For a project that might never leave the conceptual phase.
Josie sent me her list of ritual spells right as I was mid writing this, and I shamelessly stole many ideas from it. I’ll provide a link once she posts it, as it’s exceedingly good.
Shaman-Priest
 |
| From Six Ages, one of them |
+1 to reaction rolls per template
Start with: Robes; elaborate headdress OR terrifying mask; impressive mustache OR mouth tattoo; ritual dagger; hunting bow OR axe; drums; firestarter kit; shrooms; more shrooms; mortar with pestle
Priesthood
Embody Divinity
Lore-versed; +1 to Rituals
Miracle; +1 to Rituals
A: Priesthood
You can worship - properly worship - a number of gods and spirits equal to your template in this class. You can pick them from the list at the end of this class, or from ones you discover during gameplay.
Rituals are an expression of your worship. When you perform them [fulfill the italicized conditions], there is 1-in-6 chance it will be answered. Add 1 for each of the following:
You excelled in following that god’s Tenets recently.
You performed the Ritual in a sacred place, or on a holy day.
You loudly chanted a prayer, uninterrupted, for at least 10 minutes.
You sacrificed more than was necessary.
You started a ceremonial fire.
You Embodied that god [look, template B].
Unless otherwise specified, any Ritual can only be performed once per season.
B: Embody Divinity
By dressing like a god, you become them in the eyes of all who believe, including you. Each god has information on both how the god is usually depicted [so you might prepare your costume accordingly], and what Embodying them offers.
The effects don’t work on non-believers, when your costume is damaged, or if someone confidently discredits you on valid ground [usually, for acting out of character].
C: Lore-versed
Once per day, when attempting to solve a problem, you might stop to tell a myth or legend related to your current predicament. If you use the wisdom derived from it to solve the problem, you get an advantage doing so.
The stories you make up immediately become real in the world of fiction, at least in the sense that at least some people, somewhere, believe in them as much as you do.
D: Miracle
In an act of godly intervention, you can, once per season, for the duration of one combat turn, ignore any single sentence from the game’s rulebook.
Common cults in the valley
By no means an exhaustive list - if I were to ever run the game these are for, I’d probably try to double the god count here.
[Iris]
Not a spirit to be worshipped, but one to be placated - it is the pure malice and envy of the world manifest. Not recognized by the devarajas and their courts.
Tenets:
Do not be led astray by the pleasures of the flesh.
Never desire more than what you already have.
Distrust the lighteyes.
Rituals:
Surrender a secret to the wind. Name an object or a person, and you will see, as if with your own eyes, its current location from a bird’s eye view. The effect lasts as long as you keep the metal in your mouth. It deals 1 hp per round, and never grows cold.
Sacrifice something of worth that can never be recovered under an open sky - an unique artifact, or a part of your body. A pillar of fire descends around you. It burns all but you for 4d8 damage.
Embody Divinity: Light eyes. Everywhere. You can not so much Embody Iris, but allow it to possess you. You bring bad luck to everyone around - any rolls nearby are made with disadvantage.
[Mount Raabi]
When the builder of the first people, and the first man to die, was buried, Raabi sprouted from his grave like a cactus. Gatekeeper to the underworld and protector of the hearth. Goose-friend - all geese are Raabi worshippers, which is why they’re kept in households, to warn of intruders.
Tenets:
Uphold what is natural, even with violence.
Scrutinize disharmony.
Let that which is dead burn away.
Rituals:
Kill, drain of blood, and disembowel something or someone. Anything bigger than a chicken will do. Arrange their viscera in a circle, and stand inside it. In your mind, name one biggest regret you’d have, if you were to die this very moment. Become a vessel for a soul from the other side that died near the place you are. You have no control over your body for the duration of their visit. Raabi claims them back within an hour, or when you request for the ritual to end.
Find a man who deserves to die, and a man who deserves to live. Kill the former, and cook their meat. Bury the latter in the ground, until nothing but their head sticks out. Guard them for 3 days and 3 nights, feeding them nothing but the dead man’s meat. The ritual gets interrupted if someone even touches the buried. When you dig them out, any wounds, illness or curses they suffered from will be mend, as if they never happened.
Embody Divinity: Skin pale like ash, wears nothing but a helmet and loincloth. Carries a cactus flower or scales, sometimes both. You can smell lies. All promises made with you are binding - people would rather die than break a deal made with you.
[Elmire, the All-mother]
Most important goddess in local beliefs. Characterized as an intelligent leader, lover of games, and great architect. Mother of many gods. Slayer of many more.
Tenets:
For your children, be kind but reasonable.
For your subjects, be diligent and wise.
For your enemies, have no mercy.
Rituals:
Cut both of your palms open [-2hp], and press them together. Let blood mingle with blood. Kiss your wounds, and then someone’s forehead. The target falls asleep for 3 days and 3 nights, or until kissed again.
Gather and slaughter 3 goats. Drain them of blood, and mix it with clay. Apply to the desired surface, and wait a week for it to set. You can heal houses, walls, temples, and any other human structures, as though they were never damaged in the first place. Walls regrow from where clay was applied, furniture reassembles themself, and so on. Particularly damaged or large structures might require the ritual to be performed multiple times. Some past a certain level of destruction might not be healed at all.
Embody Divinity: Red-skinned woman with many arms - one for each weapon used by humanity, and a pair more to cradle her child, or hold a scroll. Wears only a loincloth. You get +1 attack per turn. You trigger morale at the end of each turn, as long as you damage someone.
[Mambet, or Catamount Boy]
Lost as a baby, and taken in by a pack of catamounts. He warred against gods, after they killed his feline mother, and was accepted into the heavens. Taught us how to treat dead animals, so their souls can get reborn. Hunter, western wind, and protector of young boys.
Tenets:
Never let that which can still be used go to waste.
If defeated, take a step back and reassess.
When all else fails, bite and struggle.
Rituals:
Climb to the very peak of the highest place you can see, and let the wind kiss your skin. Taunt the sky, and jump down with no fear in your heart. The wind carries you. Until you next touch the ground with your feet, you may fly at twice your running speed.
Kill an animal of the sky, river, and desert. Drain one of blood, and bathe an arrow in it. Burn one, and coat the arrow in the ash. Use the bones of the remaining one to engrave a name on the arrow. If shot at the person or beast whose name you engraved, the arrow shan’t ever miss, and will deal d8 extra damage. This ritual can be performed multiple times per season, though it always blesses only one arrow.
Embody Divinity: Cape of his catamount mother’s fur. Skin painted black around eyes, body marked by scars. A bow, or an arquebus. You make no sounds, unless you wish to, and you never run out of breath.
[Famalie]
Elmire’s first lover and husband, so taken aback by her beauty he popped out of primordial chaos to propose. Lazy, but with the powers to break mountains. Inventor of sotol, fish, fishing, and sex. In the courts of devarajas he’s the god of laziness and debauchery.
Tenets:
Live life to the fullest.
Laugh while others would cry.
Love all of creation.
Rituals:
Collect clay with your own hands, and form it into a pot. Find 2 people who truly love each other. Ask each one what they must appreciate about the other, and find an object to represent both of these things. Seal them in the pot, cover with fish and drink, and bury it all near a river. Wait until next season. Smash the pot with a hammer. If the ritual works out, you will find a baby within the pot. It will grow up within a year, is destined to live a holy life, and combines all the best traits of his “parents”. Whether the ritual succeeds or not, a baby is still found inside. It will grow to adulthood within 2 years, and will combine all the best traits of its “parents”. If no errors were made in the ritual, it will grow up to be a pious adult of exceptional character. If the pot wasn’t strong enough, or the “parents” didn’t love each other, or the fish were spoiled, or Famalie simply didn’t feel like it that day, the child will instead bring upon disaster unto anyone it meets, and spread curse upon the land. There’s no way to tell which it’ll be, until it’s too late.
Ejaculate into the river. Next time the fishermen cast their nets, the haul will be plentiful. This can be done once a day, but it’s not very dignified.
Embody Divinity: Beautiful fat man with blue skin, dressed in nothing but a headwrap. Often shown with multiple arms. Most magnificent facial hair you’ve ever seen. Most magnificent dick you’ve ever seen, too. As long as you do not act hostile yourself, no one would dare to ever cause you harm. You get +1 to reaction rolls. You are particularly fertile when Embodying Famalie.
[Ged]
The maker of people, and god of agriculture. As Elmire is the harsh sands of the desert, Ged is the arable land near the river. Died, and was reborn as a human, but reached the heavens once more with diligent work. Healer and goat-friend. In some devaraja courts treated as Elmire’s husband - you can choose where you stand on this debate.
Tenets:
Always use words instead of violence.
Protect life, in all forms, regardless of allegiance.
To animals you eat provide a life worth dying for.
Rituals:
Engrave a prayer on a plate of lead or gold, and bury it in the ground. If the plate was lead, it causes all plants which grow nearby to diminish and die. If the plate was gold, within hours something will grow from the ground - tree, flowers, cactus, dryad, whatever.
Mix lentisk fruits, gum resin, and desert lavender with your blood [-1 max hp]. You create a healing balm that, upon being applied to a wound, can miraculously and instantly mend it together, healing 2d8 hp, and providing +1 max hp.
Embody Divinity: Green-skinned man wearing a loincloth and a headdress with various plants worked into it. Carrying a sickle or a baby goat. Majestic mustache. You inspire by example - as long as you help a group of people in manual labor, they can complete their work four times as fast.
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