Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Bad Evangelists, a magic item, a Hex/Hex layout





There are three parts to this post as I continue to work through my hex-y 5e thing. 1 is a how I'm doing hex keying. Thoughts very much welcome. The second is an item, which is how I'm seeing a lot of smaller, random magic items work out (in my head, at this point). The last is more on the Evangelists of Torment.

A LOCATION/HEX LAYOUTS
The general format is intended to leave space on the left for notes or to refer to other locations (a la Carcosa) and the space on the left delineates when something is available. Entries in the same row, separated by a semi colon are usually something more specific or a different visual "beat" in the description. The options thus far for the conditional/right hand column are:

always   is whatever is evidently here when you're just passing through

careful   is stuff happens when the players spend time carefully poking around

time       is stuff that happens only at a certain time (first time here, night, day being the three                      I've used thus far)

DC X     being a gate behind which things are put. Rolled stat/skill is determined by context.


Here is an actual example:



005
former farm house, mostly just its stone walls and floor and rotten ceiling boards and walls;
the grass thins and reaches the knees rather than shoulder in large rectangular spaces around the house
always

child’s voice singing backwards under the flagstones
at night

the flagstones don’t sit quite evenly (under is the dolorous poppet)
DC 15

AN ITEM
the dolorous poppet. a child’s doll stuffed with soft blond hair and little teeth. an arcane focus granting advantage 1/session on any check relating to infernals or deep places or far places.






EVANGELISTS
I posted the Evangelist of Torment 5e stat block at the bottom of this post. Something in between dragon and deity. I think I need to up their CR a bit and maybe give them a recharge power. Part of the below is for figuring out who is around when you com calling the first time and part of this is for clerics.



THE NAMES OF THE EVANGELISTS
roll d6+1 to determine the number of Evangelists
roll d10s that number of times to determine which Evangelists. Multiple rolls indicate a greater presence.
roll d6 to determine which nest is where. if there is increased presence, they are currently in residence at more than one nest/palace (roll again).


/1/
Mag
as a bird
a snub, jagged beak, slightly erratic from parasites in its inner ear that occasionally peek out and tries to tell it what to do.
as a humanoid
an old woman of crooked aspect and prodigious hair under which she hides her clawed feet. Often talks to her parasites
desires
the fingers of painters or doctors, the beak of Lugh to wear over its own
hates
Kutkh, anyone asking too many questions, anyone disturbing its near-constant naps
/2/
Indra
as a bird
its body crackles with bolts of energy, like storms beneath its feathers
as a humanoid
drunk, occasionally gripped by paralytic spasms, winged, bloody-mouthed
desires
to drink, to fight until no one sober is left living and everyone living is dying of drink
hates
Mag, Lugh, Huginn, the sun, seriousness, questions
/3/
Na’Satja
as a bird
vicious, scabby-eyed, beak split down the middle, opens as normal or along split
as a humanoid
one head bearing two faces that speak simultaneously (only one is audible at a time, the other speaks thoughts. Na’Satja has no thoughts other than when it speaks)
desires
the tongues of lawyers and bureaucrats, the brains of scientists and philosophers, the moon hiding behind our moon
hates
books, maps, paintings and other records, science, philosophy, civilization, Indra
/4/
Naunghaithya
as a bird
all 343 of its eyes have been bound or pierced or spiked with an inscribed silver pin
as a humanoid
arthritic, swollen hands and knees, blind-looking eyes (that see just fine)
desires
the wealth of kings and merchants, the simplicity of beggars
hates
everyone and thing
/5/
Verethreghana
as a bird
three-headed, razor-sharp feathers slice whatever they touch, leaving cuneiform behind
as a humanoid
monstrously proportioned sex organs, pregnant, decked in an infinity of weapons
desires
endless destruction, endless birth
hates
Lugh, celibates, opposition
/6/
Sauru
as a bird
emaciated, its claws are black, wrought iron
as a humanoid
robed in feathers growing from it, magisterial, crowned in human bone, scepter is a smooth, slim arm
desires
everything is to be taxed (breath, dreams, thoughts, battles, births, deaths, names)
hates
justice, kindness to the poor, order, safety, comfort
/7/
Huginn
as a bird
leaves ink stains where it rests, appears as one bird or several or your mother or a king
as a humanoid
wears a crimson silk blindfold, ink-stained fingers, trails catalog cards and charts, writes using a brush of eyelashes
desires
the cessation of time until it has caught up
hates
time, fiction, imagination, sleep
/8/
Lugh
as a bird
flaming with negative light, clattering with bones
as a humanoid
gigantic, wreathed in a halo of black flame, armed with a spear and a clawed right hand, wears bodies from hooks around its waist like scalps
desires
order, power, the humiliation of others, empire
hates
weakness, Sauru, opposition
/9/
Kutkh
as a bird
body laced with torcs and it’s wings tingle from chimes of bronze and steel
as a humanoid
wind-burned, rugged, moustachioed or bearded or wild-haired, always with a black horse and a white horse and sword that always drips blood, usually at the head of a multitude
desires
conquest, the spread of its seed regardless of the subjects willingness or capacity
hates
everything not of its host
/10/
It Shits In the Water
as a bird
as any other, also appears as a black monkey or grinning, pregnant dog
as a humanoid
usually a young man or woman with a bulging sack or pack, always grinning
desires
to finish telling the joke that ends the world, to make the world again
hates
serious things like anything that isn’t strictly animal, including civilization, language, and the other Evangelists

attributions: Lucas/Richard Windsor, Wilfried Satty

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