Shalilas, city of the genie

The trader Veklen knows the route, but will guard this secret. They need help though, taking brightglass through the desert. Kajhar is a dusty land, but not a dead one. Great scorpions and lizards lie under the sand. Afield is the cactus desert, a beautiful but deadly place.

Near the tail of the Great Dune lies the city of genie, Shalilas. The human trader keeps it a secret, but the genie care little if they are found. The gates are living, possessed by sometimes lackadaisical genie. In times of need however, those gate genie respond instantly and resolutely.

The most need for traders lie in the small human population. They all know each other, and most are Wishmakers, paid to request simple wishes. Wishmaking is not lucrative; they each have other reasons for being here, and make a living in other crafts.

Desert City by Sam Denmark

At the outskirts of the city lie mounds of shattered clay and slag metal, the cast-off remnants of genie who moved up in the city or died trying. Living in the refuse are the lowest of genie, poor souls wearing broken scraps as their body. Even those unfortunate denizens know they can rely on Mother Neres, long-standing guardian with an unusually sturdy body of charred oak. She speaks rarely, and spends her time protecting the slums rather than leading the city.

Most genie in the city will inhabit bodies like human-sized dolls of clay or ceramic, or metals such as steel or iron, or even zinc when possible. Very rare bodies will be made from even lighter materials, like glass or rare metals. Heavier bodies are also uncommon, but more as a matter of practicality than expense. It is more common to see a genie in a body that cannot move, such as a pot, lamp, or other artisanal item, with an attendant or companion to carry them.

Fashion covers an eclectic and varied range, as one might expect from the wide variety of possible bodies. The most important traits for genie clothes are convenience and versatility, as the vessel can always be changed for more long-term appearances. In that vein, there's also something of a trend for genies to alter their vessels, bolting on additional parts or carving away small portions. The right shops can offer strange and unique piercings or other strange changes to the bodies of mortal visitors.

From anywhere in the city, and some ways beyond, one can see its metaphorical center. It is the Green Palace, a gleaming tower of glass holding the city’s greatest elders. Perhaps the most powerful, though not the oldest, is Prinim Veshisk, a massive genie in fine glass. He enjoys his unwieldy, fragile vessel, and forcing slaves to maneuver him. The newest councilor is Toril Syaran, who suspects Prinim may have destroyed a rival on the council, and wishes to expand trade with the mortal world.

The city also relies on the Incense Mines, an ancient buried forest from which all manner of aromas have been gleaned. These scents and the colored flame they produce give the genie incredible sensations, be they euphoric, inflaming, or subduing. At the markets, one can buy such things as stonesmoke cones, fire-dripping sticks, and spiritwalk powder. A hopeless addict to the stonesmoke, Dalifer has spent much time wandering the desert looking for anything to pawn, and if given incense will tell visitors of some of the stranger things out there.

Incense Knight by Hwa Min Jung

Most genie outside the city have been lost for ages, found buried in ancient ruins with little memory of where they originated. Only a few have left the city or been kidnapped, and most end up finding their way to Shalilas eventually. There are only two ways for a genie to truly die, without arcane intervention. Either by the decay of the vessel, to a point of complete incoherence, or by failing to transfer to a new vessel when they may leave their present place. The worst wrongdoers are imprisoned by building a pit like a well, lined with stone and filled with sand to bury the criminal.

Perhaps the largest gathering of genie outside the city are at the sandstone fortress of the Smoke-fist Warriors, an order of veshkin mercenaries who ritualistically burn one of their arms to let a genie inhabit it, granting increased strength and an uncanny ability to fight with two weapons at once. The genie Ryula lives secretly within their order, inhabiting a burnt corpse of unknown origin.

Walking the streets of Shalilas

1. A young genie approaches carrying shards of pottery, looking frightened. He says his master’s vessel has been shattered, and he needs you to buy him a new one quickly.

2. A commotion from the gates as a genie rushes into the city, asking for aid in rescuing their fellow’s vessel, a vase which has been captured by bandits in the desert.

3. Prinim’s procession (or another vainglorious councilor) fills the street, forcing commoners and visitors aside at risk of violence.

4. A player’s finest weapon catches the eye of a Talmar Fineshadow, a genie adventurer who just returned from the Labyrinth of Glass with plenty of gold and a new obsidian vessel. Talmar wants to buy the weapon, and seemingly won’t take no for an answer.

5. The group is approached by a genie carrying an empty vessel, handing them a few coins and telling them to make a wish.

6. A human notices the group and rushes over, offering to sell them snacks. Fruit on a stick, peeled and covered in spicy powder, they are more expensive since human food is uncommon here.

Incense

1. Stonesmoke cone: a strangely vivid grey incense that produces deep black smoke, and a rich, salty scent. The namesake smoke is rigid, flowing upward regardless of wind or touch, and feels like shifting stone.

2. Dripfire stick: particularly long sticks of incense that produce a dim orange flame that does not rise or flicker, rather dribbling down from the end. The scent is sweet and spicy, sharp but fading quickly. The flames are not mere liquid, as indeed they weigh nothing

3. Astral powder: incense dust that creates a strange, misty smoke, wafting and waving in unfelt winds. The scent is slightly minty and makes one feel energized but calm. The sensation is like being outside of one’s body, and it is said that an excessive amount can draw out the soul.

4. Harmony coil: usually sold in a spiral shape along with instructions on how to light it. The smell is woody with a floral note, and can vary slightly depending on the type, usually enhancing introspection and self-discovery. It is unique for being ignited by sounds, of particular tone and patterns based on the shape of the incense, despite always being the same material. The common spiral is lit with a low whistle.

5. Midnight pellets: small beads of blue incense that smell tangy and a bit sour when lit, giving mild feelings of energy and preventing all sleep as long as it burns. On a moonless night, the pellets will burn like tiny stars.

6. Iris oil: debatable as incense, this fluid always seems to be watching, and when burning releases colorful smoke that leaves afterimages and increases sensitivity of body, mind, and spirit. Some say it simply makes people more suggestible.

Gold pot by Sandesh Tuladhar

Dalifer’s trade

1. A giant made of flame, unnaturally tall and gaunt, striding the desert a short distance to the south. It’s been seen twice, each time at midweek, heading the same direction and leaving a trail of glass footprints.
2. In the cactus jungle, full of prickling trees and scorpion monkeys, a spiralling pit of carved stone that leads to unknown depths.
3. A gigantic carapaced serpent, coiled and gleaming in the sun. Dalifer ran before realizing that it hadn’t been moving.
4. Black sand amid the desert, laid out in a perfectly symmetrical pattern with no one around to have done it. The wind hasn’t picked up since it was spotted, so it may still be there.
5. Bandits lost in reverie at night, singing and dancing around a fire. They were burning stolen incense, but there were simply too many.
6. Flipped upside down, a huge statue of a head. Very detailed face and square structure that wouldn't roll on its own. No other parts in view.

Directly connected to the previous post, and also part of the GLOG community city challenge! Other participants include:

• A Tale of Two Cities courtesy of the Mad Queen's Court
• Qasira, a City on the shores of the Seas of Sand thanks to Caput Caprae
• Districts of Meatropolis from A Blasted, Cratered Land
• Map: Johannesburg Administrative Subdistrict 7 via (perhaps fittingly) The Mad Cartographer
  

Guilds for adventurers

Cartographers guild

Principally concerned with mapping and exploration of distant lands for colony and plunder, their presence in more well-known areas turn attention more towards the discovery of lost and hidden places, the types adventurers tend to find. With time their pursuits have branched into knowledge and information of other kinds, and a good cartographers guild library can look like a jungle of strange papers and inscrutable writings. Technically the leader of the guild is the ever-absent Choriam Bangra, currently believed to be searching an underground jungle for an entrance to the Eternal Path. The true power is held by a supposedly temporary council, the eight Chief Scribes.

Olaf the Meat Tenderiser by Ricardo Robles

Butchers guild

One of the most powerful food guilds in the land. Any butcher worth their salt will have guild certification, and for many taverns the certification is a mark of prestige. In the adventuring world however, the butchers guild is mainly known for their meat markets, willing to buy all manner of huge dead beasts (as long as they can be proven edible), and even employing a good number of alchemists. The guild is headed by the Kythel twins, who are known for taking joy in cutting apart large monsters.

Salvagers guild

Once a lower-grade offshoot of the builders guild, this group has found renewed purpose in stripping the oldest, abandoned places of anything potentially valuable. The leader is elected semi-democratically, with votes given to guild members based on their performance. Currently the guild is headed by Saliiz Mernir, known for keeping such a myriad of personal items that their office is almost akin to a junk heap. Their diligent style of precise leadership sharply contrasts with that of the previous head, Erham Loen, who was more of a hands-off, minimalist type.

Early Mourning by Patryk Olas

Burial guild

There are countless places deep in the earth where the dead are left in old stone halls and caves, lost to their gods. This small but spirited group has dedicated themselves to gathering the abandoned dead and giving them their proper rites. They are generally hostile toward practitioners of necromancy, with certain exceptions. There are necromancers in the guild, known as the Stewards, who use their art exclusively to gently guide the dead toward a proper resting place. Many of the guild's funerary rites include sanctification of various kinds to prevent future necromancy, and they usually give rites based on the culture of the one who died, if they can find it out. Word of the burial guild's Grave Tower has spread far and wide, a rising catacomb where the honored dead are interred and the occasional meetings of the guild leadership are held.

Sitting hijabit fashionista by Rabia El Mouden

Mercers guild

Once focused on solely women's fashion, their stakes have broadened to include not just fashion but all manner of far off cultures. It is said by some that a spider controls the guild, though they vehemently deny such claims and believe the rumor was started by their rivals in the weavers guild. Officially they have no overarching leader, only localized chapter heads in different areas. 

Mages guild

Less a meeting of the minds and more a club of magically well-wishers, mostly low-ranking nobles and bored merchants seeking to fill empty days with some mild intrigue. They might have a bit of money for purchasing a fanciful trinket, but their prices can most likely be matched or bettered by a wealthier patron or more practical-minded organization. Their etiquette rules are extensive and stringent.

The Storyteller by Lucas Sorrenti

Storytellers guild

Collectors of tales and folklore, finding their nearest outpost can often reveal the legends of almost every village for miles around.

Drunken Adventuring

Alcohol is important in adventuring. It's a tough life, it's not a normal job, and it's incredibly dangerous. Characters can take a drink on their turn to restore 1d6 vigor. Every five drinks their drunkenness increases, to tipsy, then drunk, then smashed. Each level incurs a cumulative -1 to attack and defense, and the character will black out 1d6 rounds after getting smashed, followed by rolling on a carousing table at GM's discretion.

Bone Wine by Mary Williams

A bottle or mug of low alcohol or a shot of liquor is one drink. Characters can drink about a bottle or five shots worth in a round.

Midnight vodka: fermented of the star potatoes in a strange icy land, the fluid is inky dark, with twinkling motes of light floating within.
Blood ale:
Lamping whiskey: somewhat bland liquor that can be used as lamp oil if necessary.
Spider's wine: fermented from bodies of insects in Tarix. To some it is particularly delicious, to others deadly.
Grenbiir: fermented of a particular grain, it only comes from Drumbin and is unpopular elsewhere. They also produce green bread, which outsiders often think is disgusting.
Gonne tea: a strange kind of wine from far off lands that is said to 'kick like a crossbow.'
Goblin blood: extremely sour ale that is widely derided, but some claim it is an acquired taste.

Hand study by miki bencz

Many thanks to Sam, Wisteria, and my sweetheart Jack Tatters for some much-needed information about alcohol! These rules were much sloppier and dumber before their help.

Magic powers

These powers do not require a magic focus or ritual to use, and take one round to perform. Each power occupies one skill slot, and whenever you use one make a magic check or become strained. They can be granted by powerful figures or unstable concoctions, but do not trust wizards who offer great power (they are, at best, completely uncertain as to the safety of their procedure). Roll 2d6 to pick one at random.

meditation by Anna LAKISOVA

1. Callinary

1. Angelic wings: grow a pair of wings powerful enough to carry you for an hour. You can grant this power to a number of creatures equal to your magic bonus by touching them, and those who have flown before will be slightly faster in the air.
2. Charybdal cud: catch any amount of liquid in your mouth, and up to an hour later vomit up 1d6 gallons of the same liquid.
3. Homunculus: spawn an exact duplicate from your body for a minute. It has all of your physical and mental attributes, but no items or magic.
4. Possession's loyalty: hold up an item and burst it into shimmering dust, followed by all nearby items of the same type floating gently toward you.
5. Wall of bread: conjure a barrier of hard bread which can block hallways, impede movement, or protect against ranged attacks. If crumbled and sifted through, up to 1d6 rations worth of it is edible.
6. Wind from the East: call upon a gust from the lands where the sun rises. It may put out small fires, spread large ones, and completely ruin an orderly study if you're in one

Spring Spell by Kasia Zielinska

2. Energetized

1. Impenetrable aura: a sphere of unbreakable force swells around you, which cannot be broken as long as you stay still and focused.
2. Luminance: with your touch, any object or being starts to shine brightly for an hour, in any color you choose.
3. Prismatic barrage: launch a stream of multicolored flaming spears that strike your target for 2d6 damage, but splay out to hit 1d6 random targets for 1d6 damage each.
4. Spectral chain: arcane bonds wrap around a nearby target, paralyzing them for up to one minute unless they can burst the chains. The chains do not tie them to the ground.
5. Sol's quill: your finger carves a glowing trail upon any solid surface. It can be made to hide until something specific happens, and other powers can be tied to cast once it is revealed, but they will be trapped within and cannot be used during that time.
6. Stormtongue: at your word, lightning strikes a target for 3d6 damage, though it will be halved if they dive away fast enough. One round after, a random similar target will be struck, such as a person if a person was targeted, or a building if a building was targeted.

Dark Sorceress by Richard Bryce Gore

3. Enhancerous

1. Embolden body: grant 10 temporary vigor to a creature with a touch, even if they are wounded.
2. Extend: at your touch, a creature such as yourself will just above double in height (about five meters for a human). The result is stretched out and lanky, gaining no additional strength or agility.
3. Giant's might: at your touch, a creature such as yourself swells in strength to an unreasonable degree, gaining +3 strength but -3 agility.
4. Shadewalk: your touch shrouds a creature in shadow for an hour, which makes them invisible when out of light for +2 stealth.
5. Sovereign stance: take a sacred pose that makes you invincible and unmovable for 1d6 rounds.
6. Stimulate: touch a creature to hasten their feet, allowing them to run and fight for 1d6 rounds, or granint +5 speed.

Immovable by Lee Yeong gyun

4. Materialine

1. Adherent: with both hands, link two unliving objects with an unbreakable bond for one minute.
2. Alchemist's boon: when you touch a metal object, it liquifies for one round before hardening in whatever shape and position it has poured into.
3. Belonging: for one hour you appear as a servant working for one of the local authorities. You can also grant this appearance to a number of creatures equal to your magic bonus by touching them.
4. Composition: know the materials of any object you touch. If they are materials you don't know, glean basic information about its properties.
5. Holy word: animate a clay idol to act at your command for an hour. Larger golems may be stronger, but also vastly heavier. Used on a true golem, it can be used to add, remove, or change one word from its Command.
6. Ironhand: strengthen one limb against heat of all kinds for 1d6 minutes.

[ l o t u s ] by princessofcubes

5. Mentalistic

1. Courier root: connect to the roots of all plants to reach someone you can picture clearly, regardless of distance for a minute.
2. Glean memories: view a random secret of someone you can see.
3. Mind stamp: with a look, you can force a target to do any one thing. If it is obviously dangerous, they may resist with will +4.
4. Pigmentary thoughts: the momentary thoughts of someone nearby become visible to you, showing what they are planning for a round.
5. Share tongues: speak to any one creature for up to a minute.
6. Speech puppet: throw an invisible thread around someone nearby, allowing you to make them say whatever you want for 1d6 rounds, though they may move and act otherwise as normal.

Psychic by Oli Lee

6. Translatory

1. Move without touch: pass through solid objects aside from natural ground for a round, carrying items with you.
2. Polymorph: transform yourself or a touched target into a random animal for an hour. Items remain within or are spirited away safely until they return.
3. Repetrify: transform creatures into stone or stone into meat. Creatures will remain in stone for an hour or until freed, and up to a half meter by one and a half meters of stone can become uncertain meat, up to 1d6 rations worth of which is edible.
4. Shift alignment: touch an object and switch its weight to make it fall in any direction for one minute.
5. Touch of winter: freeze a liquid by touching it. The longer this power is maintained, the more water can be frozen. A gallon freezes in a round, a tub in a minute, a pool in an hour, and a lake in a day.
6. Twigs to serpents: hold either end of lengths of wood in each hand, and animate them into snakes that will obey one command before behaving as wild snakes. At most, a human can produce 1d4 snakes that would be useful in combat. Special woods will result in enchanted snakes, and tiny, harmless snakes can be created without strain.

Whenever someone gains a power, roll for a vulnerability

1. Blood
2. Feathers
3. Salt
4. Copper
5. The caster's name
6. Green leaves

Skies Below skill system

Skills are generally based on professions, aside from particular outliers like ranged combat. Generally if you're using the butcher skill, you'd want to do things a butcher is good at, with the poet skill you can do things a poet would do. The uses and effects aren't precisely categorized or quantified, it's intended to be flexible and intuitive.

Blacksmith by Arnesson Art / Thomas hugo

Each character has skill slots equal to their Will score (which can be modified by things like class levels, mutations, or other effects), and each skill takes one slot. Extra languages and magic powers also take skill slots. New skills start with no stars and no marks.

To perform a skill successfully, the player must roll 1d6 and get 2 or lower. Each time the character uses a skill in an important situation, whether successful or failed, they add a mark. When the skill has three marks, the character can spend a week in town (or another safe area) and make a Will save to gain a star. A skill can have up to three stars, and each star increases the target number by one.

basic challenges by Jayna Pavlin

Most backgrounds give a skill, and a character's first class level gives them one of three skills randomly selected. New skills can be learned by practicing for a week with a teacher who has at least two stars, or through concentrated practice for a month with ample freedom, tools, and supplies which may be expensive or rare. Trainers should charge or require other compensation.

It's important to note that ranged combat uses the skills launcher, archer, and shooter depending on the weapon, and the attack hits if the skill check is successful. Harder shots can be made by rolling under half the normal target number, and there are surely non-combat applications for these skills as well.

Dwarven scribe by Michał Sztuka

Here are some examples of things that can be done with certain skills:

With the butcher skill you could cut open a dead creature and acquire useful organs or body parts, or skin it to get a good sturdy pelt.

Using the smith skill you could repair metal items that had been damaged but not destroyed, or use a forge and metals into armor, weapons, or other items.

Fae creatures

The fae are strange peoples who live in woods and wilderness. They are innately magical, tricky and wild, and almost always dangerous, though they fear iron and cannot pass by the threshold of a home without invitation.

Pixie

HD: 0 (1 vigor)
Found: 1d6 deep woods

Appearance: a dainty person, shrunken down that they could fit comfortably in a tall glass. Fabulous wings like a jeweled butterfly sprout from their back, leaving twinkling particles drifting in the air. They often hold a ribbon or bit of jewelry.
Voice: a small bell
Wants: to make mischief, take pretty things, and help their friends
Tactics: chaotic and tricky

Attack: -1
Defense: +4
Speed: +3

Abilities

1. Wink: with a burst of twinkling lights, they can force one to teleport a short jaunt away (usually around 20 meters). Because of this, they use this power against dangers but not on friends.

It is said that the pixies can change the fates of the cursed, though these stories are always quick to note that they cannot cure one. Oftentimes they will steal things they see as pretty, but do not keep such things, leaving a trail of finery as they move.

Floral Fairies by Sandra Duchiewicz

Dryad

HD: 2
Found: sole in deep woods, 1d6 in an enchanted grove

Appearance: a curvaceous figure of wooden complexion and hair like leaves, short of stature with sinuous, careful movements.
Voice: rustling leaves, soft but inescapable
Wants: to protect their tree, expel metal
Tactics: cautious, but not well considered

Attack: +1
Defense: +3
Speed: +2

Abilities

1. Woodswalk: passes through trees or any other wood without effort, as a human could pass through water.
2. Implant: can grapple a foe and pull them into a tree, dealing 1d6 damage per round until someone hacks them out of the wood.

Many can extol the magical properties and virtues of dryads, but most would never consider hunting them, as they are elusive and wondrous beings, as well as quite dangerous if truly forced into confrontation. 

Dryad by Leroy van Vliet

Nymph

HD: 2
Found: sole in waterfall ponds

Appearance: a flowing lithe form of water, unearthly beautiful and somewhat coy.
Voice: like a babbling brook, with an annoying laugh
Wants: to be loved
Tactics: passive and cautious

Attack: +1
Defense: +3
Speed: +2

Abilities

1. Stunning: any mortal who sees the nymph must make a Will save or be enthralled by their countenance, falling into infatuation for 1d6 months.
2. Breathless: they can live indefinitely under water, and can drag foes down to a watery grave.

These fairy beings are often surrounded by mortals playing and cavorting in the water. Their homes are often known as they live there for years at a time, entrapping passersby and enjoying the company of their mates.

Fairie by Mack Sztaba

Elf

HD: 3
Found: 1d6 in deep woods

Appearance: a tall, glowing figure with a deeply impassive face.
Voice: silent
Wants: to avoid mortals, protect their secrets
Tactics: carefully considered, unforgiving

Attack: +2
Defense: +2
Speed: +4

Abilities

1. Silver weapons, faintly luminous

The elves were once playful beings that taunted humans, stealing children and cursing nobles with eternal sleep. During the ages of heroes they crafted weapons and artifacts of unstoppable might to aid against the necromancers lords, but in the modern era they have become reclusive as a people.

Spirit of the Forest by Torben Weit

Gnome

HD: 1
Found: 1d6 near small villages

Appearance: like a child with white hair and brightly colored clothing
Voice: high pitched, taunting
Wants: pain
Tactics: aggressive

Attack: +3
Defense: +1
Speed: +2

Abilities

1. Tiny daggers: light damage
2. Hiding dance: as long as they dance in place, they can remain invisible.

Gnomes try to pose as lost or hurt children, and ruse humans in to approach before stabbing them to death and bathing themselves in blood. The blood soaks into their clothing and revitalizes its color.

DARK FAIRIES by Piotr Foksowicz

Special undead

Special Halloween post (a day early)! Certain beings beyond death are more dangerous or strange than others, or simply more rare.

Ghost

HD: 2
Found: solitary in abandoned homes, places of strange death, treachery, obsession, or terror

Appearance: withered ghostly light in the warped shape of the person who died, twisted by all-consuming emotion.
Voice: echoing and distant, as if from deep down an unseen hallway
Wants: to fulfill its obsession
Morality: wild, emotional, irrational
Tactics: careful, tricky, but aggressive

Attack: +2
Defense: +1
Speed: +2

Abilities

1. Incorporeal: can remain invisible and intangible at will, unless its emotions are flared.
2. Possession: able to possess the bodies of mortals who are emotionally inflamed.

Created when a mortal dies while engulfed in the extremes of emotion, be it terror, hatred, desire, or others. This emotion drives them far beyond human behavior, to wild acts that may seem impossible to their friends and loved ones in life. They become tied to an area or object, and cannot leave it beyond a certain range unless they possess the body of a mortal. 

Evocation - Stail Woman by Andrea Chiampo

Poltergeist

HD: 1
Found:

Appearance: completely invisible, shaped like a frail, crouching humanoid. Faint but distinct light glows from within when the command word is spoken.
Voice: echoing sounds, like a clattering or ringing with no apparent source
Wants: to serve its purpose, usually as a thief or personal guard for dark wizards, or to secure safety once abandoned.
Morality: flatly logical, cautious but not fearful
Tactics: evasive, avoids combatants while flinging heavy objects at them

Attack: -1
Defense: +1
Speed: +0

Abilities

1. Unseen: cannot be seen naturally, though a small, candle-like blue light glows at its heart and it becomes immobile for 1d6 rounds when its command word is spoken.
2. Telekinesis: with a clumsy force, the poltergeist can levitate a set of somewhat lightweight objects in a certain area, such as a chair and small items on a nearby table. Makes a launcher check with 2 stars.

Created by cutting out part of the soul and binding it to a word in a lengthy and horrific process that cripples the mind of its subject. Usually dark wizards will extract 1d6 poltergeists from a soul, inventing a new command word for each and using them as thieves or disparate guards.

Wraith

HD: 3
Found: 1d6 in the stillest of places

Appearance: somewhat like a dark, tattered robe floating in the air, shedding dust, ash, or whatever gave it form.
Voice: silence
Wants: stillness, silence, and deadness
Morality: inscrutable
Tactics: cautious, well considered, almost passive

Attack: +3
Defense: +1
Speed: +2

Abilities

1. Withering touch: medium damage, deals a wound on 6.
2. Discorporate: fades into particles briefly, becoming intangible for a round.
3. Screams of Quietude: goes still for a round, damping all sounds within a long earshot.

Formed of particulate matter in places of deepest stillness, these strange elemental beings of deadness are formed seemingly on their own, almost always underground. Perhaps these taught the ancient necromancer lords their dark art, in a nearly successful bid to end life in our world. Perhaps the night sky is black with void wraiths, impatiently waiting for the moon and stars to die or abandon us so that they may finally put still this wretched land of flowing blue, swirling white, and creeping green.

They float through the air, and are absorbed by stone. While this weakens the spirit, it also corrupts the material. The result is a brittle rock called Wraithstone, which crumbles into needle-like shapes and is prized by alchemists.

Mummy

HD: 3
Found: solitary in rich tombs, the tops of mountains, buried under ancient temples, or lost in salt mines

Appearance: desiccated corpse from bygone eras, preserved by forces of man or nature and bearing a distinct strength in will and body.
Voice: soft and dry, but commanding and impossible to ignore
Wants: peace in the afterlife, to dispel invaders
Morality: similar to life
Tactics: careful, well considered but not aggressive

Attack: +3
Defense: +2
Speed: -1

Abilities

1. Command: all undead who can hear it will obey its words without hesitation.
2. Slam: heavy damage. Deals 1 damage to the mummy on successful hit.
3. Mummy's Curse: whoever kills a mummy is stricken with a major curse.

Emperor of the Sands: interred deep within stone crypts lined with gold and history, draped in what were once fine silver wrappings and golden regalia. Guarded by twin stone guardians and possessed of divine favor.

Saltmen: lost workers in an ancient salt mine, their industry that ended their lives has now ironically preserved them beyond death.

Eternal Monk: preserved in a ritual of meditation, fasting, and special diet in order to achieve an eternal peace as they were lowered into sealed pits underneath holy places. Those who desecrate their place of burial may face the full might of long-lost martial arts, but the righteous seekers of their wisdom may find secrets which are unattainable by any other means.

Mummylands: tropical lands where the oldest of preserved dead can be found, hundreds if not thousands across the realm. Many of them are decorated with fine clothes, tattoos, and jewelry.

Character history

When rolling up a new character, players can use these to generate a good framework for a backstory. Background, secrets, and connections have mechanical effects, but players can be allowed to come up with whatever else the GM allows, within reason. Secrets are also freeform and can be invented, but they should have some dramatic impact if discovered.

Hometown

Where the character grew up. Could be where they spent their whole life, or a childhood home that they left as soon as they could, or a place their family moved to for whatever reason.

Contradiction by Jeff Chen

1. Farming village
2. Port village
3. Mining camp
4. Roadside inn
5. Logging camp
6. Castle outpost
7. Farming town
8. Seaside town
9. Mining town
10. Merchant town
11. Castle town
12. Foresting town
13. Plains city
14. Coastal city
15. Mountain city
16. Trade city
17. Forest city
18. War camp
19. Ruined city
20. Nomadic caravan

Collecting the Payment by Stefano Scuccimarra

Background

This is more what the character grew up doing. Players can choose any from 1-10, or they can roll 1d20 for one. Most likely they were apprenticed to their parents, being raised to take over the family profession before they decided to become an adventurer.

1. Beggar: panhandler skill, ragged outfit, tin cup.
2. Farmer: farmer skill, stained outfit, and a hoe or pitchfork.
3. Carpenter: builder skill, hardy outfit, handsaw.
4. Cook: cook skill, stained outfit, pot & spoon, common spices.
5. Blacksmith: smithing skill, hardy outfit, hammer, and steel ingot.
6. Surgeon: surgeon skill, stained outfit, bandages.
7. Gardener: apothecary skill, stained outfit, bag of seeds.
8. Scribe: poet skill, clean outfit, quill & inkwell.
9. Painter: painter skill, stained outfit, brush.
10. Poacher: survivalist skill, camouflage outfit, knife.
11. Trader: linguist skill, exotic outfit, 5 foreign silver coins.
12. Heir: fine outfit, 10 silver coins.
13. Minstrel: musician skill, plain outfit, instrument.
14. Actor: politician skill, fine outfit.
15. Jester: comedian skill, ridiculous outfit, inflatable ball.
16. Criminal: pickpocket skill, ragged outfit, 3 silver.
17. Courier: +1 speed, running outfit, hometown map.
18. Squire: politics skill, surcoat, short sword.
19. Wizard's apprentice: +1 magic, eccentric robes.
20. Wizard's subject: ragged outfit, -1 maximum vigor, random magic power.

Siblings by Petar Milivojevic

Secret

Players should roll these in secret, or come up with their own if sufficiently dramatic.

1. Banished from nobility
2. Fled noble life
3. Ran away from justice
4. Escaped wrongful conviction
5. Hidden gender
6. Deserted the war
7. Member of a cult
8. Holds a powerful grudge
9. In a long term relationship
10. Kills small animals
11. Unusual tastes
12. Embarrassing interests
13. Stolen treasure
14. Stolen weapon
15. Stolen status symbol
16. Killed someone important
17. Hunting a rival
18. Eats human flesh
19. Hates anyone of a certain race
20. Cannot swim

Fly high, my friend by Mauro Belfiore

Scars

Characters should start with one scar, from growing up in a dangerous world. Each time they get wounded, it should also leave a scar.

1. Cut across the eye
2. Cut across the mouth
3. Broken nose
4. Foggy eye
5. Cuts on the arm
6. Missing teeth
7. Missing finger
8. Missing toes
9. Cut on chest
10. Cut along neck
11. Punctures in torso
12. Burn on face
13. Burned arms
14. Missing hand
15. Missing foot
16. Missing ear
17. Missing eye
18. Cut across forehead
19. Punctures in arm
20. Cut across nose

Connections

Players can roll one of these when they create a character, usually getting a benefit along with an open ended question for them to answer, perhaps at character creation or perhaps gradually as they play. For the negative ones, such as debts, I would recommend giving them an exp bonus for paying them off or otherwise solving them. These can be recorded on the party sheet, unless the player wants to keep them on their sheet.

1- People

1. Your sister Matihl travels with you as a guard. What was she like as a child?
2. Your brother Sigund is coming along to cook. How was growing up with him?
3. Your lover is with you to repair leather and metal items. How did you meet?
4. Mentor Vimatn demands weekly reports. What was their teaching style?
5. Parents write weekly letters. What do they write about?
6. An obsessive hanger on tends to get in the way. Why are they following you?

2- Business

1. Owe 1d100 gold to the cult of the Inner Moon. Were you a member?
2. Debt of 1d100 gold with Baron Kihlig. How long will they give you?
3. You owe 1d100 gold to Shosturv, your friend. How good of a friend are they?
4. An assassin fulfilled a 1d100 gold contract, yet to be paid. Who did you need dead?
5. There is a bakery you partly own. Why did you set out?
6. You're the business partner to an innkeeper. What made you leave?

3- Animals

1. Pet dog came with when you left your home. What does it like most?
2. Hunting bird tagged along. What do you feed it?
3. Family mule sent along with you. Does it follow or lead?
4. Stole a horse. Whose was it?
5. Missives by bird come from far away. Why do they write to you?
6. A war dog has taken a liking to you. Just how friendly is it?

4- Reputation

1. People say you're a lucky one. Is that totally wrong?
2. Everybody thinks you're rich. Do you try to live up to that?
3. They say you're clumsy. What was the start of that?
4. There's supposedly an air of mystery around you. What causes that?
5. You're said to be fashionable. How do you handle that pressure?
6. Some say you're an incredible lover. Is it flattering or uncomfortable?

5- Rumors

1. Word has it that you're cursed. What's the supposed curse?
2. There's a story that you had a violent outburst. What really happened?
3. Innkeepers say you trashed a room once. How bad was it?
4. You're said to have survived impossible odds in a fight. Did you get lucky?
5. A noble scion is supposedly betrothed to you. Who are they?
6. Of a crew that ostensibly hid great treasure, you're the last remaining. What keeps you from getting it?

6- Other

1. A nomadic wizards cursed you to fall short of your destiny. Are you after them?
2. A bandit leader owes you bigtime. Did you mean to help them out?
3. The heir of Nuliwim County wishes you stop adventuring and join them. How do they know you?
4. Baron Shuladn begrudgingly owes you a favor. Is that more trouble than it's worth?
5. You covered for a squad of deserters. Where did they go next?
6. You are native to a strange and distant land. What brought you here?

Arcane focus

Magic users must have an arcane focus to use their techniques in combat. Just about anything can be selected as a focus, but for players who really need some help, they can roll on this table. None of these can be reasonably sold, their only value is sentimental and personal.

1. Instruments

1. Lute
2. Lyre
3. Drum
4. Flute
5. Trumpet
6. Bagpipe
7. Tambourine
8. Bells
9. Rebec (medieval violin)
10. Crotals (finger cymbals)

2. Apparel

1. Hat
2. Scarf
3. Glove(s)
4. Cape
5. Cloak
6. Coat
7. Bowtie
8. Mask
9. Ribbon
10. Shoe(s)

3. Jewellery

1. Amulet
2. Circlet
3. Bracelet
4. Necklace
5. Ring
6. Eyeglass
7. Armband
8. Brooch
9. Clasp
10. Earring(s)

4. Equipment

1. Shield
2. Scabbard
3. Fishing Pole
4. Wheel
5. Shovel
6. Hammer
7. Net
8. Oar
9. Fire poker
10. Torch

5. Melee

1. Dagger
2. Sword
3. Axe
4. Spear
5. Mace
6. Halberd
7. Poleaxe
8. Club
9. Whip
10. Flail

6. Fine tools

1. Quill
2. Armillary
3. Candle
4. Lamp
5. Needle
6. Hairbrush
7. Mirror
8. Hourglass
9. Spool
10. Scissors

7. Kitchenware

1. Cup
2. Bottle
3. Fork
4. Cauldron
5. Plate
6. Kettle
7. Spoon
8. Sieve
9. Millstone
10. Breadbox

8. Remains

1. Skull
2. Dried animal
3. Pickled organ
4. Pickled animal
5. Teeth
6. Scrap of skin
7. Eyeball
8. Preserved hand
9. Scales
10. Seashell

9. Art

1. Figurine
2. Painting
3. Plaque
4. Dream catcher
5. Poetry
6. Book
7. Engraving
8. Embroidery
9. Flag
10. Stained Glass

10. Other

1. Spellbook
2. Stone
3. Coin
4. Gear
5. Staff
6. Abacus
7. Broken sword
8. Braid of hair
9. Scrap metal
10. Bandage

Magic plants

All plants can be purchased as seeds for 3 gold, or transplanted for 5 gold. Remember, plants grown with druid magic don't grow seeds.

Bushes

1. Belligerent Kindler: a stiff fern that pushes back against force, igniting if necessary. The leaves are immune to burning, and can be useful in making flame-resistant materials. Those who live near these plants will sometimes compare a hot temper to a fern, much to the amusement of foreigners.
2. Acrobat's Brush: bushes with springy branches that cause any impact to bounce off. A person can use it as a springboard to leap up to 5 meters.
3. Blasting Cucumber: grows a crop of small round vegetables, more elongated and cylindrical than normal cukes. Whenever something jostles the bush too much, it blasts seeds in every direction, dealing heavy damage to anyone nearby.
4. Green Phantom Bush: related to a similar magic shrub in distant Centerra, these bushes turn any living creature that touches them invisible.
5. Cutpurse' Bramble: this underbrush is favored by bandits for the long, rigid leaves that can be used as makeshift daggers. Fully grown they usually have 1d4 usable leaf daggers, which dry out and become useless after a week.
6. Hedge Mule: able to pull up its roots and move at pace with a leisurely walk, for up to a day if it's had a week to rest, or an hour if it's had a day to rest. Can carry up to 9 inventory slots worth of items or one passenger.

Vines

1. Crushvine: looks like a benign ivy until a year of growth, when it blooms red flowers and suddenly pulls whatever it has grown on, crushing even stone walls into the ground. When someone is acting suspicious, people will sometimes say they are 'blooming red.'
2. Sentinel's Grape: these vines keep surreptitious watch through their leaves, growing small grey berries. When a berry is eaten, it reveals everything the vine has seen in the past month, though the eater must save vs poison or fall into fitful slumber for 1d4+1 days.
3. Jeweler's Ivy: so called as it seems to enrapture anyone who touches it. The truth is that its touch is paralyzing, and it will slowly consume anyone it traps unless they are pulled or knocked away.
4. Creeping Lover: black vines with hand-shaped leaves. They fall away from a surface and wrap around anything that touches them, often capturing the careless. For each additional person trapped, each victim gets +1 to escape.
5. Creeping Storm: famous in several tales for their ability to carry lightning along their stems. Less famous is the fact they carry flame just as well, flaring out at the leaves. Some extravagant nobles will have them grown at the top of a tower.
6. Rock Ivy: thick-stemmed vines that harden like stone when they die, becoming nearly unbreakable. Many castles will encourage these plants to grow along walls, but if allowed to grow wild the hardening roots can push apart bricks,

Trees

1. Bandit's Oak: grows broad but not very tall. Within it's mostly hollow, with inconspicuous entry points at nearly every side.
2. Dreambirch: anyone going to sleep within one kilometer of this tree's pale blossoms will be trapped in a somber, eerie dream world. Each night roll 1d100, if the result is lower than the number of trapped people, one will awaken. Strong willed individuals make a will save to escape.
3. Cloud Willow: sheds its leaves when endangered, causing any creature they touche to become weightless for an hour. If they fail an agility save to grab something, they will drift upward 2d20 feet before falling. The leaves last an hour if gathered carefully.
4. Siege Spruce: this tree builds up explosive deposits in the trunk, and grows flammable nuts. When chopped down, it fires a natural cannonball from the trunk, dealing 3d6 damage. If burned, it will launch up into the air and come crashing down.
5. Razorbark Sycamore: looks like a normal tree with low, climbable branches, but the bark is razor sharp. 1d6 of the branches can be broken off and stripped to use as axes which will break after 1 damage marker. The bark can be peeled off for other uses, but the task is risky.
6. Sovereign Hickory: when this hearty tree takes damage, it becomes immutable like a giant immovable rod for one minute. Some alchemists insist that its wood is the key to creating immovable rods, but none have yet managed it.

Travel encounters

For the game I'm running, I needed an encounter table for regular travel across the land. So I made  this one, which is fairly basic but should provide everything necessary. The first ten are mundane and don't amount to much, basically just more interesting than "nothing happens," the next five are significant but mundane, and the last five are supernatural.

1. A cloud looks like a flower
2. Bloodstains on the trees
3. Circle of mushrooms
4. Triangular patch of flowers near the road
5. Broken wagon
6. Bridge over a small river
7. A family of rabbits cross the path
8. Howling winds pick up momentarily
9. Light rain
10. A set of gravestones nearby
11. Bandits...
1. Blocking the road
2. Attacking merchants
3. Fighting each other
4. Poaching
5. Sneak up from behind
6. Pretending to be merchants
12. Assassins
13. Animals attack
1. Wolves
2. Bear
3. Frenzied deer
4. Boars
5. Monkeys
6. Ravens
14. A storm brews while the group travels atop a hill
15. Merchants approach carrying...
1. Silks
2. Weapons
3. Exotic foods
4. Slaves
5. Training
6. Plain tools
16. Kobolds attack
17. Undead attack
18. Fairies offer power, wish to steal youth
19. Spectral voices call out for help from a tomb
20. Unnatural omens

Curses as classes

These cannot be unlocked for new characters, and gain no proficiencies, skills, or starting items. Curses can deepen similar to gaining class levels, and replace class levels if they would otherwise exceed the limit of four. They can also be cured by fighting and evading the curse. There's no fourth level so that players can still have classes, but if you want to allow players to become outright monsters, feel free to add that.

Vampire

• Stat bonus: +1 will, -1 strength per level
• Deepen: drinking the blood of a living person you haven't already fed on counts as 10 exp.
• Cure: go 10 intervals without feeding.
• Signs: fangs, pallid skin, unnatural eyes.

Level 1: burning, bloodthirst

Level 2: drowning, regeneration

Level 3: ageless, hypnotism

• Burning: sunlight will burn your flesh. In direct sunlight, you take 2d6 damage per round. In open air during daylight, you take 1 damage per round even in shade.
• Bloodthirst: you must drink blood instead of eating food, regaining 1d6 vigor each time. Whenever you see a suitable victim and have not fed within one day (at level 1)/month (at level 2)/year (at level 3), you must make a will save to avoid attacking them immediately to feed on them. This save is made at a cumulative -1 penalty each interval since you last fed, as well as a -4 if they are bleeding.
• Drowning: if you enter or knowingly pass over running water, you must make a vigor save each round or lose consciousness.
• Regeneration: whenever you take a wound, you can turn into mist and return to your coffin or other place of rest, as long as the way is not blocked by airtight barriers. Each hour of rest restores one wound. Only sunlight or a stake through the heart can truly kill you, any other death will simply turn you into mist and return to your coffin, where your body will lie inert for one day before recovering.
• Ageless: you can live forever, with no need to sleep, breathe, or even feed, though you must still make saves to keep yourself from attacking mortals.
• Hypnotism: by staring into the eyes of any mortal creature for ten seconds, you can force them to obey a single word command, along with pointing to direct them. You are completely vulnerable to attacks while doing this.

Leprocist

• Stat bonus: +1 strength, -1 will per level
• Deepen: attaching the limb of a creature you killed grants 10 exp.
• Cure: let one body part per leprocist level fall off, and be taken care of for one month. This will not regrow the limbs lost.
• Signs: decayed skin, mismatched body parts, seams between parts.

Level 1: falling apart, metabolize

Level 2: preservative

Level 3: beyond natural, chaotic anatomy

• Falling apart: your face, arms, and legs will slowly decay and fall off over the course of a month, but you can replace them. Losing an arm decreases your strength by one, and losing a leg decreases your agility by one. Each limb you take from a creature increases or decreases your strength and agility if the creature was stronger than you or more agile, respectively. Once all of your limbs fall off, your head and torso will begin to take 2d6 damage per day unless fed and cleaned carefully.
• Metabolize: expend a body part, pushing it past its limits and ripping it apart to add 1d6 to any roll.
• Preservative: choose one of your body parts to remain intact as long as you have other limbs, similar to your head and torso.
• Beyond natural: attach additional body parts, including extra heads, up to a total of half your maximum vigor (or 6, whichever is higher).
• Chaotic anatomy: if each of your body parts is from a different type of creature, they will decay after a year rather than a month.

Midas' Flesh

• Stat bonus: +1 strength, -1 agility per level
• Deepen: hoard ten times the normal amount of gold instead of spending it. Stolen or lost money is not deducted, but spent or used money is.
• Cure: go one month per level without holding any money, except to give away for nothing in return.
• Signs: golden eyes, golden flesh.

Level 1: personal value, fool's touch

Level 2: weight of riches, gold to anything

Level 3: liquid assets, pure profit

• Personal value: stop rolling for vigor. Insted, each level of curse roll 1d20 for gold vigor as your body transforms. Each point of gold vigor is worth 10gp if ripped off of you, and if gold is taken from your body it takes a week to recover. You must consume a gold coin for each point of wear you wish to recover, instead of eating and resting normally.
• Fool's touch: touch an enemy to encase them in pyrite, immobilizing them for 1d6 rounds. Doing this causes you to take 1d6 damage if you've used it before on that day.
• Weight of riches: your golden body is immensely heavy. Anything weaker than stone will collapse underneath you, you will sink like a rock in any liquid, and it takes at least three people to carry you.
• Gold to anything: you can change your gold into any mundane metal or stone, though its shape remains the same. It takes about 20gp for each inventory slot of materials.
• Liquid assets: shoot molten gold from your hand at anyone within ten meters. Deals damage based on how much gold you expend; 1 damage for less than 10gp, 1d6 for 10gp, 2d6 for 100gp, 3d6 for 1000gp, and so on.
• Pure profit: your body is entirely gold, remove all non-gold vigor, and if you run out you will die and your body will crumble into 2d20 gold coins.

Lycanthrope

• Stat bonus: +1 agility, -1 will per level
• Deepen: each person your beast form kills grants 10 exp.
• Cure: spending a full moon completely restrained and imprisoned counters10 exp.
• Signs: wild hair and nail growth, hunger for raw meat.

Level 1: full moon, unnatural

Level 2: wilderness within, man or beast

• Full moon: on any night when the moon is full, you will transform into a powerful beast that goes on a violent rampage, targeting the things you care most about.
• Unnatural: mundane weapons and attacks cannot kill you, except silver.
• Wilderness within: you can make a will save to transform regardless of the time. During this time, whenever your beast form kills and eats a creature, you can choose to revert. Gain a cumulative +1 to this save for each night since you last transformed.
• Man or beast: when you are in beast form, you can make a will save to take control for 1d6 minutes. If people you care about are trying to help, gain +4 to this save.

Wendigo

• Stat bonus: +1 strength, -1 will per level
• Deepen: eating a frozen corpse of the same species grants 20 exp.
• Cure: each night spent without food and out of the cold counters 20 exp
• Signs: white skin, antlers, claws, unnatural eyes.

Level 1: flesh hunger, frigid phantom

Level 2: starvation, hunt

• Flesh hunger: whenever you eat a frozen corpse of your species, you regain all vigor and recover one wound.
• Frozen phantom: gain +4 to stealth when moving through snowy or frozen environments, gain immunity to cold weather and resistance to cold damage. Take double damage from fire, and you must make a will save to approach any fire larger than a candle.
• Starvation: eat a frozen corpse at least once a week or die.
• Hunt: you can see in the dark and perfectly mimic any voice you've heard.

Everyone else participating in this project. If you found your way here you should definitely check them out: Oblidisideryptch: https://oblidisideryptch.blogspot.com/ Archon’s Court: https://archons-court.blogspot.com/2019/08/glog-class-nanoweapon-poisoned.html Walfalcon: https://sameissharkinjapanese.blogspot.com/2019/08/glog-class-so-im-participating-in.html Ancalagon: https://slugsandsilver.blogspot.com/2019/07/curse-as-class-contest-ogre.html Lexi: https://crateredland.blogspot.com/2019/08/holding-out-for-hero.html Belac93: http://anxiousmimic.blogspot.com/2019/08/glog-class-oath-cursed-and-oath-rot.html Iemcd: https://benignbrownbeast.blogspot.com/2019/08/restless-dreamer.html Zoeology: https://princesses-and-pioneers.tumblr.com/post/186756775968/mirror-struck

Valker: https://parasitesandparadoxes.blogspot.com/2019/08/glog-class-doppelganger.html B44l: https://bugbearslug.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-abattoir-god.html