Monday, January 17, 2011

NPC: The Wyrd

Use the Wyrd either as an NPC character class (or conceivably even a PC class) or as a unique individual. The Wyrd will likely already suffer from several Repercussions (see below) at the time you introduce her into your game.

Although widely known for her divinations and soothsaying, the Wyrd is able to cast any magic-user spell.

At minimum, it takes the Wyrd 1 turn per spell level to cast a spell. Unlike a magic-user, she does not memorize daily spells. For each spell the Wyrd casts, roll 1d6. A result equal to or lower than the spell level causes a roll on the Repercussions table.

The Wyrd may reduce the repercussion risk to 1 in 6 by spending 1 day per spell level on the casting instead of 1 turn per level. Spending additional days on the casting does not reduce the risk of repercussions below 1 in 6.

If the Wyrd gives a favor (and it must be a favor which someone else owes her) to the eldritch forces in exchange for completing the spell, any repercussion that would have affected the Wyrd instead affects the one who owes her a favor. This is not widely known.

Those who can't or won't pay in gold (or some other thing the Wyrd particularly desires), the Wyrd asks to pay with a favor. She keeps such favors for future use. The Wyrd never works for free.

d100 Repercussions Table
  1. Afflicted with a stooped spine
  2. Frequently suffer seizures
  3. Afflicted with bowed legs
  4. Fingers become webbed
  5. Age backwards
  6. Go deaf in one ear
  7. Go deaf in both ears
  8. Skin turns an unnatural color
  9. Over the course of a week, one finger blackens, then falls off
  10. Skin glows very faintly in the dark
  11. Grow a pelt of shaggy fur over entire body
  12. Loss of color vision
  13. Grow an extra eye
  14. Hair turns white, instantly and permanently 
  15. One limb twitches involuntarily, even when sleeping
  16. Boils
  17. Crops wither in the fields
  18. Ears become elongated and pointy
  19. Pupils change shape
  20. Grow a wart
  21. Grow a hairy wart
  22. All hair falls out (except on hairy warts)
  23. Relive the events of one (random) hour every day
  24. Always smells faintly of brimstone
  25. Hear (imaginary) constant, indistinct murmurings that others can't hear
  26. Grow a tail
  27. Uncontrollable drooling
  28. Patches of reptilian scales develop
  29. Trees bend slightly toward her. Those trees in the vicinity of her home grow in a way that points toward it.
  30. Grow extra toes
  31. Grow extra fingers
  32. Slowed (50%) in actions and speech
  33. Livestock sickens
  34. Vomit frogs 1d6 times per day
  35. Tongue splits down the middle
  36. Haunted by a mildly destructive poltergeist
  37. Artificial lights within 10' will not stay lit, and any she passes are extinguished
  38. Spontaneous pregnancy
  39. Spontaneous pregnancy with a small mammal or reptile
  40. Grow small goat horns
  41. Pottery does not harden when fired within ten miles of her
  42. Visual perception lags behind reality by 10 minutes
  43. Compulsion to look under every liftable rock she passes
  44. Grow fangs
  45. Bottomless sinkholes open in any spot she sleeps on for more than 3 nights
  46. Permanently levitated 1/4" off ground, making walking difficult
  47. Smoke emanates from mouth when speaking
  48. Nearby malleable things (oatmeal, tea leaves, mud) form into the shape of agonized faces
  49. Stigmata
  50. Grow an additional ear
  51. Skin become transparent
  52. Strange lights in the sky at night
  53. Any words spoken do not reach listeners' ears for 1d6 turns
  54. Animals no longer abide her presence
  55. Human beings are invisible to her
  56. Sleep for 101 days
  57. Feet fall off, cloven hooves grow
  58. 50-70 mph winds alway blow in vicinity
  59. Age at double rate
  60. Any words she writes change, and assume an ominous character
  61. The ground makes noises like cracking ice wherever she walks
  62. Flapping things flap on the roof at night
  63. No reflection
  64. Only sleep every seventh night
  65. Grow large antlers
  66. Speech comes out in reverse word order
  67. Hair becomes too strong to be cut by steel tools
  68. A new, unexplained bruise every morning
  69. Sweats blood
  70. Must concentrate to keep consciousness attached to body or be locked-out for 1d6 turns
  71. Risk of future Repercussions becomes 2 in 6 at minimum
  72. Weeping sores
  73. Weeping sore that whisper secrets
  74. Physically vanishes after falling asleep; reappears in the morning frostbitten
  75. Heart turns to stone and stops beating, yet she lives
  76. Roll 1d6 every morning. A result of 1 means that a random personal possession vanished during the night.
  77. No one believes (until it's too late)
  78. Skin nodules swell for days, then burst to release spiders
  79. Her bones creak loudly whenever she moves
  80. Animals speak to her, but only abusively
  81. Narcolepsy
  82. Burned for 1d3 damage whenever touched by another person
  83. Irises turn yellow like a wolf's
  84. The sky is always overcast within 25 miles
  85. Weekly rain of fish
  86. Teeth enlarge 2-3 times, deforming jaw and palette
  87. Leave footprints that smoulder
  88. Entire body shrinks or grows up 2% and 500% of original size every day
  89. Wood spurts blood when she chops it
  90. Any clothing donned begins to rot and smell of the grave after an hour
  91. Age 20 years instantly
  92. Sometimes, the third law of motion (equal and opposite reaction) doesn't work for her
  93. Learns she will die in exactly one year
  94. On a roll of 1 in 6, any dead thing she passes near rises as undead
  95. Hourly fits of involuntarily speaking dead languages
  96. Plague
  97. Blogger posts lose all paragraphing 
  98. Blindness
  99. Instant death
  100. Complete physical paralysis
All above are permanent effects, unless otherwise noted.

7 comments:

  1. I actually think that 10, 29, 85, and 87 would be pretty cool, especially if you could cook in your own footprints.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Will use her/it as an NPC very soon. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I made a character with this class. It's on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I’m compiling this post at Old School Heretic into a PDF. There’s a link to this table in that table.

    May I have your permission to include this table (and just the table, not the introduction) in the PDF for easy reference? The PDF will be released under the OGL.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, you may, Matthew. Thanks for asking.

    ReplyDelete

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