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PYRAMID OF RESURRECTION Gnartian Artifact in form of smoky crystal pyramid, approx 6" along the edges, a construct of the Elder Serpent Folk.
When first handled, the PC doing so must Save vs Death once, or be drained of one XP lvl. Thereafter, the item will no longer drain that person (whether or not the attempt succeeded), and only that person may employ its power. Another may attempt to use the item once they also Save (or fail!), but only one person may command the Pyramid at any time.
Total # Charges/Uses is something I call "Level Variable"; meaning a base #, plus 1ch/lvl of the bearer. So, as charges are subtracted by one per use, they are also increased by one per lvl of XP gained. This Artifact has 1d4+XP lvl charges when first found, to be redetermined if it changes hands.(possibly it "starts over" at 1d4+lvl each time it changes hands)
Operates by "scanning" whatever scraps of the deceased (no pun intended) remain, and reconstructing a new body in perfect condition; full HP, all memories, personality, etc intact. Side effect: all Bad Mutations are removed, and any Good Mutations must ea make a save vs Spells/Mutations to be retained, any missing or ruined limbs, organs, etc are restored as well, all scars are gone
The Pyramid automatically restores any PC the first time it is used upon them, without penalty. If used a second time, a Resurrect Survival roll must be made, and each time thereafter this % is reduced by half, failure dissolves the remains into goo. Any PC resurrected more than once also loses an XP lvl each time the device is used upon them thereafter.
There is a 1in8 chance/use that the Pyramid does not Resurrect, but rather Reincarnates the deceased by creating a new, but different body, possibly from bits of other persons lying about, or floating on the breeze... maybe the "psychic residue" of a forgotten death.... I have a table of bodies for this, but its too specifically Gnartian to be much use to anyone else, and one can always use the Spell version. I think I'm going to allow them to retain Mental Ability Scores, HP, etc, because I have other trauma in mind:
Collateral Reincarnation Weirdness (d10/d12) (Gonzo version d12)
1. New body is very young; teenager, or even small child
2. PC retains all Class abilities as before, but has no other memories
3. PC's new brain seems to contain scraps of another personality, or repressed memories ("whispers")
4. Tragic mishap places PC into nearby corpse (of type as rolled), which claws to surface howling in agony, and attacks Party for their gross misdeed. Zombie PC retains HP & HD/lvl, but is otherwise slow and sloppy
5. New body exhibits Mutation(s), possibly even Good Ones! (or is oddly marked; tattoo, birthmark, runic brand)
6. PC is reincarnated into body which already has a soul/personality, and the two must share the same skull until the other personality "finishes its Gnarthly business" and moves on (seeks justice, revenge, completion, etc)
7. New body is of different gender than original
8. PC is driven a wee bit mad by the whole experience; roll on your fave table or just assign a weird mania
9, 10. Just your average reincarnation
(11, 12.) (same as 9, 10 above) or
(11, 12.) Check Out this awesome Random Reincarnator! You can adjust the circumstances with cool modifiers like "Who cares? The Crawling Chaos smiles upon me!"
The Pyramid also bears a Curse; whenever it is used, a Byakhee is Summoned and arrives w/in 2d4 rnds, and attempts to carry the user off to Hastur (dead or alive), unless slain. Perhaps this only occurs the first few times the Pyramid is used, or perhaps the Curse can be lifted... with the blood of a Serpent Folk Wizard...
...I once introduced the Rod of Reincarnation, which is exactly like the Rod of Resurrection from the DMG, but Reincarnates the deceased on either the MU spell table (75%) or the Druid version (25%), and that was fun, too. Congratulations! You're a Kobold! Badgers? We don't need no stinking Badgers!
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