Swords Against Madness - Episode 2: Burn

Miria awakens in a hut at the edge of the ruined village, covered in blisters, and discoveres that she may well be living on borrowed time, and so is the A.I. on her ship, The Empyreal’s Coin. As a madman plots her death, she stands before the council of the village to tell them a terrible truth about their beliefs…

In this Episode, we establish some custom rules for radiation poisoning, and give Miria the strongest possible incentive to see her escape this planet. Her vessel’s AI might be able to help, except it only has 16 minutes of operational tiem remaining. Olan and Rayya become her reluctant guardians, and the Mysterious “Master” awakens the Gorum to slay Miria before she interferes with his machinations.

The Gorum

• Hit Dice: 1+2
• Armor Class: 5
• Attack: weapon (1d6)
• Saving Throw: 18 (special)
• Special: Immortality, Resilience
• Move: 12
• Alignment: Chaotic
• Morale: 10
• Int: 6
• No. Appearing: 1d12
• Challenge Level / XP: 3 / 60

Brutal and vicious, the Gorum are members of an immortal legion created for an interstellar war. They were found too uncontrollable, and often too stupid to be useful, and were banished to prisons across the cosmos. No matter how many times one is cut down, unless their brain is destroyed by a directed magical attack, they will always return to life in 1d6 turns, often more hideously scarred and insane. If they are left bored, hungry, or thirsty for too long they enter into a state of suspended animation that breaks when the opportunity to sate their appetites presents itself. The Gorum always roll twice for every saving throw and take the better result. They are not affected by poison or any effect that causes instant death.

Additional Credits

I am extremely blessed to have Simon Williams, creator of the epic solo RPG / Storytelling podcast Legend of the Bones as Empyreal.