Is your game lacking a fear of god? Do your players hunger for a stunning array of options? Got an hour to kill? This huge sequel is for you!
You may remember my previous post about Small Gods. In this unapologetic, no-holds-barred followup that I just want to be done with already, I present to you every single DCSS god (that matters) as I personally would interpret them to work in an old-school RPG campaign. I do this to show off the small gods system, and because I needed an excuse to finally post something.
In the process, I ended up also giving mechanics to a lot of other DCSS concepts - a lot of spells and spell-like effects, weapon brands, mutations, and more. So there's probably something for you down in this pile even if you aren't specifically interested in small gods. Have fun finding it in this unwieldy behemoth!
The Setting?
But first, in case you care for some reason, here's a very brief rundown of the setting, and why Small Gods are the specific way they are within it.
Drake's Maw Valley is a forgotten remnant of an age that the world has long moved past. Beyond the unyielding mountains that encircle it, the histories of five ancient civilizations lie on top of each other, united in their understanding that the valley itself was a Realm of Magic: a place to which the esoteric and arcane seemed to be drawn, and where the natural rules do not apply. While this was interpreted as everything from wizardly interference to sacred ground, none have ever managed to find a conclusive answer.
As the eras swept past, settlers noticed patterns to the mysterious driving forces of the valley; certain actions would lead to abnormal-yet-predictable reactions. Like the spirits of myth that allow the growth of plants and the falling of the rain, there appeared to be some disembodied intelligence that oversaw the unique rules of reality within the enclosed realm; and the intelligence seemed responsive to worship, of a sort.
The Divine that oversee the world are great and powerful, even omnipotent. But the so-called "Small Gods of the Valley" always seemed to find a devoted following, no matter the era. Some of the ancient societies shunned and persecuted those who would follow the Small Gods, others embraced and officialized such worship. Some simply treated them as scientific anomaly, while others personified them and gave them the names and altars we know today. In either case, the Small Gods outlasted all of them. Like nature itself, they continue to exist undeterred, quietly waiting for new creatures that desire their gifts.
Scholars have had difficulty making concrete records of these dimunitive deities. Some Small Gods seem to disappear, or make alterations to how they function, while occasionally new ones sprout up: perhaps these changes are a natural part of their life cycle, or perhaps they become replaced with different-yet-similar Small God that simply hasn't been identified yet. Active debate exists whether they are primal forces of the world, truly lesser divines, creatures of our own world that ascended to a new state of existence, or a combination of all three. Adventures, not being the type to be impeded by the unknown, often follow Small Gods all the same; or at least the ones that lead to excitement, power, and wealth.
Small Gods Q&A
Why did you make these gods work this specific way instead of X?
Because they were made to fit into my game specifically, not every game. They are based on the gods of Dungeon Crawl : Stone Soup, but I changed them up (some more drastically than others) to make them fit better within a TTRPG play-space and provide a more varied set of abilities for that purpose. Also, I wanted to "stretch" the system, to show how much (or how little) you can do with it.
Are these balanced?
Absolutely not. There hasn't been nearly enough playtesting to confirm whether these are all equally effective or pair up equally against each other. On the other hand, balance was never the goal, and as long as the gods provide something desirable and fun to use, I consider them appropriate. Some gods are a better fit for monsters or villains than they are for PCs, for example, but are still functionally usable by everyone. Some of them are straight forward power batteries with minimal consequence, and some of them provide gameplay challenges that will significantly modify how you approach the game in return for their abilities. Ideally, the latter should be a bit more flexible or rewarding - but, again, balance is a whole lot of work.
What I will say is, these gods are (almost) all direct strength boosts, and will definitely make your PCs stronger. While most do have a conduct or downsides that require players to adjust their playstyle, they're gaining access to powerful options. I could absolutely see a system where this is simplified, where each god gives maybe 1 or 2 straight-forward gifts in exchange for a simple downside. If this sounds more your speed, it shouldn't be too hard to pick one or two cool features of each god and cut the cruft.
There's many other ways you can (and should!) tweak this system to make it fit your game better. Some obvious tweaks include changing how difficult conducts are to follow, adding more (or fewer) downsides to balance out with the value of gained powers, or making some system-wide changes to make atheism more "viable" (an obvious one might be reducing XP gain for worshipping characters). Have fun with it!
Can there be more than one worshipper of a god? Can they work together?
This depends on your game, your party, and your gods. My answer would be yes and yes*.
I would say that, in an ideal sandbox game setup, a low level party would have 1-2 worshippers at most, while more experienced groups might have more.
*The "problem" with having multiple worshippers is that their conducts and abilities might end up being in conflict with each other. This is somewhat intentional. Of course, you might decide to make it worse, and that certain gods would refuse service while followers are in a party with certain other gods. Or, conversely, that it shouldn't matter because this crud is already too complex.
How do you activate god gifts? Are they instant, or do they take up a turn?
This depends on the ability. As a general rule, most "active" effects take up the PC's action for that round, unless they are a "toggle" (such as Ashenzari's Astral Vision) or something described as instant. Unless noted otherwise, "passive" effects are always in play. Passive abilities are written in Bold, while active abilities are Bold and Italicized.
How much do you tell players about a god's features?
I like to keep things a little mysterious, so I don't give a complete rundown of the god's powers the moment someone touches an Altar. I like to give them a broad, non-specific description of theme, conduct and powers, as well as how "tricky" the God is. Beyond that, I only tell the PCs what they get once they get to it - I'm not telling you exactly what Beogh's powers are until you gain enough piety to use them, but I might imply what they are, or you might see other worshippers use them.
How does Penance / Wrath / Punishment work?
Penance is the "amount" the god is angry. Wrath is an interchangeable synonym for Punishment. Punishment is how they punish you while you are under penance. While it varies from god to god, typically one instance of punishment will reduce your Penance by 1, with normal worship resuming afterwards - or, in the case of abandonment, a return to normalcy.
For conduct that requires slaying. does the character need to land the killing blow?
In my system, yes, but this can be too harsh for some. You might decide that anyone who did significant damage (at least 20% HP) to the monster before its demise will count as having slain it for piety. Or, you might make it a roll - if you helped slay the creature but didn't land the killing blow, you have a 1-in-X chance of gaining piety.
What stops players from just sitting in town and waiting out their penance?
This one is tricky. My particular game solves this by being expedition-based, with characters travelling into a specific magical realm to do their adventuring; and these small gods only operate within that valley (with a couple of exceptions). That means that your Penance is put on pause when you leave, and doesn't resume until you return. Yes, that means a PC may decide they'd rather not return to the valley in fear of divine retribution - which is their call, but it also means that their character is no longer part of the Campaign.
If your campaign is more free-form, feel free to make your own explanation. Maybe Small Gods in your setting won't apply their punishments while PCs are in settlements that have temples to the Major Deities. Or, maybe Small Gods are just waiting for you to be in a situation where their punishment will be most harmful to you.
Where's Pakellas?
I'm sure that I don't know what you're talking about. However, just like the developers of the actual video game, I fully support people making their own forks of the system, with whatever fictional and unofficial entities they would like to have within.
Why is this post so wretchedly long and (probably) inconsistently formatted?
Because I've been working on it on and off for months, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, and I want to be done with it already. Enjoy!
The Small Gods
Ashenzari the Shackled
Partake of my vision. Partake of my curse.
While it seems inconceivable that the divine could be shackled, Ashenzari is just that: bound to the sky for eternity. The chained god is all-knowing, all-seeing. Devoted worshippers are allowed to grasp shreds of this knowledge and foresight, but be warned: to Ashenzari, power and blessing and curse are all the same thing.
Altar: A once-perfectly rectangular stone altar, shattered; its many pieces hovering in the air, connected by iron chains. The stones hover motionless, and are as rigid and immovable as they would be if they were still attached to the floor. Altars of Ashenzari are often secluded and forgotten, placed far from the altars of other Small Gods.
Followers: Followers of Ashenzari often appear weary, as if they're under-slept and exhausted; yet they also walk tall with great purpose and weight, with the heavy footsteps of one who has no doubts about the firmness of the ground before them. Devout worshippers will don themselves in chains and weights to near themselves to their deity, in addition to the recognizably cursed artifacts they wear upon their person. The eyes of the pious grow deep and dark in color, as if always observing something that others cannot.
Conduct
Ashenzari appreciates binding with curses, awarding a point of piety for each Curse the character burdens themselves with.
Ashenzari deprecates naught but abandonment.
Special: Binding
Ashenzari rewards followers who Bind themselves, in the form of Cursed equipment.
Wielding a cursed item will bind that item to you (in additional to the curse's normal effects), making it impossible to remove it. This means that cursed armor, clothing and jewelry cannot be removed, and that cursed weapons or shields cannot be dropped. This does mean that you can't, for example, remove a pair of cursed gloves to put on a ring. Be ready to live with your burden.
Characters will occasionally be given opportunities to curse their own equipment. Once every two weeks of adventuring, moments before they wake up, they will dream a Binding Dream: one of their items will materialize in its cursed form. They will know what the curse is, and what its effect is, and be able to choose whether they want to accept the curse. There is no consequence for not accepting, other than having to wait for the next dream.
If they accept, they will wake up wearing or wielding the freshly-cursed item, gaining appropriate piety. Note: A cursed 2-handed weapon is worth 2 piety, rather than 1.
To determine the offered curse, pick a random piece of equipment the PC possesses and roll on the following table. Ashenzari will not offer a curse you already have, and will reroll curses if they don't apply to an item.
Gifts
1 Piety: Shatter the Chains
At your request, Ashenzari will destroy a cursed item you are bound by. This will free you from the curse, but also reduce your piety accordingly. Items destroyed this way are utterly annihilated, crumbling into glittering dust that fades away into nothingness. Shattering the Chains can be used at any time, and costs nothing but the item (and associated piety); however, doing so will increase the wait until your next Binding Dream by 2d6 days.
1 Piety: Lesser Awareness
The PC gains a +1 to search rolls and surprise rolls.
2 Piety: Burdensome Foreknowledge
The follower begins to glimpse the future. For each 2 points of piety, the follower receives a Foresight Die, a special d6. Whenever they are about to roll or make a save, they may also roll one of their foresight dice. Once the dice have landed, they may choose to add (or subtract) the Foresight Roll to/from the standard roll; or replace the other one with it, as applicable. Whether you decide to apply it or not, the used foresight die is expended until you next fully rest.
2 Piety: Growing Awareness
You being to see more, understand more. Gain 4% additional XP per point of piety (capping out at +24% XP at 6 Piety),
4 Piety: Practiced Foreknowledge
Your foresight becomes more controlled, more refined. When someone is about to take an action, you may spend a Foresight Die to glance up to 10 seconds into the future, to see the immediate outcome of the action (or, for roll-based actions, the worst possible outcome). The GM must answer honestly and un-elusively; for example, if the players are about to trigger a trap that needs a roll to activate, the GM should not describe the outcome where the trap happens to not trigger. At their discretion, for especially complex situations the GM may describe more than one of the possible outcomes.
5 Piety: Greater Awareness
Ashenzari allows you to see invisible creatures, traps and hidden/secret doors within 30' at all times, without the need for a roll or check of any kind. The character may never be surprised.
6 Piety: Unimpeded Foreknowledge
You see all. You may spend one of your Foresight Dice to gain Astral Vision for 1 minute, allowing you to see anything and everything within 40' of you, regardless of light, obstacles or terrain. You can see through walls, floors and ceilings of any materials; into the insides of containers and carried items, underneath masks and disguises, and through (and inside of) creatures and mechanisms. This is not blocked by smoke or fog, magical darkness or anything else; nor are you are in any way impeded while using Astral Vision; your burden has prepared you for this.
Punishment
Upon abandoning Ashenzari, all your cursed items shatter. You lose enough experience points to revert you back to the last experience level, placing you at the minimum required to have that level (e.g. if you were level 3. your XP would be reduced to the exact amount needed to have gotten to level 2).
Finally, your Wrath is set to 6. For the duration of Ashenzari's wrath, each time you battle an intelligent creature, there's a 1-in-3 chance it will receive a Foresight Die to use as it pleases. Each time an enemy uses a Foresight Die against you, reduce Wrath by 1. For the duration of your Penance, all your rolls to surprise opponents will have a penalty of 1.
Beogh the Brigand
Beogh is the chaotic, violent deity of the Orc species. Only those of Orcish blood may devote their service to Beogh, and they must prove their devotion with bloodshed. Especially fervent devotees of Beogh will find Orcish followers flocking to their banner: it is an age of signs and portents, and the orcs have become increasingly certain that the coming of their Messiah is nigh.
Altar: A large, roughly-hewn stone monolith (most often sandstone), with a single semi-circular opening cut through the center for offerings. A simple brazier is always kept lit on the altar's base by nearby worshippers. Altars of Beogh are common in and around Orcish settlements, and will often have orcs near them.
Followers: Consisting entirely of Orcs and those with Orcish blood in their veins, a greater majority of Orcs worship Beogh - but only the worthiest are rewarded for it. While there are no true commandments for the pious, Priests of Beogh are still common: donning coarse robes of solid, bright colors, usually worn over moderate-to-heavy armor. The most fanatical followers tend to be leaders of their communities, and the greatest among them even manage to attract goblinoids and giant-kin into their clans - the creatures may not worship Beogh, but they may serve the Brigand's servants.
Followers of Beogh do not have unity among themselves, for Beogh will not accept it. Each clan's head priest claims to be the true prophet, and wages war upon other clans; heathens are invited to either submit to the will of the conquering clan, or be slaughtered as unbelievers.
Restrictions
Only Orcs may follow Beogh. Followers of Beogh will have their alignment forcibly changed to Chaotic (with no penalty).
When an Orc PC first encounters a Priest of Beogh, they will be invited to join the cause. If the PC accepts, the priest will cease hostilities and escort the Orcish character to the nearest Altar of Beogh to be initiated - where the PC will be informed that they, in fact, are the chosen one, and should lead their own crusade against the lesser creatures. Unlike other gods, Beogh accepts level 1 worshippers.
Conduct
Beogh appreciates the slaying of the non-believers, granting a point of piety for every 3 non-trivial battles where you successfully defeat intelligent foes (this only counts if you won by violence - it does not count if you escaped, let them run off, or talk your way out of it).
Beogh especially appreciates the slaying of false prophets: Slaying an opposing Priest of Beogh will immediately grant you a point of Piety, in addition to any other Piety you may gain from the battle.
Beogh deprecates idleness, causing you to lose 1 point of piety for each in-game week you haven't gained any piety (or fraction thereof). Beogh also deprecates any desecration of Orc remains. (3 Penance) Beogh especially deprecates attacking friendly Orcs. (5 Penance)
Gifts
1 Piety: Protection from Harm
If you would receive damage that would kill you, there's a [20+(10 * piety)%] chance (maximum 80%) to cancel all damage, instead reducing your piety by 1d6. This protection does not exist if you are under penance.
2 Piety: Smite
As an attack, you may call down the power of Beogh to Smite a visible monster within 160'. A Smite will automatically hit, cannot be reduced or blocked by any means, and deals 2d6 damage (modified by your Strength or Wisdom - whichever is higher). Costs 1/3 Piety
3 Piety: The Chosen One
Any orcs you encounter may recognize you as their Messiah, and follow you. The chance of this happening is [Piety-in-10] for regular orcs, with the odds decreasing by 1 for each HD the orc has above 1. (So for a character with 4 Piety encountering an Orc of 3 HD, they have a (4-2) 2-in-10 chance of converting them). If the opposing orc is an enemy Priest of Beogh, treat their HD as 2 higher than it would normally be. Additionally, characters with a Charisma of at least 14, or a Strength of at least 16, treat their piety as being 1 higher (only once - having both 14 Cha and 16 Str is still only a +1)
An Orc that decides to follow you will do so blindly and fervently, as long as they believe you to be a devout follower of Beogh. They will listen to your commands, do your will, and do anything you ask of them short of the obviously suicidal. They will not follow you outside the Valley, but they will set up camp and patiently wait for you to return and lead them to glory. Orcs are very connected to their personal possessions, and will outright refuse any equipment you offer them - gifts are a matter of ritual and special circumstance in orc society, and not following protocol is considered a severe faux pas.
If you ever fall below 3 Piety, your existing followers will remain faithful to you, but you will not be able to gain any new ones until you replenish your Piety.
3 Piety: Blessed Followers of Beogh
When your Orcish Followers slay foes in battle, they gain "experience" instead of you. In gameplay, this means the following: If your followers ever land the killing blow on an enemy, they have a 1-in-6 chance of "levelling up". If this happens, determine their progress (d6):
1-5 : Orc Becomes a Warrior of Beogh: Gains an additional HD, and may use any weapons. Future level-ups grant additional HD, up to 4.
6: Orc Becomes a Priest: Gains an HD, and becomes able to Smite for 2d6 once per day. Future levels grant a single random level 1 cleric spell, or another smite (50/50 odds), and another HD (up to 3).
Additionally, the first time an Orc levels up and gets a class, grant them a name: they've earned it.
5 Piety: Endless Warriors of Beogh
If you have no living Orcish followers, you may pray to Beogh for 10 minutes uninterrupted. If you do so, Beogh will allow willing warriors to emerge from the afterlife: Immediately gain 2d6 permanent Orc followers, and immediately roll a level up check for each of them (as per Blessed Followers of Beogh). Costs 4 Piety
6 Piety: Messiah
You may perform the Miracles of Beogh. You gain the following abilities:
- For 1/3 Piety, you may Walk on Water for up to an hour.
- For 1 Piety, you may grant a Divine Gift to a follower, a piece of equipment of your choice: A weapon, a piece of armor or a shield, or magic jewelry. Your follower will accept this gift with reverence, use it fervently, and protect it with their life. Once you have given an Orc a gift, you may not give them another; and the only thing that will make them give it up is the cold embrace of Death itself.
- For 5 Piety, you may bring a single Orc back from the dead. If they weren't already your follower, they immediately become one, and will serve you unquestioningly. Resurrection requires a corpse no older than a month.
Punishment
Abandoning Beogh causes all your followers to immediately turn against you.
Beogh's wrath is furious and unforgiving. While a PC is under penance, roll a d6 at the beginning of each day to determine their punishment that day:
- 1-2 : Beogh Smites you, as per the power.
- 3-4: Beogh causes your followers to turn against you (3-in-10 chance per follower). If you have abandoned Beogh, treat a 3 as a 2, and a 4 as a 5.
- 5: Beogh summons a warband of orcs to hunt you down for their own glory. For each experience level the PC has, 1d6 orcs will be summoned. For each 4 orcs summoned this way, one of them will be a 3 HD warrior. For each 6 orcs summoned this way, one of them will be a Priest of Beogh, with 2 HD and capable of Smiting.
- 6: The same as 5, but with 2d4 orcs per level of XP.
The punishment will occur at an inconvenient or dramatically appropriate moment. On the rare chance they never have an opportunity to inflict the punishment, do not reduce Wrath and inflict the punishment the next day.
Cheibriados the Contemplative
Cheibriados is the ponderous god of deliberation. Followers who leisurely nature of their god will achieve great power of body and mind, as their every move becomes more languid, weighty and intentional.
Altar: A large bronze hourglass, through which sand passes incredibly slowly. Many snails crawl over its surface. Altars to Cheibriados can be found anywhere, and are usually guarded by temporal anomalies.
Followers: Somewhat more relaxed in nature than most zealots, followers of Cheibriados are deceptively powerful. Many rivals and criminals have mistaken their easy-going nature and slow speech for witlessness, only to find their hubris rewarded with a strike of shocking force. Despite this, they are a rare breed, as most are unwilling to pay the price of slowness. Dedicated followers don earthen tones and very slowly travel the land, secure in the knowledge that slow and steady will win the race.
Conduct
Cheibriados appreciates taking it easy. You will receive your first point of piety after a day of beginning to worship Cheibriados, and each successive one in [piety²] days. (so when you reach 3 piety, you will gain your 4th point in another 9 days). Any break of conduct will reset the piety timer.
Cheibriados also appreciates the slaying of creatures that move faster than you; When you slay as significant (at least 1 HD) foe that has a speed higher than yours, the wait time to the next point of piety is reduced by its HD.
Cheibriados will not allow you to increase your speed, or to increase the speed of others - if any try to drag you or carry you, they will move as slowly as you do. However, comfortable non-organic transport is acceptable: Cheibriados will not slow a horse-pulled carriage you sit in, or a boat - but will slow the horse (or boat-pulling dolphin) if you sit on the beast itself.
Cheibriados greatly deprecates using any sort of magical speed or haste, on yourself on others others (3 Penance), or equipping items that increase your speed (4 Penance). Cheibriados will not punish you for hasting effects created unintentionally or by your foes, but the haste will be blocked.
Gifts
0 Piety: Slow Metabolism
Starting at 0 Piety and for each point thereafter, Cheibriados will permanently reduce your maximum movement speed by 1/8 of its natural maximum (5' out of 40', for most races). Your speed cannot be reduced below 5'. If you later spend piety, your lowest attained speed remains for as long as you worship Cheibriados (if you reached 5 piety but then use abilities that reduce you down to 3 piety, your speed will still be what it was at 5 piety)
1 Piety: Sluggish Support
As your speed reduces, your divinity grows. For each point of piety you have, Cheibriados will increase all of your attributes by 1 (topping off at 20, rather than 18.). At 4 piety, you will be able to wear and use medium armors without any impairment, even if your class normally can't do so. At 6 piety, the same will be true of heavy armors.
Additionally, Cheibriados will slow any poison within your veins, allowing you to go for [piety] hours before any poison you are struck with affects you. Cheibriados also provides protection from effects that age you or steal your experience, reducing the impact of any such effects by [piety x 15%]. Finally, your slowing metabolism means that you only need to eat and drink only once every [piety + 1] days.
Like Slow Metabolism, all of these effects will remain in place even if you spend piety - staying at the effect of the highest piety level attained.
2 Piety: Bend Time
You may attempt to slow all foes within 30' of you, forcing them to make a saving throw against petrification; opponents who fail will have their movement speed reduced by 75%, always go last in combat, and be able to attack a maximum of once per round. Bend Time's slow lasts 10 minutes. Costs 1 Piety
4 Piety: Slouch
Strikes at all visible foes within 120', causing them to take 1d4 damage for every 5' they are faster than you. You may not gain more than 1 piety from creatures slain with this ability. Costs 1 Piety
5 Piety: Greater Step from Time
You move to nowhere, and wait. You may bring up to willing 10 creatures with you. You will reappear after an amount of time of your choosing, up to 48 hours later. From your perspective, no time will have passed. Costs 1 Piety
Punishment
Cheibriados' wrath is slow, but painful. For the duration of your Penance, you will continue to be slowed, unable to move faster than 20'. You will not be able to use abilities while under penance, but will still gain the benefits of Sluggish Support (Unless you Abandoned Cheibriados, in which case you are only slowed).
For as long as you are under penance, every 1d4 (1d6 for abandoners) days, one of the following will affect the penitent (1d6):
- 1: You lose 1d6 points in 2 random attributes for the remainder of your punishment. This cannot reduce attributes below 6.
- 2-3: You become severely slowed for 2d6 hours - your movement cannot be faster than 5', you cannot attack more than once, and your AC receives a penalty of 3.
- 4-5: You are put into a deep, unbreakable sleep for 1d4 rounds.
- 6: You, and only you, are hit with a Greater Step from Time, lasting 4d12 hours.
Dithmenos the Shadowed
Dithmenos the Shadowed desires all to be darkness. Followers of Dithmenos gain a strange and otherworldly affinity to shadow, growing more powerful as they further seclude themselves from the illuminated world.
Altar: A perfect orb of elemental shadow, hovering over a circular flower-like altar of smooth purple stone. Altars of Dithmenos tend to be in deep, dark places, often secret and hidden. It is common, but not mandatory, for the chamber containing the Altar to have a Darkness spell cast on it.
Followers: Worshippers of Dithmenos tend towards pale complexions, with widened pupils peering from underneath cloth or silk coverings that expose as little skin to light as possible. They tend to walk a distance ahead of, or behind, any group they are travelling with. Those most committed darken and cover their metal equipment to minimize its shine, and carry nothing that reflects light - including wearing dark veils over their faces, lest a ray catches upon their eyes. They never sit around the campfire if they can help it.
Conduct
Dithmenos appreciates the absence of light. For each 3 days of adventuring that you've not let sunlight directly touch your skin, you will gain a point of piety. Once you're at 3 piety, you may also not come within 10' of fire or artificial light, nor let sunlight touch anything you wear or wield. When you reach 5 piety, in order to achieve and maintain the sixth point of piety, you must spend your time in complete darkness. Breaking any of these will revert your piety to the lowest applicable value, but will not incur penance.
Dithmenos depreciates the creation of light: Lighting lamps and torches (2 penance), as well as starting fires (2 penance). Dithmenos greatly depreciates casting any of the Light spells (4 penance), as well as any other spells that create light, such as Fireball or Lightning Bolt (3 penance), and the usage of any magical equipment that produces light (1 wrath / minute). If you used an unidentified magic item unknowingly that would have created light, Dithmenos will forgive your transgression and not incur wrath - but the effects of the item will be completely blocked.
Gifts
1 Piety: Umbra
You are surrounded by an Umbra, with a radius of 10' per point of Piety. This aura of shifting shadow makes it easier to hide, and causes attacks made within it to suffer a -1 penalty. At 4 piety, the penalty becomes -2. Dithmenos makes you and your allies immune to this penalty. Umbra does not function in direct sunlight.
2 Piety: Eyes of the Dark
Your eyes see into shadows. As long as you are in darkness (at least 30' away from any sources of light or direct sunlight), you become able to see perfectly in low light. At 5 piety, this ability allows you to see perfectly even in complete darkness. including 10' into magical darkness.
4 Piety - Shadow Step
You may instantaneously, soundlessly and accurately teleport into any unlit spot within 50'. Attacks upon the unsuspecting after a Shadow Step are guaranteed to hit. Costs 1 Piety
6 Piety - Eternal Night
As long as you are in darkness, you are invisible. If you focus for 5 minutes, you can extinguish any torches, lanterns, bonfires and light spells that you can see (but not Continuous Light spells, fires larger than a bonfire, celestial bodies, or bioluminescent creatures.)
6 Piety: Eclipse
You gain the ability to make your Umbra Eclipse, covering a 300' area in supreme magical darkness for an hour. This effect is like that of a Darkness spell, except no form of light (even sunlight) can penetrate it. Dithmenos makes you and your allies immune to the effect, seeing within the darkness normally, Costs 6 Piety and 50% of your current HP (The Piety loss is inflicted at the end of the duration, or once you leave the affected area.)
Punishment
While under penance, your Eyes of the Dark will not function, and you cannot gain more piety - but your other gifts can still be used.
While you have penance remaining, roll a d10 (or a d6 if they Abandoned Dithmenos) at the beginning of each day to determine their punishment:
1 - Darkness is cast on you, following you around and obscuring your vision for 20 minutes.
2-3 - You are afflicted with a maximum-range Inverted Umbra - them and their allies will receive a penalty, while opponents are unaffected and will be able to surprise the PCs more easily.
4 - You are struck blind for 2d6 turns.
5-6 - For the next 24 hours, allowing light to touch you will physically hurt you, dealing 1d3 damage per turn. Strong light, such as continuous light spells or the sun, will deal 1d6 damage.
7-10 - no effect.
The GM should afflict the PC with the punishment when it's most inconvenient or dramatically appropriate during the day. A roll of 7-10 still reduces penance.
Elyvilon the Healer
Elyvilon the Healer welcomes all kind souls prepared to help others. Those individuals become Healers, respected across the land, and gain great restorative powers as long as they avoid bloodshed.
Altar: A fountain of pure white stone, from which fresh water always flows. Often found in places of healing and worship, Altars of Elyvilon provide protection against evil and undead creatures in a 30' area as long as those within don't take any aggressive actions.
Followers: Almost always adorned in flowing white robes, the followers of Elyvilon are among the most recognizable of zealots. They may don armor below their robes, but tend to carry no weapons, save for perhaps staves or walking sticks. The robes of the Healer carry a great commitment, and among the intelligent creatures of the valley, they are often granted more courtesy than most - though this respect is not guaranteed, especially if ill intent is suspected of the healer or their allies. Healers of Elyvilon rarely settle in one place, instead travelling the land to seek out those who need their aid, while asking naught in return. Despite their peaceful nature, all long-living followers of Elyvilon are stout and muscular, and more than able to defend themselves.
Restrictions
Elyvilon will not accept the worship of the Undead, nor characters of unholy or demonic heritage.
Conduct
Elyvilon appreciates helping those in need. Whenever you heal the wounded or cure the sick with your god gifts, you will receive Piety if they are not player characters, hirelings, or otherwise working for you or your companions ("non-allied" creatures). The piety gain is based on the power used (see Gifts for details). Aiding creatures that do not want your aid will not grant piety (You can not have your fighter smack a goblin around while you repeatedly heal its fresh wounds).
Elyvilon dislikes killing living creatures (1 piety loss), especially if you were the one to attack first or goad them into attacking you (3 penance and complete loss of piety). Elyvilon also depreciates the use of any "evil" magic, which harms or maims living creatures (2 Penance), but tolerates spells that merely incapacitate. Killing an incapacitated or defenseless creature, however, will incur the greatest wrath of all (Immediate excommunication, additional Penance equal to highest achieved piety). Note that none of the above applies to demonic creatures and the unliving: Followers of Elyvilon may freely destroy the unholy.
Good God: As all gods, Elyvilon does not appreciate abandonment, However, you will not incur any wrath if you abandon Elyvilon to worship one of the other two Good Gods.
Gifts
0 Piety: Gentle Purification
You may cure yourself, or a creature within reach, of sickness, confusion or fear. Using this to aid a willing non-allied creature awards you 1/3 Piety. Costs 1d3 Strength
0 Piety: Giver of Strength
Using the healing powers of Elyvilon will drain your Strength. This stat loss is never permanent, but can only be recovered through rest. for each full night of rest, you will recover 2d4 Strength. If you are ever reduced to 0 Strength by an ability, you pass out, with the overflow being removed from your HP. You will wake up in 1d6x10 minutes with 1 Strength, but cannot awake sooner.
Elyvilon's abilities only interact with your "natural" strength. Strength gained from equipment, spells and the like is never taken into consideration for the purposes of this stat loss.
1 Piety: Heal Other
This ability heals a living creature within reach for [1d8+piety] HP. When used on an unintelligent wild animal or creature, this ability may pacify it (GM makes a morale check, adding a +3 to the roll), causing it to leave the PCs alone unless they do something to aggravate it. You may not heal yourself with this ability. Using this to aid a willing non-allied creature grants you 1 Piety. Costs 1d6 Strength, additionally costs 1 Piety if used on an ally
1 Piety: Protection from Harm
Elyvilon may negate an attack that would otherwise kill you. The odds of this happening are [20 x piety]% (meaning that the effect is guaranteed at 5+ piety). This effect may activate even while you're under penance. When triggered, this effect drains all your piety.
3 Piety: Heal Self
This power has the same effect as Heal Other, except you can only target yourself with it. Costs 1 Piety, 1d6 Strength
4 Piety: Vigor
You may use this ability to give yourself, and all allied creatures within 30' that are not in melee combat, an additional Hit Die worth of Temporary HP (each class rolls their respective hit die, and gains that much Temporary HP for the next hour), as well as +3 to all saving throws. Costs 1 Piety and 1d8 Strength
6 Piety: Favor of the Healer
Once, and only once, you may ask Elyvilon to give you a blessing. Elyvilon will completely restore your HP and any drained attributes (including from Elyvilon's abilities), remove any ailments or conditions that are affecting you, and permanently increase your Strength to 16 (or, if it's already 16 or higher, Elyvilon will grant you a permanent +2 Strength instead).Finally, this ability casts a "free" Vigor.
You can always ask for this blessing, no matter what condition or ailment you may be impaired by. Its effects are instantaneous. Costs 3 Piety
Punishment
While under the effects of Penance, powerful monsters that the PC's allies fight will have a 1-in-3 of being healed by Elyvilon for half their HP when hit by an attack that would slay them. This may only happen once per monster.
Each time this effect is activated, reduce Penance by 1.
If the PC abandons Elyvilon (and doesn't immediately begin to worship one of the other Good Gods), the PC will also suffer the curse of frailty for the duration of their penance: as long as they are suffering wrath, they may not benefit from any magical healing or curing, and their STR may (1-in-3) be reduced by 1d6 for the duration of a day.
Fedhas Madash
Fedhas is the god of plant and fungal life. Followers devote themselves to the protection of any flora within Fedhas' domain. In return, Fedhas grants a number of abilities that promote the further spread of plants and fungi. These abilities may incidentally prove useful to adventurers.
Altar: A heavily overgrown, living rectangle of wood, with the circular rune of Fedhas naturally patterned in the bark. Altars to Fedhas are hidden in deep wilderness, surrounded by dense growth of all sorts of plant and fungal life.
Followers: Insulted by any association with druids, worshippers of Fedhas show reverence for plants that most people reserve for gods and kings. While not restricted in equipment, followers will often wear soft footwear to more easily spread seeds as they travel. The most devoted are identified by the leafy sprouts and colorful mushrooms that constantly spring from the cracks and folds in their clothing and equipment. Fedhas worshippers are often shunned by industrial communities, and in extreme cases form Mycelial Cults to combat their oppressors.
Conduct:
Fedhas appreciates fertilization. You may pray over the corpses of recently slain living opponents (not undead, elemental or demonic foes; dead for no more than a day), spending 10 minutes (1 dungeon turn) to do so. If you do this uninterrupted, their remains will rapidly decompose and give way to wild, verdant patches of plant or fungi (as is appropriate for the environment). For this, Fedhas will award you with Seeds, granting you 1 Seed for each HD of monsters so sacrificed, plus an additional 2 Seeds for each 5 creatures (So, for 12 corpses with a total of 15 HD, you will gain 19 Seeds).
Fedhas does not appreciate harming living plants or fungi, or allowing them to come to harm. Penance for allowing this to happen is proportionate to the harm done: A sapling being broken might incur 1 penance, a tree being cut down might incur 3; hacking a path through a jungle with a machete would be a minimum of 4, and large-scale damage (such as starting a forest fire) would incur 6 penance, or possibly even full excommunication. "Negligible" harm, such as the plucking of fruit or the peeling the bark off a dead tree, wouldn't incur penance - but should still make you wince.
The fury of Fedhas is capricious and unpredictable: If your conduct has been careless and the extend of your fault is unclear, the GM may simply roll a 1d3 or 1d6 to determine the penance for your actions.
Special: Planter
Followers of Fedhas do not use piety. Instead, they use Seeds to use their God gifts. Followers must choose one container on their person (Pouch or Satchel) to permanently transform into a Seed Bag, in which Seeds and nothing else can be stored. The seed bag has no practical limit for how many Seeds it may hold. Seeds can always be recovered immediately (as if in a quick slot), and you'll always grab exactly how many you wanted to grab.
Gifts
Spruce Truce
All plants become neutral towards you. Plants, fungi, and Plant and Fungal monsters will not attack you, nor will they impede your movement. The same is not true of your allies.
8 Seeds: Soma Sapling
Plant 5 Seeds in a patch or small pile of soft dirt, and water them with one entire water ration (which is fully absorbed). In 30 minutes, the seeds will have grown into a frail Soma Sapling, with 2d4 rations worth of large juicy fruits hanging from its soft, rubbery branches. Soma Saplings are very brittle - even the lightest tap will shake the soft fruits from its branches, making a loud splotching noise as they hit the ground. The Soma Tree, and its fruits, will wither away at the end of the day - but juice made from the fruits will not. Bottling requires no tools but takes up two hours, and a bottle or skin of Soma Juice simultaneously fulfils both the need for food and water.
20 Seeds: Ballistomycete Colony
Pile the Seeds on damp rock or stone, spit on the seeds, gently put another damp stone on top of them, and wait one minute. This will rapidly inflate into a dangerous Ballistomycete, a man-sized fungal colony topped with a bulbous growth, filled with gas and studded with stone fragments. The Ballistomycete colony has the ability to absorb any stains and dirt from the area where it was planted, making it an oddly effective cleaning tool. A grown Ballistomycete will safely "deflate" in 2-3 days, but until that time, absolutely any contact with the paper-thin bulb will cause it to burst, showering everything in a 30' radius with violently propelled shrapnel that deals 2d12 damage.
25 Seeds: Hook Vine
Plant the Seeds in a pile of shredded tree bark and dried leaves, and dampen them well with the juice of a fruit or vegetable. Over the next 5 minutes, mighty vines will sprout, with 3d4 stalks covering an area of 30'; climbing up walls, over doors and windows, and down holes. The vines are thick, strong, can easily support the weight of a person, and require significant effort to remove or cut through. They are covered in hooked barbs, making them extremely difficult to maneuver past if they're filling a corridor or covering the floor - catching on clothing and tearing at skin, forcing creatures to move slowly (half speed). Individual stalks respond to fire by exploding into a thick, viscous goop that snuff out most non-magical flames. Hook Vines will eventually shrink into more reasonably sized vines (in about a week), though quite a few species of dungeon-dwelling insect find them delicious, so they might only last a day or two in certain environments.
88 Seeds: Oklob Plant
Pour the Seeds on the ground, douse the pile in something acidic, violently stomp or crush the pile, and immediately retreat. In 10 seconds, the bubbling mass will explode into a dreaded Oklob Sapling. The 6' tall vicious vegetable will spit globs of acid (3d6 damage) at any and all non-plant monsters and creatures within range (other than you), stopped only by its short lifespan: an Oklob Sapling will perish after 10 minutes of cruel life, disintegrating into a viscous mass that will melt any boot that steps into it (but will contain 1d12 Seeds that could be recovered by daring worshippers). Unaccustomed to the gentle caress of the sun, Oklob plants behave differently in direct sunlight - They will last for up to a week, grow thrice as tall, and grow 3-4 bulbs that can attack at quadruple the range of the sapling; but they will also be much more serene, only attacking those who touch them or attempt to harm them.
Oklob Sapling: 3 HD, AC 6, 2 Attacks/round (spits globs of acid up to 120' for 3d6 damage, splashing 5' for 1d6 damage). Save as Fighter 6.
Adult Oklob: 7 HD, AC 3, 5 Attacks/round (splits globs of acid up to 480' for 3d6 damage, splashing 5' for 1d6). Save as Fighter 6.
Punishment
The wrath of Fedhas is predictable, but can cause sever harm. At the beginning of each day, determine the effects of punishment (1d6):
0: Anyone that dies near you has a 1-in-6 chance of having its corpse decompose into a hostile Oklob Plant (can only happen once in a day)
1: 50% of rations in your party have become moldy and inedible.
2: 1d6 randomly selected wooden items in your party (bows and crossbows, ammo, staves, torches, etc) have become cracked, warped, and otherwise unusable.
3: Corpses of foes you and your allies slay rapidly decompose into noxious gas, dealing 1d6 damage per turn if you don't quickly leave the area.
4: Roots have strangled your backpack - Each fragile item in your backpack have a 1-in-4 chance of being destroyed, and you cannot access your backpack's contents for the day without risking damage.
5: At some point during the day, an unnoticed root will trip you if you try to run.
6: Nothing happens.
Whatever the result, subtract 1 Penance. If you Abandoned Fedhas, subtract 1 from the d6 roll.
Gozag Ym Sagoz
Gozag the Greedy teaches that the world belongs to the rich. Those accepting this principle may exchange their gold for divine assistance. Followers of Gozag do not earn piety; the only way to impress this god is by amassing a fortune, and worshippers may request as much assistance as they can afford.
Altar: A gold-plated altar, with a large diamond-shaped object perched the top of it (also made of gold). Altars to Gozag can be found in vaults, treasure rooms and other secure places where coin is plentiful.
Followers: The distinguishing feature of a Gozag worshipper is the jangle of a filled coin purse. Despite this, worshipers of Gozag very rarely don golden helmets and jewel-encrusted plate-mail; loudly announcing that you worship Gozag attracts more robbers than friends. Most often worshiped by merchants and their ilk, the most successful Gozagites can be recognized by their consistently well-stocked stores and suspicious success despite unreasonable prices. When an adventuring type decides to follow Gozag Ym Sagoz, they do so because they believe that they can achieve wealth even greater than what they had before. How often they succeed at this is a matter of speculation, as none brag about how it went.
Special Requirement: Service Fee
To begin Worshipping Gozag, the PC must pay a service fee. The fee is equal to 5% of their lifetime XP in gold pieces. This includes XP that would have been lost through XP-draining attacks or the like. The required gold may be drawn from their bank accounts and other stashes.
Conduct:
Gozag Ym Sagoz is a reasonable businessgod, and does not allow personal feelings to affect services one way or the other. All interactions with Gozag revolve purely around gold.
Gifts
Gozag has no Piety system, with all god gifts being immediately available upon joining, as long as you can afford them. Using any of the paid gifts immediately subtracts the price from your person. Gozag only accepts coin - gems and other valuables will have to be sold first.
Deep Pockets
Upon joining Gozag, one of your Pouches becomes a Bag of Hoarding. This acts as a Bag of Holding, except it can only hold coins - the amount it can hold is equal to [Level^2 * 100] GP of coins. So a level 2 PC's Bag will hold 400 GP of coins, a level 3 Bag will hold 900, etc. However full it is, this Bag effectively has no weight. The Bag can only be accessed by you, converts coins to whatever denomination you would like, and has the ability to always produce exact change.
If you are slain while worshipping Gozag, your character (and the bag) will explode into a shower of gold and silver, spraying your surroundings with your riches - which is all but guaranteed to distract opponents.
Golden Touch
Enemies you slay turn into coin. The GP is equal to [(Monster's HD x d6) x Monster's HD]. So for a 3HD monster, roll 3d6 and multiply the roll result by 3. Money acquired this way does not count towards XP.
Level x 100 GP: Potion Petition
You are offered a selection of 3 randomly chosen potion effects, and must choose which one(s) you would like to purchase. The price of the effects varies, based on the typical value of the appropriate potions - stronger effects cost more. Once you make your choice(s), you receive a bespoke, single-dose potion, with all the effects you have purchased. The potion is created to perfectly mesh with your body, and you will suffer no ill effect from the combination, nor will you suffer from any typical effects of combining multiple potion types. The same is absolutely not true for anyone else who tries to drink them, and the potion's contents will be smell and taste utterly disgusting to any others who attempt to ingest them.
You may have up to 2 Gozag potions at a time, and if not drunk within 48 hours after purchase, they will degrade into bottom-quality alcoholic beverages.
Note that you don't need to pay the price for this ability to use it - the listed value is only the minimum amount of gold in your Bag of Hoarding required.
Level x 150 GP: Shop Key
You are offered a selection of 3 randomly chosen Partner Franchises of Gozag, Whichever one you pick and pay for, you (and you alone) are granted a key to the extra-spatial store. The weightless ornate key has two uses, each use allowing you to instantaneously transport to the key's store. You may spend up to 10 minutes at the store before the merchant kicks you back out to where you entered the store (they have other customers waiting). Gozag's merchant's aren't the chatty type, so don't expect much in the way of conversation - most of them aren't even physiologically equipped to communicate with you, at least not in a way you'd understand. They all understand finger pointing and gold, however.
Level x 1000 GP: Bribe
The pockets of all the monsters in the immediate area become surreptitiously filled, significantly reducing their hostility. If you are engaged with opponents, all of them make a morale check with +3, with those who fail casually wandering off. Somehow, this even works on beasts and mindless foes. For the next [Your Level] hours, intelligent opponents that you don't provoke will look the other way.
Punishment
The Wrath of Gozag lasts until you're able to pay off your contract severance fee - which is equal, in gold, to 20% of the XP required to get to the next level. Once you have enough, it will disappear from your pockets, bank account, or hole in your backyard. Golden Touch is still in effect during wrath, but the gold will immediately disappear into Gozag's coffers.
Until you fully pay your debt, the following effects will plague you:
- Petition for your drink to fail - Whenever you drink a potion in combat, there's a 50% chance you'll fail to do so and lose a turn (but not the potion)
- Incite - when you're in combat, there's a 2% chance per round that a random enemy in the fight is buffed with a random potion effect as per Potion Petition.
- Blacklist - Store owners spit at your feet, and charge you 200% more for anything you buy from them. They will know if your allies, or anyone else, are buying something on your behalf, and doing so will get them blacklisted too. Don't expect strangers to do this for you either - they fear the shops.
Hepliaklqana the Forgotten
Hepliaklqana the Forgotten accepts the worship of those who would remember their forebears, and fight alongside the greatest of them all. As followers advance in this service, they will find themselves able to shape and control their ancestor's memory, eventually bringing them into the ranks of the mythical heroes.
Altar: An ancient, cracked monolith of a dark gray stone. The altar is surrounded by a swirling, greenish mist, echoing distantly familiar voices. Altars to Hepliaklqana are often erected in places of memory and reverence: Near great statues and monuments, in ancient ruins, and occasionally graveyards.
Followers: Garbed in the traditional clothing of their homelands or clans, followers of Hepliaklqana are unified in their reverence for their ancestry. While the exact qualities they venerate their forebears for vary greatly, they all appreciate history and relics, especially for those of their own kin. Followers are drained by their connection to the past - none may maintain the spirits of their past without paying with some of their own, and worshippers become somewhat disconnected from modern society as they give themselves to the mists of memory. The devout change in appearance as their piety grows, adopting more and more of the "heroic" features of their forebears; whether this is because the binding changes them, or simply brings out what they had within them all along, is not clear.
Conduct:
Hepliaklqana appreciates it when you bring the ancient into the modern world. You gain piety by bringing forgotten treasures back to the world of living memory. The first point of piety will come at 1000 XP of treasure recovered, and each next point will require double that (2000, 4000, 8000... or, 3000 total, then 7000 total, etc.) Note that your piety progress is equal to the total XP value of the treasure, not just your personal cut of the XP. A given piece of treasure will only grant piety the first time it is discovered - treasures recovered from "recent" monster hoards or the remains of adventurers is not counted towards your piety.
Hepliaklqana deprecates the careless handling of the above artifacts. Losing or dropping any XP-worthy relics before they are retrieved to safety will incur wrath proportional to the value of the relics - the same way as piety is awarded, but with a lower starting value (starting at 500 XP of treasure for 1 point of penance, then 1000 for 2 points, etc.).
Gifts
1 Piety: Child of History
You are accompanied by a blurry Ancestor, a permanent ally that works and fights alongside you. The Ancestor should be treated as a Fighter of 1st level, with maximum possible HP and all stats at 11, and equipped with a Short Sword, Studded Leather Armor and a Shield. The Ancestor is partially ethereal, as is their equipment. They are unable to wield or carry anything of yours, nor can you hold anything of theirs. They act as a normal Henchman in all other ways, except for a few differences: They are completely unaffected by morale or by fear, they are unable to vocalize or communicate beyond simple gestures with their mist-blurred hands and face, and they require no food or water. No matter what you do to them, your Ancestor will never turn on you or refuse to help you - though you might insult them if you are careless enough.
Your ancestor may never be more than (Piety^2 x 30') away from you. If your Ancestor is slain, they will return; Within 1d3 days, they will reform from your dreaming memories as you awake, ready to join you once again.
Manifesting your Ancestor does, however, take a toll on your body: Once you reach this piety level, your maximum HP is permanently reduced by 15%. This reduction remains with you as long as your worship Hepliaklqana. Additionally, the "death" of your ancestor briefly and violently your connection to the Mists, hurting you for an amount of damage equal to your level (but this damage will never be lethal).
2 Piety: Transference
You may instantly swap positions with your Ancestor. Costs 4 HP (both you and your ancestor)
3 Piety: Teller of Stories
Your memory of your Ancestor crystalizes. You may now remember their name and their appearance (which you may freely choose). Finally, you may remember their legacy: Your Ancestor gains a class of your choice. This choice is permanent and cannot be changed, even if you abandon and rejoin Hepliaklqana.
Choose one of the following classes for your Ancestor:
- Knight: 22 HP, high STR and CON. Has Battle Axe, Longbow + Arrows, Plate mail and a Shield.
- Battlemage: 14: 14 HP, average stats. Has Short sword, Scale mail, and a buckler. Has 3 spell slots, knows Magic Missile, Web, Bless (casts spells as lvl 4 MU)
- Hexer: 10 HP, high DEX and WIS. Has Dagger +1, Sling + Bullets, Studded Leather. Has 3 spell slots, knows Sleep, Hold Person, Phantasmal Force. (Casts spells at lvl 4 MU)
4 Piety: Idealize
You learn how to briefly clear the mists, allowing your ancestor to briefly become as great as you know them to be. When you Idealize, heal your ancestor to full, refresh their spell slots, and temporarily grant them a +3 to their to-hit and damage rolls. Lasts 10 minutes. Costs 20% of your max HP and Exhausts you (preventing you from doing it again until you rest)
5 Piety: Scion
Your Ancestor gains the ability to speak. You may communicate with them so that nobody else can hear you.
6 Piety: Unforgettable
Your ancestor has fully reformed, reaching their former glory. Upgrade them with the following:
- Knight: +12 HP. Battle Axe becomes Flaming Battle Axe +1; Plate becomes +1; Shield becomes Tower Shield +1 (+3 AC against ranged attacks).
- Battlemage: +6 HP. Short Sword becomes +1 Short Sword of Speed (2 attacks per round), Buckler becomes +1. Gains an additional 2 spell slots, along with a single cast each of Fireball and Lightning Bolt. May learn 1 new spell from a spellbook, up to level 3.
- Hexer: +5 HP. Dagger becomes +1 Anti-Magic Dagger (struck opponents have a 2-in-3 chance of failing to cast spells for next minute), Studded Leather becomes +2. Gain an additional 2 spell slots and learns Mass Confusion; additionally gains 1 cast of Feeblemind, and may learn 1 new spell from a spellbook, up to level 3.
Punishment
Your connection to the mists is lost, and your Ancestor immediately disappears (though the reduced max HP remains until your Penance is over).
Hepliaklqana believes that the only reasonable punishment for turning one's back on memory is to be denied its use. You are unable to gain any experience until Hepliaklqana decides you have lost enough; this will take approximately 2 level-ups worth of XP. The XP taken by Hepliaklqana is lost forever.
Ignis the Dying Flame
Ignis offers followers power over fire, in its many forms. All of Ignis' power is offered unconditionally to any who would deign to worship; but once used, it can never be replenished. Ignis' other worshippers deserted long ago; the divine fire burns low, and soon it will go out.
Altar: A grand mass of candles and melted wax on an altar of blackened, cracked stone. Only a single, small candle in the center is lit, its tiny flame dim in the darkness. The last altar to Ignis may be found where greatness has faded and might has given way to ruin. If someone begins to worship Ignis, the candle will become brighter, but also, smaller.
Followers: There are none. The Dying Flame was once powerful, with Ignis' Cinder Acolytes among the most feared zealots in the land; their bright red-and-gold robes striking fear into the hearts of those who saw them coming. None know what caused Ignis to fade - perhaps no flame can last forever.
Conduct
Ignis appreciates any worship whatsoever. Any may worship, and those who do are immediately granted the maximum 6 piety. However, there is no way to further gain piety: Once spent, it is lost forever. Leaving and rejoining won't work either.
Ignis deprecates naught but abandonment.
Gifts
All of Ignis' powers may be used immediately by worshippers, as long as they have the Piety.
Fire Resistance
You take half damage from fire and flaming weapons. You continue to have this ability for as long as you worship Ignis.
Fiery Armor
Gain 5 AC, and deal 2d4 fire damage to those adjacent to you at the end of each round. Lasts 10 minutes. Costs 1 Piety
Inferno
Spend one round heating up, and then explode in a fireball that strikes all unprotected foes within 60' of you for 6d6 damage. This ability does not harm you. Costs 1 Piety
Last Dance of Flames
You channel the fire within. For the next 10 minutes, all fire that you can see, you may freely move around, spread, or snuff out. You may move or split existing fires up to 30' per turn, double them in size each turn, or cause them to immediately snuff out. You may also make anything highly flammable, such as oil or dry wood, spontaneously burst into flames. These flames are only partially magical in nature, and will not be able to spread onto surfaces that cannot possibly burn, such as water. Costs 1 Piety
Punishment
Upon Abandoning Ignis, you will become vulnerable to flames, taking an additional 1d4 damage whenever you are hurt by fire or fire-based weapons. You cannot remove or negate this effect until the Wrath ends.
As long as Ignis' wrath lasts (4 days), each day, there is a 5-in-6 chance you will encounter one of the following (1d6):
1-2: 1-3 small Fire Elements are summoned to attack you.
3-4: The strongest monster in your line of sight becomes a Champion of Fire, granting them 1d3 extra fire damage and movement speed increased by 10'.
5-6: Your surroundings explosively burst into flames, blocking your escape and threatening you.
Ignis will use these abilities when they would most harm you. If no opportunity comes up, Penance is still reduced.
Once Ignis' wrath ends, or you die, the last candle is snuffed out. Ignis ceases to exist.
Jiyva the Shapeless
Jiyva Jojaun is the ancient, shapeless deity of the slimes. Followers are expected to support the spread and satiation of their fellow slimes by allowing them to consume items, and are forbidden from harming any slimes. Especially favored followers will become as shapeless as their god.
Altar: A bright green gelatinous cube, wobbling softly in the torchlight. Altars to Jiyva Jichodgh are found in damp places below the surface; especially in dungeons, where many things Slimes enjoy eating can be found. Jiyva altars are exceedingly rare, perhaps because jellies are very new to the idea of worship.
Followers: Jiyva Jorra does not traditionally have humanoid followers. In fact, it's unclear what worshippers Jiyva has, as slimes and jellies lack the basic self-awareness to worship anything. But Jiyva Jassos doesn't seem to mind or distinguish between its followers - as long as they are living, and thus able to receive the gifts of Jiyva Jerenhen.
Restrictions:
Only the living may worship Jiyva Juhhviy. Undead and demonic creatures are not invited.
Conduct:
Jiyva Jaquer appreciates the feeding of slime. As a Priest of Jiyva Jamph, You gain piety as slimes consume items and treasure. The first time a day you witness a slime or jelly on a dungeon level consume at least a slot's worth of non-treasure (equipment, tools, armor or the like), you have a 5% chance of gaining a point of piety. You can make this check any amount of times, but it has to be a different level each time. Not that slimes will not eat magic items or precious metals of their own volition.
Additionally, you may feed slimes treasure: If you feed a jelly non-coin treasure worth at least (100 x Experience Level) GP, you have a 1-in-2 chance of gaining a point of piety. You may only benefit from this once a day, but is not tied to dungeon levels.
Jiyva Javyi deprecates harming Slimes, and allowing Slimes to come to harm. If you witness a slime, jelly or eyeball monster die, you will suffer Penance equal to the HD of the slime, or your piety - whichever is higher (max 6).
Gifts
0 Piety: Squelcher
The Slimes accept you as one of their own. All Slimes and Eyeball monsters become neutral towards you, and will not intentionally harm you.
If you are on a level that has no slimes, but could support them, a random slime monster will "wander in" after 2d6 hours spent there. You will be aware of when this happens, and the vague direction that the slime is in. Depending on the depth, the Slime may be a Green Slime, a Grey Ooze, a Gelatinous Cube, an Ochre Jelly, or a Black Pudding.
1 Piety: Ooze
Your skin begins to become slightly translucent and greenish, and your scars begin to heal unnaturally fast: You regenerate 1 HP per dungeon turn (10 minutes).
2 Piety: Jelly
Jiyva Jozzina shields you from corrosive damage and effects, such as acid. This does not block the attacks of creatures like Rust Monsters.
3 Piety: Dissolving [species]
You have become more Slime than whatever you were before, and Jiyva Jasgedon begins to rapidly alter your body. At the beginning of each day, you have a 1-in-6 chance of Mutating. Each time you Mutate, do the following steps in order:
- For each Mutation you already have, roll 1d8, losing the mutation on a roll of 1. If it's a Bad mutation, lose it on a result of 1-3 instead. If the roll is an 8, level up the mutation (if possible).
- Gain 1d3 random Mutations from the list of mutations. If you roll one you already have, level it up (if possible, otherwise reroll. If failed on a reroll, get nothing).
4 Piety: Slimy Creature
You may temporarily Slimify all walls and floor within 30' of you in acidic slime, which deal 1d4 corrosive damage per turn to all creatures in contact with them or within 5' of them. You may freely move around within this space. The effect ends if you leave the area, or if 20 minutes pass. Costs 1 Piety
5 Piety: Royal Jelly
You have become completely gelatinous. When you lose 25% or more of your HP to a single hit, 1d3 random, short-lived, friendly jellies will be created from the pieces that were knocked off of you. These jellies will fight alongside you, and will dissolve in 10 minutes, or when there are no enemies left to fight.
Also, walls you Slimify become partially translucent for the duration of the effect, allowing you to see the outline of what's behind them.
Punishments
You will not lose any of your abilities while being punished. However, you cannot gain additional piety, and you cannot lose bad mutations.
When under penance, each day there is a 5-in-6 chance of one of the following happening (d6):
- 1: You receive 1d2 Bad mutations.
- 2-3: Removes 1d6 of your good mutations.
- 4: You are Polymorphed into a (1d4) 1. Dripping Bat, 2. Oily Pig, 3. Slimy Mouse 4. Green Ooze for 20 minutes.
- 5-6: Slimifies walls and floors within 60', centered on you. You are not protected from this damage.
The negative effect will happen at the most inopportune moment during that day. If you abandoned Jiyva Jimsker, in addition to the above, each punishment (except the polymorph) will also summon 1d3 random slimes to attack you.
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Kikubaaqudgha
Kikubaaqudgha is a terrible Demon-God, served by those who wish to indulge in the powers of death. An evil deity, Kikubaaqudgha requires worshippers to cause the death and destruction of as many creatures as possible. In exchange, Kikubaaqudgha offers followers the path of necromancy, and the fearsome power therein.
Altar: A towering pile of skulls, of creatures of every shape and size, atop a taloned silver pedestal. Altars to Kikubaaqudgha are found in ancient temples of evil and cruel gods, often within a darkened, out-of-the-way chamber. Very rarely, shrines may be erected on graveyards and ancient sites of agony, such as battlefields.
Followers: The path of power over the unliving is one that can come only with the death of others, and followers are ready to inflict whatever pain is necessary in order to gain might. Followers are most recognizable by the unmistakable markings upon their body, night-black tattoos of horrendous imagery that subtly shift to inspire the most terror in the viewer. The markings become more pronounced as piety grows, with worshippers either donning heavy full-body cloaks, robes and headgear to conceal their allegiance, or proudly display their marred bodies to inspire fear in their foes.
Restrictions
Only magic-using classes may follow Kikubaaqudgha. Clerics may do so as well, but only if they abandon their previous faith - no god accepts worship of a demon. Doing so is permanent, even if you later abandon Kiku - meaning that in future, you will function as a fighter with a worse hit die.
Conduct
Kikubaaqudgha appreciates death. You will receive a point of piety for every 6 living beings of at least 1/2 HD that you or your undead slay. From 3 Piety onward, Kiku will not care about any creatures that are not at least 1 HD. From 5 Piety onward, Kiku will also only accept the sacrifice of intelligent creatures.
Kikubaaqudgha deprecates life. You may incur penance for healing others, mending wounds, or for casting spells or using items that do the same (3 Penance).
Kikubaaqudgha also deprecates inactivity. If you fail to sacrifice a creature every [8 - Piety] days, you will lose a point of piety.
Gifts
1 Piety: Undead Servants
You may pray over the corpses of freshly slain foes of 1 HD or less for 10 minutes. Doing so will cause the flesh to melt off their bones, and raise them as Skeletons in your service. Summoned skeletons will follow you anywhere and do your bidding, but lack the intelligence to do anything beyond following you, guarding a spot, and attacking the closest foe they see. You may have an amount of Skeletons raised equal to twice your Piety. You may order your skeletons to perish, causing them to rapidly deteriorate into dust. This is useful for concealing your necromancer status from those who would judge you for it, which is most folk.
Fresh Skeleton: 1/2 HD (1d4 HP), AC 7, Melee attack w/ hands 1d4 (or short bladed weapon that was already held in hand), Mv 30', Sv: F1.
2 Piety: Marks of the Necromancer
Your body becomes covered with dark, shifting tattoos that form terrifying images of death and misery, and an aura of malice hangs over you. You receive a permanent reduction to your Charisma equal to your highest achieved Piety. Your class changes to Necromancer.
Necromancer Class Features: 1d6 HD - Saves as MU - No Weapon Restrictions, Leather Armor Only (No armor restriction if previous class was Cleric) - 2500 XP required to level 2 - Prime Attributes STR/INT
Necromantic Casting: Necromancers may cast necromantic spells, but doing so causes their STR or CON (their choice) to drain by an amount of d4 equal to the level of the necromantic spell. Drain caused by casting is recovered at a rate 1d10 points per night, splitting the recovered points between the stats as desired. Reducing either attribute to 0 forces the necromancer to roll a Save vs. Death: Failure results in their heart stopping, causing them to instantly die and turn into an intelligent undead that turns against their allies and serves Kiku. Passing the save causes the necromancer to pass out for 2d6 hours.
Ex-Magic Users will retain their known spells and spell slots gained up until their conversion to Necromancy, but they may not learn any new non-necromantic spells. Ex-Clerics do not retain their spells. Your Necromancer level will be equal to your previous class' level when you reached this point, raising your total XP to the minimum required if you had less.
2 Piety: Gifts of Deathly Magic
Starting at the point when you reach this level of piety, and every time you level up thereafter, Kiku will award you will knowledge of dark magic from the books of necromancy. A random one of the following spells will be added to your spellbook. The first time you gain spells from this ability, learn 2 instead of 1.
To select a spell, roll a d6, learn that spell, and "remove" it from the list in future rolls. In other words, once you get spell #3, you move #4 down to #3, #5 down to #4, etc. This means higher level spells are not available until later. If the roll is higher than the highest remaining spell, take the highest spell available instead.
- 1. Sublimation of Blood (Lv. 1) - Regain the use of a spent spell. Suffer [spell level]d4 damage in addition to the stat drain. (ex-clerics ignore this gift roll result, treat it as a 2 instead)
- 2. Pain (Lv. 1) - Target living monster suffers 1d12 damage. If you deal 10+ damage, or the creature is below half HP, it must immediately make a morale save. 90'
- 3. Necrotize (Lv. 1) - Target living monster suffers 1d6 damage. If this spell slays it, its remains immediately raise as a Fresh Skeleton (if it has a skeleton). 120'
- 4. Dispel Undead (Lv. 1) - Deal 3d6 damage to a single undead monster. 30'
- 5. Animate Dead (Lv. 2) - Raise a fresh corpse as a zombie. Unlike skeletons, Zombies retain the HP and AC of the original creature, hold onto any weapons that the creature spent in life, and are slightly more intelligent, able to understand marginally more advanced orders (No more complex than simple two word sentences). Zombies also move no faster than 20' a round, cannot fly or swim, and will always act last in combat, regardless of initiative.
- 6. Vampiric Draining (Lv. 2) - Strike a living creature with your bare hand, damaging it for 2d6 HP and healing for the same amount. Using this on undead creatures will reverse the effect, healing them and damaging you.
- 7. Corpse Rot (Lv.2) - Target a fresh corpse, causing a stinking cloud of miasma to raise from it. The cloud spreads [Monster's HD x10] feet and forces all living creatures (excluding the necromancer) to pass a Save vs. Poison each turn they end within the cloud, Failed saves cause all creatures within to become violently sick and lose their next turn, in addition to suffering [HD] d4 damage.
- 8. Borgnjor's Vile Clutch (Lv.2) - Causes a mass of undead hands to explode out of the ground in a 30' area (20' in areas with stone floors, has no effect in areas with metal or harder floors). The hands will grab at any feet or objects they can, restricting any creatures that fail a save vs. wands. Restricted enemies are unable to walk or run unless they can overpower the hands (3+ HD creatures) or destroy the hands (treat hands as having 1HD per foe grappled). Creatures that don't break free are pulled to the ground on the next round, suffering 1d6 damage per round as long as they don't break free. Lasts 10 minutes. 120'
- 9. Agony (Lv. 3) - Smite a single living creature with Torment. 40'
- 10. Simulacrum (Lv. 3) - Target living, demonic, or unholy monster receives a death-curse, which lasts 24 hours. Upon its death, deathly frost will overtake it, causing it to become a crystalline undead Simulacrum under your control. The Simulacrum has identical attributes to the living creature, with the following exceptions: its AC is reduced by 1 or reduced to 2, whichever is lower; Simulacrum cannot use any special abilities that the creature had, such as gazes or breath attacks; Their attacks become enchanted with horrid ice, dealing an additional 1d6 damage per strike; and a Simulacrum has the same speed and intelligence as Zombies. The Simulacrum will melt away into water after 6 hours, or less in hot environments. 120'
4 Piety: Symbol of Torment
You have learned how to become a bane of all life. You may invoke this ability to Torment all living beings within 120 and line of sight', instantly and irresistibly cutting their current HP in half. You are not immune to the effects of Torment, and neither are your allies - only unholy beings and the Undead are unaffected by it. Costs 1 Piety
5 Piety: Black Sun
As long as you are or above this level of Piety, Kiku will reduce the stat drain of Necromantic Magic by 1 per d4 rolled (to a minimum of 1 per die). Additionally, Undead Servants only requires 5 minutes to perform, and doubles its skeleton capacity.
6 Piety: Lord of Darkness
Once, and only once, you may choose one of the following gifts of Kikubaaqudgha:
Brand Weapon with Pain: Kiku will brand your weapon with a permanent Pain brand. Weapons of Pain count as +1, and cast the Pain spell with their first strike against each foe.
Receive Forbidden Knowledge: Kiku will grant you knowledge of 2 of the 4 following spells; one of your choice, and another one chosen randomly:
- Haunt (Lv 4): Summon 1d3 Wraiths around an enemy, to attack it relentlessly. They will disappear after 10 minutes, or after their target dies. 240'
- Borgnjor's Revivification (Lv. 1): Permanently reduce your max HP by 1d6, then heal yourself up to your new maximum. HP lost to this may never be recovered.
- Death's Door (Lv. 3): You, or a target living creature, has its HP immediately reduced to 1, and cannot be healed for the next hour. It then becomes immune to all attacks and damage for the next minute. If used on another creature, both you and the creature suffer the spell's stat drain.
- Necromutation (Lv. 4): Your life briefly leaves your body, and for the next 10 minutes, you transform into a dread Lich. This confers the following benefits and limitations:
- Your Necromantic magic does not drain you. Stat drain from this spell will be suffered once the spell effect ends.
- You become Undead. You are immune to poisons and miasma, draining and Torment. You cannot be mutated or polymorphed, and you also take half damage from Cold. However, you also become vulnerable to holy damage, Dispel Undead, and turning.
- Your touch Drains your opponents, as a Wraith's touch attack would.
- Your AC is improved by 2, and you receive a +4 to saves vs. Spells
- You are unable to consume potions for the duration, nor can you receive most forms of healing that require you to be alive (such as from Cure Wounds). Vampiric Draining and Revivification still work.
Punishment
Abandoning Kikubaaqudgha will leave you stripped of your powers, and with a permanent mark on your soul: death has touched you, and will never truly leave. The permanent Charisma reduction remains even after wrath ends.
In addition to any other Wrath you may suffer, for the rest of your days, you will carry the Marks of the Demon Pact upon your body. The good gods will never accept your worship, and your body is forfeit: when you die, your body will rise as a powerful undead, to continue the work of Kikubaaqudgha.
The Wrath of Kikubaaqudgha is swift and horrifying. Each day, one of the following will befall you:
- 2d4 hostile Simulacra of area-appropriate creatures will appear to attack you
- Clouds of Miasma will fall upon you
- 1d3 Wraiths will appear to claim you, and only you
- A powerful opponent near defeat will be granted Death's Door or Borgnjor's Revivification
Unlike most gods, Kikubaaqudgha will personally choose the most harmful one of these to strike you with, waiting for the most appropriate moment to do so. Furthermore, whenever Kiku's wrath strikes, there's also a 30% chance of the Symbol of Torment being invoked. The only ones more ostracized than Kikubaaqudgha followers are ex-followers...
Lugonu the Unformed
Banished to the chaotic realm of the Abyss, Lugonu the Unformed seeks followers to spread corruption in the "real" world. Those who gain Lugonu's favor will be granted some of the reality-changing power of the Abyss itself, while being protected from the wrath of the other gods.
Altar: The Altar of another god, warped and eaten away by the corrupting power of the Abyss, covered in dark purple pustules. The area around altars to Lugonu are similarly corrupt, with the basic materials of walls and floors shifting and changing. They are often guarded by lesser creatures of the Abyss. Gods will be grateful if you destroy the corruption and repair their Altars, immediately granting new (or existing) followers with 2 points of Piety (or equivalent for gods with non-standard piety; some especially non-standard gods, such as Ashenzari, will not provide "free" piety, but will grant improved offer rate or the like) - but cleansing a shrine also incurs Lugonu's Wrath.
Followers: Those who follow the Unformed have no regard for the world they inhabit, and are often happy to sow Corruption while indulging in shady activities, Worshippers rarely have pious leanings or a uniform, instead identified by their actions and tools; they defile places of worship, swiftly dispatch the pious, and prove near-impossible to capture or slay. Of those few who are ideologically devout to Lugonu, they wear heavy and inconsistent clothing, of many clashing materials and colors, both to effectively confuse their foes and represent the corrupting nature of their deity.
Restrictions
Lugonu may not be worshipped by Clerics, or any other class that gains power from the divine.
Conduct
Lugonu appreciates the weakening of other gods. Lugonu will grant a point of Piety for each Altar of another god that you corrupt, and for each priest or zealot of another god that you slay (this doesn't count "lesser" followers, such as regular orc warriors who follow Beogh: only true priests count.)
Lugonu deprecates the removal of corruption. If you, or if any of your allies, remove Lugonu's corruption from an Altar, you will immediately lose all your Piety, in addition to gaining 2 Penance. This applies even to non-followers, meaning that even those who never served Lugonu may suffer wrath.
Lugonu severely deprecates abandonment for another deity (incurring 8 wrath rather than 6). Lugonu doesn't care about regular abandonment, but will immediately become wrathful if you at any later point begin worship of another god.
Gifts
Characters who begin worshipping Lugonu in the Abyss will immediately gain 2 Piety.
0 Piety: The Exiled
Lugonu will protect your from the Wrath of other gods. If you abandoned a god to worship Lugonu, there is a [30 + (Piety x 5)%] chance that any attempted Punishment will be immediately blocked by Lugonu, while still expending the Penance point.
1 Piety: Depart the Abyss
You may choose to exit the Abyss at will, arriving immediately at the place where you entered it. For an additional Piety, you may also bring up to 10 non-abyssal creatures out of the Abyss with you. Costs 1 (or 2) Piety
2 Piety: Bend Space
Instantly teleports you in a random direction, moving you 1d6 x 5'. If you depart or land adjacent to any creatures, they must pass a Save vs. Spells or be similarly teleported, and also take 1d4 damage. Costs 1d4 HP
3 Piety: Banish
You may attempt send a single visible monster within 120' to the Abyss. The target monster must make a Save against Spells, receiving a -5 to their roll (but also getting a +2 for each HD they have higher than your experience level). Monsters you Banish may be encountered in the Abyss, and especially wily ones may eventually find their way out. This ability only costs piety if the monster is successfully Banished. Costs 2 Piety
5 Piety: Enter the Abyss
You, and up to 10 willing creatures within 60', are sent to the Abyss. Costs 2 Piety
6 Piety: Envoy of Corruption
You may Corrupt your surroundings, causing a a 100'x100' square around you to briefly become entangled with by the endlessly shifting Abyss, Six times, the GM will randomly change a 30'x30' chunk of terrain into another, randomly selected terrain (roll a d8 twice to determine the "starting corner"of the transformed square). These squares may overlap, creating a chaotic and dangerous environment. Solid stone walls have a 20% chance to resist, metal walls have a 70% chance, and crystal walls have a 90% chance. Roll for each chunk (d20):
- 1: Open air. Absolutely nothing.
- 2: Open room with 2x2 set of 1' wide metal pillars.
- 3: A straight, 10' stone corridor spreading out from the caster, lit by torches.
- 4: As above, but of crystal, and a 4-way crossroad.
- 5: Solid body of water, possibly with fish within it. 50/50 chances that water does not spill and instead hovers in place.
- 6: Dense maze of unstable rocky pillars.
- 7: Circular stone chamber containing a pool of (1d3: 1- water, 2 - lava, 3 - acid) in the center.
- 8: Castle bedroom, with 1d6 bunk beds and a pair of heavy wooden doors on opposite stone walls.
- 9: 5' high creaky wooden stage, as from a theater. Bisected along the half by heavy red curtains.
- 10: Perfectly enclosed 20'20 chamber, with walls of iron.
- 11: Curving cave, filled with stalactites.
- 12: Open area with a floor covered with dry hay and the smell of a barn.
- 13: Stretch of strangely smooth stone road, with a two long narrow metal pillars on either side of it.
- 14: Patch of grassy forest road, complete with a couple of trees and (30% chance) a horse-drawn carriage (horses and driver absent).
- 15: Three-way intersection of 5' wide bridges, precariously passing over 10' deep pits with spikes at the bottom.
- 16: A single 5' stone wall at a random orientation, with one side covered in elaborate frescos of strange creatures.
- 17: 10' wide staircase leading up to the ceiling, going nowhere and with empty space underneath it.
- 18: Six 10x10 prison cells, and a narrow passage between them.
- 19: A solid 30' by 30' block of (d6: 1 - stone, 2 - metal, 3 - glass, 4 - wood, 5 - wax, 6 - ice).
- 20: Roll twice more and combine the results.
The changes take place place immediately. All objects within the affected squares temporarily disappear, and creatures get shoved onto the nearest "safe" spot. In addition to the corruption, 2d4 wandering monsters from the Abyss will appear. They will be neutral to the PC and their allies for the first 10 minutes, but after that will become hostile to them as well as everything else. After 1d6 hours, everything will return to how it once was. Costs 3 Piety
6 Piety: Distortion
Once, and only once, you may pray at a corrupted altar to Lugonu. If you do so, Lugonu will corrupt a weapon of your choice, making it a weapon of Distortion.
Weapons branded with Distortion have a +1 enchantment. Additionally, whenever something is hit by the weapon, it is subject to one of the following Distortion Effects (d10):
- 1-4: deal 2 additional damage
- 5-6: deal 1 additional damage, and teleport the creature as per Bend Space.
- 7-8: Same as above, except the distance is multiplied by 50.
- 9-10: The creature is hit with a Banish.
Distortion weapons are, in a sense, cursed. The weapon will disappear from the user's hands when they need the hand to do something. However, a Distortion weapon may not be accidentally dropped or unequipped, nor may the wielder hold another weapon or shield in their distortion hand. If the owner ever tries to drop, sheathe or otherwise get rid of the weapon, they are immediately struck by it, take damage, and must roll for Distortion Effect. Especially bold worshipers have been known to repeatedly wield and drop their distortion weapons to escape their foes, but this is a very dangerous tactic.
Punishment
Lugonu's punishment is harsh, especially for those foolish enough to attempt to worship another god.
Each day under Penance, there's a 4-in-6 of one of the following happening during the day (1d8):
- 1-2: 2d4 Abyssal Monsters are summoned to attack you
- 3-4: You are the epicenter of a Corruption, and the summoned monsters are immediately hostile towards you
- 5-6: You get teleported adjacent to hostile monsters you are in combat with
- 7: An intelligent monster you encounter is granted a temporary Distortion brand to their weapon.
- 8: You are hit with a Banish attempt.
The Punishment will be delivered when it is most damaging, as chosen by Lugonu. Whether you suffer a Punishment or not, Penance goes down by 1 each day. If you abandoned Lugonu, Penance will only be reduced when you are Punished, and the final punishment will always be two Banishment attempts in a row.
Makhleb the Destroyer
Makhleb the Destroyer is a fearsome deity of war and destruction. Followers are expected to inflict suffering and death on others in Makhleb's name, and spill their blood for the glory of the Destroyer. Those so dedicated may harness destructive energy and summon demonic servants, so that they may spill more.
Altar: A large, shallow bronze bowl from which a large flame violently dances. Usually in rooms that are pitch-black to emphasize the flame, altars to Makhleb are newer than most; and are most often found in the heart the settlements and strongholds of those who rule, raid and conquer with cruelty.
Followers: Makhleb is worshipped by those who want immediate power, and don't care who they have to step over to get it. From bandits to warlords, all are unified in their desire to destroy their foes. There is usually only one follower in a given group, as few are willing to turn their their back on each other and risk becoming another's sacrifice to Makhleb. Altars to the Destroyer seem to have been sprouting up where there were none before, implying that someone has rediscovered the secret of assembling them. Thus, ever more followers appear, and ever more blood will be shed.
Conduct
Makhleb appreciates the killing of the living, the undead, the holy and the unholy. For each 5 monsters slain, Makhleb grants a point of Piety. If you slay a living creature of 3 or more Hit Dice, and then spend a turn praying over its fresh corpse (less than 10 minutes after slaying it), you will gain an additional two kills worth of piety per creature thus slain. Makhleb will not award piety for the slaying of insubstantial creatures (anything with less than 1/2 HD, such as small critters, insects or fish.)
Makhleb does not appreciate inactivity. If you do not slay a creature for 3 consecutive days, you will lose a point of piety.
Gifts
1 Piety: Minor Destruction
You may hurl a bolt of random destructive energy (Fire, Electricity, Acid, Stone, Ice or Negative Energy) at an opponent within 90', dealing 2d8 damage. Victims may save vs. Wands to take half damage. Costs 1 Piety
2 Piety: Soul Eater
Makhleb allows you to partake in the souls of those that you slay. Each time you land a killing blow against a creature worth piety, you recover 1 HP. This healing is not blocked by effects that otherwise prevent healing, such as sickness.
4 Piety: Servant of Makhleb
Summon a demon of Makhleb to fight alongside you. This ability will always reduce your piety to 4, with the amount of Piety paid increasing the power of the Demon. The demon will fight your enemies for 1d6x10 minutes, until there are none left in sight or until it is slain, after which it disappears. Demons are cruel creatures, and there is a [50 - (Your Level x 5)%] chance of them turning against you once there are no enemies left. Costs 1-3 Piety
5 Piety: Greater Destruction
You may hurl a great blast of random destructive energy (as per Minor Destruction), causing 4d6 damage to all foes in a 30' area. Costs 2 Piety
Punishment
Makhleb's Wrath against deserters is brief, but harsh. When you abandon Makhleb, your penance set to 6, The moment that they abandon Makhleb, and each 2d10 hours after for as long as there is Penance, one of the following will befall them (1d6):
- 1-2: You are struck with a bolt of Minor Destruction.
- 3: You are struck with a bolt of Greater Destruction.
- 4: 2d4 Lesser Servants of Makhleb are summoned to attack you.
- 5: 1d3 Greater Servants of Makhleb are summoned to attack you.
- 6: The closest worshipper of Makhleb is informed of your exact location, equipment, and treasure.
Nemelex Xobeh
An unpredictable trickster god, whose power is invoked through decks of magic cards, painted in the blood of demons. Followers are encouraged to trust in the cards; however, The Trickster can also ensure that fortune favors the bold.
Altar: A softly-glowing, pristine white block of stone, with no other apparent qualities. When a potential new worshipper gets close, they will see a deck of cards appear atop the altar. Altars to Nemelex are unpredictable, with only one ever active at a time - all the other altars are simply inert stone blocks if it isn't their turn.
Worshippers: Rarer than most, those who follow Nemelex are either the witless and luckless, doomed to die impressively in a poorly thought out play; or they are masters of their game, elusive and fearless, travelling the lands and bringing calculated chaos to the world. None know what Nemelex Xobeh truly desires, but most followers are willing to play along in exchange for cards from the Decks of Power. The long-living devout are somewhere between fortune teller and trickster, inscrutable figures that live long in the memories of those whose lives they affect.
Conduct
Nemelex appreciates believing in the heart of the cards. Followers will occasionally (15% chance per day of adventuring) receive a Whim, telling them that they must travel in a certain direction, and arrive at an unknown place. This location will almost always result in a specific encounter, presumably intended by Nemelex. Followers do not know how far they must travel or the nature of the encounter, only the direction. Once they arrive, they will immediately gain a point of Piety.
Nemelex also appreciates the sacrifice of magic items. Followers may pray over any form of magic item in their possession for 10 minutes, causing it to scatter to sparkling dust. For the effect to work, "bundle" items must be sacrificed together - you may not sacrifice individual +1 arrows or split up portions of a potion. Depending on the rarity and value of the item, followers will receive 0 to 3 points of Piety.
Nemelex deprecates cheating (see below).
Special: Decks of Power
Nemelex Xobeh's gifts functions entirely through the Decks of Power, represented by a regular deck of playing cards. To set up the cards for play, do the following:
- Separate the red suits (Hearts and Diamonds) and the Black suits (Spades and Clubs). If you have two different sets of cards with different backs, you may use one card back for red suits, and one for black suits, but this is purely aesthetic. Put jokers aside for now.
- Separate each deck into two sub-decks, based on the suits - Clubs (Destruction), Spades (Escape), Hearts (Oddities) and Diamonds (Wonders). (the four Home decks).
- Randomly add one joker into one of the the black decks, and one into one of the red decks.
- Shuffle each deck. They are now ready for use.
When Nemelex Gifts Cards to the follower, the follower will also have two decks - one for the black cards, and one for reds. When they are gifted cards, they know how many they got, and from which deck, but they cannot know exactly which cards they are without using their God powers.Decks are weightless and massless, existing beyond space and appearing in the PC's hands when they want to play cards, After cards are played, they are immediately shuffled back into the home decks.
A PC's decks of power may not be tampered with, peeked at, or shuffled by the player in any way not specifically described by their abilities. Breaking any of these rules, either in real life and in the game, is grounds for immediate excommunication by Nemelex, with no option of returning.
Gifts
1 Piety: Cards of Power
Each time the worshiper would gain piety, there is a 50% chance Nemelex will deal them some cards. The follower will receive 2d3 cards, with each card having an equal chance for being from each of the decks. A follower may not have more than 6 cards in each of their decks, with extra cards being wasted.
At any time, a follower may Play a Card, drawing the top card from one of their decks and resolving its effect. Once used, cards are sent back to the "home" deck. If a card's ability includes (val) in the name, use the value of the card in its place (e.g. 4 of clubs has val 4).
3 Piety: Triple Draw
Draw three cards from a single deck, look at them, and decide which one to use, discarding the other two. If only two cards are in a deck, draw both and pick one of the two. Costs 2 Piety
4 Piety: Deal Four
Draw four cards from one or both decks, and resolve all of them in a single turn in the order they were drawn in. Costs 3 Piety
6 Piety: Stack Five
Draw any five cards, from either of the decks, look at them, and order them however you like. These cards will form a third, Stacked Deck, from which you may draw as normal or with any of the other abilities. You may only have one stacked deck at a time, and using this ability again discards the old one. Costs 5 Piety
Punishment
Nemelex Xobeh will assemble a new deck, The Deck of Punishment, pulling randomly from all decks; with an amount of cards equal to your Penance. Nemelex will, at moments of tension, play the deck against you up to once per day. Once the last card has been played, your Punishment is over.
Jokers are wild. When a Joker is drawn from any deck, you may choose one of the following:
- Reveal: Peek at the the top card on each of the 4 Nemelex decks.
- Surge: Play the top card of each of the 4 Nemelex decks.
Jokers drawn during punishment refresh Penance to 6.
Okawaru the Conqueror
Okawaru is a dangerous and powerful god of battle. Followers are expected to constantly prove themselves in combat, and may channel Okawaru's might to enhance their prowess. Okawaru demands that followers prove themselves by their own strength alone, and so worshippers are forbidden from receiving help from allies by any means. Okawaru pays little heed to easy victories, but will reward worshippers for heroic feats against mighty foes.
Altar: A hexagonal slab of metal, with a cube of gray stone above it . A polished silver sword is embedded into the top of the stone, invitingly reflecting any light that touches it. Altars to Okawaru may be found in the tombs of legendary warriors and the castles of great conquerors.
Followers: Okawaru's followers are among the greatest warriors and duelists in history. From honorable knights to cruel assassins, all those who can prove their might in battle find favor with the Conqueror. The pious worship on battlefields and in arenas, intensely seeking out worthy foes to increase their glory; this has, at times, meant battle with other worshippers. There are no elder followers or priests of Okawaru; followers either fall in glorious battle, or retire and suffer the consequences of Okawaru's wrath. Some speak of a third way for the greatest of the god's champions - those who grew powerful enough to challenge the Conqueror to a duel. None remember if any succeeded this trial, or if any of them were named Okawaru.
Conduct
Okawaru appreciates victory in single combat. Each time you slay a Challenger (See below), you will gain a point of Piety.
Okawaru deprecates inactivity. Not defeating a Challenger in 10 days will reduce your Piety by 1. Okawaru also deprecates disrespect of spoils of war. You will be punished for letting others use gifts granted by Okawaru (3 Penance).
Okawaru greatly deprecates interference. Once a Challenger has been declared, all your allies will know of it; and any interference by your allies will incur Okawaru's wrath (3 Penance). Interference includes, but is not limited to: Attacks, usage of spells or items on either party, manipulation of terrain, charming of the challenger's allies to attack the challenger, summoning creatures to attack the challenger, teleporting either combatant away, distracting or in some other way impairing the challenger, or affecting the entire battlefield in a way that also affects the duel. Okawaru's wrath is ruthless: If there is any interference, both the follower and the ally will be subject to Okawaru's Wrath for the duration. Unfortunately for you, the Challengers allies are under no such restriction, and may freely help their companion or hinder you.
Okawaru will also block any spells or other magical effects that summon allies to help you fight the Challenger. If you tried to summon help on purpose, you will be punished (4 Penance), but if it happens "automatically" or thanks to circumstances beyond your control, Okawaru will not incur penance. The effect will still be blocked, however.
Special:Trial by Combat
Up to twice per day, when the party encounters hostile or potentially hostile creatures of significant strength (a minimum of 1 HD higher than the follower), Okawaru may mark one of them as the Challenger. This process is semi-random, with the GM rolling to see which (if any) of the enemies will be declared challenger, starting from the most dangerous (Highest HD) monster in the group, rolling, and if the roll fails, continuing down the HD ladder until one of them is marked or there are no more appropriately dangerous enemies left. The odds are 2-in-6, or 4-in-6 if the foe has at least 2 HD more than the PC, or 5-in-6 if the foe has 3+ more HD.
The Challenger and you are immediately made aware of each other. You are not required to defeat the Challenger, and may flee without punishment. However, retreating from a living Challenger will count as 5 days of inactivity for the purposes of piety loss. Similarly, defeat does not necessarily require slaying - forcing your Challenger to flee or surrender counts as victory and awards you the Piety. If you defeat the Challenger, only you will receive the XP for it, and the XP reward is triple its normal value.
Gifts:
1 Piety: Heroism
You may use this ability to instantly become Heroic. You gain +2 to all your attack and damage rolls for the duration, and your AC is improved by 3. You are also immune to Fear for the duration of the ability. Heroism lasts for 5 minutes. Costs 1 Piety
3 Piety: Spoils of War
Each time you successfully defeat a Challenger, Okawaru may grant you gifts of martial conquest. There are multiple categories of gift, and only one will be awarded for a victory. To determine the prize, roll for the highest one available; if unsuccessful, roll again for the next highest one, and so on until a reward is gained or there are no more rewards left. Okawaru will never grant gifts that your character cannot use. The odds, and required piety to be eligible, are as follows:
3+ Piety - 40% chance - Ammunition. You will receive 2d4 randomly chosen thrown weapons, including darts, throwing daggers, axes or stones. If you use a bow or crossbow, you might receive 2d6 ammunition for them, instead. Ammo gained this way has a 10% chance of being special (1d4: 1 - silver, 2 - flaming, 3 - of Light, 4 - +2)
4+ Piety - 10% chance - Armor. You receive a piece of enchanted armor (1d4: 1 - helm, 2 - gloves, 3 - greaves, 4 - body). The armor will be of the heaviest category you wear, and can be combined with existing armor sets, granting an additional +1 AC and +2 max HP per gift item equipped. Each piece of armor gained has a 3% chance of having a Special Effect (1d6: 1 - Resistance to [element], 2 - +2 to spell saves, 3 - +2 AC vs arrows, 4 - +5' movement, 5 - low-light vision, 6 - Solid Footing (+4 to saves vs. being moved unwillingly) ) Okawaru will not gift the same piece of armor twice, unless the second one rolls to have a special effect.
5+ Piety - 10% chance - Weapon. You are granted a weapon by Okawaru. The weapon type is random, but will always be something that your class allows you to use. The weapon may be magic (d100; 30+ - +1, 80+ - +2, 96+ - +3), and/or be made of a rare material such as silver (30% chance). Magic weapons may have additional enchantments on it (5% chance, apply random enchantment appropriate to weapon).
4 Piety: Finesse
Your prowess briefly becomes superhuman, allowing you to perform an additional attack per round. Costs 2 Piety
6 Piety: Duel
You and the Challenger are instantly transported to Okawaru's Arena, a pocket dimension resembling a colosseum where the walls, and the audience above, always seem to be nearby; yet can never be clearly seen, reached, or communicated with. You have 3d6 rounds in the arena to battle the Challenger to the death, and may not exit or leave the arena early. If you defeat the Challenger, you will have the remainder of the Duel's duration to prepare for your return to where you came from. You don't know how many rounds you have left before leaving, but Okawaru will bid you farewell two rounds before you are sent back. Costs 2 Piety
Punishment
While under penance, Okawaru will demand satisfaction. Every 1d3 days, at a random point in the day, you will be transported into Okawaru's Arena to face a dangerous monster (random monster from any list, 1-3 HD higher than the PC). Instead of gaining Piety for slaying these foes, you will reduce Penance with each victory. Unlike when you use it, you may not leave the arena until one of you is dead.
For the duration of your Punishment, even if you Abandoned Okawaru, you may still spend any Piety you had left as long as you're under Penance - but only within the Arena.
If you were never a worshipper of Okawaru, but are suffering Okawaru's penance (by having interfered in a Challenge), you have a 66% chance of being taken with the follower, where you two will face 2 foes together in the arena. If this doesn't happen, you are instead summoned to the arena immediately after your ally, to fight a single foe yourself.
Qazlal Stormbringer
Qazlal Stormbringer is a violent god of tempests, delighting in unleashing the forces of nature against the unsuspecting. Those who invite Qazlal's gaze will find themselves the eye in a storm of elemental destruction, from which only their god can protect them. Devoted worshippers of Qazlal will gain the ability to direct and control the destructive might of the storm.
Altar: A simple, flat pedestal of gray stone, from which two copper, antler-like extrusions rise to form a half-circle. Within the half-circle, a small, gray cloud spins violently, constantly discharging tiny lightning bolts into the antlers. Altars to Qazlal are most often located outdoors, where the elements are most violent and harsh. Altars to Qazlal are noisy and terrifying, scaring away most creatures. This makes them extremely easy to find, although reaching them might prove difficult.
Followers: Followers of Qazlal are lonely individuals, as few are willing to spend their lives in the eye of the storm. Combined with the the danger of even reaching Altars to Qazlal, worshippers are a rare breed. Those few that undergo the hardship either live as feared protectors or hated tyrants in their societies, or as hermits who channel the full fury of the storm to meet their needs. Worshippers are unmistakable, easily recognized by their constant hovering, and the continual arcs of electricity and swirls of clouds that surround them at all times. They are also hated by most, as people do not enjoy being struck by lightning and having their homes blown away.
Conduct
Qazlal cares not for the specificity of your deeds, and deprecates naught but abandonment.
Special: Gathering Storm
Once you start worshipping Qazlal, you will begin gathering storm clouds. Within an hour of beginning worship, thunder clouds will begin to randomly appear and disappear within a 10' circle around you. Each round, for each living creature within the radius, there is a 3-in-6 chance that they are engulfed in one of the clouds, suffering 1d4 damage as they are battered by a combination of static electricity, wind, hail and freezing cold. The worshipper is immune to this, but has no way of stopping the storm from harming others.
Each day that you spend outdoors, the circle will grow by an additional 10', Past 60', it will instead grow 20' each day, to a maximum of 300'. Once it surpasses 60', the inner circle (60' deep) becomes doubly violent, with a 4-in-6 chance of hitting creatures for 2d4 damage.
Up until 30', the storm and wind are loud enough that you must shout to communicate with anyone. Until 60', none can hear you - though you can hear them fine. Past this, the only way to communicate outside of the storm is via magical means. The only time there is no storm around you is when you sleep, but it will resume as soon as you awake.
Going indoors difficult. On average, trying to enter a wooden building will result in it getting blown apart with a (radius/10)-in-10 chance. For flimsier brickwork and wood-and-stone buildings, there's a (radius/10)-in-20 chance if the storm will rip them apart. Churches, castles, fortresses and similar structures can usually survive any intensity of storm. Whether they are destroyed or not, they will likely be battered in the process.
If you remain indoors or underground, the your storm will begin shrinking rapidly as it's choked out. For every minute you spend indoors, your storm's radius will shrink by 10', to a minimum of 10'. The storm does not travel through walls or solid objects, and will not function at all in enclosed spaces: Your storm effectively disappears if you stand in corridors, closets, small rooms, corners, and the like. You may still use Qazlal's gifts while indoors, and they will function normally.
Finally, the storm is extremely noisy. Followers of Qazlal are incapable of surprising anything, ever. As long as their storm rages, wandering monsters will see them coming from the maximum possible distance, and retreat or charge as appropriate. Once the storm is larger than 200', your location is visible outdoors from a distance of 12 miles. Most creatures will avoid followers of Qazlal, but any especially powerful (or foolish) foes will know exactly where you are and when you're coming.
Gifts
None of the HP costs for Qazlal's abilities can kill you, but you cannot use them if you do not have the required HP.
Storm Shield
As long as your storm is at least 50' in radius, all stones, arrows and bolts launched that would hit you have a 30% chance of being blown off course and missing. At 150', that chance is increased to 70%. This does not affect siege weapon projectiles, giant boulders, or magic.
Gale (minimum storm size: 60')
Focus the wind, causing a severe gust to hit a single point within your storm. This gust is powerful enough to force open wooden doors and knock down any opponents the size of an ogre (or smaller). Costs 10% of your max HP
Upheaval (minimum storm size: 120')
You may direct the violence of the storm. At your whim, a 40' circle within your line of sight is struck with violent elemental forces. All creatures within must immediately roll 3d6, suffering 1d6 damage for each die that's 4 or higher. if all three dice are a 3 or less, the creature is launched 1d10x10 feet away and suffers an additional 1d6 damage. This may also destroy structures as per storm rules. Costs 20% of your max HP
Disaster Area (minimum storm size: 240')
Give yourself to unleash the full might of the storm: the clouds become dark and thunderous, the winds become deafening, and the hail grows to the size of fists. For 30 minutes, gain the following benefits:
- Instead of rolling d4s for damaging creatures in your storm, roll d8s.
- Storm Shield's protection against projectiles is increased to 95%, and has a 50% chance of even deflecting siege weapons or giant boulders.
- The dark clouds obscure you, making you impossible to see from outside the storm. You can see through it just fine.
- Verbal communication within the storm, and within another 300' of its edge, becomes impossible.
- You may immediately end this effect to cause 3 "free" upheavals, each dealing 3d10, in 3 non-overlapping areas within your line of sight. These upheavals are able to blow down trees, reinforced structure walls, and anything short of mountains or dungeon walls.
When this effect ends, you are drained. Your storm will be gone for a day, after which it will return to 10'. The HP cost for this ability is paid only after it ends. Sets your HP to 3.
Punishment
The wrath of Qazlal is long and terrible. For its duration, you will not know of kind weather: you will be hounded by constant rain, hail, thunderstorms, blizzards and the like.
As long as you have penance, once per 1d4 days, you will be subjected to a punishment of Qazlal. On the day, loud increasing winds will rise for a minute before one of the following will afflicts you (1d6):
1-2: An Upheaval will strike, centered on you.
3-4: A single powerful foe, or the last remaining foe in a fight, will receive a 120' Storm around them, complete with storm shield.
5-6: A bolt of lightning will strike you, dealing 3d6 damage and alerting foes within 300'.
Qazlal will strike you with Punishment when it's most inconvenient, but without subtlety - you will know a minute in advance that you will suffer its ill effects.
Ru the Awakened
Of all the gods, only Ru has no regard for creation. Not as folly, but as distraction. Initiates of Ru can open channels to the powers underlying the visible world by renouncing the fetters that bind them here. These sacrifices are not made to Ru, but rather given up freely and permanently.
Altar: A large weighing scale, of an unidentifiable metal, stands upright and untouched. On one of the pans lies a heart, quietly beating. On the other, a glowing blue flame flickers. The flame is heavier than the heart. Altars to Ru are rarest of all, second perhaps only to Jiyva; and are typically located in the deepest, darkest secrets areas, often within other secret areas, in rooms with no other decoration or feature whatsoever. Even Lugonu will not touch altars of Ru.
Followers: Rare and few between, Ru's few living followers are the most determined, single-minded and selfless: willing to pay the greatest sacrifices of all in return for the greatest power. It is thought that many legendary heroes, famous for their weakness yet remaining undefeated, were secretly followers of Ru. Most are not willing to pay the prices Ru asks; yet, priests of the "new" religions took issue with Ru above all other small gods, and defiled and destroyed every known altar. Ru did not stop them, nor did Ru not stop the remaining devout who made it their mission to hide the last few altars that remained.
Conduct
Ru appreciates sacrifices. (See below)
Ru deprecates nothing. You cannot offend Ru, Ru has no penance, and will inflict no punishment for leaving. Piety with Ru does not decrease.
Special: Sacrifice
As you explore the world, Ru will periodically offer a choice of 3 sacrifices. You may choose to make one of them, or refuse the offered sacrifices at no cost. Either way, you will eventually receive a new offer. An offer is made approximately each time you make 1/4 of the XP needed to reach the next level, but it varies: The next offer will come sooner if you accepted the previous one than if you declined it. (1/8 XP if you accepted the last offer).
Sacrifices will permanently handicap your character, in exchange for piety. The exact piety gained varies depending on the severity of the sacrifice. Know that once you make a sacrifice, you will never be able to recover it - no medicine, magic nor god may replace what has been given up willingly.
Roll on the following table to determine the offered sacrifices. Reroll sacrifices if they do not apply to the PC, or if the PC already has them and they can't be taken more than once:
Gifts
1 Piety: Aura of Power
Any enemy that attempts to attack you or cast a spell at you you may falter, or redirect the attack or spell to itself or another target. For each point of piety, there is a 4% chance of faltering, and a 1% chance of redirecting. (maxing out at a 24% chance to fail and a 6% chance of redirection.) Before the enemy rolls for the attack, roll for faltering and redirection first. If neither of those occurs, roll for attack normally.
2 Piety: Walker of the Path
Your Aura of Power is strengthened. Enemies that inflict damage upon you receive detrimental effects. The chance of this is 5% per point of piety. The effect is chosen at random (1d6: 1 - Glow (+1 to attacks against), 2 - Slow, 3 - Silence, 4 - Blindness, 5 - Fear, 6 - Paralysis). For 2 HD the attacker has above your level, roll an additional d6 and take the lowest.
3 Piety: Draw out Power
At any time, even when it's not your turn, you many activate this ability. You instantly regain (level)d4 HP, 1d4 levels of spell slots (or an additional 2d4 HP if spell-less), free yourself from constraints such as nets, webs, ropes and holding spells, and cure yourself of petrification, slow, fear, and confusion. Using this ability Exhausts you, meaning that you cannot use it (or other Ru abilities, except for the Aura) again until you rest.
4 Piety: Power Leap
You may leap up to [piety x 20] feet in any direction, creating an explosion that deals [piety]d6 irresistable damage to all enemies within 30'. This ability is instantaneous, and you can use it at any point, even if you are surprised or it is not your turn to act. Using this ability Exhausts you.
6 Piety: Apocalypse
You learn how to shatter the illusion. When used, this ability deals 6d6 damage and random status effects to every enemy within 300' and your line of sight. Monsters can save vs. breath to halve the damage to half. Enemies that survive will be subject to a Walker of the Path status effect roll. Using this ability will Severely Exhaust you: You will not be able to use another Ru ability (other than the Aura) for 3 days, and your maximum HP will be reduced by 10% for the duration of the exhaustion.
Punishment:
Ru cannot be offended, and will never punish you. However, the abilities Ru grants are lost upon Abandonment, and all sacrifices made while worshipping Ru are permanent; not even the mightiest magic or divine intervention may return that which you have given up. If you decide to worship Ru again in the future, you will have to regain your piety through sacrifice once more.
Sif Muna the Loreminder
A contemplative deity that holds all knowledge and information to be important, served by those who seek magical knowledge. Followers who triumph over their foes can call upon the Loreminder to refresh their minds and empower their magic ability.
Altar: A ziggurat of dark blue stone, covered in complex runes and symbols. Those who spend the time to examine the writing will learn a new, previously unknown spell - with no two people ever learning the same spell. Altars to Sif Muna may be found in places where knowledge was kept, such as academies and great libraries.
Followers: The patron of those devoted to the maintenance of magic and the written word, devotees sometimes don themselves in deep blue clothing and jewelry, packs burgeoning with tomes. Somewhat uncommon, followers of Sif are keen to join expeditions to ancient sites, hoping to find new secrets and lore that they may catalogue and preserve. The older followers become, the stranger they turn; older worshippers will distance themselves from society, becoming more and more dedicated to finding the missing pieces of the many puzzles that they've found in their lives.
Restrictions: Only hermetic casters (magic users, elves, druids, and others who must study magic) may worship Sif Muna. Users of divine magic (Clerics etc) will not be accepted.
Conduct
Sif Muna appreciates exploring the world, and finding secrets and lore therein. You may pray over books and tomes for 10 minutes to add them Sif Muna's library. This grants anything from 0 to 2 piety, depending on the age and rarity of the collection. You may do this no more than once per day, and only on the day that you found those books.
Sif Muna also appreciates learning. When you gain a total of [(piety + 1) x 1000] XP, you will gain a new point of piety, and the counter will refresh. You may gain no more than 2 piety per adventure in this way.
Sif Muna depreciates the destruction of any sort of written or stored information such as books, maps, paintings, signs, engravings and the like (2 penance), and especially depreciates the destruction of spellbooks (3 penance). You will suffer penance if you personally do this, or if you fail to prevent others from doing this.
Gifts
0 Piety: Great TomeOne of your pouch slots manifests a Tome Pouch, and your Spellbook becomes bound to it. This pouch is waterproof, heat- and fireproof, immune to physical attacks and corrosion, and cannot be removed from your person unless you want to do so. Your Spellbook becomes enchanted as well, gaining a seemingly infinite number of pages and always allowing you to immediately access the page you want. If you ever cease worshipping Muna, you keep both of these items, but they lose their magic properties. Also, Sif Muna will not appreciate damaging the tome (1 Penance for ripping out pages and the like,).
1 Piety: Strenuous Understanding
You may use this power to either instantly absorb the information within a written book, or to immediately cast Read Languages. Costs 1d3 HP
2 Piety: Channel Magic
You may expend any of your prepared spells to instead cast any level 1 spell that you know, even if you haven't prepared it. If using level 1 spells to fuel Channel Magic, you must expend 2 of them to cast the third, unprepared spell. Costs 1 (or 2) Prepared Spells
3 Piety: Borrowed Knowledge
Sif Muna will expand the memory of the worshiper, permanently granting them an extra 1st level spell slot. This ability can be used two more times, each time granting a slot of a higher level, though the piety price goes up each time. (second use is 4 piety for a lv. 2 slot, etc.) You may use this ability even if you would not otherwise be able to cast spells of that level yet. Costs 2 / 4 / 6 Piety
4 Piety: Gift of Knowledge
Every time the worshiper would gain a point of piety (starting with this one), the worshiper has a 5% chance of receiving 1-2 hitherto unknown spells into their spellbook. The spells are selected at random from the spells that would otherwise be usable the worshiper, and are guaranteed to be spells that they don't already have in their library and that they can cast.
Every time the gift chance doesn't trigger, there will be an additive 5% to each next roll, resetting back down to 5% once the gift is given.Sif Muna may also have a special spell list from which spells are granted, available only to worshipers.
5 Piety: Divine Exegesis
You may cast any spell in your spellbook, or that you've seen cast in the last 24 hours, without having it prepared. Costs Piety equal to the spell's level.
Punishment
Sif Muna does not appreciate abandonment after learning: You will receive an additional penance, on top of the standard 6, for each Borrowed Knowledge slot you posses. Additionally, if you destroy any books while being punished, it will be added to your Penance score.
Sif Muna's wrath is devious and long-lasting. Up to once a day, each time you cast a spell there's a 10% chance Sif Muna will do one of the following:
- Randomly discharge 1d3 of your spell slots, fizzling the spells harmlessly.
- End all currently active magic enchantments you've created.
- Confuse you for 1d6+2 turns, making you unable to cast spell and making you stumble around helplessly.
Sif Muna will pick which punishment to apply, choosing what would be most inconvenient or harmful.
Trog
Trog is an ancient god of anger and violence. Followers are expected to kill in Trog's name, and especially to slay wizards, in return for the fearsome powers of the Berserker.
Altar: An ancient slab of stone, with many cruel weapons embedded into it. All of them endlessly drip blood from their edges. Altars to Trog may be found in places of incredible violence, and in the strongholds of cruel, barbaric conquerors.
Followers: Those who follow Trog live for bloodshed. Known as Berserkers, these fearsome individuals draw upon Trog's power to briefly turn themselves into frenzied killing machines. However, despite stereotype, followers are not always uncivilized barbarians, wearing naught but loincloths and raiding settlements. Knights, assassins, and even thieves have pledged their loyalty to Trog, as the power of Berserker Rage is undeniable. For this reason, Berserkers are often looked down upon and feared in more "civilized" and magic-oriented societies - but in many cases, you would not know a Berserker until it is too late.
Restrictions
Purely magical classes (such as Magic Users or Druids) may not worship Trog. Hybrid classes (such as Elves or Clerics) are not so restricted, but see Conduct.
Conduct
Trog appreciates slaughter. Each 5 HD of foes you slay in combat will grant you 1 piety. Trog will not award piety for defenseless creatures or insubstantial ones, such as critters and small insects. Trog especially appreciates the slaughter of mages. If you kill a magic-using foe - whether it's a magic user or a priest - you will receive a full point of Piety in addition to regular piety gain.
Trog furiously deprecates the usage of magic. If any friendly character casts a spell on you while you worship Trog, you will be punished (2 Penance) if the spell isn't specifically divine restoration (Cure light wounds et al). Casting any spells yourself while worshipping Trog will result in immediate excommunication.
Trog also deprecates the usage of magic items. Equipping magic armor or weapons, or using a magical consumable such as wands or scrolls, will incur penance for each minute that you wear it (starting from minute 0 - Trog is not fooled by quickswapping). Trog will not punish you for accidentally wielding a cursed magic item that you cannot drop, for as long as it's cursed; but will punish you if you don't remove it as soon as possible. Trog does not care about the use of potions.
Gifts
0 Piety: Berserk Rage
You may enter a state of Berserk Rage, massively increasing your deadliness at the cost of self-control. While you are Berserk, you observe the following rules:
- Your Strength is increased to 20 regardless of species or limitation, and you receive a +3 to hit and a +4 to damage with all melee attacks.
- Your AC is improved by 2, and you gain immunity to fear.
- Your movement speed is increased to 50, or by 20 (whichever is higher). whenever you are moving towards an enemy.
- You receive temporary HP equal to your CON mod and your experience level. combined.
- You discard your shield, or if not possible, at least stop benefitting from its AC bonus.
- Each round, your must move towards the closest opponent and attack them in melee. If you started berserk holding a ranged weapon, shield, or anything that isn't a melee weapon, you will discard them and attack with your bare hands.
- If there are no opponents to attack, you will turn and attack your allies instead.
- You may attempt to do other things, but this requires a d10 roll, trying to roll equal to or under your current piety. If you fail, your character will automatically attack the nearest creature instead.
Berserk Rage lasts for 2d4+piety rounds. Each time you slay a creature while berserk, there's a 50% chance Trog will extend the duration by 1 turn. You may not attempt to snap out of your rage early, but the duration ticks down by 2 each round you don't see an enemies; and you can make the roll to "do something else" with a -2 to the roll if there are no enemies left.
Once Berserk Rage ends, your stats return to normal, you lose any temporary HP you had left, and your character becomes Fatigued. While fatigued, you are unable to enter Berserk Rage again, your movement speed is reduced by 10, and you receive a -2 to all attack rolls and saves, and a -1 to practically all other rolls. Fatigue lasts until you get a night's sleep.
Additionally, there's a chance you will pass out once Berserk ends: Roll a d6 and subtract your Con bonus. If the result is equal to or under your piety, you remain awake. Otherwise, you pass out for 1d6 x 10 minutes.
2 Piety: Trog's Hand
Trog invigorates you. For 1 minute, you regenerate 1 HP / round, and gain +4 to saves vs spells, You may not use this ability if you are Berserk. Costs 1 Piety
4 Piety: Endless Vigor
As long as you are at this piety level, you have a 4-in-6 chance of not becoming Fatigued after Berserk, and you will never pass out after your Berserk ends. However, you may still not berserk again until you rest.
5 Piety: Brothers in Arms
At your request, Trog will summon a powerful berserk ally, of hit dice equal to your experience level (options include wolves, bears, ogres, trolls and giants). They are friendly to you, and will not attack you or your allies while there are living opponents. Once all foes are dead, or they are slain, they have a 90% chance of disappearing each round - but may turn on you or your allies until they do so. You may not use this ability if you are Berserk. Costs 2 Piety
6 Piety: Trog's Gifts
Once per experience level, Trog will gift you a weapon. This weapon is likely to be magic, and unlike most magic weapons, Trog will not punish you for wielding it. The gift will always be of a size and type that you can use effectively.
Trog's Gifts will be axes 90% of the time, with the remaining 10% being either swords or maces. The weapons will usually (60% of the time) be two-handed. The weapon may be magic (d10: 1-3: no enchantment. 4-8: +1, 9-10 +2 ). If enchanted, the weapon also has a 60% chance of being branded (1d4: 1 - Additional +1, 2 - of [species] Slaying, 3 - Flaming, 4 - Antimagic*).
* Antimagic weapons render the wielder unable to cast spells. When a spellcasting foe is struck with an Antimagic weapon, any spells they cast have a 4-in-6 chance of failing. Antimagic weapons also deal 1d4 additional damage to summoned creatures.
Punishment
Trog's wrath is brief and vicious. Up to once per day, at the start of each round of combat, there's a 10% chance one of the following will happen (1d6):
- 1-2: A random enemy will receive Trog's Hand and become Berserk.
- 3-4: A Brother in Arms creature will be summoned to attack you
- 5; The most dangerous foe you are fighting (who is capable of wielding a weapon) will receive a weapon as per Trog's Gift, which disappears after their death. If no applicable foes exist, treat this roll result as a 6.
- 6: You become Berserk. You have no options but to attack the nearest creature to you, friendly or foe. The berserk will last 2d4 rounds, after which you will pass out and become exhausted with no saving throws.
Uskayaw the Reveler
Uskayaw the Reveler is a god of ecstatic dance. In the dungeon, Uskayaw appreciates the passion and rhythm of combat, rewarding followers for each strike they deliver and for the damage they deal their foes. The longer the dance continues, the greater powers Uskayaw offers. When the dance ends, Uskayaw quickly loses interest.
Altar: On a pedestal of ancient wood sits a tall and narrow drum, with a smiling demonic face carved into one of the sides. A low-yet-intense rhythmic beating can be heard coming from it. Altars to Uskayaw are found in old places of great celebration and festivity, where those festivities came to a violent end.
Followers: Uskayaw's followers are a strange breed, a combination of dancer and warrior. Fleet of foot and always moving to the unheard beat, the traditional worshipper wears flowing robes, long shawls and loose-hanging overgarments that emphasize their fluid movement, and often employ curved blades to complement their fighting style. Scant historical evidence suggests that Uskayaw once had no interest in violence; records are not clear on what caused that to change.
Conduct
Uskayaw likes it when you hurt your foes. Each successfully landed melee attack grant you a point of piety; critical hits will grant you two. You will not get piety for hitting the same foe repeatedly- you must alternate between opponents to gain piety.
Uskayaw dislikes large weapons, as they are inelegant and create unsubtle dances. Using anything heavier or longer than a long sword or sabre (spears, bastard swords, greatswords, etc) will incur punishment (2 Penance) if you miss an attack with them,
Uskayaw loses interest quickly. If you don't land any melee hits in 3 rounds, you will lose all your piety.
Gifts
Rather than used as "actions" on your turn, most of Uskayaw's gifts take the place your movement on your turn. You can move or attack, or use an Uskayaw ability an attack, but you may not move and use an Uskayaw ability.
1 Piety: Stomp
Stomp down the with the rhythm of the drum, rippling through all adjacent foes. If you hit at least 2 monsters, they become Trembled: they will an additional 2 damage the next time they get hit by an attack, and receive a -3 to their attacks against you for one round. You may not Stomp again until you Line Pass.
2 Piety: Line Pass
Tumble past, under or over a creature at lightning speed, landing opposite it. You may dash through one or multiple creatures, travelling up to 30' through them. Each creature you pass through must pass a save against spells or become confused for 1 turn. Pass or fail, they are also Trembled. You may not Line Pass again until you Stomp.
3 Piety: Beating Drum
While you are this piety level, your side receives a +1 to their initiative. You may decide to act first in a round, regardless of the initiative roll.
4 Piety: Pain Bond
Upon reaching this piety level, and each round while above it, Uskayaw will apply Pain Bond to 1d3 random foes. When you strike a foe with Pain Bond, all bonded foes adjacent to that foe will suffer 2 damage. Bonded foes who are not adjacent, but are within 20', will instead suffer 1. Those beyond 20' range suffer no ill effect. Pain Bond damage will trigger the bonus damage from being Trembled.
6 Piety: Grand Finale
You may use your entire turn to deliver a grand coup de grace. Jump onto a single monster within 30', and attempt to spectacularly finish them off. You may perform this jump even while affected by movement restricting-abilities like slow (but not if completely unable to act, like paralysis or sleep).
Upon arriving at your target, make an attack against the monster, gaining +2 if they are Trembled. If you successfully land the attack, kill the monster instantly. Monsters with an HD higher than your level may make a save vs. death, instead suffering 3d6 damage if they pass the save. Using this ability will immediately drain you of all your piety, and prevent you from gaining any for 1 round.
Punishment
Uskayaw's wrath is short and petty, but also harsh.
While under Penance, Uskayaw will rob you of your grace and rhythm. When in combat with foes, you will only be able to move or to attack, not both. You will also suffer a -2 to all attack rolls for the duration of penance. Landing a hit in combat will remove one point of Penance, and you may begin gaining Piety again as soon as your punishment is over. Additionally, while being punished, you will have Pain Bond cast upon you - suffering damage whenever your nearby allies are hurt as if you were both under a bond (although your allies suffer no such damage the other way around.)
If you Abandon Uskayaw, not only will this curse afflict you, but Uskayaw will watch your performance closely. If you fail to land an attack for 3 consecutive rounds in combat, a random opponent will immediately perform a Stomp or Line Pass at you. Instead of reducing penance on hit, you reduce it by 1 for each battle you win (do not escape or retreat from).
Vehumet the Annihilator
Vehumet is a god of the destructive powers of magic. Followers will gain divine assistance in commanding the violent side of the hermetic arts, and the most favored stand to gain access to the deadliest magics of all. In return, Vehumet expects you to prove yourself worthy of the power you have been granted.
Altar: A flat pedestal of silver holds a glass monolith, transparent except for runes and symbols inside of the glass, glowing an intense cyan. Altars to Vehumet may be found wherever evil and destructive users of magic build their power.
Followers: Those who come to Vehumet often do so when their studies of arcane magic have become difficult, their lust for power has overcome their patience, or because they have been scorned by a greater magi. Scholars of Destruction worship not because they wish to expand their learning, but because they were tired of waiting for its rewards. More than happy to show their power, worshippers often wear ostentatious robes of black and cyan, often paired with impressive hats and decorative walking staves - almost as a challenge to any who would dare to try and make easy prey of a mage.
Restrictions
Only hermetic casters (magic users, elves, druids, and others who must study magic) may worship Vehumet. Users of divine magic (Clerics etc) will not be accepted.
Conduct
Vehumet appreciates unmatched destruction. At the end of a battle, if you slew more foes than anyone else, gain 1 piety.
Vehumet especially appreciates the eradication of lesser magi. If you slay an enemy magic user, you receive an additional point of piety.
Vehumet dislikes disappointing performances. If you fail to gain piety for 3 consecutive combats, you lose 1 piety.
Vehumet deprecates non-destructive magic. Once you're at 3 or more piety, you will be punished for using non-damaging spells (1 Penance). You will be punished for mercy, if you allow foes to flee (1 Penance) or live after surrendering (3 Penance).
Finally, Vehumet demands to have only one champion. If you ever encounter another worshipper of Vehumet, you will both become immediately aware of this fact. At this point, you have no option but to battle to the death - any other outcome will result in both followers becoming excommunicated and suffering Wrath.
Gifts
1 Piety: Power from Death
When you slay a monster with magic, you have a chance [Monster's HD x 5%].of not expending the spell that was used to kill it. If you slay multiple monsters with the spell, add up their HD and make a single roll. The chance can not be higher than [Piety x 10%], capping out at 5 piety for 50%.
3 Piety: Aided Destruction
Vehumet empowers your destructive spells. All your projectile- and weapon-based destructive spells have their range increased by 30%. Additionally, for each die of damage that your damaging spells deal, increase the damage by 1. (e.g. a spell that deals 3d6 damage will deal an extra 3 damage).
4 Piety: Tools of Annihilation
As long as you are above this piety level, Vehumet will sporadically award you with knowledge of new destructive spells. Each time you would gain a point of piety, there is a 5% chance that a previously-unknown spell will become inscribed in your spellbook. The spell will be chosen at random from available spells, as well as some spells only knowable to followers of Vehumet. A few examples are below.
- Frozen Ramparts (Lv. 2) - Self-Target - Freeze your feet to the floor and spread a cursed chill, causing all walls within 30' of you will become frozen to absolute zero and begin emit a horrendous chill. All creatures (except you) that stand within 10' of those walls will suffer 1d6 damage per turn. This spell lasts for 10 minutes, or until you decide to move (or are moved forcibly), which immediately breaks the effect.
- Lee's Rapid Deconstruction (Lv. 2) - 120' - Pick a point on a solid, non-living surface such as a wall, floor or ceiling. A small, extremely powerful explosion will detonate 1-2 inches below the surface, causing shrapnel to fly out in a 15' area around the spot. Creatures caught in the blast will suffer an amount of damage based on the surface material, able to save vs. breath to halve the damage. Softer materials, such as wood, will deal 1d6 damage. Stone and similar materials will deal 3d6. Especially hard material, such as metal or crystal, will deal 4d6 damage. Targets with AC 5 or below will take 4 less damage from this spell. The size of the hole will depend on the material as well, going from half a foot in diameter in the softest materials to about an inch across in the hardest. This spell cannot be cast directly on living creatures or their equipment, nor on anything softer than wood.
- Yara's Violent Unravelling (Lv. 3) - 60' - If the target creature has any magical power or enchantment provided by spells, items or potions (e.g. Haste, Might, Invisibility, Flight, Paralysis, Slow, Sleep...), they must make a save vs. magic. Each such magical enchantment will give them a -2 to the saving throw for this spell. If they fail, they will immediately be purged of all those effects, and suffer 1d8 damage for each effect so removed. This spell has no effect on creature's intrinsic abilities, even if the creatures are inherently magical; only external and temporary effects count.
- Orb of Destruction (Lv. 4) - 800' - A favorite spell of Vehumet, casting the Orb of Destruction must be cast at a monster. The spell summons a large, slow-moving sphere of pure, compressed magical energy approximately 2' in diameter, that grows over 10 seconds into 5'. The Orb moves 40' a turn, travelling directly towards the target and steering (albeit slowly and with a curve) towards the target if it moves. The orb will cut a sheer hole through any material thinner than 6'' it contacts as it travels. The moment it contacts anything more substantial, such as the target, another creature, a wall or a stone, it will cause the contacted matter to dramatically explode, dealing 10d6 damage to it. This damage cannot be reduced by saves or blocked by magical shield; However, an Orb that has travelled less than 80' before contact will deal half damage. Living creatures slain by the orb are violently blown apart into gory chunks. The Orb is powerful enough to leave a 3' hole in stone, or a 1' hole in metal. Once cast, the Orb will not stop until it contacts something. If an Orb of Destruction ever collides with another Orb of Destruction, they will cause a massive explosion, dealing 10d6 damage to everything within 200', and instantly killing anything within 30' of the impact.
5 Piety: Total Annihilation
You may instantly cast a spell from your spellbook, even if you don't have it prepared, or are unable to cast it yet. If a spell cast this way triggers Power from Death, you do not pay the cost for this ability. Cost 1 Piety, and [Spell Level]d4 HP
Punishment
Vehumet's Wrath is fast and deadly. For each point of Penance you have, every 2d12 hours an invulnerable, hazy phantom of a magi will briefly appear, attacking you with a random damaging spell that you know (or knew - no hiding your spellbook), and then disappear. The ghostly mage will always appear at the best possible position to strike at you, and spells cast by the ghostly mage cannot be blocked or intercepted by your allies. The magi has a different appearance with each manifestation.
The spells chosen will typically not have a maximum damage higher than 125% of your maximum HP. Those who abandon Vehumet will receive no such mercy: Expect fireballs and Orbs of Destruction.
The Wu Jian Council
The Wu Jian Council is believed to be a congregation of martial monks, ascended to divinity after battling their way out of the afterlife. Disciples of the Council are able to execute acrobatic martial maneuvers, honing their bodies in the hopes of one day achieving perfection and ascending to a seat on the Council.
Altar: A simple, sturdy wooden lamp post, from which hangs an ornate paper lamp. The light from the lamp lights up a vast area, yet gentle and no more intense than a candle. There is only one known Altar to the Wu Jian Council, hidden within a remote and well-hidden mountain monastery and guarded by followers.
Followers: Composed entirely of a clan of warrior-monks, followers of the Wu-Jian council are ascetic and reclusive. Extremely rare to see outside of their monastery, members devote all of their time to strange training, martial experiments, and impenetrable conversations about their training and experiments. The rules of their clan, including those regarding the acceptance of new members, are as mysterious as the rest of their history. Those wishing to worship the council will have to either enamor themselves to the monks, or find a less diplomatic way to access the altar.
Conduct
What the Wu Jian Council appreciates is not entirely clear. The rules for gaining piety are complex and intricate, possibly affected by things such as weather conditions, what weapons you wield, your encumbrance and armor, what direction you walk in, the weather and your breakfast that day. There is a reason that few seats on the Council have been filled since their initial ascension. The only thing that is certain that the rules become more difficult as your piety grows, especially past the 10 Piety point. The only way to learn is through experimentation, or through discussion with monks who have attained a higher piety than you - and they love to answer questions with riddles.
It is similarly unclear what the council deprecates, but those rules seem to be (mostly) static - things that grant piety evolve and change, but what is forbidden remains the same. Nothing (short of abandonment) incurs penance; however, all deprecated acts will cut your piety in half, or reduce it by 15 - whichever is lower.
Special: Transcendence
The Wu Jian Council does not cap out 6 piety, but at 60. At 60 piety, the character has reached the point of transcendence. They are granted a seat on the council, and they are no longer playable. Future characters created by that player will receive special benefits, including the friendship of the Council's followers.
Gifts
1 Piety: Whirlwind
When you start movement adjacent to a foe, and end your movement in another spot adjacent to that same foe, make a free instant attack against them. If it connects, your attack will deals 50% less damage. You may hit any number of opponents with whirlwind within a single movement, as long as they all qualify.
1 Piety: Young Crane
Whenever you move in a way that triggers one of your Wu Jian abilities, you do not provoke attacks of opportunity.
2 Piety: Lunge
If your entire movement consists entirely of direct movement towards an opponent to whom you weren't previously adjacent and then attack them, your attack will deal an additional 30% damage. Whirlwind may still trigger during your movement while you lunge.
3 Piety: Wall Jump
When standing next to a wall, you may use it as a launching point to leap up to 10' in any direction, able to fly over the heads of enemies. When you land, you may make a free attack against all enemies adjacent to your landing spot, dealing half damage on a hit. This ability uses up your entire turn, and you must land next to a foe. The Wall Jump is physically taxing, and may only be done once every 5 minutes.
6 Piety: Serpent's Lash
When you activate this ability, you may move an additional 20' and gain an additional attack for this round. After you complete that round, you become Exhausted, leaving you unable to perform this ability again until you rest for the night. For each 20 piety after 10, you may do this an additional time in a day before becoming Exhausted.
10 Piety: Another step on the Path
As long as you at or above this piety level:
- your Wall Jump may travel an additional 10';
- your Serpent's Lash movement speed is increased by 10', and grants you an additional attack;
- Both your Whirlwind and Lunge deal 10% more damage (additive, not multiplicative).
- The requirements to gain piety become more difficult.
You will gain another "stack" of these benefits for each 10 piety you have.
Punishment
Those who would abandon the council have forsaken the path. Your penance will be set to your highest attained Piety, with each point of penance causing your Punishment to last 1d4 days. For the duration of Punishment, you may not worship any other gods - your impudence will take time to recover from.
For as long as you are under punishment, your physique will wildly reshape as divinity abandons your muscles. Each morning, roll 2d6-1 twice to determine what your STR and DEX will be for that day.
Additionally, there is a possibility that the Council will strike out at you to teach you a lesson, granting one of your enemies Serpent's Lash for a round. There is a 1% chance of this happening each round of combat, and if it triggers, your period of punishment will be reduced by 1d6 days.
Xom, the Unpredictable
Xom is a wild and unpredictable god of chaos, who seeks not worshippers but playthings with which to toy. Those who follow Xom do so in the hope of receiving fabulous rewards and mighty powers, but Xom is nothing if not capricious. While the potential power of Xom's intervention is greater than any of the other gods, it's also utterly unpredictable and impossible to control.
Altar: A single, flat disk, akin to a coin, standing up on its edge. The two faces feature two actual faces, making comical expressions. The expressions on the faces are wildly different whenever the observer looks at them. Altars to Xom appear in ridiculous places, such as inside giant walnuts, hidden in the nostril of a titanic statue, or in caves that weren't there last time you looked.
Followers: Xom has no priests or belief system, but that doesn't stop people from trying. Those who decide to worship Xom, either unaware of what they're getting into or convinced that they will find a way to benefit, eventually start thinking they see patterns and (unsuccessfully) trying to appease Xom through specific actions. On rare occasion, a truly chaotic individual will embrace Xom, donning upon themselves the jangles of the fool and embracing the life of a cosmic jester. While none can deny the power that surrounds Xom's followers, most dislike keeping their company; Worshippers of Xom are nothing more than foci of total chaos, a lens through which an inscrutable and incomprehensible being seeks endless entertainment.
Xomduct
Xom has no conduct, nothing that the follower can intentionally do to please or anger Xom. Instead, Xom has Amusement and Attention,
At the beginning of each adventure, Xom's amusement is determined randomly with a d30 roll. During the adventure, amusement may randomly increase or decrease. Every 2d20 hours, roll a d10. If the number is 7 or less, subtract it from Amusement. If it's 8 or more, subtract 7 from the roll and add it instead (so a roll of 9 would add 2 to Amusement). If amusement ever reaches 1 ("Xom is Bored!"") or 30 ("Xom thinks this is Hilarious!""), Xom will Act.
The only external effect to Xom's Amusement are Funny Things. Funny Things are things that happen to the follower (or their allies) that are beyond their control, and would be comedic or amusing to an outside observer. By definition, a Funny Thing cannot be a Funny Thing if the player did it on purpose; Xom does not respond to any intentional attempts to garner attention.
Funny Things may, or may not, include:
- Activating a trap after trying to avoid it,
- Getting affected by spells like polymorph or paralysis at very inconvenient moments,
- Accidentally hurting themselves or someone else with an unidentified magic item,
- Spectacularly failing at diplomacy or stealth,
- Being foiled in a humiliating way, such as slipping on a banana peel or becoming entangled in your own beard,
- Falling down a staircase or ladder that you're trying to escape up,
- Dropping a key item down a bottomless pit,
- Striking your own ally while confused or charmed,
- Accidentally activating a trap that you yourself set up,
- Trying to escape a fight and accidentally stumbling into an even bigger, scarier monster,
- Accidentally breaking something valuable,
- A character or player worriedly saying something like "Y'know, Xom hasn't done anything for a while now..." in the middle of a tense situation.
Whenever a Funny Thing happens, roll a d30. If you roll equal to or under Xom's current Amusement, Xom will Act. For each person who laughed, giggled, snorted or sighed exhaustedly at what just happened, subtract 5 from the roll. Due to their nature, rolls may be especially common during combat, chases, and similar dangerous situations rife with comedic potential.
Once you resolve Xom's act, roll a d30 to determine Xom's new amusement. Yes, this does mean that Xom may act multiple times in sequence.
Attention is a value of 1-3, also rolled randomly at the start of each adventure, and represents the strength of Xom's focus on the follower at the moment. Attention is used to determine how likely Xom is to act during combat: Each round of combat, roll a d30. On a roll that is equal to Attention or less, Xom will Act. These rolls are separate from Funny Thing checks, and both can happen in a round. You may also make this roll if the follower is about to die - Xom may decide to save a beloved toy from early retirement. Whenever Xom Acts from an attention roll, reroll attention to get the new value.
Acts of Xom
An Act of Xom can do pretty much anything. There is truly no rhyme or reason to Xom's actions, but they are near-unlimited in their power. The only rule is that if Xom is acting because of boredom, the acts will tend towards harmful and disruptive; and if Xom is Amused, the acts will tend towards helpful or positive. Neither is a guarantee.
The complete list of what Xom can do should be expansive, complex, and vary from cutesy and harmless to horrifying and potentially deadly. I will not divulge my exact system, for I do not wish to give potential worshippers an idea of what to expect: nobody should ever know what Xom will do next (though I will say that it involves using a modified roll to determine a page number and paragraph in a certain book). Instead, here's an incomplete list of previous Acts of Xom:
- Transforming the floor of an embattled dungeon room into slippery ice,
- Fully healing everyone involved in a battle,
- Transforming a fighter's sword and shield into balloon versions of the same items,
- Making a river that the characters are rafting down flow in the opposite direction, and at a much
greater speed,
- Summoning a swarm of butterflies into the middle of a tense conversation,
- Dying the entire group's equipment into a matching shade of blue,
- Turning a hostile wolf into a tentacled horror,
- Granting a follower the short-lived support of a pack of eagles,
- Forming all the snow in a snowy field into a miles-wide field of identical snowmen,
- Interrupting a fight to send the party onto a ship in the middle of the ocean, and transforming all the skeletons they were fighting into identical pirates.
- Gifting items such as potions of lignification, magic crossbow bolts (to party that had no crossbows), a giant boulder +1, a leaky sack of whipped cream, an enchanted Short Sword of Chaos, a splendid wizard hat, and exactly twenty five bronze statues of the follower's mother,
- Creating a staircase where there was none before, creating a shortcut for the party to escape up,
- Causing a cleric's cure spells to deal splash damage,
- Preventing a beloved toy from being slain by an arrow, instead turning it into a blunt stick with the word "arrow" written on it,
- Turning a goblin into a pile of green salt in the middle of an interrogation,
- Giving a follower a +3 Vorpal Great-Axe (which was tragically lost in a completely unrelated incident that Xom was blameless for).
Punishment
The Wrath of Xom isn't much different than the exaltation of Xom. The character will continue to be affected by Xom as if they never stopped worshipping, just as likely to be helped or hindered in times of slapstick crisis.
This may, or may not, last for a very long time - this attention will persist for another 1d100 days before Xom finally moves on to a new toy.
Yredelemnul the Dark
Yredelemnul is a god worshipped by those who seek powers over death and the soul. Followers can reap legions of servile undead, and gain a number of other useful powers with which to make better use of the souls of the living. Yredelemnul especially favors those who would surround themselves with a bounty of collected souls.
Altar: A large, jet-black stone, asymmetrically hewn into a rough monolith. It features glowing purple inscriptions upon its flattest surface, listing what appears to be indecipherable names. Occasionally, entries seem fade in and out of the list. Altars to Yredelemnul are found in sites of ancient ritual, deep below the surface of the earth.
Followers: Power over the soul is no small thing: control of over others even after their demise is a control that is difficult to escape. Worshippers of Yredelemnul use this power for their own needs, and while they are not always evil, most regardless see the act as cruel. Few live today that harness this power, invariably individuals who have no gripe with enslaving others in life as well as in death. Yredelemnul has always been worshipped by tyrants, both those who already rule and aspire to do so. Scythe in one hand and black torch in the other, Priests of Yredelemnul were something to be feared; in ancient times, there was even conflict between them and necromancers. Ultimately, the necromancers won, and Yredelemnul's power was weakened: the bodies of the deceased were simply more servile than their spirits.
Conduct
Yredelemnul appreciates the amassment of enthralled souls. You do not gain piety, but instead derive power from controlled souls (see below).
Yredelemnul deprecates the usage of holy weapons and equipment (2 Penance), and greatly deprecates allowing the resurrection of the dead (10 Penance).
Gifts
Reap Souls
When you kill a living, demonic or divine creature, there is a 50% chance that you will entrap their soul. If your allies slay creatures within 30' of you, there's a 5% chance of this happening. Insects, fish, critters with less than 1/2 HD, and mindless monsters such as jellies cannot be reaped, as their either have no soul or their soul is too insubstantial for you to hold onto.
Reaped souls will manifest around you as ghostly, partially-transparent incarnations of themselves. These spirits are subservient to you, and retain the intelligence of their living form, following any orders you give them. However, the spirits are only partially substantial: they may not hold or carry equipment (save for ghostly versions of what they had upon their death), they are unable to manipulate objects in the world, have no weight or mass, cannot pass through solid objects, and are unable to speak or make noise.
They may join you in combat and attack opponents as they would in life, dealing the same damage as they would have; but they don't have access to any special powers such as breath attacks, spellcasting, or anything that isn't a natural, non-magical feature of the creature (such as flight). The souls have the same AC as they did in life, but they have only 1 HP, and any successful attack will destroy them instantly.
Each midnight, your souls will all be beckoned to the afterlife. For each soul, there is a 50% chance it will disappear forever, freed from your control.
You may use Souls to pay for your other abilities. Each ability has a cost in Hit Dice, which you must pay in souls. Each soul is worth, in HD, how much it had in life. Souls you use for your abilities are immediately freed. You may spend more than the required HD for a power- pay an 8 HD soul for a power that costs 5 HD, for example - but you will not receive any "change" for this.
Recall Harvest
Your may use this ability at any time to summon your existing reaped souls, dropping them near you no matter where they are. This effect has a delay of 1d3 rounds.
8 HD - Drain Life
You deal 1 damage to each non-friendly living creature you see within 60'. You will recover 1 HP for each 3 damage dealt this way.
10 HD - Reveal Souls
For 10 minutes, you can sense the exact location of all ensouled creatures (living, demonic and divine beings) within 60', even if they're invisible or otherwise hiding.
20 HD - Bind Soul
Choose an unharmed living, demonic or divine creature that you can see. You mark them for Binding, and they become immediately aware of you. If that creature dies within the next hour, you will near-permanently enslave its soul. Unlike other souls, this one is more material: It can interact with solid objects to a limited degree (though still not carry objects), it may speak, and it will limited use of its abilities and magic (if any) that it did in life, but will be unable to "recharge" any expended spell slots, breath attacks, and similar things. It will also have the same HP it had in life, though it may never heal damage it suffers. Bound souls only have a 1% chance of disappearing each midnight,
Bound souls may be used to pay for powers, counting as having triple their original HD if you do so. You may only have 2 Bound Souls at a time.
30 HD - Harbinger
You may use this ability once, and only once, at a shrine of Yredelemnul. Choose one of the following:
- Reaper - Yredelemnul blesses a weapon of your choice, turning it into a weapon of Reaping. A weapon of Reaping have a +1 enchantment, may never be removed from your grip if you do not wish it to, weighs nothing, and can be summoned into or out of your hands at will. Additionally, weapons of Reaping will Reap Souls every the time, rather than 50%; and your allies' kills will harvest souls 15% of the time.
- Bearer - Yredelemnul grants you the Black Torch, an artifact of great power. As long as you wield it, you gain the following effects:
- The Black Torch may project both Light and Darkness in a 40' area, which you can toggle on and off at will.
- Your reaped souls only have a 25% chance of disappearing each midnight.
- Drain life deals 1d3 damage instead of 1
- Reveal Souls has a 200' radius
- You may bind up to 5 souls, and they have no chance of disappearing.
Punishment
Those who wish to control the souls of others must forfeit their own soul to Yredelemnul. Your spirit is forever branded. Good gods (TSO, Zin, Elyvilon) will never accept your worship. Upon your eventual death, your Soul will manifest as a terrible Revenant, to continue the work of Yredelemnul.
Yredelemnul wrath is long-lasting. For each point of Penance, you will spend a week being haunted by the souls of those you have reaped. Once every 2d20 hours, 1d3 random souls will appear within 30' of you and attack you, following the same rules as souls normally do. Each time this happens, there is a 10% chance the strongest one of your assailants will appear as a Bound soul.
Zin the Law-Giver
Zin is a god of law and discipline. Followers must remain pure of body and soul, refraining from dark magic and chaotic acts. They must also tithe a fraction of all gold gained, preferably followed by donations of more. In exchange, worshippers may invoke Zin's wrath upon sinners, and gain divine protection.
Altar: An entirely silver altar depicts a single right hand, with open palm facing the front, and an eight-pointed star behind it. Altars to Zin may be found in great temples and cathedrals, especially those within the ruin of great cities. They are always in pristine, polished condition.
Followers: Worshippers are often devout, spiritual folk who are ready to follow the unquestionable laws of Zin. Once usually seen as spiritual leaders or moral advisors, Priests of Zin are now just as often members of royal convoys and expeditions, ensuring their safety from chaos and daemonic influence - as long as generous donations are given. Ornate garments and silver weapons are common, as they are most effective against the enemies of divine law.
Restrictions
Zin does not accept the worship of demon-spawn or the undead.
Conduct
Zin appreciates donations of gold. Upon joining, Zin will take 10% of your gold as tithe. Additionally, any time you split treasure at the end of an adventure,, Zin will take 10% of your share as tithe. Each 1000 GP of tithe taken grants you a point of piety.
Zin will know if you try to split, hide or otherwise temporarily reduce your gold before paying your tithe, and will be offended by it (2 Penance).
Zin also appreciates the slaying of evil creatures, abominations, demonic beings and the undead. Each time you do so, you have a 10% chance of gaining a point of Piety. Enemies of these categories are Hated by Zin.
Zin deprecates:
- Attacking non-Hated neutral or friendly creatures (Loss of piety).
- If you or your allies attack monsters on holy ground. (Loss of Piety).
Zin strongly deprecates:
- Practicing or benefiting from Necromancy (5 Penance). The use of Necromutation will result in instant excommunication.
- The use of Unholy magic or items (3 Penance)
- The use of Chaotic magic or items (3 Penance)
- Cooperation with Unholy or Chaotic creatures (1 Penance)
- You or your allies attack (1 Penance) or kill (3 Penance) non-hostile Holy beings.
- You attack allies (3 Penance)
- Polymorphing monsters (3 Penance) or yourself (4 Penance)
- You willingly mutating yourself (5 Penance)
- Lying, Cheating or Stealing from non-Hated creatures (1 Penance)
Zin forgives accidental transgressions (e.g. activating an unseen trap that mutates you or harms your allies).
Good God: As all gods, Zin does not appreciate abandonment, However, you will not incur any wrath if you abandon Zin to worship one of the other two Good Gods.
Gifts
0 Piety: Donate
You may immediately give 50% of your personal treasure to Zin to gain Piety. This includes money in your pockets, the bank, hidden in forests, or that your friends are holding for you.
1 Piety: Protection from Death
Zin may protect you from damage that would otherwise kill you, instead reducing you to 1 HP. The chance of this happening is (Piety x 10%). This effect is passive, and has no cost.
2 Piety: Vitalization
Temporarily grants you divine vitality. For the next 10 minutes, you receive full immunity to poison, and are protected from sickness, confusion, petrification, and status-draining effects. Costs 2 Piety
4 Piety: Recite
You may preach a verse from one of the four books of the Axioms of Law: Abominations, Ablutions, Anathema or Apostates. The book is chosen based on the kind of monsters you are facing: Whichever category (based off the list below) has the most HD within your area of effect will be the type affected, and it will affect all of them. After taking one round to clear your throat, you will spend 3 rounds reciting. Monsters who can hear you recite may be affected by various effects, if they are eligible. Each round, roll the following die for each monster of the selected types within earshot, and subtract each HD they have higher than your experience level from the roll result. Then, refer to the table below to see what happens to them. Only the highest-valued effect can be incurred on a round.
- Demons and Incorporeal Undead : (1d20) 11+ Dazed; 13+ Deafened, 15+ Blinded, 17+ Smitten for 2d6 damage, 19+ turned into pillars of salt.
- Unclean monsters (Corporeal undead, mutated monsters, monsters with draining or life-stealing abilities): (1d20) 8+ Dazed, 11+ Blinded, 14+ smitten for 2d6 damage, 14+ feared or turned, 17+ Flesh melts off bones for 4d6 damage, 20+ turn into pillars of salt.
- Chaotic monsters (Shapeshifters, Abyssal creatures, planar beings): (1d20) 7+ Dazed, 10+ Blinded, 13+ Stunned, 14+ Paralyzed, 16+ Flesh melting off bones for 4d6 damage, 18+ Turned into pillars of salt.
- Intelligent creatures of evil (Worshippers of evil or chaotic gods, not holy or unholy in nature): (d20) 11+ Dazed, 14+ Blind, 16+ Struck Mute, 17+ Blind & Mute, 19+ Driven mad, 20+ Paralyzed
The negative effects of a recite last for 1 round, except for damage and being turned to salt. While you recite, you may freely act: Moving, fighting, using items and whatever else. However, any effects that interrupt your speech (potions, scrolls, casting spells, shouting, using a breath weapon, etc) will end your recitation prematurely. When your Recitations end, you are Breathless, making you unable to recite again until you have had an hour to recover.
6 Piety: Sanctuary
You may create an area of Sanctuary, 50' in radius, centered on yourself. So long as you and your allies remain within the radius of the Sanctuary, none may attack you or cast spells at you. Sanctuary lasts 30 minutes, or until you leave the area. Once someone leaves Sanctuary, they may not re-enter it. Sanctuary also provides the following benefits:
- Any allies of your choice may be pulled up to 90' in order to be within the Sanctuary when it's created.
- Harmful clouds and gasses may not enter the Sanctuary.
- Any poison within the Sanctuary is destroyed, whether it's within someone's blood or in potions.
- Dirt, ash, blood and other stains are removed from the ground, walls and ceiling within the area of the Sanctuary, making it pristinely clean.
If you or any of your allies attack or otherwise harm another creature, the sanctuary is instantly dispelled and Zin considers it an evil act (3 Penance). Costs 5 Piety
Punishment
While under Zin's punishment, you will lose 90% of all your treasure - with all the XP being taken by Zin. Each 1000 GP of XP thus taken will reduce penance by 1. The penitent may Donate their money to speed this effect up. Until you get rid of your Penance, you will not be able to use any of Zin's gifts.
Those who Abandon Zin will see their opponents becoming Vitalized (1-in-6 chance per enemy's HD), and once per day, will encounter an enemy who will Recite against the PC as if they are an Apostate. Additionally, they the cost per point of penance will be 2000, and they will lose the option of Donation.
The Shining One
Followers of the Shining One are bound to the code of the honorable warrior, soldiers in their god's eternal crusade against evil. For forsaking dark magic and underhanded tactics, the Shining One rewards them and their allies with the power they need to slay demons and the undead.
Altar: A shrine of solid gold, with a radiant, jewel-encrusted sword embedded in it. Altars to The Shining One are found in the strongholds of warriors who espouse honor and law. These Altars are often defended by such devotees, guarding them against the hands of the wicked.
Followers: Warriors of The Shining One carry themselves as defenders of order, paladins dedicated to the eradication of evil. Donning resplendent armor and gleaming swords, these young, idealistic warriors of good use their powers to do the will of their deity. There are no wise, aged leaders among the ranks of The Shining One's army, for there need be none - only youthful, spirited crusaders ready to do whatever it takes.
Restrictions
TSO does not accept the worship of demon-spawn or the undead. Additionally, TSO requires non-human followers to be at least lv 3 to worship, rather than lv 2.
Conduct
TSO appreciates your contributions to the crusade against evil. You will gain 1 piety for each 3 HD of demonic or undead foes you slay.
Once you've reached 3 Piety, you may only gain more piety through Questing (see below.)
TSO deprecates unchivalrous, dishonorable and evil acts. You will receive penance for:
- Practicing or benefiting from necromancy (5 Penance)
- Using unholy magic or items (3 Penance)
- Cooperation with Unholy or Undead creatures (3 Penance)
- You or your allies attacking creatures before making your presence known (2 Penance)
- Landing the killing blow on your enemies with magic or missiles (1 Penance)
- Using any non-holy melee weapon other than a Sword (1 Penance)
- Attacking non-evil creatures who are fleeing or surrendering (3 Penance)
- Lying, cheating or stealing from non-evil creatures (2 Penance)
- Failing a Quest (4 Penance)
Gifts
0 Piety: Divine Halo
As long as you are not under penance, you are surrounded by a halo. Initially, the halo only illuminates you; but for each point of Piety you have, it illuminates a 10' area around you, bathing it in an unmistakable golden light. You and your allies receive +1 to attacks against foes inside your halo. However, neither you, nor allies within the radius of the Halo, may be invisible. The light of the Halo is unmistakable, making it extremely unlikely that you monsters will not see you coming, even before you turn the corner. The Halo is also utterly impossible to hide, shining clearly through any garments or obscuring objects - any who look upon you will see it.
0 Piety: Quest
You are a member of The Shining One's crusade against evil. Each morning, after you wake up, there is a 1% chance that TSO will give you a Quest. For each day you don't receive a Quest, the chance will increase by 1%. Once you are granted a Quest, the chance is resets to 1%. If you just joined TSO for the first time, this chance starts at 25% rather than 1%.
When you are granted a Quest, TSO will direct you towards a Den of Evil. You will know the general direction and the approximate distance of it, and you will be given an image of a Villain. The villain may be demonic or undead in nature, but it may also simply be an intelligent being that TSO has observed as Evil. You will not be assigned a villain that is impossible for you to beat (A level 2 fighter will not be tasked with slaying a Greater Pit Fiend), but it will be a great and challenging enemy.
Your goal is to find and slay this villain, as soon as possible. When you do so, you will immediately receive 5 piety. While you will never know their exact location, you will know their approximate vicinity, and you will always unmistakably recognize them when you see them - as will they you.
Even after you are assigned a Quest, the rolling for a new Quest will continue. If you roll to receive another Quest before you have finished your previous one, TSO will consider your previous quest as failed and punish you accordingly. You will also fail a Quest if you allow your Villain to escape, convince you to be merciful, or do anything other than immediately challenging them and slaying them in accordance with your vows of honor.
1 Piety: Protection from Harm
If you would receive lethal damage, there is a piety-based chance (15% per point of Piety) that the attack will be nullified. If this effect triggers, you will lose a point of Piety.
3 Piety: Divine Shield
When you use this power, The Shining One will grant you a temporary divine shield. This shield provides the protection of a normal shield, but is controlled by TSO, leaving both of your hands free. This ability can be used in conjunction with a normal shield. Lasts 1 Hour. Costs 1 Piety
3 Piety: Power from Killing
You sometimes regain HP from killing evil foes. Whenever you slay an undead, demon, or intelligent creature that worships evil, you have a 1-in-3 chance of recovering HP equal to the creature's HD.
4 Piety: Cleansing Flame
You may emanate a great burst of holy energy, dealing unavoidable 2d8 damage to all foes within 30' of you. It will not harm your allies, and will deal an additional d8 of damage to undead and demonic creatures. Costs 1 Piety
5 Piety: Summon Divine Warrior
A friendly Angel will briefly appear to help you fight. It will smite your foes with its burning blade, protect you or your allies from dark magic (50% chance), and it will disappear as soon as your foes are slain, or when it is defeated. Costs 3 Piety
Punishments
The Shining one will never actively punish you while you are under Penance, unless your Penance reaches 6. However, as long as you have Penance, you will not gain any Piety, instead removing a point of penance for each point of piety you would gain.If your Penance reaches 6, or you Abandon TSO for a non-good god, you will suffer TSO's wrath. While you have penance, each 1d2 days, you will suffer one of the following (1d6):
1-2: You are struck with a Cleansing Flame.
3-4 : A hostile Angel will join your foes to attack you (unless you are fighting unholy or undead foes).
5-6 : You become silenced for 30 minutes, and a loud noise is made at your location, attracting monsters.
TSO will strike you with the punishment when it is most inconvenient.
Additionally, abandoning TSO does not free you of your conduct. For as long as you have any Penance remaining, you are still able to gain more penance by breaking any of TSO's conducts.
This is great stuff - I like rediscovered altars of Makhleb the Destroyer - there is a properly ominous thing for players to stumble over!
ReplyDeleteSo what does Tormwent actually do. Is that just meant to be a (put houserule here)
ReplyDeleteIt's listed under the kiku description - Torment removes half of your current HP.
Delete