[✗] [Amendment] Making Wights and Draugars slightly more immortal

[xo31 4039]

Changed things are BOLD AND UNDERLINED.

 

Draugar Phylacteries: - New

Spoiler

Phylacteries are brittle, even with those composed of gold taking only a slight battering to collapse, and the soul with it. Lifegems will break if they fall from any median height, are hit with any blunt force weapons, or are otherwise brute forced. No matter the make of the phylactery, all share the same brittleness akin to stone. With stone brittleness, a lifegem would only take four hits from a sword before shattering, and two strikes from a warhammer or mace. These strikes are shared with the reservoirs, with urns or chests harboring the same brittleness as their lifegem counterpart. A phylactery must be completely destroyed to put the Draugar at risk of PK, as heavily damaging the phylactery has no effect, requiring the assailant to fully desolate the lifegem or aurum to finish the job. Item phylacteries are freeform, and may be compromised of anything within reason that can “hold” something as long as they are forged mostly of gold. Lifegems may take on a range of shapes and sizes, and simply require three counts of liquid lifeforce which is harnessed from the rite of draining. All phylacteries must be at least one cubic meter large to harbor the required lifeforce, unable to be put in chests. This means that all Draugar phylacteries are built in game, and must be represented appropriately. 

 

 

• Phylacteries are used to house the soul of a draugar within. 

• Should the phylactery ever shatter, the soul is only tied to the mortal realm through the Draugar's form. They must make a new phylactery by repeating the Draugar creation process.

• All phylacteries will break after 2 direct strikes from a warhammer/mace, or 4 direct strikes from a sword/edged weapon.

• A phylactery must be completely destroyed to put the draugar soul it houses at risk of PK. Heavily damaging the phylactery has no effect, requiring the assailant to fully desolate the lifegem or aurum to finish the job.

• Phylacteries are either lifegems, or aurum constructs such as a massive urn or chest.

  • All phylacteries, no matter their make, are as brittle as stone. One would simply need to tip the massive thing over, or directly hit it with a bludgeoning weapon to shatter it.

  • Aurum phylacteries must be composed of mostly gold, but may have details and other materials in its composition.

• Lifegems are created by pooling three counts of liquid lifeforce into a cauldron, before pouring it all into a glass or crystalline molding.

• Aurum phylacteries are created by tether draining three counts of lifeforce into the vessel.

• Phylacteries must be at least a cubic meter in total size, capping at three cubic meters maximum.

  • For this reason, phylacteries are unable to be hidden within chests.

  • Phylacteries must have a physical build and be marked by an ST sign.

• Due to the size of phylacteries, two players are needed to move or haul the thing, with only ologs and large constructs able to do it solo.

• Phylacteries must be placed in accessible areas, as it is where the draugar respawns upon death. They may not be voidal pocketed, or placed in collapsed caves or inaccessible tombs.

• In short, a Draugar's phylactery only acts as a 'second life'. Draugars without a phylactery will PK upon their death, and will not be PK'd until both their form and their phylactery is destroyed.

Old:

Spoiler

Phylacteries are brittle, even with those composed of gold taking only a slight battering to collapse, and the soul with it. Lifegems will break if they fall from any median height, are hit with any blunt force weapons, or are otherwise brute forced. No matter the make of the phylactery, all share the same brittleness akin to stone. With stone brittleness, a lifegem would only take four hits from a sword before shattering, and two strikes from a warhammer or mace. These strikes are shared with the reservoirs, with urns or chests harboring the same brittleness as their lifegem counterpart. A phylactery must be completely destroyed to PK the draugar soul it houses, as heavily damaging the phylactery has no effect, requiring the assailant to fully desolate the lifegem or aurum to finish the job. Item phylacteries are freeform, and may be compromised of anything within reason that can “hold” something as long as they are forged mostly of gold. Lifegems may take on a range of shapes and sizes, and simply require three counts of liquid lifeforce which is harnessed from the rite of draining. All phylacteries must be at least one cubic meter large to harbor the required lifeforce, unable to be put in chests. This means that all Draugar phylacteries are built in game, and must be represented appropriately. 

 

Redlines

• Phylacteries are used to house the soul of a draugar within. 

• Should the phylactery ever shatter, the soul is forever lost to the Ebrietaes.

• All phylacteries will break after 2 direct strikes from a warhammer/mace, or 4 direct strikes from a sword/edged weapon.

• A phylactery must be completely destroyed to PK the draugar soul it houses. Heavily damaging the phylactery has no effect, requiring the assailant to fully desolate the lifegem or aurum to finish the job.

• Phylacteries are either lifegems, or aurum constructs such as a massive urn or chest.

  • All phylacteries, no matter their make, are as brittle as stone. One would simply need to tip the massive thing over, or directly hit it with a bludgeoning weapon to shatter it.

  • Aurum phylacteries must be composed of mostly gold, but may have details and other materials in its composition.

• Lifegems are created by pooling three counts of liquid lifeforce into a cauldron, before pouring it all into a glass or crystalline molding.

• Aurum phylacteries are created by tether draining three counts of lifeforce into the vessel.

• Phylacteries must be at least a cubic meter in total size, capping at three cubic meters maximum.

  • For this reason, phylacteries are unable to be hidden within chests.

  • Phylacteries must have a physical build and be marked by an ST sign.

• Due to the size of phylacteries, two players are needed to move or haul the thing, with only ologs and large constructs able to do it solo.

• Phylacteries must be placed in accessible areas, as it is where the draugar respawns upon death. They may not be voidal pocketed, or placed in collapsed caves or inaccessible tombs.

Wight Barrowlords - Rite of Consumption: - New

Spoiler

This husk is then rendered the wight’s phylactery, their mortal body forever frozen in horror and malice as they reflect a twisted image of what once was. These fell constructions stand as a testament to the life once lived, never again to sleep, blink, or draw any breath — its rigid surface cold as ice forevermore. Housing the wight’s spirit, the phylactery acts as their tether to the mortal realm, and without it, the wight is unable to manifest, motivating wights to take great caution when hiding their phylactery. Should the core of the phylactery be pierced by any weapon imbued with voidal, holy, other otherwise spiritual magic, it would shatter and spill forth the apparition in a deluge ectoplasm. At this, the wight, wherever they may be in the mortal world or otherwise, would find themselves to violently shake and shiver, as they become their own last tie to the mortal plane. But so long as their phylactery remains, should the wight demanifest under any circumstance, their ectoplasm would agglomerate at the site of their phylactery, gradually reforming itself over the course of one IRL week - thus bound never to truly die. 

 

Phylacteries must be physically present in the world via a mechanical build or some other structure found in-game. It is not an item, and thus may not be stored away in a chest. The phylactery will be rather difficult to destroy, similar to a Menhir. 

 

The location chosen must be accessible by the wight both in-roleplay and mechanically, and may only have a reasonable amount of security. 

• Upon successfully consuming an apparition, a player character will undergo a transitory period wherein they are made incredibly sickly and frail. 
  • Should the occultist die during this period, they are subject to an irreversible PK as their soul is consumed by the apparition. 
• Apparitions require an ST sponsored event and are incredibly difficult to subdue.
• Respawning at a phylactery does not circumvent general rules regarding character respawn, including that the wight may not recall events leading to their death, cannot return to the place they died for 30 IRL minutes, etc.
• A wight’s phylactery must be physically present in the world via a build or some other tangible structure found in-game. It may not be an item stored away in a mechanical chest some eighty meters underground.
  • ST Management may apply their own reasonable judgement should they suspect improper placement of phylacteries. 
• Should a phylactery be destroyed, the wight would be at risk of being permanently PK'd. They must find a mortal sacrifice, and along with one other mystic, turn the sacrifice into a new stone phylactery. This does not necessitate a PK for the victim. Should both the Wight and their Phylactery be destroyed, they would be forever lost, being consumed by Mordring entirely as Mythul Tlan was consumed by him.

• Phylacteries must be signed by the ST to ensure validity and proper tracking - but the sign may be placed underneath the Phylactery so as to prevent metagaming. 

• For the purposes of the Rite of Consumption, Mystics may forcefully create an apparition that is weaker than normal - at roughly 15-19 souls, as opposed to a full-fledged 20 soul apparition. While Wightdom acquisition should be a challenge, it should not be rendered impractically difficult or outright implausible.

• Knowledge of this rite and how to perform it must be marked on one’s MA/TA. Wights created will attain the knowledge of this rite as part of the process automatically.

Old:

Spoiler

This husk is then rendered the wight’s phylactery, their mortal body forever frozen in horror and malice as they reflect a twisted image of what once was. These fell constructions stand as a testament to the life once lived, never again to sleep, blink, or draw any breath — its rigid surface cold as ice forevermore. Housing the wight’s spirit, the phylactery acts as their tether to the mortal realm, and without it, the wight is unable to manifest, motivating wights to take great caution when hiding their phylactery. Should the core of the phylactery be pierced by any weapon imbued with voidal, holy, other otherwise spiritual magic, it would shatter and spill forth the apparition in a deluge ectoplasm. At this, the wight, wherever they may be in the mortal world or otherwise, would find themselves to furiously rupture and disperse — their soul forever banished to the Soulstream where it toils, ceaselessly hunted by the apparition to which it is bound, and inevitably consumed by Mthyul Tlan. But so long as their phylactery remains, should the wight demanifest under any circumstance, their ectoplasm would agglomerate at the site of their phylactery, gradually reforming itself over the course of one IRL week - thus bound never to truly die. 

 

Phylacteries must be physically present in the world via a mechanical build or some other structure found in-game. It is not an item, and thus may not be stored away in a chest. The phylactery will be rather difficult to destroy, similar to a Menhir, though successfully shattering it will force the wight to be permanently banished and consumed by Mthyul Tlan; unable to be revived by any means.

 

The location chosen must be accessible by the wight both in-roleplay and mechanically, and may only have a reasonable amount of security. 

• Upon successfully consuming an apparition, a player character will undergo a transitory period wherein they are made incredibly sickly and frail. 
  • Should the occultist die during this period, they are subject to an irreversible PK as their soul is consumed by the apparition. 
• Apparitions require an ST sponsored event and are incredibly difficult to subdue.
• Respawning at a phylactery does not circumvent general rules regarding character respawn, including that the wight may not recall events leading to their death, cannot return to the place they died for 30 IRL minutes, etc.
• A wight’s phylactery must be physically present in the world via a build or some other tangible structure found in-game. It may not be an item stored away in a mechanical chest some eighty meters underground.
  • ST Management may apply their own reasonable judgement should they suspect improper placement of phylacteries. 
• Should a phylactery be destroyed, the wight would be permanently PK’d.

• Phylacteries must be signed by the ST to ensure validity and proper tracking - but the sign may be placed underneath the Phylactery so as to prevent metagaming. 

• For the purposes of the Rite of Consumption, Mystics may forcefully create an apparition that is weaker than normal - at roughly 15-19 souls, as opposed to a full-fledged 20 soul apparition. While Wightdom acquisition should be a challenge, it should not be rendered impractically difficult or outright implausible.

• Knowledge of this rite and how to perform it must be marked on one’s MA/TA. Wights created will attain the knowledge of this rite as part of the process automatically.

 

 

this might be a hot take but i think instant pk phylacteries in today's lotc society are stupid. it's far too easy for one to metagame and clear their tracks by plenty of means. pk phylacteries like the above are not a good narrative device. also, mythul tlan was eaten by mordring and there's a few mentions of the wight going to ebrietaes and being eaten by him :P

[PrimnyaQuorum 4010]

I don't think Dragur's [a CA p much open to anyone that knows 4 necromancers] needs the immunity affording to a 1-year CA. Wight's I think have lore too vague to even begin to consider more buffs to them

[xo31 4039]

2 minutes ago, PrimnyaQuorum said:

I don't think Dragur's [a CA p much open to anyone that knows 4 necromancers] needs the immunity affording to a 1-year CA. Wight's I think have lore too vague to even begin to consider more buffs to them

Anyone else have criticisms or is it just this guy

[femurlord 3751]

Thanks @xo31I'm unkillable now

[xo31 4039]

Just now, femurlord said:

Thanks @xo31I'm unkillable now

I thought U already were 

[spaazmatism 1042]

5 minutes ago, xo31 said:

Anyone else have criticisms or is it just this guy

i don't like fun and this makes it more fun for necromancers. that is my issue with it

[Chimeraof1999 1194]

As a ex-Draugar that was murdered because some left there window open, having this will help a lot.

[_Black_Drag0n_ 782]

It seems stupid to be able to be sent somewhere when your Soul and body are in the prime realm, so adding that Draugar then can be killed makes it a better thing than just "You die when your phalectary is destroyed". Overall probably a good change though some might see it as OP

[Frostdrop1 1843]

Improves horrible system that isnt fun for pursuers or users and feels cheap to die to. +1

[tantuni445 292]

reasonable, I hope it is accepted

[Hawkeye_Gough 624]

This is very similar to the system for Paleknights -- which, ironically, is the one good thing about them right now.

If you want to force-pk an undead, this system still works, and provides a lot more engaging rp. Once you find the phylactery, you can either destroy it and begin hunting the undead or hide your knowledge of the phylac, kill them, and break it before they respawn. This lends to the vibe of outwitting the synod which a lot of people are excited by.

This change only really gets rid of the option to go random phylac hunting and right-clicking around the whole world (as most draugurs and wights very rarely return to their phylactery). It doesn't stop people from pk-ing the undead, it only involves the undead in the rp of their death. Requiring the help of others is also a good change because it enables backstabbing, sabotage, etc.

TL;DR I like the change. Maybe make it more expensive for wights idk. Cost some soul shards or something. Or make it like menhirs, where you don't instantly know your phylac was destroyed. This means people need to go check, which makes it more possible to hunt for if you stalk people.

[SethWolf 2340]

But if you don't like this one aspect of the CA, don't play it!! 

 

+1 Keeps the stakes, removes the possibility of getting one-tapped without having any narrative control over it. 

[Morigung-oog 5700]

None of these need any further buffs..

[xo31 4039]

28 minutes ago, Morigung-oog said:

None of these need any further buffs..

If you can only see things as Buff or Nerf then there must be introspection.

[RockyTheWolf 213]

One of the few times I agree with xo31 on something

Yeah sure this is technically a "Buff" but it makes sense.. you can't just kill a drauger from ANYWHERE now. You have to destroy the phalac and THEN hunt down the remaining body and murder them. Makes it so that a drauger can also just boss fight protect its phalac and what not

Edited July 18, 2025 by RockyTheWolf