Gods, Clerics, and The Game

What qualifies as a God?

Imagine playing N-dimensional chess on a board as big as the solar system. Gazillions of cells. Your adversaries as numerous as sand grains on a beach, each with their own unique winning condition. The Game advances at snail pace, but is constantly moving.

A mortal soul is a mere piece on the board. A speck of dust in the Universe. Insignificant to you and the other players. Yet, you need to beckon the attention of souls, since as an instrumental part of The Game, their cooperation (or consumption) is needed to come further ahead in it. And advance it to your advantage. Without pieces, there's no game.

Winning is a gargantuan task in such a complex play; out of the question. Just advancing The Game in the next favorable move in the foreseeable horizon is enough for any player like you. And remember, time is just another dimension of the board, so The game is NOT linear in that sense. Nobody even remembers what the winning price was. But you bet it must be HUGE. Or the best joke ever perpetrated: a game to keep everyone busy without any cause, effect, or end. Nihilism at its best.

That's it. A God is simply an alien creature playing a game of power against other such entities. The Game. Mortal souls are just oil for the engine, wood for the fire. An Avatar is just a manifestation of a God made simple enough so that a mortal soul can comprehend and interact with it, without having their brains immediately exploding.

Some players (Gods) prefer to keep more active and engaged. Others are more distant. Some are direct on how they interact with the souls. Others act in whispers and shadows. The chances of a playing Avatar/God to pay any mind to a mortal soul is directly proportional to how much they think acting will bring them further in The Game.

Weirdo Gods, Tim Molloy

A mortal soul may ask: how do I become a God? How do I get to take decisions in The Game, and stop being a coin to trade, a resource to burn and consume by the decision-makers? See, unfortunately despite its quasi-infinite vastness, the number of player agents is decisively finite. Quasi, remember?

Not only that, but the number of players has to remain constant. Any perished Avatar/God has to be immediately replaced by an eager side-liner. Failing to do so hastily breaks an essential equilibrium, and such a blasphemy echoes through existence, past present and future. That's why, despite insane competition in The Game, everyone is happy to see a new face replace the old one. A God has to be completely forgotten to die. Its pieces on the board completely removed, passages on tomes and writings fully erased. It takes eons for such a happenstance. But as just an additional dimension, time is an afterthought in this whole business. So a God dying does comes up.

The Cleric

There are priests, proselytizers, lecturers, moralists, atheists, and a full plethora or other individuals devoting a considerable amount of effort studying The Game, its implications, and how mortal souls interact with it (hint: as victims). Then, you have Clerics. They GROK exactly the irony of their position. Collecting thought, praise, and worship to a God that sees its devout and pious zealots as ants it ultimately has to consume (fuel-providing ants, then).

But an Avatar/God does need the work of a Cleric. Or at the very least it facilitates their position on The Game considerably. A conduit of mortal souls, a Cleric's work is greatly appreciated. Their worth unquestionable. Hence the concession of occasional Prayers to lure those juicy souls like mosquitoes in a swamp going after the lamp.

Inter-cosmic symbiosis with abysmal unbalanced power dynamics. But at least both agreed to play.

Good luck, pal! A. Shipwright

The Magic User?

Magic-Users (wizards, mages, sorcerers). Joke is on them. Their magic and powers come from the exact same source as for Clerics. The Game. And its players. A MU just ignores being part of play. Denies the possibility by principle and philosophy. Approaching everything like a black box. Taking short-cuts, trying to bend the rules of The Game. Poke it, and see what works, without fully rationalizing or understanding.

Whenever a summoning circle is laid out, pentagrams and candles on the floor, a MU is doing the exact same work as a Cleric would do. They just don't understand the consequences and price of what they're asking for. Gods will chuckle at their board, seeing that speck of dust sparkle for a second. Bless the ignorant fouls.

Knave Ancestries for Maienstein / Stonehell

A setting can be informed and presented to the players through several means. Probably the worst one is prescriptive, with a lot of given names, and with pages and pages of (for play mostly) irrelevant lore. What happens at the table is key. What directly concerns the characters is key. The rest, although interesting for the referee to build, takes a distant second stage.

One excellent way to create a setting is answering Jeff's 20 questions, which I am a big fan of.

Another complimentary one is with the available list of Ancestries (I personally prefer this to the term Race). Ancestry should be rolled for, and not chosen. The campaign's available Ancestries inform the civilizations present in the country/continent/barony, and we can distribute that with the dice choice. 2d6 is excellent. The following table is adapted from this Skerples table.

The following table is meant for my Knave hack for a Stonehell megadungeon game I have in the workings (see games I want to run). It informs the Maienstein region within Five Towns, full of dwarves and mountains. Players choose their Ancestry randomly by rolling. It also shows the likelihood for someone of said Ancestry to become an adventurer, dungeon delver or treasure hunter (or in the case of Fauns and Jotuns, there simply aren't many of them). Below there are visual hints, a bit more description, and facts about each Ancestry in my Maienstein - Five Towns setting. I hope to get this Stonehell game ready soon!

2d6	Ancestry	Improved*	Bonus	Malus
2	Faun	CHA	Eat half as many rations	Cannot tell the direct, blunt truth
3	Spiderling	INT	Can secrete 30' of rope per day	Cannot see more than 30'
4-5	Dwarf	CON	No penalties for broken or hilly terrain	Pervasive, unique stink
6-8	Human	Choice	Start with 1 extra Dungeoneering Gear item	Disadvantage to resist being mutated or transformed
9-10	Halfling	DEX	Can have 2 Snacks** per day instead of 1	-2 Inventory Slots
11	Molekin	WIS	Can crawl through narrow spaces	Save vs Fear when alone
12	Jotun	STR	Can see details at a great distance	Massive. Disadvantage to stealth rolls

* An Improved stat means that at character generation you give a +1 to the relevant stat.
** Snacks in this context is basically eat a ration to regain some HP, a little rule of my Knave hack Knave++

2 - Faun

Fey touched creature, by Oliver Wetter

 Elder Faun, by Darya Kozhemyakina

 

• Lifespan: up to 200 years, adulthood at around age 30.
• Size: most Fauns go above 6 feet tall, with slender and thin figures. They don't need much food. Some rumor they feed on other creatures' truths.
• Sample Names: Ekaraj, Yadav, Praveen, Uttam, Rojina, Nikeeta.
• Features:
• Antlers on the head and hooves instead of feet. Pointy ears due to their obvious Fey lineage.
• A mock within Fey society, but mystic and respected within mortals. Since Elves became almost extinct, Fauns are slowly taking their place as graceful alien creatures from another place.

3 - Spiderling

A Spiderling called Sister, by Bearded Devil

 

• Lifespan: (same as a Human) up to 70 years. When a Spiderling dies they turn to webs, which ultimately crumble to dust. Their souls return to the ether web, to be cleansed of any memory, and return as a new egg to start a new life.
• Size: average at about 5 feet tall.
• Sample Names: Abby, Nicolette, Clothilde, Laetitia, Victoire.
• Features:
• Many eyes, and with that many inputs it makes it hard to process. Therefore a Spiderling's sight is considerably weak. Huge bottom, due to their spider heritage.
• Spiderlings are linked to each other by the ether web, and can connect telepathically to one another. They share this trait as a hive-mind.
• Their sex is fluid and non-binary. A Spiderling can change it at a thought's notice to whatever suits their wishes.

4 - 5 Dwarf

 

Dwarf by Sergio Artigas

• Lifespan: on average a Dwarf lives up to 300 years. However, dying of old age is proof of a life not lived to the fullest, and is seen as a disgrace. Greybeard being a derogatory term. As a consequence war, drink and smoke are performed to the fullest.
• Size: between 4 and 5 feet.
• Sample Names: Ulrik, Harnof, Ilga, Olov, Alvin, Lizette.
• Features:
• Stocky and heavy, with secure footing.
• Admirable resistance to drugs and narcotics, which they gladly put to the test at any chance.
• Both male and female boast over their impressive beards. They might be hard to tell apart for Humans.

6 - 8 Human

 

Always ready! Humans by Charles Lin

• Lifespan: on average a Human lives up to 70 years, although lifespan varies greatly.
• Size: between 5 and 6 feet tall. But humans come in many shapes and forms.
• Sample Names: (in the Maienstein region) Eros, Mendaur, Didako, Ibon, Antonia, Latxa.
• Features:
• Capable of the best and the worst, humans are versatile and work best in groups.
• They helped consolidate Five Towns as a distant region of the Itean Empire, the obedient ants of Nemes, the Immortal Empress.

9 - 10 Halfling

Halfling by Cale Fortin

 

• Lifespan: Halflings live up to around 90 years of age. Larger lifespan than Humans, but shorter than other Ancestries.
• Size: average of about 3 feet, they are light and nimble. Obviously, hairy feet.
• Sample Names: (same as Humans) family name is far more important: Ironheart, Buttercheeks, Potter, Nimblefeet, Jamjar.
• Features:
• Nimble and petite, halflings are in general weak due to their size.
• Jovial and talkative. Surprisingly loud voice. The center of any party. Some find that amusing, others abrasive.
• Halflings integrate well into any society and civilization, and are seen as a necessary boost to morale in any group, town, or city.
  

11 - Molekin

Molekin evolution, by Manuel Castañón

 

• Lifespan: Molekin are short lived given their high mortality rate. Known to die at around 60 years on the rare instance of passing away of old age.
• Size: between 2 and 4 feet tall, they average at around 3 feet.
• Sample Names: Snot, Pimple, Cough, Stye, Rash.
• Features:
• Stronger than their size might suggest.
• Molekin live in large communities underground (tunnels, abandoned dungeons, mines, etc.), where they spread like vermin. Isolation breaks their minds.
• Molekin gladly take leftover jobs of any society: tending to sewers, cleaning stables or piling fertilizers. Hard time integrating.

12 - Jotun

Jotun Hunter, by Mark Hretskyi

 

• Lifespan: Jotuns live exactly 100 years. As they age, their bodies start to slowly turn into stone. A Jotun dying of old age is a culmination of this process, and their statues are priced treasures within Jotun society.
• Size: Jotuns have the blood of Giants flowing through their veins. Ancient unattended children of these behemoths, they boast a considerable size between 7 and 8 feet.
• Sample Names: Boulder, Tusk, Flint, Drift, Mist, Steam. Jotuns take as name the first object they remember from their childhood.
• Features:
• Tall and strong, very acclimated to great heights.
• Eyesight as good as an eagle's. Some have antlers, others don't.
• Jotuns live in sparse remote areas, and are suspicious of intruders, strangers, and travelers alike.

Raxxe Haunted Manor - Manor Quarters

This is part of an adventure I'm designing. It is a dungeon. It is a haunted manor. Idea is to generate it on the fly, keying each room to a card from a poker set. Each suit is keyed to an area of the manor, and there are lots of things going on.

I will probably do a post presenting the general idea. But as with all projects, the most important things are getting started, and accountability. So here we go. If all goes well, there will be a crapload of posts regarding this project.

Manor Quarters - Spades

Area Overview

The bones of the Raxxe Manor remain. Crumbling. Crooked. But in place, nonetheless. Here, the influence of Xial’ithk the Aboleth is at its weakest. Rooms expected from a wealthy manor, the old wealth of Sasha of Raxxe and her kin still showing at places. Some chambers have suffered the passage of time though. Several agents have taken over this area.


The Underground King and his lycanthropes had the upper hand so far, and are grateful for the safe haven from where to live relatively unmolested. The werebear struck a deal with Masked Doom: the demon can roam freely in this area and kill at will, as long as he leaves the werebeasts untouched. The King regards Clotilde Cotton as a daughterly figure. She obtained unwanted arcane powers after the fatal incident that released Xial’ithk. A thief, and now a forced illusionist sorceress.


Lurking with deception and subterfuge, the Hive Ensemble have higher ambitions than their direct rivals, the lycanthropes. The doppelgangers alternate several personas, and are eager to adopt new ones if they manage to capture a humanoid. Ultimately, the Ensemble aims to take over the Manor Quarters, and expand from that section of the Manor. The Ensemble is aware of Xial’ithk’s presence. It is an entity that has their devotion, and they would like to serve it. For the Aboleth, the doppelgangers are little more than ants. But with the right deed, the perception of the eldritch creature towards the Hive might change? Cautious and scheming, but very lethal, it is unclear how the doppelgangers found their way into the Manor.

Important Faces (7 Key Agents)

Where?	Who?	Notes
King	Underground King	Brawly werebear leading all shifters. Self-declared Underground King. Has a magical collar that lets him sniff out transformed shifters and illusion magic. That's kept him alive so far.
Queen	Clotilde Cotton	Clotilde Cotton tries to scare everyone off with her illusions.
Queen	Hive Ensemble	Gang of doppelgangers. They are no clear individual people, but multiple personalities. Even if one of them gets killed, the same persona will keep popping up, the form taken by a new ganger. Want the Underground King dead, but they failed so far due to his collar.
9	Voodooed Gingers	Cursed twin daughters of Sasha of Raxxe. Frightening, silent, can pass through solid surfaces and teleport through mirrors.
6	Masked Doom	Sanguine demon that possessed Mihal Sleeman, former cook of the Raxxe family. Bronze mask and cleaver.
3	Ozzis, Nük, Issgar	Three imp devils, want innocent souls.
2	Nonpartisan Ghosts	Unaligned to other undead. They vote major (and minor) decisions. The Switzerland of ghosts.

 

Card Locations

Card	Spades = Manor Quarters	Notes
2	Whistling Catacombs	Abandoned Raxxe family crypts. Powell IV of Raxxe, the sage in the silver cage. Hive Ensemble keeps prisoner cells.
3	Servants Dorm	Bunk beds. Worthless trinket. 3 imp devils, want innocent souls. Could be a safe room if cleared.
4	Parlour	Fireplace, tea set, billiard table. Hidden devilish pentagons.
5	Gymnasium Grotesque	Bro-Werewolves bench pressing and jumping rope.
6	Rotten Kitchen
7	Dining Hall of Decay	Half eaten plates of food, rotten and with flies. Impossibly long table, end is in shadows. Beast lurks there.
8	North Attic
9	Children’s Bedroom	Pristine kids bedroom. Mimics. Mirrors and tapestries. In a 1 on a d6 the Vodooed Gingers are already here.
10	Creepy Nursery	Oversized toys come alive. They have an existential crisis. Present dilemma to the PCs.
Jack	Glamorous Wardrobe Closet	Impossibly large closet room. Clothes, disguises, wigs. HQ of the Hive Ensemble.
Queen	The Bloody Schvitz	Clotilde Cotton tries to scare everyone off with her illusions.
King	Wine Cellar	Underground King. Wine and ale never run out
Ace (Exit)	Cistern and Sewers	Infested with wererats. Upon emptying the cistern, this unlocks an additional exit to/from the Manor.

Castle Nowhere 20 Q&A

The Q&A dynamic by means of Jeff Rients 20 questions is a good gauge to see how a setting shakes. I handed this to my players at the start of the new campaign, Castle Nowhere, as an introduction to the world as a whole. Most of the action will take place in Grimewood, so that's where I focused on when answering.
This will be a hack between Into the Dungeon and GLOG.

1) What is the deal with my cleric's religion?
You can worship Nemes. Immortal empress of the Itean Empire.
You can worship the Crescent Sisters, whose origin is whimsical and misunderstood. They stand for nature and beauty. Their symbol are the moons.
You can worship The Open Eye, an order of holy zealots that seek justice above all, and see magic as a sin to be corrected. Their numbers are low, but are expanding from Diremouth.
You can worship The Voyager, a progressive demigod fond of travel, wealth and commerce.
You can worship the Maggot Witches, or any of the other cult that’s hot this season.
You can worship and old deities of the Elves, the Sidhes (“what Elves are to Humans, Sidhes are to Elves”; mostly artists), or the Lady of Broken Branches (who tends to all lost children). Elven deities are a rarity and even to know their names is a feat.
Dwarves worship their great-grandparents.

2) Where can we go to buy standard equipment?
All Five Towns, including Grimewood, will have most adventuring equipment.
In Grimewood you can try Greta’s Trading Post.

3) Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?
Best smiths in Five Towns are the dwarves in Maienstein.
In Grimewood there’s Ulrik Irontide, the local smith. He’s skilled, but drunk most of the time.

4) Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?
In Urth, Nemes.
In Five Towns, Lastleaf, the aging ruler of Grimewood. One of the last Elves alive.
However, your best bet for arcane debates is Caeldrim, illustrious member of the Silver Sages, who has his tower in Grimewood. People are accepting of his studies here, and he has some apprentice openings.

5) Who is the greatest warrior in the land?
Zsa Zsa Zelmer, a warrior said to tower at 8 feet tall. She’s lead numerous raids to the Devoured Lands North of Colkirk and returned to tell the tale.

6) Who is the richest person in the land?
The ruling monarchs, of course.
Nobody fully knows the wealth of the Swift Spirit Corporation in Seciras, but they probably own enough gold to make any dragon jealous.

7) Where can we go to get some magical healing?
There is no such thing, at least not for the public or that can be bought with coin.
Grimewood has Imo Kroth, a surgeon that can patch you up. No refunds.

8) Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?
Imo Kroth, is always experimenting with concoctions to cure all sorts of ailments. The “price” he charges gets greater the more exotic the case.

9) Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?
The Silver Sages are a good bet in Grimewood and across Five Towns (except Diremouth).

10) Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?
In Grimewood, Lastleaf is the most knowledgeable individual, but managing an audience is nigh impossible. Caeldrim is the resident sage. The Bleeding Ox might have passing experts.

11) Where can I hire mercenaries?
In Grimewood there’s the Bleeding Ox. It sports outlaws, swords for hire, and other adventurers.

12) Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?
In all five cities of Five Towns (including Grimewood) weapons have to be handed over upon entering. Sheathed rapiers and daggers are allowed. Failing to do so incurs a fine/prison.
Minor magics are fine, but will turn heads. Mind altering or powerful magic displayed in public is a hazard, and will bring the guard to your doorstep.

13) Which way to the nearest tavern?
There’s half a dozen of them in Grimewood. The Broken Beetle is cozy and has regular drinking contests. Knife & Needle is frequented by poets and anarchists.

14) What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?
Plenty foul creatures from the nearby Forest (close to Grimewood) that have terrorized the area in the past. Hobgoblins lead raids to nearby farms, but are more a nuisance that the local guards protect against.

15) Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?
Rumor has it that The Open Eye is gathering mercenary forces from across the Sea of Skulls (probably from the Purple Land) to oppose Nemes and overthrow the Itean Empire.

16) How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?
Such barbaric practices are not part of Grimewood. There are enough perils in the forest already.
Maienstein, southernmost city in Five Towns, has arenas where dwarves and whoever dares fight against foul creatures taken out of the bowels of the mountain range.
Colkirk, the northernmost city in Five Towns, has fighting tiger competitions.

17) Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?
The Maggot Witches plot and scheme, bringing chaos and mayhem.
The port city of Seciras is full of backstabbing opportunists, so cutthroating practices could certainly be classified as “sinister” there.

18) What is there to eat around here?
Game and vegetables go into all sorts of stews. Note you’ll NEVER get rabbit around here, and you should avoid them due to their sacredness connection to the Elves.

19) Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?
Artifacts from the extinct Elven civilization can be recovered in the depths of the forest near Grimewood.
Seciras powerful merchant elite is able to bring in some interesting artifacts from the Purple Land across the Sea of Skulls.

20) Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?
The massive Forest next to Grimewood surely has riches and creatures you wish never met.

Powell IV of Raxxe

This is an excerpt of a room for a dungeon of sorts I'm working on. An undead sage, caged in the crypts of a haunted manor. The table of bizarre books can be helpful for other games, and as a boon you can roll and generate Powell's books at the end. The effects and value of the books are left open, for the Referee to fill in.

• Powell IV of Raxxe, a deceased member of the family. Spent his life alive traveling every corner of existence, until reaching the status of illustrious sage.
• Now an undead abomination; a living skeleton imprisoned within a silver cage at the end of the corridor, a place that he can’t leave by his own. The door is locked and magically trapped. Someone in their true form has to intervene! Said cage has prevented the minions of the Underground King or the Hive Ensemble to get to Powell.
• Powell is spying on anyone passing through these crypts, especially the Hive Ensemble. The sage feeds this information to his great great grand nephew Ludwig of Raxxe, who he sees as a younger (and more alive) version of himself.
• He has numerous self-authored books scattered within his cage. Spending a turn successfully investigating yields D4 interesting books (choose a row for each, or roll 3D6): 

D6	Book Title	Book Subject	Why Powell loves it?
1	The Tortle Lich	The Snail Wars and its aftermath	Cosmic dilemmas
2	Revenant Greed	How to preserve undead bodies	The book’s pages smell...
3	Platinum Sisters	Dwarven Macroeconomics	Terse prose. To the point.
4	The Twisting Sirens	Transcribed poetry of Sotiris Zervides	It makes him cry. Every. Single. Time.
5	Oath of Fire	A nameless paladin’s romance	It’s naughty
6	Storm of Lies	Interstellar Sphinx theater	Sphinxes. And they LIE!