Transforming one of my favorite bands into a spell Patron/Encounter

*Content Warning: Suicide, Melancholy*

Velho is one of the greatest bands you (probably) never heard. They're a Brazillian Black Metal band that sings about occultism, misanthropy and satanism and the best part, it's all in Portuguese!

Give them a Listen

But this here isn't a blog about bands from my local scene, and I've had this idea in the back of my mind since I read Esoteric Enterprises. For those that haven't had the chance of taking a look at this game Instead of a cleric class you can Play as a mystic, who's basically a cultist for a minor/occult being from saints to the blackness of space. On top of that the system for creation new patrons is fairly simple and interesting. Basically you have a list of 8 spells, the first one is always the same and you later unlock random spells from the list per level.

In this article I'll create a new patron that can be added to your games as well as some spells based on the bands' lyrics.

New Patron: O Velho na Soleira (The Old man on the porch)
The Lord of decrepitude and dementia. The creaking floorboards discolored by dust and lost time. You hear his voice as the rambling of the mad war veteran whose taken to begging on the streets. You can find his messages scribed in the slurry behind the family diner that has fallen to disrepair. He is the rage of the old man whose body can't help but buck under the weight of the years while his mind is still sharp. The despair that doesn't allow you to get of bed before noon. The Old man is there, his dead skin dry and dusty, his hair ever growing the mirror that reminds us all that time is the apex predator and time itself will be devoured by entropy.

Walk to his porch, kneel by his feet and listen to what he whispers.

Spells:

1. Mais um ano esfria (Another year gets colder)
Range: Touch
Duration: forever
When the target is touched he must save vs. Spells or age 1d6 years/caster level. usually when a character ages he gets to take a save and see if they mitigate attribute loss, when targeted by this spell count those saves as failures or critical failures if your system uses them. This spell can also be cast against inanimate and non-living objects.

2. Vida Longa ao Primitivo (long live the primitve)
R: Touch
D: 1 turn/ caster level
Many spells are created to "uplift" creatures, this one throws the target into the opposite end of this spectrum. For the duration of the spell the target becomes a bestial version of themselves, ruled by desire filtered by rage for everything that reminds them that this is not what they are. They now attack as a fighter of the same level while also adding their strength modifier and level to their damage and attack rolls. After the spell is done the target is usually taken over by fits of sobbing and shivering as they are still able to remember all that they have done and said while under the old man's grasp.

3. Decrepitude e Sabedoria  (Decrepitude and knowledge)
R: Caster
D: 1 turn/Caster level
The caster becomes a Wretched little old thing. Their body twists into a shape so pathetic that they are usually ignored by those around them (add their level to their stealth score, but their movement becomes the slowest possible.) but with age also comes Wisdom. While under this spell they gain a bonus to any test they'd make to gleam forbidden/forgotten knowledge  about their current location.

4. Uma trilha sem pegadas (Unmarked Trail)
R: 20 feet
D: 1 day/ Level
Grind the bones of an undead creature and spread it while walking through a secondary path (so no main roads or avenues) those under the spell's radius won't leave tracks until the spell wears off.

5. Perto dos portais da loucura  (Near the gates of madness)
R: 30 feet
D: Instant
Take an old key that you've forgotten what it opens and take it to any surface, there will be a lock there. Turn the key and now all that are inside the spell's area of effect will see in the edge of their sight and hear at the edge of their hearing the things that lie beyond the threshold of sanity. All Save Vs. Magic every round if failed the character is stunned and can't make sense of what is happening around them fro the duration of the round. critical failure the character goes stark-raving mad as they manage to see that which lies beyond. Success the character may act and have a bonus to their rolls as they can glean insight from the maddening whispers. A critical success the character may ask a Question to the mad choir. after one character is able to ask a question the madness will not answer any other question with coherence. The spell lasts while the key is held by the caster.

6. Funeral Magiko (Magick Funeral)
R: Touch
D: Instant
This spell must be cast on a fresh corpse or on someone who's about to die. After a proper burial ritual that body is physically taken to hell. It is a way of bringing someone back to life, but they must find a way out of hell. If the target had sold their soul o a Demon/Devil the caster just made a powerful enemy. Targets to this spell need at least their torso and head intact, the rest of the body can be found after the plunge into hell as the extremities don't hold much of the soul.

7. Coma Induzido (Induced Coma)
R: Caster or Touch
D: 1 week/ Level
When cast the target fall into a deep and dreamless coma, they don't require food and also minimal air. If not thoroughly inspected they seem to be dead. Unless dispelled the coma only ends after the spell's duration is over.

8. Sob o maldito verão do Sul  (Under the Damned Summer of the South)
R: 100 feet
D: 1 round / Level + level
the target must save vs. breath weapon every round as they are taken over by a dank and creeping heat. If they fail their save every round is spent getting rid of their layers of clothing and equipment, characters in plate always fail their first save. After getting naked, if the spell is still going on the characters are overcome in grief and melancholy as they are powerless against the heat, they keep on saving or else they begin to strip their bodies to the bone.

Notes/ Thoughts:

-If you are using a miscast table for your magic system members of this cult age the amount rolled on the dice as well as the miscast.

-These are the spells that the old man teach to those that come to him, characters should be able to use more spells from other sources so to allow for interesting combinations

-Always remember to check with your players if they are okay with you tackling themes of mental illness in your games.

-More things on the old man coming soon...

Ramblings on Hitpoints and thinking the other atributes of the character sheet as modifiers

"Combat is messy."
                      -James Young, 2018


After reading the linked article I got myself thinking on combat, more importantly: Hitpoints.
When I run my games I go to the "Don't get hit points" line of thinking, that is: getting to zero HP doesn't mean death, uncounciouness or whatever, it means your character has become open to FUN and JOY.

See? Character development!

Source: LotFP

So HP ends up being an abstraction of your character's readiness in combat, how they react and deal with the chaos of violence, in other words HP is a measure of the character's attetion/adrenaline/fight-or-flight response. If so, then why only the CON modifier is added to your total hitpoints?

Combat is a messy ordeal, so are other adventuring hazards and they change your character's reactions to the world. That's why catching a breather is so vital and also that's why PC's are willing to break out a fire and eat something in the middle of an expedition to some forgotten hole. They need to get their shit together. And ny getting their shit together I mean their whole shit not only their physical hardiness.


Enough rambling, on with the crunch:
The system:

When rolling your HP instead of adding only your CON modifier add ALL your abilities modifiers and then roll the character's HD.
Now the hit points act as a clearer translation of the character's abilities, maybe the fighter is a hardy fellow and has litle problem chugging massives quantities of booze and even some poisons, but the light upstairs is a little dim and he ends up not being so good at getting out of harm's way. Meanwhile the scrawny magic-user has a domeneering presence which makes her enemies flinch ever so sightly when aiming at her, and so on and so forth.

Bonus XP for killing monsters and getting dressed with their skin so you can frighten their young

I Love the money=XP system usually used in OSR games I also love systems like carousing, as they give the right flavour I tend to go for in my games: The characters aren't heroes, they are mostly the brigands we get to see the whole story unfold. And as such I think these stories should add mechanically to the character's growth as well as being a system that facilitates more play. But I hate just giving out XP after the players just kill something.

You mean your players don't keep the ears of the elves they kill?

Source: LotFP

"So, you said you killed the beast of Braun Manor? Can ya prove it?"

I like to assume that when my players are carousing they are probabbly sharing the tales of their past adventures with the local scum, and that's part of the abstraction that the money they are spending in their revelry is adding to their experience. They are showing off and paintign themselves as better than they really are, that's why next time they venture out they get to hire better suited people for the job.

But boasting and bragging can only get you so far, maybe the local scum will want you to prove that you really felled the dragon that was pestering the farmers down south, and those scars aren't cutting it.

So what will it be mr. adventurer?

You belive that the orcs are dead now?

Source: RDR2

The system itself or "I am a murderhobo, you can tell me by the way I walk"

Killing a monster and taking a trophy from the kill will net you HDx25XP, maybe more if your DM feels like it. Thing is, this XP is only with you if you are carring the trophy in a way that it's showing it off. And if someone else decides that fashion statement would be better suited to them, well the regular brigands just gained a form of Level Drain. 

But Wait there's more!

Everybody back in town knew the random schumck that was walking around town wearing the orc cheiftan's face as mask, and word will certainly get around, but now, now some other random schumck is walking around with the orc's head and people around other parts don't know your face, they just know your name and your quirky sense of style and that's great for the assassin that just stole your "identity" as he can frame you for his next crime.  And now your players have all the more insentive to go after whoever stole their trophy.

Maybe instead of just bailing out the badly payed and mistreated hirelings steal the giant's head that the party was going to gift the baron to try and get some favours
Also, you added a element of inventory management to XP.

I'd also give them a bonus/penalty on reaction rolls based on what treasure they lug around. Other Orcs could now be more hesitant to attack since you killed that famous chieftain.
Maybe it's now easier to hire hireligns in the region, since you are the one responsible fro killing the beast that was attackign the farmes/caravans.

Scaling things up or "the manticore pelt rug really tied the room together"

Source: Oglaf (NSFW)

Sooner or later your Players will find someplace to call home, It could be a keep, a manor, a ship or even tehir very own circus caraven. Maybe they'll need a place to put down all those goblin heads as showing off the same five old rotten heads everywhere they go is getting pretty old, or caring around a hydra's head is a little impratical. They should have a place to keep their trophies relatively safe. They should have a trophy room.

Source: Bizarro

Basically give them some place to store their trophies, make them carry around that giant piece of beast while in a weakened state and after they arrive in town let them celebrate their victory and add the XP for the kill after it is paraded around and stored back home. Going to the dungeon is a logistics challenge, clearing it and coming back are also part of this challange and now, you can add another layer to it as well as giving your players some more presence in the world.