Vaunil
Demi : Sun : LN : Male: Vaunil
MA: All, Sun, Divination, healing, plant, weather, elemental (fire)
MI: Travelers, Combat, Weather, Law, Creation
Granted Power(s):
Cyan
Demi : Moon(s) : Cyan, LN Female: Jalnalinra
MA: All, Sun (reversed), Animal, Astral, Travelers, Healing, Guardian
MI: Combat, War, Divination, Necromantic, Numbers
Granted Power(s):
Lynona
Demi : Travel : N : Female: Lynona
MA: All, Astral, Travelers, Weather
MI: Elemental (Wind), Healing, Plant, Protection, Time
Granted Power: Decrease Encumbrance by 10%/level (weight only, bulk still applies)
Mini Representation: Bloodhawk (D&D Diablo II miniatures, $20)
Ouin
Demi : Agriculture : Asexual : NG : Ouin
MA: All, Plant, Sun, Weather, Elemental (Water, Earth)
MI: Animal, Time, Divination
Granted Power: Bountiful Harvest
Vohu Rimmon
Demi : Heretige/Ancestry (racial) : LN : Male : Vohu Rimmon
MA: All, Time, Astral, Divination, Thought, Protection
MI: Law, Creation, Summoning, Travelers, Elemental (Air)
Granted Power(s):
Demi : Despair (multiple personalities) : CE : Varies : Wourk/Braln/Quathik/Modar/Yem/Yxoteer
MA: All, Astral, Charm, Chaos, War, Necromantic (reversed)
MI: Sun (reversed), Protection, Summoning, Creation, Numbers, Thought (spheres of influence vary)
Granted Power(s): Emotion: Hopelessness (See ToM)
The god of despair has multiple personalities. They are: Wourk, Braln, Quathik, Modar, Yem, and Yxoteer. Whenever pertinent, the DM must roll dice each day to determine which god the followers of the god of despair is worshipping:
d% God
01-10 Opposite
11-35 One Slot Clockwise
36-60 One Slot Counterclockwise
61-00 No Change
Mini Representations:
Wourk: Kazael, Reaper Miniatures “The Court of Abyst”
Braln: Tolgh, Reaper Miniatures “The Court of Abyst”
Quathik:
Modar:
Yem: Lirris, Reaper Miniatures “The Court of Abyst”
Yxoteer: Vareesh, Reaper Miniatures “The Court of Abyst”
Jit’than
(The Hunter, He Who Tracks All Quarries, The Eternally Keen One)
Demi Power of Carceri, N
Portfolio: Hunters and hunting, tracking, keen senses, awareness, sustenance, natural substances (ointments, salves, poisons, antidotes, etc.)
Aliases: The Stalker,
Sex: Asexual
Domain: Colothys/The Land of the Hunt
Allies: Y’Lashaan, Grell Kilbor
Wor. Align: NG, CG, N, CN, LN, LE, NE
Jit’than (JIT-THAN) is of course a patron of the hunter, and is a provider of foods and furs; thus he is a god much loved of woodsmen and women. Though he hunts animals and encourages his flock to do likewise, he is a wise hunter; and like the god of Beasts, he is a patron of animals and their protector from needless destruction at the hands of overly greedy hunters and poachers.
He Who Tracks All Quarries appears as whatever race his worshiper is. He is always, however, just over 10’ tall, heavily muscled, armorless, and wielding a massive quadripronged spear. There is much legend surrounding the spear, all of which seems to indicate an innate tracking ability, allowing Jit’than to never lose a quarry.
Jit’than very frequently works in concert with Y’ Lashaan and Grell Kilbor. These three deities are considered a pantheonic triad. Jit’than himself is social and friendly, although he rarely sends vision or word unto his followers. The god’s priests, too, are hunters, and their mission is to teach the flock sound principles of hunting: Not killing mothers with young, not depopulating the wilderness of whole species, etc.
The priests of this god are on good terms with the priests of Nature, Beasts, Darkness/Night, Light, Moon, and Sun.
Jit’than’s Manifestations
He sometimes manifests as an impossible quarry, always just out of reach of the hunter. In this form, he will lead his follower to a place of importance and vanish.
Clerics, Druids, and Rangers of Jit’than (Huntmasters)
Req’s.: Strength 13, Wisdom 11, Intelligence 8
Prime Req.: Strength, Wisdom
Alignment: NG, N
Weapons: Any and all missile weapons, any bladed slashing weapons
Armor: Wooden, leather, or natural only, no shields
Major Spheres: All, Divination, Guardian, Protection, Animal, Travelers
Minor Spheres: Weather, Sun, Summoning, Healing
Magical Items: Standard (weapon restrictions/allowances apply)
Req. Skills: Hunting (provided free)
Rec. Skills: Tracking, animal lore, endurance
Bonus Skills: Hunting, religion
Power: Permanent +2 to hit with any and all bows
A Huntmaster is granted by Jit’than the power of +2 to hit with any and all bows.
Wemics and canine or wolven hybrids may be Huntmasters in addition to the races normally allowed into Jit’than’s priestly and ranger classes.
Huntmasters receive additional attacks as per warriors with a bow and arrow. Ranger Huntmasters do not gain any additional benefit from this ability, but consequently are the only Huntmasters who can choose to specialize in the bow.
Huntmasters may select the skills of tracking, set snares, and survival—and obviously their allowable weapons—at no crossover penalty.
Huntmasters enjoy adeptness with both trained and untamed creatures, as per the ranger ability. If the Huntmaster is already a ranger, his potency in this ability doubles.
Upon reaching 2nd level, a Huntmaster can identify—but not track—the presence or passage of any animal or creature indigenous to an area at 98% accuracy. If the creature is unusual, magical, sentient, or from a faraway place, the accuracy drops as arbitrated by the DM, generally by 48%-93% depending on past experience. On rare occasions, such as attempting to identify creatures from another planet, the Huntmaster’s accuracy with this ability can actually drop to 0%.
Upon reaching 4th level, a Huntmaster can summon an animal of his choosing once per day. The animal must be indigenous to the area he’s in and will fight willingly and do most anything short of killing itself for its summoner. The animal must be beast, foul, or lizard—magical creatures, giant-sized animals, a creature with any amount of sentience whatsoever, and fish all cannot be summoned this power. If the summoner goes unconscious or dies, the animal goes into a berserker rage, viciously attacking the being which caused the summoner such harm. Upon the death of the attacker, the animal flees the area. The summoned animal should never be killed by the Huntmaster—doing so results in the immediate revoking of his Huntmaster status.
Upon reaching 6th level ranger Huntmasters begin progressing on their priest spell table. Just subtract three from the table’s listed class levels and otherwise follow the table normally. Other Huntmasters get no special benefit from this.
Upon reaching 9th level the Huntmaster gains a great deal of heightened senses. In game terms, his visual range doubles and he can identify any creature at two and a half times the normally allowed range (of course he has to already know what the creature is—but regardless he can see it in detail). His keen sense of hearing and sight give him a +4 to his/her perception skill at this point. His sense of smell increases his tracking ability by +1 and the power to identify creatures’ passage increases by +20%, his sense of touch becomes highly acute and he is twice as likely to be successful at finding secret doors, cracks, etc, and finally his taste buds increase greatly and the Huntmaster will never be willing to eat anything he doesn’t hunt down himself after this point. The drawback to this is that the Huntmaster will be jumpy, aggravated, and irritable as his mind adjusts to these heightened senses. All attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, initiative rolls, and saving throws, are at -3 for the first week, -2 for the second and third, and -1 until two months have passed. Spell failure chances double for two weeks; if they were at 0% chance of failure they become 10%. Up until the Huntmaster is through this initial two month period, his chances of being surprised are always double what they normally would be, but after two months, he has no chance whatsoever of being surprised.
Upon reaching 10th level, Huntmaster rangers gain 3d6 followers instead of 2d6 (if desired). The same table as listed in the PHB applies. Non-ranger Huntmasters gain 2d6 followers on the PHB ranger table (if desired).
Upon reaching 12th level, any headress procured in the Huntmaster’s holy hunt may be donned and will gain immediate magical powers. The only restrictions are that he cannot switch headresses and gain the magical benefits more than once in a 24-hour period, but he can remove a headress and put the same one back on as often as he wishes. The specific headresses grant powers as follows:
A falcon headress quadruples normal visual range, and allows the wearer to fly once per day.
A bear headress gives the wearer a 2d8 bite attack and strength once per day.
A deer (buck only) headress gives the wearer a 4d4 antler attack and cure serious wounds once per day.
A ram headress gives the wearer a 3d6 ramming attack and jump once per day.
Any lizard headress gives the wearer chameleon power as per the cloak and spider climb once per day.
A snake headress gives the wearer a venomous attack (save vs. poison for 3d6 damage, otherwise death).
A tiger headress gives the wearer either a 2d12 claw attack or a 4d6 bite attack, but not both in the same round.
A lion headress gives the wearer a 1d12/1d12/3d6 claw/claw/bite attack. When using this attack, this supercedes the number of attacks per round the wearer may have, and all three attacks happen simultaneously as per monsters & animals.
A cheetah headress doubles the wearer’s movement rate, and once per day the wearer can become invisible at will while moving, an effect that lasts for 1 turn per level of the wearer. However note that when he is finished moving (as per d20 combat round rules) he returns to being visible.
A wolf headress gives the wearer a 1d12 fang attack and increased sense of smell. In game terms, the wearer gains automatic tracking via this sense, and if he already has the track feat he gains a +4 bonus to it.
For any of these benefits to take effect, the hunt must be holy, the arrows blessed, and the Huntmaster of course must be in good standing with Jit’than. The kill, however, can take place before level 12.
All shepherds of Jit’than receive Knowledge: religion (Syserian) free as a bonus skill whether they are adventuring or clergy. The adventuring priesthood gain hunting as a bonus skill, and tracking and animal lore are both highly recommended. Other miscellaneous recommended skills include direction sense, fishing, mountaineering, running, endurance, set snares, and survival. Priests can select from the aforementioned warrior skills at no additional cost. skill in a bow of some type is also required.
They are restricted to their usage of armor quite severely; non-metal armor is all that is allowed, excluding shields of any kind. The weapons permitted are any and all ranged weapons, thrown, shot, or spat, and any slash-based bladed weapons. Piercing weapons are only allowed in missile form. Bludgeoning weapons are not permitted, and the bludgeoning of an animal is considered blasphemous.
The Church and Clergy
Clergy: Clerics, rangers, druids
Clergy Align: NG, N, CG, CN
Req’s.: Strength 9, Wisdom 9
Weapons: Any and all missile weapons, any bladed slashing weapons
Armor: Wooden or natural only, no shields
Magical Items:
Req. Skills: As above
Rec. Skills: As above (minus endurance)
Bonus Skills: Religion
Jit’than’s shepherds are a ragtag collection of the faithful that have a limited structure to their religion, and generally do not judge or intervene amongst themselves—indeed, as long as the ethos of Jit’than is upheld, a follower or priest will never be judged by him or the priesthood. The god is generally venerated in and around open-air temples in the wilderness, preferably fashioned of living plantlife as opposed performing to cutting, lathing, chiseling, and other such barbarism upon the wood, although it is not forbidden. Log cabin is the generally preferred style for constructed temples. Stone, glass, marble, and pretty much any material other than wood and animal hide are forbidden unless it remains in its natural state and is not procured, i.e. it must already be present at the holy site when such a temple is constructed. These temples are frequently shared willingly with the clergy of Y’ Lashaan, indeed the priests of Jit’than prefer that they grow their temples for them. In shared temples, prized quarries are prevented from display so as not to offend the naturists, but in the temples constructed solely for Jit’than, the heads of these quarries are proudly displayed upon the walls. Generally, the notable difference between shared temples and exclusive temples is whether the temple is grown or constructed, and whether quarry prizes are on display.
Dogma: The ethos of Jit’than is passed throughout the faithful by way of storytelling, legends and lore, and priestly preaching.
127 is a special number to Jit’thanians for some reason unbenknownst to even them. However, when any animal population of a region is reduced to this number, a holy ceremony is held to ordain the stopping of the slaying of such creatures—although you can expect most of the faithful to be aware of the coming of such an event well in advance. Anyone who fails to obey such ordinations are automatically ejected from the faith and heathens or poachers who kill creatures designated by this ordination find themselves becoming the prey of the Jit’thanians. Ignorance is not considered a valid excuse.
You might expect that Jit’thanians in advance of these circumstances to be less likely to kill the creature, but they will in fact want to collect their trophies and headresses from the most powerful among the remaining animals, and will generally work fervently to do so, before they reach the one-hundred and twenty-seven mark. Frequently, in such cases, the Jit’thanians create and recreate self-fulfilling prophecies.
Novice Jit’thanians are initiated with their first hunt, but some preparation must be made in order for their status as part of the flock or shepherds to be official. This first hunt can only be performed with bow and arrow. First, his or her bow and four arrows must be blessed by a priest of Jit’than. Next, he is assigned an animal indigenous to the area to track and slay. Finally, he must perform his deed, and thusly he becomes an initiate. If he fails to kill his quarry with the four arrows, he may try again on the next holy day. There is no penalty for trying repeatedly, although the priesthood will likely begin to question one’s worthiness as a Jit’thanian after the fourth attempt.
Rare cases are known in which the assigned animal has turned out to be a manifestation of Jit’than. In these cases, the initiate is automatically made a priestly shepherd, the player choosing whether he wants to be a cleric or a druid, and with two additional priest levels granted for free and enough experience points to place him halfway between his new level and the next. His old class, assuming it was different from druid or priest, is split into multi-class automatically. This works whether the new priestly class is higher or lower level than their former class. Also, wherever Jit’than’s manifestation vanished is automatically considered a holy site, and the newly initiated priest is charged with constructing or growing a temple there, where he will automatically and immediately attract followers. Finally, the fact that the quarry was not slain is obviously not held against the new initiate in these cases!
Holy Numbers: 1 (the number of you), 2 (you and your prey), 4 (the number of prongs on Jit’than’s spear), 127 (unknown significance)
Holy Days: Every new moon is considered a holy day, and the Jit’thanian priesthood will not sleep on this night—they hunt. This ceremony is called the New Hunt, and is performed by lone individuals only. If at any point during the New Hunt a quarry is slain, the priest returns it to his temple and chooses another, continuing this cycle until the sun rises. This is also the time for new initiates to enter the faith. Summer and winter solstice are the other two days of importance, in which Jit’than is at his most powerful. Ranger forgatherings are held in conjunction with these days considered equally holy; indeed the priesthood is often the organizers of such forgatherings.
The turning of seasons is another holy time, generally looked upon as a time of renewal in which preferred quarries should be changed, weapons of choice might be reordered, and the cycle of rebirth continues.
Holy Ceremonies: The hunt is a holy event in which the hunter and his quarry establish a sensual, religious link of sorts (although this has no effect in game terms) and any such hunt is looked upon with a great deal of reverence by this ethos. There is no judgement of life in the hunt; in destroying a life you are sustaining another, as is ordained by the natural order of the universe. If the hunt is unjust or unholy in some way, the Jit’thanian will innately feel differently or not feel this link at all and will instantly know that he should not slay his quarry; in many cases the Jit’thanian will be aware of such circumstances ahead of time. Once the hunt has begun, this effect is a very instinctual matter, and therefore the inner workings of these emotions are difficult or impossible to define. But the faithful will feel it.
All slain quarry must be used in their entirety, including bones, organs, hides, and of course meat. The spirit of their quarry then moves on to the Beastlands where they will spend eternity in their own version of paradise.
Forgatherings, although not necessarily religious by nature, are considered holy by Jit’thanian priests. These events are generally preceded by prayer and hunting, and any quarry procured in pre-forgathering hunts are taken to the event as an offering to its participants. The priest expects nothing in return for this tithe, but will not necessarily refuse gifts which may be offered.
Major Centers of Worship: There are none. The religion is loosely organized with no central authority.
Affiliated Orders: The knights of the round table, the knights of the dinner table, ranger bob’s international house of pancakes
Priestly Vestments: The clergy of Jit’than prefer animal hides for their day-to-day garb, and while worshipping will often be wearing the head of their greatest kill upon atop their own head, such that antlers rise up as if they were coming from the priest’s head, bear’s teeth appear to sink into the top of the priest’s forehead, etc. Such headresses are only appropriate for priests and clergy, though, not worshippers. Necklaces and other jewelry made of claws, beaks, talons, and teeth are not unusual. During the hunt, red and/or brown clothing is preferred, with animal hide complimented by leather clothing. Armor of any kind is forbidden during the hunt; adventuring Jit’thanians are to remove any worn armor while hunting. The headresses are to be removed for practicality (unless they’re powerful enough to use the powers of their headress), but the jewelry stays on. Faces are to be painted camoflauge, brown, black, green, etc. The flock should abide roughly by these rules, but can stray from it as practicality dictates.
Adventuring Garb: They wear practical clothing, similar to that employed during the hunt, such as earth-toned leather and hide, whatever armor they are allowed, and weapons and strappings are worn over this. They should always seek to pick clothing of earthen and natural tones, regardless of what they choose to wear.
Mini Representation: Orion, King in the Woods (Citadel, No price today)
Brognor
(The Barbarian, The Bloody One, The Lord of Murder)
Demi Power of Gladsheim, CN
Portfolio: Barbarism, Murder
Aliases:
Gender: Male
Realm: Ocean of Kur
Superior: None
Symbol: Typical Chaos symbol
Wor. Align: CN, N, NE, CE
Brognor is the god of Barbarians and barbarism in general. He is a chaotic deity with no regard for structure or civilization. His world is the ocean of Kur—the ocean of paradoxal unity between the material world and chaos.
This god has no regard for morality. He is technically not evil; he is amoral. His followers are often evil, but as a tribe they do what they want. They often try to destroy bastions of civilization such as keeps, towers, and outposts, although without the ability to organize, they usually can’t bring the fight to a well-defended and organized city.
Brognor is a wanderer as are his followers, and is known to abandon his followers for no apparent reason, occasionally at key times when he is needed most.
Brognor’s Avatar
Brognor appears as a huge, horned, deformed, beast of a man. He carries a meat cleaver and sometimes a heart, a head, or other body part always oozing huge amounts of blood. In general, however, he does not manifest before his followers or shepards.
Brognor’s Manifestations
He rarely manifests on the face of Syseria. His appearance varies widely, and indeed whether or not an eyewitness account of such a manifestation was credible or just an apparition varies just as widely. A few credible manifestations include a raven, a freak storm, and an axe constantly dripping blood.
Clerics and Druids of Brognor (Barbarian Shaman)
Req’s.: Strength 13, Wisdom 11, Constitution 11
Prime Req.: Constitution, Wisdom
Alignment: CN, CE
Weapons: Any
Armor: Wooden, leather, or natural only, no shields
Domains: Air, Chaos, Destruction
Magical Items: Standard (weapon restrictions/allowances apply)
Req. Skills: Hunting (provided free)
Rec. Skills: Tracking, animal lore, endurance
Bonus Skills: Hunting, religion
Power: Free Run Feat, Barbarian Rage, Summon Barbarian Horde
Brognor is a fickle god, and there is a base 10% chance for any divine spell or power to fail. This goes up by an additional 5% on the night of the full moon.
Brognor often favors hybrid races, and they are unaffected by his fickleness. Brognor’s shaman are the few circles into which hybrids will be readily accepted.
Barbarian Shaman may select the skills of animal empathy, climb, tracking, set snares, and survival—and obviously their allowable weapons—at no crossover penalty.
Barbarian Shaman may never multiclass.
Barbarian Shaman are distrustful of arcane magic. Their behavior changes as they progress, but starting out they cannot associate with any user of arcane magic, and will seek to destroy every user of this type of magic. They will further attempt to destroy spellbooks, wands, staffs, and rods of arcane nature, strongholds or towers of wizards, and anything that might be beneficial to wizards or sorcerors.
Barbarian Shaman are antisocial and anti-civilization. They are roving, nomadic wanderers. Material possessions are limited to what they can carry on their person. They may never own any property whatsoever. They may never join any guilds or civilized organizations.
Once per level, Barbarian Shaman may summon a Barbarian Horde to fight or carry out some combat-related task for them. The summoning process takes 24 hours. This horde will carry out a few simple commands and then wander back to wherever they came from. The Horde’s numbers are 100 x the Shaman’s level. Each Barbarian is a level 1 fighter. For every 100 members of the Horde, there is a level 1 Barbarian. In addition to that, one Barbarian will appear as the commander of the group with a level equal to the summoner’s level. This is a supernatural ability.
Upon reaching 2nd level, a Barbarian Shaman may choose not to destroy arcane spellbooks or sundry items that he suspects may be useful to users of arcane magic. He will still feel loathing toward users of arcane magic, but it is assumed that he can decide what’s most beneficial to Brognor at this point.
Upon reaching 4th level, a Barbarian Shaman may choose not to destroy arcane magical items. He will generally be distrustful towards users of arcane magic.
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every 5th level thereafter, a Barbarian Shaman gains a permanent, non-magical +1 bonus to their Constitution score. This stems from their constant wandering, running, climbing, and general hardiness.
Upon reaching 6th, a Barbarian Shaman may choose to associate with users of arcane magic. He will generally be distrustful toward all users of arcane magic, but has decided that it’s beneficial to associate with a particular wizard or sorcerer. He may also opt to declare to his tribe that his wizard friend is under his protection, but the tribe may “call him out” in a challenge, hoping to defeat him and unleash their seething hatred on the wizard.
Upon reaching 9th level Barbarian Shaman become immune to all fear-causing effects.
Upon reaching 11th level the Barbarian Shaman loses his sense of pain. In game terms, any pain-causing effect or spell is nullified (no save necessary) and he never enters the Dying/Bleeding to death state as defined in the PHB pg. 129. Instead they are always disabled and stable, regardless of how many negative hit points they have, until they are dead. They still lose 1 hp for taking any action in the disabled state. The player is aware of their HP total at all times under normal circumstances (spell and other effects that state otherwise still apply).
Upon reaching 12th level, Barbarian Shaman gain 3d6 followers. They will always include a 5th level Barbarian and a 3rd level Shaman. The remainder will be 1st level fighters. They are fanatically loyal to the Shaman and will do absolutely anything (including suicide missions) that he tells them to.
Upon reaching 15th level, Barbarian Shaman become a hybrid race. If they were already a hybrid race, this effect is completely ignored. This is automatic and there is no way to avoid it. It is considered the gift of Brognor. After this point they are no longer subjected to Brognor’s fickleness. A d12 roll determines what they will become:
1: Bear
2: Boar
3: Leopard
4: Ram
5: Wolf
6: Rat
7: Lizard
8: Cheetah
9: Falcon
10: Vulture
11: Badger
12: Monkey
All shepherds of Brognor receive 4 ranks of Hunting free as a bonus skill whether they are adventuring or clergy. Tracking and endurance (feat) are highly recommended. Other miscellaneous recommended skills include animal lore, direction sense, fishing, mountaineering, running, and set snares. Non-adventuring clergy can select from the aforementioned warrior skills at no additional cost. skill in a slashing weapon of some type is also required.
They are restricted to their usage of armor quite severely; natural armor such as hide, wood, or leather is all that is allowed, excluding shields of any kind. The weapons permitted are any. Weapons that draw more blood (slashing) are preferable.
The Church and Clergy
Clergy Align: CN, CE, N, NE
Req’s.: Strength 9, Wisdom 9
Weapons: Any
Armor: Wooden or natural only, no shields
Magical Items:
Req. Skills: As above
Rec. Skills: As above (minus endurance)
Bonus Skills: Hunting
Brognor’s shepherds are a motley assortment of barbarians, murderers, brigands, shamans, all nomadic. They have no structure to their religion beyond the non-adventuring priesthood, adventuring priesthood, and flock/followers. Their power structure is quite chaotic with no central authority and frequent intra- and inter-tribal squabbling. Living quarters are generally tents, lean-to’s, teepees, or very rarely a log cabin. They have no temples or centers of worship of any kind, unless you consider the tribe itself to be the center of worship.
The shepherds of Brognor are modeled after their patron—murderous, chaotic, and without structure. As stated before, all religions are divided into flock and shepherds, but beyond that the barbarians make no distinctions among their societies. They exist in many places throughout the planet—the Chaos Wastes, roaming throughout Cirisca, Kuramenduria, and The Abyssmal Island.
Dogma: The ethos of Brognor is passed throughout the faithful by way of storytelling, legends and lore, and priestly preaching. There are no fixed records of this faith; they do not know how to read and write.
Reading is not allowed and is considered blasphemous to Brognor. Most if not all intellectual pursuits are worthless to the followers of Brognor. They have no use for math, engineering, law, physics, astrology, or organized religion. If any pursuits of the mind are to be undertaken at all, it will be in regards to spirituality or religion. They are not likely to, but have been known to, learn and retain knowledge of Syseria’s pantheon and followers.
Renegade Barbarians are those which are of the Barbarian class and do not follow Brognor because of ideological reasons (alignment) or because they want to know how to read and write, or own property or retain wealth. These Renegades are hunted with the utmost indignance. All followers of Brognor, when they know of such a person, are required to attack him and fight to the death.
Novice followers of Brognor are initiated brutally. They are usually hazed quite badly, sometimes resulting in their death. This happens to new recruits to the tribe (less likely) or when boys or girls reach a mature age (more likely). If they survive the hazing ritual, the barbarian strikes out to go on a killing spree. He will kill anything living for 10 days and 10 nights, not sleeping, and bathe himself in the blood of all who he kills. They are expected to kill at least one sentient creature capable of fighting back in this ritual, and return with their head. On the 10th night he will have a vision which grants him his barbarian name and return to the tribe. If during this ritual they kill a user of arcane magic, they are often granted a place of importance in the tribe. The only way to fail this initiation is to die, to live means success. If a sentient creature is not found and killed during this ritual, it is not considered a failure, but the barbarian will gain only a partial acceptance into the inner circles of the tribe until he accomplishes this feat. In this case, for all intents and purposes he has passed the initiation and is in the tribe, but should try to kill a sentient, thinking creature as soon as he is able.
As it has been stated already, followers of Brognor find arcane magic distasteful. They will kill all wizards, sorcerers, and other users of arcane magic. It is preferable to ritualistically burn them alive, preferably atop the ruins of the wizard’s own tower and arcane magical items, but any death is fine. Often when Brognor becomes fickle and ignores his followers, it is because his attention is elsewhere: this is probably what is happening.
If any tribe believes to have encountered a manifestation of Brognor, they will go into a blood frenzy for one moon cycle. They will seek any centers of civilization and massacre all its inhabitants. They will seek any users or structures of arcane magic, arcane magical items, or sundry goods they think may help users of arcane magic, and destroy them. If there is a user of arcane magic in the tribe under one of their own protection, the tribe will kill the wizard. If the protector attempts to defend his wizard cohort, the tribe will kill him as well.
These manifestations are hard to predict, hard to confirm, and hard to believe. Tribes often get into fights over the validity of one encounter vs. another. These squabbles often lead to massacre or at least squabbling.
Holy Numbers: None. Brognor has no use for math or numbers.
Holy Days: Every full moon is considered a holy day, and followers of Brognor will not sleep on this night. They ritualistically chant and dance around a raging bonfire. It is preferable that a wizard be burned at the stake in such a bonfire, but not required. This is typically the time when new initiates are hazed into the tribe, their 10 day killing frenzies starting on sunup.
Holy Ceremonies: Initiation, the ritual of killing users of arcane magic, and the full moon are the only noteworthy holy ceremonies of brognor.
Major Centers of Worship: None. Barbarians are nomadic and do not organize.
Affiliated Orders: None. They wander in tribal structures with no order whatsoever, and have no major affiliated organizations.
Priestly Vestments: The Shaman of Brognor wear similar garb to everyone else, wood, leather, and animal hide, and often carry a staff and might wear a cattle skill atop their head or around their neck. They frequently are bedecked with skulls (preferably) or other bones of important kills, or scalps.
Adventuring Garb: They wear simple clothing or none at all. Usually it’s whatever they have as armor or what the weather dictates they need to survive. Again, wood, leather, and animal hide are all that are allowable.
Exodus, Greater God of Evil
Demi : Beasts : Hermaphrodite : CN : Grell Kilbor (“GREL KILbor”)
MA: All, Animal, Elemental (Water), Summoning (Animal only above 4th), Combat, Healing
MI: Charm, Travelers, Sun, Weather
Granted Power: Speak with Animals, Charm mammal or human 1x/day/4 lvls
Grell Kilbor
(The Beast Lord, Lord of Beasts, The Taloned One, The Bloody Fang)
Demi Power of The Beastlands, CN
Portfolio: Beasts, feral savagery, monsters, rending fangs and talons
Aliases: Render
Sex: Hermaphrodite
Domain: The Beastlands
Allies: Jit’than, Y’Lashaan, Brognor
Foes:
Symbol:
Wor. Align: CN, N, NE, CE
Miniature Representation: Goat Demon (D&D Miniatures, Diablo II Miniatures, $20.00)
Koelax
(Purveyor of Pestilence, The Lord of Putrescance, The Filthy God)
Greater Power of The Abyss, CE
Portfolio: Disease, Virulent Dispersal, Infection, Sufferance
MA:
MI:
Granted Power(s): Resist Disease (see below); summon Pet of Koelax (see below); Polymorph into spore at 10th Level (see below)
Aliases: Sorian, Ullu, Zaleo
Gender: Asexual
Domain: The 17th layer, the realm of Despair
Superior: None
Allies: No one.
Foes: Everyone.
Symbol: Red sunburst with rotting, open mouth inside it
Wor. Align: CE, NE
Koelax is antisocial among the gods and has no friends or allied deities among the pantheon. Its enemies, on the other hand, are many, as its designs have destroyed entire flocks of deities’ followers. It makes no distinction among deities. Its schemes do not discriminate.
Its followers are not very organized, but they are divided between flock and shepherds as are all other religions. The shepherds are referred to as Purveyors and the flock have no particular title. Koelax in general seems to have more shepherds and less followers than other deities among his worshipers.
The faithful are not immune to disease. Quite the contrary, its followers often seem to be riddled with viruses. But Koelax’s flock have a special trait that allows them to carry the disease for long periods of time without any adverse effects beyond discomfort. Any disease, mundane or magical, that they contract works normally until it starts causing physical damage. When it starts causing damage, it is automatically halved until they are at half their maximum hit points. As they approach one quarter maximum hit points, they take only 1 damage per cycle (i.e. the time length the disease is supposed to cause its damage.) As they approach death, the disease causes only 1 point of damage per day or per cycle, whichever is longer, and the Koelaxian clings on to life for even longer. Even at 0 hit points, they are still alive and spreading the disease. This ability is granted to the flock as well as the shepherds, assuming they are in good standing with Koelax. Any damage beyond hit points is totally applicable, such as disfigurement, insanity, fainting, and blindness and/or deafness.
Koelax’s Avatar
Koelax is venerated as an amorphous heap of slimy filth, rife with disease, constantly undulating, reforming, and slithering over itself. It leaves a trail of corrosive slime everywhere it goes that sprouts swarms of highly pestilent biting rats. Its followers consist of evil races (particularly the punier ones), disenfranchised members of failed societies, etc. It has a higher ratio of shepherds to followers in general.
Koelax’s Manifestations
Koelax manifests in subtle, long-term, virulent outbreaks. It could come to you in the form of plague, smallpox, or a simple spore that will sow the seeds of future pestilence. If it doesn’t destroy you today, it will tomorrow.
Clerics of Koelax (Purveyors)
Req’s.: Strength 13, Wisdom 11, Charisma 10
Prime Req.: Strength, Wisdom
Alignment: CE, NE, CN
Weapons: Any
Armor: None
Domains: MA: All, Necromantic, Healing (reversed), Astral, Chaos, Elemental (Water), Combat, Wards, Time
Magical Items: Standard (weapon restrictions/allowances apply)
Bonus Skills: Herbalism
Power: Cause Disease
All shepherds of Koelax receive herbalism free as a bonus skill whether they are adventuring or clergy.
Purveyors do not gain any ability over undead as normal clerics do. However, at a later level, they gain the ability to summon one or more of Koelax’s Children to do their bidding.
Kobolds, Goblins, Gibberlings, Orcs, and Gnolls may all become Purveyors in addition to the races normally allowed to become clerics.
Rat Hybrids may also become Purveryors, and gain one additional bonus divine spell for levels 1-4, as soon as they become able to cast them. This is cumulative with wisdom bonuses.
Upon reaching level 9, Purveyors may optionally get 1d6 Neo Otyugh pets.
Upon reaching level 10, Purveyors can polymorph into a germ or spore one time per week. This spore is highly contagious, can fly, travel through walls at will, is immune to all physical attacks, and is invisible. Detect invisible does not reveal the presence of such characters. Even a single point of the following types of damage, however, kills instantly, with absolutely no saving throw possible, even if the priest had resistances: fire/heat, cold, sonic, acid. The how and the why of inflicting this damage is entirely up to the DM, and should be quite rare (it is assumed that the Purveyor will avoid obvious fires, excessively hot or cold areas, etc.) In this state, the Purveyor can reproduce exponentially at a rate such that in every day, there is a 25% chance that there will be enough virus present in the area to upgrade to the next iteration of infection: (Zeroeth iteration) A single spore (First iteration) One house/tavern/small structure/a few rooms in one very large structure (Second Iteration) huge structure/one block of houses/taverns (Third Iteration) One square acre of area or 1,000 people, whichever equates to more disease victims (Fourth Iteration) Ten square acres of area or 10,000 people, whichever equates to more disease victims (Fifth Iteration) 50% of the populace of the nearest 50,000 person town (Sixth Iteration) 50% of the populace of four geographically close 50,000 person towns (Seventh Iteration) 30% of a nation or region, plus 10% of any bordering nations or regions (eighth iteration) 50% of a nation or region, 30% of any bordering nations or regions, and 10% of each of the closest continents (Ninth Iteration) 50% of this hemisphere, 30% of the opposite hemisphere (Tenth Iteration) 50% of the entire world.
Upon reaching level 12, Purveyors can summon 1d3+1 Koelax’s Children. They will do his bidding openly as long as it serves the greater will of Koelax.
The Church and Clergy
Clergy: Clerics, rangers, druids (remove this line on all deities... anyone can be clergy)
Clergy Align: CE, NE, CN
Req’s.: Strength 9, Wisdom 9
Weapons: Any
Armor: None
Magical Items:
Req. Skills: As above
Rec. Skills: As above (minus endurance)
Bonus Skills: Herbalism
Koelax’s shepherds are a vaguely defined and loose-knit collection of various races, regions, and countries. There are pockets of Koelaxian faithfuls and militants throughout Syseria, nowhere is safe from this religion anymore than they are immune to the plague. This dismal, creepy god is usually worshiped in dark corners of the world—underground, in swamps, sewers, heavily overgrown caves, in the underdark and deep beneath the sea. The worship area is marked by decay and degeneration—this is their way of saying “I own this area,” and they expect everyone to understand that it is their property. Ignorance is no excuse.
Koelaxian followers and shepherds are schemers. Their designs are subtle, devious, intelligent, and long-term. Much legend surrounds their plots, a great deal of which is confused with natural outbreaks of disease. This is intentional, indeed much of this confusion is spread by the cult itself.
Dogma: The followers of Koelax believe that ultimately their time will come. Disease has a way of festering for long periods of time before it truly comes to fruition among a population, and Purveyors model themselves according to this.
Koelaxians have a persistent tendency to leave things behind—blood, excrements, articles of clothing, body parts, and money. They like to spend small portions of their money in a lot of different places—and they have a tendency to store it in bodily orifices such as their mouth and/or anus, or they swallow it and spend it after they pass it.
The faithful believe it is blasphemous to cure themselves of disease. This is both a help and a hindrance to the faith, for obvious reasons.
Holy Numbers: Not applicable.
Holy Days: Summer solstice
Holy Ceremonies: They have a weeklong ceremony every summer solstice where a diseased rat devours a diseased lizard, a diseased dog devours the rat, a diseased otyugh devours the dog, and then the Koelaxian worshipers devour the otyugh. Any vomit or excrements exuded by the participants for the next 24 hours are also devoured. After this ceremony tends to be a period of heightened activity, often involving an orgy and then a great deal of wandering around highly populated areas, spending money which has been ingested and passed, and generally spreading their... beliefs. Anyone who ends up with the lizard is considered to be in Koelax’s favor for 1d4+3 days.
Major Centers of Worship: There are none. They exist and gather for worship in virulent outbreaks, coming and going in waves like the tide of the sea.
Hera
Demi : Love : CG : Female : Hera
MA: All, Charm, Healing, Sun, Guardian, Divination
MI: Creation, Summoning, Necromantic, Elemental (Air), War
Granted Power(s):
Maeven
Demi : Fertility : N : Hermaprhodite
MA: All, Astral, Charm, Creation, Numbers, Sun
MI: Divination, Guardian, Necromantic, Summoning, Elemental (Water)
God of Light
Demi : Light : LN : Asexual :
MA: All, Sun, Elemental (Fire)
MI: Healing, Astral, Charm, Law, Plant
Granted Power(s):
God of Darkness
Demi : Darkness : NE : Asexual :
MA: All, Sun (reversed), Chaos, Elemental (water)
MI: War, Astral, Charm, Animal, Time, Necromantic (reversed)
Granted Power(s): Darkness 15’ radius, 1x/day/4 lvls
Cimbrianus
Demi Thievery: CN
MA: All, Charm, Astral, Chaos, Wards, Protection, Travelers
MI: Combat, Animal, Time, Numbers, Summoning
Granted Power(s):
Dis-Pater
Demi: The Underworld: CE
MA: All, Astral, Sun (reversed), necromancy (reversed), War, Combat, Healing (Reversed)
MI: Chaos, Charm, Divination, Wards, Time
Granted Power(s): Shadow Walk
Mini Representation: Corrupted Rogue (D&D Diablo II Miniatures, $20)
Tyrusine
(The Valkyrie)
Greater Power of Valhalla, LN
Portfolio: War, Diplomacy, Political Strife, Overbearing of One’s Opponents Through Strategic Superiority
Aliases:
Sex: Female
Domain: Valhalla
Foes: Peace.
Symbol: Flaming Sword
Tyrusine is the Goddess of war, struggle, and conquering. Needless to say, she patronizes warriors. Her priests are warrior like in their mindset and philosophy, meaning that they do not necessarily kill blithely, but they certainly do not avoid confrontation.
Tyrusine’s hierarchy is complex and detailed. Tyrusine’s male shepherds are referred to as Knights. The female shepherds are referred to as Valkyries. The flock are referred to as errants. Within these classifications, there are different levels of power and clout amongst those who worship Tyrusine.
Tyrusine’s Avatar
Tyrusine appears as a 7’6” tall woman with jet black hair and of beautiful proportions. She carries a javelin which allows her to hurl lightning bolts dealing 20d10 damage.
Tyrusine’s Manifestations
She does not frequently manifest, but when she does it is generally in a weapon or a steed of one of her warriors.
Clerics, Paladins, Champions, and Fighters of Tyrusine (Knight or Valkyrie)
Req’s.: Strength 15, Intelligence 10, Wisdom 11, Charisma 16
Prime Req.: Strength
Alignment: LN, LG, LE
Weapons: Any
Armor: Any
Domains: Combat, Law, Protection, War, Elemental (Fire), Healing, Guardian, Summoning, Travelers, Wards
Magical Items: Standard (weapon restrictions/allowances apply)
Req. Skills: Diplomacy, Gather Information
Rec. Skills: Etiquette, Heraldry, Bluff, Weaponsmithing
Bonus Skills: Intimidate
Power: Courage, Battle Cry
(All examples apply to both valkyries and knights unless otherwise noted.)
Tyrusine favors humans among her shepherds. All nonhuman clerics, paladins, and fighters of Tyrusine gain no Courage or battle cry.
A human Knight or Valkyrie is granted by Tyrusine the power of Courage once per day. This removes any fear-causing effects from all their allies and gives them a +2 morale boost. They also enjoy a +2 attack bonus. This lasts a number of rounds equal to their level, though the fear-causing effects are removed until they are cast again.
A Valkyrie (only) of Tyrusine is surprisingly fierce and gains a +2 Attack Bonus the first time she encounters any individual that she ends up in combat with. This applies to her first attack against that individual only. This bonus is negated if she is in a region that is matriarchal. Knights do not get any special ability in a matriarchal area.
Valkyries may select the skills of diplomacy, etiquette, gather information, heraldry, bluff, and weaponsmithing as class skills.
A Valkyrie of Tyrusine may use exotic weapons without having to spend a feat to learn how.
At 1st level, a Valkyrie must spend their first feat to select a weapon of choice. This is her preferred weapon, and she will be more likely to use it than any other. She then enjoys a +1 to hit bonus with her weapon of choice. This does not confer an ability to hit magical creatures with a nonmagical weapon. This is cumulative with any other other hit bonuses, feats, etc. If they are a Champion Adeptus follower of Tyrusine, they need not use a feat, because they get the ability as a class feature.
Upon reaching 9th level a Paladin of Tyrusine can shout an awe-inspiring battle cry which will aid her allies. The battle cry allows her friends a free saving throw at +1 for every 3 levels of the Valkyrie if under the effects of fear. Friendly units get a morale bonus of +1 to their morale for every 3 levels the Valkyrie has, which lasts 24 hours. It will give all friendly units in a 300’ radius an immediate free attempt to regain morale and initiative (reroll if desired). Finally, all enemy units must save vs. fear at -1 for every 3 levels of the Paladin of Tyrusine—and if they pass, they then must make a morale check at -1 for every 3 levels of the Paladins of Tyrusine’s. They get a penalty to their morale score for 24 hours equaling -1 for every 3 levels the Paladins of Tyrusine has, regardless of whether or not they succeed at these rolls. This effect is cumulative with other Paladins of Tyrusine involved in the battle. In two instances in known history, a small handful (4-6) of Paladins of Tyrusine routed entire armies by yelling at them.
The Church and Clergy
Clergy Align: LG, LN, NG, N, LE, NE
Req’s.: Wisdom 9
Weapons: Any they are normally capable of wielding
Armor: Any they can normally wear
Req. Skills: As above
Rec. Skills: As above (minus endurance)
Tyrusine’s followers and shepherds are a highly organized and militant group, capable of systematically spreading their religion to the masses in every corner of Syseria. They will protect the societies they exist in to the death, provided those societies allow them to bring the glory of Tyrusine into their midst.
They are judgemental, dealing out punishment and death to their enemies. Some do this with so much zeal that one wonders if they aren’t just interested in inflicting out judgement and death.
Nylis
(The ferryman)
Greater: Death : Asexual : LN : Nylis
Portfolio: Death, the afterlife, final judgement
Foes: Bhalim
Symbol: White skull on black
Domains: Death, Grave, Order
Granted Powers: Inspire Fear, Speak with Dead
Nylis is the god of death. Its portfolio of influence covers all things that happen at the moment of one’s final breath and through the point to which the soul has arrived at its proper eternity.
Nylis is not an evil god and does not cause death, mayhem, or destruction. Nylis is a shepherd and a guide. The currency of the afterlife is souls. Many entities, spirits, demons, and fiends await new souls’ entry into the afterlife where they are tricked and greedily consumed, banished forever to exist at the wrong plane (often in damnation). Nylis’s basic function is to prevent this and assure the soul does not wind up the victim of these schemes.
Nylis is the keeper of the Scales of Judgement. Upon death, one’s heart will be weighed on the scales. This information informs Nylis of the proper judgement and final destination plane for that soul.
It takes its names in connection with his funerary role, such as The one upon the mountain, which underscores its importance as a protector of the deceased and their tombs, and the title The one who is in the place of embalming, associating it with the process of mummification. It is often depicted in sculpture or painting as protecting tombs, graveyards, and other final resting places of the dead from grave robbers, wolves, and other ne’er-do-wells.
Nylis’s Avatar
Nylis appears as a winged spirit, sometimes morbid and scary in the case of evil souls, or comforting, guiding, and radiant for good souls. It carries a scythe +7 that deals 8d10 damage and an additional 4d10 necrotic damage. It almost never uses this, and when it does, it’s for protecting the soul it’s guiding to its final resting plane from aggressive soultakers.
Nylis’s Manifestations
Nylis can assume any manifested form it wishes. Often it chooses the bones of a skeleton, an amorphous black cloud, or a windy storm.
Clerics of Nylis are required to have a Wisdom of 12 or better. Nylis does not employ Paladins, Druids, or Rangers.
Domains: Death, Grave, Order
Granted Powers: Inspire Fear, Speak with Dead
Alignment: LN, N
Weapons: Standard + Scythe
Armor: Standard
Magical Items: Standard
Req. Skills: None
Rec. Skills: Religion
Bonus Skills: None
Embalm
Beginning at first level, Priests of Nylis can prepare the recently deceased for their journey to the next world. This includes preparing the body, burial or cremation, or any final entombment appropriate to the deceased. The cleric has the ability to conduct last rites and any funeral ceremony that is appropriate for local culture and the deceased person’s social class. A cleric of Nylis will earn a minimum of 2d6 gold per day doing this. In some places such as highly populated metropolitan areas, the DM may deem that the cleric may earn more than that daily. Other than this skill, the cleric gains abilities per standard cleric with her or his chosen domains. It is customary to donate a minimum of 10% of this income (only) to the church of Nylis.
The Church and Clergy
Clergy Align: LN, N
Req’s.: Wisdom 9
Weapons: Standard + Scythe
Armor: Any they can normally wear
Req. Skills: None
Rec. Skills: Religion
Bonus Skills: None
Nylis’s followers have created a church that is in high demand everywhere, as their function is fundamental to all civilized cultures. Being the deity that collects the dead and rules the gateway between the living world and the spirit realm, Nylis’s clergy are important to all people.
Nylis is venerated in some different ways, though the most common is what has already been detailed. Some cultures, especially around the Bhanga Jungles and Temek region, believe that Nylis stores the dead in its womb, thus giving the god a feminine aspect, but also creating a cyclical model of [demi/semi]human life.
Nylis is the sibling of Innannaset, and ferries her into the abyss when she enters seeking to expand her powers and domain.
Bhalim
Greater: Life : Hermaphrodite : N : Bhalim
MA: All, Animal, Plant, Necromancy, Sun, Healing, Protection
MI: Charm, Creation, Weather, Guardian
Granted Powers: Soothing Word, Lay on Hands
Lyren
God of the Sea: Lyren/Deep Hilgingora
Greater : Sea : N : Hermaphrodite : Lyren
MA: All, Weather, Animal, Combat, Astral, Travelers, Elemental (Water)
MI: War, Chaos, Summoning, Protection, Sun
Granted Power(s): Water Breathing
Kynteelas
Greater : Deception : NE : Male : Kynteelas
MA: All, Charm, Astral, Chaos, Thought, Summoning, Wards
MI: Chaos, Travelers, Numbers, Weather, Necromantic
Granted Power(s):
Mini Representation: Keeper of Secrets, Greater Daemon of Slaanesh ($39.60)
Acaeus
Greater : Wind : N : Male
MA: All, Elemental (Air), Protection, Weather, Astral, Travelers, Creation
MI: Divination, Guardian, Summoning, Plant, Charm
Inannaset
Greater Wisdom/Knowledge (sister/brother)
Greater : Wisdom : N : Female : xxx
MA: All, Divination, Protection, Summoning, Thought
MI: Guardian, Law, Travelers, Weather
Granted Powers: Immunity to Confusion and Feeblemind, Soothing Word
Adramalech
Greater : Knowledge : N : Male : xxx
MA: All, Divination, Numbers, Thought
MI: Astral, Charm, Guardian, Time, Travelers
Granted Powers: Immunity to Confusion and Feeblemind, One Additional Language or skill Slot
Solistan
Greater : Healing : NG : Female : Solistan (“SOL-uh-stan”)
MA: All, Creation, Guardian, Healing, Necromantic, Protection
MI: Plant, Elemental (Air), Sun, Travelers
Granted Powers: Purge diseases 1x/week/3 lvls, Healing Touch
Xi
(The Lord of Creation, The Father God, The Supreme Being)
Greater Power, no specific plane
Portfolio: N/A
Aliases: None
Gender: N/A
Territory: N/A
Superior: N/A
Allies: N/A
Foes: N/A
Wor. Align: Any
God’s Avatar
No avatar.
Bonus Skills: Religion
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