Clerics as Summoners of Angels

One of the main characteristics of There is Therefore a Strange Land is that it is set in a sort of pseudo-real world. If you are a cleric, you worship God. (Rules for Satan worshippers can wait for another day.) This means that you can't use magic, which would be blasphemous. That's something you need an angel for.

The angel will demand one of the following actions is performed in return for  a period of service of 3d6 days. During the period of service the angel obeys any command, except to kill itself.

Dice	Demand
1	Perform an unasked-for act of compassion during the course of the period of service
2	Give away at least 10% of personal wealth during the course of the period of service
3	Take a vow of silence for the duration of the period of service
4	Abstain from eating or drinking during daylight hours for the duration of the period of service (-2 to all rolls during daylight)
5	Smite an evildoer for no personal gain during the course of the period of service
6	Ask for forgiveness from somebody previously wronged at the end of the period of service (determined by the DM)

In addition, during the course of the period of service, the cleric may not disobey any of the Ten Commandments or order the angel to. If he or she does so, the angel will rebel and must be persuaded its continued service is for the Greater Good. The cleric's PC must come up with a plausible reason, and then roll on the following table, adding the reaction adjustment for the cleric.

Dice	Reaction
2-3	Angel rebels and attacks
4-6	Angel returns to heaven
7-9	Angel is indecisive (roll again in one round)
10-11	Angel remains in service but makes another demand
12+	Angel remains in service

A summoned angel has the following abilities, based on the level of the cleric.

1st level	1 HD, AC 6, #ATT 1, DMG By Weapon +1, 1st level cleric spell list (1d3 per day)
2nd level	2 HD, AC 6, #ATT 1, DMG By Weapon +2, 1st level cleric spell list (1d6 per day)
3rd level	3 HD, AC 5, #ATT 1, DMG By Weapon +3, 1st level cleric spell list (1d6 per day), 2nd level cleric spell list (1d3 per day, randomly determined)
4th level	4 HD, AC 5, ATT 2, DMG By Weapon +2, 1st level cleric spell list (1d6+3 per day), 2nd level cleric spell list (1d6 per day, randomly determined)
5th level	5 HD, AC 4, #ATT 2, DMG By Weapon +2, 1st level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 2nd level cleric spell list (1d6+3 per day), 3rd level cleric spell list (1d3 per day)
6th level	6 HD, AC 4, #ATT 2, DMG By Weapon +3, 1st level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 2nd level cleric spell list (1d6+3 per day), 3rd level cleric spell list (1d6 per day)
7th level	7 HD, AC 3, #ATT 2, DMG By Weapon +3, 1st level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 2nd level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 3rd level cleric spell list (2d6 per day)
8th level	8 HD, AC 3, #ATT 2, DMG By Weapon +4, 1st level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 2nd level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 3rd level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 4th level cleric spell list (1d3 per day)
9th level+	9 HD, AC 2, #ATT 3, DMG By Weapon +2, 1st level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 2nd level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 3rd level cleric spell list (2d6 per day), 4th level cleric spell list (1d6 per day)

*Angels can also levitate, see invisible, and polymorph self to pass for a normal human, all once per day at 1st level, three times per day at 4th level, and at will at 9th level+.

Angels have the following characteristics.

Dice	Appearance 1	Appearance 2	Weapon
1	Young boy	Shimmering and radiant	Mace
2	Young girl	Almost preternaturally nondescript	Spear
3	Adolescent boy	Very thin and delicate	Hammer
4	Adolescent girl	Very small	Sword
5	Adult male	Very tall	Trident
6	Adult female	Blue skinned	Short bow
7	Old man	Green skinned	Darts
8	Old woman	Very ugly	Mancatcher
9	Eagle headed	Fat and well-fed	Staff
10	Lion headed	Ever-smiling	Battle axe
11	Dog headed	Never-smiling	Two-handed sword
12	Cherubic	Very long-haired	Halberd

[Main thoughts: could be overpowered. Also, the characteristics table needs to be a d20 or d30 one.]

Strange Land/Plane Generator

There is Therefore a Strange Land continues, alongside New Troy (more on that in a future post). I keep describing TTSL as "Planescape meets The Magician's Nephew meets William Blake". The gist is as follows: at the start of play, one of the PCs inherits the home of a deceased uncle, which contains a study; inside the study is a portal to a liminal "vestibule" which in turn contains portals to other universes. Also inside the study is a series of clues and information about what the other universes are like and what they contain - and how to get into them. In addition to this, the game assumes an early-19th Century real world in which a vast network of secret societies of aristocrats, collectors, priests, devil-worshippers, thieves, royals, artists and poets know about the existence of other portals and universes and are busily engaged in trying to exploit them. So as well as adventuring in the "Strange Lands", the PCs also explore the (to me equally interesting) question of what happens in the real world when they bring things back...

Like Yoon-Suin it is mostly formed from random tables. I'm currently working on the "Strange Land" generator itself. This is what I'm fooling around with; there's a lot to be fleshed out (including all the subtables), but this will give an idea of the kind of thing I'm aiming for.

Strange Land Generator

Dice	Base Type (refer to subtables)	Psyche	Special Conditions*	Inhabitants**
1	Single element (subtable 1)	Neutral	Gunpowder/chemistry does not function	One species only
2	Mix of elements (blend) (subtable 1)	Pleasure	Unstable – has a 1% chance of collapse and regeneration as a new Strange Land after each visit	Appropriate inhabitants for base type
3	Mix of elements (distinct) (subtable 1)	Optimism	Very small – only a matter of miles or even metres
4	Maze/Construct (subtable 2)	Beginning	One human sense does not function
5	Tunnels (artificial) (subtable 3)	Light	Air is not breathable; special equipment, alchemy or magic required
6	Tunnels (natural) (subtable 3)	Pain	Many layers of different base types
7	Tunnels (mix) (subtable 4)	Barren	Gravity is very strong	Random distribution of intelligent races (2d6)
8	Single natural terrain type (subtable 5)	Ending	Gravity is very weak
9	Single climate type (subtable 6)	Dark	Gravity is sideways	Many gargantuan beasts
10	Mix of terrains (subtable 5)	Order	Gravity is reversed	Many demigods
11	Mix of climates (subtable 6)	Chaos	Bytopia type	Every individual is an amalgam of many species
12	Unusual***	Neutral	Many spheres separated by vaccuum	Every individual is a separate species

*Only roll if desired

**Think of your own, choose appropriately, or randomly determine from Monstrous Manual

***Inside the belly of a leviathan, an infinite lake’s surface covered in giant lilypads, a vast graveyard, a world of toadstools, etc.

Subtable 1 – Elements

Roll d3+3 times where the result indicates a blend or mix.

Dice	Element	Dice	Element
1	Earth	11	Mist
2	Air	12	Mineral
3	Fire	13	Radiance
4	Water	14	Storm
5	Void	15	Ice
6	Wood	16	Ooze
7	Metal	17	Magma
8	Salt	18	Smoke
9	Dust	19	Plasma
10	Ash	20	Nexus

  

Sutable 2 – Maze/Construct

Dice	Type
1	An infinite maze of traditional type – hedgerows and gardens
2	An infinitely large art gallery and/or museum
3	An infinitely large library
4	An infinite cabinet of outlandishly sized curiosities
5	A universe of gears, cogs, pistons, and/or clockwork
6	A vast metallic geometric solid, or a universe of them
7	An endless hall of mirrors
8	An infinite staircase with rooms leading off

Subtable 3 – Tunnels

Roll d3 times. For a mix, roll a d3 in each column.

Dice	Artificial	Natural
1	Wood-panelled corridors	The veins or digestive tract of a vast beast
2	Primitive stone	Volcanic caves
3	Advanced masonry	Solutional caves
4	Mines and construction works	Glacier caves
5	Giant worm, mole, ant tunnels	Infinitely deep sinkhole with caves leading off
6	Metallic corridors	Crystal caves

And so forth.