Captain Ahab's Leg posted a wonderful evocative system for generating unusual encounters based on Tarot cards. I love random content generation, I have a Tarot deck, so... here we go!
The Form: Eight of Pentacles
A craftsman chisels pentacles on golden discs – perhaps these
creatures (because there are several of them) are constructs.
The Human: The Fool
Perhaps these monsters can be underestimated at first…
The Inhuman: Death
…but then they present a significant threat. The image shows
Death as a mounted knight. A high priest in a tiara stands on the ground before
the knight. Maybe praising him, but maybe trying to barter with him. In any
case, the knight towers above him, subdues him just as he’d subdued an enemy
previously. So perhaps the creatures have some sort of awe-inducing mind
control power.
The Cycle:
The Larva: Six of Wands
The wands are carried, not mobile on their own. In their
initial state, the creatures need an outer force to propel them forward. Maybe
tumbleweed? They roll in, surround the enemy, and then build up into something
unified and bigger.
The Pupa: Queen of Swords
Majestic and bellicose… But the Queen sits upon a throne,
doesn’t fight. She towers over the enemy, and prepares to unleash the final
attack.
The Imago: Nine of Pentacles
Pentacles again, but at a higher value than the Form, so I interpret this as a growth in power. The image shows a falconer, so maybe the great monstrous attack (the “awe-inducing mind control”, see above) is a swift, targeted thing.
The Encounters:
First Encounter (Eight of Pentacles, The Fool, Death)
An abandoned workshop, eerily silent, dead bodies lying
around it – no evident cause of death. Inside lie eight golden discs with
pentacles engraved on them. A priest kneels in the middle of the room, mumbling
“please don’t hurt me, oh most magnificent one… please don’t hurt me!”
Second Encounter (Six of Wands, Queen of Wands, The High
Priest)
The priest suddenly snaps out of the condition and starts
arranging the discs in a specific shape.
Third Encounter (Nine of Pentacles, Ten of Wands, The
Judgement)
A force of magnetism starts pulling together the discs, they gather, lift up from the ground, and form a sphere mid-air. They shine gold and bright, majestic… And now one person of the party is struck with awe – they must serve the sphere.
Ooh, very evocative and creepy--well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks!!
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