Of Monstrous Mien: Monstrous Pages for Shadow of the Demon Lord RPG

Of Monstrous Mien: Monstrous PagesThe misbegotten hybrids of strange unions, the results of bizarre conjurations, creatures warped through experimentation, alchemical effluvia, or the corrupting taint of the Void, monsters are often unique beings. Few monsters are members of entirely new species though some species have their origins in such beasts. Usually prone to fits of violent rage, monsters are driven by hunger, brutal instinct, and all-too-commonly pain wrought by their unnatural creation or existence. Whether found in the forsaken wilds, hidden laboratories, or areas polluted by alchemical toxins, most are thankfully solitary. Only in rare instances are several identical monsters created, those capable of fighting as a pack most likely to cooperate with each other.

Of Monstrous Mien builds on the information presented in Shadow of the Demon Lord by presenting a set of tools for customizing and building your own monsters. You will find all the basic monsters and tables to support their customization, which let you randomly determine the form and appearance of monsters, customizing the basic entries, though you can always choose results to suit your taste and needs for the story.

Buy Of Monstrous Mien in PDF from DriveThruRPG!

 

Freeport CompanionAt 9:00 CST on March 1st (tomorrow), I’m pushing the launch button on the next Kickstarter campaign from Schwalb Entertainment! This time around, we’re raising funds for the Shadow of the Demon Lord Freeport Companion, a 128-page, full color sourcebook that brings Freeport, the City of Adventure, to the world of the Demon Lord. As with Shadow, the book is written and ready to go into production, so I’m asking for help to raise funds to pay for editing, layout, and all the glorious new art that will go into this book. If you enjoyed the flood of great content that came out for Demon Lord over the last 18 months or so and want more, I hope you will join me in this new endeavor. The campaign ends on March 18th, so back if you can, and tell everyone you know.

Next week, the Kickstarter campaign for the Shadow of the Demon Lord Freeport Companion goes live, so to help you get a sense of the awesome stuff that will appear in this book, have a look at the new Celebrant expert path!

Celebrant Expert Path

The god of pirates, known throughout Freeport as One-Eyed Pete, is an unconventional deity by any standard and most theologians consider the god to be nothing more than a symbol for all the debauchery and cruelty one can find among those who live by plunder and robbery. The embodiment of greed, violence, and excess, pirates and sailors alike invoke the god’s name before a night of drinking, spit curses at him before going into battle—believing him too drunk to know which mortal roused his anger, and pour generous amounts of liquor into the sea to keep the mad god from swimming up from the depths to take his share of the spoils.

The god of pirates chief devotees are the Celebrants. They come from the ranks of retired ship captains, usually those who were retired against their will and looking for a way to keep their purses full of coin and beds full of lovers. Charged with keeping One-Eyed Pete at the bottom of the sea where he belongs, they wander the cities drunkenly, barking dire warnings of trouble to come, while sticking out hands to passers-by to collect coins that will pay for the mad god’s distraction. Celebrants are an unruly, sordid lot, every bit as much trouble as the god they  serve.

Although the celebrant expert path speaks to the unusual cult of the pirate god, you can also use celebrants to model worshipers of other faiths. In particular, the path works well for followers or Revel, who is an unruly and, sometimes, dangerous god. If you serve a different god, replace the traditions mentioned under magic with those associated with your deity.

Celebrant Path: Freeport Companion Preview

Celebrant Story Development

d3 Story 

  1. You lost your ship to a mutiny. Becoming a servant of the pirate god seemed a good way to get your boat back.
  2. After a particularly spectacular bender, you blacked out and had a vision of yourself spreading the message of your god.
  3. Spirits have always been part of your sect’s religious ceremonies, and you have developed a taste for the stuff.

LEVEL 3 CELEBRANT

Attributes Increase two by 1

Characteristics Health +3, Power +1

Languages and Professions Add drunkard to your list of professions

Magic You discover the Air, Storm, or Water tradition or you learn a spell from one of these traditions.

Holy Spirits If you spend at least one hour drinking rum or some other kind of spirit, you can become intoxicated for as long as you continue drinking spirits and for 1d3 hours thereafter. While intoxicated, you are impaired and take half damage from all sources. If you become impaired again, you fall unconscious and remain that way until you sober up.

LEVEL 6 CELEBRANT

Characteristics Health +3

Magic You learn one spell

Drunken Luck Whenever you roll a bane gained from being impaired and the number rolled is a 6, you treat the bane as if it was a boon.

Power of Spirits Banes imposed by the impaired affliction do not apply on your attack rolls made from casting Air, Storm, or Water attack spells.

LEVEL 9 MASTER CELEBRANT

Characteristics Health +3

Failing Liver You need only spend one minute drinking rum or some other kind of spirit in order to become intoxicated.

Drunken Fury Whenever you are intoxicated, your attacks with weapons deal 1d6 extra damage.