🆘 Looting Broos, Divine Intervention and more🆘

[icebrand]

So, my characters are fighting Muriahs broos (already slaughtered revor and 3 broos with a nice ambush, but i still need to roll revors divine intervention). So, questions:

1- Revor the Broo was split in half at the waist, after suffering a true greatsword blow to the abdomen that did 18 damage (while he had 3 total hp left). 

Of course he's gonna try divine intervention to malia (60%). What can he realistically ask for if successful? He l has a 6-pt healing potion and id like him to escape, but also didn't get to cast his divine disease causing spells, and his top half flying while he casts one last curse sounds cool if everything else fails.

I don't want him telling the other broos and dying because he's an ass and would never do that, but escaping to the other broos is good (if i -and by "i" i mean you) can come up with a good DI effect for that. If that happens, you think the other broos would heal him or kill him?

2- there's the true sword of the fire on the beach. This is a KICKASS item, but sadly it's a scimitar, and no one can even try to use it (except the humakti but i don't see him dropping broadsword for the enemy's weapon). Should I change the weapon to a broadsword or spear?

3- Looting the broos: the named broos have some nice magic items and coin, how would you loot them?

Option a) people are afraid and disgusted, they just don't (but then again, the humakti is literally soaked in broo blood so...

Option b) loot anyway. What happens then? Does the loot transmit disease? Do you roll 1/day, just once, or what? Can it be cleansed? (A PC is a Chalana runelord + near priest if that's needed). 

4- Disease! Assuming every Broo has one (i think this is the case)...

i make them roll if they get hurt by Broo, if they grapple them, if they loot them or if they damage a location for it's HP+6 (blood splatter!).

now, each broo needs to be resisted only once; should I make them roll on every occurrence instead?

Also what happens if a diseased character finds the same disease? I'm thinking i would do them roll again and worsen the disease if they fail, do you think this is a fair ruling?

Well, that's it for now, thanks in advance!

 

 

[French Desperate WindChild]

personaly

1) the DI may be : he survived and opponents didn't see him alive, or he died and became a disease spirit with personality. there are 2 questions:

- does he fears te death (so does he ask to survive) or does he hates his opponents (so does he ask to fight

- what should want Malia ? don't care, if DI is a success do what he asked ? Revenge --> don't care what he asked he is a disease now

2) I like the idea to propose a powerful item players cannot use (or cannot use efficiently)

in all case, you can change an item by another one, you decide but the scimitar is nice : players may want to sell it, and some lunars may want to understand why they have a scimitar...

3) players may know that their characters should be disgusted etc.. but they have to decide what they do, not th GM. Then as a GM I would explain as you said but let them do what they want.

If they have some passion (hate or fear chaos, malia, etc) they should roll  to do something against their passion :

- if they failed their passion (ex: roll 85 against a 60% hate chaos) they do what they want but lose 10% in the passion,

- if they succeed, you may propose a choice :

•  the pc don't touch the broo
• the pc touch the broo and take a penalty (-10% in social interaction for the season, or in all skills or -30%, because in "trouble" with his/her own "values") and -20% to the passion itself

3-4) disease

I don't consider all broos have a disease but some off them

now when a player roll to determine if there is a disease ?

- if the player fight directly the broo with a disease (blood, spit, etc...)

- if the player touch a broo (to plunder, to get prisonner, etc...)

I do one roll for one broo in one scene (fight + "touch" = 1 roll) but if there is the same broo in the next scene (= different fight for example) a new roll can be done

 

 

[PhilHibbs]

I would never roll Divine Intervention for an NPC.

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, PhilHibbs said:

I would never roll Divine Intervention for an NPC.

Agreed, if the story needs him back, the DI succeeds and the GM can decide how much weaker he is when he comes back. 

[icebrand]

8 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Agreed, if the story needs him back, the DI succeeds and the GM can decide how much weaker he is when he comes back. 

Well, if he survives he would have no legs, and i don't think his broo bros would take him...

So, 60% chance to become a spirit and then he attacks in spirit combat after dumping his 2 rune points. BRO-O-O-O-TAL (my Broo say bro-o-o-o-o like a goat) 🐐

[Squaredeal Sten]

 

I am much less distinguished than Phil Hibbs, but I have given an NPC a divine intervention roll.  When it seemed to fit the story, and when the NPC was high level enough that the question would occur to anyone ‘Why didn’t she [a lunar priestess] DI?”

 

In this case, think about a couple of things:

● I wouldn’t let the DI reverse the outcome of the fight.  The adventurers will still win.

● Broos hate each other, too, so asking the god to save the whole gang seems un broo like.

● The god’s response should be something the god would do.  If it were Orlanth, a whole body heal and teleportation might be reasonable, since teleport is an Orlanth rune spell.  Not so much for Mallia.  Mallia’s responses should be disgusting. 

 

Your Disgust May Vary, but-

 

I can see the broo becoming a spirit if disease.  I can see the broo – having just been cut in half - exploding and spattering everyone around it with its diseased blood and crap  

(chance of spatter = 1/SQRT(distance in moves from exploding broo). 

And then the broo’s spirit having a chance to possess any nearby lower- POW broo. 

Or how about the broo, since it is cut in half, becoming two half-size and less powerful broos?

 

Let’s be ingenious here – And review the Mallia cult.  What Would Mallia do?  No resurrection, it says that-

 

Spirits of disease can be bound shaman-like to a disease master -  wouldn’t such a binding be appropriate?  But how would it fit into your story?  How about binding that spirit to that neat sickle sword you wrote about?  Just an idea.

[Joerg]

10 hours ago, icebrand said:

Well, if he survives he would have no legs, and i don't think his broo bros would take him...

So, what is a chaotic creature going to do? Grow a new set of tentacular legs? Attach itself to some other creature, creating a centaur-like monstrosity (possibly as a parasite)?

[StephenMcG]

This depends on your group and its tolerances but broo are disgusting and their method of procreation particularly so.  My players have a visceral hatred of them.

If your group are open to body horror and want to divert onto a different route, the broo could simply ask to be implanted in one of its enemies. 

This would be Alien-like, the larva inside, the PC tainted by chaos, a ticking tome-bomb before it claws its way out. Is there a solution?  Can the PC be cleansed? Is there a heroquest, or series of quests? Hints of lost knowledge, or ancient sage that might solve the problem.

In the meantime, is there an effect of carrying the larva?  Might that chaos taint also provide a bit of chaos feature, triggered by spending a magic point?  Will they realise those magic points go straight to Mallia?

Stephen

[PhilHibbs]

7 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

I am much less distinguished than Phil Hibbs, but I have given an NPC a divine intervention roll.

I claim no special position, it's entirely a matter of personal and group preference.

[Darius West]

15 hours ago, PhilHibbs said:

I would never roll Divine Intervention for an NPC.

 Not even a named NPC?  Not even a hero?  Not even a Superhero?  The rules as they stand suggest that anyone from initiate status and higher has a chance to get divine intervention.  This isn't limited to the player characters.  It is also no guarantee of success in D.I. (unless the character is a Rune Lord).  I find D.I. means I can recycle some NPC stats, and give them an ongoing backstory for the next time they meet the players.  "I used to have massive Power. The gods loved me!  But thanks to you, I now have the Power of a baby carrot, and I owe the Chalana Arroys half of my income!  I will have my revenge!"  

[Joerg]

Not rolling DI for a Rune Lord from a cult with a D10 divine intervention would be selling that cult's rune lords short, IMO.

[French Desperate WindChild]

1 hour ago, Darius West said:

 Not even a named NPC?  Not even a hero?  Not even a Superhero?  The rules as they stand suggest that anyone from initiate status and higher has a chance to get divine intervention.  This isn't limited to the player characters.  It is also no guarantee of success in D.I. (unless the character is a Rune Lord).  I find D.I. means I can recycle some NPC stats, and give them an ongoing backstory for the next time they meet the players.  "I used to have massive Power. The gods loved me!  But thanks to you, I now have the Power of a baby carrot, and I owe the Chalana Arroys half of my income!  I will have my revenge!"  

I think the question is not "can a npc gain a D"I but " should the GM roll for the DI (let the dices decide) or decide without any roll if yes or no the god answers"

and the answer may be " it depends on the situation (in game)"

 

typically if I want this guy to be a recurring opponent and this guy is killed during the first battle, the gods save the guy. If I don't care the future of this guy, then [I roll] or [not and good by]

[icebrand]

19 hours ago, PhilHibbs said:

I would never roll Divine Intervention for an NPC.

I need to teach my PCs how to use DI; plus yesterday i finished reading this module and... This scenario ends with the PCs IDing back home or a TPK.

The last encounter is stupidly unbalanced and there's no winning that fight with my current groups skills and magic (unless the Yelornan deletes the priest with the totally fair & balanced shooting star spell)

 

[soltakss]

On 10/5/2021 at 2:45 PM, icebrand said:

1- Revor the Broo was split in half at the waist, after suffering a true greatsword blow to the abdomen that did 18 damage (while he had 3 total hp left). 

Of course he's gonna try divine intervention to malia (60%). What can he realistically ask for if successful? He l has a 6-pt healing potion and id like him to escape, but also didn't get to cast his divine disease causing spells, and his top half flying while he casts one last curse sounds cool if everything else fails.

I don't want him telling the other broos and dying because he's an ass and would never do that, but escaping to the other broos is good (if i -and by "i" i mean you) can come up with a good DI effect for that. If that happens, you think the other broos would heal him or kill him?

Unless specifically stated, DI for Chaotics works the same way as for non-Chaotics.

So, for example, Cacodemon DI just summons a Fiend as a final, petty, act of vengeance.

The Mallia write up in Cult Compendium does not have any restrictions for DI, so I would say that it could be used to bring a cultist back from the brink of death, or just after death, in the same way that Orlanthi DI would.

On 10/5/2021 at 2:45 PM, icebrand said:

2- there's the true sword of the fire on the beach. This is a KICKASS item, but sadly it's a scimitar, and no one can even try to use it (except the humakti but i don't see him dropping broadsword for the enemy's weapon). Should I change the weapon to a broadsword or spear?

No, keep it as a Scimitar. Not every magic item needs to be useful to the Adventurers.

If it is a Truesword Matrix then the Humakti could still use it and recharge it.

On 10/5/2021 at 2:45 PM, icebrand said:

3- Looting the broos: the named broos have some nice magic items and coin, how would you loot them?

Option a) people are afraid and disgusted, they just don't (but then again, the humakti is literally soaked in broo blood so...

Option b) loot anyway. What happens then? Does the loot transmit disease? Do you roll 1/day, just once, or what? Can it be cleansed? (A PC is a Chalana runelord + near priest if that's needed). 

Loot anyway.

The items could be covered in disease, but there are ways around that. In one of the old RQ2 Supplements, maybe Borderlands, it describes burying disease-infected items to get rid of the disease. Also, Praxian Shamans can put diseased items in a bag and kick seven bells out of it to drive the disease spirits off.

You could also get a Shaman to cleanse the items.

On 10/5/2021 at 2:45 PM, icebrand said:

4- Disease! Assuming every Broo has one (i think this is the case)...

i make them roll if they get hurt by Broo, if they grapple them, if they loot them or if they damage a location for it's HP+6 (blood splatter!).

now, each broo needs to be resisted only once; should I make them roll on every occurrence instead?

Being close to a Broo makes you exposed to the disease, so roll to see if you catch it. There is no real need to roll each round, unless something gross happens. Having Broo blood squirt into your mouth, for example, might warrant a reroll.

On 10/5/2021 at 2:45 PM, icebrand said:

Also what happens if a diseased character finds the same disease? I'm thinking i would do them roll again and worsen the disease if they fail, do you think this is a fair ruling?

You could do. Or, just say that they have already contracted the disease and be done with it.

[Dragon]

On 10/5/2021 at 7:45 AM, icebrand said:

So, my characters are fighting Muriahs broos (already slaughtered revor and 3 broos with a nice ambush, but i still need to roll revors divine intervention). So, questions:

1- Revor the Broo was split in half at the waist, after suffering a true greatsword blow to the abdomen that did 18 damage (while he had 3 total hp left). 

Of course he's gonna try divine intervention to malia (60%). What can he realistically ask for if successful? He l has a 6-pt healing potion and id like him to escape, but also didn't get to cast his divine disease causing spells, and his top half flying while he casts one last curse sounds cool if everything else fails.

I don't want him telling the other broos and dying because he's an ass and would never do that, but escaping to the other broos is good (if i -and by "i" i mean you) can come up with a good DI effect for that. If that happens, you think the other broos would heal him or kill him?

2- there's the true sword of the fire on the beach. This is a KICKASS item, but sadly it's a scimitar, and no one can even try to use it (except the humakti but i don't see him dropping broadsword for the enemy's weapon). Should I change the weapon to a broadsword or spear?

3- Looting the broos: the named broos have some nice magic items and coin, how would you loot them?

Option a) people are afraid and disgusted, they just don't (but then again, the humakti is literally soaked in broo blood so...

Option b) loot anyway. What happens then? Does the loot transmit disease? Do you roll 1/day, just once, or what? Can it be cleansed? (A PC is a Chalana runelord + near priest if that's needed). 

4- Disease! Assuming every Broo has one (i think this is the case)...

i make them roll if they get hurt by Broo, if they grapple them, if they loot them or if they damage a location for it's HP+6 (blood splatter!).

now, each broo needs to be resisted only once; should I make them roll on every occurrence instead?

Also what happens if a diseased character finds the same disease? I'm thinking i would do them roll again and worsen the disease if they fail, do you think this is a fair ruling?

Well, that's it for now, thanks in advance!

1) YGMV, but IMO Malia is a death goddess. She doesn't return the dead to life. She wants them where they are. She does however, view a successful DI as a way to spread disease, in chaotic ways. Never the same. So consider a few examples: Revor exploded sending extra disease fragments that every PC needs to roll to resist (CONx3 as it is extra nasty), Revor attacks the one who dealt the death blow in spirit combat as an intelligent Spirit of Disease (since he had POW as well as CHA, it will be nastier than the normal Spirit of Disease) with his POWx5 skill in Spirit Combat, Revor casts his remaining Rune Points as Cause Disease and maybe a couple for the DI. Only a Disease Master should be able to invoke a Cause Plague on a successful DI. That thing is nasty!

2) Keep it a scimitar or kopis. The party can try to trade it to someone who has a magic item they looted which has a Limitation that allows a member of the party to use it, but not the trader. That may take the rest of the season, there are not magic shops like in computer RPGs! (ignoring certain Issaries giants).

3) This is based on how I would treat #4. Yes, they can loot the broos. Anyone with Treat Disease skill (while Chalana Arroy is about the only teacher they are likely to find, everyone can learn it) can 'cleanse' the items. If the Treat Disease skill fails, the PC making the attempt is exposed. If the Treat Disease skill fumbles, everyone in the vicinity is exposed. So don't let someone with 15 skill try it. Explain to new players that looting the broo will likely expose them to disease, unless you have someone very skilled Treat Disease, and that can do some awful things to you.

4) You are exposed to disease in the following ways: a) You are injured by a broo's weapon or special ability. b) You injured a broo and keep your weapon (unless cleansed). Don't recover your arrows/bolts c) You loot a broo and failed your Treat Disease, which exposed you to the disease on that broo. d) Something else that seems like it should expose you. Each occurrence of the above forces counts as an exposure. So for the love of Chalana Arroy, don't hit broo with multiple weapons. Note: if you wounded multiple broo with the same weapon and keep it, roll only once for each different disease the various broo had.

Note: I do not include being attacked by a Spirit of Disease - there are well defined ways you get diseases from them and no need to add. I do not count them exposed due to parries or hits stopped by armor. They will usually have better Spirit Combat skills than the PCs and will infect.
Another note: If a weapon only hit a broo while Fireblade or Firespear was active, the weapon does not need to be cleansed. In my game, anyone with those spells used them to fight broo specifically for that reason. I figured the Sky was mythically powerful against disease (see Yelm's Fight Disease spell) and the weapon had been 'replaced' so the actual weapon doesn't quite hit the broo.

Every Malia-worshipping initiate broo has at least one disease. It was a requirement for initiation back in RQ2 and likely will still be in Gods & Goddesses of Glorantha. Thed-worshipping broo may have one. Each broo may be different (GMs should have that ready).

When exposed you need to roll a CON roll to resist (or get the first level of disease and have to roll again to see if it progresses). Normal exposure to disease would be CONx5. But broo are worse and thus start at CONx4 to resist. Disease Masters should likely be CONx3. The Chaotic Feature of 87-88 should make it harder to resist an exposure. Very rarely the GM could say one is even nastier.

Again, YGMV, but I think that works well to balance things.

[Shiningbrow]

You could have the DI either bring up a demon level disease spirit (or casts a 3-pt Summon Disease spirit), or a chaotic demon that fires off Thed's Curse on the PCs every round...

Or, to be nasty, Malia herself drops those curses herself on them ("roll resistance... What's your POW?... Ha! I'm a shaman, so I resist with 35 POW.... ok, you're resisting Malia herself, so you have 5% chance to resist 😆🤣🤣🤣)

[Darius West]

On 10/6/2021 at 8:39 PM, French Desperate WindChild said:

typically if I want this guy to be a recurring opponent and this guy is killed during the first battle, the gods save the guy. If I don't care the future of this guy, then [I roll] or [not and good by]

I prefer to let the dice tell the story.  It feels less artificial and is often more immersive, as unexpected things happen more often.  GMs often try to follow a narrative arc, while life seldom does.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Darius West

[WindSerpent]

1) As far as the DI goes, I might have him turn into a creeping pool of disease, or dissolve into a swarm of plague-spreading insects. Following his slayers and tormenting them. Maybe make it a slow countdown to their inevitable deaths, if they can't get some heroquest level healing done. This bends the rule on 'DI doesn't do attacks on other gods' followers for fear of starting a god-brawl' thing though. Of course, one could look at it as making a change to *him* so *he* can do it to them... in which case,maybe skip everything and turn him into a disease spirit full stop. Maybe a very unusual disease spirit if you need him to do something in particular.

He could plague them, literally, beyond his death! Or all of their friends and allies, if that might work better for your particular PCs.

2) I wouldn't change it. In some ways, it's more interesting as something they might not use themselves. Creates some interesting decision points. Someone might want to keep it and learn how to use it precisely because it does kick ass. The PCs could use it as a gift to someone. Perhaps the Humakti will petition their god to transfer the enchantments to their broadsword (maybe a good chance for them to try out DI). Maybe they'll look for whoever this thing used to belong to, or their next of kin, if the broo came by it by theft or murder (as seems likely).

3) Ooh. Ooh, that's tricky. I'd only make it a significant problem for them if I felt like they didn't have enough on their plate already, just as a matter of storytelling or if I didn't feel like giving them more stuff than they already have just at the moment. But having a CA priestess or a shaman purify it in exchange for a share would probably be the cautious way to go from a PC perspective. Especially, like.... if there's a backscratcher or something the broo have been using in there. Ew.

4) Probably only one roll for each PC, after the dust has settled. Maybe give a penalty to anyone who got in especially close and had a lot of contact. If you want multiple diseases involved you could give one roll per disease any given PC had been exposed to (by way of a particular weapon attack or grapple). I wouldn't give extra intensity to any disease unless someone fumbled a roll, I don't think.