Llamalackelkloulothllimptishavakothvoutxikliklalpvanipvan, The Devourer




Deity Name:
Llamalackelkloulothllimptishavakothvoutxikliklalpvanipvan
[Lama-lak-elk-loo-loth-limp-tish-ava-koth-vout-zik-lik-lal-p-van-ey-p-van]

Titles, Aliases:
The Cycle, The Devourer, The Wheel

Domains (Purviews):
Rebirth, natural order

Image or Symbol:
A specially adapted (and highly poisonous) white laklishi lotus which found only in the great swamp. Travelling clerics normally make do with a replica carved from white wood or bone.

Colour:
White

Special Spells:
Last Meal – level 2 cleric spell.

The cleric consumes the sensory organs of a recently dead humanoid and is able to commune with their soul from within the belly of The Devourer. After eating an organ they enter a trance and see, hear or smell (if eyes, ears or nose are eaten) whatever the body experience in the last 30 seconds before their death. If the tongue is eaten then they experience taste and speak any last words the body may have spoken. Each organ requires one use of the spell. Multiple uses can be made but each must be made separately

Alternatively the cleric can eat the brain giving them full access to the subject's senses (but not memories) at the time of their death. However, if the body died a violent death the cleric will experience this and must make a save against magic or suffer half the damage the body took in their final 30 seconds. They also have a 1 in 100 chance of developing Kuru within 1d4 days, causing uncontrollable tremors and conveying a permanent -1 dexterity modifier (Kuru is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and thus can accumulate with multiple “doses” and cannot be cured with the cure disease spell).

Forbidden Spells:
Raising the dead is considered an abomination as it steals souls from the devourer.  Spells that disintegrate the victim leaving no body to eat are frowned upon.

Rituals:
Eating the flesh of the dead, especially humans. If a body is cremated or otherwise disposed of without being eaten, their soul is destroyed. The whole body need not be eaten, an appropriate organ is normally enough.

Offerings:
Fertile laklishi lotus bulbs are considered a great gift, as would planting such bulbs in new habitats.

Special Clerical Requirements:
Destroyed souls are considered a waste (as no more can be created) but if someone dies by magical or otherworldly means and are not eaten, then their soul is trapped and the devourer will be unable to create the next age. It is the role of clerics to destroy such monsters and free the souls they have trapped.

Taboos:
Killing someone purely in order to eat them is deeply heretical.

Enemies:
Most civilized people find cannibalism an affront, and clerics of The Cycle often face prejudice. Thankfully they are almost unknown outside their swamp so most common folk would just consider them shamanic savages.

Physical Description:
Doesn't physically manifest but any bog or bayou could be considered its “body” by believers.

Attributes on scale of 1-20
Strictness : 12
Jealousy : 2
Revelations : 4
Organization : 4
Wealth: 5 The land of the great swamp is effectively controlled by the clergy as is all its natural resources. However agriculture is difficult and mining impossible. 
Popularity: 20 in the great swamp, 1 outside.

Holy city and places:
The great swamp, but any place heavy with decomposition such as sewers, peat bogs etc. can serve as holy places.

Potential Afterlife(s):
When a body dies its soul is fed to the devourer. This age ends when all souls have been eaten, at which point the devourer will burst releasing all the souls again in a new age (with a new devourer at its centre). Most ages last approximately 100,000 years and this is 138,000th age.


Notes: the people of the cycle have a low level of technology but a highly developed and connected society. Think somewhere between Australian aborigines and pre-Columbian mexica (aztecs). They inhabit a large foetid swamp to the south of civilized lands which has protected them from much outside influence.
Albinos are associated with the lotus and are often raised in the priesthood.



(Another god from a player, the deathproof Laklishilakpvanipvan AKA Alex)

The Doctrine of the Peach


Deity Name: Noam

Pantheon: N/A

Titles, Aliases: Velum, The Great Peach, The Stricken Pruner, Derrith-Non.

Image or Symbol: A tapestry of a fruiting peach tree or simply a peach

Church Name: The Doctrine

Domains: Human Endeavors: Protector of our People and Honor/Justice/Vengeance

Colour: Green, Brown, and White

Special Spells: None

Forbidden Spells: Magic is generally frowned upon, but spells that change the nature of a being or summon an unnatural creature are outright forbidden.

Rituals: The planting of peach trees dedicated to Noam is the only ritual useful to someone outside the clergy.  This is done by planting a peach pit and covering it with the ashes of a slain creature deemed to be a threat (and all fantastical creatures/beings are deemed to be threats).  All other rituals are performed solely by the clergy of The Doctrine and only inside the Temple of Noam.

Offerings: Offerings of peaches to the Temple of Noam are common place.  For those who are able (mainly Zealots of Noam) the offering of the ash of fantastical creatures is preferred.

Special Clerical Requirements: N/A

Physical Description: Noam has never been depicted or manifested. He is symbolically represented by peaches in religious art.

Taboos: Summoning, aiding fantastic beings/creatures, the consumption of fantastic creatures

Notes:
The Holy Trim leads The Doctrine and is usually the only one Noam will speak to.  The Holy Trim also rules Borah as priest-king.  The Doctrine is split into two halves: the clergy and temple warriors.  Both follow the same naming scheme and Holy Trims have come from both lines.  After the Holy Trim in order of importance are Arch Laces, Laces, Threads, and Strands.  Clergy serve the needs of the Temple of Noam inside Borah and the temple warriors guard the temple, act as Borah’s military, and certain warriors, known as Zealots of Noam, actively roam the land and seek out those who would harm The Doctrine and its people and destroy them.

Enemies: Any sort of fantastical creature regardless of its intentions, anyone who could potentially threaten The Doctrine or its people

Attributes on scale of 1-10
Strictness : Largely depends on the current Holy Trim of The Doctrine.  Typically ranges from 7 to 10
Jealousy : 10, there is only the Peach
Revelations : Again, this depends on the current Holy Trim.  5 would be a safe average.
Organization : 8
Wealth: ? As wealthy as the next city state.
Popularity: Within the city state of Borah, 10.  Outside the city state, 1.

Holy city and places: The city of Borah is the holy city of The Doctrine and the temple there, the Temple of Noam, is the only holy place.

Potential Afterlife(s): While the followers of The Doctrine do believe in an afterlife, it is a vague concept to them and rarely discussed.



(This is mostly the creation of one of our players on the god template found www.rolang.com)

Shields and Light

Shields should be more interesting. Shields weren't popular for centuries because they gave +1 AC.

+1AC is boring.


  • You can sacrifice your shield to avoid the damage of one hit that could conceivably be blocked.
  • You can try to sacrifice your shield to avoid all damage. 1 in 6 chance to block all damage, either way your shield breaks.
  • Force your opponent to roll to hit again, 3 in 6 chance your shield breaks and you still get hurt.
  • Force your opponent to re-roll damage. 3 in 6 chance it breaks.
  • Sacrifice your shield to re-roll incoming damage. Capped at the previous total.
  • Your shield doesn't give you an AC bonus, it has HP (4/6/8 small/med/large) and you can choose to put some damage on it but it breaks if it goes over (HP can be kept secret from players)
  • Shields don't give an AC bonus, they reduce damage by 1/2/3 against shots it could block.

Light sources are a nuisance to track as in-game time. Players find it tedious, the GM has enough to think about.

  • Light has a "fuel" rating (torch 6/ candle 8/ lantern 12). Reduce this by 1d4 every room/encounter/when you remember. Don't let the players know how much they have left.
  • Light as literal time. If a torch lasts an hour, it lasts an hour of game time. A 4 hour session would need 4 torches.
  • Every time you think "those lights have been up for a while" roll every encounter from then on. 3/2/1 in 6 chance they run out.
  • D10 plus the number of encounters. 10/12/18+ the lights go out. 
  • Every dungeon has "murk" rating 1- 20, 1 being insane and 20 being lame. When you feel like being a bastard roll the area's murk like a normal save throw. Torches go out on the first failed save, candles 2, lanterns 4.



Anyone have any other ideas?