#against the cult of the Reptile God

[ordersreality]

Ratækorn Nañjali

Against the Cult of the Reptile God

2023 April 18 DruidLevel 1/Fighter Level 10 XP 85023

Gilno looked like he was in trouble. To the fresh druid’s heart he was playing at it. The orc-bred bully poking a finger in the boys mouth just said, It’s a woman, Dugod1.

“She’s pretty big. She might be an orc.”

“Don’t smell like it. Now, are you going to get that treasure? You owe us quite a bit, Dugod. Now, the Skull, Blessed is she, has expenses. That treasure would pay some of it. She gets half, we split the other half, then you pay up.”

“The Skull, Blessed is she, needs to lose some weight, you ask me.”

The bruit clubbed the boy hard enough to send him several feet to the floor. “Disrespect the Skull, Blessed is she, like that. Her Holiness might hear and take your heart.”

“Ever seen it done?” The boy was hardly winded.

“Once. The fellow lasted a week. Waist, you ask me.”

“Shame.” The boy got to his feet. “Listen, that house is haunted. I think it’s her husband.”

“Fai! Grow up. Ghosts can’t hurt you. Just get in there, find the jade statue, bring it to me. We sell it in Gryphonton2, pass the proceeds on….

“Let me keep a shilling. Mama needs a new dress. You know, for the festival.”

The3 bruit just stares at the boy, growling, smiling. “Get up to your room. I’ll be up in a moment.”

Did the boy just get excited at that?

The bruit turned his attentions to the woman. She didn’t have much on her, two cloaks and a sack at her side with kindling and a bite of cheese. The druid stopped pretending to be asleep and offered a warm smile. “Hay, big boy. Wouldn’t you rather wrestle for it”

That caught him.

“Who are you?”

“Them who care…,”4 she thought fast. Renown would not be her friend. Her birth name might have to die, at least for now. So, she chose, “Ratækorn,” djyp for squirrel. “Acorn is good.”

“Well, Rat, I have a friend who wants to meet you.”

“The Skull, Blessed is she?”

“Yeah. How you know her?”

“Only5 through rumor. Oh6, but such stories, surely fame can be had in her service.”

“Not too much, girly. Who needs renown when you can do so much more without it.”

“So, what do we do now?”

A voice called from the rafters, “Derek?” The voice had been affected, hiked up an octave.

The man smiled, turned to Acorn, “Don’t go away.”

1 Rat. From Welsh, Llygoden.

2 Greyhawk Gorna

3 Perception 7+4; XP5

4 Deception 17+2; xp9

5 Deception 18+2; XP8

6 Persuasion 18+2; xp8

[purple-eyesgreydragon]

"All who worship and feed me, the great snake, Cobraia. Shall never know the plight of hunger themselves." - Cobraia.

I've had the idea for a Cult of the Lamb 2 for awhile.

Cult of the Lamb 2: Missionary Journey

In it the Lamb decides to travel to reaches beyond the Lands of the Old Faith. Finding other gods to face and more followers to recruit. But they cannot do it entirely themselves. As there is still the main part of their cult to run. The Lamb recruits local, fellow bovine followers. Each gifted with a copy given crown, allowing them to wield vessel powers of their own. Their strength only able to grow by their own, and others' growing devotion to the Lamb. Able to call upon the Lamb should they need them. The Lamb's missionaries spread the gospel of the Lamb across the lands beyond. Facing vengeful gods of their own, who will not take the Lamb engrossing on their territory and devotion without a fight.

Cobraia is the God of Gluttony and ruler of the desert known as the Sweltersands. She is an all consuming entity, her hunger never to be satisfied. Those who chose to serve her and swear their devotion, she promises an everlasting fast. Cobraia consumes her followers hunger, she eats their fill. Many of her followers have gone their entire lives without ever starving. To which they worship faithfully, believing she truly spares them a great plight. Her favorite thing to consume are gazelles. The gazelles of Sweltersands are forced by her followers to reproduce nonstop to maintain their population, and continue to please the great snake. Cobraia hungers not just for sustenance, but for more power and devotion. Cobraia is very cunning and is a sly serpent in making bargains. Seeing through the eyes of all snakes in the world, She new the Bishops of the Old Faith would fall. She however agreed to devour the lambs of her land in contingency gain their favor. But Cobraia also keep something from them, to make a pact with The One Who Waits. However things did not go as anticipated. How was she to know The One Who Wait's liberation would be as a mortal to instead follow his promised liberator. Though Cobraia can still use her secret bargaining chip against the Lamb as well. Soon she will consume the red crown and absorb its power. The Lamb dare not face her, surely they'd surrender to her. Knowing in the great snake's possession, was what the Lamb wanted most of all.

Truthfully any who worshipped Cobraia would have nothing to fear from Heket. Cobraia always thought amphibians were inferior to reptiles.

Cobraia is known by many names. the God of Gluttony, the All Consumer, the Great Snake or Serpent, Saltan of the Sweltersands, Desert Deity, and the Great Devourer(Yes, I did that one on purpose).

[thydungeongal]

hey have you ever played or run Caverns of Thracia or Against the Cult of the Reptile God? they're like, the two main old adventure modules i've long wanted to try and may go for if I try the ancient editions of d&d so curious if you had Thoughts

I have not, sadly, but Caverns of Thracia interests me on account of Jennel Jaquays having made it. I would really love to look into it at some point. Might even plug it into my OSE campaign.

[hellkitepriest]

sent @pliablehead an ask yesterday asking her to devise her ideal ee/duncles co-headline gig Experience (because its the end of august and we all need some frivolous wishful thinking) and now she wants ME to do it soooooo

my first and stupidest thought for a venue was the currently-empty pyramid on the outskirts of stockport (can you imagine. serving cult.) but honestly any "jeremy pritchard Patron Saint Of Dogshit Venues ass venue" as you put it is ideal. something where theres no actual barrier so you can stand right up against the stage. also to get tickets to this you have to have watched dave sardine at least five times im sorry "lads who know distant past from fifa" this one aint for you

goes without saying that all my friends from online and irl are there right at the front with me being annoying. god bless. /\

dutch uncles have to open with jetson again and then play just. all the bangers but ALSO accelerate and damascenes. "the duncan puppet is there and it’s probably jon doing it" really got me because yeah it WOULD be. robins hair is pink again. duncan is dancing like the fucking enter the mirror puppets as ever. they play bellio and i get directly called out about it.

ideally ee's set has a bunch of man alive stuff in there. they have to play qwerty they have to play my kz... they play photoshop handsome and jon does the "more dollar less scholar less time" actions from the 2009 mv. they're wearing the gth stuff again (they have to be you're right but also alex is wearing glasses please). the combined force of us all right in the front row yelling THE FRAGMENTS during s/s/w/d wakes alex robertshaw from his 38 year long slumber. they play software greatman (yes alex has his modular from the rdf tour again in this world I MISS HER) and then walk off and come back and do violent sun and no reptiles as an encore and we're all normal and unaffected about it. and then yes we all go to the pub afterwards because jonathan higgs and i need to drink black cherry white claws

also at some point everyone comes out and they cover fascination by alphabeat and it is absolutely a too-many-cooks situation with [checks notes] eleven people on stage but it's fine it's fun it's fresh

[thegodshavehorns]

Guide to the Zodiac: The Seer of Mind

Compassion is no substitute for justice. -Rush Limbaugh

Names & Epithets

The Calibrator of Gallows; The Blind Goddess; Lady Justice; She Who Measures The Rope (or simply She Who Measures); Lady of the Hanged; She With Garnet Eyes; She Who is Without Father or Mother, She Who Gazes Into Fire; Her Honor; Lady Dead-Eyes (derogatory).

Symbolism

The Symbol of the Seer of Mind, written instead of her name, is ♎️, the sign of Libra.

The Sigil of Mind is a filled disc, with three evenly-spaced, curved hooks emerging from its rim, pointing in a direction that suggests rotation.

The colors associated with the Seer of Mind are green and turquoise, and her sacred color is teal.

Red is also closely associated with the Seer.

Other symbols associated with the Seer of Mind are glasses (particularly opaque ones), balancing scales, walking sticks and canes, nests, mouths and noses, dragons or dinosaurs, the hangman's noose and rope in general, the guillotine, and coins.

Appearance/Portrayal

The Seer appears as a slender, middle-aged woman with short hair and relatively short, spikelike horns. Her fangs do not protrude, but she is often reported as sporting a wide smile that seems to show off every tooth. She wears sunglasses with opaque red glass in the lenses, and her own sightless eyes are reported as being entirely clouded-over red, though she only rarely reveals them.

The Seer is well-known for sniffing and licking objects, and for flipping and catching coins almost continuously. In art, individuals meant to represent the presence or will of the Seer are often portrayed with emphasized, prominent noses or tongues, or holding coins.

When not in her godhood, the Seer has been seen wearing well-tailored business suits, though usually in clashing bright colors. She may be portrayed holding a long, slender cane, sometimes referred to as a 'switch,' a set of scales, or a noose. The image of the Seer, wearing a blindfold and holding the scales and a switch, is common enough to be iconographic.

Domain/Associations

The Seer of Mind is a goddess associated with justice. She is a patron of every office of the law, from the police, colloquially the "Hounds of the Seer" (or just 'Hounds'), to the attorneys and judges of the highest courts in the land. Her laws are not considered overly merciful, and only on rare occasions will she show clemency to those who have done wrong (see Major Holidays). She is invariably correct in her judgements, and her punishments are absolute.

Further, the Seer is a goddess of wisdom, especially wisdom of strategy in war. She is appealed to when one needs to outsmart or outmaneuver one's foes, or use an enemy's own forces against them. She is a rational goddess, ruthlessly efficient (some say even cold), and a patron of those who share these qualities.

The 'dragons' with whom the Seer is often associated were long thought of as beings of pure myth, until the scientific acknowledgement that large fossil bones belonged to giant prehistoric reptiles. Though today called dinosaurs, these 'dragons' of eons past are often considered sacred to the Seer. (see Lore).

Major Holiday(s)

There are no annual holidays associated with the Seer of Mind, but there is an extended event that takes place every 413 weeks, the Jubilee Week, wherein debts are forgiven, borrowed property is returned, and indentured servants are freed. This is in recognition of the fact that, though the law is absolute, mercy and forgiveness are also possible, even from the Seer.

Churches and Cults

The Church of the Zodiac does not place the Seer in a place of primacy amongst the gods, but most sects agree that she holds a position of great power and respect in the pantheon. Her wisdom, as written down in the Book of the Zodiac, is considered absolute. As such, she is given a degree of respect and honor that surpasses even household gods such as the Knight.

In some societies, the highest courts of law have been called Red Courts, and doubled as temples to the Seer. This same concept persists in many countries today, where supreme justices, called Cardinal Justices, wear red robes to curry favor with the Seer. Regardless, nearly every office of law in the world, use the scales of Libra or the dragon as a symbol or seal. Some incorporate both.

One way Seer worship finds expression is through the establishment of Attorney-Monasteries, centers of learning that focus on the analysis of law in its purest forms. Disciples are dispassionate, logical, and devoted to the pursuit of order in the world. They often fund private educational establishments.

In east Asia, many churches appoint a high priest of the Seer known as the Lord High Executioner, a role that may be entirely symbolic or very much hands-on. This member of the clergy is in charge, whether nominally or literally, of carrying out and enforcing the sentences decreed by the courts. These Executions of the Law may or may not be capital, but are always dedicated to the Seer.

Prayer and Worship

Much of the worship of the Seer involves meditation, especially walking or moving meditations. These meditative states usually involve the quieting of conscious thoughts, and they are viewed as a kind of gift to the Seer, a single moment of quiet in the continual rain of thought that deluges her mental landscape. Perhaps she hardly notices, the faithful will admit, but it shows her that you care, and are grateful for her gift of law.

The Seer is most commonly invoked to dispense the law with complete righteousness and objectivity. Opening prayers in courts of law can be surprisingly peaceful, as the assembled calm their thoughts and center themselves. When the defendant is found innocent in criminal court, closing prayers are structured similarly, but when the defendant is found guilty, the closing prayers are usually kept very short, so that the sentence can be meted out summarily.

Although the Seer is not a goddess of chance, she is often invoked in the professional poker circuit, by those who wish to see through the bluffs of their opponents.

Blood sacrifice to the Seer is rare in the modern day, mostly replaced by the symbolic offering of other red things. However, in the past, it was common to offer to her the scent of blood and death, which she is said to find pleasing.

Lore

There is a good reason for the faith that many institutions hold in the Seer: she knows everything about everyone. Although it is widely understood that she cannot predict the outcome of pure chance, nor can she see the future precisely, she is capable of predicting the future through her instant and thorough knowledge of the actions and internal decisions made by every conscious being. The Seer knows of every thought, every memory, every choice, every expression of will from every sentient creature in the universe, and her mind is capable of containing all of them. Those who have spoken with her report that she seemed to know them better than they knew themselves.

Despite being blind, the Seer is said to possess an insight that can 'see' past all attempts at deception. Indeed, she does not seem to be inconvenienced by her blindness whatsoever, and it is well-accepted that she can perceive text and color through means no other mortal or divine being can match. Despite her divine colors residing in the green and blue parts of the spectrum, the Seer seems to especially favor the color red.

There is a rumor that the Seer favors those who can surprise her, but there are exceptionally few credible accounts of this actually happening.

Today, many congregations (though not the Zodiac Church) hold the Seer to have been the creator of the dinosaurs, and thus to have been the first god to settle on Earth. But the dinosaurs performed some terrible deed, too sinful to even conceive of today, in response to which the Seer executed them with a great flood, burying their bones. Though this act was just, destroying her own creations caused the Seer sorrow, and she took them as a symbol in order to always remember the Earth's first children.

Public Relations

The Seer spends much of her time away from Earth. However, when the need is great and the cause is just, she appears to give her wisdom. It is rare that she becomes involved in conflicts directly, preferring to advise global leaders and give aid from afar. However, the few historical records that mention the Seer taking up the sword herself speak of her might in battle with awe and fear, and describe the reek of the battlefield lingering for weeks. Such lands are generally abandoned as blighted.

The Seer rarely interferes with day-to-day matters of law in the nations of the world, though her writings are often used as their base. She does sometimes write a response to high court rulings, normally to point out logical inconsistencies or sloppy reasoning, and such divine court opinions have been the ruin of many justices' careers. Interestingly, although the Seer takes umbrage with poor reasoning, she does not seem to stick to a particular ideological stance.

[dndhistory]

454. Stephen Bourne - N3: Destiny of Kings (1986)

Another entry in the sparsely populated N series which up until now has had a new module every couple of years (Against the Cult of the Reptile God in 1982 and The Forest Oracle in 1984) this is year another adventure aimed at new players (N stands for Novice in the series numbering). 

This is a pretty interesting one as it gives players a variety of locations to explore during the adventure and a strong politics infused plot where after a king is murdered the party is tasked with the quest to find the missing prince and heir to the throne.

In the process of finding the prince there will be plenty of obstacles to overcome, but the plotting of dukes is as damaging as monsters and assassins. So the party has to navigate both physical and political dangers, which leads to a good variety for a game aimed at novice AD&D players. 

[jkcorellia]

I'm not a pre-written adventure module person - I love homebrew worlds and bespoke plots - but it makes me a bit emotional to think that no matter how many people have played Curse of Strahd, Rise of Tiamat, Against the Cult of the Reptile God, Strength of Thousands, Hell's Rebels...no matter how many thousands of groups have "played the same module", every single one of them has had a meaningfully unique experience. Every rendition is its own thing. Every party a fundamentally different beast. Every Strahd the inimitable idiosyncrasy of his current DM. Every tomb a new one.

[dicebound]

we used this code when playing Against the Cult of the Reptile God to identify ourselves *spoiler* the adventure has a body snatchers quality to it.

Our version of the phrase: "I like your boot laces?" "Thank you, I stole them from the Lords of Waterdeep."

Tumblr Code.

[a-muffin]

like, blackberry cookie and affogato are cousins and used to be apart of the same (cult? religion? idk), blackberry managed to escape, affogato had to use force

blackberry was originally given a job as a maid by addies grandfather after addie found her while he was lost in the woods and she was running away, but more of having something to do, a purpose, and a reason to not feel like she was freeloading despite being a defenseless child

addie and blackberry were pretty much some degree of in love from the time they first met, with blackberry getting her first taste of compassion as addie insisted on trying to carry her (scratched up legs from thorns) back to the mansion, but he got lost

blackberry is only really still a maid after marriage so addie has an excuse to give her money, and so she has an excuse to never ever let her handle the household chores. she swears he touches a dish and it shatters

blackberry has a hard time not equating her worth to how well she can serve. addie talks about her like a priest talking about their god

addie often just finds wild animals and tries to bring them home as cool pets

blackberry often catches herself staring at addie when she crouches down to look at a cool rock/bug/reptile/potential pottery shard. she doesnt stop herself from staring

kinda stole this hc from somewhere where adventurer has some video game mechanics in real life. girl who knows he can respawn so she jumps into danger because he'll be fine OR wife will grab her. his hero. she just likes being carried bridal style

addie is hairy and has stubble. she also likes rubbing her face against blackberry. blackberry does not like the texture of stubble

adventurer loves to wear a dress its literally his favorite. blackberry doesnt wear suits except for their wedding because adventurer usually passes out anime character bloody nose style

I'd pass out too if I saw pretty gothic lady in a suit

But ouuugh

[dicebound]

Day 18 - Memorable Moment of Play

We actually had a pretty memorable moment in our game last week. We're playing a 5e run of Against the Cult of the Reptile God (mild spoilers ahead). Our group - Tortle Warlock, Human Wizard, Human Cleric, and Dwarf Fighter - got attacked in the night by troglodytes and cultists while staying at the inn, who cast silence to prevent spellcasting and stop us from waking each other up. We managed to get all the party members awake, but we started dropping like flies - getting knocked out by their multiple attacks per turn. My Scribe Wizard Paige was knocked out first - but woke up after a lucky nat 20 the following round. On 1 HP, she managed to escape the silence, aid the party from a distance, and then hide inside the inn until they absconded with the rest of the party. Paige then had to knock out two guards by herself, on 1 HP in order to escape. I don't know how, but she managed it - running off in the night to the one wizard ally we'd made in town. This Saturday, we rescue the rest of the party.

[lunarbard]

It's probably fair to at least have a record somewhere on here of where my particular interests in fantasy, ttrpgs, & fantasy ttrpgs largely stem from. Mainly because I have rather strong opinions on various bits of the hobby that stem from how I was introduced to it.

My dad played AD&D when he was a kid. When I was a kid, the computer room closet had a few boxes full of artifacts from that time, including the core rulebooks and some lead miniatures (several of which my dad & his brothers had casted themselves using other minis to make the molds). I spent many elementary school nights once my homework was done (or forgotten) sitting on a stool behind my dad in that room as he played Temple of Elemental Evil or Baldur's Gate, and when he was done my dad would pull down the boxes and show me some of the stuff he had encountered in the game in those rulebooks.

Shortly before my dad was reassigned to Boston for a few years (while the rest of us stayed put for the school system), he offered to run some D&D for the ~11yo me. I agreed enthusiastically, and he rolled up a party for me: paladin, fighter, ranger, cleric, thief, and wizard. Then we sat down and he started Against the Cult of the Reptile God.

Nothing about the adventure is too important here (other than my irrational love for rangers originating in everyone but my ranger and wizard failing rolls and fleeing from a zombie in the dungeon), but two things my dad said have stuck with me ever since:

At the very beginning, my dad greeted me as the innkeeper, and I asked him what I could say. His response was: "What you say is what your character says."

At one point I got hyper-paranoid about traps. My dad rolled everything (including attack rolls) behind his DM screen, and after I checked a door for traps he rolled and said I saw nothing. I claimed that since he rolled dice, there must be traps. He just said "I roll dice to roll dice."

Some years later I attended a week-long coding summer camp a few years in a row. One of those summers, a bunch of the campers who were staying over multiple weeks had started running a D&D game. Several of the other campers thought that sounded fun, and I, being the only one among them who had anything close to an experience playing D&D, volunteered to run something for them.

Mind you, the mechanics of any edition of D&D had been a complete black box for me by this point.

So I got everyone around the table, someone found a dice app we could all download, people got paper, and I went around and asked people what they wanted their character to be. I took someone's idea and told them some weapons they might have and two or three abilities, like the dwarven berserker had a rage of some kind. Then we just played theater of the mind off of d20 rolls plus some basic stats I don't recall, and had fun with that for the three remaining nights.

I eventually picked up 5th edition, and after some false starts through highschool I found Matt Colville's Running the Game videos in college and started a 5e campaign for my friends. We had far too many people at the start (coming out as trans cut the number to a reasonable amount), the first encounter was a near-tpk, the game was linear as hell, and none of us fully knew what we were doing, but in a year the party hit level 20 (spending 75% of that time above 10th level) and slew an evil god.

It's been four years and several partial campaigns since. I've basically got the rules of 5th edition D&D memorized, and have spent most of my time struggling against them. A mountain of systemic 5e homebrew docs lie in the wake of my attempts to shift the system just a bit to fit what it felt like watching my dad play those old crpgs & playing AD&D with him.

In that time I also joined a second group where I got to be a long-term player, which honed in my opinions on what I want from a system as a player. The biggest impact was tactical combat getting massively demoted in my priority list.

I have no loyalty to any mechanics or editions, only to that rose-tinted experience. As I've had time to really step back and evaluate what I enjoy now and what I chafe against, I really started looking into other options for a solution.

I've browsed a lot of ttrpgs for something that scratches the itch, but most tend to fall on one side or another of gritty heroism, either leaning too far from the heroism or too into narrative mechanics. Although, honestly, attribute functions have been far too much of a factor (in second place: existence of classes/playbooks, inventory systems).

That leads to the two years I've spent tinkering with various ideas for yet another fantasy heartbreaker. I call it a heartbreaker because it's nothing too special, but this game isn't meant to sell to anyone. I'm making it for me, and trying desperately to make it teachable to my friends.

[ordersreality]

Ratækorn Nañjali

Against the Cult of the Reptile God

It’s been something, I’ll tell you. The seasons pass and the heart is seasoned. I’ve wandered places on this planet I didn’t even see on a map. Long Lake where orcs live with humans and even make families together. Even met some trolls whose ancestors are younger than Gelden. In fact, they thought me fortunate to have met xer. I do too, just not like I’m xer messenger or hold any authority from xer.

I wandered. You might call it aimless. Watch my feet, and most times I’ve learned something interesting.

For example.

Not all bows are made from a tree. Some are built of horn and sinew and even cloth. Stronger and more durable it took three months to craft and the orc who crafted it was not cheep.

I don’t know how they did it. That quiver can hold a lot more than it looks. The instructions were clear on how to make it work. Remember what I put into it or I might lose it forever. Not a word on why it works, though.

For now, I’m sort of homesick. My children will be fifteen in a couple months. I might just want to be there for that.

I miss them.

So, I crossed the Gray Range on the King’s Highway. I’ve taken to covering my horns, little spikes that they are, just to keep the conversation friendly. The trees here about are anxious. Most branches within reach are missing, but the rest is left to heal. And game is very sparse. Too many people, not enough resources.

My journey brings me to Orlane, a town a days travel from Mochyndun of the Kingdom of Whelm.

First thing I notice is the chill. Sure, late autumn, summer was kind of short. That’s not the chill I feel. It echoes badly with that one wound.

I wander to a run down farm house.1 They didn’t pack, just left things as they were. Looks to have been a year or so ago, so if there was a struggle it would have been washed over by dust and rat dung.

I dropped a bucket into the well for some water, but my heart warned me not to drink any.2 A taste didn’t tell me why. At this point, I’ve come to trust my instincts. Besides, I have this other going for me. My mug, a little focus, and I have water enough to bathe in.3

Some of it spills on the floor and I watch as it finds a little crack to pass through. I focus on the icon,4 feed it some light, and watch as the trap door opens wide, just by pushing dirt around. A little more thought while I dance my fingers over my other hand and I have a flame on a candle to give me light.

The basement is a little wet, and otherwise unmolested. The place looks good for a night’s rest. So, I look around, and find a chest. Of course I’m curious. Inside I find a cloak,5 fancy, buff, nice trim around the edges. Am I greedy? I can sense something special about it.

I drop my battle rattle and try it on. I feel sheltered, though it feels as fresh as silk. The shine is a little loud. So, I put my own cloak over it, secure my things, and curl up in the chest.

I must be getting bigger. Another finger and I won’t breath in here. I’m wondering if there is a way to charm the box to be bigger on the inside when I feel the weight of the day weigh on me.6

No, not the weight of the day. Someone is trying to lull me to sleep. Ha! But it’s telling me something is going on here. Are the people who drove this family out still at work, here? Let’s find out.

I can feel the wight of a body outside the chest. I hear it open, carefully, trying not to make a sound. My eyes are only just open enough for me to see a huge7, orchish man with an ugly scar across his face reach in and lift me on his shoulder.

Time to play.

· • ° • ·8

2023 April 17 Ratækorn Nañjali. Druid Level 1/Fighter Level 10 XP 85000+23

1 Building 17

2 Survival 4+8; XP 5

3 Create & Destroy Water; 5xp

4 Mold Earth; 5xp

5 Cloak of Protection

6 Insight 13+4; 8xp

7 Derek Desleigh

8 Journal’s XP: 23

[toonatic92]

[Image description: A watercolour picture of my Homestuck fan-troll Deo in her room. She is kneeling on her bed and using a screwdriver to fix a scanning device on her lap. She has long black hair in a loose ponytail and is wearing a T-shirt with an alien on it and flower-patterned leggings. Her bedsheet is pattered with stars and constellations and her pillow has rockets, UFOs, planets and galaxies on it. There are books about conspiracies and cyptids on the floor, as well as several snake and lizard plush toys, a toy alien, a Bill Cipher doll, a sickle and a multi-lens magnifying glass. There are glass tanks containing pet snakes on a table, an old computer with computer chair, a wheelchair and a potted plant lined up against the wall. The walls are covered in posters of troll versions of British sitcoms, an 'I Want to Believe' poster with a UFO on it, a 'Mothman Sighting Zone' poster, a Gravity Falls poster and a poster with a crescent moon and eye symbol that says 'Don't Trust Anyone'. There are small pyramid-shaped terrariums containing plants hanging from the ceiling and police caution tape with alien symbols on it strewn around the room.]

I did a watercolour picture of my Homestuck fan character Deo and her respiteblock. She lives on a livestock farm in the idyllic countryside and cultivates many interests in between running the farm.

Her main interest is investigating conspiracy theories, cryptids, aliens and urban legends with various homemade devices, like the one she's spent all night working on here. She has books about the Lunacracy and other pseudoscientific subjects, as well as posters and her old computer, which she only uses to monitor conspiracy forums because she's not good with computers. She's into aliens the most because she often feels alien compared to her friends, and also because she's been a keen astronomer since she was a kid.

Her bed is space themed and is more for sitting or laying on when she's working because she sleeps in a recuperacoon like most trolls. Working here is better for her than working at a desk, since she has multiple sclerosis and can't sit up or balance when she has flare-ups. The wheelchair in the corner is also for when she can't walk because of a flare-up. It was decorated by one of her friends with spray paint and plastic wheat and poppies.

Her other big interest is herpetology, studying and caring for reptiles and amphibians. She has a lot of pet snakes, lizards and frogs in glass tanks and has many stim toys based on them, which were made by Vistie, who is a seamstress. Deo also has succulents and other houseplants, some in glass terrariums hanging from the ceiling and some dotted around the house.

Because she's a farmer, she likes a lot of rural sitcoms and has posters of them on her wall. I basically picked every rural British sitcom I could think of and made troll versions. From left to right: The Vicar of Dibley - The Subjugglator of Dibley, Last of the Summer Wine - Last of the Solar Sweeps Wine, and All Creatures Great and Small - All Lusii Great and Terrifying. She also likes the troll version of Gravity Falls, because it's a very cryptid and conspiracy themed show. Also on her wall and scattered around her bedroom is the troll version of police caution tape (drone tape?), which she collects from crime scenes as a 'fuck you' to authority and cover-ups. It was meant to say 'CAUTION, DRONE. DO NOT CROSS' but I might have fucked up on drawing some of the letters.

As a side note, my troll OCs are based on Greek gods. Deo is based on Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, which is why Deo is a farmer. Her interest in conspiracy theories is sort of a loose interpretation of Demeter being associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries, an ancient cult with secret rites, based around the myth of Persephone's abduction by Hades and Demeter's search for her daughter. Her interest in snakes and reptiles is based on Demeter's chariot being drawn by winged serpents and her turning a rude boy into a gecko once. These themes will end up being present throughout her session.

Medium: Watercolour pens on paper.

Links to other versions: DeviantART Instagram

[tabloidfootprints]

i was flipping through some rpg books I have from goodman games and was struck by how familiar this illustration looked to work i'd seen in other games

so i decided to check the listed illustrators against the illustrators in my copy of Paranoia XP. turns out, Paranoia XP only had one illustrator, Jim Holloway. love the weird little way he draws faces.

looking him up, i found out he died in 2020, but had been drawing for rpgs almost as long as you could be. here's a piece of his from 1982 in Against the Cult of the Reptile God

look at all that action! great stuff.

[dndhistory]

163. Douglas Niles - N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God (1982)

The first contribution by Douglas Niles, who would go on to contribute a number of modules for AD&D as well as co-create the Dragonlance setting, and write a whole bunch of D&D novels, including the first Forgotten Realms novels (the Moonshae trilogy), this was a pretty good calling card.

This module successfully walks the tightrope between being too sandboxy and too railroady. It gives players plenty to do by themselves as they investigate the opening town of Orlane but directs them inexorably to the titular Reptile God's headquarters. There are some really fun roleplay mechanics here, taking into account that the small rural village of Orlane has been progressively taken over by Cultists who have either converted, kidnapped or charmed villagers into being loyal to the cult of the reptile god, with just a few remaining untouched by the nefarious influence. 

The investigation in the village is the most original part of the story and as the story goes on we do get to a kind of meat-grinder final dungeon where you either need a powerful NPC to tag along with you or you'll become a red smear on the walls... or just a wisp of smoke, seeing as your 1st level party will have to fight a boss that starts off by shooting a fireball at you as an appetizer. Still, with a bit of DM tinkering there is much fun to be had here, and this is a classic module for a reason.

[gameraboy2]

N1 - Against the Cult of the Reptile God (1982) Cover art by Tim Truman