Tonight I wanted to share with you the idea of permanency. Now I think I have addressed Permanency once before as an optional rule but I wanted to address living phantoms. Now what I mean by living phantoms isn’t a singular enemy that you can roll for and best in combat. Oh no, living phantoms are different. These are what the mind does to try and cope with what it has seen.
I would imagine that adventurers would have more than a few stories to tell after what we have thrown at them. But what if they didn’t want to relive those stories. What if their minds fought against those memories and in the effort to protect themselves made it worse?
Living Phantoms
239FrLiPh
The pressure on his chest grew as slowly he began to flicker towards consciousness. As the adventurers eyes flickered open the immediate situation was revealed as they came face to face with a shadowy mass floating above their chest. A large skull with exaggerated canines and no eye sockets snarled down at the party member. Two impossibly thin arms crept forward to suddenly dart forward to grab and squeeze on either side of the adventures chest.
As the last of the air within the adventurers chest was forcibly pushed out the adventurer began to have panic set in. Crying out towards the other shapes in the room for help was met with deaf ears as slowly a dark shadowy mist crept from the creature. As the mist spread up the adventurers body the pressure on their limbs increased. With a satisfied snarl the creature released its grip from the adventurers chest as the mist took its place. Slowly the creature reached its spindly fingers up his torso as the mist began to apply pressure to the body.
As the skeletal fingers touched the face of the adventurer the jaw spread wide on the creature and with a sickening lurch it plunged towards the face of hero.
Awake…
Sitting bolt upright and looking around the familiar room the adventurer was drenched in sweat. prying their own hands away from their throat they looked around the room. The creature they had seen but instead were greeted with nothing but silence. In fact the other party members who they had adventured with for quite some time now were still peacefully sleeping. There was indeed no trace of the nightmarish creature they had seen so vividly in their dreams.
Thoughts
Adding elements of horror and long lasting side effects to conflict are one of the tools in our belt. This shouldn’t be used for every encounter or situation but it can drive progression of plot and discovery.
Perhaps someone in their current town knows of what is going on. Maybe these Living Phantoms are not just in their mind but others have seen them before. Perhaps they have a common link or maybe not. What we can do though is weave something slightly different into the minds of the adventurers. Each person in the party will see something different at a different time or not see it at all.
I see these things very similarly to the Wizarding worlds Dementors in appearance but really – they are all figments of the mind trying to process something unpleasant. Something like a field that can make you see anything it wants with a thought. Throw in the fact that the party where you fought it in a lightless realm and saw their allies attack them and you have a good recipe here for some mental scarring.
This condition could be long term, short term or take any form you so choose but the feeling and effect should be the same. Powerlessness, imminent danger and the feeling of insecurity.
Thanks for visiting tonight. As with anything in this blog if there is something that you try out don’t forget to let me know. I am always keen at improving my craft and feedback is always appreciated. This weekend is a big one being the end of the month so don’t forget to come back for that and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Tonight I wanted to work on a template for something I mentioned yesterday in Return of the Ice Queen – the Dragons Tears. These magical weapons crafted by masters of forging and blessed by both dragon and elf are designed for one thing. To fight against The Shadow and defeat the minions that it commands.
Dragons Tears
239ThDrTe
The Dragon tears is really a template for weapons, sorry spell casters, but the same (or similar effect) should be applied to what ever weapon you have in mind
The below are a suggestion, well the current thoughts I have on these traits for the template but I would need to look at how balanced they would be.
Dragons Tears
The wielder of a Dragons Tear item can see in magical darkness up to 60ft. Furthermore they gain superior darkvision (120ft).
As an action you can cause the item to emit light as per the daylight spell centred in the item.
A 60-foot-radius Sphere of light spreads out from a point you choose within range. The Sphere is bright light and sheds dim light for an additional 60 feet.
If it is a melee weapon or ammunition its considered to be +1 against fiends, fey or undead. It also deals an additional 2d6 points of radiant damage against these creatures.
If the item is a ranged weapon it is considered to be a +1 weapon against fiends, fey or undead. It can also cast guiding bolt as a 2nd level spell slot three times a day using the users ranged weapon attack modifier. This resets on dawn of the following day.
If the item is a wondrous item (not a weapon) it gains advantage on wisdom and saving throws against being charmed. Additionally you can cast dancing lights at will without the need of concentration checks.
Thoughts
As I have mentioned before in previous posts the more magical items you introduce into a D&D campaign. This is more true in 5e as the game can function with zero magic items. It’s just perhaps less enjoyable even when it becomes harder to make it balanced. This is more detrimental to the player rather than the DM and we want to avoid unpleasant situations.
Note: I plan to create a nice looking template using the homebrewery once I have sorted out the balanced components of this template.
Thanks for joining me tonight. Don’t forget to drop by the next few nights as I tighten up a few last bits for this month. Also I hope to have a few examples of Dragons Tears weapons and items this weekend for the final post of the month so make sure to come back for that. Don’t forget to let me know if you like this content or if there is anything that you particularly enjoyed, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Tonight I have prepared a little warning for the party. The reason for Jung (Siu) to return and warn his family and help the party with the Lómipilu. The return of the Ice Queen.
Return of the Ice Queen
239WeReIcQu
As Jung floated across the map in the war room the anxiety laden silence hung beneath him. It had been a few hours since the party of adventures had been thrown out of the Lómipilu lair after their hard fought victory over it. During this time the golden dragon had detailed what they had scried in the jade palace. An army of undead and spirit folk en masse at the wall led by the Yuki-onna astride a black onikage.
The reports and locations of the forces were so vast that it was impossible to pinpoint a location where she could be. But Jung had a theory.
“Yuki-Onna are vengeful and spiteful. They wont like the fact that she was bested in her own house, her domain. Once the party, and Kyoko’s, location is known she will come for them. We can use this.” He said as he placed a long razor sharp claw at the gate house in the middle of the wall.
“But Siu, sorry. Jung. How do we know that Kyoko and the party will be safe?” General Kuang asked as he looked down at the map and distribution of troops. “I can lead the elite guard at the gate but then we are just weathering the storm. The head of this particular snake itself will be somewhere behind the rank and file.”
“I may have the answer to that” Emperor Harimasu proclaimed as he walked in with several royal scholars behind him. “Those items that the adventures recovered were more than shiny trinkets. They are known as the dragons tears. A group of weapons forged from dragon scale and forged in dragons fire. They were used in the last war with the shadow.” He began as the scholars placed the weapons and corresponding scrolls and pieces of parchment on the table. “Our records state they were supremely powerful against the shadow and those who stood against light. I propose that our adventurers, Kyoko and the royal guard wield them. Be the chosen of light to push back against the shadow and its Minions.”
There was a few moments of silence before the mood changed and people started to discuss the merits of the dragons plan. “However…” The emperor said as Master Fukiyomo appeared beside him. “I have received word that the Toshio family are invading from the west. We are about to find ourselves caught between two fronts. I must direct some of the forces from the walls defence to the west.” The positive murmuring finished.
“Adventurers. I fear I have to ask for your insight. What say you. Can you hold the gate, lure out the Yuki-onna and defeat her and those who protect her?” The emperor asked as all the eyes turned towards them.
Thanks for joining me again for another night. The final few pieces of the Adventure come together and we leave it up to the party again. But more on that this weekend with the end of month write-up. So don’t forget to come back for this weeks remaining content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Tonight I have a little something that has been a few months in the making. Yes the return of Siu, no Jung Harimasu but not quite focusing on what he is doing back but the why and the how. So sit back, have a cup of coffee and welcome him back to the storyline.
Jung Harimasu
239TuJuHa
As the blade from the freshly killed hulking goliath of a man cracked through his rib-cage Siu felt the warmth from within his body fade. As he watched Choi’s lifeblood seep out of a deep gash on his chest the doors that were barricaded behind them splintered open and the freshly dead soldiers rushed out.
“Please let Kyoko be safe” he muttered under his breath as he felt darkness close in upon himself. But that wasn’t the end. As he felt his consciousness recede he felt his body grow lighter until he was floating as if on a pillow of light. With a slow realisation he opened his eyes and looked around at the marbled walls and jade statues that were familiar as if a distant memory.
“Welcome home Jung” a deep voice rumbled, one that he would not forget so readily. Around him on several raised benches stood his ancestors with heads bowed in respect. “We have been watching you and what you have endured in your endeavours to redeem yourself.” The great dragon rumbled.
“Great Huangdi.” he began as he struggled to raise from the floor. His body weak and his coordination felt off as he realised his lithe dragon-form had disappeared and was replaced with his matted, hairy bestial form. “Before I meet my judgment I have a single request.” he asked as he managed to get his too-long legs under him. “Can you tell me of Kyoko and the adventurers? Are they safe? Did they get out?”
Huangdi smiled and lowered his head to Jung, stretching out a great claw and lifting the head of his servant. “Only because of the actions of their ancestors.” he said. Jung nodded and let out the breath he didn’t realise he was holding.
“Then with that knowledge I accept the fate that the ancestors and you deem fit for me.” he said before adding after a moment. “But I am confused why I was brought back. My actions as you said were my own and served my purpose. But why have I returned to my families halls?”.
“Because little one,” the dragon replied, “your actions may have been born from selfish need and want but along the way, in your journey to prove yourself and save your own soul you realised something. What we do in our life isn’t for our betterment but for those who follow us. You looked out for your cousins descendant. You put her life ahead of your own and even were willing to sacrifice yourself so that your Kin could continue to live.” The great golden dragon rumbled, a near-purr like sound coming from his great throat.
Jung nodded as he listened before speaking. “But its as you said. My actions..” he began before another voice cut through the crowed.
“Jung, Enough.” the voice brought upon a tremor of a murmur from those gathered in the temple. “You never learn to you.” Turning slowly Jung looked upon the stern and angular face of his cousin, much older than what he was when they were young men but wouldn’t forget his face. “You need to listen, Jung.”
After a moment Jung frowned. “you said my name… but that’s been made forbidden by Lord Huangdi. Cousin please don’t lest you face further anguish on my behalf.”
But Siu, his cousin, just smiled and looked towards the great dragon. “If your cousin can forgive you and see what you have done for your family then you should also be able to see your worth Jung” the great dragon added as he exhaled a puff of smoke that began to coil and drift around Jung. “Your punishment has been decided. Your external form will reflect what you truly are within”
As the smoke touched his brown fur it began to shrink and change. As it fell to the ground it smouldered, turning into golden powder as it fell. Fine, hard and light scales spread across his body and he felt his bestial body shifting and growing longer. Within a matter of moments his fur had disappeared completely and a layer of golden scales had appeared.
As the process finished Jung shook the sensation of vertigo from his head and looked down upon the body of an ancestral dragon. “Welcome home Jung, guardian of the Harimasu Lotus.” Huangdi said. “Welcome home Jung” echoes his ancestors that stood above him but their voices were lost as he gazed into the eyes of his cousin. “Welcome home brother. Thank you for looking after my kin.”
In the palace…
behind the forgotten walls of the lotus pond tiny buds pushed through the watery veil and as the first rays of moonlight touched their budding petals they began to shine.
Thanks for joining me tonight. For a while now I was wondering what the best time to bring Siu back would be and the troubles at the Heavens reach castle provided me that opportunity. Although not something that the party would see it is something that Jung, not Siu, would be able to tell them about. Don’t forget that this week we look to wrap up the month and we still have some exciting content to provide. So I will hope to see you back then if you don’t forget to come back and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Welcome to the end of the monthly content and the last Monday of the month. This month we followed our party as they reached a Turning Point. The battle against The Shadow has swung in the favour of good as they removed the Lómipilu. This week we continue that turning point a the party uncover exactly just what they found within the Shadowy dimension.
Turning Point
239MoTuPo
The party found themselves on the ground and the blinding light lessened as their eyes adjusted to the room. From down the hall the sounds of footsteps could be heard approaching at a quick pace. As they picked themselves up off the ground doors burst open as guards spilled into the room they were in. The guards greeted them with spears and swords drawn as they eyed the glittering and shining items on the ground. Looking down the party found scattered weapons and wondrous items that shone as if the sun was contained within.
“Wait. Hold I say.” a groaning man spoke as he picked himself up shaking from the ground. “Lower your weapons. I must talk to Lord Harimasu immediately” said Master Fukiyomo.
“That’s what the last Master Fukiyomo said too.” muttered one guard. “How do we know you are who you say you are?” another said.
“That’s because I believe him.” Spoke a commanding voice from behind the guards. Turning towards the voice and lowering their weapons the guards stepped aside as Lord Harimasu strode into the room followed closely by Takeo and Lady Kyoko. “In fact my daughter and Master Takeo have vouched for these adventurers and have informed me of the plan to rid our kingdom of this Lómipilu.” he continued.
Takeo and Kyoko smiled briefly towards the party before their eyes, much like the emperors, were drawn to the pile of artefacts on the ground. “It seems you recovered our lost treasures as well. We have much to discuss.” the Harimasu emperor said as he smiled broadly.
“Might I interject?” spoke a voice from above them all, “the situation at the wall grows Dire and my master has allowed me to break my vowel in order to let you know”. As everyone looked up Kyoko exclaimed in disbelief as a man-sized golden dragon flew down through the air as a snake would move across the ground towards the party.
“It’s been some time my friends…” Siu said as he turned around with a mixture of sadness and happiness in his eyes.
Well this week see’s us reach that turning point in the adventure as we strive forward quickly. Thanks for joining me with the re-emergence of Sui and the discovery of the Harimasu artefacts that went missing. Don’t forget to come back this week for more content as we push through the last week of the month and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Darkness was the first sensation that the party felt when they walked through the portal that had literally ripped open. The bright light from the room that they came from seemed to force the portal open but even then the tendrils of darkness were trying to knit the wound closed. As they stepped in colour seemed to fade as well where only things immediately in front of their face held the slightest trace of what it used to be. The further they looked ahead the more coloured seemed to disappear until just ten feet way their vision failed. Even those with darkvision struggled to see in a place devoid of all light.
Lighting torches didn’t do much and only brought back the smallest flicker of colour and light in this world and even the warmth from the fire was taken away before it could push back the numbing feeling from their fingers.
“You must be very brave or very dumb to come into my lair. Your corpses will entertain my pets for days to come and your bones will be sewn into my walls” a voice mocked from behind them. Whirling around there was nothing there but the burst of light that was suddenly too bright. Turning around the party started to stride into the dark. The pocket of shadow was oppressive and the flickering light of the torch failed to push past fifteen feet and what it did touch summoned phantoms of nightmares from their darkest dreams.
“Run!” a voice said from somewhere in the dark. “Run from here!” the same voice called out. “Tell Takeo that the shadow gathers at obsidian peak!” a shriek of pain followed the warning and then silence.
Looking amongst each other the party pushed back fear as shapes in the murky shadow twisted into forms and voices from their past and present spoke to them from just outside the torchlight.
The creature stalked the maze like halls that it had constructed with but a thought the moment it created a rift to its lair. Melding and knitting shadow and reality together to create something of its own was childs play and these foolish mortals were stepping into a realm that they had no hope of contending with the power it had here.
But as the light flooded from the previous room and the tendrils of shadow struggled to knit the opening back together the Lómipilu felt a trickle of fear for the first time in centuries. Soon the creatures moved into the dark interior of the dimension it had created, a little pocket of shadow and the Lómipilu’s fear quickly began to disappear. Soon a plan began to form in the mind of the creature as he released its hands from the old man and summoned forth dense shackles that bound his mouth and limbs so he could not speak or move.
Stalking one of the many halls the creature climbed higher into the dimension it had created and watched a the party one by one drifted further apart from each other as the dimension they found themselves in constantly folded out before them forcing them to loop around until they were back in the starting room that they entered. The creature smiled and watched the creatures looked baffled at what had happened. In fact the creature was so amused by the wonderment of the adventurers that it giggled. It knew these halls better than any and that the only path forward as the least obvious, all others led to confusion and death.
The creature lay on its stomach and watched the adventurers move around and start discussing their predicament – each one of them not aware that those they were talking to were not what they seemed to be.
As the party member move around the corner they find a familiar set of faces looking back at them. “What happened to you? Where did you go? You were with us a second ago and then you disappeared and we heard noises from behind us…” the look on the party members in front turned to concern and fear. “There is something behind you…”
Turning around the party turned to see shadowy blurred faces that looked very much like the party members who stood behind them. They reached out, pointing and shouting at the party members behind them telling the person to get away from them, that they were dangerous. However it was too late as The Doppelganger had already weaved itself into the minds of all those involved and was playing its part perfectly.
As chaos broke out in the mind of that party member the doppelganger was busy in creating similar chaos elsewhere.
Meanwhile…
The rest of the group could not find where their party member had gone – they had disappeared but a minute ago as a gust of shadow like gas had gushed from the wall. Racing through it to try and find their missing member they found a dreadful scene where the finishing blow was given to a creature of bone and flesh by their party member.
“Thank the gods you showed up. There were more of these creatures. Several more. They live in the walls and emerge in a puff of smoke and attack without warning.” The party member leant over and breathed heavily with exhaustion. “We will have to be careful moving forward..” he said as another gust of shadow infused smoke erupted from the wall and the party scattered into the surrounding rooms to avoid the gas.
Behind the gas the Lómipilu made its move and changed the rooms that they were in, creating new passages, new rooms and changing the perspective of the players in an instance. One moment they were facing what would be due north, the next they were looking south west at a new door opening into a different hallway. Separated from the rest of the party, well those who were not already taken over by its created doppelgangers.
As the party members began to descend into chaos it made its move, slashing out in violence and the first drops of mortal blood were dropped onto its lightless glass floors and shadowy walls.
Held captive by the Lómipilu his face borrowed by the demonic creature and used to chaos Master Fukiyomo waits for his student Takeo to rescue him. But when the Party show up he is just as glad to see them.
The additional thing to remember about this lair is the extreme lack of light. Darkvision is good only to 10 feet and all sources of light, except daylight, are reduced by around a quarter. This effectively means that the party has to balance their equipment and light sources for this encounter and with the lair actions and abilities of the Lómipilu it becomes half the battle.
The idea behind the Lair of the Lómipilu is simple. Each time the party members leave a room or hallway the Lómipilu will change where they were moving and where they moved from. For this purpose I have a bunch of rooms or areas that are shrouded in darkness each with a few 1″ grid width (5ft) exits/entrances. For my implementation of this I would print out the maps (or edit them in GIMP or another image manipulation software) and roll a dice per entrance/exit per room/hall.
For simplistic play
Assign the large central room with only one exit with the number 6. Each other entrance/exit roll a 6 and assign it either a 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6.
Do this for all rooms so they have no duplicate ranges. Then try and map them out so that the portal room is somehow connected to the large room. Any entrance or exit that doesn’t have a number allocated to it and a room next to it is considered to be “lost” and you end up back on the portal room.
For complex play
Keep the dice rolled but each time they leave a room they roll a dice (effectively a d3) and they move to a random room that has that number. This becomes an issue of chance and luck rather than skill, role playing or problem solving and so could be more troublesome and it would rely on rolling well multiple times. The caveat to this system would be that they add a +1 to the roll for each room they have visited and make the end room a 7 (so they cant roll 6 then a 6 straight away and head to the final room). This rewards exploration and doesn’t feel as much of a “Game of chance” as a “after 3 rooms you have a 50% chance to get to the boss room”.
However…
This adventure we are doing it a bit differently and incorporating lair actions into the rooms.
The Lómipilu lair is in reality a large (60ft x 60ft) pocket dimension where it the Lómipilu has brought in elements of the shadowlands (Shadowfell / Shadowplane) into the dimension. The dimension swallows dim light completely, bright light is reduced to a quarter of its normal range (torches are now only 5ft bright and a further 5ft dim) and only daylight seems to piece the veil.
Generally the Lómipilu creates illusionary structures from condensed shadow that are so real that they are physical to touch and only those who can convince their own minds that its not an illusion can see the room for what it really is.
Lair Actions
The nature of the Dimension and thus the Lómipilu’s lair is of unbridled chaotic illusion and the creature that calls this liar home is its embodiment. On initiative 20 the Lómipilu takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects. The Lómipilu can’t take the same action 2 rounds in a row.
The rooms shift, doors that used to lead to halls or other rooms change to a new position and the lair reforms around its central core.
Creatures made of shadow shift in and out of existence and throw themselves at invaders of their territory at the behest of the Lómipilu. These creatures are called Lómipilu Shades (Shadowless Shades). They take the form that the Lómipilu desires, have 7ac and 1 hp and cause no damage on an attack. They also die after 1d4 rounds.
The Shadow energy of the pocket dimension erupts forth and causes all exposed flames and non-permanent magical lights to go out.
As the creature fell writhing to the ground as the final blow struck the walls of the dimension shook and shuddered before the light from the portal could be seen pushing back all traces of shadow. A single pile of glittering treasure could be seen next to a man in the same uniform as Takeo who lay unconscious in the room as the light began to flood in.
A voice, familiar yet estranged whispered past the party “The dimension is collapsing. Hurry” as what could be seen of the pocket dimension began to distort and wobble. Rushing forwards the party manage to grab the man and some treasure before they were violently thrown backwards through the light drenched portal in a cascade of treasure, stolen goods and artefacts mainly, into the room where they cornered the Lómipilu. With a definitive tearing sound the portal between this plane and the pocket dimension tore apart and the way Into the Lair of the Lómipilu was closed.
Thanks for joining me for another end of week writeup. This week marked the tipping point of our party coming into possession of the tools that are needed to best the forces of the Shadow, but more on that this week. Don’t forget to come back this week as I add a bit more to this months adventure and, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Good evening all and welcome to a whatever Saturday where I wanted to talk about my first impressions of Battletech – Alpha strike.
Battletech is described as the futuristic space opera which spans thousands of lightyears of space where the conflict between humans is settled in giant mechanised robots each capable of incredible destruction.
The alpha tech variant is no different with the scale being around 6mm so everything feels massive. It’s a non miniature centric game but having them is part of the fun and whats more, the creators (Catalyst Games) don’t care if you use their minis, cardboard, jellybeans or 3rd party miniatures. This is great as you may only have between 1 and 30 miniatures at any one stage and if its $0.20 cents to print one out its a lot different than the $90 boxes of other wargames. For a single unit..
My first impressions of Battletech – Alpha strike..
So I love mechs. Movies like pacific rim and games like mech commander and battletech cemented this attraction to these monstrous weapons of war. The game itself is simple. You have an agreed point limit, agreed scenario and you follow the basic rules… but… The game has both breadth and depth in what’s available and the additional or in advanced rules that it really is something that would suit just about any sci-fi or mech fan.
The dice mechanics are also simple. Roll 2d6 vs the be target number and if you hit you deal damage to the enemy mech, building, infantry or vehicle. The target number to hit is Pilot Skill + Range/distance + Adjusted values + Target Mech Movement+ Other modifiers, or PRATO. Something like that in anyway.
If you roll over the PRATO then you hit and do damage to the targets armour and then internals, of they don’t have any armour left.
Pretty simple really but with certain weapon types, mechs and their special loadouts/special abilities the tactical depth can be quite deep.
The second thing I like about this game is that the turns are taken simultaneously. That is if your mech gets ambushed they still shoot back as they are destroyed. This makes more logical sense as no living being sits there and waits their turn to fight for their life. This works against you too but it makes the games feel like a fair first fight but with lasers, missiles and heavy calibre guns.
The other thing with this is that scenery matters. Puddles of water cool you down quickly, buildings, ruined or otherwise, can block sight or give you some tactical advantage. Movement is key but the right movement is even more so as that patch of forest or debris slows down walking units but not fliers or those with jump-jets.
Whilst simple the complexity is scary with countless types of weapons, thousands of models (think make and model of cars) of mechs, and pages worth of special abilities that will make you want to scrap your army and build around a single ability or combination. Diversity of gameplay is second only to the love and enthusiasm I have experienced from the community with the lore literally being decades old.
Whilst I love D&D and Warhammer profusely, the quick, small and compact battletech is drawing me deeper into its embrace. So if I continue with this game system in the future don’t forget to look out for those updates and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
Welcome to a Friday Fightnight! Tonight we look at the Lómipilu – Master of illusion and bringer of fear as it welcomes the party into its trap. Tonight we look at Lair actions and what what means for our games so sit back and let’s read on.
The Lómipilu lair is in reality a large (60ft x 60ft) pocket dimension where it the Lómipilu has brought in elements of the shadowlands (Shadowfell / Shadowplane) into the dimension. The dimension swallows dim light completely, bright light is reduced to a quarter of its normal range (torches are now only 5ft bright and a further 5ft dim) and only daylight seems to piece the veil.
Generally the Lómipilu creates illusionary structures from condensed shadow that are so real that they are physical to touch and only those who can convince their own minds that its not an illusion can see the room for what it really is.
Lair Actions
The nature of the Dimension and thus the Lómipilu’s lair is of unbridled chaotic illusion and the creature that calls this liar home is its embodiment. On initiative 20 the Lómipilu takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects. The Lómipilu can’t take the same action 2 rounds in a row.
The rooms shift, doors that used to lead to halls or other rooms change to a new position and the lair reforms around its central core.
Creatures made of shadow shift in and out of existence and throw themselves at invaders of their territory at the behest of the Lómipilu. These creatures are called Lómipilu Shades (Shadowless Shades). They take the form that the Lómipilu desires, have 7ac and 1 hp and cause no damage on an attack. They also die after 1d4 rounds.
The Shadow energy of the pocket dimension erupts forth and causes all exposed flames and non-permanent magical lights to go out.
Thoughts
The Lómipilu would rather try an convince the party to attack each other by using the shades and its ability to create illusions seemingly at will to convince each other that what they are seeing is or isnt real.
When the Lómipilu feels threatened it will fade into darkness (hide action) and will attack isolated or vulnerable creatures savagely as it will always try and fight with an upper hand.
Thanks for visiting tonight and for looking at the stat block tonight for the Lómipilu. I have a few writeups for tomorrow so make sure to come back to keep up to date with Brazen Wolfe Tabletop. Oh, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Thursday brings us something a long time coming. Another Map and this time it’s the Lair of the Lómipilu and something that makes it a bit more tricky to work out. So without too much introduction let’s look at a map!
The idea behind the Lair of the Lómipilu is simple. Each time the party members leave a room or hallway the Lómipilu will change where they were moving and where they moved from. For this purpose I have a bunch of rooms or areas that are shrouded in darkness each with a few 1″ grid width (5ft) exits/entrances. For my implementation of this I would print out the maps (or edit them in GIMP or another image manipulation software) and roll a dice per entrance/exit per room/hall.
For simplistic play
Assign the large central room with only one exit with the number 6. Each other entrance/exit roll a 6 and assign it either a 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6.
Do this for all rooms so they have no duplicate ranges. Then try and map them out so that the portal room is somehow connected to the large room. Any entrance or exit that doesn’t have a number allocated to it and a room next to it is considered to be “lost” and you end up back on the portal room.
My example is this:
For complex play
Keep the dice rolled but each time they leave a room they roll a dice (effectively a d3) and they move to a random room that has that number. This becomes an issue of chance and luck rather than skill, role playing or problem solving and so could be more troublesome and it would rely on rolling well multiple times. The caveat to this system would be that they add a +1 to the roll for each room they have visited and make the end room a 7 (so they cant roll 6 then a 6 straight away and head to the final room). This rewards exploration and doesn’t feel as much of a “Game of chance” as a “after 3 rooms you have a 50% chance to get to the boss room”.
Thoughts
As always creating maps in Inkarnate is fun and interesting. Trying to get the right colours for a shadow realm and making it readable is difficult so that was challenging.
The mechanics behind here isn’t to be unfair to the players but its to represent the nature of the Lómipilu and what it means to be in its lair. This isn’t a goblin or a spirit folk but a demonic creature that is a master of illusion and bends the shadows around its prey to confuse and entrap its prey before it gets tired of playing. This is meant to be challenging as its probably our second last major encounter before the finale and so I wanted to capture that.
Thanks dropping by, sorry for the late post was I had some technical issues. So that means that you get double posts today! Don’t forget to read the next post later today (featuring Liar actions) and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Wednesday night brings another weekly twist or secondary hook for our story and this week its a bit of both. With the bringing of a shadowy maze gives us an opportunity to let the party meet their next foe, themselves. Well, maybe not themselves but The Doppelganger is who ever it wants to be and in this case the Lómipilu has chosen to weave the characters into the illusion.
The Doppelganger
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As the party member move around the corner they find a familiar set of faces looking back at them. “What happened to you? Where did you go? You were with us a second ago and then you disappeared and we heard noises from behind us…” the look on the party members in front turned to concern and fear. “There is something behind you…”
Turning around the party turned to see shadowy blurred faces that looked very much like the party members who stood behind them. They reached out, pointing and shouting at the party members behind them telling the person to get away from them, that they were dangerous. However it was too late as The Doppelganger had already weaved itself into the minds of all those involved and was playing its part perfectly.
As chaos broke out in the mind of that party member the doppelganger was busy in creating similar chaos elsewhere.
Meanwhile…
The rest of the group could not find where their party member had gone – they had disappeared but a minute ago as a gust of shadow like gas had gushed from the wall. Racing through it to try and find their missing member they found a dreadful scene where the finishing blow was given to a creature of bone and flesh by their party member.
“Thank the gods you showed up. There were more of these creatures. Several more. They live in the walls and emerge in a puff of smoke and attack without warning.” The party member leant over and breathed heavily with exhaustion. “We will have to be careful moving forward..” he said as another gust of shadow infused smoke erupted from the wall and the party scattered into the surrounding rooms to avoid the gas.
Behind the gas the Lómipilu made its move and changed the rooms that they were in, creating new passages, new rooms and changing the perspective of the players in an instance. One moment they were facing what would be due north, the next they were looking south west at a new door opening into a different hallway. Separated from the rest of the party, well those who were not already taken over by its created doppelgangers.
As the party members began to descend into chaos it made its move, slashing out in violence and the first drops of mortal blood were dropped onto its lightless glass floors and shadowy walls.
Thoughts
I have organised this encounter to only work if the party is fully invested in what’s going on OR by getting them to act out what the enemy is doing. It’s on that note that we find ourselves at the precipice of this weeks encounter where we look at the abilities of the Lómipilu and what its capable of making the party see.
In fact the creature can do just about what ever it wants. This makes it hard for our players to get a sense of how balanced the encounter is but also how to combat it. By getting each other to act out the role of the aggressor and see it from each others point of view we can truly sew in the horror of this scenario.
Thanks for visiting my shadowy lair tonight as we look at the doppelgangers. This twist isn’t something new but I think what I will have for Friday night should have a different perspective on it. On that note don’t forget to come back for the rest of the week and, always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Brazen Wolfe Tabletop 