GLOG: Familiars

A magic-user may persuade any creature to perform a ritual with them and enter into a contract of familiarhood. This replaces one class ability of the caster's choice and the creature will likely have wants and stipulations. More powerful familiars require more complex rituals (and XP) to bind, and the caster should take care that the would-be familiar is not too powerful, lest the caster risks being bound instead and becoming the familiar. Each caster may only have one familiar and the binding lasts until death does them part - and sometimes even beyond that.

 

Wizard's Familiar by Cassie Hunter

 

When you perform the familiar ritual, choose two Familiar Gifts that your familiar will be imbued with:

1. Aid(e). While your familiar is assisting you, gain a +2 bonus to one attribute or +4 to one skill of your choice. This Gift may be chosen multiple times for different attributes or skills.
2. Bound by name. Your familiar can now be summoned by anyone who performs a ritual that requires the familiar's name, a magic circle and a source of power.
3. Change shape. Your familiar gains an alternate form. If the form is roughly comparable - a mouse into a dove and a horse into a human - they can transform at will, otherwise they need to consume a rare and expensive ingredient to transform. This Gift may be chosen multiple times.
4. Familiar pocket. Your familiar may disappear Elsewhere while not needed and reappear when you call it. 
5. Familiar token. Your familiar may transform into a small-ish item (a ring, a shawl, a sword) and back at your command.
6. Mutated. Your familiar gains a mutation - choose one basic mutation from here, or 1 point of Evolution from here. This Gift may be chosen multiple times. If you use rare and expensive ingredients in the familiar ritual, you may choose a war mutation instead, or gain +1 point of Evolution.
7. Share concentration. Your familiar can maintain concentration on a spell you cast, as long as you stay nearby or share a mind. This lets you either concentrate on two spells at once, or roll twice for concentration on a single spell.
8. Share mind. You may communicate telepathically with your familiar, as long as you stay within a mile of each other and in the same dimension.
9. Share soul. You can cast spells through your familiar, as long as you stay nearby or share a mind.
10. Spark of magic. Your familiar gains a cantrip. This Gift may be chosen multiple times.

Heavily inspired by these rules.

Class: Wizard of the God-Serpent

You were anointed by the blood of the forever dying God-Serpent, the beheaded Ouroboros. You were given a mission:

Survive, scavenge, study and spread.

Subvert, subsume, supersede.

Save me.

Go forth, little snake, and ease your sire's suffering.

This is half a stolen snake wizard, revised and reflavoured for my setting, and half a snake mutant race.

 

from a player of mine

 

You are an Outsider, but bound to become an Outlaw unless you are careful with your machinations. Do not fail the God-Serpent.

Items: d20 pet snakes

Skills: Herpetology

Perks & Flaws:

Your body is partially covered in scales, however much you choose. You can speak with snakes.

You are cold-blooded. You may never gain resistance or immunity to cold and cannot rest while cold.

Cantrips:

1. Your eyes are slitted. You may switch between normal vision and infravision.
2. Your tongue is forked. If you can smell something, you can taste it too, and all magical things taste weird.
3. You can unhinge your jaws and swallow anything that is less than the circumference of your neck without difficulty. You can regurgitate anything you have eaten (and not digested or passed) at will.

from Dark Souls

 

Spells:

1. Coiled Strike

When you cast this spell, choose one:

• One or both of your arms transform into serpents until dismissed, and can be used as melee weapons dealing d6+[dice] damage, with a 10ft reach. If you transform both of your arms, you can attack twice per action, but cannot grasp or gesture.
• Your head transforms into a viper's head on an elongated neck and makes a single attack for [sum]+[dice] damage with a 30ft reach.

2. Shed Skin

Pull off your own skin. This takes d6-[dice] full rounds (min 1) and leaves you naked. Afterwards, choose one of the following:

• Restore [sum] hp.
• Restore [dice] points to a damaged attribute.
• Your body changes according to your wishes - your hair or eye or skin changes colour, your height or gender or apparent species adjusts - but no more than a professional prosthetic makeup could manage and with no mechanical effects. You may dismiss this effect at will, returning to your natural appearance, but if you do not do this before [sum] hours elapse, your new form becomes your natural one. You may never use this spell to create the same appearance twice.

Your shed skin is whole, similar to that of a snake, and can be kept.

3. Gift of God's Fangs

Up to [dice] touched weapons or [sum] projectiles become envenomed, dealing +d4 poison damage for 1 hour.

While you have this spell memorised, also grow fangs (d4 poison).

4. Gift of God's Tail

Your legs merge and transform into a massive serpent's tail, shunting everything you have worn on your lower body Elsewhere. You cannot be knocked prone and can grapple with your tail while keeping your hands free. This lasts until dismissed.

For every [die] after the first, choose one of the following:

• Make grappling tests with advantage.
• Swim at full running speed.
• Your body can twist, contort and squeeze into any shape without suffering harm, except for your skull. You can wriggle free from mundane manacles nigh-instantly, and from being hogtied in a minute.
• As an action, you can coil your tail tightly as a spring and then jump triple your normal distance.

5. Serpent's Charm

As you lock eyes with a nearby creature, it must save vs charm. On success, choose for it to be unable to move closer to, or further away from you. On failure, it is unable to move from its place at all. It can still perform any action except for moving. As an action, it can save again to negate the effect. Creatures of HD [dice]×2 or more are immune to this effect.

6. Charm Serpents

Up to [sum] total HD of snakes or snake-like creatures within 60ft are lulled into a peaceful daze. This lasts for [dice] hours or permanently with 4+ [dice], but breaks when any of the targets is attacked or otherwise endangered.

7. Snake Ball

A massive illusory sphere of serpentine mating orgy springs from your outstretched palm and starts rolling, up to 30ft per round for [dice]×2 rounds. Any creature struck by it must save vs fear, and flee or fall prone on failure.

8. Sticks to Snakes

R: touch; D: [dice]×2 minutes

A bit of a misnomer, as this spell can target sticks, staffs, snake tattoos or snakes.

Sticks or snake tattoos are transformed into actual snakes, up to [sum] of them. Each has 1 hp and bites for 1 poison damage, but more importantly is clever enough to follow complex commands. If a tattoo snake is killed, it discorporates into ink and flows back onto its owner's skin.

Staff (only one) becomes a large snake with [dice] HD, [dice]×2 armour and a bite dealing d6 damage. If the staff was magical, you may choose the bite's damage type and may originate your spells from the snake. If the snake is killed, it reverts back to a staff, cracked.

Snakes, up to [sum] total HD of them, are transformed into sticks or staves, save negates. Huge or magical snakes may become staves with special properties.

9. Snakes to Stairs

Stomp on the ground and a [dice]×50ft long snake will emerge to anchor itself between you and a point within its reach. It will serve as narrow stairs or walkway, but will not move from its place nor take part in combat. It has [sum] hp and disappears after [sum] minutes if not destroyed.

10. Snake Cache

R: self; T: swallowed item

If you cast this spell while swallowing (or regurgitating) an item, it is stored in (or retrieved from) an extradimensional space rather than your stomach. You can access up to [sum]×[dice]th Slot in this virtual "inventory" and store or retrieve as many items as you wish with a single casting.

The target must fit within your mouth and the accessible Slots, or the spell fails. Time basically doesn't pass in the pocket dimension, so items will be retrieved in exactly the same condition as when stored.

Kabuto from Naruto

 

Emblem Spells:

11. Shape of the God-Serpent

Call upon the God-Serpent and transform yourself into its likeness. You are now a man-sized snake with steel-like scales that grant you DR [dice]. Gain [sum] temporary hp; the transformation lasts until you lose them. In addition:

• You do not need gestures and incantations to cast your spells, and snake-related spells you cast do not trigger Mishaps and Dooms.
• You are immune to all special powers and abilities of snake-like creatures. For example their venom, hypnotic or petrifying gaze, etc.

12. Avatar of the God-Serpent

Call upon the God-Serpent and its avatar slithers into existence somewhere near you. The avatar is not under your control, but is not immediately hostile to you. It remains for a day/hour/minute/round, based on [dice], while its power is based on [sum]:

[1-6] ball python-sized, HD 2, bite/crush 1d6

[7-11] anaconda-sized, HD 4, bite/crush/poison spit 2d8

[12-19] dragon-sized, HD 8, bite/crush/poison breath 3d10 area

[20+] castle-sized, HD 16, bite/crush/poison breath 4d12 area, flying, spell-casting

Nagini
from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 

Dooms:

1. Lose one of your cantrips at random for a day.
2. You can no longer speak with snakes and most become hostile to you.
3. You permanently become a small, common snake. Your human mind will leave you in d6 days.

Your Dooms can be reverted by consuming the God-Serpent's raw flesh, though they can happen again. They can be forestalled completely by raising a large temple to the God-Serpent, as long as you venerate it there daily.

Class: Really Good Pedigree

Based on the other dogs, but with Incunabuli's idea of dog breeds as abilities mixed in.

 

Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
from Magic the Gathering

 

This is a racial class, so its template A can only be gained during character creation.

Items: collar or a similar trinket

Skills: Hunting, Guarding, Burrowing, Scent-Marking, Pleading Eyes, Emotional Support

Age: You are adult at one year and will live to about twelve years.

Per template: +2 hp

A: Canine, +1 Gift

B: Really Good Nose, +1 Gift

C: +2 Gifts

D: Epic Nose, +1 Gift

Canine

You are a dog. You cannot speak, but can communicate with those you know well.

You have great senses of smell and hearing. Test Awareness to get an olfactory image of every creature and object that has recently passed through the nearby area.

You have no hands, but can run really fast (+2 Movement Speed).

Your bite deals 2d4 damage. You can safely consume raw or slightly spoiled food and murky water.

Really Good Nose

You can smell the weird stuff - poison, disease, magic, undeath - though you rarely get any specifics.

Epic Nose

If it is at all possible to track something by scent, you can do it - even incredibly old or well-concealed smells.

When you sniff something, you can ask one abstract question about it. Another question is possible after 10 minutes/hour/day/week/month/year of sniffing. For example: Does it work for a druid? Is it having an affair? What is its favourite colour?

 

One of the PCs in my campaign right now
is a three hundred years old dog (long story)
currently learning surgery to give himself
human hands and posture.

 

d12 Gifts of Good Pedigree

1. Really Good Eyes: You can see clearly in minimal light. You can see invisible things as a slight lensing in the air.
2. Best Friend: Choose one character as your Best Friend. When cooperating against a threat, you both have an advantage.
3. Medicinal Slobber: You can lick an injury to stop bleeding, no test necessary. In addition, if the injury might be infected, poisoned or diseased, the victim gets an advantage on their save.
4. Takedown: When you use a combat manoeuvre on a human-sized or smaller foe, you may also automatically grapple them. Your grapple tests have an advantage.
5. Go for the Throat: Your attacks against a grappled or prone target add an extra die of damage.
6. Street-Raised: You can swallow anything that fits into your mouth and regurgitate anything you have eaten (but not digested or passed) at will. You are immune to non-magical poisons and diseases.
7. Sighthound: You are as fast as a horse. Gain further +4 Movement Speed.
8. Snarling: While you spend the whole round yapping, growling and dancing menacingly in place, enemies must save vs fear or be unable to approach or attack you.
9. Shaggy: You are immune to cold weather and resistant to cold damage.
10. Watchful: Unless explicitly distracted, you cannot be ambushed or surprised, even while asleep. You can control and guide a group of animals with strict precision. They will not wander or get lost without your knowledge.
11. War-Trained: You are one of the big dogs. Your bite deals 2d6 damage. Gain further +1 hp per template.
12. Guide Dog: You cannot be tracked except by magical means and can always find a path to any place you have been to.

Class: Nightmare

One of the players in my just-finished D&D 5e campaign rides a nightmare. In preparation for switching to GLOG, I want to let them play as the nightmare.

from D&D 5e

 

A: Nightmarish, Fiery, Horse That Leaps Over Land And Sea And Sky

B: choose one of Dream Travel or Dimensional Travel

C: Fiery Steed, Trample

D: Fiery Breath and the other Travel ability

Nightmarish

You are a horse, but scary. You cannot speak, but can communicate with those you know well.

You have no hands, but can run really fast (double standard Movement Speed) and count your Strength Might twice for the purposes of Inventory Slots.

Your teeth are razor-sharp and your hooves smoulder - deal d10 damage "unarmed". You can only eat meat.

Fiery

Your mane and tail are on fire. You have fire resistance and shed light as a lantern.

Horse That Leaps Over Land And Sea And Sky

You can walk on water. You can also run on air, but must end each movement action on a solid ground, or fall.

Fiery Steed

You are now immune to fire and may confer fire resistance to one rider.

Trample

You can move through the space of any creature smaller than you and test Might. On success, they are knocked prone and get no attacks of opportunity against you.

You may trample multiple creatures in a single movement, as long as you fail no Might test. On a failed Might test, you lose the rest of your movement.

Fiery Breath

Deal 2d8 fire damage in a 15 feet cone. You can breathe again once you devour a ration's worth of raw flesh.

Dream Travel

Instead of a long rest, you and your rider may dive into the Dreamlands. You can follow the scent of anyone whose blood you have ever tasted and enter their dreaming, if they are currently asleep. Dreamers will remember their interactions with you as strange nightmares.

Sidebar: Willpower (wp) is basically mental hp or sanity, decreased by stress rather than damage. Once you run out of wp, you start freaking out and may gain Vice if you take further stress. I should post the full rules one day.

In a dream, your attacks deal stress rather than damage. If your target is reduced to 0 wp, they wake up covered in cold sweat, their rest forestalled, and gain a Vice of phobia towards you.

Should your dreaming form be reduced to 0 hp or wp, you wake up. This may strand your rider, if they were not riding you at the moment of your return to the waking world.

Dimensional Travel

You can smell dimensional intersections - fey crossings, thin places, inactive portals, etc. Take 1 Fatigue to kick open a rift in such a weak location. It stays open for d6 minutes.

In most of Creation, Twilight is close enough that you can always open a portal there.