Flailsnails Traveller

Here are some ideas I have been kicking about for a while, that may well not work but could be worth trying.

Lots of fun has been had over on G+ with hangout based games of D&D and near D&D, with players with characters made up in any number of different systems dropping in and out of various GMs games more or less on a whim, GMs linking different campaign worlds, running games in other people's homebrew settings, all kinds of unholy inter-game miscegenation and perversity.

While there have been some Traveller games run, there hasn't been the same buzz. The closest thing to it has been Jez Gordon's Star Wars game, with ever changing parties drawn from a moderate sized group of characters.

Traveller ought to be ideal for the Flailsnail style of play – PCs are space bums, liable to turn up on any planet anywhere (any GMs pet planet/subsector) and dive into the first outrageously daft money making scheme dangled in front of their snotty noses by a patron (whatever evil scheme the GM has up his sleeve for this session).

But things have got a bit chaotic in the Flailsnails looniverse – I have to say I roll my eyes whenever a mutant race/sub-class undead amphibiod PC whips out a ray gun these days.So rather than colliding universes, how about a loose-ish collaborative meta-setting thingy in which a GM can concoct some pretty outlandish planets and scenarios, but which maintains some internal coherence and puts some limits on the crazy? If it takes off a wiki will have to be organised to collect the bumph, but I'll worry about that later

Known Space 2312AD

Tech level maximum 12

Guns and lasers, no (or very, very few) twerps turning up in power armour with a plasma cannon and wasting everything in sight.

No Psionics

State of play with spooky powers is as it is today, the province of a lunatic fringe, charlatans and conspiracy nuts. Doesn't happen, won't work, and if your cousin's brother-in-law's mate's sister reckoned she saw some twit levitating on Epsilon 5 it was because she was high as a kite on Cake (THE party drug of the 24^th century). Of course if the GM wants to deploy them then that's just fine, as long as they are in the hands of some drastically alien villain NPC, but see below...

No Aliens

The human race has bimbled across a good couple of thousand cubic parsecs of the galaxy and has found some alien ecosystems with suitably oddball animals, but no actual intelligent alien civilisations. There's arguments as to whether species A is actually intelligent, and whether humans would recognise an alien civilisation if they saw it. But no blokes in furry suits and bandoliers making bear noises, no people in fake tan with corrugated heads, humanity it appears is alone. Of course there almost certainly will be alien civilisations out there someplace we just haven't met them yet.

As with psionics, aliens should be something truly spooky and out of this world, and first contact fraught with strangeness and unguessable hazards and complications, not something you meet by the zooload down at the local bar.

Limited Cybernetics

Not that many people have managed to successfully stick silicon into themselves in Known Space and most of those only did it to replace genuinely injured and damaged parts of the body. I have no idea of how real science is really doing at splicing electronics onto nerves, but in the Known Space setting it's dubious and unreliable and the people that do it are regarded as a bit wrong in the head and to have eaten too much Cake.

Anarchy!
Human beings in the 24^th century are no better organised than humans now. World governments? Only on worlds of a million or fewer people of the same general origin, otherwise there is bound to be several rival statelets, factions, commercial exploitation enterprises etc.

When the human race made jump drive work every country on Earth launched colonisation missions, mostly grabbing land on the same few vaguely inhabitable planets. Then it got cheap enough for corporations to have a go, then every separatist, religious, extremist, utopian, libertarian, authoritarian and otherwise misunderstood gang of loons leapfrogged the lot and plunged into the void looking for a place to set up their dream society away from anyone else. Some worked, some didn't. Any world in known space could have any kind of society on it, usually several, and usually at loggerheads with each other, if not actual war.

Genuine interstellar wars have been few and far between, but plenty of Earth states and alliances and the more established and populous off-world colonies are geared up with space navies. With Known Space so vast and sparsely populated and so many colonies having hostile planetbound rivals to fend off there hasn't been much call for them as yet.

A world of your own

When a player generates a PC he generates a home nation and sketches in a planet for that PC too, all of which will become setting canon, to be drawn on by any later GM or player if they so wish.

Earth

In 2300AD Earth is still the centre of the human universe, and I have no better idea than the next man as to what is likely to have happened to it in the next couple of hundred years. Players and GMs will be free to make up whatever stuff they like about the history of their own nation or district, and how this affects Known Space at large.

Rules

I only know Classic 1ed Traveller and Mongoose, but any Traveller ruleset should in theory be permissible, and if reliable conversions from other sci-fi systems can be made then lets use them.

House rules for world generation

As per the Mongoose Traveller/Classic Traveller rules with the following exceptions:

Starport roll is at -1, -2 for pop 6, -3 for pop 5, -4 for pop 4 or less. Refers to the biggest atarport on the planet, often multiples exist.

Population is maxed at 8 for everywhere except Earth. Colonies simply haven't been there long enough to get that big.

Population is still rolled on 2d6-2, with -1 for size 0-2 or A+, -1 for atmosphere not 5,6 or 8, +1 if it is 5,6 or 8. An additional -1 is levied per 5 full parsecs away from Earth – the frontiers are sparsely inhabited.

Government stat refers to the number of different governments, what type they are is up to the GM.

Number of 'states' table

Population	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
D6 roll
1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1d3+1
2	1	1	1	1	1	1d3+1	1d3+1	1d6+1
3	1	1	1	1	1d3+1	1d6+1	1d6+1	2d4
4	1	1	1	1d3+1	1d4+1	1d6+1	2d4	3d3
5	1	1	2	1d4+1	1d6+1	2d4	2d4	3d4
6	1	2	1d3+1	1d6+1	2d4	2d6	2d4	3d4

For the proportion controlled by each state roll 1d10 for each state and divvy up the population accordingly. Eg Ares has a population of 3 000 000 and 5 states. Rolls are 1, 5, 6, 10 and 10. State 1 has 1/32 of the population = 93 750, state 2 has 5/32 = 468 750 and so on.

Law level refers to the largest state on the planet and is based on population, not govt type.

Tech level always has a +2 and a maximum of 12.

3D Mapping

IMO the main reason Traveller maps are the way they are is the A5 format of the original LBBs and lack of space in them. 3D subsector maps won't make a huge difference to the game, but I like them for atmosphere's sake and they are honestly not difficult to do, as I will show in a future post.

A planet to start on

Epsilon C 643 643 A

Epsilon is a moderately sized rather cold world, with massive ice caps reaching down into the tropics and a water sea surrounding its equator bordered by inhabitable land and with a few islands. It has a primitive ecosystem, algae and bacterial sludge in the oceans with a few multicellular sponge and graptolite-like creatures, and a few hardy liverwort-cum-lichenoids on land. Humans have mucked about with this quite extensively in many areas, but the air remains low in oxygen, low in CO2 and high in SO2 and thin as the high Andes even at sea level.

Epsilon has a population of 7 000 000 and four rival colonies, Neuland, New Canaan, Adelbert PLC and the Cyber-Raj (relative sizes 8, 7, 2 and 3)

Neuland (the Bakhuninite Extents)

Leftist Euro-anarchists with a participatory democracy (Govt Type 4, Law level 3, TL 10) and a bit of a fetish about computers and software (TL 12 electronics available), often called 'the Bakhuninite Extents' or 'Sodom and Gomorrah' by the New Canaanites. One of the few places you can get cyberware, but it is expensive. Everyone is an eternal student plugging into online university courses, only local currency is used (Roks) and handcrafted goods are sold offworld at premium prices. Main exports; subversive MMORPGs, expertly pirated media and software, freelance 'creatives', punk rock bands, designer drugs and financial brigands who use corporate buyouts to break up other states economies to keep their own ramshackle system going.

New Canaan

Dominated by fundamentalist Christian religious nuts, theoretically an extra planetary territory of the US. Govt Type 13, Law level 8, except for guns, TL 8, but with plenty of higher tech imports. Everyone is required to be armed and all males required to put time into the national guard. Plenty of small farming communities defecting to the Neulanders as they like the libertarianism and lack of interference by pontificating religious busybodies. Government is a not very representative democracy (only true believers may vote and only pastors can stand for office) and is heavily influenced by the corporation running the only viable industry, dredging biological gunge off the sea floor and turning it into oil. Exports are petrochemicals, a little bit of farm produce and missionaries. Many people hate the Neulanders and claim they are 'squatters' on New Canaan territory and limbs of Satan to boot, while corporate contractors and bored US colonial marines love going there to have some un-Biblical fun on their days off.

Adelbert PLC (the Napoleonic Tendency)

A corporate state within Neuland, citizen/employees have traded in a lot of democracy for stability and protection. Govt Type 3, Law Level 5 (within their own installations and when protecting their own people), TL 10. Often called 'the Napoleonic Tendency' by Neulanders, and has a constantly rotating citizenship as people fall out with the petty bureaucracy and snotty Francophone bosses and leave, or get equally pissed off by the uncertainty of self-employment, temporary workers coops and outright violence of some bits of Neuland. With tensions rising with the New Canaanites many feel being part of something with a proper army would be a good idea, not trusting the bolshie survivalist eco-terrorists who 'defend' Neuland by picking fights with the Christian Militia and blowing up oil installations. Adelbert's execs are trying to get recognition as an EU member state. Mainly involved in mining, but also food production and manufacturing.

The Cyber-Raj (the Principality of Silikanbagh)

The oldest colony on Epsilon, the Cyber-Raj occupies an equatorial island where the eccentric CEO of an Indian cybernetics firm has created a Hindu Bollywood version of North Korea with robot peasants and computerised Brahmins. Govt Type 10, Law Level 11, TL who knows? Have extensively mucked about with the environment, and have a forest they claim is stiff with cloned Bengal tigers who will eat intruders. Export only foodstuffs, including tea and spices, their robot technology while obviously advanced is a secret. Very few people go in or out. What are they building in there?

So what is your planet like?

Redwyrm

Redwyrm is one of the sacred sites of Balazar, a 100m long artifical mound shaped like a snake about to eat an oval object. The mound itself is turfed over but the whole area has a peculiar form of red ochre under a thin layer of topsoil. The ochre is red when the Red Moon is full, and darkens as the moon darkens to become black. It is dug up from a pit in the oval at the mouth.

According to the shamen there the ochre used to be always red, until the rising of the Red Moon 375 years ago, when its peculiar transformations began. Legends say the Redwyrm was a vast monster that terrorised the land during the Godtime, slain by Foundchild and buried on this site and the ochre was its congealed blood, and he showed the warriors of prehistoric Balazar how to paint themselves in the ochre and gain great power. Later, when the dragonewts and their human servants dominated the land the Redwyrm warriors were their great foes and never accepted their rule, and were suppressed and the site abandoned. When Balazar came the Red Wyrm itself raised itself out of the ground and attacked him only to be defeated once again, and the Redwyrm warriors were re-formed and went with him to Dragon Pass to fight in the Dragonkill War.

The site was a mustering point for the old rulers of Elkoi on their raids into the lowlands, but when the Lunar Empire invaded the Redwyrm warriors allied themselves with them and helped overthrow the Tiger clan (who ruled the city at the time) and install the Black Dog clan. They are allies still, and act as guides and scouts to Lunar patrols, and they hire themselves out as mercenaries to the lowland kings and queens of Tarsh, Holay, Imther and Vanch.

The Redwyrm warriors are great rivals of the Crow warriors, and bands of men from the two warrior societies at least hurl insults at each other whenever they meet and frequently fight.

Follower

To enrol as a Redwyrm warrior one must dance the length of the mound on a night of the full moon painted in red ochre while being avoiding being assaulted by spirit-snakes, a Heroquest of Resonance 40%. The River Snake clan has always been an enemy of the Redwyrm and the resonance is at +10%, and if the person has ever been an ally of the Crow Stone is is at +20%.

He must make the right moves (Dance 20%), avoid the snakes (Evade 40% or Stealth 40%), survive being bitten if he fails (Resilience 60%), and stare the wyrm itself in the eyes without flinching (Persistence 20%). Failure results in the warrior having a mortal fear of snakes until he gets it right.

The Shamen teach followers Speedart, Mobility, Javelin, Club and Shield combat, Spear and Shield combat and Lore (Tribal Warfare). The follower can now see snake spirits, and gets +20% on resilience rolls when resisting snake venom.

He may be called up by the cult to serve for a maximum of 49 days in every year with no pay, and while on operations must wear non-magical black and red warpaint and must obey the commands of his superiors explicitly and without question or face immediate dismissal and cursing by the snake spirits. This is a great contrast to most tribal warbands who fight only if they feel they have a stake in the fight, and may abandon their warchief and go home if they disagree with him with no more than a few harsh words exchanged.

Redwyrm Warrior (Votary)

The Redwrym cult skills are: Stealth, Resilience, Evade, any Ranged Combat, Lore (Tribal Warfare), Lore (Poisons) and Athletics. Any follower with 30% in five of these skills and the Speedart spell can try and become a Redwyrm warrior. There may only be 49 members of the cult at any one time, and when a member dies a competition is held at the Redwym to see which follower will be promoted, or a follower may challenge any existing member to a single combat and take his place.

Warriors get to wear the ochre warpaint of the cult (see below), and bind one snake spirit, and carry the distinctive snake club and shield. This is a heavy baton with a round head with two stone fangs which may carry poison, and a small round hide shield marked with a sinuous red snake.

He must obey the orders of his superiors without question, even if it means taking part in a suicidal attack. Redwyrm warriors are respected for their devotion and any who disobey orders are subjected to the snake bite ordeal. He gets one share of any proceeds in loot or pay.

Redwyrm Captain (Seer)

Must have 75% in five cult skills and may learn Oratory, Lore (Lunar Provinces), Speak Lunar and Lore (Lizardkind). This last skill gives them the ability to know what wyrms, dragons, wyverns, dragonewts and snakes weaknesses are and increases their chance of a critical hit against them in combat. Captains may bind up to ½ their Charisma in snake spirits, with spirits increasing stealth, movement speed and strike rank being the most popular. Fetishes involve snake skulls and snakeskin headbands and clothing. He gets seven shares in the proceeds of any mission.

Captains can quest to bind curse spirits, phantom snakes that sneak up on enemies and bite them and enchant reptile slaying arrows and darts, which does not make them at all popular with the Crocodile and River Snake clans, as these weapons will also slay their clan members due to their spiritual connections.

One of the most famous captains, Cadwallaun is not even a Balazaring, but a Holayan soldier who worked alongside the Redwyrms when he was part of the Lunar garrison at Elkoi and decided to join (or was perhaps ordered to by his superiors, the better to impress this potentially dangerous native unit and get them 'onside'). Another captain, Razadan Longtooth, is a Tiger clan member and a Seer of Jakaleel as well, commanding moon spirits.

Redwyrm Shaman (Shaman)

There is only one shaman, Ulvarang Seven Snakes of the Great Sable clan, and he rules his warband with an iron rod, literally; he has a an iron warclub that was gifted to him by the current head of the Lunar garrison, and wears a Lunar officers chainmail hauberk. Since he can claim 49 shares from any pay or loot whether present on an operation or not, and the Redwyrms have been pretty much taken on full time as scouts and enforcers by the Lunar Provincial army he has accumulated a lot of personal wealth for a Balazaring. He wears a gold ring, dresses his wife in fine linen clothing and jewelled necklaces and indulges himself with imported wine from a silver tankard. He is a friend of King Glyptus, has a house in Elkoi and spends a lot of time at the palace. He also has a well made lodge out at the mound he has been planning on replacing with a lowland style thatched roundhouse.

The shaman appoints his successor from among the captains, and his word is final. Cadwallaun is the current number two, and Ulvarang is confident that his warband will stick to their oaths of loyalty and accept him without question, for all the fact that he is a foreigner. Mutterings among the troops have been ruthlessly quelled with administration of the poison ordeal and in some cases a smart blow to the back of the head with his iron club.

Redwrym Shaman may only serve until they are 49 years old, or until they are too old, ill or wounded to do the snake dance. After that they are ritually sacrificed to the snake spirits and, after sky burial for a few weeks, their bones are interred in the oval earthwork at the snakes mouth. Ulvarang is 47, but still hale and hearty and likely to remain so as he hasn't personally led a warband for a decade or more, so the issue of his 'retirement' and the succession is going to be a live one quite soon.

Hiring Rates

Redwyrms can be recruited for 7 or 49 day contracts, minimum 1 lunar a day for a follower, 7 for a Warrior, 49 for a Captain. More is charged for a known danger and the Shaman will negotiate looting rights and a cut from the ransom of any captives taken. Ulvarang only accepts Lunar Empire minted coin these days, and expects the money to be paid directly to him, up front. The days when they would fight for bundles of hides and right to take a few slaves are long gone. On the plus side the Redwryms are very reliable, and will fight to the death for their employer.

The Red-Black Ochre

The shaman enchants lumps of this in a yearly ceremony at the sacred time, in batches of 49 lumps good for 3+1d3 applications each.

Full Moon (Red) +1 AP, +10% Persistence, +10% Resilience, +10% Combat

Crescent Come/Crescent Go +1 AP, +10% Persistence

Empty Half/Full Half +10% Stealth

Black/Dying +20% Stealth, -10% Persistence, +3 magic points

Favourite Poisons

Sleeping Wyrm

Potency 60+1d20%. Injected, Onset Time 1d3 rounds, Resistance time 1 round, Duration 1d6 hours, Resistance: Persistence, Conditions: Exhaustion

Each failed resistance roll causes one extra step of fatigue until the target is asleep.

Red Venom

Potency 20+1d20%, halved at Black/Dying Moon, doubled at Full Moon, Injected or Ingested Onset time 5 minutes, Resistance time 1 day, Duration 2d6 days, Resistance: Insight, Conditions: Sapping, Confusion, Hallucination

This slow acting poison is a potent hallucinogen, making the victim a gibbering wreck, convinced the snakes are writhing out of the ground, the trees and ultimately even his comrades,and unless restrained he will run away and cower in terror. A favourite for hit and run attacks on large groups, slows advance of enemy forces immensely as they have to care for insane comrades for days before they calm down. If the Rewyrms can sneak into a camp and poison the food, so much the better.

Black Venom

Potency 20+1d20%, Injected, Onset time 1d3 rounds, Resistance time one roll, Duration 5d10 minutes, Resistance: Resilience, Conditions: Paralysis

Affects the hit location only, doing 1d6 extra damage, which is regained at 1 HP per hour after the effect ends. If it hits the chest, breathing is affected causing exhaustion, if it hits the head the victim must roll 1d4; on a 1 they become dumb, 2, deaf, 3 blind and 4 roll twice.

Ordeal Poison

Potency special%, Ingested, Onset time 1d10 minutes, Resistance time 1 hour, Duration 6+1d6 hours, Resistance: Resilience, (Dance, Athletics) Conditions: Death

Taken by disobedient Redwyrms, the effects are mitigated by constant movement, usually constant strenuous dancing, but in fact merely running and jumping will do the trick. The first instance of disobedience is punished with potency 30+1d20% poison, the second by a more potent batch of 50+1d20% and so on. Each hour of dancing will cause a check vs fatigue, and the poison will reduce DEX permanently by 1, even if resisted.

Sample Lunar Cults

Jakaleel, the Lunar shaman

Lunar missionaries have had some success in spreading the cult of Jakaleel the Witch in Balazar, as in many ways it resembles the native cult of Votank. Five Spirit Moons and Jakaleel the Witch are separate practices, but Jakaleel shamen always follow both. The Tiger clan are almost all converted, and followers and votaries can be found in many other clans. A coven of Jakaleel shamen is based at Elder's Rock.

Cult Skills: The Lunar Way, Spirit Walk (Jakaleel), Spirit Binding (Five Spirit Moons), Spirit Binding (Jakaleel the Witch), Speak Lunar, Persistence, Lore (Ancestors), Perception, Meditation, Dance, Craft Mask.

Follower

Followers may see and identify Five Moon or Ancestor spirits within range, and may be taught the Common Magic spells Countermagic, Countermagic Shield, Detect Magic and Glamour.

They may hold one spirit fetish (the Jakaleel cult likes to use human bones decorated with silver and red cords or ribbons).

Votary

Votaries need 30% in five cult skills and can speak with ancestor spirits in their own language and with moon spirits in Lunar. They can hold up ¼ CHA in spirits, but cannot bind spirits themselves.

They may learn the common magics Spirit Bane and Bearing Witness.

They may be part of a group of six bound to a Moon Guardian (see below).

Seer

Seers need 50% in five cult skills, and may bind Moon spirits if they have Spirit Binding (Five Spirit Moons) 60%+, and ancestors if they have Spirit Binding (Jakaleel the Witch) 60%+. Ancestors will be hostile if not themselves Lunar worshippers, but may be converted to Lunarism by a successful Spirit Combat followed by a Lunar Way averaged with Influence roll. This aggressive conversion of ancestors is becoming a major source of disquiet among the Balazarings. They may have a maximum of ½ their CHA in spirits.

Balazaring Seers may also summon and bind Nature spirits of their own totem using their Spirit Binding (Jakaleel the Witch) skill.

Shaman

Needs 75% in five cult skills, one of which must be a Spirit Binding skill, and may summon ¾ of their CHA in spirits. May gain the use of a Moon Guardian Spirit, which is bound collectively to six followers of Jakaleel of rank Votary or above. Shamen can summon Spirits of the Dead using their Spirit Binding (Jakaleel the Witch) skill; the shaman need not be related to these ancestor spirits, and they will always initially be hostile. They may be converted to the Lunar Way as per ancestors but the roll is always at least hard (-20% per intensity of spirit).

Their fetch is a moon spirit and can be seen using Spirit Walk or Second Sight as an unearthly red glow around the shaman.

High Shaman

Needs 90% in five cult skills, including both forms of Spirit Binding taught by Jakaleel and Spirit Walk. Can bind up to CHA in spirits.

High Shamen can also lay the dead permanently to rest, conducting a funeral ceremony such that the person's spirit cannot be cajoled back to earth by anyone but its rightful descendants as an honoured ancestor. This will work on any spirit, even malevolent ghosts and undead if you can get hold of a part of their physical remains.

There is only one High Shaman in Balazar, Marusa the Moon-Woman, who wanders the country trying to convert the locals, and spirit plane trying to convert their ancestors.

Available Spirits

Spirits of the Five Moons Tradition are Full Moon, Half Moon, Hollow Moon, Waxing Moon and Waning Moon, and a shaman may have no more than one of each. Full Moon spirits are of the intellect and mind, Half Moon spirits are combat oriented, Hollow Moon spirits are demented curse spirits that drive people insane, Waning Moon spirits cover fertility, innocence and healing, while Waxing Moon spirits aid hunting, including hunting other spirits.

In addition a shaman may also have a Guardian Moon spirit as part of a group of six worshippers. This is created in a ritual involving a masked dance and spirit quest (Dance of the Empty Mask, Resonance 40% +10% per intensity of spirit). Combine the POW of the six worshippers, and divide by 5 to get the POW of the Guardian Moon, plus 1d6 per intensity of the spirit, combine the INT of all worshippers and divide by 7 to give the INT and combine CHA and divide by 8 to give CHA. It can donate magic points to any of the six people it is bound to, pass messages over any distance, add its POW as a bonus to any Persistence or Common Magic rolls, its INT to Insight and its CHA to Influence. It knows Countermagic at 1/3 its INT and may cast it at a worshippers request. If the mask it was originally summoned with is destroyed it will be banished, and if the worshipper loses the fetish they lose contact with the spirit.

Spirits of the Dead can be used to enhance skills and mental stats, but the best ones are curse spirits, though the shaman releasing them must be very careful that they don't turn on him. Using a Spirit of the Dead will earn the enmity of any of that spirits living descendants.

The shaman's own ancestors may be used as personal Guardian spirits, no more than one at any one time. Shamen may also bind an ancestor into a mask he has made himself, and when he dons that mask he allows that ancestor to possess him, hopefully temporarily.

Order of Jakaleel the Spindle Hag

This is a sorcerous school based on the teachings of the wizard Tetese, who journeyed to the spirit realm of Jakaleel and found other ways of working with the spirits of the dead, and going beyond what Jakaleel achieved to summon Lunar Demons. The Spindle Hag and Witch cults are separate entities, even though they both follow the same Immortal, and it isn't common for a single practitioner to join both. Jakaleel shamen are usually found on the fringes of the Empire and in poor peasant communities, Spindle Hag is more urbanised. Cyriel Endlekar is rumoured to have a Spindle Hag adept on his payroll.

Cult Skills: The Lunar Way, Manipulation (Spindle Hag), Grimoire (Book of Vile Secrets), Read/Write Lunar, Persistence, Insight, Meditation, Perception, Stealth, Lore (Demonology), Dance

Novice

Novices of the Spindle Hag order are usually only required to watch corpses to ensure they do not revive without permission, bless funerals where foul play is suspected, and perhaps cause a little light mayhem themselves, with minor curses and mischief.

They may learn the common magic spells Bandit's Cloak, Bearing Witness, Detect Spirit, Push/Pull and Fate. The only sorcery they may learn is Mystic Vision.

Apprentice

Requires 30% in five cult skills. The Apprentice may learn more common magic, with Darkwall, Demoralise, Disruption, Chill and Boon of Lasting Night. They may also learn more of the Book of Vile Secrets and can have up to INT x ¼ in spells. They must have Mystic Vision, and can learn Resist Spirit, Speak with Ghost, Manifest Ghost, Blind, Silence, Attract Spirit, Banish Spirit

Adept

Must have 50% in five of the cult skills, including Grimoire (Book of Vile Secrets). The Adept may learn up to half their INT in spells, including Bind Ghost, which enables them to take the spirit of a newly dead person and ensure it becomes a ghost. It is bound to a charm made of human bone decorated with silver and red ribbons and may be hidden in a house to ensure its haunting. They may also learn Darkvision, which enables them to see normally in darkness, Animate Darkness, Project Vision, Diminish (STR, CON, INT, POW, CHA) and Protective Ward.

Adepts sometimes find jobs as house exorcists or assassins for noble families where ghosts and spirits have been used as part of Dart Wars.

Mage

Mages of the Spindle Hag need 75% in five skills, including Grimoire (The Book of Vile Secrets) and can learn ¾ of their INT in spells, and get to use the most feared and potent spells of all, Summon (Demon), Command (Demon), Command (Monster) and Tap (Spirit).

Each class of demon has its own summon and command spells, and the size of demon is determined by the Manipulation (Spindle Hag) skill. Demons that are available include Strix, Destixin, Shades and Lunes, but others are possible, even demons serving deities such as Ikadz and Deshkorgos. Since it is not possible to banish a demon, these creatures are not summoned lightly.

Command (Monster) is also a separate spell for each class of creature. The cult knows how to command snakes and spiders of all kinds, wraiths, cave trolls, Voralans (Dark Aldryami), Broo and possibly some other chaos creatures as well.

Tap (Spirit) can only be used against disembodied spirits, but can absorb POW and CHA with the one spell.

Archmage

There is only one Archmage of the order, the crone Tetese herself, who serves at the court of Takenegi as exorcist and demonist. She has a network of loyal spies, and is trying, unsubtly, to take over the Jakaleel shamen.

Polytheism and the Lunar Way

Over the years the many many books have been published about Glorantha's Lunar Empire and its major feature – it's supposedly unifying universal religion. Since MRQII was set in a period before the rising of the Red Moon nothing was written about it for the MRQII/Legend rules, so here is my take, adapted freely from Issaries' Publications Imperial Lunar Handbook volumes I and II and Champions of the Reaching Moon.

Polytheism and magic

The natural state of the Gloranthan public is polytheism. A spirit worshipper calls on many spirits from his local area and traditions; a theist prays to the farming god when he plants his crops, the gods of the elements and weather when he wants them to grow, the god of war when danger threatens and so on, and even the monotheistic westerners call on multiple saints and guilds.

And all these gods, spirits and orders allow the person to use magic. Trying to combine magic from different pantheons gets difficult however, if the hierarchies controlling them will even allow you to do so. For example an Orlanth cultist might be able to go up to a Yelm temple and drop a coin in the collection plate, but the hierarchy will be deeply suspicious and will want him to repudiate his previous god before letting him in. A Balazaring shaman who binds a Praxian spirit will be seen as being guilty of kidnap and worse and Praxian shamen will pursue him and punish him, and the fate of a Rokari churchman who is found to have learned spells from a heretical Hrestoli Idealist grimoire will be painful to say the least.

And it is even harder to combine types of magic. Adopting the mindset required to command and control spirits makes the subservience to divine will and the logical frame of mind of sorcery harder and vice versa.

There are exceptions of course, there always are. The Lankhor Mhy Temple at Jonstown contains a grimoire of sorcery spells reformulated and blessed for use by their sages, and priests of Orlanth Thunderous have often controlled wind spirits of the Kolat tradition, but on the whole people who try and combine two or more forms of 'higher' magic are limited to mere dabbling.

Game Mechanics:

Each PC has a maximum number of spells based on his highest rank in any religion, which is his Primary Religion. Each spell from a different pantheon counts as 2 spells, each spell from a different style of magic counts as (Rank in primary religion+1) spells.

For example Tazos of Trilus is a Soldier of Tharkantus (Rank 1) with POW 12. He can have a maximum of POWx0.25 = 3 divine spells. He is also a Hawk Warrior of Balazar (Rank 1), but since his Pact skill is 50% and his Spirit Binding only 30%, Tharkantus is his primary Religion.

Tazos binds a Hawk spirit, counting as 2 spells (his rank in Tharkantus+1). He can now only have one divine spell.

If Tazos joined the cult of Orlanth and sacrificed for an Orlanth divine spell this would count as 2 spells, as Orlanth is from a different pantheon to Tharkantus. If he tried to bind a wind spirit from the Kolating spirit tradition it would count as (2x2) = 4 spells, as it is a different pantheon and a different magic type, and he just couldn't do it.

Primary religion can change if the character puts more effort into learning the new cult theology than in increasing his current one; his access to spells will change if he does so and jealous gods and spirits may well withdraw the magic hey have granted him.

The Lunar Religion

The Lunars are the big exception. The Lunar 'pantheon' is bewilderingly broad and diverse and it includes spirit traditions, gods and sorcerous orders. Lunar worshippers are positively encouraged to follow multiple gods and their most powerful mages will deploy a mix of spirits, sorcery and divine magic.

Lunar gods fall into three main categories:

First are the Moon goddesses. Sedenya and her priests demonstrated that she had always been a part of most Pelorian pantheons, and that the diverse and obscure moon goddesses were all in fact one and the same and were all reincarnated in her, the glorious Red Moon. Ulurda, Gerra, Lesilla, Natha and so on are all older moon goddesses whose worship has been updated to take into accont their status as previous incarnations of Sedenya.

Then there are the 'Healed' deities, mostly minor gods or demons from other pantheons who were converted to the Lunar way through heroquests by Sedenya or major Lunar heroes. These include Yara Aranis, Erelia and Verelia, Alanthor, Blaskarth and others. One favourite Lunar tactic is to find a demon from an enemies pantheon, such as Yara Aranis from the Horse Nomads, convert it and deploy it against them as an Imperial ally.

And finally a there are a whole range of Immortals, mortals who have raised themselves to godhood through devotion to the Red Moon. These are motley crew to say the least, including the original Seven Mothers, deified charioteers and accountants and living demigods like Hon Eel and the Emperor Takenegi, who are descended from the Goddess herself. They include the founders of various sorcerous orders such as the Orders of Borovich, Makabeus and the like.

Most people in the Empire worship these gods from time to time, but are not initiates. A worshipper of the Dara Happan pantheon still owes his primary allegiance to Yelm and will possibly be an initiate of one of the gods of his divine court, but will occasionally pray to Sedenya or one of her aspects as well, and will accept the Red Emperor as his legitimate ruler.

Any Lunar initiate of any cult who knows something of The Lunar Way (see below) can learn and use any moon related spell from any other with no penalty. A Sorcerer of the Order of Makabeus will have the skill Grimoire (Tome of Bleak Despair) and a head full of Makabean spells, but can also learn Pact (Irripi Ontor) and use his Divine magic with no penalty, and Jakaleel the Witch's Spirit Binding (Five Spirit Moons) and have a spirit or two handy as well.

Without this skill the Lunar worshipper has the usual penalties for learning spells from other gods of the same pantheon and different magical traditions.

In addition many of the Lunar gods count as being in a local pantheon as well as the Lunar one. The Red Emperor is not just a Lunar deity, he is a Dara Happan one as well, and a dedicated follower of the Emperor can learn the magic of Yelm, Lokarnos or any of the other Solar deities at no penalty.

Game Mechanics:

If you know the Lunar Way to any level, all Lunar spells count as 1 spell against the maximum known, no matter what type and no matter what rank you are in your primary religion.

The Lunar Way

This is a skill that any initiate of one of the specifically Lunar deities can learn as an Advanced skill.

The starting score is POW, but there is a bonus of 1% per 10% Speak Lunar and 1% per 5% in any Lunar spell casting skill such as Grimoire, Pact or Spirit Binding. This skill cannot be increased by improvement rolls, and training is very scarce and limited to high ranking members of the Lunar hierarchy. Gains can also be made through deeds benefiting the Red Moon.

This link between the Lunar Way and the Lunar language is one reason why barbarians sometimes refuse to learn it, to speak the tongue of the Moon really is to become it's servant.

The Lunar Way can be used to substitute for any Lunar magical skill such as Spirit Walk, Theology or Manipulation, a Lunar learning any new moon-related magical skill can start at this level if it exceeds the usual basic %age.

The skill also affects how influenced a character is by Lunar cycles beyond the Glowline. On the day of the full moon he adds his Lunar way skill, or 20%, whichever is higher, to any Lunar magic roll, on half moon days the bonus is half the Lunar Way or 10%, on crescent moon days there is no penalty or bonus and on Dark Moon days the penalty is the skill in The Lunar Way or -20% whichever is greater. Within the Glowline there is never any penalty or bonus as the magic influence of the moon is 'evened out' by the Temples of the Reaching Moon.

The Lunar Way is also used in the rites of the so-called Lunar Illumination or Sevening, a key stage on the way to becoming a Lunar Immortal oneself. Illuminates receive a bonus of +the crit range of their Lunar Way skill to all magic skills if within the Glowline.

Most initiates of Lunar cults will know the Lunar Way as the knowledge is required to become a Lunar Citizen and is always useful in advancing in the hierarchy of these religions.

Dogs in Balazar

Balazarings love their dogs, they regard them as brothers. Every Balzaring camp is awash with scavenging pups, every foraging group has guard dogs, small hunts have dogs for chasing and treeing game and major hunts use large packs to herd antelope and larger game into traps.

They keep several different breeds; small brown furred general purpose hunters are the most common, but big wolfhounds and mastiffs are also kept. Lopers are much prized bloodhounds that will keep following a trail to the ends of the earth if need be, and possibly beyond if they have been blessed by Brother Dog.

The Balazarings have many stories and legends about dogs; Brother Dog's conflicts with Telmor the werewolf are an epic, and all famous and heroic hunters have had a heroic dog at their side. Balazar's own dog, Redfang, struggled all the way back from the apocalyptic Dragonkill War to tell his master's sons of his death, then died at their feet.

Any Balazaring character can learn Train Dog as an advanced skill at POW+CHA. If they roll this skill or under they start the game with one ordinary hunting dog. Otherwise dogs can be bought or traded for at 50L for a hunter, 100L for a mastiff, 250L for a Black Loper and 300L for a Red Mastiff.

                Hunter     Mastiff       Black Loper       Red Mastiff

STR         1d6+3     2d4+2       1d6+4                2d6+2

CON        3d6         3d6            2d6+6                3d6

SIZ           1d3+2    1d3+4        1d4+3                1d4+4

INT           1d3+3    1d3+2        1d3+4                1d3+4

POW       1d6+6    1d6+6        1d6+10              1d6+6

DEX         2d6+6    2d6+3        2d6+6                2d6+6

CHA        1d6         1d6+1        1d6+3                1d6+3

Dogs can have a cultural background and a profession; after all a primitive hunters dog is not going to have the same skills as a noblewoman's lapdog.

All Balazaring dogs are Primitive, giving them +15% in Athletics, Perception, Resilience and Stealth, and +10% in Bite, and learn the advanced skills Survival and Tracking. Hunters and Lopers get an additional +5% Track and Resilience, while Mastiffs and Red Mastiffs get +5% Bite and Brawn.

Hunting dogs get +10% Resilience, +10% Stealth and +10% Track

Guard dogs get +10% Perception, +10% Insight and +10% Evade

Fighting dogs get +10% Bite, +10% Resilience and +10% Brawn

Herding dogs (only used by the White Goat clan) get +10% Perception and Obey Command

The owner can also train his dog up to 100 extra skill points, but no more than 30% in any one skill initially. Almost all learn the Follow Command advanced skill at INT+POW, and many Balazaring dog also learn Spirit Walk, to enable them to detect marauding spirits as well as physical threats.

Dogs gain advancement points and hero points just like humans, but can only use advancement points during downtime if their owner successfully makes one Train Dog roll per point.

A dog has 1 point natural armour.

A Legend Dog Character Sheet can be found HERE

Commanding a Dog

Dogs may learn one command plus one per 2 points of intelligence. Possible commands are Attack, Track, Hide, Come With Me, Silence, Fetch, Run Away, Hold Him, Go Home and Cast Spell.

To get the dog to obey a known command the trainer must roll his Train Dog skill plus the dogs Obey Command skill. If the dog has not been trained in the command the roll is half the owners Train Dog.

A dog which embodies a fetch or other spirit become fully awakened and is treated just like any other NPC follower. Such a dog may even learn human languages (limited to a max of 50% due to physical limitations of the larynx).

Disobedient Dogs

All dogs have their own personality and interesting or annoying quirks. Roll once on the table below.

1-2 Hates cats. Will have +10% to track them and will automatically attack any cat less than 2x their SIZ and may have a go at cats up to 4x SIZ if they make a Persistence roll. This dog is daft enough to take on a Sabre Tooth.

3 Gormless. This is not a clever or obedient dog. Int is reduced by 3 and any Obey Command skill is halved and any skill gains through Improvement are also halved.

4 Aggressive. This dog is a little bastard and will bite anyone who gets near unless specifically told not to. When out hunting it will attack prey when it is supposed to be keeping them at bay or just following them, if it is a guard dog it will go for friends as well as foes. Roll vs Persistence or bark and threaten, then attack. +10% Bite.

5 Greedy. Will steal rations and eat small game rather than fetch it back to its master. If put in a situation where stealing food is an option roll vs Persistence x 2 or the dog will succumb to temptation. +1 SIZ

6 Alert. Gets +POW to Perception and Spirit Walk if it knows the skill. On a Perception roll of 91+ will start barking at nothing and will be hard to stop.

7 Soppy. The opposite of aggressive, this over friendly dog licks people it is supposed to be biting. -10% Bite, -10% Insight, +5% Influence, half obedience roll when being commanded to Attack.

8 Clever. This dog is uncannily smart for an ordinary dog and has +10% Insight. If it is in a situation not covered by a command, roll Insight skill for the dog to come up with its own solution.

9 Squirrels! This dog loves nothing more than to pursue squirrels and other small game. If in a wood there is a 10% chance per hour of the dog picking up a scent and following it, with half normal obedience chances of getting it to stop and come back.

10 Hates... This dog is a smart one, but mean. Can be trained to attack one particular type of intelligent prey or human on sight. Choose one target (Lunars, your tribes worst enemy, worshippers of Issaries, people with red hair, Trolls) and the dog will get +20% Perception to spot them and raise the alarm and +10% Bite attack against them.

11 Top Dog. Gets +1 CHA and will establish itself as leader of any dog pack if it has the highest CHA. If its CHA is equal to or one less than the current top dog it will fight for leadership (winner of such fights gains a CHA point, loser loses one). If its CHA is higher than its masters then half the Obey Command skill as it looks on its supposed boss with lordly disdain.

12 Scavenger. This dog can find food anywhere and will eat all kinds of carrion. +10% Survival, but don't let it breathe on you.

13 Stinky. This dog is exceptionally 'doggy', -1d4x5% Stealth and Influence.

14 Handsome. A dog with fine bearing, sleek fur and if the Balazarings went in for such inane vanities as dog shows would probably win 'Best in Breed', +1d3 CHA

15 Mongrel. A gawky, scruffy mutt that doesn't look like his breed ought to. -1d3 CHA but +1d3 points in other characteristics.

16 Heroic Lineage. This dog's ancestors were well known as skilled hunters or guards. +1d3 POW and +5% to 1d3 skills.

17 Puppy Dog eyes. A dog which knows how to get round its owner even when it knows it deserves a good kick, +10% Influence.

18 Half Wolf. A dog with too much wolf in him is a fine vicious looking beast (+10% Bite, +10% Resilience, +1 STR, +1 CON) but hard to control, halving any obedience rolls and if the Train Dog roll is ever fumbled it will turn on its owner.

19 Wet dog. Has +10% swim and can has +10% tracking to find downed waterfowl, and will even hunt frogs and fish.

20 Two traits as above. If roll 20 again three traits and so on.

Combat

Dogs are not daft, they won't go attacking anything too large and too heavily armoured however loyal they are. They will fight in packs, one dog leaping in to bite then retreating while the disoriented target is attacked from another angle (-5% Evade or parry per dog attacking). Dogs can be taught to Hold, biting and holding on using the Grip combat manoeuvre. They can also use Unarmed Combat to bash a target rather than bite him, though they will only use this on a target no more than 2 times their size.

Magic and Religion

Dogs in Balazar are automatically followers of the Brother Dog spirit, and can advance in this religion independently of their owner. Votaries of Brother Dog can be taught common magic and spirit binding by a human Brother Dog Shaman and can carry dog spirit fetishes. A shaman's own dog will be used to embody Guardian spirits or even fetches, so the dog is pretty much a small-time shaman itself. Dogs can also follow the Black Dog and Two Stone spirits, but in Elkoi the lowland dog-god Jajagappa and Lunar hero-cult of Cwurl Toran are slowly gaining ground as more settlers move in from Holay and beyond.

Dog Equipment

Balazaring dogs usually only have a collar made of braided leather with a bone, wood or stone charm or two, but in Elkoi and nearby bronze studded collars with buckles are bought by chiefs and hunters, and even dog armour (leather harnesses for forebody or the head) as used by the Lunar military. Queen Jocestis of Elkoi even has plumed helmets and chainmail for her dog guards, and a red silk waistcoat for her 'dog vizier', a fat and supercilious looking lapdog that can allegedly cast curses.