First Wave Victims: Stuart Hunt, Andrew “Tom” Taylor, Andrew Harding, Adey Garret, Andy Edgell, Paul Rayner, “Curly” Andrew, Pete Olive, Ian Wilson, Kit Pimm and more. Second Wave Victims: Andrew “Tom” Taylor, Stuart Hunt and Andrew Harding Third Wave Victims: Darran Happens, Craig Davies, Paul Davies and Leticia Campos
Prologue 4
Places 7
Personalities 77
Bestiary 133
Organisations 162
Cults 175
Illumination 201
Effects 211
Treasures 214
Miscellaneous 223
Encounter Tables 226
Campaigns 232
Games Masters 242
Epilogue 250
Contents 253
RuneQuest is a Trademark of Moon Design Publications and is used with their permission via the OBS Community Content program. For more information please visit Chaosium’s website: www.chaosium.com. The Chaosium and RuneQuest Logos are used under license.
Formed when the Man of Light covered a Chaos Army with lava, these appear to be a stretch of lumpy ground full of rocks protruding from a rock shelf below. The rock shelf and many of the rocks are covered with vegetation and shrub, making it difficult to see the individual rocks. The rocks and vegetation make this a good place for an ambush and it is normal to find gangs of Chaotic Creatures waiting here to spring out on unsuspecting passers-by.
Most of the rocks are plain, but some have been carved with runes and other exotic symbols. There does not seem to be any reason why some rocks have carvings and others do not.
Shamans may be able to detect spirits trapped within the rocks and they can release the chaotic spirit by smashing the rock to pieces. However, doing so is noisy and time-consuming so might attract attention.
Adventurers fleeing chaos monsters attempt to hide amongst the Bad Rocks. Sometimes this works, but sometimes the rocks cry out “No Hiding Place!” in Chaosspeech, allowing them to be discovered.
Scenario Hooks While passing through the Bad Rocks, the Adventurers hear whispering, as if something is calling to them. They find that one of the rocks is eroded away and is in pain. If they touch it, they hear a voice asking them to help it be freed. It has the ability to free itself, but does not have the strength. If the Adventurer gives it 3 POW, it will be free and will reward the Adventurer. What they do not know is that this is a hero of Pocharngo, trapped by the power of Stasis. Spending the POW gives it enough to cast Stone to Flesh and free itself. The Rock becomes a humanoid creature whose face and body flow and shimmer as it constantly changes. It gives the Adventurers who helped free it the power to command any one type of Chaos creature. This is effectively a Command (Chaos Beast) spell that the adventurer can cast using their own personal Magic Points.
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Most of the elves are immune or resistant to most of the poisons, but there are many Death Plants which even kill Aldryami. These are avoided by the locals but act as guardians against the Krjalki invaders. Sometimes a new plant will appear and the Elves have to find out whether it is safe for them. This is a tricky maneuver made by the most powerful of the Gardeners.
There are fewer animals and birds in Poisonthorn Woods than in any other comparable Elven Forest. The Elves do not mourn this as they see other creatures as intruders.
Most of the Aldryami in Poisonthorn Woods live in the Forest itself, usually in small family groups in huts made from living bushes woven together, or in tree houses in the canopy. Some live in small villages, consisting of several family huts grouped together. They live by gathering plants, but many of their bushes and trees have been planted carefully and arranged into groups of fruit-bearing bushes and trees, patches of vegetables and tubers or nut-producing trees.
Scenario Hooks A local healer hires the adventurers to take her to Poisonthorn Woods, where she needs to gather various poisons in order to make antidotes. She pays double the going rate and knows the way, having been before. She is a good guide and is allowed into Poisonthorn Woods, with the Adventurers. This could be a good way to learn about Dorastor and to gain contacts in the reclusive Poisonthorn Aldryami. One of the local chieftains falls ill and nobody can help him. One of the adventurers has a vision of a plant growing in Poisonthorn Woods that will help. All they need to do is to go there and take it. The adventurers are captured and taken to Poisonthorn Woods. They are invited to take part in a friendly game. They must eat of a certain fruit, or pick a fruit from a tangle of thorns. If they do so safely, they will be handsomely rewarded. Doing so means they are affected by a powerful POT 20 Poison. If they survive they gain immunity to poisons for a year. If they don’t, they come back to life immediately with no after-effects. The Adventurers meet a party of Poisonthorn Aldryami who challenge them to a Drinking Contest. Their drinks are POT 15 Poison. Any Adventurers who accept the challenge and survive, are hailed as Elf-Friends and gain the friendship of the Elven party.
Fully described in Dorastor Land of Doom p35, Bloodstone Fort is an impregnable fortress carved out of the top of a plateau. It has several layers of fortifications and traps, all using a variety of poisons. On the top of the Plateau is a great garden where the Gardener Council meets.
Few of the Aldryami of Poisonthorn Woods live in Bloodstone Fort. The Marching Aldryami are stationed here and the Gardener Council meet here but few of the Gardeners live here. Lookouts man the ramparts, a mixture of Elves and living trees, permanently watching for danger. If enemies appear that danger the Forest, a burst of pollen and scent radiates from special plants around the fort, spreading through the Forest. All non-combatant Aldryami retreat to Bloodstone Fort and the Guardian Plants are awakened and activated. It is not a good idea to be travelling through Poisonthorn Woods at such times.
Those fortunate enough to be invited to Bloodstone Fort will find a massive garden, tended by hundreds of elven workers. There are many herb gardens here and many small plots of trees, painstakingly grown. All of the plants here are poisonous to some extent. When a plant has been shown to breed true, the Elves will release it into the Poisonthorn Woods and will grow new plants in its place. Beware here, for there are many Warriors of Wood and Dryads lurking in the stands of trees. All have many dangerous poisons at their beck and call. All are deadly in combat. Do not eat of things unless you are invited - even Food Song will not negate the Poison of these plants.
This unpleasant place consists of a grove of trees and bushes where each of the branches grows into a sharp point. Impaled on the branches are hundreds of people. They are usually impaled on a branch, tied to a stake, so the branch can grow inside them, eventually emerging through their skin and allowing someone else to be impaled above them. Some Impaling Trees have three or four people impaled on a single branch and the largest might have twenty branches.
Those impaled on an Impaling Tree are kept alive by the tree, but in constant pain. The branches are quite flexible and sway in the wind, causing their victims to cry out in pain.
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Flowing from Nangtali’s Plateau, this skirts Ghostdirt Plain, marking the border between it and Poisonthorn Woods, then flows along the edge of Ash Flat, separating it from the Illlands, until flowing into Sweetwater River as it enters the Ash Flat. The Emperor’s Road runs alongside Muddy Creek between its junctions with Clearwater Stream and Sweetwater.
Muddy Creek is known for the ghosts that haunt it, washed down from Ghostdirt Plain, as well as the rafts of poisonous vegetation that periodically come from Poisonthorn Woods.
Scenario Hooks As they walk along the Emperor’s Road, the Adventurers hear a hail and see, on the banks of Muddy Creek, a couple of Aldryami. They were rafting down the river when their raft was attacked, causing them to lose some companions and the raft to become stuck. They ask for help in shifting the raft. It needs a combined STR of 50 to move, but the Elves only have STR 20 between them. If the total STR of those helping move the raft overcomes a resistance of 50, the raft floats again on the river. The Elves will give each adventurer who helped a seed that, if eaten, protects against ingested poisons for its POT in days, subtracting its POT from poison, but losing 1 POT per day unused. These start with POT 1D6+6. Walking beside the banks of the Muddy Creek, the Adventurers spot a small island of mud drifting down the river. It comes to a stop near them and they are attacked by 2D6+6 Ghosts who jump off the raft. If they defeat the Adventurers in spirit combat, they will possess them and jump into the river, trying to drown themselves.
Flowing thick and black, the Oilstream flows from the mountains to the south and enters the Sludgestream just upstream of the Sump. It forms the border between Benksland and Dorastor. The Benk clan know that they can set the Oilstream slight to prevent a Chaos Army from invading and that such a flame could burn for weeks at a time. They use the black waters as lubricant for their wagon wheels and mix it with straw to help it burn more easily. People speculate that this flows from an unknown Mostali stronghold in the Mountains, but who knows whether this is the case?
Scenario Hooks One day, the Oilstream is clogged with corpses, floating down from the mountains. On closer inspection, they are hundreds of Mostali, dressed in normal everyday clothing not in armor or travelling clothes. They have no marks on them to indicate how they died, but one of them has a large iron key at his belt. Perhaps these came
from the source of the Oilstream, which some think is a Mostali stronghold deep in the mountains. Who else but the Adventurers can be sent to investigate?
Flowing from the Bolini Mountains to the south, this clear water meets the Erinflarth and forms the border between Skalsland and Aggar. The water of the Skalsplitter is clean and pure, providing good drinking water to the Skal and Clan and their cattle.
Scenario Hooks The waters of the Skalsplitter run red one day, from dawn until dusk, with the salty taste of blood. Divination to the Erinflarth or Skalsplitter say that the river has been ignored for too long and will shed the blood of the Skal Clan if it is not honored.
This forms the western border of Benksland and separates it from Dorastor. Slimestream is known for the stones that line its surface, making it look like a canal. These stones are slimy in appearance and produce a grey slime that seeps into the water, making it slimy and foul to drink.
Unlike drinking Chaos Slime, this does not give the drinkers Chaos Features, but tastes so foul that anyone drinking it must make a CONx1% roll or immediately vomit, however anyone making the roll can eat anything poisonous for their CON in hours without being affected by the poison.
Removing one of the stones causes it to turn into slime and slowly flow back to the bank, where it slowly hardens and forms a rock where it used to be. Making a box out of the Slimestream rocks and keeping water inside makes a way to remove poison. If you leave poisonous things in the water for a week, it becomes safe to eat but foul-tasting.
Scenario Hooks A rite of passage of the Benkslanders is to gather in a group and drink the waters of the Slimestream. Anyone who makes the CONx1 roll and keeps the water down then immediately eats the fruit of one of the trees of Poisonthorn Woods, to test the truth of the magical properties of the waters. They sometimes challenge outsiders to take part in the test, telling them about the poison but not about the water’s properties. Eating something poisonous from a Slimebox is another challenge that the Bensklanders like to make to outsiders. It never fails to raise a laugh to see outsiders eating something to realise it is very poisonous. The Bensklanders clearly don’t get out much.
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Chaos Features: Confusing: Opponents subtract 100% from their
attacks when attacking him Awesome: Opponents must make a POWx5%
when attacking him or cower at his feet due to his awesomeness
Doubled hit points in each hit location Magic Items:
Club: This looks like a normal 10 meter tall wooden club, but it is the remnants of the trunk of an Aldryami Great Tree. Nobody knows which Forest this came from. All damage done by this club has a Seal Wound effect, so cannot be healed.
Sparkling Headband: This headband is made from the wool of Orlanth’s Ram and contains over a hundred POW Storage Crystals, giving the Giant King of Neverdead over 500 Magic Points to use.
Sacks: The Giant King of Neverdead has a dozen sacks all over his body, in pockets and toed to parts of him. These are magical sacks that change into mist with him, along with their contents.
All the Giant King of Neverdead’s items change into mist form with him
Scenario Hooks Somewhere near Neverdead, the adventurers see an odd sight. A tree stands majestically alone, hanging from its branches is an apple made of gold. It has two branches, stretching out from its trunk and a crown of branches at its top. A Scan roll shows that it has no shadow, a special scan shows that it looks very odd with strange proportions, a critical roll shows that it looks awfully like a very tall man dressed up in a tree costume. It is the Giant King of Neverdead, up to his tricks again and trying to ambush Adventurers. Do they fall for it? Do they want an apple made of solid gold? The Giant King of Neverdead is a thug, a yobbo and a hooligan. He has no finesse and no manners, which is why the Vampires of the Tower of Lead despise him. Unfortunately, Vivamort forbids his worshippers from attacking each other, so they cannot come to blows. They can, however, hire adventurers to attack and kill him. What is the price for killing a 16m Giant Vampire? 1,000L, 10,000L, 20,000L? The Vampires will bargain with the Adventurers and will come to an agreement. They will offer a stupidly large amount of money for the Adventurers to attack and kill him. Now, how hard could that be?
Born a Walktapus with a Chaos Feature giving it extra INT, Wallay found that being an intelligent Walktapus was no fun whatsoever. An ageing Priest of Bagog and Primal Chaos took Wallay in and showed him the
mysteries of Bagog, so Wallay underwent the Ritual of Rebirth and emerged as that dreadful beast, a Scorpion Walktapus.
Although not a Scorpion Queen, as Walktapi have no discernable gender, Wallay soon became powerful in both Bagog and Primal Chaos. It realized that it was powerful in combat and could lead its Scorpionmen followers to glory. Aided by its Primal Chaos ties, Wallay gained a number of Walktapi as controlled creatures and leads a pack of Walktapi and Scorpionmen.
Ralzakark is interested in gaining control of all the Walktapi of Dorastor, so Wallay tries to keep at a respectful distance from the King of the Broos. After all, Broo are immune to Wallay’s poisons, making them a bigger threat than he would like.
Wallay has heard rumors of a Great Queen emerging in Dorastor. As it is not a Queen itself, it has no fear that it would be attacked and eaten, but Wallay would like to avoid being attacked at all, until, of course, it becomes a Queen of Bagog itself.
Scenario Hooks While attacking a small nest of Scorpionmen, the Adventurers are attacked by four Walktapi and a Scorpion-Walktapus. It attacks ferociously, with 4 tentacles and a sting. If it looks as though it might lose, it calls its Walktapi to defend it and moves away. Wallay has heard that when Bagog mortally wounded Tobros, she left the tip of her sting buried deep inside him. That is what kept him asleep and stopped him from healing. If Wallay found the sting-tip,, it could add it to its own sting, making it more powerful, then he could become the strongest Bagogi in Dorastor. He is right, Bagog’s sting-tip is buried deep in Tobros’ heart, under the Gray Dome, but if it is removed then Tobros will start to awaken, causing landslides and earthquakes before throwing off the mountains and sitting up. This might take several years to happen. Bagog’s Sting-tip is a Sever Blade that doubles the venom’s POT of any Scorpionfolk who use it and causes the venom to take effect the round after injection. Wallay is not a Bagogi Queen, something that is disappointing, as it can never have a proper Bagogi Tribe of its own. It can also never become the Great Queen and take its rightful place amongst the Rulers of Dorastor. Wallay is desperate to become a Queen and has asked Bagog, but has been refused. If Wallay finds out about anything that can make it into a female Scorpionfolk then it will try and take the item or use the power and is prepared to pay handsomely for the privilege. Adventurers who can help Wallay become a queen of Bagog might make 1,000L or more.
Armor: 20 (Skin), 3 points on scorpion parts and iron plate on its humanoid parts Skills: Dodge 120%, Hide 110%, Sneak 120%, Scan 130%, Listen 140%, Track 200% Languages: Chaosspeech 80%, Tradetalk 70%
Magic Items: Iron plate Armor, POW storage crystals 10,14,8,12,13 (Total57) Treasures: Wallay has amassed 1,000L and keeps it hidden in his cave Ransom: 500L
Allied Spirit: Stinger INT 13 POW 20 CHA 14, Stinger is an awakened scorpion, SIZ1, with CON 20, Double Potency Venom and Invisible Until Attacks. It sometimes crawls on An Adventurer and stings them before jumping off and scurrying away.
Chaotic Features:
+ 10 POW + 17 INT
+ 20 Armor, thick skin Confusing, -100% Shimmer Defense Vampiric Touch Double Potency Venom No vulnerable hit locations, must be reduced to 0
General HPs to be killed Notes: * Wallay can attack with up to four tentacles simultaneously and sting the same melee round. It can also parry with a melee weapon. ** If two or more tentacles strike the same victim, they will constrict every round. Armor will protect only until its absorption rate is overcome, then it is broken. *** The gas cloud is systemic with a POT equal to double Wallay’s CON (42). All within its 3-meter radius must try to hold their breath (as per asphyxiation rules). If the gas is inhaled, the gas is immediately harmful—if the victim’s CON is overcome, they take damage equal to the gas’ full potency. If they resist, they still take damage equal to half the potency of the gas. Each round that more gas is inhaled, the victim must attempt to resist again. **** The sting injects a systemic poison with a potency equal to double Wallay’s CON (42) ***** Touch: If Wallay hits an opponent with a Tentacle or Sting, he can attempt a Vampiric Touch attack, rolling POW vs POW whether the touch penetrated armor or not. If Wallay wins the contest, the victim gives 1D4 magic points to Wallay. In this way, Wallay can store up to its POW in extra Magic Points, boosting him to 46 Magic Points.
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There are many types of spirits in the world, some material, others completely spiritual. One of the material types is the Spirit Warrior, whom the God Learners classified as a type of Combat Spirit or demon. Spirit Warriors appear as ghost-like, transparent figures carrying weapons and a shield. They are normally found as guardians of tombs or magical places. Spirit Warriors have POW and INT. Use the Spirit table on p166 of the RQG Bestiary to determine the POW of a Spirit Warrior, or simply pick an appropriate POW. Whilst a low POW Spirit Warrior is a reasonable foe, a high POW one is almost unstoppable. Care must be taken when using Spirit Warriors with a POW greater than 20 or so, especially when with low-level characters. Spirit Warriors attack with a magical thrust of energy transmitted through their weapon. They parry only with their shields, which are nothing more than a force field and cannot be broken. Note that Spirit Warriors cannot split their attack or parry amongst multiple opponents. Spirit Warriors have POWx5% attack and parry, they do their Magic Points in damage and block their Magic Points on a successful parry. On a special attack or parry, they do/block their POW instead.
A Spirit Warrior has armor and hit Points equal to current Magic Points. They reduce any attacks against them by their MP x5%. As they take damage, their Magic Points decrease, so their amour and attack and parry chances decrease also. Thus, they can begin very powerful but quickly become weak and are easily defeated.
Spirit Warriors are immune to body affecting spells such as harmonize, mobility, slow, or co-ordination and are unaffected by fanaticism and demoralize and similar spells. Damage causing spells such as Disruption, Shatter or Turn Blow have normal effect. Spells such as Bladesharp, Bludgeon, Crush, True (Weapon) or Great Parry have no effect when cast on a Spirit Warrior's weapons. Other spell effects can be worked out by extrapolation.
Spirit Warriors cannot be healed and cannot be permanently destroyed by physical combat - they are merely dispelled if reduced to 0 MP. They regenerate MPs as a normal spirit. If reduced to 0 POW, they are destroyed.
Although this is a standard Spirit Warrior, there are variations from the norm. Thus, there can be Scorpion Warrior Spirit Warriors with a club and sting attack, Griffins with Claw and Bite attacks and so on. Some Spirit Warriors use missile weapons and shoot arrows doing MP damage. Yet others attack with MPx10% or POWx5% or even POWx10%. Many other variations exist and can be summoned.
Characteristics Average STR = POW 41
SIZ = POW 41 INT Varies 7 POW Varies 7 DEX = POW 7 Hit Points: POW Move: POW
Armor: POW
Languages: Tradetalk INTx5%
Magic: None Location Melee AP/HP
All 01-20 MPs/POW
Weapons
Any (MPs) POWx5% SR 1 HP MPs
Scenario Hooks The Adventurers are exploring an abandoned tomb when a SIZ 30 ghostly figure appears in front of them, wearing armor and carrying a shield. It warns them not to approach and desecrate the tomb. If they do not go away, it threatens to attack them. It they remain or attack it, then it will attack. It subtracts 150% from anyone’s skill attacking it, has a skill of 150% and does 30 damage, so starts off very powerfully. However, its skill, armor and other capabilities reduce if it takes damage, so it is a matter of time before it is destroyed.
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This is a force of around 200 Broos, all of whom worship Yanafal Tarnils. It was set up about a century ago, when the Lunars tried to make inroads into Dorastor, as a rival way for the Humakti Broos loyal to Ralzakark. Lunar soldiers who gained one to many Chaos Features and transformed into Broos make up the majority of the Other Broo Legion as well as those Broos too weak to qualify for the Broo Legion. Members of the Other Broo legion see themselves as The Broo Legion, just another arm of the Broo Legion. The Broos of the Broo Legion see the Other Broo Legion as a bit of a joke, wannabees at best.
The Other Broo Legion is led by Karnavo, a Ram Lord of Yanafal Tarnils, who is a Ram-headed Broo with elaborate ram horns. He curries favour with Ralzakark and wants the Other Broo Legion to take over some of the duties of the Broo Legion, but is constantly and politely rebuffed. The Other Broo Legion is stationed around the Lunar Forts and trading areas. They are guaranteed disease-free and a Broo Priestess of Queen Deezola is stationed with them to ensure that this is the case.
The Broos of the Other Broo Legion are made up of the same groups as the Broo Legion, so they have the standard troops, the Elite, Castrati and the Unseen Guard. They also have two other Units, the Bombers and the Sisters. All their units are Clean, as described above.
The Bombers – Made up of those Broos who
Explode on Death, these are formed into an elite Suicide Squad that is sent on very important missions. Their sole purpose is to mob around an important foe and kill themselves, allowing them to explode and take out the enemy. They are encouraged to use Divine Intervention to return and serve the Other Broo Legion.
The Sisters – This unit is made up of female Broo, sworn to celibacy. It is one of the few places, outside the cult of Malia, where female Broo are open. They often embrace their femininity, wearing obviously female clothes when not on duty. This can be disconcerting to strangers not used to their ways.
Although they worship Yanafal Tarnils directly, the Broos of the other Broo Legion are encouraged to join The Seven Mothers and to gain access to the teachings of those deities. It is not uncommon to see Broos reading from scrolls or feeding orphans around the camps of the Broo Legion.
There is another Broo Legion in the Borderlands of the Lunar Empire that worships Yanafal Tarnils. This is
considered a separate Legion with different aims and ambitions. The Other Broo Legion is considered a part of Dorastor and the Broos of the Broo Legion of the Empire look down on the Other Broo Legion in much the same way as do Ralzakark’s Broos.
Unlike the Broo Legion, the Other Broo Legion does not support Arkat Humaktsson, as he is friendly with Humakt. This causes friction at Arkat’s Last Tower, as the Yanafal Tarnils guard there do not like the Arkati and vice-versa. The Other Broo Legion is not stationed there, as the Arkati will not accept them, but they do strut around outside making themselves seem important.
As Lunars, the Other Broo Legion is friendly with Lunar soldiers from the Empire and its Broos always strike up friendly conversations with them. However, they are often rebuffed and are not always sure why. After all, they worship the same deity and have the same aims, so why shouldn’t they be friendly?
Scenario Hooks Any caravan passing through Dorastor has an offer of caravan guards provided by the Other Broo Legion. Of course, they say the Broo Legion, but everyone laughs at that. If they are taken on, what do the Adventurers think about sharing guard duty with Broos and, not only that, but Lunar-worshipping Broos? The Other Broo Legion avoids travelling near the Wild Place, as it makes them behave more Broo-like and hinders their Lunar ways, but sometimes it cannot be avoided. What do the Adventurers think when their Broo guards suddenly start humping the pack animals? A caravan guarded by the other Broo Legion and the Adventurers is stopped by a squad of Sword Broos from the Broo Legion. They mock the Yanafal Tarnils Broos, laughing at their curved swords and their ram helmets, saying that they are wannabees. They also mock the adventurers, saying that they must be really shoddy guards if the merchants need to hire losers such as the Other Broo legion as guards. Do the Adventurers react? Do they come to the aid of the Broos and attack the Broo Legion? How do they feel, being compared unfavorably to worshippers of Yanafal Tarnils?
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The Cult of Primal Chaos is a fundamental one in Dorastor and has been described in Cults of Terror and Lords of Terror.
Life After Death: The cult makes no promises of a life after death
Reason For Continued Existence: Chaos is everywhere, chaos is power, chaos rules Dorastor
Socio-Political Position and Power: none, However, in Dorastor, individual Priests can wield local power, due to their following and their Controlled Creatures.
Particular Likes and Dislikes: Primal Chaos hates all cults that hate it and is associated with the Red Goddess, Seven Mothers and other Chaos Cults.
Runic Associations: Chaos
Inter-Cult Organization: None Intra-Temple Organization: None. Each temple
has a single priest and their followers. Centers of Power/Holy Places: Anywhere that
Chaos has torn a hole into the world is a Holy place to Primal Chaos. Dorastor has many such Chaos Places.
Holy Days and High Holy Days: None
Requirements: any member of a Chaos cult is a Lay Member of Primal Chaos
Restrictions: None
Mundane Benefits: None
Skills: None Spells: None
Requirements: Any creature with a Chaos Feature is an Initiate of Primal Chaos.
Requirements: POW 18 and must be an Initiate of Primal Chaos
Restrictions: None
Benefits: Priests of Primal Chaos have several benefits. o If they touch a Chaos creature can cast
Divination to find out what Chaos Features the creature has. They use this to pick out useful pets and to put together amusing bands, for example a gang of Exploding Broo.
o Priests of Primal Chaos can control unintelligent Chaos creatures in the same way that a Shaman can control Spirits. The Priest tries to overcome the unintelligent creature in a POW vs POW contest and, if successful, loses 1 POW for every 10 POW, or part thereof, the creature has. The Priest can now give commands to the creature that it must accept. A Priest of Primal Chaos may have up to its CHA in Controlled Creatures at any time and may give up control over one of its creatures at any time.
o Priests of Primal Chaos can set up an altar with a piece of mud and a sanctify spell. Worshippers have a 50% chance of any Magic Points sacrificed in worship reflected back at them.
Common Rune Magic: All Special Rune Magic: Chaos Feature
For a Games Master, Chaos Features are great. You roll on a table and get a nifty ability for an NPC and they use it to scare Adventurers. Then you roll on the table and get the same things again and again, boring! The obvious answer – A bigger table! Or lots of sub-tables.
Some people have philosophical questions about the nature of Chaos, about how it corrupts and destroys, so Chaos Features need to be those that weaken and corrupt those of Chaos.
Nah, let’s just give them cool abilities.
Some Chaotic Creatures have a chance of getting a Chaotic Feature. Nasty Games Masters might allow a Special on the roll to give 2 Chaotic Features and a Critical roll giving 3 Chaotic Features. After all, we cannot have too much Chaos in our games, can we?
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Dorastor is not only a very bad place, it is a very odd place. It has winds that strip the flesh from your bones, rain that turns you into chaos goo, land that explodes or collapses beneath you and much more.
The Effects chapter describes some of those, well, effects. Here we have Ragnaglar’s Breath, the Great Slump, the Rippling Hills and the Screaming Earth.
Games Masters are, of course, welcome to introduce their own effects, as the more things we have to terrify and terrorize Adventurers the better.
The weather of Dorastor is controlled by different, competing forces. Natural weather is the domain of Doburdan, the noisy but essentially useless Pelorian god of storm. Ragnaglar’s Breath is a set of chaotic weather that can be really dangerous. Finally, the Dragonewt of Storm carries a permanent rainstorm with him and this affects weather locally.
To find the weather at the start of a Season, or when the Adventurers enter Dorastor, roll 1D10 and consult the table below. To check what tomorrow’s weather is going to be, roll 1D2 and 1D4, the D2 shows whether to add or subtract the result from the current weather. However, there is a cumulative 5% chance of Special Weather happening, in addition to the normal weather. When this is rolled successfully, the chance for the next day reverts back to 5%.
For example, the Adventurers enter Dorastor and the Games Master rolls 7 on D10, checks the Season, Fire Season, and determines that it is Hot, Dry and Clear. Rolling D100, the Games Master rolls 20, so there is no special weather. Next day, the 1D2 roll is 1 and the 1D4 is 2, so we subtract 2 to get 5, still Hot, Dry and Clear, the chance of special weather is now 10% but the Games Master rolls 78, so no Special Weather. On the 3rd day, theD2 is 1, subtract, and the D4 is 4 giving 1, Warm, heavy Rain and storm, but the Games Master rolls 12 on 1D100, under the 15% chance and rolls .
Each region of Glorantha has its own Storm Spirit which controls the weather for that region. So, Storm Bull controls the weather for The Wastes, Thunder Bird for Prax and so on. Mostly, these storm spirits are unimportant and are rarely worshipped, but they are still present.
In Dorastor, the Storm Spirit was captured by Lokamayadon and was bound in an experiment to try to gain influence over the Storm Dragon (in fact, he managed to merge the Storm Spirit with the Inhuman King of the Ralian Dragonewts, creating the Dragonewt of Storm, but this failed to influence the Storm Dragon). This meant that Dorastor was without a controlling Storm Spirit.
When Arkat came and ravaged Dorastor, many spirits and beings hid away and escaped his wrath. One of these was the Dragonewt of Storm. As it contained the Dorastoran Storm Spirit, Dorastor had no proper weather of its own. The only rain which fell was blown in from outside, the only clouds were those which fleetingly passed by from elsewhere. This did not make for a pleasant place.
When Ralzakark was awakened by the God Learners he took many steps to improve the land of Dorastor which was then a blasted and sterile place. One of these steps was to replace the Storm Spirit of Dorastor. As Ralzakark had known Lokamayadon, he knew several Storm HeroQuests and began to search for a suitable Spirit. Eventually he made contact with the devastated Spirit of Ragnaglar, the Mad God and brought back his Breath to Dorastor. Ragnaglar's Breath was a fairly powerful Storm Spirit, being a grandson of Umath himself, and filled the vacuum perfectly.
However, Ragnaglar was touched by madness and Chaos, so his Breath did not act normally. The weather in Dorastor became unpredictable. Violent Storms appeared from nowhere and blasted the land or a small cloud would settle over an individual and would gently rain on them wherever they went. Rainstorms in Dorastor were often made of things other than water, the wind was sometimes filled with stone, dust or metal, and the rain could rip the souls from those upon whom it fell.
There are many more effects which could be included, these are merely examples of Ragnaglar's breath. The trick is to try and be inventive. After all, Ragnaglar is a deity of Chaos, Disorder and Storm, so anything goes! Try not to make everything acid as this gets boring after a while (Actually it doesn't - I never tire of hearing Players whinge about their precious iron dissolving and running down their legs!)
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1D100 Special Weather 1D100 Special Weather 01-04 Extreme Precipitation: Light Rain becomes
Torrential Rain, Light Snow becomes Blizzard 58-60 Rain of stones: Does 3d6 damage to all hit
locations struck by the stones 05-08 Extreme Temperature: Cold becomes
Freezing Cold, Warm becomes Blazing Heat 61-63 Beast Rain: A rain of frogs, insects etc., but
occasionally includes larger beasts such as sheep, horses or brontosaurs
09-12 Extreme Atmosphere: Wind becomes Hurricane strength wind, Cloudy becomes a raging Thunderstorm, Clear becomes no cloud cover at all
64-66 Soul Draining Rain: Drains 1 Magic point for every round the Adventurer is in the rain
13-15 Reverse Precipitation: Rain and Snow stops, Clear becomes Rain or snow
67-70 Diseased Rain: Infects anyone caught in the rain with a random disease
16-18 Reverse Temperature: Hot becomes Cold and Cold becomes Hot
71-73 Acid Fog: Does 1 point of acid damage each melee round you are in the fog
19-21 Reverse Atmosphere: Clear becomes Cloudy, Still becomes Windy, Wind becomes Still
74-76 Poison Fog: Poisons all within the fog, acting as pot 3d6 systemic poison
22-24 Sandstorms: Does 1D3 damage to all hit locations, this grinds away at armor and reduces its APs (who knows where the Sand came from)
77-79 Soul-Draining Fog: You lose 1 MP each round you are within the fog
25-27 Dust Storms: Does 3D6 damage to all hit locations
80-81 Suffocating Fog: Roll for suffocation while you are in the fog as you cannot breathe
28-30 Ash Storms: Sucked from Ash Flat, this suffocates all affected
82 Elsewhere Fog: When you leave you are in a different part of Dorastor
31-33 Poison Wind: This acts as Poison Gas with POT 3D6 (Ragnaglar has Bad Breath)
83-84 Peasouper Fog: visibility is reduced to zero, so you cannot even see your hand in front of your face
34-36 Acid Wind: 3D6 acid damage to all hit locations
85-89 Normal Fog: No special effects, but might mess with the Players’ heads
90-91 Thunderstorm: Roll POWx5% or be struck by a lightning bolt doing 3D6 CON damage, if you fumble you are struck twice
40-42 Spirit Wind: This carries spirits which attack in Spirit combat
92-93 Individual weather (roll again for type but only affects one member of the party)
43-45 Breath-stealing Wind: Roll for Suffocation, as the wind steals away your breath
93-94 Harmless but annoying (colored rain which dyes skin, foul smelling rain, wind which blows clothes and armor off)
46-48 Passion Wind: This causes a random passion in those caught in the wind (Fear, rage and lust are always good ones)
96-97 Reverse Weather (roll again but effects are reversed - diseased becomes cure disease, acid becomes healing, soul draining becomes MP boosting etc.)
59-51 Acid Rain: 3D6 acid damage to all hit locations (Ha, ha - see the Rune Lord's iron melt away)
98 Roll twice and combine
52-54 Poison Rain: POT 3D6 Poison affecting any exposed areas of skin
99 Roll three times and combine
55-57 Fire Rain: Does 3D6 fire damage to all hit locations struck by the rain
100 Heroic Fog – takes you to the Hero Plane to interact with one of the Mythic Events of Dorastor
Author’s Comment One of the Players in our RQ2 Campaign has fond memories of playing a Yelmalian with the geas “Never seek shelter from Storm”. Knowing that an acid rain storm was coming, he stripped off all his iron armor, as he did not want it to be dissolved, so stood naked in the acid rain. Oh, how we laughed!
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A copper finger ring engraved with Minlister’s Runes.
Once, Minlister served his ale to a boorish relative of Orlanth who drank every ale he could see and praised them all equally. Irritated that he did not appreciate Minlister’s ale, the Brewer created a magical ring that turned his urine into ale and gave the boor a flagon of his newly brewed ale. The boor drank it down and praised it as Minlister’s finest ale. Since then, brewers refer to Minlister’s Ring when dealing with boorish and unappreciative clients.
Currently, its whereabouts are unknown, but the Skinned Baby, an alehouse in the Seven Hills in Dorastor, makes reasonable ale without a clear brewing house.
The secret to making Minlister’s Ring lies with Minlister himself and he has probably forgotten all about it. HeroQuestors can copy Minlister’s act and make their own version, but they rarely do so.
When worn, Minlister’s Ring makes the wearer’s urine come out as a good, but not great, ale, fine for drinking at an alehouse but not suitable for presenting to a king.
Unscrupulous brewers might pay up to 100L for Minlister’s Ring.
A Powered Weapon looks like a normal weapon, but detects as being magical.
Enterprising HeroQuestors know of Magic Weapon HeroQuests that can be used to create Powered Weapons. It is forgotten who used the first Powered Weapon, but the knowledge has passed to many cults.
A new Powered Weapon can be made through a HeroQuest which normally concludes with the HeroQuestor fighting an opponent armed with a Powered Weapon, if the HeroQuestor can take the Powered Weapon then they can return with it.
Any attack or parry made with a powered Weapon sees its Level of Success improved by 1 Level, so a Fumble becomes a Failure, a Failure becomes a Success, a Success becomes a Critical, a Critical becomes a Special Critical and a Special Critical becomes a Hyper Critical. If a natural Hyper Critical is rolled, the blow cannot be improved, so the opponent’s roll is powered down a Level, making their roll worse.
A Powered Weapon is normally worth 10 times the normal cost of the weapon. A powered weapon that is also a Sever Blade is worth 20 times the normal weapon price and a Powered weapon that is also a Sever Blade that halves all armor is worth 50 times the normal weapon cost.
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The standard idea of Adventurers being arrested in some other part of the Lunar Empire, for example Sartar or Pavis, and being sent to Riskland with a pardon for all their crimes is an attractive one. It allows a Games Master to move a campaign to somewhere far more dangerous and exciting and puts the Adventurers into an unfamiliar setting, as settlers not killers.
“Anyone can farm, right? Farming is easy.” Well, anyone who thinks that has not lived on a farm and has not farmed themselves. Farming is a difficult job, full of hard labor and with little reward. Farming is a job for peasants, not for Adventurers.
Well, many people disagree and love to build up a stead, increase its potential and income, developing it as best they can. The Riskland Campaign is as much about making a stead successful as it is about surviving the horrors of Dorastor or Adventuring. Now, Orlanthi folk worship two main aspects of Orlanth, Adventurous and Thunderous, he is the God of Adventurers and Farmers. In fact, in the new version of RuneQuest, Adventurous and Thunderous are merely SubCults of Orlanth rather than being cults themselves.
How do you know if a stead is successful? The RuneQuest rulebook has a section on Sacred Time, where people gather around, take stock of their lives and do the book-keeping for the year. This is the best time to determine whether a stead is successful.
The stages of Sacred Time are: Worship, HeroQuest, Determine Harvest, Determine Income, Check for Aging, Make Family Rolls and Read the Omens.
All Adventurers can attend a worship ceremony and try to regain Rune Points. Adventurers without a patron deity or cult are at a grave disadvantage in Riskland, as everyone needs divine favor.
Some Adventurers might want to go on a HeroQuest to help their stead. Typical HeroQuests include: Bring Back a Ram from Thunder Mountain; Gain Dorasta’s Blessing; Steal Plant Magic from the Elves. A successful HeroQuest might give a +10% or +20% Bonus to subsequent rolls, an unsuccessful might have no effect and a disastrous one might give a -10% or -20% Penalty to subsequent rolls.
Determining the Harvest works as in the RuneQuest rules:
Adventurers in a long-term Campaign will have Omens from the previous year, or roll randomly for the previous year. Most new Adventurers have come to Dorastor from elsewhere, so the Omens should be pretty good, apply a +10% Bonus to the Omens Table on p421 of the RuneQuest Rules.
Dorastor is a dangerous place, so Raids and Invasions can be worse than in other areas. Heavy attacks by Broos and other Chaos creatures can increase the extra Penalty from -20% to -30% or -40%. Heavy Raiding is common, so steads often gain a -20% Penalty to harvest. Many raids involve Broos or Scorpionmen, so incur the additional Penalty of -20%.
Adventurers who engage in a little cattle raiding or rustling can gain a +10% Bonus to Harvest, but such deeds can have consequences in the future. If your stead is affected by Cattle Raiding or Rustling, treat as a Light Raid.
The previous year’s harvest can have an effect, but new stead-holders will not have a previous year, so treat it as no modifiers for the first year.
Some Adventurers may be Blessed by Dorasta or another Earth Goddesses, if so, allow them to roll twice on the Harvest Table and choose which result to take.
It is possible for Adventurers to make sacrifices to Mallia or Dorasta to enhance their Harvest, this can give a +20% Bonus to the Harvest roll but can have consequences later on.
Adventurer Income is determined according to the RuneQuest Rules. Each stead is a hide for the purposes of rolling for income. Adventurers who have brought back treasure from Dorastor will have a higher income than others. This is not included in the Sacred Time calculations of income, as it is effectively a bonus.
Ageing is handled as normal. Dorastor does not age people faster or slower than elsewhere. Some creatures in Dorastor have magical powers that age their victims, if this happens then the Ageing Roll is applied to the new physical age, not the calendar age.
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Your parries are at reduced chance, due to the Subsequent Parry modifiers. You can end up being swamped and a lucky hit could take you down and allow everyone to get a free hit on you.
A highly-skilled opponent with a skill over 100% reduces your combat skills by the amount over 100%. When combined with Multiple Attacks, in particular, this can reduce parrying chances down to the point where they can easily fail.
So, Karendan is a Scorpionman with 150% Club and 140% Sting. He attacks an Orlanthi with Sword 120% and Shield 90%. Karendan has the advantage, being the more skillful, so he reduces the Orlanthi’s Sword and Shield skill by 50, to 70% and 40%, this also reduces Karendan’s Club to 100% and Sting to 90%. Karendan attacks with his club and the Orlanthi luckily parries, but when he attacks with his Sting, the Orlanth has to use a subsequent parry at -20%, reducing his chance to 20%, he rolls 25, a failure, so is skewered and pumped full of poison.
Some creatures have special attacks, for example a poisonous sting, breathing fire or using a poison cloud. These can be used as a surprise attack in combat, if the opponent does not know about it, or just as a disabling attack. Walktapi can breathe out a poisonous cloud that can
envelop them. This has the effect of causing them to hold their breath or take poison damage, giving them something extra to think about in combat.
Jack o’Bears can Harmonize opponents, one per round, forcing them to stand stock still, this takes them out of combat and allows other foes to attack them at will. This can be terrifying, especially if the Jack o’Bear has high POW. However, as its Harmonize is the equivalent of 1 point of Runemagic, Shield 1 blocks it, so it is not that dangerous to high level, prepared opponents.
Lamia can use a love trance to persuade an opponent to become her bodyguard, even while in combat. This can turn the tide of a battle, as the Adventurers lose one ally and gain an enemy.
Vampires can Enthrall opponents, catching their eye in combat and making them slouch, effectively taking them out for the duration of the combat.
Ghouls can howl, potentially demoralizing their opponents, this is especially potent in a pack, as killing one Ghoul does not stop the incessant howling. Being demoralized halves attack skills, so makes it harder for opponents to damage the ghouls.
These can be very useful in battle and a good Chaos Leader knows what Chaos Features it has and which ones its troops have. A Priest of Primal Chaos can lay hands on a chaos creature and use Divination to determine its Chaos Features.. Creatures that spit acid are always good for a laugh,
as it ruins armor and makes certain hit locations vulnerable to attack by reducing the armor’s HP.
Breathing Fire can be used as a surprise attack in combat.
Highly Flammable creatures can be set alight by their opponents, especially if they use Fireblade, or can be set alight by their own side as it can harm any Adventurers nearby.
Poison Touch is useful if the Chaos creature can touch a foe. Poison is almost as fun as acid, except that it takes longer and causes Games Masters book-keeping headaches. I normally put a D3 beside each poisoned Adventurer, counting down each round until they are affected, it serves to up the tension and really worries them.
Some chaotic creatures attack their slayer in spirit combat after death. This can be really useful, as spirit Combat is harder to defend against while in combat, so can take out an Adventurer. If the creature manages to possess the Adventurer it can use the Adventurer’s body to fight the other Adventurers. Nasty Games masters might rule that killing the possessed Adventurer means the Chaotic Creature attacks the new slayer in Spirit Combat, thus starting all over again.
Explodes at death must be one of my favorite Chaos Features. As a Games Master, I love putting a bunch of these close together, in the hope that they set each other off, killing the Chaotic creatures but also some of the Adventurers in a chain reaction. The results of the combined explosions might be enough to disable or kill several Adventurers.
Stench Overpowering is useful, as I play that Chaotic creatures are unaffected, so it can disable Adventurers but not their opponents.
Hideous creatures can force Adventurers to become Demoralized, which is always good.
Befuddles one opponent per round in addition to other attacks can be useful to take out Adventurers who are not yet in combat, especially if done from a hidden place.
Double Powered Chaos Features are always fun. What’s not to love about a Gorp with 16 point acid or a Jack o’Bear Harmonizing 2 opponents per round, or someone with +3D6x2 POW?
Opponents capable of leaping DEX in metres are OK as a surprise attack, but otherwise that isn’t really useful. A leaping Brontosaurus or Giant can be fun, though.
