Tombpunk is my lo-fi, lightweight, fantasy roleplaying game, published under license by Outland Entertainment. You can find it here on DriveThruRPG.
Tombpunk: Arcana is a series of articles written by me expanding content for the game with “playtest” material (I don’t think I can call it homebrew if I’m the official writer/creator!).
Worlds of Tombpunk
The core Tombpunk game features micro-settings, short settings that are designed to be springboards and ideas for your own campaigns. It’s deliberately not packed with a “default” setting that’s made explicit. The setting is implicit in the rules.
Now, that’s not to say that Tombpunk doesn’t have a default setting. As the designer, I feel like like the mechanics give a firm idea of the sort of setting Tombpunk supports, and that leans to a clear picture of the game’s default setting. The names might not be in there, the details might be missing, but the rules in the game clearly indicated (in my eyes) the setting the game exists in.
This article contains some details from the default (ie. my) Tombpunk setting, though you’ll not find it printed anywhere. In this case, one of the gods of Tombpunk: Jhakel’slann
Jhakel’slann, God of Magick & Mystery
Jhakel’slann is, as befits a god of mystery, a conundrum to scholars in the world of Tombpunk. Their origins are shrouded in mystery, simply having existed as a God for a long period of time. They oversee the mysterious incantations that bind the spellweavers of Tombpunk together, forging the invisible chains of eldritch force that keep harmonious magick in lockstep.
Jhakel’slann is a rigid god. There is no artistry or innovation in their worship, only ritual, rite and repetition. Magickal power is not achieved through talent, instead being illuminated through rote incantations, recipes and crafts. Jhakel’slann’s worship believes that secrets and knowledge should only be obtained by those who can traverse the modal equations that bind the universe, able to repeat them flawlessly in their sleep, with the repetition becoming the foundational knowledge of the purveyors life.
As one might suspect, Jhakel’slann does not grace or commune with their cultists, only illuminating them through rote reading of scripture and relic-bound rite. Priests and worshippers believe that at the end of the path laid out through the rites and words of The Bound Tome of ‘knlnlJahsae lies the ultimate knowledge of the universe, as well as the deepest powers of the sorcerous well that Jhakel’slann so carefully guards.
Consecrations
Consecrations are a GM tool that is used to represent the influence of Gods and Cults on areas and locales. These are broad effects that apply across the whole space as bound by a Darkness Rating.
It costs 2 Darkness (ie. the Darkness Rating of the location is permanently two lower) to consecrate a Dungeon. When a Dungeon is consecrated, there is a static effect that applies across the space, usually modifying a game rule. Additionally, other cults and Gods are anathema to the locale and will not take up shop there.
Consecrations of Jhakel’slann
Cults can enact a consecration ritual to dedicate a space to Jhakel’slann. The ritual is long, precise and complex, with multiple orations, hymns and readings overlapping to create a decadent, but pleasing sound that illuminates those who hear it. Such a place is adorned with tomes of knowledge, relics of religious ritual, and after-effects of alchemical and mystical crafting.
Consecrated Ground
When in a space consecrated to Jhakel’slann, all enemies can cast spells as though they were a Ritualist and had the Spells feature.
Tombpunk and the text above © 2020 Alan Bahr. Tombpunk is a trademark of Alan Bahr.
Alan Bahr 