Fantasy Chainsaws

 Bit of a weird project, but if you ever want to include some form of chainsaw in your fantasy games, at least one of these should fit the tone. Maybe that's just me! If you're doing full gonzo, go ahead and roll that wonderful d20.

1. Lotus Petal Saw

Softly shining, pink petals spin along an ornamented bar, conjured by a Blades of the Endless Wheel mantra.

Exactly this, by me

2. Thornwheel Blade

A great enchanted rose bush, grown by fairies to have a rotary thorned stem.

3. Jaguar Claw Macuahuitl

Empowered by a jaguar spirit, its many obsidian blades command incredible cutting power even when swung like a normal sword.

4. Necrospinner

A spinning weapon of animated bone, using fangs and teeth along the whirling edge.

5. Meatcutter

So named for cutting meat as well as itself being meat. The blade is comprised of sharp, hardened claws, and it spews its own blood when spinning.

6. Crystal Prismus

Enchanted weapon of polished stone and gems. Each tooth is a different kind of gem, and they can create a glinting rainbow of slicing power.

7. Brimstone Spinblade

Spewing hellfire when it spins, the heat of its flames can burn through steel as well as any warhammer punches through.

8. Starlight Spinner

An elven weapon of silver, hammered as fine as eggshells, with a radiant blade that captures the light of the stars.

9. Slimesaw

Somehow when spinning, the goopy edge of this blade cuts much faster than the slime can normally corrode.

10. Classical Sparksaw

Ancient spinning blade crafted of olive wood and bronze, spits blue sparks as it spins. Made by a brilliant inventor centuries ago.

Ancient Bladesaw, from Zelda

 

11. Trimerian Sawbeetle

The curious horns of this giant beetle can spin to cut through wood or, presumably other Trimerian creatures. They are carefully bound to be used as tools.

12. Winding Sharp-Frost

 Unnaturally hardened frost, spinning and cutting with a fractal edge.

13. Whipsaw

A bladed whip that can be activated to coil in an elongated shape, spinning to cut more effectively, in exchange for shorter reach.

14. Terracotta Blade

A living clay weapon that spins with razor sharp clay shards along a lengthened edge.

15. Runic Stormblade

Constructed of tin and pewter, by wizards. The runes etched into its surface conjure the vortex of a storm into its crackling, whirling edge of deep indigo lightning.

16. Gilded Relic Blade

Built of marble set with gold and finely cut gems, this spinning blade contains a warrior-saint's fighting hand bones, and radiates with divine cutting light.

17. Trimerian Wasps

Angry insects that have been specially bred and trained to fly in a long, rounded formation and devour anything they touch. This was the only formation in which they wouldn't turn back and attack whoever holds their hive.

Lasersaw, by Andrea Sibilla

18. Jade Dragon's Fang

Gifted by a divine being from an unearthly realm, it is surprisingly easy to carry.

19. Spectre's Wrath

 As ghostly mist whirls and spins, the hatred of the dead calls out in a hollow wail.

20. Splitting Organistrum

The powerful tune of this slow instrument projects a small aura of cutting sound near its neck when played properly.

Many of these were inspired with help from Gal Paladin on Discord!

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
  

Special elementals

Jittering sulfur

HD: 1
Found: 1d6 near hot springs

Appearance: a rough, flaking ball of yellow powdery stone, with spindly limbs jutting and bending in all directions.
Wants: to run around enclosed spaces
Tactics: chaotic

Attack: 0
Defense: +1
Speed: +4

Abilities

1. Ram: light damage
2. Scattered essence: each round the it spends in melee with someone holding a source of flame, there is a 2 in 6 chance the sulfur in the air will ignite and burn into heavy black droplets. The flame will spread to all areas it has passed through, dealing 1d6 damage each round to anyone actively fighting in it, or 1 damage if they are focused on avoiding it. The elemental takes 1 damage per round while on fire, and will run around in a panic.

(I drew this one a while ago, but it's way too faded to look any good)

Ash angel

HD: 1
Found: 1d6 underground, in large buildings, or places where the air is particularly still.

Appearance: a winged, crumbling figure. Penitent and cautious in its posture and movements.
Voice: weak and rasping
Wants: stillness and quiet, stronger elementals to follow.
Tactics: careful but ill-considered

Attack: 0
Defense: +1
Speed: +2

Abilities

1. Smog: 1 damage, ignoring defense.
2. Burst: when killed, each will explode into a cloud of choking, obscuring ash that hangs in the air, sticking in the eyes and throat. For each Ash Angel killed in the same room, combatants of flesh fight with -1 attack and defense.

Hovering spirits thought to be closely related to wraiths, they likewise prefer the still and silent. They are quite vulnerable to strong winds or water (a bucket or more), which can dissipate them without letting them burst.

Reforming by Aaron Salter

Forking fiend

HD: 5
Found: solitary at places where the future could go many ways.

Appearance: countless little spindly limbs meet at a joint, which reaches up to do the same again, creating a sort of pyramidal centipede without head or segmented body.
Voice: crackling and uncertain
Wants: possibility. It likes forks in the road at least, but will seek greater possibilities
Tactics: random

Attack: +3
Defense: 3
Speed: +3

Abilities

1. Dagger feet: light damage
2. Splitting: when it takes one third of its damage, a HD 1 forking fiend splits off and fights alongside it, with 1 attack, defense, and speed bonus. Likewise its stats decrease by one each. Happens again at two thirds damage.

Hungry forge

HD: 4
Found: where many dwarves have died

Appearance: ponderous blocky limbs heaving a tall, rounded body. A chimney spews smoke from above and a mouth glows from red hot coals within.
Voice:
Wants: to eat metal
Tactics: cautious

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

Abilities

1. Mulch: it will take metal into its furnace and smelt it down, stopping for a round to smelt a random tool (1. shovel 2. plates & cups, 3. hammer & nails 4. chain 5. light struts 6. small chair). If it hasn't forged anything recently, it will aggressively try to take weapons and/or armor for this purpose, but is not picky if offered metal.
2. Hammerblow: medium damage.
3. Spew: 1d6 fire damage, agility save for half. Cannot act next round as it stokes the flames.

Gold-Forge Garrison by Svetlin Velinov

Annihilatrum

HD: 2
Found: solitary at sites of great magical destruction or natural disasters

Appearance: a roiling, heavy smoke with embers glowing from within and electrical energy crackling about its long limbs.
Voice: booming and sudden
Wants: to discuss the nature of destruction and preservation, and kill immortal beings.
Tactics: aggressive

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

Abilities

1. Flaming thunder: red hot talons of crackling energy form, dealing heavy damage.
2. Destructive existence: when moving slowly, it can pass through unattended solids, completely destroying them.

Photo by Francisco Negroni

Luminbeast

HD: 2
Found: solitary at the depths of the Temple of Hidden Light

Appearance: broad shouldered shining form, fading into shadows from the waist down. Without light nearby it looks wan and frail, but as it absorbs lights it fills out, appearing more muscular and sturdy.
Voice: slightly echoing
Wants: to collect candles and kindling
Tactics: aggressive

Attack: +1
Defense: 0
Speed: +1

Abilities

1. Luminous form: for each light source roughly as bright as a torch or three candles, the Luminbeast gains +1 HD, attack, defense, and speed. One round after such a light source is extinguished, these bonuses are lost.
2. Raking light: shimmering claws that deal light damage.
3. Great flare: a blinding burst of light shines from its body, blinding anyone nearby. 2 in 6 chance this drains a light source, extinguishing it.

Lush soul

HD: 1

Found: 

Appearance: crudely humanoid shape, plump and welcoming, formed of alcohol as if held by totally unseen glass.

Voice: bubbly and muffled

Wants: strong alcoholic drinks, to join diverse groups

Tactics: careful

Attack: +1

Defense: +2

Speed: +0

Abilities

1. Slam: light damage. Coats target in flammable alcohol on a successful hit.
2. On tap: regrows about 5 liters of alcohol a day, up to its normal size at 50 liters. It will fight if half of it is consumed.

Beer Dragon by Nicolás Morales
Not the same idea, but a good beer elemental

Dashhoop

HD: 1

Found: 1d6 in flat expanses of firm ground, as large as possible

Appearance: translucent wheel of lightning, peeling wildly and without rest.

Voice: screeching

Wants: to race

Tactics: distracted

Attack: +1

Defense: -1

Speed: +8

Abilities

1. Ram: medium damage.

Able to attack while moving, but cannot but move every round. If someone races to a target, it will be unable to resist competing against them.

Silvery doppelganger

HD: 3

Found: solitary in heavy concentrated metal veins

Appearance: angular, metallic humanoid covered in flat, shiny surfaces. Whoever is close enough to be reflected will find themselves fighting their own mirror image, reaching through the surface.

Voice: scraping and faintly echoed

Wants: to show reflections

Tactics: whatever it thinks the foe will use

Attack: +1

Defense: +2

Speed: +1

Abilities

1. Reflection: each person fighting it in melee will fight their reflection, with their bonuses added to its own for them alone. If approached peacefully when not in combat, by someone who hasn't attacked it, the reflected selves will only try to assist with grooming, examination, or what have you.

The colors of flame

Red- bloodfire

A rare and cursed flame which burns only living creatures, curdling their flesh before it eats away the skin. It leaves nothing but bone and fur or hair, and none have yet tested if it can spread along freshly spilled blood. The skincity Viren is perhaps the only place where such fire can be found.

Orange- of hearth and torch

Natural flames said to originate from the plane of fire, wherever that may be. It has long been tamed by mortals as a fine tool for light, cooking, and fending against beasts, though careless use may reveal its own feral nature and show it for the danger it is. 

VFX: Simple fire by Artem Grechko

Yellow- flames for gold

Sometimes used by money-changers or alchemists to sift gold from other metals or stone, as this jagged flame burns only precious metals and gems. Most metals it corrodes and ruins, while gems burst or explode. Its use comes in the way it melts gold, as that immortal treasure cannot be rusted or degrade into patina.

Green- demon's breath

Cursed flames known to come about after unnatural magics and dark pacts, remembered by most from a conflagration that burned away the undead armies of the Dead Lords, when they were finally slain. They manifest as they will, consume what they have come for, and disappear without trace or ash. Truly none can say if this fire is a demon itself, merely a tool of dark forces, or perhaps a consequence of twisted wizardry.

Fire-Green by Gabriel Ramos dos Santos

Blue- spirits of the dead

Smoke like mist and a pale glow marks these flames as the product of necromancy. Most often seen in the empty sockets of skeletons still fighting, it is also found at the heart of bone lanterns, whispering the memories of a soul long since dead.

Violet- the memory of dreams

When the pulp of a dream birch is lit, the flames burn with a beautiful light. The long tongues of its pyre will plunge any who touch it into a deep sleep. Curiously, when an unwanted memory is written or drawn clearly enough and put in the flame, it will burn away from the creator's mind. It is thought that these are impossible to recover, but an alchemist in Renzez claims to have crafted a restoring poultice using the ashes of burned memories.

Magic Fire by Evgeny Starostin

White- gentle cleansing flame

A wizard's trick, fire that burns away dirt, dust, and stains and leaving only the shining surface of what lies beneath. The potion that ignites it is quite laborious and time-consuming to brew, so it is perhaps best relegated as a parlour trick for the nobility.