Chaos Feature Competition News
We have 86 features from 29 people, so we could use 3 entries from 5 more
people to achieve the goal of 100 chaos features!
Here's the challenge and the list of entries, as it stands (ordered to
obfuscate authors' names):
What it's all about:
Chaos Feature Competition - The Glorantha Tribe's Top 10 Features
Write 3 *new* chaos features that you think should go on a Top 10 Chaos
Features of All Time list. Interested in Glorantha on *any* level? We are
interested in your entries! From Glorantha's creator to the person reading
this list for the first time, from your kid sister to your great granddad,
no entry is too great or too small! It doesn't have to be clever, funny,
canon (in fact it shouldn't be) or anything like that - YGHV already! This
is chaos - let your mind take a walk on the wild side (just see the entries
below for examples :).
When enough people have entered the contest (I'm looking for 100 entries
minimum!), there will be an anonymous vote and the Top 10 Chaos Features of
All Time, as voted by members of this list, will be posted. [I have
constructed a private web page to accept votes; I will open it for a limited
time to accept people's votes].
Don't worry if you don't want to post your entries to the list - send them
to me off-list and we will enter them for you. Nobody's name will be next to
their creations unless they want it to be. The Top 10 will not have names in
it.
We're not looking for masterpieces or the ultimate in coolness or
necessarily 'something better than the RQ lists'; we're just after things
you like/have used/think is entertaining/could create story in people's
games etc
THE ENTRIES SO FAR
Only susceptible to indirect attacks.. you can write down or draw damage,
but not harm it with a weapon.
Healed by any magic, empowered by wounds.. Wounds strengthen its magic,
spells cast upon it heal its wounds.
Takes damage from insults.. words *will* hurt it, sticks and stones don't
Conduct to the Ultimate.. Will make illuminated and occluded characters face
a major crisis, and might illuminate others.
Appears closer to you than it actually is.. Whenever you try to touch it you
realise that it's too far away. If you turn around and it's behind you then
*IT IS OMG BASICALLY BREATHING IN YOUR EAR* Possibly the most dangerous
missile weapon user in the world...
Duplicator. When it is "killed" it takes on the form of whatever killed it
(sword, wolf, fire....). You can't ever really get rid of it, but you can
contain it.
Slick, entangling hair covering body.. Weapons might slide off or get
entagled.
Vomits Fruit.. Vomits up perfectly edible (non-chaos tainted) fruit when
frightened.
Chronovision.. Victim's right eye sees everything aging and decaying while
their left sees things grow younger and more vital. While using both eyes,
vision can be normal. Careful use of closing one eye lets creature see
future or past of a given target. The left eye appears decayed to observers,
the right appears oddly young and bright.
Emits clouds of powerful hallucinogenic gas.. To which it is not immune
Smokey skin.. This crature has skin that is like dark smoke. It drifts
sluggishly and you're not sure what it is but you *don't* want to touch it.
It's greatest use is sneaking into steads - it doesn't reflect or gleam, it
blends into shadows and it disguises movement. Its feel causes dread.
Invisible tentacle.. Think about it, don't YOU want one now?
Two or more souls in one body.. They struggle for control if they disagree
about what action to take. Mind affecting magic affects only one at a time
(unless it would affect multiple targets.)
Bowels of Chaos.. The Void exists where your bowels are.
Translucid body. The skin and muscles of the creature are semi-transparent,
you can see all of their internal organs and its veins. And whatever it has
eaten too, half dissolved in its digestive system. You better have a strong
stomach.
Enticing smell. . The creature smells like the most fragrant, sexiest
perfume you have ever known.
Noitarapes.. The creature radiates a field where separations are broken
down. This can take any number of forms: things blending together
physically, the dead appearing to bother the living, family ties reasserting
themselves mythically/magically. In a way, it is an anti-Humakt power,
restoring the confusion before things were separated into their proper
categories.
Ages backwards.. The creature is born as a frail, wrinkly, grizzled oldster,
grows younger into adulthood and adolescence, to finally die as a mewling
infant.
Only Visible in Reflections.. The chaotic can only be seen by his reflection
in other objects. You can glimpse him in that puddle, or in that metal bowl
on the table or perhaps a polished sword and shield.
Devours Emotions.. The chaotic can feed on and relishes emotional energy,
and in doing so removes the capacity for that emotion from its victim (I
would leave recovery options up to the story).
Self Cannibalism.. The chaotic appears with bite marks all over it, some
healed, some partially so.
Deadly sonorous eructations or flatulation.. The bodily emissions of the
creature are extremelly loud and dangerous in some way, belches emit
deafening noise like a super huge cathedral organ, musical farts emit toxic
gas or flame....
Can temporarily absorb disease spirits.. The being can cure any disease by
absorbing the spirit into themselves. The spirit is apparently banished or
destroyed, being no longer detectable. After a while (which is shortened
for every absorbed spirit) the spirits are released, first infecting the
being (inflicting symptoms but causing no permanent harm) and quickly
spreading to the surrounding population.
Any Chaos Feature You Haven't Thought Of.. Thanks Grant Morrison.
Imitation.. Takes on the looks of someone else in the battle, may be friend
or foe
Emotion Vacuum.. Sucks the emotions from a person. Games like heroQuest or
Pendragon would work best mechanically, as they quantify emotions. Tyhe
effect is like an aura - come within X yards/meters of the creture, and it
automatically "feeds" on your emotions. It's a always-on, area effect Tap
[Any Emotion].
Rebellious Limbs.. Subject's limbs are somewhat self-aware - and
self-interested! In extreme cases they may actually hold a plebsicite and
depart the body en masse. In lesser cases mistreated members of the limb
classes may attempt to secede alone - typically while the subject is
sleeping.
Turns To Jelly At Slightest Provocation.. Subject turns to a basically
indestructible chaos ooze when prompted by *something*.
Emotional Vision.. Subject suffers from a kind of aphasia, combined with the
ability to perceive visually the emotional makeup of others.
Rubber away soul Touch feature.. Spirit combat by touch.
Scolding voice.. Sounds just like your Mother when speaking.
Speaks any language. . Somehow, the creature can communicate with anyone,
regardless of what languages the other speaks.
Randomly produces sensations. Randomly produces a sensation to every living
being at 100 metres from him, including himself. For instance, he could
produce pain, hunger, fear or love. He could also produce multi-sexual
attraction which would surely end in an orgy. The creature can't control
what or when it happens.
Skill Swap.. Randomly determine 1d8 skills and swap them.
Aphrodisiac Ingredient.. Random body part becomes easily recognised as the
principle ingredient in a much desired aphrodisiac or similar potion.
Plague of Altering Size Breath.. Plague of Altering Size Breath
Thought leak.. People in range of the creature begin to hear each other's
thoughts. This can be surface thoughts, emotions, deeply hidden secrets,
what have you. Who is thinking what thoughts isn't easily discerned. It is
possible to get thought leak with non-sapients, although it is not
particularly likely. In such cases, what is shared is often a scent, a
hunger, or an instinct. Needless to say, this has a tendency to cause quite
a bit of disruption and paranoia.
Inconceivable. People cannot accurately describe the creature to others.
Rubber Soul.. Other spirits that engage you or are engaged by you in spirit
combat simply bounce off. ie, you're immune to spirits.
Devour Words.. Or Reverse Meanings of Words in a Radius, if you prefer.
Part physical, part spirit/soul/essence.. Only part of the beneficiary is
corporeal. The other part is purely insubstantial.
Half-a-creature.. Only 1/2 of the creature is present in the physical world
(the other is...somewhere else). For Example, if it's a broo, then you have
the right side of the broo, and a view of his insides at the "split".
Gestalt Body Sharer.. One soul spread among two or more different physical
bodies. Mind- affecting magic(or mind-affecting anything, really) that
affects one affects all.
Elastic tendons.. Most obviously allows jumping like a grasshopper. But also
consider the application to thrown weapons and escapology (not sure why
anyone would tie up a Broo but if they do...).
Magic Birthmark Companion.. Meet my brother. He's called 'Strawberry'.
Careful he may bite!
Limbs Detachable.. May be traded with others like you.
Disassociated.. Limbs and organs are only loosely connected and may swarm
apart.
Reincarnated in you.. Its killer/eater becomes the creature. Its memories
may be transferred.
Doppelganger.. It takes the form of the last being it has eaten, but not its
size we can have very short dinosaur or very large humans ...
Hollow shell of skin.. Interior filled with hundreds of crawling poisonous
vermin that fly or scuttle out when skin is ruptured, while spiders try to
sew it back together again from inside
Born after death.. In infant form back at the nearest chaos pit but
remembers how it died. It has to grow up again and suddenly, a few years on
in the campaign, IT RETURNS! "I know you. We killed you!"
Cause stammering.. I-In range we h-had t-trouble speaking.
Tap Sanity.. If it touches, you might start seeing/hearing things, believing
strange contradictory ideas or even laughing a bit too long after the joke
is over.
Amalgamation.. If it loses a body part, may replace it from a victim.
Two random body parts are made of gorp.. If abdomen or chest, can excrete or
vomit micro gorp. If limbs can elongate, attach, whip, throw micro gorp etc
etc (depending on gorp type). If head, becomes 'Brain of Gorp'.
Can't move when anyone is looking at it.. However it can't be physically or
magically harmed while anyone is looking at it. Add it to lightening fast
speed for extra plagiaristic goodness :)
Left and right reversed.. Hit its right arm, the left takes damage.
Sprout New Dialect every minute.. Highly contagious at hearing.
Completely hollow.. Handy for storage.
Inverse Swelling. Grows bigger when it is hungry, shrinks as it feeds.
Goey Flesh.. Flesh becomes goo, all the skin and muscle of the creatures
becomes a sack of transparent goo, which shifts and oozes to reveal bones
and internal organs.
Causes excessive body hair growth.. Exposure to this chaos monster causes
excessive body hair growth.
Causes sunburn.. Exposure to this chaos monster causes acute sunburn.
Radiate Acceptance.. Everyone within range receives a warm and fuzzy feeling
when the chaotic is around.
It is your child.. Everyone else who can see it knows exactly what it is but
to you it is your child. You carry it with you, suckle it (regardless of
whether or not your female) you love it and care for it and can bear to see
no harm come to it. When you finally die, worn out and shrivelled, it will
be someone else's child.
Transfers own image.. Every time someone fights it, that person looks like
it to others for the duration of the fight. An observer would see two
identical broos fighting, or two gorps, etc.
Weaken separation to Otherworlds.. Encounters with the creature tend to move
in and out of Otherworlds, for which this creature suffers no Otherworld
penalties. Struggles that move into, and then back out of, the Spirit Plane
can also shift the combatants across long distances. Those that flee the
fight might find themselves in some alien Hell. Hopefully heroes can hold
out until they intersect with the Hero Plane (and, ideally, a heroquest that
they know).
Able to absorb the skill of anyone in their presence.. e.g. can use a
swordsmans skill at their ability, only lasts while person is in their
presence.
1000 Arms.. Disturbingly, also possessed by some Mystic beings...
Eyes shifted into spirit/gods/essense plane.. Disturbing hollows in sockets
Changing visage.. Creature's facial features constantly undergo a slow
morph. Time to completely change features could be minutes
Everything you touch turns invisible.. Clothes, weapons, armour etc
Reversed digestive tract.. Censored.
Legs facing the wrong way. . Cannot walk forwards.
Gift of Colour.. Anything touched changes permanently to it's complimentary
colour. The players find an apple tree with blue apples (blue being the
complimentary of red). A track of magenta grass is found crossing a field.
Sticky skin.. Anything that hits the skin of the creature adheres (with some
high strength needed to tear object away - and if it's your flesh that's
stuck, then you're going to leave some behind!)
Look like you. Anyone that sees/touches/interacts with the creature senses
the creature as a duplicate of themselves. Multiple targets would
see/hear/sense completely different things, but that's the way with chaos,
isn't it? This is not an illusion of any sort. It's more like simultaneous
physical mimicry that breaks all the rules.
Merges with Mount.. Any creature that the chaotic can sit on or ride becomes
an extension of the chaotic, if the 'mount' is intelligent then there is a
continual power struggle for dominance between the two parties requiring
concentration and strength of will.
Changes color.. Another less extreme version of Changing Visage.
This monster uses D&D rules.. All characters must be converted for this
encounter.
Sneezes balls of explosive snot.. Achoo! Whizz! Bang!
Changing features.. A less extreme version of Changing Visage.
Regrow body slowly . a feat matched against what is used to destroy it. You
chop off a bit and it regrows, unless it is burnt, disolved in acid or
whatever the GM has it being vulnerable to. This might be the same or very
similar to the old RQ2 regeneration. How much the GM wants him back will
depend on the feat's rating and difficulty. As the regrow is slow
adventurers returning to the same area will see the same broo again and
again.
Edible Excretions.. +10 Camping for your companions.