Thursday, June 18, 2020

GLOG: Tea Wizard

Tasseomancy, the art of divination using tea leaves, is a potent ability most wizards ignore. It is too free and authentic to teach in a cloister or college, but too regal to leave to hedge hucksters. It seems that the only person to learn the basics of tea reading are the few court tea wizards, and the only teacher of anything beyond that is to live, practice, and face the deceptions of life.

Perk
You can almost always scavenge tea leaves or coffee beans from somewhere. you start the game with 2d4 ceramic cups, as well as a ceramic teapot or wineskin.

Drawback
You need to carry and handle cups to cast spells, which probably means they are in danger of being shattered before you can use them.

Cantrips

  1. Share Bond: When you brew tea or coffee, you may add in just enough love that it is Unclean for one person who drinks from it to harm another person who drinks from it. Lasts one day.
  2. Magic Thermos: You may specify one cup you own as a Magic Thermos. Drinks in this thermos do not go cool. If this cup contains a spell, you may wait until it is the last spell you possess to pour it out. If you do, roll twice on the spell list and pick which one it is.
  3. Tea Reading: you may look at the dregs of a drink someone has finished to tell which tea wizard spell their mental state most resembles.


Spells
Tea wizards do not typically prepare spells from a spellbook. Instead, they pour a cup of tea (or wine or coffee), drink it, and read the remaining leaves (or dregs or residue) to learn what spells they may cast. Most adventuring tea wizards pour all such cups with their breakfast, and carefully haul the dried, soiled cups with them all day until they can be useful.

The benefit of this hassle is that tea wizard spells are more thematic and open for interpretation. For each spell memorized by pouring out a drink, roll randomly on the table below. The strength of the effect depends not only on magic dice invested, but also on whether the intended effect is in keeping with the theme of the spell.

(Note that tea wizards can still learn spells through scrolls and other means.)

d10 Tea Wizard Spells

  1. The Shape of a Random Letter: provides mastery over something starting with that letter.
  2. Omen of a Heart: creates affinity or vulnerability.
  3. A Ring in the Base: binding or combining.
  4. The Form of a Snake: enmity or falsehood.
  5. Sign of the Spade: fortune or industry.
  6. Symbol of a Tall Mountain: journey or hindrance.
  7. Forming a House: development and recurrence.
  8. A Very Bad Sign-- the Skull!: foundation or collapse.
  9. Shape of an Animal: instinct or ken.
  10. Outline of a Cross: sanction or sanction.

Mishaps

  1. Spell die only return on a 1-2 for 24 hours.
  2.  Take 1d6 damage as your stomach turns.
  3.  Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then make a Save. Permanent if you fail.
  4. Save vs Fear against literally anything unusual for 1 hour.
  5. You receive news that someone close to you has taken deathly ill.
  6. You glimpse a sign of imminent death. You will be killed by some cause in the next 1d6 days.
Dooms
  1. A terrifying omen shakes you to the core. You cannot regain burnt die for 24 hours.
  2. All drink turns to mercury and turpentine for 3 days. You must pass a save vs madness to drink anything
  3. A culturally appropriate psychopomp demands that you die to satisfy some obscure facet of the natural order.

2 comments:

  1. Is there any way to avoid Mishap #6?? Very interesting take

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm... Hole up Final Destination 2 style, so snug that it's impossible for anything to kill you?

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