The Rites of Bisection

"I am told that there lies a small monastery built into one of the many rocky crags which stands against the thirsty, encroaching Sands in the south. Its monks are a minor cabal of philosophes dedicated to some overwrought doctrine or another, similar to many such orders scattered about the vast hinterlands surrounding Innersey. I deem them worth mentioning for one reason only: their Rites of Bisection."

"These Rites are purported to turn one person into two, in a miraculous manifestation of the monks' secret dogma. I cannot lend such tales any credence. It is ridiculous that, as I have been told, a person may be split slowly and carefully down the middle, and each half grown back into a full person over the course of months. One would not survive such an operation; to start with, the heart is not centrally located - would one half-person thus do without a heart? Ha!..."

"Several merchant lords and mighty Magi have been reputed to visit these monks to undergo the Rites; their motives and fates seem more like moralistic fairy tales than real happenings, with the subject being murdered by their own shadow or doppelgänger, lost to a fit of extreme madness, or returning again and again to the monks as their bodies deform and minds ablate..."

- from the writings of Andras, Magus of the Fifth Order

Image uploaded by Carolina Baratieri to ResearchGate and used with proper permissions

This is a common trope in fantasy/sci-fi. Yes, PCs (or NPCs) can go to these monks and essentially clone themselves; the price will be dear, and may not be monetary. At first impression, both resulting characters will have the same body, mind, and memories of the "original," but absolute similarity will not last long... and may be illusory in the first place. (If a PC undergoes the Rites of Bisection, only one of the two resulting characters are under the player's control as a PC. The other is an NPC with, initially, identical goals to the "original." But things change...)

If used in a game, it should involve at least one moral dilemma:
- Are either resulting people the same as the "original?"
- Did the "original" die during the Rites?
- Corollary if the above is "yes": are either of the two resulting people even alive/ensoulled?
- Can a person resulting from the Rites undergo the Rites again? (How many times? Information entropy?)
- Some variation of the classic "nature vs. nurture" question

Your Giant Spiders Are Boring

I was thinking about spiders today, (probably because there is now a big one with a web attached to my sink faucet and I was doing dishes and I do not like spiders,) and it occurred to me that some predatory spiders do some kinda funky things in order to score their meals. (Bolas spiders and trapdoor spiders were the first ones I thought of.) But, spiders in, like, monster manuals usually only have some combination of 1) venomous bite, 2) traditional webs, or 3) shooting webs (or venom), which seems like a silly thing for an actual real-life spider to do and therefore probably a game-ism. (Click for spoiler)

So, I went to Wikipedia, naturally. Anyway, here's how to spice up giant (or regular) spiders in your chthonic dice game of choice:

Roll 1d12 at least once, but more is definitely fine:
1) Spider spins a small web between its forelegs, which it tangles prey with as it pounces
2) Spider spins a line with a sticky blob on the end, swinging it around a few times like a bolas and then hurling it at prey to snare it and draw it in
3) Spider builds a webby home underwater, detecting ripples on the surface to locate prey - yes, this is totally a spider that will burst out of the water and nab your swimming adventurer to drown them
4) Spider has a concealed trapdoor which it will pop out of and nab you
5) Spider mimics some other organism - bonus points if it does something creepy like mimic a human... or treasure chest lel
6) Spider shoots janking darts at you when it feels threatened - these may or may not be poisonous
7) Spider spits sticky web fluid at prey - yeah, click the link, this is actually real
8) Spider spits venom at prey - this is actually the same spider above - their attack is actually a combination of both
9) Spider runs up and bites you - pretty standard
10) Spider jumps/drops from distance and bites you - also common, but scary
11) Spider spins sticky webs, which it can detect vibrations from - but your adventurers will totally notice any web thick enough to snare them unless it's real dark
12) Spider spins non-sticky webs or tripwires, which it only uses for the purpose of detecting prey - these are very fine silk, and difficult to notice

Oh, and even better? You can totally reskin a lot of these to work with something non-spidery if you want. (A lot of them already exist in non-spidery form, anyway. Manticores and mimics and snakes and such.)

Use this in your game! I will.


(No pictures of spiders for this post, because I don't like spiders, and I don't want to comb through dozens of spider pictures to find a good one and discomfit both myself and arachnophobiacs who are reading this. Cheers!)

Hexmagus: Hex Name Generator

This is a Google Sheet that generates names for map areas (single or multiple hexes) and hex features (points of interest) for a variety of hex types.

Sample set below.



Here is the link.
To really use, click "File > Make a Copy." (Feel free to shamelessly steal for your own use. You can totally use names you get from this thing, even in published material, without giving me credit; just don't pass the generator itself off as your own.)
As stated in the sheet, CTRL+R (or editing the spreadsheet in any way) triggers a refresh and garners you a new crop of tasty names. (It also refreshes every hour otherwise.) Feel free to add new terms in your copy under any of the subsidiary tabs.

This thing has workable syntax, but sometimes the names it generates are pretty silly. (I almost regard this as a feature, not a bug.) Pick/modify/refresh as necessary.

Ongoing: expanding the term lists.
Possible future changes: adding a "city" category, adding proper nouns to the lists of terms.

The Leech

"The Leech can be found in Evandra, it is rumored - a chirurgeon of wondrous skill but dubious reputation. He - or she - may cure nearly any physical ailment, even replacing the loss of an organ or limb, but has but one grim price: once your death comes, your body is not to be preserved and buried (as is right and proper) but to become his (or her) own. Even those who ignore this price and seek burial do so in vain - the body disappears under mysterious circumstances, never again to be found."

"The Leech will see each patient only once; after treatment, there will be a recognizable mark upon the patient, and the Leech will recognize his or her handiwork without fail."

- from the writings of Erbius the Loremaster, Magus of the Fifth Order


"...apparently she had brained the thing with a heavy chamber pot from the loft. It left quite a mess, to be sure. I can't be certain, but it looks (and smells) like another of those stitched walkers from last month. I found several of those circular festering wounds; furthermore, the jaw mostly survived, and the lips were indeed sewn shut..."

"...I'm just wondering who makes the things. Obviously they're not stitching up their own mouths, eh?"

- Cramel of the Watch, to his superior officer

From SometimesAliceFX

Use the Leech in your games. If the PCs spend any amount of time in Evandra (or, rather, a city of your choice), they will hear rumors of the Leech and his/her remarkable medical ability. A useful resource for dangerous games where health and limb are at risk!

However, any character who finds the Leech and receives treatment will have a parasitic organism inserted near their brainstem during the (very private) procedure- difficult to detect, and even more difficult to remove. This "leech" degrades the character's constitution (or maximum health or whatever) by one point each winter. When the character dies and the corpse is quiet and alone (perhaps abandoned, perhaps buried), the parasite causes the (un)dead body to animate and return to the Leech as a particularly durable and tame zombie (or equivalent).

What purpose could the Leech possibly have for such reanimated abominations?


For a week, I'm challenging myself to write SOMETHING gameable (monster, NPC, magic, location, item, etc.) each day. To make it interesting: it must be inspired by the first song that comes up on shuffle from my music library each morning. This is post 2, inspired by "Leech" by Sylosis (Spotify, YouTube).

Moth Gatherer (monster, 5E)

"In the Westwoods, they have a tale of a kind of being called a moth gatherer. These creatures, slender and sly, lurk in the boughs and breaks of those lands, emerging in the twilight. Their several eyes are glazed and dull, but within their tall mouths at the back of their throats is a small organ that glows softly but steadily. Moths are drawn to its light. The moth gatherer plucks its prey from the air with quick, slender fingers. Most, it eats; but, the choicest moths are carefully captured and handled by the gatherer, who fixes them to fanning armatures or spines that spread from its back. The moths are held in place by a sticky-sweet substance that serves as both fixative and nourishment, secreted by the gatherer. "

"From the silk spun my the larvae of their moths, the gatherers weave gossamer tents and cocoons in which to shelter, strange large sheets and webs in the largest trees. They think little of us ground-bound earthscratchers, remaining cloaked in the canopies and leaving us to our inscrutable devices; but, against those who threaten these tallest trees which support their homes, they strike with silence and silken garrotes."

"When enough moths have been gathered and bred and succored, when the spreading spines are rampant with soft, scaly wings, it is said that the gatherer can take to the air, its light frame lifted by its captives-become-comrades. Some say the moth gatherers then fly to the moon, there to mate and bear young that drift down in the dew. Some say they fly across the sea, spawning progeny that wash back up upon our sighing shores to gather moths once more. It is of no consequence; the moth gatherer's destiny is bound up with this transformation, and it becomes a new creature from a multitude of lesser creatures."

"Let, then, your way in the world be as the moth gatherer: in places of daylight and openness, keep your presence quiet and your light hidden; but when the world is darkened and those who move within it become lost, show them a glimpse of the luminence that shines within you, and they will draw near, seeing only your light. From you they will find sustenance, and from then you will draw your might."

- From The Fivefold Discipline of Aldonis of Evandra, "The Weaver of Five Strands"

Here are some stats for moth gatherers! (5th Edition D&D - apologies to all you OSR types, haha)


MOTH GATHERER
Medium fey, chaotic neutral
---
Armor Class 16
Hit Points 24 (7d6+0)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
---
STR 13 (+1)
DEX 18 (+4)
CON 10 (+0)
INT 14 (+2)
WIS 15 (+2)
CHA 11 (+0)
---
Skills Acrobatics +6, Animal Handling +4, Perception +4, Stealth +6
Saves Dexterity +6, Intelligence +4
Damage Resistances piercing
Damage Vulnerabilities cold, fire, thunder
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages an uncanny buzzing and clicking
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
---
Canopy Climber. The moth gatherer does not need to make checks in order to successfully climb through branches, leaves, or trees, and can do so at its full climbing speed.
Canopy Camouflage. The moth gatherer has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in treetops or foliage.

ACTIONS
---
Garrotte. Melee Weapon Attack versus Surprised creatures only: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Roll attack with advantage. Hit effects vary based on whether both dice or only one were rolled high enough to hit:
Hit (one die): 7 (1d6+4) slashing damage, and the target is Grappled until they make a DC11 Str save as an action.
Hit (both dice): 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage, and target is Grappled and Restrained (and unable to speak!) until they make a DC14 Str save as an action.While this condition persists, the moth gatherer may repeat this attack on this target as an action without making a roll to hit.

Multiattack. The moth gatherer makes two claw attacks.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 6 (1d4+4) slashing damage.


Notes:
Moth gatherers are fairly solitary, and mostly keep to themselves. If they perceive a great threat to their habitat, they may band together against it.
They are very risk-averse, and strike only in darkness with strangling garrotes that kill silently, targeting isolated foes. If confronted and outnumbered, they flee into the trees and hide, fighting with their claws only if cornered beyond hope of escape.
Moth gatherer elders have gathered enough moths to achieve flight, gliding silently through the dark.
Some say the moth gatherers gather not only moths, but also secrets - or perhaps that the moths they gather have gathered secrets of their own. If a cunning person could find means to communicate with these beings, they may have deep knowledge of they ways of the wilds, the heights and the deeps, the Mysteries, and many other things. They may serve as givers - or goals - of a quest.


MOTH GATHERER ELDER
Medium fey, chaotic neutral
---
Armor Class 18
Hit Points 28 (8d6+0)
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft., fly (hover) 25ft.
---
STR 13 (+1)
DEX 18 (+4)
CON 10 (+0)
INT 14 (+2)
WIS 15 (+2)
CHA 11 (+0)
---
Skills Acrobatics +7, Animal Handling +5, Perception +5, Stealth +7
Saves Dexterity +7, Intelligence +5
Damage Resistances piercing
Damage Vulnerabilities cold, fire, thunder
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12
Languages an uncanny buzzing and clicking
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
---
Canopy Climber. The moth gatherer does not need to make checks in order to successfully climb through branches, leaves, or trees, and can do so at its full climbing speed.
Canopy Camouflage. The moth gatherer has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in treetops or foliage.

ACTIONS
---
Garrotte. Melee Weapon Attack versus Surprised creatures only: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Roll attack with advantage. Hit effects vary based on whether both dice or only one were rolled high enough to hit:
Hit (one die): 7 (1d6+4) slashing damage, and the target is Grappled until they make a DC12 Str save as an action.
Hit (both dice): 11 (2d6+4) slashing damage, and target is Grappled and Restrained (and unable to speak!) until they make a DC15 Str save as an action.While this condition persists, the moth gatherer may repeat this attack on this target as an action without making a roll to hit.

Multiattack. The moth gatherer makes two claw attacks.

Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 6 (1d4+4) slashing damage.

Downtime (WotC Unearthed Arcana)

Earlier this month, Wizards of the Coast put out optional rules for downtime in 5th Edition (accessible here).

Overall, what I saw was encouraging.

It's good to see WotC thinking in terms of a long-form campaign, and what players are doing between adventures. Specific downtime activities I was happy to see include: rules for crafting items of all kinds (and particularly magic items or spell scrolls), rules for training language or tool proficiencies, rules for research of lore regarding foes or locations, and rules for buying and selling magic items.

It was kinda janky to see activities like criminal heists and pit fighting included among downtime activities. They seem more like mini-adventures in and of themselves, to me. The only way I can think to justify it is to say that they're presented in this compressed, abstract format so that one player doesn't take a lot of time away from the party by going out on a mini-adventure of their own while everyone waits for them to finish - which makes sense, I suppose.

The suggestion regarding "foils" (basically villains by another name?) also seemed really out-of-place, especially given that they were given spatial priority in the document. All it really ended up saying is that "yeah, sometimes opponents of the party will be up to stuff while the players are on downtime, too." (I don't think it should take three full letter-size pages to say that.)

I would've liked to see rules regarding more domain-style play, like creating and running factions or building and maintaining manors/castles/towers and their demesnes. (Perhaps that would be another Unearthed Arcana in and of itself, though - which I would be cool with.)

I'm currently running a (heavily-hacked) 5E game, and these rules are fairly lightweight and easy to bolt on without much meddling - and my campaign utilizes downtime. I think I will take advantage of these.

Overall: 3.5/5

What Is This Book About? (Wikipedia Method)

A party of adventurers is creeping through an ancient archive, or rifling through the tools of a deceased Magus, or nosing through the private literary collection of a prestigious noble. They open a book. What do they find?

1) Browse to Wikipedia.
2) Click "Random Article" near the top of the left sidebar. (Optional: stay on the main page and glance at "Today's Featured Article" instead.)
3) Ask yourself if a book could be about the subject of this article in your game's setting. (Proper nouns may be interchanged freely. For example, the article on Adolf Hitler could, in your setting, be about some mythologically wicked villain from the sordid past.) If it could, then that is the subject of the book your players find! If not:
4) Click the first link in the article's body not in parenthesis.
5) Jump to step 3.

Far broader and deeper than a d100 table, and nearly as easy to use.

(Nota bene: this method DOES generate a fair proportion of towns and municipalities. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Substitute in a nearby town or other location in your setting, note some juicy assets and dangers in that location which the book mentions, and you have yourself an adventure hook!)

Dream-Shade (monster, 5E)

So, I came across this idea while writing Monday's Metal Monster Manual post, and decided to write it up with a full stat block (5th Edition, because that's what I'm most familiar with - sorry, OSR geeks *shrugs*).

Here's the picture that inspired this monster. It is an album cover.

The dream-shade is a shadow of someone's dream, made manifest in the material world. It appears as a tall, smoky figure whose slender limbs bend and ripple in a growing wind. Dark and shadowy as they are, their sight causes all other colors to hideously brighten and distort, only emphasizing the black figure itself... and the darkness creeping in at the edges of the observer's vision. Everything is soundless, except the howling of winds.

The mere sight of one implants itself in the viewer's mind, such that a new dream-shade haunts their dreams ever after, manifesting somewhere in the world while the afflicted creature sleeps and watches. The one you see now is, in fact, being dreamed by someone thrashing in their restless sleep, perhaps continents away - perhaps in the next town over.

Thankfully, dream-shades are not inherently hostile, though protracted observation seems to irritate them and cause them to approach menacingly. However, they are as slow as if they walked against a howling gale, and can easily be fled.

They are supremely difficult to hit, bending and snapping like a flag on a pole whenever weapons are swung at them. Even on a successful hit, a dream-shade is not truly material: they cannot normally be harmed by stuff of this world - it passes through their smoky form without making any discernible impact. Only magics or the heavenly radiance of silver have a strong effect, cutting through the murk of a dream-shade like sunbeams through cloud-gaps, with severed appendages disintegrating like fumes in a gale.
Their own touch is potentially devastating, parting flesh cleanly and painlessly right down to the bone.

Even if one sees a dream-shade and then slays it, their sleep will forever be haunted, unless the shade that their dreams spawn is in turn destroyed as they sleep. Blacking out drunk alleviates this each night, but carries its own risks. Certain exorcistic magics can cure the problem permanently, though it is unclear whether this prevents the dream-shade from ever again manifesting, or merely casts it free into its own permanent existence.

5E stat block below.


DREAM-SHADE
Medium fey, chaotic neutral
---
Armor Class 18 (preternaturally evasive)
Hit Points 35 (10d8-10)
Speed 20 ft., climb 15 ft.
---
STR 11 (+0)
DEX 19 (+4)
CON 9 (-1)
INT 8 (-1)
WIS 12 (+1)
CHA 17 (+3)
---
Saves Dexterity +7, Wisdom +4
Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, thunder
Damage Immunities acid, poison, and all damage from non-magical or non-silvered weapons
Damage Vulnerabilities radiant
Condition Immunities all, except incapacitated, prone, and restrained
Senses truesight 30 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages none (does not speak or respond to language)
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
---
Dream-Contagion. When a creature first sights a dream-shade, they must immediately make a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw. On failure, the affected creature sees a dream-shade whenever they dream, causing them to have restless sleep and begin the next day with one less hit die available than normal. This condition can be combated by becoming blackout drunk the night before, but this carries its own dangers. This condition can only be cured by Remove Curse, or by the destruction of the dream-shade that these dreams create.

ACTIONS
---
Multiattack. The dream-shade makes two tendril attacks.

Shadowy tendril. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
Hit: 9 (1d10+4) slashing damage, plus 7 (1d8+3) psychic damage.


Nota bene to DMs: do not be afraid to have "low-level" parties encounter this creature, even down to level 1s. They are not initially hostile, and even if the situation DOES escalate, a smart party can flee when they see their weapons have little effect (...only to find the danger remains, dwelling within their own heads when they sleep!).


Go forth, Reader, and use this monster if you wish. Let me know how it goes if you do!
(If you convert it to another system and I like what you did, I'll make sure to link to it!)

The Pool of Prophecy

In a hollow between the gnarled roots of three trees lies a small pool reflecting what dim light filters through the trees’ thick leaves. A trickle from the limestone hills above falls into the pool in a steady cadence, and a similar rivulet runs down toward the river.

The Pool of Prophecy is a location in the wilderness that can be inserted into any game with ease. (I concocted it last week for my weekly game.) My description above assumes several optional details (limestone hills above, a nearby river) which can be tweaked or removed as required.

The Pool shows the first sapient individual to gaze into it strange things.

An example:

A ripple runs across the pool’s surface, though the breezes through the forest branches seem to still. The reflection is not what you expect.

A great tree, knotted and ridged trunk dwarfing those around it, reaches its millions of slender leaves toward the new moon. Suddenly, a blinding un-light of the deepest black smothers the air, and the mighty giant’s leaves fall as ash to the dying earth.

A ripple runs across the pool’s surface. The reflection is new.

A bent figure, clad in hides and crude cloths, steps from the brush into a shaft of pale moonlight. It begins a slow tattoo on an oval drum of stretched hide, which builds menacingly into chilling polyrhythms. The edges of the vision begin to dim even as the figure drops the drum, stretches, contorts, and stands on all fours. It has antlers.

A ripple runs across the pool’s surface. The reflection is new.

At a lake’s bottom, clear but dark, lies a skull. Beside it, half buried in the muck, is a crown of twisted, pointed iron. A dim shadow is seen on the benthos - a figure swimming. Growing larger.

A ripple runs across the pool’s surface. It reflects only quivering leaves and dim stars. 

The repetitions and kennings set a dim and surreal mood, but what potentially has the most impact is the last line. Yes, when the vision(s) are complete, it is always nighttime, and the stars are always visible. Any outside observers besides the party notice no difference in the passage of time, and the party experiences none of the effects of several hours of passed time (hunger, sleepiness, etc.) - they just look up and notice that it was night, though it may have been day when they peered into the Pool. 

The Pool will not function until the sun has risen once more.

Place the Pool in a remote location, one the players will not be able to return to often.

The Pool cannot be affected by touch or artifice: cups and bowls pass through it and emerge dry as if the pool weren't there, and it flows around or pours through dams or other placed obstacles. A player character who attempts to touch or drink from it experiences a faint sensation of cold-warmth, but that is all.

Use the Pool to plant the seeds of plot hooks and important lore in the minds of players. It is best if the visions are unclear at first - but when the players discover what they refer to, the "aha!" moment should be worth any effort. I used three visions since I had several points I needed to prepare the players to discover, but one vision is fine. (My visions also proceed in order of past, present, and future, which is cool but not strictly necessary by any means.)

Headless Hunter (monster, system-neutral)

No one knows whence the first headless hunter came, nor how many there are. Several incidents have occurred over a few decades in Knuthe and the sleepy hollows north of the Inner Six, tales of shambling, headless bodies wandering the woods as if searching for something.

Furthermore, no one knows what to make of the cases following these incidents in which a member of  a nearby village or community seems to grow taller or shorter, or to gain or lose mass, as if overnight. (And, it may be added, to gain a proclivity for high collars or fluffy ruffs.)

Headless Hunter (system-neutral):
Physical stats (including movement, HP, attacks) as a bipedal, sapient creature of your choice (often human, but an ogre would be a challenge, and a halfling would be hilarious!).
Mental stats nil (so no spellcasting), but any saving throws or resistances remain identical to the template creature.
Furthermore, it is immune to fear, charms, or other effects to alter its relentless drive to tear the head from another bipedal, sapient creature and attach it to its body. It may, however, be turned as an undead.
It has blindsense/tremorsense out to 20ft, beyond which it seems only to be able to feel out the general direction of a creature if it moves. Perhaps the deprivation of most if its senses has left its sense of touch extremely sensitive, and it is able to detect the slightest tremors in the earth or floor.

Headtaker: if the headless hunter reduces a target to 0hp, they immediately tear off (or cleave off, if a weapon is at hand) the target's head and place it upon their own suppurating stump, whereupon it binds with the body within a round (creating a ring of messy scar tissue). The original target finds itself in control of this new body, complete with its basic physical attributes and HP total (including any wounds), while it maintains its original mental stats, knowledge, and skills. The target's headless, bloodied body flees the scene, becoming a fresh headless hunter. Only miraculous resurrective magic can restore the target's head to its original body.

Relentless: if the headless hunter is reduced to 0hp, it does not perish; instead, one of its limbs is destroyed beyond recovery (roll 1d4 to determine which), and it loses a HD/level (but its HP count rises to half its maximum).
If an arm is destroyed, its attacks are usually impaired (exact mechanics vary based on the body template you're using, and the game system in general, but may include losing a multiattack, losing an attack bonus, losing a damage die, etc.).
If a leg is destroyed, the hunter may only locomote by crawling.
This effect may recur until no limbs remain to be lost, at which point the headless hunter is finally destroyed.
(If you're using a ruleset that awards XP based on slaying foes, it's recommended to award XP when "relentless" first triggers, and not force players to continue to brutalize this suffering creature any further just for the sake of the XP. The headless hunter is worth 1.25x as much XP as the base creature it was created from, at the GM's discretion; for example, a headless hunter created from a wizard or other spellcasting creature may be worth less, due to a significant loss in its original ability.)


Enjoy! If you use this, tell me how your players react!

(I had to try really hard not to just name this creature a "headhunter," haha.)