Hell's Fugitive

Don't do drugs kids.

Hello there, my lovelies,

Today I wish to delve into a campaign that I never got off the ground, which was a victim of the Covid outbreak. After a few game sessions, the UK health secretary was busy with scandals, and my party had to cancel the in-person sessions (online never worked for us).

I was gutted. It was going to be a campaign based on the fantastic *Veins Of The Earth* by the non-bald Patrick Stuart. The party was a group of fugitives from hell, and the game began with them waking in the pitch dark on a warm stone floor in the deepest parts of the earth. I put them through a funnel adventure to do a bit of character creation via Darwinian survival, and we went from there.

Below is the creation and leveling process for a fugitive of hell. Please enjoy:

Starting Memories

Suffering in hell is the most terrifying, painful, and disgusting experience conceivable. It is so traumatizing that the fugitives have repressed nearly all of their memories. This means that the fugitives start with broad amnesia, recovering memories here and there over time.

• A memory of a sin: This is the deed that was so terrible it damned them to hell.
• A memory of hope: Hell cannot exist without hope; otherwise, what is there to suffer for? This is the memory that the character held onto, giving them the will to carry on.
• A memory of hell: Not a specific memory, but rather flashes of experiences—falling through burning clouds into hell, being part of a herd of screaming people driven forward by devils, being drowned over and over in a river of blood… that sort of thing.

Memories at Level 1

• A memory of duty: What they were in life (this informs their class).
• A memory of ambition: What did they want to achieve in life?
• A memory of community: Where did they live, and which society were they part of?

Race Details

The character’s race is The Damned. They may have been any race in life, but now they are The Damned. They gain the following languages:

• Lament: This is the sound of the wails of the damned in hell. People who hear it are often left disturbed, but it is so primal that people seem to understand it. There is a 1 in 3 chance that one sentient creature with a soul will understand them.
• Miltonian: This is the language of the devils that torment the damned in hell.

Reject Fate: Fugitives from hell are the rare individuals who have cheated fate. At a cost, they may cheat fate again.

• Once per day, they may re-roll any one roll (apart from damage). However, the universe will seek to balance their deed. They will be at -1 on all rolls until they rest.

Regaining Memories

Each time the character advances a level or something truly dramatic happens, they may gain a new memory.

Memories

For their Starting Memories and Regained Memories, characters may roll on the tables below. They roll 1D6 and then roll 1D10 on the corresponding table.

Table 1: Memory of...
1	Fear
2	Love
3	Failure
4	Triumph
5	Revenge
6	Comfort
7	Servitude
8	Betrayal
9	Honour
10	War

Table 2: Memory of...
1	Poverty
2	Privilege
3	Peace
4	Hate
5	Humiliation
6	Crime
7	Learning
8	Catharsis
9	Achievement
10	Passion

Table 3: Memory of...
1	Suffering
2	Justice
3	Leadership
4	Loyalty
5	Deception
6	Wealth
7	Hardship
8	Sacrifice
9	Pride
10	Friendship

Table 4: Memory of...
1	Taboo
2	Teaching
3	Family
4	Comedy
5	Weirdness
6	Divinity
7	Blasphemy
8	Etiquette
9	Planning
10	Royalty

Table 5: Memory of...
1	Resilience
2	Promise
3	Rivalry
4	Conspiracy
5	Bereavement
6	Death
7	Healing
8	Worship
9	Scheming
10	Theft

Table 6: Memory of...
1	Joy
2	Despair
3	Cannibalism
4	Forbidden love
5	Unspeakable evil
6	Something ancient and unknowable
7	Birth
8	Death
9	Heaven
10	Hell

I hope you found this useful. As always please borrow and steal as you want.

Much Love. The Civil Tea-Set

The Cryptography Deamon

Hello there my Lovelies,

Apologies for my recent absence. I found myself recently married to the most beautiful woman and thus I was somewhat indisposed.

Today I bring to you a rather horrible creature that I have inflicted upon one of my adventuring groups. To my joy, they found this creature genuinely terrifying, not only because it affected how the party members were able to function, but also because it affected the world around them. Before we get stuck into it I will freely admit this creature is the unholy union of various inspirations. Namely the Crypto Spider from Fire On The Velvet Horizon, The Slake Moth from Perdido Street Station, and the Xenomorph from Alien.

The Cryptography Demon

The Cryptography Demon is a being of obsession, curiosity, and greed. It can only be summoned via a ritual to discover a secret; if all goes well, it will slip into the minds of those slumbering in the region and steal the knowledge it seeks. It would disappear again without a trace. However, if it is frustrated in its aims, the local population will be placed in dreadful jeopardy.

Summoning

To complete the ritual, the summoner will need to make sure the following steps are completed:

• Ritual Circle: This must be an unbroken ritual circle that is enchanted with demonic runes. A well-trained magic user can carefully erase runes thus making the circle safe to cross. Crossing the circle without doing so will almost certainly be fatal.
• Location: The summoning should take place near a large population, and near those whom the summoner believes have the knowledge that the demon will seek.
• The Sacrifice: The demon can only be maintained by a dreaming mind. The sacrifice should be placed within the ritual circle; they will fall into an unwaking dream-filled sleep when the ritual has been completed. The sacrifice cannot be woken unless the demon is slain, or until it has completed its task. Killing the sacrifice will send the demon back to its realm, the task incomplete.
• A Written Question: Next to the sleeping sacrifice should be a piece of paper, quill, and ink. On this paper, a question that the summoner seeks the answer to will be written. Once summoned, the demon will seek the answer to this question.

Description

The demon takes the form of a giant spider with unnaturally long legs. Instead of arachnid compound eyes, it has oversized human-like eyes of mismatched color. Along its abdomen and thorax are humanoid arms with articulate hands.

In combat, the demon will do the following:

• It wields multiple weapons in its arms.
• Fire webs to slow and entangle foes.
• Grasp victims in its hands and inject them with its venom.

The venom of the demon is not a true venom but rather a magical algorithm that encrypts the victim’s mind. This causes the victim to become incapacitated immediately. Recovery time from this venom can vary; some may recover in minutes, others days, and a rare few never recover, remaining in a vegetative state until their body dies.

Habitat and Behavior

The demon will attempt to find the answer to the question that it has been tasked with by weaving webs. These webs catch the dreaming thoughts of the population around it. Sooner or later the secret it seeks will be caught in the web, appearing as woven words.

The demon will weave these webs in the hidden places of the world around it. Cryptography demon webs have been found in many places including:

• Abandoned buildings
• Cellars and Attics
• Tunnels
• Mineshafts

It can travel around the region by ripping open a portal into a pocket dimension, that resembles a greyscale version of the world around it.

When it has found the answer to the question, it will return to the ritual circle and weave the answer into it. Once complete, it will be dismissed back to its plane.

Complications

Sleep Deprivation: The intrusion of the Cryptography Demon’s magics into dreams will begin to disturb the population. They will in time begin to suffer from insomnia as their sleep is affected. This can lead to prolonged sleep deprivation in the general populace. This often leads to large-scale psychosis and civil unrest.

Nesting Cascade: If the answer to the sought-after question is not found promptly, sleep deprivation in the general populace will frustrate the demon’s endeavors. In desperation, the demon will capture people and inject them with its venom to incapacitate them and then inject them with its young. These young will search the mind of the victim as they develop, bursting out of the victim after 24 hours. If they have gained the answer from their gestation period, they will report it to the parent. If not, they will set out into the world to incapacitate more victims and bring them back to the main nest. The young resemble a smaller version of the demon and maintain its potent venom. Beware; up to 3 young per victim can be birthed. This can easily destroy entire cities' worth of populations if not stopped quickly.

Cryptography Demon Venom

Once injected with the venom, the victim should make the appropriate saving throw. Please note that venom is a magical ability, not a poison!

If the victim fails the saving throw, their mind is put into an encrypted coma.

The mechanic for this will have your players stressed and scrambling to fix it fast:

• Continue the game as usual.
• The player under the effect of the venom is given a sudoku puzzle or a word search.
• They cannot rejoin the game until they complete the task given to them. This represents their mind decrypting itself.
• They will hate you for it, and you will love it.

Much Love,
The Civil Tea-Set

10 Eldritch Beings, Pretender Gods, And Uncanny Entities

Hello there my lovelies,

Previously I discussed the pantheon of gods I tend to use in my settings, describing each in turn. Today I am discussing the nascent gods of the world and the forms they take. To reiterate, I perceive gods as powerful beings of uncanny nature and alien designs. They have more in common with the Lovecraftian entities of the mythos than the gods of mythology like the Greek or Norse pantheon.

The masses ordain the divinity of the gods I have through their worship and acts of devotion. It also means that no matter how powerful a god seems, they are ultimately finite. They are not the omniscient, omnipotent god (with a capital G) of the Abrahamic religions. Therefore they can be diminished, overthrown, or even killed (as unlikely as that is).

So the question begs, where do the gods come from? What were they before they ascended to godhood?

The answer is that they are unexplainable eldritch beings, all of whom defy the laws of nature and exist in strange and dangerous forms. They are found in the deepest, darkest corners of the hidden earth, or birthed in the gaps between the stars. If the foolhardy or ambitious dig too deep or uncover forbidden knowledge, these beings may be revealed. Rarely are they benign, or even benevolent, mostly however they are capricious and pitiless.

Below is the list of pretender gods I tend to use most often.

The General Rules I Have for My Pretender Gods Are as Follows:

• The name should evoke themes and a mental image.
• It should have something unsettling about its appearance or mannerisms.
• Its worshippers are strangely affected by the god, either through compulsion or physical change.

Who Are These Pretender Gods? (D10)

Roll	History
1	The True Sight: It takes the form of a giant eyeball that opens up into a maw of gnashing teeth. Has uncanny knowledge of the deepest secrets of the world. It grants its worshipers the gift of true sight, to see others' secrets in exchange for that person’s eyes.
2	The Whispering God: No true form of The Whispering God has ever been observed. It appears as a whispering voice that emerges out of cracks in walls. Seeks to guide emerging races and civilizations into enlightenment. Worshipers bring lost knowledge of the old world.
3	The Glutton of Souls: Takes the form of a spindly blue-skinned humanoid with a distended belly. A single animated eye hovers where its head should be. It consumes the souls of the dead, never sated, and bids its followers to bring victims to sate its hunger. The most loyal worshipers may be given the gift of the eldritch eye. However, this replaces their head, and they will forever hunger for the souls of the dead.
4	Butcher’s Maw: Where the Glutton of Souls hungers for souls, the Butcher’s Maw hungers for flesh. It takes the form of a giant obese humanoid with no eyes, just a great maw. Worshippers quickly succumb to a similar desire for flesh, rapidly descending into cannibalism. Its desire to feast is infectious. Individuals who spend too long in its domain will slowly succumb to the taboo of cannibalism.
5	The Golden Creeper: Takes the form of a central mass from which sprouts a thousand arms, grossly long and with too many joints. Upon each arm is a thousand eyes that twitch and swivel constantly in all directions with paranoid desperation. It only appears at sunset and will only crawl, and crawl and crawl. The Golden Creeper wants to explore and learn. It collects all things it finds curious. So be careful not to draw its interest, and if you do, make sure to keep moving until dark. Lest a thousand hands on a thousand arms take you.
6	Light of Ages: A second sun has appeared in the skies. It is small and distant for now. It moves slowly towards the heart of the solar system intent on supplanting the sun and having all bask in its glow. Its worshipers cover themselves head to toe in thick cloth so that the impure light of the old sun does not sully their flesh. By staring into the light of this strange new sun, one might just be able to hear it. If you do not go blind first.
7	Simularcurm: Simularcurm has no true intent or motive. It merely copies, follows, and observes. It has no true form but can take the form of any entity it witnesses. It will follow them, copy them, and observe their every movement. Sometimes, like a protoplasmic ooze, it will envelop what it has copied and consume them utterly.
8	Mother’s Embrace: It takes the form of a giant elderly woman swaddled in thousands of layers of rags and cloth. It is impossible to see (her?) true form beneath all the fabric. Her psychic emanations spread far and wide, and those susceptible will feel a deep instinctual need to be surrounded and protected. They will go on pilgrimage, seeking her place of slumber. She mostly sleeps in deep forgotten places with hundreds of folk from all over wrapping themselves in her fabric, feeling eternally safe and comforted. This sense of comfort overwhelms all other senses, and ultimately her followers die of thirst or starve to death.
9	Parliament of Bronze: The Parliament of Bronze inhabits the metal tin. Unlike the other pretender gods, it is a tiny hivemind hidden in tin ore deep in the earth. Once smelted and made into the alloy Bronze, it animates. It takes the form of thousands of bronze automatons, each unique, some ferocious, some artistic. The parliament votes on a series of actions of their uncanny design. Once votes are ratified, they impose these legislative outcomes on the world around them. Worshippers follow their laws slavishly, no matter how absurd or self-destructive they may be. Certain that the parliament is infallible.
10	. Ten Score Eyes: Ten Score Eyes lives deep in space. It silently observes the world. It takes notes, it remembers. Its existence is a revelation to most as the Ten Score Eye is so hidden and so far removed. Its worshipers go to tremendous lengths to build arcane observatories so that they may glimpse the being. They long one day to communicate with it, to learn its secrets.

I hope you find that useful! As always take, cannablise and steal the ideas here and use them as you please. Next time I will present a quick a dirty generator to make a god or pretender god of your own!

Much Love

The Civil Tea-Set

A Pantheon Presented Plainly

A Premade Pantheon Presented Plainly

All gods know ladies cannot resist a sexy swan

Hello there my lovelies,

Today I present to you a pantheon of gods. These gods are the standard gods I have in most settings. The topic of gods in mythology and fiction is a subject you could write a PhD on, so I shall try and keep this post concise and focused. I will describe my philosophy, as to how to design and use gods in a setting as well as an overview of how religion should integrate into any crafted world.

The Tea-Sets Theology List

1. The gods are distant beings. They rarely directly interact with the world. Their followers bring change in the world; they do not.
2. There should always be something unsettling or uncanny about them. They may be worshipped by millions of beings but should always be something that puts you at slight unease when you delve into them more deeply.
3. Their domain (what they are a god of) is rarely intuitive. If their nature can be summarized neatly in one sentence, then there are hidden aspects to the god that require further explanation.
4. Direct communication with them should almost never happen, maybe at most only a handful of times in a grand campaign. This should only happen in moments of the direst need (to heighten drama), or only in the most sacred of places.
5. There should always be followers who are zealots. That takes their beliefs beyond the reasonable, to the extreme. Violence and cruelty are done too often in the name of religion.
6. The gods are rarely malevolent, but also not entirely benign.
7. The vast majority of people in our world claim some form of religious belief. This should be the same in any other world.
8. Settlements should nearly always have some place of worship, be it a cathedral, temple, or shrine.
9. Reward devotion; it doesn't have to be a big reward. A splash of holy water here, or a one-time bonus to a roll there. Roleplay of a devoted follower should pay dividends.

Aresstus
Dominion: Freedom and Revolution
Appearance: A series of interlocking rings constantly revolving. Upon each ring are a multitude of eyes. Each eye is restless, looking and observing.
About: Aresstus demands freedom for freedom’s sake alone. As a result of this, Aresstus is the patron of the oppressed, imprisoned, and enslaved. The followers of Aresstus often act with moral certainty that their actions are for the good. The darker flip side to this god is the spirit of pure anarchy and rabid individual sovereignty that it inspires in its most zealous followers. All government is a form of oppression, in the eyes of its followers. All authority figures are corrupt, and all institutions are rotten to the core, and therefore they must all be taken down and destroyed. Aresstian anarchists constantly foment unrest in all civilizations in a holy crusade to bring to an end all forms of rule. So that peoples of all kinds may stand as equals in the utopia of noble savages that only Jean-Jacques Rousseau could dream of.

Batt
Dominion: Change and Catharsis
Appearance: Batt appears as a colossal floating black pyramid. On one face is a great unblinking eye that carefully surveys all that it sees. A hundred thousand black tentacles from its base grasp and reshape anything within reach.
About: Batt never communicates in any meaningful way. Batt is the representation of change and entropy. Batt does not favour any outcome over any other, it just desires that the status quo is overthrown. Very few people worship Batt directly, they do not need to as change is a constant in life. However, Batt is also the bringer of catharsis. Those who have lived through turbulent times in their life are said to receive its blessings. The clarity of thought that comes with overcoming personal upheaval.

The Grave Warden
Dominion: Peace in death
Appearance: The Grave Warden takes the form of a heavily robed human, with an oversized hood large enough to hide all of The Grave Warden’s features. A single large brass bell is extending from the sleeve of one of The Grave Warden’s voluminous sleeves. The Grave Warden will ring this regularly to call the dead to its side.
About: The ignorant call The Grave Warden the god of death, or the god of the dead. The Grave Warden is invoked to protect the dead in their eternal rest. The symbol of the brass bell is found throughout graveyards, tombs, and mausoleums. Undeath is abhorrent to The Grave Warden. To interfere with the ultimate fate of a living being is to defile it.

Ling-Gol
Dominion: Ambition, Architecture, and Obsession
Appearance: Ling-Gol is usually depicted as a city with a grand cathedral at its heart. Upon this cathedral is an unblinking, ever-searching eye.
About: Ling-Gol is the god of the academic and craftsman and is otherwise known as the Infinite City because worship of it inspires complexity of thought beyond rational bounds. Ling-Gol’s followers strive to achieve great things, but the obsessiveness it inspires in its followers can become all-consuming for the most zealous. Yes, Ling-Gol’s acolytes do create great things, but often at the cost of their minds, or family and friends.

Lumina
Dominion: The sun, Wisdom, and Healing
Appearance: Lumina takes two forms. First as that of the sun. The second is that of a golden-haired woman with an irrepressible smile. Usually depicted in traditional dress or mirror-like armour.
About: Lumina is the most accessible of all the gods. Her appearance and creed is clear and understandable. Therefore Lumina is not just the goddess of the sun but also civilization itself, as the sun gives life to the land, to the crops and respite to the weary. Her worshippers are largely charitable and seek to better themselves through good deeds and words. However, her most zealous followers are often struck blind by staring too long into her glory. She is beautiful and kind, but she is also smothering and all-encompassing.

Nyla
Dominion: Lies and Pain
Appearance: Nyla takes one of two forms. The first is that of the moon, the second is that of an old matronly woman, white of hair and sad of smile.
About: Nyla has two sides to her. One is a being that revels in the shadow of human nature, the manipulations, the lies, and the cruelties. The other side of her is someone who understands the pain people do to each other, and the damage lies inflict. She offers understanding and soothing from this suffering. For the few of those who do worship her, they consider her the most human of all the gods.

Orchidnidus
Dominion: The duality of nature
Appearance: She takes the appearance of a giant blossoming flower or that of a young woman with vines for hair. She is heavily pregnant, and her hands are covered in blood. One hand rests upon her belly, the other carries the decapitated head of a foe.
About: Also known as the Red and Green Woman. Orchidnidus is the goddess of nature, who revels in the stark truth of the natural world. She represents the duality of nature, one side that creates and fosters life, and the other side which is about brutal, pitiless survival. Orchidnidus creates life, but she also destroys it; such is the cycle of nature.

Verus
Dominion: Bureaucracy and Law
Appearance: Verus takes the image of a great green obelisk covered with all the laws of all nations. Verus also occasionally takes the form of a jade-green animated statue. He wields books and scrolls as great weapons of war.
About: Verus is sometimes referred to as the god of complexity or thought of as a sadistic god, as nothing is more labyrinthine or as frustrating as dealing with the processes and vagaries of institutions. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Verus loves and understands humanity in a way that perhaps only Nyla can appreciate. Systems and laws exist only abstractly, and this fascinates him. His followers seek to create the perfect system, a streamlined and frictionless organization. Perhaps it is more precise to call Verus the god of efficiency.

Conclusion

Crafting a pantheon of gods is an excellent way to really stamp your personality onto the setting, both the gods and the relgions following them wil add flavor and depth to your world. Use my gods or my guildlines as you like,or steal as you want. Just remember, keep them distant, keep them a bit weird, and make thier followers sometimes VERY dangerous.

Much Love,
The Civil Tea-Set

Read Harder Nerd: Or how I made books the most sought after items in my settings

READ HARDER NERD:

Or How I Made Books the Most Sought-After Items in My Settings

Introduction

Hello there my Lovelies!

I have found that in both TTRPGs and computer games, books are often overlooked. Games like Skyrim and its legendary tale of The Lusty Argonian Maid really do go the extra mile to include content, but sadly, there is still not a lot of incentive to read the books outside of your own curiosity. The roguelike Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead (CDDA) makes books really valuable, as they reflect their real-world property.

They teach you things, but you must read them first.

In the real world, books impart information. Humans can learn things without direct experience through books. We use books as a store of memories that are external to our minds. This is why people tend to put such high value on literacy; it is why we balk at the idea of book burnings.

In the games I run, books are highly sought after by the party as they can learn things from them.

The Mechanic

A book will take X days to read, and at the end of this time, the character will learn something. This usually manifests as a very specific bonus to very specific rolls.

Reading days are ticked off by downtime activities or choosing to read during a rest, with each rest counting as one day's worth of reading.

Example Book	Details
Name:	Urgle Gurgle on Sushi
Author:	Urgle Gurgle (Esq.)
Reading time:	5 days
Rarity:	Uncommon
Description:	Written in beautiful poetic prose, this seminal sushi cookery book has been translated from the original Merlock tongue into 27 different languages.
Result on reading:	+1 on any roll related to making or knowing about sushi.

That is the basic outline, but we can expand on it.

How Should Books Be Designed?

• Any bonuses they grant should be highly specific.
• If a book affects a basic skill or stat, it should be very rare or extraordinarily expensive.
• The more general or useful the bonus it grants, the rarer and more expensive the book.
• Give it a fun name and name the author. This adds flavor to the book.

Other Potential Book Bonuses

• Blueprints or instructions on how to build something. Once read, the player is considered proficient (or at least familiar) with the process of making that item.
• Reading the book grants a flash of inspiration. This grants the player a one-time powerful bonus for a limited amount of time.
• FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE! Hidden lore that unveils secrets or may reveal the location of powerful artifacts.

The outcome of this is that my players are highly motivated to find books, and they find them very exciting, often saying “Oh I only have 3 more days left on this book and I can do X”.

Below is my library of most of the books I have made from different campaigns. I intend to add to this in time, so I may make a persistent link to it.

The Tea Set’s Library

Title	Author	Description
Urist and Ragnar the Collected Series	Reading Pick Press	A collection of Key Stage 1 reading books for Dwarven children, contains the following stories amongst others: - Urist and Ragnar go on an adventure - Urist and Ragnar rescue a princess - Urist and Ragnar escape the princess - Urist and Ragnar think princesses are too much trouble Common, (20 days for a learning reader, requires an assistant. Will raise one's reading age to that of a 10-year-old)
Urist and Ragnar the Continuing Adventures	Reading Pick Press	A collection of Key Stage 2 reading books for Dwarven children, contains the following stories amongst others: - Urist and Ragnar go on a quest - Urist and Ragnar and the dragon’s horde - Urist and Ragnar invest in the family business - Urist and Ragnar commit minor fraud - Urist and Ragnar go on another quest to make up for the money they lost Common, (15 days. Will raise one's reading age to that of a 13-year-old)
On Xibalba	Memet the Immortal	A large book discussing the nature of hell. It covers a theory suggesting that hell is part of our plane of existence, and all that you must do to reach it is to just dig too deep. Rare (12 days, Grants +1 on rolls regarding the history, geography, and theories around hell)
Tempo of Battle	General Agnew	A famous war diary of the great General Agnew. Closer inspection of the book reveals deep insights into battlefield tactics. Riveting stuff! Uncommon, (10 days. Grants a once per session ability to re-roll initiative)
Limited Divinity	Rector Nunya	A radical, perhaps heretical text. It proposes a system whereby every 500 years the gods give up their divinity and pass on their title to a chosen mortal. The author suggests this would reduce societal stagnation and boost innovation. Rare, (5 days, Grants +1 to rolls involving theological debates. If found to be in possession of this book, there may be consequences)
Trees	Eion Farstrider	A beautifully illustrated book of field sketches and observations of a myriad of tree species. Accessible yet detailed, the perfect coffee table book. Common, (7 days, grants +1 rolls identifying trees and knowledge about them)
Ix: The Eternal City	Reggie Summersmile	Written by the bestselling halfling travel writer Reggie Summersmile. This tome has a detailed description of what used to be the world's largest city, and capital of the Lurentian Empire. The city Ix. Contains maps! Common, (5 days, +1 to all rolls navigating or knowledge about the city of Ix)
Peace... Eventually	Walter Grondyke III	A professional historical review of the last 500 years of the western human kingdoms. Their centuries of endless warring and eventual peace brought about the great concord of Uribeck. Uncommon, (12 days, +1 to all rolls about the history of the human kingdoms)
Fomor: The Vile Beastman	T.H. Yarnly	This tome is essentially an anthropological study of the races of beastmen that inhabit the world. Written years before the war. Warning, contains graphic descriptions of brutality and torture. Rare, (9 days, +1 on all rolls involving knowledge of beastman behavior and culture)
How to Make Friends and Decapitate Your Enemies	W.S. Cam	A purported self-help manual. People will love you, all you need to do is threaten them with an axe. Common, (3 days, Grants a once-ever +4 bonus on the next social interaction roll you make)
Smith Like a Dwarf	Lulgrim Steeltoe	Learn to smith like a dwarf, grow a beard, hammer red hot metal. Chicks will dig you! Common, (8 days, +1 on rolls for blacksmithing)
The Nyxian Chronicles	Thrain Stoneheart	An ancient tome that narrates the history of the subterranean Nyxian Ocean, with details on trade, navigation, and folklore. Common, (7 days, +1 on rolls about locations and cultures of the Nyxian Ocean)
Tooth and Claw: A Bestiary of the Deep Paths	Grom Ironfoot	A compendium of underground creatures, including information on their habitats, behaviors, and weaknesses. Lots of pretty pictures. Uncommon, (5 days, +1 on rolls to identify creatures of the deep paths, and recall information about them)
A History of a Bearded People	Balin Basaltchin	A grand if sometimes embellished history of the Dwarven folk. Common, (6 days, +1 on rolls involving dwarven history)
Nautical Maps of the Nyxian Ocean	Karak Lomores Nautical Commission	A collection of maps and charts detailing routes, navigation, and forgotten locations in the Nyxian Ocean. Uncommon, (1 day, may show hidden locations)
The Luminous Hymns	The Lumic See	A hymnbook containing the most holy hymns dedicated to the Goddess Lumina, the grand matriarch of the pantheon. Uncommon, (2 days)
Mysteries of the Abyss	Durgan Onyxfoot	A collection of folktales of horrific creatures that stalk the deep paths and other horrors. Mostly tosh, good fun read though. Uncommon, (4 days)
Voices from the Deep Paths	Arlia Moonshimmer	A compilation of traditional dwarven ballads and drinking songs, as well as songs from other races who traveled the deep paths. Collected by an elven anthropologist. Common, (3 days)
Recipes from the Deep	Lira Stoneear	Written in a brisk cheerfulness not often associated with dwarves, this is a legendary book that adorns the bookshelf of any self-respecting dwarven household. Common, (5 days, +1 to any roll for cooking using subterranean ingredients.)
A Technical Guide to Intoxication through the Kingdom Fungi	Plagueface esq.	A thick tome written in a conspiratorial manner about identifying various types of mushrooms to make hallucinogenic potions and poisons. Rare, (6 days, +1 to rolls identifying fungi and their uses)
Fractal Mosaics	Prof. R.K. Dunshelm	What would be a dry exploration of mosaic design and technique is lifted to greater heights by the author's beautiful prose and exploration of the relationship between art and culture. Rare, (10 days, +1 on critiquing and understanding art)
Backdoor Wenches (Volume 9)	Funhouse	A smutty picture book depicting all races in various forms of copulation. Rare, (1 day)
The Epic of Yorm	Unknown Author	This is an ancient poem (by the editor's standards). It was passed down through oral tradition and has now been codified into text. The poem is about a great hero who slays several increasingly dangerous monsters only undone by his own hubris. Common, (4 days)
Jombaha!	Archmage Press	A pop-arcane book. Designed to get the masses more enraged with arcane studies and rituals. It is a collection of presumably real-life stories when rituals went horribly wrong, resulting in death, destruction, and occasionally hilarity. Uncommon, (5 days, +1 on any roll to do with avoiding ritual blowback)
Leviathan Stirs	Anon	A philosophical dialogue. Discusses the importance of maintaining social roles and the sanctity of the social contract between lord and subject. If one were to read between the lines you might think the author is telling you how to tear down society. Rare, (6 days)
Applied Accountancy	Professor Boringson	It is an accountancy textbook. Useful but boring. Rare, (10 days. Must pass an INT or Wisdom check to read, as it's DULL. When rolling for any accountancy-based topic, roll with advantage.)
Poisons for Responsible Adults	Archie McStabberson	A very responsible book about how to make poisons to kill various pests, like insects, birds, rats, and other people. Very Rare, (8 days, +1 to rolls crafting and identifying poison)
Extra-Dimensional Topology	Yuler	A dense work about an incredibly niche subject area that has limited real-world application. You think it discusses how mathematical geometries might shift in other dimensions. Very Rare, (12 days, requires INT check to ensure you understand what the book is about. Gains +1 to rolls identifying magic, if you can cast you also gain an additional spell)
Build a Buddy	Unknown	A handwritten and unique tome that describes the very expensive process of building a golem. Construction time requires 30 days per HD. Stupidly Rare, (12 days, requires INT check. Allows for construction of a golem)
Cat of the West	R. Heartly	Famous Novel. It's not about a cat, it’s allegorical. Common, (5 days)
Mending Nature	Clipclop Bristlechin	Druidic tome on the corruption of the natural world and recognizing it. Uncommon, (7 days, +1 to rolls identifying corruption in nature)
Understanding Semaphore	Imperial Navy Publishing House	Describes standard semaphore, a language involving flag use on maritime vessels. Uncommon, (12 days, Learns the language Semaphore)
Weather Watcher’s Guide	Imperial Navy Publishing House	Reference book on weather forecasting. Uncommon, (7 days, +1 to rolls to forecast the weather, can only forecast the weather up 24 hours in advance, not always accurate)
Gorlian’s Insights	Gorlian the Wise	Philosophical musings on phenomenology. It is mind-expanding stuff. Rare, (7 days, requires an INT or WIS roll to read, as it is DEEP. Grants a one-time re-roll on any one failed roll)
Suffer the Weak	G. T. Hateful	Autobiography of Gashnik the Hateful, orc pirate. Grim reading. Common, (5 days)
Roshambo	A. Smee	A player's guide to a favorite pirate game, where men take turns kicking each other in the balls. Very Rare, (1 day reading time, you always get the first go in a game of Roshambo)

I hope you have found this post useful. Untill then, much love

The Civil Tea Set

Evil Cult Generator

Since Halloween is coming up here is a moderately creepy generator to create an evil cult in your game.  This generator assumes they are evil beyond reproach and they will probably show you no mercy.  So show them none in return.

Build A Cult (This is specifically about evil cults)
What do they Wear?
roll	Clothing	Accessory
1	Very standard cultist robes, you know the sort.	Creepy masks. Cultists love creepy masks.
2	Leather strapping and other extremely figure-hugging leather clothing. It is all very Hellraiser.	A small broach. One could even miss it if you weren't paying attention.
3	No specific dress code but every piece of clothing the cultists have are exactly the same colour.	Tattoos.
4	Nothing, they are weirdo nudists.	Deliberate disfigurement.
5	Rags and scraps, they look like they have collected their clothing for a refuse pile.	Mutation, probably involving tentacles.
6	Nothing. They wear perfectly normal everyday clothing.	Adorned in bones. Skulls for shoulder pads, and chest plates made out of femurs that sort of thing.
7	Skins and hides (possibly human).	Heavy body modification. This goes beyond having your eyebrow pieced.
8	A very idiosyncratic uniform. Think communist China.	Holy artefact. They carry with them at all times a holy artefact. This could be a symbol or even a sacred weapon.
9	Extreme decadence. The clothes they were are designed to titillate and strategically expose the flesh to get the pulse racing.	Weird flamboyant hats.
10	Puritanical dress-code, no fun here. You need to be wearing the exact shade of charcoal grey.	Covered in pustules and sores. It looks and smells disgusting but they seem to love it.
Who do they sacrifice and how?
roll	Who	how
1	Anyone they can get their hands on. There is no discrimination here. They are progressive like that.	Cutting out their hearts with a ritual dagger.
2	Virgins.	Exsanguination!
3	Babies/children.	Burning probably on a pyre or in a volcano.
4	Specific race.	Feeding to a great beast at the bottom of a great pit.
5	Followers of a particular religion	Something stupidly elaborate.
6	Magic-users	Ritual torture.
What do they want?
Roll	What are these weirdos up to?
1	They just want to do weird creepy shit in peace. If it wasn't for the prodigious amounts of human sacrifices going on no one would care really.
2	They want to summon something awful into this world. It might kill them, eat them, or even drive them mad, but they seem fine with that outcome.
3	They want to establish a domain where they rule and spread the world of their belief. It probably wouldn't be a nice place to live.
4	They want to overthrow the established order. It is not clear if they have a plan for what to do next.
5	Wipeout X peoples. Maybe they are racists or just hate magic users. Non the less they are set on the total destruction of a particular group of people in this world.
6	Fulfil a prophecy. Somewhere in pages of the books, they rant about is a strange prophecy that has them all worked up! Let us hope you're not involved in it.
7	Bathe in the blood of their enemies. This might be literal.
8	Domination and enslavement of all”
9	Omnicide. They want to kill just everyone apart from themselves. Then maybe themselves.
10	The utter and total destruction of existence itself.
Does weird sex stuff go down in the cult?
roll	outcome
1 to 8	Yes.
9 to 10	No.
Just what is it they worship?
roll	The object of their obsession
1	A person (They may be alive, dead or even undead).
2	A power eldritch being.
3	An object (for example a weapon, obelisk, artefact, statue or even a body part).
4	A philosophy or ideology.
5	A place (it could be an area, a ruin or even a country).
6	Writings or scripture.
What makes them so unique?
roll	Quirk
1	They all same the same thing at the same time like some kind of hive-mind.
2	They are just overly nice. To the point, it is cloying and uncomfortable. Even when they are killing you they are strangely happy about it.
3	They are all to an individual utterly and hopelessly insane.
4	They are devious and have been spending years infiltrating governments and other powerful organisations.
5	They are tolerated by the state for some reason. Probably because they keep the true depths of their evil hidden. People find them creepy nonetheless.
6	They are powerful enough to rule over a region.
7	They bring with them dread beasts, not of this world.
8	They also serve in undeath. When they die they will be raised as an undead creatures befitting of the station they achieved in the cult in life.
9	They wiled dreadful cursed weapons.
10	Their leader is a powerful non-human entity.

D10 Strange Worlds and The Portals That Transport You

Have you ever wanted to throw your players into a horrible world of woe and despair for a few sessions?  A fun distraction on the side to the main adventure.  Well, fret no more.  Here are a few seed ideas of worlds your party could be transported to and the method in which they could be taken!

Strange Worlds at End of Eerie Portals
The Portal	The World
1 The surface of a mirror	The Grey Maze: Walls of a grand maze surround you. They reach high into the sky and their uniformly flat surfaces make scaling them impossible. Even the grandest of giants would find scaling such a climb impossible. The repetition of the landscape and the complexity of the maze makes it hard to navigate. If one does not take the time to carefully map their progress it will be easy to get lost forever. Civilisation can be found here, where the facades of the walls are cracked. People build towns within the cracks in the walls. They are well guarded. Spider things hunt in the maze. They scale the walls with ease and carry bony harpoons to capture their prey.
2 A glowing potion that when drunk causes the drinker to fall into a deep slumber and phase-out of reality	The cylinder: The surface of the world in here is found upon the inside of a seemingly endless cylinder. A person can look up into the sky and see the sprawl of a city above them at the opposite side to where they stand. The sun is a filament of light that runs down the centre of this strange world. Day and night are marked by the luminosity of this ribbon of light.
3 A strange sticky fog rolls over the land here. As soon as one enters this area the sounds of animals cease. If they keep pressing forward they will eventually reach the other world.	The Pit: The world is shaped like a vast bowl with all points sloping inwards. At the centre of the world is a vast, and perfectly round chasm. New land is spawned at the edges of this world. Then over the course of decades, it creeps and slides, and tumbles into the pit. The soil is loose here and thus settled civilisations are rare. Nearly everything is nomadic, metallurgy and other heavy industry that requires fixed infrastructure are non-existent. This is the world of the horse lord.
4 A small knife with a uniquely sharp edge is able to cut a hole between worlds. Wounds inflicted with this knife bleed the stuff strange realities.	The Abandoned City: There is a vast city. With infinite floors and infinite sprawl. The echoes of your voice is swallowed by the absurd vastness of this space. You are not sure where the city ends and the sky beings. It is entirely devoid of its previous inhabitants. However strange mockeries of humanity can be found squatting in the rooms of this metropolis. They do not enjoy company. Small redoubts of post-human survivors live. They are a hardy sort who are expert scavengers and cultivators.
5 A great titan of a beast stalks the land. It is said that its throat is a portal to another world. All you have to do is risk being swallowed whole.	Volcanism in The Nightland: The Sun is dying and has all but dimmed to shine out a sickly green glow. The world is either pitch black or illuminated by a weak emerald light. It is a hot and humid place and it is beset by violent and endless volcanism. Volcanoes erupt regularly, vomiting out all but unseen ash clouds, earthquakes are common here. This place is home to a rich and ferocious ecosystem. The hydrothermal vents provide the basis of life here. Great worms feed on the minerals and nutrients exuded. Predators many times the size of a person skitter in the dark, and greater things predate on them still. For such a hostile place civilisation thrives. Though it is penned in and terrified of what lies beyond its borders.
6 A single silver key. Absurdly plain in design. Anyone who holds it may unlock any door which will now open into another world. Be careful. Not every world will have a door to return you.	Ropes and Knots: There is no apparent ground to this world, just an endless sky that falls into a black void. This world is comprised of huge strands of rope that can be anything from a few meters to a few kilometres thick. They go in all directions and meet together in great knots. The knots themselves can vary in size hugely. It is in the larger knots that civilisation is found. Towns and kingdoms claim knots as their home. And within the strands and between the gaps of the ropes are the strange caves and dungeons of this world. The cut one of the great ropes is the greatest taboo of all, for connection is life. Beware the fleet centipede things that hunt in the wild of the strands.
7 A spell or ritual. It is written in a hidden tome or scroll. It is clearly hidden knowledge, maybe to keep the treasure to themselves or to keep our world from danger.	Grass Ocean: This is a world is islands and archipelagoes. These islands are rich oases and plenty and peace, however, they are separated by the grass ocean. Where there would be an ocean there is a great plain of long grass, and like the ocean, the level of the grass is uniform at the surface. The deep one goes into the grass ocean the longer the grass becomes. Travelling from one island is dangerous. Navigating the depths of the ocean is incredibly difficult and dangerous. The deeper you go the darker it becomes due to the fronds of grass blocking out more and more light. Numerous shark-like predators that crawl and creep hunt down here. Though it is also rich in life to be harvested.
8 A portal. A standard glowing portal. You can choose the colour it glows.	The Million Million Rooms: This place could possibly be hell. The world is a series of interconnecting rooms. Some as small as a closet others the size of a cathedral's interior. The walls of this place are the same charcoal colour. The sameness is endless. It's maddening. It hurts one's mind to dwell here for more than a few hours. One cannot tell where a corner or dark spaces begin. There is no food or sustenance here so it is almost devoid of life. Almost. For solid human-like shadows walk these halls. They have the same charcoal colour and they hunt and hate life.
9 A great eternal fire burns at this place. For some, it is a place of pilgrimage. Some sacrifice themselves to the flame. For those that do they are transported to another world.	The Tireless Strider: The world is a vast clockwork golem. It is the size of a continent that it marches ceaselessly through an endless mist that obscures anything below its waste. Upon its back shoulders and head, cities have grown. They are prosperous and thick with culture. Adventures will often delve into the golem itself. Within are items of great use and power. But within are guardians of the golem's body, as well as other things that stalk in the dark. The question begs. Where is the golem heading to, and will it ever reach its destination?
10 A lake with a perfectly flat surface that never ripples. Once submerged and drowning you will awake in another world.	Puppets and Palaces: The world is normal. It has kingdoms, economies, peoples and passions. Except everyone one is a puppet. They will deny it of course, even if you show them the strings that hold them up. Are they actually individuals? Or is some strange eldritch creature playing dollhouse with a world?

Veins of The Earthjammer

So here is an idea, what would happen if we mashed together the amazing Veins of The Earth with D&D in space via Spelljammer?  This post is a general musing more than anything else but I think the concept may have legs.  This post is more an exploration of the idea, you never know I may expand on it in the future.

The Dvargir

The Dvargir are uber dwarfs.  Dwarfs who have through countless generations pursued the obsession of work to the point they are now completely consumed by the notion.  They build and work because they must, it's in their DNA.  Their singular devotion to work has turned the race into a system of logic gates inside of a machine of meat and bone.  In Spelljammer they will have ascended to the surface of their planet and have achieved interplanetary travel.  This is what they would do:

• Create a full survey of their planet.  Take an accounting of estimates of metal deposits and other useful resources.
• Build a fleet of craft designed to assist with logistical and industrial utilities.  A fleet of factories and workshops.
• They begin to dismantle the planet.  Crack it open to the core and access the metal inside.
• Using these resources they expand their fleet capacity and begin to survey, audit, and dismantle every celestial body in the solar system excluding the star.
• They begin work on the grand project.  A great runic ringworld that encompasses the sun on the solar plane.
• This project will take 1000s maybe millions of generations.  The completed parts of the ringworld are abandoned by the Dvargir as they move onto the next stage of construction.
• Inhabitants from other worlds and beyond settle here.  Kingdoms, even empires rise and fall.  It has become the de facto center for universal trade and diplomacy.
• The Dvargir work on still.

Substratals

When the Dvargir cracked open the many worlds of the solar system they broke "The Real World".  This was nothing short of apocalyptic for the Substratals and their civilization almost perished.  A handful of groups kept the candle of their culture alight, but the loss of their home against an uncaring foe has changed them.  They waged a war of attrition against the Dvargir to little effect, this has left the survivors cynical and battle-hardened.  

Due to their incredible intellect and nigh on invulnerability to most mundane weapons substratals quickly rise to the top echelons of whichever society they find themselves within.  Many worlds are ruled effectively by them (sometimes even benevolently).  Substratals are prized advisors, generals, and admirals.

Deep Janeen

No deep Janeen freeport palace is alike.  Each is more decadent, more bizarre, and wonderous than all the others in its own way.

Each Deep Janeen has built their own freeport in the middle of wildspace.  Each freeport is spectacular to behold and is built to the very exacting tastes of that Deep Janeen.  In some places the Deep Janeen will gleefully mix with the visitors to their port, in others, they will hide away in the gloom of their maze living vicariously off the whispers of the activity outside. 

The freeport itself is a large floating structure in wildspace.  The Deep Janeen set aside large areas of their maze palace to act as a commercial sector.  This is a place where most budding entrepreneurs face little to no bureaucratic barriers to establishing a business.

They do however impose a tax, rarely ever in the form of gold.  Each tax is unique at the Deep Janeen that sets it.  Failure to pay this tax will see quick eviction for existing commercial operations.  A wise trader will learn the quirks of each Deep Janeen ensuring the businesses of these freeports are well stocked with the oddities that their landlord demands.

Oh, one last thing.  Before everyone who stays at a freeport MUST fill out the visitor's survey upon leaving.  Refusing to do so will lead to instant imprisonment, or worse.

The Aelf-Adal

The Aelf-Adal never had the need to bleed into the real world to wage war on the dreamers here.  They raid and pillage as they please knowing that no one can follow them to their dread realm.  For the Aelf-Adal live beyond the event horizon of black holes.

These are terrible places where time shifts and nightmares reign.

Only the most foolhardy would consider travel past these portals to their home plane.

No known spelljammer captain has passed beyond the event horizon and returned.  Many suspect that some enchantment or technology in the Aelf-Adal's own craft grants them immunity to whatever destruction that would otherwise befall any crew that crosses the threshold.

Those who take their awful yet elegant craft as a prize find them wholly uncoperative.  Not unworkable, but uncooperative, the craft resists the helmsman's demands.  Furthermore, those who try to interface with the Aelf-Adal's crafts find their dreams haunted by fleet-footed beings.  Over time their sanity will ebb and reality and dreamspace will phase into one another.

Knotsmen

These loathsome people thrive in wildspace.  Gordonia their capital, is a cold and barren rogue planet that is hidden in the depths of a vast nebular, no outsiders know the location.  No outsider has ever seen their homeworld, well not those who are not condemned to permanent slavery at any rate.

The knotsmen are feared slavers.  They are also excellent mercenaries who show absolutely zero mercy in battle.  They prefer as always to attack at range, they come onto the field of battle heavily armored carrying shot and pike.

They still relentlessly hunt down their escaped young men.  No one has seen their women, for their civilization is still the height of cruelest misogyny.

Their craft are known as needle-ships, which are long and regal in design.  They travel at speeds that almost no other race can match, which gives their armada a considerable advantage in the theater of war.

They are still excellent surgeons and most of the major ports will have a medical clinic run by a knotsman.  They often offer free services, though they nearly always demand a favor in return.  Most kingdoms and empires have a knotsman physician at hand, though no one trusts them.

The knotsmen are a superpower in the waiting.