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by Madboni |
by gugu-troll |
by KnightyNightey |
by PE-Travers |
by tenjiiii |
Pursuing immortality has long been a dream of Alchemists. The elixir of eternal life has proven to be a most tempting prize, leading to many squandering years of life and enormous sums in vain attempts to produce such an elixir. The Alchemists of Yi Fa are notorious for this, poisoning themselves with countless failed attempts at eternal life.
And while many Alchemists pursue immortality through the Philosopher's Stone, others find the pursuit of such a lofty ideal impractical or unnecessary. They will have plenty of time to discover how to turn lead into gold after they become immortal.
Yet despite their many failures at attaining immortality, that's not to say they have discovered nothing. No, those foreign Sages did discover a method of obtaining eternal life. It's just that the cost was too awful to bear...
Appearance:
Jiangshi are Undead, so resemble the people they were while alive, but with milky-white eyes, corpse pale complexions and the subtle whiff of decay. Despite their degraded state however they still take pride in their appearance, wearing fine clothes, brushing or oiling what hair they have left and often wearing floral perfumes to distract from their decrepit state. Some of them do choose to revel in their debased state, but just as many try to conceal it. Becoming Undead is only a bump in the road on the path of their true destiny, after all.
from Sleeping Dogs |
Undead: Undead do not feel pain or get tired. They are immune to poison and disease. They do not need to eat, sleep or breathe. Any spell that says "Undead" in its title or description is talking about something like this.
Sunlight Vulnerability: Sunlight Vulnerability: Undead take 1d6 radiant damage for every round they spend in sunlight.
Qi Drain: By touching a creature, the Jiangshi can cause it to take 1d6 CON damage. This also causes the Jiangshi to regain 2 HP per point of CON drained. If this attack reduces a creature to 0 CON, the creature dies. CON lost to this ability occurs at a rate of 1 point per day.
Stiffening Flesh: Jiangshi's bodies drain of qi, causing them to suffer from rigor mortis. To compensate for this, they must regularly drain qi. The longer a Jiangshi goes without draining qi, the stiffer their movements get until they can only hop along with arms extended out rigidly.
by Yun Hsu |
by sasa-13-Go |
I wrote previously about the Spirits of the Land here and Mediums here. This post is mostly new rules concerning those creatures and how they interact with humans.
by Celestialforestfairy |
Example Spirit Pacts:
"In exchange for blessing us with good harvests, we will give you a virgin girl to do with as you please, with a minimum of ten years before we have to give you another girl."
"In exchange for a celebration celebrated every year in your honor, you will cure the plague afflicting our village and prevent it from ever returning."
"In exchange for the sacrifice of a year-old bullock, you will give us a chest of gold."
Spirits can give out blessings to regions, groups or individual people either as a one-time payment for some offering or service, or in an on-going arrangement, often carried out by the mortal's children and their future generations.
Spirit Pacts are binding on Spirits, once a Spirit has made a Pact, it cannot refuse to fulfill it's obligation without harming itself, potentially even destroying itself. However, if it feels cheated, it will try to weasel it's way out of the Pact or deliver the bare minimum possible.
Spirit Pacts can only be broken via mutual consent- if either party refuses to pay up, the Pact is still valid, even if technically nothing is happening. Spirits will often refuse to hold up their end of the bargain if they haven't been paid or given what they were promised.
by VigintiDuoXXII |
How to Summon a Spirit:
To make a Spirit Pact, one has need of a Spirit. To attract the attention of one, you will need to perform a Summoning Ritual. To do this, one needs either the Name of a Spirit or to simply perform an Empty Summoning Ritual. An Empty Summoning Ritual is a summoning ritual, but it is not aimed at any particular spirit. It is simply ringing the dinner bell and announcing that there are potential rewards available. This will usually attract a Spirit, who might be willing to hear you out or perform the service you ask of it, provided the reward is suitable.
If you include a Spirit's Name in the Summoning Ritual, on the other hand, then only that Spirit will detect the Summoning Ritual and be drawn to it. The Spirit does not have to appear, but it will feel the urge to appear. It is the equivalent to someone yelling your name in a crowded room full of other conversations. At best, it's distracting and potentially interesting. At worst, it's annoying.
Once the Spirit has appeared, usually a negotiation between it and the summoner will begin. However, the summoner can also attempt to bind a Spirit to their will and force the Spirit to obey. This can have very mixed results.
Note that the ritual above describes only a fairly basic Magic Circle. If you wish to attempt to Bind, or even negotiate with a very powerful spirit, you will need a better circle.
Building a Better Spirit-Trap:
A magic circle is a circle created to channel and contain the forces of magic. When a circle is formed, magical energies cannot pass over them. If you've trapped a Demon inside one, that Demon cannot walk out of it. It must either be released or break the circle. Note that only magical creatures can be trapped inside these. A Wizard, Demon or Dragon could be trapped in one. Farmer Brown cannot.
Similarly, if you are inside a magic circle and someone attacks you with magic, their attack isn't going to do anything unless it disrupts or breaks the circle. If it doesn't do either, their power is going to have a much harder time affecting you.
Of course, not all circles are created equal.
Types of Circles:
Simple-
Construction DC: 5
+1 to trap creatures inside
+1 to resist magic coming from the opposite side of the circle.
Simple Circles are a single line or chalk, salt or iron shavings.
Minor-
Construction DC: 10
+2 to trap creatures inside
+4 to resist magic coming from the opposite side of the circle
These are double circles with nodes at the four cardinal directions, marked with statuettes, candles, etc.
Major-
Construction DC: 15
+4 to trap creatures inside
+8 to protect against magic coming from the opposite side of the circle
These are triple circles, marking the four cardinal directions, the elements, the prominent stars and crowned with a triangle, pentacle or a Star of Solomon.
Master-
Construction DC: 15+X (Depending on what you're trying to accomplish with the circle)
+6 to trap creatures inside
+12 to resist magic coming from the opposite side of the circle
Master circles are minimum three layers and contain countless trinkets, charms and other ritual preparations. Each one is a masterwork of the Mage's art and painstaking to build.
Breaking a Magic Circle:
When trapped inside a Magic Circle, a creature can attempt to break out. It does this by engaging in a Contest with the person standing at the Locus point (Northwards, generally) of the Circle. This person must pit their will against the trapped creature. If the trapped creature wins, the circle breaks and it is free. If the person at the Locus point wins, the creature remains trapped.
by T5-Comix-Cartoonz |