Rituals (5e D&D )

A wizard did it

Concept: beyond a prescribed spell list, magic users (or anyone with the right books, ingredients and facility (likely a mix of Int, Wis and Cha, or just pure Cha)) can effect anything they want. The idea is to let the players and GM redefine the solution to an obstacle using magic, but at a steep cost and to add sub quests.

Rituals are broadly defined by effect. To cast down a foe, to find what is lost, to learn a true name, to learn a secret of an enemy.

Books and scrolls found in old and lost places may contain ritual instruction though wizards and the like may discover a ritual by spending as many days (or hours, if the effect is duplicative of a spell known and trivial to the caster) in contemplation.

Ritual foci are required for ritual's not confected by magic user contemplation, and then are still strongly desirable as they guarantee success. Foci tend to be macguffins, and confected rituals have pseudo foci kludged from pledges, the casters will and body.

There are three poles to consider.

1. Relative ease. The caster posits an outcome or desire. The GM considers the obstacles to obtaining the outcome naturally. Compare this difficulty to the magnitude of die sizes here and eyeball the die size. If mimicking an existing spell, use the spell's level to determine the size (sl6 is a d100,  a cantrip is d4, if greater than an sl6, add 55/additional spell level to the d100).

Divide the max die value by 2, rounding down.  This is the ritual's inertia (effectively, hp).

2. Similarity to spells. A caster with knowledge of spells or any spell - like ability may have advantage on all rolls. Dragonborn of a blue chroma may have advantage when calling thunder, aboleth and illithid and squids all gain advantage on ink, obscuring, psychic effects, etc.

3. Time and Power. Takes a day for its relative power (a d100 ritual takes seven days, a d4 one). To speed things up, add another half die to the inertia or another 2 pledges (reduces time by one step or d20 hours).

Resolution. Rituals are resolved narratively. Non casters can pledge blood (reduced to 1 ho for a day), treasure (1,000 gp, must be in jewel or statue or unworkable ore. All ancient or long lost. Hideous obelisk of Leng, reliance of the stars, etc. Coins stamped in infernal or lost mints also work), promises (enforcement of which the GM will extract in force at the worst/best time. Usually involves infernal or terrible agents.) Or  spell slots (all for the day) or an uncommon magic item (consumed or destroyed or exhausted, rarer items.counting as more pledges, but similarly depleted regardless if all pledges are necessary). 

The GM establishes the steps before casting, each step requires a contribution of the above and reduces the inertia by a die roll. Casters may also pledge as above. Pledges may be made in addition to the steps. At each step/pledge, roll a die and reduce the inertia by that much.

Steps may be opening portals or creating a jackdaw of rubbish and paper and bird bones or whispering into a bole in a frozen tree. There are as many steps as the GM wishes, usually as many as characters in the party less d4 (the point is to make things interesting). What constitutes a step is up to the GM, and the GM may, probably will, solicit suggestions from anyone casting or pledging.

Additional pledges can be made, and must be made if the ritual's inertia isn't overcome at the end of all the steps and after all the pledges are rolled or else the ritual fails.

Using a foci guarantees success in most cases though defeating inertia with rolls likely means you can keep the foci for reuse (like a catalyst).

Randomized Fighters for hacked B/X

Fighter

Fighter class for hacked B/X and Trollworld

Threat Die roll a d8 for damage and Endurance after creation

Saves on a 16+

Adventurer can wear any mundane armor and use any mundane weapon without penalty

Average Learner gains a new level every 2,000 XP

Guts & Glory (see below)

Multiclass at level up can roll two times, split between any advancement tables for classes which you've currently unlocked

Locked subclasses/variants includes the Hime and Archer.

at creation

roll a d6, d8, d10 and d12 and see A. B. C. and D. below

A. the d6 determines your Glory. Write down this number. Whenever you fail a Guts save (see below), add this to your current Endurance. If it's above your current max, it's added as temporary Endurance. If you are unconscious due to lack of Endurance and this increases your total Endurance past 0, then you can get up.

B. one roll is your starting Endurance (pick from the three rolls and discard that die; you can also discard the highest roll and take a “six” as your starting Endurance)

C. one roll determines your Guts(or just pick and discard the lowest die roll)

You've been scarred somewhere. This roll determines where/what the scar looks like. 1/session, you can re-roll a failed Save v Death or Poisons (choose which).

D. one roll determines Might Feat (or just pick and discard the highest die roll)

Scars (Guts)
1	Poorly healed broken bone gives you an ugly, lumpy forearm or leg	7	Lips all scarred and raggedy
2	Missing d6 teeth in obvious places	8	Nose broken a few times
3	Half-blind in one eye, missing corresponding eyebrow	9	Ritual scarification on neck
4	Cheshire Grin	10	Missing middle finger
5	Missing part of nose	11	Cool scar, across nose and cheeks, under eyes
6	Missing ear	12	Cool scar down side of face, over eye (gap in eyebrow)

Mighty Feats (all 1/session unless otherwise noted)
1	Rise Again. the round after you've been killed, and so long as your body is in OK shape, you crawl back from oblivion with 1 Endurance and 1 Wound.	7	Leap. 1/ combat, leap up to your thrown weapon range as your move action. This will likely surprise your enemies.
2	Revenge. when a creature damages you, you get a free attack against a nearby enemy or target immediately following the attack (interrupts everything else)	8	Lean In. You can throw your shoulder into it and bash down and otherwise locked or stuck door, can push something extremely heavy (moving as if encumbered) or can pry open a locked chest (likely sets off any traps) without making a check or save.
3	Rampage. After killing something, get a free strike against another nearby enemy or target immediately following your killing blow at -2 attacks. (Can be done more than once, the penalty is cumulative on successive rampage strikes).	9	Mighty Throw. 1/ combat you can throw something enormous (something you couldn't necessarily lift otherwise) at a target, dealing an extra die of damage (at least - if it's huge and the target is tiny, may kill it outright)
4	Furious Choke. On an attack, you can try and single-mindedly choke something with a neck (neck must be small enough you can actually choke). Doesn't impair your defense or saves. Forces the victim to make saves each round or the victim passes out. A really bad roll on the save means they've choked to death or you snapped their spine or ruined their windpipe and they're dead.	10	Flesh Wound. you can ignore the mechanical effect of a Wound. You've still suffered the physical damage and will have scars but you don't die automatically if you take a second one, etc.
5	Double Fisted. Attack with two weapons at once (can use fist, shield). Roll both attacks. If either succeeds, roll an extra TD for damage. If either is a critical success, target is killed outright. If either is a critical failure, it counts as two critical failures.	11	Weapon Nut. After a Turn of practice you can make a check to figure out how to use any weird, strange weapon without penalty. Can also be used to make kludge repairs to weapons in lieu of doing so in camp or to jury rig some weird new weapon (sword on the end of a whip).
6	Sword Swallower. You can keep an extra weapon, rapier, whip or something similar shaped, in your gut. Avoid strong magnets and try to sit down gently. (takes d3 rounds do draw and sheathe, but not session limit)	12	Armor Nut. After a Turn of inspection/trying on armor, you can make a check to figure out how to use any weird, strange armor without penalty. Can also be used to make kludge repairs to armor in lieu of doing so in camp or to jury rig some weird new armor or armor-like device (shield from giant turtle shell). Or pick 12.

Fighter Advancement
roll	advancement
01-20	+1 Attacks
21-40	+1 Saves
41-60	+1 TD Endurance
61-65	Tough as Fuck. +1 Defense. Re-roll: increase bonus by 1, max +4.
66-70	Glorious. Gain Guts. If already had, gain Glory (roll d6 for starting glory). If already had, can choose another category of Saves to which Guts applies and get 1/session or increase current uses of a Guts Save by 2 (max 3). Can gain bonus of 2 to any maxed out Guts Save (bonus applies only to re-roll). Whenever you roll this, you can also choose to re-roll your Glory using your current TD – keep the roll if larger. Or re-roll if you've rolled this at least once before.
71-75	Gutsy Bastard. Gain Guts. If already had, gain Glory (roll d6 for starting glory). Afterward, whenever you fail a Guts Save, you can choose to split your Glory between your next attack and damage rolls (next round only) instead of increasing your Endurance. Adds an additional +1 to damage or attack rolls on a re-roll, with the current maximum being your current bonus to attacks for the one and the highest possible roll on your TD for the other, after that, re-roll.
76-80	Triage. You're well versed enough in anatomy that you can help anyone performing field medicine in lieu of attacking this round. Add +1 to the victims Save. On a re-roll, increase bonus by 1 (max 4). Can also be used to try to diagnose diseases common to soldiering, whoring or the like.
81-85	Scavenger. +2 when hunting through a battlefield for cool kit or necessary supplies OR when scrounging around the wilderness for food. On a Re-roll, increase by 1 or choose alternate ability. Max bonuses for each is equal to your Glory. After max, re-roll.
86-90	Battlefield Presence. You can rally one allied NPC that just failed their Morale check (they re-roll at +2 or so) OR you can force an NPC to make a Morale check, if possible (describe how). On a re-roll choose alternate ability and then, on subsequent re-rolls increase the bonus/penalty by one to a max of +3/-2. Afterward, re-roll.
91-93	Henchmen. Next time you're in town you get a free NPC tag-along. d12 determines nature of NPC: 1-3 urchin linkboy with a lantern and dagger, 4-5 squire of dubious heritage with sham livery, d4 large coin, adventuring gear and short sword, 6-7 Street Thug with club and 4 throwing knives and underworld connections, 8-9 psychopath with too many daggers and weird trinkets, 10 mutant with (pick: acid spit, third eye [all around vision for 60'] or tentacle arms [can bear hug as a bear]), 11 hime (she thinks you're her knight/manservant), 12 level 1 Rogue (treat as a regular Henchman) with outstanding obligations (Han Solo and all that). Like other Henchmen, takes half a share of XP but only gains a level at half rate.
94	Weaponmaster. Choose a weapon keyword. When using a weapon with that keyword, roll a d4 and apply that as a bonus to either attacks or damage (choose before either roll). On a re-roll, increase the die by one size, up to d20. Can choose for multiple keywords on a re-roll, but take only the highest bonus die.
95	Bulk Up. If your TD is a d8, increase your size to Large, if it's at least a d10, increase it to Huge (max Huge/d10). If it's too low, re-roll on this table. After the max, re-roll.
96	Impressive/Terrifying Physique. Outside of combat, leverage your body when interacting with others. Add your a die three sizes smaller than your TD to your charisma when interacting with NPCs. On a re-roll, increase the die size (max your current TD). After the max, re-roll.
97	Blood in your eyes. 1/encounter, when bloodied, restore your Endurance to full or blind a nearby creature by whipping blood in their eyes. On a re-roll, increase number of uses (max 2) and number blinded (from 1 to d4+1, to d6+1). After, re-roll.
98	In Good Shape. 1/encounter, gain a free movement action.
99	Shake it Off. Cumulative +2 Save v Mind-Controlling or movement impairing effects, cumulative, up to +8, after which, re-roll.
00	Feats. Roll a d12 and take this feat (if you re-roll an already earned feat, re-roll this advancement roll).
*You can swap out any advancement for +1 TD Endurance and any roll 81+ for +1 Attacks or Saves or TD Endurance *FIGHTERS ONLY: You can swap out both rolls and, as long as one is 81+, earn all three bonuses.

attributions: Yong-Sik Jung, , Jake Wyatt, portrait of Yukio Mishima (can't find photog credits), Heon-Hwa Choe.

It is hard to find cool pictures of Pokemon

Troll Master

This, but slowly rotting

Gotta catch 'em all (another Trollworld Class)

Threat Die roll a d4 for damage and Endurance after creation

Saves on a 16+

Mostly just a civilian can wear any mundane light armor and use any mundane simple melee weapon without penalty in human form

It Ain't Hard gains a new level every 1,250 XP

Summon Deck (see below advancement chart and starting stuff)

Summoner You can have 3 summons on your Deck at a time. Summoning requires detaching the Guro-Ball, throwing it at the desired area. The Summon can act your next round in lieu of one of your actions (you have to order the summon what to do, it has to be able to hear you or else they just stand around, looking bored and slowly decomposing).

Not Too Bad at level up can roll two times, split between the Troll Master and Rogue advancement tables

I Got You Trollkachoo +2 to all Saves for you and Summon while the Summon is out and conscious

Locked you need to earn Professor Guro's trust or steal and figure out how to use a Summon Deck before you can use.

at creation

roll a d4, d6 and d8 and see A. and B. below

A. one roll is your starting Endurance (pick from the three rolls and discard that die)

B. two rolls determine your Starting Summon and its ability (attribute the two remaining rolls to the Starting Summon & Ability table)

The Summon Deck is a piece of electronics about the size of a loaf of bread. It clips to a belt, could be carried in a purse or bag or strapped to the side of a backpack. On it are three Guro-Balls, Troll containment Devices.

Some Stuff: Guro-Balls are crazy expensive as Prof. Guro stopped making them in favor of the Trollomancer Program, and each can only hold 1 Summon. Decks can normally only hold 3 Guro-Balls. To capture a Troll, throw a Guro-Ball at its feat. If the Troll has less than ¼ of its Endurance left, it may be weak enough to be trapped in the ball, roll a d20 over its remaining Endurance. If you succeed, it's trapped, if not, it failed and your ball has to be retrieved and reset (resetting doesn't use up an action, though). Summons are digitized and their minds broken by the Summon Deck, they become your obedient servants – because they're Undead now, they take extra damage from holy stuff (or however Undead work in your game) and only make Bravery/Morale checks if your level is lower than theirs (and then they make it as normal and when summoned and at a penalty equal to the disparity between your level and their HD). Treat your Summons as henchmen as far as XP goes – split it evenly but they only earn half of their split. On level up, they can do one of their abilities again or pick up/improve their alternate ability. They use a d6 as a TD, your bonus to Attacks and Saves unless otherwise mentioned (captured Summons use whatever TD they would have used in life). Summons heal while resting in their deck for about 8 hours.

Starting Summon and its ability
roll	Summon	Ability (choose one)
1	Spider Guy	1/session web or Surprises on a 4 in 6
2	Flower Fairy	1/session cure light wounds or light
3	Rock Lobster	1/session can “hide” in stone for up to a turn by using a full round to burrow into surrounding rock or can pin an enemy to the ground on a failed Save v Stone w/a bonus of 2 for each size increment greater than small
4	Giant Centipede	1/session they can deliver a poisonous bite, Save v Stone or paralyzed for d4 rounds or they can hide in moist ground, surprising on a 4 in 6
5	Two-tailed Ferret	1/session can create an illusory clone of itself (deals no damage and disappears when struck) or find secret doors in a 4 in 6 when it spends a turn looking
6	Smog Raven	Flies, d4 TD, 1/session exude a horrid cloud roughly 5'x5', causing anyone within to Save v Choking or spend d6 rounds incapacitating, gasping OR can cause darkness in a 20'x20' area
7	Cokeboy	d8 TD, 1/session can ignite itself, dealing its TD to itself and anyone in melee range of it OR it spoil food and drink
8	Fire Goblin	d4 TD, 1/session can deal it's damage in a mini fireball (it takes half damage as the fireball involves throwing its essence at something) – as fireball but half damage and half sized OR1/session can ignore its TD in heat or electrical damage (both powers can't be used simultaneously – each takes a separate round of prep)

Troll Master Advancement
roll	advancement
01-20	+1 Attacks
21-50	+1 Saves
51-70	+1 TD
71-80	Mind of a Master. +1 to Cha checks when dealing with your Summons and other henchmen-types (not necessarily your henchmen), max +3, or re-roll on this table.
81-90	Nega-Deck. 1/session a Summons gain back d4 of their Endurance whenever they're returned to the deck (on a re-roll, increase the gain by one until the max possible roll equals the next largest die [ie, a d12+8->d20, a d4+2->d6]) or increase the # of uses or re-roll.
91-95	All God's Creatures. Watching your Summons decay in front of you has given you considerable anatomical knowledge, gain a bonus of 2 to a backstab-like attack or to any save/check involving surgery, first aid or triage on another living thing). +1 or pick the other version on a re-roll (max +4/+4)
96-97	Forceful. You only risk having a Summon “break” if your level is 2 below its HD (on a re-roll, increase by 1, max 4) or re-roll.
98-99	Good Teacher. Every other session, one of your used Summons gains the full amount of XP it leeched. Further rolls increases the number of Summons affected.
00	Extra Ball. You've jury-rigged your deck to take an extra Summon (max 2) or re-roll on this table.
You can swap out any advancement for +1 TD Endurance and any roll 91+ for +1 Attacks or Saves or TD Endurance

THAT'S TOTALLY A FANCY GURO-BALL IN HER HAND

Trollomancer

Trollomancer

Originally here, now modified after playtesting.

Threat Die roll a d4 for damage and Endurance after creation

Saves on a 16+

This Isn't Who You Really Are can wear any mundane light armor and use any mundane simple weapon without penalty in human form; trolls gain no benefit from armor and cannot hold weapons

Complicated Stuff gains a new level every 3,000 XP

Trollform (see below advancement chart and starting stuff)

Trollcrits +1 Damage while in troll form, critical hits cause horrendous damage, reducing the target to 1 TD Endurance

Troll Immune System when in Troll forms + 2xlevel in temporary Endurance

Two Forms at level up can roll two times, split between the the Trollomancer, Fighter and Rogue advancement tables

Locked you need to earn Professor Guro's trust before he'll make you into a Trollomancer.

at creation

roll a d4, d6 and d8 and see A. B. and C. below

A. one roll is your starting Endurance (pick from the three rolls and discard that die)

B. one roll determines your Human and Troll Mutations (or pick one and discard the highest remaining roll)

Your legs length, your toes and fingers curl into claws, your face cracks, widens, lengthens, your mouth fills with jagged teeth, your tongue lolls like a pink, wet lamprey and your hair turns to long, spiky quills, your skin pales and bright red streaks color your face, like a bizarre, monstrous kabuki actor.

You look like a monstrous human when in troll form. The transformation into a Troll doesn't use an action, but takes a round and will damage anything you're wearing that's strapped tightly to your body (wear baggy clothes or high tech body suit armor). Transforming back into a human takes a turn of uninterrupted concentration.

C. one roll determines what happens when you defEat a monster (or pick one and discard the lowest remaining roll)

1/session you can spend a turn devouring an enemy. You can only have three named monsters on your character sheet. When you level up, tell the GM the monster names and the GM will randomly award you a new mutation based on the characteristics of that monster. You can “stack” the deck by defEating multiple monsters of the same type. Once you've gained the new mutation, erase all the named monsters.

Forms
roll	“Human” Mutation & corresponding	troll mutation
1	can move one eye independent of the other	bug-eyed/stalk eyed; +1 v surprise OR 1 to surprise
2	rough skin/mild eczema	scales erupt from your skin hard, or your skin bubbles and forms hard keloids; +1 AC OR +2 Saves v fire, death
3	unsettlingly wide mouth	can unhinge massive jaw when feeding; can swallow something 20% of your size OR you can swallow something a little larger than normal but regurgitate it again
4	persistently clammy palms, feet and brow	exude a slimy mucus from your pores; 1/session, dump this fluid from your system rapidly, in a round and treat as web OR grease. You feel super sick afterward.
5	can re-arrange body hair as suits you	hair/quills grow quite long and sprout from arms, back and legs; quills now deal +1 in damage OR can be launched as thrown weapons
6	very long/snouty nose	wet, snotty proboscis; can try to smell distant/concealed things (2 in 6) (improves at a rate of 1 in 6) OR can snort up something small size and it's stuck in a nostril after d3 rounds of inhaling from 30' away (increase item size, range by 5' decrease time or increase # items per advancement)
7	Hyperextended joints, long limbs	your bones are more flexible/your skeletal system more cartilaginous; can contort your body to fit a space 20% smaller than you (as reduce) OR +2 Saves v stone, paralysis, crushing deaths
8	Everything is staticy around you – clothes, radios, hair, etc	Your body is covered in burns and crackles with electricity, +2 Saves v electricity OR can ignore d4 of electrical or fire damage (increase damage ignore by 1 until the max possible roll equals the next largest die size (ie d4+2 = d6), after which, switch to that larger die +1)

when defEating
roll	effect	roll	effect
1	shining blue butterflies appear	5	nearby lightbulb filaments flicker and fail
2	everything but your digestive and circulatory system become translucent	6	green lights revolve about your head
3	the whole area stinks of fruit (orange peel, lemon, yuzu, fake cherry/medicine)	7	you look just like you did when you were a child
4	electricity arcs from you body (no mechanical effect other than being loud and bright), highlander style	8	during your meal and for the remainder of the day, your troll form appears the same as your human, albeit beautiful

Trollomancer Advancement
roll	advancement
01-30	+1 Attacks
31-50	+1 Saves
51-60	+1 AC
61-70	gain 1+1 TD
71-75	Split Mind. Half your mind is asleep, half awake. -1 to Int and Wis checks but only need to sleep if you fail a Save v death OR +2 Saves v mind-controls, sleeps, charms, psionics, illusions, whatever. On a re-roll, decrease penalty to Int or Wis or increase save. Max is +1Int, Wis and +6 Saves. Afterward, re-roll on this table.
76-85	Progressive Mutations. Pick a current mutation. It becomes more profound. Increase its affects. If you've maxed out your mutations, re-roll on this table.
86-90	Good Eater. +2 Saves v Poison; on a re-roll, increase bonus by 2 until 10, after which time you can eat garbage, toxic waste, metal, plastic, Styrofoam, radioactive material, etc. Afterward, re-roll.
91-93	Trollkids. Cross out one of the defEated monsters named on your character sheet and create a d6 TD minion with a random characteristic of that monster, totally obedient to you. Requires a turn, is painful and is catalyzed by dumping water on your back (the kid buds off your back).
94-96	Spit. 1/session empty the ruinous contents of your stomach in a your levelx2' long, x1' wide cone. Counts as an attack against all creatures in area, save v breath for half damage. On a re-roll add a use or re-roll on this table
97-00	Pheromones. +1 on reaction rolls with monstrous NPCs, -1 on reaction rolls with humans, mundane animals. Increases +1/-1 on each re-roll, max +3/-3. Final re-roll: 1/session charm monster.
You can swap out any advancement for +1 TD Endurance and any roll 91+ for +1 Attacks or Saves or TD Endurance

attributions: ,Xi Zhang , , Go Nagai, Po-Wen

Troll World

THEN

Informative film reel: Troll batteries clenching and coiling, knots of flesh corded around twisted limbs, twitching fingers and a ruined, beak-nose face in a biochemical bath, tubes for extracting the energy released. Troll batteries by the hundreds of thousands in the guts of Reactor 1 and Reactor 3. Troll batteries powering the homes, businesses, factories, all of New Nova city, weapons of futuristic 1993. From the ashes of the Third Elf Incursions, arises a new and better humanity!

Clip of Reactor 1, from an unsteady, hand-held camera. The ground trembles, ambient rumbles, mutters and moans. Something, a tiny, fleshy rope extends from the left stack of Reactor 1, the camera pans in and screams rise in a wave as a jet of muscle and bone shoots from the left stack, the right stack, the camera spins, twists sky word, catches in the last seconds the ground crack and from it spewing pillars of filth and vital tissue. The final shot is of grey clouds under a lowering red sky, choked with geysers of troll meat.

NOW

Trollworld

Trolls have built themselves a city around Reactor 1 like a nest of jumbled girders, ragged concrete, asphalt, and rebar. They patrol their walls, build siege weapons, infect the land, dig deep and raid New Nova city for food (humans), pets (humans), bodies to make new Trollkin (humans) or fun (hurting, killing, eating humans).

Human Town

New Nova city is a dump, man. The concrete is all cracked and tumbling and the streets are ragged asphalt and puddles. Without Trolltech we're stuck with dirty power and outages are common. The Jinro Power Company runs everything, pretty much. Jinro cops walk the streets while Jinro Educorp cracks younger skulls, Jinro foodcorp feeds us and Jinro Hospital spanks our shiny red asses or shuts off the ventilator at the end. You live in Quarantine 6, on the outskirts of New Nova, along the Wall.

Jinro, Unrest

For the time being, Jinro holds the Trolls at bay, but there is uncertainty about how long that can last. Jinro is run by a Board of Directors. One is fat, unctuous, cruel, ineffectual, terrified of everything. One is emaciated, tall, a former accountant, highly competent. One looks and acts like former military and is called "the Sergeant." One looks like a rat. There are other Directors too, some none have ever seen.

Jinro keeps New Nova relative safe, clean and running, but there is persistent doubt how long that can last. No one but the Directors knows all the facts and JinroNews isn't particularly trusted so there are insurrections and intrigues and the police are always shooting or arresting or looking for those suspected of industrial espionage or endangering the safety of New Nova or terrorism. There are wanted posters on top of wanted posters on top of wanted posters.

CHARACTER CREATION

roll two d4s and allocate as desired

BACKGROUND
		1	2	3	4
1	Cop	Beat Cop	Detective	On the Take	Rebel Symathizer
2	High School Kid	Dropout	Over Achiever	Runaway	Student
3	Scientist	Biomechanics Engineer	Botanist	Mechanical Engineer	Theoretical Physicist
4	Wageslave	Accountant	Bureaucrat	Human Resources	Sales

pick or just roll or make some other motivation up, whatever.

ON HIS LAST RAID, THE TROLL KING TOOK
1	Your old man/dear old mom or the grandparents/aunt & uncle that raised you
2	Your little/older brother/sister or your twin
3	Your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/one or more of your kids
4	The nice old dude that hangs out on the corner and wasn't hurting anyone

then roll a d6, d8 and d10, assigning results as desired, but any duplicate rolls or results have to be assigned to a different Trait, if possible (if not possible, re-roll)

STARTING TRAITS
Traits	1-3	4-5	6	7-8	9-10
Strong	+1 checks	+1     Carry	+2 Attacks	+1 Carry	+1 checks
Dextrous	+1 checks	+1 Attacks	+1 AC	+2 Saves v Breath	+1 checks
Hardy	+1 checks	+2 HP	+2 Saves v Poison	+2 HP	+1 checks
Intelligent	+1 checks	+1 Kludge Repair	+1 Tech	+1 Languages	+1 checks
Wise	+1 checks	+1 Search	+2 Saves v Mind Control	+1 Foraging	+1 checks
Charismatic	+1 checks	+1 Henchman	+1 Bravery checks	+1 Henchman	+1 checks

PROFESSOR GURO WILL SAVE THE WORLD AND HELP YOU IN YOUR RESCUE EFFORTS

Back alley doctor and scientist, claims to have been senior assistant to Professor Troll-kun, father of the Troll Project, crazy, weird, bent-backed, often chuckling and wringing his hands, staring down from glasses ("Yes, yes this will do"). No one trusts him but everyone in your neighborhood (Quarantine 6) relies on him as an alternative to New Nova city's rationing of medical care.

Professor Guro has heard about your trouble and would like you to come see him.

Professor Guro has an experimental procedure, something that can take you into the heart of Troll World.

Professor Guro will turn you into a Trollomancer.

All he needs from you are your bodies and the bodies of Trolls you smuggle back into the city for him. He's paying about 1,000 Yen per pound of Troll meat you come back. Extra for living or well-preserved samples.

YOU ARE TROLLOMANCERS

You look like you used to, but you've got troll blood in you. On command, your muscles swell and your mouth splits, grows huge and toothy. Your hands are now claws, lacking the dexterity to hold  anything but a club.

Trollomancer Advancement
Level	XP	HD (d6)	Troll Strains & Traits	Saves
1	0	1+1	3 Traits & 1 Trollform/Strain	15
2	2,500	2	+1 Strains	14
3	5,000	3	+1 Trait (d8)	13
4	10,000	4	+1 Strains	12
5	20,000	5	+1 Trait (d8)	11
6	40,000	6	+1 Strains	10
7	80,000	7	+1 Trait (d8)	9
8	160,000	8	+1 Strains	8
9	320,000	9	+1 Trait (d8)	7
10	640,000	10	+1 Strains	6

Trollomancers attack bonus progression follows that of Fighters from whatever edition you prefer.

STARTING TROLL FORM
form		Effects of Strain (Hybrid Form only)	in human form
1	the wretched	+1 damage	smell like cut grass, 1/session, a kiss causes the victim death from asphyxiation in 1 Turn (save v breath weapon)
2	the burner	+2 Saves v Fire	smell like peppery pineapple, 1/session can breathe at any one person in melee range and cause horrible, burning, choking incapacitation for 1 Turn (save v breath weapon to avoid)
3	the puker	can vomit 20' cone 1/session (+1 uses each advance)	smell like horseradish or garlic, 1 session, your touch can cause horrific blisters to appear in a day, leaving the person incapacitated and writhing in pain until cured (save v poison)
4	the weeper	infravision (then: all-around vision, x-ray vision 1/session, x-ray vision 2/session, true sight 1/session)	frequently weeping eyes, 1/session you can cough on someone's face and they go blind for a turn (save v breath weapon)

Troll Form grants +1d6 HP, +2 AC and Trollcrits.

Human Form lets you do Coolcrits.

You only get XP from killing monsters or bringing stuff back to Professor Guro.

Trollcrits (or, you got a lot of guts, Oskar)

When a Troll crits while attacking with claws, teeth, etc, the target is eviscerated, loses a limb, has skin pulled from their body, has multiple compound fractures, etc and must Save v Death or be reduced to d6 HP (those with less than d6 HP are reduced to 0 HP and must make a second Save or die).

Coolcrits

When in human form and you critically hit, you get to do some cool move. Tell the GM what you're doing (think: acrobatic bullet-time attacks, punching through someone, etc).

New Strains/defEating Trolls

As you level you will get more Strain slots. You can use these slots to learn a new Strain or advance an existing Strain.

You can learn a new strain by defEating a different kind of Troll - feasting on the body of an overcome and dying Troll while in your Troll form, Slurp up their entrails while they still breathe, feel their lungs expand between your fingers and then squeeze, grind their bones beneath your teeth, feel the pump of blood down your throat and the squirm of living troll tissue in your mouth. Eat their heart whole, in one gulp. Works on dying Trollomancers too. Once learnt, the strain applies a new bonus while in troll form.

Instead of learning  a new Strain, you can also simply advance your current strain, applying the same bonus again (ie, advancing the Wretched strain once adds another +1 damage while in Troll form). Doing so on level up is free.

You can also replace an existing Strain by defEating  a Troll and passing a Save (fail and the switch doesn't happen). If you replace an advanced Strain you lose any of your current advances, but they're restored every 1,000 XP x your level or so you earn afterwards. Something like that.

DefEating Trolls may also get you access to special new Traits.

Checks

Are rolled on a d20 and succeed on a 17. Basically, the same as an ability score check.

If you think you've a Trait that applies and a +1 to checks with that Trait, ask the GM if it applies.

If you think your Background can help you on the roll, ask the GM and instead of rolling a Trait, roll as a Save.

GEAR

Raiment/Clothes/Tat

Cops probably wear their uniform (dark blue-grey paramilitary get up) or a ratty suit (detective)

High school kids are undoubtedly in a uniform unless they're in some cool puffy jacket with lots of denim and sneakers

Scientists undoubtedly wear lab coats at all times just as

Wageslaves are always in suits and dress shoes.

Everyone gets

a backpack that can hold ten items plus whatever "Carry" bonuses you might have. Troll meat is super dense so it's five or fewer pounds/backpack slot. Weapons and armour that are worn don't count.

Armour

Is ablative and only works in human form. Light armour costs 50,000 Yen and can take 2 hits before needing repairs while Medium armour costs 90,000 Yen and can take 4 hits (10,000 Yen/hit repaired). Medium armour is conspicuous and the cops will be suspicious (unless, maybe, you're a cop yourself). Heavy armour is heavily regulated and probably can't be found without a lot of work (think: mech-suits/small mecha).

Weapons

You get one each to start, roll d10:

1. Old-world sword (katana)

2. Baseball bat with Hanshin Tigers stamped on the side, gripped wrapped in loose, hanging white tape

3. Plank with nails sticking through it

4. Taser with 2d6 charges (can be charged by spending a turn shaking it/charge) that deal d4 damage but keep the target from acting the next round on a succesful check.

6. Brass knuckles (Cop only)

7. Knife, can be thrown

8. Pipe

9. Letter opener (wage slave and High School Kid only)

10. Scalpel (Scientist only)

Guns are going to be tricky unless you're a cop.

A revolver costs 50,000 Yen on the black market.

Laser rifle comes with a shoulder-slung battery and costs 200,000 Yen on the black market. Up to 2d6 rounds in a battery. Can be re-charged off a generator.

BRAVERY AND HENCHMEN

Bravery is a 2d6 roll used to determine the how an NPC in the Wilderness or Troll World reacts to the characters, how well they do when trying to recruit henchmen and is also rolled as a special Save by NPCs in dangerous situations. Characters with a bonus to Bravery checks can spend their turn bolstering NPC morale and give the NPCs their bonus to Bravery Save. Bravery Saves are rolled on a 2d6 under the NPC's Bravery Score.

Reaction Roll		Henchmen Roll
roll	reaction	roll	reaction
2-3	Attacks	2	Refuse, insulted (other potential henchman snicker, future rolls to recruit are at -1)
4-6	Aggressive, re-roll next round at -4	3-5	Refuse
7-9	Cautious, re-roll next round	6-8	Roll Again
10-11	Interested, re-roll next round at +4	9-11	Accept
12	Friendly	12	Accept, Impressed (Henchman has +1 Bravery)

Henchmen

Every Trollomancer can hire 2 Henchmen unless modified by a Trai. They usually take a quarter of your XP and Yen from the rewards. They have Two Traits (d6 and d8), a Background,  and are treated as Lamentations of the Flame Princess Fighters (4 in 6) or Specialists (2 in 6). They begin with 6+d4 Bravery Score and must make a Bravery Save the first time they see you transform into a Troll, when forced into what may seem like certain death and when they feel you've betrayed them (at -2). Failing the Save means they break, but may not be totally out of the party/disinterested in helping you anymore. They gain 1 Bravery per level, to a max of 11. Other NPCs will also roll their Bravery Save when they fear for their lives, etc.

Healing

You restore your level in HP a day without serious bedrest. If you can get relatively good rest in a night, re-roll HP and if the result is higher, take that as current HP.

Occasionally, by busting open oil drums, crates, cardboard boxes and the like you can uncover an apple, banana or other fruit (+d6 HP when eaten) or a full-on steaming, turkey dinner (+2d6 when eaten). Eating a human is also super healing and lets your restore your health as if you'd had a good nights rest.

"Magic" Items

These come in two varieties, 1 use and 1/use/session. The former can be had on the black market for about 100,000 Yen a pop, the latter have to be found or stolen.

*Hanshin Tiger Cleats - Next successful thrown attack in human form is a critical hit.

*Sneakers/Shoes/Heels of Sneaking - Make a Save to Move Silently and Hide in Shadows (if failed you only do one of the two).

*Sneakers/Shoes/Heels of the Fleet - May make an extra in one part of this round (ie, may move twice or attack twice, etc).

*Sneakers/Shoes/Heels of Jumps - May leap half your movement speed vertically or your entire movement speed horizontally

*Jacket/Coat of the Bullfrog - Expands enormously, knocking over anything within 10' (if target is large or not in melee with you, they get a Save v Breath Weapon)

*Jacket/Coat of the Snake - During an enemies round, may dodge one attack (may be delcared after attack die has been rolled but must be declared that same turn)

*Jacket/Coat of the Ox - Attack does an extra die of damage

*Jeans/Pants/Nylons of the Kangaroo - Kicks do an extra die of damage

*Jeans/Pants/Nylons of the Rattlesnake - Shake your ass and kick someone to render them incapable of action the next round

*Jeans/Pants/Nylons of the Python - On a successful grapple dealing an extra die of damage

EXPLORING

Outside of New Nova it's a wilderness exploration. Use the Planet Pyschon weird encounters from the fantastic elfmaidsandoctopi.

Troll World is a bunch of dungeons slapped together. Some of the trolls hate other trolls.

Find the lost Reactor 2 and climb down one of the stacks to discover the Lost Land (X1: Isle of Dread). Is the secret to the defeat of the Trolls here?

(in case it isn't clear, Trolls are basically any old monster you want to use. GM will determine what strain you get from defEating it.)

image credits: Akira, Biomeat, Devilman, something from Dennou Coil and then Yusuke Matsumoto/Mitzvah

Official anthem of Troll World