Rising Above One's Station (Class: Exhumed)

FOR QAL ASHEN

(And for Halloween.)

You were here first. Before Time, before Death, before the world was ordered and numbered and described, you were here. You're a dreadful thing, feared by spirits, banished by the Sun, at home only in the Underworld.

The living learned to traverse your world, taking Death into themselves and mastering it, but as the old saying goes: as above, so below.

+

THE EXHUMED

+1 to hit and +1 HP per Template.

A - Denizen, Fossilis, +2 Denizen Traits

B - Life of the Party, +1 Denizen Trait

C - Sparagmos, +1 Denizen Trait

D - Undying, +1 Denizen Trait

Denizen

You are what most call a Denizen, or Gallu: an antechronological creature from the Underworld, a servant (though you may not be) of the great God Qal Ashen. At character creation, do not choose a Folk; instead, roll for your appearance on the following table three times; once for your head, body, and limbs respectively.

1. Mammalian. 
2. Reptilian. 
3. Insectoid.
4. Avian. 
5. Piscine.
6. Humanoid.
7. Skeletal.
8. Inanimate.
9. Monstrous. 
10. Mixed. Roll twice, rerolling any tens, and mix the results together as you please.

You are human-shaped, but asymmetrical and utterly without genitals. You speak and read Chthonic, the growling language of the Underworld, and spirits of [templates] HD or less must save vs. Fear if you catch them by surprise. You also have two of the following Denizen Traits, plus one for each Template after the first:

• Your claws, fists, teeth, or tail are natural medium weapons. If this trait is taken twice, they can also harm immaterial beings.
• Your skin is natural light armor. This does not stack with worn armor; instead, your AC is the higher of the two +1. If taken twice, your skin is medium armor, and adds +2 to the AC of any worn armor.
• 2 DR against a non-weapon damage type of your choice. If this trait is taken twice, increase DR against that damage type to 4.
• +1 MD, and a spell rolled from this list. This trait can only be taken once.
• A sharpened sense. See in darkness as you would in light. Hear a pin drop in a crowded room. Tell the properties of a consumable by taste. Detect poison by smell. Determine the craftsmanship of an item by holding it in your hand. Et cetera.
• Get creative. The Underworld contains multitudes.

Fossilis

In ancient times you buried yourself in the ceiling of the Underworld, then filtered up through the tons of rock like naptha welling up through the earth; now you have finally burst forth from the ground, blinking in the Sun. Unlike other Denizens, you are living, even if your anatomy would normally make that impossible. You must sleep, eat, drink, and breathe like a mortal; however, in turn, you are no longer banished to the Underworld by the Sun’s light. As far as old age is concerned, you were born when you first came out of the ground.

The process of Exhumation has stirred the passion in your heart. All Denizens have their vices, but your vice empowers you. As a move, you may consume a slot of alcohol, drugs, or fine food, or gain a point of fatigue by wildly dancing or singing, to fly into a frenzy for [templates] minutes. 

Yes, you consume the entire slot. This makes for a great party trick.

While frenzied you are immune to negative emotions and pain, and gain [templates]d4 temporary HP for the ability’s duration, up to twice your maximum HP.

You can enter a frenzy [templates]+1 times per day, and cannot enter a frenzy while already frenzied.

Life of the Party

When you enter a frenzy, up to [templates] allies within earshot of you can be made to enter one as well, gaining the same effects that you would at Template A.

You get an additional save against all types of poison.

Sparagmos

When frenzied, you may take either an additional attack or an additional move each turn. Your face is terrifying to look upon; while frenzied, spirits of [templates]*2 HD must save vs. Fear when they first see you.

Undying

When frenzied, you are immune to death. You roll on the Table of Consequences* as normal when reduced to 0 HP, but the consequences don't hit you until the frenzy ends.

*Or Death and Dismemberment, or your "slow and prolonged death" table of choice.

And here's a bonus. This isn't for Qal Ashen, but my own, worse thing.

There is no greater meritocracy in the world than Kadigirraki, or so say those who swear by its Sacred Lottery. The lottery decides all things at the drawing of a clay tablet, and it knows no bias- how could it, when those who serve the lottery often do so unknowingly? It is a prophecy of pure action. The drawings are as regular and revered as any church service, and their priests are mute men with glassy eyes and black-dot pupils like the pips on a die. Commands from the lottery may be hidden, as well; secreted away in a sealed tomb, on the lips of a speaking sleeper, in the flight paths of birds. From outside, the people of Kadigirraki appear insane, following incoherent orders, receiving punishment and reward without cause. Some win, some lose, but they all come back to play. The Sacred Lottery has protected the city from harm many times: a famine averted by a store of grain hidden away years prior, an assassin slain by a blindly and precisely dropped brick, a plague averted by an immunity built up for years in advance.

This is because Kadigirraki is not a meritocracy. It is a theocracy, the most direct in the world. The lottery and the city would have collapsed centuries ago if not for their civic deity, Full Hand, the Lord of Order and Chance; the god of the lottery is the lottery. The god's thoughts are its actions, and its actions are those of a city of gamblers and lunatics. It is said that the gods play dice with the lives of men. In Kadigirraki, this is literal.

So why visit Kadigirraki?

1. Gambling, obviously. The stakes are deranged but the rewards are always tempting. You play for gold, for spells, for the years of someone's life; in Kadigirraki, there is nothing too precious to bet. You had better be an honest player, however: cheaters are hunted with all the zeal of an inquisition.
2. Treasure. The city is full of catacombs and tunnels, and Sacred Lottery is always stashing away gold and other goods for their unknowable purposes. Just watch for the silent men with dice-pip eyes and their razor-edged cards, and for those fellow guests who have nothing left to lose.
3. Conquest. Some say that the Sacred Lottery has been compromised, that some other force has seized it from the inside like a parasite to steer the city for its own purposes. There's no telling if that's true or not, as the lottery can appear self-contradicting on a good day, but the idea holds terrible promise. The god of the lottery is the lottery itself, and the one who controls the lottery controls a god.

Full Hand

A power of Order and Chance.

Lord Lottery, the Dealer, the House.

Demeanor: Even-handed but seemingly arbitrary in its dealings. The cards aren't random; you just can't see them.

Symbols: Five cards splayed in a star shape, a stack of coins or chips, the Wheel of Fortune

Common Worshipers: Gamblers, determinists, fortune-tellers.

Why do people suffer? Because there's no winning if there's no losing. The only one who always wins is the one dealing the cards.

Ban: Cheating.

Wrath: When bad things happen, they happen to you. The kind of incessant bad luck that drives people insane.

Sacrament: Partaking in the Sacred Lottery. Playing Tarot games.

Blessing: Cash prizes and vacations. Glimpses of things to come. Good fortune, while it lasts.