Khonshu, the Exiled Moon God, a new Supernatural Patron for DCC RPG

Yes, I really loved the new MCU series Moon Knight. No, I never read the comics, but watching Khonshu constantly complaining about Steven and trapping Marc in never-ending service made me want to have Khonshu as Patron in my DCC RPG games (because that is exactly how I see a Patron working). As other material adapted in this blog, I do not care about Marvel canon, I just want something that is (hopefully) fun, useful, and playable

So here is “my version”:

Khonshu, the Moon God, the Harbinger of Vengeance, the Shepherd of the Lost

Khonshu claims to be the Moon God and Deity of Justice of an important (or important and dead) pantheon from your campaign world. His name however is practically unknown among acolytes and priests and the one or two sages who have ever heard of him, remember the Moon God as pariah and exile, a quasi-deity or vestige without clerics and worshippers, little more than marginalia in a few dusted tomes.

Unfortunately, you do not have that scholarly luxury because Khonshu found you. Given his usual “tactics”, he actually claimed to have brought you back from the dead (maybe from a Funnel?) and that he can send you right back if he want. He also claims that you are his only and must important servant – his Moon Knight. That might be a lie or just not precisely the truth (the difference is quite often lost to the God of Vengeance). In fact, the bit about your resurrection might not be exactly what happened, but Khonshu did allowed you to talk with the spirits of the other Moon Knights, and they let it quite clear how wrathful he can be (and possessive, and childish, and envious, etc.). They also let the impression that Khonshu can revoke more than just your supernatural gifts. In other words, the Moon God might be now a vestige, but he is still a godly one.

The Shepherd of the Lost is a constant voice on your head and sometimes a creepy visage in your sight, be he appears otherwise to be unable to fully manifest in the Material Plane and affect others (beside you). Of course, unless summoned by you.

Khonshu is obsessed with the punishment of those that meddle with fate, death, and to help those the Moon God deems to be lost and in peril (quite a few adventurers and delvers). He is also obsessed with finding strange relics that might bring him back to a quasi-deity status (or stop his dormant pantheon from doing the same). He is very touchy about his past (and his divine family). Additionally, he has been known to kill or curse a Moon Knight who asked too much (you know because you talked with a few of those).

Invoke Patron check results:

12-13 The Moon God cannot pay attention right now, so he merely sends a spark of power to flood his servant’s mind. The lies of time and space are revealed. For the next turn, after falling any action, the caster can declare that he actually foresaw that failure and then declare a new action to roll. This can be done at most once per round.

14-16 Khonshu has little time for petty requests, so he briefly manifests in a cloud of shadows and sounds. When the sudden chaos is over, the caster’s position is changed to an unreachable but safe place of his choice within 100 feet. Khonshu loves to drop his “taxing servants” at the top of pillars, inside chests, at the other side of otherwise uncrossable rivers, etc. That should teach them a lesson.

18-19 The God of Vengeance is irritated by those that dare to obstruct his tool (that is the caster). He imbues the caster with divine strength. This allows him to do one feat of strength, such as bending bars, lifting a castle’s gate for 1 round, or throwing a big rock (or wagon) for 2d6 points of damage against 1d3 normal-sized targets at 30 feet.

20-23 The Shepherd of the Lost irradiates moonlight over the caster’s enemies, sowing confusion and madness. A number of enemies equal to the caster level is incapable of differentiating friends from foes. All their attacks hit random allies. This lasts for 2d3 rounds, although enemies are entitled to a Will save against the spell check, at the start of the 2^nd round.

24-27 Khonshu unleashes the ghosts of previous Moon Knights through the battlefield. The caster’s enemies are constantly confused for those ghosts. As a result, the caster and his allies can ignore a total number of attacks equal to the 2d3 + CL (distributed among the party as chosen by the caster).

28-29 Forced to intervene personally, Khonshu judges a number of enemies equal to the CL. Those enemies disappear until they pass a Fort save against the spell check (or until a number of rounds equal to the CL, whichever comes first). For every round of judgement, they suffer 1d6 points of damage.

30-31 The caster dares to summon the God of Vengeance himself at the peril of all. The caster and a number of allies equal to the CL awaken 1d7 days later 1d100 miles from there without memory of what happened but completely healed. All other creatures present must survive a Fort save against the spell check. Those that fail forget all that happened and are completely changed be the event. Saints might become debauched demons, rampaging dragons might decide to become benevolent (if tyrant) kings, elves might become (mad) mortals. The effects should be unpredictable. The next time the caster attempts this feat an angry Khonshu takes the caster away to the Void, never to be seen again.

32+ The caster dares to command he who was once was a god. The full moon shines impossibly close and the caster acquires dominion over the skies. He can turn day to night or night to day, he can create or undo an eclipse. He can also spin the skies metaphysically so that a maximum of days equal to CL pass to the entire world, expect the caster and his allies, who for all instances disappear during that time. If this last option is used, the caster and the entire party are considered to have rested during those “speeded days”, recovering hit points, spells, and other resources. It is unclear if Khonshu can still handle this level power. After using this, the caster should roll Luck. If he fails, the God of Vengeance will come to claim his soul in 7 days. If he fumbles, he is still alive, but Khonshu is no more and the caster suffers 1 minor, 1 major and 1 greater corruption. If he passes the test, Khonshu will have a long “pep talk” with the caster about behavior e will probably deny further Invoke Patrons until properly appeased.

Patron Taint (1d6):

1 – Your mind is assaulted by previous Moon Knights during its sleep. You not simply sleepwalk, but roll a random Occupation (DCC RPG, p. 22, or the table used by your Judge) to determine what type of activity the previous servant of Khonshu tries to do (without success) while you sleep. A gongfarmer for example (Khonshu was desperate at time) would start digging and carrying soil, even when that is dangerous or does not make sense. Tying you before sleep is the safest option (unless the Occupation rolled is, of course, someone good with knots, like a sailor or a rope maker).

2 – Sometimes the worse happens and your mind is taken by Khonshu or one of his previous servants. This is extremely confusing for you. Choose a “Moon Number” (any number between 2 and 19). Every time your roll a fumble or your Moon Number someone else steps briefly in your mind. The switch is temporary but completely bewildering. Until you are calmed down (which takes magic or a few minutes of talking), you are considered untrained in all skills. Also, feel free to roleplay a bit of amnesia (“How did we arrive at a boat?”), maybe create a new persona, and roll a personality trait at the “Voices in my Head” table.

3 – Khonshu and you become more and more close, which is maddening when you are the only avatar of a lonely, possible crazy, and very opiniated ex-god. You constantly see the God of Vengeance and hear his (very critical) voice all the time. You suffer a -1 Die penalty in Initiative and perception checks. Once per day the Judge should fee free to ask you a Luck check. If you fail Khonshu does something that freaks you out and you probably scream, jump, or run for a few meters.

4 – Sleep does not come naturally anymore to you. The only way to sleep is through unorthodox practices, such as magic, hypnosis or heavily intoxication (most of those techniques also make it impossible to awake you without dealing some damage). To further complicate matters, choose a “Day Number” (any number between 2 and 19, it cannot be a “Moon Number”). If that number comes up on any of your Action Die you immediately fall at sleep (yes, a supernatural form of narcolepsy).

5 – You are drawn by the moon and the night. Under the Sun you suffer a -1 Die penalty to all Ability Score checks as daylight hurts your eyes and you feel sleepy. During the night or in dark places, you receive a +1 Die bonus to all Ability Score checks. Unfortunately, you can only recover hit points (even through magic) during the night or in the underworld.

6 – As an avatar of an exiled god, divine magic is anathema to you. You are always considered unholy for the purpose of Turn Unholy and the Judge should always use the worse tables if a cleric tries to Lay on Hands on you (and that cleric always increase his disapproval by 1). Clerics and divine spellcasters feel uncomfortable around you, although they cannot detect the source of unease. If you get inside any temple, bad omens start to materialize.

Spellburn (1d4):

1 – You start suffering horrendous seizures as you face screams and slowly changes, as previous Moon Knights lend their power to you. The stress of sharing those souls is manifested as Strength, Agility or Stamina damage.

2 – Khonshu is pissed because of you constantly claims for more power. He lifts you brutally in the air and angrily condemns your incompetence (by weird reasons often calling you “parasite” or “Steven”). No one can see the Moon God, just you shaking and screaming in the air. The trauma is represented by Strength, Agility or Stamina damage.

3 – You let other souls flood you spirits, even at the cost of your sanity. You laugh, cry, and scream, all in different voices. You can spellburn Personality and each point gives a +2 bonus. After casting the spell, roll a Luck check. If you fail, part of your spirit and memories were replaced with a previous Moon Knight. Reroll your Occupation and roll a personality trait in the “Voices in my Head” table. Feel free to roleplay amnesia about previous adventures in the campaign.

4 – Khonshu is in a good mood (?!) and manifests himself at your side, lending 2d4 points of spellburn to your spell. Of course, there is always a catch. Unless you execute some absurd (and useless) mission right away, the Moon God revokes a random Patron Spell for seven nights. Typical “surprise” missions are stuff like “that cat is actually sacred, guard it with your live”, “that sword that you threw away in the well is magic, go fetch it”, or “that cleric that you stubbornly claims to be your friend serves that unsufferable usurper Justicia, slap him in the face!” (for 1d3 subdual damage).

“Voices in my Head!” (Roll a 1d20)

To represent previous Moon Knights, a cranky god, and probably rising madness, use this table to roll personality or roleplay traits. These traits are usually temporary (1d4 days) and very strong-minded. If can get yourself in trouble (or make the table laugh), the Judge is welcome to let you recover 1 point of Luck or more each session. (The entries below are just a suggestion and the Judge is more then welcome to use his favorite tables.)

1 – Suspicious, only speaks in whispers.

2 – Greedier than a dwarf when it comes to gold and gems.

3 – Belligerent, never surrender or back from a fight.

4 – Pacifist, only fights in self defense and never accepts killing.

5 – Zealot, prays loudly to Khonshu precisely at sunset for an entire turn (without exceptions!).

6 – Nihilistic, never misses an opportunity to drink.

7 – Cheerful fatalist, loves to tell jokes to the most dangerous person or thing in the room.

8 – Lunaphobic, deadly afraid of darkness and the moon.

9 – Necro-imaginary friend, only calms down when talking with imaginary friend. Unfortunately, the “friend” is always the nearest humanoid corpse.

10 – Penny-pincher, never spend the last coin, fire the last arrow, drink the last potion, etc.

11 – Trophy Hunter, will carry something from every enemy defeated (every!).

12 – Curiosity Gambler, cannot resist the urge to push that lever or put that probably cursed ring, but will gamble like there is no tomorrow with the party before doing that.

13 – Paranoid, NEVER believes that a trap was disarmed or that it was totally sprung.

14 – Carpe diem! Believes all adventures are the last ones, and thus will spend all treasure carousing.

15 – Fortuitous hireling, will ask to carry the stuff of a random party member and will try (unsuccessfully) to anticipate their needs.

16 – Minstrel syndrome, urge to sing during battles, write poems about what happened, and perform the same in the first tavern or town square the party arrives after.

17 – Purification ritualist, terrified of dying while “impure”. Bath constantly, sometimes during combat. Tries to keep closest friends equally “pure”. All the time.

18 – Chosen One Aversion Complex, will never be responsible for a meaningful choice. If pressed will use randomness, such as tossing a coin, to keep Fate “away”.

19 – Mimic-phobic, believe any piece of furniture is secretly a humanoid-devouring shapechanger.

20 – Jaded dungeonist, will comment on a number of situations which that are existential “clichés”, such as clean corridor in the underworld, green stone devil faces, or idols with rubies for eyes.

 

Patron Spells:

Parliament of Knights

Level: 1 (Khonshu)
Range: Self
Duration: Varies
Casting time: 1 turn

Khonshu treat his past champions as prized possessions (or as ingrate mortals who deserve to spend eternity at his disposal). Thus, he occasionally allows you to share in the knowledge of previous Moon Knights. Usually only the most recent bearers of the title are available, but sometimes older shades will answer. By trancing you allow them to possess temporarily you body and land their skills to your (or Khonshu’s) cause. The God of Vengeance has been known to summarily cancel this spell if he listen to any criticism to this methods.

Manifestation: Roll 1d4: (1) your eyes shines with a white supernatural light during the entire trance, except when you are trying to hide; (2) while trancing, you speak with multiple simultaneous voices, clearly from different individuals; (3) your shadow and any reflection constantly change to that of other individuals; (4) after the spell is over and until you go sleep, anyone looking to you will occasionally see a different person (which is very creepy).

1 Lost, failure, and patron taint.

2-11 Lost, failure.

12-13 The trance is interrupted by Khonshu complaining about your meddling with an unfavored past champion. Notwithstanding that champion briefly imparts his knowledge to you. Roll a random Occupation (DCC RPG, p. 22, or the table used by your Judge). You are considered skilled on that Occupation for one check attempted in the next turn.

14-17 The trance is successful as you channel a previous Moon Knight with expertise sought. Select one Occupation (DCC RPG, p. 22, or the table used by your Judge). You are considered skilled on that Occupation for one check attempted in the next turn.

18-19 The trance is deep and harmonious. Select one Occupation (DCC RPG, p. 22, or the table used by your Judge). You are considered skilled on that Occupation for one turn.

20-23 You trance an old Moon Knight, master of many crafts and arts. Select two Occupations (DCC RPG, p. 22, or the table used by your Judge) or one Thief Skill (DCC RPG, p. 38, as if your character was a Thief of the same alignment and level). You are considered skilled on those Occupations or on that Thief Skill for one turn. Your personality is colored by the presence of that Moon Knight, roll on the “Voices in my Head” table.

24-27 You bind the souls of three different Moon Knights. Select three Occupations (DCC RPG, p. 22, or the table used by your Judge) or two Thief Skills (DCC RPG, p. 38, as if your character was a Thief of the same alignment and level). Or you can select One Occupation and two Thief Skills. You are considered skilled on the selected Occupations and Thief Skills for one turn per level. Finally, you can let one of the Moon Knights literally take possession of your body, which allows you to roll 3d10 instead of a d20. Khonshu does not like when his previous champions go around “enjoying mortality” in that fashion and he will cancel the spell after the action where you rolled the 3d10 (he will be complaining loudly about your carelessness for the next minutes, imposing a -1 Die penalty to any perception checks). While the spell lasts roll one or twice on the “Voices in my Head” table.

28-29 Same as above, but you remain trained in the chosen Occupation and Thief Skills until you one these events happen: you choose to roll 3d10, you fall unconscious, the spell is dispelled, the next sunrise, or you cast this spell again.  

30-31 Same as above, but your level of trance is so powerful that becomes clearly unnatural. You gain one additional Action Die (d20) that can be used for any type of action, except an attack.

32+ You contain the Parliament of Knights within yourself. You are always trained in any skill check you attempt (i.e. you always roll a d20) and you can use any Thief Skill (DCC RPG, p. 38, as a thief of the same level and alignment as your character). You gain one additional Action Die (d20) that can be used for any type of action, except an attack. Once, during the spell’s duration, you and your previous brethren can act as one, executing a task perfectly (or you channel Khonshu himself). Treat your next skill check as a natural 20 (the Judge is encouraged to let you execute one task that is legendary, or almost physically impossible, such as swimming against a waterfall or deceiving a god). Khonshu positively hates when one of his Moon Knights can pull this level of control (which lends weight to the legend that you are actually channeling the old god himself). If you choose the natural 20 (or legendary) option, after that this spell is Lost. Otherwise, the spell only ends if dispelled, cast again, or after one hour. This level of power does not come freely, and you must always roll a patron taint when the spell is over.

Judge of Souls

Level: 2 (Khonshu)
Range: See description
Duration: See description
Casting time: 1 Action
Save: maybe Will (but see description)

The God of Vengeance has a profound dislike of the un-dead, seeing them as those that evaded judgement for their misdeeds in life (he also hates extraplanar entities, other gods, patrons, and stubborn mortals, among many other things).

Through this spell you can turn creates almost as a cleric. First, use your spellcasting roll to consult the Table 4-4: Turn Unholy Result by HD (DCC RPG, p. 97). After that, check the same roll result on the entries below to see how this spell alters Turn Unholy. Ignore Holy Smite and Damage results, and treat Killed results as Turned.

Manifestation: Roll 1d4: (1) The moon crescent symbol of Khonshu shines in your hand or face; (2) mists billows from your mouth as you speak with the voice of the Shepherd of the Lost; (3) you appearance grows gaunt and desiccated, as if semi mummified; (4) your head is replaced by a giant bird-like floating skull during the casting.  

1 Lost, failure, and patron taint.

2-11 Lost, failure.

12-13 Failure, but the spell is not lost.

14-15 Your Turn Unholy is limited to one un-dead creature.

16-19 Your Turn Unholy is no longer limited by numbers, but still restricted to the un-dead type.

20-21 As above, but now you can affect un-dead, demons, devils, and creatures with Patron Bond. If employed against spellcasters with a Patron, Judge of Souls can always be used to start a Spell Duel.

22-25 As above, but you can also affect extraplanar creatures and clerics/divine spellcasters (Khonshu has a grudge against the latter group). If employed against cleric/divine spellcasters, Judge of Souls can always be used to start a Spell Duel.

26-29 One turned creature of your choice is also doomed. If you hit with it with a melee attack before the end of the next rounds, that is an automatic critical hit (even against creatures immune to critical hits).

30-31 Same as above, but it applies to all turned creatures.

32-33 Same as above or you can choose one turned creature to be bound. A bounded creature is completely enveloped by mystical shrouds and tatters (as a mummy) and then is sunk into the ground. While bound the creature is stuck a few meters below the surface. It cannot be moved and is completely paralyzed until attacked or otherwise damaged (removing the shrouds will also awaken it). It does not need food, air, or anything else while bounded. You can free any number of bound creatures that you previously trapped if you are standing close to them.

34+ Same as 30-31 or you can choose to bound all turned creatures as 32-33.

Avatar of the Moon God

Level: 3 (Khonshu)
Range: Self
Duration: 1 round per CL
Casting time: 1 Action

You summon the power of Khonshu himself, drawing on the vestments and relics of the exiled Moon God. If properly cast, this spell changes the caster to the true form of a Moon Knight, a fearful agent of vengeance dresses in tattered white rags of his god. There is nothing natural or casual about the appearance of the caster. Even weak servants of Khonshu who discover this spell are at least able to summon his hooded cloak, which is already dreadful enough.

While this spell is in effect you are considered an extraplanar creature of Void and is considered a valid target of things like Turn Unholy.

Manifestation: Roll 1d4: (1) Strange glowing hieroglyphs manifest in the air around you; (2) you vomit forth a mass of tattered rags that soon envelop you; (3) a choir of unembodied voices surround you, summoning the vestments; (4) a brief and terrible vision of Khonshu appears as the God rips a piece of its rags and from it grows a new one for you.

1 Lost, failure, and patron taint.

2-11 Lost, failure.

12-15 Failure, but the spell is not lost.

16-17 The tattered and hooded cloak of the God of Vengeance covers you. You receive a +1d4 bonus to AC (that does not accumulate with any type of armor) and any creature with the same HD or less than you must succeed at a Will save or flee for the during of the spell. Creatures immune to fear, such as most un-dead, ignore this.

18-21 As above, but the cloak covers your entire body, except for your face. You are immune to fear. If anyone attempt to control your mind or drain you, you can cancel this spell to ignore that effect (if the effect allows save, you can roll the save before deciding to end this spell).

22-23 As above, plus your vestments are now equipped with the Moon’s Crescent Darts. These half-moon shaped blades of bronze can be used as ranged weapons against enemies at 30 feet. The Crescent Darts are considered magic weapons, deal 1d4 points of damage and if you roll a ‘4’, the dice explodes (i.e., roll another 1d4 and keep adding as long as you get a ‘4’). If you have a dart on each hand you can throw a second Crescent Dart suffering a -2 Die step penalty. The number of Crescent Darts in your clothes is considered infinite (and once throw they quickly become dust again).

24-26 As above, but now you summon the full regalia of the Avatar of Khonshu. You are covered from head to toe in the tattered white rags of the God of Vengeance and imbued with his might, as your eyes shine with supernatural power. Your bonus to AC is now +2d4. Every time you execute a Strength check (such as jumping or lifting), unarmed melee attack roll, and unarmed damage roll, you add +2d4 to the final result. Your fists are considered magic weapons.

27-31 As above, plus you gain +4d4+CL extra hit points for the duration of the spell.

32-33 As above, plus you ignore the effects of one critical hit. Using this ability ends the spell.

34-35 As above, and while you are the Avatar of Khonshu, if you fall in combat and allies find your body, you automatically succeed at Rolling the Body and do not lose stat points.

36+ As above, but you can ignore any attack (and its side effects) if it deals damage equal to or less than you CL. For example, if you are 5^th level and you are bitten by a snake, suffering 4 points of damage, you ignore that damage, as well as any poison that would be triggered by the attack. If the attack is above your CL, you suffer it normally.