#hellbreak

Hellbreak is the working title for my Hades-inspired ttrpg, in which the PCs are residents (likely prisoners) of hell attempting to break out, and finding support from various gods in the setting's pantheon. While most of the gods that give you boons do so on their own, there's a pair that don't really have that option.

Remis, God of Rats + Salvo, Goddess of Plagues

Remis goes by it/they, Salvo goes by he/him

Remis & Salvo have two conflicting stories to how they became gods; Remis says that it became the god of rats just before the mortals blamed the species for starting a disease among their kind, and Salvo thus formed from one of its veins. Salvo says that he found Remis while he was between hosts, and infected them, thus becoming a god and causing the mortal plague. 

Remis is frenetic, almost constantly stressed about something, exuding a nervous energy that is unseen in every other member of the pantheon. Salvo does not help with their anxiety, constantly whispering things that could go wrong, presenting himself as getting a twisted joy from it, hiding the deep fear of everything he has as well.

Remis usually takes the form of a small, thin, vaguely humanoid creature with pale gray skin covered in thin patches of hair and beady eyes on their palms. They have a light, jittery tone of voice. Salvo often likes to change how he appears on the body, if at all, but his favorites include bright red spots, a writhing ring under the skin, blackened veins, or a golden halo. 

Remis and Salvo help runners because they were tasked with establishing a trade route with the 4th layer of hell, but both have been too scared to meet with the Lord Mistress, and instead ask the runners to relay information when they see her. 

Core Mechanics: Rats & Infection

Rats will help you do various actions better, like adding harm to attacks or dice to attribute rolls. 

Infected enemies take harm at the end of each round.

Boons of Remis & Salvo

Rabid: +2d6 to Wrath.

Scurry: +2d6 to Greed.

Protective: +2d6 to Pride.

Quick Reaction: You can use a cast to instead dodge the first attack on the GM turn.

Scurry: Gain +1 movement if at least 5 enemies are infected.

Rat's Weight: (requires weapon slot) Using your weapon action pushes you back 1 range

Rat-Toss: (requires cast slot) Your cast turns into a rat that will scurry towards any other enemies after being thrown, moving 1 range toward the nearest enemy and dealing 1 harm on each turn until the next round

Bloodborne: (requires weapon slot) Weapon attack infects target for 1 harm

Contagious: (requires move slot) When you move into Close range of an enemy, that enemy is infected for 1 harm

Bug: Your cast deals -2 harm, but inflicts infection for 2 harm

Spread: Infected enemies can infect other enemies if in Close range for 2 turns

Superspreader: For each rat boon you have, infection deals +1 harm

The rat boons do involve literal rats you just have to use your imagination ok

previous god

Okdis, Goddess of Rust

They/them

Always reserved with new people, but will open up to those that clearly show comfort around them. When this happens, they show themself to be very ambitious, and very protective of their relationships, replacing their shyness with ferocity. They have an affinity for objects, particularly tools and weapons, and find it much easier to socialize with a carriage than with the person that drives it.

Okdis is not often thought about by mortals, despite their near-constant presence on the mortals' plane. The former goddess of industry was neglected, abandoned by those that survived the steel decades.

Okdis presents themself with deep tan skin, short red hair, and is bundled up to the lower half of their face with scarves. Under the layers of scarves, patchy golden-brown armor sits, waiting to be used. They lovingly carry a large mallet by their side at all times, regardless of how the mallet may or may not feel about that.

Okdis knows little about the inner workings of hell, and is willing to help runners out of curiosity, asking questions whenever they get the chance about various, often macabre, topics.

Core Mechanic: Degradation

Enemy attacks’ harm is reduced by the amount of degradation they have. Each attack an enemy makes while inflicted with this status also causes +1 degradation.

Boons of Okdis:

Aged Aura: Close enemies are inflicted with 2 degradation, which is removed when they leave Close range

Jagged Cuts: your weapon attacks deal +1 harm

Spread Rust: (requires weapon slot) Your weapon attacks inflict 1 degradation

Degrading Destruction: Any weapon attacks that require 2 actions inflict 2 degradation

Chemical Cast: (requires cast slot) Your Cast inflicts 2 degradation to all enemies in Close range of the target

Rusty Shield: you avoid the first attack of every encounter

Wishing Well: whenever you roll a 6, you gain +10 Coins 

Rainy Vibe: (requires move slot) When you move away from a Close enemy, they take 2 degradation

Tarnish: attacking while inflicted with degradation causes +1 degradation, stacking with the original +1

Broken Weapon: if an enemy has 10 degradation, their next action will become unusable for the rest of the fight

tragic shy yandere objectum this is nothing. doesnt even really describe them. why'd i say that

Ender Bow

A redesign of a classical hunter's bow, the Ender Bow is made for close range battles while still keeping distance from melee attacks. The string is a strand of hair from Luna, former god of the moon and lover of Kastia, Goddess of the Hunt.

Ender Bow Actions

Pull: Deal 2 harm to a target in Near range. You can spend more actions to increase the harm and range; +2 harm and +1 range for every action.

Trick Arrow: Deal 1 harm to up to 4 targets within a Far range half-circle

Ender Bow Aspects

(Costs 1 Titan Blood) Aspect of the Fallen Moon: Trick Arrow has up to 6 targets

(Costs 1 Titan Blood) Aspect of the Seeker: Ender Bow attacks ignore obstructions.

(Costs 2 Titan Blood) Aspect of Scavengers: When you use your Cast, its harm and effects are added to your next attack instead of being used on its own.

(Costs 2 Titan Blood) Aspect of Hook: Pull also brings the target 1 range toward you.

(Costs 2 Titan Blood) Aspect of Running: You can use Pull to move where the arrow goes.

(Costs 3 Titan Blood) Aspect of the Hunt: If you get a 1-2 on an enemy drop, you can choose to either get +1 health or +1 blood. Replaces the Ender Bow action list with the following:

Aim: Your next attack or cast deals double harm

Draw: Deal harm equal to your Pride to a target in Near range. You can spend more actions or casts to increase the harm and range; +2 harm and +1 range for every action/cast.

Stab: Deal 2 harm to a target in Close range.

Trap: Cause an enemy to be unable to move on the next two GM turns.

In the last update I showed one of my gimmick weapon options, but this one is a little more conventional (or at least easier to write). Its similar to the Soul Daggers in Lumin. Vein and the Puppeteer class I made for Slayers and never mentioned before so idk why im bringing it up now.

Puppet Daggers

Used only by nameless ones throughout history. 

Twin Blades: You start with only two blades. Enemies attacked by Throw are tracked as having a dagger embedded in them. If there are 2 daggers embedded in enemies, you need to use Pull before you can make any other attacks.

Puppet Daggers Actions:

Slice: Can use a cast or an action. Deals 1 harm to a target in Close range. 

Dice: Deal 2 harm to a target in Close range. 

Throw: Deal 2 harm to a target in Near range. This action can be used twice before requiring the Pull action.

Pull: Bring a dagger within Beyond range back to you, dealing 1 harm to the target the dagger is embedded in. 

Puppet Daggers Aspects:

(Costs 1 Titan Blood) Aspect of the Puppet: Throw moves you with the daggers, moving you to Close range of the target.

(Costs 1 Titan Blood) Aspect of Thieves: All coin drops and rewards give you +5 coins.

(Costs 2 Titan Blood) Aspect of Mercenaries: Slice deals +1 harm.

(Costs 2 Titan Blood) Aspect of Assassins: Throw's range is now Near-Far. 

(Costs 2 Titan Blood) Aspect of Air: you can dodge one attack per turn.

(Costs 3 Titan Blood) Aspect of Puppeteers: Replaces the Puppet Daggers action list with the following:

Throw: Deal 2 harm to a target in Near range. This action can be used twice before requiring the Pull action.

Pull: Bring a dagger within Beyond range back to you, dealing 1 harm to the target the dagger is embedded in. 

Pierce: Deal 1 harm to a target in Close range.

Redirect: If an enemy has a dagger embedded in them, you can force their next actions to be directed wherever you choose.

Stop: If an enemy has a dagger embedded in them, you can make them not have an action on the GM turn.

The Lord Mistress of Hell

She/her

The fear of all prisoners of hell, except you. You can't afford to be afraid of her anymore.

Hell has had the same Lord Mistress for the past 90,998 years; the longest ever rule of a Lord Mistress. Her reign has largely been stable, with few major events or issues, not that there's much context for how other Lord Mistresses ruled. 

She has a harsh and dismissive tone to her voice, which she keeps for everyone she interacts with, from wretches and prisoners to the gods themselves. Her largest focus as a leader is on efficiency, taking little time on her own, and expecting everyone else to do the same. You're not sure if this is entirely true, though. 

Lord Mistress presents herself with long, ash and coal-colored hair, which is almost always seen tied back. She often uses a snake tail instead of legs, seeing as catching runaway visitors with it requires less time than getting up and walking to them. Despite her notable appearance, the most notable visual of her is her bright, unblinking, violently crimson eyes. 

The Lord Mistress of Hell, obviously, does not want you to escape. But despite her long-kept reputation for coldness and structure, she does so enjoy a hunt from time to time. If Lord Mistress takes notice of your attempts to escape, and does not begrudgingly brush it off until it's worth her time, she may give you a trade: power to help you escape, in exchange for revealing a secret about yourself. 

Core Mechanic: Secrets

Any time you earn a boon from Lord Mistress, you must reveal a secret about yourself. You do not know how she will use these secrets of yours.

Boons of The Lord Mistress

Prey: You always move +1 range when you move away from enemies.

Chained Animals: Enemies can only move around within Near range of where they spawn.

Prolonged Hunt: When you die, you will come back at half your health (rounded up) once.

Hellfire: You add your Wrath to all harm you deal, and all harm you take.

Gift of Souls: You gain a number of Casts equal to your Greed.

Approval: Each time you meet with the Lord Mistress, gain additional health equal to your Pride. 

Hollow, Goddess of Rot

It/its, she/her, they/them

Feared among mortals to its elation, Hollow is a heavy shadow of positivity in the pantheon of gods. It loves trying to find new ways to disgust and horrify mortals, sometimes going so far as to create minor planes to trap them in and play with them. It, however, is not a real threat to anyone; her domain only ever affects those that have already died.

While plenty of wildlife loves her, human cults are rare to form, but those that do are often social outcasts, finding beauty in not just the way rot provides new life, but to death on its own merit.

Hollow is the shambling corpse of the first dead god, born in the abyss that could not be filled by anyone else. Its skin is grey and thin, tearing at the joints; its eyes have long been forgotten by physical existence; its form is too old and rotted to make out what the dead god once looked like. There's a gaping hole in the center of her neck, leaving its voice whispy, almost pained. They have a series of spindly, metal legs modeled by Eralth, the God of Craft, to support their slowly withering divine legs. Smaller beings of rot reside in the fungi and holes growing around their flesh. Hollow is extremely proud of the body they claimed, and, even as the gods respond to her presence with discomforted silence at best, they will all admit that she shows more joy than the first dead god ever did, or most other gods in the pantheon, for that matter.

Hollow loves dead things and is, therefore, happy to help runners escape hell so they can fulfill their full potential as dead things. She only shows confusion when asked for clarification.

Core Mechanic: Rot

When enemies inflicted with rot die, their bodies will remain to fight alongside you, becoming undead. Undead have the same actions made on the GM turn, but directed at enemies, and their health is based on how much rot you inflicted on them.

Boons of Hollow:

Rotting Wounds: Your weapon attacks inflict 1 rot

Trail of Death: Inflict 3 rot when you move away from an enemy

Decay: When you kill an enemy with an attack requiring 2 actions, they are given 1 rot

Spores: Your cast inflicts 2 rot to all enemies in Close range of the target.

Contagion: All undead attacks inflict 1 rot.

Self-Actualization: You can choose to target actions or casts on yourself, dealing harm but giving you any included rot effects as well.

Angry Dead: All undead deal +1 harm

Slough: Living targets inflicted with rot will take +1 harm.

Probably should've guessed the website with all the freak transgenders would vote for the freak transgender, now everything after her is gonna be a letdown. This is my best girl and also literally me so if anyone is mean to her I'll kill yo u

I'm not entirely sure how many possible boons I want the gods to have, Hades has a massive swathe of them but it turns out that can be kinda hard. I might add more mechanics to the core combat system to play with, the big issue I'll have to deal with is the randomness and the fact that the upgrades aren't weapon specific

This is one of the (currently) two weird gimmick weapons with questionable function and clashing aesthetics. The yo-yo has a mechanical focus on gaining Casts - which if you haven't played Hades is essentially a little projectile you can fire that's usually disconnected from how your weapon attacks - but is characterized as being cool and doing tricks & shit. also I've been playing Penny's Big Breakaway so honestly I might change it to add more references and maybe make it more usable. The core combat system isnt too complicated but I dont really want to explain the whole thing in each post where its important, but I can answer any of the questions you have probably

Plaster Yo-Yo

Not a conventional weapon, made as a toy for children in Hypercrash and Cloud 9. Unlike the other weapons, though, this can be pretty easily smuggled into hell, and still used as a tool for violence. 

Stylish: Instead of actions being for direct violence, the Plaster Yo-Yo's actions can be used just to look cool. When you spend an action, you can describe an interesting way for it to play out, and gain an additional Cast for the rest of your turn. When you spend all your actions and none of them deal harm, you can also gain a Cast for the rest of your turn.

Plaster Yo-Yo Actions:

Toss: Can use a cast, a movement, or an action. Throw the yo-yo one range, dealing 1 harm to any enemies in the way. The yo-yo stays in that position until using Recall or moving.

Recall: (Can be used after using Toss) Can use a cast, a movement, or an action. Bring the yo-yo back, dealing 1 harm to all enemies in the way. 

Tornado: Requires 2 actions; deal 1 harm to all enemies within Near range. 

Plaster Yo-Yo Aspects: 

(Costs 1 Titan Blood) Aspect of Style: Gain +1 Cast (for all turns).

(Costs 1 Titan Blood) Aspect of Spinning: After using Toss, the Yo-Yo deals 1 harm to any target in Close range of it, and deals 1 harm to any enemies in Close range of it at the end of every round until it returns to you.

(Costs 2 Titan Blood) Aspect of Break: Recall can move you toward the yo-yo's position.

(Costs 2 Titan Blood) Aspect of Pose: When you gain a cast, cause all enemies within Near range to lose an action.

(Costs 2 Titan Blood) Aspect of Sticky Hand: The yo-yo can attach to a targeted enemy, who will move with it, taking 1 harm for each obstruction or enemy they collide with.

(Costs 3 Titan Blood) Aspect of Sawspinnin’: replaces Plaster Yo-Yo action list with the following:

Rip-It: Can use a cast, movement, or an action. Send a Sawspinner into the arena; if it hits something, it will deal 2 harm before bouncing to another target. Any additional harm added to this action counts as a separate attack. 

Arena Center: any Sawspinners in the arena will begin to orbit towards you, moving 1 range toward you at the end of each turn, dealing 4 harm to any enemies in their paths.

Sawridin’: use Rip-It action, then spend another action to jump on the Sawspinner and move with it. Any movement effects are applied when you bounce off an enemy