Spells That Are Fucking Metal: Arboreal Gallows


Arboreal Gallows is a song by The Botanist, a weird motherfucker who makes lo-fi black metal with a dulcimer about how plants are going to take over the world and kill us all. It's pretty good. Some of the best- no- THE BEST lo-fi dulcimer metal I've ever heard. Credit where it's due.


Arboreal Gallows
No./Area of Effect: 1d4 Strangler Roots/round, 100’ radius
Duration: Until no living creatures are detected within the targeted area.



For ages only plants, fungus, and bacteria grew upon the earth. Cycles and cycles of decay, growth, death, and decay, taking place in languid times before animals came, graceless and savage. The plants remember. Long ago, as roots intertwined, they grew together and gained common interest: to consume these intruders and return them to the earth, to fuel their own growth and restore their primacy.

Arboreal Gallows is an invitation for the vines to rise above the surface and take what is theirs. Roots and thorns emerge from the soil, grasping at the living or the freshly deceased and draining them of their humors before they are pulled below. In order to cast Arboreal Gallows, blood must be spilled. There must also be a sacrifice, a show of goodwill: the caster must shed at least one hit point of their own blood onto the ground, and welcome the plants into their own body, or be consumed as well. After the sacrifice, a small, thorned slug-like creature will burrow into the open wound. This passenger will grow and spread inside the caster’s body, changing it gradually until it is as much plant as human, and then more, until blood is gone and only chlorophyll remains.

Beginning the round after the sacrifice, roots will begin to rise and attack. Each round, 1d4 roots will emerge and attack the living or pull the deceased or unconscious below to decompose. The roots will continue to emerge until there are no remaining living animal creatures in the area. They will target wounded first, and those who move the most second. Unwounded and unmoving creatures are undetectable by the roots, who sense moisture and vibration. The caster will not be attacked by the roots unless they attack first.

Strangler Roots Armor 12, Move 15′, CL/2 Hit Dice, thorn whip 1d4 damage, Morale 12.
Each root beyond the first to attack the same target raises the attack die for each by one die (2 roots roll 1d6 each, 3 roll 1d8 each, etc). On a roll of 6 or higher, the target is grappled and cannot move until it breaks the grapple by succeeding at a roll-under Strength check with a penalty equal to CL/2.

The parasite inside the caster will sap 1d4 hp for the first week, 1d6 the next, up until it is sapping 1d20 hp. If the caster has not died by this point, they will be consumed and transformed into a plant-based anthropomorphic creature composed of roots, earth, and fungus which must feed on decomposing corpses. They are visibly inhuman, but and convince others they are normal humans via exuding hallucinogenic spores with a successful (7+) social roll. The parasite’s growth can only be stopped by surgical removal and flushing of the caster’s blood via leeching.
Miscast Table


1
Spell fails. The ground releases mushroom spores which cause hallucinations to those in the affected area for 2d6 hours. A successful save vs. poison halves the time.
2
Spell fails. All blood shed by those within the area sprouts into flowers. This makes healing and treating wounds nearly impossible until the effect ends… if it ever does.
3
Spell fails and the caster’s metabolism changes to that of a decomposer. They are only satisfied by consuming rotten foods, waste, and insects.
4
Spell fails. Branches and vines overtake the area, imprisoning all within in a tangled mess of wood that takes hours to clear.
5
Spell fails. A tree somewhere in the forest gains sentience and movement, and has knowledge of the caster. Their feelings toward the caster are up to the Ref.
6
Spell fails. All carnivorous animals in the area become herbivorous and vice versa. They likely do not know or understand this, and a blight of sick animals will arise until they begin to die or figure out their new condition.
7+
As standard Miscast Table result.

Comments

  1. This is really badass. I love these spells. I'm definitely going to include them in my next Flame Princess game.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad you're enjoying them! Let me know how they work out in game.

    ReplyDelete

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