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.

Lamentations of the YouTube Princess

I have a decent amount of downtime at my job and when I can I like to watch videos about Tabletop RPGs, specifically Lamentations when I can find them. The following are actual play LotFP videos I've watched and adored.


1. Hell's Heart by Fantastic Dimensions.

Starting off the list with an entire campaign, start to finish. What happens when you take the LotFP playstest document, a great referee & players and set them in the 17th century Caribbean? A fucking wild ride filled with weird shit you won't want to miss, that's what. Things start off fairly typical with the players stealing a ship and becoming pirates, but as the campaign sails along the tone turns weird as the group's magic-user plays with the spellcast failure rules and inflicts horrible nautical mutations on the other player characters and crew. A must watch for the descent into madness and a hilariously roleplayed sharkman.

2. LotFP in Prussia by Ivanmike1968

17th century Prussia is the setting of the next campaign on my list. A witch hunting cleric, a budding magic-user masquerading as a doctor, and a specialist with all his skill points in baking gather together for weird adventures across the frozen Prussian countryside. My favorite aspects of this game is the great synergy between the players who really dig deep into their dark, flawed characters. The referee is great and masterfully weaves the strange and horrible into his setting. Oh yeah, btw their using the V.A.M rules for spellcasting.

3. The Rose of Westhaven by Red Dice Diaries

The First season in an ongoing campaign. The game begins with the player's arriving in a small fishing village aptly named Porthcrawl. The referee is able to ooze flavor using his rough, sultry voice as he effortlessly narrates the town's slow but sure brackish descent to the depths of weird. The referee also runs a very in depth blog here.

4. Welcome to Pembrooktonshire by Samwise Seven RPG

The actual play that hooked me on LotFP back in the day. Using the supplement People of Pembrooktonshire the referee masterfully charades as the insane and eccentric townsfolk. From seemingly invisible children to fantastical corpse eaters, the players are continuously creeped out and entertained from beginning to end.

5. The God that Crawls by Missclicks

Not a whole lot to say about this one actually, it's just good, consistently good. The adventure takes four players through one of my favorite supplements the God that Crawls. Horror engulfs the players as they encounter the namesake monster the God that Crawls.



Check them out & let the creators know how sweet their content is!

Blog Introduction & Goals

Hey LotFP fans! After seeing some blogs over on the official LotFP Facebook group I was inspired to start up a new one. I'm calling it the Tomb of Wandering Millennial (hitting 30 this year) and will be dedicated to my homebrew Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP) material.


My Quick History with LotFP:
My brother and I have been running Lamentations on & off since around 2013ish. I stumbled upon an old forum(don't remember which) after tiring of 4e's 3+ hours of combat. I read about the older editions of D&D/retro clones and heard one had a heavy horror vibe. I picked up the Grindhouse Box shortly after and have been a huge fan ever since.

The box that launched a 1000 PC deaths. 

Goals for this Blog:
My goals for this blog will be to generate more discussion about Lamentations and have somewhere to publish my homebrew stuff! I also want to do some reviews on some zines I love, and of course the books.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

*I have an old blog I gave up on and will be updating and transferring some stuff from there to here.

Heres my favortie post from my old blog.