Sorcerous Spells In the House of the High King

What this is

Here is another peak into the campaign setting I'm calling In the House of the High King. It's the same setting as my recent knight class.

How it works

In brief, sorceresses memorize "Signs." You can memorize a number of signs equal to how many first-level spells you can cast. So a fifth level sorceresses can memorize 2 signs per day.

When you have a sign memorized, you expend spell slots (as normal) to cast any spell from your sign. For example, a fifth level sorceresses might have the Sign of Blur and the Sign of Wood memorized. Since she can cast two 1st level spells a day, she could cast both the spells of blur and wood once, or either spell twice. The Sign of Wood has no second level spell, but she could use her 2nd level spell slots on casting fading blur twice. And so on. 

Design goals

The impetus behind this alternate spell-casting system is to allow sorceresses to learn "bundles" of a spell at a time. You might think of each sign as a single spell that can be "upcast" by expending higher-level slots on it.

Spells are derived from OSE, and intended to have a more fairytale vibe while still being congruous with Old-School Essentials. 

For example, the Charm spell is rendered here as "Love." Although the text is mostly unchanged (aside for some rules about jealousy), the feeling at the table is totally different, I think. I hope these flourishes reinvigorate players' interest in the classic B/X spells.

Sorcerous Spells

BIND

The Sign of the Cup

The first sign in the wheel of the year; the beginning of spring, the return of the sun. Its spells entrance the mind, even as the wine cup does.

Bind ★

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Duration: Concentration
Range: 60'

You cast an enchantment of mental binding against enemies within a 20' cube within range, causing them to be dazed, sleepy, and forgetful. Affected creatures take no actions and remember nothing of the time they were enchanted.
Targets: Humanoid creatures of HD 4 or lower within the range of the spell must save with counter-spell or become enchanted for as long as you maintain concentration.
Subduing: Enchanted creatures can be subdued as an action, irrespective of its hit points.
Awakening: Enchanted creatures can be forcefully awakened (e.g., by slapping).
Restrictions: Non-humanoid creatures, creatures of greater than 4+1 HD, and undead are not affected.

Binding Threads ★★

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Duration: 48 turns
Range: 10'

You weave a loom of colored threads that physically binds everyone who enters a 10' cube.
Entanglement: Creatures caught within a web become entangled among the rainbow-colored fibres. Entangled creatures can’t move, but can break free depending on their strength (see below).

• Normal human range: The creature can break free in 2d4 turns.
• Magically augmented STR above 18: The creature can break free in 4 rounds.
• Giant strength: The creature can break free in two rounds.

Flammable: The strands of the web are flammable and can be destroyed by fire in two rounds. All creatures caught within flaming webs suffer 1d6 points of damage from the flames.

Greater Bind ★★★

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Duration: 6 Turns
Range: 60'

You cast an enchantment of mental binding against enemies within a 20' cube within range, causing them to be dazed, sleepy, and forgetful. Affected creatures take no actions and remember nothing of the time they were enchanted.
Targets: Creatures whose HD total up to twice your level may be affected. Creatures with the lowest HD are affected first. Affected creatures may save with grit to resist becoming enchanted.

• For example, a level 7 sorceress may affect up to 14 HD of creatures with this spell. If she encounters six goblins (HD 1-1), two ogres (HD 4+1), and large roc (HD 12), the spell would affect all the goblins (for a total of HD 6-1) and both ogres (goblins + ogre's HD \= HD 14), but not the roc.

Subduing: Enchanted creatures can be subdued as an action, irrespective of its hit points.
Unwaking: Enchanted creatures cannot be awoken prematurely unless you desire to end your spell early or if it is dispelled.
Restrictions: Mindless creatures are not affected.

Binding of Eternal Sleep ★★★★★★

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Duration: Permanent
Range: 240'

You lay a curse on up to 4d8 HD of creatures within a 60' cube. Creatures with the lowest HD are affected first. Affected creatures must save with faith or be cursed into an eternal sleep.
Sleeping creatures: Those who are cursed will sleep forever. While sleeping, they need neither food nor drink. While sleeping, they do not age.
Subduing: Enchanted creatures can be subdued as an action, irrespective of its hit points.
Unwaking: Enchanted creatures cannot be awoken without breaking the curse (i.e., with curse of doom) unless you desire to end your spell early.
Restrictions: Undead and creatures with greater than 7 HD are unaffected.

BLUR

The Sign of the Maiden

The second sign in the wheel of the year is named the Maiden. It's said she was sent to teach humankind how to live justly but, seeing a reflection of their future wickedness in a holy well, fled to the sky to avoid responsibility for them—thus dooming them to their fate. Her spells hide and shield the caster from harm.

Blur ★

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Duration: 1+[level] turns
Range: Caster

Your form becomes blurred and every step you take leaves behind an afterimage. You gain AC 16. Every time you're attacked, this enhanced AC drops by 1 until your AC is at its normal rating (even if the attack misses).
Doom: While under the effects of the blur, you are immune to the effects of the doom spell; each bolt automatically misses.

Fading Blur ★★

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Duration: 1 hour per level
Range: 240'

You, or some other object or creature you designate, is covered in an illusion of invisibility.

If the subject attacks or casts a spell, the spell ends and the subject becomes visible again.
Carried gear: Equipment carried by the subject is also rendered invisible. Carried light sources like torches continue to shed light, but the flame is unseen.

Greater Fading Blur ★★★

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As fading blur, but the spell also covers all creatures within 10' of the target with the illusion of invisibility.

This illusion moves with the target; creatures that enter the radius become invisible while creatures who leave the area become visible.
Breaking the spell: If a subject affected by the spell attacks or casts a spell, their invisibility ends and they become visible again. If the target on which the spell is centered attacks or casts a spell, the spell is broken and all creatures in the radius become visible.

Unblurred Projection ★★★★★★

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Duration: 6 turns
Range: 240'

You project a mirror image of yourself within range.
Subsequent spells cast: Appear to originate from the image. (Targets must still be visible to you, however.)
Spells and missiles: Your image appears unaffected by spells or missile weapons.
Melee or touch: If your image is touched or hit in melee, it disappears.

DOOM

The Sign of the Dragon

The Dragon is not counted among signs of the wheel of the year. His stars are not stars, but a gap between the stars. The darkness of his body severs the Maiden from the Lamb. His spells cause harm.

Doom ★

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Duration: 1 turn
Range: 150'

You conjure a crackling bolt of purple energy. You can hold it for up to 1 turn or throw it as part of the act of casting the spell. The bolt automatically hits your target (no attack or saving throw is required), inflicting 1d6+1 damage.
At higher levels: You conjure one additional bolt per three levels: two at level 4, three at level 7, and four at level 10. Any number of conjured bolts can be fired as a singular action towards a single target.

Curse of Doom ★★★★

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Duration: Permanent / Instant
Range: Caster or a creature touched

With a touch, you may lay a curse or break a curse.
Lay a curse: The subject must save with counter-spell or suffer an effect of your choosing. Potential effects include:

1. Fey. The subject always receives maximum damage and always deals maximum damage.
2. Marked by Undeath. The subject is always prioritized in combat by undead monsters.
3. Bad Luck. Whenever the subject rolls a natural 1, a piece of their gear breaks. In combat, their weapon shatters on a roll of a natural 1.
4. Tongue Tied. They cannot say a certain specific (but not common) word—such as the caster's name.
5. Withered. One attribute is halved.
6. Compelled. The subject is forced to eat or drink only a particular type of food.

Multiple curses: Can afflict a creature, as long as each has a different effect.
Break a curse: A curse affecting a creature or object is immediately coughed up as a worm of animate black tar the size of a cricket. The curse-worm tries to escape; it has 1 hp.

Doomcloud ★★★★★

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Duration: 6 turns
Range: 30'

You briefly open a hellmouth, which spews forth a luminous, poisonous fog. All living creatures besides the caster in contact with the fog suffer 1 damage per round. Any creature who takes damage from the fog with less than 5 HD must save with faith or die.
Fog dynamics: When the spell is cast, the fog fills a 30' diameter area in front of you. The fog moves 20' away from you in still conditions each round. Denser than air, it flows down hills, into holes, and so forth.
Winds: Natural or magical winds disperse the fog.

Blast of Doom ★★★★★★

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Duration: Instant
Range: 60'

You breathe a blast of hellfire, like a stygian dragon, that instantly destroys a single creature or object.
If a creature is targeted: It may save with faith to resist instant disintegration.
Examples of objects: The following might be targeted: a tree, a ship, a 10' section of city wall.

FIRE

The Sign of the Lamb

The third sign of the wheel of the year, which rises in the last month of spring. In mythology, the Lamb sacrificed itself to protect the twin kings Ibis and Abba from a palace fire when they were children, sheltering them in its unscorched wool. As a reward, the angels set the Lamb's fleece in the heavens. Its spells evoke the power of fire.

Fire ★

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Duration: 6 turns + 1 turn per level
Range: Caster

You summon a were-fire, a tongue of flame hovering above the tip of your finger. It sheds light as a candle.
Holding the were-fire: You must have one hand free to hold the mage's fire.
Ignite: With a word of True Speech, you may use the flame to ignite 1-4 flammable objects or light sources within 120'. This consumes the were-fire.
Attacking sparks: With a word of True Speech, you may use your were-fire to attack a creature within 120', causing the flame to erupt into a shower of sparks. The target automatically suffers 1d4+1 damage and must save with quickness or become dazzled, suffering a -2 penalty on attack rolls for 1d4 rounds. This consumes the were-fire.

Continual Fire ★★

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As fire, but the duration of the spell becomes Concentration.

Ball of Fire ★★★

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Duration: Instant
Range: 240'

You fire a shooting star from your finger to a point within range where it explodes into a 20' radius sphere of fire. You deal 1d6 damage per level to all creatures within range; targets may save with quickness to halve the damage taken.
Aiming the ball: You must have one hand free to cast this spell.

Wall of Fire ★★★★

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Duration: Concentration
Range: 60'

You conjure an opaque curtain of raging flame, shaped however you wish.
Size: The wall can be any length, height, and shape that you wish, up to 1,200 square feet total. For example, it may be a straight wall 10′ high and 120′ long or a ring 20′ high and 10′ radius.
Location: The wall cannot be created in an area occupied by objects.
Monsters with fewer than 4 HD: Cannot pass the wall of flames.
Monsters with 4 or more HD: Can pass through the wall, but suffer 1d6 damage. Undead and cold-based creatures (e.g., frost salamanders) suffer double damage.

LIFT

The Sign of the Bat

The Bat is the first zodiac sign of the summer, corresponding to the month when the bats return from hibernation and fill the skies. Its spells give flight, to lesser or greater degrees.

Lift ★

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Duration: 6 turns
Range: 6'

You conjure a shallow cauldron, 3' across, that is magically carried by a bat familiar. With the frantic beating of its wings, the bat carries the cauldron at waist height (never higher) and follows you as you move.
Load: The bat's cauldron can carry a maximum load of 500 lbs. (5,000 coins).
End: Anything placed in the cauldron is dropped when it disappears (along with the bat) at the end of the spell's duration.

Uplift ★★

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Duration: 6 turns + 1 per level
Range: Caster

Bat wings appear on your heels. Using these wings, you may move up and down through the air vertically, up to 20'/round. Using your hands, you may push off against solid objects.
Falling: You descend slowly when falling.

Greater Uplift ★★★

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Duration: 1d6 turns + 1 per level
Range: Caster or creature touched

The clothes of the subject (cloak, robe, dresses, etc.) animate like giant wings, allowing them to fly freely in the air.
Flight: Is possible in any direction, including the ability to levitate and to hover in mid-air, at a movement rate of 120'.

Lifting Swarm ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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Duration: Concentration (up to 6 rounds)
Range: 120'

You summon a cloud of invisible bat familiars that obey you. With a word of the True Speech, you may command them to lift objects or creatures up to 20 lbs/level. The target is moved up to 20'/round in whatever direction you wish, including vertically.
Resisting: A targeted creature may save using counter-spell to resist being moved.

LOVE

The Sign of the Cat

In mythology, the constellation of the Cat was once a human sorceress who evaded the unwanted advances of an amorous dwarf by undergoing a transformation chase: He would chase her as a hart, but she would hide as a rose. He would sniff her out as a bumblebee, but she would slip away as a trout, and so on. Eventually, she became a cat and hid behind the moon. The spells associated with this sign carry enchantments of love. Many weddings are held during the second month of summer when the Cat is in the sky.

Love ★

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Duration: Until broken
Range: 120'

You weave an enchantment that forces a single human, demi-human, or humanoid monster to save with counter-spell or fall madly in love with you.
Love: The subject regards you with an ardent but virtuously-chaste amorous feeling.They will come to your defence in combat, generally acquiesce to your requests, and attempt to please you with sickeningly sweet displays of affection.
Subject's nature: The subject will refuse requests that contradict their habits or self interest. They will propose suitable alternative ideas: annoying poetry, kissing your fingertips, etc.
Jealousy: An enchanted subject cannot bear the sight of a rival lover. Two or more subjects of the love spell will ignore commands until they fight each other.
Restrictions: Humanoids of greater than 4+1 HD and undead are not affected.
Duration: This enchantment lasts indefinitely, but the subject is allowed to make further saves with counter-spell each time the following triggers:

• Whenever you outright reject their advances
• Whenever they make a Morale check
• At the dawn of every day

Whenever this save succeeds, the spell ends. This spell also ends if they ever receive a kiss from their true love.

Beloved Familiar ★★

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Duration: Until the sun next crosses the horizon
Range: Summoned within 10'

You conjure a magical cat familiar who will obey your spoken commands.
Name: Each sorceress summons a single familiar unique to them each time this spell is cast. Give it a name.
Abilities: This familiar has the basic stats of a common house cat with the following exceptions: It is intelligent. It can speak, read, and write. It has a 4-in-6 chance to answer questions about magic. It has a 3-in-6 chance to scry magical effects by smell. It can turn invisible.
Commands: The familiar can perform basic tasks such as fetching small items, scouting ahead, or catching small animals. It struggles to perform tasks that require thumbs.
Ending the spell: The cat familiar disappears in a puff of brimstone at the end of the duration or if slain. If slain, it can be summoned again, whole and restored, by casting this spell again.

Greater Love ★★★

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As love, with the amended text:
You weave an enchantment that forces any intelligent creature to save with counter-spell or fall madly in love with you.
Restrictions: Undead are not affected.

Blinded by Love ★★★★

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Duration: 12 rounds
Range: 120'

You cast an enchantment that confuses 3d6 creatures within a 30' radius area.
Subjects of 2+1 HD or greater: May save with counter-spell each round to resist the spell’s effect, acting with free will that round if they make the save.
Subjects of 2 HD or lower: May not make a saving throw.
Confused behavior: A confused creature cannot tell similar things apart from each other. Each person looks the same to them, each book is identical, a bec-de-corbin is indistinguishable from a ranseur. If the creature attacks, it has an equal chance of attacking any combatant. If the creature casts a spell, it casts a random spell at a random target. If the creature flees, it runs in a random direction.

RUNE

The Sign of the Wand

The Sign of the Wand rises in the middle of the year, marking a balance between light and dark throughout the Isles. The spells under its auspices deal with the True Speech itself.

Rune ★

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Duration: Instant
Range: 10'

You put a spark of magic into one of the ancient True Speech runes forged by the sorceresses of old, activating an item of enchantment.
Dwimmercrystals: You immediately cast the spell held inside a dwimmercrystal. The dwimmercrystal then shatters.
Artifacts: You activate the power of an ancient magical artifact, powering it on to perform its function.
Wands and magic items: If a wand or other magic item is out of charges, you may activate it once using this spell.

Dispel Runes ★★★

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Duration: Instant
Range: 120'

You unravel the echoes of True Speech maintaining ongoing spells. All spell effects within a 20' cube end in a burst of rainbow light.
Magic items: Are unaffected.

Rewrite Name Runes ★★★★

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Duration: Until broken or dismissed by caster
Range: 60'

You give a new name to yourself or another creature, transmuting the subject into another type of creature of your choosing. Unwilling creatures may save with counter-spell to avoid the transmutation.
Limitations: The new form cannot have higher HD than the caster’s level. The spell cannot be used to duplicate a specific individual.
Spellcasting: While transmuted, the subject cannot cast spells.
Stats and abilities: The transmutation does not alter the subject's hit points, saving throws, attack score, or intelligence. The physical capabilities of the new form (e.g., strength, physical attack forms, modes of movement) are acquired, but not non-physical special abilities (e.g., spell casting).
Duration: This enchantment lasts indefinitely, but the subject is allowed to make further saves with counter-spell at the dawn of every day. Whenever this save succeeds, the spell ends. If the subject dies, they revert to their true form. A kiss will also end this spell. You may choose to dismiss the spell at will.
Staying in the form: If the transmutation lasts for seven consecutive days, the subject truly becomes the new form: all special abilities are acquired, along with behavioural patterns, tendencies, and intelligence. The subject forgets their previous life.

Sever Runes ★★★★

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Duration: Permanent
Range: 240'

You cut off the subject's access to the stars. The subject must save with counterspell (at a -4 penalty) or be cursed to be unable to cast spells.

SCRY

The Sign of the Dogs

The Sign of the Dogs appears in the sky on the first day of the autumn equinox. It is said that the Dogs pursue the Cat across the night sky. Its spells concern perceiving magical auras.

Scry ★

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Duration: Concentration
Range: Caster

You perceive the auras of spells, magic items, and arcane magic-users.
Magic items or areas: Magic items or zones sparkle in your sight. By spending a turn studying a permanent magic aura, you may attempt to identify all enchanted effects, curses, and activation words, with a 2-in-6 chance of success.
Sense spell effects: You sense the presence of ongoing spells within 60'.
Identify ensorcelled creatures: Enchanted creatures glow red. Transmuted creatures glow pale green. Cursed creatures glow purple. Illusion-cloaked or invisible creatures glow light blue.
Casters: You recognize if someone is or isn't an arcane caster. If you see them cast a spell, you learn to identify their unique aura imprints and can later identify ongoing spells as having been cast by them while under the effects of scry.

Scry Object ★★

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Duration: Instant
Range: 1 mile

A hellhound appears briefly and points in the direction of the nearest object you name in the True Speech. One of two types of objects may be located: a general class of object or a specific object.
General class: An object of a general class (e.g., a stairway, an altar, etc.). In this case, the nearest object of that type is located.
Specific object: A specific object known to you.
Restrictions: This spell cannot be used to locate creatures.

Scry Creature ★★★

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Duration: 12 turns
Range: 60'

You ponder the orb of your fallen star, which displays the experiences of a creature within range. You may either attune to: a nearby creature or a specific creature.
Nearby creature: Focus for 1 turn to attune to the closet NPC (in the next room, down the corridor, etc.). You may choose to maintain this image or change to another subject (if any are within range).
Specific creature: Focus for 1 turn to seek out a specific creature known to you. If they are not within range, your fallen star will remain dark.
Fallen star: The fallen star of the Sign of the Dogs is a prerequisite component for this spell.
Pondering: When attuned to a creature, an image of what the creature sees through its eyes is displayed in your fallen star. Manuscript-like illuminations appear in the orb displaying the creature's current inner monologue, as well as illustrated scrolls detailing what the creature hears or says.

Scrying Eye Dog ★★★★

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Duration: 6 turns
Range: 240'

You conjure a hellhound familiar that obeys your commands and lends you its senses.
Name: Each sorceress summons a single familiar unique to them each time this spell is cast. Give it a name.
Abilities: The hellhound familiar is intelligent. It has the following stats:
AC 4 [15], HD 4 (18 hp), Att 1 × bite (1d6) or 1 × breath (4d6), THAC0 16 [+3], MV 120’ (40’), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16, ML 9
- Detect invisible: 75% chance per round. 60’ range.
- Extraplanar: Can become invisible at will.
- Fire breath: 2-in-6 chance per round of breathing fire. One target. Save with quickness for half damage.
- Fire immunity: Unharmed by non-magical fire.
- Infravision: 60' range.
- Slippery: Can squeeze through spaces as narrow as its nose.
Share senses: By concentrating, you can see through the eyes of the hellhound.
Commands: The familiar can scout ahead invisibly. It can be set to guard or warn of ambushing enemies. It can participate in combat.
Ending the spell: The hellhound disappears in a puff of brimstone at the end of the duration or if slain. If slain, it can be summoned again, whole and restored, by casting this spell again.

Scry the Pattern ★★★★★

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Duration: 1 conversation
Range: Caster

You open your mind to the dazzling pattern of the stars. You may ask up to three yes or no questions about the past, the present, or potential eventualities.
Past: About events that transpired or specific actions NPCs have taken.
Present: About the current position or goals of NPCs, items, armies, or nations.
Future: About cause and effect from hypothetical actions taken.
Understanding the answers: For each question asked, roll a d20. If the result is equal to or below [your level + 8], you receive a clear "Yes" or "No" answer. If the result is higher, you do not understand the pattern and lose: (1-2) 1d6 Intelligence, (3-4) 1d6 Wisdom, (5-6) 1d6 Charisma. Lost ability points recover at a rate of 1/day. Reducing an ability score to 0 signifies a permanent coma; you are lost in your own mind.

VEIL

The Sign of the Coin

The Sign of the Coin reigns over the harvest season. In astrology, the Sign of the Coin is all about extremes: highs and lows, epic victories and abysmal failures, huge windfalls and devastating losses. Farmers pray each year that the Coin will give them plenty, not poverty. Its spells concern the duality of things that are hidden and revelations.

Veil ★

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Duration: Concentration
Range: Touch

An object you touch is covered with an illusion of an object of the same type and roughly the same size. For example, a letter from your uncle could be rewritten to be a letter of commendation from the Dragon-Lord of Pellidor, a bec-de-corbin could appear as a billhook, a bronze ingot could be disguised as a gold ingot, etc.
Limitations: This spell does not work on living creatures. The illusion is purely visual: it does not extend to weight, smell, texture, etc.

Painted Veil ★★

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Duration: Concentration
Range: 240'

You weave an illusion—an animated tapestry of light—which manifests in a 20' cube area. It is indistinguishable from real life by sight, but makes no sound, carries no weight, bears no smell, etc. Three types of illusions may be created: an illusory monster, an illusory hazard, or an illusory scene.
Illusory monster: Seems to attack but never hit. The monster has an Armour Class of 10 and will vanish if hit in combat.
Illusory hazard: For example, an avalanche, a falling ceiling, a magic missile, etc. Targets must save with wit or be stunned for 1d4 turns as they puzzle out how they're still alive.
Illusory scene: Either changing the appearance of the affected area or creating the appearance of something new. The scene disappears if touched.

Unveil ★★★

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Duration: Until the sun next crosses the horizon
Range: Caster or creature touched

You (or another that you touch) can see in the dark up to 60'.

Greater Painted Veil ★★★★

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Duration: Permanent until dispelled
Range: 240'

As painted veil, except you do not need to concentrate on the illusion.

In addition, illusory scenes you create may fill the range completely, disguising the existing terrain with a scene of your choosing: a hill, a wood, a marsh. As with painted veil, touching the scene dispels it.

Folding the Veil ★★★★★

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Duration: Concentration
Range: Same land mass

You send a projection of yourself to a person whose name you know. You perceive each other as shimmering images and hear what the other says in real time. Touching a projection ends the spell.
Restrictions:This spell can only contact a person on the same island. Spells cannot cross the ocean.

WARD

The Sign of the Lion

The Sign of the Lion is said to be the mythological hero Tur-ap-Tur, who took on the lion's shape to wrestle the dragon Orm Reekla into the sky. The spells of this sign protect against the powers of Undeath and the Isle of Ffaln.

Ward ★

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Duration: 3 turns
Range: 60'

You manifest motes of light to give warning of approaching undead. The motes flit towards undead within the spell's range, covering them in a glittering glow that all can see.
Light: Undead within range shed light equivalent to a candle.
Invisible and incorporeal: Invisible or incorporeal undead (e.g., wraiths, specters) are revealed by this spell.
Hidden: Motes of light tap frantically against doors, sarcophagus lids, etc., behind which undead lurk.

Greater Ward ★★

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Duration: 6 turns
Range: Caster

You are covered in a translucent armor that protects you against the undead. Against undead monsters, you gain +1 to your saving throws rolls and +1 AC.
Defeat undead immunities: Weapons you hold are treated as though they are silver and magical.
Immune to experience drain: You are immune to experience drain effects from undead.

Mass Greater Ward ★★★

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Duration: 12 turns
Range: 10' around the caster

As greater ward, except the duration is 12 turns and all living creatures within 10' benefit from the effects of the spell.

Ward Against Shaping ★★★★

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Duration: 6 turns / permanent (curing transmutation)
Range: 120'

You evoke the subject's name in the True Speech, protecting their true shape. This spell has two applications: you either make the subject immune to transmutation effects or cure transmutation effects affecting the subject.
Immune to transmutation effects: Immune to effects like shapechanging curses, the rewrite name runes spell, petrification, and similar effects for 6 turns.
Cure transmutation effects: Effects like the rewrite name runes spell and petrification instantly ended.

Ward Against Sorcery ★★★★★★

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Duration: 12 turns
Range: Caster

Runes written by motes of light flash around you as the stars themselves promise not to harm you for a time. You are immune to any magic (beneficial or harmful) for the duration.
Duration: You may choose to dismiss the spell at will.

WAVE

The Sign of the Whale

The first sign of winter is that of the Whale. In mythology, the whale Cetus sheltered the saint Alrisa and his family when the world flooded and regurgitated him onto dry land when the waters receded, earning him an honored position in the heavens. Spells of this sign deal with command over the water.

Wave ★

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Duration: 12 turns
Range: 120'

You speak the name of the wave and call forth its lightest part: the fog. A fog fills a 30' radius area with a thick mist. All creatures within the area are effectively blind.
Winds: Natural or magical winds disperse the fog.

Wave Walk ★★

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Duration: 6 turns + 1 per level
Range: Caster or creature touched

You bid the waters to uphold you or another creature you touch. The surface of the water is solid for the subject, who can walk atop calm water as if it were solid ground.
Rough waters: Waves and choppy waters may lower movement rates or prompt ability checks to avoid falling, at the referee's discretion.
At higher levels: You may cast this spell on one additional subject per three levels: two at level 4, three at level 7, and four at level 10.

Breathe Waves ★★★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: Until the sun next crosses the horizon
Range: 30'

You bestow the ability to breathe both air and water to a single subject.
Swimming: No additional proficiency at swimming is granted.

Airy Waves ★★★★★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: 1 turn per level
Range: Caster or creature touched

You conjure a bubble of misty air around the subject that allows them to traverse underwater as easily as the bird flies through the air.
Swimming: Is possible in any direction at a movement rate of 120'.
Activity: As on dry land. Speech and spell-casting is possible. Subject's gear and clothes become damp (as in a fog) but not wet while the spell lasts.
Underwater combat: Is not impeded. Even a bow may be fired underwater.

Part the Waves ★★★★★★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: Concentration
Range: 1 mile per level x 10

You raise your hands and call a streaking star to draw a blazing path through the sky between one island and another. The ocean that separates these two islands parts under the afterburn of the light.
Path: 10' wide, with towering walls of water on either side. Path directly connects two islands that lie within the range of the spell.
Limitations: This spell only connects islands. Other waters, such as rivers or lakes, do not obey this spell.

WIND

The Sign of the Sword

The winds of winter blow when the Sign of the Sword is in the heavens, and ocean travel is difficult. Spells associated with this sign call up and command these winds.

Wind ★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: Instant / 1 hour per level
Range: 60'

You speak the true name of one of the eight winds, which issues from your mouth like a gale in a 60' line.
Clear fog: This spell disperses natural or magical fogs.
Sailing wind: After casting, the winds in your region blow the same direction as your spell for a number of hours equal to your level. Determine the intensity of the wind by rolling on the wind condition table and adding +1 to the result. See Wind Conditions, under Waterborne Adventuring in Old-School Essentials.

Speed of Wind ★★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: 3 turns
Range: 240'

You call up zephyrs to increase the speed of up to 24 creatures: their maximum movement rates are doubled.

Shield of Wind ★★★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: 12 turns
Range: 30'

You surround one subject with a sphere of swiftly moving winds that turn aside slings and arrows. They have complete immunity to small, non-magical missiles.
Unnatural missiles: No protection is granted against hurled boulders or enchanted arrows.

Windkey ★★★★★★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: Concentration
Range: 720' around caster

You bid the world's weather to obey, and it does.
Restrictions: You must stand in one place to focus this spell. This spell only functions outdoors.
Warped weather: The day after this spell is cast, weather for 20 miles x caster level in all directions around where it was cast readjusts after being magically changed. The referee should roll 3d6 and take the two highest dice when determining wind conditions near the spell's origin. See Wind Conditions, under Waterborne Adventuring in Old-School Essentials.

The following effects may be evoked:
Calm: Clears bad weather (though side-effects—e.g., mud after rain—remain.)
Extreme heat: Dries up snow or mud. Creatures in the area move at half normal rate.
Mists: Visibility drops to 20’. Creatures in the mist move at half their normal rate. At the referee’s option, they may also have a chance of getting lost.
High winds: Movement rates are halved. Missile fire and flight are impossible. High winds may be used to increase the sailing speed of ships by 50%, if they travel with the wind. In sandy areas, may cause a sandstorm, reducing visibility to 20’.
Rain: –2 penalty to missile attacks. Mud forms in 3 turns, halving movement rates.
Snow: Visibility drops to 20’. Movement rates are halved. Bodies of water may freeze. After the snow thaws, mud remains and still impedes movement.

WOOD

The Sign of the Tree

The last sign of the year is the Sign of the Tree. Different isles see different trees in this constellation: the people of Pellidor hold it is an oak, the goat herders of Tine say it's an olive tree, whereas many islands of the Eastern Reaches say it's a willow. All folk across the Stone Isles, however, decorate evergreen trees during the last month of the year in honor of this sign. Spells under this sign control the warp and woof of wood.

Wood ★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: Instant (open) / 2d6 turns (lock)
Range: 60'

At your command, an unlocked wooden door swings open or is held closed.
Opening: Works on closed, stuck, barred (but not locked) wooden doors, gates, chests, and so forth.
Locking: Closes and holds fast wooden doors, gates, etc. Creatures with at least 3HD more than the caster can open a held portal with one round of effort.
Spell versus spell: If one sorceress opens a magically locked door, the higher-level sorceress's spell succeeds. If exactly equal, the door buckles and shatters.
At higher levels: Your level improves this spell when cast.

• Locks at level 3: This spell opens wooden portals that are locked.
• Stone at level 5: This spell can close or open locked stone portals.
• Metal at level 7: This spell can close or open locked metal portals.

Woodland Seeming ★★★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: Permanent
Range: 240'

You weave an illusion around a 240’ diameter area, veiling all creatures within so that they appear as a copse of trees.
Moving through: Once the illusion is in place, even creatures moving among the veiled subjects are deceived.
Subjects who leave the affected area: Cease to be veiled.
Dismissing: You may dismiss the illusion in its entirety at any time.

Ensorcel Woodland ★★★★

[rune placeholder]
Duration: Permanent
Range: 120'

You command normal vegetation in the area to enter one of four magical states:
Spring: Vegetation in the area returns to sprouts and shoots, allowing easy passage through once-dense woods.
Summer: Plants in the affected area become thick and overgrown, entwining to form a thorny jungle.
Autumn: Plants in the area give forth a magically blessed harvest: trees sprout huge fruits, vines instantly grow giant gourds.
Winter: Vegetation in the area becomes withered, sleepy, and inert.
Area: An area of up to 3,000 square feet—selected by the caster—is affected (e.g., 150’ × 20’, 100’ × 30’, etc.).

Old Wooden Door ★★★★★

Duration: 3 turns
Range: 30’

You conjure "The Old Wooden Door" into a wall (or ceiling, floor, etc.) of your choosing. It is battered and unremarkable, but also an object of antiquity and power. When opened, a passage up to 10' deep is found, going directly through solid rock and stone. If this passage connects to another room, it's as if a hallway binds the two rooms together. Otherwise, the passage dead-ends.

Immanent Wood ★★★★★★

Duration: Variable, see text
Range: 30'

The White Tree in the Courtyard of the Immanent Tower is the axis mundi of the Stone Islands; all trees are connected to its roots. Your spell connects one woodland to another by means of the White Tree. You must cast this spell while walking into a forest of significant size. You then walk out of another forest anywhere within the Stone Islands.
Travelers: You may bring a number of subjects with you on this journey equal to your level.
Destination: How long the journey between woodlands takes is dependent on how well the destination is known to you. Roll the percentage chance indicated. If you roll equal to or lower than the chance indicated, you arrive at your location within 2 turns. If you roll higher, roll on the "Getting lost" table. Traveling directly to the Courtyard of the White Tree never risks getting lost.

Knowledge of destination	Arrive within 2 turns
Scant	50%
Moderate	80%
Exact	95%
Courtyard of the White Tree	100%

Getting lost: If you become lost, roll a d10 and consult the following table. Regardless of how much time passes, it feels like only 20 minutes have passed for the subjects of the spell.

Arrive within…
1-4	2d6 turns
5-7	1d6 hours
8-9	1d6 days
10	1d6 months

Microblog: Papercraft - Hvem kan bygge den smukkeste Borg?

Here is a copy of an activity from a 1919 issue of the Danish magazine Familie Journal.

Click to download the full-sized image

Children were invited to cut out these blocks and rearrange them to make a paper castle. They held a contest, asking children to submit their designs: whoever made the best castle would earn five crowns.

Because each block was numbered, they could send drawings of their number arrangement instead of disassembling their papercrafts to enter the contest. 

Old-school Essentials has some real sickos.jpg rules for constructing a castle. Here is a simplified method.

Print out this page. Each block costs 1,000 gp for basic construction, or 1,500 gp for a furnished section. Arrange to taste.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/katukolores/

Knight [In the House of the High King]

I watched Princess Arete and it got my brain going.

What's the right word for this genre? I hesitate to say "Ghibli-esque" because it's so overused as to almost be meaningless, even as (especially as) a marketing term. Fairytale fantasy? French vanilla fantasy?

It gave me the idea of a project, though. It's something like this setting by my friend Tom of the End of All Things / Houseless Hills blog.

Here is a taste. I might theorypost later, but maybe it's apparent from the design? This is longer than the core OSE class, but I also think it's more honest. It talks about the intended play in a way that I hope is enlightening.

Anyway, check it out.

Knight

Before the coming of the High King, the knights of the Stone Isles waged endless petty wars on their neighbors during the summer and autumn months.

Before the failing of the High King, all knights were commanded to seek the lost Runes of Rule and preserve the king's peace. Thus began the Great Quest of the Runes. With their martial puissance thus more-worthily invested, war in the Stone Isles all but stopped (except against the pernicious pirates), and the sea-roads became widely traversable by the common folk.

You were born to continue this quest by the strength of your arms and your iron.

By Oscar Westberg

Level	XP	Title	HD	To-hit	Faith	Wit	Grit	Quick	Counter-spell
1	0	Belted Knight	8 hp	+1	12	13	14	15	16
2	2,000	Knight Bachelor	2d8	+2	12	13	14	15	16
3	4,000	Knight Errant	3d8	+3	12	13	14	15	16
4	8,000	Knight Cavalier	4d8	+4	10	11	12	13	14
5	16,000	Knight Companion	5d8	+5	10	11	12	13	14
6	32,000	Knight Banneret	6d8	+6	10	11	12	13	14
7	64,000	Knight Commander	7d8	+7	8	9	10	10	12
8	120,000	Knight Lord	8d8	+8	8	9	10	10	12
9	240,000	Baronet	9d8	+9	8	9	10	10	12
10	360,000	Baron	10d8	+10	6	7	8	8	10

Adventures as a knight

Seek the runes

You are tasked with entering the ruins of the ancient sorceresses of Stone in search of the lost and broken Runes of Rule. While on this quest, seek items of wonderment for your liege lord, so your lands may be enriched.

It is said if all the Runes of Rule are reunited, the High King will return.

Claiming a rune. If you ever manage to claim (even a partial) Rune of Rule, you may establish your own petty kingdom, a king under the High King. You will no longer be a vassal to your lord, but their peer. You swear allegiance to the High King (may he return) in his Empty Throneroom, witnessed by the Keymaster of Serd.

Serve the realm

First and foremost, a knight must abide by the Oaths of Chivalry.
Serve loyally. Obey your liege lord in all matters. Pay the tributes of conquest and taxation dutifully.
Protect the weak. Defend the health and happiness of the king's subjects.
Keep the peace. Suffer none to break the king's peace. Dispatch pirates, thieves, and monsters.
Act honorably. Keep thy oaths. Fight manfully and without deceit. Give difference to sorceresses.

Those who uphold the Oaths of Chivalry are given the Rights of the Iron Law. (Each oath is conceptually bound to an associated right.)
Right of Iron. You may wear iron armor. You may carry a shield. This right is conferred exclusively to knights and clerics.
Right of the Blade. You may carry a sword as a symbol of your temporary authority. No one else in the Isles may. As part of the Right of the Blade, you may extend knighthood to those you deem worthy, raising a level 0 commoner to a level 1 knight.
Right of Judgment. You have de facto legal authority over the common folk. You may be called upon to sit in judgment, hear complaints, oversee criminal trials, and dispense justice.

• Anybody—especially commoners!—may complain to a local lord to complain about your behavior. The local lord can exercise the Right of Judgment over you.

Right of Challenge. You may demand a trial by combat to settle any matter of legality or honor. The Right of Challenge allows for a myriad variations: jousts, melee, to first blood, to yielding, to the death, etc.

Serve your lord

Most knights are born to nobility: the sons of a king or their vassal knights. However, any knight may make anyone they judge worthy into a knight. Knights raised from the common folk are called "hedge knights" (a quality, not a title). Though not noble born, they are peers with noble-born knights (in theory). Baseborn or noble, each knight serves a liege lord.

Find treasures for your lord. In your quest for the runes, you will find gold, plunder, and items of wonder—enchanted treasures made by the ancient Sorceresses of Stone. Everything you find is, by law, due your liege lord. Based on how much treasure you win for them, you will be granted different titles (see table, above).

Judicious lords give gifts back to their knights; both the treasures they find and other things from their treasury. Gifts are often doled out on St. Mickelmas's Day.

Note: The noble classes (knights and sorceresses) deal in gold as a way to pay commoners. For nobles, it is considered dishonorable to accept gold as payment. Commerce is conducted between nobles via gifts of enchanted items, land, or betrothals.

Claim a magic sword. The one treasure that your liege lord has no claim to is a magic sword. You may claim and hold any magic blade you find.

- Make a coat of arms. Knights who have found at least one magic sword have the right to create personal heraldry for themselves.

• Draw your sigil.
• When you accomplish great deeds, update your sigil to reflect these accomplishments.
• Give yourself a moniker, e.g., Knight of Thistles, the Mirror Knight, the Knight Ill-Made.

Knights who have not yet found a magic sword wear either a blank shield or use their liege lord's arms. They are called "crestfallen knights."

Before the adventure

Background

1. Hedge knight. You are commonborn, but raised to knighthood by your liege lord when you saved him during a sea dragon's attack on his ship. You have a son who is 1d12 years old.
2. Illegitimate. You are the liege lord's child, but your mother is not his lady consort. You were raised as a knight due to this unacknowledged parentage. You have a son who is 2d4 years old.
3. Fostered. You are a second cousin to the family of your liege lord; your parents live on another isle. You served as a squire to your older cousins throughout your teenage years and have just been belted as a knight.
4. Second born. Your liege lord is your father. You squired for your older brother, who is a stick-in-the-mud. Your days have been mostly carefree.
5. Heir apparent. Your liege lord is your father. You squired for your older brother, who was beloved by everyone. He died, drowned in a storm at sea. You are suddenly thrust into the position of heir.
6. First born. You are the first-born child of your father, the liege lord. You have been raised with the expectation that one day you will take over his position. It has weighed on you.

Bonds

If you are going through the Call to Adventure as a group during a session 0, roll or choose one bond to have with them based on their class.

If you are creating a new character to join an existing party, roll once per level on the 1d100 Backstory table instead.

Raised together (Knight)
You were raised in the yard together. You sat vigil, took the oaths, and were dubbed at the same time. Are you the better fighter, are they, or are you evenly matched? (You should both take this bond.) Gain the knack: Shield Wall - When fighting side-by-side with someone with this talent (within 5' of each other), you both gain +2 AC.
Your companion gains the Shield Wall knack, too.

Tourney rivals (Knight)
You first met this companion at the wrong end of the lance during your first tourney. You were evenly matched, but one of you won the joust by a single point. Who was it? You gain the skill: Riding and a random loyal steed.
Your companion gains +4 hp.

Stolen kiss (Sorceress)
You met this companion at a feast held in your liege lord's castle. At the end of the night, you stole a kiss from them. You gain +1 Charisma.
Ask them: How do they feel about you now?
If they want to court you, your companion gains +1 Charisma.
If they reject your advances, your companion gains +1 Wisdom.

Siblings (Sorceress)
This companion is your sibling. They inherited the mystic nature of the Sorceresses of Stone, and you inherited the bravery of your father. Who's older, you or her? You gain the skill: Ancient History.
Your companion gains proficiency in any martial weapon of their choice.

Tattletale (Cleric)
When you were younger, you skipped mass to nurse a hangover. This companion tattled on you and you were forced to muck out the stables. Have you forgiven them? You gain +1 Constitution.
Your companion gains +1 Wisdom.

Friend of the feast (Cleric)
When you were younger, you and this companion secretly tapped a cask of an elder friar's barleywine during a feast. You shared secrets while getting uproariously drunk. What did you tell each other? You gain +1 Constitution.
Your companion gains +1 Constitution.

Cast pirates back into the sea (Guilder)
When the pirates landed on your island, this companion raised the alarm and rushed with you to the shore to repel the invaders. Together, you threw them back into the sea. You gain +1 Strength.
Your companion gains +1 Wisdom.

Saved your life (Guilder)
Three years ago, both you and this companion campaigned with your lord against the Raiders of the White Land in the North. You were almost slain by one of these barbarians, but they rescued you—and took a grievous wound in the process. You owe this companion your life. You gain +1 Dexterity.
Your companion gains +4 hp.

Negotiator (Elf)
Three years ago, you squired during your lord's campaign against the Raiders of the White Land in the North. This companion rode under the banner of truce to negotiate the end of the war. Both you and the barbarians were impressed with their negotiations. You gain the skill: Diplomacy.
Your companion gains the skill: Diplomacy, as they instructed you in the craft.

Councilor (Elf)
When pirates landed on your island, you drew your first blood. Afterwards, it felt as if a ghost was following you. This companion gave you counsel that helped you and gave you a new perspective on the subject of war. You gain +1 Wisdom.
Your companion gains +1 Charisma.

Mentor (Dwarf)
This companion has long labored for your liege lord. You have sat by their forge fires and carefully watched the subtleties of the craft that they could not express in words. You gain the skill: Smithing.
Your companion gains +1 Intelligence.

Dentist (Dwarf)
When folk of the castle would complain of a sore tooth, your liege lord would call on this companion to come and yank the tooth out with a pair of tongs. You suffered this ministration at least once. You gain +1 Constitution.
Your companion gains the skill: Healing.

Chess player (Gnome)
When exploring the abandoned sections of the castle, you found an empty room with only a chess board and this companion, waiting patiently. You played many games together. They usually won, but taught you a lot. You gain +1 Intelligence.
Your companion gains +1 Intelligence.

Practical joker (Gnome)
You used to wake up with your clean small clothes knotted together, your fingernails painted ludicrous colors, and a grease-paint mustache painted on your teenage upper lip. You could never prove it, but you suspect this companion was behind all these enormities. You gain 10' of movement from constantly running into the empty corridor to look for the absent prankster.
Ask them: Were they the true culprit?
If they were the prankster, they gain +1 Dexterity.
If they weren't the prankster, they gain +1 Wisdom.

Gear

In addition to the equipment gained during your Call to Adventure, you begin the game with:

Armor. Roll 1d6.
1. Armor claimed from your first true battle against pirates:
gambeson, pirate's chain hauberk (1 round to remove in water), pirate's helm
2. Armor gifted your lord from raiders of the White Land as part of a truce:
raider's chain shirt, raider's masked helm, raider's round shield (repainted to colors of your choice)
3-4. Armor of your kingdom, once worn by the knight you squired for, fitted for you:
chain hauberk, chain coif, heavy shield*
5. Armor of your kingdom forged for you:
gambeson, plate cuirass, full helm*
6. Armor loaned to you by a mentor:
gambeson, tourney breastplate, tourney gorget, tourney helm, tourney crest & plume

Weapons. Roll 1d6 twice.
1. iron dagger
2. pirate's boarding axe
3. boar hunting spear
4. bronze warmaul
5. short sword*
6. lance*

* Results from your kingdom's set

Rumor

Your liege lord will tell you one true, actionable rumor regarding the location of an unclaimed magic sword. (This might be your party's first adventure.)

Between adventures

Build a tower

Knights may request a tract of land to develop from their lord. The total value of all treasure yielded to your lord may be used to build a castle, tower, or stronghold on this land. Draw it on a piece of grid paper: you're the master of this donjon.

References to help:

• Rules Sketch: Strongholds by Idle Cartulary of the Playful Void
• What if stronghold construction *is* the adventure? by Kind of Old Games
• Stranding the Wilderness by Sandro of Fail Forward
• Developing the Sandbox: Strongholds by Blog of Forlorn Encystment
• On Stronghold Clearing & Reclamation by Seed of Worlds
• d100 – Stronghold Struggles & Castle Hassles by d4caltrops

Join a knightly order

Knightly orders unite crusaders towards a common purpose. To join an order, you must take the order's oath and undertake its quest during downtime. At this point, you are pledged to the order but not a full member. Once that quest is fulfilled through adventuring, you become a member and gain its knack during your next downtime phase.

A knight may only ever join a single knightly order.

The Dragon-Lords, or the Red Knights
If the story of the Isles is one of invasions, then all humans are invaders against the original inhabitants: the dragons. The Dragon-Lords pursue the Quest for the Runes by cultivating a relationship with dragons. The secrets they discover are written in the Dragon-Book and kept by the head of this order.
Oath: To learn a secret through speech with a dragon
Knack: Steadfast Shield - Once per round, you may redirect an attack against an adjacent ally against yourself, forcing the opponent to target your AC instead. You must declare this before the referee makes the attack roll.

The Faith Militant, or the White Knights
A religious order, allied with clerics and the Church. They strengthen their resolve through participation in daily religious life: the recitation of the Hagiography, the singing of the Low and High Canticles, and contemplation of the Mystery.
Oath: To help a ghost pass on into the cycle of reincarnation
Knack: Exorcist - You deal +1 damage to the undead. Your attacks always harm undead monsters, even those that can normally only be harmed by magical or silver weapons.

The Wayfinders, or the Green Knights
This confraternity dedicates itself to keeping the roads and trade routes clear, and often accompany pilgrims to keep them safe. They maintain a set of wayside shrines throughout the Isles.
Oath: To defeat or banish a monster of the waves or wilds, making the path clear
Knack: Fleet - Your side wins ties in initiative. +10 movement speed.

By Oscar Westberg

Get married (level 3)

At level 3, your liege lord may propose a marriage for you from another noble house. The referee may wish to use established NPCs for this or randomly generate them.

One important attribute of a spouse is their dowry. Roll 1d6 to determine this:

1. None, a younger daughter of a large and cash-poor house
2. 2,000 gp
3. 4,000 gp
4. 8,000 gp
5. 16,000 gp
6. 32,000 gp

The dowry is added to your household income. Wealth accumulated from household income may only be spent on building and improving your tower stronghold. It does not count towards treasure given to your lord or experience points.

Once married, your spouse manages your estate in your absence. You collect your level x 250 gp each month in household incomes.

Once married, check for children once a year. Roll a d20:
1-13. No children.
14. Twins born
15+. Child born
Randomly determine the sex of the child.

Alternatively, you may request your lord's permission to marry for love if you have courted someone who is willing to marry you.

Foster a squire (level 3)

At level 3, you are expected to foster and train a squire (level 0), who will accompany you on your adventures. You must pay upkeep for your squire; this is equivalent to a henchman's salary. Once your squire has accumulated enough experience to gain a level in knight, you have the responsibility of dubbing them. At this point, they may continue to follow you as a henchman in your service.

End of the adventure

Death

When you reach 0 hp, you may choose to die or roll on the following table.

1. Dismemberment. You take a grievous wound and fall unconscious. After a turn, you awake with 1 hp and learn that you've lost your 1. eye, 2. hand, 3. leg below the knee. You must retreat from the dungeon as soon as possible. You must rest for a week before adventuring again.
2. Taken. The monsters [take you prisoner/swallow you] and retreat. You may be [rescued/regurgitated] and restored to 1 hp.
3. Wounded. You take a wound and fall unconscious. After a turn, you awake with 1 hp. You must retreat from the dungeon as soon as possible. You must rest for a week before adventuring again.
4. Sacrifice. Your squire/henchman steps in front of the last blow and falls to 0 hp instead of you. They are taken out of the fight, and must recover in a stronghold before adventuring again.
   1. If no squire/henchman, you will die in 1 turn if you receive no healing.
5. Weak. You are conscious, but weak. You can crawl and whisper, but not perform any tasks that require a roll. At the end of the combat, you regain 1 hp.
6. Last chance. You are conscious, but weak. If you lay still, you regain 1 hp at the end of combat. If you take any actions, treat them as having rolled a natural 20, but you will die at the end of the round.

Bequeath your sword

When you die, you may declare that you have bequeathed your magic sword to your squire or a family member. The next knight character you play starts at level 1 and begins play with your magic sword.

Retirement

Knights can retire from adventuring to focus on estate management and training younger knights. Retired knights are controlled by the referee, with input from the player.

When you retire a knight, your next character will begin play with an equal number of experience points.

Local lord or king

A knight who has reached level 8+ or who has claimed a Rune of Rule becomes a local lord or king upon retirement. The lands and castles governed by them become wholly theirs. They establish a new dynastic house with the heraldry of their personal crest. Newly-created characters may be vassals of this lord.

A player who retires a knight of this level does not gain experience to put forward to their new character: they must start a character at level 1.

However, on St. Mickelmas's Day, the former player of this lord may gift each active character a magical treasure from their previous character's hoard.

Microblog: The Elf's Detect Secret Doors

OD&D elves have the ability to automatically Detect Secret Doors. 

I do not like hidden information rolls and prefer my rule systems that do away with them. I would also prefer for the referee to not have to make a Detect Secret Door roll every room for every elf in the party--this also seems like needless overhead and extra rolling to keep the game going.

Instead, I propose the elf's automatic chance to Detect Secret Doors be built into the backend. Put it into the tables, mechanics, and procedures of generating a dungeon instead of the act of exploring a dungeon. Then, the referee can remember the elf's special ability and key the dungeon appropriately. 

Every secret door placed has a 2-in-6 chance of being of elf-make. It was either placed there during the long ages where elves ruled the world or placed by a previous elf ranger exploring the dungeon for the convenience of elven folk who came after them.

Note elf-made secret doors in your dungeon keying. When an elf enters a room with an elf-made secret door, they automatically notice it. They seem to glow with starlight, to their eyes. Non-elves can detect the secret door using the normal procedure.

Beholders are intellectual property, eh?

No matter what you call them, Beholders are vile servants of the coastal wizards. 

But worry not. They have monstrous cousins that can be used to populate (monsterate?) your dungeons. Less common and less popular, perhaps, but not less worthy.

Mumblers

Also called: Omniphagists, Gabblegob, Chew-Orbs

Art by Felipe Faria

This spherical monster levitates through gaseous sacs in its body. Its central cavity is a gnawing mouth of yellow teeth which leads into an extradimensional space (similar to a bag of holding). Eight tentacle protuberances each end in smaller mouths. All of the mouths can speak: each voice is lustrous and rich. The central mouth is always the voice of authority, but any mouth may offer suggestions, warning, quips, witticisms, or retorts. As it floats through dungeon corridors, you can almost always hear the mouth-stalks talking to itself; it never provokes surprise.

The mumbler's chief pleasure is in taste. It wants strange delicacies, obscure drinks, unusual taste combinations, or varieties of mouthfeel and texture. In a pinch, "raw flesh" (especially that of humans) is always welcome. 

AC 2 [17], HD 13 (58hp), Att 1 x bite (2d8) and magic mouths, THAC0 10 [+9], MV 90′ (30′), SV D4 W5 P6 B5 S8, ML 12, AL Chaotic 

Swallow whole: An attack roll of 19 or 20 on a bite attack indicates a human-sized (or smaller) victim is swallowed. Swallowed creatures are banished to an airless extradimensional space and suffer 1d6 damage per round (until the mumbler is destroyed).

Magic mouths: Each mouth-stalk has an AC of 5 [14]. A mouth-stalk can withstand 6 points of damage before it is severed. This damage is not applied to the main hit point total of the mumbler itself.

The more mouth-stalks that exist, the better spells the mumbler can cast: see table below. Each spell can be used three times per day.

1 mouth-stalk: charm person

2 mouth-stalks: sleep

3 mouth-stalks: phantasmal force

4 mouth-stalks: dispel magic

5 mouth-stalks: lightning bolt, protection from normal missiles, 

6 mouth-stalks: confusion, hallucinatory terrain

7 mouth-stalks: charm monster, feeblemind

8 mouth-stalks: cloud kill

Hearkeners

Also known as: Audio Enslavers, Omniaudient, the Listening Ones, Earbs

A giant, distinctly human ear attached to a hairy orb that moves through levitation. The long hairs covering its spherical body and growing within the ear cavity are prehensile. It has no other visible organs. It communicates through telepathy within 1000'--it sounds like it's whispering directly into your ear.

The hearing of a hearkener is obviously incredibly sensitive. It can perceive, with almost total clarity, anything that is happening on its own dungeon level. It also has excellent control over its audial processing; it is never disturbed by loud sounds. A hearkener, while not a huge threat in combat, can coordinate the defenses of monsters throughout a dungeon incredibly effectively. 

Music is the heartkener's main motivation. It despises the clumsy sounds of human and demi-human peoples. It tolerates extraplanar music, and enjoys angelic music (although angels loathe hearkeners). There is a sub-genre of efreet music that is like a narcotic to them. In a pinch, the wailing of the enslaved will suffice.

AC 1 [18], HD 5 (22 hp), Att 3 × grasping hairs (1d8) or cone of vertigo, THAC0 15 [+4], MV  90′ (30′), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16, ML 12, AL Chaotic

All-hearing: A hearkerner is immune to surprise.

Blind: Hearkeners are blind, but use their hearing to perceive the world. A silence spell blinds them.

Cone of vertigo: 3/day: 30 ft. long x 30 ft. wide cone, must save vs. paralysis or suffer vertigo. While under effects of vertigo, suffer -4 to hit and -2 AC. In addition, each time the victim moves, they roll a 1d12, treating results as a clock hand, and move in that direction. Victims of vertigo can reroll this save at the end of each turn to remove the effects.

ESP: The hearkener benefits from ESP at will, as it can hear even the thoughts of those within 1000'. 

Spell immunity: Unaffected by charm and sleep spells.

Ventriloquism: At will. Can make an audial illusion seeming to originate from anywhere within range 1000 ft.

Snuffler

Also known as: Sternutacion, Sphere of Many Smellers

Snufflers look like giant, spherical dog noses with tiny black beady eyes and wide mouths. They float using a gaseous sac a few inches above the ground. Sensitive hair-like antennae cover their orb-like bodies. 

A snuffler's world is that of smells. They perceive olfactory subtleties that paint vivid pictures of the present and the past. They tend to lead packs of weaker monsters (kobolds and goblinoids, mostly) to through secret doors towards hidden treasure caches, which they horde. Fortunately for civilization, they tend to be plagued with perpetual hay fever. They sneeze, wheeze, and sniff constantly. These humorous fluids have alchemical effects.

AC 2 [17], HD 11 (49 hp), Att 1x bite (1d8), 2 x acid snot (1d6) or alchemical snot, THAC0 11 [+8], MV 90 (30), SV D6 W7 P8 B8 S10, ML 10, AL Chaotic

Acid snot: Two globs of acid snorted within 30'. On a hit, acid deals 1d6 damage each round until the snot is washed off.

Alchemical snot: Snufflers can extrude or benefit from the following potions 2x/day. 

• Control Animal
• Control Dragon
• Control Giant
• Delusion
• Gaseous Form
• Healing
• Poison
• Treasure Finding

All-smelling: A snuffler can perfectly perceive hidden and invisible creatures.

Immunities: Unharmed by gas and poison.

Magic resistance: +2 to all saving throws versus magic effects.

Graspers

Also known as: Crawling Hands, Severed Hecatoncheires

A floating spherical orb with a single eye and wide mouth. Protruding from the sphere are five giant human-like fingers, giving the appearance of a hand with a round palm. Although the orb naturally levitates, graspers walk on their fingers like Cousin It. Graspers can walk on walls and ceilings.

Although less magically inclined then some of its cousins, graspers are as strong as giants and as fast as a horse.

AC 3 [16], HD 9 (40 hp), Att 3x flick (1d10) or grab (3d6), THAC0 12 [+7], MV 240’ (80’), SV D 8 W 9 P10 B10 S12, ML 10, AL Chaotic

Grab: A grabbed creature suffers 3d6 damage per round; a successful save vs. paralysis allows escape on subsequent rounds.