Elves and Dwarves... and Conan!

I love new campaign settings and the nostalgic sense of the unknown you get by reading them for the first time (that's my HC SVNT DRACONES Rule). Another thing that I really appreciate is a well-done reskinning - taking something now and twisting into new and exciting lore.

I once tried to do a Sword & Sorcery setting by giving a new face to D&D traditional races... actually, I failed miserable at that goal, because I completely created the races (here are my "elves", "halflings", "half-orcs" and "dwarves", all for Pathfinder 1E). As you can see, it was indeed a "reskin" most of the time - I kept the mechanics but changed the flavor.

However, let me show what I always considered impossible: keeping D&D races (and their mechanics so far) but adding a pure Sword & Sorcery flavor, of the kind you usually see with Ashton Clark Smith and Robert E. Howard). I'm talking about the new Sword & Sorceries series, a 5E collection of adventures that place in the Broken Empire setting and is published by Arc Dream. I talked about and created new material their first adventure - The Sea Demon's Gold.

I still remember avidly seeking and reading every scrap of lore of some (now famous) settings that I could get me hands on. Examples are the amazing Iron Kingdoms, when everything we had on them was the Witchfire Trilogy or Golarion, when Paizo was still publishing the first volumes of Rise of the Runelords. That was an amazing experience and I'm repeating it now with Broken Empire - not exactly through their adventures (which are great) but by their pre-generated characters.

Yup! Go over to Sword & Sorceries and read the character backgrounds of Saurga, Hannatamtu, Enu, Ajusuuji and Aimina. Particularly, read about the non-humans adventurers (that's Enu and Ajusuuji). The Broken Empire's take on dwarves and elves - i.e. within the context of classic Sword & Sorcery tropes - is awesome! Without changing a single thing, they managed to give a new face to those otherwise very traditional and Tolkienesque races. The way that Ajusuuji learns magic is also very interesting, because it keeps all of D&D rules working but within what appears to be a Low Fantasy scenario. Read it! It is that good!

Unearthing Arcana: Hold Person

Wizard: I cast hold person!

DM: OK, the orc boss failed his save and is paralyzed.

All the players at once: I slit his throat!

DM: …

You probably heard that dialogue before at some point of your Referee life (or some variation of it). Which is actually quite acceptable. Yes, acceptable… not just because it is tactically advantageous, but also because RPGs are (or were supposed to be) open-ended games, a unique mix of mechanics and a freeform narration. So, theoretically, if you paralyze your opponent during combat, you can go for the killing strike. If your players never took that opportunity to mercilessly slay their enemies then congratulations: you have heroes at your table (that is rarer than it sounds).

Of course, maybe you don’t have a problem with Hold Person and the way it works like an “instant kill” spell at the lower levels of every edition of the game.

Let’s take a look at this spell.

Art by MattiasFahlberg.

OD&D’s Hold Person: A spell similar to a Charm Person but which is of both limited duration and greater effect. It will effect from 1-4 persons. If it is cast at only a single person it has the effect of reducing the target's saving throw against magic by -2. Duration: 6 turns + level of the caster. Range: 12".

OK, as many things in the first version of D&D, the spell entry seems both quite interesting and open-ended (also uncertain). What we can be sure is that Hold Person targets 1-4 targets and has big duration.

The first thing that stands out is the Charm Person reference. In OD&D, our beloved Charm Person where targets that fail their save are “completely under the influence of the Magic-User”.

After reading that we can go back to Hold Person. Actually, for someone like me (that come from BECMI and AD&D 2nd) is hard to see Hold Person as anything different than a paralyzing spell, but that seems to be the case here. If you interpret that Hold Person is just an improved version of Charm Person then things get a lot easier for the Referee (as far as I remember you can’t try to kill a target of Charm Person).

With AD&D 1st, Gary Gygax didn’t wanted to leave doubts regarding his spells. No sir. The duration of Hold Person here is shorter (but still enough for a combat) and it affects 1-3 targets. There is quite an extensive list of what type of humanoids are affected, although we do get the description that this spell “holds immobile” and “freezes in places” the target(s).

You can say that AD&D 1st started the whole issue. When a target is “immobile” and “freezed in place”, then it is safe to assume that the victim is helpless and that a coup de grace is in order.

BECMI and Rules Cyclopedia didn’t added much (besides the Rules Cyclopedia letting clear that Hold Person has an opposed version called Free Person).

AD&D 2nd didn’t changed things either, though it did added: “Held beings cannot move or speak, but they remain aware of events around them and can use abilities not requiring motion or speech. Being held does not prevent the worsening of the subjects' condition due to wounds, disease, or poison”. AD&D 2nd also kept the trend of reducing Hold Person’s duration.

Oh, and did I said coup de grace? Although the rule wasn’t first mentioned in D&D 3rd, that edition surely made it popular. In D&D 3rd the spell lasts even less and the target “may attempt a new saving throw to end the effect” (probably because they finally noticed is such an overkill spell). You can say that 3rd Edition was honest and let it clear that a paralyzed target could be the victim of a coup de grace and, thus, finally officialized the instant kill (and no, 3.5 and Pathfinder didn’t seemed to change anything… interestingly I didn’t found any reference of Hold Person in the Pathfinder 2E Playtest).

D&D 5E at least requires Concentration in the spell duration, which is a nice touch, but it doesn’t change anything regarding the “instant kill” aspect (and yes, 5E doesn’t have a coup de grace rules, only that all attacks against an incapacitated target are automatically criticals, which means that we are back to the “it falls to the Referee to solve the whole conundrum”).

I purposely left Holmes for last because it is has an interesting take on the spell: “Similar to a charm person spell. Affects 1-4 persons. Holds the person or persons rooted to the spot unless released or the spell wears out. Duration is 6 turns + level of caster. If cast at one person alone it reduces his saving throw by 2”.

For me leaving a target “rooted to the spot” and immobilized are different things. I find this version almost as good as OD&D’s Hold Person. Maybe the target is rooted by this feet (or paralyzed from the waist down) and thus she can’t be the target of a coup de grace (although I admit that it leaves spellcasters theoretically free to cast spells… and actually this interpretation kind of equals Hold Person to Entangle).

I also remember that when I played Baldur’s Gate I and II, a Hold Person spell created a shimmering shield around the victim (you could still hit the target for normal damage and, because we’re talking of a vidoegame, coup de grace wasn’t an issue).

OK, all this talk is because I usually hate Hold Person as an “instant kill” spell (too easy, too boring). Last week I bought the D&D 5E Starter Set and runned it for my kids as a straight tabletop RPG for the first time (I had tried RPGs before with them, but always with heavy alterations and lots of dynamic and ludic activities mid session). Because my kids love Super Mario Bros. I reskinned lots of monster and spells as effects that they would recognize from the videogames, and that included a version of Hold Person. That is when it hit me that I had just created not a reskin but a variant of Hold Person, to address the “instant kill” thing.

Here are others!

1D6 VARIANTS ON HOLD PERSON

1 - Magic Bubble - The target is trapped in a magic bubble that is indestructible from the inside (although disintegration might work) but any hit from outside will blow it (leaving the target unharmed). The target floats a few feet over the ground while the spell lasts and a strong wind might move him (like a levitation spell). The good side about this variant is that it doesn’t allow a save each round. (Yes, this is the Super Mario Bros. version I used with my kids and probably moves the spell to the Conjuration School)

2 - Force Shield - The target is restrained by a sparkling shimmering force shield. The shield provides light as torch and provides a weak protection, reducing damage by half against the first attack against the target (which can’t suffer any kind of critical hit or coup de grace). However, attacking the target grants him Advantage in his next saving throw to break free. (This is my feeble attempt of copying the spell from Baldur’s Gate and moves the spell to the Evocation School)

3 - Bilarro’s Equanimous Hold - The target is completely restrained by crackling ethereal bands. If the target suffers damage while under this cantrap, her attacker suffers the same amount of damage as crackling bands snapback. (Another variant that takes the spell to the Conjuration School)

4 - Mesmerizing Gaze - The target is so consumed by the caster’s presence that she can only stare back, immobilized. This version requires that the target can see the caster and the caster remains in line of sight. The charm can be broken if the life of the target is in danger. If the target is attacked he can make new saving throw as a reaction (notice that backstabs are still effective here).

5 - Planar Misalignment - The target isn’t actually immobile but out of phase with the current plane. He can speak or even move, but no sound will come out and she won’t leave the spot where she was hit by the spell. The target can’t affect this reality while under the spell’s effect and every attack against her has a 50% of being completely ignored. (Another variant that takes the spell to the Conjuration School)

6 - Under the nights of Arcadia - The target is enthralled by many sprites and faeries, falling under their enchantment and becoming paralyzed. The only difference here is that the faeries hate when other spoil their “fun”. So anyone attacking the target must also save or become affected by the spell.

Awesome art choice by SeaSkyMoon.

The Eternal Empire of Tsan-Chan

Almost settled in the new home (and country!). So, time for another update. Recently I offered to do a “reskinning” of the Player’s Handbook (5E) in order to present a “dark and lovecraftian” campaign setting, without limiting the mechanical options. Here is the (slightly revised) version!

That is not a new subject on this blog. Quite the contrary… you can check my first ideas regarding it HERE and HERE.

The Eternal Empire of Tsan-Chan – a D&D 5E Campaign

Theme: A Dark Fantasy Lovecraftian Setting for D&D 5E

Premise: the Eternal Empire, or Tsan-Chan in the Holy Tongue, is the center of Human power in the Old World. Tsan-Chan is so old and vast that no living bloodline (with the exception of the Elder Races) remembers its dark inception. Even the Empire’s current rulers were merely barbarians that exterminated the last “Heavenly Dinasty” a few centuries ago and took over. More recently, the current Emperor, Hastur the Skinner, declared himself the “Yellow Sovereign”, a living and masked god, forbidding the imperial pantheon of Pegana and throwing Tsan-Chan in civil war.

Who are you? You’re the Heretic, the Banished and the Exiled, living beyond the Eternal Empire’s seals and borders (which hamper much of the old and unsanctioned magic). Maybe you hunger for gold, to conquer a piece of land and become its sole ruler. Maybe you’re a fugitive and desire revenge or the help of the Elder Races (or seek a way to immortality with their Lore).  Perhaps, you’re a member of the Lost Bloodline, the ancient and feared rulers of Tsan-Chan (before it had that name).

Where are you? You live in the Borderlands, either in the last domains of the Elder Races or in the barbaric Dragon Realms, which pay allegiance to the Spawn of Tiamat – Dragons and their degenerated servants, the Dragonborn.  From the Dying West you face the monolithic power of Tsan-Chan; beyond the Borderlands lies the Dooms of this Age – the inhuman might of the Hobgoblins, the ravenous Gnolls, the obscene Sahuagin, which have closed the seas, and – finally – the unstoppable hordes of the Coming Race, the Orcs. It is whispered that orc blood shall run through the veins of the next line of Emperors. Of course, there are older and worse things in Abyss Below and the Stars Above…

Races:

Dwarf – A long time ago the Forgers of Civilizations and True Rulers of the Eternal Empire were banished and exiled to the Abyss Below, the Underdark. Their bane was the loathsome and cannibalistic Tcho-Tcho, forefathers of Humanity. Banished to the depths, the exiled mixed their blood, begetting the Dwarven Races. Dwarves wage an everlasting (and thus far losing) war against Tsan-Chan. Hill dwarves are pariahs whose blood mingled with humans, while Mountain dwarves claim to be royalty. However, they lie and deeply fear “True Dwarves”, who call themselves Duergar. Duergars possess otherworldly magic and knowledge, suffering strange mutations – a few, it is said, can even breathe underwater as a result of their abyssal blood (and perhaps a “gift” from their masters, the Aboleth).

Elf – Beyond the Old World, buried deep in the maddening and deadly fumes of the Lotus, lies another realm, an impossible world of forbidden pleasures, dark joys and unending bloodlust. These are the Dreamlands, which are believed to be Paradise or to hold the secrets to immortality. The Elves are the Souless, the temptation of Man, molded to be perfect of body and untouched by old age. The Elves know in the Old World are the Defeated, the Exiled and the mad Disavowed. Their memories of the Dreamlands are clouded and their crimes are always nebulous. Their drives define their bearing in the Old World. High elves are creatures of art and knowledge, hunting for the forbidden secrets, ever seeking a way back to the delicious madness of their original demesne. Wood elves are satyrs, half-man, half-beast creatures, driven solely by their passions. Dark elves are worst, called by other elves the Disavowed – they voluntarily left the Dreamlands to hunt (and some said, taste) the flesh of humans. Dark elves belief that one day Humanity will release the Great Old Ones or, worse, slay Skarl the Drummer, awakening Mana-Yood-Sushai, the Primordial Law, “and there will worlds nor gods any more”.

Half-Elf – Humans naturally lust after Elves and Elves, also naturally, have many uses for Humans. From that unholy union are birthed Half-Elves, also called Maenads. Creatures of uncontrollable and inconstant urges, Half-Elves are beings of extreme. Many suffer from strange bouts of madness, during which they lose all control and restrain. Half-Elves are easily addicted to the Lotus and many dream of finally entering “in flesh” in the Dreamlands. All Half-Elves are proxies of their elven parents, who can see and hear through their eyes. That is also why Half-Elves are hunted in Tsan-Chan and even in the Dragon Realms. They are natural spies.

Halflings – The Merry Folk are a conundrum, a mortal race seemly free of the taint of Tsan-Chan. They arrived millennia ago on the shores of the Eternal Empire and became a caste of servants and farmers, easily ignored by most people. But the so called Halflings have long and hidden traditions about the Gates Between Worlds. Halflings adventurers are either Assassins (Lightfoot) or Watchers (Stout), which are here ancient roles, not ancestries (there is only on Halfling People). Assassins face those that desire the knowledge of the Gates that were shut to prevent the coming of the Great Old Ones; while Watchers are those that gather lore and magic items to prevent Humanity and other races from bringing the End. This is a secret to all powers of the Old World, which see Halflings as mongrels and slaves.

Humans – You’re the rulers of the decadent Old World, masters of its greater power – the Eternal Empire! The last Elder Races cower behind dragons, barbarians and the Dooms of the Age. There never was and there never will be a greater realm than Tsan-Chan. Humans followed the imperial pantheon of Pegana, the gods that raised them from lowly beasts to the rulers of the world. Their Creator is Mana-Yood-Sushai, the Primordial Law, who shall one day awaken and destroy everything. Today, many humans follow the heresy of the Yellow Emperor or, worst, the lies that equal Mana-Yood-Sushai to its opposite – the Daemonic Sultan Azathoth.

Dragonborn – It is said the when the Yellow Emperor, the Nameless One, revealed itself in Tsan-Chan, the Dragons came forth from the ends of Old World and created vicious domains in the Borderlands. They used their alien magic to change the land and raised the Dragonborn. However, they did not predict that their servants could betray them. You’re either a faithful servant of a Dragon Lord or the descendent of those that slayed their greedy masters. You’re hated by Elder Races and Humanity, and think in ways that most humans can’t fathom. Most dragonborn find peace only in violence, drinking or in the alien paths of the draconic mind. Heretic dragonborn dream of Ascension, of becoming Dragons themselves and flying beyond the Stars Above. The faithful dragonborn know that the True Enemy lies inside Tsan-Chan… they know that the rumors of gigantic humanoids walking in the heart of the Eternal Empire and devouring cattle, halflings and humans are true.

Gnomes – The Eldest are ancient beyond reckoning. Gnarled and ugly, gnomes are called the Wise Ones because it is said that they stole magic long ago from the gods, demons or dragons (it also said that gnomes could save the world with that knowledge… if only they cared). Gnomes are born looking old and wicked, and are said to be immortal. They are the rarest of the Elder Races and claim to one have ruled the world (although everyone know gnomes are liars and devilish).  Forest Gnomes have skin brittle and colored like bark, with twisted hands and feet that look like roots; they live in the wilds of the Borderlands, acting as a mix of boogeymen and hermits. Rock Gnomes plague the cities of the Dragon Realms and are hunchbacked and deformed.

Tieflings – It is said that an Emperor once lived that was wicked as a gnome, vengeful as a dwarf, lustful as an elf and wrathful as dragon. His spirit was so dark that both the Gods of Pegana and the Great Old Ones of Azathoth rejected Him, seeing in Him a cunning beast without sophistication, uncaring of Law and Chaos, desiring only power. His mortal vassals erased his Reign and Name from all Imperial Records and banished his shade to the depths of the Abyss Below with great cost. But legends are hard to kill and He is known today as the Dark One, the Prince of Darkness, the Teuf or Asmo’dien. He was bountiful and his spawn yet lives, deeply inside Humanity – the Lost Bloodline. A Teufling or Tiefling, also known as Darkling, are those mortals that descended from Asmo’dien. When they reach puberty, their tainted souls reveal in their flesh, marking them as condemned to King of Pit. Each tiefling is unique and monstrous… some have obsidian skin that crawls with worms beneath, others have transparent skin that reveals tainted flesh and others have tentacles and strangers mutations. Tieflings are hunted not only because of their legacy, but also because their organs are sought by imperial magicians as potent spell components. Many Tieflings become horrendous monsters as they mature, the most famous examples being the Beast of Dunwich.

Classes:

Barbarians – Those that desire the end of both the Dragon Lords and the Eternal Empire. They represent the natural state of humans in the Old World.

Bards – These mysterious casters and artists are actually “priests” of the Fey, the timeless rulers of the Dreamlands. They are hunted as heretics in the Tsan-Chan and as dangerous cultistas in most parts of the Borderlands (except in the reclusive domains of the Elves, where they’re the effective priests of the Dreamlands).

Clerics – “Cleric” in this setting means someone sworn to a God of Pegana, with the knowledge of his/her Signs. all true clerics were exiled afrom Tsan-Chan, after Hastur, the Nameless Emperor, declared himself God.

Druids – The old, mad and barbarous priests of Shub-Niggurath. Many druids struggle to serve Humanity, despite their heritage.

Fighters – As in the Player’s Handbook. Eldritch Knights learn their after pledging fealty to a Wizard.

Monks – Servants of the Eternal Empire, most monks orders are loyal to the Yellow Emperor (with the exception of a few exiles in the Borderlands).

Paladins – The so-called Dragonsworn are the chosen mortal champions of the Dragons. Each Paladin is a knight devoted to one particular Dragon Lord. Thus, they’re all enemies of the Eternal Empire.

Rangers – As in the Player’s Handbook. Their magic comes from the Fey, very old Gnomes or Elves.

Sorcerers – Children of the Gods, sorcerers are hunted and burned at the stake. Most are tainted by dragonblood or the lineage of the Dark One.

Warlocks – The first spellcasters. Both Clerics and Wizards are “modern” developments of the warlock arts. The most common warlocks are pledged to the Dreamlands (Fey), the Dark One (Fiend) or the Great Old Ones. A few rare warlocks serve the Empyrean Spheres, a strange and elusive coterie of otherworldly realms or entities that values harmony and beauty above even Law or Chaos, these men and women are merciless, amoral and deeply feared*.

*And that’s how I would explain a celestial in a lovecraftian setting.

Wizards – They may deny it, but wizards are actually a type of priest here. They learned their secret craft at the feet of the same Great Old One – Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos and Master of the Arcane Arts. Yes, each wizard is occasionally visited by Nyarlathotep, in dreams or (poor soul) in person. The Crawling Chaos has a plan and He also is an enemy of the Yellow Emperor (and the Dragon Lords, and the Gods of Pegada and, even, Azathoth Itself).