Fantasy Heartbreak Workshop

Automata are thinking machines and other constructs made of metal, wood or similar non-living substances. An automata may be powered by magic, bottled lightning, animating spirits, self-winding spring systems, arcanotech, or other odd methods. A character of this type often looks completely artificial. But even those who appear uncannily human, tend to trigger some intuition in others who instinctively know something isn’t right. Though designed to mimic the sophont mind, automata don’t always completely get the weird motives of living creatures. Automata can shut down for a preset period but don’t truly sleep or dream. Stats below are intended for use with the Ancient Red Wyrm system . But it should be possible to adapt them to other OSR and newer school fantasy role-playing games with little effort. Ability Score Adjustments (Heavy Automata): +4 STR, +2 CON, -2 WIS, -4 CHA Ability Score Adjustments (Light Automata): +4 INT, +2 DEX, -2 WIS, -4 CHA Self Repair: An autom...

Old fat spider spinning in a tree! Old fat spider can’t see me! Attercop! Attercop! Won’t you stop, Stop your spinning and look for me!    - The Hobbit , J R R Tolkien Attercops are a smaller, typically social species of humanoid arachnids, closely related to the more solitary and feral Ettercap. They drink blood and the internal organs of living creatures. Attercops had historically been subsistence hunters, working in teams to deal with larger prey and hold their own against more voracious predators. However, after the advent of livestock farming, many have adopted a more sedentary lifestyle, becoming eager participants in community life. Stats below are intended for use with the Ancient Red Wyrm system . But it should be possible to adapt them to other OSR and newer school fantasy role-playing games with little effort. Ability Score Adjustments:  +2 DEX, +2 WIS, -2 STR, -2 CHA Cobweb: Each round an attercop may produce about 1 square yard of weak, gauzy webbin...

In the Owl Light setting the "Elf" body type seems to have been some sort of standard template used by the gods and powers in ancient times to create lithe, skilled beings.  Elves from other worlds in many cases appear to have arisen over the course of aeons as part of natural evolution in those places, sometimes as precursors to humans or co-sentients on their worlds. But the crop of Elves (the Eld) currently predominant on Hypethra mostly originate from the Netherworld.  In this realm the dreams and thoughts of all sentient creatures accumulate, peopling the realm with every imaginable permutation of archetype and narrative, and sweeping the landscape with gradual but ceaseless changes as the whims of psychic currents dictate. Prodigal Eld The Prodigal Eld are those creatures fresh sprung from this tumult, still given over to the Netherworld's bizarre currents.  Free will is a novel concept to most Prodigal Eld, but their convictions are backed by the strength of worlds...

Originally written in response to: Can a PC be a Lich in D&D 5E? An actual lich would be pretty powerful for a typical player character to be at lower levels. So, probably successfully becoming a lich would make one an NPC in most games.  Instead I suggest a compromise for those wanting to play a walking skeleton: The Hedge Lich Sometimes wizards try to become a lich when they just aren't well studied enough to pull off the appropriate ritual. Other times a mage creates a ritual attempting to resurrect someone, a gift which only divine power can truly provide. Often the result is simply failure, but occasionally the caster creates a lesser form of free willed undead sometimes referred to as a "Hedge Lich". The flesh of a hedge lich gradually rots away leaving only an animated skeleton. A hedge lich has the same ability scores they had in life as well as any classes, skills or proficiencies. However, they lose any racial abilities except those which are inna...

Working on Creatures & Catacombs today and finally realizing this is definitely not going to end up the minimalist dream I'd originally intended.  While trying to give at least a little description to the various PC races, the idea of language came up, and I started wondering if I should include Thieve's Cant.  This further got me wondering what the heck a "cant" even is. Wikipedia turned up the definition: A cant, cryptolect, argot, anti-language or secret language is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group. Each term differs slightly in meaning, and their use is inconsistent. This was frankly fascinating.  It inspires the idea of sub-languages spoken by various in-groups concealing the secret or semi-secret in broad daylight.  Not sure I'll manage to include this gracefully when running my own sessions, but I'd like to put the idea in there so it's available if I need it.  The real tempt...

A Quora user asked the question: In DND, can a Tiefling be born from two human parents? My answer to any question along these lines is almost always going to be: Yes! (setting norms permitting) To find out why mummy and daddy are human and you're not, pick or roll 1d20: Thauma-genetic manipulation at the fertility clinic. Surrogate birth. Cuckoo demon left an extra bun in their oven while no one was looking. Your twin sibling looks perfectly human though. Parents made a pact with the Infernal powers, dedicating their next child to the Grand & Decadent Cause. (ANGSTY TEEN TIEFLING: Jeez! Lay off mom and dad! I don't wanna do your stupid dark destiny plans!) One of your parents used to be an infernal pact warlock before you were born. They turned from that path a long time ago, repented, and tried to make amends for the things they did during those times. But a part of the pact they'd overlooked ensured their first born would be a Tiefling. So here you are...

Awhile back now, Ann (of DIY & Dragons ) and I were chatting about Traveller RPG character creation, specifically the fact that players can roll a result that ends in character death during creation. Traditionally, at that point one starts the character creation process over again. But what if, we speculated, you did not start with a new living character?  What if rolling death merely changed the focus of the game? A series of adventures with undead astronauts in a dark secondary universe took place? We were both intrigued by the idea, but (to me at least) it seemed like the sort of thing that could take a lot of work and an entire setting to flesh out. And, at the time, due to other commitments, didn't find much time to pursue it further. But every now and then I'd jot down a couple notes about the sort of elements one might find in such a basement-universe setting. The results gradually became influenced probably less by Traveller and more other favorite space o...

At the request of one of my players, a new PC race for Wyrms & Warrens: Centaur Ability Score Modifiers: CON +1, WIS -1 Experience Cost: 2 times the standard XP to advance each level. The typical centaur appears human through the waist and upper body, springing from the shoulders and lower body of a horse, though zebra, goat and cervid morphology is not unheard of. A centaur can move as fast as a horse and carry as much weight, though when undertaking actions with the human portion of their bodies they gain no special strength advantage. They also gain one of the following abilities: Paragon – Like Chiron, these centaurs are among the best of their kind, superior even to most humans in their grasp of the arts and sciences. Centaur Paragons lack the WIS -1 penalty and instead gain an INT +1 or WIS +1 bonus. Charger – Having seen many scuffle, centaurs of this sort have become superior in combat, able to wield a melee attack per round with their front hooves...