UVG DW - Session 2

Dramatis Personae

Mac 'Driver - DWARF artificer with inherited golem armor

River Thornheart - Steppelander witch/warchief's daughter

Uba Bigtooth - Half-orc gunslinger cowgirl

Cordolan s'Abner - Chief medical aristocrat of biomagical corruption (i.e., cleric)

R5F1 - Ancient golem archaeologist

Amaric diVridi - Greenlander hostler. Hired to care for the pack animals.

Taelin Nyxara - Violetlander Heretical biomancer agronomist and undergraduate wizard

Session 2 Notes

• The caravan traveled south from the Porcelain Citadel to the Trail of Vomish Dreams.
• Shortly after arriving, they were beset by a swarm of razorflies, and were forced to take shelter for four days to avoid being cut up.
• Once it was safe to travel again, they found the smashed remnants of a Porcelain Prince raiding party returning to the Porcelain Citadel. River's divination told her that they were likely attacked by a heard of biomechanical buffalo and crushed to death. The chest they were carrying was found to contain ten bottles of octopus pheromones (as Charm Cephalopod; go figure).
• After searching around, they found what they were looking for: the fallen Iron Obelisk, covered in Black City glyphs. They took rubbings of the three exposed sides and realized it was spell notation, but they could not see a way to flip it over to get the last part.
• They moved on to their next target: a ruined fort and trading post of a Vile-worshipping barbarian sorcerer.
• They found the fort, but the only entrance was guarded by a thornstone shambler, a creature of stone and briars. They killed it, albeit with some difficulty.
• Other things they found exploring the fort included:
• A twisted, mutant tree that grew fruits with anguished human faces on them. They were able to pick a sack worth of them after sedating the animate and violent tree with magic.
• The sorcerer's gold-plated hookah pipe.
• A statue of an elf-lord, with a mysterious blue crystal embedded in it that was weeping source-code corrupting fluid. Enough to flood a room over many decades, at least. They carved it out with a chisel.
• A shrinking machine in the form of a pedestal with a control panel. Possibly could be dismantled.
• A green-glass monocle.
• A fine mechanic's toolbox and manual on autogolem maintenance, in an underground garage infested with vome tunnelers.
• Upon circling around, they found the green-glass monocle revealed an illusory door, behind which they found the Sunstone Spear, a chest of $200, and the sorcerer's backup power-album.
• In so doing, however, they awoke a throng of angry radiation ghosts, who swarmed about the room reenacting the battle where they rebelled against the sorcerer.
• Mac 'Driver used his ectoplasmic gauntlets to emit an energy wave that temporarily banished the ghosts, giving them a chance to escape.
  

Treasure

Sunstone Spear (close, reach, +1 piercing, 1 weight, $250). A spear of primitive aspect, with a haft carved from wood, a head made from a forged leaf-spring, and a large golden crystal stone just beneath, surrounded by green feathers. When you invoke the magic of the spear, roll+WIS. On a 10+, you fire a ray of searing light at your intended target (1d10, near, far, ignores armor). On a 7-9, choose one:

• You put yourself in danger to get the shot.
• The spear is drained of power, and cannot fire again until next sunrise.

On a 6-, the spear is drained of power.

This weapon once belonged to a prominent Steppelander shaman. If returned to the Steppe of the Lime Nomads, it could fetch an ample reward.

Mindbreaker’s Backup

Backup power-album created by the Vile-worshipping enchanter of the steppelanders, Grozbec Pale Bone.

Plastic-paper scroll, suggests trepanation for best effect, infested with memories

    Note: The spell "Forget" was adapted from Magical Industrial Revolution, by Skerples, another excellent and inspiring book that I recommend to every GM.

Charm Person

LV: 1 R: touch T: person D: indefinite

The person (not beast or monster) you touch while casting this spell counts you as a friend until they take damage or you prove otherwise.

Forget

LV: 1 R: near T: person D: instant

Target person forgets the last 10 minutes. They may recall vague details, but no specific or useful information.

Blade of Grass

LV: 1 R: near T: one or more creatures standing close together D: instant

A fistful of grass transforms into a great, scything blade. Deals 2d4 damage to one or more creatures that are standing close enough together, per the fiction. Does not ignore armor.

Body of Grass

LV: 0 R: touch T: person D: 8 hours

One person touched physically dissolves into a patch of grass along with all of their gear, becoming undetectable. The sensation is akin to resting with one's eyes closed, and the target may sleep. Speaking, moving, or taking any other action also ends the spell. No spell or attack may affect the target in this state, but anything that would damage the patch of grass instantly ends the effect.

Monsters

Thornstone Shambler 19HP 2 Armor

Solitary, Large, Amorphous, Stealthy

Damage: Thorn whip (1d10+1, +1 piercing, close, reach)

Special Qualities: Plant, Stone

At rest, it resembles a giant pile of thorny briars, albeit with a strangely stone-like texture. It is, in fact, a form of ambulatory carnivorous plant life, with a wide “mouth” and two long arm-like clusters of briars. It spends long periods in hibernation, and can attack without warning.

Instinct: To feed

Moves:

• Appear as an ordinary plant
• Tangle up someone in its coils

Radiation Ghost 3HP 0 Armor

Horde, Magical, Devious

Damage: Slam (1d4, close, ignores armor)

Special Qualities: Incorporeal

Accreted remnants of personalities fried into the fabric of space and smeared across the vastness of time. Immune to physical damage.

Instinct: To seek a world that is long gone

Moves:

• Inflict radiation sickness
• Blind synthetic eyes, deafen synthetic ears
• Show the way to a hidden treasure trove

Miniature Vile Tree 21HP 4 Armor

Solitary, Huge, Amorphous, Magical

Damage: Branches (1d10+5, reach, forceful)

Special Qualities: Plant, Immobile

Creepy looking tree with purple and yellow bark and a twisted, helical trunk. Grows blue fruits with anguished humanoid faces on them.

Instinct: To inflict pain

Moves:

• Flail wildly around
• Corrupt the source code of a victim.

Vomish Tunneler 10HP 2 Armor

Group, Large, Construct, Devious

Damage: Bite (1d8+1, close)

Special Qualities: Cyborg, Burrowing

Giant biomechanical worms that burst from the ground, hungry for protein and alchemical lubricants.

Instinct: To feed

Moves:

• Burst from the ground without warning
• Glitch out
• Swallow a victim whole