The Nameless World - Cosmology, Pollution, and Thaumalite

 

The Nameless World is unfathomably old. Thousands of empires have risen, fallen, and been ground to dust by eons of time and conquest. Most of the mainstream religious cults don’t even bother with creation myths. The very idea of a time before the world strikes most philosophers and scholars as patently ludicrous.

These self-same academics believe that the Nameless World lies at the center of all things—not just the material universe, but of all planes of existence. How else can one explain a world both besieged by demons from below and confounded by angels from on high? The numerous and vermiform alien beings that bubble up from the shadows and unseen corners of space lend credence to this theory as well.

Most people will tell you that the Nameless World has four moons. Those people are wrong. The world has no satellites, and what most people call moons are, in fact, planets. The Nameless Worlds and its four sister planets orbit in such close proximity to each other that from the surface of each, the other planets seem as large as the moon does on our own world. These orbits are erratic and unpredictable, and only the most dedicated and mathematically-savvy of astrologers can predict their movements and appearance with any degree of accuracy. Certainly, the cosmological influence of so many planetary bodies in such close proximity has some influence of inherently magical nature of the Nameless World. The four “moons” are Nibiru (home world of the Elves), Erebos (the undead moon), Halakim (where angles live), and Lykos (the wolf moon).

Phlogiston Pollution

The world teeters on the edge of a unique form of environmental devastation. As any wizard will tell you, magic originates as phlogistonic energy channeled from the Thaumic Plane and shaped into spells through the synaptic patterns burned into the brains of trained sorcerers. Even the smallest of spells dumps large amounts of phlogiston into the environment. Trace amounts of this alien energy linger long after the spell is cast. Residual phlogiston is rarely detectable or harmful to living things, but over centuries, thaumic residue begins to pool together, forming sumps and sinkholes of dangerous magical energy. These phlogistonic cysts cause environmental corruption, spawn alien monstrosities, and weaken the barriers between worlds. Ecologically minded wizards blame the increase in monsters and dimensional incursions over the past several decades to this thaumic pollution. Very few sorcerers are willing to make the personal sacrifices required to reduce this global corruption.

Sometimes these pools of magical fallout coalesce and mineralize into weird purple-green ore, somewhere between crystal and metal.  It has a slightly waxy texture and glows dimly like a blacklight. Sorcerers call this mineral thaumalite, although wizards on some worlds know it as compound-N, nibirulith, or mutanto. Thaumalite can be used to empower spells, at the cost of greatly increasing the chance of fallout and corruption.

System: A fist-sized chunk of thaumalite grants a wizard or elf +1d10 to their spellcasting roll. After used this way, the bonus die drops one size as the chunk’s mass boils away.

There are several dangers associated with thaumalite. Merely carrying the mineral on one’s person gives them a -5 to all saves against mutation, corruption, or transformation.

Additionally, when using thaumalite to boost a spellcasting roll, the chance of magical mishap is greatly increased. If a spellcaster uses thaumalite to boost their roll, a failure is treated as a 1, with all associated dangers. If the bonus die comes up as a 1 but the spell roll still succeeds, then the spell is cast and is not lost, but the caster suffers the “or worse” consequences in the “1” section of the spell (misfire, corruption, or patron taint).

Gorgon Crawl Classics: Foresight Spell

The titan Prometheus is the divine personification of Foresight. This gave him the knowledge to side with Zeus and the gods when they rose up against his fellow titans. Prometheus can grant his disciples an approximation of his foresight.

The mechanics of this spell were influenced by the Luck Word in Kevin Crawfords excellent Godbound rpg. I believe diviners in D&D 5th Ed do something similar as well. 

Foresight (patron spell)

Level: 1 (Prometheus)	Range: Self	Duration: Varies	Casting Time: 1 Round	Save: None
General	Prometheus grants the caster nebulous visions of possible futures. This allows the player to roll dice ahead of time and use the results for future rolls.
Manifestation	Roll 1d4: (1) Prometheus whispers portents directly into the caster’s mind; (2) Warnings of the future appear before the caster’s eyes, written in flaming script only they can see; (3) Multiple timelines appear before the caster like strands of quicksilver, which they pluck like lyre strings; (4) The caster splinters their mind across fourteen-million six-hundred and five possible futures to find the one where they succeed.
1	Last, failure, and patron taint.
2-11	Lost. Failure.
12-13	Roll 1d20 and record the result. You can use this number in place of any attack, skill, or saving throw roll you make before the end of the next round You must choose to replace a roll before the roll is made.
14-17	Roll 1d20 and record the results. You can use this number once in place of any attack, skill, or saving throw roll made by you or an opponent you can see before the end of the next round. You must choose to replace a roll before the roll is made. These numbers are lost if this spell is cast again before they are used.
18-19	Roll 2d20 and record the results. You can use each of these numbers once in place of any attack, skill, or saving throw rolls made by you or an opponent you can see before the end of the next round. You must choose to replace a roll before the roll is made. These numbers are lost if this spell is cast again before they are used.
20-23	Roll 2d20 and record the results. You can use each of these numbers once in place of any attack, skill, or saving throw rolls made by you or an ally or opponent you can see within the next 1d6+CL rounds. You must choose to replace a roll before the roll is made. These numbers are lost if this spell is cast again before they are used.
24-27	Roll 2d20 and record the results. You can use each of these numbers once in place of any attack, skill, or saving throw rolls made by you or an ally or opponent you can see within the next turn. You must choose to replace a roll before the roll is made. These numbers are lost if this spell is cast again before they are used.
28-29	Roll 3d20 and record the results. You can use each of these numbers once in place of any attack, skill, or saving throw rolls made by you or an ally or opponent you can see within the next turn. You must choose to replace a roll before the roll is made. These numbers are lost if this spell is cast again before they are used.
30-31	Roll 3d20 and record the results. You can use each of these numbers once in place of any attack, skill, or saving throw rolls made by you or an ally or opponent you can see within the next CL turns. You must choose to replace a roll before the roll is made. These numbers are lost if this spell is cast again before they are used.
32+	Roll 4d20 and record the results. You can use each of these numbers once in place of any attack, skill, or saving throw rolls made by you or an ally or opponent you can see within the next CL turns. You must choose to replace a roll before the roll is made. These numbers are lost if this spell is cast again before they are used.

 

Gorgon Crawl Classics - Invoke Prometheus

Development on Gorgon Crawl Classics (my Mythic Greece/Peplum setting for DCC) continues to putter along. I'll admit I've gotten distracted by a couple other projects, to say nothing about day-job stuff.

I plan on including three new patrons in GCC--Orpheus, Echidna, and Prometheus.

In GCC, Prometheus is something of a messianic figure. He's the creator and patron of humanity, suffering now for his crime of stealing fire for humanity. Theoretically, the PCs will eventually get a chance to help Hercules free him from his bonds.

As a patron, Prometheus' gifts are based around fire, foresight, trickery, and creation. He only grants patronage to those who fight for the common good of mankind. 

Below is the Promethean Invoke Patron table I've been using in my playtests. I'm sure it will continue to be tweaked. Enjoy!

(Also, Brendan Lasalle is including Prometheus as a patron in X-Crawl. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm eager to see how similar/different it is from mine.)

Invoke Patron: Prometheus

Roll	Effect
12-13	Gift of foresight. For the next attack, spell check, skill roll, or saving throw roll 2d20 and take the best result.
14-17	The caster can hurl fire bolts for the next CL rounds. Make an attack roll using INT against the target’s AC. Inflicts 1d4+CL on a successful hit. 60/120/180 range.
18-19	The caster’s melee weapons and that of 1d6 allies within 60’ are wreathed in flames for CL rounds. Flaming weapons are considered both magic and blessed and inflict an additional 1d6 damage.
20-23	Caster wreathed in flames for 1d6+CL rounds. Immune to fire. Their melee attacks inflict additional 1d6 damage. Opponents who strike them with a melee attack take 1d8 damage (DC 13 Reflex save for half)
24-27	Opponent must make DC 15 reflex save or be captured by adamantine chains. Cannot move or attack. Attacks against them are at +2d. Last 1d6+CL rounds. DC 25 STR check to break free. Chains are AC: 20 and have 10+CL hp.
28-29	Summon a giant vulture (stats as Pterodactyl) to pick out the target’s Liver. The bird attacks the caster’s enemies as directed and will remain until slain or one turn per caster level has passed.
30-31	Steal a target’s occupation, deed die, 1d4 thief skills, single spell, or special ability for 1d6 rounds.
32+	Sacrificial Immolation. Caster’s body explodes into flame. Every creature within 20’ of the caster takes 6d6 damage (DC 15 Reflex save for half damage). The caster’s body and all their non-magical items are reduced to ash. 1d4 rounds later, the caster’s body reconstitutes, healed of all damage, poison, and disease, but not spellburn or corruption.

Nymph Class (Gorgon Crawl Classics)

The Nymph has been the hardest class for me to put together for Gorgon Crawl Classics. It started off as a simple reskin of the Elf, a kinda-fighty spellcaster. I quickly realized that the Cleric spell list fit the “semi-divine nature spirit” concept better than the Wizard spells did, so it changed into an Elf with Cleric spells. But the Cleric spells, on average, lack the “oomph” of Wizard spells. So without access to Turn Unholy, Lay on Hands, and Divine Intervention, the Nymph was just kind of a less-goods Cleric (albeit, with slightly better saves).

I know “balance” isn’t really a thing in Dungeon Crawl Classics, but I needed reasons to play a nymph (other than simple cool factor), especially since level-0 isn’t a thing in GCC, and players can choose their class. What I came up with was giving her access to a handful of wizard spells, as well as some benefits when she’s in her native environments. I’m pretty happy with how the Nymph sits right now, but there are sure to be a few more tweaks. At some point I need to write a nymph-specific Disapproval table.

Also, in my research I found out that there are Nymphs native to the Underworld—Lampads, Persephone’s torchbearers. So yeah, goth nymphs—pretty cool.

Nymph (Class)

All-female nature spirits. 

Hit Points: 1d6 per level

Weapon Training: dagger, javelin, bow, short sword, staff, spear

Alignment: Usually neutral. Chaotic nymphs are called “Maenads.”

Ageless: Do not age and are immune to all supernatural aging. 

Bonded to Nature: Choose the environment to which your Nymph is bonded. This choice determines what kind of Nymph you are and will effect some of your special abilities. This choice cannot be changed, baring exceptional circumstances.

• Forest: Dryads
• Mountains and grottos: Oreads
• Streams and lakes: Nereids
• Sea: Naiads
• Underworld and dungeons: Lampads

Gifts of Nature:

• Dryad: Leaves no trace or path when walking through forest or underbrush. Unimpeded by woodland travel.
• Oread: Immune to natural cold. Unimpeded by mountain travel.
• Nereid/Naiad: Can breathe underwater. Swim at their normal walking speed. 
• Lampad: 120’ Infravision

Grace: If unarmored and not using a shield, the Nymph can add her PER modifier to her AC.

Divine Nature: Thanks to their connection to nature and the gods, Nymphs are natural spellcasters. Nymph cast clerical spells, rolling 1d20+PER+LUCK+Level as their casting roll. Armor check penalties apply.

Due to their connection to the powers of the divine, Nymphs get to choose which spells they learn at each level, and do not have to depend on the whims of fate or the roll of the dice. All Nymphs start with the exclusive spell Nymphcraft (see below) and may choose a number of additional spells as indicated on their class table. This amount is further modified by their PER bonus.

Nymphs have access to all the spells from the Cleric's list. Additionally, Nymphs have access to several traditional wizard spells which they can select as known spells. Nymphs will tell you that wizards stole these spells from their ancient sisters. Nymphs cast these as Cleric spells. Failed rolls do not result in loss, failure, corruption, or any of these wizardly hazards, but accrue Disapproval as normal.

These spells are:

• Level 1: Animal Summoning, Charm Person, Sleep
• Level 2: Invisibility, Mirror Image
• Level 3: Consult Spirit, Planar Step
• Level 4: Polymorph
• Level 5: Mind Purge

Native Spellburn: While within their natural habitat, Nymphs can spellburn physical attributes to increase their spellcasting rolls, just like wizards do. They can only recover spellburn damage while within their natural habitat.

Level	Attack	Cirt/Table	Action Die	Known Spells + Nymphcraft	Max Spell Level	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+1	1d6/II	1d20	3	1	+1	+1	+1
2	+2	1d8/II	1d20	4	1	+1	+1	+1
3	+2	1d8/II	1d20	5	2	+1	+1	+2
4	+3	1d10/II	1d20	6	2	+2	+2	+2
5	+3	1d10/II	1d20+1d14	7	3	+2	+2	+3
6	+4	1d12/II	1d20+1d16	8	3	+2	+2	+4
7	+4	1d12/II	1d20+1d20	9	4	+3	+3	+4
8	+5	1d14/II	1d20+1d20	10	4	+3	+3	+5
9	+5	1d14/II	1d20+1d20	12	5	+4	+4	+5
10	+6	1d16/II	1d20+1d20+1d14	14	5	+4	+4	+6

Nymph Level Titles

1. Innocent

2. Pastoral

3. Pleiadian

4. Daemon

 

Nymphcraft Level: 1, Range: Varies, Duration: Varies, Casting Time: 1 Action, Save: Varies
General	Only Nymphs may learn this spell. The Nymph calls upon her divine connection to nature and bond to the land to perform a variety of magical effects. When successfully cast, the Nymph may choose any effect equal to her roll or below. When cast in the Nymph’s natural habitat, she gets a +1d bonus to the spellcasting roll.
Manifestation	See Below
Roll	Effect
1-11	Failure.
12-13	Generate 1 cubic foot of material per CL Dryad: Flowers and leaves Oreads: Stones and pebbles Nereid: Freshwater Naiad: Saltwater Lampad: Bone and ash
14-17	Encase the nymph in a protective layer of bark (dryad), stone (oread) shells (nereid/naiad), or bone (lampad). +4 AC for CL turns. 1d6 fumble and no check penalty. Does not stack with worn armor, except shields. Does not disrupt the Nymph's "Grace" ability.
18-19	Teleport from one tree (dryads), stone (oread), pool of water (nereid/naiad), or shadow (lampad), to another within 100’ x CL. The tree, stone, pool, or shadow must be big enough to theoretically contain the nymph.
20-23	Attack an enemy within 60’ with spears of wood (dryad), stone spikes (oread), ice knives (nereid), stinging jellyfish tendrils (naiad), or bone shards (lampad). 4d6 damage, reflex save for half damage.
24-27	One enemy within 60’ must make a reflex save or become bound by roots and vines (dryad), stone hands (oread), ice (neirid), seaweed (naiad), or iron shackles (lampad). Target cannot move or attack, but can break out with a STR roll with a DC equal to the casting roll. Bindings are AC 9 and have hit points equal to the casting roll.
28-29	Touched, willing ally falls into a deep sleep for 1 hour. When they awake they heal 2d6+CL hp.
30-31	Nymph summons a guardian spirit that protects the nymph and follows her orders for CL turns or until destroyed.  Guardian Spirit: Init +4; Atk Slam +4 (2d4); AC 16; HD 4d8; MV 30’; Act 1d20 or 2d16; SV Fort +4, Ref +3; Will +5; AL N; SP: See below. *Wood spirit (Dryad): Immune to piercing damage *Rock spirit (Oread): Immune to electricity, ½ damage from slashing weapons *Water spirit (Nereid/Naiad): Immune to bludgeoning damage, ½ damage from cold. *Underworld Spirit (Lampad): Immune to cold and poison.
32+	Target enemy within 120’ must make Fort save or transform into a tree (dryad), pillar of stone (oread), fountain (neirid), coral statue (naiad), or stone memorial (lampad) for CL days.