burned you are the higher respect you command.

Rate of Fire Aspects gained:

Aspects of Fire:

• You may perform a number of Fire Aspects each day equal to your level.
• Roll 1d12 to determine starting Aspects & those gained at level up, roll again if you already have the Aspect.

1. Fire Eater: You may consume fire as sustenance, you suffer no ill effects from the ingestion.
2. Pyrokinesis: You can command fire to move or spread, equal to 10ft x level.
3. Ignition: You are able to ignite a small portion of oxygen in the air and create fire.
4. Ember: You can create a ember that illuminates the area, as per the light spell.
5. Fireball: As per the spell. Damage equal to 1d6 x level.
6. Cauterize: You are able to stem bleeding wounds without injuring the target, target regains 1d2 hp.
7. Flaming Sword: With a touch you are able to ignite any metal blade which deals a extra 1d6 fire damage, lasts 1d4 turns x lvl.
8. Cold Resistance: You are immune to the cold, you suffer no ill effects. Living creatures around you are always comfortably warm.
9. Fire Breath: You spew searing fire from your charred lungs in a 15 foot cone, targets in cone take 3d6 fire damage, save for half.
10. Will o' Wisp: You call upon your blessed brethren to take form as a Will o' Wisp, you may ask it one question and it will answer truthfully either yes or no.
11. Blessed Immolation: A living target within sight is instantly engulfed in flames. 1d4 damage x lvl. Target saves or continues to burn each round dealing an additional 1d4 damage.
12. Extinguish: You are able to sooth the rage of fire, snuffing it out. Make a save vs. Magic to put out something bigger than a campfire.