#questworld

[highintlowwispod]

Hi-lo everyone! We left that last ep on a bit of a cliffhanger huh? Look at our team, doing Stallone and the writers of Between The Lions proud… pretty sure I remember there being an episode of that where Cliff Hanger had to deal with a potentially indiscernible number of adversaries blood-steamed, gored, and brained by beans. With the battle still raging and many members of the party fractured (and, perhaps, fracturing??) so much is still up in the air. Or, well, up in the tree at least.

Episode 15 “Imperfect Friends” is out now on your favorite podcast listening platform! Or if it's not, it's probably at least on your second or third favorite podcast listening platforms. Join us as we see how this latest fight pans out. Will Lorelei make her shot? Does Daphne even still have enough blood left in her for this sauna? What fate will befall our crew’s previous Bindle Buddy, and who will they Bindle next? 

And the most important question of all: who has a good classic anime recommendation?

[morsrattus]

The Gods Around Pent: The Lo Fak Gods - Lo Fa

Lo Fa, the Yak Mother, Herd Queen, Giver of Wise Milk

The Cult of Lo Fa (LIFE BEAST EARTH)

The Universe Dragon, Korgatsu, went unto the world and fathered all of the beasts. With the Sky, he fathered the birds. With the Dark, he fathered the insects. With the Water, he fathered the fish. And with the Earth, he fathered many things - and greatest of all were the herd mothers. The greatest of the herd mothers was Lo Fa, Mother of Yaks. She brought forth the greatest beasts, to whom wisdom was granted. These are the yaks, from which the Lo Fak arise, and so they honor her as the highest god.

Mythos and History

Daughter of the Universe Dragon and the Earth, Lo Fa is the queen of all yaks. Her sisters could not match her glory, for their children were not so strong, not so wise, and not so patient. While she did not need humans, humans needed her, and Lo Fa, in her infinite mercy, allowed her children to aid the humans.

However, after the Sun was entrapped and the Darkness entered the world, food was scarcer. Now, humans trapped her children and enslaved them. They killed and ate both those yaks who had chosen to aid them and those who lived free and wild. This could not be allowed.

Lo Fa gathered her children to her and tested their wisdom and their strength. All of them came, even those who had been friends to humans. The bulls who excelled at strength she sent to fetch their father, the Storm Bull, who had wandered away to find his enemy. The cows who excelled at wisdom approached her, and she sang to them a secret song. This song enlightened them, and they stood upon feet and raised up hands, and they wore the faces of humans. These were the first Lo Fak, and Lo Fa tasked them to raise up children, who would care and guide their kin.

The rest of the herd, who had not heard the secret song, asked Lo Fa what their gift would be, if the strongest bulls would gain the power of Storm Bull and the wisest cows would become the mothers of the Lo Fak. Lo Fa walked among them, touching each with her horns. They would hold the life of the world within them, and without them there would be neither strength or wisdom. They would hold the Herd Secret, which was not given to the Lo Fak directly.

The first threat to the Herd came when the Sweet Words Man came. He told Lo Fa that he needed her children. He sang her praises, and he offered silver and gold to Lo Fa if she would promise her children to him. She asked him why he wanted them, and he said that it did not matter, for he would give her all the wealth of the earth.

Lo Fa opened her third eye and looked upon him, and she saw his true face. "You are not Trader. Your name is Greed," she said. "You would chain my children and devour them, but it would not fill your belly. You would take our true wealth and have us eat gold."

Greed snarled, but as he went to strike, the Storm Bull returned with the Lo Fak men at his back. Greed fled before the Storm Bull's wrath. Lo Fa made the Calming Grunt, and Storm Bull did not give chase.

The second threat to the Herd came when the Trader came. He told Lo Fa that he needed her children, for the Man Herd was starving. They would die, if she would not allow her children to resume their friendship. He sang her praises as well, but when she asked him if he would kill her children, he nodded. He told her the truth: that milk alone would not be enough now, and that the Man Herd would need meat to live.

Lo Fa opened her third eye and looked upon Trader. She saw his true face. "You do not lie to me, Trader. But you honor the Man Herd above my children. What price could be worth our lives?" She did not wait for an answer. "I will allow my children who wish to be friends to go to you only if you swear to honor their lives that you take. You must value our lives above silver and above gold. You must honor the herds as you rise in the morning and as you sleep at night. You must pay a price for every life, for every mouthful of milk, for every thread of hair."

Trader had hoped to make something from nothing, as he so often did, but he saw that his fast words would not change Lo Fa's mind. "What must we pay?"

Lo Fa's children stepped forward. "You will pay me homage, and for each life taken, you must birth another. Care for them from the day they are born to the day they die, that they eat better than you do. And if you forsake this, you will be cursed, and I will withdraw my blessing."

Trader swore to this bargain, and this is why humans may keep yaks - and why, if they mistreat them, the Lo Fak will punish them and the curse of Lo Fa will be laid against them. It is also why there are still wild yaks, for Trader could not acquire the entire herd, as he did with lesser cattle.

The third threat to the Herd came when Chaos was born. It was the enemy of Storm Bull, and he ran away to fight it. Lo Fa allowed him to go, for she knew he must fight Chaos. However, now her herd had fewer protectors. Wolves and leopards came, taking those who strayed.

Lo Fa taught her children a new song. It moved strength up from the earth, through their unity, through their bones, through their herd. When the wolves came, she had her children sing the new song. This was the Song of the Dragon's Bones, and it gave the herd new strength. When wolves trapped one of them, the rest moved to stop them. When a calf was in danger, the herd moved as one. And when one stood against many wolves, the herd gave her strength.

The wolves tried to take a calf, but the herd sang the Song of the Dragon's Bones, and they had the strength of many. The wolves fled, seeking easier prey.

The fourth threat to the Herd came when the Son of Dragons built a great city. He had been the son of Korgatsu, a brother to Lo Fa, but he rejected his kin, for he envied the sons of Man. He said to the Lo Fak: "You are both beasts and men. You are half of one thing and half of another, and this makes you weaker than both. You must choose: are you yaks? Or are you men?"

Lo Fa made the Sign of Korgatsu, but the Son of Dragons did not recognize it. He was blinded by his own strength, by the crown he had been given. She said: "You look at my children and you see two things?"

The Son of Dragons pointed at the Lo Fak. "I see men." And then he pointed at the others in the herd. "And I see yaks." He turned and pointed, and the Herd saw his palace rising in the distance. "This is a thing of men, who stand above the beasts. Will you keep your children from the gifts of men?"

Some of the Lo Fak were tempted, for they saw the power in the Son of Dragons. But Lo Fa knew: her children must not stand above each other. They would forget their mother and their sisters, if they did. They would consume their own kin, and bind them in chains.

Lo Fa stood tall and made the Sign of Korgatsu again, and she opened the eyes of her children. "You are a kinslayer, Son of Dragons. Your palace is built on a foundation of bone, and it is the bone of your mother." The Herd saw that this was true. "You are a slaver, Son of Dragons. Your palace was built by slaves, and the slaves are your cousins." The Herd saw that this was also true. "You would raise my sons to be princes and build their palaces with my bones. You would raise my daughters to chain their sisters, to eat their flesh and bind their souls."

She sang the Song of the Dragon's Bones, and the Herd gathered behind her. Her horns shone with the black glory of the mountain, and she pointed down at the Son of Dragons. "Go now. You ask us to choose, and so I do. We are yaks: we are the Herd, and all of us are the Herd. You are man, and no longer kin to us. Leave us forever. Once, you were my brother, and for that I will not hurl you into the grave you call a palace - once. Do not return." And the Son of Dragons left, cursing the Lo Fak. This is why those who followed him, who settled in the cities of the Dragon Emperor below, are no longer kin to the Lo Fak: they are men, and they are not yaks. They are the worst of men, for they chose to betray their mothers and their grandfather, the Universe Dragon. The Lo Fak have never forgiven the Kralori for this.

And at last, the final threat to the Herd came. He was the Devil, the face of Chaos, and the enemy of all life. He sought to destroy the world, not for any reason but for evil alone. All of the world stood against him, led by Lo Fa's own husband, the Storm Bull.

It was not enough. The Devil defeated them, though they fought bravely. One by one, gods were slain. One by one, men and beasts were destroyed. Storm Bull slew many of the Devil's servants, but even he was not strong enough. Lo Fa saw this, and she understood.

She went below the earth, into her own mother's womb, from which all life flows. She laid down her sons and daughters, those with four legs and those with two, and she led them in song. As they sang, they fell into a sleep like death, sending their life into Lo Fa. And the song was joined by their siblings, the herding beasts, who gave to it. And the song was joined by their cousins, the plants, who gave to it. And the song was joined by their uncles, the mountains, who gave to it. And the song was joined by their aunts, the hills, who gave to it. And Lo Fa's mother, the Earth, showed Lo Fa the final notes, and Lo Fa opened a secret way.

She sang, sending her life through the secret way, until she could sing no more. Her life and the lives of her kin - the mountains and the hills and the plants and the herding beasts and especially the sons and daughters of Lo Fa, the yaks - these flowed through the secret way and into Storm Bull. This restored him, for where he was power and rage and the killing of Chaos, Lo Fa is life and wisdom and understanding.

And the Storm Bull stood, guided by understanding. He raised his hands, shown truth by wisdom. And the Block fell and bounced and leapt into his hands, and with the strength that is life itself, he slew the Devil with it. And in that death, he let out a bellow.

And in that bellow was Lo Fa's song, and that song was Life, and with its power did the Universe Dragon awaken, showing Spider how to bind the Devil's soul in her web as the Block bound his body. Thus was the world remade, because of Lo Fa. Thus was the Herd kept safe, because of Lo Fa.

Nature of the Cult

The cult of Lo Fa is the central cult of the Lo Fak, and the most important within their entire society by far. The majority of Lo Fak are members of the cult, and its leaders are the leaders of the Lo Fak clans. It is not the only cult within Lo Fak society, but it is the largest and most powerful.

The chief domain of the Lo Fa cult is management of the Herd, which covers both the two-legged Lo Fak and their four-legged yaks. Maintaining the Herd's safety, fertility and health is the most important thing for the Lo Fak, and the cult of Lo Fa therefore controls when the clan moves between settlements, what their priorities should be, where to graze the yaks, and essentially anything else that could contribute to the prosperity and health of the clan and its yaks.

The Lo Fa cult raises and trains the clan's children, as well, and while most members of the cult are generally not warriors, the warrior subcult of Bos, Lo Fa's strongest son, are capable fighters, if less focused and powerful than the Storm Bull cult. Nearly every aspect of Lo Fak life is at least touched on by the Lo Fa cult's influence.

Depiction

Lo Fa is depicted by the Lo Fak as a golden-haired yak of immense size. Sometimes she possesses a human head, sometimes not. She always has ribbons and bells in her fur, and a stone sphere between her horns. Her udder is always heavy with milk, and she is frequently attended by both two-legged children and calves.

Lo Fa is only very rarely depicted in two-legged form. When she is, she has white hair woven with ribbons and bells, and she wears a golden robe which bears a brown Earth Rune. She, like all Lo Fak gods and heroes depicted in two-legged form, still possesses a pair of horns.

Runes

While Lo Fa's mother is the Earth, and she does retain some power over it, particularly the mountains, she lacks the broad power that her mother holds. Instead, her power is focused more through the Life Rune, from which she brings forth healing, fertility and food, and the Beast Rune, which manifests as the true power of the yak, which she rules above all others. :LIFE: Lo Fa is a goddess of motherhood, food and health, and her power over the Life Rune is commensurately broad. Initiates have been known to use the rune to, among other things, ease childbirth, bless calves or children, heal the wounds of yaks or humans, increase milk, cheese, or yogurt production, command yaks, transfer strength between willing people and yaks, induce lust, strengthen those who defend the herd, grant fertility blessings, or find edible plants. Those strong in the Life Rune tend to be maternal, protective, and conservative. :BEAST: Lo Fa's command of the Beast Rune is absolute when dealing with yaks, and no other creature. Initiates have been known to use the Beast Rune, among other things, to rear and train yaks, to ride yaks, to speak to yaks, to transform partially or completely into a yak, to heal yaks, to command yaks, to grant fertility to yaks, to make things from yak wool or milk, to help yaks survive with less food, to breed strong yaks, or to strengthen yaks. Those strong in the Beast Rune tend to be direct, distrustful of humans, and tough.

:EARTH: Lo Fa has only limited command over the powers of the Earth, focusing around their connection to life and the mountains in which she makes her home. Initiates are known to use the rune to, among other things, bless or curse yaks and cows, draw strength from the earth, shield against physical or magical attacks, transfer their strength to others, bless or curse grazing areas, move safely through mountain regions, or hide in mountain caves. Those strong in the Earth Rune tend to be calm, careful, and indirect.

Opposed Runes

Lo Fa opposes the Man, Death, and Chaos Runes.

Particular Likes and Dislikes

Lo Fa's closest ally is the Storm Bull, her husband. He obeys her in all things, save for the destruction of Chaos, where his passions can overwhelm even his obedient love. She is close with the Earth Mother, who birthed her and taught her children the secrets of the Earth Witch. One of her sons went to the lands of the Praxians and joined them, giving up his beast nature to aid his human friends. His name is Waha, and he is the most trusted human god for Lo Fa, for her promised not to teach his followers how to kill and eat yaks. (Or, at least, so say the Lo Fak, who point to the Praxians not riding or raising yaks as proof.)

Lo Fa's greatest enemies are the Dragon Emperors of Kralorela, the inheritors of the treacherous Son of Dragons. He betrayed his kin and his followers now often lead attacks on the beast peoples of the mountains. They cannot be trusted.

Other human gods are viewed with distrust, though the Pentan gods are given more respect than most, as they negotiated a peace with Lo Fa and treat her children with respect.

The last great enemy of Lo Fa is Chaos, and all Chaos gods are to be distrusted, avoided, and if necessary, fought. While the killing of Chaos is the domain of Storm Bull, he is supported by Lo Fa in this.

Cult Organization

Each Lo Fak clan maintains a separate and independent cult of Lo Fa. These cults maintain their own traditions, which vary based on the clan's own history and the specific breed of yak that they are part of. Some things, however, are universal to these cults. They are always the leading cult of the clan, with the clan's high priest effectively being the clan's main leader, though she is always advised by a council of elders, priests and other important figures in the clan. The cult is always heavily matriarchal, though men are not forbidden from joining. They are, however, generally unable to achieve leadership positions outside of the martial or mystic subcults, in keeping with the Lo Fak views of masculinity and femininity. Worshippers from other Lo Fak clans are able to worship at the temples and shrines of any clan's cult, regardless of differences in local tradition.

Priests

The Lo Fak priests are known as the Herd Tenders or the Wise Mothers, even if male. Rank usually correlates to age, and all priests above the lowest rank must be parents - the childless are not permitted to advance beyond the lowest position, though adoption of a child counts. Each clan maintains its own restrictions and requirements beyond this, though most Lo Fa cults do not maintain extensive official ranks. In theory, most priests are equals, although in practice, prestige and respect create an informal hierarchy. In most cults, there are only three official ranks: the Low Priests, consisting of the childless and those still in training, the Priests, and the High Priest that leads the cult.

Center of Power and Holy Places

In theory, the most sacred place of Lo Fa is the place where she went into the earth and laid herself down - the Paps, in the wastelands of Prax, west of the Shan Shan range. However, most Lo Fak never make the pilgrimage to that distant place, where Lo Fa is known by the human name Eiritha. It is generally held that while it is the sacred body of the goddess, she meant for her children to remain in their original home, to care for the mountains in her absence, while she aided the rest of the world.

The Shan Shan mountains are home to many sacred places, however. The mountains are kin to Lo Fa, born from the Universe Dragon, and many of the peaks are home to her divine children. These mountains bear their names and are often said to be the divine bodies of the gods, including Bos, Ganang, Mai Wa, Jeelong, Dzo, and other names well known in the Lo Fa cult as patrons.

Several grasslands, particularly in the north, are considered sacred to Lo Fa. These mark the places where she and her daughters performed great deeds, and are always highly fertile with good grazing.

Most sacred sites are traditionally held by specific clans in their semi-nomadic cycles, but sometimes clans conflict over control of them, especially when grazing has been poor and the clans must modify their traditional patterns.

Initiates

Initiates of Lo Fa must possess one of the Earth, Beast or Life Runes at 1W or higher. They swear to defend and guide the clan and herd, to obey their elders, and to honor their four-legged kin as equals. Most Lo Fak are initiates of the cult, and dedicate much of their time to caring for the clan and herd, both the two-legged and four-legged yaks.

Holy Days

The holiest day of Lo Fa is the Life Giving Day, on the Clay Day of Earth Season's Fertility Week. This is the day on which Lo Fa gave her life to Storm Bull so that he could defeat the Devil, and the day on which the world itself was renewed. It is a day of great celebration for the Lo Fak, featuring huge feasts and many competitions, including yak races, cheese and yogurt competitions, and singing contests, as well as important festivals to renew the grazing lands and restore life to the mountains.

Every Clayday is a sacred day for the honoring of the herd, and much of it is spent going through the yak herds to check their health and wellbeing individually, as well as performing rituals to honor Lo Fa and the clan's ancestors. The Clayday of each Fertility Week is especially sacred (besides the Life Giving Day in Earth Season, which is noted above), and always features major sacrifices and rites to honor Lo Fa and uphold the responsibilities of the Lo Fak to the mountains.

Sacrifices

Lo Fa particularly loves clarified butter, and the best butter a clan produces is always reserved for the goddess. Wool goods are also common as sacrifices, as are clay goods and ceramics. Goods made from horn and bone of particularly honored yaks may be offered as well. The Lo Fak never sacrifice yaks to any god, for they are considered full kin, and animal sacrifices are rare in general and never offered to Lo Fa.

Subcults

There are a vast number of subcults to Lo Fa, most of which are dedicated to the ancestral heroes who founded the clans and were parents to specific yak breeds, or to great heroes in the history of those clans. These tend to be highly localized to specific clans However, a number of the direct children of Lo Fa are also honored in most cults across all clans, forming the basis for much of Lo Fak society.

Bos, the Strong Son (BEAST DISORDER) Bos is the forefather of the Grunter yak breeds, and the warrior son of Lo Fa. He is calmer than his father, the Storm Bull, but he exemplifies what the Lo Fak consider to be proper masculine traits: he is obedient, strong, and competitive. He is the herd guardian, defending his wives, sisters and daughters with violence. In youth, he was adventurous and aggressive, and as he grew older, he settled down, though he retains the belligerent power of youth when needed. His followers may use the Beast Rune to fight in defense of the herds, to excel in marriage competitions, to obey the orders of wives or mothers, to steal domestic yaks, or to fight in yak form. They may use the Disorder Rune, among other things, to fight with axes or spears, to assert dominance over males, to smash barriers, or to perform feats of physical strength. Bos grants access to the Emperor Breaker Feat.

Ganang, the Wise Daughter (BEAST TRUTH) Ganang is the mother of the Small Horn yak breeds, and while she is the largest of her sisters, she has the smallest horns, for she traded her ivory for knowledge. Bit by bit, she gave up power for secrets, which were a power all their own. Thus, she brought to the herd the knowledge that humans sought to keep for themselves. She taught them to weave, taught them the secrets of dung's fiery heart, taught them how to reveal lies and deceptions. And the greatest secrets she taught to her children, the paths that sought out the Universe Dragon's own secrets, concealed by the cosmos. She is the sage, the wise mystic, and she traveled far from the herd to learn many things. Her followers may use the Beast Rune to speak with any kind of animal, to weave, to make fuel from dung more effectively, or to find traces of dragon secrets. They may use the Truth Rune, among other things, to detect lies, to reveal hidden truths, to remember history, or to ask riddles.

Mai Wa, the Kind Daughter (LIFE) Mai Wa is the mother of the Thick Belly yaks, and she was the fattest of her sisters, producing the thickest and best milk. She gave of herself often, traveling among the herds and healing the sick and injured. She taught the Lo Fak how to raise two-legged children, who needed more care than four-legged ones, and how to preserve food. She taught them the best yogurts and cheeses, which plants would heal injury, and how to keep the herds warm and fed in the harsh winters. Her followers may use the Life Rune to heal diseases, to tend edible plants and fungi, to preserve and prepare food, or to help the weak or injured survive harsh conditions. Mai Wa grants access to the Milk of Love Feat.

Jeelong, the Enduring Daughter (EARTH) Jeelong is the mother of the Long Neck yak breeds, and she has some of the widest horns of all her sisters, as well as the straightest back. She traveled through the Shan Shan mountains, guiding the Lo Fak to the places it was best to live, and she withstood great dangers throughout. No wolf could harm her, and no other could outpace her in the mountains. She knew the secrets of stone and clay, teaching the Lo Fak how to make pottery and other tools they needed, and how to build villages and monasteries. Her followers may use the Earth Rune to make things from clay or stone, to survive or travel in the mountains safely, to endure privation and harsh weather, or to command beasts of the mountains. Jeelong grants access to the Enduring Fangs Feat.

Dzo Mo, the Clever Daughter (LIFE COMMUNICATION) Dzo Mo is the mother of the Man Friend yak breeds, which are also called dzo or khainag. These descend from her pairing with the simpler cattle that had been fully tamed by humans, for she was fascinated by these creatures and sought to understand them. She traded some of her secrets to humans in return for their own, making alliance with Trader and working with him to mother the Man Friends. In this way she learned the secrets of trading, of making things from nothing, and of the wealth that men crave. Her followers may use the Life Rune to prevent violence, to bless livestock, or to display the strength and power within livestock or goods made from them. They may use the Communication Rune to speak with foreigners, to trade with outsiders, to tell how valuable goods are to someone, or convince others to deal peacefully.

Devotees

Devotees must have 11W in one of the Earth, Life or Beast Runes, and as normal, must completely give up all powers not derived from Lo Fa, with all normal restrictions. They may belong to only one subcult.

Common Lo Fa Feats

Emperor Breaker (BEAST) Many times, the Son of Dragons sought to punish the Lo Fak for their defiance. When he came to destroy Korgatsu's Fang to display his power, Bos stood against him. The warriors of Kralorela were terrible, armed with the stolen strength of the dragons, and they shouted, but Bos bellowed back, and the warriors behind him were fearless. Bos raised his horns to the sky and charged, and the dust raised by his hooves blinded the Son of Dragons. He tossed Kralori about like dolls, and none were spared his wrath. The Son of Dragons brought his dead soldiers back, their bones tearing out of their bodies, and they struck back at Bos. He did not falter, though his flesh was torn to the bone. He smashed them to dust, for then they could not stand again. The Son of Dragons himself was wounded, so he spoke a terrible curse, which he placed in a delicious flower and left for Bos, retreating to hide. Bos saw the trap, and knew that someone weaker would eat it if he did not. He took the curse into himself, crunching it with his mighty teeth, that it might not curse the herd. It was terrible and twisted his insides, but no one else was hurt, and at last he shat out the curse. Bos suffered terribly, but he burned the curse-dung and it shone with brilliant light. No other suffered its power.

Enduring Fangs (EARTH) When the Darkness grew deep and terrible, the herds had to move often, seeking new grazing. Always, they were harried by wolves and leopards and hunters, for all creatures starved. Jeelong was unafraid, though her sisters trembled in fear, and her daughters begged for safety. Jeelong sang a calming song, and she went forth into the wilderness. Where she stepped, the grass bowed to make a path for her. Wolves tore at her flesh and leopards snapped at her tail, but she did not falter. Their fangs blunted against her, and she ignored the pain. Where she walked, the herds were not attacked, for the wolves and leopards had their fangs blunted. The hunters laid traps for Jeelong and peppered her with arrows. The mountains whispered to her, and she knew where to step, that no trap caught her. The arrows struck her, but she sang a soothing song, and her daughters could not see her pain. The herds followed after her, and none were taken by hunters, for they stepped where Jeelong stepped, and the hunters ran out of arrows. At last, Jeelong brought the herds to a new valley, where there was safety. She laid down there, and she sang a new song. Her blood flowed into the earth, and it made the grass grow thick and tall, made the moss grow strong and the lichen hearty. It was a long time before she could stand again, and her daughters had to care for her and feed her, but the herds were safe.

Milk of Love (LIFE) Mai Wa was sought after by many suitors, for she was fat and thick - a good mother and a good wife, who would lead well. This meant many fought, and many were wounded among the herd guardians, though, and this pained Mai Wa. Surrounded by the wounded, she wept for love of the herd. Her tears were milk, rich and thick, and her milk was blood, strong and hearty. Mai Wa walked among the injured and fed them her milk and anointed them with her blood. Those who drank felt no pain, and those she marked had their bones mended and their flesh sewn together. At last, she reached the strongest warrior, who had fought hardest for her. She embraced him and placed around his neck a bell and upon his horns a ribbon. She wept for him most of all, and kissed him. Her tears healed him completely, and her blood shone upon his forehead. He stood again, stronger than before. They were wed, and Mai Wa's lover could not be harmed while she stood by him. He never again started fights, for she would weep when he fought, but he never again lost one while she did.

Queen of the Herds (BEAST) None can gainsay Lo Fa among her children, and even her husband cannot stand against her, despite his rages. When the herd needed to come together, they would look to Lo Fa above all. When Trader came to ask for her children, she looked into his heart and saw what he truly wanted. She made this plain to her children, and only the children who truly trusted him left with him. When Son of Dragons tried to separate the herd into men and beasts, Lo Fa stood against him. She pierced through all his lies and saw his true meaning. When she denied him, her children stood with her. When the Devil stood against Storm Bull, Lo Fa asked all her children to give their life to her, that he might be defeated, and not even one denied her. The Queen of the Herds cannot be disobeyed in times of need, and needs give no orders in times of plenty.

Song of the Dragon's Bones (LIFE EARTH) This feat can be learned through either the Life or Earth Rune. When danger came to the herd, Lo Fa knew that her children were not always the strongest warriors - alone. She would sing the Song of the Dragon's Bones, and all the herd would gather. The more there were gathered, the greater the song, as all would sing with her. Their strength would flow through their feet into the earth, and through the earth it would enter the champions of the herd, the warriors who stood at the fore. Their horns shone and gleamed black in the light, their muscles were like mighty oaks, and their teeth were thick as stone. The strength of each was magnified, and the more of the herd that sang with Lo Fa, the greater it became. When the herd came together as one this way, no enemy could stand against them.

Divine Retribution

Any Lo Fak who eats the flesh of a yak is cursed by Lo Fa, for they deny their kinship. They are struck with a terrible wasting disease, and spirits of bad luck follow them wherever they go, lashing out at them and anyone they meet. The only way to atone for this grave sin is to undertake a great quest assigned by the clan's high priest and to offer up a great sacrifice to Lo Fa, begging her forgiveness for kinslaying and cannibalism.

Those who break oaths to their clan or otherwise betray their fellows in lesser ways are instead struck by the Milk Worms. These evil spirits crawl out of the earth and into the guts of their victims. Whenever the victim drinks milk or eats yogurt, cheese or other dairy products, they are struck with terrible gut pain and diarrhea. The Milk Worms can be driven away by a shaman's spiritual aid or by the blessing of a high priest of Lo Fa, though both generally require a show of good faith and some kind of atonement.

[thydungeongal]

I saw your post on DnD having no consequences besides death and was wondering what systems you know that aren't like that,and how they accomplish it.

Really love your stuff btw!

First one that comes to mind is Fate. The way Fate achieves it is simple: instead of having death as a consequence, in Fate if your character gets taken out of combat (which will happen if they take Stress and they have no more Stress boxes to take that Stress and you don't elect to take a consequence instead) they're simply Taken Out. There's no countdown to death, the character is simply out of the conflict. And should the whole party get wiped in a conflict that simply means that they failed to achieve whatever it was they wanted to achieve in that conflict. This means that players can lose individual conflicts but the story doesn't end there. In fact, the game in some ways encourages losing in conflicts, because it can be a source of character development (via Extreme consequences which can only be taken once every now and then and that actually change one of the character's Aspects, basic building blocks of the character). Fate also allows, as far as I remember, simply conceding a conflict, meaning that characters lose the conflict but at least they get out mostly without consequence.

Blades in the Dark is another one: BitD is about doing heists and during heists characters can suffer a wide variety of consequences, including various degrees of injury. The important thing is that BitD allows players to declare that their characters are withdrawing from a heist whenever they want. This means that they get no payoff and go straight into downtime, and still have to deal with the various consequences like heat and entanglements. So, players basically always have the choice to retreat. (And in fact this is something that is very similar to older editions of D&D: before cyclical, individual initiative became the norm, characters would take turns together, and between rounds of combat players could decide that their characters would retreat. It wasn't of course automatic and there was a chance of pursuit, but there was a quick escape button available to players.)

QuestWorlds is another one that allows for players to define what their characters' goal in a given conflict (called Sequence) is, and allows for either retreating (and thus failing to achieve the story goal) as well as simply losing and failing to achieve the story goal with added consequence. QuestWorlds is very similar to Fate in how abstract it is in modeling conflict. QuestWorlds also models difficulty rising with every success since it seeks to model a certain type of narrative structure. It's a fascinating game imo

That's just a few though, and there are countless others as well.

[vintagerpg]

Jackals (2021) is Osprey’s most ambitious RPG to date, the first to launch with an accompanying campaign. An additional sourcebook has also surfaced.

Back in 1982, Chaosium published QuestWorld, as a sort of open world for RuneQuest (as opposed to the closed, Stafford-approved Glorantha), where players would essentially come up with their own RQ variants. The box set was an interesting, but failed, experiment. Jackals strikes me as the sort of thing I bet Chaosium hoped would emerge from the scheme.

It is powered by OpenQuest, a tweaked retroclone of RuneQuest. Jackals tweaks it some more, but at heart, if you’re familiar with the BRP style d100 skill games, you’ll ken this system fast.

Like RuneQuest, the game world is extremely important. Characters get the choice of one of four cultures (modeled loosely on the real world Bronze Age cultures of Greece, Egypt, Israel and the Arabian desert), each of which determines the bulk of their baseline attributes. As the titular Jackals, they wander the world, beloved by communities beset by the taint of Chaos, manifest as a variety of beast-people who kill and destroy indiscriminately, a sort of embodied anti-civilization. When no such problem exists, though, most folks don’t want Jackals around.

The world they wander is a rich one. I love Glorantha for its strangeness, but the War Road feels familiar (thanks to its dim relation to our Middle East). That gives the setting a kind of excitement akin to knowing the song on the radio, even if it is a cover. The mysteries are intriguing, the art lovely and the maps! My goodness, these are some of the best dungeon maps I have seen in years! A handful of scenarios round things out and pave the way for the grand, world-changing campaign, The Fall of the Children of Bronze.

[kleioscanvas]

The Runequest Prosopaedia is out! It's a book I've fully illustrated about the many gods and myths of Glorantha and I am very excited to see it published. I'm looking forward to see what people think!

[downwithpeople]

bashing my brains against magic for UA glorantha. in questworlds, spirit magic and divine magic are mechanically distinct. i was tripped up by spirit magic meaning something completely different in runequest and it made me question the whole thing. animism is cosmologically separate to theism and should probably look different in play, but how? what does it actually look like to be like, a praxian raider vs orlanthi raider? it doesn't help that whereas divine cults are really straightforward, spirit magic has cults, spirit traditions, spirit societies and shamans.

[viralarcadian]

oh man the cgi in real adventure of jonny quest is terrible in the best way. the walk cycles are absolutely incredible they're walking like they have back and hip problems in questworld

[kd-heart]

Promptober day 2

Whumptober - Delirium | “They don't care about you.” Flufftober - Family, Friends, Loved Ones AI-less Whumptober - Exhaustion Angstober - Anxiety

Fandom: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Rating: Teen and Up

Characters/Pairing: Jessie Bannon & Jonathan "Jonny" Quest & Hadji Singh

Tags: Delirium, Angst, Whump, Off-Screen Injury, Brain Damage (maybe), Hurt No Comfort, Anxiety

Summary: Jessie stole another worried glance in the rearview mirror. Her eyes kept darting from the road ahead to the back seat with alarming frequency. They needed to get home as fast as speeding laws allowed.

Word count: 629

AO3

Jonny's brain felt like someone dunked it in fizzy water, wrapped it in tin foil for good measure and left it to simmer. He wasn't sure if he hurt anymore, because all the other sensations were so overwhelming. Something to be grateful for, at least. 

He could almost catch glimpses of himself in the facets of the foil. They were mocking him - so fragile, so weak, so prone to failure. One moment he's playing a game and the next, his brain cracks open. He almost feels like laughing, himself. It's all so ridiculous. He must have done something stupid while in Questworld - Jessie was sure to tell him once she unwrapped all the tin foil to get to his nicely baked brain. She was going to rub it in, like an aromatic herb, and dinner will be ready. At least that would mean he was good for something. 

Something soft and cool touched a part of him, but he wasn't sure if it was a hand or his forehead. It crackled at the contact, making him recoil at the sound, even though he longed for the pressure. 

"You're being a nuisance, again," he assured himself. 

Except he didn't feel very reassured. 

His brain felt like it was sloshing around in the liquid, bubbles popping and bouncing off the thin metal. It was kind of funny. 

*

Jessie stole another worried glance in the rearview mirror. Her eyes kept darting from the road ahead to the back seat with alarming frequency. They needed to get home as fast as speeding laws allowed. 

The hospital discharged Jonny after running every relevant scan money could buy in a 24h period and keeping him under observation long enough to conclude there was nothing wrong with him on a physical level. They ruled out drug use, too, although Jessie had told them that wasn’t a possibility from the beginning. Nothing was bleeding. Nothing was broken. And whatever was misfiring in his brain, didn’t seem to be acting up again after he’d been logged out of Questworld. So they let him go in Jessie and Hadji’s care and their reassurance that they wouldn’t take him by plane - who knew what low air pressure and turbulence might trigger! 

Now, he lay across the back seat, his head in Hadji’s lap and a strong arm across his chest, holding him from falling. His legs were folded, too long to fit comfortably, and secured with the seatbelt as an extra precaution. 

Hadji looked pretty lost himself. He brushed Jonny’s hair from his eyes and was rewarded with pained noise and a tilt of the head towards him. 

He met her eyes in the mirror and frowned. 

“We should switch at the next stop,” Hadji suggested. 

“You can’t possibly think you’re less tired than me,” she protested. “You’ve been up with me all night.” “True, but I haven’t been driving for the past how many hours?”

Jessie straightened up and gripped the steering wheel tighter, pointedly looking at the road ahead. 

“And you’re going to sprain something if you keep looking back here like that.”

“I’m fine,” she muttered, catching a glimpse of Jonny stirring, pressing tighter into Hadji’s stomach. She also caught the brief smile faltering on Hadji’s face at the movement and how his arm tightened briefly once he settled. He’d been up with her all night and now he had spent most of the day watching over and clinging to their dearest friend, while she focused on the road to distract herself from the situation. It didn’t work, but he deserved the same illusion of escape she had.

“Fine,” she conceded. “We’ll stop for coffee and you can drive the next stretch of road.”

He nodded. 

She could feel his eyes on her in the rearview mirror. 

[juniaships]

Okay oc lore time

Jonny Quest the real adventures and the direct to video scooby movies takes place in the same universe. Myra is friends with the Quest Kids and Jessie Bannon.

Reboot (the cgi cartoon from 1994) also takes place in the same universe; Mainframe can access QuestWorld. Race Bannon flirted with Hexidecimal much to the horror of everyone else.

Swat Kats take place on another planet (nearly canonized in a scrapped ending for one of the episodes). I have a SK OC who works as the Kats' mission control/backup member.

Beau is a government agent who got cursed by the evil werecats; after their defeat died he was cured but had to send all his findings to the Quests so they can help the victims' families find closure. He then goes on to be an informant for various super teams.

Skysurfers also exists because that show was made by the same creators of Scooby Doo; Jack Hollister's father used to be lab partners with Dr. Quest.

Acceleracers takes place in the same universe due to being made by the same folks who made Reboot (being Canadian productions irl).

Mainframe and Cyberspace (of Cyberchase fame) may be linked, technically considers Mainframe a Site.

Gen 13 (mix of comics & the animated film) is set in the same verse. Unlike the movies Matthew Callahan doesn't die but remains under the custody of John Lynch; also he doesn't rejoin Ivana as he did in the comics. Also, unlike the comics Gen 13 actually has 13 members. They rotate time from time. Matthew is forced to be a part to undo the damage he caused working as Ivana's underling. Caitlyn is not his sister, his siblings are Sarah and Nicole as in the comics. Cait and Roxy are half sibs.

Im not sure if I want TFA in the same verse but for the sake of it yes; the year is current but still with the theme of Detroit rebuilding, to go along with Animated's theme of redemption

Jackie Chan Adventures are set in same verse as the 2006 legion of superheroes, the 03 Teen Titans, Xiaolin Showdown, and 2004 Batman.

GI Joe Sigma Six is set in the same verse as TFA.

GI Joe Renegades and Transformers Prime are set in the same verse detached from Sigma Six and TFA.

Universal's Monster Force is set in same verse as JQTRA and Scooby Doo

The 2000s Mummy and Tintin take place in the past; 1930s at the earliest. Bayformers and the live action Joes take place in that timeline's future.

Mummies Alive take place in San Fran and likely set in the future of the Mummy cartoon. It also takes place in the same verse as the 90s King Kong & Godzilla cartoons.

My Descendants rewrite takes place in a world where the heroes never agreed to send villains on the Isle. Instead the isle is simply a mysterious place said to harbor riches beyond legend.

Gargoyles, Atlantis, The Mighty Ducks cartoon, BLOSC, and OUAT takes place in the same verse. BLOSC is set in space and has a ranger from the same planet the Swat Kats come from

Osmosis Jones is in its own solar system based on organic body parts. Its "star" pulses like a heart beat. Sorry but I hate Bill Murray.

Loonatics Unleashed takes place in the same time period of the regular looney tunes; instead of being descendants theyre distant cousins. Acmetropolis is a mega city using Sumdac Tech

Zadavia comes from a planet English translaters describe as Freleng. The common export is energy crystals and its rocky deserts is a haven for geologists and unlucky miners everywhere

The civil war was sparked by General Deuce and Optimatus's betrayal

[cyberprincehavoc]

what do you think of fate, and why is it the best and sexiest ttrpg system ever written

I actually don't like Fate at all. I've tried to like it a lot, I've played it more than I wanted, but I just don't. every single session has devolved into constant meta discussions about if doing such and such thing is "creating an advantage" or a kind of attack.

fate is a good game if you want to play as the director of a movie or a tv show, or if your group is entirely made up of DMs, because you don't think in terms of "What would my character do", you think in terms of "what's the coolest thing to happen now", and most times I don't know. part of why I like RPGs is finding those cool moments happening randomly and organically because of the dice.

also I've always, always seen players struggle to create their aspects, or telling me they feel bad they chose those aspects because they're not being as useful as they thought, or struggling to create feats, etc. imo HeroQuest / QuestWorlds strikes the perfect middle ground to me between "kinda like Fate but not quite."

[ikindamaybewanthertositonmyface]

Oh good god the fact that they enter the Capone reality of Questworld and Gwen is in a dapper suit. If that isn't a huge neon sign telling us she is SO GAY then I don't know what is. GIVE IT TO US MARVEL!

[highintlowwispod]

Hi-lo everyone!! The crew/stowaways of this Trainwreck are back in action, but so are their Green Cloaked Assassin Pals! Hold up, there's more of these cats? Just how many people are they sending after Marianne, and where are they getting all of these matching cloaks??? 

Asking for a friend who would also really like a green cloak... for non-assassin reasons.

Episode 14 “See Bee Tee” is out and available for a listen now! If you are also looking to find answers to these cloak-related questions you probably aren't going to find them in this ep friends. But! If you’re maybe looking for info on How To Calm An Iimish, what's the Airspeed Velocity of an old can of beans, or how thick a Gatorborn’s hide is we may be able to help ya out there. 

And as always, if the spirits move ya, feel free to leave us a review on your podcast listening platforms of choice! As our faithful GM always says “give us as many stars as you think we deserve or, if you're feeling generous, give us a whole lot more.” 🧡

[morsrattus]

Chen Gar, the Snow Peak Hunter, the White Cloud's Shadow, the Silent Cat

The Cult of Chen Gar (COLD BEAST DEATH)

Chen Gar is one of the Cat Brothers, the mighty sons and daughters of Fralar Flesh-Eater. His grandfather is the Universe Dragon, his grandmother is the Brown Earth. Of all the Cat Brothers, he climbed the highest, higher even than the wind. He is the father of the Chen Ga, the Snow Leopard People, and their greatest god.

Mythos and History

When Fralar set the world before his many children to divide into territories, the Cat Brothers stuck together. They saw no need to fight each other for territory, not when they could hunt different prey and be strong together. Chen Gar made pact with his brothers, Hsa and Manurl, and they settled in the mountains and steppes of Pent and the Shan Shan.

Manurl chose the grasses and shrubs, for he was the smallest of the trio, and claimed as his prey the rabbits, the rats and the gophers. He made an enemy of Gord, but he prospered by trapping. Hsa chose the mountain lowlands, the river basins and the northern taiga, for he was the largest, and he preyed on the deer and yak, and even the mighty Damal and Lo Fa feared his strength.

Chen Gar took to the highlands and the snow peaks. He explored the lands above the clouds themselves, and in the sky he found a new creature - a fluffy creature, unlike any of the beasts of the land. It was white and gray and rumbled with thunder.

In those ancient days, Dark had not yet come to the sky. There was nowhere to hide in the blue-stained sky realm, save for on the mountaintops. Chen Gar had black fur then, for he had planned to hide in shadow, but there were no shadows in the sky. He could not hunt these new creatures.

Chen Gar needed new fur - a cloak to wear about himself as if it were darkness. And so he went to the Snow Woman, who lived on the mountain tops. "You are ever cloaked in white snow, Snow Woman. Tell me what I must do to wear such fur."

Snow Woman did not trust Chen Gar, for he was new to the mountains. "Go to my father," she said. "He is named Winter. If you can survive his tests, he will give you a white cloak."

Chen Gar honored Snow Woman with a freshly killed marmot and went to the north, where Winter lived. There, he met Freezing Wind, who also sought the might of Winter. The two traveled together for a time.

The two both spoke of their shared enemy: the Cloud Beast. Chen Gar told Freezing Wind about how it danced around the mountain tops, but could not be hunted. Freezing Wind told Chen Gar of the things that lived above this beast - the cloudcats, who could teach him their secrets if he could make them think he was a cloud, and of the Beast's true name: Uroth, the Blue Ram, whose children are called sheep. In thanks, Chen Gar taught Freezing Wind how to hunt in the cracks, how to tear flesh from bone and seek every prey, no matter how small. This is why the icy winds can chill anything.

Soon, they reached the throne of Winter, the icy peak. Winter received them both as honored guests. He met with each alone, and Chen Gar told Winter of his desire for a white cloak. Winter set many tasks before Chen Gar, to prove his strength.

Chen Gar hunted great beasts of the ice and snow. He tracked tiny rats in the ice caves. He showed again and again that his cunning was great and mighty. Winter was proud of him, and treated him as a son. Often, Freezing Wind helped Chen Gar in his tasks, a mighty warrior whose brute strength was match to Chen Gar's cunning. At last, Winter gave Chen Gar a great white cloak, which faded into the snow and ice with ease.

However, Winter told Chen Gar a terrible thing. "I have been seeking to give up my throne to a worthy khan. I do not want to be Winter's ruler, but only my true self, Himile, the Cold. I have been testing you to see if you are worthy. You have passed every test - but so has one other. I must see which of you bears the true heart of ice. You must slay Freezing Wind."

Chen Gar refused. "I have no desire for a throne. I am here for only one reason: to be able to hunt Uroth the Cloud Beast, who is my prey."

Winter became angry, and he grabbed Chen Gar and hurled him out. This tore the white cloak, leaving holes and damaged patches, which is why snow leopards have spots. Chen Gar twisted in the air, landing safely, and fled from the castle. Freezing Wind took up the throne of Winter, but that is another story.

With his new cloak of white, Chen Gar returned to the mountains of his home. He stalked his prey, watching as Uroth danced through the sky. This time, however, he was hidden in the light itself, cloaked in white atop the mountains. When Uroth was not ready, he leapt.

The battle is in the blood of all Chen Ga. In that moment, Chen Gar truly became the Snow Leopard, and Uroth became his prey. Uroth fought like a demon, but Chen Gar was greater. He knew when to fight and when to retreat, and forever after have the Chen Ga and their leopard kin fed on the sheep and goats that are Uroth's children.

The Chen Ga themselves emerged after the battle with Uroth. Chen Gar retreated to tend his wounds, and some of his children came to lick his wounds with him. Their wisdom was greatest of the snow leopards, for they saw that they had as much to learn from Chen Gar in his weak times as his strong, and that by tending to him, they could learn as well. Therefore, he taught them his great secret: how to remove his cloak and stand as Freezing Wind had, the trick of turning human.

Their descendants are the Chen Ga - snow leopards who can walk as humans. They know the powers of Winter, of Freezing Wind and Cold and Snow Maiden, and they know the ways of the Cat Brothers. This is the legacy of Chen Gar.

Nature of the Cult

The cult of Chen Gar is the dominant force in Chen Ga society. Almost all Chen Ga, male or female, belong to it. It is the cult of the snow leopard and the hunter, the exemplar for basic life as one of the Chen Ga. It sets forth the virtues by which the Chen Ga strive to live, and its rituals order their gatherings. When the Chen Ga gather together, it is the priests of Chen Gar who teach them how to live. Survival is the primary goal of the cult, teaching the virtues of hunting skill, stealth and endurance.

Depiction

Chen Gar is depicted as a very large snow leopard, or as a man with the head of a snow leopard. When in four-legged form, he is shown as sleek and with his black spots in swirling patterns. In two-legged form, he has dark skin and wears a large but somewhat tattered white cloak whose holes form the same patterns.

Runes

Chen Gar is associated with the runes of Cold, Beast and Death. Initiates who possess either the Air or Darkness Rune will have it converted into the Cold Rune at equivalent rating.

:COLD:

Chen Gar's Cold Rune manifests as his power over his snowy domain in the high mountains. He has relatively broad control over the Cold Rune in the context of snow and mountains, but has relatively little control over other cold weather or more esoteric applications. Initiates have been known, among other things, to use the Cold Rune to withstand cold weather, move unseen and without trace in snowy areas, cause or prevent avalanches, blend into snow, ice or taiga, call snow squalls, create crude tools or weapons from ice, preserve meat, fight during snowstorms or cold snaps, freeze things, make shelters in snow or ice, or safely traverse frozen landscapes. Those strong in the Cold Rune tend to be stoic, dedicated, and distant.

:BEAST:

Chen Gar's Beast Rune is focused on the snow leopard, and all of its powers manifest through his nature as the father of snow leopards. Initiates have been known to use the Beast Rune to transform partially or completely into a snow leopard, to fight with claws and fangs, to track prey by hearing or scent, to move unseen and silently, to see well in dim light, to climb and maintain balance across snow or unstable surfaces, to leave messages with claw marks, urine and feces, to stay warm, to strike down prey swiftly, or to safely move through their territory. Those strong in the Beast Rune tend to be cautious, cunning, and suspicious.

:DEATH:

Chen Gar is a predator, a hunter of great skill who kills calmly and efficiently. He wields death to produce food, and his command of the Death Rune is practical, that of a stalker and silent assassin of prey. Initiates have been known to use the Death Rune to kill silently, to preserve a corpse, to fight, to remove a victim's ability to make noise, to kill prey instantly, to prepare meat, or to terrify scavengers and competitors. Those strong in the Death Rune tend to be direct, honest, and ruthless.

Opposed Runes

Chen Gar is opposed to the Runes of Fire and Life.

Particular Likes and Dislikes

Chen Gar's closest allies are his kin among the Cat Brothers, most notably his elder brother Hsa and his younger brother Manurl. The Cat Brothers and their children rarely fight each other, respecting and sometimes even sharing territory.

Chen Gar is also a sworn friend and brother to the Freezing Wind, who took up the mantle of Winter's Khan. The two have a long respect, and Chen Gar helped Freezing Wind fight his enemies during the Darkness. He is friendly with the Snow Woman as well, but more distant. The god Himile, also called Cold or Winter, is also a more distant ally, who still somewhat resents Chen Gar for rejecting the throne of Winter without even thinking about it.

Chen Gar's greatest enemy is Uroth, the Cloud Beast, who is the father of all rams, sheep and goats. Chen Gar eternally stalks this creature, hoping to devour him. This has also made Chen Gar an enemy of Uroth's friends and allies, such as the West King Wind.

Lastly, Chen Gar opposes most of the Pentan gods, who take issue with his hunting, and the Kralori gods, who are ancient foes of his ancestor, the Universe Dragon. Neither can be trusted, and Chen Gar teaches his followers to avoid them where possible.

Cult Organization

Chen Gar's cult is only loosely organized, built around maintaining the clan ties of the Chen Ga despite their solitary nature. Most Chen Ga are members of the cult, which provides the education and training needed to survive in the dangerous mountains where the Snow Leopard People make their homes. Each clan maintains an independent cult, and each claims descent from a specific breed of snow leopard, each the child of one of the original Chen Ga that tended to Chen Gar's wounds and learned from him.

Rank within the cult (and thus within Chen Ga clans) is largely built around demonstrated hunting skill and ability to provide meat for the people. Typically, the entire clan will only gather at specific hunting festivals in which rank and prestige are determined by successful provision of large amounts of meat.

The cult's priests are its leaders, teachers and judges. They resolve disputes between Chen Ga, judge the quality of meat in hunting competitions, and teach the young how to be proper members of the clan. They are not, however, considered to rule the clan. Instead, the cult's duty is to name the clan chieftain, whose duty is to lead the clan in times of danger. (In normal times, the chieftain is merely given more respect than other Chen Ga and the right to choose the best part of the clan territory to live in.)

Priests

Chen Ga priests are chosen by other priests. Each priest may raise an apprentice priest, though they may only train one at a time. Most end up raising several over the course of their lives. A child or adolescent chosen as an apprentice priest is given over to the priest that chose them, who is considered to be their parent now. They are trained in the rites of the priesthood, and are given full priest status only after passing a test set forth by them from their priestly parent. However, a priest may only take on an apprentice after succeeding at one of the cult's rites of challenge, which demonstrate ability and earn Chen Gar's favor.

Rank within the priesthood is based on hunting skill and completion of various challenge rites. Each clan maintains slightly different traditions around the challenges, and a priest has authority only within their own clan. The highest ranking priest of the clan is the high priest, and may overrule the judgments of the others.

Priests traditionally wear white wool cloaks as a sign of their rank. These cloaks are cut with hole patterns that denote which challenges the priest has successfully completed.

Priests are required to spend much of their time traveling between the homes of clan members. They keep track of where everyone is living, maintain communications between families, and ensure that children are provided the education and training they need to survive. Priests are not given hunting grounds or homes of their own, but instead are hosted by the members of the clan and must be permitted to hunt in the territory of whoever is hosting them.

Center of Power and Holy Places

The holiest site in all of the world is the lair in which Chen Gar lived after his first battle with Uroth. It was here that the first Chen Ga were created, when they served and tended to their father and were granted wisdom. However, the location of this site has been lost to time; if it were discovered, the various clans would likely fight over who got to control it.

Other holy sites mark various deeds of Chen Gar, including several battles against Uroth or hunts of great beasts and monsters. The Chen Ga clans sometimes come into conflict over control of these sites, which are used for sacred hunts and other rituals and also tend to have particularly good hunting throughout the year.

There are a number of holy sites in the distant north, which mark the locations of great deeds carried out by Chen Gar when he was staying in the lands of Winter. These places are not controlled by the Chen Ga, but are sometimes the sites of pilgrimage, particularly for those undertaking divine challenges or preparing for heroquests. The most distant of those lie in the far west, across the White Sea, on the Glacier, but the Chen Ga are able to visit these distant lands only very rarely and so speak of them mostly in legend.

Initiates

Initiates of Chen Gar must have one of the Air, Darkness, Beast or Death runes at 1W or higher. Any initiate with the Air or Darkness Rune will have it replaced by the Cold Rune at equivalent rating.

Holy Days

On the first Freezeday of each season, the cult holds a gathering festival to bring everyone in the clan together for a feast. The priests provide the food, and it is used to check in on the clan and their needs in the coming season as well as to perform sacrifices to Chen Gar in thanks.

In addition to these seasonal holy days, the Windsday of Death Week in Fire Season is the Hunter's Kill, a celebration of Chen Gar's first victory over Uroth. That week is considered the most auspicious time for organized raiding, and the Hunter's Kill is celebrated by a competition for who can bring in the largest prey, preferably a sheep or goat. Massive sacrifices to Chen Gar are performed.

The Firedays of Death Week, Movement Week and Truth Week of the Dark and Storm Seasons are minor holy days. The priesthood gathers up the clan on these days to distribute meat and celebrate survival in the cold times. Those who provide meat to others are given special regard and are considered blessed by Chen Gar.

Finally, the Godsday of Fertility Week in Sea Season is the Birth of the People, a great holiday celebrating the granting of wisdom to the Chen Ga by their patriarch. On this day, all people are considered to get one year older, and it is the traditional day for children to be given names or to undergo initiation into adulthood. It is a day of solemn meditation on the true nature of life.

Sacrifices

All sacrifices to Chen Gar prominently feature meat, preferably the meat of lambs, sheep or goats. Offerings of wool or bone goods are also acceptable, as is anything of value taken from outsiders by theft or raiding, unless it is made from snow leopard fur or bones, which must be given sacred burial. Chen Ga are forbidden to use the bodies of their four-legged kin for any purpose, and must bury them with full mourning rites when a body is discovered. Likewise, they may never harm a snow leopard.

Subcults

There are many subcults to Chen Gar, most of which are dedicated to the ancestral heroes who founded the clans, or to great heroes in the history of those clans. These tend to be highly localized to specific clans. However, a number are more widespread.

Irbis, the High Seeker (COLD)

Irbis was the most adventurous and boldest of the first Chen Ga. He sought to climb higher than any other, and he made friendships with the cloudcats and storm tigers, not only so he could better hunt cloudsheep but so that he could learn the ways of flight. He is said to have traveled to the White Glacier in the far west, to even train under his father's old friend, Freezing Wind. His followers may use their Cold Rune to glide during snowstorms or to walk on snow as if it was solid ground. Irbis grants access to the Cloudcat's Shadow Feat.

Unciar, the Kinminder (BEAST)

Unciar was the most fecund of the first Chen Ga, the mother of many and the grandmother of even more than that. She helped establish the first territories, traveling with her children and showing the Chen Ga how to depend on each other without infringing on each other. She taught children how to hunt, young leopards how to court, and elders how to lead by example. Her followers may use the Beast Rune to heal snow leopards (including Chen Ga), sense territorial claims, or bless snow leopard kittens and Chen Ga children. Unciar grants access to the Herbal Healer Feat.

Idor La, the Princeslayer (DEATH)

Idor La was the most ferocious of the first Chen Ga, vengeful and unforgiving. She recalled to her kin the depredations of humanity, who took too much from the land, and worst of all, of the Son of Dragons, who had turned his back on the Universe Dragon in order to conquer the world, which could belong to none. She even slew the Son of Dragons' own son, the Prince of White Jade, and fashioned his skull into a gauntlet she wore over a wounded claw. Her followers may use the Death Rune to evade the sight of foes on the battlefield, to paralyze the followers of those they kill, or to make enchanted weapons from human bone. Idor La grants access to the Slayer of Princes Feat.

Devotees

Chen Gar Devotees must have one of the Cold, Beast or Death Runes at 11W or higher, and are forbidden the use of magic from any other source, as normal for devotees. They may belong to only one subcult.

Common Chen Gar Feats

Cloudcat's Shadow (COLD): Irbis sought to climb higher than any other, to enter the sky itself and dance with the cloudcats. When the snowstorms raged at their highest, he would climb upon the snowflakes and head into the air, disguising his spots so that he looked like a cloudcat, all in white. So long as the snow raged, he could fly like they did, though not so high. He danced in their shadows, up and down the storm, stalking through the raging winds and snowbursts. As the snows ended, he would follow them down, landing in the snow drifts and forced to land once more.

Herbal Healer (BEAST): Unciar revealed to the snow leopards, both four- and two-legged, the secrets of herbs, of eating plants to gain their strength. When one of her children became sick, she went into the wilds and sought out the secret herbs. She knew all the secret herbs, and she would find the herb whose secret heart warred against the evils of disease. She would take it into herself, chewing the herb and returning home. Then, she would release her soul from her body, combining with the herb's spirit to stalk and fight the disease within the body of her kin. Armed with the herb's warrior spirit as claws and fangs, she would fight against the evil disease and slaughter it, burning it away in a hot fever that she cooled with mountain snows.

The Hunter Unseen (BEAST): When Chen Gar took to the field to find prey, he would draw his white cloak of snow around him. He would seek out the greatest prey, the most delicious enemy, and would traverse the mountains invisible. Anyone that saw him saw only snow and dirt and shadow, for his cloak made him one with the mountains. No avalanche could touch him, for he climbed above them all, and no foe could find him, for he was the snow and the brush. He would stalk his prey for days, waiting for it to weaken and tire. He did not know cold, did not know fatigue. At last, when his prey was alone, he would pounce, shattering the spine of his prey in one swift movement. He would feast, then place the body in the ice, where it would last the season. In this way, the greatest of all hunters would never starve.

Slayer of Princes (DEATH): While Idor La was out hunting, her favorite little brother was slain by the Prince of White Jade. His pelt was taken and worn as a trophy, but his bones were cast aside like dirt, and his soul cried out in torment. This filled Idor La with a terrible rage, and she swore not to rest until the Prince of White Jade was repaid for his crime. Idor La stalked through the cities of men, unseen by all. When she passed the camps of soldiers, she was as a shadow in the night, her claws tearing their throats. She did not eat them, but left them as a sign of her fury, taking a bone from each one. As she traveled, she bound the bones together with sinew, making of them a claw. It took ten camps and ten bones before she was done, but it brought her to the Prince of White Jade's palace. She snuck inside, slaying any servant she met and marking the walls with their blood, that all might know her rage. At last, she entered the Prince's chambers, and she woke him from his bed, setting him to flee like prey. She hunted him through the palace, slaughtering any who came to defend him, and when he hid, she pulled him from his hiding place and lifted him to be seen by all. She tore his throat out with her teeth and pierced his heart with the bone claw she made. Then she tore his head off and stripped it of flesh, taking his skull and making of it a cestus to fit her claw. Thus was Idor La's brother repaid, for his killer was made prey, and he was honored by the bones of the dead.

Divine Retribution

Any Chen Ga who kills a snow leopard, four-legged or two-legged, will be cursed as a kinslayer. They are spiritually marked, causing a bad smell which makes them unpleasant to be around and which alerts prey to their presence. This smell also attracts nasty and cruel spirits in the form of biting flies and nightmares, which will both assail the kinslayer frequently. This curse can only be removed by performing a great rite of atonement requiring a pilgrimage to a holy site and the sacrifice of a great prey beast, along with the blessing of a priest of Chen Gar.

[thydungeongal]

You've stated repeatedly that D&D 5e doesn't possess the mechanics to enable the heroic-fantasy adventure that a lot of DMs/Players seem to think it's meant for. What mechanics would a game designed to cater to that manner of play and storytelling have? Care to offer any recommendations?

In my opinion for a game to really support the genre of heroic fantasy it should have at least some of the following:

Some way of character motivations affecting gameplay in a robust manner. D&D 5e has inspiration which can be rewarded for acting according to a character's bonds, ideals, or flaws, but it is so poorly integrated into the system it might as well be "your DM grants inspiration when they feel like it."

Meaningful nonlethal consequences. D&D 5e gives characters limited means of handling situations nonlethally, including combat, but for the most part combat defaults to lethal and the game provides very little actual concrete guidance as to how characters losing an encounter should be handled. Death remains the most meaningful, clear consequence in D&D, which means there's a risk of losing narrative continuity in pretty much every encounter.

Doing heroics should be tied into the game's incentive structures and in-game reward mechanics. D&D 5e by the book mostly rewards overcoming obstacles (with defeating monsters as the most clearly mechanically defined example!) and before anyone says "milestones" shut up, that's just putting more work on the DM instead of the game defining its own reward mechanics.

There should, in general, be a framework for handling more types of activity than just combat, and combat shouldn't necessarily need to be handled as a blow-by-blow affair, but this is something I think there can be a lot of variation on.

Games that I think fit the bill to varying degrees:

RuneQuest/Mythras: Character ideals like Passions are very well integrated into gameplay. While combat is lethal the game does a lot of the work of telegraphing that to players and GMs and since the game assumes that most opponents will be intelligent creatures with thoughts and feelings there's no expectation of "the orcs will fight to the death" which is a sentence I hate in modern D&D adventure design. While I personally think Passions could be better integrated into the game's advancement system, the way the game handles advancement through actually doing things and membership in organizations (integrating characters into the setting) works very well!

Against the Darkmaster (VsD for short): While mostly a very trad game in the same general wheelhouse as D&D mechanically, its lethal combat system can actually disincentivize engaging in combat for fun (not exactly heroic imo) and it actually provides lots of mechanics for integrating character motivations and doing heroics into the system, including its advancement structures! Hell, it even provides methods for corrupting character ideals and it has a clear campaign structure of fighting against a BBEG!

Fellowship: A game that very much approaches the same genre of fighting against a BBEG as VsD but from an indie direction, once again rewards actual heroics and building connections with the world over just killing monsters, and I mean that this stuff is already implemented into the rules. Also provides a framework for handling social situations, including making friends!

QuestWorlds (formerly HeroQuest): Probably one of the first "narrativist" RPGs (I'm only using that as a shorthand: GNS sucks), QuestWorlds is a very much a trad type of RPG but that approaches the act of gameplay from a very different perspective. Basically, the game has narrative convention built right into its mechanics. It is a very neat game and I heartily recommend checking it out!

Fate: I don't particularly like Fate but even I must admit that it fits almost all of my criteria there! It is more of a toolkit game system so some assembly is required, but I do believe one could easily run a heroic fantasy game using it!

The Shadows of Yesterday: Is a good game. I'm losing steam right now but like TSoY is a pretty good game and I like it. I think y'all should Google it, it's out there on the internet and you can just. Read it.

[lemurion]

Taking Doc Wide

If you’re observant, you might have noticed that the Doc Vandal Series is no longer available in Kindle Unlimited. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was a necessary one. Older fans of Doc Vandal might remember that I previously sold the RPG rights to the character and wrote a settings book for Chaosium‘s upcoming QuestWorlds system. The catch there is that the number one marketplace for RPG…

[unpossiblerpgs]

Q: How is Chaosium and its games affected by the Dungeons & Dragons' Open Gaming Licence controversy?

A: Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Pendragon, 7th Sea, Rivers of London, Questworlds and the rest of the Chaosium family of games are utterly unaffected by whatever happens with Wizards of the Coast's D&D OGL.

From the Chaosium FAQ