BERSERK by Kentaro Miura
Prismatic Wasteland posted a bunch of potential blog topics, which I collected into a list of 34 possible posts to keep in my back pocket when I feel uninspired or bored or want to exercise my creative thinking. Here is the previous one: EYE OF NEWT AND A DASH OF STARDUST: Ingredients for Fairy Tale Adventures
In general, limb replacement can be performed with regeneration or with some interpretations of restoration or in extreme cases, by getting the PC killed and going with reincarnation. For the options below, I tried to come up with rituals that would require folk lore, magic of Old Gods, obscure rituals, bargains, and commitments to those giving this “gift”. In a game, they would be an option the PCs could research, require a new contact with an NPC, and have a twist that makes it cheaper than paying the 2000-5000 gp cost of orthodox routes.
It might be fun to roll below 3 times and have those be the only option for arm (or limb) restoration as a method of world-building or reinforcing the occult nature of magic. Meaning magic is not tailor-made like modern medicine but was established through routes that work, not routes that are efficient/”clean” aka magic as fantasy science- bleh.
Also, don’t forget that each of the below can be riffed on depending the situation, so maybe you want to replace a leg but get the arm-replaced-by-goosehead & neck, well that could be changed to the leg of a mule/goat but it will try to always kick nobility.
1d20 replacements for the arm that bugbear just ripped off your torso & may work for other limbs too…
A hook forged by the famed cannibal Malic the Toothsome, noted amputator, gourmand, and prosthetics fashioner; payment is eating your own limb at a dinner for two with a paired wine chosen by you
The stone arm from a statue of Ishtar after you have prayed incessantly for 7 days and to permanently gain function PC must prosthetize as a cleric of Ishtar
A trained stygian python from the cult of Yg, but you have to let it loose in downtime to hunt giant rats make a 2d6 reaction check to see if it comes back and in what disposition
The amputated arm of your shadow, severed & stitched back on with spider silk by a witch; children, goblins, and clerics will notice your one-armed shadow easily
Domesticate slime, pudding, or ooze beaten within an inch of its “life” and cast charm monster on it; lose dexterity and might dissolve whatever it touches as per the monster of the same type
The arm of a scarecrow that has seen at least 1 season from planting to harvest; graft functions using living pumpkin roots smeared with 3 crushed lizard tails jammed into the wound and the scarecrow limb
Any piece of a troll or hydra grown and shaped, like an ornamental plant, into an arm, but every level up, make a save vs spells, two successive failures means monsterification, otherwise works quickly
Sew a jacket, with one arm taken from a different jacket and terminating in a glove taken from somewhere else, using the seinew from an animated corpse, flesh construct, or undead; when wearing the jacket, the “empty” arm is highly flexible, looks real, but can’t hold more than a purse of coins
A beam of light passing through a stained glass window after continual light & phantasmal force have been cast; arm glows as candle light, can pass through objects, but only allows the faintest of touch and hold barely a feather
A charmed giant centipede, after charmed monster has been cast, will always appear at inappropriate moments in an unsettling way (negative to negotiate, positive to intimidate)
The severed neck & head of a goose or swan after giving an offering to the petty god of serpentine things of 500 gp in value; vicious and surprisingly able to manipulate a dagger expertly when used for dark purpose.
Intact arm of a zombie, ghoul, or wight; save vs paralysis to not strangle any priest, cleric, or good-aligned religious official you meet and might awkwardly salute evil religious figures, icons, and/or gods
A planted seed of either an oak or a rose bush, which will rapidly grow into are arm in 4 weeks; oak arm adds +1 AC if non-sword arm, while a rose arm gives +1 to reaction rolls
Clockwork prosthetic make from the dwarven artisan Able Ticker Tink after payment with 5 gems of 5 different colors, each worth 250 gp each; winding required every 3rd downtime action
Your reflection’s arm severed with a silver dagger from a mirror catching the moonlight after hold portal has been cast; every full moon, said reflection must be given an offering for its “loss” or else…
Make an offering to benthic gods of 500 gp for a giant octopus tentacle or 250 gp for a giant crab claw; both can be eaten with butter in a pinch, but it is a blasphemous act to said god(s)
The arm of a demon/devil you win in a game of chance, while another better body part (or a friend can bet one for you); the fiend will go double or nothing for a second go if pairs of parts are bet (exclude fingers/toes)
Trained monkey or particularly clever parrot- nothing crazy here, just an expensively trained animal (500gp) that will require a loyalty check to grab anything dangerous and won’t fight.
Arm-y ants who are protecting the queen you buried in your shoulder; resists severing as ants reform but 2x damage to fire after a year, save vs paralysis or you are actually a colony of sentient ants!
An arm gifted by one of the fay courts after a season’s salon will come with a court-specific quirk (always snap when walking or roll a glass orb) and a court-mandated purpose (may only hold weapons of beauty or used in the pursuit of lost objects)