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Post by rorrik on Jul 1, 2018 22:59:10 GMT
With joatmoniac busy playing D&D in a castle, we can get up to some major mischief before he gets back. Let's homuncy around! This exercise ties back to Dungeon Master's Block episode 153: Homunculus with Sydney Shields. In the episode, they explored in depth some implications, quest hooks, and concepts surrounding the Homunculus, a ritually created servant and companion from the core books. In that vein, let's get out the picks and shovels and get to work adding a basement to the gym (don't tell joatmoniac) where we can make some magical servants of our own: - What is the servant called?
- What is the creator’s relationship with the servant like?
- What forms of communication are available to them?
- What abilities does the servant have?
- How is the servant created?
- Anything else you might want to add.
As an example, I will answer the prompt as if I were creating the original seed: the Homunculus. - Homunculus
- They share a blood link. The Homunculus obeys the creator's commands and dies if the creator is killed. If the Homunculus is killed, it wounds the creator.
- They can communicate telepathically while in the same plane, but the Homunculus cannot speak. It can also convey what it senses directly to the creator.
- A poison bite and resistance to poison.
- It is created with clay and ash and the blood of the creator.
- The creator of a Homunculus can define its creation’s appearance, within the bounds of his sculpting ability. They are often barely recognizable as the creator's intent.
Quick! Let's get this infestation started before joatmoniac can get back! |
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Rudolph
Squire
Posts: 39
Favorite D&D Class: Ranger
Favorite D&D Race: Firbolg
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Post by Rudolph on Jul 2, 2018 1:19:46 GMT
1) A Tomestone.
2) Tomestones are mentally linked to their creator, although that link can be transferred to another sentient being through a separate ritual. If the stone is destroyed, its creator (or the being it is linked to) is notified of the loss, but not when, where, or how it happened. The same is true vice versa: a Tomestone whose creator is destroyed will be notified of the event but will continue to live on, and, in the Tomestone's case, it will do so indefinitely.
3) The Tomestone communicates telepathically via any of the languages that it knew in life, and its ability to relay ideas is as advanced as the soul that fuels its being. In other words, a stone imbued with the soul of a scholar may be able to carry on intelligent conversation for hours with its keeper, whereas the soul of a dunce would have the skill to communicate in simplified words and ideas.
4) The value of the Tomestone lies in its ability to record in precise detail every event that it is present to witness. For instance, if the stone is present during a vampiric raid, it will afterward be able to recall every sight, smell, sound, etc. of that occurrence. The stone's senses match that of the soul that created it (meaning that if it was powered by an elven soul, it would have the senses of an elf, and so on.) After the event, Tomestones describes its memory in such a way that it can be easily written down by its controller.
5) A person wishing to create a Tomestone requires the tombstone of a body that has not been moved since its burial, one candle for each cardinal direction, and a means to remove their own memory. After placing one candle in the North, East, South, and West, the tombstone is laid in the middle of the created circle. The creator then draws one of their own memories and implants it in the stone. In doing so, they teach the soul trapped in the stone to remember once more, but they lose the memory in the process.
6) Though they are known as TomeSTONES for a reason, not all Tomestones are actually stones. In some cases, a person's soul is trapped in another object present at burial, such as a sword, or finds its way into a nearby plant!
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Post by meribson on Jul 2, 2018 4:18:03 GMT
Been a while since I've listened to the episode, but I remember an idea I had regarding the ritual to create a homunculus going wrong.
The resulting creature starts out helpful enough, with the only apparent side effect of the botched ritual being a voracious appetite. Despite being three and a half feet tall, it eats more than a gluttonous orc. Then one day after breakfast, the homunculus says something that it never had before: "I'm full."
With that declaration, it starts being pulled apart like a lump of silly putty. With a loud tearing sound, there are now two homunculi, neither of which are bound to the mage.
Despite the lack of a magical bond, the two homunculi still serve the mage. But when the mage died, no one can control them. They went out searching for food, until they became full and split into two. The resulting race came to be known as goblins.
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Post by rorrik on Jul 4, 2018 1:51:52 GMT
1. What is the servant called?
The name varies from place to place, "Gumbys" "Shoe-gums" "Gloms" "Scummen" etc.
2. What is the creator’s relationship with the servant like?
The Gumby follows the creator everywhere, attempting to assist its creator in whatever way it can. It accepts orders according to its rudimentary understanding thereof, but refuses any order that would separate it from its creator.
3. What forms of communication are available to them?
The Gumby cannot speak or communicate except by nodding or shaking its head when given orders or asked questions. It understands, on a basic level, its creator's primary language.
4. What abilities does the servant have?
A Gumby is agile for its small size, able to keep pace with medium humanoids despite being less than a foot tall in general. They are clumsy and almost completely without intelligence. They have advantage on attempts to hide in moist, natural terrain. They have inherent thieves tools which they can use at advantage.
5. How is the servant created?
Gumbys are created by spitting every day for a week in a body of fresh water and then plucking from it moss or pond scum which becomes the Gumby. This process sometimes occurs by accident, saddling unsuspecting laborers with a servant they have little use for.
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Post by dmcaleb on Jul 7, 2018 8:50:43 GMT
Alright Rickety May, you hag, I’ve come to bargain. What do I need to give you to free the child? I’ll give you anything.
Anything, little paladin!? Ooooooh, don’t be so dramatic. The only thing I want for the child’s freedom is a few drops of your blood. You’ll barely even feel the knife prick.
What is the servant called?
Rotling/Seedling
Rickety May named her unique creations Seedlings believing that they are the seeds of transformation of the Homunculus’s blood hosts. Blood hosts are the poor fools that give their blood to Rickety May in exchange for some favor.
Those who have had these Seedlings made of them don’t disagree that there is a transformative effect, but prefer the name Rotlings for what they do to their soul.
What is the blood host’s relationship with the Rotling like?
Where a normal homunculus is crafted to serve and support its blood host, Rickety May’s rotlings do not. Rickety May makes them for one purpose; whisper into the blood host’s ear their every failure, remind them of their every flaw, and provide damning advice.
A homunculus knows everything about its host. It knows their hopes, fears, and regrets. It is just their nature. So when they do Rickety May’s bidding to chip at the blood host’s soul they can make it very personal.
Needless to say, when a blood host finds out about the rotlings they either go to great lengths to kill the creature or simply fall into despair.
What is the creator’s relationship with the servant like?
Since most blood hosts would do anything to kill their homunculus, Rickety May goes out of her way to hide and protect her Seedlings.
When a soul gets corrupted by a seedling, Rickety May has the ability to claim their soul through the homunculus upon the host’s death. She then uses those souls to barter with devils and other fey.
What forms of communication are available to them?
The rotling looks like a large rotting avocado with spindly legs and arms. No wings. No eyes. No mouth. A creature born into despair and created to focus on their blood host’s mind. It retains its telepathy which is vital for Rickety May’s plans.
The lack of sensory organs is a protective measure for Rickety May. She doesn’t want the blood host using the homunculus to see where the rotling is. However, the host can still sense dampness, an uncomfortable chill, and other tactile sensations based on where the rotling is stored (often in a well, a tree’s Hollow, or somewhere else unpleasant).
What abilities does the servant have?
Technically, it only has telepathy and a perfect knowledge of the blood host, but those two traits combined for ill-intent is potent.
The creature has the ability to drive their blood host to despair over time.
How is the servant created?
Rickety May takes a prune and shoves a rot grub in it.
She then takes the prune and soaks it in the blood of the host.
Then over the course of a month (new moon to new moon) casts a profane ritual nightly which helps the prune grow.
On the final night the rot grub, which has metamorphosed into a mouse-sized fly, leaves the rotling and flies into Rickety May’s mouth where she devours it and completes the ritual.
Anything else you might want to add.
The other two hags of her coven are very envious of Rickety May’s ability to create seedlings, and want to get their hands on one to try to reverse engineer the process.
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Post by galakan on Jul 11, 2018 17:00:40 GMT
- Lore Delver
- When creating a Lore Delver, the caster must choose to forget a memory from their past. The more important the memory, the harder the creature will work to find the information you ask of it. So a Lore Delver forged from the memory of what you ate for breakfast might be lazy and snarky if your breakfast was, say generic road rations. But if you sacrifice the memory of your mother's last words to you, then you have a completely loyal servant.
- They instantly information dump any information about a specific topic that the caster has given them to research. This can be done regardless of distance to the caster. After doing so, the Lore Delver will need to be given a new topic of research and it will have forgotten all previous knowledge.
- A Lore Delver is capable of researching a single specific topic. For instance, if you wish to learn more about a specific artifact or historical figure. Once given the subject, the Lore Delver will do everything within its power to acquire the knowledge asked of it. Whether that be through legal means or through more nefarious ones. It will travel far and wide seeking the knowledge asked of it....provided it had a sufficient memory to fuel it. It has some forms of defending itself, although it sticks to subterfuge and stealth to avoid conflict. As part of its being, it can naturally cast misty-step and gaseous form to allow it to easily travel and escape confrontation.
- The ritual of Lore Delving begins by acquiring the following ingredients.
1. The brain of a doppleganger
2. The tentacle of a displacer beast
3. A scroll of the spell "Message"
4. A memory from the caster's past.
After gathering the ingredients, the caster must begin the ritual at sunrise and chant the incantation for one hour. Upon its completion, the Lore Delver will be summoned and the memory will be forgotten.
- Lore Delvers resemble small humanoids constructed of folded paper that is covered in arcane runes. They can un-fold flat to get through small spaces and can disguise themselves as a large scroll or parchment. Despite seeming like paper, they are not nearly as brittle and flammable.
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Post by DM Onesie Knight on Jul 16, 2018 5:28:04 GMT
- What is the servant called?
- What is the creator’s relationship with the servant like?
- What forms of communication are available to them?
- What abilities does the servant have?
- How is the servant created?
- Anything else you might want to add.
1. My First Flesh Golem 2. Obeys simple verbal commands, as a low-level mindless undead or construct. Cannot speak. Enters a dormant state when more than 50ft from its creator. Ceases to function after 1-2 weeks 3. Cannot speak, but gestures with its stumpy, jerky motions in approximations of emotion 4. Almost completely useless. It can do a little dance and flop cutely over itself. 5. It is sold in a prepackaged necromancy kit for young aspiring artists of the flesh. Designed for ages 9-18, the kit includes flesh golem-grade stitching thread and needle, alchemical embalming oil, arcane circle written in the ash of a nightshade upon vellum made from an albino sheep, and a small knife forged at night. The aspiring necromancer must simply provide 2-4 fresh animal carcasses and assemble them into the desired configuration, complete the incantation and ritual (which is laid out in simple, step-by-step instructions with illustrations), and place one single drop of blood into the creature's mouth, drawn by the provided knife. |
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Post by DMdanielsan on Jul 17, 2018 1:50:29 GMT
1. What is the servant called?
Penumbra
Powerful psions who do not have the appropriate training often create physical offspring from lacking the proper training to harness their damage to their psyche. While many times these are created by accident, some psions choose to create penumbras to purify their soul and harnessing their negative energy for productivity.
2. What is the creator’s relationship with the servant like?
The penumbra is an expression of the negative energy from the psion, but are a part of the psion's soul nonetheless. The penumbra can be sent as a separate body to carry out tasks, but only tasks in line with their essence. For instance, an embodiment of greed can be sent to steal an item, a violent penumbra can be sent to protect a town from invaders, a mischievous penumbra can be sent for sabotage missions, etc.
3. What forms of communication are available to them?
The penumbra shares its memories with the psion who created him/her, and they are aware of their actions at all times. However, the psion can only gain control of the penumbra after besting it in a challenge related to its nature. For example, combat vs a penumbra of wrath, a game of poker against a penumbra of lies, etc. Once bested, the penumbra submits to any mission given to it by the psion but is incapable of doing anything other than what is asked of it, so the creator must be very careful with his/her demands(think of the golem of Prague).
4. What abilities does the servant have?
The penumbra can only carry out tasks given to it by its creator, and can only carry the tasks out in a manner related to its creation. In other words, don't expect a penumbra of pure anger to perform a stealth or espionage mission, but one made of vengeance may be more suited for the job. While the penumbra is one dimensional, they are experts in that field and are rarely bested by fighting fire with fire.
5. How is the servant created?
The servant is created either on accident by the psion denying a part of themselves and ridding it from their body, or through a ritual where they meditate and conquer the aspect in their own mind.
6. Anything else you might want to add.
The act of creating a penumbra is highly frowned upon, very similar to necromancy. However, many see it as a measure of strength and cleansing of one's mind. The danger of creating a penumbra, however, is if the psion loses its contest to the servant, the psion becomes the servant and the penumbra the master.
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will
Commoner
Posts: 24
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Post by will on Sept 24, 2018 3:27:06 GMT
What is the servant called? Feligielle.  What is the creator’s relationship with the servant like? The feligielle feasts upon feelings of awe, wonder, and primal emotion, like how a man can be brought to tears at the sight of a field of blooming tulips in a valley at dusk, or the feeling one gets when a humpback whale leaps out of the water beside you, or when you look up at a hundred-metre tall statue of an ancient king, or when a wife let's out a haunting wail of grief at her husband's funeral. The filigielle eats those emotions when they are released. It tends to gravitate towards adventurers, who are generally more prone to experiencing dramatic and awe-inspiring moments such as these in their travels. What forms of communication are available to them? The filigielle is only as expressive as a regular cat, until right after it feasts. After feasting, it can communicate simple thoughts and feelings, or it can act as a conduit between its master and its god. Gods often employ feligielles to accompany devoted followers as they uncover more of the majesty of their god's creations. What abilities does the servant have? It can fly due to its wings. It can disguise itself as a regular cat, or as a small hummingbird. It can innately cast spells that inspire great emotions (like Fear or Hideous Laughter) as well as spells that dampen them and make people feel better (like Calm Emotions). It uses these spells as it pleases and does not take orders during combat. How is the servant created? Some cats develop personalities strong enough to garner the amusement and attention of the gods. These cats, once dead, are given immortal souls and wings and sent back to the material plane to assist in spreading the word of their gods. Most have little attachment to their former lives, but some actively seek out prior owners who were good to them in life. A child whose beloved cat was cooked and eaten by orcs when she was 11 might find her cat visiting her as an angelic guide in her old age at 88. Anything else you might want to add. The filigielles are as fickle in this form as they were in their lives, and if their master is in an adventuring party, it might switch "masters" to whoever can scratch their favourite spot behind the ears the best, or to whoever slips them extra helpings of dinner under the table. Raising your voice against your filigielle will likely cause it to lose interest in you and start wandering around to seek out a new master. |
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Post by letterlost on Mar 5, 2020 19:16:43 GMT
These homunculus are made by kobolds, others have stolen their secrets and experimented with the formula but at this time only dragon born have had success replicating its effects (dragon magic).
What is the servant called?
1. Scratcher
2. Talky
What is the creator’s relationship with the servant like?
They share a physic link. The Homunculus obeys the creator's commands and becomes no more than a wooden doll if the creator is killed; scratchers claws are still tipped with lead and talky’s make a faint buzzing dial tone sound. If the Homunculus is killed, it wounds the creator.
What forms of communication are available to them?
Understand and communicate only in draconic, anyone who taps into the thoughts must make a DC 10 int check or become disoriented, and anyone who does not speak draconic fails automatically.
Kobold and homunculus share surface thoughts and can focus to use others senses while on the same plane.
1. Scratchers: understand and write draconic. Able to receive telepathic messages from any scratcher it has been introduced to so long as they are within 20 miles of a dragon’s lair and within 10 miles of each other. It conveys these messages by peeling off bamboo paper scales and quickly writing on them using lead claws. (texting)
2. Talkys: understand and speak draconic, able to telepathically connect to other Talky they have been introduced to and speak what the other Talky hears. Both must be within 20 miles of a dragon’s lair. (cell phone)
What abilities does the servant have?
Detect surface thoughts in 30 feet
Scratchers: poison claw attack (lead claws)
Talky: Thunderwave 1/day, some Talky’s make poison and dip their claws in it (usually just the jealous ones)
How is the servant created?
Scratchers: a medium cauldron must be filled up with rain water, and then brought to a boil. Add a bamboo shoot (at least 1 lb.), claw filings, 10 gm of lead, a rat you have kissed, 7 gtt of your blood, 3gtts of treachery, and a pigeon you have told a secret. Stir briefly, and then maintain heat until all water has boiled away. You will find your scratcher clawing as it tries escaping the pot, be sure not to remove it until all the water has boiled away. Your new scratcher will need to eat flowers 1-2 times a day or it will become apathetic and may misfunction.
Talky: a large cauldron must be filled with rain water, than brought to a boil. Spit into it, and then add 1 lb. mandrake root, 7 gtt of your blood, 1 green dragon scale, a cranium rat you have kissed, a sprinkle of blasphemy, a talking bird (such as a raven or parrot) you have told a secret. Stir briefly, than maintain heat until all water has boiled away. You will find your talky at the bottom of the pot. Crying and screaming from inside the pot is common, be sure not to remove the homunculus until all the water has boiled away. Your new Talky will need to eat 1 health point 1-2 times a day or it will become apathetic and may misfunction.
Anything else you might want to add.
Scratcher’s scales all grow about an inch a day (might look like an upside-down pinecone) and they shed like crazy.
Talky’s are notorious for gossiping.
Scratchers and talky’s generally dislike the other type, often are in competition. This can subconsciously create feelings of dislike or competitiveness towards the other’s creator. Scratchers are very common and almost all kobolds will have one and use them almost constantly; Talky’s are usually made by higher class kobolds.
Color is determined by color of bird (pigeon vs. talking bird)
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wizzardofaus
Squire
Posts: 27
Favorite D&D Class: Kobold
Favorite D&D Race: Kobold
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Post by wizzardofaus on Aug 6, 2023 5:14:44 GMT
What is the servant called?
Prickles
What is the creator’s relationship with the servant like?
Prickles has chosen to stay with it's creator as the creator has treated them kindly since creation.
What forms of communication are available to them?
Prickles can speak Common and understands how plants are feeling, as well as a little druidic.
What abilities does the servant have?
Prickles can whistle really well but doesn't for too long as it can tire them quickly. They also are prather proficient with nature lore.
How is the servant created?
Prickles is a shrub, awakened via the spell.
Anything else you might want to add.
Prickles hates losing their leaves in Autumn and is very vain during Spring as their leaves and flowers bloom.
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