Guest Stars Miniposts (GLAUGUST)

Hey.. uhhhh so I know its a little late but im posting my second GLAUGUST post now. For Guest Stars I asked a handful of people that ive either played with, GM for or collaborate with often to write an unedited mini-post with this message

"Hey! I was doing my GLAUGUST prompts, and I rolled “guest stars.”, I was thinking I'd invite people I talk to and play(ed) TTRPGS with to write short micro posts that I'd post as one mega post unedited. If you wanna write something id love to feature it. Only rules I have is it has to be TTRPG-related, system-neutral or GLOG-compatible, and cant involve any of your or my personal inspiration or how you know me. It can be as long or as short as youd like and be anything, it doesnt even need to be gameable content. If you feel like you wanna write but want an extra challenge roll for a glaugust prompt (6d6 roll) and write your mini post about that. no pressure but lmk if your interested and send me what you write by august 29"

I wanted to see and share what was on the mind of the people that inform my tabletop scene the most. It seems like people have magic and the end of the world on their minds. of those who responded, these were their messages. All names have been changed to PC names for not doxxing them (:

Pip Tibbits

"When the world ends, it's always a wizard's fault. Even some poor shmuck who can only cast the most basic of cantrips is bound to get lucky eventually, and some simple spells are really exploitable. When some bespectacled bookworm figures out that Control Earth has an theoretically unlimited range, he ends up causing tectonic plates to animate and attack each other. Obviously, if it was this easy to end the world, it probably would have happened already. That's why the circle of anti-wizards formed. A group of a dozen masters of the arcane with a high investment in not being subject to any sort of experimental tectonic fuckery have gathered together with one goal: killing anyone who starts casting world ending spells. This 'good guy with a gun' level strategy has
so far proven to be the most effective at keeping the planet in one piece, unfortunately. It is likely that one day, an anti-wizard is going to be just a second too late with his counterspell and the world will turn into a giant ball of cheese (and perhaps be devoured by a gogmagogic mouse)."

Chok

"Im getting back into dark sun again, so here are my thoughts on defiling. On Athas, arcane magic is powered by the life force of the world around you. Wizards who are mindful of what they take, using only whats necessary, then revitalizing the earth in return, are called preservers. The ones who siphon as much power as they can, greedily lapping up local life energy and leaving barren black ash in their wake are called defilers. I have long struggled with how to properly translate this piece of lore into game mechanics. There is so much potential for cool shit here. A wizard should regularly be faced with their growing desire for power, and the ever present option of defiling acts as that nagging itch that every mage feels when the situation grows dire. Surely you could just scratch it once...

Dragon Magazine #315 offered a solid defiling mechanic for DnD 3e (which is in my ballpark of game syatems), but it is a bit unnecessarily complex. It also struggles with properly portraying the downsides of defiling, bestowing stat penalties to constitution, wisdom, and charisma, and eventually turning you into an undead. This doesnt really make sense to me. Defiling shouldnt be (initially) taxing to the body per se, thats the whole reason why wizards seek it out - easy power. A good penalty system for defiling should reflect the wizard's ever-mounting greed, and the world's growing repulsion for such a parasite. Here's my system, presented in a more general, system agnostic way. I may also make a crunchier conversion for pf1e on my own blog. Casting a spell by gefiling gives you some kind of bonus to your magic. More dice, extra effects, longer duration etc. Every time you do it, it gives you a defiling point. You defiler points are basically how bad your vibes are as a person. Here's what they do: 1-5 points: Something is implacably unsettling about you. Domestic animals won't willingly approach you and may attack, plants part or sway away from you as you pass by. 6-10 points: You are sickening to be around, repeated defiling has led to you unconsciously sucking out tiny amounts of nearby life at all times. Plants within arms reach begin to wilt and dessicate in a matter of minutes. You must consume twice the amount of food and water as usual. 11+ points: Your greed has become an unstoppable addiction. It has begun to tear away at your own life force now. Your body advances in age, getting more severe for every defiling point beyond 11. All intelligent life that interacts with you can sense your metaphysical greed, and treats you with fear or hostility. Defiling points can be removed of course. Typically this requires lengthy meditation, ~1 day per point, though timing may different depending on how lush or barren your environment is.

P.S. A druid could help too, but they would not fucking do that."

Lifeshape Gal

I was in dire need of direction, so I rolled 2d6 on the Glaugust table and hilariously landed on guest stars. Instead of unnecessarily inceptioning this blog post, i’m turning the prompt into an invitation for gms to question or alter the meteorological or environmental state of their games- like how if earth suddenly had a new sun, there would be a guest star. 

Use this as a table or just to get your world building juices flowing ;) 

Guest Star (Environmental Mixup) Table

What’s happening:

1. The inhabited planet orbits two suns, causing the axial tilt of the planet to vary randomly with time. Periodically roll a d20 to determine the axial tilt of the planet from intense summers of near full sunlight (1) to intense winters of near full darkness (20).

2. Minecraft logic-- hostile creatures spawn at night or in darkness and die if in direct sunlight after a few turns (i think it would be fun if the day/night cycle was based on a real world timer)

3. The density of the planet is completely unstable, meaning it shrinks and grows causing players to lose or gain movement as the distance between things changes. Periodically roll a d20 with the same idea as (1) but on a scale from tiny planet to big ass planet.

4. Meteors rain down upon the surface of the planet akin to a fiery, rocky hail storm. This phenomena follows the inverse pattern of typical rain showers with increased “precipitation” occurring in drier places, further decimating already arid lands with the fiery rocks

5. An ice crystal from a planet lightyears away hits the inhabited planet’s surface, spurring an ice age that continues to spread unless the crystal is destroyed. The villagers that the crystal initially hit were instantaneously turned to living ice, and are sworn to protect it.

6. Roll again

 How did we get here:

1. A powerful and crazed wizard fucked around

2. The natural resources of the inhabited planet had been misused for far too long, so the spirits of the land resorted to attacks of unnatural natural means

3. An alchemist wanted to create an infinite food source by toying with the laws of nature

4. It’s been like this for countless generations

5. A neighboring celestial object exploded

6. Roll again

Utuk

"Magic is a mainstay of the fantasy genre, and has been expressed in a variety of ways throughout history. Within the realm of RPGs, the mysticism of defining the unknown has mostly been set aside in order to allow players the chance to wield fantastical powers. After all, a clearly defined system is the most straightforward path of gamification. However, it is a different matter for a game master.

Part of a GMs role is to leverage mystique, and in doing that they can twist the magic of whatever system they’re using to suit their purpose. Often the inconsistencies this can create can be hand-waved away with the explanation that “It’s magic, it just works.” We suspend our disbelief with the understanding that magic is, at its core, the unexplainable. It’s something we know, but rarely say. I urge us all to consider how we can maintain the mysticism in our games to an interesting degree."

Theo

"Hey I'm sorry for not writing anything for your prompt. This week has been super busy and then I got fuckin sick"

Thardzia

Hi, I'm sorry I didn't respond to this before now- I've been on holiday and sans computer, so living like a barbarian, so I can't do this- I do really appreciate you reaching out though <3

I've been thinking about the Feast of Ravenmoor and Thardzia recently and it felt fortuitous that you messaged when that was happening (coincidence? or Shyka, noone knows)

Popa

Unfortunately this is my last week of my term, so I’m gonna be super busy. If you ever end up wanting or needing to invite people to write again, I’d love to try if I’m available