Intelligence Scale

Originally, I meant only to add a description of intelligence for character creation; and then I had a bit of clarity before falling asleep last night.  I picked it up this morning and had meant to carry it forward up to 18 intelligence ... but alas, I lost the thread of my intent long before.

The idea follows something I proposed long, long ago, saying I would need time to think about it.  Having got it this far, I probably need time again; or perhaps I've just lost my clarity in the midst of researching and trying to build a fluidity to the change of each intelligence value.  Here's what I have, transferred from my wiki.

Variously defined to include logic, understanding, self-awareness and reasoning, for game purposes I have chosen to describe intelligence as problem solving ability and alertness. In game terms this argues that seeing the answer to a problem is a question of intelligence, not wisdom; and that being aware of what is going on around the individual is also intelligence, and not dexterity. Intelligence as described here bears no similarity to "I.Q."

Ability checks are made against intelligence only when there is doubt that the character's intelligence is sufficient to reason through a set of variables or be alert enough to see the meaning of a given clue or detail. Players cannot simply turn to the PC's intelligence as an ability that lets them roll and instantly "know" things. Players must use their own intelligence 99% of the time throughout the game; however, very often the player will attempt an action or a plan that the character would be unlikely to conceive. In that instance, the player should make an intelligence check. If successful, the action can be carried out.

Take note; "learning ability" is often attributed to intelligence; in my game, that would be part of wisdom.

Intelligence is an important characteristic of mages and illusionists, and a minor requisite for assassins, bards, paladins, rangers and thieves. For mages, intelligence will dictate the maximum number of spells that can exist in the character's spellbook (qv). Furthermore, it should be understood that upper spell levels for mages cannot be employed at all if the mage has a minimal intelligence.

Chance for a spell included in the spellbook describes the percentage chance that is rolled for each spell in the magic user lists to determine if that spell is included in the mage's conceptual ability. This does not apply to illusionists.

Minimum # of successful rolls indicates the lowest number of successful rolls for spells that the mage can have. This does not apply to illusionists.

Maximum Spell level use shows the highest level of spell that the character can use with that intelligence. This column applies to both illusionists and mages.

Description of Values

Zero Intelligence (0 pts.)

Unable to think and lacking self-awareness, these creatures act without will, driven by hormonal responses. They are compelled to find food or to reproduce. Once engaged in combat they will not retreat but will always fight to the death. They cannot communicate with others of their own kind except through the release of pheromones, which may appear to create cooperation but in fact is purely reflexive in response.

Deficient Intelligence (1 pt.)

Sufficient to provide minimal self-awareness and bare instinct resulting in an innate behavior in response to outside stimuli. Creatures of deficient intelligence will experience fear and will herd together for defense ~ but will equally abandon others of their own kind, including their offspring, with self-preservation being more important than social bonds.

Reproduction if primarily sexual, with times of the year when instinctive competition to determine opportunities to mate takes place. Displays feature activities such as showing plumage or rutting. These creatures are always herbivorous and never hunters; they will exhibit some curiosity towards the offer of foods, especially those of a pleasant odor. Without magical influence, these creatures defy interaction and cannot be trained.

Domestic Intelligence (2 pts.)

Necessary for domestication as a creature. Take note that not all domestic creatures have an intelligence of this value; only that they must have at least this much in order to form an attachment to a more intelligent companion. Creatures of domestic intelligence will also show a fondness and loyalty. They can be angered and will become defensive if angered; they will not always fight, however. This defensiveness is often a show of threat before fleeing.

Creatures of this intelligence will form family relationships for life, care for their offspring, defend their lairs, display memory, play, act curiously if not threatened and will actively hunt (including tracking and returning to familiar hunting grounds). These creatures will also cooperate with their own kind, though often they will become aggressive and competitive once food is available. Primary motivations continue to be the pursuit of food and reproduction.

Sympathetic Intelligence (3 pts.)

Necessary for humanoid creatures (with much lower-than-average mental acuity) and commonly the intelligence for successful hunters such as canines, felines, suidae, ursae and a wide range of magical beasts. These creatures will hunt patiently and cleverly, will share food among their clans and will care for and adopt the young of others. They will form close domestic bonds with more intelligent creatures, particularly with tool-making humanoids.

They have strong memories, will form lasting bonds and cooperative relationships with humanoids (hunting and sheep dogs, cormorants, working animals, mounts, etcetera), are strongly faithful, will play and will defend creatures other than those of their own kind. They are able to recognize treachery and also display a wide range of emotions.

Humanoids will be minimally communicative and animal-like in their display of emotions. They will form staunch bonds with others and will sacrifice themselves rather than let those others come to harm (though the sacrifice is not self-aware; death is a difficult concept to grasp). Fighting abilities will be instinctive; they are limited to bashing weapons. Weapons may not be hurled, not because the creature is physically incapable, but because it doesn't not occur. They are limited to daily living skills and are limited in sage abilities to adaptive or instinctive abilities [no defacto list exists at this time]. All efforts to problem solve or be alert, as well as recovering anything from memory, requires an intelligence check.

Cognitive Intelligence (4 pts.)

Enables self-awareness so that the creature is aware of their own awareness, and in humanoids the ability to express consciousness of their own mental limitations. Creatures are able to comprehend money, the importance of some things over others and reasons why they are being asked to do things. Creatures of this intelligence include a wide variety of non-social monsters, many of them with inborn skills, primates and humanoids who represent lower-than-average mental acuity. No humanoid race comprises principally of members that are of this level of intelligence.

Creatures, both humanoid and not, will betray deviousness, be capable of lying, yet will remain naive of consequences for their actions. Play is often extraordinarily aggressive or excessively idle, such as repeatedly throwing a ball against a wall for many hours at a time, mesmerized by the patterns it forms. Memories are long and grudges are common. They are not likely to judge the actions of others except when those actions directly infringe on their freedom.

Humanoids will be haltingly but moderately communicative and expressive with their emotions. They will form highly loyal bonds with fellows and may even fall in love, though they will not understand the social mores associated with relationships. They are not able to rebel against requests from trusted companions without an intelligence check. When a check succeeds, being conscious of their own limitations, they will be enormously proud of themselves.

Fighting abilities are instinctive; bashing and stabbing weapons are permissible. Weapons may be hurled. They are able to do tasks made of two-or-three steps, such as sharpening a weapon AND putting it away or eating from a plate, washing that plate and putting it away. Such things are limited to busywork; tasks that require figuring the place for something unfamiliar, sorting, locating something that can't be seen or is in an unfamiliar place, or any more complex problem requires a check. The creature can watch and be trusted to be aware in that specific direction, but being alert for something unexpected requires a check. Sage abilities must still fit into the descriptions above or are not available to the creature.

Primitive Intelligence (5 pts.)

Minimum necessary for a humanoid culture. Creatures are able to perform all familiar tasks related to food gathering, hunting, raising offspring, sorting and sharing material wealth and rough hand-made tools without checks, but do not have interpretive-based sage abilities.

Though able to understand the spoken word generally, creatures have high difficulty understanding abstract concepts such as philosophy, mathematics, science, mechanics or distant geography. Religion and history is understood primarily through story-telling and art, with no real sense of theology or causality. Magic is appreciated and recognized, but the process bears no comprehension at all. Limitations on such things, or why there should be limitations, are unclear to the creature.

When in simple, day-to-day situations, it is rare that any checks will need to be made. However, the alertness needed to think a player character's way through unusual environments (dungeons, dangerous and chaotic terrains, cities or streets where sensory overload is constant) will require occasional checks if there is no one else to keep the character focused. One such situation is battle.

Should surprise occur, creatures of primitive intelligence are apt not to rely upon their instincts but upon their responsibilities ~ and this may cause the creature to freeze, similar in manner to a deer but for entirely different reasons. Because of this, unless an intelligence check is made, the creature will be unable to take any action except to defend themselves for one more round than is usual. This hesistancy can be overcome, however, if a more intelligent creature, unaffected by this hesitancy, is there to shout "attack!" or similar order at the right moment, spurring lesser companions to action. Thus a chief in a primitive clan or tribe will usually have sufficient intelligence to thus lead their people.

Primitive intelligence allows the use of most hand-to-hand and hurled weapons, but discounts use of the bola, the bow, slings and like weapons that have multiple or moving parts. Common implements with moving parts require a check to use; complex implements, such an astrolabe or abacus, are beyond the creature's ken.

Low Intelligence (6 to 7 pts.)

Though in the upper group for primitive cultures, for most civilized societies this indicates the bottom range of competent intelligence for social participants in daily life. Such creatures are able to work at repetitive tasks, raising food, maintaining domestic animals and other day-to-day social duties without intelligence checks.

They are, however, challenged to understand matters outside their immediate needs and positions. Even if they participate in religion, it is more mystery than belief. They are comfortable at festivals and sport; but discussions of current affairs and politics confuse them. They are apt to ignore the doings of the world. If someone should explain such things to them, it would be an intelligence check.

Low intelligence creatures have access to the full range of weapons and the use of common implements without needing a check. Surprise in combat operates normally.

Monster & Animal Species

I don't have the lifetime I need to write up all
the monsters that don't exist in my world.

I hope you can forgive me posting content that I've recently put up on the wiki.  Truth be told, the wiki is getting far less attention than it used to get, so I begin to think the internet is tired of it.  If I leave it there and never print it here, I think very few people would know about it.

And what the heck, it is still work of mine one way or the other.

The following is a list in progress of species in my game world (which a reader asked about last week, I think it was Ozymandias).  This is a partial list, reliably including monsters up to the Ds taht I've added to the wiki.  I'll be updating this table as I add more monsters to the wiki.  Last year about this time I set a goal of 50 monsters for 2018.  I'll be matching that number this year.  If I keep up that pace, I'll finish my monster lists when I'm, what, 66 y.o.?  Heh.  Anyway, expect to see a lot of monsters on the blog during the next couple of months.

Some monsters are based on Earth terms for living animals and others are creations solely for fantasy role-play.  Animal species are relevant to various sage abilities and sometimes for the creation of magical potions, scrolls, wands and other like items, as the bodily fluids of species can sometimes be exchanged for another like creature.

List of Species

Bat: a species of flying mammal, often appearing in very large numbers.  Docile species are insectivores or fruit-eaters and will attack only if disturbed.  More aggressive species have been known to attack large mammals for blood or as a source for meat.

List: bat (giant)

Bear: omnivorous mammals found on every continent except Africa and Australia.  These creatures have large bodies with stocky legs, long snouts, small rounded ears, shaggy hair, paws with five claws and short tails.  Food usually depends upon what is available in the bear's environment.  Hunted for their meat and fur.  Caged bears of smaller species are often kept as a source for entertainment.

List: bear (black) ~ bear (brown) ~ bear (cave)

Beast: supernatural hybrids, sometimes part human, often destructive and malevolent in nature.  The existence of beasts has been the result of both magical experimentation and inter-planar contact, where some beasts have emerged on Earth through divine intervention.  Most beasts created in laboratories are born sterile ~ but the means of their creation has become known, so that the same beasts do tend to appear, having either escaped or been freed.  Some notable beasts, always originating on another plane of existence, are unique in form.  See Beasts (sage study).

Dragons: dragon huakinthos ~ dragonis malignans

Ordinary beasts: ankheg ~ basilisk ~ behemoth ~ beholder ~ bird of Tyaa ~ bulette ~ carrion crawler ~ catoblepas ~ centaur ~ chimera ~ cockatrice ~ couatl ~ displacer beast ~ dragonne ~ eye of the deep ~ gorgon ~ griffon ~ harpy ~ hell hound ~ hippocampus ~ hippogriff ~ hydra ~ invisible stalker ~ ki-rin ~ lamia ~ lammasu ~ leucrotta ~ leviathan ~ lurker above ~ manticore ~ medusa ~ minotaur ~ morkoth ~ nightmare ~ otyugh ~ owlbear ~ pegasus ~ peryton ~ remorhaz ~ roper ~ rust monster ~ salamander ~ satyr ~ sea lion ~ shambling mound ~ shedu ~ slithering tracker ~ sphinx ~ stirge ~ trapper ~ treant ~ turtle (dragon) ~ umber hulk ~ unicorn ~ wyvern ~ xorn

Unique beasts: Apep ~ Bahamut ~ Blodug-Hofi ~ Cerberus ~ Dahak ~ Fenris ~ Flame Snake ~ Freke & Gere ~ Garm ~ Gullin-Bursti ~ Hugin & Munin ~ Indra's Elephant ~ Jormungandr ~ Ma Yuan ~ Minions of Set ~ Pack of the Wild Hunt ~ Peacock of Karttikeya ~ Phoenix ~ Sleipner ~ Tanngrisner & Tanngjost ~ Thunder Bird ~ Tiamat ~ White Eagle of Zeus ~ Yama's Water Buffalo

Bovine: cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals, with all males possessing two or more horns and in many species with females that possess horns also.  Bovids are typically diurnal, with social activity and feeding usually peak during dawn and dusk.  While small bovids forage in dense and closed habitat, larger species feed on high-fiber vegetation in open grasslands.  Many bovids have been domesticated, while their leather, meat and wool is sought after.

Links: antelope (sable) ~ buffalo ~ cattle (domestic) ~ cattle (wild)

Camelid: large, strictly herbivorous mammals with slender necks and long legs.  Due to their body structure, camelids have to lie down by resting on their knees with their legs tucked underneath their bodies.  Camelids do not have hooves, they have two-toed feet with toenail and soft, leathery foot pads.  When they walk, both legs on the same side of the body move simultaneously.  Camelids long enough for human beings to ride have a typical swaying motion.

Links: alpaca ~ camel (wild)

Chthonic: typically malevolent semi-divine beings whose origin tends towards the lower planes of existence, widely ranging in type and form.  Chthonic creatures are often associated with subterranean realms and places, but also with places that terrify and mortify the senses.

Demons: manes

Devils: lemure

Crocodile: large, solidly built reptiles that include alligators and caimans, with long flattened snouts and laterally compressed tails.  Their eyes, ears and nostrils are located on the tops of their heads.  They can swim well and can move on land in a "high walk" or "low walk," while smaller species can even gallop.  Their skins are thick and covered with non-overlapping scales.  They have peg-like teeth and a powerful bite.  They are hunted for skins and for meat.

Links: crocodile (common, deinosuchus & saltwater)

Faerie: enchanted humanoids usually with some natural magic ability dwelling in sylvan lands which exist largely through the caretaking and concern of powerful members of the species.  Similar but unrelated to Apollonian semi-divine beings, with a considerable presence throughout those outer planes associated with peace, happiness or contentment.  Often, faeries are concerned with the well-being of persons deemed worthy in their eyes.

Links: brownie ~ mite

Feline: also cats, carnivorous mammals with adaptations for stalking, ambush and short pursuit hunting.  With graceful and muscular bodies, strong forelimbs, a powerful bite and retractable claws, cats often have characteristic striped or spotted coat patterns for camouflage.  Some cats have been domesticated.  Often hunted for skins.

Links: cheetah

Fish: aquatic animals with gills and bound to a water environment, either salt-water or fresh.  Fish are usually non-intelligent and voracious eaters of creatures smaller than themselves.  They are abundant and often appear in very large groups, which can make them dangerous even against larger prey.  Common fish are sought after as an important food source.  There are numerous sub-species.

Ray-finned fish: barracuda

Flightless Bird:  these animals are birds that do not have the ability to fly.  Body shape tends towards long legs, necks and large heads, though exceptions ~ notably penguins ~ challenge this norm.  Flightless birds tend to attack with beaks and feet, the latter often including vicious claws.  Flightless birds are treasured for their decorative feathers, meat and skins; many species have been domesticated.

Links: axe beak ~ moa ~ ostrich ~ rhea

Hemitheioc: neutral to benevolent divine beings, less than demi-gods, whose origin tends towards the upper planes of existence, widely ranging in type and form.  Hemitheioc creatures are associated with aiding mortal beings, often with generosity and guidance.  Far less commonly seen than malevolent divine beings, hemitheioc beings take pains to work through emissaries, signs and other subtle means, preferring not to reveal themselves if not absolutely necessary.  As such, their measures are more difficult to identify and counteract.

Links: djinni

Humanoid: a highly disparate collection of normal-sized, intelligent, communal upright-walking beings typically with a head, two legs and two arms, though exceptions exist.  Includes both benevolent races seeking providence for the largest number and malicious, warlike races bent on world domination and control.  The most dangerous are those in control of large political regions.  Does not include giants.

Demi-human races: dwarf ~ elf

Goblin-associated races: bugbear

Insect: creatures with a chitinous exoskeleton, pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and antennae.  Most insects that comprise monster forms are giant in form, a spontaneous evolutionary condition that predates the human discovery of magic and is therefore attributed to wild magic.  The effect produces a limited-levitation effect that lightens the weight of the insect so that it is able to support itself on legs or even fly.  Some giant insects can walk on water or swim.  Insects may be solitary or live in large organized colonies.  Some are known to swarm.  The diversity of insects precludes further generalizations.

Links: ant (giant black) ~ ant (giant bull) ~ ant (giant carpenter) ~ beetle (giant bombadier) ~ beetle (giant fire) ~ beetle (giant rhinocerous) ~ beetle (giant stag) ~ beetle (giant water) ~ centipede (giant)

Primate: a collection of primitive humanoids, possessed of low intelligence and related to humans.  While some larger species are earth-bound, all species possess adaptations for climbing trees.  Small species will leap from tree to tree or swing between branches.  Walking movement includes upright on two limbs or modified knuckle walking.  Highly social in family or larger groups. Most species live in tropical rainforests.

Links: ape (carnivorous) ~ ape (gorilla) ~ baboon (mandrill)

Pudding: a form of slime mold thats secrete acid from their tissues that is capable of dissolving flesh, cellulose or metal, depending on the species.  See Slime Molds (list).

Links: pudding (black)

Rhinocerous: herbivorous large mammals, some that can be counted as megafauna exceeding three tons in weight.  Rhinos typically have one or two horns, though exceptions exist.  Leafy material is preferred.  Horns have been sought after as a source of medicine and magic.  Rhinos have a reputation for being highly aggressive.

Links: baluchitherium

Rodent: mammals characterized by a single pair of incisors on the upper and lower jaws.  Found in vast numbers on all continents and in all habitats.  Rabid and often associated with disease, many rodent species are considered invasive pets, eating and spoiling stored food, destroying buildings and threatening crops and water sources.  Rodents also serve as a source of food, as pets and as attack animals.

Links: beaver (common & castoroides)

Swine: even-toed hoofed mammals noted for their intelligence as animals. Though usually feeding on vegetable matter, swine are ominivorous and can be highly aggressive as predators.  Some form prominent tusks that can be very dangerous.  Swine are hunted for their skins, meat and fat, which can be rendered to make lard or candles.

Links: boar (common wild & hylochloerus) ~ boar (warthog)

Therapod: bipedal reptiles characterized by hollow bones and three-toed limbs, usually carnivorous though some herbivores and omnivores are included in the species.  Distantly related to birds.  Therapods typically possess blade-like teeth with serrated edges.

Links: bonesnapper

Weasel: carnivorous mammals with short legs, short round ears and thick fur.  Weasels tend to be solitary, nocturnal and do eat vegetable matter.  Most can swim and are comfortable in the water.  Even the smallest species are noted for their viciousness.  Many species are sought after for their furs.  Some species have been domesticated.

Links: badger (common & chamitataxus)

See Bestiary

Occultism (per request)

With this post, the general of the elf and dwarf also completed, I come to the end of all that Pandred asked me to do.  At the moment, I have nothing on my plate that comes from a reader or a Patreon supporter.  Help me fix that!

Sage studies are a major headache.  As I've said before, they are always a rabbit hole and, realistically, they should be subject to adjustment through play.  Any complex subject ~ occultism for example ~ would need to be play-tested before it could be comfortably established.  This is why I usually try to keep any rules I write deliberately conservative.

Much of what appears below, from my game wiki, has not been tested.  I have run the tarot ability, and it worked fairly well.  However, that's largely because my world is very highly defined with an extremely flexible dynamic, so that if a card gives me an idea of a series of events that will happen, I can roll with it very easily and not feel that I or my system is threatened.  Another DM would perhaps not be so confident.

In any case, Occultism would be a mess for anyone.  As I have built the concept so that it stands completely alone from spells, or any of the effects that any game spell provides, the result is both alien and impossible to estimate.  It would only take one very ambitious, innovative player to potentially wreck the concept ... I have kept that in mind throughout and I believe that I have tried to put barriers in place.  None of these things, at least for the level of knowledge discussed, could tip my campaign as far as I could see.  I could be wrong.

Much of this is new, having just written it today: numerology, tea leaf reading, carve sigil, detect mania, make a reading, acupuncture and comprehend aura are all new subjects upon which I haven't written before.  Please enjoy.


Occultism (sage study)

Enables a scientific investigation of magic and the magic arts, not necessarily limited to the employment of magic by any particular class. Also investigates other phenomena, such as mass suggestion, superstition, the nature of the soul and the development of incantation.

A significant part of the study includes the cultivation of wild magic, a naturally underlying power that manifests in the Prime Material Plane from outside influences, most predominantly the four elemental planes and the planes of positive and negative energy. By closely examining these forces through occult disciplines it is possible, and dangerous, to set events in motion that will irreversably change the lives of people and entities. Knowing how these changes are about to emerge, the occultist can then use that advantage to further a cause or find benefits.

While most events set in motion are relatively benign, the wild nature of uncontrolled magic can produce results that are either fortunate or disastrous ... so it is with care that an occultist stirs wild magic. Too many investigations will multiply the possible results to such a degree that unrestrained chaos results ... which, like nature, is nearly always more destructive than helpful.

Effectively to make the occult work as a study, as a DM my duty is to adjust the events upcoming in my world according to the random elements created by investigations into astrology, tea leaves and so on. This can be complicated and problematical for a pre-destined adventure; I have found in the past that the chaos that results usually causes a player to turn to this discipline with extraordinary restraint.

For anyone wishing to invest into the occult, having gained the study, I will require that they choose one of these five disciplines, with the understanding that it is the responsibility of the player, and not the DM, to assemble the necessary materials and learn their use, just as any practicing occultist must:

Astrology: the player will be expected to purchase an astrological book that will enable them to make astrological charts ~ and to make these charts of player and non-player characters in the setting as part of the cultivation of the discipline. The player does not have to believe in astrology, but the effects of making a chart will depend on the player's ability to demonstrate the accuracy and detail of what planets are in what houses at the time of the charted character's birth.

Bone Throwing: to read the bones, the character must purchase or be in possession of six 6-sided dice that are unique of each other, with images instead of numbers. Often called "story cubes." Add to these one 6-sided die that possesses pips. The manner in which the dice land determines the interpretation.

Numerology: requires little preparation, but does require the character keep continuous track of all dice rolled at a table in a given period to have any chance of making an observation. Depending on the die rolls, it is possible that no observation will result from this work that is done.

Tarot: the player must purchase a tarot deck. Results will form from the cards as they are pulled and set out during the reading.

Tea Leaf Reading: the player must provide loose tea and cup, as well as willingness to drink the tea and perform the ritual of tea reading in order to create the images necessary to make a proper reading. The player will be required to study the pattern of the leaves and identify pictures therein.

Occultism associated with other planes of existence and demonology is more appropriately described as dweomercraft.

Amateur

Carve Sigil: inscribes a pictorial representation of the occultist's desired outcome.
Detect Mania: enables the recognition of crowds influenced by unnatural mass influence.
Make a Reading: produces psychic results when the proper rituals are performed.

Authority

Acupuncture: the relief of pain or other malady through the insertion of needles.
Comprehend Aura: enables the detection of the colored aura enveloping a living body; reveals the presence of familiars.
Seek Totem Spirit (NA): self-identifying with a familial animal form to gain greater natural prowess.

Expert

Form Incantation (NA): empowers a cultic rite, enabling a limited mastery of wild magic.

Master Familiar (NA): reveals the true nature of familiars and increases the bond between familiar and master.

Transfiguration (NA): the power to experience a momentary divine radiance.

Sage
Maleficium (NA): the mastery of wild magic with the intention of causing harm.

Mysticism (NA): the practice of religious ecstasy as a means of controlling wild magic.

See Also,
Illusionist's Sage Abilities
Mage's Sage Abilities

Mite (as requested)

Armor class 4 with leather armor.

These small creatures are not a race unto themselves, but rather grotesque, spiritually poisoned sprites that have become consumed by their baleful vices and compulsions.  Hating other sprites and themselves, their obsession with malevolence has mutated their minds and their bodies.  Malignant and cruel, sometimes in pairs or threesomes, these creatures steal away from the sun, seeking dark places and victims for themselves.

Mites are very clever and will hone themselves as thieves, rising as high as 5th level.  They specialize in skullduggery and especially in setting and removing traps.  Though small, they will arrange trap doors and sliding chutes intended to imprison their victims in small traps, where they can be patiently poisoned, starved or bled to death.  Mites prefer the taste of larger humanoids, disdaining the taste of other food and particular of good fairies.  The more disdainful the humanoid, the better the flesh tastes to a mite.

The bite of a mite is toxic and has the potential to impart some of the mite's malefic nature to the subject in the form of a curse.  Any who are bitten must make a saving throw against magic, receiving a +1 bonus for every point of wisdom above 12.  Once cursed, victims will be apparently unaffected, but will immediately refuse to harm a mite, or prevent a mite from taking action.  Until the curse is lifted, the victim will be unable to spare opponents, resist taunts that encourage the victim to fight or flee a fight unless reduced to less than 20% of their hit points.  This will persist even after the mite is dead, as a part of the mite lives on in the victim.

Mites will often create complex tunnels near potential victims, with these passages being as small as four inches in diameter.  Mites are particularly fond of targeting isolated farms, waiting for their chance to kill off members of the humanoid family one by one, often succeeding in doing so without alerting the residents as to what is happening.

See Bestiary

Bone Throwing (occult practice)

Pandred, a reader and former player in the online Juvenis campaign (hoping for a return) asked that I work on the Occult study, a specialty of mages and illusionists. I've done some work on the initial page, which in turn links to this content:

Bone Throwing

A form of occultism by which wild magic is comprehended through the casting of bones or various objects. For players with little experience in this practice but with sufficient knowledge in the occult, the bones are typically represented by dice. A more dedicated player may, if wished, employ a more authentic collection of throwing bones ~ though players should be warned that the actual practice of bone throwing is not to be taken lightly. For the role-playing dilettante, a simple set of dice are recommended.

The player is asked to obtain six unique six-sided dice without numbers, called story cubes or story dice. Desirably these dice would contain images that were appropriate for the time period. of the role-playing game (nothing anachronistic). Every image on every die should be unique, a total of 36 images. To this should be added an ordinary six-sided die, preferably with pips and not numbers. It is important to understand that none of these seven dice should be thrown for any purpose other than rolling bones.

Of the six picture dice, one should be designated as “the self,” the die that specifically defines your game character. Obviously, the die should be chosen with this purpose in mind. Each of the other five story dice must also be assigned a meaning. These meanings can be personal, but unless the player has much experience with bone throwing, it is recommended that these five meanings should be health, wealth, relationships, magic and morality (evil vs. good, wrong vs. right).

The numbered die may then be used varyingly, as a 50/50 to designate male or female, few or many, friend or foe, yes or no and so on; or it may be used as a measure of 1 to 6 to describe importance, danger, chance of success and so on.

Much of the reading beyond this is an art form. The player must interpret the throws based on the meanings of the dice, how they fall, where they touch, the distance or lack thereof between the pieces, what falls nearest to the bone thrower and what falls furthest away. The dice must be thrown with two hands and then effectively a story is made from the results. The story must be explained and accepted as reasonable by the witnesses of the bone thrower.




Authentic Sets

If the bone thrower wants to perform a more authentic means of bone throwing, a collection of objects such as small rocks, bits of driftwood, smoothed pieces of glass, crystals, carved wood figures or whatever feels right should be collected. Each item must have a genuine memory of location and meaning for when it was acquired, the emotional state it conveys and a comprehension for how the object falls, else a reading is not practical.

For instance, if a bit of petrified wood is included in your collection, that you gained as a child when on a journey to Arizona with your family, the wood will have a distinct shape and ways in which it will come to rest: “facing” away from you, towards you, laying on its back, pointing at another object, pointing at nothing, etcetera, as you interpret it. In this aspect it is your mother, in that your father; its relationships to other things are memories, conflicts, unresolved issues and so on. Bone reading can be extraordinarily esoteric and profoundly personal.

Ten or fifteen “bones” with these connections can make for an intricate reading, one that would be highly difficult for the non-bone thrower to see, since the pieces would be familiar to the reader alone. Still, as long as the lay of the bones can be defended by the player, this form of authentic bone throwing can be accepted into the game.

Resolution

As ever, the reading made by the bone thrower causes events to come into being; an ill omen occurs, an expected relationship creates a compatible non-player character, enemies or friends turn up to threaten or sustain the party, while events spontaneously occur in keeping with the reading. This can be a difficult process for the DM, who must be as flexible as the readings themselves.

Some players will attempt to manipulate the results by interpreting every reading as “good luck” or some promise of benefit or success. The DM must be cautious, designating certain pictures or patterns as clearly bad, whatever the player may say. For example, if the die symbolic of the self lands far from any other die in the throw, the player should not be encouraged to see that as “proof” of anything except the obvious meaning that the character does not benefit from the span of distance. Likewise, if the character’s self die lands close to wealth, but far from health, that too speaks to a particular kind of interpretation. Beware of players who will try to massage the interpretation as a means of controlling the results.

For this reason, bone throwing can be particularly troublesome as an occultist knowledge. Remember that it is often to the game’s benefit that the results be good; it does not mean that benefits will simply fall into the player’s lap. The DM is still entitled to create obstacles and require risks, though an occultist will have some warning of those risks.

Post Script,

I'll add a few words that are not on the wiki. Obviously, I don't believe in bone throwing or reading ... however, the practice has been around for centuries and has its interesting angles, just as all religion does. I feel the value of the practice here in the game is that it gives the player a different means of influencing their environment, adding dimension to the game and opportunities for insight. I have no doubts that it would be tricky to DM ... this more than the other practices I've proposed, because much of this is very subjective. But it is still group story telling; the other players should be encouraged to give their own take on the thrown bones, whether dice or objects, as this adds a puzzle-solving dimension where there is no definite "answer" ~ only an interpretive innovation that encourages thinking and discussion. I always appreciate these things.

For the lazy player, however, one that does not wish to invest in the dice or hazard the difficulty of getting a result that isn't clearly written out, I would recommend not taking the occult as a study and viewing the slow accumulation of occult points as a sideline of going up levels as mere trivial interest. There's nothing in the above that says the players must roll bones; the choice is left entirely in the players hands. No rule exists that says a player who knows how to throw bones must employ that skill. The best rules are those that do not require participation.

See also Astrology.

Hippogriffs (per request)

A steed born of a mare and a griffon, noted for its speed, its furious demeanor when wild and its fantastical ability to remain in flight for long periods.  The beast is infamous for its part in the myth of Bradamante and Ruggiero, lovers who were adventurers in the 9th century.

It is said that griffons are known to naturally mate with mares, though rarely.  Though writers often make the mistake of depicting the hippogriff as a male, as described in Ludovico's Ariosto's poem, Orlando furioso, the resultant hippogriff is always a filly.  Because it is bore by the mare, a mammal, there is no egg; the hippogriff is born live, with soft claws and beak.  The young filly is meek and mild for the first few weeks, enabling a husbandman who comes across the animal in the wild to secure the beast in a cage before the animal's mood changes, usually late in the fourth week of life.  At that time the claws and beak harden and the beast turns extremely vicious; training the beast to accept a rider usually takes a year.  Attempts to breed hippogriffs in domestic menageries have failed.

Typically, mares of a distinctive type are led into the wild in mid-April into known wild breeding areas.  Griffons will often sense if the mare is truly alone, so the mares are usually abandoned.  These mares are searched for during the month of May, by which time pregnancy can be determined and the mares led home to give birth.  Hippogriff cots will sometimes obtain four or five offspring each season.  The typical lifespan of a hippogriff is 40 years.  Hippogriffs, like mules, are barren.

The hippogriff's front feet are heavy claws with edges equal to a slightly dulled axe.  The hooked beak is more powerful, catching its prey in a dropping, side-tearing motion that will throw stunned victims to the left or right.  If approached from the rear, a hippogriff will kick with its back hooves together, causing 2-20 damage on a single hit.  If using this attack, it will still fight with its beak but the claws will not be employed that round.

The wild beast will tend to fly skyward before beginning its attack, dropping from a height of 60 to 80 feet in a single round, diving at a single victim on the ground with both claws and beak with a +2 chance to hit (THAC0 14).  Hippogriffs do not carry victims off; they prefer to kill and then eat the carcass on the ground.  If stunned, there is a 50% chance a wild hippogriff will break off the fight and seek a meal elsewhere.

Hippogriffs are able to fly continuously for 6 to 9 days at a time.  They are curiously able to fly through spatial ether, so that they have been known to break the Earth's atmosphere through flight, with a natural ability to plane shift.  This is not fully understood.  Hippogriffs have been known to fly as far as the Moon, though there is no known example of the beasts flying further into space.

Hippogriffs can be trained and ridden.

See,

Bestiary
Flying Mounts

The Wiki Begins to Move

So, with working on it all morning, I have shifted 70 pages onto the wiki, mostly index pages.  Everything that I've worked on thus far is associated with Player Characters ... and so it will go for quite some time, as I have hundreds of spells to take from Wikispaces to Blogger.  As well as many sage abilities.

After I get all the Player Character Material across, I will start working on Combat.  Then, probably, Trade & Equipment.  By then, the back of the task will be broken.

Right now, the wiki all works, all the links should be sound (though probably there's an error here or there).  The way I've done it, a reader will notice that the original wiki and the new blog are interchanged completely, so that movement back and forth is seamless. There shouldn't be any dead links along the way.  That's the goal, anyway.

There were lots of places on the past wiki that did lead nowhere.  Projects that weren't finished, spell lists that still had spells that weren't written yet ... I do tend to change from project to project, without worrying about whether or not I'll come back to something. Eventually, I always do.  If there are five 4th level druid spells without descriptions, or nothing at all for 5th level spells and higher, its because this is work that doesn't need doing right away.

I haven't gotten a comment on the blogger-wiki yet, and I'm not surprised.  I deliberately wrote a harsh rejoiner on the comments field:

Comments are welcome; however, the content on this blog is not purposed for critical evaluation. Comments are strictly limited to errors in text, need for clarification, suggested additions, link fails and other technical errors, personal accounts of how the rule as written applied in their campaign and useful suggestions for other rules pages.

All other comments will be deleted.

Let's face it; we all know what the internet is.  I'm absolutely interested in receiving comments, and letting the site be somewhat open in that way ... but I want useful comments, along the principles upon which the wiki is built.  I don't care how some other game system solves a problem, or what people "feel" about a rule, or anything that isn't hard business on the matter.  I do want any comment that says, "link such-and-such doesn't work" or pointing out a spelling error.  Once I fix the error, I can then remove such comments.

Other comments, I hope, will stand the test of time.  I'll just have to see.

Tao of D&D's Wiki

I'm going to have to keep this post to the point, as I have an interview in 54 minutes.

I have started shifting my wiki. And I have decided to do it in what must be the stupidest way possible, which will have many a computer programmer face-palming hard enough to break their knuckles.

Here's the thing.

I've looked over the wikis that are out there and they have problems.  Some are clearly still using the same technology that was advanced in 2001.  Some are painfully restricted in content size, as little as 50 megabytes, which is also obviously a 2001 issue.  Others are overloaded with media crap, making them effectively useless for pleasant perusal.  And finally, the remainder are unfriendly either in the loading process, or in the need to be hosted by a third party platform.

Sigh.

The thing that worries me most is that I will move all this content onto a new system, which will then crash land in its turn.  It is suddenly clear to me that wiki technology is not taking off, it is not something that has captured the imagination of the common crowd and it is something that will probably be on its way out.  I need a platform that I can count on, that I know will still be there five years from now, that I am familiar with, that is friendly, and most of all, is free.

So I have decided to handle this the way that suits me.  In some ways, this will be less pleasant for some users; other users will not give a damn.  Most users, I think, because we've all learned how to use a search engine.

I have decided to create yet another blog.

This will create some issues.  There's no RSS feed, there's no backlink support, there's no way to undo or adjust changes that another user would make on the wiki ... and so, effectively, I'm going it alone again.  And I'm fine with that.  My concern is that I can reliably shift the wiki to another source and that I won't have to do this again next year.

The good side is that, first, the shift is made EASY because I'm familiar with blogger and because blogger doesn't care about excessive program applications - which I don't need and I don't use.  I couldn't give a damn about RSS or most of the features the Wikispaces offered.  What I care about is TEXT, images and links.

I began blending a new blog with the old wiki today and it is already going pretty well.

The other good feature is that the blog allows both comments and comment moderation.  That sounds like fun.

I'm not happy yet with the way the blog looks, but that can be adjusted still.  Anyway, if you want a look, I suggest starting with the General Index.

[P.S.  I was sure there was a way to reverse the order in which the blog published, so that the oldest post always showed first ~ no one uses that feature, but I thought it was there.  If anyone can find it for me, I'd appreciate it.]