Demons & Diabolists: alternative Magic-User class and infernal entities for weird historical settings

I expanded the demonic True Name generator. Now you can roll domains of power, spells, and unique physical manifestations for the entities! And I wrote up a Diabolist class (for LotFP) that calls up and binds such demons (they basically act as the spellbook of the summoner).

The project is loosely based on The Lesser Key of Solomon, but instead of the high-level Dukes and Marquises of the demon kingdom it concentrates on the "footsoldiers" and "officers", the ones that a diabolist has a chance to summon AND control. I tried to strike a balance between evocative historical flavor and playability.

Download the PDF

(Prints as a nice little 8-page booklet)

Science fantasy Harpist class

The science fantasy Harpist class is a character type for OD&D/BX/whathaveyouish games. It is based on the lyrists and bards from pulp fiction, who can manipulate emotions or matter with their music. See, for example, one of the protagonists in "The Jewels of Bas" by Leigh Brackett (I wrote about it in this post), and other appearances of lyres in Brackett's sword & planet fiction. I was also influenced by the description of the "Pipes of Killorn" in "Swordsman of Lost Terra" by Poul Anderson. 

“It was like the snarling music of any bagpipe, and yet there was more in it. There was a boiling tide of horror riding the notes, men's hearts faltered and weakness turned their muscles watery. Higher rose the music, and stronger and louder, screaming in the dales, and before men's eyes the world grew unreal, shivering beneath them, the rocks faded to mist and the trees groaned and the sky shook. They fell toward the ground, holding their ears, half blind with unreasoning fear and with the pain of the giant hand that gripped their bones and shook them, shook them.” (Poul Anderson, “Swordsman of Lost Terra”, Planet Stories, Nov. 1951)

So basically it's a D&D bard, but with science fantasy flavor for the powers.

			Saving Throw vs.					Powers / day
Lvl	Exp	HD	Poison	Wands	Paralysis	Breath	Spells	1	2	3
1	0	1	13	14	13	15	13	1
2	1,500	1+1	12	14	12	14	12	2
3	3,000	2	12	14	12	14	12	2	1
4	6,000	2+2	11	11	11	13	11	2	2
5	12,000	3+1	11	11	11	13	11	2	2	1
6	25,000	4	10	11	10	12	10	3	2	1

 

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
1	Charm Person	Deflect Missiles, 10’	Charm Monster
2	Comprehend Languages	Deflect Rays	Confusion
3	Deflect Missiles	Enthrall	Destabilize Matter
4	Identify	Forget	Disrupt Force Field
5	Message	Hidden Message	Heroic Frequency
6	Radionics	Hold Person	Radionics, Group Therapy
7	Sleep	Silence, 15’	Suggestion
8	Ventriloquism	Siren Song	Warm Earth Music for Plants

 

See the full post for the Descriptions of powers:

[5e] Warlock: The Diamond (D&D meets Steven Universe)

Steven Universe is great, for a multitude of reasons --- and for me it's also a good aid on portraying aloof and whimsical Archfey type creatures. In my current 5e game, the players will soon meet a Lady of the Fey. At first, I planned her to be more standard, but then I got into Steven Universe, and decided to play her as a Diamond. I reskinned her dungeon into a crystal palace and everything. 

So, if you have a Diamond, why not also have a Diamond-Pact Warlock?

Here's a quick write-up. The extended spell list is new - I concentrated on spells that control minds or manipulate inorganic matter. The features are ripped from the Great Old One and Archfey Warlocks, with one original addition.

Warlock: The Diamond

Your patron is a Diamond, one of the four leaders of The Great Diamond Authority, a cosmic entity of vast power. Her behavior is whimsical and unknowable, like that of the fey, but her goals are crystal clear. She grants you dominion over inorganic matter and the feeble minds of mortals. But in exchange, you must prepare your own planet for colonization by the Gems.

Expanded spell list

The Diamond lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Spell level	Spell
1st	Chromatic Orb, Command
2nd	Calm Emotions, Phantasmal Force
3rd	Blink, Meld into Stone
4th	Conjure Minor Elementals, Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere
5th	Antilife Shell, Dominate Person

Awakened Mind

Starting at 1st level, your alien knowledge gives you the ability to touch the minds of other creatures. You can communicate telepathically with any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don't need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.

Misty Escape

Starting at 6th level, you can vanish in a puff of mist in response to harm. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. You remain invisible until the start of your next turn or until you attack or cast a spell.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Lustrous Retinue

Starting at 10th level, your Diamond delegates one of her servants to aid you. You can summon an Amethyst (as Earth Elemental, MM p. 124) or a Pearl (as Air Elemental, MM p. 124). The conjured creature serves you unquestionably.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Create Thrall

At 14th level, you gain the ability to infect a humanoid's mind with the alien magic of your patron. You can use your action to touch an incapacitated humanoid. That creature is then charmed by you until a Remove Curse spell is cast on it, the charmed condition is removed from it, or you use this feature again.

You can communicate telepathically with the charmed creature as long as the two of you are on the same plane of existence.