OSR Class: Sawbones

"And always must you disdain and shun such disreputable knaves as gravediggers, tanners and the barber-surgeons..." - Morkan, Head Physician of the Corpus Collegium

I'm on a roll with the healer-type classes.

The Moderati flaunt their magical talents as they knit flesh and draw poison with a touch, physicians consult their tomes and watch the stars to source their cures, and priests pray for the sick amidst finery and wonder. You, on the other hand, know the honest trade of flesh, blood, and bone.

Barber-surgeons are what happens when an educated and wealthy elite don't want to get their hands dirty with actual medicine. They are medical jacks-of-all-trades, able to pull teeth, amputate limbs, draw blood, make 'medicines', cut hair and remove bladder stones. Sometimes the tender ministrations of a barber-surgeon can cause more trouble for their patient than the patient's ailments. They do not have the privilege of a university education, instead learning their trade as an apprentice.

Many cast off the lives they had in the cities and towns, or as itinerant surgeons wandering between villages, and found lucrative employment treating soldiers fighting in the War. While most barber-surgeons know little of violence besides the occasional brutality they visit out of necessity on their patients, this class represents a battlefield surgeon driven weary by the horrors they encounter - a Sawbones.

Credit, Jakub Dobi

Sawbones

Starting Equipment: dagger, medical supplies (3), leather apron, 1d6sp.

Medical supplies are used to fuel some of your abilities and represent assorted poultices, vials of alchemical ingredients, leeches, stitches, smelling salts and other tools of your trade. You can carry up to 3 in a single Inventory Slot and can purchase them for 1gp in any town or city. Villages may have them but they will be much more expensive.

A: Crude Poultice; Leech.

B: Find Vein; Vapours.

C: Stimulant.

D: Radical Treatment.

You gain +1 to Saves vs Fear and Disease for each Sawbones template you possess.

Crude Poultice
You fashion a quick and dirty salve for your target's wounds, healing them for 1d3+X HP, where X = the number of Sawbones templates you possess. This costs 1 use of medical supplies. If used to heal an injury, this ability reduces the injury length by (1d3 + X)/2 days.

Leech
You affix leeches to the target's flesh, purifying their blood. They may make a new Save vs all poisons, diseases or intoxicating effects with 1 Boon. This costs 1 use of medical supplies.

Find Vein
Once per day per level, you may rupture a major blood vessel on a successful attack with a bladed or piercing weapon. The target takes 1d6 damage at the start of their turn until the bleeding is stemmed. This only affects living targets. You can declare this after an attack roll has been made.

Vapours
You waft a vial or rag saturated with noxious substances under the target's nose, removing 1d6/level points of Shock from them. This costs 1 use of medical supplies.

Stimulant
You fashion a stimulant cocktail that increases the target's STR and Movement by 4 for 1d6 Rounds. Once the effect expires the target suffers 1d6 damage, their STR is reduced by 2 and they must Save vs CON or gain an amount of Shock equal to their CON. This costs 2 uses of medical supplies.

Radical Treatment
You undertake a desperate treatment deemed to be insane by your more orthodox peers, but the circumstances demand it. Instead of rolling INT/2 to stabilise a character with Fatal Wounds, expend 3 uses of medical supplies. The check automatically passes and the character survives, but not intact. The GM has discretion over what this entails, but something along these lines is generally in the right ballpark. The character gains an Interesting Scar.

Credit, Boris Rogozin

Background

Skerples and Shadow of the Demon Lord have the right idea with skill checks. I'm going to be using character backgrounds/professions to indicate a PC's general knowledge and then use skills to provide Boons in specific situations where the skills apply, or just allow characters to pass.

Roll and gain the following background, then roll on the results underneath. Asterisks indicate that you are literate:

1. Academic*; 2. Criminal; 3. Frontier; 4. Soldier; 5. Urbanite; 6. Unusual

1. Academic*
1. You were studying to become a physician when you were discovered dissecting corpses in the mortuary. You were expelled and the scandal that followed tarnished your family's name. Start with the 'Anatomy' skill and a book of forbidden anatomical texts.
2. You attempted to link the physicians' study of the stars with the surgeons' cutting of the body. Your attempts to were violently resisted. Start with the 'Astronomy' skill and an extra 3 medical supplies.
3. Students are a rowdy lot. You patched up the worst of them after particularly intense debates or nights of drunken knife fighting, some of them paid you in lessons as well as coin. Start with the 'Literature' skill and an extra 1d10sp.
4. Capable assistants and understudies are always needed by wizards, especially those skilled with reagents and a needle & thread. Their survival rate varies wildly and the pay is usually not good enough. Start with a random magic wand and an Interesting Scar.
5. You supplemented your alchemical studies with surgery work on the side. Conveniently you had plenty of subjects to test your various concoctions on. For entirely unrelated reasons you now live anonymously very far away. Start with the 'Alchemy' skill and a vial of mutagenic compound (Save vs CON or suffer a random mutation).
6. A scholar of languages favoured your steady hands when they needed a haircut or bloodletting. Start knowing an extra language and with an extra 1gp.

2. Criminal
1. The gangs needed someone to patch them up, no questions asked. You did the job, though it gave you nightmares. Start with a bottle of strong spirit, 3 extra medical supplies and criminal contacts in the nearest town or city.
2. You procured bodies for illicit dissections in dark corners of the colleges. It paid well. Start with a shovel, the 'Graverobbing' skill and an extra 1gp.
3.* Thugs and rogues came to you for haircuts, tattoos and scarring. Your knives and needles were the best around. Start knowing the local Thieves' Cant and with a bottle of ink, a needle & thread and an extra 2d10cp.
4. You know how to really hurt people. How to hurt them so badly that they'll tell you where the money or somniferum is, with no falsehoods whatsoever. Start with the 'Torture' skill and a set of Specialist's Tools.
5. You tended to beggars and vagrants when everyone else ignored them. Increase your Stealth score by 2. There is a 2-in-6 chance that you know some of the beggars in a local settlement, roll when you first enter it; they will be wise to the goings on in town and can gather information unobtrusively.
6. You had the trust of a local crime boss, virtually acting as one of their entourage. A rival boss made you an offer you couldn't refuse and now your former employer's thugs are on the lookout for you. Start with the 'Disguise' skill, a hooded cloak and an extra 5gp.

3. Frontier
1. You had to learn how to deal with most things by yourself when wandering the forested frontier. Your talents rendered you invaluable to the isolated villages you passed through. Start with the 'Forestry' skill, a bow and 10 arrows.
2. For a time you lived as a recluse in a small mountain village. You earned a meagre upkeep through giving the occasional haircut and home-brewed tonic. Start with the 'Mountaineer' skill, 50' of rope and a thick cloak.
3. You travelled far and wide through the sparsely populated borderlands, honing your skills in hamlets, border towns and fortified castles. Start with a sturdy riding horse (with saddlebags) and an extra 3 days-worth of trail rations.
4. You drifted to-and-fro without aim, earning money and food where you could. You learned how to travel, scrounge and stay out of sight. Start with the 'Vagabond' skill and a well-worn cloak. You take 1 Boon to Saves against exposure or inclement weather.
5. As a ship's surgeon you were called on to treat the battle wounded and those who had fallen sick. More often than not you had no choice but to amputate limbs or extremities. Start with the 'Sailing' skill, a bucket of pitch and 50' of rope.
6. You eked out a living with a rough and ready band of thugs, waylaying travellers and shaking down local villages, until the War saw you dispersed. Start with the 'Banditry' skill, a sword and an extra 1d10sp in ill-gotten gains.

4. Soldier
1. You never fought in a battle but instead followed the army around as a camp follower, pulling teeth, providing medicines and trimming beards, among other things. The pay of a soldier is forever in arrears, so you often bartered your skills. Start with an axe, a small pig and a fine, red cloak.
2.* You attended to a lord while they fought in the War. Yours was a privileged position, but all this ended when they were killed or taken prisoner. Start with a sword, clothes in the livery of the lord you served and 1d6gp pilfered from their baggage when the news came through.
3. You fought in push of pike on the worst battlefields that the War had to offer, patching up your comrades as best you could. It was never enough. Start with light armour and +1 to Saves vs Fear.
4. Horses need just as much, if not more, looking after than people and you were often hired by members of a cavalry troop to help care for their mounts. Start with the 'Husbandry' skill, a set of horseshoes and a bag of fodder.
5.* The quartermaster kept access to you tightly restricted, meaning you had a lot of time to pore over records and receipts while waiting for those with the coin to buy your services. Start with the 'Logistics' skill and an extra 3 days-worth of pilfered ration supplies.
6. You made your services available to the locals as the army passed through. Most of them were dirt poor peasants with little in the way of coin. Start with a wheelbarrow, 3 turnips and 1d20cp.

5. Urbanite
1.* You mingled with burghers and high-ranking guild officials, eager for the trappings of wealth and power. Start with the 'Fashion' skill and a set of fine clothes.
2. Your city was besieged in the opening stages of the War and you were drafted to aid in its defence. Whether the city resisted or fell, you remember the experience vividly. Start with the 'Siege' skill and a polearm.
3.* You assisted a popular physician who, like all physicians, was above surgery. They pay was good but the constant condescension was too much, so you struck out on your own. Start with a book of medical texts and an extra 1d10sp.
4. You lived and plied your trade in the city's slums. You were poor but happy, even if you had to scrounge a lot of your supplies. Not so much now. Start with the 'Scavenge' skill, a memento of your home and take 1 Boon to Saves when resisting the effects of hunger.
5. Your services were used by numerous wealthy families in the city who wished their afflictions to remain anonymous. You were paid well and often travelled to and from their houses in secret. Start with the 'Disguise' skill, +1 Stealth and 1d6gp.
6. You were good friends with the watch, and often provided your services free of charge in exchange for certain favours such as turning a blind eye to a wagon or two. Start with the 'Smuggling' skill and 3 doses of somniferum.

6. Unusual
Discuss your background with the GM depending on the option you roll below:

1. You nearly died once. After that you always heard the whispers when you were working. They were even worse when a patient died on you. You can cast 'Speak with Dead' once per day as if it were a cantrip and take 1 Boon on Saves vs Fear.
2.* You hail from lands far beyond this one and its neighbours. The skills the local barber-surgeons display are crude and barbaric, but their reasoning is sound. Start with the 'Anatomy' skill. Your technique is such that you have a 25% to preserve any medical supplies used with your abilities. You know the language of your homeland.
3. As a child, you were blessed and marked by a saint when they passed through your village. You never got sick, even when the Plague swept through. Start with the 'Religion' skill and take 1 Boon on Saves vs Disease. You have an Interesting Scar.
4. You nearly died of fever as a child, and since you recovered you have always been able to see sickness and miasma. They hang over the afflicted like sickly ghosts weeping maggots. You always know when someone has been infected with a disease and gain 1 Boon when you Save vs Fear. You don't like cities and towns.
5. You've tried so many alchemical substances that it's rare you find one that affects you. Start with the 'Alchemy' skill. You gain 1 Boon when you Save vs poisons or other intoxicants, and must always Save even if someone friendly has administered the substance to you.
6.* You have been inducted in the histories of the physicians of old. Miraculous methods and techniques are within your reach. Nothing will stop you from obtaining them. Start with the 'History' skill, an ancient (and valuable) medical treatise and take +1 on Saves vs Fear.

Pike & Shotte: The War, Part 1

One of the central elements of Pike & Shotte will be the War. Not a war. The War. The kind of war that kills one in every fifth person through violence, famine, and disease. War breeds chaos, confusion and the opportunity for adventurers to break out of the established social order. Chaos, as Littlefinger says, is a ladder.

Credit, Olli Hihnala

I'm going to provide a framework to answer the following questions with regards to the nature of the War, in order to flesh out the scenario that the PCs will find themselves in. Mechanical implications that I will detail in a subsequent post.:

• Where is the conflict occurring?
• What is the cause of the War?
• What is the current state of the War?

Where is the conflict occurring?

I've thought up a number of options for this and presented them with my thoughts below.

1. An empire of semi-independent petty kingdoms and principalities

This is the assumed 'default' setting of Pike & Shotte, based on the Holy Roman Empire. While the emperor leads one of the Great Powers (at least in the local region) their realm is riven with innumerable squabbling Princes, Electors, Bishops and Lord Mayors each pursuing their own agenda or forming dangerous factions. External enemies lurk like hungry wolves, preparing to pounce on undefended territories at a moment's notice. Membership of the empire means that the constituent states are (theoretically) bound by oaths of loyalty, but individual cultures, traditions, and even languages may be vastly different from one region to another.

2. A rich and powerful kingdom under threat from a foreign usurper

This takes inspiration from the Hundred Years War, where the Kings of England warred against the Kings of France in various attempts to enlarge their French holdings or contest the French crown. The kingdom is something of a patchwork - the crown is strongly centralised in their own demesne and powerful nobles control much of the reaches. Independent kings and dukes hold suzerainty over lands traditionally considered part of the crown. Levels of lawlessness and wealth may shift rapidly from one region to another. A common language is shared and cultural norms and traditions are roughly comparable between different areas.

3. The borderlands between rival kingdoms

Inspired by the Welsh and Scottish Marches. These bleak and sparse lands see almost constant low-level conflict between rival clans of border reivers. The armies of the rival kingdoms also foray into and beyond the borders in their own raids. The kingdoms can be as similar or distinct as you like, but the marches possess their own hybrid culture that is distinct from either parent, and marcher inhabitants from either side of the border have more in common with each other than their own countrymen.

4. A land divided by civil war

Based on the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Some matter of religion or politics has divided the people of an isolated country. The different factions seek allies from all avenues to help them in their struggle for supremacy. Regions declare for either side leading to a chaotic spread of allegiances that span the country with little recognisable pattern.

5. A foreign land, or close to home

Somewhat based on the First Crusade, from either perspective. Armies of varying nations have arrived in a foreign land on some sort of mission. The foreign armies exist in a loose alliance but all have their own agendas and desire prestige and wealth. Likewise the local inhabitants have their own factions and plans which complicate their response. Each side may have a little knowledge of the other but vastly different cultures and languages.

Credit, Irfan Yang

What is the cause of the War?

The War is out of the scope of the usual border squabbles and small scale conflicts. Use these to gauge the overall aims of the warring sides. 

1. Religion

Schism and heresy have long been a cause of bloody wars throughout history. Each side is focused on ensuring that their particular religious ideal is practised as the dominant form of the faith, whether they practise different forms of the same faith or worship different gods altogether. Inter-faith relationships will be even more fraught than usual.

2. Resources

One side wants control or possession something the other one has. Gold, some magical material, opium, tea, water, fertile farmland, wealthy cities - all of these and more could be the target of a warring power. Possessing even a small amount of the desired resources could make the PCs very wealthy indeed.

3. Dynastic struggles

Each side in the war is aligned to a branch of a certain dynasty which, through centuries of intermarriage, has ascended to the thrones of many nations. Either the different branches begin to have designs of their own, or a rival dynasty takes action when they see an opportunity. Widespread fighting breaks out as local nations choose sides and attempt to alter the balance of power. Oaths of loyalty to the dynastic heirs are not taken lightly.

4. Conquest/Colonisation

The attacker desires the complete subjugation or the defender, absorbing their lands in their entirety, or the carving out of their own enclaves. This could be an invasion launched from their homeland or a migration-style invasion where the entire populace is on the move. The defender will be fighting for their very survival.

5. Politics

The commons rise against the king; the nobles demand that their ancient rights are protected; the king grips the country with an iron fist. Some issue of politics or governance has kicked off a brutal civil war, turning countrymen against each other in the throes of ideological fervour. This will not be a simple either/or situation - each side will have numerous sub-factions clamouring for their versions of the True Cause to be given primacy.

Credit, Paul Guzenko

What is the current state of the War?

1. Opening Phases

The War has only just begun, with only a few participants. Armies have mustered and preliminary skirmishes and small battles have been fought. The land remains mostly unchanged as the armies manoeuvre and prepare for their first pitched battles. Smaller settlements may have been besieged or taken. The land remains relatively unspoiled.

2. Main Thrust

The fighting heats up significantly with several pitched battles being fought. New participants enter the fray and larger settlements are besieged and assaulted. Free Companies start to peel off from the main armies as pay starts to dry up, taking up brigandage and banditry. Food shortages start to bite and the civilian population suffers as turmoil engulfs the land. Disease spreads like wildfire in besieged cities and towns.

3. Late Game

Armies continue to clash, though allegiances may have shifted between the warring powers. Some participants will be knocked out by this point and still some new powers will throw their weight behind one side or another. Roving armies and brigands have picked the countryside clean and famine sweeps the land. Hordes of unwashed bodies in close quarters have spread pestilence to all corners and some areas are virtually depopulated.

OSR Class: Moderatus Wizard

"And as with the potter's clay on the wheel, all aspects of one's life must be in balance. Too much or too little of one thing or another and it will fall..." - Saint Atavus, Sermons

The first of my classes for Pike & Shotte. Inspired by Arnold K.'s Wizard of the White Hand. Some of the spells are stolen wholesale. This class uses the standard GLOG wizard base, as detailed by Skerples, until such a time as I detail my own alterations. My thoughts are presented in italics.

Barber-surgeons are skilled in their craft of steel and blood, but theirs is a crude art. They hack and sew at the body as if it were a hunk of meat, barbaric and destructive even as they heal and repair. The body and mind are finely tuned constructs, designed as they are by the divine, and their holy sanctity must be upheld.

The crimson robes of the monastic Even-Handed Order are commonly seen in the halls of power. Kings, nobles and wealthy burghers call upon the services of the wizards known as Moderati to act as their personal physicians, such are their talents. Much of a Moderatus' handsome fee is paid to the Order, making it exceedingly wealthy and allowing it to fund hospitals and almshouses, leading to a widely held respect for those who wear the sign of the crossed palms. Their noted honesty and charity also helps.

A Moderatus eschews alcohol, incense and laudanum, for these things disrupt the balance of the mind and body. All Moderati have a particular hatred for poisoners and the undead. They meditate often. Women are welcome in their ranks, but rare.

Central to the tenets of the Even-Handed Order is an ideal of balance - the divine created all things in a perfect arrangement which must be maintained, whether this is the body's humours, the soundness of the mind, or the order of society. As such, Moderati tend to be conservative, dour types who dislike change. A Moderatus who rejects the life of hospitaller or court physician will often wander the land, seeking out new remedies for maladies both mundane and magical.

Credit, Andromonoid MJ

Wizard: Moderatus

Additional Starting Equipment: Crimson robes, dagger, 1d10sp, needle & thread.

Status: Chartered.

Perk: You can tell the current dominant humour in a person at a glance. Tailor your conversation carefully.

Moderati know the four temperaments well. They can tell who will be easily provoked to anger, who will not be drawn into impulsive decisions, who thinks this is all a silly game, and so on. This is handy to have when preparing for negotiations.

Drawback: You lose your powers the moment you are exposed to an intoxicant, whether it be alcohol, drugs or poisons. This lasts until the next day.

Note that this covers exposure, not whether or not you actually partake. One splashed drink = one sad wizard.

Cantrips:

1. You may bring [level] pints of water to the boil in moments.

2. You always know the fulcrum of any balanced object.

3. You can clean surfaces by running your hands over them.

These cantrips are geared around the idea of a monastic healer but have some utility to an adventuring party - you can identify unstable objects at a glance, cover traces of your passing and have a last ditch weapon if required.

Credit, Jakub Rebelka

Moderatus Spell List

1. Knit Flesh

Range: Touch; Target: One creature; Duration: Instant

Your touch heals the target of their wounds, restoring 1d6+[dice] HP. Alternatively this can be used to re-attach a severed limb or other body part. Just make sure it's fresh and you arrange it in roughly the right way.

Essentially Cure Light Wounds with added Frankenstein-potential.

2. Charm Person

Range: 120'; Target: One person; Duration: [dice] Turns

You soothe the target's mind, rendering them blindly happy and a little bit in love with you. They will obey any request that you make for the duration, provided that it doesn't go against their own interests or personality. They may Save to resist a request that goes against their interests or personality, but succeeding will not end the effects of the spell. Abuse, neglect and violence will trigger a Save made with 2 Boons and the target will fly into a murderous rage if they break free. The target is aware that they are under the influence of a spell and may be very unhappy when the effects wear off.

3. Purgation

Range: 50'; Target: One creature; Duration: Instant

Your target violently expels the contents of their stomach and bowels as they cramp and spasm, suffering 1d4 damage. Targets may make an additional Save vs a poison or intoxicant effect with 1 Boon and are immobilised for [dice] Rounds. Casting this spell with 3 or more [dice] will inflict [sum]+1 damage, leave the target dangerously dehydrated, immobilise them for [dice]x2 rounds and allow a Save with 2 Boons.

4. Tweak Humour

Range: 60'; Target: One creature; Duration: [sum] Rounds

You harshly alter the humours of your target. Choose an effect from the list below:

Choler: Your target is plunged into a terrible rage, attacking the nearest possible target in melee. The target makes all Attack and Damage rolls with a bonus of [dice] but suffers -2 to Defence/Armour Class.

Melancholy: Waves of depression and anxiety wrap around your target, dulling their senses. The target suffers [dice] Banes on all rolls.

Phlegm: The target must Save or flee for the duration, if they pass their Save they automatically go last in initiative order.

Sanguine: You render the target almost blindly empathetic. If they see one of their comrades injured they suffer equivalent Shock to the amount of damage dealt.

5. Cure Disease
Range: Touch; Target: One creature; Duration: Instant
You draw the miasma of disease out of the target, allowing them to make a new Save with 1 Boon to shake off its effects. It is essential to perform this spell in a well-ventilated area or have a means of bottling or otherwise containing it, lest the miasma concentrate in a bystander's lungs and fester anew.

Plague grenades, anyone?

6. Unbalanced
Range: 60'; Target: One creature or object: Duration: [dice] Rounds
You upset the inner ear of the target, causing a rush of vertigo - they must Save when moving or attacking and fall to the floor if they fail. If you cast this spell with 3 or more [dice] the target falls to the ground, unable to do anything but crawl and retch.

7. Sleep
Range: 60'; Target: [dice] creatures; Duration: [dice]/targets Turns (min. 1 Turn per [dice])
You dull the target's mind with waves of somniference, lulling them to sleep. Violence or rough movement and loud noises will wake the target but gentle handling and normal movements will not. Magical creatures may Save to resist the effects of this spell. Undead, constructs and other creatures that do not require sleep are not affected by this spell.

8. Extract Venom
Range: Touch; Target: One creature; Duration: Instant
You pierce a creature with a sharp object and draw all of the venom out, which then pools in your hand or a vial. If you use this to remove the poison from a poisoned creature, that creature gets a new Save with 1 Boon. You can also use this to draw all of the poison out of a venomous creature. Unwilling venomous creatures may Save to negate this effect.

9. Calm Nerves
Range: 60'; Target: One creature; Duration: Instant
You settle the target's nerves and balance their humours. They heal [sum] Shock and may make a new Save with 1 Boon vs an ongoing mental effect.

10. Hold Creature
Range: 60', Target: One creature; Duration: [dice] Turns
You paralyse the body of the target, rendering them unable to move. Unwilling targets may attempt a Save - if successful they move at half speed, go last in initiative and suffer 1 Bane on all Attack, STR, and DEX rolls.

Emblem Spells
11. Vivigraphy 
Range: Touch; Target: One living creature; Duration: 1 Turn
Your target's body is compelled to answer [dice] questions. This is the flesh body answering, not the mind. The body will answer honestly, but flesh bodies technically see/hear/experience everything the living body does, but they only remember things that involve food, sex, pain, adrenaline responses, and stuff like that. Usually the body will talk using its normal mouth, but it may also communicate the response in other ways, like spelling out answers in freckles. It's always understandable, although sometimes a bit cryptic.

12. Heal
Range: Touch; Target: One creature; Duration: Instant
A wondrous warmth seeps through your target as you cure them of their afflictions. You may heal [dice] afflictions (poisons, diseases etc.) and/or injuries (meaning that they will heal with a night's rest), along with [sum] HP. If you cast this spell with 4 or more [dice] you can restore to life a creature that died in the last Turn. They are restored to life at 0 HP and keep any injuries they suffered before death.

Mishaps
1. MD only return to your pool on a 1-2 for 24 hours.
2. Take 1d6 damage.
3. Random mutation for 1d6 Rounds, then Save with a -4 penalty. Permanent if you fail.
4. You hands knot and twist for 1d6 Turns. Fine manipulation and spellcasting is impossible.
5. Your teeth fall out and shape themselves into bone needles, -4 CHA. They regrow overnight.
6. Your humours are unsettled for 1d6 Turns. Suffer a Bane on all rolls.

Dooms
1. You become gaunt and sickly. You must Save each day or contract a minor illness (cold, conjunctivitis etc.) with appropriate penalties. These diseases are cumulative.
2. Your body withers and decays. As above, but you contract a major illness (smallpox, cholera etc.).
3. Your mind shatters as your body erupts as a maggot-ridden hive of disease and sickness. All within 50' of you must Save or contract the Plague. You caper madly, spreading filth and corruption wherever you tread.

Credit, Kseniia Tselousova

This class has a variety of healing spells befitting a physician-wizard, as well as means of controlling others through mental and physical effects. Being able to restore a recently killed target to life is amazingly powerful in this system, but obtaining that spell will take some doing. Direct damage is limited, but being able to make an enemy shit themselves so hard they curl into the foetal position has to count for something.

Mishaps are moderately inconveniencing, especially if in a dangerous area, but the Dooms are pretty nasty - you could end up spreading a variety of wonderful pestilences to your party and then end up as a sloppity bilepiper.

Pike & Shotte: First Steps

I've been seized by a madness. A madness that only strikes when I'm running a campaign using another set of house rules. A madness to kludge together a system that uses the GLOG as its core (including some of Skerples' refinements) with various parts of Lamentations of the Flame Princess bolted on, presented in a weird fantasy, Early Modern-inspired setting. Adventurers scrabbling for scraps of treasure in the midst of mercenary armies plundering and looting, internecine religious conflict, the slow decline of the old order, the dethroning of kings, things and places from ages unknown by human memory, sorcery from beyond the veil of madness, gunpowder, steel and chaos. That sort of thing. It could be glorious. It will probably be crap, but to quote Arnold K.:

But no one is interested in your fantasy heartbreaker.  This is because everyone is up to their ascending colon in retroclones and besides, they're busy writing their own.
It's like trying to tell other people about your dreams.  No one cares.  Give them content, not another retroclone.
I know these things, and yet here I am.

Above all I want to ensure that the end result is still as fun, simple and OSR-compatible as the components used in its creation. With the above in mind, I'm going to be making a few posts with steps that can be be used to build up a world full of chaos and opportunity for enterprising PCs. Namely:

- The War and why it started (or why it's about to start), how long it has been going, and what the armies are doing (potentially including mass combat);
- PC Classes;
- Religion and schism;
- Magical, monstrous & fantastical elements.

There will be others, but I'll get to those as and when the ideas strike.*

Credit, Filip Štorch

*All of the above will not abide by any rational or logical notions of timekeeping.

OSR: IT Monsters & Magic, Part 2

In my previous post I wrote up a few IT-inspired things that I'd come up with. Here's a bit more of that!

Credit, Robin Weatherall

Particle Ghost (Backup)

The Central Processor of a techno-dungeon resembles a gestalt consciousness more than a distinct entity. While it is capable of acting with a single purpose, Central Processing is the sum of a vast number of interconnected, specialised systems. Each of these systems is vital to the functioning of the whole, and specialised Code Servitors are constantly error-checking and backing up its core components in case disaster recovery is required. Such backups don't always run correctly.

The PCs may catch a glimpse of something insubstantial following them through the steel halls of the techno-dungeon. A faint static charge causes their hair to stand on end, and any electrical equipment experiences occasional glitches. A particle ghost is close.

Spawned from corrupted backup routines, these entities move through the integrated circuitry of a techno-dungeon attempting to fulfil their intended functions. They are easily distracted from their attempts. Upon finding a band of intruders, they materialise into a ghoulish, sparking humanoid form writhing with streams of corrupted data.

AC: 16*, HD: 4, Attacks: +2 to hit & special (see below), Move: Fly 30', Save As: 4th level Magic-User, Morale: 10.

SPECIAL

A particle ghost exists mostly in an incorporeal state and can only be harmed by magic or magic weapons while in this state. They must materialise to attack and are vulnerable to regular damage when they do so. Given 24 hours they will regenerate all damage dealt to them.

Roll on the table below to see the process that the particle ghost was spawned from:

1. Environmental - Oxygen levels are drained when the particle ghost attacks. Target must Save vs Breath or suffer 1d6 damage. A character who fails this save twice in a row falls unconscious.

2. Security - Target suffers 1d6 damage and is suffers -2 STR drain (this is cumulative).

3. Data Compilation - Target loses one random possession. If the lair of the particle ghost is found, it contains a large number of items that have been meticulously arranged in neat sets.

4. Memory Management - Target loses 1d4 x 100xp as their memories and experiences are drained.

5. Power Generation - Target takes 1d8 electric damage and must Save vs Paralysis or be paralysed for 1d6 rounds. Any electrical equipment they are carrying is destroyed.

6. Quantum Computation - An exact physical copy of the target is created 50' away, minus any equipment. Memorised spells and current hit points are transferred. The copy may attempt to deceive the party, but it is in fact irreversibly hostile towards them. The particle ghost can perform this four times, per target, per day, before their calculations become too unstable and must have the new copies factored in.

Credit, Dan Voinescu

Helmjack
The origin of these devices is shrouded in mystery, but they fit the average humanoid head. Though it outwardly resembles a smooth, chrome helmet, the inner surface of a helmjack is covered in an undulating layer of monofilament strands.

When a creature dons a helmjack the monofilaments infiltrate their skull and penetrate deep into their brain. The experience has been described as extremely unpleasant. Within moments the helmjack maps the wearers neural patterns with pinpoint accuracy and stores them in a dense latticework of integrated circuitry. The player should note down their current XP and non-physical stats - INT & WIS for definite and CHA depending on whether you consider it an expression of personality or physical attractiveness, I hold to the former. A light at the base of the helmjack will light up if there is an engram stored.

If a creature dons a helmjack that holds an engram then their consciousness will be swapped out with the engram-consciousness within. Likewise, if a vacant body (mind-blanked clone servitor, deactivated roboframe, corpse that has been physically healed etc.) can be found then an engram-consciousness can be activated. The experience of being forced into a body that their mind is not used to can be extremely traumatic.

OSR: IT Monsters & Magic

I work with computers, and that's why I drink. Working with technology on a daily basis means that a lot of my thoughts are taken up thinking about how to apply it to various aspects of my life (currently this consists of plans for a scratch-built pfSense router once house-buying is finalised), but until now my thoughts on RPGs + technology have been confined to sci-fi games like Stars Without Number and Eclipse Phase. Blogging and viewing the fantastic ideas that others in the OSR scene have come up with (special mention to Martin at Goodberry Monthly's horrifying protein monsters) has got me thinking about how IT features and concepts could be converted for use in gaming, especially about how many of them can be used to 'attack the sheet'.

Ideas below are rough and ready, refinements and additions will be made in subsequent posts as I think of them.

Concept art of the Sevastopol from Alien: Isolation, artist unknown

Techno-Dungeons

Ancient civilisations have left their mark on Egradus. The Ancients and Serpent-Men waged their terrible war in eons past and highly advanced orcish nations flourished until the cataclysmic arrival of humans, dwarves and halflings. While the Serpent-Men were more magically and biologically inclined, the Ancients and orcs had a close affinity with technology. In the process of their endeavours on Egradus they built structures and machines of immense complexity - the Ancients relied on vast AI-controlled terraforming facilities and laboratories to transform the planet in their image, while the orcs constructed tools of war, space travel and industry in their quest to reclaim the stars.

Such endeavours required huge amounts of processing power and computational ability. Thus were born the techno-dungeons: enormous hardened structures governed by AI that were designed around a single purpose. This could be anything from maintaining and running an automated singularity foundry to determining floating point spacetime co-ordinates for an experimental teleporter.

These facilities were designed to be run by the AI within with a singularity of purpose, free from external distractions save for minimal supervision. They would have their own maintenance subroutines and defences and the resources to self-sustain their operations. None of them survived the ravages of the years intact but there are many that are still in semi-operational condition. The power and wealth that lie within are immense, but so too are the dangers that still lurk in the forgotten metallic depths.

I'll be doing a separate post on techno-dungeons and will hopefully produce a working one for use sometime soon.

Credit, Andrew Fichthorn

Monsters

Mindcage (Ransomware)

Strange creatures spawned from intelligent beings' avarice that possess a pathological desire for wealth, which they can't bring themselves to spend.

Very few people have ever seen a mindcage in its true form, even when it attacks, as they are always disguised as something else. They generally disguise themselves as a container with something valuable within - when an unwitting person opens the container they leap out and force themselves into the victim's brain through the auditory organs. This process is painless and often unnoticed, but the victim soon finds their thoughts and memories rapidly disappearing and any attempts to communicate are emitted in a glossolalia gibberish.

Eventually the victim stands stock still in a catatonic state, demanding large amounts of treasure and valuables in a loud monotone. Once paid, the mindcage moves on but their victims remain in the same catatonic state for several weeks as they gradually recover from the experience. A mindcage's true form resembles a small, hunched humanoid figure with sallow pale skin, a distended toothless mouth and fingers that trail off into fractal filaments.

AC: 14, HD: 3, Attacks: special, Move: 30', Save As: 3rd level Magic-User, Morale: 7

SPECIAL

A mindcage can become incorporeal as a full-round action. It can only be seen or harmed by magic or magic items.

Instead of attacking, a mindcage attempts to enter a target's brain. It must be in ethereal form to do so. The target must Save vs Magic to resist, failure means that the mindcage successfully takes up residence in their brain. Success alerts the target to this attempt. Once inside the target's brain, the mindcage drains 1 point of INT and WIS per round; the target loses the power to speak intelligibly once 5 or more rounds pass. The target becomes catatonic as soon as their INT or WIS reach 3.

Once these stats reach 0 the target doesn't die but begins to demand large amounts of treasure - it will demand a greater amount than what is currently available to the party. If paid then the mindcage will absorb the treasure into their incorporeal form and flee to their lair. The target is restored to 3 INT & WIS and is rendered unconscious until their stats are restored to normal, which recovers at the standard pace. If nothing is paid then the victim will eventually die of thirst or starve.

Magic can be used to attack a mindcage directly but the attacker must be able to see the creature in order to avoid damaging the host.

---

Code Servitor (Daemon)

Techno-dungeons are elaborately maintained electrical ecosystems - temperature, humidity, atmospheric particulate levels and more must be kept at a precise equilibrium to avoid damage to the delicate machinery contained within. Code Servitors are slaved to perform one specific purpose - filter the air, lower the temperature, equalise static charges, remove intruders etc. - and will fulfil it with a single-minded determination. They are generally small in stature and their appearance is utilitarian - they are designed with a specific task in mind, not aesthetics. Most servitors are mass produced by central processing but some are custom made for specific, vital tasks. Interrupting their tasks can prove massively detrimental to the dungeon at large and also to an adventurer's health.

AC: 14, HD: 2, Attacks: 1 appendage for 1d6 damage/special (see below), Move: Fly 30', Save As: 2nd level Fighter, Morale: -

SPECIAL

Code Servitors never fail morale checks and are immune to fear effects from spells and abilities.

The special effects of Code Servitor attacks vary depending on the servitor's purpose. For example a temperature control servitor may set a their target aflame or freeze them, or a humidity controller might drain all of the liquids they are carrying and start desiccating them.

---

Memetic Annelid (Worm)

Despite the efforts of the Code Servitors and heuristic intrusion countermeasure agents, life (of a sort) finds a way. Unauthorised lifeforms in a techno-dungeon survive through stealth, hiding in plain sight by deceiving the dungeon's guardians or secreting themselves in remote locations, or through rapid reproduction. Memetic annelids favour the latter method, dividing and splitting at the slightest provocation. The rich concentrations of resources held by living organisms and isolated machines provide tempting targets for them, and their prey's fate is as good as sealed as soon as an annelid manages to burrow inside.

AC: 12, HD: 1, Attacks: 1 bite + grab for 1d6 (Save vs Paralysis to avoid being grabbed) + special, Move: 30',  Save As: 1st level Fighter, Morale: 10 if targets are outnumbered, otherwise 7

SPECIAL

A memetic annelid can burrow into a target that it has grabbed. This is a full round action. The target takes 1d8 damage as the annelid burrows into them and takes 1d8 damage on each subsequent round. A target reduced to 0hp while an annelid has burrowed inside them explodes in a pile of gore and 1d4+1 annelids emerge from their remains, acting at the end of initiative order.

---

Hostile-Key Isolators (Antivirus Quarantine)

While intruders are generally dealt with in a lethal fashion, central processing may choose to make an exception according to its arcane and ancient programming. While external entities may sometimes be tolerated, heuristic threat analysis is applied to their possessions and capabilities. Hostile-Key Isolators swarm subjects flagged as hazardous and strip them of anything deemed threatening, phase-shifting the offending articles to a quarantine zone.

AC: 14, HD: 1, Attacks: special, Move: Fly 30', Save As: 1st level Fighter, Morale: 12

SPECIAL

Roll below to see what has triggered the hostile response:

1. Weapons
2. Light sources
3. External bio-contaminants (food, water & animal products)
4. Aetheric disturbances (magic items, scrolls and potions)
5. Unauthorised visual recordings (eyes)
6. Prohibited auditory sensors (ears)
7. Magnetic anomalies (metal objects)
8. Suspicious containers (backpacks & sacks)

A successful hit requires the target to Save vs Magic Device. On a failure the hostile-key isolator phase-shifts the offending article to quarantine and withdraws from the target. Every isolator carries a private key with which to access the quarantine zones if required.

Credit, John F Stifter

Other

Magic Smoke

This wispy purple-ish smoke smells of ozone and burned plastic. It is intelligent and benign, and is capable of providing power to electrical devices. It can be bottled and if poured over a damaged electrical device it has a 2-in-6 chance of restoring normal function for 1d6 Turns. Pouring it onto a working machine will boost its functions for 1d6 Turns but runs a 3-in-6 chance of overloading it once this time has elapsed. Magic smoke will refuse to re-enter a machine from which it has escaped, for reasons it refuses to elaborate on.

Magic and its impact

For clarity, this post concerns arcane magic. The divine is another beast.

Magic has been a staple of RPGs since the beginning of the hobby - the traditional grouping of adventurers consists of a fighter, cleric, magic-user and (depending on how die-hard a purist you are) a thief. Magic-users control powers beyond mortal ken, providing flexibility in a huge number of situations, and their influence and presence is noted in a huge variety of RPGs (even those with a non-fantasy focus). However I often have an issue with how magic itself is portrayed, particularly with regard to where it originates and the implications its origin has for the wider setting.

In short, I want magic to provide great power and utility but with an element of mortal risk to the caster and their compatriots.

Credit, Iman Awan

In stock D&D or Pathfinder for example, arcane magic is just sort of... there. You have the usual Vancian fire-and-forget mechanics but magic is presented as a dry, formulaic thing where a wizard sits down, picks their spells out of a book and then uses them throughout the day. I don't get any sense of where that magic comes from or what spells are. Moving away from vanilla wizards gets you into sorcerer and warlock territory, whereby characters marshal magic through force of will or pacts with otherworldly beings. However magic remains easy to use and virtually without risk, save for some spell side effects. This second point is what turns me off from the 'magic' (under Clarke's Third Law, at least) in Monte Cook's Numenera - while its origin is awesome (swarms of nanites left over from ancient civilisations gone haywire) its use still fails to raise the stakes.

Compare this with Kevin Crawford's Stars Without Number (which is excellent, by the way). Psychic characters (technically not magic but whatever) are marked by a connection to a subspace realm of metadimensional energy that they are able to channel to manifest their powers. Most psychics die or go mad because the energies they channel fry their brains - only those who undergo rigorous training to channel the destructive energies through more resilient parts of their brains survive. Psychics can 'torch' their powers and go beyond their normal limits and in doing so they risk terrible and permanent damage. This fits seamlessly into the world - metadimensional space is used for faster than light travel and incredibly advanced ancient technology - and offers incredible powers to its users while also being a great hazard.

Recently I've fallen in love with Arnold K.'s GLOG, particularly the spellcasting rules. Each magic template you take nets you one magic dice which are rolled when you use one of your spells. Most spell effects scale with the number of dice used or the sum of their results, which gives you an incentive to pour more dice into a certain spell. However you only retain the dice on a 1-3 and regain lost dice at the start of the next day, and if you roll doubles or triples there are some horrid things that can happen to your character. So you have the balancing act of wanting to power up your spells while avoiding the chance of fucking things up. The in-GLOGiverse depiction of spells as somewhat unpredictable spiritual entities that a wizard has to draw into and rear inside their own brain provides a wonderful bit of worldbuilding that exactly describes why unleashing higher levels of power from the semi-enslaved extradimensional creatures in your brain-cage could cause some mishaps.

In my own Egradus setting I've stuck with the alternative rules for Lamentations of the Flame Princess found in the Vaginas Are Magic supplement - spells have no level and a magic-user has a number of preparation slots equal to their level. They can cast spells once these have been exhausted but this carries the risk of terrible side effects. Magic in Egradus is drawn from the Abyss - an entropic micro-universe that was guided into contact with the material plane by the malign eldritch entities within. The reality of the material plane was broken by contact with such a vastly entropic force and magic-users tap into the swirling chaotic energies released by the Abyss when it latched on like a tick. Thus magic-users can channel incredible power, but if they push themselves beyond their limits they run the risk of mutation, daemonic attention and worse.

Credit, Nikolay Moskvin

With this in mind I've thought up some possible origins and hazards of using arcane magic. Feel free to adapt them or suggest your own! I've kept them light on concrete mechanics but there should be enough to build from.

1. Dreams of a Dead God
Origin: The corpse of a deity lies long dead deep beneath the earth (or maybe it is the earth) but their essence lives on and permeates everything. Fragments of their dreams and soul touch and interact with the mortal world. Mages bend these to their will through meditation and use them to fuel their magical powers. Higher levels means a greater capacity to absorb the essence of a dead god.

Hazard: What is dead does not die. A mage that oversteps their bounds runs the risk of being drawn into living nightmares or having their personality gradually eroded by the ever so slowly decaying thoughts and memories of the divine.

2. The Soul (inspired by Chris at Journey into the Weird)
Origin: The soul is of a different substance to the body, one of power and limitless potential. The energy contained within a soul represents an incredible source of power and mages are able to control souls through arcane rituals using body parts, bones or hairs. The living have a chance to resist these rituals but the disembodied souls of the dead are powerless to resist being bound to a wizard's will. Higher levels means a greater ability to bind residual spirits and souls.

Hazard: The souls of the dead desire their freedom. A mage that loses control of a soul is often possessed, or finds that their own soul is viciously excoriated.

3. Intoxicant Delusions
Origin: Certain plants, fungi or even animals contain substances that shift a person's perception of the world to the astral plane and allow them to see the currents of energy that run through it. A wizard who imbibes a sufficient amount of these substances finds themselves able to shape and channel this power into their minds to be released in a variety of magical effects. Higher levels means a greater capacity for bingeing upon these substances and a greater ability to control the astral power they give access to.

Hazard: Overdoses are bad news for all involved. A person's metabolism can only take so much before weird mutations, diseases and spiritual afflictions start to crop up. Severe cases can lead to a person being phase-shifted into astral space, which isn't all nice.

4. Mathematical Perfection
Origin: Reality is an ordered construct. Every facet of the universe is detailed in endless formulae and equations. Wizards are master mathematicians who pore over and decipher the immaterial tapestry upon which reality is embroidered. Mastery of these elemental formulae allows them to manipulate and alter reality, whether that consists of firing bolts of energy or rendering themselves invisible. Higher levels means a better recall of the formulae in their notes and a deeper understanding of the underpinnings of creation.

Hazard: Don't recite a decimal point in the wrong place or the spell you intended to disembowel your enemy with might instead remove your arm, or merge you with the wall, or turn your cell membranes into lego.