THE UR-GODS: Matter, Time, Energy, Thought, & Entropy

In the Rules Cyclopedia, there is a section on anti-magic that explains what is is in terms of RC Basic D&D game. And in that explanation, is brings up that all creatures on the prime material plane are made of four components: matter, time, energy, and thought, but that creatures in the astral plane might lack one of those components. Here is the passage below:

It is interesting here that one could devise a pantheon of gods around these 5 forces. But given that they are so primal and foundational, I view them as the D&D version of the Greek Titans. They are the gods of gods, but more specifically, they are forces that underpin the gods. And I see them as also falling along the Law-Neutral-Chaotic axis presented in basic: Matter & Time (Lawful), Energy & Thought (Neutral), and Entropy (Chaotic). 

So could these be the gods of a campaign? Are these concepts too abstract for players to role-play? And why do they all still allow turn undead?

And I think it might be interesting to consider monster design in terms of taking a vanilla creature and removing one of those 4 forces. Like, what do you get if you take "frog, giant" and remove matter, energy, time, or thought?

THE SUM OF LESSER LITURGIES: An Alternative Cleric In the Shadow of the Cleric Spell List

The D&D cleric has been with us since the game's inception, initially to handle one blood-sucking Sir Fang using the combined powers of the Holy Bible and Hammer Horror's Van Helsing. Here is a nice post from Scroll & Coins post from 2017 describing those influences in the Cleric's spell list.

Dracula, not Sir Fang

What I would like to focus on is the lesser-known "liturgies" of the Cleric's spell list. The secondary effects or alternative uses for some spells. For instance, when reviewing the cleric spell list in OSE for a wholly other post, I stumbled upon this surprising bit in cure disease:

2. Kill green slime: This monster is killed instantly

I knew about a few other instances of additional uses for spells in BX, most notably light (blind) and cure light wounds (cure ghoul paralysis), but did not remember this bit for cure disease, which had escaped my notice. Looking in the Rules Cyclopedia, for another Basic D&D comparator, I found that cure disease is phrased:

This spell will cure one disease, such as those caused by a mummy or green slime

There is also a corroborating note in the green slime monster entry in Rulese Cyclopedia noting the same vulnerability. 

This got me thinking about what an alternative cleric would look like if conceptualized using these secondary spell effects.  Here are those alternative effects listed out. Its a slim list and perhaps could use some padding with reverse spell effects, but I wanted to stay true to my query.

Level 1 Spells (at 1,500xp)

1. Cure Paralysis (cure light wounds)
2. Blind Creature (light)
3. Cancel Magical Darkness (light)
4. Touch Immunity from Constructs, Demons, or Enchanted Beings (protection from evil)

Level 2 Spells (at 6,000xp)

1. Ritual of Purification or Consecration (bless)
2. Silence Creature (silence)

Level 3-4 Spells (at 25,000xp)

1. Permanent Blindness (continual light)
2. Destroy Green Slime (cure disease)
3. Communicate with Monsterous Plant (speak with plants)

Level 5 Spells (at 50,000xp)

1. Banish Enchanted or Undead Being (dispel evil)
2. Destroy Undead (Raise Dead)

So what sorta vibes to I get from this list? Honestly, when I initially thought of this post, I was expecting to generate some sorta "dungeon hermit" who was born in the mythic underworld and can manipulate, and be resistant to, the environment therein. But upon review, especially with the first 6 spells, what the spell list signals to me is a class more like a wizard-hunter or Witcher (TM).

Cure paralysis, cancel darkness, blind creature, and silence creature all seem good options to battle opposing spellcasters. You prevent your hirelings from becoming immobile, remove the darkness that hinders you from seeing, and then you can blind the enemy spellcaster and silence them to prevent further spellcasting.

 Touch Immunity helps keep you safe from melee attacks from summoned/extra-planar creatures or constructs that are guarding the warlock and their manse. And finally, the purification or consecration spell can destroy whatever magical device, altar, idol, or gate they were using to do their foul deeds. Finishing the job right!

Toss A Coin To Your (Wizard-Hunter)

Reg: STR 09+ and one stat must be 13 (a mark of your unlucky past)
Prime: WIS
HD: As Cleric
Attack: As Cleric
Save: As Dwarf (dipped in the waters of Styx)
Armor: Any + Shields
Weapons: Any one-handed, thrown weapons (everyone knows wizards can't be hurt by normal arrows)
Spells: As Cleric, using spells as above; Detect Magic 2-in-6; Extract component from killed monster
XP: As Dwarf

You were a child who survived a terrible calamity caused by or infused with magic. Stark white hair and a thousand-yard stare made it easy for the order to find you. They bathed you in spring water mixed with 7 drops from the river Styx. They said this would protect you from the more harmful effects of magic. Then they fed you milk & honey with 13 drops from the river Lethe. They said would make you forget the pain of your loss. Then they put a sword in your hand and drilled you in liturgies of gods lost spoken by the 77 sphinxes of Bnazic. Then the order sent you into the world to hunt the same wizards that stole your childhood long ago.

ROOKS: A Kenku Cleric Class

Found this from some notebooks I had. Dated around 2016 which I think was when I was just getting an inkling about the OSR.

I love a good cleric class because they should be weird and unique and have built-in "goals" but often they get reduced to "healer". So here is a chaotic cleric class:

ROOKS

Domains: thieving, relics, theater, air

HD, Saves: As cleric

Armor, Weapons: As thief (cannot use sentient magic objects or those with a "purpose")

Alignment: Chaotic because they do not build only barrow/take/steal

Holy Symbol: thieves tools

Belief: To create new things/beliefs/magic ect is to create new ways to "sin"✤. Copying old sins is fine because while they should be avoided, they also already exist. Once no new sin can be created in the world- these raven folk will be gifted wings and the ability to fly.

Of particular importance is hunting down sentient magic objects and destroying them regardless of the alignment of that object. Because the objects often control other beings, which then build institutions, and that creates new sins.

"Something old, never new/Something borrowed, best its blue"

Borrowed Magic: May choose from the following 1st level Illusionist spells in addition to normal Cleric spells: Auditory Illusion, Glamour, Phantasmal Force, Spook, Wall of Fog

✤ What is the list of sins? Well just borrow a collection of them from other religions in your world

I AM A SERVANT OF MOG: A Possible Class for Chaotic But Not Evil Clerics

I am a servant of MOG

I wear the moth mask as MOG

I make the hand-sign as MOG

I weld the sickle as MOGG

I reap as MOG

I am still trying to build my own pantheon by writing down gods as inspiration hits me as well as incorporating gods that just feel right. Currently, I have: AZLN, ISHTAR, ORCUS, MOG; possible additions NEMO, NODENS, GHROTH, YGG. MOG is inspired by some of the Lord Dunsany I have been reading

DEATH to ALL: Clerics of MOG serve the god of relief, equity, and death. A force that takes both the rich and poor alike. A great equalizer. They may only cast reverse versions of Cleric spells and sickles (1d4 dmg) are their favored weapon (though they can use daggers, short swords, and one-handed axes).

VULTURES: The servants of MOG may not purchase weapons, equipment, or armor heavier than gambeson and they do not use shields. Instead must scavenge them or take it off of the dead. They may however beg for food, water, and wine. This of course often leads to rumors of servants of MOG being the cause of strange deaths.

SPEAKER for the DEAD: They do not turn undead, but all undead will perform a reaction check when encountered by a group accompanied by a cleric of MOG even if they are "animalistic" or have no intelligence. Their sickles can always damage any undead requiring a silver or +1 magic weapon to-hit

• If the sickle is forged from the recovered sword of a knight or executioner, it can deal 1d4+1 damage

TURN THE LIVING: They can turn other humans if they have adorned their masks properly (may need to adjust for your campaign's specific gold/silver standard). Some of these ideas are from here at d4 Caltrops:

• Copper (1000cp): You may turn men of 0-1 level as undead
• Silver (1000sp): You force a morale check the first turn of a battle
• Gold (500gp): You instill fear in a group's leader

I might add some incense and relic options as mentioned in the article above.

CRAWL OF THE WILD II: Super Cleric Bros. Session 8

 

We return to the cleric campaign! Previously the PCs had negotiated some blue mushrooms for the return of an obedientary's soul.

THE CALL OF THE WILD

The map outlines their travel in the very nice Beyond the Borderlands 'zine. It took them two game days to go from the Sea Witch's shell (hex 3,5) to a hex with blue mushrooms (hex 3,1) and back again.

DM Note: This session was interesting for me because there was not really anything that stood out in terms of big moments, but more small little bits each hex. I do think I need to work on refining the procedures that I want for these hexes. The nice thing is that Beyond the Borderlands provides aspects from weather to hunting. But still I need better refine how I present choices to the players.

PCs set off under sunny skies to pick some wild blue mushrooms.

* 3,5: Back through the raided merchant's caravan where they had a prior run-in with a slaad

* 2,3: The PCs meet Herbert the watcher from Stronglaw Keep who they met previously. They got some information about the noble hunting camp. And further strengthened their relationship and support if they go to Stronglaw Keep.

* 2,2: The PCs encounter fields and fields of berry bushes and strange holes. Wary, they decide to move quickly through and consume rations later.

* 3,2: The PCs make it to the hunting grounds of the nobility. No encounters here save for the baying of hounds and the blowing of horns. Again, they decide to keep moving

* 3,1: The clerics find a cave open where they can see the blue mushrooms in the fading light of the afternoon sun. 

THE CAVE OF THE BLUE MUSHROOM

The clerics can detect a nauseatingly sweet odor coming from the cave and while they can see them, they will have to at least walk 40-50ft into the interior of the cave.

DM NOTE: So I wasn't just going to let them saunter in, grab the 'shrooms, and leave. So I set the mushrooms back in the cave and made sure they needed to make CON checks to maintain consciousness in the cave. Also rolled for encounters.

The cleric's first plan was to send in their two followers, Dorn or Varoris, to collect the mushrooms. But the followers weren't convinced it was their place to complete this task [DM NOTE: Both failed their morale check; both clerics also have a -1 on that due to CHA scores].

The cleric's second plan is to get Dorn (sailor background) to tie a rope around Brother Cadfael and send him into the cave to fetch mushrooms. The first attempt is somewhat successful, 3/4 of the mushrooms recovered. So, once more into the breach. 

In the second attempt, Brother Cadfael is surprised by a giant wolf-bat who flattens him to the ground and lays on a vicious bite (dmg 6). Screaming out, Brother Phellius and Dorn pull him out of the cave entrance [DM Note: PC HD roll vs. Giant Wolf Bat HD roll].

The giant wolf bat keeps to the cave, afraid of the light. This gives Brother Phellius an idea to light a torch and grab a bottle of lamp oil. A strong initiative roll later, Phellius has driven back the wolf-bat and not completely ruined all the remaining mushrooms.

BACK TO WHERE THEY STARTED

The return trip to the Sea Witch is less eventful owning to good encounter rolls. The hand over the basket and the witch hands them one infernal iron coin with which 1/6th the man's soul is encased. 

"Wait, why do we only have 1/6th his soul instead of the full third?" asked Brother Cadfael

"Oh, well I used it to make a compass that would point to the owner's true desire, and its powered by a bit of soul to give it reach into the ethereal and astral. A noble from the hunting camp wanted it." Answered the Sea Witch

"And is that noble a narcissist so it only points to himself?" grumped Cadfael.

"Ha! That would be good dear, but poor business." chuckled the Sea Witch

The night closed with Brother Cadfael *promising* to speak well of the Witch and that elicited a "deal" from her lips. She let them once again sleep in her domain.

DM Note: This was a good move by the player because that is what the witch wants, but it will draw mild rebuke from their god.

And that is where I ended the session.

CRAWL OF THE WILD: Super Cleric Bros. Session 7

 

Previously...

A IS FOR ABBEY AND WE BEGIN THERE

Back in the confines of the Abbey, Brother Cadfael and Phelius have enjoyed their minor celebrity. The abbey has continued to prosper with the completion of the Ossuary and even the Obedientary have taken note that the two might be able to help them with problems of a more personal nature.

But first, some procedure:

Both previous follower's Lunell and Gersia have decided to stick around [DM Notes: I did not roll a "1" for either indicating they are leaving the abby]. And are joined by two additional followers, Follower Dorn of St. Ulther and Follower Varoris, elf, of St. Nemo [DM Note: I rolled a "1" and "6" on the Ossuary Table].

Obedient Radclyf is the first to implore the aid to the clerics given the loss of his soul ("Tricked!") to a sea witch. The reason wanting the love of a woman in Miller's Village. 

DM Note: I think it would be easy to make all the problems associated with some grand thing-- "sold my soul to save another"-- but that is not how humans work. Humans do really stupid things. Humans, I think, would do further stupid things if interacting with beings who can give power/manifest wants and have a longer life view.

So the clerics are off on a hexcrawl to visit the Sea Witch in the Slugy Bog using Alex Damaceno's Beyond the Borderlands. So the clerics prayed at the Reliquary to gain some small boons on top of their daily spell selections: +1 to the 2d6 turn undead roll and re-roll first save-throw.

ON THE ROAD

The distance is fairly condensed, so 1 hour any direction to the next hex or 2 hours if they cut through a hex with forest. Alex has set up Beyond very nicely because we have different regions with unique encounter tables, a system for weather and each hex has something going on. Here is what the clerics encountered on the way to the Sea Witch:

• Start off following the river NE to hopefully reach the bog
• Become lost in some woods, and exit into an open field with a large ostentatious sign pointing towards (1) Miller's Village and (2) the Hunting Camp. Also meet Herbet, a devote of the Lion of Light, who offers to help them out next time they visit the gatehouse at Stronglaw Keep.
• Back into the woods, they try to seek out the cries for help that echo through the forest only to come upon a gleaming sword stuck into a rock. Suspicious, Brother Cadfael casts Detect Evil and learns the sword does have an aura not wholly good [DM Note: The sword is chaotic]. Follow Dorn on the other hand is very interested in that sword.
• Find their way back to the bog and the lost merchant train. Forced to stay the night due to a storm. But no rest was had as a slaad barged into their camp hunting a walking fish. Surprising both sides and forcing a terse stand-off that ended in no bloodshed.
• Finally, the next day, after skirting an abnormally large group of baby dragonflies, the cleric arrives at a large 3-story house made from a single giant shell-- the Sea Witch!

The results of the above. 

AT THE SEA WITCHE'S SHELL

Grandmother is of course delighted to have two strapping Lions of Light come and visit! What could such devout indviduals with a simple broker of broken souls and information need?

The clerics arrive and announce themselves in proper manner. They ask that their two followers stay in the periphery and ensure they are not murdered. Follower Dorn, devotee of St. Uthler who tried to control the sea, finds this whole business silly and they should slay with witch. Follower Varoris feels the witch is a meer broker in the old legalities and its not surprising humans, with their short lives, are hasty with the specifics of such deals.

Tea is served. Brother Cadfael having prepared Purify Food & Drink immediately employs this spell on the tea. Grandmother is agast and forces the cleric to drink least they further insult her: "Well?...Not poisoned eh? You just took all the beautiful flavor out of it!"

Brother Cadfael attempt to beg parden based on a weak stomach and unsophistocated tongue. The Sea Witch comments that perhaps he'd like to bargain with both as payment since he is clearly in no need for either given their weak state.

Negotiations begin in earnest over Radclyf's soul. With a lot of back and forth and attempts a securing the exact terms of the deal, the clerics agree to collect some blue mushrooms the Sea Witch so desires. And in return, they will get back the amount of Radclyf's soul that the Sea Witch possesses.

DM Note: This was actually difficult to role-play as one of the players is IRL professionally trained in contracts. I tried to handle this by letting the player provide some fiction for how supernatural contracts are done, but then answer with a slight variation. As a way to imulate that a Sea Witch knows a bit more than a cleric in these matters.

The clerics make camp near the Sea Witch who agrees they will be safe that night.

THE CRYPT OF THE ST. NEMO the SLEEPER: Super Cleric Bros. Session 6 & A Maybe Dreamer Class

Return to the "super cleric bros. campaign", we left the PC standing in a hallway by the statue of the St. of Sleep (previous session here). And a riddle: 

I sleep behind the sun, setting west ❧ Three guardians east, stand eternal, at my behest ❧ Craving power, these usurpers have bellies distended ❧ They will have no sleep, no rest, & hunger unended

DM NOTE: I was a little worried about this puzzle taking too long being too obscure. I thought it would be good to include demarcations of location and threat. Also, I think puzzles are difficult because I always conceive them at first as something that has to be difficult instead of just something that should spice up play for ~30-1 min.

The PCs first walked west first to discover a bunch of crypts devoted to monks of the past. I had them roll d100 on a table of 100 useful items each representing something the monk was associated with, yielding: pot of glue, pot of alchemical lubricant, dwarven stone drill, diver's suit, and plague doctor's mask (Zyanese). Floating Disk once again comes in handy from their Follower Lunell to load up and carry all the stuff.

DM NOTE: Surprising/unsurprising non-damage combat spells really do amazing work, but only in situations that press movement, resources, and encumbrance. I need to remind myself to create those choices.

Two waves of ghouls are fended off with Turn Undead Rolls. I decided for some reason that all my ghouls should rythm which my players had fun responding like-wise. They ended up back at the staircase they can down the level in. The party moves back east then north once that happens they realize there are three crypts on the right (east) which contain some sorta ghoul-like creatures (pale blue glow to the eyes and blue-grey skin)

Turning left (west) they then realize there are two crypt to the right each with a sun motif. They try the one with the noon sun- no secret door, but a coffer box. Br. Cadfael opens it and receives a poisoning (1 hp; body feels heavy/sleepy roll initiative separately and at a -1) plus several 1000s of coins which they throw on the floating disk.

Moving forward to the second Eastern crypt, they find no coffer, but a setting sun, and when touched a faded blue outline of a moon forms and that's when the 3 guardians made their move. Br. Phelius attempts to turn undead but to no avail. These are not typical- their unlife is born more out of divine punishment.

Br. Cadfael orders the two wizards to the back ranks and barks for Fw. Gersia to fire Magic Missle which hits the first guardian for 6 dmg dropping them instantly!

DM NOTE: But yes, combat magic still in important.

In the resulting series of melee exchanges, Br. Phelius is brought to 1 hp. However, the clerics retain initiative allowing Phelius to retreat and Cadfael to step up in the melee. The cramped quarters serving to help create a bottle neck- along with the floating disk full of stuff. 

DM NOTE: A little annoyed with myself for not having done more prep to make this battle a little more set-piece. In the sense that just as I started with a small puzzle, PCs did some exploration, it would have been cool to end with some tactical combat

Cadfael has the favor of AZLN and avoids several melee exchanges with these guardians while Phelius heals for 6 hp and is able to re-enter the fray! But the cleric lose initiative, yet still, keep to their feet and both land killing blows against the guardians.

Once done, the clerics enter the tomb and recover the body of the St. of Sleep.

PROCEDURAL MODIFICATION as a RESULT of ACTIONS:

Here is the state of the Ossuary Pilgrimage Table or who will come to pray at the Abbey:

Ossuary Pilgram Table (roll 1d6)

1 | MU, St. Ulther

2 | Fighter, St. Ulther

3 | Cleric (zealot), St. Serene

4 | Fighter (adherent), St. Serene

5 | Elves, St. Sleep

6 | "Dreamers", St. Sleep

I might try to make Dreamers some sort of "thief" class. Improved move silently/hide in shadows. Maybe each adventure they can roll on a rumor-like table about their dreams which could be true or distorted (false). Or maybe they see an area like some sorta "treasure" map. Throw some sorta detect secret door as elf owing to a differential perception. Ooo maybe a dream journal, a spell book-like manual, that had random things the sleeper has recorded--- maybe occasionally Sleep, Darkness, and other illusion spells.

If the above table seems mixed up, that's the intent! Religions are weird and often have a mashed-up collection of saints and a lot of revision to make everything fit. I kinda want my players to be just as curious about their own religion-- "What to elves and lions have in common?". I also want to have a lot of gaps to make it wyrd and a little unnerving. Just like the descriptions of Christian angels being all fire, brass wheels within wheels, and eyes.

 

PIOUS HANDS MAKE FOR GOOD KNUCKLE BONES: Super Cleric Bros. Session 5

 

A return to the cleric campaign! Previous sessions here.

Try to add DM Notes like this.

The current state of the Ossuary. Each result is the mechanical class (in-game fiction/flavor):

Ossuary Pilgram Table (roll 1d6)
1 | MU (magicians), St. Ulther
2 | Fighter (sailors), St. Ulther
3 | Fighter (fanatics), St. Serene
4 | Cleric (zealots), St. Serene
5 | none
6 | none

DM Notes: So when I rolled 3d6, I got a 5,5,6 (3 actual weeks have passed since we last played) which means that no pilgrims show up to the abbey this time. And I roll 1d6 for each current pilgrim to see if anyone has left on a 1 or 2. None do.

As it stands two MU followers of St. Ulther remain at the abbey ready to embark on any adventure the PCs might have for them. 

I just generate the followers using the Old School Essentials NPC generator here (also good for characters). And Oblate Samuel shaken from the death of his friend Leo, is back to being somewhat normal.

Brother Cadfael from the Cadfael series one
of the clerics takes their name from (I need to watch it)

The clerics' first decision is what spells they will pray for today. The Reliquary allows a little extra bonus when they pray to various portions of it provide they have placed recovered monks' items there. The portion they have powered allows them 1 save throw re-roll (The BENEFICENCE of AZLEN).

The second decision is to return once more to Dyson's Tower to retrieve a third saint for the Ossuary rounding it out, which will allow a lot of pilgrims, and very much in the Abbot's wishes, who they like.

DM Notes: Since IRL weeks had passed, I allowed the clerics to at least have a standard pack of starting supplies, so they made one last stop to rally both Follower Lunell and Gersia. And after a passioned plea, collected Oblate Samuel.

DM Notes: Also they accused the Prior of being an agent of Orcus. Since time has passed, gossip as spread. The Prior is not too happy. They want to get the hell out of town. 

At the Goblin Camp

The approach to the camp is pretty standard now, they prefer the entrance to the south in order to sneak past the goblin camp. The clerics' aim was to return to the 1st Level and perhaps recover one more saint they sure were buried in the area with St. Serene and Ulther. 

DM Note: Because this area is almost always the start, I think its just better to sorta procedurize it. The PCs just have to have one method of surpassing the goblins on watch and we just make one check. In the furture I might try to alter the weather or add a patrol-- just to switch it up so the PCs never have *perfect* information about what's going to happen. 

The trip back to this location except for a bizarre ankle-deep fog covering the ground. They scrounge the scene of their last battle and fine a set of chainmail and the door leading to hopefully the last saint. But it was not, instead it was a crypt full of skeletons seemingly dumped without proper rites and full of spite for the living. This time, my players remembered their clerics could turn undead and short work was made of these skeletons. With the use of holy water, they scrub the floor clean of the mark of Orcus.

DM Notes: Maybe should have made the skeletons a bit harder to turn since they were in the radius of a mark of Orcus, but whatever. The PCs felt the threat.

Level 2

This level too is familiar ground to the PCs. They decide to bust up a goblin dice game in an attempt to find some information about the location of human saints. Brother Phellius offers up his newly won chain mail and dices against the goblins-- winning. The clerics learn another goblin, Snakesplitter, is being held on some charge and maybe the PCs could take them off the goblins' hands since no-one likes him. They were also warned to watch their back.

After leaving, the PCs asked Follower Lunell to Hold Portal the door.

DM Notes: I need a better quick dice game for D&D other than roll 2d6 who gets the highest. I bet Nate Treme has one.

A turn later they find the hastily assembled baracade Snakesplitter is barracaded in, but the four goblin guard want 100 coin as a "transfer fee". The clerics, being pious men rich in virture, are broke. So Redcap offers to make some new gambling dice out of their knucklebones. A fight begins and ends in the third round when Redcap is beaten by a Brother Cadfael's mace and moral breaks. The remain goblins just make new gambling dice out of his knucklebones.

Snakesplitter offers to come with them simply for beating Redcap to death. And gives them sass about first trying to convert him to being a monk.

Level 3

Snakesplitter leads them down a different set of stairs to Level 3 than before. But before realizing what is happening they are suprised by an ambush/gang/thieves guild of robber flies! Snakesplitter avoids the on slaught as does Follower Gersia, but Follower Lunell, Brother Cadfael, and Brother Pheallius are on the defensive taking hits each. But its poor Oblate Samuel that met his fate-- natural 20 and 5 on the damage roll. Robber fly basically ripped his arm off.

DM Notes: This encounter suprised me with how brutal it was. Also, I think I need to have some standard layouts ready for battle. I really like having tactile set up with objectives and "terrain". But maybe since I have 2 players, I should just got more free form.

DM Notes: Also this is the 2nd Oblate who died. They are supposed to be wards of the Abbey, so someone might come looking for them-- 1:6 they were connected to someone at Stronglaw Keep. 

After a few Cure Light Wounds, Snakeplitter showed the clerics a clue to what they came for-- a statue of the Saint of Sleep.

And because the DM, me, forgot the sheet with the riddle and we were at our 2 hour limit, that was game for the night!

DM Notes: If you get anything from this, then I hope its the idea that a good game of D&D can be done in 2 hours. Not need to pull out 6, 8, or 10 hour sessions. It just requires density of choice to be high. And that is what is nice about this "mini-megadungeon" format.

BUT WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO FOR US?!: Generating actionable NPCs to get players out in the world

 

Michah Ulrich

In my current home campaign, each cleric according to the 90 + 10 Edict must have a sponsor in the Abbey in order to reside there and maintain good standing. Those sponsors are drawn from the Obedientray- senior monks who have additional duties and skills within the Abbey. In-game, this is a way for the Church to maintain further control on its martial component. Out-of-game, it was a way for me to create NPCs the players could go to for help.

But as the campaign as taken root, I've have a couple of problem flower in my head as well.

PROBLEM 1: Since the campaign will be starting its 5th session this week (yeah!), I wanted to make sure that it is not so cleric-centered that other classes could not easily fit in if one cleric is killed.

SOLUTION 1: Open up the world to be more than just Dyson's Delve. This would allow me to throw out other interesting things which could catch the players' attention and provide fuel for other classes.

PROBLEM 2: A. So how do I naturally get them out into the world? "Natural" here means as a result of player choices, not the DM just dropping another plot point in. 

SOLUTION 2: Because the clerics are resupplying through reaction rolls with their obedientaries, maybe I'll just have these NPCs have other wants, needs, and desires out in the world. They can't get to them due to obligations at the Abbey, so they send the PCs.

And because I need a bunch of unique NPCs, I can use Evlyn Moreau's Fabulous Pocket Guild which I've been meaning to use more. So I just draw 10 cards for each obedientary. Then look up some names for them. And I just need to give them a want.

PROBLEM 3: Also, what is this "world"-- is it homebrew or some repurposed campaign?

SOLUTION 3: Lets use Beyond the Borderlands as a setting for this campaign. Its something I already own like the the Fabulous Pocket Guild. Alex Damaceno did a great job expanding upon a will worn classic module. Converting it into six section, 36 hex, hexcrawl. And since the theme of this campagin is linking me, my newphew, and older brother together-- its a perfect fit-- new spin on the old.

RESULTS

Each obediantary is represented by two rows of the NPC cards (top: 1-5; bottom: 6-10). The cards themselves give me basic looks, equipment, and they ooze with personality. People even have pets: sheep, a donkey, floating skulls...

The black hexs represent where their "want" is located in Beyond the Borderlands. And the red text is my attempt at quickly sketching out something interesting between the NPC and a hex feature. Don't want to spend a lot of time because it might not come up. Its just a seed to get me going incase the players say, "Alright will you give us X if we help you with your problem Y?"

I tried to create a range of problems from the seemingly mundane (setting the accounts), to finding special items (a flute that controls animals), to the very personal (lost a piece of their soul).

Beyond the Borderlands- the world
I put Dyson's Delve in hex 4,1 where there are already ruins

SUPER CLERIC BROS: Session 3 & 4

AZLN the Lion of Light

More from the on-going cleric campaign started here.

SESSION THREE

The Abbot still pushing the completion of the Ossuary, but this time the PCs have the help of the wizard Lunell a pilgrim of St. Ulther who has agreed to join the adventurers out of duty to the patron saint. 

And so the two clerics, Cadfael & Phellius, set off with wizard Lunell and the Oblates Leo (bow) and Samuel (sword) to Dyson's Tower.

By mid-day, they had made it to the tower, where they took a wide birth to the southern cavern entrance. With no giant ferrets insight, they made their way up the narrow center tunnels that would lead them past the goblin guards, and at the beginning of the eastern crypts they wanted to explore again.

At the end of this narrow passageway/burrow was a pile of sleeping giant rats (Note: DM rolled a "7" on the encounter rxn roll). Cadfael whose background in animal handling was put to the test and found lacking. Combat began with Cadfael in the center of the giant rate circle and Phellius and the Oblates on the outside. Combat ended when Oblate Leo (2 hp) was turned into a rat buffet after one ripped his throat out (dmg 3) and he was swarmed.

After casting Detect Evil and reinforcing why the goblins marked the doors to the eastern crypt, this holy(-ish) host descended to the 3rd level, cursing the wizard for not learning at least Magic Missle which could have saved Leo.

On the third level after mild exploration, they realized they were caught between a goblin party in a closed room and giant fire beetles milling about a treasure chest. A quick plan was formed: Hold Portal the door to the goblin room closed, oil and set fire to the giant beetles, and load the chest onto a Floating Disc-- then be gone!

Turns out Follower Lunell had useful spells after all and did not for one second let them forget it on the way home. Oblate Samuel's sobs did not let them forget the dead Leo.

The contents of the chest however netted them an ironic 666 XP each.

SESSION FOUR

(Note: I finally started to implement my procedures in this session described here)

Our clerics decided to start off with a visit first to the Abbot who once again implored them to devel the crypt for bones to complete the ossuary. The prior, who believes them filled with avarice and tells them so, implores them to leave the crypts behind, but go to the marshes in search of the lost caravan.

Our clerics think the Prior is trying to get them killed.

Siding with the Abbot they return to Dyson's Tower with only Follower Lunell this time. Brother Samuel was still shellshocked from the loss of Leo (Note: PCs rolled over the NPC's moral according to the PC CHA). Back to the same cave where poor Oblate Leo was turned into rat vittles. This time they head straight for the eastern passages and doors marked by the goblins and slip inside.

They find a plain crypt. A far cry from the one for St. Ulther. But their curious investigations soon awoke the zombie inside, burst forth from the grave. Combat ensures were Brother Cadfeal & Phellius are so consumed by sending the thing back to hell with their bare hands, they forget to even attempt turn undead. This almost proves fatal as only 1 of 3 thrown vials of holy water dash against the zombie, Follower Lunell is brought to 1 hp, and even Brother Phellius is one heavy zombie punch away from death. But at the last second Brother Cadfael's mace finds purchase and the zombie's head is knocked off.

The reward for this effort is the revelation that the curious dagger sticking out of the zombie's chest was in fact a profane dagger of Orcus. The clerics resolve to destroy this foul tool at the Abbey in appeasement to AZLN. Then they find behind that behind a mysterious door is on the south wall of this room is the crypt of St. Serene the Beheaded-- their second saint!

The first order of business back at the Abbey was to destroy the dagger. The PCs approached the Prior who offered to destroy it which made the PCs think he is an agent of Orcus. That and the fact he's never liked them. Instead, they gave the dagger to the Abbot and leveled their accusations much to the shock of the Abbot--- "He's an old friend and a pious man. It cannot be true."

BRING OUT YOUR DEAD: Ossuaries & Reliquaries for Your Clerics

In my current game of D&D (LINK), my two players have both rolled up clerics. In an effort to both provide an objective for dungeon delving and bring domain-level play to lower levels, I have tried to come up with some outlines for building an ossuary and reliquary for the abbey.

In the in-game fiction, each is desired by the abbot to attract pilgrimages to the abbey. More pilgrims, more coin in the coffers, and more influence in the region (which I think will be Beyond the Borderlands). The mechanical benefits are described here (based somewhat on this shrine idea):

RELIQUARY

CONDITIONS & BENEFIT: There will be three that need to be decorated with 3 minor magical items each and can be prayed to as a way to provide a small boon. Since the players have already recovered 3 minor magical items they can "power" one of them. The three are named after the motto of the clerical order: LIGHT, ORDER, BENEFICENCE. I might allow them to only pick one to pray at each day.

• The LIGHT of AZLN: The cleric's holy symbol may is embued with a Light spell as a scroll of the same level as the cleric
• The ORDER of AZLN: The cleric will receive a +1 to their first Turn Undead roll
• The BENEFICENCE of AZLEN: The cleric may re-roll their first failed save

OSSUARY

CONDITIONS & BENEFIT: There is room for 3 skeletons of saints which will attract followers, rolled on a 1d6 table, who will join the PCs due to inspiration by the abbey and the order. The followers attracted will depend on the saint placed into the ossuary. And as more saints are added, the table fills up.

For example, the two players have recovered the bones of Saint Ulther listed in Dyson's Delve as being associated with wizardry, large-eyes, and bringing in a ship safely to harbor against a stormy sea. So, I decided this saint would attract fighters (sailors) and magic-users. Here are a few more saints I've placed in the larger crypt-rooms of Dyson's Delve:

1-8 | Crypt of St. Ulther the Sorcerer Priest = fighters (sailors) & magic-users [RECOVERED]

1-10 | Crypt of the unnamed assassin (cursed) = thieves & were-rats

1-10 West | Crypt of St. Serene the Beheaded = fighters & zealots (fire-associated clerics)

3-3 | Crypt of St. Pry-Sim the Child of AZLN = acrobats & halflings

3-4 | Crypt of St. Nemo the Dreamer of AZLN = magic-users & elves

Ossuary Pilgram Table (roll 1d6)

1 | MU, St. Ulther

2 | Fighter, St. Ulther

3 | none

4 | none

5 | none

6 | none

When I rolled for the follower they will receive I got a "1", so now time to make a 2500 XP BX magic-user.

MUTLTI-GENERATIONAL GAMING: Running Dyson's Delve for my brother & nephew

I decided recently to approach my brother and nephew about playing a D&D game online since we all are scattered across 3 states of the US and span 30 years of time.

Two key things to appreciate about this, which is why it's so heartwarming, is that: (1) my brother is 10 years older than me. I remember walking into his room at 4 and seeing him playing D&D with his friends. I never really knew what they were doing, but I did watch the D&D cartoon with him. It would be 1989 and buying 2e AD&D for I really took a step into D&D. (2) When my nephew was growing up, I introduced him to videogames, anime, and board games, turns out what stuck was a love of "retro" videogames-- now he's interested in how D&D influenced them. And his dad never played D&D with him at all.

So to unite the generations, I decided to run a BX D&D (1981) game (using Old-School Essentials) and, since my brother said he didn't think he could do anything too complex other than like a Caves of Chaos run, Dyson's Delve (2019). I also decided to continue to lean old-school by just slowly building out the world as their interest lead- no planning way ahead or trying to set up some grand storyline.  And I even sent them dice from Roll4Initative- my brother's first set in ~35 years.

GAME SET-UP

I was going to have them roll 3d6 down-the-line and run with what they got. Initially, I pushed for them to run 2 characters, but they opted just to start with one each. As a small bit of prep, I read through Dyson's Delve and wrote a small table of motivations for adventuring.

The guys end up rolling two clerics as below:

Generated with 3d6 down-the-line

I also started them out at 2500 XP, which is enough for most classes to be level 2, but not all classes.

The guys also ended up rolling a "1" on the motivations table below:

1. PCs quest to retrieve bones of famous adventuring family ancestors & inter them in the family crypt
2. PCs owe d6 x 10,000 GP to local crime lord
3. A family member of PC afflicted by a disease only cured by well or spring water from the underground
4. The evil duplicate of one PC has kidnapped the princess and fled to the dungeon
5. The "Curse of Sait Ulther" has returned! Five fantastical monster parts are needed to complete the spell that will vanquish it
6. At the end of 10 flights of stairs, there is a dragon who grants wishes

Their goal morphing slightly into this:

The Abbot, a gentle but financially oriented man, and the Prior, a stern and pious man,  have decided to build a reliquary to encourage pilgrimage to the abbey. They decided the task of retrieving the bones of early saints from the local dungeon belongs to members of the clerical order- Bros. Phellinus and Cadfeal.

As so off they go!

SESSION ONE

The brothers skirt the goblin camp in the ruins and head for the cave entrance to the south. Br. Cadfeal used his background in animal handling to intimidate the giant ferrets, fat on killed giants rats, therein. 

From there they delved further into the cave structure and meeting Baron Zigfried, a regal ghoul looking for manners and meat. The clerics were full on the former but lean on the latter. The Baron was stingy with its information but directed them lower into the crypts. And followed.

After finding the tombs of some monks, but no saints, the clerics decided to grab what they could of the humble relics and make it back to the surface. However, the stalking Baron had to be dealt with.

The two clerics took up positions on either side of the tunnel, covering their lantern with a sack, and making loud small talk to confuse the ghoul. The ghoul was not surprised, but the clerics seized the initiative and Br. Phellius landed a critical hit- cavitating the skull! After scooping up the jewelry and magic relics, the clerics made way for home. And level 3.

SESSION TWO

Since the previous session was a hit, I decided to create an abbey proper (see fig 2). To hopefully encourage role-play, I also created the “90-10 Edict” to establish some outlines of cleric behavior and provide links with the abbey hierarchy. I also established that the abbot wants to build two things: an ossuary to saints and a reliquary to humble monks-- because they want to attract religious pilgrims for the gold.

Our two brothers set off once again, but exciting more cation brought along two hirelings lured more by the promise of gold than the clerics’ inspirational speeches (both have a CHA of 7 & 8).

This time the clerics decided to avoid a tussle with the giant ferrets in the south cave and instead build a stake and rope ladder up the west side of the ruin. With amazement in the DM’s eyes they were able to quietly slip up and over the wall and down into the first level.

Luck ran out here as both hirelings missed the two goblin guards and one escaped to find their hobgoblin bosses-- the clock was ticking. With some quick scouting, they found the tomb of St. Ulther! Praise be to AZLAN! And they also found a couple of other sealed tombs that the goblins had marked as containing undead. Not ones to take their eyes off the mission, the brothers Phellius and Cadfeal beat a hasty retreat with bones and hirelings in tow just as 3 hobgoblins reach the top of the stairs.

They drenched the stairs with oil and toss down a torch to erect a flaming barrier to guard their retreat. Up and over they make it again, but now they are caught by a goblin patrol! Gaining the initiative, Br. Phellius charges forward, mace in hand, and with AZLN in his heart. Dice are rolled, bounce, bounce...natural 20!

Eleven points of damage certainly converts the goblin to a corpse and the sight causes the others to flee. The return home is uneventful.

Next session we will see if this particular ossuary can attract pilgrims.

FIG 1: What they have explored in the first two sessions of Dyson's Tower

FIG 2: Since the game seemed to have legs, I whipped up a quick abbey & edicts for the cleric order

SHRINES: Clerical power on a budget

Mea Culpa Shrine from Blasphemous

In response to my Twitter post on Castle Xyntillan, The Byzantine chimed in to comment and through the magic power of the internet, I was lead to their very nice post on shrines. This is used in their Xyntillan campaign and I think I will add it as well.

• Beautific Sun (Rakehell setting)
• Brass Sun (Rakehell setting)
• Selenite Host (Rakehell setting)
• Wheel of Fortune

The basic idea is that a person or party makes a sacrifice (5/10/15 gp) at a shrine and the party (or at least all the believers of that deity) gain a first level spell (and more) (in D&D terms; in GLOG terms its 1 spell die). Now the only person who can cast that spell is someone who worships the deity, but they can bestow it to anyone in the party. Should the party want more than one, well they will have to split along religious lines.

Or you could organize your deities along oppositional lines and you can only blessings from several shrines as long as none of the deities are not in opposition to each other.

But this shrine idea got me to revisit the concept of slot-based encumbrance as "BURDEN" which could also measure the weight of sin. So what about piety? The most slots of BURDEN you devote to a god, the more rewards you receive from them.

You could carry multiple gods around, resulting in a wider range of spells, but all lower levels. Or you could become a devotee to one god and gain deeper more powerful access to spells.

Maybe druids would be those who devote slots to a particular element and gain spells and powers based on a shared keyword like "fire" or "water".

ISN’T RELIGIOUS FERVOR INSANITY ANYWAY?

http://cavegirlgames.blogspot.com/2019/01/hazards-of-metacognition.html?m=1

Cavegirl always coming with the great nonstandard mechanics. These are for insanity in her psychedelic dream game but I feel like could also be good mechanics for clerics.

Earning XP by drastically different methods could represent just how different the player views the world.

A THIEF USES SKILL TO MANIPULATE THE PHYSICAL. A CLERIC USES SKILL TO MANIPULATE THE SPIRITUAL.

Sime

The ever-clever Scrap Princess has posted about mixing up the core four classes with each other- so the fighter learns spell-like fighting moves, while the wizard buys the halbard spell.

I really like her ideas about the cleric using the thief's percentage skill system to perform a limited set of magical tasks, spell-like abilities, and such. I also like it because it finally puts the cleric as a character class that is "skill" oriented like the thief more than the fighters "weapon" orientation and wizard's "magic" orientation.

This, in my mind, makes a good symmetry: The fighting-man uses physical weapons to defeat the opponents while the magic-user employs arcane weapons. The thief uses their skills to manipulate the physical realm for their betterment, while the cleric uses their skills to manipulate the spiritual realm for the greater betterment (of their god).

She lists the follows as short list of classic cleric abilities:
-banishing supernatural agents
-trapping said agents if they can tricked or convinced to enter a vessel
-casting out possession
-healing sickness, infertility, curses
-fertility (land /domestic animals/ people)
-weather prediction-dispelling illusions/detecting of supernatural influence
-protective wards against disaster or ill intend-assessing auspiciousness of dates , partnerships or signs-omens
-lay dead to rest/ placating angered ghost or spirit 

Of course, converting the thief abilities into spiritual ones could be fun:

Hide in shadows (of your god's glory): gain AC bonus (Lawful), attack bonus (Chaotic) or skill bonus (Neutral) as your god manifests through you
Move silently (and avoid the dead & fate): escape the notice of the dead or a failed saving throw (if you fail to, suffer twice the fate)
Find & Remove Traps (of the soul): remove curses, geas, alignment changes, & lycanthropy
Hear Noise (of the gods' whispers): with the appropriate sacrifice, you may attempt to prognosticate
Climb Sheer Surfaces (out of the grave): percentage chance you will arise provide your body is not eaten or desecrated
Open lock(ed hearts): Recruit folks to your cause provided they are of like alignment or neutral
Pick pockets (of those who should donate to your god): Gain funding from the common man for your pious quest from street preaching

ALTERNATIVE CLERIC

I play a mostly B/X or LotFP flavored D&D which leaves little room for cleric diversity. Ideally, you'd want to have an individual spell list for each deity, but that can involve almost too much prep work depending on how big the pantheon is (which has posed a problem for my Yoon-Suin campaign). Here is my fix:

• Turn Undead becomes "Turn the Unholy".  Define what "unholy" is for the cleric. If it is as frequent as undead, keep it to one thing. If it rarer, maybe make it 2-3 things.
• Steal Lay on Hands from the Paladin and have the cleric do something thematically similar once per day. Pick a level 1 spell and add PC level to any number. The cleric class is basically a paladin anyway.
• Favored Weapon- cleric gets one, but disadvantage or -2 to-hit with anything else.
• Reduce spell list to only gaining 1 spell per level, it has to be thematic, and each spell, or miracle, can only be performed once per day.