Froglings of the Enlightened Empire

 So I was in the process of writing a post with random tables and city information for one of the cities in the eastern satrapies, but I realized it referenced a people that hasn't yet been discussed at all on my blog! That's because it is an addition to the setting that I made during my posting hiatus, but I just figured it would be an important thing to post about first!

from The Mandalorian

THE TRAITOR FROGS

When the antediluvian days were waning and the men, women, and sacred ones of the First City were rising, there were some among the sea tyrants who saw their fate, even as the spell to flood the world was being woven. Chief among these were the amphibians, who knew dry land much better than their brethren. The salamanders and the frogs even included some in their number who had visited the First City and dwelt within its walls. The amphibians wanted to keep the land, for they feared that if the whole world became ocean then they would shrivel up in its brackish depths, and they would be consumed by the guilt of the death of humankind. And so, the frogs and salamanders and olms conspired to give humanity magic, to protect them from the horrible flood. It is a frog named Prometheus who is said to have given the first, now long lost, clay tablet of spells to the the thief Keyumars in those long forgotten days. In the telling of events more well known among men, Keyumars simply dove deep into the kingdoms of the sea tyrants and stole it for himself, but those who study the depths of history know better. The first spells for humankind were written in a frog-like hand.

For this, the frogs and salamanders and olms were forced out of the sea and branded as traitors. The traitor frogs fell upon the First City and its surroundings and built a new home there, and began to live among humanity. The traitor newts fled into the wilderness, willing to go along with the frogs' plan to give humans magic but not as enthusiastic about the change. The traitor olms fled into the depths beneath the earth, since they among the three amphibians did not have the physical forms to survive on land. When the sea tyrants began to take over the underground, the olms fought back and to this day that struggle continues. A giant friendly olm is a fine sight for any spelunker in need.

These mythic days are long behind them all, however, and whether there is any truth in the stories of the deeds of the great heroes of the frogs and salamen is a matter for debate. Since the froglings (as they are now called by humanity, although the name "traitor frog" has not left them) descended on the First City after the end of the Deluge, they have been a consistent feature of urban communities. Coastal areas especially, both within the Enlightened Empire and without, very prominently feature frogling communities. They are exiled from the ocean, but often skirt upon its surface on boats, their sails pushed along by the flapping of innumerable fly wings.

The traitor frogs, as the premier masters of magic on the surface world, have developed many unique forms of sorcery. Chief among these is Diptomancy, the art of communication with flies (and other small buzzing/stinging/biting things, although notably bees refuse to speak with diptomancers). This began as a form of divination, ascertaining fate through the shapes of poetically-conditioned fly swarms, but it has developed into a science and an art all its own. During the ancient days of the Warring Kings, there were many frogling principalities lorded over by batrachian sorcerer-kings and mage-mothers, and their spell tablets, secreted away in dank depths and crumbling ruins, hold some of the most powerful spells of history.

I don't intend on having froglings ride on giant frogs but aren't these just so good?

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I was going to write up a frogling race-class but I'm at a bit of an impasse with regards to what to do with these guys with regards to the players. I could keep them as NPC-exclusive (keeping the game completely human-only as it currently is (technically the amazons, brinemen, and half-jinn are humans)), or make them a race-class (which to me seems a bit weird because they have honestly just as much flexibility as humans do), or fully separate race and class (which I'm worried about how to puzzle through because of how I've boxed myself in with some of the human nations), SO instead of presenting any character information, here are some example diptomancy spells.

BATRACHIAN SPELLS OF THE FROG-KINGS

Fly's Last Meal

Level 1

Duration: Until caster ends

Range: Touch

When this spell is cast, the caster touches a fly and is able to ask this fly any question relating to what it has eaten and what was surrounding it when it ate it. The caster is able to end the interrogation at any point. This spell is often used to find out what happened at the scene of a death, assassination, or murder.

Gust of Fluttering

Level 1

Duration: 6 turns

Range: 120'

A training spell of diptomancy. Any and all flying insects in the area congregate in a point designated by the caster within the spell's range and flap their wings very rapidly. Their fast flapping creates a noticeable wind, which will cause any light objects to be caught up in it. The caster can order the cloud of flies to release a sudden and massive gust of wind in one specified direction, pushing any being or object not too heavy back up to 240'. Doing so causes the cloud of flies to immediately dissipate.

Advanced Gust of Fluttering

Level 2

Duration: 6 hours

Range: 120'

The most commonly learned diptomantic spell. Any and all flying insects in the area congregate in a point designated by the caster within the spell's range and flap their wings very rapidly. This maintains the attention of many more flies than the simpler version. Their flapping creates a noticeable wind, which will cause any light objects to be caught up in it unless it is focused in one direction. The caster can order the cloud of flies to release a continuous gust of wind in one specified direction for up to the spell's entire duration. This gust of wind is strong enough to push heavier objects and creatures.

Item: Barrel of Flies

A common object kept by frogling sailors, the barrel of flies is just what it sounds like: a wooden barrel filled with flying insects. These are usually caught and barreled at "fly-factories" that keep rotting material to grow flies in for sale. When at sea, the frogling sailor-sorcerer has no flying insects around to provide for their advanced gust of fluttering, so the barrel of flies is a must.

Noxious Discharge

Level 3

Duration: 3 turns

Range: 240'

A biting insect emerges from somewhere within the caster's robes, and seeks out the target which the caster points at. The target makes a saving throw vs. poison, failing to do so causing them to begin to incessantly spew forth a stinking corrosive acidic discharge, the very same sort that houseflies use to digest their food. They are unable to take any actions in combat other than struggling against their vomiting, and if they fail a DEX check they also begin to take 1d4 damage every other round as they stumble around and cover themselves with their corrosive vomit. The vomit is able to melt through wood and other organic material.

Mayfly

Level 6

Duration: Indefinite

Range: Sight

The caster points at a target they can see. If they have the ability to feel romantic/sexual attraction, they must make a saving throw vs. death or be overtaken by the instincts of the adult mayfly. Those who do not feel romantic/sexual feelings are immune. If they fail their saving throw, they are overtaken by intense romantic feelings and the need to have a romantic moment with someone, anyone. However, the moment they so much as move away from a kiss or finish up with a romantic dinner, they will die, having fulfilled their immediate goal. The only way to stave this is to stop them from being intimate with anybody, and the only way to end the curse is through a magical ritual.

Spark of Inspiration (The Mad Poet: A Class for King of Kings)

 He appeared now here, now there. He wandered about in the small alleys between the tents and in the bazaar where the merchants and artisans have their stalls. He walked aimlessly, driven only by his aching heart, without heeding the staring eyes; tears springing from under his eyelashes like wild mountain streams. All the time he sang melancholy songs such as lovers are wont to sing in their misery.

When he passed by, people around him shouted: "Look, the Madman, Majnun is coming... Majnun!"

The reins had slipped from the rider's hand. His innermost being was revealed like the heart of a split fruit. He had not only lost his beloved, but also himself. Everyone saw in his face the reflection of the fire scorching his heart, saw the blood running from his wound. He was suffering because of his beloved, but she remained far away. The longer it lasted, the more Qays became Majnun. Burning like a candle, he did not sleep at night and, while he searched for a remedy to cure soul and body, both were filled with deadly pain. Each day, at dusk, the ghosts of his vain hopes chased him out into the desert, barefoot and bareheaded.

Then strange things began to happen. Majnun had been separated from Layla, yet his longing made him the slave of his imprisoned Mistress. A madman he became-- but at the same time a poet, the harp of his love and of his pain.

-The Story of Layla and Majnun, from the Khamsa or Panj Ganj of Nizami Ganjavi

Majnun visited in the wilderness

Not all who hear the whispers of the stars above can handle their poetry. Not everyone receives the kind of training, experience, or rigor that makes a true sorcerer. A spell is more than just a word; it is a stance, a dance, a gesture, a mentality. It is difficult to achieve these things! That is why to be a sorcerer takes dedication, same as to be a true swordsmaster. When the stars deign to whisper into a sleeper's ear, the hearer does not always have such resources or dedication. Often, the words must flow out from their mouths like sweetened honey or poisoned wine, or onto the page in the form of black ink. That is the mad poet, a poet possessed by the maddening glory of the stars above. From which star their dreams come they do not know, for they have not been trained in astrology. They are artists who wear their emotions on their sleeves, and awaken each morning with a new idea on their lips.

Sorry for the shitty pretentious quote and description I just thought it would set the mood. Oh also for those who don't know majnun basically means "bejinned" or "the jinn-haunted/jinn-possessed", translating is kinda hard.

No clue what this is but doesn't it look cool?

The Mad Poet

Requirements: None

Prime Requisite: CHA

Hit Dice: 1d6

Combat Bonus: 1/2 level, rounded down

Armor: Leather, chain, no shields

Weapons: All except polearms, two-handed swords, and warhammers (no big military-type weapons basically)

Languages: Shahanistani, one additional language

XP to Level 2: 2,300

Lyricist

The mad poet is an able lyricist. They know all about the art of poetry, and their reputation as an artist precedes them. Their poetry is moving and beautiful to the ear. If they write a poem, speech, or song for a particular purpose (persuading a given character, communicating a plan, inspiring love or hatred, etc), there is a base 1-in-6 chance of it being successful (i.e. convincing its reader/listener, etc). You have to be fluent in the language of the reader/listener for this to have any success. The chance of success increases by 1 every third level (2-in-6 at level 4, 3-in-6 at level 7, etc). You can receive a +1 modifier if you have a preexisting relationship with the reader/listener.

Madness

Just as their reputation as an artist precedes them, so too does their madness. People will treat you strangely, and often rather dismissively or patronizingly. You are often called mad, and the effect of the whispers on your personality can be determined with the table below.

Mystic Whispers

Every night in their fitful sleep, the mad poet receives feverish whispers from the stars. They remember them only partially, and have to decipher their meaning and purpose by piecing them together. You receive a number of mystic words equal to your level + 2 (3 at level 1, 4 at level 2, etc), which you can speak aloud to produce magical effects. These can be spoken singly or in combination, but the particular effect must be determined by discussion with the referee. You roll for new mystic words every morning, and any words you knew the day before are abandoned. The die you roll increases with level: 1d6 at level 1, 1d8 at level 3, 1d10 at level 5, 1d12 at level 7, 1d20 at level 9. The table for mystic words changes depending on certain moon phases and auspicious (or inauspicious) stars. When mystic words are spoken aloud, make a saving throw vs. magic, with a penalty equal to the number of words spoken in excess of 1. On a failure, roll on the magical mishap table. You lose a mystic word when it is spoken. Actually writing up said table and all of the special mystic words tables is going to be for another day however.

Saving Throws

Mad poets save as magic-users, but receive +2 to saving throws against illusion effects.

Scrolls

Mad poets are able to take their mystic words (see below) and scrawl them on paper to create scrolls. This takes one week and 100 drachmae per mystic word vested in the scroll. Since these words are trapped in a paper prison, they do not dissipate until spoken; the mad poet permanently loses that many words until the scroll is used. For instance, if a level 1 mad poet creates a scroll with two mystic words on it, from then on they only receive 1 mystic word each day. Creating a scroll does, however, allow non-spellcasters to use the magical effect even if the mad poet is not present. Most magical scrolls were penned by desperate madmen attempting to get the whispers out of their head and onto paper, and the scroll burns into nothing but ashes when its words are spoken aloud, casting the spell and opening the poet's head to the stars.

EFFECTS OF THE WHISPERS TABLE (roll 1d12)

1: Obsession with a particular number

2: Rapid mood swings

3: Fear of clowns (you don't quite know what they are, but you have seen visions of them and you hate them)

4: Intense paranoia

5: Claustrophobia

6: Poor anger control

7: You walk on all fours

8: Almost always crying

9: Can't stop dancing

10: Anxious around people, calm around animals

11: Anxious around animals, calm around inanimate objects

12: You believe you are already dead and rotting

(To be clear, the discussion of "madness" and such here isn't reflective of how I see or treat neurodiverse people, and more about exploring how neurodiversity has been treated historically/in fiction)

Portion of a magic scroll from Ethiopia

AN EXAMPLE MYSTIC WORDS TABLE

1: Light

2: Rough

3: Egg

4: Strong

5: Dark

6: Warm

7: Fire

8: Child

9: New

10: Soft

11: Pain

12: Owl

13: Steel

14: Blood

15: Muscle

16: Tooth

17: Love

18: Snake

19: Ax

20: Old

A multi-purpose magical mishap table is forthcoming.

Whispers in the Night (A Potential Spellcasting System for King of Kings)

In the world of King of Kings, magical spells are uncanny unearthly whispers which crawl their way into the ears of those who open their minds to them (whether willingly or not) when they are asleep at night. The whispers in their raw form are nigh unusable, but when focused through meditation, incantation, preparation, and other such elements they become incredible powers in the hands and on the lips of sorcerers.

This explanation for the existence of magic spells was something I initially created for a different game (although I've recently been thinking that that game, and several others, are probably set in the same world as King of Kings), in part as an explanation for the "Vancian" magic system built into D&D. King of Kings has used that system thus far, though only one spell has been cast in the game... I'm just thinking about the subject and tinkering with ways to tie spellcasting more directly into the setting and my conception of how those uncanny whispers work (which has diverged a little bit from the vague pseudo-Vancian conception I started out with!)

Also you will notice that a big part of this system is a 2d6 table somewhat reminiscent of the Turn Undead table built into the Cleric class in classic D&D. This was undeniably inspired by d4 caltrops's post on using the Turning table for other mechanics, which I found absolutely fascinating. So uh, yeah I guess let's just get into it!

I just really love this DCC wizard art, its got great vibes

So, to start with: the cleric and magic-user spell lists are merged (ideally with some modifications for some spells that I'm not a big fan of) because in truth the spells of mystery cults and of sorcerers are one and the same, with only their place in society differing. However, this does not mean that a spellcaster has access to all of these spells all at once. Firstly, alignment figures into it (with alignment in King of Kings being allegiance to one side or another in a dualistic cosmic conflict, rather than a description of worth or behavior), and secondly you are only ever able to cast spells that you know. Sure, this gets rid of the cleric's ability to prepare any of the spells from their spell list but uh... don't really care.

A spellcaster aligned with law/truth can only cast spells which are whispered into their ears by the stars above. A spellcaster aligned with chaos/deceit can only cast spells which are whispered into their ears by the moon which looms over us all. A neutral spellcaster can cast spells from either source, but is more unpredictable in their casting success than a caster who has dedicated themselves to law or chaos. This doesn't affect scrolls, which can be used by anyone regardless of alignment, since their whispered words have been caged to the page.

Before you get to repeating the uncanny whispers of the sky you have to prepare your spells for the day. You can prepare a number of spells equal to your level, which you can then cast as many times as you are able to so long as you do not fail your casting roll. This follows closely with the spell slots in b/x for a magic-user up until level 7, but provides more flexibility since a spell does not immediately disappear upon being spoken into the world. This also kind of alleviates the problem some people have with level one magic-users being ineffectual once they cast their only spell; you'll still be ineffectual once you fail a spell roll, but at least that ineffectiveness comes bombastically and dramatically!

You can only prepare spells that you know, with knowledge of spells coming from two sources: masters (heads of mystery cults, sorcerous sects, teachers you are an apprentice of, etc) who will teach you certain spells when you reach certain ranks or levels in service to them, and by stealing the spells of other sorcerers, typically by stealing the records of the spells they know (grimoires, clay tablets, skin tattoos).

When you cast a spell, roll 2d6 and consult the table below. A result equal to or over the number indicated on the table is a successful casting, while a result lower than the number indicated is a spell failure.

MU Level	First Circle	Second Circle	Third Circle	Fourth Circle	Fifth Circle	Sixth Circle
1	8	10	12	--	--	--
2	7	9	11	--	--	--
3	6	8	10	12	--	--
4	5	7	9	11	--	--
5	4	6	8	10	12	--
6	3	5	7	9	11	--
7	3	4	6	8	10	12
8	3	3	5	7	9	11
9	3	3	4	6	8	10
10	3	3	3	5	7	9
11	3	3	3	4	6	8
12	3	3	3	3	5	7

(Oh yeah I'm using circle instead of level, for Flavor... they're exactly the same)

Aligned (i.e. non-neutral) spellcasters are treated as two levels higher than their actual level for purposes of spellcasting rolls. Additionally, if you have a mentor/master/guide assisting in the casting of a spell (for instance, if a jinni or daeva or more experienced sorcerer is channeling whispers with you to assist) you roll 3d6 and take the best two rolled. 

A spell failure causes the mishap associated with a particular spell to occur. From now on when I write new spells I'll include this, and I'll start writing mishap effects for spells that my players have in King of Kings. An example (just as a thought):

Shield

(By the way I am making shield a spell of the stars)

A miscasting of this spell results in the caster being encased in a glistening field which completely impedes movement, freezing them in place. They cannot be hurt while encased in this field, but can be lifted and moved unwillingly. This lasts for 2 turns, but increases by 1 every subsequent failed roll. After 6 miscasts of shield, the caster will be encased alive in a glistening force field indefinitely.

Gathering spells by examining the stars of course!

In addition, a failed spellcasting roll makes you lose the spell cast for the remainder of the day. Might change this to a failure making you lose all spells, don't really know. Also, I will add this to NPC spellcasters too, because of course they should be able to experience such esoteric mishaps! Also also, you automatically experience a mishap if your spellcasting is interrupted in combat.

That's about it really. Oh uh, here's a description of which spells I am putting in each category.

Spells of the Stars: anything which reveals secret knowledge (stuff like clairvoyance, ESP, see invisible), anything which relates to fire or bright light, anything which relates to plants, anything that just feels right to be grouped in here
Spells of the Moon: anything which causes pain (cause light wounds is the archetypal one in my mind), anything which hides knowledge (illusion spells especially), anything which relates to wild animals, anything which relates to water, anything that just feels right to be grouped in here

Hopefully I haven't been too rambly here... I might just introduce this system into my game shortly! Hope it has been a lovely read for you all.