Word salad powers

I really like a lot of ideas  on Dunkey Halton's blog. I'm rather fond of the Adventure Points idea, for example. However, I know from experience that sometimes you don't really know what you want your character to be - which sucks if you're a player in a campaign that is going to use Adventure Points.

So I figured, what if I used groups of, say, three random words (there are plenty of generators online) and try to work those into a power/thing for a character. Which, in turn, would grant some idea as to what kind of douchebag person would have those powers and/or things. Obviously, some word combinations are easier to use than others (and some are plain unusable), but still, this allows me to combine two things that I like: Dunkey Halton's Adventure Points and random generators.

I present you with some examples below. If you like the characters and would like to use them as PCs or NPCs or whatever either as-is or in modified form, feel free to do so.

Flumbar the Factor

• The Remarkable Draining Squeal (words: drain, squeal, remarkable) - once a day, Flumbar can perform a horrid wailing squeal that steals life force from Flumbar's opponents, damaging them and healing Flumbar.
• Bright Overconfident Purple (words: bright, overconfident, purple) - clothes of an outrageously bright shade of purple. While these are a giveaway in a crowd, they're also enchanted as to make the wearer impervious to mind-affecting magic.
• Steam Laborer of Marble (words: steam, marble, laborer) - a steam powered automaton, the outer surface of which is decorated with marble. The automaton is capable of performing simple physical tasks when so instructed.
• Box of Dashing Mice (words: mice, dashing, box) - a box that can once per day magically produce 1d6 mice. The mice are unusually intelligent and brave and will attempt to follow any instructions given by the owner of the box. The mice disappear at sunrise, but new ones can be summoned immediately.

Zorblax

• The Twig of Anger Holes (words: anger, twig, hole) - a wand that allows you to blast holes in your opponents. Pure and simple. Could also be a weird name for a gun, I suppose.
• The Box of the Noiseless Craven (words: noiseless, box, craven) - a box containing magical powder that when inhaled muffles sounds made by the user. This one's kinda meh, but there you have it.
• Writing of the Vengeful Frame (words: vengeful, writing, frame) - Zorblax can make a runic inscription on items. Anyone attempting to tamper with them will be trapped in a painfully constricting frame of magical energies.
• Learned Childlike Draconian (words: learned, childlike, draconian) - I guess Zorblax owns a small (but ancient and well-read) dragon-like familiar or some such? Pocket wyvern, anyone?

Ace E. Deesy

• The Correct Double Guitar (words: double, correct, guitar) - one of those two-necked guitars, except this one is very easy to play. Oh, and once per day it lets you verify whether someone is being truthful if you jam out a wicked tune.
• Overflowing Volatile Weather (words: overflow, volatile, weather) - once per day Z can cause a localized rainstorm. (Presumably by being metal enough on the Correct Double Guitar.)
• Material of Decisive Shame (words: material, shame, decisive) - a powder that can be put thrown onto someone (so that they inhale it) or mixed into a drink. Either way, it causes them to start running around, hallucinate, strip naked, shout gibberish and generally act in ways that they will regret in the morning.
• Lamp of the Shivering Spark (words: shivering, lamp, spark) - a bizarre lamp that emits light via a bluish spark. This spark if touched to a living being causes them pain and damage. (Basically a sort of magical taser of sorts.)

Ginger Lemons

• Serious Legal Print (words: legal, print, serious) - a mindbogglingly complex legal document that can be used to prove you're in the right in any judicial situation (if you're enough of a quick-talker, anyway).
• Puzzling Glass Attack (words: attack, puzzling, glass) - a magical spell which launches dozens of glass shards at a target.
• The Hard Therapeutic Cup (words: therapeutic, cup, hard) - a cup which instills any liquid poured in it with healing properties. It's also hard, I guess? Perhaps it's ceramic, but behaves as if it was metal?
• Riddle of the Wild Cough (words: wild, cough, riddle) - a spell that sends an opponent (or a group of weaker ones) into debilitating fits of coughing.

Joint Orders Of Necromancers Benevolent

So Arnold K. posted a fascinating thing recently. Since the post had to do with necromancy and the undead, it reminded me of this old idea I had collecting dust in the back of my brain for years. So here it is.

Necromancy in general is not viewed in positive light, mostly because tampering with the dead is taboo and because the non-necromancer-created undead (such as vampires and restless spirits) are dangerous and bothersome enough. However, most societies learn to accept and even welcome the Joint Orders of Necromancers Benevolent. The Orders use study, research and practice of necromancy to benefit society and are often on the front lines of the efforts to remove malignant undead presence. While some aspects of their activity are disturbing, their goals are good and they are always willing to negotiate their means with the local authorities.
That said, the members of the Joint Orders are not necessarily pleasant to be around. While they're trying to work for the living and with them, they're still necromancers and dealing so much with death rubs off on a person.

There are three Orders in the organization, united through several common practices:

• All members donate their bodies upon death for the use of organization. These are reanimated to perform the kinds of work that the living members prefer not to deal with.
• Spirits can also be volunteered for some duration of service, especially for instruction of newer generations.
• While the Orders accept members regardless of race, sex or creed, members are expected not marry or have children. They are also expected to stay within the Orders' quarters rather than in private lodgings or inns if there is an option.
• Members are allowed to transfer allegiances between Orders.
• All members give a magically reinforced oath not to knowingly cause needless harm to the living or to raise the dead in any form except within clearly defined circumstance (the circumstance is Order-specific).
• Lichhood is strictly forbidden.

 

Bone

A Bone necromancer filling out a form. (Painting by Francisco de Zurbarán)

The Order of the Bone is the most involved with local authorities and communities. They wear white robes and are most often providers of services, administrators and leaders of Necromancers Benevolent conclaves. The services they provide usually consist of:

• Healing - working with the dead yields a lot of medical insights and healing magic is apparently closely related to necromancy. They attempt to provide access to healing to those who cannot normally afford it, although their healers do tend to give out pamphlets that encourage donating your body to the Orders after death.
• Workforce bolstering - a single Bone necromancer with a group of zombie laborers can significantly speed up various projects, provided they work at other times than the rest of the workers.
• Preparing bodies of the dead so that they can not be raised by rogues necromancers.
• Legal assistance - nothing helps solve a murder case like summoning the spirit of the victim.

 

Ash

An young Ash initiate consults a librarian spirit (housed within a skull). (Painting by Anthony van Dyck)

The Order of the Ash is the one specializing in research, archiving and training new members of all the Orders. They are distinguished by their grey robes - the shade of grey usually lighter the longer the person has been a member. At least one third of their number have formerly been active in the other two Orders, but have retired from active duty therein and now function as instructors to the initiates.

Ash necromancers maintain extensive libraries, but usually outside of acquisitions and management there are few living librarians - books are mostly looked up by spirits and shades and the handling is left to skeletons. While the libraries are open to outsiders, many find the undead "staff" to be too disturbing to visit often.

 

Blood

Non-necromancer member of the Order of Blood in his battle gear. (Painting by Anthony van Dyck)

The Order of the Blood is the only one which has non-necromancer members (although even they have at least theoretical basics of necromancy). They are dedicated to exterminating undead infestations and dealing with rogue necromancers. They do not have distinctive garb for practical reasons, but when working in the open they often wear red sashes visibly somewhere on their person.

They are often aided in their work by spirits of the dead, often bound to their battle gear. Of all the Orders, Blood are most likely to request their spirits be bound after death - usually to combat gear of a new generation. While they are often released after two or three lifetimes, there are some that have been transferred from item to item over many centuries.

 

Room for interpretation

I like this organization because it can be interpreted so differently depending on context. Are they what they seem on the face of it - a group of people utilizing an unusual ability for the good of society and honestly believe what they declare? Or maybe they're just pragmatic and realize it's the only way to survive persecution they'd face otherwise? Or a mix of both? They could, perhaps, also be a good PR front for an evil cult that is secretly working on a huge necromantic project - like resurrecting a dead god bound to their will. Might be something else entirely. There's also room for some interesting conflicts with groups opposed to necromancy on principle, or groups who wish to use necromancy differently.

Also they give me an excuse to use 17th century paintings, which is one of the better reasons ever.

Deities & Priesthoods 2: Teluru

Teluru, the Guardian God. Teluru, the Shield-and-Spear. Also known as Tywimh and Shinn Of The Walls. Everywhere where there are enough people to warrant a garrison of professional soldiers there is someone praying to him.

We'd probably depict him like this. But with more arms. (From here.)

Although depicted as a four-armed warrior in ancient armour carrying a shield and a spear Teluru is not a god of war. He is the god of protection and guardians and - by extension - patron of the city guards and watchmen. Every military unit tasked with protecting a civilized locale will have a shrine to Teluru in their barracks and if there's enough of them, they'll have selected a dedicated chaplain from amongst their ranks. (About 10% chance of having one for every 100 soldiers, maybe? I don't know, something like that sounds reasonable.)

For all intents and purposes, this chaplain functions like a cleric of any other god, with some slight exceptions. Firstly, the chaplain does not share the weapon restriction the other clerics have to deal with - instead of all the weapons possible he or she can only carry a spear or another polearm. And secondly, through practice with the weapon, the chaplain wields it as a fighter would.

Ogden's Hangman & Supernatural Executioners

Have you read Maurice Ogden's The Hangman? If you haven't, go read it on its wikipedia page. I'll wait.

(From here)

I don't remember how I came across this poem. It's got a message about witch-hunts and conformism and passivity towards evil and bla bla bla. But when I read it I immediately thought that the hangman as described would make an interesting opponent in a game session. My initial thought was just a psychopathic psion of an NPC who uses his power of suggestion to make people submit to his will and then kills them off one by one.

But now I have a set of tables & "rules" for spooky executioners.

Method of Execution

d6

1. Hanging.
2. Burning at stake.
3. Decapitation.
4. Being hanged, drawn & quartered.
5. Drowning.
6. Animal pit.

Nature & Motivation of Executioner

d6

1. Psychopathic psionic human, doing it for the kicks.
2. Non-psychopathic psionic human, seeks revenge against town for death of wrongfully executed parent.
3. A ghost, trying to free itself by putting the living to the same death it experienced. It doesn't work.
4. Limited manifestation of unknowable eldritch horror, using deaths to fuel entry into this plane of existence.
5. Incarnation of unjust capital punishment. Just following its nature.
6. Disembodied entity that keeps possessing a new executioner if the old one is dispatched. Feeds on the fear and suffering it creates.

 Also roll d100 for percentage of original population still remaining (at least 2 people, though) when  players enter town.

My idea is that people need to roll saves at a big penalty or submit and helplessly watch the executioner dispatch its victims... Or be the victim as the case may be. Repeat roll at every execution. Strong compulsion to attend executions - similar save as before to avoid. When attempting to leave town with the executioner undefeated, succeed similar save without penalty or lose conscienceness for 1d6 hours - or until next execution, whichever is sooner.

Deities & Priesthoods: An'nana

Try not to look at her directly for too long (from here)

Also known as the Divine Progenitor and the Shining One, An'nana is one of the oldest deities around, being a parent to many of the younger gods and godlings (and even a few heroes). While An'nana changes gender often and at will, the deity's motherly personality and preferred appearance (that of a glowing young woman) lead to the mortals also using the title Caring Mother for her.

 

A "priestess" at her daily work as a blacksmith (from here)

An'nana acts as a deity of parenthood, fertility, nurturing and health. She doesn't have a rigid hierarchical priesthood as such, and since people who directly worship her tend to form small family-based communities, usually the "priest" or "priestess" is simply a leader of the community, who enjoys An'nana's gifts simply for being a decent and caring sentient. Because of this, most of the An'nana's priesthood are usually also farmers, blacksmiths, masons, carpenters and other simple, hard-working folk. When not at work, they spend their time taking care of their families and helping out those in need - especially orphans.

An'nana rewards her worshippers for their kindness and caring with good health and fertility. Her "priests" also get some healing and curse removal abilities. This comes on top of the fact that the worshipper communities are generally very healthy both physically and psychologically and tend to treat people both on the inside and the outside of community with respect and care.

In game

A general worshipper of An'nana will be simply a happy and healthy working person (most prefer rural life, but there are also urban communities) - a good way to reflect this would be decent physical stats. A leader of a community, as an acting "priest", works pretty much as a cleric, but is restricted to light armor and can only use healing spells and those that deal with removing disease and curses.