The Coven, campaign setup

I was rereading some old blog posts that I removed for personal reasons and I thought of rewriting the campaign setup that I wrote to play a coven of witches. To do so I want to get rid of the material linked to the LotFP book Vaginas are magic (VAM).

VAM could have easily been trans inclusive, I mean magic... you can easily writestuff to include trans women. This is a book about spells, you can even write a transition spell (even with all the nasty miscast effects) and add it to your spells list. Or you know, you can simply avoid writing that vaginas and fertility are the only ways of defining womanhood in your magical cosmology.

At the time of publication of VAM, some of us defended VAM by saying: "the book don't have to include trans women, this is the OSR, you can simply hack who can cast these spells or devise your own magical means for trans women to gain a vagina and a fertile womb if they really want to cast these spells." And at the time I was feeling uncomfortable but I thought: yeah I guess this is the OSR way of resolving problems…

At that time I was really trying hard to like VAM and to continue to like LotFP, I even ran a campaign entirely built around VAM. But as I took some distance from my initial love for LotFP, I saw how trans exclusive and shitty the game text of VAM was. Looking back on how I was ok with these excuses, I cringe a lot at my past self.

The text of VAM present the spells as women's magic and state that you need to have a fertile womb to be able to cast them (the book title also imply that you need a vagina).

"Now about this “only women can cast these spells”
thing. When creating new spells, It is perfectly fine
to say that certain spells can only be cast by one sex,
or people with brown hair, or people with no eyes.
Or by those in certain moods, or who are wearing/
not wearing jewelry or clothing made of certain
materials, or who are covered in squirrel shit. It can
be that arbitrary, that simple. If a caster wants to use
these spells without the specific restriction, she can
recover a spellbook with the spell in it and research
her own version without the restriction. Spell
research rules aren’t just there to fill out a page count.
For the purposes of being able to cast the spells
in this book, “woman” is defined as someone (or
something, non-human magicians can cast these
spells too) able to be impregnated and carry a child to
term. Is a character Postmenopausal? Prepubescent?
Infertile for any other reason? These spells are not for
them. Exceptions are made for those normally barren
if they have been infected with parasites which are
then naturally expelled through their normal birth/
life cycle.
Yup, these spells will have players of male Magic-
Users (and old crones, and etc.) begging you to run
Alien for them, just so their characters can get face-
fucked. Isn’t gaming grand?"
-VAM

What I get from the text is that in LotFP, the cosmic magical forces of the universe align with some of the arguments that TERFs use to exclude trans women. If I play a trans woman, VAM tell me that my character need to get impregnated by a alien parasite for the magical laws of the universe to consider her a woman or that she need to do some magical researches to rewrite these spells so that a “non woman” can cast them.

Again with all the trans people playing and creating gaming material in the OSR, I think that our allies can show more creativity and do better than this.

COVEN CAMPAIGN SETUP

The characters are all witches (magic-users) and they are all members of a secret coven that researched the dangerous spells list of a long dead Elder Witch. Something happened and the coven have been recently dismantled, the player characters goal is to rebuild their coven and to find a way to deal with what menace them. While doing so, there should be plenty of opportunities to impact the campaign's setting.

The campaign can be run as a sandbox build around a small town and a situation that is affecting everyone in the area. The player characters could first try to find back their former allies and resources, then personal goals would surely emerge and the game could become more about dealing with the big situation (or other emerging stuff). Naturally dealing with the legacy of the Elder Witch and other supernatural elements will come in to complicate everything.


THE ELDER WITCH

The Elder Witch should have lived some generations ago, she was a brilliant witch that grew obsessed with her magical researches and accessed dangerous planes of existences. After her death her spell book became a precious artifact, copies were made but errors slipped in. The original book eventually gained a “soul” of it own and became a magical entity, a bit like the necronomicon in Evil Death but maybe more alien than “evil”. Finding back the Elder book is something that witches booth desire and dread.

Keep the Elder Witch history vague and shrouded in mystery and rumors, give her some scary traits but also some positive and relatable ones. Echoes of herself still survive, trapped between the planes, she feel anger and regrets, her feelings are conflicted, maybe she can be redeemed or maybe not.

Crafting the Elder Witch’s spell list

The Elder Witch discovered a plane of existence that she explored until some of it secrets consumed her. This plane have it own ecosystem and rules, think of the Upside Down of Stranger Things or the Otherworld of Silent Hill.

Her spells are about accessing and manipulating the energies of this strange plane, define the plane and maybe around 10 spells to start with.

Spells effects (d20)

1. Perceiving the plane
2. Accessing the plane’s background energy
3. Locating portals to the plane or toward it orbiting sub planes.
4. Travelling to or through the plane
5. Using the plane to affect our reality
6. Contacting and influencing denizen of the plane
7. Imbuing someone with the essence of the plane
8. Unleashing the energy from the plane
9. Manipulating the plane energy or essence
10. Controlling a positive or beneficial effect of the plane
11. Controlling a negative or dangerous effect of the plane
12. Reaching or accessing the plane’s core, lower or higher levels
13. Harvesting the plane’s primordial or forbidden energy
14. Awakening sleeping parts of the plane
15. Contacting a primordial and elder entity of the plane
16. Draining or corrupting the plane to achieve a major effect
17. Warding or protection against the plane energy, influence or hazards
18. Sensing or harvesting the plane’s natural resources or hazards
19. Summoning minor flora or fauna from the plane
20. Imbuing a traditional feminine craft, art, activity or item with the energy of the plane.

Casting and miscasting spells

A part of the fun of the campaign is to see how much the witches are willing to use these dangerous spells and how using them will affect and impact their live, their world, the plane and reality itself.

You will have to hack a bit the game system that you use. Character of any levels should be able to cast spells of any levels. Spell of higher level than your own should be more dangerous to cast.

When casting a spell, a witch need to make a saving throw, depending of your system, greater spell effects should be harder to save against. On a failed roll the witch lose control of the spell and she must roll on the miscasting table. There is also the possibility of casting spells when you expanded your magical spell slots for the day, this should automatically lead to a roll on the fumble table. 

The conditions in which a character is casting a spell could also impact the miscasting save. But keep in mind that casting spells should always involve some risk. 

Miscasting Table (higher results are potentially more dangerous)

1. The area of effect is larger than anticipated (in a bad way)
2. The spell effect someone else you know, a ally (or a enemy depending of the effect).
3. The effect become contagious or move travel through potential targets
4. The effect have a extra horrible side effect
5. The effect is corrupted, twisted, toxic or dangerous
6. The effect is too potent and out of control (in a bad way)
7. The effect attract hostile supernatural creatures
8. The effect hide in someone you know, emotions may trigger it
9. Casting the spell displace things between reality and the plane
10. Casting the spell mess up your mind or perception
11. The spell imbue a object and create a cursed item, scroll, tattoo or mark
12. The spell effect become a dangerous elemental or construct
13. The spell create a doppelganger of the caster
14. The spell germinate inside you like a parasite (ask the player how it manifest).
15. Casting the spell mutate your body
16. The spell awoken a terrible threat
17. The spell rewrite itself and it effect and become a new spell
18. Casting the spell edit a part of your the local area, ecosystem or reality
19. Casting the spell edit a part of your personal life or history
20. The spell try to rip you apart (save or die)

THE WITCHES

Players characters are women (cis or trans) magic-users.
Characters can be from level 01 to 03
>Level 01 characters can reroll 2 stats and keep the best
>Level 02 characters can reroll 1 stat and keep the best
>Level 03 characters don’t get a reroll.
Any character can switch a stat with their magic casting score (probably INT).

Starting ages:
Level 1: 15 +1d6
Level 2: 16 +2d6
Level 3: 17 +3d6

• Each character choose one spell from the Elder Witch spell list.
• Each character roll a number of spell equal to their level on the magic user spell list of your game system. This spell can also trigger miscasts and is linked to the plane discovered by the Elder Witch or one of it sub planes.
• No duplicate spells between character are allowed (reroll duplicates).
• Character understand better the spells they chosen and rolled and get +1 to save against miscasting these spells. All the characters’ spells are pooled together to create the master spell book of the coven.
• The referee add a extra spell from the Elder Witch’s spell list that is harder to master and that always inflict a penalty when saving against miscasting it.
• All characters can use the master spell book to prepare spells.
• Your personal spell books start with level+2 spells written in it selected from the master spell book.

THE TOWN

The referee should name the town.
Go around the table and answer these questions together.
If a question don’t inspire you, pass it to the next player.

• What is the town main landmark?
• A local product that you appreciate?
• A local product that you find cringy?
• A local tradition?
• A place where you feel safe in town?
• A place where you feel unsafe in town?
• Someone in town who abuse of their power?
• Someone in town who try to restrain them?
• Someone new and ambitious?
• A old incident that disturbed the town?
• A distant calamity that is starting to affect the town? (war, natural disaster, plague, revolution, etc)
• A rumor about it? (ask each player)

THE COVEN

The game will be mostly about rebuilding the coven…
Go around the table and answer these questions together.
If a question don’t inspire you, pass it to the next player.

• Who founded the coven?
• How did she learn magic?
• What was her relation with the memory of the Elder Witch?
• Where was the coven situated?
• What special resource the coven had?
• What magical artifact the coven lost?
• What spell did the founder was never able to master?
• What native beings from the other plane the coven feared?
• Who was secretly allied with the coven?
• Who betrayed or abandoned the coven?
• Who raided the coven?
• Who of your sisters died in the raid? Who still perceive her?
• Who of your sisters ran away?
• Who of your sisters was captured?
• How the founder failed the coven before her demise?
• How the founder perished?
• Where were you instructed to go if things go wrong? (were the game will start…)

Personal questions for each characters

• How the coven recruited you?
• What did you glimpse from the other plane during your initiation?
• You admired or feared the founder?
• Who are you close with within the coven?
• Who do you trust in town?
• Who do you fear, hate or avoid in town?

For transgender witches

• How do you transition? (socially and or physically) 
• Do you use potions, herbs, rituals or other magical means of transition?
• Who taught you this secret? 

Chromatic Soup 03: Turtles and Birds

Contributions by Christopher Potter and Evlyn M

The Caravan of the Crystal Carapace Chant

The Great Tortoises of the Crystal Carapace accumulate mineral growths on their shells from their habit of bathing in the Chromatic Soup of the Prismatic Swamps.

These form crystals which resonate to the songs of the Finchfolk or Fringu (of the family Fringillidae). Known throughout all lands for the sweetness of their songs, the Fringu refine their melodies through the harmonics of the crystal shells, honing their voices to the most pleasing pitch.

Now with the world's ending new songs are being sung as the Fringu seek to attune to the music of the sphere's and rendezvous with the Astral Turtle so that the Celestial Chant may not be silenced.

Human musicians and singers who can contribute to the celestial chants are welcomed into their caravan.


Contributions by Dan D, Jeremy Duncan, Shel Kahn, C Huth, Robbert Raets, Richie Cyngler, Perttu Vedenoja and Evlyn M

Astral Egg of the Walking Flock

The Walking Flock are a tribe of sentient giant carnivorous land birds.
They wear exaggerated artificial head crests -- especially prized by breeding males. Status indicated by size, color, gaudiness, rarity of materials, etc. They wear saddlebag pouches to hold and protect eggs, retain and channel heat or use chariot nests. No time to sit and brood while on the move. They use decorative bibs with heraldry to identify their clans.

Some members of the flock display a kind of 'flock sentience' with multiple members cooperating to perform complex dexterous tasks with their beaks.

The flock have a symbiotic relationship with a specie of sentient Meekats who use their dexterous hands to craft things for them.

Some clan members wear tiny head howdah with their meekats allies riding in them.
Some others wear baroquely crafted harnesses bordering on sculptures reminiscent of birds of paradise's flamboyance. Hunters like to wear eyewear to protect their eyes from the blinding sun.

Their collective bird cries can be intimidating as bagpiping.

A few human mercenaries families also accompany their caravan into the astral plains.

Their portal to the astral plain is contained in magically imbued astral egg that from which a astral gate will hatch. 

The Cosmic Worm Blade

Ruleset: B/X

The Worm Blade is a bastard sword +1

Special: +1d4 dmg VS fleshy and rotting undeads.

Each level the blade holder can summon the Cosmic Worm Maiden a number of times equal to their current level.

The maiden is a agent of the cosmic balance, she is in charge of maintaining the natural cycle of decomposition and she seek to return undeads back to their natural states.

When summoned the maiden imbue the character with her cosmic essence for the duration of a combat. 

When under the influence of the maiden a wave of worms crawl on the character, they devour anything the character wear and form a wondrous dress of woven worms, the character is transfigured and take the form of the maiden and receive:

• a healing 1HD of hp (the transfiguration heal the character). 
• AC as unarmored (the worm dress offer no protection).
• The maiden form can use the worm blade like a dancing sword.
• The worm blade can harm any undead. 
• The maiden form can turn undead and speak with worms.
• While touching a rotting undead with her bare hands the maiden form can absorb all the worms that crawl in their flesh, doing 1d8+LV dmg while healing the sword bearer by d8+LV hp. 
• If something harm the maiden, a cosmic worm crawl out of the astral plains to protect the maiden. The worm (stats as displacer beasts) protect the maiden with it displacing power. The worm can not attack while transferring it displacing effect to the maiden. Each round the player must choose if the worm attack or apply it displacing effect. 
• Foes slain by the worm blade can not be re-animated or become undead.
• Worms (including carrion crawlers) will not harm the maiden form and will seek to protect her. Corrupted or chaotic worms will roll a reaction test.  

 After the combat the character must make a reaction test toward the maiden. 

(bonus for neutral alignment and charisma, penalty for losing the fight or for acting against the cosmic balance)

• On a good result the maiden can answer one question before leaving. 
• On a negative result she inflict a mutations linked to her nature and appearance.
• On a very good reaction she may transfer one of her physical traits and grant a blessing or a extra summoning. Her favored champions slowly take on her appearance. 
• She can also restore level drains in exchange of a quest, the reaction roll should influence the nature of the quest. Her quests usually involve burials, singing to summon worms and mourning. She will not answer summons when a character is questing for her.   

Chromatic Soup 03: Structuring the means of escape.

I think that I need to structure more how the means of escape of the world are presented to make Chromatic Soup 03 more gameable.

I am thinking of adding to each entries:

• What is happening when the group arrive?
• What is happening when people escape to astral plains? 
• How the caravan form in the astral plains?
• Who accompany the caravan? (who are helpful, who cause trouble) 
• How the caravan reach and exit pocket worlds?

I will have to keep these answers briefs as we wrote 30 means of escapes. 

I will probably do that after blogging all the material I have collected, I think that I have enough stuff to regularly post for months. 

So first I need to blog everything (this already require me to do some edition and additional writing to glue things together as the raw material I am working with is a collection of G+ posts and comments). After that I will have a good idea of the content and I will do a second round of edition to structure things a bit and to make everything more gameable. 

EDIT: well thinking of it, I guess that I could simply write a series of questions for the GM to help them define the situation that is building around the mean of escape. 

Campaign: Mothers of the Borderlands

I thought of revisiting my first blog post: a illustration of room #B12 of the B2 module Keep of the Borderlands.

For me, the most interesting thing in B2 are all of these "non combatants females" and their young, I often wondered what was their stories. Why not play them to find out?

"Orc losses cannot be replaced"

This detail gave me the idea of running a campaign about the survivors of the Chaos Caves.

Mothers of the Borderlands Campaign

Supported by the keep, adventurers raided the Caves of Chaos multiple times, the dust settle but the orcs tribe have been decimated, forgotten by the adventurers, the orcs females gather their young and try to rebuilt the tribe.

The players characters are the orcs females who survived these raids.

I would use Macchiato Monsters to run this campaign as the system is flexible and can easily be used to create different orc characters. But naturally any old school system could work.

Character creation (Macchiato Monsters) 

1) Roll your attributes but don't determine anything else. You start with the trait "orc".

2) Generate your family
You have 1d4-1 mates (you can add -1 or +1 if your prefer fewer or more mates)
(Roll 1d6 to determine their gender: 1-4 male, 5-6 female)

2A) If you have no mate chose one option or roll a d6

1. You took the blood oath and follow the path of the warrior. (start with a wound)  
2. You took a spirit as a mate and follow the path of the shaman. 
3. You did a crime and are shun for it, you follow the path of the outcast. 
4. You vowed to take no mate to follow the path of the witches. 
5. You consume the moist mother shrooms and follow the path of the gender change. 
6. Your mate died and you follow the mourning path of the wailing. 

3) Determine how many young you have. These young may be your natural or adopted children. If you have female mates, they gave birth to some of these young but you all consider them as your children.

Add +1 by mates (you may take a additional -1 or +1 if you want a smaller or bigger family)
You have:

• 1d6-2 daughters  
• 1d6-2 sons 

Young are 1d10-1 year old (0 year olds are d10 month old babies)

You also have  1d4-1 elderly parents. (Roll 1d6 to determine their gender: 1-3 male, 4-6 female) 

4) Roll who survived the raids.

• Adult males survived on a roll of 1 on a d6, survivors are wounded and incapacitated. 
• Adult females survived on a roll of 1-4 on a d6
• Young survived on a roll of 1-5 on a d6
• Elders survived on a roll of 1-2 on a d6, survivors are wounded and incapacitated.

Your surviving family is represented by a d6 risk die. When the risk die fizzle out, someone in your family is starving, sick, lost or troublesome. Reset the risk die to d6. You can step up your family risk die beyond d6 by taking care of them, providing them with: food, shelter, comfort and pride.

5) The tribe have been decimated, chose the path you will now follow (or roll a d6)
(If you already have a path, skip this step)

1. You will take the blood oath and follow the path of the warrior.  
2. You will take a spirit as a mate and follow they path of the shaman.
3. You will consume the moist mother shrooms and follow the path of the gender change. 
4. Your will mourn the deaths and follow path of the wailing. 
5. You will protect the tribe and follow the path of the guardian. 
6. You will take care of the young and follow the path of the mother. 

6) Generate your equipment with the Macchiato Monsters' tables. Your starting equipment represent what you salvaged after the big raid.

When you roll a piece of equipment determine who it belonged to...

1. my family or clan
2. a dead or wounded orc 
3. a adventurer 
4. a denizen of the caves 
5. no one, I found it while I was exploring area ... 
6. myself, I crafted it

The gm can ask you questions to get more details to craft plot or exploration hooks. 

7) Your path determine your character options, you start with your path as a second trait plus the option associated with your path. (These are your two starting character options)

• The warrior (take martial training, you are good with war and weapons) 
• The shaman (take magic training, you are good with spirits, bones and blessings)  
• The outcast (take specialist training, you are good at sneaking, tricks and traps) 
• The witches (take magic training, you are good with herbs, curses and the occult) 
• The change (add d6 to a stat of 10 or less, you are transitioning and you are good with mushrooms, drugs, poisons and transformations)  
• The wailing (take specialist training (wailing), you are good at mourning, remembering, raging and scaring others) 
• The guardian (take martial training, you are good with defenses, protecting and armors) 
• The mother (gain a hit die, you are good with healing, nurturing, teaching and organization) 

8) Make rolls to see if your character speak extra languages. Your character speak orc and the chaos tongue. The chaos tongue is very crude and using it often impose a disadvantage when dealing with other chaotic creatures.

1. Humans (common tongue) 
2. Lizardmen or Troglodyte 
3. Spider or Boar  
4. Kobold
5. Goblin
6. Hobgoblin
7. Bugbear
8. Gnoll
9. Troglodyte 
10. Ogre
11. Minotaur
12. Ghoul or Harpy 

9) Roll a event that happened during the last raid (d6) (these work like rumors or goals)

1. You lost something that you need to find back. 
2. You lost someone that you need to find back.   
3. You saw a opportunity to gain something. 
4. You found something that you must keep secret. 
5. Someone helped you, could they help you again? 
6. You saw something that worry you. 

The gm can ask you questions to get more details to craft rumors.

10) Players should write goals about their tribe, their family, their path and the caves.  

Running the Campaign

The Caves of Chaos have been hit hard by adventurers from the keep, those who are still alive are those non combatants that the adventurers ignored. Now that most of the combatants are dead, the survivors must reorganize themselves to survive.

Run the B2 Module as a sandbox, present the caves as a place that have been hit by a disaster. Monsters are protective and desperate, this may open doors to new alliances.

You can start play in room C15.

• Monsters survived the adventurers raids on a roll of 1 up to their HD on a d6. 
• Combatant humanoids only survived on a roll of 1 on a d6. 
• Non combatants humanoids survived on a roll of 1-4 on a d6. 
• Neutral creatures or NPCs survived on a roll of 1-3 on a d6. 
• You may also decide that a important or interesting creature is severely wounded and can be nurtured back to health with assistance. 
• Treasures have not been looted on a roll of 1-2 on a d6. 
• Traps are still activated on a roll of 1-2 on a d6, activated traps contain the corpse of a adventurer on a roll of 1-3 on a d6.   

The keep consider the caves as being under control now, they moved their attention to other issues. Don't trigger a other raid on the caves unless the keep notice something worrying or worthy of their attention.

Present the chaos cult as a cursed gift, gaining it favor bring power but it will also corrupt the tribe and endanger the young. Deciding to follow the cult or to abandon it should be a major theme.

Present the chaotic humanoids as brutal and territorial but also give them things that they respect and care about. They are more like people with a lot of issues than evil ones. Show that they have a lot of resentments toward humankind and how chaos is feeding on these wounds.

Use random encounters as troubles that need to be deal with. Like if they encounter a carrion crawler maybe this is the sign of a carrion crawler infestation coming up, encountering other humanoids or NPC may be signs of all kind of troubles.

Presentation of my Doodles City zine

I crafted a experimental zine, each copy of the zine represent a city block. Each layer have different descriptors that you can select to make each block unique. You can open the zine on the side to gain access to random encounters.

1) Download the files.
2) Print in letter format with no margins (full page).
3) Print the second page on the verso.
4) Fold in 8
5) Cut the inside slit
6) Fold and assemble the zine.

Chromatic Soup 03: Elven-Troll Ancestral Portals

Contributions: Jeremy Duncan, Dan D, Christopher Potter, Evlyn M

As the cosmic alignments vanished, trolls and elven people reunited and traveled together toward the astral plains. They've had to pass through several ancient battlefields, and have learned a great deal of hidden lore about each one, thanks to the trolls' necromantic abilities, with the elves acting in their traditional role as mediators and go-betweens. This includes the sites of treasure caches, where long-dead soldiers had stashed the plunder of their campaigns, never to dig it up again and reclaim it.

The unlikely alliance between ancient enemies was formed through wide-scale acts of reparations and forgiveness by both sides. After long travel on the astral road, the two peoples have intermingled more than any could have expected: trolls are called "auntie" and "uncle" by elf children. The Council of Longhouses has returned centuries of stolen bones and grave goods to the Muckmoot. It is not uncommon to see families opening their tents to members of the other species.

In the face of the Sunset of the World, it is reason to hope.

Word of their abilities has spread, so that desperate travelers will come from far and wide bearing the remains of their restless ancestors. They hope that someone in the caravan can make contact with these ghosts in order to resolve unfinished business, centuries-old disputes, feuds, etc. This has brought the caravan a great deal of unexpected wealth, along with increased scrutiny. Gifts of food and drink are consumed quickly, but the material gifts are slowing the caravan down and attracting the attention of local bandits.

Troll and elf wagons started off with extremely distinct looks-- the trolls tending mushroom houses on the backs of giant spiders, with spores from the fungi fruiting inside the spider's brains and allowing for some rudimentary control by trained Troll wagoneers.

Elf wagons look like wooden towers with colorful tents hanging off of them, like mountain climbers on a cliff-face. They are pulled by creatures that look like a cross between zebra and goat. They also had these delicate wooden Strandbeest things, only load-bearing and requiring 1-4 elves to steer, working in shifts.

Hybrid designs are starting to merge, intact spiders yoked to strandbeests, mushroom domes clinging to moving wooden slats.

These all surround the caravan's main wagon, a 16-wheeled longhouse.

The opening of the ancestral gates
To travel to the astral plains elves and trolls had to unite their efforts to open their ancestral astral gates. The trolls performed an exhausting ritual to open the gate (and awaken the gatekeepers in the process). This effort left most of the trolls unconscious from the effort. The elves were then left with the task of negotiating for passage with the awakened gatekeepers, citing ancient precedent and even introducing new arguments. The gatekeepers were forced to concede, but at a cost. Four living sacrifices were required for passage. This was non-negotiable...

The gatekeepers look like elven-trolls or maybe trollish-elves as once both people were one.

Their common ancestors are now extinct as a civilization. Only certain individuals held in ritual stasis (like the gatekeepers) still exist on the material plane. There are rumored to be a few scattered diaspora communities where they do their best to recreate their civilization at its imagined height, but they function more like a cargo cult than anything. There are also "orphans" making their way as astral vagabonds, but most of them have no idea of their origins. In any case, they can barely viably reproduce. Some of their number are convinced that this is all for the best, and that their essence lives on in their "seed races" while others refuse to accept the situation and seek for some other means to perpetuate themselves in defiance of time and biology.

A child of the two races has been produced, and named Root. They are expected to become the Messiah of a new race, all actions are watched closely and seen as auguries, Troll shaman read the stools, Elf seers divine the flutter of eyelids. Others may follow, united as the caravan is on the path what will occur when the destination is reached, Root may become conflicted. 

Divine Transition (in a petty pantheon)

Because of my family issues with my transition I thought, what if a divinity in a classic family based pantheon came out as trans? I doubt that I would use this myself in a campaign but there is no harm in brainstorming just for the fun of it.

Lets say that we have a classic Greek or Norse pantheon with a strong family structure and a lot of petty, jealous and controlling divinities who have the habit of intruding into other people's business...
While these gods could easily shapeshift, most of them maintained a fixed gender identity to maintain family ties as they were know as the son or daughter of... or the wife or husband of... 

Here are some possible consequences of a divine transition in these circumstances: 

• Transition could be simple as gods can easily shapeshift. 
• But maybe that how their follower perceive them shape their appearance on the mortal plane. 
• Maybe the trans divinity will make some coming outs to their followers through different divine means. 
• Maybe the trans divinity will go in hiding to transition and appear to have abandoned their followers (some heroes will have to undertake a quest to check on them). 
• Maybe the deity will accomplish new divine feats while undertaking a quest to transition. 
• Maybe their dysphoria will spawn monsters, cursed items or calamities. 
• Maybe their gender euphoria will spawn new servitors, artifacts and miracles. 
• Maybe their transition will influence their sphere of influence. 
• Maybe their transition will influence the elements they rule over. 
• Maybe their transition will reshape their spirit servitors. 
• Maybe they will lose the support of some allies while old adversaries will welcome their new identity. 
• Their divine parents could cast them out in the mortal world or even imprison them in the underworld. 
• Strife could emerge between accepting and non accepting divine parents. 
• Their non accepting divine parent could craft a simulacrum of their old identity to replace them. 
• The divine parents could continue to maintain their parent-children relationship but in a very passive-aggressive way, you know by hindering their heroes or pestering their followers with monsters and calamities. 
• Splinter cults could emerge between those who try to preserve the old identity of their divinity and those who embrace the new one. 
• Mortal trans people could seek out the divinity to gain their support. 
• Mortal social order could change or the divine transition could create a conservative backlash. 
• Some minor deities will dare to come out too... 

Now imagine that a divinity that his currently very relevant to what is currently happening in the mortal world transition. How all of these consequences will impact the current situation? 

Like let say that the god of war transition during a major conflict between nations, or that people depend on a divinity to protect them against undeads or other kinds of menaces. Or that a divinity that rule over a very gendered institution or occupation transition. There could be all sort of interesting consequences that bleed over into the mortal world.

Chromatic Soup 03: more means of escape 2

Contributions by Robbert Raets, Tore Nielsen and Evlyn M

Orkish Cosmic Cans Opener 

There is rumors about nomadic orcs who have their own mobile cannery and a large supply of tinned goods.

Hobos say they have large signs on the cart holding the cannery - "BUTCHA ELKZ FURST!" or "NO WUN LIEKS TEH FLAVER OV ORK FINGAZ!" and that a orc engineer weaponized the thing by figuring out that the cannery can produce bio-grenades if you feed it regenerating bits of troll and pieces of other creatures encountered in the astral plains.

Orc's engineers and shamans crafted together a gigantic experimental cans opener that can cut a unstable rift into the astral plains or through pocket words.

Now that alignments are gone, there is also weird rumors about vegan orcs who made their cannery only with vegetables.


Contributions by Richie Cyngler

Thaumaturgic Community Displacement 

New Spell: Community Lifeboat
Level (if you need it): 1
Range: one community (interpret liberally)
Duration: permanent (well as permanent as anything is in the fictoverse)
Spell components: one dying world
School: alchemy

The wizard harnesses the energy of a dying world to teleport her entire community to the astral plains and from there to random pocket worlds!

Roll to determine some characteristics of these pocket world.
dX
0.0 Mumbleverse. Error in the formulae! Your entire community has been transplanted! But as the language of another species on another world. Most people are words, some sentences, the lucky few are phrases or punctuation. This would be difficult to explain to the people... except you're made of language.
1.0 Oops 2D low rez. Its pretty cool here. There's 16 whole colours, if you're lucky. You can travel left, right, up or down (wasd). This place is full of cool adventures. "Look North".
2.0 Outwardly appears similar to the old world, but eerily so. Everything is so similar that there has to be a sinister conspiracy going on. Of course there is. Spoiler alert: it's mostly the male of the majority native species, they're afraid of basically everything particularly their own nature, which of course manifests as a violent need to subjugate others.
4.0 Functionally very similar to the old world. Similar political and economic structures, technologies (magical and otherwise), ethical spectrum, even physical properties, it might even be better! Yeah the people have blue skin, whatevs.


Contributions by Paul C

The Waybringers' Path

The Goddess of Wayfarers had prepared for the Sunset, for she knew that along the journey to safety would be fiends waiting to destroy the caravans. Her last boon before her departure was to infuse bowls with her ichor and give them to her ordained followers.

Those that consumed this ichor soup were driven to a frenzy, they gained a great and terrible power and teared astral rifts into reality with their bare hands.

They are now unwavering in their devotion to finding (and clearing, if necessary) the best path for their caravan. They are known as Waybringers, and others think of them as incredibly helpful but also ferociously violent.

Waybringers character class

As Fighter except:

• Experience requirements as Dwarf (2,200 for second level, and so on).
• Bump up the Hit Die of the Fighter by one degree in your chosen rule set.
• No armour or shields, only travelling clothes and a hood or hat, for the Waybringer instinctively seeks to emulate the Goddess. Despite this, your quasi-divine nature gives you a natural AC of 6, with a +1 bonus every 3 levels after the first.
• The Waybringer understands that there are things lurking in the dark corners of the planes that are immune to the bite of steel. Therefore, they will fight them on equal terms: with their bare hands! Unarmed attacks do 1d8 damage, increasing in die size at levels 5 and 9, and you gain a +2 bonus to grappling. You also ignore any monster's immunity to non-magic weaponry.
• They are also skilled in bushcraft, with a 3-6 chance of success on 1d6. This increases to 2-6 at 6th level.