Play Report - The Palace of Unquiet Repose

This being a play report of the first session of The Palace of Unquiet Repose played with Hyperborea 3e, which seemed a good easthetic fit.

The party set off from Iotha at the bidding of the astrologer Orixerxes. Three of them there were; Proculus, a legionary of grim aspect and cold wrath, still clad in his velite wolfskin. Skaris - called "the Hideous", though it must have been some barbaric jest for he was of middling looks - a tattooed pict and veteran of the fyrd.  Freygunnr, a warrior woman of the uttermost north, cast out of her tribe for practicing the cruel magic of galdr, which by her people's custom is reserved for men and bespeaks of strange lusts when women take interest in it. There may have been some truth in this, as it was not only desire for the astrologer's gold that they set off across the Glass Waste but also lust for his daughters, which he promised in marriage or bondage to each of them in return for one task; bring him the Grimoire of Uyu-Yadmogh, Prince of Princes, Eater of Children, last sorcerer-king of Tzyan!

They joined a caravan funded by Orixerxes to get them across the desert with water-laden camels, vital in the parched desert. With them they brought a local, Old Jaffa - a noted thief and reprobate down on his luck and offering his services as a professional house breaker for a crust of bread and a warm tent alone. On the second night out of Iotha their rest was interrupted however by a great wailing and howling from the deep desert. They feared to venture beyond the light of their campfires and so endured a sleepless night and a gruelling day, hoping they left the hideous shrieking behind them.

It was not to be so. The shrieks and clamour continued, though the keen ear of Skaris noted fewer voices in the darkness. Alas he did not guess the meaning behind this, and when dawn broke one of the caravan's camels was found disemboweled and throat bitten out in the night - and, too, Old Jaffa, a way outside the camp... with the party's runic blades in his pack. They left the fleabitten thief's corpse to feed the vultures, and the next night they girded for battle.

On the fourth night, nothing came - not wailing nor attack. On the fifth night, they - wisely it would transpire - did not take this for a sign they had escaped the turab'shaytan, as the caravaneers had taken to calling their stalker, and continued to post watches throughout the night. It was on first watch when Proculus, strong in thew but never the most observant for his senses were ever clouded by red mist and the clangor of distant battlefields, heard the death-rattle of a caravaneer and investigated to find a hideous aglomeration of bird, beast and emaciated man - the Dust Stalker! Meanwhile, Skaris' - drunk on Freygunnr's mead, was woken by the agony of a second beast's jaws clamping down upon his shoulder, fare tearing the meat loose before his hand gripped his rune-axe and dealt it a blow in kind, the creature recoiling in pain but not before its raking claws left track-marks like an ardent lover down his chest. The commotion woke Freygunnr, who had been sharing the same tent and was a lighter sleeper than Skaris. The two quickly realised that the beast was a match for both of them, and it would be a cruel and bloody fight.

Not so for Proculus, the giant velite took raking cuts and crushing bites but his lorica hamata held firm and with a skilful pirhouette that belied his great size, sidestepped the creature's lunging assault and beheaded it at the same time with one cleanly economical motion. The Dust Stalker facing Freygunnr and Skaris sensed it's mate's death but it only drove it to further fury. Skaris, nearly unmanned, broke a flask of enriched lamp oil over the beast's bony head and quit the field, having judged from its motions that on an open plain he could outrun it. Freygunnr spat at the cowardice of the pict who would leave a woman to face the axe-gang and held her ground, igniting the beast with a kicked over brazier. Even the fire though could not drive off the maddened beast and still it pressed its attack, dealing her many gashes and blows. Proculus, however, was too much for it to endure and when he entered the fray with his spatha still wet with its mate's blood, it made to quit the field with an eye to lick its wounds and return for vengeance. Freygunnr's arrows cut short that game - striking once in the shoulder and then, when it turned to hiss its contempt, spearing it  in the eye.

No further devilry haunted the caravan on the sixth and seventh nights, and through uninterrupted rest and judicious application of Freygunnr's enchanted mead, they arrived at the desert basin forseen by Orixerxes relatively hale and whole. It would prove fortunate that they were.

Looming out of the desert sands stood an edifice of ancient craft, a sphinx composed of parts dragon, scorpion, demon and man wrought in black stone. Skaris, eager to make up for his past cowardice, was the first to approach the foreboding structure and with his keen eye honed by the forests of his homeland found a block that had been loosened by subsidence, needing only a little lubrication to clear the grit that held it. His first suggestion of using some of the party's precious water resulted in a cuff from Freygunnr, who took Skaris' wineskin and used the contents instead, much to his dismay. The block revealed a steep shaft leading down into the earth, they fastened a rope by means of an iron hook Skaris kept and judging Proculus to be the most capable of surviving whatever lay at the bottom sent him first. The grade of the shaft quickly grew steeper than was visible from the surface, and unable to control his descent Proculus hit the bottom hard, and there triggered the first of the deathtraps laid to protect the rest of Uyu-Yadmogh. He was buried under a hail of rocks and sand, and only his prodigious strength saved him from being entombed when he dug himself to freedom before his breath ran out.

With the bottom of the shaft now fully filled with sand and rubble, the three were forced to dig a narrow crawl-shaft through into the horizontal channel, using up a full torch-flame's time in the effort but at last they were into the structure proper. Behind a sliding panel of tarnished bronze lay a circular chamber containing a charnel pit filled with blackened bones, ringed about with murals of lurid aspect, depicting the rise and ultimate fall of Uyu-Yadmogh, and the ultimate fate of Tzyan driven before the Solar and Lunar Hosts of heaven. On an altar Skaris found a dagger of black steel stamped with flesh-crawling runes. Freygunnar recalled a time when the old vikti who taught her recounted tales of weapons from ancient times, made from a black alloy that could only be forged in purest darkness, which allowed their bearers to speak to unearthly evils through some foul rite. They took the southwest passage out of the charnel room and at its terminus found a hallway lined with statues of Uyu-Yadmogh in tricephalic aspect, bearing aloft mauls and hammers as symbols of his power. Skaris wisely tested the floor panel between the first set of statues with a pole, only to find that it had been reduced from 10' to 8' by a scything blade that whipped killing-fast from the statues at knee-height.

As they pondered how to proceed, a tingling and burning sensation along their skin alerted them to another threat posed by this hall, and once their armour began to tarnish and discolour from an acrid mist that had begun to fill it, they swiftly hauled the door panel shut and resolved to try another path.

Testing the southwestern path they came to another circular chamber, domed and with its walls covered in stone masks of wailing faces with cavernous gullets. At its end a heavy bronze basin filled to the brim with glittering gold coins. At this point they were wary for the wiles of wizards and opted to not even set foot in the chamber, but instead to use Skaris' skill with a lasso to pull the basin of gold off the plinth toward them, caring not if some of the coins spilled in the process. And so they did, almost half the coins spilled from the basin as soon as it hit the ground - but more to the point, their scepticism was validated as the stone mouths began to gush forth sand like waterfall cataracts! They wasted no time in reeling in the basin before the chamber was fully flooded and rejoiced in their canniness - until they realised that the golden coins were naught but painted clay! Cursing the treachery of sorcerers they trudged back, dejected. Only Freygunnr seemed undismayed, for she knew a rune that could make the obvious fakes pass for real coin to the unwary - at least for a while.

The encounter, however financially disappointing, did give Skaris an idea - to use the heavy bronze basin as a weight to trigger the traps in the Hall of Judgement, and so pass to its end. The others watched in mingled trepidation and amusement as he hopped from space to space, tossing the basin like a child playing hopscotch, even as the acidic vapours tore at his flesh! Through persistence and barbaric obstinance did he finally make it to the end, though by then his skin was so scarred by the vapours that his moniker was starting to sound like a presentiment or gaesa. With the traps revealed, Proculus and Freygunnr were able to make it through the hall faster, and with less exposure to the caustic mist that spilled from the mouths of Uyu-Yadmogh's idols.

At the hall's terminus, there scribed upon a panel of bronze in sigils that could be read even though it was a script none of them had ever been taught, as though written in the secret language of the soul was an simple warning;

ANCIENT TRAPS ARE BUT THE FIRST,

THE MOST LENIENT, OF MY GUARDIANS.

Uncowed by such necromancer's tricks, they slid the panel aside, to reveal a dark miracle; a coastline of black sand and petrified trees upon a sea of shimmering quicksilver, each pebble of beachstone the artifice of a master crafter, testament to the monumental power and hubris of its commisioner. And there, at it's centre, an artificial island upon which lay a necropolis of black stone and looming out of the silver sea another ghastly tricephalic idol of the Eater of Children, cast in onyx some thirty cubits in height. And there they stood for a moment in stunned awe, and wondered what manner of mind, what force of hand and skill, could make such a thing manifest?

Time alone would tell if they would live to know.

Dreadful Sorcery - Notes on a surprisingly successful magic system (OSR)

Over the past few weeks I've been running Greg Gillespie's Dwarrowdeep for two separate groups, one online and one in-person. The guts of the system we've been employing is Basic Fantasy, precisely because it is so basic that it provides an excellent framework for me to hang a bunch of ideas off. Also because as a Brit of a certain age it reminds me a lot of Kwik Save's No Frills own-brand, which I have nostalgia for in an internalised traumatic way.

Same vibe.

Onto the skeleton of BFRPG I have tacked a half dozen hacks and amendments;

1. This death system from Papers & Pencils.

2. Thieves use the skill progression from LotFP.

3. Fighters use my technique system for doing weeaboo fightan.

4. Turn Undead has been expanded to Avaunt Chaos, affecting all supernatural beings of Chaotic alignment (most of them), and further expanding to Dismay Heretic, where a Cleric can turn (but not destroy) Chaotically aligned humanoids once they are past level 7 or have 17+ Wisdom.

5. Hit dice are rerolled each level, with the new HP total taken only if it is greater than the previous score.

6. Slot-based encumberance, with slots filled with Fatigue imposing a cumulative -1 penalty on all actions if they also contain an item.

7. Crucially, getting to the actual point of this post, the Magic User no longer uses Vancian magic.

To be clear, I haven't used RAW vancian magic for a while now. GLOG has been my gaming bread and butter, but I wanted to see how well it could be applied to an OSR as opposed to merely OSR-adjacent game. Furthermore I wanted to use it to encourage (read: force) PC magicians to employ their powers creatively and to invent new spells.

When a player wants to be a magician I give them two spells and two randomly generated magic words. Those two spells they start with are the only ones I will ever give them, every other spell they get has to be invented by combining magic words that they know, both the two random words and the words contained in the names of their starting spells. New magic words can be found by examining esoterica they find on their journeys - inscriptions on tomb walls, jade tablets left behind by long dead serpentman civilisations, the scrawlings of madmen who saw beyond the veil, echoes of the words the gods used to shape the world trapped inside a geode. That kind of jazz.

Magicians get one Magic Die per level, plus one for each point of Intelligence Bonus, if any. These are D8s rather than the traditional D6 because BFRPG uses Bigger Numbers than GLOG. Normal rules apply; they are wagered when casting spells, with those rolling in the upper 50% number range (5-8) being exhausted for the day. Spell parameters - damage, area, targets, etc. - are determined by the number of dice, the sum total of their rolls, the highest rolling die and sometimes the lowest. 

A magician can improvise a new spell once per game session. 

I want players experimenting and having fun with this system, but I don't want to give magicians the entire spotlight or have them taking up too much time in play. Once per session is plenty.

When improvising a spell they combine two or more words into a spell name and tell me what they want it to do. To, and, of, the, etc. are free, and they can use any form of the words they know; noun, adjective, whatever.

I then adjudicate a X:6 chance of the spell working as described based on how potent it is, how close it is to the meaning of the words, gut feeling and deep ancestral wisdom. If the chance is too low for the player's liking I will offer potential changes or drawbacks to raise the success chance, or they can just risk it and try to shoot for their ideal spell and roll a d6.

If the roll fails, something calamitous happens. If I'm feeling generous I roll the miscast tables from The Nightmares Underneath, if I'm not I roll a catastrophe from the Book of Gaub. 

If it succeeds then I spend 2 minutes writing the spell at the table for them. Magic Dice make balancing spells relative to eachother utterly trivial. Every spell, no matter it's function, affects the same amount of stuff in the game world as any other. Because of this I feel confident in my ability to quickly snap off a new mechanic with a minimum of fuss and trivialises what would otherwise be the rather treacherous process of comparing the effect to the standard set by the levelled spell system. 

Either way, their chance of success on a repeat try of the same spell goes up by 1. When it reaches 6:6 it is now a perfected spell and can be cast with a simple expenditure of Magic Dice without risk.

Spells and Words are stored in spell books. One spellbook takes up 1 equipment slot - normal books take up 1/3 of a slot, but grimoires are big baroque affairs - and holds 10 spells, 20 words, or a combination thereof. The book must be in your hand to cast the spells it contains.

Two case examples of how this has worked out in play;

Player 1 explicitly wanted to be a necromancer. I rolled them two spells from the Basic Fantasy necromancer spell list; Decay Flesh and Call Poltergeist, then  rewrote them using GLOG variables. I also generated them the random words Haphazard and Hurl. Over the course of play he also found the word Nebulous inscribed on the inside of the skull of a gnome wizard he skeletonised with Decay Flesh.

Spells Created after 2 sessions:

Poltergeist Flesh, to replace his missing left arm which had to be amputated below the elbow after his bicept got mangled by a crossbow bolt from the bandit leader Regg (who he also skeletonised). Replaces [dice] body parts with pale green ectoplasmic replacements that function just as well as a real one for as long as the dice remain invested, they are rolled when withdrawn.

And;

Nebulous Decay Flesh, which slew most of an orc warband that the party attracted after letting off a cacophony wand. Deals [best] damage in a [dice]*10' area each round a creature starts its turn inside the cloud of black grave mist it generates.

Player 2 didn't have a firm concept of what they wanted to be, magic-wise so I generated two entries from Skerples' big list of GLOG spells. The list wasn't numbered so I determined it by means of asking the player for a letter and a number. They ended up with Obedient Stone and Circle of Violence, and the words Lead and Bell.

Spell created after 1 session:

Violent Lead, pretty obvious right? Can turn a lead slingstone into a single-target magic missile for [sum]+[dice] damage, or a handful of lead shot into a 30' cone shotgun blast for [sum] damage to all within, save for half. Obedient Stone is not a bad weapon for a starting magic user, but having to run after it and pick it up for another throw is a bit of a pain, hence this rather more direct spell. He did get some good use out of having his stone trip up goblins in a dense corridor fight though.

Spells theorised but not yet created;

Circle of Obedience, an AoE Charm effect where the targets only remain charmed within a radius around the caster.

Circle of Bells, a perimeter warning system to wake the party up if approached while asleep.

Concerning Clerics

Clerics, by the by, still use the standard spell preparation rules, with the caveat that I switched to the advancement table from OSRIC. This is to both provide a contrast so I can tell how my experiment in this style of magic system is going and for lore reasons. I'm operating on a Moorcockian Order vs Chaos alignment dichotomy. Clerics are specifically agents of the Lords of Law, the loose collection of gods and powers who stand in opposition to entropy on the cosmic scale and in favour of civilisation on the local. The style of magic Clerics wield, which reinforces the natural order of things, making whole what is broken and ensuring that ne'er-do-wells are put in their place, is referred to as Law Magic. This isn't to say that the powers of Chaos don't have their own priests, it's just that they take their levels in Magician and wield the reality-breaking powers of Chaos Magic instead. I suspect at higher levels that Clerics will be able to cast more spells per day on average than a Magician of equal level, but a Magicians' spells will remain more potent, broader in scope and more flexible. Exactly what I want, making the two systems feel quite distinct. Time will tell, but for now everything is - quite to my growing shock and delight - going exactly as intended.

True nobility is exempt from fear - GLOG Class: Caste Noble

Quite by coincidence at least two other noble-themed GLOG classes have been published in the last week. Much like busses, you wait all day for one then three come at once.

You are a Caste Noble, a descendent of great heroes - or exceptionally successful cattle rustlers. In truth, if you go back far enough, there is often little difference. You may wear any armour or shields you wish. You cannot fumble with swords, maces, bows or lances, unless wielding a magical version of those weapons in a formal duel.

Starting Skill: roll twice; 1. Command 2. Heraldry 3. Hunting 4. Character Judgement 5. Siegecraft 6. Logistics

Equipment: Three bronze weapons of your choice, a bronze breastplate and helm, a shield bearing a personal device, a bad tempered warhorse, a signet ring, cloth-of-gold clothes, 3d6x50gp worth of jewellery, one item of choice or two rolls on the Heirlooms & Inheritances table, and a sense of entitlement a mile wide.

Every template gives +1 To Hit & +1 to Reaction Rolls

A: Warborn, Sobriquet, Retainers

B: Raise Banners +1 Retainer 

C: Crush Resistance +1 Retainer

D: Corona, +1 Retainer

A: Warborn

You have the rare quality of Nobility, which is a kind of disregard for the value of life combined with the skill and ability to take it. Against brigands, peasant militia, savage demihumans and beasts, along with anyone else who doesn't have a lifetime of training in battle and hunting (like Soulknives and Ironmen), you roll damage on the following table, using the damage die of your weapon;

1-3 1HD

4-6 2HD

7-9 3HD

10+ 4HD

You kill the indicated number of HD worth of foes. Most peasants, bandits and goblins have 1HD or fractions thereof. Any excess carries over to any other foes in range if your weapon. Be sure to lovingly describe the comical slaughter you inflict.

A: Sobriquet

Your deeds affect the lives of many, and so by them you are known. You start being known as either The Great or The Terrible, at your choice. Your actions in the course of play may change this.

If you are known as The Great, any reaction rolls of Uncertain are automatically upgraded to Friendly. Reroll any result of Immediate Attack. Your social inferiors are welcoming and talk openly and frankly around you, but slow to bend to your wishes.

If you are known as The Terrible, any reaction rolls of Uncertain are automatically set to Leave, and any rolls of Immediate Attack are instead rolled as Possible Attack. Reroll any results of Friendly. Your social inferiors are obsequious and obedient, but avoid your pesence and talking about anything that may anger you.

Regardless of your Sobriquet, you are recognised as highborn and may own land, wear armour in a city, and can demand trial by a jury of your peers.

A: Retainers

You have [Templates] servants of exceptional loyalty, whose families have served yours for generations. All have stats as a 0-level man-at-arms. They do not count against your normal hireling limit. If killed a replacement can be obtained on a roll of 2:6 for each month spent in civilisation. Roll from the following table, but your first one is always a Dogsbody, lamentably;

1. Dogsbody: A man with no brain, or the wit to be disloyal. Equipped with livery and a concealed knife, no special traits beyond absolutely unflinching loyalty and obedience - seriously, they will do anything you command - but can carry, set up tents, build fires and cook (badly). Has some kind of odious personal habit, like nose picking or chewing tobacco.

2. Torturer: A terrible person, of singular skill. Equipped with an executioner's sword and splint mail. Can extract d3-1 answers to questions of your choice from a helpless person, no save allowed, but the victim will surely die.

3. Sage: A wise man, devoted to learning. Equipped with a belt knife but will not participate in combat unless cornered. Can identify magical items with a 2:6 accuracy rate per day of study and provide mundane answers on topics of history, geography, theology and art.

4. Bodyguard: The most deserving of retirement, the least likely to attain it. Equipped with a breastplate, shield and spear. Can take a hit for you, at the cost of being taken out of the fight. He gets back up on 1HP as soon as danger is passed, unless a merciless foe takes the time to kill him while he's down or you quit the field.

5. Courtier: Perfumed, silver-tongued, deceitful - and on your side. Equipped with a ceremonial tipstaff - counts as a club, but will not fight if they can flee. Can secure you a meeting with any prominent public figure in d4 days, and allow you to be treated according to your station even in lands hostile to your own.

6. Assassin: Soft of voice, soft of step, dead of eye. Equipped with a leather jerkin, a sap and a poisoned stiletto. Give him the name of an NPC and as many pieces of information about a given target they would wish to keep secret as you can. He has a [secrets]:6 chance of killing them by the next morning, as long as their HD is equal or lower than yours, otherwise he dies unless on a roll of a 1. Nameless NPC's of no importance can be dispatched without a roll, but it will still take a day.

7. Poison Taster: Possessed of a strong stomach, in every sense. Equipped with a dagger and a pouch of medicinal charcoal. Can identify potions for you by taste, and has a 3:6 chance of ignoring any negative effects after hurriedly stuffing down a handful of charcoal.

8. Confessor: An accessory to your many sins. Equipped with a crozier (counts as a club) and gambeson. If you are subject to a curse, they have a 4:6 chance to be able to tell you the exact steps (penances) needed to break it. On a 1, it's very easy.

9. Physician: A scholar from foreign lands with foreign ideas, like hygiene. Equipped with a gambeson, dagger and healer's kit. While he is in your entourage you have +1HP per level, these are lost at a rate of 1HP per day if he leaves or dies.

10. Artist: A weak and tortured man, his memory will outlive you. Doesn't accompany you on adventures, but you may choose to spend money funding his works - you gain no benefit for cash spent in this way, but in the event of your death the gold spent becomes the XP total for your next character.

B: Raise Banners

Any men-at-arms under your direction gain a bonus to their attack rolls and AC equal to your Templates in this class. With a week of drilling peasant militia, you can pacify an inhabited hex of any trouble related to banditry, humanoid attacks or dangerous mundane animals. 

C: Crush Resistance

Any successful attack you make while charging deals an automatic critical hit. If you are also mounted on a horse or chariot, enemies subject to such a charge must immediately test morale.

D: Corona

You apprehend the true name Blood, and may teach it to sorcerers if you wish, they will expect to have to do you a great service in return. You are immune to emotion-based attacks and effects, and may freely control your own blood temperature. Furthermore, any oath sworn in your presence while you bear a bleeding wound, no matter how shallow, is magically binding, with the consequences determined by the wording of the oath. Any such oath must be prefaced by the affirmation "I swear" or "I promise". If you force a bandit to forswear all villainy on pain of death and he agrees, even at swordpoint, then fate will conspire to ensure that his next crime is his last. Any oaths you swear to uphold yourself are just as binding.

Heirlooms & Inheritances

1. A crumbling keep on a rugged (two of the following keywords; rocky, barren, lawless) bit of land, many leagues and multiple terrain hazards away from any large settlement. Would take an investment of a small fortune to make it profitable, but it could be done.

2. A war chariot that once took part in the royal lion-hunt, horses not included.

3. An extensive cosmetics kit, including perfume essences.

4. A distinctive barrel seal, its imprint can only be forged on a 1:6.

5. A pair of incredibly good boots - passed down from your grandfather, having been through multiple wars, and still look just elegantly vintage.

6. A leopardskin cloak, the head of the beast taxidermied to act as a pauldron. Adds a sufficiently exotic flair to make any ensemble fit for court.

7. Five arm-bands of gold-chased bronze. Give one to someone who swears service to you to raise their loyalty bonus by +15.

8. A pair of overshoes mounted on inch-high copper rings. Keeps the hem of your cloak out of the muck, and incidentally lets you walk over caltrops unharmed.

9. Ancestor scrolls, detailing your lineage and your ancestor's significant accomplishments. Allows you to reroll failed Saves versus Fear, if  succumbing would cause you shame in their eyes.

10. The inlaid horn of an extinct auroch, sacred in a time when the gods walked among men. Wine that has been poured from it is as mystically potent as blood.

11. A longsword made from steely iron, left behind by the Ironmen and expertly maintained since.

12. D6 clay blessing tablets. Break them on the steps of a temple to gain a bonus to endeavours related to the god's purview for the next day.

13. D6 clay curse tablets. Throw them against the dwelling of a hated enemy to give him a penalty to a particular action of your choosing equal to the number of tablets smashed for the rest of the day.

14. A mail-piercing poignard dagger, made of iron. Reduces the AV of non-plate armour by 2. Snaps on a natural 1.

15. A set of books and scrolls containing treatises on three of the following subjects, enough to make the reader an armchair expert; 1. Warfare 2. Statecraft 3. Law 4. Myths & Legends 5. Geography 6. Imaginitive Lovemaking.

16. A folding wax tablet and stylus, for making impromtu notes. 

17. Two Scytale, a cipher rod used to encode messages. Your family patriarch also has an identical one.

18. A lacquered box containing number of common poisons, measured out in microdoses. Using them to kill someone would make you reviled as a coward for the rest of your life, but as long as you consume them regularly you have a +4 bonus to Saves vs. poison.

19. A ball of fine silk twine, remarkably strong and light, 100 meters long.

20. An unusual trinket, roll d6;

1. A sphere of runed iron, the size of an olive. While it is in contact with your skin your body is, metaphysically, considered to be made of iron without actually changing substance. Sorcerers will shrink from you like you were a leper while wearing it.

2. FIVE LIONS RAMPANT - a (+1) tulwar of immaculum, hilt of gold and ivory. Twirling it over your head produces the sound of a host of roaring big cats.

3. The deed to a haunted mansion, which you have to survive the night in to claim ownership. If you succeed, all the tenant spirits become your sworn vassals.

4. A black ribbon, attached to a token of tomb-silver. Can be exchanged for the services of the Assassin's Guild in eliminating any one subject. They will keep sending progressively more deadly agents until the target is dead, or return the token with an apology and a really nice bottle of wine.

5. The porcelain death-mask of your line's founder, decorated with carnelian tears. While wearing it undead roll for reaction with you as normal and can be conversed with, even non-sentient undead - though some knowledge of ancient languages may be required. Those who are hostile were probably slain by your ancestor.

6. An ivory cameo of an elven princess, set in repousséd gold, token of an ancestor's ancient tryst. While holding it close you can see dimly in darkness out to a range of 30ft - enough to fight and navigate around a room in pitch blackness, but not to read or make out facial features - and can passively sense the presence of hidden doors on a 1:6.

Magic Item Shoppes

The Magic Item Shop seems to be an artifact of many people's teenage flounderings with the game, one that seems to be almost universally scorned in these Latter Days. A lot of campaign settings I own explicitly state that such a thing as a place where enchanted goods are freely bought and sold does not exist, often in an attempt to reinject mythic quality to these wondrous objects. It's a laudable instinct, but I prefer to rehabilitate ideas rather than exclude them. To whit, here's a couple of Magic Item Shops I think could be additive to the wonder value of their wares;

Penfold's Discretionaries is a family owned boutique that has - quite coincidentally - existed for almost as long as the Assassin's Guild. It is on the surface an invitation-only tailor and purveyor of gentlemens and ladies' appurtenances, and absolutely not a dealer in tools of covert murder. Every purchase at Penfold's is accompanied by an elaborate etiquette; there is no customer and salesman, only emptor and factor, money is rarely discussed openly and never to the emptor's face. Following a sit-down consultation over coffee with a member of the Penfold family, an itemised quote slipped discreetly to their valet is about as crass as the business' owners - twin brothers Silace and Linus Penfold (both illusionists), along with their sister Ambrosia (a necromancer) - can stomach without scandal. Buying from Penfold’s is akin to being tailored for a new suit or a piece of bespoke jewellery, full of consultations, measurements and adjustments to guarantee the emptor's complete satisfaction. The actual intended function of the device being sold is only ever skirted around in euphemistic terms, with discussion focusing on the workmanship and aesthetics of each piece. The results, however, are always satisfactory in the extreme. If one is ever in need of a way to place a half-foot needle of envenomed stygian steel through the eye of someone who has offended you with pinpoint accuracy from across a crowded ballroom without it drawing comment, accept no substitute.

Roleplaying: The three Penfolds speak in elaborate circumlocutions when it comes to their wares, accompanied with subtle sexual innuendo - the only form of risqué behaviour they allow themselves. Their snobbery is extreme - these are the sort of people who would consider the Queen of England common for using French loan-words - but so is their susceptibility to flattery, especially from those they consider the right sort.

“Would sir care to note the precision craftsmanship clearly visible on the arms and tensile elements? Would it be improper to mention that this item could place a projectile through the eye of a needle at twenty paces? That is, were the gentleman so inclined - and one could not possibly comment on whether he would be, ah-ha. And if sir would roll his sleeve down, he would note how this particular piece makes no impact on the shape of his cuff. Hardly noticeable, in fact. It is important that accessories not ruin the lines of one's ensemble. Such a crass bulge is an insult to the tailor.”

Specialities: Clothing, jewellery & light weapons, with enchantments that emphasise disguise, grace, protection and lethality. Many Penfold originals take more innocuous forms than usual, but are no less effective - a black pearl hatpin that functions as a Dagger of Venom, a Cloak of Invisibility in an elegant frock coat, a Staff of Withering in the form of a sleek ebony walking cane.

Prices: Very high, add 20-50% on to the market price. Try to haggle and you might get it lowered just because the Penfolds hate arguing over money (it's just so plebian), but will also be refused any repeat business. They may even send discreet letters of apology to any clients of theirs who were present for the unpleasantness (and they have a lot of professional assassins on their client list, all of whom would love to get on their good side). Emptors who show sincere and knowledgable appreciation for their craftsmanship receive better rates.

Quality: Impeccable. The Penfolds would rather drink poison than let a cursed or flawed item leave their premises, unless the emptor had specifically requested such - as a gift, perhaps? Items are often subtly superior to common examples of their kind, such as an invisibility granting device also masking scent.

Aesthetics: Penfold's distains chasing fashion, preferring timeless elegance that only the cultured eye can appreciate. Colours are muted, favouring shades of sable, argent, arsenic and midnight blues. Decoration is fine and understated; a delicate filigree of golden ivy, a cabouchon jet, a trim of finest lacework. Hard fixtures are in blued steel, brushed brass, ebony and bone. A discerning emptor will note an absence of anything that twinkles or catches the light.

Pecksniff's Relics is a dimly lit, cramped, dusty and haphazardly organized antique shop run by the titular Mr. Bladislav Pecksniff, an almost impossibly aged and wizened man of indeterminate species (stats as a lich, with cleric and druid spells and immunity to Turn Undead). Scuttlebutt holds that he was once a conman on the pilgrim roads, selling old bones and coffin nails to those with more faith than sense, until he came across the real thing in an ancient desert tomb while following a crusade, and realised that his theological specialty could be put to better and more profitable use. This dusty store holds some of the most holy relics in all creation. The original hand-penned epistles of St. Numbus to the Dendarians, the wooden skeleton of Archdruid Pandelmon, the golden thumbs of Sister Briaccus and other long-thought-lost items of reverence can be found here. Mr. Pecksniff himself tolerates idle browsing with thinly veiled suspicion, being quick to remind customers that his store is not a museum (he even has a sign indicating such, one of many) and will angrily swat the hands of anyone he deems unworthy away from his goods if they try to lay their grubby mitts on them.

Roleplaying: Once a cynical con-artist, long familiarity with objects of undeniable holiness has rendered Bladislav Pecksniff something of an omnitheist, though it has done little to improve his temper. He is almost resentful to part with items from his collection, doing so almost out of long habit than any real need (he's long since amassed a misers hoard), and will look for any opportunity to refuse service. Those looking to sell, on the other hand, can expect an unctuous greeting. Pecksniff is an unequalled expert in holy relics of all kinds, and is more than happy to wax on at length about the provenance, legends and powers of anything brought to him.

"Eh? What have we here...ohhh, the cloak of Adolphus the Tristylite, which sheltered him from the slingstones of the Nemerians and the fetid breath of Bendalaphon the Ochre, without interrupting his meditation. One second... Oi, I've told you lot before; you touch it, you bought it! Don't make me call your abbot! Fucking acolytes..."

Specialities: Pecksniff's stock is as eclectic as it is ecclesiastical. He carries few weapons - though there are one or two saint's swords and sacrificial knives about the place - but has umbrella stands full of holy staves, sandalwood cases full of vestments, robes and cloaks (and mothballs), and all manner of amulets containing fragments of saint's bone. He favours the relics of Lawful deities, but has a few eldritch artifacts of the primal gods of Chaos locked up in his basement for those who insist on such things.

Prices: Average, but increasing by 10% every time a party member does something to annoy Mr. Pecksniff. He is very easily annoyed, and careful attention to his multitude of signs ("Look, don't touch", "Silence is golden" , "No spitting, smoking or cats", "Wipe yer feet", among others) is essential in ensuring a good price. Part-exchange is also available.

Quality: Highly variable, some of the relics in Pecksniff's store are items of extraordinary power, on par with a Holy Avenger or Staff of Healing, but quite a few of them are variously cursed or function only for those of Lawful alignment (20% chance of either), and many are actively sought after by sanctioned relic thieves and iconoclasts (3:6 chance that the next random encounter a customer faces is a band of 2D4 Thieves with a zealous glint in their eye).

Aesthetics: While saintly incorruptibility goes a long way, dust and wear still means that much of the stock bears the stamp of its age. Most of them are of clearly archaic design, with bronze or plaited iron instead of steel and pennanular clasps instead of folding pins.

My Only Teacher is Nature - Fighter Techniques (OSR/GLOG Compatible)

I rarely ever play fighters. Hybrids, sure. Gishes, paladins, monks, even barbarians, but seldom a farmboy with a sword and board and a yen for adventure. I've always just felt like I was missing out on half the system to play a character without any access to the kind of lateral advancement that spellcasters have. Part of this also stems from a conversation on the GLOG book club, specifically Spwack's idea that fighters need more options to do borderline 'impossible' things, because by standard OSR design philosophy anyone can attempt to do anything possible. There's a lot of wisdom in the old standby of letting fighters try this kind of thing just with a penalty to their attack roll, but I want a way of codifying it into something that feels like an actual way of improving your character. Wizards get the fun of collecting and crafting spells, I want that for fighter-types too. To whit, I have come up with the following rules that I am going to implement in my home OSE and GLOG games; 

Fighters can attempt to perform special techniques; they can try to pull off anything even vaguely plausible, even borderline impossible anime-tier stuff, using any resources available to them. If it's something you'd need a Feat to do in some editions or 10-year-old you believed people could do if only their kung-fu was good enough, a fighter can try it and have a reasonable chance of success. Furthermore, they can refine these attempts into polished techniques they can perform reliably.

This kinda stuff.

Fighters are not just simple warriors after all, they can endure enough damage to kill a normal man several times over, the mightiest of them can take blows from giants that by all rights should reduce them to a pulp. They are proficient with all weapons, a trait that on it's own was sufficient to elevate two members of the Suicide Squad to superhero level. Fighters are instinctual users of the same power that a wizard uses to turn invisible or rend a horde of goblins apart with killing incandescences. 

Here's how you do it;

1. A Fighter can attempt 1 technqiue per day per level, demi-fighters like barbarians and rangers etc. can attempt 1 technique per day for every second level they have. A technique is always attempted as part of an attack roll, and must be declared before the attack.
2. When they first attempt a new technique, the GM should assign it a difficulty out of 1-6. Base difficulty is a 5:6 chance of success, for each additional action's worth of stuff* a technique contains lower this by 1, for each really outlandish action reduce it by 2 or more.
3. Truly extraordinary techniques may have a 0:6 chance of success. However, if they wish, the player may negotiate drawbacks to the technique to reduce the difficulty. Taking a fatigue level, losing a die or two's worth of hp, losing the use of a limb for a certain period, or expending a hard-to-procure resource like a potion are all good examples.
4. If they roll under the success chance on a d6, they do the thing! They should also write down the technique and give it a name, so they can retry the same technique again.
5. If it fails, they should still write it down anyway, except the next time they retry it the difficulty is lowered by 1 point. Every failed attempt in real combat (not sparring) lowers this difficulty. When a technique's success chance is reduced to 6:6 it is now perfected. A perfected technique can be pulled off automatically with a successful attack roll and an expendiature of a daily technique usage. It can even be used after the attack roll is declared successful or not.
6. A character can have a number of techniques in their memory equal to their level. They can still learn new techniques once this limit is filled, but must forget one of their currently memorised techniques to make space. True masters write their perfected techniques into Manuals to avoid losing them permanently (see below).

*To illustrate: a lot of games have rules for sundering, disarming, tripping, grappling, etc. which all take up an attack action, with a technique you can do multiple of those things at once. Like disarming a person with a flick of your blade, grabbing their weapon out of the air, and hitting them with it all in one smooth move (base success chance 2:6).

Special techniques can include any resources at the user's disposal, but if it's tied to a specific weapon's magical effect the user needs that weapon to use the technique, or one with a similar enchantment. An example might be taking a swig of moonshine and spitting it through a flametongue sword. You're going to need at least some flammable liquid and a source of fire to do that.

Why yes, this is all an excuse to post Ranking of Kings gifs, thank you for noticing.

Training & Technique Manuals
A fighter during downtime can spend cash to improve their success chance with a technique, up to a maximum of 5:6 - only testing in the unpredictable nature of real life-and-death combat can perfect a technique. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

Such improvements require access to a training facility with dummy targets, wooden training weapons, and master tutors where the technique can be refined in a semi-scientific fashion. A "fighter's guild", knightly order, mercenary company or the like will likely have such a setup. Training costs a week of effort and 100gp x the chance:6 advanced into. E.g. advancing a technique from a 3:6 to 4:6 costs 400gp.

A technique that has been perfected can also be written into a Manual, which can be read by others to learn the technique. Such Manuals are highly valuable and sought-after, and become a new item of treasure akin to scrolls for wizards. With a Manual a character can freely commit the perfected technique it contains to their memory with only an evening's study.

End Him Rightly

Writing a Manual doesn't require magical ink and uncanny parchment like a scroll, but it does require illustrations. An artist must be employed unless the author is also proficient. It takes a month to write, 500gp, and a successful skill check both for the artist and the author. A failed check results in a flawed manual, with either obtuse language or hard to follow illustrations, reducing the base success chance for the technique learned from it by 1 for each failed roll. The author can of course retry, providing they have enough money and time remaining, and the technique still in their memory.

Example Techniques

Dance of Wrath
Three strikes executed in the time it takes a common man to make one against the closest 3 possible targets within 30ft of each other, friend-or-foe. This technique is so strenuous it costs the user a level of Fatigue.
(Three attacks in one (-3), uncanny movement speed (-2), Doesn't discriminate targets (+1), Fatigue gain (+1), base success chance 2:6)

Fightan.

Don Schiavona's Percipient Defence (I provided this one, but this whole post is mineable.)
Expend a technique use for the day as a reaction to be able to parry even attacks that you are not consciously aware of for the round, allowing you to keep your full Defence and make an opposed attack roll against the first attack made against you this round, negating it if you exceed the attacker's roll. This technique, once perfected, can be used even when unconscious.

(Uncanny defence (-2), one special action (-2), base success chance 1:6)

Shirasampe
A deceptive technique that appears to the untrained (non-Fighters) to be a seemingly supernatural ability to paralyse foes with a blast of chi from the user's palm. In actuality, it employs no magic, merely knowledge of the prana-bindu meridian system and a pebble hurled with supreme speed and accuracy. The victim must Save vs. Breath Weapons or be paralyzed for d6 rounds, or until they take damage.
(Near-magical effect (-3), requires proficiency in medicine (+1), base success chance 3:6)

Better Angels - Anticanon Spells of Kurtulmak

It is well known that spells employed by wizards are a form of semi-sentient solar spirit, somewhat less known is that the miracles called down by clerics are manifestations of the host of angels that invisibly accompany them.

The miracles employed by the vagabond adventurer-priests of Kurtulmak, god of buried treasure, hidden danger and underdogs follows the same vein, just somewhat less invisibly. Kurtulmak's spells are kobolds, spirits of the deep places that take the form of canine or reptilian humanoids, of varying but typically diminutive stature and cunning of hand and eye.

Be not slightly afraid.

Powerful clerics of Kurtulmak are accompanied by a procession of kobolds who, while lacking angelic supernal invisibility, are at least good at hiding. When invoked, kobolds will appear from behind doors or blind corners, jump out of cupboards, peek from under the cleric's robes or even from secret doors that weren't there before, and can't be found again. They do have a tendency to be curious and watchful even when not invoked and casual observers are often unnerved by the furtive whispers and peeking eyes that follow in the wake of a Kurtulmak priest.

Clerics of Kurtulmak might be Magoi. If they are they might be skilled in gem cutting, wear robes of rusty orange and viridian, perform auguries by throwing knucklebones, carry cubit rods and wear red gold rings on every finger. Dungeoneering is not a means to an end for these strange souls, but a form of communion, a pilgrimage that reveals Kurtulmak's mysteries. Perilous, yes, but they are never alone.

This is your life now.

A note on spell spirits: One of the things I most like about Magos-style spells is that by giving them a form and a personality they become as much allies as powers. In addition to their spell effect, consider allowing a the priest to spend an MD or two to have their kobolds do any mundane thing a small pack of stealthy, agile munchkins with knives could achieve. 1MD per kobold needed to get the job done is about right. Assume they have physical capabilities of a level 1 commoner or an unseen servant. You don't need a special kobold whose name means "Rope" in badly transliterated Icelandic to tie a rope around something at the top of a cliff and throw it down, they're all smart enough to do that, they just need your MD to manifest physically in the world. They can't carry physical objects through wherever it is they go when they disappear into cupboards or run into the trap doors only they can find - only Rán can do that, as her spell effect - but can otherwise teleport at will to wherever you need them to be. This is effectively a Kurtulmak priest's cantrips and perk rolled into one.

1. Blasidd (Bladed)

A verdigris-scaled drakobold, clad in spiked gladiatorial half-armour, bearing a different type of sword every time he is summoned. Disconcertingly terse, it's hard to have a conversation with him without feeling like he's waiting for an opening.

Will fight a specified opponent for [sum] rounds, appears next to them when called. Makes attacks with a [best]+[dice] bonus, dealing d8+[dice] damage on a hit, attempting to flee from him grants him an attack of opportunity. Has Defence as if wearing light armour. Hits scored against him take d6 rounds off his remaining summoning time. If his original target is killed within his summoning time, he can be commanded to attack another. If summoned with 2MD or more, he counts as wearing Medium armour, and Heavy armour at 4MD+.

Swolebold

2. Hylari (Concealer)

A sable-coated dogkobold in a highwayman's mask and tricorn. Steps out of a shadow when summoned. Likes to imagine himself a dashing rogue but is too much of a wallflower to make much of an impression.

Renders [dice] people or equivalent volume of objects imperceptible as long as they remain immobile. Fidgeting and breathing is okay, as is being transported in a wagon or such like, but the spell is broken as soon as they move or are picked up. The priest who summoned Hylari can see through the concealment.

3. Brynvaris (Armoured)

A bronze drakobold, though hard to discern beneath the full plate armour and tower shield they carry. Alternately cringingly timid and filled with braggadocio.

Creates an ablative shield around the target, with [dice] hardness and [sum] HP. Any incoming damage is reduced by the shields' hardness, what remains, if any, is divided between the shield and the target. [sum] can be split between multiple targets, if desired.

Angry Kobold Noises

4. Bruggari (Brewer)

A muscular hazel-brown dogkobold, carrying a firkin barrel on one shoulder, with a string of wooden and pewter tankards hanging by hooks from a rope belt and a wreath of braided hops around his neck. Thinks you need to relax more.

Can purify [sum] inventory slots worth of water of any diseases or toxins by transforming it into small beer or watered wine. If 2MD or more are spent, Bruggari can instead create strong ale or wine if desired. If 4MD are spent, he can instead transform the contents of a waterskin into the mythical Hesperidean Cider which can cure any mundane illness, allow a new save against a magical one, and cease the imbiber's aging process by D4-1 months. All these transformations last [dice] hours before reverting to their former state.

5. Rán (Robbery)

A tawny dogkobold in a nondescript brown hood and mask, easily mistaken for a child or halfling at first glance. Steps out from behind things, especially things that should be too narrow to hide them. She is suspicious of new things, but too curious to stay away from them for long.

Can move an object or objects of up to [dice] equipment slots up to [sum]+[dice] meters, ignoring intervening space. The cleric doesn't need to be able to see the affected objects, and can give Rán any instructions a sensible person could follow (e.g. "Go to room 23 of this hotel and if you see any papers bearing the Marquisa's sigil drop them out the window for me to catch"). Rán is light-fingered enough to pick pockets, victims save with a bonus or penalty equal to the difference between their HD and Rán's MD to notice and grab on to their stuff.

6. Varddeldur (Campfire)

A robust coal-black dogkobold with shockingly thick fur and a bedroll and travel pack upon his back. Talks in a yokel drawl, appears dopey at first but is highly perceptive.

Creates a roaring campfire in the space indicated by the priest. It is a real and solid fire, and able to burn and cook as normal. It will remain burning for 8 hours, and anyone resting in the circle of its light finds their wounds healing at an accelerated rate, multiplying their natural healing speed by [dice]+1. Furthermore, the fire keeps away hostile monsters, giving a [dice] or [sum]% bonus to whatever wandering monster system you're using to avoid ambushes in the night. If cast with 4MD, Varddeldur will physically manifest and wrestle any attacker for 1 round, barking loudly to alert any sleepers all the while.

7. Gildra (Trap)

A copper scaled drakobold laden down with leather toolbelts and bandoliers, appears from trapdoors that cannot be found before she is invoked or after she returns to whence she came. A consummate craftsman, who takes pride in her work.

Creates a trap on a lock or corridor space that deals either [sum] damage in a '10 area or [sum]+[dice] damage to a single target when triggered, save for half. Trap is concealed but possible to find if actively searched for. Choice of poison, piercing, slashing, fire or electricity damage, if it matters. In addition, Gildra can be called to inspect any specified target (a door, a hallway, an idol, etc.) for traps, with a [dice]*2 bonus to her roll.

8. Myrkva (Darken)

A black drakobold, androgyne and mysterious, often visible only by their eyes gleaming red in the shadows. Likes to make sinister pronouncements and chuckle malevolently.

Myrkva's breath extinguishes all flames and darkens all light sources in a [dice]*20' radius area. Myrkva can see in darkness and can tell the priest of events occurring within the gloom, if asked to. For 4MD Myrkva instead breathes forth True Darkness, which suppresses all magic within it like an antimagic field - opposing any magical effect with Myrkva's MD, and rendering even darkvision blind.

9. Grafa (Burrow)

A common drakobold in a miner's helmet with a pickaxe and shovel in hand. Comes with an entourage of subkobold miners he calls 'the lads'. Serious and no-nonsense, prone to giving hard back-pats and painful handshakes. 

Grafa and the lads will dig through one '10×'10 cube of earth, clay, loose rocks and sand per MD spent, setting up buttresses and joists as they go to keep the tunnel stable. For 2MD or more they can do the same to brick and artificial stonework, for 3MD solid natural stone, for 4MD Grafa will get out the thermal lance to handle any normal metal that gets in the way. For a 1MD surcharge Grafa will collapse any tunnel they have created.

10. Auddkenna (Identify)

A rusty red drakobold, with thick milk bottle glasses and laden down with tomes and scrolls. Fidgety and excitable.

Reveals [dice] traits about an object or location, in the following order; origins and history, major magical properties, minor magic properties, curses.

11. Diefissu (Dungeon)

A golden furred dogkobold, jolly and rotund, wearing rich raiment, coins and jewels positively drip from his pockets. Carries a wriggling sack over one shoulder and has a cunning, sinister gleam in his eye.

When invoked, Dieflissu appears and sweeps his sack over the target, which vanishes into its depths. If targeting unattended objects, this affects up to [sum] inventory slots. A living target whose HD exceeds the MD used to cast the spell can Save to struggle free before Dieflissu carries them off. Vanished targets are placed in an extradimensional dungeon complex by Diefissu, the layout of which is his to decide, though the priest may offer counsel. They can be summoned back into the material world with another casting, and can potentially free themselves or be freed by allies if they have any plane walking capability. On the priest's death, the extradimensional dungeon and all its contents is pushed into the physical world in a subterranean location. Thus it is ensured that there will always be dangers and treasures hidden beneath the earth.

12. Dreki (Dragon)

A regal red drakobold of almost mannish stature, arrayed like a queen in silk and gold, claw-tipped sceptre in hand. Haughty and imperious, treats priests like courtiers.

Projects a cone of fire 50' long and 30' wide at its end. Fire so hot and projected with such force it's almost solid. Stone walls shatter before they melt, foes are briefly transformed into blackened skeletons before those too are consumed. The priest who invokes this kobold takes [dice] damage, anything in the area takes [sum]*2, save for half. A 1 die casting will demolish a hut, a 3 die casting will gut a brick townhouse, a 5 die casting will bring down a castle wall.

For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee - Bloodhunter (GLOG class)

Art by Adrian Wilkins

It's a story as old as the mountains; one day, something foul and poisonous, many-headed and mad from birth, came upon your village with savage hunger. The screams, the stench, the swift, fanged horror in the darkness. It should have been enough to break you. And perhaps it did, in a way; broke you right, broke you sane. After all, if humanity was so great it wouldn't be torn limb-from-limb by nameless terrors in the night. Better to leave it behind, become something stronger; the stalker in the night, the tale that trollmaids tell their bairns to make them fear, that the manticore and the hydra smells on the wind and goes the other way. They won't catch you unprepared this time, you're not prey any more. They are.

Class: Bloodhunter

You are quite tasty in a fight, being proficient with your choice of three weapon groups out of swords, spears, axes, clubs, crossbows and firearms. You are also proficient with nets, bolas and poisons. You can only wear leather armour, but it can be weird leather (see Skinning below), and can wield shields.

Starting skill: 1. Normal Leatherworking 2. Animal Handling 3. Trapmaking

Starting Equipment: Boar spear, messer or hand axe, cudgel, 50ft of rope, crocodile leather armour (light), bucket, bonesaw, saddler's needle and strong thread, stack of pelts and ivory worth 3D6 gp, 1 item of choice or 2 rolls from the list of Hunting Gear.

A: Skinning, Teratology +1 HP

B: Pugnacious, Slayer Tactics +1 attack/round

C: Medusa Head +1 Saves

D: Become Monster, +1 HP

+

Δ Nightmare

Δ Teratovore

A: Skinning

You can convert monster body parts into useful equipment. A monster carcass that is in reasonable condition (not burned to a crisp,  shredded or flattened) yields usable parts equal to its HD/2, rounded up. If you have multiple carcasses of the same species available, combine their HD to determine the number of salvageable parts. With a few hours' work these parts can be converted into weapons and armour. If you have multiple carcasses from the same species to work from, you can total them up to determine the usable parts available to you. 1 monster part takes up 1/2 an inventory slot. You can maintain up to your Templates (including deltas) in slots of monster parts at a time (make a note of what creatures they come from), any in excess of this rot into uselessness at the end of a the session. All parts included into a single creation must come from the same species.

If a creature has a natural attack, you can create a weapon that has the same damage and effects, this requires 1 part per size rating of the natural weapon, plus 1 more for each special effect (poison, etc.) the attack form has. Special effects have a usage die of d6, and can be refreshed by expending a part from the same creature that originated it.

If the creature has natural armour, you can create leather armour that has the same protective value by expending 1 part per weight rating of the equivalent armour (light, medium, heavy). If the creature had any special resistances then these may also be incorporated into the armour for 1 extra part. Like weapon special effects, resistances have a usage die and can be refreshed in the same way.

Note on usage dice: Usage dice is a mechanic that originates with The Black Hack, for simplicity's sake in this class usage dice always start as a d6 that is rolled whenever the item it is attached to is used, drop to d4 on a roll of 1-2, on a second 1-2 roll the trophy or weapon/armour special ability cannot be used again unless refreshed.

A: Teratology

You have a Templates:6 chance to know a useful fact about any given monster you encounter. If you fail this roll you may retry after you have had time to examine the body of one. If the creature has any special vulnerabilities or resistances, you know that first, followed by special attacks, then behaviour patterns.

B: Pugnacious

NPC's can sense, and will fear, the aura of dread violence that hangs over you, one who wears the skins of nightmares. NPC townsfolk and the like can surround you or bar your way, but you always win initiative against them, and they roll morale tests against you with disadvantage.

B: Slayer Tactics

When you succeed in an attack against a non-human foe you can immediately employ a followup maneuver against the target, once per round. E.g. applying a torch flame to cauterize a hydra's neck-stump, attaching a limpet mine to a gorgon's back, tripping up a charging minotaur, etc.

In addition, you can fight a target you can see in a mirror as well as you could looking straight-on. When you do so you are immune to any cognitohazards and gaze attacks the target can employ.

C: Medusa Head 

There is powerful magic in skin and bone, equal to any. You can now use skinning to create mixtures and trophies that replicate monster abilities, or build them into weapons and armour by spending extra parts as normal. This costs 1-3 parts, depending on the strength of the ability (DM decides) and has a d6 usage die. If the ability is passive, it lasts the usage die's roll in minutes.

You can even replicate spellcasting abilities of magical monsters by converting them into a trophy. Such a trophy holds up to the creature's former MD, costing its MD value in parts, and has all their known spells. You suffer any mishaps and Dooms resulting from its use. In this case the usage die is rolled once a day at midnight to regain an expended MD. Liches, immortals and wizards on their 3rd Doom are monsters.

D: Become Monster

You can graft monster organs onto your body, up to the equivalent of your Templates (including deltas) worth of parts. The usage dice of grafted organs refresh whenever you get an uninterrupted rest. The grafting process requires a place to work uninterrupted for 8 hours, surgeon's tools, a big bottle of strong alcohol, and deals you 1d6 damage per monster part used in the graft.

Δ Nightmare 

Stitch together the parts of 3+ different monsters, at least 2 of which must be capable of quadrupedal locomotion, convince or force the spirit of a dead horse to inhabit it.

You have a monstrous steed, a stitched-together chimera animated by the power that comes from the joining of unlike things. It counts in all respects as a warhorse, except two of the following are true;

• It always comes when called, no matter the distance between you, even across planes.
• It only falls when it wants to - if you ride it off a cliff, you can keep going at the same elevation, but if you descend lower it needs a slope to climb higher again.
• It has a power possessed by one of its component monsters, with a d6 usage die that resets at midnight.

Δ Teratovore

Live on monster flesh as your primary source of calories for a month.

Your unnatural diet has taken a toll on your physiology, for better or worse. You can no longer eat normal food, it's like forcing down mouthfuls of ashes and vinegar if you try, so unappealing is it in comparison to the sublime sweetness of monster flesh. On the upside, you can consume Parts to heal yourself by d6 hp, and increase one physical stat that the monster had higher than yours by 1, up to a maximum total bonus across all stats equal to your Templates. These bonuses last 8 hours. One monster part is enough to sustain all your dietary needs for a full day, but you'll want more.

Example Trophies;

Trollskin Duster: A green-grey leather coat with an oddly rough, knobbly texture, studded with bony dermoliths. The leather is still, in some way, dimly alive despite the tanning and curing it has endured. When the wearer is injured their blood enlivens the coat, which sweats a froth of trollish regenerative hormones and complex proteins, sealing the wound and any damage to the coat. Regular infusions of trollfat-based polish are necessary to keep it in condition if regularly damaged. (3 parts - light armour plus limited regeneration)

Destrachan Horn: Something of a misnomer, as destachans don't have horns. Rather, it is an instrument made from the creature's mummified vocal organs and bone sounding chamber, resembling a pungi snakecharmer's flute. A skilled destrachan hunter who has studied the way they control their breathing to produce constructive interference waves within their resonating chamber can play the horn to produce the destrachan's famed sonic blast. Some of the delicate inner components of the sounding chamber tend to break or have their cartilage dry out and must be replaced from time to time. (2 parts - good attack with a rare damage type)

Rust Monster Essence: A canny teratologist can use some very simple alchemy and an ample supply of rust monster glands to separate out the active element in rust monster saliva that produces incredibly fast oxidization. The creature's mandible itself provides the ideal applicator, and can be fashioned into a squirt-bottle with ease, though some prefer to just keep the stuff stored in ceramic phials for throwing. (1 part - a useful but circumstantial effect)

Bulette Plate: The metalic chitin of the land-shark can be fashioned into excellent plate armour, once its digestive juices have been used to soften the shells for reshaping to a humanoid form. Expert armourers can even incorporate the complex subdermal intercostal muscles that produce the harmonic resonance that allows the bulette to "swim" through the earth. Wearers are advised to use this sparingly, as the muscles quickly lose their stored chemical energy and once exhausted the user risks being left entombed underground. (5 parts - heavy armour, plus a decent special effect)

Beholder Wand: Pristine Beholder eyestalks can be fashioned into wands if submerged into mixture of blood and the creature's magically-charged vitreous humour. The optic nerve can be triggered by applying a mild acid (human saliva will suffice - just lick your fingertips and pinch!), to produce the eye's beam on command. Unlike a living Beholder's eyestalk, the magical charge does eventually wear out.unless immersed in more liquid vitreum. (2-3 parts, depending on the eyestalk)

Hook Horror Sword: The gigantic bony blades of a Hook Horror make ideal weapons once they are mounted on a hilt and the excess connective material pared away. Counts as a tiger hook sword, grants the ability to rend if you hit with two of them in the same or sequential rounds, causing a third automatic hit. (3 parts - medium weapon + special effect)

Myconid Necrospore Dust: Some older myconids have the ability to infect corpses with a fast-growing extension of their own mycelial biome that reactivates parts of the deceased's nervous and musculoskeletal systems, and replaces others. A bit of quick-and-dirty bioalchemy can recondition the spores so that the fungi that grow from them respond to the hunter's pheromones with the same defensive behavior as they would from their originator. (2 parts, good but circumstantial effect)

Nothic Monocle: Mummify a nothic's eye (it shrinks down to the size of a tangerine) and poke a hole in the back where the optic nerve used to be, scour the lens with some rough astrological sigils and bathe the thing in the creature's blood. Look through it at someone to learn something important about them, manifesting in visual hallucinations of their past. Only works once per person, and eventually the magical charge dissipates unless the eye is anointed in fresh nothic blood. (1 part, useful investigative power).

Hunting Gear d20

1. Collapsible gastraphetes (5 minutes to assemble, 2 rounds to reload, hits as a light siege weapon) and 5 bolts. (4 slots). Takes a full grown man leaning his whole weight on it to cock the mechanism.

2. Large-bore Arquebus and 20 measures of powder and shot. (2 slots).

3. A sensibly sized crossbow and 20 quarrels. (1-2 slots).

4. A convincing fake sheep (hollow). (1 slot when packed up).

5. Silvered steel dagger, with hollow handle to be fitted on a pole as a spear (1/2 a slot).

6. Utility harness, makes an extra 2 of your slots quick access (0 slots when worn).

7. Thighbone flute (1/2 a slot).

8. Tower shield with a personal blazon (3 slots).

9. Flask of whiskey cut with troll blood, restores 1hp per swig, contains 10 swigs (1 slot).

10. Two bear traps, deals 1d8 damage and immobilises on a failed save. Strength roll with disadvantage to break free (1 slot each). 

11. Harpoon with rope-loop, heavy weapon, on hit target must save or the harpoon embeds and can only be removed by doing its damage again (2 slots).

12. Spool of strong brass wire, about 50 meters of the stuff. (1/2 a slot)

13. Almanac of Teratological research, gives +1 to first Teratology roll for a given monster species (1/2 a slot).

14. Jar of peppermint oil, extremely strong smell. (1/3 a slot)

15. Camouflage cloak (+2 Sneak in a specific terrain). (1 slot, 0 when worn).

16. A folding treestand, lets you camp up a tree. (2 slots).

17. A gallon jug of refined alcohol (1 slot).

18. A large dog with baggy skin, trained to kill lions. (0 slots unless you carry it, then... I dunno, 4?)

19. A box of 2d6 dynamite sticks. Old, 1d4 weeks away from starting to sweat nitroglycerin.

20. Something stranger;

1. A Gullet Harness, leather strapping covered in spikes. Creatures that swallow you whole take d6 damage per turn and have to save every round or spit you out. Gives you disadvantage on most checks related to agility.
2. NO WAY BACK, a +1 Bastard Sword of acid-pitted steely iron. Terse, violently bigoted, sentimental.
3. A lich's skull, long drained of its magical power but the spirit still stuck around for some reason. Has a 3:6 chance to know any given thing related to magic. Answers to Zarzak.
4. A music box. Once, ever, you can play it to a formerly human creature to paralyze them with the painful recollection of their lost humanity for 1d6 rounds.
5. 3D6 gold pieces worth of assorted silver holy symbols. Makes great bomb shrapnel when hunting unholy monsters, doubling the damage against such prey.
6. A Bane Dagger, a kind of trophy made from the rib of a dead Bloodhunter who became a monster from their own obsession. Pick one specific monster - a monster of that species wounded by this dagger must Save or die, after which the dagger turns to ash.