Magical Corruption

Since Between the Serpents of Smoke & Steel will be using Wonder & Wickedness for its magic system I had to address the question of Catastrophes. Now, I do think the Catastrophes in the book are cool, but they are uh...a bit dramatic, let's say? And while my plan initially was to just leave them like that and see where things go, I got cold feet and instead decided to scale things back down.

So instead of Catastrophes, I decided to go for the DCC approach and have Corruption. This way there are still consequences to unrestrained magic use, but they are mostly tied to the sorcerer performing the magic, rather than everyone else. Below is an excerpt from my Player's Handbook document for that campaign, specifically on how to handle Corruption, reposted here for potential and dubious use to other people.

 

What is this Spellbook?

Spellbooks are not always actual books. Or at least, they shouldn't be. Sometimes they are other things. Roll a d10 and see what is the actual object that hosts the spell.

 

1. A small piece of velum, with the spell scribbled in tiny font.

2. A clay tablet that’s always slightly wet. Be careful not to smudge the spell!

3. A piece of starched fabric, stretched tight over a barbed frame.

4. A series of golden, interconnected disks.

5. A codex bound in strange leather. Roll 1d6 to determine what kind of leather: 1. Albino Cow 2. Rhino hide 3. Pig 4. Human 5. Lizard 6. Impossible to determine

6. A delicate papyrus scroll. Very fragile

7. A heavy tome with a bronze lock. The lock has no key, can only be lock picked and can not be opened by magic.

8. A piece of dried skin, the spell being a series of intricate tattoos that were once on someone’s shoulder blade.

9. A ball of thorny vines that twist into the runes of the spell. 

      10.A heavy felt apron, the spell being embroidered onto the fabric itself.