Saturday, June 15, 2024

Consequence

Monster and Knight - Angelina Zhogina

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.

  1. Blasted to smithereens
  2. Melted by own bodily fluids
  3. Indistinct gurgling from the flesh mound
  4. Catapulted into sun
  5. Crumbled to dust
  6. Aged 100 years
  7. Vomited up a clone, fought to death
  8. Tree
  9. Bones escaped
  10. Blood-into-cheese
  11. Endless sleep
  12. Wolves
  13. Thinks they are a teapot
  14. Bees
  15. Shrunk to size of a mouse, found by cat (very tiny closed-coffin funeral)
  16. Pondered too hard, trapped in orb
  17. Flattened
  18. Stuck in time-loop
  19. Seems fine, Wizard just shakes head sadly
  20. 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.

  1. Fetch my good robes from my previous tower. No, there's no reason I'm not going to get them myself.
  2. Take this weird creature in a jar and find some way to kill it.
  3. Oh, that old thing? I borrowed it off a colleague. Some time ago. You should go give it back.
  4. Just find some way to make yourself useful, I don't know.
  5. Bread, milk, dragon blood, eggs.
  6. 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.

  1. Dagger
  2. Rope
  3. Lantern
  4. Shovel
  5. Crowbar
  6. Lockpicks
  7. Axe
  8. Bucket
  9. Fishing rod
  10. Hammer and nails
  11. Bandages
  12. Bomb
  13. Spear
  14. Grapple-hook
  15. Glowing crystal
  16. Towel
  17. Pickaxe
  18. Sewing kit
  19. Pliers and wire
  20. Potion
  21. Beartrap
  22. Telescope
  23. Magnifying glass
  24. Clock
  25. Lodestone
  26. Mortar and pestle
  27. Lute
  28. Mirror
  29. Paper, quill, ink
  30. 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

  1. Create [Material]
  2. Shape [Material]
  3. Speak with [Material]
  4. Enchant [Material]
  5. [Material] Blast
  6. Animate [Material]
  7. Blessing of [Material]
  8. Curse of [Material]
  9. [Material] Form
  10. Transmute [Material] to [Material]
  11. Summon Creature of [Material] and [Material]
  12. Destroy [Material]
  13. Conjure [Material]
  14. Command [Material]
  15. [Material] Divination
  16. Extract [Material]
  17. Weapon of [Material]
  18. Wall of [Material]
  19. Sphere of [Material]
  20. [Material] Shield
  21. Teleport [Material]
  22. Eye of [Material]
  23. Plague of [Material]
  24. Song of [Material] and [Material]
  25. Cloud of [Material]
  26. [Material] Fist
  27. Endless [Material]
  28. [Material] Steed
  29. Sanctum of [Material]
  30. [Material] Portal

Material

  1. Fire
  2. Water
  3. Earth
  4. Air
  5. Metal
  6. Plant
  7. Light
  8. Shadow
  9. Flesh
  10. Bone
  11. Blood
  12. Poison
  13. Lightning
  14. Ice
  15. Glass
  16. Void
  17. Dream
  18. Thought
  19. Filth
  20. Soul
  21. Bug
  22. Beast
  23. Oil
  24. Hair
  25. Music
  26. Thunder
  27. Ink
  28. Paper
  29. Treasure
  30. Magic

3 comments:

  1. Eventually I'll expand those three lists from d30 to d100. Eventually...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This would be nice (but please don't pressure yourself)

      Delete
  2. That 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

    Was it perchance inspired by Ars Magica?

    ReplyDelete