Aquilus Spell & Magic Item Name Generator

As a follow-up to a post that included a character class name generator for my setting Aquilus, the generator below proposes names of spells and magic items. The first result generates a spell, determined by pairing an adjective (and occasional noun) followed by a spell effect. The second generates a magic item, combining the name of an object (noun), followed by an adjective, then effect.

I prefer creating flavorful names prior to writing classes, factions, encounters, beasts, landmarks, oddities, backstory, even titles of projects. One of my forthcoming publications in 2021 will be a zine of spells and magic items, using this generator as the catalyst for ideas. 

Styles of Magic

Recently, I published a post previewing material that will appear in Aquilus Issue #2, focusing on magic and spellcasting academies found throughout the city of Halgarth. The post included a random table that generated flavorful (and often absurd) names for these establishments. The follow-up table below generates styles of magic that are taught, along with requirements to cast the spells (whether they be verbal, somatic, material, etc). 

I'm currently working on a zine of magic spells for release in 2021 and hope to expand upon these tables, using the results as inspiration for spell names, effects, etc. I've written previously about utilizing language to trigger ideas, and favor this approach as a framework for most of my writing—firstly, come up with the name of something you might find in your imagined world, then determine its properties.

(d12) Roll 2 times and combine:

d12	Style of magic taught...	It's requirements...
1.	Focuses on infernal power.	Knowing the true name of the target.
2.	Focuses on singing.	Avoiding any contact with the target.
3.	Focuses on the fabric of space.	Only certain bloodlines can use this magic.
4.	Focuses on sound and metal.	Dancing whilst making highly specific hand-signs.
5.	Focuses on mind-control.	Poems written in a language the caster invents.
6.	Focuses on shape-shifting.	Various internal organs of the recently dead.
7.	Focuses on gold and gems.	Solving mathematical calculations.
8.	Focuses on microbial life.	Adjusting the gears of small, complex mechanisms.
9.	Focuses on gravity.	Heightened emotions.
10.	Focuses on astral matter.	Wearing a special mystical outfit.
11.	Focuses on ancient texts.	Making bargains with non-human entities.
12.	Focuses on death energy.	Being aligned with the collective consciousness of plants.

Faceless Drifter

This is a new creature called a Faceless Drifter, which I've written for my upcoming point-crawl Night Land. Amongst eight new creatures for the setting, this is most humanoid, the others being far more abstract and counter-intuitive in terms of how they're physically embodied. I'll release a few more in the coming weeks.

Faceless  Drifter

Abomination. Lurking. Heartbroken. Mindless.  

AC 6 [13], HD 1+2*, HP 6, ATT 1 x bite (1d4) or scream (special), THACO [18] +1, MV 180’ (60’), SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (1), ML 7, AL Chaotic, XP 19, NA 3, TT None

Hairless humanoids, sexless, gaunt, rubbery skin. Roam in groups of three, moving incredibly fast. No facial features, other than a mouth with razor-sharp teeth. Sound like a death rattle, smell like crude oil. Speak, but limited intelligence of their own, merely able to mimic what it has heard before, mainly with a vocabulary of indecent language. 

Originally, these creatures were genetically constructed by Void Engineers, designed to be workers that could be commanded mentally. They are now mindless shells, which mysteriously reproduce with another, living in hidden colonies throughout Night Land, leaderless, without allies. Unloved, pitied remnants of a failed experiment, who now merely wander and observe, driven by a past, brief, but traumatic connection to people. 

Special: Once per 3 rounds, can unleash a frightening, soul-destroying screech as an attack with 30' range, victims must save vs paralysis or be immobilized with fear, unable to attack for 1d2 rounds; immune to mind-affecting spells.
 

On the Bookshelves

This is an encounter that takes place in the library of a cult temple, from my latest adventure Xanadu. Even though the most useful part for readers of this blog is the random table of books found on the shelves, I've reproduced the encounter in its entirety.  

Bibliotecha

Door, sandstone, arcane locked, painted with cult symbol. Stone pillars, flanking the door, each carved with a representation of female creatures with wings, similar to statue in area 5. Bookshelves, filled with tomes, various bindings, sizes. Smells like wax, stale incense.

Door
If door is touched: it is magically trapped. Touching the door causes (d20): 

• Result of 1–18: a fireball for 2d4 damage to everyone within 10’ of the door (save vs breath for half),
• Result of 19–20: a lightning bolt to explode for 2d20 damage to everyone within 10’ of the door (save vs breath for 1d20 damage).

How to disarm the door: trap is deactivated by pressing a release button behind one of the stone pillars next to door. A thief can find this by investigating for traps. 

Bookshelves
Books of various shapes, sizes, and colors. Some are ancient, some modern. Volumes of esoterica, occult, directories, almanacs, local histories, etc. There is nothing magical here.

On the bookshelves (d20): 

1. Instructions on exotic poisons.
2. History of the temple.
3. Methods of smuggling, extortion and various other activities this cult is involved in. 
4. Treatise of personal sins.
5. Names and notations that look like a collection of financial debts.
6. Journals of notes from failed experiments.
7. Guidebook to invisibility.
8. Interviews with the undead.
9. Handbook of cannibalistic recipes.
10. Opus on tales of astral seas.
11. Travel directory to other planets.
12. Formulas to perform the summoning ritual in area 26 (The Tooth Fairy).
13. Almanac listing locations of the birthplace of all monsters.
14. List of undiscovered cities.
15. Ancient torture methods.
16. Picture-book of decadent fashion.
17. Volume of love poetry.
18. Reference work on arcane dentistry.
19. Guide to ancient meditation techniques.
20. Manual of unpopular magical theories.

Review of Xanadu

My most recent adventure Xanadu, written for Old-School Essentials, was reviewed on Ten Foot Pole.

The Settlement of Protu

Here's a preview of a hexcrawl location from Aquilus issue #2, coming soon. Proto is located in a region of Aquilus called Ostaria, which the forthcoming issue will focus on.

Protu

Standing within a clearing of saturated swamplands is a settlement that has invented a thanatotic compound, which allows users to get a glimpse at life after death. The highly valuable, sought-after substance is supplied as an extremely addictive opiate to the very wealthy. It is extracted from highly poisonous fungal growth that is scraped from tree trunks in the surrounding areas. This area is pervaded by vicious predators, and teeming with disease. It smells putrid, like decayed animals and boiled urine.

What about the residents? 

• They have photosynthetic skin which allows them to produce their own food in sunlight. 
• They do not permit laughter or singing. Punishments for violations are severe. 
• A family of three lives here, with flesh that looks like translucent gelatin. The residents are secretive about them. 
• They can instantaneously eject ink from the pores of the skin, which envelops them in a mist and protects them from spells. 
• They make saving throws vs all magic at +2. 
• The children spend their days stroking dead animals with thigh bones of the dead. The stroking produces miniature lightning storms of static. They store the electrical discharges in jars, which are then used to illuminate the home interiors at night.
• They communicate with deadly insects that guard their settlement at night.

Halgarth's Magic & Spellcasting Academies

This is a preview of a random table that will be included in Aquilus issue #2, coming soon. There is a section in this issue which details the city of Halgarth. The table below generates magic schools found throughout the city. In a future post, I'll release another random table that generates the styles of magic that are taught in these academies. 

(d12) Roll 3 times and combine:

1.	The Seat of	Future	Chronomancy
2.	The Affiliation of	Ecological	Philosophy
3.	The Academy of	Natural	Hermeticism
4.	The Faculty of	Spiritual	Alchemy
5.	The League of	Practical	Inscriptions
6.	The Seminary of	Ancient	Alteration
7.	The Society of	Temporal	Divination
8.	The Alliance of	Geomantic	Experimentation
9.	The Foundation of	Hermetic	Necromancy
10.	The Union of	Evolutionary	Invocation
11.	The Center of	Sorcerous	Abjuration
12.	The Guild of	Mathematical	Summoning

Arcana, Magic Items & Devices from Aquilus

An expanded version of this table is published in Aquilus issue #1.

Roll (d10):

1. Jar of Life: A small jar formed of translucent material. Place organic matter or a severed limb inside, and it will remain alive forever until removed.
2. Dust of Forgetfulness: When thrown at a living creature, the dust causes the victim to forget everything that happened to them during the last day. After one week, the lost memories will be restored.
3. Essence Extractor: Extracts the consciousness of willing being. The consciousness can be stored in a vial and drunk by another being to absorb their soul.
4. Ice Pipe: When smoking this pipe using a particular strain of tobacco, any smoke exhaled will be of sub-zero temperature. It will deal 1d4 points of damage to a living target. Target must be with a 3 ft range.
5. Initiative Dust: Snorted through the nose, the dust creates paranoiac hyper-vigilance. It reduces sleep requirements, accelerates the aging process, creates constant perspiration, and adds +2 to initiative rolls. Lasts for 1 turn. 
6. Protective Gloves: The user’s hands are sheathed in gloves made of solid sound for one hour. The user can touch or handle poisonous substances
7. Purifying Incense: A stick of this incense will purify the air and allow a PC to smell emotions within 30 ft. It is 70% accurate and burns for about 20 minutes.
8. Thought Amulet: A character who successfully activates this ability may send a brief mental message to the mind of any intelligent creature within 360 ft. This message cannot be more than one short sentence.
9. Tobacco of Accelerated Healing: When smoking this strain of tobacco, the PC gains no additional benefit from magical healing, but instead, their natural healing rate is doubled for the next ­twenty-four hours. 
10. Protoplasmic Gel: A jar of gel made by the Riverfolk. It can dissolve any material at the rate of 1 inch per round. It has two uses and lasts for 1 hour.

Creating Hooks Within a Sandbox

I'm currently working on a new mini-sandbox/point-crawl called Night Land, which I'll write more about in the coming weeks. It will run at around 60 pages, contain ten locations, half of those being adventure sites with maps and keyed areas. It's essentially a weird world to be explored, with no overriding objective or goal for PCs at the outset. 

This has presented challenges in determining engaging hooks I can plant in the setting, which encourages players to interact with adventure sites. The questions are what kinds of hooks to have and where/when to find them. In similar settings I've studied, it's often achieved with rumor tables, which I wanted to move away from.

Here is a list of additional ways to create hooks. These are broad conceptual ideas, which you could expand upon with specific narrative threads or plot-lines relevant to the setting:

• Active: an event that happens directly to PCs.
• Passive: events that happen and draw the PCs in.
• A social hub the party meets. 
• Developing major NPCs, stakeholders with motivations.
• A default action that offers hooks.
• Items (such as books, scrolls) about a place someone has been.
• Items the PCs already have.
• Items the PCs have encountered.
• NPCs informing players of what is going on.
• A current need of the PCs, such as a depleted resource.
• An encounter that needs to be resolved.
• Putting PCs in the path of an obstacle.
• Consequences of walking away from opportunities.
• Living world, events unfolding even if PCs weren't there.
• Situations that act as triggers. 
• Synergy between the different elements of the setting, one outcome triggering another.
• Timeline of events that occur unless the PCs preempt and stop them.

Aquilus Character Class Name Generator

Here is a character class generator I've developed for my setting Aquilus. 

I'm especially interested in how language can drive inspiration for RPG content. Firstly, come up with the name of something you might find in your world or campaign, then determine what its characteristics and properties are. Chris McDowall – the writer of Electric Bastionland – has a blog post about this technique which he calls Spark Tables, "taking two results and smashing them together for inspiration." The results can be counter-intuitive or even absurd, but they're often flavorful and stimulate the imagination.

In the generator below, I firstly fed in around 1200 character classes collated from sources including RPG wikis, indexes, rule-sets, etc. I then fed in hundred of adjectives. The first result generates an adjective (and occasional noun) followed by a class. The second generates two different character classes put together, both results offering thousands of possible combinations. 

I'm currently working on several other generators for elements such as spells, magic items, landmarks, encounters, and monsters, which I'll share in due course.

 

What do you hear about the nearby cults?

An expanded version of this table is published in Aquilus issue #1.

Roll (d20):

1. They are controlled by a sentient artifact that manipulates them to it's own end. Their leader knows the answer to almost every question posed to them.
2. Their temple is near a dark and fog-shrouded swamp of glowing vegetation and breeding grounds of beasts. They have their tongues cut out and do not speak. Their leader has opened a portal to another plane. 
3. They worship an immaculately carved statue near their temple, located deep within overgrown woods. They hybridize with non-humans. New members must drink poison and save vs death as an initiation ritual. 
4. They suffer from persistent sickness and their children have birth defects. Their leader is a ruthless killer, who members would die for.
5. They are reformists with new ideas for control. They have groups of street children throughout the land in their employ as spies. Their temple is known for its stunning architecture and music. 
6. They are a charity that helps desperate travelers, feeding the hungry and bringing food and water convoys to the needy. They deliberately expose themselves to mutagens.
7. They are starving, miserable beggars who are facing certain death. They take care to avoid sharp objects. They bleed an unknown substance. 
8. They worship an overlord who awakens from cryonic sleep every decade to give new orders. Once per week, they must go to a specific shrine or sacred place. 
9. They are working on plans for the reincarnation of a long-dead entity. One member has fled with important pieces of information and is being hunted. The leader is a great artist.
10. They are wealthy, thrill-seekers from powerful families. They practice intense anonymity and wear masks in public. Their leader is a mind reader.
11. They worship a monolith that causes past-life flashbacks. They travel on winged beasts. Some of the members are shape-changers. 
12. They bury magical items and artifacts with the honored dead. Some of the cultists are members of an extraterrestrial race. A trader in the village has deceived the cult without realizing their true nature.
13. They are grave robbers who deal with local holy people to scare the town folk to pay for protection. They speak to each other in a language they have invented. The leader has mastered the art of time travel. 
14. They are former assassins. They possess an artifact that alters life and accelerates evolution. Their temple is heavily guarded.
15. An evil wind has brought a plague to their temple. They avoid moonlight and can discern a voice that doesn’t belong to one of their members.
16. They are an apocalypse cult that worship star gods. They have been murdering local farmers after they exposed their leader's past. Members meet once a month at the store-house of a local merchant and drink each other's blood.
17. They are the last remnants of a once-widespread faith. Their practices involve ­self-mutilation and sacrifices of newborn. 
18. They have been seen digging up ancient graves and crypts, where they found mysterious tablets. Their leader is a great healer.
19. They carry news and letters across the land. There are tunnels under their temple that lead to secret places.
20. They use mysticism, astrology, and narcotics to make outrageous claims about the future, that many believe. Deep within their temple is the greatest library in Aquilus, filled with forbidden tomes.

Painting by Neo Rauch.