Scryler's Island

Re: Let's Talk About Verbomod

I'll post these as I get the chance (hopefully all of them today). Quoted from the relevant works according to fair-use policy: don't ask me to post everything in the original list

(From Paths of Magic) Magic Academies and Guilds:
The Royal Society of Singers and Storytellers

The freewheeling nature of bards is a well known and oft commented upon aspect of their character. Indeed, many bards argue that it is these very characteristics that are at the heart of their vocation’s ability to perform magic. Take them away – “civilize” them, if you will – and the bard loses the qualities that make him who and what he is. At the same time, kings, nobles, and high priests alike patronize bards and revel in their unsurpassed abilities to sing and tell stories of heroism and adventure. It is thus unsurprising that at least one king has granted his patronage to an entire organization of bards, hoping that the money and influence he provides might not only help bards to improve their abilities but also align themselves more closely with his own goals and vision for the future. After all, every king needs artists and performers to immortalize his deeds for posterity. The Royal Society of Singers and Storytellers is an example of one such organization.

Membership Requirements
To qualify for each rank of this organization, the character must meet the following minimum requirements:
Journeyman: 3 ranks in Perform; the ability to cast 0-level arcane spells; recommendation for membership by an existing member, a nobleman,
or the king himself.
Balladeer: 5 ranks in Perform; the ability to cast 1st-level arcane spells.
Tale Singer: 7 ranks in Perform; Bardic Music ability.
Weaver: 9 ranks in Perform; the ability to cast 2nd-level arcane spells; Cha 14+.
Maestro: 11 ranks in Perform; the ability to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.

Benefits
Immediately upon being inducted to each rank of this organization, the character gains the following benefits:
Journeyman: A monthly stipend of 5 gp per month. Access to the Royal Court for performances.
Balladeer: A monthly stipend of 10 gp per month.
Tale Singer: A monthly stipend of 15 gp per month; +1 bonus to Charisma and Charisma-based skill checks when dealing with connoisseurs of the arts within the kingdom.
Weaver: A monthly stipend of 30 gp per month; +2 bonus to Charisma and Charisma-based skill checks when dealing with connoisseurs of the arts within the kingdom.
Maestro: A monthly stipend of 50 gp per month; +3 bonus to Charisma and Charisma-based skill checks when dealing with connoisseurs of the arts within the kingdom.

Drawbacks
There are two related drawbacks to membership in the Royal Society. First and foremost, members are required, twice per year, to perform for the king and his court in the capital. This performance can be alone or with the assistance of other bards, whether or not they are Society members themselves. The subject matter must, of course, be the king’s noble qualities and just rule, although there is some leeway given to members who wish to be “daring” by including his queen or his children or even his ancestors as the subject matter. Similarly, Society members may never accept permanent employment from anyone other than the king. Short-term or commissioned work is acceptable. The king realizes that even bards must occasionally sing elsewhere for their supper. However, no Society member can accept employment from anyone of whom the king does not approve, especially those hailing from nations with whom the kingdom does not enjoy friendly relations.

Causes for Expulsion
Failing to abide by any of the drawbacks mentioned in the previous section is cause for immediate expulsion, unless the member can provide good reason for not doing so. Furthermore, any Society member who uses his bardic abilities to mock or otherwise belittle the king or the kingdom will certainly be expelled – assuming they are not tried for treason first!

 

(From Defenders of the Faith)

JUSTICE BLADE

Justice Blade is an order of paladins who somehow don’t quite fit in. Many paladins aspire to the loftiest ideals of chivalry—knighthood, riding a fine steed in full plate, nobility and good breeding. The members of Justice Blade have no patience for such frippery—the paladin’s life, they insist, is a life of warfare, and often leads through the gutters.

The paladins who join Justice Blade are not, by and large, the paladins who first heard the divine call in their youth. They were never squires to world-famous paladins, they were not groomed and trained in courtly ways, they may not even use impeccable grammar. They have little in common with each other—some are former clerics or monks, while others are former rogues or even barbarians. Some are middleaged experts with a dozen ranks in Profession (baker) but none in Knowledge (religion). Many are human, but dwarves, halflings, elves, and half-orcs all find a home in Justice Blade. They are a rag-tag band of heroes, to be sure, but what they all share is a calling—an encounter with a deity who has chosen them to be a weapon of war in the struggle against evil.

Many members of Justice Blade worship Pelor, since he is such a common deity in human lands. Still, faith in Pelor is hardly an entrance requirement: Some paladins serve Heironeous, of course, while others worship Moradin or Yondalla, or even Skerrit, Bahamut, or Corellon Larethian. Religion is less important to these paladins than their calling.

To join Justice Blade, a paladin must be invited by an existing member. Many paladins who might be perfect candidates for the organization have not joined, simply because they have never met another paladin like them. While they receive respect from even the most haughty paladins because of their calling, they are rarely invited to the knights of the Chalice, knights of the Middle Circle, or other knightly orders. When these paladins finally do meet a member of Justice Blade, they are often surprised and relieved to learn that they are not the only misfit paladins in the world.

Despite the lawful alignment of its members, Justice Blade is not a rigidly hierarchical organization. It has no single leader, but a Vigilant Council with seven members who are elected by their peers to serve sevenyear terms. The council honors the outstanding achievements of its members with medals and citations, but not promotions—aside from membership on the Vigilant Council, there are no ranks or grades that would put one member over another.

The Vigilant Council meets four times a year at a predetermined location, usually at a temple of Pelor or Heironeous in a large city, but sometimes in a roadside shrine or even a tavern, as circumstances require. Although only the seven members of the council have a vote on matters before the council, any member of Justice Blade is free to attend the council’s meetings and speak on the issues at hand or bring other matters to the council’s attention.

Only on rare occasions does the Vigilant Council send any other member of Justice Blade on a mission or quest. For the most part, the members are free to fight evil in their own way and on their own terms, traveling (usually as part of an adventuring band, sometimes alone, and occasionally with other Justice Blade paladins) wherever they feel called or led to go.

When the Vigilant Council does perceive a need to send a member on a mission, it generally chooses the most competent paladin it can find—which sometimes means the one who happens to be nearby at the moment.

Justice Blade upholds the general code of the paladin, as described in the Player’s Handbook, without attempting to define stricter interpretations of the general principles. The paladins of Justice Blade generally regard legalism and sophistry as dangerous tools of those who would make law a priority over good, strictures over mercy. While they agree that law and order are essential, they guard carefully against allowing order to become an overriding concern.

 

(From Defenders of the Faith)

LAUGHING KNIVES

When tyranny is the order of the day, the Laughing Knives lurk in the shadows. Led by chaotic clerics, the Laughing Knives act to disrupt, discredit, and otherwise humiliate tyrannical rulers. The Laughing Knives prefer influencing citizens to think for themselves over physical violence. Hunted as criminals, the Laughing Knives work in loose “cells,” using anonymous messages to communicate with each other and wearing disguises during their rare meetings.

Olidammara and other chaotic neutral deities divinely inspire the Laughing Knives. They have no formal leadership or organization. Cells of two to twelve people work to undermine tyrants using whatever tools are at their disposal. Generally, a cleric leads each cell, though the other members don’t realize their leader is a cleric. A cell could include experts, commoners, adepts, warriors, fighters, rangers, rogues, bards, shadowdancers, assassins, wizards, sorcerers, or druids. Monks and paladins might join a cell to fight a tyrant they opposed morally, but they seldom feel comfortable in the anarchic environment of the Laughing Knives. Barbarians rarely appreciate the subtlety the Knives use, preferring a more direct approach.

A cell of the Laughing Knives could meet in a tavern back room, the cellar of an inn, a barn, or the loft of a stable. They rarely meet in the same place twice. Their leader brings her holy symbol with her and dedicates the meeting site to her deity before the others arrive. Generally, she leaves anonymous messages in places her cell knows to check regularly. The messages instruct individual cell members on how to inject a little chaos into the lives around them in such a way that the ruling authority looks incompetent, silly, or ineffective. Bards often excel at these tasks.

The Laughing Knives aren’t organized enough to provide many benefits to their members. Cell leaders, often holy liberators, make an effort to limit their knowledge of neighboring cells so they can’t give too much away if captured. They contact representatives of other cells to get equipment their cells need. Cell members train each other in skills and hide each other from pursuing authorities. Cell leaders provide healing free of charge to their cell. The group charges no dues.

 

(From Defenders of the Faith)

ORDER OF THE CHALICE

The order of the Chalice is a holy order of virtuous knights sworn to a noble quest: the extermination of demonkind. Held to the highest standards of law, good, and nobility, the knights of this order are everything one might associate with the word “paladin”—paragons of virtue, pure of heart, perfect in valor, cultured and refined, pious and devoted, and, too often, arrogant and vain.

The order of the Chalice takes its name from a holy relic that is in the possession of the order’s highest leaders—an ornate silver cup that is said to have caught the blood of a solar while it fought a demon prince. The chalice is rich in holy powers, or so the tales say, but more important, it is a constant source of inspiration to the knights of the order as they pursue their difficult mission.

The order is a devoutly lawful good organization, and its members offer prayers to Heironeous at every gathering of the order. However, characters who hold other lawful good deities as patrons are welcome in the order, as long as they do not balk at offering prayers to Heironeous as well.

True to its alignment, the order of the Chalice is rigidly hierarchical in organization. At its head are nine Masters of the Chalice, whose greatest responsibility is safeguarding the holy chalice itself. Each Master of the Chalice has command over nine Chalice Marshals, each marshal has authority over nine Chalice Commanders, and each commander leads nine Chalice Sergeants.

To become a member of the order of the Chalice, a would-be knight usually must prepare from his youth for this high calling. Young men and women are apprenticed to older knights as squires, and they learn about the life of a knight by serving their master without question for at least five years. At the end of that period, the squire is evaluated by a council of nine senior knights, largely based on testimony given by the squire’s knightly master. If this evaluation is favorable, the squire is elevated to the status of quester. It is at this point that the character
could begin play as a player character.

A quester’s task is to meet the qualifications for full membership in the order, which are the same as the requirements for admission to the knight of the Chalice prestige class. The character must have a +8 base attack bonus, 10 ranks in Knowledge (religion) and 5 ranks in Knowledge (the planes), the ability to cast divine spells including protection from evil, the class feature of favored enemy with demons as that enemy, and a suit of magic full plate armor. Perhaps most important, the knight must defeat a demon, either by destroying it or driving it back to the Abyss.

Once all these qualifications are met, the quester returns to the knightly council and presents evidence of these accomplishments. Assuming the council approves the quester’s admission into the order, the quester spends a night in prayer and fasting, then takes the solemn vows of the order at daybreak, becoming a
knight in full standing. The next time the character advances in level, he or she can take a level in the Knight of the Chalice prestige class (described in Defenders of the Faith).

In addition to the general principles of paladinhood and lawful good alignment described in the Player’s Handbook and Chapter 1 of this book, the order of the Chalice demands that its members swear to a stricter code of conduct. Knights of the Chalice must be chaste and celibate, must never defile their bodies by touching a corpse, and must always place the extermination of a demon above all other priorities.

 

(From Defenders of the Faith)

STARGAZERS

As far as anyone knows, this knightly order finds its missions and quests by studying the stars. Only its inner circle knows of the prophecy that truly guides the members. The Stargazers clearly stand out from other orders because they accept members of all classes. Anyone willing to undertake missions for the Stargazers has a chance to join. While some advance far enough through the ranks to realize that a secret circle guides the Stargazers’ actions, only paladins have a chance to enter that circle.

The Stargazers’ reputation for being in the right place at the right time draws many to them. Others seek out Stargazers chapters because of the group’s reputation for disrupting evil. The Stargazers consider those who undertake their missions but don’t join as part of the outer circle. Members of the outer circle are simply adventurers known to the Stargazers for fighting evil and amenable to the Stargazers’ missions. Most members don’t realize they belong! Knights from the middle circle contact outer circle adventurers and offer them missions or quests. Occasionally they will lead such adventures. If anyone asks how the Stargazers decided to undertake a quest, the response is that they observe the movements of the stars in the night sky and interpret those movements. Outer circle adventurers have no obligations to the Stargazers and may refuse any mission for any reason. The Stargazers accept anyone to the outer circle without prejudice against race, class, alignment, or any other characteristic.

The Stargazers’ quests generally don’t appeal to those with evil alignments, though. Middle circle members also deliver membership invitations to honorable, good adventurers and expert astronomers who serve the outer circle for several years. Ordained middle circle members accept strict demands for their allegiance and obedience. Most outer circle adventurers offered ordination refuse because of those demands. This often weeds out individuals with alignments other than lawful. Those who accept discover they have more duties than delivering messages to the outer circle. Some quests are too important for those not sworn to the Stargazers, and the middle circle undertakes them. Many are curious about how the Stargazers know so much, particularly those representing the forces of evil whose plans the Stargazers foil. Middle circle members provide security for the chapters. In return, the Stargazers provide training, assistance (for instance, they help paladins discover where to find their special mounts), housing, and food. The Stargazers sometimes provide special equipment in the form of magic items for truly important quests. The Stargazers charge minimal dues of all middle and inner circle members, but the group primarily funds itself through private donations made by wealthy knights in addition to their dues.

A middle circle paladin who shows true devotion to the Stargazers’ cause over a period of years may receive an invitation to join the inner circle. Many do not survive long enough to enter the center of the Stargazers’ secrecy. Inner circle members pore over copies of a manuscript written by Ariosto the Mad, comparing the ancient writings with current observations of the stars. When they find an apparent match, they send middle or outer circle members to influence the corresponding event. They use carrier pigeons or messengers to deliver their instructions, so no one ever knows if he has met a member of the inner circle.

Those who accept invitations to the inner circle learn the Stargazers’ real history. Long ago a human known as Ariosto the Mad wrote a prophecy of a climactic battle between good and evil at the end of the current age, a battle that would establish which force would be dominant in the next age. A paladin named Loholt Jessant discovered the book during his quest for a mount. After the quest, Loholt’s friend and companion, an elven wizard named Nimue, read the book. Ariosto predicted numerous signs, portents, omens, and events leading up to the battle. Loholt and Nimue believed that several of those events had already happened, as Ariosto wrote that they would. They came to believe Ariosto’s writings completely. Loholt and Nimue resolved to influence future events so that good would triumph in the climactic battle. Together with an astrologer, they formed the kernel of what would become the Stargazers.

 

(From Song and Silence)

Lamenters’ Order

The members of this college study death: how people prepare for it, what occurs at the moment it happens, and how the survivors grieve afterward. Some Lamenters are passive observers, awaiting their own opportunities to study life’s greatest mystery. Others do more active research by hastening the end for those they would study. Understandably, such Lamenters have given the entire college an unsavory reputation.

Area of Study: This college began as a musical one devoted to the creation and performance of funeral music. Its members were sought out to provide dirges and tribute-songs for funerals in many lands. Eventually, Lamenters began to study the nature of death itself, hoping that a greater understanding of it would provideinspiration for their music. In time, however, these studies eclipsed the musical aspect of the college. Thus, some of the college’s current members have no musical skills at all.

Organization: Because outsiders distrust them so much, Lamenters keep the identities of their leaders secret. A shadowy fi gure called the Lord of Shrouds runs the college. Several regional Lords of Ash provide assistance by distributing news, jobs, and new songs to local members. Reporting to the Lords of Ash are four other levels of Lamenters. Ranked from highest to lowest, these are Mercybringers, Shrouders, Grievers, and Comforters. These ranks matter only for tasks assigned by senior Lamenters (see below). Each Lord of Ash also has several underlings who field commissions for memorial ballads and dirges from wealthy patrons. These requests are passed on to individual Lamenters, who negotiate payment on their own.

Activities: Members of the college can undertake whatever studies they wish. Most Lamenters are keenly interested in how different people react at the moment of death, and how a person’s passing affects friends, family, colleagues, and enemies. Thus, Lamenters go to great lengths to be present when someone notable passes away, and many are eager to accompany soldiers, adventurers, and others who face death on a daily basis. Some Lamenters even go as far as to betray or poison someone just to observe the moment of death. Others seek to part the veil of death itself in search of immortality or a way to bring back a lost loved one.
Distinctions: The motto of the Lamenters’ Order is simple: “We watch.”

Admission: To join the Lamenters, a character must pass one of three exams. To pass the Test of Consolation, which involves writing and singing an original dirge, the candidate must make a successful Perform check (DC 30). The Test of Icy Pallor requires the applicant to survive an injection of wyvern poison without magical aid. To pass the Test of the Unending Stare, which involves describing in detail the physiological effects of death, the candidate needs a successful Heal check (DC 30). Rumors abound of a fourth test requiring the assassination of a public fi gure, but no Lamenter has ever admitted that such a test exists. Each test costs 1,500 gp to take. Retries are permitted without restriction at the same cost.

Membership Benefits: Lamenters have access to the organization’s death lore and relics, including a number of remarkably deadly spells and magic items. They also have ready access to various poisons and necromantic magic. All members receive training in poison use, so they never accidentally poison themselves (see the Poison section in Chapter 3 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). Members of the college spare no effort to have a colleague who has died through accident or misadventure raised from the dead, so that others can learn from the death experience of their colleague.

Dues: Lamenters must give 20% of the fees they collect for commissioned songs to the college. In addition, each Lamenter occasionally receives an assignment from a senior member. This can be as innocuous as commissioning a song or as sinister as performing an assassination. Successfully carrying out the assignment earns the Lamenter a promotion within the ranks of the college and payment from the senior Lamenter; failure means expulsion.

Relations: Most organizations hold Lamenters at arm’s length. This college has ties with clerics and necromancers, of course, and its members often know how to contact assassins.

 

The Queendom

A fortunate few spellcasters have formed their own small island-nation under the rulership of a benevolent and magical queen.

Membership: Many without magical abilities are born citizens of the Queendom, although quite a few leave upon achieving their majority. Immigration is possible, but full citizenship is granted only to those who can demonstrate true magical ability. Immigrants must forswear any former citizenship to another state and must spend at least two months each year in country. The total population of the Queendom hovers around 10,000, which about half are arcane spellcasters of some sort.

Benefits: Spellcasting citizens are each granted a domicile and free access to the Queendom’s Library in the capital city of Murai. Citizens can expect the protection of the Crown when in residence, though the queen disavows any citizen who undertakes criminal acts on foreign soil and then flees for asylum on the island. The economy of the Queendom is robust, and paupers are few.

Leadership: Queen DiFate has ruled the Queendom longer than any can remember. It is rumored that her power surpasses that of any other purely mortal caster. And love the queen, and by all accounts, she is a noble and capable ruler in her turn. (sic! even though that sentence makes no sense!)

Headquarters: Citizens of the Queendom live on magical island. The island moves, following a preestablished trading route through the oceans of the world, although in an emergency, the queen can direct the island as she wills. Being magically saturated, the moving island is filled with marvels: sorcerous lakes, living castles, groves sentient trees, and magical technologies of many sorts.

 

My pleasure Seekers of the Song wil have to wait til I find my missing USB stick with all my books on it (also holding up the latest KotB patch, I might add).