This armour was built by the legendary artist General Yu, of magically-toughened glass. A masterpiece of craftsmanship, the armour protects the wearer only briefly, but lets them show their earnest intent and openness in diplomacy.
Glass Armour of General Yu Magic armour (heavy), very rare (requires attunement) This magic plate armour grants an AC of 18 until the wearer has been struck, after which they have an AC of only 13 + Dex modifier. While worn, the wearer has a +10 bonus on all Persuasion checks, and opponents have advantage on Insight checks to detect the wearer's intent. Also posted on Game Masters Stash on 30 January 2021. When you call out to the void in the dark of night, begging it to answer your desperate prayers, sometimes it answers...
A feat for Bloodlines & Black Magic, for NPCs who become damned eternally by the patron who will sponsor them. Chanel the Loathsome Beast [Feat] Those who gain this feat lose their free will, and act only as a mouthpiece for powers vaster than they could comprehend. Requirements: Must not be able to Pierce the Veil, or have any supernatural powers, and must implore the universe for aid, heedless of who answers. Benefit: A Goetic Spirit of some kind, known as the 'Patron' becomes "anchored" to the person who gains this feat, known as the 'Host'. The Patron becomes undetectable by most magical effects (detecting only as the Host), and grants the Host any supernatural resistances or immunities they have, including damage reduction, energy resistances, and spell resistance, if applicable. The Patron gains total control over the Host as if permanently Dominated, and is able to use any magical abilities they possess through the Hosts's body, as well as accessing the Host's memories and skills., as required. If viewed with True Seeing or a similar effect, the Patron may be viewed spectrally, hanging above the Host and pulsing. Orland Estates (A CR 7+ encounter for Bloodlines & Black Magic)
"You've heard of Orland Estates, right? That creepy Stepford suburgatory full of bottle-blonde soccer moms and investment bankers named Steve? Like, seriously... there are like six of them all named Steve. Creepy as hell, especially if you're not expected by the Homeowners' Association. They all, like... watch you as you drive past." It's true, Orland Estates is a creepy, manicured-lawn, regulation-model-cars, approved-paint-shades-only outer suburb. The spraytanned Lorna Jane-clad joggers and golfing-vest grilling dads watch in almost eerie silence as outsiders come through. They know the names of their delivery drivers. Their identically-blond children play with baseballs and gloves in the designated park area. Indeed, several of them are all named Steve, and wear matching earpiece headsets. For all of their creepy weirdness, though, they have jobs, they have interests, they have country club memberships and Frequent Flyer Miles. They're able to discuss news, current events, the local PTA, their favourite fairtrade organic blend at the local coffee house, and the best blend of Pilseners. But if anyone threatens them, the Steves and Steffis carefully bring people inside, and quietly, efficiently, tidily, murder whatever threatens them. You see, the suburb is inabited by no less than a dozen Doppelgangers, experienced in working together as a team, misdirection, and protecting their small, insular community. In any social situation, between their abilities to alter self and detect thoughts, and their willingness to share information between themselves, they are near-unstoppable. They're smart, organized, and absolutely ruthless in protecting their clutch. And they will straight-up ruin you. The Fresh Grave of Goodheart Gardens (a CR 5 encounter for Bloodlines & Black Magic)
"There's a grave in that cemetery, Goodheart Gardens, that's always fresh. I hear they've even cemented it over, but it's always just turned earth in the morning, with some flowers on top. But here's the weird bit... it's always got fresh flowers. Every single day." The Fresh Grave of Goodheart Gardens is a place of wierdness, one that's got a small Atlas Obscura entry and mentions on a local ghost tour pamphlet for disinterested hipsters. But the ghost tours don't even scrape the barrel of what's going on, and why Goodheart Gardens is visited by an assortment of oddballs and powerful people at the witching hour. The Gardens belong to a free spirit which has refused to pass on, a servant of the people who has moved on to looking after the dead. Those buried here are looked after, and at rest- like, properly at rest. They're looked after, and no-one dares bother them because of Poppa Daydream. Y'see, if you turn up at just the right time of night, you can meet Poppa Daydream, a huge, friendly, aged Hippie, wearing a tie-dyed t-shirt and bandanna, as well as faded denim shorts. He's happy to share a joint and a tall tale, and some words of advice about whatever personal issues someone has. Those who spend any amount of time with him get an overwhelming sense of just how good a guy he is- he cares, incredibly deeply, about social issues and injustice, about making an active difference in the life of everyone he touches. And now he's dead, he's got some other folks to take care of, too. If you'll promise to lay flowers for someone, say a little prayer and wish 'em well, he'll do you a solid and talk to the dead for you- bring you some closure, tell you some secrets, something you need. He watches carefully to see who people pick- just the closest grave, or someone meaningful, a kid, an old person, and he judges what people are doing. In life, Poppa Daydream was a 5th-level Spiritualist. Now he's dead, he's gained the Prana Ghost and Undead Lord templates, although he can't interact much with anything physical any more. He can speak with the dead of Goodheart Gardens, and he can ask pretty much anything of them that people need to know. He'll pass some of that on, as well as some tips- how to fix your car, or your love life, how to say sorry to your mom, or move on from that guy, or how to shake that cigarette habit (that's a nasty one, he says ruefully, and hard to kick). How you can use the Fresh Grave of Goodheart Gardens in your game: - Sometimes you need to find something out from someone who isn't alive any more. A contact might pass on some advice on how to find Poppa Daydream, and what to bring to get his help. - A Player Character who's down in the dumps for some reason might go looking for trouble in a graveyard, and find help from a very unlooked-for place. The Helldumpster (CR 9+ encounter for Bloodlines & Black Magic)
"Dude, you're gonna think I'm stupid, but have you heard of... the Helldumpster?" "The H-E-double-hockey-sticks DUMPSTER? What are you on about?" "No seriously, I saw it, it was, like, a big dumpster with "666" marked on it, and it's... like... hungry." "What are you even... is that why we're taking the long route 'round behind the Chinese restaurant?" "It's.... I'm so sorry... it's... it's hungry..." "Dude, what are you taAAAAAUGGHH" <gurgle, followed by chewing noises> -Taped conversation known as Exhibit 3, Trial 428.2019, The State vs. Harvey The Helldumpster is a curiosity, perhaps a creature from one of the Goetic Realms, possibly a throwback to a harsher time, possibly something forged by one of the Archons themselves, no-one entirely knows. What is known is that this dumpster is hungry, and if you see it, you need to bring it food- like, a body. Dead, or alive, it doesn't particularly care. Or it'll find you, somehow. The Helldumpster is some kind of urban legend, something a little unbelievable even in the Secret World. An eternally insatiable trash bin that follows people around, and demands to be fed? Who could possibly believe that that's a thing, now? The Helldumpster is a unique 21-Hit Die Mimic with some of the benefits of the Gluttonous and Implacable Stalker templates. Those who gaze upon it can feel its hunger within their mind, and its desire to be fed... and the threat to return for them if they don't follow through. It travels from city to city and place to place, preferring places with heavy population density. It picks different victims of opportunity, but favours those who could bring it good-quality food, tasty and munchable stuff. Those who flee or refuse to bring food often find the Helldumpster just (literally) around the corner- it's inescapable, and often lurches after them violently. Running away into public spaces might spare them, for a time. But the Helldumpster will return for them eventually. Decorating the shoreline, down a little from the university and in the kind of district you'll find arty coffee shops that serve them in three separate shot glasses, are a pair of tower buildings- aesthetically pleasing, unbranded, and filled with office spaces. They're known locally as the 'Cherkhan Towers', after the Indian-based development company which owns them, and each runs to 59 storeys high, with 7 levels of extensive underground parking. The upper 15 storeys, as well as the capping penthouses on both buildings, are still inhabited by Cherkhan Holdings, and run an enormous, world-wide stock trading business, making fine gains in the market.
The mysterious owner, Mamun Cherkhan, is a reclusive figure, rarely seen without a dozen bodyguards. He is a well-built, handsome figure in his early fifities, always wearing an impeccable suit worth more than most cars, a neatly-cut mustache and beard, and a confident and disarming smile. If a Western movie were made about him, they'd cast George Clooney. He is a mover and shaker, sponsoring community organizations, especially those to do with his native West Bengal, a proud disability advocate, and is well-known in the halls of power. Those who have the chance to observe him closely notice a disfigurement about his hands and he often transfers his cane to his left hand to awkwardly shake hands with new people he meets. He seems to be able to do no wrong in business, and often anticipates exactly what another is about to say, or offer. He is known for shrewd and impresive investments. Cherkhan's personal office takes up an entire room, glass on every side, and is filled with ancient relics- a suit of seventeenth-century Mughal period armour, a stand of tarnished but still keenly sharp kukri blades, paintings worth millions, hand-woven deep-pile rugs with intricate details. He is clearly a man who enjoys his level of prestige and power, and wants others to feel his presence. Cherkhan is also a villainous Rakshasa, an immortal and evil tiger-spirit, and has devoured no less than three of his own employees, and two poor individuals who happened to share an empty elevator with him, over the past five years, in addition to countless others who have crossed his path in a quiet alley or darkened street. He knows no bounds in his depravity, and exalts in employing others to clean up his villainy, thriving on their uncomfortability and guilt. He is truly a villain par excellence, and knows enough of the Secret World to avoid crossing the edicts of the Archons, too far. How you can use Mamun Cherkhan in your game: - As a CR 10 creature, Cherkhan makes an ideal BBEG-level villain for an O7 game- scheming, politically powerful, legally near-untouchable, and able to threaten high-level characters on his own. He can instigate a lot of plots without having to be personally involved, and as a creature with innate magical talents as well as an interest in the material world Should you wish for an NPC to be your campaign's villain without making them some sort of eldritch abomination, he'd do very nicely. - If you want to make your game a little morally compromising, having one or more of your PCs employed by Cherkhan Holdings makes a good way to bring them together- investigating a competitor, concealing some horror, or researching ancient secrets and seizing them before Cherkhan's rivals can reach them. As they come to realize more about the Secret World, they could start to realize something very uncomfortable about their employer. - Alternately, your players could have crossed paths with the wily Mamum Cherkhan in their backgrounds, uniting them against the mighty Tiger of West Bengal. Reaching a point where they could even confront him personally will be a quest worthy of legend, and likely to end in their unmarked graves. The Faded House is one of those creepy houses everyone has in their neighbourhood somewhere- that one where that guy killed his wife, that one where someone totally saw a dead guy through the window, that one that's been empty for years, and yet somehow the town council haven't gotten around to condemning it. Animals won't even go near the place, no matter how much you drag 'em. And everyone knows that means a place is evil!
And yet... And yet you feel like you should explore it. You feel drawn to this place. Even crossing that picket fence seems to feel a chill on your skin, no matter how many layers you wear. Colours bleach to almost black and white, and your breathing comes just a little faster, with a lump in your throat. Something doesn't want you here, and you've entered the Invisible World, out of step with mundane reality. Those who can Pierce the Veil can sense that the Faded House and its grounds have a strong supernatural aura, concentrated in the windows or whatever parts of the inside of the house can be glimpsed. They can also sense a strong feeling that the House itself is somehow aware of them, as well. While piercing the veil, normal colours and scents can be seen, but they fade again swiftly if someone stops concentrating. The House itself varies in layout- use whatever haunted house layout you can get your hands on. It doesn't always match up to the external dimensions of the building, either. The inside is always dim, and any light sources brought in are unreliable, dimmed, or even unable to function at all. The curtains are nearly always drawn, and the furnishings seem very old - dusty velvet-upholstered lounges, bentwood antique dining chairs, and ancient and heavy oaken doors. The inside of the house seems to drink up sound, leaving each room curiously isolated and heightening the sense of aloneness. The worst feeling seems to come from the attic, or the basement, or the secret room behind the wardrobe in the master room, or that dark stain on the floorboards in front of the fireplace in the ballroom. Piercing the Veil inside the house leads to an immediate sense of overwhelming gloom and a dread attention drawn to the observer, a feeling of lurking and immediately impending doom. Those who continue to concentrate draw the attention of animated shadows that seem to crawl across the floor, defying any natural light direction, and swarm the character (1d4+2 Lesser Shadows). Certain things within the house will give clues as to the identity of the house's owner- the diary of an angry stockbroker who just snapped one day, letters from a hateful dowager determined to choke the joy from her ungrateful descendants, hallucinations of a young mother who shook her little daughter just a shade too hard one day. Interacting with each of these hints is likely to conjure up resentful spirits - a Shadow and a number of Lesser Shadows, which will enact their rage on any creatures nearby. Finding the clues within the Faded House leads to grim understanding of what the master did, and why, then inexorably leads back to the place which has been found- the odd stain, the secret room, the attic staircase or basement door, and finally to the master of the house itself, an embittered spirit sustaining itself on hate and murdered victims, drained of all life energy. This is a Greater Shadow, which first calls up flickering lesser shadows to wear down its foes before descending upon them, to savour their last moments itself. Canny player characters might try to pull aside the curtains and weaken the creature with bright sunlight, reducing its Strength damage to 1d4 points per attack. This reduces its lethality, but still makes it a dangerous foe. With the master of the house's final death, the object anchoring it can be recovered and burnt- the stockbroker's account folder, the dowager's prized jewel necklace, the mother's baby blanket. This fire quickly spreads, even if the object is taken out into the grounds, and the house seems to shudder and spit fire from each of its orifices, quickly collapsing into a smoldering ruin. How you can use this in your game: - Much like one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, a powerful Goetic Spirit (or maybe even an archon, but don't say it too loudly) is strengthening its power by causing a Faded House to come into being. It has manipulated events like dominoes to force a situation, meddling until someone snapped. Breaking this anchor will slow the spirit's plans... hopefully. - A foe or informant has fled into the Faded House to try to hide out from your player characters, desperate to evade them. Can your players find the target before the master devours their soul, and the knowledge they hold, forever? - The Faded House may also play a part in a player character's origin, with the supernatural events that opened their third eye having been caused by surviving the events within. Returning to confront the spirits within could wrap their story up, making it a personal arc rather than as part of the game's overall story arc. |
AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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