Saturday, November 19, 2022

Coming This Weekend

DIVINITIES & CULTS 
Volume IV: Finnish & Slavic

I am proud to introduce my latest work, Divinities & Cults: Volume IV. Coming soon, this tome explores the deities and myths of both the Ancient Finns & Slavs, allowing one to incorporate rules for their followers into old-school games via new tenets, follower guidelines, turn abilities, mysteries, magical side-effects, divine tests, and spells. With outstanding color art by Luigi Castellani and an amassing of new lore, this pdf book will be a welcome addition to your Divinities & Cults library.

Long-term fans of this site will recall that these divinities were previewed here years earlier. Their rules have now been updated and expanded. Many of the additional rules in this volume can be easily applied to other cultures too.

Contents include:

FINNISH DIVINITIES
Ilmarinen
Ilmatar
Lemminkainen
Mielikki
Ukko
Vainamoinen
Additional Finnish Divinities (partial descriptions)

SLAVIC DIVINITIES
Baba Yaga
Dazbog
Lada
Mokosh
Morana
Perun
Svarog
Veles
Vesna (partial description)

FELL CULTS
Chernobog
Louhi
Loviatar (brief description)
Uncle Steel Dwarf

ADDITIONAL RULES
Bronze Age & Iron Age Magic
Cleric-types
Clerical Bans
Kapische
Summoning Monsters & Spirits
Variable Spells Known & Abilities
Variant Traditions

NEW CLASS VARIANTS 
Bogatyrs (Slavic Heroic Knights) 
Druzhina (Slavic Warrior Bands)
Fighter-Wizard Variations
Finnish Shamans
Finnish Warriors
Kolduns (Slavic Sorcerers)
Priests (Finnish & Slavic)
Noitas (Finnish Shamanic-Witches)
Tietajas (Finnish Wizard-Shamans)
Vedmas (Slavic Witches)
Volkhvs (Slavic Oracular Priests)

MONSTERS 
Pohjolan Folk & Monsters
Slavic Vampires
Zmey

SPIRITS 
Bannik
Finnish Ancestral Spirits
Finnish Nature Spirits
Finnish Fey (Tonttu)
General Rules
Slavic Domestic Spirits 
Slavic Wilderness Spirits
the Summon Spirit Spell

There will be an announcement on this site once the book has been released. And, in thanks to my loyal readers, it will be offered at a reduced price for the following 48 hours!


Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Clerics of Hengist & Horsa, Part III

Divine Tests
1-4. Conquest will come in due time. The cleric must now rest for the next 2d6 turns, unless of course if he's in the middle of expanding Anglo-Saxon domains, in which case it need only be 1d6.

5-12. The twin horses can bring both weal and woe. The cleric experiences the latter, losing access to all his spells, but can then experience the former, by rolling 1d6 for each to see what he must do to get it back.
[1] Claim a new area in the name of the Anglo-Saxons. Any potential interlopers must be fully aware of this fact.
[2] Be otherwise victorious, defeating a foe in combat or in some similar way.
[3] Spend time with his folk, being near at least 2d3 other Anglo-Saxons for the next 3d4 turns.
[4] Demonstrate his cunning, succeeding on an Intelligence check to clearly outwit another.
[5] Ride or care for a horse, or even do either with a sea-steed (ship).
[6] Engage in an act of fertility, preferably incorporating one or more of the ways above.

13-16. If he isn't careful, others might wish to take what is the cleric's too, likely leading to new adventures themselves. Roll 1d3.
[1] The next group of Norse warriors he encounters (or the like) will seek to loot him, even returning in force if need be.
[2] The next noble Briton he comes across (or similar) will become smitten with having his sister (or whomever is closest), demanding her above all else.
[3] The next Anglo-Saxon potential rival he has (or equivalent) will attempt to diminish his position.

17+ Without Hengist or Horsa? Only one can survive to foster the next line of Anglo-Saxons. When the cleric of Hengist and Horsa next encounters another cleric, the latter must save vs. death/ make a Will save DC 10. If the other cleric fails, then he takes 3d6 damage. If he saves, then the cleric of Hengist & Horsa takes the same instead. For every divine test result over 18, increase the save DC by 2 and the damage done by 2d6, making it increasingly likely that only one will remain in the exchange.


Next week: clerics of Hengist & Horsa, Part IV!