This game features a small amount of "perma-death". Each player is allowed to create one Apprentice character, ever. If an Apprentice is killed or otherwise lost, from that point on, the player can only create Mercenary characters. This status is permanent, and carried across between sessions, between campaigns, forever. One player, one Apprentice, never another.
Players don't need to use their single Apprentice for the first character they make.
Apprentice
The discovery and attainment of spells is a costly, difficult and dangerous endeavour. The rewards still out-weigh the risks! Power to rival the gods, embedded in one's own mind, a crystalline weapon of thought with which to remake the world...
So, why then, would a Wizard go to all that trouble, to teach a spell to an Apprentice? Why put all that effort, to create a glorified errand-runner and potential future rival?
To find out, one need only ask the previous Apprentice.
Oh wait, you can't.
- Blasted to smithereens
- Melted by own bodily fluids
- Indistinct gurgling from the flesh mound
- Catapulted into sun
- Crumbled to dust
- Aged 100 years
- Vomited up a clone, fought to death
- Tree
- Bones escaped
- Blood-into-cheese
- Endless sleep
- Wolves
- Thinks they are a teapot
- Bees
- Shrunk to size of a mouse, found by cat (very tiny closed-coffin funeral)
- Pondered too hard, trapped in orb
- Flattened
- Stuck in time-loop
- Seems fine, Wizard just shakes head sadly
- Wizard died, Apprentice became Wizard, won't say what happened
Once a Wizard has an Apprentice though, there's usually an errand to send them on.
- Fetch my good robes from my previous tower. No, there's no reason I'm not going to get them myself.
- Take this weird creature in a jar and find some way to kill it.
- Oh, that old thing? I borrowed it off a colleague. Some time ago. You should go give it back.
- Just find some way to make yourself useful, I don't know.
- Bread, milk, dragon blood, eggs.
- Get out of here, I can't stand the sight of you... begone!
Apprentices start with:
- 1 spell, and any required components
- 5 useful items
- 1 backpack (to put items in)
- Boots
- No money
- 2 arms
- 2 legs (to put the boots on)
- 1 soul, completely their own, free of any sins
Mercenary
What's the difference between a Farmer, a Soldier, a Mercenary and a Bandit?
A Soldier is a Farmer after the harvest fails.
A Mercenary is a Soldier that hasn't been paid.
A Bandit is a Mercenary that still hasn't been paid...
Mercenaries start with:
- 1 weapon of choice
- 5 useful items
- 1 shield, or another useful item
- 1 backpack
- Boots
- No money
- 2 arms
- 2 legs
- 1 soul, completely their own, free of any (major) sins
When rolling on the following tables, use any dice size from d4 to d30. Larger results may be a little weirder than the lower entries.
Useful Items
A new character knows how to use every Useful Item they start out with.
- Dagger
- Rope
- Lantern
- Shovel
- Crowbar
- Lockpicks
- Axe
- Bucket
- Fishing rod
- Hammer and nails
- Bandages
- Bomb
- Spear
- Grapple-hook
- Glowing crystal
- Towel
- Pickaxe
- Sewing kit
- Pliers and wire
- Potion
- Beartrap
- Telescope
- Magnifying glass
- Clock
- Lodestone
- Mortar and pestle
- Lute
- Mirror
- Paper, quill, ink
- Alchemist's tape
Spells
If you know a spell, you can always cast it. Always. However, there are likely to be unfortunate side-effects to the spell if you are:
Distracted, drunk, drugged, sleepy, wrestling, sick, poisoned, taking cover, bleeding, engaged in a battle of puissance with an enemy wizard, on fire, swimming, hand-cuffed, upside-down, inside-out, or dead.
Form
- Create [Material]
- Shape [Material]
- Speak with [Material]
- Enchant [Material]
- [Material] Blast
- Animate [Material]
- Blessing of [Material]
- Curse of [Material]
- [Material] Form
- Transmute [Material] to [Material]
- Summon Creature of [Material] and [Material]
- Destroy [Material]
- Conjure [Material]
- Command [Material]
- [Material] Divination
- Extract [Material]
- Weapon of [Material]
- Wall of [Material]
- Sphere of [Material]
- [Material] Shield
- Teleport [Material]
- Eye of [Material]
- Plague of [Material]
- Song of [Material] and [Material]
- Cloud of [Material]
- [Material] Fist
- Endless [Material]
- [Material] Steed
- Sanctum of [Material]
- [Material] Portal
Material
- Fire
- Water
- Earth
- Air
- Metal
- Plant
- Light
- Shadow
- Flesh
- Bone
- Blood
- Poison
- Lightning
- Ice
- Glass
- Void
- Dream
- Thought
- Filth
- Soul
- Bug
- Beast
- Oil
- Hair
- Music
- Thunder
- Ink
- Paper
- Treasure
- Magic
Eventually I'll expand those three lists from d30 to d100. Eventually...
ReplyDeleteThis would be nice (but please don't pressure yourself)
DeleteThat is a very interesting take on permadeath that I am quite tempted to try out. It might enforce a proper low magic feel that is often hard to achieve, because players in my experience love doing magic. :D
ReplyDeleteWas it perchance inspired by Ars Magica?