Less Convoluted Rules for Psionics

The lore explanation for Psionics in my setting is that, if spells are all spirit critters like imps, ghosts, angels, and cthulhus called upon to invoke effects, 'psionics' are basically the same thing, but using your own soul. As such, it is much easier to effect yourself and beings similar to yourself, as opposed to hurling fireballs, and 'dispel' or 'antimagic' effects typically do not work because to 'dispel' a person's soul would be a Death effect, not an arcane countermeasure.

Psionic training requires a lot of meditation, introspection, self-discipline, and counts as having another Class if multiclassed, though a mono-class Psion is acceptable as well. (XP required as cleric).
If an experienced character wishes to become a Psion, they may devote any future earned XP into the class and track psychic advancement separately.

To qualify as a Psion one of the following must be true
-Trained by the ascetic psychic monkeys of Aakasa Parvat or similar locale
-Infested by a Conqueror Worm, currently or previously
-Made empathic contact with BLACK_SWAN
-Survived mental contamination from the Idea of Thorns in its degraded lunar state
-Survived electrical puppetry by a Brain Wasp or KRX.
-Endured nightmare conditioning either via a Saresaren Academy of Thought, a Skull Casket device, or natural exposure to Nightmare.
-Some other niche thing like 'part of a ooze hivemind,' trained in Witness on Hercynia in a game of Lancer, etc etc

Each level gained as a psychic grants a new offensive or defensive mode of your choice, and a random* minor discipline. Every 4th level grants a random* Major discipline.
*Random abilities should be reflavored to be appropriate to the psyche of the character if possible, and rerolled if not.
Each level of Psion adds one point to your lowest score of INT, WIS, or CHA.
Psions can 'sense' psychic activity in their vicinity, similar to smell or hearing. Psionic activity will generally add a 1-in-20 chance of having a psionic encounter to the next encounter check.

Simplified PSI Combat-
Due to the speed of the mind, it takes place before all other actions in a round. Those in a psychic duel 
secretly choose one of the following three actions, rock paper scissors style, even if they do not technically have access to these techniques, and no expenditure of points is necessary:
Psi Blast beats Read Mind. Read Mind beats Focus Thoughts. Focus Thoughts beats Psi Blast. Ties wear down both parties.

• Psi Blast x Psi Blast- Ego Whip! Each take mental damage= to opponents level and may become emotionally vulnerable due to exposed insecurities and character flaws
  
• Psi Blast x Read Mind-Mind Crush! Loser is subject to an Assassination roll, where INT/WIS/CHA mods count as levels. If 'assassinated' loser suffers the second stage of Psi Blast.
• Focus Thoughts x Psi Blast- Tower of Iron Will! The loser's attack rebounds against them and they take mental damage = to their OWN level
  
• Focus Thoughts x Focus Thoughts-Mind Thrust! Each participant has their memory stabbed, forgetting something of opponents choice for 2d4 weeks, and lose 1 point from each mental stat.
  
• Read Mind x Focus Thoughts - Id Insinuation! The loser has a secret suggestion/desire implanted in their mind
  
• Read Mind x Read Mind - Intellect Fortress! Each take mental damage equal to opponents INT, and both parties learn something about the other (childhood traumas, phobias, motivations, etc)
  

Attacks-

Without some other mental connection, only Psi Blast functions against those who are not psionic.
Beings attempting to use ESP, mental control, or similar effects via magical means may be attacked by other forms, so long as they have this 'avenue of mental contact.' Similarly, creatures that primarily exist on the dream realm (ghosts, servitors, nightmares, and demons mostly) are usually subject to psionics as well due to their close ties to the collective unconscious and (usually) ability to affect the human mind.

PSI abilities require points of INT, WIS, or CHA to be spent to use. These stats heal at an enhanced rate of 1+Level stat points of your choice after a full night's sleep, and the cost is noted in this form:
Ability (Cost)

Psi Blast (4)- An assault of telepathic visions and feelings intended to overwhelm and disable with confusion and mental overload, in a thin cone of 20' length and 10' width at the end. The saving throw is made at +2 unless eye contact is had. INT and WIS mods both apply to this save. Stat points may not be spent to use this ability if it would take the Psionic under 10 in a stat.
Those hit suffer from 2d4 turns (not rounds) of random effects, determined by turn in noncombat or by round.

1-Fear, run away at speed blindly screaming, cower if cornered, for the remainder of the duration.
2-Faint/KO/Sleep, helpless until they wake after a turn.
3-Stupefied, stand dazed, -4 AC if attacked, doesn't do anything meaningful, might experience delusion
4-Berserk Fury, attack nearest creature, free to prioritize enemies if there is the option

If Blasted again in the above states, the effects of a failed save worsen to
1-Brain exploded
2- Mentally trapped in Nightmare, body remains in the waking world
3-Gain two Insanities, after 1d4 weeks save again or permanent
4-Psionic Burnout, INT and WIS 3, no psionics, miracles, personality, or wizard business until Restored

Mind Thrust (1)- A focused and highly deft psychic assault attacking memory. Failing a save may disable one psionic ability for 2d4 weeks or cause a single idea, person, ability, skill, etc to be forgotten about for a similar length of time.
Ego Whip(2)- Attacks the sense of self either by exploiting insecurity or aggrandizing arrogance, seeking to disable by inflicting mental stat damage. Mental Damage on a failed save is equal to the attackers Level, with a bonus or malus equal to disparity in INT/WIS/CHA mods. If a stat hits 0, apply Psionic Burnout from the Psi Blast chart (resetting the broken stat to 3).
Id Insinuation (3+)- Attempts to seize control on a failed save by supplanting other desires at a subconscious level. Cost is 3 to add a desire to take a single action to the subject of a failed save, adding the HD of the target as a bonus cost if the actions are strongly against the nature of those controlled. If target has one of their mental stats at 3 or less, they may be completely controlled without expenditure, but are clearly puppets.
This and Ego Whip are the standard weapons of dream entities that seek to exploit character flaws and possess bodies, but this is typically represented via a simple Charm effects to avoid overcomplication.
Psychic Crush (3)-On a failed save, attempts to instantly overwhelm a target by amplifying any mental weakness, incongruity, dissonance, etc to lethal levels, inflicting the second stage of Psi Blast, with success chance equal to 50% +/-5% per difference in Psion level of attacker/defender, with INT/CHA/WIS mods counting as Levels. However, any mental defenses cut this chance down to 1/3rd of normal.
Against things like demons and nightmares, this is akin to an Exorcise or Banishment effect, and is the choice of psychic ghostbusters, but it is also a common 'finishing blow' for experienced and merciless  psionic duelists.

Defenses-

All provide a +4 to mental saving throws and a halving of any mental stat damage taken, both against explicitly psionic abilities and most other mind-menacing threats encountered in adventuring. When keeping them up passively, the cost is measured in Turns, not rounds, but in psionic combat it is by round.

Mind Blank (1)- By clearing ones mind, one becomes 'invisible' to psychic probing... though much like real invisibility, this is not foolproof. It makes one undetectable to assorted psionic disciplines, but does not halve mental damage taken. It is disrupted by extreme sensations like agonizing pain, overwhelming fear, etc (certainly any effects from Psi Blast) and is better for stealth than combat. This is a common Void Monk technique
Thought Shield (0)-A natural state which the mind shifts to not think about certain things while revealing others, seeking to accept but divert mental intrusions into safer regions of thought and outlast and exhaust attackers. It reduces damage taken, duration of ill effects, and any other relevant numerical perils to 1/3rd and triples the psionic cost of ongoing effects (like Id Insinuation), but actually gives the user a Penalty to saving throws (-4) instead of a bonus against other Psi Techniques.
Mental Barrier (1)- By focusing on one thing only, only that thing is subject to attack. However, the subconscious may prove a backdoor to this method of mantra-like thought repetition, and it is specifically not effective against Id Insinuation and other Charm-type effects.
Intellect Fortress (2)- Defending with facts and logic is effective so long as the reasoning is sound enough to resist attacks in kind, and stable enough to resist undermining by emotions. Can shield those you can communicate with, to talk them out of problems. Automatically passes mental saves for yourself and those you rationalize to IF your INT is higher than the attackers.
Tower of Iron Will (3)- Nuh uh! With pure mulish denial, automatically pass saves, and shield those adjacent with this unyielding determination. Towers may soar beyond reach for a while, but collapse eventually.

Disciplines

Minor-

1. Telepathy(1)- Allows mutual, consensual mind-to-mind communication with other living beings, and searching for, detecting, and identifying sought-for beings at a distance of about 50' per round of searching. About one question can be asked/answered per point expended.
2. PSI Blade(1)- A general term for physically manifested violent, short range forces that are the equivalent of a melee weapon of +1 enhancement for every 3 levels of the psionic (round up).
   
3. PSI Soothe(X)- The sympathy most living beings have leads to psionic healing being common.
   HP may be healed at a rate of (1) per 3HP, stat damage at (2) per lost stat point, sensory damage for (6) points, diseases for (9) points, poisons for (12) points, and level loss for (15) points.
4. ESP(2)- By concentrating for a Turn on one person or in one direction, surface thoughts of people may be spied upon. This also establishes a psionic connection to non-psychics, allowing attack techniques to be used upon them.
   
5. PSI-bernate (6)- The Psion may enter a state of suspended animation, appearing dead and not requiring food, water, air, etc, and not aging, and being solipsistic isolated within their own dream realm. They are self-hypnotically programmed to awaken either after a set amount of time, or upon a trigger condition. This is a common Aakasa Parvat technique.
   
6. Mass Equilibrium (3) Communication with the earth elementals within things allows almost all weight to be removed from objects and people for 1 turn. This allows lifting heavy things (oversized items used as weaponry deal +1 damage per level of Psion), feather falling, levitation without propulsion, and crossing quicksand, water, tightropes, branches, etc with ease.
7. PSI Conquer (3)- This is the the discipline associated with Conqueror Worms, and is a wide range of mental 'waves' broadened to work without close psionic contact as is normally required. It is conveniently color coded, as are the Conqueror Worms themselves. Upon a failed save, the following effects can be enforced, costing 1 point per round. Typically, only one mode is initially mastered, with other modes requiring experiencing the appropriate mental states in extremis, or eating more Conqueror Worms.
   
   • Red- Incites target to bestial rage, attacking whoever is closest.
     
   • Orange- Temporary insanity, believing a delusion chosen by the caster and acting accordingly
     
   • Yellow- Incites target to drop whatever they are holding and flee at maximum speed
     
   • Green-Hallucination, seeing whatever the Psion places in their mind and reacting as if it were real.
     
   • Blue- Puts target into a sleepy daze, unable to take action and suffering -4 AC
     
   • Violet- Stat damage as per Ego Whip or amnesia as per Mind Thrust.
     
   • Magenta- Brainwashed into helpful friendship, as per Charm Person.
     
8. Empathy Projection(3)- Psionic projects their own feelings into those nearby (5' radius per level), letting others feel their own fear, hunger, rage, fatigue, pain, hatred, curiosity, love, peace, madness, etc. This may trigger morale checks (with varying outcomes) or more extreme states depending on the Psionics own state, spreading any supernatural effects such as Charm, Fear, etc. This is the discipline associated with BLACK_SWAN and generally leads to mutual understanding.
   
9. Psychometry- (1) Allows learning about the owners of an object by handling it, revealing their identity, meaningful life events, notable uses of the object, and eventual fate, with each question to be asked costing an additional point. This is done by subconsciously communing with ghosts, the subconscious nature of contact shielding the psychic from undead possession.
   
10. PSI Invisibility(3)- A misnomer, this is actually more like the ability to be beneath conscious notice. It lasts 1 turn, and only affects equal or lower-HD targets when compared to the Psion's level.

Major

1. Borehole (10)- Allows opening the Gates of Horn and Ivory and entering the Dream Realm, allowing others to come with. Entering a living mind leads to their psyche, while the dead lead to afterlives (or in the worst cases, Nightmare, just as a Nightmare Anchor would.) This technique is not widely taught in Saresare, as it weakens the borders between the Waking World and Nightmare, and is more common among illegal Somnambulist cults than the Academies of Thought.
   This may be used to travel to other worlds when used on appropriate items and otherworlders.
   
2. Psychokinesis (3)- Allows the movement of around 10lbs/5kilograms/1 Inventory Slot per level (squared) up to 40.' Duration is based on speed, lasting until the movement is complete or concentration is broken- an item could be levitated very slowly along that distance for up to a Turn, or hurled in an instant.
   Saving throws are allowed if a living being is grasped directly (which holds them in place), and to avoid being squashed by hurled objects. This may be used to block physical attacks by deflecting or stopping bullets and blades either directly or by intervening shields, but the attacker gets a save just as if they were to be grabbed.
   
3. Swarm Queen- (10) Allows psionic abilities to target up to 5 individuals simultaneously once activated for the day, with no additional cost. This technique is typically learned by becoming part of a hive mind for some period of time, and leaving with your psyche intact.
   
4. PSI Scry(1)- Allows the Psion to cast their mind out to roam the collective subconscious of the dream realm, hopping between mental connections to locate anyone in the world and see through their senses and make psychic contact with them, for good or ill. There is generally a 10% chance per turn of scrying of finding the desired target, doubling with personal acquaintance, and doubling again for a strong emotional bond. Chances are halved if the target is on another plane of existence, and may be blocked entirely by Psi defenses or other means of hiding.
   Those unwilling may force the Psion to expend points equal to their HD to maintain connection, though if simply having their senses shared, they must make a saving throw to even notice.
   
5. Sever The Light (5)- A forbidden technique learned from being electrically puppetted by a KRX, the Psion's mind may moves beyond the paradigm of 'souls' and 'minds' and thinks only in terms of physicality and electric meat. With a 10% chance of success per Psion level, this technique renders one immune to any magical or psionic attacks that would affect the mind/soul until they 'reset' after a night's rest. After mastery at 10th level, each level beyond provides a 10% chance per level above 10 to locate and identify any would-be psychic contact, allowing immediate mental counterattacks from an unassailable position.
   
6. Omnipresence (10/20)- As the Dream Realm is everywhere, so too can be the Psion, imagining themselves elsewhere and making it so.
   The lesser cost is a personal, short-ranged, safe teleport within 240,' while the higher cost is for a long-ranged, unsafe teleport (as per the spell) that can bring the caster and up to 5 other beings with them. Spending additional points reduces the odds of a teleport mishap by 1% each.
   
7. Aura Farming-(15) The Psion may break curses, alter the apparent auras of beings to make them register as other forms of beings (allowing for a chaotic fighter to register as a lawful magic user for purposes of wielding an aligned magic sword, for instance), and identify magic spellwisps, even Cursed ones that normally hide their nature(Identification only costs 2 points). Curses may sometimes even be altered to operate in ways that benefit the accursed, such as a Cursed Berserker Sword instead Berserking those it strikes, rather than the wielder.
   
8. Precognition-(X)- By intense cognition, predictive analyses, and so on, a Psion may attempt to 'foresee' the future, with a 1% chance of success per point spent and per level of Psion.
9. Mind Over Matter-(X) The Psion may instinctively communicate with the elementals that make up the world, allowing them to endure cold, heat, vacuum, pressure, drowning, acid, poison, etc and take no harm. This costs 1 point per level of monster or spell they are enduring, or 1 point per die of damage they would take per turn in the case of more environmental effects.
   The Psion may also alter the properties of materials, making them brittle, bouncy, sticky, fluid, or solid. The effects, size, and cost of this must be ruled by the GM, though typically a save to resist the ill effects should be allowed.
   
10. PSI Pyrokinesis(3X)- Agitation of the flame soul within the self and all things can manifest flames. This allows for Pyromancies to be cast at the cost of 3/Spell Level (See Yg-A spell list),
    with a limitation that they take 1 extra round per point required to stoke the hidden flames, -2 rounds per Psion level.

Monks as Fighter Techniques

I reread the AD&D Monk over Christmas and was amazed at all the sheer janky madness there is. I did think it was pretty cool in general, though the specific details make them headaches and a bit of information overload for starting monks.

As such, I think Monks will henceforth be 'Fighters,' just with specific 'Secret Techniques' that lean them more monkish.
Intended monk progression is probably supposed to have them start off more as standard fighters, wearing armor and using weapons, then gaining confidence and technique to discard these, in an amusing reversal of the normal looting cycle. Having bad strength and dex stats can be mitigated by skillful techniques as a monk, while innately good stats are not rewarded.

While normally fighters may only use 1 technique per level, the following restrictions will unlock  two additional monkish techniques to be learned from the beginning if followed.

Ascetic-Monks may forsake the accumulation of wealth, accepting no wealth beyond what they can personally carry. They further limit themselves to 5 magic items maximum, which can be weapons, rings, and miscellaneous items that are basically 'worldly' items, ie, ones not too wizardly or divine.
They still should lay claim to their fair share of items and give them to worthy NPCs, store them in shrines, etc.
Note that 'Unarmed' combat requires all hands to be free, and combinations like 'unarmed punch and shield' or 'unarmed punch and dagger/pistol' are not allowed except, perhaps, with another secret technique not found here.

Empty Hand Way- While standard fighters educate themselves in battlefield tactics and strategy, abandoning the training to command troops allows more time to develop personal combat. Monks may forsake the ability to have hirelings(except for the level 1 monks attracted as disciples at level 8), and forsake the default fighter's technique, which allows fighters to make 1 attack per level against HD 1 foes who are leaderless, simulating routing them with superior battlefield tactics like flanking, linebreaking, etc etc.


The Ranking-
Monks may forsake the collection of GP to XP and simply level up along with their companions (though they should still take shares, if only to donate them to charity/their old master and school).
Alternately, their skill could be determined by them defeating foes of appropriate 'Dungeon Level' in singular battle, though this and later iterations of Combat Rating tend to be wildly off base. Still, it's a thought that encourages them to seek duels with worthy foes to prove themselves.
Upon reaching Level 8, a Monk may seek out one of the Five Dragon Masters (or equivalent, such as a real dragon) and challenge them in single combat. Failure (if survived) will demote that loser to level 7 (halfway to level 8) and allow the winner to either continue trying to ascend to the heights of mastery(allowing the loser to maintain their position), or defend their new ranking from challengers. At this stage, they will attract 1d4+1 followers, +1 per level, and may either take over the temple of the Dragon Master they defeated, or begin gathering funds to build their own temple and take care of their followers in an allowed deviation from the Ascetic restriction.

1. Disciple-Beginners impressed with a master's martial skills
   
2. Novice- Disciples who know enough to know they know nothing
3. Fist- Upon demonstrating professional competence with weapon and fist techniques.
   
4. Foot- As above, but with kicks, footwork, and movement
   
5. Hand-  As above, but with open hand techniques and grappling maneuvers
   
6. Head Student- Skilled enough to manage a training session of greener students
   
7. Sensei- Skilled enough to manage or inherit an existing school, but not develop your own.
   
8. 5 Dragon Masters- Skilled enough to defeat a dragon. Those at this level or above are masters of the art. Defeating a Dragon in honorable combat is usually enough to have the rank honorarily bestowed, so the Bai-Szue Empire has many more than 5 Dragon Masters.
   This is the rank at which all 'default' monk techniques will be learned- additional techniques will be necessary to distinguish yourself with your own style.
   
9.  Master of the Temples-Skilled enough to crush multiple dojos, defeating every member in search of more esoteric martial arts.
   
10.  Master of Masters- An undefeated streak of defeating other Masters will grant this title by reputation.
    
11.  Master of the Mountain Peak-Granted to those who have defeated a mountaintop Sword Saint of either the Ina Barrier Peaks, or the Saresaren Leng Plateau.
    
12.  Master of the Clouds- Granted to those who have defeated an Ape Sage of Aakasa Parvat.
    
13. Master of Fallen Snow- Granted to those who can defeat a Giant of Geatland in unarmed combat.
    
14. Master of Fallen Leaves- The title of a monk who has triumphed against an bonsai dryad.
    
15. Master of the Aurora- For beating starspawn, moonspawn, or other celestial terrors
    
16. Master of the Dawn- for defeating ascended saints of the Solar Celestial Court
    
17.  Grand Master of Flowers- The title of a monk who has attained perfect harmony with nature
    
18. - At this stage, the competition is entirely inhuman. Rumors of mad Alves, the Saint of Blades, ancient demons, grandmasters who continued training beyond death, and worlds beyond this one are pursuits that will take seekers beyond myth and legend and into infinity.

High Temple of The West Winds
Saresarens here, sometimes called 'Dervishes' by idolatrous Mercian barbarians, train in high mountain temples that overlook the bleak deserts below. They are known for wearing blue and white silks, with long sleeves and scarves, and dual wielding scimitars rather than focusing on unarmed combat. They, like the Silk Wizards of the region, place high importance on fasting, mental discipline, and ascetic avoidance of luxury and comfort, and their techniques have spread throughout the world from ancient times.

• Eternal Pure Mountain Dew**&- The secrets of health may be developed by physical and mental discipline, diet, and exercise, granting the monk immunity to Haste, Slow, and Disease.
  At level 6, a monk may meditate so deeply as to appear dead- they will endure conditions like extreme cold, starvation, etc during this state as if exposed for only 1/10th the time.
  At level 11, immunity to Poison is gained.
  
• Contempt Of The Wind*- Nonmagical missile attacks (arrows, thrown weapons, etc) may be saved against to be avoided, and explosions such as fireballs and dragon breath that allow a save for half damage may be entirely avoided upon a successful save.
  At 9th level, even on a failed save, such attacks still only deal half damage.
  *=Not compatible with body armor
  **=Ascetic
  &= Not That mountain dew... unless...?
  

Void Monks
The most notable temple is in Oroboro, though they pop up all over the world. These techniques are characterized by detachment from so-called 'reality' and are just as effective when used by the decrepit and weak. The branch in Oroboro, founded by Bers, who studied under Sa, is known for utilizing Brain Wasps to pith their brains and serve as the wardens of accursed silver swords that contain the Hatecubi of Isfrix. In the 6th age, they ideologically decay into a mercenary company no longer aiming to remove suffering and attachment, but only using their skills for worldly pursuits.

• The Empty Fist- This technique increases unarmed damage from the default 1d3 as levelling continues. STR no longer affects to hit or damage, but if melee weapons are used, weapon attacks deal +1 damage per 2 levels, rounded up.
  You may also attempt to Open Locks as a Thief by striking them.
  
  Unarmed Damage by Level
  

1. 1d3- Additionally, blows that exceed target AC by 5 or more stun
   
2. 1d4   those struck by the Empty Fist, as their senses are temporarily discombobulated.
   
3. 1d6   They are disoriented and unable to act for 1d6 rounds, and suffer a -4
   
4. 1d8   AC penalty due to blindness and stun for this duration.
   
5. 2d4  The Empty Fist can also apply this sense-blocking on willing targets.
   
6. 1d10
   
7. 1d12 At level 7, the Void Fist is learned. Stunned targets have a 20% chance to
   
8. 2d6  be immediately slain, +1% per level over 7, -1% per point of AC. Such targets may implode,
   
9. 3d4  be slain by pressure points, or suffer other ghastly demises depending on the monk's style.
   
10. 3d4
11. 4d4
12. 4d4
13. 5d4 At level 13, Hollow Quivering Palm is learned. Once per week (more kills the monk at the
    
14. 5d4 conclusion of battle) they may activate this technique- touching their target within 3 rounds
    
15. 6d4 allows the monk to slay the target immediately, or within 13 days, so long as they are not
    
16. 5d6 undead, only hittable by magic weaponry, or exceed the monks HD or have over triple HP.
    
17. 8d4

•   The Empty Mind**- Void Monks first learn to empty their mind, and later, may actually empty their head literally by destroying the brain. They enjoy grants a +4 Bonus to save against ESP, Charms, psychic blasts, etc.
  If the brain-removal ceremony is completed, the monk becomes wholly immune to psionic phenomena, including the control of Ego weapons, Geas and Quest, and those who make mental contact must save or be shocked catatonic for 1d6 days, or have their own mind read by the void monk (monks choice). This ceremony is risky (Save vs Death to survive) and so is typically put off until detachment from life or death is achieved.
  **Requires adherence to the Ascetic code of detachment
  
• Blindfighting*- Void Monks learn to fight blind, each significant battle reducing either the AC or the To-hit penalty by 1 (requiring a total of 8 such fights). Upon mastery, the Monk's senses are so honed that they can hear heartbeats, echoes, feel disturbances in the air, etc etc, that within a range of 30', they are perfectly aware of solid objects, enemies, etc.
  Due to the eerie senses granted, you may Detect Traps as a thief would, and Disarm some by striking their mechanisms with vibrations (others must be problem-solved away normally).
  *=Not compatible with body armor
• Void Cut- By forming vacuum vortexes, hypersonic blood flicks, qi-blasts, ranged attacks may be made. These attacks are made as per thrown spear range, but never deal any special damage or effect beyond 1d8+X, regardless of weapon, technique, personal prowess or strength, etc and can only strike normal weapon-immune monsters if enough levels are had (4 for each +1 required).
  These attacks, like Empty Fist weapon use, deal +1 damage per 2 levels, rounded up.
  

Monkey Style- So taught by the apes of Aakasa Parvat. An ancient unarmed style practiced by gorillas, technically, the term 'Monkey Style' is a derogatory one used to describe schools that what would in the USA be called a 'McDojo.' Such inferior techniques (Lacking Ascetic or Empty Hand Way to unlock extra technique use) are oft taught by wicked Baboons in the deserts and jungles of the Saresaren/Yuba border. Thanks to these inferior yet more well-known schools, the term became so cemented in Common that it cannot be escaped, being the very source of the term 'Monk,' and these copied techniques spread across the world under a variety of different names.

• Thousand Falling Petals*-This technique allows for extra unarmed attacks to be made each round, every 4 full levels allowing for one additional attack. Apes and/or multi-armed beings of the original teachings can make a claw/claw/bite attack from the very start of their career, but humans are not so lucky. Variants exist among Bonsai Dryads known as Thousand Autumn Leaves and Thousand-And-One Needles, and variants throughout the world, such as the Thousand Beaks of Revel Shrike-and-Branch style can be found also.
  Variants that do work with with weapons and armor are slower than unarmed attacks, allowing for 1 extra attack every 5 full levels instead of 4.
  *=Not compatible with body armor
• Speak No Evil**- unknown to the pretender schools, the empathy towards all life practiced by the apes eventually blossoms into the ability to speak with all animals at Level 3, and all plants at level 8.
  Due to the careful thought put into making noise, you may Move Silently, Hide in Shadows, and Hear Noise as per a thief.
  **=Ascetic
  

Elvish Blade Dancing- Ironically, has been out of favor with elves since the 3rd age, but humans still sometimes learn it from elves... or goblins. No armor may be worn when performing either technique.

• Dry-Rain-Dancing-  Grants +1 AC per level, base 10. Dexterity modifiers do not apply, for better or worse. Also grants +15' movespeed, and +5' more per additional level past 1.
  
  
• Swallow-Perches- This allows standing, running, and fighting upon objects as though you weighed only as much as a small bird.
  You may Climb Walls as a Thief.
  Falls  count as 20' less if there is anything within reach to break your fall- tree branches, cliff faces, etc. At 6th level this increases to 30' and an additional 5' reach is granted.
  At 13th level, safe fall distance is infinite, the technique is typically called Meteor Walking, and and additional 10' reach is granted.

Four More Campaign Worlds And Retrospective Lessons

Three years ago I made this moderately popular post about past campaign worlds, and I think it's about time I updated it with what I've run since then and perhaps what was learned.

CASTLE NOWHERE

A drawing of the most active characters- Leah the thief and her goblin minions, Blix and her fairy and spider sidekicks, Aten Bast the mighty wizard (Later replaced by the also mighty Thirbaek Merrymace after Aten's many deaths cheapened his life in the players eyes), Olaf the wicked old usurper of the Sheriff position, Leo and Pilgrim/Lily the Witch, character and decoy replacement character after some party PKing, and finally Ambrose Noure, the sociopathic but easy to work with Gothic Villain and his pigman retainer Lump. There were other important characters such as Erhard De Vend as well, but such is the nature of open table games that there is no snapshot of the party that is perfectly comprehensive.

After the politicking of Crownless Lands, I wanted to return to ye dungeoncrawling, and an individual sense of struggle and survival rather than faction jockeying. At this time I had been playing quite a bit of Enter the Gungeon and Darkest Dungeon and had belatedly gotten into the lore of Undertale, so I had a notion of looping time where each adventure would go through similar areas, with increasing familiarity allowing easy bypassing, knowledge of where the plate armor was to upgrade the frontliner, and so on. Additionally, death would be irrelevant, a time loop ensuring a way to keep characters constant but threat level high, even easier than even widespread Raise Dead. To keep the focus on individual treasures rather than gold hoards, I used a copper standard without changing rulebook prices. 1 copper piece was worth 1 xp, making lanterns and other mundane items valuable treasures, and a suit of plate stolen from Castle Noure's armory racks

Not much of this design sentiment survived the early drafts, as I think it would have required a singular carefully crafted megadungeon to work, but I did not have that sort of prep time available. So the focus of the campaign was a single small village beneath the eponymous Castle Noure

A quick view of the village map. Upgrading the village wasn't the focus of the game, but was a satisfying part

With a very small hex map in case the players got cabin fever and wished to wander, though this campaign was set in the Moonlands, a place where the sun was a rare occurrence and the lights of alien moons warped reality and spawned monsters. It was no place for mortals to go wandering about narratively, and on the meta level, this was not a hex crawl campaign.

With the dire outside established, the focus then turned to the accursed, time-looped estate which was composed of 3 modules- Ynn, Castle Gargantua, and Maze of the Blue Medusa, with Ynn as the ever-changing grounds of the estate that must be crossed, Castle Gargantua as filling for the towers and 'minidungeons' that might be found from entering buildings that were not Noure proper, and MotBM as the 'Final Area' within which were contained the secrets of the decadent nobles and mad experimentation that caused this loop. All were warped to suit the campaign setting rather than used as is, but Ynn was praised, MotBM disappointed, and Castle Gargantua was mostly ignored, but I feel like, with some tweaking, could be worth trying again.

Another sleeper hit was a tweaked version of the Meal of Oreshegaal, (which I still can't spell) which in my warped version had the Tuskmen as once-human peasants subjected to famine that Oresh turned to pig-people so that they could survive via cannibalism rather than become ghouls. As some of the more ghastly elements of the manor were removed, Oresh became everyone's favorite creepy wizard uncle and the party allied with him against the entity responsible for the time loop (which in a twist, was not a time loop at all, but a manual reset using clockwork machinery, cloning facilities, which then gave everyone a bit of an identity crisis upon the revelation that many of them were clones made to play out assigned roles).

Player attendance became wobbly near the end, but a final epic conclusion or three were achieved, and a combination of retirement and new recruitment was set out for the next portion of the campaign.

Things I learned from Castle Noure
1. Having the players be desperately poor is fun, but can wear thin in the long run- I am more likely to switch to 'barter only, coin isn't real' than go full on copper standard but silver/gold book prices again.
2. Making death a non-issue has mixed results depending on playgroup. Some players had more fun not having to worry about permadeath, and/or learned the value of permadeath by seeing the effects of hanging on to a character who had outstayed their welcome. While others used it as a crutch to support existing over investment and loss-aversion and were led astray, perhaps. I think future games of mine will have to pick a path, so to speak, either making death more menacing, or leaning harder into the 'fantasy soulpunk' idea I have for the setting, where death is just deportation to the netherworld and human consciousness in artificial bodies is the new transhumanism mood.
3. An absolutely hostile wilderness less fantasy wilds and more 'cosmic horror' is very fun, but again can wear thin in the long run. I am greatly amused by my veteran players who survived the Moonlands chuckling to each other when newbies ask about the Moonlands or naively assume that they couldn't be that bad out loud.
4. Reliable 'crafting systems' for potions and the like have a sort of appeal, but I think are doomed for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, I think potion ingredients must be confined to things that cannot be farmed safely, or you run the risk of having to run Magical Industrial Revolution with potions/magic items. Which could be fun if that's the premise of the game, but if it's just one player wanting to set up basilisk and mandrake factory farming, you probably get a pacing/tone/balance issue.
5. Having a premise to do 'one thing' in a campaign is great and good and has always been more successful than keeping things strictly 'get in ye dungeon and get rich and figure out what you REALLY want along the way". "Break the Curse of House Noure or Get Rich Trying" was the initial goal of the campaign, it fragmented into other goals, and finally, when the campaign was over, some characters retired, but some had formed a proper adventuring party forged from the unity of their common goal.

If there was a theme to the 54 sessions or so of Castle Noure, it was something about leaving past trauma behind and focusing on found friendships and family. But of course, it was not to last, for call no PC happy till they are safely retired offscreen...

IRON-CROWNED OROBORO

Map lacks some player added portions

After the party finished with Castle Noure, their next goal was to take their 60-foot tall clockwork fighting robot and walk it out of the hellish moonlands to sanity and sunlit lands, for a variety of reasons. Thirbaek Merrymace, cleric of dead gods, had properly put one of his gods to rest, and now sought to find the sunshard fragments of Riikhus and reassemble him. Blix wanted to honor the wishes of some bugfolk and bury them on the isle of Ebetheron, and also go on a honeymoon with their protein polymorph gf. But mostly, people just wanted to keep playing and get out of the moonlands, and Oroboro was a part of the setting that was well-fleshed out due to the past Crownless Lands campaign, so it made for a good destination.

Oroboro was supposed to be a city crawl+megadungeon, and I had a vision for the megadungeon, with rooms that would fill and empty with seawater, making timing very important, and equipment more important yet, as armor protected from monsters, but not drowning. A hell of undead and fishy monstrosities, a corrupt sore at the heart of the city that had formed from the unfinished business of Oroboro.

After the very positive experience with Ynn, I did not prep the Sunken Sepulchre megadungeon,but instead filled it on the go with random tables. I think dungeons benefit from building in advance so parts coincide, but I think the enemy composition between sea creatures, outlaws, and undead was a memorable mix as they required different tactics to approach and the players rarely rushed in, rather scouting, then returning to 'lair' areas with preparation.

Looming threats were the cult of Janus, cthonic demon god of blood and gold, their temple a crater filling with seawater, and the dread Ningen King, a giant merman made into immortal monster by the artifact Topaz, and his rivalry with King Samuel Goffnagoff, an old PC who had become king, as well as the machinations of the ancient serpent rulers of the city, a necromancer cult which outlived the loss of its head, a giant wasp-queen Happy who was raised by humans but whose offspring lacked morality and hungered for brains, and the neighboring country of Fassulia in a magical cold war with Oroboro.

The players were no mere murderhobos delving with rusty spoonshivs now, however- levels started at about 3-5, and reached 6-7. Waterbreathing and light were spells that trivialized some of the mundane threats of the dungeon, which was slightly disappointing, but the players found the place disgusting and dangerous enough that they probably would not have been willing to delve it without these magical tools. A fine balance is required to make dungeon delving at higher levels still feel dangerous, and I think it was barely met here, but, especially once teleportation and flight became available, it surely felt like the players were outgrowing many of the problemsolving parts of dungeon delving.

However, their heightened power, especially mobility-wise opened them up to the wonders of hexcrawling and domain building, and I soon found myself in need of prep far beyond the Sepulchre.

They fought (and lost against) blue dragons in the deserts relying on their metal clockwork battle bot (but came back with a plan and grapple ballista and a small army and won), delved a ghoul-missile silo in Fassulia and uncovered the machinations of the lich Magister Verdurus (villain of Crownless Lands), riddled with terrible ifrits who could only be tricked and outwitted, not beaten, visited the islands of the realm and other city-states like Phavea and the accursed City of the Emerald (within which a kiss-spread curse made all appear as the lost Queen of that city), met the Knights of the realm in their castles, accidentally assassinated Oroboron Queen Buckley at the machinations of a player from Crownless Lands picking up an old character, igniting mroe Fassulian-Oroboron intrigue (tho necromancers were behind it all) and made war Against the GiantsSaga of the Giants™ and defeated and claimed the hill giant section of that module to dip their toes into that hazy theoretical realm of 'domain play, ' which really came into full force after the players defeated the Heart of the Kingen (and betrothed the High Incarceratrix of Janus) removing the two main sources of evil at the heart of Oroboro, only to be confronted with a choice- both the King of Oroboro, Samuel Goffnagoff, and the Serpent Queen Tinnea, giant platinum medusa (one of three medusa) offered payment for the monstrous-immortality granting Topaz, but each was vying for rulership of the city. Tinnea got it in the end, simply because she could pay the ONE MILLION SILVER bounty upfront, while King Samuel offered a payment plan.

Apologies for that doozy of a runon, have an image of Blix, Erhard, and Thierbaek, as well as retainers Serenity the hatecubus/Erhard's Sword, and Kitadatapa, moral compass spider cleric.



Samuel was petrified and overthrown, which led to what would later be known as the Oroboron Civil War, in which some supported the legitimate claim of the Serpent Queens, while others supported the human Goffnagoff family who refused political marriage and opted for revolt (Princess Evalyn being the Rebel leader). I rolled reactions amongst Samuel's knights to see who would join the rising serpent queen and who would rebel, and was surprised to see that most rebelled (save for the most mercenary of them). More surprising still was the split of player loyalty to different sides of the civil war. Each side was largely identical in politics, so it really was down to character moments- Some valued their feudal oaths to the knights, or had sinister mirror-cult conspiracies at play, or simply sided with their best friends or just were double-agent lesbians

hey, a motive's a motive

Anyway, each side was given private channels to communicate in, and they plotted and schemed, drawing allies from local factions they met in more standard play to aid them, employed counter-measures and counter-countermeasures via spying and double agents and intelligence work, and I as GM was just the neutral arbiter of all this. Though some people felt betrayed, for the most part this was very enjoyable to everyone, as playing against other players with GM as arbiter lead to lots of problem solving. In the end people died, players retired, and the Serpent Queens were cast into prison or the pocket dimension from which they came (or beheaded by KAN for inscrutable purposes), the Lumarian conspiracy was revealed and [REDACTED] (he sold his name to a bugbear) the Mirror-Pope fled to the mirror realm, and the party's ties were now shooketh and everyone resolved to sail away from this political squabbling on a boat to become pirates instead.

What did I learn from this 65 session campaign? Well, one thing was what D&D in the 5-7 range really starts to look like. I would not go so far as to say this was 'true' domain play as we did not get deep into the nitty gritty of how many pikemen can guard a 5' wide breach in a player-build castle wall, there were mercenary troops hired, there were night raids on war camps, there was A player castle built on the ruins of the reclaimed Hill Giant Steading, there were religious conspiracies and marriage angles, it was all pretty great. With regards to 'domain play' I think there needs to be a goal- idly upgrading and sleeping at Fort Fortenfort (said player castle) was briefly fun, then ignored, but the goal of the Civil War galvanized players into 'domain level' actions. The trick might be setting- you need it to be wilderness enough that the players have room to grow, but also have nearby factions of all types so the players aren't just clearing hexes of direwolves or whatever.

According to one player, the theme of this campaign was 'Loyalty' not just to fellow party members and maximising loot, but to ideological goals. While fun, the Civil War took a lot out of people and they resolved to go on a piratical boat adventure with no complicated politics, just a desire to escape Oroboron politics and stop a prophesy that said the fled wasp-princess might bring about the end of the world via domination of brain-eating wasps.

VOYAGE OF THE THIEFBOAT

Things seemed to start off well- the party scrying the wasp-princess, robbing a tower of an archmage of its goodies (even learning the Wish spell, albeit a Glogified one), dealing with plague rats on the ship and pressganging pirates into joining. Then came Cycladea, a Lungfungus created island module meant to emulate bronze-age greek mythology.

In and out, talk to the wasp-princess out of causing the apocalypse, and definitely don't get caught up in Iliad/Gigantomachia shenanigans, 20 minute adventure

Bouncing around Cycladea started low-impact, looting some dungeons, helping villagers, meeting wizards. But these were not fresh characters. They had strings on them. Arsem's madness and Firstborn(the forsaken homunculous 'daughter' of Blix)'s pact with the Great Raven led them to piss off a terrible wizard who was cursed by the gods after their initial friendly meeting. Animated skeletons (and covert vampires who snuck on in Oroboro) caused a mutiny on the ship, and Finzu, the Pyromancer, lit a city aflame with everburning fire with some magical shenanigans. The party sided with the king who had imperialist dreams, and vowed to defeat the goddesses of Cycladea who were admittedly jerks in the greek pantheon way. The temples of the goddesses were burnt and pillaged, the kings forced to bow. Those of the party who enjoyed the chaos revelled, those with morals left the boat behind, Kithri the halfling slipping off to garden and raise sabre-toothed tigers elsewhere, Firstborn teleporting back to Fassulia to atone and work on the side of law, mourning the lost friendships the Civil War had ruined, Thirbaek and his wife the High Incarceratrix used a sunshard and miracles to have a vampire-dwarf-sunchild and started a new pantheon and went on to rule Stonefast 2 in other lands, Grift died and joined said pantheon as a new incarnation of Kispiritis, and so on. The islands fought back, but frankly, Lungfungus's world was not meant to deal with level 7-8 adventurers with a wide variety of spells and multiple spellcasting systems, especially when supported by arguably the most powerful faction there.

However, the victory-drunk party did not heed the hint that they may be succumbing to hubris when the previously pissed off wizard got a good lightning bolt off, and did not correlate characters leaving them to their capabilities weakening. After the final temple was burned and the Cyclops were freed, they sailed to the forbidden Isle of the gods, slapped around some fantasy creatures, then picked a fight with 13 lions lazing under a tree.

After round 3 arrived and half the party was dead,

This is how a high (for OSR) level campaign ends- hubris, and cats

The survivors retrieved a teleport scroll from a corpse, and tried to teleport out. The teleport landed on the 100 result, the dreaded 1% chance to teleport yourself into rock and die (though we left it open to interpretation that they ended up in the Veins or another plane of existence) and so ended the campaign, on a wild but somewhat anticlimactic note Those players who had quit while they were ahead got happy endings at least.

I was gladdened to hear feedback that the 22 sessions of Thiefboat were satisfying to players though. It was not a glorious story, it was a tragedy of the corruption of power, hubris, and how fractures in interpersonal relationships go deep. What did I learn from Thiefboat?

1. High level play is strange, with its teleportations and flight and so on. Verisimilitude-wise, GMs must think of how cities and rival wizards will defend themselves from obscure methods of attack like, say, 2000-foot long dragon turtle shells being dropped from the sky, or magical arson. But things are still dangerous, and reliance on the big obvious tools can leave the players blind to the fact that they have 23 HP and that can go away from 3 dudes with arrows in one round.
2. Boat travel can be hard to make interesting without succumbing to the temptation of  shipwrecks and krakens. One of the more interesting things was the homicidal Captain Arsem secretly engineering a mutiny as an excuse to kill the 3 crew his madness demanded die to save the future from the prophecy, only to have that mutiny coopted by the vampires who had snuck aboard a while ago. While that's a rather extreme example, social scenes with people on a boat have a lot of potential, as can problems like 'how to get rid of plague rats' or 'find out who is drinking all the rum' or 'secure limes' and so on.
3. Player attrition, especially on open tables, may be inevitable as the scope of campaigns shift away from what originally drew them. Part of why Castle Nowhere/Oroboro/Thiefboat lasted as long as it did was thanks to player recruitment persisting so even when some players had to leave, there were usually some waiting to take their place.

Anyway, player numbers had dropped from 'open table' to more 'single party of regulars' by the end of thiefboat, so it was time to move on, and time to do something a little different (no no, we aren't at Lancer yet)

BETRAYAL AT QUEENS COAST

 

 

As a change of pace,  Betrayal was a game in a more idyllic, Shrek-like realm. Having read a great deal of Otome manga such as Bakarina I wanted to have a shorter more storygame style game where the players would be expelled from the Queen's Court and have to clear their name, gain the support of the provincial lords, and return to turn the tables on their nemesis Alicce Von Dumandred. The players had a pretty good time, though the single-group model as opposed to open table immediately showed its weaknesses as players couldn't make sessions, which led to cancelled sessions, which led to lower investment, and I knew its days were numbered... which was fine, as it was a palate cleanser more than anything. The players had to sleep in a haunted manor, saved a nun wedding from Alf Lords after diamond shoes, bullied Good Doctor Ogudugu, had intrigue with and married a Frog Prince, helped on eof Alicce's cronies throw off her influence and accept herself as a centaur, visited the castle of the Dark Lord in the Wurderlands (within an anarcho-communist city of mutants, in stark contrast to the feudal human-central lands of Queen's Coast), infiltrated the manor of Alicce Von Dumandred and had the dreamy Prince of Saresare seduce Alicce(or be seduced?) so they could escape with the party's Gothic Villain's imprisoned one true love, and had exciting dance parties with opaque rules. It was all very fun, though the final dance party conclusion never came together due to scheduling conflicts, but the conclusion was mostly foregone at that point- the party had restored their honor, and Alicce's misdeeds had been brought to enough light that she would flee to Saresare with the Prince (The mysterious foreign prince subplot with a wicked foreign bride and ulterior motives from both of them be good fuel for a potential future campaign)

Whimsical castle Daotengard, overtaken by demon-frogs and a contagious froggification curse

Anyway! I learned a few things here
1.Turning social scenes into more gamified spaces (I had a 'Dance Pentagon' where entering exposed you to various NPCs who could help or hinder you, attacking HP intentionally or unintentionally via mean words or simple dance exertion, but you had to do it to get private conversations) can help to make them feel like they have timing and stakes compared to just 'you talk at NPCs for 12 hours.' Just roleplaying via chat is fine too of course, but I think making weird social games based on positioning and resource management (spare dresses if wine is spilled on you!) is better than making them about rolling a skill check for Diplomacy or what have you.
2. Similar to wolf moons, this was a bloated disaster of houserules... having received the DCC RPG book as a gift from a player, I eagerly sought to add it to the game... on top of GLOG casting... on top of all my other houserules to BFRPG... on top of a mixed level up system using both BFRPG GP=XP and Die Trying X's and DCC's model... suffice it to say that this abominable frankenhack would have been better served by leaping into the nearest dumpsterfire and leaving us to play Fate or PbtA or a proper story game. We squeezed great roleplay and schemes despite the system, and used the system for a few janky heists and dungeon delving for coin, but it was really a ball-and-chain, especially the XP thing. We survived 22 sessions under its yoke, but I could feel my bloated house-rules coming apart at the scenes as it barely supported the story-game mode of play on it.

coins to XP is an elegant system IF you stick to the prescribed purpose of dungeons and dragons as a dungeon delver. This campaign departed far from those goals, but really made me think of the limitations I was working under. In short, I needed an OSR break to ponder what to do rules-wise upon my return. I dread subjecting players to a homebrew rulebook after the disasters of Wolf Moons's Nightmare Glog, but I think I have reached the point where 'BFRPG with houserules' is something I can only run if I return to very bare-bones 'delve the megadungeon!' campaigns, and even if I do that, I need to make a definititive houserules/setting primer document.

Anyway, I'm running and playing in Lancer games at the moment, and we'll see how long that phase lasts, and if I return to OSR immediately, or if my 'break' continues to run some storygames. However, even Lancer takes place in the same setting (after a fashion) so I hope to continue stacking layer upon layer of lore regardless of what the system is.

No proofreading, only post

Flightless Bird, Giant Frog, Frogfolk, Violet Fungi/Shriekers

 AD&D Flightless Bird- This entry refers to beasties like the ostirich, emu, dodo and similar, rather than the monstrous axebeak of more prehistoric or fantastical form. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about these creatures, and probably should have been a footnote in the axebeak entry. For all the thought given to selling other baby animals, I am surprised no 'market value' for ostriches is included.


AD&D Giant Frog
Giant frogs are mechanically interesting due to being probably the lowest HD monster that utilizes 'swallow whole' rules. They also are tactically distinct from many other monsters due to their unusual attack pattern, which is rather convoluted but I will attempt to summarize here.
1- Frog attacks with sticky tongue at +4 to hit but no damage
2- Those struck get an opportunity(though not a free attack I believe) to strike the tongue, which if struck, withdraws, and the frog will not expose its tongue to that target again.
3- If not struck, the tongued target is pulled to the frog and automatically takes maximum damage, assuming the weight is appropriate.

With regards to the load-bearing capacity of frog-tongues, the frogs come in 3 sizes- small 50 pounders dealing 1d3 damage, 150 pounders dealing 1d6, and big fat frogs dealing 2d4, with HD scaling up from 1-3 as weight increases
If you weigh more than the frog, the tongue-drawing in takes 3 rounds, giving an extra chance on round 2 to strike the tongue, and only taking the max-bite on round 3. If you weigh over twice the frog, you will not be dragged at all, and the frog will give up on the 3rd round.

The frogs also leap shorter horizontal distances (losing ~10% their normally twice-human movespeed leap) per 50 pounds of weight over 50lbs, and are terribly slow outside of their typical leaping. Seeing as how the frogs show up in numbers of 5d8, tracking all this seems like lunacy, but suffice it to say that if you flee from 5-40 giant frogs you will likely be unable to escape the smaller 1HD ones if they can hop, possibly able to escape the 2HD ones if you are unarmored/unburdened/unhindered by terrain, and probably able to flee the 3HD frogs if not too burdened once you realize they can't hop more than 45 degrees left or right without having to adjust their facing (this is true for all the frogs, but the smaller one's long jumps make them more difficult to evade).

Curiously, they can all hop an astounding 30 feet straight up regardless of weight, making them pretty good monsters to lurk in watery pits and moats to devour those who would cross.

As for the swallowing whole, they swallow small humans, elves, halflings, and similarly sized targets whole on a nat 20. I believe the frogs can bite without going through the tongue routine and so instantly gobble someone up, but it is unclear if this should be expanded to include nat20 tongue hits resulting in swallowing rather than biting. Those swallowed have 3 chances (Which I believe, given the wording of the tongue effect is 3 rounds) to cut themselves out with a sharp edged weapon and an attack roll of 18+, after which it is unclear if they are dead or simply unable to free themselves due to suffocation or crushing stomach muscles (as no mention of damage is made here but it is mentioned for creatures such as the purple worm, I would assume rescue from outside sources remains possible for a few minutes).
However, attempts to slay the frog that swallowed your friend menaces said friend, as attacks against such a frog have a 1/3 chance to harm the character within as well as the frog.

They are said to fear giant fish, turtles, snakes, and fire, and retreat when wounded.

Though admittedly the AD&D rules are rather convoluted and could be simplified, I think giant frogs having special rules makes them likely to be a memorable and interesting encounter compared to other 'beast' encounters with all the breaking tongue grapples, outmaneuvering hops, and occasionally maybe rescuing Frodo from a frog-stomach, and multiple ways to frighten them off are given as well.

There are also 'killer frogs' which are just small frogs with a weak claw-claw-bite routine and 1HD, and poison frogs which have poison skin secretions and bite with a +4 to the save. These variants are not as interesting and do not have much uniqueness going for them, alas.

AD&D Violet Fungi-
I find it interesting that D&D has a fair few monsters that resemble other monsters. Mimicry in nature is common enough, but it can sometimes feel a bit like a 'gotcha' moment in a fictitious play-space. However, for the most part I think it shakes things up and keeps the players from being too complacent upon encountering something they think they know, provided cautious players can ascertain the threat with investigation somehow.

More to the point, Violet Fungi are mimics of Shriekers found 75% of the time with these companions, which are slow, ambulatory giant fungus that shriek when disturbed by light or movement. As this makes them, essentially, living alarms for dungeon environments, players frequently may wish to disable Shriekers if they deem the risk of noise now is worth removing the risk of noise later, but rushing in to chop them up will expose one to the Violet Fungi. Violet Fungi flail with 1-4 tentacles that rot flesh upon hit (requiring Cure Disease or a save vs poison to resist) and so, while easily dispatched with range, are a menace in melee. (Though unclear what 'rot flesh' actually means, it mentions this occurs in a single round, and since the other mentions of Rot in AD&D refer to Mummy Rot or the Periapt of Foul Rotting, both of which are lethal eventually, I believe this is intended to be a 'save or die' effect)

A mildly interesting note is that 3.5 makes shriekers stationary, and only violet fungi ambulatory.


Sunset Realm Flightless Birds- Birds that have wings but do not fly are exempt from the pecking order hierarchy of the other birds. Legends have it that they descended from a mighty ancestor bird who flew into the night sky to steal the stars, but upon discovering what they were, learned fear and humility and returned to earth and swore never to challenge the high howling darkness again. In Saresaren court politics, someone who is willfully blind to opportunities to further ambition is sometimes called an ostrich, a creature apart from the game of lion and gazelle.

Sunset Realm Giant Frogs
Basically anything can grow to giant size for various reasons, and frogs are no exception. Frogs lost the war against snakes in ancient times, but survived complete extermination by developing their legless tadpole stage to hide from the leg-detecting servants of Yg until they had grown into size and experience. This metamorphosis came with a cost, however, their mutable forms becoming steeped with the powers of Chaos and their god Zaba becoming known as a demon-god instead of simply an animal god due to developing strange and unnatural powers that some wizards who do not mind becoming froggy use for their own ends.

Now that the Serpent Empire is no more, frogs need not hide from all the world, and they grow fat and greedy and think themselves mighty once more and, though snakes are notorious gluttons, frogs are known for biting off more than they can chew.

Zaba, lord of frogs, was lounging in the swamp when one of his children came to visit. "Lord Zaba, I have seen a creature even greater than you!"
"Impossible" replied Zaba. "I am the fattest in all the land. None can match my breadth, my depth, my girth. And if they try, I can do this." And Zaba sucked in air to make himself even larger than his already considerable bulk.
"No, Lord Zaba, the beast stood high on four legs, and higher still with two horns!"
Zaba was astonished, and blew himself up even huger. "Well, height isn't everything. You see I am surely broader than this beast now."
"No Lord Zaba, for the monster was wide and powerful enough to pull a cart!"
This alarmed Lord Zaba so he huffed and puffed and blew himself up till he more resembled a melon than frog. "How is this, then?"
"Alas, bigger, bigger still."
So Zaba gulped and inhaled air and swelled larger and larger, and finally said "I am sure I am the biggest now" at which point he exploded. Being a god, this was not the end of him, but as his children did not have the heart to tell him he was still smaller than an ox after all that, no lessons were learned.
-Rewriting of the Aesop's fable The Frog and the Ox

Thanks to Doctor Ogudugu's 10 step training program I went from 'frog on a log' to 'hog of the bog' in just 2 weeks! Click now to find out how

 

Sunset Realm Frog Folk
No doubt due to an excess of princes turned into frogs by bog witches, there are anthropomorphic frog-people in the Bog of the Canal, and have been for at least 3 solar ages. They are not well loved by Our Lady of Gardens, for she would turn them into humans, nor by Lord Zaba, who would turn them into frogs, but the Lord of Calamities, Murulu, has a liking for the hybrid froggy folk and as such they are always untouched by the marching mutant armies of the Calamitous Lord that must cross the Bog of the Canal to menace the Tripartite realm, and indeed the frogfolk sometimes join up to see the world beyond the bog.

While most of the frog folk are content to swim in the swamp, play catgut banjos, and live simple lives in their reed huts, they do have a higher organization of sorts born of the terror of intersolar periods- the Order of the Lantern. This order developed outfits to help keep their skin moist when traveling beyond the swamp and train their bodies and minds to battle against monsters that threaten the livelihood of the froggy bogfolk.

The Order of the Lantern enjoys the communal access to resources the frog-folk swear by and can expect to always have clothing, room and board, and travelling gear at least, but sometimes greater wealth is required, mainly to deal with the economies of humans. As such, the Order of the Lantern also has experience delving for treasure in the ancient Frog Kingdom ruins that have sunk into the swamp over centuries, dealing with ancient basilisks, demon-toads, frog-bog mummies, Zaba cultists and all manner of lingering and fresh horrors that enjoy the soggy ruins. As such, the occupation of 'adventurer' is not uncommon among the otherwise placid and prosaic bog folk.

Frog Folk must consume extra rations of water (up to 5 times normal) to keep themselves hydrated even with a wet suit (a hooded cloak and bandages wrapped around most their body) and feel a little fragile out of warm wetlands, whether it be too hot or too cold.

They cannot breathe water, but are powerful swimmers thanks to their webbed feet and hands, and assuming they grew up in the bog of the canal, a lifetime of swimming experience. Apart from that, they are largely identical to humans, just with a tendency to develop musculature more in the legs than the upper body and of course, green, spotted skin similar to a leopard frog. Some have very long tongues capable of catching flies, chicken drumsticks, etc, and all manner of similar froggish features (like the children being tadpole like, or poison skin) can be found in individual families thanks to the lingering chaos within all frog-kind.


Sunset Realm Violet Fungi
While I'm all for shriekers having hidden threats, I'm just not thrilled about 'tentacled flesh-rotting mushroom.' Something just doesn't click with me about that idea.. So here's a quick table of 'alternate threats to spice up shrieker encounters' in similar ways that Violet Fungi do.

1- Conquerer Worms- These brain parasite grubs hide in the whistling holes shriekers blow air through to shriek, and leap out to steal the bodies of those who come too close, and creatures drawn to the noise are likely being controlled by other worms.
2- Giant Centipedes- These poisonous vermin eat anything remotely edible, and scavenge those fallen in battles caused by the alarming shriekers, and protect the shriekers themselves in a territorial display that benefits both.
3- Cordyceps Shrieker- This subspecies of shrieker blows out spores along with its whistling that infest the living (or the undead, I suppose) and create fungal zombies who start out as living but diseased and deranged, but end up as corpses puppeted by shriekers bursting from the skull, until the corpse falls apart and the killer mushrooms wander off to start the cycle anew. Again, random encounters drawn by the noise are likely to be the infected.
4-Boomers- This subspecies of shrieker stops shrieking, closes off its whistle-pores, and bloats and swells with spores and gas until struck, at which point it detonates mightily. Exploding mushrooms are a D&D classic and it seems a more appropriate mushroomy threat.
5- Slimers- Some species of ooze could live inside a shrieker and flow out in a bubbling mess when the shrieker is disturbed.  Infested shriekers would look melty, wet, and be incapable of whistling, and grey oozes, green slime, or smaller ochre jellies could all be appropriate.
6- Mushroom Men- Appearing as just another giant mushroom wobblign around, upon getting nearer they reveal themselves to be the guardians of the shriekers, like a farmer to cattle, and they may strike with debilitating spores and poisoned weapons

Cockstealing Witch

Content Warning- Exactly what you'd expect

 SOURCE

Cockstealing witches, as you'd expect, steal dicks. They gain their magical powers via the bad vibes directed at them, and must have stolen(or much more rarely, be gifted) penises to generate magical effects.
Hit Dice-d4
Move Silently, Backstab, and Hide in Shadows as Thief. This variant Backstabbing only affects creatures with testicles.
Everything else as magic-user in your game

Cockstealing witches gain XP for stealing or being gifted penises at the same value of defeating the dick's owner.

Cockstealing witches do not gain MD/spell slots the normal way, and do not cast spells (though they can be learned) until level 2/template B save for the 'Steal Penis' ritual.

Template A- Steal Penis
Template B- Meatstick Magic
Template C- Castration Anxiety
Template D- Wang Wand

It is probably fine to give all abilities at level 1 as well, with the requirement of stealing a penis before gaining their use

Steal Penis- With about 10 minutes of uninterrupted access to a willing or helpless target, a penis may be silently and stealthily taken off somebody (no save). The penis remains alive and functional (though pissing takes place back at the host's ken-doll groin, not from the stolen penises), but has no special protections, which provides a fair amount of leverage over someone who wants it back. Penises take up 1 inventory slot assuming they are kept safe in a gourd or pouch or something. If stacked in larger quantities they tend to get misplaced, mistaken for sausages, stolen by rats, and so on and the witch can't complain if they go missing or if it takes a full ten minutes to peer through a bag o dicks to find the right one in dim dungeon lighting. If the owner retrieves the penis, they may re-attach it by putting it back (unless a certain spell has been cast to keep the penis even more thoroughly hostage, see spells below)

The owner of the penis feels anything done to their penis, and spells the witch casts upon the penis instead target the source of the penis, regardless of usual range limits and so on. Cockstealer witches may steal or gift cocks to each other to trade 'casting privileges' for a particular cock, but this is a ritualized affair that takes a day to re-bind cock permissions, whether it was gifted or stolen.

Inflicting pain on stolen penises will bring the owner to their knees most the time- any wielded penis may be abused as a free action once per round to inflict 1d3 subdual damage and a save vs being stunned for a round for the unfortunate owner, as well as a morale check (once per encounter). In the rare instance of a witch winning grapples against targets with exposed penises, this could be applied as a regular combat maneuver as well.

Meatstick Magic- Each penis held by a Cockstealing Witch grants them some power, and to cast a spell a witch must brandish a penis. If the penis-owner dies, so too does the penis. Penises must come from individuals who are wizards, chiefs/leader types, notorious criminals, knights, terrible monsters, etc (When in doubt just make each dick require the source to have +1 HD compared to the last acquired penis) though there may be uses for carrying extra bundles of otherwise unremarkable penises from farm animals, random monsters, and so on.
DCC Style Casting- Each inventory slot of dicks provides a +1 to casting checks, up to 1 per level. Eating a penis allows a lost spell to be regained, and truly remarkable phalluses (stolen from demons, giants, dragons, and the like) may provide from +1 to +4 to spell checks when used for appropriate spells (such as Growth for a giant). More work than I'm willing to do would be required for the spells here of course.
GLOG Style Casting- Each inventory slot of dicks provides 1 magic die, up to template max. Magic dice recover after a night's sleep, or a penis can be eaten to recover a magic die. Remarkable cocks may provide dice of larger size than d6 (the HD of the source material being the number of faces on a die, as a rough rule)
Vancian Style Casting (Ala O and AD&D) Each inventory slot penis is equivalent to a wizard level, allowing for preparation of spells according to the spells-per-day chart, up to the witch's level max. Eating a penis allows recovery of a spellslot of powerlevel equal to one-half of the owners HD.
Levelless Casting- Each dick can be used once per day for a spell or ability, essentially being 1 inventory slot of dicks being 1 spell per day.


Castration Anxiety- Those aware of the witch's prominent penis pilfering prowess and fearful for their own dongs take -1 to reaction rolls and to morale. This penalty is increased by and replaces both positive and negative charisma modifiers, making both charismatic and antisocial witches equally but differently terrifying. Eating a penis forces a morale check from those of the same type of being as the devoured dongus who observe the fate that awaits them.

This ability is lost if a Cockstealing Witch turns to consensual cock use only to avoid their doom, or never steals dicks to begin with.

Wang Wand- A cockstealing witch may cast the spells or use the abilities of a cock's owner by using a penis as a wand, though the witch still uses their own magic dice to fuel these spells. Passive, mundane abilities like a warriors to-hit, squirrels balance, horses speed, etc are stolen for 1 hour per power level invested, while passive supernatural abilities (levitation, invisibility, etc) last 1 turn per power level, and active abilities (dragon breath, basilisk gazes, wizard spells) activate only once and require 1 power level investment of effect per HD (or in the case of stolen spells, 1power level=1 power level), with 5 power levels sufficing for most most abilities even if HD exceeds 10. The owner loses their powers when the witch loses them, recovering them a day later.

CORE SPELLS OF COCKSTEALING WITCHES

1 power level=1 Vancian Spell Level=1 Glog magic die=+2 DCC spellcheck difficulty=2HD of monster.

1. Phallus In Chains- A penis may be mounted to another being or to the wall, floor, end of a 10 foot pole, etc. This prevents easy retrieval by the owner, and the witch may use mounted phalluses as wands via Wang Wand even without holding them, though no special sensory perception through them is given (though another spell allows scrying on them for better aiming/timing). Though the penises may be destroyed as usual, they cannot be removed without the witch's permission or a remove curse/dispel magic spell
   
2. Pubic Yank- By gripping the pubic hair or penis, the witch may summon the owner nude to their location for [sum] rounds or until the witch dismisses them, at which point they return from whence they came. No especial control is given save for the obvious leverage the witch has.
   
3. Adamant Penis- An erect penis may be transformed into a hard substance (iron, stone, crystal, etc), fired via a crossbow or, depending on size, hurled as dart or javelin or launched as ballista bolt. It deals damage based on size, it will unerringly strike holes/crevasses, and lodge in them firmly, making it useful to jam locks, spike doors, blind visored knights, silence casting wizards, and so on. The penis is transformed to metal/stone/etc for [[sum]] turns, after which it returns to its normal state, and can be used as a sap/club/quarterstaff (based on size) if wielded in melee. As it is a magical effect, it can strike enemies immune to non-magical weapons.
   
4. Ritual of Dusty Boners- This forbidden magic ritual, requiring the boner of a powerful undead (such as a mummy or vampire) allows the witch to use the penises of the dead (or the penis-bones, depending on species) as sources of power. It need only be cast once to acquire this power, but it must be cast with 4 magic dice, a spell check result of 30+, or a 4th level spell slot.
   
5. Curse of Targeted Impotence/Deviant Attraction/Blessing of Filial Loyalty- One target may be cursed to be impotent, save for towards a single person, group of people, or designated 'type' of person, designated by the witch. This functions as a Charm effect towards the designated target of attraction, and an immunity to love potions and similar charm effects from other sources, whether normal or supernatural in nature. If the designated object of attraction possesses the target's penis (as a talisman, typically), the charm effect does not wear off over time so long as the talisman is kept on ones person.
   
6. Harden/Soften- One inanimate object is either hardened akin to an erecting penis, or softened akin to a flaccid one (ropes extending straight out and swords drooping as common uses). Duration is [sum] turns. In the event an object is too large or inappropriate for this to occur, it may grow hard or flexible dildo-like protrusions instead of being affected in entirety.
   
7. Eldritch Gloryhole- A smallish portal is opened, through which a mysterious dong of unknown provenance emerges. It belongs to a random monster of [sum] HD and lasts [[sum]] rounds. This is a loaner penis that the witch may use as stolen penises may be used until the duration ends (including summoning the creature via Pubic Yank), and if harm befalls the penis the owner will likely seek vengeance.
   
8. Penis Panic- [[sum]] HD of penis-havers may be afflicted by the delusional terror that their penis has been stolen or is shrinking away (save to resist). Those afflicted act irrationally according to this table until they complete the rolled action, or [[sum]] rounds, turns, hours, or days pass, depending on [dice] used. Some targets (such as eunuchs or those free of attachment to their dick) are unaffected. Rival penis witches afflicted additionally believe their collection is lost.
   
   1. Flee in horror, searching for their missing dick in cupboards, under beds, and so on
      
   2. Attempt to replace their penis with nearby phallic objects
      
   3. Blame likely target as responsible, affected form angry mob to attack the scapegoat and turn on new ones until duration ends
      
   4. Drop held items and pants to hold onto dick with both hands to prevent it from vanishing for the duration.
      
   5. Attempt to retain manhood by getting a boner (generally results in rushing off to find mates, prostitutes, pornography, at any cost)
   6. Seeking a priest, doctor, or otherwise to cure their apparent disorder
9. Celeritous Castration-  Allows the stealing of a targeted penis in a single round with all the usual effects of the normally slow and silent Steal Penis ritual, provided they fail a save. If the penis is actually inside the caster at the time of casting, no save is allowed.
   
10. Trouser Snake- Transforms a penis into a snake. Stolen penises, being free from their owners, get no save and are free to wriggle around and attack the witch's enemies, whereas attached penises remain attached and will strike those nearby the afflicted randomly. The trouser snake lasts [sum] rounds and has the stats of a spitting cobra, though without any dangerous venom (unless the host creature is venomous)
    
11. Clairovoyeurism- Caster may scry upon either a penis they have stolen but is not in their possession (and the immediate area around of course) or upon the owner of a penis that is in their possession. There is a 1 round delay on incoming information for every 100 meters distance the spell must cross. The witch may cast spells through stolen penises at a distance like a remote-operated wand.
    
12. Steal  Form- By attaching the penis to themselves (or eating it), the witch may take on the physical appearance of the penis owner (as polymorph self). This transformation does not include supernatural abilities like a basilisk stare, but is a true physical transformation in terms of size, potential flight or waterbreathing, carrying capacity, and so on. The transformation ends when the penis is removed or digested completely, and the Wang Wand ability can be used as though the penis was being wielded in this time.
    

Mishaps (doubles or natural 1s)

1. Weakening magics cause all nearby dicks to become flaccid, numb and impotent for the rest of the day. Further spellslots/magic dice may not be gained.
2. Floppy penis rolls off-aim and throws spell at random target instead.
   
3. Mutation (see corruptions) for 1d6 turns, save or permanent at end. If possible, mutation is dick-related.
   
4. Random nearby dick of ally or of collection grows to cumbersome size for 1d6 rounds.
   
5. All dicks within 100' point  towards caster like accusing fingers, even if invisible or concealed
   
6. Dicks grow unruly and seek to rebel against the witch- all held dicks seek to escape like inchworms, escaping pouches scattering in all directions with a move rate of merely 5' per round but the ability to sneak into rat-holes and the like. Though it does take an action to catch one, catching requires no roll, just an action and a free hand.
   

Dooms/Corruptions

1- Witch smells musty regardless of how much they wash. Those aware of Cockstealing witches recognize this tell-tale scent as a mark of one, and bloodhounds may always track the witch.
2-Those who have had their penis stolen ambush the witch, either immediately or once it makes more sense. From now on, those who have had their penis stolen will scheme against the witch, appearing on random encounter tables as well and forever seeking to recover their lost penises. The dead may rise to reclaim lost penises if the witch turns to necromancy to avoid the wrath of the living
3- Due to a widespread campaign of fearmongering, calls for vengeance, and wrathful ancestor spirits trying to protect the continuation of their lineage, penis-havers will test morale to attack the witch on sight wherever they go, or take appropriate action like calling for guards, poisoning food, and so on if direct hostility would be foolish. Only by returning all stolen dicks and never stealing a dick again can the doom be averted, though penises freely gifted may still be utilized.



Societies of cockstealing witches
1- Semi-popular regional cult consists of devoted hedgewitches who keep their spouses penis safe while they are separated, and provide remote assistance in crisis (the penis haver may communicate via flexing the penis in morse code)
2- Warlike society where witches steal their children's penises at birth, and only return them once their child has 'proven' themselves in a rite of adulthood. Defeated foes invariably have their penises stolen as well, and penis-raiding may be one rite of adulthood.
3- Local witch who passes this magic down to worthy successors, acting as the vigilante avatar of sexual karma for the town.
4- Prostitutes' guild using this magic to ensure clients are polite and prompt payments. Also frequently hired out as wizards to the thieves guild for zany heists.
5- Traditional, respectable, court-approved wizard circle which just so happens to have a cock-based curriculum and spell lineage. Apprentices split between dignified local seventh sons of seventh sons and giggling foreign exchange students who have entirely the wrong idea about the place.
6- Foocubus operated sperm bank intended to maintain ancient and defunct noble bloodlines of long-crumbled empires across multiple continents, expanded into a long-distance dating/hookup service, and expanded again into a chimera-breeding beast-battler enabler, all to pay operating costs required for dealing with nobles. Delegation of the increasing number of tasks to hastily trained apprentice witches.