Re: The Spider God's Bride - Re-write DONE, FINISHED!

[The Wolf]

Thanks Damon. I actually came onboard Legend when I was trasferred from Lone Wolf book writing. I'd written Sommerlund and the Magnamund Bestiary with Joe Dever. I'd also done articles for S&P on Magnamund. I've also written 2 bonus adventures for the re-released books (8+17 respectively).

I would like to be more involved in Legend. I've had a hand so far in Samurai and Gladiators of Legend.

As for the Common Skills we're a-OK with listing all of them in terms of word count since they don't actually pull too much into the document and first time GMs will find having all those skills really useful. I don't put points into all of them and I'm kind of playing thematically with the points using Prime_Evil's quick system for distribution and a spreadsheet for 250 bonus points etc. As a GM I really like it when I can turn to an NPC written up and act on something my players pull out of their hats. Like the one time a player asked a town guard to evaluate a particular item, hey guy what do you think this is worth?

I was able to give him a 32% base chance at Evaluate so he was able to say: this is 22SP pretty much. It wasn't really scenario shattering but it made for some great RP.

Once again, thank you very much for the support, it means a lot since this is such a tricky project.

Necromancer's Knife is done as far as the NPCs and some of the fixes. I plan to tackle the next adventure after I've taken a look at cults/gods/demons on Monday.

 

[The Wolf]

(just off the top of my head)
New Advanced Skill:
"You, you will do as I tell you to, or I will break every bone in your body!" ~ Noh Tar (Barbarian warrior of the Shadow Steppes)
Intimidate (STR+CHA)
The Intimidate skill covers all aspects of physical cooercion and intimidation. The target is literally cowed by not only the sheer force of the intimidator's charisma, but their physical bulk and strength as well. The target will do exactly what the intimidator wants them to do unless they manage to succeed in an opposed Persistence test.

I may be able to put something like this into SGB in a sidebar, if we can slip one in to one of the sections. This adds the new skill, not sure if Matt will let me fiddle with the book that much though

 

[Prime_Evil]

I may be able to put something like this into SGB in a sidebar, if we can slip one in to one of the sections. This adds the new skill, not sure if Matt will let me fiddle with the book that much though

It's a nice version, but I'd save it for a future World of Xoth sourcebook you will hopefully get asked to write

 

[Bifford]

I would also write in how often they can do the check against the intimidation. While someone may be initially cowed that surprise and the giving in to them may not last long, especially if the intimidater lets the facade slip somehow.

 

[The Wolf]

At the moment it is based off Seduction, so I followed the guide-text from there pretty much. Prime_Evil, now if you can send that idea to Matt

 

[Prime_Evil]

I would also write in how often they can do the check against the intimidation. While someone may be initially cowed that surprise and the giving in to them may not last long, especially if the intimidater lets the facade slip somehow.

I would generally allow a character to make more than one Intimidation or Seduction check against a given NPC, but grant the NPC a +20% bonus to resist the effect for each failed attempt. I would also rule that if the character fumbles or loses the opposed roll three times in a row, they somehow enrage the target with consequences ranging from a slap across the face (for a failed Seduction check) to a knife in the ribs (for a failed Intimidation check).

 

[The Wolf]

You could also start at Routine and then work down the table until you get to the Formidable Difficulty - if someone failed one of those, that's it, they get a slap or a bloody nose. (or worse).

There could be consequences for each tier of Difficulty for failure.

 

[havercake lad]

I found Loz's 'Cities of the Young Kingdoms' an excellent guide to help me in stating-up various NPCs for the two Legend Elric books that I wrote last year.

 

[The Wolf]

So:

Ahyada, the High God of Taraam
Ahyada is the bringer of truth and protection to the people of Taraam, and the patron of the royal house of Achad as well. He grants visions and omens to the king, which is interpreted by astrologer-priests and soothsayers. Amulets of Ahyada are said to be effective wards against demons.
All cult members must swear an oath never to allow mortals to be harmed by demonic forces.
Magic
Sorcery (Light of the Truthseeker): Banish, Damage Enhancement, Intuition, Mystic Vision.
Heroic Abilities: Heroic Aura, Loremaster (demons).
Membership
Novice
To be initiated into this cult, the hopeful must have been wronged by demons, demonic forces or have a strong desire to defend the weak against the insidious demon.
Apprentice
An apprentice must at least have four of the cult’s skills at 35% and have killed or banished at least one minor demon.
Adept
Adepts must have at least four of the cult’s skills at 50% and the Heroic Aura Heroic Ability. They are granted a bonus of +10% to their Persistence tests when under attack by demonic influences. They are also given an amulet which offers them protection from dark magic conferring a bonus of +25% when resisting such spells from a demonic source.
High Priest
High Priests must have at least four of the cult’s skills at 75% and the Loremaster (demons) Heroic Ability. A High Priest has been gifted a sliver of their god’s power and can now see demonic influences on the mortal world, which appear like oily or sooty fingerprints. They can also see the demon inside a possessed person. They gain +20% to their Manipulation skill when casting the Banish spell.
Combat Style: Truthbringer (Dagger, 1H Sword, Crossbow, Morningstar)
Cult Skills: The Cult offers training in: Healing, Influence, Languages (demonic), Lore (demons), Meditation, Oratory, Perception, Persistence, Sorcery (Light of the Truthseeker Grimoire), Stealth, Manipulation.

This is my take on the way the cults should be presented in the cults/gods/demons chapter. If I have enough word count spare I may invent a specific spell per-cult as well.

 

[The Wolf]

I found Loz's 'Cities of the Young Kingdoms' an excellent guide to help me in stating-up various NPCs for the two Legend Elric books that I wrote last year.

Cool. I've been talking to Loz on and off and he's liking the direction this is going. I think I have a fairly solid handle on the NPCs now. I will be working on Cults, Gods and Demons before I dive back into the adventures.

 

[DamonJynx]

Looking very solid, Darren.

Keep up the excellent work - in hindsight it would've been better to give you the job right from the start!

 

[The Wolf]

Thanks Damon. I should probably finish out the Gods/Demons/Cults chapter tomorrow and then it is just a case of going through the adventures and fixing the NPCs (adding Combat Styles and adding cult related skills etc.)

 

[Prime_Evil]

This is my take on the way the cults should be presented in the cults/gods/demons chapter. If I have enough word count spare I may invent a specific spell per-cult as well.

To be honest, if word count is a major issue I'd prefer to see a smaller number of cults written up at this level of detail rather than a large number of cults written up in less detail. The information that you have provided is sufficient to use these religions in play.

Incidentally, the ultimate word on religion in Swords and Sorcery fiction is the famous exchange from Robert E. Howard's Queen of the Black Coast:

"Mystery and terror are about us, Conan, and we glide into the realm of horror and death," she said. "Are you afraid?"

A shrug of his mailed shoulders was his only answer.

"I am not afraid either," she said meditatively. "I was never afraid. I have looked into the naked fangs of Death too often. Conan, do you fear the gods?"

"I would not tread on their shadow," answered the barbarian conservatively. "Some gods are strong to harm, others, to aid; at least so say their priests. Mitra of the Hyborians must be a strong god, because his people have builded their cities over the world. But even the Hyborians fear Set. And Bel, god of thieves, is a good god. When I was a thief in Zamora, I learned of him."

"What of your own gods? I have never heard you call on them."

"Their chief is Crom. He dwells on a great mountain. What use to call on him? Little he cares if men live or die. Better to be silent than to call his attention to you; he will send you dooms, not fortune! He is grim and loveless, but at birth he breathes power to strive and slay into a man's soul. What else shall men ask of the gods?"

"But what of the worlds beyond the river of death?" she persisted.

"There is no hope here or hereafter in the cult of my people," answered Conan. "In this world men struggle and suffer vainly, finding pleasure only in the bright madness of battle; dying, their souls enter a gray misty realm of clouds and icy winds, to wander cheerlessly throughout eternity."

Belit shuddered. "Life, bad as it is, is better than such a destiny. What do you believe, Conan?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content."

 

[The Wolf]

That's one of my favourite passages from that, Prime_Evil. I've been looking at this again this morning and yeah, I'm going to stick with the template/detail I have here and apply it to the cults in the chapter. Then I'll go back into Necromancer's Knife and make sure I add some of that to Kuri and his minions.

Then I can move on to the other adventures and every cultist (high priest etc) will have those skills/grimoires and so on.

 

[The Wolf]

Al-Tawir, the Ancient One, the Sleeper Beneath the Sands
Some say that Al-Tawir dwells in the black gulfs between the stars, others that he sleeps in a sealed and forbidden tomb beneath the desert sand. Al-Tawir is one of the Old Gods. The nomads hear his voice in the howling of the desert winds, and they see his face in the rage of sandstorms. He is the emptiness of the desert, associated with getting lost, with thirst and hunger, with darkness, and with sandstorms.
Magic
Sorcery Grimoire (Rage of the Desert): Abjure Air, Abjure Water, Smother, Wrack
Heroic Abilities: Battle Fury, Tireless
Membership
Novice
The aspirant must brave a vicious sandstorm; those who come out of this ordeal alive are considered to be strong enough to endure the worship of Al-Tawir.
Apprentice
An apprentice must at least have five of the cult’s skills at 30% and have brought themselves near death through starvation.
Adept
Adepts must have at least five of the cult’s skills at 45% and the Battle Fury Heroic Ability. They are given a modicum of power by the god and can now claim a +10% bonus to all Resilience tests when facing any kind of starvation, thirst or fatigue when travelling the desert.
High Priest
High Priests must have at least five of the cult’s skills at 75% and the Tireless Heroic Ability. A High Priest can go without food and water, they can never starve but they will suffer unimaginable pain when without sustenance, they will never die from starvation or dehydration.
Combat Style: Stormrage (Dagger, Scimitar, 2-H Sword, Axe, Bow)
Cult Skills: The Cult offers training in: Perception, Persistence, Resilience, Ride, Stealth, Unarmed, Meditation, Survival, Sorcery (Rage of the Desert Grimoire), Manipulation, Track

 

[Prime_Evil]

That's one of my favourite passages from that, Prime_Evil. I've been looking at this again this morning and yeah, I'm going to stick with the template/detail I have here and apply it to the cults in the chapter. Then I'll go back into Necromancer's Knife and make sure I add some of that to Kuri and his minions.

Then I can move on to the other adventures and every cultist (high priest etc) will have those skills/grimoires and so on.

I'd also recommend reading the Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser short story "Lean Times in Lankhmar" for a humorous look at how religion might be handled in Swords & Sorcery fiction. I've always loved the image of the cults devoted to petty deities trying to inch their way up the Street of the Gods:

A new god (his priests or priests, that is) will begin at the Marsh Gate and more or less slowly work his way up the Street of the Gods, renting a temple or preempting a few yards of cobbled pavement here and there, until he has found his proper level. A very few win their way to the region adjoining the citadel and join the aristocracy of the gods in Lankhmar - transients still, though resident there for centuries and even millennia (the gods of Lankhmar are as jealous as they are secret). Far more godlets, it can justly be said, play a one-night-stand near the Marsh Gate and then abruptly disappear, perhaps to seek cities where the audiences are less critical. The majority work their way about halfway up the Street of the Gods and then slowly work their way down again, resisting bitterly every inch and yard, until they once more reach the Marsh Gate and vanish forever from Lankhmar and the memories of men.

Just remember that it's VERY important to know the difference between the Gods IN Lankhmar and the Gods OF Lankhmar.

 

[The Wolf]

I love those stories, I've read them time and time again. Which is why now I'm in control of the gods/demons/cults chapter of SGB expect interesting little additions to all the SGB gods to add some flavour and clarify things.

Also, never ring that bell...ever...

Well, my players did once and the Gods showed up to save the day. Then they broke part of the city to prove that you shouldn't really ring the bell at all and that summoning them was a bad idea - grumpy gods for the win!

 

[The Wolf]

Devil-Bird, way up in Azimba tree!

Jul-Juggah, the Devil-Bird of Azimba
The sweltering plains of Azimba are dotted with hundreds of monstrous statues of lizard-birds. Whether these grim effigies were crafted by an older civilization, or placed there more recently by the feather-cloaked shamans of Jul-Juggah, is not known.
Magic
Sorcery Grimoire (Skyfeather Book): Dominate (Avian), Fly, Project (Sight), Project (Hearing)
Heroic Abilities: Defiant Leap, Reincarnation (Devil-Bird)
Membership
Novice
Novices of the cult must undergo the ‘Leap of the Worthy’ where they are taken to a high promontory and must throw themselves off. The fall is extremely dangerous with high wind currents before they hit the ‘Beak of Jul-Juggah’, a mysterious cleft in the earth which slows the descent of the worthy and claims the lives of those who are not.
Apprentice
Apprentices of the cult must have five of the cult’s skills at 35% and have tamed at least one avian creature.
Adept
Adepts of the cult must have five of the cult’s skills at 50% and are granted the power to negate all falling damage (20%) chance. They now begin to understand the language of the avian species and gain Language (Avian) at their base chance (INT+CHA). They must possess the Defiant Leap Heroic Ability.
High Priest
High Priests of the cult must have five of the cult’s skills at 75% and are given the power to ignore falling damage completely. They can never be injured by a fall from any height; they gracefully land upon the ground. Their eyes transform to match the Devil-Birds and their fingernails become more like talons. They gain the Talon Combat Style at their base chance (STR+DEX) and do 1D6 damage with their talons. They must also have the Reincarnation (Devil-Bird) Heroic Ability.
Combat Style: Devil Bird (Scimitar, Dagger, Javelin, Spear, Mancatcher)
Cult Skills: The cult offers training in: Brawn, Evade, Perception, Resilience, Sing, Acrobatics, Track, Sorcery (Skyfeather Book Grimoire), Meditation, Manipulation.

 

[The Wolf]

How about a cult which has a homage to the legendary Kung Fu TV show right there?

The Living Flame, Nameless God of Zadj
The Zadjites worship a nameless elemental god, the Living Flame, above all other gods. The priests tend everburning fires in their marble temples. Fire is considered pure; both the dead and the unbelievers are cast into the flames to be purified. Fire also imbues metal with a spark of the divine; the priests of the Living Flame are skilled metal-workers and weaponsmiths.
Magic
Sorcery Grimoire (Forgeflame): Glow, Animate (Metal), Enhance (STR), Form/Set (Metal)
Heroic Abilities: Awesome Smash, Sundering Strike
Membership
Novice
Novices of the cult must have crafted at least one item made of metal in their lifetime; it need not be the best made item in the world. They must also undergo a rite where they take a metal bowl inscribed with a flame icon, carry it between their arms and walk a short distance to a plinth. At the end of the ritual they are branded with the Fires of Purity and may join the order. A Games Master may wish to impose a Hard Resilience test as part of this rite.
Apprentice
Apprentices of the cult must have six cult skills at 30%. They must also have crafted at least three good quality metal items in their time with the cult.
Adept
Adepts of the cult must have six cult skills at 40%. They must have crafted six items of good quality made from different metals in their time with the cult. They now gain a bonus of +10% to any Resilience tests which involve fire. They must also have the Awesome Smash Heroic Ability.
High Priest
High Priests of the cult must have six cult skills at 75%. They must have crafted at least one exceptional metal item in their time with the cult. They must also have stoked a forge at least once per day. High Priests ignore all damage from fire sources and can place their bodies within fire without risk of harm. They must also have the Sundering Strike Heroic Ability.
Combat Style: Foehammer Style (Great Hammer, Burning Glove, Lucerne Hammer, War Hammer)
Cult Skills: The cult offers training in: Brawn, Evaluate, Resilience, Unarmed, Craft (Armourer), Craft (Weaponsmith), Craft (Blacksmith), Meditation, Sorcery (Forgeflame Grimoire), Manipulation.

 

[DamonJynx]

High Priest
High Priests of the cult must have five of the cult’s skills at 75% and are given the power to ignore falling damage completely. They can never be injured by a fall from any height; they gracefully land upon the ground. Their eyes transform to match the Devil-Birds and their fingernails become more like talons. They gain the Talon Combat Style at their base chance (STR+DEX) and do 1D6 damage with their talons. They must also have the Reincarnation (Devil-Bird) Heroic Ability.
Combat Style: Devil Bird (Scimitar, Dagger, Javelin, Spear, Mancatcher)
Cult Skills: The cult offers training in: Brawn, Evade, Perception, Resilience, Sing, Acrobatics, Track, Sorcery (Skyfeather Book Grimoire), Meditation, Manipulation.

Hi Darren, loving your work thus far. If I may, it seems to me that gaining the CS "Talon" is somewhat superfluous. Could not the same thing be achieved by having Unarmed as a cult skill and then simply indicating the increased damage 1D6+DM from the High priest's Talons?
Cheers,
Jim