The Order of the Knights Mercurial

In ages long since past, the first wellspring of mercury breached the surface of the world. Living metal, flowing like water, ended its secret vigil in the bones of the earth. The first Knight Mercurial discovered this wellspring and was enraptured by its unworldly beauty. The shimmering, silver surface called to him, a man true of heart and purpose. It called for him to submerge himself, and join in the chorus of the world. He drowned. His lungs flooded with slippery metal. His flesh and bones dissolved, replaced with quicksilver. His mind left him, lost in the overwhelming symphony he knew now to exist in the bowels of the earth. It returned just as fast, filled with a new vigor and sense of purpose and belonging. He rose out of the pool, baptized by the blood of stones.

Years of meditation followed, unfettered by sleep, food, or desire. Others found him, meditating in the grove, unaware of how much time had truly passed. Most ran and the news quickly spread of this strange creature. Many would try to kill him as a monster. None succeeded. Occasionally, though, a brave, earnest soul would step forward to challenge the Knight. Those came under his tutelage and became apostles of this new knightly order. These Knights traveled here and there, protecting travelers until they found mercurial wellsprings of their own to protect from the selfish and depraved. Centuries passed, and the Knights found themselves in far-flung places around The Continent and beyond. As technology advanced alongside magic, the number of Knights dwindled. Those that remain are the most powerful, the most clever, or the most well hidden. They quest no longer, and instead train alone, in preparation for worthy heirs to take their place so that they may rejoin their brothers and sisters within the bones of the world.

A Knight Mercurial is always found guarding a pool of liquid mercury, filled by a nearby spring that produces the metal. Each is looking for ultimate rest at the hands of someone that they deem worthy to learn from their Order. They will not decline a duel or challenge, but will insist on terms that must be met. Their armor is unique to each Knight, but all bear the heraldry of a caduceus, decorated as they each see fit. Thieves are attacked if seen stealing from the pool. If they are bested in the contest they present, they will impart their teachings to the victor only if they survive the "apotheotic process" of giving themselves over to the mercury.

A handful of these Knights can be found scattered around the Oldwood and have the following (system agnostic) characteristics in common:

Attacks 2x Longsword (1d8)

Initiative +2

AC as Plate

HD 4

Standard Movement

Mercurial Form - The Knight Mercurial can Move through any space at least 1 square inch wide, unhindered. They can escape restraints as an action.

Parry - When damaged, the Knight Mercurial may expend 1 HD and reduce the damage by that amount.

Special Maneuver - Each Knight has their own, specialized technique that they have perfected over countless decades.

from Wikipedia

The Knights

Some Knights are more skilled than others, and thus have more HD.

Sir Argus, the Flowing (5 HD)

Flowing Form -When Sir Argus takes damage, he may choose to spend HD and create an identical clone of himself. He may choose for either the clone or his real body to take the damage. If the clone takes damage, it is destroyed and Sir Argus loses as many hit points as the clone had total. The clones die if Sir Argus dies.

Lady Maya, the Quick

Quicksilver - Lady Maya's base movement speed is increased by 10 units. She has advantage on all Dexterity and Strength related Saves and Checks.

Sir Casmil, Knight Commander (8 HD)

Blood of the World - Sir Casmil appears to be unarmed, but actually wields the content of his mercurial spring. On each of his turns he may chose to do one of the following:

• Regain 1 HD.
• Emulate the technique of a living Knight Mercurial until the end of the next round.
• Impale an adjacent target, dealing 1d4 damage to the target's HD directly if the attack hits.

Knight Totan, the Unmoving (6 HD)

Inertial Bulwark - Knight Totan wields only a tower shield. They decrease their AC by 1 and become immobile each time they take damage, until they willingly move. If hit while immobile, Knight Totan may roll HD. Their shield gains Xd4 damage on the next attack they make each time this ability triggers. 

Lady Prim, the Amalgam

Auric Extraction - When targeted by magic of any kind, Lady Prim may roll HD. If the result is 1-4 then she harmlessly absorbs the spell and retains her HD. If the result is a 5-6, she takes that much damage and suffers no effect from the spell.

Lady Calomel, the Restless

Formless - Lady Calomel has AC as Chain instead of Plate. The first attack that hits her each round instead misses. Once per round, Lady Calomel can transform her longsword into any 1 or 2 handed weapon of her choice as a free action.

Apotheosis

If you fully submerge yourself in a mercurial pool for one hour, make a CON save. If you fail, you die. You are filled with a deep sense of connection to the earth itself, and have a vague understanding of where each mercurial pool is located. Each day for the next 3 days, repeat this save. If you survive, your body becomes silver, malleable and cannot be moved against your will. As an action, you can change your appearance and weight, or sharpen your hand into a bladed weapon. You can squeeze through gaps as small as 1 inch as an action. In order to heal, you must ingest a pint of mercury or avoid heavy activity for 1 week. You only need to eat and drink once a week but failing to do so is lethal.

THE Elf

Oh boy, another one of these! Honestly they are really fun to do, and I highly recommend taking some creature you find yourself not using in your own game and make it very singular.

Humanity has always had stories of Elves. Mysterious, immortal beings that live in the deep and secret parts of the world. Most people believe them to be just stories and others swear to have met one while traveling. The truth is that Elves existed in great number, long before Humans even dreamed of building cities of their own. Only one Elf remains, and they are not too keen on that fact being known.

Broken Cycle - The Elf has no concept of death or decay. It seems such things as sad in the same way some people feel sad when they accidentally crush a butterfly. If killed, The Elf appears somewhere nearby, their old body having turned to dust.

Forever is a Good Start - The Elf is planning something for the far future. Whatever it may be leads them to various places to do seemingly mundane things. Their machinations are far reaching and arcane, and the results of their actions are never obvious.

Timelost Knowledge - The Elf knows about almost anything they are asked a question regarding. Their knowledge may be shallow, but they will know something. Getting them to share that information is challenging, and they will only do so if it somehow helps their own plans.

Out of Sight - The Elf can move through the space where living creatures do not see instantly.

False Civilization - Some people believe that Elves are a reclusive, wizened race, hiding from the rest of the world. This is a well-fabricated lie constructed by The Elf to more easily achieve their goals. No one has ever seen more than one Elf at once. The Elf never appears the same twice.

Elf Quirks

1. Always looks to the North when speaking.

2. Never sleeps, prefers to perish from exhaustion.

3. Refuses to talk about a specific and relevant topic.

4. Only speaks to humans to give directions to places it needs something done at indirectly.

5. Their eyes are made of starlight.

6. Only consumes honey made from white roses.

THE Basilisk

I saw dreaming dragonslayer's recent post about making monsters singular and thought it was a really cool idea.

The Basilisk

Born of the first toad and capon, the Basilisk is ancient, distrustful, and extremely temperamental. His eyes were plucked out hundreds of years ago and he desperately wants them back. He loves debate, and will allow safe passage through his swamp if he can be convinced of something new.

Enormous - The Basilisk is as long as the eye can see, coiling on himself in confusing knots seemingly forever. His body restrains his swamp from spreading.

Father of Poisons - All poisonous and venomous creatures are descend from the Basilisk. He is immune to and can impart any poison, or antidote, with his breath.

Father of Lies - The Basilisk taught humans politics in times long forgotten. He cannot be lied to nor can one detect if he speaks a lie unless he allows it.

Petrifying - The Basilisk's flesh instantly petrifies any living thing that touches it. He eats only stones.

Entombed - The Basilisk cannot leave or move his swamp, having struck a deal with the Creator at the dawn of the earth.

Disjointed Sight - The Basilisk can see and petrify through his stolen eyes. One eye is clouded by black smoke. One is inside a mirrored box. One is worshipped as a deity. One is just out of reach.

GLoGtober Day 2: Monsters!

I have decided to hop on the GLoGtober train, and jump feet first into the Monster category for day 2. I rolled my d6 and now I have to figure out something "strange and utterly unique" which fortunately fits really well with Denizens from my homebrew game Beyond the Veil. Now the challenge is coming up with something suitably monstrous. I don't have stats for it currently, but I will probably edit them in later.

Skeleton Knights

While resurrection from the dead is impossible, fragments of souls can be forcibly ripped back across the Veil and bound to bodies. More rarely, souls that feel a particularly strong sense of duty in death don't fully cross over and partially occupy their former body. They have no sense of their former selves, only the overpowering urge to defend a location against any and all intruders. This includes the people they formerly defended. Painless, unstoppable, animated by an intangible force, and utterly ruthless, the only hope to defeat a Skeleton Knight is to utterly destroy what it is protecting. Should a single stone remain in place, a single member of a family line still surviving, the Knight will rise at the next sunset to resume its duties. 

Skeleton Knight, Determination +3

Condition: If part of the original object, place, or lineage of protection still exists when the Skeleton Knight is killed, it will rise again at the next sunset, completely unharmed. 

Cause: Protectors dying with an overwhelming sense of duty to protect and serve preventing the spirit from fully traversing beyond the Veil.

Attacks: Longsword (2yd), Shortbow (2H, 40yds)

Armor: Broken Plate-mail (TAL, AV 2)

Active Turn(s): K, J

Abilities:

• Lack of Vitals - This creature is completely immune to all poisons, diseases and mind-altering abilities and effects.
• Lifeless Devotion - The Skeleton Knight always knows the absolute direction of the location of the person, place, or thing it was connected to in life.
• March, Unceasing - If the Skeleton Knight becomes Critical, instead a limb falls off. It may take an action to reattach that limb and become Healthy. It may do this Aspect number of times.
• Cleave the Veil - Once a day, a Skeleton Knight can make an Aspect check while focusing on a corpse. If it succeeds, a spirit is forced to manifest under its command, puppetting the corpse. The power of this ability melts the flesh, leaving only burnt bones.
• Denizen - This creature knows nothing of remorse or fear and is obviously supernatural. It will not flee nor surrender and is immune to Scared.

Skeleton Knight Footman, Determination +0

Condition: Destroy the skull, it houses the spirit. Cannot be created from a headless corpse. The corpse must be human.

Cause: Forced into existence through the sheer willpower of a Skeleton Knight, they exist only to serve their master.

Attack: Thrash (1yd, Rapid*)

Armor: As the body used.

Active Turn: 5

Abilities:

• Lack of Vitals - This creature is completely immune to all poisons, diseases and mind-altering abilities and effects.
  
• Denizen - This creature knows nothing of remorse or fear and is obviously supernatural. It will not flee nor surrender and is immune to Scared.

*Rapid: Two attacks per turn with this attack. Gotta remember to add this to the master list!

Credit to ikametreveli on Deviant Art

Beyond the Bestiary: Dryads

The Protector from the short film "The Birch" (2017)

The Sower wept tears and flooded the world when her lover, dearest Weaver, departed. She tore her hair in agony, casting the first seeds upon the soil. They sprouted soon after, alive but lacking will. Some seeds, however, landed near tears in the fabric of the Veil. Imbued with their mother's sadness and melancholy and the creative will of the Weaver, these trees spawned the first of the world's thinking beings: Treants. The Sower, overcome with joy that her love could still be found in this world, wept once more over her first children. These tears were drank by the Treants, who bore fruit from their bodies. These fruit fell when ripe and from the pit climbed a small, gentle being. The first Dryad in each forest felt horribly alone, and so took to caring for their parent. After another season, the Sower cried once more and nurtured her children and grandchildren. The Treant bore fruit in the same manner and the Dryad was lonely no longer.

Generally peaceful beings, Dryads are caretakers of many of the older natural areas of the world and can be found in any climate. They are vaguely humanoid in shape and often have 6 limbs, but sometimes have more or fewer. They have a typically feminine appearance. They do not trust humans, and will only rarely show themselves to one and only after much reassuring of their good intentions. All Dryads in an area are clones of each other, and share a single mind. Dryads from other areas are called "Sister" should they somehow meet. They do not mind the harvesting of their homes so long as nothing is taken in excess or is wasted. Attempting to fell or otherwise harm the oldest tree in a forest, the sleeping body of their progenitor Treant, will be met with lethal force.

Stat Block

Dryad ❤+1

Armor: Barky Skin (all, AV1)

Attack: Lash (1H, Binding*). Bound targets take 1 damage every round they are bound by this attack if the Dryad chooses to attack again.

Turn: 5

Spoils: Dryad Heartwood (1X), Dryad Sap (1X, must be stored in a container)

Abilities:

Living Wood - If a Dryad is killed, it may instead lose a limb and become Critical. Then, it may move up to its speed in a direction unimpeded. The lost limbs grow back after 1 year. It can only do this for as many limbs it has (Usually 6).

Earthmother's Children - Dryads have complete control over the growth and well being of any plant they are in contact with and may manipulate such plant life as they desire over the course of an hour. Dryads may enter a plant at least their size as part of movement and become completely undetectable unless they attack.

The Spoils

Dryad Heartwood: If consumed, painfully transfigure a barky skin over the course of a week. At the end, make a hard Health save (-3) vs Death. If survived, gain Armor 1 on all body parts and take double damage from fire. You can subsist on sunlight and water. If planted, plant life within 1 mile grows supernaturally well.

Dryad Sap: a powerful alchemical reagent as well as an outstanding natural adhesive. When used to join two pieces of plant matter or wood, they grow into each other as if they were never separated There is enough to cover 2 square feet. Lethal if consumed as Poison.

Beyond the Veil Draft Pt. V - Adversaries, Denizens, Encounters and Spoils

see the previous post in this series
see the next post in this series

Adversaries, Denizens, Encounters, and Spoils

A fair fight is a fight you are willing to lose. The Adversaries that an adventuring party encounters would very much like to stay alive, and live in places full of dangerous terrain, intelligent leaders, cruel beasts, perilous traps and scarce resources. From the best-forgotten underbellies of port-cities to crypts and barrows and every environ in between, Adversaries want, first and foremost, to protect themselves and their offspring, guard their resources and so on. They can potentially be bribed or bargained with to ensure safe passage or trade. They will not fight to the death unless they feel they must to protect something or some place, as a rule. Surrender and retreat are common when things get dire for them; it should be for Player Characters as well.

Denizens have no such fears. They are beings of inhuman motive and desire, originating Beyond the Veil. Monsters. Remorseless, dire, beings that spring into the world when the right conditions arise. All true monsters arise with good reason. Something wrong with the world, a transgression against the natural order and flow of the Veil. They cannot be defeated easily, not with steel and bullets. Knowing their weakness is little refuge, though, as exploiting it often means putting yourself or others in grave risk.

Adversaries Breakdown

Adversaries are the most common sort of opponent one might come across in the world, in or out of a combat scenario. They should have some level of agency in that they desire to live and be successful in their own right. The stat breakdown for an adversary is as follows:

• Name,  Aspect and Score
• Armor
• Attacks (if any)
• Active Turn (K, 10, 5, 2)
• Spoils Tier (None, Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Unique)
• Abilities (1 + Aspect Score number of abilities)
  
  

Example Adversaries

Poacher, Sense +0

Armor: Leathers (HeTAL, AV1)

Attacks: Shortbow (2H, 40yds), Knife (1H)

Turn: 10

Spoils: Poor

Abilities:

• Hunter - Attacks against animals are Brutal

Brown Bear, Health +2
Armor: Tough Hide (All, AV 1)
Attacks: Maul (Brutal)
Active Turn: K
Spoils: (examples) 4 food rations, 1 large pelt (3 Flakes), 100 pounds of fat, other animal bits
Abilities:

• Roar - All characters not allied  and within 10 yards must succeed on a Determination Check or become Scared.
• A Mother's Fury - If the Brown Bear perceives a threat to its young, it acts on K and 10 for initiative
• Animal Nature - Animals will always flee from combat after taking an injury, unless they are defending their lair, offspring, cornered, or sick.

 

Denizens Breakdown

In contrast to Adversaries, Denizens are, and should be, less common than standard encounters. An unsuspecting party of even the most prepared adventurers will meet their end at the hands of a Denizen if they are not approached correctly. They have no desires that can be used to bribe or extort them. They do not want anything in the way that is understood, and they most certainly do not want to make nice. Denizens are imbalances in the world, and often require some level of investigation to discover the cause of, and solution for, their presence on this side of the Veil. Someone, somewhere, knows about each Denizen, as they are caused phenomena, repeatedly; some scholars dedicate their lives to understanding where the most common varieties come from and how to quell the number of occurrences. All Denizens follow this template:

• Name, Aspect and Score
• Condition of Destruction and Limitations
• Cause of Manifestation
• Attacks
• Active Turn(s)
• Description
• Abilities (1 + Aspect Score number of abilities + Denizen)

Example Denizens

Drowning Mildew, Health +2

Condition: Drowning Mildew can only be destroyed by burning the corpse it originates from. It will not spread to areas exposed to sunlight. It will not willingly approach fire.

Cause: When a human is killed via drowning and not given a proper burial, there is a chance it invites the presence of the Drowning Mildew.

Attacks: Drown (Brutal, Ignores Armor, 0yd)

Turn: K, 10, 5, 2

Description: Wispy, like spider's silk, slime mold that undulates to an unknown rhythm. It is blue-grey and smells of sea air, rank cellars, and spoiled myrrh. It clings to surfaces lightly, and has no weight until it attempts to make a kill.

Abilities:

• Metastasis - Any living creature killed with the Drown attack becomes a new instance of Drowning Mildew.
• Creeping - Speed is 2 yards. It cannot move and take an action on the same turn. It cannot be flanked and fully occupies any space it has moved through or onto. It cannot be moved forcibly.
• Fire Avoidant - Any space it occupies that is hit with a source of open flames clears that space until the fire leave that space. Attacks  it makes against characters bearing open flames are instead Red/Black Checks
• Denizen - This creature knows nothing of remorse or fear and is obviously supernatural. It will not flee nor surrender and is immune to Scared.

 

Bean Sidhe (Banshee), Charisma +1
Condition: Can only be injured by implements made of pure gold. Only perceivable by the family they have attached themselves to. They only appear at night.
Cause: When a first-born daughter is killed in a violent manner, her spirit may not be able cross the Veil to the Other Side. 
Attacks: Keening(30 yds, Unavoidable)
Turn: K
Description: Lithe, nearly skeletal, wearing what they had on when they perished. They are pale, ephemeral beings that are often seen near water or swamps at night, futilely attempting to wash the fabric of the Veil and weeping. They do not pursue their prey; there is no need once they Keen into the night.
Abilities:

• Baleful Wailing - Any who hear the Keening of a Bean Sidhe become Scared and are frozen in fear if they cannot flee. The Bean Sidhe fades from view after Keening.
• Omen - The target fated to die after hearing the Keening of a Bean Sidhe suffers a heart attack after seven days unless the Bean Sidhe is destroyed.
• Denizen - This creature knows nothing of remorse or fear and is obviously supernatural. It will not flee nor surrender and is immune to Scared.

Encounters and Spoils

Balancing combat can be a daunting task in any game, so I thought it would be a good idea to talk about that a bit with the disclaimer that I haven't had a group to test with and playing by myself has its own biases. The intent is that getting into a fair fight is foolish. Death comes quickly, and attacks are strong. For a party of four, a full on brawl with an equally well equipped group of bandits should be a tossup at the first few levels of play. Encourage players to ambush, use the terrain, bring hirelings, position themselves advantageously or at the least deny adversaries the same. 

Denizens, on the other hand, shouldn't need any backup to be a threat. They are centerpieces in their own rights; they are the sort of things that either exist in the environment or have adventures constructed around. The Bean Sidhe is not meant to be fought in a traditional sense- it is only a danger to those that can perceive it. Drowning Mildew is something that can be driven off and destroyed once you know how to do so, but it is most likely encountered incidentally, or perhaps as the result of a missing person case or some such.

Spoils

Loot is the bread and butter of adventurers, tomb robbers, mercenaries and thieves. Usually, this is in the form of valuable objects, weaponry, ancient currency, art pieces and the like. Adversaries, and sometimes Denizens, also carry many things that might be considered valuable to the right buyer. Depending on the tier of those spoils, they will have valuables up to a certain amount. Some exceptions exist, being animals or even just occasions where you want to have specific items for whatever reasons.

• None - Self explanatory, nothing of value here.
• Poor -  Up to 1 Flake's worth of valuables.
• Fair - Between 2 and 29 Flakes worth of valuables. 
• Good - Between 10 and 50 Chips worth of valuables.
• Excellent - Between 51 Chips and 2 Plates worth of valuables.
• Unique - Determined on a case-to-case basis. See the above brown bear for an example!

What's Next?

Camping and Downtime things probably, unless some other inspiration strikes!