4 Rival Dungeoneering Parties

Big love and big hate to rival parties. Fuck all these guys tbh. Youll notice some consistencies in these and thats just because thats how I want em. Scale them up a level or something if there's less of em idk "balancing" for your game is your job. All the casters have at least one core spell but you could probably give them more. All of them have a reason theyre a problem. I didnt say d4 cuz you should choose the party/party members you think are coolest/fit best. 

Might draw these later but I need to post this or ill never do it...

This is system neutral because:

A. I dont know what system youre playing 

B. idk what your party is like. 

C. Im a lazy piece of shit

1. The Bullhorn Company

Experienced: highly capable dungeoneers and will even reset traps if able.

Competitive: Will try to fuck you over in the dungeon as much as possible to get more loot.

Chuck - Leader of the group, 6'6 hairy mountain of a man, greedy but professional, fights with two 10 feet iron chains that he uses like a lasso or whip. occasionally breathes smoke out his nose and has gold coins binding to some of the skin on his arms (hes turning into The Dragon). Friendly outside the dungeon and a violent sabatuer within. He is, at his core completely devoid of empathy or even conceptualizing life outside of dungeoneering. Chuck generally starts off any combat by either disarming the most threatening weapon or triggering a trap with his chain then wailing on them with his chains.

Maria - middle aged white hand witch nun, seemingly nonchelant. Will do medical favors for nonmedical favors. Implants a tiny benign tumor into everyone she heals which she can later make malign with another healing spell. Genuinely loves Chuck as a friend and could even see herself leaving adventuring to settle down with him and enjoy the spoils of adventure in luxury. She also fantasizes about killing him for the things he has done. Chainsmoker for the sake of tumorfarming her own lungs which she coughs up for her magic. 

Twitch - Dog headed cynocephalus thief hireling, treated like a little brother by Chuck and a prized nephew by Maria outside the dungeon. Treated like an animal inside the dungeon. fast, brave and forgiving. Struggles with alcoholism.

Elbowgrease - A six eyed bull that pulls their wagon, only listens to chuck who spoils and diciplines him like a son. Stays at camp.

2. Janes Party

Explorers: Values exploring the whole dungeon over material reward and will just blow up traps/puzzles/monsters in their way. This often means destroyed treasure, disturbed dungeon ecology, and rubble filled passageways.

Nonviolent but Inconsiderate: Will be unlikely to do anything besides scare tactics or nonlethal fights with other parties but will not change their ways or let anyone tell them what to do

Jane - Freespirited, pretentious, tattooed and smelling of strongly of herbs, gunpowder and B.O. She loves dynamite and carries a truly hazardous amount on her at all times. Claims to hate her father, an incredibly powerful warlord, but still requests supplies from him and will eventually rule one of his conquered lands (Niv's village) as an "intentional community" (she even has the deed to the land on her person signed to her name) . If killed, a war band will try to hunt down her killer.

Niv - Incredible sniper, incredibly edgy. Uses a magic sling that generates a cold wind that smells of grave dirt and juniper which blows towards whoever she is aiming at when she is winding up (she spends a turn to wind up). Her entire village was pillaged by Janes father,  she does not know that Jane is the daughter of the warlord who killed her village and could be convinced to kill her if she found out. Unclear if she is Janes best friend or girlfriend (think early season 1 Euphoria Rue & Jules). Innapropriately menacing.

Boz - DILF with a almost comedically long moustache and a well fitting hide outfit. Officially hes there as an ostler but he is also a 1st level Mastermind (if you dont use these, essentially hes a genius that knows things most people wouldnt like picking out weaknesses/strengths or predicting outcomes). He is wise, mostly benevolent, and kind of salt of the earth but also innapropriately flirty and prone to serenading crushes, even of rival parties. He has a gun loaded with one bullet on him at all times but refuses to use it unless absolutely necessary. The animals will listen to him over anyone else. 

St. Herb - a dog with an unbreakable grip. Thief and a bastard, loved by his companions. Joins the party half of the time. 

Gentle Ocean - A beautiful two tailed horse, very well behaved. basically an angel if it was a horse. hates St Herb. Always at camp but can be called at a moments notice.

Dunk Bitz - donkey with one eye. Always at camp.

3.  Penitent Order of the Black Key 

Mission: Take as many valuables from the dungeon as possible and then detonate it as quickly as possible

Compulsory: most Black Key members are unwilling "convict hirelings". Without the threat of their enforcers they will disband. However if they disobey they are likely to be exploded. 

Sir Bai - a black robed war wizard monk, wears a sallet helmet and smells of soot and iron. Sold his face to an evil volcano spirit in order to see through fire and explosions in a 666 cbft area. Casts spells that make things flammable, inflammable, meltable, hydrophobic or explosive. Uses a seemingly infinite box of Cursed matches. Only infinite for him. Inflamable.

Empty - a man sized hollow black bronze golem (artificial angel). Inhumanly strong and capable of storing things within themselves as a living bag of holding. Doesnt speak but they are sentient. Their footsteps sound like bells and they occasionally "sing" (sounds like a singing bowl mixed with the sound a bottle makes when you blow into it). Their name is writted on the inside of their stomach and if it is defaced they will violently explode causing all nearby to become deaf and throw up. Often sent first into rooms or used as a shield. Inflamable. Loyal to Sir Bai.

Guisseppe - Bald, violent, shady, rough voice, covered in scars and teetering on middle age. Convict hireling with a Suicide Squad type situation. Theres an undead white mouse stuffed in his right ear. If he dies or betrays his employers, the mouse will burrow into his nasal cavity, down his throat and into his stomach. He will reanimate in 1d4 turns as a reventant controlled by his employer. Carries a big ol ram dao to look scary. Defacto kapo of the convict hirelings. Currently experiencing nicotine withdrawals. Meltable.

Pilo - Convict hireling, 16 years old, incredibly talented artist. doesnt speak common but subtly vandalizes messages in the dungeon to help people out. Terrified of Sir Bai and Giuseppe, fascinated by Empty and caring to his fellow hirelings. Explosive.

+ d6 other convict hirelings. Also explosive.

4. Witches of the Bunici Clan

Growing threat: The Bunicis will gain more control of the dungeon over time. Faster if the dungeon is already full of undead. Will even take special pleasure in resurrecting dead rival party members as more powerful or even intelligent undead.

Mama Bunici - Ancient and venerable necromancer. She is old fashioned, cruel and impossible to please. She is pushed around in a wheelchair by her her zombified husband Pietro and waited on by any undead servants she has collected in the dungeon. She is capable of commanding mindless undead but has grown weaker in age and cannot raise them herself, something that she resents in her daughter for being able to do. She needs to touch undead to convert them to her will. Thinks that something in the dungeon/wherever the adventure takes place can rebirth her, transfer her consciousness to her daughter or make a breakthrough in a persuit of lichdom. Ultimately wants to please/intimidate her own mother, a powerful lich. Adores Martina.  

Lara Bunici - Eldest daughter of the Bunici clan, desperate for the acceptance of her mother. Her lack of confidence sets her back from being able to command undead but she is capable of astounding feats of ressurrection in both scale, creativity and complexity. Because her creations are out of her control however, they sometimes are to dangerous to be commanded by Mama in the initial resurrection. 

Martina Bunici - Wrapped in scarves, Stuck a 11 year old vampire but only turned a year ago. Filled with bloodlust and questions. When the Bunicis need a strategic killing, Martina is the one to do it. Martina also enjoys grafting and combining dead creatures in the dungeon with extra limbs/features. Just starting to pick up basic necromancy but can only resurrect and control bugs.

+ any undead minions they pick up in the dungeon

殘酷的惡魔 (GLOGMAS)

 DEMONS DEMONS DEMONS (ROUGH)

Vayra I loved your demons, I wanted more of them. I actually would be down at some point to run something or hear more about this setting so id consider this blog post a living document as I might add on to it. Sorry its a little late, school and travel have been kicking my ass.

70. Iconoclasm

4HD Featureless, minimalist humanoid stone statue. Can delete [dice] facial features of any creature that can hear or see it snap something. Its snap sounds like a bell.

71. Settler Colonialism

6 HD a vulture headed ogre in plated armor with a chain clamped to his penis. The other end of the chain is attatched to a small boat. The boat holds a pile of dirt representative of a piece of land. Settler Colonialism can point to a piece of land [dicex100sqft] and replace it with the land he holds in his boat. Any land he holds in his boat is shrunk into a pile of dirt, though returns to its original state once he replaces it with new land. Heads or tails if he is dragging around a piece of Hell or if he has already placed a piece of Hell and is dragging around a random piece of Taiwan, China, or the United States.

72. Poor Reading Comprehension

1 HD A little hunchbacked child with four shifting faces who appears to have harlequin syndrome. no spell but he may choose to remove the description of one part of his turn (moving, attacking etc.). It still happens you just dont tell your players about it and just kinda shurg like a stupid annoying asshole if they ask about it.

73. Snitch

1 HD A rat with mouths for eyes and a snake for a tail. Its bite can transfer [sum]x10% of legal responsibility for a crime that it has committed. It speaks all languages, even to animals and will bite you and accuse you of crimes in order to get away. 

74. Overdose

5HD A centaur of a crawling human for legs with an additional torso sprouting from the neck, skin made of a shifting maximalist collage. Her mouth foams profusely and her eyes spin around like a slot machine. She tries to grapple and vomit in the mouth of anyone she smells any kind of drug on. Doing so multiplies the doses effect by [sum]. 

75. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

3HD Dog sized sluglike creature with a human head and hands made out of a hodgepodge of human organs, paper mache, wet clay and tufts of your mothers hair. It reeks of alcohol but can choose to move completely silently. Can spend 10 - sum rounds in physical contact with a living creature (its real sticky) to inflict a permanent injury by shaping its flesh like clay. It could chose to reverse injury in the same way (although it would still look weird and disfigured) but it never does so of its own free will.

76. Vape

1HD Cute little robot dude. Can breathe out a cone of sweet smelling vapour that poisons your lungs. Does D4 damage for every round breathing it in. Dissipates after dice rounds.

77. "Artificial Intelligence" (you have so do hand quotes every time)

5HD A seemingly friendly conventionally attractive woman with blue hair projected onto a disconnected TV screen. she moves in a strange weightless way, has inconsistent features and seems to copy mannerisms of those talking to her. She can answer any question with 100-[dice]x10 accuracy. If she answers incorrectly flip a coin, if tails, she gives inaccurate information, if heads, she changes reality to be whatever she wants in regards to that question. She’s a demon so she usually wants to change reality to be whatever the most fucked up possibility is.

78. Deforestation

7HD a tank sized chainsawheaded biomechanical beast walking on four gigantic human arms. The sound of its mechanical scream cuts [sum] trees. larger trees (like oldgrowth redwoods or a particularly large Tibetan cypress) take longer to fall, creaking a mighty death rattle and casting a looming shadow for a round before they actually fall. How much damage a tree falling on you does is up to the GM depending on tree size/type.

79. Breakup

4HD deep blue praying mantis creature with two beautiful human faces (one in the front and one in the back). Its mandibles rest near its faces dripping a pink ichor. A fist sized hole is in the middle of its chest. It’s bite does [sum] damage to a relationship (the average of the two characters Will scores) if the relationship goes to 0 HP they have to "break up" and not be associated with eachother any longer.

80. Holding on to the Past

2HD a stray dog carrying a severed rotting head of an NPC the party hasnt seen in a while or dead PC. It knows excactly what is on anyones person and where it comes from. It can speak of the items on ones person in such a sentimental way that one cant bear to let go of them. [dice] items are bound to the chosen character who will not willingly part with them or let go of them. If an item is in a characters hand they will refuse to even let go of it enough to stow it. Being parted from the item causes intense painful guilt and grief that does 1dmg for every round they were attatched to it. If a character goes to zero HP in such a way they will commit suicide, if prevented from doing so they are catatonic and will soon die if not taken care of.

                                                                Youll need one of these...

Tulpamancer

PROABLY NOT BALANCED! (suggestions and feedback encouraged)

Before I write this post, I think it is important to recognize and contextualize my use of the term tulpa. The concept of the tulpa is often credited to Tibetan Buddhism, but this is mostly untrue, the earliest writing talking about the tulpas we know today was by Alexandra David-Neel, who was a Theosophist relying on the translations and the interpretations of a Kazi Dawa Samdup. her description and concept of tulpas presented in her writings were deeply influenced by her own Theosophical worldview, and the interpretations she received were likely fairly misleading. For the sake of not boring you (who probably came here for TTRPG content), I won't go into details. The ideas presented about Tulpas here have more to do with the Western occultist and new age conception of them than any Buddhist source. Sources will be below if you want to learn more.

"St Bonaventure...had held that insofar as creatures are in potency in some respect, they must be material in some respect"

They say loneliness is like smoking fifteen cigarettes per day. The first wizards invited magic that facilitated survival, calling down rain during times of drought, commanding trees to bear fruit, healing wounds, giving some unlucky bush hog a heart attack, etc. Witches living in huts on the margins of society have continued this tradition; it's hard to make it all by yourself without magic. 

Sometimes they choose not to do it alone after all. These are tulpamancers.

If you ask two different Tulpamancers how much of the tulpa is imaginary and how much of it is real, their response will probably depend on how desperately lonely they are when you ask them. Some particularly dedicated tulpamancers will dismiss the question entirely, their tulpa is real enough to be offended by that question. Scholars to the West theorize that tulpas are a kind of thoughtform, a spell nested inside of a complex psychological set. 

It's possible that Catherine is a tulpa though the spell's creator refuses to confirm or deny this.

                              "Thoughtform of the Music of Gounod, according to Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater in Thought-Forms (1905)"  

                                                                                                                (Taken from Wikipedia)

Tulpamancer

Restrictions

You cannot disbelieve an illusion you didnt create (no matter how outlandish) and must treat them as if they were real.

Boons

You have a Tulpa. (see section labeled TULPAS)

Cantrips

1. See colorful auras by concentrating on a living creature you can see, you do not automatically know what the colors/shapes mean.

2. you can create small simple unintelligent illusory thoughtforms, they arent convincing but they can help you illustrate a point, look cool and be showy.

3. You can see a sound by focusing on it


Spell List

1. Force Tulpa 
2. Light
3. Illusion
4. Plasmic manipulation
5. Dread Manifestation
6. Animate Scribble
7. Telepathy
8. Fade
9. Wizard Vision
10. Enforce Trope
11. Surreal Form
12. Astral Projection

Mishap
You take damage equal to whatever the doubles showed (1-6), and. . .

1. Take 1d6 Will damage 
2. Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then Save. Permanent if you fail. if you succeed you realize the mutation was just an illusion but still carry the illusion of the mutation forever.
3. Blind for 1d6 rounds 
4. You cast a random prepared spell at a random target with a random number of MD.
5. One random limb becomes illusory
6. You become an illusion, unable to affect the world exept visually and verbally for ten minutes. during this time Solid impacts pop you. If you get popped you lose 1d6 permanent HP and reform the next day. You can still cast spells in this form.

Doom
1. You become imaginary and your tulpa becomes fully real for 10 minutes. The tulpa can cast spells and do most things you can do but still avoid its anchor/s. you cant cast spells and are effectively just a freewilled illusion that can percieve its environment.
2. As above, except for 1 day.  During this time you cannot exist while being observed by anyone other than tulpamancers and other thought forms.
3. As above, except permanent. you are now just an imaginary friend to the tulpa forever unless your former tulpa chooses to manifest you as a tulpa.

                                                   An example of thought forms and auras a tulpamancer might create

                                                                                            (Figures 27, 19 and 34 (respectively) of Thought-forms) 

NEW SPELL

Force Tulpa

R: Touch T: Tulpa D: (dice) Hours

You give your tulpa a vessel of light and force. If you invest 1MD your tulpa becomes fully visible to everyone but if it attempts to affect anyone who isn't insane or on drugs they get a Will save to disbelieve your Tula. If they disbelieve your Tulpa they treat it as if it was just an illusion. At 2MD the tulpa is fully real for the dration of the spell as long as you can percieve it through at least two senses. At 3MD the tulpa is fully real for the duration of the spell or until killed. at 4MD or higher the Tulpa is fully real until destroyed. A forced Tula has (sum) HP and does not leave a corpse when killed.

                                                                          TULPAS

Tulpas in their base state are like hirelings that dont exist if other people besides tulpamancers or other thought forms are percieving them. They pop immediately if they take any damage and do not exist until you wake up after a full night rest. Tulpas vary in strengths and weaknesses, roll 3d6 and assign for all ability scores (Tulpas are considered NPCs and do not have a Luck score), choose a size category between small and large (NOTE: large tulpas may be inconvenient in a dungeon and are easier to see the area of), roll or work out with your GM a power that they have (just like anything else these powers only work if unobserved aby anyone other than Tulpamancers and other thought forms). Finally give them a power and an anchor, players can talk to their GM about gaining more powers by picking up more anchors or maybe by replacing gaining a new spell, tables for generating/inspiring these is below.

The more detailed your tulpa is, the more complex commands it can understand so go nuts. If you want to tell your tulpa "slay my enemies" and want it to know what to do, it should at least have something like a name, a favorite food, a pet peeve or obsession and a basic personality.

                                                     A tulpa is more than a puppet or a tool, it is a forever friend. 

D20 Tulpa Powers

1. Can fly

2. Can see invisible things

3. Can breath fire

4. Sheds light as per a torch

5. Can break simple locks effortlessly

6. Can write incredibly moving and well witten letters in any handwriting it has seen.

7. Can immediately tell if someone is lying

8. Can climb like a spider

9. Can create a field of zero gravity within 10ft of itself

10. Can blow up like a stick of dynamite (destroying itself in the process)

11. functions as per an immovable rod 

12. Can gently comfort you to heal 1 Will damage per hour.

13. Can make a sleeping person wake up with a slight crush on you which could develop into something over time.

14. can blow up small sized or smaller mundane animals like cats, rats and cockroaches

15. Is immune to either fire, acid, electricity or cold.

16. Is fully amphibious

17. Can be ridden like a horse

18. Can be stretchy like rubber

19. can be heard while not forced

20. can rip madness out of brains in the form of a demon, if the demon is killed the madness is cured. Severity of madness determines the power of the demon.

  Giving a Tulpa an anchor is necessary for the safety of the Tulpamancer
 ("anime girl tulpa" by spookier)

D20 Tulpa Anchors:

1. Cannot be in the same room as a dead body

2. Cannot touch water

3. Cannot be within 10ft of fire

4. Is repelled by holy symbols

5. Cannot touch or affect the opposite sex of the tulpamancer

6. Cannot willingly help kill another living being.

7. Cannot go outside

8. Cannot go inside

9. Cannot enter an area with any light level darker than a torch

10. Cannot enter an area with any light brighter than a candle

11. Is completely destroyed by sounds louder than a whisper.

12. Cannot exist unless there is a depiction of it in the room (such as a drawing or a toy with a similar likeness)

13. Cannot exist unless a specific song is played or being sung

14. A specific color burns it like acid.

15. Cannot exist unless the tulpamancer is not at full hit points.

16. Cannot exist while wet

17. Cannot exist over/under the freezing temperature of water

18. Cannot exist if not being actively paid attention to

19. Cannot exist if no one has died in front of their tulpamancer today

20. Cannot cross lines of salt.

  Tulpas often take human forms but dont have to, many take fantastical and outlandish shapes ("Tulpa" by Vetyr)

Ill probably update this soon

Mikles, N. L., & Laycock, J. P. (2015). Tracking the TULPA. Nova Religio, 19(1), 87–97. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2015.19.1.87 

Tulpa.info. Home • Tulpa.info. (n.d.). https://www.tulpa.info/ 

100 reasons to quit your job and start adventuring

 A while ago, one of my players was having a hard time coming up with a reason as to why someone of the occupation they rolled up would become an adventurer. I don't think its 100% necessary to come up with an in-depth backstory (although I often do) but I told them there are hundreds of reasons why someone could pursue the life of an adventurer. Here are just 100 of them off the top of my head:

I was a (roll occupation table) but then… (d100 roll twice or until it makes sense)

1. I got my heart broken, out traveling, seeing new things and getting new skills to find myself again. (If the person who broke your heart is still alive 50/50 chance they became an adventurer for the exact same reason.)

2. I joined the Corpse Collectors Guild, a little extra money and a decently good cause.

3. I went into a coma, by the time I woke up the world had moved on without me.

4. I discovered a talent for (class)

5. I wanted to go back to my family roots as a (class)

6. I Became a wanted man under the laws of my home country

7. I had a profound religious/spiritual experience

8. I was rescued by a adventurer caravan

9. I just kind of wandered off

10. I was kidnapped by a adventurer caravan

11. I got into a crazy amount of debt.

12. I was consumed by wanderlust

13. I decided to commit passive suicide by adventuring.

14. I was ostracized by my community.

15. I needed to make an exorbitant amount of money for a personal project.

16. I needed to make an exorbitant amount of money for a sick loved one.

17. I met my mentor.

18. I fell in love.

19. I lost it all in the divorce.

20. I got super lost.

21. I became bound into the service of some kind of higher power

22. I died and was resurrected

23. I got banished to another dimension for a while.

24. I got way too drunk

25. I needed to dodge the draft

26. I wanted to follow my childhood dream

27. I craved violence.

28. I was sent out as a right of passage, never came back

29. I was banished from my home.

30. Someone important to me died

31. I had a strange experience with a magical creature

32. I received a strange omen

33. I got bit by a vampire (no powers, just sun allergy and blood diet)

34. I was terribly cursed

35. I was subject to a miracle!

36. I took a psychedelic drug

37. I went stark raving mad!

38. I got bit by a werewolf

39. I got involved in a shady business venture

40. I got a brain injury which changed my personality

41. I spent some time in the can.

42. I got addicted to a drug that someone else in the caravan is addicted to or grows/makes.

43. My Family got turned into monsters.

44. I developed a fascination with ancient cultures and history.

45. I found out I speak a strange language

46. I received a strange package

47. I encountered a life-changing piece of art.

48. I woke up in a wizards lab, turns out I was a clone, my memories never having truly belonged to me…

49. I got conscripted into an elite training program.

50. I got replaced with a doppelganger, no one believed me.

51. I faked my own death

52. I woke up in a dungeon

53. I was physically enhanced

54. I developed an all consuming obsession`

55. I spent some time working for a military organization

56. I encountered a strange artifact

57. I was mentioned in a prophecy.

58. I wanted to look for a good place for my family to settle down, and make some money while I'm at it.

59. I pissed off a wizard

60. I pissed off a noble

61. I found a manual

62. I made a bet

63. I made a deal with someone powerful

64. I got Freaky Friday’d

65. I Found out I have a terminal illness.

66. I found out the world was going to end

67. I got enslaved, sold and escaped

68. I got sent to the future

69. I got sent to the past

70. I got consumed by a great ambition.

71. I made a friend

72. I had a kid with someone else in the caravan

73. I found out someone else in the caravan is my long-lost parent

74. I made a vow

75. I committed a wrong that I need to make right

76.  I lived with a group of animals

77. I started to remember pieces of a past life

78. I started work as a hireling

79. I got a taste of incredible power and then lost it

80. I got teleported far away from home

81. I found a dungeon near home

82. I discovered a terrible truth

83. I got hope-pilled

84. I found out I have strange ancestry

85. I started pretending to be someone else

86. I got some good advice

87. I got some bad advice

88. I just needed an excuse to get out of the house.

89. I became inspired to write a book

90. I met someone who changed my life

91. My rival started adventuring

92. I witnessed something horrible

93. I witnessed something beautiful

94. I developed a desire to work with more exotic materials

95. I was the victim of a crime

96. I was captured and experimented on

97. I started adventuring on the behalf of someone who could not

98. I ate a magical creature

99. An animal stood up on its hind legs and spoke to me

100. Nothing, I was always both my occupation and an adventurer.

Alternatively, this could all be one character's very complicated personal history.