The skeleton hacked into the stoney field with a clumsy strength, the sound of cracking rock joining a cacophony of hundreds of other undead working their way across the land. A few farmers watch in appreciative silence, exchanging a few comments among each other. You’ve spent the last few days tasking the undead on how to be helpful aids. You’ve had some corrections by the villagers as they showed you how to make the most use of your minions, but you’ve always been a quick learner.
Raising the dead was a. . . weird experience, you have to admit. You just had to call out with your soul, like reaching with an imaginary limb. And they came, bones shambling out of fields and woods. It took only a few days for a thousand of them to come to your call.
The witch, Lianna, she told you, watched and asked questions all the while. Good for your future Court Witch. Her previous teacher had died early, and so she had come far developing her own abilities, but wondered at the possibilities of drawing upon your powers as a patron, as many witches do.
Falia the Priestess was of course ecstatic upon hearing of the return of her niece.
“You might be an unholy creature of darkness, but you’re alright in my book,” She says with a smile on her face. “Sander’s Vale has your back, Magnimian.”
Headman Habber was also pleased upon seeing the work a small army of skeletons could do, working day and night.
“Aye, some will stay because farming is all they want to know, and someone needs to watch the bonies. Others will get bored soon, and wouldn’t mind learning an extra trade to keep them busy,” he says. “Just let me know when you got the facilities set up.”
Sander’s Vale now bustling with productive worker skeletons, and villagers guided on how best to use them. The skeletons are more intelligent and able to work based on your desires in your presence, but they can still follow the commands of the farmers.
Lianna looks a bit disappointed at the sight of your battered and lonely tower.
“Hey, you’re getting in on the ground floor here. We have lots of room to grow in the organization.”
She shrugs, “ I suppose it beats living on my own in a hut.”
END OF TURN ONE
In the first month of the Lich King’s reign, he established friendly diplomatic relations with the neighboring villages and began an undead work program in the village of Saunder’s Vale. He also cursed a Friar of the Ophalion Order and freed his captives.
Gain 2 Experience. Current Value: 3
Gain 1 Dominion from your quest completion. Current Value: 1 (Does not include individual Voter- write up dominion gains.)
Next Level (2) Requires: 3 Experience and 2 Dominion spent. (Current Spent Dominion: 0)
(Advancing down the path to Lich-Godhood requires not only experience, but exercise of power and will. )
Developments:
Some among the Church of the Lightbringer are concerned by reports of a dark wizard cursing a friar of the faith! The Ophalion Order is incensed and clamoring for paladins to be sent and cleanse the area.
Some of the villages near Saunder’s Vale, particularly the ones you haven’t visited, are highly disturbed by the sight of walking skeletons.
Friendly villages are excited to receive their own undead laborers. They are fine with waiting for a few months though.
TURN TWO: Year 1433 of the Aenian Calendar: Month 2
Population ( living): None
Population (dead): One
Cult Status: Non-existent
Economy: Dead. A goat path connects you to a somewhat better traveled dirt path.
Wealth: You have a few coins laying about.
Military: Pretty much just you.
Grandeur: Tower is two stories tall and crumbling. It impresses the occasional peasant.
Name: Magnimian the Unholy
Level: 1
Appearance: Pale cold flesh, blood but does not circulate.
Resources
Effort: 2/2 (Example 2/2 if you are not using any, ˝ if you are currently spending 1 Effort)
Influence: 0/2
Dominion: 1
Wealth:3
Attributes
Attribute: Score/+Modifier/Check
Strength:15/ +1/ 6
Dexterity:16/ +2/ 5
Constitution:16/ +2/ 5
Wisdom:16/ +2/ 5
Intelligence:15/ +1/ 6
Charisma:16/ +2/ 5
(Lich King boosts Constitution to 16)
(Truth boosts Wisdom to 16)
Saving Throws
Hardiness:15-2=13
Evasion:15-2=13
Spirit:15-2=13
Hit Points: 10/10
Armor:Robes (Natural AC of 3-2=1
Weapons:
Facts
-You are a Lich King in Truth.
-You have Seen the Truth and it is broken.
Words:
-Lich King( Natural AC of 3, no need for food/sleep/breath, Constitution Boost)
-Truth (Gain Truth Sense, always believed to be telling the truth, Wisdom Boost)
-Underworld (Gain Spatial awareness, no need for air/food/water, invulnerable defense against harm from stone, earth, or environmental hazards underground.)
Greater Gifts:
A Heart Apart: You possess a phylactery, excised heart, or other locus for your life, one which can be destroyed by ordinary violence. Unless this phylactery is destroyed, you cannot be permanently killed, and will regenerate from death in 24 hours from your largest remaining fragment. If the phylactery is destroyed, you can remake it, but it will not become effective for six months. You are instantly aware of any destruction of your phylactery, and while you can hide it or guard it, you cannot enchant it specifically to be protected from harm.
Lesser Gifts:
Ageless Erudition:
Commit Effort for the scene to know any fact or piece of knowledge, or pass an intellectual attribute check, that a ingenius mortal sage could conceivably do or know.
Dread Lord
Lesser foe undead in your presence are absolutely obedient to your commands and cannot intentionally harm you. Commands you give them will be obeyed with human intelligence and necro-suicidal devotion until they are out of your presence for at least 24 hours, after which they revert to their usual behaviors. You may attempt to likewise enslave an undead worthy foe as an Action, but the target gets a save versus Spirit to become immune to the gift for the scene.
Borer Beneath:
You can pass through unworked stone or earth as if it were empty space. If you wish, you leave behind a self-supporting tunnel with a diameter slightly wider than you are tall; as an Instant action, you can withdraw your support of any such tunnel you have made and let the natural environment collapse it.
Treasures of the Earth
Commit Effort to intuitively sense the location of any metals, gemstones, water, or other substances found below the earth within a radius of 100 feet per character level. You can conjure up to your character level in Wealth points of these things each day. These Wealth points
are not considered natural for purposes of fueling theotechnology or
other magics. Water or other non-precious substances are limited to
a ten-foot cube per level per day.
Wealth Rules:
In order to stop just amassing an empire’s worth of gold in a week of effort at the beginning of the game, we are going to try to put a scale on wealth generation.
So when adding or generating new treasure to your purse:
-A difference of 2 or more, combined equals the larger value. (Adding 2 wealth to 4 wealth will equal 4 wealth)
-A difference of 1 combined gives a value 1 greater than the larger value. (Adding 2 wealth to 3 wealth equals 4 wealth.)
-Combining Equal values results in a value 2 sizes greater. (Adding 3 wealth to 3 wealth equals 5 wealth.)
When spending your wealth:
3 sizes smaller or more does not reduce your wealth.
2 sizes smaller reduces wealth by 1
1 size smaller reduces wealth by 2
Spending equal to wealth reduces your wealth by 3
(Wealth homebrew rules by Darkview)
You have Actions equal to your Influence, which is currently 2, and then 1 Adventure Action, which you can use to go on quests or pursue your own goals. You can also hire advisors who can take additional actions per their category.
You have 2/2 Influence Invested, 1 in Saunder’s Vale labor program and 1 in the Friar’s Curse of Truth.
Cult: Well it's not so much dead, as it hasn’t really started yet.-No Cult leader
-Got To Start Somewhere: Spend some time thinking and writing down what you want your cult to be. Maybe you just want an easy going cult that is very chill and all about personal development, or maybe you want something a little more demanding, make them really earn their place by your side! Either way it's better to start now. 1 Action
Diplomacy: Ehh maybe its okay no one knows about you yet -No Councilor
- Send a letter to the Necromancer’s Guild: Well, you have to announce and register yourself eventually. They are not huge fans of Liches, but you may get some interest from them. 1 Action
-Smooth Things Over: Talk with the villagers upset with the skeleton workers. See if you can reach an agreement..1 Action
-Reach Out to Rebels: There are bunches of rebels, some of which are noble freedom fighters, others little better than bandits. Time to see for yourself which is which. 1 Action.
Military: Your tireless legions of undead need to start somewhere! -No General
-Raise Skeleton Regiment: They aren’t much, just moldy skeletons dredged from the lake and armed with whatever junk you had lying around. But they will have to do! Raise 1,000 skeletons to start your military! 1 Action, 1 Dominion/Influence
-Raise Skeleton Army: Begin your horde! It might take awhile to gather all the corpses, but you can already raise a concerning amount of skeletons! They may be as capable as an average peasant, but quantity is a quality all of its own. Raise up to 100,000 skeletons, and will raise more as you acquire more. 1 Action, 2 Dominion/Influence
-Raise Elite Skeleton Guard: Sometimes you actually do need quality. Raise and equip an honor guard of Skeleton warriors, garbed in the finest funerary gear of a dozen cultures. 1000 elite warrior undead. 1 Action, 2 Dominion/Influence
Economy: The sinews of war is coin, which is good because your skeletons lack the regular kind-No steward
-And They Call it a Mine: Using your Underworld gifts, locate and build a mine nearby. Will attract economic interest. Staff will primarily be undead laborers you scrounge up, but eventually humans can come and work as overseers. Lich King’s choice on what it is mining. 1 Action, 1 Dominion/Influence (will need to keep maintaining influence lest the mine dry up.)
-The Lich King’s Road: Begin building a safe trade route to your tower. Patrolled by your military and occasionally you, this will make coming to your Tower much easier. 1 Action, 1 Dominion/Influence
-Worker Retraining: With Saunder’s Vale a success so far, you should begin by setting up the tools and workshops for the villager’s retraining. Decide industrial focus (smithing/carpentry ect.) 1 Action, 1 wealth.
Defenses/Construction: Well hopefully we will have some laborers to help build these. Your back isn't made for work like this. -Build a Wall:Just a simple wall around your tower. 1 Action.
-Expand your Tower: Add another story per level. 1 Action.
-Improve Defenses of your Phylactery. Use your cunning and powers to hide it far underground, surrounded by devious traps and defenses you can muster. 1 Action/ 1 Dominion/Influence
Magic Reliant on the living for now, maybe you could see about raising up some undead sorcerers or something someday.-Lead by Lianna (1 additional Magic Action)
-Build a Witching Facility: Full of tools and cauldrons, and quiet nooks for research and casting spells. 1 Action and 1 Dominion/Influence, or 3 wealth.
-Recruit a Coven: Search and recruit witches and those with the potential to be witches. 3 Actions to complete (cost can be spread over multiple turns)
-Become a Patron. Lianna thinks that you can become a source of power that witches and other magic users can call upon. 3 actions, 4 Dominion (action cost can be spread over multiple turns.)
Special/Quests:-Adventure! No urgent quests this month. Maybe you could go Tomb raiding or exploring?1 Adventure Action
Reach out to Rebels, with Meaning You intend to find out who is who in the rebel business, and either make an alliance with them, or stop them from being a threat to your neighbors.
-Laboring Bones Plus: Provide several villages with laboring skeletons to work their fields, and in return retrain the farmers into differently skilled laborers. They will probably be willing to wait for a few months before expecting any progress though. 1 Action, (2 Dominion/Influence if you need to recruit skeletons for the work, reclaim influence from Saunder’s Vale)
-Recruit an Advisor! Track down a candidate and recruit them to your cause. Candidates will probably pop up in the course of your adventures, but you can speed the process along if you like. 1 Adventure Action.
Notes:Remember you can always go more free form with actions if you like.
Also, you have enough experience to level up, but you do need to spend at least two dominion points to do so. If spent during this turn, next update will be allow to choose more gifts and get more effort points and influence.-Lianna’s former teacher was killed by a rival coven. Who are they, and what dark god do they worship? 1-2 Dominion.
-Flesh out the Truth Word. 1 Dominion.