Note: This was originally written for a .pdf and because I don't know html very well, I didn't do much formatting for this blog-version. You can find the better pdf version here.
(1)
The Hermit of the Valley
You
are an middle age/old hermit who lives alone in The Forgotten Valley.
It is a beautiful, peaceful, fertile place that nobody lives in but
you. You've lived all alone for as long as you can remember.
You
have no weapons, magic spells, allies, or money. You live on the
plants you grow and are kept company by the songbirds and deer.
But
something goes wrong in the valley, and you have to fix it, or else
your way of life will end.
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#
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What Is the Problem?
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1
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There is a sudden drought.
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2
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You find an abandoned baby.
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3
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Man-eating monster awakens.
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4
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You find a cursed item.
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5
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Knights come; they say you're the
next heir to the throne. You must leave.
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6
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Elves say the valley is sacred, and
you must leave it or else.
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7
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Devil appears, and tries to tempt you
to live a different life.
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8
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Somebody found gold in your valley.
There is now a gold rush to get there.
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9
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Horrible pests appear. They are
eating your crops and will destroy the valley.
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10
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Tax collector claims you've “owned”
the valley for your whole life. Exorbitant.
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Special
Feature-
Optionally-
you can have your Hermit have one special trait, skill, or “thing”
about them that gives them a fighting chance. Since I like the idea
of the Hermit not having anything special at all just as much as
having something special; it can just be a 50/50 chance if you want
to make it random.
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#
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Hermit's Special Thing
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1
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You have a magic compass that points
towards anything you ask for.
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2
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You can talk to animals. You don't
know this is weird yet.
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3
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Your diet and solitary lifestyle has
made you as strong as 5 men. You have absolutely zero stomach for
violence.
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4
|
You read every day, since you don't
have much else to do. You know a great deal about a great many
things.
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5
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You are friends with all the gnomes
and pixies that live in the valley. They like you a lot and will
try to help you.
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6
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You know the recipe for a special
healing miracle tea. You drink it every day and have no aches and
pains.
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7
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You put your faith in an unknown
Goddess of Peace. She is very real, benevolent, and invested in
your quest.
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8
|
You have a ring of three wishes.
These wishes are minor, the jinn is weak. You could wish for one
gold coin, or do something now that would take an hour.
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9
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You once helped the lost child of a
lord. That was so long ago he's the lord now. He said they owe you
a favor; does he even remember you?
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10
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Whenever you get really drunk, you
black out and problems resolve themselves. You actually become a
drunken master, but are unaware.
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(2)
The Mute Advisor
You
are a scholar, librarian, and part-time mystic. For your great deeds
in the university where you work, and because of the fact you are not
needed to educate the next generation- you have been chosen to serve
as the educated, wise advisor for the King of the land.
But
there's a problem- you're mute! You can't talk. You understand speech
and written word perfectly fine, but you've never been able to speak.
The letter sending you to the royal palace makes no mention of your
disability; you are still expected to serve. How will you advise his
majesty?
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#
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How do you communicate?
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1
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Small flash cards.
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2
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Pantomime / Charades
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3
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Your narcoleptic hand-sign
interpreter
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4
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You know a small bit of air-magic.
You can use it to make smoke signals.
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5
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You carry a small flute or panpipes.
You blow notes and songs to convey emotion.
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6
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You have a magic wind chime. Whenever
someone asks you a question; it will twinkle if you would have
replied “yes”.
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7
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Wax clipboard to write on. (Paper is
too expensive). If it gets really hot, or a fire spell goes off
nearby you, the wax melts.
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8
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You have a pet parrot. You tickle it
in certain spots to get it to say certain things. Will say
whatever it wants if it can get food out of it.
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(Optional)
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#
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Extra Complication
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1
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You're deaf as well as mute.
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2
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The King is illiterate.
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3
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You were cursed as a child. Your
“voice” is the braying of an ass.
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4
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Everyone thinks you can still talk.
Must pretend you have taken a vow of silence.
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The Peril-
Though
you have just become the advisor, the Kingdom or the King himself are
in great peril the moment you arrive and require immediate attention!
Failing to do your job could mean the death of you, the King, or far
worse.
Roll
once on the Peril table. You could roll multiple times for several
years or seasons worth of troubles.
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#
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The Kingdom's Peril
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1
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An assassin is after the King.
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2
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The other advisor, who can talk, is
evil.
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3
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You watched the young prince commit
an unspeakable act against an innocent.
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4
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The King's favorite hound is actually
a trickster God in disguise.
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5
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The queen falls ill. Only you can
understand the metaphor and code the cure is as written in the
ancient book.
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6
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The Princess has been kidnapped by a
terrible fire-breathing dragon. Nobody else was there, but you saw
it.
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7
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The illegitimate bastard son of the
previous King has come to claim the crown as his own.
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8
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Extremely complicated trade
negotiations with the Dwarves. If the deal is not made, the
Kingdom will be impoverished.
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9
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There is a ghost haunting the royal
castle. It appears before you at midnight and says that in three
days; it will begin to kill anyone who remains in the castle.
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10
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The King falls ill and is on his
deathbed just a few weeks after you arrive. He has no children. In
his dying breath, he declares you the next King. You'll have to
tell this to the several ambitious nobles who all think they will
be crowned.
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(3)
The Hungry Beast
You
are a powerful, vicious beast of the wilds. With winter soon
approaching, you must feed on whatever prey you can to become strong
enough to hibernate and give birth to your cubs next spring.
You
have found a new type of prey. Weak and slow, they walk on two legs.
There is no fur to pick out of your teeth. They have terrible hearing
and smell; but their vision is good and they have many strange
weapons with them; sticks and stones tipped with bone and stone. You
have found your suitable shelter for your hibernation; it is not far
from the camp where these beings live. Feed and get fat for the
winter.
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#
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Random Prey Table
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1
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Group of 1d6 making camp. Killing
them while asleep is the safest.
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2
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One of the larger ones. Carries a
stick with a wicked point. Hunter. Fights back.
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3
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One of the smaller ones. Carries a
basket with strange herbs. If you eat her, you will get very sick.
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4
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Young one of the prey. It reaches out
to you not in fear, but to stroke you. It acts like a cub. You
don't want to kill this one?
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5
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Not one of them; but a four
legged-beast made stupid, fat, and slow by the two-legged ones. If
you return to hunt these a second time you will fall into a trap.
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6
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An old one of the prey. It will be
easy. The next day, you hear wails from the others as they crowd
around the bones and put them into the ground.
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#
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Random Den Special Feature
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1
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Deep in the cave, something sleeps.
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2
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Bats roost. Will they drink your
blood?
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3
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Bones of predators litter the floor.
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4
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Strange smelling air. One spark may
ignite the entire cave.
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5
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Bodies of your prey are here, old,
wrapped in foul-smelling leaves.
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6
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Strange markings on the wall. Don't
look like any claw marks you've seen. Did the tools of your prey
do this?
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The
table below is a list of beastly features. You may roll more then
once to shape your beast.
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#
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Beastly Feature
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1
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Round, swiveling ears.
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2
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Long whiskers.
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3
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Venomous fangs.
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4
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Three rows of teeth.
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5
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Retractable claws (on front feet)
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6
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Sharp talons (on back feet)
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7
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Black skin; can release a shock.
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8
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Tip of your tail is always burning.
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9
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Mimic the sounds of their pups.
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10
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One missing scale; over your heart.
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11
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Lure light; dangles from your head.
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12
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Bone spur; launched from the wither.
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13
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Quill-covered back, curl to roll.
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14
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White tail. Run faster then a horse.
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15
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Yellow man. Your roar scares them.
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16
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Twisted horn. You know their calls.
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17
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Play dead; release bad smell.
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18
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Eagle eyes.
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19
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Snake's tongue.
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20
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Opposable thumb.
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(4)
The Platinum Star
In
your world, powerful men and women with magical fighting abilities
are highly prized; they become popular and very rich. However, it is
a rock-star life style, leading to burnout, high pressure, and dying
early. These people are called Platinum Stars.
You
would have lived a normal life in the modern city where you live, in
a small and unimpressive apartment, until you revealed your power.
You have the strength to lift a small car, incredible coordination
enough to deflect bullets, excellent acrobatic abilities to jump over
buildings- and one power below.
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#
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Platinum Power
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1
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Insane luck.
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2
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You have a burning aura that augments
your power; growing with your passion.
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3
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The ability to slow time, while you
move normally, for several seconds.
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4
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The ability to teleport yourself
anywhere you can see; nigh-instant transmission.
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5
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The ability to unleash an unstoppable
burst of energy; must be charged up by hitting enemies and
expertly timed dodges.
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6
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If you can physically overpower a
foe, you can mentally overpower them too, supplanting their will
with your own.
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7
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The ability to create clones of
yourself. Each clone shrinks you a small amount and lowers your
power; but you can regenerate from even a single clone.
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8
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You can create fantastical weapons
and armor out of nearby objects. Glass bottles can become a
cannon, a leaf becomes a cloak that can make you invisible, etc.
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Being
a Platinum Star means great risk. While you have these incredible
abilities; you are expected and pressured to battle the foes, who may
or may not attack and kill random civilians and attempt to destroy
society.
Roll
once on the Foe table for each “arc”.
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#
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The Foes
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1
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Witches.
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2
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Angels & Demons. Mortals caught
in an eternal crossfire.
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3
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Strange creatures from the sea. They
get bigger week by week.
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4
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Normal people consumed by vice and
sin transform into aberrant monsters.
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5
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Abstract, fractal, fiendish creatures
from another dimension.
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6
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The Dead. They return from the earth;
powerful ghosts and skeletal warriors. They know all that the dead
would know.
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7
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Dog headed men who claim this world
is sinful and must be destroyed. Can perform miracles; but twisted
and evil.
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8
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War machines- contracted by evil
corporations or left over from a great world-spanning war.
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9
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Race of underground beings. They have
their own modern technology, a dark mirror to humanity and the
world above. Ruled by giant worms that can swallow cities.
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10
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Aliens. True aliens are rare, most of
their soldiers are people abducted, mutated, and act as sleeper
agents in society. True aliens are powerful psychics and
shapeshifters.
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(Optional)
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#
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Friend who gets you into Trouble
Table
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1
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Attractive childhood friend.
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2
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Nosy, overly-smart pet.
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3
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Platinum mentor who pushes your
limits.
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4
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Washed out celebrity. Brags about
being your friend- can hook you up.
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5
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Old hippy guy; insists the foes are
just misunderstood and you can work it out.
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6
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Your Platinum Star rival. Roll a
different power for them. They get more and more jealous the more
you surpass them.
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(5)
The Explorer
Never
satisfied with a boring life; you have spent your life wanting more.
After much training and socializing, you manage to acquire special
funding and a crew from the powers that be to go on an expedition!
Fame and fortune, but also incredible danger await you.
The
tech period here is up to you; but I imagine an early modern / age of
discovery sort of level.
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#
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Expedition to an Unreachable Place
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1
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Airship to a flying island.
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2
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Ancient tombs within endless desert.
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3
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Time Machine. Speak with the savior.
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4
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Steamboat. Find source of greatest
river.
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5
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Vessel to the moon; must make
diplomacy with the strange people who live there.
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6
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Submarine to an giant (air filled)
dome at the bottom of the sea.
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7
|
Method found to “enter” into a
painting. The world within is as the author may have envisioned
it.
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8
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Shrinking-machine; go inside a
person's body. May be tasked with “defeating” an incurable
disease inside wealthy patron.
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#
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Trouble Table
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1
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Hostile Natives.
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2
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Devious Traps.
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3
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Dangerous Wildlife.
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4
|
Vessel/Machine malfunctioning.
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5
|
Crew's interpersonal drama.
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6
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Getting lost or roadblocked.
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7
|
Race against a immoral rival.
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8
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Once there; you won't want to leave.
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9
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Patron insists on capitalizing your
efforts. You think it belongs in a museum.
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10
|
Secret society is against your
expedition. One of your crew members is a spy.
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The
crew are the important NPCs who will join you on your journey. You
may roll as many times as you need to round out your crew, or as many
as you could reasonably employ on your vessel.
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#
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Crew Member Table
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1
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Useless aristocrat.
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2
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Jolly fat chef.
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3
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Plucky errand boy / apprentice.
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4
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The Stowaway.
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5
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Studious naturalist.
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6
|
Cynical doctor.
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7
|
Kind hearted animal-handler.
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8
|
Self-interested mercenary/guard.
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9
|
The unusual, foreign guide.
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10
|
Loyal hound.
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11
|
Drunk, layabout engineer.
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12
|
Nervous translator / scholar.
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13
|
Dubious mystic.
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14
|
Hot headed youth.
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15
|
Cocky pilot.
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16
|
Oblivion-To-Danger Reporter
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17
|
Unhinged mad scientist
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18
|
Surprisingly normal explosive-expert.
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19
|
Weirdly obsessed Geologist
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20
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Insightful, quiet psychologist.
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Once
you've rolled your crew, you must then choose your role on the
expedition, picking whatever remaining job or role you would need on
this dangerous expedition.
(6)
The Guru
You
are a wise, reclusive hermit. You have rejected all earthly
pleasures, and instead focus your life on spiritual pursuits and
inner peace.
While
there were many like you, you once managed to perform a miracle.
Because of this miracle, it has proven your spiritual purity and
strength- it has elevated you from a common wise man into a traveling
guru, spreading wisdom and righting wrongs.
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#
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Your Miracle
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1
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Calmed a rampaging beast with a touch
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2
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Lit a candle in a rainstorm; did not
die out.
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3
|
Touched a warlord's sword; it rusted
away.
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4
|
Your sweat turned to pearls once.
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5
|
Shoo'd away dark clouds on a nice
day.
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6
|
Handful of maggots turned to rice.
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7
|
Put up a flag of peace in a war.
Flames and arrows just passed through it.
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8
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Arrested for begging for alms; the
shackles refused to close around your wrists.
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9
|
Young maiden lost her clothes. You
waved your hand over her; not one could see her until she could
get home and change.
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10
|
You once asked a tree to keep its
shadow approaching a hot noon to shade a dying man. It obliged
you.
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11
|
There was once a lost soldier on the
wrong side of the sea. You stuffed him into a pelican's mouth, and
sent him home.
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12
|
Once, a thief wanted to return what
he stole, but lost it. You pointed to a random spot on the ground;
there it was buried.
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This
miracle is something you did in the past, but does not necessarily
mean you can do it again. Divine inspiration only strikes rarely, but
you can still have abilities beyond the keen of the average man.
After all; you are a enlightened one.
As
a wandering mystic, you will come across a town which has been
consumed over a type of sin, or the entire town has been disheveled
by one single, especially egregious sin.
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#
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The Sin
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1
|
Lust
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2
|
Gluttony
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3
|
Greed
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4
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Sloth
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5
|
Wrath
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6
|
Envy
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7
|
Pride
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8
|
Attachment
|
Can you
mend the spiritual wounds and bring enlightenment to this place?
(Optional)
|
#
|
Town's Reception to a Holy Man
|
|
1
|
Total ignorance to spirituality.
|
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2
|
Feigned ignorance to spirituality.
|
|
3
|
Corrupting; want you to look away.
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4
|
All silent; except one true believer.
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5
|
Hostile. Close doors, throw stones.
|
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6
|
Pretend to have it under control; men
in false copy of your robes spout nonsense; pretend to be wise.
|
(7)
The Cursed Ghost
You
are a ghost. Long since dead, your spirit is vengeful, and carries
with it a deadly curse. Because of your unresolved pathos in life,
you cannot pass on to the next, and must haunt the living instead.
You
have a condition which must be triggered for you to begin your curse
on someone. Your only goal once someone has been cursed is to kill
them or hurt them by whatever means.
Optional-
since this character concept doesn't have a set “end” point or
victory condition, you could turn it around to say that the ghost
only kills the first group of people who activate the curse, and from
then on the curse is broken. Or, the ghost is a revenant who only
seeks revenge for those who killed it when it was a person. You could
also determine a special method of exorcism based on the ghost's
weakness that can end you for good.
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#
|
What begins the curse?
|
|
1
|
Opening your tomb.
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|
2
|
Sleeping underneath your sacred tree.
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|
3
|
Removing a paper talisman
|
|
4
|
Anyone who says your name.
|
|
5
|
Anyone who hunts one of the pygmy
rhinos that live in your sacred grove.
|
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6
|
Anyone who jumps over the wall of
brown stones you built when you were alive.
|
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7
|
Casting spells or “bad” spells in
the vicinity of your final resting place.
|
|
8
|
Anyone who tries to bring harm to
your grandson; who you'll never meet.
|
|
9
|
Your family left behind a large vault
of coins. Any bankers or tax-collectors who try to take from the
vault are cursed.
|
|
10
|
If anyone is killed by a cursed
dagger; you are cursed to pursue their family even in death. You
may be trying to break the curse as well, as you have no choice to
do evil.
|
|
#
|
How do you kill people?
|
|
1
|
Spooking them to death.
|
|
2
|
Freeze them with ghostly chill.
|
|
3
|
Spread sickness to the cursed.
|
|
4
|
Cause accidents and misfortune.
|
|
5
|
Can cause wounds to appear from your
invisible hands.
|
|
6
|
You can possess animals. While in the
form of an animal; its eyes glow.
|
|
7
|
You are a poltergeist and can move
objects around; trip people down stairs.
|
|
8
|
You can appear as anyone within a
person's dreams. You must convince them to eventually commit
suicide.
|
|
9
|
Your corpse is intact and can be
temporarily brought back to life. Every time you kill with it, you
regain some youth and life until eventually you could be reborn.
|
|
10
|
You can place a “death mark” on a
person's hand. Most people will reject or flee from the person;
eventually they will die from being outcast or killed by the
superstitious.
|
While
you may seek to fulfill the curse; you have a single spiritual
weakness present. The cursed don't know this yet, but can learn it to
hold you at bay.
|
#
|
Ghost's Weakness
|
|
1
|
Circle of salt.
|
|
2
|
Silver-lined mirror.
|
|
3
|
Sight of the Cross.
|
|
4
|
No power in the light.
|
|
5
|
Cannot harm a virgin.
|
|
6
|
Spiritual incense renders you
temporarily powerless and put you in slumber.
|
|
7
|
You are scared away by gargoyles and
ugly ritual masks made for this purpose.
|
|
8
|
Cats can see you. They can pounce on
you and pin you down until they leave.
|
(8)
Magic Guitar
At
the player's discretion, you can replace this with any other
instrument. (Or any artform; but will require some table rewrites).
You
aren't a person, you are a guitar. Magical, having been owned by just
about every rockstar and blues artist at some point, you fall into
the hands of a young, unknown talent. Your only “goal” is to
bring fame and fortune to whoever plays you. This game could also be
played episodic, traveling through different eras and genres of
music; with the guitar changing hands and bringing its abilities
along with it.
|
#
|
What do you do?
|
|
1
|
Grant creative inspiration.
|
|
2
|
Grant incredibly luck.
|
|
3
|
Increase skill and growth.
|
|
4
|
Grant incredible sex appeal.
|
|
5
|
Manipulate fate to cause one specific
moment to happen, or saving owner's life.
|
|
6
|
Find your way back to your current
owner, no matter what, until its time to move on.
|
|
7
|
Songs played on you are unnaturally
catchy and ear-wormy. Maybe only once per owner if you want to be
a “cursed” guitar.
|
|
8
|
Anyone who plays you gains incredible
fame and fortune, but from the fast rise comes a very brutal fall.
You may be “cursed”.
|
(Optional)
In
a historical or fictional version of reality, you may be the
instrument that invents a new genre of music when put in the hands of
a young talent, OR you may be a magical guitar that is incredibly
good at creating one specific genre of music.
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Random Guitar-Genres Table
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1
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Blues
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2
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Punk
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3
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Soul
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4
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Mariachi / Folk
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5
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Metal
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6
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Rock
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7
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Pop
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8
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Country
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(Optional)
Your
legacy ends when;
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#
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Guitar Destruction Table
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1
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Lost in a pyrotechnic fire
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2
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Buried with your owner
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3
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On a sunken ship
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4
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Broken when the band splits up
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5
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Left somewhere; slowly rot away
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6
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Held in a museum. Immortal, but
silent.
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7
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Destroyed by a religious / political
extremist group. Guitars are “too rebellious”.
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8
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The guitar remains, but the magic
disappears after a final, climatic performance that rocks the
world.
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