Spherical Angels and the Gods They Serve

Angels are an enemy that my players have fought quite a few times over the years.

These angels are nakedly technological - basically Modrons with a slice of Evangelion - and they're sent down by the ASE-inspired orbital gods which orbit the planet.

Here are some facts about Angels.
- They are spherical with a single central eye, and roll around in ball form when they're not in combat mode. 
- They sing to each other in Angelic Binary so fighting them sounds like fighting a choir. 
- If you kill a higher-ranked angel, one of the lesser angels upgrades to replace them.

- A full choir of them numbers exactly 21, since they are arranged with a leader Ophanim who commands four Tacticians each of whom commands four Baseline angels.
- They are part of an ancient failsafe designed to prevent the end of the world, a task they only partially succeeded at back during the Apocalypse.
- The angels are ultimately controlled by whichever God is overhead that week, and each God has their own agenda and grants the angels a different special ability.

In gameplay terms they've got a fair few gimmicks, all ultimately predictable because Law is predictable.

Mostly they scare my players because they've got good armour, magic immunity, the ranged ones have armour piercing beam cannons, and killing the leader first is a bad idea because their minions just upgrade to take their place.
That plus they usually go for Chaotic characters first, so wizards feel very victimised.

Might as well start with the stats!

I have other drawings saved somewhere but can't find them so enjoy this quick scrawl!

Stats

Angels in General

Abilities
- Immunities: Immune to Chaotic magic and stasis weaponry.
- Patrol Mode: Roll around in spherical form, mostly used when on patrol or on standby.
- Flight Mode: Can transform into a ball with wings and fly around. Can't attack in this form.
- Scan: Detect Alignment at will.

Angel - Baseline

Baseline angels are the rank and file. Four Baselines are commanded by a single Tactician.
Baselines obey orders blindly, and have no executive function of their own.
They have little skinny legs and little skinny arms and little skinny wings and basically look just like a Modron.

Stats:

HD2. AC Chain. Morale 12.
Unarmed attack: 1d6.

Abilities:

- Weapon Swap: When commanded by their Tactician, they immediately generate any kind of melee weapon. (See "Weapon Types" in the house rules)
- Upgrade: When their commanding Tactician is destroyed or upgraded, one of its subsidiary Baseline angels transforms into a Tactician. It gains +2 HD immediately.

Angel - Tactician

Tactician Angels are a real-time calculating node in the angel network. Four Tacticians are commanded by a single Ophanim. 
They have some tactical reasoning but these are strictly limited to the present moment, they have no ability for long term strategy. Mostly this is calculating stuff like "enemies are in heavy armour, use hammers" and telling their Baselines to swap to hammers.

Stats:

HD 4. AC Chain. Morale 12.
Unarmed ram attack: 1d6
or 2 armour-piercing stasis beam cannons: 1d6 each

Abilities:
- Switch Up: As an action, can order their Baseline minions to swap weapons.
- Upgrade: When their commanding Ophanim is destroyed or upgraded, one of its subsidiary Tactician angels transforms into an Ophanim. It gains +4 HD immediately.

Angel - Ophanim

Ophanim angels are the commanders of their group. One Ophanim commands 4 Tacticians that each command 4 Baselines, for a total of 21 angels per Choir.
They have the capacity for longer term strategy and are hubs for the wider angel network.
They are ultimately overseen by the Seraphim dropship that hovers at the edge of the Stratosphere.
This plus they're a whirling array of metal and high-powered beam weapons that can encase a large area within an impenetrable stasis barrier.

Stats:

HD 8. AC Plate. Morale 12.

Whirling shard attack: Attack all in 10' for 1d6 damage.
or 2 armour-piercing stasis beam cannons: 1d12 each.

Abilities:
- Reactive Movement: If hit by an attack, may take a free move without triggering Opportunity Attacks.
- Stasis Shell: As an action, create a 50' diameter shell of frozen time impenetrable to almost all non-angels. Takes a round to spin up and lasts until the Ophanim stops maintaining it. Things can still move inside the barrier, but they can't cross out and any projectiles crossing the barrier get stuck. The Ophanim itself can't act while maintaining the field, so needs to rely on its minions to destroy anything that's in there with it.

One of my players rendered one of them!

Tactics

First off, Angels hate Chaos.
They'll always attack Chaotic entities first, and will abandon their other goals until they've chased down and destroyed Chaotic targets.
They attack Neutral entities if they get too close or get in the way of their goals, but won't chase too far.
Lawful entities are ignored unless they physically attack an Angel.

Secondly, Angels upgrade.
Each Ophanim controls 4 Tacticians.
Each Tactician controls 4 Baselines.
If an angel higher in the hierarchy dies, one of their underlings upgrades at the end of the round to take their place.

Thirdly, Angels don't care about firing into combat.
All angels are immune to Stasis Beam attacks, so they'll try to get the Baselines in to tie up foes, then blast the melee with beam-fire.

Fourthly, Ophanim can use their stasis bubble for offence and defense.
If it calculates that its Choir is unlikely to survive, it can put up its Stasis Shell to prevent further action. Angels can roll through Stasis zones unhindered, so they can roll back into the field until danger has passed.
On the other hand, if it can trap a lone foe inside the field and have the rest of the angels come murder it, so much the better! This is a potentially dangerous tactic since the Ophanim can't defend itself with the field up, but mobbing one poor fool with a bunch of angels is usually a winning technique.

Gods Above

A fun extra thing about Angels is that they have different abilities depending on which God is above that week.
I track this because I have a game calendar (so cool, I know) and each week the God closest to the zenith in the skies above influences the Angels below.

You could always roll a 1d9 if you don't care about calendars.

Name	Angel Mood	Angel Special
Dispater of the Subtle Knife	Elusive	All Angels gain a free move when hit. Baselines equip reach weapons.
Oberon of the Green Branch	Wary	Baselines can use 1d6 ranged bow
Minerva of the Burnished Shield	Defensive	Baselines equip shields
The Scorned of the Rusted Blade	Resolute	Tacticians can command a weapon swap as a free action
The Dead God of the Brittle Bone	Murderous	Mob individuals. 4 in 6 Backstab.
Alaunus of the Mailed Fist	Efficient	Target lowest HP first.
The Lady of the Silver Coin	Fickle	Immune to opportunity attacks, retarget foes every round.
The Allfather of the Filled Cup	Hard-hitting	Baselines deal +1 die size for damage.
Eris of the Spinning Wheel	Hateful	Reverse priorities - kill Lawful first.

God Lore

There are, or were, Nine High Gods orbiting the Earth.
Massive mechanical minds born from aeons-ancient ingenuity, long sent into space to allow them to grow beyond all earthly proportion.
Immortal, impossible space golems, each orbit another turn of the prayer wheel.

If the Gods need to affect the world they send forth their angels.
The Seraphim, huge brass spheres, descend from above and blossom forth, the lower hemisphere opening up into six huge wing-petals covered with eyes.
Each eye is an angel, deployed from the wings according to the unknowable yet fairly obvious tactics of the Gods.

One of the Nine, Eris, was shot down in an earlier age. This has the unfortunate effect of putting angels into their failsafe "scorched earth" mode when they detect no gods overhead.

Some Faiths claim that she lies below Dwimmermount even now. Some call her Queen Satan, others believe her a fallen God unjustly wrenched from the heavens, others still say she never entered heaven at all...

Wizard Rework Finale: The Death of Spell Levels + 500 Levelless Spells

Last year I reworked wizards so that they used Mana instead of spell slots.

In that very post I said the following -

This is part of my soft move towards all spells becoming scaling Level 1 spells, a la Wonders & Wickedness. This way I can still use the regular spells in the book while any new spells can be introduced at Level 1.

Time to make that soft move a HARD MOVE BABYYYYYY.

A Whole Load of Spells

First off, here's my big list of 500 levelless spells (and counting!) culled from many sources.


Ten Foot Polemic Spell List


If you look at the sources you'll notice there's lots GLOG-adjacent stuff because translating "[dice]" to caster level is a pretty easy shift!
I'm still adding stuff (next is to scavenge spells from individual GLOG wizards..) but biggest thanks to Isaak Hill, Skerples, Lost Pages, and this imminentchurchengine person who posted a massive d200 spell list on reddit.

Spells are hash-marked because it's sometimes useful to be like "You find scroll #154" and then look up the hash later when they finally identify it.


Quick rundown of what's in this sheet -

Generator:
Generates random MU and Necromancer spells and random spell mishaps for each.

Magic-User:
One big list of all the wizard spells I've got so far!

Magic-User Mishaps:
Automated version of Aura's wild magic table. Pulls through to the Generator tab, but useful if you need a specific table result.

Necromancer: Big list of Necromancer spells. Currently fairly short, but more to come!

Spellbook Generator: Generates 6 MU spellbooks and 6 Necromancer grimoires.
The MU one is designed to give starting wizards mostly standard LotFP L1 starter spells with 1-2 fun ones from the whole list. Got to make sure new Wizards mostly get the classics!
Necromancers get their archetypical spell Subjugate Dead and 3 random spells from the whole list. I might change that if the Necromancer spell list gets anywhere near as big as the MU one, but it's fine for now! Raising and controlling the Dead is the main one, after all.

The layout is meant for copy-pasting into a doc for printing, which is why it looks a bit janky, and it doesn't update if you refresh the page, sorry!

Wizard spells should spit out into this document if I've got it right - Beginner MU Spellbooks.
And Necromancer spells should come out here - Beginner Necromancer Spellbooks.

Get on my Level

So - the obvious. All spells are now "Levelless", or effectively first level spells that scale with caster level.

This means I can tighten up the spellcasting rules as follows:

Mana: You have 1 Mana per level. This powers your spells.
You can still cast spells when you’re out of Mana, it’s just significantly more dangerous.
Your Mana Pool refills after 8 hours of rest.

Casting: You have two ways of casting spells.
Bound: Bind spells in advance. For those who plan ahead.
Wild: Cast instantly and spontaneously. For those who live in the moment.

Spellbinding: Spend 1 Mana and 10 minutes meditating with a spellbook to create a Bound Spell.
It takes a round to cast a Bound Spell - declare casting as an Action, it goes off at the start of your next turn. If you get hurt mid-cast, Save vs Chaos. On success you maintain casting, on failure the spell goes off immediately as a Chaos Burst

Wild Magic: Roll 2d6 on this table plus:

Skill: Your Intelligence modifier.
Bulk: -1 per Encumbrance level
Mana: For each Mana you spend, roll an extra 1d6.
Blood: For each HP you sacrifice, add +1.

Wild Magic is cast instantly as an Action.

Caster Differentiation

I had a few ideas about caster differentiation on one of the initial posts, but I've had a couple of slight changes of heart since!
Most significantly I'm making Necromancers have the same casting rules as others. This has necessitated separate spooky-themed Chaos Burst and Cosmic Horror tables, but that's part of the fun!
A smaller change is to move back to Magic-Users having one Familiar. I liked the idea of a powerful wizard being surrounded by a cloud of animals and people being able to guess what they've got prepped, but having a single Familiar (or two, in one notable case) is pretty iconic in my game now.

In short -

• Magic-Users get a Familiar and the most flexibility.
• Necromancers get a separate spooky spell list and need bodily fluids and stuff to cast spells at full power.
• Muscle Wizards trade range for close-combat capability.
• Elves get themed superpowers but can only cast Wild Magic.

Each caster class also gets a unique Vengeance when they die, which I thought would be a fun way to make the chaotic casters inject even more chaos into a situation!

Full player facing stuff is in the Quick Class Breakdowns, but here's the rundown using the casting rules above as the baseline.

Magic-User

Starting Spells: 
Start with a Spellbook containing four random spells.

Familiar:

Choose a smallish animal to be your Familiar at character creation. Familiars obey orders, communicate telepathically, and cannot die. If ever somehow destroyed, your Familiar reforms next to you.
Spells can be cast through your Familiar - counting it as the origin point of the spell.

Cantrips:
When you bind a spell, you can bind it into your own head or into your Familiar.
Spells bound in your head grant you access to Cantrips - minor magical effects on the general theme of the bound spell, eg. Sleep could make someone yawn or Magic Missile might give you a bonus to Aim actions.
Spells bound to your Familiar grant it useful mutations. Shield might give it a tough shell or Spider-Climb could give it spider legs to climb up walls.
These effects last until you cast the spell.

Wizard Vengeance:
When you die your Familiar mutates into a horrifying demon and takes revenge.
Unspent Mana gives it more power. Uncast Bound Spells give it more abilities.
Roll it up with this generator: Saker's Summon Hack.
It's base HD is your level +1 for each unspent Mana you had.
It can cast any remaining Bound Spells you had at-will.



Notes:
Moving to levelless spells really streamlines this class.
Familiars are the only change to before - back to a single creature.
Familiars are good for signal-boosting spells, delivering Touch or Area attacks at range, and mutating into useful forms for shenanigans.
Oh also I'm so glad I was linked to that Summon hack! Great stuff!

Necromancer

Starting Spells:
Start with a Grimoire containing Subjugate Dead and 3 random spells.

Vials:
Also start with a bandolier of glass vials. You fill these with the ritual components of your spells.
The bandolier is non-encumbering, but when you fill a vial it is added to your inventory.
You can stack up to 5 identical vials to an encumbrance slot.

Components:
You require vials of ritual components to cast spells at full power. The components are listed in the spell descriptions.
Sacrifice the required components when you cast the spell, otherwise the spell is cast as though you're a level 1 caster.

Last Breath:
The Dead will only obey those who speak with their voice, and so the most important ritual component is Last Breath - the final gasp of a sapient creature.
Breathing this in grants you the Voice of the Dead - crucial for raising, subjugating and controlling your Dead minions. A single vial lasts 10 minutes, after which your minions will simply obey the last order they were given.

Death Resistance:
Bound spells are ghosts that live in your bones and help hold your soul in.
Each Bound Spell grants you +1 when you roll to Tempt Fate.

Necromancer Vengeance:
When you die you release a wave of death magic and vengeful ghosts.
This deals 1d6 damage per unspent Mana and uncast Bound Spell to every living thing within 10'/level.



Notes:
Streamlining the Necromancer to be in line with other casters is good for newbies.
While in the previous version I envisaged the Necromancer as the mirror of an Elf - ie. can't do Wild Magic while an Elf can only do Wild Magic - it turns out every newbie finds "Necromancer" more evocative than "Magic-User"!

They've still got a "prepare in advance" vibe through their need to have vials of stuff ready in their bandolier, but you'll notice this doesn't matter at Level 1.
It would suck to be a new player or new character starting in the middle of a dungeon and find out you're unable to cast your spells because you don't have any salt or eye jelly on hand!
The components are loosely themed - like salt is for warding spells and blood is for affecting living things. I'll be building up the Necromancer spell list over the next little while, so more to come!
Having a bandolier of stuff for Necromancy is, naturally, inspired by Abhorsen. Albeit those were bells not vials of phlegm and bone dust.

The exception is Last Breath for their signature spell, as you'll see in the Subjugate Dead spell description in the starter grimoires.
Last Breath is evocative and also pretty readily available in any delve - just do a murder!
I also dig the idea that intelligent Dead are powerful because they don't need Last Breath to control minions - they're already speaking with the Voice of the Dead.
The ten minute limit on Last Breath is so you can micromanage your minions in a combat situation, but outside of combat you'll need to put them on autopilot.

Oh yea, and if you bind your spells in advance it makes it harder for you to die! Cool huh?
And then if you do die, you pull every motherfucker in the room into hell with you.

If you've got any rad Chaos Bursts or Cosmic Horrors for Necromancers, hit me up. I need more entries!

Muscle Wizard

Starting Spells:

Start with a Spellbook containing 4 random spells.

Muscle Magic:
Your fists deal 1d4 magical damage and count as Shanky weapons.
All spells have a maximum range of 10' - punching distance - and casting your spells must be combined with an unarmed attack.
You choose whether a spell you cast affects you, your target, or both.

Core Power:
Mana suffuses your core, increasing your resilience.
You gain +2 HP for each unspent Mana in your Mana Pool.

Bound Strength:
Binding spells moves them into your muscles to grant yourself physical power.
Each Bound Spell grants your unarmed attacks +1 to hit and +1 to damage.

Final Impact:
When you die you can flash-step to somewhere in the scene, utter a final line, and unleash your ultimate move.
Deal 1d6 damage per unspent Mana and uncast Bound Spell to a creature in the vicinity.


Notes:
I still laugh at that ridiculous Wide Kylo Ren meme. Anyway...
No big changes to the previous version, except they've got to choose between +HP and +attack with their Mana.
Do you keep it in Mana form so you're tough? Or turn it into Bound Spells so you're buff?
Remember - there's no penalty to casting Bound Spells in armour, so you can mitigate the HP tradeoff with better AC.

Affecting yourself and someone else with a single spell is very intended. Being able to go two-for-one on a buff spell at the cost of punching your mate in the face makes me laugh.

Elf

Heartspell:
Elves start with a single random spell from this list. This is their Heartspell.
It defines what powers they will receive and the monster they will become.

Wild Mage:
Elves cannot Bind spells.
They can cast their Heartspell instantly as an Action. Other spells require a Wild Magic roll to twist their Heartspell into a new shape.

Changeling:
The more Mana an Elf has, the more powers and mutations they manifest.
Mutations and powers can be found here - Elf Mutation List.
These power tiers are based on Mana, not character level, so they lose their gifts as they use up Mana.
If an Elf runs out of Mana they can no longer cast spells - they are human once more.

Moondancer:
Elves do not sleep, but they do disappear for hours at night to dance beneath the moon.
They are gone for an hour per level at some point during the night. When they return, their Mana is back to full.
Their powers wax as the moon wanes.
They get +1 Mana during a Crescent Moon, and double Mana during the New Moon.
They get -1 Mana during a Gibbous Moon, and half Mana during a Full Moon.

Cold Iron:
Cold iron weapons deal maximum damage to Elves.
Cold iron is simply iron that is cold - not a special type of metal.
Sustained contact with cold iron locks the Elf off from their powers, reverting them to human form until the cold iron is removed.

Wild Vengeance:
When an Elf dies it releases a Chaos Burst of its Heartspell per unspent Mana, each randomly targeted at any creature within 50'.

Notes: No big changes here, other than to give them their own special Vengeance thing.
That'll be great fun if my players face enemy Elves...

There's another minor difference to other casters - Elves technically can run out of spells! If you want to cast that dangerous 2d6 Wild Magic you'll need to keep a Mana back so you stay an Elf rather than some measly human.

original muscle wizard pic before I remembered about Ben Swolo

Finale Worde

So there you have it! What I always kind of wanted to do with the caster classes but was too lazy to follow through with!
Big big thanks to KingPenta who was the main person to nudge me into de-levelling the lotfp spells, and another big thanks to the GLOGosphere who I will continue to mine for levelless spells.
Turns out I find it kind of relaxing to translate content into my game's own idiom? I figure I'll just keep building it up over time.

Part of the fun is going to be adding my players' spells to the list over time as they research them, and in fact there are already a few in there from Sophia's brief but shining run as an Elf.

Conveniently enough one of my players has rolled up a Necromancer and another just rolled up a Wizard after his previous character united with his god and ascended ever so slowly to heaven, so I'll actually be able to see how they go in play!

Santicorn 2019: Tide-Flooded Caverns

Santicorn baby! The second annual Santicore-alike we've organised on the OSR Discord channel!
Everyone requests a thing, we shuffle the requests around, and everyone fulfils one of them as a Christmas Santicorn gift! How wholesome!

I got this one from Wizzzargh:
"Dungeon room fills, be they tricks, traps, treasure, or monsters, for a dungeon regularly flooded by seawater at high tide. Bonus points for fills that require very different approaches at different water levels"

So here goes!

The Tide-Flooded Caverns

The smell of salt and smoke. Rumours of smugglers and sea-witches. Warnings of a rising tide that claims all who enter. Everyone in the village built on the bluffs above knows of the caves, and all are wise enough not to explore them.
At low tide the seawater slides around the cave mouths like a lover's tongue, sloshing over the slick sand and sucking mud and shifting stones of a treacherous beach.

The tide turns and waves of cold scummy seawater gush into the waiting mouths, pouring in through the twisting passages and wider caverns that honeycomb the headland.

Exploring the caves is dangerous, the rising tides changing the nature of the chambers inside, but there are stories of vast treasures and strange creatures within...

How to Use

There are 20 caverns detailed below, each with a description for Low, Mid and High Tide.
There are also 10 treasures to spice up a chamber, or maybe to find if they loot a room.

Finally, 6 random encounters because of course.
Do whatever you feel like with them!

You could roll randomly as PCs travel through the caves (maybe 1d20 for chamber and 1d20 for treasure, where treasure results 11-20 are "nothing extra"), or pre-build the cavern complex.

If you do the latter I suggest room 9 (Gillifier) be placed fairly deep in the caves, since it's a gimmick room that reverses whether you breathe air or water and it might be fun to recontextualise all the other chambers they've been in already.
Room 10 (Lamprey Witch) contains a powerful foe so could be used as a boss room if that's something you like doing.
Room 6 (Cork Golem) would make a good guard fairly close to the entrance, especially since the poor chap becomes a bit useless when the water level rises!

Either way the routes between the chambers are up to you. I envisage twisty slippery seaweedy passages that fill up at high tide.

Tracking the Tide

Time from Low to High tide is apparently 6 hours, which is a lot for your average delve, but whatever. Hopefully they get a bit trapped by the time Mid Tide rolls around and have to make some hard decisions.
I suggest having a row of six boxes like so:

☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
  Low  |   Mid  |  High

Use an Overloaded Encounter Die and have result 3 say "Tide rises - Check off a tide box". That should mean you get about one box ticked off per hour.
Result 4 could even be something like "Freak Surge - treat as next Tide in cycle for next 10 minutes" to add some more watery unpredictability!

Drowning

You might have drowning rules already, but if you don't here's how I do it -

If you get a chance to take a deep breath before diving, you can hold your breath for 5 rounds +/- your Constitution modifier.
If you don't get to take a breath first, you have 1d6-1 rounds of air left, also +/- Con Mod
Once you run out of air you take 1d6 damage per round until you can breathe again.

The Chambers

1. Aqua-Pause Pillar

Any Tide:
A chamber with water seemingly frozen in time, forming a bowl-shape around a vibrating glass-and-stone pillar. The pillar is honeycombed with glass panels revealing the glowing bubbling blue liquid within. Smash the pillar and a ripple shudders through the water. Hit hard enough, the vibration stops all the water within a mile in place! It still feels like water, but it doesn't move or ripple or pour. The effect lasts for an hour, after which the water suddenly springs back to where it should have been.

2. Barnacle Spear

Any Tide:On a raised barnacle-encrusted dais in the middle of this frieze-carved chamber is a long tool with a rusty barnacle-scraping edge filed to a point on the end. Water rushes down the holes at the foot of the dais, keeping the water in this chamber knee-high.

The Barnacle Spear counts as an ordinary spear when nowhere near the sea. When it's near the sea it's a spear with powers based on the tide.

Low Tide: Ebb - on hit, get a free move and disengage backwards.

Mid Tide: Splash Zone - on hit, push everyone in front of you 20' away.

High Tide: Surge - On hit, pierce through and hit another target behind the first. This can combo indefinitely until you run out of targets. You can move up to 20' forwards between strikes.

3. Bastard Seagulls

Low Tide: Seagulls fly into this guano-covered chamber through the many small holes in the ceiling. They are fiercely territorial and massive bastards who will flock and kill in a barrage of savage pecks.

Mid Tide: Seagulls float happily on the surface of the chest-high water in this chamber, occasionally flying in and out of the many small holes in the ceiling. They are fiercely territorial and will swarm anyone who enters above the water, but won't attack anyone swimming below.

High Tide: A few seagulls bob on the surface of the neck-high water in this chamber. There's not much room though, so most of them have already flown out to the outside world through the small holes in the ceiling. Anybody with their head above the water will be attacked by the seagulls who paddle over to peck at their face - there's not enough room to swoop.

-

Bastard Seagulls

HD1 AC unarmoured ML9

Attacks: 1d2 Peck or 1d4 flyby swoop attack

Abilities: At will, a seagull can detect the distance and direction of hot potato chips within a half mile radius.

Attitude: Extremely bad-tempered. Swoop if there's room, peck if there isn't, squawk no matter what.

4. Bluebottles

Low Tide:
The slimy, lumpy floor of this chamber is covered with small pale blue pear-shaped balloons and tangles of bright royal blue tendrils. Touching a tendril brings hot red whip-like marks on the flesh and extreme agony. 

Mid Tide:
The waist-high water in this chamber has many small pale blue pear-shaped balloons bobbing about in it. Their bright blue tendrils drift about beneath the water. Wading or swimming through the water inevitably leads to these stinging tendrils drifting into you and bringing up incredibly painful whip-like welts on any body parts which went beneath the water - legs if wading, pretty much all of you if swimming.

High Tide:
Pretty blue strings drift about in the currents of this water-filled chamber, seemingly hanging from the ceiling above. If you swim through this room you are beset by the agonising stings of the tendrils and risk death by drowning.

-

Bluebottles (Hazard)

Effect:

Their tendrils bring great pain through a powerful venom. 

If touched by a tendril (even through cloth), Save vs Stun or keel over prone from the pain - you can Save again each round to recover. You take 1d4 damage each round you have clothing touching the affected body parts for the next 10 minutes. Additionally, for small areas (a hand, a foot), that body part becomes useless for the next hour. For larger areas (torso, multiple limbs), you count as having 1HP for the next hour until the pain fades away.

Main Danger:

Keeling over from the pain on land likely makes you fall onto more of them. Doing it in water risks stinging more and more of you as you stir up the water (and tendrils) in your agony, leading to your inevitable drowning.

5. Chasing Crab

Low Tide:
This crab is big and hungry and now it wants to eat YOU. It scuttles sideways at twice human speed across the wet floor of this chamber, claws bared, ready to PINCH! It will chase you until you either kill it, or get two chambers ahead of it at which point it gives up.

Mid Tide:
This crab is big and hungry and ANNOYING SLOW IN WATER! It scuttles sideways through the waist-high water at human unencumbered speed, claws bared, ready to CLAMP! It will chase you until you either kill it, or get two chambers ahead of it at which point it gives up.

High Tide:
This crab is big and hungry and AGONISINGLY SLOW SUBMERGED. It scuttles sideways under the water at a quarter human speed, claws bared, extremely FRUSTRATED! It will chase you until you either kill it, or get two chambers ahead of it at which point it gives up.

-

Chasing Crab

HD8 AC plate ML10

Attacks: 2 Pincer attacks for 1d10 each. If both hit, dents your armour giving you -1 AC until you get it repaired.

Abilities: Fast on land, slow in water. Max speed on land is twice human. Max speed submerged is quarter human.

Attitude: Chase down victims, but try to keep on land where it's fast!

6. Cork Golem

Low Tide: A huge golem made of cork stomps around this slippery chamber floored with black cave-kelp, guarding the way deeper into the complex.

Mid Tide:
A huge golem made of cork bobs around in the chest-high water in this chamber, flailing around because of how floaty it is. It's slow but powerful. Black cave-kelp waves on the floor.

High Tide:
A chamber filled completely with water, black cave-kelp waves in the water below. A huge golem made of cork is pinned to the ceiling by the water.

-

Cork Golem

HD10 AC leather ML12

Attacks: Powerful punch deals 1d12 damage and blasts victim back and prone - hitting a wall or other creature deals an extra 1d6 damage to both.

Abilities: Floats, immune to fire when wet (always in here), 1 damage per die from bashing attacks.

Attitude: Stomp around, punch people into other people, stomp on people while they're lying on the floor!

7. Dehydrated Ooze

Any Tide:

The passage slopes up to a small cave above the waterline. Inside is a crusty aquamarine bulge with gold coins glimmering under the hardened candy-like shell.

Pour a bunch of water on the lump and it rehydrates into a massive absorbent Aquamarine Goop! Run! Or kill it somehow to claim the treasure...

-

Aquamarine Goop

12HD AC leather ML12

Attacks: 1d8 Dehydrating Slap - On hit, Save vs Doom or lose 1d4 Strength from sudden dehydration!

Abilities: If hit by a water or ice-based attack, gets an immediate free turn. If hit by a fire-based attack, stunned for a round as it loses moisture.

Attitude: Schlorp after the juiciest foe and steal all their juices!

8. Eel Pit

Low Tide: The way out of this chamber is on the other side of a 50' deep pit with a shallow pool of water at the bottom. Electric eels hide at the sandy bottom of the pit, but won't attack when the water is this shallow. How come this pit isn't just a permanent deep pool? - The water in the pit drains away slowly through narrow shafts beneath the sand.

Mid Tide: The way out of this chamber is on the other side of a deep pit with a 20' deep pool of water 30' down. Electric eels hide at the sandy bottom of the pit, and will swarm out at anyone who jumps into the water.

High Tide: The way out of this chamber is on the other side of a 50' deep pool of water. The water is infested with electric eels which will swarm out at anyone who gets into the water.

-

Electric Eel

1HD AC unarmoured ML6

Attacks: 1d4 bite deals double damage vs metal armour - On hit, zap makes target drop whatever they're holding

Abilities: Electric bite

Attitude: Swarm anything that moves, zapping them so they drop their stuff and have to jump in to get it back.

9. Gillifier

Low Tide:
This damp stone chamber smells of salt and earth and wet metal, small fish flop industriously around the room. The walls are lined with nooks that shimmer with layers of with valuable mother-of-pearl, and a squid peers curiously down from one of these nooks. This room reverses whether you breathe air or water for 24 hours. Anyone who spends a minute or so in this room finds it hard to breathe, and soon they discover that they have grown gills and can no longer breathe air! They begin to suffocate immediately.

Mid Tide: This stone chamber with knee-high water smells of salt and earth and wet metal. Small fish float about with their faces on the surface, gulping down air. The walls are lined with nooks that shimmer with layers of with valuable mother-of-pearl. This room reverses whether you breathe air or water for 24 hours. Anyone who spends a minute or so in this room finds it hard to breathe, and soon they discover that they have grown gills and can no longer breathe air! They must go on their hands and knees to dip their newfound gills into the low water, else begin to suffocate.

High Tide: This stone chamber with chest-high water smells of salt and earth and wet metal. Small fish float about with their faces on the surface, gulping down air. The walls are lined with nooks that shimmer with layers of with valuable mother-of-pearl. This room reverses whether you breathe air or water for 24 hours. Anyone who spends a minute or so in this room finds it hard to breathe, and soon they discover that they have grown gills and can no longer breathe air! They begin to suffocate unless they submerge themselves into the water.

10. Lamprey Witch

Low Tide: A smoky chamber with shallow pits filled with water and black oily shapes - lampreys. A smoky blue driftwood fire is in the centre of the chamber, surrounded by stones. Hiding in one of the pits during the low tide is the Lamprey Witch - an emaciated old woman with lampreys latched onto every piece of her. She always seeks more food for her children and will strike from the smoke!

Mid Tide:
A hazy chamber that smells of salt and woodsmoke. Oily black shapes writhe and twist through the knee-high water- lampreys! They wriggle through the water towards you, awful mouths wide! If you turn back you see a horrible writhing figure, a human form with lampreys latched onto every inch - the Lamprey Witch is behind you already!

High Tide: The water surges behind you, barrelling you from the tunnel into this chamber of neck-high water. When you manage to catch a breath the air smells like woodsmoke. Black oily shapes writhe towards you in the water - lampreys! They're all around you, and you hear a choking laugh as a mass of lampreys bursts from the water - a mass of lampreys in human shape - the Lamprey Witch!

- 

Lamprey Witch

HD8 AC chain ML10

Attacks: Lamprey Toss - throw lampreys at a target, 50' range - 1d6 damage and the target gains attached lampreys equal to damage.

Lamprey Surge - AoE lamprey attack - all foes in 20' Save vs Blast or take 1d4 damage and gain attached lampreys equal to damage.

Abilities: Can breathe underwater, never takes damage from lampreys, breeds lampreys rapidly.

Attitude: Wants to find food for her babies! Main technique is to hang back and lob lampreys from afar, then use Lamprey Surge if she starts to get surrounded. Optimally foes will be so busy trying to get the lampreys off themselves that they can't concentrate on her!

Jumping Lamprey

HD0 (1HP) AC unarmoured ML5

Attack: Leaps up to 30' and latches on with its horrifying bloodsucking mouth! Each attached lamprey deals 1 point of damage per round. An attached lamprey can be pulled off as an Action (occupying your hand) or attacked with a weapon. If attacking, roll to hit vs AC 10. On hit, it's dead. On miss, it's dead and you deal weapon damage to the person it was latched onto.

Attitude: Swim or jump in, latch onto flesh, suck the blood!"

11. Octopus in a Hole

Low Tide: A fairly large cavern with slippery kelp floor and a pool of black murky water at the side of the room. A giant octopus lives here, and anyone touching the water will be grabbed by the octopus within and dragged down into its lair below!

Mid Tide: A fairly large cavern filled with sloshing knee-high water. The water gets blacker and murkier towards one side. A giant octopus lives here, flattening itself beneath the water. It will try to grab anybody who separates from the party and drag them to its lair, although its big body will be visible above the water as it does so!

High Tide: A fairly large cavern filled with rolling neck-deep water. The water is murky, but swimmable. A giant octopus lives here, and it will drag anyone it likes beneath the water and drag them to its lair. Anyone who seems hurt or vulnerable is a prime target!

-

Giant Octopus

HD7 AC leather ML7. 

Attacks: On hit, Grapples for 1d6 choking damage per round, preferably dragging into water where you'll drown. Can move while grappling no problem.

Abilities: Ink cloud - Cloud of ink obscures the area. Squeeze - can squeeze through pretty much any crack.

Attitude: Smart but alien ambush predator who wants to pick off one person and devour them. Grabs, drags into water, leaves an ink cloud behind to obscure where it's going.

12. Oysters

Low Tide: 

Shallow, warm, knee-high water in a fairly flat sandy chamber. Huge oysters tower out of the water, tightly shut. Their shells are hard as rocks.

Mid-Tide: 

Tepid chest-high water in a flat, sandy chamber. The lips of huge oysters stick about a foot out of the water. They are slightly open and frilled with strange flesh, but will suck it in and slam shut if disturbed.

High Tide: 

Cool water fills this flat, sandy chamber. Huge oysters lazily open and close under the water. Several of them have valuable pearls within! They snap shut if you touch them and their shells are hard as rocks, so it might take some doing to claim the pearls.

13. Reversible Merman

Low Tide: 

There is a horrifying creature in this damp chamber. Human legs from the waist down and a monstrous anglerfish head and body where the torso should be! It runs, warbling, seeking to rip gobbets of warm flesh from live prey.

Mid Tide: 

A handsome merman swims below the surface of the waist-high water in this chamber. He mimes a warning not to get too close. If you approach, he emerges from the water and shifts into a horrifying creature with human legs and an angelerfish top half which seeks to devour you!

High Tide: 

A handsome merman swims below the surface of the water that fills this chamber. He's quite pleasant if you can find a way to speak to him, but he has a horrible curse that turns him into a monster if he ever comes above water.

-

Merman: Horror Form

HD9 AC leather ML12

Attacks: 1d10 monstrous bite or 1d6 Anglerfish electric lamp-slap targets all in front of him.

Abilities: Horrifyingly fast. Changes back into a merman if completely submerged in water.

Attitude: Chase down and FEAST. Big bite on lone targets, lamp-slap on two or more in melee.

Merman: Handsome Form

HD9 AC leather ML6

Attacks: None. Unarmed attack at best.

Abilities: Fast in water. Changes into Horror Form if any part of him touches air.

Attitude: Prevent himself from going above water and becoming the Horror!

14. Safe Cave

Low Tide: An easy climb upwards towards a flat sandy cave. Small crabs scatter as you approach.

Mid Tide: Splash through knee-high water towards an easy climb upwards towards a flat sandy cave. Small crabs flee to plop into the water below as you approach.

High Tide: Though it seems to be filled with water, swim through and upwards from the entrance and you'll find yourself in an air pocket with a flat, dry sandy cave to rest in. Little crabs live here, and flee if you approach!

15. Sea Anemones

Low Tide:
Thin downward-sloping chamber scattered with closed-up wrinkled lumps the size of beach balls. Knee-high water at the lower end.

Mid Tide:
Thin downward-sloping chamber with colourful tendrils waving beneath the water that comes halfway up the chamber. Travel through the lower waterlogged half of the chamber and you'll be attacked by the giant sea anemones!

High Tide:
Thin downward-sloping chamber filled with water. Colourful tendrils wave beneath the surface. Swim through here and you'll be attacked by the giant sea anemones!"

-

Giant Sea Anemone

3HD AC plate (closed) or leather (opened) ML12

Attacks: Grapples with its sticky tendrils - on success deals 2d6 damage and paralyzes for 10 minutes if you fail a Save vs Stun.

Abilities: Closes up outside of water, gaining armour but becoming useless. If killed in its closed state, gets one last attack as its tendrils burst out and flail around.

Attitude: Just wait around for something to come close, then sting the fuck out of them. Especially hates people who can't say "anemone" - an em oh nee.

16. Smuggler's Elevator

Low Tide:
A steep high chamber that rises diagonally from the entrance below to another entrance above. Five rough-looking men loading crates onto a large sodden wooden platform resting on the floor of the chamber, connected by a damp rope to a trapdoor on the ceiling. Two more men shout encouragement and crude insults from above. The water is ankle-height. The trapdoor is a secret entrance to a hidden basement under the smuggler's fish-smoking hut above. The crates contain valuable contraband.

Mid Tide:
A steep, high chamber with neck-high water that rises diagonally from the entrance below to another entrance above. Faint voices can be heard. There is a large wooden platform stacked with crates floating in the neck-high water, connected by a rope to an open trapdoor on the ceiling. The trapdoor is a secret entrance to a hidden basement under the smuggler's fish-smoking hut above, where seven smugglers toast to their recent haul.

High Tide:
A steep, high, water-filled chamber that rises diagonally from the entrance below to another entrance above. Voices can be heard chatting amongst the echoing sounds of wood being moved. Two rough-looking men on a large floating wooden platform pass crates up through a trapdoor to their five smuggler friends above.

-

Smugglers

1HD AC unarmoured ML5

Attacks: Knives and long hooked poles

Attitude: Defend selves foremost, extort tribute from weaker groups if possible, pay stronger groups for their silence.

17. Toxic Scum

Low Tide: A virulent green scum coats the damp floor of this chamber. Touching it with bare flesh means your flesh starts to melt away! Each round you're touching it, Save vs Doom or take 1d4 Con damage.

Mid Tide: A virulent green scum floats on the waist-high water in this chamber. Touching it with bare flesh means your flesh starts to melt away! Each round you're touching it, Save vs Doom or take 1d4 Con damage.

High Tide: A virulent green scum coats the ceiling of this water-filled chamber. Touching it with bare flesh means your flesh starts to melt away! Each round you're touching it, Save vs Doom or take 1d4 Con damage.

18. Trapdoor Crabs

Low Tide: 

A large sandy cavern with obvious circular sandy manhole-sized discs scattered around the place. Trapdoor Crabs hide beneath, and if you get close they burst from their trapdoors and try to drag you into their burrows!

Mid Tide: 

A large, sandy cavern with knee-high water. Trapdoor crabs hide under their trapdoors beneath the sand, and will burst out to drag you into their burrows if you get close!

High Tide: 

A large, sandy cavern with chest-high water. Trapdoor crabs hide under their trapdoors beneath the sand, but won't attack unless you really fuck with them.

-

Trapdoor Crab

HD4 AC chain ML7

Attacks: 2 Pincer attacks for 1d6 each. If both hit, drags you wherever it wants.

Abilities: Trapdoor - gets a surprise round when it bursts out of its trapdoor

Attitude: Burst out, grab a victim, and drag them into the burrow where it can't fight back easily in the confined space.

19. Vertical Chamber

Low Tide: 

The tunnel dips down into the bottom of a tall, narrow chamber with thigh-height water and a ledge high above. Mussels and hanging strands of seaweed dangle from the walls.

Mid Tide: 

A waterlogged tunnel dips down into the bottom of a tall, narrow chamber. Dive in and you can get into the air pocket inside the chamber. A ledge is within reach above. Mussels and hanging strands of seaweed wave in the water, attached to the walls.

High Tide: 

A waterlogged tunnel dips down into a tall, narrow chamber filled with water. Dive in and you can get to the small air pocket and ledge at the top of the chamber. Mussels and hanging strands of seaweed wave in the water, attached to the walls.

20. Whirlpool

Low Tide:A low chamber with a hole in the middle of it. Water slowly rises out of the hole until it reaches ankle height, then gets sucked back down the hole. This repeats every few minutes.

Mid Tide:
A low chamber with waist-high water getting sucked towards a whirlpool in the middle of the chamber. Get close and Save vs Stun or be drawn down the funnel and stuck where the hole narrows.

High Tide: A low chamber with shoulder-height water surging towards a whirlpool in the middle of the chamber. Entering the chamber risks getting sucked in - Save vs Stun or be drawn down the funnel and stuck where the hole narrows. 

Random Encounters

Roll 1d6

1. 2d4 Smugglers
2. Giant Coneshell
3. 2d6 Bastard Seagulls
4. 1d6 Kleptomorphic Nudibranchs
5. 1d6 Stoneshell Crabs
6. 1d20 Jumping Lampreys

1. Smugglers

1HD AC unarmoured ML5

Attacks: Knives and long hooked poles

Attitude: Low or Mid Tide - Follow quietly until the party is in trouble, then extort or kill them. High Tide - they've been caught out in the todal surge and will work with anyone if they can escape!

2. Giant Coneshell

HD6 AC plate ML9

Attacks: Neurotoxin Harpoon - Reach weapon deals 1d6 damage and Save vs Stun or fall unconscious for 10 minutes.

Gulp - Swallow a victim whole, dealing 1d10 damage per round as they're smothered.

Abilities: Insulin Cloud - Once per day while in water, ejects weaponised insulin into the surrounding water. Anyone in the cloud must Save vs Stun every round or lose their turn. Water-breathing creatures get no save.

Attitude: A chest-high conical shell containing an ambush predator mollusk. Waits in ambush then harpoons a victim in the ankle and engulfs them. Much more dangerous in water since its weaponised insulin cloud can prevent others fighting back. Not fast, but good at burrowing into sand and gravel.

3. Bastard Seagulls

HD1 AC unarmoured ML9

Attacks: 1d2 Peck or 1d4 flyby swoop attack

Abilities: At will, a seagull can detect the distance and direction of hot potato chips within a half mile radius.

Attitude: Extremely bad-tempered. Swoop if there's room, peck if there isn't, squawk no matter what.

4. Kleptomorphic Nudibranch

HD1 AC leather ML5

Attacks: Whatever their target is using!

Abilities: Morph Mucus - At will, exudes a massive amount of mucus in the form a nearby creature and pilots it from inside the chest! It has all the physical attacks of the target, but none of the magic or armour etc. The mimic has 1 HP for every HD of the target, and when it is destroyed the whole thing sucks back into the nudibranch's mouth ready to be re-exuded on their next turn.

Attitude: Create mucus mimic of whatever looks most threatening, recreate the mimic any time it's destroyed to defend core body.

5. Stoneshell Crab

HD2 AC plate ML5

Attacks: 1d6 pincer - On hit, grapples.

Attitude: Grapple foes and pinch them to death! Their stone shell gives them powerful armour, but once one is killed their crappy morale will send them packing.

6. Jumping Lamprey
HD0 (1HP) AC unarmoured ML5
Attack: Leaps up to 30' and latches on with its horrifying bloodsucking mouth! Each attached lamprey deals 1 point of damage per round. An attached lamprey can be pulled off as an Action (occupying your hand) or attacked with a weapon. If attacking, roll to hit vs AC 10. On hit, it's dead. On miss, it's dead and you deal weapon damage to the person it was latched onto.
Attitude: Swim or jump in, latch onto flesh, suck the blood!

Treasures

Roll 1d10:

1. A silver locket with a severe woman's face in profile
2. A tarnished silver crown, studded with black gems
3. Golden sand dollars
4. Hyper-umami kelp, valuable to specialist chefs
5. Long boxes containing strange ornamental harpoons carved with grotesque frogs
6. Proper pirate treasure chest
7. A set of fishbone cutlery
8. An iron-bound narwhal horn
9. A cask of well-aged rum
10. An overstuffed walrus taxidermy sealed in a glass box.

Happy Santicore, Wizzzargh!

Magic User Rework: 4 Kinds of Spellcasters.

In the last post we replaced Spell Slots with Mana.

In short:
1 Mana per level, spells can be Bound (memorised) for 1 Mana per Spell Level, or spells can be cast Unbound (spontaneously) at a risk.
Overall you get fewer safe spells per day, but you get far more flexibility and never run out of spells.

Casting Mechanics

I should note that I've changed the base magic rules slightly, mostly for ease of use.

Casting
Declare casting as an Action. The spell goes off at the start of your next turn. During casting you count as Surprised against all attacks.

Changed from "Declare before initiative is rolled, spell goes off at the end of the round". I kept forgetting to ask people to declare spells. Since initiative is rerolled every round, this could get crazy...

Interrupted Casting

If you are damaged mid-cast there are consequences based on your character class.

Down from "if you are damaged or attacked in melee", because if a creature can't hit a wizard standing still with a melee weapon they don't deserve to disrupt anything!

Exp Tracks
All casters - even Elves - use the Magic-User exp track.

Since Elves are on an even keel with the other casters at this point, it seemed unfair to penalise them.

Alright, on with the show.

Caster Classes

I've got 4 Chaotic caster classes in my game.
I could just have each class use the exact same core mechanics, but I like the idea that different casters feel different in play and encourage different gameplay styles.

Magic-User: The flexible caster.
The main focus of the Mana system.
Bind spells for safe casting, access to Cantrips, and the ability to create Familiars.
Leave Mana Unbound to cast spontaneously.

Muscle Wizard: The frontline caster.
Increased survivability since Bound spells boost HP and melee attack, and spells are instant-cast so can't be interrupted.
Unbound Mana might be used to overload a powerful punch attack, and spontaneous casting means you could cast more than one Magic Missile Punch per day.

Elf: The spontaneous caster.
Defined by their Heartspell - a level 1 Spell that defines their Elf species.
Cannot Bind Spells, so they always cast spontaneously unless they're casting their Heartspell. Very chaotic!
Spooky Elf powers boost your Heartspell or grant special abilities, but are lost as you spend Mana.

Necromancer: The Vancian caster.
Work best when they do the traditional Vancian memorise-spells-at-start-of-day thing.
Can Unbind spells to do AoE damage, and use Unbound Mana to cast Subjugate Dead.
Reliant on spell components for many of their spells.

Magic-User

Bound Spell Perks:

Cantrips: 

You can tap into the power of Bound Spells for minor magical effects. 

For example Sleep might be used to make someone yawn, or Magic Missile could be used to improve your aim.
When you cast the Spell, you lose access to its Cantrips.

Familiars: 

When you Bind a Spell you may form it into a Familiar.
Familiars are smallish creatures on-brand for the spell - like Shield could be a hedgehog or Spiderclimb might be a spider or gecko.
When you cast a Familiar's spell, you can cast it through that Familiar if you choose. It vanishes once its spell is cast.
Familiars can communicate mentally with you, will obey simple orders, and cannot be harmed.
If you die, all of your extant Familiars go rogue - each erupts as a Summon spell with HD equal to Spell Level and runs amok!

Interrupted Casting:

Bound Spell:
If damaged during the casting of a Bound Spell you release a Chaos Burst.
If you wish, Save vs Chaos to negate the Chaos Burst and re-Bind the spell, effectively putting it back in your head like you hadn't tried to cast it. Otherwise the spell fails and is lost.

Unbound Spell:

If damaged during the casting of an Unbound Spell you risk disaster.
When the spell goes off, roll on the Chaos Conduit table an additional time for each instance of damage. Take the worst result.

Notes:

Themes:
Magic-Users are flexible and the most easily re-themed into a Witch or a Sorcerer or Druid or whatever kind of archetype you like.
Cantrips give the player a lot of leeway to get imaginative with minor effects. As a general rule of thumb these should be about as powerful as the classic (non-5e) cantrips like Blink or Bee.
Familiars have been in the game for a long time, but previously they've been a permanent animal companion who can hold an extra spell. Now they are spells and I'm quite excited about it! If a wizard shows up surrounded by a menagerie you'll know they're dangerous, and also maybe have some hints as to what spells they're packing.

To Bind or not to Bind?
Magic-Users have the most obvious risk/reward to Binding spells.
Bind them for the Cantrips, Familiars and safer casting, or leave your Mana unbound for flexibility.

To Cast or not to Cast?
Similarly, if you've Bound some Spells you have another obvious choice - keep the spell Bound for the perks? Or cast it for the immediate benefits?
We've had one Wizard who kept hold of Magic Missile forever instead of casting it because he liked using a Cantrip that gave him a bonus to Aim.

Interruptions:
Bind a Spell and if you're interrupted the spell is cancelled no matter what, but you've got a chance to retain the spell for later.
Cast spontaneously and there's at least a chance that you'll cast the spell regardless - pour enough Mana into a spontaneous cast and it's impossible to stop it from going off successfully.

Muscle Wizard

Bound Spell Perks:

Muscle Magic:

Your fists are d4 Shanky weapons, and can be dual-wielded (naturally).
Each Bound Spell improves your strength and physique.
You gain +2 HP and +1 to melee attacks per Mana committed to Bound Spells.
You lose these perks as you cast the spells. If you reach 0HP from spellcasting, you fall unconscious from overexertion.

(Un)interrupted Casting:

I Cast Fist:
Your spells are cast instantly via punching, so you can never be interrupted!

Close Range Caster:

Ultimate Muscle:
The maximum range of a spell is 10' - extra distance you run or jump or flash-step to the target - and you are never affected by AoE from your spells.
When you cast a spell you must combine it with an unarmed attack that automatically hits for maximum damage, plus bonus damage equal to Mana consumed in the casting.
You can target yourself or your punched target with the spell, so if you want to target yourself it's best to target an enemy but perfectly ok to punch a wall or small animal or something.
On the other hand, if you want to cast a buff spell on a friend you'll want to make sure they don't have a glass jaw...

Notes:

Themes:
Obviously the Muscle Wizard remains one of the sillier classes, but I've always been pleased by how they work in play compared to a regular M-U. Especially since I've got fond fond memories of POWERLAD.
The theme is obviously to PUNCH. They've got frontline combat buffs, and since they snap-cast their spells they're less vulnerable than other casters in the thick of it.
A new change is that they have to combine a spell with a punch attack. Previously damaging your target was optional, and I'll be interested to see how this works out.
Since Mana is limited compared to Spell Slots, each Mana committed to Bound Spells gives +2 HP. This works out better for the MW in early levels and gets to be on-par with the bonus HP of the previous version by level 7, which is a sweet spot. Plus their attack bonus grows quicker.

To Bind or not to Bind?
Muscle Wizards will usually want to bind all their Mana into their muscles to increase their power and reduce their squishiness.
On the other hand - spontaneous casters can cast in armour and Muscle Wizards can't be interrupted, significantly reducing one of the main risks! I kinda dig the idea of an Armoured Muscle Wizard and the Muscle Wizard's low AC has always been a weakness, so this could shift the balance.

To Cast or not to Cast?
Always a straightforward class - the Muscle Wizard has always had to decide between keeping their spells back (for the HP and attack bonus) and using their spells for immediate effect.

Elf

Heartspell Perks:

Heartspell:
There are 20 species of Elf. Each has one of the standard first level spells as their Heartspell.
It defines their species - the mutations and abilities they gain from the magic infusing their magical forms. As they use their magic, flinging it out into the world, they slowly regress back towards that feeble mortal form.

For each point of Mana in the Elf's Mana Pool, they gain an additional power and mutation from their Heartspell. Current document is here. They lose these gifts as they use up Mana.
When an Elf has 0 Mana in their Mana Pool they lose access to magic - they are human again.

Moondancer:

Elves do not sleep. They regain their full Mana Pool after dancing under the moon for an hour per level. If prevented from doing this somehow, they do not replenish their Mana.

They gain +1 to their maximum Mana Pool when they dance under a crescent moon, and double it under the New Moon.

They take -1 to their maximum Mana Pool when they dance under a gibbous moon, and halve it under the Full Moon.

Casting:
Elves cannot Bind spells. They must cast spontaneously (with all associated risks) if they want to cast anything but their Heartspell.
Their Heartspell, by contrast, is easy. It can be cast instantly as an Action. When they cast their Heartspell the Elf must Save vs Chaos - on failure they spend 1 Mana, otherwise they cast the spell for free.

Interrupted Casting:

Heartspell:
Since a Heartspell is cast instantly as an action, it cannot be interrupted.

Unbound Spell:
If damaged during the casting of an Unbound Spell you risk disaster.
When the spell goes off, roll on the Chaos Conduit table an additional time for each instance of damage. Take all results, but successes don't stack.


Notes:

Themes:
Elves are all about the creepy fae vibes.
Forcing them to be Spontaneous Casters feels thematically on-brand, as does giving them potentially infinite casts of their core Heartspell. Around Elves, watch yourselves.
The effect of the Moon is more powerful than it was in the past, so Elves would do well to ensure they're paying attention to the moon phase. Due to certain incidents my campaign's moon is in a close orbit so you get 2 moon cycles per month. More opportunities for moon madness!
Since Mana is doubled at the new moon, Elves can reach higher power levels more quickly. Exciting! And it forces me to bulk out the Heartspell power list quicker.

To Cast or not to Cast:
Elves, unlike other casters, completely run out of magic when they run out of Mana.
They also gain far more from retaining their Mana than the other classes - powers and mutations that give them cool abilities and make their Heartspell more powerful.
The choice is then - keep my powers? Cast my Heartspell and risk losing a small part of my abilities? Or weaken myself for certain by pouring Mana into a regular spell?

Interruptions:
Heartspells are cast instantly - they're a safe option.
Unbound spells are far riskier. Interruptions risk chaos, but also some certainty. If you've already rolled a Success then you know the spell will go off. The issue is you don't know how many side effects you'll be facing...

Necromancer

Necromancer Spells:

Voice of the Dead:
Many Necromancer spells and abilities require spell components. The most important component is Last Breath - the final breath of a sapient being. These are usually stored in glass vials, and breathing in a Last Breath grants you the Voice of the Dead for ten minutes.

Lesser Dead:
There are three basic flavours of 1 HD Lesser Dead, available to all Necromancers.
Skeleton: Can use weapons. Take 1 damage from non-Smashy attacks.
Zombie: Double HP. Slow - acts at the end of each round. Becomes an area of damaging zombie bits when killed - dealing 1 damage to anyone standing in it. Becomes a fast, intelligent Ravenous Zombie if it eats a brain.
Skin Kite: Doesn’t obey orders. Real bastard. Flies slowly. Takes 1 damage from Smashy attacks. Grapples fleshy targets, dealing 1d6 damage and healing itself to 6 HP per successful Grapple.

Master of the Dead:
Necromancers have the innate ability to raise and control the Dead. Each of these abilities requires the Voice of the Dead.
Animate Dead: Spend X Mana, raise that many lesser Dead minions. Takes 10 minutes.
Subjugate Dead: Spend X Mana, roll Xd6+level and Subjugate that many HD of Dead, weakest first.
Command Dead: Free action. Give your undead orders. Complex orders take a whole Action instead.

Bound Spells:
Necromancers use a unique Necromancer spell list (first couple of spell levels converted for use here based on the book here)
Spells must be Bound to be cast - Necromancers cannot cast spells spontaneously. Unlike other casters, you can bind more than one copy of the same spell.
In addition, many spells require the listed ritual components.
Binding Spells takes an hour. Spend X Mana and bind that many spells. Mana spent this way is lost until the spell is cast.

Casting:
Spells take a round of ominous chanting and rattling and summoning up the souls of the Dead.
Declare you are casting as an Action and the spell goes off at the start of your next turn.
Traditional: Cast the spell and lose it from your mind. Sacrifice 1d6 HP to retain the spell if you wish.
Mana-Boosted: Spend Mana to cast the spell. You retain the spell and count as casting at 1 level higher per Mana spent.

Interrupted Casting:

Death Burst:
If you are damaged while you are casting a spell, A burst of death magic deals 1d6 damage per Mana spent in the casting to you and everything with 10’.
Undead are healed for the same amount.
You lose the spell unless you cast a Save vs Chaos.

Notes:

Themes:
Thematically, Necromancers are encouraged to be careful and plan ahead. If they want spells they need to pack them in advance, otherwise they have to fall back on basic dead-raising Necromancy.
Last Breath is a commodity in the post-apoc economy because there are so few people left, so people use it as a currency. Pretty macabre.

To Bind or not to Bind?
Do you keep your Mana unbound so you can cast your Dead-affecting spells? Or do you bind it into spells, reducing that option?
Once you've bound a spell you can cast it over and over by sacrificing HP, so that's good.

To Cast or not to Cast?
Since there's no passive benefit to retaining spells, the question is more how to cast.
Do you cast it once and lose it from your mind? Or go full blood magic and power the spells with your HP? The choice is yours!

Gimme the Full Thing Already!

Full text, with the "Core Mechanics" integrated, is either in the player-facing Quick Class Breakdowns booklet, or in the latest House Rules Document.