Stuffed Crocodile

2020-01-24 17:30:50

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Last session I got into a talk with one of my players about Dice superstitions, or as I like to call it, Dice Folklore. He didn’t know what I even was talking about. But this is one of those delightful parts of the role-playing hobby that never really gets talked about, but I love the fact that these were actual things people were doing at the table. I think stuff like this makes the hobby seem more real, and more substantial, than just treating dice as the random number generators that they ostensibly are.

Now to be fair, this is not actually anything I have seen in person. Most of the stuff I have encountered were people doing some basic ablative gestures and maybe some chanting. Still, I love hearing about all those.

Here’s a few I came across

Don’t roll the die before you need it because you’ll use up your good rolls.

Always roll out the bad rolls before you need the die.

Once you have a good roll, don’t let the die sit idle for too long lest it “get cold.”

Your first set of dice is sacred. Don’t ever discard or mix them with other dice.

Always lay your dice with the lowest number facing up so the good energy can trickle downward.

Always lay your dice with the highest possible number facing up so the good energy can rise upwards.

Never allow ANYONE else to touch your dice. They will spoil them!

Specific dice are used for specific situations. You need different D20s for attacks, saving rolls, and what have you.

Before rolling a die, chant. Chanting will ease unlucky spirits.

If the status of a die’s luck is in question, keep it separated from the rest of the dice, lest it bring down the luck of the other

On the other hand, some believe mixing a single unlucky die with several lucky ones will make it roll better.

Some believe keeping them with good-luck talismans (e.g. a rabbit’s paw, a four-leaf clover) will let some of that good luck transfer over.

When not in use you should set a guardian to watch over them, e.g. a miniature or a small totem.

There are various rituals to prime or “cleanse” dice before use. They range from leaving them in a special place for a day to rubbing them on the tombstone of a deceased game developer.

Before rolling a die, the longer you shake it the more random the result.

Teach a particularly bad die a lesson by “punishing” it. This can be putting it in “the shame bag” or even the freezer

If a bad die is clearly cursed for all eternity, it must be destroyed while the other dice bear witness.

When not in use, keep the dice in the freezer to keep them cool. Cool dice give cool rolls.

When not in use, place a die in a pyramid. A pyramid focuses positive energy.

If you find that one particular die is lucky, you should name it, keep it in a special place, and sometimes talk to it so it knows it’s appreciated.

https://gmkeros.wordpress.com/2020/01/24/dice-folklore/

#dice #diceFolklore #diceSuperstitions #folklore #frp #rpg #tabletop #ttrpg

Stuffed Crocodile

2023-10-19 09:45:00

The question what happens to us after death has been one that has been asked and answered many times ever since we started to think and noticed that sometimes when you bash someone hard enough they don’t get up again.

But… what if they would?

You know, when we look away? When we don’t see them?!

And roleplaying games have touched on this. A lot. A real lot. In fact so much that whole settings and game systems have been written about nothing but what happens to people after they die.

The question what happens to us after death also has been one of these inherent fears that have plagued humanity, well, I guess before we were even properly human.

So remember that thing you bashed and it didn’t get up again? That shadow over there, doesn’t it look like that thing?!

It was a post by I cast light that inspired me to think about some rules for what actually happens when someone is left for dead in the dungeon or wherever. That post is most likely a lot better than what I come up with, but it doesn’t quite fit what I want in my game. It’s a bit too deterministic.

There’s some pretty brilliant parts in it though. The head of a wizard becoming a floating proto-beholder? Chef’s kiss.

Anyway. The dungeon is a dangerous area. Quite deadly even. The wilderness also is a dangerous place. Sometimes people don’t come back.

That’s the good news.

Because sometimes they do come back.

My comrade/hireling just died, what do I do now?

Well, call dibs on their belongings/adhere to the will they left. But if you know what’s good for you take care of them.

• give them a proper burial. This involves getting their body out of wherever you are. Yes, that means carrying less loot. You heard me.
• give them an emergency burial. Ideally have someone bless the grave. That should do it. Otherwise there’s about a 50% chance it won’t take. It still has a chance to get desecrated in a dungeon or wilderness, so don’t count on it.
• put their body in a circle of salt. That won’t hold forever though, depending on moisture and other environmental effects that could break down after a week to ten years.
• yeah, don’t think about desecrating the body. That’s only going to make it worse.

But what’s the big deal? you ask. Well, I will tell you what’s the big deal. If someone dies in the shadowy places of the world… they might come back. It really depends how they feel about you, and that mostly means that every little grudge they have about you turns to hatred. Took the last donut and left the bard with none? That’s gonna haunt you. Literally.

I mean, how did you think all those places got so many undead?

Unless given a proper burial PCs and named NPCs that were lost in the dungeon have a chance to return to unlife. I want to give some 50% chance or so, but seriously, if you have the chance to use an old PC as an undead monster, would you not use it?

They will otherwise rise as an undead creature of same HD as their previous level. If their body was destroyed during their adventure they will of course rise as a spirit or possess a convenient other body/appendage/curse a magic item. If their soul for some reason was destroyed/eaten/removed or if they died without any grudges some other thing will take possession of their body. Whatever it is, there now is an undead enemy with a grudge.

In any case, they will be absolutely inimical to the characters that left them in the dungeon (if you use alignment they will now be chaotic or evil). They might otherwise be filled with the usual feelings their creature type has for the living. Largely hatred and hunger that is.

Or maybe they just hate the living.

The referee is encouraged to come up with appropriate undead, but the revenant should have the same HD range as the lost character. Level 0 NPCs will become lantern ghosts, skeletons, or similar. Higher level characters might end up as ghouls, wights, or even wraith. They might also have additional equipment or abilities based on the previous character’s.

Bonus: new characters might start with a higher rank/level than normal, if they take on a Quest (like the spell) regarding such a revenant. This is of course DM’s fiat, but a e.g. cleric sworn to slay her uncle’s revenant, or maybe a character out for revenge against a now undead murderhobo, might start with level 2 or 3.

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https://gmkeros.wordpress.com/2023/10/19/wiederganger/

#DungeonsDragons #labyrinthLord #monster #RolePlayingGame #Roleplaying #ttrpg

YOU DID THIS TO ME! Dead PCs Return To Mence The Living & Other Dungeon Headaches

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