Augury – The Midgard Campaign Setting (Part I)

 

Finally, the dark and twisted roads to Open Design’s (now Kobold Press) Midgard Campaign Setting are open! So far we have seen only glimpses of this world, mostly through adventures, mini-supplements and those wonderful one-page articles of Kobold Quarterly. Midgard’s allure (for me) comes from the way Wolfgang Baur mixes Eastern European and Nordic legends with the D&D legendarium – it reads as a classic (or historic game), but also as something fresh. The only other setting that comes to mind with a similar flavor/approach is Birthright.

After a stunning cover, we’re introduced to Midgard’s premises. While I enjoyed its strong “fairy” take on elves and the way dragons intervene on the world, I was especially pleased to see the metagame element of ‘Time Flies, and Status Matters’. Midgard is not your usual ‘Points of Light’ setting – here adventures get old and also get famous, with all its benefits and complications. I really like this approach. The midgardian view of Gods is also intriguing, but let’s leave that for later.

We get a description of Midgard’s creation through the Nordic point of view, followed by more “recent” events like creation of the Dwarves (the firstborn), the ascension and sinking of Ankeshel (that’s Atlantis for you, with all the cool deliriums of Erich von Daniken and Victorian stuff), the coming of the Elves and their dominion over the world of the Humans. Things eventually get messy when those Humans start to abuse magic (especially its dark aspects). The Elves are eventually forced to leave the world, either to fix the Humans’ damage on Midgard borders or just to get as far away as possible of the taint brought to the world. Eventually the various Human magocracies annihilate each other in a classic magic Armageddon. In the power vacuum that follows a circle of dragons make a pact with Humans of the East, creating the Mharoti Sultanate, a vast empire that start conquering surrounding lands with avarice, to properly pay the tithes and tributes of its dragon overlords (imagine the Ottomans, but twice as dangerous and with dragons, that’s the Mharoti). Oh, and I not even mentioned other devious tidbits like, for example, the gnomes of Neimheim.

The next topic is time, planes and the stars. Midgard has one big traditional-looking moon, and seven smaller ones, called Mage’s Stars. Theirs is a description of the five (or six) planets seen on the sky, their names and common (symbolical and mystical) associations.

There aren’t fixed truths on Midgard, thus we get legends and mythological explanations for the Heavens (remember, the world is flat!) – the explanation for what (or “who”) are the stars is my favorite part (and an instant hook for lots of adventures). There’re also mechanics for Ley Lines, which are really simple and easy to use/steal (the fact that they use random tables is a bonus).

One thing that I must point out by now is that all the information above is given through short texts. There aren’t tons of minutiae, historical observations and setting extravaganza to read – the author never forgets that this is a game book, not a novel or world-building exercise. 

OK, now to races.

Humans get the first description and I must say that the Midgardian races of Men are a corruptible, greedy and unpredictable lot (which oddly gives them a nice flavor and charisma). Here we’re also introduced to the idea of Status, a new game trait that reflects your social position. Status can be rolled or bought (with points used to buy Ability Scores). Your race and class modify your Status (interestingly Dwarves and Elves have higher base Status than Humans). In fact, the relation between the various races (particularly older ones as Elves) and Humans is very interesting.

The next race is the Dragonkin, Midgard’s “solution” to the Dragonborn. They’re a younger race, previously unknown to the world and serve – for all senses – as the equivalent of Janissaries (or Mamluks) of the Mharoti Sultanate. It’s hinted that they’re actually a(n) (artificial) half-race.

Midgardian Dwarves are divided in three major cultures: Northern dwarves (our classic mythological fellows), Ironcrag dwarves (a little bit of Tolkien, with more tech and a lot of Swiss Mercenaries attitude) and the fascinating Southern dwarves (think Egyptian Dwarves).

Midgardian Elves are really rare, with most of their race living in the (otherworldly?) western Elflands. Only three small cultures remain, one of them still ruling over their Human subjects at Dornig. Because of their rarity, half-elves get more attention and there’s even the option of playing with one of the so called Elfmarked (humans with elven blood, but not enough to be considered half-elves). 

By now a trait that clearly distinguish Midgard from other settings is its more brutal (or “realistic”) history. Dwarves and Elves are not the advanced, courteous and isolationist Elder Races that we’re used to. Northern dwarves raid humans and take slaves, while Elves practically controlled the entire human western civilization at a certain point of Midgard’s history.

The next race are the Gearforged, Midgard’s take on the Warforged. These clockwork heroes are well-known by Zobeck fans and have a very distinct flavor – all Gearforged were once living creatures whose souls were transferred to mechanical bodies. The mechanics (no pun intended) behind these constructs and the incantation used to create them are also provided. They’re an amazing addition to Midgard and also provide cool roleplay opportunities.

Finally, it’s time for everyone’s favorite race: Kobolds. Midgard holds the eternal merit of making Kobolds cool. Go read the Zobeck Gazetteer, these little fellows are awesome.

The last entry among the major races is the Minotaurs. They’re based on the Minoan civilization and thus are good sailors. Although I have nothing against Minotaurs, they’re the one race that stands a little bit “off” the Midgardian milieu. I’m not sure if we need another race of sailing bull-folk.

Moving ahead we get a short mention on the lesser races: Halflings, Gnolls, Centaurs, Gnomes, Goblins, Tengu (a surprise! and one which a nice flavor) and Tieflings. There aren’t any stats here, just one paragraph for each race.

After a cool list of Midgardian Languages (I loved the mechanical bonus granted by Ankeshelian), we’re presented to new Feats and Character Traits, all tied to some region of the campaign setting.

Next part of this Augury: The Crosswords and other exciting regions of Midgard!

Weird Arcana – Arcane Bound (Mentor)

You have a deeper connection to your arcane mentor than most wizards. You mentor always knows where you are and has direct connection with you for the effect of spells like scry. He probably also has a weak telepathic connection with you. However, this rapport is hard to sustain, so don’t expect your mentor to lose his time chatting with you. He’ll probably only search one of his many pupils for truly important errands.

At 1^st level you gain 2 benefits – Sage Counsel and Mentor's Librorium.

Sage Counsel (Su): 1/day you can take 20 on one Knowledge skill check (even if untrained) after 10 minutes of trance with your mentor. This leaves you Fatigued.

Mentor's Librorium (Ex): you gain three new spells per level instead of two.

At 3^rd level you gain Never Alone.

Never Alone (Su): 1/day, one round after suffering a mind-effect, you can reroll a new Will save as your mentor attempts to help you.

At 5^th level you gain Eldritch Training.

Eldritch Training: you mentor's training is hard but rewarding. 1/day you can change one of your Metamagic Feats. You must meet all the prerequisites for the new feat and it remains available to you for the next 24 hours. Eldritch Training requires one hour of meditation and communing with your mentor, leaves you Fatigued and costs one of your highest spell slots.

At 9^th level you gain Archmage’s Reach.

Archmage’s Reach: 1/day your mentor can directly assist you. When casting a spell, your mentor casts simultaneously cast a second random spell. This dweomer is one level lower than the main spell. The Gamemaster should roll this spell on the Core Rulebook List (if totally inappropriate/useless to the situation choose the next entry and so on). Spells with expensive material components can’t be used. If no spell of that particular level applies, choose a lower level spells. This channeling is vexing and leaves your Fatigued.

Arthur Machen's Green Book (Part 2)

The idea here is finding/making up game-related material inspired by Arthur Machen’s ‘The White People’ short story. The catch is that I’ll try to avoid all the legendarium built by later authors (mostly Lovecraft).

Practically 99% of everything that I write in this series is from the following paragraph:

I found this book (the manuscript began) in a drawer in the old bureau that stands on the landing. It was a very rainy day and I could not go out, so in the afternoon I got a candle and rummaged in the bureau. Nearly all the drawers were full of old dresses, but one of the small ones looked empty, and I found this book hidden right at the back. I wanted a book like this, so I took it to write in. It is full of secrets. I have a great many other books of secrets I have written, hidden in a safe place, and I am going to write here many of the old secrets and some new ones; but there are some I shall not put down at all. I must not write down the real names of the days and months which I found out a year ago, nor the way to make the Aklo letters, or the Chian language, or the great beautiful Circles, nor the Mao Games, nor the chief songs. I may write something about all these things but not the way to do them, for peculiar reasons. And I must not say who the Nymphs are, or the Dôls, or Jeelo, or what voolas mean. All these are most secret secrets, and I am glad when I remember what they are, and how many wonderful languages I know, but there are some things that I call the secrets of the secrets of the secrets that I dare not think of unless I am quite alone, and then I shut my eyes, and put my hands over them and whisper the word, and the Alala comes. I only do this at night in my room or in certain woods that I know, but I must not describe them, as they are secret woods. Then there are the Ceremonies, which are all of them important, but some are more delightful than others--there are the White Ceremonies, and the Green Ceremonies, and the Scarlet Ceremonies. The Scarlet Ceremonies are the best, but there is only one place where they can be performed properly, though there is a very nice imitation which I have done in other places. Besides these, I have the dances, and the Comedy, and I have done the Comedy sometimes when the others were looking, and they didn't understand anything about it. I was very little when I first knew about these things.

As you can see there’re a lot of strange but intriguing concepts written in this excerpt. The entire premise is that the protagonist is reading the Green Book, a strange pocket book that describes puzzling locations and tempting mystic secrets.

Actually I see the core idea of the story as ‘forbidden mysteries’, like in a mystery cult – a lore that only initiates are allowed to learn. Although never mentioned explicitly, there’s a strong feeling, or hint, of dire consequences if any of those secrets are misused or blatantly revealed. A good part of the short story’s horror is derived from this tenuous but exciting flavor.

The really cool thing, however, is that a lot is implied by Machen but never developed. This is an open invitation for any Gamemaster to customize these concepts to his games.

This specific post’s topic is Aklo Letters. Let’s try to cook something interesting.

Well, what are they? It seems to me that they’re some kind of alien alphabet or symbol set. It’s also clear that they’re a secret, an inner mystery. Why?

Aklo was used as a non-human eldritch tongue by Lovecraft for his Yog-Sothothery. Pathfinder stole this idea, making Aklo the official language of many aberrations, ancient fey and really strange or otherworldly beings. Alan Moore took the idea one step further in his polemic The Courtward graphic novel by establishing Aklo not as a language but as a doorway to an inhuman thought-process (which opens the victim’s mind to usual Cthulhoid lore that we so love).

But let’s forget all that (or attempt to evade it) and focus on Machen’s tale. ‘Aklo Letters’ for me sounds like something fairish (in a Brothers Grimm way) – perhaps because the Green Book was written by a young girl.

Options:

I. The Qlippoth Language (The First Language) – This is the first tongue ever spoken and thus it is one of the secret metaphysical pillars of the Multiverse. The Qlippoth, being hollowed creatures and living leftovers of Creation’s beginning, can’t speak Aklo, but can understand it. It drives them mad to hear it spoken by the imperfect lips of mortals.

Each Aklo Letters covers a basic and very specific word. Speaking it allows a caster to roll Spellcraft to substitute ANY other skill or ability check or to generate a minor spell effect (1^st through 3^rd level usually).

It also grants a limited sort of immunity or resistance against the thing represented by the Letter. For example: ‘fire’ allows you to roll Spellcraft and use ½ the result a DR against fire damage; ‘river’ allows the caster to walk over a river (use Spellcraft to substitute a Swim check) or breathe water for a number of rounds equal to the rolled number; you can ask questions to these things (like commune or an equivalent druid spell) etc.

Each time an Aklo Letter is used spoken a Qlippoth (CR equal to the character level +1d10, -1d4) is summoned for 24 hours and starts stalking the pronouncer.

Speaking Aklo even only once “taints” the pronouncer with the abyssal aura of the Qlippoths. You’re henceforth treated as chaotic and evil for all effects (though you keep your original alignment and still use to determine if you keep or not your class features).

II. The Living Language (The True Fae Tongue) – each Aklo Letter is alive and wants to be written (or manifested), but requires a special surface and a special ink.

After finding one of the Aklo Letters, it instills on the victim a compulsion of writing it on the Material Plane. Aklo Letters are found in ancient fey demesnes and havens; they appear naturally on these places – for example, an Aklo Letter can be glimpsed by the form left on twisted roots of a primordial tree.

Each Aklo Letter is also associated with one fey concept, giving to its holder power over it. Usual concepts are ‘Wood’, ‘Man’, ‘Leaves’, ‘Water’, ‘Starlight’, ‘Burrower’, ‘Feathered Beast’, ‘Stalker’, ‘Night Beast’ etc.

Once an Aklo Letter is glimpsed the reader can attempt a Will save (GM’s ad hoc) to resist its lure. If he fails, the Letters is burned in his mind and compels him to write it on the Material Plane.

The holder of a Letter can, once per day, summon it as a full-round action, making crude somatic movements of it (it requires at least on free hand and it provokes attacks of opportunity). There must be line of the sight to the target.

The Letter holder can use it to animate, communicate or dominate.

The animate function usually only work for Letters related to inanimate things (like a tree, a fallen log, a stone or group of pebbles etc). Once invoked, treat it as an animate objects with a caster level equal to the summoner’s character level.

As communicate, it simply allows the invoker to talk with an object, beast or thing. Usually one question/level is a good reference for the Gamemaster. Remember that some things or objects (like ‘Starlight’) can be potentially alien and maddening to interact with (1d4 Wisdom damage per question).

Dominate works like dominate person or dominate monster.

Aklo Letters wants to be inscribed in the Material Plane. Each requires an exotic medium and ink to be properly “manifested”. For example, the Aklo Letter for ‘Fire’ may require an ink made of the ‘ashes of passionate lovers’ mixed with ‘efreet’s blood’ and written over ‘dragon scales’.

The more Aklo Letters written in the Material Plane and their proximity to each other determines the proximity between the world of mortals and the deep and maddening world of the Fey (the deepest demesnes of the First World, if you follow the Golarion cosmology). Things start to get really strange. Dark fey start to stalk the land and the rules of physics and nature (and causality) being to crumble. Eventually, enough Letters are manifested to summon an Eldest (also called an Aklo Grammatician or Aklo Potentate). They are some of the most ancient and powerful Fey, capable of abducting entire realms (or even times or memories) from the Material Plane. Some sages ponder that the Aklo are actually the original deities of the Material Plane, banished by the present pantheons to fractured and shattered First World after losing some chthonic creation war.

III. The “Untongue” (The Language of Madness) – Aklo Letters are a living paradox, a grammatical profanity. They’re an alphabet design to communicate the incommunicable. Chaos and madness are the lore passed by Aklo Letters. They’re, thus, incomprehensible unless you’re also mad.

The ontological reason behind each insanity; the true purpose of symbols that convene no meaning at all but the innately meaningless; the true definition of a color (or of a “lost color” like Jale or Ulfire); the prosaic description of each thing that can’t be; the wordless discuss that existed in the cacophonic void that predated the Multiverse.  For each of these impossible “un-significances” there’s an Aklo Letter (or two, or a thousand or maybe just -1).

Each Letter irrevocably instills one madness and an impossible concept on its victim. A Will save may revert this, but it also erases the knowledge pertaining to that particular Aklo Letter.

After learned, the pronunciation of an Aklo Letters allows the user to confuse others, to cast wild effects (like a rod of wonders or any other table used by the Gamemaster). However, it further erodes their sanity (1d3 Wisdom drain is a good start). If wisdom is reduced to 0, the caster disappears from reality.

The crazier the Aklo student gets, the more his sense “expands” to the “True Multiverse”. The Gamemaster is encouraged to grant the student an ‘Unpercetion’ bonus, equal to the numbers of Wisdom point drained. Allow him once per day to roll this ‘Unperception’ (DC 15). If successful, the student sees something impossible and interact with it – the chaotic “under-verse” of the Multiverse. For example, he could find a parallel copy of himself that lives in a Multiverse where time and causality runs backwards. He could thus talk with himself and discover possible consequences of his future actions (or “past actions” from his copy’s point of view). The Gamemaster is encouraged to grant the Aklo student special knowledge or even minor, but useful powers. However, each interaction should cost him more Ability Score drains (not necessarily in Wisdom) or even allows stranger things “from Beyond” to manifest and start stalking him.

IV. The Arcane Language (a.k.a. “the Real Deal”) – Do you know those strange words and codes employed by spellcaster all around the Multiverse to cast spells? That’s Aklo! The incredible, kalpas-old primordial tongue of Existence. Spellcasting is just a clumsy, brute and broken way of “talking Aklo”. That’s why its pronunciation generates spell effects. Fluent speakers of Aklo can do much more.  If you doubt ask them – the True Deities. That’s where divinity comes from. The more Aklo Letters you know the closer you get to be a Power.

Trying to understand Aklo is ontologically impossible to mortals. Their limitable form can’t hold this knowledge (or The Knowledge). The clay melts, the mind shatters. However, it’s possible to learn a few Letters with “minor” consequences (though better than instantly obliteration).

Each Aklo Letter gives a caster level bonus and a floating bonus spell slot (even if you aren’t a spellcaster). To learn a Letter the seeker must experience it. Unfortunately these Letters are usually things like ‘delving into the Negative Plane and suffering its effects for a night and day without magic protection’, ‘feeling all the sensations of being disintegrated while listening the songs of the Celestials’ etc. Once a particular ordeal is fulfilled, the seeker instantly suffers 1 point of Constitution drain (permanently) and is probably aged a few years (proportionally to its life span).

Another power of an Aklo Letters is the ability to read directly from a grimoire and casting a spell from it (though this cost Con damage). Actually, once you learn one Letter you’re automatically capable of magic reading (like read magic) all times.

The Deities don’t like mortals to learn Aklo. Clerics, outsiders and forgotten and old Things – “Guardians” left by the First Divinities – will start to come after an Aklo Speaker, attracted to its supernal fire like wolves to lost sheep. If an Aklo Speaker is really smart, unscrupulous and  very very luck… he may reach the first steps of godhood before Something gets him.

Weird Arcana - Shadowman’s Unfeasible Snatch (New Spell)

Shadowman’s Unfeasible Snatch

Illusion (shadow) [shadow]
Level: Assassin 1, Bard 1, Sorcerer/Wizard 1, Witch 1
Components: V, S, F (dead thief’s glove)
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal

Target: One object
Duration: 1 min.
Saving Throw: Will save (see text)
Spell Resistance: Yes

This spells allows the caster to grab the shadow of the chosen item and wield it with the same proprieties of the original object.

The item’s shadow must be within reach when Shadowman’s unfeasible snatch is cast and the caster must wield it with his left hand. The item must be something that can be used with just one hand by the caster. To onlookers, the caster seems to touch the item’s shadow and pluck it out of its surface, turning it into a dark and solid copy of the original.

The shadow copy has all the proprieties and bonus of the original. However, they’re considerable fragile (all have just 1 hit point) and Strength checks to break shadow items have a +5 bonus. If damaged, the copy dissipates and the item’s original shadow reforms after a few minutes.

If the shadow copy is a weapon, any victim damaged by it suffers nonlethal damage. A successful Will save negates the effect entirely and leaves the victim immune to further damage.

If the shadow copy is a ranged weapon, like a bow or crossbow, it has only one missile (and then only if the original was loaded at the moment Shadowman’s unfeasible snatch was cast).

Magic items can have their shadows snatched, however this is dangerous. There’s a chance (5% per caster level of original item) that the shadow copy will animate and attack the caster (treat it as a shadow, keep all its immunities, make it deals Wisdom damage and change its creature type to Fey). Even if this doesn’t happen, there’s a 50% chance that the shadow copy behaves like a mundane version of the original. If the original was a charged magic item (like a wand), each time a charge is spent, roll again to see if the item animates. Artifacts can’t have their shadow stolen (and the Gamemaster is encouraged to think of devilish consequences for this act).

Poison or substances applied over the original aren’t passed to the shadow copy. Scrolls (or text written on paper etc) copied can’t be read and are thus generally useless (though runes are fine).

Creatures with Spell Resistance can use it to become immune to a shadow copy’s effect.

Shadowman’s unfeasible snatch is instantly dispelled if shadows are banned from the area (for example, through a deeper darkness spell or by blowing out all torches). If the original item is destroyed, the shadow copy is also instantly dispelled. If removed from a caster’s left hand, the item disappears and the spell ends.

Arcane focus: The caster must wear a dead thief’s glove on his left hand when casting this spell.

Commentaries: This is an example of the kind of spell that I enjoy from AD&D 2^nd – versatile and weird. OK, probably a little abusive too, but you can’t punish players for being creative with their magic. It’s part of the fun. ‘Shadowman’s unfeasible snatch’ has multiple applications and I really like spells that encourage you to think of new ways of employing them. It is indeed a little complicated, but I attempted to cover most (basic) problems that can come of its use. I haven’t playtest it yet so, please, feel free to send me any feedback.

I know that, mechanically, maybe this spell should belong to the Transmutation school, but I prefer the “thematic” approach and the Will save bit help to emphasize it’s illusory nature.

In case anyone is curious, Shadowman is a NPC of my late Chronicle of the 7^th Moon campaign. He was an archsorcerer and also a coward asshole, that preferred to employ lots of ‘darkness’ spells and shadow mastiffs, instead of facing his enemies. He served (under a geas) the current manifestation of Hastur on the Seventh Moon (who ruled the walled nation of Sarnath). He was inspired, equal parts, on Erikson’s Shadowthrone (from The Malazan Book of the Fallen) and Cook’s Taken (from The Black Company).