Return of The King (GLoG Class: Ring-Bearer)

The new LoTR set for Magic: The Gathering just came out, and—considering that the silly card game has had me in a chokehold for the last few months—it's no surprise that this whipped me into an inspiration frenzy.

Be your very own Sauron. Play a Frodo-type, and risk your personhood being stripped away. Maybe play this in a Modern setting, and have your little buddy be the bard who follows around Terry Crews in White Chicks. That's the fun of OSR: it promotes doing whatever you'd like!

Just have fun. Enjoy!

God, He's So Cool
Art by Anna Podedworna

THE RING-BEARER

+1 Attack per template

Starting Skill: 1) Metalsmithing 2) Disguise 3) Pyrokinesis 4) Battle-Planning

Starting Items: The Ring, Chain, A Newly-Forged tool (Medium, 1d8 damage), A Collection Of Old Things, Hate.

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A – One To Bind, Corruption

B –  +1 CD, +1 Temptation, Mouth of Awe

C – +1 CD, +1 Temptation, One To Rule

D – Subjugation

One To Bind

You have crafted The Ring: a lone object of incredible power, of which you are its true wielder. Only you gain benefits from wearing The Ring, and only so long as you have Ring-Bearer Templates; other creatures who wear The Ring vanish into The Ethereal Plane for 1d4 minutes.

The Ring is a part of you. It can never be destroyed except by being submerged in the fire of its creation, and you are always aware of its general location. You know if someone else possesses The Ring and can communicate with them telepathically from any distance.

Corruption

You have a pool of Corruption Dice, or CD. These work much like MD, returning to you on a 1-3 and expiring on a 4-6. Unlike normal magic, you cannot regain Corruption Dice by taking a rest, instead regain one Corruption Die whenever you kill a sapient creature with at least 1 HD. You can only have as many Corruption Dice as you have Ring-Bearer Templates.

You can use your CD to power a Temptation of your choice, or expend it as a reaction to reduce the damage of a non-magical attack targeting you by [templates] + [sum]. Should you ever remove The Ring from your person, you temporarily lose access to your Temptations until it is returned to you.

Mouth to Awe

You have acquired the skills of a talented retainer—an orator and skald—who wishes only for glory in your name. With your permission, this skald will travel from place to place, using any acquired or gifted wealth to recruit hirelings, request lodgings, and otherwise support your journey (and are undoubtedly qualified for the task). They are otherwise a loyal, helpful assistant, and speak goodwill to your name on any occasion.

The Movie Version Looks Cooler IMO, But He's Drippy Too
Art by Alex Brock for MTG

One To Rule

Great power flows through you and only grows stronger with time. You deal +1 damage with weapon attacks for each unexpended CD you possess. 

Subjugation

Your hunger has overgrown even yourself, and with such hunger comes a desire for more. By spending a week of downtime and sacrificing one of your CD you may construct a ring of power. A creature wearing one of these rings can communicate with you telepathically from any distance and gains a single CD, which they can use to cast a Temptation of your choice. 

So long as it is being worn, a creature wearing a ring of power counts as an unexpended CD for your One to Rule ability.

Once per month, per person, you may use the Dominate Temptation on a creature wearing a ring of power without expending CD. You do not need to see the target to use this ability, and can do so from any distance. The target cannot save.

Me And The Boys
Art by Anato Finnstark

Temptations

1. DOMINATE
• Command another to do your bidding. Bend the wills of man to consciously follow your words. Target follows [dice]-word order as per Command, but cannot directly harm themself. +1 target per CD expended. Targets can Save to resist.
  
  
2. MASQUERADE
• Appear to be who you are not. Look trustworthy from the outside. You gain the appearance of a non-existent person [sum] hours, including a different voice, but your clothing and equipment remain the same. 3+ CD transforms your equipment as well.
  
  
3. OBFUSCATE
• Become formless. Peek into the world beyond. You become invisible for [sum] minutes. With 1-2 CD, you can see wraiths, ghosts, and other things in The Ethereal Plane. 3+ CD allows you to interact and speak with them.
  
  
4. ANNIHILATE
• Return to dust. Per CD, one non-magical sword-sized object you can see within 30 feet of you disintegrates. With 2+ CD, destroy an additional object for each additional die. Alternatively, target creature takes [sum] damage thrice over three rounds, and you must concentrate on this effect. You cannot take other actions while using this effect.
  
  
5. MANIPULATE
• Shape the world. [CD*5]-foot square of unworked material shifts, bends or moves to your design. Fire warps, water separates, and the earth becomes a pit. If material would directly cause harm, strike deals [sum] damage. With 2+ CD, you can hold its new position for [sum] rounds, or until you lose concentration. With 3+ CD, cause machinery to act without their controls.
  
  
6. RECUPERATE
• Fill wounds. You regain [sum] hit points. With 3+ CD, you can survive an otherwise fatal spell or injury as a reaction, returning to 1 hit point. 

Mishaps

1. CD only return to your pool on a roll of 1-2 for 24 hrs.
2. You take 1d6 damage.
3. You lose 1d6 Stability.
4. You lose control and disappear into The Ethereal Plane for 10 minutes. Something notes your presence.
5. You cannot receive beneficial magic for 1d6 hrs.
6. The nearest NPC to you becomes aware of The Ring's power and begins to covet it.

Dooms

1. The Ring tests you. It disappears from your finger to a random location within a day's travel of your current location.
2. The Ring tempts you. You cannot remove The Ring for any reason, even through magic or threat of death, and constantly fear that others may take it from you. Should the ring ever be removed at this point, you would do anything to get it back.
3. The Ring consumes you. Your body becomes warped and wraith-like, and your heart becomes inconsolable. You cannot love, nor care and look to others with kindness, for all of your desires lie with The Ring. Should you die, or your form be separated from The Ring, your soul shall finally be corrupted and your physical form shaped into incoherence. Your only reason for existing shall be subjugation, destruction, and control. You are not yourself.

Frightening, Glistening Things

Have you ever wondered why we give such importance to gemstones? 

They touch our minds. Gemstones are symbols of wealth, markers of high fashion, and icons of envy and greed. Great value is assigned to these stones regardless of their actual rarity. Their beauty encapsulates us. Watches and gowns, cars and technology: symbols of great prosperity alone to those who wield them, yet they are bedazzled all the same. Only this can elevate you. Bring your face to the limelight.

They touch our hearts. We associate gemstones with feelings of success and desire. We construct tools out of a rare few of them. We look to fiction and see examples of things that should be coveted: precious treasures to be plundered. Massive diamonds and glowing crystals are forlorn by those who own them as if the meaning of their very existence is to be wanted. Only this can make your dreams come true. Heal a broken heart.

They touch our souls. Historically, cultures have associated their shape, size, and colour with spiritual awakening. Vast theologies have been constructed to find a use for marvellous crystals, and maps have been charted of the body's gates and openings, signifying stones of all varieties as the bridge through which one can heal their entirety. Civilizations have always desired nourishment for the soul. Only this can fulfill the ultimate desire. Transcend mortality.

Gemstones are synonymous with high society, the rich and the monarchy, which is partially why they're so incredibly rare in Bromeilles. 

A Measure in Abundance

This Time, Beauty Meets Esotericism
"Heart of Lorkhan" by Helena Nikulina

If you were to acquire an enormous hammer and crack open the tallest mountains in Bromeilles, one would find a profound lack of gemstones. There would be a few, for sure—tucked away in amalgamate heaps, incoherent in placement and composition—but rarely enough to justify the dangers of excavation. This is because there are no gemstones in Bromeilles. 

That's hyperbole. 

But there really are fewurally-occurring gems on the continent! Not before The Storm Eternal and not in the four-hundred-odd years after the fact. Gisele De Roy argued that anything resembling a gemstone was swallowed before it could be pushed upward through the crust, a consequence of the continent's fractured state; The Magician Keryllion claims that it is simply the will of chaos. Luck functioning to its ultimate conclusion.

Of course, there are sources of fine stones in Bromeilles. The beauty of the high cities would suffer in status without them, nor would The Artisinal Schools have access to ripe new conduits. 

They're called Tear Stones, and they fall from the sky. 

Falling Stars

Records detailing the presence of tear stones have existed since before The Storm Eternal, with spottings noted in everything from Eldermen stories to cave drawings. The name 'Tear Stone' is a sanctioned nickname for the objects, tales claiming that the stone's design and the oddities of their condition are the results of The Moon's crying. Themselves indistinguishable from meteorites (also common sights in Bromeilles), tear stones are one of the few orbital objects visible through cloud cover. 

One astronomist, Charles Billard, makes a note of a falling jewel in one of his premier journals:

    "...Perspiring atop the observation post, it was not long—shortly after nightfall—until we first saw the object. Carving its way through the clouds like a blade through the skin, its silver streak was clearly visible, the head a glistening bolt of light. Its entire structure was clearly visible until a count of sixty-seven seconds, whereupon its tail was swallowed by the storm. Our guetteur measured flickering for an additional fourteen seconds, at which point it disappeared across the horizon..."

Silverbolt, Savior's Told, Oh Beauty Can't You See?
"The Silence Of A Falling Star" by Randy Urban

The 'tears' are, up-close, reminiscent of arthouse projects. Warped chunks of rock buffed and bleached by the upper atmosphere, momentarily turned to slag by the impact, with craters all throughout its surface. Gemstones are generally immediately visible at this stage. Similar to one you would blast out of the ground, they are fused to the rock and one another. Unrefined, they possess an otherworldly beauty. 

Rarely longer than a metre, tear stones are at most 40% jewel and 60% rock. 

Falls are uncommon affairs. A given night may have zero and a dozen unrelated events, with few tear stones throughout the night or several in quick succession. Unlike the meteoroids which share space with them, tear stones often make landfall far from civilization and are otherwise small enough to be redirected.

Artisinal Shapers will often report being offered bribes. Few will admit to actually taking them, but there is great wealth to be made in cultivating tear stones; no more organizations uninvolved with The Republic.

Strange Gems, Stranger Things

In addition to their inherent scarcity, the variety of jewels found in tear stones is abundant, with several dozen recognized stones in possession by The Republic. 

Besides their aesthetic desires, several groups ranging from The Artisinal Schools to druidic sects expropriate certain gemstones because of their inferred supernatural abilities. Some may be important or necessary for a particular ritual or simply a valuable conduit for use during spell casting. In contrast, others whisper of innate magical talents within the stones. Such claims aren't entirely unfounded, and several expeditions have been funded by The Artisinal Schools and Covens alike to retrieve whole tear stones.

It is possible for Artisans to construct an artificial gemstone through the work of The Occult. Still, such a process is tedious and dangerous and usually lacks the innate tinge of magic in natural jewels. These jewels are still perfectly useable as conduits.

Beautiful, Aren't They?
Image from The Arkenstone

Truthfully, the word 'gemstone' is inaccurate compared to our world. Other materials such as bismuth and amethyst—a metal and crystal, respectively—are also available in tear stones and are referred to colloquially as gemstones. This doesn't mean that the materials themselves aren't also classified into their respective categories or that these materials don't possess some unnatural qualities of note, but that Bromeillan understanding of the term 'gemstone' is founded mainly on the phenomenon of tear stones.

This also doesn't mean there aren't gemstones already in the ground. There are, and plenty are the result of long-forgotten tear stones finally unearthed. The occasional "natural" gem is also findable within the continent's crust, though they are few and far between, and hardly possess any of the extraordinary qualities of their cousins.

Drink Deep and Descend (Science Fiction)

For some time now, I've been working on a "horror" project set in the LANCER TTRPG universe. It's been difficult for a number of reasons, but I am happy to announce that it is finished, and that means I can share it with people!

There are some ARG elements to this. Mildly, you don't have to go to some obscure website and count pixels, but there's a minimal amount of notetaking needed. A PC is definitely required because mobile would be FAR too much of a hassle. Pick up on keywords (if they're words at all) and try your best to solve it! Your efforts are rewarded.

Thank you very much for your time, and also enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m-DUYB91WZfhCE_Ca-loOybEfxA13qNi-_vm4SEOVnE/edit?usp=sharing

Pull Me Out (GLoG Class: Possessor)

I've been trying to catch up on the entire Cronenberg discography lately, including watching his son's work! Brandon Cronenberg is a fantastic director, walking down a path in cinema that honours his father's work while also bringing his own style into the fold, and I wanted to celebrate it a little. Still gotta watch Infinity Pool! 

Enjoy this weird thing.

Fun Fact: Most Of The Effects Were Practical! Even The Weird Fractal Stuff! Cameras Are Magic
Art by Randy Ortiz(?)

At some point, you found work within The Company: a clandestine operation of unknown origin and dubious funding, who utilize their positions of power and influence to shape the world to their whims. You are one of The Company's prized assets, not just for your training but your aptitude: you have been ranked highly compatible with The Company's Possessor program. For better or worse, you are worth your weight in gold.

The task is simple: research the inner workings of a targeted individual, learn their mannerisms, and then use the Technology provided to submerge their consciousness. 

Typically, your operations would include murders committed under the guise of the hijacked, but The Company receives offers from various clientele. 

Where do your loyalties lie? Who is it that hides behind that mask? Which is the real you?

POSSESSOR

+1 Stability per template

Starting Skill: 1) Subterfuge 2) Behavioral Recording 3) Intelligence Gathering 4) Mimicry
Starting Items: Light pistol with 20 bullets, whatever clothes you woke up with, $200 cash.

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A – Agent, Possession

Δ – It Takes A Village

Agent

Upon taking your first Possessor template, you become an employee of The Company. If you begin a game with this template, you likely already possess a host body. If not, or when planning another operation, some crucial information should be kept in mind:

1. Possession of a host body first requires medical preparation, including target acquisition and surgery. Without a team, the time this takes to plan and execute is up to you, usually 2d4 days. 
2. Your work also requires access to limited Company technology. As you are aware, only they possess machinery capable of performing Possession. You are immobile while plugged in.
3. An agent can remain in a host body for a number of days equal to 2 + their Possessor Templates before the severe risk of brain damage sets in.
4. An agent must kill the host body in order to extract. This is non-negotiable. Mostly.
5. Death with some level of precaution will kill the host body. Carelessness will kill you both.

Before session one, speak with your GM about the mission parameters surrounding your first Possession (or leave it a surprise!). Upon awakening, your clock begins. 

Possession

While under Possession, you track an additional resource known as Stability. If you're playing a GLoG hack or other OSR TTRPG that uses a mechanic similar to sanity/willpower, consider tracking that resource instead. Your Stability total is calculated similarly to your HP but with Wisdom instead of Constitution. Anything that restores HP (except for magical healing or basic sci-fi medipacks) also heals Stability, but only by 1d6 + your level.

note: super experimental, super weird. Just wanna try sticking my toes in "sanity mechanics" while also trying to make them good/cool/interesting. Or at the very least tolerable. In an ideal world, all characters are working with some sort of Stability mechanic: Possessors are just a bit tougher. Bear with my experimentation.

While under Possession, the host body's consciousness puts you under constant pressure. Your intrusion into the mind of the host body does not erase it, but merely assumes control, meaning that anything which disturbs your command over the host can have dramatic consequences. Some ways to lower or regain your Stability include:

• Witnessing something horrific, such as a depraved act of violence, for a prolonged period of time. (-3)
• Receiving a hideous wound, taking 5+ damage in a single turn. (-3)
• Purposefully damaging the host body. (-2)
• Getting high. (-2)
• Witnessing an emotionally distressing event, such as a team member's death or capture. (-2)
• Being reminded of personal, emotional conflicts. (-1)
• Engaging in graphic violence, if you're not into that sort of thing. (-1)
• Taking the equivalent of a short rest. You probably can't chain these. (+1)
• Completing a mission objective. (+1)
• Taking an hour each day to meditate. Also called running diagnostics. (+2)
• Going to bed. (+2)
• Completing your assignment (+3).

Whenever you would be reduced to 0 Stability, make a Wisdom check. On a success, you regain +3 Stability, and on a failure you UNRAVEL. 

Note: What does that entail? My mind says that it should involve a good rollable table, but that's more effort when this post should have been put up over a week ago. The general assumption is that it should be possible to come back from UNRAVEL'ing at least once, but is otherwise something to be avoided. Use your own Sanity table for now: I will be back!

It Takes A Village

Extract.

Nobody can be truly exceptional without people willing to support them, and this is no less true for your team. Your original body is effectively comatose whilst under Possession, meaning that not only is there an expectation of safety while handling your assignment, but an opportunity for growth.

The first time you extract, prematurely or after completing your assignment, choose two of the following templates below. A unique hireling joins your repertoire, hired out from the coffers of The Company, solely tasked with aiding you in your assignments. You may take an additional Possessor template whenever you level up, granting you another hireling, as well as the subsequent ability of each tree.

HANDLER — The Therapist; takes care of you.
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1) Can communicate with you while under Possession, Restores ½ your Stability upon extraction.

2) Once per session, grants intel regarding your current objective, so long as you haven't UNRAVELED this session.

3) Immediately pass your first Stability check under Possession.

ANALYST— The Interpreter; speaks to machines.

-----

1) Warns you if the host body is about to UNRAVEL, +1 Initiative.
2) +1 Save.

3)  You can pull a skill your host body possesses from its subconscious. Rank equals your Possessor templates. Once per day, lasts until extraction or you UNRAVEL.

MEDIC— The Doctor; treats you well.

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1) Watches your vital signs (blood pressure, IV, etc) while under Possession, +1 Save.

2) Advantage against Save vs Death effects.

3) +2 HP. 

RETRIEVAL— The Gatherer; tags and bags.

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1) Does most of the work for you, reduces time to prep Possession to 1d4 days.

2) Once per session, can retrieve an item from an improbable location (e.g. a hospital garbage can or a plane bathroom).

3) Once per day, will pick you up (and maybe your friends) if you need to get somewhere in a jiffy. Needs space and time, so no tight alleyways and no last-minute Uber chases.

COLLABORATOR — The Hunter; never works for free.

-----
1) A random hireling is recruited by The Company. Loyal and will work around your host body's cover. Can appear when activated on request, but otherwise at The Company's discretion. Resets every assignment.

2) Contact your hireling and ask for a favour which can be done in a reasonable amount of time, such as collecting evidence, assisting a break-in, or dispensing supplies. Money isn't an issue, but don't expect hitmen for hire.

3) At any time, If your hireling hasn't been activated yet (you can say no), choose a non-core NPC in the same room as you. They are immediately activated and revealed to be your Collaborator. 

Eye Spy (GLoG Class: The Optithaum)

Shall We Punish The Baker For Leaving Out Their Bread?
Art by James Fenner

The first druids to escape reality quickly became lost in the manifold, unable to climb themselves out of  places of real chaos. In their vain attempts to maintain lucidity they came across a demi-plane, tucked deep within the walls of non-reality, and unveiled a thing known only as The Optithaum. It was a beacon of law in the roaring sea of quantum, a lighthouse in the dark, and so the druids scrambled to grasp any sign of safety amongst its lapis plateaus and opal towers. 

Planes are strange. In most cases, they seem to go on indefinitely; some more obvious in their trickery than others. But this place held no secrets. In fact, it became quite clear to the druids just how small this space truly was. These masters of the primeval found sanctuary in a place contrary to its surroundings. Water where there exists only fire. Once the panic left them all, terror set in.

As with all things beyond the material, there is no one truth to The Optithaum's existence. It may very well be a contraption devised by higher beings, or a living organism of peculiar shape, or perhaps simply the consequence of all possible combinations. 

Two of these truths lie uncontested: it knows of us, and it calls to us.

THE OPTITHAUM

+1 Initative per two templates

Starting Skill: 1) Optometry 2) Divination 3) Semiotics 4) Time-Keeping 5) Visual Calculus 6) ??

Starting Items: Needle Sword (1d8 Piercing), Obscure Eyewear, Leather.

-----

A – Anomaly, Occlusions

B – Gaze of the Gaps

C – Scripture

D – Mind Quantum, Spotlight

Anomaly

You make others uncomfortable around you, much to your own advantage. You gain a +1 to checks you make to weird people out, or to similar checks where such an outcome would be suitable (e.x. distracting a patron, scaring off a pair of goblins, counter-haggling for clean socks).

Occlusions

You look upon the world with a strange disgust, for you see things that others do not. Your vision fills with strange objects, dazzling lights, floating globs of vitreous, and other shadowy things. With time and effort, you have learned to embrace the power brought upon by these sigils by purposefully accepting them, receiving power from their originator. Whatever that may be.

Whenever you take an Optithaum template, you gain an Occlusion from the table below. For every two templates you take, gain an additional Occlusion.

Roll for 1d10 Occlusions

1. Diplopia. Now you see me,  now you...? +1 Defense & +1 Attack.
2. Floaters. Meet machine elves. See into the Astral Plane & meet potentially helpful contacts.
3. Shadows. Visual seeps within material. +2 Stealth.
4. Stars. Do you see what I see? You learn the Light spell & +1 MD.
5. Halos. Light illuminates light. +10' vision from light sources & notice incredibly dim/distant light.
6. Lightning. Do I see white or red? +1 Damage & +1 to combat maneuvers.
7. Phosphene. That's the secret, I'm always dazzled. Adv vs blindness. 
8. Snow. Fill the gaps. You learn the Illusion spell & +1 MD.
9. Field. Tunnel vision is good, actually. +2 Move.
10. Fog. Used to it. Ignore weather vision effects & +1 Save.

Gaze of The Gaps

When looking upon the world, your visual static fills holes in places uninteresting and benign, but curiously avoids occupied spaces. When you enter a room, you become aware of anything hiding within the environment (such as behind furniture or in the darkness of a corner) but do not immediately recognize their type. You also become aware of invisible creatures.

Scripture

You can spend some time appealing to the things in the shadow of your eyes (who is likely the cause of those killer migraines). You can ask at any time with a 2-in-6 chance of a 'response', but conditions improve if it is nighttime, you're in public, or you're high as balls (+1 for each). On a success, ask a single question, to which the figures will respond with cryptic shapes or visions, resembling anything from epileptic flashes to floater-shaped handwriting.

You may only attempt to acquire such knowledge once per day. For every consecutive image received, you gain a -1 penalty on your next attempt. This penalty is reduced by 1 for each consecutive day you don't attempt to receive.

Spotlight

Once per session, you can synchronize your vision with up to four other allied creatures. Until the end of the session, so long as a synchronized creature is within 15 feet of you and the check is physical in nature, they can reroll a single d20 of their choice (e.x. searching for hidden symbols, dodging a giant boulder, or attempting an attack). You also gain this benefit.

Mind Quantum

Whenever you would die, you can choose to survive instead. One of your eyes explodes, you are knocked unconscious, and your condition becomes stable. You cannot access your Occlusions without eyes, so the best avenue to not going completely blind may involve attempts to acquire a working replacement. Or maybe just more eyes.

 1d8 Obscure Eyewear

1. Thick silver goggles. Each lens is layered with dozens of scaling monocles. Think Spy Kids.
2. Strange octangular glasses. Project an uncomfortably close image of your eyes.
3. Glass visor with an opal mono lens. Glistens even without a light source.
4. Portruding pyramidal lenses. Sharp but fashionable. Somehow you see out of these.
5. Black, foggy eyewear. Smoke appears to be floating behind the lenses, obscuring your eyes.
6. Waterlogged goggles. Seemingly airtight. 
7. Wireframe design. Filled with intricately moving brass gears which do something.
8. Two square lenses are embedded in your face, just below the eyes. Stick out horizontally, others suffer from mild versions of your occlusions with prolonged contact.

Chaos In Completion (GLoG: Wizard Chassis)

Working Old-School, Bear With Me
Image From Tumblr

The more time that's passed with this blog, the more I've become enthralled in exploring the GLoG design space. This is all very new to me, and I'm not quite sure how it works, but I'm going to try anyhow. Maybe I'll make a GLoG Hack of my own!

This post is gonna suck, so don't take it super seriously. I'll make something actually original Soon.

Inspired, like everyone else, by The Legend Himself. Also, a shoutout to The Nothic's Eye for catching my attention so well that I wanted to rip them off.

THE CLASSICAL WIZARD

+1 Magic Dice per template (Including Deltas)

Starting Skill: 1) Runecrafting 2) Alchemy 3) Mathematics 4) Astronomy 5) Literary Studies 6) Divination

Starting Items: Per Wizard School, otherwise, Pointy Hat, Extravagant Clothing, Magic Wand or Staff or Orb, two pieces of Wizardly Ephemera (see table at post's end).
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A – Wizard School, Signature Appearance, Arcane Foci

B – Book O' Lore

C – Counterspell

D – Prepared For All

+

Δ - Apprentice

Δ - Familiar

Δ - Tower

Spellbook
You begin play with a Spellbook, which fills an Inventory Slot. It looks however you wish.

A Spellbook has enough space to hold 5 Spells (+1 per Template). While in possession of your Spellbook, you can spend an hour of grubwork to replace any number of spells you have memorized with those in your spellbook or vice versa. You can also copy spells found in scrolls directly to your Spellbook in this way.

If a Spellbook is lost, so are all the spells stored in it.
Replacing a Spellbook, or buying a new one, costs 50 Gold.
You can upgrade your Spellbook with embellishments, magical inks or pages, and additional spell space. 

Wizard School
A Wizard's Spell List, Perk, Drawback, Mishaps, and Dooms are all decided by their School.
Should hopefully work with any GLoG Wizard School.

Signature Appearance
You eat, sleep, speak and fuck like a Wizard. You also dress like one. Whether in flowing robes or a gown of glistening patterns, others will immediately identify you as a practitioner of the arcane. Consequently, you've learned to spot others much the same, allowing you to identify magic users and their tools with a gaze, even if others find it difficult to ascertain.

While not as important as your Arcane Foci, being caught outside your classic appearance would be embarrassing. It's also not very helpful, and MD are returned on a roll of 1 while improperly dressed. You keep a lot of important things in those pockets!

Also, just kidding about that first part. Wizards don't have sex.

Arcane Foci
Your arcane foci are the most important part of your wizardly repertoire because it's through them that you can cast your spells. Wizards can only be attuned to one at a time, but carrying a spare wand or staff with you never hurts, especially in a pinch. 

While attuned to your arcane foci, which takes the equivalent of an hour's rest, you gain +1 MD and a 1/day charge for a single spell you've learned.  You can expend the charge to cast that spell without using Magic Dice, instead using a number of free [dice] equal to your Wizard templates. If applicable, you take the average [sum] of those dice rounded up. You can change the applied spell when you reattune to an arcane focus.

Book O' Lore
Your Spellbook serves not only as storage for your spells, but also as a repository of information. Whenever you make a knowledge Skill check, you can burn 1 MD to subtract [sum] from the roll. 

Counterspell
You can lessen or undo the effects of a spell cast at you or your allies, by declaring you would like to Counterspell, then choosing a spell with an opposed effect - Wall of Water vs. Fireball, Alarm vs. Sleep, or Incite Anger vs. Charm Person, that sort of thing. 

If you have a Spell in your repertoire that is an effective Counterspell, then subtract your [dice]/[sum] from the [dice]/[sum] of the attacking Spell.

Prepared For All
You are always ready for the trials at hand. You can cast spells straight from your Spellbook, or from a Scroll without burning it. You declare this at the start of a given round, and cast it at the end of the round—it fizzles if you take any damage in that round.

Additionally, for the first round of combat, you cannot roll Mishaps or Dooms.

+

Δ - Apprentice
Spend up to a year training a commoner in the art of magic — then send them on a quest

Upon your Apprentice's return (2-in-6 with half year, 4-in-6 with full year), they become a level 1 Wizard with a template of your choice (preferably your own, spells rolled randomly). Your Apprentice may follow you on your quests, or be sent along their own journey, becoming a powerful Wizard in their own right.

So long as you have at least one living student (including the Apprentice of your Apprentice), your wizened body glows. You grow a magnificent beard of silvery hair, and choose two spells in your mind or Spellbook: whenever you cast these spells, you may choose to do so with +1 MD, for free.

Δ - Familiar
Convince an animal, small outsider, or other spirit creature to make a pact with you.

You become that familiar's patron — you can swap senses with them, grant it your spells and MD to cast from a distance, and communicate telepathically. If you give your familiar a Spell or MD, you don't have them until your familiar uses it.

Once a familiar has cast a given spell, it is lost until the next morning. MD expended are always burned. Your familiar may serve as a decent mount if large enough and willing.

Δ - Tower
Take possession of a comfortable defensive position. This could be a house, tower, or any other amenable locale. Then, stock it with 500 Gold Pieces worth of treasure and equipment.

You can now perform research in your private sanctum, and are reasonably protected from the elements and living dangers. You are always aware of creatures nearby or within your private sanctum, and can always find your way back no matter how lost you are.

you can also build a scrying room, crystal ball and all, which you can use to observe distant locales. (1 MD, 2 MD if you've never seen the location before).

Spellcasting
Spellcasting follows the MD rules.
You gain two Spells from your Spell List whenever you level up, representing research and grappling with the deeper mysteries of arcana.

If you roll a duplicate spell, move up or down the list until you get a spell you haven't got yet.

Roll the following Dice:
Level 1 – The first spell on your list, and roll 1d6 for the other.
Level 2 – 2d8
Level 3 – 2d10
Level 4 - Choose three spells from your list. 

Wizardly Ephemera (Once Again, Thanks Boss)
1. A Spare Hat, which is slightly less impressive than your primary one.

2. Monogrammed Handkerchief. Filthy, but classy.

3. Folding Sanctum, an overly classy name for a tent with lead-lined fabric. Keeps out most prying eyes.

4. A Handful of Planar Dirt. Gotta be useful for something, right? Choose or randomly determine the plane of origin.

5. Spellbook Case, which keeps it nice and dry in inclement conditions.

6. Calligraphy Set. For inscribing scrolls and sending letters.

7. Tarot Cards, featuring such standouts as The Lady, The City, The Spire and The Wheel. Can be used for minor divinations - roll 1d6. The closer to one the result, the worse the cards think it’ll go.

8. Telescoping Tea Set. Fills a single slot, contains tea, cups and self-heating-kettle for eight.

9. Magnifying Glass. Don’t look into portals with it!

10. Portal-Finder’s Pamphlet. Contains the locations of portals to three random planes. There’s a 2-in-6 chance that the portals are now gone, or were never there in the first place.

11. Flintlock Pistol. A light gun, for when you’re all out of spells. Comes with 20 bullets and a tiny powder-horn, for a total of two slots.

12. Address Book, which contains the stated addresses (probably decoys) of three Wizard Pen Pals, who you could write to in a pinch (or just to check in).

13. A Case of Dispaterian Cigars, which stink of hellfire for everyone but the smoker, who feels pleasant megalomania while smoking them.

14. Statuette of a Horse. Was, at one point, a Figurine of Power, but one of the legs broke off. It would be immoral to actually activate the poor thing.

15. Bastard Cat. Not all cats are bastards, that’s a mean stereotype. This one, however, very much is. Takes up two slots if you have to carry it.

16. Three Part Folding Wand. Newfangled! Contains 1MD and a random spell, but if you roll 6 when using it, the wand fucking explodes.

17. Chunk of Spirestone. A slot of chalky grey stone. Can’t be affected by magic. Good for chucking at other wizards’ heads, or as a paperweight.

18. 3d6 Coins from Various Planes. A mix of Hellmarks, Sigillite Crowns, Gehennan Stingers, Heavenly Merts, and a bunch of random Prime-World garbage. Only worth 3d6 in Sigil, probably worth 1d6 anywhere else.

19. Notebook of Observations. Can store a single spell, as per a tiny spellbook. Contains observations surrounding a wizardly obsession, useless to anyone else.

20. A Curio!
        1. Gold Chain, covered in Terran runes. The bearer of this chain is entitled to be rescued by Earth Elementals, for free, from any one cave-in or unwilling burial.

        2. Declaration of Angelum, the legal status of being an Angel. Works great with the Heavenly Bureaucracy, who, if presented with this document, will be forced to acknowledge you as a minor Deva.

        3. Half-Bottle of Burning Rye, boiled up by Night Hags in the farthest edge of Krangath. Makes you immune to the effects of cold, very drunk, and also flammable, until you sleep it off.

        4. A Gold Crown, specifically, the crown of a tiny Prime-Material kingdom. That was a wild night.

        5. Rilmanic Dagger, perfectly balanced light weapon, to the extent that the principle carries over to the wielder - they can’t be knocked over or otherwise lose their footing.

        6. Empty Soul Jar, perhaps previously occupied by a Lich. You’ve got no damn clue how to get a soul into it, but it could definitely hold one…  

The Forest For The Trees

 

It's always the little things
Art by Mike Beeman

I'm a university student. More specifically, I happen to be a Canadian university student, meaning I have a functional (albeit much to be desired) transit system. I have a not-so-subtle appreciation for public transit and all its boons, for even if it could be so much better at the moment, it's still good by merit of what it is. Argue all you'd like for cars and motorcycles; I think they're great! But I also believe there's an intrinsic, valuable aspect to the shared commute, never mind the question of accessibility.

I like the train station. I enjoy the benefits that come with trains and buses. Being carried away in a silver-painted storage container seems like it should put the fear of God in me, but it mostly perspirates through my mind. It's not just the system that I appreciate, though: it's the facilitation.

Just to make sure I'm using the word correctly (and to practice defining what I actually say), when I say "facilitation," I mean the effect a choice or decision in an environment has on making more decisions possible. Effectively, how the things we allow let more things happen. It's not a new concept, and it carries the sins of being used in negative connotations, but I think this particular instance is an example of the good one: how things can be better rather than worse.

I promise this'll all neatly tie together; just stay with me, okay?

I Like Trains

The train station's always busy, no matter the time of day or what kind of weather rolls into town. Be it rain or snow, monday or friday, there will always be people waiting for the train. It's a constant.

One of my favourite parts of the train station—besides the trains themselves— is the gap between the first and second set of stairs. After all, the train station is attached to a bus station, so the whole construct works a bit like a checkpoint. A broad, door-riddled hallway is down the first flight and out of the bus station. Another stairwell not too far ahead, broom closets and switchboards, and then the second flight of stairs. But in that middle space where you're forced to walk, there's a singular detail I cannot help but speak on.

A little rectangle! Printed on the floor and hugging the backsplash behind the far stairwell, there's a neat little presented space. A bit like a stage, a bit more like a glorified placemat, but generally just a quiet space. I say it's a quiet space because it isn't often used for its intended purpose, which is a shame, but I'm more interested in when it is used rather than when it isn't. 

Extravagant, beautiful little things
Artist Unknown

The square's an official installation; it wasn't put there by some random passerby or for a homeless person to sleep on. It has the local transit icon on it, and it's decorated with little drawings of music notes, violins, and saxophones. As far as I am aware, it's MEANT for musicians to set up shop, playing for their amusement or for cash. I rarely see people using the space, though, so the warmth of sound is typically replaced with yelling and dusty bootprints (and sometimes, a homeless person does decide that it looks like a comfy spot). But the other week, somebody was there! An older gentleman with a sizeable burly coat, a scraggly gray beard, and a fancy-looking wide-brimmed hat, all set up and ready to go. He had a bunch of stuff wrapped around on a push-cart, a guitar and mic stand, and even a speaker. He never said anything, just played and sang and bowed whenever someone put a dollar or two in his guitar case.

Let me tell you, I've never been so upset at not having cash on me in my life.

I don't even know who this guy was! He didn't have a sign; he never spoke beyond the covers he was singing, and I don't even think I saw him ever open his eyes. He just... performed. I probably stood in that tunnel for close to half an hour just listening to him sing. I don't know if it was the music itself or if I was just in a particular moment in my life and thereby "in my feelings", but I simply couldn't walk away. A lady walked by, gave him a dollar which he responded to with a bow, and with a smile, said to me:

"enjoy!"

Sadly, I eventually had to go to class, but by the time I returned (cash newly in hand), he had packed up his things and left. But in that brief moment of time, I think I really got to experience something special. One of the reasons why I love art at all. Not to mention one of the reasons why I think it's so important.

An Actual Explanation

Things you oft forget
Art by Rachel Altschuler

Have you ever heard the phrase "seeing the forest for the trees"?

It's a bit of a confusing idiom, but generally, it means "to be confused or distracted with minor details; to not see the whole picture", and I think it's pretty appropriate when recognizing some parts of our day-to-day life. So many parts of how we do things, no matter how lovely they are, seem to be at risk of being completely and utterly normalized with time. I don't think it's the normalization that's the problem, but moreso that feeling, that almost numbing sensation, of when something becomes completely and utterly normal. When it stops being special or surprising. 

I love music. I never really got "into" it until I was older, but it's always been at the forefront of my creativity. I listen to music to get inspiration, I listen to music while I write, and I listen to music whilst I daydream. Hell, I feel like I see music in everything sometimes! When I find a new song that resonates with me, it's something to be celebrated. A new feeling, a reminder of something I love that perhaps I'd previously forgotten, or simply a return to something old now new. But I get the same feeling as everyone: eventually, whether I'd like it to or not, a song becomes overplayed. it gets old, and even if I still love the song for what it is, how it sounds, or what it stands for, it loses a bit of that magic. 

I think life is full of those experiences, and I don't think that it's bad, but I also can't help but feel like it's a lot more dangerous than some people realize. What happens when that job stops being special, when the routine becomes dull or (god forbid) sour? I'd like to say you find things to replace that void, but it always depends on the individual, and sometimes you don't have the money (or time) to reinvest in new experiences. Some people can also enjoy something for a long time, which is great too! But what about others? What about when the time runs out? 

Part of what I like about that old idiom is that it highlights both extremes—positive or negative, you can be distracted from the greatness of what surrounds you. I don't think anybody likes monotony, to be honest, and yet many of us spend our days just going through the motions of life; devoid of expression. Of enjoyment. And that's why I think facilitation is so important. 

The Bird In The Trees

Art is such a complicated thing, but I think one of the best ways to experience it is when you don't look for it. At least not exactly. It's really easy to put yourself into boxes as early as possible, so you're only surrounded by what first made you comfortable. Those things aren't bad just because they came first, but I also don't think we should limit ourselves to what we've been "given", y'know?

It's effortless to see the forest for the trees, to only see the minutia and what's immediately in front of you, but I also think it's essential to take notice of the little things sometimes. If you just blur everything out around you and walk through the forest with no curiosity or joy or excitement—pure movement—that's not only dangerous, but it's pretty unhealthy for your mind. You have to smell the roses sometimes. You have to count branches or absorb the space around you. 

I'll call it "seeing the bird in the trees". Even if you didn't expect it, taking notice of the little, beautiful things is quite therapeutic.

That older gentleman in the subway didn't sing with perfect pitch, and he certainly didn't play each chord exactly as prescribed, but he presented to the world something that was thoroughly and utterly his own. His own expression of the world through his eyes and words and mind. I think that's an inherently human thing to do, something that really only we can do, and what's especially important to me is the effect it has.

We're all just going through life. That's a given, but when we allow ourselves to be occasionally convenienced by art, especially art that we didn't go out of our way to see, there's something special there. I don't know. Just something stuck in my mind. Food for thought.

Things you'd best not forget
Art by Jamel Akib