Magic Item: Club of the Beastfolk

Here is a magic item that was created organically from events in the game world. While travelling along the Harn Road in the Kingdom of Ivera, the party encountered a woman being hunted by a pack of wolves. The party fought the wolves, as well as the beastman who was summoning the wolves. The party looted the body and found a club covered in strange runes.

The club is magical but does not give a simple bonus to hit or damage. It is a religious item dedicated to the wolf god of the beastfolk. If you call upon the wolf god, there are magical effects you can invoke, including the ability to cast a Ritual. Of course, using the club may draw the attention of the wolf god. And the beastfolk will want their club back.

Club of the Beastfolk

This is a wooden club with a cold iron spike projecting from the business end.  It is covered in eldritch runes of summoning.

• Large Size. It does not resize itself for smaller or bigger creatures.
• One-Handed St+d8  / Two-Handed St+d10
• Weight 2

The club is a divine weapon dedicated to Croil Glon, the god of wolves, werewolves, the night, the moon, violence, fear, etc. If you call upon Croil Glon, the club:

• Acts as a magic weapon when determining damage against creatures harmed only by magic.
• Acts as a heavy weapon if you wish to destroy houses, ships, city gates, etc.

The runes allow the holder to cast a ritual in the name of the wolf god.

Ritual: Call the Pack	You call upon Croil Glon to send you a wolf pack to hunt down and kill one of your enemies.
Time to Cast	1 minute per round
Range	1 mile
Duration	Until the target is dead or out of range; or sunrise
Failure	You become the target.
Conditions	May only be cast at night. You must first sacrifice a sentient creature (one with at least a d4 Smarts, not an animal) in the name of Croil Glon. It does not matter when they are killed, just that they are sacrificed. You must name a sentient creature within one mile of you as the target of the spell. The wolf pack will hunt down and kill this individual.
Notes	The consequences of the ritual are usually resolved by a Chase lasting 10 rounds. 2d6 wolves will appear every round for up to 10 rounds. The wolves appear within 36 feet (6 squares or the same zone) of the caster. Although the wolves are magically summoned and compelled, they are normal animals in most ways. They are afraid of fire, and are blocked by city walls, a well built house, etc. They might lose the scent if the target crosses a stream, etc.

Ritual Magic in Savage Worlds

I stole an idea from Dungeon World and created ritual magic for my Savage Worlds fantasy campaign. In Dungeon World, a wizard may try to create any magical effect by casting a ritual. In my fantasy campaign, a character can take an Edge to achieve similar results.

Ritual Casting

• Requirements: Novice, Smarts d6, Spirit d6

This Edge allows for any magical effect: from the creation of magic items, cloud fortresses, or demi-planes; to the awakening of a long sleeping god, to invoking terrible curses. Etc. Etc.

There are always conditions that must be met:

• It must be cast at, on, or during ____

• It’s going to take days/weeks/months

• You must sacrifice/offer up/destroy/disenchant ____

• First you must ____

• You’ll need help from ____

• It requires the following material components ____

• The best you can do is a lesser version, unreliable and limited

• You and your allies will risk danger from ____

There is a new skill associated with this Edge: Ritualism (Smarts).

Casting a Ritual is a Dramatic Task. Each turn is at least one minute but could be significantly longer. Failure results in something catastrophic happening.

***

I plan for this Edge to be mostly used by NPCs to help explain the world. For example, the Hellmouth exists due to a Ritual, whether a successful one or one that went awry is still to be determined. 

For powerful rituals, there would be a corresponding penalty to the Dramatic Task. In Realms of Cthulhu, there is a spell to awaken Cthulhu with a -36 penalty. Knowledge of the Mythos, as well as taking extra time to cast reduces the penalty. More importantly, for my purposes, having others assist you also reduces the penalty. The need for others to assist helps explains the existence of cults and wizard schools.

There is not an Arcane Background Edge requirement for the Ritual Casting Edge. Anyone is capable of taking it. The relatively easy requirements to take the Edge as well as the need for multiple casters means that different groups of NPCs can use rituals for particular purposes. So a band of knights might have a ritual to protect one of their own when they are on a dragon slaying quest. A local thieves guild might have a ritual to keep their headquarters hidden from prying eyes.

Rituals in Dungeon World are free form and are created on the fly as needed. That certainly works, but I am thinking of something more formal. In the game world, a Ritual must be written down. A Ritual might be found scribbled in an eldritch grimoire or carved on a cliff face. 

Rituals also offer adventure hooks. There may be quests to find or steal a scroll with a particular Ritual written on it. Currently, the PCs are trying to stop followers of a wolf god from casting a Ritual that will turn the cultists into werewolves.

The open ended nature of Rituals allows for a dynamic game world. I will continue to explore possibilities as the campaign progresses.

Savage Worlds Fantasy Campaign: Desperate Times: Session Four

Real World Date: August 27, 2016

Campaign World Date: Palesun 1, Year 999


The Party

Khelgar Ironfist - A dwarven warrior who fights with a huge double-bladed axe. He rides into battle on a fearsome battle goat. Played by Jeremy.

Lilly - A human articifer with a pet raven named Malik. Played by Justin.

"Sir" Malith - A human sellsword who was involved in a regicide with another PC, an elf named River. He is wanted by the human kingdom. Malith wields a magic sword that once belonged to the demon Abraxator. The demon wants his sword back. Played by Thomas.

Runt - An ogre warrior whose head appears as a flaming skull. Played by Jacob.

Sluff - An obese ogre alchemist who worships the god Saint Stephen. He wields a large club with a bull's skull on the end and uses a door as a shield. Played by Heath.


When Last We Left Our Intrepid Heroes:

The party has acquired the fabled Fire Opal. They are on their way to the city of Narmer to sell the gem to the Queen in exchange for land, titles, and magic items. They are being pursued by the Beautiful One, a leader of the Temple of the Ancient Eyes, who wants the Fire Opal for his evil cult....


The Tale

Saving Meepo

• The party arrived at the Inn of the Sleeping Serpent [where the campaign had started]. They found their goblin friend, Meepo, about to be hanged by Wilma, the owner of said inn. Meepo's tribe had attacked the inn just a week before. The party had defeated the goblins, but not before the green skins had slain Frederick, Wilma's husband.

• Meepo was freed after skillful negotiations and a payment of the weregild to Wilma. The goblin told Sluff that an emissary from the Goblin Hordes had come to Cragmaw Caves and demanded that the Tribe of the Withered Arm join the Hordes. 

• The emissary reported to a goblin chieftain named Raggat (goblin for "Ass Face", the goblin had been cursed and his face looks indeed like an ass). Raggat is Lilly's sworn enemy. 

• Sluff, being the chieftain of the Tribe of the Withered Arm, thought that joining the Horde was an excellent idea. The party decided to finish their business with the Fire Opal and then return to Cragmaw Caves to deal with the Goblin Hordes. 

The Shieldmaiden and the Wolves

• The party proceeded along the Harn Road towards Narmer. They had stopped for the night when they heard a commotion in the forest nearby: a person running and the howling of wolves. A woman emerged running for her life with a pack of wolves on her heels. 

• The party moved to intercept the wolves. Malith threw himself between the wolves and the woman. The party laid about them with steel and magic, slaughtering the wolves in great numbers. 

• Wolves poured out of the woods in unending numbers. The party deduced that a spellcaster had to be summoning the wolves. Khelgar charged into the forest and located a bestial creature, an 8 foot tall humanoid with a bull's head. A beastman!

• The rest of the party moved to engage the beastman. Malith delivered the killing blow to the beastman. With its dying breath, the monster cursed the human sellsword. [I then promptly forgot about the curse for the rest of the night. It will manifest next session.] The remaining wolves scattered, the magic that had called them now broken. Sluff picked up the creatures club, as it had runes carved on it, indicating that it may be magical. 

• The woman's name was Gloria and she was a shieldmaiden for The Lady Kelsey Kincaid (hereafter TLKK), daughter of the Duke of Avigham. Gloria said that something sinister was going on with her mistress. Normally a kind-hearted and generous woman, the Lady was now angry, cruel, and bitter. Then, a couple of days ago, Gloria had been drugged and had awoken in a slaver's wagon bound for the Witchlands. She had escaped but a beastman had pursued her. Then the creature had called the wolves. 

• Gloria seemed very smitten with Malith. [Heath played the Love Interest Adventure Card with Gloria falling for Malith.] 

Runerock and Discussions with the Lady Kelsey Kincaid

• TLKK lived in the city of Runerock, which was on the Harn Road on the way to Narmer. Cateth and Black Jack wanted to move on and leave ducal affairs to the locals, but the party insisted on taking time to investigate. 

• The party talked their way into the castle and gained an audience with the TLKK. However, they flubbed negotiations with the noble woman and she ordered them to leave. 

• On their way out, though, the Captain of the Guards whispered to the party that he was concerned with TLKK. [One of the players played the Spill the Beans Adventure Card.] 

• Her personality had changed for the worse. 

• Something was going on in the dungeons. None of his men was allowed down there, but strange workmen with digging equipment had arrived and gone down into the dungeons, never to be seen again. Sounds of digging could sometimes be heard. 

• Two acolytes of St. Stephen were imprisoned in the North Tower. Supposedly, they had the plague, but the Captain had seen no evidence of this. Further, new guards had been hired to guard the priests. These guards reported directly to the TLKK, and not to the Captain. 

The Sage and the Wizard

• After being escorted out of the castle, the party decided to split up. Malith, Sluff, and Runt were going to see the local sage, a human named Vahlthruun. Lilly and Khelgar were going to see Lilly's mentor, Merlin. [Yes, that Merlin. Justin decided that Lilly's Friend was Merlin, of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table fame.] 

• Vahlthruun the Sage lived in a tower built along the city wall. The door was locked. A note stated that the sage was busy and was not to be disturbed. Runt smashed the door to splinters and the three adventurers entered. 

• Vahlthruun was home and was not happy about being disturbed. Today was laundry day and his servant, a young man named Sven, was busy washing the sage's robes. 

• Several intimidation attempts later, the sage told the party what he knew: Several weeks ago, a young woman had recently visited him and inquired about the Cave of Croil Glon. The cave was an ancient and evil place dedicated to the wolf god, Croil Glon. It was located under the city's Castle. The tunnels leading to the cave had been collapsed centuries ago to ensure that no one could use the cave. 

• Meanwhile, Lilly and Khelgar made their way to the secret entrance to Merlin's house. Merlin was a little scattered brained and paranoid, but he eventually told what he knew: there was indeed a false LKK. However, the real LKK must still be alive, else the magic that disguised the false one would fail. The false LKK also possessed a scroll containing the Song of the Wolf God. If sung in a place dedicated to Croil Glon, the wolf god, the singer would be transformed into a werewolf. 

• Merlin said that the elves of the Witchlands worshipped Croil Glon, and that the Witch Queen was probably involved in the plot. He grew quite nervous thinking that agents of the WQ had followed the heroes to his abode. He shooed them out and hid his home from the world, and the Witch Queen. 

Freeing the Acolytes

• The party broke into the Castle to free the Acolytes of St. Stephen. It turned out that the acolytes did not have the plague. The priests of St. Stephen had been entrusted with the secret knowledge of the Cave of Croil Glon and were tasked with ensuring that no one found the Cave. The acolytes had asked too many questions about the change in TLKK's personality and the recent excavations under the castle. TLKK had them imprisoned instead of killing them to avoid suspicions. 

• The Acolytes said that they knew of a secret way into the dungeons underneath the Castle: an empty tomb located outside of the city walls. 

The Secret Entrance to the Dungeons

• The party made their way to the graveyard and found a mausoleum dedicated to St. Stephen. The acolytes opened the doors with a key and then instructed the party to push on the sarcophagus located inside. Runt lifted the stone slab and threw it against the wall, shattering it. Not exactly what the acolytes had intended, but the way was opened: rough hewn stairs leading down into darkness. 

• As always, the ogres had trouble fitting themselves into the narrow passage, especially the obese Sluff. As usual, he stripped off his armor and lubed himself up with cooking oil. Runt decided to use Sluff as a sled and together the two ogres launched themselves down the stairs.

The Dungeons

• The rest of the party followed the ogres into the dungeons. A very long tunnel led to the dungeons proper. After a short fight with some skeletons, the party found a chapel dedicated to St. Stephen. Carved intot he alter was a prayer dedicated to secrets and hiding. Sluff, being a loyal follower of St. Stephen, saw this as a sign that something was hidden here. He ordered the rest of the party to leave the chapel. He closed the door, and then took off his armor and clothes. Naked, he then danced about and sang a song dedicated to the glory of St. Stephen. His devotion worked: a secret door opened. 

• However, it seemed that St. Stephen was a cruel god who believed in testing his flock. Wraiths flowed out of the entrance and attacked Sluff. The rest of the party charged into the room to engage the undead spirits. A great battle ensued and the party emerged victorious. 

The Demon Abraxator Wants his Sword Back

• Just as the heroes were congratulating themselves on a job well done, there was a sudden flash of light and puff of smoke that smelled of sulfur. To their horror, the adventurers saw the demon Abraxator standing before them. Just a short few days ago, they had killed the demon in the dungeons underneath the ruined Monastery of the Fire Opal. Malith had stolen the demon's sword just before it, and its demonic master, disappeared in a burst of hellfire and brimstone. It seemed that the demon had come for its sword. 

And that's where we stopped for the night.


XP
2.5 XP awarded. Runt earns 3.5 XP due to Jacob turning in the Legend Benny.

Character	Old XP	XP Earned	New XP	Notes
Khelgar	7.5	2.5	10	Rides a Battle Goat named Heath.
Lilly	8.5	2.5	11	Friends with a talking raven named Malik.
Malith	7.5	2.5	10	Married to Meepo the goblin. Gloria the shieldmaiden is in love with him. Can you say, "love triangle"? Carries an oversized demonic bastard sword.
River	8.5	0	8.5	Wanted for killing a human king.
Runt	8.5	3.5	12	An ogre of renown: 50% chance of +1 Charisma due to people having heard of his exploits in freeing the merchants from the clutches of their ogre jailors at the ruined moathouse near the village of Hatchett. Head appears as a flaming skull
Sluff	7.5	2.5	10	Chieftain of the goblin Tribe of the Withered Arm. Has a withered arm (possibly human) as a token of his office.

Magic Item: Demonic Bastard Sword

In Session 3 of our group's Savage Worlds fantasy campaign, one of the players played the Hidden Stash Adventure Card to grab a demon's bastard sword before it (and its demonic master) disappeared in a burst of hellfire and brimstone. This particular adventure card is meant to be used to find something generic but useful; not necessarily to steal a magic item from an NPC. I figured that I would give the player points for creativity, though.

I did not have a demonic sword ready at the time, but I created one using the Savage Armoury PDF for the next session. Here is the build: 

+3	Extreme Raise Die	+3 steps to the extra damage die this weapon gains on a raise.
+2	High Damage	+1 step to this weapon's melee damage die (e.g. d6 becomes d8)
+2	Summoning
+3	Reach
+1	Two-Handed	Requires both hands. Add one of the Two-Handed Abilities (see below).
-	Bastard
-3	Exotic
-2	Major Hindrance	Wanted by the demon Abraxator
-2	Carried
-2	Dangerous

I gave it the Summoning power, which allows the user to summon it from anywhere in the world. Normally, the demon would use this power to retrieve its weapon, but the player had gained the sword with an Adventure Card. So now it was the character who could summon the sword. I also gave the sword the ability to give off light equal to a torch. Being a flaming sword, this made sense. In return, there is a penalty to Stealth. 

The best part is that the demon wants its sword back and the character holding it has Wanted as a Major Hindrance. We now have a new antagonist and new story line for the campaign. 

 

Here is what I presented to the player:

Sword of Abraxator

This is an oversized bastard sword with hellish green flames running up and down the blade. 

Bastard	d8 damage one-handed, d10 two-handed
Balefire	Use a d12 instead of a d6 when you hit with a Raise.
Reach	+1" melee reach. Your other hand cannot attack in the same round you use this weapon.
Dangerous	Use Innocent Bystander rules in melee, hit self on snake eyes. You may not use a Benny to reroll this result.
Infernal Light	The sword produces light equal to a torch. At least -2 to Stealth.
Summoning	You may call the sword to you regardless of where it is. If it is physically carried or possessed by another person, you must make an opposed Spirit check to call your weapon. Success means that the sword appears in your hand. Failure results in a point of Fatigue that goes away after 24 hours.
Carried	The sword is too big to sheathe, although it still requires an action to ready before it can be used. Until then you are treated as an Unarmed Defender. You can strap the weapon to a mount or wagon, but then it requires an additional action (this one with an Agility roll) to draw it before it can be readied. There may also be problems with the local authorities if you walk around town and enter shops and taverns with a large weapon in your hand.
Wanted (Major Hindrance)	The demon Abraxator wants his sword back. Good luck!
Exotic	You suffer -1 Fighting and Parry until you take the Exotic Weapon Training Edge for this weapon.

 The Exotic Weapon Training Edge is found in Savage Armoury.