The Alphabet of Outer Beings - F is for Festival

Image Source: https://lordoguzhan.deviantart.com/art/Perselia-and-the-Festival-of-the-Stars-751144027

F is for Festival

Festivals are, broadly, celebrations of religious holy days, or other significant and important dates. They are often celebrated through feasting, music, ritual, ceremonies, and/or other observances. Festivals for patrons may be times when the patron's followers are required to enact a certain ritual during a cosmic event such as an alignment or solstice. Religious holy days commemorate the important events within the religion and/or the life of the deity. While many festivals are celebratory some may be sombre occasions, or may be preceded by fasting or other periods of denial.

Table F1: Duration of Festival (roll 1d6)

1. 1d3 days (calendar)
2. One day (sunrise to sunset)
3. One full day (calendar, sunrise to sunrise)
4. One night (sunset to sunrise) 
5. 2d4 nights (observances only after sunset)
6. 2d3 significant hours (e.g. the hours around midnight, sunrise, the solstice, etc.)

Table F2: Purpose of Festival (roll 1d3 and 1d3)

1. Remembrance of...
1. a significant battle
2. the death of a saint
3. one's ancestors or dead relations
2. Celebration of...
1. a miracle
2. a major celestial event
3. a saint (birth, canonization, etc.)
3. Observance of...
1. Harvest Season
2. New Year
3. Planting/Spring

Table F3: Festival Focus (roll 1d8 twice and combine)

1. Food
2. Drink
3. Music 
4. Dancing
5. Contemplation of religious teachings/writings
6. Ritual Sacrifice (see S if for Sacrifice)
7. Games or contests
8. Reflection on the meaning of the festival

Table F4: Prohibited Conduct (roll 1d6)

1. Overindulging
2. Singing
3. Working during the festival
4. Preparation of food during the evening hours
5. Consumption of food during the daylight hours
6. Consumption of a specific substance

Table F5: Festival Accoutrements (roll 1d4)

1. None
2. Specific style of dress (e.g. traditional, costumes, lack of clothing, etc.)
3. Symbolic Decoration (e.g. use of decorated eggs to symbolize the changing of winter to spring)
4. Iconic Decorations (e.g. images of ancestors/relatives, Idols of a Deity, etc.)

MCC Recap - Entering The Ruined Citadel

Last Wednesday I ran the another session of my monthly(ish) MCC game.

Meet the Seekers:

• Thorn the Plantient (level 1)
• Played by Craig McCullough
• Sinclair the Mutant (Chitinous armor) (level 2)
• Played by Andrew Lyon
• Agutter the Healer (level 2)
• Played by Paul Go  
• Bo Goodboy the Yorkie Manimal (level 1)
• Played by Jon Hook
• Flic-flak the Sentinel (level 2)
• Played by Alex Perucchini 

Prior Session Reports:

• A Branch to the Head for All
• A Door Too Far
• Things Get Blue
• Hot hot hot!
• Purple Pit of the Mole Men
• On the Trail of Tibbar

The Ruined Citadel

As dawn broke early the heroes woke to the dawn's light coming across the grassy hills by the lake where they camped. A hasty breakfast was gobbled down before they set off to climb to the ruined citadel they could see across the lake. Before departing the members of the Atomic Equinox pulled Thorn aside and said that if he would like to join their brotherhood he should travel to the west and south to the Glowing Grove, where he would be welcomed as a fellow plantient.

Moving Southeast around the lake the group stayed low, hiding in the waist high grasses and moving between the copses of trees that dotted the hillsides. They were able to stay hidden as they moved onward toward the citadel that way. Skirting one copse of trees they overheard some voices from within and approached cautiously. Within they found a group of four manimals of the Chosen of Zuu, one of whom had been wounded by a tibber "thunder-stick." Agutter applied some healing herbs, saving the life of Magilla the Gorilla. After some conversation these new followers offered to accompany the group and help end the tibbar threat.

• Meet the manimals:
• Ida Kno, the Orangutan manimal 
• Magilla, the Gorrilla manimal
• Ratfinkle, the Rat manimal
• Lyle, the Bear manimal

After another hour of stealthy travel the group found a stair cut into the mountain and used it to climb towards the ruins above. Though the stairs were in some disrepair in places they were able to reach the top without issue only to come to a walled off area blocked by a metal door. 

The door had no handle on their side and only a slit to look through. Ratfinkle tried to push the door open, and failing that he knocked loudly, and then attempted to stab the creature whose eye appeared at the slit. As a desperate attack on the barely seen doorman ensued Bo Goodboy impressed the others with his mutant talent to devolve other creatures and reduced the target to an animal state. 

Confident now, Lyle stuck his hand into the slit and ripped the door from the wall, gaining a large and unwieldy tower shield in the process (+2 AC, fumble die of d14). Beyond the now door-less portal was a room occupied by two tibbar and a rabbit. The group quickly charged in and dispatched not only the tibbar, but also the rabbit. One of the tibbar did make an attempt to escape and warn its fellows but was downed by a thrown dagger. 

The group searched the room and turned up a c-cell (charge unknown), and some basic tibbar weaponry. Beyond the room they could see a cliff-top area. on one-side a swift drop down to the lake, on the other a long low building, and ahead a small cluster of tents, though they could see no sign of more tibbar. 

The group attempted to sneak to the nearest structure but unknown to them they were spotted, and the tibbar, now on alert, began to gather their forces. Inside the building they found the remains of some ancient vehicles and a number of useful items including a solar cell, AND, a quantum cell! Also a slot machine, a coffee maker, and a copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. 

Judge's Note: I used my scavenging table (here) for the major loot, and also this table for minor loot. 

With the garage thoroughly ransacked the group peered out to see a group of seven tibbar warriors led by a tibbar wearing a strange red cloak and wielding one of two "boom sticks" (I kept changing the name), with a lieutenant wielding a second.  These tibbar were evacuating the tents of their occupants, mostly females and young, and getting prepared for battle.

The group tried to sneak out of the garage but most failed their agility checks for sneaking and a combat broke out. Using smart tactics (prioritize the artifact users, stay behind cover) the group rallied and defeated the warriors and ran the leader off. The leader, still alive and now down several men managed to make a break for the main portion of the ruins.

The group now had a choice, would they press the attack, or take a moment to regroup and tend their wounds?

In Memoriam: 

• Ida Kno, the Orangutan manimal 
• Felled by an arrow

The Alphabet of Outer Beings - G is for Geas

Image Source: https://www.deviantart.com/art/Cu-Chulainn-145162388

G is for Geas

A geas (sometime geis, plural geasa) is a vow or taboo requiring, or prohibiting, a certain behavior. A geas can be a societal or supernatural and the consequences of breaking such a geas will vary greatly depending on the source. The breaking of a societal geas can result in dishonor for being rude, or ma y even result in imprisonment as though a law was broken. The breaking of a supernatural geas can result in spiritual or physical weakness, or any number of other potential effects. Below are several options for supernatural geasa and the ramification of breaking them. These may be gained via a powerful Curse spell, at the hand of a powerful witch, wizard, or other magic users, or even be the result of an angry god or dealings with the lords and ladies of the fae.

Table G1: Type of Geas (roll 1d8 & 1d6 then continue to Table G2)

The oath-bound is ...

1. ... prohibited from consuming the flesh of ...
1. Dogs
2. Chickens
3. Fish
4. Goats
5. Cows
6. Sheep
2. ...  required to repay ...
1. all debts
2. any slight or insult
3. kindness
4. violence
5. gifts
6. fines
3. ... prohibited from lying to ...
1. Children
2. Women
3. Siblings
4. Witches
5. Royalty
6. Virgins
4. ... required to accept ... 
1. offered hospitality
2. offers of surrender
3. all gifts
4. the first offer (cannot bargain)
5. their fate (may not re-roll dice, and the character cannot try to change prophesied events)
6. legal judgements
5. ... prohibited from fighting with ...
1. Thrown weapons
2. Swords
3. Maces
4. Clubs
5. Knives
6. Bows
6. ... is required to ...
1. observe celestial events (solstices, eclipses, etc.) with appropriate rituals
2. tithe 3d3x10% of their income to their lord or deity
3. follow all orders from those of higher station
4. introduce themselves with their true name 
5. remain silent unless they pay somebody to listen
6. accept all challenges laid upon them
7. ... prohibited from consuming ...
1. Alcohol
2. Sweets
3. Caffine
4. Eggs
5. Preserved foods (e.g. salted, canned, etc)
6. Mushrooms
8. ... prohibited from entering a home without ...
1. gaining permission from the owner
2. wiping your feet
3. offering a gift
4. removing headgear
5. removing one's weapons
6. washing one's hands

Table G2: Effects of a Broken Geas (roll 2d6 + Luck Modifier)
All effects are permanent unless otherwise noted or the character undergoes a lengthy process to make restitution for breaking the geas. The oathbound will generally have some idea of the strength of the geas that has been laid upon them.

1. (or lower) Instant Death! No save. 
2. Crippling weakness! The oathbound suffers permanent 2d6 Stamina damage, and 1d6 Strength and Agility damage.
3. Weakness! The oathbound suffers permanent 1d6 Stamina damage.
4. Major Curse! The oathbound suffers a permanent penalty of -2d3 to all rolls. 
5. Minor Curse! The oathbound suffers a permanent penalty of -1d4 to all rolls. 
6. Fate's Torment! The oathbound becomes an immortal pox upon his very race. Forevermore those he meets will be struck with bad luck, and only by removing themselves from the society will they be able to prevent their curse from targeting others. They are cursed to live forever alone. 
7. Fate's Target! The oathbound is fated to die by the whims of fate. Every day there will be a minimum of 2d4 times when the character will need to escape death's grasp. This can take any form, from a ship sinking, to an attack of brigands, a rival's assassin, or slipping in the bath. 
8. Amnesia! The world forgets you entirely! The oathbound is wiped from the minds of every person who ever knew them except deities and the person or being that laid the geas upon them. They may no longer call upon bank accounts, lands, titles, or the like. Favors owed to them are no longer remembered and those to whom they owed favors are inexplicably hostile
9. Transformation! Over the course of the next month the character slowly and painfully transforms into an animal, losing their sentience and intelligence last. 
10. Destitution! The oathbound loses everything they owned. Weapons and armor break, money or valuables are immediately lost or stolen. Lands are lost or become worthless. The oathbound is reduced to a penniless pauper. The geas remains in place and the oathbound will suffer this result every time they break the geas. 
11. Major Bad luck - The oathbound automatically fail their next 2d4 rolls, or takes the minimum result. The geas remains in place and the oathbound will suffer this result every time they break the geas. 
12. Minor Bad luck - The oathbound automatically fail their next 1d3 rolls, or takes the minimum result. The geas remains in place and the oathbound will suffer this result every time they break the geas. 
13. (or greater) The character is struck unconscious for 1d3 hours. The geas remains in place and the oathbound will suffer this result every time they break the geas.