Tuesday, June 4, 2019

"Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds" - Quick OSR Afterlives


"Next". Credit Harshanand Singh

Here's what happens when you die. Firstly, you are judged by a Court of Death (i.e. all the other players):
  • For every notable sin, -1. Sins you have confessed and been absolved of don’t count.
  • For every intentional mutation, -1
  • If you weren’t buried, -1
  • If your soul is damaged in any way, -2
  • If your soul is missing or seriously damaged, another -2
  • If you soul belongs to someone else, -5
  • For every notable good deed, +1
  • If you had a proper funeral, +1
  • If you’ve paid your tithe recently, +2
  • If you’re in really good standing with the church, another +2
  • If you died for a truly noble cause, +5

If you want, you can delay the accounting of your death by up to a day. This might help if your body is in the process of being recovered, or a funeral is being organised. A "burial" can be any appropriate rite, whether internment underground or having your ashes scattered (just not eaten, melted or left to rot somewhere). A funeral requires all present to say a few words, at the very least. If you didn't get a proper burial, then a funeral also requires either a memorial built or a priest paid to officiate.

Then, roll 1d20+[total] to find out your fate:
  1. or less: Even Hell Doesn’t Want You. Fall for eternity in the endless void beyond space and time.
  2. Devil Prince Gestalt. You make up part of his left pinky toenail.
  3. Naked, Burning and Stabbed. Go to Hell, and you’re in the Seven Circles.
  4. Poisonous Soul. Go to Hell. If you didn’t get a funeral, wherever your body ended up becomes steadily more evil and corrupted.
  5. Bog-Standard Sinner. Go to Hell, mostly ignored.
  6. Eaten by a Demon. Delicious!
  7. Summoned Back. End up in some necromancer’s wacky scheme.
  8. Rest In Peace. If you aren’t buried and are mostly intact, rise as a zombie.
  9. Bureaucratic Mixup. Spend a hundred years in purgatory before getting it “sorted out”.
  10. Not Quite Gone. Forced to haunt either the place you died, or the party.
  11. Edge of Heaven. Spend a hundred years as a penitent angel, bound wings and leaden sandals for you!
  12. Scraped In. Go to Heaven… eventually, you’ll be waiting in line for a hundred years at least.
  13. Eternal Rest. If you got a funeral, go to Heaven.
  14. Needed Again. Your tattered soul is used to fuel a ‘Cure Wounds’ spell (if you want, roll a hit-location table to find out where)
  15. One With Everything. Become part of the trees and flowers and sky and bears.
  16. Revenant. Do you have any unfinished business? If so, you can return at full HP. You can no longer gain XP or heal, and gradually flake away into gold sparkles. Else or afterwards, go to Heaven.
  17. Part of the Choir. Go to Heaven. All bodily features smoothed out, you'll be standing behind a golden throne for eternity.
  18. Eternal Life of Luxury. Go to Heaven. It’s pretty boring, to be honest.
  19. First in Line for Reincarnation. Whether you like it or not.
  20. or more: Handpicked Angel. You’ll be on the front lines when the next holy war breaks out. Until then, the party can call upon you once, ever. You’re too busy beyond that.

8 comments:

  1. I love this. Totally stealing it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is great, thank you. I love how the other players get to sit in judgement of the deceased hero!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.